| By Clem Guttata
Here's what's caught my eye lately. What's caught yours?
* So far, the Obama EPA has been one giant step sideways on the issue of Mountaintop Removal coal mining. The latest news is the EPA plans a major scientific review of mountaintop removal. This may or may not lead to a different level of enforcement.
* Via W.A. comes this rememberance of labor history: How Jock Yablonski's life (and death) led to Rich Trumka's rise within the AFL-CIO.
* The Dunkard Creek Massacre is shining a bright light on a major water quality issue in West Virginia (and beyond). Conductivity is a looming problem for coal and the WVDEP.
* The latest W.Va. DEP statement on Dunkard Creek is:
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection now believes a golden algae bloom is linked to a large fish kill on Dunkard Creek, in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. DEP staff members investigating the incident narrowed down the causes of the fish kill after consulting with algae experts from West Virginia University, North Carolina and Texas.
The algae found in Dunkard Creek has been tentatively identified as Prymnesium parvum, commonly called golden algae, which occurs worldwide, but primarily in coastal waters that have higher salt or mineral content. The algae produces toxins that can affect gill-breathing organisms and the most visible result of a fish kill caused by golden alga is dead and dying fish and mussels of all species and sizes.
The characteristics of the fish kill are almost identical to what is seen in other parts of the country that also have had golden algae kills.
"Narrowing down the cause will allow us and anyone who may be found to be responsible to find a solution, " said Cabinet Secretary Randy Huffman. "Some members of our investigation team are now turning their attention to finding ways to minimize or eliminate the algae bloom. We are also evaluating what can be done to prevent this from happening in the future, in Dunkard and other watersheds."
As a start, Randy Huffman could stop giving blanket permission to coal mines to continue polluting streams above legal conductivity limits.
* Last weekend the Wood County Democrats held a rousing meeting and the West Virginia Environmental Council has a productive statewide meeting in Flatwoods. If you attended any recent Democratic party or progressive activist meetings, please share your impressions.
* If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely check out the great series of posts that Dawn Miller has written on Metro Government. Consolidation is one of those "boring" wonkish topics that really can make a big difference. It's an important dialogue for progressives to take part in.
Get ready for Blog Action Day on Climate Change on October 15, 2009. Sign up now to commit to writing a post on 10/15/09 about climate change. If you don't have your own blog home, we welcome anyone who wants to write a diary here. (Cross-posts are always welcome, too!)
Flickr image credit: KathyCat102 |
