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Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Environment - Stories today include mountaintop mining issues in Kentucky; CAFO denial; NE States to Freeze Powerplant Emissions

Mountaintop mining. The Louisville Courier Journal has a story today headlined: "Coal mining rule may be relaxed: Some fear proposal endangers streams." Some quotes:

HAZARD, Ky. -- Environmentalists took aim yesterday at a planned federal study that some say will be used to justify changing a 22-year-old rule restricting mountaintop coal mining within 100 feet of streams.

Critics say easing the restriction would result in polluted Eastern Kentucky streams, while supporters argue the change would benefit the coal industry without hurting the environment.

At a public meeting last night in Hazard, about 50 people exchanged ideas on how the federal Office of Surface Mining should study the environmental impact of the industry-backed proposal to change the regulation. * * *

The meeting came 17 months after federal mining regulators held a public hearing in Hazard on the proposed rule change.

At that March 2004 meeting, environmentalists criticized changing the rule, which restricts dumping rocks and debris from mined mountaintops within 100 feet of a stream. Companies can mine within the so-called "buffer zone" only after showing that the debris won't damage streams.

The wording of the restriction has been the subject of several lawsuits and highlighted a need to revise it, Gauldin said. * * *

David Hartos, an OSM scientist who led last night's meeting, said the agency would explore options that include keeping the regulation as it is; clarifying it to explain when mining can occur within 100 feet of streams, as the mining industry contends the proposal would do; and strengthening it to minimize the presence of rock and debris taken from a mine site. Hartos said it would take 18 months to two years to reach a final decision.

Over the past 15 years, at least 700 miles of streams have been filled with rocks and dirt from mined mountains in Eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, western Virginia and eastern Tennessee, according to a government survey.

CAFOs. "Dairy CAFO denied" is the headline to this Seth Slabaugh story today in the Muncie Star-Press. Some quotes:
HARTFORD CITY - Dutch dairy farmers Gerwin and Marinke Oolman's dreams of building a $13.5-million concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) near here were shattered Tuesday night by the Blackford County Board of Zoning Appeals.

About 200 opponents applauded and cheered the decision.

"It's over," one remonstrator shouted. "Get 'em outta here."

Some of the opponents arrived with protest signs. One read, "Welcome to Stinkyville. Population 2,000 cows."

The Oolmans hugged each other after the meeting and appeared to be crying. Their attorney, Anthony Crowell, shielded the couple from The Star Press, explaining, "They're pretty emotional right now."

Three of the five BZA members - firefighter Ron Kreischer, USDA computer specialist Dave Beatrice, and retired 3M supervisor Larry Langdon - voted to deny the Oolmans' application to present new evidence to the board.

On June 7, the couple withdrew their application for a special exception after being told by BZA attorney Dean Young that they had failed to provide evidence during a hearing in May that they could meet noise, odor, air pollution, water pollution and various other local standards.

Crowell was not present at the meeting in May when the Oolmans' consultants presented evidence to support the project. Crowell has threatened to sue the BZA if it did not allow the Oolmans to present new evidence, but in an interview after the meeting he said he and his clients would have to sit down and evaluate their next step.

"There was a full and fair hearing" in May, Young advised the board Tuesday night. It was his opinion that the Oolmans should not be allowed to present new evidence. "Where does it end?" he asked.

Power plants. "9 States in Plan to Cut Emissions by Power Plants" headlines this NY Times story today. Some quotes:
Officials in New York and eight other Northeastern states have come to a preliminary agreement to freeze power plant emissions at their current levels and then reduce them by 10 percent by 2020, according to a confidential draft proposal.

The cooperative action, the first of its kind in the nation, came after the Bush administration decided not to regulate the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. Once a final agreement is reached, the legislatures of the nine states will have to enact it, which is considered likely.

Enforcement of emission controls could potentially result in higher energy prices in the nine states, which officials hope can be offset by subsidies and support for the development of new technology that would be paid for with the proceeds from the sale of emission allowances to the utility companies.

The regional initiative would set up a market-driven system to control emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, from more than 600 electric generators in the nine states. Environmentalists who support a federal law to control greenhouse gases believe that the model established by the Northeastern states will be followed by other states, resulting in pressure that could eventually lead to the enactment of a national law.

California, Washington and Oregon are in the early stages of exploring a regional agreement similar to the Northeastern plan. The nine states in the Northeastern agreement are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

MORE environment stories may follow later today.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 24, 2005 08:32 AM
Posted to Environment