May 24, 2013

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Lawmakers give protection to Doe Run (AUDIO)

May 16, 2013 By

Missouri’s oldest industry has gotten some special protection from lawsuits. 

The owners of the Doe Run lead company are under federal orders to clean up the old Lead Belt of southeast Missouri.  But the company also is facing lawsuits from people who claim lead  and lead from mines and the mining refuse has harmed them or their families.

Senator Ryan McKenna of Crystal City says the lawsuits endanger a unique industry.

                                       ADUIO: McKenna :10

McKenna and a couple of other senators have pushed a proposed law through the general assembly on short notice that protects Doe Run from lawsuits as long as it is making good faith cleanup efforts.  Their plan also limits punitive damages in all suits to two and-a-half million dollars.

McKenna says the situation has been so uncertain that some communities are acting in self-defense.

                                       AUDIO: McKenna 16

He says the loss of Doe Run would be a one-billion dollar loss to Missouri’s economy and would have a devastating effect on several communities.

Sainte Genevieve Senator Gary Romine says times are changing rapidly in the area, but the past remains a problem.

                                       AUDIO: Romine :29

Supporters hope the protections of the bill sent to the Governor will encourage Doe Run to stay and finish developing a new processing technology that removes 99% of contaminants during processing.

Filed Under: Business, Environment & Conservation, Featured, News

House advances bill aimed at barring U.N. sustainability agenda

April 9, 2013 By

The House has given initial approval to a bill meant to keep a United Nations’ policy regarding property use out of the state.

Representative Lyle Rowland (photo courtesy; Missouri House Communications)

Representative Lyle Rowland (photo courtesy; Missouri House Communications)

It’s called Agenda 21, a non-binding 1992 agreement from the United Nations on sustainable development. Conservatives widely oppose it saying it undermines U.S. sovereignty and individual property rights. Representative Lyle Rowland’s (R-Cedarcreek) bill would bar state and local governments from implementing it in Missouri.

“One of their statements is that personal property is not sustainable. They feel like the government can do a better job of controlling property.”

See Representative Rowland’s bill

House Democrats have not spoken in support of Agenda 21, but Minority Leader Jake Hummel (D-St. Louis City) questions the need to act against it.

“We’re wasting time on this, but yet this is something that’s never been voted on by the United States Congress. So, we’re trying to pre-empt laws that aren’t even passed yet?”

Representative Jeff Grisamore (R-Lee’s Summit) argues other policies have been enacted without Congressional action.

“When Congress failed to adopted Cap-and-Trade what did the White House do? They began to do an end-around on Congress and the Constitution and put in place Cap-and-Trade restrictions by rule making, executive order and regulation. They’ve done the same thing through Dodd and Frank and they have done the same thing now through Obamacare with the more than 20,000 regulations that are already on the books.”

The House bill needs another favorable vote to reach the Senate. The Senate has already passed such a bill.

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Featured, News Tagged With: , , , ,

Pay-as-you-go pipe replacement program gets first-round Senate OK (AuDIO)

April 9, 2013 By

The hottest acronym in the legislature this year is I-S-R-S….It’s pronounced “Iss-russ.”   And the state senate has tentatively blessed it.   Here’s what “Iss-russ” is.

Hundreds of miles of old, brittle, rusty, leaking cast iron pipe is beneath our feet, carrying water to and sewage from our homes and businesses.   Utilities are looking for ways to get the money to replace those pipes. The work is going to take millions of dollars.

Backers of the ISRS legislation say regulated utilities could ask the Public Service Commission to approve some whopping rate increases to pay those costs  but the consumer backlash could be fierce.   Better to pass a law, they argue, that lets  the water companies increase rates by small amounts each year. Those small amounts are “Iss-russ”— Infrastructure System Replacement Surcharges.  

Savannah Senator Brad Lager says ISRS takes the pain out of rate increases by increasing rates by small amounts for four or five years instead of getting double-digit rate increases every four or five years . St. Louis County has been using ISRS for about ten years.  Lager says there never has been a complaint  when the water company asks for a little rate hike to replace old pipes. The PSC reviews the little hikes whenever the company files a regular rate increase request and can make adjustments in the company’s rates at that point.

The bill needs another favorable vote to reach the House.

AUDIO: Senate debate 50:10

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Featured, News

Missouri gets a spring cleaning during its annual ‘No More Trash! Bash’ (AUDIO)

April 8, 2013 By

Missouri is springing into action this month by cleaning up its trash in a statewide effort.

The Department of Transportation and the Department of Conservation are teaming up in a statewide effort to clean-up the trash throughout the state during its annual “No More Trash! Bash” by helping Missouri become a litter-free state.

State Maintenence Engineer Beth Wright with the Department of Transportation says last year over 21,000 volunteers participated in the effort, and if enough people participate this year, it could be enough to save the department money from having to hire someone to pick up the trash. “If we get volunteers to help us pick up the trash then we don’t have to pay people  to pick up litter,” Wright said. “It’s a large sum of money that we have to invest every year because we, as citizens, don’t always have the best habits with our trash.”

Wright says it costs Missourians millions of tax dollars every year for the Department of Transportation to pick it up. She says MoDOT spends about $5.5 million each year to remove litter and the Department of Conservation spends around $1 million each year to clean up waterways and other conservation areas throughout the state.

Trash Bash coordinator Joe Jerek with the Department of Conservation says its a simple effort to encourage Missourians to go outside and clean-up. “This is an opportunity to get outside and do some spring cleaning by simply picking up trash in your yard, in your community, in your neighborhood; local parks, and along roadsides” he said.

Wright says 128,000 bags of litter were picked up in 2012, and she’d would like to see the same turn out this year. “We’re looking for anyone that would like to get out on a nice, sunny day in April and help us make Missouri more beautiful and help protect the wildlife,” she said.

To take action and participate in the trash bash, visit www.nomoretrash.org.

 

AUDIO: Mary Farucci reports. (1:04)

 

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Featured, Human Interest, News

Department of Conservation conducts study using DNA to determine bear population in Missouri (AUDIO)

March 27, 2013 By

The Missouri Department of Conservation has conducted a study using DNA technology that can determine the state’s black bear population.

Resource Scientist Jeff Beringer with the Missouri Department of Conservation says the black bear population has seen an increase in the past few decades, but a DNA technology study used to determine how many bears exist in the state by collecting hair samples have led to approximately 225 bears throughout the state, although more work remains to validate that estimate.

“It got to the point where it felt like we had a meaningful population and it was time for us to really start taking stock in it,” he said. “So we developed an idea to find out how many bears we had, and there’s some new technology out there that we didn’t have even ten years ago and that involved using DNA to identify a bear as an individual from its hair.” Beringer says collecting hair samples is a sophisticated way to determine the bear population estimate.

DNA evidence suggests the largest black bear populations are in Webster and Douglas counties, which could be a remnant of the state’s original black bear population. “We’re able to put a bunch of these hair snares in the woods where we can snag some hair off of a bear as it’s coming by to smell something,” he said. “And then from that hair, we can tell the sex of the animal, as well as identifying it as an individual.”

Other bears throughout the state are presumed to be descended from bears brought to Arkansas in the late 1950′s through the 1960′s as part of a re-introduction program that later traveled north into Missouri.

The Department of Conservation’s goal is to use the information to better manage Missouri’s black bear population.

 

AUDIO: Mary Farucci reports. (1:00)

Filed Under: Environment & Conservation, Featured, News, Science & Technology
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