Does the United States Have Enough Water?
The short answer is nobody really knows. The National Ground Water Association has designated the week of March 9-13 as Ground Water Awareness Week. The USGS is gearing up to assess the availability and use of our Nation’s water resources, including groundwater. The USGS is working to determine how much water we have now, how water availability is changing over time, and how much water will be available for America’s future. By better understanding groundwater resources now, we can help to protect the quality and quantity of human and environmental fresh water needs in the future. To learn more about the USGS’s plans for water availability assessment, visit http://water.usgs.gov/wsi/, or contact Jennifer LaVista at (703) 648-4432 or jlavista@usgs.gov.
You Are What You Eat
Chemicals Found in Earthworms
The saying “you are what you eat” is proving true for earthworms, which eat soil for nourishment. Earthworms studied in agricultural fields have been found to contain chemicals from household products and manure, indicating that such substances are entering the food chain. The chemicals investigated include a range of active ingredients in common household products such as detergents, antibacterial soaps, fragrances and pharmaceuticals. For more information, visit http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/earthworms.html, or contact Jennifer LaVista at (703) 648-4432 or jlavista@usgs.gov.
National Ground Water Awareness Week: March 9-15, 2008
“Time to schedule your annual water well checkup!”
Just as periodic checks of furnaces and smoke detectors are recommended, so is an annual water well checkup. Spring is a good time to have this done before the peak water-use season begins. As part of its annual Ground Water Awareness Week promotion, NGWA stresses the importance of yearly water testing and well maintenance.
Why is it a good idea to have my water well checked annually?
*An annual checkup by a licensed or certified water well contractor is the best way to ensure problem-free service and quality water.
*Preventative maintenance usually is less costly than emergency maintenance.
*Good well maintenance, like good car maintenance, can prolong the life of your well and related equipment.
Ground water is a vital national resource. Get involved!
About half the U.S. population receives its drinking water from wells! And more than 90 percent of the fresh water in the United States and around the world is ground water. Ground Water Awareness Week spotlights ground water as a valuable and renewable resource.
You can obtain more well and consumer information by going to NGWA’s Web site for well owners.
Polycythemia vera patient from Hometown area dies
The following story is by Sue Sturgis and is posted on her Hometown Hazards web site, www.hometownhazards.com:
He survived the D-Day landing at Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge only to spend the last years of his life debilitated by polycythemia vera — a disease likely caused by his heavily polluted environment.
Lester Barney Kester, a resident of the Ben Titus Road community north of Hometown, passed away at his home three days ago, according to his published obituary. He was 84. Among Kester’s survivors is his wife, Betty, who also suffers from the rare blood malignancy.
The fact that two genetically unrelated people in one household were both diagnosed with the disease helped draw attention to what appeared to be the area’s unusually high rate of PV — an appearance that has since been confirmed as fact. Unfortunately, public health officials and political leaders have so far failed to take any action to address the problem, which independent scientists say appears to be environmental in origin. The Kesters live just downhill from the McAdoo Associates Superfund site, a former chemical dumping ground for some of America’s biggest corporations; the Northeastern Power Co. waste-coal-burning power plant; and an enormous coal combustion waste dump dubbed “the Big Gorilla.”
Mrs. Kester recently told the Philadelphia Inquirer that doctors “flipped out” when her husband was diagnosed with the disease two years after her, so astounded were they to see two cases in one family. She admitted to feeling bitter over having their retirement years ruined by the disease but observed that at least they were up in years when diagnosed:
“I’m thinking of the children,” she said. “We’re old, we’re ready to die. But the children that are coming up — I’d like something done for them, if possible.”
There will be visitation with the Kester family from 6 to 8 p.m. [on January 25, 2008] at the Lamar Christ Funeral Home in Hometown. My thoughts and prayers are with the family, and with all of those whose lives have been touched by the region’s environmental crisis.
Making Homes Greener and Safer From Radon
Contact: Bonnie Smith, 215-814-5543, smith.bonnie@epa.gov
Only smoking causes more lung cancer than radon
PHILADELPHIA (January 16, 2008) For people who are shopping for new homes, EPA has some good news. Radon-resistant construction practices are being used more frequently in new homes built throughout the country.
Radon is a cancer-causing naturally occurring gas that enters homes through foundation cracks, drains, and openings. Although you can’t see, smell, or taste radon, it can reach harmful levels if trapped indoors. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers and claims 20,000 lives every year.
“It’s never too late to reduce your risk of lung cancer.Don’t wait another day. Test your home for radon,” said EPA Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh. “And, if you are building a new home, use the radon-resistant construction practices.”
Radon-resistant construction techniques help reduce radon infiltration into a home.The techniques include gas permeable layers beneath the home’s slab, plastic sheeting, sealing and caulking, a vent pipe to redirect radon, a fan and junction box.
It is more cost-effective to use radon-resistant techniques while building a home, than it is to install in an existing home. For new homes, materials and labor costs are $350 to $500 compared to retrofitting an existing home for $800 to $2,500.Techniques vary slightly for different foundations and site requirements. The techniques may also increase your home’s energy efficiency.
Based on the most recent analysis by the National Association Home Builders Research Center of homes built during 2001, 65,000 new homes incorporated radon-resistant features.This is six percent of the 1,124,000 new single-family detached homes built.
Whether your new home is new construction or not, EPA encourages you to test it for radon. A simple home test costs less than $25 and testing is the only way to detect radon levels. If your home is not new, a radon mitigation system can also be installed if your radon test levels are above the recommended levels of 4 pCi/l.
For tips about test kits and finding a qualified professional to fix a radon problem, contact your state’s radon program at www.epa.gov/iaq/whereyoulive.html or visit the National Safety Council Web site at http://www.nsc.org/Pages/Home.aspx.
For more information about radon, visit EPA’s Web site at www.epa.gov/radon or contact the radon program in each state, at www.epa.gov/iaq/whereyoulive.html. You can also call National Safety Council’s radon hotlines: 1-800-SOS-RADON (24 hour recording) or 1-800-55-RADON (to speak with a specialist), or 1-866-528-3187 (for Spanish speakers).
Water is Precious
Many of us are familiar with the verse “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink” from the poem: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. Most of us, however, probably dont realize how true those words are in terms of the amount of freshwater available to us.
Have you ever wondered where our water is stored? As you probably guessed, most of it is in the oceans. In fact, over 97% of all water on the planet is too salty for us to drink. Of the remaining 3% that is freshwater, about 2% is tied up in ice caps and glaciers and about 0.9% is stored as water in the ground. That leaves less than 0.1% of the worlds total water supply to be split up between rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere (stored as water vapor)!
More information about the water cycle can be found at: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html
Schuylkill County’s children health study
Children from Schuylkill County will participate in the largest national study of how genetics and the environment affect children’s health
The $3.2 billion National Children’s Study, which will follow 100,000 children in 105 areas across the country from conception — or before — to age 21, will begin in Montgomery County in November 2008 and in Schuylkill County in July 2009.
Schuylkill, Montgomery, Westmoreland and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylvania are among the 105 locations that will recruit participants. Each site will have a goal of enrolling at least 250 newborns each year for four or five years.
Physicians in the study will visit mothers during pregnancy, collect specimens and information during delivery and follow-up with visits at 6 and 12 months of age, then every three years after.
“People are born with certain genes, but we don’t know what turns them on or off,” Schwarz said. “The study will look at what happens before birth and sometimes even before conception, that influences how genes are turned on or off.”
It will also examine environmental influences – such as air and water pollution – and other factors, including what children eat, how they are cared for and the safety of their neighborhoods, National Institutes of Health officials say.
NIH has selected “study centers” to lead the recruitment and enrollment efforts. Among them is Pottsville Hospital and Warne Clinic in Schuylkill County.
“We’re excited about it. Most definitely,” said Mike Peckman, spokesman for Pottsville Hospital, which is the only facility in the county that delivers babies.
This post was abstracted, with permission, from an article written by Chris Parker of the Morning Call.
Babies and Arsenic Exposure
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found for the first time that mothers who drink water contaminated with arsenic during pregnancy increase the risk of their children to cancer and other diseases. This prenatal exposure causes gene changes that last a lifetime.
These scientists found the function of up to 450 genes can be changed in babies exposed to arsenic in the womb.
You can read more at this Environmental News Service publication.
Some private water supplies in Carbon County are contaminated with arsenic. I know this for sure because I have arsenic in my well water. What about your well water?
For the sake of your children, please have your water tested.
There’s Drought About!
The National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) just launched a new website to keep us informed about drought — current conditions, impacts and forecasts.
http://www.drought.gov/portal/server.pt
CoCoRaHS volunteers < http://www.cocorahs.org/ >will play several important roles in NIDIS. Our data are used to help monitor both emerging and improving drought conditions and are especially important in showing how moisture is varying within our individual counties. We will be encouraged to report drought impacts within our counties and communities. Also, we can help share information about drought conditions, preparation and mitigation.
National foundation honors Carbon County
http://www.tnonline.com/node/230258
Times News
October 20, 2007
National foundation honors Carbon Co. for its groundwater protection efforts
Carbon County has been designated as a Groundwater Guardian Community by The Groundwater Foundation in recognition of its efforts to protect local groundwater supplies.
The county received this designation for the foundation’s 2007 program year and is among 139 communities in 34 states and one Canadian province to receive this designation.
Groundwater Guardians is a program of The Groundwater Foundation which encourages citizen involvement in groundwater education and protection at the local level. Groundwater Guardians form diverse teams of citizens, business/agriculture, local government and educators and work together to implement activities that address the groundwater concerns and issues of the community ranging from youth water festivals to household hazardous waste pickups to wellhead protection ordinances. Carbon County has been designated as a Groundwater Guardian since 2000.
Carbon County will be nationally recognized for its work on behalf of groundwater at the National Groundwater Guardian Designation Celebration, held in conjunction with The Groundwater Foundation’s National Conference. The 2007 conference, “Groundwater Protection: Bridging the Gap Between What is Known and What is Practiced,” will be held Nov. 28 through 30 at the Denver Sheraton West Hotel in Lakewood, Col. This year’s celebration will include the official Groundwater Guardian Designation Ceremony, a reception, silent auction and banquet.
The Groundwater Foundation is a nonprofit organization with a mission to educate and motivate the public to care about and for groundwater. Since it began in 9185, the foundation has developed programs, projects and publications that have educated youth and adults about the importance of groundwater and ways they can protect it.
For more information about Carbon County’s Groundwater Guardian activities, Groundwater Guardian or The Groundwater Foundation, contact either 1 (800) 858-4844 or at guardian@groundwater.org or visit the foundation’s Web site at www.groundwater.org.