Egremont's 'Turtle Man' has been working to save Smiley's Pond turtles for years, finally the state is stepping in to help

Heather Bellow | The Berkshire Eagle

"Ari Zorn panicked on Tuesday when he first saw construction near Smiley’s Pond, where legions of turtles and other creatures have met their maker in the crevices of a dam over the years. It turned out the work was exactly what Zorn has wanted for several years: a way for the creatures to move between the Karner Brook and Smiley’s Pond — also known as Mill Pond — without getting stuck and dying on their way. [...] Turns out he was onto something. To fix this deathtrap, the state is now raising the bottom of the dam and creating 'ramps' for the turtles and other critters to get a foothold, slither or crawl up to the pond. [...] It was a few years ago that Zorn saw the turtles dying in the dam. He jumped in to free them and there his zealotry was born. He called state and local officials, and kept pestering them about this carnage at the intersection of Route 23 and Mount Washington Road. The dam is owned by the state Department of Transportation. He started a nonprofit, Friends of Smiley’s Pond, to raise awareness of the problem, but also of the 33 endangered species including plants and rare birds. The pond is considered one of the purest water bodies in the state. [...] The agency came up with a plan two years ago, with the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and other agencies, to install a climbing fence for the critters and to grout the crevices. This was an experiment to see if the wildlife would make use of the fence — and they did. [...] From there came the current plans, and those are likely to become a model for dams statewide, since they often are a threat to wildlife and watersheds." READ MORE

Groundbreaking youth-led climate trial comes to an end in Montana

Dharna Noor | The Guardian

"A groundbreaking climate trial came to an early close on Tuesday as lawyers on each side presented a very different picture of who can be held responsible for the climate crisis. Attorneys representing the lawsuit’s young challengers said Montana officials and agencies must be held accountable for exacerbating the crisis, and thereby violating the plaintiffs’ state constitutional rights. But the defense argued that the climate crisis is a global problem, and that if Montana is contributing to it, plaintiffs should work to change that through the legislature. The trial for Held v Montana began in the state’s first judicial district court in the capital city of Helena last week, marking the first constitutional climate trial in US history. A ruling will now follow from Judge Kathy Seeley, who has been hearing the case, with expectations that this could take several weeks to emerge." READ MORE

The Hidden Cost of Gasoline

Max Graham | Grist

"...It was a sunny spring day, and the Arco station in North Seattle looked like any other on a busy street corner, with cars fueling up and a line of bored people waiting to buy snacks and drinks inside the convenience store. [...] Drivers pumped their tanks with gas, breathing carcinogens like benzene, the source of gasoline’s signature sweet smell. On the east side of the property, tall white pipes that vent toxic vapors from petroleum kept underground stood just 10 feet away from the window of a childcare center. Hidden below the station is a tract of contaminated soil that extends underneath a neighboring apartment building. The Arco station has a long history of leaking, with petroleum products discovered floating in the septic tank beneath it in 1990. After decades of efforts to remove and break down that pollution — a host of contaminants including lead, benzene, and the suspected carcinogen methyl tertiary-butyl ether — trace amounts remain, with some highly polluted patches in the soil. One sample taken late last year showed levels of gasoline-related compounds 72 times higher than Washington state’s allowable limit. [...] This Arco station is hardly unique. Almost every gas station eventually pollutes the earth beneath it, experts told Grist. The main culprit: the underground storage tanks that hold tens of thousands of gallons of fuel, one of the most common sources of groundwater pollution. Typically, two or three of these giant, submarine-shaped tanks are buried under a station to store the gasoline and diesel that gets piped to the pump. A large tank might be 55 feet long and hold as many as 30,000 gallons; a typical tank might hold 10,000 gallons. Leaks can occur at any point — in the storage tank itself, in the gas pumps, and in the pipes that connect them. Hazardous chemicals can then spread rapidly through the soil, seeping into groundwater, lakes, or rivers. Even a dribble can pollute a wide area. Ten gallons of gasoline can contaminate 12 million gallons of groundwater — a significant risk, given that groundwater is the source of drinking water for nearly half of all Americans." READ MORE

ENVIRONMENTALLY SPEAKING: Berkshire Zero Waste Initiative is committed to reducing waste in our community

Andrew Ferrara | The Berkshire Edge

"Editor’s Note: The author of this article is a member of Berkshire Zero Waste Initiative. [...] Berkshire Zero Waste Initiative (a project of Berkshire Environmental Action Team), in partnership with Sheffield Saves, Lee Greener Gateway Committee, and the Egremont Green Committee, is committed to reducing waste in our community. These groups have been collaborating with the four Big Y stores in Berkshire County to identify opportunities for reducing waste and to come up with solutions that work for everyone. The first step was to gather information. Single-use plastic produce bags were identified as a source of waste that seem to be overused. We developed a survey to help determine in which situations people are using the plastic produce bags and whether or not they would consider switching to reusable produce bags, or going without a bag altogether for certain items. Over 100 people responded, and we want to share some of the excellent feedback we received. [...] Try to remember these facts when you reach for another plastic produce bag: Globally, we use 4 trillion plastic bags each year. Besides being made from fossil fuels, the average plastic bag is only used for 10 to 20 minutes and then can take up to a thousand years to decompose. The plastic used in bags contains chemical additives such as endocrine disruptors, which cause negative health effects including cancers, birth defects, and immune system suppression in humans and wildlife." READ MORE

Shell plans to increase fossil fuel production despite its net-zero pledge

Jeff Brady | NPR

"Oil giant Shell plans to boost fossil fuel production even as the company says it still aims to zero out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Critics concerned about climate change say to meet that target, the company should be cutting production, not increasing drilling for oil and gas. In a presentation to investors in New York on Wednesday, Shell executives said they plan to grow the company's natural gas business. Executives touted the fact that natural gas emits about half the carbon dioxide as coal when burned for generating electricity, arguing that is still in line with Shell's climate goals. The company also projects stable oil production through the end of the decade, saying it met a goal of reducing production 20% by 2030 by selling some operations to rival ConocoPhillips. Shell CEO Wael Sawan focused comments on that longer-term 2050 goal instead of nearer-term objectives. That's despite a 2021 Dutch court case that ordered Shell to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030, based on 2019 levels. The company is appealing that decision. [...] A recent report from the climate collaborative project Net Zero Tracker found that while more fossil fuel companies are now setting targets for reaching net-zero emissions, most don't include short-term reduction plans or clarity on how their plans cover emissions from actually using their products, 'making them largely meaningless.'" READ MORE

The 'Sisyphus of Trash' struggles to clean relentless waves of plastic from a New York island's beaches

Devin Speak | Inside Climate News

"In just three years, Michele Klimczak has picked, hauled, weighed, documented and sorted more than 32,000 pounds of garbage from the shores of Fishers Island, New York. She finds plastics stamped with product expiration dates going back two decades washed up all around the roughly four square mile stretch of land in the Long Island Sound. For Michele, collecting marine garbage is literally a full-time job, one she holds with the Fishers Island Conservancy, a non-profit tasked with caring for the island’s natural resources. There is no off-season—her job is year-round, through rain, snow and heat, to counter a ballooning waste problem. She’s collected garbage on the island for about two decades, full-time since 2018. But despite her long efforts, she’s only watched the problem grow. [...] On Earth Day, Michele collected 62 pounds of trash over the span of roughly one-twentieth of a mile—a section she cleaned about a month earlier. A few volunteers helped that day, but she normally collects just as much single-handedly. [...] A few days later, I helped Michele collect about 100 pounds of trash on a beach further up the coast. We returned the very next day to the same stretch of sand and gathered nearly 150 pounds more. Even then, after hours of picking up garbage and with no space left in our bags, we left a lot behind. [...] Despite the weight, much of the garbage Michele finds are tiny plastics: balloon strings, bottle caps, lighters, indistinguishable objects broken down into tiny bits of assorted colors, and countless styrofoam beads strewn about the sand and brush. It all accumulates into synthetic rainbows piled high like monuments to our love affair with polymers." READ MORE