Jul 13 Environment California Congressman Says Federal Government Needs More Tools for Mine Safety The leading Democrat on the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce says the federal government doesn’t have enough tools to keep coal miners safe.California Congressman George Miller sent a letter to three Kentucky coal mine operators last month, asking them to set up a plan to pay the more than $1.5 million in fines all three owe for mine safety violations. An attorney for the men responded, telling Congress the mine operators wouldn’t be able to pay the fines anytime soon—or ever.And there’s not much the federal government can do about that. Miller says that’s a problem. If the government can’t make companies pay their fines, there’s no incentive for mine operators to follow the law and protect coal miners’ health.He says it’s especially disturbing that operators who already have spotty records and owe money can open up new operations.“Well the first thing is, I don’t know why you would let a person that’s been heavily fined, owes a huge amount of money for the operation of an unsafe mine, why you’d let them open up another mining operation,” Miller said. “Where in the world do you get to do that? You don’t get to open up one restaurant where you’re under penalties for operating an unsafe restaurant or an unhealthy restaurant or an unclean restaurant. Where do you get to do this in business?”Passing new mine safety laws is necessary, he says, but unless the government can collect mine safety fines, there’s no incentive for operators to follow the law.“I think it’s clear that the federal government needs additional tools to get the money that’s owed and to impose the penalties that should be imposed for the lack of safe operation.”Two of the mine operators Miller wrote to still owe money for the fatal 2006 accident at the Kentucky Darby Mine in Harlan County.Miller says the federal government needs to act, but the Republican majority in the House has ignored efforts to tighten regulations on coal mine operators. By Erica Peterson Jul 13 Environment California Congressman Says Federal Government Needs More Tools for Mine Safety Erica Peterson
Jul 13 Environment State Uses Helicopters to Watch Mines State government inspectors have been using aerial surveillance to watch coal operators in central Appalachia.Helicopter flights have cost The Kentucky Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement more than $477,000 over the past four years, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.News of the flyovers surprised mining industry leaders, including Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett, who protested the covert nature of the inspections and questioned their effectiveness.Kentucky Department of Aviation documents released to the AP under an open records request show that state police and wildlife officers are also using planes and helicopters for aerial surveillance. By Cameron Price Jul 13 Environment State Uses Helicopters to Watch Mines Cameron Price
Jul 13 Environment Air Quality Alert In Effect Monday The Louisville Air Pollution Control District is predicting elevated levels of ozone on Monday, July 16. The Air Quality Index is forecast to be 106, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups. This is the 19th Air Quality Alert so far this year. The area has exceeded ozone standards 15 times this summer. For hourly air quality updates, call (502) 574-3319. By Erica Peterson Jul 13 Environment Air Quality Alert In Effect Monday Erica Peterson
Jul 12 Environment MSHA Fines Eastern Kentucky Mining Company for 2011 Fatality A Kentucky coal company has been fined nearly $600,000 by the federal government, stemming from violations that directly contributed to the death of a miner last year.In June 2011, David Partin was killed at the Manalapan Mining Company’s P-1 Mine in Harlan County. A large section of rock fell from the coal mine’s wall, and knocked him into a dolly.MSHA found that Manalapan Mining didn’t provide adequate support for the mine walls. The operators also didn’t conduct adequate pre-shift and on-shift examinations, and didn’t change the mining plans at all to respond to changing geologic conditions.MSHA spokeswoman Amy Louviere says the $594,100 fine is on the larger side for an accident only resulting in one death, but the violations were serious.Manalapan Mining is contesting the violations. Company officials were also indicted by a grand jury in February, in response to the accident. By Erica Peterson Jul 12 Environment MSHA Fines Eastern Kentucky Mining Company for 2011 Fatality Erica Peterson
Jul 12 Environment Ozone Levels Were Unhealthy Yesterday, Without Warning There was no Air Quality Alert in effect yesterday, but ozone levels were unexpectedly high.High levels of ozone were detected at air monitors at Buckner, Cannons Lane, Watson Lane and New Albany. All the levels detected were in the range that's unhealthy for sensitive groups. By Erica Peterson Jul 12 Environment Ozone Levels Were Unhealthy Yesterday, Without Warning Erica Peterson
Jul 11 Environment Renewable Energy Workshop Postponed Until March A conference on renewable energy that was scheduled for next month has been pushed back to March 2013.This year’s Kentucky Statewide Workshop on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency—organized by the Conn Center at the U of L—was supposed to be next month. But Conn Center Assistant Director Andrew Marsh says the center just decided that more academic speakers would be available at a different time of year.“August was looking to be a tricky time because of class schedules and things like that with some of the speakers that we really wanted to get,” he said. “So rather than rush it and maybe not have as high quality of a presentation to give to the people who really needed to hear it, we decided to push it back to March, which was when our 2011 workshop was, and that was a very successful time.”The new workshop is scheduled for March 24-26, 2013. Topics covered will include solar energy, biomass, energy storage and efficiency. By Erica Peterson Jul 11 Environment Renewable Energy Workshop Postponed Until March Erica Peterson
Jul 11 Environment LG&E Fined $24,000 for Coal Ash Dust Violations at Cane Run Power Plant Louisville's Air Pollution Control District has fined Louisville Gas and Electric for several violations at the Cane Run Power Station in southwest Louisville.The Air Pollution Control District fined the company $24,000 for violations dating back to February. They include several instances of fugitive dust—when coal ash from the plant's landfill left the company's property. There were also 20 odor complaints, where residents reported smelling sulfur near the plant, and one instance of an equipment malfunction that sent brown smoke out the plant's smoke stack.LG&E spokeswoman Chris Whelan says the company has taken measures to control dust at the plant.“We’ve taken a considerable amount of steps,” she said. “We’ve done exterior watering, we’ve put up the dust screen, we’ve put up all kinds of additional initiatives that basically help us contain the dust at that area.”Residents living across the street from the plant have complained about dust for the past year. Recently, they’ve been videotaping dust clouds rising off the company’s landfill and crossing the property line. That video footage was referenced in several of the violation notices, helped provide the necessary proof for the violation.Air Pollution Control District spokesman Tom Nord says the APCD would like to see a plant-wide plan to control the dust. “This problem is apparently not going away, and we’re trying to get LG&E to fix it,” he said.The company must demonstrate compliance with the law by July 27, and many of the individual violations also require compliance plans, to ensure similar violations don't happen in the future. LG&E was fined $26,000 for similar violations in November, but eventually settled for a smaller fine. By Erica Peterson Jul 11 Environment LG&E Fined $24,000 for Coal Ash Dust Violations at Cane Run Power Plant Erica Peterson
Jul 10 Environment Rising Temperatures Could Also Increase Ozone Levels in Next Decade The summer has just begun, and Louisville has already seen dangerously high levels of ozone pollution on thirteen days. Scientists are predicting that ozone could become an even bigger problem as average temperatures rise.Ozone is created when pollution from cars and smokestacks cooks in summer heat. Louisville’s seen a lot of it lately, and nearly every week there’s been at least one warning that the air outside could be unhealthy for at least some people.Todd Sanford is a climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. In a study he released last year, he studied known correlations between the temperature and ozone levels. And as climate change progresses and temperatures rise in 2020 and 2025, Sanford says there are also slight increases in ozone pollution.“But we were seeing that this does actually lead to fairly significant impacts. So although the changes themselves are modest, they’re occurring on the backdrop of already elevated ozone levels,” he said. “So what was surprising to us was that even these small changes can lead to pretty significant impacts.”In the report, Sanford estimates that rising ozone levels will cause 50,000 more cases of acute respiratory symptoms in Kentucky…and that’s in the year 2020 alone. By Erica Peterson Jul 10 Environment Rising Temperatures Could Also Increase Ozone Levels in Next Decade Erica Peterson
Jul 9 Environment Patriot Coal Files for Chapter 11; Will Reorganize A major coal company with mines in Appalachia and Western Kentucky has filed for bankruptcy. In a news release, Patriot Coal said it was undertaking the move to facilitate restructuring."The coal industry is undergoing a major transformation and Patriot's existing capital structure prevents it from making the necessary adjustments to achieve long-term success," said Patriot Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Irl F. Engelhardt. "Our objective is to use the reorganization process to address important issues in an orderly way and make the Company stronger and more competitive."The company cited several factors affecting the coal industry as reasons financial restructuring is necessary, like low natural gas prices, environmental regulations and a weaker economy.During recent months, the cancellation of customer contracts, lower thermal coal prices and rising expenditures for environmental and other liabilities have severely constrained the Company's liquidity and financial flexibility.According to Patriot's website, the company has three mines in Union and Henderson counties. By Erica Peterson Jul 9 Environment Patriot Coal Files for Chapter 11; Will Reorganize Erica Peterson
Jul 9 Environment EIA Data Shows Natural Gas, Coal Generation Equal for First Time For the first time since the federal government has begun collecting data, natural gas and coal produce virtually the same amount of the country’s electricity.The Energy Information Administration just crunched its numbers for this past April, and preliminary data shows that both coal and natural gas make up about 32 percent of the country’s total electricity generation.This was a bad season for all energy, because mild weather meant less heat was needed to warm homes and businesses. But natural gas also had record low prices, which helped it pull even.And now that it’s reached equal footing with coal, natural gas is likely to keep increasing its share. By 2016, when new air pollution regulations go into effect, many plants are scheduled to complete a transition from coal to natural gas.That’s happening even in Kentucky, where most of the state’s electricity comes from coal. But coal will likely retain the upper hand for the foreseeable future. After Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities retire several coal-fired plants and replace the generation with natural gas, 90 percent of the company’s fleet will still be coal powered. About eight or nine percent will be natural gas, with the remaining energy coming from hydropower. By Erica Peterson Jul 9 Environment EIA Data Shows Natural Gas, Coal Generation Equal for First Time Erica Peterson
Jul 9 Environment Kentucky to Receive Federal Grant to Continue Studying Fatal Bat Disease Kentucky is among 30 states that will receive federal funds to boost monitoring for a deadly bat disease.Biologists from the state have already been working to document the spread of White Nose Syndrome, which is a deadly fungus that nearly always kills the bats it infects. U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Ann Froschauer says the additional federal funds will augment that effort.“This support will help the state as well as the larger national response effort in trying to better understand how the disease is affecting our North American bat populations,” she said.Thirty states will receive grant funding, but the disease has only been found in 19 of them.“Some of these states where White Nose Syndrome is not yet, will be using this money to try to help in advance and preparation and expectation that the disease may reach them, trying to figure out sort of where their bat populations are, the distribution, what kinds of bats they have,” Froschauer said.White Nose Syndrome has already killed about 5.5 million bats in North America. In Kentucky, it’s been found in Trigg and Breckenridge counties. The state’s share of the grant funding is $32,000. By Erica Peterson Jul 9 Environment Kentucky to Receive Federal Grant to Continue Studying Fatal Bat Disease Erica Peterson
Jul 9 Environment City Launches First of Several Recycling Projects Louisville Metro Government employees will begin participating in the city’s first recycling project created through a $4.8 million Bloomberg Philanthropies grant.Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer signed an executive order Monday to replace the trash cans at all Metro Government employees’ desks with recycling bins by year’s end.“If we’re telling people they need to be more sustainable and they need to recycle more, certainly city government should be a model for that as well," Fischer said shortly before signing the order.Metro Government officials are encouraging businesses to follow suit in order to meet its goal of increasing recycling by 25 percent over the next three years. The decision to expand recycling within Metro Government came from the city's Innovation Delivery Team that was created through the grant.Next week, two city offices including the mayor's office and the Metro Development Center will replace garbage cans at employee desks with recycling bins. Staff wanting to throw away garbage will have to use a designated trash can on their floor.Maria Koetter, Louisville's director of sustainability, said this project should save the city money by redirecting recycled material away from landfills, but how much money is not yet determined.“The first few months, we’ll establish the baseline of the increase of recyclable material and then we’ll be watching our landfill fees go down," she said.Fischer said he expects all offices to be on board by the end of the year.The city will also be implementing a second recycling program later this year. It’ll provide 8,500 residents with large roll-out recycling bins at home and measure their participation.Councilman Kevin Kramer has pushed for a similar program county-wide for years. He applauds Fischer's effort to set an example within local government, but also said he feels the city could provide all residents with large-roll out bins, while increasing recycle collection to once a week."What it requires is someone in the mayor's office to decide this is a big enough deal to make that investment," said Kramer.Koetter told WFPL the pilot program has potential to expand on a larger scale, but she said a county-wide program may still be over five years away. By Devin Katayama Jul 9 Environment City Launches First of Several Recycling Projects Devin Katayama
Jul 9 Environment New York Times Op-Ed Focuses on Mountaintop Removal Jason Howard of the Kentucky Environmental Foundation had an Op-Ed in the New York Times yesterday on the ways in which coal--specifically, mountaintop removal coal mining--is dividing people and communities in Appalachia.Howard chronicles coal industry advertising and the harassment of several coalfields environmental activists.There is no easy resolution to the fraught relationship between the coal industry and the people of Appalachia, many of whom rely on it for jobs even as it poisons their region. But it is imperative that the industry’s leaders and their elected allies lay down their propaganda and engage in an honest, civil dialogue about the issue. The stakes are too high to do otherwise.Howard is also the co-author (along with Silas House) of "Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal." By Erica Peterson Jul 9 Environment New York Times Op-Ed Focuses on Mountaintop Removal Erica Peterson
Jul 9 Environment Drought Endangers Corn Crops, Could Raise Food Prices Despite scattered thunderstorms during the past week, parts of Indiana and Kentucky remain in a drought. That condition is hitting corn and soybean farmers particularly hard.Half of Indiana’s and nearly half of Kentucky’s corn crop are in jeopardy, rated as “poor” or “very poor” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt says once a crop is rated “very poor,” there’s not much that can be salvaged.“Probably getting close to virtually gone. Very little yield potential left in that corn,” he said.And once an area is in a drought, it’s hard to get out of it. Some areas have a rain deficit of around 10 inches, so for the drought to end, normal seasonal rain would have to come with additional rainfall.Hurt says the low corn and soybean harvests from this growing season will likely lead to higher food prices. He expects prices for cereal, wheat and bakery products to begin rising by the end of the summer. Commodities like meat, poultry and dairy—from animals that are often fed with corn—will likely rise by next year. By Erica Peterson Jul 9 Environment Drought Endangers Corn Crops, Could Raise Food Prices Erica Peterson