Category Archive for ‘Environmental illnesses’ at Easy Being Green

Archive for the 'Environmental illnesses' Category

Poison prevention is good all year long

Published

on March 1, 2010

in Environmental illnesses and General green tips

. 0 Comments

An EPA alert I received Monday for Poison Prevention Month spells out the dangers of some common household items, some that are basic, like lawn and cleaning chemicals to others you may not have thought about, like hair products and nail polish.

When ingested by a small child, they all become hazardous.

Did you know that roughly 40 percent of the calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers involve children under the age of 3? That those calls come every 13 seconds?

The EPA alert offered a Web page of information, tips and links for parents about the dangers of pesticides and household products.

Parents should post emergency contacts, including the Local Poison Control number 1-800-222-1222, in a prominent place near a phone and take other steps to ensure their children are safe. A few suggestions from the EPA:

Read product labels of all household items, from cleaning supplies to health and beauty supplies and everything in between.
Use the safest possible cleaners and look for the Design for the Environment (DfE) label.
Never leave products unattended when you are using them.
Never transfer pesticides to other containers; children may associate certain containers with food or drink.
Check out this room-by-room checklist to see how to eliminate hazards.

Check out these other sites to help keep your family safe: Poison Prevention; the the American Association of Poison Control Centers; and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

— Linda J.

Kentucky legislature runs on coal, says Wendell Berry, others

Published

andymead

on February 26, 2010

in Coal mining, Environmental illnesses, Kentucky's natural resources and Water

. 10 Comments

By Andy Mead
amead@herald-leader.com
FRANKFORT — In one hearing room, legislators listened to report by a director of the Harvard Medical School warning that coal, from mining to moving to burning, is killing Kentuckians.

One legislator responded by noting that obesity also kills people, and wondered if food should be banned.

Then, a little while later in an adjacent room, a group of environmentalists led by author Wendell Berry said they were fed up with the General Assembly.

“We have petitioned, marched, sung, written, lobbied, testified and pleaded — all to no avail,” Berry said. “But today we declare that business as usual in Frankfort — long intolerable — has now become unacceptable.”

The environmentalists, members of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC), took turns reading a Declaration of Independence-type statement.

It called on the state’s political leaders to break their close ties with coal, remove legislators with ties to coal companies from leadership positions, and call for an end to “extreme and sometimes violent speech” directed at people who speak out against coal in the coalfields.

Their message: Coal production and demand is ebbing, but Kentucky is not taking steps toward new energy sources and jobs.

Environmentalists characterized the declaration as a major step, but its effectiveness is doubtful.

The declaration specified, for example, that Rep. Jim Gooch, D-Providence, should be removed from chairmanship of the House Natural Resources Committee. A “stream-saver” bill that would curtail mountaintop removal mining in Eastern Kentucky is introduced every year, but can’t get a hearing before Gooch’s committee, the environmentalists said.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo later said he had no plans to replace Gooch. Both men have close ties to the coal industry.

In speaking of what they characterized as hostile feelings against them stirred up by the coal industry, several environmentalists mentioned Haven King, the Perry County clerk. He is director of Coal Mining Our Future, an industry-sponsored non-profit that was formed to oppose the stream-saver bill.

A KFTC document listed several instances of hostility, including an unnamed coal company in Harlan County that was forced to shut down because it has put too much sludge in a pond. It laid off workers and gave them the names of people in the community who had complained about the pond, the document said.

King, contacted later, ran down a long list of charitable deeds done by his group, sometimes in concert with KFTC members.

“We’re out here helping the community,” he said. “We’re not trying to intimidate nobody.”

Asked about the report from the Harvard Medical School about the health effects of coal, King said this:

“I have all these people saying these things like global warming, I guess that’s why they’re having this much snow now.”

The report was by Dr. Paul Epstein, associate director of the Harvard school’s Center for Health and Global Environment.

It was presented to the House Committee on Health and Welfare. There was no bill on the issue before the committee. KFTC’s Kevin Pentz said the group would like to see the legislature back a study of the overall costs of coal, but had little faith that would happen.

Epstein’s report said the public health costs of coal are immense.

“Each step of the coal lifecycle — extraction, processing, transportation, burning and waste storage — generates enormous public health burdens.,” he wrote.

The committee gave KFTC 20 minutes to present Epstein’s report and another by a West Virginia researcher, then moved on to other matters.

To read the KFTC documents, go here: http://u.nu/7mtk6

Follow coal plant air quality hearing on Twitter, Facebook

Published

andymead

on February 3, 2010

in Coal mining, Environmental illnesses and Mining

. 3 Comments

Environmentalists opposed to East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s proposed coal-burning plant in Clark County will be attending a public hearing on an air quality permit for the plant on Thursday, Feb. 4.
The hearing begins at 6:30 p.m. at Clark County Cooperative Extension,
1400 Fortune Drive in Winchester.
A half hour before the hearing, several people will be speaking about pollution and health impacts from the plant. That group includes Dr. Vicki Holmberg, a Lexington physician.

The environmentalists say there will be live updates from the hearing on Twitter (#STOPSMITH) and
Facebook (Group name: No New Coal Plants in Clark County!).

Environmentalists have been trying for years to stop the project, now known as Smith 1. So far, only limited, but potentially significant, success: At the request of Wendell Berry and others, the Kentucky Public Service Commission has opened an investigation into whether the plant is needed.

Environmental groups oppose air permit for coal-fired plant

Published

andymead

on January 4, 2010

in Coal mining, Energy, Environmental illnesses, Mining and Uncategorized

. 1 Comment

For months, environmental groups have been questioning the need for a new coal-fired electricity generating plant in Clark County. On Monday, the state issued a draft permit for East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s Smith 1 plant, and the environmentalists jumped on it. Their press release is below.
Environmentalists got a little traction in this fight last month when the Kentucky Public Service Commission agreed to take a look at whether the plant is necessary.

For immediate release: Monday, January 4, 2010
Pollution permit for coal-fired plant threatens air, public health
Officials should consider clean energy as an affordable, reliable solution

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The state’s release of a draft air pollution permit for a proposed coal-burning power plant in Kentucky poses serious threats to air quality, drinking water supplies and public health, said a coalition of rural electric cooperative ratepayers and environmental and health groups.

The good news, the groups said, is that there still is an opportunity to invest in cleaner solutions to the proposed 278-megawatt Smith plant before the Kentucky Division of Air Quality makes the permit final and allows East Kentucky Power Cooperative to proceed with the $766 million project.

“Medical research shows clearly that air pollution from coal-fired electrical generation plants like Smith causes human diseases and death,” said Philip Curd, MD, a Jackson County physician and member of the Jackson Energy Co-op. “We could prevent a lot of disease and death by building less coal-fired plants and putting more resources into renewable energy and energy conservation.”

Instead of allowing EKPC to saddle its customers with nearly $1 billion in debt to build a plant that’s not even needed, Curd and others in the coalition said state officials have a duty to protect the health of Kentuckians and their air and water by denying the final permit in light of cleaner electricity options.

“I need my co-op to provide electricity to my family and my community, but I want them to do it in a way that won’t make children’s health worse,” said Janet Futrell, teacher and Bluegrass Energy member. “We’ve already got poor air quality from power plant pollution, and the coal burned at the Smith plant will only make matters worse.”

Coal plant emissions include fine particulate matter – or soot – which is linked to respiratory problems like asthma and pulmonary disease, as well as heart problems, and is unsafe at any level. Coal plants also are a major source of mercury, a highly toxic metal that can result in developmental disorders and chronic disease and is especially harmful to children. The Smith plant’s mercury emissions would settle out and accumulate in rivers, lakes and streams in Kentucky and into the food chain through fish.

Other pollutants that will come out of the Smith plant’s smokestacks include sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain; nitrogen oxides, which lead to asthma-causing smog formation; and carbon dioxide, which the EPA announced last month is a danger to human health because of its climate change impacts.

Coal prices have risen steadily in the past several years, and EKPC members have been subjected to frequent rate increases. In November the Licking Valley Co-op got permission from the Public Service Commission to raise its per kilowatt hour rate to nearly 10 cents. Carbon control legislation, necessary for curbing harmful greenhouse gas emissions, would raise the costs of dirty energy even higher.

“There are also huge public health costs associated with burning coal,” said Vicki Holmberg, a Lexington physician. Holmberg pointed to an October 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences estimating that pollution from coal-burning power plants costs the nation roughly $62 billion every year in health care costs. “Kentucky should be moving toward energy solutions that will avoid the health and economic problems that are resulting in the cancellation of permits for new coal plants all over the country.” Nationwide, in 2009, 26 proposals for coal plants were abandoned or rejected, mainly because the plants were too expensive.

By contrast, expert analyses conducted in Kentucky over the last several years have documented the financial, economic and environmental benefits of energy solutions such as weatherization, solar hot water, hydro and wind power. These reports consistently found that such programs help utility members save energy and money.

“Weatherization projects don’t require air permits, and renewable energy sources like solar, wind and hydro don’t release air pollution that can kill people like coal soot does,” said Miranda Brown of Winchester, who is concerned with the impacts of the Smith plant on her community. “Efficiency and renewable energy programs are just as affordable and reliable as coal. They can help ratepayers save money, and they create more jobs than a single coal-burning plant. I urge Kentucky regulators to look closely at the facts and choose clean energy solutions instead of the Smith plant.”

The Kentucky DAQ has scheduled a public hearing for the permit on February 4th at 6:30 PM at the Clark County Cooperative Extension Office, to which all members of the public can attend to give oral comments. Written comments can be submitted to the Kentucky DAQ within 30 days by email at James.Morse@ky.gov with a copy to the US EPA at Worley.Gregg@epamail.epa.gov.

###

Background information on the Smith power plant and the energy efficiency/renewable energy options can be found at http://www.kftc.org/stop-smith, http://www.kyenvironmentalfoundation.org, and http://www.sierraclub.org/coal/ky/.

Children’s art easels recalled because of lead

Published

lindajohnson

on November 10, 2009

in Environmental illnesses and General green tips

. 0 Comments

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a recall notice for about 10,000 Young Artists Easels, because the chalkboard surface contains high levels of lead.

The easels, manufactured in China for MacPherson’s, of Emeryville, Calif., were sold between July 2004 and June 2009.

Use this form to tell the CPSC about any injury reports or hazards related to this recalled product.

For details about replacements for the easels, contact the company at (866) 319-5335 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, visit the firm’s Web site at www.art-alternatives.com/recall or send email to recall@macphersonart.com.

— Linda J.

Coal costs nation $62 billion a year, mostly in premature deaths, National Research Council says

Published

andymead

on October 19, 2009

in Coal mining, Environmental illnesses, Gas, Kentucky's natural resources, Mining, Trees and plants, Uncategorized and Water

. 3 Comments

Posted on Mon, Oct. 19, 2009
Report: Pollution from burning coal costs $62 billion a year
By Andy Mead
amead@herald-leader.com

Pollution from burning coal to generate electricity costs the United States $62 billion a year, according to a report being released Monday by the National Research Council.

The report, Hidden Costs of Energy, attempts to put a dollar value on the true costs of various energy sources. Most costs were calculated in people dying from the pollution, the study’s authors said.

The report was requested by Congress. It concentrates on putting a value on the damage to human health, crops, timber yields, buildings and from major pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.

Coal accounts for about half the electricity produced in the country, and more than 90 percent in Kentucky.

The report does not attempt to put a monetary value on coal mining. But it notes the environmental problems associated with underground and surface mines.

Mountaintop removal mining “shares the negative externalities of other types of surface mining and has other externalities as well,” the report says.

It lists a report by the Environmental Protection Agency that looked at more than 1,200 stream segments in the southern Appalachians impacted by mountaintop removal and the associated valley fills.

That EPA report found increased levels of minerals such as zinc and selenium in the water, increased stream flow below the valley fills, slow regrowth of forest because of compacted soils.

The research council report also looks at the dollar impacts of oil, natural gas, nuclear and alternative energy sources.

The report is linked from the article here: http://www.kentucky.com/latest_news/story/983234.html

Sand castles may be harmful to your health. Really.

Published

admin

on July 9, 2009

in Environmental illnesses

. 1 Comment

Planning a visit to a beach this summer? University of North Carolina researchers say you can walk on the sand, but shouldn’t dig into it (don’t know if this applies to Boonesborough Beach on the Kentucky River).

Here’s the UNC press release:

CHAPEL HILL - Children and adults who build castles and dig in the sand at the beach are at greater risk of developing gastrointestinal diseases and diarrhea than people who only walk on the shore or swim in the surf, according to researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Environmental Protection Agency.

People who playfully bury their bodies in the sand are at even greater risk, according to the study published online recently in theAmerican Journal of Epidemiology. It also shows children, who are more likely than adults to play with and possibly get sand intheir mouths, stand the greatest chance of becoming ill after a day at the beach.

“Beach sand can contain indicators of fecal contamination, but we haven’t understood what that means for people playing in the sand,” said Chris Heaney, Ph.D., a postdoctoral epidemiology student at UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health and lead author of the study. “This is one of the first studies to show an association between specific sand contact activities and illnesses.”

The study is based on interviews with more than 27,000 people who visited seven freshwater and marine beaches in the agency’s National Epidemiological and Environmental Assessment of Recreational Water Study

(NEEAR) between 2003 and 2005 as well as in 2007. All beaches in the study had sewage treatment plant discharges within seven miles, although the source of sand pollution was unknown and could have included urban runoff as well as wild and domestic animal contamination. Water quality at the beaches was within acceptable limits, Heaney said.

“We have known for some time that swimming in waters polluted by fecal contamination can result in illness, but few previous studies have focused on sand,” said Tim Wade, Ph.D., an EPA epidemiologist and the study’s senior author. “People should not be discouraged from enjoying sand at the beach, but should take care to use a hand sanitizer or wash their hands after playing in the sand.”

People were asked about their contact with sand on the day they visited the beach (digging in the sand or whether they were buried in it). Then, 10 to 12 days later, participants were telephoned and asked questions about any health symptoms they had experienced since the visit.

Researchers found evidence of gastrointestinal illnesses, upper respiratory illnesses, rash, eye ailments, earache and infected cuts. Diarrhea and other gastrointestinal illnesses were more common in about 13 percent of people who reported digging in sand, and in about 23 percent of those who reported being buried in sand.

“A lot of people spend time at the beach, especially in the summer,” Heaney said. “And while we found that only a small percentage of people who played at the beach became ill later - less than 10 percent in any age group, for any amount of exposure - it’s important to look at the situation more closely. If we find evidence that shows exposure to sand really does lead to illness, then we can look for the sources of contamination and minimize it. That will make a day at the beach a little less risky.”

For more information, visit: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org.

Andy Mead has managed to parlay a fondness for the outdoors into a career as an environmental reporter in Florida and Kentucky. He came to the Herald-Leader in 1976 and has written about issues ranging from coal mining, water quality and invasive species to dragon flies and mushroom fairy circles

Linda J. Johnson, a member of the Online Team, grew up in Colorado where a love for the outdoors and things environmental was ingrained at a tender age. She has been with the Herald-Leader for almost 12 years.

Greenspot on Kentucky.com

Battling a plant trying to take over the world
Wendy Havens spent the first day of spring dragging large honeysuckle branches away from a creek in the Port Royal neighborhood. "We're getting rid of an exotic invasive that's trying to take over the world," said Havens, who is project coordinator for the Port Royal Neighborhood Association. Now the Roanoke Greenway along Wolf Run Creek, which is near Alexandria Drive, is more open and inviting to people who live in the area. And, as native plants put in the ground Saturday take root and grow, the creek itself will be cleaner. The neighborhood association has been picking up trash in the greenway for several years. Two years ago, when residents started hacking at the honeysuckle an Asian species now widespread in Central Kentucky they found old mattresses and other evidence that homeless people had been living in the thickets.
Timing of essence in tuna vote, and Japan is beneficiary
An unlikely ally and impeccable timing helped Japan snatch an unlikely victory from the jaws of defeat in Doha, Qatar, at an international trade meeting. While early projections pointed to the easy passage of a proposal to ban the export of Atlantic bluefin tuna - a result that would have stung Japan as the main importer of the prized fish - some shrewd behind-the-scenes maneuvering set the stage for the proposal's demise. The beginning of the end for the proposal led by Monaco and the European Union was triggered by an outburst from the Libyan delegate at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES. At a committee meeting Thursday in the Qatari capital, the Libyan delegate shouted his objection to the U.S.-backed proposal, saying it was "part of a conspiracy of developed countries." His comment was a direct appeal to anti-West sentiment among developing countries. The Libyan representative then called for the discussion to be wound up and an immediate vote held. The proposal to ban bluefin trade was then rejected.
Spring is here: Stop vegetating and start cultivating
Finally. After what seemed like the longest, wettest, grayest, coldest, snowiest winter ever , crocuses have pushed through the soil and are blooming. As if that's not great enough, today is the first day of spring. It's time to get outside, dig in the dirt, dream of home-grown tomatoes and get your lawn ready to show off to the neighbors across the street. Here's some help a few suggestions about what you can do right now and some classes to help you get in the planting mood so you can get started. To-do list for March
Report calls for more study in California's San Joaquin Delta battle
Any hope that a panel of scientists would end the brawl over environmental restrictions in the hub of California's water system evaporated as warring factions each found ammunition in a report released Friday. Charged with evaluating the basis of federal fish protections that are limiting the pumping of water supplies from Northern California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the National Academy of Sciences committee concluded the protections were on the whole scientifically justified. "In no case did we say these did not have a scientific underpinning," said committee Chairman Robert Huggett, professor emeritus at the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences at the College of William and Mary. But the 64-page report also calls for more study, questions whether there is enough data to support specific levels of the pumping curbs and said that other problems in the delta ecosystem could have a "potentially large" effect on the imperiled delta smelt and declining stocks of migrating salmon. The evaluation by a committee of 15 experts from around the country underscored that there are no easy or quick fixes in the delta, which is used as a conduit for shipping water to the San Joaquin Valley, the state's agricultural heartland; and Southern California, its most populous region.
Too early to judge effectiveness of fish-saving plans, scientists say
WASHINGTON Neutral scientists said Friday that it s too soon to judge the effectiveness of ambitious plans to save fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. While calling the controversial water diversions scientifically justified, National Research Council scientists cautioned that they cannot yet be definitively evaluated. The split verdict left farmers and environmentalists alike something to seize upon in a much-anticipated report. There is great uncertainty, acknowledged Samuel Luoma, a research professor at the University of California at Davis s John Muir Institute of the Environment. The fate of the infamous Delta smelt epitomizes the ambiguity. Robert Huggett, an oceanographer who chaired the 15-member National Research Council study panel, noted Friday that there are so few smelt that scientists still don t know if the population is rising or falling. It s going to take a while to see any change in the system, Huggett said.
Congress seeks more records on Camp Lejeune tainted water
WASHINGTON Congressional investigators sent more letters this week as they continue their probe into past water contamination at the Marines' Camp Lejeune, N.C. The oversight panel on the House Science and Technology Committee seeks documents going back decades from private contractors, the Environmental Protection Agency and officials at a federal science agency. The letters request information about fuel spills at a centrally located underground tank farm, correspondence about the contamination and a list of documents that the Marines gave scientists who were trying to understand the impact of the toxic water. Also this week, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus responded to an earlier request for documents from Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., the chairman of the oversight subcommittee. Miller said earlier this month that it appeared that the Navy, which includes the Marine Corps, hadn't produced documents that federal scientists needed to conduct accurate health studies about the contamination.
Sequoias tell tale of drought and fire 3,000 years ago
Researchers have gone back 3,000 years in time to study the conditions of California's Sierra Nevada area. To do this, they looked at 52 of the world's oldest trees and found that they contained a history of the area that showed droughts and fires from 800 to 1300. University of Arizona scientists dated fire scars on ancient giant sequoia trees, Sequoiadendron giganteum, in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park. Individual giant sequoias can live more than 3,000 years. "It's the longest tree-ring fire history in the world, and it's from this amazing place with these amazing trees." said lead author Thomas W. Swetnam of the University of Arizona in Tucson. "This is an epic collection of tree rings."
Population of migrating monarch butterflies is lowest ever
Monarch butterflies, hit hard by strong storms at their winter home in Mexico, have dwindled to their lowest population levels in decades as they begin to return to Texas on their springtime flight back to the United States and Canada. The monarch loss is estimated at 50 to 60 percent and means that the breeding population flying northward is expected to be the smallest since the Mexican overwintering colonies were discovered in 1975, said Chip Taylor, a professor of entomology and director of Monarch Watch at the University of Kansas. "I think it is very clear that the butterflies lost more than half of the population," Taylor said. "I'm hoping it wasn't as high as 70 or 80 percent. We've never seen it this bad before." The butterfly colonies in the Mexican state of Michoacan were hit by torrential rainfall and mudslides in early February that also killed at least 40 people and left thousands homeless. Several towns were devastated by flooding. Researchers put the butterfly population in Mexico at 1.92 hectares, down from the average of 7.44 hectares. The hectare count represents the areas with trees that contain monarchs. There is no consensus on how many monarchs can be in a hectare, but researchers say the number may be as high as 50 million.
Biden touts green energy to rebuild U.S. economy
Vice President Joe Biden arrived in the Triangle on Thursday and headed straight for the headquarters of a Durham company that has become a symbol of the Obama administration's economic hopes. In front of excited employees and friendly local politicians, Biden praised LED maker Cree's energy-efficient lights as exactly the kind of products that the country needs to design, manufacture and export. "I don't think I've ever seen a success story quite like this one here at Cree," Biden said. "It ties so muchinto what President Obama and I are trying to do." Visiting Cree allowed the vice president to talk about both the 375 jobs Cree has added since February 2009 and the $39 million in federal tax credits the company has received under a stimulus program for green energy manufacturers. Not directly mentioned were the half-million North Carolinians now out of work. The state's unemployment rate, which hit 11.1 percent in January, is the highest it has been since the state began keeping track in 1976.
Wolves with radio collars for research killed during Alaska predator control culling
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game resumed killing wolves from helicopters this week in the Interior and immediately sparked controversy by wiping out a pack that included wolves collared for research by the National Park Service. The wolf kills in the eastern Interior are part of a predator control effort to increase the numbers of the Fortymile caribou herd, as well as moose populations. The department had agreed beforehand that it wouldn't kill wolves collared by biologists from the Yukon Charley Rivers National Preserve. But Fish and Game on Wednesday killed all four wolves in the Webber Creek Pack, including two with radio collars, as they roamed state land outside the preserve. Yukon Charley Superintendent Greg Dudgeon said the population of wolves ranging the preserve was already significantly down before the killing. He said he now plans to order an emergency closure of hunting and trapping wolves in its boundaries. "The local folks who hunt and trap lose out on opportunities when you have this kind of aggressive approach outside the boundaries. It affects more than just National Park Service managers," he said.

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