LA: Oil Spill Makes Its Way To Gulf

A 100-mile stretch of the Mississippi River remains closed indefinitely to ship traffic this morning, as salvage workers drafted plans to remove a split fuel barge from beneath the Crescent City Connection in New Orleans and a half-dozen emergency spill contractors continued efforts to corral hundreds of thousands of gallons of thick, smelly fuel oil as it floated toward the Gulf of Mexico.

The reopening requires both removal of the barge from its precarious position at the edge of the shipping channel and the cleanup of a significant portion of the 419,000 gallons of No. 6 fuel oil that was spilled during the early Wednesday collision between the 590-foot Liberian-flagged tanker Tintomara and the barge being pulled by the tugboat Mel Oliver.

And federal and state wildlife officials were out in force along the river, helping to oversee the placement of more than 67,000 feet of boom by environmental contractors aimed at keeping oil out of wetlands and away from birds and animals.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service scientists have already spotted several oiled birds and animals, and a wildlife rescue operation is being set up in Venice to remove the material from feathers and fur.

Port of New Orleans officials estimate the closure is costing the port $100,000 a day, which does not include the losses incurred by the companies using the docks or stevedores and other workers.

AL: New Air pollution Regs

Accused by environmental groups of trying to undermine the federal Clean Air Act and weaken state air pollution laws, Gov. Bob Riley and the state’s congressional delegation have petitioned the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to approve a new version of Alabama’s smokestack law “without delay.”

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has been seeking federal approval for the rule change since 2003, when ADEM’s Environmental Management Commission adjusted the existing smokestack law at the behest of major air polluters in the state, including the power, paper, chemical and cement industries.

But for the last five years, the EPA has refused to approve those changes, citing concerns that they will lower air quality in Alabama. The rule cannot take effect until EPA approves it.

While EPA officials said the agency couldn’t comment on a pending matter, an agency document in the April 2007 Federal Register states that Alabama’s proposed change could result in “an increase in particulate matter emissions,” or soot. For that reason, and because the state did not prove the new rule would comply with the federal Clean Air Act, EPA wrote that Alabama’s change was “not approvable as submitted.”

Negotiations between the EPA and ADEM have been ongoing since then, resulting in a new proposal Riley described in a June letter to the head of the EPA as “in fact, added protection over the previous” ADEM proposal.

Officials with the Alabama Environmental Council, which seeks to block the change, say it would authorize power plants and other large industries in the state to legally exceed their current pollution permits up to 2 percent of each calendar year without fear of being penalized for violating the Clean Air Act. In addition, the changes are designed to let industries emit higher average levels of soot from their smokestacks each day than they were legally allowed under state rules in place since the 1970s.

Asked to explain how allowing more pollution into the state’s air would improve air quality, Riley’s staff directed the Press-Register to ADEM, writing that the agency, “has told the Governor’s Office this won’t have a negative impact on air quality.”

FL: Escambia Says No To Smokers

Starting Oct. 1, the county will have a tobacco-free hiring policy. All applicants for county jobs are currently required to take a drug test, which will be expanded to include testing for tobacco use. Any applicant testing positive for tobacco will not be eligible.

It’s one of several policies county commissioners approved Thursday aimed to improve the health of employees and to get the county’s health insurance costs under control, said John Weber, a Human Resources supervisor for the county who specializes in employee benefits.

The county also is enacting a 50-foot smoking ban from the entrance or exit of any county building on Oct. 1. In two years, no county employee will be allowed to smoke anywhere on county property

It’s not only smoking the commissioners are targeting.

The county’s 1,426 active employees and 285 retirees who receive benefits will be paying more for health benefits come Oct. 1. The county will continue paying 75 percent of the costs of benefits, but the premiums are going up.

Depending on the health plan they choose, the increases will vary. Overall, employees will see an average increase of 24 percent. For example, an employee with single coverage in the top-tier plan will go from paying $60 a month to $79, Weber said.

The greatest impact will be on the 196 retirees eligible for Medicare who often are on fixed incomes. They will be asked to either stay with the plan they have and pay $50 more a month for the next four years, or move into a new plan called BlueMedicare with altered benefits and see their costs rise $16 a month.

AL & MS: Teamsters/Coke Update–#4

This was sent to me in an email by the Teamsters:
The Teamsters and Coke Consolidated are scheduled to meet next week.  The workers are still on strike and shall remain on the picket line until management and the union resolve the pension issue.

I was also told by a Teamsters spokesperson that the strike was going well and that only 6 of the 275 strikers have crossed the picket lines.

Remember:  These strikers are out in the heat and sun, if you are in the area show them your support.  Stop by and shake hands, bring some water and some snacks.  These strikers are fighting for their economic lives and need your help.  Please give them all the support you can, it will will appreciated.