Targeting lakeside coal-ash ponds

Riverbend coal-ash ponds beside Mt Island Lake are upstream from Charlotte, Mount Holly water intakes

Group launches grass-roots effort aimed at ridding Riverbend coal-fired power plant of waste impoundments

• See on-line resources at end of article

Shawn Smalls was typical of several people at the June 20 community meeting about the Riverbend coal-burning power plant and its coal-ash ponds.

Though he drives past the plant daily from his home in the Stonewater neighborhood, “I’m just beginning to learn of the issue,” Smalls said as the two-dozen people gathered at Cook’s Memorial Church introduced themselves.

An hour later, several River District residents had heard enough about potential risks to their health and Charlotte’s water supply to volunteer to invite more people to the group’s next information meeting on July 19.

The groups and individual anti-coal activists who organized the June 20 meeting hope to enlist thousands of people to lobby Duke Energy to close two coal-ash ponds next to Mountain Island Lake. The impoundments, up to 80 feet deep and covering 69 acres, hold millions of gallons of water plus coal ash and dangerous heavy metals.

The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation has warned that if one or both Riverbend ponds fail, as happened in 2008 on the Tennessee River, the Charlotte region would lose its main source of water for months or possibly years. The EPA has included both Riverbend ponds on its 2009 list of “high hazard potential” coal-ash ponds across the U.S.

Sara Behnke of Mt. Isle Harbor led much of the meeting and presented a Powerpoint presentation about the health risks and environmental damage linked to coal-fired power plants and coal ash. Sam Perkins with the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation, Bill Gupton with the Sierra Club and anti-coal activist Beth Henry often added comments.

Behnke’s presentation pulled heavily from information sources across the Internet, including the EPA, the Catawba Riverkeeper, Duke Energy, Greenpeace, Clean Air Carolina and USAToday, which recently created an interactive listing air quality outside every school in America.

At the end of the meeting, Monica Embry, a community organizer with Greenpeace, invited the group to help spread their message about the possible dangers. People offered to host living-room information meetings, talk with neighbors and hand out fliers publicizing the July 19 meeting at swim-club meets.

“Many people still don’t know what the problem is,” said Bill Gupton, chair of the Sierra Club’s local chapter.

“I didn’t know; that’s why I came,” Smalls responded. “Sheesh. They’re trying to kill us.”

• Learn more – The grass-roots group now has a name, We Love Mountain Island Lake, and will soon have a website, Sara Behnke says. The next information meeting will take place 7-8:30 p.m. July 19 in the education building basement at Cook's Memorial Presbyterian Church MAP. To learn more, contact Behnke at behnke@carolina.rr.com

Additional on-line resources

• Sidebar: Why have coal-ash ponds?
• Riverbend plant information from Duke Energy
• Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation materials on coal-fired power plants 
• Greenpeace International materials on coal-fired power plants
• Sierra Club map and information on coal-ash waste impoundments
• USAToday interactive map on air quality near U.S. schools

Why have a coal-ash pond?

Coal-ash ponds ponds – also known as coal-ash waste impoundments – are an essential part of the coal-burning process at many power plants, which generate electricity by boiling water to turn turbines. 

Burned coal leaves behind ash, which typically is flushed away with water. That mixture flows to large settling ponds, which often are created in part by earthen dams. Surplus water eventually flows out of the pond into a nearby waterway – Mountain Island Lake, in the case of the Riverbend coal-fired power plant.

The danger comes from the harmful heavy metals found in ash, including mercury and arsenic. The state recently posted signs along Mountain Island Lake warning fishers about the health danger – particularly to children and pregnant women – from eating too much fish due to their high mercury content. 

Following the rupture of coal-ash ponds on the Tennessee River in 2008, the EPA designated 44 similar impoundments as having high hazard potential.

"A high hazard potential rating is not related to the stability of those impoundments but to the potential for harm should the impoundment fail," the EPA announcement said.
“The presence of liquid coal ash impoundments near our homes, schools and business could pose a serious risk to life and property in the event of an impoundment rupture,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in the 2009 news release. “By compiling a list of these facilities, EPA will be better able to identify and reduce potential risks by working with states and local emergency responders.” 
Duke Energy operates 10 of the coal-ash impoundments, including two at Riverbend, one at Marshall Steam Plant on Lake Norman and one at Allen Steam Plant on Lake Wylie.

• Read the full announcement
• Detailed EPA information on coal-ash ponds
• Read July 2 article on efforts to close Riverbend coal-ash ponds

Natural treasures need your TLC

R.Y. McAden Access in McAdenville

Catawba Lands Conservancy seeks volunteers to care for nearby protected properties

(Reprinted from http://catawbalands.org)

Do you have a few extra hours to help cut grass, whack some weeds, or even pick up trash at a few of the properties protected by the Catawba Lands Conservancy? Whether it’s one person or a group of volunteers, Catawba Lands Conservancy could really use your help.

Catawba Lands Conservancy (CLC) is a land trust – a nonprofit, community-based conservation organization that permanently conserves and manages land for public benefit. CLC currently permanently conserves 12,453 acres of land, across Catawba, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg and Union counties.

Volunteers are needed to help with maintenance on three CLC properties in Lincoln and Gaston counties. The three sites are:

• Spencer Mt. River Access (Gaston County/Spencer Mt.),
• South Fork River Rail Trail (Lincoln County/Lincolnton),
• R.Y. McAden Access (Gaston County/McAdenville).

This maintenance work includes trash pick-up, weeding and mowing grass. Volunteers are asked to provide and use their own lawnmowers, weed trimmers or any other equipment needed to complete these tasks; CLC will provide trash bags.

Volunteers are needed weekly, for about 1.5 hours, between now and late September.

Learn more

If you can help or want to learn more, contact CLC Stewardship Associate Andy Kane via email at andy@catawbalands.org. Learn more about Catawba Lands Conservancy at its website or Facebook page.

2 days of July Fourth fun, fishing, floating and fireworks!

From kayaking to kabooming, you can enjoy it this holiday on the Catawba.

Whether you like fishing, hiking, paddling, dancing or gazing at fireworks, you can do it within a stone’s throw of the Catawba River this Tuesday and Wednesday as the Catawba River District celebrates our national birthday.

Here are details

July 3-4 celebration at U.S. National Whitewater Center

With music starting each afternoon at 4 p.m., the party will continue each night with a fireworks show. Fireworks will launch from Hawk Island and the show will display over the whitewater river. USNWC recommends that you come early so you can enjoy the festival atmosphere, which includes free samples of Edy’s Slow Churned Ice Cream, all day long. DETAILS.

Performance schedule:

Tuesday, July 3

• 8 p.m. – Tab Benoit
• 6 p.m. – Eric Lindell
• 4 p.m. – Sol Driven Train

Wednesday, July 4

• 8 p.m. – Moreland & Arbuckle
• 6 p.m. – These United States
• 4 p.m. – Have Gun, Will Travel

July 4 sunset kayak tour

Enjoy Lake Wylie at sunset by joining this paddle from McDowell Nature Preserve, starting at 6:30 pm. During this class you will learn the basics of flat water kayaking while watching the sunset over Lake Wylie. You will also learn some of the history of the lake. The event costs $15 and is for adults and youth 16 and older. McDowell Nature Preserve is at 15222 York Road, Charlotte. Call 704-588-5224 for details, reservations.

Fireworks over Lake Wylie

The annual tradition on Lake Wylie has thrilled viewers for generations. Fireworks are set off at dusk (about 9:45 pm) on July 4 from Camp Thunderbird, south of the Hwy 49 Buster Boyd Bridge. Best Viewing: The Buster Boyd Bridge Boat Landing, T-Bones on the Lake outside deck, Rey Azteca deck at Lake Wylie Plaza, Lake Wylie Italian and Pizza on patio at Lake Wylie Plaza. DETAILS

July 3 Full Moon Hike

Perhaps you prefer nighttime quiet to echoing fireworks. Then go to Latta Plantation Nature Preserve on Mountain Island Lake for the Full Moon Hike, 9-10:30 p.m. July 3. Experience the magic of hiking in the nature preserve guided by the light of the full moon. Easy terrain. 2- to 3-mile hike. $4/person. Ages 12 and older. The park nature center is at 6211 Sample Road, Huntersville. Register get more details by calling 704 875-1391.

Fish for free on the 4th statewide

Anyone 16 and older can fish for free on July 4 across North Carolina. Although no fishing license is required to fish on July 4, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission reminds anglers that all other fishing regulations, such as size and creel limits and lure restrictions, still apply.

To give anglers a better chance of catching fish, the Commission stocks a variety of fish in waters across the state — including trout and channel catfish. The agency also provides free access to fishing sites across the state, including public fishing areas and boating access areas. A list of more than 500 fishing areas open to the public is on the Commission website.

• Fishing advisories – Many NC rivers and lakes contain substances that make some fish unsafe to fish, especially for children and women of childbearing age. DETAILS
• July 4 fishing contest for kids – Crowders Mountain State Park. 6-8 pm at the park lake. The park will provide all the equipment your kids need. DETAILS

Our river – and our water – are in danger

Spider lilies in the Catawba at Landsford Canal State Park. (photo courtesy of southcarolinaparks.com

Mt. Holly chamber gets grim State of the Catawba report, plus advice for making it better

Rick Gaskins Jr.

The Catawba River has some dubious awards – America’s Most Endangered River; Top 10 Endangered Places in the Southeast; Fourth Most Stressed River in the U.S.

How bad is it really? And what the heck can anyone do about it?

Rick Gaskins managed to cover both questions in 45 minutes recently, as the monthly guest speaker for Mount Holly Mornings. Gaskins, an environmental lawyer and head of the CatawbaRiverkeeper Foundation, packed both facts and heart-tugging feelings into his talk to the crowded room of local businessmen and businesswomen. For instance:

• Fact: NC Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 13,677 children per year are born with blood mercury levels that place them at risk for lifelong disabilities including fine-motion control and attention problems. The no. 1 source is eating fish containing high levels of mercury.
• Feeling: (Photo of girl – Gaskins’ daughter - holding fishing pole with fingerling circled so you can see it). The crowd laughs. “Who wants to tell her she should not eat it?” Gaskins then asked.

The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation is a small nonprofit organization with a big mission. The three paid staff and several hundred volunteers work to protect the Catawba River basin’s water quality for the 2-million plus people and many millions of wild creatures that depend on it for life.

• Feeling: Setting sun’s golden rays glimmer across one of the 11 impoundments between Lake James and Lake Wateree.
• Fact: A projection done by Duke Energy shows that by 2038, our demand for the Catawba’s water will exceed the supply.

The Catawba is a special place with great natural beauty, Gaskins said as he showed photos of one of the river’s 37 major waterfalls and a bed of blooming spider lilies - the collection largest in the world – at Rocky Shoals.

The Catawba also faces grave threats from the region’s rapid urbanization and history of neglect:

We are running out of water, and when it rains, manmade rooftops and roads cause the water to run off rather than soak in.

Water transfers are sending millions of gallons a day to communities with limited water supplies in other river basins (including northeast Charlotte). The result: In times of drought (like 2008), lower portions of the Catawba will face serious shortages of water.

Water security – We have a nuclear power plant and four EPA-designated “High-Risk” coal-ash ponds just in the Charlotte metro area whose failure could eliminate the Catawba as a source of drinking water for months or millennia – without contingency plans to handle the crisis.

Gaskins showed a slide of the ruins of Mount Holly’s Armon Mill, destroyed in the great flood of 1916 when a tropical storm dumped 13 inches of rain across the region. All but one bridge on the Catawba was swept away in the deluge, which also destroyed the original Lake Wylie dam and claimed 80 lives.

“The river remains a wild, powerful force and can still destroy things, like coal-ash ponds,” Gaskins said. That risk may be greater now than ever. Between 1998 and 2008, the Catawba basin lost 180 acres a day to roads and rooftops, Gaskins said. Just one acre of impervious surface will generate 26,000 gallons of runoff from a one-inch rainfall.

“Imagine the impact of Northlake Mall on nearby streams, he added. Then imagine the impact on the Catawba when a tropical storm rolls through.

Water quality – From leaking sewage systems and septic tanks to chemical-laden parking-lot storm runoff to silt from construction sites to heavy metals spewed across the basin from coal-burning power plants, the river we all depend upon for drinking water is under attack.

Polluted water harms our wildlife. It also costs much more to clean up for human consumption, Gaskins said. Some things can’t be cleaned at all, such as the mercury- and pcb-tainted largemouth bass and channel catfish abundant Mountain Island Lake. Late last year, the NC Department of Health and Human Services issued warnings against eating any channel catfish caught in Mountain Island Lake. The state also recommends that women of childbearing age and children under 15 eat no largemouth bass due to the high levels of PCBs and mercury.

“Different parts of the country have dramatically different views of the need to safeguard their drinking water,” Gaskins said. “In the Northeast, you will find reservoirs ringed with barbed wire. In North Carolina, we put coal-ash ponds next to them.”

So what can we do to help the river? Gaskins suggested:

1.     Reduce stormwater runoff by collecting the water from your home and driveway in rain barrels, rain gardens and cisterns.

2.     Volunteer to help the Catawba Riverkeeper. Volunteers handle citizen complaints, lead classes such as this summer’s teen kayaking program and help monitor local water.

3.     Donate to the Riverkeeper Foundation. Community donations make up 85 percent of the group’s budget.

“2038 is coming up fast,” Gaskins concluded. “We’ve got to put things in place now that will affect water use in 2038.”

Learn more

Visit http://www.catawbariverkeeper.org

Charlotte show to feature cleaner trucks

The conference will spotlight trucks like this natural-gas powered one made at Freightliner's Mount Holly Plant

Transportation conference to spotlight hybrid trucks, plans for “clean truck future”

Right after the Democrats leave town in September, proponents of energy-efficient trucks will fill the Charlotte Convention Center and even spend a day test-driving new products at the zMax Dragstrip at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The Hybrid, Electric and Advanced Truck Users National Conference and Expo takes place September 18-20 and will focus on expanding commercial and military fleet knowledge of clean, fuel-saving trucks and buses now built in the United States, including advanced hybrid and electric vehicles.

“This year’s HTUF conference will offer specific, concrete pathways forward to a clean truck future, with the unveiling of a groundbreaking national roadmap,” said John Boesel, CEO and President CALSTART, the event’s organizer.

Annually, the conference draws hundreds of attendees representing fleets, truck makers, technology leaders and military and government officials. Attendees are able to kick the tires of the world’s most advanced medium- and heavy-duty vehicles available today, take an active role in growing clean tech jobs, and reduce petroleum consumption in the United States.
Attendees will be treated to a taste of NASCAR with a gala reception at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and the opportunity to drive these advanced vehicles on a professional speedway track at Charlotte’s zMax Dragstrip. Over 35 trucks and busses will be on hand, showcasing the performance of hybrid electric, hybrid hydraulic, pure electric and other emerging vehicle technologies.

Several companies with Charlotte operations are helping sponsor show, including Duke Energy and Siemens.

Another company likely to have a big presence is Freightliner. Its Mount Holly plant produces natural gas powered medium-duty trucks. Freightliner offers a variety of trucks including hybrid-electric models that use diesel and electric and allow the trucks to get better mileage in stop-and-go situations such as delivery routes. Freightliner says the dual system greatly reduces diesel idling and can cut fuel consumption up to 60 percent.

Wild wonders on your calendar

Black-eyed Susans peak in late July. Photo by Rich Haag

NC Wildlife Federation posts and newsletter can help you track nature’s cycles day by day

Some amazing natural events take place just about daily in streams, fields and woods near our homes. The NC Wildlife Federation produces a great calendar to keep us aware.

For instance, I have camped in Smoky Mountains National Park many Julys and never knew, until now, that within walking distance of my camper, black bear males were on the prowl for black bear females. And I thought they only wanted my food!

If you find this sort of thing interesting, too, you can get daily or monthly calendars from the NC Wildlife Federation. 

Visit NCWF.org to sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Visit the group's Facebook page to get daily alerts.

Here is July's calendar to get you started. Enjoy, and watch out for mating bears! 

– Rich Haag 

• July 1: Black skimmers are nesting on our more remote beaches and barrier islands.
• July 4: Blackberries are ripe.
• July 5: Bobwhite eggs are hatching.
• July 7: Summer runs of white perch make for good fishing on the Chowan River.
• July 8: Bog turtles are nesting in mountain and foothill wetlands. Unlike most turtles, this rare species usually does not excavate a nest in soil, but instead conceals its small egg clutch in a moss or sedge clump.
• July 10: Squirrel treefrogs, eastern narrowmouth toads, and oak toads breed in temporary wetlands after heavy summer thunderstorms.
• July 12: American goldfinches are nesting. These familiar and colorful finches depend on mature thistles for food and nesting material, and are thus among our latest nesters, raising only one brood per year.
• July 15: Peak flight period for our largest butterfly, the giant swallowtail, in the outer Coastal Plain.
• July 16: Black bear mating peaks.
• July 20: On hot, humid afternoons, watch and listen for the impressive dives and "boom displays" of the common nighthawk.
• July 21: Black-eyed Susan, jewelweed, and Joe-pye weed are in bloom.
• July 22: Our largest beetle and heaviest insect-the eastern Hercules beetle is flying. Look for adults around lights at night.
• July 23: Indian pipe is in bloom.
• July 26: Garter snakes and ribbon snakes are giving birth.
• July 27-29: Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower. Best viewing is usually just before dawn. Open fields, beaches, or other remote areas make the best viewing spots.
• July 30: Royal walnut moths and imperial moths are flying.
• July 31: Turk's-cap, Michaux's, and Sandhills lilies are in bloom. Fence lizard eggs are hatching.