Mead Nebraska Ongoing Environmental Disaster

Host: Cathy Wyatt Guests: #1 Eleanor Rogan, Ph.D. | College of Public Health, UNMC #2 Judy Wu-Smart, Ph.D. | Department of Entomology, UN-L #3 Janece Mollhoff | Resident, Ashland, NE An idea that normally could provide environmental benefits backfires. Since 2015, the ethanol plant was using treated corn, coated with fungicides and insecticides, including harmful bee-killing neonics, to produce its biofuel. The state finally filed a lawsuit in 2021 and ordered the plant shut down. Learn what has happened since then, how concerned those living in and around the area should be, and where we go from here.

AltEn Crisis in Mead https://t.co/t2I33T6B1H NO ON CARES #OhioChemicalDisaster

— GHOST OF CHAOS (@GHOSTOFCHAOS420) March 3, 2023

I would like to appeal to the logical area of the brain for a moment. We know we're under attack by the state. Rather than expend our energy debating the precise nature of each tool being used to murder us, I suggest we focus our attention and talk about the only peaceful way out https://t.co/2I6l0V6h3h

— Roadtoserfdom (@roadtoserfdom3) March 3, 2023

EPA Announces Latest Actions to Protect Groundwater and Communities from Coal Ash Contamination

Agency issues six proposed determinations to deny facilities’ requests to continue unsafe coal ash disposal Issued: Jan 25, 2023 (2:29pm EST)

WASHINGTON (Jan. 25, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the latest action to protect communities and hold facilities accountable for controlling and cleaning up the contamination created by coal ash disposal. The Agency issued six proposed determinations to deny facilities’ requests to continue disposing of coal combustion residuals (CCR or coal ash) into unlined surface impoundments.

For a seventh facility that has withdrawn its application, Apache Generating Station in Cochise, Arizona, EPA issued a letter identifying concerns with deficiencies in its liner components and groundwater monitoring program.

“With today’s proposed denials, EPA is holding facilities accountable and protecting our precious water resources from harmful contamination, all while ensuring a reliable supply of electricity to our communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “We remain committed to working with our state partners to protect everyone, especially those in communities overburdened by pollution, from coal ash contamination now and into the future.” 

Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal in coal-fired power plants that, without proper management, can pollute waterways, groundwater, drinking water, and the air. Coal ash contains contaminants like mercury, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic associated with cancer and various other serious health effects.

Today’s action delivers protections for underserved communities already overburdened by pollution, and reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing environmental justice in impacted communities.

EPA is proposing to deny the applications for continued use of unlined surface impoundments at the following six facilities:

 

• Belle River Power Plant, China Township, Michigan.
• Coal Creek Station, Underwood, North Dakota.
• Conemaugh Generating Station, New Florence, Pennsylvania.
• Coronado Generating Station, St. Johns, Arizona.
• Martin Lake Steam Electric Station, Tatum, Texas.
• Monroe Power Plant, Monroe, Michigan.

 

EPA is proposing to deny these applications because the owners and operators of the CCR units fail to demonstrate that the surface impoundments comply with requirements of the CCR regulations. Specifically, EPA is proposing to deny these applications due to:

 

• Inadequate groundwater monitoring networks.
• Failure to prove groundwater is monitored to detect and characterize any elevated levels of contaminants coming from the coal ash surface impoundment.
• Evidence of potential releases from the impoundments and insufficient information to support claims that the contamination is from sources other than the impoundments.
• Inadequate documentation for the design and performance of the impoundment liners.
• Failure to meet all location restrictions.

 

If EPA finalizes these denials, the facilities will have to either stop sending waste to these unlined impoundments or submit applications to EPA for extensions to the deadline for unlined coal ash surface impoundments to stop receiving waste.

In the significant interest of maintaining grid reliability, the Agency is also proposing a process for these facilities to seek additional time, if needed to address demonstrated grid reliability issues. This process relies in part on reliability assessments from the relevant regional transmission organizations, ensuring a reliable supply of electricity while protecting public health.
EPA is collecting public comments on these proposals for 30 days through dockets in Regulations.gov. For more information, visit the Part B implementation webpage.

Background
The CCR Part B Final Rule, published November 12, 2020, allowed facilities to demonstrate to EPA that, based on groundwater data and the design of a particular surface impoundment, the operation of the unit has and will continue to ensure there is no reasonable probability of adverse effects to human health and the environment. EPA approval would allow the unit to continue to operate.

EPA received applications for alternate liner demonstrations from eight facilities with 17 CCR surface impoundments. These applications were from facilities in Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Texas. One Arizona facility and the Louisiana facility have since withdrawn their applications.

Learn more about coal ash

For further information: EPA Press Office (press@epa.gov)

STL Bioremediation and Erosion Control

Those black snake looking net tubes that are used to control erosion are also bioremediation filters.

These images are from the same  area of StLouis with the 3 Basin Water Pollution and Filtration setup that cleans pollution from water runoff from a stlouis city street and building parking lots.

Here's some close up images showing how well these dentrifying bioremediation systems work when placed at or near ground level.







The erosion control filters are performing an outstanding job.

Notice the uphill side in the images above, the soil and organic matter is building up? This proves the filters are trapping the soil runnoff before it travels into the waterway below.

Yes those are wood chips in the black snake netting

This also means any contaminants in the water runnoff are also filtered in this modified dentrifying biofilter.

Lessoning Agriculture Field Water Runnoff Pollution

 Agriculture contaminants is one of the 3 pollution sources quoted in EWG's Tap Water Database: Pollution Sources and is one reason ElectroHemp has been sharing ways farmers can use buffer zones, filter strips with phytoremediation to lesson field pollution runoff scenarios.

Agriculture

Agricultural activities are one of the main sources of water pollution for U.S. rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands and groundwater. Each year, farm operators apply more than 12 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer and 8 million tons of phosphorous fertilizer to cropland, some of which runs off into water sources.

Manure is another important source of water contamination. It’s estimated that livestock produce up to 1 billion tons of manure each year, and runoff from farms and feedlots can be laden with sediments and disease-causing microorganisms. And many pesticides have no federally mandated limits for drinking water, which means utilities and their customers have no benchmark to know if the amount of a specific pesticide in water is safe.

Many water utilities in farm country are forced to treat water supplies to remove agriculture-related pollutants, often relying on expensive processes such as carbon treatment and ion exchange. Despite utilities' efforts, agricultural contaminants are detected in the drinking water served to millions of Americans each year.


Source: EWG's Tap Water Database: Pollution Sources

Hemp PFAS groundwater remediation

Too bad the EPA Scientist weren't interested in Solving the Pollution that is contaminating this earth. https://t.co/Kp1JDyrJKq https://t.co/estfCyq4uY

— systembuster (@stlsystembuster) November 14, 2022

Researcher Dr Brett Turner from Newcastle University and his team have developed a natural and effective solution for removing toxic PFAS chemicals from groundwater.

Episode Notes

Researcher Dr Brett Turner from Newcastle University and his team have developed a natural and effective solution for removing toxic PFAS chemicals from groundwater.

 

He also explains how their research is also looking at how hemp plants can be used to remediate PFAS contaminated soil. 

University of Newcastle researchers are on track to create a solution to per-and poly- fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination, in a project that could benefit the Williamtown community and countless other sites across the world. 

L to R: Research team members Mr Glenn Currell, Dr Brett Turner and Dr Dan Bishop.

Dr Brett Turner and a team from the University’s Priority Research Centre for Geotechnical Science and Engineering, are to continue investigating the use of hemp seed proteins, and the hemp plant itself, to treat water and soil contaminated with PFAS. As announced in the 2019-2020 budget, the Federal Government has awarded $4.7m to the researchers for this work.

The man-made chemicals known as PFASs have been widely used in food wrappers, textile stains, non-stick cooking utensils, carpet and furniture protectants, insecticides, electronics, and in fire-fighting foams, as they are highly effective against hydrocarbon fuel fires.

Within Australia a number of sites have been identified as having groundwater and soil contaminated with PFAS including the Williamtown RAAF base in NSW; Oakey Aviation Centre in QLD, and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) training facility in Fiskville VIC.

Globally, the extent of this problem is even greater, with more than 41,000 airports in the world, many of which are potentially contaminated with PFAS. Considered almost non-degradable in nature, many conventional treatments for PFAS remediation are not effective, yet the costs of PFAS remediation technologies are exorbitant.

Dr Turner said the team’s early findings, supported by an initial $600,000 grant through the NSW Government’s Research Attraction and Acceleration Program, were being further explored, and applied to the more complex challenge of contaminated soil.

“We found that hemp has a remarkable affinity for PFAS chemicals in groundwater, so we expect that this can be applied to remediate contaminated soil – an area where currently there are no options,” Dr Turner said.

Director of the Priority Research Centre and 2015 NSW Scientist of the Year, Laureate Professor Scott Sloan said the next stage of the research would pioneer a more cost-effective way of removing chemical compounds from soil, groundwater and surface waters in a natural way.

“We are excited about the potential benefits for the residents around our local RAAF base at Williamtown, and for other affected communities worldwide,” Laureate Professor Sloan said.

The $4.7m funding has been awarded through the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science over five years. This research is also supported by the University of Newcastle with additional funding of $1.5m.

“We’d like to thank the Government for the funding, as well as Senator Brian Burston for his significant efforts in helping to secure it,” Dr Brett Turner said.

“This critical grant will allow us to increase our team, employing three Doctoral Fellows, four PhD students and a research technician. We look forward to continuing the hard work, and pioneering a local solution to a global problem.”

Here is the audio recording see photos below of the system Scotty with ElectoHemp has been designing and working on.