Activists, Riverkeeper: JEA, Utility Industry Distorting Facts

Environmental, state and local activists are taking a stance against JEA and other utility organizations that have criticized President Obama's plan to cut the nation's power plants' pollution, calling his proposal a "good start" to helping rid waterways and air of dirty technology's effects. St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman has said that JEA, as well as industry lobbyists, are "working overtime to distort the facts," scaring the public while undermining the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rule, adding, "...[C]oal-fired power plants are the largest source of toxic water pollution in the United States," The Florida Times-Union reports.

Bud Para, JEA's chief public affairs officer, said, "JEA's coal plants are not the coal plants Lisa's referring to," adding that JEA's coal-powered modern plants comply with federal regulations.

While Florida utilities, including JEA, have invested in other sources to generate electricity, coal remains a major source of fuel, with coal being used to generate "about 65 percent" of JEA's power this year.

The EPA's proposed rule aims at a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, according to the Times-Union article.

In an earlier Florida Times-Union article ("JEA: Obama's pollution reduction plan 'most disruptive energy policy in modern times'"), JEA stated that President Barack Obama's proposed plan would adversely affect Florida's economy and strip utilities of needed fuel flexibility. JEA added that the proposed rule is "the most disruptive energy policy proposal in modern times" and that the EPA's goal "would quickly render coal-fired power plants obsolete."

JEA (formerly Jacksonville Electric Authority) currently owns and operates an electric system, as well as a water system, according to the JEA website.

To read The Florida Times-Union articles further, check out "Riverkeeper: JEA, utility industry distorting facts on President Obama's pollution-reduction plan" and "JEA: Obama's pollution reduction plan 'most disruptive energy policy in modern times'".

Savannah River Third Most Toxic In Nation

The Savannah River (Savannah, Georgia) has been called "the third most toxic in the United States" by a nonprofit research and policy center following a report that showed more than 4 million pounds of toxic discharge were released into the river in 2010. The report, released Thursday by Environment Georgia Research & Policy Center, also stated that more than 10 million pounds of toxic chemicals had been dumped into Georgia's waterways in 2012, making it the eighth worst state in the nation. The report showed that Augusta's DSM Chemicals North America Inc. was the state's biggest polluter, dumping "more than 4 million pounds of the toxic pollution" into the Savannah River, according to The Florida Times-Union.

The Lower Ohio River-Little Pigeon River, which runs through Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, and Virginia's New River were the only watersheds found to have higher volumes of toxic pollution than the Savannah River.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.