LANDSLIDE - A lesson in sedimentation and erosion!

Usually I associated gas stations with air, surface, and ground water pollution revolving around hydrocarbons. Today was a different story.

This shot demonstrates the shear ferocity of the flow, the depth and speed. Note the dirty / muddy appearance.



















This picture was taken at the east end of the parking lot for the strip mall that houses Wild Oats in Beachwood. The parking lot had such a torrent of rainwater flowing across it that it caused what appeared to be a mini landslide + some serious erosion. A roadway just off Chagrin was closed for some time as a result. Note the police cars, collapsing pavement, and toppling telephone poles.

Floods and destruction!

This footage was shot during the same storm as the whirlpool clip. The backing up storm drain about to blow its top shows just how much water we are forcing down our storm drain, into creeks, and ultimately into our great lake.

Note the color of the water and the apparent high amount of sediment loading from the areas around construction projects in the area. Appropriate erosion control measures, inlet protection, etc did not seem to be in place. Officials in charge of enforcement of related environmental laws could not be reached for comment.

A swirling whirlpool of sedimentation in Beachwood, Ohio

This video was shot by the BSI Field Team immediately after a huge downpour on the seventh day of August, 2007 in Beachwood, Ohio. Just off Chagrin Road and east of 271.

The clip shows the final draining of a puddle in a parking lot of a large office building. The drain finally catches up with the sheet flow of rainwater across the impervious surfaced lot.

The video was shot with the intent of highlighting sedimentation and its dramatic impacts. Sediment carried by stormwater from areas of exposed soil comprises one of the most significant pollutant issues facing our great lake.

National Polltant Discharge Elimination System Permits for construction projects LINK are the State of Ohio's attempts to curtail this growing issue.

Environmentality @ Disneyworld Orlando. A photo essay and tour

For Thanksgiving my wife, daughter and I took 2 weeks holiday and drove to Orlando, FL. then took the Amtrak AutoTrain from Sanford, FL (outside Orlando) to Lorton, VA (near DC). The train ride really lowered the embodied energy associated with our auto travel to Orlando... heck it all helps.

A bit of fun in the sun followed by a big feast with relatives in VA at the end!! Considering my wife and I are both Environmental Scientists... we thought we would pull together a piece about what we saw on our journey from the eco_tip. This is, of course, in addition to our online family foto album. ;-) Balance Man Balance.

Disney is Wild about Recycling and Cichlid Conservation!

Upon laying eyes on this sign in the Wild Kingdom, we were all very relived to learn how supportive Disney is for recyling programs.

Apparently they are also serious about fixing fish. Again we dont know if this poster containes factual information or if this is more themewashing (ooOO yeah you heard that term here first)

Disney & the Forestry Stewardship Council Juxtaposition!

I hope this little native lizard lives a long and happy life, but there is quite a bit of dermal toxicity data out there online about copper chromated arsinic (CCA) treated lumber.



Lucky for us Disney suggests we "Purchase Home Building Products From Sustainable Forests". Somehow I found the CCA lumber used next to the "YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE" signage to be quite humorous. Note the FSC logo bottom left. Nice poster... is this greenwash, or theming?

Woo Their Partner, is that Shade Grown Coffee Oganic Also?

We were so pumped up after spotting this little ditty, we had to stop and buy some! What suckers ay?



Now this was encouraging as well. "Care and Rehabilitation of Wild African Species"... again you dont know if they are using this sign as a prop, or if this is really going on. Pardon me but it does get confusing.. the place is chock full of "Wild African Species".. we jsut could not find the rehabilitaion... more like showcases. Does "...relocation to a protected environment" mean just outside of Orlando, Florida?

Animal Kindom Goes WILD For Natural Building Materials!

One of the first things we noticed after the exotic species being introduced was the significant use of seemingly natural building materials. Now I did not get close enough to determine for sure if these are real or if these are synthetic.. but they looked real to me.... you really never know these days with theming.

No Expense Spared For Exotic Species Introduction!

Ample use of exotic species is apparently the norm. I thought we had learned our lessons with Kudzu, Zebra Mussels, Nutria, Python's in the glades, etc. But they do look nice.. and sound ahh. unique when the wind rustles them. Plus the non-indiginous species theming makes you feel like your going on a Safari in a Wild Kingdom(tm) right?

The Hunt for Organic or Local Anything!

We had quite an intensive hunt thru seveal parks to find our first speck of organic goodness.
It was Iced Peach Green Tea for $2.39 per glass
It was not that bad really, but the packaging left me wondering if it was really "organic".

$2.39 Organic Green Tea at Disney Revealed!

Finally at last, something organic in the park!! Here is my lunch in the magic kingdom. Did I mention M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E-S napkins are 100% recyclABLE and from a chlorine free process?? Boo YA Intel U want it, I got it.

Storm Drain Label Close Up Shot

A Feeble Attempt at Storm Water Pollution Prevention at Disney Orlando

Now don't get me wrong, I was really excited when I spotted the first storm drain I had ever seen with TWO count 'em TWO labels on it. It was right inside the main entrance we drove each day, and right next to Reedy Creek Improvement District's office.

It turns out the 2-3 drains right by the Reedy Creek office were the only ones we saw labeled at all. This was out of seemingly thousands.

This industry needs to get over its fear of labeling storm drains in guest areas. At worse someone who does not know any better would simply scratch their heads, at best people may really dig that drains which flow immediately to a waterbody inhabited with Gods great creatures has some labeling designed to prevent an employee or guest from dumping down it.

Storm drain labelling should be required by law, not only for near water high traffic areas but for every facilitiy in the USA which has a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit (a permit for discharging wastewater into waters of the good ol' US of A).

Disney Bins

We figured there were about 15 trash cans destined for the land fill for every 1 recycling bin in most areas. Additionally, downcycling recepticals were not placed within any logical proximity of recyclable product vending areas.

None the less, they were a nice design. Obviously built with exclusion of nonrecyclables in mind. They were usually clean as well, not a sticky mess like some coca-cola ones at another park. Shh. not naming names.

-Enforcement-Action Ohio EPA reached a settlement with Visionmark

>>> "Eric Hendrickson" <eric.hendrickson@epa.state.oh.us> 09/28 2:54 PM >>>

Ohio EPA reached a settlement with Visionmark,  for past hazardous waste violations and issued an administrative consent order on September 27, 2005. The violations occurred at its facility located at 2309 Industrial Drive, Sidney, Shelby County, Ohio.  The settlement includes a $15,000 penalty of which $12,000 will be deposited into the state's hazardous waste cleanup fund.  In lieu of paying the remaining $3,000 of the penalty, Visionmark will fund a supplemental environmental project (SEP) by making a contribution in the amount of $3,000 to the Ohio EPA Clean Diesel School Bus Program.  You can view details on this final action online at: http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dhwm/pdf/09-27-05Visionmark.pdf 

Ingenuity Cleveland - 40,000 foot eco_logical impact assessment

Ingenuity Cleveland: first stab at a review.

While overall a phenomenal event, I must relay I was a bit disappointed in the apparent lack of concern by event management for addressing the environmental aspects and impacts of their event. Food service relied upon disposable everything, reusable containers were not to be found, not a single generator powered by biomass, biodiesel, used cooking oil, solar, wind, or fuel cells.

Vinyl table cloths reigned supreme on apparently all tables at the back of the 4th street stage, and there were plenty of vendors who's direct nonpermitted wastewater discharges were flowing freely into the city of Cleveland's storm sewers. Contrary to popular belief, storm sewers, which are typically located outside (along the curb in this case) do not pass through a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) or sewage plant prior to discharge into our great and greatly troubled Lake Erie.

All this being said and ecoimpact assessment mode turned off, the parts of the show we saw were fantastic. The only thing the event could have used a healthy dose more of was local electronic music artists, locally produced and more sustainable foods and products.

Till next year!

Former Diamond Shamrock Facility Exposed!

Rocks, sticks, and even sand were stained a smurfy loooking hue of blue. Note: this debris is within 10 feet from the shoreline of our Great Lake. All photos taken April 10th 2004.

From this perspective one can see the path of the run off down the hill and onto the beach. Lots of things laying on the beach were colored a smurfy blue color by the contaminants carried onto the beach by sheet flow of storm water run off. (It's safe to presume they were carried right into the lake ay?).

While looking for a place to pull my kayak up on the beach so I could hike up the hill to explore an huge old factory I spotted what looked like a clearing. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be a denuded area (devoid of vegitative life). The 'trail' I thought I found was actually a pathway that surface runoff was following, based on the blue tint to many things in the path, the runnoff was contaminated.

This is what can typically be found going into the garbage at the historic West Side Market (as seen on the Travel Channel). Looks like they could use some vermiculture.

Shot on May 22, 2004 from near the Harp on the west shoreway.

Recycling at its worst. Shot on 7.24.2004 at Greenview Elementary School in South Euclid, Ohio near Brush High's baseball diamond's bleachers. Doesn't brush have a student environmental club?