A permit was issued for a 100 acre quarry in Gerrardstown, WV, despite massive opposition--seen in 700 complaint letters and packed town hall meetings. Now, Upper Potomac Riverkeeper Brent Walls is appealing the permit because it could contaminate drinking water and permanently destroy...
Updates
Friday, February 25, 2011 - 1:00am
Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - 5:00pm
The Washington Post is reporting that the cancer-causing chemical made famous by the movie "Erin Brockovich" has turned up in 31 cities across the country. Unfortunately, we're one of them. The chemical, hexavalent chromium, has a concentration of .19 parts per billion. That's a number that sounds negligible but isn't, especially when you consider the consequences: the chemical causes cancer in humans when it is inhaled, and has recently been shown...
Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - 3:54pm
Want some arsenic with your turkey? Of course not, but it might be what you'll get. For years, poultry feed has been laced Roxarsone, a form of arsenic, to control stomach bugs and promote growth in animals. Great results, but at what cost? NPR recently posted a story explaining them.
For starters, the arsenic ends up on the parts of the turkey you eat. Arsenic also ends up in poultry waste, which can be used as a fertilizer to grow crops. Human ingestion...
Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - 1:46pm
For those of you who don't already know, Potomac Riverkeeper is featured in 2010-2011 Catalogue for Philanthropy--Greater Washington. The Catalogue highlights 100 of the best local charities each year, and is distributed to 30,000 people. Damien was recently featured on...
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 - 12:44pm
Potomac Riverkeeper, Inc. called on Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell to either get serious about Virginia's growing list of polluted waters, or else face outside regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
"A Virginia problem deserves a Virginia solution," Jeff Kelble says, "but Virginia residents are demanding results either way. It's time to fix this problem."
Kelble is the Shenandoah Riverkeeper, which is a part of Potomac Riverkeeper, Inc.
"If the McDonnell administration can't deliver on decades-old promises...
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 6:25pm
NPR's Eliza Barclay writes that the two turkey's President Obama pardoned last month may not have eaten animal feed that contains arsenic, but the turkey you bought for thanksgiving might have.
The poultry industry has long mixed roxarsone, a form of arsenic, with feed to control stomach bugs and promote growth in animals. Some companies, like Foster Farms and Perdue, have stopped using it, but many have not.
And it turns out that arsenic can end up on the edible parts of turkeys (as well as in the...
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 1:00am
Taking on import of sewage sludge and the threat of fracking in the Shenandoah. Time for action with the Bay TMDL. Taking action against Ox Paperboard.. Read the newsletter =>
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - 5:57pm
Investing in clean water technology creates jobs, generates economic activity, and saves money in the long run. Or at least that's what a new report says. The aptly titled: "Economic Argument for Cleaning up the Bay and its Rivers" debunks the myth that clean water comes at the expense of economic progress. In fact, the report cites evidence that indicates clean water infrastructure actually improves economic activities:
A recent study by the University of Virginia found...
Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 12:45pm
Tom Pelton writes that voluntary measures to reduce farm pollution are not enough even to meet Virginia's short sighted attempts at river restoration:
The voluntary measures in place today to reduce farm pollution are not enough even to meet Virginia’s own short-term goals for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay. Sadly, Virginia (as well as the other Bay states) have had more than two decades of chances to restore water quality on their own, but they have repeatedly failed. Virginia and the Bay area states set deadlines of 2000 and 2010 for...
Saturday, November 13, 2010 - 12:08pm
Ed was featured in the Washington Examiner's 3-Minute Interview section. You can read an excerpt below, or read the full interview at the Washington Examiner website.
Ed...
