Attorney Sanders says U.S. Senate committee looking into White House interference with public health crisis at Libby Montana Superfund site.

In yet another shameful episode occurring at US EPA, a Senate committeee is holding a hearing to determine why EPA officials refused to declare a Public Health Emergency in Libby, Mont., in 2002. The town is home to the now-closed W.R. Grace & Co. vermiculite mine. Vermiculite is a mineral that contains highly toxic tremolite asbestos fibers.

This form of asbestos was released into the town’s air and was also carried home on miners’ clothing. As a result of decades of mining activities, the entire town is contaminated with toxic asbestos fibers. Lawyers for Libby residents say asbestos has sickened about 2,000 people in the town and killed up to 225.

Documents obtained from EPA by the Senate committee show that EPA prepared a public health emergency declaration in 2002. A public health declaration under Superfund law would have required a more intensive cleanup of asbestos and forced WR Grace to pay for asbestos and medical care for those who were infected. However, the public health declaration needed an approval by higher level officials at EPA.

Like many other shameful events occurring at EPA during the Bush Administration, EPA changed direction on the declaration after high level agency officials met with the OMB officials at the White House in April 2002. A few weeks later, EPA released an “action memo” expanding the agency’s current authority to allow the cleanup insulation from Libby attics. But EPA did not declare a public health emergency.

If EPA had declared a public health emergency declaration, EPA would have required additional cleanup of the asbestos, along with public health screenings and long term medical health care for Libby residents with asbestos related disease. Many believe this decision needlessly caused more people to die and others to suffer from asbestosis by a delay in treatment and screening.

There is no doubt that the asbestos has created huge health problems in Libby. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reports that people in Libby suffer from asbestos-related health problems 40 to 60 times the national average, and that they suffer from mesothelioma, a dangerous form of cancer caused from asbestos exposure, 100 times the national average.

In 2008, W.R. Grace agreed to pay $250,000,000, the highest sum in the history of the Superfund program, to reimburse the federal government for the costs of the investigation and cleanup of asbestos contamination in Libby. In June 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and EPA announced the Libby Amphibole Health Risk Initiative, a five year series of projects totaling $8 million designed to understand the health effects of exposure to lower levels of asbestos in Libby.

I am betting that career employees at EPA testifying at the committee hearing will sign like canaries, as the final days of the Bush Administration wind down.

Attorney Sanders says Kentucky Court of Appeals paves the way for Thoroughbred Generating Company's air permit in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals issued a decision reversing the Franklin Circuit Court’s decision to deny Thoroughbred Generating Company's air permit to build a coal-fired electric generating facility in Muhlenberg County. Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate had overruled the former Secretary of the Natural Resources Cabinet’s decision to award an air permit to the company. In a relatively short opinion that will not be published, the appellate panel voted 3-0 to allow the new power plant to move forward. The 17-page unpublished opinion is limited in scope to the specific facts of this case and should not be interpreted as controlling guidance on PSD issues.

The appellate panel ruled on three specific issues pertaining to Kentucky’s air permitting process for large sources of air pollution. First, the appeals panel looked at the state’s requirements for performing a PSD analysis to determine whether the power plant’s pollution output would cause impairment to visibility, soils, and vegetation under 401 KAR 51:017. The appellate panel noted the agency found that the electric generating plant was going to be built in an area that had previously been stripped mined. As a result, the agency determined that the potential impact on visibility would be minimal. The agency also found that the plant’s pollution would not impact soils and vegetation that were previously disturbed by strip mining activities. Under these circumstances, the Court of Appeals held that it was proper for the agency to require only an analysis of impairment from pollution coming from the coal-fired plant. The appellate panel looked at the plain wording of the state regulation to determine that the agency did not have require a “cumulative analysis” of air pollutants from the plant on the ecosystem, as required by U.S. EPA guidance documents on the (federal) PSD program.

The second issue before the appellate panel was whether selected air pollution controls for the coal-fired generating plant met the “best available control technology” (BACT) requirements of the Clean Air Act. Previously, the circuit court had ruled that BACT analyses for SO2 and NOx were deficient. The appellate panel disagreed and noted that the regulation in question, 401 KAR 51:001, requires the maximum level achievable for the specific source of air pollution. Here, the utility plant planned to use air pollution controls that removed 98% of its SO2 emissions, which was the best available removal efficiency in the industry. That standard was good enough to meet BACT requirements for SO2. The appellate panel also accepted the agency’s finding that the plant met BACT requirements for controlling NOx emissions.

The appellate panel next looked that whether the plant complied with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). At the circuit court level, the judge ruled that the Cabinet had failed to take into consideration emissions from a diesel-power generator while doing its NAAQS analysis. The circuit court’s finding on this point is rather odd because the Hearing Officer specifically found that the diesel generator was only to be used in emergencies. Ignoring the specific finding of the Hearing Officer, the circuit court ruled that emissions from this generator must be taken into consideration for NAAQS requirements. The appellate panel reversed the circuit court's ruling on this issue, holding that the circuit court was bound by the agency’s findings, if they were supported by substantial evidence.

Last, the appellate panel looked at the PSD program’s public notice requirements. The circuit court held that the public notice for the Thoroughbred permit was defective because notice of the permit was only published in the county where the plant was going to be built. The lower court disagreed with this approach because once the plant was built it would consume all of the SO2 increments in the geographical region for many decades. In effect, the lack of available SO2 increments would close the door to further industrial development in a much larger affected area of the state. Thus, the circuit court would have required public notice be published in all counties affected by the operation of the coal-fired electric generating plant. The Court of Appeals reversed, finding that the regulation only required notice be given in the court where the plant was built.

Barring a motion for rehearing or reconsideration, parties have 30 days from the date of the Opinion to move the Kentucky Supreme Court to accept discretionary review of the case.

Attorney Sanders says three criminal defendants facing hard time for criminal MSHA violations in Harlan, Kentucky.

A surprise MSHA inspection at Stillhouse Mining Mine No. 1 in Cumberland on Dec. 3, 2006 resulted in the indictment of three men. Ira Sergent, Johnny Osborne and Reggie Raleigh worked at the Stillhouse Mining No. 1 Mine in Harlan County. The safety violations came in December 2006, according to a federal indictment filed in London on September 24, 2008.
Each miner is charged with allowing the mine's main fan to be shut off for about six hours while work continued. The second count charges each miner with making a ventilation change without cutting the power and moving workers out of the mine. Each defendant faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

When a mine’s ventilation fans are turned off, methane gas can build up in the underground mines and explode. The odorless, colorless gas is also toxic to mines. Methane gas is naturally present in coal beds. Methane seeping from coal beds has no odor to warn miners of its presence or its concentration in the mine work area.

Call it willful, wanton and patently outrageous, but shutting off ventilation fans for an underground mine is a callous disregard of the safety of miners working underground. To make changes to the ventilation system without turning off the electricity and moving the miners up and out of mine make all of this far worse, as electricity could provide an ignition source for methane gas. The methane could potentially explode under these circumstances and kill the brave men and women working down in the mine. Such conduct, if proven in court, must be dealt with in a serious and swift manner, i.e., hard time.

Criminal cases for violations of MSHA are referred by the Department of Labor to the Criminal Division, or, in some cases, directly to the United States Attorneys. If the Criminal Division determines that a case referred to it warrants prosecution, the case will be referred to the appropriate United States Attorney.

Lawyer Sanders says AP reports that EPA will not regulate rocket propellant in drinking water supplies for tens of millions of Americans.

The Associated Press is reporting that the U.S. EPA has decided there’s no need to regulate a toxic rocket fuel ingredient, perchlorate, in drinking water supplies to the public. The contaminant is perchlorate, which has fouled public water supplies around the country. EPA reached the conclusion in a draft regulatory document not yet made public but reviewed by The Associated Press.
Perchlorate has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels high enough to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses, according to some scientists. EPA is expected to announce its decision to the public and seek comments before the agency takes final action. EPA’s draft document was first reported by the Washington Post.

Perchlorate is particularly widespread in California and the Southwest, where it’s been found in groundwater and in the Colorado River, a drinking-water source for 20 million people. It’s also been found in lettuce and other foods. In absence of federal action, several states have passed state drinking water restrictions on perchlorate. In 2007, California adopted a drinking water standard of 6 parts per billion. Massachusetts has set a drinking water standard of 2 parts per billion.

The Bush Administration has refused to comment on EPA’s decision. This is yet another example of the utter and complete ineptness in the leadership of U.S. EPA under the Stephen Johnson that will eventually be dumped in the laps of the judiciary to straighten out. Our country deserves far better from those serving in positions of leadership in the federal government, whether it is the EPA, Department of Interior, Department of Housing, SEC, or Treasury Department, than what we have received under the Bush Administration.

Attorney Sanders says it is time for Kentucky's leadership to support efforts to end America's addiction to imported oil before it is too late.

T. Boone Picken’s effort to end America’s addiction to imported oil is picking up steam. According to his website, Governors Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Brian Schweitzer of Montana, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah, and Brad Henry of Oklahoma have joined his bandwagon to fundamentally change America’s energy policy.

In addition, 17 members of Congress have also signed his pledge to end America’s addiction to imported oil through use of alternative energy sources. The members of Congress are: Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX); Congressman Jon Porter (R-NV); Congressman Collin Peterson (D-MN); Congresswoman Mary Fallin (R-OK); Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (D-KS); Congressman Kenny Marchant (R-TX); Congressman Todd Platts (R-PA); Congressman Virgil Goode (R-VA); Congressman Dan Boren (D-OK); Congressman Chris Shays (R-CT); Congressman Tim Walz (D-MN); Congressman Jack Kingston (R-GA); Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL); Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY); Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE); Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC); and Congressman Charles Boustany (R-LA).

Note that not one single member of Congress from Kentucky has joined this effort. The same is true for Governor Breshear. Shame on them! It is in the best interest of our country, state, and local community to end America's addiction to foreign oil. We cannot afford to send trillions of dollars to foreign governments, many of which simply hate America and everything it stands for. Call or write your elected official and ask them to support measures to end America's addiction to imported oil before it is too late.

Lawyer Sanders says America must end its addiction to oil by taking strong measures.

In his 2006 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush declared that "America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world." He boldly asserted that it was time for the United States to "move beyond a petroleum-based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past." The president set a goal "to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025." Our government predicts that just 18 percent of oil imports will come from the Middle East in 2025.

Today, America still uses twenty five percent of the world's oil supplies. Incredibly, we import 70% of our oil at a cost of $700 billion a year - four times the annual cost of the Iraq war. 96% of the fuel consumed in our cars and trucks comes from oil. We must find a way to lessen our dependence on oil, especially foreign oil if we are to survive as a world power rather than live as a debtor nation, who must deal with an increasing number of rogue nations supported by oil money that hate us. It is really that simple.

As a starting point, we as a nation must end our government support of big oil companies in the form of tax breaks, subsidies, and other assistance. For years, big oil companies have prospered from tremendous financial assistance from the federal government and the time to end such financial support and preferential treatment is here and now. Second, we must carefully revisit and re-work the Carter Doctrine of protecting oil interests in the Middle East through the might of the U.S. military. Without the protection of the military, American oil companies will move back to American based energy rather than stay linked to Middle Eastern countries.

We must also promote conservation of energy in our country, especially with regard to cars and light trucks. Inexplicitly, despite gasoline costing $4 per gallon, U.S. automakers continue to build bigger and more wasteful motor vehicles for consumers. That decision will ultimately lead to further erosion of their market to Japanese and Korean automobile makers. Detroit apparently does not want to concede that no one wants (or needs) a Cadillac Escalade with shiny metallic spinners on 22-inch wide tires when it costs more than $100 to fill the car’s fuel tank up with gasoline. That arrogance or ignorance will eventually doom Detroit, if the leadership of American automakers does not change its collective mindset.

Today, technology exists to dramatically raise the fuel efficiency of America’s motor vehicle fleet. Even so, not one American automotive company has yet risen to the challenge of building smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles to help end our addiction to imported oil. Unfortunately, despite losing billions of dollars in capital over the last several years, Ford and GM are content to let Toyota and Honda gain market share with hybrids and alternative energy vehicles. However, it is clear that plug-in hybrids are the key to substantially changing our addiction to oil.

It is simply a question of whether we as a society have the moral turpitude to make this necessary but fundamental change to end our addiction to oil. Everyone in Kentucky should jump readily onto the bandwagon for plug-in hybrids because electricity is currently generated from burning coal and that technology is not going to be replaced in the short term. Mr. Pickens’ high-tech wind mills may be the future, but coal is here to stay.

An alternative to imported oil is American-made ethanol. The majority of ethanol used in the U.S. is distilled from corn. This choice of this particular food crop to grow fuel is not a good one. Just ask the Republican Governor of Texas, who flatly opposes using corn for fuel because it sharply increases the cost of feed to cattle and chickens. It also takes more fuel and chemicals to grow crops than the amount of fuel that is ultimately produced from ethanol.
Better choices for distilling ethanol would be non-food crops such rice straw, sawdust, urban wastes, paper mill wastes, yard clippings, molasses, castor beans, seaweed, alga, and plant wastes. Perhaps the best solution for distilling ethanol is to make it from cellulose. Cellulosic ethanol is the same as normal ethanol, except it is not derived from food crops. Instead it is made from grasses and agricultural waste, such as the corn stalk rather than kernels of corn.

Cellulosic ethanol offers a promising alternative because it’s as clean and carbon-neutral as regular ethanol, but it doesn’t have the drawbacks of regular ethanol. However, because cellulosic ethanol is in the development phase, it is not currently available. Out government must invest in this technology if we are to beat our addiction to imported oil.

If we do not start taking measurable steps to end our addiction to imported oil, we are going to have more wars, less stable diplomatic relationships, a decreased standard of living, and more adverse global climate changes. In short, we cannot survive as a nation in the mode we are used to and we must change if we are going to end our addiction to oil. May God bless the United States of America and give us as a nation the willpower to make good strong decisions in the near term on energy issues.

Lawyer Sanders says EPA wants to add BF Goodrich's perchlorate site in Rialto, California to NPL.

U.S. EPA may take over cleanup of a former B.F. Goodrich toxic waste site in San Bernardino County, adding it to the national priorities or Superfund list. The site has been used by a succession of businesses since it was developed in the 1940s, including testing and manufacturing of munitions, rocket motors, and pyrotechnics.

Regulators believe contamination is largely from historic industrial operations at the site that predate current regulatory programs. U.S. EPA is pursuing five parties at the site: Charlotte, N.C.-based Goodrich Corp., local fireworks company Pyro Spectaculars, the defunct Black & Decker division of Emhart Industries and two property owners, Ken Thompson Inc. and Chung Ming Wong.

Trichloroethene (TCE) and perchlorate have contaminated soil, soil gas, and ground water at the site. Contamination is present above the Safe Drinking Water Act’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) at depths of more than 800 feet below ground and extends more than three miles down-gradient of the site.

More than 20 municipal drinking water wells located in the Rialto-Colton ground water basin and adjacent basins are known to be contaminated with TCE, tetrachloroethene , and/or perchlorate. The wells are part of blended systems that serve hundreds of thousands of people.

As a result of this contamination, the West Valley Water District, the Fontana Water Company, and the Cities of Rialto and Colton have limited or ceased the use of several municipal water supply wells and several others are threatened. Contamination from perchlorate led the Rialto City Council to declare a water emergency last year.

EPA's website is at: http://pubweb.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/p080903.htm.

Attorney Sanders says Sarah Palin wins 2008 Dodo Award for challenging federal designation that polar bears are an endangered species.

The Center for Biological Diversity awarded Alaska Governor Sarah Palin the 2008 Rubber Dodo Award. Governor Palin won the award for fighting the Department of Interior’s designation of the polar bear as a threatened species. The polar bear is threatened by a shrinking habitat due to global warming. It is widely reported that Gov. Palin believes global warming is due to solely a close snuggly hug from God rather than from man-made activities.

Gov. Palin has repeatedly asserted in public comments and speeches that scientists from Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game identified fatal flaws in computer models used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The federal agency contends that the polar bear is threatened because of a substantial loss in sea ice. Seems the bears’ habitat is melting into the sea, and no ice means no polar bears in the wild.

When challenged to put up or shut up by several environmental groups, Gov. Palin flatly refused to release the alleged state review. Palin then had Alaska file a lawsuit to challenge the federal agency’s determination that the polar bear may become extinct in the future because of a loss of sea ice.

Independent scientists eventually obtained a summary through the federal Freedom of Information Act, revealing that Palin had lied about the position of her state agency scientists. Contrary to the governor’s public statements, Alaskan state mammalogists concurred with the Fish and Wildlife Service determination that Arctic sea ice is melting at an extraordinary rate and threatens the polar bear with extinction. That means in a nutshell the lawsuit filed by Alaska to overturn the Department of Interior’s designation of the polar bear as a threaten species is frivolous and without merit. Further debunking Gov. Palin’s position, the U.S. Geological Survey announced that the 2008 summertime Arctic sea-ice melt was the second greatest on record, nearly matching the extraordinary melt of 2007.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit conservation organization with more than 180,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Lawyer Sanders says NOAA has updated its computer model of Hurricane Ike's path across Texas and southeast.

NOAA released a new computer model of the projected path of Hurricane IKE. The massive hurricane is expected to slam Texas around Galveston sometime of Friday. The National Weather Service issued a stern warning to people living in small houses on Galveston Island that they faced “certain death” from flooding if they remained in their homes.

In the storm’s path are the nation’s largest concentrations of oil refineries, the Johnson Space Center, the resorts on Galveston Island and Houston’s downtown of skyscrapers. More than four million people live in Houston and its suburbs.

Lawyer Sanders says San Antonio Texas will recycle biosolids into natural gas, compost and irrigation water in amazing recycling project.

San Antonio, Texas will so collect methane gas from its residents’ human waste and turn it into clean-burning fuel. San Antonio residents produce about 140,000 tons a year of a human waste known as “biosolids,” and the city plans on recycling 90% of its residents’ biosolids. The primary byproduct of human waste is methane gas, which will be collected and sold for use as a fuel in furnaces, electric power plants and other devices using natural gas.

Massachusetts-based Ameresco, Inc., will build the plants needed to convert the city's biosolids into natural gas. Ameresco believes it will generate about 1.5 million cubic feet of methane gas per day. The city also plans to use liquids in the waste material for irrigation and turn the remaining solid portion of the material into compost. Let’s hope that this project is a rousing success story for recycling!

Lawyer Sanders says NIH publication on EMFs to be funded by Electric Power research Institute.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the research arm of the utility industry, is paying for a public information booklet on electromagnetic fields (EMF) a unit of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is currently ironing out an arrangement whereby EPRI would pay for the writing and printing of a new edition of the NIEHS booklet, EMFs: Questions & Answers.

EMFs of all frequencies represent one of the most common and fastest growing environmental influences, about which anxiety and speculation are spreading. Almost everyone in the world is exposed to varying degrees of EMF, and the levels will continue to increase as technology advances.

Many health officials see a potential conflict between the missions of EPRI and NIH. Some might see as akin to having Shell Oil pay to publish an EPA pamphlet on global warming. Others believe it is just big business as usual under the Bush Administration.

Kentucky Lawyer Sanders says groups sue vice president to force preservation of electronically stored information under Presidential Records Act.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington(CREW), along with two eminent historians and three organizations of historians and archivists filed a complaint against Vice President Dick Cheney, the Office of the Vice President, the archivist and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), challenging their exclusion of a vast majority of Vice President Cheney’s papers from the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and the obligation to preserve for the American public.

The Presidential Records Act was passed to preserve presidential papers in the wake of the Watergate scandal. CREW says that the 30-year-old act can now be used to protect Cheney’s files regarding national security, intelligence, energy and environmental policy, and domestic wiretapping.
In an executive order issued in 2001, President Bush declared that the PRA applied only to the “executive records” of the vice president. Since that time, the vice president has taken the somewhat novel view that he is not part of the executive and is attached, if at all, to the congressional branch.

Even more perplexing, the national archivist takes the view that the congressional records of a vice president are his personal, not presidential, records that he is free to dispose of at will. If these legal positions are followed, Vice President Cheney’s records will not be transferred to NARA for eventual release to the public, but instead will remain under the vice president’s personal custody and control. CREW is also seeking an order mandating preservation of all of the vice president’s records pending the lawsuit.

CREW was previously involved in a September, 2007 lawsuit in conjunction with a suit brought by the National Security Archive to recover and preserve more than 5 million missing White House e-mails deleted between March 2003 and October 2005. In July 2008 a judge ordered the Executive Office of the President to search and preserve e-mails from individual workstations and portable media but excluded forensic copying of the workstations.

Anyone who has dealt with electronic discovery in federal court knows how frustrating this subject matter can be, and what a treasure trove of information can be found on emails and e-documents. I believe the American public deserves to see what went on in the Bush White House and what the vice president was truly doing behind the scenes.

Dick Cheney will fight this battle over electronically stored information to the proverbial gates of hell before he voluntarily gives up a single byte of information to anyone outside of the Bush inner circle.

Attorney Sanders says EPA settles multiple FIFRA violations involving pesticides with Syngenta.

U.S. EPA Region 4 settled three separate administrative complaints with Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc., and Syngenta Seeds, Inc., arising under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). EPA fined the companies$284,050 for multiple violations of FIFRA occurring in multiple states. EPA consolidated the violations throughout the United States for expediency. The settlements include:

· Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. agreed to pay a penalty of $196,300 for violations involving two products. The settlement agreement resolved alleged violation of distributing Mesotrione Wet Paste with ingredients that differed in composition from the formula submitted to EPA. EPA also settled advertising violations of the pesticide Lumax Selective Herbicide because television commercials aired in the Midwest did not disclose that the pesticide was a restricted-use pesticide.
· Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. violated the rules for written advertisements of restricted use pesticides and paid a fine of $70,200.
· Syngenta Seeds, Inc. agreed to pay $17,550 for using a pesticide in violation of an Experimental Use Permit (EUP). EPA found that the company had not obtained a state permit or license from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico prior to the shipment and/or use of a corn that was the subject of the EUP.

Somewhat unusual, EPA’s settlement also resolved OSHA violations by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., in Kekaha, Hawaii, of failing to store all personal protective equipment separately from clothing and apart from pesticide-contaminated areas and failing to post the spraying of the pesticide Liberty at its Central Notification Site. No word yet on whether EPA’s settlement may pre-empt state law claims arising from this wrongful conduct.

Attorney Sanders says mercury levels in fish caught in Lake Cumberland are subject to health warnings by state officials.

Kentucky issued a new health advisory for Cumberland Lake warning people to limit the amount of fish they eat. Lake Cumberland, which covers more than 38,000 acres in south-central Kentucky, is one of the state’s most heavily visited lakes. The warning for Lake Cumberland is the result of new tests that show higher mercury levels in fish caught in the lake. The mercury is coming from coal fired electric generating plants located in Kentucky.

When electric generating plants burn coal, they release mercury into the atmosphere. When airborne mercury hits the water, it reacts with bacteria to form an even more toxic substance called methylmercury. The methylmercury is absorbed by one-celled plants and animals, which are eaten by small fish, which are eaten by larger fish. Because of something called “bioaccumulation”, levels of methylmercury increase in fish as it moves up the food chain. Thus, a large predator fish, such as a bass, is likely to contain more mercury than its prey.

It is a crime that you have to worry about eating fish caught in Lake Cumberland. The problem is so bad that the state is warning children and women of childbearing age not to eat black bass from Lake Cumberland more than six times a year. For everyone else: once a month. For crappie and rock bass, Kentucky health officials’ suggested limit is a meal a month for women and children, and a meal a week for everyone else. The statewide advisory says women and children should not eat any fish caught in the state’s waters more than once a week.

Lawyer Sanders says US EPA to add new hazardous waste dump sites located in Region 4 to National Priorities List.

U.S. EPA is adding two and proposing three new hazardous waste sites in Region 4 that pose risks to human health and the environment to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. The Flash Cleaners Site (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and the Aberdeen Contaminated Ground Water Site (Aberdeen, N.C.) have been added to the National Priorities List. The Raleigh Street Dump Site (Tampa, Fla.), Arkla Terry Property (Thonotosassa, Fla.), and Barite Hill/Nevada Goldfields Site (McCormick, S.C.) have been proposed to the National Priorities List.

Nationally, there have been 1,587 sites listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 329 sites have been deleted, resulting in 1,258 sites currently on the NPL. There are a total of 1,322 final and proposed sites. For Federal Register notices and supporting documents for these final and proposed sites, please visit http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm.%20

Lawyer Sanders says Happy 42nd Birthday to Star Trek!

On September 8, 1966, Star Trek made its network television debut. In hindsight, it is hard to believe that the show lasted just three seasons -- 80 episodes -- and was canceled by NBC in 1969 because of low ratings.

The original cast members on the USS Enterprise's 1966 flight deck became household names: Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), Communications Officer Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Helmsman Hikaru Sulu (George Takei).

Happy birthday to all Trekies everywhere. Beam me up Scotty!

Lawyer Sanders says Eastern Kentucky coal remains at $140 per ton on spot market.

According to the Federal Energy Information Administration the current spot market price for a short ton of central Appalachian coal is $140. Last year at this time the spot market price for a short tom of central Appalachian coal was around $50.

You better button up those fannel pajamas and get out your wooly slippers or your heating bills are going to eat you alive this winter. Pray for a warmer than average winter in Kentucky.

Attorney Sanders says U.S. DOE awards $3 Billion contract at Hanford Site to support engineering contractors working on radioactive waste cleanup.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected Mission Support Alliance, LLC (“Mission”) as the mission support contractor for DOE’s Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. The contract is a cost-plus award-fee contract valued at approximately $3.0 billion over ten years (a five-year base period with options to extend it for up to another five years). Mission is owned by Lockheed Martin Integrated Technology, LLC; Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.; and Wackenhut Services, Inc.

Mission will provide infrastructure and several other basic site services needed by Hanford’s environmental engineering contractors during the cleanup of the polluted site. The 586-square-mile Hanford Site in Southeastern Washington State is the world’s largest and most expensive environmental cleanup project.

A wise old U.S. Senator once said, "a billion here, a billion there and soon it adds up to serious money." Well, this contract is just one of many multi-billion government deals to cleanup radioactive waste at U.S. DOE installations. I for one, believe that the final amount of money spent on this radioactive waste site will be 10 to 100 times more than this amount.

Lawyer Sanders says Borit Asbestos Disposal Site will be added to NPL because of health risks posed by asbestos-containing materials.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to add the Borit Asbestos Site in Ambler, Pa. to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The Borit asbestos site was used to dispose of asbestos-containing material from the 1930s to the 1970s that came from a nearby asbestos-manufacturing plant.

The site is divided into three parcels: an asbestos waste pile owned by Kane-Core Inc., a reservoir owned by the Wissahickon Waterfall Initiative and a former park/playground owned by Whitpain Township. The asbestos waste pile covers approximately two acres of the six-acre parcel, and is about 20 feet above the ground surface. The berm of the 15-acre reservoir was constructed of asbestos shingles, millboard and soil.

Asbestos product waste, such as piping and tiles, is visible surrounding the reservoir and stream banks. The third disposal area, which covers about 11 acres, was a depression that was filled and leveled, and eventually used as a park/playground. In the mid-1980s, the area was fenced due to asbestos contamination. The site is being considered for the NPL because of the potential exposure of the nearby residential population to airborne asbestos and asbestos contamination along the Wissahickon Creek.

For Federal Register notices and supporting documents for this and other proposed sites, please visit http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm. Once a site has been proposed for inclusion to the NPL, there is a 60-day comment period. A final decision on listing the sites will be made after EPA has evaluated and responded to all the public comments in writing.

Attorney Sanders says Sept. 19th is National Parking Day and hopes City of Covington participates in the event.

On National Park(ing) Day, which is Friday, September 19, 2008, public parking spots nationwide will become public parks. The goals of the event, according to organizers, are to celebrate parks and promote the need for more parks in America's cities.

Sponsored by The Trust for Public Land, a national conservation group, National Park(ing) Day is an annual event celebrating city parks. Participants in more than 60 cities nationwide, including New York, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Orleans, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington D.C. have announced that they will create temporary parks in public spaces.

No word yet if Covington, Lexington or Louisville will participate in this annual event. But keep your fingers crossed because "its happening in Covington."

Lawyer Sanders says US DOE announces 10 hydrogen storage R&D projects.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of 10 cost-shared hydrogen storage research and development projects, which will receive up to $15.3 million over five years, subject to annual appropriations. These projects are part of President Bush’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative that committed $1.2 billion on research and development (R&D) for hydrogen-powered fuel cells. The projects also support the President’s Advanced Energy Initiative to reduce our Nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources by changing the way we power our cars, homes, and businesses.

DOE’s Hydrogen, Fuel Cell and Infrastructure Technologies program is helping enable the long-term maturation of hydrogen technologies. The selected projects seek to develop hydrogen storage technologies to enable fuel cell vehicles to meet customer expectations for longer driving range and performance. The projects include development of novel hydrogen storage materials, development of efficient methods for regeneration of hydrogen storage materials, and approaches to increase hydrogen binding energies to enable room temperature hydrogen storage.

These projects will be part of DOE’s National Hydrogen Storage Project, which also includes three Centers of Excellence and other independent projects. DOE’s hydrogen storage activities for vehicles focus primarily on enabling a driving range of greater than 300 miles, within packaging and cost constraints.

DOE will negotiate the terms of 10 cost-shared projects currently planned for a total of approximately $18 million, with up to $15.3 million total government share, subject to annual appropriations, and $3 million applicant cost share. The organizations selected for negotiation of awards are:

1. Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos, N.M.) – Up to $2.3 million for novel concept using an electric field to increase the hydrogen binding energy in hydrogen adsorbents.
   
2. Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) – Up to $2.2 million to design novel multi-component metal hydride-based mixtures for hydrogen storage.
   
3. Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) – Up to $1.3 million for novel hydrogen adsorbent materials with increased hydrogen binding energy through metal doping.
   
4. Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio) – Up to $1.1 million for development of high capacity, reversible hydrogen storage materials using boron-based metal hydrides.
   
5. Pennsylvania State University (University Park, Pa.) – Up to $1.5 million for development of novel nanoporous materials for use as hydrogen adsorbents.
   
6. U.S. Borax Inc. (Greenwood Village, Colo.) – Up to $600,000 for development of a high-efficiency process for the regeneration of spent chemical hydrogen carriers.
   
7. University of Missouri (Columbia, Mo.) – Up to $1.9 million for development of boron-substituted, high-surface area carbon materials made from corncobs for use as hydrogen adsorbents.
   
8. University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon) – Up to $640,000 for novel boron and nitrogen substituted cyclic compounds for use as liquid hydrogen carriers.
   
9. University of California at Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.) – Up to $1.7 million for novel hydrogen adsorbent materials based on light metal impregnation for increasing hydrogen binding energies.
   
10. Sandia National Laboratories (Livermore, Calif.) – Up to $2.0 million for development of materials with tunable thermodynamics through the stabilization of nanosized particles.

Lawyer Sanders says that new study finds that hurricanes are growing more intense due to global warming.

The strongest hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean have become more intense due to global warming over the past 25 years, according to a new study published in the British journal Nature. Scientists from Florida State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison analyzed satellite data from nearly 2,000 tropical cyclones around the world from 1981 to 2006, and found that the strongest storms are getting stronger, especially over the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

This new study is sure to add more fuel to the ongoing debate on the potential catastrophic effects of global warming or climate change.

Lawyer Sanders says U.S. consumes four times more petroleum products than the amount of domestic crude oil produced each year.

According to the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration, the U.S. consumed 20.7 million barrels per day (MMbd) of petroleum products during 2007 making us the world’s largest petroleum consumer. The United States was third in crude oil production at 5.1 MMbd. Almost 50% of U.S. crude oil and petroleum products imports came from the Western Hemisphere (North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean including U.S. territories) during 2006. We imported only 16% of our crude oil and petroleum products from the Persian Gulf countries of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.

Lawyer Sanders says Canadian ice shelf is quickly shrinking due to global warming.

A huge 19 square mile (55 square km) ice shelf in Canada's northern Arctic broke away last month and the remaining shelves have shrunk at a "massive and disturbing" rate, the latest sign of accelerating climate change in the remote region of the world.

The Markham Ice Shelf, one of just five remaining ice shelves in the Canadian Arctic, split away from Ellesmere Island in early August. The total amount of ice lost from the shelves along Ellesmere Island this summer totaled 83 square miles -- more than three times the area of Manhattan Island. In addition, two large chunks totaling 47 square miles had broken off the nearby Serson Ice Shelf, reducing it in size by 60 percent.

Lawyer Sanders says McCain and Palin are split on drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge.

The Republican presidential candidate and his vice presidential choice also disagree on drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Sen. McCain opposes drilling in the Arctic Refuge, explaining earlier this year that “I don’t want to drill in the Grand Canyon. I don’t want to drill in the Everglades. This is one of the most pristine and beautiful parts of the world.”

As Alaska’s governor, Gov. Palin strongly endorses drilling in the Arctic Refuge, saying publicly in the weeks before her selection that she hoped to change Sen. McCain’s mind on this issue. I for one, strongly agree with John McCain on this issue.

Lawyer Sanders says Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin have opposing views on global warming.

Did you know that Senator John McCain sponsored federal legislation to control emissions of heat-trapping gases, declaring “unequivocally” that he believes global warming is real. On the other hand, Governor Sarah Palin— ignoring world-wide consensus in the scientific community at least those scientists not on the payroll of Exxon, Shell, or BP —said in response to a recent question on global warming “I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."

This is an important policy difference between a presidential nominee and his vice presidential pick, and should be examined in more detail by the main stream media because America's policy on energy is extremely crucial to this November’s election, our economy, and our national security.

Lawyer Sanders says McCain and Palin have conflicting views on energy issues.

Senator John McCain and Sarah Palin have opposing views on energy, which is one of the most important issues of this November’s election. The most striking difference is on a windfall profits tax on oil companies.

Sen. McCain opposes such a tax, calling it one of the “failed policies of the 1970s.” Gov. Palin, in contrast, proposed such a tax in Alaska, eventually signing it into law. (The Palin tax has several components, including an increase in base taxes on oil companies and extra charges as oil prices climb.)

Gov. Palin also signed legislation providing $1,200 payments for each Alaskan to help pay for higher energy costs. Her approach is similar to that of Sen. Barack Obama, who calls for energy rebates of $500-$1,000 for American families funded with a five-year tax on oil company windfall profits.

Lawyer Sanders says Frankfort, we have a problem!!!!!

An article posted today on the Lexington Herald-Leader website reports that the number of Kentuckians living in poverty last year increased from 2006. U.S. Census Bureau figures show that 714,080 people were living in poverty in Kentucky in 2007, up from 693,479 in 2006. The Census Bureau also reports that Kentucky's median household income fell. It was $43,050, well below the national median household income of $50,740. Even more disheartening, the number of children younger than 18 living in poverty rose from 223,290 in 2006 to 234,959 in 2007.

Lawyer Sanders says biofuels are the future stars of energy production in U.S.

Biofuels have been around as long as cars have. At the start of the 20th century, Henry Ford planned to fuel his Model Ts with ethanol, and early diesel engines were shown to run on peanut oil. Much of the gasoline in the United States is blended with a biofuel—ethanol. Ethanol is the same stuff as in alcoholic drinks, except that it's made from corn that has been heavily processed.

There are various ways of making biofuels, but they generally use chemical reactions, fermentation, and heat to break down the starches, sugars, and other molecules in plants. The leftover products are then refined to produce a fuel that cars can use. Countries around the world are using various kinds of biofuels. For decades, Brazil has turned sugarcane into ethanol, and some cars there can run on pure ethanol rather than as additive to fossil fuels. And biodiesel—a diesel-like fuel commonly made from palm oil—is generally available in Europe.

Another excellent alternative to food crops for fuel is algae. The science is simple: Algae need water, sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow. The oil they produce can then be harvested and converted into biodiesel; the algae’s carbohydrate content can be fermented into ethanol. Both are much cleaner-burning fuels than petroleum-based diesel or gas.

Given the right conditions, algae can double its volume overnight. Unlike other biofuel feedstocks, such as soy or corn, it can be harvested day after day. Up to 50 percent of an alga’s body weight is comprised of oil, whereas oil-palm trees—currently the largest producer of oil to make biofuels—yield just about 20 percent of their weight in oil.

Biofuel yields are impressive: Soy produces some 50 gallons of oil per acre per year; canola, 150 gallons; and palm, 650 gallons. But alga are expected to produce 10,000 gallons per acre per year, and eventually even more. Go big green!!

Lawyer Sanders says Hurricane Gustav hit Cocodrie, Louisiana on September 1, 2008 as Category 2 storm.

Hurricane Gustav moved ashore east of the Isles Dernieres on September 1, 2008, making landfall near Cocodrie, Louisiana, as a Category 2 hurricane.

Sanders says concerned citizens should look at the Title V Handbook for answers on air pollution from industrial or manufacturing sources.

Title V Handbook - www.titlev.org - is a wonderful resource for informing members of the public about the Title V of the Clean Air Act. This section of the Clean Air Act is the most important section for controlling air pollution from larger air pollution sources via a permitting process.

The Handbook instructs concerned citizens on how to find out if a polluting facility is complying with the Clean Air Act. This website provides lists of citizen concern letters and petitions to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ways to publicly participate in the permitting process, Title V new source review lawsuits and decisions, and other relevant internet links.