This graph shows data from the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory of the three largest industries that reported emissions in Jefferson County, plus the total on- and off-site emissions.
Every year, the federal government releases data about the toxic releases companies emit into the air or dispose of on land or in water. In the data from 2011 that was just released, the overall emissions for Kentucky continue a general downward trend. But in Jefferson County the most recent data shows that toxic pollution is still about as high as it was in 2004.
The Kentucky Public Service Commission has accepted a settlement agreed to by all the parties in a rate increase case filed by Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities.
Louisville Gas and Electric has broken ground on nearly a billion dollars worth of new pollution controls at the company’s Mill Creek Power Plant in southwest Louisville. It’s a two-year process that the company estimates could create up to 700 new construction jobs.