Court tells PADEP to provide drilling info to newspaper



An appeals court in Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that the Department of Environmental Protection must release documents to The (Scranton) Times-Tribune in response to an open records request regardless of whether it is hard for the agency to find the records in its files.

A reporter for the newspaper in September had sought access to any letters sent to public and private water supply owners on whether nearby natural gas drilling operations had polluted or diminished the flow of water to their wells, as well as any enforcement orders stemming from such a determination.


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The department had challenged, among other things, whether the request was sufficiently specific, whether the office should have considered the burden on the department of locating and producing the records, and whether it had already made a good-faith search for them. 

The Times-Tribune  reported today: 

“The three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court agreed with an earlier decision by the state’s Office of Open Records and found that the DEP cannot deny a sufficiently specific request under the state’s Right to Know Law because the documents would be “burdensome” for the agency to find. It also noted that the DEP never physically searched its files to find the documents. 

“There is simply nothing in the RTKL that authorizes an agency to refuse to search for and produce documents based on the contention it would be too burdensome to do so,” Judge Anne E. Covey wrote in the opinion, adding that the burden on DEP comes not from the records request, “but from DEP’s method of tracking its records.” 

[See the full ruling here]  

Newspaper attorney J. Timothy Hinton Jr. called the ruling “a good decision for public access.” A PADEP spokesman said Tuesday that officials had just received and were reviewing the opinion.


See our most recent posts: 
New findings as Indian Point permit hearings resume 
RGGI Redux: Christie’s latest smackdown; Enviros livid 
Pennsylvania not following Jersey’s lead on solar rescue 
Will iPhone vs Android determine Obama vs Romney? 
Construction begins on Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm 
NJ Sierra Club thanks (gasp) Christie for solar signing

Court tells PADEP to provide drilling info to newspaper Read More »

New findings as Indian Point permit hearings resume

Two new findings will be in play tomorrow, as the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) resumes hearings at 9 a.m. in Albany on Entergy‘s contested water-discharge permit for the twin-unit Indian Point nuclear power plant. The facility is on the Hudson River, 38 miles north of New York City.  

Environmental writer Roger Witherspoon reports that federal regulators have downgraded,
by a factor of 1,000, the 31-year old data assessing the fish killed annually by facility. In addition, the regulators assert the plants’ thermal plume causes minimal damage to the Hudson River environment and may fit state requirements for a hot water discharge permit.

The direct impact of the change by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy Nuclear, owners of the plants, over the continuing use of Hudson River water to cool its massive equipment. The state has been insisting that Indian Point construct a closed cycle cooling system–sort of an industrial radiator recycling water–rather than suck in enormous amounts of river water, pass it through a heat exchanger, and dump the heated water back into the river.

 A closed system would use 95 percent to 9 percent less water than the current once-through system, and would end the dumping of hot water  into the river. Entergy is the largest water use of 40 power plants around the state which the DEC is targeting for cooling system changes in an effort to bring them into compliance with the Clean Water Act and end the annual destruction of billions of river fish. If the twin nuclear plants do not obtain a discharge from DEC, it will not be able to operate even if the NRC grants its request to extend its 40-year operating license another 20 years.


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The DEC hearings on Indian Point’s water discharge permit have been ongoing. The last was held in January, 2012.

A similar controversy over a state-mandated installation of a water-cooling system at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey was settled a year ago when state environmental officials reached a deal with Exelon Corp. to shut down the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant 10 years earlier than expected. In return, the plant was allowed to continue operating without building costly cooling towers.


Here’s Roger’s piece: Dropping by the Millions: NRC Downgrades Indian Point Fish Kills 


Related stories: 


New findings as Indian Point permit hearings resume Read More »

RGGI Redux: Christie’s latest smackdown; Enviros livid

Graphic credit: Grist

For the second straight year, Gov. Chris Christie has rejected an attempt by Democrats in the state Legislature to return New Jersey to RGGI (“Reggie”).

Christie yesterday vetoed S-1322 which would have overturned his May 2011 decision to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a 10-state cooperative that channels the receipts of a carbon tax on power plants into energy-efficiency and energy-saving projects. RGGI advocates say the program not only benefits the environment and creates green jobs.

The legislation was virtually identical to a bill that Christie vetoed last August. The Democrats did not have the votes to override that veto, so they passed the new bill which he, predictably, has again spiked.

Although expected, environmental organizations reacted to the environmental news with fresh outrage.

“We’re extremely
disappointed that, despite unprecedented public support from average New Jerseyans
who care about clean air, Gov. Christie chose to side with a small, extreme
wing of the Tea Party that is funded by out of state fossil fuel interests,said Environment New Jersey‘s Matt Elliott.

“Numerous independent studies have shown that RGGI delivers
benefits to the economy and the environment, creating a win-win for every
resident of our state.  The governor’s veto today moves us backward on
economic growth and environmental protection with one swoop of his pen.”

A NJ Sierra Club statement also picked up the catering-to-the-right-wing theme.

“The Governor’s veto
today shows his continued commitment to the Koch Brothers, big coal, and his
national Republican agenda rather than his commitment to the people of New
Jersey, our environment, and green jobs. Now we need the New Jersey Legislature
to stand up to the Governor by overriding this veto protecting our environment
and economy,” said Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel. 


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In his veto message, the governor said:

“RGGI has failed to create economic incentives for fossil fuel-fired electric generators to limit greenhouse gases. Energy producers, accordingly, were not incentivized to use lower carbon-based fuels, improve emission controls, or increase efficiencies in production, Indeed, RGGI did nothing more than impose a tax on electricity to be borne by New Jersey’s overburdened taxpayers and ratepayers who already pay some of the highest energy costs in the country. Instead of increasing costs on New Jersey’s ratepayers unnecessarily, real change must be addressed on a national and international scale.”

“My veto of this bill was never in doubt. Rather than devote time to working with me in a bipartisan fashion of the still unresolved critical issues that affect News Jersey’s taxpayers, the Legislature instead chose to present me with a replica bill advancing a futile policy.”

Related:
 Christie Doesn’t Budge on Greenhouse Gas, Vetoes Initiative Again


See our most recent posts: 

RGGI Redux: Christie’s latest smackdown; Enviros livid Read More »

Pennsylvania not following Jersey’s lead on solar rescue

NJ Gov. Chris Christie signs solar energy rescue bill

New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie on Monday signed into law a bill to rescue the state’s crashing solar energy industry by escalating the rate at which power suppliers must buy solar energy over the next 15 years. 

The businesses of solar panel installers across the Delaware in Pennsylvania are reportedly in even tougher shape, but similar legislation there remains stuck in committee. 

“There’s only eight legislative days left,” solar lobbyist Maureen Mulligan told NewsWorks yesterday. “So it’s not looking promising that the legislators would have the will to push it through.”


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Advanced Solar Products CEO Lyle Rawlings hopes Christie’s approval eventually nudges Pennsylvania lawmakers.

“I would hope the fact that a conservative Republican governor in New Jersey recognized the economic importance of the solar industry in New Jersey would be a clue to the Pennsylvania governor and Legislature that the same can happen, and should happen, in Pennsylvania,” Rawlings said.

Good luck with that, Lyle. Unfortunately, you’re trying to save solar energy businesses and jobs in a state that seems entirely focused on shale drilling and warding off non-existent voter fraud threats.

Read the full NewsWorks story here. 

Pennsylvania not following Jersey’s lead on solar rescue Read More »

Will iPhone vs Android determine Obama vs Romney?

The mobile operating system you choose may determine the fate of the U.S. presidency in the November election. Certainly, it’s likely to dictate whether you’re bombarded with pro-Barack Obama ads or pro-Mitt Romney ads as you browse the mobile Internet this year.

That’s the conclusion drawn by InfoWorld in reporting on a anew study from Localytics which found that: 

  • 70 percent of the states with the most active iPhone users (New Jersey and New York among them) 
    vote Democratic
  • 70 percent of the states with the most active Android users lean Republican, and 
  • Critical swing states are clustered in the middle.

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The presidential candidates’ respective campaigns may use those nuggets of information as we head toward Election Day, Localytics predicts: “With the Obama and Romney campaigns seeking every advantage, targeted smartphone advertising will be useful when trying to reach Democratic and Republican voters and volunteers in swing states, which cluster around the average iPhone and Android distribution.” 

During the 2008 election, both Obama and Republican challenger John McCain used mobile primarily to send unsolicited texts, which resulted in complaints to the FCC, according to Localytics. 

Now the Democrats and Republicans have an opportunity to hone their mobile and online strategies. (A warning: Those spam texts may be just as prevalent this time around, along with an abundance of tweets.) 

Here is the full InfoWorld story and the study from Localytics  

We’re already dreading the incessant campaign ads sure to crowd out our favorite beer and truck commercials on NFL Sundays. To think that we also will get waylaid on our cells is just too much.  

What’s your take?  Let us know in the comment box below. If one isn’t visible, activate it by clicking on the tiny ‘comments’ link.  

Our most recent posts:  
Construction begins on Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm
NJ Sierra Club thanks (gasp) Christie for solar signing
Hearing set for third phase of NJ Superfund site cleanup
Appeals court affirms EPA’s revised NOx standards
Inconvenient truths about impressive CO2 emission cuts 

Will iPhone vs Android determine Obama vs Romney? Read More »

Construction begins on Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm

Posts for solar panels at what will be the largest solar farm in Pennsylvania

Community Energy Solar says it has closed
financing and commenced construction of its six megawatt Keystone
Solar Project south of the city of Lancaster, Pa.


The retail-marketing division of Community Energy Solar’s parent,
Radnor, Pa.-based Community Energy Inc., has committed to buying power
from the project. So has Exelon Generation, the Kennett Square, Pa.,
subsidiary of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. Both also helped
finance the project.

Other customers for power from the Keystone Solar Project include the Philadelphia Phillies and Franklin and Marshall College, which is located in Lancaster.

GroSolar of White River Junction, Vt., is the general contractor on the project, which is targeted for a fall completion. About 50 construction,
electrical, and other jobs are expected to be created at the site this summer.

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In a news release, Community Energy Solar said that the project’s solar panels are being installed on driven posts without concrete to avoid soil disturbance. Cover vegetation will be used to preserve and improve organic soil content.


Lancaster Township Supervisor Chair, Scott Kreider said: “They designed the project so that the land can be used for agriculture again when the project is complete.” 
About
20,000 Canadian Solar 290 watt modules are being installed on fixed
tilt, ground-mounted aluminum racking and will be
interconnected to the PPL Electric grid at 12 kilovolts
with AE inverters and platforms.

The Project is expected to supply about 7.5
million kilowatt hours per year of solar generated electricity under a
fifteen-year power purchase agreement with Exelon.
Project developers say that annual environmental benefit equals that of about 3,000
zero-emission passenger vehicles or 285,000 newly planted trees growing
for ten years.

The solar project received financing and funding
from the Ben Franklin Technology Partnership, the Sustainable Energy
Fund and the State of Pennsylvania. 

Our most recent posts:
NJ Sierra Club thanks (gasp) Christie for solar signing
Hearing set for third phase of NJ Superfund site cleanup
Appeals court affirms EPA’s revised NOx standards
Inconvenient truths about impressive CO2 emission cuts
Lennon, Ono, Fallon protest: ‘Don’t Frack My Mother‘ 


Construction begins on Pennsylvania’s largest solar farm Read More »