Wednesday Roundup: Jobs, Wetlands, PCBs, Invasive Species and Natural Gas

Five Don't Miss News Stories and Resources from the Last Week (or so)

As we wrapped up 2011 and headed into the new year, several news stories about interesting new studies dominated the water news...even in the mainstream press.

Regulation and restoration in Chesapeake Bay can create real employment benefits
A recent study by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation has generated all kinds of press coverage. One of the best stories on the topic came from the Baltimore Sun. As that story explains, the benefits of environmental regulation and the resulting restoration could be significant: “Federal regulations intended to clean the Chesapeake Bay will create hundreds of thousands of jobs in construction and monitoring…Spending on sewage and storm-water treatment alone could support about 230,000 jobs in the region over the next 14 years…”

Wetlands case soon to be heard by Supreme Court
On Tuesday the LA Times reported about a case scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court next week. The case addresses whether landowners – in this case an Idaho couple (the Sacketts) – are entitled to a hearing before a judge when U.S. EPA issues an administrative compliance order. As the article describes things: “Some environmental lawyers fear a decision in the couple's favor could undercut the agency's ability to stop polluters. The EPA issues as many as 3,000 compliance orders a year….A victory for the Sacketts could "undermine the government's ability to promptly respond to environmental threats," said Nina Mendelson, a University of Michigan law professor and former Justice Department lawyer….”

Struggling with waters impaired by PCBs? New resource can help.
This week U.S. EPA issued the Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Handbook. PCBs rank sixth among the causes of water quality impairment in the country. According to U.S. EPA’s Waterlines newsletter: “This handbook identifies various approaches to developing PCB TMDLs and provides examples of TMDLs from around the country, complete with online references. It aims to help states complete more PCB TMDLs and ultimately restore those waters impaired by PCBs.” While this is a technical read, river advocates facing PCB TMDL development will benefit from the handbook.

Two Army Corps of Engineers studies stir up the debate on severing the man-made connection between the Mississippi basin and the Great Lakes
The New York Times did an interesting article on two recent Army Corps of Engineers studies on the man-made connection between Chicago area waterways and the Great Lakes. The first study investigated the future of shipping on the Chicago-area waterway system. The report has stirred debate over the idea of severing the man-made connection between the waterway system – and hence the Mississippi River – and the Great Lakes. Just two weeks after that study was released, the Corps released another report featured in the New York Times article. The article says the study lists: “…39 species of fish, mollusks, algae and plants that could soon migrate between Chicago-area waterways and Lake Michigan and wreak ecological havoc. It also listed possible methods of preventing their spread, including physically separating the waterways or blocking or killing organisms with chemicals, heat, “bubble curtains” or low-oxygen zones.”

A look a natural gas…water and beyond
While not limited to water issues a recent LA Times opinion piece does a good job of laying out the issues – including the water dilemmas – facing the country as we contemplate our energy future.