Volume I - January, 2010

JMP is also excited to announce the birth of our sister companies Environmental Risk Analysis and Environmental Risk Advisors, LLC. Environmental Risk Analysis was formed to solely provide a "desktop" review to service the commercial banking industry. Environmental Risk Advisors, LLC is focused on higher end due diligence, site investigation and remediation. These services are to complement the services offered by Environmental Risk Analysis to make a project seamless. Environmental Risk Advisors can also assist client with site assessment and remedial activities to achieve regulatory closure. In addition, Environmental Risk Advisors can assist in indoor air quality (mold, asbestos, and lead based paint) assessments and abatement. For more information on Environmental Risk Analysis and Environmental Risk Advisors, LLC please visit WWW.ENVIRO-RISK.NET

Welome

JMP would like to welcome our newest employee Chris Parent to our family. As Sales Manager he brings more than 15 years of direct experience in site investigation and remediation. Christopher is a Licensed Site Professional (LSP) who has conducted and/or managed over 1,000 environmental assessment projects in over 20 states, and has the educational and work related background to earn the designation as an Environmental Professional (EP) in accordance with the All Appropriate Inquiry (AAI) regulations enacted in November 2005. He has also managed over 500 subsurface investigation projects involving the advancement of soil borings, installation of groundwater wells, excavations, and soil, air, and groundwater sampling. For more information on Christopher Parent, please visit him on LinkedIn.

United States EPA Issues Rule to Reduce Water Pollution from Construction Sites

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule to help reduce water pollution from construction sites. This rule, which takes effect in February 2010 and will be phased in over four years, should significantly improve the quality of water nationwide.

Construction activities like clearing, excavating and grading significantly disturb soil and sediment. If that soil is not managed properly it can be easily washed off of the construction site during storms and pollute nearby water bodies.

The new Effluent Guidelines for Discharges from the Construction and Development Industry require construction site owners and operators that disturb one or more acres of land to use best management practices to ensure that soil disturbed during construction activity does not pollute nearby water bodies.

Additionally, owners and operators of sites that impact 10 or more acres of land at one time will be required to monitor discharges and ensure they comply with specific limits on discharges to minimize the impact on nearby water bodies.

This is the first time that EPA has imposed national monitoring requirements and enforceable numeric limitations on construction site stormwater discharges.

Soil and sediment runoff is one of the leading causes of water quality problems nationwide. Soil runoff from construction has also reduced the depth of small streams, lakes and reservoirs, leading to the need for dredging. It is anticipated that the regulation will reduce the amount of sediment discharged from construction sites by about 4 billion pounds each year once fully implemented.

For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/guide/construction/

Mass. to get $41.5 million more to fight Asian longhorned beetles

By The Associated Press
January 11, 2010, 1:08PM

Federal agricultural authorities are adding an additional $41.5 million to help eradicate the invasive Asian longhorned beetle from central Massachusetts.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday that the funds, on top of $13 million already set aside for the effort in the 2010 fiscal year’s agriculture appropriations bill, will be used for enhanced tree surveys, expanding the use of pesticides and infested tree removal.

More than 25,000 trees have been removed from an area that covers all of Worcester and parts of Holden, West Boylston, Boylston and Shrewsbury. The black-and-white beetles native to China bore holes in hardwoods, eventually killing them.

They were first discovered in Massachusetts in August 2008.
Link to original article   http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/mass_to_gets_415_million_in_ai.html

Bald eagle count postponed at Quabbin Reservoir as snowy skies affect visibility

By Lori Stabile January 08, 2010, 8:00PM

WARE – Snowy skies resulted in fewer bald eagles than normal seen during the annual midwinter bald eagle count Friday, so the survey will continue Tuesday by helicopter.

“We’re not concerned ... It’s quite likely that when the helicopter goes on Tuesday it’s going to pick up at least 20 birds. We were expecting low numbers because the visibility was not good,” said Marion E. Larson, MassWildlife’s outreach coordinator.

Thirty-one bald eagles – 20 adults and 11 juveniles – were spotted statewide, according to state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife officials, including five at Quabbin Reservoir. Officials hope the number will double on Tuesday. Last year’s survey produced a record 81 eagles statewide.

Larson, who stationed herself at the Quabbin Reservoir’s Enfield Lookout for 2½ hours, didn’t see any bald eagles, the first time that has happened in her 20-plus years of participating in the survey.

“I myself was a little bit disappointed, but I’m also pragmatic and realistic. ... The conditions were not the greatest,” Larson said.

The helicopter used to scout areas along the Quabbin and rivers had to be canceled due to the weather, one reason for the low count.

Larson, who sported a pair of eagle earrings, explained that this is part of a nationwide count held every year in early January.

She said the survey is helpful because it shows the eagle population during one of the more difficult times of the year. As ponds and lakes freeze during the winter, the Quabbin is popular with eagles because of its open water. She said the eagles dine on fish and animal carcasses.

The reservoir was an attraction Friday even among those not participating in the count. Sitting in a truck were friends and retired engineers Donald W. Robinson, 77, of Ludlow, and Stanley P. Hull, 79, of Monson.

“It’s a great place. I come up here just about every day, sometimes twice,” said Robinson. “You get to see a lot of wildlife. I saw a bear chasing a deer.”

Anyone who spots an eagle from Dec. 31 through Jan. 14 is encouraged to report the sighting by e-mail to Mass.wildlife@state.ma.us or by postal service to “Eagle Survey,” MassWildlife, Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westborough, MA, 01581. Provide date, time, location and town of eagle sightings, number of birds, juvenile or adult, and observer contact information.

Link to original article   http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/bald_eagle_count_to_resume_at.html

UPDATE 3-US EPA expected to take significant climate step

Mon Dec 7, 2009 3:14pm GMT
By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will issue a final rule that greenhouse gases endanger human health, allowing it to regulate planet-warming emissions even without Congressional action, a White House official said on Monday.

The EPA climate announcement will come as a two-week international meeting on controlling climate change kicks off on Monday in Copenhagen. President Barack Obama, who has made fighting climate change one of his top priorities, plans to attend the conference late next week as climate legislation in Congress drags behind healthcare.

The EPA said it would make the announcement at 1:15 p.m. EST (1815 GMT).

The EPA finding would allow the agency to issue rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, even if Congress fails to pass legislation to cut U.S. emissions of the heat-trapping gases that scientists say cause global warming.

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The Road to Copenhagen, click [ID:nLL527527]
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EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson told Reuters last month the endangerment finding was being considered by the Office of Management and Budget and that the agency was hoping for an expedited review. [ID:nN09268142]

The climate bill has been delayed in the U.S. Senate as lawmakers debate healthcare, but lawmakers hope to pass a bill in the spring. Climate legislation passed narrowly in the House of Representatives in June.

Along with its final endangerment finding, the EPA also sent OMB the agency's final finding on whether cars and trucks "cause or contribute to that pollution," Jackson said last month.

Jackson said the government is facing a "hard deadline" of next March to let automakers know of any required increases in fuel economy standards that would affect vehicles built for the 2012 model year.

She said the EPA received more than 300,000 comments on its initial proposed public health endangerment and vehicle pollution findings that were issued last April.

Any final endangerment finding would be open for public review.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Roberta Rampton; Editing by John Picinich and Lisa Shumaker)
© Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved.
Link to original article   http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN0715853420091207?sp=true

Boy discovers microbe that eats plastic

PhDs have been searching for a solution to the plastic waste problem, and this 16-year-old finds the answer.
Fri, Jun 12 2009 at 1:26 AM EST

It's not your average science fair when the 16-year-old winner manages to solve a global waste crisis. But such was the case at last May's Canadian Science Fair in Waterloo, Ontario, where Daniel Burd, a high school student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, presented his research on microorganisms that can rapidly biodegrade plastic.

NOTE: There are TWO high school students who discovered plastic-consuming microorganisms. The first was Daniel Burd. The second was Tseng I-Ching (last month), a high school student in Taiwan.

Daniel had a thought it seems even the most esteemed PhDs hadn't considered. Plastic, one of the most indestructible of manufactured materials, does in fact eventually decompose. It takes 1,000 years but decompose it does, which means there must be microorganisms out there to do the decomposing.

Could those microorganisms be bred to do the job faster?

That was Daniel's question, and he put to the test with a very simple and clever process of immersing ground plastic in a yeast solution that encourages microbial growth, and then isolating the most productive organisms.

The preliminary results were encouraging, so he kept at it, selecting out the most effective strains and interbreeding them. After several weeks of tweaking and optimizing temperatures Burd was achieved a 43 percent degradation of plastic in six weeks, an almost inconceivable accomplishment.

With 500 billion plastic bags manufactured each year and a Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch that grows more expansive by the day, a low-cost and nontoxic method for degrading plastic is the stuff of environmentalists' dreams and, I would hazard a guess, a pretty good start-up company as well.

NOTE to the comment below: Yes there are certainly methods for decomposing plastic, but most are chemical in nature not organic, requiring high temperatures and chemical additives to cause the plasticizers to vaporize, for instance this patent on PVC extraction. There have been several successful bacteria-based solutions developed at the Department of Biotechnology in Tottori, Japan as well as the Department of Microbiology at the National University of Ireland, but both apply only to styrene compounds.

It goes without saying that these discoveries need to be tested to ensure, for instance, that the byproducts of organic decomposition are not carcinogenic (as in the case with mammalian metabolism of styrene and benzene). The processing of plastics by these methods would also have to be contained in highly controlled environments. So, no, we're not talking about a magic panacea or a plastic-free paradise, but the innovative application of microorganisms to break down our most troublesome waste products is nevertheless a major scientific breakthrough.

NOTE: One of our readers pointed out a very interesting study in 2004 at the University of Wisconsin that isolated a fungus capable of biodegrading phenol-formaldehyde polymers previously thought to be non-biodegradable. Phenol polymers are produced at an annual rate of 2.2 million metric tons per year in the United States for many industrial and commercial applications including durable plastics.

World’s Largest Wind Farm to Be Built in the US

By BC Upham | December 14th, 2009
The United States has steadily outsourced record-breaking feats of engineering over the years, or stood by as other countries have eagerly grasped trophies for the world’s tallest building, biggest dam, longest bridge, or what have you.

Which is why it is comforting to learn a World’s [   ]est is staying in America: Caithness Energy will begin construction next year in Oregon on the world’s biggest wind farm, with 845 MW of capacity.

The Shepherd’s Flat wind farm will utilize 338 of General Electric’s next-generation 2.5 MW turbines (its 1.5 MW model is the world’s most popular, with 12,000 in use) spread out across 30 square miles of terrain just south of the Columbia River in north-central Oregon. The farm is predicted to generate about 2 billion kilowatt-hours per year, enough power for 235,000 homes.

The current largest wind farm is in Roscoe, Texas, with 781 MW of capacity. The English are planning a 1,000 MW off-shore farm, but only 630 of that will be built in the first stage.

Jobs for Oregon, MegaWatts for California

The $2 billion project will generate about 400 jobs during construction, and 35 running the farm, according to New York-based Caithness. General Electric will also provide ten years of maintenance for its turbines as part of its $1.4 billion contract.

Oregon has aggressively pursued renewable energy development, offering a 50 percent tax credit to offset capital costs. Caithness says it already has a “majority” of the permits needed for the farm, a crucial factor, according to USA Today.

The Shepherd’s Flat area is known for another type of renewable energy: hydropower, which is so abundant and cheap in the area that electrons from the wind farm won’t be able to compete, according to EarthandIndustry. Instead, that juice will be funneled to Southern California, where Southern California Edison has agreed to buy it for the next twenty years. SCE is racing to meet a Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard of 33 percent by 2020

Link to original article   http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/12/worlds-largest-wind-farm-in-us/

Critter Corner - Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine Falcon is not just the mascot for Springfield’s hockey team, it is also the fastest animal in the world. This member of the raptor family can reach speeds up to 200 miles per hour when diving from great heights. The Peregrine is also one of the most widely distributed birds in the world, inhabiting every continent except Antarctica. Their historical nesting sites were rocky cliffs including Mount Tom and Mount Sugarloaf, but now also incorporate urbanized areas including Amherst, Boston, Springfield, Worcester, and more. They utilize artificial nesting platforms high up on tall buildings preferably overlooking a body of water. In past years they have even used the ledge of the 21st floor of Monarch Place here in Springfield. The Peregrines prey sources include pigeons, songbirds, to larger birds such as ducks and geese. By 1966 the peregrine population east of the Mississippi River had taken a serious turn for the worst, going from around 375 nesting pairs, documented in the 30’s and 40’s, to being extinct in the eastern US. This devastation to the population was contributed to the affects of a chemical pesticide called DDT. The pesticide caused the falcons to lay thin-shelled eggs that broke under the weight of incubation. The ban of DDT in 1972 helped set the stage for restoration efforts to begin, including captive breeding and releasing by several organizations. Since then over 6,000 captive-born Peregrines have been released across the country. On August 25, 1999 the Peregrine Falcon was officially removed from the federal endangered species list, and as of 2002 there were over 2,000 nesting pairs reported throughout country. Even thought this species is no longer considered to be threatened or endangered by the federal government, as of 2007 there were only 14 pairs reported in Massachusetts and to this day it remains on the state endangered species list.

Invasives

Japanese Honeysuckle
Lonicera japonica Thunb.
Honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae)

NATIVE RANGE
Japan and Korea

DESCRIPTION
Japanese honeysuckle is a perennial vine that climbs by twisting its stems around vertical structures, including limbs and trunks of shrubs and small trees

ECOLOGICAL THREAT
In North America, Japanese honeysuckle has few natural enemies which allows it to spread widely and out-compete native plant species. Its evergreen to semi-evergreen nature gives it an added advantage over native species in many areas. Shrubs and young trees can be killed by girdling when vines twist tightly around stems and trunks, cutting off the flow of water through the plant. Dense growths of honeysuckle covering vegetation can gradually kill plants by blocking sunlight from reaching their leaves. Vigorous root competition also helps Japanese honeysuckle spread and displace neighboring native vegetation

HABITAT IN THE UNITED STATES
A ubiquitous invader, Japanese honeysuckle thrives in a wide variety of habitats including fields, forests , wetlands, barrens, and all types of disturbed lands.

BACKGROUND
Japanese honeysuckle was introduced to the U.S. in the early to mid-1800s as an ornamental plant, for erosion control, and for wildlife forage and cover. Its highly fragrant flowers provide a tiny drop of honey-flavored nectar enjoyed by children

BIOLOGY & SPREAD
It produces long vegetative runners that develop roots where stem and ,leaf junctions (nodes) come in contact with moist soil. Underground stems (rhizomes) help to establish and spread the plant locally,