Environmental Archives - Page 5 of 7

EnvironMentors Awards $10,000 Emerging Leader Scholarship

July, 2014/in Community, Environmental, Events /by Carvalho-admin

Top placing students from each EnvironMentors chapter travel to Washington, DC to compete for these college scholarships at the annual EnvironMentors National Fair. The 2014 Fair was held on Monday, May 19, 2014, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. Environmental Attorney Michael Carvalho, past Chair of EnvironMentors Advisory Board and Member of the Board of the National Council on Science and Environment, was honored to serve as Emcee.

The EnvironMentors Emerging Leader Scholarship is the top scholarship awarded by EnvironMentors in the amount of $10,000. This scholarship is granted to an EnvironMentors student who is a graduating senior, has participated in EnvironMentors for at least two years, has been admitted to college, demonstrates a genuine commitment to the environment, and who, as a result of their participation in EnvironMentors and other related experiences, has decided to pursue and environmentally-related college degree program.

The 2014 EnvironMentors Emerging Leader Scholarship was awarded to Marcus Padia. As part of his project, Marcus built a scale model of his own wind turbine design and sought assistance from a local manufacturing company when the initial proto-type did not work as intended. He worked nights and weekends in a restaurant to earn funds for his project materials. Marcus participated in EnvironMentors for four years in High School, and was the 2013 recipient of the National Ronald M. Carvalho, Sr. Environmental Policy Award in connection with this project on community support for Wind Turbines in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Marcus was recognized for his sincere interest in engineering and science, and his ambition to study and pursue STEM related programs for the betterment of his community. Marcus, a first generation immigrant, has been accepted to Colorado State University where he plans to study Environmental and Electrical Engineering and pursue his interest in wind turbine design.

For more information about the EnvironMentors program, please visit www.ncseonline.org

Federal Clean Water Act Update

April, 2014/in Environmental, Uncategorized /by Carvalho-admin

For over 25 years, the U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have provided a regulatory framework for what constitutes the definition of “waters of the United States”. Water bodies meeting this definition are highly regulated creating legal and regulatory implications. On March 25, 2014, EPA and the Corps proposed a joint rule redefining what consitutes “waters of the United States” in light of Supreme Court rulings in 2001 and 2006. The 2014 proposed rule replaces guidance from 2003 and 2008, and attempts to clarify the regulatory status of isolated places in a landscape; it does not modify other categories of waters htt currently are jurisdictional by rule (e.g. navigable waters, wetlands, impoundments, etc.). Download pdf link to the Congressional Research Service recently published paper entitled, Federal Clean Water Act (CWA)

For further information, please email Attorney Michael Carvalho, Esq. He can be reached at (678) 354-0066 or by e-mail.

“Underwater in Salem Sound” – Environmental Lecture Series

February, 2014/in Climate Change, Community, Environmental, Events, Regulatory Matters, Sustainability /by Carvalho-admin

MARBLEHEAD, MA – On Wednesday, February 26, 2014, Environmental Attorney Michael Carvalho will attend the Salem Sound Coastwatch lecture series, “Underwater in Salem Sound.” In this lecture series, which will be held the last Wednesday of the month January through April, experts will explore life in local coastal waters.

The Lecture Series is part of a MET (Massachusetts Environmental Trust) grant awarded to Salem Sound Coastwatch to study the issue of turbidity in Salem Harbor over the next two and a half years. Turbidity, which is cloudiness in the water column, affects the ability of the water to sustain marine life.

On January 29, 2014, Dr. Robert Buchsbaum, conservation scientist with Mass Audubon, gave an illustrated presentation on the fascinating arctic birds that are only visible in Salem Sound during the winter. These seasonal guests come to local waters for the abundant food provided by Salem Sound’s fish, snails, mussels and underwater plants.

Then in February, Dr. Brad Hubeny, professor of geologic sciences at Salem State University, will talk about “History Revealed by the Sea Floor.” Hubeny’s research includes using sediment records to reconstruct pollution and human influence on natural water bodies.

In the third session, “Changing Climate, Changing Fishes,” Dr. Mike Armstrong of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries will talk about the decline of flounder, the burgeoning squid population and the changing species of fish resulting from changing water temperatures.

The series wraps up in April with “Shellfish, Shellfish Everywhere and Not a Clam to Eat” — a look at Salem Sound’s productive, but not edible, shellfish beds, by Barbara Warren of Salem Sound Coastwatch.

“Salem Sound’s natural resources play a huge role in the ecological, social and economic life of our region,” said Warren, Coastwatch’s executive director. “This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about our great neighbor, the ocean.”

To learn more about this lecture series, please go to: Underwater-in-Salem-Sound Lecture Series.

This Lecture Series is funded in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET). MET is funded through the sale of environmental license plates. Every Massachusetts driver who purchases one of the “Preserve the Trust” license plates is contributing to the Trust and to the state’s environmental well-being.

Contamination Closes Part of Maine Coast to Lobster Fishing

February, 2014/in Environmental /by Carvalho-admin

PORTLAND, Maine – State officials were briefed about high levels of mercury contamination in lobsters caught around the mouth of the Penobscot River more than three years before the Department of Marine Resources shut the area down for fishing this week, according to a group of scientists involved in studying the contamination.

Preliminary results from the federally mandated study carried out as part of a lawsuit against a chemical company blamed for dumping tons of mercury into the river were presented to state officials in September 2010, according to three of the scientists.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources, which shut down the contaminated area for fishing this week, said it didn’t learn of the contamination until November 2013.

Chris Whipple, a member of the Penobscot River Mercury Study Panel, said that officials from the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife were among those invited to the presentation.

Drew Bodaly, the study’s project leader, and biologist Dianne Kopec said they recalled seeing “numerous” Maine state officials at the meeting in Portland.

“They were somewhat aware of what we were doing,” said Whipple, who works for the environmental consulting firm Environ International Corporation, specializing in radioactive waste, air pollutants and mercury. “I don’t think it’s accurate to say the (final) report was a total surprise to them.”

Jeff Nichols, a spokesman for the state Department of Marine Resources, said the department first heard of the research in November 2013, when it was brought to their attention by Patrice McCarron, executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association.

The Department of Marine Resources then asked state toxicologist Andrew Smith from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to analyze the study’s data and decided to close the area based on his findings, Nichols said.

“It is important to note too that the state isn’t party to this litigation,” said DMR spokesman Jeff Nichols. “When we found out about it (the study), we took immediate action and took this conservative measure.”

Details from the study have been made publicly available through court filings shortly after each phase of the project was presented in court in 2007, 2009 and 2013.

“When a report was completed we submitted it to the court, the court reviewed it, and after a short period of time it was docketed, usually within a month,” Kopec said.

Study results from 2009 are posted on the state Department of Environmental Protection’s website, although it’s unclear when it was actually posted.

The slow dissemination of the findings was first reported by the Portland Press Herald.

The federally mandated study was carried out as part of a lawsuit involving the now-closed HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. plant in Orrington.

The results prompted the Maine Department of Marine Resources this week to close the 7 square miles at the mouth of Penobscot to lobster and crab fishing starting Saturday for at least two years as other tests are conducted.

Whipple said that part of Maine’s slow reaction might have come from court proceedings, which prevented researchers from publishing their results or presenting their research without court permission.

He said that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife closed areas to duck hunting because of the mercury contamination documented by the study a year ago.

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