The Kentucky Environmental Foundation is hoping to encourage the Environmental Protection Agency to rule on issues related to air quality in Kentucky.

The EPA has missed its deadline to approve or reject state implementation program proposals. The proposals outline how various regions in the commonwealth will reduce particulate pollution released by power plants, cars and other sources. KEF director Elizabeth Crowe says by missing deadlines, the EPA has allowed the air to remain polluted, and her organization has filed a notice of intent to sue the EPA over the issue.

“That is just a way to, in this case, let the EPA know that we’re watching and that we want them to go ahead and take this action,” she says.  “The result of having the EPA approve or disapprove a state implementation plan could be the difference between real action on air quality that could have a real impact on our health.”

Members of the Kentucky Division for Air Quality say the EPA is considering a rule change that could put tighter restrictions on emissions and require the delayed proposals to be revised.

The KEF isn’t the only organization that’s frustrated with the time it takes the EPA to make decisions. Kentucky’s two U.S. Senators have recently supported legislation aimed at giving the agency a time limit to rule on mining permits.

The three Republican candidates for Governor of Kentucky have shown varying degrees of support for the coal mining technique commonly called mountaintop removal.

Businessman Phil Moffett calls the procedure ‘mountaintop development,’ and says it creates flat land that can be used for commercial purposes. State Senate President David Williams says he will stand up to federal environmental regulators who may attempt to restrict mountaintop removal. And Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw says she would appoint a commission to look at the future of coal.

Moffett, Williams and Holsclaw made their comments to the Associated Press.

The first guilty plea has been entered in the federal criminal case that was launched after last year’s Upper Big Branch mine disaster in West Virginia.

Former Massey Energy foreman Thomas Harrah’s plea agreement includes the admission that he faked his foreman’s credentials while working at Upper Big Branch, then lied to federal agents about it.

From NPR:

Harrah left Upper Big Branch seven months before the April 2010 explosion that killed 29 Massey mine workers. But U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin says the charges are “directed at preventing a similar tragedy from happening again.”

Mine foremen are responsible for conducting safety inspections before and during production shifts underground that are supposed to catch problems that could put lives at risk. Harrah failed the examination that would have certified him as a properly trained foreman.

In the plea agreement, Harrah admits to falsely blaming an unnamed official from Massey Energy for helping to fake his foreman’s certification.

“He left [Massey Energy] before we could terminate his employment, which we intended to do,” says Shane Harvey, the company’s vice president and general counsel. “We have no tolerance for such behavior and are thankful that no one was hurt as a result of Mr. Harrah’s conduct.”

Harrah faces as much as ten years in prison when he is sentenced August 11.

Investigators have also accused a security officer from Upper Big Branch of lying to federal investigators and attempting to hide evidence. The man has pleaded not guilty.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear spent part of Thursday visiting mountaintop removal coal mining sites in Eastern Kentucky. Beshear’s trip was the fulfillment of a promise he made to a group of activists who staged a protest in his office in February. The protesters had asked Beshear to end his support for the practice of mountaintop removal. Beshear would not change his position, but said he would tour sites at the group’s request.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that in Harlan and Floyd counties, members of the group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth showed Beshear streams and homes damaged by surface mining. The Governor also listened to residents opposed to mountaintop removal and to specific surface mining permits that have been filed with the state.

Beshear said he would consider the comments of residents regarding approval of the permits but made no commitments.

Eleven endangered whooping cranes on an ultralight-guided migration are spending Thanksgiving in western Kentucky.

The cranes landed Tuesday in Union County, on their first migration from Wisconsin to Florida. Liz Condie, a member of Operation Migration traveling with the young birds, says they were scheduled to take off Wednesday, but they decided to stay put.

“We’re stuck on the ground. Everybody in this area will know that we got pelted with lots of rain. We obviously can’t migrate with the birds in this kind of weather,” Condie said.

These cranes are among fewer than one hundred in eastern North America. The guided migration is part of a coordinated effort between Operation Migration the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and several other agencies to ensure the survival of the species.

Their next stop is Marshall County.

The US Department of Labor is trying to close a Massey Energy Company coal mine in Kentucky. The mine has a long record of serious safety violations.

The department filed a lawsuit today, seeking to close Massey subsidiary Freedom Energy’s Mine number 1 in Pike County until the company corrects the violations. The lawsuit charges Massey with failing to prevent roof collapses, effectively ventilate the mine, and clean up coal dust and other combustible material.

The lawsuit is the latest setback for the Richmond, VA-based Massey. The company faces criminal and civil investigations over the death of 29 miners in an April explosion at its Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia.

Company spokesperson Jeff Gillenwater says Massey is committed to running the Kentucky mine safely.

Louisville Metropolitan Sewer District officials estimate 4.1 million gallons of sewage spilled into the Ohio River early Monday.

MSD Senior Engineer Brian Bingham told the Courier-Journal that a gate malfunctioned Sunday night at a pumping station near the city’s Butchertown neighborhood. The gate failure wasn’t discovered until Monday morning.

The sewage discharged for about 11 hours from an overflow point before it was discovered.

MSD has advised local and downstream residents not to have any contact with water in the river for 48 hours.

Berea College and the University of Louisville have received Kentucky’s top marks for their sustainability efforts in the annual national Green Report Card. The Boston-based Sustainability Endowments Institute grades colleges and universities in nine categories including administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement, transportation, and three endowment divisions.

“I feel that these nine categories really give a great overall evaluation of what’s happening within, on campus, and in campus operations, as well as sort of what’s going on behind the scenes with universities’ financial investments with the endowments,” said S.E.I. spokesperson Susan Paykin.

Berea and U of L rated an overall B, Centre College received a B – , The University of Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky University each earned a C + this year.

By Alan Lytle, Kentucky Public Radio

Kentucky has recorded its sixth mining fatality of 2010, this one involving a western Kentucky coal miner.

State officials say 39 year old James Jeffrey Falk died Wednesday morning after he was apparently struck by a shuttle car at the River View Coal mine in Union County.

The mine has been closed pending an investigation by the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licencing.

A release from the agency says the River View mine has about 437 employees.

By Rick Howlett, WFPL News

Wildfires that began at Fort Knox, Kentucky, last week have died down after blanketing much of Louisville with smoke.

The fires burned a wooded training area at the fort, and could have been caused by tracer bullets, which contain burning phosphorous. The subsequent smoke and ash blew northward to Louisville, where Air Pollution Control District spokesperson Matt Stull says an air quality alert was issued for the weekend.

“Typically in the summertime when we have high levels of ozone, we issue those alerts when we get into the unhealthy for sensitive groups range, but this weekend we were a step above that,” he says.

Stull says rain Monday has restored air quality. Fort Knox spokesperson Anne Torphy says crews from around the area are monitoring the fires, which are now smoldering.

“We’re really at the mercy of the weather,” she says. “If it continues to rain, that will help tremendously, but if we get more dry weather or if winds kick up, then we’ll have to re-assess the situation.”

by Gabe Bullard, WFPL News