Rhode Island Feeds

Minnesota’s BPA ban is now in effect; it’s the 1st state to ban the chemical in baby items.

by Katie Lacasse

You have a choice where your electricity comes from!

Did you know that you can help clean our air and water and stabilize the climate for our children while investing in the growth of renewable energy in New England?  Until recently, you only had one choice for your energy – dirty power – electricity generated from coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear power.  Reliance on these energy sources leaves our world and its inhabitants vulnerable to pollution, health risks, and global climate chaos.

But now people can take a stand for their global concerns and their commitment to environmental stewardship by signing up for New England GreenStart SM, a program offering green power right through your electricity bill.

St. Augustine’s in Kingston has made the switch to green power!

St. Augustine’s Church in Kingston, RI switched to green power this summer, through the New England GreenStart program.  The church’s electricity usage is now matched with local renewable energy resources to displace the fossil fuel and nuclear resources that electricity payments otherwise support.  And you can sign up too!

When you sign up, you will still receive the same electricity service from National Grid.  You’ll pay a little extra each month to support local renewable energy sources in New England, and the additional amount you pay is 100% tax-deductible from your federal taxes.

When parishioners from St. Augustine’s join New England GreenStart, they also support St. Augustine’s Church and RI Interfaith Power & Light (RI IPL) because they have an agreement with PPL (People’s Power and Light – GreenStart’s parent company).  When St. A’s parishioners let GreenStart know that they heard about this program through their church, then GreenStart will make a $10 donation to both St. Augustine’s and RI  IP&L for each year of being a GreenStart member, for up to three years!

If a similar agreement would fit with your church, then consider contacting PPL through GreenStart for more information.

Click on the links to see some of the renewable energy sources St. Augustine’s church and other GreenStart members support, or get answers to frequently asked questions about the program.  .

Or you can simply sign up for GreenStart on the website!

By GREG GERRITT/ecoRI contributor

The future of our communities and our prosperity depends upon the restoration of the ecosystems that support life on Earth in general, and in our own communities. For Rhode Island, this means restoring our forests, farmlands, water bodies, the interface between water habitats and land habitats and the urban environment is critically important if we wish to see economic revitalization.

However, this is not yet the conventional wisdom. In fact, it is resisted by large segments of the community, especially those interested in economic development, but slowly acceptance of this is seeping into the mainstream and now politicians at least pay lip service to it.

From the perspective that ecological restoration underpins economic revitalization, the work local community groups and governmental agencies are doing to restore state ecosystems could be considered among the most important undertakings of any type in Rhode Island.<<Read full story

It occured to me the other day that although many of us are in synk with the idea of eating locally fresh foods many of us are not aware of the growing seasons for these local foods. So here's a chart to set you straight. Now you know why cauliflower is usually more expensive than broccoli. Look at the differences in length of growing season. Or why buying asparagus now is not seasonal.

Save Bristol Harbor is having their Fourth Annual Summer BBQ at a private
Poppasquash residence overlooking Bristol Harbor on Sunday, August 29 from 1 - 5 pm.
Tickets are still available at the Bee Hive or Paper Packaging and Panache - both in Bristol.
Or you can call or email Tony Morettini at 253 8521 or amorettini@cox.net
Do it! This is a fabulous party for a worthy cause. Our priceless harbor!
Tickets are $40. Kids under 5 free.
Click on accomplishments once to enlarge.

David Segal, Congressional candidate for District 1 (i.e. Patrick Kennedy's seat), will be in Bristol this week.He will be at Agave Restaurant tonight - Aug. 21 at 8 PM.
He is running for Patrick Kennedy's seat. In addition to Ciccilini, his opponents in the Democratic primary are Gemma and Lynch. The winner will probably face Loughlin in the general election.

As a Providence city councilman and then a state representative for the past eight years, David Segal has been a true champion for working families and has never shied away from challenging powerful interests. He's also been a strong advocate for ethics reform and campaign finance reform legislation.

David is running a grassroots campaign, refusing to accept corporate contributions. To learn more, please go to: http://votesegal.com. And don't forget to vote in the primary on Sept. 14!
Follow on twitter here: http://twitter.com/SegalforRI
Video here: http://nobodyspuppet.com/
Link to Kevin Faria's Bullraker blog opinion here: http://bristolbullraker.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/nobodys-puppet/

Roger Williams University
Masters in Historic Preservation starting this fall
Graduate degree will build on the legacy of the nation's oldest undergraduate program in historic preservation

In an effort to meet increasing regional demand for professionals to preserve historic buildings, communities and infrastructure, Roger Williams University, in Bristol, will offer a Master's of Science in historic preservation beginning this September. The M.S. builds on the reputation and rigor of the nation's oldest undergraduate program, which will continue to offer a B.S. in historic preservation.

The Master's program is founded on the principle that in-depth expertise in the preservation field must be coupled with skills in design, planning, leadership and administrative management for professionals in historic preservation to be most engaged and effective. This multi-disciplinary, process-based approach helps practitioners to advance their careers, and the greater cause, in partnership with other professionals and stakeholders.

Workshops, labs, internships and seminars provide an opportunity to work on projects in partnership with regional, national and international organizations and firms. Students and faculty work closely with other University graduate programs including architecture, construction management, public administration and leadership. Preservation-specific coursework addresses preservation history and philosophy, documentation, research, architectural conservation, community planning, law and regulation, design, economics and management.

The University offers two paths for the M.S. degree. For those who have completed an undergraduate degree in historic preservation, a one-year, 32-credit program is available beginning fall 2010. Starting in fall 2011, a full-time, two-year, 52-credit program will also be available to qualified students holding a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field. Part-time participation in both programs is available now.

For additional information, please contact program coordinator Philip Marshall at pmarshall@rwu.edu or (401) 254-3061. For information on how to apply, visit http://www.rwu.edu/admission/grad/historicpreservation/

The Economical Historic Home:
Energy Efficiency Basics for Old House Owners
A workshop by the Collaborative for Common Sense Peservation
Saturday, September 25th - 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Do you love your historic home but hate the high heating bills and wasted energy? Learn how to make your old home more "green," saving money and energy without losing its historic character. Experts will present information and demonstrations on:

· insulation
· weatherizing the building envelope (walls, doors, roof, etc.)
· wood window repair and restoration
· retrofitting for efficient heating systems
· tax credits and funding sources
· and more

This workshop will be held at Casey Farm (c. 1750), 2325 Boston Neck Road, Saunderstown, RI, (401)295-1030.

The Collaborative for Common Sense Preservation is a joint project of Newport Restoration Foundation, Preserve Rhode Island, Historic New England, and the Providence Revolving Fund, in association with Heritage Restoration, Inc and Heartwood Building & Restoration.

Click here to register! http://www.newportrestoration.org/calendar/details/17765-the_economical Advance registration is required. Tickets are $25 per person / $20 for members of Preserve Rhode Island or Historic New England.

By ecoRI staff

PROVIDENCE — Through a cooperative effort with the Department of Agriculture and Animal Plant Health Inspection Services, the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is coordinating a comprehensive city outreach and detection program for the Asian longhorned beetle.

The invasive insect came to the United States in wooden shipping crates from China and Korea more than 10 years ago. It affects hardwood shade trees such as maple, ash, birch, willow and elm by boring into the core of the tree and eventually killing it. This beetle has the potential of wiping out thousands of the state’s trees if it goes undetected.

The DEM has identified Providence for this survey because of the city’s large level of industry and enterprise. The survey will take place Aug. 24 in the Port of Providence and Aug. 26 Wanskuck Park. The state’s outreach and survey activities are designed to inform the public and keep the state free of Asian longhorned beetles. DEM also will conduct a tree survey in Burrillville in September.

Survey participants will be easily identifiable, dressed in bright-orange shirts, and will be inspecting the top portion of hardwood trees using binoculars. They will be looking for signs of the beetle, such as egg-laying sites and exit holes. If a survey participant needs access to private property, they will request permission from the home or business owner.

The beetle is large, ranging from 0.75 to 1.25 inches in length with long black-and-white antennae. The body is glossy black with irregular white spots. The distinctive antennae that give the beetle its common name are as long as the body itself in females, and almost twice the body length in males. Adult beetles emerge from late spring to early fall and feed on tree bark and tender twigs. During its larval stage, the beetle bores deep in the tree's heartwood, where it feeds on the tree’s nutrients.

Signs of beetle infestation include perfectly round, dime-sized exit holes; frass, a sawdust-like material comprised of tree shaving and insect waste; and oozing sap. Dead and dying tree limbs or branches and yellowing leaves in areas where there has been no drought may also be a sign of infestation.

Residents are asked to call 866-702-9938 to report any possible sightings of the beetles.  For more information, contact Liz Lopes-Duguay of DEM at 401-640-4509 or via e-mail at liz.lopesduguay@dem.ri.gov, or visit dem.ri.gov.

By DAVID FISHER/ecoRI staff

Many of Rhode Island’s commercial and institutional renewable energy projects that garnered approval for a 25 percent reimbursement from federal stimulus money are in construction, and many smaller residential projects approved for reimbursement have been completed and are now producing energy.

The Rhode Island State Energy Program is charged with the distribution of funds to such projects.

For Ocean State residents, the recent availability of federal stimulus funds and state money for renewable energy projects, along with the existing federal and state tax incentives, made greater energy independence a financial possibility. But residential applications were not considered for the second round of federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, because of an administrative decision, and according to some local solar and wind energy contractors, the State Energy Program (SEP) has been slow to reimburse residents approved in the first round of grants and the state Renewable Energy Fund (REF) has made seemingly arbitrary decisions regarding which projects it funds.<<Read full story

Para espanol, sigue abajo

Gorham Factory Site
Public Meeting

Hosted by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

Monday – August 30, 2010 Time: 7-9 PM Location:  Renaissance Church, 77 Reservoir Ave, Providence, RI  –behind Popeye’s in the Mashapaug Commons Shopping Plaza Come to the Public Meeting to:

· Hear about the work ATSDR is doing at the former Gorham Manufacturing Facility Site
· Discuss the results of ATSDR’s Health Consultation for Parcel C
· Talk one-on-one with ATSDR and State and Local representatives from:
o   The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM)
o   The Rhode Island Department of Health
o   Textron Corporation
o   City of Providence
· Ask questions about the work ATSDR, State and Local agencies are doing to protect people’s health and recommendations for future development of the Gorham Site

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  ATSDR works in communities to provide trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and disease related to toxic substances.  ATSDR is located in Atlanta, GA.

ESPANOL

Reunión pública sobre la antigua fabrica Gorham

Presentado por la Agencia para Sustancias Toxicas y Registro de Enfermedades (ATSDR)

Lunes – 30 de Agosto de 2010 Hora: 7-9 p.m. Lugar:  Iglesia Renaissance, 77 Avenida Reservoir –ubicado atrás del Popeye’s en la plaza Mashapaug Commons Asista a la reunión pública para:

· Conocer el trabajo que la ATSDR está realizando en el terreno donde antes estaba ubicada la fábrica Gorham Manufacturing.
· Dar su opinión sobre los resultados de la Consulta de Salud hecha por la ATSDR sobre la parcela C
· Hablar personalmente con representantes de la ATSDR y con funcionarios estatales y locales de:
o   El Departamento del Medioambiente de Rhode Island (RIDEM)
o   El Departamento de Salud de Rhode Island
o   La compañía Textron Corporation
o   La Ciudad de Providence
· Hacer preguntas sobre el trabajo que están realizando la ATSDR y las agencias locales para proteger la salud de la población y sus recomendaciones sobre el desarrollo futuro en los terrenos de Gorham.

La Agencia para Sustancias Tóxicas y el Registro de Enfermedades (ATSDR) es una agencia de salud pública que forma parte del Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de los EE. UU.  La ATSDR trabaja con las comunidades para ofrecer información de salud confiable con el fin de prevenir las exposiciones peligrosas a sustancias tóxicas y las enfermedades asociadas a ellas.  La ATSDR está ubicada en Atlanta, GA.

RIRRC: TOMORROW 8/21: RIRRC hosts FREE Eco-Depot for Household Hazardous Waste (RI residents only). Call for an appointment: 942-1430 x 241

RIRRC: URI Master Energy Training program begins in October! Check it out & register here: http://www.uri.edu/cels/ceoc/ec/energytraining.html

A few links as we head into the weekend.

A paper to be published in Science says a large plume of oil still exists in the Gulf of Mexico (NY Times, also see this from BBC). BP now plans to wait til after Labor Day to seal the well (NY Times).

I just read a great article on CNN about honeyteers - honeymooners who volunteer on their honeymoon, or a portion of their honeymoon.  It gives them the chance to learn more about the culture of where they are visiting and then take some time to tour the areas with a greater understanding for the region.

I've heard more and more about people volunteering on their honeymoons lately - we even had a staff member a few years ago who he and his new wife used their honeymoon time to volunteer overseas.

For the age group now getting married, where we see the largest rates of volunteering nationally, I guess this trend does make sense.  But would you volunteer on your honeymoon?

Barney Frank and Jim McGovern maneuver to kill Hess LNG terminal

By Staff reports
Herald News
Posted Aug 19, 2010 @ 12:24 PM
Last update Aug 19, 2010 @ 12:31 PM
FALL RIVER —
U.S. Reps. Barney Frank and James McGovern said on Thursday morning that they added language to a House appropriations bill that would prohibit construction of an LNG terminal within five miles of Fall River.

Frank said in a press conference at the Narrows Center for the Arts that the bill is "a stake in the heart of the project."

They said the bill has bipartisan support for the measure and a promise from the House leadership that it would be approved by Oct. 1.

After years of public uncertainty, Frank and McGovern said this move helps to alleviate doubt concerning the terminal's construction.

Here is an excerpt from the Save the Bay website:
"Congressmen Barney Frank and Jim McGovern today announced that they have made a very significant and perhaps decisive step forward in efforts to block the construction of the Hess LNG terminal.

McGovern and Frank, along with Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri, Fall River Mayor Michael Flanagan, and virtually all state and local government officials representing the Fall River area, have strongly opposed the LNG proposal and have fought it since it was first introduced eight years ago.

The mechanism by which Frank and McGovern in the House, working with Senators Kerry and Brown in the Senate, will help definitively end consideration of the LNG project is through a provision Frank and McGovern have written for the Energy and Water Appropriations bill in the House.

The provision would ban any federal funds from being used to further the LNG project in any way, including a prohibition on using funds even to advance the permitting process.

If the bill is signed into law, the long fight to stop the LNG terminal will effectively be over."

PLEASE SEND A LETTER through Save the Bay to your congressman via this link. It's easy to do and extremely important that you do it. Here is the link:
http://capwiz.com/savebay/issues/alert/?alertid=16078501

ecoRInews: Blue Pond dam owners cited and fined for negligence. http://www.ecori.org/

By ecoRI staff

Blue Pond dam in Hopkinton.HOPKINTON — The state Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has issued a notice of violation to the Ashville Corp. and its parent company, Green Plastics Corp., and fined them $59,747 for failing to maintain the former Blue Pond dam in a safe condition.

The dam, just north of Canonchet Road, ruptured March 31 during the historic spring floods and released about 180 million gallons of water that damaged town roads and private property. Blue Pond dam was classified as a significant hazard dam, which is a dam where failure or improper operation results in no probable loss of human life but can cause major economic loss such as a washout of two or more municipal roads or structural damage.

DEM took this enforcement action because the dam owners had been warned repeatedly by DEM officials and by engineers retained by the owners that the dam was unsafe and required repair. The owners failed to act to correct the unsafe condition, which led to the rupture, according to DEM.

The Ashville Corp. received a report in February 2005 from its engineer that summarized the findings of an inspection of the dam performed two months earlier, according to DEM. The engineer made recommendations to correct a section of the dam that the engineer noted had excessive leakage. Among the deficiencies found during inspections were an inoperable low level gate, excessive vegetation on the upstream and downstream embankments, significant leakage through the downstream embankment at several locations, rotation or movement of the upstream and downstream stone masonry walls, erosion along the upstream and downstream embankments, and sinkholes on the crest, according to DEM.

In April 2007, DEM issued a notice of intent to enforce to the Ashville Corp. that summarized the findings of an inspection performed the previous November. The engineer retained by DEM observed excessive leakage in the same area as noted in 2004.

The notice advised Ashville that the dam was unsafe and required the company to submit a report that described, as an interim measure, how the pond would be brought and maintained at a lowered elevation, so that the leakage no longer posed a safety threat.

The company ultimately failed to perform the controlled breach recommended by its engineer, according to DEM. The dam rupture occurred in the section of the dam where the leakage was observed.

The rules of recycling just got easier.

It’s the height of vacation season out on Cape Cod, the age-old summer refuge of New Englanders and non-New Englanders alike. But nothing ruins a vacation week faster than heading down to the beach only to be accosted by “no swimming” signs and huge clumps of seaweed and algae floating in the very waters that used to invite fun in the sun.

This is the problem detailed in yesterday’s New York Times article  “Cape Cod Waters in Pollution Crisis.” CLF has been working  to take steps to correct the problem for over a year and a half. This morning, NYTimes.com reported that the article is the third-most e-mailed today–signaling to CLF advocates that we’re working on an issue that a whole lot of people care a whole lot about.

The article also quotes CLF’s own Chris Kilian, director of our Clean Water and Healthy Forests program.

“A lawsuit would be intended to bring all of the relevant decision makers and authorities who should be part of the solution to the table,” Kilian told the Times reporter.

These unwanted green monsters are signs of a major pollution problem in Cape Cod’s legendary bays and waterways. The problem is caused by untreated wastewater from the septic systems, which threatens the health of local waters and the plant and marine life that live there–and the problem continues to get worse every year. Moreover, officials have known about the problem for over 30 years, and failed to do anything to stop it.

However, the effects of the pollution can be reversed by drafting stronger wastewater management plans and implementing more effective pollution removal technology–but towns have to act now. CLF is working to make that happen, before it’s too late.

Read more about CLF’s work on water pollution in Cape Cod at clf.org>>