Current News

Oil storage and distribution company CV Oil of Pittsfield, Vermont, paid a $3,000 penalty to settle EPA claims that it did not have a spill prevention plan. This Vermont business is one of seven oil storage and distribution companies in New England that have all created or updated spill prevention plans and come into compliance with federal oil pollution prevention laws, thereby ensuring that the local environment in the communities in which they operate are better protected from the potential of a damaging oil spill.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org Federal nuclear regulators say storing spent nuclear fuel on-site indefinitely is safe. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week released a study on the environmental impacts of storing spent nuclear fuel. The report found that dry casks designed to store spent nuclear fuel can withstand natural disasters, and the risk of a terrorist attack is unlikely. Entergy’s Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon is scheduled to close at the end of the year for economic reasons. The Louisiana-based company plans to store spent fuel from the reactor in steel dry casks on site indefinitely.

On August 15, Green Mountain College will ban the sale of bottled water on its Poultney campus. Like many campus sustainability initiatives, the ban comes largely as a result of a student-led project. Andrea (Dre) Roebuck ’14 consulted with the College’s sustainability coordinator Aaron Witham about the most effective way to go about banning the sale of bottled water. Roebuck’s concerns were economic (bottled water is more expensive than tap water) and environmental (only about 14 percent of plastic bottles make it into the recycling bin, and producing plastic bottles takes about 1.5 million barrels of oil per year, according to the Earth Policy Institute). According to Witham, Roebuck and other students were also concerned about the commodification of water, which is becoming an ever more precious resource.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org The management of Jay Peak Resort is defending its right to convert $17.5 million in equity stakes held by immigrant investors into unsecured, nine-year loans. The conversion was implemented on Aug. 31, 2013, without the knowledge or consent of 35 immigrant investors who each put up $500,000 toward the construction of Tram Haus Lodge, which is part of the Jay Peak Resort. The deal was disclosed to reporters and the Vermont EB-5 Regional Center last year, but investors were not sent a copy of paperwork for the original loan until May of this year. Jay Peak has since offered a second IOU to investors that shortens the repayment period to five years. The promissory note is secured by the value of Jay Peak Resort, says company president Bill Stenger. But a group of 20 disgruntled investors question the value of the guarantee.

Funeral services for Vermont Law School Professor Cheryl Hanna will be held Friday, August 1, in the Ira Allen Chapel at the University of Vermont, her family and school officials confirmed Tuesday. VLS Trustee Emeritus and former Board of Trustees Chairman J. Scott Cameron will speak at the service, which will begin at 3 pm.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Cheryl’s family during this time of deepest sorrow—and with our students, alumni, faculty, and staff who mourn their colleague, teacher, and friend,” said President and Dean Marc Mihaly. “Cheryl’s legacy of leadership, scholarship, advocacy, and service is an inspiration to all of us.”

SEE FULL STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT MIHALY BELOW

The Department of Environmental Conservation’s Compliance and Enforcement Division (CED) today announced that it formally settled environmental violations involving the Village of Essex Junction. Essex Junction operates a wastewater treatment facility which released 1,954,853 gallons of non-disinfected wastewater into the Winooski River. The settlement includes a $22,625.00 penalty. A CED investigation revealed that during construction activities at the facility last summer, operators moved a panel which controls the application of hypochlorite for disinfection.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) on Tuesday introduced legislation that would restore Americans’ privacy rights by ending the government’s dragnet collection of phone records and requiring greater oversight, transparency, and accountability with respect to domestic surveillance authorities. The updated version of the USA FREEDOM Act released July 29 builds on legislation passed in the House in May, as well as the original legislation Leahy introduced with Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) last October.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Vermont will apply for an extension of its roughly $100 million in remaining federal grants for implementing the Affordable Care Act, state officials confirmed Monday. Vermont has spent more than $72 million thus far, and state officials have indicated they believe it will take the full $171 million earmark to complete the project.

As part of his Summer Solar Tour, Governor Peter Shumlin today visited Northern Reliability in Waitsfield, one of the many solar businesses that has helped Vermont earn the Number 1 national ranking for solar jobs per capita, to announce $442,750 in Clean Energy Development Fund grants for nine community solar projects. Overall these grants will support the installation of more than 500 kilowatts of solar for schools, towns, and communities in Vermont. This includes $80,000 for the Town of Waitsfield to install a 102 kilowatt solar project on the town garage to power Waitsfield’s municipal buildings.

Vermont Business Magazine Two Republican legislators are taking Governor Peter Shumlin at his word and are insisting that he immediately address the continuing difficulties many Vermonters are facing with Vermont Health Connect. In a statement released today, Representatives Patti Komline (R-Dorset) and Heidi Scheuermann (R-Stowe), called on the governor to take immediate steps to ensure timely access to health insurance and health care for all.

Patti Komline (R-Dorset). Photo by VTDigger.

A procedure tested during a clinical trial at Fletcher Allen Health Care and the University of Vermont to replace heart valves using catheters instead of open heart surgery has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for use in two categories of patients. The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology have also added Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) to their guidelines.

Patients from Vermont and northern New York with failing heart valves who could not tolerate open heart surgery – the current standard of care for valve replacement – or who were at “high risk” for complications or death during surgery were among the first in the country to receive this groundbreaking treatment as part of the Medtronic CoreValve® U.S. Pivotal Trial in 2012. Fletcher Allen/UVM was one of only 45 sites in trial, which produced these results:

· TAVR was proven to be safe and effective in inoperable patients

House and Senate negotiators late Monday signed a conference committee agreement on legislation that would allocate about $17 billion to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs. The agreement, filed in the House of Representatives shortly before midnight, includes $5 billion for strengthening the VA by recruiting more doctors, nurses and other medical providers and other measures. It allots $10 billion to help veterans access care from private doctors if they have been on waiting lists for more than a month or don't live near VA facilities. Some $2 billion more is set aside for additional veterans benefits. “Planes and tanks and guns are a cost of war,” Sanders said. “'So is taking care of the men and women who use those weapons and fight our battles.”