Category: environment

Palustris

wetland
Andrea Terry of RWSA is leading a tour of the Moores Creek Environmental Preservation Area, Friday May 15.
Meet at the Franklin Street wetland gate ( north of the stockyard) at 10:00 AM. (near 706 Franklin ST).
This is the hardwood wetland that was built to mitigate loss of wetlands with
the expansion of Ragged Mountain reservoir.
Rubber boots are advised.
Please RSVP to aterry(at)rwsa.org.

Palustris is a Latin word meaning “swampy” or “marshy”. It is often used in taxonomy for species names
typically in scientific names for animals and plants to refer to the typical habitat of the species.–Wikipedia

what is in a name?

global warming
In 1980, Dominion Resources, Inc., was incorporated as the holding company for VEPCO. For us ratepayers on the ground Virginia Electric and Power Company became Dominion.


transporting fracked gas
Dominion came through the Woolen Mills recently, whacking trees. Line maintenance. They provide the power that I post by here. But what is the price of the power?


North Anna, James
Is it possible for a monopoly to be true to its place of origin? To care about cultural and natural resources? To care about the environment? Here recently, the corporation has been in the news, often. From the outside they’ve been acting more like the Dominator than the Virginian. Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Transmission lines over the James River. New nuclear facility on a faultline.


political clout
Yesterday, people from across Virginia came to speak to the dominator. To date, there is little indication that Dominion has ears.

where is the light switch?

CHO Mayor Huja silhouette
The City of Charlottesville is a quarter finalist in the Georgetown University Energy Prize, a nationwide competition for small-to-medium sized
communities to compete to win a $5 million grand prize by saving energy.
The Council meets tomorrow afternoon for a budget work session.

While operating 6016 streetlights, the City doesn’t appear to have an IES certified individual (Illuminating Engineering Society) on staff.
Who is in charge of the lighting? Who directs spending in this arena to make sure we get best lighting for dollars spent?
Who knows how many dollars are spent on lighting?
There are forms available to request the addition of streetlights, drop lens, highway-style fixtures, but
no one knows where the light switch is, where the form is to request the removal of lighting.
We submitted a dark-skies petition in 2000 trying to reclaim the night..
Someday…
(read Janis Jaquith’s essay “Turn Off The Lights”)

Paulownia tomentosa

Paulownia_tomentosa
Summer in the City.

It is tolerant of pollution and it is not fussy about soil type. For this reason it functions ecologically as a pioneer plant. Its nitrogen-rich leaves provide good fodder and its roots prevent soil erosion. Eventually, Paulownia is succeeded by taller trees that shade it. It cannot thrive in the shade of other trees.
Paulownia is in honour of the Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia, with tomentosa being derived from the Latin meaning ‘covered in hairs’–Wikipedia

Brayton Point

cooling towers

“The Brayton Point coal-fired plant in Bristol County, Mass., will be retired in May 2017, owner Energy Capital Partners LLC said Oct. 7,
a little over a month after the private equity firm closed on the purchase of the plant from previous owner Dominion Resources Inc.”–IEEFA

boring technology


I always call Miss Utility before I dig. Calling Sister Utility is the law. I don’t know anyone who has ever been arrested, but the State, the County, the City, they all make pretty clear:

Failure to notify Miss Utility before you dig could make you liable for the cost of any repairs should you damage a utility service.

In the picture above a concrete sanitary sewer main runs right to left, downhill, beneath Chesapeake Street in Charlottesville Virginia, headed for the sewage plant.
Also pictured, a half inch diameter, high pressure gas line running from seven o’clock to one o’clock, overtop the sanitary sewer.
Also pictured, the damage that resulted when the HDD (horizontal directional drilling) operator inadvertently steered the drilling rig through the sewer.

The benefits of drilling, no trench, less erosion, it is minimally invasive street surgery. The problem, no laparoscope.

Our City is actively pursuing inflow and infiltration of rainwater into the sanitary sewer. They cruise pipes with video cameras, find and fix damaged pipe.