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:
Tag: pollution
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:
Marsh Monitoring Program
Marshes and other wetlands across the Great Lakes region are disappearing. Others are polluted. And that means trouble for the animals that live in them, especially birds and frogs. The four-year-old Marsh Monitoring Program based in Ontario uses hundreds of volunteers across the region to keep track of wildlife in wetland areas. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Andy Robins reports:
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:
Floating Classroom Promotes Science
This summer, a floating classroom is making its way around Lake Michigan. On it, both kids and adults will be learning about water quality issues and gathering scientific data. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson has more:
Business Waste Exchange
All around the country, efforts are being made to get businesses to take each other’s waste, and turn it into usable materials. In the past four years, material exchange organizations in Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, and Ontario have aggressively pursued this angle in recycling. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mieke Tonn visited one of these organizations and has this report:
Court Decision Gives Renewable Energy a Boost
Coal fired power plants produce two-thirds of the nation’s electricity. In the process, they emit millions of tons of carbon dioxide and other air pollutants. But a recent court decision in Minnesota may provide an incentive to embrace cleaner energy sources. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel has more:
PCB Contamination Through Sewer Overflow
Despite a 1970’s ban, PCBs have remained a problem throughoutthe Great Lakes Region. Now residents in one Detroit neighborhood aresuing the city over PCB exposure. Families on one street say theirhouses have been contaminated with PCB’s from city sewer lines. TheGreat Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jerome Vaughn reports:
Incinerating Chicken Waste Provides Energy
Chickens raised on U.S. poultry farms produce nearly twentymillion-tons of manure every year. That waste is difficult to disposeof and can pollute water supplies. Now one British company thinks it’sfound a profitable way to manage that manure. The Great Lakes RadioConsortium’s Steve Frenkel has more:
Algae: The Missing PCB Link?
Toxic chemicals known as P-C-B’s haven’t been used in the U.S. for morethan two decades. But dangerous levels of P-C-B’s remain in the naturalenvironment and pose a threat to human health. To address this problem,scientists are trying to understand how these chemicals get into thefood chain. Now, a scientist at Northwestern University has found alikely answer. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkelreports: