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EPA works to protect environment and all of us | My View

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We all know there is someone out there working to protect the environment.

Someone is making sure that our forests are pretty enough for our morning hikes and skies clear enough for stargazing. What we don’t know is who is responsible for ensuring our health and safety every day. Allow me to introduce you to the Environmental Protection Agency.

What is the EPA? The Environmental Protection Agency is a federal agency that works to protect the environment through enforcing national standards under environmental laws with the help and consultation of states, tribes and local governments. The agency manages everything from water treatment, pesticide and chemical regulation, indoor air quality and outdoor recreation to international agreements and partnerships. If you drink water, eat food or live in a house, you should care about the EPA.

The EPA — like several other federal agencies — faces the threat of federal budget guts. With an already minimal budget, the EPA relies on the existing money to fun essential programs and workers. Any cuts to the budget would be like taking food and water from a starving agency.

There are several risks we face from the environment that have the potential to damage our health. Living in close proximity to a Superfund site leads to exposure to toxic chemicals. Certain areas of the country are more at risk for radon poisoning. The water we drink every day has to undergo testing and treatment to prevent contamination. The food we eat is tested for pesticides and other chemicals. The EPA’s funding is necessary to monitory and regulate that the conditions we live are optimal for our own health and safety.

The cleaning of Superfund sites across the nation is a slow and time-consuming process — it takes, on average 10 years to finish cleaning of a site after its released proposal. With continued budget cuts, this process will only be extended, vastly increasing the risk of groundwater contamination and exposure to toxic chemicals.

There are only 19 Superfund sites in New Mexico. Four of these sites have been deleted and 11 have finished construction. Other states are not as fortunate: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and California each have more than 100 Superfund sites, and only 20 percent to 25 percent of these sites have completed the cleaning process.

According to National Geographic, 95 Superfund sites across the country are exposing people to dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. Due to funding setbacks, some of these sites have been listed for decades and continue to put people at risk.

Living in New Mexico — or Zone 6, as referred to by the EPA — we are at higher risk for being exposed to toxic levels of radon. Exposure to these toxic levels of radon has the potential to lead to lung cancer, and the EPA ensures that every household has accessibility to affordable radon testing.

With an already scarce source of water, the EPA helps the New Mexico Environment Department to develop the necessary infrastructure for water treatment throughout the state. The environment department works with local governments, citizen groups and federal agencies to maximize efforts to provide safe and healthy water to New Mexico residents.

The EPA not only monitors our health but also aids tribes across the nation to develop and maintain their own environmentally safe practices. In 1992, Congress passed the Indian Environmental General Assistant Program Act. This provides grants for tribes to assist in developing environmental protection programs and hazardous waste management programs on tribal lands.

The EPA regulates so many aspects of our daily lives that decrease its funding thins the line between life and death. How could we survive without the constant control of the air we breathe and the food we consume? The first step to saving our own lives is by saving the EPA.

Miriam Bechtel writes from

Santa Fe.

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SLT-Mobitel tree planting program at Umandawa

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SLT-Mobitel launched another episode of the National ‘Mee’ tree planting program on the theme ‘Let’s nourish the country with clean air and fertiliser’  at the Umandawa Global Buddhist Village, Madhapola, Melsiripura recently to improve air quality and mitigate the effects of climate change for a sustainable future.

Representing the SLT-Mobitel Senior Management were SLT General Manager, North Central and North Western Province, Samantha Jayasinghe; General Manager, Marketing Services, Anuruddha Sooriyarachchi; Deputy General Manager, North West (Eastern Province), Bandula Vitharama; Deputy General Manager, Marketing Activations, Anne Fernando, Mobitel Regional Manager, Ranmal Fonseka and District Manager, Nirosha Karunaratne were also present.

General Manager, BG Solar Energy (Pvt) Ltd, Rohan Gunapala and Managing Director, Ekro Lanka Trading, Suranjith Dharmaratne who contributed to this program, also attended the event.

The ‘Mee’ tree has been selected for the program considering its contribution to pest control, ability to be used in the production of organic manure, ability to purify the air and its use as a natural medicine. Under this program, 75 bhikkhus from various parts of the country and the people who visited the Umandawa premises were given ‘Mee’ saplings.

Preventing deforestation and improving the natural removal of Carbon Dioxide from the air are main objectives of this program.

Eventually this will bring many benefits such as minimizing greenhouse gases, better air purification, conservation of biodiversity in different parts of the country, increased production of organic manure and public awareness of the importance of conserving ‘Mee’ trees.

The most significant feature of the program is SLT-Mobitel using modern technology to monitor the growth of every tree planted, through the Thuru obile application, which will help determine the success of the program.

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Montana’s proposed new clean water metrics create consternation | Local News

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For more than two years the groundwater around Worden and Ballantine in Eastern Montana was unsafe to drink after the water district there discovered nitrates in the water in alarmingly high levels in 2019 — high enough to be mortally dangerous to infants.

It also left the Worden Ballantine Yellowstone County Water and Sewer District scrambling to find a new source of drinking water. Water treatment systems are expensive, complex and out of reach for many rural water districts.  

For the Worden Ballantine water district, relief finally came last year in the form of $4.74 million in federal aid that it will use to essentially build a whole new water system. Investigators were never able to find the source of the nitrate contamination, so the water district dug four new wells from which it now draws its clean water. 

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For Richard Parks, a fly fishing guide based in Gardiner and a water quality advocate with the Northern Plains Resource Council, it illustrates the difficulty and expense wrapped up in water treatment. 

He argues it’s one of the big reasons municipalities in Montana are looking for ways to relax the state’s water quality standards. 

“While removing nutrients is doable, it costs money,” he said.  

The state, during the last legislative session, passed Senate Bill 358 in an attempt to create a more flexible solution to how the state monitors and responds to water quality. It replaces the state’s old numeric system with a narrative system for quantifying the amounts of nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus, in the state’s waterways. 

Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus are important fertilizers but too much in a stream or river can create dangerous algae blooms that choke the life out of a waterway.

Parks, who’s livelihood depends on the health of the rivers in Paradise Valley, believes the state’s implementation of a new monitoring system will damage the water quality in Montana. 

“A completely misbegotten and abominable step to take,” he said. 



The final clarifier at the Billings Water Reclamation Facility on Thursday, March 17, 2022. The clarifier separates out the bacteria which were used in the bioreactor.



‘Not going backwards’

Louis Engels, the water quality superintendent for the City of Billings, sees it from a different perspective. He looks at the city’s new $75 million wastewater treatment plant, built in 2019, that’s designed specifically to remove higher amounts of nitrogen and phosphates from wastewater, and sees a pretty good system.

He’s convinced Billings and the other major municipalities in Montana are doing as much to keep the state’s waterways clean as just about any other group. Overall, Montana’s eight largest cities have collectively invested $260 million in treating wastewater to reach these specific levels. 

“We’re not going backwards,” he said. “We’ve invested more in water quality than anyone in the region.”

The law certainly doesn’t roll back water standards,” said Kelly Lynch, an attorney with the Montana League of Cities and Towns. Montana’s constitution requires that the state “maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment…for present and future generations.”

Lynch helped craft the legislation that became SB 358, which itself doesn’t dictate water quality standards but instead creates a framework for them. 

Stakeholders will spend the year evaluating the data that’s been collected from waterways across the state for decades and create a system that can set specific standards for the various watersheds across the state. 

Most importantly, the state-issued permits that dictate exactly the amounts of nutrients municipalities are allowed to release into their waterways remain in force and by law can’t be rolled back, Lynch said. 

Under those permit requirements, municipal wastewater treatment plants capture and remove roughly 90% of the nitrogen and phosphorus and other nutrient waste in the water they process.

Ryan Sudbury, deputy city attorney in Missoula who specializes in water quality issues, said his city has worked hard to be proactive and pragmatic in its approach to treating water.

“We just want to make sure the things we’re doing make sense,” he said. 



Billings Water Reclamation Facility

A large cover over the primary clarifier which separates smaller solids from waste water at the Billings Water Reclamation Facility on Thursday, March 17, 2022.



Watershed specific

The state’s new plan for monitoring water quality moves to what’s known as an adaptive management plan, which allows regions within the state to create the standards that will address the specific type of pollution they see. 

“A site-specific approach would better serve the stakeholders in that region,” said Amanda McInnis, an area manager and wastewater specialist with HDR in Missoula. 

The adaptive management plan, specific to each watershed, dictates what’s required, she said. 

“We’ve got to look at all of the watershed,” she said. 

Brian Heaston, senior water resource engineer for the City of Bozeman, is hopeful SB 358 will do what it’s set out to do. A big part of that will be how it utilizes the science to dictate water quality, he said.

Rather than disregard the data that’s been used to create state standards up until now, he sees the law requiring municipalities to rely on good, accurate contemporary data to make decisions on how they satisfy water quality standards going forward.

“It’s utilizing site-specific data collected at a watershed site,” he said. “We’re building on the science.”

Parks, the fly fishing guide in Gardiner, believes data is the key if the state is going to use the adaptive management plan system and he’s not convinced the new law does enough to require the collection of good data moving forward. 

“You’ve got to understand where you’re trying to go,” he said. “Without the standard you’ve got no objective.”

Bozeman draws much of its drinking water from the East Gallatin River and the city has spent years and more than $250,000 studying the impact of nutrients on the nearly 30-mile stretch of the river before it meets up with the Gallatin. 

Collecting the right data from the right places allows the regions where these watersheds exist to better understand the impact nutrients have on their waterways and how best to protect them, Heaston said.

And the best way to do it is by requiring those specific regions to figure it out. The state’s too big to do it efficiently on a statewide level, he said.

“We believe we are a primary steward of the aquatic environment of the East Gallatin River,” Heaston said. “We want to see it succeed.” 

Point-source blues

One of the tallest hurdles the state faces as it works to better regulate water quality is what’s known as non-point source dischargers. 

Cities and towns across the state are relatively easy for the state to manage. The majority of municipalities in Montana have some type of water treatment plant, which the state regulates as a point-source discharger of treated wastewater. 

Point-source is the state’s designation for any recognized source of discharged wastewater, which typically means a city pipe releasing water into the wild. 

What’s harder for the state to regulate are non-point sources, those entities outside of municipalities that still release polluted water into a waterway. These sources usually exist on county land and come from agricultural and septic sources.

And the state has no system in place to regulate them.

It’s a concern for both municipal water managers and environmentalists. The state has seen record growth in the last two years and clean water advocates worry it will increasingly push development into more rural areas of the state. 

And that push, they say, could lead to higher levels of nutrient pollution finding its way into rivers and streams with no way for the state to regulate it.

“The state is going to have to address that in some meaningful way,” Heaston said. 

Engels, the water quality superintendent for Billings, agreed. The majority of nitrogen and phosphorus found in state waterways comes from sources other than cities and towns. And so municipalities can’t be the only ones responsible to keep the state’s water clean, he said. 



Billings Water Reclamation Facility

Solid waste comes off of a conveyor belt after being processed at the Billings Water Reclamation Facility on Thursday, March 17, 2022. After being processed, the solid waste goes to a landfill.



Cost of clean water

The original numeric standards for wastewater discharge put in place by the state were never implemented. A lawsuit filed by the Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, a water quality advocacy group based in Bozeman, put the requirements on hold until the courts figured out the best approach. 

SB 358 was designed in part as a work around and Engels sees it as a better option anyway. The old numeric standard for water quality was never possible to reach, he said. 

“The technology does not exist,” he said. 

To get close, city water treatment plants would have to install reverse osmosis filtration systems and there still would be nutrient levels it couldn’t reach. And then there’s the cost, Engel said.

It would cost Billings $30 million to install a reverse osmosis filtration system and there would be no guarantee it would remove nitrogen and phosphorus down to the numbers required under the old numeric system. 

That’s a cost Billings would end up passing onto ratepayers, which no one likes, Engels said. But it would be especially burdensome on smaller townships — many with aging water treatment plants — that simply don’t have the resources or the population base to float the cost. For Engels it’s about prioritizing limited resources. 

Sudbury, with the Missoula city attorney’s office, agreed. 

“Even if we built it, it wouldn’t result in measurable differences,” he said. “We’re not opposed to spending money to treat nutrients, we just think there’s a better way to do it.”

Municipal water treatment systems across the state remove 90% of the nitrogen and phosphorus and other nutrient waste from their wastewater. To get at the remaining 10% becomes a game of diminishing returns.

“It’s incredibly expensive and incredibly energy intensive,” Heaston said. “Is the benefit worth the cost?”

Parks acknowledged it’s a complex problem with no easy answer. The problem, he said, is that the state’s water quality hangs in the balance. If the state gets it wrong, rivers and streams end up damaged, which can impact everything from Montana’s quality of life to its tourism industry. 

“I don’t think any of us pretend there’s a simple solution to this,” he said. “And that’s my problem with SB 358. It goes for the simple solution.”

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Why are Covid-19 cases increasing? WHO gives 3 reasons, and a warning | World News

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Covid-19 cases have increased around the world – particularly in South East Asia, where China, South Korea, and Hong Kong have all reported worrying numbers. Hong Kong on Friday crossed the one million cases-mark and South Korea on Thursday reported a staggering 621,328 new Covid cases. China was forced to lockdown major cities to contain the virus and the mainland Saturday reported its first Covid-related deaths in a year. Cases have also increased in Europe. Estimates by AFP show a staggering 35 per cent weekly increase in Covid in France, and 42 per cent in the United Kingdom and Italy each.

The World Health Organization has said these spikes were ‘the tip of the iceberg’ and outlined three reasons (primarily) for this surge in cases.

What the WHO said:

Spike is being driven partly by the more transmissible omicron:

A ‘stealth’ sub-variant of the omicron strain has also been detected and experts believe it could also be responsible for the surge in cases in China. 

The emergence of the sub-variant, designated BA.2, is a matter of concern because it is missing key mutations in the spike protein that are considered necessary for rapid PCR tests to identify the infection.

The WHO has said it is still too early to draw conclusions about BA.2, which seems to produce symptoms no more severe than the parent strain.

Another point of concern is a mixed omicron strain – ‘stealth’ + normal. First detected in Israel – two cases at the Ben Gurion Airport – it has been identified as BA.1 + BA.2. The point of origin is still unknown but BA.2 is believed to be even more transmissible than omicron.

“Omicron is transmitting at a very intense level… We have sub-lineages of BA.1 and BA.2. BA.2 is more transmissible and this is the most transmissible variant we have seen of the SARS-COV2 virus to date,” Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s Covid technical lead, said.

Lifting of restrictions and public health measures:

At the height of the pandemic countries locked down. Public gatherings were banned, shops and restaurants closed, and people told to stay home.

As cases declined and vaccination levels increased governments – desperate to revive economies – began re-opening. This is another reason for the re-emergence of Covid cases and the growth of variants, the WHO indicated.

The health body has urged people to follow basic protocols – wear face masks in public, avoid unnecessary contact with large gatherings, and practice proper hygiene by regularly disinfecting hands and frequently touched surfaces.

READ: Covid-19 surge – What WHO said, where are cases increasing, and why

Misinformation regarding vaccines, virus spread:

The WHO has said massive amounts of fake news being spread, intentionally or otherwise, about vaccines has hampered recovery efforts.

The WHO has also said that false reports about the spread of the virus – reports suggesting the pandemic will end after omicron – are also a problem. 

“In the last four weeks… the amount of misinformation seems to be getting worse…” Dr von Kerkhove said Tuesday.

Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO’s executive director of the Health Emergencies Programme, clarified the virus has not ‘settled’ into a predictable pattern.

“The idea ‘we are through with it’ in the northern hemisphere and have to wait till next winter… we need to be very vigilant and cautious with this,” he said.

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Natalie Mihalek & Wendell Young

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(WHTM) —  In This Week in Pennsylvania, Dennis Owens reports the latest in Pa. policy and politics.

In this week’s episode, Owens will talk about how the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upholds the new redistricting maps and how there is a renewed call to ban smoking from all places exempt from the 2008 Clean Indoor Air Act, such as casinos and private clubs.

Get daily news, weather, breaking news and alerts straight to your inbox! Sign up for the abc27 newsletters here.

He will then talk to Western Pennsylvania State Representative Natalie Mihalek and Wendell Young, the President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union which represents state store workers.

Exclusive: One on one interview with Josh Shapiro

Then, Analysts Chris Nicholas and Danielle Gross join in on the conversation.

You can watch the show with the player above!

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Something In The (Indoor) Air: A Paradigm Shift

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At the Early Care and Education Center at the University of Wyoming, there’s a lot of what one would expect to see at a daycare – toys, books, and cubbies for tiny shoes. And that’s not all.

“We’ve got air purifiers, we’ve got CO2 detectors,” said Mark Bittner, the director of the daycare. He said those machines were added during the pandemic as they were looking for ways to keep both children and staff.

The daycare’s HVAC system also got a boost to recirculate air more frequently, and each classroom now has an air purifier.

As for the CO2 detector, it’s not measuring for the novel coronavirus or anything else besides carbon dioxide. But here is why it’s useful -CO2 is what we breathe out, so if there’s a lot of it in a room, the air isn’t fresh. You’re more likely to breathe in the same air someone else just breathed out.

But if the detector shows numbers on the higher end, Bittner said “It’s not a panic…It’s just, find ways to move the air a little bit better,” like opening a window, or turning on a fan.

These kinds of mitigation efforts happened all over the country as people were thinking critically about indoor air. Much of those efforts were funded with CARES Act dollars. Specifically, over $54 billion was allocated for K-12 schools, including for facility repairs and improvements in ventilation systems. Similarly, almost $23 billion was provided to colleges and universities.

For many, this kind of consideration for indoor air was something entirely new.

“As a result, most of us in this field have been working nonstop,” said Shelly Miller, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. Over the last year or so, Miller said almost all of her time has been dedicated to getting the word out on indoor air quality, whether it’s talking to the press, writing and publishing scientific articles or posting on Twitter.

A lot of it has been about catching up. Miller said, historically, people have paid way more attention to the air outside. But even that’s a recent phenomena.

“We only realized in the 1950s, that air pollution could kill you because of the London outbreak,” she said in reference to the Great Smog of 1952, which was five days of disastrous air pollution.

That smog was caused by unusually frigid and windless weather, combined with pollution from burning coal. It shut down the city and caused thousands of deaths. And it spurred the UK’s Clean Air Act of 1956.

People realized that if we want clean air, the government needs to regulate that. And just as importantly, Miller said it gave way to thinking about outdoor air as a public good -something that we all share. But, she said, we haven’t come around to that kind of thinking for indoor air.

“What’s happened with indoor air is that it’s become a private good. This is your home, this is your space. The government is not going to invade your space or your home or your office building,” she said.

But better air quality at home can keep you healthy in a number of ways -filtering allergens, dust, as well as pathogens that make you sick.

It’s possible the COVID-19 pandemic could trigger change the way the Great Smog did. It could be a paradigm shift for indoor air. In fact, 39 scientists are calling for just that in a report published in the journal Science earlier this month.

Miller and her CU Boulder colleague and aerosol expert, Jose-Luis Jimenez, are two of those researchers.

“So our society has been very successful at removing pathogens from water or from food, and they are very, you know, complex, sophisticated systems that work very, very well,” he said.

We’ve come to expect our drinking water to be clean and the food we buy at the grocery store to be safe, but Jimenez said we’re not there yet with indoor air.

“It’s something our society just hasn’t done,” he said.

Jimenez and others said it’s time for that change. In the report, the group of researchers demands that every country develop, promulgate and enforce standards for indoor air quality that include airborne pathogens. They also call on professional engineering bodies to develop comprehensive ventilation standards.

Notably, the group asks that monitors displaying the state of indoor air quality be mandated -like the CO2 detector. They wrote, “Visible displays will help keep building operators accountable for IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) and will advance public awareness, leading to increased demand for a safe environment.”

The demands are bold, but it doesn’t all have to be complicated, or extremely expensive. It can be as simple as plugging in a hundred-dollar CO2 detector, and if need be, opening a window.

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Sneezing, coughing and itchy eyes: How to manage your allergies in spring

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Spring is arriving soon, which means warmer temperatures and more opportunities to enjoy outdoor activities.

But if you’re one of the millions of Americans who suffer from allergies, going outside when pollen is in the air may not be a good idea.

Here’s how to keep your seasonal allergies in check during the warmer months. What causes spring aller

What causes spring allergies?

The biggest cause of spring allergies is pollen, according to WebMD.

In spring, trees, grasses and weeds release tiny grains of pollen into the air to fertilize other plants. When they enter your nose, your immune system can mistake the pollen for a danger and release antibodies that attack the allergens.

This often leads to the release of histamines into your blood, which can trigger allergy symptoms like:

— Runny nose

— Watery eyes

— Sneezing

— Coughing

— Itchy eyes and nose

— Dark circles under the eyes How to reduce your expo

How to reduce your exposure to allergy triggers

There are steps you can take to reduce your exposure to things that trigger your allergy symptoms, according to Mayo Clinic:

— Stay inside on dry, windy days. The best time to go outside is after it rains, when pollen is cleared from the air.

— Shower after spending time outside to rinse pollen from your skin and hair.

— Wear a pollen mask if you decide to do chores outside.

— Avoid outdoor activities in the early morning when pollen counts are highest.

— Close your doors and windows at night or when pollen counts are high.

— Start taking allergy medications before your symptoms appear.

Over-the-counter remedies for allergies According to Mayo Clinic,

According to Mayo Clinic, many types of nonprescription medications can help ease allergy symptoms. They include:

— Oral antihistamines to relieve sneezing, itching, runny nose and watery eyes like Claritin, Alavert, Zyrtec Allergy and Allegra Allergy

— Decongestants to provide relief from nasal stuffiness like Sudafed and Afrinol

— Nasal spray to ease allergy symptoms

— Some OTC medications like Claritin-D and Allegra-D that combine an antihistamine with a decongestant

How to keep the air inside your house allergen-free

It’s impossible to eliminate all the allergens from the air in your home, Mayo Clinic says, but these methods can help reduce them:

— Use high-efficiency filters in your air conditioning unit and follow regular maintenance schedules.

— Keep indoor air dry with a dehumidifier.

— Use a portable highefficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter in your bedroom.

— Use a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA air filter.

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Five things to keep in mind while renovating or ventilating your households

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Indoor air quality has been determined to be up to ten times more contaminated than outdoor air in numerous studies conducted by reputable laboratories and research institutes. It happens all the time, especially in poorly ventilated enclosures. Sick building syndrome is caused solely by these improperly aerated enclosures.

Previously, while planning a building, the most efficient use of space took precedence above ventilation. Such structures are unhealthy to live in, and the most efficient approach to make them habitable is to renovate them with appropriate ventilation alternatives. To tackle the problem, foresight at the time of design is required. It’s important to remember the proper amount of airing and sunlight.

The following considerations are extremely significant when renovating or ventilating a home:

Ventilation

There are three ways that outside air enters and exits a home:

Infiltration: Air enters the house through gaps around windows and doors, as well as joints, apertures, and cracks in the ceilings, walls, and floors, in a process known as infiltration.

Natural Ventilation: Air travels in and out of a room through open vents, windows, and doors in natural ventilation.

Mechanical Ventilation: Mechanical ventilation involves forcing air into and out of enclosed spaces using mechanical mechanisms.

The air exchange rate (AER), or the rate at which outdoor air replaces inside air, is the most critical component to consider while designing. Appropriate AER could be attained in one of the three techniques listed above.

Leakage is minimized in new residential and office buildings to save energy, increase comfort, and prevent moisture and pollutants from entering. Mechanical ventilation should be installed in these structures to eliminate interior contaminants and deliver controlled external air. People who live in a building emit carbon dioxide, and the higher the occupancy in a space, the more CO2 is emitted. It is also a significant issue to take into account. The building, current heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system, and the air changes required for the building and specific function, such as seizing aerosol pollution, determine if a mechanical ventilation system is required. Which will be challenging and costly.

Sunlight

Sunlight is a powerful germicide that is both natural and effective. It minimizes the danger of sick building syndrome by destroying bacteria. The possibility of maximum sunshine reaching all rooms should be considered and accomplished when planning a building. Even when remodelling, it’s important to keep in mind that sunshine should be allowed to enter different parts of the building.

Moisture

Appropriate moisture should be maintained in a building for the health of those who live or work there.

Less humidity causes sour throat and other respiratory problems, while too much moisture promotes the growth of mould, fungi, algae, bacteria, and other germs in the structure. Ensure that all pipes are leak-proof and that water does not seep into the wall during construction. The roof must be watertight.

Sanitary connections and washrooms must be impenetrable to contamination. A mechanical dehumidifier might be used if the environmental humidity is higher in a certain location, while a humidifier could be used if it is lower.

Paints

Lead levels in many paints are extremely high. Exposure to high levels of lead in paints can disrupt a child’s brain development and impede nervous system development, resulting in learning impairments and hearing loss. Lead in paintings can raise blood pressure in adults as well. Aside from lead, most paints emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which evaporate in the air and worsen indoor air quality (Indoor Air Quality). VOCs are carcinogenic and can have a negative impact on one’s health. Many factors influence the effect, including the chemical concentration in the air, the duration of exposure to the chemical, medical conditions, age, and vulnerability. Use paints that are devoid of lead and mercury.

It’s also a good idea to use the exhaust fans for 2-3 days to eliminate paint fumes from the building.

Paints should not be kept near heating, ventilation, or air-conditioning systems.

Fixture and Furniture

VOCs are found in paints, varnishes, sealants, and adhesives used in fixtures and furniture. VOCs can also be found in cleaning, disinfecting, cosmetics, and aerosol-based air fresheners. VOCs are constantly released into the building’s air by these substances and components. Reduced use of these elements in the building aids in the reduction of volatile compound emissions. Furthermore, both natural and mechanical ventilation aid in the removal of cancer-causing substances from the structure.

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Disclaimer

Views expressed above are the author’s own.

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The Central States Water Works Association

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The Central States Water Works Association

The Central States Water Works Association, which holds its nineteenth annual convention in Cincinnati, O., on May 10-14, 1915, dates back to 1897. Late in that year an organization was discussed by a number of water works men, including C. W. Wiles, superintendent at Delaware, O., and a letter dated November 23 was issued and received generous responses. This letter was followed by another calling a meeting of all water works superintendents, presidents, secretaries, water works committees, boards of trustees, engineers and others interested in the maintenance of water works in the State of Ohio, to be held at Columbus, O., on February 17, 1898. The letter stated the purpose to be “organization of a society of Ohio for the benefit, education and improvement of its members in all things pertaining to the management and maintenance of water works.” This letter was signed by: C. W. Wiles, superintendent, Delaware, O.; J. O’Shaughnessy, superintendent, Columbus, O.; T. R. Cook, superintendent, Toledo; O. L. Hayes, president, Galion; A. W. Inman, superintendent, Massillon; John Fisher, secretary, Hamilton; F. C. Smith, superintendent, Washington C. H.; G. F. Cooper, superintendent, Xenia; W. A. Veach, receiver, Newark, O.: J. P. Malloy, superintendent, Sidney; Geo. Cotter, superintendent, Springfield; J. A. Bradner, superintendent, Fostoria; Geo. M. McPeck. secretary, Marysville; and C. W. Koons. superintendent, Mt. Vernon. The meeting was called to order, at the Great Southern Hotel, by J. O’Shauglinessy, and a roll call showed forty-seven present. At this meeting the Central States Water Works Association was organized, it being decided upon the suggestion of W. P. Sharp, chief engineer of the Cincinnati Water Works, not to make the society an Ohio organization, but one to include Ohio, Illinois, Indiana. Kentucky, Michigan, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The name adopted was suggested by Mr. Wiles. Mr. O’Shaughnessy was the temporary chairman, and John Fisher, temporary secretary. By-laws were adopted and Mr. O’Shaughnessy was elected president, with C. W. Wiles as fire vice-president; J. P. Malloy, second vice-president; C. W. Koons, third vicepresident; A. W. Inman, fourth vice-president; John Fisher, secretary: Charles E. Rowe, treasurer. Mayor Samuel L. Black delivered an address of welcome to the water works men, and Professor John W. Hill, of Cincinnati, made an address. There was a question box, followed by discussion, and the program also included the reading of papers. The local committee of Columbus provided recreation. The delegates also by invitation attended a lecture by Professor Hill in the chapel of the Ohio State University on “Sources of Pure Water Supply.” On one evening the members joined with the delegates to the mayors’ and councilmen’s convention at a banquet tendered by citizens of Columbus. The association met next in September of the same year in Springfield, O. At this 1898 convention there were 53 active and 22 associate members. and_ at the next year’s convention, at Cincinnati, there were present 112 active and 46 associate members and 63 guests. The same number of active and associate members attended the 1900 convention in Columbus as in 1899. At the 1900 convention, William Allen Veach, of Newark, O.. was elected secretary, succeeding Mr. Fisher, who had been secretary since the association was organized.

Convention in Evansville.

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New initiative aims to celebrate US energy workers

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Much has been made of the Biden Administration asking members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase oil and gas production to help lower prices rather than turning to domestic producers. 

“While he’s saying no to the Permian Basin, to the Gulf of Mexico, he’s saying yes to Iran, to Iraq, to other areas – to Libya instead of Lubbock, to Algeria instead of Abilene,” said Scott Angelle, formerly the longest-serving director of the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

There was pain at the gas pump before Russia’s “stupidity and ignorance” in invading Ukraine, he said, but the invasion will cause additional pain before things are sorted out.

“It’s unfortunate it took an invasion and a war to highlight how important domestic energy is,” he commented.

 Angelle, who is also a former Louisiana Lieutenant Governor, has launched USA Energy Workers and a website, www.usaenergyworkers.com, that lets the nation’s 3.1 million energy workers tell their stories and offers an online gathering for them, their families and friends.

“I would say it’s not a solution and it is an insult. It is an insult to US energy workers that ‘We don’t want you to do this, we’ll get others to do it.’ You wouldn’t say that to US car manufacturers, you wouldn’t say you don’t want US corn or wheat, but that’s what they did with oil,” he told the Reporter-Telegram in a telephone interview.

He said the increasingly negative rhetoric around the oil and gas industry has also served to vilify its workers, and he sees the website as a way for them to tell their stories.

“For generations we’ve had people who put on their steel-toed boots and their hard hats, kiss their families good-bye and go do the hard work of energizing the country,” he said. “There’s a saying that, ‘if you can read this, thank a teacher. Well, if you can read this, at night, and you’re warm, thank a teacher AND an energy worker.”

The website also has a “My Story” portal that lets energy workers share how they participate in and glorify nature. Red states love the environment as much as blue states, and clean air and clean water are as important, Angelle noted.

He stressed that he does not limit USA energy workers to only those who work to produce oil and gas but those in alternative energy like wind and solar, who are equally important. Not only could it serve to glorify and not vilify energy workers but the website could serve as a tool to recruit the next generation, he said.

“My mission is to elevate and celebrate the energy worker,” Angelle said.

As an American, he concluded, “I am grateful for the men and women of the Permian Basin – Texas and New Mexico – for the work they’re doing. I’m confident America will be bolder, stronger and more secure because of the men and women and what they do; it’s phenomenal.”

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