EPA to decide whether coal ash is hazardous waste

EPA to decide whether coal ash is hazardous waste. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the week of August 30 is set to begin a month of hearings on whether coal-ash waste should be effectively treated as hazardous waste subject to tighter safeguards. Environmental groups say it should. But industry groups said safety can be achieved without treating the waste as hazardous, which could make it less attractive to recyclers. The EPA has said it may make a decision by the end of next year. Environmental groups said widespread contamination to water supplies near coal-ash sites has already occurred. In a report August 26, environmentalists alleged that 39 coal-ash sites in 21 states have contaminated surface or groundwater, based on analysis of state records. At each site where groundwater was monitored, concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic or lead exceeded federal health-based standards for drinking water, the report said. The 39 sites are in addition to 31 others named by the groups in February. The EPA has identified an additional 67 sites where water has been contaminated, the environmental groups said. Most of the sites are in big coal states, such as Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. Environmentalists fear more contamination at other sites - which number about 900 nationwide, the EPA said - because many states do not require groundwater monitoring near coal-ash sites.

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first published week of:   08/30/2010

Federal probe: Workers felt pressed to ignore safety issues at Knolls nuclear site

Federal probe: Workers felt pressed to ignore safety issues at Knolls nuclear site. A federal investigation into radiation released during demolition of a research building at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna, New York found workers felt pressed by bosses to ignore safety issues and get work done faster. A draft report, filed by investigators for the Department of Energy and obtained by the Times Union, also concluded that Washington Group International, a private company performing work under a $69 million contract, made missteps that led to an "uncontrolled spread of radioactive contamination" during the September 29 demolition of a tainted Cold War-era research building at the research complex. The company was pushing to finish work three months earlier than first planned - by September 2011 rather than December 2011 - in order to receive an extra $32 million in federal stimulus funding awarded for the cleanup in April 2009.

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first published week of:   11/29/2010

Federal standard for renewable energy sought

The U.S. wind industry “is on the edge of explosive growth,” but for that to become reality Congress must adopt a national standard calling for a specific percentage of electricity to come from wind power and other renewable sources, American Wind Energy Association Executive Director Denise Bode said today.

AWEA, whose annual conference is drawing approximately 20,000 people to the sprawling Dallas Convention Center this week, favors a so-called “25 x 25” renewable electricity standard, or RES. The standard aims for 25 percent of electricity to come from renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass by 2025.

“Congress, by not acting, is allowing our lighthouse to dim,” Bode said. A bill pending in a U.S. House committee calls for a 15 percent RES, but U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said he favors a 20 percent standard by 2021. He said he hopes the House will adopt the legislation this summer and move it the Senate. Some states already have adopted higher renewable standards.

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first published week of:   05/31/2010

Feds seek a temp home for depleted uranium

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has started looking beyond Utah for temporary storage of nearly 10,000 drums of depleted uranium for up to seven years. The cleanup waste from the Savannah River Site in South Carolina was originally headed to Utah to be buried for good at the EnergySolutions Inc. disposal site. In fact, the first of three shipments had already arrived in Utah when the Utah governor and the DOE agreed to put the disposal and the remaining two shipments on hold. The Salt Lake City nuclear services company has estimated it will be the end of the year before it can update a report on the site’s ability to contain large quantities of the unusual waste, which grows more hazardous over time. And it will probably take at least another year for state regulators to review that site assessment. In the meantime, the first shipment containing about 5,400 drums of the Savannah River waste has been placed in an EnergySolutions disposal cell but will not be buried until the state gives its approval. Potential bidders have until July 15 to submit their temporary storage proposals to the Energy Department. And, there is just one site that is licensed to offer interim storage, a new facility in western Texas near the New Mexico border.

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first published week of:   07/12/2010

FirstEnergy to Buy Allegheny Energy for $4.7 Billion

FirstEnergy Corp., the owner of utilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, agreed to buy Allegheny Energy Inc. for $4.7 billion in stock to increase generation capacity in the largest U.S. power market, where it can fetch higher prices.

Allegheny stockholders will receive 0.667 share of FirstEnergy for each of their shares, Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy said today in a statement. That represents a premium of 32 percent over Allegheny’s closing price yesterday. FirstEnergy will also assume about $3.8 billion in net debt.

FirstEnergy will increase its generation capacity by 70 percent, adding about 9,700 megawatts in PJM Interconnection LLC, the electricity market that stretches from Washington to Chicago, for a total of about 24,000 megawatts.

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first published week of:   02/15/2010

FPL Halts Billions of Dollars in Capital Expenditures

Citing a negative decision on its rate proposal by the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) as further evidence of a deteriorating regulatory and business environment, Florida Power & Light Company said it will immediately suspend activities on projects representing approximately $10 billion of investment over the next five years in Florida’s energy infrastructure.

The projects would have created an estimated 20,000 direct and indirect construction and related jobs over the next five years.  

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first published week of:   01/18/2010

Volume 31

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