Judge finds Tennessee energy giant guilty of negligence in coal ash case

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was negligent in not preventing a coal ash dam failure at its Kingston power plant in December 2008, that resulted in millions of gallons of toxic ash-laden water and mine tailing to flood the area’s rivers and valleys.

In a 130-page ruling, Judge Thomas Varlan at the U.S. District Court found TVA to be ill prepared for its energy operations reviewing the combined cases filed by local residents and their inverse condemnation lawyer representatives. At the moment, more than 60 cases and 800 plaintiffs are involved in the TVA coal litigation case.

In effort to resolve a public relations crisis, TVA has purchased more than 180 properties and settled over 200 other claims. TVA also provided $43m to the Roane County Economic Development Foundation for use by communities in the affected area. The ash recovery project is expected to continue through 2015. 

“The U.S. District Court today ruled that TVA can be held liable for conduct by TVA that contributed to cause the spill,” TVA said in a press release. “The litigation now will proceed to a second phase where the plaintiffs may attempt to prove they were each directly impacted by the spill on an individual basis. TVA remains committed to the full restoration of the community directly impacted by the spill, while being mindful of our responsibility to manage ratepayer dollars.”

TVA also confirmed its commitment has not wavered and pledges to clean up the spill, protect the public health and safety, restore the area, and, where justified, fairly compensate people who were directly affected.

Plaintiffs claim that the failure of the coal ash dike at Kingston and the resulting spill was caused by TVA’s negligent conduct with respect to the design, construction, implementation, operation, maintenance, and inspection of the coal ash storage and disposal facilities, the judge wrote. 

Initial complaints against TVA alleged causes of action for personal injury and property damage under tort law theories of negligence, negligence per se, gross negligence, trespass, nuisance, strict liability and inverse condemnation attorney.

Mary Anne Hitt, Director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign, said in statement that the decision is "a victory for every family that was impacted by this tragedy. Local residents have lost their property and been exposed to arsenic, lead, mercury and selenium. Forcing TVA to face up to its responsibility is just the first step in ensuring that these folks can rebuild their lives.”

California officials file lawsuit against farm contractor over unpaid wages

California labor regulators filed a lawsuit against a farm labor contractor seeking $635,000 in unpaid wages, penalties and damages from a San Joaquin County farm-labor contractor. 

In a suit filed by California Labor Commissioner Julie Su, the commission claims Javier Diaz and his Visalia-based company Diaz Contracting violated the law by failing to pay minimum wage and overtime to its 129 employees. 

Legal experts say it is the first time the Labor Commissioner has sued a farm contractor over unpaid wages. The lawsuit is the result of an extensive investigation, according to Su's office, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement at the California Department of Industrial Relations.

"Low wage workers are particularly vulnerable and the mobile nature of the work in industries such as agriculture often poses challenges to enforcement," Su said in statement. "This lawsuit is an example of our commitment to conducting in-depth, meaningful inspections.

"It also sends a message that when workers come forward to tell us about illegal working conditions, we will take action to protect them."

In addition to the back wages, penalties and damages, the lawsuit asks a judge to grant an injunction to prevent Diaz and his company from engaging in future violations of state labor laws.

California labor officials are suing a farm labor contracting company over allegations the company failed to properly pay more than 100 farmworkers.

"Our intent is to level the playing field so that violators gaining a competitive advantage over law-abiding employers are held accountable," Labor Commissioner Julie Su said. "California's agriculture industry is a critical and valued part of the state's economy. The farmworkers on whom the industry relies must be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve."

Dispute with Lihir landowners shuts down major gold mine

The Australian reports one of the biggest in the world has been shut down by protesting landowners using an unusual, but locally traditional method to signal a property conflict without a dispute resolution Sydney in sight.

The protests had shut down all mine operations at 12.45pm on Sunday by placing gorgor plants around the mine site. According to Lihir Mining Area Landowners Association chairman Peter Suar, this is a traditional activity that is part of the grievance mechanisms used on Lihir island.

The gorgor is a type of ginger that has traditionally been used by clan leaders, in consultation with landowner group members, to settle land disputes peacefully. When the plant is placed around company land, it signals to everyone that the land is off limits and that talks are needed.

The controversy surrounding Newcrest’s goldmine on Lihir island in Papua New Guinea has been growing steadily over the years but exploded once the mine was slated $1.3 billion expansion. The conflict at Lihir comes as Newcrest and its joint venture partner, South Africa's Harmony, are due to update the market today on their large development plan for the Wafi-Golpu gold/copper project on the mainland.

Newcrest told the local market it was "striving for the prompt resolution of the matter and resumption of production" on Lihir, but analysts believe Wafi-Golpu can support annual production of more than 600,000 ounces of gold and 300,000 tonnes of copper.

Stock shares in the company were hit hard initially in response to the closure of the mine, which produced 604,336oz in the year to June, down from 635,610oz in 2011 because of maintenance issues. Newcrest fell as much as 5.85 per cent to $25.63 in the immediate reaction to the closure of its biggest mine.

Newcrest said the landowners required that mine production be suspended until the dispute has been resolved and are actively seeking a mediator Sydney to resolve the crisis.The processing plant remains on stand-by and all facilities have been "secured.” Newcrest is the largest gold producer listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Texas judge rules Keystone pipeline has eminent domain

TransCanada, the Canadian energy company behind the Keystone XL pipeline can take over land owned by independent Texas farmers, a county judge has ruled. In a short ruling sent from his iPhone, Judge Bill Harris of Lamar County Court upheld TransCanada’s condemnation lawyer of a 50-foot strip of land across Julia Trigg Crawford’s ranch property. The pipeline is being built to carry oil from Canada to Texas refineries.

A defiant Crawford said plans to appeal the ruling. “We may have lost this one battle here in Paris, Texas, but we are far from done,” she said in a written statement. “I will continue to proudly stand up for my own personal rights, the property rights of my family, and those of other Texans fighting to protect their land.”

The ruling by Judge Bill Harris removes yet another potential obstacle for TransCanada, which already has permits from the Army Corps of Engineers for the southern leg of the pipeline, which starts in Cushing, Okla., and runs to Port Arthur, Texas. TransCanada has said it will start building as soon as possible.

In March, President Obama endorsed the construction of the southern leg of the pipeline. He said it would alleviate a supply bottleneck at Cushing, where the benchmark price of oil is set for the U.S. market.

The ruling is the latest legal victory for TransCanada, whose plan to transport heavy oil sands crude through a 1,600-kilometer pipeline across the United States to Texas Gulf Coast refineries has been mired in controversy nearly every step of the way.

But some landowners and environmental groups have been building a campaign to put a halt to construction because of the threat a petroleum leak might pose to rivers, wetlands and humans.

Crawford had asserted that the Keystone XL pipeline was not entitled to eminent domain attorney because the pipeline would not be a common carrier, open to a variety of oil companies. She said that as a private project, it needed to negotiate rights of way without compelling landowners to enter agreements.

The Keystone project took a political tone when Republicans in Congress forced a two-month deadline on President Barack Obama to sign off on the international pipeline. Mr. Obama rejected TransCanada’s proposed route earlier this year, suggesting it direct the pipeline around a sensitive aquifer in Nebraska’s Sandhills region. But he encouraged the company to pursue in the meantime a shorter project from Oklahoma to the Gulf Coast.

In San Diego, Rooftop Solar Energy Systems Can Help Fight Blackouts

Southern California is notorious for rolling blackouts during the summer months, when extreme heat prompts residents to crank up their air conditioning and unintentionally overload their local power grid.  This excess of electricity extracted from the same grid poses an extreme hazard to the electrical generation system, and power companies will often cut the power to the entire grid for safety reasons.

Rolling blackouts in California typically don’t last more than an hour or two, but they’re still extremely undesirable and there are a number of ways around them.  This summer, the California Independent System Operator (ISO) issued a request for users of the power grid to conserve their energy use between the hours of 11am and 6pm and keep their air conditioners set above seventy-eight degrees.  This keeps power use to a minimum when it’s normally at a maximum.

Another way California residents can simultaneously protect their neighborhoods from blackouts and ensure that they themselves are not affected is to have a San Diego solar installer install rooftop solar panels in their homes or businesses.  Home solar systems offer a completely self-sufficient way of powering a house and can drastically reduce or completely eliminate their electricity bills.  With fewer people relying on the city power grid, rolling blackouts are significantly less likely to occur – and homeowners with a system of solar panels have security in knowing that they won’t be without power.  Additionally, their excess power will be sent back to the grid (with a credit provided to them) for use by non-solar energy San Diego buildings.