When the Fukushima nuclear plant was damaged, Japanese authorities evacuated people within a 19-mile radius. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommended all U.S. citizens within a 50-mile radius evacuate. The Disaster Accountability Project (DAP) recently released a report urging authorities to expand the planning and information guidance for the public beyond the currently required 10-mile… Read More
Category Archives: Energy
LUST Comes to Beacon: It’s Volatile!
Update on the gasoline leaking from the underground storage tanks at Main and Fishkill Avenue: Removal has continued after a delay due to too much moisture in the soil. Truckloads of contaminated dirt are being hauled to an approved facility in Albany. Still no word on the extent of the contamination, but at this point… Read More
Gas Leak Update: The Hole We Dig Grows Ever Deeper
The attempt to clean up the spilled gas at Main Street and Fishkill Avenue continued today, with quite a few more truckloads of contaminated soil carted away in dump trucks throughout the day. And it may not be just the soil that has been compromised. According to several locals, there are subterranean feeder springs to… Read More
Cheap Gas Down The Road?
This blog is about our local economy. But in 2015, several hundred years after the industrial revolution, our local economy is intimately intertwined with the global economy. In fact, these days virtually nothing we use or consume in our former mill town was produced here. Our Main Street economy mainly consists of selling stuff,… Read More
Bombogenesis and Beacon
Anyone who missed the chance for a snowy stroll this past Saturday morning will have another opportunity shortly. As the Hudson Valley Weather guy described it, we are in for a bombogenesis. What a fun word. It has a technical meteorological definition, but it could be repurposed generally to mean something along the lines… Read More
Scenic Hudson Concerned With Power Line Proposal
Wigwam received this action alert from Scenic Hudson this morning: ACTION ALERT: Public Comments Needed by Friday, Aug. 29! The state Public Service Commission (PSC) has released a proposed outline for moving forward new transmission line projects. The proposal basically starts the whole process over—without addressing any concerns raised by the Hudson Valley Smart Energy… Read More
Riverkeeper Sues Over Crude Oil Expansion In Albany
From the Riverkeeper newsletter: When it comes to protecting the environment and the public from the risks of crude oil transport along the Hudson, we mean business. That’s why Riverkeeper, along with four other environmental and community organizations, filed suit against the New York Department of Environmental Conservation June 9. Riverkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance,… Read More
Oil Terminal Across From Beacon Seeks Expansion
Global Partners has applied for permits to expand its oil terminal facilities on the Hudson River, including one directly across from Beacon, to a capacity of 1.8 billion gallons of per year. According to a presentation last night at the Newburgh Free Library by Scenic Hudson and Riverkeeper, the permitting process involves Federal and State… Read More
Oil Train Spills Into River
Luckily for our region, not the Hudson River. From the New York Times late yesterday, April 30: In the latest accident involving rail cars carrying crude oil, a CSX train derailed and erupted into black, smoky flames on Wednesday in downtown Lynchburg, Va., forcing scores of people to evacuate and causing a spill in the… Read More