Tag: pollution

Republicans Seek To Weaken Environmental Appeals Board

Republicans are trying to weaken a federal board that helps minority and low-income communities challenge how much pollution can be released in their neighborhoods by power plants and factories.

The Environmental Appeals Board would be stripped of its ability to hear appeals of EPA-issued pollution permits from citizens, states, cities and Native American tribes. Businesses that hold permits could still ask the board to allow them to increase how much pollution is released.

“These changes would allow polluters to better game the system to the detriment of public health and the environment,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

View the complete September 8 article by Sarah Okeson on the National Memo website here.

Phillips Amendment to Clean Up Polluted Minnesota Missile Site Included In Defense Bill

Local fire chief’s concerns about harmful pollutants led to Phillips amendment

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) announced that an amendment he authored – aimed at cleaning up a former missile site in Watertown, MN that left the area contaminated with harmful pollutants – has been included in the House’s FY 2020 defense bill.

The grounds were the location of an anti-aircraft missile site until 1972. In 1974, it was jointly purchased from the military by 11 local communities – Mound, Chanhassen, Chaska, Eden Prairie, Excelsior, Long Lake, Maple Plain, Mayer, St. Bonifacius, Victoria and Watertown. The 11 communities established the Western Area Fire Training Academy (WAFTA), a joint agreement between their local volunteer fire departments. The grounds were used to conduct fire training exercises for the group for over a decade, until it was discovered that the site was contaminated with harmful pollutants left over from the Nike missile program. Since the 1990’s, WAFTA has attempted to return the site to the military with the hope that it will be cleaned of pollutants.

During his tour of all 36 cities in the 3rd District, Phillips was made aware of the problem by the Mound fire chief Gregory Pederson, who also serves as the President of WAFTA. Pederson had requested action from 3rdDistrict representatives for nearly two decades with no success. After hearing Chief Pederson’s story, Phillips introduced an amendment to the FY 2020 defense bill that requires the Army to report on a plan to decontaminate polluted sites like the one in Watertown. Continue reading “Phillips Amendment to Clean Up Polluted Minnesota Missile Site Included In Defense Bill”

EPA Wants To Free Uranium Miners To Pollute Western Groundwater

Industry Says Current, Tougher Pollution Rules Are ‘Impossible to Meet’

Our nation’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is dominated by Trump appointees, is asking for suggestions about regulating a type of uranium mining after EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, who once lobbied for a uranium miner, junked more stringent mining rules.

Mining uranium could pollute groundwater our western states might later need during droughts. The way to mine uranium most used today, in situ uranium recovery, pumps an oxygen-enriched solution into the ground to dissolve uranium deposits. More chemicals are used to remove the liquid uranium.

Mining companies are supposed to repair damage from uranium mining, but Thomas Borch, an environmental chemistry professor at Colorado State University, led a study that found uranium levels in water at a Wyoming well were more than 70 times higher after mining.

View the complete February 7 article by Sarah Okeson on the DC Report website here.

LCV Victory Fund Trolls Erik Paulsen in New TV Ad

Cartoon Shows Paulsen, Trump Canoeing Through Polluted Waters; Highlights Paulsen’s Votes to Dump Coal Waste Into Waterways & Gut Limits On Methane Pollution

Minneapolis, Minnesota– In a new TV ad, LCV Victory Fund calls out Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN-03) for trying to deceive voters about his record of siding with Trump and corporate polluters.

Paulsen has attempted to convince voters that he’ll stand up for Minnesota’s environment, focusing his first TV ad of the cycle on efforts to protect the Boundary Waters. But Paulsen has continually voted to gut protections for clean air, water and public lands, earning a 14 percent on LCV’s 2017 National Environmental Scorecard. That included votes to block the Clean Water Rule and cut millions from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which recently provided $4 million to protect an addition 50,000 acres of the Boundary Waters.

Last month, the Trump administration announced they will be allowing mining exploration just outside of the Boundary Waters and stopped an environmental review of how mining would impact the wilderness area.

View the complete October 2 article by Alyssa Roberts on the League of Conservation Voters’ website here.

FAQ on the 3M Settlements from Attorney General Lori Swanson

Introduction.

After seven years of intense litigation—involving the production of over 27,000,000 pages of documents, the taking of almost 200 witness depositions, over $10 million dollars in tests, fees and costs, over 100 judicial hearings and conferences, over 1,600 court filings, and a final non-stop negotiating session lasting 22 hours, our 3M lawsuit involving the discharge of perfluorochemicals (PFCs) is finally resolved.   By the end of the case, over 75 lawyers from eight law firms had been involved with various aspects of the matter, which included several appeals to the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court and one lawsuit against one of the law firms.  Continue reading “FAQ on the 3M Settlements from Attorney General Lori Swanson”

China Poised to Take Lead on Climate After Trump’s Move to Undo Policies

The following article by Edward Wong was posted on the New York Times website March 29, 2017:

Burning coal at an unauthorized steel factory in Inner Mongolia in November. China consumes as much coal as the rest of the world combined. Credit Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

For years, the Obama administration prodded, cajoled and beseeched China to make commitments to limit the use of fossil fuels to try to slow the global effects of climate change.

President Obama and other American officials saw the pledges from both Beijing and Washington as crucial: China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, followed by the United States.

In the coming years, the opposite dynamic is poised to play out. President Trump’s signing of an executive order on Tuesday aimed at undoing many of the Obama administration’s climate change policies flips the roles of the two powers. Continue reading “China Poised to Take Lead on Climate After Trump’s Move to Undo Policies”