In the Rockies today, the Environmental Protection Agency released its list of the 44 coal ash waste dumps that present the highest threat in the nation, and Montana and Arizona have the only such dumps west of the Mississippi River.
Montana has one -- at the Colstrip Electric Steam Station in the southeastern area of the state; and Arizona has seven near Cochise and two near Holbrook.
Also in the news, farmers and ranchers in southeastern Wyoming that want to develop their properties' wind-power potential press the state Infrastructure Authority to build more transmission lines.
In Headwaters News' A Look Ahead, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition serves up a summer packed full of adventures and outdoor volunteer opportunities.
On July 10-11, the GYC's Idaho Falls office offers an overnight camping trip to the Blackfoot River Wildlife Management Area in southeast Idaho; and on July 11, the Cody office hosts a trip to Wyoming's Sunlight Basin to learn more about the ecological impact of wolves.
Other events this summer include a hike into Montana's Snowcrest Mountains and into the Dog Creek elk feedground and the Palisades Wilderness Study Area near Jackson, Wyo.
Rockies today
Arizona, Montana coal ash dumps on EPA's high-hazard list
The Environmental Protection Agency released a list Monday of 44 coal ash waste dumps that had a high potential for loss of human life should a dam failure occur that includes the coal ash waste dump at the Colstrip Steam Electric Station in Montana, and seven such dumps at the Apache Station Combustion Waste Disposal Facility near Cochise and two at the Cholla Power Plant near Holbrook, both in Arizona.
New York Times; July 1
Wyoming group: Lack of transmission capacity stalls wind projects
The Renewable Energy Alliance of Landowners represents more than 300 Wyoming residents that collectively own more than 675,000 acres that has the wind-power potential of 6,310 megawatts--if the transmission line capacity to carry the power to market existed.
Casper Star-Tribune; July 1
Groups press BLM for more protections of Wyoming basin
The Bureau of Land Management is updating its nearly two-decade-old plan for the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming, and 10 groups, many of them Wyoming-based, are asking that wildlife and recreation concerns get equal footing with energy development on the 3.2-million acre basin.
Billings Gazette; July 1
Colorado counties, cities oppose regulation of 'fracking'
Legislation submitted by Colorado U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette and Jared Polis that would impose new regulations on the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing that involves pumping a stew of chemicals, water and sand underground at high pressure to crack into natural gas reserves has drawn formal protests from six counties in the state, as well as five cities.
Grand Junction Sentinel; July 1
Denver breaks into ranks of 25 largest cities in the U.S.
New Census estimates released today pegs Denver's population at nearly 600,000, making the Colorado city the 24th largest in the nation; the new estimates ranked Mead, a former agricultural town centrally located between Fort Collins, Denver, Boulder and Greeley, the fastest-growing city in the state.
Denver Post; July 1
Index indicates Denver's housing prices down the least in 20 cities
Standard & Poor's/ Case-Shiller home-price index for 20 major cities released Tuesday found that home prices declined 18.1 percent between April 2008 and April this year, with Denver home prices down 4.9 percent; Las Vegas had the largest decline of 35.3 percent and Phoenix the next largest with a 32.2 percent drop.
Denver Post; July 1
Alberta selects carbon-capture projects for funding
Alberta Energy announced Tuesday the three carbon-capture projects in the province that will get government funding: Enhance/Northwest for its Alberta Carbon Trunk Line; Epcor/Enbridge for its integrated gasification combined-cycle carbon capture power generation facility adjacent to its Genesee power plant near Edmonton; and Shell Canada Energy/Chevron Canada Ltd./Marathon Oil Sands L.P for a carbon capture and storage project at the Scotford Upgrader.
Calgary Herald; July 1
Opinion
Foolhardy immigration law takes effect today in Utah
Enforcing the nation's immigration laws is, and should remain, the business of the federal government, but today in Utah, SB81, an ill-conceived, unnecessary law takes effect, that will, in time, prove costly to the state.
Deseret News; July 1
Beyond the Region
Waxman defends deals to get House climate-energy bill passed
California Congressman Henry A. Waxman doled out benefits large and small to get the climate change-energy bill passed in the U.S. House this week, including tens of billions of dollars of free pollution credits to utilities as well as billions of dollars of research money to develop carbon-capture technology, and environmental groups said as the incentives to pass the bill went up, the targets for greenhouse-gas reductions went down.
New York Times; July 1
Federal judge rules against Bush administration on logging rule
On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken in California overturned a Bush administration change to a rule that was designed to protect the northern spotted owl in Washington and Oregon, the third such decision to turn back attempts to change what is known as the viability rule contained within the National Forest Management Act.
Seattle Times (AP); July 1
Groups again ask USFWS to protect Palouse worm in Washington
The Center for Biological Diversity, along with Friends of the Clearwater, Palouse Prairie Foundation, Palouse Audubon and Palouse Group of Sierra Club, have again petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the giant Palouse earthworm, a white worm that can reach up to three feet in length and reportedly smells like lilies, found only in the Palouse, a 2-million-acre area of wheat fields along the Washington-Idaho border.
Seattle Times (AP); July 1
Increase in Oregon city's jobless rate again outpaces Detroit's
For the second consecutive month, the increase in jobless claims in Portland was the highest in the nation, with the Oregon city reporting a 12.4 percent unemployment rate.
Portland Oregonian; July 1
Groups team up to preserve habitat in Washington forest
The Nature Conservancy and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation have purchased 2,675 acres of land from Plum Creek Timber within the Wenatchee National Forest in Washington state and transferred the land, which is important habitat for mountain goats, elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for management as a public area.
Tri-City Herald (AP); July 1
EPA's Montana declaration prompts new tests for asbestos in Spokane
The Environmental Protection Agency's declaration of a public-health emergency in Libby due to asbestos contamination from a vermiculite mine near the Montana town has new tests for asbestos in yards near the former Zonolite factory owned by W. R. Grace in Spokane, Wash.
Spokane Spokesman-Review; July 1
Farmers, enviro groups sue Washington state over new feedlot
A proposal by Easterday Ranches Inc. to build its second 30,000-animal feedlot in central Washington state prompted a lawsuit from a group of farmers and two environmental groups, challenging the feedlot's use of groundwater to water livestock that they fear may dry up other wells in the area.
Seattle Times (AP); July 1
In depth
Census: 10 Utah cities more than doubled population since 2000
Census estimates released Wednesday indicate Sarasota Springs grew from 1,000 residents in 2000 to nearly 16,000 now, making the Utah city one of the 10 in the state that more than doubled its population since 2000.
Deseret News; July 1
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