Power Plants

Send Senator Casey thanks for protecting our health and withstanding industry lobbying.

As any regular visitor to this Website will have observed, the federal Environmental Protection Agency is under constant attack. The attacks seem to be driven by folk who deplore any regulation, by political opponents of anything Obamian, and by lobbyists for the coal, utility, oil and gas industries, etc. The latest attack was engineered by climate-change denier Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). On June 20 the Senator called for passage of a Joint Resolution to scrap EPA regulation of mercury and toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants. Sen. Bob Casey, to his credit and our gratitude, and despite a strong lobbying effort from the coal industry and electrical utilities, joined 52 other senators to defeat JR 37. Sen. Pat Toomey voted in favor of scraping the mercury standards.
For more on Casey’s vote, see two editorials below. (more…)

Photo: Kathryn Hilton. Randy Francisco, organizer with Sierra Club’s ‘Beyond Coal’ campaign, testifying at GHG hearing.

Seventeen people testified at a Citizens Hearing on the EPA’s GHG emission rule on June 13 in Pittsburgh City Council chambers. Opening the hearing was Katie Feeney of the Clean Air Council of Philadelphia followed by former Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper of Erie, a number of private citizens, and representatives of local environmental and health organizations. Arranged by Councilwoman Rudiak, the hearing was chaired by Council President Harris. All witnesses supported the EPA’s first rule to control carbon emissions from fossil-fueled power plants. Comments may be submitted prior to June 25, should be addressed to [ a?and?r?Docket@epa.gov ], and identified by Docket ID No. EPAHQ?OAR?2011?0660. The EPA’s GHG fact sheet is available for background information. (more…)

Little Blue Run. Photo courtesy of CACA

The largest coal-ash pond in the United States is the 1,700-acre Little Blue Run impoundment at the Bruce Mansfield power plant in Beaver County. On May 30 the grassroots Little Blue Regional Action Group, with the aid of the Environmental Integrity Project and Public Justice, filed a notice of intent (NOI) to sue the owners, First Energy of Akron OH. The causes of the NOI include surface and groundwater contamination, discharges into the Ohio River in violation of the federal Clean Water Act, and failure to properly report impoundment releases to the EPA.

Little Blue Run. Photocourtesy of CACA

The year 2011 ended on a positive note with a temporary halt to expansion of the Little Blue Run coal ash impoundment at the Bruce Mansfield Plant in Greene Twp., Beaver County. In a December 15, 2011, PA DEP issued a 7-page technical deficiency letter in response to power plant owner First Energy’s application to expand the lagoon behind the nation’s highest (450 feet) unlined earthen dam for coal ash impoundment. Although pleased with the DEP decision, members of the grassroots Little Blue Run campaign, lead by 500-member Citizens Against Coal Ash (CACA), fear that after correcting the deficiencies highlighted by the DEP, First Energy company will continue with the Little Blue Run expansion plans.

NOTE. Jan. 18 a group of organizations including the Sierra Club issued an intent to sue the EPA to force the release of long awaited public health safeguards against toxic coal ash.

On January 10 President Obama made an unusual visit to the Environmental Protection Agency to thank the staff for their work. During a videoed twelve-minute address he reviewed progress made by the agency in protection of our water and air, including the recent regulations to reduce power plant emissions. The President’s expression of support for the EPA staff was in stark contrast to the attacks on the agency by Presidential hopefuls such as Govs. Romney and Perry, and House Speaker Gingrich.

Representatives of environmental groups with Councilman Bill Peduto outside the Pittsburgh office of Senator Casey.

Outside Sen. Bob Casey’s office in Pittsburgh on November 2, community leaders called for an end to Congressional actions to gut environmental safeguards. The appeal to Sen. Casey comes after the House passed the Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act. That bill, supported by all local Congressmen except Mike Doyle, would prevent EPA from going forward with Mercury and Air Toxics standards for power plants and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule to cut smog and soot pollution from power plants by indefinitely delaying these standards. Other attempts have been made to defund the EPA and reduce its authority to protect public health. (more…)

As reported by Lisa Graves-Marcucci of the Environmental Integrity Project.

Over 175 people gathered for an evening of poignant images and discussion of pollution problems in western Pennsylvania communities. The ‘Stories, The Science and The Solutions’ event, hosted by Chatham University’s School of Sustainability and the Environment and the Rachel Carson Institute, was a collaborative effort of the Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, Women for a Healthy Environment, the Center for Coalfield Justice, PennFuture, the Environmental Integrity Project and the Group Against Smog and Pollution. (more…)

Along the ring of dirty old coal–fired power plants around Pittsburgh, the Conemaugh generating plant in New Florence, Westmoreland County is one of the worst. On March 21 a Judge Robert Mitchell of the US District Court in Pittsburgh agreed, ruling that owner GenOn was liable for 8,684 violations of the Clean Water Act dating back to 2005. The plaintiffs in the case were PennEnvironment and the Sierra Club. The company’s potential legal exposure for these violations is nearly $300 million, based upon the court’s ability to assess penalties of up to $37,500 for each violation, and will be decided by the court June 1. (more…)