Archive for the ‘Environmental Assessment’ Category
Legislation kept ‘e-waste’ out of state’s landfills
Legislation banned most TVs and computer monitors from Michigan dumps to reduce pollution started in 2006.
Cathode ray tubes, are the guts inside a standard television or computer monitor. An average CRT has 15 pounds to 20 pounds of lead, according to Garrett Jones, sales manager at Great Lakes Electronics Recycling, a Detroit-based business.
That lead - plus smaller amounts of mercury, cadmium and other toxic metals - is what state Rep. Chris Kolb, D-Ann Arbor, wants to keep from polluting the land, air and water.
Ingested lead causes brain damage, and researchers say U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards prove CRTs leak lead from landfills. Read the rest of this entry »
Trash talk: Majority of Council opposed state garbage bill
The Michigan Legislature can’t refuse trash from Canada or other states, due to rules governing interstate commerce and free trade agreements.
But, it can devise plans to limit or even reduce the amount of waste brought into the Great Lakes State.
The Legislature is considering a number of laws that would provide greater protection to Michigan’s natural resources and to residents dependent on those resources. Senate Bill 721 is one of those vehicles.
The key element in the proposal is a $3 increase in the tipping fees charged at landfills. Read the rest of this entry »
House bill includes funds for Finger Lakes
Boehlert hopes to secure $2.7 million for the Grape Genetics Research Center and Laboratory at Cornell University’s Agriculture & Food Technology Park in Geneva. The funding would help secure USDA scientists to work with Cornell scientists to establish and coordinate a national, concentrated grape research program.
A portion of the funds would be used to design and prepare a building to house the grape research center.
Walsh said the appropriations bill reflects his work to bring money to much needed areas of Wayne County. The appropriations bill includes more than $200,000 for projects at Newark-Wayne Community Hospital in Newark and $100,000 to Wayne County for a feasibility study at the former Newark Developmental Center in Newark. Read the rest of this entry »
Hiking trail extension gets boost
The commission, in an informal vote, asked the City Council to approve a permit for the trail with the Superior Hiking Trail Association. The association, which will build and maintain the trail, also has to get approval from St. Louis County and some private landowners.
“Duluth is known as one of the most forested cities in the United States,” said Richard Gitar, a hiker and an association volunteer. “This would enhance that reputation.”
The trail would be about 40 miles long, almost all of that on public land. It would wind from Fond du Lac to Hawk Ridge through woods, along streets and to and from scenic outlooks along Duluth’s craggy ridgeline. Read the rest of this entry »
Weak standards compromise a generation’s health
Great Lakes fish lovers have long awaited controls on the mercury that falls into the water from the smoke of coal-fired power plants. An unconscionably weak proposal coming from the Bush administration meant, the wait will be at least couple of decade longer.
Mercury works its way up the aquatic food chain and into the human body in a toxic form. The threat is especially great to the offspring of women who have high levels of mercury — hence the advisories that urge women of child-bearing age and children to space out some fish meals and avoid others completely. Read the rest of this entry »
House panel approves shoreline bill
The House could vote on a bill to settle a property dispute between state officials and Lake Erie homeowners, despite protests from environmentalists and the Department of Natural Resources.
Committee approved the measure by a 12-1 count. Chairwoman Rep. Nancy Hollister, R-Marietta, said she expects the bill will be put up for a full House vote.
The bill establishes permitting procedures for all structures built past the lake’s high water mark and declares public property to begin “where the waters of Lake Erie make contact with the land.” Read the rest of this entry »
Indiana has worst mercury site.
A 22-square-mile area north of Fort Wayne is the most mercury-contaminated spot in the country, according to a report from a national environmental group.
An Environmental Protection Agency study, used to determine mercury “hot spots,” did not identify the source of the pollution. But Michael Shore, a senior policy analyst with Environmental Defense, said power plants in northwest Indiana and the Chicago area are probably behind much of the mercury in Indiana’s hot spot. Read the rest of this entry »
The greening of Ontario
The Ontario Liberals are working overtime on painting their government green in an attempt to return Ontario to the days when its environmental reputation was recognized around the world.
But critics say while it’s a distinct change from the former Conservative government, many of the measures the Liberals have introduced over the past two months amount to feel-good bluster, rather than concrete improvements.
From the mid-1980s to the early ’90s, Ontario’s environmental standards for water, air and land were recognized as some of the best in the world. But after the Tories made drastic cuts to grapple with the deficit in 1995, that reputation soon faltered, and Ontario was suddenly being compared with the likes of Mississippi and Texas when it came to the province’s environmental record. Read the rest of this entry »
Environmental Assessment of off-highway vehicle proposals
As you may know, over the past year, MRR’s Environmental Review Team and collaborating groups has petitioned the DNR to complete initial “Environmental Assessment Worksheets” on DNR off-highway vehicle proposals impacting 40 counties in Central and Northern Minnesota.
To date the DNR has refused these EAW requests for all but the following two projects:
- Moosewalk/Mooserun All-Terrain Vehicle Trail along the North Shore State Trail near Finland in Southern Lake County
- White Earth ATV Trail in Southwestern Clearwater County surrounding Long Lost Lake and five miles from Itasca State Park
Read the rest of this entry »