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BREDL PRESS
RELEASES
Report Reveals 21% Higher Death Rates
Near Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant
June 6, 2013: The results of a detailed investigation released today reveal residents living near or
downwind of Browns Ferry are at greater risk for cancer and death than average U.S.
communities. The study found potential links between radioactive emissions from Browns
Ferry and adverse health effects in seven counties near and downwind of the plant.
Read Press Release | View Report: Radioactive Emissions and Health Hazards Surrounding Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Alabama
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Citizens Intervene to Halt Sequoyah Plant Relicensing
Unsafe Design, Future Flooding, and Cancer Rates Cited
May 7, 2013:
BREDL’s petition points out the dangers in Tennessee Valley Authority’s request to extend the license of its troubled Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant. The most significant risk is a system which depends on baskets of ice to prevent a Fukushima-style explosion of the reactor building. Our petition uncovers a fatal flaw based on aging and the inability to inspect critical parts of the reactor building. BREDL is calling for the early closure of all seven plants of this manufacture in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
BREDL Press Release | BREDL Petition
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People For Clean Mountains Urges Moratorium
on Biomass Facility
People For Clean Mountains (PCM) has called on Transylvania County
Commissioners to enact a moratorium for 18 months on any further development of the
proposed Penrose biomass facility.
“There is an emerging body of evidence that a facility like the one proposed can
pose significant public health risks while also hurting the county’s economic recovery
and development,” says Danna Smith, a PCM volunteer.
PCM Press Release | DRAFT Moratorium
The Asheville Citizen-Times April 30, 2013 story: Group seeks halt to biomass plant
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BREDL Fact Sheet: Penrose Biomass Technology
Brevard, NC
An application has been submitted to the North Carolina Utilities Commission by
RD-Penrose 1, a subsidiary of RENEWable Developers, LLC for a certificate of
convenience and public necessity for an electric generating plant near Brevard, NC. If approved, the
plant would use up to 100 tons per day of household trash and wood waste to
generate up to 4 megawatts of electricity.
BREDL Fact Sheet
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League joins in the call for a comprehensive health assessment prior to fracking
April 17, 2013: Raleigh- Today, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) joined over 90 medical
professionals and 25 organizations calling on the North Carolina General Assembly and Governor Pat
McCrory to require that a health assessment be conducted before any fracking is allowed in North
Carolina. A letter requesting the health assessment will be sent to Legislators and the Governor. At the
press conference, health care providers spoke of the necessity of the health assessment and others held
signs saying, “First Do No Harm,” and “An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure”.
Read Full BREDL Press Release
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BREDL Chapter Leaders testify at NC Utilities Commission Hearing
February 28, 2013: Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League chapter leaders Julius Kerr and Laura Sorensen testified at the North Carolina Utilities Commission hearing in Charlotte. They joined the chorus of opposition to wasteful, costly pollution generators and money sinkholes proposed by the electric utility companies. For example, the League revealed that to date Duke Energy has reported over $300 million in spending on its proposed Lee Nuclear Station in South Carolina with no license approved or construction started.
BREDL Press Release | NCUC WSLee Expenditures Report
Julius Kerr Testimony | Laura Sorensen Testimony
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Nuclear Safety Expert to Inform Local Leaders
SCOTTSBORO, AL - On Monday, February 4, Mr. David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Director of Nuclear Safety, will bring a Nuclear Safety - Nuclear History presentation to the Jackson County Commission, at 5PM Central Time at the Jackson County Courthouse. His presentation will be repeated at the Scottsboro City Council, Scottsboro City Hall at 6PM Central Time. Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer, is one of the nation’s top independent nuclear power experts.
Read Press Release
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Archives:
Press Releases: 1999 - 2012
RECENT
NEWS
Do you own your Mineral Rights?
Cumnock Preservation Association, a North Carolina chapter of The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, invites you to a free workshop on researching your mineral rights.
The workshop will be held on May 30, 2013, at the Quality Inn 1403 N. Horner Blvd Sanford NC 27330, from 3-7:30 pm
Event Mailing
For more information contact:
Debbie Hall (919) 775-7506
or
Therese Vick (919) 345-3673
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Sequoyah Nuclear Plant - 18 miles northeast of Chattanooga, Tennessee
Do you live within the 50-mile radius?
DEADLINE: MAY 1, 2013 Folks, there is no time to waste as we work to stop Nuclear Regulatory Commission from extending Sequoyah Nuclear Plant licenses through legal avenues. A Declaration of Standing document link is below. Should you choose to sign it, you allow BEST/MATRR, chapter of Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) to represent your concerns. You must be a paid up member of BREDL/BEST/MATRR. Send $20 or what you can afford with your declaration. What's it worth to keep you and yours from unthinkable radiation health risks and a lifetime of nuclear waste in your back yard?
More Details: 50-Mile Map | Declaration of Standing | BREDL Membership Form
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Meeting Notice
Attend the next Important Pee Dee Wall Meeting
Protecting our Water, Air, Land & Lives
Notify your neighbors and bring as many concerned citizens as possible.
Sunday April 28, 4 pm at Anson County Library, Greene St, Wadesboro
Contact Denise Lee
704-694-8577
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Rally Notice
Duke Shareholder Meeting on May 2
Rally, Press Conference, and Ratepayers’ Stakeholder Meeting
Duke Shareholder Meeting on May 2
Rally, Press Conference, and Ratepayers’ Stakeholder Meeting
526 S. Church Street Charlotte, NC 28202 (old Duke Energy headquarters)
Duke Energy: Ratepayers Oppose Serial Rate Hikes
Ratepayers from across Duke Energy’s service area will convene at the company’s Annual Shareholder Meeting on Thursday, May 2nd to add their voices to the discussion and to hold a community teach-in outside.
More Details: Rally Flyer
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BREDL In the NEWS: Fracking North Carolina:
What Do We Do With The Waste?
April 23, 2013: BREDL's Therese Vick was recently interviewed for a WUNC 91.5 NC Public Radio story.
“You can model anything the way you want to,” she says. “And who’s watching? Who’s monitoring it? Is the testing gonna ever be adequate? Are they ever going to be required to test for every substance?”
Check out the WUNC story for more of Therese's comments
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The League comments on W S Lee water permit
April 19, 2013: South Carolina’s draft NPDES permit is premature. First, a mandatory environmental review is incomplete. Second, the concurrent plant safety review is also incomplete and no license has been issued. Therefore, the state cannot issue this permit until these matters are decided, engineering and environmental questions are settled, and the construction and operation license is finalized.
Read BREDL Comments
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BREDL Fact Sheet: (no)waste confidence! Nuclear Waste Rule
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Waste Confidence Rule generic approach remains utterly inadequate to satisfy the requirements of both the Atomic Energy Act and the National Environmental Policy Act for the licensing decisions on nuclear power.
BREDL Fact Sheet
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Nuclear Waste Rule? No Confidence!
On June 8, 2012 the US Court of Appeals nullified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's
Waste Confidence Rule, clearing the way for a variety of challenges at scores of
commercial nuclear power reactors in the United States. "Waste confidence" is all about
high-level nuclear waste which is produced by nuclear reactors, generated in the reactor
core and highly radioactive.
The process for a new rule is now underway. Sometime in 2013, the NRC will prepare a draft environmental impact statement. Then a draft Waste Confidence Decision and proposed Rule would be issued for public comment. However, the NRC must first resolve many technical issues including long-term waste integrity, vulnerability, deterioration and accidents. But the NRC’s approach is utterly inadequate to assure public safety and the Commission is in danger of abrogating its responsibility to allow public to participate in a decision which affects them.
BREDL Jan. 2 Comments
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BREDL Fact Sheet - North Star Jefferson biomass and tire burner proposed for Wadley, Georgia
Used tires are a dirty fuel. Up to 20% of the power from the proposed facility in Jefferson County would be provided by scrap tires. Even with pollution control devices in place, burning tires create toxic air pollution.
BREDL Fact Sheet
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BREDL Comments on Grandfather Restoration Project and Linville Gorge Wilderness Area Impacts
March 12, 2013: We oppose the practice of prescribed burns in the Linville Gorge Wilderness Area because of their negative impact on public health and their incompatibility with the area’s federal wilderness designation.
BREDL Comments to U.S. Forest Service
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Presentation on Split Estates
Feb. 13, 2013: Therese Vick's powerpoint presentation, which was presented in Lee County, about split estates. Over time, Split Estate has come to be defined as a situation in which a property owner is not the same party who owns the rights to extract minerals from underneath the property.
Download Presentation: Powerpoint | PDF
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North Carolina Integrated Resource Planning
Feb. 11, 2013: The general statutes of North Carolina which require the analysis of the long-range need for electricity and least-cost considerations (NCGS 62-110 and 62-2) compel the Commission to require a full cost accounting of all electric generation sources. However, Duke Energy, Progress Energy and Dominion Energy are pursuing most-cost energy policies which are both expensive and reckless.
More Details: BREDL Comments | BREDL Slide Presentation | BREDL Article
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BREDL's questions and concerns about exemptions from
North Carolina's health based Air Toxics standards
"The changes in North Carolina's health-based air toxics regulations will mean increased illness and decreased quality of life. Thousands of citizens across the state will be exposed to more toxic air pollution due to a decision made to benefit industry's bottom line. BREDL's over twenty year support of these standards has not ended because of changes made during last years legislative session. We will continue to stand our ground, to monitor how the rules will be implemented, and to expose those who stand to gain from this assault on public health."
Read BREDL's Jan. 26 Letter to NCDAQ
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Emergency Planning Zones for Nuclear Accidents
Jan. 31, 2013: The regulatory guidance utilized by both the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to evaluate the emergency plans at commercial nuclear power plants was established in 1980 and has remained essentially unchanged for thirty years.
BREDL Comments
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