Ken Kirk, P.G.
Duke Energy Coal Ash Settlement
-May 18, 2015
Last week, Duke Energy, the nation’s largest electric power company pleaded guilty in federal court to illegal pollution for discharging ash and water from leaking coal-ash dumps at five North Carolina power plants. The company’s plea to nine misdemeanor counts involved violations of the Clean Water Act was part of a negotiated settlement with federal […]
West Virginia Senate Bill 423 amends the AST Act
-April 9, 2015
On March 27, 2015, West Virginia’s Governor Tomblin signed Senate Bill 423 (“SB 423”) amending the West Virginia Aboveground Storage Tank Act (the “AST Act”, W. Va. Code §§ 22-30-1) codified in April 2014 and effective June 6, 2014. The amended Act, effective June 12, 2015, will relieve most USTs of most of regulatory requirements […]
Glyphosate: Cancer-causer or Agenda Item?
-April 1, 2015
On March 28, 2015, the World Health Organization declared that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup, is likely a cause of cancer in humans. According to the New York Times, the WHO’s research was in part based on study used by Environmental Protection Agency. Thirty years ago an Environmental Protection Agency committee […]
New Federal Regulations for Disposal of Coal Ash are Announced
-January 12, 2015
The disposal of coal combustion residuals from electric utilities final rule was published in the Federal Register on December 19, 2014. As SMG highlighted last month here, this rule provides the requirements for the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCRs), or coal ash, from coal-fired power plants. The most anticipated issue associated with the CCR […]
EPA’s “Secret Science” Discouraged by the U.S. House of Representatives
-June 30, 2014
Last week the House Science, Space and Technology Committee voted in favor of a bill requiring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make the data it uses to write regulations available for public review. The committee intended the action to stop what has been described as EPA’s use of “secret science” to make laws. Rep. Lamar […]
Supreme Court’s Decision could affect Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
-May 6, 2014
On April 29, 2013, the Supreme Court revived an Environmental Protection Agency regulation that reinstates limits on power-plant pollution that blows across state lines. The decision was a defeat to electric utilities that opposed the effort as costly regulatory overreach. The 6-2 ruling breathes new life into a 2011 EPA measure known as the Cross-State […]
Obama’s Strategy to Cut Methane Emissions
-April 1, 2014
On Friday March 28, 2014, the Obama administration released its Strategy to Cut Methane Emissions as part of its Climate Action Plan. Methane accounts for nearly 9 percent of the domestic greenhouse gas emissions and is the second largest greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. The White House said while methane emissions in the United States […]
EPA Issues New Emission Standards for Cars
-March 5, 2014
On March 3, 2014, the United States Environmental Protection Agency issued new regulations to limit sulfur emission from automobiles, including lowering the sulfur content in gasoline by 60 percent beginning in 2017. The American Petroleum Institute (API), says the standards will raise gas prices while providing little environmental gain. API also added that the 2017 […]
EPA Advisor Dupes Taxpayers
-January 28, 2014
John Beale, a former EPA senior policy adviser who defrauded taxpayers out of nearly $1 million by pretending to be a CIA agent was sentenced last month to 2 and 1/2 years in prison. Beale already has paid $886,000 in restitution, and was expected to pay another half-million dollars to the Justice Department. Beale was […]
US set to become world’s largest oil producer
-December 9, 2013
The International Energy Agency is forecasting that the United States will surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world’s largest oil producer in 2015 and could be energy self-sufficient within 20 years. United States energy production is currently led by Texas and North Dakota, as oil companies use the techniques of hydraulic fracturing and […]