"Coal makes us sick"
Labels: coal burning, coal combustion waste, coal mining, coal to oil, politics, public health
a rural Pennsylvania community fights for environmental justice
Labels: coal burning, coal combustion waste, coal mining, coal to oil, politics, public health
Just weeks after receiving letters in 2006 from the state Department of Environmental Protection that a local tree farm would be spreading sludge on hundreds of acres, residents of East Brunswick Township in Schuylkill County responded by lobbying their supervisors to enact a no sludge ban, which they approved that December.Other Schuylkill County communities that have enacted similar bans or announced support of East Brunswick's ordinance include the borough of Tamaqua and the townships of Mahanoy, Packer and Rush, where Hometown is located. Elsewhere across the state, communities in Lancaster and York counties have also taken action against sludge dumping.
But the tree farm, J.C. Hills, complained to the state attorney general, who filed suit against the township claiming the ordinance violated a 2005 state law that prohibits municipalities from regulating sludge.
A decision on the suit, now before the Commonwealth Court, is expected within weeks if not days. But whatever the verdict, the question of who decides on the use of sludge -- commonly known as biosolids -- is an emerging controversy in Pennsylvania and one that is gaining traction with its municipalities.
Labels: dumping, public health, sludge, toxics
Labels: coal combustion waste, Northeastern Power Co., polycythemia vera, public health, Still Creek Reservoir, Suez Energy, waste coal burning
RENDELL AND MCGINTY PROPOSE TO USE PUBLIC LANDS FOR COAL AND UTILITY INDUSTRIES
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty are at it again. This time they want to try to store waste carbon dioxide underground on state-owned forestlands. The waste carbon dioxide will come from private coal-burning power plants and other private industrial sources. Carbon dioxide is believed to be a major cause of global warming.
As previously reported, Pennsylvania has no money for bridge and road repair or property tax reform and yet Rendell and McGinty are proposing to be the first in the nation to fund and build Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) "demonstration" projects. McGinty said the state will OFFER PUBLIC LANDS and ASSUME ALL LIABILITIES: health, property, insurance and funding, for this totally unproven technology! CCS is technology that Wall Street, venture capitalists and bankers won't fund and scientists are not certain will work.
Many concerned citizens and groups, including the Sierra Club, are reporting that they do not believe that public lands should be used as dumping grounds for industrial wastes from utility companies. They also question why the state should provide another subsidy to the coal and utility industries.
Why would Rendell and McGinty be in favor of subsidizing the unproven technology for the coal and utility industries? It is our opinion that both are seeking appointments in the next administration should the Democrats take back the White House in November.
It is our belief that Rendell would like to be Secretary of Energy and McGinty would like to be the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Both positions would require confirmation by the U.S. Senate and Rendell and McGinty are hoping to use our tax money on unproven technology in order to gain industry support for any confirmation hearings.
We can do something to stop this abuse of power and taxpayer money. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has issued a one-sided report on the CCS technology and will accept public comments on the report until June 15, 2008. We will be sending a copy of this story to the DCNR. Please send your comments on this unproven technology to:
DCNR
Office of Legislation and Strategic Initiatives
Rachel Carson State Office Building
400 Market Street
P.O. Box 8767
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8767
Labels: CCS, coal burning, Ed Rendell, global warming, Kathleen McGinty, subsidies
Labels: DEP, dumping, sludge, Still Creek Reservoir
Mayor Christian Morrison took issue with the fact that the DEP officials apparently lied and did not perform the appropriate inspections.It would be interesting to know where specifically in Phillipsburg the material comes from. The town is home to Hydropress, a company that processes sewage sludge from New York City and elsewhere into materials spread on farmlands. In 2003, the company sued Pennsylvania's Upper Mount Bethel Township over an ordinance requiring sludge dumpers to pay a fee for road improvements and a substantial bond to ensure compliance with local regulations; the Pennsylvania Supreme Court eventually ruled that townships do not have the authority to impose such regulations.
"This community has lost faith in DEP and this just doesn't help,'' he said.
Labels: DEP, dumping, public health, sludge, Still Creek Reservoir
A byproduct of the uranium enrichment process, depleted uranium is a very high-density metal used to make anti-tank munitions and armor-plating for tanks. DU is chemically toxic as well as slightly radioactive, and its main exposure route is thought to be inhalation of dust formed when DU munitions hit targets. The British government has attributed health problems and birth defect claims from a 1991 Gulf War veteran to DU poisoning, and scientific studies have suggested a link between chronic DU exposure and leukemia as well as other genetic, reproductive and neurological problems.Labels: depleted uranium, General Dynamics, radiation, toxics