Public interest (free) webinar to protect the public health (click to expand)

Following the presentations, Dr. Ned Ketyer, Medical Advisor for the Environmental Health Project (EHP), will moderate a discussion.

Webinar ~ PFAS & Health Impacts — Wednesday, October 19th, 7:00 to 8:30 PM EDT

For more information and to register for this webinar go here ~

https://www.environmentalhealthproject.org/event-details/pfas-and-health-impacts-what-frontline-communities-need-to-know

#######+++++++#######+++++++#######

See where toxic PFAS have been used in Pennsylvania fracking wells

From an Article by Kristina Marusic, Environmental Health News, October 13, 2022

PITTSBURGH — Toxic “forever chemicals”, also known as PFAS, have been used in at least eight oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, but the exact location of those wells has never been publicly disclosed — until now.

Experts say it’s possible that communities where PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have been used by the oil and gas industry could face contamination of soil, groundwater and drinking water — and that contamination could be widespread.

The chemicals don’t break down naturally, so they linger in the environment and human bodies. Exposure is linked to health problems including kidney and testicular cancer, liver and thyroid problems, reproductive problems, lowered vaccine efficacy in children and increased risk of birth defects, among others.

Last year, a report by the environmental health advocacy group Physicians for Social Responsibility revealed that PFAS have been used in hydraulic fracturing and other types of oil and gas extraction across the U.S. for at least a decade, and an EHN investigation published in August documented PFAS contamination in one Pennsylvania fracking community resident’s drinking water.

A 2021 op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer revealed that the chemicals were used in at least eight wells in Pennsylvania, but did not disclose the location of the wells. Physicians for Social Responsibility recently published a new report on the use of PFAS in Ohio oil and gas wells. In a footnote, that report listed the location for all eight Pennsylvania wells where well operators reported using PFAS in public fracking chemical disclosures.

The Pennsylvania wells where PFAS have been used are located in the following communities:

>> Chippewa Township, Beaver County (population 7,953)
>> Donegal Township, Washington County (population 2,192)
>> Independence Township, Washington County (two wells) (population 1,515)
>> Pulaski Township, Lawrence County (three wells) (population 3,102)
>>West Finley Township, Washington County (population 813)

The operators for all eight wells reported using polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE, which is a type of PFAS marketed as Teflon, in fracking fluid. PFAS may also be used during other phases of oil and gas extraction that don’t require any kind of public disclosure. It’s likely that the chemicals have been used in additional Pennsylvania oil and gas wells, but a lack of transparency makes it impossible to know.

PFAS are likely being used in oil and gas wells throughout the country, but little research exists on how widespread the practice is and whether it’s causing drinking water contamination. Most existing research on PFAS has focused on other sources of the chemicals, like firefighting foam used at airports and military bases and industrial emissions. Investigations have found drinking water contamination in communities across the country.

“It’s critical for state regulators to start looking for these contaminants in people’s drinking water near these oil and gas sites,” Dusty Horwitt, a co-author of Physicians for Social Responsibility’s reports on PFAS, told EHN.

Jamar Thrasher — press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which is responsible for overseeing the oil and gas industry — told EHN the agency investigates spills and releases at well sites and documents its investigations, but “absent a spill or release on the surface or below surface, there is no reason to conclude that well site fluids (whether including PFAS compounds or not) would have reached nearby soils or drinking water.”

PFAS use at oil and gas wells nationwide ~ At the national level, Physicians for Social Responsibility has reported that PFAS or substances that could break down into PFAS have been used in more than 1,200 fracking wells in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming, and that this number likely represents only a fraction of potentially contaminated sites.

The organization’s recent report on the use of PFAS in Ohio oil and gas wells found that the chemicals have been used in at least 101 fracking wells in eight counties in the state since 2013.

That number might represent just a fraction of the actual wells where the chemicals were used, according to the report, because oil and gas companies withheld the identity of at least one trade secret chemical in more than 2,100 oil and gas wells during the same period.

“We’ve seen a similar phenomenon in other states, but this is a huge number of trade secret chemicals and surfactants being used in Ohio,” Horwitt said. “That means use of PFAS and other dangerous chemicals in Ohio may be much greater than what’s been publicly reported.”

The organization published a similar report on Colorado in January, which found that PFAS were used in nearly 300 oil and gas wells in the state between 2011 and 2021. That report was influential in state regulators’ decision to ban the use of PFAS in oil and gas wells.

“It’s impossible to know how widespread PFAS contamination from oil and gas wells might be at this point,” Horwitt said. “We need more transparency before we can begin to address this issue.”

A dangerous waste stream ~ Waste from the Pennsylvania drill sites, including fracking fluid, drill cuttings and soil, may also have been contaminated by PTFE. Waste from each well site was sent to various secondary locations for disposal or reuse including other fracking wells, injection wells, sewage treatment facilities and landfills.

“These chemicals are very persistent, so it’s entirely possible that those disposal sites could also be contaminated with PFAS,” Horwitt said.

And because Pennsylvania doesn’t require complete public disclosure of all the chemicals used by the oil and gas industry, these eight wells and the locations where waste from them was disposed could represent just a fraction of the oil and gas wells throughout the state where PFAS have been used or disposed of.

Thrasher said there is no plan at this time to test any additional oil and gas wastewater disposal sites, but added “PFAS is an emerging issue and we will continue to explore the prevalence of PFAS in our environment. Our focus at this time remains on our efforts on the rulemaking to establish enforceable PFAS standards in drinking water.”

PFAS are a subset of many substances associated with health problems that are generated by the oil and gas industry.

How PA’s fracking communities can protect themselves from PFAS ~ On Wednesday, Oct. 19, the Environmental Health Project, an environmental health advocacy nonprofit, will host a free webinar about PFAS and health specifically for fracking communities.

Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy organization that has spent years mapping PFAS contamination across the U.S., will speak at the event.

“In communities where we know there’s significant PFAS contamination either from a specific industry or point source, drinking water is a primary concern,” Stoiber told EHN. “Reverse osmosis and activated carbon filters are both effective at reducing PFAS in drinking water at home.”

Stoiber and Horwitt both said that regulatory agencies like the Pennsylvania DEP should test soil, groundwater and drinking water for PFAS in communities where we know the chemicals have been used in oil and gas extraction.

In Pennsylvania, that would mean specifically testing for PTFE and its breakdown products. Residents of these communities can contact the DEP to report potential PFAS contamination and request testing.

Stoiber said Pennsylvania residents should also ask their elected officials to consider phasing out the use of PFAS by the oil and gas industry.

Planning for this power plant did not involve the climate crisis

From an Article by Bob Rolley, Lock Haven Express, September 5, 2022

Renovo, Pa — Plans to build a Marcellus Shale natural gas-fired power plant here will proceed despite an Environmental Hearing Board ruling saying state-approved emission limits for sulfur dioxide (SO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are too high.

Some eight years in the making, Renovo Energy Center LLC proposes to build a 1,000-megawatt power plant designed to provide electricity to thousands of customers in Pennsylvania and New York.

It would be erected on 68 acres that served as a former Pennsylvania Railroad railcar repair shop and railyard.mThe firm says the project investment could top $850 million, create 700 construction jobs and upward of 30 permanent positions.

REC was granted an air quality permit by the state Department of Environmental Protection, with the plant’s emissions controls based on the best available technology. The Clean Air Council, PennFuture and Center for Biological Diversity appealed that permit approval, alleging it allows “illegal levels of air pollution.”

The Aug. 29 ruling written by Chief EHB Judge Thomas W. Renwand essentially said DEP allowed too high of emission limits without explaining “its rationale for selecting a less stringent emission limit, and that rationale must be appropriate in light of all the evidence in the record.”

Further, he wrote, DEP permit writers retain discretion to set best available control technology levels that “do not necessarily reflect the highest possible control efficiencies but, rather will allow permittees to achieve compliance on a consistent basis. The existence of a similar facility with a lower emissions limit creates an obligation for the permit applicant and permit issuer to consider and document whether the same emission level can be achieved at the (REC) proposed facility.”

“This ruling is vindication for the community,” argued Joseph Otis Minott, executive director and chief counsel of Clean Air Council. “DEP must set pollution limits to protect the public based on science and law, not on the whims of the polluter.”

The REC project has been endorsed by the local Renovo Borough Council, the Clinton County Economic Partnership and the Clinton County Commissioners.

“DEP had simply not done what the law requires to protect the community from these types of emissions,” added Jessica O’Neill, senior attorney at PennFuture. “The Board recognized this clear violation and we will continue to press the rest of our claims against this flawed permit.”

The board granted partial summary judgment on the issues of the sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds limits in the permits. High levels of SO2 and volatile organic compounds can cause health risks.

In its application, REC stated that “a facility with the best emissions performance for one pollutant typically cannot meet the lowest emission level for another pollutant.” Rick Franzese, REC project manager, told The Express on Sunday that, “while we’re disappointed by the ruling, we will comply with it and we look forward to commencing construction on the project in a timely manner once the appeal is resolved.”

In statements to the county commissioners during their endorsement of the project this past May, Franzese had this to say: “The REC project remains viable so long as the appeal of the project’s air permit is favorably resolved. Investor interest in the Renovo facility remains high, and increasingly so in light of current events. In particular, the war in Ukraine has highlighted the need for energy security and independence, which for the near-term in the United States can be reliably provided by domestically-sourced natural gas. Renewables, such as solar and wind, are not yet fully reliable baseload power supplies, even when augmented with the most advanced storage technology currently available.

“Increased regulation is making coal-fired generation less viable, he said, so “gas-fired plants such as Renovo are needed to replace that baseload capacity. When state-of-the-art power plants such as the REC project come online, they typically displace electricity that would otherwise have been generated by older and less efficient coal-fired and other older baseload plants with less effective pollution controls, resulting in a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” he added.

The groups appealing the permit disagree, with Robert Ukeiley, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, arguing that “trying to build a new methane-gas burning power plant at this point is just absurd. We need to be shifting to clean, cheap energy like solar and wind rather than dirty, expensive power plants which burn methane gas.”

XXX

Methane emissions cause ozone pollution (near term) & climate change (long term)

From an Article by Michael Booth, Colorado Sun, July 25, 2022

DCP Operating Company LP settles with federal and state officials over allegations of failing to detect gases contributing to Front Range ozone. This Colorado natural gas processor will pay a $3.25 million fine in a settlement with federal and state air pollution officials, after allegations the company failed to detect and repair leaks that contributed to worsening ozone problems on the northern Front Range.

DCP Operating Company LP and five related subsidiaries will pay the fines and make repairs, in a consent decree announced by the regional Environmental Protection Agency office in Denver after allegations of leaks and failure to repair at gas processing locations in Greeley, Platteville and other Weld County locations. Weld County is part of the EPA’s northern Front Range nonattainment area for ongoing ozone violations, and state and local governments must come up with plans to cut emissions that contribute to the health-harming gas.

The decree says DCP does not admit to liability for the allegations, but will have to pay the fine and also invest millions of dollars in equipment and systems to prevent new leaks. The decree was negotiated with EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division, part of the state health department.

“Enforcement actions like this are critical to improving air quality, particularly in places facing air quality challenges like Weld County,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement. Soon after the fine announcement, the state health department issued another Ozone Action Day Alert for the Front Range, one of many so far this summer, warning vulnerable residents to avoid too much outdoor activity for 24 hours.

“EPA continues to deliver cleaner air through the rigorous enforcement of the Clean Air Act,” EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker said in a statement. “This settlement will reduce emissions of over 288 tons of volatile organic compounds and 1,300 tons of methane from production areas near northern Colorado communities, a majority of which are disproportionately impacted by pollution.”

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan credited state inspectors and enforcement personnel from the air division’s leak detection and repair program. She said the settlement will go to the state’s Community Impact Fund, which helps pay for local environmental justice projects.

DCP will now have to bolster leak detection and repair at facilities in the Greeley, Kersey/Mewbourne, Platteville, Roggen, Spindle, O’Connor and Lucerne processing plants, and the future Bighorn plant. The requirements include new equipment that leaks less, tightening compliance with rules, repairing leaks faster, and staff training. The decree says the company will also use optical imaging technology to find and repair leaks faster.

One repair on two turbines at the Kersey/Mewbourne plant will cost $1.15 million, and is expected to reduce VOCs there by 26 tons a year, and methane by 375 tons a year, according to the agreement. Natural gas processing facilities separate impurities and liquids from the gas. Methane also contributes to global warming, multiplying greenhouse gases by dozens of times the rate of carbon dioxide emissions.

Ground-level ozone causes respiratory illness, aggravates asthma, and can worsen existing heart disease.

A related company, DCP Midstream, was fined $5.3 million by New Mexico regulators in 2020 for alleged repeated violations of state air pollution emissions rules.

EPA and state officials say they are focusing tightly on northern Front Range oil and gas operations. The EPA last year reached a $1 million settlement with Noble Energy over alleged violations from oil tank batteries in Weld County floodplains.

DCP said in an email statement that the company started working on some of the fixes in the decree as early as 2019. “The settlement agreement resolves an administrative enforcement matter with the EPA and the State of Colorado and is also in line with our commitment to responsible environmental management and sustainability,” said DCP manager of public affairs Jeanette Alberg. The agreement “is consistent with our ongoing efforts to reduce emissions within our company footprint and is a positive outcome for all of our stakeholders,” she said. DCP is also upgrading Colorado facilities not mentioned in the settlement, the company said.

Environmental groups responded with skepticism, noting a recent hearing in front of the Air Quality Control Commission where northern Front Range cities said their own studies showed emissions are not down.

“This just continues to underscore the oil and gas industry’s rampant noncompliance with clean air laws and the terrible toll that continues to be taken on air quality along the Front Range,” said Jeremy Nichols of WildEarth Guardians. “Studies have basically confirmed that oil and gas industry emissions have not decreased over the years. It’s good that regulators are pressing DCP, Nichols said, “but it doesn’t seem like industry is truly changing its ways and doing everything it can and should to comply.”

#######+++++++#######+++++++#######

CLEAN AIR COUNCIL Recommendation ~

Tell the EPA to finalize the strongest air pollution regulations possible. This includes a ban on gas flaring or venting unless in absolute emergencies, consistent methane monitoring at all oil and gas facilities (including smaller, leak-prone wells), and requiring “no-bleed” pneumatic controllers and pumps at all gas wells and compressor stations.

Mother Earth is getting no respect in WV or at the Supreme Court

And, we have news about air quality in Allegheny County, and a Pittsburgh visit by the U.S. Energy Secretary, who said the fight against climate change is the “war of our lifetimes.”

Now we are closer to the ‘climate cliff’ if not in a climate emergency! In a 6-3 majority decision, the Supreme Court struck down a now-defunct rule by the Obama EPA that would have shifted electricity generation away from coal to cleaner natural gas, wind and solar. “A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself,” wrote Chief Justice John Roberts for the majority.

Environmental groups, state officials, the coal industry and lawyers weigh in:

David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment: “The Supreme Court just made the monumental task of cleaning up our air and reducing climate-warming pollution much, much harder. We have limited time to reign in our climate pollution, before we fall off a climate cliff from which the planet cannot come back.”

Rachel Gleason, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance: “Coal’s a global commodity. So it really has ebbs and flows depending on what is happening globally. Because of Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, there’s a global energy crisis…and right now, [Europe is] turning their coal plants back on, so I think these kinds of overreaching policy decisions are not meant for bureaucratic agencies that change every four or eight years.”

Alex Bomstein, director of litigation for Clean Air Council: He said these types of “major questions” arguments could now be pushed more often. “Whether the Pennsylvania courts decide to take those parties up on that and try to adopt federal law as Pennsylvania law is a question I don’t know the answer to and I think we’ll be watching.”

Rob Altenburg, director for energy and climate for PennFuture: “We don’t know what the next step is going to be, but we do know that we need to get to net-zero by 2050. We have an Environmental Rights Amendment…and the Air Pollution Control Act…so this decision isn’t applicable to the state.”

John Dernbach, director of the Environmental Law and Sustainability Center at Widener University Commonwealth Law School: He said it’s “distressing” that the court took up the case when it didn’t have to, as a vehicle for limiting executive power. He doesn’t see the ruling affecting the Wolf Administration’s attempt to regulate CO2 because Pennsylvania has its own law governing air pollution that gives the state DEP authority, as well as an Environmental Rights Amendment.

Ramez Ziadeh, Acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection: “The ruling undercuts good-faith efforts to fight climate change, but that does not mean we will stop fighting.”

A major effort of the Wolf administration has been joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade program with 11 other states to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. But Pennsylvania’s participation in RGGI hinges on the state’s next governor. Republican nominee Doug Mastriano has promised to remove the state from RGGI on his first day, if elected, while Democratic nominee Josh Shapiro has expressed doubts about RGGI.

THE ALLEGHENY FRONT, 67 BEDFORD SQUARE, PITTSBURGH, PA 15203

Contact Email Address ~ info@alleghenyfront.org

Pittsburgh and Allegheny County dominate western Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH – County Executive Rich Fitzgerald issued the following statement regarding the release of the 2022 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER), an annual study which tracks employment trends across the energy sector and within key energy technologies:

“The USEER report showed that U.S. energy sector jobs grew 4% over 2020, outpacing overall U.S. employment, while also adding more than 300,000 jobs in the past year. Pennsylvania is one of the top states in terms of percent growth in transmission, distribution and storage energy jobs, and its energy workers represent 3.3% of all U.S. energy jobs, and 4.6% of total state employment. And employers in Pennsylvania are more optimistic than their peers across the country about energy sector jobs growth in the coming year.

“It’s easy to see why. Energy, and our transition to clean energy, has really been this region’s strong suit. We’ve been looking at and finding ways to make the transition from reliance on fossil fuels well before addressing climate change became a priority. We have the country’s first Green Building Alliance, and its largest 2030 District. We have focused on reducing our energy footprint for existing buildings, while also talking about standards for new construction. Pittsburgh International Airport has invested in a microgrid and generates its own power from natural gas and the largest solar farm in the county.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit has begun work to electrify its bus rapid transit (BRT) system. Our building trades have invested in training, green technologies and innovations to build a green workforce. We have invested in hydro by entering into a power purchase agreement for renewable electricity from a new low-impact, run-of-river hydroelectric facility on the Ohio River. The development of autonomous vehicles in our region will assist in net reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. Wabtec is located here and is exploring the electrification of rail.

“No matter the industry, this region is working towards net-zero emissions. The USEER reflects that investment and our commitment. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $62 billion for the Department of Energy to expand access to energy efficiency, deliver reliable and clean power, and build new technologies. We are thrilled to have had Secretary Granholm here today to release the report and to convene a roundtable of officials to talk about the opportunities for good-paying jobs that will drive clean energy across the country and in this region, while also revitalizing our manufacturing industry.”

“One of the things that we heard today was that between now and 2030, as industries across the globe look to decarbonize, there will be an approximately $23 trillion market in which clean energy jobs will thrive. We look forward to the opportunities and the future growth that these investments will mean to our region. We partner better than anyone – from private companies to public institutions to the building trades, universities and the philanthropic community – and will work collaboratively and cooperatively to meet the needs of our region and this country in clean energy.”

# # #

Office of County Executive Rich Fitzgerald
101 Courthouse │ 436 Grant Street │ Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: 412-350-6500 │ Fax: 412-350-6512 │www.alleghenycounty.us

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.

Memorial to workers of coal ash cleanup in Kingston, TN

From an Article by Travis Liller, AP News, May 30, 2022

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In 2013, the first of more than 200 workers who labored to clean up the nation’s worst coal ash spill filed a suit against the contractor, blaming Jacobs Engineering for illnesses they believe were caused by exposure to heavy metals and radioactive particles in the ash. Nearly a decade later, not a single case has made it through the court system.

As the cases drag on, dozens who believed their work for the contractor made them sick have died.

They include people like Ansol Clark, who arrived at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant just hours after the Dec. 22, 2008, spill, and got to work. He labored long hours in the coal ash sludge with few or no days off for months at a time until he became too sick to work in 2013. He died last year from a rare blood cancer that he believed was caused by exposure to the ash.

“Ansol never lived to see any justice,” his wife of almost 50 years, Janie Clark, said. “He never did — on earth.”

Over the years, Jacobs has made repeated attempts to have the suits thrown out. The Tennessee Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Wednesday in Jacob’s latest challenge to the workers’ lawsuits. The company wants a judge to dismiss most of the plaintiffs for failing to follow a procedure outlined in the Tennessee Silica Claims Priorities Act.

The law requires anyone pursuing claims for exposure to silica or mixed dust to file a doctor’s report concluding that the exposure is a “substantial contributing factor” to the patient’s illness. For plaintiffs bringing wrongful death claims on behalf of a loved one, they must also show the worker was exposed to the dust for at least five years. Workers with lung cancer are subject to the five-year provision too and additionally must show that their cancer was diagnosed at least 10 years after their first exposure to the dust.

In court filings, Jacobs said the vast majority of plaintiffs either didn’t file the doctor reports, filed inadequate reports, or didn’t meet the time restrictions. For example, one worker died from lung cancer in 2015, less than seven years after the spill, so should not be allowed to sue, according to Jacobs.

Attorneys for the workers argue the silica law was never meant to apply to cases like theirs. The act specifically refers to silica, which is just one component of coal ash. The components they believe caused the worker injuries include arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury and radium, but not silica. The law also refers to claims for very specific injuries — silicosis and pulmonary fibrosis — that are not at issue in this case.

In addition, the workers’ attorneys say it is simply too late to bring this challenge. The case already went through the first part of a two-part trial in 2018, when a Knoxville, Tennessee, jury found that Jacobs breached its duty of care to the workers. The jurors said Jacobs’ actions were capable of making the workers sick. Whether those actions actually did make them sick, and thus eligible for monetary damages, was left for a subsequent trial or trials.

Jacobs’ attorneys have said the company did its best to manage the cleanup in a way regulators said was safe. It has not been proven that Jacobs — or even coal ash — is to blame for any illnesses, and the EPA classifies coal ash as nonhazardous.

After the 2018 trial, the federal judge in the case ordered mediation, alluding to workers’ urgent need for medical care. Mediation was unsuccessful, but a new trial date has not been set as Jacobs continues to pursue legal challenges. Twice, the company has asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to find that it is immune from being sued because it was acting on behalf of the Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal agency. The court has ruled against Jacobs both times, most recently this month.

Doug Bledsoe didn’t live to see that small victory. Bledsoe was called to work at Kingston just days after the 2008 collapse of a six-story earthen dam released more than a billion gallons of coal ash sludge. The spill was so massive it knocked nearby homes off their foundations. As the sludge slowly dried over the yearslong course of the cleanup, it turned into a fine dust that had to be constantly watered down but still filled the air, especially on windy days, according to trial testimony.

Bledsoe drove a water truck there until 2014. In 2018, he was diagnosed with lung and brain cancer. He died two years later, leaving behind his wife of 38 years, Johnnie Bledsoe. The two began dating when she was 14 and Doug Bledsoe was her “whole world,” she said.

“Everything we done, we done together,” Johnnie Bledsoe said. “We raised cattle together. We had a farm together. All that’s stopped.” Last year Johnnie Bledsoe and Janie Clark received an American flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol to honor the coal ash cleanup workers. Clark said it is the only official acknowledgement they have received of the suffering they’ve endured.

Before he died Ansol Clark built a wooden cross that he placed near the Kingston plant as a memorial to the workers. Janie Clark said she plans to go there this weekend to change the flowers, as she does regularly.

“I’ll be doing that as long as I can get up the hill,” Clark said. “I do not intend to let this be forgotten.”

>>>>>>>…………………>>>>>>>…………………>>>>>>>

See Also: Coal Ash Is Hazardous. Coal Ash Is Waste. But According to the EPA, Coal Ash Is Not “Hazardous Waste” ~ Jeff Turrentine, NRDC On Earth, September 6, 2019

Coal ash, a catchall term for several kinds of waste left over at power plants that burn coal, typically contains a number of substances harmful to human health—arsenic, chromium, lead, and mercury among them. Coal ash is incredibly dangerous. Short-term exposure can bring irritation of the nose and throat, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath. Long-term exposure can lead to liver damage, kidney damage, cardiac arrhythmia, and a variety of cancers. Every year hundreds of American coal plants generate about 110 million tons of the stuff. Most of it gets mixed with water and stored in sludgy basins commonly known as coal ash ponds, which have an unfortunate tendency to leak or flood or spill, sometimes in catastrophic amounts.

A few days before Christmas in 2008, more than a billion gallons of coal ash slurry poured out of a Kingston, Tennessee, power plant, spilling into local waterways and swamping 15 homes after the six-story earthen dam that had been containing it collapsed. The incident remains, to this day, the largest industrial spill in American history. More than 900 workers were quickly dispatched to clean up the mess, a massive effort that took five years. When those same workers began to get sick and even die under conditions that strongly suggested coal ash poisoning, 200 of them sued the contractor that had employed them, alleging that they had been greatly misled about the dangers of their exposure. A Tennessee jury last November found that the contractor had indeed jeopardized the health of its workers through its actions, but the case is ongoing, and no monetary damages have yet been paid.

Despite the protests of many whose lives have been affected by this demonstrably toxic substance, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has for years refused to classify coal ash as hazardous waste. Instead, the agency continues to regard coal ash as solid waste — the same designation, believe it or not, given to household garbage.

Wind turbines growing more numerous and more powerful

From an Article by Rachel McDevitt, State Impact Pennsylvania, May 27, 2022

PHOTO IN ARTICLE ~ Turbines that are part of the Sandy Ridge Wind Farm in Centre and Blair counties. Wind energy is one option for electricity consumers in Pennsylvania.

The electric grid operator for the region that includes Pennsylvania is PJM (aka Pennsylvania – Jersey – Maryland) is preparing for a shift in electricity generation. There are nearly 700 Pennsylvania projects waiting in PJM’s queue. Most are solar projects. PJM recently released a road map for the grid of the future.

Over the next 15 years, it expects to add 100,000 megawatts of renewable power from sources including onshore and offshore wind, solar, and battery storage. Right now there are about 15,000 MW of renewables on the PJM grid. It takes one megawatt to power about 200 homes.

PJM estimates it will cost $3 billion to bring on those resources. Some of those costs could be offset by federal infrastructure money. But some will ultimately filter down to consumers’ bills. However, some experts argue that the low cost of generating renewable energy and a more efficient grid will save money in the long term.

To prepare, PJM is looking to streamline the process for new sources to join the grid and studying how to expand transmission and maintain reliability. Electric generators and municipalities within PJM recently voted to speed up and improve the process for getting new power on the grid. The plan is expected to go into effect later this year or in early 2023. Under it, proposed projects would be addressed on a first-ready, first-served basis rather than first come, first served. PJM would also simplify its analysis of project costs.

This PJM operator says the number of projects entering its New Services Queue has nearly tripled over the past four years, because of the rapid growth in renewables. PJM started this year with nearly 2,500 projects under study, with the vast majority of proposed megawatts coming from renewable or storage resources.

The plan would create a fast track for about 450 projects. There are nearly 700 Pennsylvania projects waiting in PJM’s queue. Most are solar projects.

PJM Interconnection coordinates the movement of electricity through all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Pennsylvania has a total generation capacity of more than 48,000 megawatts.

About StateImpact Pennsylvania ~ StateImpact Pennsylvania is a collaboration among WITF, WHYY, and the Allegheny Front. Reporters Reid Frazier, Rachel McDevitt and Susan Phillips cover the commonwealth’s energy economy. Read their reports on this site, and hear them on public radio stations across Pennsylvania.

Crossridge Landfill near Steubenville Ohio has issues

From an Article & Broadcast by Tyler Madden, WTOV News 9, Steubenville, OH, 5/19/22

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ohio — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said it was important to visit the Crossridge Landfill in Jefferson County on Thursday as his office is still involved in litigation pertaining to the site. “I’m very troubled by what I saw,” Yost said.

Signs up and down the road leading to the landfill site underscore the longstanding tension over the site in the community. Yost was joined by officials from the Jefferson County Health Department on a tour of the site. “I’m amazed this has been pending for so long and hasn’t been cleaned up,” Yost said. “There’s a part where you can see the leachate and it looks like some kind of horror movie.”

NEWS9 cameras were not permitted to go on the tour as it is private property. But there were a number of different areas on the site highlighted on the tour, including those problem areas that have caused so many concerns from residents.

“Whether it’s dumping leachate into the water, that’s vitally important environmental issue that needs to be addressed and he’s seen them himself now firsthand,” Jefferson County Health Commissioner Andrew Henry said.

“It’s red and oily and it’s coming off of there and it looks like it’s headed down the creek into the river,” Yost said. The AG’s office is still involved in litigation involving the site and how it moves forward.

“We keep kicking the can down the road and our can is getting kicked,” Yost said. “We’ve got a hearing on (June 21). I wanted to see this for myself, and I’ve instructed my staff to do everything in their power to move this thing forward.

“I want the local folks that have been working so hard on this to know that they have a partner in the state and we’re looking to get this done and cleaned up.”

LOCAL SHALE REGION HEALTH SEMINAR .... ZOOM @ 7 PM

From the local Environmental Health Project, Peters Township, Penna., April 25, 2022

Please join the Environmental Health Project (EHP) this Wednesday, April 27, 2022, for Reproductive Health and Shale Gas Development featuring Mary Willis, Ph.D., MPH. The webinar will begin at 7 p.m. EST.

During the event, Dr. Willis will present the findings of her two most recent studies, emphasizing the role of environmental exposures on reproductive health.

Registration is available for free at the link below. We look forward to seeing you!

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErcuuurz0sHNa1jwQF515JvaWN04Nts9Sk