Your search for sarah coefield returned 29 results

Waste

Few Great Lakes power plants even look for this toxic contaminant in their waste

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By Sarah Coefield
Dec. 17, 2009

Gibson Lake, built by one of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants to store wastewater, has attracted birds and fishermen to its shores for years. But after years of wastewater discharge, the Indiana lake contains high levels of selenium that threaten hundreds of species of birds, including the endangered least tern, and render fish unsafe to eat. Selenium is an essential nutrient, but in wildlife and people excess amounts can be dangerous. As with mercury, selenium monitoring and regulations are spotty across the Great Lakes region.

Echo

Great Lakes states spotty on coal limits; some water contaminants ignored.

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By Sarah Coefield
Dec. 15, 2009

Power plants across the nation dump water laced with metals and other contaminants into streams and lakes, threatening drinking water supplies and wildlife. Some states let plants emit metals at hundreds of times the level that federal officials say is safe.  Others don’t even require monitoring for most of them. But now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing a new regulation that would require more than 600 coal-fired power plants to clean up–perhaps even eliminate–the waste they put into lakes, rivers and other waterways. And electricity users will foot the bill.

Wildlife

Great Lakes wildlife managers fight deer disease with firearms

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By Sarah Coefield
Nov. 19, 2009

The best medicine for diseased deer is the business end of a rifle, according to wildlife experts managing the species. And it’s inoculation time. With hunting season in full swing, conservation officials across the Great Lakes region are relying on hunters to thin the massive herd and slow the spread of disease. At more than 7 million strong, the region’s white tail deer herd is largely healthy, but there are small pockets of disease.

Echo

Great Lakes skies clearing of particulates; Chicago no longer on violator list

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By Sarah Coefield
Nov. 2, 2009

Great Lakes particle polluters are cleaning up their acts. The number of areas violating one particulate pollution standard has fallen from 36 to 12 in the past year, according to a recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Large cities like Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and New York City still report problems. But Chicago is notably absent from the list of particulate polluters. While their compositions vary, the particles in question are all about the same size: small.  In this case, 2.5 micrometers, or about 100 times thinner than a human hair.

Echo

Small town takes lead in protecting groundwater spanning three states

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By Sarah Coefield
Oct. 20, 2009

A small group in Bryan, Ohio spent six years securing federal protection for an aquifer that provides water to 385,000 people in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is poised to designate the Michindoh aquifer as the sole source of drinking water for 1,600 square miles.  The designation will include all or part of nine counties in the three states that supply its name. The protection is important for communities with few drinking water options. And for Bryan, the Michindoh aquifer is the only option.

Echo

Weighing the risks and benefits of eating Great Lakes fish

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By Sarah Coefield
Oct. 15, 2009

The Great Lakes teem with fish, but anglers looking to them for their next meal should be cautious. The fish contain an array of contaminants, including some known to threaten human health.  Methyl mercury inhibits brain development. PCBs can suppress the immune system and thyroid development and may cause cancer. The contaminants have lead to consumption advisories on many popular fish species, such as walleye, lake trout and salmon.

Echo

Farmers defend Great Lakes crops from deer

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By Sarah Coefield
Coefield@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 23, 2009

Countless deer descend on crops in the Great Lakes region, leaving in their wake torn corn silks, leafless soybeans, devastated orchards and millions of dollars in damage.  It’s a drop in the bucket for the agriculturally rich region but nonetheless painful for individual farmers. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s a minor amount, but it can be your entire crop,” said Paul Zimmerman, the public affairs executive director for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. While damage may be little noticed on large farms, it can be devastating for small operations where deer can quickly wipe out a field of young soybeans. “Welcome to raising crops in Mother Nature,” Zimmerman said.

Echo

Presidential politics prompt soaring gun sales, help Great Lakes’ wildlife

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By Sarah Coefield
coefield@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 15, 2009

A run on guns and ammo in the wake of President Barack Obama’s election last year may be a boon to Great Lakes wildlife. A federal tax on the manufacture and import of firearms, ammunition, bows and arrows is distributed to states for wildlife conservation and hunter education programs.

And those tax collections are climbing fast. Background checks for gun purchases hit record levels in November and corresponded with significant gun and ammunition sales. Gun enthusiasts say they’re stocking up because they fear interference in gun rights by the Obama administration.

Echo

Federal agency proposes to study urine and blood of residents to evaluate effectiveness of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

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By Sarah Coefield, coefield@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 26, 2009

Editor’s note: This story is part of an occasional series on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
With more than 100 projects vying for a piece of the $475 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, taxpayers may wonder:  Are they worth it? At least one agency is poised to find out if restoration projects will lower pollutants in people. Eighteen of the proposals in the initiative to clean or protect the Great Lakes address contaminants.  The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry intends to monitor some of those projects by checking for contaminants in Great Lakes residents’ blood and urine.  The goal is to analyze them before cleanup and then several years later, said Steve Dearwent, the chief of health investigations in the agency’s division of health studies.

Land

Great Lakes cities not so walkable; rate your own community with this widget

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Find out your home’s Walk Score:

By Sarah Coefield, coefield@msu.edu
August 19, 2009
Great Lakes Echo

Despite rising gas prices and growing concern over greenhouse gases, many Great Lakes residents find it difficult to leave their cars at home. The Web site www.walkscore.com ranked the walkability of 40 large cities across the United States. Of the five Great Lakes cities that were examined, only Chicago made the top ten. So what makes a city walkable? Dan Burden says a walkable community is “built around the human foot.”  He founded Walkable Communities Inc. and has worked with cities nationwide to identify trouble and encourage pedestrian-oriented development.  Burden is also on the board of advisers for Walkscore.com.