EnviroPolitics Blog

In the nation’s driest spot, Death Valley, a lake pops up

By ABC News

An ancient lake that reemerged at Death Valley National Park last year will remain for longer than initially expected now that several rounds of extreme rain have poured through Southern California, according to officials.

Death Valley’s famed Badwater Basin began filling up with water in August due to heavy precipitation from Hurricane Hilary, which prompted the first tropical storm watch in California state history, Abby Wines, park ranger at Death Valley National Park, told ABC News last month. During that event, more than 2 inches of water fell on Aug. 20 — the amount the region typically sees in a year.

PHOTO: People walk through the still present Lake Manly at Badwater Basin in Death Valley, Calif., Jan. 26, 2024. — *People walk through the still present Lake Manly at Badwater Basin in Death Valley, Calif., Jan. 26, 2024.Allison Dinner/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock*

Park rangers initially estimated that several inches of water where Ice Age-era Lake Manly once stood would only last until February. But storm systems fueled with potent atmospheric rivers in recent weeks has expanded the lake once again, satellite images released by NASA show.

Much of the precipitation occurred between Feb. 4 and Feb. 7, when 1.5 inches of water fell in the park, according to a statement released by the National Park Service on Friday. The series of satellite images shows how the lake expanded from virtually no water on July 5 to being flooded with water from August through February.

Death Valley is the driest place in North America, with a typical rainfall total of about 2 inches per year, according to NASA. In the past six months, the region has received nearly 5 inches of rain, records show.

At this point, park rangers are uncertain how long the lake will last. Another round of atmospheric rivers are forecast for the region on Monday through Wednesday.

PHOTO: Images compare the desert basin before flooding (left) with its more-waterlogged state following each major storm. In both August 2023 (middle) and February 2024 (right), a shallow lake several kilometers across fills in the low-lying salt flat. — This series of images compares the desert basin before flooding (left) with its more-waterlogged state following each major storm. In both August 2023 (middle) and February 2024 (right), a shallow lake several kilometers across fills in the low-lying salt flat.

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NJ lawmakers take up bills restricting toxics in consumer products

The Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee will meet on Thursday, February 22, 2024, at 10 a.m. in Committee Room 12, 4th Floor, State House Annex in Trenton, NJ to consider the following bills:

A3800 (Sampson, pending intro and referral) Prohibits the sale of certain children’s products containing lead, mercury, or cadmium.

A3801 (Hall, pending intro and referral) Prohibits the sale, distribution, and manufacture of jewelry containing cadmium.

FOR DISCUSSION ONLY:

A3018 (Calabrese) Establishes a task force to study the presence of mercury in floors of certain facilities.

A3019 (Calabrese/Stanley/Danielsen) Requires new flooring for schools and child care centers to be certified to be mercury-free.

The public may address comments and questions to Kathryn Meza, Jaime Velazquez, Committee Aides, or make bill status and scheduling inquiries to Charles Lwanga, Secretary, at (609)847-3870 fax (609)777-2715, or e-mail: OLSAideACO@njleg.org. Written and electronic comments, questions, and testimony submitted to the committee by the public, as well as recordings and transcripts, if any, of oral testimony, are government records and will be available to the public upon request.

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Backlog at Clean Harbors’ Nebraska incinerator leads to $270K fine

The EPA said that Clean Harbors’ facility had repeatedly violated environmental laws from 2021 to 2023.

An aerial view of a facility showing outdoor truck parking areas and large warehouses or sheds.

An aerial view of Clean Harbors’ Kimball TSDF shows the areas where hazardous waste containers are offloaded or loaded onto trucks in Area 57 A/B/C. On multiple occasions, regulators found hazardous waste in the area that exceeded the time limit by which the waste should have been moved between 2021 and 2023. (2022). “EPA Final inspection report FY 22 NE Clean Harbors”

By Jacob Wallace, Waste Dive Editor

Clean Harbors received a $270,412 fine for hazardous waste management violations at its Kimball, Nebraska, incineration plant where it’s currently completing an expansion, the U.S. EPA announced in a release Wednesday.

From 2021 to 2023, regulators flagged a series of issues to Clean Harbors, some of which related to a backlog of hazardous material that the company has acknowledged in earnings calls. Wednesday’s announcement follows a “lengthy history” of violations of environmental laws like the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the EPA said. The agency noted that Clean Harbors has since corrected the violations.

“Mismanagement of hazardous waste leads to human exposure and environmental contamination,” David Cozad, director of EPA Region 7’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, said in a statement. “This penalty action involving one of the largest hazardous waste disposal facilities in the country demonstrates EPA’s commitment to protecting communities and leveling the playing field for companies that comply with the law.”

The operating permit for the Kimball, Nebraska, hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facility, or TSDF, was renewed for five years on Sept. 15, 2022. Clean Harbors has operated the plant since it acquired the property from Amoco in 1995, according to a company factsheet.

Read the full story here

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New York City reshapes its commercial waste system. Details sparse.

Many questions remain about how companies were selected, how much recycling investment will occur, how soon companies get electric vehicles, when implementation will begin, and more.

By Cole Rosengren, Waste Dive Editor

New York’s recent announcement of 65 contracts for companies to manage commercial waste in the city was a major development. Now comes the hard part — setting up the system by 2026.

Shifting from an open market system in which licensed haulers can operate anywhere in the five boroughs to one in which select haulers can only operate in certain zones will be complex. Many questions remain about how this will be implemented, as well as how it will lead to desired environmental and safety benefits.

The city’s Department of Sanitation declined an interview and further details at this time. The New York City Council’s sanitation committee is expected to address this topic in future budget and oversight hearings, but dates have not been set.

In the meantime, here are five important areas to watch as the process gets underway.

Initial reactions

Unlike other waste-related announcements, neither DSNY nor Mayor Eric Adams have held press conferences on this issue in recent years. Aside from a supportive statement by the New York League of Conservation Voters after the awards, environmental and business groups have largely been quiet as well.

Read the full story here

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The proposed dam on the Susquehanna River stirs painful memories of Tocks Island on the Delaware

On February 1, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a preliminary permit to York Energy Storage, LLC for the pumped hydroelectric storage project the company proposes in York County. The preliminary permit gives York Energy Storage priority for building a project on the site (essentially calling dibs) and opens up a public input period as the company begins to assemble the studies and other documents necessary for a full license application. That license would allow the company to build the project and use eminent domain to force property owners on the site to sell.

The public has 60 days from the preliminary permit date to submit comments to the FERC. Any comment submitted should include the docket number P-15332-000 and can be submitted by the FERC’s eComment system or by paper.

By Bernard Brown in Grist, February 12, 2024

In winter, the two sides of Old Bridgeville Road in eastern York County, about 70 miles west of Philadelphia, don’t look all that different. Tan fields of corn and soy stubble cover the rolling hills to the east and to the west, broken up by patches of woods and dotted with houses and farm buildings.

If the proposed York Energy Storage project is built, though, the view to the east will be dominated by a 580-acre reservoir. Up to 25,000 acre-feet of water would be held back by a 9,800-foot-long dam up to 225 feet tall as well as dikes to either side, one 700 feet long and up to 90 feet tall and another 1,300 feet long and up to 35 feet tall. York Energy Storage LLC, the company proposing the project, says that it will fill an important role in a green energy future. The question is whether this is true, and at what cost to the people in the way.

Jake and Jen Horton live in a white farmhouse on 70 acres of crop fields and pastures that would be underneath the surface of the proposed reservoir. Near the house stand four outbuildings including two yet-unpainted barns. A fire in March destroyed the previous barns and the Hortons rebuilt them over the summer, racing to finish before they had to put up hay for the winter. “What we’re looking at would be underwater,” Jake Horton says.

Read the full Grid story here

EP editor’s Note: Many of you, while reading the Grid story above, may flash back to the battle over the construction of the Tocks Island dam on the Delaware River. Here is some history of that event.

The Tocks Island Dam controversy (National Park Service)
Tocks Island Dam Controversy ( Wikipedia)
Tocks Island Dam Aftermath (Jim Alexander video)
The lasting legacy of Nancy Shukaitis, Tocks Dam fighter (Morning Call)

We invite your comments on the York, PA dam/reservoir proposal and/or your memories of Tocks Island.

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Tribe’s enormous solar farm will be eight miles long, one mile wide

By Clark Adomaitis, Voices From the Edge of the Colorado Plateau

A proposed solar farm on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation will have 2.2 million solar panels and will be eight miles long and one mile wide.

Tribal officials worked with the international renewable energy company Canigou Group to plan the Sun Bear Solar Farm near Towaoc, Colorado. Officials say the project will create more than 500 local jobs for electricians and laborers.

Officials are planning to break ground on the construction of the Sun Bear Solar Farm later in 2024, with the goal of producing electricity in 2026. Annual capacity is estimated to be about 756 megawatts.

Canigou Group and Adkins Consulting conducted biological and archeological surveys of the grounds where Sun Bear is set to be constructed. — *Canigou Group and Adkins Consulting conducted biological and archeological surveys of the grounds where Sun Bear is set to be constructed*.

Canigou Group’s director, Justin Passfield, said the project will cost more than $1 billion. Passfield said electricity generated from the solar farm will connect to the Western Area Power Administration power line. Still, it’s unclear what regional entities Canigou will sell the electricity to.

“We’re thinking about the power needs within Colorado,” said Passfield. “But also, it makes sense not to transmit power too far from where you are. Having said that, we’re going to be producing a large amount of power. So I’m not sure that all of it will be able to be consumed within Colorado.”

Read full story here

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