To: MonValley Clean Air Coalition, a. k. a. CALP.
Our Committees are encouraged to meet as appropriate to continue
moving forward with our projects and programs. Monday, July 11th,
is available for Committee meetings. The next regular meeting of
MVCAC will be Monday, July 25th at 7:00 pm. This most likely will be
at the St. Paul's Lutheran Church on Patteson Drive.
In August, the 8th is available for Committee meetings with
a general meeting set for August …
[View More]22nd at Larry Schwab's home.
[[We have a number of activities underway including projects on
public relations and information distribution, air quality monitoring,
and the appeal of the PILOT agreement, among others.]]
[[Let me know if you have new ideas, example materials, questions
or other comments. Please take care to limit mailings to the
_MVCAC(a)cheat.org_ (mailto:MVCAC@cheat.org) list to only those that merit
general distribution.]]
Thank you very much.
Duane Nichols
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead.
[View Less]
Dear Dr. Lang:
Larry Hornak tells me you're the administration official I should
contact about the resolution I introduced in the Senate, which was
approved unanimously. That resolution, as you'll recall, commits the
Senate to working with the administration of West Virginia University to
make the campus more nearly sustainable, e.g., enhance energy
efficiency, make use of renewable resources including energy, and
minimize waste and pollution. I'd like your advice on how to go about
…
[View More]working together toward this objective.
There are several universities which have made considerable
progress in this direction, so we could take advantage of their
experience and expertise. I would suggest an ad hoc committee of
appropriate faculty and administrators, who could put together a
multi-year plan and a budget for approval by the Senate and the
administration.
Last week I introduced a proposed resolution to Morgantown City
Council, to sign the multinational Urban Environmental Accords, which
have specific targets and timetables for 21 different environmental
objectives. I will be meeting with them on July 5 to answer any
questions they may have about the resolution and its implications, after
which I believe they will discuss, amend, and vote. It seems to me that
there could be a natural synergy between the university and the city,
for example in the return to use of natural gas vehicles, air quality
monitoring at several places around the city and campus, and the use of
combined purchasing power to get quantity discounts for the city,
university and citizens when purchasing such things as photovoltaic
systems for clean electrical power. I should think that the combined
efforts of the university, city and local citizens' groups in requesting
the legislature to enact incentives such as tax credits for the purchase
of low-emission vehicles and renewable energy equipment would be more
effective as well. Morgantown and West Virginia University could set a
valuable precedent for the rest of the state.
If you agree with my reasoning, perhaps it would be appropriate to
endorse the adoption of the Urban Environmental Accords. In any event,
I'd appreciate your consideration and your thoughts on these ideas.
Sincerely,
Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Physiology Department
West Virginia University Health Sciences Center
Morgantown, WV 26506
(304) 293 - 1512
[View Less]
I did not notice the tons per "month", Good catch Jonathon.
0.17 tons per month does work out to be 2.04 tpy. But if that is PM10,
then how can total particulates only be 0.37 tpy? PM10 emissions, by
definition, can not exceed total particulate emissions.
Here is another little factoid for those interested in math. My
car needed an emissions inspection to get registered here in DC. My
10-year old Mazda was emitting 0.65 grams NOx per mile. That works out
to around 15 pounds per year, …
[View More]assuming I drive 10,000 miles per year.
So the next time someone tells you that the real air pollution
problem in Mon County is from all the cars those WVU students bring to
campus, you can point out that every one of the 25,000 students on
campus would need to be driving eight cars each, 10,000 miles per year,
all in Mon County, to equal the 1,700 tpy of NOx emissions that Longview
will add.
Now there is an issue for the MPO! Imagine the traffic jams!
JBK
Dr. James Kotcon
Interim Program Leader - Organic Agriculture USDA-CSREES
Mailstop 2220, Washington, DC 20250
phone: 202-401-4879 Cell: 304-319-2244
fax: 202-401-4888
for overnight carrier:
800 9th St., SW, Room 3344
Washington, DC 20024
-----Original Message-----
From: mvcac-bounces(a)cheat.org [mailto:mvcac-bounces@cheat.org] On Behalf
Of Jonathan Rosenbaum
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 2:16 PM
To: mvcac(a)cheat.org
Subject: [BULK] - Re: [MVCAC] Marion County, Shuck Steel Fabricators
Inc., R13-2621
Linda Shuster wrote:
> At 12:58 PM 6/22/05 -0400, John Gever wrote:
> I agree with John on this. We all receive a ton of emails each day
that
> we have to sort through. I think we need to be very judicious about
> what MVCAC sends out. Perhaps one of our standing committees could
> start keeping data on permit applications - perhaps the Monitoring
> Committee?
I'm glad there is finally some discussion about this issue. One thing
to realize is that public comment periods are 30 days long. MVCAC
meetings sometimes fall within these periods, but sometimes that isn't
the case. If the Monitoring Committee is gathering together at
reasonable times apart from MVCAC meetings then we do have timely
factual material to work with. I'm not sure that this is presently the
case, but I do agree this would be quite useful for our group. I also
agree with Jim that we don't have to go after everything, but we
shouldn't ignore the little guys either. What we need to establish is
who to send this pertinent information to within our group. Let's
figure this out at the next meeting. Keep in mind, should we be
ignoring public comment periods like Mylans? We need to establish
parameters where urgency creates a precedence for public consumption.
However, as far as email, there is a technology called filtering that
has been around for a long time. For instance, in the case of MVCAC,
all email sent "to: mvcac(a)cheat.org" and "cc: mvcac(a)cheat.org" can go
into a folder called mvcac - this is what I do. Spending a little time
learning how to use filters will give MVCAC members much more of an
edge.
Jonathan
p.s. Jim, that's 2.04 tpy PM10 not 0.17 tpy PM10.
> Linda
>
>
>> So does email. Applications for air quality permits are pretty
>> frequent and people may develop mail-list fatigue if we get emails on
>> each and every one of them. May I suggest restricting these
>> broadcasts to those highlighting particular concerns? At the same
>> time, I agree it's useful to be aware of the many contributors to
>> local air pollution -- a good MVCAC project might be to add up all
the
>> new sources permitted each year and issue a report.
>>
>> Just my $0.02.
>>
>> John Gever
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> MVCAC mailing list
>> MVCAC(a)cheat.org
>> http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
>
>
> Linda I. Shuster, Ph.D. website:
> http://www.wvu.edu/~speechpa/shust.html
> Associate Professor
> Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology
> PO Box 6122
> 805 Allen Hall
> West Virginia University
> Morgantown, WV 26506
> Telephone: 304-293-2943 or 304-293-5050
> Fax: 304-293-7565
> _______________________________________________
> MVCAC mailing list
> MVCAC(a)cheat.org
> http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
_______________________________________________
MVCAC mailing list
MVCAC(a)cheat.org
http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
[View Less]
This isn't a coal burning plant, but I'd thought I'd share it anyways, because everything adds up:
Notice of Comment Period
Department of Environmental ProtectiPermit Number: R13-2621
Shuck Steel Fabricators Inc. will have the potential to discharge these
regulated air pollutants and associated amounts: 0.17 tons per month
particulate matter less than 10 microns; 0.37 tpy particulate matter; 0.01 tpy
ethyl benzene; 0.067 tpy xylene; and 1.1 tpy volatile organic compounds. The
facility is …
[View More]located in Pleasant Valley, Marion County, WV.
Please fax, mail or e-mail any comments on the draft permit to the address
below, postmarked on or before July 22, 2005. Comments may include a request
for a public hearing. A hearing may be held if DEP finds a significant degree
of public interest, or if the hearing would clarify issues.
You can view the draft permit, application, and, if available, a fact sheet,
all at no cost, at the office below. Call or e-mail to make an appointment. If
you would like a copy of any information, copying and mailing costs may apply.
DEP
Division of Air Quality
601 57th Street, Southeast
Charleston, WV 25304
Contact Edward S. Andrews
Phone: (304) 926-0499, ext. 1227
Fax: (304) 926-0478
E-mail: eandrews(a)wvdep.org
[View Less]
Yes there are a lot of permits, but it helps to put these in
perspective. At 0.17 tpy PM10, we could get one of these a week every
week for 10 years and not generate as much particulate as one Longview.
And even that pales in comparison to the 1000's of tons per year from
Fort Martin.
Still given our limited volunteer resources, and the level of
effort needed to produce a real change in any permit, we would do well
to pick our battles carefully, and concentrate on winning something in
each …
[View More]of those we do pick. WV-DEP is already quite willing to ignore
anything we say, so we need to be sure we retain credibility and win
some of these, rather than develop a reputation as the ones who cry wolf
every week and can routinely be ignored. I don't insist on total
unconditional surrender from DEP, but I want them to know that when I
raise an objection, they have to take another look. My vote is to focus
on the "Big Dirties" or the "Dirty Dozen Worst Polluters", those that
have a substantial impact on air quality. I would prefer to avoid
gaining a reputation as being against every small business expansion or
new job that comes to town. If we create a precedent with the big
(out-of-state) companies, the nature of regulatory bureaucracies is that
they will tend to spread it through the rest of industry.
JBK
P.S. I also like the idea of having a "Monitoring Committee" produce a
summary of sources in Mon County or the region. If we compare these
permits to the power plants, or to auto traffic, or diesel trucks, it
gives people a perspective that is hard to get from "tons per year".
Dr. James Kotcon
Interim Program Leader - Organic Agriculture USDA-CSREES
Mailstop 2220, Washington, DC 20250
phone: 202-401-4879 Cell: 304-319-2244
fax: 202-401-4888
for overnight carrier:
800 9th St., SW, Room 3344
Washington, DC 20024
-----Original Message-----
From: mvcac-bounces(a)cheat.org [mailto:mvcac-bounces@cheat.org] On Behalf
Of Linda Shuster
Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 1:41 PM
To: John Gever; mvcac(a)cheat.org
Subject: [BULK] - Re: [MVCAC] Marion County, Shuck Steel Fabricators
Inc., R13-2621
At 12:58 PM 6/22/05 -0400, John Gever wrote:
I agree with John on this. We all receive a ton of emails each day that
we
have to sort through. I think we need to be very judicious about what
MVCAC sends out. Perhaps one of our standing committees could start
keeping data on permit applications - perhaps the Monitoring Committee?
Linda
>So does email. Applications for air quality permits are pretty
frequent
>and people may develop mail-list fatigue if we get emails on each and
>every one of them. May I suggest restricting these broadcasts to those
>highlighting particular concerns? At the same time, I agree it's
useful
>to be aware of the many contributors to local air pollution -- a good
>MVCAC project might be to add up all the new sources permitted each
year
>and issue a report.
>
>Just my $0.02.
>
>John Gever
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>MVCAC mailing list
>MVCAC(a)cheat.org
>http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
Linda I. Shuster,
Ph.D. website:
http://www.wvu.edu/~speechpa/shust.html
Associate Professor
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology
PO Box 6122
805 Allen Hall
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV 26506
Telephone: 304-293-2943 or 304-293-5050
Fax: 304-293-7565
_______________________________________________
MVCAC mailing list
MVCAC(a)cheat.org
http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
[View Less]
Dear localplanetoids,
At the bottom of the front page in today's Morgantown Dominion
Post, there's a short article about last night's City Council meeting.
Toward the end, there are a few sentences about our Green Morgantown
Declaration, which I submitted as a proposed resolution during the
public portion of the meeting. I think the tone is quite sympathetic,
although it doesn't go into the kind of detail I would have liked.
Council will consider discussing the proposal at their …
[View More]meeting of
the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, June 28. If they decide to
discuss it, I will be invited to attend and answer questions. I'll take
along our local expert, Al Ebron, for technical issues. I'll keep you
posted on how things go.
your servant,
Paul
Paul Brown
Physiology Department
West Virginia University Health Sciences Center
Morgantown, WV 26506
(304) 293 - 1512
[View Less]
Hello again,
I just sent the e-mail about the DEP notices and realized after sending it
that I overlooked identifying myself. Sorry about that.
In Solidarity
James Evans
_____
This mailbox protected from junk email by MailFrontier Desktop
from MailFrontier, Inc. http://info.mailfrontier.com
From:
deponline(a)wvdep.org
Subject:
DEP Public Notice - Monongalia County - Patriot Mining Company, Inc. -
Permit #WV0095311
Hello,
I signed-up to the West Virginia DEP Public Notice list today. I came
across the following two notices:
Notice #1
This Message was sent out on Friday, June 17, 2005 @ 02:53 PM
From:
deponline(a)wvdep.org
Subject:
DEP Public Notice - Monongalia County - Patriot Mining Company, Inc. -
Permit #WV0095311
Notice of Comment Period
…
[View More]Department of Environmental Protection
This mailing is to advise the public that we have received an application
for
reissuance of an Article 11/West Virginia National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permit for Patriot Mining Company, Inc., 2708 Cranberry
Square, Morgantown, WV 26508, in order to discharge drainage from a
reclaimed
surface mine and haul road operation in the Waynesburg and Waynesburg ¿A¿
seams
of coal.
Application for reissuance of NPDES Permit Number: WV0095311
Patriot Mining Company, Inc. plans to discharge into an unnamed tributary of
Wades Run and Wades Run of Scotts Run and an unnamed tributary of Robinson
Run
and Robinson Run of the Monongahela River and is located 2.1 miles west of
Maidsville, WV, in Cass District of Monongalia County, Longitude 80° 01¿ 40¿
and Latitude 39° 42¿ 00¿ (Coordinates from USGS Topographic Map).
Please fax, mail or e-mail any comments on the draft permit to the address
below, postmarked on or before July 17, 2005, or thirty days from the date
of
publication, and reference the Article 11/WVNPDES permit number shown above.
Comments may include a request for a public hearing. If a hearing is
requested
the comment must state the nature of the issues proposed to be raised in the
hearing. A hearing may be held if DEP finds a significant degree of public
interest, or if the hearing would clarify issues.
DEP Regional Office
105 South Railroad Street, Suite 301
Philippi, WV 26416
Phone: (304) 457-3219
Fax: (304) 457-3440
To view past notices of open public comment periods, please go to
www.wvdep.org.
Notice #2
This Message was sent out on Thursday, May 12, 2005 @ 12:12 PM
From:
deponline(a)wvdep.org
Subject:
DEP Public Notice - Monongalia County, West Virginia University Hospitals
Inc. R13-2624
Notice of Comment Period
Department of Environmental Protection
This mailing is to advise the public that we have prepared a draft air
quality
permit for West Virginia University Hospitals Inc. to construct and operate
two
emergency generators located in Morgantown, WV.
Permit Number: R13-2624
West Virginia University Hospitals Inc. will discharge the following
regulated
air pollutants and associated amounts. 0.18 tons per year particulate
matter
less than 10; 0.34 tpy volatile organic compounds; 1.16 tpy carbon monoxide;
7.72 tpy nitrogen oxides; and 0.30 tpy sulfur dioxide. The facility is
located
in Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV.
Please fax, mail or e-mail any comments on the draft permit to the address
below, postmarked on or before June 13, 2005. Comments may include a request
for a public hearing. A hearing may be held if DEP finds a significant
degree
of public interest, or if the hearing would clarify issues.
You can view the draft permit, application, and, if available, a fact sheet,
all at no cost, at the office below. Call or e-mail to make an appointment.
If
you would like a copy of any information, copying and mailing costs may
apply.
DEP
Division of Air Quality
601 57th Street, Southeast
Charleston, WV 25304
Contact Jerry Williams
Phone: (304) 926-0499, ext. 1223
Fax: (304) 926-0478
E-mail: jwilliams(a)wvdep.org
You are receiving this because you signed up to receive the mailings.
If you wish to be removed from this list, go to the link below to remove
your name.
I realize the comment period has past for the second notice, but I think it
is a good idea to be aware of this as it just adds to the over-all
accumulative concentrations of air pollution.
_____
This mailbox protected from junk email by MailFrontier Desktop
from MailFrontier, Inc. http://info.mailfrontier.com
[View Less]
Thanks Jonathon. The Fact Sheet confirms my previous message. The
emissions rate for NOx is approximately 0.10 lb/mmBTU and the only
monitoring is to monitor fuel usage and a monthly visual inspection for
opacity (look to see if there is visible smoke). The PM10 emissions
would make Mylan the fourth largest emitter in Mon County, behind Fort
Martin, MEA and Consol's Blacksville prep plant.
The application may have some interesting stuff. Even though
Mylan proposes "Low-NOx boilers", I …
[View More]think better emissions control is
achievable, and it sure seems like better monitoring is needed.
JBK
Dr. James Kotcon
Interim Program Leader - Organic Agriculture USDA-CSREES
Mailstop 2220, Washington, DC 20250
phone: 202-401-4879 Cell: 304-319-2244
fax: 202-401-4888
for overnight carrier:
800 9th St., SW, Room 3344
Washington, DC 20024
-----Original Message-----
From: mvcac-bounces(a)cheat.org [mailto:mvcac-bounces@cheat.org] On Behalf
Of Jonathan Rosenbaum
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 11:09 AM
To: mvcac(a)cheat.org
Subject: [BULK] - [MVCAC] Draft Permit and Evalutation-Fact sheet for
Mylan available
I put both the Draft Permit and Evaluation/Fact Sheet for Mylan's
proposed changes at http://freesoftwarepc.com/Members/fspc/mylan/ for
download. Jill Harris was prompt about sending me the Fact Sheet by
email, and will be mailing me a copy of the application for Mylan
Pharmaceuticals.
Jonathan
_______________________________________________
MVCAC mailing list
MVCAC(a)cheat.org
http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac
[View Less]
I put both the Draft Permit and Evaluation/Fact Sheet for Mylan's
proposed changes at http://freesoftwarepc.com/Members/fspc/mylan/ for
download. Jill Harris was prompt about sending me the Fact Sheet by
email, and will be mailing me a copy of the application for Mylan
Pharmaceuticals.
Jonathan