How often do you think about gravity? Not even in the fall? The season kind of named for gravity? Not even when seemingly weightless orange, gold and red leaves glide towards the Earth, pulled inexorably toward its center by a powerful force that you can’t even see? Or when those leaves land gently in a […]
A leaking ark: Reports reveal pollution problems and species loss
October 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Two reports released this week reveal dangerous holes in our haphazard collection of environmental safeguards. The first, an investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Inspector General (IG), found that sewage treatment plants in America fail to address hundreds of hazardous chemicals routinely released by industry. The second, by the international conservation group World Wildlife […]
Shenandoah’s snot-grass isn’t child’s play
September 23, 2014 by Leave a Comment
It sounds like something kids would say to gross each other out: snot-grass. But to Shenandoah Riverkeeper Jeff Kelble and others who use the river, it’s serious business. For the past 10 years, according to Kelble’s group, long strips of slimy green algae (reminiscent of certain substances known to emanate from human nostrils) have formed […]
Back to the Future: Clean Water Act decisions confirm what we already knew
March 31, 2014 by Leave a Comment
You could say that the two major clean water policy decisions emerging from Washington last week are victories for water quality; or you could say that they bring us right back to where we should have been all along. The first was EPA’s proposed rule on what constitutes waters of the United States – the […]
Toxic winter: Pollution events in WV and NC reflect a broader problem
February 27, 2014 by 1 Comment
Clean water – or rather, dirty water — has generated a lot of headlines this winter. The January 9 chemical spill into Charleston’s Elk River in West Virginia garnered national attention for weeks. A month later, coal ash from a Duke Energy facility spilled into North Carolina’s Dan River. Then more news emerged from West […]
A Voice for the River
January 29, 2014 by Leave a Comment
I should have known him better – or rather, known of him better. Pete Seeger, iconic American folk singer for decades, died Monday night at the age of 94. Those who care about rivers also know him as the founder of the Clearwater, the Hudson River sloop he built to spread the word that the […]
Summer’s End
September 19, 2013 by 2 Comments
Garden fresh tomatoes and crisp cucumbers. A cool swimming hole and a paddle down the river. A quiet evening fishing and a campsite by the creek. What did you enjoy this summer? Whatever it was, chances are it depended on clean water. We often take clean water for granted these days, but not so […]
Take the River Network’s Clean Water Act Course
December 2, 2009 by Leave a Comment
This course is designed to give you options about how to learn about the Clean Water Act based on your interests.The course is meant as a companion to the River Network book, The Clean Water Act: An Owner’s Manual. Course content is structured to help you: isolate specific problems identify possible solutions develop and leverage […]
Track the Clean Water Restoration Act
November 7, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Here’s a great site to track the progress of the Clean Water Restoration Act: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-787 And here’s a good page on the Myths and Facts of the Act: http://www.cleanwateraction.org/feature/clean-water-restoration-act-2009-myths-and-facts
