Preview Newsletter
ACC AM 9/11/2017
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Powering America: Defining Reliability in a Transforming Electricity Industry
Sep 12, 2017 | House Energy and Commerce Committee
Location: 2123 Rayburn / 10:00 AM -
Expanding and Accelerating the Deployment and Use of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration
Sep 13, 2017 | Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
Location: 406 Dirksen / 10:00 AM -
Building a 21st Century Infrastructure for America: Rail Stakeholders’ Perspectives
Sep 12, 2017 | House Transport and Infrastructure Committee
Location: 2167 Rayburn / 2:30 PM -
Fostering Innovation: Contributions of the Department of Energy's National Laboratories
Sep 12, 2017 | Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee
Location: 366 Dirksen / 2:30 PM -
(ACC Blog) Helping Neighbors Recover From Hurricane Harvey
Sep 8, 2017 | American Chemistry Matters
The devastating impacts from Hurricane Harvey have displaced thousands of people in Texas and Louisiana and completely upended their lives. As our neighbors in the Gulf Coast begin the difficult process of putting their lives and homes back together, the chemical industry is trying to help with the recovery effort. -
(ACC Mentioned) Trump Riles Dems With Pick For Powerful EPA Job
Sep 11, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
William Wehrum, an energy industry attorney and former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official, has been tapped to fulfill one of the agency’s most consequential roles. -
(ACC Mentioned) GAO to Probe Agency's Hiring
Sep 11, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Kevin Bogardus
The Government Accountability Office is moving forward with an investigation of the Trump administration's hiring practices for political appointees at U.S. EPA. -
(ACC Mentioned) Chemical Industry Off to a Good Start in Q3, July Output Up
Sep 8, 2017 | Zacks (In Nasdaq)
The global chemical industry has gotten off to a positive start in the third quarter with July seeing a rise in chemical production, according to the latest monthly report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC). -
(ACC Mentioned) Do You Suffer From Money-Related Stress?
Sep 10, 2017 | Madison
By Sarah Szczypinski
Money is an emotional topic. We need it to survive, and we crave the power and freedom it provides. We're also really worried about it, according to a 2015 survey by the American Psychological Association. -
(ACC Mentioned) A CEO’s Reflections on the 16th Anniversary of 9/11
Sep 11, 2017 | Business Journals
By Stan Silverman
Two hijacked aircraft flown by terrorists destroyed both World Trade Center towers. A third aircraft caused significant damage to the Pentagon. A fourth aircraft was brought down by courageous passengers in a field in central Pennsylvania before it could reach its target... -
Trump Plans to Cut EPA Programs Could Hurt Post-Storm Rebuilding
Sep 11, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Abby Smith
Residents of Florida and other states in the path of Hurricane Irma may have a rude awakening after the winds die down and the rain and storm surge stop. -
Storm Scrambles Legislative Calendar
Sep 11, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Manuel Quiñones
House leaders decided to delay this week's legislative session in response to Hurricane Irma's landfall, and at least one committee is putting off a hearing. -
EPA Advisors Support RDX Cancer Listing, Seek Changes To Risk Values
Sep 8, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Maria Hegstad
EPA's science advisors have approved the peer review report of a subpanel that reviewed EPA's draft assessment of the human health risks of exposure to Royal Demolition Explosive (RDX), with the latest draft of the report concurring with EPA's conclusions regarding cancer hazard but urging the agency to rework some of its risk estimates. -
Shop Receipts May Explain Majority Of BPA Detected In People
Sep 9, 2017 | Chemistry World
By Fernando Gomollon-Bell
Skin contact with dermal paper may be a much more important source of endocrine disruptor than previously thought -
Scarcity Of Next-Generation Nanomaterials Data, EU Report Finds
Sep 8, 2017 | Chemical Watch
There is a scarcity of data on the environmental safety of next-generation nanomaterials, according to a report written for the European Commission. -
(ACC Mentioned) ‘Forge the Future’: Boosting Pennsylvania With Energy
Sep 10, 2017 | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Stacey and Morgan O’Brien
Pennsylvania’s citizens and leaders are often more focused on the challenges we face than the opportunities we have before us. News headlines, data and commentary about a relatively stagnant economy, undesirable population trends, uncertainties about state and local budgets, mounting infrastructure needs and the opioid crisis are real. -
Turf Battle Looms as House Energy Leaders Plan DOE Overhaul
Sep 11, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Dabbs
Plans by a key House Republican to retool the Energy Department's core functions are in for a turf battle. -
(ACC Mentioned) Tank Failures In Harvey Reveal Vulnerabilities In Storm
Sep 9, 2017 | AP ( In The Republic)
By Matthew Brown And Larry Fenn
More than two dozen storage tanks holding crude oil, gasoline and other contaminants ruptured or otherwise failed when Harvey slammed into the Texas coast, spilling at least 145,000 gallons (548,868 liters) of fuel and spewing toxic pollutants into the air, according to an Associated Press analysis of pollution reports submitted to state and federal regulators. -
(ACC Mentioned) A Noxious Environmental Disaster Is Buried in Houston
Sep 9, 2017 | Esquire.com
By Charles P. Pierce
Dave Sirota and the people over at IBT/Newsweek have done a great job backgrounding the regulatory neglect and the outright contempt for public safety that led to the explosions and fire that occurred at the flooded Arkema chemical complex in Crosby, Texas -
Texas Flood Shows Need For Chemical Safety Rule, Advocates Say
Sep 11, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Jeff Johnson
Industrial safety advocates and Texas residents say a flood-related fires and explosions at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, underscores the need for a worker and community safety regulation. -
EPA Chief Defends Chemical Rule Delay After Texas Plant Explosions
Sep 8, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt on Friday defended his decision to delay a major chemical plant safety regulation. -
EPA Chief Pledges to Secure Toxic Sites in Irma's Storm Path
Sep 11, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy
The Trump administration is applying lessons from Hurricane Harvey's drenching of southeast Texas as it secures toxic waste sites in the path of Hurricane Irma, U.S. environmental chief Scott Pruitt said. -
Questions Arise About Health Hazards From Chemical-Plant Explosions
Sep 9, 2017 | The Wall Street Journal
By Alexandra Berzon
First responders filed a lawsuit saying they weren’t properly warned of risks while responding to an Arkema facility explosion after Hurricane Harvey -
EPA Says No Volatile Chemicals Found In Water Near Arkema Plant In Texas
Sep 9, 2017 | Reuters
Water samples collected after an Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas caught fire following a power outage due to Tropical Storm Harvey contained no volatile chemicals, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Friday. -
U.K. Amec Sees Hurricane Changing Design of U.S. Chemical Plant
Sep 11, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew Noël
Amec Foster Wheeler Plc, the U.K. company helping to build a $604 million methanol plant for Yuhuang Chemical Inc. in Louisiana, expects the damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey to alter the planning and design of chemical facilities in regions at risk from natural catastrophes. -
New Regs Threaten To Send Shipping Off The Rails
Sep 11, 2017 | Washington Examiner
By Matthew Kandrach
Here's a fun fact: The U.S. freight rail network – 140,000 miles fully maintained by private operators that save taxpayers billions — accounts for 40 percent of all freight moved in the U.S. by ton-miles. -
Ozone Designations Delay Throws 'Wrench' Into NAAQS Compliance Plans
Sep 8, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
East Coast air regulators are warning that EPA's withdrawn delay of designations for which states are attaining the 2015 ozone air standard throws a “monkey wrench” into their efforts to craft plans for complying with the standard, because of lingering uncertainty about whether the agency might revive the delay for some states. -
State, Local Industries Seek Swift Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration
Sep 8, 2017 | Inside EPA
Groups representing dozens of state and local industry sectors are urging EPA to “expeditiously reconsider” the Obama administration's 2015 decision tightening the ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb, saying implementation of the stricter limit will cause economic harm.
Congressional Hearings
Industry and Association News
LCSA News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation and Infrastructure News
Environment News
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Powering America: Defining Reliability in a Transforming Electricity Industry
Sep 12, 2017 | House Energy and Commerce Committee
Location: 2123 Rayburn / 10:00 AM
WITNESSES
Mr. Paul Bailey
President and CEO, American Coalition for Clean Coal ElectricityMr. Gerry Cauley
President and CEO, North American Electric Reliability CorporationThe Honorable Neil Chatterjee
Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionMr. Kyle Davis
Regulatory Affairs Manager, Enel Green Power North America, Inc., on behalf of Solar Energy Industries AssociationMr. Marty Durbin
Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, American Petroleum InstituteMs. Patricia Hoffman
Acting Under Secretary for Science, Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity, U.S. Department of EnergyMr. Tom Kiernan
CEO, American Wind Energy AssociationMs. Maria G. Korsnick
President and CEO, Nuclear Energy InstituteMs. Kelly Speakes-Backman
CEO, Energy Storage AssociationDr. Susan F. Tierney
Senior Advisor, Analysis Group, Inc.Mr. Steve Wright
General Manager, Chelan Public Utility District, on behalf of National Hydropower Association -
Expanding and Accelerating the Deployment and Use of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration
Sep 13, 2017 | Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
Location: 406 Dirksen / 10:00 AM
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Building a 21st Century Infrastructure for America: Rail Stakeholders’ Perspectives
Sep 12, 2017 | House Transport and Infrastructure Committee
Location: 2167 Rayburn / 2:30 PM
This is a hearing of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
Witnesses:
Mr. Edward Hamberger, President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of American Railroads
Ms. Linda Darr, President, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association
Mr. Stephen Gardner, Executive Vice President, Planning, Technology, and Public Affairs, Amtrak
Mr. Tom DeJoseph, Senior Advisor of Industry Relations, Loram Maintenance of Way
Mr. Larry Willis, President, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
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Fostering Innovation: Contributions of the Department of Energy's National Laboratories
Sep 12, 2017 | Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee
Location: 366 Dirksen / 2:30 PM
Opening Remarks
Sen. Cory Gardner
Subcommittee Chairman
Subcommittee on Energy
Sen. Joe Manchin III
Subcommittee Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Energy
Witness Panel 1
Dr. Brian Anderson
Director, WVU Energy Institute
West Virginia University
Dr. Paul Kearns
Interim Laboratory Director
Argonne National Laboratory
Ms. Anuja Ratnayake
Director, Emerging Technology Strategy
Duke Energy
Dr. Bill Tumas
Associate Laboratory Director, Materials and Chemical Science and Technology
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
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(ACC Blog) Helping Neighbors Recover From Hurricane Harvey
Sep 8, 2017 | American Chemistry Matters
The devastating impacts from Hurricane Harvey have displaced thousands of people in Texas and Louisiana and completely upended their lives. As our neighbors in the Gulf Coast begin the difficult process of putting their lives and homes back together, the chemical industry is trying to help with the recovery effort.
One of the most acute and immediate threats to a previously flooded home is the growth of mold and bacteria that can endanger public health. Texas A&M researchers confirmed E.coli bacteria levels in floodwaters around Houston are 125 times the safe level for swimming. Disinfecting household surfaces with chlorine bleach is a reliable and safe way to help eliminate bacteria and mold growth. However, finding chlorine bleach has proven challenging as stores 200 miles outside of Houston are out of stock.
To help alleviate these bleach shortages, the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Chlorine Chemistry Divisionhas donated over 18,000 gallons to be distributed to communities most impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Additionally, ACC member Olin Corporation partnered with the Red Cross to help distribute 15,000 gallons of bleach and $250,000 in aid for those reeling from this disaster. To learn more about disinfecting surfaces after a flood, click here.
Bleach can help in other ways too. Some people may not have clean running water to drink, or the ability to boil water to disinfect it. If it is not possible to boil water for drinking, using drops of chlorine bleach is a safe alternative. Detailed instructions can be found here.
Beyond the immediate need to protect the health of those in homes that experienced flooding or are without drinking water, longer term aid to restore the communities is also needed. The chemical industry is committed to help families rebuild. Texas is a concentrated chemical producing region of the country and Hurricane Harvey has impacted the employees essential to the chemical manufacturing process.
Thus, this tragedy hits particularly close to home for the industry, which employs almost 79,000 Texans and more than 25,000 Louisianans, many of them living in areas that are experiencing devastating flooding. ACC members have already donated over $30 million as well as provided unique forms of aid such as housing displaced staff, delivering water by helicopters, and providing in-kind chemical donations and manpower to help clean up the debris and rebuild impacted communities.
As the Gulf Coast continues to recover in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, ACC’s members know that families must be taken care of and homes must be rebuilt before employees can return to work. With the chemical industry aiding the affected communities, we hope a return to normal will come more quickly for the people impacted by Harvey’s devastation.
https://blog.americanchemistry.com/2017/09/helping-neighbors-recover-from-hurricane-harvey/
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(ACC Mentioned) Trump Riles Dems With Pick For Powerful EPA Job
Sep 11, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
William Wehrum, an energy industry attorney and former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official, has been tapped to fulfill one of the agency’s most consequential roles.
President Trump formally nominated Wehrum Thursday to be the EPA’s assistant administrator for air and radiation, where he would oversee a massive portfolio concerned with air pollution, climate change, auto regulation and more.
If confirmed by the Senate, Wehrum would become one of the most powerful people at the 15,000-person agency behind Administrator Scott Pruitt.
He would be responsible for the bulk of a massive deregulatory push by the Trump administration that involves rolling back or potentially revising rules on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector, ozone pollution and mercury, among other rules. Most of the regulations were written by the Obama administration.
Wehrum would also have a wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities under the Clean Air Act, like the requirement to reevaluate major regulations on air quality every five years.
“When it comes to public health, cleaning up the air and dealing with climate are incredibly important,” said Janet McCabe, who led the air office in an acting capacity under former President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017. “And whoever is sitting in that chair has a significant opportunity to help move the clean air and public health agenda forward.”
Wehrum’s nomination was quickly denounced by environmentalists and Democrats, who predict he would use his power at the EPA to grant the wishes of industry and polluters while weakening regulations and enforcement.
But those industries see Wehrum as a welcome reprieve who will bring common sense to air regulation.
Wehrum did not respond to an interview request.
This is Wehrum’s second shot at the air administrator job. He was acting air administrator from 2005 to 2007 under former President George W. Bush.
Bush formally nominated Wehrum for the post in 2006. But Senate Democrats, led by then-chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), pledged to block his confirmation, so his name was eventually withdrawn.
Boxer called Wehrum “extremely troubling” at the time, with a record that “demonstrates a pattern of discounting health impacts, ignoring scientific findings and substituting industry positions for the clear intent of Congress.”
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), who now leads the minority Democrats on the Environment Committee, said he and his colleagues plan to fight Wehrum’s nomination just as hard as they did a decade ago.
“I don’t think his record of weakening air pollution standards and deferring to industry on public health protections makes his nomination any more acceptable in 2017,” he said in a statement.
“Regardless of the candidate, though, Mr. Pruitt must follow through with the answers he assured us he would provide this committee during his own confirmation process before we move any additional EPA nominees.”
Wehrum now works at the law firm Hunton & Williams. His clients have included American Petroleum Institute, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, the American Chemistry Council and the National Association of Manufacturers, all of which waged litigation battles against Obama’s EPA.
Jeff Holmstead, who preceded Wehrum as air administrator and hired him as his counsel, said Trump made a great pick.
“I don’t think they could have made a better choice,” said Holmstead, who now works at the law and lobbying firm Bracewell for various industry clients.
“The Pruitt EPA has a very ambitious agenda, and a lot of those things have to do with the Clean Air Act. And I think Bill will be about to implement those in a way that’s consistent with the law and congressional intent.”
Holmstead said that although the EPA has started some big deregulatory actions in areas like the Clean Power Plan and methane standards for oil and natural gas, the agency has been “hamstrung” by a lack of leaders in Senate-confirmed posts. Pruitt is the only Senate-confirmed official at the EPA, and a handful of others have been nominated.
“He really is committed to the rule of law. And I think what you will see from him is much more traditional, middle-of-the-road environmental regulation, and a lot of regulatory reforms,” Holmstead said.
Wehrum’s detractors point to what they see as industry-friendly regulatory actions that he took during the Bush administration, some of which were later overturned in court.
Wehrum has also expressed doubt that the EPA has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, despite the Supreme Court’s 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA decision stating otherwise.
He helped write a rule to limit mercury pollution from power plants, but it allowed companies to trade pollution credits. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned it in 2008, saying that the EPA should have used a more stringent section of the law.
“When Bill Wehrum was at the EPA before, time after time, he was in a leadership role in efforts to weaken clean air protections. And time after time, these attempts were thrown out in court,” said David Baron, an Earthjustice attorney who specializes in air pollution.
“There’s little question he can be expected to fully carry out the Trump-Pruitt agenda of dismantling the clean air and climate protections that have been developed over the last administration, and really the last 40 years of the Clean Air Act,” he said.
Mike Danylak, spokesman for Environment Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), said the chairman welcomes Wehrum’s nomination.
“Chairman Barrasso knows that Administrator Pruitt needs his full leadership team in place at the EPA in order to ensure America has clean air, land, and water. The committee looks forward to considering Mr. Wehrum’s nomination as well as the other recently nominated assistant administrators of the EPA.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/349882-trump-riles-dems-with-pick-for-powerful-epa-job
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(ACC Mentioned) GAO to Probe Agency's Hiring
Sep 11, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Kevin Bogardus
The Government Accountability Office is moving forward with an investigation of the Trump administration's hiring practices for political appointees at U.S. EPA.
The congressional watchdog's review comes in response to a request last month from Democratic Sens. Tom Carper of Delaware, ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. The senators also requested that GAO probe the administration's hiring practices at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Carper and Whitehouse expressed concern that the Trump administration is using various hiring authorities to avoid ethics rules, including not requiring political appointees to sign the president's ethics pledge (Greenwire, Aug. 18).
In a statement Friday, the senators said they were pleased that GAO was looking into the matter.
"The whole point of ethics laws is to give the American people confidence that the work of their government is being conducted fairly, honestly, and free from special interest sway," said Carper and Whitehouse.
"But when an agency can just ignore those rules — and congressional oversight — the result often leads to corruption and scandal," they said. "We're grateful that GAO will let us know what EPA hasn't."
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has hired several of his political aides using a provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Those "Administratively Determined" positions are not considered political appointees and thus are not subject to Trump's ethics pledge.
Nancy Beck, deputy assistant administrator in EPA's chemicals office, said in ethics documents obtained by E&E News that she didn't have to sign the president's ethics pledge given she was in an administratively determined job. Before coming to EPA, Beck was a senior director for the American Chemistry Council, a prominent industry group (Greenwire, Aug. 8).
Prior administrations have used the hiring authority at EPA, as well. Liz Bowman, an EPA spokeswoman, said the agency's authority to hire employees under the Safe Drinking Water Act has existed since the 1970s.
"EPA's hiring practices are consistent with those of previous Administrations. Everyone has received an ethics briefing, is aware of their responsibilities and is committed to serving professionally," Bowman said.
Chuck Young, a GAO spokesman, confirmed the watchdog office had accepted the request from Carper and Whitehouse to probe EPA's hiring practices. The investigation, however, still won't begin for months.
"It's now in the queue, but work won't start for a few months," Young told E&E News.
"The exact scope of what we will cover will not be determined until the work gets underway," he said. "Also, we can't estimate how long it may take until that time, once the scope is determined."
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1060060221/search?keyword=%22american+chemistry+council%22
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(ACC Mentioned) Chemical Industry Off to a Good Start in Q3, July Output Up
Sep 8, 2017 | Zacks (In Nasdaq)
The global chemical industry has gotten off to a positive start in the third quarter with July seeing a rise in chemical production, according to the latest monthly report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC).
Positive July Readings
The chemical industry trade group said that the Global Chemical Production Regional Index (CPRI) rose 0.6% in July on a monthly comparison basis. This follows a 0.5% gain in June. The Global CPRI, which is measured using a three-month moving average, measures chemical production volumes for 33 major nations, sub-regions and regions. It is comparable to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) production indices.
Gains in production were witnessed across North America, Western Europe, Central & Eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific in the reported month.
The results were also favorable on a product basis in July. Gains were witnessed in pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals, consumer products, synthetic rubber, manufactured fibers, coatings and other specialty chemicals.
The ACC also noted that the Global CPRI went up 2.6% year over year on a three-month moving average basis. Capacity utilization for the global chemical industry moved up 0.4 percentage points to 80.6% in July.
The U.S. chemical industry has also started the third quarter on a positive note with output rising in July on gains across all chemical producing regions. The ACC said that the U.S. CPRI increased 1.1% in July on a monthly comparison basis. Overall chemical production also went up 2.4% year over year in July with all regions scoring gains.
Chemical Industry in Fine Shape
The chemical industry is back on track after bearing the brunt of the global economic crisis. The favorable Zacks Industry Rank of 41 carried by the Zacks Chemicals Diversified industry is a testimony to the fact that the chemical industry is in good health. The favorable rank places the industry in the top 16% of the 250+ groups enlisted.
The Zacks Chemicals Diversified industry has also outperformed the broader market over the past year. The industry has gained around 21.9% over this period, higher than S&P 500's corresponding return of 15.4%.Notwithstanding some lingering headwinds, the chemical industry's momentum is expected to continue through the remainder of 2017, supported by continued strength across key end-use markets (such as automotive and construction), an upswing in the world economy and significant shale-linked capital investment.
In particular, the prospects for the U.S. chemical industry looks bright. The American chemical industry is on course for strong growth this year and the next.
The ACC envisions accelerated growth for the domestic chemical industry on the back of an improving global economy and a surge in shale-linked capital investment. The trade group, in its year-end 2016 outlook, said that it expects national chemical production to rise 3.6% in 2017, further accelerating to 4.8% growth in 2018.
The shale gas bounty is expected to drive investment on plants and equipment in the United States. Chemical makers are ramping up investment on shale gas-linked projects to take advantage of ample natural gas supplies.
Per an ACC report, 310 new chemical projects have been already announced by chemical makers worth around $185 billion that are under construction or planned. Such investments are expected to boost capacity and export over the next several years.
The European chemical industry has also swung back to life after remaining in a rut for a while. The business environment for the European chemical industry has improved on the back of improving global economic sentiment and a resurgent Eurozone economy.
Stocks to Consider
A few stocks that are worth considering in the chemicals space are The Chemours Company CC , Kronos Worldwide, Inc. KRO , Kraton Corp. KRA , Koppers Holdings Inc. KOP and Ferro Corp. FOE . While Chemours, Kronos and Kraton sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), both Koppers and Ferro carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Chemours, Kronos and Kraton have expected earnings growth of 255.4%, 354.8% and 7.2%, respectively, for 2017. Koppers and Ferro have expected earnings growth of 13.5% and 16.5%, respectively, for the current year.It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.http://www.nasdaq.com/article/chemical-industry-off-to-a-good-start-in-q3-july-output-up-cm843205
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(ACC Mentioned) Do You Suffer From Money-Related Stress?
Sep 10, 2017 | Madison
By Sarah Szczypinski
Money is an emotional topic. We need it to survive, and we crave the power and freedom it provides. We're also really worried about it, according to a 2015 survey by the American Psychological Association. In fact, 64% of respondents said they felt "somewhat significant" or "very significant" amounts of finance-related stress -- especially parents (77%), Gen Xers (76%), and millennials (75%).
Money-related stress can have terrible effects on your well-being and your relationships, but there are ways to overcome it. Try taking these four steps to manage your finances and sleep easier at night.
Image source: Getty Images.1. Face your fears
The first step in squashing financial stress is to identify what's bothering you in the first place. Adopting the "out of sight, out of mind" mentality is tempting when money is causing you distress, but retreating from your worries can actually make things more painful. Studies have shown that anxiety is fueled by uncertainty, and remaining in the dark about your financial situation won't do much to help.
Whether you're living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to pay your bills, or simply feeling anxious about money, it's a good idea to name your fears. Make a list of the things you're worried about, and then take a deep breath. Things are about to get easier.2. Organize your finances
It might not surprise you to learn that only one in three Americans follows a detailed household budget. In order to control your spending, you first need to start tracking it. You don't need to be a math whiz to create a solid budget, either. In fact, in a 2015 Nielsen survey, 69% of people credited online budgeting apps as the reason they changed their financial habits.
Whether you sign up for a budgeting app or create an old-school spreadsheet, managing your finances starts with categorizing your spending and saving. For instance, you might consider opening two bank accounts: one for necessities like your mortgage, utilities, and food, and another for discretionary spending like dining out, entertainment, and other fun expenses. If self-control is a problem, ask your company's payroll department to split your direct deposit between the accounts; you can assign dollar values to each category. Then you'll know exactly how your money can be spent, removing the temptation to overspend on fun things and the anxiety of not knowing where your money is going.3. Reduce your burdens
Living from paycheck to paycheck is a sad reality for 78% of American households, according to CareerBuilder. The bad (and good) news is, you're probably losing a chunk of your income to mindless spending, which can drain your bank account and your emotional well-being. If positive cash flow sounds like a sigh of relief, it's time to stop wasting money on these popular expenses:Food: Food is a necessary expense, but it's also a major source of financial loss, according to a survey by Hloom. Of the 2,000 respondents, nearly 70% admit they spend too much on dining out. A separate survey by the American Chemistry Council found that the average American household spent $4,015 on food in 2015 and threw away 16% of it. Imagine what an extra $640 a year could do for your mental health: Instead of sacrificing it to uneaten food, investing it at a 7% return would add nearly $47,000 to your savings in 25 years. Credit card interest: Credit card users lose an average of $1,300 a year to interest, according to a NerdWallet study. Living with consumer debt can be stressful on its own, and compounding interest only adds to the pressure. If you want to take control, the first step is to call your credit card provider and ask them to lower your interest rate. The national average is just over 16% APR, and it's worth asking your lender to match that. Next, get serious about your repayment strategy by creating a time-specific plan for each account. For instance, if your current credit card balance is $5,000 at 16% APR, you'll need to pay $454 a month to be debt-free in a year. It may sound like a lot, but you can either pay $800 in interest on the balance for one year, or $4,000 over the course of five years. Make the hard choices now to lessen your stress in the future.
image source: Getty Images.4. Get help
You don't have to cope with financial stress alone. There are plenty of ways to secure affordable, professional help, including:A financial planner: It's a good idea to talk to a financial planner about your long-term goals. The average American couple retiring today needs nearly $740,000 in their golden years, and that number is only rising with inflation. You'll likely need a little help reaching your goal, and the sooner you start, the more you'll benefit from compound interest.A tax accountant: Regardless of income, filing for taxes is a significant source of stress for 56% of Americans, according to a 2011 Zogby Interactive Survey survey, so you might feel inclined to avoid them until the last minute. While ignoring a stressful situation is comforting in the short term, you can eliminate that stress altogether -- and save some money -- by hiring an accountant. A skilled professional can point out deductions and credits for regular expenses like child care, education, business transportation, and other little-known perks you might have overlooked in the past.Personal support: There's no substitute for direct advice from a successful friend. Consider the people in your life who manage money well, and ask them to walk you through their budgeting and saving strategies. You might even consult a therapist if your finance-related stress is overwhelming you.
Image source: Getty Images.
The topic of money may never feel entirely comfortable to you, but there are ways to lessen your stress and take control. Stay focused on the positive aspects of personal finance and find support when you need it.
The $16,122 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook
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http://host.madison.com/business/investment/markets-and-stocks/do-you-suffer-from-money-related-stress/article_5401276e-1041-5b29-acd8-86a68b9543ec.html
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(ACC Mentioned) A CEO’s Reflections on the 16th Anniversary of 9/11
Sep 11, 2017 | Business Journals
By Stan Silverman
Editor's note: Today marks the 16th anniversary of 9/11, the day of the worst terrorist attack on our country. Each year, Stan Silverman writes about his reflections of that day, through the lens of another year that has passed.
Two hijacked aircraft flown by terrorists destroyed both World Trade Center towers. A third aircraft caused significant damage to the Pentagon. A fourth aircraft was brought down by courageous passengers in a field in central Pennsylvania before it could reach its target, possibly the Capitol building.
No one can ever forget where they were at 8:46 a.m. ET on Sept. 11, 2001. As then CEO of PQ Corporation, I reflect on how that day impacted me and my employees. I was at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, attending a board meeting of the American Chemistry Council. After a staffer entered the meeting and handed a note to the chairman, his face turned white as he announced that a plane had hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
We all gathered around a TV just outside the meeting room and watched with horror as a second plane hit the South Tower. It was then immediately evident that the United States was under attack.
My first thought was for the safety of our employees and those traveling away from home. Our company operated in 19 countries, and it was not uncommon for many of our employees to be traveling within their respective countries and between countries around the world.
I called my executive assistant and asked that she find out if any of our employees were on those four flights or were visitors to the World Trade Center towers or the Pentagon that day. I also asked for a list of employees who were on trips to or from the United States, as well as employees on flights scheduled to pass over the continental U.S. I knew that it would be days before these employees could reach their business destinations or home.
I wanted to return to corporate headquarters as soon as possible. Since all flights were grounded, my wife and I drove our rental car seven hours to Valley Forge. We stopped twice – once for gas and once to get something to eat.
The genuine concern and connection offered by the people who reached out to us at both stops was nothing like we have ever experienced. They wanted to know where we had started our trip and where we were heading. They provided advice on the route we should take, and long-haul truckers made recommendations on the best places to eat along the way.
I thought of this as a small slice of America at its best – strangers helping others. I was reminded of this during Hurricane Harvey two weeks ago. Hundreds of citizen volunteers acted as first responders, knowing they could make a difference in life and death situations, demonstrated leadership, exercised initiative, and used their small boats to rescue thousands of people from rising flood waters in Houston and along the Gulf Coast of Texas.
The same will occur this week in the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Irma. People helping other people in need: It's one of our country’s best cultural norms.
When I arrived home the night of 9/11, I learned that all PQ employees were safe. I received a report indicating the location of those employees in travel mode. Our travel department had already arranged hotel rooms for those who could not arrive at their destination.
Rental cars were reserved for those who could drive home. Two of our plant operations managers drove from Los Angeles to Chicago, where one lived, and the other continued on to Philadelphia. The administrative assistant of our purchasing manager was on her honeymoon in Europe. Our travel department was able to get her and her husband on a flight back to the U.S. a few days later.
What do I recall as the “best personal experience” of the horrible tragedy of 9/11 and the days that followed? It’s that we all pulled together as a nation and we had genuine concern for each other.
I recall the brave first responders in New York and Washington D.C. – fire fighters and police who saved countless lives at their own peril. I recall those first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice and did not return home to their families. I recall those brave passengers who resisted the hijackers over a field in Pennsylvania and prevented an additional catastrophe.
I recall not having the American flag that I had proudly flown off the stern of my sailboat for 14 years, regretting not keeping it when I sold that boat in August 2001. Flying a new store-bought flag at my home a month later was not the same to me.
I recall the generosity of PQ employees who contributed funds to help the victims’ families. I recall attending the hockey season’s opening game of the Philadelphia Flyers in October, where there was not a dry eye in the house when our national anthem was sung.
I recall visiting the site of the World Trade Center a month after 9/11 to pay my respects, walking on hallowed ground with thousands of other visitors.
I will never forget. None of us will ever forget.
Stan Silverman is founder and CEO of Silverman Leadership. He is a speaker, advisor and nationally syndicated writer on leadership, entrepreneurship and corporate governance. Silverman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and an MBA degree from Drexel University. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. He can be reached at Stan@SilvermanLeadership.com.
https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/growth-strategies/2017/09/a-ceo-s-reflections-on-the-16th-anniversary-of-9.html
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Trump Plans to Cut EPA Programs Could Hurt Post-Storm Rebuilding
Sep 11, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Abby Smith
Residents of Florida and other states in the path of Hurricane Irma may have a rude awakening after the winds die down and the rain and storm surge stop.
Recovery and rebuilding efforts could be hobbled by proposed budget cuts and staff buyouts at one of the key agencies that handles emergency response and rebuilding efforts after disasters.
Even as the Environmental Protection Agency sends teams to south Florida in preparation for the now Category 4 storm barreling toward the U.S., former EPA and other officials say Trump administration budget plans could constrain rebuilding after the storm—efforts that take months, if not years.
The EPA not only oversees the handling of mountains of hazardous materials in the aftermath of storms like Hurricanes Harvey and Irma but it also coordinates and provides technical assistance to other federal, state, and local agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency to address environmental impacts of the storm.
For example, the EPA works closely with state and local agencies to get water systems back online and make repairs after major storms. The agency's Region 2 staff, based in New York, already has begun the process of assessing drinking water and wastewater systems in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories within its jurisdiction affected by Hurricane Irma, according to EPA spokesperson Elias Rodriguez.
Programs Critical to Rebuilding Effort
But some former officials say that other agency grant programs targeted by Trump will be critical to rebuilding. If those cuts survive in Congress, it could severely limit Florida, Louisiana and Texas’ ability to repair areas flooded by the storm.
“With Irma bearing down, Florida residents are going to be unfortunately surprised when they realize some of the funds they need have been cut out of the budget just because somebody didn't like the EPA,” said Heather McTeer Toney, who served as Region 4 administrator during the latter part of the Obama administration.
The administration has proposed the elimination of agency programs that are vital to Florida's ability to have “meaningful, sustainable rebuilding efforts,” Toney told Bloomberg BNA, including the EPA's nonpoint source pollution management program, which helps to control pollution from agricultural runoff; the national estuary program, which helps to protect bays and other water resources; the agency's grant program for beach protection; and grants to encourage green building in urban and rural communities.
People on the Ground
Toney also said Trump administration moves to shrink the EPA's staff are worrisome because then “they don't have the people to be there on the ground” to prepare for and assess damage from the storms and coordinate with local government on recovery efforts. During her time heading Region 4—which covers Florida and seven other Southeast states—she led the agency's response to Hurricanes Matthew and Arthur.
Toney is not alone in her concerns. Judith Enck, former Region 2 head during the Obama administration, told Bloomberg BNA just after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas that the EPA was at risk of losing some of its most experienced career staff. The Trump administration offered its first round of buyouts for EPA employees Sept. 2.
Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Center for Science and Democracy, told Bloomberg BNA that the EPA does not seem to be listening to the regional offices, which he said “are the ones that actually know what's going on” and handle the bulk of emergency response efforts.
In many cases, he said, there is no Trump-appointed regional administrator—though the administration did recently name Trey Glenn, former head of Alabama's environment agency, to lead Region 4 in Atlanta.
Planned Program Elimination
The House's draft fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill for the EPA and Department of Interior would fund the EPA at $7.5 billion, $1.9 billion more than the administration's request. Lawmakers are expected to vote on that bill next week. The draft Senate version would fund the EPA at $8.1 billion, compared to the $5.65 billion requested by the Trump White House.
UCS’ Rosenberg said Trump administration plans for massive cuts to the EPA's science budget also pose a risk for rebuilding efforts. The EPA's national labs—which would face a 40 percent cut under the proposed budget—are responsible for research on how to deal with toxic contaminants.
“Without those labs, those efforts stop, and we don't continue to improve our ability to prepare and recover,” he said, adding that it's “fiction” to say states have that capacity.
EPA Response
The EPA declined to respond to a query from Bloomberg BNA on whether it had adequate resources to respond to Hurricane Irma, simply saying it “stands ready to assist all states, tribes, and citizens impacted.”
But Rosenberg said the “best way” to prepare is “to address the man-made disasters before the natural disasters,” or, in other words, “enforce the rules.”
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=120234428&vname=dennotallissues&fn=120234428&jd=120234428
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Storm Scrambles Legislative Calendar
Sep 11, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Manuel Quiñones
House leaders decided to delay this week's legislative session in response to Hurricane Irma's landfall, and at least one committee is putting off a hearing.
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's office said yesterday the chamber would not begin debate on suspension bills until tomorrow. After that, lawmakers plan to continue debating spending legislation (see related story).
Irma is affecting numerous districts, particularly in Florida. "We will continue to monitor the situation and send further updates as needed," the California Republican's office cautioned.
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee postponed a hearing on electric grid resiliency. Aides for other panels said they were monitoring the situation. More postponements are possible.
On Friday, President Trump signed a $15 billion relief package in response to Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas last month. Lawmakers originally planned to approve about half that to replenish Federal Emergency Management Agency coffers but decided to also pump money into community grants.
Lawmakers last week knew they were setting aside money for storms beyond Harvey. Irma was already heading toward the mainland U.S. And they expect to approve billions of dollars more in the future.
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2017/09/11/stories/1060060241
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EPA Advisors Support RDX Cancer Listing, Seek Changes To Risk Values
Sep 8, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Maria Hegstad
EPA's science advisors have approved the peer review report of a subpanel that reviewed EPA's draft assessment of the human health risks of exposure to Royal Demolition Explosive (RDX), with the latest draft of the report concurring with EPA's conclusions regarding cancer hazard but urging the agency to rework some of its risk estimates.
The chartered Science Advisory Board (SAB) agrees with the focus of EPA's draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment on RDX's neurotoxic potential, stating in the latest draft of the report that "RDX should be considered for classification as a potential convulsant to humans." But SAB also raises concern that RDX poses other neurological risks not sufficiently discussed in the assessment and for which there is little data to perform dose-response analyses.
"SAB concludes that the evidence presented in the draft assessment does not adequately depict RDX's hazards to the nervous system. Convulsions in rodents can only provide a limited spectrum of potential human hazard; furthermore, convulsive or nonconvulsive seizures, epileptiform discharges, reduction in seizure threshold, subchronic sensitization, and neuronal damage can all be part of the spectrum of RDX's nervous system hazards. Additional future studies addressing cognitive and behavioral effects of RDX would assist in assessing other endpoints less severe than convulsions. Although there are data from existing animal studies showing changes in behavior, the data are not sufficiently robust to evaluate dose-response relationships, and animal data on cognitive changes is lacking. Therefore, there are no endpoints among existing studies to address the complete spectrum of RDX effects."
The chartered SAB voted to approve, pending minor changes, the report by its RDX subpanel peer reviewing the draft IRIS assessment. The report will be transmitted to EPA once the panel chairman, Ken Ramos, and SAB Chairman Peter Thorne agree upon the changes. The chartered SAB met Aug. 29-30 in Arlington, VA, to consider finalizing three draft reports by its various subpanels.
EPA proposed a reference dose (RfD), or the greatest amount of the chemical that could be consumed daily without adverse noncancer effect, of 3x10^-3 milligrams per kilogram bodyweight per day (mg/kg-day), based on convulsions. SAB agrees with the study that EPA chose, but recommends a number of changes to how EPA approached modeling of the risk and the use of uncertainty factors to address the limited data regarding neurotoxic affects other than convulsions.
These changes are likely to make the RfD somewhat stricter. During the SAB panel's discussion in December 2016, one of the panelists, Alan Stern, chief of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau for Risk Analysis estimated a new RfD based on the panel's proposed changes of 2x10^-3 mg/kg-day, an estimate slightly stricter than EPA's proposal.
EPA classified RDX as showing suggestive evidence of carcinogenicity, and though stakeholders argued that the classification should be changed, the SAB report supports the conclusion. But again, the report recommends changes to how EPA calculates the cancer potency estimates.
"The SAB also agrees with the agency's rationale for a quantitative cancer dose-response analysis for RDX and the use of the linear low-dose extrapolation approach, since the mode of action for cancer is unknown. However, the SAB finds that the calculations of the [points of departure] and oral slope factor were not clearly described, and questions whether these are scientifically supported. . . . The SAB also makes multiple suggestions on how the discussion on the derivation of the oral slope factor can be improved."
The draft RDX assessment had been criticized by retired National Toxicology Program toxicologist Ron Melnick for understating the chemical's cancer risk, with the scientist saying EPA should have labeled RDX a likely human carcinogen. In contrast, Defense Department and industry scientists have suggested in comments that EPA has overstated its cancer risk, and should not calculate a cancer potency estimate at all.
SAB's report considers whether the cancer classification should be raised to likely, but concludes that evidence of the criteria required by EPA's 2005 cancer risk assessment guidelines to do so "is weak or absent."
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-advisors-support-rdx-cancer-listing-seek-changes-risk-values
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Shop Receipts May Explain Majority Of BPA Detected In People
Sep 9, 2017 | Chemistry World
By Fernando Gomollon-Bell
Skin contact with dermal paper may be a much more important source of endocrine disruptor than previously thought
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor that almost every person on the planet is invariably exposed to in the course of their everyday lives. Scientists had assumed dietary exposure was the main source, as BPA is used in the production of plastics and resins used to package food. However, new work suggests dermal exposure could explain the majority of human exposure.1 ‘If diet [were] the dominant source, we should find lower BPA in individuals who have been fasting,’ explains Jonathan Martin, an analytical chemist at Stockholm University and lead author on the new work. ‘But a large study in the US2 has shown this is not the case,’ he adds.
BPA is often used as a developing agent in thermal paper – it triggers the colour change of several dyes when exposed to heat. Socio-economic studies show that completely removing it would be financially unviable, but these new results may lead experts to reconsider. ‘There are reports of free BPA being detected in human blood, which should not happen after a dietary exposure,’ comments Martin. ‘We wondered if dermal exposure might therefore be an important piece of the puzzle.’
In this study, volunteers ate a cookie containing a few micrograms of radiolabelled BPA. Analyses showed that their urine was BPA-free after 24 hours. But surprisingly, when subjects were exposed to radiolabelled thermal paper, the amount of BPA excreted increased linearly over the first two days. Moreover, half of the participants still had detectable amounts of BPA in their urine after a week. ‘Our study was initially designed to monitor the complete uptake and clearance of BPA over two days after the dermal contact,’ says Martin. ‘We were surprised to detect labelled BPA in urine of our returning participants after a whole week.’
Kurunthachalam Kannan, an expert in biomonitoring working at New York State University in the US, says ‘the results are interesting and significant from a human exposure point of view’. He adds that ‘this study is the first of its kind with human subjects. [Labelling BPA] is a good methodology and could be applied to other pollutants that are present in consumer products’.
Some scientists approached were sceptical of how radiolabelled-BPA was loaded onto the receipts because its distribution may alter the results. Nevertheless, Kannan says this method ‘should reflect what is present in thermal receipt papers’. The authors also defend their technique: ‘We agree that the simulated receipts were not exactly the same as the native thermal paper, but […] we do not believe [they] are a source of any bias,’ says Martin.
Martin also clarifies that studying the health effects of dermally absorbed BPA goes beyond the goals of this paper. They just want to raise concern about the dangers that ‘repeated dermal exposures could have […] for individuals handling many receipt papers daily’, he concludes.
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/shop-receipts-may-explain-majority-of-bpa-detected-in-people/3007968.article
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Scarcity Of Next-Generation Nanomaterials Data, EU Report Finds
Sep 8, 2017 | Chemical Watch
There is a scarcity of data on the environmental safety of next-generation nanomaterials, according to a report written for the European Commission.
Environmental risks for first-generation nanomaterials have still not been fully characterised, the report Assessing the environmental safety of manufactured nanomaterials, says. This is partly because of data gaps on how environmental processes may transform engineered nanoparticles.
Given the "current lack of methods and techniques for determining all hazards and exposures of these materials," it stresses the importance of ensuring that current methods for safety assessment do not remain static and inflexible while the field advances.
The report also highlights an 'urgent' need for long-term exposure studies on manufactured nanomaterials in the environment.
In short, the report finds that risk assessment techniques in the sector tend to lag behind the development of nanotechnology itself.
The report was written and edited for the Commission by the Science Communication Unit of the University of the West of England, Bristol
https://chemicalwatch.com/58529/scarcity-of-next-generation-nanomaterials-data-eu-report-finds
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(ACC Mentioned) ‘Forge the Future’: Boosting Pennsylvania With Energy
Sep 10, 2017 | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
By Stacey and Morgan O’Brien
Pennsylvania’s citizens and leaders are often more focused on the challenges we face than the opportunities we have before us. News headlines, data and commentary about a relatively stagnant economy, undesirable population trends, uncertainties about state and local budgets, mounting infrastructure needs and the opioid crisis are real.
Against that backdrop, we believe it’s time to focus on economic growth as a central driver of the solutions Pennsylvanians need and want. We are literally standing on an unprecedented, once-in-a-century opportunity to generate the kind of economic growth that can move us from talking about our problems to acting on solutions.
Over the past decade, our state has grown to be a leading U.S. and global natural gas producer. In just the past few months, no less than four major studies have been published to provide the data, detail and dimension of the downstream opportunities we have to create manufacturing and other supporting businesses that will be game-changers for our people and communities. If we’re getting tired of trying to slice the same old pie differently to satisfy the hunger for jobs, wages, workers and revenue to the treasury, these studies give us a new recipe: Let’s make a bigger pie. A much bigger pie.
We are leading an initiative called “Forge the Future,” which our companies commissioned over a year ago with the intention of contributing to Pennsylvania’s economic advancement. We live and work here, along with thousands of our employees, and are invested in the success of our state and its citizens. The first phase of this effort has been focused on a comprehensive analysis to get a clear picture of the size of the economic opportunity afforded our commonwealth by its vast natural gas resources, and the priorities on which we should focus to reach our potential.
Pennsylvania’s abundant, clean and low-cost energy resource can be the engine of new growth sectors throughout the state. The most powerful way to build that engine is to create competitive tradeable clusters, with two characteristics. First, the clusters should be anchored to energy-intensive sectors in which low-cost energy — whether as electricity, heat or feedstock — generates a measurable and meaningful competitive advantage for companies in the state. Second, the clusters should use energy-intensive sectors as springboards to high-value sectors, which harness other unique strengths of Pennsylvania and will position us for sustained growth and competitiveness in the global economy of the future.
What the analysis revealed is that Pennsylvania can achieve startling economic benefits by focusing its efforts around three major development strategies. First, increase gas-fired power and heating, to ensure that all Pennsylvanians benefit from low-cost gas for residential and commercial use. Second, develop economic clusters in petrochemicals, advanced materials and data-driven automated manufacturing — driving GDP and jobs growth and positioning Pennsylvania as an Industry 4.0 manufacturing leader. Finally, expedite key gas pipeline projects to help ensure stable and profitable gas production that is the key to unlocking Pennsylvania’s vast energy-driven economic potential.
If we aggressively pursue these strategies, the Forge the Future assessment shows that Pennsylvania, within the next decade, can potentially achieve the following benefits: a $60 billion increase in state GDP above the current trajectory; an increase of more than 100,000 family-sustaining jobs; conversion of half a million homes from fuel oil to low-cost gas for heating; three to five new ethane cracker plants in addition to the recently announced Shell facility; and roughly $3 billion annually in new state tax revenues.
Forge the Future is a fact-based analysis, the results of which complement and connect with three independent studies that underscore the significance of the economic opportunities in play:
• The Team Pennsylvania Foundation in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development conducted a comprehensive study via IHS Markit, Prospects to Enhance Pennsylvania’s Opportunities in Petrochemical Manufacturing, which forecasts $2.7 to $3.7 billion in investments in natural gas liquid assets as well as the opportunity to attract additional cracker plants, and petrochemical and plastics manufacturing.
• The American Chemistry Council’s study, The Potential Economic Benefits of an Appalachian Petrochemical Industry, illuminates the same significant investment, jobs and tax revenue gains, and notes that diversifying our nation’s petrochemical infrastructure would lessen the economic and other disruptions from tropical storms. Hurricane Harvey serves as an exclamation point on this observation.
• A geologic study on creation of an Appalachian storage hub for natural gas liquids, conducted by the West Virginia University Energy Institute in partnership with the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council — Eastern Region, shows we have several locations where subsurface storage facilities can be developed.
Forge The Future is intended to be the first step toward development of an ambitious and targeted growth agenda which, if implemented, could dramatically improve the economic outlook for all Pennsylvanians, and go a long way toward addressing — and helping to finance the solutions for — many of our challenges. To be successful, this will require a coordinated effort across Pennsylvania that includes leaders in the business, government, economic development, academic and nonprofit communities. In the coming months, we will be engaging business and other leaders from all regions of the commonwealth to seek their ideas and input on targeted statewide initiatives.
Working together with a sense of urgency, we are confident that Pennsylvania can forge a brighter and more prosperous future for all its citizens if we maximize the unprecedented opportunity that’s right under our feet. A growing, energy-enabled Pennsylvania economy, with increasing revenues for businesses, workers, families and our government, will be more than a game-changer. It will be a mind-changer. Wouldn’t it be great to turn our thoughts from squeezing harder to find sustainable revenue sources to address our problems to deciding how, and how much, we can invest in solving them?
Stacey Olson is president of Chevron Appalachia, LLC. Morgan O’Brien is president & CEO of Peoples Natural Gas.
http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2017/09/10/Forge-the-Future-boosting-Pa-with-energy/stories/201709100047
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Turf Battle Looms as House Energy Leaders Plan DOE Overhaul
Sep 11, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Dabbs
Plans by a key House Republican to retool the Energy Department's core functions are in for a turf battle.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), a top Energy and Commerce Committee member and former chairman of the panel, plans to float legislation by the end of the year to overhaul the department, he told Bloomberg BNA, confirming statements he's made in recent months.
But beyond the general deadlock on Capitol Hill, there's one big problem: Barton isn't looping in Republican colleagues on another committee that controls the lion's share of department's non-military policy. The leader of that committee, in fact, said he didn't even know about the plans.
“I haven't heard anything about that,” Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) told Bloomberg BNA Sept. 6. “I haven't heard anything about Barton or E&C [Energy and Commerce] at all.”
Reauthorizations are a way for lawmakers to update the missions of federal departments and agencies. Without input from the science committee, the retooling effort could sputter or degenerate into a jurisdictional fight.
The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee is tasked with directing department action on research and laboratories, which play a vital role in innovative energy technologies, some of which are commercialized in the private sector. That research, some of it under the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, and the agency's loan programs are a critical asset to energy companies of all sizes. The loan programs also fall under the science committee.
The E&C Committee is a juggernaut on Capitol Hill, competing with only the Ways and Means Committee for the broadest policy influence. Members covet seats on the two committees, and each of the bodies is known to throw around its weight in jurisdictional battles.
Meanwhile, business representatives are pining for collaboration.
“Ultimately it would be extremely helpful for both committees to team up to get this done,” Christopher Guith, senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Energy Institute, told Bloomberg BNA. “Anytime you're going to do [Energy Department] reauthorization, you're going to have to go through multiple committees.” Guith served served as deputy assistant secretary for nuclear energy at the department during the George W. Bush administration.
E&C Forges Ahead
Barton suggested the Energy and Commerce Committee is comfortably in the driver's seat.
“We are primary. Depending on how energetic we want to be, we could conceivably have the science committee and the Natural Resources Committee” contribute, he told Bloomberg BNA Sept. 6.
Energy Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) tapped Barton for the task earlier this year, and Walden is committed to seeing the process move forward.
“Chairman Walden wants the committee to take a strategic look at a broad range of Department of Energy activities and responsibilities,” Dan Schneider, a spokesman for Walden, told Bloomberg BNA. “He wants to identify where mission and management reforms make the most sense, in light of today's energy landscape, energy security—including cybersecurity—challenges, and national security interests.”
Barton didn't disclose details of his priorities for the overhaul, saying only that he'd “like to see a realignment of the [Environmental Protection Agency] and its interaction with the Department of Energy.” A spokesman for Barton, Daniel Rhea, said the former chairman plans to release his framework for the overhaul later in September.
The department, created in 1977, has never been fully reauthorized. Congress regularly reauthorizes the Defense Department and Federal Aviation Administration.
Science Committee Headway Made
A partial reauthorization of the Energy Department, a bipartisan bill (H.R. 589) authored by Smith, soared through the House in January.
Smith's bill also gives arcane new directions to the department to administer its 17 national labs and extends the Commercializing Technology pilot program, which aims to ease negotiations between the labs and the private sector over technology transfer, through Sept. 30, 2019. And further, the legislation revises the department's policy on advanced nuclear research, directing, for instance, an assessment of the need for a reactor-based fast neutron source.
Nuclear proponents have praised that language.
“The new bill also includes important reforms allowing the national labs to work more closely with private industry, and establishes new research programs around solar fuels, exascale computing and electricity storage,” said a statement from the conservative group ClearPath Foundation in January. “Altogether, this bill establishes research programs focused on several key areas of clean energy development, while giving the national labs greater flexibility.”
But the bill's supporters tout its reauthorization of the department's Office of Science as a major achievement, calling it the first comprehensive overhaul of the office to date. The Office of Science accounts for nearly a sixth of the department's budget in fiscal year 2017.
The House rules on committee jurisdiction, which offers succinct descriptions of those authorities within a sprawling document, show the science committee holds sway over nearly all department research.
E&C has jurisdiction over “energy policy generally,” but is charged largely with regulations.
Much of the department's budget is dedicated to nuclear weapons and other military functions, and that authorization is controlled by the armed services committee in the House and Senate. Barton said he doesn't expect an overhaul to touch on the military side.
Committee Still in the Dark
Thea McDonald, a spokeswoman for Smith and the science committee, told Bloomberg BNA Barton will have to reach out to the committee if he wants to achieve a real overhaul.
“Any comprehensive [Energy Department] reauthorization would have to include significant input from the science committee, as upwards of one-third of DOE is under our jurisdiction,” she said.
Barton also hasn't reached out to Democrats, who may be needed in striking a deal. Nor has he reached out to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who would take up the mantle on the Senate side, she told Bloomberg BNA Sept. 7.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=120234429&vname=dennotallissues&fn=120234429&jd=120234429
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(ACC Mentioned) Tank Failures In Harvey Reveal Vulnerabilities In Storm
Sep 9, 2017 | AP ( In The Republic)
By Matthew Brown And Larry Fenn
More than two dozen storage tanks holding crude oil, gasoline and other contaminants ruptured or otherwise failed when Harvey slammed into the Texas coast, spilling at least 145,000 gallons (548,868 liters) of fuel and spewing toxic pollutants into the air, according to an Associated Press analysis of pollution reports submitted to state and federal regulators.
The tank failures follow years of warnings that the Houston area’s petrochemical industry was ill-prepared for a major storm, with about one-third of the 4,500 storage tanks along the Houston Ship Channel located in areas susceptible to flooding, according to researchers.
More of the massive storage tanks could be put to the test in coming days as Hurricane Irma bears down on Florida. The tanks are prone to float and break during floods, and Harvey’s unprecedented rainfalls revealed a new vulnerability when the roofs of some storage tanks sank under the weight of so much water.
Federal and state rules require companies to be prepared for spills, but mandate no specific measures to secure storage tanks at refineries, chemical plants and oil production sites.
Although Florida has no oil refineries, it has more than 20 petroleum product storage terminals in coastal communities and about 30 chemical companies with a presence in the state, including a significant number of facilities in the Tampa Bay area, according to the American Chemistry Council and U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“Tampa Bay is one of the most vulnerable cities in the country” to hurricanes, said John Pardue, a Louisiana State University professor who has researched problems with storage tanks during storms.
“But there’s no requirement that says when you’re in a hurricane zone you’ve got to do things differently,” Pardue added. “If we’re going to continue to put some of these facilities in harm’s way, it would be great to have some specific regulations” to safeguard storage tanks.
The storm surge from Harvey was small enough that the refineries in the Houston Ship Channel appear to have avoided the huge spills associated with past storms such as Hurricane Katrina, when ruptured storage tanks released several millions of gallons of oil including into residential areas, according to Jamie Padgett, an associate professor at Rice University who has inventoried the Houston Ship Channel’s storage tanks.
One difference during Harvey was that prior to the storm, some refineries apparently were able to fill up their storage tanks to make them less buoyant and therefore less prone to floating and being damaged, said Kyle Isakower, vice president of regulatory policy at the American Petroleum Institute.
That wasn’t the case with about a dozen smaller storage tanks that experienced spills in Fayette County west of Houston, said Ron Whitmire with EnerVest, the Houston-based company that operated the tanks. The capacity of those tanks ranged from about 250 to 400 barrels, which he said was not large enough to resist the force of the floodwaters that swept them away.
“Do we plan for storms and hurricanes? Absolutely,” Whitmire said. “But nobody plans for 50-plus inches of rain.”
The record rainfall also exposed problems among almost 400 large storage tanks in the Houston area that have “floating roofs” that go up or down depending on how much fuel is inside the containers. The unprecedented rains that came with Harvey caused 14 of those roofs to sink, in some instances allowing the chemicals inside them to escape, according to company reports and Padgett of Rice.
There are no government rules dictating how tanks are designed. But the American Petroleum Institute has established industry standards for tank construction that call for tanks to be able to drain at a minimum 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain over a 24-hour period. Rain was falling at more than twice that rate during Harvey, Padgett said.
At least two of the floating roof failures occurred in gasoline storage tanks at Shell Oil’s Deer Park refinery and another occurred at Exxon Mobil’s Baytown refinery.
Pollution reports submitted by the companies to Texas regulators blamed the roof problems on Harvey’s excess rainfall. The reports said air pollutants including benzene, toluene and xylene were released into the atmosphere. Long-term exposure to such pollutants can cause cancer, although Texas officials said they never reached concentrations high enough in the storm’s wake to cause health concerns.
A Shell representative said in a statement to the AP that the roof problems presented an “extremely rare” circumstance and that company workers had quickly responded by spraying the spilled fuel with foam to suppress any harmful vapors. All the gasoline that was released was contained on-site, Shell spokesman Ray Fisher said.
Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Charlotte Huffaker said safety was a priority for the company and it was able to lessen environmental damage from Harvey by shutting down equipment in advance. Huffaker said Exxon “reported and responded to the event as soon as it was identified.”
As state and federal officials investigate the impacts from Harvey, it’s uncertain how much spilled material flowed off-site from the storage yards, oil production areas and refineries.
It’s expected to take about two weeks from the time of the spills for any contamination in the ship channel to reach Galveston Bay, according to Hanadi Rifai, director of the graduate program in environmental engineering at the University of Houston.
Texas has rules governing protections for underground storage tanks during floods, but not for above-ground tanks found at many refineries and chemical plants, according to Andrea Morrow, a spokeswoman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Morrow declined to say if the agency planned to investigate the Harvey-related tank failures and whether tanks that failed had been properly secured before the storm.
“We have established a Unified Command with other state and federal partners, and are in the field conducting rapid needs assessment at this time,” she said. “Due to the widespread impact from Harvey, the TCEQ anticipates conducting many storm-related investigations over the next several months.”
http://www.therepublic.com/2017/09/09/us-harvey-fuel-tank-spills/
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(ACC Mentioned) A Noxious Environmental Disaster Is Buried in Houston
Sep 9, 2017 | Esquire.com
By Charles P. Pierce
Dave Sirota and the people over at IBT/Newsweek have done a great job backgrounding the regulatory neglect and the outright contempt for public safety that led to the explosions and fire that occurred at the flooded Arkema chemical complex in Crosby, Texas. Their latest report is that seven first-responders have sued the French company that owns Arkema.
Those allegations come after Arkema and its lobbying group, the American Chemistry Council, lobbied to kill a federal rule designed to require companies to better coordinate and inform first responders about the toxic compounds at chemical plants. The rule would have taken effect in March. The EPA’s rule, which included a series of other safety provisions, was ultimately delayed to February 2019 by the Trump administration, with the support of top Texas Republican lawmakers — many of whom received large campaign donations from the chemical industry.
Let us leave Arkema to Sirota and his team and move on to a place called Dickinson, a few degrees east of Crosby in Galveston County. Dickinson was briefly famous during the Harvey deluge because one of its nursing homes was inundated and CNN was there. Everybody got out and CNN went off to get more cool videos, but I have a feeling that we’re all going to be hearing about Dickinson again because, down under all that water is another one of those environmental land mines just itching to go off. And, like so many of these land mines, it’s located in an actual neighborhood called Hall Street. From the Texas Department of Environmental Quality:In 2009, as part of the RI, the TCEQ oversaw cleanup operations involving the excavation of former waste pits containing soil, liquid contaminants, and buried drums. Approximately 9,187 tons of excavated waste were transported and disposed of to an approved landfill. Backfilling with clean soil was completed to fill in the excavations.
Somewhere, beneath the waves, there lies buried a smorgasbord of noxious and poisonous goo. Also down there, I suspect, are about 20 Pulitzer Prizes. This story is not going away. Nor will the story of Irma, or Jose, or Katia, or…
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a12203427/houston-harvey-environmental-disaster/
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Texas Flood Shows Need For Chemical Safety Rule, Advocates Say
Sep 11, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Jeff Johnson
Activists point to fires at Arkema plant
Industrial safety advocates and Texas residents say a flood-related fires and explosions at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, underscores the need for a worker and community safety regulation.
Issued by the Obama Administration in January and blocked by the Trump Environmental Protection Agency in March, that regulation would require chemical safety improvements at industrial plants.
If fully implemented, the new regulation would require greater public disclosure from companies that use large amounts of certain chemicals, notes Yvette Arellano, spokesperson with TEJAS, the Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, a community-based nonprofit. The rule would also call for firms to conduct root-cause analysis after an accident, she adds.
When it postponed the regulation, EPA reopened discussions of what the final rule should require. This reexamination won’t be complete until February 2019, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has said.
Pruitt attributed the delay to opposition to the rule from companies. Among them is Arkema, which filed comments against the regulation. Several states, labor unions, and community groups are challenging EPA’s move in court. Chemical companies and some other states, on the other hand, are backing Pruitt.
Advocates say the rule, if implemented, would have a made a difference when Tropical Storm Harvey brought heavy rains that flooded the Crosby plant and killed backup electricity generators used to maintain refrigeration of some 225 metric tons of organic peroxides at the facility. The reactive peroxides decompose with heat, and at Arkema, they began to burn. Government officials arranged for the remaining stock of these chemicals to be set on fire.
If the regulation had been in place, says Gretchen Goldman of the Union of Concerned Scientists, the public and emergency responders would have had more information about Arkema’s substances. Also, the rule would have required the company to investigate and possibly implement safer alternatives to its current chemicals and manufacturing approaches, she adds.
As required under the Clean Air Act, Arkema filed a risk management plan with EPA that identifies the potential effects of a chemical accident, lays out steps the facility is taking to prevent an accident, and spells out emergency response procedures should an accident occur. The plan is required for companies that handle certain extremely hazardous chemicals and is to be updated every five years. Arkema did not consider the decomposition of the organic peroxides in its plan because these chemicals are not covered by risk management plans. The U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) since 2002 has recommended that EPA require companies to include peroxides and other reactive chemicals in risk management plans, but the agency has not done so.
CSB is investigating the Arkema accident.
At a Sept. 4 briefing, Rich Rowe, CEO of Arkema’s North American operations, was reluctant to discuss what the company could have done differently to avoid the accident. He said Arkema will examine “the way we prepared and the decisions we made.” He pledged to work with CSB.
https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i36/Texas-flood-shows-need-chemical.html
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EPA Chief Defends Chemical Rule Delay After Texas Plant Explosions
Sep 8, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt on Friday defended his decision to delay a major chemical plant safety regulation.
The EPA has faced criticism on the decision following multiple explosions last week at Arkema Inc.’s plant in Crosby, Texas, which flooded from Hurricane Harvey.
The Risk Management Plan rule, written under the Obama administration and delayed by Pruitt, would not likely have prevented the incident, but it may have helped first responders to avoid injuring themselves by inhaling noxious fumes.
Pruitt said he had good reasons to delay the regulation, arguing the new standards for risk management plans would have helped terrorists find out what substances are at plants.
“These chemical plants are terrorist opportunities as well. They present soft targets to terrorists who come in and do something pretty bad in those communities,” Pruitt said on ABC News’s Power House Politicspodcast.
“And so what you’ve got to do is strike the balance in what’s in that RMP, so that you’re not informing terrorists and helping them have data that they shouldn’t have.”
The EPA chief said he supports requiring risk management plans, and his intent in delaying and revising the rule is not to abolish that mandate.
“It was never about and isn’t about doing away with RMPs, or making it so that citizens aren’t aware of what they need to know to evacuate or deal with concerns," he said.
Pruitt also indicated that Arkema may have violated existing risk management plan regulations. The explosions happened after the chemicals broke down, since they needed to be refrigerated, but the plant lost the power to refrigerate them.
He said the EPA is examining whether Arkema’s risk management plan required it to have redundant power supplies that would have prevented the incidents.
That could lead to further investigation or enforcement action by the agency, Pruitt said.
“I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, but know that those things are being considered.”
The Chemical Safety Board, an independent agency that investigates chemical disasters, is conducting its own probe into the explosions.
The Obama administration rule faced opposition from Texas leaders, Republicans and the chemical industry, including Arkema, which pushed the EPA to delay and revise it.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/349837-epa-chief-defends-chemical-rule-delay-after-texas-plant-explosions
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EPA Chief Pledges to Secure Toxic Sites in Irma's Storm Path
Sep 11, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy
The Trump administration is applying lessons from Hurricane Harvey's drenching of southeast Texas as it secures toxic waste sites in the path of Hurricane Irma, U.S. environmental chief Scott Pruitt said.
The Environmental Protection Agency's main goal is to make sure there are “enough people on the ground” to quickly assess the integrity of at-risk chemical sites and respond to needs as the monster storm moves through, Pruitt said. Technical staff already are working to secure about 80 Superfund sites in Irma's path from Miami to North Carolina, including a former pesticide plant, military base, and machine shop.
“Operationally, we've tried to make sure we apply the same type of approach we used in Texas,” Pruitt, the EPA's administrator, said in a Sept. 7 interview. “Because of the area and the amount of population that's affected in Florida, we're trying to be even more aggressive.“
The EPA faced some criticism for its response to Hurricane Harvey in Texas, as it was not able to immediately inspect some toxic Superfund sites that were flooded or inaccessible. After chemicals at one plant exploded, spewing fumes into the air, the agency said an initial analysis showed “no high levels of toxic chemicals.” Earlier on Sept. 7, local police officers filed a lawsuit against the plant owners, Arkema SA, saying they were sickened by the fumes from the plant.
Nearly 200 EPA personnel were deployed in Texas. The agency has about 77 people working on Irma related efforts and another seven are on the way.
Back-to-back hurricanes hitting the U.S. threaten to strain the federal government's resources, prompting the Senate to pass a $15.25 billion relief bill Sept. 7, and renewing a debate about the size and scope of federal agencies. The Trump administration has proposed cutting nearly a third of the EPA's budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 and culling roughly 3,200 employees from the agency's 15,000-member workforce, a process that has already begun as hundreds of workers accept buyouts.
Pruitt stressed that the EPA has not been hit by budget reductions yet, as Congress weighs how much to spend on the agency. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have signaled that they will refuse to make the steep budget cuts President Donald Trump is seeking for EPA.
“Congress is working through the budget as we speak, so there's been no impact in that regard,” Pruitt said. “It's more of just simply allocating personnel and prioritizing personnel—making sure that at the end of the day it's the local officials and the state officials in partnership with the EPA.“
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=120234427&vname=dennotallissues&fn=120234427&jd=120234427
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Questions Arise About Health Hazards From Chemical-Plant Explosions
Sep 9, 2017 | The Wall Street Journal
By Alexandra Berzon
First responders filed a lawsuit saying they weren’t properly warned of risks while responding to an Arkema facility explosion after Hurricane Harvey
Products that potentially posed acute health hazards exploded last week at a Houston-area chemical plant after Hurricane Harvey and first responders at the site say they weren’t properly warned of their risks.
Documentation on the website provided by Arkema Inc., which owns the facility in Crosby, Texas, said that a number of the peroxides it produces could harm people who might inhale or otherwise contact them. The company, in an online fact sheet it released after fire broke out at the plant, said the risks included eye, skin or respiratory irritation, nausea, drowsiness and dizziness.
Those symptoms were similar to those described in a lawsuit filed Thursday in a Texas court by sheriff’s deputies and first responders who were in vehicles about 1.5 miles from the plant after it had been evacuated for fear of chemical explosions. The plaintiffs say they began to “fall ill in the middle of the road,” immediately upon being exposed to fumes from the first explosion at the site, according to the lawsuit.
“Calls for medics were made, but still no one from Arkema warned of the toxic fumes in the air,” the lawsuit stated. “Police officers were doubled over vomiting, unable to breathe.”
The company says it properly informed the public of the hazards.
The incident and subsequent legal filing raised new questions that have long been a concern among safety advocates, first responders and others as to whether chemical plants provide enough information to emergency-response teams and whether communities are properly prepared for chemical accidents.
“More needs to be done,” as storms are getting stronger and more frequent, said Charley Wilkinson, executive director of Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, which represents thousands of officers in the state.
As the Arkema plant flooded last week from catastrophic rain, its backup generators failed. Organic peroxides, which were stored in pallets at the site, are combustible if not kept adequately cool. As a result of the failed refrigeration system, the company evacuated the site and surrounding area and allowed the products to explode, setting off plumes of thick smoke into the area.
The need for proper emergency management procedures involving facilities with hazardous chemicals on-site was highlighted four years ago when 12 first responders and three others died after a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas. The aftermath of that incident led to a change in federal rules requiring more interaction between certain highly hazardous chemical plants and emergency-response agencies. The Trump administration has delayed implementing the rule, with chemical companies saying that its enforcement could be a national security risk.
Kimberly Spurlock, a lawyer for the first-responders who sued Arkema, said her clients didn’t receive information about the potential severity of the plumes that could come from the plant from their superiors or the company.
“The communication about hazards was that it was akin to a campfire,” Ms. Spurlock said.
During a press conference, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez had compared the inhalation of smoke from the plant to standing over a campfire.
“Nobody told them that it was toxic,” said Muhammad Aziz, another attorney on the case.
In a statement issued Thursday after the lawsuit was filed, Arkema said, “We reject any suggestion that we failed to warn of the danger of breathing the smoke from the fires at our site, or that we ever misled anyone.”
The company says it understands that a number of people were seen at local hospitals but none were admitted.
Jason Spencer, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, said the officers were given adequate information about the risks at the incident, which was overseen by the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office.
“They were told at least verbally that these were toxic chemicals and they should avoid exposure to them,” Mr. Spencer said. “They were told that if a fire starts, it would start with white and gray smoke and eventually black smoke, and if you saw that and it approached you, to pull back.”
Chemical plants are required to file a list of chemicals stored on their sites to local fire departments, which typically take the lead in a chemical disaster. Safety data sheets with more specific information outlining the chemicals’ hazards can be accessed on site.
In providing information to the public about the incident, Arkema posted on its website some safety-data sheets about the specific peroxides it manufactures. Of the 30 substances on-site at the Crosby facility for which the company provided information, 10 of them have warnings that say the product can be fatal if inhaled under certain conditions. And 25 of them have warnings that responders should use a self-contained air supply to fight a fire involving that product.
“For emergency and other conditions where there may be a potential for significant exposure or where exposure limit may be significantly exceeded, use an approved full face positive-pressure airline with auxiliary self-contained air supply,” according to wording in several of the data sheets.
Rachel Moreno, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office, said her department had a hazmat team on or near the site, along with protective gear. Law enforcement officers, stationed further away, didn’t appear to have that equipment, she said.
—Rob Barry and Christopher M. Matthews contributed to this article.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/questions-arise-about-health-hazards-from-chemical-plant-explosions-1504962592?mg=prod/accounts-wsj
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EPA Says No Volatile Chemicals Found In Water Near Arkema Plant In Texas
Sep 9, 2017 | Reuters
(Reuters) - Water samples collected after an Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas caught fire following a power outage due to Tropical Storm Harvey contained no volatile chemicals, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Friday.
The Arkema plant experienced a series of fires as a result of sensitive organic chemicals that rose to dangerous temperatures after the facility lost power due to storm flooding.
People in a 1.5-mile radius around the plant, located about 20 miles (35 km) northwest of Houston, were evacuated after company officials said an explosion or large fire was likely because the organic peroxides used to make plastics and other products could not stay cool enough.
The EPA, in its statement, said that no “volatile organic chemicals or semi-volatile organic chemicals were detected in the surface water runoff samples,” which were collected on September 1.
The investigation, which involves the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and other state, federal and local agencies, is ongoing.
The first explosion took place on Aug. 31, several days after Harvey hit. The storm dropped several feet of rain in the Houston area.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-harvey-arkema/epa-says-no-volatile-chemicals-found-in-water-near-arkema-plant-in-texas-idUSKCN1BK0HV
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U.K. Amec Sees Hurricane Changing Design of U.S. Chemical Plant
Sep 11, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew Noël
Amec Foster Wheeler Plc, the U.K. company helping to build a $604 million methanol plant for Yuhuang Chemical Inc. in Louisiana, expects the damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey to alter the planning and design of chemical facilities in regions at risk from natural catastrophes.
“It would be unthinkable that people won't pause and reflect on the learnings of this and that would lead to some changes in the facilities or the controls and protection,” John Pearson, head of Amec Foster Wheeler's oil, gas, and chemicals business, said in an interview.
The Houston area's hundreds of refineries and petrochemical operations released almost 1 million pounds of air pollutants in Harvey-related spills and flares, including benzene, sulfur dioxide, toluene, and xylene, according to an analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson. The effects may not be known for months.
A plant operated by French chemicals company Arkema SA burned in the aftermath of the hurricane, which struck in late August. The site, which makes organic peroxides for use in plastics, was submerged by floodwater, knocking out the power supplies needed to keep the volatile chemical cool, and management said they were powerless to prevent the subsequent explosions.
While Amec Foster Wheeler's immediate focus has been on its workers in Louisiana, the environmental and safety issues raised by the storm may prompt the company to focus even more on this part of its business further down the line, Pearson said.
Business Normality
“The minute we get back to some business normality, whatever conversations are brewing between our environment people and our oil and gas people, we will be pretty well-placed to get into the action quickly,” Pearson said.
The Yuhuang Chemical contract is a symbolic win for Amec Foster, which is diversifying into chemical-plant construction and project management amid a downturn in upstream oil and gas projects. It's pulling in resources from its energy division, which works on power, solar, and wind projects, for engineering, procurement and construction work on chemical contracts. That can mean project managing for engineering companies such as Linde AG and Air Liquide SA, such is the case with the methanol project.
Excluding the Chinese contract, Amec Foster's order book increased 2 percent to 5.5 billion pounds ($7.3 billion) by the end of the first half of the year. The shares have slipped 1.3 percent this year, valuing the company at about 1.8 billion pounds.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=120234440&vname=dennotallissues&fn=120234440&jd=120234440
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New Regs Threaten To Send Shipping Off The Rails
Sep 11, 2017 | Washington Examiner
By Matthew Kandrach
Here's a fun fact: The U.S. freight rail network – 140,000 miles fully maintained by private operators that save taxpayers billions — accounts for 40 percent of all freight moved in the U.S. by ton-miles.
This includes bulk commodities such as grain, chemicals, and coal, which ultimately become finished goods, as well as consumer products bought directly on store shelves. Unlike other modes of transportation, the infrastructure that sustains this movement of goods is paid for entirely by the industry – some $26 billion annually of late – not by you or me through our taxes.
Much of this can be traced to the economic deregulation of the sector back in 1980, an overwhelming success as measured by progressives, conservatives, government, labor, and industry alike.
"Several decades ago, Congress significantly reduced federal regulations on U.S. freight railroads," reads a report by the American Consumer Institute. "In the period that followed, industry competition intensified, leading to increased productivity, lower transportation costs and widespread consumer benefits."
Consumer groups are not alone in this view. In fact, a large swath of organizations, including ours, recently wrote to Congress encouraging a continuation of the current regulatory framework that has proven so successful. Making this letter to the Congress especially urgent are the consideration of wonky-yet-consequential policy proposals that would unravel the current framework, including a measure that would force railroads to let their competitors operate on their infrastructure at government-set rates.
Aside from being a striking government overreach, this proposal skews the market for railroad transportation by playing favorites, in the end hurting both industry and consumers. "[Regulators argue] that an expansion of reciprocal switching would increase competition among the railroads," says the Heritage Foundation's James Gattuso. "But, in reality, such forced access only adds inefficiencies and imposes needless costs on rail networks."
As we argue, it is troubling that a small set of railroad shippers are seeking major policy changes that would hinder railroads from serving customers and the large contingent of other shippers such as UPS. These rent-seeking shippers are the only parties seeking regulatory changes – most likely because backdoor rate regulation would pad their bottom lines.
It's a real lesson in all that is wrong with Washington, D.C.: Well-heeled interests can monopolize and hijack policy debates on a whim.
Consumers and voters are left in the dark amid the proceedings of unelected bureaucrats, yet they are the ones who face the consequences. Because there is virtually no part of the economy the transportation sector, including rail, does not ultimately touch, the increased costs would inevitably be passed on to consumers. Further, as government intervention into rail pricing and routing takes hold, railroads would undoubtedly become less efficient and be less suited to invest in its capital intensive network, resulting in greater reliance on taxpayer subsidized trucks on our roads and highways.
The disruptive regulations at issue were proposed last year by the Surface Transportation Board (STB), an obscure independent agency created in 1995 and reauthorized in 2015 for the first time ever. "The Board" currently has three board members – two Democrats and one Republican – and is awaiting Presidential action to fill two current vacancies unfilled for all of 2016 by the previous administration.
Thankfully, this makes the path forward to sanity quite easy. The Trump administration should only nominate individuals who agree with the very basic premise that the deregulation of the private freight rail sector quite literally saved the industry and should not be upended at the hands of moneyed business interests. The powerful Senate Commerce Committee, which maintains jurisdiction over the board, should follow suit.
Observers cautiously expect action by the end of the year or early next year. With potential consequences impacting America's economy, transportation infrastructure and ultimately consumers' pockets, we should all hope that regulators reject the call for further government interference in this often overlooked yet critical sector.
Matthew Kandrach is President of CASE - Consumer Action for a Strong Economy, a free-market oriented consumer advocacy group.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/new-regs-threaten-to-send-shipping-off-the-rails/article/2633728
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Ozone Designations Delay Throws 'Wrench' Into NAAQS Compliance Plans
Sep 8, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
East Coast air regulators are warning that EPA's withdrawn delay of designations for which states are attaining the 2015 ozone air standard throws a “monkey wrench” into their efforts to craft plans for complying with the standard, because of lingering uncertainty about whether the agency might revive the delay for some states.
At a Sept. 7 meeting of the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) of 12 Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states in Washington, D.C., regulators said that the problems include confusion about what the delay means for the base year emissions modeling that states have to use in crafting their compliance plans for the ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), and that having to redo modeling will cost states time and money.
Exacerbating the problem is a widespread expectation among state air quality regulators that EPA will still delay the designations for some areas because of ongoing fights about emissions data, regulators say.
EPA's withdrawn delay faces an ongoing legal challenge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from several Democratic states and environmentalists who argue that agency Administrator Scott Pruitt lacked authority for his since-scrapped decision to delay designations from Oct. 1 to Oct. 1, 2018.
Designations are crucial because they start the three-year Clean Air Act clock for states to write their state implementation plans (SIPs) outlining the emissions control measures they will impose on sources of ozone air pollution in order to meet the NAAQS of 70 parts per billion (ppb). The Obama administration tightened the limit from the prior standard of 75 ppb, but Pruitt has since said that he wants to reconsider that decision.
As part of that effort, the administrator announced in June that he would delay the looming Oct. 1 deadline for issuing designations due to what he said were gaps in data on ozone emissions.
But in early August he scrapped that decision in a Federal Register notice that said consultation with states showed that the information gaps might not be as expansive as EPA previously believed. Observers noted that the decision came shortly after the D.C. Circuit in a July 3 decision blocked the agency from delaying implementation of an Obama-era rule governing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector.
Nevertheless, EPA in the Register notice said the administrator “may still determine that an extension of time to complete designations is necessary” -- and OTC members are criticizing this possibility.
“This is throwing a monkey wrench into the program,” said New Hampshire air regulator Jeff Underhill. “This is a mess for us.”
Ozone Designations
Withdrawal of the delay means the air law's deadline of Oct. 1 for issuing the designations still stands, and EPA is expected to miss the deadline for those areas where some disagreement exists between states and the agency over the correct designation.
EPA issues “120 day letters” giving states its opinion on their recommendations on designations with 120 days' notice for states of the decision, and there is now not enough time for this process, according to state regulators.
In order to craft SIPs, states must conduct computer modeling of their future air emissions that is tied to an emissions “inventory” created for a specific base year. But having multiple rounds of designations greatly complicates this, because areas designated later probably will not be allowed to rely on modeling used for the first designations because the base inventory year will be too far in the past, Underhill said.
Having to redo modeling will cost states time and money, he added, which will almost double the SIP workload for some states at a time of dwindling state resources.
Also, delaying designations may in fact push some areas into nonattainment or otherwise worsen their position. This is because areas designated by Oct. 1 this year would rely on three years of air monitoring data spanning 2014-2016. But areas designated in 2018 might rely on newer data spanning 2015-2017, if the data is certified in time by states.
2014 saw low ozone levels in the eastern United States because of an unusually cool summertime ozone season, which was less conducive to ozone formation than normal. But later years have seen higher summer ozone levels, pushing states' “design values,” used to determine NAAQS attainment, higher.
Attainment deadlines for areas designated late may also fall later than those for areas designated on time, Underhill noted.
Environmentalists who sued EPA over the initial designations delay are threatening legal action if -- or when -- EPA misses its Oct. 1 deadline, creating further uncertainty.
Deferred Designations
Areas that appear certain to face deferred designation include the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas, Underhill said, because of disagreements between states with territory in those areas about the geographical scope of nonattainment areas. Both metro areas are likely to be classified nonattainment, Underhill said, but EPA must decide on the geographical scope of the area to be so designated.
Meanwhile, David Brymer, air quality division director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the state's air regulator, said during a presentation to manufacturers in San Antonio Sept. 5 that EPA's action with respect to that city is still unclear, with deferral possible, but unlikely, beyond Oct. 1.
TCEQ recommended to EPA that the city be designated in “marginal” nonattainment, the least-severe status, and Brymer said “I believe it's unlikely that the EPA will delay that designation,” according to the San Antonio Business Journal.
The agency did not send TCEQ a 120-day letter disagreeing with the state's recommendation, and so can proceed directly to designation. However, OTC-area regulators are not aware of any state receiving such letters.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/ozone-designations-delay-throws-wrench-naaqs-compliance-plans
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State, Local Industries Seek Swift Ozone NAAQS Reconsideration
Sep 8, 2017 | Inside EPA
Groups representing dozens of state and local industry sectors are urging EPA to “expeditiously reconsider” the Obama administration's 2015 decision tightening the ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb, saying implementation of the stricter limit will cause economic harm.
The Sept. 6 letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt warns that, “If implemented, EPA’s stringent ozone standards could limit business expansion in many areas of the United States and risk the ability of U.S. companies to create new jobs.”
EPA faces a looming Oct. 1 deadline for issuing designations for whether areas of the United States are attaining or in nonattainment with the 2015 ozone NAAQS, after previously trying to delay the designations until Oct. 1, 2018. Designations start the Clean Air Act clock for states to craft compliance plans in which they detail the air pollution controls they will impose on industrial sources of ozone. The agency withdraw the delay and the Oct. 1 deadline for this year is back in effect, though litigation over the delay continues.
Republicans and many industry groups faulted the Obama EPA for tightening the NAAQS from the 75 ppb set in 2008, saying there was no scientific justification for doing so. They warned that the stricter standard will require states to craft even stricter compliance plans, imposing major costs on industries.
The state and local groups' letter revives those concerns, and also warns that the stricter standard creates problems for companies trying to obtain Clean Air Act permits for new facilities.
Businesses must demonstrate compliance with tougher NAAQS in their applications for air permits for new projects. In areas classified “nonattainment,” industry must install tougher pollution controls and buy “offsets” to compensate for additional emissions resulting from projects.
“Against these economic consequences, scientific uncertainties regarding the benefits of the stringent ozone standards are significant. Indeed, stringent ozone standards may have severe unintended consequences for public health,” the groups say, citing the impact of reduced incomes and increased living costs on health. “Unless addressed soon, the rule’s hardship to the American worker could be real and immediate,” the groups say.
Pruitt has previously said he is reconsidering the 2015 ozone NAAQS, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit litigation over the standard is currently on hold pending the outcome of the reconsideration process.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/state-local-industries-seek-swift-ozone-naaqs-reconsideration
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