The EPA call for public guidance on the planned study of the impact of hydraulic fracturing on water quality resulted in the largest public environmental hearing ever in Western Pennsylvania. As 1,200 people filled the Southpointe venue on July 22, the event gained national attention. An earlier EPA hearing in Ft. Worth had 600 attendees, and in Denver there were about 350.

At the Southpointe hearing more than a hundred people testified, with testimony running at about 10:1 for people deeply concerned about the impact of fracking on their water supply. This was not only an expression of strong for the EPA study, but it hopefully demonstrated to legislators the deep concern that the public has about Marcellus Shale drilling. (more…)

KDKA photo of existing
Little Blue Run coal-ash pond.

Communities in the Pittsburgh area are suffering from the effects of toxic coal ash generated from the numerous coal-fired power plants that circle Pittsburgh in the ‘Ring of Fire’. Usually the ash is stored in ponds, and the dams of those ponds can fail as in Tennessee. The good news is that EPA is proposing a new rule that would create enforceable federal safeguards, and help to protect us from this hazardous pollution.

Tell the EPA to hold a hearing on the proposed rules in Pittsburgh so that   the communities in SW Pennsylvania that are affected by toxic coal ash have a chance to be heard.

Please write to: Mr. Alexander Livnat, US EPA Headquarters, Ariel Rios Bldg., 1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Mail Code 5304P, Washington DC 20460.

Coal ash is the residue that remains after coal is burned. It contains arsenic, boron, cadmium, lead, mercury, sulfur and other heavy metals, many of which can leach into our water cause cancer. As dangerous and dirty as coal ash is, it is not classified as hazardous waste. Thus, at present the federal regulations treat it no more strictly than household garbage.

Stormwater runoff
Photo: EPA

On July 21, Pittsburgh City Council will begin voting on a Clean Water bill sponsored by Councilman Bill Peduto. This bill is part of the Economic Development Reform legislative package supported by a coalition of labor, community, and environmental organizations.

10 a.m., Wednesday, July 21
City Council Chambers, Fifth Floor
414 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-2419

Testimony at a July 13 post-agenda hearing emphasized that the Clean Water bill breaks new ground by adopting the Federal standard for both eliminating storm water runoff and requiring the use of green, low impact technologies as the means to accomplish that standard to the furthest extent possible. By starting with coverage of only publicly subsidized development, the city will be able to see how the law works in practice and then either expand to cover all development with the same requirements or an amended version of the law.
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Image courtesy of GASP

Pittsburgh residents need to send a strong message to their Council members calling for new environmental regulations for publicly supported development in the city. Please attend the following:

Thursday, July 1
1:00 pm, Press Conference
1:30 pm, Public Hearing
Fifth Floor, City County Building
414 Grant Street, Pittsburgh

This is part of the Pittsburgh United campaign to reform publicly-funded development in Pittsburgh. For summaries of the two pieces of legislation see below: (more…)

Included on the EPA’s August 2009 list of thirty coal-ash ponds with High Hazard Potential Ratings was Little Blue Run Dam at the Bruce Mansfield power plant in Shippingport, Beaver County. Known as fly ash ponds and more formally as Coal Combustion Residue (CCRs) - Surface Impondments, coal-ash ponds came to the fore when a TVA coal ash pond dam broke in Kingston, Tennessee in December 2008. Local action has now stalled expansion of a coal-ash pond in Beaver County. (more…)

Hays Woods is a 636-acre area that sits atop the bluffs overlooking Hazelwood and the Monongahela River. This wild area once belonged to the Jones and Laughlin steel company, and because of its rough terrain, it has never been developed. With the end of a legal case this week, one drawn-out attempt to develop the area has come to a close.
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Photo by Steven Sunshine, The Center for Public Integrity.

For years, mining companies in Pennsylvania have claimed that long-wall mining has limited impact on surface structures. Disputing this claim, environmentalists looked at the collapse of a dam in Ryerson Station State Park as an example of damage caused by long-wall mining. The Dept. of Environmental Protection has now acknowledged that this mining practice was indeed responsible for the collapse. As pointed out in the following account, this DEP finding could affect how the state will regulate long-wall mining in the future.
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By a unanimous and final vote, on February 2 Pittsburgh City Council passed the first part of the Economic Development Reform package. At issue was the need for fair wages to be paid to workers in new developments funded in part by public funds, where a fair wage is seen as the prevailing wage in non-subsidized businesses.

The coalition of community, environmental union, faith-based organizations and unions, led by Pittsburgh United, is now turning its attention to the environmental part of the development reform package. Key components of this segment include curtailment of diesel fuel emissions during construction, limitation of storm water run-off and provision of open spaces. The ‘good government’ part of the reform package will deal with transparency and public participation in the approval of new development.

The spill of over a billion pounds of coal ash sludge from the TVA’s Kingston Power Plant in Tennessee on Dec. 22, 2008 focused the nation’s attention on the storage and treatment of coal ash waste from coal-burning power plants. The United States generates 130 million tons of coal ash each year, and this ash is stored in more than 550 impoundments across the country. Pollutants in coal ash lead to cancer, organ failure and nervous system damage. Since the TVA incident, the EPA has rated 49 of the impoundments as High Hazard Potential sites and 60 as Significant Hazard.
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The Sierra Club and the Environmental Integrity Project welcome the DEP’s decision to invalidate the four-year old air plan permit that would have allowed Robinson Power Company to build the 272-megawatt Beech Hollow Power Plant in Robinson Township, Washington County.
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Late in the afternoon of December 31 Pittsburgh’s mayor sent notice to Council that he had vetoed the Prevailing Wage portion of the Economic Development Reform package. The Prevailing Wage portion had been passed earlier in Council by vote of 9 – 0. With this Council ending at midnight, there was no time for a veto over-ride vote, despite Councilman Shields efforts to do so.

This last-minute maneuver by Mayor Ravenstahl came as a keen disappointment to the leaders of community, faith, environmental and labor groups who worked hard with Council members since the summer. In his letter to Council, the Mayor cited standard developer concerns that applying prevailing wage conditions to development that received public funding would keep future development out of the city. Expert testimony during Council hearings refuted this claim, based on experience in other cities.

Council’s new President, Darlene Harris, will be presented with an early opportunity to mend Council-Mayoral relationships when Councilman Shields re-introduces the prevailing wage bill this month. The coalition supporting development reform will work hard to ensure passage of this first portion of the package, knowing that the Environmental and Good Governance portions may draw even stronger opposition from those segments of the business community that are satisfied with the status quo.

Below is a set of wishes for 2010 that may judged to be somewhat optimistic, but not beyond the realm of possibility, and therefore well worth fighting for.

1. Congress presents President Obama with a strong climate/green economy bill that will lead China and India to follow suit.
2. Pennsylvanians elect a US Senator and a Governor with a proven record of concern for the environment.
3. Legal objections are removed for the US Forest Service to apply the National Environ Protection Act to oil and gas drilling on the Allegheny National Forest.
4. Pennsylvania’s DEP establishes regulations that ensure safe treatment of wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling, and the General Assembly approves a revenue fee on Marcellus Shale drilling to in part cover the cost of enforcing those measures.
5. Agreement is reached to close the nation’s 16th dirtiest coal-fired, the Bruce Mansfield plant at Shippingport in Beaver County.
6. Pennsylvania General Assembly passes legislation that provides full and predictable funding for public transit.
7. The Turnpike Commission formally announces the termination of plans to extend the Mon-Fayette Expressway into Pittsburgh, and instead PennDOT agrees to upgrade the Rte 51 corridor from Elizabeth, as well as add a T line to connect the South Hills lines at the junction of Rtes. 51 and 88.
8. Allegheny County adopts a comprehensive County Plan with strong guidelines for environmentally–sound development.
9. Pittsburgh City Council unanimously passes the environmental and good-government portions of the Economic Development Reform package.
10. Steps are taken for the 635-acre Hays Woods area in Pittsburgh to be given permanent protection as an urban natural area.

Peter Wray, Co-Chair, Conservation Committee.

Last week, Sens. Brown and Drogan introduced the TRADE Act of 2009 (S. 2821). This bill requires a review of existing trade agreements, including NAFTA, the WTO and other major agreements. The bill also requires that future trade agreements contain increased environmental, labor, product safety, and agricultural standards, and it curtails the rights of foreign investors to sue governments. Existing trade agreements must then be renegotiated based on the review and comply with the same standards required in future trade agreements. What’s more, the act restores Congressional oversight to the negotiation of trade agreements, replacing the undemocratic fast-track negotiating process.
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Less than a week after the Prevailing Wage portion of an Economic Development Reform package was introduced to Pittsburgh City Council with 7 out of 9 members co-sponsoring, on November 23 Councilman Bill Peduto introduced the environmental and good government portions of the package. The move was applauded by the more than fifty attending representatives of environmental, faith, labor and community organizations.

Councilman Bill Peduto at a moment of mirth during the Nov. 23 Econ. Dev. Reform rally.L to R, M. Hayden (ACORN), A. Gober (Pittsburgh UNITED), Rev. S. Craig (Pittsburgh Interfaith Network), P. McQuillin (Northside United), and P. Wray (Sierra Club).  Photo by Tom Hoffman.

Through a comprehensive series of ordinances the development reform package will:

• Create good-paying, family-sustaining jobs for Pittsburgh workers
• Strengthen environmental standards for big development projects to protect our air and rivers
• Provide increased accountability to the public for projects funded by tax dollars
• Enable elected officials to make more informed decisions about major economic development projects

The goal is for Council to pass the development reform package before the end of the year, with hearings to be held mid-December.

Sierra Club staffer Rachel Martin speaks out at the Economic Development Reform rally outside Council chambers. Council President Doug Shields and Councilwoman Theresa Smith are to Rachel’s left. Photo by Tom Hoffman.

In recent years labor, environmental, and community groups have been concerned that public funds are often used for large development without the local communities benefiting from those developments. This concern came to a head in August 2008 with a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) between the developers of the Penguin’s new hockey area and the Hill District community. However, efforts to gain a similar agreement between the developer of a hotel and offices on the North Shore and the Northside community failed this past summer.

Recognizing that the uncertain nature of the CBA approach was not in the best interests of the communities or the developers, an informal coalition was created to develop a comprehensive Economic Development Reform package that the city could adopt for all large-scale development.

At the urging of this coalition, on November 17 Council President Shields introduced the first part of a comprehensive Economic Development Reform package. Co-sponsored by six other members of Council, this first bill will establish a prevailing wage standard for service jobs created through publicly-funded development.

On November 23, the environmental piece of the reform package will be introduced in Council. For new publicly-funded developments this bill will:

Economic Development Reform rally outside Council chambers. From L to R: Councilman Bruce Kraus, Gabe Morgan (SEIU), Councilman Jim Motznik, Council President Doug Shields, and Lance Huber (UFCW).
Photo by Tom Hoffman.

• Set standards that will help protect our communities and children from toxic diesel pollution at construction sites.
• Protect our rivers from storm water runoff.
• Enhance local developments with parks and open spaces.
• Provide walkways, bikeways, and accessibility to public transit.

Involved in drafting this environmental piece of the reform package were Clean Water Action, GASP, PennEnvironment, PennFuture, and the Sierra Club, with the help of President Shields and Councilman Peduto.

A third component of the reform package will address the need for transparency and community participation in the whole approval process for economic development projects.