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August 26, 2003 To: KRC Members From: Tom FitzGerald
Here at the Council, we take your e-mail privacy seriously. We attempt to avoid spreading any computer viruses, and never send or forward frivolous messages. Due to the recent concerns with virus attachments, KRC will NOT send any attached e-mails to our general mailing list. Instead, as issues or work of interest is generated by KRC, we will send you a message noting that the work has been posted (here) to our website, www.kyrc.org. If you receive any message from KRC that claims to have an attachment, or includes a questionable "subject," PLEASE let us know immediately in order that we may take steps to correct the problem. Thank you. Tom FitzGerald KRC
There is an organization in Frankfort that will take old computers, as long as they are Pentium or above, and old printers and monitors. They will fix them, and in turn donate the equipment to needy families. The name of the organization is the Salvation Student Technology Center, 119 West Main Street, Frankfort, KY 40601. The phone number is 502/226-6062. Cartridges that contain ink for inkjet printers and toner for laser printers and copying machines are being accepted in Jefferson County at: # 595 Hubbards Lane. # 3520 Newburg Road. # 7219 Dixie Highway (beind the Southwest Government Center). # 9300 Whipps Mill Road (behind police station). # 7201 Outer Loop (behind the Central Government Center). # 10620 W. Manslick Road (behind the police station). The Salvation Army of Frankfort will also take some type of gear. KRC has moved. Our new street address is: 213 St. Clair St. Suite 200. Court Square, Frankfort, 40601. Our mailing address is still the same P. O. Box 1070, 40602. |
Click the headline to read the October 25, 2011 presentation by Andy McDonld, Director of the Kentucky Solar Partnership and a KRC member, to the Interim Joint Committee on Local Government. Click the headline to read the text of the letter. This fall, the Board, staff, and membership of the Council joined with the larger Louisville community in mourning the passing and celebrating the life of our friend Owsley Brown II, who died on September 26, 2011. We will long remember his unwavering support for and interest in our work, his good-natured humor and genteel manner, and his quiet calm which so well balanced the energy and passion for justice of his wife and partner in planting seeds of change, Christy Lee Brown. In his memory, and in honor of his unflagging belief in the "better angels" of our nature, we at the Council rededicate ourselves to the unfinished work of restoring justice to environmental policy. In the "Statement of Consideration" filed regarding proposed changes to enforcement and hearing regulations for the state surface coal mining program, the Kentucky Department for Natural Resources made most of the changes recommended in comments submitted by KRC on September 30, 2011. KRC had expressed concern that a number of grammatical changes made to existing approved state mining regulations would render them inconsistent with federal counterpart regulations. The proposed regulatory revisions were intended to allow electronic service of documents, but a number of grammatical and structural changes (likely made in response to recommendations from the legislative review committee staff) altered the meaning and effect of several regulations. Click the headline to read KRC's concerns, and visit the DNR website to review the amended regulations. On behalf of two residents whose properties adjoin those on which LG&E and KU propose to build a coal combustion waste landfill, KRC submitted preliminary comments to the Divison of Waste Management. Among the issues raised is the insufficiency of TCLP and SPLP testing to determine the leaching potential for various metals and organics associated with coal combustion ash. Click the headline to read the preliminary comments. In a 14-page Memorandum Opinion dated September 12, U.S. District Court Judge Heyburn approved the third Amended Class Action Settlement in a case involving Zeon Chemicals in Louisville's Rubbertown area. On behalf of KRC's client, Eboni Cochran of REACT, KRC had objected to the class action settlement as unfair, and alteratively sought to narrow the scope of the injunction against future lawsuits, and to protect personal injury claims. After objections from Ms. Cochran, the Court ordered changes to the proposed settlement before it was approved preliminarily, and in the Memorandum Opinion further clarified the scope of the injunction and the protection of personal injury claims. The settlement strips residents within a 2-mile radius of the plant of many legal rights while providing only nominal compensation. Click the headline to read the memorandum filed by KRC. In response to concerns voiced by KRC, the American Lung Association of Kentucky, and a former agency official, the Metro Louisville Air Pollution Control District Board accepted staff's recommendation to defer action on proposed changes to the District's STAR air toxics program in order to allow staff to further review the concerns. To read KRC's comments, click the headline. The rules will be taken up next at the July 20 meeting. On June 3, the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources Commission will review a controversial staff proposal to hunt 400 sandhill cranes per year for a 3- year period. KRC opposes the hunt, both because of the concerns voiced by the International Crane Foundation regarding the science behind the hunt proposal, but more fundamentally, because this majestic migratory species should be managed for non-game wildlife values. To read more and to learn how to contact the Fish and Wildlife Resources Commission to express your thoughts, click the headline. In comments submitted to the Division of Water on the renewal of a permit for a hog operation in Carlisle County, KRC is seeking imnprovements in a nutrient management plan, as well as better assessment and controls on the emissions of air toxics from pit storage of manure. Click the headline to read more. In a supplemental memorandum filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Intervenor Eboni Cochran has requested that the Court withhold preliminary approval of a proposed class action settlement that would affect the rights of individual residing within 2 miles of the Rubbertown facility, until a proposed five-year injunction is narrowed or eliminated from the proposed settlement. To read the supplemental memorandum, click the headline. On May 5, KRC filed a request for administrative hearing on behalf of two individuals and the Center for Biological Diversity, challenging the issuance of a water quality certification for a project that will result in placement of fill material into 4.9 acres of prime habitat for federally-protected mussel species at Paducah, Kentucky. To read the request for hearing, click the headline. State water quality standards prohibit modification of habitat for threatened or endangered species if it would have a harmful effect on the species. KRC was proud to be a signatory with 64 other national, state and local conservation organizations in joint comments submitted to the Corps of Engineers in opposition to the reissuance and expansion of "Nationwide Permits," in which categories of activities involving placement of dredged or fill material in waters of the United States are approved by a blanket permit, with less review and oversight than would attend an individual permit. To read the summary of the comments, click the headline. For a copy of the full 100-page comment letter, contact Fitz. Thanks to Jan Goldman-Carter and NWF for their work. Click the headline to read more about the final disposition of significant bills and resolutions that KRC opposed, supported and tracked during the 2011 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, which ended on March 9, 2011. Click the headline to read KRC's statement in response to the filing of the so-called "Mining Jobs Protection Act" On February 22, 2011, David Bell appealed to the Court of Appeals from the January 21, 2011 decision of the Meade Circuit Court regarding the rezoning of property near Battletown that would allow crushing and screening of quarried limestone. Click the headline to read KRC's testimony before the Senate State and Local Government Committee regarding the propsoed constitutional amendment establishing a right to hunt and fish. At KRC's suggestion, several language changes were made to the bill. Click the headline to read KRC's comments concerning the amendments proposed by the Division of Water in response to the partial disapproval of Kentucky's antidegradation implementation rule by EPA. Click the headline to read KRC's analysis of the effect of adopting HJR 49 on the permitting of greenhouse gas emissions. Click the headline to read the Council's comments on proposed revisions to 401 KAR 5:006. Click the headline to read KRC's letter requesting denial of a requested certification that filling 4.9 acres of habitat for a federally-listed endangered mussel species in the Ohio River at Paducah would be consistent with state water quality standards. |
Click the headline to read about the bills and resolutions that the Kentucky Resources Council is supporting, opposing, and tracking during the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly regular session, complete through end of legislative day January 27, 2012. Click the headline to read more about the bills and resolutions that KRC is supporting, opposing, and tracking during the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly, complete through January 20, 2012. Click the headline to read more about the bills that KRC is supporting, opposing, and tracking during the 2012 General Assembly Regular Session, complete through January 13, 2012. Click the headline to read about the bills that KRC is supporting, opposing, and tracking during the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly Regular Session. Click the headline to read about the bills that have been prefiled for introduction in the 2012 Kentucky General Assembly Regular Session, which begins on January 3, 2012. In written comments presented by a Council member at a public hearing in Calvert City on November 18, the Council expressed concern that the permit conditions governing emissions, testing, monitoring, and recordkeeping for a speciality chemical manufacturer in Calvert City, Kentucky, are insufficient. To read the Council's written comments, click the headline. In an order dated November 9, 2011, the Kentucky Public Service Commission approved a package of enhanced energy efficiency and demand management programs proposed by Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities. To read the order, which describes the new and enhanced programs, visit www.lrc.ky.gov and go to Case No. 2011-00134. The Council represented the Metropolitan Housing Coalition in this case. A settlement submitted on November 10 for review and approval by the Public Service Commission would provide over $125,000 in new funds for Home Energy Assistance for the most vulnerable ratepayers in the LG&E and KU Service areas for years 2012 and 2013. The funds were sought by the Metropolitan Housing Coalition and Community Action Council of Lexington to help offset the increase in electricity rates due to installation of pollution control equipment needed to reduce pollution-related illness and death. Cathy Hinko, Director of the Metropolitan Housing Coalition, said this regarding the settlement: "For too long, environmental advocates and fair and affordable housing advocates did not cross boundaries. But now we all see that our interests are entwined, and none too soon. There was a tension between interests of consumers - cleaner utilities require funding, yet we are in a recession where incomes are lower and too many live in poverty. The Metropolitan Housing Coalition and Kentucky Resources Council worked for a settlement that balanced these needs. We both want clean air and soil, we both want to lower usage and make utilities affordable by improving energy efficiency of housing in lower income and older neighborhoods. And we both wanted prudent spending to keep costs lower and effective. We believe we achieved this in the settlement. It has been a joy to work with the visionaries at KRC, who made this possible." KRC was proud to represent Metro Housing Coalition in the environmental surcharge case, and looks forward to more opportunities to collaborate on the nexus between safe and affordable housing, energy, and quality of life issues. The proposed settlement can be read by visiting www.psc.ky.gov and searching for Cases No. 2011-00161 and 2011-00162. Click the headline to read KRC's comments regarding a construction permit requested by American Synthetic Rubber Company allowing substitution of cyclohexane and methylcyclohexane for toluene as a solvent in the production of rubber. On behalf of Citizens for Alternative Water Solutions (CAWS) KRC has filed a motion asking the state Supreme Court to review the issuance by the Kentucky Public Service Commission of a certificate allowing construction of the Pool 3 water treatment plant and associated pipeline. To read the text of the motion, click the headline. Click the headline to read KRC's speech celebrating 35 years of the Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, and calling on Kentuckians to become better advocates for full funding for the Commission's work and the Heritage Land Conservation Fund. In comments critical of the divisive and infammatory manner with which the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources sought to drum up support for a proposed sandhill crane hunt, KRC requested that the hunt plan be withdrawn. To read KRC's comments, click the headline. A June 21 letter jointly signed by 15 conservation organizations requests that the US Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Regulations Committee defer approval of a proposed Kentucky hunt plan for sandhill cranes in order to allow gaps in the science to be resolved. Click the headline to read the letter. The Committee is meeting June 22 and 23rd. Click the headline to read KRC's comments before the Kentucky Fish and WIldlife Commission's June 3 decision to approve a hunt for sandhill cranes. The proposed regulation will be published in the July 1 Kentucky Administratiove Register, and letters in opposition to the proposed hunt can be sent to the KDFWR, #1 Sportsmans Lane, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 before July 31. A public hearing is scheduled for July 21 at 9 a.m. at that location. KRC joins with the extended Brown family, the Louisville community, and conservationists across the nation in remembering the remarkable life and works of Sara Shallenberger "Sally" Brown, who died on April 30, 2011 at age 100. From the earliest days of the Kentucky Resources Council, Sally was a supporter of KRC's work, sending letters of encouragement as well as financial support. Along with her friend Mary Bingham, Sally's support for KRC was critical to the survival of the organization in its early years. In 2005, Sally wrote to KRC's Director "Thank goodness you are only 50 and have the vitality, wisdom and knowledge to continue watching over the course of the future." In honor of and in fond memory of Sally Brown, whom the KET documentary called a "Force of Nature", we at KRC rededicate ourselves to "watching over the course of the future" as Sally charged us to do. In 2009, Eboni Cochran of REACT, opposed a proposed class action settlement brought against the Zeon chemical plant in Louisville's Rubbertown, and was successful in having the proposed agreement rejected by the Court as being unfair. On May 1, 2011, a third proposed settlement agreement was filed. If preliminarily approved by the Court, residents within a 2-mile radius will have a sixty-day period to either file a claim for nominal amounts or to "opt out" of the class. For a detailed analysis of the new settlement, click the headline. Ms. Cochran is represented by KRC. Click the headline to read the latest update, complete through end of day March 4, of the bills and resolutions that the Council is supporting, opposing, and tracking during the 2011 General Assembly Regular Session, which ends March 22. Click on the headline to read more about the bills and resolutions that KRC is supporting, opposing, and tracking during the current legislative session, complete through February 25, 2011. At the February 17, 2011 House Natural Resources Committee meeting, KRC offered testimony on the inadequacy of current reclamation bond amounts, and against HB 421. Cut and paste this link to watch the committee meeting: http://www.ket.org/cgi-bin/cheetah/watch_video.pl?nola=WGAOS+012080&altdir=&template= Kentucky Educational Television archives many of the committee meetings during the General Assembly sessions. Cut and paste this link to view our testimony in opposition to SB 26, which would remove the current obligation for nuclear plants to have a permanent waste strategy in place prior to construction: http://www.ket.org/cgi-bin/cheetah/watch_video.pl?nola=WGAOS+012021&altdir=&template= |
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