How local watershed assocations can find volunteers
Go to VolunteerMatch.org and register your group.
It's a quick and easy way for non-profits to find the right volunteers and for volunteers to find groups that match their interests, skills and location. The VolunteerMatch database covers every Zip Code in the Chesapeake Bay watershed -- and everywhere else in the US too.
Basic registration is simple and free for non-profits, but there are fees if you want to post opportunities in multiple Zip Codes.
Groundwater flow into broken sewer pipes causes dumping into Nanticoke tributary
From DelawareOnline.com:
Workers in Laurel have pumped more than 5.6 million gallons of raw and partially treated sewage into [Delaware's] Broad Creek since Saturday under an emergency permit [Delaware] state officials said was approved to head off the collapse of an aging sewage lagoon.
One of the causes:
Leaks can increase the flow in broken sewer pipes or collection tanks when they are in soils saturated with groundwater [...]
"We're trying to correct a flow problem into the plant, which we discovered about three weeks ago and we've been troubleshooting," Steckman said. "The plant's been taking on water, and we're not sure where it's coming in."
Part of the solution:
Many large sewage-treatment systems, including Kent County and the City of Wilmington, have systematic "inflow and infiltration" detection programs aimed at reducing sewage-treatment costs.
Big turnout for 3rd annual Loch Raven reservoir cleanup
It was a gorgeous day on Sunday. My daughter and I joined organizer Paula Kurrus and hundreds of other volunteers at Loch Raven reservoir (one of Baltimore's three main water supplies) for this year's fall cleanup.
In addition to the usual plastic bottles, balls, flip flops and hip flasks, participants dragged truck tires, an industrial oxygen cylinder and a full-sized wooden wine cask from the reservoir.
Here are pictures from last year's cleanup.
Maryland Del. Sue Aumann pitched in with a large crew of kids, as did Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger.
Chesapeake Bay Commission IDs least-cost cleanup practices without knowing costs?
In an article titled Report on bay targets farmers, Rona Kobell of the Sun quotes Ann Swanson, Executive Director of the CBC:
"We basically asked the question, 'Which practices would deliver the largest result for the least cost?'"
[Emphasis added.] Later, the same article cites Swanson again.
The report includes no cost figures. Swanson said that assessing a price wasn't the goal and would be hard to determine because some of the measures would save money in the long term.
[Emphasis added.] Unless I'm missing something, Swanson's statements don't add up. So Kobell either misquoted her or failed to catch the obvious contradiction.
