Most of us have heard the reasons for consuming food with origins closer to home: fresher food tastes better, it contributes little to global warming, and supporting your local farmer keeps food dollars in the community. But Hatchville resident Earle Barnhart wants Cape Codders to go the extra mile for their produce, by “growing fresh, growing local.”
Wastewater as a Resource
May 12th, 2010 by
Imagine a household wastewater system based on nature’s principles. Imagine that every time you flush the toilet, run a washing machine or dishwasher, or hose down your car, that water feeds an ecosystem, a microcosm of a wetland environment. Imagine that the person who designed such a system lives in Falmouth… Read the rest of this entry »
Not in my backyard
April 9th, 2010 by
“Not-in-my-backyard” is the battle cry most often heard from people who want to prevent unsightly projects from appearing in their neighborhoods. Be it an issue of wind turbines, affordable housing, or a noisy bar– we’ve all had a brush with NIMBY in our lives. But what happens when we share a mutual backyard?
The NStar herbicide program to clear vegetation under transmission lines has brought a hidden expense behind our power supply to the fore. Chemicals are being sprayed– literally– in our backyards, from Bourne to Falmouth to Eastham. Towns are scrambling to complete GIS mapping of drinking water supplies and sensitive habitat in areas under these public rights-of-way– but time is running out.
Mutterings of discontent about NStar’s herbicide program erupted into a roar loud enough to reach US Rep. Delahunt in late March. But will NStar listen?
Wastewater Performance Anxiety
March 25th, 2010 by
A view of West Falmouth Harbor
Earlier this month, the Coalition for Buzzards Bay went public with information about the performance of Falmouth’s wastewater management facility. Had not they not requested this information from the DEP, we would not have known that elevated nitrogen levels are being discharged from the facility to West Falmouth Harbor. This is the kind of oversight that the media and environmental watchdogs will have to do in order to ensure that nitrogen limits are being met, no matter which wastewater treatment route is taken in the future.
Turning Waste Into Compost
March 16th, 2010 by
Within the next few years, coastal municipalities will be compelled to redesign their wastewater systems in order to meet state-mandated limits on nitrogen loading to sensitive marine environments. The options vary, but many towns are considering laying miles of sewer pipe to replace septic tanks, and upgrading their wastewater treatment facilities, a costly, yet effective way to meet the targets.
While it is understood that the town’s efforts will improve water quality and biological habitat, these benefits may not be realized in our lifetimes, due to the estimated 25-50 years it could take for all the contaminated groundwater to flush through the estuaries. Many residents balk at the $250-600 million price tag, which will likely be financed through betterment fees for homeowners and tax levies for all residents.
A message from Karen Schwalbe of Hatchville sums up the problem and offers a potential solution:
There is an old adage: if you take a barrel of sewage and add a teaspoon of wine, you get a barrel of sewage; if you take a barrel of wine and add a teaspoon of sewage, you get a barrel of sewage… Adding clean (and drinkable) water to human waste, then having to clean up a larger volume seems the wrong way to go. Why aren’t composting toilets or dry toilets being considered as part of the solution to our wastewater problems?
What if there was an option that residents could undertake right now that would remove their household’s contribution to the waste stream? In this blog, we’ll explore some of the innovative ways that people are turning their waste into a resource. It’s not as tricky (or stinky) as one might think… Read the rest of this entry »
Rising Tides, Rising Costs
March 4th, 2010 by
A question from Ric Gerace, Alma Road, Falmouth:
High tide flooding covers Menauhant Road
I would like to know why, in all the discussion on the half-billion dollar sewer project, there has been not one word on global warming and sea level rise. There is no question that the sea level is rising, and this century it is likely to rise sufficiently to make the health of the coastal ponds a moot question. … It seems to me that spending that much money to protect ponds that will soon enough be part of the Atlantic is a huge waste of resources.
Read the rest of this entry »
Water Rich, Resource Poor
February 16th, 2010 by
As coastal towns in Massachusetts work out ways to deal with their wastewater, jumping through regulatory hoops often precludes thinking outside the box.
While we have to take the issue of nitrogen (and other nutrient) pollution seriously, we also need to examine the unintended consequences of sewering the entire coast. What impact will pumping and discharging millions of gallons of water have on the aquifer, not to mention, on CO2 levels in the atmosphere? What are some ways we as residents can reduce our nitrogen output on an individual scale?
Deconstructing Copenhagen
February 9th, 2010 by
Two months after representatives of the world governments met for the UN Conference of Parties (COP 15) to discuss new strategies for dealing with climate change, many of the policy negotiators are left to pick up the pieces.
Nora Greenglass, a research assistant at the Woods Hole Research Center, shared her impressions as a negotiator for the UN program for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) with members of the Woods Hole Science and Technology Education Partnership (WHSTEP) last week.
Who is Sewering Falmouth?
February 2nd, 2010 by
George Chapman, a resident of East Falmouth, responded to my request for questions about wastewater issues. He brings up the cost of sewering, deemed by many as the greatest unfunded state mandate in history. How can residents get involved to make sure their tax dollars (and betterment fees) are being spent wisely? Read the rest of this entry »
The Life Acidic
January 29th, 2010 by
A major chemistry experiment is taking place in the world’s oceans, with potentially irreversible effects on marine ecosystems and commercial fisheries.
According to scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 30% of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, known to be a leading cause of global warming, are being absorbed by the ocean. Small coincidence that over the past 50 years of global industrialization, rising CO2 emissions have also led to a 30% increase in the average acidity of ocean surface water.
This phenomenon is just starting to attract the attention– and alarm– of policymakers and the shellfish industry. I talked to Scott Doney and Sarah Cooley at WHOI to find out why.
- Gourmets and Good Eaters (G. Blakely) NEW
- Snark Infested waters (M. Bailey)
- Maclone's musings (R. Maclone)
- Latitude Somewhere, Longitude Who Cares (D. Crowley)
- Notes on the arts (M. Rowland)
- The Reporter's Notebook (D. Fonseca)
- Mommy's rant (J. Briana-Gartner)
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