Maine’s New Climate Adaptation Toolkit

 

(AUGUSTA) – The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is housing a new Climate Adaptation Toolkit on its website. This new Climate Adaptation Toolkit is a Maine-focused, online reference library that provides community leaders with links to key state, federal, and other climate related documents, climate models, data sources, and technical providers, to assist with the work being done throughout the state. Communities in Maine are making the connection between their daily lives and the changes we are seeing in our region’s climate. Town leaders, engaged citizens, businesses, universities, and state partners are planning and implementing changes into their communities to adapt to climate change, and by doing so building resilience into their communities. This toolkit is designed to assist in those varied efforts.
The Adaptation Toolkit is organized by audience type, for its ease of use, and is for Maine homeowners, business owners, consultants, resource managers, engaged citizens, public officials, and anyone else who is interested in learning about climate change, or accessing information that will help them integrate best practices into their community, home, or place of work.
DEP’s goal is to continue to improve the utility of this toolkit by updating the guidance materials, and engaging with toolkit users directly, to ensure they are getting the key information needed.
For more information, please visit Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Climate Change webpage at http://www.maine.gov/dep/sustainability/climate/index.html

Maine, New Hampshire Officials Confirm European Naiad Infestation in Salmon Falls River

Naiad, or Bushy Pond Weed, an invasive species has been found

in the Salmon Falls River on the Lebanon Maine, New Hampshire border.

 

(AUGUSTA) — Biologists from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), together with their New Hampshire counterparts, have confirmed a late September discovery of the invasive  species European naiad (scientific name: Najas minor) in a 1040-acre impoundment within Salmon Falls River, a border water body with shorelines in Lebanon and Acton, Maine and Milton, New Hampshire. The impoundment includes Northeast, Milton and Town House Ponds.
Able to overtake native lake habitats by shading and outcompeting ecologically valuable aquatic plants, European naiad grows from an annual seed into 7-foot long plants. A productive, one-acre infestation can generate tens of millions of seeds per season. Dense infestations can alter water chemistry and oxygen levels.
 “We’re finding well-established populations in Northeast Pond and in the narrow thoroughfare leading to Milton Pond with the thickest growth in northern portions of Northeast Pond,” says biologist John McPhedran of the Maine DEP. “It is our immediate objective to monitor the extent of this infestation throughout the entire impoundment so that we can consider response options with New Hampshire for 2016.”
The infestation was first documented in early September by an area volunteer citizen scientist. Subsequent monitoring has been provided by trained volunteers coordinated by the York County Soil and Water Conservation District, the local interstate Three Ponds Protective Association, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NH DES) and Maine DEP.
European naiad has been confirmed in one small Maine Pond in Kittery and in a handful of New Hampshire water bodies this growing season.
The invasive plant had been documented previously in two New Hampshire water bodies, but populations declined on their own without management, according to Amy Smagula of the New Hampshire DES. “European naiad has not been a common problem species in this area, though with several new infestations documented in New Hampshire in 2015, that may be about to change. It warrants further investigation.”
Maine DEP and NH DES have distributed invasive species warning signs to be posted at boat ramps urging boaters to inspect for and remove plant debris before and after accessing the impoundment. Also notified were boat ramp and other land owners, fishing tournament organizers, and fisheries and warden services from both states.  
Maine has been fortunate in recent years to remove water bodies from the statewide list of infestations. To date, of Maine’s 5,700 named water bodies, only 46 are now documented as infested.

 

 

***Extra note of interest from Lebanon Maine Truth Seekers***

Naiad, of the Naja or Najadaceae genus of water plant,

is named after a female spirit from ancient Greek mythology.

Naiad was a spirit known to preside over fountains, wells, springs, streams and small lakes.

 

Infrastructure State Implementation Plan for Demonstration that Maine Complies with the Good Neighbor Requirements of Clean Air Act Section 110(a)(2)(D)(i)(I) for the 2008 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard

 

 

 

08/28/2015 03:00 PM EDT

The State Implementation Plans (SIPs) are the federally-enforceable plans that identify how the states will attain and/or maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). The Department is proposing to amend the Maine SIP by amending the Ozone Infrastructure Plan which certifies to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that Maine's SIP fulfills the infrastructure requirements established in sections 110(a)(1) and (2) of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAA) for ozone. The CAA requires states to address thirteen basic SIP requirements, including demonstrating that their emissions do not interfere with attainment and maintenance of the NAAQS at downwind locations. This element is addressed in this revision of the plan. This plan will be submitted to EPA as a revision to Maine's State Implementation Plan. Copies of this proposal are available upon request by contacting the Agency contact person or on the DEP website at www.maine.gov/dep/rules/. Pursuant to Maine law, interested parties are publicly notified of the proposed rulemaking and are provided an opportunity for comment. Written comments may be submitted by mail, e-mail or fax to the contact person before the end of the comment period. To ensure the comments are considered, they must include your name and the organization you represent, if any.

Comments must be received before close of business Friday September 28th, 2015. Submit comments to:

Tom Graham
Maine Department of Environmental Protection
State House Station 17
Augusta, Maine 04333-0017
tom.graham@maine.gov

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Batteries and Then Some............ A Guide to Battery Recycling.......

While we were at the Selectmen's Meeting on Monday night, we overheard a bit of discussion while Selectmen Thompson and Nadeau were signing Accounts Payable slips.
The discussion was about batteries.
Odd topic of discussion at a Selectmen's meeting, you might think. Well..... so did we....
Sandy has been on top of me all day to find out more about the batteries being delivered for recycling from the Lebanon Transfer Station.
I've been trying to call Selectman Thompson all day, but he must be busy as he didn't return my call.
So I took matters into my own hands and did a little investigating.
I found the name of the Portsmouth NH company that picks up Lebanon Transfer Station batteries for recycling, and calling them, I was referred to the Sales Representative who handles their Lebanon Transfer Station account. His name is Chip Martin and he is very informative and helpful.
In July, our transfer station generated a charge of $17.25 for the disposal of alkaline batteries. Alkaline batteries are your standard non-rechargeable batteries, purchased in standard sizes for a variety of uses in your everyday household needs.
According to Martin, Alkaline batteries are nothing but cardboard containers with a bit of metal at each end and filled with salt. Yup, SALT. He says that they don't even promote recycling of them, as all that is recyclable is the tiny bit of metal at either end. Martin says these batteries are costing the town 75 cents each through his company. So when you think that you are doing some kind of good by separating out your alkaline batteries for recycling, it's not really doing much good at all. In fact, Mr. Martin told Lebanon Truth Seekers that they actually tell their clients that they can save a good deal of money by just tossing them into the dumpster with their regular trash.

Photo of typical alkaline batteries.

These should be just tossed, along with your regular household trash.

Other types of batteries, your nickel-cadmium (NiCad), Lithium, and rechargeable batteries contain some percentage of mercury, which IS harmful to the environment and therefore SHOULD be presented separately from your normal household rubbish. Although the collection of these batteries also costs the town money, there is a good reason for that. When these batteries are collected, they are shipped to a special facility that heats the batteries under extreme pressure to release the mercury. The metal parts of these batteries are melted down and sold as scrap, but the mercury itself is not recycled. According to Mr. Martin, the facilities have to store the mercury on-site for indefinite periods of time, likening these facilities to other hazardous waste storage companies.

 

Button batteries have some of the highest mercury content and should be presented at the

Transfer Station for disposal by specialists.

 

ANY form of rechargeable battery contain chemicals and should be presented separate from regular household trash to your Town Transfer Station employees for proper disposal.

 

Most large tool batteries are Ni-Cad batteries and contain chemicals harmful to the environment and should be presented to your Transfer Station separately from regular household trash.

 

Lithium batteries are used to power much of the world's cell phones and small electronic equipment. These batteries contain harmful chemicals and should be presented separately from normal household trash for proper disposal.

 

 

Batteries do not cost you anything to dispose of at the Transfer Station. You just hand the bag to the attendant and they'll do the rest!! 

Please share this information with your friends and neighbors. Disposal of Alkaline (which can be safely tossed in with your normal household trash) cost the town $17.25 in July. If that were averaged over 12 months, the unnecessary cost to the town would be $207.00 per year. That's not much until you realize that that is enough to pay a part time employee a week's salary!

While we applaud the town's willingness to recycle, the Alkaline batteries are not recyclable and should, instead, be tossed in the Hefty bags along with the rest of the week's trash.

Please also take a moment to remind the Transfer Station employees that these batteries can, and should be tossed right into the dumpsters instead of being presented to the special waste collection company.

 

We also asked the question as to how the town can generate a credit rather than a debt in disposal of special disposables. The answer we received was very interesting. It seems that due to the fact that oil prices have fallen substantially, plastics and metals are not generating the recycling market prices that they have been in the past. It's actually cheaper for companies to create new plastics and metal pieces than it is to go through the cost and labor needed to sort and process materials for recycling. While we do not promote tossing recyclables, you should know what recyclables generate the most profit for the town at this time. Computers. Old or out dated computer equipment, laptops, video games and electronics. Because all of these items contain copper in their wiring and inner parts, used computer equipment is a CREDIT generator rather than a cost to the town. So now is the time to get all that old computer equipment out of your basements, garages and cellars and bring them to the Transfer Station, being sure to give them separately to the attendants for recycling.

 

 

 

DO YOUR PART..........

TOSS ALKALINE BATTERIES IN THE DUMPSTER!!

RECYCLE CHEMICAL LADEN BATTERIES TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT!!

and

BRING IN OLD COMPUTER EQUIPMENT AND ELECTRONICS for RECYCLING!!!