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EDITORIAL ~ M.I.P. Mystery Continues. Appeal Period Ends April 6th
by Duane Nichols 04 Apr '22

04 Apr '22

EDITORIAL: Secretive 'Science Facility' Seems Like An Unwelcome Polluter The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va. January 13, 2022 Usually, when a new business or industry makes its home around Morgantown, local politicians and business advocates are positively abuzz, talking to anyone who will listen and promoting the area's newest addition. But that's not the case with the mysterious "science facility /data processing center " coming to the Morgantown Industrial Park. So far, the only thing we know is that Marion Energy Partners applied to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for a permit for its 10, 000-square-foot facility. The center's four natural gas-fired engines—operating 24 /7 /365—would pull natural gas from a nearby Northeast Natural Energy well pad. (Northeast Natural Energy appears to be Marion Energy Partners' parent company.) Nothing else is really known, though it's suspected the new facility will be a cryptocurrency mining operation. As we reported Wednesday, cryptocurrency mining uses banks of specialized computers to validate blockchain transactions for a specific cryptocurrency (such as Bitcoin) in order to receive percentages of said currency in return. The process is extremely energy intensive and has come under fire for its massive carbon footprint. Essentially, what Monongalia County is looking at is a carbon-and air pollution-spewing factory that creates few, if any, jobs or economic opportunity. It's immensely concerning that a major polluter could be setting up shop in our backyard and no one knows anything about it. Neither company will respond to requests for comment, and even the Monongalia County Commission is being tight-lipped about the project. Mon County residents are well within their rights to demand more information. Air pollution is never confined to the area where it is emitted, and we'd want to a see a plan from Northeast Natural Energy and /or Marion Energy Partners that details how they would protect the community from any toxins or chemicals the facility ejects. We'd also like to see the companies' proposals for offsetting the center's carbon emissions. In a consumer-driven economy, some trade-offs are to be expected. For example: Accepting some pollution in exchange for well-paying jobs and a measurable boost to the local economy. That's why coal mines are still welcomed in most of West Virginia. However, there isn't enough information about the center publicly available to make a list of pros and cons. At the moment, the proposed facility seems to offer no jobs, no tangible product and little-to-no benefit to taxpayers. Because of concerns about the secretive center, contact the WV DEP Environmental Advocate and ask that his Office appeal the Air Pollution Permit or ask that the permit be re-examined after the final report on the MSEEL project is issued. Include "Marion Energy Partners LLC" in the subject line. This request can be emailed to depadvocate(a)wv.gov You can write to Mike John, the CEO of Northeast Natural Energy, here in Morgantown. His company owns the Marcellus wells in the MIP as well as the responsibility for the so-called Science Facility project. His address is MIke John, CEO, Northeast Natural Energy, Marina Tower, STE 601, 48 Donley Street, Morgantown, WV 26501

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Empire Diversified Energy expansion plans concern some Follansbee residents | WTOV
by Duane Nichols 03 Apr '22

03 Apr '22

https://wtov9.com/news/local/empire-diversified-energy-expansion-plans-conc… Empire Diversified Energy expansion plans concern some Follansbee residents From an Article by Tyler Madden, WTOV News 9, April 1, 2022 FOLLANSBEE, W.Va. — Empire Diversified Energy is continuing its work at the Port of West Virginia, including the development of a medical waste energy system. The company acquired the former Coppers [actually Koppers] Chemical plant and is continuing its expansion in that area. "We've cleaned up that site and on the theme of renewable energy we started with this recycling program for medical waste,” Empire Diversified Energy President Scott Ewusiak said. "That feedstock is sent through a chipper/shredder to get it into smaller pieces like you chewing food,” Bernard Brown, chief technology officer for the company, explained. “You're breaking it down, then it goes into the system." RELATED: Port of West Virginia shows legislators what it has to offer The system is operated at 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. Brown said it's not incineration because oxygen is absent from the process. The West Virginia legislature recently passed House Bill 4084 that approves this kind of process within the state. "This system has been approved by the state of California also that has some of the toughest air emissions,” Brown said. Developers said it's a closed system. Gases are fed back into it and there are no emissions. The group said this expansion will create 30 jobs. [Quite an invention if gases are produced and then disappear inside? Perhaps the gases are fed to the combustion chamber to be burned with natural gas? DGN] Follansbee Mayor David Velogol said he’s heard concerned from some residents about the emissions. “I have heard those concerns and I can see where people are rightly concerned,” Velegol said. “I'm the mayor and I'm also a chemical engineer and I work with oil refineries and chemical plants, and I know the strictness of the EPA when they go through and examine these." The Port of West Virginia hosted a day-long tour of their development earlier this week. "We're trying to make a clean logistics terminal,” Ewusiak said. “There's nothing like that in our area where we could bring in different agricultural things, fertilizer to shipping containers like you see on the sea." "I live in this community,” Velegol said. “I don't live in Cincinnati or Pittsburgh and same with Scottie. We live in this community, and we have to breathe this same air and it's really important to us that we have clear technology and clean air in this area." The company currently is in the permitting process to build this processor. xxx

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Mon Balks at Shale Laws - Morgantown Dominion Post - 9 June 2011
by Duane Nichols 24 Mar '22

24 Mar '22

http://www.uppermon.org/news/dominion%20post/DP-Mon_Balks_at_Shale_Laws-9Ju… Mon Balks at Shale Laws County promises legal action if ordinances pass Morgantown Dominion Post 9 June 2011 By Tracy Eddy Municipalities — such as Morgantown and Westover — do not have the authority to extend their jurisdictions up to one mile outside of their city limits, the Monongalia County Commission said Wednesday. “It’s unconstitutional,” Commissioner Eldon Callen said. But Morgantown Mayor Bill Byrne and Westover Mayor Dave Johnson beg to differ, saying a state code gives cities that power. Morgantown City Council approved Tuesday the first reading of a law to ban horizontal drilling and fracturing — or fracking — in the city limits and up to one mile beyond Morgantown’s borders. Westover City Council is considering a law that would require potential drillers in its one-mile buffer to prove — with data — the drilling would be safe to Westover residents. Commissioners said the county would take legal action to prevent the cities from enforcing those laws, if they are passed. Commission President Asel Kennedy said the same goes for any other municipalities that would impose restrictions on property owners living in the county. Callen said the issue is not about Marcellus shale — it’s about the cities trying to use their authority outside their limits. “We as a county commission have a responsibility to all the people in the county,” he said. “The people inside municipalities and the people outside them.” During its Wednesday meeting, the county commission voted unanimously to send letters to Morgantown and Westover city officials, requesting a work session to discuss the proposed city laws. Morgantown drafted its law using W.Va. Code 8-12-19, Byrne said, which allows cities to extend their powers up to one mile outside their corporate limits if it is necessary to efficiently exercise those powers. Byrne said the city didn’t discuss the law with the county prior to drafting it because the city was trying to move as quickly as possible to protect its water supply and its residents. “We had a responsibility and a legal right to do this,” he said. Callen said that particular section of code has never been tested in court. The city hasn’t said what specific power it is trying to exercise by passing the law, he said. He also said the one-mile figure was “arbitrary.” “You can’t just draw a one-mile circle around the town,” he said. Kennedy said he understands Morgantown is concerned about the water supply and its proximity to the two Marcellus wells being drilled, but, “a mile outside the city is a long way.” He said areas such as Point Marion Road and Grafton Road fall into the one-mile buffer but aren’t near the water supply. If people living outside the city limits wanted to sell the mineral rights to their property, the city law could stop them, if it were passed. “We, as a commission, need to intercede [if the law is passed] so that hundreds of others don’t have to use their time and money to do so,” Kennedy said. The two Marcellus wells being drilled at the Morgantown Industrial Park are about 3,000 feet from the Morgantown Utility Board’s water intake. If any fluid discharged from the site enters the Monongahela River, it will do so 1,500 feet from the water intake. Commissioner Bill Bartolo said this situation exists because the governor and the state Legislature failed to develop new regulations for the Marcellus shale permitting and drilling process. The County Commission sent a letter to the governor last week, urging him to call a special session so the Legislature could come up with regulations to better control the drilling statewide. Bartolo said the issue should be addressed at the state level, not at the city level. He does support cooperation between the county and the cities, he said. “We need to do the right thing,” he said. “Whatever it is.” Byrne said the city would be willing to meet with county officials. Johnson said Westover would be willing to listen to the county as well, but he doesn’t think the one-mile buffer is unconstitutional because it’s allowed by the state code. Westover is taking a more conservative approach to its law than Morgantown is, Johnson said. “Westover is going to be very careful about how we do this,” he said. “We’re not trying to shut [the drilling industry] down completely, but we want to make sure it’s going to be safe.” W.VA. CODE 8-12-19 Wherever the powers and authority granted in this chapter cannot be reasonably and efficiently exercised by confining the exercise thereof within the corporate limits of the municipality, the powers and authority of the municipality shall extend beyond the corporate limits to the extent necessary to the reasonably efficient exercise of such powers and authority within the corporate limits. Such powers and authority, unless other wise provided in this code or elsewhere in the law, shall not, however extend more than one mile beyond the corporate limits, and such powers and authority shall not extend into the corporate limits of another municipality without the consent of the governing body thereof. Sent from my iPad

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LOCAL WEBINAR ON POLAR ICE CAPS ~ Heating & Melting are Underway BigTime on EARTH (3/23/22 @ 7 PM)
by Duane Nichols 21 Mar '22

21 Mar '22

https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2022/03/21/local-webinar-on-polar-ice-caps-hea… LOCAL WEBINAR ON POLAR ICE CAPS ~ Heating & Melting are Underway BigTime on EARTH (3/23/22 @ 7 PM) Jacob Fourier in France understood the “greenhouse effect” in 1824. “What Are The Poles (North and South) Telling Us About Earth’s Climate Future?” From Tom Rodd, Executive Director, WV Center on Climate Change, March 21, 2022 Here’s our final reminder about the upcoming Wednesday, March 23 @ 7 PM live climate science program from Morgantown, WV — featuring a great speaker, Dr. Julie Brigham-Grette. §§§ — Details and registration are here. Julie Brigham-Grette is a world-renowned scientist who studies the polar regions. She is tremendously alarmed at the ongoing environmental collapse of these areas that are so vital to our planetary well-being. See her recent article on this topic here. Dr. Brigham-Grette will be speaking and answering questions about how the polar climate has already changed, what we can expect as global climate change continues, and why we urgently need to address the climate crisis to protect humanity’s future. Dr. Brigham-Grette will be joined by two West Virginia University Professors, Dr. Amy Weislogel, Associate Professor of Sedimentary Geology, and Dr. Christopher J. Russoniello, Assistant Professor of Geology. More information on all of these speakers is here at the registration page. Wednesday, March 23rd @ 7 PM — The in-person venue will be a “smart conference room” at the WVU Media Innovation Center, in the Evansdale Crossing Building, 62 Morrill Way, Morgantown WV 26506. There will be audience seating, cameras and microphones for online participation, and a large screen displaying online speakers and audience questions. Doors open at 6:30 PM USET, and the online program will go from 7:00 to 8:00 PM USET. Reservations are not required. WVU COVID protocols currently require masking. Don’t miss this unique chance to engage with these outstanding scientists who are joining this program to discuss the most important challenge of our time. The stakes could not be higher — let’s make them welcome! We have more than 130 registrants so far – and for anyone in the Morgantown area, this will be a special gathering with other climate-concerned folks! Please share this invitation with your friends, and I hope to see you, in-person or online! >>> Tom Rodd, Director, West Virginia Center on Climate Change ### ~ To attend and participate in this program — either online or in person — register here. For more information, email info(a)wvclimate.org. Thanks for your climate concerns! P.S. Please share this message with others who might be interested! They will appreciate it! Tagged as: CH4, CO2, fossil fuels, frack gas, GHG, global warming, polar ice caps, sea level rise, WV Center on Climate Change Sent from my iPad

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“Science Facility” in Charleston Gazette by Mike Tony, 3/9/22
by Duane Nichols 14 Mar '22

14 Mar '22

DEP approves air quality permit for proposed data processing facility in Morgantown despite limited information on facility plans Charleston Gazette article by Mike Tony, March 9, 2022 West Virginia environmental regulators have approved a key permit for a data processing facility in Morgantown despite having admitted they know little about what the applicant’s plans are for the facility. The state Department of Environmental Protection approved an air quality permit for a data processing facility proposed by Morgantown-based Marion Energy Partners LLC. Marion Energy Partners applied in August for an air quality permit to construct and operate a 10,000-square-foot data processing facility at 5900 Morgantown Industrial Park. The facility would include four natural gas-fired engines to generate its own electricity around the clock. In its final determination issued Monday, the DEP’s Division of Air Quality said it has “no explicit authority” to disclose the function of the proposed data center. The facility’s name is listed as “Science Facility” in a filing with the DEP. But when Morgantown residents and elected officials asked Division of Air Quality engineer Edward Andrews for more information about the nature of planned operations at the facility during a January public hearing on the permit application, Andrews had little to offer. “The best we know from the application is that it’s going to be a data center,” Andrews said. The permit application was submitted on Marion Energy Partners’ behalf by Charleston-based SLR Consulting. Representatives of Northeast Natural Energy, a Charleston-headquartered oil and gas exploration company, were copied on email correspondence with environmental regulators. A July notice of Marion Energy Partners’ air quality permit application lists the same address for the company as that of Northeast Natural Energy’s Morgantown office — 48 Donley St., Suite 601, Morgantown, WV 26501. Brett Loflin, who joined Northeast Natural Energy as vice president of regulatory affairs in 2010, declined to comment on plans for the facility in January and did not respond to a request for comment this week. The permit application also lists Loflin as vice president of regulatory affairs at Marion Energy Partners. The Division of Air Quality acknowledged in its final determination that the majority of comments it received about the permit application opposed it. But the division said a state legislative rule limited regulators’ scope of review to whether the proposed engines would violate emission standards. “The DAQ has no explicit authority to request the applicant to disclose the function of the ‘data center’,” the division said in its final determination. In response to comments it received opposing the application, the Division of Air Quality said it had no authority to require Marion Energy Partners to analyze the “best available control technology” to control air pollution or reevaluate its process to reduce facility emissions because the facility is not a “major source.” The federal Clean Air Act requires best available control technology for major sources, which have actual or potential emissions above thresholds of 100 tons per year for any air pollutant. The permit application says the facility will share its location with a natural gas production pad that will supply gas to the generator engines to help power the facility. The fuel gas would be supplied by area wells equivalent to pipeline-quality gas at a volume of 97% methane, according to the permit application. SLR Consulting principal engineer Jesse Hanshaw told Andrews in an August email that gas from a local gathering pipeline would provide an uninterrupted supply of fuel to the data center, according to DEP documents. The site is believed to be designed to provide electricity for cryptocurrency mining, a process of creating new units of digital currency that requires large amounts of energy for computing. Opponents of the permit application have feared the facility could contribute significant noise pollution, as bitcoin mining facilities have prompted complaints about fan noise from power generated for facility computers. Bitcoin is a digital currency that users can buy, sell or exchange directly without government or bank oversight. The Division of Air Quality noted in its response to comments on the application that excessive noise is not an issue under its jurisdiction. DEP spokesman Terry Fletcher said in January that the state has permitted what he called similar sources in West Virginia: a computing center for the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Berkeley County, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Clarksburg site, and a military training facility for the West Virginia National Guard in Preston County. “The WVDEP cannot speculate as to the nature of operations at these facilities, nor are the permittees required to disclose that information,” Fletcher said in an email. “DAQ’s jurisdiction over these sites begins and ends with the emission sources.” Monongalia County Democratic delegates Evan Hansen, Barbara Fleischauer, Danielle Walker and John Williams were joined by John Doyle, D-Jefferson, in sponsoring a bill during this legislative session that would have required DEP permit applicants to disclose the purpose of their planned activity “with sufficient specificity” at the permit location. But the House Energy and Manufacturing Committee never took up the bill, House Bill 4640. Morgantown residents and city officials expressed concern over potential greenhouse gas and noise emissions from the facility during the January public hearing, also doubting the facility would result in any economic benefit to the community. Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition coordinator and Morgantown resident Duane Nichols said the Division of Air Quality should not have granted the permit and expressed frustration at the DEP’s strict interpretation of the regulations involved. “[O]ur state government should not approve pollution permits for facilities that only insult the public interest,” Nichols said in an email. He also said the proposed site’s close proximity to schools and residential areas would have justified withholding the permit from Marion Energy Partners. “[The DEP] has failed to fully account for the greenhouse gas emissions and associated facilities at this site,” Jim Kotcon, conservation committee chairman of the Sierra Club’s West Virginia chapter, said in an email. The nearest residential dwelling is about 1,128 feet away from the center of the site, with some businesses roughly half that amount away, according to state environmental regulators, who found the site is appropriate for the proposed emission units. The permit sets emissions limits of 16.69 tons per year of nitrogen oxides and 8.42 tons per year of carbon monoxide for each engine. The engines are to be equipped with an oxidation catalyst air pollution control device, according to the permit. Marion Energy Partners was required to obtain a permit in part because the four proposed engines’ potential emissions exceed 6 pounds per hour and 10 tons per year for nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds. >>> Mike Tony covers energy and the environment. He can be reached at 304-348-1236 or mtony(a)hdmediallc.com. Follow @Mike__Tony on Twitter.

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Marion Energy Partners LLC; Science Facility (“data center”) ~ Permit No. R13-3533
by Duane Nichols 07 Mar '22

07 Mar '22

https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2022/03/07/marion-energy-partners-llc-science-… Marion Energy Partners LLC; Science Facility (“data center”) ~ Permit No. R13-3533 Land is available for lease in the Morgantown Industrial Park WV Air Quality Final Determination & Response to Comments – Science Facility for Morgantown Industrial Park From the Division of Air Quality, WV Department of Environmental Protection, March 7, 2022 Pursuant to 45 CSR §13-8.8, the Division of Air Quality presents the FINAL DETERMINATION for the Construction Permit for Marion Energy Partners LLC —Science Facility, located near Morgantown, Monongalia County, West Virginia ~ Permit Application Number: R13-3533, Facility Identification Number 061-00262, Date: March 7, 2022. {‘Promoting a healthy environment.’} Marion Energy Partners, the same individuals at the same locations as Northeast Natural Energy, has proposed to construct a frack gas fired facility to generate electricity, with some unrevealed purpose that would use the power to run a Science Facility as a “data center” operating 24 x 365. Four G3520H Caterpillar engines rated at 3457 horsepower each would have individual stacks 20 feet tall, not very high in the valley. The frack gas, similar to natural gas, would contain numerous contaminants in low concentrations. Consideration of Dehydration Unit ~ The DAQ agrees with the commenters that the dehydration unit at the MIP Measurement & Recording (M&R) station adjacent to the Science Facility should be included in the air pollution analysis because of plant functionality (e.g., engines need the field gas dehydrated) and is owned and operated by Northeast Natural Energy. The combined emissions, of Marion Energy Partners and the MIP M&R station would still be classified as a non-major facility under the major source construction (PSD) and operating permit (Title V) programs and as an area source of hazardous air pollutants. Combined emissions of the two sites in tons per year are as follows: Particulate Matter (PM) 3.89, Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) 67.4, Carbon Monoxide (CO) 34.22, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) 40.34, Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) 14.41, and Formaldehyde (HCHO) 6.68. [Some 55,000 tons per year of Carbon Dioxide will also be emitted.] Oxidation Catalyst Monitoring ~ “The permittee shall monitor the temperature at the inlet of the catalyst in accordance with manufacturer’s specifications; a high temperature alarm shall shut off the engine before thermal deactivation of the catalyst occurs. If the engine shuts off due to high temperature alarm, the permittee shall follow the maintenance plan and the engine and oxidation catalyst manufacturer’s operating and maintenance procedures to determine the cause of the alarm and corrective action. If thermal deactivation of the oxidation catalyst is suspected, then the permittee shall also check for thermal deactivation of the oxidation catalyst in accordance with the oxidation catalyst manufacture’s written procedures and corrective action to restore catalyst performance (if necessary) before normal operations are resumed.” Final Determination ~ “After consideration of all comments received, all available information indicates Marion Energy Partners LLC’s proposed construction of the Science Facility near Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV, should meet all applicable requirements of State Rules and Federal Regulations and permit R13-3533 should be issued, subject to applicable state and federal air quality management rules and standards.” >>> The Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition and others have raised a number of issues and maintain that the Morgantown Industrial Park is not an appropriate location for this pollution. Other industrial facilities are quite close; and numerous schools, residential areas, churches, and critical health care facilities are in this same Monongahela River valley. >>> It has been recommended that the City of Morgantown appeal this Permit to the WV Air Quality Board. xxx

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Preparing for Petrochemicals: Virtual Community Meeting - 12/8/21
by Duane Nichols 23 Feb '22

23 Feb '22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rCZxEa4KHY >>>. Full event video. Event took place on December 8, 2021. A virtual community meeting to discuss issues and concerns as the Shell petrochemical plant nears start-up operations. The evening was facilitated by Sr. Kari Pohl, Coordinator of Justice and Peace Ministry for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden. Topics and Speakers include: • Shell Plant Overview - Dr. Clifford Lau, Duquesne University and Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC) (featuring photography by Ted Auch/FracTracker Alliance) • Final Permitting and Fenceline Monitoring - Adam Kron, Earthjustice and Karl Koerner, Clean Air Council • Petrochemical Health Impacts - Dr. Ned Ketyer, Physicians for Social Responsibility PA and Environmental Health Project • Air Pollution Monitoring - Ana Hoffman, CMU CREATE Lab, Mark Dixon, BlueLens • Water, Noise, Light and other Pollution - Terrie Baumgardner, Clean Air Council, Beaver County Clean Air Outreach Coordinator and BCMAC • Emergency Response System - Mr. Eric Brewer, Beaver County Emergency Management • Texas Experiences - Yvette Arellano, Fenceline Watch, Houston, Texas >>> Q & A Event partners: Beaver County Marcellus Awareness, Community (BCMAC), Blue Lens, LLC, Breathe Project, Clean Air Council, CMU CREATE Lab, Communities First Sewickley, EarthJustice, Environmental Health Project, Environmental Integrity Project, Fractracker Alliance, League of Women Voters of PA, Physicians for Social Responsibility PA

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PLASTICS Problems Can Actually Get Worse ....
by Duane Nichols 22 Feb '22

22 Feb '22

Trend Study Chemical Recycling (“extract”) — Technologies, key players, plants & projects and status of the plastic waste treatment as a business, February 2022 https://www.ecoprog.com/fileadmin/user_upload/extract_Trend_Study_Chemical_…

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Sierra Club and Partners File Brief in High Stakes West Va v. EPA Case o
by Duane Nichols 13 Feb '22

13 Feb '22

https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2022/01/sierra-club-and-partners-file-b… Sierra Club and Partners File Brief in High Stakes West Va v. EPA Case By Andres Restrepo and Joanne Spalding, Sierra Club USA, January 19, 2022 The Sierra Club, together with a coalition of environmental organizations, public health advocacy groups, and others, filed a brief yesterday with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case West Virginia v. EPA. The brief forcefully opposes an attack on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Air Act authority launched by right-wing politicians and coal industry executives allied with them. With the support of polluter-backed special interest groups and other far-right extremists, the petitioners in this case are asserting a legal theory invented by the Trump Administration that would gut EPA’s ability to rein in climate-disrupting carbon dioxide pollution from existing fossil fuel-burning power plants under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act. One year ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected those arguments and ruled in favor of Sierra Club and its allies; the case is now before the Supreme Court. The Court’s decision in this case could severely undercut EPA’s power to protect public health and welfare by combatting the climate crisis. As our brief makes clear, EPA has not only the authority, but the duty to issue meaningful safeguards against carbon pollution from power plants, despite the Trump Administration’s previous efforts to read that authority out of the law. More to the point, our brief demonstrates that the Court should promptly dismiss this case without addressing the legal merits: the Court has no jurisdiction over this case since no EPA regulations currently exist that implicate these legal questions. Unfortunately, the coal companies and politicians litigating this case are not content to focus on the narrow question of statutory interpretation at hand. Instead, they are seizing this case as an opportunity to strike a body blow against EPA’s authority to carry out vital Congressional directives. The petitioners’ briefs to the Court focus largely on what is known as the “major questions doctrine,” a legal principle concerning the interpretation of laws and their implementation by federal agencies. In certain prior cases, the Supreme Court has held that when a federal agency interprets a Congressional statute in a way that would have “vast economic and political significance,” a court will look for a “clear Congressional authorization” in the governing law, rather than interpret statutory silence or ambiguity as permitting the agency’s interpretation. In this case, the petitioners – coal companies and their political allies – are trying to use the major questions doctrine to strip EPA of its authority to consider any emission reduction techniques under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act except those that can be implemented within the walls of each individual plant. Their theory would permit EPA to adopt only exceedingly weak measures that would shield power companies from the obligation to pay anything other than minimal costs for the dangerous pollution their plants emit. However, they ignore the fact that the Supreme Court already held in AEP vs. Connecticut that “Congress delegated to EPA the decision whether and how to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions from powerplants,” and that section 111(d) “speaks directly” to EPA’s authority in this regard. The petitioners’ legal theory, and their understanding of the major questions doctrine, would decimate EPA’s authority to take meaningful action to reduce power plants’ dangerous carbon dioxide emissions. But the damage wouldn’t end there. They are directly targeting federal agencies’ authority in general to develop policies and take action to protect the public’s health, welfare, and safety. Indeed, just yesterday, the politician leading the attack on EPA’s regulatory authority–West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey–told the press that the petitioners’ legal theory in this case is “not only about our coal-fired power plants,” but also “deals with consumer-related matters” and raises “fundamental questions about the size and scope of government.” Here’s what that really means: Morrissey and his allies want to use this case to torpedo the ability of public servants at government agencies to do their Congressionally-mandated duty to enforce laws and safeguard our air and water, ensure that businesses from agriculture to telecommunications to transportation treat consumers fairly, and protect the health of our families and communities. A ruling in their favor could send us back to the period of American government that preceded the Great Depression, commonly known as the “Lochner era,” when corporate power went largely unchecked and federal agencies had little authority to protect the public. The sweeping ruling these politicians and coal companies are pushing for would undermine the will of the people, a century of laws, and decades of legal precedent. We are confident that each of their claims lacks merit, and our brief explains exactly why. In response to this blatant and dangerous overreach, the key points of the brief are as follows: First, there is no standing for this attack. This case should be dismissed because the petitioners lack standing to pursue their claims. Their arguments focus on the implementation of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan–a policy that never went into effect, and whose emission targets were already reached a decade ahead of schedule due to industry trends, even without that regulation in place. Instead, EPA plans to issue a new rule on a blank slate to limit power plants’ carbon dioxide emissions, and the petitioners’ preemptive attacks against those standards are entirely speculative. Rather than raise their legal claims in the abstract, the petitioners must await the result of EPA’s new rulemaking, which will both define the issues for judicial review and avoid entangling the court in an unnecessary advisory exercise over regulations that never went into effect. Second, even if this were a live issue instead of speculation, the petitioners’ arguments would fail because the Clean Air Act gives the EPA clear authority to act. Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act simply does not include the restrictions on EPA authority that the petitioners claim it does. Just as the Trump Administration did, the petitioners contort the plain meaning of the statute and read into it words that Congress did not include. This is the only way they can support their interpretation of section 111(d), which would severely and unjustifiably restrict EPA’s authority to limit carbon dioxide pollution from existing power plants. Third, the “major questions” issue does not apply in this case. Precedent makes clear that the major questions doctrine is relevant when the policy in question would have “vast economic or political significance.” Yet the Clean Power Plan never even took effect, and market-driven trends in the electric power sector have rendered its emission-reduction targets immaterial. The Supreme Court has never applied major questions principles to an agency rule that is defunct, not under review, and that would have no meaningful impact even if it were reinstated. In any event, Congress included clear instructions in section 111(d) for EPA to follow in regulating air pollution; those instructions do not include the limits that the petitioners claim, and that is all the specificity that the law requires. As our brief makes clear, the extreme positions of the petitioners are out of line with the Clean Air Act and with the governing legal precedent. The case should therefore be dismissed; otherwise, the Supreme Court should uphold the D.C. Circuit’s decision rejecting the legal theory that the petitioners use to attack EPA’s Clean Air Act authority. As we look ahead to oral arguments before the Supreme Court, which will occur on February 28, Sierra Club and its partners will continue to beat the drum in support of our position in this case. More broadly, we will continue to use all of our tools of advocacy to ensure that we defeat the vision for our climate, our country, and our world held by the coal industry and its political allies, like Patrick Morrissey. And we will not stop in our work to secure a just and prosperous future that provides 100% clean and renewable energy for all. >>>>> You can help, see ..... FrackCheckWV.net

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Justice Dept. Seizes $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin and Arrests Married Couple - The New York Times, February 8, 2022
by Duane Nichols 09 Feb '22

09 Feb '22

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/us/politics/ilya-lichtenstein-heather-mo… Justice Dept. Seizes $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin and Arrests Married Couple The couple were accused of conspiring to launder Bitcoin that had been stolen in 2016 from Hong Kong-based Bitfinex, one of the world’s largest virtual currency exchanges. From an Article by Katie Bender, New York Times, Feb. 8, 2022 WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said on Tuesday that it had seized over $3.6 billion worth of stolen Bitcoin and arrested a married couple accused of laundering the cryptocurrency that hackers had stolen six years ago. The couple, Ilya Lichtenstein, 34, and Heather Morgan, 31, were accused in a criminal complaint of conspiring to launder 119,754 Bitcoin that had been stolen in 2016 from Hong Kong-based Bitfinex, one of the world’s largest virtual currency exchanges. The value of the currency at the time of its seizure last week makes it the department’s largest financial seizure ever, officials said. The breach in 2016 was among a spate of hackings into currency exchanges that have allowed for the theft of large amounts of digital currency. After the hacking of Bitfinex, one of the largest exchanges in the history of the cryptocurrency market, the value of Bitcoin initially plunged about 20 percent. Mr. Lichtenstein and Ms. Morgan appeared in a federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon. A judge ordered them released on bond: $5 million in Mr. Lichtenstein’s case and $3 million in Ms. Morgan’s. A lawyer representing them did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Lichtenstein, who goes by the nickname Dutch, has both American and Russian citizenship and has described himself as a tech entrepreneur, according to the complaint. Ms. Morgan describes herself on her LinkedIn page as “a serial entrepreneur” and an “irreverent comedic rapper.” The complaint, which also accuses the couple of conspiracy to defraud the United States, suggests Ms. Morgan also goes by the alias Razzlekhan. The deputy attorney general, Lisa O. Monaco, said in a statement that the arrests “show that cryptocurrency is not a safe haven for criminals.” According to court documents, the hacker who breached Bitfinex’s systems initiated 2,000 transactions to send 119,754 stolen Bitcoin to a digital wallet that was under Mr. Lichtenstein’s control. The investigators traced the movement of the Bitcoin on the blockchain, the permanent fixed electronic ledger that records each time a Bitcoin moves to a new digital wallet. And some of those funds were eventually deposited into financial accounts controlled by Mr. Lichtenstein and Ms. Morgan, who used some of the money to buy items such as gold, nonfungible tokens and a Walmart gift card, according to the complaint. Law enforcement officials gained access to Mr. Lichtenstein’s wallet on Jan. 31, after they obtained a search warrant that gave them entry to encrypted files in Mr. Lichtenstein’s cloud storage account. The next day, investigators seized the 94,636 Bitcoin that remained in that wallet, which were worth more than $3.6 billion, according to court papers. The total 119,754 Bitcoin that were stolen, worth about $71 million when Bitfinex was hacked in 2016, are now worth more than $4.5 billion, according to the Justice Department. The arrest shows that “we will not allow cryptocurrency to be a safe haven for money laundering or a zone of lawlessness within our financial system,” Kenneth A. Polite Jr., the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a statement. With more Americans buying and selling cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, regulators have brought some large exchanges in the United States under official oversight. But cryptocurrencies move through decentralized computer networks that are not under the control of any single government or company, so most trading occurs on largely unregulated exchanges like Bitfinex, which give consumers little information about their operations. The lack of regulation has led to a host of problems in the world of virtual currency exchanges, threatening to impair consumer confidence in cryptocurrencies and to slow widespread adoption. The first Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, collapsed in 2014 after hackers breached its security systems and siphoned away $500 million in customer money.

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