skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

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

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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.

Coal and Coalition Reach Agreement in Landmark Water Pollution Case

play audio
Play

Tuesday, October 9, 2012   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - In what's being called a landmark case for water quality and public health in Kentucky, a coalition of public interest groups has reached a settlement with a major coal company and the state over thousands of water pollution violations. Among the groups involved are Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Riverkeeper, and the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center.

Eric Chance with Appalachian Voices says the agreement revolves around false reporting found in state records in 2010 involving the pollution coming from dozens of coal mines.

"First, we expected to see lots of violations of permit limits, but we found next to none. Between reports, many values were very, very similar and eventually we began to find entire quarterly reports that were identical to each other except for the date."

Mary Cromer, staff attorney for the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, says as bad as the record keeping and lax state oversight seemed at first, it got worse.

"Not only had the companies been submitting false reports, they also had failed to submit any reports at all for many of their facilities. Obviously the system was broken."

KFTC member Ted Withrow says there were three key areas the groups wanted to make sure the settlement addressed.

"Number one, a trustworthy third-party independent monitoring program; strongly stipulated penalties that would punish future water quality violations; and a penalty award that must be spent in southeastern Kentucky where the violations occurred, and on programs that will improve the water quality there."

The mines in question are owned by International Coal Group, which took part in the settlement, and Frasure Creek Mining, which has not. The same judge who allowed the coalition to intervene when the groups claimed the state's enforcement was inadequate, must okay the deal before it can take effect.

In addition to ruling on the settlement, the court will decide whether to impose the original agreement that the state cabinet struck with Frasure Creek.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

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

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 …

 

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