News Flash: small Canadian pond to become trash bin

Armed with nothing more than a rod and reel, Andy Murphy is an unlikely environmental warrior, waging a fight against a plan to dump thousands of tonnes of mining waste into a trout pond in southeastern Newfoundland.

The battleground is Sandy Pond, a small tranquil lake not far from Long Harbour on the Avalon Peninsula, about 100 kilometres west of St. John's.

It is at the center of a simmering dispute that pits environmental concerns against the hope for jobs in a region that desperately needs them. ...(read more at Yahoo! Canada)

In Bellevue the Sidewalks are Paved with...Rubber?

by JOSEPH RICHARDSON

The city of Bellevue has undertaken a project designed to give their streets a little more bounce. Taking cues from cities like Seattle, Olympia and Tacoma, Bellevue city hall launched a pilot project this year that will test the viability of rubber sidewalks in the downtown core.

Starting with a small stretch of sidewalk on NE 10th, just west of 102nd Ave NE, the experimental footpath will help the city evaluate the long term costs and durability of rubber sidewalks as opposed to concrete ones. If the project proves successful, city officials plan to use the rubber pavers in another 700 sidewalk locations throughout the city.

One of the main advantages of the rubber sidewalks is their ability to bend. Though everyone loves a shady, tree lined street - when those gnarly old roots start tearing up the pavement, children trip, wheelchairs get stuck, people sue. When this happens, it's a bit of a showdown: sidewalk vs. tree. Last year, 12 trees lost the battle and had to be cut down. Even when the tree can be spared, if the roots are cut to save the sidewalk the tree can still die. Either way, all the time and money spent on maintenance is costly.

The alternative is to pave the sidewalks with something that can co-exist with the trees, something like rubber that won't crack under pressure. For pedestrians, the rubber is a slightly softer surface to walk on that can put a bit of a spring in the step. Better traction and improved accessibility for people in wheelchairs are other ground-level advantages. But perhaps the most appealing advantage for Bellevue staff and citizens is the fact that the recycled tiles are good for the environment, preserving the trees and turning what would have become landfill into something everyone can be happy about. The rubber sidewalk tiles are made out of recycled tires with about 5 tires compressed into every two inch thick paver.

The rubber sidewalk initiative is just one of many environmentally friendly projects undertaken by the local government in the past year. In an effort to reduce their municipal carbon footprint, Bellevue has also adopted land use patterns that reduce sprawl, sought ways to preserve the city's tree canopy, turned one of their beloved golf courses into a wildlife sanctuary recognized by the Audubon Society and started purchasing hybrid vehicles for the city fleet.

Boston Harbor a “No Discharge” Designation

With state and local backing, EPA is designating Boston Harbor as a “No Discharge” area. This status means that discharges of treated and untreated boat sewage are prohibited within these Massachusetts state waters, including the Towns and Cities of Boston, Braintree, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Hingham, Hull, Milton, Newton, Quincy, Watertown, Weymouth, and Winthrop.

In May, the Mass. Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), in partnership with the Cities of Boston and Quincy, and the Urban Harbor Institute, petitioned EPA to approve the No Discharge designation. Following consideration of the request, and a 30-day public review and comment period, EPA will approve the request to protect these coastal waters from boat sewage.

“Designating a major urban shipping waterway like Boston Harbor as a no discharge area is an important milestone in EPA’s effort to protect the entire New England coastline from boat sewage,” said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. “Once again, we are seeing forward-looking New Englanders showing the way to the rest of the country about how we can better protect our environment.”

City of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said, “Designation of Boston Harbor as a No-Discharge Area puts an exclamation point on the work that’s already been done to bring this jewel of our city back. This summer more than ever, Boston’s beaches and islands will be a destination for residents trying to beat the heat and show the kids a fun time without having to fill the tank. The City of Boston has committed to providing more pumpout facilities including a new pumpout boat to ensure that, from the beaches of South Boston to Spectacle Island, Boston Harbor is an even cleaner and more vibrant place for our residents, families and visitors to enjoy.”

"As a Charlestown resident and a recreational boater, I know what an asset a clean Boston Harbor is, and this designation will help keep these waters clean," said Ian Bowles, Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, which includes the Office of Coastal Zone Management. "One-third of the Massachusetts coast is now designated as NDA, and we are well on our way to Governor Patrick's goal of all of the Commonwealth's coastal waters becoming discharge-free."

To quality for a No Discharge designation, the applicant must show there are enough “pumpout” facilities where boaters can get their sewage holding tanks pumped out. This particular area has an estimated 8,720 boats, of which only 4,047 are large enough to have a head or toilet on board. There are a total of 35 pumpout facilities in the designated area available to the boating community. In addition, there are four pending pumpout facilities which should be operational this boating season.

Boat sewage can lead to health problems for swimmers, closed shellfish beds and the overall degradation of marine habitats.

The Urban Harbors Institute, the City of Boston, and the City of Quincy initiated the No Discharge Area designation process in the summer of 2007 to safeguard local marine resources.

Many other areas in New England already have designated their coastal waters as No Discharge areas, or are in the process of doing so. These include:

• All state marine waters of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire;
• In Massachusetts: Harwich, Waquoit Bay, Nantucket Harbor, Wellfleet, Barnstable, and
• Buzzards Bay (including Wareham and Westport), Plymouth/Duxbury/Kingston area; the
• Harbors of Scituate/Marshfield/Cohasset, and Salem Sound;
• In Maine, Casco Bay;
• Lake Champlain and Lake Memphremagog in Vermont.