Advocates: Trump cuts could endanger workers in ​“Cancer Alley”

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FEDERAL CUTS

• Advocates worry the federal government’s closure of an OSHA office in Louisiana could harm workers at more than 200 chemical plants and refineries in the state’s ​“Cancer Alley” corridor, which has seen multiple explosions and exposures in recent years. (Capital & Main)

• A Virginia economic development official says construction of Microporous‘ $1.3 billion lithium-ion battery separator plant will be delayed due to uncertainty about whether the company will receive a $100 million federal grant. (Virginia Business)

• Two federal occupational health workers who were laid off from the Trump administration’s job cuts say the government’s policy shifts could hurt coal miners. (WBOY)

• Environmental advocacy group Appalachian Voices releases a new report showing how Appalachian communities have benefitted from clean energy tax credits now under threat from Congress and the Trump administration. (news release)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

• Hyundai offers tours during the ceremonial grand opening of its $7.59 billion ​“metaplant” in Georgia, and revises its production projections upward to 500,000 vehicles annually. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

FOSSIL FUELS

• Trump’s executive orders to prop up coal will affect four power plants operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, two by Georgia Power, and one by Dominion Energy. (Knoxville News Sentinel, Georgia Recorder, Inside Climate News)

• Elected officials, environmentalists, and the United Mine Workers of America offer mixed reviews for Trump’s executive orders on coal. (Spectrum News)

• A Texas oil company and its vice president plead guilty to criminal charges related to the 2019 deaths of a worker and his wife at a Permian Basin facility due to hydrogen sulfide exposure. (Inside Climate News)

• Seven families claim inmates were sickened by an exposure to a gas leak at a Texas detention processing center, while officials have a mixed response. (KGNS)

• A company announces it has secured international clients for the sale of liquified natural gas from its Louisiana project. (S&P Global)

• An author discusses the environmental impact of the 2008 Kingston coal ash spill in Tennessee, and how cleanup workers were affected. (West Virginia Public Broadcasting)

PIPELINES

• Dozens of residents attend a North Carolina county board meeting to protest Williams Pipeline’s proposed expansion project that would add 24 miles of 42-inch pipe in three counties. (WXII)

WIND

• A jury orders Dominion Energy to pay nearly $350,000 to a Virginia funeral home in an eminent domain case involving transmission lines from the utility’s offshore wind farm. (WAVY)

GRID

• About two-thirds of Puerto Rico utility customers had power back last night after an island-wide outage this week showcased the system’s continued fragility. (Associated Press)

• A company that makes power transformers and substations announces it will invest $300 million to expand a Virginia factory. (Cardinal News)

NUCLEAR

• A North Carolina county board revises its zoning ordinance to include the word ​“nuclear” as Duke Energy considers the area for a small reactor. (Stokes News)

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

• Trump’s drive to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs is undermining efforts to reduce air pollution from refineries and other polluters near communities of color in Florida and other states. (Stateline)

POLITICS

• Advocacy group Clean Virginia continues its fight against Dominion Energy in Virginia’s Democratic primaries for statewide office. (Virginia Scope)

COMMENTARY

• A new report shows a Texas billionaire is pushing state lawmakers to block wind and solar projects, writes a columnist. (Houston Chronicle)