Environmental News For The Week Ending 23September 2018

Written by rjs, MarketWatch 666

This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics over the last week. This is a Tuesday evening regular post at GEI.

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Questions emerge following shutoff of water to Detroit schools – School Superintendent Nikolai Vitti recently conducted a series of “community water meetings” to discuss the water crisis that emerged in the Detroit public schools system after his August 26 announcement that the water in all 106 schools in the district would be shut off due to high levels of lead and copper. However, the meetings raised more questions than they answered. Vitti, who was appointed last year, and his staff have been trying to minimize the significance of the discovery of deadly toxins in the schools’ water. He described his decision to shut off the drinking water at all 106 schools in response to the findings that 16 of 24 schools tested had high levels of lead and or copper as using an “abundance of caution.” Starting September 10 and running through September 18, meetings were held at four different high schools around Detroit. Vitti made the case that his administration acted proactively to come up with what he called a “permanent” solution – the installation of “hydration stations” at all 106 schools. At a cost of $2 million, one station would be put in place by next school year for every 100 students, providing filtered water for drinking and filling water bottles. In the meantime, water coolers and bottled water would be supplied.Considering that the district serves some 45,000 students, turnout for the “community water meetings” was sparse. Questions that were asked by teachers, parents and residents expressed skepticism over Vitti’s glib presentation of what is certainly a catastrophic situation given the demonstrated harmful effects of lead and copper in drinking water. Some expressed concern not just about the schools, but also about the quality of the water throughout the city. A teacher asked how could educators take responsibility for educating the children without knowledge of factors like lead poisoning. Others wanted to know how the bankruptcy proceedings in Detroit affected the safety of the drinking water. Vitti feigned empathy with the concerns expressed by parents, but asserted several times that his administration has no authority beyond the district all the while touting his own response.

EPA Is Failing to Protect School Children From Asbestos, Internal Watchdog Agency Says – That’s the conclusion of a report released Monday by the EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency’s internal watchdog. The report assessed the EPA’s compliance with the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) of 1986, an amendment to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that requires local education agencies to inspect schools for asbestos, make asbestos management plans and carry out actions to reduce or prevent asbestos exposure. “Even though the EPA was responsible for conducting AHERA compliance inspections for the majority of states, it conducted fewer inspections overall than the states responsible for their own inspections,” the report found. Between 2011 and 2015, the EPA conducted only 13 percent of inspections required under AHERA, while states in charge of their own inspections conducted 87 percent. The report further found that only one EPA region had a strategy for monitoring compliance under TSCA, and five of 10 regions only inspected for asbestos when there was a complaint. “Without compliance inspections, the EPA cannot know whether schools pose an actual risk of asbestos exposure to students and personnel,” the report said. The OIG recommended that the EPA mandate that regions incorporate asbestos monitoring into TSCA monitoring plans generally and tell local education agencies that they must work with regional offices to establish asbestos management plans that are maintained and to make sure the plans are being followed. Trump’s EPA blamed the Obama administration for the lax enforcement, and it is true that the period highlighted by the study coincides with the Obama presidency.

Household disinfectants could be making kids overweight, study says – (CNN) Multi-surface cleaners and other commonly used household disinfectants could be making children overweight by altering the bacteria found in their guts, a new study published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests. Infants living in households where antimicrobial disinfectants are used at least weekly were twice as likely to have higher levels of the bacteria Lachnospiraceae at ages 3 to 4 months than children whose homes did not frequently use disinfectants, the Canadian researchers found. When those children with higher levels of Lachnospiraceae were 3 years old, their body mass index (BMI) was higher than children who do not live in homes that frequently use disinfectants, the study also showed. The bacteria Lachnospiraceae are “a normal component of our gut microbiota,” Anita Kozyrskyj, senior author of the study and a University of Alberta pediatrics professor, said in a CMAJ podcast. However, she explained that it is known “from animal studies that higher levels of Lachnospiraceae have been associated with higher body fat and insulin resistance.”

Small particulates in the air linked to dementia, ASU research finds – Researchers from Arizona State University have found another good reason to stay indoors on days when the local air pollution is high – it could help prevent dementia.A recently released working paper by three ASU economists makes the case that prolonged exposure to air pollution does not just cause respiratory problems, but also puts individuals at higher risk for dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.The researchers suggest that improving air quality has huge value due to longer and better lives that result from lower rates of dementia.”

Air pollution particles found in mothers’ placentas – Scientists have found the first evidence that particles of air pollution travel through pregnant women’s lungs and lodge in their placentas.Toxic air is already strongly linked to harm in foetuses but how the damage is done is unknown. The new study, involving mothers living in London, UK, revealed sooty particles in the placentas of each of their babies and researchers say it is quite possible the particles entered the foetuses too. “It is a worrying problem – there is a massive association between air pollution a mother breathes in and the effect it has on the foetus,” said Dr Lisa Miyashita, at Queen Mary University of London, one of the research team. “It is always good if possible to take less polluted routes if you are pregnant – or indeed if you are not pregnant. I avoid busy roads when I walk to the station.” A series of previous studies have shown that air pollution significantly increases the risk of premature birth and of low birth weight, leading to lifelong damage to health.

U.S. Air Pollution Is ‘Completely Outrageous’ – How do you think the U.S. stacks up against other countries for protecting its citizens from the health threats of air pollution? That’s the question Christiana Figueres, one of the world’s leading climate warriors, posed at last week’sGlobal Climate and Health Forum, an official side event of the Global Climate Action Summit. The answer, said Ms. Figueres, is “completely outrageous.” The U.S. is one of the richest countries in the world, has the highest per capita spending on health care, and has an effective federal clean air law. But when it comes to avoiding sicknesses and deaths due to air pollution, we are ranked #23 in the world.

The poisoning of Willowbrook – If you call up the 2014 National Air Toxins Assessment map, which estimates the risk of cancer for residents of every census tract in the United States, and type in “Chicago, IL,” you’ll see a dark patch of blue over the southwest suburb of Willowbrook: That’s the location of Sterigenics International, a company that uses ethylene oxide to sterilize medical products like surgical trays and gowns. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, exposure to the gas can “result in respiratory irritation and lung injury, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, and cyanosis. Chronic exposure has been associated with the occurrence of cancer, reproductive effects, mutagenic changes, neurotoxicity, and sensitization.”Indeed, according to the NATA map, residents of Willowbrook had a cancer risk of 300 in a million, specifically as a result of exposure to ethylene oxide emitted by Sterigenics. That’s the highest score anywhere in the Chicago area, and ten times higher than the vast majority of census tracts, which ran a risk of 30 in a million. In fact, I searched the entire map of the United States, and the only place I found that exceeded Willowbrook’s cancer risk was St. John the Baptist, Louisiana, in the state’s notorious “cancer alley” of oil refineries and petrochemical processors.

Duke University Study: N.C. Residents Living Near Large Hog Farms Have Elevated Disease, Death Risks —Residents of communities near industrial-scale hog farms in North Carolina face an increased risk of potentially deadly diseases, Duke University scientists reported in a study released this week.Researchers found that compared to communities without big hog farms, in the communities with the highest hog farm density, there were 30 percent more deaths among patients with kidney disease, 50 percent more deaths among patients with anemia, and 130 percent more deaths among patients with a blood bacterial infection, called sepsis. The communities near the heaviest concentration of large hog farms also had a greater risk of infant mortality and lower birth weight.

US Diplomats Involved In Trafficking Of Human Blood And Pathogens For Secret Military Program – The US Embassy to Tbilisi transports frozen human blood and pathogens as diplomatic cargo for a secret US military program. Internal documents, implicating US diplomats in the transportation of and experimenting on pathogens under diplomatic cover were leaked to me by Georgian insiders. According to these documents, Pentagon scientists have been deployed to the Republic of Georgia and have been given diplomatic immunity to research deadly diseases and biting insects at the Lugar Center – the Pentagon biolaboratory in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi. This military facility is just one of the many Pentagon biolaboratories in 25 countries across the world. They are funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) under a $ 2.1 billion military program – Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP), and are located in former Soviet Union countries such as Georgia and Ukraine, the Middle East, South East Asia and Africa.

Autism and DDT: What one million pregnancies can – and can’t – reveal — Mothers with high levels of the pesticide DDT in their blood during pregnancy are more likely to bear children who develop autism, according to a study of blood samples from more than one million pregnant women in Finland. The World Health Organization estimates that globally, one in 160 children has autism. Any case of autism is likely due to a number of factors, including genetics and other environmental exposures. Although the authors stress that the findings do not prove that autism is caused by DDT – whose use has been banned in many countries for decades over concerns about its effects on wildlife – it is the first such association using a direct measure of exposure to the pesticide.

Dave Murphy: Will Monsanto’s Loss Result In Less Poison In Our Food? – In November 2016, a very concerning report — Glyphosate: Unsafe On Any Plate — was released by The Detox Project and Food Democracy Now!, raising the alarm of the high levels of glyphosate in the US food supply and the (deliberate?) low levels of awareness of its associated health risks.Soon after its release, we brought Dave Murphy, executive director of Food Democracy Now!, on the podcast to explain the explosive findings within this report on the world’s most-used herbicide (more commonly known by its retail brand: Roundup). We asked: Are we being poisoned in the pursuit of profit?As happened in past decades with the alcohol and tobacco industries, the glyphosate report added compelling evidence that profits have indeed taken a priority over consumer safety in our food production system — and as public health concerns mounted, Big Ag started circling its wagons and attacking the questioners rather than embracing open scrutiny.But last month, the tables turned. In a landmark upset ruling, Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller was ruled to be carcinogenic, and the company’s attempt to hide this fact from consumers made it guilty of acting “with malice or oppression”.

Seed diversity is disappearing – and 3 chemical companies own more than half – By 2018, after a frenzy of mergers and acquisitions, just three companies controlled more than half of all seed revenues, and a grow­ing percentage of the living germplasm embedded in those seeds. The primary business for all three, now fused into globe-stretching merged companies – DowDuPont, Bayer-Monsanto, and Syngenta-ChemChina – is not seeds, but agricultural chemicals. The combina­tion of chemical and seed companies is giving rise to seeds that are born addicted to chemicals for their survival – entire generations full of crack-baby seeds. One major result has been the accelerating disappearance of seed diversity at just the time when we require a broader genetic spectrum to adapt to the volatile impacts of our changing climate.

How a Ragtag Group of Oregon Locals Took On the Biggest Chemical Companies in World – and Won – The people who wrote an ordinance banning the aerial spraying of pesticides in western Oregon last year aren’t professional environmental advocates. Their group, Lincoln County Community Rights, includes the owner of a small business that installs solar panels, a semi-retired Spanish translator, an organic farmer who raises llamas, and a self-described caretaker and Navajo-trained weaver. And yet this decidedly homespun group of part-time, volunteer, novice activists managed a rare feat: They didn’t just stop the spraying of pesticides that had been released from airplanes and helicopters in this rural county for decades. They also scared the hell out of the companies that make them, according to internal documents from CropLife America, the national pesticide trade group. Although some of the world’s biggest companies poured money into a stealth campaign to stop the ordinance, and even though the Lincoln activists had no experience running political campaigns, the locals still won. The Lincoln County aerial spray ban, which passed in May 2017, is just one of 155 local measures that restrict pesticides. Communities around the country – including Dubuque, Iowa; Reno, Nevada; Spokane, Washington; and Santa Fe, New Mexico – have instituted protections that go beyond the basic limits set by federal law. Some are aimed at specific pesticides, such as glyphosate, others list a few; while still others ban the chemicals altogether. In the three decades after the first local pesticide restriction was passed in 1970 in Maine, the bans came in a slow trickle. These days, they are coming in a flood, with towns and counties passing more of these measures in the past six years than they did in the 40 before that, according to data from the advocacy group Beyond Pesticides.

How Climate Change Is Increasing Global Hunger –For the third consecutive year, global hunger has gotten worse, and this year the numbers have hit their highest since 2009, with the United Nations pointing the finger at climate change as the key cause.As of this year, the number of hungry globally has reached 821 million, according to a new report by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).The absolute number of people facing chronic food deprivation was 804 million people in 2016 and 784 people in 2015 – levels last seen a decade ago. In other words, one in every nine people worldwide doesn’t get enough to eat. Even worse, 22.2 percent of children under five were affected by stunting in 2017 due to hunger.What is causing these scary figures?The main culprit is climate change and these figures might become even scarier if countries fail to tackle the problem and work to build up resistance to its unavoidable consequences, the report warns.Extreme weather events – including extreme heat, droughts, floods and storms – are said to be the key drivers behind rising global hunger.The number of extreme climate-related disasters has doubled since the early 1990s, with an average of 213 annually from 1990 to 2016, harming agricultural productivity and leading to increases in food prices coupled with losses in income. It’s simple math that reduces access to food.Data from the FAO study shows that the number of undernourished people tends to be higher in countries highly exposed to climate extremes. As such, climate change is threatening to erase any gains made in the global effort to fight hunger. “If we are to achieve a world without hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030, it is imperative that we accelerate and scale up actions to strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of food systems and people’s livelihoods in response to climate variability and extremes,” the heads of FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) wrote in a joint foreword to the report.

UN report identifies where global harvests will rise and fall by 2050 – The United Nations (UN) released a report Monday identifying future winners and losers in agriculture as the planet warms from the effects of climate change. The report titled “The State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2018” has attempted to study the relationship between agricultural trade, climate change and food security. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN launched the report from Rome on Monday. Under a section focused on the long-term impact of climate change on agricultural production and trade, the agency concluded that farmers in different parts of the world can expect yields to either rise or fall over the next three decades. Using the year 2050 as an end point, the report stated that declines are forecast to be most obvious in West Africa and India where farming yield could fall by as much as 2.9 and 2.6 percent respectively. Conversely, the UN researchers forecast that higher temperatures in higher latitude regions will increase harvest. Winners in this model include Canada (2.5 percent) and Russia (0.9 percent) and suggested that even parts of Finland could soon be warm enough to produce cereal. “Whereas most tropical regions are likely to experience production losses due to rising temperatures, production in temperate regions is expected to benefit from warmer climate and longer growing seasons,” the report said.

Bye bye bugs? Scientists fear non-pest insects are declining (AP) – A staple of summer – swarms of bugs – seems to be a thing of the past. And that’s got scientists worried.Pesky mosquitoes, disease-carrying ticks, crop-munching aphids and cockroaches are doing just fine. But the more beneficial flying insects of summer – native bees, moths, butterflies, ladybugs, lovebugs, mayflies and fireflies – appear to be less abundant.Scientists think something is amiss, but they can’t be certain: In the past, they didn’t systematically count the population of flying insects, so they can’t make a proper comparison to today. Nevertheless, they’re pretty sure across the globe there are fewer insects that are crucial to as much as 80 percent of what we eat.Yes, some insects are pests. But they also pollinate plants, are a key link in the food chain and help decompose life.

Mosquitoes Could Spread Microplastics, Study Suggests —Microplastics, which get gobbled up by whales, deep-sea fish and plankton, have also turned up in the bodies of mosquitoes, scientists have revealed.The research, published Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters, is the first to show that bits of plastic can be transferred between a mosquito’s life stages that use different habitats.

The Many Hazards of Toxic Algae Outbreaks – This summer, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) is tracking outbreaks of potentially toxic algae across the U.S. We have been startled to find that these outbreaks are erupting everywhere: from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Though outbreaks of algae vary in type, severity and health hazards, all toxic algae outbreaks have serious consequences. Exposure can be caused by contact, ingestion or inhalation. Short-term health effects can range from skin irritation and numbness to fever and headaches. Long-term exposure can lead to cancer, liver failure and sperm damage. Some studies have even linked ingestion of cyanotoxins to brain inflammation. What is traditionally called blue-green algae is actually a class of microscopic organisms called cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria can be toxic and can also produce various types of cyanotoxins that have different hazards. With their small, developing bodies, children are especially endangered by algae exposure.

First Fatal Shark Attack in Massachusetts Since 1936 – A Massachusetts man died Saturday after what is believed to be the first deadly shark attack in that state since 1936, CNN reported Sunday.The death comes as the population of great white sharks off Cape Cod has increased in recent years following the rebounding of the seal population there.

Interior moves ahead with opening wildlife refuge next to contaminated nuclear site – The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to allow public access to a wildlife refuge in Colorado that surrounds one of the country’s most contaminated former nuclear sites. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on Saturday plans to make more than 5,000 acres available to the public in Colorado’s Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, located 12 miles northwest of Denver. Earlier Friday, that decision was briefly delayed by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. “Secretary Zinke has heard concerns about the opening of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge and has decided to delay the opening to gather additional information. The Secretary has asked Deputy Secretary Bernhardt to look into this matter,” an Interior spokeswoman said in a statement to The Hill. But an hour after Interior announced the delay, it said the plans would move forward..

Too Hot for Work? – With temperatures breaking records every summer, we’re already living through climate change’s fallout. But some communities are experiencing more effects than others, especially when it comes to working conditions: Dirty air strafes our lungs on our daily commutes, power plants pump smog into downwind neighborhoods, and farm laborers are getting roasted alive. In the United States, heat-related death and illness poses one of the most immediate and widespread risks linked to global-warming trends. In July alone last year, according to Public Citizen, “An average of 1.1 million agriculture and construction workers labored in extreme conditions each day.” A study on hospitalizations in Los Angeles from 2005 to 2010 found that heat-related emergency-room visits grew by about 8 percent with each percentage increase in residents working in construction, and by 11 percent for every comparable rise in the farming, forestry, and related outdoor sectors.

UK residents ‘ten times more likely die due to a cold home than a traffic accident’ – Poor planning and a lack of national resources meant people in the UK were almost ten times more likely to die from a cold home than a road traffic accident during the cold snap last winter, a new report claims. Energy charities National Energy Action (NEA) and Energy Action Scotland said the severe weather caused a huge surge in preventable deaths among the frail and elderly, and left health and social care services “creaking at the seams”. Dr Jamie-Leigh Ruse, senior research and policy officer at NEA, said: “In England alone, between 1 January and 31 March 2018, an additional 15,544 deaths occurred. “Most days in this period saw more deaths than the corresponding day than in any of the previous five years. “They said this meant people were almost ten times more likely to die from a cold home than a road traffic accident. And even though other winters have been much milder, there are still approximately 9,700 premature deaths a year due to vulnerable people being unable to heat their homes adequately, if at all.

Florence’s SC forecast felt so unpredictable. But the NHC nailed it. Florence has been one weird storm.The massive system threatened to grow to a Category 5, which would have had winds of 156 mph or more. No storm in recorded history had ever done that so far north, so close to South Carolina. Meanwhile, its uncertain path had computer models pointing fingers in different directions trying to predict it. After landfall, it moved inland to the southwest, a direction that no hurricane expert had ever seen before.Florence – a frightening storm larger than the Carolinas combined – was nothing if not unpredictable.But National Hurricane Center forecasters nailed it. They indicated as early as six days out that the storm was most likely to strike where it did, in North Carolina near the South Carolina border, then turn south. The performance lit up social media with accolades from meteorologists. Shea Gibson, the Charleston-based forecaster for the private company WeatherFlow, called it one of the more impressive forecast verifications he had ever seen. (forecast maps video) Here’s why the storm was so unpredictable, and why the Hurricane Center staff got it right:

Florence: Hurricane-force rain causes catastrophic flooding, widespread power outages with more to come – live updates as rescue efforts continue, death toll rises – Florence fast facts:

• At least 23 people have died in storm-related incidents, including a man and a woman in Horry County, S.C. who died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Some 523,000 homes and businesses are still without power in North and South Carolina as of 5 a.m. Monday.
• As of 5 a.m. Monday, Florence was a tropical depression, NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center said, with sustained winds of 30 mph.
• It was some 125 miles west-southwest of Roanoke, Va. and 145 miles west-northwest of Greensboro, N.C., moving north-northeast at 13 mph.
• Florence was still massive Monday morning. Radar showed parts of the sprawling storm over six states, with North and South Carolina in the bull’s-eye.
• Some weakening is expected today before Florence re-intensifies as it transitions to an extratropical cyclone tomorrow and Wednesday.
• Swansboro, N.C. has received more than 30 inches of rain; several other places have received more than 20 inches.
• Florence is producing widespread heavy rains and causing flash flooding and major river flooding over a “significant portion” of North and South Carolina, the National Hurricane Center said.

CBS News has confirmed at least 23 deaths related to Florence. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety says there have been four additional deaths in Cleveland County, Columbus County, Onslow County and Scotland County.Authorities have recovered the body of a 1-year-old who was swept away by Florence’s floodwaters in Union County, North Carolina. The county sheriff’s office said a woman and her child were on their way to visit relatives when she drove past barricades on highway 218 in northern Union County. The woman later told authorities someone had pushed the barricades to the side, making her think it was alright to go through. The woman’s car was swept off the road by the floodwaters, pinning it against a group of trees. She was able to free 1-year-old Kaiden Lee-Welch from his car seat and escape. But the waters were deep, and police said the woman lost her grip and her son was swept away. Wilmington, North Carolina, has been completely cut off by floodwaters and officials are asking for additional help from state law enforcement and the National Guard.

Two Mental-Health Patients Drowned While Chained Up in a Flooded Police Van – Two female mental-health patients in South Carolina have drowned after the transport van, where they were being held in chains flooded on Tuesday, local ABC affiliate WPDE reports. The incident is currently being investigated by the State Law Enforcement Division.The women were patients at Loris Hospital and Waccamaw Center for Mental Health in Horry County, and were being transported by two sheriff’s deputies to nearby McLeod Health. According to a statement from the Horry Country Sheriff’s Office, when the van became overcome by flood waters from Hurricane Florence, the two deputies tried to free the women – who have not been named – but were unable to because of the fast-rising waters. The deputies climbed to the top of the van where they were rescued by a high water team, while the women remained trapped and chained in the flooded van. As of 8:45 p.m. last night, flood conditions prevented officials from removing the van.“Tonight’s incident is a tragedy,” Horry County Sheriff Phillip Thompson said in a statement. “Just like you, we have questions we want answered. We are fully cooperating with the State Law Enforcement Division to support their investigation of this event.” So far, at least 37 people have died in Hurricane Florence-related incidents, according to CBS, including 27 in North Carolina, 8 in South Carolina, and 2 in Virginia. Although the storm has left the Carolinas and is making its way north, North and South Carolina continue to deal with intense flooding.

Coal Ash Landfill Collapses in North Carolina Under Florence’s Catastrophic Rainfall – Florence’s catastrophic rains have caused a slope to collapse at a coal ash landfill to collapse at a closed power station near the North Carolina coast, Duke Energy said Saturday night. About 2,000 cubic yards of ash were displaced at the L.V. Sutton Power Station outside of Wilmington, Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said. That contaminated runoff likely flowed into the plant’s cooling pond. The company is working to determine if the weir that drains the lake was open or if the contamination made it into the Cape Fear River. The displaced ash was enough to fill 180 dump trucks or about two-thirds of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Florence slammed into the North Carolina coast as a large hurricane Friday, dumping nearly 3 feet of rain and swelling the region’s rivers. The resulting flooding forced swift-water rescues and left several people dead. The coal-fired Sutton plant was retired in 2013 and the company has been excavating millions of tons of ash from old waste pits and removing it to safer lined landfills constructed on the property. The gray ash left behind when coal is burned contains toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead and mercury. A file photo of the dried-up bed of an inactive coal ash pond at Duke Energy’s Sutton plant in Wilmington, North Carolina. (Mike Spencer/AP) Duke has been under intense scrutiny for the handling of its coal ash since a drainage pipe collapsed under a waste pit at an old plant in Eden in 2014, triggering a massive spill that coated 70 miles of the Dan River in gray sludge. In a subsequent settlement with federal regulators, Duke agreed to plead guilty to nine Clean Water Act violations and pay $102 million in fines and restitution for illegally discharging pollution from coal-ash dumps at five North Carolina power plants. The company is in the process of closing all of its coal ash dumps by 2029.

Storm Floods Breached Coal-Ash Pit, Isolated Duke Nuclear Plant — Duke Energy Corp. grappled with deadly Hurricane Florence’s aftereffects as a breach in a coal-ash landfill worsened and its Brunswick nuclear plant declared a low-level emergency because of flooding. While the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared an “unusual event” this weekend at the atomic plant on North Carolina’s soaked southern coast due to “site access issues,” it said there were no safety concerns. Roads around the plant were largely impassable and that supplies were being flown in to stranded workers, according to an engineer.About 30 miles to the north, a Duke landfill in Wilmington holding potentially toxic coal ash suffered further damage, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Duke said about 2,000 cubic yards of coal ash flowed from its Sutton Plant near the Cape Fear river. While the EPA called it a second breach, the company said it’s all part of the same “erosion event.” “The next few days will be long ones as flooding continues,” Record-setting, still-rising floods covering much of eastern North Carolina are preventing a comprehensive assessment of Hurricane Florence’s damage. Meanwhile, North Carolina will be dealing with the deluge for at least two weeks, said Wylie Quillian, a National Weather Service hydrologist.While a storm this size typically might cause about $12 billion in losses, Florence could cost the region about $22 billion, said Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler for Enki Research. About $2.5 billion of the losses might be covered by private insurance, according to catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Co.

3.4 Million Chickens, 5,500 Hogs Killed in Florence’s Flooding — The North Carolina Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that the historic flooding from Florence has killed about 3.4 million chickens and turkeys and 5,500 hogs. “This was an unprecedented storm with flooding expected to exceed that from any other storms in recent memory. We know agricultural losses will be significant because the flooding has affected the top six agricultural counties in our state,” said agriculture commissioner Steve Troxler in a press release. The footprint of flooding from this storm covers much of the same area hit by flooding from Hurricane Matthew in 2016, which only worsens the burden on these farmers. When Matthew hit the state, it flooded more than 140 hog and poultry barns, more than a dozen open hog waste pits and thousands of acres of manure-saturated fields, the Environmental Working Group and Waterkeeper Alliance reported. Poultry is the number one agricultural industry in North Carolina, with a statewide economic impact of $36.6 billion a year, according to the North Carolina Poultry Federation. Sanderson Farms, the third largest poultry producer in the country, issued a statement on Monday that 1.7 million of its broiler chickens “were destroyed as a result of flooding.” Sixty of its 880 broiler houses in North Carolina flooded and another six broiler houses experienced damage. Four breeder houses out of a total of 92 in the state flooded. Additionally, Sanderson said about 30 Lumberton-area farms, housing approximately 211,000 chickens in each, have been isolated by flood waters. More chickens could die if the company is unable to reach those farms with feed trucks. The state is also the nation’s second leading producer of hogs, with more than 2,100 farms that raise about 9 million hogs each year, according to the North Carolina Pork Council. The 5,500 hog deaths from Hurricane Florence have already exceeded the 2,800 killed during Hurricane Matthew, the industry trade group wrote in a statement Tuesday.

Pig Excrement Spills Into North Carolina Floodwater – Hurricane-wracked North Carolina faced a health and environmental crisis after at least 17 hog-waste lagoons were compromised and sewage plants across the state flooded, releasing millions of gallons of partially treated human discharge. On an aerial tour Monday of a swath of swine country — the dozen top hog-producing counties cover an area the size of New Jersey — many lagoons appeared intact. Roughly the size of a soccer field, they are blue-green or red, thanks to bacteria that break down the feces and urine. Several, though, were swamped with water from the torrential rains and creeks that had burst from their banks. “We don’t think it’s a good idea for people to be swimming around in poop,” “It’s a pretty serious public-health risk that people should be concerned about.” Four days after deadly Hurricane Florence made landfall, much of the Tar Heel State’s low-lying east remained flooded and impassible. The storm, blamed for killing at least 34 people, damaged a Duke Energy Corp. coal-ash landfill and trapped workers at one of its nuclear plants near stricken Wilmington. The disaster, forecast to cost $22 billion, was wreaking havoc in myriad ways:

• About 2,200 people and 578 animals have been rescued in North Carolina and about 10,000 people were in shelters.
• Almost 322,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
• Sixteen rivers reached major flooding stage, with three others expected to peak in the next two days, Governor Roy Cooper said. “Sunshine doesn’t necessarily mean safety.”
• New Hanover County and Wilmington, which are mostly cut off, opened distribution centers for meals, water and tarps to supply 60,000 people for four days.

After the storm came increasing worries that floodwater suffused with feces and the corpses of livestock could carry disease. North Carolina is home to more swine than any state besides Iowa — 9 million of them, more hogs than New York City has humans. The farms are concentrated in its eastern counties, a world away from Charlotte’s bank towers and the Research Triangle’s universities. The sparsely populated land is regularly punctuated by low-lying barns that hold hundreds of pigs that can weigh close to 300 pounds.

Florence’s slow exit means ‘catastrophic and historic river flooding will continue for days’ – Even as Florence leaves the Carolinas, the floodwater and death toll keep rising.The storm once known as Hurricane Florence has already killed 20 people, trapped hundreds more and made parts of the Carolinas impassable. But forecasters say the worst flooding is yet to come.Residential streets now look like rivers. Rivers like raging torrents. And parts of freeways — dotted with rescue boats — have morphed into free-flowing waterways. The remnants of Florence, now a tropical depression, will likely dump another 2 to 5 inches of rain on central and southeastern North Carolina on Monday, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.But even when the rain lets up, don’t be fooled. The big concern now is river water gushing downstream, further deluging already flooded communities. Several North Carolina rivers, including the Neuse, Trent, and Cape Fear, will remain above and near record flood stage through the end of the week, exacerbating fears of more flood damage.”Catastrophic and historic river flooding will continue for days across portions of the Carolinas,” the National Weather Service said.Now there are fears the death toll will keep climbing. Authorities reported two more deaths on Monday, both in North Carolina. The body of an elderly man was found by his submerged car Monday morning, the Union County Sheriff’s Office said.And 1-year-old Kaiden Lee-Welch, who was swept away by rushing waters Sunday, was found dead Monday, also in Union County.The flooding is so bad in North Carolina that the state’s transportation department warned people not to travel in or through the state. Some interstates, including sections of I-95 and I-40, are closed.Emergency workers have made at least 1,000 swift-water rescues in North Carolina by early Monday, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety said. But many more people need help.Those trapped in floodwater could also be without power for days. About 488,551 customers in North Carolina and 16,385 in South Carolina don’t have electricity. But the number of actual people without power is far greater, since a single customer can represent an entire family.

Only 3% Of Homeowners In Parts Of Hurricane-Slammed North Carolina Have Flood Insurance – Hurricane Florence’s lacerating rains have finally moved on from the Carolina’s, but the flooding threat posed by multiple rivers – particularly in the hardest-hit state of North Carolina remains high, as this photo of Cape Fear River, tweeted earlier Tuesday by the Fayetteville Police Department, clearly shows: You can clearly see the water levels rising in Cape Fear River as we compare photos from Sunday to Today. #capefear #Florence #ReadyNC #ReadyFay pic.twitter.com/jiPUCVpLBP – Fayetteville Police (@FayettevillePD) September 18, 2018 The river is projected to rise nearly 45 feet to near 62.4 feet by Tuesday, according to the NHC – what would be a record-breaking level for the region. As of Monday, Swansboro North Carolina had received nearly 31 inches of rain, which was also a record. The intense flooding has invaded power plants and caused lagoons filled with hog waste to overflow – a phenomenon that will be difficult for state authorities to undo. Aside from the structural damage, the human toll from the storm was also severe, with 35 fatalities across the Carolinas and Virginia. But as the waters recede, rattled residents will begin returning to their homes to see what, if anything, is left of their properties. And unfortunately for hundreds of thousands of them, they will be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in damages because, as USA Today reports, only a small fraction of them have a flood-insurance policy. In the coastal areas that were hardest hit by the storm, USA Today estimates that only between 10% and 20% of homes are insured. Further inland, where flooding is still devastating thousands of homes, rates are as low as 1%. Only 10 percent to 20 percent of coastal homeowners in the hard-hit eastern part of North Carolina, for example, have coverage through the government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and only 1 percent to 3 percent of homes in inland counties have flood policies, . Statewide, roughly 3 percent of the homes in North Carolina have flood coverage and 8 percent of homeowners are covered in South Carolina, Rollins said. The reason rates of the insured are so low particularly in the areas further inland has something to do with misperceptions about the government’s risk assessments. The numbers of those covered are low, he said, because people think that because their home isn’t in a high-risk zone designated by the government that there’s “zero risk” of a flood. “But that’s not true,” Rollins says. Many also don’t realize their basic homeowners policy doesn’t cover flood damage, while others overestimate the disaster aid they will get from the government.

Drone footage shot after Florence shows a massive river in North Carolina–it used to be a highway – The scene would make quite a bucolic backdrop for a pastoral painting. The trees were still and verdant, and the late-summer sun glinted off a river of water that flowed into the horizon.Except it was not a river. Nor was it a stream or a canal – at least, not before the storm.When Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas last week, it brought with it more than 30 inches of rain that has since flooded rivers and roads, in many cases blurring the lines between the two.This was the case Monday with a portion of Interstate 40, one of the country’s longest highways, which stretches from California to North Carolina, where, in Pender County, it was completely submerged. A drone from the North Carolina Department of Transportation captured footage of the stunning spectacle, using the images to underscore a dire warning to the state’s residents: Stay away.There have been at least 35 water rescues in Pender County, according to local news reports.“This isn’t a river … this is Interstate 40,” the Transportation Department tweeted Monday evening. “ … This illustrates our message that travel in this area is impassable and unsafe.”This isn’t a river…this is Interstate 40. @NCAviation captured this drone footage today as part of damage assessment near mile marker 387 in Pender County. This illustrates our message that travel in this area is impassable and unsafe. #FlorenceNC pic.twitter.com/28Ok6Tjpcu – NCDOT (@NCDOT) September 17, 2018Earlier Monday, James H. Trogdon III, head of the Transportation Department, posted a photograph of the same stretch of highway, with what appeared to be two people aboard a skiff, surveying the storm damage while boating above what would have been a lane of oncoming traffic just days before. One Twitter user observed that it looked “like a good fishin day on Interstate 40.”

Factbox: Big gains in Florence-impacted utility restoration; gas demand remains down – – While the remnants of Hurricane Florence continued to depress natural gas demand Sunday, power demand across the Carolinas started to show a strong rebound. Industry officials warned, however, that it could be a bumpy road to recovery. Of more than 1.3 million in outages attributed to Florence and its aftermath on Saturday, service by Sunday had been restored to more than half of Duke Energy customers, who bore the brunt of the storm’s fury. Most ports and terminals affected by the storm were reopened by Sunday, while oil and natural gas pipeline systems reported steady operations throughout.Florence’s aggregate lost demand for the next four weeks across gasoline, diesel/distillate and kero-jet should be between 180,000-220,000 b/d, according to Platts Analytics.After making landfall Friday morning as a Category 1 hurricane, Florence was downgraded to a tropical depression. However, while wind speeds dropped, heavy rains and flooding have persisted across the Carolinas, bringing gas demand down with them. Here are the key takeaways across commodities:

• “The US Atlantic Coast is well supplied with gasoline, but diesel stocks are tight in comparison. USAC gasoline stocks of 66.8 million barrels for the week ended September 7 were 14% above the five-year average, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Diesel stocks on the USAC of 41.7 million barrels were 6% below the average.
• **The North Carolina ports of Wilmington and Morehead City will remain closed until Wednesday, North Carolina Ports advised in an alert Sunday, citing storm damage to warehouses at both locations and a substantial number of downed empty containers.**The ports of Charleston and Georgetown in South Carolina were reopened without restriction Saturday, according to the US Coast Guard. The port of Norfolk, Virginia, a key bunkering port, was open Saturday. In Georgia, the port of Savannah also reopened early Saturday morning.
• Power outages on Sunday continued to be a major factor for lost demand, with gas deliveries to Transco’s Duke Energy Carolinas power plant in North Carolina showing the largest decline of any single facility since Friday, falling 375 MMcf/d. Its LDC facility, Piedmont Natural Gas, also fell 220 MMcf/d.**Despite the continuing onslaught of high winds and heavy rain across South Carolina, Dominion Energy Carolina Gas Transmission’s 1,500-mile gas distribution system had seen little in the way of negative impacts, a company spokesman said Sunday afternoon.

Thirty-one dead as Hurricane Florence continues to ravage the Carolinas — Across the Carolinas, a scene of utter devastation continued to unfold on Monday. Tens of thousands of people have had their homes destroyed by floodwaters caused by Hurricane Florence, now downgraded to a tropical depression. Fallen trees and flooded highways are blocking rescue attempts as stranded residents struggle to obtain food and water.Widespread power outages, landslides and tornadoes continue to imperil the lives of those in the region. Entire cities cut off from outside aid, police guarding storefronts against desperate refugees of the storm, dams threatening to burst – this apocalyptic scene is now a routine feature of American life during Hurricane season.The death toll from the storm has risen to 31, with one of the latest victims being an infant child who slipped from his mother’s grasp after their car became trapped in the floodwaters. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper declared on Monday that “some areas have not seen the worst flooding yet. This is a monumental disaster for our state.”All of North Carolina, including the western and central parts of the state, has been impacted by flooding or has flood warnings in effect. Emergency crews have performed at least 1,000 rescues thus far. Fifteen thousand residents throughout North Carolina were said to be in shelters as of Sunday, with an additional 1,200 in South Carolina. Throughout the region, at least one million homes had lost power as of Sunday. County officials in the mountainous western part of the state have warned residents of potential landslides. The rains are expected to continue through Tuesday. State officials warned that flooding might continue until the end of the week. Various counties throughout the state have also been subject to tornado warnings, and two homes in Pikeville, North Carolina suffered damage from a suspected tornado on Sunday.

Tropical Storm Florence inundates toxic manure ponds, coal ash dumps in the Carolinas –In the several days since hurricane Florence made landfall near the border between North and South Carolina, the storm’s floodwaters have set one record after another. The storm’s official death toll now stands at 32 and is expected to rise with entire cities inundated by flood waters.The Cape Fear River in southeastern North Carolina was predicted to crest Wednesday at 62 feet in Fayetteville, several inches higher than the previous record following Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Elizabethtown, another city along the river, has seen 36 inches of rainfall from Florence, and many nearby cities have seen 30 inches.The Little River, which flows into the Cape Fear in Fayetteville, also exceeded its previous record from Matthew of 32 feet, reaching 36 feet. Most of downtown Fayetteville remains underwater as of this writing. Further west, the Lumber River is expected to crest Wednesday, also at record levels.One of the largest poultry farm operators in North Carolina, reported that 1.7 million chickens have drowned in Florence’s deluge and 6 million more are at risk of starving to death after being cut off by flood waters. An as yet unknown number of hogs have also drowned. Some thousands were killed by flooding from Hurricane Floyd in 1999. In addition to the immediate toll on human and animal life, flooding from Florence presents widespread danger to public health as hundreds of manure ponds – open-air septic tanks used in pork and poultry farming – are beginning to overflow from heavy rainfall. North Carolina is the second largest hog farming state – behind only Iowa – with over 9 million hogs and 2,300 hog farms. Hog and poultry waste pits occupy 6,848 acres of land in the state. Animal excrement spilling into rivers could contaminate drinking water with dangerous bacteria like salmonella and E. coli, both of which can be lethal. This danger is most acute in rural areas where residents draw water from private wells. In larger spills, livestock waste can fill affected waters with enough nitrate and phosphate-rich matter to cause algae blooms in swamps and rivers. This process starves aquatic life of oxygen, creating “fish kills” in rivers, estuaries and even coastal waters where seafood production could suffer for years.

A tornado swarm ripped through Richmond as Florence passed through Monday–here’s what happened – On Monday, a mini-outbreak of tornadoes developed across the Richmond region as the remnants of Florence moved up the spine of the Appalachians. More than a dozen reports of tornado activity were conveyed to the National Weather Service. Here we examine the meteorology and compare Monday’s event with another significant tornado-producing tropical cyclone – Hurricane Ivan in 2004.It was a very active day for the National Weather Service office in Wakefield. Capital Weather Gang contributor Kathryn Prociv notes that it issued 28 separate tornado warnings for southeastern Virginia. The Weather Service office confirmed 6 tornadoes touched down in the region:

• An EF-2 tornado (on the 0 to 5 scale), which was on the ground for 7.5 miles in Chesterfield County with peak winds of 115 to 125 mph. It tore the roof off a building and destroyed a warehouse, where one person was killed.
• An EF-1 tornado, which was on the ground for 9 miles in Chesterfield County with peak winds of 90 to 100 mph. It caused structural damage in the Hampton Park Neighborhood.
• An EF-1, which was on the ground for 1 mile in Hanover County, with peak winds of 95 to 105 mph. Numerous trees were downed or snapped.
• An EF-1, which was on the ground for 3.8 miles on the west side of the city of Richmond, with peak winds of 95 to 100 mph.
• An EF-0 tornado, which was on the ground for 2 miles in Powhatan County, with peak winds of 75 to 80 mph.
• An EF-0, was on the ground for 9 miles in Boydton, Va., 80 miles southwest of Richmond, with peak winds of 80 to 85 mph. Numerous trees were downed.

The reported fatality is an unusual phenomenon with a tropical system, with the last fatality from a tropical storm coming in Debby back in 2012.

Florence May Be Costliest Storm In US History At $170 Billion In Damage – Florence May Be Costliest Storm In US History At $170 Billion In Damage — Hurricane Florence may become the costliest storm in US history, according to analytics firm CoreLogic, which says that damages may exceed $170 billion and affect 759,000 homes and businesses, reports CBS Chicago. The category one storm made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina at approximately 7:15 a.m. Friday. Despite its weakening, the storm has grown substantially in overall size – and will continue to slowly bombard coastal areas with its massive storm surge, torrential rain and high winds. Storm surge will be a huge factor for Hurricane #Florence Check out what it might look like with @TWCErikaNavarro: pic.twitter.com/TPqTZTmiAM – The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) September 13, 2018 AccuWeather Founder and President Dr. Joel N. Meyers has a lower estimate than CoreLogic, placing the predicted damage in the $30-60 billion range. “For further context, we accurately estimated the total economic impact from Hurricane Irma would be $100 billion.” said Meyers.

Florence is the Worst Flood in East Coast History. Here’s How Locals Describe It. – Many of the dire predictions came true. In the past few days, Hurricane Florence has become the worst rainstorm in history for North Carolina, as well as the entire East Coast.The images streaming in from the thousands of square miles of flooded cities and farmlands across the Carolinas are heartbreaking. From the washed-out beach homes of the Outer Banks to the raging mountain streams in the foothills of the Appalachians, nearly the entire region is underwater. All that rain means dozens of lives have been lost, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. Florence’s rainfall data is astonishing. The four-day accumulation of nearly 36 inches, which was measured inElizabethtown, North Carolina, is far, far above the previous rain record for a hurricane anywhere on the East Coast. It broke the North Carolina record by nearly a foot. That much rain is more than what scientists estimate a 1,000-year level, 60-day rainstorm would drop in the region, given a stable climate: slightly more than 35 inches. Put another way, there’s a 0.1 percent chance every year that in a 60-day period the rainfall in Elizabethtown would be at least 35 inches. North Carolina took on all of that water in just four days.The region the storm hit hardest is one of the poorest parts of the state, where virtually no one has flood insurance. As bad as it is, the waters in rivers and streams statewide are still rising. Grist corresponded with 10 Carolinians who grappled with Florence. Here are their stories, edited and condensed for clarity:

Trump calls Hurricane Florence ‘one of the wettest we’ve ever seen from the standpoint of water’ – President Trump frequently posts short videos online of him attempting to appear presidential – i.e., he is shot with professional lighting, he discusses the kinds of normal subjects presidents customarily address, he is not engaging in obstruction of justice at that very moment, etc. Unfortunately, Trump subverts the effect by declining to use any kind of script for his appearances. Even a polished, articulate speaker would struggle in such circumstances, and Trump is comically inarticulate. In his latest video, Trump comments on Hurricane Florence. “This is a tough hurricane,” he proclaims, “one of the wettest we’ve ever seen from the standpoint of water.” Whether Florence is also wet from other standpoints is a question the president did not address. pic.twitter.com/G0BjCXEnaX – Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 18, 2018 Watching this video is very much like the common experience of making small talk about the weather with a stranger, except rather than ending the conversation after the normal ten seconds or so, the stranger believes his job and stature require him to elaborate with words that are not at his disposal. And so Trump adds that the hurricane “certainly is not good,” and that people have died (“That’s a tough one, it’s tough to understand”) and also that it “has been a nasty one, a big one.” In the video, Trump is using his favorite dignified scowl. (The New York Times reported last year that the president told staff he wants to look “like Churchill” when he makes this face.) Except Churchill knew more words than an average 10-year-old, and he also wrote them down before he started speaking to the entire country.

No Way In, No Way Out Of North Carolina City – WSJ – Life for Wilmington’s 118,000 people is in a holding pattern. The city has virtually no power, no gasoline and no way in or out. “It’s been waiting for the storm to get here, then waiting for the storm to pass,” said Deborah Smith, a 65-year-old day-care center owner. “Now it’s waiting for the lights to come on so you can get cleaned up. The hardest part is the waiting.” It is rare for a U.S. city to be so cut off from the rest of the country. During big storms like Harvey in Texas and Matthew here in southeastern North Carolina, when interstates were blocked, there were still ways in and out of the city. Not this time.Authorities are urging those who evacuated before the storm hit on Friday not to return. Everyone who stayed is stuck, many with dwindling food and supplies, after preparing for a far shorter disruption to their lives. Mobile service is spotty, and news of the world outside Wilmington is hard to come by. When Ms. Smith found a spot with a signal, she called her sister in New Jersey and had her hold the phone next to the television. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is moving supplies, such as water and tarps and other necessities, by air to Wilmington. Before Florence, Wilmington’s downtown bustled, with a promenade along the Cape Fear River typically crowded with tourists. But the bars and restaurants are largely boarded up, and the rain and overflow from the river fill many roads.Now, most businesses are closed. A Family Dollar store was looted over the weekend, with residents reporting theft of food, diapers, toilet paper and children’s clothes.

Inaccessible North Carolina Nuclear Plant Declares Unusual Event During Storm-Driven Hot Shutdown — Duke Energy’s Brunswick nuclear plant, about 30 miles south of Wilmington, has declared a state of emergency as the 1,200-acre complex remains cut off by flood waters and and is inaccessible to outside personnel. Just as we warned a week ago, The News & Observer reports, at this time, no one can come in and relieve the Duke Energy workers and NRC “storm riders” who have been on site for days, NRC spokesman Joey Ledford said. And it would not be possible to evacuate the 10-mile emergency evacuation zone around the site if a higher level of emergency were declared. “None of the roads are passable,” Ledford said. “The plant is safe. The reactors are in hot stand-by mode 3 shutdown.” But as Intellihub reports, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is being tight-lipped about an “unusual event” which occurred at the Brunswick Nuclear Plant last Saturday which forced a “hot shutdown” of both the plant’s Generation IV-type reactors 1 and 2.The NRC classified the emergency as an “unusual event” but provided little to no details on the situation.Additionally, the NRC reports that weather conditions from Tropical Storm Florence are currently preventing workers from accessing the plant.“A hazardous event has resulted in on site conditions sufficient to prohibit the plant staff from accessing the site via personal vehicles due to flooding of local roads by Tropical Storm Florence.”From the NRC regarding Event 53609: The current rector mode is showing as “hot shutdown” and more rain is on the way.River waters in the area are expected to rise as much as 20 feet in the coming days. Not to mention, local dams in the area may be to capacity.Brunswick is equipped with emergency backup diesel generators to operate essential equipment if the facility lost off-site power from the grid. Ledford said that the reactors never lost power and the generators never had to be activated.

Duke Energy: Dam breached at North Carolina plant and coal ash may be flowing into Cape Fear River – Floodwaters on Friday breached a dam that contains a man-made lake connected to a Duke Energy power plant in North Carolina, possibly causing coal ash to flow into the nearby Cape Fear River, the company said.The floodwaters flowed from Cape Fear River into the northern side of Sutton Lake, an 1,100-acre reservoir built in 1972 to cool the L.V. Sutton Power Station. That water caused breaches in the dam on the south end of the lake, which was flowing back into the river, Duke Energy said in a press release.The 200-mile Cape Fear River flows into the Atlantic at Wilmington, North Carolina.The Sutton site in Wilmington was home to a coal-fired power plant until 2013, when Duke replaced it with a natural gas power station. Duke dismantled the coal-fired plant by 2017, but the grounds contained about 7 million tons of coal ash in waste pits at the time of its closure. There are still two coal ash basins on site. The flooding forced Duke to shut down the 625-megawatt natural gas plant, and the company is monitoring the coal ash pits. Coal ash is a byproduct produced primarily at coal-fired power plants. It contains contaminants harmful to human health including mercury, cadmium and arsenic. Heavy rain from Florence caused one of the coal ash landfills to partially collapse, Duke reported on Saturday. The incident likely caused coal ash to run off into Sutton Lake, a Duke spokesperson told the AP.On Friday, Duke said it believes coal ash contained in one of the basins remains in place behind a steel wall that separates Sutton Lake from a site where the waste is still being excavated. That steel wall was under water, the company said, but an earthen part of the dam setting off the basin remained 2 feet above the surface.Another type of coal combustion byproduct, cenospheres composed mostly of alumni and silica, has flowed from that basin into Sutton Lake and Cape Fear River, Duke said. The second basin, which contains most of the sites ash, is about 10 feet from the floodwater and has not been affected, Duke said.

Hurricane Helene: “Danger to life” warning for UK as major storm packing 80mph winds threatens travel chaos — A “danger to life” wind warning has been issued for parts of the UK with the remnants of former hurricane Helene expected to slam into the country early next week. Currently a tropical storm, Helene is bringing 80mph gusts that could send debris flying, disrupt travel and cut power to thousands of homes and businesses. Download the all-new Microsoft News app – available now on iOS and Android The Met Office said: “Storm Helene is expected to push north-east towards the UK late Monday, before clearing quickly to the north of Scotland through Tuesday morning. “There remains large uncertainty in Helene’s exact track, however a spell of very strong winds is expected, initially for parts of south-west England and west Wales, then later south-west Scotland and the south-east of Northern Ireland. © Credits: Metoffice A wind warning has been issued for the areas in yellow “Winds are likely to gust to 55-65 mph quite widely in the warning area, with possible gusts of 70-80 mph in exposure.” It said the dangers are:

• Injuries and danger to life from flying debris are possible.
• Road, rail, air and ferry services may be affected, with longer journey times and cancellations possible.
• Some roads and bridges may close. Fallen trees may be an additional hazard.
• There is a small chance that injuries could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts.
• There is a chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

100 mph Winds Kill Two in First Named Storm to Hit UK and Ireland This Season — Storm Ali, the first named storm of the UK storm season, killed two and sent several to the hospital as winds of more than 100 miles per hour walloped Ireland, Scotland and Northern England Wednesday, The Guardian reported.More than 250,000 homes and businesses in Ireland lost power and 30,000 lost power in southwest Scotland.High wind also delayed flights and suspended train service in Edinburgh and Glasgow.A cruise ship in Greenock, Scotland with 500 on board broke free from its moorings and had to be rescued by tug boats, BBC News reported.The first death occurred Wednesday morning when wind blew a caravan off a cliff in western Ireland.”At approximately 7:45 a.m., a report was received that a caravan had blown off the cliff at the above location. A search was carried out at the scene on the beach and after a short time the body of a female in her 50s was recovered,” Irish police said in a statement reported by The Guardian.Locals identified the woman as Swiss tourist Elvira Ferraii, The Guardian reported.The second fatality occurred in Northern Ireland when a tree fell on two men working for Northern Ireland Water in Slieve Gullion Forest Park. One man, in his 20s, died and the other, in his 40s, was injured.Another woman in Cheshire County in England was seriously injured when a tree fell on her car.A 2017 study found that climate change is projected to make wind storms in the UK more damaging, The Guardian reported at the time.Even if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the cost of destruction from wind storms could increase by more than a third in some parts of the UK.High winds will increase in all parts of the UK except the South and Southeast, and be especially strong in the midlands, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland as warmer temperatures cause the path of Atlantic storms to shift north.

Typhoon Mangkhut: South China battered by deadly storm – BBC – A powerful storm which killed dozens of people in the Philippines is now making its way across southern China.Typhoon Mangkhut is one of the most powerful storms to hit the region in decades. Two people have been killed in the Chinese province of Guangdong, according to state media – more than 2.5 million people have been evacuated in Guangdong and on Hainan island.In Hong Kong, the storm wrecked buildings and shut down the city. The typhoon is now moving inland, and is expected to hit the Chinese regions of Guizhou, Chongqing and Yunnan later in the day.In the Philippines, 33 miners have been confirmed dead and at least 29 are missing after a landslide hit a mining site in Itogon in Benguet province, according to local reports.Search and rescue missions are continuing, and there are fears the death toll could rise above 100, said Itogon’s mayor, Victorio Palangdan. In Hong Kong, which was hit hard over the weekend, videos on social media showed apartments swaying in the wind, scaffolding crashing to the ground and commercial buildings with windows shattered.Transport services have also been suspended, with flights cancelled, trains stopped and major roads closed. The city managed to avoid serious casualties but now faces a difficult recovery as thousands still remain affected by flooding and travel disruptions. Officials put the number of injured in Hong Kong at more than 200.Despite avoiding a direct hit, winds there reached more than 110mph and as water levels surged by almost 3.5m (12ft) in places.Authorities had issued their maximum alert, warning residents to stay indoors and away from windows to avoid flying debris. Most shops and public services were shut, and about 900 flights were cancelled at Hong Kong International Airport.

Typhoon Mangkhut Leaves Trail of Destruction, Dozens Dead – Typhoon Mangkhut, the world’s most powerful storm this year, skidded into mainland China on Sunday after claiming at least 59 lives in the Philippines and pummeling Hong Kong and Macau during a devastating churn across the tropical-storm prone region. Although the region remained on alert, the storm was expected to start dissipating after its Sunday landfall. In the Philippines, rescuers searched for victims of landslides responsible for most of the deaths there. In Hong Kong, emergency workers began cutting away trees that fell in major roadways, as the city began what will be a major cleanup. Typhoon Mangkhut packed sustained winds as high as 170 miles an hour, equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane, according to the U.S. military’s joint Typhoon Warning Center. That is about twice the 90 mph winds generated by Hurricane Florence, which struck the U.S. The typhoon slowed on Sunday, its maximum sustained wind speeds falling to around 120 miles an hour – still powerful enough to threaten lives and property. Authorities downgraded it to a “severe typhoon” from Supertyphoon. Even as the death toll rose in the Philippines, the 500-mile-plus diameter storm was less destructive than previously feared, largely missing major population centers. It skimmed the northern tip of the Philippines, sparing the capital Manila, and then delivered a glancing blow to Hong Kong. Direct hits would have wrought far more devastation, experts said. Even so, Mangkhut, the Thai word for the tropical mangosteen fruit, left a trail of wreckage in its wake. The death toll in the Philippines rose to at least 59 by Sunday evening and was expected to rise further, local police said, with most casualties from mudslides caused by the heavy rains that were still threatening communities a day after the storm hit. Officials said at least 40 people, mostly gold miners, were feared trapped or killed by a landslide after a slope collapsed on their bunkhouses. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the miners were accompanied by their families when they were buried. Rescue workers at the site combed through the rocks and sludge with hand-held shovels on Sunday, pulling bodies from the debris as they went.

Typhoon Mangkhut kills dozens in the Philippines, leaves trail of destruction in China and Hong Kong – At least 100 people are presumed dead in the Philippines after Typhoon Mangkhut, described by experts as the most severe storm of 2018, struck the country’s north on Saturday. Over the following days, the typhoon left a trail of destruction across parts of Asia, including Hong Kong and southern China.According to Philippine authorities, 64 people have been confirmed dead in the wake of the storm. Many of them were killed by landslides, flash flooding and the collapse of makeshift accommodation that stood no chance of withstanding the storm, which was the equivalent of a category five hurricane when it battered the Philippines.There are fears that the death toll will rapidly rise. Rescue teams are only beginning to arrive in the most remote rural areas, and an unknown number of people remain buried after extensive landslides. Hundreds more have suffered injuries. Dozens of villages have been effectively cut-off from the outside world, as a result of the damage to roads. It is estimated that the storm affected some 5.7 million people across the Philippines.As in previous disasters to hit the storm-prone country, the poor and sections of the workforce engaged in low-paid, precarious work have been the hardest hit. At least 43 gold miners perished in a landslide in the municipality of Itogon in the northern province of Benguet. They were among hundreds of small-scale miners prospecting at a site that had been abandoned by Benguet Corporation, a major mining entity. The workers and their families were in makeshift shelters that were inundated with mud and top soil.

Typhoon Mangkhut slammed right into Hong Kong – and the scenes were apocalyptic — Typhoon Mangkhut has crossed into mainland China after moving through Hong Kong, where it caused chaos and extensive damage. Videos posted by residents showed the incredible power of the typhoon, which caused trucks to flip over and tore scaffolding off the sides of buildings. The scenes in Hong Kong were downright apocalyptic, as the normally bustling city was effectively shut down as the storm battered the island. Mangkhut has been downgraded to a severe typhoon, having approached the coast as a Category 5 storm – the strongest possible – with winds of up to 167 mph. Hong Kong airport, one of the most important global transit hubs, was closed with more than 500 flights canceled and some 100,000 passengers affected, according to a Bloomberg report. The airport is operating Monday, but flights across Asia are expected to be affected for some time. Casinos in the gambling center of Macau were shut down, and some 20,000 homes were left without power, the South China Morning Post reported. Authorities in Hong Kong issued a signal 10 – the city’s strongest storm warning – as the storm hit the busy financial center. Videos posted by residents showed the incredible power of the typhoon as it caused buildings to sway, sucked reams of documents out of shattered office windows, tore down scaffolding, and pushed walls of water into low-lying parts of the island. Here are some of the videos.

Hurricane Maria was a manmade disaster. Hundreds of families told us what really happened –Thousands of people were killed by Hurricane Maria. But the Puerto Rican government has only publicly identified 64 victims.An investigation by Quartz, Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism, and the Associated Press has identified 487 victims of Maria. It is the most extensive record yet of who died and why. Many families say that the real cause of death was government inaction.Explore the database of victims in English and Spanish here.One year later, are the federal and local governments any better prepared for hurricane season? “If we have another hurricane of that magnitude, we’re going to get the same level of devastation, give or take,” admitted Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló in August. “There is no doubt about that.” In our investigation, family members linked each of the deaths to Hurricane Maria and the island’s damaged infrastructure. But Puerto Rico’s government never did – missing out on key information it might have used to prevent further deaths.

Guest Commentary: Drain Lake Powell and tear down Glen Canyon Dam to promote conservation and water supply security – Two days ago a Denver Post front page story warned of water shortages and climate change facing the Colorado River which supplies water to much of Colorado and its 5.6 million residents. Other national stories the past few weeks have focused on the “crisis” and drought facing the Colorado River due to climate change. We appreciate the attention paid to water issues, but there’s more to these stories than often gets reported. Although the population of Colorado and other Colorado River basin states has increased, water use is declining. This “de-coupling” of population and water use has occurred because water conservation programs are working and water use is down. For nearly two decades, water supplies in the Colorado River basin have been declining because there is less water. Climate change scientists agree that a majority of the decrease in river flows is due to the effects of global warming, and the same scientists using the same models predict that the amount of water flowing in the Colorado River and its tributaries will decrease even more as climate change intensifies.Our water managers and elected leaders at all levels blindly cling to the past. They choose to ignore this science and the fact that conservation programs are working by pursing a two-pronged approach.First, they think pouring more concrete and building more storage structures will result in more water. Second, adding insult to injury, they are paying lip-service to water conservation efforts that have already demonstrated they are working.Building more dams, reservoirs, and diversions won’t address the looming shortages. There is no new water to fill these facilities and there won’t be because of the inevitable impacts of climate change.Even more absurd, our water leaders have become obsessed with the dwindling water level in Lake Powell in Arizona which serves as a water storage facility for the states of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. This reservoir – created by Glen Canyon Dam – was conceived and built back in the 1940s and 1950s when the law, science, and flow of water in the Colorado River was radically different. Seventy-five years ago, there were no American environmental laws to protect the Colorado River, the science of climate change did not yet exist, and the flow of water in the Colorado River was much higher.

Part of Hobble Creek Canyon under evacuation; Elk Ridge and Woodland Hills residents told to expect 2 more weeks — Mountain fires grew to 74,757 acres as of Sunday morning, with additional evacuations put in place during the day. U.S. Highway 6, at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon to the north of Helper in Carbon County, briefly reopened before being closed again when the Pole Creek Fire jumped the road. Diamond Fork Canyon and Sheep Creek were consequently put under evacuation Sunday, as well as the right hand of Hobble Creek Canyon. The left hand of Hobble Creek is under pre-evacuation notice, according to Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. All residents living in Woodland Hills, Elk Ridge, the Covered Bridge community near the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon and along U.S. Highway 89 in the area from Nebo Creek to Thistle Junction are under mandatory evacuation. Both Payson and Santaquin canyons are closed, and the Nebo Loop Road in Nephi Canyon is closed. Sheep Creek, Santaquin Canyon and Payson Canyon remain closed, along with Nebo Loop Road in Nephi Canyon. The Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires joined together in two places along the Nebo Loop Road late Saturday evening, although the two wildfires are being treated as separate incidents. The Pole Creek fire has burned 61,248 acres and is 2 percent contained as of Sunday morning. The Bald Mountain fire reached 13,509 acres at 0 percent containment. Residents who decided to stay in their homes despite mandatory evacuations are creating a public safety issue, Elk Ridge city officials reported. The Elk Ridge mayor was visually agitated as he spoke about some city residents who refused to leave their homes but instead traveled to the fire lines around Elk Ridge.“We don’t have the authority to come and pull them out of their homes,” Ellis said. “They’re in the way. I don’t want anybody up there. I want them all away from that stuff.”

Wildfires make their own weather, and that matters for fire management – Wildfires are not known for their restraint. They’ll jump rivers, spew whirling dervishes of flames and double in size overnight.Take the Carr Fire – one of California’s most destructive – sparked in mid-July when the rim of a flat tire met pavement. As the blaze grew, it jumped across the Sacramento River and sparked a flaming whirlwind that trapped and killed a firefighter near Redding. By the time it was fully contained on August 30, it had burned 930 square kilometers, destroyed more than 1,000 buildings, and killed seven people.“Once these fires are spreading fast enough and intensely enough, you can’t stop them,” says Ruddy Mell, a combustion engineer with the U.S. Forest Service based in Seattle.Federal and state agencies that manage wildfires use mathematical equations – fire models – to predict how blazes will spread and decide how to commit firefighting resources or whether an evacuation is needed. But the models can’t always predict when a fire will suddenly veer in a new direction or grow exponentially. Now, scientists are developing more nuanced fire models with increasingly detailed satellite data and better understanding of how fires can create their own weather and fan their own flames. These finer-scale models take hours or days to run on a computer, so they aren’t likely to replace more quick-and-dirty field models for responding in the heat of the moment. But they can help scientists figure out what’s driving a wildfire’s behavior – and learn how to better protect communities from fires.

China’s new forests will be the size of Ireland — (Reuters) – China will plant new forests covering an area roughly the size of Ireland this year as it aims to increase forest coverage to 23 percent of its total landmass by the end of the decade, China Daily reported on Friday. Planting trees has become a key part of China’s efforts to improve its environment and tackle climate change, and the government has pledged to raise total coverage from 21.7 percent to 23 percent over the 2016-2020 period, said the China Daily, citing the country’s top forestry official. Zhang Jianlong, head of the State Forestry Administration, said at a meeting on Thursday that China would aim to grow at least 6.66 million hectares of new forest this year. He said 33.8 million hectares of forest had been planted nationwide over the last five years, with a total investment of more than 538 billion yuan ($82.88 billion), bringing the country’s total forest area to 208 million hectares. Three new state forests with a total area of 483,000 hectares would also be built in the new Xiongan development zone in Hebei province, he said. The heavily polluted Hebei, which surrounds the capital Beijing, has also pledged to raise total forest coverage to 35 percent by the end of 2020. China, which has to feed a quarter of the global population using just 7 percent of the world’s arable land, has long struggled to strike a balance between industrial growth, maximizing food production and protecting its environment.

Indigenous Leader Who Battled Canadian Mining Companies Is Murdered –The Human Rights National Commission (CNDH) condemned the murder of Margarito D’az Gonzfllez, a champion of the and environment and the sacred sites of the Huichol people, and called on the authorities to not to omit the fact of his opposition towards the construction of a storage dam “La Maroma”, in San Luis Potos’, as a possible line of inquiry.D’az Gonzfllez was murdered on September 8 at his home, but his death was announced on September 11.“The CNDH condemns any violent act, especially when it derives, like in this case, in the murder of a leader from the Wixflrika community, and calls on the authorities to consider, as a line of inquiry, his opposition, as an environmental defender, he also expressed towards the construction of a storage dam “La Maroma” and the constructions that were part of that project, located in Real de Catorce, Villa de Guadalupe y Matehuala, San Luis Potos'”, said the statement.The construction of the dam, which will supply water to the states of Durango, Jalisco, and Guanajuato, according to D’az Gonzfllez, would affect Wirikuta, a sacred Huichol area; nevertheless, in a previous free and informed survey directed to the Wixflrika community, federal and local authorities informed the community that their ceremonial site in the Wirikuta natural reserve would be preserved, and committed to reforest the area, and to protect the environment, therefore, they agreed to the project.

To Prevent ‘Major Extinction Crisis,’ Scientist Call for Designating Half of Planet as Protected Areas by 2050 — A pair of leading scientists is calling on the global community to spend the next few decades working toward formal protections for at least half of the world’s oceans and lands, warning that as the human population nears its projected 10 billion by mid-century, several species will face a heightened threat of extinction. The demand comes in the form of an editorialpublished in the journal Science on Friday by chief scientist of the National Geographic Society Jonathan Baillie and Chinese Academy of Sciences biologist Ya-Ping Zhang. In their piece, Baillie and Zhang argue, “If we truly want to protect biodiversity and secure critical ecosystem benefits, the world’s governments must set a much more ambitious protected area agenda and ensure it is resourced.””Given the evidence to date and the implications of an underestimate,” the editorial urges policymakers “to set minimum targets of 30 percent of the oceans and land protected by 2030, with a focus on areas of high biodiversity and/or productivity, and to aim to secure 50 percent by 2050.””This will be extremely challenging, but it is possible,” the editorial asserts, “and anything less will likely result in a major extinction crisis and jeopardize the health and well-being of future generations.”The scientists concede that “estimating how much space is required to protect current levels of biodiversity and secure existing ecosystem benefits is challenging because of limited knowledge of the number of species on this planet, poor understanding of how ecosystems function or the benefits they provide, and growing threats such as climate change.” “However, targets set too low could have major negative implications for future generations and all life. Any estimate must therefore err on the side of caution,” the paper warns, noting that that current levels of protection are lacking, and much of the 3.6 percent of the oceans and 14.7 percent of land that are formally protected face “intense human pressure.”

PIOMAS September 2018 – Arctic Sea Ice by Neven – Another month has passed and so here is the updated Arctic sea ice volume graph as calculated by the Pan-Arctic Ice Ocean Modeling and Assimilation System (PIOMAS) at the Polar Science Center: Just like last month, I had expected perhaps a larger drop. But whereas last month the volume loss was still above average, this month’s isn’t. The 2007-2017 average volume decrease for August is 2578 km3, and this year it was 2347 km3, more than 200 km3 lower. This means that 2018 is back in 6th position again, as the difference with lower years (except last year) has grown again. Here’s how the differences with previous years have evolved from last month: On Wipneus’ version of the PIOMAS graph we can see how the trend line made a slight drop towards the end of the month, veering away from 2013: On the PIOMAS volume anomaly graph, the anomaly trend line has crossed the linear trend line again, and it might very well stay there until next yeaAs for average thickness (crudely calculated by dividing PIOMAS volume with JAXA sea ice extent numbers), the trend line continued to flatline, as is usual for this time of year, but here too we see a small drop towards the end of the month: Not much different on the Polar Science Centre thickness graph: Now, the main reason volume didn’t drop as much as I expected (not just last month, but perhaps the entire melting season), is that the regions where PIOMAS showed thicker ice since at least the start of the melting season, on the Siberian side of the Arctic mainly, didn’t melt out completely. As I wrote last month, the situation in the Eastern Siberian Sea was going to be crucial for the position this year’s melting season will end at. If we compare the situation at the end of August with the same date in 2012, 2016 and 2017, for instance, we’ll see that the red is where the big difference lies (red means thicker now than back then, blue the reverse): As we’ve seen before throughout the years, some ice will stubbornly refuse to melt out completely, no matter how fragile and vulnerable it looks:

Underwater walls could stop glaciers from melting, scientists say CNN – Building walls on the seafloor could prevent glaciers from melting and sea levels rising due to global warming, scientists say. Barriers of sand and rock positioned at the base of glaciers would stop ice sheets sliding and collapsing, and prevent warm water from eroding the ice from beneath, according to research published this week in the Cryosphere journal, from the European Geosciences Union. The audacious idea centers on the construction of “extremely simple structures, merely piles of aggregate on the ocean floor, although more advanced structures could certainly be explored in the future,” said the report’s authors, Michael Wolovick, a researcher at the department of geosciences at Princeton University, and John Moore, professor of climate change at the University of Lapland in Finland. “While reducing emissions remains the short-term priority for minimizing the effects of climate change, in the long run humanity may need to develop contingency plans to deal with an ice sheet collapse,” they added.

California goes carbon negative — Last week Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to cut California’s electricity sector emissions , which account for about 16% of the state’s total emissions, to zero by 2045. But an Executive Order he signed on the same day calls for 100% of California’s total emissions not only to go to zero in 2045, but to go negative after that. This target is so absurdly ambitious that Euan Mearns e-mailed me asking whether the Executive Order wasn’t a hoax. But it isn’t. It reflects Gov. Brown’s determination to save the Earth from climate change whether it needs saving or not. (Inset; jubilation as Gov. Brown signs the Executive Order).The Executive Order is linked to here. It’s in a graphical format that doesn’t allow it to be downloaded as text, so all of the excerpts presented here are screenshots. The Order is divided into two sections – the “Whereases” and the “Now Therefores”. For those not familiar with English legal jargon the “Whereases” list the facts, or at least the facts as Gov. Brown sees them, and the “Now Therefores” list the actions that the Whereases call for. It’s important to note that the Executive Order is not legally binding and can be rescinded by a future governor, but as Vox points out it may not be as toothless as it appears: Executive orders are often the trigger for California climate progress. That process often begins with an executive order, as it did in 2005, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an order establishing carbon-reduction targets through 2050. The following year, the legislature passed a version of it as AB 32, which established the machinery of emission reductions that operates in the state to this day. In 2015, Gov. Brown issued an EO establishing a new target of 40 percent reductions by 2030. The following year, a version of it became law in SB 32. Now, via SB 100, the machinery is being deployed toward the target of zero-carbon electricity. Brown’s order is meant to get the next phase of that process, which involves moving beyond electricity to other sectors of the economy, underway. We begin with the Whereases. The first sets the tone:

Boulder climate change lawsuit triggers legal finger-pointing – Petroleum producers targeted by Boulder and Boulder County in a bid to hold them responsible for current and future costs associated with climate change are trying in a recent court filing to push the blame back on virtually anyone who uses fossil fuels. In a filing dated Sept. 10, the Exxon Mobil Corporation and Suncor Energy that is labeled a defendants’ designation of “non-parties at fault,” the corporations deny that they bear any fault for damages cited by Boulder, Boulder County, and San Miguel County, which is also party to the suit that was filed April 17. But the filing goes further, in saying that the county governments “combust fossil fuels – the alleged root cause of their injuries.” Accordingly, the plaintiff governments “are by definition ‘at fault’ for the alleged damages they claim to have sustained,” the filing states. The companies go on to state that by pinning high greenhouse gas levels on the burning of fossil fuels, the governments “implicate not only themselves, but every single person or entity on the planet that has ever contributed to greenhouse gas emissions” through a wide range of activities. Those additional responsible parties, the Sept. 10 filing argues, include “emitters and consumers of fossil fuels, producers of electricity, governments and government entities, manufacturers and businesses” such as farms, dairy and transportation. Although the lawsuit was initially filed in Boulder District Court, the defendants quickly filed a motion to move its venue to U.S. District Court in Denver. That is where it currently resides, although the defendants are contesting that, and the final question of venue has not definitively been settled.

Why the “Green New Deal” Is a Headfake — Pollin refers to the process by which this simultaneous massive growth of clean energy and massive contraction of fossil fuel is supposed to occur as “decoupling.” Decoupling is a synonym for what Solow called natural resource productivity. The calculation is the same – national income divided by the quantity of the resource consumed or waste emitted. But decoupling, as Pollin uses it and as it is commonly used, is a deceptive term. Economic activity is not decoupled from the consumption of fossil fuel, as Pollin claims. It is the rate of change of economic activity that is decoupled from the rate of change of fossil fuel consumption. Of the twenty-one countries claimed by the WRI to have achieved “absolute decoupling” between 2000 and 2014. Slovakia, Switzerland and Ukraine had increases in their consumption-based CO2 emissions that adjust for emissions embodied in trade. Bulgaria’s consumption-based emissions were unchanged from 2000-2014. Portugal, Romania and Ukraine had declines in aggregate employment. Denmark had no increase in employment. There was no consumption-based data for Uzbekistan and its reported employment data (ILO) does not appear credible, so it can be excluded from the analysis.[6] That leaves 13 countries with “absolute decoupling” of the rate of change of employment and the rate of change of consumption-based emissions. Of those 13, the Czech Republic had reductions in average annual hours that exceeded the increase in employment. Finland just squeaked through into absolute decoupling territory if defined by changes in aggregate working hours and consumption-based Co2 emissions.Twelve of the 21 countries touted by WRI meet the more rigorous rates of change decoupling criteria. Again, no countries decoupled employment growth from CO2 emissions. The average gap between growth in employment and decline in emissions, weighted for the size of employed work force in 2014, was a bit less than half of the gap between GDP growth and change in territorial emissions. (17.6 percent versus 37 percent). That is 12 out of the 63 countries that had emissions of at least 12 MtC/yr in 2000, as did Bulgaria. In other words, 51 other countries among the top 63 did not have absolute decoupling of employment growth and emissions decline.

Why Growth Can’t Be Green — Warnings about ecological breakdown have become ubiquitous. Over the past few years, major newspapers, including theGuardian and the New York Times, have carried alarming stories on soil depletion, deforestation, and the collapse of fish stocks and insect populations. These crises are being driven by global economic growth, and its accompanying consumption, which is destroying the Earth’s biosphere and blowing past key planetary boundaries that scientists say must be respected to avoid triggering collapse. Many policymakers have responded by pushing for what has come to be called “green growth.” All we need to do, they argue, is invest in more efficient technology and introduce the right incentives, and we’ll be able to keep growing while simultaneously reducing our impact on the natural world, which is already at an unsustainable level. It sounds like an elegant solution to an otherwise catastrophic problem. There’s just one hitch: New evidence suggests that green growth isn’t the panacea everyone has been hoping for. In fact, it isn’t even possible. A team of scientists led by the German researcher Monika Dittrich first raised doubts in 2012. The group ran a sophisticated computer model that predicted what would happen to global resource use if economic growth continued on its current trajectory, increasing at about 2 to 3 percent per year. It found that human consumption of natural resources (including fish, livestock, forests, metals, minerals, and fossil fuels) would rise from 70 billion metric tons per year in 2012 to 180 billion metric tons per year by 2050.

Energy storage grows by 200 percent in U.S. – Thanks to a thriving renewable energy sector in the U.S., energy storage – the batteries or other technologies that can store energy for at least four hours or even longer – has grown an astounding 200 percent year-over-year. Wood Mackenzie partners with the Energy Storage Association to produce a quarterly report called the U.S. Energy Storage Monitor. The latest report is just out. The report states: “156.5 megawatt-hours of energy storage were deployed in the second quarter of 2018, triple what was deployed in the second quarter of 2017. The residential segment led the way, growing tenfold year-over-year.”

A tiny, beleaguered government agency seeks an energy holy grail: long-term energy storage – Deep within the Department of Energy is a small agency devoted to supporting cutting-edge energy research: the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E. It’s only about 10 years old and not widely known or appreciated by the public – but among energy geeks, it is beloved. By all accounts, ARPA-E is a rousing success. The National Academy of Sciences conducted an extensive assessment in 2017 and concluded as much. Of the roughly 500 grants the agency had given out at that point, about half had resulted in peer-reviewed research, about a quarter went on to leverage funding from the private sector, and around 13 percent resulted in new patents. And that’s with a deliberate focus on “high risk, high reward” investments. The agency – originally created in 2007 by a bipartisan group of US lawmakers, fully funded by President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill in 2009, and put on firmer footing by Congress in 2011 – was consciously designed to mimic the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), created way back in 1958 to do advanced research for the Department of Defense.ARPA-E’s purpose is to identify promising advanced energy technologies and help them bridge the “valley of death” between basic research and commercialization – oh, and “to bring a freshness, excitement, and sense of mission to energy research that will attract the U.S.’s best and brightest minds.”

Why U.S. Electricity Sales Surged In 2018 – Sales of electricity in the U.S. have barely increased despite nine straight years of economic growth. It almost looks as if the conservation ethos for American consumers has finally taken hold. That restraint also applies to large commercial and industrial customers as well. And foreign consumers seemed even less interested in plugging in. A discouraging drip, drip of bad news for the electricity industry. Well, something happened. For the six months ended June, electric sales to ultimate customers in the U.S. actually rose 3.5 percent. In other industries that’s not a high growth number, but for electric utilities with virtually 100 percent market penetration it constitutes unusually high levels of sales growth. Electric industry participants in recent years have gotten used to zero percent as a normal “growth” rate. What changed? Sales to residential customers rose a spectacular 7.8 percent, commercial sales rose a solid 2.0 percent and the U.S. industrial sector, assumed growth engine of the economy, purchased 0.1 percent less power. The first half of the year featured unusually cold weather and a warmer than usual June. Residential customer load is more sensitive to weather. Individuals and families often adjust their A/C on and off all summer depending on the weather. Heating and cooling accounts of 22 percent of residential electric sales.

The Massachusetts Gas Disaster Could Spark An Energy Crisis — An unprecedented tragedy struck a small portion of eastern Massachusetts last week when dozens of houses in the towns of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover in the Merrimack Valley began to explode, as if spontaneously combusting. One 18-year-old man was killed when a chimney flew off of an exploding house and landed on his parked car, and an additional 25 people were injured. The shocking disaster was caused by natural gas leaks that forced 8,000 people out of their homes and the governor of Massachusetts to declare a state of emergency. It is suspected that the gas lines in the afflicted eastern Massachusetts towns were over-pressurized and outdated.

More than 85,000 Massachusetts residents could be without gas service for months – Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Columbia Gas executives have told residents in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover that they could be without gas to heat their homes until November 19, more than two months after a series of gas explosions and fires rocked the Merrimack Valley communities. On September 13, natural gas explosions and fires destroyed or damaged more than 60 homes in the area, injuring more than 25 unsuspecting residents and killing a young man. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the explosions. According to a preliminary review, gas was introduced into the community’s pipes at 12 times the normal pressure.

EPA Rejects States’ Health Concerns Over Upwind Coal Air Pollution – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice Friday denying petitions by the states of Delaware and Maryland for it to recognize that upwind state pollution sources are interfering with their ability to meet ozone standards. The states had used a provision of the Clean Air Act to petition for reduced nitrogen oxide emissions from coalplants in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, but the EPA found that there wasn’t enough evidence that the plants were contributing to elevated ozone levels in the downwind states,InsideClimateNews reported.”The 111-page notice of denial from the agency shows that Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, is following in the fossil fuel-friendly policy direction set by his predecessor,Scott Pruitt, while being more cautious to spell out the agency’s legal reasoning,” InsideClimateNews reporter Marianne Lavelle wrote.Maryland’s Attorney General Brian Frosh said Monday that the state would appeal the EPA’s decision, The Associated Press reported.”We intend to appeal EPA’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, so that Marylanders do not have to continue suffering the consequences of other states’ pollution,” Frosh said.The petition was first filed in 2016 and asked the EPA to ensure 36 coal plants in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia run equipment they already had to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.Maryland voiced concern about the health of its citizens and environment.The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) said nitrogen oxide contributed to algae blooms and dead zones in the bay.”This is yet another example of EPA putting big business above human health and the environment,” CBF Vice President of Litigation Jon Mueller said. “The agency is making it more difficult to achieve Bay clean-up goals by failing to limit interstate air pollution.”

The Inconvenient Truth Of Rising Coal Prices – Coal prices are not supposed to be rising as governments tighten environmental controls but that’s precisely what is happening. Over the past six months the price of top quality thermal coal exported from the Australian port of Newcastle has risen by 25% to $115 a ton.The increase is more dramatic when looking back two years to a time when premium thermal coal exported from Newcastle was selling for $50/t, less than half its current price. In the longer term the drive for reduced pollution from coal burning could turn out to be a factor in coal prices staying high because tough environmental protection laws in a number of countries are limiting the development of new coal mines. In effect, efforts to limit coal production has become a significant factor in lifting the coal price for companies already producing.

Fans of Coal Are Reaping the Rewards – WSJ – Global mining companies that bet on coal are enjoying the best prices in years – a sign there is money to be made from the industry even as an energy transition to gas and renewables takes place. Glencore has used rising sentiment against coal to expand its position in the market, scooping up unwanted assets. The Swiss mining and trading giant has a history of pushing into businesses where rivals are reluctant to tread. So far, Glencore’s gamble appears to be paying off. High demand from Asia helped thermal coal prices delivered from Newcastle, Australia, the world’s largest coal-export port, more than double since it bottomed in early 2016 to about $110 a metric ton. Export prices from South Africa and import prices into Europe are also at or near their highest levels in years.

Hurricane Florence blows hole in Trump team’s case for helping coal and nuclear power, critics say – Hurricane Florence has blown a hole in the Trump administration’s argument that bolstering nuclear and coal-fired power is essential to providing reliable electricity to homes and businesses, especially during times of crisis, according to energy experts long critical of the plan.For months, the Department of Energy has considered throwing a lifeline to that sector of the power market to make the electric grid more resilient to natural and man-made disasters. The Trump administration has been preparing to use a Cold War-era law, once marshaled by President Harry S. Truman to secure U.S. steel production, to compel regional grid operators to buy electricity from nuclear and coal plants.The rationale is that only these two types of generation regularly have enough fuel on site to run for when national security is threatened. Wind turbines and solar panels only generate electricity when the weather is right while natural gas stations often have their fuel pipelined in from afar.But hours before the once powerful hurricane made landfall in North Carolina on Friday, Duke Energy shut down its two reactors at the Brunswick Nuclear Plant near Wilmington, N.C. in anticipation of high winds. The temporary shutdown illustrates how many other factors beyond just fuel stored on site affect grid reliability. “There are so many flaws to their argument, we hardly need this to add,” said David Hart, professor of public policy at George Mason University. “There are lots of better ways to get reliability than to stockpile a lot of fuel.”One cause of power outages is, of course, downed power lines. According to a 2012 Congressional Research Service report, trees falling on local distribution lines cause most storm-related power outages. Damage to transmission lines, the main arteries of the electric grid, tend to cause major outages. The delivery system for electricity, rather than its source, tends to be what is most vulnerable during storms.

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