Executive Director, Hoosic River Watershed Association

The Hoosic River Watershed Association (HooRWA, http://www.hoorwa.org) seeks an Executive Director (20 hours per week).  HooRWA, a non-profit organization based in Williamstown, MA, champions restoration, conservation and enjoyment of the watershed through education, research, and advocacy. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the ED is responsible for ensuring that the goals of the association are met and maintaining a financially viable organization. 

The primary responsibilities include determining organizational priorities in consultation with the Board; developing educational, advocacy and research programs; coordinating events, writing grant proposals; preparing newsletters; coordinating annual membership / fundraising campaigns; supervising HooRWA staff and volunteers; acting as spokesperson for the organization and performing administrative tasks.  A full job description and other information can be found at hoorwa.org.

The successful candidate will be familiar with watershed issues, able to work independently, and have excellent communication skills. A demonstrated interest in environmental or community related issues through educational background and/or work experience is preferred.  Familiarity with MS Word, Access, Quickbooks, and Dream Weaver a plus.

As a part-time job, this position does not provide benefits.

HooRWA is an equal opportunity employer.

Please send cover letter and resume to:  
John Case
President, HooRWA
1739 Green River Road
Williamstown , MA 01267
413-458-8023 
Or jocase@adelphia.net

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The WaterSense? program announces an exciting new set of educational materials for kids and teachers

A Day in the Life of a Drop teaches students about the connections between the sources of the water they use and how that use affects human health and the environment. These fun learning materials include a teachers? guide, two student worksheets, a spreadsheet to track water use at home, and a pledge for students and their families to ?filter out bad water habits.? The new curriculum can be found on EPA?s Web site at www.epa.gov/watersense/water/drop.htm.

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Four Ways to Reduce E-Waste from Co-op America

Imagine 20 million televisions pitched into a landfill.  It's an e-waste nightmare, right?

Especially when you consider that a single cathode-ray tube television can contain hundreds of highly toxic chemicals, including mercury, brominated-flame-retardants, and PVC plastics, as well as  up to eight pounds of lead. 

That's why, in our fall 2007 Co-op America Quarterly ("Getting to Zero Waste"), we invited our readers to write to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), urging them to get serious about combating e-waste.  It's the FCC that has mandated that all television broadcasters switch to digital in February 2009, rendering millions of old televisions obsolete. 

We're still working to convince the FCC and television manufacturers to take responsibility for recycling the components of their products.  You can take our action now to send an e-mail to the FCC about your e-waste concerns. 

Take action now »

While we wait for the FCC and manufacturers to take action, we've also taken matters into our own hands, and put together a short list of steps that you as a consumer can take to minimize the impact of the digital switch. 

1. Check your television. – Many TVs made after 2003 were equipped with digital tuners.  Look for a label that says "Integrated Digital Tuner," "Integrated Digital Receiver," "Digital Receiver Built-in," or "Digital Receiver Built-in."  If you have a digital tuner already, you're all set.
   
2. Use a converter box. – If you don't have a digital tuner, a set-top converter box can still keep your TV from becoming e-waste.  Each household is eligible to receive two vouchers, valued at $40 each, to use toward purchase of a converter.  Check out www.dtv.gov for more information.
   
3. Recycle your television – If you must purchase a new television, make sure your old one isn't simply carted to a landfill.  The Basel Action Network provides a list of recyclers who have pledged not to export hazardous e-waste.  Also, Sony is offering a free take-back program for all Sony electronics in the US.
   
4. Speak out about the e-waste nightmare -- Finally, take our action to tell the FCC that you're concerned about the coming deluge of e-waste that may be triggered by the digital switch.  Tell the FCC to require manufacturers to follow Sony's lead and take responsibility for their products throughout their entire life cycles. 

BONUS ENERGY-SAVING STEPS:  If you must purchase a new television, look for an LCD (liquid crystal display) model, marked with the Energy Star label.  LCDs use six times less energy than plasma screen models.  You can cut your energy use further by unplugging your TV (and its attached appliances) when you're not watching it; this prevents your electronics from consuming electricity even while not in use.

Please forward this e-mail to all your friends and family.  We need as many people as possible to understand how to reduce the impact of the digital switch, and we need a groundswell of pressure on the FCC and the electronics companies to manage the e-waste problem better.   Send an e-mail to the FCC today and visit our Responsible Shopper.org to find contact information for major electronics manufacturers, and links to the TV TakeBack campaign.

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The Berkshire Eagle

Time to toss toxic trash

By Benning W. De La Mater, Berkshire Eagle Staff
July 13, 2008

LEE — Tucked away on basement shelves and inside garage storage cabinets sit half-used cans of paint, wood stains and industrial cleaners.

These chemicals can corrode a fine piece of metal, catch fire and irritate skin, so imagine what they could do if they were to seep into the ground or leak into a water source.

Years ago, that's what happened. But yesterday, more than 150 residents in South County rounded up their hazardous materials and turned them in.

The Southern Berkshire Regional Household Hazardous Waste Program collected tons of materials from residents across the 15-town district.

Jamie Cahillane, director of recycling services for the Center for Ecological Technology, the organization which spearheaded the event, said if collections like yesterday's weren't held, the chemicals would end up in the soil.

"If they aren't collected, they end up in a landfill or seep into a lake," he said.

When homeowners pour these chemicals down their sink, they can contaminate septic systems or wastewater treatment plants. If they end up in the trash, workers can be injured, and the effects on the environment can be devastating.

Residents yesterday turned in oil-based paints, stains, cleaners, old appliances, products containing mercury, computers and television sets.

Holly and Dick Stover, of Richmond, filled up the back of their car with mercury-laced thermometers, florescent light bulbs, paint cans, ant killer and rat poison. Some of it had been sitting around their house for more than 50 years.

"Some of this stuff was my dad's," said Holly Stover, 70. "And he's been gone for 30 years. A lot of it was laced with arsenic."

She said it's easy for a basement to accumulate leftover paint and cleaners.

"You paint, and you think you'll need the leftovers to touch up, but you never use it," she said. "But people are much more aware of the environment today. We have to change our habits."

Chemicals were collected by Clean Harbors Environmental Services from Norwell, which will incinerate the harmful substances. Computers and television sets (a $10 disposal charge) were collected by Good Point Recycling from Middlebury, Vt.

Employee Matt Swan said the company will test all of the equipment to determine what can be saved.

"The good stuff will be resold," he said. "The bad ones will have their parts removed and will be recycled. As much as can be saved, we'll use."

Cahillane said latex paint is not a hazardous material. If homeowners have leftovers, he suggests to dry out the contents of the cans and dispose of it in the trash.

Save the dates ...
The Center for Ecological Technology holds a number of hazardous household materials collections throughout the year.

  The next one (just chemicals) is Wednesday, July 30, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., at the Lenox Department of Public Works.

  The next comprehensive collection (chemicals and electronics) is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., in Great Barrington at the transfer station on Route 7 near Monument Mountain High School.

  Information: www.cetonline.org.

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The Berkshire Eagle

GE buys former Fox River dam

By Ellen G. Lahr, Berkshire Eagle Staff
July 13, 2008

GREAT BARRINGTON — General Electric has acquired a dam formerly owned by Fox River Paper Co. in a $300,010 deal, according to documents filed with the Southern Berkshire Registry of Deeds.

The transaction means that GE, which is responsible for PCB pollution found upstream of the dam in so-called Rising Pond, assumes responsibility for the dam's operation and safety. GE's ownership frees the mill's owner and future owners from potential liability in the event of a dam malfunction.

The Fox River Paper Co. mill, which was acquired in March 2007 by Neenah Paper of Georgia, is now said to be under contract to be sold to a Holyoke company, Hazen Paper; GE's legal ownership of the dam could be a step toward completion of that deal.

Late last year, Neenah Paper applied to the town for permission to sever the dam from the property the land adjacent to it, which cleared the way for GE to take over the property.

As part of its deal to clean up or contain PCBs — polychlorinated biphenyls — on the Housatonic River south of Pittsfield, GE had already assumed legal control over the dam site.

But GE's control was a complicating factor in a developer's earlier plan, in late 2007, to acquire the historic mill property for $4.5 million. The developers had sought to include the dam's hydropower capabilities as a selling point for investors.

That deal eventually collapsed.

Calls to a GE spokesman were not returned, nor was a call to a spokesman for Neenah Paper, in Alpharetta, Ga.

The old Rising Mill, as it was known during its long operation as the Rising Paper Co., was operational until last year, when Neenah Paper acquired Fox River Paper Co.

Neenah, a Fox competitor, shut down the mill last year, and 137 jobs were lost.

Neenah has been attempting to sell the property since, but the terms of the reported deal with Hazen have not been disclosed.

The historic 150-year-old brick mill property includes more than 300,000 square feet of industrial space and accompanying riverfront acreage.

The acquisition includes an easement agreement allowing GE or its representatives to have access through the mill property to the dam and any buildings or equipment related to the dam's operation. Easement access is allowed on both the east and west sides of the river.

GE agreed to limit its routine dam-related work, inspections and other activity to the hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., with unlimited access during emergencies.

The terms of the agreement call for Hazen Paper to honor the easement and other details of the contract, if Hazen buys the mill property.

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The Boston Globe

A 'ditch' runs through it
Some critics wonder whether the cleanup of the Housatonic River is doing more harm than good

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff
July 14, 2008

PITTSFIELD - Everyone agrees that the Housatonic River needs to be scrubbed clean: So many toxic chemicals were dumped into the 150-mile-long waterway that it has become one of the nation's filthiest.

But many in the region are recoiling from the restoration of the first 2 miles. Sloping river banks were lined with a wall of gray rocks to prevent erosion of polluted soil. Mature, leafy trees were cut down to make room for excavation equipment. Contaminated river sediment was dug out and hauled to landfills, prompting concerns the problem was simply moved somewhere else.

"They turned a free-flowing river into an industrial ditch," said George Wislocki, founder of the Berkshire Natural Resources Council.

Now as General Electric, the river's polluter, proposes to use many of the same methods to scrub and contain large portions of the next 10 miles, state officials and environmentalists are warning of the damage that may be done to a Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary and state wildlife lands in the name of saving the river. Although the Housatonic is dirty, its banks and floodplain host key habitats for dozens of threatened plants and animals, ones that could be destroyed by excavation and the armoring of the river.

River advocates want less-tried, but potentially gentler methods used, and a flexible plan that could change as technologies improve to clean pollutants on-site, avoiding massive dredging or excavating. Such a plan, they say, might help pilot technologies that could be used elsewhere in the country for other cleanups.

"Let's not rush this," said Wislocki.

Yet officials with the US Environmental Protection Agency say the river needs to be cleaned as quickly as possible because of the extreme danger it poses to humans and wildlife. Agency officials say they are open to new cleansing technologies, but so far those available are unproven, especially on the scale needed for the Housatonic, or do not scrub enough of the contaminants out of the river sediment.

Last month, Ian Bowles, the state secretary of energy and environmental affairs, expressed reservations about the company's proposed cleanup methods. EPA says it also has numerous concerns about GE's proposal. The federal agency will submit comments to the company in coming months and then open the company's revised proposal to public comment before making a final decision next year.

The Housatonic's legacy of pollution stretches back decades. General Electric operated a 254-acre transformer manufacturing plant on its Pittsfield banks for almost 50 years through the 1970s. For much of that time, the site leaked polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) - a probable human carcinogen. Cleanup officials have found PCBs in river sediment and even buried in hundreds of drums around the city.

Today, signs are posted along the river warning people not to eat the fish. The river's reputation permeates the city - a small boy on a bicycle passing the cleanup recently yelled, "It's a nice polluted river, isn't it?" as he sped past.

When the original cleanup began, residents and environmentalists were happy to see that one of the most polluted parts of the river would be cleaned and restored. GE, which says it has spent $400 million so far, literally halved the river by driving cast iron sheets into the sediment, draining one half before excavating contaminated material. The material was taken to landfills and the riverbed and banks lined with rocks to prevent remaining PCBs from getting into the water. Then, the process was repeated on the other side.

Residents and environmentalists - many of whom expected a natural-looking river after the cleanup - think it looks terrible.

"Remediation can be messy; no one is walking away from that reality," said EPA Housatonic River project manager Susan Svirsky. She said the banks needed to be heavily armored near homes so land wouldn't erode - a tactic that may not be needed for the next section, where more natural methods could stabilize river banks.

Svirsky said EPA has searched for alternative technologies that could replace excavation of river sediment - and has found none that work well enough.

Although some scientists and businesses have touted using naturally occurring bacteria to eat PCBs in the river, for example, EPA found nothing that could break through the strong chlorine bonds in the Housatonic toxins.

Still, Svirsky said EPA is examining a more proven chemical extraction technology, along with a process called thermal desorption, which burns PCBs out of sediment and then captures them. Yet both are expensive, she said, and can render the sediment sterile, meaning that nothing will grow in it.

"EPA would love to have innovative (technology) . . . however there is no such technology out there now," Svirsky said.

Not everyone agrees. Benno Friedman of the Housatonic River Initiative says there are promising technologies that the EPA has not fully explored. Some of those his group and others have researched include injecting earthworm enzymes to break down the contaminants and capping the river bottom with substances that bind up toxins so they can't be eaten by fish and other animals.

"We're baffled that there seems to be an institutional bias against exploring the full-range of promising technologies," said Friedman.

GE officials say they did explore alternative technologies, but none exist that would get the river clean enough.

"If those [technologies] worked at the scale of this kind . . . GE would be the first in line to get them in use," said Peter O'Toole, director of public affairs. "We've invested a lot of money and man-hours getting the best experts looking how the river could be best remediated. But to get to the levels that are required at the cost that makes the project feasible," the company has not found anything, he said.

At Canoe Meadows, the serene Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary in Pittsfield that the Housatonic flows through, a thriving ecosystem surrounds the filthy water. Scores of birds sang one recent warm afternoon.

As Kathy Sferra, director of stewardship for Massachusetts Audubon, walked down a grassy path, she said the cleanup could alter the 262-acre parcel so much that the floodplain habitat could be lost forever. GE, she said, has not satisfactorily explained how it will restore habitat after it is torn up during excavation.

"All of us have this lead knife in the stomach because this place is going to look so different," under GE's proposal, she said. "We're saying let's go slow, let's watch and see what we learn. The river deserves that."

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The Massachusetts House of Representatives adjourns on July 31st.
The Safer Alternatives Bill has not yet been brought for a vote.
(from Clean Water Action)

Call your State Representative now!!

The Safer Alternatives bill will create a program to replace toxic chemicals with Safer Alternatives wherever feasible. We need this new law to protect our health! We can have safer products, homes and workplaces!

The bill has passed the Senate, but must pass the House before July 31st to become law this year. Chemical industry opposition is strong, but your opinions matters (especially in an election year!)

Please call your State Representative today with the following message:

"Please ask Speaker DiMasi to bring the Safer Alternatives Bill (S-2481) to a vote before the session ends on July 31st! Please call me back and tell me whether the Representative will do this."

House Switchboard: 617-722-2000. Or look up your Rep's phone number.

It's important to call even if you have called or written before! All of our previous postcards and phone calls have drastically increased support for the bill, but people and groups are pushing for many other bills in this last two weeks and we need to be heard!

After you call:

1. Forward this action to everyone you know in Massachusetts to help generate even more calls to the State House.
2. Email esaunders@cleanwater.org to let us know that you called and share any information that you learned.

About the Safer Alternatives Bill

The Safer Alternatives Bill (S-2481 - An Act to Promote Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals), sponsored by Representative Jay Kaufman and Senator Steven Tolman, will establish a pragmatic, gradual approach to reducing health impacts from many toxic chemicals we are exposed to in everyday life. This approach targets the worst toxic chemicals in Massachusetts-chemicals that are currently replaceable with safer alternatives for many uses. The bill mandates a careful process to evaluate alternatives and replace toxic chemicals with safer alternatives where feasible. It also stimulates research and development on new technologies and solutions when a safer option is not currently workable. For workers and businesses, it proposes programs to assist in the transition, funded through a fee on toxic chemicals. It was passed unanimously by the Senate on January 29th. It is currently before the House Committee on Ways and Means.

There are powerful and well funded industry groups lobbying hard to prevent this bill from passing. Your voice is our power to counteract those messages. The Clean Water Action, working with the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow coalition, will be refuting their arguments with facts, but your communication will be key to us winning the support of all Representatives.

For more information and for more ways to take action visit the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow web site.

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New publication - Wildlife Roadkill Identification Guide

A new publication has just been put on the Internet.  It is called the "Wildlife Roadkill Identification Guide".  The guide was developed to help those who handle the wild animals found on highways in British Columbia prepare more accurate reports.  However, BEAT believes that it would be helpful to wildlife habitat monitors in Massachusetts as well.

The guide is located at http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/publications/eng_publications/environment/WRIG_report.htm

The guide is believed to be the first of its kind developed by a transportation agency in North America, following in the footsteps of the Dutch book "Dieren Op En Langs De Weg" written by J.G. de Vries in 1995. 

Although the guide hasn't been out long, the author is working on the next edition.  He wants to add some additional species and increase the amount of identification material.  If you have any suggestions or comments to make the guide better, please contact him using the information below.

According to the author, the hardest part is finding good quality wildlife photos. 

Leonard Sielecki
Environmental Issues Analyst
Engineering Branch
British Columbia Ministry of Transportation
4B - 940 Blanshard Street
PO Box 9850 STN PROV GOVT
Victoria  BC V8W 9T5 Canada 
Phone: 250/356-2255 / Fax: 250/387-7735
Email: leonard.sielecki@gov.bc.ca

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Legislative Updates-Action Alerts from Environmental League of Massachusetts

With less than two weeks before the end of the formal legislative session, it's now or never for several critical pieces of legislation. 
Please take action and forward information to your organization's members and urge them to take action as well.

Environmental Bond Bill

We had hoped for action this week on the bond but no action has been taken to date. (see article above)

Global Warming Solutions Act

This bill is still pending before the House Ways and Means Committee. The Senate has already passed this critical legislation and we need to get the House to take action now. Please contact your representatives and tell them to support the Global Warming Solutions Act and ask Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi to bring the bill (S. 534) to a vote. This legislation will set specific targets for greenhouse gas reductions that will cover all emission sources.   

Public Lands Preservation Act

This legislation would put into statute the state's policy of no net loss of protected open space. This bill has been introduced in several previous sessions, but with some concerted effort on the part of a number of individuals, this session we've seen the most support and activity ever. With Senator Resor leaving the legislature next year, we will be losing our most vocal champion so we need to make one last push to get this enacted now.  Rep. Ruth Balser, Rep. Frank Smizik and Rep. Alice Wolf have sent a letter signed by 23 of their House colleagues urging Speaker DiMasi and House Ways and Means Chairman DeLeo to support the bill and bring it to a vote.  When contacting your representative on both or either of the bills above, please also mention this bill, S. 2388.

FY '09 Operating Budget

The legislature sent its budget to Governor Patrick on July 3rd. He returned it with approximately $2.9 million in vetoes to EOEEA's budget. Most of the vetoes were earmarks for specific projects or programs and the legislature must vote before the end of the session to overturn these vetoes. Of most concern was a veto of the $100,000 allocated to develop Resource Management Plans for DCR properties. We will be contacting legislators to ask them to take up and overturn this veto.
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