Clean Water Act

 

Permits & Certifications

 

Judges: La. Pipeline 'Trampled' Landowner Rights. According to E&E News, “Developers of the Bayou Bridge oil pipeline violated the law when they built the project on private land before securing the rights to do so, a Louisiana court ruled yesterday. A panel of judges for the Third Circuit Court of Appeal for the state of Louisiana instructed Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC — a joint venture of Energy Transfer Partners and Phillips 66 Partners LP — to pay a group of Louisiana landowners $10,000 each, plus legal fees. ‘When BBP [Bayou Bridge Pipeline] consciously ordered construction to begin on this property prior to obtaining a judicial determination of the public and necessary purpose for that taking, it not only trampled Defendants’ due process rights as landowners, it eviscerated the constitutional protections laid out to specifically protect those property rights,’ Judge Jonathan Perry wrote in the court’s opinion. ‘Therefore, we find the trial court committed legal error when it failed to compensate Defendants when BBP tread upon those constitutionally recognized rights.’ … Bayou Bridge, which moves through the ecologically sensitive Atchafalaya Basin and has the capacity to carry 480,000 barrels of oil per day, is also subject to a challenge related to the Army Corps of Engineers’ review of potential oil spills from the project. A judge in that case agreed in 2018 to stop construction of the pipeline, but the decision was later reversed (Energywire, March 26). The 163-mile Bayou Bridge project is designed to link other Energy Transfer infrastructure, including the embattled Dakota Access pipeline, to Louisiana ports and refineries.” [E&E News, 7/17/20 (=)]

 

Water Infrastructure

 

Senate Dems Unveil $350B Economic, Infrastructure Bill. According to E&E News, “The largest single portion of the bill — $115 billion — would be allocated for a ‘down payment’ on infrastructure, including investments in drinking water and tree cover on urban streets. The investment would be intended, in part, to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination in drinking water around the country, as well as fossil fuel pollution in and around communities of color. ‘Communities of color, Indigenous communities, and disadvantaged communities are more likely to be located near toxic sites especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change,’ the Democratic summary says. The bill is co-sponsored by more than a dozen other Democrats, including Environment and Public Works ranking member Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), the three co-founders of the Senate Environmental Justice Caucus. ‘For decades, systemic racism has left too many communities of color and Indigenous communities without clean air to breathe, safe water to drink or a healthy environment to call home,’ Carper said in a statement.” [E&E News, 7/17/20 (=)]

 

Misc. Waterways

 

AP | EPA Says Vt. Falling Behind On Lake Champlain Cleanup. According to E&E News, “EPA says Vermont’s failure to develop a key pollution permit program threatens the health of Lake Champlain. In a letter sent last month, EPA said the state is behind schedule on developing a stormwater permit for properties that are 3 acres of larger, Vermont Public Radio reported Tuesday. If the permit isn’t completed by Sept. 4, the state will be given a failing grade on that part of its cleanup efforts. Environmental Conservation Commissioner Peter Walke said the state doesn’t have a funding mechanism in place to help businesses comply with the permit and there’s too much uncertainty to have it done by September. ‘We were not able to offer them sort of assurances as to when we would be ready because there is so much uncertainty,’ Walke said. ‘They picked the September deadline and that’s their choice, but frankly I don’t think it is a realistic timeline.’ In 2015 former Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) signed a law requiring the state to take a number of steps to reduce phosphorus pollution, including designing a new stormwater permit program for properties 3 acres or larger. The plan to implement the law included 28 milestones to accomplish the goals of reducing the amount of phosphorous that flows into the lake. In 2018, EPA said it was pleased with Vermont’s progress, but in the June 25 letter EPA Region 1 Administrator Dennis Deziel said the state had failed to meet the last milestone, for the permit system.” [E&E News, 7/16/20 (=)]

 

AP | Wis. Manure Spill Kills Fish, Spreads Toward Bay. According to E&E News, “Wisconsin environmental officials are working to clean up a manure spill spreading toward the bay of Green Bay. The state Department of Natural Resources announced Tuesday that surface-applied manure from Betley Farms near Pulaski in Oconto County ran off the site late last week and over the weekend into the Little Suamico River. DNR spokeswoman Sarah Hoye said yesterday that the manure was applied July 8 and 9. Rain late on the night of July 9 and into July 10 drove the manure off the site into an unnamed Little Suamico tributary, she said. The DNR doesn’t have an estimate of the exact amount of manure that reached the river, she said. The department was notified of the spill Sunday, and staff have been working to clean it up since. Runoff at the site has stopped but the spill was still moving toward the bay as of Tuesday evening. The department has already noted water quality problems and a fish kill on the Little Suamico, Hoye said. It’s unclear what penalties, if any, Betley Farms might face, she said. Asked why the department wasn’t notified of the spill for several days, Hoye said residents downstream in Pulaski and Chase were the first to report the run-off via the department’s spill hotline. The farm wasn’t aware of the spill until the DNR contacted them, Hoye said.” [E&E News, 7/16/20 (=)]

 

 

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