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NEW YORK, NY — “Efforts by lawmakers and regulators to force the federal government to better police the natural gas drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking,’ have been thwarted for the past 25 years, according to an exposé in the New York Times. Studies by scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on fracking have been repeatedly narrowed in scope by superiors, and important findings have been removed under pressure from the industry. The news comes as the EPA is conducting a broad study of the risks of natural gas drilling with preliminary results scheduled to be delivered next year. Joining us is Walter Hang, president of Toxics Targeting, a firm that tracks environmental spills and releases across the country, based in Ithaca, New York, where fracking is currently taking place.”
— Juan Gonzalez and Amy Goodman, Democracy NOW!
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 President Barack Obama receives the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts. CHARLESTON, WV — “…There’s been a lot of commentary in the last few days and weeks about what President Obama could, should, or might — or might not — do about climate change. I linked previously to Jeff Goodell’s Rolling Stone piece, but there were others out there, including this from Andrew Revkin at Dot Earth, this from Tom Zeller at The Huffington Post, and this from Suzanne Goldenberg at The Guardian.
Obviously, a lot of questions might be answered once we see what kind of appointments President Obama makes to replace top administration officials who are leaving, including EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Energy Secretary Steven Chu. For broader coal issues — especially mine safety — we should also watch to see who replaces Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, whose term has been a great disappointment on workplace safety, despite a rather fluffy outgoing interview with The Nation magazine.”
— Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette
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 Earthjustice attorney Lisa Evans WASHINGTON D.C. — “A congressional effort to rein in federal regulation of coal ash could result in little or no regulation at all, a new report from the Congressional Research Service warns.
The bills, H.R. 2273 and S. 3512, would set up a plan for states to regulate coal ash like landfill waste — pre-empting an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to designate the often toxic combustion byproducts as hazardous waste. But the proposals’ vague language would make it difficult to tell if states are correctly implementing their own programs, says the report, which the green group Earthjustice made public Monday.
Among other fuzziness, the bills leave unclear ‘key issues such as how, when or to which facilities the [state] permit program would apply,’ the report says. ‘That level of uncertainty defeats the purpose of a permit program,’ it adds.”
— Erica Martinson, Politico
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 Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director, Ohio Citizen Action COLUMBUS — “Ohio EPA’s relationship with environmentalists and U.S. EPA, though, has had a long and troubled history in large part because of its coal production and manufacturing history.
Tensions came to a boil starting in 1997 when Ohio Citizen Action, along with other environmental groups, filed a petition calling for EPA to strip the state agency of its authority to implement federal statutes like the Clean Air Act.
The effort was originally spurred by legislation that would have allowed corporations to keep environmental audits shielded from the public, but it eventually morphed in 2001 into EPA’s largest investigation into a state counterpart ever. Among the charges EPA looked into was whether Ohio EPA was failing to act against polluters.
Sandy Buchanan, Ohio Citizen Action’s executive director, recalled that she also launched a “pink slip” campaign to get Chris Jones, then Ohio EPA director, fired.
In an unusually strongly worded report, EPA found severe flaws in Ohio EPA’s methods, including its enforcement of the Clean Air Act and permit process. But, ultimately, it allowed the state EPA to largely retain its enforcement authority. ‘U.S. EPA did require Ohio to make a bunch of changes in how they were operating,’ Buchanan said. ‘More significantly, U.S. EPA ended up taking over enforcement of many individual cases.’
Buchanan’s effort also unintentionally produced other results. In 2001, President George W. Bush nominated Donald Schregardus, who directed Ohio EPA during the 1990s, to be U.S. EPA’s top enforcement officer. EPA’s report, taken up by Democrats on Capitol Hill, effectively sunk Schregardus’ confirmation.
— Jeremy P. Jacobs, E&E Greenwire
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 U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit WASHINGTON D.C. — “A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday overturned a key Obama administration rule to reduce harmful emissions from coal-burning power plants, sparking a rally in coal company shares and relief among utility firms.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in a 2-1 decision that the Environmental Protection Agency had exceeded its mandate with the rule, which was to limit sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants in 28 mostly Eastern states and Texas.
In the latest setback for the EPA, the court sent the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule back for revision, telling the agency to administer its existing Clean Air Interstate Rule – the Bush-era regulation that it was updating – in the interim. The EPA said it was reviewing the ruling.”
— Valerie Volcovici, Reuters
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WASHINGON D.C. — “The White House recently modified an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to limit soot emissions, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post, inviting public comment on a slightly weaker standard than the agency had originally sought.
The behind-the-scenes tweaking of the proposed soot standards, which affect particles measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, sparked criticism that the White House was interfering with science-based decisions.
Fine particles, which come from oil refineries, factories and other operations, rank among the most deadly widespread air pollutants. EPA had originally wanted to tighten the annual exposure to fine-particle soot from 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 12 micrograms per cubic meter, according to an e-mail between Office of Management and Budget and EPA officials.
But OMB directed the EPA to make the limit between 12 and 13 micrograms per cubic meter of air.”
— Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post
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WASHINGTON D.C. — ” The Senate is set to vote today on a proposal that would kill America’s first rule governing mercury emissions, imposing tighter controls on coal-fired power plants and other industrial sources. Ohio and other Great Lakes states, in particular, need the rule to stay intact.
Mercury, a potent toxin, attacks the brain and central nervous system. It is especially harmful to young mothers and children. As it falls from the sky and settles on large bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes, mercury converts to a pollutant many times more harmful than what comes out of smokestacks.
Ohio generates more mercury than any other Great Lakes state, and is among the nation’s leaders, because of its reliance on coal. The pollutant collects in the tissue of Great Lakes fish and is passed on to humans who eat them. It is even more acute in fresh water than in oceans. ”
Editorial, Toledo Blade
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WASHINGTON D.C. — ” Risking an election-year backlash from Republicans, the Obama administration is proposing new air quality standards to lower the amount of soot that can be released into the air.
The move by the Environmental Protection Agency won immediate support from environmental groups and public health advocates, who said the EPA was protecting millions of Americans at risk of soot-related asthma attacks, lung cancer, heart disease and premature death.
But congressional Republicans and industry officials called the proposal overly strict and said it could hurt economic growth and cause job losses in areas where pollution levels are determined to be too high. ”
— Matthew Daly, Bloomberg Businessweek
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 WEST VIRGINIA — “A study released Thursday points primarily to market factors, not environmental regulation as the driving force behind coal plant closures.
While environmental regulations have received the bulk of attention when it comes time to close a coal-fired plant, closure are generally known to be a result of multiple factors. A new study conducted by Susan Tierney managing principal at the Analysis group, an economic, financial and strategy consultant group, finds market factors, not the Environmental Protection Agency, have driven coal plant closures.
Tierney also served as assistant energy secretary during the Clinton administration.
‘Putting aside the political context of the current debate, a closer examination of the facts reveals that the recent retirement announcements are part of a longer‐term trend that has been affecting both existing coal plants and many proposals to build new ones,’ Tierney wrote. ‘The sharp decline in natural gas prices, the rising cost of coal and reduced demand for electricity are all contributing factors in the decisions to retire some of the country’s oldest coal‐fired generating units. These trends started well before EPA issued its new air pollution rules.’”
— Taylor Kuykendall, The State Journal
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 BEVERLY — “According to EPA data, last year the Beverly plant emitted 98,515 tons of sulfur dioxide, the third-highest total in the country, according to the EPA data.
The EPA wants limits on sulfur dioxide emissions under the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. To do that, the plant must install enormous scrubbers, that remove the sulfur dioxide from the exhaust emitted by the smokestacks.
The plant was built over 50 years ago. The Muskingum River plant has no scrubbers, and the company says it cannot add them in time to meet the EPA’s deadlines.
AEP Chairman Morris said that jobs will be created by retrofitting the plants, but he needs more time from the EPA.
‘We have to hire plumbers, electricians and painters – folks who do that kind of work when you retrofit a plant,’ Morris told The Washington Post.
‘Everyone has this idea that the EPA could shut a plant down,’ said Rachael Belz, organizer of the coal program at Ohio Citizen Action. “But these decisions are being made by AEP or Duke Energy. These are business decisions,” as reported by the Post.
— Leona Jewell, Morgan County Herald
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 CHICAGO, IL — “Residents of the Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods have filed class-action lawsuits against two coal-fired power plants.
As WBBM Newsradio’s David Roe reports, the lawsuits claim the noxious emissions from the Fisk plant, at 1111 W. Cermak Rd., and the Crawford plant, at 3501 S. Pulaski Rd., are damaging the residents’ health and their homes.
The suits, filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, claim that sulfur dioxide is emitted into both neighborhoods.
The suits claim that sulfur dioxide is emitted into the Little Village and Pilsen neighborhoods, which has been noted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The emissions create a very heavy black or white powder that requires constant cleaning and makes residents prisoners in their homes, precluding them from full use and enjoyment of their properties, the suit said. Some of the chemicals generated also are extra hazardous and are known carcinogens.
— CBS Chicago
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 TOLEDO — “The Environmental Protection Agency is taking another look at what’s behind mysterious cancers in rural northern Ohio that have sickened dozens of children for more than a decade.
Environmental investigators plan to test soil, air and water samples at dump and manufacturing sites just south of Lake Erie, where at least 35 children have been diagnosed and four have died from cancer since the mid-1990s.
State regulators already have done extensive testing at many of those sites without finding any answers.
The EPA says it decided to take action after officials met with families from Sandusky County who have had children diagnosed with cancer. They’ve been urging the federal government to spend more time investigating the cancer cluster.
Still, experts say the odds are against finding a cause.”
— Associated Press
 WASHINGTON, D.C. — “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has unveiled its analysis of the 2010 Toxics Release Inventory, a database containing information on the disposal or release of 650 potentially dangerous chemicals used by almost 21,000 facilities. Though there were some increases between 2009 and 2010, it found that releases of these chemicals have generally decreased, with the total down 30 percent since 2001.
But, as the EPA acknowledged, the database provides only a snapshot of the pollution produced by American industry. ‘Users of TRI data should be aware that…it does not cover all toxic chemicals or all sectors of the U.S. economy,’ the analysis warned. ‘Furthermore, the quantities of chemicals reported to TRI are self-reported by facilities and are often estimates.’”
— Corbin Hiar, iwatch news
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 WASHINGTON, D.C. — “The current fleet of electric power generators has a wide range of ages. The oldest power plants tend to be hydropower generators. Most coal-fired plants were built before 1980. There was a wave of nuclear plant construction from the late 1960s to about 1990. The most recent waves of generating capacity additions include natural gas-fired units in the 2000s and renewable units, primarily wind, coming online in the late 2000s.”
— U.S. Energy Information Administration
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 COLUMBUS — “Ohio’s debris landfills were unregulated for decades because the materials dumped in them — concrete, drywall and splintered lumber — were deemed harmless. But that’s changed for the 53 operating landfills, including five in central Ohio.
Problems arose after several landfills started taking millions of tons of debris from waste haulers as far away as New Jersey and New York. One site, Warren Recycling in Trumbull County, became notorious for underground fires and clouds of noxious hydrogen sulfide gas.
That landfill, which was closed in 2004, helped prompt state lawmakers to pass the 2005 water-monitoring law.
The Ohio EPA first proposed regulations in 2006 but withdrew them after industry officials complained that compliance would be too expensive.”
— Spencer Hunt, The Columbus Dispatch
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Letters supporting the Fracking Emergency Medical Right to Know Act 9,241 neighbors have sent handwritten letters and made personal phone calls urging state legislators to support the Fracking Emergency Medical Right to Know Act as of June 10, 2013.
Ohio coal-fired power plants
Resources on proposed Cleveland incinerator
AEP’s Muskingum River Power Plant
Letters to American Electric Power 989 neighbors have sent handwritten letters urging AEP to retire its Muskingum River coal plant as of July 15, 2011.
Letters to Duke Energy 2,307 neighbors have sent handwritten letters and telewires urging Duke Energy to retire Miami Fort Unit 6 and Beckjord coal plants as of July 15, 2011.
Letters to Kokosing Asphalt 8,709 neighbors have sent handwritten letters and petitions urging Kokosing Asphalt to be a good neighbor as of February 25, 2011.
Letters to Rumpke 9,205 neighbors have sent handwritten letters and petitions urging Rumpke to be a good neighbor as of April 15, 2011.
Letters to FirstEnergy 3,914 neighbors have sent handwritten letters and petitions urging FirstEnergy to retire their four Lake Erie coal plants as of July 15, 2011.
Mountaintop removal coal mining
Letters to Senator Sherrod Brown and Senator Rob Portman 6,615 members have sent handwritten letters and petitions to Senator Brown urging him to support US EPA rules that will protect our health from polluting coal plants as of January 24, 2012.
3,751 members have petitioned Senator Portman urging him to support US EPA rules that will protect our health from polluting coal plants as of January 24, 2012.
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