Data Watch: New York’s top priorities

By |

Nationwide, there are 1,320 final sites on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priority List of waste sites that have released or can release hazardous contaminants. They are either awaiting or undergoing cleanup. Sites can be deleted from the list when “no further response is required to protect human health or the environment,” according to the EPA. Each site is scored through the Hazard Ranking System on a scale from 0-100. The higher the score, the greater threat they represent.

Echo

Dust-up over keeping the dust down

By |

Commentary
By Ken Winter

Back years ago, there used to be a joke that rural dirt roads were either sprayed just before local elections to keep the electorate happy or a township or county official lived along the road. Same held true for snow plowing. The roads still get sprayed, but some people are beginning to ask with what? After the Traverse City Record-Eagle first reported on a road spraying complaint last month in Benzie County, west of near Traverse City, other county road commissioners are being asked the same question. The incident started when Bryan Black, a Benzie County farmer and former oil industry welder, first raised concerns about the liquid a truck was spraying on dirt roads around his farm north of Lake Ann to the Michigan Department of Environment Quality.

Waste

Green Gridirons: Purdue University

By |

A football stadium may have green grass but does it have green habits? Each week, Great Lakes Echo highlights a Big Ten football stadium’s attempts to do the most to impact the environment the least. All schools have information on the stadium’s diversion rate – the amount of waste recycled instead of put in a landfill. Stadium: Ross-Ade Stadium

School: Purdue University

Built: 1924

Capacity: 62,500

2012 diversion rate: 18 percent. Scouting report: The university’s sustainability program received a $120,000 grant in 2012 to focus on tailgate recycling and diverting waste from landfills, said Michael Gulich, director of sustainability at the university.

Echo

Photo Friday: Whiting Event

By |

 

This photo was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA’s Aqua satellite from the International Space Station. It highlights a late-summer “whiting event” visible across Lake Ontario. Whiting events are caused by changes in the water’s temperature,  which leads to increased photosynthesis by phytoplankton and other microscopic marine life. That photosynthesis reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the water, which changes the water’s acidity. Change in acidity and temperature then allows fine particles of calcium carbonate to form in the water column, and it’s these particles that cause the characteristic lightening, or “whiting,” of the water’s color.

Echo

Which Great Lakes communities have the best parks?

By |

ParkScore measures how well the 50 largest U.S. cities meet their residents’ need for parks. The rating system evaluated the parks of several cities from Great Lakes states on size, ease of access and city investment. The ratings are designed to help local communities identify where parks are needed and improve services for existing parks. On the Parkscore website, cities are rated  on a scale of zero to five park benches. For example, one bench means the city’s park system needs major improvement, while five benches indicate an excellent park system.

Echo

Data Watch: Ohio’s top priorities

By |

Nationwide, there are 1,320 final sites on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priority List. of waste sites that have released or can release hazardous contaminants. They are either awaiting or currently undergoing cleanup. Sites can be deleted from the list when “no further response is required to protect human health or the environment,” according to the EPA. Each site is scored through the Hazard Ranking System on a scale from 0-100.