A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
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New Yorkers should keep their distance and not to disturb newborn fawns or other young wildlife as many animals are in the peak season for giving birth, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) cautioned. It is not unusual to see a young bird crouched in the yard or a young rabbit in the flower garden, both apparently abandoned. Finding a fawn deer lying by itself is also fairly common. Many people assume that young wildlife found alone are helpless and need assistance for their survival, however, in nearly all cases th...
TERRITORY OF AKWESASNE – On May 23, 2013 Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and St. Regis Mohawk Tribe staff and chiefs gathered at “The Point” in Kana:takon (St. Regis) to release an osprey back into the wild after it was injured earlier in the month. Ospreys are large hawks that live along seas and rivers to maintain their diet of mainly fish. Their nests can easily be spotted on shorelines around the world. They have a significant presence in Akwesasne as one of the area’s largest birds of prey, a...
On Saturday, after a change of venue to the Warren Room at the Massena Library, a talk was given by Larry Thompson of Akwesasne, and Dr. David Carpenter of the University at Albany. Thompson you may recall made a bold statement about the continued storage of toxic waste at the GM Plant directly adjacent to Akwesasne, by taking waste, using a backhoe, and moving it to a train car. Thompson faced a legal battle for some time after but was eventually dismissed. Dr. David Carpenter has been in the...
(May 10, 2013) On May 9, the daily mean concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mauna Loa, Hawaii, surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time since measurements began in 1958. Independent measurements made by both NOAA and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have been approaching this level during the past week. It marks an important milestone because Mauna Loa, as the oldest continuous carbon dioxide (CO2) measurement station in the world, is the primary global benchmark site for monitoring the increase of this...
Our event is for bringing out the Truth about the contamination of Akwesasne and the Town of Massena with industrial chemicals including PCBs and mercury. We want to join forces with other people who are interested in taking charge of the protection of the Earth and the protection of community health. This is a public forum. Anyone who attends is welcome to speak. Saturday, May 18, 2013, 2:00-4:00 PM Massena Springs Park, Massena, NY 13662 (Rain Venue Massena Public Library) Jesi Turner, First Nations acoustic guitarist and singer will be...
By Anthony Swift, Attorney for National Resources Defense Council (April 3, 2013) On March 29, Exxon’s Pegasus tar sands pipeline ruptured, flooding a suburban community outside of Little Rock, Arkansas with between 150,000 and 210,000 gallons (3,500 to 5,000 barrels) of tar sands crude. According to reports, the Pegasus line was carrying Wabasca Heavy diluted bitumen – a toxic climate mix of heavy tar sands bitumen and volatile petrochemical diluents - that’s associated with higher clima...
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued guidance on preventing conflicts with coyotes and nuisance bear encounters. Guidance about the bear population can be found on the DEC website. With the onset of warmer weather, coyotes are setting up denning areas for soon-to-arrive pups. Conflicts with people and pets may result as coyotes become territorial around den sites and increase the frequency and intensity of foraging to provide food for their young. COYOTES People and coyotes can usually coexist if the coyotes...
In January, Secretary Salazar directed the high-level review of Shell’s 2012 offshore drilling program in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas – including the company’s preparations for last year’s drilling season and its maritime and emergency response operations – to identify challenges and lessons learned. The review focused on Shell’s inability to obtain certification of its containment vessel, the Arctic Challenger, on a timely basis; the deployment difficulty of the Arctic Challenger’s containment dome; and serious marine transport iss...
Using data from 73 sites around the world, scientists have been able to reconstruct Earth’s temperature history back to the end of the last Ice Age, revealing that the planet today is warmer than it has been during 70 to 80 percent of the time over the last 11,300 years. Of even more concern are projections of global temperature for the year 2100, when virtually every climate model evaluated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) shows that temperatures will exceed the warmest temperatures during that 11,300-year period k...
This week Start tomatoes indoors Week of April 1 Start cabbage indoors Start eggplant indoors Week of April 8 Start leeks indoors Week of April 22 Start bell peppers indoors Start broccoli indoors...
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense program encourages Americans to check and replace leaky plumbing fixtures and sprinkler systems, helping households save more than 10,000 gallons of water per year and as much as 10 percent on utility bills. “Easy-to-fix household leaks waste more than 1 trillion gallons of water annually nationwide, which is equal to the amount of water used by more than 11 million homes,” said EPA Acting Administrator for the Office of Water Nancy Stoner. “We’re not just wasting water; families...
The New York State Assembly has passed legislation that would extend the moratorium on high volume hydraulic fracturing in New York and require an additional health impact assessment. The controversial natural gas drilling technique known as “fracking” has spawned widespread protests over the past few years. This action would allow for a comprehensive review process, independent of industry pressure, while the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) examination of hydraulic fracking continues. Delaying the DEC’s ability to issue permit...
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced $12.2 million that will help 209 farms in 27 counties protect New York’s lakes, streams and rivers from potential agricultural runoff. This assistance is awarded through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and funded through the state Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). These competitive grants provide funding to county Soil and Water Conservation Districts to address water quality challenges facing farms in priority watersheds throughout the state. The Conservation Districts utilize t...
On Sunday, over 40,000 people, in what is believed to be the largest ever rally for the environment, poured into the streets of Washington, DC to protest the Keystone XL pipeline and push President Obama “Forward on Climate.” There is no doubt anymore that there is a newly powerful climate movement in this country. It’s a movement that has united nearly every environmental group in the country, from grassroots coalitions like the Indigenous Environmental Network to big green groups like the Sier...
Submitted by Wesley Laughing The following is a verbatim transcript of the oral statement presented to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project Joint Review Panel in Vancouver by high school student Sam Harrison. **** Hi, my name is Sam Harrison. From other people’s statements, I take it the norm is to list your credentials and the reasons why the panel should listen to you in the first few sentences. Well, I don’t really have any. I’m 16 years old, halfway through high school, and the leader of a small group lobbying for action on climate chang...
Reprinted with permission from Indian Country Today Media Network Carol Berry - January 31, 2013 Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman’s approval of that state’s section of the disputed Keystone XL pipeline has united not only indigenous people from the U.S. and Canada but also non-Native ranchers, farmers and concerned citizens who oppose the pipeline. People from about 25 U.S. tribes and Canadian First Nations descended upon Pickstown, South Dakota, on Yankton Sioux (Ihanktonwan) lands for three days last week to craft and sign a mut...
January 15, 2013 - Black carbon is the second largest man-made contributor to global warming and its influence on climate has been greatly underestimated, according to the first quantitative and comprehensive analysis of this issue. Key findings: -Black carbon has a much greater (twice the direct) climate impact than reported in previous assessments. -Black carbon ranks “as the second most important individual climate-warming agent after carbon dioxide.” -Cleaning up diesel engines and some woo...
Submitted by Jade Gabri Both Akwesasne along the south shore and Cornwall on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River have been participating in a St. Lawrence River Walleye Study. Through various discussions between the St. Lawrence River Institute and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne Tehotiienawa:kon Environment Program, the St. Lawrence River Walleye Study was initiated. The St. Lawrence River Walleye Study has its basis in the knowledge held by Akwesasne’s fishermen. It has been s...
As much as 44 billion tons of nitrogen and 850 billion tons of carbon stored in arctic permafrost, or frozen ground, could be released into the environment as the region begins to thaw over the next century as a result of a warmer planet according to a new study led by the U.S. Geological Survey. This nitrogen and carbon are likely to impact ecosystems, the atmosphere, and water resources including rivers and lakes. For context, this is roughly the amount of carbon stored in the atmosphere...
The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Grasse River Proposed Remedial Action Plan (PRAP) is a very important document in the cleanup process of the Grasse River. The PRAP proposes to the public what USEPA plans to do to remediate the Grasse. A public comment period has been initiated to allow the community to voice their questions and comments to USEPA about the PRAP. The public comment period has been extended to November 30, 2012. All comments received during the comment period will be entered into the Grasse River r...
For 20 years, Alcoa has worked cooperatively with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other stakeholder groups to address PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) contamination in the lower Grasse River, between the Power Canal and the St. Lawrence. The overall goal of the project is to reduce PCB levels in fish and other organisms in the river for the long-term protection of human health and the environment. On October 1, 2012, EPA released the Proposed Plan for the Grasse River. The plan calls for the dredging of some near-shore...
October 16, 2012 - The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), in collaboration with the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) and the Department of State (DOS), has submitted petitions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to designate New York’s portion of Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence River as a “Vessel Waste No Discharge Zone.” The petitions must be submitted by DEC before EPA acts to establish a no discharge under Clean Water Act protocols. A “No Discharge Zone” designation means that boaters and shippers...
October 17, 2012 - After carefully considering more than 1,600 public comments and analyzing all information on New York’s current bobcat population, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) adopted a five-year bobcat management plan to maintain and enhance bobcat populations in New York state while providing for sustainable use and public enjoyment of the animal, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens announced. The final bobcat management plan, which is significantly revised from the draft plan, is now available on the DEC website. O...
The globally-averaged temperature for September 2012 tied with 2005 as the warmest September since record keeping began in 1880. September 2012 also marks the 36th consecutive September and 331st consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for September tied with 2005 as record highest for September, at 60.21°F or 1.21°F above the 20th century average. The global land temperature was the third warmest September on record, at 1.84°F above the 20...
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — Combine the tree-ring growth record with historical information, climate records, and computer-model projections of future climate trends, and you get a grim picture for the future of trees in the southwestern United States. That’s the word from a team of scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Arizona, and other partner organizations. The research, published in Nature Climate Change this week, concluded that if the Sou...
