Water Watch: Banning the Pollution Bans?
- You know the old idiom: when the cat’s away, the mice will sign a bill into law banning the regulation of plastic bags. Wait, what? Yeah, while Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was out of state on vacation, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed a new law that would ban municipalities, cities, districts, etc. from charging or enacting fines, charges or fees on use of plastic bags or similar plastic waste items. Basically, any fees charged to reduce use of wasteful plastic grocery bags are now illegal in Michigan. Ann Arbor was all set to enact a new bag law; this squashes that.
- The Lucas Soil and Water Conservation District Board has announced its full slate of meetings for the next year, to be held at 130 W. Dudley St. in Maumee. The next meeting is January 24 at 10am. facebook.com/lucasswcd
- The Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Division of Soil and Water Conservation has announced the next round of funding for their Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). A five-year, $17.5 million program, the RCPP provides assistance funding to farmers to help curtail runoff from agriculture into Lake Erie. Applications, due by January 20, received from Ohio livestock farmers will receive priority for funding. Go to oh.nrcs. usda.gov for more details.
- Forget “Sharknado,” Lake Erie has its own special animal-centric weather system: Gullnado. Huge swarms of gulls develop in the wake of massive cargo ships moving through the Lake and its feeder streams, devouring the fish that get churned to the surface by ship propellers. The most common birds include ring-billed and herring gulls, joined in winter by Bonaparte’s and great black-backed gulls.
- Spurred on by potential fines of $25,000 a day, Canadian farmers are finding new ways to recycle fertilizer wastes to keep them out of Lake Erie. During rain events, hydroponic solutions were getting into the storm water ponds, which flow out to the bigger Lake. Some farmers have opted to pay for municipal wastewater treatment, others have begun utilizing their own recycling techniques. One of the farmers, Peter Quiring said that while the initial costs were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, ongoing costs aren’t a significant part of his budget.
- You know the old idiom: when the cat’s away, the mice will sign a bill into law banning the regulation of plastic bags. Wait, what? Yeah, while Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was out of state on vacation, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley signed a new law that would ban municipalities, cities, districts, etc. from charging or enacting fines, charges or fees on use of plastic bags or similar plastic waste items. Basically, any fees charged to reduce use of wasteful plastic grocery bags are now illegal in Michigan. Ann Arbor was all set to enact a new bag law; this squashes that.
- The Lucas Soil and Water Conservation District Board has announced its full slate of meetings for the next year, to be held at 130 W. Dudley St. in Maumee. The next meeting is January 24 at 10am. facebook.com/lucasswcd
- The Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Division of Soil and Water Conservation has announced the next round of funding for their Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). A five-year, $17.5 million program, the RCPP provides assistance funding to farmers to help curtail runoff from agriculture into Lake Erie. Applications, due by January 20, received from Ohio livestock farmers will receive priority for funding. Go to oh.nrcs. usda.gov for more details.
- Forget “Sharknado,” Lake Erie has its own special animal-centric weather system: Gullnado. Huge swarms of gulls develop in the wake of massive cargo ships moving through the Lake and its feeder streams, devouring the fish that get churned to the surface by ship propellers. The most common birds include ring-billed and herring gulls, joined in winter by Bonaparte’s and great black-backed gulls.
- Spurred on by potential fines of $25,000 a day, Canadian farmers are finding new ways to recycle fertilizer wastes to keep them out of Lake Erie. During rain events, hydroponic solutions were getting into the storm water ponds, which flow out to the bigger Lake. Some farmers have opted to pay for municipal wastewater treatment, others have begun utilizing their own recycling techniques. One of the farmers, Peter Quiring said that while the initial costs were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, ongoing costs aren’t a significant part of his budget.
