EnviroPolitics Blog

Multiple wildfires raging across the U.S. West

Crews fighting to contain blazes in Colorado, Wyoming and California

The Stone Canyon, Lake Shore, Quarry and Alexander Mountain fires are burning amid dry, hot weather affecting the Western United States.

*Flames rise amid billowing smoke from a wildfire burning along the ridges near the Ken Caryl Ranch development on Wednesday southwest of Littleton, Colo. (David Zalubowski/AP)*

By Annabelle Timsit, Washington Post, Updated August 1, 2024 at 7:49 a.m.

Several wildfires are burning through Colorado’s mountainous Front Range region, threatening popular tourist towns in the foothills as authorities

ordered hundreds of residents to evacuate.

The fires — Stone Canyon, Lake Shore, Quarry and Alexander Mountain — began at various pointsbetween Monday and Wednesday, and have burned through thousands of acres in the counties of Boulder, Jefferson and Larimer around the densely populated mountain range, according to authorities.

The Front Range extends from central Colorado to southern Wyoming, and is part of the Rocky Mountains. Its urban corridor includes cities such as Denver and Boulder that are popular year-round with nature lovers.

Emergency personnel discovered the remains of one person in a residence engulfed by a fire near the town of Lyons, Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said Wednesday. Four firefighters were injured while battling the fire and several homes were destroyed, according to the Denver Post.

Story continued here

In Wyoming, firefighters battle uncontained blaze and rattlesnakes

The Pleasant Valley Fire has consumed more than 28,000 acres in Goshen and Platte counties in eastern Wyoming. Firefighters are furiously battling flames, heat and rattlesnakes, but the fire remains 0% contained. [READ MORE]

‘It Was Armageddon’: Eastern Wyoming Community Evacuated By Wildfire
Hartville and a neighboring subdivision in eastern Wyoming were evacuated overnight Tuesday when a fast-moving wildfire ballooned to more than 25,000 acres. “It was Armageddon,” is how a local woman described watching the flames advance. [READ MORE]

No Rain Relief For Wyoming Wildfires Until Next Week

As wildfires across Wyoming continue to pop up and grow, firefighters shouldn’t expect any help from Mother Nature anytime soon. There won’t be any rain relief for the fires until next week, meteorologist Don Day says. [READ MORE]

California wildfire activity, 2,816% higher this year, already spawned one of the largest in history

By Li Cohen, CBS News

The Park Fire tearing across Northern California is destroying homes and burning up land – and its destruction is only part of a far larger problem this year. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said this week that as of Tuesday, wildfire activity is 2,816% higher than last year for the same time period.

“As of July 30, 2024, wildfires have scorched a staggering 751,327 acres across our state,” Cal Fire wrote on social media on Wednesday. “This year’s wildfire activity is 2,816% higher than last year, 29 times the amount of acreage burned.”

This year’s fires are far above both last year’s numbers and the five-year average, the department found. In 2023, there were 3,746 fires burning 25,763 acres through July 30, while the five-year average for the period is 4,416 fires and 140,996 acres.

As of early Thursday morning, the state is battling 16 active wildfires, including the Park Fire that started just over a week ago after a man was seen pushing a burning car into a ravine. Ronnie Stout, who’s charged with reckless arson, appeared in court for the first time Monday.

So far, the Park Fire has spread across 392,480 acres and four counties, with Cal Fire saying in their latest update that it “continues to burn in heavy, receptive fuel beds.”

It’s at just 18% containment and has grown so much that it is now the fifth-largest wildfire recorded in state history, trailing just behind the SCU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020 that burned 396,625 acres.

Read the full story here

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Multiple wildfires raging across the U.S. West Read More »

New Jersey DEP updates its environmental justice ‘stressors’ map

On July 29^th, the Department refreshed EJMAP with new stressor data made publicly available since its release on 1/31/24.

Any permit application submitted on or after 7/31/24 must use the new stressor data layer for analysis.

The tool will default to that revised layer. Previous stressor layers remain as archived layers within the tool with its own button for those permit applications received within previous date ranges.

A summary addendum explaining which stressors were updated and other changes on its Office of Environmental Justice website. Information on which data sets were used is included within an updated to the technical guidance document, also on the OEJ website.

New Jersey DEP updates its environmental justice ‘stressors’ map Read More »

Community Forestry Youth Corps Funding Available

Please be aware this grant opportunity is not through the NJUCF program.

Applications must be submitted on/before August 23rd by 5pm ET

The Center for Regenerative Solutions (CRS) and Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN), through USDA Forest Service IRA Funding, have opened applications for capacity building and workforce development grants for communities to accelerate urban forestry through the launch and management of Community Forest Corps and Fellowship programs:

Community Forest Corps sustains tree canopy in climate-vulnerable communities by empowering and employing youth to simultaneously provide community-based tree care and protection while also gathering critical urban heat data essential to developing urban forestry-based cooling strategies.

Urban Forestry Equity Fellowship Program places individuals from diverse backgrounds in jurisdictions that have demonstrated suitable progress toward implementing urban forestry initiatives and are committed to collecting urban heat data and enhancing tree care and maintenance through Community Forest Corps.

Available Funding

Individual sub-awards will range from a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $600,000 total over a 3-year period, depending on the scope of work, project work areas, partnerships engaged, and capabilities of the applicant. A minimum of $5,500,000 in total funding is available. Cost-share or match is not a requirement for your sub-award agreement.

Grant Eligibility

All municipal/county-level jurisdictions, Tribes, and community-based nonprofit organizations are eligible. All work must directly impact disadvantaged communities as defined by the EPA IRA Disadvantaged Communities Map.

Resources Required for Community Forest Corps

Please review the Community Forest Corps Overview and keep these required resources in mind as you complete your Application:

Partnerships with local organizations who have deep knowledge and experience in urban forestry, community engagement, youth employment programs, and heat data monitoring;
A committed Employer of Record and a dedicated Program Manager with demonstrated experience in youth workforce development;
Tree watering and maintenance equipment that can be used by youth/teens—or a need for the development of a youth-based equipment/toolset;
Urban Forest Assessment and Plans—Site-specific urban forest data, planning tools, and planting initiatives underway;
Develop new or leverage existing neighborhood stakeholder engagement and education strategy.

Resources Required for Urban Forestry Fellowships

Please review the Urban Forestry Fellowship Program Overview to determine your community’s ability to employ and manage a Fellow for 1-3 years. Fellowship applicants will receive an additional questionnaire to learn more about:

The host organization: government, tribe, or community-based nonprofit committed to employing a Fellow each year for three years
Community participation in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training
Logistical requirements of hosting a Fellow

Get the details and apply.

If you liked this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.

Community Forestry Youth Corps Funding Available Read More »

Three weeks after Beryl, Vermont smashed again by flood waters

By LISA RATHKE, DAVID SHARP, KATHY McCORMACK and NICK PERRY, AP

LYNDON, Vt. (AP) — Thunderstorms and torrential rain brought another wave of violent floods Tuesday that caved in roads, crushed vehicles, pushed homes off their foundations and led to dramatic boat rescues in northeastern Vermont, nearly three weeks after flooding from Hurricane Beryl.

Flash flood warnings remained in effect through Tuesday afternoon hours after some areas got 6 to more than 8 inches (15 to more than 20 centimeters) starting late the night before.

In Lyndonville, a village about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Montpelier, the state capital, Deryck Colburn said he awoke before daybreak to a neighbor pounding on his door. Colburn said he heard the same surge of rushing water from an overflowing brook that he’d heard earlier in July, along with the unnerving sound of tumbling boulders carried by the water.

“I went down the road to her house, and there was no road. There was just a river,” he said.

Read the full story here

Three weeks after Beryl, Vermont smashed again by flood waters Read More »

Penn State Extension to host fourth annual Solar Law Symposium

Penn State Extension is hosting the upcoming Solar Law Symposium from noon to 4:30 p.m. Aug. 20.

This event will gather experts from various sectors to discuss critical legal issues surrounding the solar energy industry and provide CLE credits to those who request them. The event is co-sponsored by Penn State Extension, The Penn State Center for Energy Law and Policy and The Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law.

The symposium will explore key topics such as regulatory frameworks, policy developments, financing mechanisms and environmental considerations related to solar energy projects. Participants will include scholars, practitioners and industry leaders, facilitating interdisciplinary dialogue and knowledge-sharing.

The symposium will occur virtually. Registration details and a full agenda are on the symposium website at www.bit.ly/psusolarlaw. Any questions about the Solar Law Symposium can be directed to Michael Helbing at mdh224@psu.edu.

Have an upcoming event you’d like us to list for free? Send your details to: editor@enviropolitics.com

Penn State Extension to host fourth annual Solar Law Symposium Read More »

It was the largest wind turbine in the western world but that wasn’t what attracted all the attention

*The damaged Vineyard Wind turbine 15 miles southwest of Nantucket*

By Jason Graziadei, Nantucket Current

By When Vineyard Wind completed the installation of the first GE Vernova Haliade-X 13-megawatt wind turbine in the waters southwest of Nantucket in October 2023, the company trumpeted it as “the largest turbine in the western world.” It was supposed to be one of the 62 turbines that would make up the first large-scale, commercial offshore wind farm in the United States.

But just nine months later, the project has been suspended by the federal government after the now infamous turbine blade failure on July 13th that left Nantucket’s beaches and the waters surrounding the island littered with fiberglass and Styrofoam debris that is still being recovered.

While offshore wind energy production has a decades-long track record in Europe and Asia, the Vineyard Wind project was the first of its kind in the United States, and the turbines Vineyard Wind is installing are larger and more powerful than any that have come before it.

The technology may not be new, but the size and scale of the Haliade-X turbine is novel for the offshore wind industry. And these jumbo-sized turbines have only recently been installed in just two locations in the world within the last year – at Vineyard Wind off Nantucket, and the Dogger Bank Wind Farm off the northeast coast of England. The Haliade-X turbine blades – which are supposed to have at least a 25-year lifespan – have suffered failures in both locations.

At Vineyard Wind, the turbine blade failure is being blamed on a “manufacturing deviation” that occurred at the LM Wind Power factory in Gaspé, Canada, one of two locations where the Haliade-X blades are manufactured. LM Wind Power was acquired by GE Vernova for $1.65 billion in 2017.

“Our investigation to date indicates that the affected blade experienced a manufacturing deviation,” GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said during the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call with investors earlier this month, specifically citing “insufficient bonding” applied at the factory. “We have not identified information indicating an engineering design flaw in the blade or information of a connection with the blade event we experienced at an offshore wind project in the UK, which was caused by an installation error out at sea.”

Strazik also disclosed that GE Vernova will reinspect all 150 blades manufactured at the LM Wind plant in Canada by reviewing the radiography testing records, including those that have already been installed on 24 turbines at the Vineyard Wind lease area.

But Strazik’s disclosure on the investor call about the LM Wind Power plant in Canada means that both of the company’s factories capable of manufacturing blades for the Haliade-X wind turbines have run into trouble. At the other factory, located in Cherbourg, France, an “operational incident” in April 2024 reduced production capacity and resulted in damage to one of the molds used to produce components for the Haliade-X.

Read the full story here

It was the largest wind turbine in the western world but that wasn’t what attracted all the attention Read More »

Multiple wildfires raging across the U.S. West

Crews fighting to contain blazes in Colorado, Wyoming and California

In Wyoming, firefighters battle uncontained blaze and rattlesnakes

California wildfire activity, 2,816% higher this year, already spawned one of the largest in history

New Jersey DEP updates its environmental justice ‘stressors’ map

Community Forestry Youth Corps Funding Available

Three weeks after Beryl, Vermont smashed again by flood waters

Penn State Extension to host fourth annual Solar Law Symposium

Have an upcoming event you’d like us to list for free? Send your details to: editor@enviropolitics.com

It was the largest wind turbine in the western world but that wasn’t what attracted all the attention

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