A Bad Day For Fossil Fuels

Yesterday there were three disasters related to fossil fuel extraction.

West Virginia officials are reporting that a coal slurry line at the Kanawha Eagle Prep Plant, which belongs to Patriot Coal, ruptured and spilled a toxic byproduct from the coal mining and preparation process into a creek that feeds the Kanawha River early this morning. More than 100,000 gallons of slurry spilled, and state officials are monitoring potential impacts on public health and the local water supply . . .

Incredibly, that’s just one of the fossil fuels disasters that happened today. Just a few miles across the border from West Virginia, a natural gas well operated by Chevron in Dilliner, Pennsylvania exploded and continues to burn, as firefighters cannot get close enough to extinguish it, due to the intense heat. One person was injured and taken to the hospital, and another person remains missing.

Another natural gas explosion was reported last night, this one in Tioga, North Dakota. Hiland Partners operates the pipeline that ruptured, leading to an explosion and fire that could be seen, apparently, for miles.

All this one month after the Elk River lead poisoned West Virginia’s water supply.  No wonder that some people are calling for tighter regulation.

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.