The Clinton administration is asking Congress for money in the
2001 federal budget to speed along pollution clean-up plans in some
Great Lakes areas. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
reports… some believe it’s in part an election year move:
Tag: water pollution
Potato Farms Create ‘Super-Sized’ Problem (Part 1)
Ron Offutt grows more potatoes than anyone else in the
world. He grows them for the French Fry market. Press reports call him
the Sultan of Spuds and the Lord of the Fries—but his success has an
environmental price, as people in small towns near his potato farms have
learned to their dismay. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mary
Losure reports in the first of a two part series:
Potato Farms Create ‘Super-Sized’ Problem (Part 2)
Ron D. Offutt is the biggest potato grower in the world.
His privately owned company raises 1.8 BILLION pounds of potatoes a
year. They go to make French fries for fast food chains like McDonalds
and big potato processors like J.R Simplot. But Offutt’s
success has a downside. Many people who live near his potato farms
worry about the pesticides sprayed on his fields…but they soon find
they’re up against a system much bigger than they are. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Mary Losure reports, in the second part of a two part
series:
Other States to Join New York Lawsuit
Air pollution has always ignored state boundaries. And now, New York’s
top lawyer is crossing state lines, as well. For the first time, an
attorney general in one state is threatening to sue power plants in
another. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports, now
other states are considering joining the lawsuit:
Farmers Take a Stand
Many rural communities are learning their water supplies are
contaminated with pesticides from nearby farm fields. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports… in one small town…
farmers realized what was happening and took a stand:
Mayflies Make a Comeback
People have long considered the burrowing mayfly a pest. And 40 years
ago, they were glad when the clouds of bugs virtually disappeared from
the Great Lakes. But the mayfly is making a comeback. And as the Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports, scientists say it’s a sign
of a healthier water system:
Farmers Slow to Adopt Buffer Strips
The government launched an effort to help prevent water pollution from
agricultural runoff in 1997. The secretary of agriculture says buffer
strips could help eliminate serious water pollution from farms. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports… despite the
government’s offer of payments for converting farmland to greenways
along streams… farmers have been slow to embrace the effort:
Mass Balance Study Underway
For the past four years, scientists have been hard at work around Lake Michigan, taking hundreds of water, sediment, and air samples and analyzing the data. It’s part of a study like no other—the largest of it’s kind. And the results are expected to have world-wide applications. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports:
Superfund Remediation – The Next Step
Just outside the city of Rochester, New York is one of nearly a thousand inactive hazardous waste sites tagged by that state’s officials for cleanup under New York’s Environmental Superfund Program. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bud Lowell has been following New York’s efforts to clean up this site and has this report:
Gender Disparity Endangers Yellow Perch
Scientists in Wisconsin say among yellow perch, males in Lake Michigan outnumber females by 9-to-1. Such a gender disparity may be detrimental to the food chain. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lisa Labuz has more: