Enviros Urge Feds to Release Report on Nuclear Waste Pools

A coalition of environmental organizations that includes the North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NC WARN) is calling on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to release a National Academy of Sciences report criticizing the NRC's decision to allow storage of highly radioactive spent fuel rods in densely packed, above-ground pools – such as those at Progress Energy's Shearon Harris plant 22 miles southwest of Raleigh.

The Washington Post this week broke the story about the NRC's suppression of the report. Congress requested the investigation following the 2001 airplane attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in hopes of understanding the potential consequences of a similar strike on a nuclear facility.

The full report is classified, but even a "stripped-down, declassified version has remained under wraps since November because the commission says it contains sensitive information," the Post reported.

The science panel never encountered such hurdles in releasing a report, NAS head E. William Colglazier told the paper. The public, governors and other leaders need to learn about NAS' findings, he warned.

The Nuclear Security Coalition, which is comprised of 47 grassroots and public interest groups across the nation, today called on the NRC to release the unclassified report as NAS prepared it.

"NRC claims the waste pools aren't vulnerable to catastrophic attacks. If that were true, then why are they holding the NAS study hostage?" asks the NSC's Deb Katz. "We urge NRC to take action and make all waste storage facilities safer, starting with the most vulnerable."

NC WARN has long sounded the alarm over the vulnerability of the waste pools at Shearon Harris. "All credible science has validated our years-long insistence to lower the density of these radioactive pools," says NC WARN Director Jim Warren.

Smart Kids, Clean Cars to Descend on Wake County

Several hundred young people will come to the Raleigh area this Friday and Saturday, April 1 and 2, for the annual Electric Vehicle Challenge, and the public is invited to join them. Sponsored by the nonprofit Carolina Electric Vehicles Coalition, the competition is the culmination of a yearlong program that aims to teach students in grades 6 through 12 the importance of alternative fuel development.

The event will take place on Friday at the Harris Energy and Environmental Center at 3932 New Hill-Holleman Road in New Hill, about 22 miles southwest of Raleigh, and on Saturday at Wakefield High School, 220 Wakefield Pines Dr. in Raleigh. For more details about the event, click here.

Neuse River Cleanup Set for Saturday

The Neuse River Foundation will hold its third annual Neuse River Cleanup this Saturday, April 2 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine. For more details and information on how to participate, click here.

Enviros Urge Action for N.C. Global Warming Legislation

There’s a possibility that legislation to address global warming could be introduced into the North Carolina Senate this week – and environmentalists are calling on concerned citizens to help make that a reality.

The N.C. Conservation Network today issued an alert asking citizens to urge their senators to co-sponsor the legislation. The Senate’s bill-filing deadline is this Wednesday at 3 p.m., but that's followed by a 24-hour period during which lawmakers can add their names to introduced measures.

“Setting a goal to reduce the pollution that causes global warming will put North Carolina on a winning path to be prepared for the impacts of a warmer world,” the alert states. “It will also allow our state to capitalize on economic opportunities that are arising as other nations and states demonstrate leadership on global warming.”

If passed, the legislation would represent the first major step to address global warming by any state in the Southeast.

Hearing to Come on Falls Lake Pollution Plan

A hearing on North Carolina's stealth plan to allow the town of Butner to dump more pollution into Falls Lake, Raleigh's main source of drinking water, will be held the week of May 23, the Raleigh News & Observer reported yesterday. I’ll bring you more details on the hearing when they’re available.

Bike-ological Warfare Ride Challenges Fossil Fuel Dependence

On Friday, March 18, members of the N.C. State Campus Green Party and local bicycle activists will set out on a 70-mile bike ride from Raleigh to attend Saturday's anti-war demonstration near Fort Bragg in Fayetteville.

Billing itself as "the Bike-ological Warfare Ride," the effort is dedicated to ending the violence associated with U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil. The participants want the drivers who pass them along the way to think about the 1,500 U.S. soldiers and 16,000 Iraqi civilians who have died in the ongoing war in Iraq.

Anyone who would like to join the ride or sponsor a cyclist should call 919-559-7594.

Besides raising awareness of fossil fuel dependency, the ride will also raise money for 1304 Bikes, a volunteer-run bicycle workshop in Raleigh providing students and community members with free renovated bicycles. The workshop temporarily operates out of someone's backyard, but members hope to find a permanent spot soon.

The workshop started last fall and is an outgrowth of Action for Community. Founded by N.C. State students and alumni, the group - which is currently seeking nonprofit status - is an effort to move activism off campus and into the larger community, says spokesperson Attila Nemecz, a 2002 N.C. State graduate. Driven by a desire to go beyond electoral politics, the organizers hope eventually to establish communal homes, a community center and community gardens in Raleigh.

"There are the types of fundamental changes that over time hopefully can restructure the larger system," says Nemecz.

The Bike-ological Warfare Ride will kick off Friday with a 9 a.m. press conference at the N.C. State University Belltower on Hillsborough Street. For more information about the ride, visit the Campus Greens’ Web site. For more on Saturday’s anti-war demonstration, visit the N.C. Peace & Justice Coalition’s Web site.

Committee Rejects NCSU Pavilion Plan

N.C. State’s proposal to build a pavilion on the Court of North Carolina has been dealt a setback: The university’s Physical Environment yesterday voted unanimously against the plan. The proposal now goes to the Board of Trustees for final action. For more details, visit the Friends of NCSU Court of North Carolina’s Web log.

State Challenged on Plan to Increase Pollution Discharge Into Falls Lake

The City of Raleigh and the Neuse River Foundation (NRF) are formally protesting a recent decision by state regulators to increase the allowable amount of nitrogen discharged into Falls Lake, Raleigh’s main source of drinking water. The move represents the latest battle in an ongoing war over pollution dumped into the lake and the Neuse River system.

The state Division of Water Quality (DWQ) in December modified the Neuse River Compliance Association’s (NRCA) discharge permit by increasing the nitrogen allocation for the Town of Butner from 5,860 pounds by adding 6,113 pounds. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) manages the Granville County town, which is home to several state institutions.

Comprised of Butner, Raleigh and some 20 other municipalities that discharge wastewater into the Neuse, the NRCA is a voluntary association that helps to control and monitor the releases. The association itself has a federal discharge permit, and its members can release more than their individual permits as long as the total for the association stays within its permit.

The recent Butner permit modification was made without public notice, which the city says violates federal and state law, according to a copy of its petition obtained by Raleigh Eco News.

“The increased nitrogen loading will adversely impact Falls Lake, the drinking water supply for the Petitioner, resulting in the potential for higher costs to Petitioner to treat its drinking water,” Raleigh attorney Dan McLawhorn stated in the document.

DWQ spokesperson Susan Massengale insists the change represents a “minor modification” of the permit and therefore does not require public notice.

“This doesn’t change the amount of nitrogen that gets to the estuary, and that’s what this is all about,” she says.

Last year Butner purchased $1.68 million in nitrogen pollution credits from a sewer utility downstream in Pamlico County. It then asked the state to modify its wastewater permit to allow increased nitrogen discharge into a tributary of Falls Lake in order to boost its sewage plant capacity from 5.5 million to 7.5 million gallons per day.

The controversy over pollution credit trading centers on whether to focus on the total amount of pollution that can be released into the Neuse River system overall, as the DWQ does, or whether local impacts should be considered, which is the view taken by Raleigh and the NRF.

The DWQ last year held two public hearings on Butner’s proposed discharge increase, at which many concerned citizens and local officials protested the dumping of more pollution into Falls Lake. The lake is already showing symptoms of stress, such as algae blooms. The DWQ is currently studying water quality at the lake; for more details on that study, which is expected to be completed in 2007, click here (PDF).

Earlier this year, DHHS Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom withdrew Butner’s formal expansion request, saying the department would await the study’s outcome. But apparently that was after DWQ had already modified Butner’s discharge permit.

Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks called the DWQ’s move a “backdoor reallocation” of nitrogen pollution.

Butner and the Neuse River Compliance Association "acted in bad faith after stating they would withdraw their request to allow the state to study water quality for Falls Lake over the next 22 months,” says Naujoks. They "tried to sneak the increased pollution allocation into the NR Compliance Association permit, without the ability of the public to comment.”

Conflict Over Dogs Threatens Public Access to Schenck Forest

Schenck Memorial Forest – N.C. State University’s teaching facility off of Reedy Creek Road in West Raleigh – has long been a much-loved spot among area hikers. But the forest’s popularity among dog owners has created problems that may result in the university limiting public access to the facility.

In a recent post to the Schenck Forest Yahoo! discussion group, Bill Hornsby, founder and leader of People for Unleashed Parks, reported on a meeting he had recently with Schenck Manager Dr. Joe Cox. The get-together came after university law enforcement officers began cracking down on dog owners who allow their animals to run unleashed in violation of park rules.

Cox detailed various complaints he has received in the past few months, such as dog owners becoming belligerent when told to leash their animals and ignoring signs banning the presence of dogs when classes and other scheduled events are in session. He also raised concerns about general overuse of the forest.

In response, forest management plans to intensify enforcement efforts and set up a camera at the facility’s entrance to get a count of people and dogs using the forest.

But that’s not all.

“The more drastic measure under consideration is to terminate public access to the forest by moving the gate to Reedy Creek Road and eliminating any roadside parking or access,” Hornsby wrote. “A less drastic idea would be a similar scenario but permitting public access to the forest only on the weekends.”

Also under consideration: having use of the forest controlled by permit. That would entail charging a fee and using the revenue to hire additional security. Hornsby asks people to send their thoughts on these ideas to him at offleashparks@mindspring.com.

“We need to consider all possible solutions,” he concluded. “It’s time to do a little soul searching to determine how much Schenck Forest means to us!”

Vote Nears for NCSU Court Development

Whether to build atop one of the last open green spaces on N.C. State’s campus may soon be decided.

On Thursday, March 3, the university’s Physical Environment Committee will meet at 3:30 p.m. in 216 Scott Hall to talk about – and possibly vote on – a controversial proposal to build a pavilion on the Court of North Carolina. A short walk from the Bell Tower on Hillsborough Street, the 4.5-acre court is surrounded by some of the oldest buildings on campus and is a popular gathering and relaxation spot for students, faculty and staff.

The university has been offered a $1.5 million gift that includes the construction of a 60-by-80 foot pavilion at the court’s east end. Eduardo Catalano, an internationally renowned architect who led the school’s architecture department in the 1950s, inspired the structure.

To learn more about the controversy over the proposed development, visit the Save Our Court blog. For directions to Scott Hall, click here.

N.C. Hurricane Relief Law Represents Environmental Victory

Over the weekend, Gov. Mike Easley signed into law a measure providing hurricane relief for western North Carolina, which is still struggling with the aftereffects of hurricanes Ivan and Frances. The storms, which struck last September, triggered floods and landslides that killed 11 people, destroyed 140 homes and damaged more than 16,000 others throughout the region.

Environmental organizations worked for passage of the legislation, which in addition to providing more than $247 million in aid to local governments, businesses and individuals also requires the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to update floodplain maps, identify areas of dangerous riverbank erosion and prepare landslide hazard maps. In addition, the measure outlaws construction of any new residence in the 100-year floodplain except in areas managed by local floodplain ordinances.

“While there is no way for legislation to undo the pain and loss caused by the hurricanes, this legislation will help get communities and families back on their feet, and will help limit the scope of damage from future disasters by keeping people out of harm’s way,” according to a statement from the N.C. Conservation Network.

Enviros Ask NASCAR to Get the Lead Out

Attending NASCAR races can make you stupid – not to mention damage your kidneys, liver, nerves and reproductive system. That’s because 25 years after the United States banned the use of leaded gasoline in highway vehicles, it still allows NASCAR to use lead-containing fuel in its auto races. But now Clean Air Watch is pressing the organization to voluntarily eliminate the use of this highly dangerous product. To read the letter Clean Air Watch recently send to NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, click here.