Hidden Costs of Housing Developments

  • Urban sprawl not only costs the environment, but taxpayers as well, according to a smart growth proponent. (Photo by Kevin Walsh)

A leader in the ‘Smart Growth’ movement is calling on local governments to think about all the hidden costs of encouraging sprawling housing developments. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
reports:

Transcript

A leader in the “Smart Growth” movement is calling on local governments to think about all the hidden costs of encouraging sprawling housing developments. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


The Executive Director of Smart Growth America says the way we build subdivisions costs other taxpayers money. Don Chen says houses on big lots mean longer streets, extra lengths of water and sewer pipes and other costs.


“You are also creating a very automobile dependent situation where people have to drive to get anywhere and as a result, all of the supportive shopping and different uses, destinations have to have large parking lots, you have to build more roads, wider roadways to accommodate that type of lifestyle.”


Chen says taxpayers who don’t live in the big new subdivisions still end up subsidizing some of the costs of the developments. That’s because the real estate taxes don’t pay for all of the subsequent road building. Developers say in many cases they don’t have a choice because local governments require the bigger lots.


For the GLRC, this is Lester Graham.

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Sewer Districts Seeking Bottle Tax

  • In an effort to leverage more funding for better sewer maintenance, many sewer districts are in support of a plan to tax some kinds of bottled drinks. (Photo by Pam Roth)

Sewage treatment districts are looking for more money to
fund repairs and upgrades to the nation’s sewage systems. One idea they’re discussing is a seven percent tax on many types of bottled beverages. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach
reports:

Transcript

Sewage treatment districts are looking for more money to
fund repairs and upgrades to the nation’s sewage systems. One idea
they’re discussing is a seven percent tax on many types of bottled
beverages. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach
reports:


A group representing 300 sewer districts around the U.S says a Clean
Water Trust Fund is needed for infrastructure projects. Ken Kirk is
Executive Director of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage
Agencies. He says there isn’t enough public money to maintain the sewers
built
decades ago and reduce sewer overflows into rivers and lakes.


“We’ve gone from a grants program to a state revolving loan
program which is important but gets cut each and every year.”


So Kirk’s group will meet with industry lobbyists in Washington D.C.
this month and talk about other funding sources. One idea is to
create a national tax on all bottled drinks except for milk, juice,
baby formula and health drinks.


Kirk says polling shows people support having a dedicated source of funding for clean water. But a major brewer plans to fight the proposal. Miller Brewing says forty-four percent of the price of its beer already goes to taxes.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Epa Finalizing Sewage Blending Policy

  • Heavy rains can overwhelm sewer systems. The EPA's proposed solution, blending, is a topic of debate. (photo by Sarah Griggs)

The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing
a policy that will allow sewage treatment operators to send largely untreated sewage directly into rivers and lakes. It’s a cost-savings effort pushed by the Bush administration. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

The Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing a policy that will allow sewage treatment operators to send largely untreated sewage directly into rivers and lakes. It’s a cost-savings effort pushed by the Bush administration. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:


The process is called blending. If too much sewage is coming in to treat completely, this policy allows operators to “blend” mostly untreated sewage with already treated waste water, then release it into the waterways. That saves the federal government money by not having to pay for sewage plant expansions.


Environmentalists don’t like it. Nancy Stoner is with the group Natural Resources Defense Council.


“They’re saying that they’re going to save money by providing less treatment now even though that pushes the cost onto the public by contaminating our drinking water supply, by killing fish, by contaminating shellfish so it cant be sold, by closing beaches.”


The EPA says blending untreated sewage with treated sewage dilutes it so that it meets federal standards. The agency also argues that the policy merely sanctions a practice that already happens every time a sewer system gets swamped by heavy rains.


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

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Thieves Pry Steel From City Streets

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.

New Trust Fund for Nation’s Sewer Systems?

A group that represents sewer and water agencies is calling for the creation of a federal trust fund to help rebuild antiquated pipelines. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:

Transcript

A group that represents sewer and water agencies is calling for the creation
of a federal trust fund to help rebuild antiquated pipelines. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush has more:


Water and sewer bills are going up because cities are faced with the problem
of fixing and upgrading their old pipes. These projects can run into the
billions of dollars, and the cost is borne by local communities.


Ken Kirk is the Executive Director of the Association of Metropolitan
Sewerage Agencies. His group is calling for the creation of a federal trust
fund to help finance these huge projects:


“We’re talking about a trust fund that’s going to preserve and protect, and
enhance the water quality of all the great water bodies in this country, and
that is a national issue, it’s always been a national issue and we have to
put it back on the map again because to lose that resource would be an
absolute crime.”


The EPA estimates that current funding sources are falling short of the need
by hundreds of billions of dollars.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.

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Blackout Leads to Sewage Overflows

Tens of millions of gallons of untreated or partially treated sewage were dumped into the Great Lakes basin during last month’s massive power outage, but environmentalists say that’s a drop in the bucket compared with the overall problem of contamination from sewage spills. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports:

Transcript

Tens of millions of gallons of untreated or partially treated sewage were dumped into the Great
Lakes basin during last month’s massive power outage. But environmentalists say that’s a drop
in the bucket compared with the overall problem of contamination from sewage spills. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports:


Environmental groups say a heavy rain can easily send more raw sewage into lakes and streams
than an event like last month’s blackout.


In Michigan alone, officials say 57 million gallons of sewage were dumped because of the
blackout. Environmentalists say that’s not much, compared to the 50 billion gallons the state
dumps yearly.


Bethany Renfer is with Clean Water Action.


“I think we need to look at all steps that we can take to help to reduce the overflows – both those
that are happening in extenuating circumstances, like a blackout – but also those that are regularly
occurring…that we can almost plan for.”


The blackout strained wastewater treatment facilities from Michigan to New York. All told, at
least 550 million gallons were dumped into lakes, harbors, and streams.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Sarah Hulett.

Estrogen Feminizing Male Fish

Research is finding that the hormone in birth control pills is getting into water and affecting the reproduction of fish. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

Research is finding that the hormone in birth control pills is getting into water and
affecting the reproduction of fish. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester
Graham reports:


Researchers had already noted that fish near sewer plants were affected by the estrogen from birth
control pills that passes through a woman’s body. Further research for Fisheries and Oceans
Canada reveals that levels of estrogen even lower than found downstream of some U.S. sewer
plants can have dramatic effect on fish. Karen Kidd is the lead scientist.


“And what we’re finding is that the males are all becoming feminized. And
we’re seeing declines in numbers
in one of our minnow species as well.”


That minnow species has declined more than 95-percent. The scientists say if the estrogen in the
water is affecting the fish… there might be human implications as well.


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

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Region Deals With Deadly Nerve Agent

The Army wants to get rid of its stockpiles of chemical weapons because they fear terrorists might get to them. There are eight Army sites across the U.S. that store those kinds of chemicals. At one site in the Midwest, the military is planning to dispose of Nerve Agent VX. To destroy the stockpiles, the Army must first “water-down” the nerve agent. Then it has to be shipped to a company that disposes of industrial wastes. But while the Army says it’s making neighborhoods safer near where the chemical weapons are stored … some people fear having the watered-down nerve agent trucked into their neighborhoods. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Natalie Walston reports:

Transcript

The Army wants to get rid of its stockpiles of chemical weapons because they fear terrorists might get to them. There are eight Army sites across the U.S. that store those kinds of chemicals. At one site in the Midwest, the military is planning to dispose of Nerve Agent VX. To destroy the stockpiles, the Army must first “water-down” the nerve agent. Then it has to be shipped to a company that disposes of industrial wastes. But while the Army says it’s making neighborhoods safer near where the chemical weapons are stored, some people fear having the watered-down nerve agent trucked into their neighborhoods. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Natalie Walston reports:


Nerve Agent VX is a clear, odorless liquid with the consistency of motor oil. It was
accidentally created during the Korean War, when British chemists were experimenting
with various concoctions meant to kill lice on North Korean POW’s and refugees. Nerve
Agent VX kills within minutes after contact with the skin. It has never been used in
combat by the United States. Instead, most of the country’s supply sits in a highly-
guarded tank at the Newport Chemical Depot in west-central Indiana. In 1985, Congress
ordered the chemical weapons destroyed because many seemed obsolete. In 1997, the
United States joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits countries from
developing, producing, stockpiling or using chemical weapons.


Then, as U.S. Army spokesperson Terry Arthur explains, terrorists slammed planes into
the World Trade Center towers:


“After September 11th, 2001, because the public suddenly became aware of the possibility
for terrorism here in the United States, folks living near the stockpiles became acutely
aware of that. And the army began to look at ways to accelerate destruction of the
stockpiles.”


The Army is planning to burn some of its chemical weapons in incinerators. The Nerve
Agent VX that’s stored in Newport, Indiana will be destroyed through a neutralization
process. That’s a process that makes the nerve agent no more harmful than a household
drain cleaner.


(Ambient sound fade up)


The watered-down version of the nerve agent is called hydrolysate. It will be shipped by
tanker truck to Perma-Fix Environmental Services, a company in Dayton, Ohio. It’s a
company that usually handles industrial wastes and used oils.


“If you get your oil changed anywhere at a service station near the Dayton, Ohio area,
chances are, the used oil from your vehicle ends up here.”


That’s company Vice President Tom Trebonik. He says the hydrolysate will, simply put,
be broken down by a natural process. It will be eaten by microscopic bugs. And then it
breaks down even more into a form that will be pumped into the sewer system.


But, once word of a “nerve agent” coming to town spread around the small, poor
neighborhood near the plant, environmentalists began working with residents to voice
opposition to its disposal. They tacked up signs in the local supermarket and carry-out
that read “Deadly VX Nerve Agent” is coming to the neighborhood.


(Nat sound)


Martha Chatterton is a young mother of one with another child on the way. She lives in a
small house in a decaying area. Her husband fixes cars in the garage out back. They’re
glued to the news on CNN about heightened terror alerts. They know terrorist attacks are
a possibility. But they don’t want a problem from Indiana shipped to their backyard.


Chatterton is worried about the health effects of living near a plant that deals with such
industrial wastes. She says some days the air is orange and smells of a chemical stew.


“Well, last year we did the whole yard with roses and different flowers, and about a week
after we planted them, all of them died. So there’s got… there’s something wrong with
the ground here, because when I dug the hole for the rose tree, it smelled like gas fumes.”


Chatterton fears Perma-Fix won’t be able to properly handle the hydrolysate. The
company was cited in 2001 for odor violation but has since installed equipment to solve
the problem. Beyond that, the U.S. EPA and the Army see no reason why the treated
nerve agent can’t be trucked into town. Again, Army spokesperson Terry Arthur:


“We understand the concern of the public because it’s derived from a chemical agent.
What we want them to understand is that we have truckers who will be dedicated and
trained specifically for hauling this product and getting it across the state line to the Ohio
facility, where experts have been working with this kind of material for years.”


With the threat of terrorism, there’s little that’s likely to slow the pace of the destruction
of the nerve agent. The risks of leaving it intact seem greater than the risks associated
with destroying it.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Natalie Walston.

Doctors Urge Kyoto Sign-On

Some physicians are concerned about the United States not attending the final talks on the Kyoto Protocol on global warming held in early November. The physicians say global warming is already a problem and is adding to a number of public health threats. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

Some physicians are concerned about the United States not attending the final talks on the Kyoto Protocol on global warming held in early November. The physicians say global warming is already a problem and is adding to a number of public health threats. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports.


Some physicians believe the increase in infectious disease outbreaks such as West Nile virus, Lyme disease, and Hantavirus are connected to global warming. They say the warming already seen contributes to the spread of the viruses. The warming also could be causing more volatile weather –such as sudden storms in some parts of the Great Lakes region. That can cause flooding of sewer systems that lead to illnesses. Bob Musil is the Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility. He says the group is encouraging politicians to upgrade sewer systems to cope with the changes.


“There are sudden storm surges, sudden precipitation leads to flooding in combined sewage and storm drains. In the state of Michigan in our report we discussed this problem. And we actually, as physicians, go and talk to the responsible officials.”


But the physician’s group says adapting to the changes only treats the symptoms. Musil says the long-term problem can only be dealt with by reducing air pollutants that cause global warming, something the group says the U-S is refusing to do right now. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Lester Graham.

RECORD YEAR FOR BEACH CLOSINGS (Version 1)

Lake Michigan had a record number of beach closings this year. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl has more:

Transcript

Lake Michigan had a record number of beach closings last year. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl reports.


The Lake Michigan Federation is reporting almost six hundred beach closings on Lake Michigan in 2001. That’s up from just over four hundred last year. Federation director Cameron Davis says most of the closings are due to wastewater carrying bacteria to the lakes when treatment plants are at capacity. He says the solution is to cut back on development near the lakes:


“We need to try to limit the amount of pavement that’s being laid down all across the region, so that rainwater naturally filters through the ground rather than getting shuttled off into a sewage treatment plant.”


Davis says the number of beach closings on Lake Michigan should actually be higher than his report shows. He says Michigan does a poor job testing for bacteria near beaches, and says Wisconsin’s numbers are excluding Sheboygan County where there have been problems in the past. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jonathan Ahl.