Posts Tagged ‘EPA’

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

The EPA, a gorilla in the closet

I’ll have more reporting that involves the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but here are a few key concepts:

The first head of the EPA, a Nixon appointee named William Ruckelshaus, said the newly-created agency was meant to be a “gorilla in the closet.”  As he explained in an oral history:

The belief was that the states had enough interest and infrastructure to enforce these laws. If they also had this “gorilla in the closet”–that is, the federal government, which could assume control if the state authorities proved too weak or inept to curb local polluters–the states would be far more effective. That’s the theory. Prior to EPA, there was no federal oversight. There was no “gorilla in the closet.” Absent that, it was very hard to get widespread compliance.

» Continue Reading.


Sunday, December 8, 2019

EPA Settles With Glens Falls’ Lehigh Cement Co

epa logoWhat follows is a press release issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Lehigh Cement Company LLC (Lehigh) and Lehigh White Cement Company, LLC (Lehigh White) have agreed to invest approximately $12 million in pollution control technology at their 11 portland cement manufacturing plants in eight states to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act, announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice. Today’s settlement will reduce more than 4,555 tons of harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 989 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution each year. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Harmful Algae Blooms in Context

algal bloom on Lake Erie in 2009 courtesy NASANot only does it form the basis of the aquatic food web, algae can put a lid on bovine burps. It is also made into a substitute for fossil fuels, and is a heathy and tasty food supplement for humans.

But in late summer and early fall, some algae can spread toxins through freshwater lakes and rivers, posing a risk to people, pets, fish, and more. Be on the lookout in northern NY State this season for outbreaks of algae. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, January 31, 2019

John Sheehan: Oppose Changes to Federal Mercury Rule

adirondack council new logoLast month, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler proposed an amendment to the federal Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and the Clean Air Act “risk and review” process that should worry everyone who cares about the Adirondacks and public health.

On the surface, the change looks like a routine adjustment of technical language about the way EPA calculates “side benefits” from proposed air pollution rules. That’s how EPA is describing it. As a result, few people have paid attention to the proposal. But if approved, it would have far-reaching effects that strike at the heart of some of the most important public health and environmental protections. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, September 23, 2018

Early Success In Grasse River Freshwater Mussel Relocation

East elliptio mussel East elliptio mussel provided by DECNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that an innovative project that is relocating freshwater mussels in the Grasse River during an ongoing river remediation project is showing early signs of success and reporting a 98 percent survival rate.

As part of an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-led cleanup project to remove polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from river sediments, a seven-mile stretch of the lower Grasse River in northern New York in being dredged and capped starting next year. Before dredging begins, DEC is collecting mussels from the river bottom and temporarily placing them in areas that won’t be subject to capping or dredging. The New York State Museum, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, and SUNY Cobleskill are collaborating with DEC on the project. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Sheehan: Kavanaugh Nomination Bad News for Park

West face of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington DCAt the conclusion of his visit to Bear Pond in the St. Regis Canoe Area on August 10, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer answered questions from press and local residents who were worried about Federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Senator Schumer confirmed that Kavanaugh would be bad news for clean air, clean water and public health in the Adirondack Park.

The Senator had come to celebrate Bear Pond’s recovery from acid rain and to warn federal officials not to backslide on clean air rules. The Senate Minority Leader said he was opposed to Kavanaugh’s confirmation. » Continue Reading.


Monday, July 16, 2018

Star Lake Steel Company Clean-Up Meeting Set For July 20

The State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), St. Lawrence County, and the Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) have announced a public meeting has been set for Friday, July 20, 2018, to provide the public with a comprehensive presentation of cleanup efforts at the former Jones and Laughlin (J&L) Steel Company site (Benson Mines) at Star Lake.

The Magnetic Iron Company began developing the area on top of what they believed would be a valuable ore body in the late 1880s. The Benson Mines Company started open pit mining operations at the site and produced magnetite and non-magnetite ore intermittently until the mine closed from 1919 to 1941. 

» Continue Reading.


Thursday, March 29, 2018

John Sheehan: EPA’s Budget, Acid Rain Research

dead spruce trees

The Adirondack Council on Wednesday praised New York’s Congressional delegation for its efforts to secure approval of a $1.3-trillion federal appropriations agreement that eliminated significant cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Congress has approved and President Donald Trump has signed a resolution continuing the current funding plan for the federal government through the end of FY2018. The plan increases EPA’s budget, while providing funds for other important environmental and public health priorities. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Opinion: Clean Power Plan’s End Will Mean Littered Landscape

Railroad train of tanker cars transporting crude oil on the tracks earth justice photoFew places would have benefited more  from the 2015 Clean Power Plan than the Adirondack Park. Had the plan been enacted, it would have abated mercury poisoning, cleared the air above the High Peaks of smog and checked acid rain, while, of course, slowing climate change. (It committed the US to cut greenhouse gas emissions by one third before 2030.)

Now that the Environmental Protection Agency has repealed the plan, not only will our air, water and wildlife suffer. Our landscape will too. Thirty miles of railroad tracks deep within the Adirondack Forest Preserve are more likely than ever to become a warehouse for surplus coal cars. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, October 12, 2017

Protect: Repeal of Clean Power Plan Enormous Step Backwards

protect the adirondacksWhat follows is a statement sent to the press by Protect the Adirondacks:

Protect the Adirondacks opposes the new plan by the Trump Administration and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to abandon the Clean Power Plan set up by the Obama Administration. This is an enormous set back for US policy on climate change and will have negative impacts in the Adirondacks as progress on significant reductions in acid rain over the past 20 years may be lost. The US EPA announced on October 9, 2017 that is was starting the process to take formal steps to officially repeal the Clean Power Plan. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Dan Plumley: EPA Cuts, Deregulation Imperil the Adirondack Park

EPA and Trump BudgetThe current crisis of anti-environmental leadership at the federal level under the Trump Administration has potentially far reaching implications here at home for New York’s Adirondack Park. Taken as a whole, these threats to New York State and the Adirondack Park could degrade or imperil natural resource integrity and environmental sustainability over the long-term.

Threats include:

o proposed draconian cuts to the budget and professional staffing of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and elimination of climate research under various agencies;

o proposed weakening or elimination of regulations facing coal burning, “tall stack” polluting industries and degraded water quality protections. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, April 1, 2017

Judith Enck On EPA, Trump, and #MarchforScience

I miss Richard Nixon. I really do. Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) forty-six years ago. Since then, the EPA has been at the forefront of issues that have improved the environment and public health. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Adirondack Park.

Remember acid rain? In the early 1970s, air pollution from fossil-fuel plants had made rain and snow so acidic it killed wildlife in hundreds of Adirondack lakes and streams. Ironically, the water looked crystal clear, but the pH balance could not sustain healthy fish and plant populations.

EPA came to the rescue. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Dave Gibson on EPA: Rachel Carson, Richard Nixon, and Judith Enck

Congressional representative Elise Stefanik should invite the new head of the U.S. EPA, Scott Pruitt, to visit her district. She might introduce Mr. Pruitt to the homeowners in Ballston Spa whose homes have been turned upside down thanks to release of some very bad chemicals from a nearby, now closed dry cleaning facility.

In July 2016, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation requested that EPA perform an environmental assessment. In August 2016, the EPA collected air samples and detected high levels of chloroform; TCE (trichloroethylene); PCE; vinyl chloride; benzene; and naphthalene. These chemicals are likely in the ground water as well. This winter, EPA is evaluating homes downstream of the dry cleaners for vapor intrusion into those homes. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, February 11, 2016

U.S. Supreme Court Puts Hold On Clean Power Plan

US Supreme CourtThe U.S. Supreme Court has issued an injunction that delays implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan’s greenhouse-gas regulations. EPA’s plan must wait until after a legal challenge in a lower court, as well as an expected appeal to the Supreme Court, are decided. These events are expected to take a year or more. » Continue Reading.


Monday, August 17, 2015

EPA’s Greenhouse Plan Protects Park, Sets Global Pace

1024px-Gavin_PlantOn August 3rd the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it had set tough new standards for controlling greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuel power plants.

This final Clean Power Plan would reduce carbon emissions by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.  That is a nine-percent deeper cut than EPA’s preliminary plan, announced last year. » Continue Reading.



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