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Bottle Bill Petition Drive Coalition UpdateThank you to all the volunteers who helped gather signatures, and to all those who signed the petition to put the Updated Bottle Bill on the ballot. Together the many partners in this coalition gathered over 130,000 signatures including signatures from every municipality in the state! In the past few days, the certified signatures have started coming back from town clerks all across the state, from Edgartown to Pittsfield, from Rockport to Springfield. Once all the signatures have been certified and returned to the MASSPIRG office, we are going to submit them to the Secretary of State. So get out your calendar and save the date: the Campaign to Update the Bottle Bill will meet on the steps of One Ashburton Place at 11 A.M on Tuesday, December 3rd, before walking over to the statehouse to deliver the signatures. You have all worked hard for this day, and deserve to be here for this event. Please RSVP to the coalition coordinators here. Thank you again to all the western Massachusetts volunteers who gathered hundreds of signatures! I (Jane Winn) appreciate all your hard work, and so does the entire coalition! Thank you!
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What will Climate Change Mean for Wildlife in the North?On December 5th, come to a presentation by acclaimed presenter and wildlife tracker, Susan Morse, to learn more about how climate change is affecting wildlife in the far north. There will also be an opportunity to sign up to become a Berkshire Wildlife Tracker! Susan Morse of Keeping Track® will present: Animals of the North: What Will Global Climate Change Mean for Them? on Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 6:30 pm in the Paterson Field House at Berkshire Community College, 1350 West St., Pittsfield, MA. Tickets are $5.00 at the door – students with ID free. Canada lynx, moose, American marten, caribou, polar bears, arctic fox and arctic marine and waterfowl ecology are some of the species and subjects covered in this stunningly beautiful show. This program is not about climate change itself, or even how it will affect us; rather, it’s designed to inform audiences about ways in which northern wildlife species are already being affected – and the serious challenges they will face in the future. We promise not to overwhelm you with bad news. Instead, this program will devote equal time sharing remarkable images of animals and their northern habitats—all in the spirit of Jane Goodall’s “reason for hope.”. The intent is to inspire young and old alike, to join us in the vital crusade to change our fossil fuel-burning ways, conserve natural resources, and share a healthy planet with all that lives. After the presentation Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) is offering the opportunity for eighteen people who want to get out doors, have fun, and work hard to protect our wildlands by joining the Berkshire Wildlife Trackers program. Participants sign on for six full-day training workshops in the field plus two classroom sessions spread over one year. During the training, the following issues are addressed: detection and interpretation of tracks and sign of agreed upon focal species for your region (bear, moose, bobcat, fisher, mink, and otter), conservation biology as it relates to data collection and resulting land protection, forest ecology and plant identification as they relate to mammal uses of habitat, ‘search imaging’ – Sue Morse’s technique for predictably looking in the right places and finding sign, and an introduction to science-based field studies. The Keeping Track Project and Data Management Protocol is distributed to all trackers, to serve as the manual for developing a monitoring program and provide standards for data collection. “By engaging people in monitoring their local wildlife, Morse turns the notoriously abstract issues of biodiversity and habitat fragmentation into an earthy, firsthand relationship with wild animals on their home turf” says Audubon magazine. The presentation is sponsored by Berkshire Community College Green Team, MCLA Department of Environmental Studies, Bard College at Simon’s Rock Sustainability Studies, Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT), Berkshire Wildlife Trackers, Project Native, Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation, Housatonic Valley Association, The Nature Conservancy, The Trustees of Reservations, Green Berkshires, Greenagers, the Climate Reality Project, the Taconic Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and Berkshire County League of Sportsmen. For more information contact Jane Winn at Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) – jane@thebeatnews.org, 413-230-7321.
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New England States Charge Ahead on Electric Vehicles with New Memorandum of Understandingby Jenny Rushlow of the Conservation Law Foundation This past month, eight states, including Massachusetts, announced a landmark initiative to collectively put 3.3 million electric vehicles on the road by 2025 and develop fueling infrastructure to support them. The governors of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Connecticut joined California, New York, Maryland, and Oregon in signing a Memorandum of Understanding to ensure successful implementation of their states’ Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) programs.
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Interactive Forest Change MapHere is a very interesting interactive map of forest change. You have to zoom in pretty far in our area to start seeing all the patches of forest lost.
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Chemical Company Failed to Disclose Public Health Risks, Judge Rules in Favor of EPAfrom US Environmental Protection Agency
In an administrative decision issued earlier this week, Elementis Chromium, Inc., one of the largest manufacturers of chromium chemicals in the world, was ordered to pay a penalty of $2,571,800 for failing to disclose information about substantial risk of injury to human health from exposure to hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen, on workers in modern chemical production plants, as required by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
“Our job is to protect all Americans from exposure to harmful chemicals at home, at work and in their daily lives,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This decision supports our commitment to public health and reinforces the importance of companies providing key information about the risks their chemicals pose.”
TSCA requires chemical manufacturers, processors, or distributors that obtain information demonstrating that a substance or mixture presents a substantial risk of injury to human health or the environment immediately inform the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This information allows EPA to understand and limit, when necessary, potential hazards associated with the manufacturing, use, and disposal of chemical substances.
In September 2010, EPA filed a complaint against Elementis with the Office of Administrative Law Judges, alleging TSCA violations for failing to report the results of an industry-commissioned study that documented significant occupational impacts to workers in modern chemical plants. According to EPA, the study filled a gap in scientific literature regarding the relationship between hexavalent chromium exposure and respiratory cancer in modern chromium production facilities. Chief Administrative Law Judge Susan Biro held an administrative hearing in December 2011, where both sides presented expert witnesses and additional evidence. On November 12, 2013, Judge Biro issued a decision and assessed a penalty, concluding that Elementis had violated TSCA.
This decision will become a final order 45 days following issuance unless the company chooses to appeal the decision to EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board.
Elementis, which is based in East Windsor, N.J., is a global specialty chemical company with operations worldwide. Elementis has been manufacturing and distributing chromium-based chemical substances and mixtures for more than 35 years and has two main manufacturing plants in Castle Hayne, N.C., and Corpus Christi, Texas.
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Introducing the Bread Loaf Orion Environmental Writers’ ConferenceInterested in crafting literary writing about the environment and the natural world? Hone your skills at the inaugural Bread Loaf Orion Environmental Writers’ Conference, co-sponsored by the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Orion magazine, and Middlebury College’s Environmental Studies Program. The Bread Loaf Orion Environmental Writers’ Conference takes place June 9-15, 2014. Click here for all the details. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, so apply early! Bread Loaf Orion Environmental Writers’ Conference
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EPA to Address Oceans’ Toxic Trashfrom the Center for Biological Diversity The scourge of plastic litter in our oceans is finally getting attention from federal regulators. After a groundbreaking petition by the Center for Biological Diversity last year, the EPA has just announced it will take new steps to cut plastic pollution, improve monitoring, and conduct a scientific review of the human-health effects of eating plastic- and pollution-filled fish. Billions of pounds of plastic are found in giant, swirling ocean convergences around the world, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, twice the size of Texas. In the Los Angeles area alone, 20 tons of plastic fragments — like from grocery bags, straws and soda bottles — are carried into the Pacific Ocean each day. “Every year bits of discarded plastic kill thousands of seabirds, sea turtles, seals and other marine mammals,” said Emily Jeffers, a Center oceans attorney. “Some choke on plastic, and others are poisoned by it. Still more find themselves swimming through vast patches of toxic litter. It’s an international tragedy that needs to be addressed.” Read more in the Summit County Citizens Voice. |