The BEAT News

June 8, 2011

In the News

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Environmental Monitor
Public Notices Alphabetically by town
The BEAT News Archives

Advocacy News (Includes how to reach your legislators)

DEP Enforcement Actions In The Berkshire

Please send items of interest to kristen@thebeatnews.org
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Stop the Proposed Hot Mix Asphalt Plant

Here is in update from the No Asphalt! Defense Fund working to Stop the Proposed Hot Mix Asphalt in Sheffield, MA and Canaan, CT:

We have intervened in the MassDEP permitting process!

NADF (No Asphalt! Defense Fund) submitted its attorney letter and noise assessment expert report to MassDEP last Friday, May 27, 2011.  

Now we need your help! 

Now is the time to write to MassDEP and tell Marc Simpson, Air Permitting Chief, why he should not grant Century Acquisitions an HMA permit, or a rock crushing permit until it is cleaned up (see sample letter below).  Be sure to add your own concerns, in as much detail as you wish, and send a copy of your letter to Governor Patrick.

Lawn signs
Are available by emailing pghitman@aol.com

Donations 
We have met both challenge grants, and are already half way to our goal of $30,000!  Please consider sending a check today to:  NADF, P. O. Box 7, Sheffield, MA 01257.

Website 
Our website is now up and running, just go to www.stopthehmaplant.com.  This is our introductory page, and we will add to the website over the coming months.

Sample letter
[Date]

[Your address]

Marc Simpson, Air Quality Permit Chief
MassDEP Western Regional Office, Bureau of Waste Prevention
436 Dwight Street,
Springfield, MA 01103

Dear Mr. Simpson:

I am writing to ask you to deny Century Acquisitions’ pending permit application for its existing rock crushing operation and its proposed hot mix asphalt (HMA) operation at the Ashley Falls (Sheffield) location. 

Century has not been a good corporate citizen:

  • The nearest neighborhood has been overwhelmed by dust and noise from CA’s operations, often to the point that citizens are scared to send their children out to play.
  • CA has not remedied this unlivable situation for over 3 years despite repeated requests. 
  • CA has conducted surface mining, including in areas near neighboring properties where mining is not supposed to occur.
  • CA has damaged more than 6 acres of Konkapot River bank and wetlands and more than 2 acres of other wetlands.
  • CA has operated rock crushing and concrete batch operations for over 10 years without required permits.

In applying the relevant Massachusetts guidelines when you consider this application, please bear in mind that these operations are in a quiet, rural residential neighborhood.  Because of this, I am very concerned about the human health and quality of life issues relating to dust, noise, truck traffic, and emissions that you are reviewing.  We don’t live in an industrial zone, and we really want to keep it that way.  Please help us by denying Century’s permit for HMA, and denying their permit for rock crushing until the fugitive dust and noise problems are solved.

Sincerely,

[your signature]

Cc:  Governor Deval Patrick, State House, Office of the Governor, Room 280, Boston, MA  02133
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Bike Trail Counters Needed

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) and the Berkshire Bike Path Council (BBPC) are looking for volunteers to count trail users on the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail on Saturday, July 9, 2011 and Tuesday, July 11, 2011.

For more information contact Ellen Downes - edownes@berkshireplanning.org - (413) 442-1521, extension 23
 
BEAT note: We are sorry that these counts try to determine how often - if ever - the trail is used for transportation purposes, rather than by people driving to the trail to recreate.
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GB Challenge: Can you take 9 great hikes this summer?


This summer challenge yourself, family, and friends to a series of graduated walks and hikes aimed at helping you gain strength and endurance while enjoying some of Great Barrington’s wonderful spaces. Hike the hikes in your own time and at your own pace or join the guided hike offered for each area. Hike with a buddy, as a family, or as a team. Keep a log of your accomplishments.

The Guided Hike Series:

1.       Saturday June 4  
       9:30 AM

Lake Mansfield Conservation Forest Trails

Christine Ward, Lake Mansfield Alliance

2.      Saturday June 11 
       10:30 AM

Pfeiffer Trail at Long Pond

Dale Abrams, Great Barrington Land Conservancy

3.      Saturday June 25  9:30AM

McAllister Property Green River
Walk

Deb Phillips, Great Barrington Trails and Greenways

4.      Saturday July 9   
9:30 AM

Fountain Pond/3Mile Hill Trails

John Parker, Berkshire South
Christine Ward, GB Trails

5.      Saturday July 23rd
9:30 AM

Housatonic Village Walk: Hike To Flag Rock

Helen Kuziemko, Town of GB
Deb Phillips, GB Trails

6.      Saturday July 30
 9:30 AM

Benedict Pond/Beartown Mountain State Forest

Becky Barnes, MA DCR
Christine Ward, GB Trails

7.      Sunday August 7  
9:30 AM

Monument Mountain

Tammis Coffin, The Trustees of Reservations
Christine Ward, GB Trails

8.      Sunday August 28
9:30 AM

Appalachian Trail  Hike
PREREGISTRATION IS REQUIRED:  ch.wards@verizon.net / 413 528 1593 

Jim Pelletier, MA AT Committee
Christine Ward, GB Trails

9.      Saturday September 10  10:00AM

THE GB WALK ABOUT
Great Barrington Central Loop Trail: Connecting Lake Mansfield, neighborhood areas, River Walk and downtown in a 3.5 mile loop.

GB Trails Partners:
Dale Abrams, Christine Ward, Deb Phillips, Helen Kuziemko and more!

Go to www.gbtrails.org for a complete listing of GB Trails Partners, Great Hikes, Paddles ,  Bikes & Stewardship Events.

Please pass this on to friends and family.
Happy Trails!  
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Sketchbook Club at Bascom Lodge

Every Tuesday in June, 5:00 - 6:30PM

  Description: Sketchbook
Meeting at Bascom Lodge students and experienced sketchers alike are invited to enjoy the highland evening beauty found at the summit of Mount Greylock.

Artist -Educator, Karen Arp-Sandel offers discussion about keeping a sketchbook for recording visual observations from drawing in nature to landscape subjects. At the end of 4 weeks all participants are invited to share their sketch books with the group & community and join for dinner at the Lodge (June 28).

 Materials are simple: a small scale sketch book, your favorite drawing implement- pen, pencil or even colored pencils. Karen will demo various portable materials for easy on site sketching.

 Sketch Club will meet on Tuesdays: June 7, 14, 21 and 28 during the approach of Summer Solstice light. Rain or Shine. In the event of inclement weather, we will sketch natural objects or guide book subjects inside Bascom Lodge.

Cost (per daily session): $10.

To register email:arpsandel@fairpoint.net
Or phone: 518-781-3413


Follow us on
Description: http://www.mainstreetmail.com/engine/images/bascom/47.jpg_____________________________________________________________
www.bascomlodge.net
______________________________________________________________________

On the Summit of Mount Greylock


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McKibben to Speak for Land Conservancy 25th Anniversary

Bill McKibben
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 5:30pm
Hawthorne Valley
- 327 Route 21C, Ghent, NY 12075
Free, Suggested Donation $10, All Welcome

On Tuesday, June 21st, Bill McKibben, renowned environmental advocate, author, and educator, will give a free public lecture in honor of the Columbia Land Conservancy’s 25th Anniversary. This free celebratory event begins at 5:30 pm. Donations gladly accepted with net proceeds to support the ongoing efforts of the Columbia Land Conservancy to conserve the farmland, forests, wildlife habitat, and rural character of Columbia County. This event is being held at Hawthorne Valley, 327 County Route 21C, Ghent, NY 12075, and is co-sponsored by Hawthorne Valley Association and FarmAssist Productions in honor of Columbia Land Conservancy’s 25th Anniversary. For more information, please call 518-672-5808.

Bill McKibben is the author of a dozen books about the environment, beginning with The End of Nature in 1989, which is regarded as the first book for a general audience on climate change. He is a founder of the grassroots climate campaign 350.org, which has coordinated 15,000 rallies in 189 countries since 2009. Time Magazine called him 'the planet's best green journalist' and the Boston Globe said in 2010 that he was 'probably the country's most important environmentalist.'

Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College, Bill holds honorary degrees from a dozen colleges, including the Universities of Massachusetts and Maine, the State University of New York, and Whittier and Colgate Colleges. In 2010, he was awarded the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship and in 2011 was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a frequent contributor to various magazines including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, Outside, and Grist Magazine. He currently resides with his wife, writer Sue Halpern, and his daughter, Sophie, in Ripton, Vermont. He is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College.

McKibben will visit Columbia County in recognition of the Columbia Land Conservancy’s 25 years of service to the community. Incorporated in June of 1986, CLC has grown from a small group of concerned citizens meeting around a kitchen table into a fully staffed organization with 15 employees working throughout Columbia County. During the past quarter century, CLC has earned a national reputation for the quality and breadth of its conservation work and its organizational structure.  It is among less than 10% of land trusts nationwide to be accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission and its comprehensive strategy of land conservation includes working with landowners, municipalities, farmers, and other not-for-profits and community organizations.

Columbia County is in many ways unique among Hudson Valley communities for its extensive resources: more than 100,000 acres of good farmland, even greater contiguous forest land; rich wildlife habitat and sensitive ecosystems; water resources; exceptionally scenic landscapes.  For all that has been accomplished in its first 25 years, there remains a great deal to be done to ensure that these qualities will endure. To this end, and in recognition of its 25th Anniversary year, CLC has set forth a series of 25th Anniversary themed goals including working to increase its conserved land holdings to 25,000 acres, initiate 25 miles of new trails, add 2,500 acres of land to its public conservation areas, offer 25 new educational programs, and increase by 25% the number of people who support its vision for the county that embraces a vibrant agricultural economy and a healthy, accessible environment.

Hawthorne Valley Association, with its commitment to sensitive land stewardship, ongoing collaborations with CLC, and as one of the first entities to place a major land parcel under protection through a CLC conservation easement is pleased to be hosting this event and co-sponsoring with FarmAssist Productions. FarmAssist seeks to speed the relocalization of our culture through educating farmers, reskilling families, advocating for good, clean and fair food, and connecting people to the place where they live and to each other. For more information, please call 518-672-5808. Hawthorne Valley is located at 330 County Route 21C, Ghent, NY 12075.
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Equipment for Community Water Quality Leaders,

Here is some information about EPA's 2011 Volunteer Monitoring Equipment Loan Program, open to organizations in New England for which volunteers conduct water monitoring. 

To learn more, please view the PDF file of this years announcement, which contains information about criteria for applicants and conditions of equipment  loans.


http://www.epa.gov/region1/lab/pdfs/2011VolunteerMonitoringEquipmentLoan.pdf
 
If you'd like a copy of the application form, please email claire@grassrootsfund.org to request it!

Hope you find this useful!
Claire
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New National Wolf Strategy

The USFWS announced a new National Wolf Strategy to help resolve listing and litigation issues associated with various populations of wolves. As this strategy relates to the Eastern U. S.:

The Service is proposing to identify and remove the Western Great Lakes DPS of gray wolves (Canis lupus) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The Service also proposes to remove portions of the gray wolf listing in all or parts of 29 eastern and southeastern states because that area is outside of historical gray wolf range. The proposed rule appears in Federal Register on May 5, 2011.

In conjunction with the proposal to delist the Western Great Lakes DPS and revise the range of the gray wolf in the east, the proposed rule includes initiation of a review of the status of gray wolves and determination of whether a change in listing status is appropriate. In addition, the Service will initiate reviews to resolve the status of gray wolves in the Pacific Northwest and of Mexican wolves — a gray wolf subspecies — in the Southwest. The Service is conducting a status review of the eastern wolf (Canis lycaon) throughout its range in the United States and Canada.

These reviews, along with the rangewide review of Canis lycaon, will allow the Service to cohesively address status of wolf populations in the lower 48 states and Mexico in terms of their appropriate listing classification. Details of each proposed action or action initiated are provided in the Proposal Summary and in the proposed rule to delist the Western Great Lakes DPS published in the Federal Register.


Genetic studies of wolves over the last 30 years have resulted in changes to the scientific delineation of wolf taxonomy. In accordance with these taxonomic changes, the gray wolf subspecies Canis lupus lycaon is elevated and considered a full species, eastern wolf, Canis lycaon. Therefore, the Service is also removing from the gray wolf listing all or parts of 12 northeastern and mid-Atlantic states that were historically within the range of the eastern wolf (Canis lycaon) but not within the range of the gray wolf (Canis lupus). In addition, the Service is initiating a status review for the eastern wolf (Canis lycaon) to determine whether further ESA action is warranted for this species.


Gray wolves throughout the rest of the coterminous U.S. (Northern Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest, and Southwest) and red wolves (a separate species found in the Southeast), would not be affected by finalization of this proposed action. However, the outcomes of the status reviews may recommend further action. Any subsequent changes to the listing status of gray wolves will be subject to proposed rule-making public notice and comment.


The link to our Great Lakes wolf web page providing more information:

http://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf/


The link to the Federal Register proposed rule (full explanation of the National Wolf Strategy, how it was developed, intended outcomes, and proposed listing actions related to Western and Great Lakes wolf populations)

http://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf/delisting/FRProposedDelistMay2011.htm


There will be a public hearing on this proposal at the Augusta (ME) Civic Center on June 8, 2011. An informational meeting will be held from 6:00 PM to 7:15 PM followed by the public hearings from 7:30 to 9:00 PM.
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Free PDF Books from National Academies Press

As of June 2, 2011, all PDF versions of books published by the National Academies Press (NAP) will be downloadable free of charge to anyone. This includes our current catalog of more than 4,000 books plus future reports published by NAP.*

Free access to our online content supports the mission of NAP--publisher for the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council--to improve government decision making and public policy, increase public education and understanding, and promote the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge in matters involving science, engineering, technology, and health. In 1994, we began offering free content online. Before today's announcement, all PDFs were free to download in developing countries, and 65 percent of them were available for free to any user.

Like no other organization, the National Academies can enlist the nation's foremost scientists, engineers, health professionals, and other experts to address the scientific and technical aspects of society's most pressing problems through the authoritative and independent reports published by NAP. We invite you to sign up for MyNAP --a new way for us to deliver free downloads of this content to loyal subscribers like you, to offer you customized communications, and to reward you with exclusive offers and discounts on our printed books.

Sign up now. It's quick, easy, and free.

Sincerely,
Barbara Kline Pope
Executive Director for Communications and The National Academies Press

*There are a small number of reports that never had PDF files and, therefore, are not available for download. In addition, part of the "Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals" series is not available in PDF. Future titles in this series will also not have PDFs associated with them.
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