Brianna Knisley is TN Field Coordinator for the Energy Democracy Program at Appalachian Voices. Bri’s passion for rural solutions was formed through her upbringing in a community struggling with economic, social and environmental issues faced by many rural places across the U.S.

In the episode we talk about, “Energy Democracy” which is local people having control of how their electricity is produced and distributed to ensure everyone has access to affordable and clean power.

Two decades into the 21st century, advances in solar panels, battery storage, modernized electric grids and other technologies are revolutionizing how our electricity can be produced and distributed. But large utility companies with monopoly control over the market are keeping us locked into using increasingly expensive polluting fuels like coal and fracked gas to generate our electricity.

But a movement toward Energy Democracy is growing across Appalachia and throughout the country. Local individuals and groups are standing up to demand a seat at the table with decision makers to ensure we transition to a system that is affordable and fair, provides community wealth and jobs, and is built on clean, renewable energy.

With Brianna we discuss what energy democracy is and its importance, what’s going on with energy democracy in TN - specifically with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), actions they do, suggestions to the Biden Administration’s transition team, and how you can support their work.

Appalachian Voices: https://appvoices.org/energydemocracy/tennessee/

Energy Democracy FB group:

Bull Run Plant Closing and next steps: https://www.power-eng.com/coal/tva-offers-qa-on-issues-surrounding-coal-fired-bull-run-closure/#gref https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14022019/tva-coal-power-plants-shut-down-vote-trump-mcconnell-pressure-paradise-kentucky-bull-run-tennessee/

TVA Coal Ash: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/hundreds-workers-who-cleaned-countrys-worst-coal-ash-spill-are-now-sick-and-dying

John Runkle who is a retired Attorney at Law. Over the many years, John shared his legal skills to many BREDL campaigns  – with communities all over North Carolina. Including landfills, coal ash, nuclear plants and more. Some fights were won, others lost, but John was there to make sure folks had legal protection against being trampled by polluters or various government agencies.

Our Executive Director, Lou Zeller has said “John’s the best environmental attorney in the state, bar none,” “What he understands that many attorneys do not is how community organizing campaigns work. He will tell you if that’s a bad idea and won’t work. When we do get into a campaign John is willing to work with us side by side.”

With John we discuss the BREDL campaigns he’s worked on, how to work with attorneys in grassroots campaigns, and challenges he’s seen in his work.

Contact and connect with John: [email protected]

Highlighting John’s work:

https://www.ncwarn.org/2018/12/john-runkle-celebrating-a-lifetime/

https://www.coastalreview.org/2014/07/coastal-sketch-john-runkle/

Attorneys in Grassroots Campaigns: https://www.grassrootslaw.org/

This episode we honor Judy Hogan who is retiring as President of Chatham Citizens Against Coal Ash Dump. She has played a critical role in BREDL campaigns with CCAAD which includes victories such as Dec.16, 2020: the Administrative Law Judge Melissa Owens-Lassiter reversed her decision which had allowed coal ash to be disposed of in Chatham and Lee Counties, the communities are announcing another victory. Charah, Inc.- the company that owns the two sites, has dropped their appeal of the 2019 ruling and has agreed that no coal ash will go to Lee and Chatham County.

I also speak with Diana Hales who is a Vice Chair of the Chatham County Commissioners who has worked closely with Judy. And then Debbie Hall who is a member of Environmental Lee or ELEE for short, where she and the two chapters have worked together on past campaigns.

First I talk with Diana Hales about Judy and her work from the County Commissioners perspective. Then I speak with Debbie Hall on her personal experience and organizing with Judy. I then speak with Judy herself, and we discuss her time as President, her victories, and what this work meant to her.

Judy, Diana, and Debbie: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Chatham County Commissioners: https://www.chathamcountync.gov/government/board-of-commissioners/commissioner-contacts-bios#hales

Judy’s Books:

Sam Tesh is BREDL’s co-president of the board of directors of BREDL

Sam has been a part of BREDL for several decades and now serves as our Board of Directors Co-President. He has been a critical part of past BREDL campaigns such as fighting ThermalKEM’s hazardous waste incinerator He’s also worked with organizations such as GreenPeace and Sierra Club.

With Sam we discuss his background within the environmental realm, some of the BREDL campaigns he’s worked on, what the biggest problems he sees regarding the environment today, and why he keeps with this work.

Contact and connect with Sam: [email protected]

See updates and what we're doing: BREDL.org 

Background Music Credits:

https://www.youtube.com/c/mbbmusic

https://soundcloud.com/mbbofficial

https://www.instagram.com/mbb_music

Cathy Cralle Jones is a Senior Litigation Associate at the Law Offices of F. Bryan Brice, Jr. She focuses her practice on environmental litigation and has represented many property owners, business operators, and citizen groups in matters involving mold, groundwater and soil contamination, regulatory compliance, toxic torts, and land use matters. Her experience includes cases involving CERCLA, RCRA, OPHSCA, the Clean Water Act, NEPA, and the Endangered Species Act.

Cathy has been crucial in our environment justice fights in Lee, Chatham County, and surrounding counties in NC. She has written articles regarding the resolution of the challenge to the Coal Ash Fill permits in Chatham and Lee Counties.

With Cathy we discuss her journey to become an environmental attorney, campaigns she’s worked on with BREDL, 2020 victories, patterns she sees, and what keeps her coming back to this work.

Contact and connect with Cathy: http://attybryanbrice.com/our-professionals/attorneys/cathy-cralle-jones/

F Bryan Brice: http://attybryanbrice.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Law-Offices-of-F-Bryan-Brice-Jr-138332119643031/

Michael Arnold was front and center in the campaign to halt ThermalKEM’s incinerator.

On May 22th, 1989, North Carolina Senate Bill 324 (Hazardous Waste Management) was ratified by a bipartisan majority of elected representatives. North Carolina joined a five-state compact that would commit the state to site – and build – a hazardous waste incinerator for ThermalKEM, a private company. This occurred against the backdrop of a notorious incinerator that had been allowed to dangerously operate in Caldwell County with virtually no oversight by the state.

In 1990, the State of North Carolina proposed two sites in Granville County as locations for the incinerator. Residents organized with friends and supporters from around the state and – after eight months of marches, fund-raising, lawsuits, public hearings, civil disobedience, and arrests – succeeded in stopping the incinerator from being built.

Whatever It Takes is a pictorial history of the successful protest campaign. The book’s title comes from the protesters’ pledge to do “whatever it takes” to defeat the incinerator.

With Micheal we discuss his experience in this fight, what impacts a hazardous waste incinerator has, actions they did, and what led to this successful victory.

IAP (Incinerator Archive Project)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDir5d8Yy14AA54YeHHxd2w https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDir5d8Yy14AA54YeHHxd2w 

Website

http://fightoftheirlives.com

Whatever It Takes  (eBook...1,900 + pages. 500MB download)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8YiD_nYU28NMEZ6bFNrRU5kVGs/view?usp=sharing

There's more links/information  at the other video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd-xhinazp0&list=PLbfZIkjeDwoNrDYiBsTZmGA89obAMxG76&pbjreload=101

Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd-xhinazp0&list=PLbfZIkjeDwoNrDYiBsTZmGA89obAMxG76

Doc Ellen Tinsley who is a photojournalist. She is a retired veterinarian of equine medicine (horses), who’s best known for her Jordan Lake bald eagle photos and videos.

The Bald Eagle's recovery is an American success story. Forty years ago, the bald eagle, our national symbol, was in danger of extinction throughout most of its range. Habitat destruction and degradation, illegal shooting, and the contamination of its food source, due to use of the pesticide DDT, decimated the eagle population. Habitat protection afforded by the Endangered Species Act, the federal government’s banning of DDT, and conservation actions taken by the American public helped Bald Eagles make a remarkable recovery. Bald eagles no longer need Endangered Species Act protection because their population is protected, healthy, and growing.  You can find them throughout most of North American and they can be observed and awed by the public.

With Doc Ellen we discuss, what got her into photojournalism, patterns she sees in Bald Eagles through her work, prescribed burning, proper etiquette to observe eagles and what this work means to her.

Contact and connect with Doc Ellen:

https://www.facebook.com/docellen/

https://docellentinsley.smugmug.com

[email protected]

http://community-sports-news.com/who-is-doc-ellen/

Prescribed Burning: https://www.nps.gov/articles/what-is-a-prescribed-fire.htm https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/prescribed-fire

Eagle Etiquette: https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/viewing.html https://www.nationaleaglecenter.org/eagle-viewing/

Bald Eagle history: https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/history/index.html

Laura Olah is Executive Director of Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger. The mission of the group is to support, unify and strengthen citizens concerned for the safety of water resources in and around the Badger Army Ammunition Plant; to effect expedient cleanup of any contamination caused by negligent handling of toxic waste; and to exercise means as necessary to guarantee water resources are totally free of toxic contamination for us and the generations to follow.

Virtually every day, the Department of Defense and its contractors burn and detonate unused munitions and raw explosives in the open air with no environmental emissions controls, often releasing toxins near water sources and schools. The facilities operate under legal permits, but their potentially harmful effects for human health aren’t well researched, and EPA records obtained by ProPublica show that these sites have violated their hazardous waste permits thousands of times.

Most active sites, which currently burn or detonate waste into open air, are run by the military and its contractors, according to the EPA and the Pentagon. The Radford Army Ammunition Plant in Virginia, for example, supplies explosives for almost every American bullet fired overseas and is allowed to burn up to 2.9 million pounds of waste every year.

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger’s challenge is to assure that the Pentagon fulfills its commitment to the complete cleanup of toxins that have placed ecological and human health at risk – has been no small task.

With Laura we discuss the negatives of open air burning, PFAS and alternatives, actions they’ve taken on a local, state, and federal level, other communities who are polluting through open air burning

Contact and connect with Laura: [email protected]

Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger: https://cswab.org/

Open air burning: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/how-burn-pits-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-may-have-put-veterans-at-risk/#x

https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/burn-sites

Bio accumulation of PFAS: https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_Report.cfm?dirEntryId=349938&Lab=CCTE https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0269749106006038

Alternatives - supercritical water oxidation: https://www.waterworld.com/environmental/article/16204253/supercritical-water-oxidation-presented-as-alternative-to-incineration https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128104996000103

EPA rules to open air burning: https://www.epa.gov/burnwise/backyard-recreational-fires https://www.epa.gov/hwpermitting/list-example-hazardous-waste-permits-open-burning-and-open-detonation

Jane Williams is Executive Director with California Communities Against Toxics who are inspiring and building a sustainable, healthy, and just future for the East Bay, California, and beyond.

We discuss California’s economy in relation to polluting industries and their GDP last year was $3.2T, representing 14.6% of the total U.S. economy. California's economy is so big that if it were a country, it would be the 5th largest economy in the world, more productive than India and the United Kingdom.

Hexavalent Chromium compounds are common in California and are given off by industry. They have been shown to cause lung cancer in humans when inhaled. The Report on Carcinogens lists hexavalent chromium compounds as known human carcinogens. Studies have consistently shown increased lung cancer rates in workers who were exposed to high levels of chromium in workroom air.

We also talk about new laws in place with California, set to ban all heavy diesel trucks and vans by 2045. And these heavy-duty trucks are responsible for 70% of vehicle air pollution in the state.

With Jane, we discuss California’s economy, what kind of toxins that are common in California, new laws coming in place, and how you can support this work. 

Contact and connect with Jane: [email protected]

California Communities Against Toxics: https://ecologycenter.org/directory/directory-entries/california-communities-against-toxics-ccat/

Heavy Duty truck ban: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/06/california-set-to-ban-all-heavy-diesel-trucks-and-vans-by-2045/

Prop 65: https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65

CEASE fire campaign: https://cswab.org/cease-fire-campaign/about-the-campaign/

Charles Utley is Associate Director of BREDL. The Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, also known as Plant Vogtle is a two-unit nuclear power plant located in Burke County, near Waynesboro, Georgia.

Southern Nuclear Company of Georgia, who owns Plant Vogtle wants to build additional nuclear power plants near Waynesboro, GA. This would increase the negative health impacts on nearby residents and increase the cost of electric power.

In Burke County, Georgia, environmental samples contained tritium, cesium-137, strontium-90, plutonium, iodine 129, cobalt-60, according to a recent report by Georgia WAND on “Community Impacts at the Crossroads of Nuclear and Climate Injustices in the U.S. South.”

Of each of these radioactive isotopes, tritium is the element contributing the highest levels of contamination, showing up in air, rain, groundwater, river water, drinking water, fish, milk, crops, leafy vegetation, and deer.

All nuclear power plants routinely release doses of tritium, which can cause birth defects and cancer. Cancer rates rose sharply for all cancers in Burke County while U.S. rates have declined.

CNN television news also aired a report from Shell Bluff in Burke County, discussing how cancer rates in that area are 51 percent higher than the national average.

With Charles we discuss the work he’s done surrounding Plant Vogtle, what’s happening now with the plant and in the future, how they pay for and fund the plant, and what they’re future plans are.

Contact and connect with Charles: [email protected]

More on Plant Vogtle: http://www.bredl.org/nuclear/Vogtle.htm

Health Impacts of living near a nuclear site: https://gawand.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/GA-WAND_Climate_Nuclear_Report_Dec_2017.pdf

https://georgiawatch.org/health-environmental-harms-ignored-at-plant-vogtle-vcm-18-hearings/