March 2023 - News - lists.frackcheckwv.net

‘SYNTHESIS REPORT’ on Climate Crisis Coming Today from UNITED NATIONS
by Frack Check WV: Diana Gooding 20 Mar '23

20 Mar '23

# [‘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/>

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Chevron Seeks to Produce Safe Fuels from Plastics, But … (not so fast)
by Frack Check WV: admin 19 Mar '23

19 Mar '23

# [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/>

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West Virginia Interfaith Power & Light is worthy of support!
by Frack Check WV: admin 18 Mar '23

18 Mar '23

# [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/>

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American Conservation Film Festival was March 10 – 12 in Shepherdstown & Elsewhere
by Frack Check WV: admin 17 Mar '23

17 Mar '23

# [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/>

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Activities Underway in West Virginia to Address the PFAS Issues ~ Traces are Toxic
by Frack Check WV: admin 16 Mar '23

16 Mar '23

# [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/>

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BLOOMBERG LAW: Limiting P.P.T. PFAS Quite Challenging But Necessary
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 15 Mar '23

15 Mar '23

# [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/>

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The Hydrogen Boondoggle is an Enormous Slush Fund
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 14 Mar '23

14 Mar '23

# [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/>

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German Natural Gas Grid Adding 30% Hydrogen For Regional Gas Network
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 13 Mar '23

13 Mar '23

# [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/>

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‘Farmers for Climate Action’ Program Searches for Solutions
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 12 Mar '23

12 Mar '23

# [‘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/>

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Chemical Leaks, PFAS & Local Train Derailments Recently
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 11 Mar '23

11 Mar '23

# [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/>

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