Midwest Expects Crop Losses

Many farmers in the Midwest are bracing for huge crop losses. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles has details:

Transcript

Many farmers in the Midwest are bracing for huge crop losses. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jo Ingles has details:


Just three months ago, some Midwest farmers were struggling to get their
crops planted because the weather was so wet and cold. But now, many
farmers are finding it’s too dry and hot for their crops to grow. Joe
Cornealy, a spokesman for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, says new
statistics show, in Ohio, more than half of the corn and soybean crops are
considered to be in very poor to poor condition. And he says Ohio is not
alone.


“The latest USDA statistics say this drought has impacted a lot of the country and we’re looking for substantial reductions in corn and soybeans….perhaps the smallest corn crop we’ve seen on both of those….since 1995 on corn and 1996 on soybeans.”


Cornealy says consumers are already paying more for sweet corn and other
vegetables because of crop loss. And he thinks some farm related jobs could
be eliminated if this agricultural downturn continues.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jo Ingles.

Energy Use at All Time High

This month U.S. electric utilities have been setting records for electricity output. So far, the grid has held up. But the electric industry says more has to be done to keep up with growing demand. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

This month, U.S. electric utilities have been setting records for electricity
output. So far, the grid has held up. But the electric industry says more
has to be done to keep up with growing demand. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


With drought and high heat, demand for electricity in many parts of the
nation has hit record highs and the power companies have been able to meet
that demand with few problems. Jim Owen is with the Edison Electric
Institute, an electric industry association. Owen says places where there
have been black-outs in the past are keeping up this summer.


“Take Chicago, for example. Here a couple of weeks ago they set
all-time record demand for elecricity pretty well without any reported
problems. So, we are meeting demand pretty well all across the country.”


Owen says new peaker plants that come on only during high demand periods and
a few new big traditional electric generating plants have helped avoid
problems. But while the capacity has increased in the past few years, demand
has grown faster. Owen says that gap needs to close.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Battle Plans for Asian Carp

Asian carp are the new poster fish in the campaign against invasive species. For years, foreign invaders like the zebra mussel, the round goby, and now the carp have been threatening the ecosystem of the Great Lakes. Like their fellow species of concern, the carp have no natural predators to keep their numbers in check. Ecologists report that they are now closing in on Lake Michigan from the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. This has authorities in the U.S. and Canada stepping up efforts to control them. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Diantha Parker reports:

Transcript

Asian carp are the new poster fish in the campaign against invasive species. For years, foreign invaders like the zebra mussel, the round goby, and now the carp have been threatening the ecosystem of the Great Lakes. Like their fellow species of concern, the carp have no natural predators to keep their numbers in check. Ecologists report that they are now closing in on Lake Michigan from the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. This has authorities in the U.S. and Canada stepping up efforts to control them. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Diantha Parker reports:


The Asian carp now in the spotlight are the silver and bighead varieties, and they share traits that worry environmentalists.


For one thing, they’re large…sometimes reaching up to a hundred pounds in less than three years. They escaped from fish farms in Mississippi about twenty years ago, and have been making their way up the Mississippi River ever since.


The carp voraciously consume the same microscopic organisms that native fish depend on.


They’ll out-eat anything in their midst. That means game fish won’t have as much to eat, and their populations will suffer.


And the carp are invasive in other ways, too. At a recent news conference a few yards from Lake Michigan, journalists and curious passersby inspected three enormous dead carp laid out on a folding table…glistening in the sun next to Pam Theil, a project leader at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.


“It sounds sensational, but they can jump out of the water into your boat. A gentleman who works for the Illinois Natural History Survey has gotten hit four times, the last time he had to file for workman’s compensation with a neck injury. A commercial fisherman on the Caskaskia River got his nose broken. And there are reports of people on the Caskaskia, who are going out fishing, or just recreation in their boat…they’re taking cookie sheets with them to act as a shield, so that they don’t get hit.”


The newest weapon in the Great Lakes Fight against the carp is an electronic barrier.
It was built in April by the Army Corps of Engineers and the International Joint Commission, an organization that oversees the use of waterways between the U.S. and Canada.


The electronic barrier sits in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal about 30 miles downstream from the city. The Canal is a manmade link between Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. This particular spot was chosen for the barrier because it’s a revolving door between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin.


The barrier itself consists of about one hundred and sixty wires, spaced a few feet apart, that lie crosswise along the bottom of the canal. The wires emit electrical impulses to deter all fish that approach them.


“There is a charge that is applied to those cables.”


Dennis Schornack is U.S. chairman of the International Joint Commission.


“Not a real strong charge, not one that would be harmful to people, if they fell into the
canal, but strong enough for fish to sense it, and when they sense this charge in the water they turn, and turn back down the river.”


Right now, the electronic barrier is only in an 18 month test phase. The authorities involved say after that time is up, funding from Congress will be needed to keep it in operation.


Some people wonder why we can’t just catch these invasive carp and eat them. But while the carp are a popular food source in Asia, they’ve been slow to catch on here, says Pam Theil.


“I think that there is a mentality that we’d rather be eating walleye or something than carp.”


But a chicken processing plant in southern Illinois has looked into processing the carp…they’ve taste tested it as a product similar to tuna, but are still deciding whether it’s marketable.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Diantha Parker.

Small Water Plants Step Up Security

It’s been almost a year since terrorists attacked the United States. But the repercussions of that morning continue to ripple across the country. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Ann Murray looks at how security concerns are impacting the country’s 50,000 small drinking water systems. These utilities now find themselves scrambling for money, security training and equipment to keep their facilities and water supplies safe:

Transcript

It’s been almost a year since terrorists attacked the United States. But the repercussions of that morning continue to ripple across the country. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Ann Murray looks at how security concerns are impacting the country’s 50,000 small drinking water systems. These utilities now find themselves scrambling
for money, security training and equipment to keep their facilities and
water supplies safe:


The federal government started thinking seriously about domestic
security well before last September. Four years ago, the Clinton
administration examined the country’s infrastructure. And the results were
sobering. Water and wastewater systems were found to be vulnerable to
physical damage, computer hacking, chemical spills and radiological
contamination.


Recent CIA reports place large metropolitan water systems on alert as
potential targets for terrorist attacks. But some small system operators
think their plants are vulnerable, too.


(sound of water plant)


“I feel that they could make an example out of a small system that says,
‘Look here, we could do that to a small one. We could do it to a larger
one.'”


Barry Clemmer has run public water systems in western Pennsylvania for the
past 25 years. Before September 11th, he says his main concern was
vandalism – still the most likely scenario for a security breach. He walks
the fenced perimeter of his facility and points out new security devices.


“We have a camera on the side of one of our buildings that focuses
on the entrance gate. We monitor 24 hours a day. It’s hard to keep someone
out but it’s a deterrent and might slow them down from getting in.”


(sound of key in lock)


Although the front of the plant is now more secure, Clemmer continues
to worry about the intake system. That’s where raw river water is piped
into the treatment plant.


Clemmer: “Excuse me, I’ll open the gate.”


The river flows about 30 feet below the gated back of the facility. Clemmer walks down a wooden stairway to the unguarded riverbank. He shakes his head and says that terrorists could attack his plant from here.


“They could come up the river on a boat and hop out and go right
there and drop something in. It’d only take five minutes and our water
could be contaminated.”


Plans are in the works to secure the area where raw water is
taken into the plant. But Clemmer says that he still needs a security camera to
keep a close eye on the river. That will require additional grant dollars
because there isn’t money in the budget for security equipment and the
local community says it can’t afford the extra expense.


John Mori is director of the National Environmental Services Center, a federally funded technical assistance group. He says budget constraints are nothing new to small communities. It’s just that financial limitations have taken on an added dimension in this past year.


“Small systems historically have never gotten a share… an appropriate
share of federal dollars under the various loan programs. The point is there
are hundreds of thousands of Americans in small communities, medium size
communities and they need equal assurance that their water is safe and protected.”


Unlike metropolitan areas, Mori says smaller communities just don’t
have a big pool of qualified water personnel. So already overburdened
operators must now take on the responsibility of keeping their facilities
safe from terrorism.


“These are hardworking men and women who may have two or three or four
jobs in a community trying to do everything at once and make sure their
customers get good, safe water. So I think they’re determined about this. I
just think they need some help.”


Since September 11th, most help – in the form of new federal dollars
and security training – has gone to large water utilities. Metropolitan
water plants serve about 80 percent of the U.S. population. But Andy
Bielanski, with EPA’s newly formed Water Protection Task Force, says that the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving slowly but deliberately to also
help small water systems.


“What we’re doing is taking input and feedback from states, other
technical assistance organizations and agencies, on how best to approach
this problem. And we’ve been taking this all into consideration in trying
to provide security assistance to small systems.”


EPA and other agencies now face the daunting task of reaching more than
50,000 small water utilities. These utilities vary in size, customer base
and technical sophistication.


This past May, Congress mandated water utilities with more than 3,300
customers to conduct vulnerability assessments. Operators must then create
emergency response plans to address not only terrorism but vandalism or
natural disasters. Before September 11th, many small systems didn’t have
workable emergency plans in place.


(sound of conference)


At a pilot seminar for small system security, Tom Sherman with Michigan’s
Rural Community Assistance Program says Michigan’s systems are just like
many other small water utilities: they’re beginning from scratch.


“It’s kind of like ground zero. We’re just starting out. It’s something we knew we
had to address and you just need the input to know you’re going in the right direction.”


To make sure that small water operations are heading in the right direction, the federal government is trying to improve its outreach to small and medium size communities. Some funds have already been distributed to help these communities evaluate the safety of their water systems and upgrade their security. More than $70 million additional dollars await the approval of Congress and the President.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Ann Murray.

Epa to Give States Clean-Up Authority?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to give states more authority to decide whether to clean up pollution in rivers and lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham has more:

Transcript

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to give states more authority to decide whether to clean up pollution in rivers and lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham has more:


The E.P.A. says its new proposal would “trust the states” to clean up waterways. The E.P.A. would give up its authority to sign off on states’ clean-up plans and instead leave it up to the states to decide if, when, and how a waterway would be cleaned up. In a report in U.S.A. Today, an E.P.A. official indicates the change would make it possible for more water bodies to be cleaned up more quickly and effectively. But some environmental groups say the federal government is abandoning its responsibility to clean up the nation’s waters. Howard Fox is with the group Earthjustice.


“Where there are failures over a really long period by the states, to step in and clean up the water, there has to be a backstop role by the federal government to move things along.”


Farm groups, timber companies and municipalities have been worried that the Clinton-era rule requiring the E.P.A. to sign off on clean up plans would end up costing them too much money. Most are in favor of letting the states make the decisions.

New Organic Labels to Hit Store Shelves


The USDA has released its labeling requirements for organic foods. Consumers will have to look at the labels carefully to see just how much of the food is actually organic. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

The USDA has released its labeling requirements for organic foods. Consumers will have to look at the labels carefully to see just how much of the food is actually organic. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


Under the USDA’s National Organic Standards, you won’t be able to just look for the USDA Organic seal. The government agency is allowing four different levels of organic. Only the top two levels can actually use the USDA’s seal. There’s 100-percent organic. And then a product can claim to be “Organic” , but only be 95-percent organic… and still get the USDA Organic seal. Other products can claim “Made with Organic Ingredients” or claim “Some organic ingredients” and show the percentage on the back. Based on marketing history, you can imagine how the label on the front will be able to take advantage of that word “organic” in the “some organic ingredients” statement. Still a saavy consumer will be able to tell just how organic the product is by looking closely at the label. Products with the new labels will soon be on the grocery shelves.

Botulism Disease on the Move?

A bacterium that kills birds and fish, called Type E Botulism, is feared to be spreading in the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Sommerstein reports… four dead gulls were found on the shores of Lake Ontario:

Transcript

A bacterium that kills birds and fish, called Type E Botulism, is feared to be spreading in the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Sommerstein reports four dead gulls were found on the shores of Lake Ontario.


The gulls tested positive for Type E Botulism, a disease that paralyzes fish and the birds that eat them. After isolated outbreaks in Lakes Michigan and Huron in the 60s, 70s and 80s, infected birds were found on the Pennsylvania shores of Lake Erie in 1998. Since then, thousands of loons, mergansers, and gulls on the Lake have died. Peter Constantakes of New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation is keeping his fingers crossed that the discovery in Lake Ontario is an isolated incident.


“In the past few weeks there have been no more dead birds found. We are cautiously optimistic that there is no problem in Lake Ontario. Possibly these birds migrated from somewhere else.”


But researcher Eric Obert of Pennsylvania Sea Grant says that’s unlikely because birds die quickly once they’re infected. Obert hypothesizes environmental conditions like low water levels or the presence of certain invasive species make the water ripe for the bacteria to grow. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m David Sommerstein.

Immunity to West Nile Virus

The West Nile virus is spreading, but as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports… researchers say that over time… our bodies might become immune to the virus:

Transcript

The West Nile virus is spreading. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports, over time our bodies might become immune to the virus:


You may have seen images in the news of the first victims of WNV – dead crows. Or perhaps you’ve seen images of trucks driving through neighborhoods spraying insecticide. The problem is a potentially fatal virus that’s spread by mosquitoes. But officials say the chances of contracting serious illness from the mosquito is extremely low.


Dr. Michael Gochfeld is with the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He says that West Nile virus is here to stay, but that our body’s defenses will likely be our best ally:


“There are parts of Egypt, for example, where 100% of the people have protective antibodies against West Nile, so I think we’re going to see sort of a natural immunity building up in the population, and it may build up pretty quickly.”


Gochfeld says that in the meantime health departments should focus their efforts on educating the public about precautions to take. Things like wearing long sleeves, using insect repellant, and eliminating small pockets of standing water where mosquitoes breed. For the GLRC, I’m Mark Brush.

Saving the Piping Plovers

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking for public input on its plans to help save a bird from extinction in the Great Lakes region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

The U-S Fish and Wildlife Service is looking for public input on its plans to help save a bird from disappearing in the Great Lakes region. The The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


There are only 45 nesting pairs of piping plovers, a long-legged shore bird that used to nest on shores all along the Great Lakes. 45 pairs… is the highest number since the government started counting the birds back in the 1970’s. Mike DeCapita is with the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service. He says the piping plovers are skittish… and human activity keeps them from their nests on the beach. To save the bird from extinction, the plan requires that people make some changes:


“It’s just that people need to modify their behavior slightly for a brief period during the spring and early summer to avoid disturbing the birds.”


DeCapita says that means things such as not letting dogs run loose on the beach where piping plovers nest… not leaving garbage to draw predators that would eat the birds… and when walking on the beach, avoid shooshing the birds from their nests. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.


Optional Host Tag: “The U-S Fish & Wildlife’s will be taking public comments on its draft recovery plan until September 4.”

Rescuing Injured Raptors

Owls, eagles, hawks, and other birds of prey have it rough in the modern world. They have to navigate electric wires, cars, and loss of habitat. A handful of volunteers in the Midwest take on the responsibility of nursing injured birds back to health… The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Brad Linder has the story of a wildlife rehabilitator in Pennsylvania:

Transcript

Owls, eagles, hawks, and other birds of prey have it rough in the modern world. They have to navigate electric wires, cars, and loss of habitat. A handful of volunteers in the (Great Lakes region/Midwest) take on the responsibility of nursing injured birds back to health… The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Brad Linder has this story on a wildlife rehabilitator in Pennsylvania:


(natural sound fading up)


Wendy Looker’s back yard serves as a temporary home for 120 birds, and a variety of other exotic animals. Walking into a sixteen foot cage, Looker opens a box and tries to convince the two small birds inside that it’s dinner time.


“These are fledgling kestrels and they’re just learning to catch food. So we’re tossing baby mice in there just to mimic movement, they’re eating mealworms and crickets, and other things they’re learning to catch.”


By working primarily to rehabilitate birds of prey, or raptors, Wendy Looker has become something of an expert in the region. With a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and some graduate work in animal behavior, Looker has spent most of her life working with animals.


“I worked in zoos for a number of years, and I particularly developed an affinity for owls. I guess I, for whatever reason identify with cranky animal that seem to be misunderstood by people. And I just figured at some point in time, maybe I’d dabble with research, and dabbling became 24-7.”


Ten years later, Rehabitat – a 40-thousand dollar a year non-profit organization, run out of Looker’s back yard – is going strong. Each year Looker and a handful of local volunteers help hundreds of birds recover from injury. It’s often dirty and difficult work for no pay, but Looker says she feels a responsibility to the birds.


“Very few of these animals come in as a result of a failure to thrive, a natural selection sort of a thing. It’s almost always human related, so I feel very strongly that they deserve the opportunity to be given a chance to get back out there.”


Looker says many of the birds brought to her have been hit by cars, have flown into glass windows, or have been caught up in discarded fishing line. But the number one cause of injury for birds is what she calls CBC, or caught by cat.


Even a minor cat bite can be lethal as bacteria infect the wound. Looker says keeping house cats in the house would eliminate countless bird injuries each year.


Feeding the birds at Rehabitat takes 6-thousand dead rodents every week, donated from a local research facility. Looker says in nature, or living in the back of a barn, birds of prey are effective mouse hunters. A single barn owl could save farmers thousands of dollars in crop damage.


“The average owl out in the wild eats about a thousand rodents a year himself, so they’re incredibly efficient and valuable in controlling the rodent population. Eating a thousand rodents, and a single rodent can do about 28 dollars worth of damage to agricultural crops, so that’s a 28-thousand dollar bird, and that’s without him having a family.”


Looker says using rat poison to deal with rodents might not be as effective as having a few raptors around. And if there are birds of prey in the area, it’s likely that they could be susceptible to poison as well.


“Most rat and mouse poisons accumulate in the body of the rodent it takes several days for the rodent to die, and he’s wandering out in the open and it’s very easy pickings for the birds. So we get birds that come in here with what we call secondary poisoning, and they’re seizuring and sometimes we can turn them around and sometimes we can’t.”


“We must have had babies hatching… and let’s go check those babies out….”


While inspecting the newborn barn owls, Looker says some animals spend just a few months at Rehabitat, while others have become lifelong residents due to permanent wing or eyesight damage.


“Our standards for release are extremely high. These birds have a tremendously difficult life out in the wild and they need to be 100% perfect. Because just to have one feather missing compromises the feather next to it, throws them off balance, and may be the difference between life and death for them.”


Not every bird can make it in the wild. A few birds with disabilities such as amputated wings or partial blindness can be used for educational programs. But a number of birds have to be put down every year. Looker says it wouldn’t be difficult to find people willing to adopt injured birds, but Raptors are wild animals that don’t make good pets – and there are few locations with the proper facilities to care for non-releasable animals.


Birds of Prey are federally protected migratory birds, but rehabilitation is a private endeavor. With licenses from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Rehabitat and similar facilities in the state do all the work of nursing injured wildlife back to health for release in the wild


“There are some restrictions in what rehabbers can and can’t do. Obviously we don’t do surgery, but pretty much everything else medically is done on site. It’s pretty grungy work and it’s pretty labor intensive, but it’s also extremely rewarding.”


(natural sound up)


Looker says she’d love to put herself out of business by convincing people to avoid activities which put birds at risk, such as using rodent poisons or letting housecats roam the neighborhood. But as long as there are birds in need of help, there will be people like Wendy Looker to take them in.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Brad Linder.


(natural sound out)