skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

DEP Urged to Revise Brunner Island Water Permit

play audio
Play

Wednesday, July 26, 2017   

HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Brunner Island power plant must stop contaminating the Susquehanna River, according to a message delivered by local residents to the Department of Environmental Protection.

A hearing Monday evening marked the close of the public comment period on a draft water permit that would let the coal-fired power plant continue discharging water with pollutants from coal ash until 2023.

According to Patrick Grenter, senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club, the plant's last water permit expired more than five years ago and the current draft would allow the plant to keep discharging waste containing arsenic, mercury and selenium into the river.

"The technologies needed to control these toxics are widely available; it's easily installed,"he said. "Coal plants around the country have done so, years ago."

The owners of Brunner Island have been retrofitting the plant to burn natural gas, which could eliminate the toxic discharges. However, Grenter said, the plant could make that switch now.

"The fact that this plant has the ability right now to stop this toxic pollution further underlines why it's just completely inappropriate for the DEP to give this company an additional six years to pollute," he said.

The Susquehanna River provides drinking water for about 6 million people.

Water pollution isn't the only problem. Connecticut and Delaware have filed complaints with the Environmental Protection Agency over Brunner Island's emissions of smog-forming nitrogen oxides. By allowing the pollution to continue, Grenter said, the DEP would be subsidizing the plant.

"If they're forced to internalize the cost of their pollution,: he said, "it's become more and more clear that they can't compete with clean, renewable sources like wind and solar."

The DEP has said it will evaluate all the written and oral comments on the draft water permit before issuing its decision.

The draft permit is online at dep.pa.gov.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021