Shoppers worried about coronavirus are stocking up on toilet paper, hand sanitizer and supplies even though supply chain experts say there's no need. Storyful

Bare shelves during a state of emergency is nothing new to Floridians.

It's no surpriseface masks, disinfectants and hand sanitizers quickly sold out asthe coronaviruspandemic made its way around the globe to the U.S. and Florida.

But ... toilet paper?

The toilet paper aisle at the Stuart Walmart on March 10, 2020, was empty.(Photo: GIL SMART/TCPALM)

A clinical psychologist told CNNpeople don't know how to interpret the coronavirus' threat, sosome resort to extremes, some over-prepare and some feel a little sense of control over the situation if they stock up on essentials.

Despite signs limiting shoppers to two packages of bath tissue per person, there wasnt a square to be found at the Stuart Walmart Tuesday.

So, just in case you're self-quarantined without a single roll in sight, here's what ourancestors used towipe their backsides with before toilet paper was invented.

To provide our community with important public safety information, our newsroom is making stories related to the coronavirus free to read. To support important local journalism like this, please consider becoming a digital subscriber.

While the elimination process hasnt changed much over the years, what to clean up with certainly has.Initially, people used whatever was handy: Rocks, sticks, leaves, corncobs or even wood shavings.

The creation of toilet paper, as we know it, is credited to the Chinese, who invented a "wrapping and padding material" known as paper in the 2nd century B.C., according to ToiletPaperHistory.net.By the 6th century, it was commonly used around China.

The first modern form of toilet paper was made in 1391, created for the emperorand his family; each sheet was even perfumed. It was widely circulating by the 15th century.

Mass production of thebathroom tissuedidn't start until the 1800s.

Joseph C. Gayetty created the first commercially packaged toilet paperin 1857, which were flat, loose, sheets of paper. His first factory-made product was "The Therapeutic Paper medicated with aloe and his name printed on every sheet.

The Scott Brothers took it a stepfurther in 1890, and toilet paper was on a roll literally and figuratively.

In 1897,another company dominated the market after perforating, or putting a hole, through the roll.

One sheet per wipe wasn't cutting it anymore. In 1942, St. Andrew's Paper Mill in England began selling the first two-ply toilet paper. And the design has pretty much remained the same eversince.

Sponges: Were used in Roman times, Urban Survival reports.When people finished, they would wash the sponge with water and vinegar andreuse it later.

Rocks:Smooth, flat, not-sharprocks were used for the "scrape method." The rock was washed in water before scraping again.

Plant leaves:Still used today by many a hiker; just be careful it's not poisonous.

Corn husks: Waspopular among American pioneersbecause so much corn was grown and harvested here.The leaves, when green, are soft and a good size for outhouse use. The husks can be soaked in water if too dried out.

Catalogs:For many years, Americans used the readily available pages of the popular Sears catalog that came free in the mail and even had a handy hole in the corner to makeit easier to hangon a nail in the outhouse.

Newspaper: An Australian newspaper printed eight blank pagesin its daily edition to combat the current toilet paper shortage. Just scrunch out the crunch by rubbing your fists together. But you have to throw it in the garbage not the toilet.

Fabric: A rag,towel or any cloth will do old clothes, bed linens, handkerchiefs,etc. (And do we really need to tell you not to clog your sewer or septic system with this?)

Napkins, tissues, paper towels,baby wipes,cotton balls, wrapping paper:These work, but you can't flush any of them either (unless you're lucky enough to find the flushable kind).They're made to be durable and not easily dissolve in water. Toss them in the garbage even dirty like many Third World countries do.

Bidets or the shower:It's not too late to have one installed. A bidet is a small pipe with asprayer that hooks onto your toilet. You just need to towel dry, but fancier versions will even blow dry the area for you. If you don't want to spend the extra money, try using theshower or detachable shower head to clean off.

Catie Wegman is a community reporter who also produces "Ask Catie," an occasional feature to find answers to your burning questions about anything and everything the more bizarre the better.Support her work with a TCPalm subscription.Contact her at catie.wegman@tcpalm.com or 772-221-4211 and follow her @Catie_Wegman on Twitter and @catiewegman1 on Facebook.

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No toilet paper? Be wary of alternatives that can clog your sewer, septic systems - TCPalm

Overheard in the self-quarantine home office: my husbands virtual coworker has a solution for no toilet paper.

Dryer sheets. He was kidding we think.

Conan OBrien suggests using those notorious arm-length CVS receipts and for sure, bidets have never seemed smarter as preventing the spread of COVID-19 saps even the most personal resources.

People lucky enough to have a gold mine of two-ply may not realize that the extra demand on the most important room in the house and hoarding for the sake of hoarding have led to ransacked paper-goods aisles in grocery stores, drugstores and big box chains. Creative hygiene is now an offshoot from the social distancing and work-from-home contingencies deemed necessary to slow the deadly new coronavirus pandemic. But theres a cost to this behavior: stress on home plumbing and public sewer systems.

Read:Tennessee man sitting on almost 18,000 bottles of hand sanitizer says hes doing a public service

Even what passes as the next best thing to standard toilet paper, such as wet wipes sometimes labeled flushable, and increasingly snapped up from depleted baby departments as well as Kleenex, are getting picked over too. Their increased use isnt kind to the pipes either, say experts.

Gus Kazek, an environmental engineer with wastewater consultancy Brown and Caldwell, who advises mostly Ohio municipalities, says the disposable wipe industry is misleading consumers because the wipes cannot biodegrade fast enough in water. The wipes get caught in sewer systems mesh screens meant to stop debris from making its way into treatment facilities and that means water cant easily get through either. Sometimes costly teams of scuba divers have to clear the blockage, an expense typically passed on through higher fees to residents.

Heres what the experts advise as best practices to stay clean, healthy and smart about bathroom hygiene in these trying times.

Dont squeeze out other shoppers. Households are panic buying toilet paper even though experts say it isnt necessary: the supply chain is working, they insist.

When consumers hoard products and create larger-than-needed inventories at home, they tend to consume their way through those inventories at the usual rate. Thus, consumers dont need to resupply themselves for a longer period of time, and this allows inventory to rebuild back to normal levels at retail stores over the course of a few days or weeks, said Alan Erera, professor of supply chain engineering, operations research and transportation logistics at Georgia Tech. So when panic buying occurs, try to avoid the temptation to join the frenzy.

Dont shame, either. Families are unsure how long their homes will be 24-7 stand-ins for business centers, schools, bars and restaurants. Restocked shelves also seem to be emptied as soon as theyre replenished.

Considerable attention is on what individual households and organizations are doing wrong: buying the wrong things, following the wrong advice, spreading the wrong information. What we should rather focus on is the tremendous failure of our systems to address an unfolding crisis, writes Tricia Wachtendorf, a professor of sociology at the University of Delaware and director of its Disaster Research Center, in an opinion piece for MarketWatch.

Opinion:Dont mock people for buying extra toilet paper theyre doing the best they can with inconsistent and sometimes wrong advice

Expand your options. Toilet paper is still being made; the trick is finding it. Virtual shelves are picking up some of the slack from brick-and-mortar stores.

Data technology firm Bloomreach gathered online sales data for common stockpile items from the week of March 8-14 from some 250 of its retailer customers and found that sales for toilet paper and paper towels increased 279% from the week prior. For anyone hesitant to leave their home at all, an Amazon.com AMZN, -0.78% 24-roll mega-sized family pack of Cottonelle sells for $25.18 and qualifies for free delivery for Prime members.

The safest alternatives. Household pipes are only four inches in diameter at their widest. That means even cotton rounds, paper towels and too much toilet paper can bunch up and be problematic, says water and wastewater services company American Water Works Co. AWK, +7.74%.

Whether the package says non-flushable, flushable or septic safe, it doesnt matter, the company says in a blog post. Do not flush. Wipes do not biodegrade quickly, are prone to getting stuck in drains and can potentially lead to a massive and expensive clog. The average cost of having your sewer main unclogged is $550.

If youre really in a bind during the pandemic and dont quite have time to install a bidet, or Japans popular handheld water wand, an off-the-grid enthusiast suggests these toilet paper alternatives: the remaining cardboard roll; a washable cloth or sponge (no offense to ancient Romans, but single-use-only these days); newspaper; and sanitary napkins. None of these are flushable.

There are many practices inside and outside the U.S. that might be particularly helpful right now. Water-filled vessels commonly known as lotas in Urdu or Hindi are pushed into service beside the commode for many Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, this column in the Chicago Sun-Times says. Filipinos, at least according to social-media posts, refer to a similar device as the tabo, Indonesians call it the gayung and Iranians have aftabehs.

Habit-changing for the long run? Green-minded consumer experts say this extreme circumstance for bathroom behavior is as good a time as any to examine the role of convenient paper products in a smarter future.

Even advocates, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, recognize the ease and hygienic qualities that toilet paper brings to the modern household. Rather, theyre pushing major manufacturers including Procter & Gamble PG, +0.25% , Kimberly-Clark KMB, +2.32% and Georgia-Pacific, for greater recycled materials use in toilet paper as each American uses nearly three rolls per week, on average.

According to a calculator from the Environmental Paper Network, tissue products made from 100% recycled content have one-third the carbon footprint of those made from 100% virgin forest fiber.

See the rest here:
CVS receipts and wet wipes as toilet paper? People are flushing all the wrong alternatives during coronavirus shortage - MarketWatch

GREAT VALLEY As plans for a potential sewer district project in Kill Buck continue coming together, the Great Valley Town Board recently held a second public hearing explaining more of the projects development and what is to come.

The potential $3.37 million project would see a sewer system built on the north side of Route 417 from the Great Valley Creek east to Hardscrabble Road that would take the sewage, grind it up and pump it to a nearby Salamanca pump station.

Weve been working for almost two years to get as much information as we can to go after as much grant money as we can to make this system feasible, Town Supervisor Dan Brown said.

At the boards Feb. 10 meeting, Caleb Henning of MDA Engineers said they have spent several months preparing a report based on a study in the Kill Buck area for the project.

We identified an area to study because of the failing septic systems and the need for a solution to address those problems, he said. The projects area includes about 100 homes and several businesses on Route 417 and portions of Kill Buck, Hardscrabble and Halsaver roads.

Funding for the study only covered the portion of Kill Buck not located on Seneca Nation Territory primarily south of Route 417, Henning explained. He said a future project could include properties on Nation territory, but the report is only based on land off territory.

The pipe could stay on the north side and one or two connections could be made to service everybody, he said. The study showed that much of the soil is not ideal for septic systems, which is why many are failing and would be difficult to replace, Henning said.

The project would include laying pipe and hooking into the houses and businesses and installing a grinder pump at each property to process and move the sewage towards Salamanca to the pump station.

The capital cost would be funded through a zero percent, 30-year loan, Henning said. Breaking that down, that comes up to an estimated first-year cost of $1,012 per year per user. Thats a very high cost, and thats not going to be feasible with only a zero percent loan. You still have to add operation and maintenance onto that.

Once built, the project would cost about $61,200 a year to operate and maintain, Henning said, which would be divided among the property owners, in addition to the initial capital cost.

It really ends up being $1,500 to $1,600 per year per user, which is some of the highest costs Ive ever seen in my experience, he said. Henning said a target charge would be about $950.

The other two project alternatives MDA Engineers developed cost $3.5 million for a gravity collection system and $4.4 million for a septic tank collection system, Henning said.

TO HELP OFFSET costs, the town board is pursuing some grants that could cover a large portion and lower the residents bills as much as possible.

This report does identify a project that doesnt seem feasible, but it also gives a document to use to apply for funding to make it more cost-effective, he added.

For the planning process, Catherine Rees, a water resources specialist with RCAP Solutions, said the town held meetings with Salamanca and Seneca Nation officials, communicated with the state Department of Housing, submitted the applications for preliminary planning and held a public hearing for the study.

Last year there was a hearing that said youre looking to get money and the decision was made that you would spend it on the study, she said. This is the required second public hearing that says what is the result of that money you spent.

During the preliminary design phase, Rees said the town selected MDA as its engineering firm, which developed the district boundary map for the project. She said those designs and the results of the study were sent to various entities including the Department of Agriculture, SHPO, SEQR and DEC as well as the Seneca Nation.

Because youre so close to the Seneca Nation, my concern is if theres going to be tribal concerns, she said. You are staying off the reservation, but youre only across the road, so we dont know historically if there are any artifacts or anything theyd be concerned about.

Now that the projects preliminary design process is nearly complete, Rees said the town will begin looking and applying for various funding sources. A major aspect of getting the funding will be an income survey, which had begun last year but with little feedback from households in the sewer district.

There is one funding agency in particular if you want to even be eligible to apply, and it would be up to a million-dollar grant, we have to get a good response on this survey, she said.

Rees said some additional funding applications are due in a few months, but without enough residents submitting the survey to RCAP Solutions, the town wont get the grants and the project costs wont be funded. A second mailing was sent out earlier this month, she said.

This second round, we need more, Brown said. This is really dependent on the more income surveys (RCAP Solutions) gets back.

Were looking to keep trying with all the funding sources until you can get to that level, and it might take a couple of years, she said. Until you get the funding, youre not going to go to final design.

Henning said other options to offset cost include negotiating with the city of Salamanca to come up with a mutually agreeable treatment cost and bringing more homes and businesses into the district, particularly along Route 417.

If the system is there, the potential for growth is much greater than what were seeing right now, Brown said.

Henning said if the south side of Route 417 were to hook into the system in the future, the pipes would have enough capacity to handle the extra amount of sewer, and more property owners in the system would help pay for the costs.

(Contact Salamanca Press editor Kellen Quigley at kquigleysp@gmail.com)

See more here:
$3.37 million Kill Buck sewer project in need of grant funding - Olean Times Herald

The Jan. 20 My View encouraging the populace to "Support regional wastewater treatment plant" was really an infomercial. But No Sale.

I urge readers to Google "Least costly passive nitrogen-reducing residential septic systems." There they will find a listing for Nitrex a proven system that reduces nitrogen levels between 87% and 97%, as tested on Cape Cod and in other parts of the country. A system for a three- to four-bedroom house with a life span of more than 50 years installed with a leaching field would cost between $22,000 and $30,000. It would also substantially reduce phosphorous and all other contaminants.

Then, Googling "Best residential wastewater treatment systems to eliminate nitrogen," one finds a listing for a Norweco system by A.J. Foss, with nitrogen reductions of 87% and costing about the same.

The writer noted that installing innovative alternative systems at each of the 10,000 homes causing much of Yarmouths pollution, at a cost of about $30,000 per home, would come to $300 million in one-time costs, good for at least 50 years. That's $100 million less than the $400 million initial estimate for the 40-year regional wastewater treatment plant planned for Yarmouth (a true savings).

Wouldn't it make more sense to take the 0% state loans and create a financing plan for home and business property owners to borrow, and/or to pay for residents living near, at or below the poverty line, to install near-lifetime backyard systems that take care of the pollutants infiltration problem better than a main batch plant could, and have almost every property converted within 10 years while having infiltration reduced with every conversion and pay as you go?

Or would we rather have: town water supply rates triple what they are now, as in Chatham? a sewer usage charge three times the water rate (as in the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority district around Boston)? a multithousand-dollar street sewer pipe connection fee? the cost of rerouting in-house waste pipe plumbing from going out to the backyard across the cellar floor to the street out front? the cost of capping over the old septic system out back or removing it entirely? praying till kingdom come that one town official's claim that "the project could be funded without raising property tax rates" pans out and holds true for 40-plus years? hoping the never-ending traffic tie-ups don't last long each time and that rescue teams can reach us in emergencies and get us to the hospital before it's too late?

Wouldn't it be far better to immediately reduce the pollutant infiltration upon the first year, and time the residential property backyard conversions, instead of taking 10 years to put the batch plant and main trunk lines in place, with any substantial reduction of pollutant levels and improvement of the above-ground water and ecology taking 20 to 30 years from start? Perhaps the business development around town is declining because property, rental and tax costs are already too high. With little manufacturing on Cape, we will kill the goose that laid the golden egg on Cape: real estate (retirees moving here, the home improvement market, summer rentals).

In 10 years we could be done, not 40; the waterways would clean and protected years sooner; housing would be more affordable for all residents (affordable towns and housing already being in short supply); and the ambiance and beauty of life on Cape would continue in an undisturbed, more affordable way. State lawsuit threats overboard home rule should apply in this case.

Otherwise, the "Ironshop Rules" still apply: "Can do!"; "where there's a will, there's a way"; "your job is to make things better, not worse"; "you're paid to think!"; "the Golden Rules apply"; "teamwork"; and "no excuses, just results get it done, now!"

Frank L. Montani, a former steelworker, lives in South Yarmouth. He has no financial stake in, or personal connection to, any of the systems mentioned.

See the article here:
A better way to treat waste and reduce nitrogen - Cape Cod Times

DOVER The draft Clean Water permit for the Great Bay Estuary from the Environmental Protection Agency could cost the city of Dover hundreds of millions of dollars to meet, City Manager Michael Joyal told the City Council Wednesday.

This is not just Dover, every community that has a wastewater plant that discharges into Great Bay will have to meet it, Joyal said during a workshop meeting of the City Council.

In a change of approach from the past, the EPA is calling for a dozen communities around Great Bay to reduce the amounts of nitrogen going into the waters, rather than focusing on one community at a time.

The permit allows the communities to keep nitrogen levels from their wastewater plants at current levels.

But the draft permit then requires the communities follow a 23-year state plan that calls for a 45% reduction from so-called non-point source pollution, like stormwater runoff.

Joyal said city staffers feel the amount of non-point nitrogen reduction the EPA is asking for is unnecessarily restrictive, not supported by science and may not be realistically achievable.

He repeated when asked that reaching the permit levels over 20 years could cost Dover ratepayers and taxpayers hundreds of millions.

John Storer, the citys Community Services Director, agreed, and added that if they are forced to comply with the EPAs new permit, city businesses could be facing substantial increases in their sewer costs.

He estimated that Liberty Mutual could see an increase of $30,000 while Wentworth-Douglass Hospital could face a $50,000 increase.

When we met with DES (the state Department of Environmental Services) and EPA they admitted we never said it was going to be easy, Storer said. They also suggested you have to get on to private property to reduce non-point nitrogen pollution.

Joyal stated that could mean trying to compel private businesses to install advanced septic systems and regulate the way stormwater is handled on private property.

He also noted the city has no way to regulate the amount of nitrogen that is used, for example, in fertilizers to try to cut down on nitrogen that ends up in Great Bay.

We cant do any of that locally, that all has to be done by the state of New Hampshire, Joyal said.

Both Joyal and Storer noted that Dover has made significant investments to its wastewater treatment plant, which has reduced the amount of nitrogen going into Great Bay by 70 percent since 2014.

In addition, DES in 2014, 2016 and 2018 did not point to nitrogen as one of the causes of impairment to Great Bay, Joyal said.

He and others encouraged residents and business owners to attend a public hearing the EPA is hosting on the proposed permit on Feb. 19.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and will be held at DES office at the Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth.

City Councilor John OConnor called the issue very serious, which could end up costing the city $200 million.

I dont know what we would do, all the communities, because the financial impact, the potential impact to taxpayers ... if this comes to fruition, this is going to just blow the cap off all of that, he said.

Original post:
Joyal: Great Bay cleanup could cost Dover hundreds of millions - Foster's Daily Democrat

WATERTOWN Developer Michael E. Lundy has come up with a way to resolve the controversy of Watertown Golf Club members parking on city-owned land in Thompson Park.

Hes proposing an overflow parking lot that would not encroach on city parkland by creating it on his property and specifically for club members to use, said Michael A. Lumbis, the citys planning and community development director.

Mr. Lundy submitted conceptual plans to the citys Planning Department for the improvements he plans to complete at the golf course at Thompson Park.

He will make a presentation on Tuesday to get some feedback prior to his formal site plan application, Mr. Lumbis said.

If the presentation goes well, Mr. Lundy will come back at a future meeting with detailed plans to go through the site plan approval process.

According to his sketch plan, Mr. Lundy proposes a 50-space parking lot that would be near the clubhouse and along West Entrance Drive.

In a Jan. 22 letter to Mr. Lumbis, Mr. Lundy wrote about his intentions for the golf club.

He would develop just a part of the existing overflow parking lot thats on the golf course property but does not encroach on city parkland.

For months, the overflow parking area was the subject of debate between council members, while they also faced the threat of legal action from Mr. Lundy and P.J. Simao, the owner of competitor Ives Hill Country Club.

Theres no mention of the overflow parking lot on the plans or in his letter, Mr. Lumbis said.

Creating a bigger controversy, council members put up a public parking sign in June that allowed the public and club members to park there and then reversed their decision and ordered it removed a few months later.

Under these plans, Mr. Lundy indicated in his letter that he might not build a new clubhouse as he told city officials in the past. An aluminum event tent, anchored to the rock subbase with an Astro turf-type floor, that he used last golf season would remain at the same location.

According to the plans, hell remedy a series of encroachments that the city had been criticized for allowing.

He would install a leachate field instead of connecting into the citys sewer system on city property. The sewer hookup would be completed if he redoes the clubhouse.

With the current political atmosphere with the city, we have decided against tying into the city sewer, Mr. Lundy wrote.

A septic tank would be completed upon the citys review.

A building to store golf carts would be located over the pad of the original pro shop.

Plans also call for a building for an outdoor bar, restrooms and storage, and another structure at the first tee to greet golfers before they begin to play.

The citys Planning Board meets at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the third floor council chambers of City Hall, 245 Washington St.

Read the rest here:
Lundy to present new plans for Thompson Park golf club - NNY360

RMC safety grade improves

The Regional Medical Center improved in the area patient safety, according to fall 2019 survey by a national hospital safety watchdog group.

The Leapfrog Group gave RMC a "D" in its fall 2019 survey of hospital safety across the nation. This is up from an F the hospital received in the fall of 2018.

The 2019 fall results showed the hospital performed below average in 17 out of 28 patient safety measures and above average in 11 safety measures.

This is improved from the 23 out of 28 below-average score the hospital received last year.

RMC also received an award from the S.C. Hospital Association for achieving 30 months with zero knee replacement surgical site infections and 48 months with zero central line-associated bloodstream infections in the Intensive Care Unit.

Law firm donates 250 turkeys

For the sixth consecutive year, the law firm of Lanier & Burroughs donated turkeys to those in Orangeburg who may needed a little help for Thanksgiving dinner.

Local families, churches and non-profit organizations gathered in the parking lot of the firm's office on St. Matthews Road to receive 250 frozen turkeys.

Attorney Lewis Lanier noted, Its all worth it when you see people that might need a little help to give it to them, if you can.

Attorney Shane Burroughs said, We are thankful for the continued opportunity to represent and help the people of Orangeburg, and for our ability to give back this holiday season.

Orangeburg YMCA pools, more renovated

The pools and several other areas around the Orangeburg County YMCA were renovated.

The renovations included the resurfacing of the competition pool, therapy pool and the natatorium ceiling, walls and doors.

A new dehumidification system and new rooftop HVAC systems will be installed. The facilitys sprinkler system will also be updated.

The renovations and maintenance were scheduled to be completed Jan. 31.

Sewer grant extends service to Edisto High

Orangeburg County received a $1.4 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan and a $1.5 million USDA grant to extend sewer lines in the Orangeburg County-West Edisto Sewer System.

The project will extend sewer to Edisto High School and will mean between 80 and 100 residential customers will be able to tap into public wastewater if they so choose. Currently, the homes are on septic systems.

The county hopes to put the project out to bid in the spring of 2020 and complete it in the spring of 2021.

SCSU cyber defense recognized

South Carolina State University was designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense by the National Security Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

S.C. State says it is the first and only historically black institution in South Carolina to receive this designation.

The designation is for the university's bachelors degree in computer science with cybersecurity program and is valid through the year 2024.

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Bamberg County dedicates 3 new fire trucks

Bamberg County Fire Services dedicated the district's new trucks.

The United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development provided grants and loaned the funding for the trucks, which replaced the old, unreliable equipment in Ehrhardt, Olar and Little Swamp fire substations.

Orangeburg barber school makes move to new building

Barber Tech Academy, a post-secondary master barber school located at 1650 Russell Street, celebrated its grand opening at its new location Nov. 7.

The school is located in the former Rhoad's Cleaners building across the street from the former Piggly Wiggly.

Barber Tech expanded its services into the 4,200-square-foot building in an effort to educate more students with a larger number of amenities.

The school had been located at 1521 Russell St. at the former U.S. Army recruitment office.

Grant to preserve Trinity UMC legacy

Trinity United Methodist Church received $500,000 tohelp preserve its historical structures that played a significant role during the civil rights movement.

The Historic Preservation Fund grants were provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.

The grant will be used to restore and refurbish the windows in the sanctuary of the church, and address water intrusion problems with the churchs exterior walls, Lott stated.

Tisdale honored for service to alma mater

Claflin University honored its long-serving former president by naming a building after him: the Henry N. Tisdale Molecular Science Research Center.

The building was chosen to honor Tisdale due to his background in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

The center was constructed in 2010. It houses the Chemistry Department and a forensics science lab.

Downtown building being renovated

The three-story brick building at the corner of Amelia and Middleton streets is being renovated for potential use as office space.

The building is owned by Orangeburg Realtor Kenneth Middleton.

Middleton wants to expand his offices into the 1,350-square-foot building.

Restoration work began in late September and early October. Estimates are that it will take between three to four months for the project to be complete.

League of the Arts seeks to restore historic home

The Orangeburg League of the Arts is looking to restore the former Dukes-Harley Funeral Home on Russell Street.

The league would like to see it used for a variety of things, including an art and antique gallery, frame shop, a wedding chapel, dance studio, place for art instruction classes and event venue.

Full restoration efforts began Oct. 21

The building was destroyed by a fire about two years ago.

The group was given the building in April 2016. Since then, a new roof has been placed on it and the building has been cleaned out.

We'll send breaking news and news alerts to you as as they happen!

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NOVEMBER 2019 PROGRESSIONS: RMC safety grade improves | Special Sections - The Times and Democrat

You may not realize it but some foods you eat may have been grown in soil containing toxic sewage wastes. Labeling is not required.

In 2019, about 60 percent of sewage sludge from 16,000 wastewater processing facilities in more than 160 U.S. cities has been spread on our soils farmland and gardens, as well as schoolyards and lawns.

The U.S. Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) allows this use of sewage waste, claiming it has beneficial use because it contains properties similar to fertilizercertain heavy metals, phosphorus and nitratesthat could enhance soil conditions.

The agency does not require testing for other chemicals in the sewage waste. Yet, millions of tons of sewage are processed annually and the waste can contain upward of 90,000 chemicals plus and an array of pathogens, including mixtures of lead, mercury, arsenic, thallium, PCBs, PFAS, highly complex, superbugs, mutagens, pesticides, microplastics, radioactive wastes, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, steroids, flame retardants, dioxins, and/or their combinations.

Sewage treatment plants separate the processed sewage into solids and liquids (effluent), where these pollutants and pathogens concentrate.

The toxics-containing solids are often mixed with garden waste and sold for compost or recycled as fertilizers. These are spread on soils at farms, forests or recreational sites and can run off with stormwater into surface water bodies.

Currently the U.S. recycles 587 million gallons of this toxic effluent water each day for irrigation on agricultural land.

Florida, for instance, produces an estimated 340,000 dry tons of sewage solids annually, two-thirds of which are spread on land. California, arguably with the most sewage, "reclaims" at least 13 percent of its effluent; 31 percent is used for crop irrigation.

Long term damage from spreading sewage waste on land has led to many problems. For example, a variety of cropsincluding leafy greens and soybeansused for food and animal fodder are known to have taken up sewage contaminants. The consequences? Contaminated food, loss of farmland and animals. Human illnesses and deaths have resulted from breathing the particulates.

Warning sign on Lake Merritt, a large tidal lagoon in the center of Oakland, California. (Credit: Daniel Ramirez/flickr)

The EPA is currently writing a national plan for the use of sewage effluent, which they will call "recycled," "reclaimed," and "purified."

Effluent from sewage plants that is not "recycled" or "reclaimed" travels from pipes into nearby open water bodies. This not only contaminates aquatic waters and ecosystems, but the excess nitrogen can cause algae blooms and eutrophication, stealing needed oxygen from marine plants and animals.

Just this month, the Florida Senate Committee on Community Affairs recognized this threat by passing the Clean Waterways Act, CS/SB 712, "for all the reasons algae keeps blooming and fish keep dying." The bill tightens restrictions on sewage spills and sewage solids by moving septage to sewer systems and offering local governments a 50 percent matching grant to do this. The Act also regulates and ensures future septic tanks are designed, installed, operated and maintained to prevent nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient pollution, and also ensures that sewage solids are only applied to land high enough and dry enough to prevent interaction with groundwater.

In addition to excess nutrients, some plastic sources in the marine waters come from the release of sewage effluents. Microplastics that enter the marine waters can adsorb toxics, such as PCBs. Many of the microplastics are from personal care products and fleece fibers washed out from clothing in the laundry. The plastics and pollutants are now found in fin and shellfish and these travel up the food chain for consumption by higher animals, including humans.

Sewage contamination of our oceans directly affects the health of our air, wildlife and human health. For example, the pollution of Washington State's Puget Sound, stretching about 100 miles from the Pacific Ocean to beyond the capital city of Olympia, is estimated to be 60 percent from sewage.

Some states use effluent for augmenting and "enhancing" aquifers. This means injecting effluent into potential potable water systems.

California, Ohio, and other states allow municipalities to recycle it for potable uses after additional cleansing. Some microbrew beer companies are experimenting with reusing processed effluent. Antibiotic resistant genes are disseminated through effluent reuse. The point is, cleaner is not clean and no entity can test for all the pathogens and thousands of contaminants, or even know what to test for.

Rain garden in Lancaster County, Pa. (Credit: Chesapeake Bay Program/flickr)

Lapeer, Michigan; Marinette, Wisconsin; and Arundel, Maine, have ended the practice of spreading sewage waste on land after finding that PFAS, a class of harmful chemicals, are in grazing lands and farm soils. These pollutants are turning up in drinking water and some foods across the U.S. PFAS have been linked to low infant birth weights, kidney cancer, and a range of other diseases.

The EPA's Office of Inspector General's Water Division has several times warned EPA that its regulations are not effective in controlling the discharge of hundreds of hazardous chemicals to surface waters; that the EPA is unable to assess the impact of hundreds of unregulated pollutants in land-applied "biosolids" on human health and the environment; and that the public and researchers are not receiving complete and timely information about environmental conditions affecting human health.

Safer alternatives for recycling sewage wastes exist. Some U.S. cities are using pyrolysisinternal high heat methods that destroy pathogens and destabilize bonds of toxics, then capture the excess heat for energy purposes or other uses. Australia is piloting another high heat sourceplasma arc. Remediation methods exist to lessen toxicity in soils and sediments. The EPA and states must insist municipalities investigate alternative methods for reuse of sewage wastes.

To stop poisoning soils, marine ecosystems, wildlife and our food system, governments must regulate the current practices as unsafe and promote new technologies to replace current sewage management.

Darlene Schanfald, Ph.D., has been active in environmental campaigns for more than three decades and has worked on sewage waste issues since 2000.

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Op-ed: Yes, food is grown in sewage waste. That's a problem. - Environmental Health News

NAVAJO MOUNTAIN, Ariz., Dec. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --Representatives of the International Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Foundation (IWSH) have returned to the Navajo Nation this week to support the installation of new toilet and washroom facilities for the Naatsis'n (Navajo Mountain) Chapter House. This key administrative hub for the Naatsis'n community is being relocated, while the existing Chapter House the base for the most recent IWSH Community Plumbing Challenge (CPC) project, in Piute Mesa, Arizona, in June undergoes major renovation.

"This week, the team is installing a cistern system and a septic system at the Arizona warehouse office building, which we will be using for our temporary chapter office building," said Lorena Atene, Community Services Coordinator at Naatsis'n Chapter. "The new office is very important, to help us continue providing services for families in the local community."

"Through our Chapter House, we provide services for bathroom additions, minor renovations, roof replacements, and we process paperwork to do with power line extensions and house wiring projects for families that are being hooked up to power lines," Atene continued. "So from the new site we are going to be able to continue this remote office work and important communications with Window Rock offices plus all the other entities we work with, to make things happen for our community."

The team assembled for the project this week includes two IWSH representatives Jed Scheuermann and Randy Lorge plus volunteers from the Naatsis'n Chapter and DigDeep, hosts of the Navajo Water Project and IWSH's ongoing CPC collaboration in the Navajo Nation. Also joining the crew are four volunteers from UA Local Union 412 (Albuquerque, New Mexico): two apprentices, Sasha Sun and Aaron Heitman, Business Agent Adam Valdez and Business Manager Courtenay Eichhorst.

"We have been given another opportunity to help the Navajo Nation, so we thought it would be a great chance to bring some new people out here as well as some older, familiar faces and do some good for our community," said Eichhorst, the recent recipient of the inaugural IWSH Award in recognition of his dedicated support toward the development of the first U.S. CPC program.

During a busy first day onsite, the team started installation of drain, waste and venting systems as well as the layout of water distribution piping. Preparation work was completed for the septic system, and tunneling through the footing of the building for the building sewer to the septic tank was also finished. Excavation was also completed for installation of a water cistern.

The project concludes Friday, and updates from the work site will be shared on IWSH Foundation social media channels throughout the week.

Companies or organizations who wish to get involved with the CPC Navajo Mountain program, or any other future editions of the international CPC program, are encouraged to get in touch via info@iwsh.org. One-time, tax deductible donations to support these efforts may also be made via http://www.iwsh.org/donate.

SOURCE The International Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Foundation (IWSH)

http://www.iwsh.org

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IWSH Team Returns to Navajo Mountain for Renovation Project - PRNewswire

Most Americans do not give a second thought to what happens after they turn on a faucet handle or flush a toilet. This is because the result is always the same: Clean, potable water comes out, available to drink, wash hands, cook food, clean clothes, or tidily dispose of waste, whatever the case may be.

Yet in many places throughout the country, running water is a scarce resource, or even an unattainable luxury. A report released earlier this week sheds new light on the scope of this phenomenon, and its conclusions are startling. More than two million people in the world's most prosperous democracy live without running water or modern plumbing. And although socioeconomic status correlates with water and wastewater services access, race is the single strongest predictor: African-American and Latinx households are almost twice as likely as white households to not have full indoor plumbing, while Native American households are about 19 times as likely, the report says. The researchers caution that given the challenges in obtaining accurate data from the groups most affected by the "water access gap," these figures may be undercounts.

The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, is perhaps the most infamous recent example of racial inequities in water access, where local officials' failure to adequately treat tap water exposed the city's nearly 100,000 residents, more than half of whom are black, to dangerous levels of lead and other contaminants. The problem is also acute in more remote or rural areas, including certain majority-black communities in the Deep South, majority-Latinx communities in California's Central Valley, and Native American reservations in the Southwest, among others. Nationwide, 17 percent of people in rural areas have had trouble obtaining potable water, and 12 percent have experienced problems with their sewage systems, according to the report. In some places, conditions are getting worse, not better. "In six states and Puerto Rico, we're going backwardsfewer people will have running water next year than this year," says George McGraw, the founder and CEO of DigDeep, a nonprofit that co-authored the report.

These racial and socioeconomic disparities are not an accident. In an effort to cut down on the dangers posed by waterborne diseases, Congress passed the Safe Water Drinking Act in 1974, a landmark statute that empowers the Environmental Protection Agency to set and enforce national standards for drinking-water-contaminant levels. And throughout most of the previous century, the federal government invested heavily in infrastructure, making water and wastewater services available in some of the nation's previously far-flung corners. Especially in cities and towns with higher population densities, this was a no-brainer investment in public health and economic productivity, and allowed utilities to provide high-quality water to consumers at relatively low prices.

This infrastructure boom, however, was not equal-opportunity. Cities and towns building out their systems would not always do so in majority-minority areas nearby. As the report documents, in the 1950s, the town of Zanesville, Ohio, did not build water lines in its African-American neighborhoods, and the following decade Roanoke, Virginia, did not extend its infrastructure to Hollins, a neighboring majority-black town. Discriminatory local government law practices also played a role: In the Central Valley of California, predominantly Latinx communities were discouraged from formally incorporating, which prevented them from accessing construction financing available to cities and towns. As a result, no one bothered to install a water system in the first place. Even today, there are places in the country where homes lack running water, within walking distance of neighborhoods that enjoy the full spectrum of water and sanitation services, says Zo Roller, senior program manager at the nonprofit U.S. Water Alliance, which also co-authored the report.

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The Hidden Racial Inequities of Water Access in America - GQ