On September 19, 2012, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced a signed agreement that requires the General Electric Company to manage the maintenance and possible replacement of treatment equipment on wells in the Cayuga County Groundwater Contamination Superfund site in New York. 

According to Judith A. Enck, the EPA Regional Administrator, “This agreement allows EPA to continue the important work of address toxic contamination at this site without having tax payers foot the bill.”

The drinking water was initially contaminated when volatile organic compounds ran off into ground water from a facility in Auburn, New York.  A company called Powerex, Inc. and GE both manufactured semiconductors at the facility on Genessee Street.  The EPA detected contamination on 55 properties in 2000 and proceeded to install treatment systems on the wells.  Since then, the EPA only maintained a total of four treatment systems because the other properties had been connected to public water supplies. 

Even though the EPA has handed over maintenance responsibilities to GE, the EPA is still working on a long-term cleanup strategy.

A proposed cleanup strategy reported on August 2, 2012 involves dividing the contaminated area into three different sections.  The first section is directly south of the formerly used facility, and the EPA will use a term called bioremediation.  The process introduces chemicals and “biological enhancements” to breakdown the volatile organic compounds.

The EPA will rely on natural processes for the other two sections.  The EPA believes the right conditions exist underground in the two sections that can work to eliminate the compounds quickly.  Routine collection and analysis of the ground water will continue. 

The contaminated site was added to the Superfund list in 2002.  Since its creation by Congress in 1980, the Superfund investigates and cleans up the most hazardous sites in the United States.    The only time taxpayers feel the impacts of the Superfund is when those responsible for the pollution cannot be located or provide financially incapable of such cleanup efforts. 

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

On September 19, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency called for communities to apply for sustainable growth assistance in their area.  In order to qualify for the assistance, the communities must show how they increased economic opportunity while protecting the health and environment in the past.

If the community is selected, the EPA will offer assistance through the Building Block for Sustainable Communities program.  This specific program offers tools with applications in rural, suburban, and urban areas.  Some of the available tools and strategies include:

·         strong growth and economic development to receive better results from public and private investments

·         “green street strategies” to manage storm water

·         land strategies for water quality protection

·         parking audits for parking in current and planned areas of land

·         community design for elderly populations to help residents live at home longer

·         “bikeshare system planning” to develop new commuting ideas

·         green building toolkits

·         small city and rural development to promote “community characteristics”

Application must be submitted to the EPA between September 26 and October 26.  The EPA is hosting a webinar about the program and application process on September 21 between 1:00 and 2:30 Eastern time.

The EPA is selecting a total amount of 44 communities in the current round of assistance.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation will make selections, and the EPA states the collaboration will manage “federal investments in infrastructure, facilities, and services to get better results for communities and use taxpayer money more efficiently.”

If a community is selected, the EPA will send experts to the community for a two-day workshop that explains policies and practices.  The community can also learn about smart growth development during the workshops.

The Building Blocks program began in 2010 and the EPA has received requests from over 600 communities in the last two years.  The EPA has provided assistance to 140 communities in just two years.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

On September 19, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency stated that a $10 million cleanup initiative of contaminated soil will begin mid to late September at the Superfund site called Solvent Savers.  The site is a chemical waste recovery facility located in Chenango County. 

According to the EPA, the soil and ground water is polluted with volatile organic compounds and polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs.  These chemical can cause serious damage to a person’s health.

Solvent Savers, Inc. maintained a chemical waste recovery program at the contaminated site on Union Valley Road from 1967 to 1974.  During this time, industrial solvents and other harmful chemicals were reprocessed and disposed.  Many of the chemicals—in liquid, solid, and sludge form—were buried in drums on the site. 

The EPA has removed about 160 drums and parts that were buried on the site, and much of the soil around the drums was also removed. 

The EPA has already used a “soil vapor extraction treatment system” that aims to reduce and eliminate volatile organic compounds within the soil.  The EPA estimates this process reduced the volume of contaminated soil from 135,000 cubic yards to only 6,500 cubic yards.  The rest of soil is located in two “hot spots” with PCB contamination as well. 

The soil contaminated with both volatile organic compounds and PCBS will be cleared out from the site and placed in EPA-approved areas.  Soil with high levels of PCBs will undergo a process that cements and binds the contaminants before disposal. 

About 15,000 cubic yards will be removed from the site.  The areas will be filled with clean soil and planted vegetation.  The EPA is overseeing the operation, and the following companies are paying for contamination and cleanup: General Electric Company, Inc., American Locker Group, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, Pass & Symour Corporation, and the United States Air Force.    

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

Despite tighter international controls on ivory, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns that African Rhinos may become extinct in 10 years if immediate action is not taken by the international community.  The WWF reports that 588 rhinos and tens of thousands of elephants were killed in 2012. 

There are several reasons for the increased amount of rhino poaching: the demand for rhino horn in Asia continues to increase, and local citizens in Africa can earn a substantial amount of money from just several poaches. 

Dr Joseph Okori, the WWF’s African Rhino Programme leader, states: “Villagers are at the bottom of the chain and can earn several months income through two or three days of poaching.  Huge amounts of money is in circulation.” 

The most demand for illegal ivory is in Asia, and particularly Viet Nam.  Large amounts of illegal ivory reach markets in China and Thailand as well.  There is a market expanding on rhinoceros horns as well.  For example, appliances capable of grinding up rhinoceros horns sell for about $450 in Vietnam. 

Laws and regulations against ivory trade already exist at the federal level and state level in the United States.  For example, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the African Elephant Conservation Act of 1989 specifically outlaw the trading of ivory, and state laws vary between jurisdictions.  The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES) also banned the illegal trading of ivory. 

Still, the WWF states that more regulations and stricter penalties need instituted and consuming nations need to decrease their demand for illegal ivory immediately to save the African Rhino. 

Namibia is an example of increasing protection for the African Rhino.  The country’s government works with local populations and developed a management plan to protect the rhinos.  The country has the lowest rate of poaching in all of Africa.  Similar management plans are reaching Botswana, South Africa, and Zambia as well. 

The WWF has also developed a DNA registry for a total of 5,600 rhinos.  The DNA information can help African governments track down and try poachers in court. 

Hakan Wirtén, the Secretary General of WWF Sweden, called out to the international community to help save the African Rhino: “We welcome the fact that the Swedish government has provided increased support for stricter border control, as well as other measures to combat smuggling and poaching.  Both governments and tourists need to take more responsibility.  People should absolutely not buy souvenirs from endangered species or carved ivory souvenirs while on holiday.” 

Source: World Wildlife Fund

On November 28, 2012, the Sierra Club announced it was filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).  The lawsuit states that the TVA failed to operate with transparency while it was taking public comments about a $1 billion project to continue the Gallatin coal plant. 

The TVA announced that it would stop taking public comments after November 30, but the Sierra Club claims that it failed to provide the public about environmental safety information in connection with its plan on the Gallatin coal plant.  The plans include the construction 150-foot ash landfills in wetlands near Old Hickory Lake. 

The Sierra Club admits that the lawsuit is a last-ditch effort to stop reconstruction plans on the aging coal plant.  In addition to the lawsuit, the Sierra Club has purchased online advertisement rights on three local newspaper websites and asked TVA to invest in clean energy solutions instead of focusing on again coal plants. 

Louise Gorenflo, the lead volunteer with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in Tennessee, stated: “TVA wants to spend more than one billion dollars to keep an aging, obsolete coal plant running.  To add insult to injury, TVA officials are trying to limit public comment so they can plow forward with their expensive and dangerous plan.  We’re taking these steps now to ensure that TVA can’t make billion-dollar decisions without public input.” 

The Sierra Club states that TVA has discouraged public comment since the beginning.  Officials with TVA only allowed 30 days of public comments, but public concern allowed for an extension of 14 days.  TVA is still withholding information that the Sierra Club asserts is public information. 

The Sierra Club partnered with an analysis firm called Synapse Energy Economics in August 2012 to show that the older coal plants operated by TVA were uneconomical to operate.  TVA decided to spend one billion dollars on making the coal plant meet current Clean Air standards, but the Sierra Club claims the renovations will affect ratepayers for decades.  To back up their claim, the Sierra Club has proved that an energy efficiency savings program can reduce enough energy consumption to shut down the Gallatin coal plant for good. 

An analysis by TVA also proved energy savings of 1.2 percent could phase out the Gallatin plant, but TVA still insists on updating the coal-fired plant. 

Vanessa Pierce, the Director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in the Eastern Region, states: “TVA has an obligation to its ratepayers and the people who live in the Tennessee Valley.  Rate hike after rate hike – with no real investment in the clean energy future – is no longer acceptable.  TVA has the opportunity to phase out an obsolete and polluting coal plant in favor of energy efficiency.  The right choice is clear.” 

Source: Sierra Club

Countries from all over the world are currently meeting in Doha, the capital city of oil-rich Qatar, to develop a treaty to reduce the progression of global warming.  The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has already indicted drastic and immediate changes are needed in developed and developing countries to meet 2020 emissions goals. 

The current Kyoto protocol, the only international emissions treaty, received pledges from developed countries around the world to dramatically reduce emissions by 2015 in order to meet 2020 goals.

Members of countries’ negotiating teams, especially those of the United States, were mostly optimistic about steps being taken for 2020 goals, but a recent study states developing countries like the United States and Canada will unlikely meet their pledges. 

The results of the study were published by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (NEAA). 

According to the study, climate policies in the United States currently fail to reduce emissions reductions pledged to the UNFCCC—which is 17 percent below 2005 emissions levels by 2020. 

The US emission projections are lower than estimates in the past because the economic crisis and development in the energy sector.  Energy demand is shifting from coal to natural gas and helping to heat homes more than electricity generated from coal.  The recession has reduced consuming and ultimately emissions from consumption, but the United States still fails to meet 2020 pledges because it continues to build inefficient cars and coal-fired power stations.  

With current trends and policies, emissions will range from 6.3 to 6.5 gigatons (not including forestry emissions).  The United States has pledged 6.0 Gt or less by 2020. 

Furthermore, the study predicts that the “New Performance Standard” will have no effect on emissions in the future.  The Standard regulates emission levels at new power plants.  The study sites an impact analysis by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

The same goes for Canada.  The NEAA predicts Canada’s current climate policies will not meet pledges by 2020.  Canada has pledged an emissions target of 610 Megatons by 2020, but current estimates show the emissions ranging from 730 to 780 Mt (excluding forestry emissions). 

NEAA argues that the most important environmental policies in Canada are the standards set for small vehicles and coal-fire power generating plants.  However, Canada is unlikely to meet 2020 levels because existing power plants are allowed to operate for 50 more years under the new standards. 

Source: Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency