West Coast

The Interior Department plans to begin leasing areas of the Atlantic at least 50 miles off the shores of VA, NC, SC, and GA to interested oil drilling companies beginning in 2021. The 50-mile buffer was created to protect shoreline areas, many fragile, two areas in particular being the two largest estuaries in the country, the Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle-Pamlico Sounds. Debates about whether there should be offshore drilling in this area at all have been going on for at least 30 years. Now it seems the green light's been turned on, with that orange-light 50-mile buffer.

According to the Interior Department, the buffer's 50-mile width was set in place in order to "minimize multiple use conflicts, such as those from the Department of Defense, NASA activities, renewable energy activities, commercial and recreational fishing, critical habitat needs for wildlife and other environmental concerns."

But plenty of citizens are saying that no buffer is wide enough and there should be absolutely no offshore drilling in the Atlantic.

Keep working on those "renewable energy activities," everybody. Act fast, save a dolphin. Save a way of life.

1 March 2015

The Department of the Interior has announced plans to open up the Mid- and South Atlantic coasts to mining for oil and gas, maybe starting in 2017. In 2014, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has decided to conduct seismic surveys along the Atlantic coast. People are concerned about the harm air guns used to conduct these surveys can cause to marine mammals and other marine life, and about the potential damage that drilling for offshore oil could cause.

The floor for discussion will be open on 12 March 2015, at the William and Ida Friday Center for Education in Chapel Hill, NC.

For more information, please visit the Southern Environmental Law Center site at www.southernenvironment.org

BOEM has "mitigation measures" for seismic surveys with marine mammals in mind: www.boem.gov/2012-JOINT-G02/ It expired 31 December 2014 and was written for a Gulf Coast survey, but it gives a general idea.

Coal Ash

1 May 2016

Here's something else tied up in red tape. Nobody wants the coal ash, and who can blame anybody, right? Now some people are wondering if maybe they can keep the ash where it is and reclassify it. Sometimes 2+2=4 no matter how hard you try to recalculate it, or run from it. No dice, baby. It is what it is. Recycle it, and take the time to create the correct facilities for the ash that can't be recycled.

There's this episode of Saved by the Bell where Hayley Mills' students mess around with the stock market and lose, and they end up with all these sacks of potatoes. She tells them to do everything they can to get rid of those potatoes.

North Carolina, this coal ash is our many sacks of potatoes. Moving it around doesn't make it go away, neither do shortcuts (which will cost everyone more in the long run), neither does pretending that it's something else so we don't have to mess with it at all.

1 October 2015

The fine imposed on Duke Energy has been reduced to $7 million, a steep decrease, so that more focus would be put on the actual clean-up of the problem areas. In one way it's okay, otherwise litigation might have dragged on forever. In another way, here's hoping that $34 million earmarked for environmental and conservation projects comes from somewhere, sometime soon.

14 May 2015

Duke Energy has been fined $102 million dollars due to 9 violations of the Clean Water Act. $34 million of theat gold mine will be used for environmental and conservation projects in NC and VA. The costs of the settlement will not be covered by Duke Energy's customers, but its shareholders. Duke Energy has also started paying for fresh water for residents living near coal ash ponds.

9 May 2015

The NC DENR is telling anyone living near a coal ash facility to not drink the water, but Duke Energy is claiming that the water's safe.

17 April 2015

"How will you handle that new coal ash slime?"

Chatham and Lee County residents are not particularly happy about over 20 million tons of coal ash being stored in their backyards. The plans for storage are still up for debate for the next few months. Has all of that coal ash been recycled as far as it can possibly go?

18 March 2015

Duke Energy plans to move 10 million tons of coal ash from at least 14 sites to 2 abandoned clay mines in Lee County. Dry, lined areas will be prepared for this move (whatever can't be further recycled, right?). This should be completed within 5 years. Some residents in Lee County are not at all thrilled. They are calling the choice to relocate the coal ash to their backyard "socioeconomic discrimination."

www.npr.org/2015/03/18/393672334/after-toxic-ash-spill-energy-company-and-locals-struggle-over-solution (Dave Dewitt)

20 December 2014

The EPA is making efforts to regulate coal ash waste, and some North Carolinians believe that NC's regulations are stricter. They are not strict enough, however, to speed the process of beginning to either remove the coal ash from outdated and leaky pits or reline and cover the pits. Coal ash waste does in fact contain a significant amount of toxic chemicals and needs to be considered hazardous. Nearly half of coal ash produced by power plants can be recycled. What is left over needs to be kept in facilities that are both heavily lined and covered. It's going to take some time and money to take care of the 14 Duke Energy pits in NC, 9 of which are problem pits, so covering them is the quickest and least expensive way to keep moisture from the coal ash, but that is by no means more than a quick fix until the ash can be moved to a better site.

21 August 2014

Legislation To Regulate Coal Ash Approved on Wednesday, 20 August. Waiting on Governor McCrory's signature.

17 July 2014

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Dan River is back to the way things were before tons of coal ash spilled into it on 2 February 2014 at the Duke Energy Dan River Steam Plant in Eden, NC. They are basing this finding mainly on over 600 water samples taken after the spill, all of which indicating that the drinking water is safe. Also, Danville, Virginia had been reporting safe drinking water since the spill. Tests willl continue, even though the EPA won't be checking in daily anymore.

Of course this doesn't mean that the coal ash situation is resolved. That could take a few years (or more). Fore more information, please visit the Go Dan River, Danville, VA news site, www.godanriver.com.

Fracking

1 May 2016

No fracking that I know of has begun quite yet.

21 May 2015

Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens has halted fracking lease approval until the legality of the appointment of boards concerning fracking can be affirmed. This will be decided ultimately by the State Supreme Court. so until then, no sticking pipes in your front yards and turning on the water hose.

17 March 2015

It is now legal to apply for a fracking permit in NC. Fracking itself does not begin today. First, applications must be approved, and then approved applicants may face legal action brought forward by those who oppose.

20 December 2014

Governor Cuomo and the State of New York have decided to ban fracking.... so who's next?... going once... going twice...

25 August 2014

Fracking hearing in Sanford, NC. A main concern is boundary issues. There should be at least 200ft between the drill pad and the outer boundary of the fracking site.

21 August 2014

Fracking hearings have begun: First stop, N.C. State. Many expressed concerns for fracking safety. There will be 4 hearings in NC this week.

17 July 2014

The Mining and Energy Commission of North Carolina has listed over 100 proposed rules that may govern fracking, and from July to September, they have opened a public comment period for open comments.

Hurricanes

Storms are named when wind speeds reach 39mph.

Tropical Depression < 39mph

Tropical Storm 39-73mph

Category 1 74-95mph

Category 2 96-110mph

Category 3 111-129mph

Category 4 130-156mph

Category 5 157+ mph

After the "W" the storms are named according to the Greek alphabet.