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It’s also a question EPA panelists are deciding on, prompting a public hearing in Knoxville all day long Wednesday. ‘I strongly urge you to have the courage to do the right thing, by regulating coal as by what it truly is — a hazardous waste,’ Sierra Club member Erica Geppi told EPA panelists. ‘These materials are neither toxic nor hazardous, which is the conclusion EPA itself has reached,’ said Cheri Miller of Gypsum Parameters. The massive Kingston ash spill was a primary focus for both sides of the debate. ‘I grew up swimming, boating, and hiking in Roane County and I will not do any of these things until the dust from this spill settles,’ Knoxville resident Paul Laudeman told panelists.” — WBIR, Knoxville  Baard Energy CEO John Baardson CLEVELAND — Baard Energy missed a deadline this week to hire a lawyer to defend the air pollution permit for their proposed coal refinery in Wellsville, Ohio. Two major law firms, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, and Calfee, Halter and Griswold, have previously abruptly quit representing Baard in the case. After the withdrawal of former attorney Christopher Jones, a Calfee attorney who formerly headed Ohio EPA, earlier this month, the state Environmental Review Appeals Commission gave Baard until October 25th to come up with a new lawyer. Baard missed the deadline. In a filing on October 6, 2010, the Ohio Attorney General’s office, representing the Ohio EPA, stated, “Due to the abrupt withdrawal of counsel, the status of the permit and the underlying need for the permit are unknown.” The Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club, who are challenging the permit on environmental grounds, say that the air permit has already expired. The status of the permit was due to be discussed at a hearing in November. Last week, Baard Energy CEO John Baardson announced that he had lined up $2.5 billion from investors to fund the project. If that’s the case, why would he not have enough money to pay a lawyer to defend the permit that the entire project depends on? — Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director, Ohio Citizen Action Second phase of enhanced recycling program begins November 1
The video,which features Council Member Laure Quinlivan, Chair of the Mayor’s Green Steering Committee, explains the ins and out of the enhanced recycling program from cart delivery to redeeming RecycleBank rewards points. Quinlivan, a former television reporter, donated her producing and reporting skills to this project. ‘Enhanced recycling will help the environment and eventually save city taxpayers a million dollars a year,’ Quinlivan said. ‘I can’t wait to get the new 96‐gallon recycling cart delivered to my home so I can stop overflowing the little green bin every week.’” — press release, City of Cincinnati and Rumpke Recycling What policies and programs do states need to maximize recycling rates?
ATLANTA, GA — “Recycling has developed far beyond the days of people simply taking newspapers, bottles and cans to the local drop-off center. Zero waste, once an obscure concept, is now a regular part of the discussions about waste management in an increasing number of jurisdictions. And communities are incorporating sustainability into evaluation criteria when selecting vendors and developing programs.” — Robin Mitchell, Waste Age Read the whole story (article begins on page 23 of the pdf)
YOUNGSTOWN — “‘We’ve basically gone off on a route where we do this entirely with the private sector,’ [Baard Energy CEO John] Baardson said. ‘In today’s particular climate, that might be the best way to get this done.’” — WYTV Baard project would energize job numbers— Salem News
COLUMBUS — On October 18, Tracy Drake, Columbiana County Port Authority CEO, announced that Baard Energy had “found a Florida-based investment firm to put up the money to purchase the property [for a proposed coal refinery]… [Planck Trading LLC of Boca Raton, Florida] intended to pay the estimated $5 million to close on the option agreements instead of the port authority. “According to documents provided by Drake, Planck Trading is owned by Perian Salviola, who led a group of investors in acquiring more than 100 million tons of high quality metallurgical reserves, which were sold to a leading steel producer in India. Salviola and his partners currently own one of the coal industry’s premier high-wall mining companies in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. They also own coal reserves in Kentucky.” Then, six days later, Baard Energy CEO John Baardson inflated Planck’s investment by a factor of 500, according to WKBN-TV Youngstown: “Just this week, a Florida company invested $2.5 billion to help Baard buy more than 500 acres just off State Route 7, bringing the $6-billion plant and thousands of jobs, one step closer to reality.” Baardson said a groundbreaking is planned for spring. Planck turns out to be a nest of companies: Planck Trading SolutionsPlanck Trading Solutions, incorporated by Perian Salviola on December 18, 2008, is at 5301 N Federal Hwy, Suite 380, Boca Raton, FL 33487. Planck HoldingsPlank Holdings, incorporated by Perian Salviola on April 9, 2009, was at the same address, Suite 380. On August 19, 2010, there was a merger of “Planck Holdings LLC, a non-qualified Florida organization with and into Planck Holdings LLC, a qualified West Virginia Limited Liability Company, the survivor,” according to the West Virginia Secretary of State. The new address for Planck Holdings is 407 Prosperity Road, Beckley WV 25801. The “organizer” of the merger was W. Christopher Schaeper, Thompson and Knight law firm, 333 Clay Street, Suite 3300, Houston, Texas 77002. Schaeper’s bio says he “represented a New Delhi-based conglomerate of steel companies in the $1 billion sale of three U.S. companies and related assets that owned and operated a steel plate mill, large diameter pipe mill, and double jointing mill in Baytown, Texas, to the U.S. affiliate of another global steel concern based in Mumbai, India.” This sounds like the Jindal South West (JSW) Steel mill in Baytown. Mumbai-based Jindal bought the pipe mill in 1992 and the plate mill in 1997. The two managers of the merged company are listed as Sandeep Agarwal, at the Beckley address, and Perian Salviola, at the Boca Raton address. The phone number is (713) 653-8804, which is the Thompson and Knight law firm. Sandeep Agarwal is a Deputy General Manager for Finance and Administration at JSW Steel in the Charleston, WV area, according to his Linked-In profile. Periama HoldingsPeriama Holdings was registered in West Virginia on July 21, 2009. Its address is 407 Prosperity Road, Prosperity (Beckley), West Virginia 25909. Its manager is Sandeep Agarwal, at the Prosperity address. Its organizer is Perian Salviola at the Boca Raton address. The LookupBook listing for this firm shows the same Boca Raton address, but a Martin P. Sheehan as the contact. Prime CoalPrime Coal was registered in West Virginia on September 23, 2009 at the Prosperity WV address. Its manager is Sandeep Agarwal, at the Prosperity address. Its organizer is Perian Salviola at the Boca Raton address. In the LookupBook listing, Martin P. Sheehan is listed as the contact. Prime Coal was registered in Kentucky on April 1, 2009, with its principal office listed at the Boca Raton address, Suite 380. On May 5, 2010, it filed an address change to Suite 600 in the same building. Perian Salviola is named its managing member. On June 3, 2009, Perian Salviola applied for authorization for Prime Coal to transact business in Florida at the Boca Raton address. On September 24, 2010, the State of Florida revoked its authorization for failure to submit an annual report. Prime SolarIncorporated in December 2007 by Perian Salviola at the same Boca Raton address. It changed its name on May 19, 2008, to International Energy Solutions, Inc. JSW Steel and coal refineriesOn Sep 10, 2008, The Economic Times of New Delhi reported on a “bandwagon of companies setting up projects to convert coal into oil.” It said that JSW was in the race for a coal-to-liquids project led by Oil India. On March 7, 2009, Jindal Steel announced that the Government of India had allotted the Ramchandi Promotional Coal Block to Jindal for a proposed coal-to-liquid project. Another coal block went to Tata Sons-Sasol for a similar project. Jindal says it will invest “close to USD 8.4 billion” on the project. September 29, 2010: “Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) appears to land up in a new trouble. The coal ministry has discovered that the firm is not utilizing several coal blocks allocated to them. The ministry is of the view these coal blocks continue to remain idle and hence they should be taken away. JSPL had bagged the Rs. 45,000-crore project for converting coal to liquid fuel (or CTL) in 2009. Since then, the massive Ramchandi coal block in Orissa meant for the project is lying idle. Sources say, the coal ministry has opined for the de-allocation of the block… Project of converting coal into liquid fuel could have been one of the solutions to address India’s growing energy needs. But even before the project could take off, it is on the verge of a crash landing. And now JSPL will have to do something drastic to save the project as coal ministry is really not convinced that any work has been underway in the coal mines since it was allotted to JSPL,” according to New Delhi TV Profit. Meanwhile, some Indians are raising familiar questions about investing in coal refineries. JSW Steel and Massey EnergyOn May 15, 2010, the Economic Times of India reported, “MUMBAI: JSW Steel, the Mumbai-based company which, like other metal-bashers from India, is aggressively scouting the world for raw material to feed its expanding steel-making capacities, on Friday completed the acquisition of nine coking coal mines in West Virginia in the US. It will pay in the range of $200-250 million (Rs 900-1,125 crore) for the mines, said people familiar with the development. The Sajjan Jindal-controlled steel company, which did not mention the name of the company that owns the mines, nor the size of the transaction, said the nine mines have combined reserves of 123 million tonnes. Coking coal is a key raw material for steel mills and accounts for 40% of the total cost of steel-making. Referring to the coal mines in West Virginia, a JSW Steel official said: “These mines have a railway load and barge facility which reduces the cost of production and transportation of the coking coal.” On September 28, 2010, Massey Energy filed a $648 million federal lawsuit against JSW Steel: “Massey Sales and JSW are parties to a Coal Purchase and Sale Contract dated June 25, 2008. Pursuant to the Contract, Massey agreed to sell, and JSW agreed to buy, a minimum of 3,600,000 metric tons of hard coking coal… JSW breached a repudiated the Contract by failing and refusing to purchase any coal from Massey pursuant to the Contract.” Oct 14, 2010: Bloomberg reported that JSW Steel Ltd is considering putting its overseas coal and iron ore assets into a unit for a share sale to fund expansion. Two people familiar with the plans said that the unit would control coal and iron ore mines in the US and Chile, as well as an exploration business in Mozambique. They said that JSW may list the unit in an overseas exchange without giving a timeframe. Mr. Andrew Harrington analyst of Paterson’s Securities Ltd said that a raw material spin off by an Indian company would be unusual and its success would depend on the asset location. Mr. Harrington said that “Except for Mozambique, it doesn’t sound as though these would be the most interesting areas for coal development. The trend out of India has been to acquire things overseas rather than sell them once they’ve been acquired.” JSW Steel bought seven coking coal mines in May in the US with reserves of about 123 million tonnes. In Chile, the company’s Bellavista iron ore mines, acquired in 2008, are likely to start production by December. — Paul Ryder, Organizing Director, Ohio Citizen Action
Heartland Petroleum is a used oil recycling plant on the east side of Columbus. Since opening in March 2009, Heartland has had several accidents, including the forced evacuation of 4,000 area employees do to the uncontrolled release of gas which including hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide. Letters urge the company to use the most up to date pollution controls and to eliminate the rotten egg odor and other irritant gasses emitted from the facility. — Kate Russell, Organizer, Ohio Citizen Action
‘The Future is Now: A Citizens’ Audit of the Rumpke Sanitary Landfill‘ lays out the group’s argument against the proposed landfill expansion. The group has also set a meeting to review their recommendations at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, at the Pleasant Run Presbyterian Church, 11565 Pippin Road… Melissa English, of Ohio Citizen Action, said, in the past, Hamilton County and other communities that use the landfill have said there was no other option but to expand. She says it’s possible to divert 50 percent or 70 percent or more from the landfill by setting zero waste goals and deadlines and committing to programs and policies to meet those goals.” — Jennie Key, Cincinnati Enquirer  Baard Energy CEO John Baardson is joined at the Wellsville Chamber event by state Rep. Linda Bolon, U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson and Baard executive Steve Dopuch. WELLSVILLE — “[On Saturday night, Baard Energy CEO John Baardson said that] Just this week, a Florida company invested $2.5 billion to help Baard buy more than 500 acres just off State Route 7, bringing the $6-billion plant and thousands of jobs, one step closer to reality… Baardson says tractors and heavy machinery should start clearing land for the plant as soon as this spring.” — WKBN-TV (CBS) Youngstown Baard Energy CEO says financing in place— Jeremy Lydic, Youngstown Business Journal Baard Energy’s proposed plant secures funding— WTOV Baard owner speaks at banquet— Matthew Schomer, East Liverpool Review
With AMP now wishing to resurrect the project as a natural gas combined cycle power plant, is the public ready for round two of public hearings regarding the permitting process? ‘Yes,’ Meigs County Economic Development Director Perry Varnadoe said. ‘The public is very supportive about this project and economic development in general.’ Varnadoe said this project is different from the last and therefore he feels it’s important for the public to attend the meetings to gather information and comment.” — Beth Sergent, Pomeroy Daily Sentinel BLUE ASH — Hamilton County residents can drop off electronics for recycling during the month of October. Monday – Friday, 9am -4pm, a variety of electronics will be accepted at 2trg company, 11085 Kenwood Road, Blue Ash, Ohio 45242. Saturday, October 30 from 9am-2pm is the only available weekend drop off and the final day of the program. Items accepted include TVs, CPU’s, hard drives, personal copiers, docking stations, monitors, scanners, printers, cellular telephones, tape and disk drives, VCR and DVD players, circuit boards, cables, mainframes, servers, terminals, fax machines, PDAs, back up batteries, chips, keyboards, mice, modems, computer speakers, CD Rom drives, and laptops. For more information, visit the Hamilton County Recycling and Solid Waste District website. — Melissa English, Southern Ohio Campaign Director, Ohio Citizen Action |
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