The Martha s Vineyard Times
Town officials: No cover up, no collusion
Sewer advisory committee delves into Mansion House; increase in fees coming.
Select board member Jeff Kristal, shown here in a 2018 meeting, responded to a Times story during a sewer advisory board Zoom Thursday night.
The Mansion House met its deadline to install a leaching field, and there was no attempt to cover up the hotel’s illegal discharge of groundwater into the town’s wastewater treatment plant, Tisbury officials said during a sewer advisory board meeting Thursday.
The officials select board members Jeff Kristal and Jim Rogers, as well as town administrator Jay Grande were responding to a Times story that detailed public records and interviews with the former wastewater superintendent David Thompson, who blew the whistle on the illegal discharge. Thompson was fired within two months of his discovery, told he had not met the terms of his probationary period. Former select board
US gives Florida wider authority over wetland development
by Bobby Caina Calvan, The Associated Press
Posted Dec 17, 2020 11:48 am EDT
Last Updated Dec 17, 2020 at 11:56 am EDT
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The federal government granted Florida’s request for wider authority over wetland development, a move that came under immediate fire by environmentalist who worry that the country’s largest network of wetlands could be at risk of being further destroyed.
The announcement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was long sought by developers and Republican allies, who argued that the layers of regulatory scrutiny were cumbersome, expensive and unnecessary. Supporters touted the move as a step that would streamline the permitting process when property owners seek to develop wetlands.
Manatee leaders say draining toxic water from abandoned mine is county s top priority in 2021
Resolving the issue of contaminated Contaminated pools of water from phosphate mining at Piney Point is now Manatee Countyâs top priority in 2021.
and last updated 2020-12-17 17:02:27-05
PINEY POINT, Fla. â Resolving the issue of contaminated pools of water from phosphate mining at Piney Point is now Manatee Countyâs top priority in 2021.
The ponds are located across from Port Manatee and Tampa Bay where the phosphate mine was abandoned in 2001.
For nearly 20 years, ponds full of contaminated water produced as a chemical byproduct of mining have threatened the community.
State aquaculture program faces backlog, funding issues in 2021
ELLSWORTH Like nearly every facet of life, the pandemic has affected the state aquaculture industry, the Maine Aquaculture Advisory Council made clear in a virtual meeting on Dec. 7.
Aquaculture lease applications are backlogged because hearings stopped, which is “a huge concern for the aquaculture industry,” Council member Briana Warner said. In addition, 2021 funding for the state aquaculture program is unknown. Proposed legislation set for a vote in the 129th Legislature special session, after approval from the Marine Resources Committee, never happened when the Legislature did not reconvene.
“We have to start from scratch,” Department of Marine Resources Director of Policy Deirdre Gilbert said.
Former State Resilience Officer Julia Nesheiwat speaks at an American Water Resources Association meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach in November 2019. BRENDAN RIVERS/ADAPT
For almost seven months, Florida had a dedicated leader on climate change. Then she left for another job.
The state has now gone longer than that without a full-time replacement.
Environmental advocates celebrated Gov. Ron DeSantis’s hiring of Julia Nesheiwat for the newly created position of chief resilience officer in summer 2019. They saw the move as a declaration his office would accept, and try to address, the realities of climate change in a vulnerable state.
Now some wonder about that commitment.