RENewsletter | February 12, 2012 - Rochester Environmental News

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[02/05/2011 – 02/12/2012]

* Got news? | Go to my blog: Environmental Thoughts - Rochester, NY or Tweet me @ http://twitter.com/#!/FrankRrrr On Twitter and Facebook and Examiner/RochesterEnvironment, I post local environmental events, news, and commentary as soon as it happens. If you think this newsletter, which continually informs our community on our local environmental news, events, actions, is worthwhile, please encourage others to sign up. We need to Occupy the Rochester media to change how the public views environmental news.

The great conundrum of our times is that in a time of rapidly occurring Climate Change and a rapid disintegration of the environment that we need to thrive and survive, mainstream media still marginalizes environmental concerns. [Check often for this continually updated list on the possible consequences of Climate Change in our region--supported by facts.] If there isn’t a quick and substantial change in how environmental concerns are reported, edited, and chosen in mainstream media, the public will continue to believe that environmental concerns are merely special interest matters, issues they can avoid if they choose. How can we inform the public and monitor our environment without abridging our Freedoms--in enough time to safe ourselves?

Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet. -- Carl Sagan

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Opening Salvo: “Uproar over the ‘mystery illness’ in Leroy, NY”

The hue and cry over the ‘mystery illness in Leroy, N.Y. for all I can tell is a true mystery: Why are several people in the same locality exhibiting similar symptoms? I can understand school and town officials’ desire to halt a hysterical reaction in the press that might bring unwanted and unnecessary concern to their community. Once started, it’s hard to keep a community functioning effectively if the press has made a spectacle of your community that invites all kinds of fears and disruptions.

But I can also understand the fears of parents and of those who invite lawyers and environmental groups to investigate a possible environmental cause to these recent illnesses. Without exact knowledge of cause and effect, it is reasonable to assume that an illness with similar symptoms within a small select group warrants testing for environmental health hazards. After all, we have been dumping toxic stuff all over the planet and the planet is finite in its ability to make our more noxious stuff go away.

Here’s one of the stories that you probably read because this issue has gone nationwide:

Advocates seek more testing in LeRoy In Le Roy, debate flared Tuesday over environmental testing and medical diagnoses in relation to the cluster of students with unusual neurological symptoms. A trio of environmental and health advocacy organizations told the Le Roy Central School District that more thorough testing is needed in and around the district’s high school to ensure that there are no environmental contaminants that could be triggering the symptoms. The district did one set of indoor air tests in December and on Saturday said it had commissioned a second set of tests that would check more parts of the school. (February 8, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle

I suspect some folks are sitting back and smugly thinking that outbursts such as these just come and go. Some kind of cyclical mass hysteria endemic to human nature is going on: Once in awhile, everyone gets excited about some possible environmental contamination issue, wild speculations goes viral, then things quiet down and go away. However, like most of the stuff we dump into our environment—heavy metals and toxins that get thrown into our landfills, pharmaceuticals that get flushed into our Great Lakes, greenhouse gases that get emitted into our atmosphere—they don’t just go away. They move from one place and eventually accumulate in others, where they often do much harm. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that there will be more cancer clustering and other public health outbreaks as we continue to trash our environment.

Granted, cancer clusters and other environmental effects of our modern life are hard to pin down, hard to find direct causes. Lawyers abound who protect industries’ interests, not yours. Also, in the US many industries do not have to disclose the ingredients of their product, or prove they are safe before they use our environment as their toilet. And, there is always the possibility that many public health outbreaks will occur randomly. So, unless you have an extraordinary circumstance or a telltale stream of nasty fluids pouring into a community drinking supply, there is probably enough wiggle room for a denier to slip through the legal cracks.

However, the flip side of all this legal wiggle room is doubt. Doubt and fear and some knowledge (but not enough) create widespread panics—especially when parents perceive that they are protecting their children. One of the consequences of the media and businesses and government treating the public like mushrooms (keeping them in the dark and feeding them crap) is a public always on the edge of hysteria every time a public health mystery erupts.

Frustrating as it may be to local governments and industry, events like what is going on in Leroy, NY will go on. These outbursts going on in Leroy now are not something cyclical in human nature; they are an indication of the accumulated consequences of our wasteful sort of life, which is spiraling towards more cases like this. This is because monitoring our environment, making sure products are safe for our health and our environment before they are dumped into our environment, has become so political in the media and divorced from science that the public is left with little useful information about the state of our environment.

There is a way to avoid all this, which is to elect officials who understand science and are not committed to an unsustainable ideology. We can also only attend to the media that conduct investigative reporting on our environment continually. And we can insist that our government create standards for waste-streams that turn toxic products (cradle to cradle design) back to benign resources. And most of all, conduct our economy as if our environment mattered. If not you get this:

Brockovich Investigator Releases Preliminary Groundwater Testing Results in LeRoy Preliminary test results on groundwater testing in LeRoy, by Erin Brockovich's team, are in. Environmental Investigator Bob Bowcock says so far test results show TCE from the 1970 Leghigh Train Derailment has not moved toward LeRoy High School. (February 11, 2012) YNN
Alternate Le Roy theories abound Medical experts may believe they know the cause of the cluster of stricken students in Le Roy, but there are plenty of theorists both mainstream and not with ideas of their own. For instance, I’ve had two calls from people who insisted the symptoms could be caused by Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a relative of mad cow disease. And a journalist in Uganda recently wrote a piece, brought to my attention Tuesday by a caller, suggesting the Le Roy illnesses were what’s known as Ugandan nodding disease, a very real and horrible health problem now affecting thousands in that African nation. (February 9, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle
New Air Testing For LeRoy High School LeRoy, N.Y. - New air testing could begin this week at LeRoy High School. Leader Professional Services in Pittsford will test the air quality inside and outside the school. The testing will happen while students are in class and when the school is closed. (February 9, 2012) 13WHAM.com
Advocates seek more testing in LeRoy In Le Roy, debate flared Tuesday over environmental testing and medical diagnoses in relation to the cluster of students with unusual neurological symptoms. A trio of environmental and health advocacy organizations told the Le Roy Central School District that more thorough testing is needed in and around the district’s high school to ensure that there are no environmental contaminants that could be triggering the symptoms. The district did one set of indoor air tests in December and on Saturday said it had commissioned a second set of tests that would check more parts of the school. (February 8, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle
A shipment from Le Roy goes awry A second school district in western New York has fallen down the rabbit hole created by the appearance of unusual neurological symptoms in Le Roy, Genesee County. That would be the Lewiston-Porter Central School District in Niagara County, which moved to block shipment of supposedly harmless soil from an old chemical spill in Le Roy. Barrels filled with soil were to be sent to the Chemical Waste Management hazardous waste landfill in Porter, just a mile or so from the Lewiston-Porter campus. (February 8, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle
NYS Health Department releases report on LeRoy girls A doctor in Buffalo said today, he’s treating four more young girls with tics in LeRoy. He’s diagnosed three of them with conversion disorder. Meanwhile, the New York State Health Department released a preliminary report today on the 12 original cases at LeRoy High School. It spells out, in detail, why certain environmental factors are not to blame for these symptoms. (February 4, 2012) WHEC.com
More mystery illness details emerge in Le Roy With the number of known or suspected cases of unusual neurological illness in LeRoy now standing at 19, officials offered the first detailed look Friday at their inquiry into the cluster and announced a public meeting for this morning. The meeting at LeRoy Junior-Senior High School is to discuss additional testing at the building. All but one of the afflicted people is a student. (February 4, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle
NIH offers to evaluate Le Roy students for free LE ROY — The National Institutes of Health has offered to evaluate the LeRoy High School students exhibiting involuntary tics and verbal outbursts for free, and state Health Department tests of the school's drinking water turned up nothing out of the ordinary, the state health commissioner said Wednesday. Dr. Nirav Shah, the commissioner, announced in a written statement released late in the day that an agreement had been struck with the NIH that would allow the students to travel to Bethesda, Md., for testing at no cost to their families. February 2, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle
Le Roy officials: Speculation harmful Although some environmental activists continue to link a cluster of afflicted students in Le Roy to a spill of toxic chemicals in the Genesee County town 41 years ago, school officials reiterated Monday there is no evidence the two situations are connected. They said the school is safe, and that continuing national attention to the students' unusual neurological symptoms is distracting the student body and setting back the recovery of those who are afflicted. (January 31, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle
EPA Doing Testing In LeRoy In Response To Community Concerns! LeRoy, N.Y. - On the very day two environmental groups called for more testing in LeRoy, we learned the EPA is testing drums of soil on the site of a 1970's train derailment. The drums contain rocks and soil taken during groundwater testing at the derailment site. It is a Superfund Clean-up site and is located off of Gulf Road, about four miles from the high school. EPA Spokeswoman Mary Mears told us she doubts the material is hazardous but says the EPA agreed to the testing "in response to community concerns." (January 31, 2012) 13WHAM.com
Environmental icons drawn by Le Roy cluster National environmental and health groups are beating a path to LeRoy, poking into the Genesee County community's startling cluster of teenage students with troubling neurological symptoms. Groups led by environmental-activist icons Erin Brockovich and Lois Gibbs have been talking with parents and gathering background. A chapter of the Sierra Club has been digging into the LeRoy school's unusual connection with natural gas drilling. The Healthy Schools Network, Empire State Consumer Project and others are involved. (January 27, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com (Click on my email for feedback)

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NewsLinks– Environmental NewsLinks – [Highlights of major environmental stories concerning our area from the past week]

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Updates– Daily Updates – [Connecting the dots on Rochester’s environment. Find out what’s going on environmentally in our area—and why you should care? Clicking on -DISCUSSION – will take you to my blog “Environmental Thoughts, NY, where you can add your comments.]

2/11/2012 - ACTION: Stop the Bill! Right now, the U.S House is about to vote on the next multiyear transportation bill. Unfortunately it's an absolute disaster for trails, and our nation's transportation future in general. Speak up now and help us stop the bill! Speak Up Against the House Bill! Some are calling it "the worst bill ever." From a trails vantage point, it's hard to disagree. H.R. 7, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012, is truly atrocious for many reasons. If it passes the House floor and becomes law as it now stands, the bill would: Eliminate dedicated funding for trails, walking and bicycling; Destroy a 30-year precedent of long-term dedicated funding for transit; Do away with the rail-trail eligibility category in the Transportation Enhancements (TE) program; Put our children in harm's way by eliminating the Safe Routes to School program; Fail to maximize its job creation potential, since trail, walking and bicycling projects create substantially more jobs per dollar than do highway projects; Increase America's dependence on foreign oil; and Contribute to our growing health and obesity crises. Since the bill is so far beyond repair, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is joining a tremendous coalition of groups across the political spectrum to defeat this bill when it comes to the House floor—expected to begin Tuesday, February 14! --Rails-to-Trails Conservancy:: Creating a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines:: Building healthier places for healthier people.
2/11/2012 - Some great events coming up in February: We are really excited about this 4-part series on LOCALIZATION: ECONOMY, FOOD AND ENERGY to be held Wednesdays starting Feb. 22 at the Brighton Town Hall and sponsored by ten area organizations. READ THE Flyer
2/10/2012 - Lots of environmental Events from Audubon New York "Audubon Centers Montezuma Click here for details on our special events and programs for children and adults, and upcoming teacher workshops in 2011 The Montezuma Audubon Center (MAC) is a state-owned facility operated through a cooperative agreement between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the National Audubon Society. The MAC houses a large exhibit area, classroom, nature store, office area, auditorium, and a meeting room. On its 198 acres, there are five different types of habitat, two restored freshwater marshes, a one-mile hiking trail, and an all-access observation platform. The Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC) is one of the largest conservation projects in the nation for reclamation of important wildlife and wetland habitat. The complex is a crucial migration stopover point for migrating waterfowl in the northeast. "
2/09/2012 - A blunt no-holds-barred look at our oil addiction: Unearthing the True Cost of Fossil Fuels : TreeHugger For decades now, fossil fuel company executives and D.C. politicians have worked together to ensure that coal and oil prices stay low enough to keep the American people hooked. In his new book Greedy Bastards, Dylan Ratigan explains how “vampire industries” like oil and coal have forged “an unholy alliance with government based not just on the money that they contribute to political campaigns and spend on lobbying but on their ability to hypnotize us with false prices.” (February 7, 2012) TreeHugger
2/08/2012 - Get the facts: Are your political leaders doing their job and protecting our environment? Scorecard "Today, LCV is releasing the 2011 National Environmental Scorecard, which for more than 40 years has been the nationally accepted yardstick used to rate members of Congress on environmental issues. Unfortunately, this year’s Scorecard is a sad testament to the radical nature of the first session of the 112th Congress in the House of Representatives. In 2011, the Republican leadership in the House unleashed a truly breathtaking and unprecedented assault on the environment and public health, the breadth and depth of which have made the current House the most anti-environment in our nation’s history. But that’s why we must work together to hold our elected officials accountable for their votes and actions on the nation’s most pressing environmental issues. 1. Get the facts. Learn your representative and senators’ 2011 LCV score. Representative Slaughter - 89% Senators Gillibrand - 100% Schumer - 100%" League of Conservation Voters - Turning Environmental Values Into National Priorities
2/08/2012 - Good film coming up on that oil addiction of ours: MOVIE SHOWING Gas Prices Going Up: Why? Gas prices have been increasing for more than a decade, with some wild gyrations along the way. Is this likely to be a long-term trend? To help answer this question, a free showing of "Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash" is offered by Beechwood Transition Initiative and Juanita Ball (482-5419) at the Thomas Ryan Community Center, 360 Webster Avenue, in Rochester, 7-9 pm, Thursday, March 15. Juanita is planning to have free popcorn on hand! Crude Awakening is a 2006 documentary by award-winning filmmakers Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack. It examines our world-wide dependence on petroleum and the possible consequences of peaking petroleum production.
2/08/2012 - Amazing thinking. Why does an issue of physics (think science) like Climate Change so political in the US? Public Priorities: Deficit Rising, Terrorism Slipping | Pew Research Center for the People and the PressNo issue divides partisans more than the importance of environmental protection – 58% of Democrats say it is a top priority, compared with just 27% of Republicans. Of the 22 items tested, environmental protection is one of the lowest GOP priorities, along with such issues as improving transportation infrastructure and campaign finance reform. Dealing with the nation’s energy problems, by contrast, is of equal importance to both Republicans (55% top priority) and Democrats (57%), though other recent surveys suggest that partisans have very different solutions in mind. Since it was first tested on the annual policy priorities list in 2007, the share of Americans who view dealing with global warming as a top priority has slipped from 38% to 25%. Democrats (38%) are far more likely than Republicans (11%) to rate this as a top priority. But the decline has occurred across party lines: In 2007, 48% of Democrats rated dealing with global warming as a top priority, as did 23% of Republicans. (December 7, 2012) Pew Research Center
2/08/2012 - Our government really didn’t nuke for Fracking did it back in 1969? Yikes!From Gung-Ho to Uh-Oh: Charting the Government’s Moves on Fracking - ProPublica Fracking has only recently become a household word, but government involvement with the drilling technique goes back decades. President Obama has championed the potential of natural gas drilling combined with more regulation. While there has been mounting evidence of water contamination, few regulations have been implemented. The graphic below traces officials' moves -- and levels of caution -- over time. (February 7, 2012) ProPublica [more on Fracking in our area]
2/08/2012 - Great essay on the state of Climate Change at this point by Bill McKibben:The Great Carbon Bubble « EcoWatch: Uniting the Voice of the Grassroots Environmental Movement "If we could see the world with a particularly illuminating set of spectacles, one of its most prominent features at the moment would be a giant carbon bubble, whose bursting someday will make the housing bubble of 2007 look like a lark. As yet—as we shall see—it’s unfortunately largely invisible to us. In compensation, though, we have some truly beautiful images made possible by new technology. Last month, for instance, NASA updated the most iconic photograph in our civilization’s gallery: “Blue Marble,” originally taken from Apollo 17 in 1972. The spectacular new high-def image shows a picture of the Americas on January 4th, a good day for snapping photos because there weren’t many clouds. " EcoWatch: Uniting the Voice of the Grassroots Environmental Movement
2/06/2012 - GreatRecycling program coming up: Thursday, February 16, 6:30pm. Brighton Memorial Library, 2300 Elmwood Avenue. Free. With Monroe County's agreement to begin accepting all #1 through #7 plastics for curb-side recycling, our community is making progress in improving its environmental footprint. What if your household, business, or institution could actually get paid for the recycling you are already doing? There is an opportunity to take our recycling to another level without additional effort. Color Brighton Green has invited Jason Buck of Recyclebank (www.recyclebank.com) to make a multi-media presentation on how it pays households, businesses and institutions for the recycling they already do! No extra work, just rewards. Recyclebank rewards people for taking every day green actions with points that can be redeemed as discounts and deals from local and national businesses. Learn how recycling can earn you rewards at the businesses you use every day. The more you recycle, the more you earn...and the better for the environment and your wallet. For more information, contact Cheryl Frank at info@ColorBrightonGreen.org. 241-3078 or cherylmfrank@yahoo.com
2/06/2012 - Gaming knowledge gaps in Climate Change studiesThere is a lot of doubt surrounding the issue of Climate Change, just as there would be about anything remotely as complex as the rapid warming of our planet due to human activity. It means trying to anticipate the impact of unprecedentedly rapid change -- what used to take millions of years of adaption in Earth’s biology is being condensed into a few decades—with every other environmental issue we face mixed in. For some, this doubt galvanizes them to fill those knowledge gaps by investigating and monitoring the changes in our environment due to warming. Find out what’s going on, what’s causing it, and then find solutions. more...
2/6/2012 - Media begins to notice Climate Change in Rochester, NY. This is the first local story to describe what our present warm winter means besides not having to shovel snow and other things New York State residents don’t like about winter. In truth, this warm winter may be the new normal. Get a full picture of what Climate Change can mean for our region by checking out these two recent Climate Change documents, not from environmentalists, but from your governmental authorities who are charged with protecting the public and our way of life: NFWP Climate Adaptation Strategy and Report 11-18 Response to Climate Change in New York State (ClimAID)Businesses, nature try to weather the warm winter | Democrat and Chronicle | democratandchronicle.com From bugs to buds, and lots of flora, fauna and financial enterprises in between, this season's unusually warm weather could have a big impact. For example, bait shops that depend on ice fishing to make ends meet in the winter months have taken a huge hit. (February 5, 2012) Democrat and Chronicle | Rochester news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Rochester, New York | democratandchronicle.com [more on Climate Change in our area]

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Events– Rochester Environmental Events Calendar – [The most complete listing of all environmental events around the Rochester, New York area.] If you don’t see your event, or know of a local environmental event, please send me the info: FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com with (EV event) in the subject line.

February 2012

Thursday, February 16, 6:30pm. Brighton Memorial Library, 2300 Elmwood Avenue, Brighton, NY.
- Free. With Monroe County's agreement to begin accepting all #1 through #7 plastics for curb-side recycling, our community is making progress in improving its environmental footprint. What if your household, business, or institution could actually get paid for the recycling you are already doing? There is an opportunity to take our recycling to another level without additional effort. Color Brighton Green has invited Jason Buck of Recyclebank (www.recyclebank.com) to make a multi-media presentation on how it pays households, businesses and institutions for the recycling they already do! No extra work, just rewards. Recyclebank rewards people for taking every day green actions with points that can be redeemed as discounts and deals from local and national businesses. Learn how recycling can earn you rewards at the businesses you use every day. The more you recycle, the more you earn...and the better for the environment and your wallet. For more information, contact Cheryl Frank at info@ColorBrightonGreen.org. 241-3078 or cherylmfrank@yahoo.com

March 2012

7-9 pm, Thursday, March 15. | Thomas Ryan Community Center, 360 Webster Avenue, Rochester, NY
- MOVIE SHOWING Gas Prices Going Up: Why? Gas prices have been increasing for more than a decade, with some wild gyrations along the way. Is this likely to be a long-term trend? To help answer this question, a free showing of "Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash" is offered by Beechwood Transition Initiative and Juanita Ball (482-5419) at the Thomas Ryan Community Center, 360 Webster Avenue, in Rochester, 7-9 pm, Thursday, March 15. Juanita is planning to have free popcorn on hand! Crude Awakening is a 2006 documentary by award-winning filmmakers Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack. It examines our world-wide dependence on petroleum and the possible consequences of peaking petroleum production.

April 2012

Friday, April 27, 2012 At "The Links" in East Syracuse, New York
- Eighth Annual Symposium on Energy in the 21st Century | DescriptionofSymposium A Division of Synapse Sustainability Trust Inc. Looking Ahead to a Future in Renewable Energy A Local & Global Perspective Friday, April 27, 2012 At "The Links" in East Syracuse, New York Symposium on April 27, 2012. Registration opens today. This Symposium is noted as one of the most important energy conferences in the Northeast. This will be a very well attended Symposium and I encourage you to register ASAP. Last year we closed registration early at 360 attendees. This year we are going global, and including successful models of energy sustainability from other countries. Ruggero Schleicher-Tappeser, will be flying in from Berlin exclusively for this Symposium to speak Germany's success in using renewable energy, particularly solar voltaic. Willett Kempton, Ph.D, Visiting Professor at Denmarks Tekniske Universitet, will be speaking on Denmark's model, particularly in wind energy. Other esteemed speakers include Garry Brown, Chairman PSC, Laura Morton, Senior Advisor for Renewable Energy, U.S.D.O.E, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Paul Tonko, Congressman, Nathanael Green, Director of Renewable Energy Policy, NRDC, Michael Gerrard, Director Climate Center, Columbia Law School, and Kit Kennedy, Counsel to Air & Energy Program, NRDC, who will be the moderator. Our keynote will be Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Included in the program is greetings from Frank Murray, President & CEO NYSERDA, and Joe Martens and, Commisioner DEC. We are giving a special award to Joanie Mahoney, County Executive of Onondaga County for her exceptional work. This will be a landmark Symposium!!

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Action– Take Action - Often, I receive request to pass on alerts, petitions, Public Comments on local developments, and environmental items needing action by the Rochester Community and around the world. I’ll keep Actions posted until their due date.

ACTION: Due Date: February 14, 2012
- Stop the Bill! Right now, the U.S House is about to vote on the next multiyear transportation bill. Unfortunately it's an absolute disaster for trails, and our nation's transportation future in general. Speak up now and help us stop the bill! Speak Up Against the House Bill! Some are calling it "the worst bill ever." From a trails vantage point, it's hard to disagree. H.R. 7, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012, is truly atrocious for many reasons. If it passes the House floor and becomes law as it now stands, the bill would: Eliminate dedicated funding for trails, walking and bicycling; Destroy a 30-year precedent of long-term dedicated funding for transit; Do away with the rail-trail eligibility category in the Transportation Enhancements (TE) program; Put our children in harm's way by eliminating the Safe Routes to School program; Fail to maximize its job creation potential, since trail, walking and bicycling projects create substantially more jobs per dollar than do highway projects; Increase America's dependence on foreign oil; and Contribute to our growing health and obesity crises. Since the bill is so far beyond repair, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is joining a tremendous coalition of groups across the political spectrum to defeat this bill when it comes to the House floor—expected to begin Tuesday, February 14! --Rails-to-Trails Conservancy:: Creating a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines:: Building healthier places for healthier people.
ACTION:Due Date Now
- Request from the DEC for some help on keeping our Great Lakes healthy: "Your Observations Can Help the Health of the Great Lakes! If you spend time around the Great Lakes shoreline, please consider sharing your observations of injured or dead animals, or algal blooms by using the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative - Wildlife Health Event Reporter (http://glri.wher.org/) (GLRI-WHER). Scientists working in state, federal and non-profit agencies are looking for your help to identify events that are important in research of avian botulism and algal bloom outbreaks, in the interest of protecting wildlife from this disease as well as algal neurotoxins. For a healthy Great Lakes ecosystem, do your part and share what you see by setting up a reporter account (http://glri.wher.org/users/add) on the GLRI-WHER website. E-mail any questions regarding reporting to botnet@wdin.org. For more details on avian (type E) botulism (http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/28433.html), visit the DEC website. "
ACTION: Due Date: March 5, 2012
- NFWP Climate Adaptation Strategy "The Public Review Draft of the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy is now available for public review and comment. To ensure that we are able to consider your comments, we must receive them by March 5, 2012. You can submit your comments through the web, by mail, or in person. Learn how to submit your comments here. Public workshops will be conducted at several locations around the country to provide additional opportunities for public comment and discussion of the draft. Please visit our Public Workshops page for more information. In addition, a free, public online web conference or webinar will also be held. Learn more and sign up here. "
ACTION - Due Date: March 8, 2012
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA’s Fisheries Service Extend Comment Period on Proposed Policy to Improve Implementation of Endangered Species Act |The Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), the two federal agencies responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act (ESA), today announced a 30-day extension of the public comment period on a draft policy interpreting the phrase “significant portion of its range” (SPR) in the ESA’s definitions of “endangered species” and “threatened species.” The public comment period on the draft policy will now close on March 8, 2012. Information about this policy and how it will improve administration of the ESA can be found at l. Considering the complexity of the issues addressed in the draft policy and the level of public interest, FWS and NOAA Fisheries determined that additional time for public comment will be particularly valuable for this action. The draft policy and supporting materials are available for review, and comments can be submitted for consideration, at http://www.regulations.gov under the docket number [FWS–R9–ES–2011–0031]. Information already submitted does not need to be resubmitted. The notice will publish in the Federal Register on February 07, 2012. Comments must be received on or before March 08, 2012. The Service will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. This generally means the agency will post any personal information provided through the process. The Service is not able to accept email or faxes. (February 2, 2012) Northeast Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
ACTION: Due Date: Now
- Sewage Pollution - Citizens Campaign for the Environment "Many communities in New York State, Connecticut, and throughout the nation are served by aging and dilapidated sewage infrastructure. When our sewage infrastructure is not properly operated or maintained, billions of gallons of untreated raw sewage can be released in to the environment before reaching a treatment plant. Sewage is primarily discharged into the environment through Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO) and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO). Separate sewer systems carry only wastewater such as domestic sanitary waste and commercial and industrial waste to a sewage treatment plant. Separate sewers are not designed or intended to carry water such as storm water. SSOs occur in separate systems. Combined sewer systems are built larger than separate sewers so that they can carry two components: wastewater, carried continuously, and runoff, carried after storms. How you can help: Email your state representatives. Urge them to support a Sewage Pollution Right-to-Know law. Sewage overflows put our environment, economy, and health at risk; and we deserve the right to know when they occur. "
ACTION: Due date: Now
- Take action for our Great Lakes "Speak Out Now to Set the U.S.-Canada Strategy for Protecting our Great Lakes The health of our Great Lakes is threatened by new challenges — including invasive species, climate change, habitat loss and emerging contaminants. The United States and Canada are now completing negotiations on an updated version of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, a binational agreemet to address Great Lakes threats. " from Alliance for the Great Lakes

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Award– Environmental Site of the Month Award – [On the last Sunday of each month, we present an environmental award for the Rochester-area environmental web site or blog that best promotes the need to protect and offers solutions for our area's environmental issues.]