Tagged: smokestack

Starting this week, WFPL will begin airing a month-long series about past and present air pollution in the city’s Rubbertown neighborhood, and the health effects for those who live nearby. Installments will air during Morning Edition, Here and Now and All Things Considered every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and will be posted here on Smokestack when they air.

Coal company Alpha Natural Resources announced today it will idle four underground mines in Harlan and Letcher counties. Two hundred miners will lose their jobs, while about sixty people will be moved to other positions or other mines.

Kentucky Utilities will spend $57 million to install updated pollution control equipment and pay civil penalties under the terms of a proposed consent decree.

The money will go to installing a sulfuric acid mist emission control system at the company’s Ghent power plant, replace a coal-fired boiler and pay $300,000 in fines to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Here’s what the EPA said about the settlement in a news release:

A group working to establish a botanical garden across from Waterfront Park is making progress. Efforts have sped up over the past year and non-profit Botanica now has a draft agreement with Metro Government for the site.

The organization has a vision of a 22-acre botanical garden, with different themed gardens and a conservatory for indoor plants. Botanica board president Brian Voelker says the outdoor gardens will be designed to maximize the usable space.