MaxRedline

Been There, Done That

“SUBJECT: DEQ … File No.97-59-0023; T11N; R10W, Sec 20; Lycoming County

Dear Mr. DeVries:

It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property.

You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity: Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond.

A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department’s files shows that no permits have been issued Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Pennsylvania Compiled Laws, annotated.

The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris and flooding at downstream locations… We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted.

The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the stream channel.

All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 2013. Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff.

Failure to comply with this request or any further unauthorized activity on > > the site may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action.

We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter. Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

David L. Price

District Representative and Water Management Division

Dear Mr. Price,

Your certified letter dated 11/17/12 has been handed to me. I am the legal landowner but not the Contractor at 2088 Dagget Lane, Trout Run, Pennsylvania.

A couple of beavers are in the process of constructing and maintaining two wood ‘debris’ dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, authorize, nor supervise their dam project, I think they would be highly offended that you call their skillful use of natures building materials ‘debris.’

I would like to challenge your department to attempt to emulate their dam project any time and/or any place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.

These are the beavers/contractors you are seeking. As to your request, I do not think the beavers are aware that they must first fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity. If you want the damed stream ‘restored’ to a dam free-flow condition please contact the beavers — but if you are going to arrest them, they obviously did not pay any attention to your dam letter, they being unable to read English.

Boy, is that ever familiar: at my last house, there was a stream running through my back yard. Then the beavers showed up. The pond resulting from their work caused a neighbor upstream to come to my door to complain about "my beavers" that flooded his vegetable garden. Next up - yep, the Portland Bureau of "Environmental Services". They informed me that I could not trap and relocate the animals, nor could I shoot them. But I had to do something about their dam, as it was "impeding the free flow of water".

Yeah, that's a big help.

So, ever the cooperative guy, I took an axe to the dam. The beavers rebuilt it overnight.

Now they were starting to tick even me off.

i knew that beavers react to the sound of flowing water, so I got an eight-foot length of PVC pipe and a couple of 90-degee elbows.

Chopped a hole in the dam and laid in the pipe - with one elbow to drop water onto the back-side of the dam. Moved the rest of the pipe and elbow facing downward into the pond. Sure enough, water flowed quietly through the rig, and sure enough, the beavers plastered over the pipe at their dam. So it was part of their dam, but I could keep the water at a manageable level.

Made the neighbor happy and mollified BES.

 

The Latest Thing That Can Kill You

Drinking tap water.

Chemicals in the nation's drinking water could result in 100,000 cases of cancer in the U.S. over a lifetime, according to a study released Thursday by the Environmental Working Group. The findings may bolster the argument for investing in protections for U.S. source water, as well as for consumers to use water filters at home, the nonprofit environmental advocacy group said.

The vast majority, or 87%, of the more than 100,000 estimated cancer cases linked to drinking tap water are due to byproducts of chemicals used to disinfect water and naturally occurring arsenic, according to the findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Heylion. The remaining cancer cases were attributed to radioactive chemicals in drinking water.

Well, that seems sort of scary, although here in Portland, the water isn't treated; filtered, yes, but it's so clean that treatment is not needed.

For those less fortunate, there's always Zero Mass:

Zero Mass Water CEO and founder Cody Friesen is the winner of the 2019 Lemelson-MIT Prize, snaring $500,000 for his invention of a hydropanel that extracts drinking water from sunlight and air. The company’s Source hydropanels are used in 33 countries and provide clean drinking water in communities, refugee camps, government offices, hotels, hospitals, schools, restaurants and homes around the world.

The Lemelson-MIT Prize, awarded by the Portland, Oregon-based Lemelson Foundation, is the largest cash prize for U.S. inventions. It is administered by the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

 

Public Health In Flint, Michigan

The group knew how Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia caused by the waterborne legionella bacteria, operates: once the weather heated up, more people could die. So in May, they met with state health director Nick Lyon to warn him that it was urgent to step up monitoring for Legionnaires’ cases.

And Nick demonstrated his concern:

Wow.

 

Science Marches On In Japan

Tokyo (CNN)Eight years after Japan's worst nuclear disaster, the government is not sure what to do with the contaminated water that remains -- but its environment minister says dumping it into the ocean might be the only choice.

To cool fuel cores at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, operator Tokyo Electric has pumped in tens of thousands of tons of water over the years, according to Japanese national broadcaster NHK. Once used and contaminated, the water is put into storage.

Now, storage space is running out. And during a televised press conference Tuesday, Japan's environment minister Yoshiaki Harada said he believed the only solution was to "release it into the ocean and dilute it."

 

No word as to how such a plan might affect marine ecosystems.

 

How comforting. We might want to consider cutting back on our "healthy diets" of fish.

 

 

Stingray Mating Season In Florida

CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. — During Labor Day weekend, lifeguards are warning everyone to look twice before stepping in the ocean.

• • Over 30 reports people getting stung by stingrays 
  • Officials say this is mating season for the rays 
  • Avoid stings by shuffling your feet as you get into the water

Officials say this is mating season for the rays and are often found buried in the sand close to shore.

Well, if they're buried in the sand, how the heck are you going to see them? And I don't care what they call their beach; in my experience, most of the waters around the peninsula are pretty darned murky.

Yet another reason to avoid Florida....

 

 

Fish Tales

Seattle company Whooshh has come up with an interesting way to transport fish over dams.

Mike Messina, a Whooshh representative, told me that the technology was originally designed as a way to transport apples from high branches without bruising. While field testing the devices, Messina said, the Whooshh team had “an ‘Aha!’ moment” when they kept seeing helicopters overhead that were moving fish over a nearby dam on the Columbia River—an especially dramatic version of the collect-and-transport strategy.

Whooshh’s machinery moves the fish through a pneumatic tube; the tube is made with a flexible proprietary material and filled with mist, allowing for a “frictionless glide” to ease the fish’s passage.

Transport past the obstacle takes one minute.

The newest models are full of whiz-bang; fish swim in and a computerized system photographs each fish, then directs each one to the appropriately-sized tube.  The system even notes whether it's a wild or hatchery fish. It's the first real change in fish transport technology in over half a century - and it really ought to irk the sea lions, too.

 

Most Of Us Had Already Figured That Out

The failed missile test that ended in an explosion killing five scientists last week on Russia’s White Sea involved a small nuclear reactor, according to a top official at the institute where they worked. The Defense Ministry initially reported two were killed in the accident, which it said involved testing of a liquid-fueled missile engine. The ministry didn't mention the nuclear element.

The incident comes after a series of massive explosions earlier last week at a Siberian military depot killed one and injured 13, as well as forcing the evacuation of 16,500 people from their homes. Russia's navy has suffered numerous high-profile accidents over the years.

It was obvious four days ago that a nuke was involved; first Russia claimed it was due to a malfunctioning jet engine, which was a transparent attempt at disinformation that nobody with 2% of a functioning brain bought into. So they've finally confessed that yes, there was a nuke involved. It's easy to see why Alaskans are concerned about Russia's moves to anchor a nuke plant in the Bering Sea, just across from Anchorage, Alaska.

I tend not to believe anything that any government peddles; if they say that the sky is blue, I'm going to step outside and verify.

 

 

Been There, Pretty Interesting Spot

MIAMI (AP) — American crocodiles, once headed toward extinction, are thriving at an unusual spot — the canals surrounding a South Florida nuclear plant.

Yep, the crocodile population - and those of other critters - are expanding because of warm water discharges from a horrid nuke-power plant. Imagine that!

Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point power plant features 168-miles (270 kilometers) of man-made canals that also serve as the home to several hundred crocodiles. Some folks don't realize that temperature determines the crocodiles’ sex: the hotter it is, the more likely males are hatched. 

There, we have a problem: overproduction of males vs. females. To build back a stable population, FPL is going to need to build some cooling towers to regulate canal temperatures.

 

Not Enough Cement Blocks...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A portion of Coney Island’s beach was closed off Thursday after human remains were found near the shore.

Police sources tell CBS2 that a badly decomposed body part, believed to be a human leg, was found submerged in the Brooklyn water stuck between the jetty rocks.

Visiting Luisville Soon?

Dive in and drink up.

The bourbon plume from last week’s Jim Beam warehouse fire has floated to Louisville’s drinking water intake in the Ohio River.

Fishing may be good, as well.