Immediate action needed on farmworker pesticide safety bill

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?

For more information, click here.

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

Hearing tonight targets failing sewage treatment plants in Neuse basin

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

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

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

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

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

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