How did the environment do on Election Day 2014?

Pennsylvania’s incumbent governor, Tom Corbett, above left, a friend of the gas and oil industry who has opposed proposals to tax natural gas drilling and who installed climate skeptics to run the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, LOST to businessman Tom Wolf, above right.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has avoided any decision on permitting natural gas drilling until after yesterday’s election, WON. 


New Jersey’s Public Question #2, which approves the dedication of a portion of the state’s corporate business tax to fund the purchase of properties for open space, farmland preservation, flood protection, recreation and historic site preservation PASSED. Governor Chris Christie, some business organizations, and a lobby for the Koch Brothers had urged a no vote.

Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability, a temporary creation of Mayor Michael Nutter will become a permanent part of city government as a result of an overwhelming 2-1 margin of votes cast by city residents. PASSED

ELSEWHERE
Climate Progress reports today that voters in Denton, Texas banned fracking within the city limits by a large margin of 59 to 41. The first such restriction in energy-giant Texas, Denton has been a hotly contested site for the industry and one of eight locales with fracking bans on the ballot this election.

A city of about 125,000 residents located 35 miles northwest of Dallas, Denton sits atop the Barnett shale and already has some 275 fracked wells.

Another high-profile fracking ban in Santa Barbara County, California failed to pass on Tuesday after the oil and gas industry spent close to $6 million opposing it. However a similar version in California’s San Benito County overcame oil and gas opposition and passed by a large margin, 57 percent to 43 percent.

As of late Tuesday night, the third fracking ballot ban in California’s Mendocino County was leading by a large margin.

In Ohio, voters in Athens approved a fracking ban, while those in three other communities defeated their own ban ballot measures, according to preliminary results reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Related environmental news stories:

Philadelphia ballot issues easily pass

Do you know of other environment-related votes yesterday that we have overlooked?
Let us know about them in a ‘Reply’ below.  Please include a story link if you have one.

How did the environment do on Election Day 2014? Read More »

EPA proposes modified cleanup for Pompton Lakes, NJ


  Pompton Lakes, NJ with DuPont site in background. Lake in foreground -The Record file photo 

In a news release today, the EPA announced a proposed new plan…


"…to remove mercury contamination from areas of Pompton Lake in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, including the areas where the Acid Brook flows into the lake, called the Acid Brook Delta. Areas of the sediment on the bottom of the lake have become contaminated with mercury and lead that flowed down the Acid Brook into the lake.

The public is encouraged to review the new plan and provide input.


Under the plan proposed today, in the form of a modification of its existing federal permit, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc. will be required to dredge lake bottom sediment from a 36 acre area of the Acid Brook Delta and also remove sediment from two other areas of the lake near the shoreline that have elevated levels of mercury and are subject to erosion.

These areas total an additional three acres in size. The proposed permit also requires DuPont to remove contaminated soil from a shoreline area where the Acid Brook flows into the lake, and replace it with clean soil. All of the sediment and soil will be sent to a licensed disposal facility. A long-term monitoring plan will be designed and implemented to assess Pompton Lake after the work is completed.

Click here for more details, including dates of public meetings 


Recent blog posts:
Another year of Hudson River cleanup draws to a close 
Pitt research examines air pollution and a rise in Autism 
Yo Philly, that’s a fine-looking sewage overflow tank  
Energy and environment bills on tap today in Trenton 
Philadelphia becoming shale energy hub is no slam dunk 
Tocks Island behind it, Del. Water Gap looks to future
 

EPA proposes modified cleanup for Pompton Lakes, NJ Read More »

Another year of Hudson River cleanup draws to a close

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that next week the Hudson 
River dredging will conclude for the year. Dredging is expected to continue in spring 2015. 


To date, about 2.5 million cubic yards of sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) have been removed. In 2014 approximately 575,000 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated
sediment were dredged from the bottom of the river, exceeding the annual goal of 350,000
cubic yards.

The agency said that dredging will resume next spring when the Champlain Canal reopens 
for the season. The remaining dredge areas are expected to be completed next year. Habitat 
planting and reconstruction will continue in 2016. The historic EPA-mandated cleanup, which 
began in 2009, targets approximately 2.65 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment from 
a 40-mile stretch of the Upper Hudson River between Fort Edward and Troy, New York. 

According to the EPA, For nearly thirty years, ending in the late 1970’s, an estimated 1.3 
million pounds of PCBs were discharged into the Hudson River from two General Electric 
Co. capacitor manufacturing plants located in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, New York. 

PCBs are potentially cancer-causing chemicals that persist in the environment and can affect 
the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems. GE is conducting the cleanup work 
with EPA oversight under an agreement with the agency. According to GE, the company 
has invested more than $1 billion on the cleanup project to date. 

Over the next several weeks, clean sand and gravel will be placed over previously dredged areas.
The dredged material remaining at GE’s de-watering and processing facility in Fort Edward will
be shipped by train to permitted out-of-state disposal facilities by the end of the year.  

Another year of Hudson River cleanup draws to a close Read More »

Pitt research examines air pollution and a rise in Autism

Researchers think they’ve found a link between prenatal and early childhood exposure to air pollution and autism. The findings, by the University of Pittsburgh, are considered preliminary, The Allegheny Front reports.

Principal investigator Evelyn Talbott’s team interviewed more than 200 families with children on the autism spectrum in western Pennsylvania.
Autism diagnoses have risen sharply, about eight-fold in 20 years. Talbott says research into other potential causes, like genetics, is inconclusive. So, Pitt started looking at environmental factors, like air pollution from industry and transportation.

“There are more and more cars on the road,” Talbott says. “There are many chemicals out there that we should look at.”

Talbott’s team evaluated kids exposed to certain pollutants in utero to up to two years of age. They found autism levels up to twice as high as in children without those exposures. The researchers honed in on pollutants known to disrupt children’s endocrine systems and neurological development.

The Pitt study builds on three others that looked at children in North Carolina and West Virginia, California, and the U.S., and have similar results.

Pitt research examines air pollution and a rise in Autism Read More »

Busy environmental day coming up Monday in Trenton


The Senate and Assembly environmental committees will meet
in Trenton on Monday, October 27, to consider a variety of bills. Here are their agendas:

SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

10 a.m. – Committee Room 10, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ

A proposed committee substitute will be considered for Senate Bill No.
444 and Senate Bill No. 2419.
For consideration:
S-444  Ruiz, M.T. (D-29)
Clarifies that certain types of sewage and sewage
sludge do not constitute hazardous substances under “Spill Compensation
and Control Act.”
      
S-2166  Lesniak, R.J. (D-20)
“Comprehensive Regulated Grease Recycling
Act.”
       
S-2354  Stack, B.P. (D-33)
Requires local governments and authorities to obtain
financing cost estimate required to be provided by NJ Environmental
Infrastructure Trust for certain projects.
Related Bill: A-3548
       
S-2419  Smith, B. (D-17); Bateman, C. (R-16)
Prohibits contribution action against local public
entity for cleanup and removal costs or any other damages associated with
discharge of hazardous substances.
     
S-2491  Smith, B. (D-17)
Establishes position of State Oceanographer.
      
S-2494  Lesniak, R.J. (D-20)
Requires composting or recycling of food waste by large
volume generators.
      
For discussion only:
S-2511  Madden, F.H. (D-4)
Removes anhydrous ammonia used for refrigeration as
substance regulated by “Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act”; eliminates
DOLWD licensing for operators of refrigerating plants using anhydrous ammonia.
     
____________________________________________________________________________

ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT AND SOLID WASTE
2 p.m. – Committee Room 9, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ
For consideration:
A-2913  Caride, M. (D-36); Dancer, R.S. (R-12);
Bucco, A.M. (R-25); Watson Coleman, B. (D-15)
Designates Black Swallowtail butterfly as State
Butterfly.
Related Bill: S-939
      
A-3125  Caride, M. (D-36)
Prohibits sale or planting of certain invasive plant
species.
     
A-3133  Bramnick, J.M. (R-21); Burzichelli, J.J.
(D-3)
Requires DEP to establish “private wildlife
habitat certification program”; creates affirmative defense against
municipal nuisance ordinances for properties certified under the program.
      
A-3354  Eustace, T.J. (D-38)
Establishes “Integrated Roadside Vegetation
Management Program.”
      
A-3355  Wilson, G.L. (D-5)
Requires training for pesticide applicators and
operators concerning pollinating bees.
      
 A-3452  Mazzeo, V. (D-2)
Regulates planting and sale of running bamboo;
establishes disclosure requirement for real estate licensees.
       
AJR-60  Wilson, G.L. (D-5); Riley, C.M. (D-3); Space,
P. (R-24); Dancer, R.S. (R-12)
Designates June of each year as “Native Plant
Appreciation Month.”
     
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Recent blog posts:  

Energy and environment bills on tap today in Trenton 
Philadelphia becoming shale energy hub is no slam dunk 
Tocks Island behind it, Del. Water Gap looks to future  
NJ Senate panel withholds vote on Gov.’s Pinelands picks 

  

Busy environmental day coming up Monday in Trenton Read More »

Yo Philly, that's a fine-looking sewage overflow tank

Venice Island in Manayunk is a piece of infrastructure that doubles as a public park and theater.


"Venice Island, which will play an important role in managing stormwater in Philadelphia’s flood-prone riverfront Manayunk neighborhood, is hardly an ordinary piece of water infrastructure, "Sarah Goodyear writes in Next City.
"Yes, it incorporates that underground storage tank, which can hold up to four million gallons of overflow during heavy rainfalls, keeping raw sewage out of the Schuylkill. But the $45 million project also encompasses a theater, a spray park, a basketball court, and an outdoor amphitheater. It has a green roof and is surrounded by rain gardens that capture storm runoff.
Underground storage tanks and rain gardens make a critical stormwater management tool.
"The Venice Island facility is just the latest and most visible manifestation of Philly’s Green City, Clean Waters program, a 25-year, $2.5 billion initiative spearheaded by the Philadelphia Water Department that is changing the way the city manages its stormwater. The result of a groundbreaking agreement among the city and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Green City, Clean Waters is emerging as a national model for how to go green from the bottom up. Crucially, the program involves both the public sector – led by the Philadelphia Water Department and Mayor Michael Nutter’s office of sustainability – and private landowners as well as neighborhood groups, residents and even schools."

Light bulbIs information like this important to you? Click here for free updates  


Recent blog posts: 
Energy and environment bills on tap today in Trenton
Philadelphia becoming shale energy hub is no slam dunk
Tocks Island behind it, Del. Water Gap looks to future 
NJ Senate panel withholds vote on Gov.’s Pinelands picks 
Cancer awareness drill bits stir up a pink stink 

Yo Philly, that's a fine-looking sewage overflow tank Read More »