GSPCB seeks bank guarantee from mine leases to ensure ‘no pollution’.
Panaji, May 15 (PTI) The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) today directed the mine lease holders operating in North Goa’s Sonshi village to furnish bank guarantee, which will be forfeited if they cause air and water pollution.
The GSPCB today held a meeting under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma to decide on whether to grant consent to operate 39 mining leases, including 12 in Sonshi village.
Several residents of Sonshi had protested last month stating that there was a rise in air pollution, after which the mining operation in this area had been suspended.
“The board today refused to allow the mining operations at Sonshi till further orders.
The mining firms have been asked to furnish bank guarantee, which will be forfeited if they cause pollution,” GSPCB member secretary Lavinson Martins told reporters.
The mining operations in Sonshi has been shut since April 28 after the lease holders were found to be involved in violation of pollution norms.
He said the guarantee amount will be based on the area of the lease.
“It is most likely to be Rs 50 lakh for mining leases that have area above 100 hectares; Rs 25 lakh for mining lease with area between 50 and 100 hectares and Rs 12.5 lakh for mining lease area below 50 hectares,” he said.
This is published unedited from the PTI feed.

CAMDEN — Efforts to improve water quality in Camden Harbor are focusing on ducks, drugs and various types of polluting discharge.
Ducks A sign at the public landing near the fisherman’s float, and another at one of the entrances to Harbor Park advise against feeding the ducks.
Prior to that vote, Jason Peasley, the owner of River Ducks Ice Cream, voluntarily stopped selling a corn-based feed for ducks.
signs posted at numerous locations in Camden, Rockport, and Rockland is another Conservation Commission effort, this one to protect marine animals from medications, which are another source of water pollution when not disposed of properly.
Neither location accept liquids or sharps (needles), Ruesswick said.
Discharge A general lack of awareness that anything put into storm drains ends up in Camden Harbor and other bodies of water, is cited in a water quality grant application prepared by the Conservation Commission.
The town has provided free pump-out service at the harbor since 2003, and in 2010 all discharges from boats was prohibited.
Education is key to boater awareness, according to Rittmaster.
The Commission is also working with the Camden Wastewater Department on a long-term project to locate and correct any cross-connections between the sewer and storm drain systems.
The Conservation Commission is seeking to hire a summer intern to assist the Wastewater Department with property surveys regarding storm and sewer systems, as well as the storm drain stencil program.

A pair of Dumfries homeowners have filed suits seeking millions in damages from Dominion Energy, claiming heavy metals seeping from coal ash ponds at the Possum Point Power Station contaminated their drinking water wells. The power station’s coal ash ponds, where the remnants of burnt coal were kept, are the scene of a clash among the utility, residents, and state and local officials over the company’s closure plans. The lawsuits — filed on behalf of Daniel Marrow and his family and Brian West, both of whom own homes on Possum Point Road near the power station — allege that concentrations of hexavalent chromium, lead, boron, cobalt and other metals found in their wells came from the nearby power plant, which burned coal until 2003. “The defendant knew or should have known that placing multiple unlined coal ash ponds near a residential community that relied on well water would cause groundwater contamination that would then contaminate the nearby properties and potable wells,” the suits say. Marrow’s suit claims damages of $6 million while West’s claims $3 million. The Virginia Beach lawyer who filed both suits, Mark J. Favaloro, referred a reporter to Annapolis, Md., attorney Roy Mason, who could not be reached Friday. “Dominion is aware that the lawsuit has been filed in Prince William County,” company spokesman Robert Richardson said. “However, the company has not…

New Mexico and EPA Partner to Prevent Water Pollution.
"New Mexico has some of the Nation’s most important environmental resources, and its citizens know and value those resources better than anyone," said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
"That’s why grants that empower states to protect their environment are so important."
"This grant will help New Mexico protect its waterways from water pollution," said Acting Regional Administrator Sam Coleman.
"Ensuring clean water is fundamental to not only our mission at EPA, but our state partners as well."
The Clean Water Act provides funding to water pollution control programs to build and sustain effective water quality programs that ensure the health of our nation’s water bodies.
The funds are awarded under section 106 of the Clean Water Act.
The objective of the Clean Water Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.
Programs under the act support monitoring, assessment, protection and prevention of polluted runoff in waterways.
SOURCE: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Soil organic carbon predicted to plummet over next 60 years lowering agricultural productivity Climate change could reduce the amount of carbon stored in soil in the Mediterranean region by a third over the next 60 years, according to research undertaken at the University of Cordoba.
This in turn could drive up food prices and endanger crop production in the region as soils become poorer and more and more fertiliser is needed to keep yields up.
A study of 600 soil samples from the Sierra Morena region in Spain found that local soils contain between 2 and 7% organic carbon matter.
However, when scientists modelled the relationship between the soil and 24 variables affected by climate change, such as rainfall and temperature, they found that organic carbon content could decrease by an average of 35.4% in the region’s topsoil.
The results show cause for concern on food production in the region over the next 60 years To cope with a decrease in soil organic carbon, local farmers would have to increase fertiliser use, which could exacerbate related problems, such as water pollution, says co-author Alfonso Olaya Abril.
‘In some cases, traditional crops will have to be changed for others more adjusted with the new needs.
Consumers and farmers will suffer the consequences.’ In many Mediterranean countries, food consumption already outstrips production, with only France and Spain exporting significant amounts of cereals and vegetables.
The Spanish study should be an early warning to policymakers, who need to adapt local agricultural practices to the realities of climate change, says Miriam Muñoz-Rojas, a biologist at the University of Western Australia, who has extensively researched Mediterranean soils.
‘Sustainable land use in Mediterranean areas could reduce the negative effects of predicted climate change impacts by sequestering atmospheric carbon into the soil,’ she says.
‘[This] could bring additional environmental and economic benefits, such as improvement of soil quality and enhancement of crop productivity.’ However, Abril is cautious about advocating specific policies, as only 50% of the soil organic carbon content in their study can be traced to specific contributors.

‘World’s largest indoor farm’ to rise in an unlikely spot in South Jersey.
The Camden site will be Farm No.
10 of AeroFarms LLC, which last year began growing abundant quantities of leafy greens such as kale, red-leaf lettuce, arugula, and bok choy in a converted steel warehouse in Newark’s inner city.
“This is Farm No.
Illuminated by specially calibrated LED grow lights of AeroFarms’ devising, the seedlings’ and plants’ airborne roots are sprayed periodically with a mist of purified water and mineral nutrients ordinarily found in soil, and each grow tray is monitored electronically for health and vitality.
At 70,000 square feet, this mostly corrugated-steel building is already the world’s largest indoor “vertical farm,” according to Rosenberg.
“We won,” he called out, and with a broad smile explained to the handful of employees standing close by that the New Jersey Economic Development Authority had minutes earlier awarded AeroFarms a grant of $11.14 million in tax incentives over 10 years to build the Camden farm.
After much experimentation he then developed a porous cloth made from recycled soda bottles that allows the roots of seedling roots to penetrate and grow down, where nozzles mist them.
In Newark, he said, the company pays unskilled labor about 40 percent above minimum wage and offers “full benefits.” “We probably would not have made the move to Camden — at least not now — without the [Grow New Jersey] tax grant,” he said.
But Rosenberg praised the grant program as the kind of “public-private partnership” by which government can encourage “innovative companies” like his to achieve such worthy goals as job creation, urban renewal, or reducing water pollution.

Test-run of suspended Sarmalauk distillery allowed amid public opposition.
The authority has allowed a trail run of suspended Sarmalauk distillery in Nyaungdone Township of Ayeyarwady Region amid the strong public opposition, according to sources.
The authority decided to close it after locals lodged a series of complaints to the government about the direct disposal of sewage into Panhlaing River without treatment, the emission of ashes and smokes and water pollution.Locals have called for the complete shutdown of it.
MP Ni Ni Moe representing Nyaungdone Township Constituency said: “Four members in the inspection team were urged to sign the test-run of it.
The factory will produce 1,000 gallons of alcohol and dispose of 12,000 gallons of sewage water.
Our duty is to inspect whether the disposal of sewage water is systematic or not.
It is located in the middle of the village and not in accord with the law.
I have already submitted a report that it doesn’t pay tax fully.
Now locals are collecting petition signatures opposing the reopening.
I too will submit a compliant letter to the government.”

“The real value of these projects is that we now have scientific proof that they’re very effective – not just effective – very effective,” said Tracy Skrabal, Coastal Scientist and Manager of the North Carolina Coastal Federation’s southeast regional office in Wrightsville Beach.
Historically, urban planners simply created a pathway for rain to flow directly into sewers and drains, which push it through to waterways.
Cisterns may also be used to collect it for re-use.
Each project was designed to work with existing landscapes to redirect stormwater from impervious areas so that it can soak into the ground or into vegetation, essentially disconnecting the pathway to drains and outfalls that lead directly into waterways.
Projects included redirecting flow from a disconnected street drain into a large rain garden; retrofitting city curb cuts to redirect runoff into a grassy median and regrading landscape in front of a restaurant to provide infiltration of runoff that was previously flowing into a drain.
“We’re saving money and reducing our public water usage by 20 to 25 percent,” said Blockade Runner Environmental Coordinator Feletia Lee.
Researchers led by Michael Mallin, a research professor at UNCW who focuses on the causes and effects of excessive amounts of nutrients in water bodies, found that infiltration chambers installed at one site reduced polluted stormwater discharge into Banks Channel by 93 percent, leading to a 96 percent load reduction in fecal bacteria.
“I think this project is a great example of how small-scale retrofits can make a big difference in controlling stormwater and protecting coastal water quality, said Whitney Jenkins, the Coastal Training Program Coordinator for the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve and collaborative lead on the stormwater projects.
“The long-term result we hope comes from this is that we foster a new generation of stormwater management.” Learn More Like This Story?
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Resident Ronny Maxwell’s proposal would reopen the course as the Bamberg County Golf and Sport Club, with the club leasing the property from the city.
Maxwell proposed the city borrow $325,000 from the Bamberg Board of Public Works, with the investors making monthly payments amortized over 20 years as part of the lease agreement.
The plan is to reopen the course and operate it, along with a fully functioning pro shop, lunch grill and a restaurant that would be open on the weekends.
The analysis projected the course could be operated as a going concern as well as acting as an economic development driver for the community.
The proposal included membership levels, with Maxwell indicating there are currently approximately 50 individuals willing to put up $1,000 each as "founders."
Maxwell said interest had been expressed by the Hootie and the Blowfish Foundation once the course is up and running.
Based on the advice from two different fire equipment service providers in South Carolina, the council has opted to take the engine out of service.
Fire Chief Timmie Taylor provided council with information from the National Fire Prevention Association standards regarding refurbishing fire apparatus, which states in part that “apparatus that were not manufactured to the applicable NFPA fire apparatus standards or that are over 25 years old should be replaced.” Taylor and Engineer Steve Barton provided council with a clarification regarding the specifications for a "custom" fire engine chassis as opposed to a "commercial" chassis.
Fire Commissioner Rosetta Draper asked that the information packet which included the recommendation that the first-out engine be taken out of service be attached to the meeting minutes.
Bobbi Bunch will take over as sanitation commissioner from Leslie Hayes, who will retain the Chamber of Commerce and take over licensing from Bunch.

But proposed plant needed to accommodate growth in northern York Region has residents of Georgina Island worried about the future.
The municipality behind a proposed sewage treatment plant that will drain into the highly sensitive Lake Simcoe watershed says the technology it plans to use is the most advanced in the country.
York Region is awaiting approval from the province on its $685-million Upper York Sewage Solutions project, which will release 40 million litres of treated sewage per day into the East Holland River — water that will eventually make its way into Lake Simcoe.
“There’s nothing built like this in Canada,” Rabeau said.
“And it’s well beyond anything already being done on the lake,” which is also home to 14 other sewage plants that have been dumping effluent into the lake for decades.
“With our plant, we have third level of treatment and fourth level of treatment, which is basically not done on treatment in Canada,” he said.
One will be “high-purity reclaimed water” that will be released into the East Holland River, and will actually “enhance the water quality in the river,” which currently doesn’t meet provincial water quality standards, he said.
They have also visited plants in California and Nevada, which have been using similar technology for years.
Globally, a number of countries are utilizing similar technologies to find ways to turn wastewater into tap water, in the face of global water scarcity.
In an environmental assessment of the project online, the ministry says each “successive treatment level at a water pollution control plant provides an additional level of micro-constituent removal.” Studies are also underway to investigate the effectiveness of different water treatment technologies in reducing pharmaceuticals and other contaminants found in wastewater across the province.