A wave of anxiety and outrage grips Newton County, Kentucky, as a proposed natural gas pipeline would rend a path through Ohio and Kentucky. The Bluegrass Pipeline—put forward as a joint venture by Williams Companies Inc. and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP—would carry an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 barrels a day of shale gas from western Pennsylvania to Texas, where it will likely be shipped to overseas markets; construction is expected to be completed by late 2015. “Bluegrass would include building a new NGL pipeline to a Hardinsburg, Ky., interconnect with

People for Safe Water, a group in Springfield, Ohio, are working for the reinstatement by the US EPA of the original cleanup plan for the Tremont Barrel Fill Site. This plan will ensure the sole source aquifer’s continuing yield of high quality, pure water for Clark County residents. The Barrel Fill site contains 51,500 drums of chemical waste, as well as over 300,000 gallons of bulk liquid waste in German Township, buried in the late 1970’s. · Following legislative procedures and public processes, US EPA’s Region 5 Superfund Division issued

A new bill circulating in New Jersey’s General Assembly is drawing controversy for it‘s tough stance against industrial pollution in low-income neighborhoods. Assemblywoman L. Grace Spencer (D) introduced  Assembly Bill 3836 in February. The bill would bar industrial plants from being built in any neighborhood deemed to be a “burdened community.”  If passed, it could offer a much-needed reprieve for low-income residents of neighborhoods such as Ironbound in Newark. Ironbound has long struggled with pollution from local chemical plants, incinerators and Newark Liberty International Airport.  In this year’s State of

A black plume of noxious gas enveloped adjacent neighborhoods after a fire broke out at the Marathon Detroit Refinery on April 27th. Residents of nearby Melvindale were evacuated by town officials after the fire was designated a Level 3 Hazard. However, residents of Detroit received no immediate warning nor a call for evacuation by the city of Detroit, sparking outrage by the affected, predominantly African American community.  Residents complained of a lingering “foul egg smell” as well as general irritation in breathing, a local Fox station reported. “The Marathon oil