Tag: Energy & Environment

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.
 

Four things you need to know about the UMWA-Peabody/Patriot deal

The United Mine Workers of America has reached a settlement with Peabody Energy and Patriot Coal that will help to cover health care benefits for retired miners.

Background:

  • Magnum Coal Company purchased certain Arch Coal operations in 2005
  • Patriot Coal purchased Magnum Coal Company in 2008
  • Patriot Coal was spun off from Peabody in 2007
  • Patriot Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on July 9, 2012
  • In May of this year, a ruling allowed Patriot to quit paying health care benefits for retirees and established a VEBA account with initial Patriot contribution of $15 million

Here are four things you need to know about the new deal:

  1. The agreement provides more than $400 million to provide health coverage for retirees affected by the bankruptcy of Patriot Coal.

    The money will go into the Voluntary Employee Benefit Association or VEBA account.

    Peabody will make payments totaling $310 million over the next four years, and proceeds will be  applied to future retiree health care benefits.

    Patriot has agreed to contribute $15 million to the VEBA in 2014, with up to an additional $60 million to be paid into the fund over the following three years.

  2. The union has agreed to give up its 35 percent stock as part of this new deal.

    UMWA was given 35 percent equity stake in Patriot in May as part of a ruling. The same ruling established the VEBA account.

  3. UMWA continues to look to Congress to assist in securing additional funds for health care benefits.

    Rep. David McKinley introduced a bill in the house that currently has 24 co-sponsors from both parties and a bill introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller currently has six co-sponsors.

  4. UMWA is still hoping to come to an agreement with Arch Coal, another company that formed Patriot. 

Patriot has reached a final deal with Arch Coal. According to a release, Patriot will receive $5 million in cash and a release of a $16 million letter of credit posted in Arch’s name as part of the deal.

In a release issued just after midnight Thursday morning, UMWA president Cecil E. Roberts said he was pleased.

“This is a significant amount of money that will help maintain health care for thousands of retirees who earned those benefits though years of labor in America’s coal mines,” Roberts said.

“This settlement will also help Patriot emerge from bankruptcy and continue to provide jobs for our members and~thousands of others in West Virginia and Kentucky.”

Patriot President and Chief Executive Officer Bennett K. Hatfield echoed the union’s satisfaction.

“I am pleased that we have been able to reach agreements that provide the UMWA with hundreds of million of dollars in retiree healthcare funding,” Hatifield said.

“The best result for the UMWA and its members is for Patriot to emerge from bankruptcy as a healthy company that will continue to provide jobs and benefits, and we are now on track to achieve that goal.”

This deal still needs approval by federal bankruptcy judge Kathy Surratt-States. The judge is expected to make that decision early next month.
 

Group appeals PSC order approving billion-dollar power plant deal

West Virginia Citizen Action Group says it will appeal the approval of a $1.1 billion deal for the sale of the Harrison Power Station.

The Public Service Commission approved the transaction late Monday, saying it would reduce Mon Power rates by $16 million a year.
 
     The deal involves Ohio-based FirstEnergy subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison, and affiliate Allegheny Energy Supply.
 
     Mon Power is buying the 80 percent of the 1,984-megawatt plant that it doesn’t currently own. In exchange, Mon Power will sell 8 percent of its interest in the Pleasants Power Station to Allegheny Energy Supply.
 
     Opponents say the transaction is inflated by $257 million and is bad for consumers.
 
     West Virginia Citizen Action says that price markup ruling violates stipulations of the merger agreement and contradicts commission policy.
 

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