I've read a number of interesting enviromental stories today, some of national import, and some of state or local interest.
Asbestos. This story, titled "Cheaper Way to Raze Dilapidated Motel Prompts Concern," is from the NY Times. Some quotes:
WASHINGTON, May 24 - Sometime this summer, the city of Fort Worth wants to demolish the asbestos-ridden Cowtown Inn, an abandoned motel that closed 15 years ago and now attracts drug dealers, prostitutes and homeless people.Air Toxics. This story, titled "Abramson proposes toxic air program: Raising polluters' fees is part of $702,000 plan," is from the Louisville Courier Journal. Some quotes:Using a novel method of demolition, workers plan to soak the interior of the building with water to keep asbestos fibers from spreading. Local officials, with some support from E.P.A. officials in Texas, say that this technique could save cities around the country millions of dollars in their efforts to clear out urban blight. Under federal regulations, materials with asbestos must be painstakingly removed before a building is razed.
But E.P.A. scientists, as well as independent outsiders hired by the agency to reach their own judgments, have raised major objections, saying that the wetting technique poses health risks that have been neither adequately studied nor conveyed to people who live and work near the motel.
The mayor said metro government will unveil the new program this summer. [Art Williams, director of the air pollution control district] has said it will go beyond the federal minimum requirements for controlling hazardous air pollutants, a special category identified in the Clean Air Act. Yesterday, metro officials sketched out for the first time what they have in mind. The program will target all 18 chemicals identified in last year's risk assessment, and it will include new "emissions standards." Williams declined to identify those standards or explain how they might work.Sewer bans. This story, also from the Courier Journal, that begins:The mayor said the program would focus on three areas: Helping companies change their processes over time to reduce toxic emissions. Working with companies that want to expand on avoiding increased emission levels. Making sure that companies moving to Louisville comply with new emission standards.
New Albany officials hope they will soon be able to loosen the state and federal restrictions on new connections to the city's sewage system — restrictions that have slowed economic development since last year. As a way of increasing the system's capacity, city officials are proposing to use sewage storage tanks that were built at the treatment plant about 1994 but taken out of use after a few months because of strong odors associated with them.Uncontrolled stormwater runoff. This story from the Gary Post Tribune about Chesterton’s Town Council meeting Monday. This part caught my eye:
Jim Kowalski, a former member of the board of zoning appeals, told the council he had concerns about construction on CR1050 North. “It looks terrible out there,” Kowalski said. “The developer has not attempted to put up any silt fences,” he said. “With all this rain, everything is dumping into the storm sewer. And we’re going to start having problems.”Natural Resources. Complete with photo, this story today in the Chesterton Tribune is about "a print of a painting of 'Howlin’ Hill,' a large turret dune destroyed 40-some years ago for the development of the Port of Indiana." Some quotes:Building Commissioner Mike Orlich said that he had been writing tickets for silt-fence violations. Orlich said he may return to the board with a proposal to amend the town’s ordinance on silt fencing.
It was Herb Read’s favorite place in the Indiana Dunes. Towering 150 feet above lake level, the huge mound of sand known as a turret dune was in a blowout the size of 68 football fields. It stood in a tree graveyard, where 5,000 or so years ago a white pine forest stood before it was buried in sand. It was a dramatic place, with no other place in the Indiana Dunes -- then or now -- like this place, which was known as Howlin’ Hill. “It was not the highest dune, but it was certainly the most spectacular,” Read said. * * *Posted by Marcia Oddi at May 25, 2004 11:17 AMThough Howlin’ Hills is long gone -- it was located about in the center of what is now the Port of Indiana -- its image has been preserved in perpetuity, thanks to Read’s camera and the artistry of Beverly Shores painter David Tutwiler. * * * Read said he wants people to think about three things when they see the work: First, to recognize that beautiful and unique dunes like Howlin’ Hill have been destroyed, representing a lesson of what can happen to natural lands; second, to have a greater appreciation for what has been saved in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Dunes State Park; and third, to resolve, as he has done, to extend protections to the dunes that still exist outside the parks.