december2011 UNPDF

Sediments Choke Chesapeake

December 2011

The Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River, just north of

Havre de Grace, Maryland, supplies hydroelectric power to customers in

and near Philadelphia. It also, reports the Washington Post , stores in its

reservoir millions of tons of sediments that have lowed down the 440-

mile river. Last September’s Tropical Storm Lee “produced record lows

in the river, forcing officials to open the gates. Four million tons of sedi-

ment rushed through in about four days, equal to what the [Chesapeake]

bay normally gets in four years.”

⌘

Chesapeake Sediments

1

Fracking Conflicts

1

Sayings

2

This “jailbreak for the sediment,” as the Post called the event,

turned the color of the bay’s water from blue-green to coffee-colored.

The shift prompted widespread fears that the released sediment would

form a “dead zone” within which oxygen deprivation would have di-

sastrous consequences for many marine species that a consortium of

federal and state agencies has been trying mightily to protect. Observers

recalled the four-day downpour from the 1972 Hurricane Agnes, when

the sediment-laden Susquehanna smothered crabs and grasses and pro-

voked “the most damaging event in the history of the bay.”

Power in Puerto Rico

3

Courts & the Seashore

3

Media

4

Appreciation

4

Caribbean Drilling

5

Officials expressed varying views about how to react to the new

crisis that Tropical Storm Lee provoked. It would take months, it was

noted, to assess the full damage from that storm and from Hurricane

Irene, and the extent to which a new “dead zone” would be formed in the

chocolate-colored waters. But all agreed that the Conowingo sediment

constitutes a major threat to current Chesapeake restoration efforts.

NC Gold Rush

5

ME Lobsters

6

Seashell Crisis

6

(Continued, p. 7)

Weird Weather

8

Fracking Conflicts Sharpen

⌘

In the Marcellus Shale region of the eastern US , hydrofracking

to obtain natural gas is not only invading vast deposits deep under-

ground. It is also causing conflicts between neighbors, landowners, ru-

ral and industrial interests, towns, economic development protagonists,

nature lovers, hunters, and environmentalists. Governments at many

levels are at odds and mistrustful of each other.

Recurring

People; Awards; Species &

Habitats; Reports; Restora-

tions; Products; Funding

Tons of water go into a well, along with chemical additives

(which industry is only beginning to disclose), and emerge as flowback,

polluted brine combining a host of heavy metals and radon.

Atlantic CoastWatch is a news

digest for those concerned

with sound coastal

development.

(Continued, p. 7)

2

Atlantic CoastWatch

Sayings

Vol. 15, No. 4

A project of the Sustainable

Development Institute , which

seeks to heighten the environmental

quality of economic development ef-

forts in coastal regions, by commu-

nicating information about better

policies and practices. SDI is clas-

siied as a 501(c)(3) organization,

exempt from federal income tax.

The recent decision of the A tlantic States Marine Fisheries

Commission (ASMFC) to limit the menhaden catch to more sustain-

able levels won widespread acclaim. In an editorial, the New York

Times called the commission’s action “a victory for consumers and for

conservationists like the Pew Environment Group , which for years

has been sounding alarms about the menhaden’s decline and its con-

sequences for the ocean ecosystem.” The paper termed it “a fish that is

vital but never reaches the dinner table.” Explained Bill Goldsbor-

ough , fisheries director at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation :

Board of Directors

“Specifically, ASMFC voted to adopt a target fishing rate that will

maintain the population at 30 percent of its original size. Accounting for

variability, this should ensure that the population drops no lower than

15 percent at any one time (instead of the 8 percent that it is currently).

Robert J. Geniesse, Chair

Emeritus

Freeborn G. Jewett, Jr., Chair

Roger D. Stone, President

Nelse L. Greenway, Treasurer

Simon Sidamon-Eristoff,

Secretary

David P. Hunt

Hassanali Mehran

“The importance of the commission’s decision can hardly be

overstated. Menhaden is a vital species along the Atlantic and a founda-

tion of the entire ecosystem. Swimming in schools, the small silvery fish

is harvested for fish oil and meal. It is also a preferred food for many

fish and birds, including striped bass and osprey, as well as an impor-

tant source of bait for crabs and lobsters. But menhaden have been

overfished 32 out of the past 54 years, and its population now stands at

its lowest point on record. Today our management of menhaden has

finally started accounting for this fish’s critical role in our waters. Eas-

ing harvest pressures will help replenish the stock and finally give the

menhaden population a chance to rebound.”

Advisers

William H. Draper, III

Gary Hartshorn

Stephen P. Leatherman

Jerry R. Schubel

Christopher Uhl

Staff

(What follows was submitted by David Kyler of the Georgia-

based Center for a Sustainable Coast.)

Roger D. Stone, Director &

“In my profile of the current stage of the proposed deepening

of the Savannah harbor (“Sayings,” August 2011 issue), there was some

editing that resulted in a misleading description. In addressing control

of potential adverse impacts, the Stakeholder Evaluation Group adopted

a brief but comprehensive set of conditions that, in effect, formed the

basis of “adaptive management” requirements. If these conditions were

met, in managing the project the US Army Corps of Engineers could

provide unprecedented protection against unanticipated impacts threat-

ening the degradation or destruction of important public resources,

including critical wildlife and fisheries habitat.

President

Anita Herrick, Associate Editor

Catherine Cooper, Contributing

Editor

Robert C. Nicholas III,

Contributing Editor

Foundation Donors

Avenir Foundation

The Fair Play Foundation

G. Peabody and Rose Gardner

Charitable Trust

The Moore Charitable

Foundation

The Prince Charitable Trusts

“The problem is that the management process proposed by the

Corps in its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) falls far short

of complying with the SEG memo. The Center for a Sustainable Coast

made comments to that effect in reviewing the EIS, and we are now

waiting to see if the Corps will correct such deficiencies in the revised,

inal EIS. However, due to the complexity of coordinating approval of

the multiple federal agencies involved and the unknown cost of correct-

ing unforeseen, deviant impacts, it is doubtful that adequate control can

be ensured.”

3

People

Powering Puerto Rico

The Hilda M. Willing , the last

working skipjack in the upper

Chesapeake Bay, is being put

up for sale by her owner and

captain, Barry Sweitzer . This

will be the first season in her 106

year history that the venerable

oyster-harvesting sailboat will

not be working. The reason is

that, according to Maryland’s

Department of Natural

Resources , 74% of the oysters

north of the Bay Bridge died

off as a result of last spring’s

record freshwater low, from

the Susquehanna in particular,

which accounted for very low

salinity in the upper Bay from

March through July. Other

watermen from those areas are

now heading south to ind their

shellfish.

Residents of Puerto Rico, heavily dependent on expensive im-

ported oil, pay triple the national average for electricity, reports the New

York Times . High power costs have trapped the island in severe eco-

nomic doldrums, and kept the regime of Governor Luis G. Fortuno

grasping to offset what he has called a grave energy “emergency.”

One partial solution is a proposed $450 million natural gas

pipeline planned to run northward from the island’s south coast across

a mountain range to the north coast town of Arecibo, then eastward to

power-hungry San Juan. Environmentalists oppose the project which,

they say, would lose the island 270,000 trees and endanger numerous

species of plants and animals. Critics also allege abnormalities in the

contracting process for the 92-mile pipeline, which was originally sched-

uled to be completed this year, but still lacks a required permit from the

US Army Corps of Engineers . Work continues on an environmental

impact assessment.

Under construction in the town of Guayama, reports the Puerto

Rico Daily Sun , is a privately financed and managed $98 million photo-

voltaic center that will generate 20 megawatts of energy, directly serve

6,500 houses, and employ 200 people. AES Ilumina , the widely expe-

rienced company in charge of the project, says that it will start serving

customers this coming summer.

Awards

The Natural Resources

Council of Maine (NRCM) has

given its top award for 2011 to

Everett B. “Brownie” Car-

son . He led the Council for 27

years. His successes include

beating back dams to keep the

West Branch of the Penobscot

and Kennebec rivers free-low-

ing, blocking a Bucksport coal

plant that would have polluted

Acadia National Park’s air, and

overall helping to make NRCM

“one of the most effective state-

based environmental advocacy

groups in the nation.”

Courts & The Seashore

Few coastal issues provoke hotter debate than the question of

beach access for the general public in areas where private shorefront

property ownership prevails. In New Jersey and elsewhere, said the New

York Times , many jurisdictions respect the “ancient principle” that “a

beach should be open to the public from the water’s edge at least up to

the ‘mean high water line’.” But that definition is subject to many in-

terpretations, the Times continued. Local property owners and beach

clubs have limited parking, levied stiff fees, concealed road-to-beach

pathways, and installed “no trespassing” signs in efforts to discourage

public use. New Jersey courts have gingerly bowed to public pressure in

recent years, ruling in one case that the public “may also use a stretch

of dry sand whose width will depend on the circumstances.” In Maine,

many property owners own beaches all the way down to low water. Legal

public use of the intertidal zones has been limited to fishing, fowling, or

navigation. But this year, says the Island Institute’ s Working Water-

front newspaper, a six-judge panel affirmed the “right of the public to

walk across intertidal lands to reach the ocean for scuba diving.” Three

of the judges called this a form of navigation.

Groove , an adult female leath-

erback turtle, swam the most

miles and took first place in

the 2011 fourth annual Tour de

Turtles, sponsored by the Sea

Turtle Conservancy (STC).

To win this migratory marathon,

4

whose entrants included 15 sea

turtles of four different spe-

cies (loggerhead, leatherback,

hawksbill and green), Groove

swam 1,378 miles from her feed-

ing site near last summer’s Gulf

of Mexico Oil spill, STC said.

Each turtle in the race, equipped

with a satellite-tracking device,

represents a cause that threatens

its survival, said the Vero Beach

News . Groove was “swimming

to raise awareness about the

impact of Commercial Longline

Fisheries on sea turtles and

other marine life.” Adele, a green

turtle, won second place, swim-

ming 1,217 miles from Costa

Rica.

Media

⌘ Included in the 20th anniversary Environmental Film

Festival in the Nation’s Capital , which will run at venues all over

town from March 13-25, 2012, are several works of direct interest to

Atlantic Coast Watchers. Alexandra Cousteau will present her docu-

mentary Expedition Blue Planet , which emphasizes the Potomac.

The program will also include a screening of an older ilm, Potomac

Reflections , by Robert Cole . The ilm Capital Buzz will highlight

beekeeping in the Washington, DC area. The Big Fix , a new ilm by

Josh and Rebecca Tickell, will examine the damage done by the BP

oil spill. The full program will be posted on the festival’s website, www.

dcenvironmentalilmfest.org.

⌘ New from Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) is a

Wetlands Carbon blog that will, says the organization, be “dedicated

to exploring the role coastal wetlands play in sequestering greenhouse

gases and disseminating the latest news and research behind national

and international ‘Blue Carbon’ efforts.” Coastal wetlands, RAE contin-

ues, “may sequester and store carbon at rates three to ive times greater

than temperate forests, making them eficient—and perhaps essential—

carbon ‘sinks’ as global temperatures and sea levels rise.” www.estu-

aries.org/blog.html . Other new blogs include Green Antilles.com ,

and one called Deadrise that covers environment and science news

from Hampton Roads, VA.

S pecies & Habitats

The best way to control the inva-

sive snakehead fish population

may be to eat them, perhaps sau-

teed, according to Chad Wells,

executive chef of the Alewife res-

taurant in Baltimore, oldtown-

crier.com reported. Commercial

sale of snakehead has been sanc-

tioned by the Maryland Depart-

ment of Natural Resources

(DNR). One fisherman expects

to supply 600 pounds per day.

⌘ Oceans teem with plastics that might degrade only after 500

years. That visible ocean pollution is accompanied by invisible threats

from pesticides, fertilizers, and petrochemicals. The heedless throw-

away consumer culture is to blame, says Donovan Hohn in his ocean-

spanning book Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys

Lost at Sea and of the Beachcomers, Oceanographers, Envi-

ronmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went

in Search of Them (Viking 2011). The toys--plastic blue turtles, green

frogs, red beavers and yellow ducks--were on a container ship bound in

January 1992 from Hong Kong to Tacoma, Washington. The ship lost

part of the toy cargo due to a steep roll in the North Pacific. In his travels

to dramatize the threats from ocean plastics, Hohn did not ind a single

duck. But he did learn that plastics in the seas are killing birds and fish.

Nutria, semi-aquatic rodents

that destroy wetlands, will be

eradicated from the remaining

350,000 acres of potential habi-

tat on the Delmarva Peninsula

by December 2015, said the FWS

Journal . The South American

rodent eats up to 25 percent of

its body weight in plants and

roots per day. Nutria were intro-

duced to Blackwater National

Wildlife Refuge in 1943 for their

pelts, the Star-Democrat said,

“but when that market failed, the

animals were allowed to repro-

duce unchecked.”

With Appreciation

Generous support has recently been received from Nelse L.

Greenway and Decatur and Sally Miller , as well as from these

other donors: William C. Baker, Florence B. Fowlkes, David P. Hunt,

Caroline M. Macomber, Leigh and Lynden Miller, Hector and Erica

Prud’homme, and George and Katharine Woodwell.

5

Regulating Caribbean Drilling

During the late 1970s striped

bass numbers declined alarm-

ingly--especially in the Chesa-

peake Bay, which is the spawn-

ing ground for nearly 90% of the

Atlantic population, according

to a report from the US Fish

and Wildlife Servic e. Res-

toration efforts, begun in 1980,

have included sometimes drastic

measures over the years and the

stocks have grown gradually.

This year the Maryland Depart-

ment of Natural Resources

reported a successful spawn-

ing class, the best in almost ten

years according to the New York

Post . This is good news, but it

will not immediately affect the

numbers of adult catchable fish,

as it takes several years for them

to grow.

With Cuba set to start drilling for oil off its north coast, a mere 100

miles from Florida, the US finds itself in a pickle as to how to encourage

safe practices and respond to a possible oil spill. Direct interactions with

the Cubans are difficult, reported McClatchy Newspapers , because of chilly

political relations. Some Cuban-Americans express fears that US drilling as-

sistance would bolster the Castro regime and weaken the hand of dissenters

on the island.

The best US hope, says McClatchy, lies in maintaining a close col-

laborative relationship with Repsol , the Spanish company that is beginning

oil exploration operations on behalf of the Cubans. Repsol has “wide US

interests,” said Michael Bromwich , an Interior Department official

who oversees offshore drilling operations, and has pledged allegiance to “the

highest industry standards while working in Cuban waters.”

But even if Cuban drilling safety is maintained, the region also faces

threats from other Caribbean exploration operations being conducted by

Jamaica and the Bahamas as well as Mexico. These countries are also “in the

process of implementing the most advanced and up-to-date drilling regula-

tions and standards,” said Professor Jorge Pinon of Florida Interna-

tional University ’s Cuban Research Institute. But he wonders about their

ability to enforce their own rules.

Reports

NC Gold Rush

In reaction to reports that Pres-

ident Obama had directed

the EPA to abandon new smog

rules, reported Mother Jones ,

Environment America “took

a look at the data on ground-

level ozone pollution around

the US.” While air quality has

“improved significantly” in re-

cent years, the group concluded,

48% of all Americans “still live

in areas with unhealthy levels of

smog pollution” that can cause

respiratory problems or even

death. Baltimore, Washington,

DC, and Philadelphia all ranked

among the top-five smoggiest big

cities, said the report.

North Carolina, the first place where gold was discovered in the

United States, was the nation’s top producer for much of the early 1800s,

according to the Charlotte Observer .

The California gold rush of 1848 put an end to that bonanza,

although “commercial production of gold sputtered along until 1915,”

says the Reed Gold Mine web-site. There was renewed activity during the

Depression, but the last of the mines was closed in 1942.

Since then, recreational gold panners have been haunting the origi-

nal sites throughout the state. With the recent hike in the price of gold, now

almost $1800 an ounce, what had been a hobby has become more serious

business.

The prospectors’ equipment has become more sophisticated, provok-

ing environmental dangers. They use machines called suction dredges to vac-

uum the river bottom, then filter the water in sluice boxes. Out, along with

the released mud and sediment, come aquatic insects, fish eggs and mussels,

all altering the dynamics of a stream.

Scientists have recently discov-

ered that a specific bacterium

originating in human fecal waste

has a deleterious effect on corals.

It causes a disease called “white

pox” which has contributed

Following the newly active panners, several exploration companies

are looking into re-opening some of the historic mines.

6

heavily to an 88% decline in

elkhorn coral in the Florida Keys

in the past 15 years, according to

an article by Pascal Fletcher

in Planet Ark . These findings

underscore the need for waste-

water treatment plants through-

out the region. Key West built

one in 1989 and it has continued

to periodically upgrade the sys-

tem. The changes have caused a

noticeable improvement in the

condition of surrounding coral

reefs.

ME Lobsters: Bonanza or Trouble Ahead?

Lobsters now provide 80% of Maine’s seafood income. In recent

years, the lobster harvest has just kept growing. In 2010, 94.7 million

pounds were landed as compared with 20.1 million in 1985 according to

the State’s Department of Marine Resources.

Meantime, the economic diversity of the state’s marine resources

has declined by almost 70% according to a paper in Conservation Biol-

ogy by a team of researchers headed by Robert S. Steneck , a marine

biologist at the University of Maine . He points out that reliance on

a single species is risky--he calls it a “golden trap.” If anything should

happen to the lobsters, it would be economically and ecologically disas-

trous. Lobster shell disease has taken its toll in Long Island Sound and

southern New England in the past several years. If the disease should

spread to Maine, the higher density of the lobster population would

make it all the more vulnerable.

Restorations

In 1947, New York City opened

the 2,200-acre Fresh Kills land-

ill on Staten Island. Receiving

20 barge loads of trash per day,

it grew to become the world’s

largest landfill at one time, and

in fact its largest manmade

structure. “You could see noth-

ing but garbage and seagulls

going by,” recalls one nearby

resident. But in 2009 the city’s

Department of Parks and

Recreation launched a mas-

sive, 30 year effort to convert

the dump, which closed in 2001,

into a green, beautiful, wildlife-

rich park three times the size of

Central Park in Manhattan with

multiple recreational amenities.

According to Steneck and his colleagues the super abundance of

lobster reflects the lack of species diversity in the Gulf of Maine. Cod,

haddock, hake, halibut and swordfish have all been overfished and their

numbers severely reduced. These species were lobster predators. Now

the lobsters’ chief predators are humans and other lobsters. Humans

further affect the imbalance by virtually providing the lobsters with

feeding stations in the form of baited traps. The smaller ones can come

and go as they please through specially designed vents.

“Locally caught herring and menhaden were the mainstay baits

used by Maine lobstermen,” reports the Maine Lobstermen’s Asso-

ciation ’s newsletter. But, in another ominous sign of the shrinking di-

versity of the Gulf of Maine’s fish population, bait dealers are now offer-

ing ish from around the world. This was partly due to a reduction in the

herring quota in 2010, according to Dana Rice , a dealer quoted in the

newsletter. And now, as reported in the Washington Post , the Atlantic

States Marine Fisheries Commission has just announced its plan

to also cut down the menhaden harvest, effective in 2013, because of the

steep decline in their numbers, making it likely that imports of bait will

continue.

Eyes tend to glaze over when, for

what seems the umpteenth time,

a comprehensive new plan to

restore the battered Everglades

makes the front pages. But this

fall, in the wake of a visit to the

region by Interior Secretary

Ken Salazar, Washington an-

nounced a new fast-track plan-

ning effort that actually seems to

have some bite to it. According

to the Miami Herald , planning

to restore the central portions of

the “River of Grass” will be com-

Seashells Gone, Says Onion

All the good seashells have been taken, a group of Florida en-

vironmentalists reported last month, according to the Onion . A report

coauthor told the paper that “there’s nothing left but blemished, frac-

tured, and just plain weird-looking ones.” It was suspected that “most

of the satisfactory shells had been stripped away by aunts with nearby

beach houses, while the remainder had been picked up by 14-year-olds

with few if any, friends.”

7

Chesapeake Sediments Continued from p.1

pleted in six months rather than

the six years previously sched-

uled. Paperwork will be sharply

reduced, and restoration proj-

ects will be linked to each other,

not conducted within separate

stovepipes. Salazar, Council

on Environmental Quality

Chair Nancy Sutley, EPA

Administrator Lisa Jackson,

and Florida Governor Rick

Scott all pledged redoubled

efforts to stem the decline of a

treasured ecosystem.

Some, such as American Rivers , called for the dam’s gates

to remain open in order to prevent it from failing, and to enable the

river to perform its natural function of carrying the sediment away.

Others sought ways to increase the dam’s sediment-trapping capacity.

Many observers echoed the Bay Journal ‘s statement that “this year’s

weather is a stark reminder that the bay remains in such a fragile

state that Mother Nature can easily trump management efforts.”

Fracking Conflicts , Continued from p. 1

This liquid stays aboveground, demanding foolproof containment and

treatment if groundwater and rivers are to be protected. Every drill-

ing operation releases some methane, a potent global warming agent.

An imperfect well or facility can also contaminate drinking water.

Gas leases can violate mortgage provisions.

Molasses is being used to make

groundwater, under a New

Jersey plant, 99 percent clean of

six volatile organic compounds.

Among these are PCE and TCE

(trichloroethylene), which are

linked to cancer in lab studies,

northjersey.com reported. This

cleanup use of molasses involves

a relatively new process called

enhanced anaerobic bioremedia-

tion in which, after the molas-

ses feeds microbes in the soil,

they multiply and stimulate the

breakdown of contaminants in

the groundwater.

New York Times op-ed writer David Brooks laid out the

benefits of local, plentiful and cheap gas, and cited an MIT study

which found the environmental record of shale gas drilling to be “for

the most part good.” He held that risks could be managed with a

reasonable regulatory regime. Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D- NY)

countered by pointing to “the shale gas industry’s reluctance to ad-

dress the serious risks and its relentless efforts to oppose even the

most minimal public health protections.”

A center of controversy in recent days has been the Delaware

River Basin Commission (DRBC), which covers a portion of the

Marcellus region with representation from Delaware, New York, New

Jersey and Pennsylvania as well as from the Federal Government.

A final vote on DRBC draft natural gas development regulations,

planned for November 21, was delayed indefinitely. One proximate

cause may have been the promise of Delaware Governor Jack A.

Markell to vote no. Adding further doubt about the vote’s result was

New York State’s concern for New York City’s water supply.

The Chesapeake’s low-lying

Poplar Island, vanishing at

the rate of 13 feet a year, had

shrunk to less than 10 acres

by 1990. Complete disappear-

ance loomed. But thanks to an

ongoing effort by the US Army

Corps of Engineers, it is now

a 1,140 acre reserve, and it may

grow by half again or more.

Using soil dredged from the

Baltimore shipping channel, and

launching a planting program to

encourage the rebirth of marsh-

es and wetlands, the engineers

have managed to recreate a

haven for birds, small mammals

and aquatic species.

Markell’s letter to the DRBC cited Delaware’s concerns as a

downstream state whose citizens depend on the watershed for two

thirds of their water supply. While recognizing the promise of local,

low-emission, cost-effective energy, as well as the potential for need-

ed direct and indirect jobs and tax revenue, Markell held that

“it is more important to get it right than to get it fast.” Striking a bal-

ance between economic development and responsible stewardship

requires close coordination of multiple regulatory regimes, he contin-

ued. He pointed out that “Some of these regulatory schemes (1) have

yet to be finalized; (2) have just been finalized but not fully evaluated;

or (3) are final but not adequate.”

Atlantic CoastWatch

Sustainable Development Institute

3121 South St., NW

Washington, D.C. 20007

Tel: (202) 338-1017

Fax: (202) 337-9639

E-mail: susdev@igc.org

URL: www.susdev.org

www.atlanticcoastwatch.org

Tax-deductible contributions for Atlantic CoastWatch are especially needed.

Checks can be made payable to the Sustainable Development Institute.

Products

Funding

⌘ Energy from poultry litter and biofuel

from algae grown from chicken litter are in pros-

pect for the Chesapeake’s Eastern Shore. Fibro-

watt, owned by Homeland Renewable Ener-

gy , is considering building a $300 million poultry

litter combustion facility on the bay, reported

Delmarvanow.com. The facility would generate

at least 10 megawatts (more than triple the output

of a comparable wind turbine), create 32 full-time

jobs and as many as 80-100 jobs for truck driv-

ers. An existing Fibrowatt plant produces 55

megawatts of power that can take care of a city of

40,000, the Chesapeake Bay Journal said.

The US Commerce Department has award-

ed a $3 million Economic Development Admin-

istration grant to the University of Maine . The

funds will be used to purchase equipment for its

new Offshore Wind Energy Laboratory. The plan is

to design and manufacture prototype wind blades

up to 70 meters long.

Weird Weather

In sum, reported Joe Romm in his well-

known ClimateProgress blog, “Flood damage

from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee in the

Northeast on September 8 is now estimated at

more than $1 billion, and two outbreaks of severe

thunderstorms and tornadoes–one in April and one

in June–now have damage estimates exceeding $1

billion. A remarkable seven severe thunderstorm/

tornado outbreaks did more than $1 billion each in

damage in 2011, and an eighth outbreak July 10-

-14 came close, with damages of $900 million. In

total, the fourteen billion-dollar disasters killed 675

people. Tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods in these

fourteen disasters killed over 600 people, putting

2011 into fourth place since 1940 for most deaths by

severe storms.”

⌘ Levi Strauss and other companies are

becoming aware of the growing shortage of water

in many areas where cotton is grown, and it has

started producing a line of “ Water-Less ” jeans,

which display a special logo on their tags.

The company estimates that the changes

instituted in their manufacturing process have

produced an average 28% saving of water, and as

much as 98% for some products. The accompany-

ing message to customers urges them to use water

wisely by washing in cold water and only when

necessary.