Heavy snowfall near Pine Mountain Club, Calif., on Friday. Credit…Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times
By JOHN ANTCZAK, AMY TAXIN and ED WHITE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A powerful winter storm that lashed California with heavy rain and frigid temperatures shifted its focus Saturday to wind and heavy snow, although forecasters said the risk of life-threatening flash floods in the Los Angeles area has passed.
The National Weather Service said blizzard conditions were expected at higher elevations, with wind gusts of up to 100 mph (160 kph) and several feet of snow in isolated areas.
“There’s already been reports of 2 to 3 feet (60 to 90 centimeters) across some of the higher peaks, and we’re looking at an additional foot, maybe two, of additional snowfall through the rest of the day,” said meteorologist Zach Taylor.
Overnight lows fell below freezing in some areas while downtown San Francisco approached record-cold temperatures. A drop to 38 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) would have been the coldest since 2009, but it didn’t get colder than 41 Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius), according to the National Weather Service.
Read the full story here
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Pump jacks at the Belridge Oil Field and hydraulic fracking site in Kern County, California. Credit: Citizens of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
By Liza Gross, Inside Climate News February 21, 2023
Extracting fossil fuels from underground reservoirs requires so much water a Chevron scientist once referred to its operations in California’s Kern River Oilfield “as a water company that skims oil.”
Fracking operations use roughly 1.5 million to 16 million gallons per well to release oil and gas from shale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. All that water returns to the surface as wastewater called flowback and produced water, or FPW, contaminated by a complex jumble of hazardous substances in fluids injected to enhance production, salts, metals and other harmful elements once sequestered deep underground, along with their toxic breakdown products.
Concerns that spills could damage sensitive ecosystems skyrocketed with the rapid expansion of fracking across the United States and Canada almost two decades ago, as technological advances allowed energy companies to exploit previously inaccessible shale oil and gas reserves.
Those concerns are well founded new research shows. Exposing animals that play a critical role in freshwater food webs to diluted samples of flowback and produced water from fracked wells causes lasting harm, scientists reported earlier this month in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology.
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HARRISBURG, PA (February 22, 2023) – Today, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court handed down a major decision in two suits where the public sought reimbursement for legal costs in environmental cases: the Clean Air Council, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and Mountain Watershed Association v. DEP and Sunoco Pipeline and Gerhart v. DEP and Sunoco Pipeline cases.
The Supreme Court’s decision reversed a lower court ruling that had put up a major barrier to reimbursement of legal costs for environmental lawsuits brought by non-profits and residents.
Now, members of the public, who are harmed by permits allowing industrial activities, and who successfully appeal those permits, are more easily able to get reimbursement for their legal costs. The reimbursement can come not only from the state, which issued the permit, but from the company holding the permits, and profiting from the permitted activity. Legal experts, fees, and other costs necessary for these cases can easily reach tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the cases can go on for years or even decades, making appeals like this out of reach for most absent the ability to recoup costs.
The decision is a victory for the environmental organizations, who had sought but been denied reimbursement for their legal costs from Sunoco Pipeline, the builder of the controversial Mariner East pipelines. It is also a victory for the Gerhart family, landowners along the pipeline route who stood up to the company and also had success at the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board.
“Today’s ruling from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is a huge win for the public,” said Joseph Minott, Executive Director, and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council. “Too often, when members of the public have been harmed by big polluters, they are unable to afford legal support. Today’s ruling makes it easier for the public to be compensated for their legal costs when their lawsuits are successful. This opens the door for the public to finally have their day in court and for justice to be restored.”
Melissa Marshall, Community Advocate with the Mountain Watershed Association stated, “We are pleased with the decision for two reasons. Not only does it remedy a bad standard, but it also clarifies, for the first time, that it is the permittees – often exploitative industries, such as mining and fracking — and not just the taxpayers, who should bear the financial burden when environmental groups bring protective lawsuits.”
“Today’s decision appropriately recognizes the significant role that citizen objectors play in the vindication of environmental rights and the General Assembly’s laws protecting the public natural resources. This ruling helps support legal action against bad permitting decisions, and holds accountable the parties who stand to benefit financially from those decisions,” said Kacy Manahan, Senior Attorney for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.
“Today’s opinion shows that Pennsylvanians who enforce the Clean Streams Law have a voice and that applicants who submit faulty permit applications to DEP can be held responsible for their sloppy or incompetent work,” said Rich Raiders, attorney for Stephen and Ellen Gerhart, Huntingdon County landowners who won a fee award from DEP, but not Sunoco, in a case decided with the Clean Air Council matter in today’s opinion. The Gerharts successfully challenged a wetlands determination on their Huntingdon County property where Sunoco was required to remediate a parcel of forested wetland disturbed during construction.
In March of 2022, Clean Air Council, Mountain Watershed Association, and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network petitioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to overturn that lower court decision, which made it nearly impossible for residents or advocacy organizations to be compensated for their legal expenses from the permit holder when appealing a DEP permit. The Commonwealth Court decision affirmed the Environmental Hearing Board’s decision that denied the groups’ request for Energy Transfer (Sunoco Pipeline’s parent) to compensate parties for their legal fees stemming from an appeal of Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 pipeline permits.
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The Journal Square, Jersey City neighborhood seems poised to welcome yet another sky-high project when the weather warms as the path has been cleared to turn a current parking lot into a modern educational facility.
During their February 21 meeting, Jersey City’s planning board unanimously recommended a proposal for 14 Enos Place from Hudson County Community College (HCCC). The parcel, situated between one of the college’s buildings and the Plaza Apartments, is sandwiched between Enos Place and Jones Street just off Summit Avenue.
Image courtesy of NK Architects via Hudson County Community College.
Designed by NK Architects, the plans call for an 11-story tower plus a “mechanical penthouse” that rises 180 feet. The facility is slated to include 24 state-of-the-art classrooms, expanded spaces for student services, and centralized offices for Continuing Education and Workforce Development.
Other portions of the building will feature a black box theater, a full-size NCAA regulation gymnasium and fitness center, a University Center for sister colleges, a new healthcare lab, new student common areas, and administrative offices for the college.
Image courtesy of NK Architects via Hudson County Community College.
“Urban college campuses such as ours require special considerations for students and neighbors in the surrounding community,” stated (HCCC) Board of Trustees Chair William J. Netchert. “This new tower will substantially accommodate those needs.”
Image courtesy of NK Architects via Hudson County Community College.
Hudson County announced late last year that they have committed $35 million in funding towards the project and the tower also snagged a $2.2 million grant from the federal government. HCCC began accepting bids for the tower’s construction back in November, but the winner of that contract has not yet been disclosed.
Image courtesy of NK Architects via Hudson County Community College.
While a groundbreaking date for the academic tower has not been announced, the project’s construction will add to a busy landscape around the Journal Square PATH station. Kushner’s One Journal Square, a 26-story tower at 425 Summit Avenue, and a smaller high-rise at 413 Summit Avenue are all currently under construction within three blocks of 14 Enos Place.
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New York (February 24, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced over $256,106,000 to New York from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure through this year’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). The funding will support New York communities in upgrading essential water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure that protects public health and treasured water bodies. Nearly half of this funding will be available as grants or principal forgiveness loans helping underserved communities across America invest in water infrastructure while creating good-paying jobs.
“President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is delivering an unprecedented investment in America that will revitalize essential water and wastewater infrastructure across the country,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Not only will these funds expand access to clean water and safeguard the environment, but more underserved communities that have been left behind for far too long will be able to access them.”
“This major investment, awarded through the groundbreaking Bipartisan Infrastructure Law translates into replacing or repairing aging wastewater infrastructure, implementing water reuse and recycling, addressing stormwater, and addressing the risks from emerging contaminants,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “ EPA is committed to getting these critical water resources to underserved and disadvantaged communities.”
One example in New York involves modifications and improvements to the City of Newburgh’s combined sewer overflow system, which will allow Newburgh to address the untreated sewage that gets discharged into the Hudson every time it rains. This project received more than $6.1 million in federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds in November 2022. This phase of the work involves the construction of 8,500 feet of new interceptor sewer ranging in size between 18 and 48 inches in diameter.
Today’s announcement is part of the $2.4 billion announced as part of the second wave of funding made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to invest in America. In May 2022, EPA announced the initial allotment of $1.9 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to states, Tribes, and territories through the CWSRF. That money is supporting hundreds of critical water infrastructure projects around the country.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes over $50 billion available for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements across the country between FY2022 and FY2026. EPA is committed to ensuring every community has access to this historic investment and has centralized increasing investment in disadvantaged communities within its implementation. This investment in water infrastructure is creating jobs while addressing key challenges, including climate change and emerging contaminants like per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law calls for strong collaboration, and EPA continues to work in partnership with states, Tribes, and territories to ensure that communities see the full benefits of this investment.
In addition to today’s announcement, the 2023 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund allocations and program updates are forthcoming, pending the release of the seventh Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment. EPA anticipates releasing the information in the coming weeks.
The CWSRFs have been the foundation of water infrastructure investments for more than 30 years, providing low-cost financing for local projects across America. For more information, including state-by-state allocation of 2023 funding, and a breakdown of EPA CWSRF funding available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/cwsrf .
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On a farm field east of Faribault, Minnesota, a 1.3-megawatt solar array provides electricity to serve about 180 subscribers.
The project, which occupies about six acres, is an example of community solar—also called “shared solar” or “solar gardens”—a kind of development in which subscribers receive credits on their monthly utility bills for the solar electricity produced.
I’ve found that one of the biggest challenges in writing about community solar is explaining what it is, so I turned to Maria McCoy, a researcher for the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit that closely tracks the programs.
“Community solar is meant to be an option for folks who can’t put solar on their own roofs, whether they don’t own a home or have the financial ability to put solar up there or have a lot of shady trees,” she said.
The large majority of subscribers and projects are in six states: Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York. About 20 states have active programs and many of the rest have rules that limit the ability of developers to do subscription-based projects.
Community solar has its origins in ideas about democratizing access to clean energy, which has translated into laws mostly in blue states.
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