# [‘SYNTHESIS REPORT’ on Climate Crisis Coming Today from UNITED
NATIONS](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/20/%e2%80%98synthesis-
report%e2%80%99-on-climate-crisis-coming-today-from-united-nations/)
[![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/4A10F360-84B6-437E-8718-5357178C8005.jpeg)](https:/…
content/uploads/2023/03/4A10F360-84B6-437E-8718-5357178C8005.jpeg)
The all-important ‘synthesis report’ will be the primary working document for
the next 10 years
**Nations approve key UN science report on climate change**
News from Article by [Frank Jordans, ABC
News](https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/fight-science-holds-key-
climate-report-97971652), March 19, 2023
**ASSOCIATED PRESS -- Governments gave their blessing on Sunday to a major new
U.N. report on climate change, after approval was held up by a battle between
rich and developing countries over emissions targets and financial aid to
vulnerable nations.**
**The report by hundreds of the world’s top scientists was supposed to be
approved by government delegations on Friday at the end of a weeklong meeting
in the Swiss town of Interlaken.**
The closing gavel was repeatedly pushed back as officials from big nations
such as China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the United States and the European Union
haggled through the weekend over the wording of key phrases in the text.
The report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change caps a series
that digests vast amounts of research on global warming compiled since the
Paris climate accord was agreed in 2015.
**A summary of the report was approved early Sunday but agreement on the main
text dragged on for several more hours** , with some observers fearing it
might need to be postponed. The unusual process of having countries sign off
on a scientific report is intended to ensure that governments accept its
findings as authoritative advice on which to base their actions.
At the start of the meeting, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called on
delegates to provide “ cold, hard facts ” to drive home the message that
there's little time left for the world to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees
Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial times.
While average global temperatures have already increased by 1.1 Celsius since
the 19th century, Guterrres insisted that the 1.5-degree target limit remains
possible "with rapid and deep emissions reductions across all sectors of the
global economy.”
Observers said the IPCC meetings have increasingly become politicized as the
stakes for curbing global warming increase, mirroring the annual U.N. climate
talks that usually take place at the end of the year.
Among the thorniest issues at the current meeting were how to define which
nations count as vulnerable developing countries, making them eligible for
cash from a “loss and damage” fund agreed on at the last U.N. climate talks in
Egypt. Delegates have also battled over figures stating how much greenhouse
gas emissions need to be cut by over the coming years, and how to include
artificial or natural carbon removal efforts in the equations.
As the country that has released the biggest amount of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere since industrialization, the United States has pushed back strongly
against the notion of historic responsibility for climate change.
**The U.N. plans to publish the report at a news conference early Monday
afternoon, March 20th.**
___
**SEE ALSO:** [What is the IPCC AR6 synthesis report and why does it
matter?](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/19/what-is-the-ip…
ar6-synthesis-report-and-why-does-it-matter) ~ Fiona Harvey, The Guardian UK,
March 19, 2023
**Summary report by world’s leading climate scientists sets out actions to
stave off climate breakdown**
The fourth and final installment of the sixth assessment report (AR6) by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of the world’s leading
climate scientists, is the synthesis report, so called because it draws
together the key findings of the preceding three main sections. Together, they
make a comprehensive review of global knowledge of the climate.
The first three sections covered the physical science of the climate crisis,
including observations and projections of global heating, the impacts of the
climate crisis and how to adapt to them, and ways of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions. They were published in August 2021, February and April 2022
respectively.
The synthesis report also includes three other shorter IPCC reports published
since 2018, on the impacts of global heating of more than 1.5C above pre-
industrial levels, climate change and land, and climate change and the oceans
and cryosphere (the ice caps and glaciers).
URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/20/%e2%80%98synthesis-
report%e2%80%99-on-climate-crisis-coming-today-from-united-nations/>
# [Chevron Seeks to Produce Safe Fuels from Plastics, But … (not so
fast)](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/19/chevron-seeks-to-produce-saf…
fuels-from-plastics-but-%e2%80%a6-not-so-fast/)
[![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/867C24F8-D8E2-4432-AC7B-CD81E061271B.jpeg)](https:/…
content/uploads/2023/03/867C24F8-D8E2-4432-AC7B-CD81E061271B.jpeg)
Fuels derived from plastics are generally toxic or worse!
**This “Climate-Friendly” Fuel Comes With an Astronomical Cancer Risk**
From an [Article by Sharon Lerner,
ProPublica](https://www.propublica.org/article/chevron-pascagoula-pollution-
future-cancer-risk), February 23, 2023
**The Environmental Protection Agency recently gave a Chevron refinery the
green light to create fuel from discarded plastics as part of a “climate-
friendly” initiative to boost alternatives to petroleum. But, according to
agency records, the production of one of the fuels could emit air pollution
that is so toxic, 1 out of 4 people exposed to it over a lifetime could get
cancer.**
**“That kind of risk is obscene,”** said Linda Birnbaum, former head of the
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “You can’t let that get
out.”
That risk is 250,000 times greater than the level usually considered
acceptable by the EPA division that approves new chemicals. Chevron hasn’t
started making this jet fuel yet, the EPA said. When the company does, the
cancer burden will disproportionately fall on people who have low incomes and
are Black because of the population that lives within 3 miles of the refinery
in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
ProPublica asked Maria Doa, a scientist who worked at the EPA for 30 years, to
review the document laying out the risk. Doa, who once ran the division that
managed the risks posed by chemicals, was so alarmed by the cancer threat that
she initially assumed it was a typographical error. **“EPA should not allow
these risks in Pascagoula or anywhere,” said Doa, who now is the senior
director of chemical policy at Environmental Defense Fund.**
In response to questions, an EPA spokesperson wrote that the agency’s lifetime
cancer risk calculation is “a very conservative estimate with ‘high
uncertainty,’” meaning the government erred on the side of caution in
calculating such a high risk.
Under federal law, the EPA can’t approve new chemicals with serious health or
environmental risks unless it comes up with ways to minimize the dangers. And
if the EPA is unsure, the law allows the agency to order lab testing that
would clarify the potential health and environmental harms. In the case of
these new plastic-based fuels, the agency didn’t do either of those things. In
approving the jet fuel, the EPA didn’t require any lab tests, air monitoring
or controls that would reduce the release of the cancer-causing pollutants or
people’s exposure to them.
**In January 2022, the EPA announced the initiative to streamline the approval
of petroleum alternatives in what a press release called “part of the Biden-
Harris Administration’s actions to confront the climate crisis.” While the
program cleared new fuels made from plants, it also signed off on fuels made
from plastics even though they themselves are petroleum-based and contribute
to the release of planet-warming greenhouse gases.
**
Although there’s no mention of discarded plastics in the press release or on
the EPA website’s description of the program, an agency spokesperson said that
it allows them because the initiative also covers fuels made from waste. The
spokesperson said that 16 of the 34 fuels the program approved so far are made
from waste. She would not say how many of those are made from plastic and
stated that such information was confidential.
All of the waste-based fuels are the subject of consent orders, documents the
EPA issues when it finds that new chemicals or mixtures may pose an
“unreasonable risk” to human health or the environment. The documents specify
those risks and the agency’s instructions for mitigating them.
But the agency won’t turn over these records or reveal information about the
waste-based fuels, even their names and chemical structures. Without those
basic details, it’s nearly impossible to determine which of the thousands of
consent orders on the EPA website apply to this program. In keeping this
information secret, the EPA cited a legal provision that allows companies to
claim as confidential any information that would give their competitors an
advantage in the marketplace.
Nevertheless, one consent order covers a dozen Chevron fuels made from
plastics that were reviewed under the program. Although the EPA had blacked
out sections, including the chemicals’ names, that document showed that the
fuels that Chevron plans to make at its Pascagoula refinery present serious
health risks, including developmental problems in children and cancer and harm
to the nervous system, reproductive system, liver, kidney, blood and spleen.
**Aside from the chemical that carries a 25% lifetime risk of cancer from
smokestack emissions, another of the Chevron fuels ushered in through the
program is expected to cause 1.2 cancers in 10,000 people — also far higher
than the agency allows for the general population. The EPA division that
screens new chemicals typically limits cancer risk from a single air pollutant
to 1 case of cancer in a million people. The agency also calculated that air
pollution from one of the fuels is expected to cause 7.1 cancers in every
1,000 workers — more than 70 times the level EPA’s new chemicals division
usually considers acceptable for workers.**
In addition to the chemicals released through the creation of fuels from
plastics, the people living near the Chevron refinery are exposed to an array
of other cancer-causing pollutants, as reported in 2021. In that series, which
mapped excess cancer risk from lifetime exposure to air pollution across the
U.S., the highest chance was 1 cancer in 53 people, in Port Arthur, Texas.
**The 1-in-4 lifetime cancer risk from breathing the emissions from the
Chevron jet fuel is higher even than the lifetime risk of lung cancer for
current smokers.**
In an email, Chevron spokesperson Ross Allen wrote: “It is incorrect to say
there is a 1-in-4 cancer risk from smokestack emissions. I urge you avoid
suggesting otherwise.” Asked to clarify what exactly was wrong, Allen wrote
that Chevron disagrees with the “characterization of language in the EPA
Consent Order.” That document, signed by a Chevron manager at its refinery in
Pascagoula, quantified the lifetime cancer risk from the inhalation of
smokestack air as 2.5 cancers in 10 people, which can also be stated as 1 in
4.
In a subsequent phone call, Allen said: “We do take care of our communities,
our workers and the environment generally. This is job one for Chevron.”
In a separate written statement, Chevron said it followed the EPA’s process
under the Toxic Substances Control Act: “The TSCA process is an important
first step to identify risks and if EPA identifies unreasonable risk, it can
limit or prohibit manufacture, processing or distribution in commerce during
applicable review period.”
The Chevron statement also said: “Other environmental regulations and
permitting processes govern air, water and handling hazardous materials.
Regulations under the Clean Water, Clean Air and Resource Conservation and
Recovery Acts also apply and protect the environment and the health and safety
of our communities and workers.”
Similarly, the EPA said that other federal laws and requirements might reduce
the risk posed by the pollution, including Occupational Safety and Health
Administration’s regulations for worker protection, the Clean Water Act, the
Clean Air Act and rules that apply to refineries.
But OSHA has warned the public not to rely on its outdated chemical standards.
The refinery rule calls for air monitoring only for one pollutant: benzene.
The Clean Water Act does not address air pollution. And the new fuels are not
regulated under the Clean Air Act, which applies to a specific list of
pollutants. Nor can states monitor for the carcinogenic new fuels without
knowing their names and chemical structures.
We asked Scott Throwe, an air pollution specialist who worked at the EPA for
30 years, how existing regulations could protect people in this instance. Now
an independent environmental consultant, Throwe said the existing testing and
monitoring requirements for refineries couldn’t capture the pollution from
these new plastic-based fuels because the rules were written before these
chemicals existed. There is a chance that equipment designed to limit the
release of other pollutants may incidentally capture some of the emissions
from the new fuels, he said. But there’s no way to know whether that is
happening.
Under federal law, companies have to apply to the EPA for permission to
introduce new chemicals or mixtures. But manufacturers don’t have to supply
any data showing their products are safe. So the EPA usually relies on studies
of similar chemicals to anticipate health effects. In this case, the EPA used
a mixture of chemicals made from crude oil to gauge the risks posed by the new
plastic-based fuels. Chevron told the EPA the chemical components of its new
fuel but didn’t give the precise proportions. So the EPA had to make some
assumptions, for instance that people absorb 100% of the pollution emitted.
Asked why it didn’t require tests to clarify the risks, a spokesperson wrote
that the “EPA does not believe these additional test results would change the
risks identified nor the unreasonable risks finding.”
In her three decades at the EPA, Doa had never seen a chemical with that high
a cancer risk that the agency allowed to be released into a community without
restrictions. “The only requirement seems to be just to use the chemicals as
fuel and have the workers wear gloves,” she said.
While companies have made fuels from discarded plastics before, this EPA
program gives them the same administrative break that renewable fuels receive:
a dedicated EPA team that combines the usual six regulatory assessments into a
single report.
The irony is that Congress created the Renewable Fuel Standard Program, which
this initiative was meant to support, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
boost the production of renewable fuels. Truly renewable energy sources can be
regenerated in a short period of time, such as plants or algae. While there is
significant debate about whether ethanol, which is made from corn, and other
plant-based renewable fuels are really better for the environment than fossil
fuels, there is no question that plastics are not renewable and that their
production and conversion into fuel releases climate-harming pollution.
Under the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard, biobased fuels must meet specific
criteria related to their biological origin as well as the amount they reduce
greenhouse gas emissions compared with petroleum-based fuels. But under this
new approach, fuels made from waste don’t have to meet those targets, the
agency said.
In its written statement, Chevron said that “plastics are an essential part of
modern life and plastic waste should not end up in unintended places in the
environment. We are taking steps to address plastic waste and support a
circular economy in which post-use plastic is recycled, reused or repurposed.”
**But environmentalists say such claims are just greenwashing.** Whatever you
call it, the creation of fuel from plastic is in some ways worse for the
climate than simply making it directly from fossil fuels. Over 99% of all
plastic is derived from fossil fuels, including coal, oil and gas. To produce
fuel from plastics, additional fossil fuels are used to generate the heat that
converts them into petrochemicals that can be used as fuel.
“It adds an extra step,” said Veena Singla, a senior scientist at NRDC. “They
have to burn a lot of stuff to power the process that transforms the plastic.”
Less than 6% of plastic waste is recycled in the U.S. Scientists estimate that
more than a million tons of that unrecycled plastic ends up in the environment
each year, killing marine mammals and polluting the world. Plastic does not
fully decompose; instead it eventually breaks down into tiny bits, some of
which wind up inside our bodies. As the public’s awareness of the health and
environmental harm grows, the plastics industry has found itself under
increasing pressure to find a use for the waste.
The idea of creating fuel from plastic offers the comforting sense that
plastics are sustainable. But the release of cancer-causing pollution is just
one of several significant problems that have plagued attempts to convert
discarded plastic into new things. One recent study by scientists from the
Department of Energy found that the economic and environmental costs of
turning old plastic into new using a process called pyrolysis were 10 to 100
times higher than those of making new plastics from fossil fuels. The lead
author said similar issues plague the use of this process to create fuels from
plastics.
**Chevron buys oil that another company extracts from discarded plastics
through pyrolysis. Though the parts of the consent order that aren’t blacked
out don’t mention that this oil came from waste plastics, a related EPA record
makes this clear. The cancer risks come from the pollution emitted from
Chevron’s smokestacks when the company turns that oil into fuel.**
The EPA attributed its decision to embark on the streamlined program in part
to its budget, which it says has been “essentially flat for the last six
years.” The EPA spokesperson said that the agency “has been working to
streamline its new chemicals work wherever possible.”
**The New Chemicals Division, which houses the program, has been under
particular pressure because updates to the chemicals law gave it additional
responsibilities and faster timetables. That division of the agency is also
the subject of an ongoing EPA Inspector General investigation into
whistleblowers’ allegations of corruption and industry influence over the
chemical approval process.**
URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/19/chevron-seeks-to-produce-safe-
fuels-from-plastics-but-%e2%80%a6-not-so-fast/>
# [West Virginia Interfaith Power & Light is worthy of
support!](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/18/west-virginia-interfaith-
power-light-is-worthy-of-support/)
[![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/C847BBB3-F755-46BA-
BA88-F3FDCAF79F3B-300x169.png)](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/C847BBB3-F755-46BA-BA88-F3FDCAF79F3B.png)
WVIPL has performed important work here in WV over the past 20 years
**[Dear Friends and Supporters](https://wvipl.org/),**
**We are writing to you today with important information from the[West
Virginia Interfaith Power and Light](https://wvipl.org/) (WVIPL).**
**Faith Climate Action Week is coming up and Interfaith Power and Light has
released some great planning materials. You can find them here:**
<https://www.faithclimateactionweek.org/>
The theme for this year is **" Living the Golden Rule: Just Transition to a
Clean Energy Economy."** We hope you will check these resources out and
utilize them in your faith community.
The **WVIPL is on the verge of gaining independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit
status**. We will be developing a Board of Directors with officers. If you
have the time and interest in helping out, please contact Robin Blakeman at
_rbrobinjh(a)gmail.com_ , and include “ **WVIPL leadership** ” in the subject
line of your email.
With spring just around the corner, a time of rebirth and rejuvenation, we
thank you for your support and extend an ongoing invitation to be involved in
the important work of caring for our common home.
**Sincerely** , _[[WVIPL Steering Committee and
Staff](https://wvipl.org/)](https://wvipl.org/)_
URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/18/west-virginia-interfaith-power-
light-is-worthy-of-support/>
# [American Conservation Film Festival was March 10 – 12 in Shepherdstown &
Elsewhere](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/17/american-conservation-fi…
festival-was-march-10-12-in-shepherdstown-elsewhere/)
[![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/564B615D-9705-415D-9E03-616827D10C3E-205x300.jpg)](…
content/uploads/2023/03/564B615D-9705-415D-9E03-616827D10C3E.jpeg)
Mary Anne Hitt was the Main Speaker on March 12th ……. (Click this image to
read it)
**@[American Conservation Film Festival
2023](https://conservationfilmfest.org/) @**
**Evolve Shepherdstown** (106 W. German Street) is the festival’s pop-up
headquarters, a place for guests to pop in and meet representatives from
conservation groups like **Solar Holler, Sky Truth, Trout Unlimited, WV
Rivers, Garden Stewards, and Oak Springs Garden Foundation.** Film stars and
filmmakers were popping in throughout the weekend, including the on-screen
personalities from Hellbent and Little Stream, Big Magic, and filmmaker Neil
Losin of sym•bee•o•sis.
At 1pm on Sunday afternoon, Shepherdstown resident **Mary Anne Hitt** ,
international climate advocate and activist, read an excerpt from her essay
included in **”All We Can Save: Truth, Courage and Solutions for the Climate
Crisis”**.
At 2pm, we learned more about West Virginia’s native brook trout and star of
the film, “ **Little Stream, Big Magic** ” from **Than Hitt** , research
biologist. Did you miss the art installation “ **School of Trout** ” created
by fourth grade students at Shepherdstown Elementary School. Over 50
beautifully collaged trout greeted visitors to Evolve all weekend.
Admission was free. Evolve was open Sat & Sun 11AM to 5PM.
#######+++++++#######+++++++########
**The[American Conservation Film
Festival](https://conservationfilmfest.org/action-opportunities/) 2023**
If you value exceptional filmmaking on stories that literally change lives and
an organization devoted to the curation and presentation of those stories,
please consider a donation to ACFF. We so appreciate your support and look
forward to fulfilling our mission for years to come. And we send each of you
our wishes for your well-being and continued engagement with the things that
bring you joy and solace.
**ACFF Environmental Efforts Throughout the Year**
Whenever possible, our staff works from home offices in order to reduce fuel
demand and pollution. To reduce environmental impacts, staff has reduced their
intake of meat and dairy and some are vegetarian. Some of our staff has
invested in zero emission, hybrid vehicles and walk to the office, weather
permitting. For long distance business trips, carpooling or public
transportation is utilized as much as possible. Meetings are often conducted
using video conferencing with Zoom or via conference call to cut down on
driving. There is more ….
URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/17/american-conservation-film-
festival-was-march-10-12-in-shepherdstown-elsewhere/>
# [Activities Underway in West Virginia to Address the PFAS Issues ~ Traces
are Toxic](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/16/activities-underway-in-
west-virginia-to-address-the-pfas-issues-traces-are-toxic/)
[![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/8371E544-6E6F-47DA-A0CD-A616331F0876.jpeg)](https:/…
content/uploads/2023/03/8371E544-6E6F-47DA-A0CD-A616331F0876.jpeg)
Delegate Evan Hansen provides leadership on this PFAS legislation
**State will get $18 million in federal funds to deal with PFAS chemicals in
drinking water**
From the [Article by David Beard, Morgantown Dominion Post (Yahoo!
News)](https://news.yahoo.com/state-18-million-federal-funds-023100710.html),
March 15, 2023
**MORGANTOWN — West Virginia will receive more than $18 million in federal
funds to address the presence of potentially toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking
water.**
State Health Officer Matthew Christiansen shared that news during Gov. Jim
Justice's Wednesday administration update press briefing. Justice was
reviewing legislation completed during the recent session, and HB 3189 — the
PFAS bill — is awaiting his signature.
**Christiansen reminded listeners that the U.S. EPA recently set maximum
contaminant levels for two members of the PFAS family — PFOA and PFOS — at 4
parts per trillion. EPA also recommended calculations for four other PFAS
compounds.**
Expecting that to happen, the Department of Health and Human Resources and the
Department of Environmental Protection formed a working group to help local
water systems develop plans to treat drinking water for PFAS. Christiansen's
bureau is part of DHHR and he said, "The Bureau for Public Health is committed
to ensuring safe water for the citizens of West Virginia."
**The EPA announced that the $18 million will come to the state, Christiansen
said. The money can be used for a wide variety of actions, including research,
testing treatment, source water control, restructuring, consolidation and
technical assistance.**
The working group will offer support and avenues for communication, and help
local systems with best practices and mitigation, he said.
**HB 3189 is the PFAS Protection Act, targeting PFAS in drinking water. It
follows on the heels of a Department of Environmental Protection Study ordered
in 2020, performed by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Under prior EPA drinking water advisory numbers, 37 of the state's 279 raw
water intakes had PFAS levels above those set by EPA. Under the new
thresholds, 100 more sites exceeded the level, for a total of 137.**
**Now, DEP will go back, resample the finished (treated) water from those
sites and try to determine the sources. Industries that use PFAS chemicals
must report their usage to the DEP. And DEP will, to the extent data is
available, consider ways to address the sources and mitigate the impacts on
public water systems.**
URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/16/activities-underway-in-west-
virginia-to-address-the-pfas-issues-traces-are-toxic/>
# [BLOOMBERG LAW: Limiting P.P.T. PFAS Quite Challenging But
Necessary](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/15/bloomberg-law-limiting-p…
t-pfas-quite-challenging-but-necessary/)
[![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/94B7B706-9D41-4187-A635-186781E2C8A0.jpeg)](https:/…
content/uploads/2023/03/94B7B706-9D41-4187-A635-186781E2C8A0.jpeg)
PFAS are very stable organic chemicals, lasting “forever” …
**US Plan to Limit PFAS in Water Draws Concern Over Cost, Science**
From a [Review by Pat Rizzuto, Bloomberg
Law](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/us-plan-to-limit-
pfas-in-water-draws-concern-over-cost-science), March 15, 2023
The first-ever national drinking water limits for PFAS the EPA proposed
Tuesday are raising concerns about the costs to utilities and ratepayers,
questions from industry about the science the agency used, and predictions of
more litigation over the health effects of the chemicals.
The proposal also should spur controls on upstream sources of the chemicals,
according to both a key lawmaker and the Southern Environmental Law Center, a
nonprofit environmental legal advocacy organization.
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a 4 parts per trillion (ppt)
enforceable limit on the amount of either perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or
perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) that could be in drinking water. It also
proposed a strategy to limit four additional per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances (PFAS) in drinking water.
VIDEO: PFAS: The ‘Forever Chemicals’
Water utilities would be required to monitor the PFAS, reduce levels exceeding
the proposed limits, and notify their customers if the PFAS levels were above
the EPA’s limits. The proposed limits, the lowest level many laboratories can
reliably detect, are tighter than any states have proposed.
Also known as forever chemicals, some PFAS persist in the environment for
years and have been linked to an increase in the risk of various diseases
including cancer.
The plans “signal a more aggressive stance on the EPA on regulating these
chemicals,” said Stephanie Feingold, a partner at law firm Morgan Lewis
specializing in environmental regulations and litigation.
Additional PFAS rules the agency is pursuing include designating two or more
PFAS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act, or Superfund law; limiting industrial
effluents of the chemicals; and collecting extensive information on PFAS that
have been in commerce for more than a decade.
The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) has serious concerns
about the cost of this rulemaking, particularly as those costs will
potentially fall to ratepayers, said association spokesman Brian Redder.
**Cost Concerns** ~ The EPA offered treatment options to address the presence
of PFAS in drinking water. Granular activated carbon (GAC), anion exchange,
high-pressure membrane technologies, reverse osmosis (RO), and nanofiltration
can remove the PFAS, the agency’s proposed rule said.
The EPA’s estimated costs for water utilities to comply with its proposal
range from $772 million to $1.2 billion, while its estimated benefits range
from $908 million to $1.2 billion. Yet treatment expenditures utilities
already have incurred suggest the costs could exceed the agency’s estimate,
AMWA CEO Tom Dobbins said in a statement.
“For comparison, AMWA member Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s estimated
capital cost for its treatment was $43 million, and its annual operating cost
was $3-5 million,” Dobbins said. “If about 16 utilities of similar size to
Cape Fear nationwide had to implement comparable treatment techniques, the
total cost would exceed EPA’s estimate,” of $772 million, he said.
The 2021 infrastructure law provided $10 billion to address emerging
contaminants including PFAS in drinking water. “But the costs of meeting the
proposed standards will far exceed the additional funding, said the American
Water Works Association (AWWA).
More than an estimated 5,000 water systems will have to develop new water
sources or install and operate advanced treatment; another 2,500 water systems
in states with existing standards will need to adjust existing PFAS treatment
systems, it said.
A recent study requested by AWWA estimated the national cost for water systems
to install treatment to remove PFOA and PFOS to levels required by the EPA’s
proposal exceeds $3.8 billion annually, that association said.
“The vast majority of these treatment costs will be borne by communities and
ratepayers, who are also facing increased costs to address other needs, such
as replacing lead service lines, upgrading cybersecurity, replacing aging
infrastructure and assuring sustainable water supplies,” AWWA said.
Both water associations stressed the need to make sure the EPA used sound
science to underpin its proposed limits. “I think there will be litigation,”
even before a final rule would be finalized, on both the science underpinning
the EPA’s proposal and its strategy to limit the four PFAS, said Jessie
Rosell, an environmental attorney with Lathrop GPM’s PFAS practice.
**Litigation Outlook** ~ Rosell and Feingold described the “hazard index”
strategy the agency proposed to use to regulate four PFAS as an unusual
approach to limiting drinking water contaminants. The index, a mathematical
calculation of whether people’s exposure to contaminants is close to levels
that might cause health problems, is more often used as a tool for deciding
whether some kind of cleanup or other regulatory action is needed, Feingold
said.
Rosell predicted there will be legal challenges to the EPA’s proposal similar
to those chemical manufacturers mounted after the agency last June set interim
and final health advisories for PFOA, PFOS, and hexafluoropropylene oxide
(HFPO) dimer acid and its ammonium salt, referred to as the “GenX chemicals”
due to the technology that produces them.
The US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit dismissed for lack of standing
the challenge the American Chemistry Council brought against the agency’s
interim health advisories for PFOA and PFOS. But the Chemours Co.'s challenge
to the agency’s final GenX health advisory is proceeding in the US Circuit
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Issues raised in those lawsuits are likely to be raised again, Rosell said.
“We have serious concerns with the underlying science” that the EPA used to
develop its proposals, ACC said in a statement. It pointed to draft guidance
the World Health Organization issued that proposed much higher limits than did
the EPA—100 ppt on PFOA and PFOS .
The agency also has not completed its health assessment of two of the six
PFAS, the chemistry council said. Those two are perfluorohexane sulfonate
(PFHxS) and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA). The agency’s research office
expects it will take until next year for the agency to complete its analysis
and then have independent scientists critique it.
“The maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) the EPA sets will become target cleanup
levels at Superfund sites and de facto cleanup levels at other sites, which is
another reason it’s so important to get the science right,” said Tom Flanagin,
an ACC spokesman.
Meanwhile, both Rosell and Feingold said attorneys representing individuals in
toxic tort cases could use the science and standards in the EPA’s proposal to
bolster their cases, as they’ve already been using the interim and final
health advisories the agency set last June.
Plaintiffs in a multidistrict case relating to PFAS in firefighting foam and
the Department of Justice on Tuesday alerted the U.S. District Court for the
District of South Carolina about the EPA’s proposal.
“EPA determined PFOA and PFOS are likely carcinogens (i.e., cancer causing)
and that there is no level of these contaminants that is without a risk of
adverse health effects,” according to the filing. “Given that there is no
higher regulatory authority than EPA, no prudent water provider can ignore
this important safety information even prior to it becoming legally
enforceable.”
**Disposal, Upstream Releases** ~ The EPA’s proposal raises many questions
including how drinking water utilities will dispose of spent filters and other
equipment they use to remove the PFAS, Feingold said. The technologies the EPA
named concentrate the PFAS they remove from drinking water, but then move them
into other media, she said.
Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) said he plans to reintroduce his Clean Water
Standards for PFAS Act this year to limit industrial discharges of PFAS into
rivers, groundwater and other drinking water supplies.
“States must act now using existing law to protect people and their drinking
water,” said Geoff Gisler, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental
Law Center. Michigan has required pretreatment for 59 industrial and other
facilities that release PFAS into sewers, according to information the
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy previously
provided Bloomberg Law. Colorado, Michigan, and North Carolina have taken some
actions to reduce industrial sources of PFOS and some other PFAS, but not
nearly as much as they should, Gisler said.
URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/15/bloomberg-law-limiting-p-p-t-
pfas-quite-challenging-but-necessary/>
# [The Hydrogen Boondoggle is an Enormous Slush
Fund](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/14/the-hydrogen-boondoggle-is-an-
enormous-slush-fund/)
[![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/A2E68673-9F5E-4C1F-9959-B25E3C12F627.png)](https://…
content/uploads/2023/03/A2E68673-9F5E-4C1F-9959-B25E3C12F627.png)
The Ohio River Valley Institute has studied these half-baked ideas!
**Hydrogen Slush Fund Means More Dollars Wasted On The Green Energy
Boondoggle**
From a [Letter to Editor by Frank Lasee, Former Wisconsin State
Senator](http://www.truthinenergyandclimate.com), February 25, 2023
Nearly 50 years ago in 1976, the US Congress authorized the Hydrogen Program
managed by the National Science Foundation. Then in 1983, Bush and Congress
threw more money at hydrogen as an alternative energy source.
Last year Congress and Biden, in their infrastructure bill, created a $9.5
billion dollar hydrogen slush fund. The Europeans have also authorized $5.2
billion euros for their hydrogen slush fund.
Since 1839, scientists have been working on hydrogen for energy and storage
with little to show for it. The future of green hydrogen is just as dull.
Brown and grey hydrogen, made from coal or natural gas (CH4), makes more
reasonably priced hydrogen now.
Hydrogen is not a fuel. It must be created and is only a way of storing and
transporting energy. All of which are difficult, expensive and there is no
infrastructure to support it.
This $9.5 billion slush fund is a breeding ground for multiple Solyndras.
(Solyndra was 1/3 of the 1.5 billion-dollar taxpayer loss on Obama’s solar
revolution.)
The Biden administration has authorized a half billion loan guarantee for a
green hydrogen hub in Delta, Utah. Never mind that green hydrogen requires
huge volumes of water and Delta is on the edge of the desert, and the entire
southwest is chronically short of water. Or that Utah today only gets 4% of
its electricity from wind and solar. There is no “excess” wind and solar to
create green hydrogen in Utah.
Building a green hydrogen hub in a very dry place with very little “renewable”
energy is not wise; some would even call it stupid. The Biden administration
needs a talking point to fix the recently admitted unreliability problem of
wind and solar. So common sense and fiscal responsibility are unnecessary.
Our electric grids need full-time demand matching electricity, or we have
blackouts. There is a dawning realization by the climate religion, there isn’t
enough lithium in the world, over the next few decades, to build tens of
millions of electric vehicles and industrial scale grid batteries too.
In addition, lithium batteries cannot store the abundant solar power
California has in the sunny mild winter for use in hot July. The energy will
have left those batteries long before July rolls around. Hence, the expensive
talking point of green hydrogen was born.
Making green hydrogen takes a lot of energy. About 35% more energy than the
created hydrogen stores. Then you lose another 30% when you transport and use
it. Hydrogen yields only 35% of the energy input. It is a real energy loser.
Making green hydrogen requires 13 times more water, sea water has to be
desalinated first, and additional water for cooling. Then heat the water to
2,000 degrees and electrocute it, freeing oxygen into the air and hydrogen
into the factory. Then super chill to near-absolute zero. Then compress it to
10,000 psi, which is three times the psi of an average scuba tank. Super cold
liquid hydrogen is born.
It can be used for fuel cells and burned in electric producing power plants
instead of natural gas. We get far more bang for our buck with natural gas
rather than create electricity to make green hydrogen, only to burn it again,
to make electricity using a process that costs 65% of the energy.
The whole concept of using wind and solar to produce green hydrogen has an
elephant-in-the-room type problem. The Industrial Four Step process of making
hydrogen isn’t something that can be started on sunny mornings and stopped in
the late afternoon. Or fired up when the wind starts blowing and then shut
down when the wind stops. What will keep the hydrogen process flowing on dark
windless nights?
Does a green dreamer care to answer that? Do the facts matter? Heck, it is
only federal borrowed money anyway. Hydrogen is just another form of political
greenwashing at the American people’s expense.
We need to stop the wasteful spending of taxpayer money — money we don’t have
— on green boondoggles before it is too late.
Before the communist Chinese, who use more than half of the 8 billion tons of
coal as their primary fuel source (60% of total energy), eat our lunch and
rule the world, Americans need to wake up to the dangerous threats of the
green energy nightmare and the rising threat of the Red Chinese Dragon before
it is too late!
>>> Frank Lasee is a former Wisconsin state senator. The district he
represented had two nuclear power plants, a biomass plant and numerous wind
towers. He has experience with energy, the environment, and the climate. You
can read more energy and climate information at
www.truthinenergyandclimate.com which Frank leads.
URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/14/the-hydrogen-boondoggle-is-an-
enormous-slush-fund/>
# [German Natural Gas Grid Adding 30% Hydrogen For Regional Gas
Network](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/13/german-natural-gas-grid-
adding-30-hydrogen-for-regional-gas-network/)
[![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/0536C1E3-93ED-44C8-B755-84E1BD51938C.jpeg)](https:/…
content/uploads/2023/03/0536C1E3-93ED-44C8-B755-84E1BD51938C.jpeg)
Research and planning bringing modern innovations
**The Hydrogen Stream: German grid operator increases hydrogen blend in
regional gas network**
From the [Articles of Sergio Matalucci, PV Magazine](https://www.pv-
magazine.com/2023/03/10/the-hydrogen-stream-german-grid-operator-increases-
hydrogen-blending-in-regional-gas-network/), March 10, 2023
**German grid operator Netze BW, a unit of energy company EnBW Group, said it
will increase the amount of hydrogen in its regional gas network in Oehringen,
in the southwest of Germany, from 20% to 25%.**
“In three weeks, we will reach 30% of hydrogen in the local gas grid,” Heike
Grüner, project leader, told pv magazine. Netze BW will keep a 30% hydrogen
blend for some months to generate better data on home heating in detached
family homes.
“In the following phase of the project, we will introduce oscillations from 0
to 30% hydrogen. Volatile mixtures will simulate real-life volatility typical
of energy systems with an increase in renewable energies.”
Netze BW, which operates the distribution grid in large parts of Baden-
Württemberg region, said that 100% hydrogen in the grid in the future would be
possible. The company will share the data coming from the Oehringen “hydrogen
island” with all the European grid operators to show that gas grids can be
used in the clean energy transition.
Netze BW started to use a hydrogen blend for the company's appliances in
November 2021, introducing a hydrogen-gas blend for customers in 2022. Last
year, the company also tested all the appliances in the Oehringen network with
a blend of up to 35% hydrogen.
#######+++++++#######+++++++########
**Toyota‘s new electrolysis equipment using the fuel cell stack and other
technology from the Mirai vehicle will be put into operation this March at a
Denso Fukushima Corporation plant.** “It will serve as a technology
implementation venue to promote its widespread use going forward,” said the
Japanese car manufacturer. Toyota added it would accelerate its efforts to
build a model for the local consumption of locally produced hydrogen, using
electrolysis equipment to produce clean hydrogen and combust it in one of the
plant's gas furnaces.
The **Climate Change Committee said that hydrogen is related to three of the
ten priorities** to deliver a reliable decarbonized power system in the UK.
The UK's independent adviser on tackling climate change underlined that the
government should identify priority hydrogen investments by 2024, finalize by
the end of the year ad-hoc funding mechanisms to support the development of 10
GW of low-carbon hydrogen production, and fast-track the development of new
business models for hydrogen transportation. The report sees a limited role of
hydrogen in heating.
Researchers at **Australia 's Monash University have isolated an enzyme** that
can convert minute concentrations of hydrogen in the atmosphere to produce a
sustained electrical current, paving the way toward a future where devices are
literally powered out of thin air. The research team, led by Rhys Grinter,
Ashleigh Kropp, and Chris Greening from the Monash University Biomedicine
Discovery Institute in Melbourne, isolated and analyzed the genetic code of an
enzyme that enables a common soil bacteria to consume hydrogen and extract
energy from it.
The **Atlantic Council said that green hydrogen could spur development in Sub-
Saharan Africa** , especially in South Africa, Namibia, and Kenya. “Following
the hydrogen valley model, the Southern Corridor Development Initiative is a
partnership between the Namibian Green Hydrogen Council and the German firm
Hyphen Hydrogen Energy. The project is expected to produce 300,000 tons of
green hydrogen by 2030 from 5 GW to 6 GW of installed renewable energy
capacity,” said the Atlantic Council. According to the report, the export
potential depends on finding a solution to local energy poverty, inequities
between nations, and energy networks within the region.
URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/13/german-natural-gas-grid-
adding-30-hydrogen-for-regional-gas-network/>
# [‘Farmers for Climate Action’ Program Searches for
Solutions](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/12/%e2%80%98farmers-for-
climate-action%e2%80%99-program-searches-for-solutions/)
[![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/95195216-0C9C-4064-A7FF-026D2AD5F42A.jpeg)](https:/…
content/uploads/2023/03/95195216-0C9C-4064-A7FF-026D2AD5F42A.jpeg)
Climate activists march to the U.S. Capitol after the ‘Farmers for Climate
Action’: “Rally for Resilience” in Freedom Plaza on March 7, 2023 in
Washington, DC.
**Farmer Activists ‘Keep Slugging’ at ‘Farmers for Climate Action’ Rally in
D.C.**
From an [Article by Thom Duffy, Billboard
Magazine](https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/john-mellencamp-perfor…
farmers-climate-change-rally-washington-dc-1235281452/), March 7, 2023
America’s farmers came to Washington, D.C., more than 40 years ago to save
their farms. On Tuesday (March 7), a new generation of farmers, ranchers,
farmworkers and activists came to the nation’s capital to save the planet.
John Mellencamp, co-founder of Farm Aid, sang Tuesday for those gathered
before they marched up Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol building,
calling for Congress to take action on climate change in the forthcoming Farm
Bill.
“Here’s all I can say – keep slugging,” said Mellencamp, recalling how he and
Willie Nelson and Neil Young formed Farm Aid in 1985 to support family farmers
— a commitment they have sustained for four decades, joined by Farm Aid board
members Dave Matthews and Margo Price. “We’ve been slugging since 1985 and
let’s keep slugging,” said Mellencamp. “Let’s try to improve the quality of
the food that we eat, the air that we breathe and the people that we are.”
Taking the stage midday at Freedom Park, Mellencamp looked at the crowd before
him and remarked: “The faces are much younger than they used to be. And I
think that’s great that there are younger people trying to improve the planet
and the food that we eat. So it’s up to you guys to lead the way.”
**With that, Mellencamp played a spare, acoustic rendition of “Rain on the
Scarecrow,” his harrowing 1985 song about the farm foreclosure crisis that led
to the creation of Farm Aid.**
**_Rain on the scarecrow / blood on the plow
This land fed a nation / this land made me proud
And son, I’m just sorry there’s no legacy for you now_**
Farm Aid’s own legacy is the rising awareness, since the mid-1980s, of the
importance of a national system of agriculture that values family farmers,
good food, soil and water, and strong communities.
**In recent years, there also has been an increasing awareness that industrial
agriculture practiced on large corporate farms is contributing to the climate
crisis. In a report in August 2021, the National Resources Defense Council
stated that industrial agriculture is a “significant source” of carbon in the
atmosphere.**
The farmers and activists in D.C. championed what is known as regenerative
farming, agriculture methods that can hold carbon in the soil, enhance
biodiversity and help mitigate climate change.
Farm Aid, with its annual concerts each September, may be the highest-profile
organization drawing attention to the state of American agriculture — and
Willie Nelson is certainly the nation’s best-known champion of family farmers.
But this week’s gathering dramatically demonstrated that the breadth and scope
of the nation’s farm movement transcends Farm Aid.
The “Rally for Resistance: Farmers for Climate Action” was organized under the
umbrella of the **National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition** and involved
some two dozen activist organizations and more than 30 delegations of farmers
from across the country who converged on Washington to make their voices
heard.
Plans for this rally were revealed at the Farm Aid festival in Raleigh, N.C.,
in September and exclusively reported by Billboard. The spark for the
gathering is the current debate over the contents of the Farm Bill, the multi-
part, multibillion-dollar legislation that is passed by Congress about every
five years and has a massive influence on how the nation’s food is grown.
**The most recent Farm Bill was passed in 2018 and expires this year.**
**In September, Farm Aid joined more than 150 organizations in co-signing a
letter asking President Biden “to weigh in on the next Farm Bill and demand
that Congress build even further on the administration’s actions to date to
reduce economic inequality; bridge the nation’s racial divides; end hunger;
confront the climate crisis; improve nutrition and food safety; and protect
and support farmers, workers, and communities,” wrote Farm Aid communications
director Jennifer Fahy.**
The evening before Mellencamp’s performance, supporters gathered at Luther
Place Memorial Church on Logan Circle, a site of social activism since it was
built in 1873. Philip Barker, a Black farmer and longtime activist from North
Carolina, summed up the focus of the days of action: farmer-led climate
solutions, racial justice in the Farm Bill, and “communities over
corporations.”
Sessions during the rally began with land acknowledgements, statements
recognizing that the land upon which the nation’s capital was built was taken
from indigenous people. Other speakers addressed the particular hardships that
BIPOC farmers have experienced through decades of U.S. farm policy. And still
others called for immigration reform as a way to address the chronic shortage
of labor on America’s farms. Throughout, the voices and crowd chants in
Spanish testified to the changing demographics of the nation’s farms.
This gathering in Washington had particular resonance for David Senter,
founder of the American Agriculture Movement. In 1979, Senter was one of the
organizers of the Tractorcade protest that drew thousands of farmers to the
capital. They traveled by tractor, traveling across the U.S. at 15 miles an
hour — ”we came in on every East/West interstate, 100 miles a day,” recalls
Senter — to lobby Congress for a new Farm Bill to increase crop prices and to
have greater influence in agriculture policy. (One farmer at Tuesday’s rally
returned with the tractor he’d driven to D.C. in 1979).
Senter then returned to Washington in 1987 to accompany Willie Nelson and John
Mellencamp when the two artists testified before the Senate Agriculture
Committee about the family farm foreclosure crisis.
**Senter was one of the featured speakers Tuesday at the rally in Freedom
Park.** Since his earlier trips, have the stakes become higher? “We continue
to lose family farmers and the farms become larger and larger,” replied
Senter. “But we have to figure out how to make place for the next generation
of farmers, the young farmers that want to grow food for this country and the
world, so that they can survive.”
That “absolutely does” include addressing the climate issue, said Senter.
“Because we live in an extreme climate situation. I mean, you have floods,
tornadoes, wildfires, droughts. It’s just unbelievable the climate extremes
we’re experiencing and, of course, farmers, they deal with that every day,
trying to produce food. So it’s very important that we get involved with
that.”
When Willie Nelson and his fellow artists formed Farm Aid in 1985, he
recruited Carolyn Mugar to run the organization. “The earliest Farm Aid files
are all stained with spaghetti sauce since I did that work at my kitchen
table,” she recalled Tuesday. Then she set off across the country, speaking to
farmers at their kitchen tables. (Mugar was recognized for her work on
Billboard’s Women in Music list in 2020, the 35th anniversary of Farm Aid).
“What in the Farm Bill can people get behind? Really, the very bottom line of
everything is farm viability,” said Mugar. “A farmer cannot really even start
getting into regenerative agriculture [to address climate change] if that farm
is not financially viable.
“And that means that we’ve really got to look at how farming should be taking
place in this country. And do we really want to continue corporate
concentrated farming, where the land is toxic and ruined, into the future? Or
do we want to support farmers who are trying to keep, maintain and build the
soil?”
In dealing with the nation’s lawmakers, said Mugar, “we’ve got to get smarter
about what we demand.”
URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/12/%e2%80%98farmers-for-climate-
action%e2%80%99-program-searches-for-solutions/>
# [Chemical Leaks, PFAS & Local Train Derailments
Recently](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/11/chemical-leaks-pfas-local-
train-derailments-recently/)
[![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp-
content/uploads/2023/03/226C87B9-E5EB-4F5A-A4D4-6E6D58327CF7-300x173.jpg)](…
content/uploads/2023/03/226C87B9-E5EB-4F5A-A4D4-6E6D58327CF7.jpeg)
Empty coal train derailment in the New River Canyon of West Virginia
**CSX Train Derails In New River Gorge, Injuring 3 Railroad Workers**
From an [Article by Curtis Tate, WV public
Broadcasting](https://wvpublic.org/2-csx-workers-injured-in-new-river-gorge-
derailment-released-from-hospital/), March 10, 2023
In a statement, CSX said an empty coal train struck a rock slide before 5 a.m.
near Sandstone.
[Sandstone is on the New River and WV Route 20 in Summers County, just South
of the local interchange of I-64.]
The train’s four locomotives derailed and one caught fire. Two of the three
CSX workers injured in a Wednesday derailment in the New River Gorge have been
released from the hospital, the railroad said Friday. Another injured worker
continues to receive treatment.
An engineer, conductor and engineer trainee were operating the westbound
109-car empty coal train early Wednesday when it struck large pieces of rock
on the track near Sandstone.
**All four locomotives and 22 cars derailed.** One locomotive came to rest in
the river, and leaking diesel fuel caught fire. By Friday, CSX said the
derailed locomotives and cars had been removed from the site. The railroad
said it expected to resume rail service on Saturday.
Amtrak’s Cardinal, which shares the affected track with CSX, was canceled in
both directions for the remainder of the week.
As part of its restoration effort, CSX said it would excavate any soil or rock
that came in contact with diesel fuel and replace it with clean material.
#######+++++++#######+++++++
**SEE ALSO:** [Confusion Reigned After Ohio Derailment, Hazmat Chief
Testifies,](https://wvpublic.org/confusion-reigned-after-ohio-derailment-
hazmat-chief-testifies/) Energy & Environment WVPB Staff, March 9, 2023
Eric Brewer, director of emergency services for Beaver County, Pennsylvania,
said the decision to detonate five tank cars full of flammable vinyl chloride
was poorly communicated.
[~~ Continue Reading](https://wvpublic.org/confusion-reigned-after-ohio-
derailment-hazmat-chief-testifies/)
#######+++++++#######+++++++#######
**SEE ALSO:** [A Look At Chemical Leaks, Train Derailments And PFAS On This
West Virginia Morning](https://wvpublic.org/a-look-at-chemical-leaks-train-
derailments-and-pfas-on-this-west-virginia-morning/), Energy & Environment
WVPB Staff, Feb. 27, 2023
A serious train derailment and chemical release in Ohio has dominated the
headlines for the past few weeks. West Virginia has seen its own share of
disasters with hazardous materials, including an oil train derailment and fire
in 2015. Energy & Environment Reporter Curtis Tate spoke with Jesse Richardson
of the West Virginia University Land Use and Sustainable Development Law
Clinic about those events.
~ ~ [Continue Reading](https://wvpublic.org/a-look-at-chemical-leaks-train-
derailments-and-pfas-on-this-west-virginia-morning/)
URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/03/11/chemical-leaks-pfas-local-train-
derailments-recently/>