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Saturday, September 10, 2005

Environment - Several stories today

Katrina. "Flooded Toxic Waste Sites Are Potential Health Threat" is the headline to this story today in the Washington Post. Some quotes:

Three Superfund toxic waste sites in and around New Orleans were flooded by Hurricane Katrina and one remains underwater, Environmental Protection Agency officials said yesterday, adding that they will soon start investigating whether hazardous materials are leaching into the environment.
* * *

The uncertainties surrounding how the storm affected hazardous waste sites -- EPA administrator Steve Johnson said his agency had yet to determine if any of their protective shields had been degraded -- highlights the challenges facing any future cleanup. The Gulf Coast has long been a magnet for chemical plants and waste dumps, some of which shut down after becoming too contaminated in recent years.

Mercury in Indiana. The front page of the City & State section of the Indianapolis Star today has a photo of an eagle being nursed back to health, after mercury poisoning. Some quotes from the story, by Tammy Webber:
The eagle had elevated mercury levels, marking the first time in Indiana that a bird had been found with mercury poisoning.

Indiana power plants emit the fourth-greatest volume of mercury in the nation, according to a report this week from a national environmental group. The significance of the eagle's health problems, however, is up for debate. * * *

Some Indiana environmentalists say the case bolsters their arguments that the state must adopt strict mercury limits on coal-burning power plants, the greatest source of mercury emissions.

Others, however, say the case raises more questions than answers about how mercury is affecting Indiana's wildlife and, ultimately, the people who live here.

Indiana natural resources officials have no way of knowing whether the eagle's mercury levels were caused by eating Indiana fish. The eagle, a female, is an older bird and might have traveled a great distance, said Mark Pochon, property manager at the state's Hovey Lake Fish and Wildlife Area, whose officers rescued the bird after it was discovered by a farmer.

"She could have picked that up anywhere in country; they're travelers," he said. "Our hope is she picked it up over a very long time, but we will keep looking to see if there are any other (cases)."

Fertilizer from waste.The Louisville Courier Journal's James Bruggers reports today, in a lenthy story:
Meade County farmer Don Hayes was up to his armpits in a field of soybeans, talking up the fertilizer he applied last spring -- a product from Kentucky's largest sewage treatment plant.

"It's done a heck of a job," Hayes said of the Metropolitan Sewer District's Louisville Green fertilizer. "I think definitely the potential is there … and I see that as being an environmental thing. They aren't putting the stuff in the landfill anymore."

Hayes' testimonial, delivered recently by cell phone, illustrates what MSD says is a significant shift in sales for Louisville Green, which was stalled early on by customer complaints that its pellets were smelly, too large for golf courses and sometimes caught fire.

Now, with changes made to reduce odors and lessen the fire risk -- and design of a smaller "greens grade" product for golf courses -- MSD officials and their contract marketer said sales are on an upswing.

And that, officials said, saves MSD ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars every month.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 10, 2005 04:18 PM
Posted to Environment