WVEC Green Legislative Update

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February 17, 2006

• Under the Dome
• Mercury Rule Does Not Protect Human Health - Take Action
• Citizens Want Moratorium On New Coal Slurry Ponds
• The Boss Says: "Do It"
• Alternatives to Sludge
• Clean Elections Clears Senate Judiciary, Needs Your Help in Senate Finance
• 3rd Annual Deposit Day Trashes the Capitol

By Donald S. Garvin, Jr.
WVEC Legislative Coordinator

Week 6 - A Wilderness of Vision

"Without enough wilderness America will change. Democracy, with its myriad personalities and increasing sophistication, must be fibred and vitalized by regular contact with outdoor growths - animals, trees, sun warmth and free skies - or it will dwindle and pale." Walt Whitman.

I was really hoping to get through this legislative session without having to fight another stupid, shortsighted Anti-Wilderness resolution.

But the session had barely begun and there it was - SCR 13, sponsored only by Senator Karen Facemyer (R - Jackson) - with the same exact ridiculous and inflammatory language as last year's aborted resolutions.

This is the most infuriating kind of legislation we are forced to deal with at the state house. It's merely a resolution and its actions are non-binding. But the language is replete with heated rhetoric, misstatement of facts, and outright false information.

And the passage of misguided resolutions such as this one can do real harm.

Compare the eloquent vision of Walt Whitman to these words from the Facemyer resolution: "Federal wilderness designation by the United States Congress is a permanent, irrevocable condition that will forever deprive West Virginians and visiting nonresidents of nearly all economically productive uses and reasonable access to recreational opportunities in the Monongahela National Forest."

Preposterous.

Oh, there's more: "...the Legislature hereby recognizes that any expansion of federal wilderness and/or the imposition of any other unreasonably restrictive land management measures would result in losses in recreational opportunity and severe economic harm to more West Virginians than would be benefited."

Well, nothing could be further from the truth.

The truth is that the tourism industry is the fastest growing segment of West Virginia's economy, and wilderness and backcountry experiences are one of the major draws. The truth is that wilderness experiences are contributing to an economic boom.

The fact is that the Monongahela National Forest contains more suitable land for experiencing wilderness than almost any place east of the Mississippi. The fact is that the Monongahela National Forest is within an eight-hour drive of almost fifty percent of the U.S. population. The truth is that the demand for wilderness tourism is only going to grow.

There's a lot more poppycock in SCR 13.

Claims that "the actions of political activists dedicated to forest abandonment" cause counties to lose "hundreds of millions of dollars" in timber revenue. Simply not true. Counties containing National Forest land get a fixed amount of federal revenue regardless of how many trees are cut.

And then there are the REALLY absurd claims that wilderness actually leads to a loss of species and biodiversity, and that these lands really need to be timbered for forest health - claims backed by "sound science" provided by right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Society and the Cato Institute. The deceitfulness of this propaganda is so obvious I'm not even going to attempt a rebuttal here.

So why, you might ask, would a state senator put her name on such an outrageous resolution?

Well, all you need to know is that Senator Facemyer and her husband are in the timber business, and this resolution reflects her vision of the world.

It is not mine.

"In wildness is the preservation of the world," - Henry David Thoreau.

There was a snowstorm last weekend and it was almost 80 degrees yesterday in Charleston. The birds must be very confused. So better keep the feeders full.

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Citizens Want Moratorium On New Coal Slurry Ponds

By Ken Ward Jr., Staff writer
(reprinted from February 15, 2006 Gazette article)

Coalfield residents came to the Statehouse on Tuesday to ask West Virginia lawmakers to protect them from the potential dangers of coal waste impoundments.

Residents from Boone, Raleigh and other coalfield counties want a moratorium on new or expanded slurry impoundments.

Maria Gunnoe of Bob White said her neighbors - especially area children - live in fear that an impoundment will break and flood their community.

"Our children sleep fully clothed at night," Gunnoe said. "This is wrong."

Gunnoe and other coalfield residents joined state environmental activists at the Capitol Tuesday for the West Virginia Environmental Council's annual E-Day.

Later this week, they expect legislation to be introduced to block new slurry impoundments and require the state Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a special study of coalfield dams.

Delegate Larry Barker, D-Boone, is the lead sponsor of the bill.

"I'm not trying to cost anybody a job," Barker said. "We need the coal. We need the lights on. But we can do this and live in harmony."

Under the bill, the DEP would be blocked from issuing new slurry impoundment permits.

The DEP could not approve any changes in existing impoundments unless those changes were aimed solely at "increasing the safety or stability" of the dam and do not increase the size of the impoundment.

Also, the DEP would be required to conduct a detailed study of the safety of existing impoundments. A report would be due by Jan. 1, 2007.

"They call them ponds - that's a cute name for them," Barker said. "But nobody wants to live under one of these. It is a danger. The problems are real, and no one has addressed them."

Raleigh County residents have complained that Gov. Joe Manchin backed off a promise to closely examine safety complaints about a Massey Energy impoundment just upstream from Marsh Fork Elementary School at Sundial.

Pauline Canterberry of Sylvester noted that the legislation would also ban the injection of slurry into abandoned underground mines.

"They want to fill these holes up with slurry," Canterberry said. "This is going to be dangerous, I think."

Canterberry said that there are "modern technologies" for disposal of slurry that do not require impoundments or underground injection.

Carol Warren of the West Virginia Council of Churches said that her group supports the legislation.

"We cannot wait until there is another horrible accident to do something about these impoundments," Warren said.

Vernon Haltom of the group Coal River Mountain Watch noted that the anniversary of the Buffalo Creek disaster is later this month.

On Feb. 26, 1972, a Pittston Coal Co. waste dam on Buffalo Creek, Logan County, collapsed. The resulting flood killed 125 people and left 4,000 homeless.

"We're told today the sludge impoundments are engineered and that we have nothing to worry about," Haltom said.

"Engineers designed the Martin County impoundment that failed in 2000, six years after it failed in 1994," he said. "[The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration] said it was engineered correctly, but obviously they were wrong.

"MSHA is the same agency that is responsible for investigating deep mines," he said. "They can obviously make mistakes."

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The Boss Says: "Do It"

By Allan Tweddle, WVEC Lobbyist

The West Virginia Public Energy Authority at it's meeting this week approved a letter that was signed by the members present, (myself included), that will presumably be signed by Governor Manchin stating that "The PEA supports net metering and recommends that the West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) proceed immediately with the drafting and promulgation of rules related to net metering to assure effective implementation."

In addition, the PEA reviewed the contents, and discussed the implications of SB 567, an as yet unnamed Bill, which establishes "the creation of the Division of Energy (WV DOE) within the Department of Commerce". SB567 was originated and introduced by the Chairman, John Unger II and sponsored by the entire Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at their committee meeting this week.

Senator Unger attended a previous meeting of the PEA and evidentially concluded that for the PEA to be effective, it needed a dedicated staff that was totally dedicated to developing a 'Comprehensive Energy Plan (CEP) for the State of West Virginia.' He also chaired the recent "Vision Shared" forum on 'Energy Future for the State'. PEA member Joseph Freeland and I were honored to be invited to the forum.

The staffing of this new WV DOE will be with existing personnel who have been dealing with all forms of energy (including opportunities in renewable energy) and will also be drawn from other departments. The consolidation of talent will bring a concentration of skills and abilities to the entire energy future planning process. The PEA will establish Energy policy, as a recommendation to the Governor. Once approved, the staff will be directed to develop an implementable comprehensive long term energy plan.

The current objective of SB567 is to develop a first draft five year CEP that can be presented to the Legislature at the interims in December. The process of developing the plan will include public hearings. The timing is important, as tax incentives that might be appropriate should be considered along with the Governor's stated intention of holding a special session of the Legislature to deal with Tax Reform.

SB567 was approved by Senator Unger's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, was then passed is now referred to Senate Finance. Secretary Timmermeyer suggested today at the PEA meeting that it might also go to Government Organization Committee, but we will see.

The concepts for the plan to be considered, as adopted today by PEA, will include all forms of renewable energy incentives for individual homeowners and small commercial buildings as well as establishing a State Renewable Energy Standard.

We do not intend, or need to reinvent the wheel in this subject. Many other States have already adopted such plans and standards, so PEA will simply need to consider those concepts that work in other States that could work in West Virginia as well.

I know that progress was made today.

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Alternatives to Sludge

By Ted Boettner, WVEC Lobbyist

On Wednesday, the House of Delegates introduced our sludge bill (H.B. 4583) that would put a ban on issuing new permits for sludge impoundments, ban sludge injection into abandoned mines, and call for a study on existing sludge ponds. The bill is sponsored by Delegates Barker, Hrutkay, Marshall, Hatfield, Moore and Susman, however other delegates are very supportive of the bill.

Movement on the Senate side has been slow, with very few Senators willing to sponsor HB 4583. After meeting with Senate leadership this week, their principle complaint was that the bill didn't discuss any alternatives to sludge impoundments and injection.

As we know, the dry press method offers the best solution to eliminating large-water sludge impoundments. In addition to dispensing with hazards associated water storage, dry press offers other advantages as well:

1. It doesn't create any slurry that can be injected into abandoned mines or stored above hollows.
2. It eliminates the expensive dewatering process.
3. Coal preparation plants would be smaller, cheaper, require less electrical energy and would have lower operating costs.
4. The absence of sludge ponds is ecologically attractive and rehabilitation costs of mining areas would be reduced.
5. Yields of cleaned coal will be relatively higher

If we can offer a viable alternative to sludge ponds this will go far in convincing many legislators that this issue is not about a lack of means, just a lack of will.

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3rd Annual Deposit Day Trashes the Capitol

By Linda Frame, linda@wvcag.org

We can't think of a better reason for skipping a college class - a chance to litter the grounds of the state Capitol. CAG staff got to join students from the WVU Student Sierra Coalition in this endeavor as they piled bag after bag of cans and bottles between the House and Senate wings, perfectly within view of legislators and staff, on a gorgeous, warm E-Day.

Talk about commitment. The students wrote a grant to cover expenses, held recycling drives on campus, and got on the road at 6 AM with their rented truck to deliver 26, 051 beverage containers to Charleston, symbolizing one for each WVU student. With hand-made posters touting the benefits a bottle bill would bring to West Virginia, the students attracted a lot of attention from passer-bys and talked up SB 136.

Since it was also Deposit Day, our mock redemption center collected thousands more cans to contribute to the heap and refunded recyclers for their efforts. We had collection jars in case people wanted to donate their deposits to charity groups like the Boy and Girl Scouts, an additional benefit to the law that has been written into this year's language.

Since our main goal is to raise awareness of the bottle bill, the pile of empties was a great visual for Capitol visitors, legislators and the media. Special thanks go out to Ivan Stiefel, Joshua Rutkowski, Dan Hobbs, Gibran Mancus, Bobby Mitchell, Dave Saville and Jim Kotcon for their work on WVU Student Sierra Coalition's effort.

We are still waiting for SB 136 to be taken up by Senate Judiciary and hope that will happen this week. Please contact your senators if you haven't already done so! Thanks for your support!

In other good news, the Jefferson County Solid Waste Authority and the Webster County Watershed Association have both passed resolutions of support for the WV Bottle Bill. Welcome to our growing list of supporters!

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Mercury Rule Does Not Protect Human Health - Click to Take Action

Clean Elections Clears Senate Judiciary, Needs Your Help in Senate Finance - Click for Update