Published in The Post-Star (A1)
April 8, 2007
A recent study warns of widespread mercury contamination in the Adirondacks after scientists found high levels of the dangerous element in the picturesque wilderness and wildlife that personify the region.
"I do a lot of work in the Adirondacks, so I knew the concentrations were high. But to put all this together, and learn that 10 of the top 13 species of fish had average concentrations above the EPA guidance value — to me, that’s unbelievable!" said Charles Driscoll, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Syracuse University. He led the mercury study, which includes the central Adirondacks on a list of five confirmed biological mercury hot spots in the Northeast.
Driscoll worked with scientists from Clarkson University and the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation, a New Hampshire-based nonprofit group that studies forest ecosystems. The team spent three years analyzing data from more than 6,800 observations of seven wildlife species in the Adirondacks and New England. The results, which were published in a January 2007 study called "Mercury Matters," shocked him.
Mercury is fairly harmless in its elemental form, but when it enters watersheds and lakes, it gets transformed into a much more mobile and toxic form called methyl mercury. Then it bioaccumulates, becoming more concentrated at higher levels of the food chain. As it moves from water, to plankton, to fish, to birds, methyl mercury can increase in concentration by a factor of up to 10 million, Driscoll said.
And when it gets into people’s bodies, mercury contamination has been linked to heart disease and reduced brain function.
Stressed species
In the central Adirondacks, researchers found that 25 percent of common loons have blood mercury levels that exceed the wildlife health threshold of 3.0 parts per million, putting the already fragile population at risk of further decline. Mercury accumulates in loons’ bodies from eating contaminated fish, and can cause brain lesions, spinal cord degeneration, difficulty flying and swimming and lowered reproductive success, according to the study.
"The loon already has a variety of stresses on it ... it doesn’t need this one," said John Sheehan, spokesman for the environmental group the Adirondack Council. He said New York state considers the loon "a species of concern," which is one step down from the endangered species list.
"It’s one of the signature species in the park. I can’t tell you how many tourists come back just for the opportunity to hear them at night," Sheehan said.
High mercury levels were also found in the flesh of yellow perch sampled from both the west and central Adirondacks, with concentrations averaging twice the health threshold. In addition to contaminating wildlife above it on the food chain, like loons, this poses a human health risk to anyone who eats fish from the region.
In humans, mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that can interfere with brain development, leading to learning disabilities and reduced cognitive function in children of women who eat large amounts of fish during pregnancy. One recent study estimated that prenatal mercury exposure affects between 200,000 and 400,000 children born in the U.S. each year. In adults, mercury exposure has been linked to higher risk of heart attacks.
A double whammy
Nearly every U.S. state has issued one or more fish-consumption advisories related to mercury in the last several years, indicating that the problem is widespread. But the Adirondacks are especially susceptible after experiencing decades of acid rain, Driscoll said.
Sulfur and nitrogen emissions from Western power plants tend to blow East and get "wrung out" over the Adirondacks, changing the pH balance of the soil and water.
"It’s naturally sensitive, but you have a sort of double whammy with the acid rain," he said.
Scientists have found that adding sulfuric acid to a lake or wetland causes a bacterial interaction that leads to increased production of methyl mercury.
It could also mean mercury has less opportunity for "biodilution," Driscoll said.
"One idea is that the acid rain has affected the number and productivity of organisms in lake, so the mercury gets distributed at a very high level among the fish that are left," he explained.
A third factor is that acidified lakes inhibit a natural process that removes mercury from water by transforming it into a gas, he added.
Mercury contamination is often strongest in shallows and wetlands, which Sheehan noted are "cradles of aquatic life — exactly where you don’t want to have it."
Controlling coal
Coal-fired power plants are currently the largest source of mercury emissions in the U.S., the study found. Although total mercury emissions in the U.S. were cut in half from 1990 to 2002, that reduction was mostly due to stricter pollution controls for waste incinerators.
The amount of mercury emitted by coal-fired power plants declined only 13.7 percent over the same time period, from 116,000 pounds to 100,000 pounds.
The HRBF study suggests that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s national models have underestimated the extent of mercury deposition in areas near coal-fired utilities and other large emission sources.
"The EPA had suggested that local sources probably weren’t that significant," Driscoll said. "But we applied a local-scale model."
Looking specifically at an area near a coal-fired power plant in southern New Hampshire, the HBRF team found levels of mercury deposition that were four to five times higher than levels estimated by the EPA’s model.
Their study noted that the bulk of emissions from coal-fired power plants in the Northeast are in the form of reactive gaseous mercury, which generally travels no more than 150 miles from its source.
Sheehan and other environmentalists think that should raise a red flag about emissions trading, a policy that allows facilities emitting less than the maximum pollution allowance to sell "credits" to facilities that exceed the allowance.
"Trading is not a bad way of going about controlling nitrogen and sulfur pollution, but those are pollutants where a temporary shift of the geographic source doesn’t have a real profound effect on the community," Sheehan said. "But with mercury ... it really takes very little to make people sick. A slight increase here or there could cause damage to public health."
The EPA’s 2005 Clean Air Mercury Rule established a cap-and-trade system for mercury emissions and decided that coal-fired power plants no longer qualified for regulation under the Clean Air Act, a move that New Jersey and other states recently challenged in court. That case is now in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The Adirondack Mountain Club filed a brief in the appeal in January 2007, arguing that the CAMR "is an illegal attempt to weaken the strict mercury controls set forth in the Clean Air Act" and would perpetuate mercury hot spots in the Northeast.
The good news
The HBRF team’s case study of New Hampshire, a state that implemented strict mercury emissions controls in the mid-1990s, found that mercury levels in loons decreased rapidly in response to decreased local pollution.
"It was amazing, almost instantaneous!" Driscoll said. "We don’t know if it is a one-shot deal or if it can apply to other areas, but it’s encouraging."
Sheehan said he’s looking forward to 2010, when the Clean Air Interstate Rule goes into effect to reduce sulfur and nitrogen pollution in the eastern U.S. That will mean less acid rain for the Adirondacks, and could have other benefits.
"The good news is that reductions in those things are hard to make without making cuts in mercury, too, so the people who live around the plants should be getting healthier, too," he said.
Driscoll hopes the HBRF study will encourage policymakers to implement a comprehensive mercury emissions monitoring program, such as the one proposed in March by Sen. Hillary Clinton and others.
"These types of monitoring programs are not in place for mercury, so we have no idea how emissions control programs are working," Driscoll said. "I’m just a lowly researcher ... but if you’re talking about a multibillion dollar program that involves a significant health component ... it seems to me it’s a no-brainer that you want to know if it works."
LOGGING ON
EPA mercury information: www.epa.gov/mercury/
Current fish consumption advisories in New York state: www.health.state.ny.us/environmental/outdoors/fish/fish.htm
Mercury Matters study: www.hubbardbrookfoundation.org
Adirondack Mountain Club brief: www.adk.org/issues/Mercury.aspx
Adirondack Cooperative Loon Program: www.adkscience.org/loons/
Monday, April 09, 2007
Monday, April 02, 2007
Barber retires after 40 years
Published in The Post-Star
April 1, 2007
QUEENSBURY -- Locks of white, gray and black hair mingled on the floor of Jack's Barber Shop, forming a soft carpet under Jack Wright's feet by mid-morning.
He didn't have time to stop and sweep them up. Even without an appointment book, he almost always had a customer in his old-fashioned barber's chair, and several more flipping through the hunting and fishing magazines in the waiting area.
Last week, all of them were talking about the same thing.
"I don't know what I'm gonna do, where I'm gonna go," complained John Hoey, 79, a longtime customer. "He's the best barber in the area."
After 40 years of barbering, Wright retired Friday, giving his last cuts and shaves at his Main Street shop near Exit 18.
"I came for the last call. I don't really need a haircut, but I figured I better get one while I can," said Jack Woods, 65, a retired school custodian from Corinth who came in Thursday morning.
"It's worth driving over here," Woods added. "I used to be on the Village Board, and he'd ask me how things were going in the village -- but a lot of the time, he'd know more about it than I did! They say women are gossips, but men are just as bad, you know."
Wright agreed.
"I hear more confessions than a priest does, I tell you!" he said, grinning. "And I have a few priests that come in, too!"
But, he said, whenever his wife asked him if he heard anything interesting that day, he'd just shake his head.
"I would tell her, nope, nobody said a thing," he said. "What goes on in the barbershop, stays in the barbershop."
Wright grew up in South Glens Falls and became a barber's apprentice in 1967, after four years in the Navy. He opened his own shop on Route 9 in 1971, and moved to Main Street in 1982.
Barbershops like this used to be a community gathering place, Wright said, but he has seen a lot change in the last few decades.
"That's the part of the business I miss, all the neighborhood people just coming in to chat," he said. "People today, they just want to get their haircut and leave. Everybody's in a hurry."
Wright smeared a bit of lather on the back of a customer's neck, wielding a straight-edge razor as calmly as a putty knife. A handmade sign above the mirror displayed the current prices: "Haircuts $9.00, Beard Trim $2.00"
"When I started out, haircuts were 75 cents," he said. "That was a few days ago, wasn't it, Jack?"
"Oh, yup," the white-haired man in the chair replied.
Time hasn't changed Wright's tools and techniques. Simple black combs and silver shears are still his staples; classic, clean men's cuts are his specialty. He prunes wild eyebrows, shapes sideburns and scrapes away stray neck hairs, often adding a splash of Bay Rum aftershave at the end -- "the stuff the old cowboys used," he says.
He keeps a stash of lollipops on hand for younger customers.
"It's neat to see the kids grow up. Some of them, now I'm cutting their sons' hair," he said. "But a lot of my older customers have passed away -- I just saw another one in the obituaries today. It's hard. I've been to a lot of funerals."
Wright thinks traditional barbers like himself might be a dying breed. Although barbershops have enjoyed a nostalgia-driven surge of patronage in recent years, their numbers declined drastically in the last half of the 20th century while beauty salons blossomed.
As of 2004, New York had nearly 144,000 licensed cosmetologists and only 8,021 barbers, according to the state Department of State.
Wright blames The Beatles, among other things.
"Back in those days when I first started out, we had the Beatles come along, and suddenly everybody wants long hair," he said. "Now, everyone wants barbers again, but there's not many of us left."
Jack Huskie, 76, has been coming to Wright for a dozen years, and was perturbed to hear of his retirement.
"Every time my barbers retire or die, I gotta find a new one, and it's hard!" he said.
Even Wright's newer customers were distressed to hear the shop would be closing.
"What? You're making me sad!" exclaimed Rico Rapisora, 38, who moved to the area from California a few years ago. "When you move from one place to another, and you're used to going to a barber, finding another one is very comforting," Rapisora said. "It's like home."
Wright, 65, said he's looking forward to spending more time at his own home, and outdoors.
"I've got a little fishing boat and I never have time to use it -- I didn't even get it in the water last year," he said. "I'm gonna do a little more fishing, hunting, golf and travel. My wife just retired, too, so we'll take some trips."
On Thursday, many of the customers who walked in were surprised to hear the shop was in its final days.
"He didn't check with us to see if he could retire!" said Wayne Carlton, 65. He sighed as he settled into Wright's chair.
"Cut 'er nice and short, Jack," he said. "It may be a long time before I find another barber."
Sunday, April 01, 2007
20something: Is it hot in here, or is it just me?
Published in The Post-Star (Go)
March 29, 2007
Nothing is neutral.
A sociology professor terrified me with that statement in college. I'm not good at making quick decisions, so it was overwhelming to suddenly feel surrounded by them.
She made the point that even the simple act of eating comes with a lot of baggage, thanks to globalization. You can choose between organic and non-organic; fair-trade and non; New York or New Zealand apples. Your dollars make a statement, whether you want them to or not.
The weather, apparently, isn't neutral either.
Sure, rain is rain, and you'll get wet whether you're liberal, conservative, green or a member of that obscure "Rent is Too High" party that showed up in last year's gubernatorial elections.
But drop the words "global warming" into any of those circles, and you'll definitely get some mixed precipitation.
Most liberals and greens will unleash a hurricane of anxiety, pelting their listeners with statistics about the imminence of climate change and free viewings of "An Inconvenient Truth."
Many conservatives will respond with an icy drizzle of skepticism.
"Global warming? Riiiight ... Al Gore didn't notice that snowstorm last month. Guess he was busy inventing the Internet!"
(As for that last party, I can only assume they would say something like: "The planet is in danger? Will that reduce my rent?")
I recently overheard a group of middle-aged men debating global warming in these terms. One argued that scientists are still divided on the issue, and it's only those crazy liberals who are scaring everyone because ... well, that's the part I must have missed. Is there some sort of secret kickback system, where a dime of every dollar spent on reducing carbon emissions gets donated to the Democratic Party?
Another man responded with earnest outrage that millions of people will die by the time the proof is undeniable, and it's only those crazy conservatives who are dilly-dallying because ... hmm, I didn't catch that one either. Are all conservatives accepting bribes from the oil industry? (Why haven't I been offered one? I've voted for at least one Republican.)
They droned on for an hour or more, accomplishing nothing besides annoying everyone in earshot. I wish I could say this surprised me, but I've heard the same debate so many times it hurts my head.
How did what should be a scientific issue get so tied up in a political tug-of-war? The result is that people who vote on issues, rather than party lines, are bewildered into a false sense of neutrality that feels more like paralysis.
Nothing is neutral, and it's foolish to pretend otherwise. But that doesn't mean everything needs to become a battle, either, especially not a politicized one. The world's got enough war on its hands already.
Amanda Bensen writes features for The Post-Star. She agrees that rent is too high, but probably won't be voting that way.
March 29, 2007
Nothing is neutral.
A sociology professor terrified me with that statement in college. I'm not good at making quick decisions, so it was overwhelming to suddenly feel surrounded by them.
She made the point that even the simple act of eating comes with a lot of baggage, thanks to globalization. You can choose between organic and non-organic; fair-trade and non; New York or New Zealand apples. Your dollars make a statement, whether you want them to or not.
The weather, apparently, isn't neutral either.
Sure, rain is rain, and you'll get wet whether you're liberal, conservative, green or a member of that obscure "Rent is Too High" party that showed up in last year's gubernatorial elections.
But drop the words "global warming" into any of those circles, and you'll definitely get some mixed precipitation.
Most liberals and greens will unleash a hurricane of anxiety, pelting their listeners with statistics about the imminence of climate change and free viewings of "An Inconvenient Truth."
Many conservatives will respond with an icy drizzle of skepticism.
"Global warming? Riiiight ... Al Gore didn't notice that snowstorm last month. Guess he was busy inventing the Internet!"
(As for that last party, I can only assume they would say something like: "The planet is in danger? Will that reduce my rent?")
I recently overheard a group of middle-aged men debating global warming in these terms. One argued that scientists are still divided on the issue, and it's only those crazy liberals who are scaring everyone because ... well, that's the part I must have missed. Is there some sort of secret kickback system, where a dime of every dollar spent on reducing carbon emissions gets donated to the Democratic Party?
Another man responded with earnest outrage that millions of people will die by the time the proof is undeniable, and it's only those crazy conservatives who are dilly-dallying because ... hmm, I didn't catch that one either. Are all conservatives accepting bribes from the oil industry? (Why haven't I been offered one? I've voted for at least one Republican.)
They droned on for an hour or more, accomplishing nothing besides annoying everyone in earshot. I wish I could say this surprised me, but I've heard the same debate so many times it hurts my head.
How did what should be a scientific issue get so tied up in a political tug-of-war? The result is that people who vote on issues, rather than party lines, are bewildered into a false sense of neutrality that feels more like paralysis.
Nothing is neutral, and it's foolish to pretend otherwise. But that doesn't mean everything needs to become a battle, either, especially not a politicized one. The world's got enough war on its hands already.
Amanda Bensen writes features for The Post-Star. She agrees that rent is too high, but probably won't be voting that way.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Causing a splash at the spa
Published in The Post-Star (D1)
3/26/07
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Saratoga's famous mineral water splashed into the headlines last week when the New York Post reported that the Roosevelt Baths in Spa State Park were being diluted with municipal tap water.
The mixed water was never a secret, according to many locals, but it raises another question: Does it even matter?
In previous centuries, the medicinal benefits of mineral water -- as a bath or a tonic -- were viewed as common knowledge. Entire cities sprang from springs, and doctors advised sick patients to "take the waters" in places like Saratoga Springs.
But in this age of hi-tech medicine and high-powered pharmaceutical companies, the connection between mineral water and mainstream medicine seems to have sprung a leak.
"It used to be very mainstream. A number of hospitals were built around mineral springs, and now we're the only one in the nation that still uses one," said Dr. Les Moore, director of integrative medicine at Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic, near Rochester.
He explained that Clifton Springs is a traditional hospital that decided a few years ago to add a department of "integrative medicine," once again using its mineral springs to promote healing. That's called hydrotherapy, or balneotherapy when it refers specifically to bathing.
Although spas in Europe and Asia still flourish, American interest in hydrotherapy seemed to evaporate around the mid-20th century.
"It still works, it's just that now we've got all these supposedly better drugs that came out, which are more easily packaged and sellable," Moore explained. "But I think it's making a comeback."
That's exactly what Mary Chamberlain, a Glens Falls acupuncturist, would like to see happen to the Roosevelt Baths.
"I do not understand what happened in Saratoga," she said. "I see all the money they're spending on Saratoga Hospital, and they talk about expanding ... they have it right under their nose! They could build an incredible rehab center at the baths."
Chamberlain is part of the New York Spa Promotion Alliance, and said she has met many others who share her views.
"Perhaps the townspeople could become shareholders in the spa," she said. "So many people are interested. I think it's totally possible."
Minerals like magnesium, iron and lithium are present in various springs throughout Saratoga, and Chamberlain believes each has unique benefits.
"The lithium spring is good for mental and emotional balance, for example," she said.
Dr. Koock Jung, a Queensbury psychiatrist, had a different reaction when asked if he believed that mineral water has medicinal value.
"Oh, God, no," he said. "We prescribe lithium for manic depression and bipolar disorder ... but there would be miniscule amounts, almost nothing, in the water."
Chamberlain said she knew the Roosevelt Baths were diluted, and thinks this reflects the perception that even the spa's management doesn't see the water as medicinal.
"It's like they think it's just a bubble bath, and as long as there are bubbles, the benefits are the same," she said.
She worries that bathers may be absorbing chlorine from the tap water without knowing it.
The city puts chlorine in its water supply to clean it, said Tom Kirkpatrick, chief water plant operator, but the residual amount is only about .5 parts per million.
"I don't think that small amount would have a harmful effect from bathing in it -- it's not even as high as chlorine in a swimming pool," he said. "But my personal opinion is, if you're paying for a mineral bath and you're only getting half of the minerals you're paying for, it doesn't seem right."
Kirkpatrick, 52, said he grew up in Saratoga Springs and has been drinking from the mineral springs for years, although he's never bathed in them.
"I like the taste," he said. "If it has health effects, so be it."
3/26/07
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Saratoga's famous mineral water splashed into the headlines last week when the New York Post reported that the Roosevelt Baths in Spa State Park were being diluted with municipal tap water.
The mixed water was never a secret, according to many locals, but it raises another question: Does it even matter?
In previous centuries, the medicinal benefits of mineral water -- as a bath or a tonic -- were viewed as common knowledge. Entire cities sprang from springs, and doctors advised sick patients to "take the waters" in places like Saratoga Springs.
But in this age of hi-tech medicine and high-powered pharmaceutical companies, the connection between mineral water and mainstream medicine seems to have sprung a leak.
"It used to be very mainstream. A number of hospitals were built around mineral springs, and now we're the only one in the nation that still uses one," said Dr. Les Moore, director of integrative medicine at Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic, near Rochester.
He explained that Clifton Springs is a traditional hospital that decided a few years ago to add a department of "integrative medicine," once again using its mineral springs to promote healing. That's called hydrotherapy, or balneotherapy when it refers specifically to bathing.
Although spas in Europe and Asia still flourish, American interest in hydrotherapy seemed to evaporate around the mid-20th century.
"It still works, it's just that now we've got all these supposedly better drugs that came out, which are more easily packaged and sellable," Moore explained. "But I think it's making a comeback."
That's exactly what Mary Chamberlain, a Glens Falls acupuncturist, would like to see happen to the Roosevelt Baths.
"I do not understand what happened in Saratoga," she said. "I see all the money they're spending on Saratoga Hospital, and they talk about expanding ... they have it right under their nose! They could build an incredible rehab center at the baths."
Chamberlain is part of the New York Spa Promotion Alliance, and said she has met many others who share her views.
"Perhaps the townspeople could become shareholders in the spa," she said. "So many people are interested. I think it's totally possible."
Minerals like magnesium, iron and lithium are present in various springs throughout Saratoga, and Chamberlain believes each has unique benefits.
"The lithium spring is good for mental and emotional balance, for example," she said.
Dr. Koock Jung, a Queensbury psychiatrist, had a different reaction when asked if he believed that mineral water has medicinal value.
"Oh, God, no," he said. "We prescribe lithium for manic depression and bipolar disorder ... but there would be miniscule amounts, almost nothing, in the water."
Chamberlain said she knew the Roosevelt Baths were diluted, and thinks this reflects the perception that even the spa's management doesn't see the water as medicinal.
"It's like they think it's just a bubble bath, and as long as there are bubbles, the benefits are the same," she said.
She worries that bathers may be absorbing chlorine from the tap water without knowing it.
The city puts chlorine in its water supply to clean it, said Tom Kirkpatrick, chief water plant operator, but the residual amount is only about .5 parts per million.
"I don't think that small amount would have a harmful effect from bathing in it -- it's not even as high as chlorine in a swimming pool," he said. "But my personal opinion is, if you're paying for a mineral bath and you're only getting half of the minerals you're paying for, it doesn't seem right."
Kirkpatrick, 52, said he grew up in Saratoga Springs and has been drinking from the mineral springs for years, although he's never bathed in them.
"I like the taste," he said. "If it has health effects, so be it."
Monday, March 26, 2007
Keeping tabs on toxins
Published in The Post-Star
3/26/07
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its annual batch of Toxic Releases Inventory data on Thursday, probably one of the last times the public will have access to parts of that information.
The Toxic Releases Inventory (TRI) was created 20 years ago to inform citizens about chemical hazards in their communities, under the Community Right to Know Act. Any facility that managed or released at least 500 pounds of any of the 650 chemicals the EPA considers toxic was required to report its data to the inventory.
Last year, however, the EPA announced it would raise the reporting thresholds for TRI chemicals to "reduce the burden" on industry. Facilities will now only need to report releases exceeding 2,000 pounds and all chemicals managed in amounts greater than 5,000 pounds a year. Those changes take effect this year, and will show up in the 2009 public release of TRI data.
According to a study done by the National Environmental Trust, the TRI rule changes mean that 10 percent of all U.S. ZIP codes will lose data from all facilities that had previously reported toxic releases. New York state ranked second-highest in the nation for having the most ZIP codes (57 of 369) that will lose all TRI data.
Legislation proposed last month by New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg and others would reverse the TRI rule changes, as well as block the EPA from resurrecting a recently defeated proposal to cut annual reporting requirements back to every other year.
According to the Web site Govtrack.us, both the House and Senate versions of that bill (H.R.1055 and S.595) have been referred to committees, the first step in a long process toward becoming law.
"The majority of bills never make it out of committee," the site notes.
The TRI data released last week shows that total releases rose nationally by about 3 percent between 2004 and 2005, with 23,500 facilities producing a combined 4.34 billion pounds of toxins.
In New York state, total TRI releases declined by about 8 percent between 2004 and 2005, from 35.8 to 32.9 million pounds, according to the EPA’s regional office.
Many local facilities reported significant reductions over the previous year.
Finch, Pruyn & Co.’s paper mill in Glens Falls was still the largest source of TRI releases in the region, but its total releases were down by 45 percent from 2004, continuing an overall trend of polllution reduction over the past decade.
"Whenever you talk about TRI releases at Finch Pruyn, the majority of what you’re talking about are nitrates, which are released to water," said John Brodt, the company’s spokesman. He explained that the company’s wastewater treatment plant uses bacteria to convert harmful ammonia into "more benign" nitrates.
"For the last several years, we have had a very active program to minimize the release of nitrates by limiting the amount of oxygen in the water at the treatment plant," he said. "This directs the bacteria to consume the oxygen molecules off nitrates. ... The nitrates get converted to nitrogen gas and dispersed into the air."
Some of the mill’s other releases are harder to reduce, he said, like sulfuric acid produced by
burning fuel oil for power production.
"That’s a pretty stable number from year to year," Brodt said.
In northern Saratoga County, Ball Metal Beverage Container plant was still the top source of TRI chemicals, but it reported 25 percent less than in 2004 and dropped to the bottom of the "top 50" national list of facilities with the most toxic releases in their industries.
"We’re always trying to find coatings that are more environmentally friendly," said Scott McCarty, a spokesperson at Ball Metal’s Colorado headquarters.
McCarty predicted the Saratoga plant’s TRI numbers will drop dramatically in about two years, when the data no longer includes a chemical called ethylene glycol monobutyl ether that the EPA recently decided to delist. As part of a category called "Certain glycol ethers," EGBE constitutes about half of the plant’s total toxic releases.
Regionally, about 2 million pounds of toxic chemicals were released by facilities in Warren, Washington, Saratoga and Essex counties combined in 2005. About five percent of the substances were recognized carcinogens.
Although the EPA’s revised TRI reporting requirements are stricter for the most hazardous chemicals, like mercury and lead, the National Environmental Trust study estimates that at least 10 percent of reporting about these types of chemicals in New York state will be lost under the new rules.
TOP LOCAL POLLUTERS
Total toxic releases in New York state dropped between 2004 and 2005. The following are the top industrial polluters locally in 2005, in terms of toxic releases reported to the EPA (compared to 2004):
1) Finch Pruyn, Glens Falls: 735,847 pounds (-45%)
2) International Paper, Ticonderoga: 541,506 pounds (-12%)
3) General Electric, Waterford 444,637 pounds (+2%)
4) Ball Metal Beverage Container Corp., Saratoga Springs: 225,914 pounds (-25%)
5) Hollingsworth & Vose, Greenwich, 31,162 pounds (-29%)
6) Quad/Graphics, Saratoga Springs, 24,250 pounds (-9%)
7) General Electric, Fort Edward: 23,970 pounds (+63%)
LOGGING ON
Toxic Releases Inventory: www.epa.gov/tri
Pollution data, searchable by ZIP code (updated through 2002): www.scorecard.org
Health effects fact sheets for hazardous air pollutants: www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/hapindex.html
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: www.atsdr.cdc.gov/
Community Right to Know laws: www.crtk.org/index.cfm
WHAT'S BEING RELEASED
Chemicals released locally in highest volume in 2005 (in pounds):
Warren County:
1) Nitrate compounds (396,070)
2) Ammonia (89,110)
3) Methanol (80,800)
4) Manganese compounds (76,760)
5) Sulfuric Acid (60,005)
6) Formaldehyde (31,722)
Washington County:
1) Decabromodiphenyl oxide (18,743)
2) Chromium (12,398)
3) Lead (8,364)
4) Antimony (7,717)
5) Copper (3,207)
6) Barium (3,009)
Saratoga County:
1) Certain glycol ethers (140, 250)
2) Nitrate compounds (110,010)
3) N-Butyl Alcohol (108, 250)
4) Copper compounds (84,750)
5) Toluene (53,255)
6) Zinc compounds (50,100)
7) Chloromethane (41,355)
Source: EPA reports
3/26/07
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its annual batch of Toxic Releases Inventory data on Thursday, probably one of the last times the public will have access to parts of that information.
The Toxic Releases Inventory (TRI) was created 20 years ago to inform citizens about chemical hazards in their communities, under the Community Right to Know Act. Any facility that managed or released at least 500 pounds of any of the 650 chemicals the EPA considers toxic was required to report its data to the inventory.
Last year, however, the EPA announced it would raise the reporting thresholds for TRI chemicals to "reduce the burden" on industry. Facilities will now only need to report releases exceeding 2,000 pounds and all chemicals managed in amounts greater than 5,000 pounds a year. Those changes take effect this year, and will show up in the 2009 public release of TRI data.
According to a study done by the National Environmental Trust, the TRI rule changes mean that 10 percent of all U.S. ZIP codes will lose data from all facilities that had previously reported toxic releases. New York state ranked second-highest in the nation for having the most ZIP codes (57 of 369) that will lose all TRI data.
Legislation proposed last month by New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg and others would reverse the TRI rule changes, as well as block the EPA from resurrecting a recently defeated proposal to cut annual reporting requirements back to every other year.
According to the Web site Govtrack.us, both the House and Senate versions of that bill (H.R.1055 and S.595) have been referred to committees, the first step in a long process toward becoming law.
"The majority of bills never make it out of committee," the site notes.
The TRI data released last week shows that total releases rose nationally by about 3 percent between 2004 and 2005, with 23,500 facilities producing a combined 4.34 billion pounds of toxins.
In New York state, total TRI releases declined by about 8 percent between 2004 and 2005, from 35.8 to 32.9 million pounds, according to the EPA’s regional office.
Many local facilities reported significant reductions over the previous year.
Finch, Pruyn & Co.’s paper mill in Glens Falls was still the largest source of TRI releases in the region, but its total releases were down by 45 percent from 2004, continuing an overall trend of polllution reduction over the past decade.
"Whenever you talk about TRI releases at Finch Pruyn, the majority of what you’re talking about are nitrates, which are released to water," said John Brodt, the company’s spokesman. He explained that the company’s wastewater treatment plant uses bacteria to convert harmful ammonia into "more benign" nitrates.
"For the last several years, we have had a very active program to minimize the release of nitrates by limiting the amount of oxygen in the water at the treatment plant," he said. "This directs the bacteria to consume the oxygen molecules off nitrates. ... The nitrates get converted to nitrogen gas and dispersed into the air."
Some of the mill’s other releases are harder to reduce, he said, like sulfuric acid produced by
burning fuel oil for power production.
"That’s a pretty stable number from year to year," Brodt said.
In northern Saratoga County, Ball Metal Beverage Container plant was still the top source of TRI chemicals, but it reported 25 percent less than in 2004 and dropped to the bottom of the "top 50" national list of facilities with the most toxic releases in their industries.
"We’re always trying to find coatings that are more environmentally friendly," said Scott McCarty, a spokesperson at Ball Metal’s Colorado headquarters.
McCarty predicted the Saratoga plant’s TRI numbers will drop dramatically in about two years, when the data no longer includes a chemical called ethylene glycol monobutyl ether that the EPA recently decided to delist. As part of a category called "Certain glycol ethers," EGBE constitutes about half of the plant’s total toxic releases.
Regionally, about 2 million pounds of toxic chemicals were released by facilities in Warren, Washington, Saratoga and Essex counties combined in 2005. About five percent of the substances were recognized carcinogens.
Although the EPA’s revised TRI reporting requirements are stricter for the most hazardous chemicals, like mercury and lead, the National Environmental Trust study estimates that at least 10 percent of reporting about these types of chemicals in New York state will be lost under the new rules.
TOP LOCAL POLLUTERS
Total toxic releases in New York state dropped between 2004 and 2005. The following are the top industrial polluters locally in 2005, in terms of toxic releases reported to the EPA (compared to 2004):
1) Finch Pruyn, Glens Falls: 735,847 pounds (-45%)
2) International Paper, Ticonderoga: 541,506 pounds (-12%)
3) General Electric, Waterford 444,637 pounds (+2%)
4) Ball Metal Beverage Container Corp., Saratoga Springs: 225,914 pounds (-25%)
5) Hollingsworth & Vose, Greenwich, 31,162 pounds (-29%)
6) Quad/Graphics, Saratoga Springs, 24,250 pounds (-9%)
7) General Electric, Fort Edward: 23,970 pounds (+63%)
LOGGING ON
Toxic Releases Inventory: www.epa.gov/tri
Pollution data, searchable by ZIP code (updated through 2002): www.scorecard.org
Health effects fact sheets for hazardous air pollutants: www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/hapindex.html
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: www.atsdr.cdc.gov/
Community Right to Know laws: www.crtk.org/index.cfm
WHAT'S BEING RELEASED
Chemicals released locally in highest volume in 2005 (in pounds):
Warren County:
1) Nitrate compounds (396,070)
2) Ammonia (89,110)
3) Methanol (80,800)
4) Manganese compounds (76,760)
5) Sulfuric Acid (60,005)
6) Formaldehyde (31,722)
Washington County:
1) Decabromodiphenyl oxide (18,743)
2) Chromium (12,398)
3) Lead (8,364)
4) Antimony (7,717)
5) Copper (3,207)
6) Barium (3,009)
Saratoga County:
1) Certain glycol ethers (140, 250)
2) Nitrate compounds (110,010)
3) N-Butyl Alcohol (108, 250)
4) Copper compounds (84,750)
5) Toluene (53,255)
6) Zinc compounds (50,100)
7) Chloromethane (41,355)
Source: EPA reports
Thursday, March 15, 2007
20something column: Not a morning person
By AMANDA BENSEN
Published in The Post-Star (Go)
March 15, 2007
I'm not a morning person. It must be biological, because I've had plenty of behavioral training to the contrary.
My high school was about 30 miles away, which meant I had to leave the house by 7:15 a.m., and I was usually still staring blankly at my closet around that time. It feels like my brain doesn't fully switch on before the hours hit double digits.
My mother tried the cheerful drill sergeant approach -- marching into my room, giving the blankets and window shade a vicious tug as she sang ditties like "Good Morning, Good Morning," and "Rise and Shine" -- but that only made me more determined to hide my head under a pillow.
Friends tried the gentle, coaxing approach, especially after I nearly gave one of them a bloody nose as I tried to shoo away the nasty noise disturbing my slumber. They laughed and rolled their eyes on Sunday mornings when I was late for youth group -- quite a feat since it took place in my own living room.
Realizing that I was developing a reputation for being lazy, I tried setting my alarm to a radio station that hosted a screaming fire-and-brimstone preacher in the early morning time slot. That worked pretty well, although I still dawdled in the stage between getting out of bed and getting out the door. Fortunately, I was a good student and my teachers usually let the tardiness slide.
These days, I have plenty to incentive to get up at a reasonable hour. I have a day job, and I usually look forward to going to it, unlike school. It helps that I live on a street with alternate-side parking that switches at 8 a.m. every day, and a truly dedicated parking enforcement official who begins his patrol about 15 minutes later (thanks, City Hall, you keep me on my toes).
I still love lazy mornings, but I've grown up enough to realize that some things are more important. Last weekend, I went to visit some old friends and their 3-year-old daughter, who is the closest thing I have to a niece.I slept on their couch -- or tried.
That cup of coffee after dinner probably wasn't such a good idea, and their cat kept yowling. I think I finally fell asleep about 3 a.m., which was actually 4 a.m. because of the daylight savings time change.
About three hours later, a little voice pierced my dreams from the upstairs hallway:"It's da mornin!" the 3-year-old announced, as though delivering a present.
Her dad brought her down to the kitchen for breakfast, pointing out the lump on the couch with a whisper as they passed. He offered her a bowl of cereal.
"No thanks, Daddy, cereal is noisy, and she's sleeping," she responded at full volume.
I smiled, and got up.
Amanda Bensen is a features reporter for The Post-Star. She tried unsuccessfully to wake up early this morning to write this column.
Published in The Post-Star (Go)
March 15, 2007
I'm not a morning person. It must be biological, because I've had plenty of behavioral training to the contrary.
My high school was about 30 miles away, which meant I had to leave the house by 7:15 a.m., and I was usually still staring blankly at my closet around that time. It feels like my brain doesn't fully switch on before the hours hit double digits.
My mother tried the cheerful drill sergeant approach -- marching into my room, giving the blankets and window shade a vicious tug as she sang ditties like "Good Morning, Good Morning," and "Rise and Shine" -- but that only made me more determined to hide my head under a pillow.
Friends tried the gentle, coaxing approach, especially after I nearly gave one of them a bloody nose as I tried to shoo away the nasty noise disturbing my slumber. They laughed and rolled their eyes on Sunday mornings when I was late for youth group -- quite a feat since it took place in my own living room.
Realizing that I was developing a reputation for being lazy, I tried setting my alarm to a radio station that hosted a screaming fire-and-brimstone preacher in the early morning time slot. That worked pretty well, although I still dawdled in the stage between getting out of bed and getting out the door. Fortunately, I was a good student and my teachers usually let the tardiness slide.
These days, I have plenty to incentive to get up at a reasonable hour. I have a day job, and I usually look forward to going to it, unlike school. It helps that I live on a street with alternate-side parking that switches at 8 a.m. every day, and a truly dedicated parking enforcement official who begins his patrol about 15 minutes later (thanks, City Hall, you keep me on my toes).
I still love lazy mornings, but I've grown up enough to realize that some things are more important. Last weekend, I went to visit some old friends and their 3-year-old daughter, who is the closest thing I have to a niece.I slept on their couch -- or tried.
That cup of coffee after dinner probably wasn't such a good idea, and their cat kept yowling. I think I finally fell asleep about 3 a.m., which was actually 4 a.m. because of the daylight savings time change.
About three hours later, a little voice pierced my dreams from the upstairs hallway:"It's da mornin!" the 3-year-old announced, as though delivering a present.
Her dad brought her down to the kitchen for breakfast, pointing out the lump on the couch with a whisper as they passed. He offered her a bowl of cereal.
"No thanks, Daddy, cereal is noisy, and she's sleeping," she responded at full volume.
I smiled, and got up.
Amanda Bensen is a features reporter for The Post-Star. She tried unsuccessfully to wake up early this morning to write this column.
Monday, March 12, 2007
The dredging tales of two rivers
By AMANDA BENSEN
Published in The Post-Star
Monday, March 12, 2007
The word "dredging" stirs up strong emotions in communities along the Hudson River, where PCB contamination has kept a 200-mile stretch of the river on the National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites for 23 years.
The question seems obvious, though the answer isn't: If it's been a top federal priority for that long, why isn't the river clean yet?
Some place the blame on General Electric, the company responsible for the pollution, which balked at undertaking an expensive dredging project until the federal Environmental Protection Agency ordered the cleanup in 2002.
"If GE had cooperated years ago, in my opinion, we would be done with it by now," said Rich Schiafo, environmental project manager for Scenic Hudson.
Others have criticized the EPA for taking too long to force GE into action, or local officials for trying to wrangle control from the federal agency. Even the environment itself has been blamed -- the EPA cited "the seasonal nature of the work" when it announced last month that the dredging would be pushed back for another year.
General Electric says it has cooperated with the EPA, but a project of such size and complexity is bound to take time.
"Keep in mind that it's the largest environmental dredging project ever undertaken in the United States," said General Electric spokesperson Mark Behan.
It isn't the first such project, however. A similar effort has been taking place in the Housatonic River of western Massachusetts for years. Although the two projects are not identical, they both involve dredging to remove river sediment contaminated with PCBs from General Electric plants.
Has the Housatonic cleanup been delayed as much as the Hudson cleanup?
"To be very honest, that probably depends on who you ask," said David Deegan, a spokesperson or the EPA's Region 1 office, which oversees the Housatonic project. "In any sort of cleanup like this, it's typical that EPA will try to build in as much public involvement as we can. Frankly, that doesn't necessarily speed the process, but it's really important."
Tim Gray, director of a community action group called Housatonic River Initiative, said there was "a long period of stalling" by GE about cleaning up the river, but action was rapid once the company reached a consent decree with the EPA in 2000.
Gray said the issue really heated up in the late 1990s, when PCB-contaminated soil from the plant was discovered in playgrounds and backyards throughout the town of Pittsfield."As you can imagine, parents were not very happy," Gray said. His group successfully nominated the Housatonic River site for inclusion on the registry of Superfund sites in 1997.
"Superfund is the only way the government can sort of hold a hammer over a corporation's head, because if they don't clean up, the government will do it, and bill them," Gray said. "And getting Superfund [see correction] woke up the city leaders, because they saw it as a stigma."
Then, GE became the target of a grand jury investigation for concealing memos from the EPA about which local properties contained PCB-contaminated soil from its plant. Pittsfield's PCB problem was suddenly a national news story, Gray said, adding to the public pressure for cleanup action.
"Once GE finally agreed to do it, the cleanup has been moving along about as fast as it could possibly happen," he said. "It's been seven years, but the steamshovels have been working overtime, you know?"
Two miles of the Housatonic have been dredged since 1999, and contaminated soil has been removed or capped on many residential and commercial properties.The next cleanup phase will address what the EPA calls "Rest of River," a 135-mile section stretching to Connecticut, and GE's participation in that has not been decided yet -- much like in the Hudson, where the company has only consented to an initial cleanup phase.
In Gray's view, one of the big differences between the Housatonic and Hudson projects is the scope of the cleanup.In Pittsfield, the Superfund designation includes the surrounding floodplain and the GE plant itself, while the Hudson site does not.
Schiafo and Gray said they both believe PCB soil contamination exists throughout the Hudson floodplain, but in a less localized and high-profile context than at the Housatonic site.
"They just haven't looked as hard in the Hudson," Schiafo said. "It's been much more spread out (in the Hudson), and contamination hasn't been found next to parks and schools. When you're finding PCBs under a swingset, it's a much worsepublic relations issue than finding them at the bottom of a river."
Another major difference is that GE provided Pittsfield with a major economic development package as part of the consent decree agreement for the Housatonic site.In addition to funding the cleanup, the company agreed to fund a $50 million brownfield redevelopment of the former plant and provide $15 million cash for ecosystem resoration in the region.
Town officials in Fort Edward, where the Hudson River sediment processing facility will be located, are well aware of that difference.
"We know the Pittsfield site has certainly set a precedent as far as benefits to the host community," said Fort Edward Town Supervisor Merrilyn Pulver. "That project is, of course, much smaller. ... Given that this is the largest environmental dredge project in history, it certainly would seem appropriate that we are compensated accordingly."
She said the town is working with the EPA, GE and Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand on the issue.
"I'm just going to simply say that we feel ... we're in a David-and-Goliath situation," Pulver said.
Construction of the Fort Edward facility is expected to begin within weeks, although GE is still negotiating a lease to the property. Dredging is scheduled to start in 2009 and last six years, said EPA Region 2 spokesperson David Kluesner.The delays have been "frustrating at times" for the EPA as well as the public, he added.
"We would like to be out there today; that would be a great thing," Kluesner said. "But I think it's important to make sure it's done right ... and we're moving forward."
But activists like Schiafo, who has been intensely involved in the dredging debate for the past decade, fear the delays aren't over yet.
"I hate to be pessimistic, but there have been a lot of monkey wrenches thrown in throughout this process," he said. "I'll believe it when I see it."
LOGGING ON:
More information on the Housatonic River PCB cleanup is available on the EPA's Web site: www.epa.gov/region01/ge/
More information on the Hudson River PCB cleanup: www.epa.gov/hudson/
General Electric also provides information on both projects: www.ge.com/en/citizenship/ehs/remedial/index.htm
Published in The Post-Star
Monday, March 12, 2007
The word "dredging" stirs up strong emotions in communities along the Hudson River, where PCB contamination has kept a 200-mile stretch of the river on the National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites for 23 years.
The question seems obvious, though the answer isn't: If it's been a top federal priority for that long, why isn't the river clean yet?
Some place the blame on General Electric, the company responsible for the pollution, which balked at undertaking an expensive dredging project until the federal Environmental Protection Agency ordered the cleanup in 2002.
"If GE had cooperated years ago, in my opinion, we would be done with it by now," said Rich Schiafo, environmental project manager for Scenic Hudson.
Others have criticized the EPA for taking too long to force GE into action, or local officials for trying to wrangle control from the federal agency. Even the environment itself has been blamed -- the EPA cited "the seasonal nature of the work" when it announced last month that the dredging would be pushed back for another year.
General Electric says it has cooperated with the EPA, but a project of such size and complexity is bound to take time.
"Keep in mind that it's the largest environmental dredging project ever undertaken in the United States," said General Electric spokesperson Mark Behan.
It isn't the first such project, however. A similar effort has been taking place in the Housatonic River of western Massachusetts for years. Although the two projects are not identical, they both involve dredging to remove river sediment contaminated with PCBs from General Electric plants.
Has the Housatonic cleanup been delayed as much as the Hudson cleanup?
"To be very honest, that probably depends on who you ask," said David Deegan, a spokesperson or the EPA's Region 1 office, which oversees the Housatonic project. "In any sort of cleanup like this, it's typical that EPA will try to build in as much public involvement as we can. Frankly, that doesn't necessarily speed the process, but it's really important."
Tim Gray, director of a community action group called Housatonic River Initiative, said there was "a long period of stalling" by GE about cleaning up the river, but action was rapid once the company reached a consent decree with the EPA in 2000.
Gray said the issue really heated up in the late 1990s, when PCB-contaminated soil from the plant was discovered in playgrounds and backyards throughout the town of Pittsfield."As you can imagine, parents were not very happy," Gray said. His group successfully nominated the Housatonic River site for inclusion on the registry of Superfund sites in 1997.
"Superfund is the only way the government can sort of hold a hammer over a corporation's head, because if they don't clean up, the government will do it, and bill them," Gray said. "And getting Superfund [see correction] woke up the city leaders, because they saw it as a stigma."
Then, GE became the target of a grand jury investigation for concealing memos from the EPA about which local properties contained PCB-contaminated soil from its plant. Pittsfield's PCB problem was suddenly a national news story, Gray said, adding to the public pressure for cleanup action.
"Once GE finally agreed to do it, the cleanup has been moving along about as fast as it could possibly happen," he said. "It's been seven years, but the steamshovels have been working overtime, you know?"
Two miles of the Housatonic have been dredged since 1999, and contaminated soil has been removed or capped on many residential and commercial properties.The next cleanup phase will address what the EPA calls "Rest of River," a 135-mile section stretching to Connecticut, and GE's participation in that has not been decided yet -- much like in the Hudson, where the company has only consented to an initial cleanup phase.
In Gray's view, one of the big differences between the Housatonic and Hudson projects is the scope of the cleanup.In Pittsfield, the Superfund designation includes the surrounding floodplain and the GE plant itself, while the Hudson site does not.
Schiafo and Gray said they both believe PCB soil contamination exists throughout the Hudson floodplain, but in a less localized and high-profile context than at the Housatonic site.
"They just haven't looked as hard in the Hudson," Schiafo said. "It's been much more spread out (in the Hudson), and contamination hasn't been found next to parks and schools. When you're finding PCBs under a swingset, it's a much worsepublic relations issue than finding them at the bottom of a river."
Another major difference is that GE provided Pittsfield with a major economic development package as part of the consent decree agreement for the Housatonic site.In addition to funding the cleanup, the company agreed to fund a $50 million brownfield redevelopment of the former plant and provide $15 million cash for ecosystem resoration in the region.
Town officials in Fort Edward, where the Hudson River sediment processing facility will be located, are well aware of that difference.
"We know the Pittsfield site has certainly set a precedent as far as benefits to the host community," said Fort Edward Town Supervisor Merrilyn Pulver. "That project is, of course, much smaller. ... Given that this is the largest environmental dredge project in history, it certainly would seem appropriate that we are compensated accordingly."
She said the town is working with the EPA, GE and Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand on the issue.
"I'm just going to simply say that we feel ... we're in a David-and-Goliath situation," Pulver said.
Construction of the Fort Edward facility is expected to begin within weeks, although GE is still negotiating a lease to the property. Dredging is scheduled to start in 2009 and last six years, said EPA Region 2 spokesperson David Kluesner.The delays have been "frustrating at times" for the EPA as well as the public, he added.
"We would like to be out there today; that would be a great thing," Kluesner said. "But I think it's important to make sure it's done right ... and we're moving forward."
But activists like Schiafo, who has been intensely involved in the dredging debate for the past decade, fear the delays aren't over yet.
"I hate to be pessimistic, but there have been a lot of monkey wrenches thrown in throughout this process," he said. "I'll believe it when I see it."
LOGGING ON:
More information on the Housatonic River PCB cleanup is available on the EPA's Web site: www.epa.gov/region01/ge/
More information on the Hudson River PCB cleanup: www.epa.gov/hudson/
General Electric also provides information on both projects: www.ge.com/en/citizenship/ehs/remedial/index.htm
Bacteria found that eats PCBs
By AMANDA BENSEN
Published in The Post-Star (A1)
March 12, 2007
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announced last week they had discovered bacteria capable of naturally breaking down PCBs.
Dr. Donna Bedard, an RPI biology professor who led the work, said the research is "years away" from being a viable alternative to dredging, but it is a groundbreaking step. This is the first time bacteria have been found capable of dechlorinating complex commercial PCB mixtures, such as those found in contaminated river sediment, she said.
The bacteria, known as Dehalococcoides (Dhc), can grow only by removing chlorines from compounds known as halogenated organics, most of which are toxic, explained Bedard.
Dhc bacteria are anaerobic --they cannot survive in the presence of oxygen -- but seem to thrive on PCBs, a type of halogenated organic.
Bedard's research used sediment samples from the Housatonic River in western Massachusetts, which, like the Hudson River, was contaminated with PCBs from a General Electric factory several decades ago.
EPA and GE spokespeople said that while the new research is promising, it does not change the plan to dredge PCB-contaminated sediments from the Hudson beginning in 2009.
"I think it's exciting ... but it sounds like it's not commercially viable at this point," said David Kluesner, a spokesperson for EPA's Region 5 office. "We're always keeping our eyesand ears open for newtechnologies, but to our knowledge, there's nothing available that is proven to work on a large scale."
"We're moving ahead with the dredging project that EPA has selected," said Mark Behan, a GE spokesperson. He noted that GE has funded research about natural PCB dechlorination for years at its laboratory in Niskayuna, where Bedard worked until 2000. He said most scientists agree that PCBs break down in the environment over time.
"The good news is that these natural processes are occuring naturally every day, including, we believe, in the Hudson," he said.
Environmentalists dispute that assertion, however.
"The bad news is that they're just washing downriver," said Rich Schiafo, environmental project manager for Scenic Hudson. "They don't break down. That's why, even though they were banned more than 30 years ago, they're still a serious environmental problem."
Bedard said although "PCB dechlorinating bacteria occur naturally in PCB-contaminated sediments, the challenge is to learn enough about them to be able to promote their activity so they do the job."
The next step in the research process, she said, is to identify a second bacteria that can break down the rest of the chlorine molecules, since Dhc onlyworks on five to nine chlorines per molecule. Bedard also plans to study the particular enzymes in Dhc which appear to be linked to dechlorination, called reductive dehalogenases.
Published in The Post-Star (A1)
March 12, 2007
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announced last week they had discovered bacteria capable of naturally breaking down PCBs.
Dr. Donna Bedard, an RPI biology professor who led the work, said the research is "years away" from being a viable alternative to dredging, but it is a groundbreaking step. This is the first time bacteria have been found capable of dechlorinating complex commercial PCB mixtures, such as those found in contaminated river sediment, she said.
The bacteria, known as Dehalococcoides (Dhc), can grow only by removing chlorines from compounds known as halogenated organics, most of which are toxic, explained Bedard.
Dhc bacteria are anaerobic --they cannot survive in the presence of oxygen -- but seem to thrive on PCBs, a type of halogenated organic.
Bedard's research used sediment samples from the Housatonic River in western Massachusetts, which, like the Hudson River, was contaminated with PCBs from a General Electric factory several decades ago.
EPA and GE spokespeople said that while the new research is promising, it does not change the plan to dredge PCB-contaminated sediments from the Hudson beginning in 2009.
"I think it's exciting ... but it sounds like it's not commercially viable at this point," said David Kluesner, a spokesperson for EPA's Region 5 office. "We're always keeping our eyesand ears open for newtechnologies, but to our knowledge, there's nothing available that is proven to work on a large scale."
"We're moving ahead with the dredging project that EPA has selected," said Mark Behan, a GE spokesperson. He noted that GE has funded research about natural PCB dechlorination for years at its laboratory in Niskayuna, where Bedard worked until 2000. He said most scientists agree that PCBs break down in the environment over time.
"The good news is that these natural processes are occuring naturally every day, including, we believe, in the Hudson," he said.
Environmentalists dispute that assertion, however.
"The bad news is that they're just washing downriver," said Rich Schiafo, environmental project manager for Scenic Hudson. "They don't break down. That's why, even though they were banned more than 30 years ago, they're still a serious environmental problem."
Bedard said although "PCB dechlorinating bacteria occur naturally in PCB-contaminated sediments, the challenge is to learn enough about them to be able to promote their activity so they do the job."
The next step in the research process, she said, is to identify a second bacteria that can break down the rest of the chlorine molecules, since Dhc onlyworks on five to nine chlorines per molecule. Bedard also plans to study the particular enzymes in Dhc which appear to be linked to dechlorination, called reductive dehalogenases.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Rising to the top
By AMANDA BENSEN
Published in The Post-Star
March 7, 2007
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Life is sweet for Michael London, especially in sight of newsstands this month. A nine-page homage to his Broadway bakery, Mrs. London's, graces the March issue of Saveur, a national culinary magazine.
The "America's Greatest Baker" promo on the magazine cover might be, as he says, "a bit over the top," but that seems fitting for someone in the business of indulgence.
"It's the kind of cover that could get you enemies," he said. "It would have been preferable if they said America's greatest bakery."
But he likes the subtitle inside the magazine: "A gifted baker with the soul of a poet brings the refined art of the French pastry to upstate New York."
Almost four decades ago, only part of that was true -- the poet in upstate New York. London taught poetry at Skidmore College from 1968 to 1970, and was among the founders of the school's groundbreaking literary magazine, Salmagundi. But he felt "alienated and strange" in an intellectual environment, and became intrigued with the idea of working with his hands to reconnect with physical realities.
"Baking was a way of becoming a part of the world and not apart from it," he said, repeating what he told Darra Goldstein, the author of the Saveur article.
London, who grew up in Brooklyn, moved back to the city to become a bakers' union apprentice. It was a difficult career shift. The head of the apprenticeship program told him there were far more applicants than openings, and he would have to find a bakery that specifically wanted him.
He finally gained access to the kitchen of William Greenberg Jr. Desserts in Manhattan.
"Mr. Greenberg thought I was out of my gourd, because I had a master's degree and I wanted to do what was basically slave labor," Michael said. "But I kept going back, and, finally, he relented."
In retrospect, London calls it a "karmic moment," because he was tied up in jury duty when Greenberg told him to report to the bakery immediately if he wanted the job. The master of jurors turned out to be a former bakery manager who "recognized this sort of pivotal moment in my career, and released me," London said.
By 1977, he had met and married Wendy, a fellow chef, and moved back to Saratoga Springs to be closer to his son from a previous marriage. The couple opened the first incarnation of Mrs. London's on Phila Street, where Four Seasons Natural Foods is now located. It was highly successful -- The New York Times called it "a landmark bakery" in a 1983 piece -- but they closed in 1985 to pursue full-time bread baking.
The Londons founded Rock Hill Bakehouse from their Greenwich farmhouse kitchen, soon becoming what London calls "pioneers in the crusty bread revolution." They eventually sold that business, but still run Rock Hill Consulting, licensing their recipes and techniques to bakeries throughout the nation.
The consulting business had risen into a sizable lump of dough by the mid-1990s, but London again began feeling that sense of disconnection he had felt in the academic world.
"We were running around the country, but we wanted to get back and serve our own community," he said. The Londons reopened their bakery in 1997, after Michael traveled to Paris to learn "the art of the French pastry" from chefs in the some of the finest patisseries.
"We actually have a more extensive repertoire than most Parisian patisseries, because we have other influences as well," Michael said. "We have Danishes, tiramisu, cannoli, even a very American type cookie called a tree-hugger."
He rehired Tim Hangarter, a pastry chef who had worked in the previous Mrs. London's and is now the lead baker. Hangarter said his recipe for success is pretty simple.
"We use great ingredients, make things the best we can, and are always trying to learn new things," he said. "I try to make things I'd like to eat myself."
Hangarter described London as "a warehouse of baking knowledge," although he seemed to be choosing his words carefully when asked what he thought of Saveur's choice of words for its cover.
"I'd say this is one of America's greatest bakeries, and Michael's a great baker," he said. "Whatever it is he's doing, he's consumed by it at the time."
Not surprisingly, London has yet another venture in the oven this year. He's planning to open a Mediterranean restaurant called Max -- with his son, Max London, as executive chef -- next door to the bakery. If all goes well, they could be open by track season, Michael said, and he's looking forward to being part of the action.
"I'll be sort of the maitre d', sommelier, schmoozer," he said. "I like hovering around the dining room, sort of getting in the way and meeting people."
Published in The Post-Star
March 7, 2007
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Life is sweet for Michael London, especially in sight of newsstands this month. A nine-page homage to his Broadway bakery, Mrs. London's, graces the March issue of Saveur, a national culinary magazine.
The "America's Greatest Baker" promo on the magazine cover might be, as he says, "a bit over the top," but that seems fitting for someone in the business of indulgence.
"It's the kind of cover that could get you enemies," he said. "It would have been preferable if they said America's greatest bakery."
But he likes the subtitle inside the magazine: "A gifted baker with the soul of a poet brings the refined art of the French pastry to upstate New York."
Almost four decades ago, only part of that was true -- the poet in upstate New York. London taught poetry at Skidmore College from 1968 to 1970, and was among the founders of the school's groundbreaking literary magazine, Salmagundi. But he felt "alienated and strange" in an intellectual environment, and became intrigued with the idea of working with his hands to reconnect with physical realities.
"Baking was a way of becoming a part of the world and not apart from it," he said, repeating what he told Darra Goldstein, the author of the Saveur article.
London, who grew up in Brooklyn, moved back to the city to become a bakers' union apprentice. It was a difficult career shift. The head of the apprenticeship program told him there were far more applicants than openings, and he would have to find a bakery that specifically wanted him.
He finally gained access to the kitchen of William Greenberg Jr. Desserts in Manhattan.
"Mr. Greenberg thought I was out of my gourd, because I had a master's degree and I wanted to do what was basically slave labor," Michael said. "But I kept going back, and, finally, he relented."
In retrospect, London calls it a "karmic moment," because he was tied up in jury duty when Greenberg told him to report to the bakery immediately if he wanted the job. The master of jurors turned out to be a former bakery manager who "recognized this sort of pivotal moment in my career, and released me," London said.
By 1977, he had met and married Wendy, a fellow chef, and moved back to Saratoga Springs to be closer to his son from a previous marriage. The couple opened the first incarnation of Mrs. London's on Phila Street, where Four Seasons Natural Foods is now located. It was highly successful -- The New York Times called it "a landmark bakery" in a 1983 piece -- but they closed in 1985 to pursue full-time bread baking.
The Londons founded Rock Hill Bakehouse from their Greenwich farmhouse kitchen, soon becoming what London calls "pioneers in the crusty bread revolution." They eventually sold that business, but still run Rock Hill Consulting, licensing their recipes and techniques to bakeries throughout the nation.
The consulting business had risen into a sizable lump of dough by the mid-1990s, but London again began feeling that sense of disconnection he had felt in the academic world.
"We were running around the country, but we wanted to get back and serve our own community," he said. The Londons reopened their bakery in 1997, after Michael traveled to Paris to learn "the art of the French pastry" from chefs in the some of the finest patisseries.
"We actually have a more extensive repertoire than most Parisian patisseries, because we have other influences as well," Michael said. "We have Danishes, tiramisu, cannoli, even a very American type cookie called a tree-hugger."
He rehired Tim Hangarter, a pastry chef who had worked in the previous Mrs. London's and is now the lead baker. Hangarter said his recipe for success is pretty simple.
"We use great ingredients, make things the best we can, and are always trying to learn new things," he said. "I try to make things I'd like to eat myself."
Hangarter described London as "a warehouse of baking knowledge," although he seemed to be choosing his words carefully when asked what he thought of Saveur's choice of words for its cover.
"I'd say this is one of America's greatest bakeries, and Michael's a great baker," he said. "Whatever it is he's doing, he's consumed by it at the time."
Not surprisingly, London has yet another venture in the oven this year. He's planning to open a Mediterranean restaurant called Max -- with his son, Max London, as executive chef -- next door to the bakery. If all goes well, they could be open by track season, Michael said, and he's looking forward to being part of the action.
"I'll be sort of the maitre d', sommelier, schmoozer," he said. "I like hovering around the dining room, sort of getting in the way and meeting people."
Thursday, March 01, 2007
When the food court is your living room
Published in The Post-Star (D1)
Feb. 18, 2007
By AMANDA BENSEN
QUEENSBURY -- The mall rats are talking about the fight, and the story inflates with each telling. Although mall security guards say fists were the only weapons they saw that day, one boy claims the Chaos Crew kids showed up with an ax. Another says someone was stabbed in the hand.
"I walked out there and someone punched me right in the face," said Caitlin Koch, 16, a petite, bouncy girl from Glens Falls.
"There's always drama here," she said. "It can range from 'he or she stole something from me,' to who made out with who. Usually, it turns out somebody's lying, so most of the time I just ignore it."
Koch explained that she is one of a group of teenagers drawn to Aviation Mall because it's one of the few places they can hang out in the Glens Falls/Queensbury region. They call themselves "mall rats," and nearly every afternoon and evening at least a few can be found scurrying among the arcade, the food court, Target's Starbucks and the parking lot.
"I know it's probably not the best way to meet people and spend your time, but I like it," Koch said of the mall. Glens Falls has a youth center, she said, but she won't go there. "It sucks, it's kind of all middle-schoolers."
Like many kids in the group, Koch's favorite mall attraction is the "Dance Dance Revolution" arcade game, where players dance on the foot pads in step to fast-paced songs. It can be rhythmically and aerobically challenging.
"This is the mall rat game," declared Lee Beckwith, an almost-16-year-old boy who is at the mall most afternoons. He likes DDR and Soul Calibur, another arcade game, he said, because he's good at them.
"Most of the games that we play in here are just about trying to be better than the other people, if you want to put it bluntly," he said. "I've probably spent $500 on this machine since I started coming here last summer."
Like most of the kids, Lee walks to the mall from school or his house.
"Our parents just basically leave us to ourselves," he said, dropping three more quarters into the DDR machine. Words of affirmation flashed across the screen with every sequence of footwork he nailed: "Good! Great! Perfect!"
A pretty young redhead named Ashley Camp watched, swigging from a can of Mountain Dew. When her friend Jen Desrosiers showed up, Ashley greeted her with a loud kiss on the cheek, and whispered something in her ear.
"The father?" Ashley asked, her voice returning to normal volume. She said a guy's name.
"I know," Jen responded. "Everybody knows."
"How does everybody know?" Ashley said. "I only told three people! I guess it was the wrong three people."
She turned to Lee, whose song had just ended.
"Can you do tricks over the poles yet?" she asked.
"I can do bar hops," he said, jumping over the waist-high metal hand railings.
"Bar hops are easy," she said.
Ashley dropped out of high school after her junior year, got engaged and followed her fiancee to Louisiana. That relationship ended -- "he left me stranded," she said -- and she recently returned to Glens Falls. Now 18, she's a few months pregnant by another man, who is not her current boyfriend. She's excited about becoming a mother, but starting to wish she had made different choices.
"I wish I hadn't dropped out of school," she reflected. "I'm going to work on my GED."
'They're just kids'
At first glance, it would be tempting to write the mall rats off as little more than categories in an amateur sociologist's notebook -- rebels, slackers, freaks and geeks. But their strongest defense comes from a surprising source.
"You can't judge a book by its cover. Just because these kids are dressed different than what we would expect doesn't mean they're bad kids. I judge 'em by their actions," said Ed Rose, director of mall security.
Rose started working at the mall as a security guard 14 years ago, and oversaw a previous generation of mall rats. A pack of teenagers can scare off other mall customers, he said, but he doesn't see them as a problem.
"I hate to use that term, mall rats," Ed said. "As far as I'm concerned, they're just kids that are here at the mall more so than others."
But the absence of parental supervision can lead to trouble, he said. He's seen children as young as 7 dropped off by the vanload to spend an entire day at the mall.
"If something happens, we ask them who's in charge of them. We page that person to the office, and in walks a 10 or 11-year-old!" he said. "You leave a kid alone like that, eventually, he or she is going to hang with the wrong people and get into trouble."
Beneath the surface
The mall rats can spend hours talking about teenage dramas or the intricacies of arcade games, but barbed wire lurks beneath the conversational fluff. In the same breath as a sentence about soda -- and with equal nonchalance -- they'll mention things like pregnancy, suicide, gender identity, dropping out of school or getting in trouble with the law.
Take this exchange, for example, when a 14-year-old girl was asked if she had seen a certain friend that day:
Girl: Yeah, I saw him outside earlier when I was puking.
Reporter: Are you OK?
Girl: Yeah, I just drank a lot of shots earlier and I hadn't eaten anything, so I puked like six times.
Reporter: Why don't you eat something?
Girl: Um...I don't really eat.
A growing concern
The mall security guards aren't baby-sitters, although they feel forced into that role at times. They leave the kids alone unless they sense trouble.
One day last month, members of a Warrensburg-based group of youths called the Chaos Crew showed up to confront the Juggalos, a group of local youths who identify themselves as fans of the band Insane Clown Posse.
June MacPherson, a mall guard for 18 years, said she doesn't consider either group a full-fledged gang.
"They call themselves a gang, I call them a group of kids," she said. "And the Juggalos that I know, for the most part, are good kids who get bad publicity."
She said she hadn't heard of the Chaos Crew until recently. So far, all she knows is the members typically carry "smileys" -- bandannas with a padlock attached, which could be swung around to hit someone in a fight -- tucked into their back pocket.
"When we see that padlock, we take it," she said. "That is a weapon."
The mall guards remember the recent showdown as little more than a fistfight, although it drew a huge crowd.
"I walked out on that patio, and I think every young person who was in the mall that day was out there -- must have been 100 of them," June said.
The guards broke up the fight before it got serious, she said, but the threat of violence between the Chaos Crew and Juggalos is "a growing concern."
Another world
Some afternoons, several of the mall rats, mostly guys, move from the arcade to the Starbucks in Target, where they play a fantasy trading card game called World of Warcraft.
"Don't do it! It's social suicide!" one of the girls in a cluster of mall rats yelled to Ray D'Andrea as he walked away from the food court with Lee and a few others. The guys just smiled, and kept walking.
They spread out at their usual table, in the far corner. Among them, they had hundreds of cards, which Lee said cost about $5 a pack. He estimated that he'd spent about $55 that day on a combination of cards and arcade games.
"That was the last of my Christmas money," he said. "I'm going to get a job when I turn 16, though."
Getting a job is something many of the mall rats talk about, but few have actually done. June, the security guard, said it's a conversation she's had often with some of the older ones.
"I tell them, if you want to improve, put on some dress clothes and get a job. Get an education," she said. "Some of them just have no goals, unless it's, 'Get dinner tonight because we're hungry.'"
As the card game progressed, the players' conversation was nearly incomprehensible to an outsider, loaded with terms like "Onyxia," "the Horde," and "the Alliance."
"I could use more protectors," someone said, referring to a certain type of card.
"Who couldn't use more protectors?" Lee responded.
'Lost children'
A few days after announcing her pregnancy to her friends, Ashley was back at the mall, talking about plans to shop for baby clothes and showing off her still-tiny stomach. She shared a rapidly dwindling bag of Doritos with a friend, as a way of complying with the mall's rule that food court seats are reserved for customers who actually have food.
Security guard June MacPherson eyed the youths from beneath the broad brim of her hat, as if aware that their Dorito defense was crumbling. When she finally approached, however, it wasn't to shoo them away from the table. Instead, she leaned in close to Ashley, speaking quietly but firmly:
"Did you lie to me earlier?" she asked.
June was living up to her nickname among the guards as "the mom of the mall." Ashley suddenly looked a decade younger. "Uh oh, I'm in troub - le," she muttered, getting up and following June over to a spot beside a trash can, out of earshot.
She returned a minute later, looking shaken.
"What did she say?" her friend asked.
"She said, 'Are you pregnant?'" Ashley said. "She told me, 'You know, that baby didn't ask to be born. You'd better figure out how to take care of it.'"
"I see a lot of sad things here," June reflected later. She's not surprised, she said, when some of the teenage girls end up becoming mothers.
"I've seen it before. They go from guy to guy, they end up pregnant, and I think the baby suffers the most," she said. "Mom usually isn't educated, so she can't find a good enough job, and it's hard...but how can she raise a child when there's been nothing taught to her by her own parents?"
Not all of the mall rats come from troubled homes, June said, but it's easy to spot the ones who do.
"Sometimes, I tell them I have to call their parents and they get so scared," she said. "I say, 'Do you get hit often?' and they clam right up. Kids like that, I keep a special eye on. I look for bruising, but usually you can't see it."
Others may not be physically abused, but have parents who are absent or don't know what's going on with their kids, she said.
"They're like lost children," she said. "Most of them live together, bond together -- that's their family. They take care of one another. Unfortunately, sometimes they make bad decisions."
Some mall rats don't drink, smoke or do drugs, describing themselves as "straight edge."
Sixteen-year-old Adam Dudley comes to Aviation Mall as often as his parents will give him a ride from Fort Edward, mostly to meet friends and get exercise playing DDR.
The mall, he said, is one of the few places teenagers can hang out without getting into trouble. He expressed concern about a rumor that security guards might start banning kids 16 and under from the mall at night unless they have adult supervision.
"I could not go to the mall, and what, go out and do drugs? That's a good idea," Adam said, his eyes concealed behind a curtain of shaggy hair. "This is more of a straight-edge scene. Some of the kids smoke, and that's just dumb," he added.
All in the family
Though the mall rats stick together, they're a diverse group, spanning a range of ages and interests. Some look fairly ordinary, while others have body piercings and tattoos. In a few cases, heavy eyeliner and androgynous hairstyling make it hard to distinguish male from female, to the point where they themselves get confused.
"Some of us have known each other for a long time, but like, I just met him today," Ashley explained to a reporter, gesturing across a food court table to another mall rat.
"Hey, you think I'm a him?!?" responded the teenager, who turned out to be a girl with short hair and baggy clothes.
She quickly shrugged off Ashley's embarrassed apology.
"Nah, whatever, I don't care," she said. "Give me some chips!"
END
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