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Limerick Nuclear Power Plant emits so much dangerous air pollution (in addition to radiation) that it's considered a major air pollution source under the Clean Air Act. So much for advertisements claiming nuclear power is safe, clean energy. Not only is nuclear power a threat to water quality and quantity, Limerick Nuclear Power Plant's Title V permit shows it's a major air polluter. November 14, 2008 there was a notice in the Mercury for a Limerick Nuclear Plant Title V permit renewal. This permit requires major air pollution sources to list all their air pollution sources. Since that time we received and reviewed the permit. We were shocked at not only what was in the permit, but also what was incredibly left out of the permit. The loopholes are unprotective and unacceptable. Almost anything goes. Radiation, the signature toxic at a nuclear plant, was excluded even though radiation emissions are regulated by EPA and reported by Exelon to NRC.

WASHINGTON (April 16, 2008) - This afternoon, President George W. Bush is expected to announce a new proposal to halt growth in U.S. global warming pollution by 2025. His proposal is inadequate and falls far short of pollution reduction goals in domestic legislation and international treaties, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). This summer, the U.S. Senate is expected to consider a bill that would drastically reduce global warming pollution by 2020. Internationally, other industralized countries have pledged to reduce global warming pollution 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

Great Lakes United, Mining Watch Canada and Ecojustice are hailing a landmark decision from the Federal Court of Canada released late yesterday that will force the federal government to stop withholding data on one of Canada's largest sources of pollution - millions of tonnes of toxic mine tailings and waste rock from mining operations throughout the country. The Federal Court sided with the groups and issued an Order demanding that the federal government immediately begin publicly reporting mining pollution data from 2006 onward to the National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI). The strongly worded decision describes the government's pace as "glacial" and chastises the government for turning a "blind eye" to the issue and dragging its feet for "more than 16 years".

An artist's design for a new community park in Tallevast depicts an idyllic green space where children can shoot hoops and play baseball, and families can picnic by a small lake. Contamination may be too close for comfort at the site The plan, however, does not show that the park will sit atop groundwater polluted with chemicals known to increase the likelihood of kidney and liver cancer, leukemia and lymphoma. Lockheed Martin officials say the park can be built before the cleanup of 200 acres of polluted groundwater traced to a former weapons plant on Tallevast Road.

An artist's design for a new community park in Tallevast depicts an idyllic green space where children can shoot hoops and play baseball, and families can picnic by a small lake. Contamination may be too close for comfort at the site The plan, however, does not show that the park will sit atop groundwater polluted with chemicals known to increase the likelihood of kidney and liver cancer, leukemia and lymphoma. Lockheed Martin officials say the park can be built before the cleanup of 200 acres of polluted groundwater traced to a former weapons plant on Tallevast Road.

"Opponents of the New Mexico oil industry would have you believe that life in New Mexico hangs by a thread due to the potential disasters tied to oil exploration, development and production. Further, they insist that state government must intensify the rules on drilling or the water, air and land of New Mexico will be ruined for generations. Not true. There was a time when New Mexico was very contaminated, and it has taken decades for that terrible pollution to abate. Many New Mexicans were sickened by this pollution and the human damage remains to this day. This pollution was not by oil; rather, it was plutonium. No one seems to remember this."

No matter what we're led to believe, the world's worst polluter is not your cousin who refuses to recycle or that co-worker who drives a gas guzzler or the guy down the block who simply will not try CFL bulbs. "The U.S. Department of Defense is the largest polluter in the world, producing more hazardous waste than the five largest U.S. chemical companies combined," explains Lucinda Marshall, founder of the Feminist Peace Network. Pesticides, defoliants like Agent Orange, solvents, petroleum, lead, mercury, and depleted uranium are among the many deadly substances used by the military. What does this mean for us? To start with, it can help illustrate how to best foment a green revolution. As Derrick Jensen reminds us: "Even if every single person in the United States were to change all their light-bulbs to fluorescent, cut the amount they drive in half, recycle half of their household waste, inflate their tire pressure to increase gas mileage, use low flow shower heads and wash clothes in lower temperature water, adjusts their thermostats two degrees up or down depending on the season, and plant a tree, it would result in a one time, 21% reduction in carbon emissions."

Climate change legislation that narrowly passed the House of Representatives late Friday must be strengthened. The legislation will not solve our climate crisis but will enrich already powerful oil, coal and nuclear power companies. President Obama got it right when he announced in February his plan to impose strict new limits on greenhouse gas emissions and require polluters to pay. But HR 2454 enshrines a new legal right to pollute and gives away 85 percent of the credits to that right to polluters. The Senate should do the following:

The land in Western Galilee and the Haifa Bay contains the remains of years of pollution from industrial sources and dumps, including radioactive waste, according to a recent report by the Geological Survey of Israel. The report states that land in urban areas, even those distant from industrial facilities, has absorbed pollutants released into the air from smokestacks. Advertisement The team of scientists that wrote the report, led by Dr. Moshe Shirav-Schwartz, chemically analyzed 1,823 soil samples throughout the Western Galilee and the Haifa Bay area - checking for various toxic metals and radioactive materials. Long-term and or high exposure to such materials can lead to cancer, diseases of the central nervous system, impaired development of children and other health conditions.

The land in Western Galilee and the Haifa Bay contains the remains of years of pollution from industrial sources and dumps, including radioactive waste, according to a recent report by the Geological Survey of Israel. The report states that land in urban areas, even those distant from industrial facilities, has absorbed pollutants released into the air from smokestacks. Advertisement The team of scientists that wrote the report, led by Dr. Moshe Shirav-Schwartz, chemically analyzed 1,823 soil samples throughout the Western Galilee and the Haifa Bay area - checking for various toxic metals and radioactive materials. Long-term and or high exposure to such materials can lead to cancer, diseases of the central nervous system, impaired development of children and other health conditions.

Higher Costs, Pollution and Proliferation Dangers if Congress Opens Door to Reprocessing MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Minnesota's Congressional delegation is hearing today from a diverse group of 16 Minnesota organizations -- including Clean Water Action, Environment Minnesota, Sierra Club North Star Chapter and the Minnesota Peace Project -- that strongly oppose any effort to open the door to the reprocessing of radioactive waste from Prairie Island and other nuclear reactors when Capitol Hill considers climate and energy legislation. In the case of Xcel Energy's Prairie Island site, where the entire island, including the dry cask storage, sits in a flood plain of the Mississippi River, the waste needs to be moved to a more secure site as close to the reactor as possible as a necessary interim step. The joint letter states that the controversial and dangerous practice of reprocessing is "not a solution to Minnesota's or any state's nuclear waste problem." The letter explains in detail how reprocessing actually increases the volume of radioactive waste, is enormously costly, worsens proliferation concerns (including terrorist threats), increases pollution going into lakes, streams and rivers, and poses a range of safety risks. The full text of the 16-group letter is available online at http://www.carbonfreenuclearfree.org/state-groups/minnesota.

Higher Costs, Pollution and Proliferation Dangers if Congress Opens Door to Reprocessing MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Minnesota's Congressional delegation is hearing today from a diverse group of 16 Minnesota organizations -- including Clean Water Action, Environment Minnesota, Sierra Club North Star Chapter and the Minnesota Peace Project -- that strongly oppose any effort to open the door to the reprocessing of radioactive waste from Prairie Island and other nuclear reactors when Capitol Hill considers climate and energy legislation. In the case of Xcel Energy's Prairie Island site, where the entire island, including the dry cask storage, sits in a flood plain of the Mississippi River, the waste needs to be moved to a more secure site as close to the reactor as possible as a necessary interim step. The joint letter states that the controversial and dangerous practice of reprocessing is "not a solution to Minnesota's or any state's nuclear waste problem." The letter explains in detail how reprocessing actually increases the volume of radioactive waste, is enormously costly, worsens proliferation concerns (including terrorist threats), increases pollution going into lakes, streams and rivers, and poses a range of safety risks. The full text of the 16-group letter is available online at http://www.carbonfreenuclearfree.org/state-groups/minnesota.

After years of false starts and legal fights, state environmental officials are moving forward with plans designed to stem pollution from the Millstone Nuclear Power Complex. The plan is supposed to cut the amount of heated water that the plant pumps into Long Island Sound each day - a plan that has the backing of a cross section of environmentalists. But not all. One longtime foe of Millstone is charging that the state Department of Environmental Protection has failed to stop the facility from polluting and is asking the state's courts to remove the agency from the case.

"The owners of a closed uranium mine near Golden have been ordered by the state health department to stop discharging polluted water into a creek that flows into a Denver-area reservoir. The state health department is taking action because Cotter Corp. has been discharging pollution without a permit and uranium levels in the water are significantly exceeding the safety standard, Steve Gunderson, director of the state water quality control division, said Thursday. The agency sent the notice earlier this month. The Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety has sent a separate notice to Cotter saying it believes the company is violation of several state laws. Cotter could face fines of up to $10,000 if found in violation. The Denver-based company didn't immediately return a call seeking comment."

The historic discharges at the government's Oak Ridge nuclear facilities have gotten new attention in recent weeks because of the massive release of coal ash that resulted from the pond breach at TVA's Kingston steam plant. One concern was that TVA's cleanup efforts, including the likelhood of dredging, might stir up some of the old radioactive pollution buried under sediments in the Clinch River and points downstream of Oak Ridge. DOE, as noted earlier, is planning to do some additional sampling in the Clinch to supplement the database on pollution levels from previous sampling programs -- mostly since the early 1980s.

Federal researchers have begun a public health review in Cañon City amid renewed concerns about pollution from a closed uranium mill. The study, by the Health and Human Services Department, is examining potential exposure to pollution from the Cotter Corp. mill and the possible health risks. "We're not saying these (potential health impacts) were caused by the contamination," said environmental scientist Teresa Foster. "We're not at the point where we can make that determination. We're taking the community's concerns very seriously."

Federal researchers have begun a public health review in Canon City amid renewed concerns about pollution from a closed uranium mill. The study, by the Health and Human Services Department, is examining potential exposure to pollution from the Cotter Corp. mill and the possible health risks. "We're not saying these (potential health impacts) were caused by the contamination," said environmental scientist Teresa Foster. "We're not at the point where we can make that determination. We're taking the community's concerns very seriously."

Professor Emeritus John C. Ringle ("U.S. would benefit from nuclear power, "Opinion, Aug. 21) asserts, "France, Great Britain, Japan and Russia derive great benefit from reprocessing, " and concludes, "We [The US] should be doing the same." Advertisement I write from London, England. I cannot speak for France, Japan or Russia, but can enlighten your readers that the chemical separation of plutonium from uranium and fission products in irradiated nuclear fuel through the process called nuclear reprocessing has not proved a great benefit to Britain. It has resulted in significant radiological pollution of the Irish Sea, angering our neighbors, Ireland, for several decades, as well as Nordic neighbors, Norway, concerned over radiological pollution of their pristine fishing waters.

Colorado's quarter-century-long legal tussle over groundwater pollution at the former Rocky Mountain Arsenal ended Thursday with the announcement of a historic $35 million settlement. Shell Oil Co. and the U.S. Army - which produced all manner of chemicals from 1942 to 1982 at the arsenal, northeast of downtown Denver - have agreed to pay the state $35 million in damages for polluting groundwater at the site, state Attorney General John Suthers said Thursday.

The Tennessee Valley Authority controlled an unruly river and spread electricity into the remote hollows of the region, but to its critics, the agency has a 75-year history of insensitivity to the problem of air pollution. And when it comes to responding to the public, the agency is viewed as being as sluggish as the waters trapped behind its dams.

GRAND JURY FOREMAN WES MCKINLEY: "... I kind of like the bomb. We are the super country on the planet because we got the biggest weapon ... I wasn't a red-hot activist or had an ax to grind, or anything. ... "The engineers at Rocky Flats, not in testimony but later, told me we didn't need to do it. Jim Kelly, (who) was a fierce defender of the jobs at Rocky Flats, in his obituary last week, it quoted him as saying, 'The sad thing about it was, we didn't need to pollute like that.' The rabbits were hot. The mosquitoes, you get a mosquito bite, you were polluted. ... "There's lots of people out there with stories that we didn't hear. Some people say, 'Why didn't you subpoena them? Why didn't you?' Well, we didn't know about it, and how much are you going to haul in your truck? You're not hauling your whole load of wheat at one time, you just haul a load at a time. And that's kind of where we're at. This is a load. This is about all I can carry. I can't carry much, I'm kind of limited."

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that up to $40 million in funding will be available from the Department of Energy to support design and planning work for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP). Next Generation Nuclear Plants will use new, high temperature, gas-cooled reactor technologies to integrate multiple industrial applications in one plant or facility, such as generating electricity while refining petroleum. NGNP will extend the application of nuclear energy into the broader industrial and transportation sectors, reducing fuel use and pollution and improving on the inherent safety of existing commercial light water reactor technology. "Support for new developments in nuclear technologies will be critical to meeting our energy, climate and security goals for years to come," said Secretary Chu. "Next Generation Nuclear Plants hold the promise of safe, cost-effective, zero-emissions energy for major U.S. industries that are some of the largest energy consumers in the country. By integrating multiple industrial processes, this next generation technology will offset imported fossil fuels, reduce pollution and create tens of thousands of quality jobs in industries across America."

A ship wreck discovered off the coast of Italy two weeks ago may contain bodies, as well as radioactive waste, the mayor of Longobardi says. An underwater camera revealed orange barrels marked "toxic" and what may be two bodies. Authorities say the vessel was sunk in 1993 by a criminal organization to conceal toxic waste, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. It remains underwater 12 miles off the coast and by Thursday calls for government action to deal with the possible pollution were mounting. "This terrible threat from the bottom of our sea calls for more than just good intentions," Calabrian Member of Parliament Jole Santelli said. "Serious situations like the one we have now in Calabria should be examined in depth to ensure the right tools are available to clean the polluted sea swiftly and efficiently." The Environment Ministry promised to send the Astrea, an oceanographic survey ship, to look into the problem. However, Calabrian Environment Councilor Silvestro Greco said Wednesday the Astrea was not up to the task. Greco said the council of regional governments would petition the European Commission to assist. The ship was found after a mafia turncoat told prosecutors he was involved in the 1993 sinking of the Cunsky to hide 120 containers of radioactive waste. A robot was sent down to investigate the vessel.