Oil Transport Comments Needed by 11/30/14
Rail transport of explosive Bakken crude oil through the North Country has increased dramatically due to tremendous growth in outputs from Canada and the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota. Rail incidents in Quebec, Alberta, Alabama, North Dakota, New Brunswick, and Virginia have led to fires and explosions. Last year's derailment at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec killed 47 people and devastated the community. Don’t let the next accident happen in our backyards.
- Each week between 15 and 30 million gallons of Bakken crude oil travel along Lake Champlain carried by five to nine trains with up to 100 cars each (train volume reported by Canadian Pacific). The trains run through small communities and the City of Plattsburgh, within a short distance of schools, homes, businesses, farmlands, tourist accommodations, campgrounds, beaches and municipal offices.
- Oil from the Bakken fields of North Dakota is much more flammable than oil from other sources and has been implicated in numerous rail car explosions.
- Rail tracks sit right on Lake Champlain between the Saranac River and the Air Force Base in Plattsburgh, from the mouth of the Ausable River to south of Willsboro Bay, and from Port Henry south to Whitehall. The tracks also cross the Saranac, Ausable, and Boquet Rivers. MORE
EPA Calls For 36% Reduction In Phosphorus Loading
Last week EPA held a series of hearings in the Lake Champlain Basin to introduce their proposed phosphorus pollution budget (called a total maximum daily load or TMDL). The full presentation is available on line. The budget calls for a 36% reduction in current phosphorus loading to Lake Champlain with watershed specific reductions ranging from a low of 12% in the Isle La Motte section of the lake to a high of 67% in Missisquoi Bay. EPA says the reductions are necessary for the lake to achieve water quality standards for phosphorus. EPA began development of the new budget in 2011 after rescinding approval for the prior 2002 pollution budget in response to a law suit.
The new TMDL allows a 55% increase in phosphorus loading compared to the earlier version, all of which has been allocated to Vermont. The increase in the new TMDL comes about because it is based on wetter years. When more water falls in the basin the volume moving through the lake increases and more phosphorus can come in while maintaining a similar concentration. Only the Vermont portion of the TMDL was challenged in court, so New York loading targets remain unchanged at this time. MORE
VT Fails to Require Best Practices For Missisquoi Farms
Vermont State Agriculture Secretary Chuck Ross issued a ruling that he would not impose best management practices on farmers in northwestern Vermont as a way to improve water quality in Lake Champlain. Ross had been petitioned by the Conservation Law Foundation to require such practices on lands identified as critical source areas, places that combine a phosphorus source (from soil type or management) with a landscape position that allows the pollution to be delivered to waterways. LCC had filed comments in support of the petition. While many farmers have implemented practices to reduce pollution and soil erosion we can't depend on voluntary actions, especially in areas like Missisquoi Bay where water quality is already compromised.
In a decision issued last week, Ross noted there are not enough resources available to ground truth the location of such areas and to help farms comply with any mandatory best practices. A study conducted by Stone Environmental identified pollution loading from critical source areas in the Missisquoi Basin, but used modeling and assumptions about land practices rather than field investigation to locate them. Ross also noted that much of the work the petition sought to mandate was already occurring in the watershed, or would be accomplished by proposed revisions of the Accepted Agricultural Practices, the state’s existing mandatory enforceable regulatory standards. MORE
Invest in the Work for Clean Water
As we enter the season of giving thanks, remember how lucky we are to live or spend time near Lake Champlain. Clean water is critical to the vibrancy of our communities, to the health of our economy, and to our quality of life. Clean water depends upon the vigilance of an engaged community committed to safeguarding it as a precious public resource.
Please continue your engagement by renewing your Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) membership if you haven't done so yet this year. You can renew online or mail a check to LCC at 208 Flynn Avenue, Building 3, Studio 3F, Burlington, VT 05401. Your gift will really make a difference in LCC's ongoing work to protect water quality, reduce and prevent pollution, safeguard natural habitats, combat invasive species, and provide access. Please stay involved and vested in the work for clean water.
Vermont Fines Farmer For Illegal Discharge
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture leveled a $40,000 fine against Leach Farms in Enosburgh Falls for illegal discharge into waters of the state. Workers at the farm flushed out their manure spreader into Bogue Brook, a tributary of the Missisquoi River. A video of the discharges was filed in Vermont Superior Court with the settlement. The violation was investigated by the Department of Environmental Conservation and prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.
“Such blatant disregard for the waters we all share is unacceptable,” said LCC Executive Director Lori Fisher. “We need to see higher penalties and more of them against such egregious violations.”
Lessons From the Floods - Bad News Berms
Three years ago Lake Champlain reached record highs and Tropical Storm Irene ravaged the northeast. These and more recent flood events demonstrated the importance of buffers, floodplains, and stable riverbanks and shorelines in reducing sediment and pollution flows to the lake. LCC's new publication "Lessons from the Floods" provides guidance on how communities can manage floodplains and shorelines to protect people, property, and waterways. One theme that came up over and over was how bermed rivers failed to contain floods and in many cases exacerbated the damage done by floodwaters.
Berms are earthen walls along the edge of rivers that are meant to keep the river from flowing into the adjacent flood plain. The idea is that the water can rise without reaching the top of the berm. However, during flooding events, erosion can create a more significant hazard than inundation. Fast moving water waters erode away the berms or breaks through upstream. The river then gets trapped on the wrong side of the berm increasing the amount of damage that can occur. Learn more about how Berms create a false sense of security.
Keep the Lake in View with LCC Note Cards
Wish you could look at Lake Champlain every day? Now you can with a purchase of LCC's stunning photo cards feature beautiful vistas of our favorite lake! An eight-card set includes two cards each of four different arresting scenes and costs $10 for members, $14 if you haven't joined yet. (Shipping and handling is extra.) The cards are printed on high quality, 100% recycled card stock and come with matching envelopes. You can view all four scenes on our website and purchase them online, download our mail-in-order form, or call us at 802 658-1414 and we'll process your order. Proceeds from any note card purchase supports LCC's work for a healthy, accessible lake. Many thanks to photographers Carolyn Bates, Trip Kinney, Lisa Liotta, and Philip Mongeau for generously sharing their lake pictures with LCC!
2014 Blue-green Algae Recap
This summer marked LCC's tenth year of blue-green algae monitoring and our third year of using a visual approach. We received reports from 87 sites around the lake each week during the summer. During the season LCC volunteers and staff had submitted over 1,165 observations to the blue-green algae tracker, nearly a 40% increase from the previous year. Many thanks to our monitors who gave us consistent quality data throughout the summer. We couldn’t do it without you! (Check out who our LCC monitors, partners and funders are in the article below.)
“Lake Champlain Committee citizen monitors provide critical information that we use to better understand why and when blooms occur on Lake Champlain. It provides an easy yet unique opportunity for people to feel connected to their health and environment while making an impact for others,” said Andy Chevrefils, Environmental Health Risk Coordinator with the Vermont Department of Health. MORE
Thank You Monitors!
Over a hundred volunteers trained by LCC filed weekly water quality reports during the summer. Their data provided over 95% of the information on the blue-green algae tracking map housed at the Vermont Department of Health.
“The Lake Champlain Committee makes an invaluable contribution to the Lake Champlain Blue-Green Algae Monitoring Partnership,” said Eric Smeltzer, Environmental Scientist with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. “The citizen scientist volunteers recruited and trained by LCC are essential to providing recreational users, water supply operators and health officials with timely, lakewide information about the occurrence of harmful algal blooms on Lake Champlain.”
The information the monitors provide is relied on by public health and environmental officials to assess the safety of the lake for recreating (see 2014 Blue-green Algae Recap). It's also adding to our body of knowledge about the triggers for blooms so we can reduce their frequency. If you'd like to be part of the monitoring crew for the 2015 season, sign up here. MORE
Lake Gifts
Know someone who loves the lake? Have a good friend who you play on the water with? Express your caring for the wonderful people in your life and your concern for water quality at the same time by gifting a Lake Champlain Committee membership. Just fill in our mail-in-order form or sign them up online (be sure to check the Gift Membership box) and we'll do the rest! Gift a membership at the $45 level and recipients will receive word with a special lake card in December and we'll send them the annual Paddlers' Trail guidebook in June. Purchase a $55 gift membership and we'll include an autographed copy of our award-winning book "Lake Champlain A Natural History" with the lake card.
Lake Effect Snow
Earlier this month lake effect snows dumped over seven FEET of snow around Buffalo, NY. Roads were closed for days; at least 30 roofs collapsed in Erie County; and at the latest toll 13 people had died as a result of the storm, many due to heart attacks caused by trying to move all the snow. Early winter is when massive lake effect snow storms hit western and central New York. Cold north winds blow across the length of Lake Erie or the wide stretch of Lake Ontario accumulating moisture and then dumping it over land. Lake Champlain isn’t big enough to generate such massive storms, but it can occasionally produce local lake effect snows. One of the more dramatic lake effect snow events along Lake Champlain dumped 13 inches in Cornwall, VT in November of 1996.
By definition, lake effect snows occur only under conditions where no snow would be generated in the absence of the lake. Three conditions must be met for lake effect storms to form. First, a cold air mass must move over warmer water. Second, the temperature difference between the air in the upper atmosphere and water must be fairly high. In a study of eight incidences of Lake Champlain-induced snow the upper atmosphere ranged between 2,000 feet and 16,000 feet depending on air pressure. However, if the differential is too great, the upper air may be too cold to hold much water and snows will be only minimal. Third, the two air masses must stay in contact long enough for the air to absorb moisture. The amount of time the two air masses stay in contact is determined by wind speed, wind direction, and the width of the water body. If wind speed is too high, then the upper cold air layer moves through without having enough time to absorb water. Wind direction and water body width serve as limiting factors for lake effect snows on Lake Champlain. MORE
Nature Note - Sea Lamprey
Sea lamprey, best known for their parasitism on salmonids, are among the most primitive organisms with backbones. They belong to a relic group of jawless fish called Agnathans. Their basic body structure evolved much earlier than most other vertebrates. The key clue to their early origins is the lack of a jaw. The evolution of a jaw was a major event in vertebrate development. It greatly expanded the means by which food could be obtained and manipulated and allowed organisms to better defend themselves.
Sea lampreys, due to their more limited feeding strategies, either filter particles out of water when young or parasitize fish. As young, the animals reside in bottom sediments and filter pollen, algae, and other organic matter. Feeding adults attach to fish with their sucker-like mouth, rasp a hole in the side of the prey, and drain their bodily fluids. Trout and salmon are the preferred prey because their soft bodies are easier to penetrate than fish with scaly bodies such as bass. MORE
What's Not to Like?
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- Click here for LCC's Facebook page
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- If you aren't logged into your Facebook account, you may be prompted to log in
- Enjoy frequent lake updates and LCC news
Other Lake News from Near and Far
Train Troubles - What's Riding Our Rails
WPTZ TV has done a two-part series on the oil transport issues. News anchor Stephanie Gorin interviews LCC Executive Director Lori Fisher and our partners from The Adirondack Council and The Center for Biological Diversity in a two-part series.
Drain Defenders
What would you name your storm drain? That’s a question ‘Drain Defenders’ are answering, in addition to participating in Burlington’s new stormwater program. Learn how residents are taking ownership for their public infrastructure.
The Grand $10 Million Challenge
The Everglades Foundation is offering a $10 million prize to anyone who can successfully develop and execute a process to remove excessive phosphorus from our waterways, and develop a method to recycle that phosphorus into much needed phosphate for use in growing the world’s food supply. The formal launch of the Grand Challenge will take place in February 2015.
The World's Lakes Have Been Counted
Researchers from Sweden's Uppsala University say there are about 117 million lakes in the world covering almost four percent of the earth's surface. Learn more here.
Moving? Changing Email Addresses?
If you’ve changed your address recently, please email us so we can update your files and ensure you receive news on lake issues and LCC’s work. Email is our primary form of communication with members. Mailing electronically saves time and resources and reinforces the stewardship ethic of our mission. We don’t give away or sell email addresses.
To ensure you receive email from LCC, please add lcc@lakechamplaincommittee.org and the domain enews.lakechamplaincommittee.org to your safe/allowed list and address book. Thanks!
Lake Champlain Committee Board of Directors
Gary Kjelleren - Chair (South Hero, VT), Sharon Murray - Treasurer (Bolton, VT), Alan Booth (Plattsburgh, NY), Sandy Montgomery (Montreal, QC), Ann Ruzow Holland (Willsboro, NY), Hank Slauson (Shelburne, VT), Chuck Woessner (Grand Isle, VT).
Lake Champlain Committee Advisory Council
Megan Epler Wood (Burlington, VT), Steven Kellogg (Essex, NY), Peter S. Paine, Jr. (Willsboro, NY), Mary Watzin (NC).
Lake Champlain Committee Staff
Lori Fisher, Executive Director
Mike Winslow, Staff Scientist
