Crews work to restore Waterfall fire area

With the choke of a drill’s carburetor and a whiff of gas, the workers on a south facing slope in Ash Canyon went to work–digging, boring holes and planting.

“Yeah, you know it’s a nice day when you do this for a living and there’s no place you’d rather be,” said Nevada Department of Forestry Fire Captain Joe Fording, who this week and next will help supervise more than two dozen crewmembers slated to plant some 7,500 Jeffrey pine seedlings on 40-plus scarred acres ravaged by the Waterfall fire in July 2004.

Read the complete story at the Nevada Appeal.

Forest Service awards $250,000 grant to Nevada Division of Forestry to support biomass supply

CARSON CITY, Nev–The U.S. Forest Service recently awarded a $250,000 grant to the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) to purchase biomass collection and removal equipment. Up to 6,000 tons of biomass could be removed from fuels treatments on the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, Bureau of Land Management, state, tribal and private lands.

“We, the Forest Service, fully understand the challenges of delivering affordable biomass due to the rising fuels costs incurred to collect and haul the biomass,” said Ed Monnig, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Supervisor. “NDF’s proposal was an innovative and collaborative interagency solution to decrease overall biomass supply costs,” stated Monnig. The Forest Service supports biomass use as a fuels treatment when it can be done economically, efficiently and effectively.

Grant purchases will include a truck, four roll-off containers and a trailer. Biomass collection could begin as soon as September at selected fuels reduction project sites. Biomass, or “waste wood” lacks the higher traditional wood product value of dimensional lumber. This waste wood will be chipped directly into the roll-off containers and transported via trailer.

“This grant provides a cost-effective way to remove biomass from small-scale forestry operations that are having difficulty disposing of biomass,” said Pete Anderson, Nevada’s State Forester and Firewarden. “It’s essentially a double benefit—biomass can be more effectively moved off site to ultimately help fuel the Northern Nevada Correctional Center’s power plant.” Biomass can be burned completely and more efficiently under the controlled environment of a biomass fueled boiler, increasing overall air quality in the region.

Mercury regulations producing results: State shuts down ore roasters at mine

CARSON CITY, Nev.–State regulations, enacted in 2006 that require mercury emissions controls to reduce the amount of mercury emitted into the air from precious metal mines, are producing some early positive results, according to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP).

In an update on recent activities, NDEP Administrator Leo Drozdoff today announced that the Mercury Air Emissions Control Program has resulted in recent proactive actions by two mining companies to reduce mercury emissions, as well as an enforcement action against one company.

He applauded two companies for their early installation of new and improved mercury emissions control equipment in accordance with the incentive portion of the regulations.
Goldcorp and Round Mountain Gold Corp. have installed deep-bed sulfur-impregnated carbon filters on mercury emitting units at their Marigold and Smokey Valley mines respectively.

Preliminary test results reported by Goldcorp show a dramatic reduction in annual mercury air emissions from those units at its Marigold Mine, from 893 pounds in 2006 to less than one pound in 2007. Round Mountain will report its results soon. By taking the risk of installing new technology before their Nevada Maximum Achievable Control Technology (NvMACT) requirements have been determined, the companies will each earn an Early Reduction Credit (ERC). An ERC gives a company two extra years to modify or replace its mercury emissions control equipment, should NDEP determine that the technology they’ve installed does not meet the yet-to-be-established NvMACT requirements.

Ely Energy Center power plant public hearing set for Jan. 9

CARSON CITY, Nev.–The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP), Bureau of Air Pollution Control, will hold a public hearing Wednesday, Jan. 9, in Ely, Nevada, on its technical evaluation of the permit application submitted by Sierra Pacific Resources for its Ely Energy Center coal-fired power plant, proposed for construction in eastern Nevada.

The hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Bristlecone Convention Center, Bristlecone Room, 150 Sixth St., in Ely.

Members of the public are invited to comment on NDEP’s technical evaluation of the company’s air pollution control permit application for the proposed power plant and whether it meets all existing state and federal clean air standards. The draft air pollution control permit for the plant has been out for public comment since Nov. 7, 2007.