The BEAT News

September 8, 2010

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
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Above the fold. News aggregated by www.EnvironmentalHealthNews.org

Don't miss the link to
today's good news
Read today's editorials
Daily links to top stories in the news about environmental health.

Welcome to Armageddon, USA: A tour of America’s most toxic town. Picher isn’t simply another boomtown gone bust. It’s emblematic of what happens when a modern city dies: A few people stay behind, trying to hold on to what they can. They are the new homesteaders, trying to
civilize a wasteland at the end of the world.
Wired
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_madmaxtown/

Toxic legacy of uranium haunts proposed Colorado mill. As Colorado nears the possible approval of the nation's first new uranium mill in
a quarter century, the federal government and state continue to deal with the staggeringly expensive and never- ending mess left by
earlier mills.
Denver Post
, Colorado.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15996355

Asbestos flooding B.C. with a 'steady stream of death.' Death's first whisper came to Dirk Jansema while he was singing in his church
choir. He began feeling the first symptoms of a disease caused by exposure to asbestos — a mineral that takes decades in the body to
do its killing work.
Vancouver Sun, British Columbia.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Asbestos%20flooding%20with%20steady%20stream%20death/3484958/story.html

A flood of asbestos: How much should residents worry? Residents along the Sumas River are divided over the potential health risks of
high levels of naturally occurring, cancer-causing asbestos left behind in yards and homes by landslides from floods in January 2009.
Seattle Times
, Washington.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012812562_asbestos05m.html

A burning debate over natural gas drilling. Chemicals that energy companies secretly use in a process dubbed "fracking" are fueling concerns
about our water supplies.
CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/04/eveningnews/main6835996.shtml

Open door impact great in drilling areas. A drilling rig sits 750 feet from the back door of dairy farmer John Ishler's house in Bradford County,
but he had no problem with the gas company until his well water turned pinkish brown.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pennsylvania.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_697909.html

New toxins report released. State environmental inspectors returned to Dish in mid-June after Mayor Calvin Tillman disclosed to the
public that both his young sons recently woke in the night with heavy nosebleeds. Air sampling revealed multiple contaminants
associated with fracking. And the mayor is now selling his home.
Denton Record-Chronicle
, Texas.
http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/localnews/stories/DRC_Dish_Toxins_0904.c11eccc5.html

Five key human errors, colossal mechanical failure led to fatal Gulf oil rig blowout. A string of mistakes, first by people, then by a supposedly fail-safe machine, sealed the fates of 11 rig workers and led to the fouling of the Gulf of Mexico and hundreds of miles of
its coastline.
New Orleans Times-Picayune
, Louisiana.
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/09/5_key_human_errors_colossal_me.html

FDA's standards for Gulf seafood may be lower than those in past oil spills. An examination of the process used to reopen state waters
around the Gulf to commercial fishing suggests that the FDA used an imprecise testing method, less protective standards than after
past oil spills, and seafood consumption estimates that may not account for the dietary habits of Gulf Coast residents.
Mobile Press-Register, Alabama.
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/09/fdas_standards_for_gulf_seafoo.html

Still years away from development, the fight heats up over Pebble Mine. After looking beneath the surface of the rugged tundra beneath Lake Iliamna, Phil St. George, the geologist for the Cominco mining company, must have quickly realized the site contained an almost
unimaginable mineral deposit, with huge amounts of gold-laced copper.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Alaska.
http://newsminer.com/bookmark/9394143-Still-years-away-from-development-the-fight-heats-up-over-Pebble-Mine

"Chinatown II"? Wells go dry; water bank faces suits. A story worthy of Hollywood will soon unfold in California courtrooms -- allegations
of government corruption and corporate greed to rival the infamous Los Angeles water grab that inspired the film "Chinatown."
Fresno Bee, California.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/09/04/2066738/chinatown-ii-wells-go-dry-water.html

Washington's clean-cruising rules give ships a wide berth to pollute in Canadian waters. Absent consistent federal and international
regulations for cruise ships, states are creating a patchwork of regulatory and sometimes voluntary systems that are pushing some problems related to cruise pollution farther out to sea, where ships can dump waste out of sight of regulators.
Investigate West
http://www.oregonlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2010/09/clean-cruising_rules_give_ship.html

Effects of oil dispersants remain a mystery. In the wake of the BP oil spill, gaping questions remain about a key tool used during
cleanup: the nearly 2 million gallons of chemical dispersants sprayed over the water or onto the gushing wellhead on the seafloor. Do
the chemicals help recovery, hinder it - or neither?
Los Angeles Times, California. [Registration Required]
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-dispersants-20100905,0,6506539.story

S.C. power company coal ash sites face closure under federal environmental plan. About 20 power company dump sites, some of which
have leaked poisonous coal residue into groundwater, face closure in South Carolina under a federal plan to protect the environment
from electric utility waste.
McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/04/v-fullstory/1809232/sc-power-company-coal-ash-sites.html

Saving the healing herbs of the bayou. Today, much of the land that grows the herbs the native Houma people use for potions and
salves lies below sea level, due to costal erosion that has been sped up by oil and gas drilling and levee systems that restrict the Mississippi River.
Los Angeles Times, California. [Registration Required]
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-hometown-golden-meadow-20100905,0,4204664.story

Scientist watches glacier melt beneath his feet. Earlier this summer, a group of scientists spent two weeks in Indonesia atop a glacier called Puncak Jaya, one of the few remaining tropical glaciers in the world. They were taking samples of ice cores to study the impacts
of climate change on the glacier.
All Things Considered, NPR.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129652700

Kansas joins case to head off federal carbon regulation. Attorney General Steve Six has joined Kansas with 10 other states in an effort
to head off federal regulation of greenhouse gases.
Wichita Eagle, Kansas.
http://www.kansas.com/2010/09/05/1479270/kansas-joins-case-to-head-off.html

Solar power's time to shine in Florida? With greater focus on environmental issues, and given rising energy prices and advancements in
new technologies, this is solar technology's time to shine.
Melbourne Florida Today, Florida.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100905/BUSINESS/9050307/1006/NEWS01/Solar%20power%20s%20time%20to%20shine%20in%
20 Florida

TN testing finds drugs, hormones in water. Trace amounts of antidepressants, caffeine, herbicides and ibuprofen are among the
chemicals found so far in state testing that began in mid-May of the raw water at community water treatment plant intakes.
Nashville Tennessean
, Tennessee.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100905/NEWS01/9050343/1002/NEWS01/TN%20testing%20finds%20drugs%20%20hormones%20
in% 20water

Many Oklahoma water providers told to clean up their supply. Nearly 140 public water supplies are operating in consistent violation of
state and federal drinking water codes, pumping water containing chemicals linked to cancer, infant illness, and damage to the liver and nervous
system.
Oklahoma City Oklahoman, Oklahoma.
http://www.newsok.com/many-oklahoma-water-providers-told-to-clean-up-their-supply/article/3492219?custom_click=headlines_widget

Group doubts claims by BP. An environmental consulting group investigating a 40-day emissions event at BP’s Texas City refinery that
sent 536,000 pounds of chemicals into the air calls the company’s assertion the incident posed no risk to the community a fallacy.
Galveston County Daily News
, Texas.
http://galvestondailynews.com/story/174122

His corporate strategy? The scientific method. The scientific rebel J. Craig Venter created headlines when he announced in May that his team had created what, with a bit of stretching, could be called the first synthetic living creature. Now he wants to create creatures – bacteria, algae or even plants – to carry out industrial tasks and displace fossil fuels.
New York Times [Registration Required]
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/business/05venter.html

EPA backs off lead shot but may limit lead tackle. The Environmental Protection Agency will not seek restrictions on lead ammunition as
requested in a petition filed last month by several environmental groups. But the agency is still considering restrictions on lead in
fishing tackle.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin.
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/outdoors/102228849.html
More news from today
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a 2-page .pdf version of this announcement in online at:
www.nutrient-dense.info/training

A Challenge to all Growers: step up to fully fertile soil and higher quality food
Nutrient-Dense Crop Production Principles & Practices
Five Classes with Dan Kittredge
professional organic farmer & Director, Real Food Campaign

This course teaches innovative, reliable methods & materials based on soil biology, natural minerals and energy dynamics to produce fully nutritious food to nurture healthy humans

Five 1-day Classes, 9:30am – 4:30pm
First: Sunday, October 24, 2010 the rest: January 16, March 20, May 22, July 17

Hawthorne Valley Farm
Ghent, Columbia County, New York
www.hawthornevalleyfarm.org

Cost:  $300 per person
Includes: 5 classes, twice monthly newsletter, comprehensive soil test & consultation

For farmers growers and gardeners of any type to learn proven methods and current research, and to go step-by-step through the processes that yield optimum crop health and sustainable production

FOR INFORMATION
Nate Darrow
518-573-8831
nate@farmandfood.org
www.farmandfood.org

TO REGISTER
course administrator
Douglas Williams
603-924-7008
doug@realfoodcampaign.org
www.realfoodcampaign.org

n
n"Agriculture... is our wisest pursuit
because it will contribute most to real wealth,
good morals and happiness."
 —Thomas Jefferson
to George Washington, 1787

Nutrient Dense Crop Production
Introduction to the 2011 Course
Purpose: 21st Century Farming & Food
To teach participants to apply innovative principles and reliable practices of Biological Agriculture to soil stewardship and plant growth management to produce crops with optimum energy and nutrients to feed healthier animals and humans.

Nutrient-Density: What is it?
In 1940, the USDA began to publish measured nutrient levels in food.  This data reveals that minerals have declined 30 to 70% in 70 years.  Yet, methods and materials of Biological Agriculture can reliably grow food with superior nutritional content—with all the minerals, trace elements, vitamins, enzymes, anti-oxidants, and other nutrients essential for optimum health.

n“Nutrient-Dense” defines farm produce grown by Biological Agriculture principles and practices for maximum growth and optimum health.  The goal is to grow food to at least meet USDA 1940 nutrient levels.  Smart farmers can consistently grow food to reliably meet that standard.

Nutrient-dense amendments and methods balance soil minerals to create a biological blend of major minerals, with attention to trace elements. This foundation, with careful observation, inoculants, soil drenches and foliar sprays, can sustain high energy and microbial activity to nurse high quality crops in an extended growing season. Crops have better taste, greater density, larger yields, longer shelf life.  With optimal conditions, soil and crops are healthy, so insects and diseases disappear.

Course Description: Community Creation
Course focus is soil minerals and biology, and energy dynamics of photosynthesis and growth.  The goal is to revive soil microbiology to stimulate digestion and nutrient cycling, and thus assure maximum nutrient flow for effective crop growth, optimum health and improved yield. 

Each session consists of classroom lecture and discussion, followed by demonstrations and practice in the field.  Specific topics addressed in each session explore in advance the next season’s cycles of growth and farmwork.  October 24 begins with analysis of your soil tests, and discussion of cover crops and soil amendments as ways to build the soil “battery” to power nutrient cycles.  A complete course description is sent to all registrants.

Participants are expected ask questions and discuss answers to engage what you already know, and to build on what you already do.  Your own observations and insights of interactions among soil, air and plants are the critical data to decide your interventions.  In the course of five classes, a gradual immersion occurs to deepen your understanding of soil’s multi-faceted biological community, and to work within this living community.  The goal is for you to ask clear questions, have tools to collect data, and implement solutions for issues that arise on your farm.

This course encourages relationships among growers to develop collaboration, information sharing and joint efforts.  Our hope is to facilitate a community of nutrient-dense growers who in due time can form organizations to advance this ethical and ecological effort.  Cooperative action is needed to educate consumers, cultivate markets, and develop standards and certification for advertising and marketing.  A monthly newsletter will foster this network and community.

THE REAL FOOD CAMPAIGN
• Believes human health can be restored through a renewal of the soil
• Supports the farming community to apply effective soil stewardship principles
• Advocates for nutritious food, and nutritional standards for our food supply

Dan Kittredge, Director, Real Food Campaign
Son of two prominent Northeast organic farm leaders, Dan has always been an organic farmer.  Experience managing organic farms and developing sustainable agriculture connects him to farmers beyond New England across the US to Central America, Russia, India, and Canada.  Dan’s passion is to raise food nutrition quality by collaboration with committed growers.

24 Hillsville Road, North Brookfield, MA 01535
978-257-2627
www.realfoodcampaign.org
n
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HOME FOOD PRESERVATION MAKES A COMEBACK IN NORTHAMPTON, ELSEWHERE ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS

NORTHAMPTON, MA  The Northeast Organic Farming Association/ Massachusetts Chapter (NOFA/Mass) is holding a hands-on workshop on how to preserve food from the fall harvest on September 18 from 9:00am to 3:00pm at St. John's Episcopal Church on 48 Elm Street in Northampton. The event is part of the Massachusetts Food Preservation Workshop Days. Similar events will be held in 8 other towns and cities throughout the state in September, including Ashland, Brookline, Shirley, Groton, Winchendon Springs, Barre, Princeton, and Great Barrington. Registration cost is $50; $5 discount for NOFA/Mass members.

”Every year people are planting more and bigger backyard gardens and enjoying the tremendous wealth of produce available from local farms in the fall. To enjoy this bounty throughout the winter, it’s helpful to re-learn some techniques for preserving food at home that our grandparents probably used but that many of us haven’t learned yet,” said Ben Grosscup, the event organizer. “With this event, we're offering the public an opportunity to learn basic skills they need to get started from experienced food preservation educators.”

The workshop in Northampton will be taught by Kathy Harrison who is author of "Just in Case: How to be Self-Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens," a mother of seven and an avid food preservationist. She lives in Cummington.

”When I put food on the table, it matters to me to know where it came from,” said Harrison. “I preserve food because it is the easiest way to be able to know this. Every meal at our home, we remember specifically where each ingredient came from. Each jar of peaches served has a name of a person who grew them or a memory of how we grew them ourselves during the previous season. We also talk about what we could do next year to be able to grow more of certain things we like on our own land.”

Harrison says workshop participants should be prepared for an intense schedule and learning about a variety of new techniques. A few highlights of the workshop will be learning how to use a dehydrator to put by vegetables, can sauces and preserves using water bath canning, pickling techniques for delicious condiments that can complement the main meal, ways to safely can meat using a pressure cooker, as well as cold storage for root crops.

Workshop participants will receive hand-outs on what different techniques are ideal for various crops, and list of the top resources available for learning more details about food preservation. Workshop participants are encouraged to bring their own questions to the workshops.

"Incorporating these food preservation techniques into your life helps you save money, lessen your dependence on industrialized agriculture, and provide wonderful flavor and nutrition all year round for your family,” said Grosscup. “The best time to preserve food is the same as when backyard gardens and local farm stands reach the height of the season’s harvest. Savoring fresh summer flavors is an enjoyable way to make it through the winter.”

For information on how to register, visit www.nofamass.org, or contact Ben Grosscup 413-658-5374, <ben.grosscup@nofamass.org>. The workshop cost is $50, and there is a $5 discount for membership in NOFA/Mass. Pre-registration is requested, but on-site registration is available for an extra $5 charge. If you plan to do a walk in registration, please call Ben Grosscup in advance to find out if there is space availability. A potluck lunch will be shared at the event, and registrants are invited to bring something to share or bring their own lunch.

About NOFA/Mass
NOFA/Mass (Northeast Organic Farming Association, Massachusetts Chapter) is a community including farmers, gardeners, landscapers and consumers working to educate members and the general public about the benefits of local organic systems based on complete cycles, natural materials, and minimal waste for the health of individual beings, communities and the living planet. The NOFA/Mass office is located at 411 Sheldon Road in Barre, MA 01005; telephone is (978) 355-2853. Visit www.nofamass.org for much more information.
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Housatonic River - EPA - GE - Citizens Meeting

The next Housatonic Citizens Coordinating Council (CCC) meeting will be held on September 29, 2010 from 5:30-7:30 pm at the Berkshire Athenaeum (library), One Wendell Avenue Pittsfield, MA.  Find out what actions are being taken to remove PCBs in our area, and what the plans are for the "Rest of the River" - from Fred Garner Park downstream. There are MANY more options than the ones the General Electric Company are presenting in their propaganda.

These CCC meetings are free and open to the public. Members of the CCC have seats at the table. Members of the public are usually allowed to speak at the end, and sometimes throughout the meeting if there are questions and time is not pressing.

See below for an update prepared by the U.S. EPA on two activities that have occurred since the last CCC meeting: Draft Consent Decree Modification and Removal of Documents from the Berkshire Athenaeum.

A draft agenda for the September 29 meeting, which will include discussion of these activities, will be circulated shortly.  If you have suggested CCC meeting agenda items, please contact us directly.   EPA contact persons for the Draft Consent Decree Modification and Removal of Documents from the Berkshire Athenaeum are provided in EPA’s summary.

Best,
Kate and Patrick
CCC Facilitators
--
Kate Harvey
Consensus Building Institute
Direct Dial:  617-844-1136
Email: kharvey@cbuilding.org

                               EPA UPDATE
                           September 2, 2010

Draft Consent Decree Modification

A draft modification (Modification 10) to the Consent Decree has been prepared to reconcile the costs incurred to date for the 1½ Mile ReachRemoval Action.   As you might recall, under the Consent Decree, EPA implemented the 1½ Mile Removal Action under a complex cost-share formula with GE whereby GE was required to pay its share of the costs in advance to help EPA fund the cleanup.  Then, generally, at the end of the cleanup, EPA and GE would reconcile the costs and GE would either be given a credit for any amount that GE paid EPA that was in excess of GE’s share, or would pay additional funds if GE’s payments were not equal to its share.

A modification is necessary because the contract vehicle EPA is continuing to use for the 1½ Mile Reach differs from the anticipated process in the Decree.  In the Decree, the parties envisioned that at the completion of the 1½  Mile Reach Action, EPA would close out its interagency agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and that would be an appropriate time to reconcile costs incurred.  However, EPA believes it will be efficient to continue with the interagency agreement during the ongoing Post-Removal Site Control activities for the 1½ Mile Reach.  At the same time, we did not want that choice to artificially delay the cost reconciliation.  So, a modification of the Decree is needed to reconcile the costs to date.

The modification anticipates the reconciliation in two steps.  First, the parties have calculated their respective shares as of September 30, 2009, which indicates that EPA overpaid its share of the cleanup and GE owes EPA approximately $790,000.  The modification will memorialize the amount due and provide a mechanism for GE to pay EPA.  Second, the parties will establish a mechanism for ongoing periodic reconciliations as the project goes forward.  Post-Removal Site Control activities (that is, long-term inspection, monitoring and maintenance activities) for the 1½ Mile reach are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.  GE will incur costs performed these activities and EPA will incur costs overseeing GE.   The Consent Decree requires that these costs also be subject to the cost share; however the Consent Decree did not provide a mechanism to share these costs once construction activities were complete.  The modification sets up a process for EPA and GE to settle up on these costs on an annual basis.

As part of our outreach, EPA committed to inform the CCC of proposed Consent Decree modifications whenever feasible.   We anticipate submitting this modification to the Court in the next several weeks. The modification will become effective upon filing with the Court.  If you have any questions about this proposed modification, please call Tim Conway at Conway.Tim@epa.gov or 617.918.1705.

Removal of Documents from the Berkshire Athenaeum

This summary, the librarian at the Berkshire Athenaeum informed EPA that she was overloaded with documents related to the Site and requested that EPA reduce the size of the repository.  In response, EPA assessed each of the documents in the Athenaeum files, and decided to remove many of the older documents for cleanup actions that have already been completed and that have a Final Completion Report.  The Final Completion Reports for all removal actions will remain at the Athenaeum.  In addition, some groundwater reports have been removed.   For the five groundwater
management areas, all documents two years or older have been removed. For each area, the current groundwater submittals will remain.

A majority, if not all, of the documents removed from the repository are available on EPA’s web site at:  http://www.epa.gov/region01/ge/.   In addition, all documents are available upon request at EPA’s Record Center.  If you would like a list of documents removed from the repositories, please us know.

Documents that are related to the Rest of River and cleanups that do not have Final Completion Reports were not removed at this time.

These actions alleviated some of the immediate overload of documents. However, additional removal of documents is necessary.   The current system of providing a hard copy of all documents required by the Consent Decree and maintaining these documents in an organized manner is unsustainable.   We realize that making available these documents to the public in a user-friendly manner is critical at this Site and we are exploring ways to maintain or increase the availability of information while avoiding overcrowding the Athenaeum and/or having many documents sitting in boxes for months at a time.

We would like to discuss ways to accomplish these goals at the September 29 CCC meeting.

We look forward to discussing these two items at the September CCC meeting.  If you cannot attend the meeting and have any questions, please contact Jim Murphy at Murphy.Jim@epa.gov or 617.918.1028.

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The Environmental Leadership Program's "Tapping into Solutions" conference, originally scheduled to take place in Milwaukee, has been converted to a virtual (on-line) conference accessible everywhere.  See details below or at http://www.elpnet.org/events/water).

Tapping Into Solutions: The Future of Water
Tuesday September 28 - Wednesday September 29, 2010

We're Bringing the Conference to You
It's a Virtual Conference - The Greenest Conference You'll Attend all Year
Abstract    •    Agenda    •    Registration   •    Speaker Bios

Tapping into Solutions: Leading Water’s Future is an online conference bringing together a diverse group of leaders from industry, government, not-for-profit organizations (Foundations and Non-Government Organizations), and academia to explore water’s complex role in society. Each sector seeks solutions, often independently, to improve water quality and ensure water availability for competing uses.  This conference aims to create a dialog between leaders in these sectors and explore their future technical and leadership needs.   Please join us as we bring together diverse perspectives to explore and debate these complex water issues, identify the leadership needed to manage the resource, and offer a framework to illuminate potential solutions.

New thinking, new leaders, and innovation will be critical to reducing conflict and ensuring the availability of safe and adequate water supplies while creating new economic opportunities fostering growth in green jobs.  Tapping into Solutions will engage participants and panelists from each sector in discussions related to water and climate change, sustainable infrastructure, the nexus between water and energy, public health, environmental justice and other topics focused on:

  • Quality -- In many areas of the United States and the world, water quality has improved dramatically over the past decades resulting from regulation of point-source pollution, but significant challenges remain to maintain drinking water quality and protect and enhance clean water sources from non-point sources. 
  • Quantity -- Local communities, States, and regions, face many challenges as they attempt to balance water needs for multiple and often competing uses.  Since watershed boundaries rarely mimic political boundaries, trans-boundary water resource management is becoming an increasingly important diplomatic aspect of dealing with water issues.
  • Access -- Our society grapples with the question of who owns the water and who is entitled to it and at what cost.  Aligning needs with access and protecting critical ecosystems requires exploration of both the ethical and legal framework associated with access to water.
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Two job openings at the Cape Cod Conservation District - app. deadline 9/20/10

Coastal Wetland Restoration Project Manager

Job Title: Coastal Wetland Restoration Project Manager
Location: Hyannis, MA
Number of Positions: 1
Schedule: Monday through Friday; 40 hours per week
Salary: $55,000 annually
Term: Position funded thru 12/31/2011
              Continued funding likely, but not guaranteed.
Benefits: Health insurance and paid leave
Application Deadline: September 20, 2010

The Cape Cod Conservation District (CCCD) in Barnstable (Hyannis), MA seeks qualified applicants for a full-time Coastal Wetland Restoration Project Manager position.  The Project Manager will work with Cape Cod towns and other partners to plan and implement multiple salt marsh restoration projects under the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Cape Cod Water Resources Restoration Plan (see http://www.ma.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/CCWRRP/).

Please click here for detailed position descriptions:
Coastal Wetland Restoration Project Manager

To apply email cover letter detailing degree, course credit and professional qualifications, resume and 3 references – PDF or MS Word format (PDF preferred) – to cccd@capecodcd.org
Include applicant name in the email subject line,
             e.g.: “John Doe – CCCD Salt Marsh PM Application”
————————————————————————————————————

Anadromous Fish Restoration Project Manager

Job Title: Anadromous Fish Restoration Project Manager
Location: New Bedford/ Cape Cod, MA
Number of Positions: 1
Schedule: Monday through Friday; 40 hours per week
Salary: $55,000 annually
Term: Position funded thru 12/31/2011.
              Continued funding likely, but not guaranteed.
Benefits: Health insurance and paid leave
Application Deadline: September 20, 2010

The Cape Cod Conservation District (CCCD) in Barnstable, MA seeks qualified applicants for a full-time Anadromous Fish Restoration Project Manager position.  The Project Manager will work with Cape Cod towns and other partners to plan and implement multiple fish passage restoration projects under the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Cape Cod Water Resources Restoration Plan (NRCS Cape Cod Plan) (see http://www.ma.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/CCWRRP/).

Please click here for detailed position descriptions:
Fish Passage Project Manager

To apply email cover letter detailing degree, course credit and professional qualifications, resume and 3 references – PDF or MS Word format (PDF preferred) – to cccd@capecodcd.org
Include applicant name in the email subject line,
             e.g.: “John Doe – CCCD Fish Passage PM Application”
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NYC sky-scrapers dim lights to help migratory birds.
By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter, BBC News 2 September 2010

  The Lights Out initiative in New York City is entering its fifth year
A growing number of New York sky-scrapers are switching off their lights to help reduce the number of birds hitting the high-rise buildings.

The "lights out" project - organised by NYC Audubon - runs until 1 November, when migratory birds are expected to have completed their autumn migrations.

The Empire State and Chrysler buildings are among those dimming their lights.
An estimated 90,000 birds each year are killed in the city as a result of striking glass-fronted buildings.

Organisers of the annual initiative, now in its fifth year, say the bright lights disorientate the migrating birds and override their natural navigational cues.

NYC Audubon - a group that works to protect wild birds and their habitats within the city - is calling on owners and tenants in high-rise buildings to turn off lights on unoccupied floors or unused space between midnight and dawn.

Continue reading the main story

It is also asking late workers to draw blinds or use desk lamps rather than using ceiling-mounted lighting.

A similar project in Toronto, Canada, suggests that "across North America, more birds die from collisions each year than succumbed to the Exxon Valdez oil spill", which claimed the lives of in excess of 250,000 birds.
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Stormwater Discharges from Logging Roads Require Clean Water Act Permits, Ninth Circuit Holds

http://www.martenlaw.com/newsletter/20100902-logging-road-stormwater-discharges
September 2, 2010
Meline MacCurdy

According to a recent decision from the Ninth Circuit, public and private forest owners and logging companies may be required to obtain permits for stormwater runoff that occurs on the countless logging roads in much of the west. The case, Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown,[1] involved two Oregon logging roads where stormwater runoff is collected in systems of ditches, channels, and culverts, and then discharged into adjacent rivers. The court held that the stormwater collection systems unambiguously constitute “point sources” under the Clean Water Act (CWA), and that the discharges therefore require permits under the CWA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. It also deemed the logging roads to be an “industrial activity,” apparently making it difficult for any future regulatory action to limit the types of logging road discharges that require permits. In so holding, the court significantly limited a decades-old regulation that historically interpreted logging road runoff as outside the NPDES program, and charged EPA with developing a general permit to handle the discharges. Although the decision will likely be appealed, entities that own and operate logging roads are, for the time being, faced with the threat of citizen suits or enforcement actions for unpermitted discharges.

Background

The CWA prohibits the discharge of a “pollutant” into waters of the United States from a “point source” without an NPDES permit.[2] The CWA defines a “point source” as “any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance, including but not limited to any pipe, ditch, channel, tunnel, [or] conduit … from which pollutants are or may be discharged.”[3] The CWA expressly exempts “agricultural stormwater discharges and return flows from irrigated agriculture” from the definition of “point source.” It does not define “agricultural stormwater” or “nonpoint sources.”

EPA has promulgated detailed regulations under the NPDES program, some of which clarify the types of activities that require NPDES permits. EPA’s “Silvicultural Rule,” which has essentially been intact for over thirty years, defines a limited class of activities as “silvicultural point sources,” and interprets “nonpoint source silvicultural activities” as outside the NPDES program. It limits “silvicultural point sources” to “rock crushing, gravel washing, log sorting, or log storage facilities which are operated in connection with silvicultural activities and from which pollutants are discharged into waters of the United States.”[4] Falling outside the definition are “non-point source silvicultural activities such as nursery operations, site preparation, reforestation and subsequent cultural treatment, thinning, prescribed burning, pest and fire control, harvesting operations, surface drainage, or road construction and maintenance from which there is natural runoff.”[5]

Factual and Procedural Background

At issue in NEDC v. Brown were two logging roads in Oregon’s Tillamook State Forest. The Oregon Department of Forestry and the Oregon Board of Forestry own the roads. Various timber companies use the roads to access logging sites and to haul timber under contracts with Oregon. The timber sales contracts designate specific routes for timber hauling and require the timber companies to maintain the roads and their associated stormwater collection systems, which are ditches, culverts, and channels that collect and convey stormwater runoff from the roads to tributary streams and adjacent rivers. As is the case throughout the Pacific Northwest and other areas with high rainfall, these stormwater collection systems reduce erosion of the roads and, when properly constructed, effectively reduce the discharge of sediment to adjacent streams that would otherwise occur. An environmental group, Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC), brought a citizen suit under the CWA, alleging that sediment discharges in stormwater from these roads negatively impact aquatic life, such as salmon and trout, and require permits under the NPDES program.

The District Court of Oregon dismissed NEDC’s lawsuit for failure to state a claim, holding that the Silvicultural Rule exempted the discharges from the NPDES program. According to the district court, “the fact that pollutants deposited on top of the roads during timber hauling end up being washed into the water bodies does not turn the road system with its associated ditches and culverts into a point source. The road/ditch/culvert system and timber hauling on it is a traditional dispersed activity from which pollution flowing into the water cannot be traced to single discrete sources.”[6]

The Ninth Circuit’s Decision

On appeal, NEDC argued that the unpermitted stormwater discharges violate the CWA, despite the Silvicultural Rule. The Ninth Circuit also addressed a second issue that the district court elected not to address, i.e., whether and to what effect the 1987 amendments to the CWA governing stormwater, and EPA’s regulations implementing those amendments, apply to stormwater runoff from logging roads. The United States was not a party to the lawsuit, but submitted an amicus curiae brief encouraging the court to uphold the Silvicultural Rule as a permissible construction of the CWA.

The Ninth Circuit agreed with NEDC, holding that that discharges from the logging roads require compliance with an NPDES permit. Although the court stopped short of expressly invalidating the Silvicultural Rule as a whole, the court held that the Rule does not and cannot, consistent with the CWA, exempt runoff that is collected from logging roads and discharged from a ditch or culvert to jurisdictional waters.

In addressing the Silvicultural Rule, the Ninth Circuit’s decision exhaustively reviewed the statutory definition of “point sources” under the CWA, case law interpreting the distinction between point and nonpoint sources, and the genesis and history of the Silvicultural Rule. In the Ninth Circuit, nonpoint source pollution is “the type of pollution that arises from many dispersed activities over large areas, and is not traceable to any single discrete source.”[7] In contrast, the Ninth Circuit panel said that point source discharges occur “when stormwater is collected in a system of ditches, culverts, and channels and is then discharged into a stream of river ….”[8] Because “runoff is not inherently a nonpoint or a point source of pollution,” according to the court, the distinction between point and nonpoint source discharges turns not on the runoff itself, but on whether stormwater “is allowed to run off naturally (and is thus a nonpoint source) or is collected, channeled, and discharged through a system of ditches, culverts, channels, and similar conveyances (and is thus a point source discharge).”[9]

Yet, in the court’s view, EPA’s intent in the Silvicultural Rule was to focus on the “source of the pollutant” and not the mechanism of discharge, where “any natural runoff containing pollutants” from silvicultural activities is exempt “from the definition of point source, irrespective of whether, and the manner in which, the runoff is collected, channeled, and discharged into” jurisdictional water.[10] This approach, the court opined, directly conflicts with the statutory definition of “point source” under the CWA, and is therefore invalid. The court did not, however, consider the effect of the CWA’s exclusion of agricultural stormwater from the “point source” definition.

Instead of striking down the Silvicultural Rule, the court determined that the Rule is subject to a second interpretation that is consistent with the CWA, even though it neither “reflect[s] the intent of EPA” nor exempts the discharges at issue in the case. Under the latter interpretation, the Rule “exempts natural runoff from silvicultural activities …, but only as long as the ‘natural runoff’ remains natural. That is, the exemption ceases to exist as soon as the natural runoff is channeled and controlled in some systematic way through a ‘discernible, confined and discrete conveyance’ and discharged into” jurisdictional waters.[11] Consequently, in jurisdictions within the Ninth Circuit, the Rule only excludes from the CWA’s NPDES program runoff from logging roads that lack stormwater management systems.

Having already held that the discharges require NPDES permits, the court also addressed an argument that was not decided by the district court: the impact of the CWA’s 1987 amendments and EPA’s regulations implementing those amendments. The 1987 amendments ushered in a tiered approach to addressing stormwater discharges, in what is now CWA § 402(p). The 1987 amendments were meant to provide EPA with an orderly method of focusing its limited resources on primary stormwater discharges without becoming overwhelmed by the potentially limitless number of de minimus sources of stormwater discharges that nevertheless constitute “point sources” under the CWA. Under the phased approach, Congress required EPA first to promulgate so-called “Phase I regulations” for five classes of significant sources of stormwater pollution, including “industrial activity.” Second, Congress required EPA to study stormwater discharges that were not covered by the Phase I regulations, and to issue “Phase II” regulations accordingly.

The court acknowledged that it is “within the discretion of EPA to promulgate Phase II regulations requiring, or not requiring, permits for” discharges from relatively de minimus sources, but stated that EPA lacks discretion with respect to the entities that fall within the Phase I regulations.[12] Because Congress expressly required EPA to promulgate Phase I regulations to address “discharges associated with industrial activity,”[13] the court held that, “if silvicultural activity is industrial in nature, § 402(p) requires that discharges from such activity obtain NPDES permits.”[14]

After reviewing EPA’s Phase I regulations, the court concluded that stormwater discharges from logging roads fall within the scope of Phase I as “storm water discharges associated with industrial activity,” and therefore require compliance with the NPDES program. The court based this ruling on a provision of EPA’s regulations that specifies broad Standard Industrial Classifications (SIC) of industries considered “industrial activities,” one of which includes “logging,” defined as “establishments primarily engaged in cutting timber and in producing … primary forest or wood raw materials … in the field.”[15] The court also noted that EPA had defined “stormwater discharge associated with industrial activity” as including “immediate access roads … used or traveled by carriers of raw materials, manufactured products, waste material, or by-products used or created by the facility.”[16] The court gave no significance to the first sentence of the regulatory definition upon which its analysis rested: “Storm water discharge associated with industrial activity means the discharge from any conveyance that is used for collecting and conveying storm water and that is directly related to manufacturing, processing, or raw materials storage areas at an industrial plant.”[17]
Oregon and the timber companies advanced several arguments attempting to distinguish the typical industrial activity contemplated by the Phase I regulations from logging roads that occur in vast, often remote areas, far from a true “facility.” The court rejected these arguments, concluding that “collected runoff constitutes a point source discharge of stormwater ‘associated with industrial activity’ under the terms of § 502(14) and § 402(p).”[18] First, according to the court, and relying on EPA’s preamble to the Phase I rule, logging roads qualify as “immediate access roads,” because they are “roads which are exclusively or primarily dedicated for use by the industrial facility.”[19] Second, logging roads are “primarily dedicated” to use by the logging companies, because, although logging roads are “often used for recreation, … that is not their primary use. Logging companies not only build and maintain the roads and their drainage systems pursuant to contracts with the State. Logging is also the roads’ sine qua non: If there were no logging, there would be no logging roads.”[20] Finally, the court concluded that the Phase I rule defines “industrial activity” broadly enough to encompass other non-traditional sites that are directly related to an industrial process, including “immediate access roads.”[21]

In its amicus brief, the United States implored the court to delay its ruling to allow for EPA’s consideration of whether the discharges should be included in EPA’s Phase II stormwater regulations. In rejecting this request, the court reiterated that logging road runoff is subject to the Phase I regulations, and opined that EPA should be able to “effectively and relatively expeditiously” adapt the “closely analogous NPDES permitting process for stormwater runoff from other kinds of roads” to a general permit for stormwater discharges from logging roads.[22]

Implications

Despite the court’s assurance that EPA can “expeditiously” develop a general permitting program for stormwater discharges on logging roads, the sheer number of roads that would be subject to the general permit and the varied climatic conditions and geography of the areas where they exist will require significant study and review. EPA only recently finalized two other general permits for construction stormwater and pesticide applications, both of which were necessitated by court intervention and took several years to develop.[23] For now, the private and public entities that own or operate on logging roads equipped with stormwater management systems are faced with the threat of enforcement action or citizen suits, with their only option to embark on the arduous process of applying for individual permits from EPA or state agencies with authority to issue permits under the CWA. No appeal has been filed at the time of this article, but a petition for en banc review before the Ninth Circuit is likely, and a petition for Supreme Court review is possible.

For more information on stormwater permitting, please contact Meline MacCurdy or any other member of Marten Law’s Water Quality practice group.

[1] 2010 WL 3222105 (9th Cir. Aug. 17, 2010).
[2] 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1342.
[3] Id. § 1362(14).
[4] 40 C.F.R. § 122.27(b)(1).
[5] Id. (emphasis added).
[6] Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown, 476 F. Supp. 2d 1188, 1197 (D. Or. 2007) (citing League of Wilderness Defenders v. Forsgren, 309 F.3d 1181, 1184 (9th Cir. 2002)).
[7] NEDC v. Brown, 2010 WL 3222105, *4 (9th Cir. Aug. 17, 2010) (quoting League of Wilderness Defenders/Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. Forsgren, 309 F.3d 1181, 1184 (9th Cir. 2002)).
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] Id. at *14
[11] Id.
[12] Id. at *16.
[13] Id. at *17 (quoting 33 U.S.C. § 1342(p)(2)(B)).
[14] Id.
[15] Id. (quoting 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(b)(14)(ii)).
[16] Id. (quoting 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(b)(14)(ii)).
[17] 40 C.F.R. § 122.26(b)(14).
[18] NEDC, 2010 WL 3222105 at *18.
[19] Id. at *17 (quoting 55 Fed. Reg. 47990, 48009 (Nov. 16, 1990)).
[20] Id.
[21] Id. at *18 (quoting 55 Fed. Reg. 47990, 48007 (Nov. 16, 1990)).
[22] Id. at *20.
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