Mich Enviro Report: Coal in your Life, Heat Wave Tips & Lake Management Plans

As heard on Delta College Q-90.1 FM, July 22, 2011:

1.

How much coal is in your life? 

If you live in Bay County, you may be at a greater risk for respiratory illness or mercury exposure due to emissions from coal-fired power plants.

The information comes from the Sierra Club, which has designed a tool to localize the impact of coal in people’s lives.

Most electricity in the Saginaw Bay area, and nationwide, is generated by coal-fired power plants.

The tool uses information on your ZIP code and fish consumption habits, along with data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The tool gives each user a 1 out of 10 score. The higher the score, the higher the potential threat to your health from coal pollution.

For more information, see coalinyourlife.org.

2.

You’ve probably noticed that it’s been hot outside.

Here are a number of ways to cut your air conditioning and electric bill, or cool off your house if you don’t have air conditioning. The tips come from Earth 911, an environmental services company.

No. 1: Use two fans, one to pull outside air into your home, and another at an opposite window to blow interior air outside.

Other tips: Cook outside on the grill to keep the heat from a stove or oven outside of your house.

You also can pull the shades, and consider getting insulated blinds that can help keep out the summer heat.

According to Energy Star, up to half of the energy used in a home goes to heating and cooling.

3.

Lakewide Management Plan reports have been released for the five Great Lakes.

The annual reports highlight accomplishments in restoring and protecting the lakes, and current management challenges that U.S. and Canadian agencies say they are trying to address.

According to the report for Lake Huron, the lake’s biodiversity is in “fair” condition.

Critical threats include non-native species; incompatible housing development and shoreline alteration; climate change; dams;
and pollution from non-point sources due to agriculture,
forestry and urban land uses.

Another concern: A Type E botulism outbreak in Southern Georgian Bay.

The latest occurred in the fall of 2010, and killed lake sturgeon, gulls and loons.

—

Photo by Señor Codo

Mich Enviro Report: Collapsing Roofs, Recyclemania & Post-Coal Jobs

From the Feb. 11, 2011, Environment Report, heard on Delta College Q-90.1 FM … 

1.

Proposed new federal air pollution rules could bring about 62,000 construction jobs to Michigan during the next five years.

That’s according to a University of Massachusetts study released at a national green jobs conference in Washington, D.C.

The study says $200 billion worth of investments to clean up and modernize power plants in the U.S. would create about 1.5 million jobs through 2015.

The report says those investments would create 62,346 construction, installation and professional jobs in Michigan.

On the flip side, about 137 operation and maintenance jobs would be lost in the state, if coal-fired power plants are closed after the new power plants go online.

2.

From now through April 2, universities across the country are competing in Recyclemania 2011.

In Michigan, participating schools include Central Michigan University and Saginaw Valley State University.

Campuses are competing to see which school can collect the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, and produce the least amount of trash per capita.

SVSU is participating in the Waste Minimization category. Organizers plan to educate employees and students about ways to minimize waste, and work to recycle paper cups and pizza boxes used and sold in the food court.

At CMU, there are programs to sell or donate campus surplus property, work with vendors to reduce transportation packaging and offer reusable dinnerware and utensils in all sit-down dining facilities.

3.

Watch your head. Roofs are collapsing across the Midwest under the weight of all this snow.

The Saginaw Valley received about 10 inches of snow earlier this month.

A report by The Weather Channel cites roof collapses in Port Huron, Michigan, along with Indiana and other states.

A structural engineering professor at the University of New Hampshire recommends that homeowners who can safely remove snow from the ground with a roof rake do so regularly, and not let the snow build up.

Ice dams on your roof can be temporarily addressed by melting the ice with road salt or hot water, the professor says.

If ice damming is a recurring problem, you should have your roof inspected and modified to allow for better ventiliation.

— Photo of roof collapse from 2009. Credit Ryan McFarland, Flickr.

Friday Edition: Great Lakes Report, Lasers & Poisoned Perch

Thanks to all who listen to the Environment Report, on Friday mornings on Delta College’s Q-90.1 FM.

I’m going to start posting the text from my radio spots, in case listeners are looking for more info. Without further delay, here’s what aired on Nov. 12:

1.
What’s the state of the Great Lakes?  

Getting better, but still in need of help.

Outgoing Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm says the state is working to protect and restore the lakes. She released an annual State of the Great Lakes Report this week that focuses on efforts in the four lakes that border Michigan — Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior.

So far, more than 80 million dollars has been awarded to more than 140 projects in Michigan under the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the report says.

Projects in the Lake Huron basin include improvements to the Frankenmuth dam to open up more areas for fish spawning, an international study of Great Lakes water levels, and efforts to detect and treat nonnative plants called phragmites along the shoreline.

Find the State of the Great Lakes report at michigan.gov/dnregreatlakes

2.
It’s too cold to go swimming at the beach. But better beach monitoring, with lasers, could be coming to Michigan.

A low-powered laser testing method has been developed by Purdue University.

The laser shines through samples of E. coli bacteria to determine the origin of the bacteria, which comes from human and animal waste.

In Saginaw Bay, there has been finger pointing about E. coli found in dead algae, or beach muck, along the shoreline. Some people believe the source is human sewage. Others believe large farms deserve more of the blame.

The laser method can allow for faster and less expensive E. coli testing results, to warn beach-goers about contaminated water, according to state officials.

It also can help county health departments determine the source of bacteria linked to ongoing beach closures.

The technology is still in the testing stages.

But the federal government is releasing tougher standards for beach bacteria in 2012, and the laser could help counties meet the new requirements, state officials say.

3.
How do toxic substances affect yellow perch in the Great Lakes?

Scientists plan to poison a number of perch to find out.

The study, by Michigan State and University of Michigan researchers, is on the causes and effects of toxic substances on perch. It will focus on exposure to mercury, which is released to the environment by sources like coal-fired power plants in the Lake Huron basin.

Fish in the study will be given low doses of mercury and other pollutants. As the levels of poison are increased, scientists will examine the effects on fish hormone levels.

The testing results will help assess potential threats to perch and other aquatic life from pollution in the Great Lakes, MSU researchers say.

— Photo via nps.gov

 

Mysterious My Ash: This Black Stuff Coats Homes and Lungs

 

Update: Oct. 13, 2010: DNRE responds to concerns from citizens (and Mr. Great Lakes). Gasps heard throughout Bangor Township. Likely “city mold.” Particulates still coming from plant. Sigh.

Oct. 12, 2010:

So there’s a story in today’s Bay City Times. It’s about this “mysterious” black stuff that people in Bangor Township (where Mr. Great Lakes lives) say has been coating homes for the past few months. Some residents are quick to point their finger at the Consumers Energy Karn-Weadock complex in Bay County’s Hampton Township. That’s the right direction, based on the wind. But let me tell you what really blows.

Karn-Weadock piles its coal ash along Saginaw Bay, and some dust is inevitably carried away by the wind. But what’s worse than that is the stuff that billows from the stacks there and is carried away by the wind. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Well, you’re inhaling that stuff if you live in the vicinity of this plant’s exhaust.

“Oh, Mr. Great Lakes,” you may say, “you have no proof of this.”

Really? From the story:

Consumers Energy does contract a boat cleaning service at the Bay City Yacht Club, 3315 Shady Shores Road in Bangor Township, to clean boats that are sometimes dirtied by particulates from Karn-Weadock Generating Complex. The Bay City Yacht Club is situated approximately 1,000 feet northwest of the plant’s coal piles.

The Bay Road neighborhood is within a mile northwest of the Bay City Yacht Club, which puts it on the same trajectory that strong northwest winds sometimes carry coal particulates from the Consumers Energy plant.

Another word for coal particulates is particulate matter. That’s soot so small that it’s inhaled deep into your lungs, where it shortens your life. That’s not my opinion. That’s a fact. Consumers has acknowledged those particulate deposits by paying a boat cleaning service to wipe away the soot.

So what is the company going to do about the mysterious black stuff?

Consumers Energy Spokesperson Mary Gust said the company is unaware of any problems in that area.

“We’re not aware of any complaints from that area,” she said. “If we do receive an inquiry, we do investigate. Typically what we’ll do, we’ll visit the site and collect samples. We find, oftentimes, that results indicate it’s biological in nature.”

Clearly, Consumers hasn’t been paying attention to environmental groups like Lone Tree Council who have for YEARS lodged complaints and concerns about particulate matter levels from the plant. Sure, the plant may meet the federal limits for particulate pollution. Give them a medal, please. Levels of particulates at current standards have been linked to diabetes.

But let’s give Consumers a chance here. The spokeswoman says her company typically visits sites to collect samples if they receive an inquiry. Let’s hope complaints from several residents and a story in the newspaper qualifies as an “inquiry.”

The most mysterious thing about this issue is the lack of a response from the state Department of Natural Resources and Environment, which has an office in Bay City.

Let’s see if the state agency that regulates the coal plant will react. Just don’t hold your breath.

— Photo of Consumers coal via Bing Maps

A Year Since Copenhagen, And No Great Lakes Wind

* Hello Mlive readers. Traffic has surged on this blog post today. I thought it was just the awesome writing. It turns out that it’s (also) because the link was featured on Mid-Michigan Afternoon Links. I don’t work for The Bay City Times anymore, but I’m still very much in the game. Check out jeffkart.com for links to my writing. Also consider the RSS for Mr. Great Lakes. Thanks.

This month, October 2010, marks one year since I became an iPhone user … and one year since I traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, on a whirlwind energy tour. One of the highlights was a trip to an offshore wind farm. And back then, it was just a matter of time before the Great Lakes would be sporting big blades.

A year later, there are no offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes. But I saw another offshore wind farm today. The world’s largest is now spinning on the Thames estuary in southern England. There are 100 windmills on the water there, and more are planned. A picture posted on MSNBC doesn’t even look real. But it is.

What’s also real is opposition to offshore wind. People have apparently grown used to ugly coal plants that belch toxics into our skies and our Great Lakes. Yet the thought of seeing 300-foot-tall, three-bladed wind turbines just makes people nervous. Will they be aesthetically pleasing? Will they make too much noise, or disrupt fishing or recreational boating?

Yes, no, no and no. What’s not easy on the eyes, ears or soul is greenhouse gas emissions and mercury, both of which come from those ugly old coal plants people seem to have grown used to.

Sure, wind isn’t the 100 percent answer. It won’t generate everything we need. Turbines aren’t as beautiful as a natural vista. But there’s wind here, and it beats shipping in coal from out of state.

I wonder what the case will be one year from now. Wind turbines on the Great Lakes? Or a new coal plant? Go Vikings.

Are You Happy With Michigan’s Bottle Bill?

So this week I’m in West Virginia, to speak at a Nature Conservancy conference on the power of social media. Hint: You should retweet this story.

And I’ve noticed that the folks in West Virginia are really friendly. They say “Hi” and they seem to mean it. Maybe that’s because I’m in “the holler,” as the cab driver said on my way here this morning. But despite their overt happiness, the people of WVA still don’t have a bottle bill. They just throw away the bottles and cans.

Now I was awed on the way here, in a two-hour ride from Pittsburgh, with the beauty of the rolling mountain scenery in the wild and wonderful state. John Denver had it right. And I can’t stop humming “Country Roads.”

On the cover of today’s Charleston Gazette is a story featuring Unknown Environmentalists, lots of them, with brown paper bags over their heads.

The story is about efforts by a local group called Pick Up America, which staged at a rally at the state Capitol to push for a 5-cent deposit on beverage containers. In Michigan, we have a 10-cent deposit. And I’ll admit it’s a pain to reclaim my 10 cents, but it (usually) keeps me honest and encourages recycling.

Which makes me wonder: Do you appreciate Michigan’s 10-cent law, and think it should even be expanded to non-carbonated beverages (water and juice)? I, for one, am happy to have it, despite the hassle. And to think, West Virginia, the second-largest coal-producing state, is quibbling about a nickel.

— Photo via wvgazette.com