Raleigh Eco News

Immediate action needed on farmworker pesticide safety bill

2008-07-02T21:20:00.003-04:00

As early as tomorrow, the N.C. House is expected to take up a bill that aims to better protect the state's farmworkers from pesticide exposure.

Introduced by Reps. Dan Blue and Grier Martin of Raleigh, the measure is a response to the tragic Ag-Mart case in which Carlos Candelario (pictured here) and other children born to employees of the company's tomato farms in North Carolina and Florida suffered severe birth defects. A state investigation found hundreds of violations of pesticide laws and worker protection standards at Ag-Mart farms.

Senate Bill 847, Prevent Agricultural Pesticide Exposure, would require better record-keeping when pesticides are used and workers are present. It would also prohibit employer retaliation against workers who report pesticide safety problems.

Toxic Free NC is asking supporters to take action by 1 p.m. tomorrow, Thursday, July 3. For more on the bill and how to contact your representatives, click here.

(Palm Beach Post photo courtesy of Toxic Free NC website)

So you want to start an environmentally sustainable business?

2008-07-02T15:34:00.006-04:00

For more information, click here.

Raleigh library to host poster exhibit on Hiroshima-Nagasaki atomic bombings

2008-07-01T14:20:00.005-04:00

Hearing tonight targets failing sewage treatment plants in Neuse basin

2008-06-19T11:03:00.003-04:00

The following release is from the Neuse River Foundation:

NPDES Permit Challenge June 19
Contact: Upper Neuse Riverkeeper,
Dean Naujoks – 919-412-0129

Neuse River Foundation has requested a public hearing to address six failing sewage and industrial treatment plants in the Neuse River Basin. Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks will be challenging the renewal of several National Pollution Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) permits for dischargers who have consistently failed to meet permit requirements and water quality standards at a Public Hearing scheduled for June 19 at 7 P.M.

Since 2000, NRF has challenged 25 NPDES permits involving the most chronic violators in the Neuse River Basin. We have been successful making improvements or adding additional provisions in 22 out of 25 discharge permits we have challenged. Citizen input is an important part of the NPDES permit review process as permits are often renewed over and over again, with no regard to the histories of violations, unless citizens object.

For example, Southern Granville County Water and Sewer Authority’s sewage treatment plant, formerly Butner, has had a long history of compliance problems that have contributed directly to declining water quality in Falls Lake — a drinking water supply for 400,000 Wake County Citizens. Since 2003, this plant has received 86 Notice of Violations or enforcement actions by the state, totaling more than $61,000 in fines and penalties. Falls Lake was listed as impaired from pollution on the states 303d “Impaired Waters” list.

It is time for these facilities to comply with the Clean Water Act and protect our water resources. A strong public turn out sends an important message to the NC Division of Water Quality that status quo permit renewal is not acceptable.

To see the official announcement of the hearing, including all permits to be discussed, go to:
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/NPDES/documents/NoticeofHearing-NeusePermits-2008.pdf

Comments on SGWASA and other draft permits can be brought to the Thursday evening hearing, emailed to James.McKay@ncmail.net or mailed to:
Ms. Dina Sprinkle
NC Division of Water Quality/ NPDES Unit
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1617

June 19th, 7:00PM at the Archdale Building - Ground Floor Hearing Room
512 North Salisbury Street
Raleigh, North Carolina

A special night for moonwatching

2008-06-18T14:54:00.003-04:00

With skies over Raleigh expected to be only partly cloudy, tonight will be a good night for viewing the moon illusion that occurs when the full moon stays close to the horizon. Moonrise over the city tonight starts at 8:59 p.m. -- don't forget to look up!

Progress Energy halts spent-fuel shipments to Shearon Harris nuke plant

2008-06-13T16:46:00.002-04:00

The N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network has learned that Progress Energy recently halted shipments of spent nuclear fuel rods from other facilities for storage in water-filled cooling pools at the Shearon Harris nuclear plant 25 miles southwest of Raleigh. Instead, the company is now storing those rods on site at the Robinson plant near Florence, S.C. and the Brunswick plant near Wilmington, N.C.

Under pressure from local government officials in Orange, Chatham and Durham counties and the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, Progress in 2003 announced that it would halt the spent-fuel shipments to Harris by the end of 2005. In an e-mail sent to those officials this week, N.C. WARN Executive Director Jim Warren said the fact that it took two additional years is "unfortunately consistent with Progress Energy’s pattern of prioritizing profits over regional safety, despite its public relations position."

Last October, a train delivering spent fuel to Harris derailed on the plant's property. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident, and the waste was reportedly undamaged. The company blamed the mishap on human error.

Adding to concerns about the spent fuel shipments to Harris is the plant's history of serious security problems exposed by whistle-blowing guards; those problems led the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to levy a $65,000 fine against the company last year. In addition, Harris is one of a number of nuclear power plants across the South and the nation that are failing to follow the letter of the law on fire prevention.

N.C. WARN has long called on Progress Energy to lower the density of the spent-fuel cooling pools at Harris and to move all waste over five years old into more secure dry storage casks -- a plan endorsed in 2005 by the National Academy of Sciences.

* * *

In other Progress Energy news, the company has a new media spokesperson: Julia Lewis, a longtime reporter and editor for Raleigh's WRAL TV news. Her predecessor, Julie Hans, has reportedly been promoted to another position within the company.

(Photo of Harris plant from the Progress Energy Web site)

Smoke from forest fire chokes Raleigh

2008-06-12T17:39:00.003-04:00

Last night my husband and I returned home to Raleigh from a week-long trip to Minneapolis, where we visited family and where I attended the National Conference for Media Reform. The drive back from Minnesota was like a tour of Biblical plagues. We narrowly missed severe thunderstorms and twisters in the North Star State; passed devastating floods in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana; and encountered swarms of locusts (well, cicadas actually) in West Virginia. When we finally pulled into our driveway and exited the car, we were hit by the acrid smell of smoke -- the result of a massive forest fire near the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in eastern North Carolina. We awoke today to a smoky haze blanketing the city that's making breathing difficult for some vulnerable residents and is predicted to have health consequences for others. I had to shake my head when I turned to the News & Observer for news on the fire and found this story, in which UNC Hospitals lung specialist Dr. Robert Aris recommends that people stay inside where air conditioning can filter out the particulate pollution. What about those of us (like me) who choose not to live with air conditioning, or those of us who simply can't afford it? Have we really become so rare that our newspaper of record simply discounts our existence?

Poop closes Falls Lake swimming areas

2008-06-12T17:35:00.001-04:00

Two swimming areas at Falls Lake have been closed after testing positive for a bacteria found in feces, the News & Observer reports. Wonder if the contamination could be a factor behind the recent fish kill in the lake, which is Raleigh's main source of drinking water?

Unusual fish kill on Falls Lake

2008-06-03T08:54:00.005-04:00

This is an e-mail I got earlier today from Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks with the Neuse River Foundation:

There was a large fish kill on Falls Lake (see links below), which started approximately on Wednesday May 28th and continued until Friday the 29th. I received a call late Thursday afternoon, but had no idea how extensive the kill was until I got out to the lake on Friday. Most of the fish died on Thursday. Witnesses stated "dead fish were everywhere" from below Highway 50 up the lake to the Sandling Beach/Rolling View area. The state responded to the kill on Thursday, but only reported 30 dead fish. When I arrived on Friday, dead fish were on the boat ramp and all along the shore line. I counted 27 dead fish before I even launched my boat. I started counting every dead fish I could see. Every cove in Lich Creek had dead fish--all Cat Fish. The smell of dead rotting fish was everywhere. I called Wade Rawlins with the News and Observer and kept him updated on the totals. I contacted a fish pathologist with NCSU to let them how extensive the kill was and to discuss possible causes. It was determined a bacterial or viral infection likely caused the kill, since only one species of fish died.

I also took out camera crews for WRAL to cover the event. While out on the lake, we met the NC Wild Life Resource Commission who was in the process of counting dead fish. My total was 634 dead fish, their total was only 350. I was surprised they did not venture into any of the coves where the wind had blown a majority of the dead fish. They explained the fish kill was nothing out of the ordinary. Spawning likely created sores that allowed the fish to become susceptible to a bacterial infection. As a result, they did not collect any fish to be sampled by their labs. My question to them was what caused the bacterial infection that led to such a big fish kill? I also questioned why none of the state agencies seemed interested in collecting fish samples for testing? Any connections to increasing pollution problems in Falls Lake were officially dismissed. However, a fish pathologist I spoke with questioned if such a large fish kill could have resulted from spawning activity. Environmental factors could have played a role in creating additional stress while the fish were spawning or contributed to a serious bacterial infection that caused thousands of fish to die. Perhaps both. According to Amy Poole of Rolling View Marina, she had never seen any thing like it in the 24 years she has owned and operated the marina out on Falls Lake. This was an unusual event.

Falls Lake was recently listed on the states 303d list for impaired waters as a result of degraded water quality in the lake. After prolonged drought, we believe the recent flushing of accumulated fertilizers and pet wastes from lawns, sediment from construction sites, sewage overflows and failing sewage plants (like Butner's) may have played a part in this fish kill. For years, the state has down played massive fish kills in the lower Neuse and frequently dismissed nutrient pollution as a contributing factor. We knew better and so did the scientist we have trusted and worked with for years (who are now winning awards for their research). The state did revise their official fish kill total to 1400, but I wanted you to know that one thing I am absolutely certain of is that thousands of fish died on Falls Lake last week. Below are links to the video I shot while out on the lake and to the News and Observer article and the WRAL piece.

Dean Naujoks
Upper Neuse Riverkeeper
Neuse River Foundation

http://data.imrivers.com/bulk_site1/view.php?blogid=neuseriver&oid=50989&name=undefined

Articles on website: http://neuseriver.org/fallslake.html

Rain barrel auction to benefit farmers

2008-05-28T10:32:00.001-04:00

This Friday, Raleigh's Whole Foods Market is hosting a silent auction of nine rain barrels painted by local artists to raise money for an emergency farm assistance fund. The 30-gallon barrels will be auctioned off during a wine and cheese reception, with live music by The Paul Bomar Trio. The event begins at 6 p.m. at 3540 Wade Ave. The barrel pictured here will be among those up for bid.

One environmentalist's thoughts on the Dix debacle

2008-05-23T18:32:00.005-04:00

I know it's a cause near and dear to the hearts of many of my environmentally minded friends here in Raleigh, but the campaign to convert the Dorothea Dix Hospital property near downtown into a park hasn't gotten a great deal of attention here at Raleigh Eco News.

That's because I've been conflicted about the proposal.

On the one hand, I do think we need to increase public open space in our fast-growing city -- and there's a certain poetic justice in converting an old mental hospital into a health-enhancing place like a park. After all, science has found that access to nature via parks plays a critical if still not fully understood role in human health and development. Some think that addiction, for example, may sometimes represent an attempt to fill the void left by the loss of contact with nature.

But on the other hand -- maybe because I'm a social worker by training -- I can't help but worry about how we will meet the local community's mental health care needs. Deepening my worry was the News & Observer's outstanding recent series on the state's botched mental health privatization effort, which introduced us to people like Johnnie P. Yarborough:

In 2006, the 47-year-old Yarborough, suffering from bipolar disorder and addicted to crack cocaine, was so desperate for treatment that he beat on the doors of state-run Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh and a private mental hospital, seeking to be admitted.

Because of the 2001 reform law, treatment once offered by Wake County's mental health agency had become spotty or nonexistent. Yarborough was admitted to Dix 14 times during 2006, but never for more than a few days. He began fearing that he might commit a murder. He's drug-free now and working, but that's thanks to the nonprofit Raleigh Rescue Mission, where he now lives.

It's bad enough for someone in need of health care to be reduced to pounding on a hospital door. But now we want to eliminate even that lousy option and force ill Raleigh residents to go to a new facility 30 miles away, Central Regional Hospital in Butner.

And as it turns out, there are still serious problems at Central Regional. With patients expected to start arriving by the middle of next month, the $120 million facility still has a host of safety hazards -- including hundreds of door handles and bathroom handrails that present risks for the suicidal, as the N&O reported this week.

State mental health workers rallied today against the Dix closure plans, calling them a "disaster in the making," according to the paper:

"This is our Katrina,” said Beverly Moriarity, a nurse who helps coordinate staffing at Dix. "This is a train wreck waiting to happen. The administration knows it’s going to be a catastrophe and they’re moving ahead anyway. I don’t understand it."

State employees say they're worried about expected shortfalls in the numbers of nurses, doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists needed at the facility. They're also concerned about the readiness of the staff that has been hired, since their orientation consisted of a two-hour walk through one floor of the building and a packet of instructions to read at home. To date, they have received no training on using the computer system, securing medications, or evacuating in case of fire.

They're also rattled by the long commute to Butner -- especially given the rising price of fuel:

"Half of my salary would go to gas," said Floyd Mims, a health care technician. The starting pay for his job is less than $11 an hour.

I think it's become clear that closing Dix doesn't make sense from a strictly human perspective. But neither do I think it makes sense from a broader ecological perspective to demolish a local treatment facility and force patients and staff to commute to a new one 30 miles away.

My dream is that Raleigh's conservationists, state mental health workers, mental health advocates, and mental health patients and their families would join forces to keep Dix open -- and turn it into a world-class park. With a campus of more than 300 acres, there's room for both. Let's make Dix into a place that continues to care for patients in need and also enhances the well being of the wider community.

(Dix property photo by Karen Tam from Friends of Dix Web site)

Raleigh chicken coop tour set for Saturday

2008-05-16T12:48:00.002-04:00

This Saturday marks the 3rd annual "Henside the Beltline Tour d'Coop," when backyard chicken keepers from across Raleigh invite the public to visit their operations. This year's tour promises to be bigger and better than ever, with more coops, informational booths and a special guest appearance by The Chickenman.

The tour is a benefit for Urban Ministries of Wake County, and participants are asked to bring a non-perishable food or cash donation. Last year's tour collected 1,500 pounds of food and raised over $2,000 for the interfaith organization, which helps local families in need.

On the day of the tour, maps of participating coops will be available at the offices of dentist Steven B. Andreaus (1637 Glenwood Ave., across from the Rialto Theater); Ornamentea (509 N. West St., one block south of Peace Street); CupAJoe (2109-142 Avent Ferry Rd., in the lower level of Mission Valley Shopping Center); Whole Foods Market (3540 Wade Ave., in the Ridgewood Shopping Center); and Seaboard Ace Hardware (802 Semart Dr., across from Logan Trading Company).

The tour begins at 10 a.m. and goes until 4 p.m. For more information about the event, e-mail Kirsten Reberg-Horton at kirstenrh@yahoo.com. For information about keeping chickens, contact local poultry expert Bob Davis at radavis413@msn.com.

To learn more about the history of the event and what motivates Raleigh residents to keep chickens, click here for my 2006 News & Observer story about the original Tour d'Coop.

Beware of PCB-contaminated fish from Raleigh's Walnut Creek, Rocky Branch and the Neuse River

2008-05-14T16:06:00.004-04:00

State health officials are warning of health risks from eating fish caught in Walnut Creek and Rocky Branch in South Raleigh, and from the Neuse River just below Crabtree Creek to Auburn-Knightdale Road.

Fish found in those waterways may contain high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), toxic chemicals that were once widely used as coolants and lubricants in electrical transformers but have been banned in the United States since 1977. PCBs are known to cause cancer, they've been associated with neurobehavioral and immunological changes in children, and they're toxic to the liver.

Last month, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services issued advisories recommending that people limit their consumption of carp and catfish from those waterways to no more than one meal per month. It also advises people to limit consumption of all other fish from Walnut Creek and Rocky Branch to no more than one meal per week.

These latest PCB-related fish advisories come on top of others issued in recent years for Raleigh's Crabtree Creek and Brier Creek as well as nearby Lake Crabtree, a popular fishing spot.

In these earlier cases, the PCB pollution came from Ward Transformer, a Raleigh company that refurbishes electrical equipment near the RDU International Airport. In 2003, Ward Transformer's property in northwest Raleigh was added to the federal Superfund list, which puts it among the most toxic sites in the United States. Besides PCBs, other contaminants of concern from the Ward site are dioxins, furans, arsenic, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, and zinc.

Ward Transformer is also notorious for an incident in the late 1970s, when contractors hired by the company sprayed PCB-contaminated oil along hundreds of miles of roads throughout that state. After the dumping was discovered, then-Gov. Jim Hunt ordered the contaminated soil to be scraped up and dumped in Warren County north of the Triangle. The struggle that ensued involving residents of that majority African-American community -- first against the dumping and later to get the toxic dump cleaned up -- is often said to mark the beginning of the U.S. environmental justice movement.

As it turns out, Ward Transformer is also behind Raleigh's latest PCB woes. Back when the company was known as Electric Motor and Transformer, it had locations in the city at 1900 S. Saunders St. just north of the Beltline, 418 S. Dawson St. just south of Nash Square, and at the intersection of South Saunders and Jamaica Drive, near the turnoff for Lake Wheeler Road. As state toxicologist Luanne Williams reported in a March 2007 risk assessment [pdf]:

Rocky Branch Creek flows southeast along the south side of Jamaica Drive and runoff from the South Dawson Street area flowed to an unnamed tributary to the creek. Therefore, in the past runoff carrying PCBs from these facilities where transformers were reconditioned may have entered into Rocky Branch Creek and Walnut Creek. These waterbodies are approximately 7 miles from the Neuse River location of where elevated Aroclor 1260 levels have been found in catfish and largemouth bass. According to the March 30, 2006 North Carolina Superfund Section reports, Aroclor 1260 has been found in sediment samples all along Walnut Creek and Rocky Branch located approximately 7 miles from the Neuse River to where Walnut Creek enters the Neuse River. Walnut Creek leads into the Neuse River and Rocky Branch leads into the Walnut Creek about 6 ½ miles from where Walnut Creek enters the Neuse River.

Aroclor 1260 is a highly chlorinated PCB mixture that was manufactured by Monsanto. Environmentally persistent and resistant to degradation, Aroclor adheres to soil and sediment and builds up in the fat stores of fish and any creatures who eat the fish, including humans.

In an e-mailed statement about the recently discovered contamination, Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks of the Neuse River Foundation said his group would be "dealing with the issue of liability and who is responsible for the clean-up for many years to come."

Coyote captured on film near Umstead Park

2008-05-12T17:11:00.003-04:00

A Raleigh Eco News reader who lives near Umstead State Park shot this backyard photo a couple of months ago using a motion-triggered trail camera. The person, who shall remain unidentified in order to deter coyote- or camera-hunting trespassers, reports:

The coyote appears a bit larger than it really is because the camera is only two feet off the ground, however this one is obviously well-fed and stout. I've read that coyotes in this part of the state have interbred with wolves, and are thus thicker than the average skin-and-bones type that you usually see.

The other objects in the pic include a mineral block (dark block on ground), a timed feeder hanging from a tree, and a sewer pipe clean-out access (sticking out of ground to the left of the base of the tree).

We have been hearing them every so often at night, and it's really picked up in the last few weeks. Coyotes sound like a cross between a pack of hyenas and a basket full of puppies. We haven't heard any Hollywood-style howling, yet.

Environmental endorsements for Tuesday's primary

2008-05-05T14:51:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is North Carolina's primary election. To help voters make wise choices, environmental groups have issued endorsements relevant to voters living in the Raleigh area.

One is the Conservation Council of North Carolina's political action committee, whose endorsements for several contested primaries include:

* Winston-Salem City Councilman and longtime environmental champion Dan Besse for lieutenant governor (click here to read full endorsement as a PDF);

* State Sen. Janet Cowell for state treasurer (click here to read a PDF of the endorsement); and

* Josh Stein for state Senate District 16 in Wake County.

C-PAC has also endorsed a number of legislators who do not face a challenge in the primary but who have an excellent voting record on environmental issues. They include:

* Rep. Jennifer Weiss in Wake County's House District 35; and

* Rep. Deborah Ross in Wake's House District 38.

To read C-PAC's complete slate of endorsements, click here.

The North Carolina Sierra Club has also issued primary endorsements. Like C-PAC, it's also endorsed Besse [PDF] for lieutenant governor and Cowell [PDF] for state treasurer. It notes that that whoever holds the position sought by Cowell, a former Sierra Club leader, will have the opportunity to capture the emerging market in clean energy technology.

The Sierra Club has also endorsed Weiss and Ross, along with state Sen. Vernon Malone in Wake's District 14, Rep. Grier Martin in Wake's House District 34 and Rep. Linda Coleman in Wake's House District 39.

To read the Sierra Club's full list of primary endorsements, click here.

Big weekend for Raleigh garden lovers

2008-04-11T13:45:00.002-04:00

This Saturday afternoon, the Triangle Land Conservancy and the Reid Chapter of the N.C. Native Plants Society are holding a Raleigh Conservation Gardens Tour.

The gardens featured on the tour are the Margaret Reid Wild Flower Garden, a 1.5-acre woodland garden surrounding a home at the corner of Dixie Trail and Lewis Farm Road; the Joslin Garden, a 4-acre spread in the White Oak Road neighborhood; the Hooker/Myers Garden, a permaculture wonderland on a sixth of an acre in the Kirby Street neighborhood near N.C. State; the Kinney Garden, a 2-acre residential woodland garden overlooking Richland Creek on the edge of William B. Umstead State Park; and the Spearman Garden, which features a large sculpture collection and is located between Ridge Road and the Beltline. For details about the garden and the tour, click here.

And should you get inspired by the garden tour and find yourself lusting after a certain specimen, you might want to visit the Pi Alpha Xi plant sale set for this Saturday and Sunday at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum. For more information about the sale, including lists of available plants, click here.

NCCU hosts green jobs forum this week

2008-04-07T13:16:00.001-04:00

The Grassroots Energy Alliance is holding a public forum in Durham this week spotlighting employment opportunities in the sustainable building industry. Titled "Green Jobs Now!," the event will take place on Thursday, April 10 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at N.C. Central's Mary M. Townes Science Building.

The event will feature presentations on the outlook for green jobs in the state and a keynote by NCCU professor and landscape architect Yasmin Fozard, who specializes in the inner-city living environment. There will also be smaller discussion groups about meeting the growing demand for sustainability and the need for a new energy economy.

A coalition that includes the N.C. Waste Awareness & Reduction Network, Students United for a Responsible Global Environment, N.C. Fair Share and N.C. Interfaith Power & Light, the Alliance describes its mission as working with residents of Durham, Wake, Orange and Chatham counties

on positive programs and policy to counter the threat of climate change, to promote responsible energy efficiency and renewable energy programs for our region and the state, and to to improve the capacity of our region to harness the new green economy. To accomplish these goals, we put special emphasis on involving the voices and organizations of students, people of color, and people of faith.

For more details on the forum and directions, click here.

N.C. voter registration deadline this week

2008-04-07T12:46:00.002-04:00

If you're planning to vote in next month's primary election here in North Carolina, now is the time to get your paperwork in order.

This Friday, April 11 is the registration deadline for the May 6 election -- though folks who miss that cutoff will still be able to register and vote on the same day at the state's early voting sites between April 17 and May 3. If you've moved since last registering, you'll need to register again.

To download an N.C. voter registration form and for instructions on where to send it, click here. For more details on same-day registration, click here.

Neuse River cleanup set for Saturday

2008-04-04T13:39:00.002-04:00

Here's your chance to participate in the largest single river clean-up in North Carolina: The Neuse River Foundation's 6th Annual Neuse River Clean-Up will be held this Saturday, April 5 -- come rain or shine. Over the last five years, more than 1,000 volunteers have hauled some 75,000 pounds of trash out of the waterway. Everyone is welcome, no pre-registration is required, and free canoe loans will be available at several sites. For details, click here.

(UPDATE: The NRF had a successful clean-up Saturday despite the rain. Among the items hauled from the river were a recliner, five quarts of used motor oil, 100 baseballs, a skull -- and a beer bottle containing $600!)

Raleigh's Joslin Garden opens to the public this Saturday

2008-03-27T21:36:00.003-04:00

William and Mary Coker Joslin invite the public to visit the extraordinary garden at their home in Raleigh's White Oak Road neighborhood this Saturday, March 29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Their 4.5 acres include both formal and informal areas and a wide collection of native and exotic plants, many of which they acquired from local garden luminaries J.C. Raulston, William Lanier Hunt and D.R. Coker. The Joslins have established a conservation easement with the Triangle Land Conservancy, perpetually limiting the property's use for garden and horticultural purposes, and they have deeded the land to N.C. State University. For a map to 2431 West Lake Dr., click here. Free parking is available on West Lake Drive, but please park only on the west side of the street.

(Photo of the Joslin Garden from the J.C. Raulston Arboretum Web site)

North Carolina OKs gray water use

2008-03-13T11:50:00.002-04:00

In a victory for common sense, North Carolina officials have decided it's OK for residents to water non-edible plants with gray water, the stuff left over after taking baths and washing dishes and clothes. Yay -- now we needn't feel like criminals for hauling buckets of bath water out to our thirsty trees!

One of the neatest gray water purification systems I've seen is at the Piedmont Biofuels co-op in Chatham County, where the oil-crop research farm is irrigated with process wastewater cleaned via an artificial wetlands system built from old bathtubs. In fact, the co-op's entire production process is ingeniously designed for maximum sustainability. You can read more about it here, or see for yourself by taking the free tour offered every Sunday at 1 p.m.

Living with coyotes

2008-02-21T23:51:00.003-05:00

Speaking of coyotes and John Dancy-Jones, the latter turned me on to an amazing blog about the former: The Daily Coyote is a documentary project by a woman who lives with an orphaned coyote named Charlie (and a tomcat whom the coyote adores) in a one-room cabin in Wyoming.

Documenting natural Raleigh

2008-02-21T23:29:00.003-05:00

I recently found out about a terrific blog about our city. Called Raleigh Nature, it's set to become a book called The Natural History of Raleigh: Nature Lore & Wildlife Inside or Near the Beltline. The author is John Dancy-Jones, whose fine papermaking work at The Paper Plant was recently profiled by the News & Observer. Born in 1953, John grew up in Raleigh's then-new Gatewood subdivision (next door to where I live now in Lockwood), and developed an abiding love of parks, the paths that would later become greenways, and even the so-called "waste places" where nature peeks out from the city's hard edges.

John already has another book under his belt; in 2001, he published Snapper: My life with snapping turtles. A chapbook essay about captive snapping turtles, it was written, illustrated using linoleum-block prints, and physically produced on a letterpress at the Paper Plant. Fred Chappell, North Carolina's poet laureate, praised Snapper as a "lovely" papermaking project and a "highly personal but still widely educational" work. It's not surprising that John's book projects would be educational: His work teaching papermaking to children led to a part-time job teaching students with learning problems and a master's in education from N.C. State. John now teaches science full time.

Here's how he describes his fascination with our city's natural side -- a fascination that's beautifully communicated in the stories and images on his blog:

Raleigh has one of the nation’s best and most prominent greenway systems. In, addition we retain some of the best aspects of Southern towns -- ready access to rural settings, and a real connection to the land, as partly evidenced by the growing popularity of the sustainable, heritage agriculture movement. We love our nature, whether it's jogging the greenways or hunting doves, and the wildlife and natural areas are treasures important to people of all political persuasions. This blog explores those interests through the eyes of an amateur but well-informed naturalist, concentrating on resources inside or within a mile of the beltline.

It's definitely worth a bookmark for anyone who loves our Capital City.

(Photo of and by John Dancy-Jones from Raleigh Nature.)

Coyotes in Raleigh?

2008-02-19T22:56:00.003-05:00

Last week while walking my dogs along a Raleigh greenway at night, I think I saw a coyote. We were on the trail east of Raleigh Boulevard when my dogs began pulling on their leashes as if trying to get to something ahead of us. Exasperated, I scolded them -- when all of the sudden an animal burst out of the brush just a few feet away from us and tore down the trail. We've seen foxes along the greenway before, but this was bigger than a fox -- as tall as my Australian shepherd but leaner. It was difficult to see clearly in the dark, but its coat appeared to be tan and gray, and it ran from us with bushy tail tucked between its legs. Then last night while walking our dogs along that same stretch of trail, my husband saw what he guesses was probably the same animal, which burst from the bushes near the same spot along the creek and crossed the trail into the woods. When I mentioned our sightings to a friend today, he said he also saw what he thought was a coyote in his neighborhood near Oakwood Cemetery. Since coyotes are known to thrive in suburban and even urban settings and have made appearances in Greensboro, Washington's Rock Creek Park and even New York City, it isn't surprising that they'd be with us here in Raleigh -- especially since I saw one several years ago in Umstead Park at the city's northwestern edge. I know some people fear coyotes (the animals can present a threat to unattended small pets, though they rarely attack humans), but they play a beneficial role in the ecosystem by keeping mice and squirrel populations in check. Some tips for avoiding conflicts with coyotes include not approaching them, not feeding them, not leaving food or garbage outside, and not allowing pets to roam free, especially at night.

(Photo from South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Web site)

Community forum to address Wake County's water woes

2008-02-19T17:48:00.001-05:00

WakeUP, an organization of Wake County citizens concerned about growth and development issues, will be holding a public forum this Saturday, Feb. 23 on regional water supply challenges. The event will take place from 9:30 a.m. to noon at N.C. State's McKimmon Center at the intersection of Western Boulevard and Gorman Street in Raleigh. Scheduled speakers include Tommy Esqueada, director of Wake County Environmental Services; Rob Jackson, director of the Duke University Center on Global Climate Change; Chris Goudreau of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission; David Moreau, chair of the UNC Water Resources Research Institute and the Environmental Management Commission; Bill Holman, a senior fellow at Duke University; and Mary Brice, co-chair of the Raleigh Water Conservation Task Force. For more details, including an agenda, click here.