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Environmental Justice Funds Seen as Just a Start for Advocates

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The Biden administration’s environmental justice efforts scored a big funding boost in the $1.5 trillion government spending bill, but advocates worry whether the increased attention can be sustained given years of promises that have failed to yield results in their communities.

One of the largest wins for the Environmental Protection Agency’s equity activities is the $100 million earmarked for its environmental justice programs, a sizable $83 million increase over fiscal 2021 funding.

The increase will support grants to disadvantaged communities but also allow the agency to bolster its ability to integrate environmental justice efforts across its entire mission, including clean air, clean water, toxic chemical, and waste management.

“As important as this funding is, it’s only a start,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), a leading congressional voice in pushing for more attention to disadvantaged communities.

“We need the scale of the funding to meet the scale of the problem. And vulnerable communities need laws in place to hold polluters accountable and give them recourse against discriminatory policies,” and more input into permitting decisions, he said.

Funding Boosts

On top of the $100 million for environmental justice efforts, the fiscal 2022 spending measure offered a more modest $13 million boost for environment monitoring and enforcement—totaling $539 million. The EPA’s Superfund cleanups received $1.23 billion total in fiscal 2022 spending under the bill—a slight $27 million boost over fiscal 2021 levels.

Cleanup and redevelopment of Brownfields sites got a $1 million boost, to $92 million total. While those increases are minimal, Superfund and other waste cleanups were awarded billions of dollars in new money under the bipartisan infrastructure package in part to help long-neglected communities neighboring the sites.

That law directed $3.5 billion to Superfund cleanups over five years.

The House approved the omnibus measure (H.R. 2471) Wednesday, with the Senate on Thursday sending the bill that sets spending through Sept. 30 to President Joe Biden.

All-Agency Effort

Advocates say underserved communities will need more than just the funding for the EPA programs. The effort will take the all-of-government approach Biden promised when he took office.

“We’ve been fighting legacy pollution issues for communities that have been built on Superfund sites and landfills for 30 years, trying to find a way out,” said Beverly White, a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council and executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.

More resources are needed to convert cleaned up waste sites into job-creating efforts such as solar energy projects that can benefit the communities, White said. “They need help from multiple agencies to have this resolved, and EPA in many ways is just a gateway to the all-of-government approach,” she said.

But, White added, she doesn’t see a process yet for broadening that effort beyond the EPA.

Significant Gains

EPA’s environmental justice efforts, particularly its Office of Environmental Justice—which coordinates efforts to address inequities across all EPA regional offices—is seeing significant gains under the spending measure, said Mustafa Santiago Ali, former senior adviser on EPA’s environmental justice efforts.

“This most definitely advances environmental justice,” and Superfund and other waste site cleanups now have “a much stronger foundation than we have had in a number of years,” said Ali, now the National Wildlife Federation’s vice president of environmental justice, climate, and community revitalization.

Ali and other advocates said that while increased funding is always welcomed, that funding is arriving as EPA leadership is vowing more aggressive enforcement to better protect communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, including more surprise inspections of polluting sites.

“Even where some of these are modest increases, it may be just as important how the agency is using those resources to actually benefit these communities,” he said.

Looking to Next Year

Many advocates are already looking ahead to next year to see whether recent gains in federal spending will hold, according to Dana Johnson, senior strategy and federal policy director for WE ACT for Environmental Justice.

“When we look to fiscal 2023 we will want to see spending really centering on environmental justice” beyond EPA, she said.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan in January announced the agency would beef up inspections of sites in and around disadvantaged communities, along with more air monitoring efforts, including use of the agency’s single-engine turboprop ASPECT plane, and hire additional air pollution inspectors.

Regan, who launched a tour of long-ignored communities in the fall, said too many communities had been suffering for “far too long”—with some communities waiting decades for results.

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Lennox International Declares Quarterly Dividend

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DALLAS, March 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The board of directors of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE: LII) voted to declare a quarterly cash dividend of $0.92 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on April 15, 2022, to stockholders of record as of March 31, 2022. 

About Lennox International
Lennox International Inc. is a global leader in energy-efficient climate-control solutions. Dedicated to sustainability and creating comfortable and healthier environments for our residential and commercial customers while reducing their carbon footprint, we lead the field in innovation with our air conditioning, heating, indoor air quality, and refrigeration systems. Lennox International stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and traded under the symbol “LII”. Additional information on Lennox International is available at www.lennoxinternational.com or by contacting Steve Harrison, Vice President, Investor Relations, at 972-497-6670.

SOURCE Lennox International Inc.

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Boil Water Advisory issued for parts of Lincoln County

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The advisory affects approximately 500 customers of the McKinney Water District

LINCOLN COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – A Boil Water Advisory was issued Friday at 3:11 p.m. for approximately 500 customers of the McKinney Water District in Lincoln County.

Water district officials say the advisory affects customers who live from Old Petrey Store on 698 to the intersection of 198, and from Short Pike on 198 to the intersection of 698.

The area includes Short Pike, Highway 518, Norris Road, Highway 127, Old Liberty Loop, Moccasin Road, Sims Road, Happy Hollow, Tombs Hollow, Highway 1778, Brown Hollow, Ruhe Brown Road and all side roads leading from the above mentioned roads, according to district water officials.

The advisory is in effect until further notice.

Affected customers should boil all tap water to be used for cooking, drinking and making ice for at least three minutes.

Water officials did not release the reason for the advisory.

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Triad City Beat | ‘I had a panic attack,’ says Forsyth County official about air pollution from Weaver Fertilizer fire

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Featured image: Winston-Salem fertilizer plant fire (Photo: Screen grab Winston-Salem Fire Dept. drone footage)

This article was originally published by NC Policy Watch on March 10.

Thirty-six hours after a catastrophic fire broke out at the Weaver Fertilizer plant, the air in this Winston-Salem neighborhood was practically unbreathable.

Levels of fine particulate matter, known as PM 2.5, peaked at more than 30 times the EPA’s eight-hour average.

“I had a panic attack,” Minor Barnette, director of the Forsyth County Office of Environmental Assistance and Protection, said. “I had never seen numbers like that.”

Even average levels of PM 2.5 — invisible particulates that burrow deep into the lungs — were so high that they were categorized as “hazardous” to public health, based on EPA guidelines.

Barnette debriefed the Environmental Management Commission yesterday on the Weaver Fertilizer fire, where 500 tons of ammonium nitrate ignited and burned from Jan. 31 until at least Feb. 6, when the building’s ruins were still smoldering. His account illustrated how close the city came to an unfathomable disaster. That includes a troubling discovery several days after the blaze of an open-air shed containing fertilizer which was leaching into a creek.

At 6:45 on the evening of Jan. 31, the Winston-Salem Fire Department received a call that the plant was on fire. The fertilizer was stored in a wooden building that didn’t have a sprinkler system — a situation that was lawful, based on when the facility was built in 1939.

“It was in a highly developed area,” Barnette said. The city had grown around the plant, with homes, businesses and a prison nearby. The area is largely a community of color and a low-income neighborhood. State environmental regulators have designated it “potentially underserved.”

For two hours firefighters poured 600,000 gallons of water on the blaze. “It had done almost no good,” Barnette said.

Meanwhile, just feet from the plant, a rail car contained another 100 tons of ammonium nitrate.

Because of the risk of explosion, at 9 p.m. 6,500 people within a mile of the plant were asked to evacuate.

Ammonium nitrate is an oxidizer. That means although not inherently flammable, it can ignite and explode when it comes into contact with other hot materials. An ammonium nitrate explosion in West, Texas, in 2013 killed more than a dozen people and flattened a neighborhood. That disaster involved only 250 tons of the chemical; there was more than twice that amount stored at Weaver.

In addition, there were 4.5 million pounds of 26 other chemicals stored at the plant, according to the facility’s inventory report. “You see these in a chemistry textbook,” Barnette said. “They’re not what you want to see during a hot fire.”

Over the next day, the EPA set up stationary air monitors around the evacuation zone, and added a roving monitor to measure pollutant levels between them. The FAA closed airspace above the plant so government officials could fly drones, some of them equipped with thermal imaging equipment to monitor the fire.

The rail car, it appeared, was cool enough for firefighters to approach it. The ammonium nitrate “wasn’t off gassing, wasn’t molten,” Barnette said, indicating the risk of explosion was low.

Firefighters flooded the rail car with water — 10,000 gallons per minute — to keep the material from igniting.

This warehouse at 3100 Glenn Road is also owned by Meherrin Fertilizer, the parent company of Winston Weaver. Like the main fertilizer plant and another large storage barn, this building is near dense residential neighborhoods. (Photo: Google Street View)

All that water carried chemicals into nearby Monarcas Creek, which feeds other waterways that eventually flow into the Yadkin River. “Fish were dying in the streams,” Barnette said.

Workers soon built a large earthen berm to contain the runoff. To determine the extent of the water pollution, a contractor for the city tested the creek uphill from the plant in order to get background levels. “They were not normal,” Barnette said of the test results.

While levels of ammonia and phosphorus — used to make fertilizer — were lower those downstream, they shouldn’t have been present at all.

The source of the contamination was Weaver Fertilizer. The company had been legally storing chemicals in an open-sided shed along Brownsboro Road. Rain had carried the contaminants into the creek.

The Brownsboro Road shed, represented by the yellow dot, is just east of an apartment complex, represented by the purple dots. Although a tree line separates the two buildings, it is only 222 feet between them. (Map: Forsyth County GIS)
The open-sided shed at 4020 Brownsboro Road, which stores fertilizer chemicals. It is owned by Meherrin Fertilizer, the parent company of Winston Weaver. (Photo: Google Street Map)

The parcel according to county records, is owned by Meherrin Fertilizer — Weaver’s parent company — based in Severn, in Northampton County. The shed containing the chemicals is 222 feet from the back doors of an apartment complex, according to county GIS maps.

After being cited by the city, the company improved the shed to keep out the rain. However, zoning regulations allow the shed to remain on the property.

Meherinn also owns a 123,000 square-foot warehouse at 3100 Glenn Ave., south of Weaver Fertilizer, in Winston-Salem. The brick building was constructed in 1958. Like the Weaver Fertilizer plant, it does not have a sprinkler system, according to county records.

The warehouse is across the street from a residential neighborhood, which is 73% persons of color and 68% low-income.

Several members of the state’s Environmental Management Commission urged Barnette to track the health of people who live near the main fertilizer plant. They would have been exposed to the air pollution before they evacuated; when they returned home, the indoor air could also still be contaminated.

Fire officials have yet to determine the cause of the blaze. “It was such a destructive fire, it is hard to draw conclusions,” Barnette said.

It is unlikely that the Weaver plant will be rebuilt; if it were, the structure would have to meet current fire and building codes. Most likely, Barnette said, “it will be a vacant piece of property.”

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Pennsylvania warns about risks of deer tick virus

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As the warmer weather comes with spring, so does a pest that seemingly grows in virulence each year: the tick.

This year, officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection are cautioning those venturing outside that “the rare but dangerous” deer tick virus, or DTV, has been detected at high levels in ticks for the first time in several areas of the state, and as close to Philly as Montgomery County.

DTV is a type of Powassan virus, which the CDC says has increased in recent years, mostly in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions from late spring to midfall, when ticks are most active. Pennsylvania began detecting DTV-positive ticks after it launched its five-year tick surveillance program in 2018.

The first reported case in Pennsylvania occurred in 2011. There are no medicines to treat Powassan nor vaccines to prevent it, though many of those infected with Powassan virus do not experience symptoms. If they do, symptoms emerge a week to a month after a bite:

  • Initial symptoms can include fever, headache, vomiting, and weakness.

  • More severe symptoms can include confusion, loss of coordination, difficulty speaking, and seizures.

  • The virus can cause encephalitis, an infection of the brain, or meningitis, an infection of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord.

  • About 1 in 10 people who get the severe form dies; half experience long-term health problems such as headaches, loss of muscle mass, and memory issues.

Pennsylvania has recorded only 10 Powassan virus cases between 2011 and 2020, but officials suggest that could rise as a separate threat from already widely transmitted Lyme disease.

» READ MORE: The most common ticks in the Philly region, and how to protect yourself

“Lyme disease has been present in all 67 counties for some time, and unfortunately, the prevalence of the very serious Deer Tick Virus appears to be increasing in some tick populations,” Patrick McDonnell, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said in a news release.

And now is the time: Deer ticks, also known as blacklegged ticks, start to become active when temperatures reach in the mid-30s and above, with April ushering prime time for the pests through fall.

Besides Montgomery, DTV has been detected in ticks in 15 other counties: Adams, Allegheny, Centre, Clearfield, Columbia, Dauphin, Fayette, Lebanon, Mifflin, Monroe, Schuylkill, Venango, Washington, Westmoreland, and Wyoming.

Clearfield, Centre, and Wyoming Counties are considered “hot spots” because “unusually high infection rates” of the deer tick virus were found in adult tick samples at Fisherman’s Paradise public fishing area on Spring Creek in Centre County, Iroquois Trail near Tunkhannock in Wyoming County, and Lawrence Township Recreational Park in Clearfield County.

The infection rate of ticks sampled exceeded 80% at each of those three locations; however, the infection rate outside of those areas is a fractional 0.6%.

Still, that combined with Lyme disease, which is present in all 67 counties, is enough that Cindy Adams Dunn, secretary of the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, cautions that “Pennsylvanians should learn about the threats posed by tick-borne diseases and take commonsense precautions so they can enjoy our abundant natural resources — and the many wonderful physical and mental health benefits of outdoor recreation — as safely as possible.”

Denise Johnson, the state Department of Health’s physician general, noted that there is at least one Lyme disease case for every 100 people in Pennsylvania annually.

Deer ticks, about the size of a sesame seed, can also spread babesiosis, a disease transmitted by parasites that infects red blood cells.

The Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission said hunters and anglers should especially take note of the dangers posed by ticks.

Officials recommend that those going outdoors:

  • Apply repellents with permethrin to clothing, and EPA-registered insect repellents such as DEET to exposed skin.

  • Wear light-colored outer clothing; tuck shirts into pants, and pants into socks.

  • Walk in the center of a trail to avoid brush with low-growing vegetation and tall grass where ticks can cling.

  • After returning home, remove all clothing, take a shower.

  • Place clothing into a dryer on high heat.

  • Check your body in a mirror and don’t forget to look in the scalp, ears, armpits, belly button, and groin.

  • If you find a tick, use fine-tipped tweezers, grasp the pest as close to the skin as possible and pull upward with steady, even pressure to avoid breaking mount parts off, which can remain in the skin, making sure to get the head.

  • Disinfect the bite and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.

  • Ignore “folklore” remedies such as applying nail polish to the tick, smearing it with petroleum jelly, or using heat to force it out.

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Originally Appeared Here

Your Houseplants Really Can Impact Indoor Air Quality, Depending on The Pollutant

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Indoor air quality can be significantly improved by houseplants, new research has shown – specifically in terms of removing nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from the air, a pollutant created from fuel burning that’s been linked to respiratory disease.

 

Potted plants are simple to install, affordable to buy, and potentially a genuinely effective option when it comes to reducing NO2 levels in homes and offices, the new study explains.

The common plants peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii), corn plant (Dracaena fragrans) and fern arum (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) were selected for testing, and in experiments, they reduced NO2 levels by as much as 20 percent in some scenarios.

“The plants we chose were all very different from each other, yet they all showed strikingly similar abilities to remove NO2 from the atmosphere,” says chemist Christian Pfrang from the University of Birmingham in the UK.

For the purposes of the study, each plant was placed in a test chamber with around the same level of NO2 as you would expect in an office next to a busy road. Over the course of just an hour, all the plant species were able to remove about half of the NO2.

Extrapolating the result out to a small office (15 cubic meters or 530 cubic feet) with five plants in it, the researchers suggest about a 20 percent NO2 reduction should be possible in a poorly ventilated space.

 

Somewhere much larger, 100 cubic meters or around 3,500 cubic feet, would see a drop in the pollutant of just 3.5 percent, the researchers calculate – but then again, more plants could be added to make up for the additional room.

Importantly, this reduction was achieved in both dark and light conditions, and with both dry and wet soil. In previous studies looking at carbon dioxide (CO2) removal, these environmental conditions did influence how much the air quality was improved.

“We don’t think the plants are using the same process as they do for CO2 uptake, in which the gas is absorbed through stomata – tiny holes – in the leaves,” says Pfrang.

“There was no indication, even during longer experiments, that our plants released the NO2 back into the atmosphere, so there is likely a biological process taking place also involving the soil the plant grows in – but we don’t yet know what that is.”

Long-term ScienceAlert readers may remember a previous study that debunked the idea that household plants could improve indoor air quality – but that study looked at volatile organic compound (VOC) pollutants, rather than nitrogen dioxide levels.

Part of the difficulty in getting a definitive verdict on this is that real-world homes and offices don’t necessarily work in the same way as lab experiments, with new air (and new pollutants) tending to flow in all the time. In this case, though, the researchers did run calculations for larger areas and different types of ventilation.

Future research is likely to look at the exact mechanisms that these plants are using to remove NO2 from the air, and how they compare to ‘green walls’ – entire walls of plant life that are likely to be even more effective at cleaning up air.

“Understanding the limits of what we can expect from plants helps us plan and advise on planting combinations that not only look good but also provide an important environmental service,” says horticultural scientist Tijana Blanusa from the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK.

The research has been published in Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health.

 

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Originally Appeared Here

EPA Proposes “Good Neighbor” Plan to Cut Smog Across Much of the United States

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March 11, 2022

WASHINGTON (March 11, 2022) – Following clear Clean Air Act requirements and meeting a court deadline, EPA is proposing a federal plan that would cut pollution from power plants and industrial sources that significantly contribute to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone, or smog, for millions of Americans who live downwind. Relying on a longstanding regulatory framework and commonly used, affordable pollution controls, this action would help states fully resolve their Clean Air Act “good neighbor” obligations for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), enhancing public health and environmental protections regionally and for local communities.

“Following the science and the law, this ‘good neighbor’ plan will better protect the health of Americans across the country,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Air pollution doesn’t stop at the state line. This step will help our state partners meet air quality health standards, saving lives and improving public health in smog-affected communities across the United States.”

EPA’s proposal builds upon a combination of proven approaches to limit ozone season emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX), a key ingredient in the formation of ground-level ozone. Beginning in 2023, EPA is proposing to include electric generating units in 25 states in the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) NOX Ozone Season Group 3 Trading Program, which would be revised and strengthened for the 2015 ozone NAAQS. And, beginning in 2026, EPA is proposing emissions standards for certain industrial sources in 23 states that have a significant impact on downwind air quality. EPA’s proposed limits on health-harming pollution from power plants and industrial sources reflect the installation and operation of proven, cost-effective emission controls, which in many cases have been implemented for years in numerous states.

Together, these NOX control strategies would achieve health and environmental benefits that far outweigh the costs. In 2026, EPA projects that the proposed rule would prevent approximately 1,000 premature deaths and avoid more than 2,000 hospital and emergency room visits, 1.3 million cases of asthma symptoms, and 470,000 school absence days. Reducing ozone levels also would improve visibility in national and state parks and increase protection for sensitive ecosystems, coastal waters, estuaries, and forests.

In 2026, the cost of achieving these reductions would be approximately $1.1 billion (2016$), a fraction of the estimated value of the benefits. EPA estimates the monetized benefits in 2026 would be at least $9.3 billion and could be as high as $18 billion (2016$, 3 percent discount rate). Annually, the monetized net benefits of EPA’s proposed Federal Plan would be $15 billion (2016$, 3 percent discount rate) each year over the period from 2023 to 2042.

EPA’s proposed limits on NOX pollution from power plants would build upon the demonstrated success of existing CSAPR trading programs by including additional features that promote consistent operation of emission controls to enhance public health and environmental protection for the region and for local communities. These features include daily emissions rate limits on large coal-fired units to promote more consistent operation and optimization of emissions controls, limits on “banking” of allowances, and annual updates to the emission budgets starting in 2025 to account for changes in the generating fleet.

EPA evaluated air quality modeling, annual emissions, and information about potential controls to determine which industries beyond the power sector could have the greatest impact in providing ozone air quality improvements in affected downwind states. As a result, EPA is proposing emissions standards for new and existing emissions units in these selected industries:

  • reciprocating internal combustion engines in Pipeline Transportation of Natural Gas;
  • kilns in Cement and Cement Product Manufacturing;
  • boilers and furnaces in Iron and Steel Mills and Ferroalloy Manufacturing;
  • furnaces in Glass and Glass Product Manufacturing; and
  • high-emitting, large boilers in Basic Chemical Manufacturing, Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing, and Pulp, Paper, and Paperboard Mills.

This proposal implements the Clean Air Act’s “good neighbor” or “interstate transport” provision, which requires each state to submit a State Implementation Plan (SIP) that ensures sources within the state do not contribute significantly to nonattainment or interfere with maintenance of the NAAQS in other states. Each state must make this new SIP submission within 3 years after promulgation of a new or revised NAAQS.

Where EPA finds that a state has not submitted a good neighbor SIP, or if the EPA disapproves the SIP, the EPA must issue a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) within two years to assure downwind states are protected. EPA is in the process of reviewing and acting on SIP submissions from the relevant states covered by this proposal.

EPA will take comment on the proposed rule for 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register. The Agency also will hold a virtual public hearing.

More information on the proposed Federal “Good Neighbor” Plan is available by clicking here.

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Originally Appeared Here

Filed Under: EPA

Homebuilder scores a home run with new development after selling all 25 homes | Business Observer

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SARASOTA — An up-and-coming green development situated between North Siesta and Oyster Bay hit the ball out of the park with the announcement that all homes have been sold. 

Vertical | Design+Build, a Sarasota-based custom homebuilder with a team representing more than 50 years of experience, made the announcement regarding Granada Park. The area was originally planned to be a high-density residential development. But that plan changed when it was rezoned. Now it’s home to 25 houses with price points that ranged between $1 million to $1.4 million. The project is expected to be complete by December 2022. 

The property will feature homes under the gold standard set by the National Green Building Standard, as well as being 100% Florida Green Building Coalition certified under both the development and home standards. FGBC is a nonprofit with a focus on promoting environmental, economic and social benefits sustainability through education and certification. 

The development is gated with single-family homes that are similar to town homes. The community is targeted for those relocating to the area. 

“After years of the development sitting idle, the Vertical team collaborated our thoughtful and green-minded consultants, subcontractors and material suppliers to design bright, open, and airy homes with low-impact footprints, energy efficiency, resource conservation, and improved indoor air and water quality in mind,” says Grant Castilow, president, in a statement. “All built with care and quality that clearly resonated with homebuyers. With the help of Sotheby’s Peter G Laughlin Group, we sold them all. So, I’d say we hit the ball out of the park — Granada Park is a home run!”

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Woonasquatucket River Selected for Pilot Watershed

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Becomes Second Project in Rhode Island under EPA Coastal Initiative

March 9, 2022

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council as the fifth pilot watershed funded through EPA’s Southeast New England Program (SNEP) addressing coastal water quality issues.

The addition of the Woonasquatucket River to SNEP’s inaugural Pilot Watershed Initiative will bring further attention to urban water quality issues in five R.I. towns and two cities within the Woonasquatucket River watershed (Glocester, North Smithfield, Smithfield, North Providence, Johnston, Providence, and Cranston).

“EPA is pleased to announce this additional pilot watershed to find effective solutions to urban water quality concerns, including nitrogen pollution, habitat loss, and the impacts of climate change,” said Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “We are particularly proud that this builds on EPA’s commitment to ensure our efforts are protecting and investing in underserved communities. I’m excited that the Woonasquatucket watershed has been added to a strong group of partners working under SNEP’s pilot initiative.”

Under the management of the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council (WRWC), EPA funding of $150,000 will support the WRWC in increasing community capacity to improve river water quality, develop a community-centered climate resilience plan, and implement a sustainable funding mechanism for stormwater management and maintenance of green- and gray-water systems. Like the other four SNEP Watershed Pilot programs, EPA expects to award a total of $750,000 over the next five years to WRWC to improve the health of the Woonasquatucket River and anticipates that this effort will yield transferable skills and techniques that can be applied in other communities.

“I’m pleased to see Woonasquatucket River selected for this Watershed Initiative pilot project. This initiative will help improve water quality, address pollution, and boost climate resiliency. Revitalizing this watershed will also help identify urban water quality issues, challenges and opportunities across several communities within the Woonasquatucket River watershed,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who spearheaded the creation and funding of SNEP for Coastal Watershed Restoration.

“The Woonasquatucket River, once polluted by the mills that lined its banks, has been revitalized in recent years,” said U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “This federal funding will support work to continue its transformation by improving water quality, restoring habitat, and building climate resilience to better serve communities in the river’s watershed.”

“The Woonasquatucket River has deep roots in Rhode Island’s history and economy, and it plays a significant role in our ecotourism industry today,” said Congressman Jim Langevin. “The folks at the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council are some of the river’s most dedicated stewards, and this pilot program will deliver critical EPA funding to support and expand their work. I have no doubt that all of Rhode Island will benefit from the Council’s efforts to improve the water quality of the river and the overall environmental health of the Woonasquatucket River watershed area.”

“I was thrilled to hear that the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council (WRWC) was selected to receive funding through the EPA’s Southeast New England Program’s Pilot Watershed Program,” said Congressman David Cicilline. “This grant will help address urban water quality issues along the Woonasquatucket River and support WRWC’s ongoing, collaborative work to make the watershed more resilient.”

“The biggest threats to clean water and healthy coastal ecosystems – including climate change, nutrient pollution, and habitat loss – demand collaborative, innovative, and targeted responses,” said R.I. Department of Environmental Management Acting Director Terry Gray. “The EPA’s Southeast New England Program pilot watershed project clearly qualifies as such a response. It’s exactly the kind of investment that’s needed to solidify the progress we’re making to preserve and restore coastal environments in our region.”

The WRWC project joins four previously announced watersheds included in the SNEP Pilot Watershed Initiative. The five watersheds are intended to demonstrate how concentrated, collaborative efforts and holistic planning can more effectively address common environmental challenges in coastal southeast New England. Demonstrating watershed scale solutions is a key piece of SNEP’s Five-Year Strategic Plan and ultimately an important part of promoting safe and clean water, healthy habitats, and thriving communities. With the funding of this fifth pilot watershed, total EPA funded is expected to reach $3,750,000 across the five projects with an additional $1,277,380 in matching funds over the next five years. 

“The WRWC is thrilled to be selected for a SNEP Pilot Watershed Initiative grant. This five-year investment will allow us to make deep connections and facilitate coordination among the seven communities WRWC serves. We are poised to expand our K-12 educational programming watershed-wide, build flood resilience, improve water quality and connect people to the river through recreation programs. We will all take pride in making all of our water resources, swimmable, fishable, healthy and accessible,” said Alicia Lehrer, Executive Director of Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council.

The four additional pilot watersheds include: 

  • $149,998 to the Buzzards Bay Coalition to identify and prioritize sources of watershed impairments and develop solutions to address stream alteration and nutrient loading in an urbanized area of the Buttonwood Brook-Apponagansett Bay area of Massachusetts. Project partners include the City of New Bedford, the Town of Dartmouth, Buttonwood Zoo, the Friends of Buttonwood Park, and the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust. 
  • $149,995 to the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center to demonstrate the effectiveness of using distributed, small-scale stormwater control measures to restore hydrologic balance and address water quality and flooding issues in Tisbury, Massachusetts. Project partners include the Town of Tisbury, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.  
  • $150,000 to the Barnstable Clean Water Coalition to apply an innovative nature-based solution to reduce nitrogen impacts from a retired cranberry bog in Marstons Mills, Massachusetts, while also restoring habitat. Project partners include the Town of Barnstable, The Nature Conservancy, and the Native Land Conservancy.  
  • $150,000 to the Town of Charlestown, Rhode Island to support an enhanced integrated effort to address the impacts of excess nutrients from septic systems and stormwater on Greater Allen’s Cove and Ninigret Pond, Rhode Island through installation of nitrogen reducing septic systems and nature-based stormwater solutions. Project partners include the University of Rhode Island, the Salt Pond Coalition, and Save the Bay. 

In 2012, Congress charged EPA with conserving and restoring southeast New England’s coastal environment, and in 2014 began providing funding to develop a Southeast New England Program (SNEP). SNEP provides needed funding to local organizations that are restoring clean water and healthy coastal ecosystems while strengthening local communities.  

More information: EPA’s Southeast New England Program (SNEP), including the Five-Year Strategic Plan and Pilot Watershed Initiative https://www.epa.gov/snep  

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Filed Under: EPA

Latest Version of IPVideo Corp. HALO IoT Smart Sensor Brings 6 New Security Features

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The HALO 3C includes new features such as a panic button, two-way audio communications, indoor health index, alert lighting and more.

BAY SHORE, N.Y. — IPVideo Corp. announces the release of HALO 3C, the latest version of its HALO IoT Smart Sensor. The solution is said to boast new features that provide users with even greater levels of security and easier installation.

HALO 3C now delivers a panic button, two-way audio communications, indoor health index, emergency escape, alert lighting, motion detection and people counting; while still maintaining individual privacy.

These solutions add to the existing security features of gunshot detection, noise alerts, and emergency key word alerting and still does not use a camera or record audio, making it well-suited to address facility privacy areas, according to the company.

IPVideo Corp. says its vaping and privacy area detection device is now delivering safety and security awareness by means of a carefully selected array of sensors into a cerebral network of metadata. HALOs work together and interact with each other as members of a user’s security team — responding and delivering information in real-time.

“The need for security while maintaining individual privacy is in high demand,” says Frank Jacovino, vice president of product development at IPVideo Corp. “With HALO 3C and the added safety features and custom sensor options, we can address the security & privacy dilemma in significant ways, further providing our clients with true peace of mind.”

Users can capture real-time building safety and health awareness with the all-in-one HALO Smart Sensor 3C with HALO Cloud Application.

The HALO 3C will be on display during ISC West 2022 at the IPVideo Corp. booth, #28045.

IPVideo Corp. lists the following features for the HALO 3C:

  • Enhanced HALO Cloud and New Mobile Device App: Allows users to receive push notifications of any HALO alert, trigger a panic button, initiate or receive two-way audio communications, and provide the indoor air quality information of the actual room being occupied.
  • Health Index: HALO 3C provides both a real-time air quality and health index and sends alerts when either index falls into danger zones. It also provides critical automated reports that allow building owners and administrators to demonstrate they are providing a healthy indoor environment and/or validate that facility improvements are needed.
  • Panic Button: Users can trigger alerts via an external 3rd party panic button or via the HALO Cloud app. The location of the trigger is associated to the HALO device in closest proximity.
  • Two-Way Audio Communications: Users can initiate 2-way audio communications with security personnel using the HALO Cloud app or directly through the device when the emergency key word alert is spoken. Location is determined based on HALO proximity.
  • Emergency Escape and Alert Lighting: HALO 3C comes with a literal HALO of LED colored lighting options that can be programmed to show escape routes for safety, such as a red, yellow, and green pattern, or unique colors for different alerts, such as purple for air quality alerts, or blue for health alerts.
  • Motion Detection: Identify and alert on movement for occupancy and trespassing.
  • Occupancy and People Counting: Identify how many people are within the HALO location and configure to alert on abnormalities.
  • Custom HALO Configurations: HALO 3C comes with the option for customized calibrated industrial sensors. With options for ozone, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen dioxide, etc. HALO 3C can address specific security or compliance needs.
  • Ease of Installation: HALO 3C is a surface-mounted device allowing for a quick and easy installation in any location. A new port allows for two devices to connect on the same cable run to cut down on cabling installation costs.

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