Erica Peterson

The Louisville Air Pollution Control District has issued the first air quality alert of 2013. Regulators are predicting elevated levels of ozone tomorrow. The Air Quality Index is forecast to be 104, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups. 

Representatives of a company that wants to build a natural gas liquids pipeline across Kentucky are beginning a public relations and information campaign in 13 counties. At a meeting in Nelson County this morning, they were met with anger, challenges and questions from local residents.

Federal investigators are still looking into the April explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas that killed 14 people. The explosion was called by a chemical called ammonium nitrate, and a new media analysis shows the chemical is stored in locations in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee.

Organizers are hoping a march and rally this Thursday will be one of the biggest environmental justice events ever held in Kentucky.

The event is organized by Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light, in conjunction with the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, which is also happening in Louisville this week. It’s meant to raise awareness of the environmental effects of burning fossil fuels—like coal—for energy, and the ways it affects nearby residents.

Later this summer, a company plans to open a surface mine in southern Kentucky. But the operation won’t be mining for coal. Instead, they’re seeking to extract a new natural resource in the commonwealth: tar sands.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection plan to remediate all 69 of the contaminated residential sites near the former Black Leaf Chemical Plant.

Last week, I wrote about emerald ash borers in Louisville, and the toll the pest could take on the city’s tree canopy. So, if you have an ash tree in your yard, what can you do?

For the past few years, climatologists have been telling people three things: yes, the world is warming. Yes, human-contributed carbon dioxide is contributing to this warming. And the best-case scenario is an average increase of 2 degrees Celsius, which might not sound like a lot, but has the potential to wreak havoc on some ecosystems.

But now, the International Energy Agency is warning that a 2 degree increase is too optimistic, and the world’s current path is more likely to result in an increase of 3.6 and 5.3 degrees Celsius. The agency is recommending governments adopt four new policies to try to slow the warming, and hold it to 2 degrees Celsius. They’re calling this the “4-for-2°C scenario,” and say it would lower emissions with proven technologies without harming economic growth.

Work is still ongoing to neutralize hundreds of thousands of gallons of a dangerous chemical at DuPont Louisville’s plant, after an equipment malfunction led to a leak yesterday.

DuPont officials say it seems a faulty flange on a 500,000 gallon tank of hydrochloric acid caused the leak. About 1500 pounds of the chemical was released into the air and onto the ground, and those living within a mile of the plant were told to shelter-in-place yesterday evening. Now, crews are working to neutralize the chemical and remove it, a process that could take up to two days.

UPDATE, 10:52 pm: Officials say the Shelter-in-Place has been lifted for residents living within one mile of the DuPont Louisville plant in Rubbertown. 

A tank filled with 400,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid is still leaking, but officials have determined there is no risk to the public or plant workers.

The Environmental Protection Agency, Metropolitan Sewer District, the health and fire departments are on sight working with DuPont to help contain the chemical.

Officials say the situation is stable.