Environment

Louisville Gas and Electric will hold a press conference Monday morning to announce “a new beneficial reuse manufacturing facility.” The star-studded event will feature Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and state house majority leader Rocky Adkins.

So, why the fuss? It seems that Louisville company Charah plans to use the byproducts scrubbed from the emissions at the Mill Creek Power Station in a sulfate-based fertilizer the company manufactures.

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.

The Air Pollution Control Board could be close to its first administrative hearing in seven years.

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.”

It’s no secret that Louisville has issues with air pollution. But it’s difficult to determine which pollutants are present, how present they are and whether some areas of town are disproportionately affected by pollution.

Over the next few months, WFPL is partnering with community members to conduct small-scale environmental testing. Interested participants just have to be willing to host a small monitor in their homes for three days, and be interviewed for any stories that result from the testing. It’ll be easy, fun and informative.