Meeting this week on Raleigh PCB cleanup plans

The Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation is hosting a meeting this Thursday, Feb. 26 on current plans for cleaning up widespread PCB contamination in the Raleigh area from the Ward Transformer business at the headwaters of Brier Creek, which feeds into Crabtree Creek and the Neuse River.

Last September, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued its official plan for cleaning up contamination at Ward, which has been placed under the Superfund program for the nation's most toxic waste sites. (For official information about the Ward Transformer Superfund site, click here.) The Riverkeeper program has concerns about the EPA's plan, particularly its failure to address off-site contamination.

Discussing the plan at the meeting will be Dr. Peter DeFur of the Center for Environmental Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he specializes in environmental health and ecological risk assessment. Dr. Fred Pfaender of the UNC Superfund Basic Research Program and Lake Crabtree County Park Manager Drew Cade will also be available to answer questions about the EPA’s proposal. Lake Crabtree has been adversely affected by PCB contamination from the Ward site, with fish consumption advisories now in effect at the popular fishing spot.

The meeting will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Cameron Village Public Library, 1930 Clark Ave. in Raleigh. For more information, contact Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Alissa Bierma at alissa [at] neuseriver.org or call 919-856-1180.

Great Backyard Bird Count underway

The 12th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count gets underway today and runs through Monday, and your participation can help North Carolina become the top bird-counting state in the nation. Last year North Carolina -- with more than 4,500 checklists submitted -- came in second, surpassed only by New York, while Charlotte submitted more checklists than any other U.S. city. For more details about the project, a joint effort of the of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, click here.

(Photo from 2008 Great Backyard Bird Count by Bill Harrison of Georgia. For more photos of last year's event, visit the project's gallery of photo winners and finalists.)

Downtown Raleigh gets free electric bus service

The R-Line circulator bus service is now up and running in Raleigh, with two hybrid electric buses serving the downtown area.

The route begins at the Raleigh Convention Center and heads south on Salisbury Street. From there it goes left on South Street, left on Wilmington Street, left on Peace Street, left on West Street, right on Tucker Street, left on Glenwood Avenue, left on Morgan Street, right on Dawson Street, left on Cabarrus Street, right on Salisbury Street, and back to the Convention Center. After 6:30 p.m., the route extends to include the City Market area and the Warehouse District. Click here for a route map.

The R-Line runs every 10 to 15 minutes, and service is available Monday through Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2:15 a.m.; and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

(Photo courtesy of the City of Raleigh)

Farmers market for North Raleigh?

The Wake County Cooperative Extension is currently looking into whether there's public interest in a farmers market in the North Raleigh area at Creedmoor and Norwood roads (click here for a map). Folks who'd like to weigh in on the plan are asked to take a moment to participate in a feasibility survey, which is online here.

Raleigh currently has the state-run Raleigh Farmers Market off Lake Wheeler Road, a facility that's open daily year-round (click here for a map). There's also a seasonal farmers market that takes place in downtown Raleigh's Moore Square on Wednesdays. The Moore Square Farmers Market will kick off its 2009 season on Wednesday, April 15 and will be open every Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. through August.

(Photo taken at Moore Square Farmers Market from the market's picture gallery on the Downtown Raleigh Alliance's website)

City extends comment period on comp plan after all

What a nutty process this has been. Read all about it at New Raleigh.

Essential reading on Raleigh oil spill, comprehensive plan comments

Over at the New Raleigh website, columnist Peter Eichenberger has posted a story about official efforts to downplay the recent oil spill from N.C. State University's central heating plant into Rocky Branch Creek. After reading the News & Observer's initial report that NCSU prevented the spilled oil from reaching the creek, which runs through the West Raleigh campus, Eichenberger did some old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting and went to the creek himself, where he encountered "a heavy odor of fuel and black tarry residue." Eichenberger also reports on the planned restoration of the creek.

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Today's New Raleigh also has an important piece by regular contributor Betsy on the confusion regarding the comprehensive plan public comment process. As I reported recently, representatives of various citizens' groups had asked the city to extend the comment period through February, but Mayor Charles Meeker along with council members Philip Isley, Mary-Ann Baldwin and James West voted against any extension. However, the city is still accepting comments, though it's still unclear what will become of them.

In fact, city officials have scheduled a meeting for Feb. 11 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in Council chambers with leaders of the city's official Citizens Advisory Councils to further discuss the plan -- this after the Planning Department declined to give presentations to individual CACs while the comment period was still officially open, citing time constraints.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I serve as secretary for the East Raleigh CAC, was involved in requesting a Planning Department presentation for our CAC that was rejected, and have been invited to attend the Feb. 11 meeting. However, I have not committed to attend, because it's unclear what impact our feedback will have now that the official comment period is over. Also, it strikes me as democratically problematic to ask CAC leaders to participate in a discussion of the plan and to offer feedback when we won't have a chance to go back to our organizations to get broader input before the comment deadline is up.

Since the draft plan was released shortly before the winter holidays, I've spent several hours studying it, with a special interest in the environmental provisions. But there are many, and in all honesty I simply have not had enough time to digest what I read and submit thoughtful comments prior to the official deadline. I imagine many of my fellow Raleigh citizens are in the same position. I think Betsy is correct when she writes:

The Comprehensive Plan is a very important document to guide growth and development for the next 20 years, and we need to get it right. Citizen commentary and feedback is a key part of "getting it right." As a professional planner who has been through this process many times, I know that the key to a successful plan rollout is buy-in -- and a big part of buy-in is making sure people feel that they have been fully heard.

"100 Ways to Save the World"

The first book I worked on is out!

Titled "100 Ways to Save the World," it was authored by Johan Tell for a British audience, and I did the American adaptation. The foreword is by the great environmental writer and activist Bill McKibben.

I know I'm not the most objective source, but it really is a fun and lovely little book! Check for it at your local bookstore or order online.