Tag: Energy & Environment

Breaking down the Consol-Murray sale

Consol Energy is selling five of its long wall coal mines in West Virginia to Murray Energy. It’s a deal slated to cost more than $3 billion.

In the deal, Consol will get:

$850 million in cash;

Almost $200 million in value of future payments;

The acquisition of $2.4 billion in Consol’s liabilities, to Murray Energy.

In return,

Murray Energy will receive:

Almost 4,000 new employees;

6 more coal preparation plants;

5 more active mining complexes;

6 more longwall mining systems;

23 more continuing mining units;

1 reverse osmosis plant;

609 barges;

23 harbor boats and tow boats;

5 additional coal transloading facilities.

Sens. Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller have requested a meeting with Murray Energy to discuss the transition. Among the liabilities picked up by Murray are retiree health care plans by mining employees.

Rockefeller, Manchin eyeing CONSOL mine sale, Murray safety

West Virginia’s two U.S. senators say they’ll be watching closely to see how Ohio-based Murray Energy treats safety and the workforce of the five CONSOL Energy mines it’s buying.
 
     Senators Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller have requested a meeting with Murray Energy to discuss the transition.
 
     The companies announced the deal Monday for the sale of the Blacksville No. 2, Loveridge, McElroy, Robinson Run and Shoemaker mines.
 
     Pennsylvania-based CONSOL said it wants to shift resources to natural gas development.
 
     Manchin says CONSOL is an industry leader in mine safety, and he hopes Murray Energy will also put miners first.
 
     Rockefeller says Murray Energy must make protecting workers and retirees a priority.
 
     Murray Energy says it operates safe mines but cannot yet comment on its plans for the workforce.

Pipeline safety funding announced

Senator Jay Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, along with Senator Joe Manchin and Congressman Nick Rahall, today announced more than $697,000 in federal funding for pipeline safety efforts in West Virginia.  
 
“West Virginia’s booming natural gas industry relies heavily on pipelines, which means they must be safe, reliable and durable. As Commerce Committee Chairman, I’ve worked hard to make sure there is oversight of our pipeline operations to prevent accidents that could harm both our communities and our economy,” said Rockefeller.

“The importance of establishing the strongest possible safeguards against future pipeline explosions was never more apparent than after the devastating explosion in Sissonville last December. This funding is an important investment in our work to make pipelines as safe and secure as possible.”
 
“In West Virginia, investing in natural gas is important for job creation and economic growth, but the bottom line is that we need to make sure drilling is done safely,” Manchin said. 

“We are fortunate that no one was seriously injured last year when a gas pipeline ruptured in Sissonville. This incident proved that we constantly need to be prepared and safety should always be our top priority. This funding will help ensure the pipelines are being operated safely, maintained properly and inspected regularly so that incidents like the rupture last December don’t happen again.”
 
“It would be pennywise but pound foolish not to invest in pipeline safety,” said Rahall, top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee with jurisdiction over PHMSA. 

“Our State just witnessed the consequences of pipeline failure and a strong federal partnership is a good insurance policy against future failures.  Constant maintenance and consistent inspections are key ingredients in keeping our families, businesses and industries, our infrastructure and communities safe.”  
 
The funding comes from the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), and was awarded to two agencies in West Virginia in the following amounts:
 

  • $496,943 – West Virginia Public Service Commission – The Commission received this funding through PHMSA’s fiscal year 2013 Pipeline Safety Base Grant program as a reimbursement to help alleviate the cost of the State’s pipeline safety programs.
  • $200,717 – West Virginia Emergency Response Commission – The Commission received this funding through PHMSA’s Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) Grant Program, which gives States assistance in performing hazardous materials response duties.

As Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, Senator Rockefeller is in charge of Congressional oversight of pipeline safety. Rockefeller authored legislation that was signed into law in 2011 to strengthen pipeline safety. He also held a field hearing on pipeline safety in Charleston earlier this year in response to the pipeline explosion in Sissonville, West Virginia on December 11, 2012.  The Commerce Committee has held four hearings on pipeline safety in the past three years.

The problem with chicken poop and rain

Environmental groups are reacting to a ruling from a federal judge which says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has no legal right to force a West Virginia chicken farmer to obtain pollution permits for runoff from her Hardy County farm.

U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey ruled that the runoff entering the Chesapeake Bay watershed from Lois Alt’s poultry farm is stormwater and therefore not subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act.

Alt admitted  that pollutants from the poultry  houses are being discharged into the South Branch of the Potomac River, but objects to a requirement to operate under a permit. The farm bureaus called EPA’s attempt to require a permit  an illegal overreach of authority.

Several organizations supported the EPA’s efforts including Potomac Riverkeeper, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, Waterkeeper Alliance, Center for Food Safety, Food and Water Watch and Earthjustice. The groups said ina press release that the court’s decision could have devastating impacts on the health of the watershed. The groups say they’re exploring legal options.
 

NOVA host coming to WV

Next week in Morgantown, a special symposium on energy will be bringing one of the nation’s most prominent faces in the field. David Pogue is a columnist…

Next week in Morgantown, a special symposium on energy will be bringing one of the nation’s most prominent faces in the field.

  David Pogue is a columnist for the New York Times, who also works as the host of the PBS program Nova Science Now.

Pogue is the keynote speaker for the Science, Technology and Research Symposium, or STAR symposium, coming up next week in Morgantown. Pogue says science is a field where there’s a lot of demand—a number of job opportunities are available—but not much supply—meaning, there just aren’t enough people to fill those jobs.

“We need to get past this thing that science is for elites and science is a rare, dorky subject. I think the trickling down will happen once that begins. The President has made it a priority in science education, he hasn’t always been backed up by other lawmakers, but it has to become a priority nationally, before it becomes cool to be a science teacher, to know science and love science. It’s tough to see how anything is going to change soon,” Pogue said.

According to the Science and Engineering Readiness Index, prepared at the American Institute of Physics, West Virginia struggles mightily with preparing young people for careers in science, and related fields.

Pogue says innovation—the likes of smartphones and cloud technologies almost always require creative science, so a passion for science is important within society. In fact, it can feel magical.

“The feeling of having power over your environment feels magical. My wife and I live on opposite sides of the country. We have mastered the arts of communication, we have had video chats when I Was in Russia and she was in her car. It certainly feels magical,” Pogue said.

The symposium is October 22 and 23. The theme is “The Evolution of Energy: From Scarcity to Abundance.”

Property owners sue FirstEnergy over coal ash impoundment

More than 50 West Virginia and Pennsylvania property owners are suing FirstEnergy over groundwater pollution, soggy yards, and foundation damage they say…

More than 50 West Virginia and Pennsylvania property owners are suing FirstEnergy over groundwater pollution, soggy yards, and foundation damage they say was caused by a leaking coal ash impoundment.

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Wheeling accuses the Ohio-based power company of negligence, reckless conduct, trespassing and creating a nuisance.

It says arsenic and other substances have leached out of the unlined, 1,700-acre Little Blue Run impoundment into groundwater, and the air has been fouled by the noxious odors of hydrogen sulfide gas.

The complaint says the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has repeatedly cited FirstEnergy for violations, so FirstEnergy’s conduct should qualify as willful and reckless.

FirstEnergy spokeswoman Stephanie Walton said the company hasn’t formally received the lawsuit, but a proposed closure plan is under review by Pennsylvania regulators.
 

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