Clean Water Act

 

NWPR & WOTUS

 

Senate Committee Takes Up Trump's WOTUS Rewrite. According to E&E News, “The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hear Wednesday from an Iowa farmer, a Florida developer and a New Mexico regulator, who are expected to discuss the Trump administration’s Waters of the U.S. rule and weigh in on the environmental and public health issues raised by rolling back water protections. At issue is the scope of the Trump rule, which was finalized in April and limited the regulatory reach of the Obama measure, removing protections for many wetlands and streams and shifting regulatory responsibilities to states. The new federal definition of which waterways and wetlands are protected under the Clean Water Act has drawn legal challenges (Greenwire, June 24). Critics say the rule written by Trump’s EPA and Army Corps of Engineers ignores a growing body of science on the threats to water resources posed by climate change, farming and development. The Trump rule’s supporters argue the Obama-era rule was too far-reaching and would have been overly burdensome (Energywire, Aug. 27). Schedule: The hearing is Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 10 a.m. in 106 Dirksen and via webcast.” [E&E News, 9/14/20 (=)]

 

Permits & Certifications

 

Pa. Orders Reroute Of Pipeline Project After Spill. According to E&E News, “Pennsylvania officials have ordered Energy Transfer to reroute its Mariner East 2 pipeline outside Philadelphia in response to a construction spill last month that contaminated a drinking water source. The site of the spill, Marsh Creek Lake, is also a popular recreational spot in Chester County in the Philadelphia suburbs. On Aug. 10, about 8,000 gallons of drilling mud from a tunneling project leaked into the lake, and local legislators called for Gov. Tom Wolf (D) to halt construction and revoke the pipeline’s permit. Instead, the state Department of Environmental Protection on Friday ordered the company to move the route of the pipeline about 800 feet away from the lake. An Energy Transfer spokeswoman declined to comment except to say the company is reviewing the state agency’s order. The company has 30 days to appeal. Authorities said drinking water providers were notified and the leak did not cause contamination of drinking water supplies. The 350-mile Mariner East 2 pipeline consists of two parallel pipes that carry natural gas liquids from the Marcellus Shale region to a processing facility south of Philadelphia. Energy Transfer is using a temporary pipe to move liquids while construction is completed. The $3 billion project, which is being carried out by Energy Transfer’s Sunoco subsidiary, has been slowed by spills, sinkholes and a yearlong regulatory standoff from an explosion on a different Energy Transfer pipeline in the state.” [E&E News, 9/14/20 (=)]

 

DEP Orders Sunoco To Reroute Pipeline After Marsh Creek Lake Spill. According to StateImpact Pennsylvania, “Pennsylvania environmental officials on Friday ordered Sunoco to reroute one of its problem-plagued Mariner East pipelines away from a site where construction spilled more than 8,000 gallons of drilling fluid into a lake and created a 15-foot sink hole. The order from the Department of Environmental Protection was the first to demand a partial reroute of the pipeline in its troubled three-and-a-half year construction history, and follows criticism that a series of fines and shutdowns previously imposed by the DEP have done little to improve Sunoco’s performance on the project — which has prompted the department to issue more than 100 notices of violation. ‘These incidents are yet another instance where Sunoco has blatantly disregarded the citizens and resources of Chester County with careless actions while installing the Mariner East II Pipeline,’ said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonell, in a statement. ‘We will not stand for more of the same. An alternate route must be used. The department is holding Sunoco responsible for its unlawful actions and demanding a proper cleanup.’ The DEP ordered Sunoco to immediately stop all construction on a horizontal directional drilling site in Uwchlan Township, Chester County, and to prepare to reroute its 20-inch pipeline over an approximately 1-mile section that the company previously identified as being technically feasible but which was not implemented.” [StateImpact Pennsylvania, 9/11/20 (=)]

 

Judge Mulls 2nd Dakota Access Shutdown Order. According to E&E News, “A federal court is asking for more information before deciding again whether to block operation of the Dakota Access pipeline. Judge James Boasberg for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is considering whether to issue a preliminary injunction to halt the 1,272-mile project after a federal appeals court tossed out his earlier order to shut down the pipeline and drain it of oil. In an order Friday, the judge told the parties to submit additional briefings in response to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request for injunctive relief, despite their calls to proceed without further briefing. Boasberg, an Obama appointee, said it seemed ‘unlikely’ from the Army Corps of Engineers’ statements so far that the agency would either halt the pipeline’s operation or order its removal. He also dismissed the Army Corps’ request to wait until the agency had reached a decision on enforcement action before moving forward on the request for an injunction (Greenwire, Sept. 9). ‘As, under any realistic briefing schedule, it would not issue an opinion before the Corps’ mid-October decision, there appears no reason to wait to begin briefing until then,’ Boasberg wrote. ‘In addition, contra Dakota Access’s position, delaying until a merits ruling from the D.C. Circuit will not help the Tribe, as even an affirmance would not halt pipeline operations,’ he continued. Boasberg had ordered the pipeline to be shut down this summer after he axed an approval for the project to cross beneath Lake Oahe, a large reservoir on the Missouri River, straddling the North and South Dakota border.” [E&E News, 9/14/20 (=)]

 

Trump NEPA Rules Take Effect After Court Denies Freeze. According to E&E News, “The White House Council on Environmental Quality’s implementing rules for a bedrock environmental law are going into effect as planned today, after opponents of the new regulations failed to convince a federal judge to block them. On Friday, Judge James Jones for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia declined to issue either a preliminary injunction or a stay to prevent the Trump administration’s National Environmental Policy Act overhaul from taking effect pending his decision on the legality of the regulations. ‘The plaintiffs here may ultimately succeed in this case, but at this point they have not made that clear showing,’ Jones said in a decision Friday. The CEQ regulations provide guidance for federal agencies for how they should comply with NEPA, a procedural statute requiring agencies to ‘look before you leap’ by considering impacts of proposed projects such as pipelines, highways and bridges. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) had argued on behalf of a coalition of 16 environmental groups that the regulations are inconsistent with the foundational environmental statute. The revised CEQ rules, finalized in July, curtail the extent to which agencies are instructed to consider indirect and cumulative effects of projects with federal backing. The regulations also put in place tighter timelines and page limits for environmental analyses (Energywire, July 16).” [E&E News, 9/14/20 (=)]

 

Judge Declines To Block Trump’s NEPA Rule. According to Politico, “A federal judge on Friday declined to block the Council on Environmental Quality’s changes to government-wide rules implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, leaving the rule to take effect on Sept. 14. Background: The rule (Reg. 0331-AA03) eased the requirements federal agencies must follow to study the environmental impacts of permitted infrastructure and other major work, including shorter deadlines and changes that make agencies less likely to consider climate impacts. The ruling: The environmental groups challenging the NEPA rule did not make the requisite ‘clear showing’ that they are likely to win on the merits to secure a preliminary injunction, wrote Judge James Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, a Clinton appointee. But James added that the challengers still ‘may ultimately succeed in this case’ once the court record is further developed. ‘While the Rule and its relevant documents speak for themselves, it is not unlikely that interpretative testimony and expert opinion would be required for the proper determination of the validity of the Rule,’ Jones wrote. Jones also questioned the propriety of a district judge issuing a nationwide injunction, noting judicial precedent that it be limited only to the ‘most exceptional circumstances.’” [Politico, 9/11/20 (=)]

 

District court judge rejects request for injunction of CEQ’s NEPA rule. According to InsideEPA, “A federal district judge is denying environmentalists’ request to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s rule streamlining how agencies implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) from taking effect Sept. 14. Judge James Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in a Sept. 11 opinion in Wild Virginia, et al. v. CEQ, et al., denied challengers’ motion to enjoin the rule or stay its effective date. ‘While the movants need not show a certainty of success, they must make a ‘clear showing’ that they are likely to succeed on the merits’ in order to win a preliminary injunction, he wrote. ‘The plaintiffs here may ultimately succeed in this case, but at this point they have not made that clear showing.’ Jones added that it is ‘not unlikely that interpretive testimony and expert opinion’ will be required for him to determine the rule’s validity. He will also likely need same to address the government’s pending motion to dismiss the case for lack of standing and ripeness, the opinion notes. At a Sept. 4 hearing on the dueling motions, Jones was wary of being a single district judge imposing a nationwide injunction of the policy, and that seemed to carry weight in his decision as well.” [InsideEPA, 9/11/20 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Pesticides And The Clean Water Act. According to The Bradenton Times, “ManaSota-88 has requested notification of any rule-making from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address jurisdictional issues under the Clean Water Act pertaining to pesticides regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. EPA has stated that there are two sets of circumstances that the application of a pesticide to waters does not require a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit under the Clean Water Act; the application of pesticides directly to waters of the United States in order to control pests, and the application of pesticides to control pests that are present over waters, such as mosquito spraying. ManaSota-88 has a long-standing interest in inadequate regulation of pesticide usage. While federal guidelines try to establish a minimum standard of environmental and health protection, EPA’s decision not to require permits for certain pesticide usage has been a major step backward. General approval for pesticide use should not be granted without proper oversight such as may occur with an NPDES permit requirement for pesticide applicators. EPA’s action is not to primarily protect the public’s health but to appease chemical and agricultural industry representatives. We are not being adequately protected by the EPA from the improper use of pesticides.” [The Bradenton Times, 9/13/20 (+)]

 

Chesapeake Bay Foundation & EPA

 

Too Little Too Late? For Most States, Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Goals Are A Long Shot. According to Augusta Free Press, “It’s been 10 years since the Chesapeake Bay watershed was put on a ‘pollution diet.’ And while there’s been some belt tightening since then, the regional effort to reduce nutrient pollution in order to restore a healthy Bay has fared about as well as many other diets: It is far from meeting its 2025 goal. Officials in Bay states say it is too early to throw in the towel. ‘Our work is certainly cut out for us,’ said Ben Grumbles, Maryland environment secretary. ‘And there are significant headwinds.’ Indeed, the numbers paint a grim picture. Nitrogen is the main source of the Bay’s woes and the prime target of the cleanup effort. Over time, there has been some progress: In the last 34 years, the region has averaged 2.4 million pounds of nitrogen reductions a year. But the job ahead is much harder. In the next six years, the pace must more than triple to nearly 8.7 million pounds a year — a rate it has never attained. Most of the problem, by far, is in Pennsylvania, which is lagging behind. Although it doesn’t border the Bay, Pennsylvania contributes more than two-fifths of its nitrogen, and must control more of the nutrient than all of the other states combined to reach its goal. Its shortfall alone would ensure that much of the Bay would not meet clean water goals.” [Augusta Free Press, 9/12/20 (=)]

 

Wheeler Downplays Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Suits As ‘Political’. According to InsideEPA, “EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is slamming environmentalists’ and Democratic states’ lawsuits over what they say is the agency’s failure to enforce the Clean Water Act (CWA) cleanup plan for the Chesapeake Bay as a ‘political’ move that lacks either a legal or factual basis. During Sept. 11 remarks to EPA’s Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities advisory committee (FRRCC), Wheeler urged members of the panel -- which was meeting for the first time since 2016 -- not to see legal disputes over the bay cleanup as a sign of underlying faults in the agency’s agriculture program. ‘It’s my belief that this is a politically motivated lawsuit, timed for prior to the election, and has no basis in the facts. We’ve been working very cooperatively with farmers across the entire Chesapeake Bay area, including Pennsylvania and New York, and we prefer to work cooperatively with the farmers in all states,’ Wheeler said. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and Democratic attorneys general (AGs) of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia sued EPA on Sept. 10, alleging that the agency has failed to ensure that Pennsylvania and New York meet their cleanup targets under the landmark multi-state CWA cleanup plan.” [InsideEPA, 9/11/20 (=)]

 

EPA Challenged On Chesapeake Bay TMDL. According to DTN Progressive Farmer, “The EPA has failed in its legal responsibility to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, two new federal lawsuits filed on Thursday argue. In particular, the lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the states of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, along with the District of Columbia, argue EPA has failed to hold accountable the states of New York and Pennsylvania for not cutting nutrient runoff as part of the total maximum daily load, or TMDL, program for the bay. In 2010, EPA issued a TMDL for the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries with jurisdictions in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Those states adopted caps on discharges of nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment in the bay region. Each state was directed to issue watershed implementation plans in three phases, in 2010, 2012 and 2019. The plans were designed to attain water quality goals by 2025. EPA is tasked to oversee and evaluate progress by each jurisdiction and to act to ensure plans are implemented. Both lawsuits claim the EPA violated the Clean Water Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.” [DTN Progressive Farmer, 9/11/20 (=)]

 

EPA Hit With Lawsuits Over Chesapeake Bay Cleanup. According to Bay Journal, “Making good on threats issued months ago, three Chesapeake Bay watershed states, the District of Columbia and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation took the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to court Thursday for its failure to push Pennsylvania and New York to do more to help clean up the Bay. In their lawsuit, the attorneys general of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia accused the EPA of shirking its responsibility under the Clean Water Act by letting Pennsylvania and New York fall short in reducing their nutrient and sediment pollution fouling the Bay. ‘This has to be a collective effort,’ said Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. ‘Every state in the Chesapeake Bay watershed has to play a part, and EPA under the law has to ensure that happens.’ The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, joined by the Maryland Watermen’s Association, a pair of Virginia farmers and Anne Arundel County, MD, made similar complaints in a separate federal lawsuit. Both were filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where they’re likely to be consolidated into a single case. ‘The courts must ensure that EPA does its job,’ Will Baker, the Bay Foundation president, said in an online press conference held with attorneys general from Maryland, Virginia and the District.” [Bay Journal, 9/11/20 (=)]

 

CBF To Sue EPA Over Failure To Hold Pennsylvania And New York Accountable For Not Meeting Clean Water Act Obligations. According to The Southern Maryland Chronicle, “Today, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and its partners filed a complaint suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for abdicating its responsibilities under the Clean Water Act. The agency has failed to require Pennsylvania and New York to develop plans to sufficiently reduce pollution as was required by the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint, established in 2010, and re-confirmed in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. CBF’s partners in the suit are Anne Arundel County, Maryland, the Maryland Watermen’s Association, and Robert Whitescarver and Jeanne Hoffman, who operate a livestock farm in Virginia. Underscoring the damage this will cause for Bay restoration efforts, Attorneys General in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia will also file a separate suit in the District of Columbia Federal District Court. ‘This is the moment in time for the Chesapeake Bay. If EPA fails to hold Pennsylvania, and to a lesser extent New York, accountable the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint will be yet another in a series of failures for Bay restoration,’ said CBF President William C. Baker. ‘It doesn’t have to be this way. Under the Blueprint, we have seen progress. But unless pressure is brought to bear on Pennsylvania, we will never get to the finish line.’” [The Southern Maryland Chronicle, 9/11/20 (+)]

 

TMDL

 

Editorial: Carr Must Keep Stewardship Of Lake Erie. According to The Blade, “It is critically important that James G. Carr, senior U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio, maintain jurisdiction over the Clean Water Act’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) that will kill the putrid algae and return Western Lake Erie to sparkling health. We need Judge Carr’s deep knowledge of the issues and steady hand at the helm for this complex TMDL process which will involve many players and interests. Among them will be state employees from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, municipalities, businesses, the meat and dairy industry, farmers and more. Judge Carr knows that Ohio has been notorious for not reporting and accounting for manure on fields and for allowing more and more confined animal-feeding operations in the Maumee River Watershed which has greatly reduced family farm cows, hogs and poultry. During a hearing, Judge Carr cited an April, 2019 study by two national environmental groups that showed that between 2005 through 2018, there was an over 40 percent increase in confined animal operations and over 60 percent increase in phosphorus in the Maumee watershed. The numbers were confirmed by Ohio State researchers in late 2019. Ohio should have but has not addressed the massive manure increases.” [The Blade, 9/12/20 (+)]

 

Water Pollution

 

PFAS

 

Panel To Question DOD Officials On PFAS Contamination. According to E&E News, “The House Armed Services Committee will question Defense Department officials this week on contamination from legacy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The DOD began using firefighting foam containing PFAS during the 1970s. The chemicals are now considered dangerous to public health and the environment. And the Pentagon has identified more than 600 military sites where it suspects PFAS contamination (Greenwire, March 17). The report was prepared by the military’s new Congressional PFAS Task Force, which Defense Secretary Mark Esper created in response to growing concern about the chemicals. Maureen Sullivan, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for environment, and Herb Nelson, director of the DOD’s Strategic Environment Research and Development Program, will appear. The Pentagon is researching PFAS-free firefighting foams. Last year’s National Defense Authorization Act mandated the creation of an alternative foam that meets military specifications by October 2023 (Greenwire, March 20). The House version of the fiscal 2021 NDAA, H.R. 6395, would authorize $1.5 billion to clean up PFAS contamination at military facilities. It also included an amendment requiring the DOD to publish PFAS testing results online within seven days, or 30 days if posted to the Federal Register (E&E Daily, July 21). The Senate version of the NDAA also includes language on PFAS. Negotiators in both chambers have yet to agree to compromise language, which may not emerge until after the elections.” [E&E News, 9/14/20 (=)]

 

NC Getting Tough On PFAS Polluters, Researchers Say More Action Needed. According to The Fayetteville Observer, “North Carolina is getting tougher on industries that pollute the state’s air and waterways with potentially carcinogenic per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, commonly known as PFAS or ‘forever chemicals.’ On Aug. 10, state Attorney General Josh Stein announced that he is starting an investigation into manufacturers and others that have fouled the state’s lakes, rivers and streams with PFAS. Stein’s office declined to reveal what the investigation will entail, but it later confirmed that Stein has partnered with the national environmental law firm Kelley Drye & Warren. The firm, based in New York with offices in seven other states, says on its website that it is involved in more than 20 PFAS lawsuits across the country. Three days after Stein’s announcement, the state Department of Environmental Quality, along with Cape Fear River Watch and the Southern Environmental Law Center, said it plans to take significant additional action against Chemours to compel the company to rid PFAS from the groundwater at the chemical company’s plant along the banks of the Cape Fear River in Bladen County.” [The Fayetteville Observer, 9/13/20 (+)]

 

Toxic Algae

 

Researchers Study Hurricane Irma's Water Quality Impacts On Florida. According to Water Quality Products, “Researchers looked into the possible impact Irma had on Southwest Florida’s water quality. This includes researcher Cynthia Heil with Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, according to Wink News. In the three years since Hurricane Irma hit Southwest Florida, the region’s water quality has accumulated issues including algae blooms and red tide, according to NOAA. With a five-year NOAA study, researchers will consider factors that cause the algae blooms and what can help mitigate them. ‘We know when there was a bloom and when there was not a bloom,’ said Heil. ‘And we are trying to link that up with our long-term record of hurricanes and storms and see if we can see relationships there.’ Mike Parsons, professor at FGCU’s Water School is also looking into Hurricane Irma’s impact on water quality in Southwest Florida. According to Parsons, there were red tides after previous large hurricane and large rainfall events, so there may be a connection. Parsons also is on the state’s Blue-Green Algae Task Force, which studies the link between Hurricane Irma and the blue-green algae. ‘Hurricane Irma brought a lot of rain with it and so if you look at Lake Okeechobee, that raised the lake levels pretty high,’ said Parsons to Wink News. ‘It caused some significant discharges.’” [Water Quality Products, 9/11/20 (=)]

 

Wastewater

 

AP | Environmentalists Mull Appeal After Judge Tosses Sewage Suit. According to Martinsville Bulletin, “An environmental group says it believes a federal judge was wrong to dismiss its lawsuit over raw sewage released in suburban Atlanta and says it’s considering whether it will appeal. U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg on Aug. 31 dismissed a lawsuit brought by the South River Watershed Alliance claiming DeKalb County wasn’t doing enough to clean up sewage dumping problems under a consent decree with federal and state officials. Grimberg said the alliance, which seeks to improve the health and recreational use of the river, didn’t have legal standing to sue under the federal Clean Water Act because it couldn’t prove that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division weren’t diligently prosecuting their 2010 case against DeKalb County. The agencies are currently negotiating possible changes to the consent decree. South River Watershed Alliance argued in its lawsuit that the governments aren’t doing enough. The alliance points to continued sewage releases by DeKalb County, a lack of a deadline to complete repairs and fines of $800,000 for more than 1,000 spills and inaccurate reporting, arguing it’s cheaper for the county to pay fines than fix the problem. The alliance also says the governments let DeKalb implement a different hydraulic model than the one specifically agreed to in the consent decree.” [Martinsville Bulletin, 9/13/20 (=)]

 

Groundwater

 

Gelman Plume Cleanup Proposal Released, Faces Criticism From Local Residents. According to The Michigan Daily, “After four years of negotiations, local officials have come to a proposed agreement on a cleanup plan for the Gelman dioxane plume on Aug. 31. The plume’s history goes back to 1958, when the late Charles Gelman began manufacturing micro-porous filters in the local Ann Arbor area. A chemical called 1,4-dioxane was used during the process, and eventually seeped into soil, polluting groundwater at the company’s Scio Township plant. Over decades, the dioxane spread into a large plume of underground contamination in northwest Ann Arbor. Dioxane was deemed a probable carcinogen and has been found to cause kidney and liver damage as well as respiratory problems. The newly proposed settlement with polluter Gelman Science Inc. details a thorough plan for a cleanup protocol, which includes expanding prohibition zones and increasing well installments to monitor the plume’s migration through Ann Arbor area’s groundwater systems. The settlement’s executive summary states there will be ‘a significant increase in the obligations imposed on Gelman to investigate and remediate 1,4-dioxane contamination at and migrating away from the Gelman site.’ Prohibition zones were also redefined in the proposed settlement. These zones prohibit the use of groundwater in particular areas due to the heightened levels of dioxane. Additionally, the state’s dioxane assessment for drinking water saw a significant decrease from 85 parts per billion to 7.2 parts per billion. Areas within the prohibition zone show levels of dioxane greater than 7.2 parts per billion.” [The Michigan Daily, 9/12/20 (=)]

 

Plastic Pollution

 

Why Is Recycling So Confusing? You Can Blame Big Oil. According to Grist, “It turns out that the reason there’s so much plastic shit in the ocean isn’t that you haven’t bought a metal straw yet (me either). NPR and PBS Frontline published a bombshell investigation on Friday about how oil and gas executives knowingly pushed the illusion that comprehensive plastic recycling is a viable practice — with no actual intention of making it that way — all in the interest of getting consumers to buy more single-use plastic materials. The lie, which the plastics industry has spent many millions of dollars and decades promoting, goes all the way down to that extremely pesky ‘recyclable’ symbol! It really is meaningless! ‘Industry documents from this time show that … starting in 1989, oil and plastics executives began a quiet campaign to lobby almost 40 states to mandate that the symbol appear on all plastic — even if there was no way to economically recycle it. Some environmentalists also supported the symbol, thinking it would help separate plastic. Smith said what it did was make all plastic look recyclable. ‘The consumers were confused,’ Smith says. ‘It totally undermined our credibility, undermined what we knew was the truth in our community, not the truth from a lobbying group out of D.C.’” [Grist, 9/12/20 (+)]

 

Cincinnati City Council Passes Plastic Bag Ban. According to The News Record, “Single-use plastic bags will no longer be allowed in the city of Cincinnati, in part to an environmental initiative founded by students at the University of Cincinnati (UC). On Sept. 10, Cincinnati City Council approved an ordinance banning single-use plastic bags. The ordinance was passed with a 7-1 majority and will go into effect January 1, 2021. The ban will discontinue the distribution of single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and restaurants throughout the city. Use of heavy-duty plastic or paper bags will be allowed for the first six months after the ban goes into effect. Starting July 1, 2021, businesses will begin providing reusable bags for a fee of at least five cents per bag. The fee will allow business owners to offset the cost of providing customers reusable bags. Those receiving government food assistance, such as food stamps, will be exempt from this fee. ‘I believe that our earth is speaking to us,’ said Councilmember Chris Seelbach, who sponsored the ordinance, citing intensified natural disasters as a result of climate change.” [The News Record, 9/13/20 (=)]

 

Western Water

 

Waging The War Against Wildfire With Water. According to St. George Spectrum & Daily News, “If you’ve spent any time in the west this summer, you’ve seen the skies fill with smoke from wildfires, prompting thousands of firefighters to be called to the front lines to fight the flames. One of the tools in their arsenal is water, of which the west is in short supply, particularly in the late summer months. So, how much water goes into fighting western fires whilst we fret over the future supply of our local drinking water? According to Mike Melton, the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Land’s Fire Management Officer for southwest Utah, three major fires in Washington County in July were responsible for drawing 765,090 gallons of water from local reservoirs. The Veyo West Fire, sparked north of St. George on July 13th, accounted for 106,420 of those gallons. It ended up burning nearly 3,000 acres and doing enough damage to warrant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Just a few days later, the Turkey Farm Road Fire was started by fireworks illegally ignited by three teenagers in the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, a reserve for the threatened Mojave desert tortoise. That fire burned nearly 12,000 acres and was fought with 594,544 gallons of water, according to Melton. The very next week, a blown tire on Interstate 15 started the nearby Cottonwood Trail fire, which scorched approximately 2,000 acres and required 63,126 gallons of water.” [St. George Spectrum & Daily News, 9/11/20 (+)]

 

Environmental Justice

 

Natural Gas Pipeline Was A Long Shot In Eastern Shore County — Until State Help Arrived. According to Bay Journal, “With only a handful of large employers and Maryland’s highest poverty rate, Somerset County has come up empty for years in its efforts to attract a natural gas pipeline, which county officials view as the key to unlocking its economic potential. Now, though, a pipeline is just a few regulatory steps away from construction in the county. What changed? Not the private sector. The county’s economic activity is as sluggish as ever. What’s new is a lucrative public lifeline — a 20-year contract to supply natural gas-fired energy to two huge state-owned enterprises: a historically Black university and a state prison. The state’s financial interests in the Del-Mar Energy Pathway pipeline top the list of questions being raised by environmental groups about the Eastern Shore project. ‘I don’t think driving down the utility bills at a state penitentiary is a compelling enough benefit to put my family at risk or to put at risk the waters that my grandfather tonged oysters in,’ Robin Cockey, an attorney and former Salisbury city councilman, said at a recent hearing on the pipeline. The project also has drawn scrutiny for potential environmental damage to wetlands and streams during construction, the possibility of the pipeline leaking and its reliance on gas obtained from controversial hydraulic fracturing.” [Bay Journal, 9/14/20 (+)]

 

Op-Ed: Proposed Cumberland County Landfill Perpetuates Environmental Racism. According to Richmond Times-Dispatch, “It is no secret that Black Americans have gotten the short end of the stick in this country for centuries. Our communities have long dealt with lower access to health care, higher rates of police brutality and lower-than-average incomes. So, it should come as no shock that we also have been dealt an unfair hand when it comes to the environment surrounding our communities. Now I am seeing my state of Virginia, home to some of the most beautiful landscapes that our great country has to offer, being tarnished by this injustice yet again. Currently, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is in the process of reviewing a new 1,200-acre mega-landfill, dubbed the Green Ridge Recycling and Disposal Facility. This development is proposed to be set in Cumberland County, which is more than one-fifth Black. … Black Americans are two times more likely to live without potable water and modern sanitation, and there are reportedly 44 private drinking water wells within 500 feet of the proposed facility. Having access to clean air and water is a fundamental human right, and this landfill threatens to take that from us. Set to operate six days a week, 24 hours a day and accept up to 5,000 tons of waste daily, there is no doubt this mega-landfill would have a grave health impact on the water and air of surrounding areas.” [Richmond Times-Dispatch, 9/13/20 (=)]

 

Flooding

 

After The Blazes: Poisoned Water And 'A Flood On Steroids'. According to E&E News, “Historic wildfires raging from California to Colorado are weakening watersheds and setting the stage for deadly mudslides and flooding and, in some places, threatening to poison critical water supplies. Fueled by record-setting temperatures and strong winds, blazes are wreaking havoc in the West, decimating entire towns like Malden in eastern Washington state, where 80% of the homes and structures — from the fire station to city hall — were burned to the ground. But the fires don’t just pose a threat to things that burn. More intense and larger fires are also shifting the very ground in Western states. Severe wildfires can change the hydrologic response of a watershed so quickly that even a relatively modest rainstorm can trigger flash floods and steep terrain debris flows, said Jason Kean, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Landslide Hazards Program in Golden, Colo. ‘A debris flow is kind of like a flood on steroids,’ said Kean. ‘It’s all bulked up with rocks, mud, boulders, and then it becomes a different animal that can be even more destructive than a flood.’ Burned and denuded land no longer has the vegetative root structure to help stabilize the soil and is easily eroded by rain, Kean said, adding that the land also can’t absorb water the way it did before the fire. High-severity fires can also cause soil surfaces to harden or even cause soil to repel water, Kean said.” [E&E News, 9/11/20 (=)]

 

Laura Evacuees Protest, Cite Slow Aid Response From FEMA. According to E&E News, “About two dozen Hurricane Laura evacuees and their advocates marched through the streets of New Orleans yesterday to protest what they called the ‘slow response’ from the federal government on getting them needed financial assistance. Evacuees from Lake Charles, DeRidder, Vinton and other cities hit hard when Laura raked the state last month marched holding signs that read ‘FEMA — The people of Lake Charles need assistance now’ and ‘FEMA — Lake Charles children need school today.’ The march ended outside the federal building in New Orleans, where they chanted ‘What do we want?’ ‘Justice,’ ‘When do we want it?’ ‘Now.’ Estevan Hernandez, of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and one of the march’s organizers, said Lake Charles and its surroundings has suffered an estimated $10 billion to $12 billion in damage from Laura but FEMA has only released $29 million. ‘The government needs to give more,’ he said. ‘When will these people get some answers and real relief? People have been abandoned in Lake Charles and that’s why we’re out here today.’ FEMA issued a statement yesterday that the agency is ‘fully engaged, and our top priorities continue to be survivor needs and power and water restoration. We are working with our local, state, and federal partners to facilitate these actions in an effective manner.’ The statement added that FEMA has so far registered more than 131,000 Louisiana survivors and put more than $73 million in the hands of residents, including nearly $47 million for housing assistance and more than $26 million for other assistance.” [E&E News, 9/11/20 (=)]

 

Misc. Waterways

 

AP | Drought, Water Releases Shrink Indiana Lake, Pinch Economy. According to The Hour, “The seasonal economy along a northern Indiana lake that’s a popular boating destination is feeling a pinch as the lake continues to shrink following weeks of scant rainfall and water releases required to protect federally endangered mussels. Boaters, tubers and water skiers typically fill Lake Freeman each Labor Day weekend. But that wasn’t the case last weekend and the lake is now down about four feet (1.2 meters) from its typical water level, WTHR-TV reported. The lower water is hindering boating and creating water hazards as summer draws to a close in the lakeside city of Monticello, said Susan Wagner, who owns Susan’s Freeman Bay — a convenience store along the shoreline that’s seen far fewer boating customers mooring to buy gasoline, snacks or Lake Freeman-themed souvenirs. ‘We’re in one of the deeper parts of the lake and these people can’t even get out,’ she said, pointing to boats marooned on their lifts over what’s now dry land along the lake’s receding shoreline.” [The Hour, 9/12/20 (=)]

 

AP | Ala. Celebrates Cleanup As Site Escapes EPA Priority List. According to E&E News, “After years of work, EPA will not put a polluted area in downtown Montgomery on its list of the most contaminated Superfund sites in the country, a state agency announced Wednesday. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management announced the decision in a news release. It credited years of work to monitor and clean up contaminated groundwater and soil in a 50-block area of downtown Montgomery known as the Capitol City Plume Superfund. ADEM said the site will not be included on EPA’s proposed National Priorities List. The NPL is a list of the most serious sites identified for long-term cleanup. ‘It couldn’t have happened without all the parties deciding we needed a plan to tackle the problem and agreeing to work together to carry it out. Now, this area of downtown Montgomery that has already seen significant redevelopment and reuse can blossom even more,’ ADEM Director Lance LeFleur said in a news release. The contamination was discovered in 1993. A chemical wholesaler, auto repair shops and dry cleaners were identified as possible sources, according to the agency. The site was proposed for listing on the National Priorities List in 2000. ADEM said that cleanup actions have included emergency soil excavation, groundwater monitoring, abandonment of all affected public water supply wells and closing all private wells in the area, planting trees that help remove contaminants and the use of vapor barriers in some buildings.” [E&E News, 9/11/20 (=)]

 

 

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