Court Cancels EPA Pesticide Exemption

The New Year has started with a not insignificant victory for environmental groups and anyone concerned about public health. On January 7^th, an appeals court in Cincinnati, Ohio, ruled that the Bush administration could no longer exempt pesticides from the federal permit requirements for pollutants. This should mean that pesticides can no longer be indiscriminately dumped in the nation’s water supplies to the detriment of the ecosystem, and also fish, wildlife and human health.

White Sucker Fish: Subject of studies of intersex fish

The fact that pesticides have, until now, been exempt from the usual rules applying to water pollutants has been a subject of controversy. Some environmental groups would also argue that it is yet another example of how the EPA’s loyalty under the current government has been to the chemical or energy industry rather than the environment. However, with the entrance of the new government the mood has become more positive and hopes run high.

Water Shortages Will Hit the Ski Industry

If the economy isn’t hitting the Rocky Mountain Ski Resorts the weather certainly will. And it’s not the sort of snow dumping, wind chilling, nose numbing type of weather that leaves the rest of the country paralyzed, but skiers with a “mile wide grin,” and a mission to drive up I70 at the next available opportunity.

No. It’s warm. It’s wet. And it isn’t snow. And it will only get worse. At least so say University of Colorado at Boulder geography Professor Mark Williams and Brian Lazar of Stratus Consulting Inc.

Williams and Lazar predict in a new study that due to global warming, snowlines will rise and ski seasons will become shorter over the next century. And, by 2100, in some areas, any precipitation will fall as rain.

Snow Makers the Solution? It takes a lot of energy and water to make snow.

The researchers also predict that to stay competitive ski resorts will have to start manufacturing their own snow. However, finding the water to make snow is no mean feat in the Rocky Mountain States. Williams predicts that it will require the diversion and storage of large amounts of water. And water is already a scarce commodity.

“The bottom line is that in order to survive, these ski areas will need to find the necessary water wherever they can and hold it in storage to satisfy future snowmaking needs,” Williams said in a university press release. “Ski resort operators are really scrambling,”

Putting a Price on the Environment

This last week the Supreme Court has been hearing the case of Entergy v. Riverkeeper, which in layman’s terms boils down to Power Plants V. Fish, or, as always, The Bush Administration v. Environmentalists.

While not being directly relevant to the Rocky Mountain States at this stage, the case itself proves to be of relevance to just about anyone who is concerned about environmental conservation, clean water, and the role of the government agency, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in protecting the environment.

Power Plants and the Environment Can Co-exist: Valmont Power Plant in Boulder uses circulating water from three reservoirs for cooling. The plant site is also recognized as a unique wildlife refuge.

The dispute in question is over what steps older power plants should take to limit water use and minimize damage to the environment. Currently older power plants pull water into intake pipes in order to cool machinery: in the U.S. an estimated 200 billion gallons per day. However, along with the water comes fish and other aquatic organisms which are killed in the process.

In order to prevent this carnage, a provision in the Clean Water Act requires power plants to install water intake structures that “reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact.” Whereas newer power plants have been constructed with closed-cycle cooling systems that to some extent alleviate the problem, the problem lies with the older power plants. Retrofitting older power plants with the machinery is costly and industry representatives argue that the costs could drive up the price of electricity and even cause some plants to close. All, they say, for the sake of a few fish.

Legislation Could Cause More Mercury Pollution

While on one hand Colorado is taking steps to monitor and reduce mercury pollution, on the other the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is pushing legislation that would effectively increase it.

Billowing Smoke Stack

Under the proposed legislation, power plants would be able to change how they measured pollution from a total annual output to an hourly rate. If their emissions do not exceed the hourly maximum, they would not be seen as violating the criteria of operating cleanly. However, this would be the case even if the total emissions annually were to increase.

In addition the proposal would mean that the power plants could increase their emissions without the installation of the air quality controls needed to ensure that those emissions do not impede the criteria set forth by the annual National Ambient Air Quality Standards. This would make the control of air pollution more, rather than less, difficult.

In a letter to the Stephen Johnson, the administrator of the EPA, U.S, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, requested that the agency withdraw the new proposals, stating that “National Ambient Air Quality Standards that protect public health will be violated, threatening the health of children and families across the nation.”

Reducing Mercury Pollution in Our Water

The term “clean coal” is an oxymoron; even if the clean coal technologies do manage to “wash the coal” or bury carbon emissions deep in the ground, coal-fired power plants are the single largest source of mercury pollution in the U.S. And the mercury released pollutes the nation’s water resources posing a serious public health threat to the population.

The Mercury Cycle

However, given that coal is a fundamental form of energy in the U.S., and will be around for the foreseeable future, a hopeful first step has been taken to reduce mercury pollution. Starting next year 11 coal fired power plants in Colorado will have to measure how much mercury they are emitting, with a view to eventually using the information to reduce mercury pollution. The goal of state regulators is to reduce mercury emissions in Colorado by 90% in the next 10 years.

According to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) coal burning power plants account for the majority of man made mercury emissions worldwide. And in the U.S, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that these plants are the single largest source of mercury air pollution, accounting for roughly 40 percent of all mercury emissions nationwide. The non-profit, the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), estimates that the top 50 most-polluting power plants in the U.S. emitted 20 tons of the dangerous neurotoxin mercury into the nation’s air in 2007.

Water Wars in the Rocky Mountain States

With mountains, skiing, and good weather its no surprise that people are moving to the Rocky Mountain States in droves. However, with a rising population comes an increasing demand for more water. And, right now, water is a dwindling resource.

While the situation in the West is not yet at the scale of that in the arid countries of Israel and Palestine, where there have been 21 armed disputes over the Jordan River, there are increasing disputes in the region over water resources. And some of these are requiring federal intervention to resolve.

The path of the Yellowstone River

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court appointed a special master to investigate allegations by Montana that Wyoming is withholding water more water than it is entitled to. This latest intervention follows a line of bickering and disagreement between the neighbor states over water rights that have centered on the Tongue and Powder rivers. Montana argues that these are being drained by Wyoming’s excessive water use.

The Tongue and Powder rivers flow through northern Wyoming and southern Montana before draining into the Yellowstone River. And Montana argues that the 1950 Yellowstone River Compact, which allocates each state a share of the water and its tributaries, is being violated by the water usage practices of Wyoming. The state says that the leaching of the rivers water is harming the Montana consumers and farmers that rely it.

In 2004 and 2006 Montana attempted to negotiate with Wyoming to increase the water flows downstream in the rivers. However in 2007, when these negotiations had proved unsuccessful, Montana sued Wyoming, alleging that the state’s agriculture and energy industries were using too much water and violating the interstate agreement.

Steam Power Makes its Way Back to the Rocky Mountain States

It was steam power that originally conquered the West and it might just be steam power that saves it. Fed on trees and water, the first “iron horses,” or steam locomotives, forged their way across the Rockies opening up economic opportunities and building a precedent of fossil fuel dependence. And now steam power is once again in the headlines. Only this time there’s no smoke and no fire, only an almost inexhaustible supply of clean energy.

Geothermal Power, termed the prolific renewable source that most people have never heard of by LA Times reporter Marla Dickerson, is energy that is generated by heat stored in the earth. The most common technique of harnessing this energy is to drill into underground reservoirs tapping steam and very hot water that are used primarily to drive power turbines. And most importantly Geothermal Power is an energy source is that it is both fully renewable and clean – greenhouse gas emissions are minimal.

However geothermal energy has until now been an under-exploited resource. The reservoirs can be both hard to locate and expensive to reach and these factors have meant that the U.S. currently derives less than 0.5% of its electricity from geothermal energy sources.

Uranium Mining Pollution Spurs Public Health Study

In 2005, a spill of organic solvents from a uranium mill south of Cañon city killed 40 ducks and geese. Now, however, the question is whether incidences of water pollution from the mine, owned by Cotter Corp. is behind a slew of health problems experienced by the local population.

Cotter Corp. Uranium Mine

In response to the expressed concerned of residents and the medical community, this week has seen the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency launch a full scale public health review of the area. This is the first study of its kind since the mine started operating in 1958. The purpose of the review is to investigate the link between possible pollution of the groundwater supply, and the observed increase of a variety of health disorders, such as cancer and neurological problems, in the Cañon City area.

In 1988, the Cotter Corp. uranium mill was declared a Superfund site; a Superfund site being any land that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by Environmental Protection Agency as a candidate for cleanup because it poses a risk to human health. However, although the site is currently not in use, the cleanup has only partially been carried out. And incidences of proven water pollution have been frequent.

Water Harvesting in Colorado and Utah

Rain. Just because it falls on your roof doesn’t mean it’s yours. At least not in Colorado or Utah.

In these states, citizens or businesses that attempt to collect or store rainwater are in fact breaking the law. The overriding rule here is that of prior appropriation i.e. in order to have any rights to water you have to gain a state water right.

However, in the drought plagued, over appropriated Western states, most of the water is already spoken for, which can make securing a water right complicated, if not impossible.

Although, in the context of history, the reasoning behind such legislature makes sense, it creates an irritating hurdle to conservation minded citizens who merely wish to optimize the use of water resources.

The laws are in place to ensure that those who have a legal right to water will receive their full share of the water appropriated to them. However, this legislation can result in a waste of valuable water resources in states where water is often a scarcity. In certain areas, much of the water that falls on rural residents’ property rarely makes it to the local rivers. A recent hydrological study found that in the undeveloped areas of Douglas County, Colorado, only a small proportion of the precipitation that falls on the undeveloped areas ever makes it to the streams.

Selenium Water Pollution in the Rocky Mountain States

If you live in the Rocky Mountain States and have been feeling a little irritable or losing hair lately just blame the selenium in your water. In a recent report it was found that over 80% of the areas studied in the American West are suffering from highly toxic levels of selenium caused, primarily, by the mining industry. So ubiquitous is the problem that it is causing the citizens, lawmakers, and environmentalists, to question whether the Clean Water Act, and the infrastructure which enforces it, is adequate in protecting and ensuring our vital water resources.

Smokey Canyon Phosphate Mine

Selenium, right by arsenic in the periodic table, is a poison in anything other than the smallest quantities. Over-exposure in humans has been found to result in hair and nail loss, loss of mental alertness, irritability, and liver disease. Higher levels of ingested selenium has also been linked to increased cancer rates.

And selenium accumulation is also devastating to ecosystems. In the 1980s, scientists of the USGS found that the high selenium content of the Kesterton river was responsible for the deaths and deformities of thousands of fish and waterfowl. Eventually the fish and flowers died, the survivors were mosquitoes and algae, and the site was declared a toxic waste dump.

This September two separate incidents relating to selenium water pollution have hit the news. Earlier in the month Johnson Matthey Inc., a mining corporation in Utah, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to cover up illegally high levels of toxic selenium in its wastewater run-off, and later in the month four conservation groups filed a lawsuit challenging the expansion of the Smoky Canyon phosphate mine into areas of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in southeast Idaho.