April 24, 1999
1) Nuclear Waste To Travel Through Heart of Alabama
2) TVA Approves New Shoreline Plan
3) Alabama Taps New Water War Negotiator
4) Profile: New Ala. Waterways Guide, Websites etc..
5) ADEM Moving State Office Next Week
6) Vehicle Inspection Bill Passes Committee
7) Mott Freshwater Program Job Opening
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"You'll never miss the water 'til the well runs dry."
-"Father of the Blues" Alabamian W.C. Handy
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1. Nuclear Waste Routes Likely Through Bama - According
to a recent
Times-Journal (Fort Payne) newspaper report, Interstate 59 may
become the
major route for trucks shipping radioactive waste from the atomic
labs of Oak
Ridge Tn. to the nation's new radioactive storage facility in
New Mexico.
Department of Energy officials say some 12,500 barrels of waste
will be
transported from Oak Ridge to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
(WIPP) in
Carlsbad, New Mexico. The shipments are expected to last 10 years
to
complete the transfer.
Along with nuclear waste coming from Tennessee, starting next
year 25,000
drums of contaminated nuclear waste is expected to travel west
through
Alabama on Interstate 20 from the Savannah River Site, a nuclear
weapons
complex in South Carolina. Each proposed route (I-59 & I-20)
travels through
Birmingham and the heart of the Alabama interstate highway system.
To learn more about this issue which will possibly impact the
state of
Alabama for the next 10 years or more, visit the Department of
Energy's
website at: http://www.wipp.carlsbad.nm.us
The site goes into great detail
to describe the safety protocols that will be used.
2. TVA Adopts New Shoreline Plan - On April 22, TVA
Board of Directors
adopted a new Shoreline Management Plan for the more than 11,000
miles of
shoreline on the Tennessee River system. The plan is being praised
by
environmental groups throughout the region.
"I think TVA has done the right thing," Tennessee
Valley Energy Reform
Coalition director Steve Smith said. " The plan is definitely
a step in the
right direction."
Some of the plan's key environmental elements include:
# Nearly 2 of every 3 acres of shoreline will remain undisturbed.
# A "shoreline management zone" in which tree-trimming
and vegetation
cutbacks are limited. The TVA staff recommended 25 feet but the
board
increased it to 50 feet.
To put the importance of this plan into perspective, TVA manages
the river
shoreline through 30 reservoirs. About 13% of the shoreline is
now developed.
3. Alabama Taps New Water War Negotiator - Last Tuesday
(April 20), Governor
Don Siegelman named Anniston attorney and former state legislator
Jim
Campbell as the chief negotiator for the state of Alabama in the
complex
tri-state water allocation "Water War" talks. Campbell
replaces state Rep.
Richard Laird D-Roanoke.
Campbell is known to the environmental community as the House
sponsor of the
1992 Forever Wild Constitutional Amendment. The environmental
community will
be pushing the negotiators to implement a plan that insures water
quality and
protects and preserves ecological and recreational values throughout
the
Alabama-Coosa-Talapoosa (ACT) Basin. For more information on the
"Water War"
contact the Alabama Rivers Alliance at 205-322-6395.
4. FYI: Waterways Guide, EPA Water Website...- Here
are some "water tidbits"
Waterway Guide - A new edition of the 'Alabama Waterways Guide",
providing
detailed maps and information on 26 major lakes and reservoirs
in Alabama, is
now available. The guide lists marinas, boat ramps, sewage pumpout
stations
and recreational opportunities on Alabama's rivers and lakes.
Contact the
Alabama Marine and Recreation Dealer Association at 205-802-7551
for a copy
of the guide.
EPA's Office of Water Website - Drinking water in Bama, beach
water quality,
index on watersheds, state biological monitoring program, "surf
your
watershed" - If you care about Alabama's rivers, lakes, streams
and beaches,
please bookmark EPA's Office of Water website
http://www.epa.gov/ow/states/AL
New River Groups - In the upcoming edition of the Alabama Rivers
Alliance
"River Ties" newsletter, 3 new river groups in Alabama
will be profiled. The
groups are Society To Advance the Resources of Turkey Creek (START)
(a group
located in Jefferson County), the Friends of Shade Creek Watershed
(Shades
Creek is a tributary of the Cahaba) and the Conecuh-Sepulga Watershed
Alliance (a river near Andalusia, Alabama). For more info about
these groups
contact; Mike Hamilton of START at 205-681-3052, Michelle Blackwood
for the
Shades Creek Watershed - 205-879-6866 and Ann Biggs-Williams for
the Conecuh-
Sepulga Watershed Alliance - 334-867-2445.
5. ADEM Moving State Offices Next Week - If you have ever had
to visit ADEM
staff at the main office in Montgomery you will understand how
this is "good
news". The Alabama Department of Environmental Management
will be moving out
of their cramp and "maze -like" offices at the 1751
Cong. W.L. Dickinson
Drive site to a new office down the street at 1400 Coliseum Boulevard.
ADEM's mailing address P.O. Box 301463 Montgomery, Al. 36130-1463
will not
change. During the early portion of the move, April 29 through
May 3, ADEM
will be without normal phone and e-mail service. The agency anticipates
some
delays in correspondence and returning phone calls during the
first 2 weeks
of May. ADEM's emergency response activities will not be affected
by the
move.
On behalf of folks who have visited the old site for years
- Congrats ADEM!!
On your new professional and public friendly location.
6. Vehicle Inspection Bill Passes Al. House Committee - By
an 11 to 2 vote,
the Alabama House of Representatives State Government Committee
passed out
favorably a bill to create a vehicle inspection program to combat
ozone air
pollution. The bill is supported by the Birmingham Area Chamber
of Commerce,
League of Women Voters, American Lung Association of Alabama and
the
environmental community. The bill is expected to come up for a
vote in front
of the full House by Tuesday.
Vehicle Inspection Programs have helped communities such as
Tampa and Phoenix
meet air quality health standards. Tell your local legislator
you want clean
air by calling 334-242-7600.
7. Mott Foundation Freshwater Job Opening - The Charles Stewart
Mott
Foundation located in southeast Michigan has an immediate opening
for a
program officer to work on grantmaking addressing Conservation
of Freshwater
Ecosystems in North America, with emphasis on the Great Lakes
basin and
portions of the southeastern U.S. (including Alabama). For a detailed
position announcement and application instructions, contact Ms.
Chris Emmons
at Human Resource Professionals by e-mail at HRPros@aol.com
or by phone at
248-363-0568. Applications for the position are due by May 28th.
For
additional information about the Mott Foundation and its freshwater
ecosystems grantmaking visit their website at http://www.mott.org
Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists.
If you have any questions about BEN, contact Pat Byington at
205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com
