Theaux Le Gardeur who is executive director of Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER®, they are a grassroots, advocacy-based membership organization charged with protecting, conserving and restoring the Gunpowder, Bird and Bush Rivers and their Watersheds located in Monkton, MD.

Because of the economic, biological and recreational importance of the Gunpowder River, there exists a pressing need for independent, comprehensive baseline environmental monitoring and mapping of the river and its watershed. They participate in monitoring projects such as temperature, pH, dissolved solids, Chlorophyll A, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and bacteria are collected throughout the watershed. This data will be visualized with GIS mapping and shared with regulatory agencies.

With Theaux we talk about the river itself, what problems the river is facing, projects and sampling they’re working on, and NASA satellite training that they’re a part of.

And to give more information on the NASA satellite training we attended, every day, several NASA satellites circle the globe from the North to the South Pole. As the earth turns, these satellite routes will cross over the entire planet, one swath at a time. Some of these satellites take pictures of the ever-changing waters of the earth.

This program is designed to ground truth the satellite data by comparing information from samples obtained in the field to the satellite data to determine how precisely the space images capture water quality data.

Contact and connect with Theaux: [email protected]

Gunpowder and their work: https://gunpowderriverkeeper.org/

NASA and SERC collaboration: https://gunpowderriverkeeper.org/reflecting-on-a-successful-training-with-the-smithsonian-environmental-research-center/

Charles Utley is Associate Director of BREDL. He was last on the podcast 2 years ago in Episode 45 called “What’s Happening at Plant Vogtle?” so go back and listen to that one. Now, I check back in with Charles to get updates on what’s been happening with his projects and BREDL for the past two years.

We speak about the Shell Bluff for Concerned Citizens chapter, the zero waste plan for Augusta, GA, industries coming into the area, Plant Vogtle, and what he’s looking forward to in the future.

Charles mentioned a chemical company that is coming to Augusta and they called Aurubis and they are a world leader in recycling copper, precious metals and other non-ferrous metals, which sounds good, but they are known for contaminating waterways during this process and that is the last thing the city of Augusta needs in their community.

Contact and connect with Charles: [email protected]

Aurubis: https://www.postandcourier.com/northaugusta/news/a-copper-smelting-plant-is-coming-to-augusta-a-local-group-is-warning-of-the/article_6968b31e-e1be-11ec-a85e-a3ddc4fe9bb7.html

Zero waste plan for Augusta: https://www.augustaga.gov/1298/Augusta-Sustainable-Development-Agenda

https://www.augustaga.gov/2501/Recycling

Jesse Deer In Water, based in Michigan,  is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and a leader in CRAFT (Citizen Resistance At Fermi Two). This grassroots, Indigenous-led environmental activism group is focused on protecting the Great Lakes. The Fermi 2 Power Plant, on the shore of Lake Erie in Newport, Michigan, supplies 20 percent of the power generated by DTE Energy.

Fermi 2 power plant and a neighboring coal plant are polluting the water, air, and land of this area. CRAFT originally formed after the Christmas Day 1993 incident at Fermi2 that resulted in radioactive release due to damage to one of the main turbines, subsequently dumping 1.5 million gallons of untreated toxic, radioactive water into Lake Erie.

With Jesse we talk about what got him into this work, the dangers of the Fermi 2 plant, actions his organization has done, the tie between the Fermi plant and nearby coal plant, and what is stopping the government from making changes.

Contact and connect with Jesse: [email protected]

CRAFT: https://home.schoolcraft.edu/college-news/2021/04/12/native-american-club-will-explore-fermi-2-dangers

Steph Compton is a Baltimore Organizer for Energy Justice Network, she has been working on Environmental justice issues since 2012 and she is currently working on all things pertaining to zero waste.

Baltimore currently has a large waste incinerator in the middle of the city that burns not only Baltimore’s trash but surrounding states and counties trash. This makes for some of the most dangerous air to breathe in the nation. MIT researchers showed that Baltimore City had the deadliest air in the nation in 2005. According to the EPA, in 2014, Baltimore was the 81st most air polluted locality in the nation (out of over 9,000) and is the most polluted city in Maryland. In 2018, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America ranked Baltimore as the 33rd worst asthma capital in the nation. This law we’ve been working on would force the city’s largest air polluter (the Wheelabrator Baltimore trash incinerator) and the nation’s largest medical waste incinerator (Curtis Bay Energy) to abide by the nation’s strictest standards or shut down.

With Steph we talk about how she’s going about tackling this incinerator, zero waste and recycling, organizing in Baltimore, politics of the city, deconstruction, and what she’s looking forward to in the future.

Contact and connect with Steph: [email protected]

Clean Air Baltimore: https://www.cleanairbmore.org/

Baltimore Waste Incinerator: http://www.energyjustice.net/md/moco

In this re-release episode I talk with John LaForge who is the co-director of NukeWatch. We highlight his work advocating the issue of the U.S. nuclear bombs in Germany. To give some historical background, Despite the end of the Cold War, about 20 US nuclear bombs are still deployed in Germany. German pilots are both trained and obligated to take off with these bombs in their Tornado jet fighter-bombers and, if the orders come from a US president through NATO, to use them on their targets. This terrifying NATO war plan is part of the “nuclear sharing agreement” between the US and Germany, and includes a first-strike option. NATO calls this nuclear proliferation “Power and Burden Sharing.”

Because of this every year a Peace Delegation is held in Germany to bring together people and organziations to send the existing U.S. nuclear weapons back home, and to halt production of the new B61-12 nuclear bomb to be deployed in five European countries as well as to pressure the government and remind lawmakers to permanently remove the US weapons.I will be attending the Germany Peace Delegation at the Büchel Air Base from July 11-17th to participate in direct actions towards this goal.

With John we talk about Germany and the US relationship with nuclear weapons, differences in direct actions between the two countries, the goals of the Peace delegation they hold every year, if Germany is making itself a target by having these nuclear weapons, and the relationship Germany has with other NATO countries.

Contact and connect with John: [email protected]

NukeWatch: https://nukewatchinfo.org/category/nuclear-weapons/

US and Germany history/ background: https://nukewatchinfo.org/category/direct-action/us-bombs-out-of-germany/ https://www.dw.com/en/us-set-to-upgrade-controversial-nukes-stationed-in-germany/a-52855886

Nonproliferation Treaty: https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/npt/

Germany’s progessive stances: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2015/11/germany-renewable-energy-revolution/

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?page=view&type=99&nr=24&menu=1449

Germany Peace Delegation: https://nukewatchinfo.org/action-alerts/

Two Plus Four Treaty: https://www.deutschland.de/en/topic/politics/germany-europe/two-plus-four-treaty

In this episode I check back in with Ruth Ann Tesanovich of the Madison County Clean Power Coalition Chapter (MCCPC) and retired Medical Laboratory Scientist from UGA.

When I last talked to Ruth Ann 2 years ago, they were in the middle of their fight to ban the burning of creosote railroad ties at the biomass plant in their small agricultural community. Now we talk about their massive success in getting the State of Georgia to unanimously pass the bill to ban the burning of them across the entire state. And how they are now working on the noise pollution and water quality concerning the plant.

Contact and connect with Ruth Ann and MCCPC chapter: [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/madisoncleanpower/

Learn more about MCCPC and their efforts: https://www.madisoncleanpowercoalition.com/

Learn more about biomass: https://www.leonardodicaprio.org/dangerous-delusions-biomass-is-not-a-renewable-energy-source/ https://www.nrdc.org/experts/sasha-stashwick/health-groups-congress-burning-biomass-bad-health

This episode I bring back Lisa Sorg after 2 years on the podcast, she is an Environmental Reporter for N.C. Policy Watch. She has been a journalist for 22 years covering environmental issues, including social justice, pollution, climate change and energy policy. To listen to your previous episode is episode 8, called Inside the Mind of An Environmental Reporter.

With Lisa we talk about what’s been going in terms of her environmental reporting in the last 2 years, her recent articles about Hurricane Matthew victims, microplastics, her motivation to write these articles, and what she’s looking forward to in the future.

Contact and connect with Lisa: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com or [email protected] or https://twitter.com/lisasorg

Read Lisa’s stories here: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/author/lisa-sorg/

Jennifer Wilson is a member of CHASE which is a chapter of BREDL. CHASE stands for Citizens for a Healthy and Safe Environment based in Georgia.

Metro Green is a recycling plant that is placed in a residential area of StoneCrest, GA. The community there has been fighting this facility for the past 2 years over their health and the pollutants it gives off and the environment.

Jennifer lives directly across from this plant and with her we discuss the health effects, Metro Green’s motive, their current litigation case against them, and getting involved in your own community.

Jennifer cannot answer questions at the moment due to the litigation case, but if you could like to contatc and connect with Renne Cail who is the organizer of CHASE, her contact information will be in the show notes below.

Contact and connect with Renee: [email protected]

Metro Green articles:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10225085279265762&id=1431983484&ref=m_notif¬if_t=story_reshare

https://cwatlanta.cbslocal.com/video/4681339-dekalb-county-recycling-center-delayed/

http://tampa.cbslocal.com/2020/08/26/dekalb-residents-fight-metro-green-recycling-center/

https://www.wabe.org/judge-blocks-work-at-industrial-facility-in-dekalb-opposed-by-community-advocates/

https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/in-south-dekalb-black-neighborhoods-fight-environmental-racism/SCJUPP3HQVAJ3B5VNYJ3GEJ6FA/

Elise Traywick is a Masters student of Public Administration at UNC Chapel Hill. She’s been doing research with BREDL on all about 1,4 Dioxane in North Carolina landfills.

1,4-Dioxane is used as a stabilizer for chlorinated solvents such as trichloroethane and trichloroethylene. 1 It can also be an unintended contaminant of chemical ingredients used in consumer products including bubble bath, shampoo, laundry detergent, soap, skin cleanser, adhesives, and antifreeze. Causing this chemical is in NC landfills and has been getting into their groundwater. In water, it dissolves completely, even at high concentrations and does not evaporate readily. These properties make 1,4-dioxane difficult to remove from water.

With Elise we talk about how 1,4 dioxane is ending up in landfills, where it's going, what products it's in, testing methods and research, and how we can prevent this from occurring.

Contact and connect with Elise: [email protected]

1,4 articles: https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/14-Dioxane-Another-forever-chemical/98/i43

https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/potential-contaminants-cosmetics/14-dioxane-cosmetics-manufacturing-byproduct

Darya Minovi, MPH, is a CPR Policy Analyst. She is a public health advocate passionate about environmental justice and the use of research to inform policies that protect human health and safeguard the environment.

This is our last episode on the topic of the Winston-Salem Fertilizer plant fire. This one is centered around the public and environmental health surrounding it.

With Darya we talk about the air quality, what chemicals were released and how long they stay in the air, what can be done now, and overall public health concerns today.

Contact and connect with Darya: [email protected]  

CRP report:http://progressivereform.org/our-work/energy-environment/preventing-double-disasters/

Other news: https://ncpolicywatch.com/2022/02/08/winston-salem-fertilizer-fire-reveals-regulatory-loopholes-spurs-hard-questions-about-building-and-workplace-safety/

https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2022/disaster-at-winston-salem-fertilizer-plant-is-unacceptable-unnecessary-and-entirely-preventable?fbclid=IwAR1PIVGOJTNVCSPbDSc5qVjM-Vgwh7y6Q97WjDsAqtbfQ2fb8RceomIYVus