From benjamin at fotfp.org Wed Aug 1 12:26:23 2007 From: benjamin at fotfp.org (Benjamin Cox) Date: Wed Aug 1 12:26:36 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] Steve Packard and Judy Pollock on PBS NewsHour Message-ID: Here is a link to the PBS NewsHour website. The NewsHour, broadcast nationally, featured an interesting piece yesterday evening on vanishing birds and bird habitat in Illinois. Steve Packard and Judy Pollock were interviewed and talked about the need for habitat preservation and restoration. Congratulations Steve and Judy! http://www.pbs.org/newshour/ Look at the right side of the page about half way down and click on where it says Vanishing Birds: Citizen scientists are observing a decrease in bird species Jeremy R. Hojnicki Schiff Hardin LLP 6600 Sears Tower Chicago, Illinois 60606 312-258-5615 312-258-5600 (fax) jhojnicki@schiffhardin.com ------------------------------------------------------------------- Tax Matters: To the extent this message or any attachment concerns tax matters, it is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used by a taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer under law. ------------------------------------------------------------------- This message and any attachments may contain confidential information protected by the attorney-client or other privilege. If you believe that it has been sent to you in error, please reply to the sender that you received the message in error. Then delete it. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20070801/80ccce34/attachment-0001.html From cmarshbird at prodigy.net Fri Aug 3 21:57:36 2007 From: cmarshbird at prodigy.net (Carolyn A. Marsh) Date: Fri Aug 3 21:57:46 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] U.S. Senators threaten to block BP Message-ID: <000501c7d643$3748f6b0$fd144a0c@CLOVER> US Senators threaten to block BP Whiting air permit Last Update: 6:29 PM ET Jul 24, 2007 (Updates with comments from BP spokesman on going forward with original permit plan and background on refinery) By Ian Talley and Jessica Resnick-Ault DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A bipartisan group of U.S. senators, including the Majority Whip, on Tuesday threatened to block approval of an air permit for BP. BP ) that is required to expand the company's Whiting, Ind., refinery unless the company changed its plans to dump toxic chemicals into Lake Michigan. Still, the London-based oil giant said it is not backing down from the project. The senators said they were opposed to a dumping permit that state authorities have already approved and would use any means necessary to block the expansion plans until an alternative was developed. Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said BP America Inc. Chairman and President Robert Malone and other company officials agreed to try and develop an alternative and would meet again Sept. 1. The permits, he said, were required for the company to expand the plant's gasoline output by 15% by 2011, and increase its ability to process heavy Canadian crude oil. "We told them point blank if they do not work to protect Lake Michigan, they're in for a battle," Durbin said. "They got a wake up call, and they understand that on a bipartisan basis congressional delegations around Lake Michigan are determined to protect that lake." Durbin said he and his colleagues said they would press the state authorities to review the water permit with the potential for revoking it. However, the company said it had worked closely with environmental groups and permitting agencies to obtain the water permit, and would follow all stated procedures for obtaining the air permit as well. A 60-day comment period was held from March to May, allowing time for objections to the permit to be voiced. New opposition to the permit surfaced after the final version was issued July 9, sparked in part by a high-profile story in the Chicago Tribune. "We have totally followed the process outlined by the regulators, and we're just looking to be treated fairly by the regulatory system," said Scott Dean, an Illinois-based company spokesman. The refinery currently processes 410,000 barrels a day of crude. The $3 billion expansion project, which the company refers to as a "modernization," would not increase the crude throughput, but would raise the plant's gasoline output 15% to 620 million gallons a year. The senators' effort to block BP's expansion illustrates the difficulty American refiners face, Dean said. "What this really shows is why it's so difficult to modernize or expand a refinery in this country - let alone build a new one," he said. No new refineries have been built in the U.S. since the 1970s. Despite the permitting difficulties, Dean says BP plans to continue to move forward on the project. Dean said that the senators' effort to block the plan was not seen as a direct retaliation against BP for its many operational problems in the U.S. The company's latest troubles have been at the Whiting plant itself, which has been at reduced rates since March 2007, owing to a fire and difficulty completing a maintenance project. The refinery has been running about 240,000 barrels a day of crude, just above half of its regulated capacity. It is not expected to return to full capacity until the first half of 2008. -By Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; 202 862 9285; ian.talley@dowjones.com -By Jessica Resnick-Ault, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9208; jessica.resnick-ault@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 24, 2007 14:52 ET (18:52 GMT) -Contact: 201-938-5400 End of Story -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20070803/a59f4fcd/attachment.html From cmarshbird at prodigy.net Fri Aug 10 09:06:48 2007 From: cmarshbird at prodigy.net (Carolyn A. Marsh) Date: Fri Aug 10 09:07:01 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] RE: Action alert BP public hearing in Indy References: <00fc01c7db54$9dc0e9f0$04164a0c@CLOVER> Message-ID: <011d01c7db57$b1fcc940$04164a0c@CLOVER> August 10, 2007 Action alert Please call Rep. Scott Pelath and urge him to allow Carolyn Marsh to speak before his committee on August 22. His Indianapolis Office number is 1-800-382-9842 (toll-free Indiana) or 317-232-9621. Visit: Yesterday, I called Indiana House Rep. Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City) office in Indianapolis to ask to speak before the formal public hearing, August 22, on the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's controversial decision to grant a wastewater discharge permit to BP in Whiting. According to his press release (dated July 24, 2007), Rep. Pelath will invite the Save the Dunes Council and the League of Women voters and other interested parties to highlight their concerns about the permit. Both groups are based in Michigan City. His assistant returned the call the same day and said the speakers list is full and complete, but I'm invited to attend and submit a written comment. I asked why a well-known environmentalist from Whiting was not invited to speak? Who is on the speaker's list? And, how many on the list live in Whiting? She didn't know. I think it is very important for Rep. Pelath's committee to hear from a Whiting environmentalist that BP appointed to its BP Citizens' Advisory Committee. I sure would love to be in the room during IDEM Commissioner Easterly's testimony and that of BP representatives. I would also like to know who is invited to speak in the hopes that arrangements can be made to carpool to the public hearing in Indianapolis. Please call Rep. Scott Pelath and urge him to allow Carolyn Marsh to speak before his committee. His Indianapolis Office number is 1-800-382-9842 (toll-free Indiana) or 317-232-9621. Visit: < http://www.in.gov/legislative/house_democrates/repsites/r0?R09_2007024.html> Carolyn Marsh -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20070810/0b1e0cae/attachment.html From cmarshbird at prodigy.net Sat Aug 11 12:46:18 2007 From: cmarshbird at prodigy.net (Carolyn A. Marsh) Date: Sat Aug 11 12:46:30 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] FW: "You won" Highland Great Blue Heron Rookery Message-ID: <003f01c7dc3f$86a3ca80$b4144a0c@CLOVER> August 11, 2007 Dear friends, Yesterday, there could not have been a better day for me to receive good news. It came from Connie Wachala, of Highland, one of the leaders campaigning to save the Highland Great Blue Heron Rookery. Town Manager, Richard Underkofler, informed Connie when she attended a town meeting on an unrelated matter that, "You won". He then gave her a copy of the Master Plan, with the appropriate section highlighted. As the Sand Ridge Audubon Society requested, the town yanked the Indiana Lake Michigan Coastal grant and will change the scope of the work to plan for a Nature Area in the vicinity of the Great Blue Heron Rookery to protect the habitat. The town will assume a lead role in seeking cooperation of federal and state agencies to allow for the protection and controlled public access to the Highland rookery area. After she emailed the wonderful news, we talked on the telephone and discussed a press release that we will be sent Monday. The Sand Ridge Audubon Society and Connie Wachala wish to thank all citizens who called, wrote letters and attended public meetings to ask town officials to protect the herons and their environs. We will continue to watchdog the town's project. Carolyn Marsh, Project Leader Sand Ridge Audubon Society Background information. Date posted online: Monday, March 19, 2007 Highland needs to protect heron rookery Guest Commentary In June 2006, the Sand Ridge Audubon Society notified the Highland Town Council of the great blue heron rookery next to the Little Calumet River. When the council president described the rookery as a "diamond in the rough," conservationists were ready to work with officials to produce an ecological master plan for the river. The damage done by the Army Corps levee project creates many problems for the community that needs immediate attention. Instead, officials voted against public input and proceeded with an earlier idea that is now inconsistent with conservation objectives. They obtained engineering services and a federal grant for an "island retreat" on a wooded island in the river near Kennedy Avenue. The plan is for a bridge, observation tower and boardwalks connecting to Hammond. Sand Ridge Audubon Society informed officials that many of the 110 pairs of nesting great blues use the island to roost and feed. Also, that the state endangered great egret and the critical-listed black-crowned night heron (nesting on the Lake Michigan shoreline) use the island. Federal and state governments have defaulted on their responsibilities to safeguard the rookery. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources issued a statement that the island is far enough from the nests and will not disturb them. However, when comparing the Highland rookery, a 95-acre wetland, to two other rookeries, the facts prove the riverfront and nearby island should be included in the heron's nesting territory and left undeveloped. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore rookery, along the Little Calumet River in Porter County, is included in more than 600 acres and is managed by the National Park Service. There is no public access during the breeding season from March to August. The Lake Renwick rookery, an Illinois nature preserve, in Plainfield, Ill., is in a 700-acre complex managed by the Illinois DNR and Forest Preserve District of Will County. It is also closed to the public during the breeding season, except for guided tours limited to a few hours twice a week. Also, shoreline fishing is restricted and there are no boats or canoes allowed anywhere at any time in the complex. The park department and redevelopment commission together will spend $55,000 to match another $55,000 of federal money [Indiana Lake Michigan Coastal grant] on just the planning, not construction, of new facilities. The town will be diverting resources from more important endeavors, especially in the wake of Highland's devastating flood. In an attempt to hook public support for the $110,000 grant, the town included an inventory of wildlife. But, an inventory had been done before by the Indiana DNR and Audubon provided bird statistics in 2006. Since many Audubon members are experts on plants and animals, we have offered our services to the town. Sand Ridge Audubon Society maintains the Highland Town Council should stop wasting money and time and act now to protect the rookery as a quality of life issue. We believe that the public supports this goal and we will work together to accomplish it. Carolyn Marsh is project leader and Carol Strand and Paul Strand are members of the Sand Ridge Audubon Society. The opinion expressed in this column is the writer's and not necessarily that of The Times. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20070811/4a7f1caa/attachment-0001.html From donniebird at yahoo.com Mon Aug 13 11:34:03 2007 From: donniebird at yahoo.com (Donnie Dann) Date: Mon Aug 13 11:34:05 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] FW: [WBCIing] seasonal reminder to prevent bird/window collisions Message-ID: <003401c7ddc7$c2cb4400$0200a8c0@DONNIERTMEJESV> BCN friends: I thought this is something about which we all need reminding. Regards, Donnie Donnie Dann Highland Park/Lake County donniebird@yahoo.com -----Original Message----- From: WBCIing@yahoogroups.com [mailto:WBCIing@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of William P. Mueller Sent: Monday, August 13, 2007 10:22 AM To: WBCIing@yahoogroups.com Subject: [WBCIing] seasonal reminder to prevent bird/window collisions With the slowly-building numbers of fall migrants now near at hand, it's time for a seasonal reminder to prevent window collisions of birds at our homes and businesses. As many as a billion birds are killed annually in window collisions in North American alone. To learn what to do to avoid window collisions, access the following links: Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative - Further information on collisions and birds: http://www.wisconsinbirds.org/CollisionsBirdsLinks.htm Bird Conservation Alliance window kill page: http://www.bcnbirds.org/window.html Birds and Buildings Forum information page: http://birdsandbuildings.org/more.html Wisconsin Humane Society - Prevent Bird/Window Collisions: http://www.wihumane.org/wildlife/wings/default.aspx FLAP - Bird Collision Prevention: http://www.flap.org/new/film.htm FLAP - How to make windows safe for birds: http://www.flap.org/new/prevent.htm William P. Mueller WSO Conservation Chair WBCI Issues Committee Chair Milwaukee Milwaukee County 414-643-7279 E-mail: iltlawas@earthlink.ne Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WBCIing/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WBCIing/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:WBCIing-digest@yahoogroups.com mailto:WBCIing-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: WBCIing-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From birdperson at juno.com Tue Aug 14 18:28:40 2007 From: birdperson at juno.com (birdperson@juno.com) Date: Tue Aug 14 18:30:57 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] Fw: IBET Black Tern Marsh Management (no sightings) Message-ID: <20070814.182840.12032.0@webmail43.lax.untd.com> ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- To: "Illinois Birds" From: "boglady" Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 23:25:53 -0500 Subject: IBET Black Tern Marsh Management (no sightings) Hi IBETters, I submit this in response to some voices of concern regarding the water levels of Black Tern Marsh at Moraine Hills State Park / McHenry Dam in McHenry County, Illinois. As birders, we are sometimes the most acutely aware of changes in habitats, especially as it affects birds. So I asked some of our IDNR personnel to share their insights on how the wetland is managed. The following is the Resource Management Plan as written by Natural Heritage Biologist Brad Semel several years back. It does a nice job of explaining the management goals of Black Tern Marsh and of managing for threatened & endangered (and other rare) wetland wildlife in general. I hope this alleviates some of the concerns. I also encourage IBETters to not hesitate to ask questions of our IDNR folks. They are doing their best to balance the needs of all park users - especially the wildlife that depends upon the habitats we manage. Your eyes & ears are appreciated. Thanks, Stacy Iwanicki wearing two hats: Natural Resources Coordinator, Volo Bog State Natural Area & Moraine Hills State Park / McHenry Dam Private Citizen, Wonder Lake, McHenry County Black Tern Marsh: Resource Management Management of Black Tern Marsh requires special attention to providing suitable habitat for a high concentration of threatened and endangered natural resources. Specifically, management protocols will be implemented that promote and protect the long term health and stability of the suite of threatened and endangered avian wetland species that depend on the site for nesting/breeding and as a migrational stopover. Only cultural and recreational activities compatible with the long term protection of the wetland resources will be permitted. Site Management Goals 1. To preserve, protect, and perpetuate habitat of wetland flora and fauna dependent upon the Black Tern Marsh Natural Area Inventory (INAI) site. 2. To provide for public use of the Natural Area consistent with the ecology and historic cultural uses of the site. Management Program A. Control of Succession The vegetative structure and composition of wetlands change rapidly depending upon water level, hydroperiod, and periodic biotic disturbances such as fire. Habitat selection by birds is dependent upon the structure and composition of the wetland habitat. A majority of state listed endangered and threatened bird species breeding at Black Tern Marsh prefer to nest in hemi-marsh, a wetland where the ratio of open water to vegetation is roughly 1:1. If the marsh structure shifts too far from this ratio (either too little water and too much vegetation, or too little vegetation and too much water), the diversity of breeding wetland birds is negatively impacted. Each wetland basin within the marsh complex will be evaluated annually to monitor hemi-marsh conditions, with subsequent management responses to encourage hemi-marsh maintenance. Based upon 25 years of observational and breeding bird data conducted by biologists with the Division of Natural Heritage, four management scenarios have been identified which would promote critically needed hemi-marsh structure. A long-term monitoring program designed to quantify vegetation patterns and response to water level manipulations will be initiated to ensure that this objective is met. The following guideline will be used as an aide in defining anticipated water level manipulations: a. If open-water is dominant and hemi-marsh is in decline, but some breeding of threatened or endangered hemi-marsh dependent species such as black terns is occurring, a drawdown should commence as soon as young have fledged. Water levels should be lowered to minimum levels achievable with the existing water control structure. This will expose mud flats and emergent vegetation and allow greater light penetration in shallow water areas, thereby promoting plant growth and vegetative expansion. Water levels should remain at minimum depths throughout the growing season. Carp, especially destructive to emergent and submerged vegetation, can be eliminated through strategic timing and extent of a drawdown. b. If open water areas dominate and hemi-marsh is not present, and this is reflected in a downward trend in populations for hemi-marsh dependent species, water should be drawn down early in the spring to the lowest levels attainable with the current water control structure. The drawdown should be initiated after ice thaw to prevent adverse impacts to reptiles and amphibians. This will expose mud flats and allow colonization of annuals and promote the growth of perennial emergent vegetation. This scenario is the most desperate approach and should be used when nesting has not occurred during the previous season and will not likely occur the next year without further intervention. This scenario will likely eliminate hemi-marsh bird breeding activity within the wetland unit during the year it is implemented, but will provide emergent vegetation and breeding habitat the following year. This approach may be implemented as a continuation of the moderate drawdown scenario (a) if conditions warrant. c. If dense stands of vegetation dominate, with little or no hemi-marsh, water levels should be maintained at a high level throughout the year. This will promote muskrat populations and weaken emergent vegetation, opening the wetland up and creating more hemi-marsh. Prescribed fire may be used to reduce emergent vegetation and to control invasive woody species. Drawdowns may be used in conjunction with prescribed burning to maximize control of vegetation. Care should be taken to prevent the freezing and then raising of the water level in the marsh as this can promote erosion and disrupt hibernating reptiles and amphibians. d. Lastly, if hemi-marsh conditions exist within a basin and breeding populations of wetland birds are present, water levels should be marginally lowered toward the end of the growing season to stimulate natural seasonal hydroperiods and thus promote plant vigor. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity 3New Members Visit Your Group SPONSORED LINKSBirding Ibet Birding binoculars Birding binoculars Birding scope Y! Sports for TVAccess it for free Get Fantasy Sports stats on your TV. Yahoo! FinanceIt's Now Personal Guides, news, advice & more. Yahoo! TV"The 9" Daily count down of top Web finds. . __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20070814/2c998923/attachment-0001.html From cmarshbird at prodigy.net Thu Aug 16 09:38:48 2007 From: cmarshbird at prodigy.net (Carolyn A. Marsh) Date: Thu Aug 16 09:38:46 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] heron editorial Post-Tribune Message-ID: <003a01c7e013$28d8dd50$e7164a0c@CLOVER> System works to save Highland heron nests (http://www.post-trib.com/news/opinion/511237,edit.article) August 16, 2007 In an age when calls to protect the environment often fall on deaf ears, it was heartening to hear this week that nature won out over development. And while the environmentalists came out on top, it was an even more stunning victory for one of the Earth's most magnificent birds -- the great blue heron. We aren't talking about the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, but an area on the south side of the Little Calumet River in Highland. The town of Highland last year announced the receipt of a $55,000 federal grant from the Lake Michigan Coastal Program. The town was going to put up a $55,000 match to do the planning for construction of a recreation facility on an island in the river. The unfortunate part of the town's action is that it appeared to give virtually no weight to the objections of the Sand Ridge Audubon Society, the Oversight Committee of the Highland Redevelopment Commission and scores of town residents. The Redevelopment Commission seemingly refused to heed the caution that developing the island likely would destroy the heron rookery just to the south of the island and west of Cline Avenue. The herons come to the rookery to breed each year. As many as 110 nests of the magnificent birds have been counted. While the town was wrong to even consider the river development, it also deserves recognition for admitting its mistake and backing away from the project. The town is taking it a step further and is asking its Park Board to convey the land to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The donation of the land would serve as the local match for a change in the scope of the plan to use the federal money to create a nature area to protect the rookery. Government can work when it listens to the people. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20070816/14f2fc31/attachment.html From cmarshbird at prodigy.net Sat Aug 18 12:40:15 2007 From: cmarshbird at prodigy.net (Carolyn A. Marsh) Date: Sat Aug 18 12:40:26 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] RE: Pearl Jam Says "Don't Go To BP Amoco" References: Message-ID: <003001c7e1be$d70e8f80$42184a0c@CLOVER> Rockin - Carolyn Marsh http://www.ecorazzi.com/?p=3659 Aug 17, 2007 Pearl Jam Says "Don't Go To BP Amoco" Eddie Vedder "Don't Go to BP Amoco Filed under: campaigns, music, not green, business, politics - rebecca @ 4:58 pm The MidWest is pissed at BP, and so is Pearl Jam. British Petroleum is often looked at as one of the "better" oil companies.one that actually has the environment on their mind. The BP Whiting Refinery in Indiana has secured a new water permit that "allows BP to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of suspended solids into the lake every day," says the Chicago Tribune. BP has written their own statement to say that the ammonia levels are still at 50% of the federal standards, and that the change in their output is due to having to process a totally different, and heavier, crude oil. The public, the environmental groups, and even some politicians aren't convinced. Pearl Jam even wrote a song about it and performed it at this year's Lollapalooza. Watch a bit of their "Don't Go to BP Amoco" protest song below, or listen to the entire bit here. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20070818/e884d56e/attachment.html From amorgan at sxu.edu Mon Aug 20 07:43:46 2007 From: amorgan at sxu.edu (Morgan, Anita L.) Date: Mon Aug 20 07:43:56 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] RE: Pearl Jam Says "Don't Go To BP Amoco" In-Reply-To: <003001c7e1be$d70e8f80$42184a0c@CLOVER> Message-ID: <361F2C9A8579184C8CBC5119ABEC6BBD080F4AFB@EX1.SXU.local> Yes, I agree. I used to always fill up at BP Amoco, but not any more. Anita Morgan ________________________________ From: bcnnet-bounces@ece.iit.edu [mailto:bcnnet-bounces@ece.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Carolyn A. Marsh Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2007 12:40 PM To: bcnnet@ece.iit.edu Subject: [BCNnet] RE: Pearl Jam Says "Don't Go To BP Amoco" Rockin - Carolyn Marsh http://www.ecorazzi.com/?p=3659 Aug 17, 2007 Pearl Jam Says "Don't Go To BP Amoco" Eddie Vedder "Don't Go to BP Amoco Filed under: campaigns, music, not green, business, politics - rebecca @ 4:58 pm The MidWest is pissed at BP, and so is Pearl Jam. British Petroleum is often looked at as one of the "better" oil companies...one that actually has the environment on their mind. The BP Whiting Refinery in Indiana has secured a new water permit that "allows BP to dump an average of 1,584 pounds of ammonia and 4,925 pounds of suspended solids into the lake every day," says the Chicago Tribune. BP has written their own statement to say that the ammonia levels are still at 50% of the federal standards, and that the change in their output is due to having to process a totally different, and heavier, crude oil. The public, the environmental groups, and even some politicians aren't convinced. Pearl Jam even wrote a song about it and performed it at this year's Lollapalooza. Watch a bit of their "Don't Go to BP Amoco" protest song below, or listen to the entire bit here. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20070820/b6af749c/attachment-0001.html From rbdoeker at yahoo.com Tue Aug 21 09:01:01 2007 From: rbdoeker at yahoo.com (Randi Doeker - Chicago) Date: Tue Aug 21 09:01:00 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] new nature area coming to Chicago's lakefront (no sightings) Message-ID: <005c01c7e3fb$b586b830$4001a8c0@rbde5348707dc8> FYI - the Chicago Park District is turning Peanut Park into a nature area. My guess is that this is a suggestion from Ken Wysocki that has finally gotten attention at the Park District (where there are more nature-oriented staffers now than back when Ken was involved). Unofficially named after its shape, Peanut Park is the most northeastern section of Grant Park. When you drive north on Lake Shore Drive through Grant Park, you are heading toward the Cancer Survivor's Garden. When you get there, the road swerves to the right. Peanut Park is the grassy area that disappears below on your left, out of sight, seemingly under the Drive. (My guess is that the main visitors to Peanut Park are lost tourists.) Given its location right on the lakefront, this area has great potential. I don't have the details on what happens when - but it is great to have this to look forward to. Randi Doeker Chicago -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://screamer.ece.iit.edu/pipermail/bcnnet/attachments/20070821/95f69a1b/attachment.html From rbdoeker at yahoo.com Wed Aug 22 08:39:05 2007 From: rbdoeker at yahoo.com (Randi Doeker - Chicago) Date: Wed Aug 22 08:39:07 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] Evanston Birder featured in Trib editorial !!! (no sightings) Message-ID: <006901c7e4c1$d2586d20$4001a8c0@rbde5348707dc8> FYI: Today's editorial in the Chicago Tribune features Evanston birder Libby Hill. Randi Doeker - Chicago =============================================================== Chicago's Legendary Epidemic Chicago Tribune, Aug. 29, 1995: On Aug. 2, 1885, an unprecedented storm dropped 5 1/2 inches of rain on Chicago, all that water finding its way to the river. ... Sewage was carried into Lake Michigan, contaminating the city's water supply and triggering an outbreak of cholera that killed one of every eight Chicagoans. That disaster sent the city's engineers back to the drawing boards ... A whole new man-made addition would be tacked onto the Chicago River, paralleling the route of the Illinois and Michigan Canal but dwarfing the older waterway. This Sanitary and Ship Canal was provided with banks set up to 201 feet apart, and lessons learned during the massive construction project were shortly afterward applied to the building of the Panama Canal. Imagine that. A cholera outbreak killed 90,000 Chicagoans -- and also generated engineering lessons that helped build the Panama Canal. The saga has been retold so many times, in books, journals and over the airwaves -- and, yes, in this newspaper -- that most Chicagoans attuned to local history know of its gruesome details. ********************************************************* Imagine that, indeed. Fact is, the story of Chicago's killer cholera epidemic is a fiction, a phony melodrama. It was concocted a half-century ago to sell the public on a Chicago-area flood control scheme that evolved into what's now called the Deep Tunnel project. Author Libby Hill, who teaches in the department of geography and environmental studies at Northeastern Illinois University, has tried valiantly to debunk the cholera epidemic, most recently in a July 29 Tribune Magazine article titled "The making of an urban legend." Chicago did suffer a massive storm on Aug. 2, 1885, and polluted river water did flood into the lake. But a shift of winds pushed the contaminants away from the city's water intakes. Over the next two weeks, the anticipated fouling of drinking water didn't occur. One newspaper said winds and low temperatures had "combined to reduce sickness and the death rate far below the average of this season of the year. ... Chicago is very fortunate." But the seeds of a bogus legend had been planted. According to Hill, a 1956 pamphlet published by what's now the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District recounted the 1885 deluge and added that, "Death from the terrible diseases of polluted water was one byproduct of the storm." And in 1976, as part of a debate in the Tribune's pages over the then-nascent Deep Tunnel project, Sanitary District President Nicholas J. Melas argued that the project was needed: He recounted how the 1885 flooding "caused the deaths of 90,000 people." Three years later, Chicago Magazine reaffirmed that after the storm, cholera and typhoid "wiped out 90,000 people." Outbreaks of killer diseases truly did play havoc with Chicago and its people: stockyards runoff, water-borne sewage, spoiled food and lethal bugs variously brought dysentery, smallpox, diphtheria, influenza and other contagions to the city. Chicago did not, though, suffer deaths of Black Plague proportion in 1885. We're sure of that -- and we have Libby Hill to thank for setting us straight. We could attribute the legend's long life and frequent repetition to a decidedly un-Chicago trait: gullibility. Ninety thousand deaths? We'd rather, though, characterize this as a case of facts getting in the way of a good story. Less embarrassing that way. ******************** Oh, and that business about 1871? There really was a fire. From bobolnk at ix.netcom.com Tue Aug 28 10:05:18 2007 From: bobolnk at ix.netcom.com (bobolnk@ix.netcom.com) Date: Tue Aug 28 10:05:28 2007 Subject: [BCNnet] Audubon office manager needed Message-ID: <20741575.1188313518669.JavaMail.root@elwamui-rubis.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Hi Conservation friends, Audubon Chicago Region is looking for a half-time office manager. Here's the info; please pass this along to anyone you know who might be interested. Check the link for more details. National Audubon Society, located in Skokie, seeking organized and flexible individual. 20 hr week & $15+/hr DOE. For full information visit www.habitatproject.org Employment Opportunities box. Thank you! Judy Pollock jpollock@audubon.org