San Diego Landfills

After reading chapter 12, I was interested in finding more information on where all our trash goes and how it effects us. I found the site containing info about landfills here in San Diego County. I thought it was a good site because it talks about the current, future, and closed landfills. More importantly, it outlines the exposures from the closed landfill Poway. While investigating the extent of low concentration solvent (PCE and TCE) contamination in ground water within the closed landfill boundary, very low levels of benzene and solvents were found.Benzene is the compound causing much concern because at low levels benzene can be carcinogenic. There has been no actual confirmation of exposure to benzene and other chemicals. The exposure was said to be more harmful long term but that wont be known until more samples and studies are done. I found it interesting that there was not more information known about the sources of Benzene. So, for those of you who might live near a landfill this site provides a lot of information on how to stay informed and safe from exposure.

Portland Watershed Restoration

The Portland Watershed and Willamette River is one of the polluted areas highlighted in our text. This are is part of the Port of Portland that was heavily polluted in the 1970's and 1980's. I have been hearing warnings of pollution and contamination in the river my entire life growing up near the city. It is nice to see that there is action being taken now to clean up this contamination in a manner that does not merely place a band aid on the wound. The government action that is being taken in Portland in response to this large contamination is a great model for other cities to follow.

City of Portland Adopts and Funds Watershed Management Plan

By Bob Sallinger

Warbler June 2006

On March 8, 2006 the Portland City Council adopted an innovative Watershed Management Plan that holds within it the potential to set the City on a course towards ecological sustainability. In Late March the Mayor presented a preliminary budget that underscores the City’s commitment to on-the-ground implementation of this plan. At a time when comprehensive environmental planning all to often falls victim to short-term political considerations, back-door compromises, and inconsistent follow-through, the City of Portland has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to restoring a landscape that nourishes both humans and wildlife and which preserves a legacy of green for generations to come.

In his Report to the Park Board, Portland Oregon, 1903, John Charles Olmsted wrote “Marked economy may also be effected by laying out parks, while land is cheap, so as to embrace streams that carry at times more water than can be taken care of by drain pipes. Thus, brooks or little rivers which would otherwise be put in large underground conduits at enormous public expense, may be attractive parkways.” More than a century later, the City of Portland has taken these prescient words to heart. The Portland Watershed Management Plan presents a vision in which stormwater is treated as an urban amenity rather than obstacle to progress. By simply recognizing that rain is best addressed where it falls rather than by piping it to someplace else, the City has committed itself to a new way of thinking with profound implications for the ecology, economy and livability of our urban landscape.

The Management Plan sets four watershed health goals for the City: improvement of hydrology, water quality, physical habitat and biodiversity. Based upon nearly a half a decade of work and a small mountain of scientific data, the plan ultimately does two things. First it models the entire urban landscape to determine how best to accomplish these four objectives in any specific location. The City now has a scientifically credible process for determining how to spend limited funds to best accomplish its environmental goals. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the Plan commits the city to considering and incorporating where possible watershed protection and restoration principles at the planning stage for all city projects. The Plan recognizes that the least expensive and most effective way to restore the landscape is to do things right in the first place rather than retrofitting after environmental regulations such as the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act have been violated. This plan breaks down oft-criticized bureaucratic silos and makes environmental protection the purview of all city agencies.

The plan envisions an urban landscape in which problems such as flooding, water pollution, urban heat island effects, and lost of species diversity are addressed by reintegrating nature into the landscape. This includes not only traditional strategies such as the protection of parks and natural areas, but also a proliferation of street trees, ecoroofs, vegetative swales, rain gardens, vegetated curb extensions and the like.

The watershed approach makes economic sense. Commissioner Sam Adams, speaking before the Bureau of Environmental Services Citizens Budget Advisory Committee, noted that if we had implemented these types of projects thirty years ago, the city might very well not be spending $1.4 billion dollars today to address the combined sewer overflows (CSOs) that have turned our urban waterways into cesspools. If we fail to implement these types of projects now, the “big pipes’ that we are installing today will become obsolete within a few generations saddling our children and grandchildren with an even greater liability. The Portland city council signaled its recognition of this fact by not only holding the Portland Watershed Services Program Budget stable during 2006 but also creating a $500,000 Watershed Investment Fund to promote increased project implementation during the next year.

This plan is already more than simply aspirations on a page. Years of pilot projects have demonstrated that these projects make economic and ecological sense and simultaneously improve the livability of our City. To learn about projects already completed to date go to www.cleanrivers.org and view the 2005 Portland Watershed Annual Report. What the adoption and funding by city Council have done is ensure that these types of efforts will become the norm rather than the exception. Kudos to the BES Watershed Services Program, all the participating bureaus, the Portland City Council and myriad citizens who helped see this plan through to adoption.

http://www.audubonportland.org/conservation_advocacy/urbanconservation/watershedplan

Taking Care of our Environment

I know that our discussion on carbon footprints is done, but I could not help but blog about a New York who is trying to leave no environmentally dangerous impacts in his everyday life. He began his experiment earlier this year with his wife and young child in the heart of New York City and blogs a few times a week about his actions and conflicts that arise. Reading his blogs is interesting because it relates back to class and has a reality T.V. vibe. So if you are captivated by reality T.V. ( I think we really all are:) check this out!

Agent Green and the US war on Drugs

Since 2000 under the Clinton administration, the US department of Agriculture was working with Colombian government officials in order to institute and implement a plan of blanket spraying 1000's of acres of rainforest in order to kill Coca (cocaine producing) plants. The main chemical being used was glyphosate, more commonly known as "roundup", which was blanketed over high yield areas in the dense Colombian rainforest. Although these areas are said to be uninhabited, it was common knowledge that not only indigenous tribes lived in these areas but also small villages existed which housed the various growers (by the way those kids are standing next to a coke plant). Because of the potential to inadvertently harm innocent people, and much to the tone of Silent Spring, the Colombian government worked to identify a natural fungus that is harmless to people but is a natural herbicide and killer of the coca plant. The fungus, Fusarium oxysporum, is being tested by the US for use and apparently is quite indiscriminate in its damage killing all types of plants. Despite its low specificity, Agent Green's use is being lobbied in both Colombia and the United States and is probably going to be used. To Read More Visit :http://www.americas.org/item_294

DDT is not linked with Breast Cancer

Every year 1 out of 8 women get breast cancer. Although, the number of cases of women being diagnosed with breast cancer has decreased since the 1980's, breast cancer continues to be the second leading cause of cancer death in women, exceeded only by lung cancer. Since the 1990's there has been much controversy concerning whether or not Breast cancer was linked to the use of DDT. There have been many studies done early in the 1990's that suggest it was but more recently I found some new articles that conclude that DDT is not linked with breast cancer. I found this very interesting because I wasn't aware of these new studies. In an effort to increase awareness of Breast cancer I thought that this information was important. More importantly, the decreases in deaths of breast cancer are the result of earlier detection and improved treatment. Breast cancer affects every one in one way or another. So I encourage everyone to do breast self exams. Here is a link about how to do one if you already dont know..

World's Dirtiest Citites

Forbes recently published a list of the dirtiest cities in the world and the U.S. Interestingly, the dirtiest cities in the world were mostly due to heavy metal pollution, especially lead, and were concentrated in the former Soviet Bloc. The dirtiest cities in the U.S. are right in our backyard: California! For more information and some pictures of the polluted cities visit: FORBES.

Methylmercury Toxicity

Did you know the EPA has been warning pregnant women about fish consumption? Or that methyl mercury accumulates in your hair -- giving analysts a simple way to get a sample to test? A Chemical & Engineering News article summarizing mercury toxicity was published in early 2004: go to http://pubs.acs.org/email/cen/html/033007161508.html to read more. One last factoid: the Dartmouth College professor who died after exposure to a drop of methylmercury had no symptoms for 5 months after the exposure.

MInimata Disease

I was disappointed in the lack of material presented about the mercury poisoning in Minamata, Japan during the 1950s. The authors of the textbook even claim, "the poisonings at Minamata must surely rank as one of the major environmental disasters of modern times", but don't quantify the disaster. According to Japan's Ministry of the Environment, "2,265 individuals in Minamata and the surrounding area have been inflicted with mercury poisoning from the discharge of industrial waste water and 10,000 individuals are being compensated for their exposure and loses". Not to mention, the Japanese government and the Chisso corporation responsible for the mercury industrial waste have paid billions of yen to dredge the sediment containing the mercury and also to develop education programs about mercury poisoning. The picture really shows the horrible crippling that the body undergoes when exposed to toxic levels of methylmercury.

Oh no, no mo Rice!

I was struck in Chapter 8 when I read that there was an increased incidence of pulmonary adenocarcinoma (lung cancer) in Chinese women due to prolonged exposure to cooking-oil fumes. There have been numerous documented stories and research which has affirmed the presence and contribution of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH's) to this phenomenon. This really hit home for me not only because of my love on chinese food and general concern for those who prepare it, but also my love of cooking. Have I been over exposing myself to high levels of PAH's in cooking oils and products all in search of that one delightful recipe? According to published work, the answer is yes. Although the names of the brands of synthetic oil were not revealed in these studies, the respirable cooking oil particulate is quite dangerous and prevalent. Ways to prevent high exposure are to take such cautionary measures such as working in well ventalated areas and to always cook with the blowfan on. Also whenever possbi;e try to avoid high oil temperatures because this serves to increase the amount of oil PM. For more, read this; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8161241&dopt=Abstract.

Plant Buddies

Rachel Carson mentioned a case study in Holland, in which city workers planted marigolds in rose beds to successfully diminish nematode destruction. As a young girl, I remember visiting my grandparents' vast garden, which was surrounded by marigolds. Until just a few minutes ago, I had no idea that they planted them there for the safety of their flowers and vegetables. Marigolds, like many herbs, have strong odors that keep rabbits away and also aphids, little bugs that feed on vegetation. Not to mention, they do the job of an herbicide without the danger of using chemicals and introducing foreign species into an area. In an article from Flower & Garden Magazine, many other 'plant buddies' are mentioned and I think that you should take a quick glance.