One airport in the region is considering turning some of its unused land into a playground for dogs and their owners. (Photo by Kat Shurtz)
Large expanses of open land often surround airport buildings and runways as noise buffers. Now, at one airport in the region, there’s a plan to put that land to use. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Christina Shockley reports:
Transcript
Large expanses of open land often surround airport buildings and runways as noise buffers. Now, at one airport in the region, there’s a plan to put that land to use. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Christina Shockley reports:
When Ryan Mccue was a city official in Milwaukee, he says he took call after call from residents complaining that animals were running loose in area parks. The problem was dog owners weren’t keeping their pets on leashes. Now Mccue thinks he’s come up with a solution: set up a dog exercise area on land unlikely to be used for anything else.
“The airport has a lot of land that’s vacant. And it’s a great spot for it. There aren’t very many neighbors around the airport so the dogs barking won’t disturb any neighbors.”
If aproved, the exercise area would be established on land owned by Mitchell International Airport near Milwaukee. He says the 27 acres would be fenced in and kept separate from the airport
facilities. Mccue says, so far, the airport and the FAA are supportive of the plan. And if it’s approved, he says it could be used as an example of how other airports can make use of their open space.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Christina Shockley.
Ferries on the Great Lakes are getting faster; but some ferries are not experiencing the same speed in their ticket sales. (Photo by Anne-Marie Labbate)
Two high speed ferries that began operation on the Great
Lakes this year have shut down for the winter. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports that for each of the boats, the first season did not go according to plan:
Transcript
Two high speed ferries that began operation on the Great Lakes this year have shut down for the winter. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports that for each of the boats, the first season did not go according to plan:
The Lake Express Ferry that crossed Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Muskegon exceeded predictions and carried more than 120-thousand passengers. But the boat cancelled its November and December schedule because of a low number of bookings. Lake Express President Kenneth Szallai insists the problem is not people being reluctant to cruise the lake in cold weather. He says the company just didn’t do enough to market the late-season service.
“People are used to the traditional ferries ending up in October… and because we didn’t do our part of it… they didn’t realize we’d be operating and so our sales were kind of flat for those two months.”
Szallai says the Lake Express will again carry passengers next spring. Another high speed ferry between Toronto and Rochester, New York abruptly shut down in early September. A Rochester newspaper reports problems include, quote, questionable business decisions, bad luck and lack of cash. It’s unclear when the boat will resume service.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.
Sewers like these were leaking this spring in Milwaukee according to a task force employed by the mayor. He says fixing the problem may be expensive. (Photo by Bob Smith)
One of the biggest dumpers of raw sewage into the Great Lakes this year may be heading toward a solution that puts the cleanup burden on local citizens. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach explains:
Transcript
One of the biggest dumpers of raw sewage into the Great Lakes this year may be heading toward a solution that puts the clean-up burden on local citizens. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Several cities dumped sewage into the Great Lakes during heavy rains this spring and summer. Milwaukee’s overflow total was about five billion gallons. A task force set up by Milwaukee’s mayor concludes much of the problem came from rainwater leaking into the sewer system through illegal hookups and cracked pipes between homes and sewer mains. Mayor Tom Barrett says reducing the so-called infiltration and inflow, or, I and I, will be expensive.
“Well, we’re obviously going to have to put more dollars into I and I in Milwaukee. The city has done that, we’re doing more in this budget, we’re going to continue to do more… I think each of the communities is going to have to face that issue.”
The “communities” are the roughly 30 smaller cities that use the Milwaukee sewer system. Wisconsin’s attorney general is trying to ge the city and suburbs to work together. Milwaukee and many other Great Lakes cities are also asking the U.S. government to spend more money on reducing sewer overflows.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.
An overflow point in a combined sewer line. The overflow is designed to relieve pressure on an overburdened sewer system. (Photo courtesy of the USEPA)
The wet weather of the last few weeks has caused some communities to dump sewage into the Great Lakes. That’s triggering health concerns for this summer. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
The wet weather of the last few weeks has caused some communities to
dump sewage into the Great Lakes. That’s triggering health concerns
for this summer. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach
reports:
Frequent heavy downpours have overwhelmed some lakeside sewer
systems. Some cities have dumped partly treated or untreated sewage
into the Great Lakes, instead of causing sewer backups in local basements.
Jeffery Foran is an aquatic toxicologist and president of the Midwest Center for
Environmental Science and Public Policy. He says the sewage contains pathogens –
bacteria and microorganisms – that can cause disease in humans. He’s worried about the
material spreading along the lakeshore.
“Probably accumulating at the beaches, in the sand, and in the cladophora, this algae that
washes up in the lake and rocks, and other structures that occur along the shoreline.”
The sewerage district in Foran’s home city of Milwaukee has already dumped about two
billion gallons of sewage into Lake Michigan this spring. He says the large volume of
water in the lake will dilute some of the sewage. But Foran is still expecting some beach
closings this summer.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.
High prices being paid for scrap metal have some thieves taking the recycling ethic too far. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
High prices being paid for scrap metal have some thieves taking the recycling ethic too far. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
There’s a bidding war between U.S. and Chinese firms for scrap metal. But it’s not just honest
people who are getting up to 300-hundred dollars per ton for material like scrap steel. Some
communities report that thieves are stealing sewer covers and sewer grates and getting cash from
metal recyclers who look the other way. In Milwaukee, more than 160 grates have been stolen
just this year.
Marty Forman runs a Milwaukee scrap recycling company. He deplores the
thefts, but says it’s impossible to trace altered metal.
“Metal has no memory. Once you melt metal, it doesn’t remember who it used to be. It’s just
copper, it’s just steel, it’s just brass.”
Forman predicts scrap metal prices will drop by the end of the summer. But in the meantime, he
urges scrap recyclers to work with police and give thieves a cold shoulder when they bring in hot
and heavy metal.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.
The nation’s first high-speed ferry will soon carry passengers and cars across Lake Michigan between Muskegon and Milwaukee. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:
Transcript
The nation’s first high-speed ferry will soon carry passengers
and cars across Lake Michigan between Muskegon and Milwaukee. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:
It took six hours to cross Lake Michigan in 1970, the last year a
passenger and auto ferry linked Muskegon and Milwaukee. The new ferry,
the Lake Express, will make the trip in about a third of the time. The
catamaran features a lightweight aluminum construction and four engines
with a combined 12,000 horsepower. Developer David Lubar says the biggest
customers are likely to be vacationing families and people who want to
bypass the Chicago commute.
“People are highly frustrated driving through Chicago, you don’t know if it’s going to take a half
hour or two hours.”
Lake Express is currently under construction and has a launch date of June
1st, 2004.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tracy Samilton.
An environmental watchdog group says the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has dumped one billion gallons of raw waste into Lake Michigan over the past eight years. Now it’s taking its case to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jenny Lawton reports:
Transcript
An environmental watchdog group says the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has
dumped 1-billion gallons of raw waste into Lake Michigan over the past 8 years. Now it’s taking
it’s case to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jenny
Lawton reports:
The Chicago-based Lake Michigan Federation says bacterial waste released from Milwaukee
continues to threaten Lake Michigan’s beaches.
The problem stems from Milwaukee’s underground sewage system…which isn’t big enough to
accomodate the city’s waste.
The Sewerage District has plans to upgrade the system by 2010.
But the Federation says that’s not soon enough.
Executive director Cameron Davis wants the Court to force the sewerage district to make the
changes by imposing fines.
“As long as there aren’t financial incentives to do that, what we’re going to see is kind of this
incremental, small step to small step approach sewage overflows in the region. And that’s simply
not acceptable.”
But last month, a Milwaukee federal district court dismissed a similar lawsuit… saying state
agencies had enforced the laws diligently.
Now the Federation hopes to prove to the U.S. Court of Appeals that Milwaukee has racked up
over 100 federal Clean Water Act violations in the past few years.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jenny Lawton.
The EPA wants communities to do more to protect drinking water from a harmful microorganism. That could mean several changes for cities around the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
The EPA wants communities to do more to protect
drinking water from a harmful microorganism. That could mean
several changes for cities around the Great Lakes. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Ten years ago, a Cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee led to
the deaths of more than 100 people who had weakened immune
systems. The outbreak sickened 400,000 other people.
Since that time, Milwaukee has made 100 million dollars in water treatment plant
improvements. Milwaukee waterworks superintendent Carrie Lewis
says the EPA’s plan to make all drinking water treatment
systems monitor and guard against the microbe means some
cities face new construction at their water treatment buildings.
“Because one doesn’t easily add more barriers to
organisms like Cryptosporidium without adding more physical plant
to the water treatment plants.”
Lewis expects some cities to debate the cost and benefits of the
rule package.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Chuck
Quirmbach reporting.
In recent decades, lead poisoning in children has gone down significantly. Some large cities have worked hard to eradicate the causes of the problem. But children in some areas are still being exposed to lead through old lead paint and other sources. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant reports the concern about continuing high levels of lead in children’s blood demands that those cities also tackle the problem:
Transcript
In recent decades, lead poisoning in children has gone down significantly. Some large
cities have worked hard to eradicate the causes of the problem. But children in some
areas are still being exposed to lead through old lead paint and other sources. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Julie Grant reports the concern about continuing high levels of
lead in children’s blood demands that those cities also tackle the problem:
In Cleveland, school superintendent Barbara Byrd-Bennett has found a test that puts her
students in the top ten nationwide. But this is not something that she wants for her
students.
This test finds that 20% of children in Cleveland have too much lead in their
bloodstreams.
“One out of every five children tested in Cleveland has a lead level that exceeds CDC
guidelines. In some parts of our city, I would characterize it as an epidemic.”
Byrd-Bennett is especially concerned about recent statistics from parts of the city
where there are lots of older houses, but most people don’t have the money to get
rid of lead paint. In some neighborhoods, the lead blood levels exceeded federal
standards in about 60% of children tested. Byrd-Bennett says it’s intolerable.
“In a half a dozen other city neighborhoods, at least one of every four children
had an elevated level. We ought to be furious. We ought to want to…
I’m a product of the sixties… we ought to want to have a revolution about this.”
Byrd-Bennett believes high levels of lead in the blood makes it difficult for affected
children to focus, to follow directions, and ultimately, to stay in school. High lead
exposure has been linked to juvenile delinquency, learning disabilities, and lowered IQ
scores.
Dr. Bruce Lanphear studies environmental health at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He
says these problems are not only associated with high exposure, defined by the federal
government as over ten micrograms of lead per deciliter
of blood…
“But perhaps even more striking is if you look at children below ten micrograms per
deciliter… that is, children whose blood lead levels never attained or exceeded ten
micrograms per deciliter… so by all accounts would have been fine, based upon our
existing action level. And what we found is, our estimated deficit, going from less than
one to less than ten, or about ten, was fifteen points in IQ. Huge effects.”
That means even in cities where the percentage of children considered at risk of high lead
levels is low, there’s still reason to be concerned. And there are a lot of children
affected. For example, in Cleveland, nearly 14,000 young children could have low
levels of lead poisoning.
Still, David Jacobs, Director of Lead Hazard Control at the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development is hopeful…
“If we’re smart about this and we work together, I believe we can in fact make lead paint
hazards in our housing stock virtually disappear. This disease can go the way of polio.
We have the know-how now to eliminate this disease.”
Childhood lead poisoning has declined steadily since the 1970s. That’s when cars
stopped spewing leaded exhaust and lead paint was banned. But 40% of homes
around the nation still contain lead paint from the first half of the 20th century. Rather
than getting to kids after they’ve been poisoned, many cities are focusing on how to
prevent exposures in the first place. Parents, landlords, and public agencies usually
shoulder the costs of repainting walls and refurbishing windows. But Dr. Lanphear of
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital believes paint companies should help pay to fix the
problem, because they are partly responsible for it.
“And so all of the problems that we’re seeing today, because for the most part what we’re
dealing with is lead-based paint, has come about because of this deception. And so if we
need to look toward private industry to help us solve this problem, I would suggest we
know exactly where to begin. That may be difficult in the state of Ohio. We have a lot
of paint companies housed here, don’t we?”
Sherwin Williams and Glidden paint companies are both based in Cleveland. The paint
industry says it’s not their fault if houses are poorly maintained and not regularly
repainted. So far, forty lawsuits against lead paint companies have failed.
In the
meantime, some cities, such as Milwaukee and Chicago, have honed in on finding
funding and solving the problem. Cleveland and many other cities have not.
Matt Carroll, Acting Director of the Cleveland Health Department, says the time has
come…
“A lot of lead activity has been going on in this community for a long time. But as a
community have we said, ‘this is how we’re going to try to create a plan to address it?
This is our goal? This is our thing we’re going to say we’re going to accomplish by a certain date?'”
Cleveland city and county health officials are focusing on how to get rid of the lead
problem. They hope to better educate parents, to improve lead testing of children and
homes, and to clean up homes that are poisoned. Like many large and mid-size cities,
Cleveland has a lot of work ahead.
But at least they’re on the road. Many smaller cities and towns don’t even know if they
have a problem because so few children there are tested for lead poisoning.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Julie Grant.
Duke Wagatha drives down from northern Michigan each year to sell his Christmas trees. While in Ann Arbor, he and his crew live in this 1951 Vagabond trailer.
It’s that time of year again – parking lots across the country are filled with Christmas trees. Just about one out of every three people who celebrate Christmas buys a live tree. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush spent some time with one tree grower in the height of tree selling season:
Transcript
It’s that time of year again – parking lots across the country are filled with Christmas trees. Just about one
out of every three people who celebrate Christmas buys a live tree. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Mark Brush spent some time with one tree grower in the height of tree selling season:
(sound of generator, saws, people chatting)
It’s a crisp afternoon at this Christmas tree lot in Ann Arbor, Michigan. That generator you hear is
powering the electric saws. They trim up the base of the tree so it’ll fit your tree stand. The guys’ hands
are blackened with sap and dirt from handling the hundreds of trees that came off of flat-bed trucks. They
take the bundled trees – open them up, and stick them onto stands. They’ve created a makeshift forest in
the middle of this strip mall parking lot. Customers wander through the forest searching for the perfect
tree.
Duke Wagatha runs the tree lot. He appears each year from north Michigan to sell his trees:
“We get here the weekend before Thanksgiving. Takes us probably about a week, or
five days to get set up, with the idea of opening the day after Thanksgiving. We like to let folks get one
holiday out of the way and then we start on the next.”
“Hello folks, how may I help you?…” (fade tree lot sound under)
He calls his business ‘Flat-Snoots Trees.’ You couldn’t tell from looking at his face now – but he
calls it ‘Flat-Snoots’ to make light of a broken nose he suffered in high school.
Duke seems to be a hard working free-spirit. His coveralls are all tarnished with pine needles and sap.
And when he moves, you hear ringing from the bells on his hat. He moves between the trees in his
parking lot forest telling his customers jokes and filling their heads with visions of Scotch pine, Fraser
firs, and Blue Spruce.
Margaret Jahnke has been buying trees from Duke for more than six years:
“He just makes it really personable – and there was one year it was really kind of warm and he had his
Hawaiian shirt on and his straw hat, and he was out here partyin’ away! And I’m like, ‘Whoa!’ It’s fun
to come, you know, just to run in, you know, to talk to him. And they’re really helpful!”
While they’re in Ann Arbor, Duke and his crew live in a 1950’s vintage trailer. The trailer’s paint is
faded, but Duke spruces it up for the holidays with wreaths and pine bows. And when you step inside, the
old lamps and rustic furniture make it seem as if you’ve stepped back in time.
(sound of trailer door opening)
“Whooo! It feels better in here doesn’t it?”
(sound of trailer door closing)
The trailer also doubles as his office. Customers pay for their trees in here and on occasion they’ll have a
complimentary nip of what Duke calls his “bad schnapps.” And the kids might be offered coupons for
free hot chocolate.
Duke is from Mesick, a small rural town in northern Michigan. Christmas tree farming is big business
in Michigan. The state is second only to Oregon in the number of acres that are in Christmas tree
production.
Duke, however, calls himself a small-time grower. He’s a carpenter by trade, but his work tends to dry up in the
long winter months:
“It’s not enough to make a living for me and my family year-round, uh, but it’s a good extra source of
income and uh, winters are tough up there, so if you make a little bit of extra money – winters are tough
and expensive – uh, living in the country, you know, like anybody, you got propane bills and all that, and
it’s a little colder up there, so to make a little bit of money going into winter is pretty nice.”
A lot of work went into growing the trees that have now arrived on his lot. Each summer workers plod
through the rows and rows of trees swinging razor sharp machetes. They trim each tree to give them that
classic, symmetrical, Christmas tree shape.
After about ten years, the trees are ready for harvest. They’re cut, they’re run through a baling machine,
and they’re loaded onto trucks and shipped down to the lots.
(sound of tree lot with sound of Duke)
Even though there’s a jovial atmosphere on the lot, there’s also a sense of urgency. After all, Duke only
has a few weeks to sell trees that in many cases have taken more than ten years to grow.
And while selling the trees is an important part of Duke’s income – he gets something else out of it. He
really likes people. And he enjoys making connections with them – whether it’s getting them to laugh, or
just simply helping them buy a tree:
“Sometimes you get some grumpy folks coming in, and it’s usually just because they’re overwhelmed
with shopping, it’s cold out, they didn’t wear their long underwear, or whatever, but we can usually get
them turned around, you know, we have a little fun with them. Like I say, if we have to bring them to the
trailer and have a shot of bad schnapps with ’em – hey, that’s just fine too.”
It’s closing time at the tree lot. The workers are headed for a warmer space. Right now, Duke’s trailer is
filled with his relatives and friends.
(sound of door opening)
“Come on in! This is Duke’s family. It’s warm in here, huh?”
(more rowdy banter)
Duke will continue to sell his trees right up until Christmas Eve. Then he’ll drive home to spend a few
days with his family before he comes back to tear the lot down:
“It’s kind of like the circus coming to town. You build up your tree lot, you almost build like, well I
wouldn’t say a village, but a little spot where there was nothing – just an asphault parking lot. And when you leave – there’s nothing
left – we sweep up and go – so it’s almost like a mirage. Were those guys really here?” (laughter)
And so, they spring to their trucks and drive out of sight, knowing they helped make the season
merry night after night.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
One airport in the region is considering turning some of its unused land into a playground for dogs and their owners. (Photo by Kat Shurtz)
