The land of the Somali people, much of it arid and inhospitable, has been close to civilization and international trade for thousands of years.

Situated on the Horn of Africa, jutting out into the India Ocean, Somalia’s harbors are natural ports of call for traders sailing to and from India. Somalia’s coastline is frequented by many foreigners, in particular Arabs and Persians. But, in Somalia’s interior, the Somali are on their own.

Most urban households use charcoal for everyday cooking. It has been estimated that some families use a full sack of charcoal every four days due to their large family size. And, with this exacerbated charcoal use comes a significant amount of environmental fallout.

Because of an insufficient and cheaper alternative to charcoal and a large former refugee population, tree felling and a great dependence on charcoal in the self-declared republic of Somaliland are adversely affecting the environment. A 2007 study by the Academy for Peace and Development reports that greater than 2.5 million trees are felled each year and burned for charcoal in Somaliland. The report further stated that each household in Somaliland consumes an average of 10 trees a month.

Considering this extensive use of trees, the serious affects of deforestation should be noted. Deforestation not only exacerbates soil erosion, it also reduces rainfall availability. In addition, trees are a vital component in carbon fixing, which is the natural process of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Interestingly, the demand for charcoal remains very high, despite charcoal prices going up since 1991 with the resettlement of former refugees. Roughly 10 years ago, one sack of charcoal cost Somalis only about 5,000 Somaliland shillings, or 0.76 US dollars, but now the price is about 30,000 Somaliland shillings, or 5 US dollars. And, this price is only aggravated by rainfall, because when it rains, the trees become wet and the charcoal becomes more expensive.

It is not difficult to see that the ever rising gas prices have helped to encourage charcoal use. In past years, gas was actually cheaper than charcoal, but the price has increased dramatically. Now, one liter of gas costs approximately 4,000 Somaliland shillings or 0.61 US dollars, which is up from 1,500 Somaliland shillings or 0.23 US dollars.

Nowadays, charcoal is even the preferred fuel in hotels, which obviously consume even larger quantities of this valuable and environmentally important commodity. It has been estimated that some hotel chefs even use a full sack of charcoal for a single day’s cooking.

It is no wonder that researchers have determined that one of the main driving forces of African deforestation is the need for fuel.

It is also estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa, only 7.5 percent of the rural population has access to electricity. A 2009 report on the state of the world’s forests reports that “as household incomes and investment in appropriate alternatives remain low, wood is likely to remain an important energy source in Africa in the coming decades.”

Going back as far as forecasts made in 2001, it was suggested that there will be a 34 percent increase in wood fuel consumption from 2000 to 2020. However, as the price for fuel continues to rise, this increase is likely to be even greater. In other words, the share of wood fuel in the total energy supply is likely to decline, while the number of people dependent on wood for fuel and energy is likely to grow.

The report goes on to say that “the forest situation in Africa presents enormous challenges, reflecting the larger constraints of low income, weak policies and inadequately developed institutions.”

With this ever-increasing demand for fuel, many environmentalists are concerned that the trade in charcoal will eventually wipe out some species of trees. For example, one species of trees used for charcoal production is the Acacia bussei tree, which can produce between eight to 10 sacks of charcoal per tree. Researches are worried because the Acacia is the most preferred tree specie for charcoal production, timber and fencing, and its extensive use could force it to the brink of extinction in the Somaliland territories.

Efforts are being made, however, to stop or slow down the felling of Somaliland trees. On April 30, 2009, concerned with the impact of charcoal burning on the environment, Maroodi Jeeh, regional governor of Hargeisa (a city in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia), banned trade in charcoal as well as the burning of trees. Other attempts at protecting the environment have included the introduction of gas stoves and solar cookers in the main urban centers of Burou, Las-anod, Gabiley, Wajalea and Borama.

Since January, Somgas Company has been supplying gas to residents. A typical household uses an 11-kilogram cylinder for approximately six weeks. Although initial gas and cylinder prices remain high, an 11-kilogram gas cylinder plus gas costs $44.50 and is recharged at just $19.
This is certainly not expensive compared with the monthly charcoal consumption of about $15 for three 20-kilogram sacks of charcoal per household. (The gas cylinders range from two to 22 kilograms.)

According to Somaliland’s Ministry of Pastoral Development and Environment, there is still great cause for concern, even though charcoal consumption fell in 2008 compared with 2007.

Mohamoud Ibrahim Mohamoud currently heads the forestry section in the ministry. He says he is concerned about environmental degradation caused by the charcoal trade, and is working with several organizations to search for alternatives to charcoal energy. The problem that seems to drive the tree felling and forest burning for charcoal is the poverty throughout the countryside and the high demand for charcoal energy in the urban areas.

Overall, the demand for charcoal appears to be increasing daily and the burning of trees is also increasing. But, many leaders and environmentalists are now trying to encourage awareness and education among the people of Somalia and give them other sources of income, such as helping young people become involved in alternative activities such as bee-keeping.

It is obvious that other sources of income and further education and research are needed if the problem of deforestation and charcoal burning will be successfully addressed and redirected in Somalia.

With the enthusiastic complicity of the State and the participation of Canadian, US, British and South African transnational mining companies, Venezuela is seeing the execution of a project promoting the immediate exploitation of a rich gold reserve which, according to its promoters and beneficiaries, will turn out to be the discovery of the famous El Dorado — sought so remorselessly in the 16th century by Europeans in these lands.

View in Google Earth by downloading this placemark

In large-scale gold mining operations, enormous pits are dug out of the land; dynamite is often used to blast holes in the ground; ore is sprayed with cyanide solution to leach out the gold.
RainForestWeb.org

The most powerful force in Las Claritas is Crystallex, a Canadian-owned mining company. It’s not difficult to notice their presence: a high fence surrounds their huge swath of land, and at the main gate, beneath a watch tower, guards with helmets and riot sticks keep away unwanted persons. “No pictures”, says one of them harshly, even on public soil outside of their territory. It’s clear: these mining companies are here for the money and nothing else.

Another company is the US-based Hecla, which is the biggest gold producer in Venezuela. Hecla owns concessions in El Callao and El Dorado, a bit further up north, in the state of Bolivar. A third mining company, Toronto-based Bolivar Gold, holds concessions in El Callao as well. In June of 2006, the company announced the first extraction of gold at their Choco 10-field, which is supposed to hold ore reserves of 1.3 million ounces. And then of course there is the Venezuelan, state-owned CVG, which has a gold mining division.

The presence of mining companies like Crystallex and Hecla is a highly controversial issue among many NGOs and indigenous groups in Venezuela. The main reason for the controversy is the fact that the mining takes place in the Imataca Forest, a large forest reserve along the disputed border with Guyana. Though it doesn’t have the status of a national park, the area is under special administration. The Imataca Forest Reserve, which is bordered by the Orinoco delta in the north and the area of Las Claritas in the south, was created in 1963 and measures 3.8 million hectares, which makes it roughly as big as The Netherlands. The area is rich in different wood arts, gold, diamonds, copper, bauxite, magnesium, water, genetic diversity, and energy.
(source)

Mining, particularly gold mining, is an increasing threat to the world’s rainforests and to forest communities. The social and environmental repercussions of mining are particularly disturbing considering that nearly 80 percent of newly mined gold goes towards jewelry fabrication.
RainForestWeb.org

Because the Imataca Forest has the status of a reserve since 1963, it was supposed to have a Management Plan since then, but until 1997, such a plan never existed. This means that all logging and mining before that year was carried out on an improvised basis. In 1997 almost half of the reserve was given over to mining, leaving less than four percent of the region completely protected.

“… Cyanide and mercury is used for the extraction of the gold, both highly toxic substances which cause enormous damage to people’s health, and which easily pollutes complete rivers. According to Julio César Centeno, Professor at the Los Andes University in Mérida and Rapporteur to the Secretariat of the UNCED, the social and environmental costs will surpass the economic benefits by far. “The main beneficiaries will be the multinational companies.”
(source)

Water interacts with these wastes to generate contaminated fluids that can pollute soils, rivers, and ground waters. These fluids can be highly acidic and metal-laden or highly alkaline, and they often contain various forms of cyanide, depending on the waste source. Although tailings are often deposited in lined facilities, leaks are not uncommon. High rainfall, typical in the Guayana region, can aggravate this problem by causing tailings ponds to exceed their recommended capacity and either overflow or rupture dams, contaminating groundwater and nearby streams, as was the case at the Omai mine in Guyana.
source

View in Google Earth by downloading this placemark

The settling of New England by immigrating Europeans took place mostly in the eighteenth century. As people began making their way to America, the Colonial government gave large pieces of land to groups of people known as ‘proprietors’. Often made up of 6-10 families (sometimes more), these groups had a select number of years to develop the land. “Developing” meant clearing the forest to create open spaces for crops and livestock, and cutting down trees for houses, fences, and businesses.

The peak of the deforestation occurred between 1830 and 1880. It is estimated that, with the exception of northern Maine and the more mountainous regions, nearly 80% of forested regions in New England had been cleared during this time.

Consequently, New England saw a shift in wildlife as well. Where wolves, turkeys, beavers, moose, and cougars once roamed, there was an influx of open-land species like skunks, meadowlarks, rabbits, and foxes.

As settlers moved farther west, many of the New England farms were abandoned, allowing the forests time to re-populate. The tree most common in the first phase of re-population was the white pine, which dominated most of the re-growth in New England. As the white pine stands began to mature, the opening of the Panama Canal and establishing of the railroad created a simultaneous demand for solid shipping containers. Portable sawmills depleted what little re-growth had occurred, and the 1938 hurricane depleted it even further.

In 1897, a group of men formed the Massachusetts Forests and Parks Association, intending to address some of New England’s environmental concerns. Though its primary focus was wildlife conservation, one member – Harry Reynolds – was mainly concerned about New England’s forests. He communicated with several government officials, both state and federal, pushing for measures to protect the land. Responding to a need for forest management, Mr. Reynolds and some of his colleagues formed the New England Forestry Foundation in 1944.

The NEFF set clear guidelines on tree harvesting, and began working with both landowners and lumber companies to enforce the guidelines. Though they met with some resistance in the beginning, by 1946 the Foundation was working with 20 properties that each averaged about 150 acres. By June of 2005, the NEFF managed over 20,000 acres of New England’s forests.

The NEFF’s forest management is multi-faceted. They start by analyzing the current condition of a stand or plot of land. Often, the previous manager has begun a “treatment”, or forest management system, of his own. NEFF’s forest manager must determine whether it is best to continue with the current treatment, or start fresh. The first step is usually one of three harvesting methods: Intermediate Thinning, Regeneration, and Allowable Harvests. After that, the forest is monitored and maintained, which is far more complex than it sounds!

In 1907, just a few years before Mr. Reynolds began making his pleas for forest conservation, a Harvard professor by the name of Richard T Fisher founded Harvard Forest. As its founder and first Director, he began working with his students to develop a comprehensive reforestation plan. What made Mr. Fisher’s plan different was that it took into consideration things like land-use history, human activity, and natural disturbances like hurricanes and thunderstorms. He initiated a series of studies, out of which came the concept of “ecological forestry”. It has revolutionized New England forest management. In the process, he also developed a set of world-renowned dioramas depicting the New England landscape and all its dramatic changes.

Efforts like these have paid off. Between 1885 and 1925, forest cover more than doubled, and exceeded 70% by 1952. It has steadily increased ever since. Over time, New England has learned how to effectively combine natural and managed re-growth to create forests that are much more diverse and ecologically sound.

While most people celebrate the return of the forests, some consider the loss of grassland and agricultural habitats tragic. They believe the “natural” forests in New England are less natural than the ones that were converted to farmland when the area was first settled, and to some extent, they’re right. The forests are not left to grow as they would naturally.

Instead, they are carefully managed by people who have spent considerable time learning the about the history, and the ecological impact, of New England’s changing landscape. By doing so, they are able to build heartier, more robust forests. Trees are still harvested, but they are harvested carefully. With consideration for how each tree, and its absence, will affect the ecology. New England’s forests may not be 100% natural, but they are being built to last.

Sources: “Legacies of the agricultural past..”, Jesse Bellemare, Glenn Motzkin and David R. Foster; D. R. Foster. Thoreau’s Country: Journey Through a Transformed Landscape. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999; New England Forestry Foundation; Harvard Forest

Experts from the park and Western Kentucky University conducted the research, which was intended to measure the amount of the poisonous metal in park wildlife, including bats that inhabit Mammoth Cave.

Their work is now also shedding light on how pollutants, such as mercury, become concentrated in and saturate our natural environment.


During the park study, teams of researchers spent two summers using nets to capture hundreds of the estimated 6,000 to 8,000 inhabiting bats for evaluation. The teams strategically placed the nets at locations the bats were expected to fly during the evening hours, such as at the mouth of caves.

Once researchers caught the bats, locks of hair were trimmed from the animals, placed in sterile bags and sent to a Western Kentucky University laboratory for evaluation. As is the case with human beings, the level of mercury found in the bats’ hair has been revealed to correlate with the amount of mercury in their small, fury bodies.

This correlation is called “biomagnification.” Biomagnification is the process where concentrations of a specified pollutant, in this case mercury, increase at each link in the food chain. Prior to this groundbreaking research, mercury studies typically focused on humans and other animals that consume mercury-tainted fish, which are just one step higher on the food chain than the lowly insects. As it turns out, the recent research on bats verses mercury pollution is quite revolutionary because it is revealing that biomagnification even takes place in animals that feed on tiny insects.

In the case of bats, toxic mercury, derived primarily from power plants, falls to the ground and accumulates in a multitude of microscopic plants. These plants are then eaten by minuscule animals, which are then eaten by insects, which are finally devoured by our only truly-flying mammal, bats. Through each of these eating cycles, the quantity of mercury increases until it reaches the bat. In other words, the bat accumulates more mercury than the insect, the insect has more than the minuscule animal, and the minuscule animal has more than the microscopic plant. And so it goes.

Environmental groups and park authorities are placing the blame for the increased mercury contamination primarily on the emissions from Kentucky’s many coal-fired power plants. Utility companies, however, say they are reducing mercury emissions as a result of recent legislation. They point out that some mercury in the atmosphere comes from certain natural events, such as forest fires and volcanoes.

Additionally, Kentucky’s coal-fired power plants are likely not the only mercury contributor as bats do migrate and can acquire the lethal mercury during their travels to neighboring states. Mercury, like bats, is also able to travel long distances before settling in bodies of water or being soaked up by tiny plants.

While Kentucky’s power plants are not the lone mercury bandit, many environmentalists call Kentucky a mercury “hot spot” due to the sheer number of coal-fired plants. In fact, state officials have had to issue mercury warnings cautioning people against eating fish taken out of rivers, creeks, lakes and ponds located in all 120 Kentucky counties.

Although it is yet to be determined whether or not the amount of mercury found in these bats is actually causing serious harm, such as damage to the central nervous and reproductive systems, researchers have already found mercury in the bats’ hair at nearly 10 parts per million.

10 parts per million is an extremely elevated level, a concentration beyond which detrimental health effects are detected in humans and a variety of rodents. In fact, the United States Environmental Protection Agency reports that human mercury exposure should be limited to 1 part per million. This is a whopping 10 times lower than the level found in bats during the Mammoth Cave National Park study.

It is now understood that bats are especially susceptible to the toxic metal due to their high metabolic rate, which requires the bats to consume an excessive amount of insects every night. In fact, bats are better than your average bug zapper light as many can easily eat close to their body weight in insects in just one night. That’s a lot of bugs.

Because of the sheer number of insects bats must eat to survive, it is believed that mercury has the obvious potential to seriously affect a bat’s ability to reproduce, thus hindering their capability of keeping their species alive. Mercury contamination can also alter the way the baby bats’ brains develop as well as impair the adult bats’ ability to care for their new babies.

For the furry-faced Indiana bat, which is found throughout the eastern states, the future is uncertain as they are still facing the threat of extinction. At one time, this tiny flying mammal, only weighing as much as three pennies, is estimated to have numbered up into the tens of millions in and around Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park.

Urban development, increased farming and deadly tree diseases depleted and, in fact, removed a significant amount of these tiny bats’ maternity habitat and food supply. Prior to 1941, when Mammoth Cave was designated as a national park, much of its 52,000-plus acres were used as cattle grazing-ground, farmland as well as a prime location to harvest a great deal of timber.

Dutch elm disease also eliminated 90 percent of the nation’s American elm trees; a member of the elm tree family that the Indiana bats used to raise their young. Currently the Dutch elm tree has made a comeback, however the current woodlands are still too young to support the needs of the many roosting females. This serious decline in suitable roosting trees presents quite a challenge for mammals that only produce one offspring each year.

Scientists have estimated that, at one point in history, as many as ten million bats wintered in Mammoth Cave. That number has been reduced to zero. When the Indiana bat was added to the Federal Endangered Species List in 1967, their numbers had declined drastically; by greater than 60 percent. It is now estimated that the current national population of this bat is only roughly 330,000.

The Mammoth Cave National Park research findings, which are still being scrutinized, will most likely turn into a conflict between environmentalists, Kentucky power plants and, of course, government environmental authorities over the effects that toxic mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants has on the environment, including the bats who reside at the park.

In 2005, Environmental Protection Agency authorities imposed a seemingly significant limit on mercury emissions from power plants. These new regulations should reduce mercury emissions by approximately 70 percent over the next 13 years.

Many environmentalists, however, are still not convinced that these new mercury pollution regulations will be enough to protect the environment. Some groups have even challenged the new policy in court saying it is still too weak and will take too long to make a significant environmental difference.

While some may not give the future of creatures that often provoke fear because of their Halloween-like, spooky reputation of sucking human blood and attacking unsuspecting people, the importance of bats should not be underestimated.

Insect control, particularly of the dreaded mosquito, is just one of the benefits offered to the world by the bat. Consider the little brown bat that can swallow approximately 600 mosquitoes an hour.

The mosquito is just one insect different varieties of bats love to devour. The big brown bat can devour about 18 million rootworms every year, while the long-eared pallid bat can actually hear its prey – various walking insects, such as scorpions, centipedes and grasshoppers.

Not all bats eat insects, but they still provide other benefits to humans and our environment. Some bats, like the lesser long-nosed bat, drink nectar. Just like bees and hummingbirds, they carry pollen from one flower to another, thus aiding in the pollination of plants.

Photo:Doug Bowman

Some bats, like the short-tailed fruit bat, eat delicious fruit and scatter the seeds as they fly. Some 60,000 seeds can be distributed in one night by a single short-tailed fruit bat living in South and Central American rain forests.

Finally, take a minute to think of the mysterious vampire bat of Central and South America. While these bats do suck the blood of certain larger mammals, they pose no threat to humans. In fact, vampire bats have actually helped the medical profession.

Photo:bubblemonkey

Vampire bat saliva is unique and is made up of three ingredients that keep their preys’ blood freely flowing. An anticoagulant is the primarily component and works to keep the blood from clotting. A relatively new drug, Draculin, has been developed as a result of research and testing on the anticoagulant element of vampire bat saliva. This drug is now used to the benefit of human patients with heart ailments.

It should be obvious that there really is much to be lost if the diverse environments of the many bat species are not protected.

High Resolution Images from this article

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 6, 2005, an F3 tornado tore a path through parts of Kentucky before jumping the Ohio River into southwest Indiana. This tornado produced drastic results for many areas, but did the most damage to Evansville, Indiana.


This unexpected tornadic storm touched down just two miles north to northwest of Smith Mills, in Henderson County, Kentucky before moving northeast. After jumping across the Ohio River, the storm moved through the southern Indiana town of Evansville, Vanderburgh County, and continued on into Warrick County with winds reaching an estimated 200 MPH.

With a storm path of about ¾ of a mile wide and 41 miles long, this recent tornadic event claimed 23 lives while leaving at least 200 Hoosiers injured. Many of these injured survivors, however, are still considered “critical,” and at least five more people are deemed “unaccounted for.”

Along with the obvious, tragic human toll are over 100 buildings and homes. The hardest hit areas seem to be Evansville’s Eastbrook Mobile Home Park and areas in Warrick County, located just east of Evansville. As it turns out, this tornado, which triggered area emergency sirens, was virtually unexpected and undetected by the victims and survivors as most people were sound asleep early Sunday morning and did not even hear the sirens sound just minutes before disaster struck.

Indiana officials have confirmed that the weather sirens did sound twice, but those who lived in the mobile home park just could not hear them. In fact, officials say that the warning siren are definitely loud enough for people who are awake or already outside, but they may not be strong enough to wake up someone from a sound sleep.

What was left by November 6th’s tornado was total devastation to most areas that were unlucky enough to be caught in the storm’s path. Toppled mobiles lay in complete ruins like matchsticks; smashed, overturned cars in what used to be farm fields and lawns; yellow insulation decorated trees; vinyl house siding in the streets; and toppled trees were left-over reminders of the tornado’s wrath.

Indiana homeland security spokesperson, Pamela Bright, has confirmed that this storm was the deadliest in Indiana’s long tornado history since April 3, 1974. Additionally, the National Weather Service has also established that this more recent tornado appears to have been, in fact, an F3, “severe tornado,” on the Fujita scale as it contained winds ranging anywhere from 158 mph to 206 mph. This F3 tornado also possessed the power to tear the roof and some walls from well constructed houses and building, to overturn trains, as well as to uproot most trees found in area forests.

The Fujita Scale is a system used to gage the ferocity of tornados, and it is based on the damage caused by the storm, not the appearance of the funnel cloud. The F Scale has ratings from F0, a gale tornado, to F5, an inconceivable tornado, and storm chasers and most other weather observers usually try to guesstimate the intensity of a tornado when they are out in the field actually observing a tornado. They base their decision on the tornado’s rotational speed, the amount of debris being generated by the twister, along with the width of the tornado. However, it is important to note, the National Weather Service office that issued the original “tornado warning” will announce the official, final Fujita Scale designation only after the tornado is over and the damage is being assessed.

As in the case of November’s southern Indiana F3 tornado, the strength and unusual characteristics actually dispelled some myths about the predictability of tornadic activity. The storm’s intense strength, its 41-mile path of massive destruction, as well as the unusual fact that it struck in the middle of a November night are a few of the thought-to-be-unusual uniqueness of this tornado.

In addition to these common misconceptions about tornados, many people living in and around the Evansville area were under the impression that they had a natural tornado protector in the great Ohio River. It is a typical misbelief that a tornado won’t, or can’t, leap from one side of the river to another. Unfortunately for those in southern and southwestern Indiana, this is just not true.

Fortunately, however, the November 6th F3 twister was not as bad as it could have been.

Anyone Hoosier knows that their home state is in what is referred to as “Tornado Alley.” Tornado Alley, a line of states that stretches from the Southeast to the Plains states, is where the tornadoes are most likely to occur, and, in fact, occur quite often. And, even though states like Oklahoma and Kansas have a much higher frequency of tornado-producing storms than Indiana, the Hoosier state’s tornadoes rank very high in tornadic intensity and strength.

In Indiana’s recorded history, going back to 1852, the deadliest tornadoes struck on Palm Sunday, 1965, when 11 tornadoes ravaged 20 counties in central and northern Indiana. The final death toll in Indiana was 137 Hoosiers. More than 1,700 people were injured and the state’s property damage costs far exceeded $30 million. This Palm Sunday disaster was truly Indiana’s worst tornado event.

The deadliest tornado in American history, however, was actually the Tri-State Tornado which hit Missouri, Illinois and, Indiana on March 18, 1925. This deadly tornado traveled a record 219 miles beginning in Missouri before moving into Illinois and then ending in Indiana where it severely devastated three counties; Posey, Gibson and Pike. The Tri-State Tornado finally ended roughly three and a half hours after it began in Missouri. Just under 700 people died during that three and a half hour period, 74 of them were Hoosiers.

In terms of total destruction, the nation’s most damaging tornado outbreak occurred on April 3rd and 4th, 1974. In Indiana alone, the tremendously devastating tornado-producing system created 21 tornadoes which struck 39 Hoosier counties causing 47 fatalities, 768 injuries, and property losses to at least 5,966 families in Indiana.

The first, tornado touchdown on April 3, 1974, was at 9:30 a.m. in a farm field in Boone County. The major outbreak, however, did not begin until around 2:20 p.m. in the south-central portion of the State. The tornado rampage did not end until just before 8:00 p.m. in the northeastern part of Indiana. Several of these twisters moved rapidly across the state at speeds of 50 to 60 mph and were visually-observed to have more the one funnel cloud. When the dust had finally settled, 39 counties had suffered significant damage, including the loss of 47 lives

This massive series of tornadic storms, also known as the “Super Outbreak of ‘74,” lasted for roughly 16 hours, produced 148 tornadoes and ravaged parts of 13 states. The storm path was devastating and stretch approximately 2,500 miles killing over 300 and injuring more than 5,000 people who were caught in the storm’s path.

It is interesting to note that Indiana ranks 15th in frequency of tornado-producing storms. The Hoosier state also is ranked 7th in tornado-related injuries and 6th in actual fatalities. When it comes to the costs that are accrued as a result of tornadic storms, Indiana chimes in at 2nd in the nation.

As for the survivors of the most recent tornado disaster in Indiana, it is time to try to clean up what is left in the twister’s wake. For many, however, there is virtually nothing left to clean up as the tornado stripped them of their homes as well as most of their personal possessions. Rebuilding will happen slowly, and it will probably be a long time before many of the survivors have a secure, permanent place to call “home.”

British Columbia, Québec and New Brunswick are the 3 major lumber producers of Canada. This year, the Québec government had to impose a 20% reduction in wood cut because the resource is simply not there anymore.

For centuries lumber was synonymous with Canada and the mechanization of the industry in the late 20th century devastated forests for decades. The industry is actually lobbying to push the northern limit of legal lumber from the 50th to the 60th parallel. Trees take almost 100 years to reach maturity at this latitude.

These images show the Gaspésie region, eastern Québec. Notice the “beige” spots and, particularly, the biggest spot in the middle. Not much population here, the principal economic activity is lumber, then tourism, then fisheries (not much tough, stocks have depleted as in the Newfoundland banks). There was mining but the mines are now closed down.

As it is a peninsula at the end of the St-Lawrence corridor right under the North American jet stream, it is a windy region. It could be the home of the biggest wind-powered generators park north of California but the right wing government and lobbies are trying to kill the project.

Above: a major clear-cut area, almost 150 square kilometers. Clear-cut the old fashioned way between 1990 and 2004. The desolation of the land is
evident. Here’s an overview by the Global Environment Outlook from the
United Nation Environment Programme.

This image shows what the forest ministry call an “evolution”: eco-friendly cuts (sic). That cute little green patch in the middle is supposed to seed the whole cutted area. Ten years later, we are still waiting for trees to grow. The soil has been compacted so much by the lumber equipment that only weeds can grow. It could take another 20 years before a well-aerated hummus coat regenerates, allowing trees to grow roots.

—

A little update on windpower production, Québec’s Environment Minister Thomas Mulcair announced that he refuse to nationalise the windpower production in the province. Thus putting a little more stress on the lumber industry, windgenerator conception/production was seen as a sustainable industry for the workers of the declining lumber opportunity. People are going to fight to keep their job, and lumber is all they got.

Electric power production (thermal and hydro) is a state monopoly in Québec and the announcement is seen a breach in the government policy. There are concerns about the ownership of the land where the wind generators will be placed (mostly crown land), if it will be leased or sold to private interests and if royalties will be paid to local communities (Gaspésie has one the highest unemployment rate in North-America). People also worry about the lack of local impact on local economies since wind generators are actually not conceived locally. Actually the government loans money to contractors so they can run and install generators produced by General Electric in southern Québec, Ontario and the great lakes region whilst technology/knowledge and industries are capable of doing it in Gaspésie. Nationalisation was seen as a mean to force investment in the region, wich desperatly needs durable jobs.

On another hand, local farmers see the possibility of leasing some of their land to private contractors or install a wind generator themselves for their own consumption or to sell power back to the gridlock. Although such projects represent a minor part of the windpower capacity of the peninsula since the best wind fields are located on crown land and that large windgenerators are too expensive for small investors like farmers. Economic impact is also low when generators are not produced locally and run by corporations from outside of the region, profits being spent abroad instead of locally.

You can see the NPR press release in French on page 2 of this .pdf. I haven’t been able to find the Canadian Press release (in both French and English) for free on the internet, I’ll post when I’ll find it.

http://www.metronews.ca/uploadedFiles/Metro_Montreal_1213_2005.pdf

One of Michigan’s most exclusive communities, prestigious Bay Harbor, stretches along five miles of Lake Michigan’s Little Traverse Bay scenic coastline. This impressive four-season, luxury resort community comes with all of amenities one would expect of such an upper class, high society resort community – the 27-hole Bay Harbor Golf Club (which Golf Digest magazine calls “The Pebble Beach of the Midwest”), the Olympic-caliber Bay Harbor Equestrian Club, and, the part that is supposed to set this community apart from all others, the first-rate deep-water harbor.

But, this spectacular private community, which rests between Charlevoix and Petoskey, has a dirty little secret, and it just so happens to have found its way to the surface – the surface of the waters of Bay Harbor. Throughout the past year, the Northwest Michigan Community Health Agency has issued advisories and even closed certain beaches along Bay Harbor and Resort Township’s East Park. People have been advised to avoid three stretches of beach that actually covers roughly 7,000 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline.

This 7,000-foot area along Lake Michigan’s sandy coastline just happens to be near old, buried kiln dust piles. And, it just so happens that portions of the exclusive Bay Harbor resort and park were developed right on top of the well-known, hidden heaps of kiln dust. The kiln dust mounds, which have caused highly alkaline seepage and toxic heavy metal pollution, is a waste product left behind by the old Penn-Dixie Cement Company which operated at the very site of Bay Harbor’s development for decades until the 1960s.

For more than 100 years the Penn-Dixie Cement Company and mining operations spoiled and disfigured in excess of 1,200 acres and five miles of Lake Michigan shoreline on Little Traverse Bay. The retired cement plant, which lay abandoned for 35 years after closing its doors back in the 1960s, left a desolate moonscape consisting of asbestos, coal, chromium brick, and 2.5 million cubic yards of kiln dust.

This contaminated eyesore sat unchanged until 1993 when David V. Johnson, Bay Harbor Company Chairman, joined forces with CMS Energy and began what was, and still is to this day, North America’s largest land reclamation. Together, Johnson and CMS Energy attempted to do what most true environmentalist advocate. Instead of destroying existing forests, farmable fields, and the very habitats necessary to support native wildlife, Bay Harbor was developed over a desolate, environmental blemish that no one else wanted to mess with.

The vision of Harbor Bay, which started in the early 1990s with the alliance between Johnson and CMS Energy, would definitely be put to the test as the real pollution problems became evident. At the beginning of their partnership, CMS Energy agreed to assume every bit of the liability for all initial necessary environmental cleaning as well as complete responsibility for handling the cleanup of any future environmental mishaps, should any arise.

Beginning in 1994, the bleak moonscape environment seemed to change overnight as synchronized explosions brought down the plant’s obsolete smokestacks. Just eight short months later, the barrier that separated Little Traverse Bay and Bay Harbor was removed allowing water to gush into Bay Harbor with amazing speed. Flowing at a rate of one million gallons per minute, it took just 24 hours to accumulate more than 2.5 billion gallons of water that gave birth to Bay Harbor Lake and created the brand new Nautical Center of the Great Lakes.

Because Bay Harbor ranks as one of America’s best marina resort facilities and is home to the Bay Harbor Yacht Club, Bay Harbor exemplifies the perfect, definitive lifestyle. The Bay Harbor Lake Marina has been revered because it is said to provide a safe harbor, and it has actually grown to be one of the biggest and most well known destinations for Great Lakes boaters. In fact, the Wall Street Journal once called Bay Harbor a “magnet for the world’s magnates.”

But now, just 12 years after the extreme makeover of a once desolate moonscape into a renowned resort community with all of life’s best amenities and $5 million waterfront mansions, it appears that the fantasy-like transformation was, just that, an incomplete fantasy.

As the transformation began, four towering heaps containing toxic cement kiln dust were covered by dirt and rock. These four massive piles of kiln dust were equivalent to greater than 312,000 completely filled, commercial-sized dumpsters. Once, concealed under rock, soil, and new grass, much of the once barren terrain was landscaped with new, young trees and multiple varieties of attractive, healthy plant-life. At the bottom of the biggest mound, a piping system was installed with the very important job of collecting any toxic runoff and transferring it to a nearby wastewater treatment plant in Petoskey.

Unfortunately, this trusted and relied-upon collection system failed. Then things went from bad to worse as the system was not repaired. It was simply quietly shut off for about eight months from the end of 2003 to the beginning of 2004.

Finally, state authorities tested the water in Bay Harbor and discovered a dangerous dilemma. Toxic runoff was seeping directly into the bay in disturbing amounts. As they continued their investigation, it was found that Bay Harbor was being harshly infected at many spots along the bay’s five-mile coastline as well as at the site of the idle collection pipes.

Levels of pH elevated to 13.5 were discovered in some standing water on a number of private beaches. According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, pH levels this high are just about as caustic as the average liquid bleach and drain cleaners. In fact, pH levels of 13.5 are considered well above levels strong enough to inflict irreversible skin damage.

Along the sandy coastlines of some beaches, vegetation and insects appear to have vanished as a result of the noxious seepage. But, the contamination does not stop on the beaches. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has documented that water tests taken as far out as 90 feet offshore still show high alkalinity levels.

As the magnitude of this pollution is still being measured, there are many who suggest that the perils of this type of land and water contamination has been overstated and embellished. These skeptics allege that a lot of the red carpet, resort community’s lake front property has been evaluated and is completely free of contamination. This area, they say, includes a sandy swimming beach designated for residents along with the well known boat harbor.

In contrast, however, a Michigan Department of Community Health evaluation has determined that people who come into contact with the polluted lake water or any of the contaminated shoreline seepage which contains such high alkalinity levels will likely suffer irreparable injuries to bodily tissues, particularly on the skin, in the eyes, and around mucous membranes.

In addition to the dangers of very high pH levels, mercury found in the lake’s water and seepage also presents a significant health hazard. Mercury, which can irreversibly impair the human body’s central nervous system, poses a noteworthy threat to anyone who comes in contact or ingests the chemical. The threat of mercury is especially strong for unborn fetuses and young children. As a result, mercury contamination is a primary concern for health officials when issuing health advisories regarding avoiding or reducing consumption of fish taken from Lake Michigan.

Test results have shown mercury levels in some of the shoreline seepage puddles around Bay Harbor at levels 230 times higher than the safe threshold at which all wildlife can be exposed on an ongoing rate. It is also important to mention that the levels of several other dangerous toxins also surpass Michigan’s safety standards. Some of these contaminates include selenium, copper, zinc and nickel.

Now that Bay Harbor’s ugly little secret has finally churned back to the surface for everyone to see, closed beaches, protective fencing, health advisories, and government workers in white protective suits are the norm along some parts of Bay Harbor. At least a dozen lakefront homes have been directly impacted, and the value of many undeveloped waterfront home sites will probably decrease. The force of such damaging and potentially deadly pollution is bound to flow throughout the roughly 550-home-resort community.

The unfortunate thing about the Bay Harbor pollution crisis is that it, like most other man-made environmental catastrophes, could have been prevented.

As it turns out, Michigan state environmental officials were aware of the toxic brew that was leaching into Little Traverse Bay for several years prior to the development of Bay Harbor. At the time, even though the building and development site for the upscale Bay Harbor community was to be directly over the concealed and abandoned cement-kiln dust piles, the environmental and human health risks were announced and documented as negligible.

According to records examined by the Detroit Free Press, environmental authorities with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality had been aware that the nickel, lead and copper levels that were oozing into Lake Michigan surpassed tolerable and safe limits going back to 1989. This is some five years prior to the beginning of the development of the Bay Harbor community.

For some reason, however, at that time, the environmental regulators opted to not require the developer to completely contain and satisfactorily treat all the seepage. Their initial conclusion was that the contamination was, and would remain, insignificant.
As a direct result, in 1989, the state of Michigan established that the kiln dust was to be labeled as an inert byproduct. And, in 1994, environmental officials agreed that the state would not have the right to sue Bay Harbor in the event of any future problems, including any messy environmental problems that may occur.

The federal government, on the other hand, did not make the same agreement.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency and CMS Energy have been discussing direct and immediate measures to enclose the poisonous overspill. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will be responsible for the supervision and administration of the continuing, long-term solution.

For now, as the cleanup of Bay Harbor continues, hazardous sections have been fenced off, warning signs posted. Contractors have been draining off lethal stagnant water from along the shore, and the existing collection system is now up and running again. There are also plans all ready in the making for a new, more comprehensive collection system.

Due to their agreement for assuming all responsibility for any environmental mishaps, CMS Energy has laid aside roughly $45 million. All of this is designated for the cleanup of Bay Harbor, but no one can be sure if this huge amount of money will even be enough to cleanse and purify the water and land of this exclusive resort community.