A federal judge has given the EPA one week to sign a proposed rule updating standards for fine particulate matter air pollution, commonly known as soot. This kind of pollution is linked to tens of thousands of early deaths every year, and causes much of the haze that clouds the nation’s skies. Earthjustice sought the court order on behalf of the American Lung Association and National Parks Conservation Association, after a federal appeals court found the existing standards deficient and EPA missed an October 2011 legal deadline for updating them. A number of states also sought a court-ordered deadline, including New York, California, Maryland, Oregon, and Washington.
Fine particulates are linked to tens of thousands of early deaths every year, and cause much of the haze that clouds the nation’s skies.
Airborne particulate matter is comprised of tiny particles of smoke, soot, metals, and other chemical compounds emitted from sources like power plants, factories, and diesel trucks. Scientific research shows that these microscopic particles can penetrate deep into lungs, making them one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution. The EPA’s own studies show that each year of delay in strengthening national standards can mean thousands of avoidable deaths and increased cases of respiratory and heart disease.
The court also set a hearing for June 11, 2012, to determine a deadline for EPA to finalize the rule. Earthjustice has asked that the court set the deadline for December 14, 2012.
EPA Updates Clean Air Act Standards for Flares and Process Heaters at Petroleum Refineries
The EPA is issuing common-sense standards informed by important input from stakeholders, including industry, for new flares and process heaters at petroleum refineries which maintain important public health benefits while dramatically reducing costs. These updates will reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds, which can cause respiratory illnesses, heart attacks, and premature deaths, while saving the refining industry approximately $80 million per year. These reductions will also provide up to $610 million in annual health benefits.
These final standards are flexible and rely on proven, widely used technologies and processes to cut pollution from flares and process heaters. Flares, which are typically used to burn off waste gases from the refining process, would need to follow work practice standards and meet monitoring requirements. Process heaters, which are used to heat process fluids, would need to meet emission limits for nitrogen oxides. The final standards also encourage refineries to recover gas that can be used as fuel to power equipment at the refinery.
These standards will reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), and volatile organic compounds, which react in the air to form fine particle pollution and ground-level ozone. While the revised standards do not address greenhouse gas emissions, they will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 2 million tons per year as a co-benefit.
EPA’s final rule responds to petitions requesting the agency to reconsider the final standards issued in 2008 and provides a clear path forward for refineries to meet these important standards and protect public health.
Baton Rouge RCRA and DOT Training
Chattanooga RCRA and DOT Training
Dayton RCRA and DOT Training
How to Prepare for OSHA’s Globally Harmonized Hazard Communication Standard (GHS)
June 26
July 18
August 15
October 2
Transition to Green Economy Could Yield up to 60 Million Jobs
The transformation to a greener economy could generate 15 to 60 million additional jobs globally over the next two decades and lift tens of millions of workers out of poverty, according to a new report led by the Green Jobs Initiative.
The study, “Working towards sustainable development: Opportunities for decent work and social inclusion in a green economy,” says that these gains will depend on whether the right set of policies are put in place.
The report—published almost four years after the first study by the Green Jobs Initiative—looks at the impact that the greening of the economy can have on employment, incomes and sustainable development in general.
At least half of the global workforce—the equivalent of 1.5 billion people—will be affected by the transition to a greener economy. While changes will be felt throughout the economy, eight key sectors are expected to play a central role and be mostly affected: agriculture, forestry, fishing, energy, resource-intensive manufacturing, recycling, building, and transport.
Tens of millions of jobs have already been created by this transformation. For example the renewable energy sector now employs close to five million workers, more than doubling the number of jobs from 2006-2010. Energy efficiency is another important source of green jobs, particularly in the construction industry, the sector hardest hit by the economic crisis.
In the US, three million people are employed in environmental goods and services. In Spain, there are now more than half a million jobs in this sector.
Net gains in employment in the order of 0.5–2% of total employment are possible. In emerging economies and developing countries, the gains are likely to be higher than in industrialized countries, because the former can leapfrog to green technology rather than replace obsolete resource-intensive infrastructure. Brazil has already created just under three million jobs, accounting for some 7% of all formal employment.
No gains without the right policies
These good results have one thing in common: the recognition that environmental and socio-economic challenges need to be addressed in a comprehensive and complementary manner.
First, this means promoting and implementing sustainable production processes at the level of the business itself, especially among small and medium sized enterprises in the key sectors mentioned above.
Second, an extension of social protection, income support and skills training measures is key to ensuring that workers are in a position to take advantage of these new opportunities.
Third, international labor standards and workers’ rights can provide a legal and institutional framework, as well as practical guidance, for work in a greener and sustainable economy, especially when it comes to job quality and occupational safety and health.
Finally, effective social dialogue involving employers and trade unions is central to the governance of sustainable development.
Other key findings of the report:
In the EU alone, 14.6 million direct and indirect jobs exist in the protection of biodiversity and rehabilitation of natural resources and forests.
The targeted international investments of $30 billion/year into reduced deforestation and degradation of forests could sustain up to eight million additional full-time workers in developing countries.
Experiences from Colombia, Brazil, and other countries show that the formalization and organization of some 15–20 million informal waste pickers could have significant economic, social, and environmental benefits.
The building renovation program for energy efficiency in Germany is an example of the possible win-win-win outcomes: it has mobilized $100 billion in investments; it is reducing energy bills, avoiding emissions, and creating around 300,000 direct jobs per year.
Overuse of natural resources has already caused large losses, including over a million jobs for forest workers, mainly in Asia, because of unsustainable forest management practices.
The fisheries sector is likely to face a major, albeit temporary transition challenge for workers due to overfishing. Temporary reductions of catch may be needed in many fisheries to allow declining stocks to recover. Of particular concern is that 95% of the 45 million workers employed in fishing are often poor artisanal coastal fishermen in developing countries.
In much of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and parts of Europe, the proportion of expenditure on energy by poor households is three times—and can be as much as 20 times—that of richer households.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in India and the social housing and green grants programs in Brazil are good examples of social protection policies that contribute to sustainable development.
Women could be among the main beneficiaries of a greener, more socially inclusive economy, with better access to opportunities to jobs, for example in renewable energy, higher incomes, in particular in agriculture, formalization of employment, notably among the 15–20 million recycling workers and many burdens reduced among other from access to clean energy, enhanced food security, energy, and water efficient social housing.
A mere 8–12% of the workforce in industrialized countries, for example, is employed in the 10–15 industries generating 70% of CO2 emissions. Only a fraction of these is likely to lose their jobs if policies are adopted to green existing enterprises and to promote employment.
US, Europe Sign Agreement to Strengthen Scientific Cooperation on Climate, Weather, Oceans, and Coasts
Top leaders from NOAA and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) have signed a landmark agreement that will further strengthen cooperative science activities in the areas of climate, weather, oceans, and coasts. The signing ceremony also marked the launch of the first four environmental monitoring projects under the agreement.
Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., Under Secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator, and Dominique Ristori, director general of the JRC, signed the agreement, which calls for exchanges of personnel, shared use of scientific infrastructure, support for joint research, access to laboratory facilities, scientific training, and timely exchange of information.
The signing was part of a trip to Brussels by Lubchenco to speak before the European Parliament Fisheries Committee on the importance of international cooperation on sustainable fisheries management to support jobs, healthy industries, seafood, and healthy marine ecosystems. Lubchenco was invited by EU Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki to highlight US fisheries rebuilding, as Europe is proposing major reforms to its fisheries management.
“We are pleased to announce that we have already identified four specific projects for collaboration between NOAA and the Research Centre,” said Ristori. “These projects collaborate on climate data records, tsunami modeling, space weather, and fisheries research. This underscores the rich potential for sharing science and innovation.”
The JRC is the in-house science service of the European Commission and its mission is to provide EU policies with independent, evidence-based scientific, and technical support throughout the whole policy cycle.
Mid-America Pipeline Company and Enterprise Products Operating to Pay $1 Million for Spills
Mid-America Pipeline Company LLC (MAPCO), and Enterprise Products Operating LLC, of Houston, have agreed to pay a civil penalty of more than $1 million to the US to settle violations of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) related to three natural gasoline pipeline spills in Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska.
MAPCO owns and Enterprise operates the 2,769-mile West Red Pipeline, which transports mixed natural gasoline products between Conway, Kansas, and Pine Bend, Minnesota. The settlement resolves CWA violations related to three spills that occurred along the pipeline:
A March 29, 2007, rupture near Yutan, Nebraska, which caused the discharge of approximately 1,669 barrels of natural gasoline directly into an unnamed ditch and Otoe Creek.
An April 23, 2010, rupture near Niles, Kansas, which caused the discharge of approximately 1,760 barrels of natural gasoline directly into an unnamed ditch, Cole Creek, Buckeye Creek, and the Solomon River.
An August 13, 2011, rupture near Onawa, Iowa, which caused the discharge of approximately 818 barrels of natural gasoline directly into the Missouri River.
“More than 20,000 miles of pipeline, carrying oil and petroleum products, cross the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska in EPA’s Region 7,” said EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks. “A frequent cause of pipeline breaks is the action of third parties during farming and excavation. This settlement requires the defendants to honor a schedule of pipeline inspections on the ground and from the air, and reach out to local agencies, contractors, and excavators to make sure they are more fully aware of pipeline locations and depths.”
In addition to the proactive inspections and outreach efforts, the settlement also requires MAPCO and Enterprise to spend $200,000 to relocate, cover, lower, or replace pipeline segments; install new remote shutoff valves; install new physical protections such as fences or concrete barriers; and install other new equipment, structures, or systems to prevent spills from reaching navigable waters.
SABIC Agrees to Reduce HAPs from Leaking Equipment to Resolve CAA Violations
Emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from leaking equipment may cause serious health effects including cancer, reproductive issues, and birth defects.
In addition to paying a penalty, SABIC will implement a comprehensive program to reduce emissions of HAPs from leaking equipment such as valves and pumps. The emissions, known as fugitive emissions because they are not discharged from a stack but rather leak directly from equipment, are generally controlled through work practices, like monitoring and repairing leaks. The settlement requires SABIC to implement enhanced work practices, including more frequent leak monitoring, better repair practices, and innovative new efforts designed to prevent leaks.
The program also requires SABIC to replace valves with new low emissions valves or valve packing material, designed to significantly reduce the likelihood of future leaks of HAPs. In response to EPA’s inspection of the Mt. Vernon facility, SABIC engineered HAP emission controls for hundreds of drains and trenches and the settlement further requires SABIC to control similar emissions from an oil/water separator. The estimated cost of these controls is almost $4 million. SABIC will also invest an additional $1.3 million to control HAP emissions from certain process vents as a supplemental environmental project. The compliance program and engineered controls will reduce HAP emissions by up to 136.7 tons per year.
According to the 15-count complaint, filed simultaneously with the settlement, SABIC allegedly violated CAA requirements to monitor and repair leaking equipment, demonstrate compliance with regulations applicable to chemical plants, and report known violations to EPA.
The consent decree is subject to a 30 day comment period and final approval by the court.
Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board Proposes over $400,000 Fine for Tesoro Pollution
Approximately 638,400 gallons of naphtha, a volatile component of petroleum, had been released into groundwater from a corroded above-ground storage tank at the Tesoro Corporation’s Los Angeles, California refinery. The spill occurred on January 4, 2010.
The Los Angeles Water Board required the Tesoro Corporation to clean up and abate the naphtha release. According to the Los Angeles Water Board technical staff, a majority of the naphtha has been cleaned up and the release does not pose a threat to public health or drinking water supplies.
The public has until June 28, 2012, to comment on the proposed settlement. Following the close of the public comment period, the proposed settlement will must be approved by the Los Angeles Water Board before it can become final. If the settlement is approved, the $440,670 fine will be deposited into the State Water Board’s Cleanup and Abatement Account, which is used to assist in cleaning up polluted sites throughout California.
Construction Company to Pay $170,000 following Illegal Dumping to Federally Protected Wetlands during Strip Mall Construction
The wetlands are associated with Strongs Creek, which flows approximately 1.3 miles west to the Eel River, a priority resource for maintaining cold, freshwater habitat for salmon and steelhead. The Lower Eel River is considered impaired under the CWA due to excessive sediment loads, low dissolved oxygen, and high temperatures that exceed water quality standards.
Wendt Construction will pay a $170,000 penalty for dumping fill material into wetlands connected to Strongs Creek, a tributary to the Eel River located in Fortuna, California.
As part of the settlement, the company will undertake a multi-year project to restore the damaged wetlands, including the creation of vegetated pond that will support wildlife while filtering water and recharging the groundwater aquifer. Restoration will allow the creek to perform the important ecological functions of retaining soil and nutrients, attenuating floodwaters, and providing movement corridors for wildlife and habitat for the Northern red-legged frog, which is a threatened species in California.
The federal CWA protects the nation’s coasts, rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands, which are vital to the protection of human health and the environment. Section 404 of the CWA requires anyone who proposes to fill and alter protected waterways, including wetlands, to first obtain permit authorization from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).
The proposed consent decree for the settlement, lodged with the federal district court on May 30, 2012, is subject to a 30-day comment period and final court approval.
Pennsylvania DEP Fines Residential Subdivision’s Owner, Contractor $42,500 for Various Violations
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced that the owner and contractor of Heritage Estates West in Antrim Township, Pennsylvania, will pay a $42,500 penalty as part of a settlement agreement for violations of the Clean Streams Law.
The residential subdivision’s owner is Divinity Investments LLC, and the contractor is Charles E. Brake Company, Inc.
Heritage Estates West is located in a High Quality watershed that includes an unnamed tributary to Muddy Run Creek. DEP issued the subdivision an individual National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit (NPDES) in June 2008, and construction started at the site in late 2010.
During inspections conducted from May to September of 2011, the Franklin County Conservation District (FCCD) discovered that the site was substantially out of compliance with its Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (E&S) and NPDES requirements. Other violations were noted, such as failing to implement and maintain best-management practices; failing to stabilize areas of the site after construction activity stopped; and failing to implement special requirements to protect and maintain the designated uses of the special protection waters at the site.
DEP issued a compliance order to Divinity and Brake on September 30, 2011, which required them to address the violations by October 14, 2011, and stabilize the site by October 18, 2011. The FCCD’s follow-up inspections determined there was minimal progress in complying with the order and the violations were still occurring.
On December 28, 2011, Divinity and Brake satisfied the compliance order by properly following their NPDES and E&S Plan requirements, implementing the best-management practices, and reclaiming all disturbed areas.
$36,625 Penalty for Asbestos Violations
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has assessed a $36,625 penalty against three entities that were found to be violating state asbestos regulations at sites in Southborough and Provincetown, Massachusetts
MassDEP penalized Clifford J. Schorer III of Boston, CJS Holdings II, Inc., of Southborough and Provincetown for asbestos violations that resulted from activities performed in March of 2010 at the Trust’s properties.
MassDEP personnel conducted inspections of both locations and observed that Mr. Schorer had improperly removed asbestos-containing insulation and asbestos-containing transite panels from the Provincetown location, and then brought the asbestos-containing waste to the Southborough location, which is not an approved asbestos waste storage or disposal facility. During the inspections, MassDEP observed dry asbestos-containing waste materials uncontained on the ground at the Provincetown site, and dry asbestos-containing waste materials being stored in unmarked, torn, household trash bags at the Southborough location.
Upon discovery of the violations, MassDEP required that a Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards licensed asbestos contractor be retained to properly remove, package, and dispose of all the asbestos-containing waste at both properties.
Under the terms of a consent order, the parties were cited for failing to notify MassDEP of a demolition/renovation operation involving asbestos-containing materials; and for the improper handling, packaging, and storage of asbestos-containing waste materials.
The parties must pay $4,000 of the assessed penalty, with the remaining $32,625 penalty suspended provided that the company remains in compliance with applicable regulations for one year.
Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative to Pay $33,880 Penalty for Community Right-to-Know Violations
Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative, a cheese manufacturer, has agreed to pay a $33,880 civil penalty to the US to settle two violations of environmental regulations related to the public reporting of toxic chemicals at its facility in Luana, Iowa.
In settlement of this matter, Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative will also complete a supplemental environmental project. Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative will purchase emergency response equipment for the Luana, Iowa, fire department valued at approximately $10,786.
According to an administrative consent agreement and final order filed by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kansas, in May 2011, the Agency requested information from Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative and found the company had failed to submit reports to EPA and the State of Iowa concerning quantities of certain toxic chemicals that were manufactured, processed, or otherwise used at the facility during 2009. Those chemicals were nitric acid and nitrate compounds. Nitrate compounds are known to be harmful to human health and toxic vapors of nitric acid may cause severe injury, burns, or death. During calendar year 2009, the facility manufactured, processed, or otherwise used 187,000 lb of nitric acid and 71,000 lb of nitrate compounds.
Submission of the annual toxic chemical reports is a requirement of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Under EPCRA regulations, companies of certain size are required to submit annual reports to EPA and state authorities listing the amounts of regulated chemicals that their facilities release into the environment through routine activities or as a result of accidents. The reports provide an important source of information to emergency planners, first responders, and residents of surrounding communities.
Trucking Company Penalized $19,417 for Failing to Report Gasoline Spill
MassDEP has penalized E.J. Wyson Trucking, Inc., of Gardner, Massachusetts, $19,417 for failing to report and initiate the appropriate cleanup response actions after a sudden release of gasoline on December 30, 2011. During a delivery, an estimated 40 gallons of gasoline spewed out into the surrounding soil after Wyson’s driver improperly connected to the station’s port while off-loading.
The driver exacerbated the environmental impact by not reporting this spill, instead allowing gasoline to soak into surrounding soil, which three days later permeated the indoor air of an adjacent two-family residence and a commercial building. Both structures required immediate evacuation of individuals after the release was discovered.
After being informed of this incident, Wyson’s management hired an environmental cleanup contractor immediately and has taken responsibility for ongoing cleanup actions. The driver in question is no longer employed by the company.
Wyson has also agreed to prepare and submit to MassDEP an Oil and Hazardous Material Release Reporting and Response Plan to be followed by Wyson’s employees in the event of any future release incidents. Further, the company will pay $9,000 of the penalty over the next year. The remaining $10,417 is suspended contingent upon Wyson’s compliance with the terms of the order.
Sheffield Company Fined $14,000 for Environmental Violations
MassDEP has assessed a $14,000 penalty against Pete’s Sales and Service, Inc., of Sheffield, Massachusetts, for violations of the Commonwealth’s hazardous waste and industrial wastewater regulations.
The violations included: transporting waste oil without a license; discharging industrial wastewater (truck wash water and storm water) in and onto the ground without a permit; failure to label containers of waste oil; failure to keep waste oil containers closed; and spillage of waste oil onto the ground.
MassDEP has ordered Pete’s to take corrective action to properly handle and contain hazardous materials and to assess the property for potential impacts as a result of their previous practices. Pete’s has agreed to correct the violations and to pay a penalty of $8,000; MassDEP has agreed to suspend the additional $6,000 pending compliance with the terms and conditions of the order.
D&M Auto Shop Sued For Allegedly Dumping Illegal Waste into Marsh
An auto repair business is being sued for allegedly failing to clean up underground gasoline contamination and not removing construction and demolition debris that was illegally dumped in the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation in Massachusetts.
According to the complaint, Manuele Scata allegedly failed to clean up underground gasoline contamination at his auto repair business, D&M Auto Doctor, located in East Boston, Massachusetts, and also allegedly failed to remove construction and demolition debris that he dumped—or allowed others to dump—in the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation.
The lawsuit also alleges that Scata violated the Commonwealth’s hazardous waste law by failing to assess and remediate the gasoline-contaminated soil and groundwater at his property, even after entering into an administrative consent order with MassDEP to do so in 2006. The property is located adjacent to the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, an area of ecologically valuable, state-owned salt marsh that is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
According to the complaint, at some point prior to April 2010, Scata also dumped—or allowed others to dump—three large piles of construction and demolition debris from his property in a wetland buffer area of the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, in violation of state wetlands and solid waste law. The complaint also alleges that Scata improperly stored waste oil at his property in 2010 in non-compliance with state hazardous waste management requirements.
The Belle Isle Marsh is Boston’s last remaining salt marsh and part of the Rumney Marshes Area of Critical Environmental Concern that, according to the complaint, serves as a nursery for fish and shellfish and provides critical habitat to many locally rare salt marsh plants and wildlife, including at least five species of birds state-listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. The marshes also provide vitally important flood damage prevention to the surrounding human communities, as alleged in the complaint.
The Commonwealth is seeking an order requiring Scata to complete assessment and remediation of the soil and groundwater contamination at his property as well as any other areas to which the contamination may have migrated. The complaint also requests an order requiring Scata to remove the three piles of construction and demolition debris in the Belle Isle Marsh that allegedly originated from his property.
Finally, the Commonwealth has asked the court to assess civil penalties against Scata for his ongoing violations of the state hazardous waste, solid waste, and wetlands laws, and to require him to pay approximately $10,000 in MassDEP compliance fees and response costs, as well as the administrative penalties he currently owes the Commonwealth.
Arizona Files Lawsuit against IBWC for Allowing Untreated Industrial Wastewater to Cross Border
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) officials have announced that a lawsuit has been filed against the US International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) for State permit and CWA violations caused by allowing untreated industrial wastewater to cross the Mexican border at Nogales into Arizona waterways.
The 11-count suit states that the IBWC has failed to implement a program to keep industrial waste from entering domestic sewage, which has resulted in illegal levels of cadmium, cyanide, and ammonia nitrogen entering Arizona. ADEQ will ask the court to require that IBWC either implement a pretreatment program or install an industrial waste treatment system at the Nogales International Wastewater Treatment Plant in Rio Rico, north of Nogales.
Despite two previous Notices of Violation (NOV) and a Compliance Order issued by ADEQ against IBWC, the federal agency has not achieved compliance and the violations continue. Since 2008, the IBWC has self-reported more than 100 violations of the cadmium, cyanide, and ammonia nitrate standards set in its Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.
Stormwater flows into Arizona beneath the international boundary to Nogales Wash, a concrete channel which conveys the water to the Santa Cruz River. About three feet beneath the wash is the International Outflow Interceptor (IOI), a pipeline which moves raw sewage and untreated industrial wastewater to the Nogales, Arizona, treatment plant. The raw sewage is treated before it is released into the Santa Cruz River but the plant has no equipment to remove the heavy metals in the industrial wastewater.
Because of the system’s age and high water flows from Mexico, the Nogales Wash and IOI had major failures every year from 2007 until 2011, some of which impacted the Santa Cruz River.
ADEQ will also ask the Court to require IBWC to perform an engineering study to rehabilitate the Nogales Wash and the IOI and also perform the work needed to complete the rehabilitation.
Landmark Gas Drilling Court Case Against Upstate New York Town Advances
An oil and gas company is scheduled to file briefs in its lawsuit against a small town in upstate New York fighting to preserve its way of life. It is expected the briefs will outline why the privately-held Anschutz Exploration Corporation, owned by billionaire Phillip Anschutz (estimated net worth: $7.5 billion), thinks it should be allowed to overrule the zoning laws limiting industrial gas development in the Town of Dryden, New York, with a population of 14,000.
The company brought its lawsuit after the Dryden Town Board approved a change to its zoning ordinance that prohibited use of land within the town for oil and gas development, including the process known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking, in which drillers blast millions of gallons of chemically treated water into the ground to force out gas. The unanimous, bipartisan vote followed a petition drive and a series of public hearings, in which residents spoke out three to one in favor of the change.
Anschutz appealed the decision. The case now heads to an appellate court where the town is being represented by the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice.
Environmental News Links
Trivia Question of the Week
A 2011 report by the Brookings Institution claims that 2.7 million Americans are employed in a Clean Economy. Of this, the most common green job is in the waste management and treatment sector. How many Americans did they estimate are employed in this sector?a. 200,000
b. 400,000
c. 600,000
d. 800,000
