Environmental Watchdog

Kentucky is among 30 states that will receive federal funds to boost monitoring for a deadly bat disease. Biologists from the state have already been working to document the spread ofWhite Nose Syndrome, which is a deadly fungus that nearly always kills the bats it infects. U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Ann Froschauer says the additional federal funds will augment that effort.

Despite scattered thunderstorms during the past week, parts of Indiana and Kentucky remain in a drought. That condition is hitting corn and soybean farmers particularly hard. Half of Indiana’s and nearly half of Kentucky’s corn crop are in jeopardy, rated as “poor” or “very poor” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt says once a crop is rated “very poor,” there’s not much that can be salvaged.

A lawyer has responded to two California representatives on behalf of three Kentucky mine operators. In June, Congressmen George Miller and Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey sent a letter to Jack Ealy and Ralph Napier, the president and vice president of K and D Mining, as well as John North of Jackrock, LLC. They wanted the mine operators to submit a plan to pay the $1.568 million currently owed to the federal government for mine safety violations.

Lexington's temperature hit 99 degrees by mid-afternoon Wednesday, making it officially the city's hottest Fourth of July on record, said Chris Bailey, chief meteorologist for WKYT-TV. The old record of 98 was set in 1911, he said. "It's crazy. It just won't end," Bailey said after he participated in the annual downtown parade. Unfortunately, his comments weren't just hyperbole: "It's going to be close to 100 the next couple of days, with small threats of showers."

As dry conditions persist throughout the state, Kentucky Emergency Management is encouraging local officials to plan possible water conservation efforts. Sixty-six Kentucky counties have been classified as experiencing level 1 drought while 24 are under the more severe level 2 drought designation. Level 2 drought has been declared in Christian, Todd, Trigg, Caldwell and Muhlenberg counties.

Trees across the region are drooping from lack of rain; produce farmers are watching their crops shrivel; and horse farms are taking steps to protect their priceless Thoroughbreds as hot, dry weather continues to scorch Central Kentucky. "I see trees that are already losing their leaves; trees that are dry as toast; trees that are dying," said Lexington arborist Dave Leonard. "It's probably the worst situation I've ever seen this early in the season, and that's going back 40 years.

The heatwave gripping Kentucky will continue at least through Wednesday, the National Weather Service office in Louisville says. Bowling Green is predicted to hit 102 degrees Monday and Louisville will see 99 degrees. The mercury will stop at 97 in Frankfort and Lexington, the weather service said.

Lexington sounded like a war zone last year well past midnight for days on end, but this year there could be more at stake from fireworks than sleepless nights and scared pets. Police, fire and city officials will meet Monday morning to decide whether fireworks will become prohibited under a citywide burn ban that was put in place last week, Lexington fire department Battalion Chief Ed Davis said. A drought in the area, and across much of the nation, has left lawns brown and dry, leading to a spike of nuisance fires caused by cigarette butts and concern from officials that fireworks could make the situation worse.

Sixty-four Kentucky counties have implemented burn bans because of the extreme heat and dry conditions in much of the state. The list of counties with bans was at 33 early Thursday morning but then increased to 51 in early afternoon and hit 61 just before 5 p.m. Three more counties banned burning since.

Frankfort – The state has issued a Level 2 drought declaration for 24 counties in western Kentucky and a Level 1 drought for 66 counties in the remainder of the state. A Level 2 drought indicates severe drought conditions have developed, according to a state news release. Counties with this designation can expect severe impacts to water-sensitive enterprises, depletion of water supplies in shallow wells, springs and ponds, increased incidences of wildfires, higher demands placed on water treatment facilities and the imposition of water conservation advisories.

FRANKFORT – Gov. Steve Beshear Wednesday signed an executive order directing the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to expedite the transport of emergency supplies to Kentucky counties struggling with drought. Ninety counties – 75 percent of the state’s counties – are classified as suffering moderate to severe drought conditions.

A federal court of appeals has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency can regulate carbon emissions from vehicles and power plants. A coalition of energy companies, manufacturers and individual states—including Kentucky and Indiana—challenged the rules in court. They argued that a core provision—the finding that greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide are pollutants and pose a danger to human health—wasn’t based on science.

You can sum up this week's Kentucky weather like this: It's hot and about to get hotter; it's dry and about to get drier. The National Weather Services says that while Tuesday will be pleasant in Lexington, with a high around 79, temperatures will skyrocket later this week, hitting the high 90s by Friday. Meanwhile, there's little chance of rain.

A new study shows that black lung disease isn’t limited to coal miners who work underground.  Studies for coal workers’ pneumoconiosis—or black lung disease—haven’t been done on surface miners in a decade, and the miners were commonly thought to be less at risk for the disease than underground workers. Surface mines are open to the air, after all, and underground coal mines have frequent dust issues caused by mining in constricted spaces without much ventilation.  But the new study shows that surface miners get black lung, too.

A new study shows that black lung disease isn’t limited to coal miners who work underground. Studies for coal workers’ pneumoconiosis—or black lung disease—haven’t been done on surface miners in a decade, and the miners were commonly thought to be less at risk for the disease than underground workers. Surface mines are open to the air, after all, and underground coal mines have frequent dust issues caused by mining in constricted spaces without much ventilation.

Mosquitoes are out for blood in Central Kentucky earlier and in mightier form this summer. While some experts are predicting this summer to be one of the worst for mosquitoes in decades, Grayson Brown, professor of entomology at the University of Kentucky, said there's no way of knowing until summer is in full swing. The life span of a mosquito is relatively short, a few months at most, but mosquitoes have been building up their numbers since March and will be noticeable in the upcoming months.

The wheat harvest began as much as two weeks early this year in southcentral Kentucky because of early warm temperatures. But those warm temperatures, and then a brief cold snap, have wreaked havoc on the crop’s yield, which some farmers say has been cut nearly in half.

Three Kentucky coal-fired power plants are named among the biggest polluters in the nation in a new report. The Environmental Integrity Project analyzed the fifty-one U.S. power plants that emit the highest levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which have been linked to premature deaths from heart and lung disease. The report concludes that at several power plants—including the Green River, Shawnee and Mill Creek plants in Kentucky—the cost of lost human life outweighs the value of electricity the plant produces.

Some Kentucky residents upset with the state’s congressional delegation traveled to the nation’s capital this week to protest surface coal mining.

Mining companies buried sections of streams in Eastern Kentucky without getting proper permits, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.The companies should restore the sites or pay for mitigation projects elsewhere, or both, the agency said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Pikeville Wednesday.The EPA suit also seeks damages that could, in theory, run into the millions of dollars.

A common misconception about coal in America is that it accounts for most of the nation’s electricity generation. Coal’s importance to the nation’s energy mix is indisputable. But that influence is on the decline, and is dropping fast. Even so, the new data has yet to be embraced by politicians intent on reinforcing Kentucky’s coal industry. Here’s Western Kentucky state Representative Brent Yonts at a recent public hearing in Frankfort.

A piece of land on the far end of Eastern Kentucky University’s Richmond campus may become a new home for native plants and animals.  It’s becoming an outdoor classroom for EKU students….It’s a beaten down grassy path which winds behind EKU’s law enforcement complex and onto the Taylor Fork Ecological Project site.  Just inside the large gate, the landscape changes.   The land is clear with room for a picnic table.  A sign outlines an interpretive trail, and there’s a boot scrubber. David Brown is a Biology Sciences professor at Eastern.  “A lot of natural areas have something that so that when you enter it, you scrape your feet and if you’re carrying seeds or burrs or whatever, you leave them behind,” said Brown.

The Environmental Protection Agency is weighing public comments and considering whether to cement its objections to 36 Kentucky coal mine permits. The agency heard from both the coal industry and environmental activists in a hearing in Frankfort on Tuesday.