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Chicago cracks down on piles of tar-sands waste

by CindaPortus Posted on December 20, 2013

Chicago cracks down on piles of tar-sands waste

By

Southeast Environmental Task Force

Riverfront shipping terminals in Chicago will soon be forced to be just a little bit neighborly.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) announced on Thursday that the city will require piles of petcoke, coal, and other fossil fuel-related nasties to be stored indoors or under covers. That would mean an end to the open outdoor piles that currently send filthy particles billowing over surrounding homes. From a press release put out by the mayor’s office:

The proposed regulations will require large bulk material storage facilities to fully enclose solid materials such as coal, pig iron and petcoke, while facilities with smaller storage capacity and smaller deliveries would be required to install wind barriers as protective measures and adopt other best management practices. The draft regulations will be posted for public comment until January 24, 2014, and the City and Alderman John A. Pope will host a public hearing in the 10th ward in mid-January.

“We continue to make progress to stop petcoke dust from disrupting people’s lives and forcing children and families in our communities indoors,” said Ald. John Pope (10th). “These steps will allow our residents to host backyard barbecues and allow fresh air to come in through open windows.”

Southeast Environmental Task Force

Soon Chicago’s petcoke piles will have to be covered with more than just snow.

The Chicago Tribune reports that neighbors of the shipping terminals are heartened by the move:

Emanuel is stepping in as a BP refinery in nearby Whiting, Ind., dramatically increases its output of petroleum coke, a powdery byproduct of heavy oil piped from the tar sands region of Alberta. All of the petroleum coke, or petcoke, produced at Whiting is shipped across the state border to a pair of Chicago sites owned by KCBX Terminals, a company controlled by industrialists Charles and David Koch.

Companies have stored bulk materials in the area for decades. But as uncovered piles of petcoke grew larger this year, residents in the East Side and South Deering neighborhoods increasingly complained about gritty black clouds that spoiled summer picnics and forced parents to keep their children inside with the windows closed.

Elected officials and regulators eventually took notice of the anger and frustration. Since October, KCBX and Beemsterboer Slag Co., owner of a third riverfront storage terminal, have faced an onslaught of legal and political pressure to tamp down the dust.

“There are a lot of people in the neighborhood who want to see the piles gone altogether,” said Tom Shepherd of the Southeast Environmental Task Force. “But we are pleased the city seems to have responded quickly to our concerns.”

This is just the start of a big game of Whac-A-Mole that will play out across the nation as such piles pop up in growing numbers. The petcoke is residue left behind after heavy tar-sands oil from Canada is refined, and more and more of that oil is being imported into the U.S.

Petcoke is too dirty to be burned alone in U.S. power plants to generate electricity, but some power companies are starting to mix small quantities of it in with the coal they burn. How’s that for a filthy fossil-fuel double whammy.


Source
Mayor Emanuel, Attorney General Madigan Announce Next Steps to Protect Residents from Petcoke Dust, City of Chicago
Chicago moves to enclose piles of petroleum coke, Chicago Tribune

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Chicago cracks down on piles of tar-sands waste

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North Dakota officials might finally spill details about oil spill

by jogakatowicefitness Posted on October 16, 2013

North Dakota officials might finally spill details about oil spill

By

A major oil pipeline spill in North Dakota remained undetected by Tesoro for days.

After discovering that the public, legislature, and governor were all kept in the dark for more than a week about a major oil spill on a North Dakota wheat farm, lawmakers wanted answers on Monday. But the state department that kept news of the 20,600-barrel spill to itself had more spin than answers. (The feds also withheld the information because they were being furloughed.)

David Glatt, head of the environmental section of the North Dakota Health Department, defended his department’s secrecy during the Energy Development and Transmission Committee hearing. He said the 11-day delay in notifying the public about the spill was a proper response, adding that the spill happened in the “best place it could’ve occurred.”

But by Tuesday, following a closed-door meeting between the governor’s staff and different state departments, some officials were sounding more contrite. From the Bismarck Tribune:

North Dakota’s Oil and Gas Division director Lynn Helms said the department’s stance is that the Tesoro Corp. pipeline was a rural pipeline under federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration jurisdiction. …

The state doesn’t have any laws requiring public notification of spills.

“We’re looking at some of those other triggers, such as overall volume,” Helms said.

Helms declined to put a specific threshold on how many barrels it might take to trigger a public alert on a spill. He said much smaller spills, if near a river or other water source, can do far more damage.

Don Morrison, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, called any improved availability of information to the public a positive development.

Meanwhile, news emerged on Tuesday that the 20-year-old pipeline only started carrying crude fracked from North Dakota’s Bakken shale deposit in August. Safety tests performed early in September detected a problem with the pipeline, but Inform reports that the results hadn’t been provided to Tesoro officials by the time the spill occurred. Naturally, they used the potentially leaky pipeline while awaiting the test results. I mean, what are the chances?


Source
Tioga oil leak prompts policy review by state, Bismarck Tribune

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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Don’t expect that hybrid minivan any time soon

by ker3roa Posted on August 16, 2013

Don’t expect that hybrid minivan any time soon

By Lisa Hymas

ToyotaThe Toyota Estima Hybrid. The Japanese text translates to “Ha ha, you can’t have one.”

For years, Grist readers have yearned, ached, and virtually begged for a hybrid minivan. Sorry, folks. Keep dreaming.

Toyota has sold its Estima Hybrid minivan (44 mpg) in Japan since 2001, but it has no plans to sell a hybrid or plug-in minivan in the U.S., a spokesperson tells the Chicago Tribune.

Why not? Green-car expert Jim Motovalli explains:

I have brought up the concept of a plug-in hybrid minivan several times to automakers, and they always dismiss it. Their claim: Minivans are big and boxy, and the fuel economy wouldn’t improve that much with a hybrid drivetrain. Plus, they’d be expensive (the Estima is $50,000). Besides, that segment of the market is really not that big, they say.

Tribune writer Robert Duffer speculates that Americans are just too demanding:

We want fuel economy but we want power and the ability to carry a lot of weight. All of these factors would reduce the effectiveness of a hybrid or plug-in on fuel economy. Other speculation on car forums clamoring for the hybrid minivan is that it wouldn’t meet stringent U.S. safety requirements. It would end up weighing about the same as the Toyota Sienna, again reducing the effectiveness of its hybrid gains.

On top of that, “Minivan owners are among the most cost-conscious shoppers, prizing utility and value.” Demanding and cheap.

Plus minivans are totally out now:

According to CNBC in March, minivans are on the decline, making up just three percent of total auto sales. Only 500,000 were sold in 2012. In 2000, there were 1.37 million sold.

Ford and Chevy don’t even make a minivan anymore. … It’s all about the crossover, or CUV, these days. It’s neither minivan nor wagon nor sport utility vehicle, shaking off the stigmas of each into its own hip sub-class. CUVs are more fuel efficient than SUVs, sharper looking than minivans and more versatile in terms of passengers than a wagon.

Car shoppers who want both roominess and efficiency could consider the crossover Ford C-Max Hybrid — “a mini minivan,” as Duffer puts it. Except that Ford just had to lower the car’s fuel-economy numbers this week and send “goodwill” checks to disgruntled customers. D’oh.

Lisa Hymas is senior editor at Grist. You can follow her on Twitter and Google+.

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Bahamas will soon be invaded by oil drills

by trasze2aja Posted on March 12, 2013

Bahamas will soon be invaded by oil drills

By John Upton

Shutterstock

The Bahamas, where unspoiled beauty soon will be spoiled.

Catch ya later, unspoiled beaches of Bahamian paradise. It’s been real.

Offshore oil drilling will soon be allowed in the heavenly West Indies archipelago of the Bahamas, which is made up of thousands of islands and cays off the Floridian coast. Initially, the drilling will be exploratory only — an experiment that will punch a bunch of holes in the ocean floor to see what goop lies beneath.

The Bahamas environment minister said the option of allowing large-scale commercial oil drilling would be put to the nation’s voters after results of the exploratory drills are known, perhaps in 2015.

The government had previously said that even exploratory drilling would require the support of the voters before it could begin. With this move to allow exploratory drills, the government is being accused by The Tribune, a Bahamian newspaper, of breaking promises:

According to a statement released by Environment Minister Kenred Dorsett, the government has determined that “we need to find out first, through exploration drilling, whether we do indeed have oil in commercially viable quantities.”

This is in direct contrast to his position less than four months ago, when Mr Dorsett assured this newspaper that no form of drilling would take place ahead of the referendum, planned for sometime before July this year.

The drilling plan is controversial, for obvious reasons. From the Associated Press:

Offshore drilling is sensitive in the Bahamas, where many fear a spill could devastate the fishing and tourism industries. The previous Bahamian government had delayed issuing exploration permits. Prime Minister Perry Christie, who was voted back into office in May, has said he supported exploration.

Dorsett said the government would seek new regulations to protect the environment and cannot ignore the potential economic benefits of oil for a country that now imports fuel. “The discovery of oil in the Bahamas would almost certainly prove to be economically transformative for our nation for many generations to come,” he said in a statement.

Transformative, you say?

John Upton is a science aficionado and green news junkie who

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Minnesota mayor doesn’t see why he can’t also run a sand-mining advocacy group

by h0rt67bx11 Posted on February 12, 2013

Minnesota mayor doesn’t see why he can’t also run a sand-mining advocacy group

By Philip Bump

dougtone

An auditorium in Red Wing, Minn.

Congratulations, Dennis Egan, on your new job as executive director of the Minnesota Industrial Sand Council, an organization that advocates for the industrial use of sand, particularly in fracking. But, while we have your ear, maybe we should talk about your other job as mayor of Red Wing, Minn.

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

At an intense City Council meeting attended by about 50 people who applauded the harshest rebukes of the mayor, two City Council members directly asked Egan to resign as mayor or step down as executive director of the Minnesota Industrial Sand Council. He steadfastly refused either option, saying he has no conflict of interest that can’t be managed on a case-by-case basis by recusing himself from city action on sand-mining issues.

“I deeply care about Red Wing,” said Egan, who was elected in November to a four-year term before he went to work for the sand council.

In an AP article, the honorable mayor notes that he signed a ban on frack sand mining in the city before he took the second job with the advocacy group. Interestingly, the prospect of sand mining in Red Wing is not the only point of concern for the city council. Again from the Star-Tribune:

Council President Lisa Bayley said Egan’s post with an industry that has encountered public opposition in its plans to expand sand-mining operations in Minnesota has taken a negative toll on the city and could hurt economic development.

You catch that? The argument Bayley is making is that people dislike sand mining so much in Minnesota that Egan’s position puts the city of Red Wing in a bad light. I’m not privy to the political relationship between Egan and Bayley (though I gather it’s not great), but that’s a remarkable argument. The taint of industrial fracking.

All of this was avoidable.

Egan said it wasn’t reasonable for the council to ask him to resign, partly because he is a professional consultant and lobbyist and the sand council is only his latest client.

Red Wing elected a lobbyist to be its mayor. Guys, I don’t want to tell you how to live your lives, but maybe that’s the first thing you need to fix.

Hat-tip to Midwest Energy News.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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More vignettes from North Frackota, where rents are sky-high and adultery is illegal

by sssaa Posted on January 29, 2013

More vignettes from North Frackota, where rents are sky-high and adultery is illegal

By Philip Bump

Two updates in our ongoing series on North Dakota (which I like to call North Frackota in an ongoing, futile attempt to get that evocative phrase into the lexicon). The most recent entries in said series, in case you missed them: the massive growth of fracking in the western part of the state is straining its healthcare infrastructure, and the glut of oilmen producing that glut of oil is leading to an increase in inappropriate and illegal sexual behavior. North Frackota: It is now and has always been a paradise.™ (This is a motto I suggest the state adopt.)

Update one: The Minneapolis Star Tribune offers another good look at how the state is being transformed.

Pickups and semis jam long stretches of two-lane highways. Backhoes claw the ground even in frozen January. Recreational vehicles occupy former farm fields next to row upon row of box-like modular living pods.

In Williston, the epicenter of the growth, the local hospital opened a new birthing center, workers are building a giant new rec center and students are overflowing in a school that once sat empty. Civic leaders have been approving building permits and hiring police and teachers and nearly every kind of government worker. …

Lines at restaurants and stores are often frustratingly long, with few workers willing to take service jobs when more lucrative oil industry work is available. Rents have skyrocketed. With mostly men flooding into town to work, women hesitate to go out alone at night. There are more bar fights. Young parents can’t find day care for their kids.

In other words, the wealth and growth are unevenly spread and slow to flow outward. The first beneficiaries of the wealth are those industries that deal with flush workers directly. Like realtors.

On a large flashing sign next to the highway, the Value Place hotel advertised rates of $699.99 a week, well above rates for its other hotels around the country. Some people living in campers said they pay RV park owners $800 a month to park and hook up to water and sewer. Classified ads in the local Shopper listed a furnished two-bedroom apartment for $2,200. A trailer with a queen bedroom listed for $1,650 a month.

Here is a list of two-bedroom apartments available in New York City for $2,200 or less. No fracking allowed, for now.

afiler

A supper club in Lisbon, N.D.

Now, the second update. A word of caution for all of those lotharios trawling the state: Don’t cheat on your wives. The story (spotted by Abe Sauer) comes from The Bismarck Tribune:

The first criminal case filed in McIntosh County in 2013 was an unusual one. In fact, the prosecutor in the case had never filed an adultery charge in 30 years on the job.

Matthew Stasiulaitis, 23, was charged Jan. 3 with adultery for allegedly having a sexual relationship with someone other than his wife in November and December. According to court documents, his wife, Heather Stasiulaitis, found out about the affair through law enforcement officers. When she asked what she could do about the situation, an officer told her she could file for divorce or get the state’s attorney to charge her husband with adultery.

Under North Dakota law, adultery is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison and fines of up to $1,000. …

“Only the spouse can sign the complaint, and she wanted to sign the complaint against her husband,” McIntosh County State’s Attorney Terry Elhard said about the recent case.

Elhard then noted: “I guess she’s upset with him.”

Just another day in America’s fastest-growing state. North Frackota: Where the future is now.™

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Utah Republican proposes bill to prepare for climate-change-worsened wildfires

by BayalaHillesland628 Posted on January 24, 2013

Utah Republican proposes bill to prepare for climate-change-worsened wildfires

By Philip Bump

Yesterday, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment declared that the air in Salt Lake City constituted a health emergency. From CBS News:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has singled out the greater Salt Lake region as having the nation’s worst air for much of January, when an icy fog smothers mountain valleys for days or weeks at a time and traps lung-busting soot.

That’s what led more than 100 Utah doctors to petition state officials on Wednesday. They suggest lowering highway speed limits, making mass transit free for the winter and curbing industrial activities. They also call for a permanent ban on wood-burning, and want large employees to let people work from home.

Levels of soot in the air around Salt Lake City reached 130 micrograms per cubic meter — well above the EPA’s clean air standard of 35 micrograms.

aarongustafson

Smog over Salt Lake City, 2006.

Interestingly, at about the same time that the physicians group made its declaration, a (Republican!) state legislator in Utah introduced a bill targeting one key contributor to air pollution and soot: wildfires. Climate change is expected to vastly increase the number of wildfires in the state, for which Rep. Kraig Powell suggests the state should plan in advance. From The Salt Lake Tribune:

Powell … is proposing legislation, HB77, that urges the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands to adopt pre-suppression strategies with an eye on the how climate change is already affecting wildfire in the Utah.

Scientists say climate change is already driving an increase in extreme weather-related events, such as the record-setting 2012 fire season. Higher temperatures, coupled with early spring snowmelt, dry out the soil, vegetation and trees, and fuels more and bigger wildfires.

Powell’s bill would assist the forestry and state lands office in planning for and tackling the growing wildfire activity.

Powell is embracing one of the clearest arguments for immediate action on climate change: that it saves money over the long run. Investing in preventative measures now — even measures that prevent damage from climate change as opposed to curtailing warming overall — means saving money in future years. Hurricane Sandy will end up costing the federal government $60 billion — far more than it would have cost to retrofit New York’s subway system or even to install a surge barrier at the mouth of New York Harbor. In the wake of Sandy, Republicans at the national level took a different tack than Powell, arguing solely for repair and not for prevention.

One of Powell’s inspirations was iMatter, a youth-oriented group calling for action on climate issues. The group has been active for years, including at one point suing the Utah Department of Transportation for the right to hold a protest. The Tribune last year outlined how iMatter influenced Powell:

Powell, an attorney, said he was impressed by the depth of knowledge iMatter members had, as well as their passion. …

In early meetings with Powell, iMatter members shared some of what they had learned about wildfire in Utah. For instance, they told how the state already has seen 400,000 acres burned this year with suppression costs of $47.1 million — part of a trend prompted by record hot and dry periods.

They also told how rehabilitating burned areas often costs more than fighting the wildfire itself. Their example? The 2007 Milford Flat fire which racked up a $5 million bill for suppression, while rehabilitating the scarred forest and range cost $17 million.

That’s what led to the concept for the bill …

It is not clear whether the bill will pass. In 2010, both houses of the Utah legislature approved a resolution opposing efforts to curb climate change. Since then, evidence that climate change poses short- and long-term threats to the state has only increased. Such evidence is not always enough.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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