Small victory on PATH!
Jim Sconyers
jim_scon(a)yahoo.com
304.698.9628
Remember: Mother Nature bats last.
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Elena Saxonhouse <Elena.Saxonhouse(a)sierraclub.org>
To: CONS-ELP-TRANS-LINES-FORUM(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG
Sent: Thu, September 16, 2010 4:11:11 PM
Subject: PATH substation victory
I'm happy to report that the Frederick County Planning Commission found last
night by a 6-0 vote that the substation proposed as the terminus for PATH t is
inconsistent with the County's Comprehensive Development Plan (basically the
County's constitution for local land use). The local groups turned out about 100
people, many of whom who presented individual testimony, along with CAKES,
Sugarloaf Conservancy, and Sierra Club presenting as groups. This is a
significant setback for PATH, even though there is a question as to whether the
County will have ultimate authority over the substation. As many of you know,
the MD Public Service Commission has taken the position that if the PSC
approves the line and determines the substation is "integral" to the line, the
PSC's decision will trump that of the county's. If the PSC approves the line,
this issue will likely be decided in state court. I'm attaching Sierra Club's
comments to the Planning Commission here for reference (without exhibits), which
Alana Wase presented for us last night.
There are several other land use hearings coming up in Frederick County, which
we also are optimistic about. PATH has the opportunity to appeal the Planning
Commission's decision to the Board of County Commissioners, but local folks tell
me they are likely to uphold the decision. Thanks to everyone who worked for
this great result!
Elena Saxonhouse
Staff Attorney
Sierra Club Environmental Law Program
85 Second St., 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 977-5765
(415) 977-5793 (fax)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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The link below presents the approach being used in Connecticut for limiting water withdrawals from streams. In essence, it establishes a "Q99" which is the flow that occurs on 99 % of the days (flow does not drop below this level more than one per 100 days). The rules then establish designated use categories (Class I-IV, with Class I being natural streams, and Class IV being "working rivers" that are most heavily used and impacted.) Withdrawals on Class I streams may not exceed 5 % of the Q99 flow, while withdrawals on "Working rivers" (Class IV) may not exceed 50 % of the Q 99 flow. Whaddya Tink?
JBK
>>> Martin Mador <mador(a)sbcglobal.net> 9/12/2010 5:00 PM >>>
Jim here is the link to the state DEP website. It contains everything relevant from DEP.
http://ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2719&q=434018&depNav_GID=1654
The October 13 regs were the agency's proposal after 5 years of study.
THen came the hearing and submission of 400 statements, 3/4 of which were generated by us
DEP revised the regs in August, making them far weaker, in a strategic move to get them past the Regulations Review Committee of the legislature
It will be very difficult for us to get these thru, weak as they are -the water companies hate them.
What we really need is comprehensive state-wide planning. These regs are a start, but may actually prevent us from going further.
TNC has been a great partner here-they provided the technical expertise. I suggest contacting them.
Marty
James Kotcon wrote:
Could you send me any info or links on the minimum stream flow regs & statute you mention below. The West Virginia Chapter is interested in pursuing something similar.Jim Kotcon304-293-8822 (office), 304-594-3322 (home) --------------------------- cc:Mail Users----------------------------- ** Remember to DELETE the 'Sender: ...' lines above before REPLYing ** ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Martin Mador <mador(a)sbcglobal.net> ( mailto:mador@sbcglobal.net ) 8/23/2010 4:07 PM >>>
5 years after the legislation passed, the state DEP has finished new streamflow regulations to require minimum flows to maintain river ecology.
Due to an amendment to the state constitution, they now go to a committee of the legislature for acceptance. (This would violate separation of powers elsewhere).
Second in line behind the water companies to protest even the idea of these regs are the golf courses. So yeah, let's turn them all into (conservation, low impact, cluster) subdivisions.
Marty Mador
Paula Carrell wrote:
--------------------------- cc:Mail Users----------------------------- ** Remember to DELETE the 'Sender: ...' lines above before REPLYing ** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- just in case anyone is proposing new golf course in your vicinity . . .
from the Associated Press
----- Forwarded by Paula Carrell/Sierraclub on 08/23/2010 10:58 AM -----
From: "Neill Herring" <neillherring(a)earthlink.net> ( mailto:neillherring@earthlink.net )
Date: 08/22/2010 06:31 AM
Subject: AP: golf clubs failing all over US
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100821/ap_on_sp_ot/us_closing_country_clubs
Sunday, Aug 22, 2010
Posted on Sat, Aug. 21, 2010
US golf clubs in the rough as members drop away
By JIM FITZGERALD
A few weeds have popped up on the fairways, and summer's heat has scorched the grass here and there, but the golf course at the Hampshire Country Club is still tidy and scenic, its little waterfall still burbling through the rocks.
Not that there's anyone around to notice. The Hampshire's 18-hole course on Long Island Sound, along with its tennis courts, pool and restaurant, is closed this year. Members cited rising costs upwards of $25,000 a year for a membership as the roster fell from several hundred at its peak to about 100.
"There was a lot of talk last year about the increasing costs, people not sure what they could pay, the assessments always going up," said Barbara Mines, a member for 15 years who lives in a house on the Hampshire course. "I wasn't really surprised when it closed."
The same thing has happened in recent years at hundreds of other courses nationwide - even in the golf meccas of Florida, Arizona and California - as the economic meltdown and changes in family dynamics combine to threaten club life. Whether it's a $45,000 initiation fee for a private club or a $5 increase in the cost of a round at a public course, the price of a golf habit is giving some duffers pause.
"It's definitely connected to the economic conditions and the ability of potential private club members to pay the fairly significant initiation fees and annual dues," said Jay Mottola, executive director of the Metropolitan Golf Association, representing 120,000 golfers and 500 golf courses in the New York region.
In 2009, about 140 of the 16,000 golf facilities in the country closed and 50 opened, said Greg Nathan, a vice president at the National Golf Foundation, which represents 4,000 courses nationwide. Mottola said that the industry has lost 100 clubs a year for the past four years. (The figures count nine-hole courses as half a facility.)
Many members who "have had their individual problems with the recession" quit the clubs for financial reasons, Mottola said. Initiation fees for MGA clubs averaged just under $50,000 last year; annual dues were about $10,500. Mottola said while the fees were "trending downward" they remained the highest in the country.
The changing lifestyles of family golfers are also at play.
"It used to be that the man of the house could just say 'bye, honey,' and go to the club all day Saturday and Sunday," Nathan said. "That dynamic has really changed over the last three or four decades."
Some clubs are trying to become more family friendly as a result, allowing adults to bring their kids in while they tee off and opening computer lounges for busy professionals.
"You can check your stocks and e-mails before you tee off," said Donald DeMasters, manager of the revamped Brynwood club in suburban Armonk.
In areas of the country where golf is played year-round, many courses were built to raise the prices of new houses around them, said Roger Garrett, a Phoenix real estate agent who has sold more than 150 golf courses nationwide.
Now, with the housing market depressed, a dozen or more golf properties in Arizona are in foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings, he said. The family owned Sea Island Co. - with a stretch of private beaches and ancient oaks in coastal southern Georgia - has also filed for federal bankruptcy protection, proposing to sell its resorts and golf courses, where presidents Coolidge, Eisenhower and George W. Bush have been guests.
A dwindling in the ranks of golfers followed an oversupply of golf courses and then the great recession hit.
Since 2005, when it peaked at 30 million, Nathan said there's been "a slow leak" in the number of U.S. golfers, dropping to 27.1 million in 2009 (including anyone over age 6 who played a round). Rounds played were down 2.7 percent in the first half of this year, Nathan said.
A building boom in the 1990s and early 2000s brought an oversupply of both public and private courses. Mottola said courses owned by municipalities are "by and large doing OK."
The town of Woodbridge, Conn., bought the Woodbridge Country Club last year for $7 million to keep it from being developed.
"We did not want to lose that green space," said First Selectman Ed Sheehy. "...the nice thing is, it's green space with an income stream" - $950,000 the first year, with golfers paying only $3,500 for a full membership.
The recession has also taken a toll on public courses. The Links at Shirley, in Shirley, N.Y., which had advertised itself as "a public course with a private feel" has closed.
Clubs still need to do more, said golfer Greg Schimoler of Mamaroneck, teeing off at the public Saxon Woods course in Scarsdale. "The social life kids have today is not the country club lifestyle," Schimoler said.
Clubs are looking at several strategies to lure people back. At the private Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club in Gold Canyon, Ariz., opens one of its two 18-hole courses to the public each day, said general manager Gene Blum. In addition, the initiation fee was slashed from $100,000 to $15,000 as the club went through bankruptcy proceedings.
"It was maybe that or lock the doors," he said.
Some private clubs have been able to stay open by selling to investors.
The struggling Canyon Club in Armonk was sold last year, renamed Brynwood and turned over to Troon Golf, which manages 200 golf courses. DeMasters, the general manager, said the club now has kids' activities, a fitness center and a computer lounge to make it family friendly and "one-stop shopping." The changes tripled membership from about 100 before the sale to 331, he said.
The Muttontown Club in East Norwich temporarily dropped its initiation fees - once as high as $60,000 - and welcomed members from a nearby club that closed, said president Mitchell Mandel.
"When things were booming, you add $500 or $1,000 to the dues and it wasn't even an issue," he said. "But in the last three years or so, not only can't you raise dues but people were looking for a reduction." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-FRED list, send any message to: CONS-FRED-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-FRED list, send any message to: CONS-FRED-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/
Here is what the Sierra Club in Texas is doing for their coal ash hearings. Why not WV?
JBK
>>> Oliver Bernstein <oliver.bernstein(a)SIERRACLUB.ORG> 9/8/2010 9:06 AM >>>
FYI
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: de la Fuente, Flavia <flavia.delafuente(a)sierraclub.org>
Date: Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 8:00 PM
Subject: Liveblog, Twitter, Dallas Coal Ash Hearing
To: #Coal <#Coal(a)sierraclub.org>
Hello all,
We will be liveblogging the Dallas coal ash hearing at
www.texasgreenreport.com and tweeting from @TexasSierraClub on
Twitter. Comment, re-tweet, enjoy it from afar...
best,
--
Flavia de la Fuente
The Sierra Club, Organizing Apprentice
flavia.delafuente(a)sierraclub.org
(949) 910 6362
@Flavia_Isabel
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703579804575441683910246338.h…
Turning Away From Coal
Utilities are increasingly looking to natural gas to generate electricity
SEPTEMBER 13, 2010
By REBECCA SMITH
Power companies are increasingly switching to natural gas to fuel their electricity plants, driven by low prices and forecasts of vast supplies for years to come.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
While the trend started in the late 1990s, the momentum is accelerating and comes at the expense of coal. Some utilities are closing coal-fired plants; others are converting them to run on gas.
The switch is occurring globally and is getting a push from regulators who want to limit emissions that contribute to climate change, haze and health problems such as respiratory illness. Though efforts in Congress to pass legislation attaching a price to carbon emissions appear stalled for now, utilities still anticipate eventual carbon restrictions. The Tennessee Valley Authority, for example, recently announced a 20-year development plan that emphasizes nuclear and gas, and includes fewer coal units.
'Migration' Occurring
"It's pretty clear that, whether it's caused by future carbon legislation or action by the EPA, the migration away from coal has begun," says Constellation Energy Group Chief Executive Mayo Shattuck.
Coal-burning facilities are expected to slip to 10% of total new capacity in the U.S. in 2013, down from 18% in 2009, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports. Gas, meanwhile, is expected to soar to 82% of new capacity in 2013 from 42% last year.
Natural gas also has the edge in Europe. In 2009, far more gas- than coal-burning plants were built in the European Union—24% of new capacity versus 8.7%.
Journal Reports
Read the complete Energy report .
In China and India, though, no such shift is occurring—yet. Both nations rely on coal—an abundant local resource—for most of their power and lack the sort of integrated gas-pipeline networks that make switching to gas possible in the U.S. China's government has pledged to roughly double the percentage of electricity the country gets from non-fossil sources, to 15% from 8%, by 2020. But much of that new energy will come from hydropower. India, meanwhile, has agreed to cut its carbon emissions 20% from 2005 levels by 2020. But the country doesn't have enough domestic gas to support a large-scale shift to that fuel, although government agencies are considering increasing imports of liquefied natural gas to take advantage of a growing global glut.
The falling price of natural gas in the U.S., to about $4 per one million British thermal units, has helped gas capture an ever-increasing share of power generation. Hardly a week goes by without a company announcing changes that push coal to the sidelines, usually in favor of natural gas, renewables or nuclear plants.
Small Won't Survive
Most big coal-burning utilities have invested billions of dollars to install pollution-control equipment on their largest coal-fired plants. But they are replacing or idling smaller coal plants for which such expenditures can't be justified.
In August, Xcel Energy Inc., based in Minneapolis, notified regulators it wants to close a coal-burning plant in Boulder, Colo., and convert four units at its Cherokee plant in Denver to burn natural gas instead of coal. Xcel says the changes would cost the company $1.3 billion but still would be $225 million cheaper than installing pollution-control equipment on the aging coal units.
The program should help satisfy Colorado state goals to reduce releases of nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury. The state is reviewing Xcel's plan, which the utility says could raise customer bills an average of 1% annually for several years.
Calpine Corp., Houston, says it will convert to gas some of the coal-fired plants in Delaware and New Jersey that it is buying from Pepco Holdings Inc., in a $1.65 billion deal. The units are older plants that are in need of upgrades. Calpine says it can change the burners for less than it would cost to add pollution-control equipment like scrubbers.
Progress Energy Inc. of Raleigh, N.C., intends to close four coal-burning plants and replace two of them with gas-fired plants by 2017. The company says it's cheaper to build gas-fired plants than it is to outfit the coal units with the necessary pollution-control equipment.
Other utilities are backing away from coal projects because the recession is giving them more breathing room to figure out other ways to meet future energy needs.
For example, CMS Energy Corp., Jackson, Mich., had planned to seek regulatory approval in August to build an 830-megawatt "clean coal" power plant in Bay City, Mich. But it has indefinitely deferred the project, citing slack electricity demand and a forecast for continued low natural-gas prices. As a result, the company says, it's cheaper to buy electricity from others than to build a $2 billion coal plant.
"We're going to monitor the gas market," says CMS spokesman Jeff Holyfield. "But for now, it doesn't make sense."
Questions of Cost
Not everyone is willing to give up on coal, of course. Many big coal-burning utilities are trying to find ways to use coal more cleanly. But even they have suffered setbacks.
American Electric Power Co. failed in its bid, in July, to get Virginia customers to pay $54 million of the cost of creating an experimental carbon-capture-and-storage system at its Mountaineer coal-fired plant in West Virginia. The plant is owned by AEP's utilities in Virginia and West Virginia. But the Virginia utility commission said it wasn't fair to levy so much of the expense on Virginians when AEP customers in many other states who were not being charged stood to benefit, too. AEP, based in Columbus, Ohio, is appealing the decision.
Duke Energy Corp. has been hurt by escalating costs at a state-of-the-art coal-gasification power plant under construction in Indiana. The Edwardsport plant, which is more than half complete, is expected to cost about $3 billion, or 50% more than the $2 billion original estimate. The new cost estimate exceeds the sum that Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke is being allowed to recover from customers. The Indiana commission was expected to hold hearings this month.
Ms. Smith is a staff reporter in The Wall Street Journal's Los Angeles bureau. She can be reached at rebecca.smith(a)wsj.com.
BOX
Black Days for Coal
An analysis of the impact over the next several years if all coal-fired power plants must install sulfur-dioxide scrubbers to meet EPA emissions standards for mercury and acid gases
1,885 million megawatt-hours
Coal-fired generation in the U.S. in 2009
47 million MWh
Loss of generation expected over next five years due to natural plant retirements
244 million MWh
Loss expected because of EPA regulation of sulfur-dioxide and mercury emissions
110 million MWh
Gain expected from new coal plants
1,704 million MWh
Expected coal-fired generation in 2015
—9.6%
Percentage change in coal-fired generation, 2015 versus 2009
Sources: Ventyx, Electric Power Research Institute, Energy Information Administration, Bernstein Research analysis
--
Kind Regards,
Rory McIlmoil
Project Manager, Energy Program
Downstream Strategies
(w): (304) 292-2450
(c): (304) 376-0045
www.downstreamstrategies.com
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." ~Buckminster Fuller
"The progressive state is in reality the cheerful and the hearty state to all the different orders of the society; the stationary is dull; the declining melancholy."
ADAM SMITH.
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*A Frack Job Explained *
Posted Thursday, September 9, 2010 ; 06:00 AM | View
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Updated Wednesday, September 8, 2010; 05:31 PM
Hydraulic Fracturing — Surface Equipment
Photo Credit: Illustrations courtesy of Chesapeake Energy Corp. *Company
details the steps it takes to recover natural gas. *
By Pam Kasey
Email <pkasey(a)statejournal.com> |
Bio<http://www.statejournal.com/bios.cfm?func=viewbio&bioid=63>| Other
Stories by Pam Kasey<http://www.statejournal.com/bios.cfm?func=viewstories&bioid=63>
It's going on all around and beneath us: hydraulic fracturing to release the
natural gas trapped a mile down in the Marcellus Shale.
No one knows how many wells are being "fracked" in the state at any one
time. With permits in the Marcellus numbering several hundred each year,
according to the state Department of Environmental Protection, it's at least
a few.
But how, exactly, does it work?
In mid-August, Chesapeake Appalachia took The State Journal to a Marshall
County frack job and explained what its crews were doing.
As a brief reminder of terms seen often in the media these days, hydraulic
fracturing, or fracking, is the process of blasting water laced with sand
and chemicals into a rock formation to create cracks and release the trapped
hydrocarbons.
The chemicals make the water thicker, to hold the sand in suspension, and
slicker, to speed everything through the pipe, while the sand lodges in the
cracks and holds them open.
Fracking a well, West Virginians have come to understand, takes lots of
water. How much depends on the characteristics of the rock formation and the
length of the well bore, but 3 million gallons seems to be a lower bound.
For its concentrated Wetzel and Marshall county operations, Chesapeake was
drawing water from Fish Creek, according to Completion Superintendent Zack
Arnold, whose territory includes Wetzel, Marshall and Upshur counties, as
well as southwestern Pennsylvania.
But as this dry summer stretched on, the company instead established a water
line from the Ohio River to two fresh-water impoundments. That came online
in early August.
An impoundment holds 80,000 to 100,000 barrels, according to Arnold -- 3.3
million to 4.2 million gallons.
*Anatomy of a Frack Job*
On Aug. 19 at Chesapeake's Waryck site in Marshall County, the company and
its vendors were fracking three well bores that extended in different
directions from the same point on the surface and were just finishing the
first stage mid-day.
A video Chesapeake played before the trip explained that drillers create
well bores by first drilling down through and beyond the fresh-water zone
and casing that length in cement. They then continue drilling down to about
500 feet above the Marcellus layer.
Drillers then angle gradually until they're drilling horizontally within the
Marcellus layer, out to 4,000 feet and more -- in each of three directions,
in this instance.
They case the horizontal sections, or "laterals," in cement and are ready to
frack.
Fracking begins with perforation, Arnold explained.
Operators sent a perforation gun on a 20,000-foot electric line to the end
of a lateral and fired it to make holes through the casing and into the
surrounding rock. When the farthest sections of all three laterals were
"perfed," the perf gun was pulled out.
Meanwhile, at the surface, operators mixed water, sand and chemicals in a
"blender."
Pumps blasted the mixed fracking fluid down through the well bores, one at a
time, out through the perforations and into the shale.
Those first stages would then be plugged, and second stages -- the
next-nearest sections as measured by the length of the perf gun -- could be
perfed and fracked.
When all stages were finally fracked -- 10 to 12 stages is the current
industry standard, Arnold said -- the plugs would be drilled through and
fracking fluid, now under pressure in the shale, would come back to the
surface as "flowback."
Several hundred thousand gallons of flowback for each well would give way
progressively over a period of one to two weeks to gas, and the wells would
then be producing.
*Flowback*
Chesapeake's current process is to recycle flowback by hauling it to the
next site, filtering it and cutting the remaining brine with fresh water.
Although Arnold did not want to say how much water it takes to frack a well,
he agreed with a range of 3 million to something less than 10 million
gallons.
Although he also did not want to say how much of that returns as flowback,
he did say it's a small enough percentage that, when filtered and cut with
fresh water, it is not too salty to fracture the next well.
*Containment*
The surface operation involves careful fluid management.
Chesapeake's best management practices -- more stringent, Arnold stressed,
than those required by the state -- include what he described as three
levels of containment.
Primary containment is everything after the blender, he said -- all the
pipes that carry the fracking fluid.
For secondary containment, every part of the operation that holds liquid,
fresh water as well as pre- and post-frack fluid, rests on a layer of
heavy-duty, textured 60-mil plastic.
And tertiary containment involves constructed berms running around
particular sections of the operation and around the entire pad.
Fluid spilled from anywhere will be contained on the plastic, and the
expectation is that operators will be able to pump it up before it tops a
berm.
One Chesapeake crew has no other duty than to check for good practices,
making rounds at each active site about once a week; in addition, an on-site
crew from an outside vendor spends its time checking the berm and plastic
for holes.
The state requires spills that leave containment to be reported, but
Chesapeake reports every spill even if it stays within containment, Arnold
said.
*Copyright 2010 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may
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------------------------------
*User Comments* [ post
comment<http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=85781&printvie…>]
[image: User Comment] *lets be honest*
9/12/10 at 11:11 PM Report Abuse
Just so everyone is aware, I read a few articles where it states that each
of the Marcellus wells can be frac'd up to 18 times. Which means the trucks
will never stop, the land will never have a chance to heal and we will be
constantly fearful of contamination. Then to even get better it states that
after the Marcellus is dried up, they'll start drilling the Utica Shale
which is even deeper. This is not a one time thing to live through.
[image: User Comment] *gashound*
9/11/10 at 11:47 AM Report Abuse
The number not willing to sign is very small. All you need to do is to take
a trip to the courthouse and see for yourself how many have already signed.
You will be shocked.
[image: User Comment] *marilyn k hunt*
9/11/10 at 11:08 AM Report Abuse
Many people who own mineral rights are saying no to contamination and
drilling on their property. why? because it is immoral to do something evil
for money and real Americans do not sell out their country to Chinese
investment banks. our system of government and investment is competing in an
economic war with countries which basically just print money with no
reserves. how does it feel to know that the Marcellus Shale assets are being
sold to foreign countries..Soon you will not have to dig too deep to get to
China. Congress is beginning a new roud of hearings into this horrible
exploitation of our countries resources...collaborators must be brought to
trial for destroying lives and property. They have lied about who they are
and what they are doing.
[image: User Comment] *gashound*
9/10/10 at 10:07 PM Report Abuse
For or against drilling, we all should agree on at least one thing, Senate
Bill 617 should be shot down ! Why? If you own an undivided interest in
minerals and are looking to sign a lease, this Bill will allow companies to
drill, even if only one of the undivided interest owners have signed a
lease. Chances are, this signed owner has signed a lease with no protections
for the land ! This means any of the remaining unsigned owners will fall
under the terms of this lease, along with not being able to negotiate any
bonus or royalty. This will cost the state millions !!! Now, if you are
against drilling, you need to understand that drilling is happening and will
continue to happen. So, if you can't stop it, you need to do what you can to
make it as environmentaly friendly as possible. If senate Bill 617 passes,
this will allow drilling companies to proceed base on the many, many poorly
negotiated leases that have no protections added into them. Without the Bill
passing, the remaing owners will be able to add protections into thier lease
and the compainies will have to abide by the terms of these leases. All it
takes is one owner to have the protections in his or her lease and it will
override all other leases !!! So everyone needs to contact their Senate
Members and tell them to KILL BILL 617. I hope each and everyone of you
understand the importance of stopping Bill 617. Thank You All, gashound
[image: User Comment] *do what?*
9/10/10 at 5:32 PM Report Abuse
ISN'T A FRACK JOB WHAT LT NORRIS WAS GETTING FROM THAT UNDERAGE GIRL IN A
GOV CAR?
[image: User Comment] *concerned*
9/10/10 at 10:56 AM Report Abuse
To whom thinks fracking is a good idea please watch the documentary Gasland
it was on hbo but go to youtube and search Gasland you will change your mind
about this drilling or fracking in your backyard. people are getting cancer,
brain tumors,animals are dying all the water is contaminated the water
stinks, bubbles and YES you can light tap water out of the spicket on fire
please look you have nothing to lose but everything to gain from educating
yourself on this fracking im just a guy concerned for all of us are kids and
grandkids. Thank You Brian for trying to educate these people on fracking
everything you said is absalutly true
[image: User Comment] *Uncle Sam*
9/10/10 at 3:28 AM Report Abuse
Brian, you don't have mineral rights leased to Chesapeake do you? The
protesters are jealous neighbors of mineral rights owners. There's an
opportunity for many West Virginians to become wealthy and some who will not
profit from the Marcellus Shale want to stand in the way. The protesters are
jealous people.
[image: User Comment] *gashound*
9/9/10 at 8:56 PM Report Abuse
Brian, if you feel this way about drilling and fracking then why are you
doing it ? Something is wrong with this picture !!!
[image: User Comment] *Brian*
9/9/10 at 1:25 PM Report Abuse
ive worked with chesapeake in marshall co pumping water and working
flowback. they store the water in 500 barrel frac tanks (~45 gal per
barrel). ive seen jobs that take as many as 80 of these tanks, all filled
with fresh water that was pumped from local steams and creeks.
they mix chemicals with the fresh water and send it down-hole. after
frac'ing is complete, they flow it back.
from the jobs id been on, id estimate that only about 5-10% of the
chemical-laced water ever comes back up from the well. the rest of it just
sets in the ground and leaches into the formations.
the residual water is a concern because studies show that it can, and does
leach into the water table deep in the ground.
do some googling about water contamination and horizontal drilling. many
years ago in texas and oklahoma, farmers were having their livestock die off
after drinking contaminated water. another common result from these
practices is 'fire water' (not the liquor). people can run water from their
sink into a jar, then light the water on fire. it burns due to leeched
natural gas and methane. there are also concerns over higher levels of heavy
metals in the effected water tables. for many years leading up to 2005,
horizontal drilling was federally banned due to these concerns. but wouldnt
you know it, bush/cheney rammed through the energy act of 2005, which made
it legal for this to go on again.
but anyway, 10% TOPS return on flowback. the rest sets underground and
leeches. dont buy the BS that they dont know the effects of what they are
doing either. it was previously banned for a reason.
------------------------------
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Remember: Mother Nature bats last.
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Bill Price <bill.price(a)sierraclub.org>
To: Jim Sconyers <jim_scon(a)yahoo.com>; Bill DePaulo <william.depaulo(a)gmail.com>;
Karen Grubb <karen.grubb(a)fairmontstate.edu>; Kevin Fooce <fmoose39(a)hotmail.com>;
Rodger Dotson <bhaddaka(a)yahoo.com>; Heather Heilman <heatherheilman(a)yahoo.com>;
Jim Kotcon <jkotcon(a)wvu.edu>
Sent: Fri, September 10, 2010 11:31:35 AM
Subject: Alliance Hiring new coordinator
Job description is attached. Please distribute far and wide.
Bill Price, Sierra Club EJ Program
922 Quarrier Street, Suite 304
Charleston, WV 25311
Cell 304-389-8822
Fax 304-342-3182
Voices from the Mountains-September 25-27th
For more information go to www.appalachiarising.org
Blank
September 9, 2010
Marcellus boom makes state man multimillionaire
NEW MARTINSVILLE, W.Va. -- The rush to tap the Marcellus shale natural gas field has made one West Virginia landowner a millionaire -- 22 times over.
By The Associated Press
The Associated Press
AdvertiserNEW MARTINSVILLE, W.Va. -- The rush to tap the Marcellus shale natural gas field has made one West Virginia landowner a millionaire -- 22 times over.
Ed Broome, who owns an oil and gas company of his own in Glenville, says Chesapeake Energy offered him $22 million for 22,000 acres of oil and gas rights in Wetzel County.
Broome told The Intelligencer of Wheeling he knew it was a good deal. He didn't pay anything close to that in the mid-1990s.
Broome's land is on 250 plots stretching from New Martinsville to the borders of Marion and Monongalia counties.
Oklahoma-based Chesapeake says it won't comment on deals it makes.
Broome, who lives in Glenville, says it was just the right time to sell.
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201009090256
[image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/>
------------------------------
January 7, 2009
Hundreds of Coal Ash Dumps Lack Regulation
By SHAILA DEWAN<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/shaila_dewan/i…>
[image: 07sludge_600.JPG]
The coal ash pond that ruptured and sent a billion gallons of toxic sludge
across 300 acres of East Tennessee last month was only one of more than
1,300 similar dumps across the United States — most of them unregulated and
unmonitored — that contain billions more gallons of fly ash and other
byproducts of burning coal.
Like the one in
Tennessee<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/national/usstatesterritoriesandpossessio…>,
most of these dumps, which reach up to 1,500 acres, contain heavy metals
like arsenic, lead, mercury and selenium, which are considered by the
Environmental
Protection Agency<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/e/environ…>to
be a threat to water supplies and human health. Yet they are not
subject
to any federal regulation, which experts say could have prevented the spill,
and there is little monitoring of their effects on the surrounding
environment.
In fact, coal ash is used throughout the country for construction fill, mine
reclamation and other “beneficial uses.” In 2007, according to a coal
industry estimate, 50 tons of fly ash even went to agricultural uses, like
improving soil’s ability to hold water, despite a 1999 E.P.A. warning about
high levels of arsenic. The industry has promoted the reuse of coal
combustion products because of the growing amount of them being produced
each year — 131 million tons in 2007, up from less than 90 million tons in
1990.
The amount of coal ash has ballooned in part because of increased demand for
electricity, but more because air pollution controls have improved.
Contaminants and waste products that once spewed through the coal plants’
smokestacks are increasingly captured in the form of solid waste, held in
huge piles in 46 states, near cities like Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Tampa,
Fla., and on the shores of Lake Erie, Lake Michigan and the Mississippi
River.
Numerous studies have shown that the ash can leach toxic substances that can
cause cancer, birth defects and other health problems in humans, and can
decimate fish, bird and frog populations in and around ash dumps, causing
developmental problems like tadpoles born without teeth, or fish with severe
spinal deformities.
“Your household garbage is managed much more consistently” than coal
combustion waste, said Dr. Thomas A. Burke, an epidemiologist at the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who testified on the health
effects of coal ash before a Congressional subcommittee last year. “It’s
such a large volume of waste, and it’s so essential to the country’s energy
supply; it’s basically been a loophole in the country’s waste management
strategy.”
As the E.P.A. has studied whether to regulate coal ash waste, the cases of
drinking wells and surface water contaminated by leaching from the dumps or
the use of the ash has swelled. In 2007, an E.P.A. report identified 63
sites in 26 states where the water was contaminated by heavy metals from
such dumps, including three other Tennessee Valley Authority dumps.
Environmental advocacy groups have submitted at least 17 additional cases
that they say should be added to that list.
Just last week, a judge approved a $54 million class-action settlement
against Constellation Power Generation after it had dumped coal ash for more
than a decade in a sand and gravel pit near Gambrills, Md., about 20 miles
south of Baltimore, contaminating wells. And Town of Pines, Ind., a hamlet
about 40 miles east of Chicago, was declared a Superfund site after wells
there were found to be contaminated by ash dumped in a landfill and used to
make roads starting in 1983.
Contamination can be swift. In Chesapeake, Va., high levels of lead, arsenic
and other contaminants were found last year in the groundwater beneath a
golf course sculptured with 1.5 million tons of fly ash, the same type of
coal ash involved in the Tennessee spill. The golf course opened in 2007.
State requirements for the handling of coal ash vary widely. Some states,
like Alabama, do not regulate it at all, except by means of federally
required water discharge permits. In Texas, the vast majority of coal ash is
not considered a solid waste, according to a review of state regulations by
environmental groups. There are no groundwater monitoring or engineering
requirements for utilities that dump the ash on site, as most utilities do,
the analysis says.
The lack of uniform regulation stems from the E.P.A.’s inaction on the
issue, which it has been studying for 28 years. In 2000, the agency came
close to designating coal ash a hazardous waste, but backpedaled in the face
of an industry campaign that argued that tighter controls would cost it $5
billion a year. (In 2007, the Department of Energy estimated that it would
cost $11 billion a year.) At the time, the E.P.A. said it would issue
national regulations governing the disposal of coal ash as a nonhazardous
waste, but it has not done so.
“We’re still working on coming up with those standards,” said Matthew Hale,
director of the office of solid waste at the E.P.A. “We don’t have a
schedule at this point.”
Last year, the agency invited public comment on new data on coal combustion
wastes, including a finding that the concentrations of arsenic to which
people might be exposed through drinking water contaminated by fly ash could
increase cancer risks several hundredfold.
If such regulations were issued, the agency could require that utilities
dispose of dry ash in lined landfills, considered the most environmentally
sound method of disposal, but also the most expensive. A 2006 federal report
found that at least 45 percent of relatively new disposal sites did not use
composite liners, the only kind that the E.P.A. says diminishes the leaching
of cancer-causing metals to acceptable risk levels. The vast majority of
older disposal sites are unlined.
Most coal ash is stored wet in ponds, like the one in Tennessee, almost
always located on waterways because they need to take in and release water.
But scientists say that the key to the safe disposal of coal ash is to keep
it away from water, by putting dry ash into landfills with caps, linings and
collection systems for contaminated water.
Environmentalists, scientists and other experts say that regulations could
have prevented the Tennessee spill. Andrew Wittner, an economist who was
working in the E.P.A.’s office of solid waste in 2000 when the issue of
whether to designate coal ash as hazardous was being debated, said the
agency came close to prohibiting ash ponds like the one at Kingston. “We
were going to suggest that these materials not be wet-handled, and that
existing surface impoundments should be drained,” Mr. Wittner said.
If storing coal ash were more expensive, environmental advocates say,
utilities might be pushed to find more ways to recycle it safely. Experts
say that some “beneficial uses” of coal ash can be just that, like
substituting ash for cement in concrete, which binds the heavy metals and
prevents them from leaching, or as a base for roads, where the ash is
covered by an impermeable material. But using the ash as backfill or to
level abandoned mines requires intensive study and monitoring, which
environmentalists say is rarely done right.
The industry takes the position that states can regulate the disposal of
coal ash on their own, and it has come up with a voluntary plan to close
some gaps, like in the monitoring of older disposal sites.
“There probably isn’t a need for a comprehensive regulatory approach to coal
ash in light of what the states have and our action plan,” said Jim Roewer,
the executive director of the Utility Solid Wastes Activity Group.
Mr. Roewer said there was a trend toward dry ash disposal in lined
landfills, though that trend was not identified in the 2006 federal report
on disposal methods.
Environmentalists are skeptical of the industry’s voluntary self-policing
plan and the states’ ability to tighten controls.
“The states have proven that they can’t regulate this waste adequately, and
that’s seen in the damage that is occurring all over the United States,”
said Lisa Evans, a former E.P.A. lawyer who now works on hazardous-waste
issues for the environmental advocacy group Earthjustice. “If the states
could regulate the industry appropriately, they would have done so by now.”
Utility companies are often aware of problems with their disposal system,
Ms. Evans said, but they put off improvements because of the cost.
The Tennessee Valley Authority, which owns the Kingston Fossil Plant, where
the Tennessee spill occurred, tried for decades to fix leaks at its ash
pond. In 2003, it considered switching to dry disposal, but balked at the
estimated cost of $25 million, according to a report in The Knoxville News
Sentinel. That is less than the cost of cleaning up an ash spill in
Pennsylvania in 2005 that was a 10th of the size of the one in Tennessee.
I have been asked to help distribute the following notice:
The Alliance for Appalachia is hiring a new coordinator. Please help us spread the word by passing onto your networks. The job description is included below and attached. Applications will be accepted until September 24th.
For more information, email Hiring(a)TheAllianceForAppalachia.org, call (304) 546-8473, or send application letter, resume, and 3 references to
Hiring(a)TheAllianceForAppalachia.org
The Alliance For Appalachia
Job Announcement
Applications accepted until September 24th
BACKGROUND:
The Alliance For Appalachia is a regional alliance with the goal of ending mountaintop removal coal mining. The Alliance For Appalachia began in 2006 and consists of thirteen organizations across five states. We are pursuing a multi-dimensional campaign to stop mountaintop removal and create a clean, healthy, sustainable, and just Appalachia by phasing out our dependence on coal and phasing in a sustainable economy for the mountains and survivable energy sources for our region and the nation.
The Alliance is governed by a Steering Committee made up of one representative and an alternate from each of the thirteen member organizations. We have Coordinating Committee and Work Teams on legislative strategy, enforcement strategy, economic conversion, as well as other ad-hoc teams working on special projects.
We are pursing a number of complementary strategies including grassroots organizing, leadership development, strategic communications, alliance building, research, and more.
We believe that our campaign to abolish mountaintop removal mining can be an important element of the national effort for progressive, systemic change in our nation’s energy, economic, and environmental policies. By highlighting the dangers and true costs of our dependence on coal, we can help move the nation away from our current extraction economy and toward a new ethic of conservation, efficiency and renewable energy.
Title: The Alliance for Appalachia Coordinator
Duration: Full-Time
Reports to:
The Steering Committee of The Alliance, with direct oversight furnished by the Coordinating Committee of The Alliance
Scope:
Plans, organizes and coordinates the activities of The Alliance for Appalachia in carrying out the assigned campaigns and programs in the region. Participates in the development of strategies and priorities and implements strategy developed by the Steering Committee.
Activities:
· Coordinates meeting and event logistics, including all Alliance Committee meetings and conference calls.
§ Coordinates Alliance participation and travel logistics for key events, including the annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington and trainings.
§ Implements fundraising strategy with appropriate Alliance committee oversight.
§ Works with Alliance leaders to coordinate facilitation of calls, meetings, etc.
§ Takes notes of all meetings and is responsible for follow through on actions/decisions of The Alliance
§ Responsible for administrative duties and internal communications among all entities of The Alliance
§ Prepares a quarterly report for the Steering Committee.
§ Works closely with The Alliance member groups to nurture positive working relationships among member groups and with national and regional allies
§ Responsible for electronic communications, basic research and maintaining The Alliance web presence.
§ Coordinates media outreach with the appropriate Alliance Committees.
§ Heavier seasonal workloads may occur as a result of project deadlines and during peak activity periods, such as during the annual Week in Washington and training weekends. Weekend and/or evening work required. Must have the ability to travel
Skills/Qualifications:
§ Experienced in working with non-profit organizations; experienced in working in coalitions.
§ Knowledge of mountaintop removal concerns and other issues impacting residents of Central Appalachia.
§ Good time management skills, must be a self-starter
§ Good written and verbal communication skills including some facilitation experience
§ Experienced in working with a wide variety of volunteers, community leaders and staff.
§ Willing to travel and be flexible about time.
§ Good computer skills
Compensation:
Commensurate with experience. Competitive benefits package, including full family health insurance. We provide annual cost of living adjustments and annual salary bumps to credit experience. Time off includes fifteen vacation days per year, ten holidays, nine sick days and three personal days. We have a compensation time policy and a one month maternity/paternity/family leave policy.
Location:
Central or Southern Appalachian area, specifically near the coalfield areas of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, or West Virginia
Please submit resume, writing sample, two professional and one personal reference to:
Hiring(a)TheAllianceForAppalachia.org
For a description of The Alliance for Appalachia member groups go to: www.TheAllianceForAppalachia.org
The Alliance for Appalachia is an equal opportunity employer. Women and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply.
Dana Kuhnline
Alliance for Appalachia
PO Box 11701
Charleston, WV 25339
Call: (304) 546-8473
Fax: (304) 342-3182
www.ilovemountains.orgwww.theallianceforappalachia.org
It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little.
Sydney Smith