Cool new haircut

A stretch of 100+ degree days was the inspiration behind this new haircut.

Ward Transformer site - proposed cleanup

Lake Crabtree in Morrisville, NC was contaminated with PCB's from the upstream Ward Transformer superfund site. A cleanup plan has now been proposed. The details of the plan could affect the hundreds of people hike, bike, or boat in this area everyday. I could imagine a worst case scenario where the lake and surrounding area are closed for several years while the cleanup work takes place. I urge anyone that enjoys recreation in this area to attend tonight's public meeting.

PUBLIC MEETING:

August 14, 2007, 7:00 pm

U.S. EPA will hold a public meeting to explain this Proposed Plan and all of the alternatives considered. Oral and written comments will also be accepted at the meeting. The meeting will be held at:

Hilton North Raleigh
3415 Wake Forest Road
Raleigh, North Carolina, 27609-7330
Phone (919)-872-2323

map: http://tinyurl.com/ynou8w

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Email from Drew Cade, Park Manager at Lake Crabtree County Park:

I know this is late notice, but please consider attending this public

meeting! Just got back from vacation and realized this may need some
announcing.

The focus will be proposed PCB cleanup options for impacted waters
downstream of the Ward Transformer site, including Lake Crabtree and
Crabtree Creek. Public input is crucial to the Superfund process,
especially at this juncture, since the focus will be on public waters and
recreation areas used by hundreds of thousands of people each year.

Thank you,

Drew Cade
Manager
Lake Crabtree County Park
919-460-3396
fax 919-460-3389

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Announcement from Luis E. Flores, Remedial Project Manager, US EPA – SD-SRSEB:

Greetings,


The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces
Proposed Clean-up Plan for the Ward Transformer Site Operable Unit 1
Raleigh, North Carolina

A public meeting to present the Proposed Plan for Operable Unit 1 will
be held on Tuesday, August 14, 2007, at the Hilton North Raleigh located
at 3415 Wake Forest Road in Raleigh, North Carolina, beginning at 7:00
p.m.

Operable Unit 1 addresses areas downgradient from the Ward Transformer
facility including tributaries to Little Brier Creek; Brier Creek
Reservoir; Brier Creek; Lake Crabtree; and Crabtree Creek. The Ward
Transformer facility and all other areas upgradient of Operable Unit 1
are being addressed under a separate action. As part of a Remedial
Investigation, soil, sediment, surface water, groundwater and fish
samples were collected. Analytical results indicate the presence of
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish and/or sediment samples within
the Operable Unit 1 areas. The Proposed Plan for Operable Unit 1
includes:
· Continue existing North Carolina fish consumption advisories and
signs;
· Conduct educational and community outreach programs;
· Conduct pre-excavation sampling and endangered mussel study;
· Excavate sediments with concentrations exceeding 1 mg/kg PCB from
the tributaries to Little Brier Creek and Lower Brier Creek and
transport off-site for appropriate disposal; and Site and stream
restoration;
· Monitored Natural Recovery (MNR) - Periodic monitoring of
sediments and aquatic biota at the Brier Creek Reservoir, Lake Crabtree,
and Crabtree Creek.

EPA and the NC DENR believe that the Proposed Plan provides the best
balance of trade-offs among other clean up alternatives evaluated. The
Proposed Plan will be protective of human health and the environment,
will comply with any Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate
Requirements, will be cost-effective, and will utilize permanent
solutions.

EPA is conducting a 30-day comment period from August 6, 2007 to
September 4, 2007, to seek public input on this Proposed Plan. During
the comments period, the public is encouraged to review and offer
comments on the Proposed Plan and site-related documents housed in the
Information Repository located at the North Raleigh Library, 7009 Harps
Mill Road, Raleigh, North Carolina. All written comments should be
postmarked not later than September 4, 2007, and mailed to the following
address:

Luis E. Flores, Remedial Project Manager
US EPA – SD-SRSEB
61 Forsyth Street, SW
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
or via email: flores.luis@epa.gov


In addition please find attached the Proposed Plan fact sheet for
Operable Unit 1 (downstream areas). [click here to view the document]

Thanks,

Luis
Tel. 404-562-8807

What's in the back yard?

So, what's in the back yard? Well there were weeds, and lots of them. I was busy pulling some of them up when I came across something unexpected. Do you see what I see?

How about now?

Black Creek Greenway Flooded

Heavy rains cause flooding on the Black Creek Greenway in Cary, NC 2007-03-17

Gambling Turns Fowl

"In any event, chicken tic-tac-toe does not run afoul of state Casino Control Commission regulations - not that any of them cover chickens." [more...]

Water Problems and Electronic Signs

Cary has recently installed some large electronic signs throughout the city. Personally, I think they are an eyesore.

Today, Cary had a problem with E.coli contaminating the water system.

These two events led me to send the following email to Mayor Ernie McAlister:

Mayor McAlister,
Let me start by saying I am not in favor of the electronic traffic signs which have recently showed up in Cary. However, despite my dislike of the signs I held out hope that they might have a useful purpose. Today there was an alert in Cary due to E.coli contamination in the water system. However, as I drove past the sign on Harrison Avenue, I was dismayed to see the signs still displaying "Buckle Up, It's the Law." In my opinion this was a missed opportunity to use the signs to alert the public to a very real, and serious problem. I would prefer that the signs be removed, but if they must remain I would urge the town to use them more effectively.

Matt Jenkins

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Follow up:

Well what do you know. I sent my email at 11pm on Friday. I got a response to my email at 9am on Saturday. Mayor McAlister stated that many of the signs are still in test mode. However, he says they are working to have the signs display a warning message starting early today.

Black Creek Greenway Closed

Came across a closed section of Black Creek Greenway today at 6:45pm. The timing seemed poor as the greenway is heavily used by people commuting and out for exercise at this time of day. This particular section of the greenway is a reroute that was put in due to a new residential complex being constructed. There was quite a bit of opposition to the reroute of the greenway. The Cary Town Council repeatadly assured the public that the new section of the greenway would be completed before the old section was closed. This does not appear to be entirely true, as the new section has been open to traffic and the old section closed for a few weeks now (albeit with some sections still unpaved). Now it appears that there is still ongoing work taking place to pave the remaining sections, and causing complete closures of the greenway corridor.