Feb 8: Baard bond resolution has expired
CLEVELAND -- "The Ohio Air Quality Development Authority (OAQDA) confirmed today that it has not issued any bonds for the proposed Baard Energy Ohio Clean River Fuels plant. The company had received an agreement from the state authority in December 2006 for the issuance of $4 billion in bonds. Responding to a public records request from Ohio Citizen Action Money in Politics Project Director Catherine Turcer, OAQDA Executive Director Mark Shanahan said that, while OAQDA had taken a first step in possible issuance of the bonds with the December 2006 resolution, no further steps have been taken and the resolution expired on January 1, 2010. While OAQDA does have the power to extend the resolution, he said, 'at this time, the project has not requested such an extension nor has OAQDA considered one,'" Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director, Ohio Citizen Action. MORE ON THE PROPOSED BAARD PLANT
Feb 8: Here is what Ohio EPA permits would allow the proposed Baard coal plant to put into our air every year:
Carbon monoxide Nitrogen Oxide Particulates total Particulates (PM 10) Sulfur dioxide Volatile Organic Chemicals Hazardous air pollutants (Phase 1) Hazardous air pollutants (Thereafter) Ammonia Hydrogen sulfide |
Emissions per year 9,783,400 lbs. 1,204,400 lbs. 886,600 lbs. 727,000 lbs. 1,118,800 lbs. 556,000 lbs. 37,520 lbs. 39,160 lbs. 448,020 lbs. 25,960 lbs. |
Source: Ohio EPA permits for the proposed Baard coal plant in Wellsville, Ohio, compiled by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The permitted emissions do not take into account possible flaring due to process upsets or emergencies, when pollutants may be sent out untreated. Of the permitted pollutants, many emissions would be concentrated in start-ups and shut-downs at the facility. Hazardous air pollutants are a group of 25 pollutants regulated under the Clean Air Act. They include lead, formaldehyde, and solvents such as benzene. “Particulates (PM 10)” is a subset of “Particulates total”, but are reported separately.
MORE ON THE PROPOSED BAARD PLANT
Feb 8: SunCoke commits $280M for coke plant this year
People in opposition to the SunCoke coke plant gathered for a press conference held last April. (Nick Graham/Middletown Journal)
MIDDLETOWN -- "Sunoco Inc., parent company of SunCoke Energy Inc., said it 'remains committed' to building a coke plant in Middletown and plans to invest up to $280 million this year for its construction... Since the project was announced nearly two years ago, the now estimated $360 million coke oven facility has been caught up in various permitting issues and civil lawsuits. The plant would supply metallurgical coke, a vital steelmaking raw material, to AK Steel’s Middletown Works for at least the next 20 years and add about 500 temporary and 75 permanent jobs to the area if built," Jessica Heffner, Dayton Daily News. Published February 5.
MORE ON SUNCOKE AND AK STEEL
Feb 4: West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin's impressions of Obama views on mountaintop removal
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and several cabinet members and aides met yesterday with the governors of West Virginia, Ohio and nine other states to discuss energy policy.
WASHINGTON, DC -- "After meeting with President Barack Obama and other Administration officials yesterday, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin told a phone press conference that mountaintop removal coal mining was one of the topics. Manchin said he told President Obama, 'Mountaintop removal, we know that's very volatile.' [Obama] says, 'Absolutely.' It was high on his radar screen. He knows all about it . . . . There's no bones about it, [the Administration], they're not a fan of mountaintop removal. They talked about it and they asked me. It's a volatile issue, we know that . . . I could tell that they've got concerns there,'" Paul Ryder, Organizing Director, Ohio Citizen Action.
MORE ON MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL
Feb 4: Judge: Small Ohio polluters can't skirt air rules; EPA improperly granted exemptions
COLUMBUS -- "Sandy Buchanan, executive director of Ohio Citizen Action, said the environmental advocacy group is pleased with the decision. Her group is part of an overall challenge to the rules EPA created under the 2006 law, which she believes may be bolstered by it. The case is pending before the state Environmental Review Appeals Commission. 'All states have to get authority from the federal government to implement their clean air rules,' she said. 'Frankly, Ohio has been on the verge of losing their status (as compliant) for some time now because they're doing such a bad job,'" Julie Carr Smyth, Associated Press.
COLUMBUS -- Ohio exceptions to Clean Air Act ruled illegal, Spencer Hunt, Columbus Dispatch.
MORE ON THE OHIO EPA
Feb 3: Anti-mountaintop removal activist Jeff Biggers to speak in Cincinnati
CINCINNATI -- "Ohio Citizen Action and the Urban Appalachian Council proudly present author, award-winning journalist and cultural historian Jeff Biggers, reading and presenting from his new book, Reckoning at Eagle Creek: the Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland. The event takes place at 2pm Sunday, February 7 in the auditorium of North Presbyterian Church, 4222 Hamilton Avenue in Northside and is free and open to the public. Mr. Biggers is known as a thorough and passionate researcher and a very entertaining speaker. Books will be available for sale and donations will be accepted to promote the work of Ohio Citizen Action to stop mountaintop removal coal mining and of the Urban Appalachian Council to provide educational and cultural programs to, by and for urban Appalachian families in Greater Cincinnati," Melissa English, Southern Ohio Program Director, Ohio Citizen Action.MORE ON MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL
Feb 3: New Jersey Congressman Leonard Lance breaks two records in the fight to stop mountaintop removal mining
WASHINGTON, DC — "Rep. Leonard Lance of New Jersey’s 7th District became the 163rd co-sponsor of H.R. 1310, the Clean Water Protection Act. The House bill and a similar bill in the Senate, S. 696, the Appalachia Restoration Act, both seek to put an effective ban on mountaintop removal coal mining. Rep. Lance is the ninth House member from New Jersey to co-sponsor H.R. 1310 and the eighth Republican nationwide. Both New Jersey Senators are co-sponsors of S. 696. Six Ohio House members are co-sponsors: Steve Driehaus, Marcia Fudge, Mary Jo Kilroy, Dennis Kucinich, Tim Ryan, and Betty Sutton. Neither Ohio Senator has co-sponsored S. 696," Kate Russell, Organizer, Ohio Citizen Action.
MORE ON MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL
Feb 3: Confirmed three times in one week:
Coal, nuclear lobbyists now firmly in charge of Obama's energy policy
COLUMBUS -- "Mid-20th century vested interests in coal and nuclear power are now firmly in charge of President Barack Obama's energy policy, as confirmed three times in the last week:
In his first State of the Union speech on January 27, Obama gave the usual tribute to 'green jobs,' and then reeled off his real priorities: 'But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. That means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies.'
2008 Obama campaign ad- Obama sent his proposed 2011 budget to Congress on February 1. It would double coal subsidies through a switch from the existing $228 million-a-year subsidy to a new $545 million-a-year subsidy with the name "clean coal." The proposed budget also nearly triples federal loan guarantees for new nuclear plants, from $18.5 billion to $54.5 billion.
- Yesterday, at a town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire, Obama signaled that he was ready to accept a "Plan B" energy bill. When the cap-and-trade climate bill was moving through the U.S. House last spring, Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi let it be larded with subsidies to coal and nuclear interests, with an eye to buying votes for the cap-and-trade provisions. Now it is clear that the cap-and-trade scheme cannot pass, so Senators are preparing 'Plan B', to pass the coal and nuclear subsidies without the cap-and-trade provisions. Obama told the town hall audience that he is receptive to this idea: 'We may be able to separate these things out.' Meanwhile, Sens. John Kerry (MA), Joseph Lieberman (CT) and Lindsey Graham (SC) are busy adding more nuclear power subsidies to the bill," Paul Ryder, Organizing Director, Ohio Citizen Action.
Feb 3: Manchin going to talk coal with Obama and Biden
CHARLESTON, WV -- "Gov. Joe Manchin said he and governors from 10 other states are scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday to discuss energy...
'I think there's a misconception that we don't recognize we need to do our part for the environment,' Manchin said following a speech to several hundred business leaders in South Charleston on Tuesday.
Manchin said it seems the fact that West Virginia is the third-largest producer of wind power in the eastern United States is often overlooked. And 'we'd love to do solar,' he said.
'I want them to know we have a land-use bill' that requires mining companies to plan how land will be used after mountaintop removal mining, he said," George Hohmann, Charleston Daily Mail.MORE ON MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL
Feb 3: Federal judge rules Ohio EPA in violation of Clean Air Act
COLUMBUS -- "In a significant environmental decision, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Abel ruled yesterday that Ohio EPA has violated the Federal Clean Air Act by failing to require the use of 'best available technology' for thousands of air pollution sources in Ohio. Judge Abel's ruling reversed a decision he had made in September 2009, which the plaintiffs petitioned that he reconsider. The case was brought by the Sierra Club and individual members of the Sierra Club who live near polluting facilities. They were represented in court by Cincinnati attorney David Altman.
Judge Abel issued an injunction against Ohio EPA, preventing the agency from continuing to exempt the air pollution sources from the requirement of using the best available technology to prevent pollution. The ruling affects all sources of under ten tons of dangerous air pollutants, including lead, soot, sulfur dioxide and others. These sources are found at thousands of facilities, both large and small across the state of Ohio.
Ohio EPA had implemented the new rules in response to legislation passed in August 2006. Environmental groups, including Ohio Citizen Action, have also challenged these rules at the state Environmental Reviwe Appeals Commission. That case is currently scheduled to be heard in September 2010," Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director, Ohio Citizen Action.
MORE ON THE OHIO EPA
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