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State regulators Wednesday allowed more companies to haul toxic waste in Louisiana.But the Public Service Commission did not go as far as a newly passed state law demands, which will force the courts, ultimately, to decide how to handle hazardous leftovers from industry and the oilfield.Voting 4-0, the PSC updated trucking regulations that were first passed to counter the helter-skelter dumping of hazardous waste, which became a problem in the 1970s.PSC Chairman Eric Skrmetta acknowledged the new rule is similar to what the new law wants, but the differences are significant enough not to sideline a lawsuit challenging whether legislators have the right to intercede with regulators’ authority to decide how truckers should operate.“It is our rule and we voted on it using our constitutional authority,” Skrmetta said. “We are going to go forward and challenge their (legislators) authority to enter into our sphere.”A lawsuit filed in August by the five-elected members of the PSC seeks to overturn the new law passed in June. The case is pending before 19th Judici... (The Advocate)
Each worked as part of relief efforts after the 2016 floods in Baton Rouge that killed 13 people in Louisiana and wrecked more than 60,000 homes. Harvey, though, presents a more expansive disaster.“In Baton Rouge, there was a line on one side of the road on one major highway where you knew pretty much where all the debris was going to be,” Bankston said. “In [Texas], it could be all the way in Tomball, it could be all the way in Huffman and also in Baytown.”McDaniel has in turn subcontracted about 40 crew members from the Houston area. Since the storm arrived, he’s been staying in a camper in Fresno. It’s the life of a contractor, McDaniel said. He and his crew have been working 12-hour days, seven days a week since Harvey rolled through Houston. If there is one perk, it’s that his family might get a vacation out of it.“I just promised [my daughter] a trip to Disney to brighten her spirits,” he said. (Houston Press)
Throughout Texas and Louisiana, Hurricane Harvey cleanup is underway. Florida, Georgia and the Caribbean islands are just starting to assess the damage from Irma, while the storm pushed north to flood Charleston, S.C. Hurricane Jose’s path is still uncertain, but one thing is true: If you’ve been hit by either of these — or any other storm — cleaning up can be a nightmare, and few resources tell you where to start.Storm cleanup is different from regular, and even heavy duty, cleaning. There are hazards, health concerns and other issues that go beyond normal cleaning that require specialty products, tools and cleaning techniques, as well as protective gear and safety measures not required in regular cleaning. After a large storm and flooding, many belongings will be a total loss, but often there are unexpected treasures that survive that can be restored. Here are guidelines to follow for cleaning what can be salvaged.Removing Water and Eliminating MoldAfter a flood, removing water and drying everything out...
Try gasbuddy.com/app.When will the price of gas come down?Blame that on the other hurricane, Harvey. Refineries in Texas and Louisiana still aren't fully up and running because of that storm. Once they're going again, probably in the next few weeks, then prices are expected to drop in a few weeks, AAA's Josh Carrasco said.CLEANUPI piled up all the debris in my yard out by the curb, but nobody has come to get it yet. Why are they taking so long?Be patient. Work crews from local government are going around to pick up the downed limbs and so forth, but there is quite a lot of it to pick up and so it's going to take a while. If you can't wait, then you or someone you hire can haul it all to a county-run brush site. Check your county's website for locations.I found a tree service guy to look at the tree that fell on my house, but he wants thousands of dollars for the work. I think he's overcharging me. Can he do that?If you think someone is trying to gouge you on post-hurricane services, call the state Attorney General's Office at 1-866-9-NO-SCAM. Price-gouging is illegal in Florida.MAIL SERVICEI haven't gotten any mail for days. Whatever happened to "neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet"?The U.S. Postal Service believes its letter carriers should not risk their lives for no good reason, so it shut down service throughout most of Florida ahead of Irma. As of Wednesday, most of the state's postal routes were going back into service, except for down in the Keys.SCHOOLSMy kid is out of school all week. Will there be make-up days?Yes, but none of the Tampa Bay school systems have yet figured out when that will be. Stay tuned.CLAIMSI'm not sure I have an insurance claim. Should I file one anyway?Yes, according to the head of one of Florida's largest insurers. "File a claim. It won't count against you," Security First Insurance founder and president Locke Burt told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Even if a claim is fairly minor — a broken window, for instance — and won't exceed a policyholder's annual hurricane deductible, you should still report that damage, Burt said. Why? Because we're not to the end of the hurricane season yet. If there's another hurricane this year, then together those claims might top your deductible and then you could be reimbursed.I probably need a lawyer to deal with all the stuff that happened to me, but there's no way I can afford one. Am I out of luck?No. A partnership among the Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency has set up a hotline you can call to reach lawyers who can offer assistance with FEMA, insurance claims, dealing with contractors, replacing legal documents destroyed in the storm and other issues. Call them at 1-866-550-2929. Leave them a message and they are supposed to return calls within two business days.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.Contact Craig Pittman at craig@tampabay.com. Follow @craigtimes. (Tampabay.com)
Anaconda Aluminum in Montana produced manufacturing wastes that contaminated local water sources with lead and chromium, Gulf States Utilities in Louisiana discharged toxins into marshlands polluting waters with benzene and other chemicals, and the Conklin Dumps in New York leaked volatile organic chemicals into groundwater.The EPA regulates 94 chemicals in drinking water sources but doesn’t set standards for many others that could potentially be dangerous. A News21 analysis of EPA data shows that the drinking water of more than 244 million people contains contaminants that can be linked back to industrial practices and are not currently regulated.“They tell you one time to not drink your water, another time that it’s OK to drink your water,” said Laura Tench of Belmont, North Carolina. “Common sense tells you this is not right, we’re not being told the truth.”It can take years, sometimes decades, to clean chemicals from polluted water, EPA records show.“I want my family to breathe some fresh air and drink some good water,” said Vivian Milligan, a resident of Ringwood, New Jersey. “I want to see our future generations have the time to grow up and not have to deal with young kids dying and sicknesses and illnesses.”Jasmine Spearing-Bowen / News21 permalinkPicher, Okla., reached its largest population in 1926 during the height of mining activity. Since then, almost everyone has moved out. Jasmine Spearing-Bowen / News21 permalinkPicher, Okla., reached its largest population in 1926 during the height of mining activity. Since then, almost everyone has moved out. Mining and smelting operations are responsible for contaminating water with heavy metals in almost every state in the nation. In northeast Oklahoma, where mountains of mining waste mark the landscape, the Tar Creek area near Picher is among the most contaminated places in the country. Decades of lead and zinc mining left a 40-square-mile area littered with piles of chat, mining remnants contaminated with lead and other heavy metals.When the mines shut down in the 1970s, the effects of the pollution were so devastating that residents of four towns had to be relocated.“The water was so contaminated it just came out solid red from the iron and stuff in the water,” said John Frazier, a former Picher, Oklahoma, resident. “If you go down to Tar Creek now, you seen that? That’s what the water looked like, our drinking water.”Water from a shallow aquifer began to run red with contaminants, first into a small waterway called Tar Creek and then out into surrounding streams and lakes that provide drinking water to communities in the area.“Tar Creek runs through Picher, Cardin, Commerce and then hits Miami before it runs into the Neosho River and on into the Grand Lake,” said Rebecca Jim, an environmental advocate. “I am a member of the Cherokee nation and that lake is my drinking water.”The EPA designated the area as a Superfund site and tried for nearly a decade to clean up contamination after high levels of lead were found in the blood of local children. After several land cave-ins at heavily mined areas, many residents in Picher and several other towns moved out with assistance from the EPA.Jasmine Spearing-Bowen / News21Quapaw tribe Environmental Director Tim Kent holds some of the mining waste that litters the Picher, Okla., area. It contains lead and ot... (Oklahoma Watch)
