Hellbender Press News

How do you like those dumplins

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Sat, 17 May 2008 01:56:00 +0000

Having spent the past year flattening the hills on either side of a Dumplin Creek tributary, Kodak Land Partners, LLC of Knoxville proposes to restore the stream as mitigation for burying another. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will hold a public hearing at the Sevierville Civic Center on June 6 at 7 p.m. to explain the Aquatic Resource Alteration Permit. Comments will be accepted until June 16. A 665-foot stream will be buried and replaced by a drainage system for the parking lot and stores built on top of it if the permit is granted. A 1,770-foot stream with an earthen-dam farm pond will be restored to more natural conditions. The dam will be removed, and riparian vegetation will be established along the stream, which is currently partially forested. The stream will accept runoff from some of the surrounding development. TDEC has ruled the project will not degrade water quality. Dumplin Creek joins the French Broad River near Kodak and carries runoff from several miles of Interstate 40.

Water on a bluff

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:18:00 +0000

City Councilman Joe Hultquist convened a public meeting in South Knoxville to discuss a water tower that sprung up on Chapman Ridge above Fort Loudoun Lake in December. The tower sits on a small parcel of land just outside the city limits and will serve existing and future development along the ridge, including the Cherokee Bluff condominiums. The condominiums had been without adequate water service to meet fire protection needs since they were built, and they are the highest elevation development in the vicinity, thus dictating the height of the tower, which can be seen from downtown and many vantage points in South Knoxville. Two new developments along Cherokee Trail and a third in construction forced the Knoxville Utilities Board to upgrade its water service. Ratepayers will cover $600,000 of the $2.2 million price for the tower and water lines, with the two developers sharing the remainder. Two adjacent parcels of mostly undeveloped land would also be served by the tower should development plans materialize. The Metropolitan Planning Commission approved the tower in September, yet most residents and public officials learned of the project when they saw the tower erected. Hultquist said he would try to halt the project and also said the city should consider protecting its ridges. KUB and MPC officials attended the meeting to explain how the decision to build the tower was made.

Old-time road revival

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 22:04:00 +0000

Officials from local, state and federal government convened in Etowah on Nov. 29 for a public presentation by a Knoxville developer urging construction of a new highway east of Chattanooga. The Appalachian Regional Commission has been accumulating funds for this "Corridor K" project for several decades, but the $80 million kitty was dwarfed by estimates for upgrading U.S. 64 through Ocoee Gorge. A study done as part of a 2003 Environmental Impact Statement(EIS) determined it would cost nearly a billion dollars to make that century-old road into a four-lane highway. The road is notorious for slow traffic, and accidents occur almost twice as often as on similar highways. Developer Wilbur Smith Associates cited decreased reliability of employees traveling on the road and the need for an efficient route to coastal ports in a globalized economy as primary economic justifications for the highway. Transportation officials plan to initiate a new EIS process encompassing a broader range of options, from building a bypass around the gorge to finding novel routes between Chattanooga and Asheville, N.C. One proposed alternate route follows an unpaved Forest Service road known as Kimsey Highway, which stretches through Cherokee National Forest between Archville and Harbuck, twice crossing the Benton MacKaye Trail. Congress will revisit funding for the project in 2009.

Building a better pine plantation

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:28:00 +0000

A federal forest in Mississippi was chosen to house a loblolly pine gene bank, and an Oregon forest will hold a similar collection of Douglas fir diversity. Thousands of grafts will be grown as a living genetic archive, and researchers will work with the diverse lines to identify and understand genotypes. Artificial breeding will be used to find and propogate vigorous hybrids. The U.S. Department of Agriculture(USDA) awarded six million dollars to a team headed by David Neale of the University of California-Davis, who will work through U.S. Forest Service research stations in Saucier, Miss. and Corvallis, Ore. to develop the experimental and archival stocks. The Forest Service is a USDA agency. Genetic catalogs exist for several food crops and a hardwood tree, but these will be the first conifers sequenced.

Get sustainable now

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 02:22:00 +0000

Tennessee Conservation Voters and the Tennessee Environmental Council convened the first “Summit for a Sustainable Tennessee” at Lipscomb University in Nashville. The groups aim to create a long-term agenda for the state based on sustainability principles, which blend economic prosperity with resource conservation. Business, government and citizen interests will work together to draft a “Sustainability Agenda.” Summits will be held annually. Closer to home, the City of Knoxville assembled an energy and sustainability task force. The panel of 15 representatives from community organizations and 10 city officials will develop a strategic plan for the city. Its first task is conducting an energy audit of city operations. Three working groups have formed, aimed at transportation and land use, buildings, and waste and recycling.

Give and you shall receive

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 02:33:00 +0000

The Tennessee Clean Water Network(TCWN) presented its annual River Hero award to Wilma Dykeman. Dykeman authored “The French Broad” in 1955 and was a lifelong advocate for the Appalachian people and environment. She died in December 2006. Senator Lamar Alexander presented the award to Jim Stokely, Dykeman’s son. Meanwhile, the organization was awarded the 2007 Green Paddle by the American Canoe Association for its statewide efforts protecting water quality. TCWN helped win a major victory in 2005 when the state legislature passed a bill allowing citizens to appeal pollution permits. This year the state passed a TCWN-sponsored bill requiring the Department of Environment and Conservation(TDEC) to post notices of water quality violations on its Web site. Their “Build the River Movement” program is helping unite communities across the state around water quality issues, and the network is working to pass the Water Quality Act, which includes an innovative penalty structure designed to reward good actors, discourage repeat offenders and bolster TDEC’s enforcement budget.

Don’t confuse the freddie

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 02:24:00 +0000

The U.S. Forest Service’s determined efforts to ignore management rules established in 2000 crept closer to success with the publication of an environmental impact statement. A five-year planning process started in 1995 culminated in “social, economic and ecological sustainability” being adopted as a management goal for public forests. When the agency’s leadership changed in 2001, the sustainability standard was rejected as “difficult and expensive.” The Forest Service conducted a review and “business analysis,” which revealed that “unnecessarily detailed requirements” would overwhelm their staff. The plan “did not recognize limitations on the availability of scientists” and “injects scientists directly into the planning process,” which the agency said “could lead to confusion about what role the scientists play in the decision.” They published an altered rule in 2002 that gutted ecological monitoring and scientific input and returned the agency to 1982 standards. Revisions and court challenges have prolonged adoption of a new plan, but the agency expects to finally publish its “feasible” version next year.

Knob has multiple uses

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 02:19:00 +0000

Trees are dying in a stand of aspen near High Knob in southwestern Virginia. Because aspen is rare in the eastern United States, the Forest Service is developing a plan to sustain and regenerate the grove. A citizen group called the Clinch Coalition is working to protect headwater forests of the Clinch River, winning withdrawal of a timber sale this summer after warning federal officials of flood risks downstream. In addition to the two acres of aspen, other rare plants live in the forest and rare mussels in the upper Clinch, so the coalition has pressed lawmakers to designate a national recreation area around High Knob. Much of the forest there is actively managed for timber production, with burns, thinning and plantings used to boost yield, but the new designation would bring restraints on logging activity. Meanwhile, federal officials plan to build three new parking lots and three miles of new trails and improve five miles of trail near the campground and lake on High Knob. Nearby in the North Fork of Pound Roadless Area, federal officials proposed development of 21 new gas wells because the lease predates the 1997 roadless designation. Eleven miles of road and 12 miles of pipeline would be built to service the wells, and the draft environmental impact statement will be published in December and open for public comment.

The year parches on

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:31:00 +0000

October rains brought brief respite from the drought, but dry weather returned, and extreme and exceptional drought conditions persist in the eastern half of Tennessee and parts of the surrounding states. Year-to-date rainfall deficits in the major river basins vary from 10 to 22 inches below normal. The rains were particularly beneficial on the Cumberland Plateau, but were insufficient to affect deep soil and water tables anywhere. Most rivers and creeks are at record low levels or low flows. The tropical storm season expired without any systems delivering a substantial impact. Atlanta’s water supply reached critical levels, triggering a battle with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over reservoir management. The Corps agreed to reduce flows out of Lake Lanier, pending approval of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which must guard the survival of downstream populations of the fat threeridge and purple bankclimber mussels. The City of Alcoa installed an emergency water diversion along the Little River in Rockford, piping water upriver so it flows past the municipal intake twice. Springs along the Appalachian Trail dried up, and other backcountry water sources vanished. Fisheries biologists said low water levels primarily impact large fish and may hurt non-native brown and rainbow trout more than native species.

Partnership provides plateau protection

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 02:16:00 +0000

The “Connecting the Cumberlands” conservation initiative reached completion as the State of Tennessee and The Nature Conservancy acquired timber rights or easements on acreage connecting Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area and Sundquist Wildlife Management Area with Frozen Head State Park. The effort brings 127,854 acres under protection. In combination with the 66,000 acres already in public ownership, almost 200,000 contiguous acres of the plateau are now under sustainable management. Two forestry companies, Lyme Timber and Conservation Forestry, contributed a total of $40 million to the project. In return, they will be allowed to harvest timber from portions of the land using low-impact techniques and sustainable management principles. The Nature Conservancy contributed $13 million, and the state spent $82 million.

Maryville College students promote renewable energy

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 23:09:00 +0000

by Ashley McBee

Where does your electricity come from? When you flip on a light switch, turn on the washing machine or lie in bed listening to the refrigerator run, where does the tangible electric current originate? Who and what is being sacrificed to produce electricity?
As my friends and I learned the answers to these questions, we began to worry that not enough is being done to conserve resources and reduce pollution. In early fall, we called our local utility board and learned that only 92 of more than 15,000 Maryville Utility Board’s residential customers purchase Green Power from TVA. Two of my fellow Maryville College seniors and I decided to help our neighbors understand how to lower electricity bills, reduce pollution, and why they might want to buy Green Power blocks with the savings. Our hope is that providing people with information will help them act responsibly and take a new perspective on our needs as consumers in a modern society.
We received a grant from our college to run a community awareness campaign. Laura DeBusk, Tom Hankinson, and I will give a presentation at the Blount County Public Library at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14. Through our combined efforts and those of Steve McMinn, a TVA representative, attendees will learn about the processes and impacts surrounding conventional sources of electricity, how TVA’s Green Power Switch works, and how they can improve the energy efficiency of their homes.
They will learn that coal is the main source of energy for TVA, and we will explain the impacts of extracting coal and converting it to electrical energy. To put our consumption in perspective, we will consider what must conspire for one household to meet its energy demands for one year.
The average house in the Southeast uses 36 killowatt-hours(kWh) of electricity per day. One kilowatt-hour will operate an air conditioner for 30 minutes, 10 light bulbs for an hour or a water heater for 15 minutes. One pound of coal is burned for each kilowatt-hour, so the average home in the Southeast indirectly consumes about 13,000 pounds of coal in a year. In order to meet the needs of their customers, TVA must burn 8 trillion pounds of coal per year.
Our neighbors, children and the ecosystems of our beloved and majestic Appalachian mountains suffer daily from coal production and consumption. Extraction by mountaintop removal uses five million pounds of explosives daily in the Cumberland Mountains to literally blow the tops off mountains in order to access seams of coal beneath. Stone blasted from where it stood for millions of years is dumped into surrounding streams and valleys. As a result, over 1,500 miles of streams have been buried under rubble. This results in farms, homes, and towns falling victim to a lack of clean water, severe floods and erosion.
Mountaintop removal devastates the culture and health of people who live nearby. From asthma to cancer, particulates in the air and toxins in the water affect man and animal alike. By burning coal, we are condemning 33 million people in the Southeast to live in areas whose air quality has been deemed bad. Children are developing asthma and other lung disorders at increasing rates. While coal burning negatively impacts everyone’s lungs, its effects are more profound in children because their lungs are still developing. Studies have shown children who grow up breathing bad air average 10 percent less lung capacity. Coal combustion exposes us to mercury and other toxins that find their way into our food, water and air. Environmental effects of burning coal range from accelerating climate change to reducing visibility in Great Smoky Mountain National Park 60 percent in the last 60 years.
Contributing to the solution rather than the problem is actually pretty simple. You can demand that TVA use more renewable power and less conventional power by participating in the Green Power Switch, a program that funds development of wind, solar and methane power. Their progress shows they are willing to make a shift in production, but it requires a shift in consumer consciousness. When we create the demand, they will generate more electricity from green sources.
You can also reduce the amount of electricity TVA generates by reducing your own consumption. Efficient light bulbs and appliances pay for themselves quickly, and there are several simple, low-cost tips that can be implemented to save additional energy. When combined, these efficiency techniques can add up to quite a bit of displaced coal combustion and save you money on your electricity bill, which you can then invest in Green Power.
With a little awareness and some research, you can reduce electricity consumption and still have your needs met. My needs are a healthy and promising future for my children, a humbling view from a mountaintop, and a life that does not jeopardize anything or anyone around me. These are my demands. What are yours?

McBee is a senior at Maryville College majoring in psychology.

Spirit of the law

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 02:26:00 +0000

Appalachian State University astronomer Dan Caton is moving closer to installing a remote camera in Linville Gorge in hopes of documenting the legendary Brown Mountain Lights. Since the gorge is a federal wilderness area, mechanical devices are not allowed; however, the Forest Service has published notice that it intends to perform an environmental assessment of the proposal. The camera would require a power source, with solar panels or a small wind turbine possible, a vandalproof mount and a wireless Internet link. Sightings of strange lights in the area date back centuries, but the lights have never been captured on film. Caton believes the lights may be a natural electrical phenomenon called ball lightning. Legend says they are the spirits of Cherokee warriors or their mourning lovers.

Much ado about pipes

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:32:00 +0000

by Rikki Hall

Under pressure from the federal government and the City of Knoxville, Knox County finally passed a new stormwater ordinance intended to protect waterways from silt and other pollutants coming from developed land. The ordinance expands buffers around streams and allows developers to use low-impact site planning and building designs in stormwater management plans. Commissioners Tony Norman and Greg “Lumpy” Lambert gave dueling speeches from the podium to preface deliberations. Norman, a former biology teacher, emphasized the importance of clean water to the community, while Lambert stressed the economic impact of development. Norman proposed raising the minimum fine from $50 to $1,000 but was voted down. Lambert offered several amendments. He tried to remove federally mandated language about endangered species, claiming “environmental extremists” had put it there. His amendment loosening restrictions on pipes installed in public rights of way was adopted by the commission. Confusion reigned briefly during the meeting when John Valliant, head of the Home Builders Association, spoke to commission about “our amendments,” until he clarified that he was referring to the amendments offered by Commissioner Lambert. City officials, promised a stronger ordinance by Knox County in 2001, contemplated whether to sue over delays and weaknesses in the ordinance, and city council passed a resolution condemning the new regulations.

Modern moonshiners in Georgia

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:29:00 +0000

by Rikki Hall

The first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant is being built in Georgia. Range Fuels broke ground on a plant that will eventually generate 100 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year. Wood waste will be the primary feedstock, but the plant can also handle waste paper, fruit pits and other sources of cellulose. Rather than fermenting sugars or using enzymes to break down cellulose, the plant will use a cheaper, patented thermochemical process to convert fibers to ethanol. The plant is in Treutlen County, between Macon and Savannah, and the company expects to open more like it throughout the region.

Red List released

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 16:29:00 +0000

by Amanda Womac

Over the course of Earth’s history there have been five significant mass extinctions, according to Dr. Jack Sepkoski and Dr. David Raup in a 1982 paper titled “Mass extinctions in the marine fossil record,” published in the journal “Science.” The first great extinction took place around 440 million years ago and wiped out 85 percent of marine animal species. In the second, known as the Late Devonian extinction, nearly 70 percent of species were eliminated over a prolonged period of time, possibly 20 million years. Earth’s largest extinction occurred about 245 million years ago. Up to 95 percent of all animals were lost in what is known as the Permian-Triassic extinction, or the “Great Dying.” Sea creatures suffered most in the fourth mass extinction, which took place 200 million years ago.
The most familiar mass extinction took place 65 million years ago during the Cretaceous-Paleocene transition, in which three-quarters of all species, including dinosaurs, were eliminated. Possible causes for these extinctions are volcanic eruptions, meteorites colliding with the Earth and a changing climate. Biological diversity and richness took upwards of 10 million years to recover, yet once a species is gone, it is gone forever. Most biologists, including E.O. Wilson, renowned Harvard University professor, believe we are moving toward another mass extinction that could wipe out half of all species on the planet in the next 100 years. Although climate factors into the equation for the upcoming extinction, finger point at one single species as the cause for the massacre: humans.
The current extinction rate is 1,000 to 10,000 times faster than extinction rates over the past 60 million years. For most of geological history, new species evolved faster than existing species disappeared, so biological diversity increases. Now, however, evolution is falling behind and humans are the main culprit. Scientists estimate that 10-15 million species inhabit the planet today, yet thousands of modern species have been lost for good, some before scientists even discover them. Across the globe, consumption drives habitat destruction and fuels extinction. What people need to survive and what people want are fused and muddled by cultural conditioning. Industry manufactures cheap, plastic crap most people throw away in five years and replace with an equally cheap, plastic piece of crap, which prolongs a cycle of consumption that is killing other species.

State of the Species
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), now known as World Conservation Union, released the 2007 Red List of Endangered Species Sept. 12. According to the list, 16,306 species are threatened with extinction, up from 16,118 last year. The total number of recently extinct species has reached 785, and 65 species are only found in captivity or in cultivation. One in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all amphibians and 70 percent of the world’s assessed plants are in jeopardy.
“This year’s IUCN Red List shows that the invaluable efforts made so far to protect species are not enough,” said Julia Marton- Lefèvre, director general of the IUCN. “The rate of biodiversity loss is increasing, and we need to act now to significantly reduce it and stave off this global extinction crisis. This can be done, but only with a concerted effort by all levels of society.”
The IUCN began in 1948 following an internationial conference in Fontainebleau, France, and brings together 83 states, 110 government agencies, more than 800 nonprofit organizations and 10,000 scientists and experts from 181 countries. Its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland.
Species vanish due to a number of different factors, but the most pressing is loss of habitat. Most species on the Red List have lost over half of their habitat and breeding grounds. Resource extraction displaces many species and hampers reproduction. Invasive species contribute to species decline. Global trade provides plenty of opportunities for non-native species to invade.
American chestnuts thrived in Eastern forests until a fungus arrived on ship from Asia in 1904 causing a blight that destroyed most chestnut trees by 1950. Other species have suffered the same plight and face similar futures unless humans curtail habitat destruction and prevent invasions.

Gorillas and seeweeds, goodbye
According to the Red List, groups threatened with extinction include humans relatives. The western lowland gorilla has moved from endangered to critically endangered, decimated by hunting for bushmeat markets and the deadly Ebola virus. Population numbers have decreased more than 60 percent over the past 20 years, and scientists worry gorillas will not be around too much longer.
“Great apes are our closest living relatives and very special creatures,” Russ Mittermeier, head of IUCN’s Primate Specialist Group, said in an interview with the Associated Press. “We could fit all the remaining great apes in the world into two or three large football stadiums. There just aren’t very many left.”
The Sumatran orangutan is listed as critically endangered, and the Bornean orangutan is endangered. Both species are threatened by habitat loss due to logging, legal and illegal, and forest clearance for palm oil plantations.
For the first time in history, coral has been added to the Red List. Ten species of coral located in the Galapagos Islands were listed, with two in the critically endangered category. Climate change is a major factor in coral decline. Seventy-five various seaweeds from the same region have been added. Warming water inhibits cold-loving varieties, and overfishing removes predators from the food chain, resulting in an increase in sea urchins and other herbivores.
In Asia, the Yangtze river dolphin is listed as critically endangered, possibly extinct. India and Nepal’s gharial, a large aquatic reptile, is critically endangered due to habitat loss. A population decline of 58 percent over the past 10 years caused by dams, irrigation projects, sand mining and artificial embankments, has reduced its domain to two percent of its former range.
In North America, 723 species of reptiles were added to the IUCN’s Red List. Ninety percent of these are threatened with extinction. Vultures are in crisis due to a drug used to treat livestock. Almost 10,000 species of birds are listed. Over 12,000 plants are on the Red List, and the Malaysian herb, wooly-stalked begonia, has been declared extinct.
Although the outlook is grim for many species, biodiversity and conservation are gaining momentum. Conservation networks are working to enact policies that preserve habitat. Public awareness is up, and a newer generation wants to ensure biodiversity in the future. As we move forward, words of E.O. Wilson ring as true to today as in 1985:
“The worst thing that can happen during the 1980s is not energy depletion, economic collapse, limited nuclear war, or conquest by a totalitarian government. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired within a few generations. The one process ongoing in the 1980s that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly that our descendents are least likely to forgive us.”

For a complete listing of species, see
www.iucnredlist.org

Changing climate

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 18:55:00 +0000

by Rikki Hall

All of East Tennessee as well as adjacent counties in Virginia and North Carolina fell into exceptional drought conditions, the National Weather Service’s worst designation. Streams flows hit record lows, with data extending back a century and beyond, and smaller tributary streams went dry. Campfires were banned in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and in National Forests in North Carolina, where burned acreage was four times above average just over half way through the year. Lightning also ignited several fires in Tennessee National Forests. Wells and farm ponds dried up, and a gnat-borne disease killed deer forced to drink from stagnant water. Water levels behind some dams dropped below winter levels, though TVA had been releasing only enough water to maintain minimum flows in the main channel since February. Hydropower production was down 40 percent, and both coal and nuclear generators had to be temporarily shut down at the height of summer because the river could not absorb the heat in their effluent. Corn crops failed, trees were stressed, and wetlands sported cracked mud and dead cattails. Forecasters warned that it will take a year or more of average to above-average rains to recharge the water table.

Kiwis purchase Pigeon River paper mill

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 19:01:00 +0000

by Rikki Hall

Blue Ridge Paper Products, which owned the former Champion International paper mill in Canton, N.C., was purchased by a New Zealand firm, Rank Group, for $338 million. Rank owns Evergreen Packaging of Pine Bluff, Ark. and announced that it would merge operations of the two mills. Blue Ridge Paper moved its headquarters from Canton to Memphis and shed its chief executive and other officers. Employees owned 39 percent of Blue Ridge Paper, but they were bought out for $750 each in the sale.

Plastic bags get sacked

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:32:00 +0000

by Beth Buczynski

We all have them balled up and tucked into drawers, cupboards and closets around our homes. In Africa, they are jokingly referred to as the national flower because of their tendency to spring up just about anywhere: petroleum-based plastic bags.
These conveniently handled sacks carry our groceries and line our bathroom wastebaskets. They also litter our streets, clog our sewers, choke our wildlife and poison our soil and water, not to mention taking copious amounts of oil to produce and up to 1,000 years to break down in our landfills.
Earlier this year, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to take legislative action outlawing the use of plastic bags and requiring the city’s 54 largest grocery stores and pharmacies to use only compostable or recyclable bags.
Other cities like Boston, Annapolis, Baltimore and Los Angeles are considering similar legislation. Bags have already been outlawed in Taiwan, South Africa and Bangladesh.
In March of 2002, the Republic of Ireland became the first nation to impose a tax on the almost 1.2 billion plastic bags used in that country annually. Known as the PlasTax, the levy requires retailers to collect 15 cents for every plastic bag distributed at the point of sale.
According to a press release issued by Ireland’s Department of the Environment and Local Government in January 2002, the tax was intended to encourage use of reusable bags and to change people’s attitudes toward litter and pollution. Following the introduction of the PlasTax, annual consumption of plastic bags dropped to 230 million, an almost 90 percent drop saving almost 18 million liters of oil.
According to San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, a per-bag tax similar to the one instituted by Ireland would be a practical solution to decreasing bag use and covering costs of the managing waste stream. “In San Francisco, we considered this [tax] in 2005 but instead entered into a voluntary agreement with the grocery lobby,” Mirkarimi wrote in an April editorial in “USA Today.” “Not only did they fail to meet the terms of our agreement, they disingenuously helped engineer legislation to prohibit California cities from charging fees to recuperate costs associated with plastic bags.”
Opponents of the San Francisco ban cite the high cost of producing compostable bags (10 cents versus one cent per plastic bag) and difficulty of recycling (compostable bags must be segregated from regular plastic) as reasons why the ban will be ineffective.
In an NPR interview in March, Peter Larkin, president of the California Grocers Association, which lobbied against the ban, said member stores already have an active plastic-bag recycling program.
“In our opinion, it will frustrate our efforts to continue to reduce, reuse and recycle carry-out bags,” Larkin said. “Second, it will raise the cost of doing business for us, which will translate into increased costs for the consumers. It may unintentionally lead to the use of paper bags only, which would increase waste.”
But is recycling really a viable solution? Despite valiant efforts from state and local governments and some businesses, barely one percent of the 380 billion plastic bags distributed annually throughout the United States end up the recycling bins, according to the EPA. The rate of paper bag recycling is higher, about 10 to 15 percent, but paper bags generate 70 percent more air pollutants and 50 times more water pollution than plastic bags.
So how do we solve the paper-or-plastic riddle? The answer is neither. Many environmentally conscious consumers are turning to high quality, reusable bags and totes to help them shop and carry items more sustainably. Demand for these bags has created a flourishing business for online companies like www.reusablebags.com and www.clothbag.com., whic offer canvas, hemp and burlap bags in every size, shape and style. If you are not keen on rushing out to invest in a brand new reusable bag, this is a great time to examine that cupboard full of plastic bags in a whole new light.

Putting the new back in nuclear

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 19:04:00 +0000

by Rikki Hall

The Tennessee Valley Authority board decided to complete construction of Watts Bar Unit 2 nuclear reactor, which was started in 1972 but scuttled in 1985 as TVA’s reactors proved consistently more expensive to build and operate than had been projected, plunging the agency billions of dollars into debt. In 2001, TVA wrote off as a loss the $1.7 billion already spent on Watts Bar Unit 2. Completion of the reactor is projected to cost $2.49 billion and take five years, according to a $20-million study by Bechtel Power Corp. and a consortium of contractors likely to bid on the construction contract. The reactor will generate 1,180 megawatts of electricity when operational. An environmental review of the project concluded it would have no significant impact, mining, enrichment and disposal of the spent fuel falling outside the scope of the review. As with Unit 1, in operation since 1996, the reactor will draw millions of gallons of water from Watts Bar Reservoir as a coolant, then return the heated water to the reservoir.

Cash in or clean up

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 16:27:00 +0000

by Joel Smithson

Russian explorers manning the deep submergence vehicle Mir-1 traveled two and a half miles under the North Pole on August 2, planting a rust-proof titanium flag on the seabed to symbolize their nation’s claim to a chunk of the Arctic half the size of Western Europe.
The mission was the first in history to reach the staggering depths of the polar seabed, but the scientific victory was undermined by a fierce political agenda: an estimated 25 percent of the world’s oil reserves are trapped in the seafloor under the frozen ice sheets.
Other Arctic nations have no intention of standing idly by while Russia reaps the benefits of the melting ice, especially while the planet writhes in the grip of an energy crisis. Norway, Denmark, Canada, and the United States immediately disputed Russia’s claim to the 463,000 square miles of international territory, but Russian leaders are resolute to maintain an aggressive stance.
“The Arctic is ours and we should manifest our presence,” Artur Chilingarov, deputy chairman of the Russian Duma, said after the Russian parliament called for construction of Arctic airfields and reinforcement of Russia’s northern naval fleet to “ensure full control.” Russia filed a claim with the United Nations in 2001 to expand its ocean territory beyond the 200 miles established by the Law of the Seas Treaty. Russia aims to prove that the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater mountain range stretching from Russia to Greenland, is an extension of Russia’s continental shelf, essentially extending Russia’s oceanic borders up to the North Pole. The U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf neither accepted or rebuked Russia’s claim in 2001, demanding further study before they would make a decision. Russia plans to resubmit the claim and expects an answer by 2010.
Russia’s threatening stance is reminiscent of the totalitarian state that postured against the Western world during the Cold War. Since the polar flag was planted, a sense of urgency has spread through other Arctic nations. Plans for exploratory missions and a military presence in the Arctic have already been initiated to counter Russian efforts. Denmark launched an exploratory mission on August 13, two weeks after Russia fired the starting gun. The Danes intend to collect data to support a counterclaim to Russia’s declared sovereignty over the Lomonosov Ridge, since it also connects to Greenland’s continental shelf. Greenland is a Danish territory.
In reaction to the Danish mission, on Aug. 10 Canada’s prime minister Stephan Harper announced plans to build two new military bases in the far north, saying Canada has a “real, growing, long term presence in the Arctic.” Tension between Canada and Denmark traces back to 2005, when Canada sent two warships to Hans Island, an unclaimed rock in the waters between the two nations, to stifle Danish missions in the region. The ensuing standoff puzzled scientists, since studies of the region show no signs of oil near the island.
The United States has the weakest claim to the Arctic. Only Alaska’s northern coast is in the Arctic Circle, and there are no underwater mountain chains leading into international territory from Alaska’s continental shelf. Some political analysts suggest the U.S. should support claims of other Arctic nations and lead a cooperative, multinational campaign to establish a Western presence, resisting Russian tenacity.
“The U.S. and its allies are not interested in a new Cold War in the Arctic,” said Ariel Cohen, senior research fellow for the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies. “A crisis over Russian claims in the Arctic is avoidable if Russia is prepared to behave in a more civilized manner.”
One day after the United States launched a four-week research mission to map the Arctic seafloor, Norway called for a halt to the race. Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Stoere urged Arctic nations to remember that international laws and procedures exist to properly handle territorial disputes. “If anybody is under the belief that we solve this by racing up there with flags or other demonstrations of sovereignty, those who say that are wrong and they should be told they are wrong,” Stoere said. “There is no need to see this as a race, it is not the way you settle these kind of issues.”
No nation involved shows any sign of slowing their campaigns, however. Unlike Antarctica, whose territory remains international under the Antarctic Treaty, no such treaty exists in the Arctic. The opportunity to claim sovereignty, coupled with diminishing energy reserves and increasing impacts of climate change, is propelling the conflict.
The race for the prize is causing alarm in environmental communities as well. Groups such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Polar Heritage Committee are urging political leaders to look at scientific data showing impending, irreparable damage if climate change is ignored. “The big melt has begun,” Jennifer Morgan, climate change director of the WWF, said. “[Industrial nations] must cut emissions of CO2 now.”
Scientists say global warming is causing polar ice caps to heat up faster than the rest of the planet because of feedback loops. The 2004 Arctic Climate Impact Report (ACIA) explained how exponential effects could leave the Arctic free of ice during summer by 2070. More recent studies by McGill University suggest it could happen by 2040. Snow and ice in polar regions reflect 80 to 90 percent of solar radiation back into space. As these reflective surfaces shrink, more solar radiation is absorbed by the underlying land or sea. The extra heat causes further melting, accelerating the impact.
Pal Prestrud, vice chairman of the steering committee for the ACIA, said melting ice is a threat to all Arctic species, most notably polar bears. Polar bears hunt their primary prey, the ringed seal, on ice sheets. Loss of hunting grounds has bears scavenging in rural communities, where they may be wounded or killed. Higher infant mortality rates foreshadow a bleak future for the emblematic polar carnivore.
Scientists speculate that if emissions are not curtailed, polar bears will be extinct in the wild by the end of the century.
“Polar bears are walking on thin ice,” Samantha Smith, director of WWF’s Arctic program said. No pun intended.
Indigenous Arctic people are airing grievances as well. The Inuit of northern Canada have become frustrated with the lack of preventative action by industrial nations, particularly the United States, which is responsible for roughly one quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. “We know the planet is melting and with it our vibrant culture, our way of life,” Shiela Watt-Cloutier, chairwoman of the Inuit Circumpolar Committee, said. In 2004, Watt-Cloutier announced to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights her people’s intention to sue the U.S. “Europeans understand this issue, but in America the public know little or nothing, and politicians are in denial.”
Though awareness has increased over the years, the recent race for Arctic territory does not foretell efforts to curb emissions. Instead, international oil interests are poised on the starting line, waiting for the ice to melt.

Powering Southwest Virginia

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:27:00 +0000

by Rikki Hall

Dominion Virginia Power sought permission from the state to build a state-of-the-art coal plant in Wise County, Va. The plant, projected to begin operations in 2012, would feature emissions controls and sequestration, air cooling to limit water use, a modern coal-burning process and the ability to blend biomass and low-quality coal into the fuel. To qualify for state incentives, the plant will burn coal mined in Virginia, where surface-mining techniques like mountaintop removal are employed. The 585-megawatt plant would provide 75 permanent jobs, power 146,000 homes and draw 800,000 gallons of water from the Clinch River daily.

Life imitates the Simpsons

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 18:59:00 +0000

by Rikki Hall

An annual report to Congress revealed that a spill of highly enriched uranium at Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin occurred on March 6, 2006. Several gallons of uranium hexafluoride spilled inside an improperly sealed glovebox and leaked out under a door, drawing the attention of a supervisor. The situation posed a risk of triggering a chain reaction that could have killed workers or released radiation. The incident was kept secret by use of a national-security classification intended to shield the company’s manufacture of fuel for the Navy’s nuclear submarines, but the spill was unrelated to that effort. Instead, the weapons-grade uranium was being diluted for use at TVA’s Browns Ferry reactor. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) changed the terms of the company’s license after the spill and gave the public 20 days to request a hearing on the change, but the notice itself was kept secret. The inappropriate secrecy led Congress and the NRC to review how nuclear information is handled nationwide. Nuclear Fuel Services has also spilled uranium off site in recent years while transporting materials to or from other facilities.

Fire, flowers and butterflies

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:25:00 +0000

by Rikki Hall

An entomologist with the Southern Research Station in Athens, Ga. received the first annual Karner Blue Excellence in Pollinator Management award. Dr. James Hanula showed prescribed burns in Appalachian hardwood forests help pollinators, including the rare Diana fritillary, a large butterfly whose caterpillars feed on violets. Both numbers and varieties of beneficial insects increased after fires. Hanula also documented higher pollinator diversity after privet eradication efforts. Privet is an invasive shrub. The award, named for an endangered butterfly, will be presented yearly to an individual affiliated with the U.S. Forest Service.

Tarheels lead the way

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 19:34:00 +0000

by Rikki Hall

North Carolina passed the first renewable energy bill in the Southeast, requiring utilities to generate 12.5 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2021, echoing a bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly this year calling for 12 percent renewable power by 2022. The requirement will be phased in gradually, with the first milestone coming in 2012, when power generators will need three percent of their portfolio to be renewable. Renewable power sources include wind, solar and biofuels, and up to five percent of the ultimate target can be satisfied by energy-conservation initiatives. To obtain industry support, the legislature added a provision to the bill that allows utilities to pass along costs for new coal-fired plants to consumers before the plants begin operation. The state’s pork industry also had animal wastes, an unproven fuel, included as a biofuel.

Dust bowl ballads

noreply@blogger.com (Hellbender Staff) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:26:00 +0000

By Jack Rentfro
With a historic drought creating dusty conditions at this year’s Bonnaroo, the entertainment leviathan that sets a new standard for massive, outdoor celebrations found its environmental values even more poignant.
By the end of the four-day festival in June, a “Dust Bowl” evocative of the legendary dust storms that hit the country during the Depression had enveloped the 800-acre rural site between Chattanooga and Nashville. Unavoidable shuffling of all those feet (and some mechanized traffic) pounded parched fields of the newly purchased Coffee County pastureland outside modestly rustic Manchester into a talcum-powder consistency. Water trucks patrolled pathways, wetting them down to minimize dust did as best they could.
Amid desert conditions in the week before summer officially began—sinus and lung problems notwithstanding—most of the 80,000-plus who gathered to catch 150 music, comedy and theatrical acts probably could not wait to do it again next year.
While scientists and politicians dither about the reality of climate change, its relationship to air pollution and where to place the blame, the fact is that farmers and others attuned to the land know full well things are out of kilter. Seasons come with increasingly erratic weather. This year, a late, killing frost, lack of rain and the kind of heat that usually does not come until the dog days of August will ruin many small farmers.
As a 50-year dry spell moved from what the National Weather Service terms “extreme” to “exceptional,” the Bonnaroo festival increased its commitment to reducing waste, recycling as much as possible and conserving energy. Sustainable living and reducing our “carbon footprint” may be watchwords of the day, but the overarching cause fostered by Bonnaroo is addressing the problem of global warming.

Greening of Bonnaroo
Bonnaroo claims to be the “greenest festival on earth.” Content at its web site asks “all of our fans at Bonnaroo to help counteract global warming and the devastation of our environment … the only way to do this is to get the word out there and find both big and small solutions we can implement in our everyday lives. It’s the toughest challenge of our generation, but we have a chance to make the difference. All we need is leadership, and we look to our Bonnaroo community to provide it.”
In the weeks building up to the event, ticketholders were emailed regular “green” tips advising them to reduce fuel consumption and prepare for recycling opportunities. This even included packing and camping tips like foregoing frivolous party items like balloons and silly string.
Throughout the expansive festival area—from the main hive of shops, stages and other facilities called Centeroo to the surrounding campgrounds and parking areas—55-gallon barrels were set up for garbage and recyclables. Because drought creates brushfire conditions, campers were forbidden to have open fires. Grilling was permitted, but only with careful supervision. Plenty of paint buckets labeled “Butts” were set out for smokers. Campers entering the site were handed waste collection bags color-coded for garbage and recyclables. Increasingly, Bonnaroo uses higher percentages of recycled paper for everything from posters to the tissue in the port-a-potties. Official T-shirts are high in organic cotton content. Paints are increasingly non-volatile organic compound (VOC) based. Fuel cells, biodiesel, solar and wind power were used to the utmost for on-site electricity and transportation purposes. For example, the stage called the Solar Stage was powered completely by electricity generated by solar panels.
The ideal for the festival itself is a large-scale application of the backcountry hikers’ code to “leave no trace,” to leave it as you found it.
An area called “Planet Roo” was set up so various environmental and progressive causes could set up shop among the merry-goers. In addition to these on-the-ground efforts to reduce pollution and promote resource conservation, the Bonnaroo website was a platform for several environmental causes and programs.
Hellbender Press assistant editor Amanda Womac was one of the “Green Ambassadors” working a booth at Planet Roo. This group of 14 volunteers was a new addition to Planet Roo, giving festival goers even more opportunities to learn about and participate in a variety of causes.
“With the introduction of Planet Roo in 2003, festival goers have numerous opportunities to learn more about ecological and social justice issues including mountaintop removal, sustainable living, renewable energy and human rights violations across the planet,” Womac said. “Within this green space, a vibe of sustainability is created not only through the sounds of the Solar Stage, powered completely by solar energy, but also through the efforts each nonprofit organization puts forth to give festival goers a unique opportunity to get involved on site.”

Clean Vibes, man
Clean Vibes, a company set up specifically to manage waste at large, outdoor events, does the grunt work at Bonnaroo. Clean Vibes got its start working festivals fronted by jam-band favorite Phish in the 1990s. Some of those original staffers stayed on to work all six Bonnaroos. From the outset, Clean Vibes diverted from landfills and incinerators as much of Bonnaroo’s total waste as possible. The percentage has increased steadily each year.
At the time she was interviewed, Clean Vibes owner Anna Borofsky had just returned home from the site and was hours away from seeing the job completed. “Diverting as much waste as possible from the landfill and educating folks about the importance of reducing and recycling are at the core of our mission and values,” she said.
Borofsky said as bad as the dust was with regard to on-site living conditions, she preferred dry weather to wet, particularly “the torrential rains for weeks straight like we had in 2004! The drought definitely affected the air quality around the site, which affected the lungs and sinuses of our crew. I’m still recovering from the congestion myself.
“Obviously we are going to see an increase in the extreme weather fluctuations in the coming years, and this has a direct impact on the event as concert goers and staff alike are directly effected by extreme weather, since the event is basically a temporary city where almost everyone lives outside.”
Asked how long it takes to clean up an area the size—and almost the condition of—a battlefield where scores of thousands have partied for four days, Borofsky explained that it typically takes 10 days to two and a half weeks. “We should be fully packed up and out of there by the end of today (June 27), which means this will be record time for clean-up. We cleaned up the 2002 event in 10 days, but the site was significantly smaller then, as it did not include several hundred acres across the road from the main property, which have been used since 2004.” Borofsky went on to say the crew this year totaled 100-140 professional personnel and up to 175 volunteers.
The results of these efforts were tangible in terms of recycled waste returned to productivity. Said Borofsky: “Here’s what we have tallied so far: 300 tons (about 100 tons more than last year) went to the WastAway facility in Morrison that takes waste and makes landscaping and construction materials out of it. More than five tons of aluminum has gone to CFC recycling in Tullahoma. There should be about one more ton of aluminum collected. Coffee County Recycling in Tullahoma has received almost 15 tons of cardboard. About 5,000 pounds of scrap metals have gone to CFC as well. One very full, 40-cubic yard roll-off (a dumpster-like trucking container) of food waste will be going to a facility in Middle Tennessee for composting.”
Borofsky said figures for plastics, which are categorized by grades (those numbers you see on the bottom of plastic bottles), were imminent but not yet available. For comparison, she said, “last year we had 16,980 pounds of PET (No. 1); 1,620 pounds of No. 2; 500 pounds of No. 6 cups, and 4,720 pounds of No. 4 plastic bags.
“We will recycle more than 65 percent of the material produced by the event and that’s better than last year’s 56 percent. We can only hope that we divert even more in ‘08.”
Out of the debris-strewn temporary city’s litter, only 164 tons of sheer garbage was bound for landfills.
With two recycling facilities in Coffee County, the local economy profits from the efforts of Clean Vibes and festival attendees who disposed of their trash responsibly.
“Coca-Cola is buying the No. 1 plastic directly from Coffee County to process back into soda bottles in their plant in South Carolina,” Borofsky said. “The waste hauler who handles all of our trash and recycling hauling is Richardson Waste Removal, a small, family-owned business out of Fayetteville. WastAway is in Morrison and McMinnville and they certainly benefit from the material we bring them.”

Dawning of a new era
AC Entertainment (ACE), the music promotion company started in 1991 by Knoxville entertainment impresario Ashley Capps, has a partner in New Orleans-based Superfly Productions. Stemming from their work together promoting jazz festivals, the two businesses have co-produced Bonnaroo since its inception in 2002.
Meanwhile, plans forge ahead for the future of Bonnaroo. Carey Archer, ACE chief operating officer, told Hellbender Press, “the entire Bonnaroo team, from the partners to the department heads, all feel very strongly about greening the event. We all play a very important role with regard to the people and departments we each touch when it comes to assessing the impact our areas have on the environment and figuring out how we can lessen our environmental impact in as many ways as reasonably possible.”
Big Hassle, a New York City-based company that handles publicity for the event, said ways to make next year’s Bonnaroo even more environmentally friendly are being “aggressively sought.”
The Manchester Times reported June 26 on a development that might alleviate dust problems at future events: paving of some gravel roads around the Bonnaroo site.
The paper reported that Big Hassle told local officials “the sky is the limit” for the 530.57 acres purchased in March by New Era Farms (a partnership of ACE and Superfly Productions) for $8.68 million. Peripheral acreage that is part of the overall Bonnaroo site is leased.
“Currently, we are bringing in engineers and architects from all over the world to look and tell us what we can do,” Big Hassle’s Jeff Cuellar was quoted as saying. “We are looking at other events such as an arts festival or monster truck rally, but we haven’t determined what we are going to do yet.”
The same edition of The Manchester Times reported the “exceptional” drought is working its way up from Alabama, where farmers are giving up on this year’s growing season due to the dryness of the soil. In the past century, according to the records of the Tullahoma Utilities Board, average rainfall for the area in June is 4.04 inches. Only 0.13 inches had fallen in June as the month neared its end. Water restrictions in some towns were imminent.