Is Raleigh's drinking water in danger?

WakeUP, an organization that advocates for sustainable development in Wake County, N.C., will hold a free public forum on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Raleigh's McKimmon Center to discuss pollution in Falls Lake, the main source of drinking water for Raleigh and Eastern Wake communities.

The forum comes as an important rule-making process is underway to clean up the lake, which is currently listed among the state's impaired waters due in large part to pollution caused by runoff from development.

Among the people scheduled to speak are state Rep. Jennifer Weiss, water pollution expert Dr. JoAnn Burkholder of N.C. State University, Raleigh's Assistant Public Utilities Director Kenneth Waldroup, and Environment NC Director Elizabeth Ouzts. For more details and to register, click here.



(Photo of Falls Lake by Sue Sturgis)

Volunteers needed for cleanup before dedication of Raleigh's new Little Rock Greenway

A ceremony to mark the opening of Raleigh's newest stretch of greenway will take place later this month, and the city is looking for volunteers to help clean up the nearby stream beforehand.

On Thursday, Feb. 18, at 5 p.m., the city's Parks and Recreation Department will hold a dedication ceremony for the new Little Rock Greenway at the trail's entrance across from the Walnut Creek Wetland Center at 950 Peterson St. in Southeast Raleigh. This section of the greenway runs between Walnut Creek near the intersection of State and Peterson streets to Chavis Park.

The city is looking for volunteers to help clean up the greenway's adjacent stream -- a tributary of Walnut Creek -- before the dedication ceremony. The cleanup will take place on Saturday, Feb. 13 from 10 a.m. to noon; volunteers are asked to meet at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center. If interested in volunteering, call Cindy Trumbower at 996-3292.

Raleigh taking nominations for environmental awards

The City of Raleigh is now accepting applications for its 2010 Environmental Awards. Application forms, which are available online, are due by Jan. 15, 2010.

Among the awards given out is one that honors an individual or organization that has shown leadership in sustainable development. The other award categories recognize people and groups for raising environmental awareness, lifelong contributions to the environment, natural resource conservation, green design, regional efforts, pioneering work, youth accomplishments, urban stewardship and market transformation.

This year's winners included a 12-year-old who began making rain barrels in his garage during a drought, a high school student who launched a recycling program, and Builders of Hope, a project that diverts construction debris from landfills.

The 2010 awards will be given out at a ceremony to be held on April 22 -- Earth Day -- at Marbles Kids Museum. For more information, contact Cindy Holmes at 996-4285 or e-mail cindy.holmes@ci.raleigh.nc.us.

Raleigh protests planned against Duke Energy's new coal plant, for climate leadership

Raleigh is the site of two upcoming protests related to the climate crisis -- one targeting Duke Energy's proposed rate hike to build a new coal-fired power plant, and the other calling for stronger climate leadership from North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue.



A rally opposing Duke Energy's request for a 13.5 percent residential rate increase is set for Monday, Oct. 19 at noon on the mall outside the Dobbs Building at 430 N. Salisbury St. The event is scheduled to take place immediately before a 1 p.m. hearing of the North Carolina Utilities Commission on the rate hike proposal.

Duke Energy is requesting the rate increase in part to pay $1 billion in upfront costs for a new coal-fired power plant under construction at its Cliffside facility in Rutherford County, N.C. If approved, the rate increase would come on top of a 4.5 percent rate hike for fuel costs that the N.C. Public Utilities Commission recently OK'd.

Though Raleigh residents are not served by Charlotte-based Duke Energy, they will be affected by pollution from the new 800-megawatt Cliffside plant. The facility is expected to emit over 6 million tons of carbon dioxide annually as well as considerable amounts of toxic air pollution.

The Oct. 19 rally is being organized by the Stop Cliffside campaign, a network of grassroots groups including the N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and N.C. Interfaith Power & Light.

N.C. WARN recently filed a legal intervention with the state Utilities Commission over Duke Energy's plans to sell power to new customers in South Carolina. Duke had originally said the new Cliffside unit was critical for handling growth within its existing service area.

Anyone who has not testified at the previous hearings regarding Duke Energy's proposed rate hike is eligible to speak at the hearing, and speakers are asked to limit testimony to no more than three minutes. People can also submit comments in writing via e-mail to Utilities Commission Chair Ed Finley at finley@ncuc.net. Reference docket number E-7 Sub909.

In other news on climate action in Raleigh, there will be a March for Climate Leadership on Saturday, Oct. 24, the International Day of Climate Action. The march will begin at 2 p.m. with a gathering in Moore Square downtown at the corner of South Blount and East Hargett streets, followed by a 3 p.m. march up Wilmington Street to the parking lot across from the Governor's Mansion on East Jones Street, where there will be a rally with speakers from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Some of the protesters will deliver a "Call to Leadership and Conscience" to Gov. Perdue, risking arrest to do so. For more details on the Oct. 24 event, click here.

(Poster for Oct. 24 Raleigh climate protest from www.350.org.)

Neuse River fall cleanup set for Saturday, Oct. 10

The Neuse River's fall cleanup is set for Saturday, Oct. 10, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. rain or shine. For more details on the event, check out the Neuse River Foundation's website. This NRF photo from April's spring cleanup of the Neuse shows the trash collected from under the bridge at the Poole Road canoe launch site in Southeast Raleigh.

Walnut Creek Wetland Center grand opening

Last evening I joined more than a hundred other Raleigh residents attending the grand-opening ceremony for the Walnut Creek Wetland Center in Southeast Raleigh. The city's first environmental education center, the sustainably-built facility is located in the 60-acre wetland area off State Street south of Martin Luther King Boulevard.



Among those who spoke at the ceremony was Dr. Norman Camp, who played a key leadership role in making the center a reality through his organization Partners for Environmental Justice, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the Walnut Creek ecosystem and the communities of Southeast Raleigh. Dr. Camp chairs PFEJ, which he founded in 1995 in response to the pollution and flooding that plagued the wetlands. Its efforts garnered the group an Audubon NC conservation award earlier this year.

In his speech yesterday, Dr. Camp called the wetland center "a shining new gem in Raleigh's crown."

Following the ribbon-cutting, those gathered had a chance to tour the facility and enjoy live jazz on what's billed as "the longest back porch in the South," pictured above. The porch overlooks the wetland, photos of which you can check out at John Dancy-Jones' Raleigh Nature blog.

As part of the dedication, Raleigh poet and artist Christopher Rowland -- a.k.a. Langston Fuze, who grew up in nearby Biltmore Hills -- performed a poem he wrote especially for the occasion titled "Wetlands Bandstand." With his blessing, I reprint it here in full:

Wetlands Bandstand

Sitting within this great dream

made tangible reality, it is easy to see

from the beginning there was always sound —

jazz

rhythmic orchestral sweeps of the Great Conductor's hands

leading a mass ensemble of seasoned players

through history, across the space time continuum

to gather in this sacred place.

Upon a mere flinch of the Maestro's mighty fingers,

lady muse materializes instantaneously

from stage shadows to taking vocal front

inside a building mystic breeze moaned

across lush landscape. Together they join as rhythms of nature,

one all powerful big band passionately charging with touch

devices instrumental in the preservation of existence;

belting songs in the key of life —

melodic, productive, busy as Coltrane fingers

overwhelming the moment with movement,

inspiring sound to become flesh / evoking sensation into fabric.

The party has begun. A grand marquee welcomes all

with a plethora of vibrantly lit earth tone greetings…

For the land is now and forever has been open for business.

News of the most jumping place in town spreads

intrinsic the way of love as night upon the bare back

of an excited dragonfly jittering about. Subtle suggestive advertising sells

the air vintage electricity >>> to be shared by curious masses,

old to new, elder to youth… from far and wide

have they traveled through the ages seeking renewal

over experience gained from personal interactions

with variant patterns of vegetation and organisms,

magically setting spirits free with dance.

Upon catching the vibe, soulful melodies compel the trees

to sway and groove; fluttering their leaves,

filling the air about with glorious applause over the opening number.

Notorious for being party animals, they "throw their hands in the air waving them like they just don't care!" beneath solar strobe-lights cascading over outstretched arms, glimmering brilliantly as if embraced by an array of organic priceless jewelry —

a million sparkles of joy setting the sky illuminated.

Past and future energies time travel to the now for a tender glimpse of Mother Nature

swinging merrily about, Benny Goodman style across wooded tops.

A lady of varied moves she exhibits her trendy adversity

by gracefully stepping across the ballroom floor —

Bee-bop fuses with hip-hop creating an enriching re-creational medium

energizing, engaging, rejuvenating tired old limbs

still limber / eager to defy weathered, wrinkled skin rapping itself

around present day beats of a different generational drum.

Sensing a good time is to be had the wall flowers come alive…

Frogs do the hop / beavers do the waddle / deer shake their tales

locusts clap their hands in appreciation.

Mild mannered sparrows watch the cardinals flash their fancy red coats

like big spenders of the day,

while a flock of robins just entering the scene whistles

such an infectious tune, inciting everything to get involved

with Maceo's lively spirit reincarnating the atmosphere.

All the biggest names in town are here to pay respects

to this awesome cosmic force making many a toe tap through the ages…

The Ivies, the Willows, the Sycamores, and the Hollies snack on sparkleberries –

wash it down with sweet magnolia wine;

sitting comfortably before a plush backdrop of Japanese stewartia and red flowers.

The spread, crawling with the rich, moving and vibing together in song, paints

a warm picture of dignity inside the wetlands. They are not too good

or too big to socialize in humble harmony with the likes of everyday people –

common folks, farm hands, multi-color collar workers, church goers, students, walkers, bikers, runners, environmental enthusiasts, peace seekers, spiritualists, and all colors

of the hue-man rainbow as it should decide to show itself.

Regulars such as the Rochesters, the Camps, the Lightners, the Revises,

the Currins, the Dorrsetts, the Joyners, the Daniels, the Andrews, and the Rowlands humbly impart to children of men the importance

of having such a place to experience quality music /

how in modern context the matrix code runs through rippling brooks,

busy as bees in search of sweet honey in the rocks

resonating from streaming audio bites of ambient sounds

entertaining a captive audience of abundant holly draped over stones,

beneath the resident Greenway bridge.

To see the code is to hear it; to be amongst it is to feel it;

to speak fondly the wonder of this place through ample visits —

speaking of its ancient lure, respecting its divine blessing of accessibility

by keeping it clean — is to dance joyfully with festive feet eternally

the improvisational way of true happiness and bliss discovered out–side of ones self,

yet in–side the comforts of universal connectedness revealed

when visiting the Walnut Creek Wetlands Park.

Urban wetland education center to open in Southeast Raleigh Sept. 29

The new Education Center at Raleigh's Walnut Creek Wetland Park will hold its official opening ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 5:30 p.m. The center is located at 905 Peterson St. in Southeast Raleigh.

The park covers 59 acres of formerly neglected and polluted land south of Peterson between Garner Road and South State Street. The city's 2003 Parks and Recreation bond referendum raised $1.2 million for construction of the 7,000-square-foot education center, which includes classrooms, offices, a laboratory and display space.

Designed by Raleigh architect Frank Harmon with the aim of minimizing environmental impact, the center was built six feet above the flood plain using recycled materials where possible. A geothermal system provides heating and cooling, while solar photovoltaic panels generate much of the electricity.

Rainwater runoff from the roof is collected in cisterns, and what's known as a "bioretention system" will naturally filter stormwater runoff before it's returned to Walnut Creek.

The center also has what's being billed as the "longest back porch in the South," which you can see in the photo above from Harmon's website.