Spreading oil and gas wastewater has been a cheap way for municipalities to suppress dust on unpaved roads in parts of Pennsylvania for years. But the waste can contain high levels of radioactive materials and other pollutants that are bad for water quality and human health.
The group says the coal-fired power plant is allowing soot and coal ash to fall on the surrounding community, and isn’t operating its pollution control scrubbers as much as it could be.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will spend the money on projects around the state that treat polluted mine water, stabilize unsafe mine lands, and put out underground mine fires.
The operator says it will take several months to study whether its system could withstand events like a pipeline shutdown, a cyber attack on a natural gas delivery system, or a prolonged cold snap.
The four nuclear power plants that could close produce more carbon-free power than all of the wind and solar in the Mid-Atlantic grid, according to one study. What's an environmentalist to do?
In past decisions, judges on the Environmental Hearing Board ruled against the DEP’s permits, at one point saying they would allow the company to “essentially destroy” the stream.
The bankruptcy of an Ohio power company is the latest sign of how coal and nuclear plants are struggling. FirstEnergy is also making an unusual request of the Trump administration... and it appears to have the president’s ear.
Reid R. Frazier covers energy for The Allegheny Front. His work has taken him as far away as Texas and Louisiana to report on the petrochemical industry and as close to home as Greene County, Pennsylvania to cover the shale gas boom. His award-winning work has also aired on NPR, Marketplace and other outlets. Reid is currently contributing to StateImpact Pennsylvania, a collaboration among The Allegheny Front, WESA, WITF and WHYY covering the Commonwealth's energy economy.
