SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois Environmental Protection Agency contractor today is beginning cleanup of a dump site that has plagued the Lake Barrington – Wauconda area for decades. The cleanup is expected to take four to six weeks, weather permitting.  

The Agency is working with the Village of Lake Barrington through an intergovernmental agreement to complete cleanup of the 16-acre John Tarkowski property located in unincorporated Lake County. Tarkowski had been illegally receiving waste material on his property since the late 1960s, according to public records. 

“The Agency is pleased that we can finish cleanup of this environmental and safety hazard thanks to the efforts of the Village and their representatives in the General Assembly. The neighbors and the community have endured this mess too long,” said Illinois EPA Interim Director John Kim.   

This last phase of the cleanup is being funded through a $430,000 state grant supported by Sen. Dan Duffy (Barrington), and Rep. Kent Gaffney (Wauconda). Remaining wastes will be removed and disposed of in a permitted landfill. Any recyclable materials will be separated and recycled to help defray the overall cost of the cleanup.

 “The Village of Lake Barrington extends its thanks and appreciation to Governor Quinn, Sen. Dan Duffy, Rep. Kent Gaffney and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for their assistance in securing the funding for the final clean-up of the Tarkowski dumpsite located in the Lakeland Estates neighborhood of Lake Barrington,” said Lake Barrington Village President Kevin Richardson.  “These funds will address a vital environmental objective for the Village and help assure that the ground water in the northern part of our community remains protected.”

Acting on results of an investigation, in 2004 the Illinois EPA confirmed through surveillance that Tarkowski was allowing trucks hauling various waste materials to illegally dump waste on his property. A notice of intent to pursue legal action was sent to Tarkowski. Subsequent court hearings resulted in a court order in April 2006 that required John Tarkowski to pay a $150,000 penalty and conduct a systematic cleanup of the property. 

Tarkowski ignored the order and continued to allow dumping on the property; in July 2006 the Illinois EPA issued an Order to Seal the site to protect the public and the environment. Tarkowski removed the seal order sign within a few days and removed it again after the Agency replaced it. Illinois EPA worked with the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, and Tarkowski was arrested for violating the seal order. Cost recovery actions are currently pending with the Illinois Attorney General’s office, and environmental liens have been placed on the property.

In 2006, the Illinois EPA conducted a partial cleanup which included spraying for mosquitoes to eliminate the risk of West Nile Virus, removing and recycling over 10,000 tires, removing and disposing various liquid waste containers, car batteries and various other special and hazardous wastes. An assortment of scrap metals and other materials were removed and when possible were recycled, which reduced the overall cost. Other costs were covered with funds from the Waste Tire Program.

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Illinois EPA to Clean Up Tarkowski Property | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SPRINGFIELD – January 13, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn announced a new Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) online portal that will make the environmental permitting process more user-friendly by eliminating red tape for businesses in Illinois. It also increases transparency in the process by allowing applicants and other interested parties to track the progress of the Agency’s decision-making process. The portal is a result of Public Act 97-0094, which Governor Quinn signed last July.  

“This process will help us grow our economy by cutting red tape for businesses, while also maintaining our strong commitment to the environment,” Governor Quinn said. “This site will allow companies to navigate the environmental permitting process more effectively and efficiently.”

“The improvements in the permitting process were developed in coordination with the Illinois business community with the goal of making compliance with environmental regulations less burdensome, yet without sacrificing protection of the state’s air, land and water, and public health,” said Illinois EPA Interim Director John Kim.  

“The Illinois Environmental Regulatory Group, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, and the Agency developed this positive first step to implement permitting reforms.  The changes should markedly improve the Agency’s ability to respond to the needs of Illinois’ businesses, and will result in cost, time, and resource savings.  I commend the Agency for their fine work,” said Todd Maisch, vice president of government affairs for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to the new portal, several other measures have been or will be implemented in the near future that will increase efficiency and reduce the time it takes to receive an environmental permit in Illinois. One such tool is the Registration of Smaller Sources (ROSS) program tailored to smaller sources of air pollution, rather than requiring them to undergo the extensive permitting process that larger emissions sources must go through.

Among the features of the web portal (epa.state.il.us) are: 

•  Application forms; many can be edited, saved and submitted electronically
• Application checklists, instructions and guidance
• Summary information on permitted projects
• An online permit tracking system that gives the status of a pending application
  

In the coming months, the Illinois EPA will be working with the regulated community to implement additional process improvements that will further reduce time and cost burdens on both business and the agency, while still meeting the same environmental protection goals.

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Governor Quinn Announces Web Portal forEnvironmental Permitting Process – Illinois EPA Permitting Process is Now Faster and More Transparent | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Air quality data monitored during 2010 were similar to 2009 data.  Air quality was either good or moderate more than 91 percent of the time throughout Illinois, compared to 96 percent in 2009. There were 32 days in 2010 when air quality in some part of Illinois was considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups;” this compares to 13 days in 2009 that were “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” 

The Illinois EPA maintains a network of 80 air quality monitoring sites with more than 200 instruments throughout the state.  The monitoring network is strategically designed to identify air pollution trends.  The data collected are then used to keep the public informed and to identify potential need for change in the Agency’s approach to air pollution regulations.

The report shows that air quality trends for criteria pollutants, pollutants for which air quality standards have been developed (particulate matter 10 and 2.5, ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and lead) along with some heavy metals, nitrates, sulfates, volatile organic and toxic compounds, are continuing to show downward or stable trends that are well below the established standards. 

From 2001 through 2010, the data show decreases in pollutants across the board, including: 25 percent for particulate matter (PM₁₀), 24 percent for smaller particulates (PM_2.5), 43 percent for sulfur dioxide, 25 percent for nitrogen dioxide, 52 percent for carbon monoxide, 33 percent for lead and 19 percent for ozone.

Illinois’ data system ranks as one of the best in the nation, with over 90 percent efficiency, in the collection of high quality data.  This high efficiency rate guarantees that the network is providing Illinois EPA and the public with a complete and accurate description of air quality in Illinois.

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Illinois EPA Releases Air Quality Report for 2010 | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SPRINGFIELD, ILL—Illinois EPA Interim Director John J. Kim announced the Village of Schaumburg has been awarded a $43,278 Municipal Brownfields Redevelopment Grant to conduct environmental assessment activities at the former Murzyn-Anderson facility located at 1001 West Irving Park Road, Schaumburg.

The Municipal Brownfields Redevelopment Grant provides direct funding to Schaumburg to aid them in assessing the extent and impact of contamination left behind after years of commercial operations at the site. The award of the grant will enable the Village to continue with its planned cleanup and redevelopment into a commercial, residential and open space area that will enhance the community and bring in new jobs.

“The Municipal Brownfields Redevelopment Grant will allow the City to study this brownfield site and eventually perform a cleanup to ensure safe and best use redevelopment in manner consistent with the City’s redevelopment plan,” said Interim Director Kim. 

Work is scheduled to start immediately on completing assessment activities initiated earlier by the Village and designing the cleanup and redevelopment of the site.

 In addition to the grant, the Illinois EPA will provide direct technical support and oversight, and continue to assist the Village with environmental issues until redevelopment is complete.

So far, 132 Illinois communities have received over $18.5.million in grant funds from the Illinois EPA for environmental investigation and cleanup since October 1998. 

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Illinois EPA Awards Brownfields Municipal Redevelopment Grant to Village of Schaumburg | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

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SPRINGFIELD –Beginning January 1, it will no longer be legal for individuals to dispose of unwanted electronics in their regular trash. Discarded electronics, including computers, monitors, electronic keyboards, scanners, fax machines and many other electronic devices, must now be taken to a registered recycler for proper management. It will be illegal for the consumer to dispose of them in the trash and it will be illegal for Illinois landfills to accept them.

The Illinois Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act, which took effect in 2008, required manufacturers to establish a recycling program for discarded and unwanted electric products, if they sell their products in Illinois. This newest phase will include individual citizens in the effort to keep electronics, which contain a variety of potentially toxic contaminants, out of the state’s 48 active landfills.

A 2007 report showed that electronic products were the fastest growing portion of the solid waste stream. That year, three million tons of electronic products became obsolete, yet only 14 percent of those products were recycled.

During calendar year 2011, electronics manufacturers are being required to collect and recycle or refurbish more than 28 million pounds of products. The reuse of these products, including metals, plastics and glass, conserves natural resources and saves energy. The law requires manufacturers of 17 electronic products, including televisions, computers, monitors, printers, keyboards, and DVRs, to recycle their percentage of a statewide recycling goal. Manufacturers typically hire local recyclers to help them meet their goal.

The metals, which include gold, cadmium, lead and silver, if landfilled can threaten groundwater. When the metals are reused, it eliminates some of the need for mining for new supplies and can also be valuable resources when reclaimed.

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Electronics Disposal Ban Takes Effect in New Year | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

CHICAGO – October 24, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today announced two top appointments to his executive cabinet. Today’s actions are the latest in a series of appointments Governor Quinn will make as he continues to fulfill his commitment to creating jobs, fostering economic development, and increasing efficiency and accountability in all areas of state government.

Effective immediately, Governor Quinn named Ann Schneider as secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and John Holton as director of the Illinois Department on Aging. The Governor also appointed two acting directors and one interim director: Jim Larkin as acting director of the Department of Agriculture, Andrew Stolfi as acting director of the Illinois Department of Insurance and John Kim as interim director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

“Effective government requires leadership by talented and motivated public servants, and I am pleased to announce these qualified individuals to lead critical state agencies,” Governor Quinn said. “These strong directors will serve the people of Illinois well with their skills and commitment to improving state programs and services.”

Directors

Ann L. Schneider has served as acting secretary of IDOT since July 2011. Prior to her appointment, Schneider served as IDOT’s chief of operations, responsible for managing and overseeing the department’s six offices and four divisions. Schneider also spent five years as director and chief financial officer for IDOT’s Office of Finance and Administration. Before joining IDOT, Schneider was the chief fiscal officer for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and in the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget. Schneider has a bachelor’s degree from Augustana College and a master’s degree in public administration from Sangamon State University (now University of Illinois-Springfield).

John Holton will apply his expertise in community and human development to Illinois’ unprecedented increase in its older adult population. Holton served from 2007 through 2010 as associate director of the Division of Mental Health at the Illinois Department of Human Services. Previously, he served as site director for the Harvard University School of Public Health’s Project on Human Development in Chicago’s Neighborhoods, and is a member of the American Public Health Association. Holton’s experience addressing domestic violence and other issues impacting older adults and their families will strengthen the department’s efforts to help older adults live with comfort and dignity. He holds a Ph.D. in human development from Pennsylvania State University, as well as a master’s in urban education from the University of Hartford and a B.A. from Howard University.

Acting Directors

Jim Larkin is a fourth-generation family farmer who lives on the farm where he was raised in the McLean County town of Towanda. He joined the Illinois Department of Agriculture in 2003, and has served as bureau chief of Agricultural Products Inspection since 2004. He manages a 680-acre grain farm, which includes 80 acres devoted to sustainable, organic production. A graduate of Illinois State University, Larkin founded Agri-Fire, a business that markets corn-burning heating appliances, prior to his state employment. He joined the Illinois Department of Agriculture in 2003. Mr. Larkin is married and has four adult children.

Andrew R. Stolfi has served as chief of staff and special counsel for policy and legislative affairs at the Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI) since 2009. He is part of the leadership team responsible for implementing national health insurance reform in Illinois, and is an active participant at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, where he chairs the Corporate Governance Working Group. Prior to joining the department, Stolfi was an attorney and policy analyst in the Office of the Governor. He has also worked as a judicial law clerk to Appellate Justice Thomas E. Hoffman and as a special assistant corporation counsel for the City of Chicago Law Department. Stolfi holds a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of Vermont and a law degree with honors from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. He is married with two children.

Interim Director

John Kim has served as chief legal counsel and ethics officer at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since 2009. Kim has worked to protect Illinois’ environment since 1988, previously serving as acting general counsel at the Illinois Department of Agriculture, managing attorney and staff attorney at the Illinois EPA, and assistant attorney general and special assistant attorney general for the Illinois Attorney General. His experience ranges from working with state and federal environmental statutes to providing guidance in pollution prevention principles to selected industries in China, to working with China EPA, USEPA, the World Bank and the United Nations’ Environment Program. Kim holds a bachelor’s of science degree in industrial engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a J.D. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Governor Quinn Announces Key Cabinet Appointments – Ann Schneider Continues Leadership at IDOT; John Holton Appointed Aging Director | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Interim Director Lisa Bonnett has asked the Illinois Attorney General’s Office to proceed with an enforcement action and seek immediate injunctive relief against Iowa Interstate Railroad, requiring it to conduct a detailed environmental assessment and remediation of the impact on the environment from a derailment on October 7 near Tiskilwa that resulted in several railroad cars containing ethanol and corn mash catching on fire.

The incident resulted in the temporary evacuation of the entire population of the village of Tiskilwa in Bureau County after the early morning derailment.

The Illinois EPA is requesting the Attorney General seek an Interim Order from the Bureau County Circuit Court to require Iowa Interstate Railroad to conduct an expedited investigation of impacts on groundwater and the threat posed by subsurface migration toward Plow Hollow Creek and Big Bureau Creek, which ultimately flow into the Illinois River. The request also asks that the order include requirements that the railroad:

·         Retain a hydrogeologist acceptable to Illinois EPA

·         Sample soil, groundwater and surface water in accordance with an investigation plan approved  by Illinois EPA

·         Conduct sampling of nearby residential wells in coordination with the Bureau County Health Department and Illinois Department of Public Health

·         Install a network of permanent groundwater monitoring wells approved by Illinois EPA that will be “sentinels” to monitor movement of ethanol, its degradation products and other contaminants from the release through the subsurface over time toward the residential wells and the surface water of Plow Hollow Creek and Big Bureau Creek

·         Provide a report of the sampling done to Illinois EPA for review and approval

·         Propose remedial (clean-up) measures to address any residual contamination detected in the investigation of soil, groundwater and surface water for Illinois EPA review and approval

·         Provide cost reimbursement to Illinois  EPA for its review and oversight expenses connected with the incident

·         Submit a report detailing the facts regarding the cause of the derailment and potential measures that may be implemented to prevent further such releases for Illinois EPA review and approval and submit weekly status reports to Illinois EPA on the sampling and remediation progress

In addition, Illinois EPA asked the Attorney General’s Office to pursue enforcement action against Iowa Interstate Railroad for “creating and maintaining a water pollution hazard” and the Agency is awaiting analytical results from air and groundwater sampling to determine whether additional violations will be referred.

Illinois EPA refers Iowa Interstate Railroad to Attorney General for enforcement – Agency seeks cleanup of environmental damage resulting from ethanol releases following train derailment near Tiskilwa on October 7 | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SPRINGFIELD –Illinois EPA interim director Lisa Bonnett has announced 19 grant awards to local governments across the state to be used to conduct inspections at permitted pollution control facilities, such as landfills, and to investigate citizen complaints about illegal dumping.

To be eligible to receive a solid waste enforcement grant, local governments must first enter into delegation agreements with the Illinois EPA, in which they agree to hire and train landfill inspectors under the state’s certification requirements.

“Local government officials are more familiar with their communities, and can respond to complaints in a timely manner,” said Bonnett. “This partnership benefits the public and the Agency.”

The Illinois EPA has partnered with local governments since 1987 to oversee waste management facilities and enforce open dumping laws in Illinois. 

Local governments that have received funding for use in State Fiscal Year 2012 (through June 30, 2012) are:

With the delegation agreements, the Illinois EPA delegates some of its authority to inspect solid waste management facilities to counties, the Ambraw Valley Solid Waste Agency (for Crawford, Richland and Lawrence counties) and the City of Chicago. These agencies are authorized to conduct many of the duties within their political boundaries that would otherwise be performed by the Illinois EPA including,  investigating violations of land pollution laws and reports of open dumping and inspection of permitted landfills, transfer stations and compost facilities.

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Illinois EPA Awards Solid Waste Enforcement Grants | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has released its 24^th annual Nonhazardous Solid Waste Management and Landfill Capacity report for 2010, which provides landfill data compiled for activity during previous calendar year.

The report shows that 45 Illinois landfills reported capacity data to the Illinois EPA for calendar year 2010, with the 43 active landfills accepting more than 46.1 million gate cubic yards of municipal waste for disposal. No new landfills opened in 2010.

Reported capacity declined by 5.4 percent in 2010. While there is still more than 1 billion gate cubic yards of available capacity, it was down more than 60 million gate cubic yards from the previous reporting period. When 2011 began, there were 23 years of landfill life remaining in Illinois.

The Agency also permits and regulates transfer stations and composting facilities. However, since they do not permanently store waste, they are not subject to the same reporting requirements as landfills.

Illinois EPA Releases Landfill Capacity Report | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

The guilty plea was in response to Troyer’s indictment by the Clay County Grand Jury for discharging a contaminant into waters of the State.

The charges resulted from a December 9, 2008, incident On September 14, Jerry D. Troyer, a former employee of Effingham-Clay Service Company, Inc., a Growmark/Farm Service company, pled guilty to five criminal charges for violating the Illinois Environmental Protection Act in the Circuit Court of Clay County, Louisville, and was sentenced.

The guilty plea was in response to Troyer’s indictment by the Clay County Grand Jury for discharging a contaminant into waters of the State.

The charges resulted from a December 9, 2008, incident when Troyer discharged agrichemical contaminated waste water from a tank onto the roadway and into the adjacent drainage ditches in two different remote rural Clay County locations. One of the ditches drained into an unnamed tributary of Big Muddy Creek and a channel to a nearby farm pond. Samples taken by the Illinois Department of Agriculture inspector revealed that the discharged waste water was contaminated with the agricultural chemicals atrazine, acetochlor, metolachlor, 2,4-D and pendimethalin.

Troyer was sentenced to 24 months conditional discharge, ordered to perform 150 hours of community service work, pay a fine of $10,000 plus costs and, within 30 days of sentencing, publish a written letter of apology for his actions in two Clay County newspapers of general circulation. The apology must be directed to the property owner whose pond was directly threatened by the discharge, his former employer and co-workers and the citizens of Clay County.

The State contended that with the exercise of reasonable care and diligence an experienced and safety-trained agrichemical worker should have known that the tank contained pesticide/ herbicide residue.

Troyer’s former employer, Effingham-Clay Service Company, Inc., previously pled guilty to two counts of negligent discharge of a contaminant to waters of the State without an National Pollution Discharge Elimination and Discharge System (water discharge) permit for a sentence of 12 months conditional discharge, a fine of $20,000, plus costs, and a $180,000 cash settlement of a related asset forfeiture claim.

The case was investigated by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Illinois EPA’s Emergency Response Unit and the Illinois State Police. Illinois EPA attorney Dan Merriman served as court-appointed special prosecutor.
when Troyer discharged agrichemical contaminated waste water from a tank onto the roadway and into the adjacent drainage ditches in two different remote rural Clay County locations. One of the ditches drained into an unnamed tributary of Big Muddy Creek and a channel to a nearby farm pond. Samples taken by the Illinois Department of Agriculture inspector revealed that the discharged waste water was contaminated with the agricultural chemicals atrazine, acetochlor, metolachlor, 2,4-D and pendimethalin.

Troyer was sentenced to 24 months conditional discharge, ordered to perform 150 hours of community service work, pay a fine of $10,000 plus costs and, within 30 days of sentencing, publish a written letter of apology for his actions in two Clay County newspapers of general circulation. The apology must be directed to the property owner whose pond was directly threatened by the discharge, his former employer and co-workers and the citizens of Clay County.

The State contended that with the exercise of reasonable care and diligence an experienced and safety-trained agrichemical worker should have known that the tank contained pesticide/ herbicide residue.

Troyer’s former employer, Effingham-Clay Service Company, Inc., previously pled guilty to two counts of negligent discharge of a contaminant to waters of the State without an National Pollution Discharge Elimination and Discharge System (water discharge) permit for a sentence of 12 months conditional discharge, a fine of $20,000, plus costs, and a $180,000 cash settlement of a related asset forfeiture claim.

The case was investigated by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Illinois EPA’s Emergency Response Unit and the Illinois State Police. Illinois EPA attorney Dan Merriman served as court-appointed special prosecutor.

Troyer Pleads Guilty to Contaminating Waters of the State | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Wollschlager was one of 35 finalists invited to a closing ceremony held at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Lincoln Park. The grand prize Toyota Prius was donated by Your Chicagoland Toyota Dealers.

“It’s wonderful to see Chicago area residents getting excited about improving local air quality. Thanks to the coalition’s ongoing outreach and education, community involvement will only continue to increase, leading to a brighter outlook for our region’s air quality,” said Lisa Bonnett, Interim Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

The program seems to be making a real difference. When the ceremony’s emcee, Meteorologist Brant Miller of NBC5 Chicago, asked Wollschlager, a teacher, what she will do to improve air quality over the next year, she explained that she will share air quality tips from Partners for Clean Air with her fifth grade students.

Partners for Clean Air has sponsored Green Pays on Green Days since 2002 and has given away 10 hybrid vehicles over the last decade. The 2011 program ran from June 1 through August 31. Finalist names were drawn each day that local air quality was forecasted to be good (or “green,” according to the federal Air Quality Index). This will be the 10th and final season of the giveaway as the Partners coalition will be expanding to year-round educational awareness programs.

Also honored last night were the many companies and organizations that have been involved with Green Pays on Green Days over the entire 10 years of the Green Pays on Green Days program: Abbott, BP America, Inc., Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, Corn Products International, Inc., Exxon Mobil Joliet Refinery, Midwest Generation EME, LLC, E.W. Inman, Lincoln Park Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, Kane County Cougars, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, the following companies and organizations were recognized for their support of the 2011 Partners’ program: BP America, Inc., Exxon Mobil Joliet Refinery, Regional Transportation Authority, Abbott, Jewel Osco, Lincoln Park Zoo, Brookfield Zoo, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, IKEA Schaumburg, American Lung Association of Illinois, Motorola Mobility Foundation, ADM, Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, Midwest Generation EME, LLC, Waste Management of Illinois, Inc., Corn Products International, Inc., and Your Chicagoland Toyota Dealers.

Green Pays on Green Days educates individuals living in the areas of northeastern Illinois that do not meet federal ambient air quality standards. The contest was open to residents in Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties in Illinois who took a survey telling Partners for Clean Air what they are already doing to help improve local air quality.

Celebrating its 16th year, Partners for Clean Air is a non-profit coalition dedicated to bringing cleaner air to the Chicago metropolitan area. For more information, visit www.cleantheair.org.

Partners for Clean Air Coalition Announces the Grand Prize Winner of a New Toyota Prius | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Those computer simulations are able to reproduce the trend toward rising temperatures, but only when they include data on rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. Simulations that omit the CO2 data do not accurately reproduce the changes. Archer says the link helps reveal carbon dioxide emissions as “the smoking gun” behind global warming and climate change.

But the science that established the facts of climate change long predated the invention of the computer, as documented in The Warming Papers, a book co-edited by Archer and Ray Pierrehumbert, the Louis Block Professor in Geophysical Sciences.

The book, published earlier this year, contains 32 classic scientific papers that laid the foundations of global-warming science, starting with Joseph Fourier’s 1824 work establishing what later was named the greenhouse effect.

“Fourier introduced the problem of planetary temperature as a proper object of study in physics, and established a largely correct physical framework for attacking the problem,” Pierrehumbert writes in his introduction to Fourier’s paper. “His work set the stage for most of the further developments in this area over the remainder of the 19th century. Indeed, it was only toward the end of that century that physics had caught up to the point that the first quantitative estimates of the Earth’s temperature based on Fourier’s concepts could be attempted.”

Another 19th-century work included in the book was published in 1896 by Nobel laureate Svante Arrhenius, who based a complex calculation of Earth’s climate sensitivity on measurements of the infrared intensity of moonlight.

Right for the wrong reason

Arrhenius proposed that a doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, would lead to a global temperature rise of approximately 6 degrees centigrade (11 degrees Fahrenheit). His estimate came out only slightly on the high side, but his method was flawed.

“It was an audacious calculation, to be sure,” Archer said. But Arrhenius’s paper was so creative, taking into account all of the fundamental elements needed to understand climate, that Archer has used it as assigned reading in his Global Warming class.

Climate theorists then went astray for decades following the publication of Arrhenius’s paper. “There were a lot of papers with fundamentally flawed formulations. Nothing really happened for 50 years,” he said.

Then came a series of classic papers starting in the 1950s, including one on rising atmospheric carbon dioxide co-authored by Roger Revelle, whose work Al Gore featured prominently in the documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

“We had a great time reading these papers in our journal club,” Archer said. The graduate students in the Climate and Paleoclimate Journal Club, in fact, played a key role in screening the papers for potential inclusion in the volume. Each week for two academic quarters, Archer, Pierrehumbert, their departmental colleagues, occasional visitors from other institutions and the students would read one of the papers and then assess its merits.

The Warming Papers is Archer’s fifth book in five years, following Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast, published in 2006, with the second edition coming out this year; The Long Thaw: How Humans are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth’s Climate (2009); The Climate Crisis: An Introductory Guide to Climate Change (with Potsdam University’s Stefan Rahmstorf, 2009); and The Global Carbon Cycle (2010).

Archer has no other books in the works, preferring now to focus on his research into methane hydrates. Methane and other gases form hydrates—frozen, crystalline substances—when they undergo high pressure and low temperature in the presence of water.

Methane hydrates and mass extinction

Oceanic sediments harbor massive quantities of methane hydrates. Scientists suspect that the sudden release of methane from these hydrates in the geologic past have triggered climate change and even mass extinctions.

Archer is running computer simulations to discover what parameters are required to grow the quantities of methane hydrates seen today and how they would react to a severe episode of global warming. Some people fear that the hydrates would melt and release their gas suddenly, with catastrophic results for life on Earth. Archer sees it differently.

“It takes a long time to heat up the deep ocean and down into the sediment,” he explained.

“I don’t think that’s where you should start being scared. CO2 is plenty to be scared of.”

Book traces long trail of global warming scholarship | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SPRINGFIELD—Illinois EPA Interim Director Lisa Bonnett has announced the award of nearly $3.5 million to 13 organizations across the state to help reduce impairment to water quality caused by nonpoint source pollution.  The list of recipients is attached.

Nonpoint source pollution is defined as the diffuse, intermittent runoff of pollutants from numerous sources.  As rainfall and snowmelt flows over and through the soils, it picks up pollutants and carries them into rivers, lakes, wetlands and into the groundwater.

“When it comes to preserving and improving our water resources, we must all work together,” said Illinois EPA Interim Director Lisa Bonnett.  “Our local partners play a critical role in controlling nonpoint source pollution and protecting our waterways.”

Major sources that contribute to Illinois’ nonpoint source pollution problems are agricultural runoff, construction site runoff, urban runoff, streambank and lake shoreline erosion, stream channelization, wetland loss and mining activities.  According to the U.S. EPA, over 60 percent of the national documented water pollution problems can be traced to nonpoint sources.

These grants are available each year to local government and other organizations and the projects must address water quality issues relating directly to nonpoint source pollution. Funds can be used for the implementation of watershed management plans including the development of information and education programs and for the installation of best management practices.

Illinois EPA receives federal funds through Section 319(h) of the Clean Water Act annually to help implement Illinois’ Nonpoint Source Management Program, including this Grant Program.   The program implementation period is two years unless otherwise approved and is a reimbursement program.  Illinois EPA received a total of 63 applications for this year’s grant cycle. 

Illinois EPA Awards Water Quality Improvement Grants | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

SPRINGFIELD—Illinois EPA Interim Director, Lisa Bonnett has awarded nearly $2 million to 18 small communities across the state for repair and improvements to their public drinking water systems. 

All of the communities had experienced difficulty in achieving compliance with Safe Drinking Water standards. 

“Due to their size and limited resources, these small communities do not have the funds readily available to perform the necessary corrective actions on such long-term projects,” said Bonnett. “These grants will aid them in improving the drinking water they provide to their consumers.”

The non-compliance issues for the proposed grant awards include arsenic violations, unsafe source waters, and inadequate pressure tanks. Project costs range from $5,222 to $200,000 based on the scope of the proposed project. The list of awards is attached.

Under the Small Systems Compliance Grant (SSCG) program, a community water supply is eligible for funding if it meets the definition of a small system, i.e., one that serves 100 service connections or less, or has less than 400 people, and has an unresolved Violation Notice or other compliance problems.

Priority was given to SSCG applicants based upon the severity of their non-compliance issues, impact of the project on the water system customers, and the ability of the facility to achieve compliance with the funds offered.

The deadline for submittal of applications closed April 30^th of this year. The Agency received 67 applications totaling $10.4 million.

Based on federal guidance, 21 full time equivalent jobs will be created.

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Illinois EPA Awards Drinking Water Grants to Small Community Water Supply Systems | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.