Environmental Protection Agency Story Archives - Page 2 of 16

EPA Proposes Settlement In Guyandotte Watershed Pollution Lawsuit

The EPA’s proposed consent decree would settle a lawsuit filed this month by environmental groups in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a settlement to a federal lawsuit over water pollution from coal mining.

The EPA’s proposed consent decree would settle a lawsuit filed this month by environmental groups in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

It establishes total daily maximum loads for ionic toxicity in the lower Guyandotte watershed.

Ionic toxicity, dissolved mineral salts that result from surface mining, can impair aquatic life.

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Sierra club filed the lawsuit on March 18. It named Adam Ortiz, the EPA Region 3 Administrator, as a defendant.

The proposed settlement was published in the Federal Register on Friday. The public has until April 29 to submit comments.

Counties Lose Green School Bus Funding From EPA

Three West Virginia counties lost federal funding to purchase electric school buses after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rescinded award funding last month.

Mineral, Monongalia and Harrison counties were on track to purchase zero or low-emission school buses. Citing errors in their identification of rural areas in mountainous regions, the EPA rescinded those awards. Cabell, Clay, Calhoun, Kanawha, Grant and Lewis counties will still receive the funds.

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is advocating for more accurate categorization of West Virginia communities. He sent a letter to Peggy Carr, commissioner of the the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Tuesday urging her to consider ruggedness scales that impact travel of students to and from school in NCES’s measurements. The center within the U.S. Department of Education is responsible for collecting and analyzing education data that help determine how federal resources for education activities are allocated. This includes classifying public school districts into four categories: rural, town, suburban and city.

The letter argues current methodology leads to much of Appalachia being miscategorized as “urban.”

“Your current rural measurement relies on mileage in sparsely settled and remote areas, however it does not account for sparsely populated mountain regions, and commuting times for difficult terrain are not adequately reflected,” Manchin wrote.

“11.7 percent of the United States population lives in a rugged area, with 1.4 percent living in a highly rugged area. For comparison, West Virginia has the largest share of residents living in a rugged area, with 80.7 percent of the population living in a rugged area and 15 percent in a highly rugged area. While ruggedness alone cannot dictate rurality, we feel that it is an important consideration when determining what is rural and what is not.”

PFAS Concerns Loom Over Chemours Permit For Washington Works

Chemours applied in January for a permit to discharge treated wastewater from its Washington Works plant in Wood County.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is accepting public comment on a permit one group says would allow the discharge of PFAS into the Ohio River.

Chemours applied in January for a permit to discharge treated wastewater from its Washington Works plant in Wood County.

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition says this would result in the release of PFAS, or forever chemicals, into the Ohio River.

The DEP held a virtual public comment hearing on the permit on March 4. The comment period closes next week, on March 14.

In December, Chemours agreed to sample and test soil, surface water, groundwater and waste streams around the Washington Works plant for the presence of PFAS.

The plant has been in operation since 1951, and according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has manufactured products containing PFAS and has released PFAS in its operations.

According to Chris Hickey, a regional communications manager for Chemours, Washington Works is the only U.S. facility that manufactures Teflon PFA, a type of PFAS.

Teflon PFA is in high demand to make semiconductors, Hickey said, because of the federal CHIPS Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden.

“To construct and operationalize additional PFA supply capacity, and with strong support throughout our value chain, we applied for a permit modification through the WV Department of Environmental Protection,” Hickey said. “We worked cooperatively with WV DEP through its process, which included agency evaluation of the permit application and engagement with regional EPA officials.”

In addition, Hickey said, the Washington Works makes materials used in electric vehicles and charging stations, also in high demand because of the national effort to electrify transportation.

“The world depends on our products, and we are committed to manufacturing these essential chemistries responsibly,” he said.

Lawsuit Over New Air Quality Regulations Filed

Attorneys general from West Virginia and Kentucky filed a lawsuit against the EPA over new air quality standards. They allege the standards burden manufacturing and infrastructure projects.

Attorneys general from West Virginia and Kentucky have sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a recent policy that raised air quality standards nationally.

Filed Wednesday, the lawsuit claims that adjusting to the new standard would financially burden manufacturing and infrastructure projects. EPA officials have said the new policy reduces major public health risks.

Controversy grew in February after the EPA lowered the maximum concentration for particulate matter in the air by 25 percent, requiring companies to reduce their levels of air pollution.

Particulate matter refers to particles invisible to the naked eye, like some forms of soot and smoke. When inhaled, these particles can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, blood abnormalities and even lung damage.

The EPA has stated that raising air quality standards will reduce these health risks and the costs associated with them.

EPA officials have already stated that all 55 counties in West Virginia already meet the new air quality standards. Some regions with major industrial activity, like parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio, might not.

But in a press release Wednesday, Morrisey said the new measure marks an EPA attempt “to advance [President Joe] Biden’s radical climate agenda.”

The new rule is being enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a federal agency tasked with monitoring financial markets and watching for financial fraud. Companies are now being asked to estimate their potential greenhouse gasses to the SEC.

“How is the company supposed to know if greenhouse gas emission will affect its finances?” he said. “How many trucks are going to be too many? How much coal to use versus natural gas or other forms of energy?”

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 24 states in the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Wednesday’s lawsuit also listed EPA Administrator Michael Regan as a defendant. Beyond the lawsuit, EPA intervention in state air pollution standards stands on shaky ground.

Last month, members of the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments against another EPA policy from representatives of several different states, including West Virginia.

Some have said that the justices are poised to overturn that policy, which cracks down on the emission of air pollution across state lines. This could mark the third Supreme Court case lost by the EPA recently.

EPA Rule On Carbon Emissions Won’t Apply To Existing Gas Plants

The rule, expected in April, would still apply to existing coal and new gas plants. The agency will pursue a separate rule for existing gas plants after the November election.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scaled back its proposal to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

The EPA said Thursday that existing gas-fired power plants would be exempt from its pending rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

The rule, expected in April, would still apply to existing coal and new gas plants. The agency will pursue a separate rule for existing gas plants after the November election.

“As EPA works towards final standards to cut climate pollution from existing coal and new gas-fired power plants later this spring, the agency is taking a new, comprehensive approach to cover the entire fleet of natural gas-fired turbines,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

The change won’t have much effect in West Virginia. The state relies on coal for 89 percent of its electricity, and only 4 percent comes from gas.

Neighboring states – particularly Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia – receive more than 50 percent of their electricity from gas.

“This is a welcome step that will protect Ohio jobs and help keep electricity costs from rising for Ohio families,” said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. “I encourage the administration to keep working with stakeholders – including labor and manufacturers – as they finalize this rule and work to build a clean energy future.”

Coal plants will still be required to capture 90 percent of their carbon emissions, transition to gas or hydrogen, or shut down.

U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-West Virginia, wants the EPA to scrap the rule entirely.

“This new guidance from the EPA is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to destroy the coal industry,” she said. “The EPA continues to create uncertainty with flawed rule making, resulting in unstable markets and higher energy costs for all Americans.”

New $3 Million Water Treatment Plant Slated For Berkeley County

Residents of Bunker Hill, an unincorporated community of Berkeley County, are slated to receive a new $3 million water pump through the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Berkeley County will soon receive a new water treatment plant, following a $3 million investment from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

The new plant will service the unincorporated community of Bunker Hill. The current treatment plant there is 65 years old.

The Berkeley County Public Service Water District, which oversees the plant, has gained 4,000 new users in the last four years.

With West Virginia’s water infrastructure facing long-running issues tied to age and decreased funding, state officials have invested in water system upgrades for local communities in recent years.

This year alone, tens of millions of dollars have gone toward water projects across the state. The latest round of funding follows a federal spending request from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

In a press release Tuesday, Capito said she hoped the project would support population growth in the Eastern Panhandle county.

“As communities in Berkeley County continue to grow and develop, the need for additional clean water infrastructure is critical,” she said. “This funding is a step in the process of directing the resources that these communities need to provide clean water to the growing number of residents and businesses in the area.”