water pollution

Pollution, Wildlife and Apathy: What I Saw While Paddling Down Beargrass Creek

Erica Peterson — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:23:52 +0000

The three forks of Beargrass Creek wind through much of Louisville. The waterway used to be used for waste disposal…and it still takes on wastewater from time to time, when the city's sewer system overflows.

But progress has been made to clean up Beargrass Creek, and today several groups went out on the water to take a look.

Kentucky Will Develop New Strategy to Reduce Nutrient Pollution

Erica Peterson — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:21:16 +0000

Kentucky regulators say the state will develop a more comprehensive strategy for controlling nutrient water pollution, which commonly comes from sources like sewage treatment plants and agricultural runoff. Regulators from a dozen states and five federal agencies met in Louisville today to discuss the pollution, and how it contributes to hypoxia.

New Clean Water Technology Will Be Tested in Louisville

Erica Peterson — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:27:51 +0000

A new nanotechnology to clean up contaminated water will soon be tested in Louisville. It will use two precious metals—gold and palladium—to remove chloroform from contaminated groundwater at the DuPont plant in Rubbertown.

Nanotechnology is a term that refers to materials made in a lab that manipulate chemicals at an atomic level. They’re smaller than a red blood cell, hence “nano.”

EPA Official, Environmental Activists Reflect on 40 Years of the Clean Water Act

Colleen Stewart — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 11:00:00 +0000

One of the country's most effective environmental laws-- the Clean Water Act--turns 40 today.

The act has been setting water quality standards and regulating pollution for the nation's streams, lakes and wetlands since being signed by a bipartisan Congress in 1972.

“Before 1972, this nation approached water quality as ‘the dilution is the solution to pollution,” said Hank Graddy of Kentucky Watershed Watch, in a breakout session at the Healthy Farms, Local Foods Conference last weekend.

Regulators Grant Mercury Variance for Ohio River Plant

Erica Peterson — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:22:03 +0000

Ohio River regulators have voted unanimously to allow a West Virginia company five more years to comply with new, more stringent pollution requirements.

ORSANCO to Make Final Decision on Mercury Variance Thursday

Erica Peterson — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:30:00 +0000

The regulatory body that oversees pollution in the Ohio River is holding its fall meeting in Louisville this week.

The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission—or ORSANCO—is made up of representatives from eight states and the federal government. The body meets three times a year.

Kentucky Reaches Settlement with Coal Company Over Water Violations

Erica Peterson — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:56:43 +0000

Kentucky has reached a settlement with a coal company accused of thousands of violations of the Clean Water Act.

Genius Grant Winners Include Ecologist Who Studies Gulf of Mexico's Dead Zone

Erica Peterson — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:25:17 +0000

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced the recipients of their 'Genius Grants' yesterday, and one of them is a scientist dedicated to studying the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Nancy Rabalais is a marine ecologist and the executive director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.

Kentucky Close to Settling With Coal Company Over Water Pollution Violations

Erica Peterson — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:59:15 +0000

A lawsuit filed by the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet against a coal company for water pollution is close to being settled.

Kentucky Joins Interstate Water Pollution Trading Program

Erica Peterson — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 14:31:51 +0000

Kentucky's Division of Water has joined neighboring Indiana and Ohio in entering a water pollution credit trading program.

Basically, this program would allow power plants and other industrial facilities to avoid some controls--and pollute a little more--if they pay farmers upstream to control their runoff.