skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Fallout from Unauthorized Dumping of Fracking Waste in KY

play audio
Play

Wednesday, July 20, 2016   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The fallout continues from the unauthorized dumping of fracking waste from West Virginia into a Kentucky landfill.

Nearly 2,000 tons of the low-level radioactive waste was moved to the Blue Ridge Landfill near Irvine, a violation of Estill County's host agreement with the solid-waste facility. The county's judge executive, Republican Wallace Taylor, voiced his frustrations Tuesday to lawmakers on the state's Natural Resources and Environment Committee.

"I've lost all trust in the landfill," he said. "It's all about money."

Taylor decried a lack of communication by state regulators, including waiting months to alert local officials that fracking sludge could be headed their way.

On Friday, the state's attorney general said there is insufficient evidence in the case to bring criminal charges. However, Taylor told lawmakers the county is considering filing criminal charges and noted concerns about exposure to the radioactive waste and the potential long-term impacts it could have on the watershed and people's health.

"You do not jeopardize my public," Taylor said. "If I felt in the first minute that my people was in any immediate danger I would have locked that landfill down."

Taylor confirmed that independent testing ordered by the county found no immediate concerns of heightened radioactive levels at the landfill. The county already has filed a civil lawsuit against the companies operating the landfill and those involved in moving the fracking waste from West Virginia to Kentucky. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has indicated it will seek significant civil penalties over the disposal.

Meanwhile, lawmakers, including Sen. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, waited their turn Tuesday to say, "We don't want Kentucky to be a dumping ground for out-of-state waste. We don't want it to be a dumping ground for dangerous waste and we want to tighten up our regulatory protocol.

"I don't care if it cost money or not," Webb said, "because we've got to protect our people and our environment."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Social Issues

play sound

This year's high school graduates will be eligible for 14,000 new scholarships offered through Opportunity Next Colorado, a $21 million investment …

The new law will apply only to future sales of Indiana farmland. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

Environment

play sound

Traffic deaths are trending higher in Minnesota this year after a decline the previous year. Groups pushing for safer roads are convinced a small …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021