When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.  Unfortunately, Vermont’s transportation agency keeps digging.  Vermont continues to push forward the unnecessary Circ Highway project – a new multi-million dollar ring road around Burlington, Vermont.   A federal court decision halted this project in 2004.  The mismanagement continues.  As a result, Vermonters suffer more traffic and more pollution. 

CLF has again shown cleaner, safer and lower cost transportation solutions are available.  With crumbling bridges and roads, budget-breaking deficits and increasing pollution, it is time to stop the madness.  Let’s not continue to push 1950s-era highway projects in the 21st century.  We can fix the roads we have, improve public transporation and rail and make safer routes for kids and others to get around.

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As the new school year approaches, students across New England reflect upon a summer’s worth of fun, events, and relaxation.  For many kids who live in or visit Vermont, Lake Champlain is central to summertime pleasure.  There are many ways to enjoy Champlain, thus plenty of reasons to keep it clean.  This was the idea behind the CLF drawing contest held at the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival.  The assignment read, “design a card that shows what you love about Lake Champlain and how to keep it clean”.  It was both exciting and heartening to see artistic young minds reflect upon what they valued about Lake Champlain and the environment.  A simple drawing contest such as this can go a long way, ensuring the next generation is engaged in environmental stewardship.  CLF would like to thank the Skinny Pancake and the Echo Center for donating prizes for this contest.  Here are our winners’ lovely drawings:

Audrey, Age 9 (South Burlington)

Kyla, Age 10 (Burlington, VT)

Harper, Age 6 (Bolton, VT)

Zoe, Age 10 (New Market, MD)

Gretchen, Age 7 (Waitsfield, VT)

Anika, Age 9 (Bethel, VT)

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News of an “unusual event” at a nuclear power facility is not comforting.  It is particularly troubling when no details are given, and the source is the same entity that has provided false and incomplete information in the past.

What is clear is that there are continuing problems at the Vermont Yankee nuclear facility.

CLF has called for the plant to be shut down now.  Leaks since January are continuing to pollute our environment and harm our economy.

CLF recently submitted detailed legal analysis showing that Vermont regulators have the authority and the obligation to take action in response to the leaks. 

Let’s STOP the “unusual events.”  Enough is enough.

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On July 20, transportation agencies completed the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Vermont’s Circ Highway.  The planned project would be an expensive new boulevard roadway outside of Burlington, Vermont.  The project is a poor public investment and a subsidy for sprawl.

Costing over $60 million dollars, saving only 4 minutes of travel time, limiting public transportation options, destroying irreplaceable farmland and wetlands while providing less congestion relief in Essex compared to improving existing roads is simply a bad idea.

Join CLF in calling for sensible transporation solutions, NOT more crowded roads and more pollution.  Submit comments online by August 27, 2010 or attend a public hearing:

Public Hearings will be August 9 & 10:

Monday August 9^th 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. @ Williston Central School Auditorium -195 Central School Drive, Williston

Tuesday August 10^th 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. @ Champlain Valley Exposition-105 Pearl Street, Essex Junction

See CLF’s website for more information and sample comments.

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I was fortunate to join six activists in a meeting Wednesday morning with Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  We  delivered a clear message:

Lack of responsible regulatory oversight is unacceptable.  The public has lost faith in the NRC.

As James Moore with VPIRG stated regarding the repeated mishaps at Vermont Yankee:  “We need a cop on that beat and we don’t have one.”

Ray Shadis with the New England Coalition said:  “What we see is a system rotten one end to the other.  The NRC doesn’t see that.”

Chairman Jaczko claimed he shares our same concerns, stating he wished we could follow him around for a day and know that he hears these same concerns from his staff.     I said I look forward to taking him up on that invitation, as well as seeing more robust oversight and action — not just expressions of concern — in responding to mishaps.

Members of the public and the media attended our meeting.  After the meeting  Chairman Jaczko visited Vermont Yankee but declined to include media or the public during that portion of his visit.

Coverage on the meeting in the Times Argus, The Associated Press, and the Brattleboro Reformer. You can also listen to the radio coverage from WFCR out of Western Massachusetts.

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Overwhelming support for SHUTTING DOWN VERMONT YANKEE NOW at the Vermont Public Service Board hearing last night in Brattlboro, Vermont. 

A BIG THANK YOU to all the folks who came to the hearing and told the Board ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  

The message from advocates was clear: Vermont Yankee must be shut down.  The continual failings and breakdowns are harming our environment and communities.  The pollution in the Connecticut River, groundwater and the soil must stop.  Great stories about the event in  Times Argus, the Brattleboro Reformer and the Keene Sentinel. 

The hearing was the Board’s chance to hear what the public thinks.  Many people from across Vermont, Massachusetts, and beyond, made the trip to Brattleboro.

If you couldn’t come to the hearing, you can submit comments on Yankee’s leaks electronically to the Public Service Board via:  psb.clerk@state.vt.us  or use CLF’s action alert.

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In new testimony filed last Friday, CLF offered proof from two experts that Entergy’s inadequate monitoring and prevention measures at Vermont Yankee have allowed unlawful contamination of groundwater and the environment. Moreover, the testimony shows that Entergy knew about the potential for leaks years before they occurred and is failing now to take steps to prevent leaks and clean up the site.

The testimony’s bottom line? You guessed it. Shut down the plant.

From CLF attorney Sandra Levine:

“Entergy’s response to the leaks is too little and too late. The continued contamination of groundwater and the Connecticut River must stop.  Entergy is shortchanging Vermont and leaving an expensive hazardous waste site to clean up in the future.”

CLF submitted testimony from two experts: David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Stratton French, a consulting hydrologist. You can read CLF’s press release and download the testimony on clf.org, but here are a few choice exerpts from the experts’ findings.

Mr. Lochbaum, on the fact that the leaks at Vermont Yankee are hazardous:

“It is analogous to a motorist driving while intoxicated. If no one was killed, the violation is still not condoned. The violation itself presents a serious risk of harm that must be addressed.”

Mr. Lochbaum recommended that the Public Service Board should prohibit Vermont Yankee from continuing to operate until Entergy has demonstrated that it has fixed all existing leaks and undertaken all necessary measures to prevent future ones, including at minimum: providing access to and means to monitor all systems, including underground pipes; regular inspections of all systems to identify and repair potential leak sources before leaks occur; and eliminating all uncontrolled discharges of radionuclides and radioactive materials into groundwater and surface water.

Mr. French on the extent of contamination and appropriate remediation efforts:

“Entergy VY has proposed to remove…less than one dump truck of soil [for remediation].  Soil sampling to characterize the degree and extent of contamination prior to remedial efforts is both needed and typical when addressing soil contaminated with any hazardous material. What is atypical is that the scope of remedial efforts in this trench was established by Entergy VY, despite sampling results indicating the extent of soil contamination is not known or adequately defined. Furthermore, the degree of contamination reported is suspect, casting doubt on the sampling and/or analytical programs utilized. The information known is not  adequate to characterize the degree or extent of contamination or the remediation needed.”

More:
Read the full news release on clf.org>>
Download the testimony>>

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Today is the day that the Senate will vote on Senator Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) highly controversial resolution to block the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as dictated by the 40-year-old Clean Air Act. If the last 40 years weren’t proof enough, the EPA’s authority was reaffirmed in the 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA Supreme Court decision.

Without the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, the EPA would be unable to dictate the fuel efficiency of vehicles on our roads or control the pollution output of power plants and refineries that supply our energy–a major step back in the national movement to develop and employ a clean energy economy that will mitigate the effects of climate change. We need to tell our senators to defend the power of the Clean Air Act and just say NO to the Murkowski resolution.

With big oil still in the picture and the effects of global warming continuing to worsen, not to mention the BP disaster still raging in the Gulf,  we need the enforcement of the Clean Air Act now more than ever–so what’s the real story behind Murkowski’s proposed legislation?

The bill, not surprisingly, is backed by oil industry lobbyists and others who have a stake in keeping polluters polluting for the foreseeable future and, as the authors of Unearthed (the blog of environmental law non-profit EarthJustice) write, “is at the center of a fury of political positioning and partisan politicking.” It’s not the first bill designed to maintain the momentum of an industry of which public opinion is clearly waning, and it won’t be the last. But here’s the kicker. The resolution–and the discourse among industry representatives that is surrounding it–takes as a matter of opinion what has already been proven a scientific fact. The ill effects of greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention the very existence of global warming, are not up for debate.

“We need to make a distinction between a political debate about policy and a political debate about science. When the science is politicized and we end up having a congressional vote to disapprove of what is already a scientific conclusion–that is absurd,” CLF’s Seth Kaplan told Elizabeth McGowan of Solve Climate in a June 8 article.

At this critical turning point for our environment and our economy, CLF asks you to take action RIGHT NOW and tell your New England senators to vote NO today to Senator Murkowski’s resolution–NO to weakening the Clean Air Act, NO to escalating the effects of global warming and NO to allowing oil industry lobbyists to control the environmental health of our country.

There’s no time to waste. Join CLF today in asking your senators to vote NO and defend the Clean Air Act.

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I am headed to Brattleboro tomorrow with some other CLF folks to talk about Vermont Yankee at an evening event CLF is hosting.  If you are in the area, come join us.

Join me and other CLF staff at the River Garden in Brattleboro, VT on Thursday, June 10 from 6-8 PM for a community gathering and Q&A  on   Vermont Yankee.  See event details. 

I was troubled to learn this morning that there is a new leak at Vermont Yankee. 

The continuing leaks must stop.   The new leak highlights the lack of responsible oversight and management at the plant.  Yankee only began operating again on Saturday after a month long outage for refueling.  Then start-up was stopped twice because of problems at the plant.  

 The public expects both Entergy and regulators to be proactive to stop leaks from occurring in the first place.  That is not happening.

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Tony Hayward of BP

The BP oil disaster has now reached its one month anniversary. No viable solutions are at hand for shutting down the underwater geyser, cleaning up the soiled marshes or restoring the damaged economies of coastal communities. The “outhouse” failed and the “top hat,” “top kill” and “junk shot” are still theories. What’s the performance assessment from the BP CEO? “Extraordinarily successful.” In fact, if BP continues on their chosen strategy, says Man at the Helm Tony Hayward, it just might be an improvement for their reputation!  Bravo Tony. Shirley Temple‘s sunny outlook pales in comparison.

The arrogance seen on display is not new. It’s the same gall we have seen in the Congress with Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s incredible response that the solution to the BP oil disaster is to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It’s the same predicted blindness we have seen from the industry spokesmodels who were scolded by President Obama last week. This is the same greed that has other oil companies rushing to seek 20 new waivers from environmental analysis for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico SINCE the Deepwater Horizon erupted.

The Obama Administration has taken some much needed action to establish an independent investigation commission and to – finally – address the rat’s nest of collusion and corruption at Minerals Management Service. We are thankful to have New England’s Rep. Ed Markey and Sen. Bernie Sanders helping to lead reform. Other areas of the country which are faced with new oil drilling such as the coast of Virginia are seeing the real face of oil, not the shiny industry portrayal. But, why wait any longer? We need real action. We need President Obama to reinstate the 20 year moratorium on oil drilling.

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