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Living with natural gas pipelines: Appalachian landowners describe fear, anxiety and loss - The Edwardsville Intelligencer, Illinois
by Duane Nichols 03 Feb '21

03 Feb '21

https://www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/Living-with-natural-gas-pipel… Living with natural gas pipelines: Appalachian landowners describe fear, anxiety and loss Erin Brock Carlson, West Virginia University and Martina Angela Caretta, Lund University, Edwardsville Intelligencer, February 3, 2021 More than 2 million miles of natural gas pipelines run throughout the United States. In Appalachia, they spread like spaghetti across the region. Many of these lines were built in just the past five years to carry natural gas from the Marcellus Shale region of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where hydraulic fracturing has boomed. West Virginia alone has seen a fourfold increase in natural gas production in the past decade. Such fast growth has also brought hundreds of safety and environmental violations, particularly under the Trump administration’s reduced oversight and streamlined approvals for pipeline projects. While energy companies promise economic benefits for depressed regions, pipeline projects are upending the lives of people in their paths. As a technical and professional communication scholar focused on how rural communities deal with complex problems and a geography scholar specializing in human-environment interactions, we teamed up to study the effects of pipeline development in rural Appalachia. In 2020, we surveyed and talked with dozens of people living close to pipelines in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. What we found illuminates the stress and uncertainty that communities experience when natural gas pipelines change their landscape. Residents live with the fear of disasters, the noise of construction and the anxiety of having no control over their own land. ‘None of this is fair’ Appalachians are no strangers to environmental risk. The region has a long and complicated history with extractive industries, including coal and hydraulic fracturing. However, it’s rare to hear firsthand accounts of the long-term effects of industrial infrastructure development in rural communities, especially when it comes to pipelines, since they are the result of more recent energy-sector growth. For all of the people we talked to, the process of pipeline development was drawn out and often confusing. Some reported never hearing about a planned pipeline until a “land man” – a gas company representative – knocked on their door offering to buy a slice of their property; others said that they found out through newspaper articles or posts on social media. Every person we spoke with agreed that the burden ultimately fell on them to find out what was happening in their communities. One woman in West Virginia said that after finding out about plans for a pipeline feeding a petrochemical complex several miles from her home, she started doing her own research. “I thought to myself, how did this happen? We didn’t know anything about it,” she said. “It’s not fair. None of this is fair. … We are stuck with a polluting company.” ‘Lawyers ate us up’ If residents do not want pipelines on their land, they can pursue legal action against the energy company rather than taking a settlement. However, this can result in the use of eminent domain. Eminent domain is a right given by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to companies to access privately held property if the project is considered important for public need. Compensation is decided by the courts, based on assessed land value, not taking into consideration the intangibles tied to the loss of the land surrounding one’s home, such as loss of future income. Through this process, residents can be forced to accept a sum that doesn’t take into consideration all effects of pipeline construction on their land, such as the damage heavy equipment will do to surrounding land and access roads. One man we spoke with has lived on his family’s land for decades. In 2018, a company representative approached him for permission to install a new pipeline parallel to one that had been in place since 1962, far away from his house. However, crews ran into problems with the steep terrain and wanted to install it much closer to his home. Unhappy with the new placement, and seeing erosion from pipeline construction on the ridge behind his house causing washouts, he hired a lawyer. After several months of back and forth with the company, he said, “They gave me a choice: Either sign the contract or do the eminent domain. And my lawyer advised me that I didn’t want to do eminent domain.” There was a unanimous sense among the 31 people we interviewed that companies have seemingly endless financial and legal resources, making court battles virtually unwinnable. Nondisclosure agreements can effectively silence landowners. Furthermore, lawyers licensed to work in West Virginia who aren’t already working for gas companies can be difficult to find, and legal fees can become too much for residents to pay. One woman, the primary caretaker of land her family has farmed for 80 years, found herself facing significant legal fees after a dispute with a gas company. “We were the first and last ones to fight them, and then people saw what was going to happen to them, and they just didn’t have – it cost us money to get lawyers. Lawyers ate us up,” she said. The pipeline now runs through what were once hayfields. “We haven’t had any income off that hay since they took it out in 2016,” she said. “It’s nothing but a weed patch.” ‘I mean, who do you call?’ Twenty-six of the 45 survey respondents reported that they felt that their property value had decreased as a result of pipeline construction, citing the risks of water contamination, explosion and unusable land. Many of the 31 people we interviewed were worried about the same sort of long-term concerns, as well as gas leaks and air pollution. Hydraulic fracturing and other natural gas processes can affect drinking water resources, especially if there are spills or improper storage procedures. Additionally, methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and volatile organic compounds, which can pose health risks, are byproducts of the natural gas supply chain. “Forty years removed from this, are they going to be able to keep track and keep up with infrastructure? I mean, I can smell gas as I sit here now,” one man told us. His family had watched the natural gas industry move into their part of West Virginia in the mid-2010s. In addition to a 36-inch pipe on his property, there are several smaller wells and lines. “This year the company servicing the smaller lines has had nine leaks … that’s what really concerns me,” he said. The top concern mentioned by survey respondents was explosions. According to data from 2010 to 2018, a pipeline explosion occurred, on average, every 11 days in the U.S. While major pipeline explosions are relatively rare, when they do occur, they can be devastating. In 2012, a 20-inch transmission line exploded in Sissonville, West Virginia, damaging five homes and leaving four lanes of Interstate 77 looking “like a tar pit.” Amplifying these fears is the lack of consistent communication from corporations to residents living along pipelines. Approximately half the people we interviewed reported that they did not have a company contact to call directly in case of a pipeline emergency, such as a spill, leak or explosion. “I mean, who do you call?” one woman asked. ‘We just keep doing the same thing’ Several people interviewed described a fatalistic attitude toward energy development in their communities. Energy analysts expect gas production to increase this year after a slowdown in 2020. Pipeline companies expect to keep building. And while the Biden administration is likely to restore some regulations, the president has said he would notban fracking. “It’s just kind of sad because they think, once again, this will be West Virginia’s salvation,” one landowner said. “Harvesting the timber was, then digging the coal was our salvation. … And then here’s the third one. We just keep doing the same thing.” Note. This Article was originally in The Conversation. Edwardsville is in Illinois and Lund University is in Sweden. https://theconversation.com/living-with-natural-gas-pipelines-appalachian-l…

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Re: QUESTION — Shall we join this protest? DivestMVP Campaign
by Duane Nichols 03 Feb '21

03 Feb '21

REPLY — Most serious utility plans for the future involve electricity via (a) conservation (demand reduction), (b) improved efficiency of operation including distributed generation (widely spaced sources), (c) wind turbines (mountain ridges and coastal off-shore locations) and (d) solar panels (small locals) & solar farms. Dominion Energy and others have already cancelled some proposed natural gas fired power stations in Virginia and continuing to phase out coal-fired plants. (The proposed Longview gas-fired plant is still active here, seeking financial backing. And, Pennsylvania and Ohio have a number of new gas-fired plants. These are more efficient and cleaner than coal plants, but will still be under pressure to limit GHG.) If the MVP can be stopped, it’s not likely that this will result in a slowdown in the rate of reduction of GHG in the eastern US, but the opposite. Duane Nichols, MVCAC > On Feb 3, 2021, at 4:37 PM, timothy nelms <timothynelms(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > > I ask the question.... > maybe the answer is not known .....Will DivestMVP Campaign lead to a higher reliance on energy produced by higher carbon contributing oil and coal sources ? As far as I know natural gas scores better than those in our high priority goal to reduce emission of carbon. Thanks. > > From wild wonderful WV,with a smile..... > > > Tim > > On 3 Feb 2021, at 16:12, Barbara Howe <bhowe(a)wvu.edu> wrote: > >> It is fine with me to join. >> >> Barb >> >> From: paula_lists(a)paulahunt.com <paula_lists(a)paulahunt.com> >> Sent: Wednesday, February 3, 2021 4:05 PM >> To: 'Duane Nichols' <duane330(a)aol.com>; MVCAC(a)osenergy.org <MVCAC(a)osenergy.org> >> Cc: 'James Kotcon' <jkotcon(a)gmail.com>; troutguy13(a)gmail.com <troutguy13(a)gmail.com>; cobando(a)gmail.com <cobando(a)gmail.com>; jr(a)lwvwv.org <jr(a)lwvwv.org>; janregernash(a)gmail.com <janregernash(a)gmail.com>; Michael Mccawley <mamccawley(a)hsc.wvu.edu>; Barbara Howe <bhowe(a)wvu.edu>; 'Sue Miles' <milesnichols(a)aol.com>; bjaegerart(a)gmail.com <bjaegerart(a)gmail.com>; timothynelms(a)hotmail.com <timothynelms(a)hotmail.com>; stombond(a)lhfwv.com <stombond(a)lhfwv.com>; djgooding00(a)gmail.com <djgooding00(a)gmail.com>; 'John Cobb' <jcobbjr369(a)gmail.com> >> Subject: RE: QUESTION — Shall we join this protest? DivestMVP Campaign >> >> Hi MVCAC ers, >> >> I am in favor of the Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition (MVCAC) joining the Divest MVP Coalition. >> >> Paula Hunt >> >> From: Duane Nichols <duane330(a)aol.com> >> Sent: Wednesday, February 3, 2021 1:55 PM >> To: MVCAC(a)osenergy.org >> Cc: James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)gmail.com>; troutguy13(a)gmail.com; cobando(a)gmail.com; jr(a)lwvwv.org; Paula Hunt <pjhunt(a)paulahunt.com>; janregernash(a)gmail.com; Michael McCawley <mamccawley(a)hsc.wvu.edu>; Barbara Howe <bhowe(a)wvu.edu>; Sue Miles <milesnichols(a)aol.com>; bjaegerart(a)gmail.com; timothynelms(a)hotmail.com; stombond(a)lhfwv.com; djgooding00(a)gmail.com; John Cobb <jcobbjr369(a)gmail.com> >> Subject: QUESTION — Shall we join this protest? DivestMVP Campaign >> >> To the Friends of our Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition (MVCAC) .... >> >> It is herewith proposed that we join DivestMVP so as to limit Greenhouse Gases >> and the impacts of Climate Change. Let me know if you have any reservations, questions or comments. Such can be held confidentially, if appropriate. >> >> Duane Nichols, MVCAC >> >> From: James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)gmail.com> >> Date: February 3, 2021 at 11:30:22 AM EST >> Subject: DivestMVP Campaign >> >> Hello, >> I hope you are well. I’m reaching out to ask if your organization can join the DivestMVP Coalition that’s calling on the 10 major banks funding the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline to stop funding the MVP. >> >> >> If you have been following the story, the Mountain Valley Pipeline is facing numerous hurdles, but still claims to be in service next year. We want to convince their major funders that MVP is a bad investment idea. >> >> So far, the DivestMVP coalition has made significant progress in educating the banking and investing community about the threat MVP poses to our communities, waters, lands and climate as well as the losing economics of this project that’s $3 Billion over budget and 3 years behind schedule. We currently have the support of nearly 100 investors representing $233 Billion of assets under management who are joining us in demanding banks stop funding the MVP. Already, hundreds of activists have sent letters to banks telling them to DivestMVP. >> >> Now we’re reaching out to our friends and allies like you to ask for your support by becoming a member of the DivestMVP Coalition via this google form, if possible by February 18. In particular, please indicate the number of members and supporters for your organization. >> >> >> Coalition members: >> - Will be listed as a member of the DivestMVP coalition on public facing materials such as, but not limited to, press releases, websites, and letters to banks and investors. >> -Will receive a community toolkit with guidance and materials for social and traditional media, a personal divestment guide and much more! >> -Commit to share with your members/supporters opportunities to speak out to banks such as action alerts, event invites. >> -Will be added to a list-serve to receive and share campaign updates, resources and successes! >> >> If you’re not quite ready to join the coalition, that’s OK! Register for free to join us on February 25 for a Virtual Rally to learn more about the coalition’s efforts and ways to get involved or reach out to Joan.Walker(a)sierraclub.org to get your questions answered. >> >> Thank you! Jim Kotcon, Conservation Chair, WV Chapter of Sierra Club >> >> >>>>>.....>>>>>.....>>>>>.....>>>>>.....>>>>> >> >> See also: Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Fails to Gain Latest FERC Approval — >> >> >> http://www.frackcheckwv.net/2021/01/22/mountain-valley-pipeline-mvp-fails-t… >> >> >> >> >> >>

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Re: QUESTION — Shall we join this protest? DivestMVP Campaign
by Barbara Howe 03 Feb '21

03 Feb '21

It is fine with me to join. Barb ________________________________ From: paula_lists(a)paulahunt.com <paula_lists(a)paulahunt.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 3, 2021 4:05 PM To: 'Duane Nichols' <duane330(a)aol.com>; MVCAC(a)osenergy.org <MVCAC(a)osenergy.org> Cc: 'James Kotcon' <jkotcon(a)gmail.com>; troutguy13(a)gmail.com <troutguy13(a)gmail.com>; cobando(a)gmail.com <cobando(a)gmail.com>; jr(a)lwvwv.org <jr(a)lwvwv.org>; janregernash(a)gmail.com <janregernash(a)gmail.com>; Michael Mccawley <mamccawley(a)hsc.wvu.edu>; Barbara Howe <bhowe(a)wvu.edu>; 'Sue Miles' <milesnichols(a)aol.com>; bjaegerart(a)gmail.com <bjaegerart(a)gmail.com>; timothynelms(a)hotmail.com <timothynelms(a)hotmail.com>; stombond(a)lhfwv.com <stombond(a)lhfwv.com>; djgooding00(a)gmail.com <djgooding00(a)gmail.com>; 'John Cobb' <jcobbjr369(a)gmail.com> Subject: RE: QUESTION — Shall we join this protest? DivestMVP Campaign Hi MVCAC ers, I am in favor of the Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition (MVCAC) joining the Divest MVP Coalition. * Paula Hunt From: Duane Nichols <duane330(a)aol.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 3, 2021 1:55 PM To: MVCAC(a)osenergy.org Cc: James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)gmail.com>; troutguy13(a)gmail.com; cobando(a)gmail.com; jr(a)lwvwv.org; Paula Hunt <pjhunt(a)paulahunt.com>; janregernash(a)gmail.com; Michael McCawley <mamccawley(a)hsc.wvu.edu>; Barbara Howe <bhowe(a)wvu.edu>; Sue Miles <milesnichols(a)aol.com>; bjaegerart(a)gmail.com; timothynelms(a)hotmail.com; stombond(a)lhfwv.com; djgooding00(a)gmail.com; John Cobb <jcobbjr369(a)gmail.com> Subject: QUESTION — Shall we join this protest? DivestMVP Campaign To the Friends of our Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition (MVCAC) .... It is herewith proposed that we join DivestMVP so as to limit Greenhouse Gases and the impacts of Climate Change. Let me know if you have any reservations, questions or comments. Such can be held confidentially, if appropriate. Duane Nichols, MVCAC From: James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)gmail.com<mailto:jkotcon@gmail.com>> Date: February 3, 2021 at 11:30:22 AM EST Subject: DivestMVP Campaign Hello, I hope you are well. I’m reaching out to ask if your organization can join the DivestMVP Coalition that’s calling on the 10 major banks funding the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline to stop funding the MVP. If you have been following the story, the Mountain Valley Pipeline is facing numerous hurdles, but still claims to be in service next year. We want to convince their major funders that MVP is a bad investment idea. So far, the DivestMVP coalition has made significant progress in educating the banking and investing community about the threat MVP poses to our communities, waters, lands and climate as well as the losing economics of this project that’s $3 Billion over budget and 3 years behind schedule. We currently have the support of nearly 100 investors representing $233 Billion of assets under management who are joining us in demanding banks stop funding the MVP. Already, hundreds of activists have sent letters to banks telling them to DivestMVP. Now we’re reaching out to our friends and allies like you to ask for your support by becoming a member of the DivestMVP Coalition via this google form<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFsNWYfc_seOEsYwRBmVtBgaL-MCiy1z9…>, if possible by February 18. In particular, please indicate the number of members and supporters for your organization. Coalition members: - Will be listed as a member of the DivestMVP coalition on public facing materials such as, but not limited to, press releases, websites, and letters to banks and investors. -Will receive a community toolkit with guidance and materials for social and traditional media, a personal divestment guide and much more! -Commit to share with your members/supporters opportunities to speak out to banks such as action alerts, event invites. -Will be added to a list-serve to receive and share campaign updates, resources and successes! If you’re not quite ready to join the coalition, that’s OK! Register for free<http://rb.gy/jq8vmv> to join us on February 25 for a Virtual Rally to learn more about the coalition’s efforts and ways to get involved or reach out to Joan.Walker(a)sierraclub.org<mailto:Joan.Walker@sierraclub.org> to get your questions answered. Thank you! Jim Kotcon, Conservation Chair, WV Chapter of Sierra Club >>>>>.....>>>>>.....>>>>>.....>>>>>.....>>>>> See also: Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Fails to Gain Latest FERC Approval — http://www.frackcheckwv.net/2021/01/22/mountain-valley-pipeline-mvp-fails-t…

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QUESTION — Shall we join this protest? DivestMVP Campaign
by Duane Nichols 03 Feb '21

03 Feb '21

To the Friends of our Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition (MVCAC) .... It is herewith proposed that we join DivestMVP so as to limit Greenhouse Gases and the impacts of Climate Change. Let me know if you have any reservations, questions or comments. Such can be held confidentially, if appropriate. Duane Nichols, MVCAC > From: James Kotcon <jkotcon(a)gmail.com> > Date: February 3, 2021 at 11:30:22 AM EST > Subject: DivestMVP Campaign > > Hello, > I hope you are well. I’m reaching out to ask if your organization can join the DivestMVP Coalition that’s calling on the 10 major banks funding the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline to stop funding the MVP. > > If you have been following the story, the Mountain Valley Pipeline is facing numerous hurdles, but still claims to be in service next year. We want to convince their major funders that MVP is a bad investment idea. > > So far, the DivestMVP coalition has made significant progress in educating the banking and investing community about the threat MVP poses to our communities, waters, lands and climate as well as the losing economics of this project that’s $3 Billion over budget and 3 years behind schedule. We currently have the support of nearly 100 investors representing $233 Billion of assets under management who are joining us in demanding banks stop funding the MVP. Already, hundreds of activists have sent letters to banks telling them to DivestMVP. > > Now we’re reaching out to our friends and allies like you to ask for your support by becoming a member of the DivestMVP Coalition via this google form, if possible by February 18. In particular, please indicate the number of members and supporters for your organization. > > Coalition members: > - Will be listed as a member of the DivestMVP coalition on public facing materials such as, but not limited to, press releases, websites, and letters to banks and investors. > -Will receive a community toolkit with guidance and materials for social and traditional media, a personal divestment guide and much more! > -Commit to share with your members/supporters opportunities to speak out to banks such as action alerts, event invites. > -Will be added to a list-serve to receive and share campaign updates, resources and successes! > > If you’re not quite ready to join the coalition, that’s OK! Register for free to join us on February 25 for a Virtual Rally to learn more about the coalition’s efforts and ways to get involved or reach out to Joan.Walker(a)sierraclub.org to get your questions answered. > > Thank you! Jim Kotcon, Conservation Chair, WV Chapter of Sierra Club >>>>>.....>>>>>.....>>>>>.....>>>>>.....>>>>> See also: Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Fails to Gain Latest FERC Approval — http://www.frackcheckwv.net/2021/01/22/mountain-valley-pipeline-mvp-fails-t… > > > > >

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ONLINE PROGRAM ON FEB. 2nd FOR CLIMATE JOBS & CLIMATE JUSTICE
by Duane Nichols 01 Feb '21

01 Feb '21

http://www.frackcheckwv.net/2021/02/01/online-program-on-feb-2nd-for-climat… ONLINE PROGRAM ON FEB. 2nd FOR CLIMATE JOBS & CLIMATE JUSTICE Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy (THRIVE) 100 Days for Climate, Jobs, and Justice: Winning the THRIVE Agenda TO: Friends & Interested Citizens, FROM: Center for Coalfield Justice, February 1, 2021 Amidst a confluence of devastating crises — the pandemic, racial injustice, economic devastation, and of course climate change — we have a historic opportunity to set our country on a different course in the next few months. But it will take all of us working together to make our voices heard and demand change. This Tuesday, February 2, at 7 p.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. Pacific, the Green New Deal Network will host a grassroots livestream: “100 Days for Climate, Jobs, and Justice: Winning the THRIVE Agenda.” We hope you can join. You can …. RSVP HERE! The THRIVE Agenda includes building a groundswell of support to Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy (THRIVE) Agenda— a bold economic recovery plan to address the intersecting crises facing our nation. Sincerely, Kristen Locy, CCJ Outreach Coordinator SOME LEADING GROUPS — The Green New Deal Network is a 50-state campaign with a national table of 15 organizations: Center for Popular Democracy, Climate Justice Alliance, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Greenpeace, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indivisible, Movement for Black Lives, MoveOn, People’s Action, Right To The City Alliance, Service Employees International Union, Sierra Club, Sunrise Movement, US Climate Action Network, and the Working Families Party. Tagged as: climate change, fossil fuels, Green New Deal, THRIVE, urgent action

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Special Issue of CEP, Thinking About Climate
by Duane Nichols 19 Jan '21

19 Jan '21

Thinking About Climate, Editorial, Chemical Engineering Progress, January 2021 Opens in modal lightbox Ithink about climate often. It’s hard not to — I doubt a day goes by that I don’t see an article, news report, or email that mentions climate. The most recent item to cross my desk is an article in Scientific American entitled "Second Scientists’ Warning: The Climate Emergency: 2020 in Review." It is a follow-up to "World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency," by William J. Ripple et al., which appeared in the January 2020 issue of BioScience. The authors begin their original article with this statement: "Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to ‘tell it like it is.’ On the basis of this obligation …, we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency." They then call for transformative change in six areas: energy, short-lived air pollutants, nature, food, economy, and population. The new article points out that while 2020 brought a few promising developments, we still "need a massive-scale mobilization to address the climate crisis." The authors say that "aggressive transformative change, if framed holistically and equitably, will accelerate broad-based restorative action and avert the worst of the climate emergency. The survival of our society as we know it depends upon this unprecedented change." Chemical engineers have an important role to play in achieving the necessary transformative change. Climate change is a complex, multidimensional problem that we are well equipped to understand. Our education in chemistry, physics, and math enables us to understand the science, and our knowledge of chemical engineering allows us to address the challenge in a practical and economical manner. But sorting through and keeping up with the climate change literature is a monumental task. A few years ago, I came up with the idea for a series of short, 1–3-page articles that would explore various chemical-engineering-related aspects of climate and climate change. I thought that breaking this complex subject into many small bits and focusing on chemical engineering concepts would make it easier to understand. I envisioned that the title of this series would be "Thinking About Climate." When I mentioned my idea to Mark Holtzapple, a professor of chemical engineering at Texas A&M Univ., he told me about his interest in climate and shared with me the slides of a lecture that he gives on the topic. He also helped me realize that we could not do justice to the topic 2,000 words at a time. He liked my idea of looking at climate through a chemical engineering lens, and he offered to write a series of articles that addressed observations, modeling, impacts, and solutions. This special issue of CEP is the fruit of our collaboration. It provides basic information about climate — including numerous figures and reference citations. It is not meant to be a definitive treatment of the subject. Rather, it is intended to provide an overview that helps you to think about climate without getting lost in the claims and counterclaims. In the interest of minimizing our environmental footprint, we present this as a digital-only issue. And because this topic is of such great importance to society, we are making the issue open access. Please share it widely. Cynthia F. Mascone, Editor-in-Chief Reference: CEP Special Issue on Climate | AIChE https://www.aiche.org/publications/cep/climate-issue

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New West Virginia environmental coalition publishes 'A Citizen's Guide to Climate Change'
by Duane Nichols 16 Jan '21

16 Jan '21

https://www.mybuckhannon.com/new-west-virginia-environmental-coalition-publ… From MY BUCKHANNON, December 26, 2020 New West Virginia environmental coalition publishes ‘A Citizen’s Guide to Climate Change’ BUCKHANNON – A West Virginia field organizer for the Mom’s Clean Air Force recently shared information about a new alliance that has formed around climate action in West Virginia. Leah Barbor said the West Virginia Climate Alliance is an environmental, civil rights and faith-based coalition, and the mission of the young-adults organization is to work together to provide science-based education on climate change in West Virginia to the residents and policymakers. “We seek to advance climate solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while assuring that all West Virginians, especially low-income and communities of color, have adequate resources to transition to a low-carbon economy,” Barbor said. She said a recently released publication called “A Citizen’s Guide to Climate Change,” authored by the West Virginia Climate Change Alliance, explains the science behind the causes of climate change and its impacts, as well as potential solutions. Barbor said the publication was written by West Virginians for West Virginians. “The Alliance is really growing, and it is exciting,” Barbor said. “It makes me feel excited for what this means for West Virginia.” Barbor said the alliance produced the publication to keep the conversation on climate change going. “Basically, the publication is a science-based public education tool for citizens and policy makers. One of the main purposes of the alliance is to seek to advance climate solutions that are reducing greenhouse gas emissions. What we laid out in the guide are causes and the local impacts as well as global issues resulting from those emissions,” she said. “It also has some potential solutions.” Barbor said the alliance is not endorsing anything particular. “But we have a shared vision for climate action,” she said. “What that contains is three pillars of reform that we want to see included in future policies in order to achieve what we believe will be meaningful climate action. Those are climate justice, a just transition and reduction in greenhouse gases.” Barbor said those pillars were a no-brainer for her. “These pillars align pretty seamlessly with our work at the Mom’s Clean Air Force,” Barbor said. “As parents, we care deeply about climate change and air pollution. One thing we really focus on is justice in every breath – recognizing the importance of equitable solutions in adjusting air pollution and climate change. We need to ensure the needs of low-income communities and communities of color are protected from further inequality as it relates to environmental health.” She said they want to make sure individuals in these communities have their environmental needs met, that they have a voice in how climate change is met, ensure they do not pay a disproportional cost for addressing climate change. “Here in West Virginia the ‘just transition piece’ is really important as we move to a low carbon community. We really want to see that no West Virginians are left behind as we move to a low-carbon community. We want to make sure there are quality job retraining opportunities, that people’s health insurance and pensions are secured because those matter to families,” Barbor said. Barbor said the West Virginia Climate Alliance is an informal collective of groups in West Virginia who have a shared vision for climate action. “We all recognize there is a need for climate justice, a just transition and a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. As an alliance, we are in favor of supporting policies and future legislation that include these three pillars and address them in a meaningful way.” The West Virginia Climate Alliance includes the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development, Citizens Climate Lobby West Virginia, League of Women Voters of West Virginia, Christians for the Mountains, Mom’s Clean Air Force-West Virginia, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Sierra Club of West Virginia, West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, West Virginia Citizen Action Education Fund, Wet Virginia Interfaith Power and Light and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. People who would like to help or learn more about the West Virginia Climate Alliance can contact Perry Bryant at perrybryantwv(a)outlook.com. To view A Citizen’s Guide to Climate Change, go to wvrivers.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/wvclimate.pdf. >>> To be posted in ...... www.FrackCheckWV.net

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Listen Up! Dr. James Hansen Has A Message For The Citizens Of Earth.
by Duane Nichols 30 Dec '20

30 Dec '20

Listen Up! Dr. James Hansen Has A Message For The Citizens Of Earth, Steve Hanley, Clean Technia, September 7, 2020 Dr. Hansen says there are three parameters to the global heating conundrum but only two receive regular attention — the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and average global surface temperatures. The third critical component is the Earth’s energy imbalance and it may be the most important of the three. “Stabilizing climate requires that humanity reduce the energy imbalance to approximately zero,” Hansen writes. https://cleantechnica.com/2020/09/07/listen-up-dr-james-hansen-has-a-messag…

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A Love Letter From the Clean Energy Future | Sierra Club, Mary Anne Hitt, 2021
by Duane Nichols 29 Dec '20

29 Dec '20

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2021-1-january-february/feature/love-lett… A Love Letter From the Clean Energy Future Article by Mary Anne Hitt, Sierra Magazine, Jan. - Feb. 2021 Here's a glimpse of how we can transition entirely to renewable energy sources Last fall, I gave a Zoom lecture to a class of undergraduate students at the University of Puget Sound about the path forward on energy and climate justice. I always go into these presentations with some trepidation, because I know that many young people are overwhelmed by despair about climate change, and I want to be clear about what's at stake without adding to their anxiety. After I finished, one of the students offered a simple appreciation that lifted a weight off my shoulders: "Honestly, this presentation has been a relief. I feel so much better. Thank you." I could relate to that student's desperate need for a ray of hope. After a grinding year of climate disasters, racial injustice, and relentless threats to our democracy, it has been easy to lose sight of the better world that we are still, even now, building. I'm full of hope because, against all odds, a just and sustainable energy future is being born. Yet I'm full of hope because, against all odds, a just and sustainable energy future is being born. We at the Sierra Club are in the middle of building that future. From stopping the fracked-gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline to reaching the milestone of having 60 percent of US coal-fired power plants on their way to retirement, the progress in 2020 has been remarkable. The United States is on track to get more electricity from renewable energy than from coal sometime in the next few years. But even as we make progress in hard times, we know that just covering the world with solar panels and electric vehicles isn't enough. So what would it look like, 10 years from now, if we did this energy transition right—if we prevented runaway climate change, created millions of jobs, and rectified the harms of decades of environmental injustice in communities of color? Imagine it is 2030 and we're looking back over a pivotal decade in human history. Allow me to paint a picture for you of the energy transformation that's possible. Think of it as a love letter from the future. >>>>>. >>>>>. >>>>>. >>>>>. >>>>>. >>>>>. My friends, It takes my breath away to write these words, but we did it. Rooted in our deep love for this planet and one another, we stepped back from the cliff of irreversible climate change. Families around the globe, including mine and yours, no longer face the specter of fleeing their homes because of ever-worsening climate-driven disasters. The fossil fuel industry no longer controls the levers of power to corrupt democracy. And we're building a world where everyone has clean air and clean water and access to nature. As we rolled up our sleeves to prevent a climate emergency, our solutions prioritized investments in those communities most harmed by fossil fuels and pollution and those long excluded from economic opportunity. We needed to build so much clean energy infrastructure to avoid a climate apocalypse, and we didn't just build it; we built it with family-sustaining jobs and with an eye toward restitution and reparations. Thanks to you, our kids will be raising their sons and daughters in vibrant, resilient communities full of opportunity. This is how we arrived here: First, we powered the country with 100 percent clean energy. An electric grid powered by clean energy was the foundation for turning the corner on climate, and the dirty power plants that were the worst contributors to environmental injustice were the first to go. Building on a decade of grassroots advocacy, President Biden introduced and Congress finally passed a national 100 percent clean energy standard that put us well on our way to phasing out coal and gas by 2035 while ensuring that vulnerable communities experienced the benefits of the transition. Big states such as California and New York then set even more aggressive goals, making it clear that a clean energy transition of speed and scale was possible. And since decisions about how we produce electricity are largely made by states, we continued our 50-state energy-transformation push for a decade. To support communities with economic ties to fossil fuels, Congress included a robust economic transition for fossil fuel workers and community-led economic development. Congress also passed innovative measures like a moratorium on utility shutoffs for households and support for energy-saving home improvements for families spending a high percentage of their income on electricity bills (known as a high energy burden). Renewable energy kept getting cheaper, and that allowed the Department of Energy to accelerate local clean energy solutions like microgrids—which are reliable during climate-driven extreme-weather events—in vulnerable and underserved places like the Navajo Nation and Puerto Rico. We finally harnessed the power of offshore wind along the Atlantic coast and solar across the Southeast and Southwest, while scaling up new energy-storage technologies to make clean energy available when it's needed most. Altogether, we made a quantum leap in the scale and scope of the energy transition, produced millions of jobs, and sparked the creation of thousands of new businesses. Second, we got well on our way toward electrifying everything. Here in 2030, one of the best parts of the energy transition is that it has made our lives healthier. After social media icons spread the word about how gas stoves create indoor air pollution linked to asthma in kids, families rushed to their local home-improvement stores to replace gas ranges with electric induction stovetops. Local governments passed thousands of ordinances calling for all-electric construction in new buildings, which created enough pressure for national standards. New businesses started popping up to help homeowners save money while pulling polluting gas appliances out of their homes. And the Department of Energy created programs to ensure that low-income families could make the switch affordably. Meanwhile, on the transportation front, states such as California and New Jersey set a 2035 target date for phasing out internal-combustion-engine cars, and national standards followed. States also put in place standards requiring that buses and large trucks go all-electric, which dramatically reduced air pollution in communities of color and big port and shipping centers including California's Inland Empire, New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. After COVID-19 made Americans realize the importance of walkable cities and accessible public transportation, Congress included funding in infrastructure bills for clean and affordable public transit, biking, and walking options. The number of family-sustaining jobs skyrocketed as Americans were put to work building electric cars, trucks, and buses as well as transit and charging-station infrastructure. Third, we stopped attempts to expand drilling while we reclaimed abandoned wells, mines, and drilling sites. The oil and gas industry was in a precarious place as 2020 came to a close. It was struggling to compete with renewable energy, facing the wrath of communities angry about drilling and pipelines, and grappling with dwindling returns from fracking, which made the industry's finances look more like a pyramid scheme. Through on-the-ground organizing, we prevented the fossil fuel industry's last-gasp attempt to establish new markets for its products. We blocked the construction of more than a dozen proposed fracked-gas export terminals and halted the creation of a new "Cancer Alley" of chemical and plastics plants in the Ohio River valley. We forced the industry to stop drilling next to homes, schools, and communities. And we secured protection from drilling on Indigenous lands, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Bears Ears National Monument. Meanwhile, we created jobs for thousands of oil, gas, and coal workers. We put 120,000 people to work plugging over 2 million abandoned oil and gas wells and addressing methane leaks that were roasting our planet. Congress also passed the RECLAIM (Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More) Act to fund reclamation projects and community-led economic development in Appalachia. Finally, we engaged millions of people in the work for climate justice. Let's be clear: None of this was easy. As we sit here in 2030, the clean and just energy future that we've built together has been the result of millions of people stepping up in their own states and communities. I know all this seemed impossible back in 2020, when it felt as if everything was falling apart and our climate might be doomed. But everything we did mattered. All of it. We now know that we're going to keep global temperature rise below the dangerous tipping points that climate scientists warned us about a decade ago. We can look our kids in the eye and tell them that we didn't let them down. Now we can watch their dreams unfold. As all our great spiritual traditions have taught us, new beginnings are often born during our most difficult days. We created something beautiful out of those hard days in 2020. Of course we have more work to do. But we're doing that work from a foundation we built together. I can't wait to see what we'll do next. This article appeared in the January/February edition with the headline "A Love Letter From the Clean Energy Future." Sent from my iPad

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Wildfires fueled by climate change threaten toxic Superfund sites
by Duane Nichols 23 Dec '20

23 Dec '20

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wildfires-fueled-climate-change-threat… Wildfires fueled by climate change threaten toxic Superfund sites Blazes at the imperiled hazardous waste sites could release toxins ranging from acid mine drainage to radioactive smoke. Michael Kodas, Inside Climate NewsDavid Hasemyer, Inside Climate News Dec. 23, 2020, 5:00 AM EST By Michael Kodas, Inside Climate News and David Hasemyer, Inside Climate News This article was published in partnership with Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news outlet that covers climate, energy and the environment, and The Texas Observer, a nonprofit investigative news outlet. This is part 4 of "Super Threats," a series on Superfund sites and climate change. For Jake Jeresek, a leader of the U.S. Forest Service’s firefighting operation in the Kootenai National Forest of northwest Montana, blazes in the woods 4 miles east of the town of Libby demand the most urgent response. But, before his crew can snuff any flames in those woods, they must recite a poem. “When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act like a tiny prism and form a rainbow,” crew members intone in turn. The poem is a test of the firefighters’ respirators — a piece of safety equipment required in no other forest in the nation. The verse’s vocalizations ensure the respirators are properly sealed to the firefighters’ faces. Contaminated by Libby amphibole, a highly toxic mixture of asbestos fibers unleashed by a former mine that has killed hundreds of area residents, this section of forest is an officially designated hazardous waste zone — Superfund Operable Unit 3 of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Libby Asbestos Site. With wildfires heightened by climate change threatening 234 Superfund sites across the country, according to the federal government, the OU3 Libby Asbestos Site presents a kind of worst-case scenario in which a wildfire could send asbestos-contaminated ash into nearby communities. Some firefighters worry a plume of smoke could carry the forest’s toxins hundreds of miles away. Firefighting helicopters respond to a fire near OU3 in Montana.U.S. Forest Service It’s one of the 945 Superfund sites that the Government Accountability Office last year found were vulnerable to hurricanes, flooding, sea level rise, increased precipitation or wildfires, all of which are intensifying as the planet warms. A yearlong investigation by Inside Climate News, NBC News and The Texas Observer, based on interviews with dozens of current and former EPA officials and firefighting authorities, found that the threat presented by wildfires is exceeding authorities’ ability to adequately prepare and respond, given recent steep increases in wildfires, particularly in the West. Blazes at such sites could release toxins ranging from acid mine drainage to radioactive smoke. Some firefighters and land managers fear that it is only a matter of time before megafires like those that exploded across Colorado and California this year burn over a toxic site with disastrous consequences. There have already been a number of extremely close calls. In 2010, the 109,000-acre Jefferson Fire spread across the Idaho National Laboratory, a nuclear energy research facility, where it burned over Superfund sites that had been cleaned of radioactive contamination over the previous 17 years. The lab reported that sampling of the area during the fire showed no release of radioactivity. In 2013, the Patch Springs Fire southwest of Salt Lake City burned within 10 miles of the Tooele Army Depot, a Superfund site with 902 ammunition storage bunkers along with soil and groundwater contaminated with hazardous chemicals, according to Wildfire Today. In 2018, the Carr Fire burned across 359 square miles of northern California and swept over the Iron Mountain Mine Superfund site, threatening to release corrosive chemicals into the watershed. The narrowly averted disaster spurred the EPA to reexamine the threat posed by wildfires to Superfund sites, especially old mines. Firefighters try to control the Carr Fire as it spreads near Redding, Calif., on July 31, 2018.Mark Ralston / AFP - Getty Images And in October, the Captain Jack Mill Superfund site, a closed mining operation in Boulder County, Colorado, was in the evacuation zone of the Lefthand Canyon and Calwood fires, but was spared when they burned away from the site. Over the last 20 years, Colorado, for which the GAO lists two fire-threatened Superfund sites, has seen one record wildfire after another, culminating this year in its three largest fires in the state’s history, each burning 140,000 to 200,000 acres. In California, with 18 threatened sites, fire season is now virtually year-round, with more than 25 million acres of the state’s wildlands facing very high or extreme fire threat, according to a report prepared for Gov. Gavin Newsom. The state saw more than 4 million acres burn this year, the most in its recorded history. In Montana, with five threatened sites, the temperature has warmed by 2.7 degrees over the past 70 years, substantially more than the nation as a whole, according to the 2017 Montana Climate Assessment. From 1970 to 2015, according to research published by Climate Central, that warming drove an at least tenfold increase in the number of wildfires larger than 1,000 acres in Montana, a greater percentage increase than in any other Western state. The Kootenai National Forest, which holds Libby’s asbestos-contaminated woods in the area known as OU3, endured its largest wildfire on record — the 25,000-acre Caribou Fire — in 2017. But that fire was some 50 miles away from the Superfund site. The following year OU3 faced a much closer blaze, the Highway 37 Fire, which firefighters held to just 71 acres. That fire burned just outside the boundary of the contaminated forest. “Climate change is driving increased severe, extensive fire behavior. We're seeing more and more large, dramatic, destructive fires,” said Don Whittemore, a fire incident commander from Colorado who helped the Forest Service, EPA, state and county leaders put together their plan for managing fires in OU3. “They've had a bunch of large fires on the Kootenai and in northwest Montana in the last couple years,” he said. “I can say it's a landscape primed for fire. It is set to burn. It's ideal to burn.” Visitors walk along the shore of Lake McDonald in Montana's Glacier National Park as the Howe Ridge Fire burns in the background on Aug. 12, 2018.National Park Service via AP Libby: A wakeup call The Highway 37 Fire outside Libby started July 19, 2018, along the highway, where sparks and hot engines often lead to wildfire. Nolan Buckingham’s Asbestos Wildland Fire crew donned their respirators in case the fire crossed the boundary into the contaminated forest and were on the blaze in less than 10 minutes. Given the extreme health hazards presented by a forest contaminated with highly toxic asbestos, there was no margin for error under extremely difficult conditions. “That fire really put people out of their comfort level, even if it wasn’t in OU3,” Buckingham said. As the fire roared uphill, the respirators made it hard for the firefighters to keep up. Luckily, a spot where the steep slope flattened out briefly a quarter mile up that hill gave them the break they needed. “We were able to catch it,” Buckingham said. Nolan Buckingham with members of the crew fighting the Highway 37 Fire near Libby, Mont.Nolan Buckingham For the next several days, aircraft bombed the fire with water constantly as Buckingham and his team set up hoses and sprinklers and, at one point, burned away vegetation before the fire could get to it. Contractors with heavy equipment helped them build a fire line around the blaze. The fire was finally declared contained July 31. “We learned a lot from the Highway 37 Fire,” Nate Gassmann, the district ranger for the Kootenai National Forest, said, including strategies for containing fires and quickly decontaminating the crew members after their shift. Nolan Buckingham, in red hat, stands with his crew on a spot overlooking the heart of the mine in August 2019.Courtesy Nolan Buckingham Still, when the contaminated forest’s fuel buildup and steep topography align with warm dry weather, Whittemore, the fire incident commander, said he worries the area could see far more than 70 acres burning. “Given the right alignment — 50,000 plus acres in a day,” said Whittemore, who has studied OU3 in detail and led large firefighting teams across the West. “It's got the fuels. It's got the topography. It just needs the weather alignment,” he said. “And if you're cognizant and aware and thinking about climate change on a global, national, landscape level, it'd be irresponsible not to think that that's a strong possibility. You have to plan for the worst-case scenario. Because more and more, we're not only seeing worst-case scenarios, we're seeing events that exceed worst-case scenarios.” Iron Mountain: A near disaster The Carr Fire began some 5 miles west of the Iron Mountain Superfund site in Redding, California, on July 23, 2018. It ultimately overran the site, crippling critical wastewater treatment infrastructure that captures as much as 168 million gallons of acid mine drainage each month. It took more than five weeks to contain. The Carr Fire burns on July 30, 2018, west of Redding, Calif.Terray Sylvester / Getty Images “There was this feeling of ‘My God. We ought to have better tracking of wildfires at Superfund locations,’” said Stephen Hoffman, a former senior environmental scientist at EPA who continues to consult with the agency on abandoned mine sites. “Before that, there wasn’t a lot of thought about climate change and fire. That has changed.” Iron Mountain is a mountainous, 4,400-acre site with steep slopes and deep, V-shaped valleys in California’s northern Shasta County where iron, silver, gold, copper, zinc and pyrite were mined from the 1860s until the 1960s. The former mine leaches water more corrosive than battery acid that also contains large amounts of zinc, copper and cadmium. Were it to flow untreated into surrounding streams, the toxic water would kill fish, including the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon, and destroy the habitat for area wildlife. The acid and poisons in the tainted water could eventually contaminate Spring Creek Reservoir, which holds mountain runoff before it enters the Sacramento River 8 miles above Redding, a city of 90,000 that depends on the river for its drinking water. For more of NBC News' in-depth reporting, download the NBC News app In anticipation of the fire burning power poles, site managers shut off electricity to the treatment facility that cleans the toxic acid drainage before it enters the watershed. Fire also crawled into the mine along hundreds of feet of polyethylene pipe, a fuse that could have ignited the combustible pyrite — fool’s gold — causing an explosion deep inside the cavern. After the treatment system shut down, an emergency collection reservoir and a million gallon holding tank captured the tainted water before it could reach nearby streams. Firefighters extinguished the flames creeping along the pipe inside the mine before they ignited the pyrite, preventing an explosive fire that could have released choking clouds of sulphur dioxide. The million gallon tank collected 395,000 gallons of acid mine water that was neutralized once electricity was restored to the treatment facility a few days after the fire. Plastic pipes that caught fire were replaced by stainless steel pipes. “Failure would have immediate, long-lived effects on the region’s drinking water supplies and fisheries,” Kate Burger a senior engineering geologist for the Central Valley Water Board, said. The close call prompted EPA officials to note the danger wildfire posed to the site, in a five-year review completed a month after the fire. Lily Tavassoli, the Iron Mountain project manager for the EPA during the Carr Fire, defended the agency’s readiness, saying the site had been prepared to handle wildfires on the scale of fires past. But the Carr Fire was “larger, faster moving and more intense than anything we had experienced before,” she said. The Carr Fire burns along Highway 299 near Whiskeytown, Calif., on July 27, 2018.Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Planning for the ‘potential impacts of climate change’ Two years before the Highway 37 Fire, Whittemore, the incident commander, read through the Libby Asbestos Response Plan and other documents that EPA had asked the Forest Service to prepare. He noticed little acknowledgement of what he’d been seeing in his decades fighting fires throughout the West — the warming climate was making fires larger and more resistant to suppression. Whittemore said small test burns and fires in laboratory settings that have been conducted by those agencies don’t reflect what would happen with the asbestos, smoke and ash if a large, intense fire sent a smoke column from OU3 high into the atmosphere. “The amount of organic material, period, that's liberated from a large fire is extraordinary,” he said. “Now, throw into that a cancer-causing material. To me, that's really, really scary.” That smoke could affect communities far from Libby, he said. The town of Libby in northwestern Montana.Rick Bowmer / AP “They didn't appreciate downwind impacts to places like Whitefish, to Glacier National Park, across the border into Waterton National Park or other parts of Canada,” Whittemore said of the plans. He said he hopes a final cleanup study now underway will consider those areas far from Libby. More than two years after the Highway 37 Fire, the EPA, the Forest Service and the Libby Asbestos Superfund site’s owner, W.R. Grace & Co., are still working on a feasibility study of cleanup options, which was expected next year but has been delayed until late 2022 or early 2023. Libby’s asbestos-filled forest surrounds the mine where, until 30 years ago, W.R. Grace mined vermiculite, a mineral valuable in insulation and lawn and garden products. The vermiculite was also filled with Libby amphibole and tons of that asbestos were released every day from Grace’s operation, coating the miners, the town and the forest. In 2008, Grace was ordered to pay $250 million for future cleanup costs. Several years earlier government prosecutors had brought criminal charges against company executives, who they claimed knew how deadly their operation was. The executives were acquitted and, in the years since, most of the Superfund operating units in and around Libby have been cleaned up. But Grace, the EPA and the Forest Service are still figuring out what to do with the asbestos-filled forest. Environmental cleanup specialists work at one of the last remaining residential asbestos cleanup sites in Libby in September 2018.Kurt Wilson / The Missoulian via AP While the EPA has not previously looked at the effects of a warming climate and increasing droughts on the threat posed by the contaminated forest, the agency will do so as part of the final cleanup study, Dania Zinner, the EPA’s remedial project manager for the Libby site, wrote in an emailed response to questions. “Ongoing discussions about potential impacts of climate change on the site, including fire behavior modeling, are continuing.” Caitlin E. Leopold, director of corporate communications for Grace, said the company was working with the EPA on the plan for the forest. "The Superfund framework does include climate change considerations as part of the process in accordance with the EPA,” Leopold said. “Grace is continuing to work through the feasibility process with the agencies.” Zinner said that the plan would consider the dangers posed to residents of Libby and beyond. “EPA and partners are considering any type of situation that could have an impact on human health risks at the site now and into the future,” she wrote. Recalculating the wildfire threat Entering this year’s fire season, officials in EPA Region 9, the region that includes California, Nevada and Arizona, updated fire contingency plans for remote Superfund sites, which are mostly abandoned mines. “We also have been monitoring — and will continue to monitor — fire behavior closely to track threats to Superfund sites, as well as other sensitive infrastructure,” Michael Alpern, a spokesman for the region, said. The Carr Fire remained a powerfully cautionary tale for many firefighters. Jim Woolford, a former director of EPA’s Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, said the Carr Fire triggered increased scrutiny of the vulnerability of mines to fires. “That near miss led to our Superfund mining team to reevaluate the threat from wildfires,” he said. A spokeswoman for Shahid Mahmud, head of EPA’s National Mining Team, said that as a result of the more frequent and larger conflagrations, including the Carr Fire, cleanup plans for former mines are now designed with wildfires in mind. Emergency protocols addressing wildfire threats are reviewed every year, and have become more urgent recently, the spokeswoman said. Firefighters wearing respirators in the OU3 area in Montana.U.S. Forest Service But wildfire experts and climate scientists said that while it’s possible to reduce the threat, it’s not feasible to eliminate it. Mines will drain acid as long as their waters encounter sulphur-bearing minerals; radioactivity can persist deep in contaminated landscapes for thousands of years; and much of the asbestos in the contaminated forest outside Libby will remain there as long as the trees do. For sites where no polluter can be made to pay and the EPA lacks cleanup funds, the agency will need to design protections that shield the sites from wildfires as long as the contamination remains. And wildland firefighters and other emergency responders near Superfund sites in places like Libby will don their protective suits, hold fire lines and hope they can prevent almost unfathomable environmental catastrophe. Sent from my iPad

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