This is what parts of the Dan River looked like after Duke Energy
leaked 35 million gallons of coal ash into in February 2014.
Sarah Lazare at Common Dreams writes—
Duke Energy 'Settlement' Slashes Fine, Grants Amnesty for Coal Ash Pollution:
North Carolina regulators on Tuesday agreed to dramatically slash a fine initially imposed on Duke Energy for its coal ash pollution at a site in the west of the state—and grant the company amnesty for dumps at all of its 14 locations—prompting outcry from communities and environmental organizations.
"In another typical move, DEQ [Department of Environmental Quality] is cutting Duke Energy a break and failing to demand action," said Amy Adams of the advocacy organization Appalachian Voices. "Apparently, they missed the state motto, Esse quam videri, 'To be rather than to seem,' because seeming to be environmental protectors is about all they have done with this settlement."
The deal was struck during a court hearing between Duke Energy and DEQ, which changed its name from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources due to an apparent reorganization of state departments earlier this month. It stipulates that DEQ will abandon charges over pollution at the L.V. Sutton power plant, where high levels of boron were found in groundwater.
Going further, the deal will settle groundwater contamination cases at all of Duke's 14 coal ash dump locations across the state.
Duke, for its part, will be required to pay a $7 million fee to the state. This averages to $500,000 per site, including the Sutton location—for which the company had originally been fined $25 million.
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2012—'I don't have the time' to explain tax plan, says Paul Ryan on Fox News:
There's kind of a pattern here: Back in an August interview with Fox News' Brit Hume, Paul Ryan couldn't offer details on the budget proposal he and Mitt Romney would be promoting if elected because "we haven't run the numbers" and also he didn't want to get too wonky, didn't want to get into complicated baseline issues, and so on.
Sunday, talking to Fox News' Chris Wallace, Ryan again ducked, dodged, and evaded Wallace's attempts to get him to be specific about the Romney-Ryan tax plan, culminating in the claim that "I don’t have the time. It would take me too long to go through all of the math."
Ryan is straight-up using his reputation as the Republican party's big budget wonk to get out of giving direct answers to any actual budget wonking questions. Because from his point of view, "I don't want to get too wonky" or "I don't have the time" are more palatable answers than "if I gave you details you'd see that I've been lying."
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today's Kagro in the Morning show, It's the All-Star lineup:
David Waldman,
Greg Dworkin,
Joan McCarter, and
Armando! Greg notes yesterday’s House Planned Parenthood hearing was a bad day for women, and Republicans. The GOP chair trots out a terrible, dishonest chart. Joan joins the discussion on the PP hearings, and updates the shutdown watch. There may not be enough angry white guys to sustain the GOP, but plenty are jockeying for leadership positions. Cruz shows he's no one's friend, and finds no one is his friend. Benghazi is now the longest congressional investigation in history. Kevin McCarthy takes a bow. Will Kim Davis convert to Catholicism?
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