October 2, 1998
1) TVA's Federal Budget Zeroed Out - "The Consequences"
2) Forever Wild Purchases Coldwater Mtn.
3) Ground Level Ozone Air Pollution Models
4) Rally for Public Transit In Birmingham
5) Hurricane Georges Causes Seafood Industry Problems
6) Alabama Rivers Alliance Action Alerts
Quote of the Week:
"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle
of compassion to
embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."
-
Albert Einstein
1) Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Budget Zeroed Out
- The Energy and
Water Appropriations Conference Committee, created to iron out
differences
between House and Senate appropriations legislation, voted to
eliminate TVA's
non-power money. TVA's non-power program manages the agency's
land and water
programs. These activities include shoreline management, weed
control,
navigation, water quality monitoring, an environmental research
center and
the management of public lands (thousands of acres). TVA's non-power
program's budget has decreased from a high in 1980 of $222 million
to $70
million proposed in this year's budget.
What will be the impact on Alabama? Many of these programs
will need to be
picked up by federal and state environmental agencies. For example,
according to my sources at ADEM, they (ADEM) will need up to an
additional
$1.5 million dollars, to effectively replace TVA's water monitoring
and
pollution control programs. As a result of TVA's departure in
these areas,
ADEM's increased financial responsibility would account for more
than 1/5 of
ADEM's already paltry state appropriation in 1998.
2) Largest Forever Wild Purchase To Date - After two
years of planning and
negotiations, Forever Wild has officially acquired more than 4100
acres on
top of Coldwater Mountain in Anniston, Alabama. To date this is
the largest
single acquisition in Forever Wild's brief 5 1/2 year history.
With the
addition of Coldwater Mtn., since 1993, Forever Wild has acquired
11 tracts
totaling approximately 10,937 acres statewide.
3) Ground Level Ozone Models Coming In November - ADEM
has hired SAI, a
consulting firm out of California, to produce ground level ozone
"models" on
Birmingham's ozone air pollution problems. These models will provide
important data and information on certain control measures, such
as power
plant NOX reductions, and cleaner fuels. The models will help
decisionmakers
decide which strategies will be the most effective in combating
the ozone
problem. ADEM expects to complete their work by November. Once
they are
finished modeling, the Jefferson/Shelby County Ozone Non-Attainment
stakeholders group will convene either in late November or in
December.
4) Rally for Public Transit - Please mark your calendars
and attend a rally
for Public Transit in Birmingham. The rally will be held in downtown
B'ham
at Linn Park, Tuesday October 6th at 12:00 noon. Come show your
support for
public transit and the BARTA vote scheduled for the general election
in
Jefferson County. Your attendance is one way you can help solve
the region's
ozone air pollution woes. For more info about this event please
call
Citizens for Transit at 251-2223 or 326-6821.
5) Hurricane Georges and Bama Fisheries - The impact
of last week's hurricane
is having an effect on Alabama's seafood industry and sea life.
For example,
according to the Mobile Register, shrimpers who have tried to
trawl the
"inside waters" of Mobile Bay found their nets clogged
with storm debris and
junk. This has resulted in the state's director of Marine Resources,
Vernon
Minton, to ask for a 30 day exemption to the law requiring shrimpers
to use
turtle-excluder devices or TEDs. A similar request was granted
by the
Fisheries Service last year after hurricane Danny. Last year's
exemption did
require shrimpers to drag their trawls shorter peroids helping
prevent the
drowning of turtles.
6) From the Alabama Rivers Alliance "Action Needed"
- This October is loaded
with opportunities for people to make various comments on protecting
the
quality of our river, lakes, streams and drinking water. The following
info
comes from the Alabama Rivers Alliance. If you have any questions
about the
info below, please contact Brad McLane at 322-6395.
ADEM to Remove Drinking Water Protections? ADEM is proposing
to weaken its
wellhead protection regulations. These rules currently require
the
protection of groundwaters that Alabamians use for drinking purposes.
The
rule changes would make protection of our groundwaters VOLUNTARY
rather than
MANDATORY. A public hearing will be held on these rules on October
7th, 1:00
at the ADEM hearing room. Written comments are due October 26th.
In person
or in writing, ask ADEM to not eliminate these important rules.
As multiple
rule changes are being proposed, please specify that you oppose
only the
changes to the Wellhead Protection Program at 335-7-12. Address
comments to
Hearing Officer, Office of General Counsel, P.O. 301463, Montgomery,
Al.
36130.
Alabama Ignores Water Quality in Tri-State Negotiations - Georgia,
Alabama
and Florida are currently negotiating the allocation formulas
for the
Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and the Appalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint
River
Basins. Alabama has put a proposal on the table which establishes
a good
framework for addressing water quantity but ignores water quality.
Please
write Gov. Fob James or Lt. Gov. Don Siegelman and tell them that
water
quality must be a part of the Allocation formulas. You can write
them both
at Alabama State House, Montgomery, Al. 36130.
Tensaw Proposed as Outstanding Alabama Water - The Baldwin
County Commission
has submitted a pettion to Alabama Environmental Commission (AEMC)
requesting
that the Tensaw River be designated as Alabama's second Outstanding
Alabama
Water (the Cahaba River is the first). The Commission will grant
or deny the
petition at its October 13th meeting. Please write Dr. Charlotte
Carter,
Chair, AEMC, P.O. Box 301463, Montgomery, Al. 36130 to urge the
Commission to
support this new more protective standard for the Tensaw.
Shelby County to Weaken Stormwater Ordinance - Shelby County
is moving
rapidly forward with adoption of a weak ordinace for stormwater.
For more
info on how you can help strengthen this ordinance, contact the
Cahaba River
Society's Beth Stewart at 322-5326.
Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists.
If you have any questions about BEN, contact Pat Byington at
205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com
