Jeremy Richardson ~ senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists

From an Article by Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette Mail, October 13, 2021

PHOTO ~ Marion County native Jeremy Richardson, a senior energy analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, is pictured during an online event Wednesday touting the release of a report he coauthored calling for full remediation of coal ash disposal sites in the Ohio River Valley. The analysis relies on public documents from utility closure plans, coal ash site conditions, economic modeling and alternative closure plan development.

Regional and national clean energy advocacy groups united Wednesday (10/13/21) to release a report suggesting that cleaning up hazardous coal ash in the Ohio River Valley could benefit the area economically as well as environmentally.

The new report “Repairing the Damage ~ Cleaning Up Hazardous Coal Ash Can Create Jobs and Improve the Environment” makes the case that fully remediating coal ash disposal sites would create more jobs and protect communities as more coal plants close in the region amid the nation’s clean energy transition.

The economic analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists, a national science advocacy nonprofit, and the Ohio River Valley Institute, a Johnstown, Pennsylvania-based nonprofit think tank, cited case studies of two coal ash sites in Kentucky and Ohio finding that full remediation of the sites would create more than $100 million in additional economic activity in each state.

“My excitement about the report is because you just have so much of an opportunity to create so much benefit to the people in the communities that we’re talking about,” said Marion County native Jeremy Richardson, a senior energy analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists who coauthored the report.

Those communities are economically vulnerable coal communities where coal ash — waste left behind when coal is burned to produce electricity — is a common threat to human health.

Approximately 102 million tons of coal ash was produced in 2018 alone, according to the American Coal Ash Association, an organization that promotes the environmentally responsible use of coal ash as an alternative to disposal.

Coal ash contains contaminants like arsenic, cadmium, chromium and selenium associated with cancer, heart disease, liver and kidney damage. Coal ash is frequently disposed of in surface impoundments or landfills or released into nearby waterways, often under a plant’s water pollution permit.

The analysis notes that more than one out of every five coal ash disposal sites nationwide can be found at operating or retired coal-fired power plants in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

The report calls for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its enforcement of a 2015 rule that established closure requirements for coal ash disposal sites under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and finalized minimum criteria for groundwater monitoring and corrective action.

The report emphasizes holding utilities and coal ash disposal site owners responsible for fully remediating such sites. “[R]atepayers should not bear the costs without reaping the economic value of full cleanup,” the report says.

The WV Public Service Commission on Tuesday approved $448.3 million in rate recovery for Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power for coal ash disposal and other environmental upgrades federally required to keep three in-state coal-fired power plants operating past 2028.

The report also calls for prioritizing dislocated workers in hiring. Representatives from the Ohio River Valley Institute, nonprofit environmental law group EarthJustice, left-leaning nonprofit think tank Policy Matters Ohio and the ReImagine Appalachia coalition of environmental and community organizations across the region highlighted the report in a press conference and webinar Wednesday.

“Pollution cleanup is essential to ensuring that these areas become places where people can safely live and work,” Amanda Woodrum, senior researcher with Policy Matters Ohio, said.

Appalachian Voices are speaking out about solar energy

From Appalachian Voices in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia & West Virginia

Dear Colleagues and Friends, Join Us on November 4th ~

Thank you for signing up to learn more about the Appalachian Solar Finance Fund (SFF), a new program to jump-start commercial and institutional solar projects in coal-impacted communities throughout Central Appalachia! We’re excited to announce that the program will launch on Thursday, November 4 with a webinar at noon Eastern Time and invite you to join! Please RSVP to attend.

The SFF will use a recent $1.5 million ARC POWER Initiative award to deploy select subgrant awards for solar projects on nonprofit and public buildings. The SFF also will facilitate competitive technical assistance contracts for solar installations on commercial enterprises and will develop additional investment and credit enhancement strategies to unlock more solar deployment in the region.

During this webinar, attendees will learn about the program’s available financing tools, applicant eligibility criteria and the application process for entities and developers seeking funding for solar projects. Members of the SFF Executive Committee will discuss the history of the fund, its purpose and goals, and the structure of the program.

Speakers include the following four (4) involved individuals:

>> Adam Wells, Regional Director of Community & Economic Development, Appalachian Voices

>> Hannah Vargason, Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives, Partner Community Capital

>> Marc Palmer, Co-Founder and CEO, New Resource Solutions

>> Andrew Crosson, CEO, Invest Appalachia

The presentation will be followed by a Q&A. Commercial, government and nonprofit building owners and facilities managers, and solar developers and installation professionals are encouraged to attend and bring questions about the process. The public is also welcome to attend to learn more about the program and how it works.

RSVP to join us on November 4th! I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

Cheers, Autumn Long
Appalachian Solar Finance Fund Project Manager

RSVP

Mayors describe necessary plan for Middle America

Opinion of Mayors by William Peduto, Jamael Tito Brown, Nan Whaley, Andrew Ginther, John Cranley, Steve Williams, Ron Dulaney Jr. and Greg Fischer, Washington Post, November 22, 2020

The writers are the mayors of Pittsburgh; Youngstown, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Cincinnati; Huntington, W.Va.; Morgantown, W.Va.; and Louisville.

Every four years, voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky are told how important they are to American industry, but once the election is over, nothing happens. The United States now has a president-elect who comes from our region originally and is more likely to understand what we need to revive it. We, the mayors of eight cities, are banding together to demand real investment in our shared region, which has fueled the U.S. economy for generations yet never gets the attention it deserves.

It’s why we’re asking for an ambitious federal response to save our industries and communities from destruction: a Marshall Plan for Middle America.

In the post-World War II recovery period, the Marshall Plan was a $13 billion ($143 billion today) investment strategy to rebuild Europe and foster economic and democratic institutions. Like postwar Europe, Middle America faces similar issues of decline — a shared crisis of aging infrastructure, obsolescence of business and government institutions, and the need for upskilling and reskilling the workforce.

We have consulted economic experts about the challenges we face: growing and systemic inequities, a public health crisis and the burdens of climate change. Our shared ideas stem from what we’ve learned.

Virtually no major federal attention has been given to the greater Ohio River Valley since the adoption of the Appalachian Regional Commission in 1965. A new regional and federal collaboration can rebuild and reposition these regions to be economically competitive domestically and globally. Absent such a partnership, it is certain that difficult times will continue and the opportunity will be lost.

We’ve seen the consequences of inaction before. Pittsburgh, for example, never prepared for deindustrialization of heavy manufacturing and steel in the 1980s, and it took 30 years to build its new economy. It was a painful demonstration of how people and communities can be destroyed by believing the world will not change. Pittsburgh and other cities should not repeat this mistake.

Nonpartisan research led by the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Sustainable Business finds that “the Ohio River Valley stands to lose 100,000 jobs as the fossil-fuel economy continues to decline in the face of superior, cost-competitive renewable energy development.” Without action, these jobs will be lost forever, and it will lead to even deeper despair for another generation.

According to our research, taking advantage of our community assets, geographic positioning and the strengths of our regional markets can help create over 400,000 jobs across the region by investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency upgrades to buildings, energy infrastructure and transportation assets.

Renewable sources of power are proving less expensive, and fossil fuel companies are increasingly dependent on federal subsidies to survive. Couldn’t these subsidies be strategically shifted to invest in a green economy that keeps these largely suburban and rural jobs but transitions them, with federal support, into new industries that will grow in the 21st century?

Like our friends at Reimagine Appalachia — a grass-roots community and environmental organization — we believe a Marshall Plan-scale reinvestment is necessary. Rather than a “Green New Deal,” our plan would seed long-term regional investments in Appalachia’s rural and suburban communities, while leveraging the technological successes of our tentpole cities to assist them. The same goes for our neighbors in the Ohio River Valley throughout the Rust Belt and up to the Great Lakes region.

Such cities are already working independently to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement, adopting climate action plans like Pittsburgh’s, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. Our cities are preparing for the new economy through additional but related initiatives, such as expanding digital access in Louisville and solar energy in Cincinnati. But we need help to leverage these successes.

To accomplish this, we calculate we’d need $60 billion per year over the next 10 years in the form of federal block grants to local governments, state utilization of tax credits and leveraging of lending programs and strategic equity investments to serve as both catalysts and guarantors of the innovation required to regenerate our communities. Add local delivery systems in construction, local government procurement and an able workforce, and a chemistry for success can be realized.

Gen. George C. Marshall was born in Uniontown, Pa., the county seat of Fayette County. Many people in our parts of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley still take great pride that our industry helped propel the post-World War II economic boom in our country, which in turn gave us the resources to invest in postwar Europe. By emphasizing these deeply significant ties to our history, we can do for ourselves what we did for the free world.

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Appalachian Regional Commission — Grants and Contracts

ARC uses Congressionally appropriated funds to invest in the Region’s economic and community development through grants. In Fiscal Year 2020, Congress appropriated a record $175 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission. As part of our unique federal-state partnership, ARC’s grant application process begins at the state government level. All ARC grants align with the investment priorities outlined in our current Strategic Plan and reflect state plans and strategies.

ARC also issues specific Requests for Proposals for research and evaluation contracts on topics directly impacting economic development in the Appalachian Region.

Blue Ridge Landfill In Estill County KENTUCKY

From an Article by Bill Estep, Lexington Herald – Leader, July 18, 2020

A Kentucky man has been charged with illegally shipping tons of radioactive waste to a landfill in Estill County KY that was not equipped to handle it.

A federal grand jury indicted Cory David Hoskins Thursday on five charges of mail fraud, based on checks he received through the mail as part of the alleged crime, and 22 charges of “willfully and recklessly” violating safety regulations on shipping hazardous materials in 2015.

Hoskins operated companies called Advanced TENORM and BES LLC, both based in West Liberty, in Morgan County. TENORM stands for “technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material.” The material is a byproduct of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to recover oil and natural gas, and is classified as hazardous because of low-level radioactivity.

Hoskins allegedly told a West Virginia company called Fairmont Brine Processing, LLC, that Advanced TENORM could safely transport, treat and dispose of sludge from its operations.

Hoskins told the West Virginia company that his company included engineers, nuclear physicists with doctorates and other experts. That was a lie, the indictment said.

Hoskins also lied and said he would haul the sludge in trucks that complied with U.S. Department of Transportation rules on transporting hazardous materials, according to the indictment.

Hoskins “did not keep the promises” he made to the West Virginia company because it would have been more expensive and time-consuming to haul the waste in compliance with federal safety rules, the indictment said.

Hoskins allegedly hired trucking companies and drivers from the Ashland area and elsewhere that didn’t have the proper certification to haul hazardous waste, and didn’t tell the drivers and carriers what they were hauling was radioactive.

He also didn’t put required notices on the trucks and shipping containers to describe the hazardous sludge. One purpose of those labels is to let police, firefighters and emergency workers know what’s in a truck in case of an accident.

Hoskins drew up shipping manifests that said the material he was having hauled was not hazardous, and misled the landfill about the waste, the indictment charged.

The Herald-Leader reported in 2017 that Hoskins arranged for the shipment of more than 1,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from West Virginia and Ohio to be dumped in landfills in Estill and Greenup counties. However, the indictment against Hoskins only mentions 22 shipments to the Estill County landfill between July 22, 2015 and Aug. 27, 2015.

The illegal diposal of the waste caused concern in Estill County — the landfill is near schools — but state officials said in 2016 that there was not an imminent health threat from the material.

The state proposed a settlement in 2018 under which the radioactive material would be left in the Blue Ridge Landfill in Estill County with a cap over it. A challenge to the plan by a citizens group is pending.

The indictment includes a request for a judgment of $127,110 against Hoskins if he is convicted, representing the amount he grossed from alleged illegal activity.

The maximum sentence on the mail-fraud charges against Hoskins would be 20 years. The charges on violating hazardous-materials safety rules are punishable by up to five years.

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See also: “Disequilibrium of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) in Drill Cuttings from a Horizontal Drilling Operation,” Environmental Science & Technology Letters, American Chemical Society, December 21, 2016

Report finds additional radioactive materials in gas-well drill cuttings

Risks are great for leaks, fires, explosions, and adverse health effects

From an Article by Kathiann M. Kowalski, The Conversation, May 31, 2019

A proposed petrochemical feedstock hub could expand markets for natural gas liquids in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. Several environmental groups are considering legal options if the Trump administration approves $1.9 billion taxpayer-backed loan guarantee.

A development corporation is seeking a $1.9 billion federal loan guarantee to help build an Appalachian storage hub for natural gas liquids. The financing guarantee would come from a U.S. Department of Energy program meant to support projects that “avoid, reduce, or sequester” air pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions and feature “new or significantly improved technologies.”

The Title XVII program has never been used to finance a fossil fuel storage project, but environmental groups fear the Trump administration will bend criteria to approve the project.

“It just does not fit the legal criteria” of the federal law, said Alison Grass, research director at Washington, D.C.-based Food & Water Watch, one of several environmental groups that is considering legal options.

The proposal from Appalachia Development Group, LLC, calls for an underground storage facility to hold natural gas liquids from “wet gas,” such as ethane, which are used to make plastics and other products.

The storage facility’s site in Ohio, West Virginia or Pennsylvania hasn’t been finalized. The hub would have a web of pipelines and other infrastructure to collect and distribute feedstocks from all three states, plus possibly Kentucky.

Not on the list

Steve Hedrick, CEO of Appalachia Development Group, said the project would “significantly” reduce emissions by minimizing the distances the liquids are transported before they are turned into plastic products.

“With over half of the North American plastics converter market within 500 miles of Appalachia, the need for redundant transport is minimized while maximizing the value creation from the American resource,” Hedrick said via email. “In other words, we can significantly avoid or reduce anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases merely through conversion of these raw materials closer to their production locations.”

Hedrick did not offer a source or calculations of the amount of presumed emissions cuts resulting from transporting materials over fewer miles.

The Title XVII statute lists ten categories of projects that can qualify for loan guarantees under the federal program. They include renewable energy systems, hydrogen fuel cell technologies, electric vehicle plants, and energy efficiency projects. Advanced nuclear facilities can also qualify, as well as some refineries for processing crude oil into gasoline. The bill even allows loan guarantees for certain pollution control equipment and advanced fossil fuel technology, such as coal gasification that would achieve specific emission reductions.

Missing from the itemized list are facilities to store and distribute hydrocarbon feedstocks from fossil fuels.

That’s not for lack of trying. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., introduced a bill in 2017 to add a facility like the Appalachian storage hub to the list. The bill did not pass.

However, the Department of Energy invited Appalachia Development Group to submit the second phase of the loan application last year while the bill was pending. It had already approved the first part of the company’s application. The department did not respond to an email and follow-up phone call seeking comments for this article.

The DOE has not yet made a final decision on the Part II application. Approval can take anywhere from roughly six months to two years, Hedrick said. He noted that the application itself is considered confidential business information.

Bipartisan support: Ohio and WV Senators Apparently Approve

Industry interests have wanted the underground storage facility and associated pipelines for several years now. One apparent aim is to increase the market and revenue for the region’s natural gas and its co-products.

Prices for natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica plays have been relatively low in recent years. A lack of infrastructure has made it hard to get it out of the region into markets where it can command higher prices. A similar lack of infrastructure has also suppressed profits from ethane, propane, butane and other liquid gas products.

Supporters also hope the storage hub would attract more chemical companies to the region to use ethane and various natural gas liquids as feedstocks for plastics and other chemicals, which could then be used by other manufacturers.

A natural gas liquids storage hub in Appalachia “would be an economic driver for the region, would expand energy infrastructure, and would increase our domestic production of the petrochemical resources we rely on,” Manchin said last month when he introduced another bill relating to the hub. It calls for a federal study on the project’s potential benefits “to national and economic security.”

“The Trump Administration would also support an Appalachia hub to strengthen our energy and manufacturing security by increasing our geographic production diversity,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in December. His comment came with the release of a Department of Energy report, saying the hub would satisfy market needs and yield billions of dollars in economic and other benefits.

Along the same lines, President Donald Trump’s April 10 executive order on energy infrastructure calls for the DOE to prepare a report on the proposed hub, “describing opportunities, through the Federal Government or otherwise, to promote economic growth of the Appalachian region, including growth of petrochemical and other industries.”

‘Short-sighted’ Economic Development Plan

That’s a “short-sighted economic development plan,” countered Climate & Energy Program Director Mitch Jones at Food & Water Watch’s Baltimore office. “They’re rushing here to replace the coal industry with another fossil fuel industry.”

Scientists say there’s a growing urgency to curb fossil fuels to avoid some of the worst impacts of climate change. Recent reports also call for cutting down on single-use plastics, which are linked to ocean and freshwater pollution, Jones said. Appalachia would be better off focusing on the renewable energy industry, he said.

Critics also say the project could lead to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions by boosting natural gas production in the region. “If anything, it’s going to result in a dramatic uptick in drilling and likely flaring and other emissions upstream if this thing comes online,” said Ted Auch, Great Lakes program coordinator for FracTracker Alliance.

Critics also question the propriety of having U.S. taxpayers guarantee a loan for a project that will have significant funding from Chinese investors. “I have no idea why our government would issue loan guarantees to facilitate foreign investments for product that is intended to prop up the faltering fracking industry, as well as to be shipped overseas,” said Leatra Harper, managing director for the FreshWater Accountability Project.

What’s next?

So far, the House Appropriations Committee has not added a requested budget bill provision to stop the Department of Energy from spending money to process the loan guarantee application or to grant it.

Food & Water Watch, FreshWater Accountability Project, FracTracker and dozens of other organizations requested that provision on May 7. The request could be renewed once the budget bill gets to the House floor.

Advocates are also considering other legal options if a provision isn’t in the budget bill or if the department nonetheless goes ahead and grants the loan guarantee, Jones said.

It’s conceivable that the project could still move ahead even if the loan guarantee were not granted. But it’s unclear whether that would happen.

“One would think that if the investment were as smart an investment as they’re arguing that it is, they would be able to get the loan without a federal loan guarantee, certainly,” Jones said. “What we’re seeing is the belief that this federal loan guarantee is the key that they need to secure the outside funding that they need to move forward.”

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See Also: Plastics Industry on Track to Burn Through 14% of World’s Remaining Carbon Budget: New Report, Sharon Kelly, DeSmogBlog, May 15, 2019

The plastics industry plays a major — and growing — role in climate change, according to a report published today by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).

By 2050, making and disposing of plastics could be responsible for a cumulative 56 gigatons of carbon, the report found, up to 14 percent of the world’s remaining carbon budget.

In 2019, the plastics industry is on track to release as much greenhouse gas pollution as 189 new coal-fired power plants running year-round, the report found — and the industry plans to expand so rapidly that by 2030, it will create 1.34 gigatons of climate-changing emissions a year, equal to 295 coal plants.

VA, KY, and PA Gaining Solar Power Projects, Big Time!

From the Front Porch Blog, Appalachian Voices, March 21, 2019

Ten community revitalization projects that will reclaim old coal mining sites in Southwest Virginia will receive $10 million in grant money. Projects range from community revitalization initiatives like multi-use trains and water infrastructure improvements to commercial-scale solar. The grants are apportioned through congressional funding for the Abandoned Mine Lands Pilot Program and will be administered by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.

Russell County and the Dante Community Association will receive $269,000 for a project that includes development of multi-use trails to connect downtown Dante to other nearby communities and recreation areas, and the sealing of two open mine portals. In Wise County, the Mineral Gap Data Center and Sun Tribe Solar, a Virginia-based solar company, will receive $500,000 for a 3.46-megawatt solar installation to power the data center and for work to remediate old coal mine features near the site.

“We are elated to have been selected for this grant. Every dollar that we receive builds hope, which is necessary to keep a volunteer-driven community motivated and advancing,” said Carla Glass, Chair of the Dante Community Association. The development of the multi-use trails in Dante are intended to support the community’s vision of attracting sports enthusiasts and other tourists to the area and motivate local entrepreneurs to locate new, profitable ventures in Dante.

Developers for the Wise County solar project — the first of its kind in Virginia — estimate that the annual land lease as well as annual site operations and maintenance activities will infuse more than $1 million into the Wise County Industrial Development Authority and support local contractors over the solar project’s 35-year life span.

“We know that solar can succeed when projects are built in partnership with local stakeholders in both the public and private sectors, and this funding from Virginia’s Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy shows the strength of the partners we’ve found in the teams at the Wise County IDA and Mineral Gap Data Center,” said Taylor Brown, Chief Technical Officer of Sun Tribe Solar.

Marc Silverstein, spokesperson for Mineral Gap, said the company envisions this as “just the beginning” of solar energy development in Southwest Virginia. “Leveraging renewable solar power to create new jobs and long-term economic opportunity for the people and businesses of this region is the perfect way to build on Southwestern Virginia’s legacy of energy production, and to honor the men and women who are working to strengthen Appalachian communities by focusing on a sustainable, eco-friendly, prosperous future.”

Silverstein states that Mineral Gap hopes to be a good community steward by developing projects in the county that will create jobs and financial opportunities while helping the environment, “all in efforts to revitalize areas that have been negatively impacted by the economic realities of the coal industry.”

“We see this project as a single stepping stone toward transforming the state of Virginia into a green-energy-based economy,” says Silverstein. “Our hope is that this pilot project will be replicated across Southwest Virginia and grow into a huge economic benefit for the region and for the entire Commonwealth.”

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Virginia approves largest solar power plant east of the Rockies

From an Article by John Weaver, PV Magazine, August 10, 2018

Virginia regulators have approved construction of the four part solar power plant, whose output is partially being sold to Microsoft. The 500 MW-AC facility is being developed by sPower.

As of last night the Pleinmont Solar facility, a 500 MW-AC plant under development by sPower in Spotsylvania County, has received approval from the Virginia State Corporation Commission to move forward. The case documentation (20 page PDF) touches on the broader challenges surrounding the project: Mostly an investigation into potential environmental effects on water and solar module toxicity – issues that the solar industry addressed long ago – but also interconnection and long-term financial health.

The projects will sit on 6,000 acres of land owned by sPower, of which 3,500 will be used for construction. Much of the site is cleared forest and timber land. The site is traversed by several logging roads and two transmission lines, including an east-west 115 kilovolt (“kV”) line and a north-south 500 kV line, which bisect the site. The electricity will be sold into the PJM Interconnection market, with Microsoft holding a contract for 315 MW.

sPower plans to deploy a combination of First Solar and Jinko Solar modules, which will be mounted on the DuraTrack HZ v3 single axis tracking racking system developed by Array Technologies.

As part of a documentation package submitted by sPower was a “worst case pile-driving noise scenario”. The company did a noise per distance analysis, with a great color coding tool.

Also included in this package was a project decommissioning analysis. The company suggested the project has a 35-year lifetime, and a $31 million decommissioning cost.

The 500 MW power plant will be owned by four unique special purpose vehicles (SPEs), Pleinmont Solar 1 – 75 MW, Pleinmont Solar II – 240 MW, Highlander Solar Energy Station 1 – 165 MW, and Richmond Spider Solar – 20 MW. Each of these SPEs are a wholly owned subsidiary of sPower Development Company, who itself is a wholly owned subsidiary of FTP Power.

sPower’s white paper also delved deeply into how toxicity is dealt with at a solar power plant. Specifically, the state asked questions about the materials inside of the First Solar portion of the installation. sPower noted that the molecular structure of cadmium (CdTe) used onsite isn’t water soluble, and that even if the modules were ground up into fine dust (not what happens when a module cracks), worst-case scenarios are 3,000-7,000 times lower than Cd concentrations in commonly used fertilizers.

First Solar also has a dedicated recycling program for its modules, which ensures that such modules are highly unlikely to end up in the waste stream at the end of life. When a First Solar plant was hit by a tornado a few years back, the broken modules were collected and materials recycled – and the CdTe is now back in the field inside of new solar modules.

As the four plants are on one piece of land, this will be the largest solar project East of the Rocky Mountains when built at 500 MW, and one of the largest in the world.

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Toyota Plans Major Solar Array In The Ohio Valley (Kentucky)

From an Article by Sydney Boles, Ohio Valley ReSource, March 13, 2019

Automaker Toyota is planning to announce a major investment in solar and other renewable energy in Appalachia and the Southeastern U.S. The plan includes a massive new solar facility on an old surface coal mine property in Kentucky.

Sources close to the deal tell the Ohio Valley Resource that the Kentucky site is part of a much larger plan. Toyota plans to purchase roughly 365 megawatts, of renewable energy, primarily from developers in Appalachia and the South.

“A project of this magnitude is certainly significant,” said Alex Hobson, director of communications for the Solar Energy Industries Association, a leading industry research group. “You’re talking enough energy to power about 50,000 homes.”

Toyota has already undertaken ambitious energy efficiency goals, with a similarly sized solar array installed on its headquarters in Plano, Texas. But once completed, Toyota’s solar mega-project would place the automaker among the largest corporate investors in renewable energy.

The portion of the project scheduled to be built in Pike County, Kentucky, is a 15- to 20-year power purchase agreement. Partners in the development include: coal company RH Group; French renewable energy company EDF Renewables; and Adam Edelen, former state auditor and current candidate for governor in Kentucky’s democratic party primary.

At 100 megawatts, the site would be largest solar array in Kentucky and, according to one of the project’s developers, would likely be visible from space. The project is expected to cost $130 million, will be built on a 700-acre reclaimed surface mine site and could create between 50 and 100 renewable-energy jobs in a region still reeling from the loss of coal employment.

Toyota declined to confirm the scope of the project. A spokesperson issued a written statement hinting at an upcoming announcement. “We have been working with certain electric power providers on a very innovative initiative.”

Developers say the massive project is a smart business decision that happens to make a larger point: It’s proving that Kentucky’s economic future is in energy production, but perhaps that energy won’t be limited to coal and other fossil fuels.

“It doesn’t matter whether you care about the environment or not, this is pure economics,” said Ryan Johns, vice president of business development at RH Group. In a nod to Toyota’s slogan, Johns added, “If we don’t diversify our thinking, we’re never going to be able to keep moving forward.”

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Philadelphia plans a massive solar plant in Adams County

From an Article by Susan Phillips, StateImpact Pennsylvania, November 1, 2018

Philadelphia’s plan to cut its carbon emissions now includes a proposal to purchase energy from a massive solar farm in south central Pennsylvania. The proposal is part of the city’s plan to use renewable energy for all city operations by 2030.

If approved, the solar farm in Adams County, near Gettysburg, would be the largest in Pennsylvania. Christine Knapp, director of Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability, says the 70-megawatt facility would help the city reach its renewable energy goal. “We would like to do something like this inside the city as well, we just don’t have as much abundant and cheap land as there is in Adam’s County,” said Knapp.

Knapp says the city will buy all the energy from the facility under a 20-year-deal fixed at current rates. She says hopefully that will mean savings in the future when conventional energy costs are expected to rise. “The cost is about the same as what we currently buy, so that’s what’s making the economics work for us,” she said.

Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown introduced a bill on Thursday that would allow the city to enter into a power purchase agreement with the Philadelphia Energy Authority, which will work with Adams Solar LLC, an entity of national solar developer Community Energy.

“Moving forward in a tangible matter with this goal symbolizes how we grow towards a greener and more sustainable Philadelphia,” Reynolds Brown said in a statement. City officials say job fairs for workers on the project would be held in both Philadelphia and Adams counties.

Last month, Philadelphia became one of 20 cities awarded about $2 million as part of the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge, which includes the development of renewable energy.

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See also: The Modern Jobs Act Will Promote Solar Power in West Virginia

Ohio River Watershed is quite extensive & important

Environmental Law & Policy Center – Hoosier Environmental Council – Indiana Wildlife Federation – Kentucky Waterways Alliance – Lower Ohio River Waterkeeper – National Wildlife Federation – Ohio Environmental Council – Ohio River Foundation – Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition – PennFuture – Prairie Rivers Network – Sierra Club, Cumberland (Ky.) Chapter – Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter – Sierra Club Illinois Chapter – Sierra Club Ohio Chapter – Valley Watch – Watershed Organizations Advisory Committee – West Virginia Rivers Coalition

Groups Applaud Progress on Ohio River Protections

From: Vivian Stockman, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, 10/4/18

LANSING, W.VA. (October 4, 2018)—Environmental groups applauded a move to keep clean water protections for the Ohio River. The regional body charged with overseeing the health of the river, the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, today decided not to vote on a controversial proposal that sought to replace 70 years of regional cooperation among eight states bordering the river in setting pollution control standards. The commission stated they intend to continue deliberations on the matter, and conservation groups see this as an opportunity for more meaningful dialogue about its implications for the future health of the river.

More than 5 million people depend on the Ohio River for their drinking water, and conservation groups staunchly opposed the move to outright scrap the current pollution-reduction arrangement. Massive public input in favor of regional cooperation helped convince commissioners to take a step back and reassess their options.

After the meeting, conservation groups applauded the action by the commissioners and by the governors who appointed them, including Govs. Bruce Rauner (Ill.), Eric Holcomb (Ind.), Matt Bevin (Ky.), Andrew Cuomo (N.Y.), John Kasich (Ohio), Tom Wolf (Pa.), Ralph Northam (Va.), and Jim Justice (W.Va.).

Environmental groups said:

“This is a positive step for the Ohio River and the 5 million people who depend on it for their drinking water, jobs, and way of life. We thank the commissioners and governors who decided to take a step back to assess the consequences of overturning 70 years of collaboration and cooperation around pollution standards. We also thank the over 6,500 members of the public for standing up and advocating during the comment process for a clean and healthy Ohio River, which is the foundation of our environment, economy, and regional identity.

“Serious problems such as sewage contamination, toxic pollution and harmful algal blooms continue to threaten the Ohio River and its many communities—and we firmly believe that the most effective, efficient and fair way to prevent pollution into the river is to work together. Pollution that enters the river upstream can impact communities downstream, which is why we need consistent, strong protections to protect people no matter where they live along the river.

“We appreciate the commissioners taking the time to gather the information that is needed to make an informed decision on the best way forward to reduce pollution into the Ohio River. We hope that the process moving forward will welcome additional input from the many stakeholders along the river and will continue to be transparent, inclusive, fair, and effective. We look forward to working with the states to improve the health of the Ohio River so that we can protect our drinking water, public health, economy, fish and wildlife, and way of life now and for generations to come.”

Conservation Groups on the Ground in West Virginia include:

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (W. Va.): Robin L. Blakeman, robin@ohvec.org, (304) 840-4877
West Virginia Rivers Coalition: Angie Rosser, arosser@wvrivers.org, (304) 437-1274
Lower Ohio River Waterkeeper (Ind./Ky.): Jason Flickner, Jason@ohioriverwaterkeeper.org, (502) 276-5957
National Wildlife Federation: Jordan Lubetkin, lubetkin@nwf.org, (734) 904-1589
Ohio Environmental Council: David Miller, dmiller@theoec.org, (614) 487-7506

Other Groups willing to comment on the action include:

Environmental Law & Policy Center (Ill.): Madeline Fleisher, mfleisher@elpc.org, (857) 636-0371
Hoosier Environmental Council (Ind.): Marianne Holland, mholland@hecweb.org, (317) 981-3210
Indiana Wildlife Federation: Emily Wood, wood@indianawildlife.org, (317) 875-9453
Ohio River Foundation (Ohio): Rich Cogen, rcogen@ohioriverfdn.org, (513) 460-3365
PennFuture (Pa.): Stephanie Rex, rex@pennfuture.org, (412) 463-2942
Sierra Club, Cumberland (Ky.) Chapter: Hank Graddy, hank.graddy@gmail.com, (859) 229-4033
Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter (Ind.): Bowden Quinn, bowden.quinn@sierraclub.org, (317) 695-3046
Sierra Club Illinois Chapter: Cindy Skrukrud, cindy.skrukrud@sierraclub.org, 312-251-1680 x1015
Sierra Club Ohio Chapter: Cheryl Johncox, cheryl.johncox@sierraclub.org, (740) 360-0420
Valley Watch (Ind.): John Blair, Blair@valleywatch.net, (812) 464-5663

Marcellus shale drill cuttings are generally radioactive

From an Article by Mary Meehan, Ohio Valley ReSource, February 14, 2018

The slogan for Estill County is “where the bluegrass kisses the mountains.” But since 2015 the county, population 15,000, is widely known as the place where radioactive material generated by the oil and gas industry in a process known as fracking was dumped near some schools.

As the Ohio Valley ReSource reported in 2016, tons of waste from the drilling practice known as fracking was hauled from state to state before being improperly disposed of in a county landfill not designed to hold radioactive material.

Drilling waste is also being dumped into public landfills in West Virginia.

This week the Concerned Citizens of Estill County and state officials squared off over how to best deal with the tons of radioactive waste. The landfill owners have been fined and are required to create a mitigation plan. Officials with the Kentucky Energy and Environmental Cabinet want to keep the waste in place. But local residents have a different idea. In the two years since the waste was discovered the community has come to a consensus on what should happen with the illegally dumped waste: Dig it up and move it out.

Estill County concerned citizen Tom Bonny makes the case for removing the radioactive waste at a public hearing.

Concerned Citizens member Tom Bonny said he first thought keeping the waste in place was the better solution. But when he considered the long-half life of the radioactive material coupled with its location near Estill County’s schools, he thought of the long-term consequences to the community. He is also concerned about the proximity of the landfill to the Kentucky River and potential danger to the water supply not only in Irvine but downstream. So, he changed his mind.

He said most folks he’s talked to feel the same way. “The majority of the people I have spoken with indicate they will not have full peace of mind if it is left in place,” he said.

The disagreement over how to deal with the mess is just a small part of a larger problem with a lack of regulation, oversight and monitoring of this difficult waste. And years after Estill County’s crisis brought attention to the matter, experts say little has changed to prevent similar incidents.

“Forgotten Stepchild”

Nadia Steinzor researches fracking waste for the non-profit environmental advocacy group Earthworks. She said the gas industry produces thousands of tons of “hot” waste and companies and state regulators throughout the Ohio Valley and the Marcellus Shale gas region struggle to find safe ways to get rid of it.

She said there is an ever-increasing volume of such material entering landfills across the country, often without the full knowledge of folks living closest to the landfill.

“It’s kind of the forgotten stepchild of the oil and gas shale boom and it’s something people need to be more concerned about,” she said. “The environmental impacts are very pernicious and it is increasing in volume and increasing across the landscape.”

Steinzor said the difficulty in tracking waste as it moves from state to state is compounded by the fact that many landfills are owned by private companies. This is especially important in places like Ohio and Kentucky which receive large amounts of waste from other states.

In 2016 Center for Public Integrity reporter Jie Jenny Zou documented a spotty patchwork of state regulations across the Appalachian Basin that created the conditions for improper disposal of the waste.
Steinzor said it’s crucial for people living near landfills to be aware of what’s being dumped there.

“There was one gentlemen in West Virginia who has been tracking what has been coming into that landfill there,” she said. “The guy stationed himself at the landfill entrance and asked every truck where they were coming from. He found they were coming from places generating oil and gas waste.

“That’s one way to find out!” Steinzor said with a laugh. She said that while the tracking of fracking waste has gotten more attention since the problems became known in Estill County not much has changed as far as policy is concerned.

“From a regulatory perspective, the policies and mandates and requirements that the industry has to adhere to are still lagging behind.”

Vigilant Communities

Estill County resident Rhonda Childers has been concerned about contamination at the landfill for 20 years. She was part of a group of activists who helped get rules in place to keep out radioactive material. But as the landfill changed owners those rules were forgotten or ignored.

“We let our guards down and we just kind of ignored this,” she said.

Childers said Estill County’s experience stands as an example to other communities to be vigilant about what is happening at local landfills.

“Today we are talking about Estill County, tomorrow we could be talking about… any county in the state of Kentucky,” she said.

If the condition of state laws and regulations is any indication, it’s also something that could happen at any number of landfills around the Ohio Valley.