Clean Water Action Council Weekly Update December 22, 2014 Office Hours, Schedule, and CWAC Events The office will be open this week on Tuesday from 8:00 – 5:00, Wednesday 8:00 -12:00 and other times by appointment. We have posted the Spring, 2015 Internship notice at UWGB and NWTC. Email us for a copy. Contact us if you have an environmental issue for CWAC and send us your postings for the Weekly Update. You can reach us by phone at 920-421-8885. We have items for sale at the office that would make nice Christmas gifts including: ·Our frog logo t-shirts in organic cotton, natural or black, are only $15 each or 2 for $25. ·Natural canvas tote bags, large size with the frog logo, are only $10 or 2 for $15. ·Books and DVD’s for checkout or sale. Visit us for those resources or to discuss issues. Volunteers are welcome. We have begun our membership Drive for 2015. Help us continue working to protect human health and the environment. You can renew or join in several ways: ·Use the attached membership form. ·Use the membership link from our website cleanwateractioncouncil.org/membership/ ·Or renew with the PayPal Donate link at the bottom of the page. A big thank you to the many members who renewed for 2014. If you did not renew in 2014, please consider a generous 2015 donation. Membership donations pay for a significant part of our operations. Update on CWAC’s efforts to ban spray irrigation of animal waste: On December 9, passing a ban in the town of Scott was stalled by supervisor Culleen Harris who said she didn’t have enough information on the issue. This was very surprising since CWAC provided copies of the research and examples of bans by other towns using that research. At an earlier meeting, the Scott Planning Commission also reviewed that research and directed that a ban ordinance be written. CWAC reviewed that ban and advised some language clarifications which were made prior to the board meeting. Supervisor Jeffrey Zlatohlavek, who is also on the planning commission, also helped stall the ban by questioning what is considered manure. CWAC advised that the town could leave that to the county and that the town’s ban would apply to whatever applications the county required have a nutrient management plan. Town Chairman Mike VanLanen said that as a licensed applicator of agricultural chemicals, he knows about drift, how it can travel for miles, and that the town must protect citizens from manure drift. CWAC made inquiries with the DNR and the Brown County Land Conservation Department regarding the definition of manure and provided Scott officials that information. On December 10, The Town of Gardner passed a ban and the Town of Brussels, under the leadership of Supervisor Joel Daoust, voted to have their attorney write an ordinance for consideration at the January meeting. Please help us with the Towns of Nasewaupee and Forestville in Door County where town supervisors do not plan any action to protect residents. Call your friends in Nasewaupee and Forestville and ask them to go to our website for the facts cleanwateractioncouncil.org/issues/spray-irrigation/ and then call us for a petition to circulate. We have arranged to move the informational billboard installed on Hwy 57 south of Sturgeon to Brown County, but we do need sponsors to help pay the rent. A $300 tax-deductible donation will pay for one month’s rent and would give you a considerable “bang for your buck.” The billboard is meant to raise awareness of the issue and direct viewers to our website for additional information. We have updated the website with information on spraying agricultural waste: cleanwateractioncouncil.org/issues/spray-irrigation/ We are still seeking residents of other towns in northeast Wisconsin to deliver the pre-printed information packets to town supervisors about banning the spraying of agricultural waste. After the packets are delivered, CWAC will help residents get the item on a meeting agenda and bring people to the town meeting. Help us bring a ban to your town. Contact Dean, 920-495-5127, to find out how easy it is. Even if you live in an urban area or miles away from a CAFO, you could be affected. See this video of manure spraying in North Carolina: trueactivist/this-guy-exposes-factory-farms-using-a-drone-this-is-what-he-found-so-far/#.VJVpRu9PkkY.facebook Manure is currently being hauled many miles from CAFOs and then applied to fields. The threat from overspray and drift was significant enough for the City of Algoma to pass a ban. Shouldn’t your town, village, or city do so as well? For an informative presentation on the threat from manure spraying, seeWood County: To Spray or Not to Spray at: youtube/watch?v=76QwpypXNhs#t=65 Please attend a Town Meeting Please show support for a manure spraying ban by attending these town meetings. If you attend, bring a hand held sign saying, (Please ban manure spraying). If you speak, please state that you are representing yourself, not CWACs position. It is likely these towns will move forward with a ban, but a show of support for the ban on the night of the vote could make the difference: ·Town of Scott meeting is Tuesday,December 30, 10 a.m. at 2621 Jody Drive, New Franken, WI. ·Town of Brussels meeting is Wednesday, January 14, 7 p.m. at the Town Hall, 1366 Junction Road, Brussels Other Area Events Green Bay Indoor Winter Farmers’ Market to begin December 20. The New Leaf Winter Farmers’ Market, presented by Bellin Health, will be back at the KI Center, 333 Main St, Green Bay, WI 54301. The kickoff will be December 20, which will be an extended holiday market. The remaining dates include: Jan. 10, 24 & 31, Feb. 7, and Mar. 7& 28. CWAC will exhibit at the January 31 market. Be sure to see the CWAC Winter Newsletter sent the week December 7 for a complete listing of indoor Farmers’ Markets. Actions Support Midwest Environmental Advocates as they support citizens in northeast Wisconsin: ·winning a citizen challenge to a factory farm’s weak water pollution permit. The court victory included groundwater monitoring requirements to evaluate the impact of the production and disposal of the CAFO’s 70 million gallons of liquid manure and other waste, as well as an animal unit limit as enforceable permit conditions. ·working with a coalition of local, state and national environmental groups to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take action under the Safe Drinking Water Act in Kewaunee County. Their drinking water is contaminated by E.coli and nitrates, contaminates associated with factory farm waste. Midwest Environmental Advocates can help citizens because people like you chip in. We are a law center that makes a real impact. Help us keep helping others in 2015. Make a contribution to MEA today and help us ring in the New Year with the capacity we’ll need to protect public health from polluted air and water. Updates Citizens respond to Kewaunee County Chairman’s negative comments towards citizens standing up for clean water and air. A thank you to the large group of citizens who came to the Kewuanee Co. Board meeting last Tuesday to let Chairman Ron Heuer know he needs to recognize the public’s concern for protecting the waters of Kewaunee County. Many of those citizens spoke at the meeting, often directing their comments to Heuer. A few weeks ago County Board Chairman, Ron Heuer, posted a rant against the publics battle for clean water and clean air. (greenbaypressgazette/story/news/local/kewaunee-county/2014/12/07/board-chairman-challenges-environmental-group/20047251/) Second Manure Spill in NE WI in Two Weeks Last week: CALUMET COUNTY – Some homeowners in Calumet County are watching their well water closely this week. That’s after a manure spill. fox11online/2014/12/10/dnr-manure-spill-may-impact-groundwater/ This week: TOWN OF PITTSFIELD – A manure tanker rolled over in western Brown County Saturday, injuring the driver and spilling thousands of gallons of manure. The DNR says it doesn’t anticipate significant environmental damage, despite the spill happening near a western branch of the Suamico River. Authorities say they received a call for a rollover crash shortly before 10:00 a.m. at the intersection of State Highway 32 and Kunesh Road. A simple rollover. That’s what Brown County Sheriff’s officials on scene of the crash called it. But it was much more than that. “When we got here, it was the manure truck from Green Valley Farms, that rolled over and pretty much deposited the whole load of liquid manure, on the side of the road,” said Pulaski Tri-County Fire Chief Randy Wichlacz. Wichlacz says the driver was hurt and alert, but trapped. The Eagle III rescue helicopter transport was called in. “And the driver was pinned in the cab of the truck,” said Wichlacz. “And we had to extricate him and loaded him up and Eagle III took him to the hospital in Green Bay.” Officials say the truck was turning east onto Kunesh Road, when the manure shifted in the tank, causing the truck to roll over. About 4,000 gallons of manure spilled out of the truck. The driver of the truck suffered non-life threatening injuries, according to police. Wichlacz says considering the truck struck a light pole, attached to a power line, the situation could have been a lot worse. “We’ll be here for a while, it’s not a good job,” he said, “but we’ll get it cleaned up.” One of those cleaning it up is John Jacobs – it’s his manure. “We were transferring manure from one farm to another manure storage facility,” said Jacobs, who owns Green Valley Dairy in Krakow. Jacobs says by quickly building earthen dams near the creek and scraping up spillage with front end loaders, much of the manure was contained. Additional sand was brought in to corral the manure on the road, helping septic trucks suck the smelly mess up. “We wanted to contain things with sand as best we could and I think we’re pretty fortunate that not much got in the creek at all and it was able to be contained,” he said. The DNR was notified about the spill immediately and says Jacobs responded quickly and appropriately to prevent the manure from contaminating surface water. The state agency says the spill is contained, but a hydrologist has been assigned to the case. Highway 32 and Kunesh road were closed for nearly six hours to clean up the scene. fox11online/2014/12/20/semi-rollover-shuts-down-highway/ greenbaypressgazette/story/news/local/2014/12/20/manure-truck-crash-spill-closes-wis-near-pulaski/20700111/ If you are gluten intolerant, be sure to read this: The real reason why wheat is toxic: Use of glyphosate on wheat may be cause of digestive intolerance and is known to be a practice in Wisconsin. Pre-harvest application of the herbicide Roundup or other herbicides containing the deadly active ingredient glyphosate to wheat and barley as a desiccant was suggested as early as 1980. It has since become routine over the past 15 years and is used as a drying agent 7-10 days before harvest within the conventional farming community. Read the article at: thehealthyhomeeconomist/real-reason-for-toxic-wheat-its-not-gluten/ Also, read “New Study: Huge Increase in US Chronic Diseases Linked to GlyphosateHerbicides” at: sustainablepulse/2014/11/07/new-study-huge-increase-us-chronic-diseases-linked-glyphosate-herbicides/#.VHuGRL7FvBI Green Bay Press-Gazette headline: Closed for decades, is Bay Beach ready for a comeback? CWAC: A similar headline was published by the Press-Gazette in the 1960’s, but then came decades of PCB pollution and the beach was not re-opened. Although the article indicates that the sand was tested and was found free of contamination, it is difficult to believe that there are no levels of PCB in the sediment. This would not be consistent with results of other sediment testing in the lower bay. Since the 1960’s significant improvements have been made with treatment of municipal sewage and thus the reduction of harmful pathogens entering the Fox River. However, at the same time, the amount of agricultural waste coming from the Green Bay watershed has vastly increased and will continue to pose a threat to beach users. This threat is likely to be far greater than that posed to many of our Lake Michigan beaches, which have frequent closings, and these are often associated with agricultural contamination. Until we are able to reduce agricultural run-off into Green Bay, and we know more about the effects of low-level exposure to PCBs in beach sediments, we are unlikely to see safe swimming conditions return to Bay Beach. Here is the PG article: For Green Bay sun worshipers, a day at the beach might soon be right here in town. New tests on water quality at Bay Beach have convinced researchers that reclaiming the historic Green Bay beach for public recreation is an achievable goal. The once-popular waterfront attraction has been closed since the 1940s because of pollution, sending outdoor enthusiasts to Door County or Kewaunee County to enjoy public beaches along the bay or lakefront. But researchers involved in a new federally funded study of Bay Beach believe the levels of contamination might have subsided enough over the years to make swimming possible again. This could actually be a reality, said Angela Pierce, natural resources planner for the Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission. The commission has nearly concluded a three-year study of Bay Beach to measure the presence of the sort of pollutants that typically prompt environmental warnings or beach closings during the summer. The conclusion: The beach is relatively clean and safe. But more testing is likely, and it could still be years before the beach is ready for swimmers. Dan Ditscheit, a superintendent in the city parks department, called the test results positive and encouraging. Ditscheit, however, said city officials would examine the study further before deciding whether to embark on a restoration project, which he called our ultimate goal. We do know that the public would like to see that, he said. This is kind of the first step. For the rest of the article, go to: greenbaypressgazette/story/news/local/2014/12/20/closed-decades-bay-beach-ready-comeback/20702777/
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 01:46:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015