White House ‘of two minds’ in enforcing Clean Air Act

By Juliet Eilperin
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON, DC - Although the Environmental Protection Agency joined in a legal settlement last week to force the largest power-plant pollution cleanup in U.S. history, the Bush administration signaled in the agreement that it has no intention of taking enforcement actions against the utility for the same kind of Clean Air Act violations in the future.

The language of the settlement indicates that the administration has not wavered in its distaste for a Clinton-era policy of using the law to force power plants to upgrade their pollution controls whenever they significantly update or expand a plant.

That marks a significant victory for the power industry, which has strenuously opposed the “New Source Review,” saying that it penalizes them for efficiency improvements that ultimately benefit consumers and the environment....Read more.

Ohio among nation’s top water polluters

The Canton Repository

COLUMBUS (AP) - Ohio ranked first in the nation in the number of times its major factories and cities released an unauthorized amount of harmful chemicals and untreated sewage into waterways, according to a report released by an environmental group Thursday.

Cities and industrial facilities across the 50 states frequently deposited more pollution into the nation’s waterways than the 1972 federal Clean Water Act allows, said the report from the nonprofit group Environment Ohio.

The group looked at 2005 water pollution data from cities and industries that were deemed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release a significant amount of toxins into major waterways....Read more.

Dover firm in top water polluters

By Paul Kostyu
The Canton Repository

COLUMBUS - A Tuscarawas County company is one of the worst water polluters in the state and contributes to Ohio's rank as the worst state for water pollution violations, according to a report released on the 35th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act.

Dover Chemical exceeded its water permit limits 10 times in 2005, the latest data available, according to Environment Ohio, a nonprofit advocacy group.

Forty-six of the 270 companies and city governments studied exceeded permit limits multiple times for what can be dumped in waterways.

The report details the reason Ohio ranks high on the national list of poor water quality, said Amy Gomberg, a spokesman for Environment Ohio....Read more.

Waste Management works on ‘green’ strategy

By John Porretto
The Associated Press

HOUSTON, TX - Waste Management, the nation’s largest garbage hauler and landfill operator, plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next dozen years to make its operations more environmentally friendly.

The company plans to increase its energy production from waste, buy more fuel-efficient vehicles and more than double the amount of recyclable material it processes, among other initiatives.

Waste Management chief executive David Steiner is scheduled to announce the plan today at the World Business Forum in New York.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Steiner said the “green” strategy also will boost Waste Management’s bottom line. The company reported $13.4 billion in revenue in 2006....Read more.

Ring of fire

The Akron Beacon Journal

PIKE TWP - Devising a solution to the problem of smoldering, smelly underground garbage at the Countywide Recycling & Disposal Facility in southern Stark County just got more difficult. In a letter last week to Republic Services about its Pike Township landfill, Chris Korleski, director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, warned of new evidence that underground fires are spreading.

Korleski, whose agency is studying a long-term solution, wisely is calling for a greater degree of caution in landfill operations. He has ordered the company to shift the area where garbage is received farther north, away from older, covered sections where fires have broken out and appear to be spreading. In addition, a fire break, most likely a berm constructed with clay soils, would separate a new active area of the landfill from closed areas....Read more.