EC June 2016

ec@lists.wvsierraclub.org

6 participants
8 discussions

WV 303(d) list - Comments to EPA due July 5
by James Kotcon 27 Jun '16

27 Jun '16

Are we following this issue? Is anyone preparing comments? https://www.epa.gov/tmdl/supporting-documents-proposed-additions-west-virgi… Jim Kotcon P.S. As you may recall, WV-DEP submitted an abbreviated list of streams to EPA, arguing that the Legislature had directed them to "study" the issues of conductivity, TDS and various related narrative standards. EPA on May 11 partially disapproved the list: "...to the extent that it omits waters due to WVDEP's decision not to evaluate existing and readily available data regarding whether certain waters are achieving West Virginia's narrative water quality criteria (W. Va. CSR§ 47-2-3.2(e) & (i)) as applied to aquatic life. "

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Does WSJ Fake a Green Shift Toward Nuclear Power?
by frank young 25 Jun '16

25 Jun '16

"Central to the story is the contention that prominent eco-advocacy groups, including Sierra, EDF and the Natural Resources Defense Council, are among those working with Exelon and state lawmakers on a legislative deal that would reverse a decision the company made in early June to close two money-losing nuclear reactors, Quad Cities and Clinton, and "ensure that the reactors remain in operation by providing financial recognition for the zero-carbon electricity they produce." http://fair.org/home/wsj-fakes-a-green-shift-toward-nuclear-power/ "But major assertions in the Journal article turn out to be either factually inaccurate, or to omit or spin important details. First, though Harder refers multiple times to nuclear power being "carbon-free" (echoing the websites of nuclear plant owners such as <http://www.exeloncorp.com/companies/exelon-generation/nuclear/Pages/default .aspx> Exelon and <http://www.pge.com/en/safety/systemworks/dcpp/index.page?WT.mc_id=Vanity_di ablocanyon> Pacific Gas & Electric), that is not the case." Frank Young

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BLM hearings in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 28
by James Kotcon 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

I plan to go to this hearing Tuesday. Is anyone else interested in riding along? The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is holding six public hearings to receive public comments about coal mining on public lands, including one in Pittsburgh. This is your opportunity to tell the federal government to Keep Dirty Fuels in the Ground on public land, insist on fair royalties for the public, and demand an end to "self-bonding" by mining companies. Tuesday, June 28, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Press Conference and Rally: Tuesday, June 28, Noon Where: Hearing: Pittsburgh Convention Center 1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd. Pittsburgh (MAP) Press Conference and Rally: Courtyard Pittsburgh Downtown, 945 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh (MAP) If you are not able to attend, consider sending comments via the attached link. https://sierra.secure.force.com/actions/National?actionId=AR0043719 Details: *An astonishing 40 percent of all coal produced in the United States comes from public, taxpayer-owned land. *The government recently put a hold on new federal coal leases to study the impact that coal mined on public lands has on our climate. This means we have an unprecedented opportunity to push this country towards a clean energy future and away from dirty fuels. For decades, the federal government has been leasing taxpayer-owned public lands to fossil fuel companies at bargain-basement rates. Taxpayer-owned land should be used to benefit the public, but the coal it generates puts billions of tons of carbon into our atmosphere, slows the growth of clean energy, and affects the health of communities near coal mines and power plants and everywhere in between. It’s clear the federal coal leasing program is out of date and out of step with our nation’s commitment to stop climate disruption -- and we have an opportunity to change that. *The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is taking public comments on the scope of its study looking at how our public lands are used for coal mining. Tell them it’s time that we keep the coal in the ground and use our public lands to reflect what’s best for our climate and communities*.

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Sierra Club letter details potential Atlantic Coast Pipeline antitrust violations
by James Kotcon 24 Jun '16

24 Jun '16

Here is a great new front on the ACP! The Virginia Chapter charges that the utilities building ACP "use their captive ratepayers to ensure a continuous demand for natural gas, to be supplied by the ACP". This means utilities "...have an incentive to build more natural gas generating plants in order to create more demand for gas from the ACP. This locks customers into paying for these gas plants for decades to come, regardless of what happens to gas prices, and regardless of whether ratepayers would be better off with alternatives like wind and solar.” The Federal Trade Commissions is being asked to investigate anti-trust violations. See more at: http://augustafreepress.com/sierra-club-letter-details-potential-atlantic-c… JBK

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Fw: WVU geologist examines impact of carbon dioxide released from mine drainage
by James Kotcon 18 Jun '16

18 Jun '16

Yet another problem with acid mine drainage, greenhouse gas emissions. JBK. http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2016/06/16/wvu-geologist-examines-impact-of-carbo… [http://wvutoday.wvu.edu//themes/wvutoday-new/images/facebook_share.png]<http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2016/06/16/wvu-geologist-examines-impact-of-carbo…> WVU geologist examines impact of carbon dioxide released from mine drainage<http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/n/2016/06/16/wvu-geologist-examines-impact-of-carbo…> wvutoday.wvu.edu The collective estimated amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere from 140 coal mines across Pennsylvania is the equivalent to that of a small power plant, a new West Virginia University study finds. The collective estimated amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere from 140 coal mines across Pennsylvania is the equivalent to that of a small power plant, a new West Virginia University<http://www.wvu.edu/> study finds. Dorothy Vesper<http://geology.wvu.edu/people/faculty/dorothy-vesper>, associate professor in the Department of Geology and Geography<http://www.geo.wvu.edu/> at West Virginia University, and her research team, are using a meter designed for measuring carbon dioxide in beverages to more accurately measure carbon dioxide in mine drainage water. Using measurements from several sites and estimated values from United States Geological Survey data for 140 Pennsylvania mines, they calculated the amount of carbon dioxide released from abandoned coal mines. "Many people calculate carbon dioxide from alkalinity, or the capability of water to neutralize acid, so the pH has to be above five, but if you have a lot of carbon dioxide dissolved in the water, it forces the pH to fall below five and people just dismiss it and ignore it," Vesper said. "So, there is a bias in the way people typically estimate the carbon dioxide concentrations in water, and they've ignored this whole set of mine waters, but we're able to actually quantify them nicely. "A lot of those very low pH waters have plenty of carbon dioxide in them. " Mine drainage, a byproduct of areas active in ore or coal mining, has long been associated with contaminated drinking water, disrupted growth and reproduction of certain types of plants and animals, and infrastructure corrosion. Sulfate-rich mine water can dissolve the surrounding limestone, allowing carbon dioxide gas to be present in the water. When mine waters discharge at the land surface, some of the carbon dioxide releases into the atmosphere. "The gas is really high in mine waters and people who work with mine waters know that, but no one has quantified it in detail," said Vesper. "No one has really developed an accurate way to measure the carbon dioxide coming out, partially because it is very difficult." Vesper and her team measured carbon dioxide levels in the water at two mine portals and compared those data to estimated gas levels for a limited set of inactive mines across Pennsylvania. These findings - that the total amount of carbon dioxide released from those mines was found to be equivalent to that of a small power plant - have opened the door to larger studies determining the impact carbon dioxide evasion from mine drainage has on the environment. "I think right now, the next thing I want to do is get a better handle on this and get a much more quantitative assessment at more sites," Vesper said. "I think we're also going to work with some of the geographic information system researchers at the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design<http://davis.wvu.edu/> to see if we can do a larger scale estimate for Pennsylvania or West Virginia." This work was initiated with Harry Edenborn, Ph.D. as part of the National Energy Technology Laboratory's Regional University Alliance, a collaborative initiative of the NETL. Ongoing work is funded by the NSF-EPSCOR funded Appalachian Freshwater Initiative<http://afi.wvu.edu/> at WVU.

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300 million Alpha NR/DEP agreement
by Jonathan Rosenbaum 10 Jun '16

10 Jun '16

*DEP Reaches Agreement in Principle** **With Alpha Natural Resources* CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has reached an agreement in principle with the state’s largest coal operator, Alpha Natural Resources, which filed for bankruptcy in August 2015. The $300 million-plus agreement, which remains subject to a number of contingencies, will pave the way for the bonding and reclaiming of all Alpha’s legacy liability sites in West Virginia, as well as Alpha’s continuing operations in West Virginia.

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from UCS ask a scientist: Does UCS agree that natural gas is a good "bridge" to meet our energy demands while better more earth friendly options are developed?
by Paul Wilson 09 Jun '16

09 Jun '16

Ask a Scientist Matt S. of Kennesaw, GA, asks "Does UCS agree that natural gas is a good "bridge" to meet our energy demands while better more earth friendly options are developed?" Once accepted as conventional wisdom, the notion that we have to significantly increase our use of natural gas to transition the US power sector to low-carbon energy sources is now plainly wrong. Investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency have accelerated rapidly as costs decline and performance and reliability improve. This trend, combined with the growing awareness of the significant risks posed by an overreliance on natural gas, makes it clear that natural gas has at most a limited and complementary role to play in the move to a truly clean energy system. READ MORE <http://action.ucsusa.org/site/R?i=HAVtImyMO0jKnTiBlBHU_w> -- Paul Wilson Project Healing Waters Fly-fishing Sierra Club Military Outdoors 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle JUSTICE, ONLY JUSTICE, SHALT THOU PURSUE. Deuteronomy 16:20

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Carl Pope on India-US Agreement on Clean Energy
by James Kotcon 08 Jun '16

08 Jun '16

This has some pretty amazing factoids, not the least of which is that the major barrier to renewables is not technological, it is simply whether the financing can be arranged as quickly as needed. Here is my favorite section: ...A draft report<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/is-canada-ready-for-a-world-awash-in…> prepared for Canadian government concluded demand for oil could fall so fast that producers simply dump their barrels on to a shrinking market, leaving high cost oil like Canada's, along with pipelines and other facilities, stranded. For a major oil producer to face a world where its reserves will fetch a price of "$0" would have been shocking a year ago. But in Calgary oil analyst Paul Sankey lectured the industry<http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/critics-call-on-oil-industry-to-pay-out-prof…>: "Demand forecasts are way too positive ... really, the essence of the opportunity for oil is to be dividend stocks to pay out. Not to attempt to grow, but actually to orderly liquidate." Shades of "The Coming Carbon Asset Bubble" by Blood and Gore from less than three years ago! (One WV coal company has already proposed giving away all its coal assets to anyone who would simply assume the environmental liabilities.) Full article is available at: http://ecowatch.com/2016/06/08/solar-power-obama-modi-agreement/ Jim Kotcon

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EC June 2016