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Former MSHA investigator Tony Oppegard discusses the TVA coal investigation

No one is watching the fallout over the TVA coal ash disaster more closely than Kentucky attorney Tony Oppegard. As the former adviser to the assistant secretary for Mine Safety & Health Administration (U.S. Department of Labor) and former general counsel for the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals, Oppegard served as the lead investigator for MSHA during the Martin County, Kentucky, coal slurry impoundment failure in the fall of 2000.

As a political appointee, Oppegard lost his job in January 2001 after George W. Bush took office. A career MSHA employee was brought in to take his place and the "investigation" ended quickly, despite the fact that the Martin County coal disaster was one of the worst in history.

I asked Oppegard a few questions about the TVA coal ash disaster, the impending investigation, and what we had learned since the Martin County coal accident.

Biggers: You were the lead investigator of the Martin County Coal Corporation slurry impoundment failure in 2000. Why do you think that disaster received such little media attention?

Oppegard: Primarily because it occurred in rural eastern Kentucky -- and few people outside of those who live there really care about what happens to the land and people of Appalachia. If the impoundment failure had happened in California or New York, it would have been front page news in The New York Times and the Washington Post. Can you imagine emergency rooms in Los Angeles being shut down because of a lack of clean water? Instead, it was deemed "not really that important" by most of the mainstream media. When wildfires consume beautiful homes in the hills of California, it headlines the CBS evening news. But when creeks are fouled and thousands of people go without water for weeks in Appalachia, somehow it's not considered "newsworthy."

Biggers: Why do you not like the term "spill," as it is being used with the TVA coal ash disaster?

Chevron's history of denial, delay, and defamation in the Ecuadorian Amazon

It has been 15 years since a group of Ecuadorian indigenous people filed a lawsuit against Texaco for oil contamination, resulting from 26 years of substandard oil extraction efforts. In those years, Texaco -- acquired by Chevron in 2001 -- consistently has denied responsibility, delayed justice, and defamed the Ecuadorian people who need help the most. In other words, the oil giant has acted like most people expect Big Oil companies to act -- like bullies -- instead of the good corporate citizens that Chevron's advertising campaigns like to portray.

Meanwhile, the Ecuadorians living in Texaco's former dumping ground suffer every day. Texaco released over 18 billion gallons of oil and toxic water into the rainforest from 1964 to 1990. Experts indicate that over 1,000 people have died from cancer. Spontaneous abortions are two to three times more likely to occur in the concession area than in other parts of Ecuador. It's almost impossible to find a family not touched by the illnesses.

Until you see the extent of the contamination, it is hard to believe. Almost 1,000 pits the size of large swimming pools scar an area the size of Rhode Island. Texaco built the pits to dump the remaining oil and toxic water after drilling. To reduce costs, Texaco violated standard industry practice and never lined the pits. As a result, the toxins have flowed directly into the streams and underground water supply. Texaco eventually covered the pits with dirt -- as if hiding the pollution would make it go away -- but never took any real steps to clean up the area. Some people even built their houses on top of the covered pits, thinking that the pits were safe.

Robert Rapier on ever-delayed cellulosic ethanol

Wonky Gristians will want to read the entirety of Robert Rapier's "Top 10 Energy Stories of 2008" on the Oil Drum. I'll focus here on item No. 6: "Second-generation ethanol is delayed."

Rapier opens by linking to a "top energy stories to watch in 2008" story from the U.S. News and World Report published a year ago. "Next-generation ethanol production begins," the writer predicted, citing "Range Fuels' plan to begin commercial production of ethanol from timber-industry waste late in 2008."

Ah, plans. Rapier brings the update. "The over-promise, under-deliver meme that I have been critical of continues," he writes. "Range Fuels had initially intended to start producing in 2008, but that was delayed to 2009 and now production isn't forecast to begin until 2010."

None of this dims the pie-eyed optimism of cellulosic boosters, Rapier notes. He cites the case of Coskata, which makes this claim: "Using proprietary microorganisms and patented bioreactor designs, we will produce ethanol for under US $1.00 per gallon." Right. And they're not doing it already because ...? Rapier links to a previous post of his that slices through Coskata's hype.

Meanwhile, even as federal mandates for cellulosic ethanol under the 2007 Energy Act start to ramp up, construction of new plants has slowed to a trickle, despite an influx of federal cash. "[O]f the six cellulosic ethanol projects selected to receive $385 million in federal funding in February 2007, almost two years later only one plant is actually under construction (Range Fuels)," Rapier writes. Oh, right, Range Fuels -- the company that keeps overpromising and underdelivering.

Massive coal-ash spill in Tennessee threatens water supplies and public health

More than a billion gallons of coal ash have spilled from a coal-burning power plant in eastern Tennessee since Dec. 22, when a retention wall at the plant burst. That’s billion with a “B,” which means the amount of gunk spilled is about 100 times larger than the mess from the Exxon Valdez disaster. Gray […]

McKinsey 2008 Research in Review: Stabilizing at 450 ppm has a net cost near zero

The McKinsey Global Institute has done some of the most comprehensive and credible recent analyses on energy efficiency potential and carbon mitigation cost curves (see here). They have summarized their work in “2008 Research in Review,” so this is a good opportunity to create one universal link for their work. One core MGI factoid you […]

Oprah gained weight and confused the public about renewable energy

If I weren’t on vacation, I wouldn’t have read Oprah magazine. No really. But then I would have missed a piece of misinformation gratuitously foisted on her readers. For her legion upon legion upon legion of fans, the big news is the O has recently been losing her battle with weight (one legion does not […]

Clean coal, dirty press

The coal industry cannot be liking the kind of coverage they’re getting on, e.g., ABC. (Watch that video and tell me Joe Lucas doesn’t look like a buffoon.)

John Tierney is the country’s worst science writer, not Gregg Easterbrook

Science blogger extraordinaire Tim Lambert (aka Deltoid) has called me out. I wrote: Tierney is easily the worst science writer at any major media outlet in the country. Pretty much every energy or climate piece he writes is riddled with errors and far-right ideology, including this one. Lambert writes that he “must, however, disagree with […]

The right questions

This WaPo op-ed on the electrical grid is ho-hum. Turns out we need to improve the grid! But one thing jumped out at me: For real long-term progress, our leaders must invest in research so that we can find a way to capture and permanently store carbon emitted by coal-fired power plants. If we can […]

WALL-E takes top honor and Quantum of Solace disappoints

The best eco-movie of the year is Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E — easily one of the best movie dystopias ever. It ranks with Blade Runner, Brazil, A Clockwork Orange, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, the Matrix, Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, and the first two Terminator movies. Yes, Hollywood loves dystopias. Perhaps because it is one (OK, […]