According to a recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), organic dairy farms provide more jobs and economic opportunity in rural communities than standard dairy farms.  The study, called “Cream of the Crop: The Economic Benefits of Organic Dairy Farms,” measured the economic value of organic milk. 

The report looked at financial data from two major states in milk production, Vermont and Minnesota.  From 2008 to 2011, Vermont had a total of 180 organic farms that added about $76 million to the state’s economy and supported about 1,009 jobs.  Minnesota had a total of 114 organic farms that added $78 million to the state’s economy and support about 660 jobs. 

The demand for organic milk has greatly increased in the last 10 years for several reasons.  Mainly, consumers are more aware of the nutritional benefits of organic milk over milk produced in crowded and polluted confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).  Organic dairy farming is currently a $750 million industry, and sales increased by 12 percent and 10 percent in 2010 and 2011. 

Programs under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (UDSA) and subsidies still favor large CAFOs though.  Jeffrey O’Hara, author of the report and agricultural economist for the UCS’s Food and Environment Program, stated: “Over the past 30 years, dairy farmers have had a choice: either get big or get out. Dairy farmers either had to expand dramatically and become large industrial operations or they went out of business.”

The current Farm Bill provides little support to organic dairy farmer, but the UCS provides several recommendations to legislators now that the elections are over. 

For one, the USDA needs to revise milk marketing orders that have not been revised since the 1930s.  The orders set the minimum prices that dairy processors need to pay farmers, and the old orders do not address organic milk production. 

Secondly, Congress and the USDA need to form a subsidized insurance program for organic farmers.  Current subsidized insurance only applies to standard dairies. 

Lastly, Congress needs to increase funding to organic agriculture entities.  The USDA should also form programs that support development in regional areas, especially rural development grants. 

O’Hara commented, “More and more consumers across the country are choosing organic milk, but Washington hasn’t gotten the message.  Investing in organic dairy production would pay off in multiple ways by keeping small farm businesses afloat, promoting local economic growth, reducing farm pollution, and meeting growing consumer demand.” 

Source: Union of Concerned Scientists

On November 13, 2012, the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission (ERC) approved new nutrient standards for the six major Panhandle estuaries.  The new standards now apply to 72 percent of all state estuaries, including 4,290 coastal miles. 

The new standards apply to the following areas: Perdido Bay, Pensacola Bay (and Escambia Bay), Choctawhatchee Bay, St. Andrew Bay, St. Joseph Bay and Apalachicola Bay.  The new nutrient standards apply to total phosphorus, total nitrogen, and chlorophyll.  The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) was required to form new criteria by June 30, 2013, but they were able to establish new criteria and have the standards approved by the ERC ahead of time. 

At the moment, Florida observes nutrient standards under Chapter 62-302.530 of the Florida Administrative Code (FAC).  The chapter states: “in no case shall nutrient concentrations of body of water be altered so as to cause an imbalance in natural populations of flora or fauna.”  The chapter also states: “the discharge of nutrients shall continue to be limited as needed to prevent violations of other standards contained in this chapter.”

The chapters under FAC seem ambiguous because nutrients and nutrient enrichments are not like other pollutants under the Clean Water Act (CWA).  Other pollutants must fall below specific thresholds and concentrations because of known effects to health, but nutrients occur naturally in marine systems.  The problem was finding an appropriate level of nutrients to discourage over-concentration, and the new numeric nutrient criteria attempts to eliminate the ambiguity. 

Drew Bartlett, the Director of the Department’s Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration, stated: “Floridians depend on healthy water resources for their livelihoods and everyday enjoyment. We have demonstrated once again, through cutting-edge science and aggressive action, that the Department meets its responsibilities to protect those resources ahead of its own and EPA’s schedules.  We are gratified by the ERC’s action.” 

An overabundance of nutrients in the water can result in a bad taste or bad odor.  Additionally, abundant levels of one nutrient over another can cause algal blooms and large blooms of invasive aquatic weeds that can choke out other natural flora and fauna in certain areas. 

The original DRAFT Numeric Nutrient Criteria Development Plan was submitted to EPA Region IV in May of 2002.  The plan was mutually accepted, and there have been several revisions throughout the last 10 years.  In order to established nutrient levels for waters, the state of Florida receives recommendations from the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). 

Source: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

On November 19, 2012, Region 7 of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that soil sampling data on Route 66 State Park in Eureka, Missouri, proves the park is not hazardous to workers or the public.  The soil sampling tested for dioxin. 

Starting in the 1980s, the federal government set a goal to reduce industrial dioxin levels from emissions.  More and more sites contaminated with dioxin underwent cleanups because technology could better detect the true level of dioxins and scientific information showed the dangers of the chemicals. 

During the testing, the EPA only found dioxin soil levels of 640 ppt (parts per trillion) in the Route 66 State Park.  Areas such as trails, shelters, picnic areas, playgrounds, dog parks, utility installation areas, and more were tested.  The level is considered safe to all visitors and maintenance, operational, and landscaping workers. 

The area was originally contaminated with high levels of dioxin during the early 1970s when waste oil was sprayed on streets to controls levels of dust.  The spray contained high levels of dioxin, and much of the spraying occurred around the Times Beach area. 

During the 1990s, Times Beach underwent a series of cleanups by the EPA and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).  Some areas of the soil had dioxin contamination levels of 1,000 ppt, and these areas were excavated and backfilled with clean soil.  After the cleanup, the State of Missouri formed Route 66 State Park in 1999. 

Dioxins cover a large category of chemicals that are produced from the burning or processing of chemicals. 

EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks stated: “This is good news for the thousands of people who visit Route 66 State Park each year, and good news for the state employees and others who earn their living there.  It confirms that the work EPA and MDNR did in the 1990s to clean up this site continues to provide a safe recreational area for the public.”

The new wave of testing for dioxin this June in 2012 used more advanced techniques and allowed investigators to detect smaller amounts of dioxin than before.  The EPA approved a new set of dioxin toxicity standards in February 2012, and the testing in June used the newest standards. 

Brooks explained some of the new standards: “EPA Region 7’s risk assessors carefully analyzed the results from all of these samples and applied the new science.  EPA considered multiple factors, including the frequency and duration of an individual’s time spent at the park, to make these calculations.”

The newest standards established by the EPA make it possible for an area previously considered decontaminated to undergo newer cleanup procedures because trace amounts of the pollutant are found with new technology. 

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

On November 19, 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) reached a settlement with the town of Hawley and the contractor E.T. & L. Corp. in Stow, Massachusetts.  The town and contractor were accused of removing boulders from the Chickley River, dumping the boulders on the riverbank, and forming a man-made channelization of the river around Hawley. 

All of the actions by the town and contractor caused huge amounts of damage to the ecosystem after Tropical Store Irene.  Their actions violated laws under the Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE), EPA, as well as Trout Unlimited and the Connecticut River Watershed Association. 

After Tropical Storm Irene passed through in August of 2011, MassDEP passed issued emergency certificates to let areas start clearing storm debris, actions that usually require permits under the Wetlands Protection Act (WPA) as well as other laws.  The town of Hawley received emergency approval to start cleaning up to storm debris. 

Beginning on November 15, 2011, MassDEP started receiving numerous complaints about Hawley’s efforts along the Chickley River.  Within two weeks, MassDEP took away the town’s emergency certifications and recommended they start hiring a consultant to plan for restoration. 

MassDEP determined that the town and contractor far exceeded allowable measures in the emergency certifications.  The parties violated the WPA because they moved, dredged, and straightened roughly five miles of the Chickley River.  The river’s condition was also worsened compared to before the storm, and the contractor dumped dredged material in areas protected by the WPA. 

The town and E.T. & L directly violated the DFW’s Natural Hertiage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) as well.  Parts of the river were protected by the NHESP and Massachusetts Endangered Species Act because a species of dragon fly and the long-nosed sucker fish were protected in these areas of river.  The Chickley River contained cold water that allowed brook trout, brown trout, salmon, slimy sculpin, and long-nose suckers to breed.  NHESP concluded the town’s actions caused significant destruction to the environment. 

The town has agreed to spend $400,000 on a restoration project to the river, and the town of Hawley placed $150,000 in an escrow account to handle maintenance in the future.  E.T. & L. was also required to pay a penalty of $175,000. 

Mary Griffin, the Department of Fish and Game Commissioner, stated: “I am pleased that MassDEP worked with Department of Fish and Game legal staff, our Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and Division of Ecological Restoration to ensure that a robust restoration plan would be the major element of the resolution of this matter.”

Source: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

On October 1, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposed cleanup plan for the contaminated section of the Grasse River in Massena, New York.  The EPA is holding several informational meetings and encourages the public to attend and comment.  The meetings are being held in the Akwesasne and Massena at the following locations and times:

The Akwesasne meeting will occur on October 29 between 1-3 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at the St. Regis Mohawk School Office for the Aging in the multipurpose room.  The building is located on the corner of 385 Church Street and 29 Business Park Road.  

The Massena meeting will occur on October 30 between 1-3 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at the Massena Town Hall in Board Room #30.  The building is located on 60 Main Street in Massena.  

According to the EPA, the Alcoa West facility in Massena release chemical waste from the 1950’s until the 1970’s.  The chemical waste included PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and other harmful chemicals.  The harmful chemicals created polluted sediment as far downstream as 7 miles.  

In 1995, Alcoa was ordered to dredge nearly 3,000 cubic yards of the contaminated sediment in an area around the facility.  Alcoa then tested several materials to be used as a cap over the sediment.  The tested capping was successful at first, but the caps have been eroded and damaged.  

The new cleanup plan will dredge about 109,000 cubic yards of the contaminated sediment and then backfill the gaps with clean material.  The contaminated soil will then be placed in a secure landfill, and about 59 acres of the sediment will be covered with an armored cap.  The other 225 acres of sediment will be capped with clean sand and gravel.  

If you cannot attend either meeting, you can write your comments to the following address before November 15, 2012:

Young S. Chang, Remedial Project Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
290 Broadway, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10007-1866

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

On October 1, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced that they reached settlement for 4,300 Clean Water Act violations in 15 mobile home parks in PA and 900 Safe Drinking Water Act violations at 30 mobile home parks in the state.

The complaints were filed against Frank Perano who owned, operated, and managed mobile home parks in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia.  The state and federal government will split the monetary compensation.  

Mr. Perano faced Clean Water Act violations for illegally discharging partially treated or untreated sewage into streams nearby while failing to properly operating or maintaining treatment facilities.  The Safe Drinking Water Act violations stem from Mr. Perano allowing certain pollutants to exceed federal standards and failing to inform residents of the water problems.  

Mr. Perano is also ordered to take the following steps as part of the plea agreement:

•    hire an approved environmental consultant to perform audits at each park on the treatment, collection, and drinking water systems
•    correct the violations in a timely manner with supervision from the EPA and PADEP
•    undergo monthly compliance evaluations
•    work with an environmental consultant to help teach Perano how to decrease his impact to the environment and from repeating similar violations in the past
•    pay penalties for any future violations

According to Shawn M. Garvin, the EPA Regional Administrator, “This settlement protects human health and the environment by requiring the defendants to improve their environmental management systems, and achieve compliance at their numerous mobile home parks.  While reinforcing our commitment to environmental justice for rural communities, the case demonstrates the benefits of federal and state agencies working together to hold chronic violators of environmental regulations accountable for their actions.”  

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

In October 1, 2012, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced that New England residents experienced more smog and poor air quality this year compared to 2011.  According to data from April to September, New England experienced 29 days where ozone monitors recorded air quality above the health standard.  There were only 16 days of bad air quality in 2011.

The EPA specifies that the increased number of days with unhealthy air is directly attributed to the large number of hot days in the 2012 summer.  Large amounts of sunshine and hot temperatures create ozone, but pollution from ozone continues year around.  Ground-level ozone classifies as unhealthy when concentrations are over 0.075 parts per million during an 8-hour period.  

The EPA released the following numbers of unhealthy ozone days for each state in New England:

Connecticut: 27 days in 2012, 14 days in 2011
Massachusetts: 17 days in 2012, 10 days in 2011
Rhode Island: 12 days in 2012, 6 days in 2011
Maine: 4 days in 2012, 3 days in 2011
New Hampshire: 4 days in 2012, 2 days in 2011
Vermont: 0 days in 2012, 1 day in 2011

Even though unhealthy ozone days increased in 2012, the EPA reports that air quality is getting better in the long term.  For example, there were a total of 113 unhealthy days in 1983 compared to 29 days this summer.  Even with increased amount of commuter traffic, the air quality is still getting better.  The EPA reports that cars, motorcycles, trucks, and busses give off the most pollution that creates ozone.  Even though there are more cars, the combination of cleaner fuels, more efficient vehicles, and car pulling initiatives helping the air quality.  

Curt Spalding, a regional administrator for the EPA’s New England regional office, states: “When we look back to the air quality conditions a generation ago, we can feel proud of the advances we have made in reducing air pollution.”

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

On November 20, 2012, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) approved $994,878 of urban forestry grants for communities around New York.  The grants were made available by Governor Cuomo’s funding of $134 million to the New York Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). 

The grants will help communities plant more trees, take tree inventories, and develop management plans as well.  A total of 66 cities, villages, towns, and not-for-profit organizations received large and small community grants. 

9 other communities received a $1,000 Quick Start grant to help plan tree planting programs and activities on Arbor Day. 

Large Community Grants totaled $382,299, small community grant totaled $603,589, and “Quick Start” grants totaled $8,990. 

The following recipients receive large community grants:

·  City Parks Foundation

·  City of Rochester, Forestry Division

·  Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project LDC

·  Trees New York

·  New York Restoration Project

·  CEC Stuyvesant Cove d/b/a Solar one

·  Syracuse Department of Parks, Recreation, and Youth Program

·   County of Onondaga

·   Wave Hill Incorporated

·   Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry

·   Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Inc

·   Friends of Mount Hope Cemetary

The recipients of the rewards were chosen after population density, economic status, and the needs of underserved communities were accounted. 

The following cities, towns, villages, and not-for-profits received small community grants:

·   City of Geneva

·   City of Oswego

·   City of Plattsburgh

·   City of Poughkeepsie

·   City of Rome

·   Town of Cheektowaga

·   Town of Greece

·   Town of Huntington

·   Town of Irondequoit

·   Town of Lancaster

·   Town of Tonawanda

·   Village of Freeport

·   Town of Amherst

·   Nassau County Department of Public Works

·   Village of Webster

·   City of Tonawanda

·   City of Fulton

·   City of Rome, New York

·   Village of Williamsville

·   Village of Penn Yan

·   Village of Bath

·   Parks and Forestry, City of Ithaca

·   Town of Cortlandville

·   Village of Great Neck Plaza, Inc.

·   Town of Clarkson

·   Village of Adams, New York

·   City of Elmira

·   Village of Canton

·   Town of Monroe Conservation Commission

·   Village of Fayetteville

·   Village of Owego

·   Town of Ulster

·   Village of Fairport

·   City of Norwich

·   City of Newburgh, c/o Shade Tree Commission

·   Town of Trenton

·   Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York

·   Village of Homer

·   Village of Scottsville

·   The Village of Saugerties Tree Commission

·   Town of Forestport

·   Village of Angola

·   Village of Pelham

·   Village of Brockport

·   Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau

DEC Commissioner Joe Martens stated, “Urban forestry programs are vital in promoting clean air, clean water, energy savings, habitat creation and improved quality of life for New York residents.”

Source: New York Department of Environmental Conservation

On September 25, 2012, the EPA announced that the W.R. Grace & Co / Wayne Interim Storage site in Wayne Township, New Jersey has been officially cleaned up and removed from the Superfund list. 

The site was originally polluted with thorium and other rare earth metals which pose serious risk to the public’s health.  Multiple studies show that the inhalation of thorium dust is a direct cause of lung and pancreas cancer. 

Since the site has been removed from the Superfund list, the area no longer poses a risk to the public or the environment.  The site was managed by the U.S. Department of Energy from 1984 to 1997 before the management was transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

The contaminated area sat on six acres at 868 Black Oak Ridge Road in Wayne, New Jersey.  The property was initially owned by Rare Earths, Inc. between the years of 1948 and 1957, during which the company extracted thorium and other rare earth metals from monazite ore. 

The facility was bought by W.R. Grace & Co. Inc. in 1957, and the company continued to extract the minerals from the monazite ore until 1971.  The EPA reports that radioactive waste and other contaminated rubble was stored in 16 burial pits around the site. 

After the property was transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, they excavated approximately 135,000 cubic yards of contaminated rubble and soil.  The processing building was also decontaminated and demolished. 

EPA Regional Administrator, Judith A. Enck, stated, “Monitoring has found that the cleanup conducted at this site has removed a significant risk that was posed to this community.”

New York District Commander Col. Paul E. Owen stated, “It took several years of hard work, including the safe removal and disposal of approximately 135,000 cubic yards of contaminated material, and I’m proud to be celebrating the fruits of that labor—the de-listing of this site.”

Source: Environmental Protection Agency