NJ towns sue DuPont, 3M, and other makers of ‘forever chemicals,’ claiming the companies knew the pollution risks

One of those companies, 3M, says it acted ‘responsibly’ and will defend its environmental record

File photos: DuPont and 3M are among the companies being sued.


By Jon Hurdle, NJ Spotlight

Four New Jersey towns and an investor-owned water supplier are suing 3M, DuPont, and other makers of PFAS — so-called forever chemicals — saying the companies knew their products would contaminate drinking water but continued to sell them, and must now pay for their cleanup.

Camden and Point Pleasant are suing the companies in federal court in South Carolina — where some cases are consolidated — for the manufacture and sale of the chemicals used in firefighting foam. This product has contaminated groundwater in many places around the country, especially on and near military bases.

Meanwhile, Hopatcong, Pequannock, and the Middlesex Water Company are suing in federal court in New Jersey, seeking compensation for the costs of removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from public water supplies to comply with health standards recently set by New Jersey.

“3M marketed and sold PFAS in New Jersey with the knowledge that PFAS would be released into the environment and without warning users or others of the risks of PFAS to the environment and to human health,” Middlesex said in an amended suit, filed in May.

Getting chemicals out of drinking water

The lawsuits are the latest in a series of legal, regulatory, and legislative efforts to reduce the chemicals in drinking water sources, where they are believed to threaten public health or to seek compensation from those held responsible for the contamination.

In 2019, Ridgewood Water, a publicly owned water utility in Bergen County, sued DuPont, saying the chemical giant was responsible for the PFAS in public wells that forced it to install filtration equipment to meet the new state standards. New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection last year sued Solvay, a South Jersey chemical manufacturer, accusing it of contaminating groundwater with perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), a type of PFAS.

And the DEP has in the last several years set some of the nation’s strictest health standards for the presence of three kinds of PFAS in drinking water, responding to gathering evidence that the chemicals are linked to some cancers, immune-system problems, high cholesterol, and other illnesses.

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Pennsylvania Could Face New Wave Of Abandoned And Hazardous Coal Mines

Blaschak-Coal-Mahanoy-City-15.jpg


90.5 WESA | By Susan Scott Peterson

A new report finds that as the coal industry declines, companies may abandon up to one thousand square miles of coal mines across seven eastern states, including Pennsylvania.

Abandoned coal mines are already a widespread problem, especially in Pennsylvania, where one-third of the country’s legacy mines are located. Abandoned mines are hazardous to human health and the environment: They border local communities and leach acidic runoff into streams. But according to the report, released by environmental nonprofit Appalachian Voices, bankruptcies may cause coal companies to abandon a new wave of mines.

“The coal industry has been declining for at least five years now. We can’t predict the future, but we know that bankruptcies are continuing,” said Erin Savage, a senior program manager at Appalachian Voices and the author of the report. “With those bankruptcies, we are seeing companies walk away from their reclamation obligations.”

This was not supposed to happen. In 1977, the federal government passed a law that was meant to safeguard against coal companies walking away from their messes. The legislation required coal companies to post bonds for each mine permit they hold to cover the cost of the cleanup if they do not maintain their mines.

But as coal companies go bankrupt, they sometimes forfeit their bonds, leaving state agencies responsible for paying to reclaim their abandoned mines. The bonds do not always cover the cost of reclamation. Sometimes the clean-up is more complicated or expensive than estimated. Other times, state rules have allowed companies to post less secure types of bonds, such as self bonds.

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Maine governor signs law banning offshore wind farms in state waters but encourages them farther offshore


BY KEVIN MILLER PORTLAND PRESS HERALD

Gov. Janet Mills has signed into law a bill prohibiting offshore wind farms in state waters, in a compromise aimed at siting such projects farther from Maine’s heavily used inshore waters.

Mills is a vocal supporter of wind energy who has made addressing climate change a top priority of her administration. But segments of Maine’s fishing industry – particularly lobstermen – have been battling to ban any wind development off the coast of Maine over concerns about the potential loss of access to valuable fishing grounds and other conflicts.

The bill proposed by Mills and signed into law this week would prohibit state and local governments from licensing or permitting the siting, construction or operation of wind turbines in the state territorial waters that extend three miles from shore. A demonstration project under development off Monhegan Island and future “pilot-scale, limited duration” research projects would be exempt from the prohibition.

The bill, L.D. 1619, also would create an Offshore Wind Research Consortium with an advisory board that includes representatives of the lobster industry, other commercial fishermen, and the recreational charter fishing industry as well as energy experts. The board will advise the state on local and regional impacts from offshore wind power projects as gleaned from a state-backed “research array” of up to 12 turbines to be located in federal waters.

“Maine is uniquely prepared to grow a strong offshore wind industry, create good-paying trades and technology jobs around the state, and reduce our crippling dependence on harmful fossil fuels,” Mills said in a statement. “This legislation cements in law our belief that these efforts should occur in federal waters farther off our coast through a research array that can help us establish the best way for Maine to embrace the vast economic and environmental benefits of offshore wind.”

Offshore wind is widely regarded as a major untapped source of renewable energy in the United States, and the Gulf of Maine has among the best wind resources in the nation. One recent study cited by the Mills administration predicts the industry could be valued at $70 billion by 2030, helped along by the Biden administration’s ambitious goal of generating 30 gigawatts of energy from offshore wind by that date.

Commercial fishermen, however, have consistently opposed such wind farms, and segments of Maine’s lobster industry have been waging a political campaign against what they refer to as “offshore power plants.”

Mills proposed her moratorium in January as a way to address concerns raised by fishermen. But it was obvious during a May public hearing on a bill seeking a total ban on offshore wind that many in the industry felt Mills’ proposal did not go far enough. And in March, more than 80 lobster boats disrupted underwater surveys for a cable connecting the Monhegan demonstration project to the mainland.

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Gov. Cuomo announces New York to explore the potential role of Green Hydrogen as part of its decarbonization strategy

From NYERSDA, July 8, 2021

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that New York plans to explore the potential role of green hydrogen as part of the State’s comprehensive decarbonization strategy. To support this effort to study green hydrogen and its possible applications, the state is collaborating with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, joining two hydrogen-focused organizations to inform State decision-making and making $12.5 million in funding available for long-duration energy storage technologies and demonstration projects that may include green hydrogen.

Additionally, the New York Power Authority, collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute, General Electric, and hydrogen supplier Airgas, will undertake an industry-leading green hydrogen demonstration project at NYPA’s natural gas plant on Long Island to evaluate the resource’s potential role in displacing fossil fuels from power generation. At the close of this short-term project, peer-reviewed results will be shared with the industry and public so that key learnings can inform decarbonization efforts. This announcement supports Governor Cuomo’s goal to reduce emissions by 85 percent by 2050, as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

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“New York is leading the way forward on protecting the environment and combating climate change,” Governor Cuomo said. “Part of our ongoing efforts is setting an example for other states and nations to follow. As we transition to a clean energy economy, we are exploring every resource available as a potential tool to address climate change and documenting what we find to share as part of broader national and global conversations so we can build a brighter, greener future for all.”

Green hydrogen, hydrogen produced using renewable energy, including wind, solar, and hydroelectricity, has the potential to decarbonize challenging sectors of the economy. As part of the State’s efforts to assess green hydrogen’s potential role in economy-wide decarbonization efforts, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is leading a comprehensive stakeholder engagement effort to gain and share knowledge and understanding of the support this resource could provide for meeting the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goals across multiple sectors. The stakeholder engagement began in December 2020 at a “Deep Decarbonization Workshop” co-hosted by NYSERDA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

A more comprehensive and ongoing approach will begin with an additional workshop and listening session being planned for this fall. The session will be used to help NYSERDA understand how to expand stakeholder engagement to ensure that additional assessment of the pathways, opportunities, and challenges of generating and utilizing green hydrogen across all sectors includes consideration of all stakeholder perspectives, including environmental justice organizations and communities. 

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As scorching as it’s been, a new heatwave is building across the Western U.S.

At least 28 million people are slated to experience highs in the triple digits over the coming week

By Matthew Cappucci, Washington Post

Last week, a “thousand-year” heat wave baked the Pacific Northwest and adjacent British Columbia with widespread highs topping 100 degrees, resulting in a death toll in the hundreds. Lytton, Canada, climbed to 121 degrees and established new national records three days in a row before the town burned in heat-intensified wildfires.

Now the West is bracing for another heat wave, albeit not quite as severe, that could challenge records and bring dangerously hot temperatures from the California and the Desert Southwest to the Great Basin and Oregon. It will mark the third punishing heat wave in the West this summer, counting the record-breaking event in mid-June.

The relentless heat is also reinforcing drought that continues to reshape landscapes and severely burden water resources, while simultaneously setting the stage for a potentially disastrous wildfire season.

The big picture

On Thursday, the heat was already beginning to gather, but the worst was expected Friday into Monday. At least 28 million people are slated to experience highs in the triple digits over the upcoming week.

The exceptional temperatures are thanks to a “heat dome,” or a ridge of high pressure, becoming established over the Four Corners region. It will meander west in the coming days, reinforced by a secondary zone of high pressure cresting to the north in southwest Canada on Friday. By Saturday, that additional high pressure will swing through Alberta and Saskatchewan; the synergy between the two will yield a multiday stretch of highs 20 degrees or more above average.

Excessive heat warnings blanket most of California, Nevada, western Arizona and western Utah, while watches cover interior parts of Oregon and southern Idaho.

“Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses,” warned the National Weather Service in Hanford, Calif., which serves the Golden State’s Central Valley. “Confidence is very high for a dangerous heat wave to persist through Monday and maybe into Tuesday.”

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