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A Year That Confirmed We Need to Put Drinking Water First
By Lynn Thorp, National Campaigns Director - Follow Lynn on Twitter (@LTCWA) One year ago today we learned that a chemical spill into the Elk River in West Virginia had led to a “Do Not Use” order. Hundreds of thousands of people in the Charleston area could not use their tap water for anything other than toilet flushing and fire fighting. As the crisis continued, details came to light. Over 10,000 gallons spilled. A coal-processing chemical called crude MCHM that no one had ever heard of. Freedom Industries managing a tank farm very badly. A lack of health effects or other information on the
Drinking Water Sacrificed for Oil and Gas Industry Profits - What We Don’t Know CAN Hurt Us
By John Noel, National Oil and Gas Program Coordinator - Follow John on Twitter (@Noel_Johnny) Sacrificing Our Drinking Water for Oil and Gas This week Clean Water Action released a first-ever analysis of the little known Aquifer Exemption program within EPA’s Underground Injection Control program. For those concerned about clean drinking water supplies for future generations, transparency within the Environmental Protection Agency, and the cavalier attitude oil and gas interests take towards regulation of their operations, this report is for you. What is wrong with Aquifer Exemptions? First
Oil and Gas and the Safe Drinking Water Act
By Lynn Thorp, National Programs Director - Follow Lynn on Twitter (@LTCWA) The Infographic - download and share While it is widely recognized that Congress exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, it is less understood that SDWA still pertains in several ways to fracking and oil and gas exploration, drilling and wastewater disposal. When SDWA first passed in 1974, Congress authorized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set up a program to protect underground drinking water from injection practices of various kinds. That
Recycling the Bulb in RI
By Dave Gerraughty, Program Coordinator When I began thinking about how to create a voluntary program that would get Rhode Island residents to recycle fluorescent lighting, the biggest challenge was how to make it easy for people to get burned-out bulbs from their basements to a recycling firm. Rhode Islanders are notoriously reluctant to travel more than 15 minutes from home for anything. Since Clean Water Fund was providing the service for free, the price was right, but convenience was going to be essential. Following a model that had been successful in Vermont, I decided to shoot for a mail
What Do EPA’s new Coal Ash Disposal Rule and New York State Fracking Ban Have in Common?
By Lynn Thorp, National Campaigns Director - Follow Lynn on Twitter (@LTCWA) Two big things happened in the world of energy policy this week. I don’t think most people connected them. EPA finalized a long overdue framework to regulate our country’s second largest waste stream after household trash – toxic ash from coal plants. New York banned high volume hydraulic fracturing, basically ruling out drilling for Marcellus Shale gas in that state. Two important similarities here. Fossil Fuels are Dirty: Until the infamous Tennessee coal ash spill in 2008, people didn’t realize the mess we leave
