1 day ago
(AP:CHARLESTON, W.Va.) A Massey Energy subsidiary has been cited after regulators determined part of a southern West Virginia coal slurry dam didn't meet safety standards.
The state Department of Environmental Protection says there's no risk to downstream communities that Massey's Brushy Fork dam is going to fail. Mining director Tom Clarke said Monday the agency issued the citation out of caution and sensitivity to communities below the Raleigh County dam.
Spokesman Jeff Gillenwaters says the dam's already been repaired.
Read more:
http://news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=68968796667600
Showing posts with label coal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coal. Show all posts
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Lawsuit accuses Virginia power company of poisoning Dominican community with toxic coal ash
Comment: Virginia is for lovers and friendly to huge, greedy, evil corporations who ruin people's lives all over the world! Virginia blows up her Mountains for coal to be shipped to China and plans to blow up our hills for uranium by greedy Canadian uranium corporations. Remember, uranium mining has the same poison as coal but a million times worst waste products! Are the babies above, our babies in the future if uranium mining is allowed in our state?
By Sue Sturgis
on November 10, 2009 12:28 PM
A civil lawsuit filed last week in state court in Delaware charges Arlington, Va-based AES Corp. -- one of the world's largest power companies -- with illegally dumping 160 million pounds of toxic coal ash waste onto beaches in the Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic, leading to serious health problems for nearby residents.
Filed by a team of attorneys from law firms in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware, the suit alleges that between 2003 and 2004 AES Corp. and its subsidiaries dumped 100 million pounds of coal ash on the beach near the small village of Arroyo Barril and another 60 million pounds in the Port of Manzanillo near Montecristi -- and that serious health problems resulted:
Since the dumping, babies have been born with severe birth defects including missing limbs, missing organs, cranial malformations and gastrointestinal deformities. Some of these children have died as a result of their injuries. A failed Siamese twin with two heads died shortly after birth.
Many women have suffered miscarriages at various stages of their pregnancies. Today, in addition to the severe birth defects, men, women and children of this proud and struggling community continue to suffer with respiratory illnesses and skin rashes.
The child pictured above is believed to be one of those affected. The attorneys say half of the 42 nearby residents it tested had unsafe blood levels of arsenic, a major contaminant of concern in coal ash. There is evidence that inhaled or ingested arsenic can injure the fetus.
A byproduct of burning coal to generate electricity, coal ash contains dangerous levels of known poisons that also include beryllium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, nickel and vanadium. Workers who handle coal ash at power plants typically wear respirators and other protective equipment.
According to the complaint, authorities there allowed AES to build the plant in 2002 only under the condition that most of the ash generated at the plant was deposited somewhere other than Puerto Rico. The company allegedly chose dumping the waste onto beaches in the Dominican Republic -- where some 30% of citizens live in poverty -- as the cheapest alternative.
The lawsuit also claims that AES and its partners misrepresented to the Dominican government the toxicity of the coal ash and how it would be handled. In 2004, that government found the AES dumping to be in violation of Dominican law as well as the international Basel Convention on hazardous wastes and pursued criminal and civil actions against AES and other responsible parties.
The Miami Herald reports that it was a contractor from Delray Beach, Fla. -- Roger C. Fina -- who hauled the coal ash to the Dominican Republic and dumped it on the beaches:
The lawsuit filed last week on behalf of the injured Dominicans seeks damages from AES and its companies for the human toll caused by the illegal dumping. It also seeks to compel AES to provide a comprehensive medical monitoring program for the plaintiffs during their lifetimes.
(Photos of the deformed Dominican child is from a photo gallery related to the lawsuit.)
Click Title or Link to whole post:
http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/11/lawsuit-accuses-virginia-power-company-of-poisoning-dominican-community-with-toxic-coal-ash.html
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Mining Stream Buffer Rule Could Be Ready by 2011
November 2, 2009
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:54 p.m. ET
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The Obama administration says reversing a last-minute Bush-era surface mining regulation criticized as too friendly to coal companies is going to take at least another year.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement plans to start the process of replacing the regulation by mid-November and hopes to complete the job by early 2011, acting director Glenda Owens said in a court filing. The document popped up in a lawsuit aimed at overturning the Bush administration's stream buffer regulation, which was approved shortly before Obama took office.
The regulation rewrote rules adopted in 1983 by the Reagan administration that barred mining companies from dumping material removed from surface operations within 100 feet of streams if the disposal harmed water quality or quantity.
Instead, the revisions required mine operators to keep debris piles as small as possible, but allows them to skirt the buffer requirement if compliance is determined to be impossible.
Disagreement over the regulation is at the heart of the ongoing fight over mountaintop removal coal mining in West Virginia, Kentucky and other parts of Appalachia.
Coal companies say the practice of blasting and scraping away ridges to expose multiple coal seams provides cheap electricity for millions and supports thousands of high-paying jobs. Environmental groups and other opponents contend the regulation allows coal companies to bury streams rather than buffer them.
And they argue that the Interior Department isn't acting quickly enough.
''The Department of the Interior is spinning its wheels,'' the Sierra Club's Mary Anne Hitt said in a statement. ''Appalachia's mountains, streams and communities continue to be destroyed.''
Kendra Barkoff, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's press secretary, said the department is going to develop a sound rule following the process laid out by the law and based on science and public input.
''Secretary Salazar is not going to take shortcuts,'' Barkoff said in a statement. ''That rulemaking process does take some time, but we are moving forward as expeditiously as possible.''
Click Title or Link to whole post:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/02/business/AP-US-Mountaintop-Mining-West-Virginia.html?_r=2
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:54 p.m. ET
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The Obama administration says reversing a last-minute Bush-era surface mining regulation criticized as too friendly to coal companies is going to take at least another year.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement plans to start the process of replacing the regulation by mid-November and hopes to complete the job by early 2011, acting director Glenda Owens said in a court filing. The document popped up in a lawsuit aimed at overturning the Bush administration's stream buffer regulation, which was approved shortly before Obama took office.
The regulation rewrote rules adopted in 1983 by the Reagan administration that barred mining companies from dumping material removed from surface operations within 100 feet of streams if the disposal harmed water quality or quantity.
Instead, the revisions required mine operators to keep debris piles as small as possible, but allows them to skirt the buffer requirement if compliance is determined to be impossible.
Disagreement over the regulation is at the heart of the ongoing fight over mountaintop removal coal mining in West Virginia, Kentucky and other parts of Appalachia.
Coal companies say the practice of blasting and scraping away ridges to expose multiple coal seams provides cheap electricity for millions and supports thousands of high-paying jobs. Environmental groups and other opponents contend the regulation allows coal companies to bury streams rather than buffer them.
And they argue that the Interior Department isn't acting quickly enough.
''The Department of the Interior is spinning its wheels,'' the Sierra Club's Mary Anne Hitt said in a statement. ''Appalachia's mountains, streams and communities continue to be destroyed.''
Kendra Barkoff, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's press secretary, said the department is going to develop a sound rule following the process laid out by the law and based on science and public input.
''Secretary Salazar is not going to take shortcuts,'' Barkoff said in a statement. ''That rulemaking process does take some time, but we are moving forward as expeditiously as possible.''
Click Title or Link to whole post:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/02/business/AP-US-Mountaintop-Mining-West-Virginia.html?_r=2
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Children’s IQ Can Be Affected by Mother’s Exposure to Urban Air Pollutants
Comment: Uranium mill may use coal, many trucks running up and down local roads, do not forget about the blasting powder, radon gas and uranium dust! Please watch out for future mothers and our children!
Contact: Stephanie Berger
212-305-4372
sb2247@columbia.edu
July 20, 2009 -- Prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can adversely affect a child’s intelligence quotient or IQ, according to new research by the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health.
PAHs are chemicals released into the air from the burning of coal, diesel, oil and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco. In urban areas motor vehicles are a major source of PAHs. The study findings are published in the August 2009 issue of Pediatrics.
The study, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a component of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and several private foundations, found that children exposed to high levels of PAHs in New York City had full scale and verbal IQ scores that were 4.31 and 4.67 points lower, respectively than those of less exposed children. High PAH levels were defined as above the median of 2.26 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3).
“These findings are of concern because these decreases in IQ could be educationally meaningful in terms of school performance,” says Frederica Perera, DrPH, professor of Environmental Health Sciences and director of the CCCEH at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and study lead author. “The good news is that we have seen a decline in air pollution exposure in our cohort since 1998, testifying to the importance of policies to reduce traffic congestion and other sources of fossil fuel combustion byproducts.”
The study included children who were born to non-smoking Black and Dominican American women age 18 to 35 who resided in Washington Heights, Harlem or the South Bronx in New York. The children were followed from in utero to 5 years of age. The mothers wore personal air monitors during pregnancy to measure exposure to PAHs and they responded to questionnaires.
At 5 years of age, 249 children were given an intelligence test known as the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of the Intelligence, which provides verbal, performance and full-scale IQ scores. The researchers developed models to calculate the associations between prenatal PAH exposure and IQ. They accounted for other factors such as second-hand smoke exposure, lead, mother’s education and the quality of the home caretaking environment. Study participants exposed to air pollution levels below the average were designated as having “low exposure,” while those exposed to pollution levels above the average were identified as “high exposure.” A total of 140 children were classified as having high PAH exposure.
“The decrease in full-scale IQ score among the more exposed children is similar to that seen with low-level lead exposure,” noted Dr. Perera. “This finding is of concern because IQ is an important predictor of future academic performance, and PAHs are widespread in urban environments and throughout the world. Fortunately, airborne PAH concentrations can be reduced through currently available controls, alternative energy sources and policy interventions.”
Mailman School of Public Health’s Li Zhigang, Robin Whyatt, Lori Hoepner, Shuang Wang, David Camann, and Virginia Rauh were co-authors of the study.
The Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health – part of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University – is a leading research organization dedicated to understanding and preventing environmentally related disease in children. Founded in 1998, the Center conducts research in New York City, including the study of mothers and children in Northern Manhattan and South Bronx, a World Trade Center Study, as well as Krakow, Poland, and Chongqing, China. Its mission is to improve the respiratory health and cognitive development of children and to reduce their cancer risk by identifying environmental toxicants and conditions related to poverty that increase their risk of disease. In NYC, the Center collaborates with residents and partner organizations in Washington Heights, Harlem and the South Bronx to share research findings with the local communities in ways that are meaningful and usable in daily life. (www.ccceh.org)
About the Mailman School of Public Health
The only accredited school of public health in New York City and among the first in the nation, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting millions of people locally and globally. The Mailman School is the recipient of some of the largest government and private grants in Columbia University’s history. Its more than 1000 graduate students pursue master’s and doctoral degrees, and the School’s 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as infectious and chronic diseases, health promotion and disease prevention, environmental health, maternal and child health, health over the life course, health policy, and public health preparedness. www.mailman.columbia.edu
http://www.mailmanschool.org/news/display.asp?id=770
Contact: Stephanie Berger
212-305-4372
sb2247@columbia.edu
July 20, 2009 -- Prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can adversely affect a child’s intelligence quotient or IQ, according to new research by the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health.
PAHs are chemicals released into the air from the burning of coal, diesel, oil and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco. In urban areas motor vehicles are a major source of PAHs. The study findings are published in the August 2009 issue of Pediatrics.
The study, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a component of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and several private foundations, found that children exposed to high levels of PAHs in New York City had full scale and verbal IQ scores that were 4.31 and 4.67 points lower, respectively than those of less exposed children. High PAH levels were defined as above the median of 2.26 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3).
“These findings are of concern because these decreases in IQ could be educationally meaningful in terms of school performance,” says Frederica Perera, DrPH, professor of Environmental Health Sciences and director of the CCCEH at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and study lead author. “The good news is that we have seen a decline in air pollution exposure in our cohort since 1998, testifying to the importance of policies to reduce traffic congestion and other sources of fossil fuel combustion byproducts.”
The study included children who were born to non-smoking Black and Dominican American women age 18 to 35 who resided in Washington Heights, Harlem or the South Bronx in New York. The children were followed from in utero to 5 years of age. The mothers wore personal air monitors during pregnancy to measure exposure to PAHs and they responded to questionnaires.
At 5 years of age, 249 children were given an intelligence test known as the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of the Intelligence, which provides verbal, performance and full-scale IQ scores. The researchers developed models to calculate the associations between prenatal PAH exposure and IQ. They accounted for other factors such as second-hand smoke exposure, lead, mother’s education and the quality of the home caretaking environment. Study participants exposed to air pollution levels below the average were designated as having “low exposure,” while those exposed to pollution levels above the average were identified as “high exposure.” A total of 140 children were classified as having high PAH exposure.
“The decrease in full-scale IQ score among the more exposed children is similar to that seen with low-level lead exposure,” noted Dr. Perera. “This finding is of concern because IQ is an important predictor of future academic performance, and PAHs are widespread in urban environments and throughout the world. Fortunately, airborne PAH concentrations can be reduced through currently available controls, alternative energy sources and policy interventions.”
Mailman School of Public Health’s Li Zhigang, Robin Whyatt, Lori Hoepner, Shuang Wang, David Camann, and Virginia Rauh were co-authors of the study.
The Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health – part of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University – is a leading research organization dedicated to understanding and preventing environmentally related disease in children. Founded in 1998, the Center conducts research in New York City, including the study of mothers and children in Northern Manhattan and South Bronx, a World Trade Center Study, as well as Krakow, Poland, and Chongqing, China. Its mission is to improve the respiratory health and cognitive development of children and to reduce their cancer risk by identifying environmental toxicants and conditions related to poverty that increase their risk of disease. In NYC, the Center collaborates with residents and partner organizations in Washington Heights, Harlem and the South Bronx to share research findings with the local communities in ways that are meaningful and usable in daily life. (www.ccceh.org)
About the Mailman School of Public Health
The only accredited school of public health in New York City and among the first in the nation, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting millions of people locally and globally. The Mailman School is the recipient of some of the largest government and private grants in Columbia University’s history. Its more than 1000 graduate students pursue master’s and doctoral degrees, and the School’s 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as infectious and chronic diseases, health promotion and disease prevention, environmental health, maternal and child health, health over the life course, health policy, and public health preparedness. www.mailman.columbia.edu
http://www.mailmanschool.org/news/display.asp?id=770
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