Last year the Biden administration tasked federal agencies with considering environmental justice in their decisionmaking. Some say that isn’t happening as planning for the seven new hydrogen hubs moves forward nationwide. Water quality in Pennsylvania streams is being hindered by aging dams, many of which are dangerous and obsolete. Climate-related weather like flash floods and extreme heat impacts people experiencing homelessness.
Also, an environmental group wants state regulators to tighten water pollution restrictions on a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh which has released oil into the Monongahela River. Friends of the Riverfront released a new plan for recreation in Pittsburgh’s three rivers. PECO, formerly the Philadelphia Electric Company, has agreed to add solar energy to its mix of sources that generate electricity for customers in southeast Pennsylvania.
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- PECO to purchase energy from what will be the largest utility-based solar procurement in Pa. - The southeast Pa.utility will pay the solar provider for the electricity and for providing the capacity — meaning the provider gets paid to guarantee 25 MW of solar will be available.
- New plan aims to improve river access in Allegheny County - Friends of the Riverfront released a 10-year management plan to improve and expand access points along the county's three rivers.
- Group wants stricter permit for U.S. Steel to stop oily releases into Mon River - The DEP has cited U.S. Steel multiple times for discharging oily pollution into the Monongahela River, a drinking water source for one million people.
- Removing a popular dam for safety and fish - Since Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and American Rivers partnered to remove the Woodland Dam along Little Sewickley Creek in 2015, fish populations have rebounded.
- Hydrogen hubs test new federal environmental justice rules - A massive push for hydrogen energy is one of the first test cases of new federal environmental justice initiatives. Communities and advocates so far give the feds a failing grade.
- What’s hampering federal environmental justice efforts in the hydrogen hub build-out? - “Organizational change in large bureaucracies takes time.”
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Removal of dam on the Monongahela River dredges a fast track to normal navigation