BOONE The recent rains Boone County has received during the past month has taken its toll on the area, including the Mamie Eisenhower Birthplace.

On June 27, water began collecting in the basement of the historic home, eventually amounting to four inches of standing water. The Boone County Historical Society (BCHS) has temporarily closed the home until clean-up efforts are completed.

Pam Schwartz, BCHS executive director, said the standing water was caused by a number of factors. The first was the frequent rainfall. Others were tree roots that had grown into the homes sewer line due to little use of the septic system in the home, and a poorly installed sump pump line that had been re-routed into the sewer line.

Because the water began collecting in the basement as a tour of the home was underway, Schwartz and other BCHS members were able to work quickly to get historical artifacts away from the water so they wouldnt become damaged. Scott Smith, BCHS board member, said members of the tour even helped in the process.

After the water had been removed and the carpets had been cleaned, the four inches of standing water returned the following Monday. The cleaning and drying process began again, and as of Thursday afternoon, driers were still in the basement of the home, working to dry the carpet. Schwartz said the drying process is taking longer than usual because of all the heavy file cabinets and other objects in the basement that could not be moved to allow the carpet underneath to dry. She said they want to make sure the carpet underneath those objects is dry before the driers are removed.

Local businesses have also removed the tree roots from the sewer line and corrected the routing of the sump pump line. Schwartz said she hopes these measures will put an end to the water problems at the home.

The humidity in the basement, which was estimated to be as high as 100 percent due to the water and hot temperatures, caused several of the text panels and frames to fall off the wall, with some becoming damaged. Though none of the historical artifacts in the basement were damaged by water, the humidity levels may take a toll on them in the future.

Theres no visible damage now, but because of the high levels of humidity, there could be long-term damage, Schwartz said. For example, a dress in the basement that appears to look fine today, 50 or so years from now, the effects of the humidity will start to show.

Schwartz said historical museums aim to keep humidity levels at 70 percent or below in order to preserve historical items. However, the Mamie Eisenhower home does not have a way to control the humidity levels in the home.

Schwartz said they have done their best to accomodate people who want to tour the historic home while it is temporarily closed, particularly those who had scheduled a tour of the home months ago. She hopes the home will be open for regular business within a couple weeks.

See the article here:
Mamie Eisenhower home temporarily closed by water issues

The recent rains Boone County has received during the past month has taken its toll on the area, including the Mamie Eisenhower Birthplace.

On June 27, water began collecting in the basement of the historic home, eventually amounting to four inches of standing water. The Boone County Historical Society (BCHS) has temporarily closed the home until clean-up efforts are completed.

Pam Schwartz, BCHS executive director, said the standing water was caused by a number of factors. The first was the frequent rainfall. Others were tree roots that had grown into the homes sewer line due to little use of the septic system in the home, and a poorly installed sump pump line that had been re-routed into the sewer line.

Because the water began collecting in the basement as a tour of the home was underway, Schwartz and other BCHS members were able to work quickly to get historical artifacts away from the water so they wouldnt become damaged. Scott Smith, BCHS board member, said members of the tour even helped in the process.

After the water had been removed and the carpets had been cleaned, the four inches of standing water returned the following Monday. The cleaning and drying process began again, and as of Thursday afternoon, driers were still in the basement of the home, working to dry the carpet. Schwartz said the drying process is taking longer than usual because of all the heavy file cabinets and other objects in the basement that could not be moved to allow the carpet underneath to dry. She said they want to make sure the carpet underneath those objects is dry before the driers are removed.

Local businesses have also removed the tree roots from the sewer line and corrected the routing of the sump pump line. Schwartz said she hopes these measures will put an end to the water problems at the home.

The humidity in the basement, which was estimated to be as high as 100 percent due to the water and hot temperatures, caused several of the text panels and frames to fall off the wall, with some becoming damaged. Though none of the historical artifacts in the basement were damaged by water, the humidity levels may take a toll on them in the future.

Theres no visible damage now, but because of the high levels of humidity, there could be long-term damage, Schwartz said. For example, a dress in the basement that appears to look fine today, 50 or so years from now, the effects of the humidity will start to show.

Schwartz said historical museums aim to keep humidity levels at 70 percent or below in order to preserve historical items. However, the Mamie Eisenhower home does not have a way to control the humidity levels in the home.

Schwartz said they have done their best to accomodate people who want to tour the historic home while it is temporarily closed, particularly those who had scheduled a tour of the home months ago. She hopes the home will be open for regular business within a couple weeks.

See the original post:
Mamie Eisenhower home temporarily closed due to water issues

BELTON So far, the new prescription drop box in the Belton Police Department lobby has been a success.

After the first week, people left about 16 pounds of prescription drugs in the box. That amount is now up to 22 pounds, Sgt. Kim Hamilton said.

The abuse of prescription drugs is an alarming reality in our society, Belton Police Chief Gene Ellis said. Many teens who abuse prescription drugs obtain them from family members without their knowledge.

The prescription drug drop box is a great way to clean out medicine cabinets of unwanted or expired medications and help prevent the drugs from getting into the wrong hands.

In addition to teens taking drugs from unaware family members, many people dont know that when a house is burglarized, the burglars also often raid the medicine cabinets looking for narcotics, Hamilton said. Usually, they simply indiscriminately take all drugs out of the cabinets.

Its grab and go, Hamilton said.

Drop boxes also help keep prescription medicines out of the environment.

After being flushed or poured down a drain, many medicines pass through sewer and septic systems, which are not designed to treat or remove such chemicals.

They then end up in streams, lakes and groundwater, according to a government website about waste disposal.

Hamilton said people have left some liquid medication and needles in the box; however, those items should not be dropped off. Pills and patches are acceptable.

Link:
Prescription drug drop-off box a success

Sewer & Drain Cleaning DivisionWe have an extensive drain cleaning division equipped with an array of high-pressure water, sewer jet, and rotary cable cleaning machines. We can clean, unclog, or de-ice almost any pipeline from 1" to 48" in diameter.

For example, we clean main sanitary sewers, sewer lines from the house foundation to the street main or septic tank, sink lines, bathtubs, laundry lines, floor drains, toilets, urinals, agricultural manure lines, culverts, foundation drains, storm drain lines, leach field lines, and electrical conduits. If you have a sewage backup, call us day or night, and we'll be there promptly.

Camera and Locating DivisionIf your septic tank needs to be pumped but you can't find it, we have specialized locating equipment to find it for you. One such piece of equipment is a flushable radio transmitter that when flushed down the toilet can be located with a handheld receiver, thus showing us the location of the tank.

Our other locating transmitters can be attached to the jet hose or "snake" and are followed as they go down the line. To view the interior of your sewer or drain lines, we have a color television camera on a flexible push rod. The picture on the monitor can be digitally recorded and narrated to provide you with a detailed analysis of the condition of the pipeline.

There is also a locating transmitter on the camera head that enables us to locate its underground position, thus determining the exact area of excavation, if required. This equipment is designed for 3" to 6" sewer and drain lines within the building, under concrete slabs, and in sewer laterals. Short sections of sanitary mains up to 10" can also be inspected. Before you dig all over on your property or someone else's looking for that sewer line or septic tank, give us a call!

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Sewer Cleaning, Septic Tank Locating | Williston, VT

Years ago, South Huron and Lambton Shores argued over sharing the existing Grand Bend Sewage Lagoon system. They gave up, and brought Bluewater into a plan to build a new sewage treatment plant for all three, with an estimated 4600 potential users. And, they contended that the existing sewage lagoon system was polluting.

Today, Bluewater, Dashwood, Zones 3 and 4 of Lambton Shores are all out; the number of actual users is only 1100; the existing lagoon system has over half of its design capacity still available for new users; and there is NO evidence, including recent confirmation from the Ministry of the Environment, of any pollution issue. In fact, the system is working well:

1. No history of non-compliance for effluent discharge, the quality of which is well within all applicable criteria.

2. No spills of untreated wastewater.

3. No legislative need to upgrade, because the existing system does not receive storm sewer flows.

Regardless, the contract to build a new plant is about to be awarded by two Municipalities and up to $14.9 million of hard-earned money of Ontario and Canadian taxpayers has been approved to help build it. We know Bluewater will pay nothing now, maybe never. Its Council voted unanimously to opt out and doesnt have to opt back in. But, even at this 11th hour, neither Lambton Shores nor South Huron knows how they will pay for the new plant, nor if can they afford it. A small population of mostly cottagers and seniors on fixed incomes cannot afford to build an unnecessary plant, contribute to a life-cycle reserve ($470,000 a year), and pay operatingcosts which will increase 700% (from $51,000 to $360,000,a year).

We do need to replace or fix existing aged/malfunctioning infrastructure for which there is little to no money, and the Municipalities need to address their debt, as warned by the Province. South Hurons Treasurer cautioned Council that its high debt means there is little financial capacity for new projects, and money should be saved for unforeseen needs or emergencies. In fact, South Huron taxpayers are facing more than 50% tax increase just to make up for the deficits for existing infrastructure needs. Lambton Shores has similar issues.

The only potential new users listed for the first 20 years for a new plant are South Huron's private shoreline communities - about 170 cottagers stretched over 2.5 kilometres. The Environmental Assessment showed their septics are NOT causing any negative impact, and in fact the well-treed area (the last northerly tip of Carolinian forest, home to species at risk) is a natural protection absorbing nutrients, keeping the shoreline clean and swimmable. The cottagers voted against installing centralized sewage collection to protect the trees, committing to continued good stewardship of their septic systems, welcoming mandatory inspections. Connecting to a large sewage system invites the risk of a major spill, which would be devastating along the lake.

It has become clear that the main goal of the Municipalities is to cling to the upper tier government money. But there is only one taxpayer. We support Councils who take care of present responsibilities and don'tbuild anything until truly needed and able to fund. The pipes need fixing, not the plant. And a new plant won't fix the pipes.

Oakwood Park Association Inc.

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Opinion Letters

Kevin McAllister, who had served as the Peconic Baykeeper for 16 years prior to being terminated from his environmental advocacy position this past spring, is now moving forward with a new project.

Defend H2O, the nonprofit started by Mr. McAllister and two other local water advocatesGeorge Skip Tollefsen of Hampton Bays and Mike Bottini of East Hampton, the latter of whom is also an outdoors columnist for The Presswill focus on educating Long Island communities about water conservation and protection.

The ultimate goal of the new venture is to restore and protect the environmental quality of groundwater and surface waters on and around Long Island, according to a press release issued by Defend H20. It also notes that Mr. McAllisters priorities for the organization include promoting sewage management reform, enacting higher water quality standards, protecting wetlands, and stopping the utilization of the pesticide methoprene for controlling mosquitoes.

Its a continuation of my work in clean water advocacy, Mr. McAllister said during an interview on Friday. I have a good working knowledge of the conditions of the bays and state of our waters, and solutions that I believe would start to reduce the trends that we are seeing.

Mr. McAllister, who lives in Quogue, boasts 25 years of experience in environmental conservation consultation and advocacy. He holds a masters degree in coastal zone management and spent the past decade and a half as the Peconic Baykeeper, advocating for clean water along the south shore, including the bays and estuaries of the East End.

Mr. Tollefsen and Mr. Bottini will serve on the board of directors for the new organization, Mr. McAllister said, and help get the nonprofit up and running. Mr. Bottini has collaborated with Mr. McAllister for the past 15 years on environmental issues, and has worked with Mr. Tollefsen for even longer.

Over the past 50 years, I have seen firsthand the decline of our bays, Mr. Tollefsen said. We have to act now and make a stand against these causes locally. Kevin is our guy for this.

Mr. McAllister previously said he was fired from his longtime post on March 4 after the Baykeeper organization accused him of having a romantic relationship with his former development and communications director, Alexandra Millar, and for abusing alcohol on the job.

Mr. McAllister said this week that he still intends to challenge the decision to fire him, though he declined to elaborate on his plans. There is a process thats being pursued, he said. My termination is being challenged, but thats as [much] as Im willing to say.

Ms. Millar has not returned calls seeking comment.

See the original post:
Former Peconic Baykeeper Launches New Group

Published: Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 4:52 p.m. Last Modified: Sunday, June 29, 2014 at 4:52 p.m.

There was not much on the beach strands, but they were virtually wiped clean, and the story of the development of the islands started anew.

The chance Hazel afforded to start over perhaps wasn't an unmitigated tragedy.

To wit: "In 1950, Daught Tripp at Shallotte Point built a very popular dance hall," Fred R. David and Vern J. Bender wrote in their 2009 book, "The History of Ocean Isle."

"Teenagers came to the dance hall from hundreds of miles away to square dance. Large speakers were mounted in trees at the Shallotte Point Dance Hall and the music blasted (Ocean Isle Beach) every Saturday night. Hurricane Hazel destroyed the dance hall in 1954 and it was never rebuilt."

"We are a family destination, not a party destination," Sunset Beach Mayor Ron Watts said, repeating a refrain heard up and down the Brunswick coast. "We all have policies that discourage graduation parties and that sort of thing.... If we can encourage anything to Myrtle Beach, that's what we share with them," he said with a laugh.

"We like what we have here a nice, quiet atmosphere and we want to continue to promote that as best we can."

The common hyphenated buzzword: Family-friendly.

"Most of those who live here and who have family vacation homes would love to put us in a time capsule," Oak Island Mayor Betty Wallace said. "Oak Island was originally plotted out as single-family residential. There were a lot of deed restrictions, and it was geared toward the blue-collar working man, and fishing. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of homes here that are 1,000 square feet, a couple of bedrooms," Wallace noted. "A lot of them are cinderblock.

"We want to keep that. We don't want to get into the insanity that you can find at Wrightsville Beach three stories, 10 to 12 bedrooms, all just a vacation beach. When you look out here, you might see two stories on stilts, but on either side is an 800- to 1,000-square-foot small little bungalow, and you see that not every vacant lot even has a structure on it."

The rest is here:
Brunswick beach towns balance growth, small-town vibe

It's an old joke, but Al Thurmes laughs anyway.

"This job? It sucks," he said, over the roar of his vacuum-cleaning truck slurping the sewage out of a septic tank.

That describes the future of his business in Lake Elmo, too, because the city of 8,000 is installing its first sewer lines. Instead of calling on guys like Thurmes to clean septic tanks, thousands of customers soon will be flushing into new city sewers.

"We are going to lose business," said Thurmes, as he pulled out the hose and loaded it back on the truck.

The sewerizing of Lake Elmo is one phase of Minnesota's long-running battle with failing septic systems. Officials are increasingly persuading owners to replace or fix their septic systems, using incentives and low-interest loan programs.

Septic systems can be environmental time bombs.

According to Lana Meyer, owner of Meyer Sewer Service Inc. in Afton, septic systems cost $6,000 to $14,000 to replace.

The systems flow sewage into a septic tank, which retains most of the solids. The overflow runs into a network of perforated underground pipes, where it is naturally cleaned as it seeps into the ground.

But without maintenance, the pipes get clogged and wastewater backs up, eventually forming puddles on the ground.

"Then it is an imminent health threat," said Jeff Travis, a manager in the Washington County Health Department.

Read this article:
Septic tanks are going down the drain in Lake Elmo, elsewhere in Minnesota

Listen MPR News reporter Elizabeth Dunbar discusses Minnesota's 'contaminants of emerging concern' 2min 28sec

In what may be the nation's most extensive study of its kind, a survey of 118 test wells scattered around Minnesota has found that about a third of them contain measurable levels of antibiotics, detergents, or other consumer chemicals known as "contaminants of emerging concern."

The chemicals, apparently coming from landfills, septic systems and sewage treatment systems, have been found in surface waters in recent years, and some scientists have looked at their effects on fish and other animals. But this new survey, published online Monday by the U.S. Geological Survey, is the most extensive evidence yet that the chemicals are also making their way into both shallow and deep aquifers in Minnesota.

Beneath the Surface, a special Ground Level report

Groundwater is the source of drinking water for three-fourths of Minnesotans.

The study (PDF), conducted between late 2009 and mid-2012 by the USGS and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, found no chemicals in excess of drinking water quality standards.

But for four of the most common chemicals it found -- the antibiotic azithromycin, the antihistamine diphenhydramine, the flame-retardant tributyl phosphate and the animal antibiotic lincomycin - neither the state nor the federal government maintains any health-based water quality standards.

Our use of these chemicals in our everyday lives is releasing them into our environment. Our question as a society is, 'What do we think about that?'

The chemicals come from a variety of consumer and industrial products - prescription and over-the-counter medicines, lotions, detergents, plastic-making ingredients and more.

"Our use of these chemicals in our everyday lives is releasing them at low levels into our environment," said Mindy Erickson, groundwater specialist for the USGS. "Our question as a society is, 'What do we think about that?'"

View original post here:
Study: Chemicals spread in groundwater

Listen MPR News reporter Elizabeth Dunbar discusses Minnesota's 'contaminants of emerging concern' 2min 28sec

In what may be the nation's most extensive study of its kind, a survey of 118 test wells scattered around Minnesota has found that about a third of them contain measurable levels of antibiotics, detergents, or other consumer chemicals known as "contaminants of emerging concern."

The chemicals, apparently coming from landfills, septic systems and sewage treatment systems, have been found in surface waters in recent years, and some scientists have looked at their effects on fish and other animals. But this new survey, published online Monday by the U.S. Geological Survey, is the most extensive evidence yet that the chemicals are also making their way into both shallow and deep aquifers in Minnesota.

Beneath the Surface, a special Ground Level report

Groundwater is the source of drinking water for three-fourths of Minnesotans.

The study (PDF), conducted between late 2009 and mid-2012 by the USGS and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, found no chemicals in excess of drinking water quality standards.

But for four of the most common chemicals it found -- the antibiotic azithromycin, the antihistamine diphenhydramine, the flame-retardant tributyl phosphate and the animal antibiotic lincomycin - neither the state nor the federal government maintains any health-based water quality standards.

Our use of these chemicals in our everyday lives is releasing them into our environment. Our question as a society is, 'What do we think about that?'

The chemicals come from a variety of consumer and industrial products - prescription and over-the-counter medicines, lotions, detergents, plastic-making ingredients and more.

"Our use of these chemicals in our everyday lives is releasing them at low levels into our environment," said Mindy Erickson, groundwater specialist for the USGS. "Our question as a society is, 'What do we think about that?'"

Originally posted here:
Study: Chemicals spreading in Minn. groundwater