Old Swiftbird Day School in South Dakota - Brownfield Site May 2014

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Gets Brownfield Monies to Clean up Old Swiftbird Day School Site 05/28/2014

The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe will receive $200,000.00 to clean up the Old Swift Bird Day School Site.

Cleanup Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe for a brownfields cleanup grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to clean up the Old Swiftbird Day School site located north of Highway 212 and west of Junction BIA-7 in the Swiftbird Community of the Cheyenne River Reservation. The site was used as a primary school from 1960 until 1997, as storage and a gift shop from 1997 until 2008, and has been boarded up and abandoned since 2008. The site is contaminated with organic and inorganic materials and PCBs. Grant funds also will be used to support cleanup planning and community involvement activities (USA EPA Brownfields Grant Fact Sheet.)

For more information:  

Contacts

For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields). EPA Region 8 Brownfields Team (303) 312-6706 

EPA Region 8 Brownfields Web site (http://www2.epa.gov/region8/brownfields-region-8 ) 
Grant Recipient: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe,SD
605-964-6558 

The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
accuracy of this information. The cooperative agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated. 
Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.

Dying Sea by The European Space Agency (E.S.A.)

Dying sea,  is an alert sent, and shared with the world.


Many of us environmental activists have been aware of the degradation of our once lush, and beautiful planet for decades. GreenPeace International has warned us of the eminent dangers of Ocean Acidification, and the losses of habitat for aquatic life. We have worked hard to get the word out that our own well-being is based on the health of our only habitat; Planet Earth.


Those who care about Earth and all of her inhabitants have withered a bit more inside each time a species is lost, or becomes endangered. 


This is another sign of our mismanagement of our Natural Resources world wide.


Losing a Sea: 

From the www.esa.intl

The Aral Sea in 2003 (link)

******

From the www.esa.intl

The Aral Sea in 2006 (link)

******

From the www.esa.intl

The Aral Sea in 2014 (link)

For some this may not mean much, but water is life, and honestly the way we are treating our planet seems like a suicide mission. Please earthlings, let us work together to make sweeping changes in the way we deal with our Earth. I Declare World Peace.

More about The Aral Sea: 

                 "The Shrinking of the Aral Sea" - One of the planet's worst environmental disasters - YouTube

Greenland Is A Model For Ocean Waters Rising

Today NASA News Announced that "Hidden Greenland Canyons Mean More Sea Level Rise."

Due to rapid ice loss occurring in Greenland, as well as other glacial formations that are losing mass, the danger that will be posed by that melting, includes an increase in the level of the ocean.

There is a mixed blessing in the glacial departure. One of the benefits is that it is easier for scientists to "see" what was deposited below the only surface we have known in modern times. Because of the ability to get visuals of these now warmer lands, more information can be gathered, and theories can be formed as to how our past and futures meet. 

The bad news about the declining glaciers, is that land mass, or habitat is being lost to mammals and other aquatic life that once thrived and survived in places like Greenland, and Alaska. The loss of land, means the loss of species, and one of those species could well be humans. 

There is a YouTube Video of the Bed topography (the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area."), of West Greenland in the above announcement from NASA News. It shows the geographic and scientific evidence being harvested about how the land lays in Greenland.

"Greenland Ice Sheet research - life in the field" by School of GeoSciences - YouTube

To learn more here are some links that you can go to for further information: 

For more information about NASA's Earth science activities in 2014 (link)

YouTube Animation of the newly mapped topography (link)

Thank you for your concern. Declare world peace, help Mother Earth.

The US EPA introduces EnviroAtlas - Mapping - GIS

US EPA Introduces - EnviroAtlas - GIS System May 07, 2014

The US EPA website is user friendly, with a lot of instructions on how to use the environmental tools created for industries and the public. Included within the notification is an awesome video on how to use the EnviroAtlas.

Some of the information included is this PDF Document that shows such things as Agricultural water use (million gallons/day), Domestic water use (million gallons/day), and Acres of crops that have no nearby pollinator habitat. 

For those who are concerned about our planet, and who would enjoy the knowledge of what has to be faced this is a comprehensive tool for industry and individuals alike. 

Way to go EPA, thank you for working hard to protect our planet.

Megan Susman: EPA Tools for Resilient Communities - YouTube

Tornado Damage in Mayflower, Arkansas

Tornado Damage in Mayflower, Arkansas from NASA Earth Observatory.

The photographs taken from the Hubble Telescope show the horrendous damage done in Mayflower, AR last week. Unless I am only imagining it, the oil spill from a ruptured and aging pipeline has not been cleaned up, but has created a tar pit.


We must stop driving combustion engines. We must stop demanding dirty oil. 


Have any of you ever heard of the La Brea Tar Pits in California, North America?


La Brea Tar Pits Before Wilshire Blvd

How about Mesalands Dinosaur Museum in Tucumcari, New Mexico, North America? Anyone.

Mesalands Dinosaur Museum is adjacent to a dig site that is very active 

As a Geology / Environmental Geology student I can agree that the question of what came first; the asteroid, or two-leggeds destroying the environment, we have proof that in just under fifty years, during this Era, we have nearly decimated our eco-system.

We will be those bones and shards someday regardless if we make sweeping and bold changes, but at least it can be due to an asteroid and not the unbridled greed of the industrial ruling class.

Take Time to Observe Nature | BirdNote

Take Time to Observe Nature | BirdNote by Chris Peterson

Okay, usually I am so morose due to the subject of our environment. How about a twist today - in honor of Mother Earths' Day. Bird News


All winged creatures are vital to our continued existence, as well as many other types of species are. There is no need to argue about it, time is coming, time is on the way.

(Violet-green Swallow by naturalist97333 - YouTube)

To continue in the spirit of celebration for Earth Day - 2014, I started out reading an Audubon  article about the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon. Knowing that this species used to travel in the millions-per-flock have been gone one hundred years, clanged a warning bell I cannot ignore. 

Sometimes though, an activist has to compartmentalize these things, or we could do no good. A large sob is locked in my solar plexus regarding the plight of the Passenger Pigeon, but it does no good to cry about it. Here is the link to the story from Audubon: (link) if you are interested. 

                                                               ~ *** ~

I am trying hard to live life more fully, with less sorrow and fear. In an attempt to spread sunshine and smiley faces, rather than gloom and doom, I kept searching for something more positive to highlight. 

I finally noticed another article about taking time to observe nature. Living in the now. Chris Petersen compiled an informative piece on noticing the natural world around us: "Take Time to Observe Nature: A OneNote Presentation". Margaret Sloan was the photographer. (The link to the story, photography and sounds can be linked to from the sub-title at the top of the page). This is a pleasant story of an outdoor adventure. It puts me in the mind of Rachel Carson, the scientist and author who warned the world about DDT and its effects on wildlife and marine animals.

It is calming and soothing to hear the sounds of nature. This is very positive.

 

                                                           ~ *** ~

Perhaps today, while listening, or any time a reader will be inspired to be the solution for our dwindling populations and species of winged-things; the pollinators, and recyclers.

Enjoy their flight and sounds. I declare World Peace.

Taking time to observe nature too - Thank you.

Lori J Latimer aka Lillygrillzit aka earthenwarehaven@gmail.

Earth Day 2014 - Forward or Backward?

Earth Day and EPA History from the US EPA Website

As an eyewitness to the changes brought about by the inception of the Environmental Protection Agency [The E.P.A (1970)], and up to April 20, 2014; I have to ask are we making good environmental progress when it comes to protecting the environment?

I remember the grey skies of Los Angeles during the late nineteen sixties and early seventies. Our petroleum gasoline had lead added to it to give vehicles more umph. Lots more umph. Muscle cars were race cars and automobile manufactures in partnership with fuel providers, made cars that used lots of fuel, burned rubber and emitted many particulate matters into the air. 

("Downtown Los Angeles 1970 by Craiglaca1 - YouTube)

Lead in the air, when emitted without being filtered or "scrubbed"** can be seen with the visible eye. It has almost one hundred percent opacity, after being emitted from a vehicle, or refinery and lingering in the air. Before the E.P.A. there was no rules to say a company or manufacturer couldn't pour out pure lead into the air, water and soils. Industrialists have always fought against regulations, saying that they would do right without being regulated to death, but that is historically untrue. 

Automobile and petroleum producers warred against removing lead from gasoline. The same exact type of propaganda you hear in political ads, and centerfolds by energy companies was that taking the deadly lead out of fuel was going to run everyone out of business, destroy the economy, and automakers. Lies, all lies.

When the E.P.A. was first started, it started getting teeth into the terrible polluters, operating in places where the bodies could not be buried deep enough. A Superfund Trust was started that all of the polluters who wanted to "play" or pollute had to pay a certain of their permitting and licensing fees into the Superfund Trust, and whenever they were bad players, and did an environmental oops or no-no, the victims of the disaster would be compensated through the funds, and the land/water/air would be restored and made whole, at the cost to the player. Sounds fair...

(Earth Day 1970 Part 1: Intro (CBS News w/Walter Cronkite) - YouTube)

President Tricky Dick Nixon undid a lot of the Environmental Protection and helped create tax laws and loop-holes that would benefit the Industry and Corporations. It completely changed how the Superfund dollars operate, and today it is usually local taxpayers who pick up the bill for the polluters who are allowed to abandon their properties and all liabilities. Then their shell companies come back in and are paid to "maintain and clean-up" the areas, making even more money off of tax-payers.

In 2005, after Katrina, President Bush weakened many environmental laws regarding landfills, and other dumping/stock-piling laws. Today, April 22, 2014 we have a Congress of Baboons who profit from dirty money, dirty energy and insane environmental activities. More people world-wide are standing for their natural homes, but energy seems to be hungry for all living matter on our planet.

Yesterday's anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster is a testament as to how far all of us "civilized" humans are treating the only place we have to live. Throughout the explosion, and spill never once did I down BP for the disaster. It was not their drilling that caused that disaster, it is our driving. We must take a concentrated look around us. Turn off the I-Pod/TV/Device for a while, and look around you. It is going to take big changes for all of us to turn this railcar to disaster, around.

("HD Stock Footage Evolution of the Oil Industry, Refineries, Gasoline, Transportation, Automobiles"-YouTube)

The E.P.A. was able to come out strong, because so many citizens got involved in demanding cleaner water, air, and soil. It was the will of the People of the U.S. who demanded over-sight for industry. It has not taken industry long to weed the citizens out of the process of environmental permitting and public meetings. They are written by lawyers and engineers, for lawyers and bankers. It is difficult for the average citizen to be heard, it is tough for whole organizations like GreenPeace, Audubon, Nature Conservancy and Heifer International to be heard and make headway, but it can be done. 

It is our Earth, Love her or leave her, but please do your best to respect our planet and make a difference on how you allow others to touch her. 

Thank you.

Happy Earth Day - 2014!

**"Compassion vs. Greed; Environmental Activism"
**"Is That A Clean Smokestack?"
**"23 years later and Shell has learned nothing from the Exxon Valdez disaster