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ACC PM 16/08/18
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(ACC Mentioned) Bipartisan Senate Bill Aims to Promote Innovation in American Sustainable Chemistry.
Aug 16, 2018 | Bio-Based World News
The 30th July saw Senators Chris Coons (D-Delaware) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) proposed a bill encouraging the development of chemicals and products under new and improved environmental and human standards. -
Lead Concerns Drive Record Demand for EPA Loans
Aug 16, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Ariel Wittenberg
Demand for EPA's low-interest loans for water infrastructure improvements has hit a record high, the agency said. -
Monsanto's Ethics are Questionable, But the $289-Million Verdict Against It Is Still Unjustified
Aug 16, 2018 | Los Angeles Times
By Michael Hiltzik
At the outset, let’s stipulate — as the lawyers might say — that the chemical giant Monsanto is not well cast as a victim. -
Biomonitoring California Calls Meeting to Discuss PFASs
Aug 16, 2018 | Chemical Watch
Biomonitoring California has called a public meeting on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). -
Special Report: Children Poisoned by Lead on U.S. Army Bases as Hazards Ignored
Aug 16, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By M.B. Pell and Deborah Nelson
Army Colonel J. Cale Brown put his life on the line in two tours of duty in Afghanistan, earning a pair of Bronze Stars for his service. -
Consumer Reports Finds 'Worrisome' Heavy Metals in Baby Food
Aug 16, 2018 | San Francisco Chronicle (In E&E Greenwire)
By Tara Duggan
A Consumer Reports analysis has found heavy metals in baby foods like infant rice cereal and mashed sweet potatoes. -
Keep California Oil in The Ground? The Goal is Good, but The Policy Doesn't Pencil Out
Aug 16, 2018 | Los Angeles Times
By Severin Borenstein
California has made significant strides against climate change except when it comes to transportation. Since 2012, per capita greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and airplanes have been rising by about 1.5% a year. -
Fracking Wastewater Spikes 1,440% in Half Decade
Aug 16, 2018 | DeSmog Blog (In EcoWatch)
By Sharon Kelly
Between 2011 and 2016, fracked oil and gas wells in the U.S. pumped out record-breaking amounts of wastewater, which is laced with toxic and radioactive materials, a new Duke University study concludes. -
Judge Orders New Federal Review of Keystone XL Pipeline
Aug 16, 2018 | AP (In The Washington Post)
By Grant Schulte
A federal judge has ordered the U.S. State Department to conduct a more thorough review of the Keystone XL pipeline’s proposed pathway after Nebraska state regulators changed the route, raising the possibility of further delays to a project first proposed in 2008. -
Judge Orders New Environmental Review of Keystone Pipeline
Aug 16, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama and Jacqueline Thomsen
A federal judge has ordered the government to conduct a full environmental review of a new route for the Keystone XL pipeline in a blow for the Trump administration. -
Texas Grand Jury Indicts Arkema and Company Executives Over Hurricane Harvey Emissions
Aug 15, 2018 | Lexology
By Susan G. Lafferty, David M. McCullough, Joshua L. Belcher and Charles R. Thompson II
On August 3, 2018, a grand jury in Houston, Texas, indicted chemical manufacturer Arkema North America, Inc. (Arkema), its CEO and a manager at the manufacturer’s Crosby, Texas, plant on criminal charges for the “reckless emission” of air contaminants during Hurricane Harvey. -
Chemical Safety Board to Release New Facts in Oklahoma Rig Explosion
Aug 16, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Rye Druzin
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board will release new details Thursday related to a January oil drilling rig explosion that left five workers dead. -
Commuter Rail PTC Progress “Strong and Continuous”: APTA
Aug 16, 2018 | Railway Age
By Mischa Wanek-Libman
APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas lauded the commuter rail industry’s progress, but said it was still too early to predict if any of APTA’s commuter rail members would miss the Dec. 31, 2018, statutory interim deadline. -
Signaling, Communications Progress Being Made in Commuter Rail Industry
Aug 16, 2018 | Transportation Today
By Chris Galford
An analysis by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) found that progress is being made on installation of Positive Train Control (PTC) technology, leading to the potential of a safer environment. -
EPA Administrator Wheeler Prepares to Gut Clean Power Plan, Increasing Pollution and Harming Health
Aug 16, 2018 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Ben Levitan
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is reportedlyplanning to all but abolish one of America’s most important climate protections: the Clean Power Plan, our only nation-wide limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants. -
64% Say U.S. Should Do More to Address Warming — Poll
Aug 16, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Nick Sobczyk
A large majority of Americans believe the country should do more to address climate change, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday.
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(ACC Mentioned) Bipartisan Senate Bill Aims to Promote Innovation in American Sustainable Chemistry.
Aug 16, 2018 | Bio-Based World News
The 30th July saw Senators Chris Coons (D-Delaware) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) proposed a bill encouraging the development of chemicals and products under new and improved environmental and human standards. This bipartisan bill aims to encourage the development of new and innovative chemicals, products and processes with an improved environmental footprint through efficient use of resources, reducing or eliminating exposure to hazardous substances, or otherwise minimizing harm to human health and the environment.
This bi-partisan bill, follows a similar one in 2015 which aimed to support the spread of a green chemistry initiative in the United States and was first reported on Chemical Watch.
“Sustainable chemistry is an important scientific field that aims to improve the efficiency of the chemical production process while reducing risks to human health and the environment,” said Senator Collins ( @SenatorCollins ).
“This bipartisan bill would create a coordinated national effort to support research and development in the sustainable chemistry field; provide grants, training, and educational opportunities for scientists and engineers; and support American jobs by maintaining our nation’s scientific leadership” continued Collins.
Though, “the bill does not include any regulatory components, nor does it authorize new spending.” Instead, the bill focuses on the development of a "roadmap for sustainable chemistry.”
“Finding ways to encourage innovation, create new companies and jobs, and benefit human health and the environment is something that should bring us all together,” said Senator Coons. “We can do much more to ensure the things all around us—from our laundry detergent to our cars—are produced in a way that maintains their high quality while protecting our health and our planet. By creating a cohesive vision for sustainable chemistry research and development, improving training and retraining of scientists and other professionals, and building new partnerships with the private sector; the bipartisan Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act is an exciting opportunity to maintain our scientific leadership and ensure the sustainability of our chemical enterprise for years to come.”
Already, The Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3) a multi-stakeholder collaborative with goals of commercial adoption of green chemistry, has endorsed the bill. This was preceded by the support of the American Sustainable Business Council. Chemical organisations such as the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the American Chemistry Society.
“ACC welcomes the introduction of the ‘Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act,’” said ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley in a statement - “It is critical for government and industry to work together to accelerate innovations in chemistry that will help solve critical sustainability challenges while protecting the U.S. business of chemistry’s global competitive advantage.”
https://www.biobasedworldnews.com/bi-partisan-bill-aims-to-promote-the-growth-of-innovation-in-sustainable-chemistry-in-the-usa
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Lead Concerns Drive Record Demand for EPA Loans
Aug 16, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Ariel Wittenberg
Demand for EPA's low-interest loans for water infrastructure improvements has hit a record high, the agency said.
EPA received 61 letters of interest from municipalities requesting $9.1 billion in loans from the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program.
The request is nearly double the agency's lending capacity for 2018, which Office of Water head David Ross said demonstrates "the critical need for investment in our nation's water infrastructure and strong support for EPA's Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program."
"EPA looks forward to reviewing the letters of interest we received as we advance the President's infrastructure agenda and help communities better protect public health and water quality," he said.
Established by Congress in 2014, WIFIA has been extremely popular among municipalities and lawmakers alike. This year, EPA received letters of interest from 24 states, the District of Columbia and Guam.
More than half of the proposed projects would either reduce exposure to lead in drinking water or update aging infrastructure, or both.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/08/16/stories/1060094303
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Monsanto's Ethics are Questionable, But the $289-Million Verdict Against It Is Still Unjustified
Aug 16, 2018 | Los Angeles Times
By Michael Hiltzik
At the outset, let’s stipulate — as the lawyers might say — that the chemical giant Monsanto is not well cast as a victim.
The company has spent an average of almost $6 million a year since 2010 on lobbying in Washington. It has insinuated itself deeply into deliberations at the Environmental Protection Agency over the safety of its products, and its executives smear scientists who raise questions about those products. The company has been accused of ghost-writing scientific reports so they hew to the company line. Internal documents unsealed by a judge show Monsanto taking strong steps to massage data to portray one of its key products, the weed-killer glyphosate, as safe for human use.
That’s become relevant to the question of whether glyphosate or its blockbuster formulation, Roundup, causes cancer in humans — or more specifically, whether it caused the non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer, that is killing DeWayne Johnson. He’s the 46-year-old Vallejo groundskeeper who won a $289-million verdict against Monsanto on Friday, when a San Francisco County Superior Court jury found that the company knowingly marketed a dangerous chemical and kept the facts from the public and from Johnson, who used a glyphosate formulation called Ranger Pro on the job.
It's unfortunate that junk science and this kind of mischief creates so much confusion for consumers. FORMER MONSANTO CEO HUGH M. GRANTShare quote & link
The verdict looks like a boon for thousands of similar lawsuits already filed across the country, including more than 400 in federal court. The award was a crushing blow for the German company Bayer, which closed its purchase of Monsanto for $60 billion only two months ago. Bayer shares have lost more than 17% in the few days since the verdict was issued.
But there’s another sense in which the verdict is bad news: It’s a sign that juries are unable to weigh scientific evidence in cases where that evidence is key.
On the surface, the Johnson jury found that glyphosate more likely than not contributed to Johnson’s cancer. But that’s a questionable conclusion, for the simple reason that the scientific evidence that glyphosate can cause cancer, especially lymphatic cancer, is sketchy at best — and, according to one huge study of herbicide use in the U.S., nonexistent. Medical science doesn’t actually know what causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which means that tying it to glyphosate could hardly be a scientific judgment.COLUMNIs junk science about to enter an L.A. courtroom in a lawsuit over ovarian cancer?JUL 08, 2017 | 9:05 AM
Johnson deserves some succor for his terminal illness. The issue is whether Monsanto is the right source. A $289-million verdict might be justified if the evidence showed that Monsanto was directly responsible for Johnson’s sickness. The evidence didn’t come close to showing that.
One can applaud a judicial system that delivers redress to a sick patient. But this case demonstrates the profound flaws of a system that can deliver a sizable hit on a corporation despite the lack of hard evidence. It’s not unusual for the scientific evidence in a product liability case, especially one focused on a disease cause, to be equivocal. But the legal system isn’t oriented to equivocal outcomes — a defendant is either guilty or not guilty, responsible or not.
That might not matter when the question is whether a plaintiff got run over by a defendant driving a car. But pinpointing one culprit is virtually impossible when a disease could have untold possible causes.
Epidemiological studies like those at the heart of the Johnson lawsuit can be as much art as science, says Richard G. Stevens, a medical professor at the University of Connecticut who followed the case. “It’s easy to do it badly, and a bad study is worse than no study at all.”
If the Johnson verdict stands, that isn’t good for the credibility of the system. And it’s not good for anyone who depends on the system’s credibility, which includes almost everyone.
It’s also not good for the farmers who use glyphosate, which has become the leading weed-killer in the world since Monsanto introduced it in the 1970s. The product is popular for several reasons — it’s considered less toxic than the herbicides it has displaced, and the crops on which it’s most commonly used have been genetically modified (by Monsanto, their marketer) to resist it.COLUMNHow Trump has made the Department of Health and Human Services a center of false science on contraceptionJUN 15, 2017 | 1:55 PM
With that in mind, let’s look at the scientific record on glyphosate and see how it’s getting weighed in court.
Epidemiological studies of the causes of disease fall into two major categories. Case-control studies take a group of people with a given condition and check for their past exposure to a chemical or other possible cause, comparing it with the exposure of a control group that hasn’t been exposed. Cohort studies start with a population, separate them into exposed and non-exposed groups, and track them over time to see what develops.
Case-control studies are cheaper but generally less reliable because disease sufferers tend to think back to their possible exposures and may overstate them.
With glyphosate, the studies suggesting it’s linked to cancer are chiefly case-control studies. On the other side is the Agricultural Health Study, a federally financed cohort study that has kept an eye on 57,000 pesticide users in Iowa and North Carolina since the 1990s. The study, according to the most recent analysis, has found “no statistically significant associations with glyphosate use and cancer.”
Unsurprisingly, plaintiffs and their experts think very highly of the case-control studies and try to knock down the Agricultural Health Study. Monsanto takes the opposite view.
There’s one other wrinkle. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a unit of the World Health Organization, designated glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” That sounds bad, but it’s not quite as definitive as it sounds. According to IARC classifications, it means that the evidence that it causes cancer in humans is “limited” and that explanations including “chance, bias or confounding [meaning an unrelated factor] could not be ruled out,” but that some evidence also exists from animal experiments.Monsanto hasn't be shy about spreading lobbying millions around in Washington. (Opensecrets.org)
Plaintiffs suing Monsanto typically depict the IARC paper as tantamount to proof that glyphosate causes cancer. But that’s not how it’s viewed by Vince Chhabria, the federal judge overseeing the more than 400 Monsanto lawsuits in federal courts.
In a pretrial ruling in July, Chhabria observed that IARC doesn’t intend the term “probably” to have “any quantitative significance.” He warned that any plaintiff expert relying on IARC alone to make the case that glyphosate causes cancer would be be unlikely to be admitted to testify in his courtroom. Chhabria also said the evidence of a connection between glyphosate and lymphoma “seems rather weak,” to the extent that he questioned the credibility of experts who have “confidently identified a causal link.”
The history of the IARC paper does point to the lengths Monsanto has gone to protect its star product. Monsanto was openly furious about the paper. “It's unfortunate that junk science and this kind of mischief creates so much confusion for consumers,” then-company CEO Hugh M. Grant said on a conference call with investment analysts a few weeks after it appeared.
This was a crass and stupid remark, which Monsanto has been unable to live down. The IARC paper was not junk science, but a painstakingly developed finding by a panel of qualified scientists. Nevertheless, an army of corporate henchmen mobilized in Washington to pick it apart. In a letter to IARC Director Christopher Wild, for instance, Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), two of the leading science-deniers in the House, accused IARC of manipulating data to reach its conclusions. Wild slapped them down.COLUMNRachel Carson, 'mass murderer'? A right-wing myth about 'Silent Spring' is poised for a revivalFEB 06, 2017 | 3:40 PM
Given the dearth of firm scientific evidence of glyphosate’s role in DeWayne Johnson’s illness, his case turned more on whether Monsanto should have posted warning labels on its glyphosate products. Although Judge Suzanne Bolanos instructed the jury that a big corporation is “entitled to the same fair and impartial treatment that you would give to an individual,” one of the jobs of plaintiff attorneys is to paint the picture of a lone cancer patient battling a soulless behemoth — just as it’s the defense’s job to offer an alternative. (For a vivid and entertaining day-by-day account of the theater in the courtroom, we recommend a blog by Kelly Ryerson, a former investment banker and unapologetic critic of Monsanto, writing under the pseudonym “Glyphosate Girl.”)
In his closing argument Aug. 7, R. Brent Wisner, Johnson’s attorney, made much of the fact that Monsanto didn’t call Johnson back when he phoned to inquire about the hazard of the product he was using. Wisner urged the jury to issue a verdict “that says, ‘Monsanto, no more. Warn. Call people back.’...If you return a verdict that does that, that actually changes the world.”
As for the science, he pointed to the “preponderance of evidence” standard in a civil trial—if the jury weighed both sides and thought there was even a feather’s weight more on Johnson’s, that was enough. “What we have to prove to you is not, yes, absolutely, it causes cancer.” If the jurors could conclude, “’I’m not so sure, but I think so,’” he said, “we’ve met our burden.”
Against this reality, Monsanto’s defense couldn’t help but seem a little wan. Monsanto lawyer George Lombardi said in his summation that the case was simply “about whether Mr. Johnson’s cancer was caused by Ranger Pro. The evidence is clear” that it was not. “It’s not my burden to show you that,” he said. “It’s the plaintiff’s burden.”
If this were an Olympic skating competition, Lombardi would get laughed off the ice on artistic merit alone. The jury awarded Johnson $39.2 million in straight damages, and $250 million in punitive damages.
This is the right outcome within the limits of the court system. But is it the right outcome in a scientific debate? That’s doubtful. The problem is that alternatives are hard to identify. Bringing these cases before specialized tribunals or setting up public funds for victims of certain products all have their own flaws.
The jury trial “is a highly imperfect process,” says UConn’s Stevens. “But like democracy, it’s the best we have.”
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-monsanto-20180816-story.html
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Biomonitoring California Calls Meeting to Discuss PFASs
Aug 16, 2018 | Chemical Watch
Biomonitoring California has called a public meeting on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs).
The meeting of the organisation's scientific guidance panel on 22 August in Oakland will discuss the next steps for measuring exposures to PFASs in the state.
The substances are found in everyday items such as food contact materials, cosmetics, non-stick pans and firefighting foams. However, concentrations of the substances can build up in the environment. The US EPA has recently organised a series of 'community engagement' events on the substances.
https://chemicalwatch.com/69786/biomonitoring-california-calls-meeting-to-discuss-pfass
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Special Report: Children Poisoned by Lead on U.S. Army Bases as Hazards Ignored
Aug 16, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By M.B. Pell and Deborah Nelson
Army Colonel J. Cale Brown put his life on the line in two tours of duty in Afghanistan, earning a pair of Bronze Stars for his service. In between those deployments, Brown received orders to report to Fort Benning, the sprawling Georgia base that proudly describes itself as the century-old home of the U.S. infantry.
He was pleased. His wife, Darlena, was pregnant with their second child, and the Browns owned a home in the area. Their 10-month-old son, John Cale Jr, was a precocious baby, babbling a dozen words and exploring solid foods.
Cale's duties as a battalion commander required him to live on base. So instead of moving into their own house, in 2011 the Browns rented a place inside Fort Benning. The 80-year-old white stucco home had hosted generations of officers.
Like most family housing on U.S. bases today, the home wasn't owned and operated by the military. It was managed by Villages of Benning, a partnership between two private companies and the U.S. Army, whose website beckons families to "enjoy the luxuries of on-post living."
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The symptoms began suddenly. At 18 months, JC would awake screaming. He began refusing food, stopped responding to his name and lost most of his words.
"He was disappearing into an isolated brain," Darlena recalls.
For nearly a year, doctors probed: Was it colic? Autism? Ear infections? Then, in late 2012, came a call from JC's pediatrician: He had high levels of lead in his blood. When Darlena told Villages of Benning of his poisoning, contractors ordered home testing.
The results: At least 113 spots in the home had lead paint, including several peeling or crumbling patches, requiring $26,150 in lead abatement. Villages of Benning moved the Browns into another old house next door.
The heavy metal had stunted JC's brain, medical records reviewed by Reuters show. At age two, he was diagnosed with a developmental disorder caused by lead. Now eight, JC has undergone years of costly therapy. He excels at reading and swimming, but still struggles with speech, hyperactivity and social interactions.
When a reporter met JC last year, the boy looked away and repeated a phrase from a children's TV show: "Max, what did you do? Max, what did you do?" Later, JC sat outside and watched sunlight gliding through his fingers, seemingly lost in reverie.EDITORS’ PICKSThis Is the Way Paul Ryan’s Speakership EndsFrom a Space Station in Argentina, China Expands Its Reach in Latin AmericaBillionaire Yogi Behind Indian Prime Minister’s Rise
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"I'm sad that my son lost his future," Darlena said. "It was because of where we were that this happened."
This wasn't supposed to happen to families like the Browns, who move often between posts for the U.S. armed forces, trusting base landlords and military brass to provide safe shelter for children and spouses.
Cale Brown, a 46-year-old active-duty colonel, now works on detail to the White House on the National Security Council, helping to protect the country from complex threats like North Korea's nuclear program.
For years, he has told the Army of failures to defend children on U.S. bases from lead poisoning, a preventable household health hazard. Ingesting the heavy metal can severely affect mental and physical development, especially in children, causing brain damage and other potentially lifelong health impacts. But poisoning is avoidable if old homes containing lead paint are properly monitored and maintained.
"There is no acceptable number of children that the Army can allow to be so egregiously hurt," Cale wrote in a letter to the Army Office of the Inspector General last year, describing the poisoning of JC and hundreds of other military kids he was aware of. He hasn't received a response to the letter's concerns.
The Browns' story and others, told publicly for the first time here, reveal a toxic scourge inside homes on military bases. Previously undisclosed military and state health records, and testing by Reuters for lead in soldiers' homes, show problems at some of America's largest military installations.
Federal law defines lead-based paint as containing 0.5 percent or more lead by weight. Sales have been banned since 1978. But many older homes still contain lead paint, which is particularly dangerous when it peels, chips or turns to dust – easy for kids to swallow or breathe in.
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Reuters tested five homes at Benning, using a methodology designed with a Columbia University geochemist. All five contained hazardous levels of deteriorating lead paint within reach of children, in one case exceeding the federal threshold by a factor of 58.
Testing turned up problems elsewhere as well. At West Point, New York, home of the United States Military Academy, paint chips falling from a family's front door contained lead at 19 times the federal threshold.
At Kentucky's Fort Knox, whose vaults hold much of America's gold reserves, Reuters found paint peeling from a covered porch where small kids play. It contained 50 percent lead by weight, or 100 times the threshold.
The Army requires http://www.campbell.army.mil/Installation/Environmental_Handbook/Documents/LBPManagementtPlan_DEC2014.pdf abatement when certified testing identifies deteriorating lead paint in base homes. Yet it also "discourages" this type of lead-paint inspection https://phc.amedd.army.mil/topics/workplacehealth/ih/Pages/Lead.aspx, in part because lead abatement can be costly.
These homes put military kids at risk. Reuters obtained medical data from the Army showing that at least 31 small children tested high for lead at a Fort Benning hospital over a recent six-year period. All tested above the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's threshold for elevated lead levels – 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood. Any child who tests high warrants a public health response, the CDC says.
Army data from other clinics showed at least 77 more high blood-lead tests for children at Fort Polk in Louisiana, Fort Riley in Kansas, and Fort Hood and Fort Bliss in Texas.
From 2011 to 2016, Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas – which processes blood tests from many bases nationwide – registered more than 1,050 small children who tested above the CDC's elevated threshold, the center's records show.
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The thousand-plus blood results, obtained from Army bases through Freedom of Information Act requests, provide only a glimpse of the problem. A $10 finger-prick test can spot a child exposed to lead, yet millions of U.S. children are never screened. Just how many are tested across all military bases isn't clear. But for those who are, the results often go unreported to state public health agencies that attend to poisoned kids.
Reuters found that Fort Benning in Georgia was not reporting lead results for small children tested at the base's hospital. Nor was Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. Georgia and Texas, like most states, require the reporting of all these lead testing results to state health authorities.
The Army declined to comment on the lead hazards Reuters detected at base homes. Asked about the broader findings of this article, a spokeswoman said the Army conducts yearly visits to ensure housing is safe and follows the recommendations of the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics when responding to children with high lead tests. Housing managers classify resident complaints about lead paint as "urgent" and seek to respond within hours, she said.
"We are committed to providing a safe and secure environment on all of our installations," Army spokeswoman Colonel Kathleen Turner said in a written statement, "and to providing the highest quality of care to our service members, their families, and all those entrusted to our care."
The two contractors that operate Villages of Benning – Clark Realty Capital and Michaels Management Services – didn't respond to requests for comment.
The military's lapses in lead safeguards leave legions of kids at risk. Private contractors house some 700,000 Americans at more than 100 military installations nationwide, including an estimated 100,000 children ages 0 through 5.
Benning alone is home to some 2,000 small children. Of its 4,001 family homes, 2,274 "have lead-based paint present in them," according to a Villages of Benning memo from November 2017. The mere presence of lead paint doesn't make a home dangerous, but when the paint deteriorates, it is a "hazard and needs immediate attention," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says.
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"These are families making sacrifices by serving," said Dr. Bruce Lanphear, a toxicity researcher at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia who reviewed Reuters' findings. "It appears that lead poisoning is sometimes the cost of their loyalty to the military."
Reuters began examining lead poisoning at U.S. bases last year, and in April began seeking interviews with Army officials. The Army declined to talk at the time.
After Reuters informed the Army and families that reporters had found hazards on bases, Fort Benning's garrison commander, Colonel Clinton W. Cox, wrote to residents that "unknown persons" were seeking to test homes for lead and advised them not to cooperate. In a June 30 "Resident Safety Alert," Cox told families to call 911 or base security to report such "suspicious behavior."
Cox said he was unaware of who had done lead testing in base homes when he sent the letter. "What we're most concerned about is our residents' security," he said in a brief phone interview.
But behind the scenes, the Army also began quietly addressing some of the problems.
After reporters asked why it often wasn't informing state health departments about poisoned children, the Army overhauled its practices to comply with state laws. When Reuters found unsafe conditions at Fort Knox, contractors announced a neighborhood-wide lead abatement program. After reporters found the neurotoxin in a child's bedroom at Benning, base command approved the family's move to another home.
A HISTORY OF NEGLECT
For most military families, living on base is an option, not a requirement, though it can be enticing. The gated enclaves are considered safe havens that build esprit de corps. They offer support for spouses of deployed troops, access to military schools, lodging for low-income families. About 30 percent of service families live on bases.
By the 1990s, the U.S. stock of military family housing – nearly 300,000 homes in all service branches – was decaying and starved of funding. "Continuing to neglect these issues runs the risk of collapsing the force," the Department of Defense warned in a 1996 briefing document presented to a congressional sub-committee.
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The same year, the military began privatizing its homes. The initiative was the largest-ever corporate takeover of federal housing. It was meant to rid bases of substandard accommodations and save taxpayers billions by having contractors foot the rebuilding bill. In return, contractors would enjoy a steady flow of rental income over 50-year leases.
The military knew hazards lurked in its housing. In 2005, the Army released an environmental study that said 75 percent of its 90,000 homes nationwide didn't meet its own standards of quality or safety. Of Benning, it said: "As homes deteriorate, the risk of children's being exposed to hazardous materials … would increase."
Twenty years after privatization began, in 2016, a DOD Inspector General report found that poor maintenance and oversight left service families vulnerable to "pervasive" health and safety hazards.
An increase in Pentagon housing funds – $133 million – was earmarked this fiscal year, largely for overseas bases, where the military still owns its housing. Meanwhile, in recent years the Defense Department has reduced the housing subsidies that fund upkeep of privatized homes on U.S. bases, leading to fewer maintenance staff, the Army has noted http://www.rci.army.mil/programinformation/docs/BAH%20Analysis%20-%20Impact%20to%20RCI.pdf.
The age and condition of base homes vary, and lead hazards are hardly exclusive to military housing. A two-year Reuters investigation https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-lead-newyork identified more than 3,800 neighborhoods nationwide – mostly in civilian settings – with alarming levels of poisoning.
Military families can face special difficulties if they complain about hazards in their homes, however. They are taking on landlords who are in business with their employer. Among the 60 interviewed for this story, more than half expressed fear that being identified could hurt a military member's career.
But in private, some trade stories about unsafe homes. Darlena Brown helped create a private Facebook group with nearly 700 members. Many have shared photos of peeling paint, mold or other toxins at home and tales of unresponsive base landlords.
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Reuters devised a plan to test for hazards in the homes and yards of some of these concerned families. Working with Columbia University scientists, reporters provided home lead testing to 11 families on seven bases. Eight homes had blatant hazards in children's play areas – visibly peeling patches of lead-based paint.
Deteriorating paint from these houses – in Georgia, Texas, New York and Kentucky – had "very high" or "extremely high" lead content that puts children at immediate risk, said Alexander van Geen, a research professor of geochemistry who oversaw the lab analysis at Columbia's Lamont Earth Observatory.
The true number of children exposed on bases is hidden by factors including the military's spotty blood-testing and lapses in reporting to civilian authorities.
To prevent further exposure, most state health departments track lead-poisoned children and mandate inspections in their homes.
Yet when Georgia health officials repeatedly sought test results from Benning, the base refused to share them, alluding to exemptions for federal facilities, state email records show. No such exemptions exist.
"They do not report to us," the head of Georgia's lead-poisoning prevention program, Christy Kuriatnyk, vented about Fort Benning in an internal email to colleagues last year. "I've tried to get them to voluntarily report but that went nowhere."
In April, Reuters presented the Army with evidence of its reporting lapses. In late July, the Army said it had "instituted new procedures to ensure that all reporting requirements are properly observed" nationwide.
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'NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT'
At Benning, private contractors took over the base's family housing in 2006. They pledged to demolish thousands of dilapidated homes and build almost 3,200 new ones within 10 years. Estimated cost: $602 million. At the time, 99 percent of Benning homes predated the 1978 U.S. ban on lead paint.
The contractors were also required to maintain nearly 500 historic Benning homes, and agreed to control lead, asbestos, mold, basement flooding and other risks.
In 2011, a Villages of Benning agent took the Browns on a home walk-through before they moved in. Darlena expressed concern about lead paint.
"You have nothing to worry about, Mrs. Brown," she recalled being told. "We've never had any problem with lead."
The same year, Benning Martin Army Community Hospital recorded seven high lead results for small children, hospital records show. The hospital says it doesn't know whether children tested there lived on or off base.
After moving in, Darlena asked maintenance to fix paint chipping around windows, but was told by a supervisor that the crew couldn't work on historic windows, she said.
In 2012, JC and as many as five other children had high lead tests at Benning's hospital.
After JC was poisoned, Cale Brown pleaded with base leaders to enforce regular home inspections, test more kids and scrutinize contractors. "A few small changes could mean the difference between a child having life-altering developmental problems or being completely healthy," he wrote Benning's garrison command in December 2012.
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"Bottom line, we will do everything necessary to make sure this is addressed thoroughly and quickly," Colonel Jeffrey Fletcher, the garrison commander at the time, responded in an email. Fletcher declined to comment.
The next year, 2013, Benning's hospital recorded seven more high lead-test results for children. One child had lead levels more than double JC's, hospital records show.
Villages of Benning began replacing some old leaded windows and garage doors around the base that year, but left others in place, state and Army records show.
STALKED BY LEAD, GOING TO COURT
Even after the Browns moved to another Benning home, JC wasn't safe.
In 2013, he began special education preschool classes at Benning's Dexter Elementary School. Months later, Darlena received a frightening note on Defense Department letterhead: Drinking water taps in JC's classroom had tested high for lead.
One had 2,200 parts per billion lead – 147 times an EPA safety threshold and higher than all but a few of the worst taps found during the recent water crisis in Flint, Michigan. It isn't clear how many students may have been exposed. Benning didn't require or recommend they get screened.
The Army said the contamination was limited to individual taps around the base and didn't affect the underlying water system. The tainted taps were shut, and parents who wanted testing for their children were given the option, the Army said.
In 2014, the Browns filed suit in Georgia federal court against Benning's housing contractors, alleging their negligence caused JC's poisoning and seeking compensation for his disability. The contractors denied any wrongdoing and contested the suit.
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Cale deployed to Afghanistan the same year. There, he pushed for housing repairs at U.S. bases in a meeting that November with Katherine Hammack, the Army's top official in charge of military installations.
She seemed to favor bold action, Cale said: preventing small children from living in older base homes altogether. Cale said his follow-ups went unanswered.
Hammack, who left the Army last year, told Reuters she explored such a plan, but Army lawyers said it could be discriminatory against families with children. "It is up to the soldier to make a choice," she said.
Families who rent pre-1978 housing on bases are given lead disclosure forms before signing a lease, as required of all U.S. landlords by federal law, and can opt to live elsewhere, the Army said.
Two days before Christmas 2014, Darlena learned that JC's lead levels, which had declined over time, were rising again. Her younger son's levels were up, too, though below the CDC's elevated threshold. The agency says there is no safe level of lead in children's blood.
She removed the boys from their second Benning home that night. Nine time zones away, Cale boarded a chopper out of Forward Operating Base Gamberi in eastern Afghanistan. He was granted emergency home leave to help his family resettle.
The next year, in 2015, the Defense Department's Inspector General found that a Clark and Michaels partnership had failed to correct lead paint hazards in homes at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The Army pledged to address the issue with contractors, IG records show.
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At Benning, meanwhile, children had 14 more high lead tests.
DANGER ON RAINBOW AVENUE
Fort Benning's Rainbow Avenue seems a perfect spot for families, the yards of its 1920s homes filled with toys, American flags fluttering from front porches.
Behind this idyll, children face poisoning risks.
Since 2015, state lead inspectors have visited at least three of the 33 houses on the street in response to calls from worried residents, state environmental records show. "The homes all have high levels of lead," inspectors wrote in an internal memo last year.
In one Rainbow home, they found leaded dust at 93 times the EPA's hazard level.
In another, inspector William Spain of the state Environmental Protection Department visited a mother of three in 2016. He found paint chips throughout the home and later emailed colleagues: "Her youngest will be 5 in July and did not appear normal."
The mother had grown concerned after the mysterious deaths of family pets. But she hesitated when the state offered additional help, pleading with Spain not to conduct lead testing in the home or to speak with neighbors.
Spain, who has since retired, said in an interview that Benning families expressed concern that notifying outsiders might anger commanders and harm careers.
"Something became obvious to me as I worked there," he said. "You and your family cannot make trouble for base command."
State environmental records show that Jana Martin, another mother on the block, had a four-year-old son who suffered for months from severe vomiting and belly pain – common symptoms of lead exposure. She and the doctors were mystified. "I couldn't even get a job because my kid was so sick," Martin said. She had put in two maintenance requests to fix chipping paint, but Villages of Benning didn't respond for months, Martin said.
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When Martin's husband met Cale Brown, the colonel urged the family to act. The Martins bought testing swabs online. They lit up bright red, indicating exposed lead paint.
Finally, in October 2016, housing managers moved the Martins out temporarily and replaced their windows. State inspectors only learned about the case when Martin called seeking assistance.
By the time Rainbow resident Dana Sackett left a voicemail on a state lead hotline last year, inspectors knew the street well.
"Another Rainbow row site at Ft. Benning," one wrote.
Sackett, a mother of two, is a PhD toxicologist. Her husband is a lawyer with the Army Rangers. After moving to the street, she spotted paint hazards and complained.
Villages of Benning initially declined to fix them, state files say. Then mold spread in an upstairs closet, and repairs for that problem went ahead while Sackett and her girls temporarily relocated. She demanded the workers address paint hazards, too.
The landlords hired workers to scrape lead paint off the home. They lacked the required safety certifications and protective gear to conduct lead abatement, Army records show.
The Army says it has since taken steps to ensure all Benning workers dealing with lead paint are properly certified.
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Last fall, Villages of Benning told Sackett the work was done and her family could move back. She found paint scrapings and dust, the records show, and refused to return unless housing managers could show the home wouldn't poison her girls.
Days later, Villages of Benning declared the property a "contamination area" and had Sackett sign papers promising not to enter. "It was one of the most stressful things I've been through," she said.
Six months later, 103 Rainbow Avenue stood vacant. At another Rainbow Avenue home, paint was peeling from doors and a window by a child's bed. A bathroom faucet leaked brown goop. A pizza-sized black mold bloom covered a ceiling. Outside, old paint crumbled from window frames, steps and a garage.
Lab testing at Columbia showed four of six paint samples from the home exceeded lead safety standards, including one from beside the child's bed. The family reported the findings to Benning officials and is now moving.
'SILENCED VERSION'
About a mile from Rainbow Avenue lies Perkins Village, a cluster of drab mid-century homes that isn't supposed to exist.
Benning's development plans called for all 180 Perkins houses to be razed years ago and replaced with 228 new Mission-style homes. Just a handful of the old homes were torn down, and none of the new ones have been built. Reuters tested two homes in Perkins Village. Both had visibly deteriorating paint with lead above federal safety standards.
The Benning contractors wound up building just over half of the 3,185 new homes that were promised back when the housing was privatized. As a result, records show, nearly three out of five Benning homes still contain lead.
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The Army said it's satisfied with the results of the building project. It said it doesn't know whether any children living in Benning's older homes have tested high for lead in recent years. The base's data system can't track where children with elevated lead levels were living when they were tested.
Darlena Brown said Villages of Benning wasn't aware of JC's poisoning, either, until she spoke up.
Court records show the Browns' lawsuit was settled earlier this year. As a precondition of settlement talks, the Benning contractors demanded the Browns stop communicating with Reuters and stop mentioning the dispute publicly.
This January, on the private Facebook page where military families share their worries, Darlena Brown revised an earlier post. It still recounts her son's poisoning but omits any mention of the landlords.
She changed the title, too. It's now called "Darlena's Story (The silenced version)."
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/08/16/us/16reuters-usa-military-housing-specialreport.html
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Consumer Reports Finds 'Worrisome' Heavy Metals in Baby Food
Aug 16, 2018 | San Francisco Chronicle (In E&E Greenwire)
By Tara Duggan
A Consumer Reports analysis has found heavy metals in baby foods like infant rice cereal and mashed sweet potatoes.
The analysis found arsenic, cadmium and lead in popular foods. It reported that 68 percent of the 50 packaged baby and toddler foods tested had "worrisome" levels of at least one heavy metal.
"One of the takeaways is that parents and families should take a balanced approach on the types of food they give to kids," said James Dickerson, Consumer Reports' chief scientific officer. "For those foods that have elevated amounts of heavy elements, moderate or reduce the amount you end up feeding your children and think about this as a long-term issue."
The report found that 15 of the 50 products would pose a "potential health risk" to children if eaten on a daily basis.
Heavy metals occur naturally in soil.
The Food and Drug Administration provides guidance — not rules — for heavy metals in food manufacturing. In its own testing of baby and toddler foods in 2016, it found 47 percent were at or below its guideline for arsenic.
Baby food company Sprout responded to Consumer Reports: "We are a responsible company with high safety standards for our ingredients and our products. We are continuing to work with the fruit and vegetable industry to look for the cleanest source of ingredients."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/08/16/stories/1060094285
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Keep California Oil in The Ground? The Goal is Good, but The Policy Doesn't Pencil Out
Aug 16, 2018 | Los Angeles Times
By Severin Borenstein
California has made significant strides against climate change except when it comes to transportation. Since 2012, per capita greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks and airplanes have been rising by about 1.5% a year.
One policy response got a boost earlier this year from a report by the Stockholm Environment Institute: Curtail California oil production by banning new drilling or by gradually phasing out all in-state oil production.
California produces only about 0.5% of the world’s oil, so you might ask what this “keep it in the ground” idea has to do with reducing transportation emissions. Its proponents calculate that cutting California oil production would slightly reduce world oil supply, which would slightly increase the world price of oil. The price effect would be small, but it would apply to the entire world market — not just California’s 1.7% share of consumption — so it could noticeably reduce oil consumption and the associated greenhouse gases.
The SEI report estimates that for every barrel of oil California doesn’t extract and process, the price increase would cause world consumption to drop by somewhere between 0.2 and 0.6 barrels. If that sounds like a wide range of uncertainty, it’s because it is very difficult to know the cost of oil production in the future because we don’t know what technologies will be in use five, 10 or 30 years from now. Nor do we know exactly what alternatives to oil consumers will have in the future.
I agree with the environmentalists advocating for this policy that California must lead the US climate change fight. But I don’t think this is the way to do it.
California would take a large economic hit for a small reduction in emissions.Share quote & link
First, California would take a large economic hit for a small reduction in emissions. The SEI report calculates that for each ton of reduced emissions, income to California oil producers would fall by $110 to $330. That is 7 to 22 times higher than the value that the state’s cap and trade program puts on cutting emissions, and 2 to 6 times greater than the most recent scientific estimates of the “social cost of carbon,” the incremental damages from releasing an additional ton of greenhouse gases.
Advocates of banning oil production argue that it is in the same cost-effectiveness range as other California emissions policies, such as the low carbon fuel standard or supporting early-stage technologies for generating carbon-free electricity. But there is a big difference: Those programs are also intended to create new knowledge through R&D (research and development) and technology breakthroughs. Raising the world price of oil has no such benefit.
There is a second important downside to the policy: It will cause a huge transfer of wealth from consumers to producers. Remember, the way that the policy reduces emissions is by raising the price of oil, which means all consumers pay more and all producers (except for those curtailed in California) make more money.
The same approach that SEI used to estimate the drop in oil production shows that for each ton of reduced worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, consumers would pay about an additional $500 to producers. (The details of this calculation are posted on the Haas Energy Institute blog.) That is, every ton of emissions abatement brought about by this policy would be associated with not just an economic loss to California producers of $110 to $330, but also a payment of $500 from the world’s oil consumers to the world’s oil producers.
Who are the producers that would get this windfall in the coming decades? According to 2017 numbers from the Energy Information Administration, the country with the largest oil reserves is Venezuela, followed in descending order by Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Libya and Nigeria. (The United States is one of the top producers today, but it is 11th in reserves.)Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion »
In other words, the vast majority of future oil production is likely to come from autocratic regimes with abysmal human rights records, countries where most oil profits go to wealthy oligarchs, officials, royalty and other insiders.
The additional payments would come from people across the income spectrum, including millions of individuals in developing countries (think China, India and much of Africa) where vehicle ownership is just beginning to take off.
Overall, this is not a wealth transfer that’s easy to get behind.
Proponents of keeping oil in the ground argue that by doing so, California would demonstrate leadership for a policy that could spread across oil-producing regions. But there’s no evidence that the oil-rich countries on the above list have any interest in following California down this path.
With the daily reminders that Washington is now committed to a head-in-the-sand climate strategy, it is certainly important to think broadly and creatively about ways in which states and local governments can help cut emissions. But it is also important to think through all of the ramifications.
Instead of in effect taxing the world’s oil consumers and handing most of that money to a small group of rich and anti-democratic leaders, California should be focused on developing alternatives that make it easier for consumers to break their oil dependence. A good place to start would be with the state’s own growing addiction.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-borenstein-high-cost-of-keeping-oil-ground-20180816-story.html
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Fracking Wastewater Spikes 1,440% in Half Decade
Aug 16, 2018 | DeSmog Blog (In EcoWatch)
By Sharon Kelly
Between 2011 and 2016, fracked oil and gas wells in the U.S. pumped out record-breaking amounts of wastewater, which is laced with toxic and radioactive materials, a new Duke University study concludes. The amount of wastewater from fracking rose 1,440 percent during that period.
Over the same time, the total amount of water used for fracking rose roughly half as much, 770 percent, according to the paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
"Previous studies suggested hydraulic fracturing does not use significantly more water than other energy sources, but those findings were based only on aggregated data from the early years of fracking," Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment, said in a statement. "After more than a decade of fracking operation, we now have more years of data to draw upon from multiple verifiable sources."
The researchers predict that spike in water use will continue to climb.
And over the next dozen years, they say the amount of water used could grow up to 50 times higher when fracking for shale gas and 20 times higher when fracking for oil—should prices rise. The paper, titled "The Intensification of the Water Footprint of Hydraulic Fracturing," was based on a study conducted with funding from the National Science Foundation.
"Even if prices and drilling rates remain at current levels, our models still predict a large increase by 2030 in both water use and wastewater production," said Andrew J. Kondash, a PhD student in Vengosh's lab who was lead author of the paper.More Water Than Oil
The shale industry has been heavily focused on amping up the amount of fossil fuels it can pump per well by drilling longer horizontal well bores and using more sand, water and chemicals when fracking (which raises the costs per well and, as DeSmog recently reported, raises risks of water pollution).
But the water use and wastewater production per well have been growing even faster than the per-well fossil fuel production, the researchers found, labeling the water demand and wastewater growth "much higher" than the oil or gas increases.
Shale drilling and fracking often occurs in areas already suffering from water stress.Duke University
The researchers studied data from more than 12,000 oil and gas wells representing each of the major shale-producing regions in the U.S.
Their findings are particularly troubling news for arid areas like the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico, where underground water supplies are already taxed by residential and agricultural demand, and where fights over water use are brewing.
On average, a Permian Basin well used 10.3 million gallons of water in 2016, according to a San Antonio Express-News investigation earlier this year—more than double the average per-well demand just a few years ago.A Waterfall of Waste
The wastewater problem has attracted the eye of industry analysts, particularly in the Permian.
"One of the biggest risks facing operators today is the issue of produced water," wrote Ryan Duman, a Wood Mackenzie senior energy analyst, describing how in parts of Texas and New Mexico, wells can produce up to 10 gallons of wastewater for every gallon of crude oil. "The sheer volume of water is unprecedented."
And that wastewater can be a toxic blend that's very difficult to treat, in part because it may contain high levels of corrosive salts, naturally occurring radioactive materials, and fracking chemicals whose identities are considered trade secrets and which even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can't list.
The agency highlighted this fact in its 2016 national study on fracking and American drinking water supplies. While drafted under strong pressure from industry, the EPA study found that fracking not only generates vast amounts of wastewater but also can and has polluted drinking water supplies in areas nationwide.
"There aren't water quality standards or even approved analytical methods for most of the chemicals we know are a concern in produced water," said Colin Leyden, senior manager for state regulatory and legislative affairs for the Environmental Defense Fund.
There's so much toxic wastewater produced from fracking oil and gas in the U.S. that it's difficult to envision just how much water comes from the wells. Expressed in terms of barrels or swimming pools, the numbers still grow dizzyingly high.
One way to think of it is literally in terms of a waterfall of toxic waste. "One of the things I think we can lose sight of is just how much produced water we are creating … which is more on a per day basis than Niagara Falls has going over it in an hour," Joel Mack, an attorney at Latham & Watkins, a firm which represents oil and gas companies, recently said in an E&P Magazine article. He has predicted that water-related costs in the Permian could top $17 billion in 2018.
Wastewater disposal—which often uses "injection wells" that pump toxic water down underground into areas where oil has been pumped out—is suspected not only of playing a role in causing earthquakes across the U.S., but also linked by scientists to the emergence of massive sinkholes in parts of Texas.
"The ground movement we're seeing is not normal," said geophysicist Zhong Lu, an earth sciences professor at Southern Methodist University, who recently published research that highlighted the connection of the sinkholes to fracking. "These hazards represent a danger to residents, roads, railroads, levees, dams, and oil and gas pipelines, as well as potential pollution of ground water."Wringing Water From the Desert
The industry's demand for water during fracking is also a growing concern, especially in the Permian Basin, which produces most of America's shale oil and which stretches in part over the Chihuahuan Desert.
Summer temperatures in the Permian can often top 100 degrees. The average annual rainfall in Pecos, Texas, located in the basin, is just 11.55 inches (compared to a Texas-wide average of 28.9 inches a year). Much of New Mexico has been in the grips of a severe drought since the year began, and the same is true to a lesser degree in Texas as well.
This means demand for water for drilling and fracking is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry. "Next to profitability and safety, water may well be the next most important topic for an oil company," Laura Capper, CEO at EnergyMakers Advisory Group in Houston, told Bloomberg. "It has risen to the forefront over the last five years unlike anything I've ever seen."
And as the climate warms, Texas and New Mexico will also benefit less from water supplied by rivers flowing into the state from more lush regions. The Rio Grande River Basin is expected to see less water flowing per year, with flows down four to 14 percent over the next dozen years, and the Colorado River Basin expected to dry up even more significantly, up to 30 percent by 2050.
Most of the water used in the region is claimed by the agricultural industry—60 percent compared to the one percent used by the oil and gas industry. But a key difference is that water used for fracking is often permanently removed from the hydrologic cycle, because it becomes so contaminated that it must be injected in underground disposal wells. This means that the freshwater used by the oil and gas industry can add up over time much more dramatically than water used by other industries.
In addition, spats over the oil and gas industry's use of water in the Permian are flaring up between its two states. Driven by Permian Basin demand, some landowners in Texas are selling water to drilling companies, drawing down aquifers relied on by residents of New Mexico.
"Texas is stealing New Mexico's water," New Mexico State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn told The Texas Tribune. "If you put a whole bunch of straws in Texas and you don't have any straws in New Mexico, you're sucking all the water from under New Mexico out in Texas and then selling it back to New Mexico."
The latest findings from Duke reinforce this tension, showing "a need to find alternative water sources," the doctoral student Kondash told the Pacific Standard.
"Especially in water-scarce areas," he predicted, "you will have more strain and more competition for water."
Reposted with permission from our media associate DeSmogBlog.
https://www.ecowatch.com/fracking-wastewater-spikes-2596433647.html
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Judge Orders New Federal Review of Keystone XL Pipeline
Aug 16, 2018 | AP (In The Washington Post)
By Grant Schulte
A federal judge has ordered the U.S. State Department to conduct a more thorough review of the Keystone XL pipeline’s proposed pathway after Nebraska state regulators changed the route, raising the possibility of further delays to a project first proposed in 2008.
U.S. District Judge Brian Morris of Montana said in a ruling Wednesday that the State Department must supplement its 2014 environmental impact study of the project to consider the new route. Morris declined to strike down the federal permit for the project, approved by President Donald Trump in March 2017.
The Nebraska Public Service Commission rejected pipeline developer TransCanada’s preferred route in November 2017, but approved a different pathway that stretches farther to the east. The “mainline alternative” route is five miles longer than the company’s preferred route, cuts through six different Nebraska counties and runs parallel to an existing TransCanada-owned pipeline for 89 miles.
State Department officials “have yet to analyze the mainline alternative route,” Morris wrote in his ruling. The State Department has “the obligation to analyze new information relevant to the environmental impacts of its decision.”
Last month, the State Department declared the pipeline would not have a major impact on Nebraska’s water, land or wildlife. The report said the company could mitigate any damage caused.
It’s not clear whether the additional review will delay the 1,184-mile project. TransCanada spokesman Matthew John said company officials are reviewing the judge’s decision.
Environmentalists, Native American tribes and a coalition of landowners have prevented the company from moving ahead with construction. In addition to the federal lawsuit in Montana that seeks to halt the project, opponents also have a lawsuit pending before the Nebraska Supreme Court. Oral arguments in the Nebraska case aren’t expected until October.
Critics of the project have raised concerns about spills that could contaminate groundwater and the property rights of affected landowners.
Pipeline opponents cheered the decision and said they were confident that the courts would find other violations of federal law raised in the lawsuit.
“We are pleased that Judge Morris has rejected all of the excuses raised by the Trump administration and TransCanada in attempting to justify the federal government’s failure to address TransCanada’s new route through Nebraska,” said Stephan Volker, an attorney for the environmental and Native American groups that filed the Montana lawsuit.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a phone message and email Thursday morning.
The pipeline would carry up to 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Canada through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would connect with the original Keystone pipeline that runs down to Texas Gulf Coast refineries.
The State Department’s new report noted two major spills in South Dakota involving the original Keystone pipeline, which went into operation in 2010, but added that TransCanada has a lower overall spill rate than average in the oil pipeline industry.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/judge-orders-new-state-dept-review-of-keystone-xl-pipeline/2018/08/16/ebabbeac-a171-11e8-a3dd-2a1991f075d5_story.html?utm_term=.bbe43a27441b
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Judge Orders New Environmental Review of Keystone Pipeline
Aug 16, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama and Jacqueline Thomsen
A federal judge has ordered the government to conduct a full environmental review of a new route for the Keystone XL pipeline in a blow for the Trump administration.
Reuters reported that U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris in Montana made the ruling late Wednesday in favor of the Indigenous Environmental Network and other groups challenging the pipeline.
The decision is likely to delay the project, which was proposed more than 10 years ago.
Morris found that the State Department must prepare a new environmental impact statement (EIS) to reflect Nebraska regulators’ November 2017 decision to reject TransCanada Corp.’s preferred route through the state, and instead approve an alternative.
State, under President Trump, approved the preferred route in March 2017, based on an environmental review that only examined that route.
“The Mainline Alternative route differs from the route analyzed in the EIS. The Mainline Alternative route crosses five different counties. The Mainline Alternative route crosses different water bodies. The Mainline Alternative route would be longer. The Mainline Alternative route would require an additional pump station and accompanying power line infrastructure,” wrote Morris, who was nominated to the bench by former President Obama.
“Federal defendants cannot escape their responsibility under [the National Environmental Policy Act] to evaluate the Mainline Alternative route,” he continued, writing that State has “the obligation to analyze new information relevant to the environmental impacts of its decision.”
Obama had in 2016 rejected an application to build the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry crude oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.
President Trump resurrected the project soon after he took office last year, leading to State's approval.
The pipeline is largely favored by oil executives, particularly those in Canada who would receive lower prices, but fiercely opposed by environmentalists and indigenous groups who argue it would cause lasting damage.
State released a draft environmental review of the new Nebraska route last month, finding the possibility of some “moderate” damage from its construction. But that review was only an environmental assessment, a less comprehensive review than the environmental impact statement that Morris ordered.
http://thehill.com/regulation/energy-environment/402094-judge-orders-full-environmental-review-of-keystone-pipeline
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Texas Grand Jury Indicts Arkema and Company Executives Over Hurricane Harvey Emissions
Aug 15, 2018 | Lexology
By Susan G. Lafferty, David M. McCullough, Joshua L. Belcher and Charles R. Thompson II
On August 3, 2018, a grand jury in Houston, Texas, indicted chemical manufacturer Arkema North America, Inc. (Arkema), its CEO and a manager at the manufacturer’s Crosby, Texas, plant on criminal charges for the “reckless emission” of air contaminants during Hurricane Harvey. The Harris County District Attorney’s Environmental Crimes Section (HCDA-ECS) brought the charges, which carry penalties of up to five years in prison for the CEO and plant manager, and fines of up to $1 million for the corporation, under the Texas Water Code.
The criminal charges demonstrate the importance of implementing proper safety measures prior to, during and after an event that go beyond strict regulatory compliance for those that are involved in the production, movement and storage of hazardous chemicals and petroleum products. Implementing a comprehensive spill and incident prevention and response program well in advance of any emergency situation is a critical step in mitigating liability exposure.
The charges stem from explosions at the plant on August 31 and September 3, 2017, brought about when rising floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey overwhelmed Arkema’s primary and emergency power backup systems, which kept certain organic peroxides under refrigeration. When power to the refrigeration units was interrupted and temperatures in backup storage containers began to rise, these organic peroxides degraded and ignited a fire that plant officials and emergency responders were forced to let burn due to safety concerns. In addition to organic peroxides, more than a dozen other hazardous chemicals were released in the blaze including ethylbenzene, mineral spirit, naphtha, naphthalene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, tert-butyl alcohol and other volatile organic compounds. Bond has been set at $20,000 per defendant and an arraignment hearing is scheduled for October 22, 2018.
Arkema Civil Suits. Arkema’s liability resulting from the explosions is not limited to HCDA-ECS’s criminal suit. Indeed, diverse groups of stakeholders—ranging from neighborhood residents and homeowners to municipalities and first responders—are pursuing a variety of claims against the company. For example, in one pending case, which named Arkema, its CEO, President and a safety engineer as co-defendants, area residents advance several causes of action based on the company’s alleged negligent acts. Specifically, the suit claims that Arkema and its agents failed to (i) properly store chemicals, (ii) have in place adequate safety redundancies, (iii) provide first responders and the community with accurate information regarding the health risks posed by the chemicals stored at the facility, and (iv) follow regulators’ and the company’s own safety protocols, thus breaching the duties the company owed to the plaintiffs, particularly considering the foreseeability of the storm’s damage and the company’s checkered regulatory compliance history. Consequently, the plaintiffs allege that the company’s actions amounted to gross negligence and negligence per se. On account of personal injuries suffered, the plaintiffs request compensatory, exemplary and prospective damages totaling more than $1 million. In another suit, Harris County and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) seek, among other things, injunctive relief, and civil penalties and reimbursements exceeding $1 million resulting from several alleged violations arising under the Texas Clean Air Act and the Texas Water Code.
Texas Clean Air Act. The Texas Clean Air Act seeks to control or abate air pollution and emissions of air contaminants to protect public health, welfare and property as well as maintain adequate aerial visibility. To accomplish this goal, the Act prohibits the excessive emission of any air contaminant or the performance of any activity that contributes to air pollution in violation of the Act or any rule or order issued by the TCEQ. The TCEQ has promulgated rules to carry out and enforce the Act, which it does in part through its permitting authority. A person who violates TCEQ permits, rules or orders can be subjected to civil penalties of up to $25,000 for each day of each violation, with each day of a continuing violation constituting a separate violation. Recent TCEQ enforcement activity of emissions events has focused on emissions of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, natural gas and volatile organic compounds in connection with oil and gas activities, particularly crude petroleum and natural gas, natural gas liquid (NGL) extraction, petroleum refineries and basic organic chemical manufacturing in and around Midland, Houston, Corpus Christi and Beaumont, Texas.
Texas Water Code. The Texas Water Code, among other things, prohibits violations of the Texas Clean Air Act and provides for criminal penalties. The Code authorizes criminal penalties for intentional or knowing violations of the Texas Clean Air Act, including fines of up to $50,000 per day per offense and confinement of up to 180 days for individuals, and fines of up to $100,000 per day per offense for businesses. Under the Code, the reckless emission of air contaminants placing another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury could subject individuals to fines of up to $250,000 per day per offense and confinement of up to five years. For the same offense, companies could face fines of up to $500,000 per day per offense.
The criminal and civil litigation in which Arkema is currently embroiled highlights the potentially significant legal exposure faced by petrochemical manufacturers for spills and emissions of hazardous materials during “black swan” events. As the peak of the Atlantic Hurricane Season approaches, companies should consider how to protect their businesses and employees from potential criminal and civil liability, by implementing a comprehensive compliance program as well as a spill and release prevention and response program.
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d9a850be-542b-41fc-996c-ae6fe71193ea
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Chemical Safety Board to Release New Facts in Oklahoma Rig Explosion
Aug 16, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Rye Druzin
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board will release new details Thursday related to a January oil drilling rig explosion that left five workers dead.
A news conference will be held at 10:30 a.m. Central Time at the Skirvin Hilton hotel in Oklahoma City.
The well fire and explosion happened on Jan. 22 near Quinton, about 100 miles southeast of Tulsa. The drilling rig was owned by Houston-based Patterson-UTI and was the deadliest U.S. accident in the oil and gas industry since 11 workers were killed in 2010 when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico.
Oklahoma regulators had said at the time their initial findings suggested that the blowout preventer -- the same piece of equipment that failed in the Deepwater Horizon accident -- may have failed, leading to the explosion. That equipment is usually the last line of defense to prevent a disaster.
The well was operated by Red Mountain, a small Oklahoma oil and gas company. Patterson-UTI ran the drilling operation as Red Mountain's main contractor.
Three of the five killed were Patterson-UTI employees, including one Texan. The victims are Josh Ray of Fort Worth; Cody Risk of Wellington, Colo.; and Matt Smith, Parker Waldridge and Roger Cunningham, all of Oklahoma. Ray, Smith and Risk were Patterson-UTI employees.
In a July 30 news release the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA said three companies – Patterson-UTI Drilling, Crescent Consulting LLC, and Skyline Directional Drilling LLC – face penalites of more than $118,000 for "exposing employees to fire and explosion hazards" in relation to the five deaths.
OSHA cited Patterson-UTI and Crescent Consulting for "failing to maintain proper controls while drilling a well, inspect slow descent devices, and implement emergency response plans." It cited all three companies for failure to ensure that the heat lamps in use on the site were approved for hazardous locations.
"These employers failed to properly control hazards involved in oil and gas extraction activities, and the result was tragic," said OSHA Oklahoma City Area Office Director David Bates. "Employers are required to monitor their operations to ensure workplace health and safety procedures are adequate and effective."
According to the Associated Press Patterson-UTI officials said they disagreed with the finding and had filed a notice of contest. A representative for Crescent Consulting declined to comment, and Skyline Directional Drilling did not respond to requests for comment.
https://www.chron.com/business/article/Chemical-Safety-Board-to-release-new-facts-in-13160729.php
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Commuter Rail PTC Progress “Strong and Continuous”: APTA
Aug 16, 2018 | Railway Age
By Mischa Wanek-Libman
APTA President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas lauded the commuter rail industry’s progress, but said it was still too early to predict if any of APTA’s commuter rail members would miss the Dec. 31, 2018, statutory interim deadline.
“Every year, 30 commuter railroads across America safely carry passengers on 501 million trips,” said Skoutelas. “With safety as our number one priority, the commuter railroads are making strong and continuous progress in implementing PTC.”
Compared to first quarter statistics, the biggest markers to see movement are the number of employees trained in PTC, which went up to 74% in Q2 compared with 61% in Q1, and the percentage of back office control systems that are ready for operation, which increased to 78% in Q2 compared with 70% in Q1.
APTA’s analysis found that as of June 30, 2018, the commuter rail industry has:91% of the needed spectrum acquired; up from 88% in the first quarter.85% of the onboard equipment has been installed on locomotives and cab cars etc., up from 81% in the first quarter.79% of wayside installations have been completed, static from the first quarter. However, in the first quarter, 79% of 9,772 wayside installations were completed; in the second quarter, it’s 79% of 14,083 wayside installations.78% of back office control systems are ready for operation; up from 70% in the first quarter.74% of employees have been trained in PTC, up from 61% in the first quarter.34% of commuter railroads are in testing, revenue service demonstration or are operating their trains with PTC, up from 30% in the first quarter
During an Aug. 14 media call, Skoutelas was joined by Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) General Manager Jeffrey D. Knueppel and Metra CEO and Executive Director Jim Derwinski, who offered insight into the challenges of implementing PTC.
“Positive Train Control is a critical commuter rail safety enhancement,” said Knueppel. “Implementing PTC at SEPTA, during a challenging period of capital funding, has been an authority-wide commitment. Throughout this effort, our in-house team has been working continuously with Amtrak, our freight partners and third-party contractors to address technical and interoperability challenges. SEPTA trains on all 13 Regional Rail Lines are equipped and operating with PTC, and SEPTA is proud to have implemented this safety technology for our customers and employees.”
“Implementing Positive Train Control in Chicago’s dense and busy railroad network has been very challenging, but Metra is right where we said we’d be in terms of finishing the job,” said Derwinski. “Working with our freight partners, we expect to have PTC implemented or in revenue service demonstration on six of our 11 lines by the end of 2018, and to complete the job by 2020.”
APTA called the implementation of PTC an “unparalleled technical challenge” given its scale, complexity and time required, but noted that the commuter rail industry is moving aggressively to meet the challenge despite the technical and financial constraints.
APTA has also launched a website dedicated to the commuter rail industry’s PTC progress; it can be found at ptcfacts.com.
https://www.railwayage.com/cs/ptc/commuter-rail-ptc-progress-strong-and-continuous-apta/
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Signaling, Communications Progress Being Made in Commuter Rail Industry
Aug 16, 2018 | Transportation Today
By Chris Galford
An analysis by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) found that progress is being made on installation of Positive Train Control (PTC) technology, leading to the potential of a safer environment.
The complex signaling and communications technology, known as PTC, is meant to be progressed throughout commercial ventures by Dec. 31, 2018, under current law. That includes installation of hardware, acquisition of necessary spectrum for its implementation, completion of employee training on the new technology, testing and a submitted plan for the Secretary of Transportation. Full implementation must be completed no later than Dec. 31, 2020.
Jeffrey Knueppel, general manager of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA), said that PTC is a critical enhancement for commuter rail safety.
“Implementing PTC at SEPTA, during a challenging period of capital funding, has been an Authority-wide commitment,” Knueppel said. “Throughout this effort, our in-house team has been working continuously with Amtrak, our freight partners, and third-party contractors to address technical and interoperability challenges.”
Though deadlines loom near, the industry has already neared completion on numerous aspects of the change. According to APTA, 91 percent of the spectrum has been acquired, 85 percent of the necessary onboard equipment have been installed, 79 percent of on-track equipment have been established, 78 percent of back-office control systems are ready to go, and 74 percent of employees have completed training. The most serious area remaining is the actual testing of PTC. Only 34 percent of the industry is currently testing or has already completed PTC testing.
“Every year, 30 commuter railroads across America safely carry passengers on 501 million trips,” Paul Skoutelas, APTA president and CEO, said. “With safety as our number one priority, the commuter railroads are making strong and continuous progress in implementing Positive Train Control.”
Such implementations come at a time when the industry is also struggling to meet a transit repair backlog of around $90 billion. Implementing PTC will, in and of itself, cost more than $4.1 billion to implement. Since Congress mandated PTC, however, the federal government has provided $272 million in PTC grants. An additional $250 million was made available in May 2018.
https://transportationtodaynews.com/news/10340-signaling-communications-progress-being-made-in-commuter-rail-industry/
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EPA Administrator Wheeler Prepares to Gut Clean Power Plan, Increasing Pollution and Harming Health
Aug 16, 2018 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Ben Levitan
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is reportedlyplanning to all but abolish one of America’s most important climate protections: the Clean Power Plan, our only nation-wide limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants.
Though Wheeler might claim that he is offering a Clean Power Plan “replacement,” his reported plan would forfeit the tremendous benefits of the Clean Power Plan—and instead provide little to no reduction in climate pollution.
Even as impacts of climate change are ravaging our nation and world, the reported proposal would exacerbate the harms our families are facing—harms like severe heat waves, deadly wildfires, coastal flooding, and violent storms.
Astoundingly, Wheeler might issue this new proposal just weeks after his proposal to roll back America’s Clean Car Standards—a disastrous action that would increase climate pollution by over two billion tons through 2040, and cause owners of cars and trucks to pay as much as $8,000 more for gas over the lifetime of their vehicles.
If Wheeler finalizes these proposals, he would leave our families and communities more vulnerable than ever to the harmful impacts of climate change. And he would flout EPA’s clear legal obligation—upheld three times by the Supreme Court—to protect Americans from dangerous climate pollution.
Climate change demands urgent action.
The devastating heat waves, wildfires, and droughts of the past few months have been a brutal showcase of the catastrophic impacts that will increase as climate change intensifies. Nine years have passed since EPA issued a scientific determination that greenhouse gases endanger Americans’ health and welfare. Since the Clean Power Plan was finalized in 2015, the evidence that climate pollution threatens Americans has only grown—a conclusion that even the Trump Administration’s Climate Science Special Report has confirmed. The crisis we are facing is clear, and so is the urgent need for Administrator Wheeler to carry out his responsibility to take meaningful action.
EPA has a legal obligation to protect Americans from dangerous climate pollution.
EPA’s authority and obligation to reduce climate pollution has been settled law for well over a decade. In Massachusetts v. EPA (2007), the Supreme Court held that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide “without a doubt” qualified as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. In American Electric Power v. Connecticut (2011), the Court unanimously held that the Clean Air Act “speaks directly” to the problem of climate pollution from power plants. And in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA(2014), the Court stood by its finding that the Clean Air Act covered climate pollution from power plants.
Concerned citizens and conservation and environmental groups first petitioned EPA to regulate climate pollution under the Clean Air Act nearly twenty years ago. Since then, opponents of climate action have engaged in a cynical, opportunistic shell game to oppose reducing climate pollution in any form. For instance, to avoid lawsuits for common-law nuisance, they successfully argued to the Supreme Court that climate pollution from power plants should instead be controlled under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act—only to cry foul when EPA took up their suggestion. Wheeler must not continue to evade EPA’s obligation to control climate pollution. He has a duty to act now.
The Clean Power Plan would save lives and improve health for all Americans.
As Administrator Wheeler deliberates on his reckless rollbacks, American lives are on the line. The Clean Power Plan would result in significant reductions of dangerous air pollutants like particle pollution and ozone, which would prevent up to 90,000 childhood asthma attacks, 1,700 heart attacks, and 4,500 premature deaths every year. That’s on top of the 32 percent reduction in carbon pollution from existing power plants once the Clean Power Plan is fully implemented, compared to 2005 levels. Furthermore, the Clean Power Plan would encourage investments in energy efficiency that would actually lowerelectric bills by about $85 per year. According to reports, EPA acknowledges that Wheeler’s plan would increase soot and smog, as well as climate pollution, relative to the Clean Power Plan.
But rather than preserve these benefits and embrace the opportunity to achieve even greater reductions in climate pollution, Administrator Wheeler will reportedly ask Americans to regress to having no meaningful limits on climate pollution from power plants.
Wheeler might propose a “limit” that would actually increasecarbon pollution.
According to media reports—and in line with former Administrator Pruitt’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking from last December—Wheeler might try to base pollution limits on a narrow set of modest efficiency improvements to power plants. That would violate EPA’s legal obligation to set limits based on a thorough, reasoned assessment of pollution reduction opportunities. What’s more, the modest efficiency gains could make coal plants cheaper to operate, without significantly reducing pollution. Perversely, these still-dirty plants might then increase their generation, at the expense of cleaner sources of power, resulting in higher levels of climate pollution.
Wheeler’s proposal would fly in the face of recent progress in the power sector.
A proposal to weaken U.S. climate protections would come at a time when the industry is taking unprecedented steps to deploy clean, low-carbon energy solutions—solutions consistent with the measures in the Clean Power Plan:
DTE Energy Co. announced plans to curb its carbon pollution more than 80 percent by 2050 by closing coal-fired power plants and adding new gas-fired generation and renewables. The company observed that its carbon pollution reductions would exceed those required by the Clean Power Plan.
Xcel Energy set a goal of achieving a 60% reduction in carbon pollution by 2030, relative to 2005 levels, far exceeding the Clean Power Plan targets. In addition, Xcel’s massive new investments in renewable energy will help the company generate 40% of its energy from renewables by 2021.
Any replacement of the Clean Power Plan must provide Americans with even greater protection from harmful climate pollution.
When setting pollution limits under the Clean Air Act, EPA is required to determine the “best system of emission reduction” in order to achieve maximum feasible control of the pollutant in question. A legally and technically sound replacement would need to incorporate up-to-date information on the costs and feasibility of reducing pollution from power plants, which overwhelmingly shows that the power sector can achieve far deeper pollution reductions than the Clean Power Plan requires.
The power sector is now expected to reduce carbon pollution 28% below 2005 levels by 2030 under current trends. Meanwhile, renewable energy and other pollution-reducing options continue to become more abundant and less expensive. As a result, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest analyses show that with the right regulatory incentives in place, the power sector can cost-effectively reduce carbon pollution to 68% below 2005 levels by 2030—over two times the level of reduction required in the Clean Power Plan. Any new rule to revise the Clean Power Plan must therefore provide Americans with even greater protection from harmful climate pollution.
Wheeler’s reported proposal would completely ignore the facts on the ground, requiring far less pollution reduction than the power sector has already demonstrated it can achieve. Rather than set ambitious pollution limits as the law requires, Wheeler would settle for bringing recent progress to a virtual halt.
The Clean Power Plan has broad and diverse support.
In an analysis from Yale University, 70% of Americans—and a majority in every Congressional district in the country—expressed support for “strict” limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants. Leadersacross America have also stepped up to support the Clean Power Plan—including the attorneys general of nineteen states and the District of Columbia, 244 mayors representing 51 million Americans, public health professionals, business organizations, consumer advocates, clean energy associations, electric grid experts, and many more. These supporters realize that the Clean Power Plan is an achievable, lawful, and highly beneficial approach to the most important environmental challenge of our time.
The harmful impacts of climate change are already manifest around the world. As power plants emit more and more climate pollution, they increase the severity of these harms for both current and future generations. We still have a chance to avoid the very worst impacts, but our window of opportunity is closing. We can’t let Administrator Wheeler slam it shut.
http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2018/08/15/epa-administrator-wheeler-prepares-to-gut-clean-power-plan-increasing-pollution-and-harming-health/
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64% Say U.S. Should Do More to Address Warming — Poll
Aug 16, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Nick Sobczyk
A large majority of Americans believe the country should do more to address climate change, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday.
Just 18 percent of respondents said the United States is doing enough to address the changing climate, while 64 percent said more needs to be done, the survey found.
A majority of respondents — 53 percent — also said global warming is making the wildfires blazing in California more extreme.
"The California fires rage; much of the rest of the country bakes," Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement. "Voters wipe their brows and say climate change is here and cool heads better prevail and fix it."
It's the latest in a string of surveys in recent years to find widespread concern about climate change. The poll also provides a link between warming and the fires ravaging California and other parts of the West, as Congress again grapples over funding for forest management and firefighting.
Yale University data put out last week suggested that majorities in every congressional district in the country support putting a tax on carbon, widely seen by climate action proponents as the next step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Climatewire, Aug. 8).
But according to the Quinnipiac poll, there is still a wide partisan gap on the issue.
Just 33 percent of Republicans said more needs to be done about climate change, compared with 91 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of independents.
The poll surveyed 1,175 voters across the country between Aug. 9 and 13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
As for the midterm outlook, the survey found Democrats have a 9-point advantage, with 58 percent of voters saying it's important that congressional candidates share their views of President Trump.
"A 51-42 percent numerical storm cloud looms over the GOP as the Midterm Elections approach," Malloy said. "The 9-point differential, if it holds up, could add up to a lot of seats, maybe enough for the Democrats to snatch the House from the Republicans."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/08/16/stories/1060094297
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