tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26480258871059456182024-03-19T07:23:27.091-04:00Data-Driven ViewpointsFact-based, commercial-free information and social commentary - “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” ― Ben Franklin. -----
I am a retired social worker, social service planner and administrative analyst for the state of New Jersey.Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.comBlogger943125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-31755168131828592892024-03-18T06:18:00.003-04:002024-03-18T10:23:34.484-04:00 Massive 1940 Hercules Explosion - an Act of Domestic Terrorism?<br /><br />by Brian T. Lynch, MSW<br /><br /><div>On September 12, 1940, twenty-five tons of freshly manufactured gunpowder exploded at the Hercules Powder Plant in Kenvil, N.J., leaving a 13-foot crater in the ground. It generated a shock wave felt 90 miles away and leveled nearly one thousand acres of the plant. Fifty-two workers were killed in the blast, and several hundred more were injured. Victims were laid out on the lawn of Dover General Hospital because there were too many to fit inside.</div><div> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9___q2H-1ENXDGqtAP6VA4yCI7ChNH63TvE12i_sEg3Uo5KlSBsDpf7vV9byXJb0datsp5wsS6-_XlbnRVvwAPtBh8ezob7ehrjQLLzJaFqpy5etdYm3NdupsZf2fl4s3ck3-DXVLq60mz6tIP8P6tFvWefxH34c64-n8VZzevK6TgNIfjEaQX0T1lo/s1390/HerculesMemorialPlaque.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1167" data-original-width="1390" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9___q2H-1ENXDGqtAP6VA4yCI7ChNH63TvE12i_sEg3Uo5KlSBsDpf7vV9byXJb0datsp5wsS6-_XlbnRVvwAPtBh8ezob7ehrjQLLzJaFqpy5etdYm3NdupsZf2fl4s3ck3-DXVLq60mz6tIP8P6tFvWefxH34c64-n8VZzevK6TgNIfjEaQX0T1lo/w512-h430/HerculesMemorialPlaque.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>The FBI, under Herbert Hoover, was in charge of the investigation. There were local rumors that the explosion was the work of German undercover agents. One contemporary news article reported that the FBI was already investigating these rumors when Hercules blew up. That account said that the FBI already collected information on everyone who worked at the plant before the blast. The article then mentioned that there was a large pro-Nazi,<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/06/american-nazis-in-the-1930sthe-german-american-bund/529185/"> German-American Bund</a> organization operating out of<a href="https://www.njherald.com/story/lifestyle/2014/04/06/andover-s-hillside-park-was/4042026007/"> Camp Nordland</a> in Andover, New Jersey. This was true, but was there a connection?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiKl5Lxd2JwTOmvrXlD1OEsGCbmhJQj76yCzUVhTvSW_ynP4z33hjAHVYGr1LSaFSfaI8ghWY4K98FMFMKLBim5wUeoc_wRSUtYRuHXhDX1UBwW0xE0ZPWkCP2u8zDw2p8lF5N6GfZn7W7dto6Mr4p4FndUe5IytyrbsJKILT90MXjOFKy4Rb9MxgJnUA/s1430/CampNordlandBund.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1430" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiKl5Lxd2JwTOmvrXlD1OEsGCbmhJQj76yCzUVhTvSW_ynP4z33hjAHVYGr1LSaFSfaI8ghWY4K98FMFMKLBim5wUeoc_wRSUtYRuHXhDX1UBwW0xE0ZPWkCP2u8zDw2p8lF5N6GfZn7W7dto6Mr4p4FndUe5IytyrbsJKILT90MXjOFKy4Rb9MxgJnUA/w558-h336/CampNordlandBund.jpg" width="558" /></a><br /><br />Early into the investigation after the explosion, the FBI informed the press that the explosion was most like the result of an industrial accident. Most newspapers didn’t mention that the FBI already had an open investigation into an alleged plot to blow the Hercules plant. Rumors of German American sabotage remained just that… rumors.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabxaexAVBkNjDoH9YuBi_lxIfPAoM3rlTj3_IWhpfnzAPjAPwr426uiIbclKETlNNbJ5ntLb9GrC9Oy-onYdN_LW2vbfBeoq7ytY9bSLvgrpkkJmRjInCnbYRNwT02emmedmxAYGFhxAXTcs7-aHHYS3_aP01SVNmOX69h9x-c0JolMbqSR2_Wu3C2pk/s495/NewsArticle.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabxaexAVBkNjDoH9YuBi_lxIfPAoM3rlTj3_IWhpfnzAPjAPwr426uiIbclKETlNNbJ5ntLb9GrC9Oy-onYdN_LW2vbfBeoq7ytY9bSLvgrpkkJmRjInCnbYRNwT02emmedmxAYGFhxAXTcs7-aHHYS3_aP01SVNmOX69h9x-c0JolMbqSR2_Wu3C2pk/s320/NewsArticle.jpg" width="173" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Exactly two months after the huge Hercules explosion, three smaller U.S. military-industrial plants were blown up within twenty minutes of each other. One was in New Jersey and two in Pennsylvania. These plants manufactured torpedoes, signal flares, and ammunition. Sixteen more workers were killed in these apparent attacks.<br /><br />This did not appear to be a coincidence. The whiff of sabotage now seemed unmistakable. Today, we know that America was under attack, but who was responsible for killing 68 workers at four of our military manufacturing plants? Where are the FBI’s findings? Why was no one brought to justice for these murders?<br /><br />A fog settled over these questions leaving a memory gap for everyone who lived through it. To this day, if you ask area residents what caused the Hercules explosion, they echo the same response as those who lived through it eighty years ago… It was either an industrial accident or German sabotage. Even as recently as 2015, Roxbury Township, New Jersey, posted a tribute to those who died in the Hercules blast and gave<a href="http://www.roxburynewjersey.com/hercules.htm"> a description</a> of the event. It concludes:<br /><blockquote><b>“Still unanswered is the real cause of the fatal 1940 explosion: Industrial Accident or Nazi Spies?”</b></blockquote>But, a fresh review of the evidence points to domestic terror as the most likely cause. This makes the Hercules explosion the seventh deadliest domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history. If you search the internet for U.S. domestic terrorist attacks, however, you won’t find Hercules on that list. The fascist extremists who carried out this attack were never publicly identified or brought to justice.<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_V1AuXRqDeOfHTxnZiMLLpRXIxvHO5OcLL7DViVq0-SimeXP3D-jt0cwEDW4MWpPX6kCNEm8DVjfP10sp3hTqLY8ZcDbz3slp0Tth0B3RTceXoJqfwmN0KZPbzxkljbYlx3xk4Zs7xj3dIB5I-h7Em9RxszM3DHXTP_kRu7T7Deob1ddWxTotFw4FZO8/s436/Kuhn%20GAbund.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="436" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_V1AuXRqDeOfHTxnZiMLLpRXIxvHO5OcLL7DViVq0-SimeXP3D-jt0cwEDW4MWpPX6kCNEm8DVjfP10sp3hTqLY8ZcDbz3slp0Tth0B3RTceXoJqfwmN0KZPbzxkljbYlx3xk4Zs7xj3dIB5I-h7Em9RxszM3DHXTP_kRu7T7Deob1ddWxTotFw4FZO8/w200-h143/Kuhn%20GAbund.png" width="200" /></a></div><div>Rachael Maddow reported new details and took a fresh look at the Hercules explosion in Episode 3 of her podcast,<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rachel-maddow-presents-ultra/id1647910854?i=1000582866641"> Ultra</a>. Her review points convincingly to a terrorist attack by American fascist extremists. The chain of evidence pointing to a domestic attack at Hercules begins in Los Angeles, California, and runs through the United States Congress. Among the principal suspect organizations that planned the attack is the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American_Bund"> German American Bund</a> in California. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXzhF5j0X0JP2i-_0WMdQOCzVIC74OCfQ7Ey2D1nzHRVKwzOytl9JgIR4SFab4aPRtBYokk-GeSK6OhN01dC8ycl9_MBht0zsVLEUxnQ2IyWQHIEjV4ipVnqRZQqqn_oMhXPqFMkvrmm8_ZHKCKc_k7lQcMuhZrG-GLC2IdqsRAHELqEF-lp0MdHgi-M/s330/WmPelley.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="330" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXzhF5j0X0JP2i-_0WMdQOCzVIC74OCfQ7Ey2D1nzHRVKwzOytl9JgIR4SFab4aPRtBYokk-GeSK6OhN01dC8ycl9_MBht0zsVLEUxnQ2IyWQHIEjV4ipVnqRZQqqn_oMhXPqFMkvrmm8_ZHKCKc_k7lQcMuhZrG-GLC2IdqsRAHELqEF-lp0MdHgi-M/w200-h163/WmPelley.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The German American Bund was originally founded in Buffalo, New York. It was led by<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Julius_Kuhn#:~:text=Fritz%20Julius%20Kuhn%20(May%2015,Bund%20before%20World%20War%20II."> Fritz Julius Kuhn</a>. Another suspect organization was the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Legion_of_America"> Silver Legion</a> founded by<a href="https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/william-dudley-pelley-1885-1965/"> William D. Pelley</a> in Ashland, North Carolina. Both these groups openly aspired to take over the United States government before the United States entered World War II. Both organizations had active branches in California and New Jersey. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hIehZe6cUliuQG2xNTtcMCX70acyKQIBrf8CsYchmuyRTkbrQUxZ31IT8sLstIQpR5FBFTrExulDfqGHo_ihVeUMAQdAtJDmcwA-emVsvp0jiTZJJO7iDnoxITj4c0yh3TioPrVxDh9DZLgTFZf3lLvS1PXx5B-eqNDSM9drX4ngEaX5Si0ySPYPWsA/s540/NY%20Nazi%20Rally.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="540" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9hIehZe6cUliuQG2xNTtcMCX70acyKQIBrf8CsYchmuyRTkbrQUxZ31IT8sLstIQpR5FBFTrExulDfqGHo_ihVeUMAQdAtJDmcwA-emVsvp0jiTZJJO7iDnoxITj4c0yh3TioPrVxDh9DZLgTFZf3lLvS1PXx5B-eqNDSM9drX4ngEaX5Si0ySPYPWsA/s320/NY%20Nazi%20Rally.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Los Angeles was a hotbed of antisemitic propaganda and pro-Nazi paramilitary groups in the 1930s. These right-wing groups shared a cluster of ideas, values, and actions with the<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/fascism-in-america/american-fascists/0CBABBADBB6A84EFA9EBB0FC170C1306"> Klu Klux Klan</a>, enough so that political resistance to investigating the Klan helped shield pro-Nazi groups as well. Like the Klan, pro-Nazi groups considered themselves to be true American Patriots as they actively recruited conscripts, raised funds, purchased weapons, trained militia members, and organized military-style marches and demonstrations in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and many other towns and cities across the country. They held large rallies to indoctrinate the public. They coordinated with pro-Nazi organizations in other states to create a large national network determined to overthrow American democracy. </div><div><br /></div><div>While they denied it at the time, it was later shown that these right-wing pro-Nazi groups secretly took instructions and money from Hitler’s Germany. By the late 1930s, their violent rhetoric and extreme anti-semitic propaganda became so strident that it alarmed many ordinary citizens.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIpayYe4YGIKdjcVlQ17PJjg7T8dv3pHvPyZJGecXbFTpZpD6N0lFg_uj-g_PF4ZLexDPaG8OMXLMT4Kso0F_YrzMByOujGZ6-YGQwKJy2FBEpz042msfXJXYl4AhyphenhyphenXTQ7MytaJ5FJVmI9xh9-AblHChz0V50tFfNRoZK33HbWseQnYIqHJc99Cz0tHUA/s288/LeonLewis.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="226" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIpayYe4YGIKdjcVlQ17PJjg7T8dv3pHvPyZJGecXbFTpZpD6N0lFg_uj-g_PF4ZLexDPaG8OMXLMT4Kso0F_YrzMByOujGZ6-YGQwKJy2FBEpz042msfXJXYl4AhyphenhyphenXTQ7MytaJ5FJVmI9xh9-AblHChz0V50tFfNRoZK33HbWseQnYIqHJc99Cz0tHUA/w157-h200/LeonLewis.jpg" width="157" /></a></div><div><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/stopping-nazi-plots-1930s-los-angeles-180966961/">Leon Lewis</a> was a World War 1 veteran active in the Disabled American Veterans organization. He was a resident of Los Angeles. In 1938 he became alarmed by the violent rhetoric and threats being made by the German American Bund and other pro-Nazi groups in the area. Seeing that law enforcement agencies were reluctant to investigate these groups, he set up his own private spy operation. He recruited four men from Disabled American Veterans and two of their wives to join fascist hate groups, gain the leader's trust, rise up the ranks, and report back to him every day about what these groups were doing. Lewis kept careful logs of what they saw and heard and accumulated detailed records of their plans and operations. It was through Lewis' spy operation that one of his private spies, Neil Ness, learned of plans to target Hercules Powder Company in Kenvil and several other munitions manufacturing plants for an attack.</div><div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ch9uMTlwsEo9cl_81raW0kjpoVTkrGSP_er61xHdmiVlmmeDs9g6x9QxJ32faV-dAgrm7NW4UUNEkeuLPpDjz57Nw_0zt68vbLmKGDy6sZdfaakkJAQ74CKxKhTzzaOLfE2JfDCo1rUFzjV3Nv_WVpcfmZ0arpBt6WJCLxoCsj4VKfYQg11ZxcBdHFU/s287/MartinDiesJr.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="287" data-original-width="198" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ch9uMTlwsEo9cl_81raW0kjpoVTkrGSP_er61xHdmiVlmmeDs9g6x9QxJ32faV-dAgrm7NW4UUNEkeuLPpDjz57Nw_0zt68vbLmKGDy6sZdfaakkJAQ74CKxKhTzzaOLfE2JfDCo1rUFzjV3Nv_WVpcfmZ0arpBt6WJCLxoCsj4VKfYQg11ZxcBdHFU/s1600/MartinDiesJr.jpg" width="198" /></a></div><div>A year earlier, Martin Dies, was a Democratic Congressman from Texas when he and<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Dickstein_(congressman)"> Samuel Dickstein</a> created the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Committee_Investigating_Un-American_Activities">House Committee Investigating Un-American Activities</a>, (HUAC). The Committee was initially called the Dies’ Committee, and Dies was its chairman. The committee was created to root out right-wing and left-wing subversives in the government and other organizations. The committee mainly targeted communist infiltrators and left-wing sympathizers, but also right-wing pro-Nazi organizations. Some members of the Committee were reluctant to investigate the "Klan". When the committee’s Chief Counsel announced that the Dies Committee would not be investigating any KKK activities he said, "The committee has decided that it lacks sufficient data on which to base a probe", to which the ranking Committee member <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Rankin">John E. Rankin</a> added: </div><div><div><br /><blockquote><b><span style="font-size: medium;">"After all, the KKK is an old American institution."</span></b></blockquote>Lewis wrote to Congressman Dies about the trove of information he had collected on the activities of right-wing groups. In 1939, Martin Dies invited Leon Lewis to come to Washington D.C., to testify before his Committee. Lewis accepted the invitation and brought with him Neil Ness who had direct eyewitness information about the plot to sabotage the Hercules and other manufacturing plants.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd06rzJGOkhUtFbniqq4bhZhIzowXNHxSO2jbBHFeVNtDqzoHL41SgmAzvPvXda8yOEyM9b8v4tnLdAPjXVZy1uaXnt-Ljew03U85j7llQifacj64M8EJ6u_auUtOn3AIG8DqSWobGPdCpjm9q7uu2hkPY5Izum17_H_KFRRgd4BdFJzr8ogtwixXhftU/s220/TelegramDiesCommittee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="174" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd06rzJGOkhUtFbniqq4bhZhIzowXNHxSO2jbBHFeVNtDqzoHL41SgmAzvPvXda8yOEyM9b8v4tnLdAPjXVZy1uaXnt-Ljew03U85j7llQifacj64M8EJ6u_auUtOn3AIG8DqSWobGPdCpjm9q7uu2hkPY5Izum17_H_KFRRgd4BdFJzr8ogtwixXhftU/w241-h304/TelegramDiesCommittee.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHM2A3PaZxjg57lB8arw1n1Ug7dkJZxzg1DY9LrUz1XOk1u99EXud3hCQiSVxAVd4GeHcC15HCjSBUR_u0NXh6EdmjBcjQeUDJhMSnif225oD2mmDuiIVHqz1WnHfXiW_o59rQPLrNdjzHTIHD1O6KM6HPC9YyDvUYdVcDCxVFunuWWvM9R1gNd7Zgyz8/s308/NealNess.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="308" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHM2A3PaZxjg57lB8arw1n1Ug7dkJZxzg1DY9LrUz1XOk1u99EXud3hCQiSVxAVd4GeHcC15HCjSBUR_u0NXh6EdmjBcjQeUDJhMSnif225oD2mmDuiIVHqz1WnHfXiW_o59rQPLrNdjzHTIHD1O6KM6HPC9YyDvUYdVcDCxVFunuWWvM9R1gNd7Zgyz8/w312-h307/NealNess.jpg" width="312" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In October of 1939, Neal Ness testified under oath before the HUAC in Congress. He detailed his involvement and high position in several German American and right-wing pro-Nazi groups in Los Angeles. He provided shocking testimony on how these groups were making plans to blow up military defense plants. He said specifically, “We talked about blowing up the Hercules Powder Plant.” These coordinated attacks were referred to as Der Tag. The phrase "Der Tag" (The Day) was a popular German toast to an imminent military engagement.</div><div><br />Ness’ testimony was so shocking the Committee found it hard to believe. Nevertheless, the Committee made a criminal referral to investigate the reported plot and sent the transcripts to the FBI. Eleven months later Hercules blew up. <br /><br />After the explosion, Congressman Martin Dies, the Chairman of the HUAC, gave a statement to the press in which he said:<div><blockquote><b><span style="font-size: medium;">"Everyone laughed when a man named Ness testified before our committee a year ago about plans to blow up the Hercules Company. When the plant blew up, it happened the way he said it would.”</span></b></blockquote>While the FBI managed to interrupt many death threats against Jews, Jewish organizations, and other targets of right-wing fascist extremists during this period, its eleven-month lead in the Hercules plot was not enough time to stop it. Nor did an additional two months of investigation foil the three additional attacks. Eighty-four years later there is still no vindication for the victims. We end up today with the same questions people asked from the start. Who was responsible for killing 68 workers at four of our military manufacturing plants? Where are the FBI’s findings? Why was no one brought to justice for these murders?<br /><br />We have a few additional questions to ask ourselves today. Where did all the fascist extremists go after Pearl Harbor? They seem to have disappeared into the woodwork. What became of the children they were grooming in German American Bund camps to be their movement's future leaders? Is there a link between these fascist youth camps from the past and the dangerous parallels that exist today with this dark history? Most critically, what lessons from the past can we apply to help understand and navigate the resurgence of fascist extremism today? </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wc2Ll8iElA8nyOFRbG_YRP-KfUhtGru-yV28KgEDIc7biYqYVlKzJjbSVGGTkih2eAA39gdkbt43KcVdPDqF5wNxuAsE0VcYxSss0Solbs3-RjLgF9jGi73ZaMwwUKxyzo627zHjj9AV6yFd4SYWuQ5xW-qb1A8YpnhO9A5wFHADOp-QWogx_ByUURw/s1216/BundYouthCamp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1216" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wc2Ll8iElA8nyOFRbG_YRP-KfUhtGru-yV28KgEDIc7biYqYVlKzJjbSVGGTkih2eAA39gdkbt43KcVdPDqF5wNxuAsE0VcYxSss0Solbs3-RjLgF9jGi73ZaMwwUKxyzo627zHjj9AV6yFd4SYWuQ5xW-qb1A8YpnhO9A5wFHADOp-QWogx_ByUURw/w605-h348/BundYouthCamp.jpg" width="605" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><br /></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-90078442420714948092024-02-26T11:21:00.009-05:002024-02-27T09:53:40.457-05:00Can Electric Cars Save the Planet?<p> </p><p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: large;">by Brian T. Lynch, MSW*</span></p><p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOWzuBcMhSJl3euHt0JAgNrv7bE8aNyfwp02aLy4-_PLDE0ih5bEHuSU9mxl-ajQur1Hl7rC3cp9GtoJaW8mTXVl0UCP0apxr_oL81WbDEqOf5_6ThAFhlyOuTSkhm2BpbHowPWQjF06C546sY-z8rlqSmF0Sb9RJmPER0XrUTwPzJhGLf6W_TN6iyrA/s1268/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%2011.20.17%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1268" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOWzuBcMhSJl3euHt0JAgNrv7bE8aNyfwp02aLy4-_PLDE0ih5bEHuSU9mxl-ajQur1Hl7rC3cp9GtoJaW8mTXVl0UCP0apxr_oL81WbDEqOf5_6ThAFhlyOuTSkhm2BpbHowPWQjF06C546sY-z8rlqSmF0Sb9RJmPER0XrUTwPzJhGLf6W_TN6iyrA/w640-h388/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%2011.20.17%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: large;"><p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p></span><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">A discussion with an engineer friend of mine regarding electric vehicles and electric energy production in the United States prompted me to do a brief survey of thermal efficiency rates for various carbon-producing and carbon-free electric power generation options. The results are below. <br /><br />For me, the whole discussion is animated by the nearly unanimous conclusion of hundreds of climate scientists that we have only six years left to make carbon dioxide reductions sufficient enough to avoid the worst impacts of global warming. We lost a half-century of time to a well-funded disinformation campaign by the fossil fuel industries, whose corporate leaders were the first to discover that their products would eventually lead to a global warming crisis.<br />Can a rapid transition to electric vehicles save us from global warming? <br /><br />No! This was never the case. At any rate, it is already too late for half-measures. There are many other major sources of carbon dioxide emissions that need to be brought under control. There are other factors that expedite the problem as well, such as the loss of jungles and forests that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Added to other much-needed actions, however, transitioning to electric vehicles is STILL a necessary step.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><b>RENEWABLE ELECTRIC ENERGY</b><br />I confirmed that currently, about 60% of our electricity generation is from fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other gases. About 18% was from nuclear energy, and about 21% was from renewable energy sources. Our renewable energy sources increase by about 1.5 percentage points per year at this time. So, the current energy mix on our electric grid is about 60% carbon-based and 40% alternative sources. In six years, at the present growth rate of renewable energy sources, it will be about 49% carbon-based and 51% alternative sources. This is still bad news for Earth's climate. It's way too slow to be a determinative factor at this point. <br /><br /><br /><b>EV vs. ICE</b><br />"Electric vehicles (EVs) are generally 60–73% efficient, depending on the drive cycle. However, when you include the energy recaptured from regenerative braking, EVs can be over 77% efficient. This is because regenerative braking captures energy that would otherwise be lost as heat."<br /><br />"Modern gasoline engines (ICE) have a maximum thermal efficiency of more than 50%, but most road-legal cars are only about 20% to 40% [efficient] when used to power a car."<br /><br /><b>CARBON FOOTPRINT OF EV AND ICE VEHICLES:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">"The researchers found that, on average, gasoline cars emit more than 350 grams of CO2 per mile driven over their lifetimes. The hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions scored around 260 grams of carbon dioxide per mile, while the fully battery-electric vehicle created just 200 grams. Stats from the U.S. Department of Energy tell a similar story: Using the nationwide average of different energy sources, DOE found that EVs create 3,932 lbs. of CO2 equivalent per year, compared to 5,772 lbs. for plug-in hybrids, 6,258 lbs. for typical hybrids, and 11,435 lbs. for gasoline vehicles."</span><br /><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br />Thermal Efficiency in Electric Power Generation</span></b><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>ZERO CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS OPTIONS</b></u></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Wind</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">What is the ultimate efficiency of wind power generation?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">That number is 16/27, or 59.3%. On a practical level with utility-scale wind turbines, the best turbines achieve roughly 75–85% of this 59.3% value, meaning roughly 44–50% efficiency. This is under the most optimal operating conditions.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Solar Thermal</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Solar thermal energy is around 70–80% effective at converting solar energy into heat. Solar water heaters are the most common method for converting solar energy into thermal energy. Solar thermal collectors convert solar radiation into heat, which can be used in industrial, residential, and governmental sectors.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Solar Photoelectric</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Though most commercial panels have efficiencies from 17% to 20%, researchers have developed PV cells with efficiencies approaching 50%.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Nuclear</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">New nuclear plants have a thermal efficiency of around 34–36%, while new reactor designs can reach 39%.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Hydro</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The efficiency of today's hydroelectric plant is about 90 percent. Hydroelectric plants do not create air pollution, the fuel--falling water--is not consumed, projects have long lives relative to other forms of energy generation, and hydroelectric generators respond quickly to changing system conditions.</span><br /><br /> <br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSION OPTIONS</u></b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Coal</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">New coal-fired plants are about 40% efficient, while CCGT plants can reach 60%.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Natural gas</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Natural gas plants can be 39–60% efficient, depending on the type of plant. A simple cycle natural gas power plant is usually 33–43% efficient.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Gas turbine</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">A simple cycle gas turbine can achieve 20–35% energy conversion efficiency.</span><br /><b><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Fossil fuel</span></b><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">State-of-the-art fossil fuel plants can reach 46% efficiency.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Combined-cycle systems</b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Combined-cycle systems can reach higher values, such as over 60% efficiency. </span><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">______________________________________</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;">* The main reason I put my degree (MSW) after my name on this blog is because there are so many people named Brian T. Lynch on the internet. </p></div></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-50274681050372808442024-01-19T10:07:00.007-05:002024-01-20T21:28:12.299-05:00Duck Pond and a Better Way to Think About Land <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">by Brian T. Lynch, MSW</div><br />Let me introduce you to a 12,000-year-old feature of Roxbury, New Jersey, that
has been off limits to the general public for more than 150 years.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcwoJUgCRoOT-glv8gy9yJwgEDGnms6o5Yod6UvnbO9IbbcUCWgKibBJ09xDPlyu301vNd1FCP75mBNMlVhTAGj3W3WFU3ZM584gg6S0I1NlbwW5KjHKoTeYPpgamXcWv2zwzSRpeAYRYumhRPYmu4IpgTuTnS7MWTmz8ORFHUVARTqZ51wPMvDSxBdI/s1597/IMG_9809.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1597" data-original-width="1192" height="590" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTcwoJUgCRoOT-glv8gy9yJwgEDGnms6o5Yod6UvnbO9IbbcUCWgKibBJ09xDPlyu301vNd1FCP75mBNMlVhTAGj3W3WFU3ZM584gg6S0I1NlbwW5KjHKoTeYPpgamXcWv2zwzSRpeAYRYumhRPYmu4IpgTuTnS7MWTmz8ORFHUVARTqZ51wPMvDSxBdI/w440-h590/IMG_9809.jpg" width="440" /></a></div></div><div><br />This photo,
courtesy of Ashland Chemical Corporation, is likely your first peek at the
beautiful Duck Pond. It was mine as well. It is a 15-acre, spring-fed pond in
the northeastern corner of the 1,000-acre Hercules property in Kenvil. </div><div><br /></div><div>Duck Pond
appears on the earliest maps of the area. It has no natural inlet or outlet and
apparently never did. Spring water vents up into the pond and then infiltrates
back into the shallow, unconfined aquifer upon which it sits. This has likely
been true since it was created when the Wisconsin Glacier receded thousands
of years ago. </div><div><br /></div><div>Old historical documents I've read tell us that this whole tract of
land was once the summer home of the Leni Lenape natives who undoubtedly fished
and swam in this pond. It was these original people who referred to the southern wetland
on the property as the Great Spring. They called the Black River, which flows from this wetland, “Alamatong.” The word means “gentle flowing.” It is a
reference to the rapid, yet smooth flow of its water over a bed of glacier sand. </div><div><br /></div><div>The reason most of us have never seen Duck Pond is that it is situated within a
polluted industrial tract of land that has been off-limits to residents and the
public for well over one hundred and fifty years. The making of explosives
stopped three decades ago, but there are still hot spots of pollution on the
land. It isn’t a safe place to freely roam around. </div><div><br /></div><div>What motivates me to write this now is a PowerPoint slide presented by Hartz Mountain Corporation
during this Wednesday’s Roxbury Planning Board hearing. For those who may not know, Hartz Mountain is seeking to build 54 acres of warehouses on a 200-acre parcel on the property. One of the PowerPoint slides labeled Duck Pond as a drainage area. </div><div><br /></div><div>I was struck by this sterile language. I've seen similar language in other Hercules-related documents. Indeed, Duck Pond is a drainage area, as is every freshwater lake in
the world. However, the use of the term within the context of clean-up
operations conveys how the pond was utilized while explosives were manufactured
on the property. It is perhaps how the pond is still viewed by its present owners, their
environmental contractors, and the prospective buyers giving the presentation.
Duck Pond is yet another place to be dealt with; A place that has been horribly
abused for a century and a half. </div><div><br /></div><div>Just as groups of people can be marginalized and robbed of their personhood through word choices, so can it also happen to portions of the biosphere that we call “property.” Property is a lifeless term that allows our consciences to treat a
piece of land as something other than habitat. </div><div><br /></div><div>My point is that viewing
Hercules as a compromised, yet beautifully complex habitat should be the
starting place for all considerations that follow. Whether taking active
measures to clean up our mess or allowing nature time to renew the land on its
own, the language we choose to describe it will influence our decisions and the
outcomes that follow. We should always be respectful, even reverent, of
biological spaces and how we use land. We should not treat the Hercules property with any less consideration because of its troubled past.
</div><div><br /></div><div>————</div><div>An 1887 map of “Suckasunny” showing Duck Pond in the McCainsville District of Roxbury. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAj35OjIEL72SfmAFNSFvHY4YYXiNSYPiHuNGAFrttSoVYdnx8W4fq-KX9-WnVskXkvhZIJSlWYx8qYnhmGzwDdHfSpdHrnk1mIFj3ydukgCbWh2s4c8L_I-eU5T5E7W34bJKLetuSy7JoThxKiwbPtFuA1APTtX4WotvENfcmoCV5eN5uNu9_PEN9Y4/s2083/IMG_9814.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2083" data-original-width="1242" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAj35OjIEL72SfmAFNSFvHY4YYXiNSYPiHuNGAFrttSoVYdnx8W4fq-KX9-WnVskXkvhZIJSlWYx8qYnhmGzwDdHfSpdHrnk1mIFj3ydukgCbWh2s4c8L_I-eU5T5E7W34bJKLetuSy7JoThxKiwbPtFuA1APTtX4WotvENfcmoCV5eN5uNu9_PEN9Y4/w382-h640/IMG_9814.jpeg" width="382" /></a></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-67240525352520025582024-01-17T13:34:00.000-05:002024-01-17T13:34:02.722-05:00A Word About Self-help Against Disinformation Campaigns<p> by Brian T. Lynch, MSW</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWnQq4VIC88DyFyuam63A_4zhD7VHILKdvQkVx6r7C1tHtvOIQ9BLa6Usbnh94tX0Ch1X_lVBM4nmFwZ5jk4pCqLvW0qPgUOixb-tDGAWR-0abiA1WdQHXJfBObMN-tEa6gfJTxMsLdtzfiwWeEfjoHK9yBuurZcR854kDiaveGNg-cNEJykkfXlhQwIs/s1438/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-17%20at%201.25.16%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1438" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWnQq4VIC88DyFyuam63A_4zhD7VHILKdvQkVx6r7C1tHtvOIQ9BLa6Usbnh94tX0Ch1X_lVBM4nmFwZ5jk4pCqLvW0qPgUOixb-tDGAWR-0abiA1WdQHXJfBObMN-tEa6gfJTxMsLdtzfiwWeEfjoHK9yBuurZcR854kDiaveGNg-cNEJykkfXlhQwIs/w400-h270/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-17%20at%201.25.16%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: -0.32px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We have all become targets of professional-grade media influence campaigns of one sort or another, and highly effective disinformation attacks are among these. When we are unaware of, or think we are immune to these cyber campaigns, we are, in fact, most vulnerable to them. </span></p><p><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: -0.32px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Real, personal inoculation against malicious cyber-influencers begins once we accept that we are all capable of falling under the influence of professional disinformation campaigns. Self-inoculation from cyber disinformation begins when we acknowledge that we are all at risk of manipulation by powerful techniques arrayed against us on social media. The most effective attacks are invisible to us. Our change of opinion feels rational to us. It also helps me to know that a lot of money and planning is behind these malicious "cyber attacks" on our thinking [more accurately, on our endurable mental frameworks that influence how we think about things]. It isn't just me, and it isn't happening by chance or as a natural impact of social media. </span></p><p><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: -0.32px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">To protect myself, I have developed a healthy skepticism of any claims that sound extraordinary, emotionally wrought, or discordant with the things I can observe for myself. When this happens, I take the time to investigate (or research) and validate the information, its source, and its proponents. It is time-consuming, but I find it worth my time (usually). It is how I protect myself. In the process, I have come to view people who express grossly invalidated opinions as casualties of cyberwarfare rather than my opponents, political enemies, conspiracy nuts, uninformed, etc., [pick your choice of judgemental terms.]</span></p><p><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: -0.32px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", HelveticaNeue, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: -0.32px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Here is an early history lesson</span>: </p><p></p><blockquote>Russian use began with a "special disinformation office" in 1923. Disinformation was defined in Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1952) as "false information with the intention to deceive public opinion". From this point on, disinformation became a tactic used in Soviet political warfare called active measures. </blockquote><p>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_disinformation#:~:text=Russian%20use%20began%20with%20a,political%20warfare%20called%20active%20measures. </p><p></p>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-87150887303672392082024-01-09T08:56:00.004-05:002024-02-10T17:35:11.909-05:002023, The Warmest in 100,000 Years<div class="x1e56ztr" data-block="true" data-editor="a41oo" data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">by Brian T. Lynch, MSW</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">IT IS OFFICIAL! </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEyVfrUiGO5P-SFJwJg6JQmU0FpE_9r3Reo8hA1kl_sgpQBHq5XHvRnTpQ22MlW0hw-J52tdo75Knpy3qwjn3rTMT9_p6T7KBXWw3ynyVrh7FuzO2Se-4EXwAqWFl8_B4dxNcyXCW8BaAAbqeqF6ITtkfAqzAXpfA_q_UMCCJEql6pFG_LRyy7KYGHar4/s1146/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-09%20at%207.48.30%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="1146" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEyVfrUiGO5P-SFJwJg6JQmU0FpE_9r3Reo8hA1kl_sgpQBHq5XHvRnTpQ22MlW0hw-J52tdo75Knpy3qwjn3rTMT9_p6T7KBXWw3ynyVrh7FuzO2Se-4EXwAqWFl8_B4dxNcyXCW8BaAAbqeqF6ITtkfAqzAXpfA_q_UMCCJEql6pFG_LRyy7KYGHar4/w640-h400/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-09%20at%207.48.30%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New York City in June 6, 2023</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8281f-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last year, 2023, the year when the Canadian wilderness caught fire, was the hottest year on record... by far. In fact, scientists believe it was the hottest year in the last 100,000 years. Global warming is no longer just our future; It is our past and present reality. Quotes from the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/2023-was-worlds-hottest-year-record-eu-scientists-confirm-2024-01-09/">New York Times:</a></span></div></div><div class="x1e56ztr" data-block="true" data-editor="a41oo" data-offset-key="4ib81-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4ib81-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="4ib81-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"On average, in 2023 the planet was 1.48 degrees Celsius warmer than in the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period, when humans began burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale, pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.</span></div></div><div class="x1e56ztr" data-block="true" data-editor="a41oo" data-offset-key="8can1-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8can1-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8can1-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">"This has been a very exceptional year, climate-wise... in a league of its own, even when compared to other very warm years," C3S Director Carlo Buontempo said.</span></div></div><div class="x1e56ztr" data-block="true" data-editor="a41oo" data-offset-key="842hf-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="842hf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="842hf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">C3S confirmed 2023 as the hottest year in global temperature records going back to 1850. When checked against paleoclimatic data records from sources such as tree rings and air bubbles in glaciers, Buontempo said it was "very likely" the warmest year in the last 100,000 years."</span></div></div><div class="x1e56ztr" data-block="true" data-editor="a41oo" data-offset-key="6fm2j-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6fm2j-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span class="x1fey0fg" color="var(--blue-link)" style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/2023-was-worlds-hottest-year-record-eu-scientists-confirm-2024-01-09/</span></div></div><div class="x1e56ztr" data-block="true" data-editor="a41oo" data-offset-key="9l94b-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9l94b-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="9l94b-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">The fossil fuel industry did an impressive job forecasting this outcome back in the early 1960s. They did an even more remarkable job of concealing it from the public for years and then creating a false counter-narrative to convince us that global warming is a hoax. </span></div></div><div class="x1e56ztr" data-block="true" data-editor="a41oo" data-offset-key="doq0q-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="doq0q-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="doq0q-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">We have to stop listening to them and to all the victims and benefactors of their lies. The electric vehicles we buy this year are purchases delayed over 40 years when it would have made a big difference. Everything we do from here out to lower our carbon footprint impacts only the margins. Let's hope we can still prevent the worst possible outcomes. </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="doq0q-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><br /></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="doq0q-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">ADDENDUM: JANUARY 2024 WAS THE WARMEST JANUARY ON RECORD. </div></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-59100684656237675602024-01-08T16:56:00.000-05:002024-01-08T16:56:42.691-05:00Black River Origin in Mount Arlington Also? Who Knew?<p> by Brian T. Lynch, MSW</p><p>Am I the only one just learning that Mount Arlington hosts the Northernmost tip of the Black River? </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5ba3HE6i2g1YQeAn1tIHISFzKqlrGw_AOCmAsCExAtqMH5IXb9XUcd1BR_AWt4eAHIXZ3X-6qYsuNgzPEPnyuqPc1J0hVwLmWdQ4OGU_wIBWAulWtUhw3gxF4wLbL5F-WFRIvUwNbDveK02c9QGMsBWhQd96wmtMTFL_wLzci1ScnLJyF-SK8M5bKyM/s1254/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-08%20at%204.02.28%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="708" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5ba3HE6i2g1YQeAn1tIHISFzKqlrGw_AOCmAsCExAtqMH5IXb9XUcd1BR_AWt4eAHIXZ3X-6qYsuNgzPEPnyuqPc1J0hVwLmWdQ4OGU_wIBWAulWtUhw3gxF4wLbL5F-WFRIvUwNbDveK02c9QGMsBWhQd96wmtMTFL_wLzci1ScnLJyF-SK8M5bKyM/w362-h640/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-08%20at%204.02.28%20PM.png" width="362" /></a></div><p>If this isn't already common knowledge, then let's welcome Mount Arlington to the list of many municipalities that share a portion of the Raritan River Basin, the largest river basin entirely within New Jersey's border. The upper Black River tributary in Mount Arlington stretches for about 1.6 miles north, up past Dunlop Pond. There may be another branch heading west along Seasons Drive. </p><p>I don't yet know to what extent the tributary may be spring-fed, but where it crosses under Rt. 80, it is a moderate-sized creek (meaning you can jump over it) under normal weather conditions. It is only one of two natural water sources that enter Hercules. The other tributary is the man-made pipeline that directs water from Drakes Pond under Rt. 46 and into the Great Spring wetland area. All other inputs are from storm drains along Howard Blvd. and Rt. 46. </p><p>If you live in the area and didn't know this, it could be due to a discontinuity observed in the aerial photograms that NJDEP uses to map the states' streams. An old underground pipeline on the 1,000-acre Hercules property in Kenvil creates the apparent discontinuity. </p><p>The normal amount of water volume in this tributary is about a third less than the Drakes Pond inflow. This information is important to me in my quest to estimate how much spring water vents up from the Great Spring within the southern wetland. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklA0trHGTMmGe7Q1jS152F5adRBskOCNaoo7Z95XziRYgZbPZcJOgRCFYWz3mdhy6-16FwC_kKA-30d-ELWlLxZa4XDynQHyDtt1l0mAwkopWDD8hNBLkWTRDPlLpoIF7fyx4ixm43fG9ittTgTihBxpCOWEUsUnHIUsrVPkg3ASCIoIdlPj8uJBWmqk/s934/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-08%20at%204.48.34%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="934" height="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklA0trHGTMmGe7Q1jS152F5adRBskOCNaoo7Z95XziRYgZbPZcJOgRCFYWz3mdhy6-16FwC_kKA-30d-ELWlLxZa4XDynQHyDtt1l0mAwkopWDD8hNBLkWTRDPlLpoIF7fyx4ixm43fG9ittTgTihBxpCOWEUsUnHIUsrVPkg3ASCIoIdlPj8uJBWmqk/w640-h584/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-08%20at%204.48.34%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbafx80qdcVZ1u_D1A80z23O1uWpkjUhBtMJ-i-J-CQKENIFh_pK62hyYOmZwRJkqAqRvi2oYJPnVZj9P36m1f-RJe1JGqpboNIr0A17IEXUoWnJ6F4ewUa3USPRngGe5HCA0_ZhUY78XprMz5YuYtceJoxmu08VLBjTTF3Dm6s1-B_aXMWwaYlxvBD9w/s932/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-08%20at%204.52.46%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="932" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbafx80qdcVZ1u_D1A80z23O1uWpkjUhBtMJ-i-J-CQKENIFh_pK62hyYOmZwRJkqAqRvi2oYJPnVZj9P36m1f-RJe1JGqpboNIr0A17IEXUoWnJ6F4ewUa3USPRngGe5HCA0_ZhUY78XprMz5YuYtceJoxmu08VLBjTTF3Dm6s1-B_aXMWwaYlxvBD9w/w640-h468/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-08%20at%204.52.46%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZeRSyFFVnbXkNgcx4nFnw9lnPrxf-wZZpZNcI8i5-3kSb508jaa9io_2d4ZCd3QK36sE8GQRvg3LQo3_YK7Lvt4lNcB5jYsRiK6yqZkwNjdqNGfTmzugIoNl-jA_ZM7qg_5jxHZG4jhg2sWxvTyz4AiePdpaaIBMgiJnstXOpCvC2YVFWWljC2UQgww/s1210/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-08%20at%204.54.39%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="688" height="758" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKZeRSyFFVnbXkNgcx4nFnw9lnPrxf-wZZpZNcI8i5-3kSb508jaa9io_2d4ZCd3QK36sE8GQRvg3LQo3_YK7Lvt4lNcB5jYsRiK6yqZkwNjdqNGfTmzugIoNl-jA_ZM7qg_5jxHZG4jhg2sWxvTyz4AiePdpaaIBMgiJnstXOpCvC2YVFWWljC2UQgww/w431-h758/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-08%20at%204.54.39%20PM.png" width="431" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-56105306375801960792024-01-04T08:38:00.002-05:002024-01-15T11:41:14.248-05:00NEWS FLASH: U.S. Lost 88,000 Acres of Natural Forests Last Week<p>by Brian T. Lynch, MSW</p><span style="font-size: large;">NEWS FLASH: </span><div><span style="font-size: large;">The United States lost over 88,000 acres of natural forests last week. The world's tropical rainforests lost 200,000 acres just yesterday.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">[NEWS UPDATE: Rate of deforestation in 2023 halved in Amazon rainforest: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-67962297 ]</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf18-Xagv2dXGiqklM-Gz20o1Q2JCfxMzs_yU8HPlqOIOda-QN2k4Zs45VUrlEw3k9wKM228RQkOlKaj3Prkq0o1P7oIRX9C4Dk5ZfUvQy1aNaCQHlIl9CPyndV_t3BF4vaDBvdaVxWhnekILSjUup9ziMePLFapBR8znz9SaNPyFmvJWxeocM6UEFHao/s1200/TropicalJungleBurning.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1200" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf18-Xagv2dXGiqklM-Gz20o1Q2JCfxMzs_yU8HPlqOIOda-QN2k4Zs45VUrlEw3k9wKM228RQkOlKaj3Prkq0o1P7oIRX9C4Dk5ZfUvQy1aNaCQHlIl9CPyndV_t3BF4vaDBvdaVxWhnekILSjUup9ziMePLFapBR8znz9SaNPyFmvJWxeocM6UEFHao/w640-h442/TropicalJungleBurning.webp" width="640" /></a><div class="figure-caption" style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: BentonGothic, arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">An aerial photo released by Greenpeace shows smoke billowing from forest fires in the Amazon basin in northwestern Brazil.</div><span face="BentonGothic, arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;"> </span><div class="figure-credit" style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: BentonGothic, arial, "helvetica neue", helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-left: 5px; text-align: left;">(Victor Moriyama / AFP-Getty Images)</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><div>If you missed seeing the headlines, it's because this wasn't reported. This isn't news. The U.S. loses 88,000 acres of forest every week, and tropical forests are disappearing at a rate of 200,000 acres daily. <br />At current rates, no forests will be left in America in 135 years. Half of the world's tropical forests are already gone and will be gone entirely within 100 years at the current rate. Amazon rainforest alone produces 20% of our global oxygen and removes huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. <br />Agriculture is said to be the leading cause of deforestation, but the real underlying cause is our exponential population growth. </div><div><br /></div><div>We reached 8 billion people living here at once. The planet cannot sustain the current rate at which we consume natural resources. What is the biggest driver of overpopulation? Impoverishment and scarcity of food and healthcare. There is a correlation between family size and survival uncertainties. The more people fear for their children's survival, the more children they have to ensure survival. Global wealth disparity is a major contributing factor.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hunger and poverty in the world are not just caused by a lack of food or production but by the unequal and unfair distribution of human essentials. In the U.S. alone, 38% of all food goes unsold or uneaten. That means <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/our-work/reduce-food-waste#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20people,all%20the%20food%20in%20America.">149 billion meals</a> end up in landfills each year. The scale of the problem is similar in Europe and many parts of the world.</div><div> <br />So, the best place to start addressing all of these issues is by reducing wealth inequality on a global scale. Distributive injustice is the root cause of global impoverishment. There is enough food and other goods produced for everyone to have a basic sufficiency. Global impoverishment causes survival uncertainties that result in overpopulation in third-world countries. Overpopulation puts stress on natural resources and the need for more farmland. Families living in the Amazon rainforest slash and burn acres of land each year to feed and care for their families. The loss of natural forests accelerates global warming and the loss of species due to the destruction of their habitat. This is a death spiral that we can and must fix. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><p> </p></div></div></div></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-86930275918600320282023-12-21T12:07:00.004-05:002023-12-21T12:21:57.910-05:00How is Electing a Person Disloyal to the Constitution Somehow Unconstitutional?by Brian T Lynch, MSW<br /><br /><div><br /></div><div>I can’t believe how many otherwise intelligent, non-MAGA people in the media are flummoxed by the Fourteenth Amendment’s provision preventing seditionists from holding public office. The hang-up seems to be that finding Trump ineligible to be President again somehow violates people’s rights to vote for whoever they want. But, such a right never existed in our Constitution. </div><div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCTcpQ4wf6HVkI5Jwy89i6ZyaycVRiS9eGzhvr_AT9Q9FGQhHL4lHGQnSa5-RhPwiWINS1dZyLHc40ZnUJqxleKwSjVgXj1dDDsvB80GHQdI9Eauvjh7ixWDuohCmFxliPXeUJoO_A5AGZSgzhXgnDkzRsx7Z1r42m3feJGsFl97k5jp_xzhg6vxCvgc/s586/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-21%20at%2011.56.58%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="586" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCTcpQ4wf6HVkI5Jwy89i6ZyaycVRiS9eGzhvr_AT9Q9FGQhHL4lHGQnSa5-RhPwiWINS1dZyLHc40ZnUJqxleKwSjVgXj1dDDsvB80GHQdI9Eauvjh7ixWDuohCmFxliPXeUJoO_A5AGZSgzhXgnDkzRsx7Z1r42m3feJGsFl97k5jp_xzhg6vxCvgc/w640-h364/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-21%20at%2011.56.58%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div>There have always been qualifications for public office. Age, citizenship, and term limits have never caused political consternation before. Why, then, is electing a person with no loyalty to the Constitution somehow unconstitutional? If you are elected within the framework of the Constitution, you cannot be permitted to dismantle it from within. That is akin to changing the Constitution by a simple majority vote. The Constitution requires that any changes to it require passage by a super majority in Congress and the consent of a super majority of States. </div><div><br /></div><div>Think about it! If Donald Trump is elected, he would first have to swear an oath to uphold the very Constitution that he has already violently violated and is promising to destroy on day one. His oath would be his biggest lie ever. How can we logically permit it? </div><div><br /></div><div>Our Constitution is the highest expression of the people’s will. It is the bones of our democracy and the sinew that holds our union of states together. We have already fought one war of rebellion by a minority of disloyalists. It was a severe test in which 600,000 Americans died to preserve our constitutional union.</div><div> <br />After the war, the Constitution was amended to clarify that it applied to all men. An oath of allegiance to the Constitution was added for every public office holder. No one who has already broken that oath can hold public office. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our democratic republic and Constitution are one. Any impulse to ignore or dismiss sections of it violates the "Will of the People." It weakens our union and threatens majority rule.</div><div> <br />The Civil War firmly established that we don’t have a right to oppose our democracy. To this day, it is sustained by the vast majority of the people it serves. Disloyalists or seditionists are not allowed to vote it out of existence.</div><div> <br />So, let’s ignore all this talk about disenfranchising Trump’s supporters. It isn’t true. The overarching will of the people has already spoken. Seditionists who lie about preserving our Constitution are not allowed to serve in public office.</div></div><br />Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-4630443958586044042023-12-15T07:59:00.002-05:002023-12-15T08:20:32.465-05:00<p> by Brian T. Lynch, MSW</p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">IT’S DONE! </span></h1><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FZZ3MZHqLgi5DSv0fIiVBQd03gBlDLqUpZIp23O4_yhine_GKGW3EYFsZc_mJj179WNoljuTFui_hYOQCHawsf7oO5M88wXRw0Gx1bITtfFoARdwpPusImnM-AT3YB6J-6c6Q9X2-zcvwOXob_ty6Vqm_S59m7KseCrHrLSwU4aqCqpZjumCjhuDdow/s2416/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-15%20at%206.51.58%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1330" data-original-width="2416" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FZZ3MZHqLgi5DSv0fIiVBQd03gBlDLqUpZIp23O4_yhine_GKGW3EYFsZc_mJj179WNoljuTFui_hYOQCHawsf7oO5M88wXRw0Gx1bITtfFoARdwpPusImnM-AT3YB6J-6c6Q9X2-zcvwOXob_ty6Vqm_S59m7KseCrHrLSwU4aqCqpZjumCjhuDdow/w640-h369/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-15%20at%206.51.58%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">It has been done since September 2023. </span></h4><div><div>Ashland Chemical, the private company that bought the highly polluted Hercules property more than two decades ago, finally created its first public information website about its clean-up operations in Kenvil. The public website, they said, was to be the centerpiece of Ashland’s first-ever public meeting to discuss their operations and take questions from the general public.</div><div><br /></div><div>Despite a successful petition drive in late Sumer by the Raritan Headwaters Association, which legally obligated NJDEP to arrange that public hearing, Ashland Chemical has yet to set a date for that meeting. They did promise to create a public-information website, but they launched their new website into obscurity within the vast internet universe. You can find it if you search for it, or I can just give you the link here: [ www.hercules-kenvil.com]</div><div><br /></div><div>Please! Take some time to explore the new website. Admire the photographs. Read the history. Wonder (as I did) if the subtitle "Committed to progress since 1871" contains a typo on the date. </div><div><br /></div><div>Just be sure to visit the library section. That's where the real treasure is. It contains many documents, some over a thousand pages long. These are the documents that Ashland has chosen to make public from the tens of thousands it submitted to NJDEP regarding clean-up efforts. Even though the volume of these documents may overwhelm you, they are a fraction of the total. I can't in good conscience hold on to this information any longer. I have waited for Ashland's to launch this officially for the past three months. The year is drawing to a close, and the company has had plenty of time to hold its public meeting. </div><div><br /></div><div>You will notice that the website contains no Q&A feature to carry on a dialogue with the public. It doesn't even have a Frequently Asked Questions section curated by the company. What it does have is a "Contact Us" feature with a privacy disclosure statement that guarantees no one else will ever see your question or any response you might receive. Public communication is now open, but only in one direction.</div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><b style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><i>CALL TO ACTION:</i></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>If all your questions are answered after browsing the "Kenvil Works Facility" website, then maybe Ashland and the NJDEP have met their public obligation. If you still have questions, please use the Contact Us feature to ask them your questions and demand a public hearing to discuss the answers. Let them know that, for you, the website doesn't replace a public meeting. Take a screenshot of your writing and save it, or post it online. Once you hit send, you may never see what you wrote again. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you are reading this on my blog, please add your comments on the blog page or go to my Facebook group, Mine Hill Environmental, where you can leave your comment or participate in the chat box I will open there. </div></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-77390160279286912422023-12-04T17:18:00.005-05:002024-01-12T12:03:21.720-05:00 Carbon-based Extinction, Petro-industry Radicals Sabotaged the Global Climate Summit<div>by Brian T. Lynch, MSW</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQl88UPj08sBb8mWgccnu8YULBaV4nZiLNsbDP2ikH0sPpfXC7WjmkFdJ7rmGcE0gTSCOG-NZY_d84UkQiYtGza8tW0fmrX6Mp5olae7jlqeBUxc2lNLsCXxi0dq7paZSKbyEn-Xv0gAnSPwyLwMzzknfBCeXJEJoci8HMjEsxguoD058IjzZ4oAsQ-k/s726/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-04%20at%208.54.45%20AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQl88UPj08sBb8mWgccnu8YULBaV4nZiLNsbDP2ikH0sPpfXC7WjmkFdJ7rmGcE0gTSCOG-NZY_d84UkQiYtGza8tW0fmrX6Mp5olae7jlqeBUxc2lNLsCXxi0dq7paZSKbyEn-Xv0gAnSPwyLwMzzknfBCeXJEJoci8HMjEsxguoD058IjzZ4oAsQ-k/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-04%20at%208.54.45%20AM.png" width="317" /></a></div>The global climate summit this year ended with a whimper. This year's president of the COP28 summit was Sultan Al-Jaber, who is the UAE's environment minister, and the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. At the conference, he said that in coming to the climate conference, he was "... not signing up to any discussion that is alarmist."<div><br />The former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, asked him if he would lead on phasing out fossil fuels. His response:<br /><blockquote>"...there is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says the phase-out of fossil fuels is what's going to achieve 1.5 [degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels]" </blockquote>Al Jaber's statement is either an intentional distortion or an admission of great ignorance. Anyone with responsibility for policy decisions about climate change knows that too little CO2 in the atmosphere would cause the planet to freeze, and too much would cause the oceans to boil. Carbon dioxide is not the most potent greenhouse gas, but at 0.04% of the air we breathe, it is by far the most common. Methane, for comparison, makes up 0.00017% of the atmosphere. Very small changes in CO2 concentrations have big climate consequences. </div><div><br /></div><div>While Carbon dioxide is a small component of Earth's atmosphere, small changes in its atmospheric concentrations have played a leading role in the past five mass extinction events. </div><div><br /></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Ordovician Mass Extinction</b></span><div><div style="text-align: left;">Carbon dioxide played a central part in the first extinction event on Earth, 630 million years ago. Neoprotozoa in the ocean evolved an ability to use energy from sunlight to bind carbon atoms together to make sugar (food). The first plants! Photosynthesis made them hugely successful. Their growth was unchecked. They captured vast amounts of CO2 from the air, filled the atmosphere with oxygen, and formed a thick layer of biomass over the surface water. The biomass blocked sunlight from directly warming the ocean waters and the drop in CO2 caused global temperatures to freeze. This caused most of the oceans to freeze and deprived it of oxygen. Eighty percent of all life in the ocean became extinct.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Devonian Mass Extinction</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Carbon dioxide played a significant role in Earth's second extinction event (or geologically quick series of events) 440 to 460 million years ago when the Earth's climate became unstable and switched quickly between cooling and warming events. Eighty-six percent of all life on earth died off.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Permian Mass Extinction</b></span> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Carbon dioxide played a significant role in Earth's third and largest extinction when a very prolonged and massive area of volcanic eruptions in an area half the size of the United States (in Pangea) caused acid rain and pumped huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, heating up the earth and killing 96% of all life on earth.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Triassic-Jurassic Mass Extinction</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Carbon dioxide played a major role in Earth's fourth extinction after another atmospheric carbon dioxide spike. Global warming started again, with scientists speculating it lasted eight million years and killed 76% of all living things on Earth.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Cretaceous-Tertiary (or the K-T) Mass Extinction</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">The fifth major extinction event may have been triggered when a giant asteroid smashed into the earth 65 million years ago. The initial impact caused a blanket of dust and smoke that blocked out all sunlight, killing plant life and starving the most herbivores. But CO2 levels also rose from the global conflagration of the earth's forests following the asteroid's impact. A very hot climate followed the "asteroid winter" and lasted for thousands of years. Eventually, an atmospheric balance of CO2 returned and ushered in the longest period of temperate climate in Earth's history. It is during this period of climate stability that humans first evolved. </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Holocene Mass Extinction (today)</b></span></div><div>Sultan Al Jaber and most of us may not know or don't believe that the sixth great extinction is unfolding right now. It is called the Holocene extinction. It is an ongoing extinction of the Earth's flora and fauna due to human activities. This is the sixth mass extinction since the existence of Earth in 450 billion years, and an increase of carbon dioxide in the air is again playing a major role. The sixth mass extinction is driven entirely by human activity that includes many factors such as: </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Increased atmospheric Carbon dioxide due mostly to the burning of ancient fossil fuels </li><li>Deforestation and the rapid loss of habitat </li><li>The global spread of toxic (forever) chemicals</li><li>The depletion or degradation of water resources and aquifers </li></ul>Every mass extinction event in the past had natural causes over which we would not have any control if it happened again today. But the Holocene Extinction is of our own making. Therefore, we do have the ability to blunt its impact or even reverse course if we change our behaviors. Many people I talk to can't imagine that people's behavior can have a global impact on such a huge planet. But then all of us living today find it impossible to imagine eight billion people sharing the earth's resources at the same time. There have never been nearly so many people alive at one time. The collective actions or inaction of eight billion people can and does have a global impact for the first time in history. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>The COP28 Climate Summit was a real opportunity for the world to come up with global solutions. Instead, it was captured by the petroleum extremists for whom maintaining profits for the rich is the first priority. </div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-37727966653299319472023-11-04T13:04:00.005-04:002023-11-23T10:19:42.201-05:00In Pursuit of Peace in the Middle East<br />by Brian T. Lynch, MSW<br /><br />Let’s first set the stage for this latest Middle East conflict.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipm1xbC6kM5xn9d_Z8_pZCOvUH2P3GUYGetuZE9Xq-LYeYk1OeDiAUwSGXtNC58rxzCIlef6k9rBdiiuXYriqkNMaXOUC4FTxfdZUgjBQOcLltz-E5EfgLMz8IMm_tw8DscRSuRj5R3_VyN6V4Fm8646pLvewNmu2texY03uL4BhEIE4lC_QXD4_0mSA/s1656/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-04%20at%201.01.29%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="1656" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiipm1xbC6kM5xn9d_Z8_pZCOvUH2P3GUYGetuZE9Xq-LYeYk1OeDiAUwSGXtNC58rxzCIlef6k9rBdiiuXYriqkNMaXOUC4FTxfdZUgjBQOcLltz-E5EfgLMz8IMm_tw8DscRSuRj5R3_VyN6V4Fm8646pLvewNmu2texY03uL4BhEIE4lC_QXD4_0mSA/w640-h420/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-04%20at%201.01.29%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="ZPgdfd" face="Roboto, arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #171717; color: #9aa0a6; font-size: 12px; max-width: 50%; overflow: hidden; text-align: start; text-overflow: ellipsis; text-wrap: nowrap;">Creator: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA </span><span face="Roboto, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #171717; color: #9aa0a6; font-size: 12px; text-align: start;">| </span><span class="ZPgdfd" face="Roboto, arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: #171717; color: #9aa0a6; font-size: 12px; max-width: 50%; overflow: hidden; text-align: start; text-overflow: ellipsis; text-wrap: nowrap;">Credit: REUTERS</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>Yes, Hamas is a terrorist organization that pledges to destroy Israel. It has about 40,000 members, many of whom are strategically embedded within Gaza. Gaza is effectively a small containment area for two million indigenous Palestinians. Most are the offspring of ancestors displaced from Palestine territory after World War II when Winston Churchill and the West recreated a Jewish homeland. This new Jewish homeland hadn’t existed in the Middle East for well over a thousand years.<br /><br />The forced exodus of Palestine residents to make way for a new Israel was fundamentally unfair, and it imposed enormous generational hardships. The world did not respond as it should with plans to help build and provision a viable, self-governing Palestinian nation. It still does not provide sufficient resources to set up a new and productive homeland for the displaced Palestinian families today, and the anticipated “two-state” solution has faded.<br /><br />These manufactured circumstances (of course) resulted in several brutal wars funded in part by American Taxpayers in support of Israel’s right to exist. Death and destruction created trauma, deprivation, chaos, and disorder for all families living in the region, including families in Israel. It also produced generational enmity and a hardening of hearts on all sides of the conflict that decades of peace negotiation have not overcome. Just as surely as night follows day, hatred has led to corruption and the dissipation of hope. For decades Hamas has ruled over the people of Gaza with a heavy hand for their own self-serving interests. At the same time, Israel has been treating all Gazans as hostile enemies, which adds to their depravations and despair.<br /><br />This is the morass within which the brutal attack on innocent Israeli civilians took place on October 7th. It came at a time when the Netanyahu government in Israel is radically rightwing, anti-Palestinian, and out of step with the majority of Israelis. The Netanyahu government has pledged to eradicate Hamas. Hamas knew such an intensely brutal surprise attack over Israel’s border would drive Israel's leadership crazy and force unrestrained military retribution. Hamas strategically embedded its fighters/martyrs within the most populous and sensitive civilian areas to use its innocent people as human shields. This move maximizes the civilian casualties that would follow an unrestrained counter-attack. They knew this would inflame passions, destabilize the whole region, and foment Jewish hatred around the globe.<br /><br />The plan is working. Israel is bombing civilian areas to reach the Hamas fighters hiding among the people. Almost half of the casualties are children. Despite a kill ratio estimated to be 50 civilians killed for every Hamas leader who dies, the Netanyahu government will not show any restraint. They say they need to keep pressure on Hamas for the return of the 240 hostages taken during the October 7th raid. But ask yourself, what do you call a person forced to act as a human shield for a bad guy holding a weapon?<br /><br />The answer: <b>A HOSTAGE!</b><br /><br />Innocent civilians in Gaza are being held hostage by Hamas. The terrorists wanted to show the world the extent of Israel's disregard for human life in Gaza. For its part, Israeli leaders are accommodating that wish. The necessary military response to the October 7th attack required discernment and strategic restraint by Israel’s leaders. That isn’t happening. Even the Biden Administration, which unequivocally supported Israel’s right to defend itself, is starting to recoil from the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza. Anti-Semitic hate crimes are now breaking out in the United States and across the globe. Israel’s intervention strategies need to be completely turned around in order to defeat Hamas, prevent a greater conflict in the region, free ALL the hostages in Gaza, both Israeli and Gaza’s, and show the world that Israel is ready and worthy of pursuing peace with its neighbors.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>PREQUEL: https://aseyeseesit.blogspot.com/2023/10/israel-and-palestine-at-war-what-side.html</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAUQB2Q7nD6Gx2GQ4xeS6zvW4uomoqynkoSw-1o0LBUlWkeDG3PfqrIDvWAtAyqmI7D_K9zDTDh6ySYBEAgVOKSdK3LgnvYzpxHg9guR6ZOHYEBLK9AXNSWzBYeJk-yUQbgttF8Cu7KrsvCAosc_OL8l3FcB-vJCeNKGSkBfTVoCIa05TPkthnMaUyQw/s630/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-16%20at%2010.31.46%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="630" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAUQB2Q7nD6Gx2GQ4xeS6zvW4uomoqynkoSw-1o0LBUlWkeDG3PfqrIDvWAtAyqmI7D_K9zDTDh6ySYBEAgVOKSdK3LgnvYzpxHg9guR6ZOHYEBLK9AXNSWzBYeJk-yUQbgttF8Cu7KrsvCAosc_OL8l3FcB-vJCeNKGSkBfTVoCIa05TPkthnMaUyQw/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-16%20at%2010.31.46%20AM.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><b>Addendum:</b> November 23, 2023 (Thanksgiving Day) - Israel has revised its death toll downward from the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks to about 1,200 people. As of November 21, 2023, more than 14,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed in Gaza due to Israel's counterattacks. This includes more than 5,500 children. That means more than four innocent children and seven adult Palestinians have been killed for each Israeli victim of the attack. Qatar negotiators just announced that a truce will begin tomorrow morning and the first hostages will be released in the afternoon. Perhaps the pause will allow Israeli leaders to reflect on Exodus 19:6, which says, "And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel". </div><div><br /></div><div>To quote Bob Dylan, " Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died." The answer is blowing in the wind.</div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-39185515278997847102023-10-29T10:43:00.003-04:002023-11-01T08:33:10.249-04:00LOCAL JOURNALISM IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION!March 5, 2023<br /><br />by Brian T. Lynch, MSW<br /><br />Local journalism in Morris County was severely disabled a decade ago, but its dismantling went <br />largely unreported. The remaining news organizations didn’t adequately cover the story of their own decline.<div><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGZ9GauS2YS11ye9KXZx5maOYElJ9OWzswXz8Mz2CPg_Wf9HgnFnxm_vTov-2hJOyeGNwPJ5JWJh7lTid3-7kHM26Pa8N9FMYPs5vxeGT4_9Kyr1O2mIJhm7_f6IbLvJIbU0j_tQ0zhTkChiAKOab8ap9tycmLnSuVc3cQHB2-ssrJHpHVfcv9Gbrubc/s1362/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-29%20at%2010.20.46%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1362" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGZ9GauS2YS11ye9KXZx5maOYElJ9OWzswXz8Mz2CPg_Wf9HgnFnxm_vTov-2hJOyeGNwPJ5JWJh7lTid3-7kHM26Pa8N9FMYPs5vxeGT4_9Kyr1O2mIJhm7_f6IbLvJIbU0j_tQ0zhTkChiAKOab8ap9tycmLnSuVc3cQHB2-ssrJHpHVfcv9Gbrubc/w640-h408/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-29%20at%2010.20.46%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Example of a Local Newspaper edition in 1968</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>The Daily Record is just one example. Morris County had 485,000 residents in 2005 when over three dozen journalists and editors worked at the Daily Record. They covered the county seven days a week. The Star-Ledger also had a full-time complement of reporters covering Morris County.</div><div><br />Today, with over 500 thousand residents in the county, the Daily Record has just one full-time reporter, William Westhoven, doing his best to cover it all. Ben Horowitz of the Star-Ledger is assigned to cover Morris County Court news but also covers environmental stories in Northern New Jersey. Other reporters cover the county as part of a more regional news beat.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since the 1990’s most local newspapers in the county and throughout New Jersey were taken over by giant corporate news conglomerates. Local newsrooms were decimated by layoffs, operations were consolidated, and local news operations were dismantled in what was called cost-saving moves.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 2005 the Daily Record of Morris County had a vibrant news business with over 14 local news reporters covering every town. Reporters like Michael Daigle, Rob Jennings, Matt Monochio, Rob Seman, Tehani Schneider, Jenna McKnight, Abbott Koloff, and my own daughter Sarah N. Lynch, were among a team of reporters dedicated to covering Morris County. They had no trouble finding important news of interest to their readers.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Daily Record employed at least six photojournalists back then, including Karen Fucito, Bob Karp, John Bell, Danielle Austen, Tyson Trish, and Dawn Benko. The paper had a Features Team led by Jim Bohen, with respected reporters such as Lorraine Ash. There was also a full complement of sports reporters, a small business desk, a team of assignment and copy editors, and what was called a Plus Section for hyper-local reporting led by Joe Arney.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Daily Record was purchased by Gannett in the late 1990s. The company owns U.S.A.Today and 235 other newspapers, making it the largest owner of newspapers in the United States. </div><div><br /></div><div>I would love to hear from any former Morris County journalists, named or unnamed in this post. What do you have to say about the rapid decline of the local news business here in the county? I would love to hear your story. (Also: Please let me know of any corrections to the information above.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, the demise of local journalism here and around the country didn’t just happen. It has a history spanning just several decades. But the trend remains a mostly downward spiral.</div><div><br /></div><div>In October 2013, Richard A. Lee wrote a<a href="https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/41816/PDF/1/"> dissertation</a> on the Role of the Media In New Jersey’s 2005 and 2009 Gubernatorial Elections. His research then is history worth reading. Here are a few quotes from Mr. Lee’s research:</div><div><div><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>During the first decade of the 21st Century, two developments affected the manner in which New Jersey residents obtained news and information about their state. The size of newsroom staff at the newspapers covering the state was reduced substantially through buyouts, layoffs, cutbacks, and consolidations, and the growth of the Internet altered the manner in which news was gathered, reported, and disseminated, placing new demands on depleted news staffs. Although neither development was unique to New Jersey…<br /></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>A content analysis of the coverage of New Jersey’s 2005 and 2009 gubernatorial elections, coupled with three sets of interviews with individuals involved in both campaigns, showed that the quality of news coverage declined during this four-year period. Stories were reported in less depth, with less context and with more emphasis on personalities and horserace issues than on substantive public policy matters.<br /></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>Going back to the 1990s, the drive to turn a profit became a higher priority for media companies and their corporate owners... So when the financial downturn hit in 2008, Gannett’s New Jersey dailies, then numbering six, suffered through what Bob Ingle, a former senior political columnist for Gannett NJ, called a “massacre,” shedding more than 400 jobs in 2008 and 2009. The Trenton bureau became a two-person operation, down from nine.</blockquote></blockquote><br /><br />The decline in local journalism continued. In January of 2017, David Chen in a New York Times article wrote an article about the<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/03/nyregion/in-new-jersey-only-a-few-media-watchdogs-are-left.html"> lack of media watchdogs</a> in New Jersey. At that time he wrote:<br /><br /><blockquote>The Star-Ledger’s parent company, Advance Publications, presided over a 45 percent paring of the newsroom in 2008, and <a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/star-ledger_cuts_170_jobs_including_40_newsroom_positions.html">cut</a> an additional 167 jobs in 2014… Another Advance paper, The Times of Trenton, slashed its newsroom to 30 from 90 between 2007 and 2009, and closed its statehouse bureau, according to Mr. Lee.</blockquote><br />More from Mr. Lee's 2013 dissertation:<br /><br /><blockquote>“News entities no longer are able to regularly provide in-depth stories by experienced reporters unpacking the major issues confronting the state. Fortunately, new news platforms are emerging in New Jersey and elsewhere to fill this void [a reference to TAPinto.com and PATCH.com]. However, the new media landscape requires a greater commitment from citizens. Becoming an informed and educated citizen in the 21st Century is not a passive activity. To fulfill their roles in the democratic process, citizens can no longer rely on the media to provide them with the information they need. Instead, they must seek it out from the plethora of material available online and decide what is credible and what is not, what is valuable and what is not, so they can participate in the democratic process as informed citizens and keep democracy strong and healthy.”</blockquote><br /><br />This seems to be especially true in Morris County, which has become somewhat of a news desert with only a handful of municipalities fully covered by local news sites such as Patch.com and TAPinto.net.<br /><br />For a more historical context, here is a table showing perhaps only a partial list of Morris County newspapers over the years.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBEwqBrGE1wcLDuMIcHRGue2WbJYqCBlIsZ8MSlsmlJgw7FhWakL7w9qmtBuVgzJIj4sZLtQ9tGaqxWHeWGdV7nexj_UCjIOaD1R0Ig4ji2LM_F24BvHyBG8D2Qw_yfB6fCNuCnT3JtjPWywD5Qf0eenoByQaZfKT0AaRT-GWBHBreWBAC4SNmNewK0g/s1418/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-29%20at%2010.35.49%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1418" height="542" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVBEwqBrGE1wcLDuMIcHRGue2WbJYqCBlIsZ8MSlsmlJgw7FhWakL7w9qmtBuVgzJIj4sZLtQ9tGaqxWHeWGdV7nexj_UCjIOaD1R0Ig4ji2LM_F24BvHyBG8D2Qw_yfB6fCNuCnT3JtjPWywD5Qf0eenoByQaZfKT0AaRT-GWBHBreWBAC4SNmNewK0g/w640-h542/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-29%20at%2010.35.49%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><b>NOTE - Nov. 1, 2023:</b> I wrote this piece about local journalism in March of this year but didn't publish it in this blog until this past weekend. I thought I had published it, but it somehow slipped through the cracks in my busy life. I noticed it was missing when local Facebook friends complained that a fatal accident in Mine Hill got no news coverage in any of the understaffed news outlets that cover surrounding towns. This was an opening to have a discussion about the fact that we live in a news desert. Today I learned of a recent article on the subject written by Dan Golden in ProPublica. Dan is a nationally renowned journalist, editor, and author from Massachusetts with years of experience in the news business. His article highlights the complexities of local news reporting and its decline in America. Here is a link to his article: </div><div>https://www.propublica.org/article/local-newspaper-legacy-springfield-massachusetts</div></div></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-4042546156117371672023-10-21T10:19:00.004-04:002023-10-21T10:21:04.442-04:00Gov't Executions - The Company We Keep<div class="xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">by Brian T. Lynch, MSW</span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm looking forward to watching the new opera, "Dead Man Walking." I'm not a proponent of capital punishment and was looking at some current statistics ahead of time. I want to share some of what I found. </span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit;" tabindex="-1"></a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">of late 2022, 53 countries retain capital punishment, 111 countries have completely abolished it, seven have abolished it for domestic crimes while maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes, and 24 are abolitionist in practice. There are 193 countries in the world. That means capital punishment isn't practiced in 70% of all the countries in the world. </span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;">But more shockingly, look at the company we keep in terms of the frequency of executions. China is the big outlier executing thousands of citizens per year. We were the fifth most active in the world last year, and look - There is not another primarily "Christian" state among the top ten or beyond. In the USA, capital punishment was used by 6 of 50 states in 2022: Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. </div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Isn't it ironic that states where the people trust governments the least have the most government executions?</span></b></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Popularity for the death penalty is highest among white Evangelical Protestants (53%) and Protestants in general (50%). Government executions, as reported by Amnesty International, took place in 20 of the world's 195 countries last year.</span></div></div><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVs1VkiJpgKbR4KDjAuiM3QxmFNzahg7amXqsb7VkUXQNYW5SiKmzNH4tJINuwFONObT5elMWd5T42x-wBXD_G88oUf2URcmvEHkN8C_jbKbAHdHbBMe4mz-YWLClPcaP89JohVeXTDmg0nI94-VxrobHFv25FbC8oeE0RlDee-xoyjp-jwsagj2V1eks" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="1728" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVs1VkiJpgKbR4KDjAuiM3QxmFNzahg7amXqsb7VkUXQNYW5SiKmzNH4tJINuwFONObT5elMWd5T42x-wBXD_G88oUf2URcmvEHkN8C_jbKbAHdHbBMe4mz-YWLClPcaP89JohVeXTDmg0nI94-VxrobHFv25FbC8oeE0RlDee-xoyjp-jwsagj2V1eks=w640-h446" width="640" /></a></div></div></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-7791453954226517722023-10-16T10:37:00.010-04:002023-11-08T09:22:31.865-05:00Israel and Palestine at War. What Side Are Your On?<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Are you for us or for our enemies? “Joshua asked.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-weight: 700; text-align: center; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Neither,” said an angel of the Lord.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQO8qrLuSrJv7fVVK2j9h_VLjyN2U3PyAbFcdCh3lM91rb_XW_JovPdB3puL05LducUsOXQBGoFNWvSlOKYHcwA-btT7QDF4uuXhVUMAzkp993aIXBgJNmjquySDpzOqiqYG98mJGAFO9JMu8OWl1zea5Meppzx2MwW8FRsPOBcrRSVqAUylyhV3xRQQc" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="630" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjQO8qrLuSrJv7fVVK2j9h_VLjyN2U3PyAbFcdCh3lM91rb_XW_JovPdB3puL05LducUsOXQBGoFNWvSlOKYHcwA-btT7QDF4uuXhVUMAzkp993aIXBgJNmjquySDpzOqiqYG98mJGAFO9JMu8OWl1zea5Meppzx2MwW8FRsPOBcrRSVqAUylyhV3xRQQc=w342-h303" width="342" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the aftermath of the horrific massacres of innocent Israelis by criminal Hamas terrorists who control and subjugate their own Palestinian people, I wish Israel had a more sagacious leader to pursue justice for all. I hope I’m wrong, but the stage seems to be set for more humanitarian tragedy.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hear the familiar drumbeats of war, the same rhythms that pushed us into Iraq. It has been unleashed on American and international news organizations once again to polarize us into believing there is a single choice to make. </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We must all support</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b> <span style="font-size: medium;">Israel!</span></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s a false choice in this sense. There are two warring governments, each believing they are justified in their aggression against the other nation. Then, on both sides, there are innocent children and families caught up in violence. This third side is the God’s-Eye view based on circumstances not unlike what Joshua faced before the battle of Jericho:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><blockquote><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">14“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">15 The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.” Joshua 5:13-15</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p></blockquote><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taking up arms may be necessary from this perspective, but vengeance remains taboo. “Vengeance is mine, “says the Lord. It’s not our choice to make.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The faithful Jews of Israel know they are called to be a blessing in the world. They are called to be a nation of priests. That is the side of Israel that has been seeking more humanitarian Israeli government policies and treatment for Palestinian children and families over the years. </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">That is the side of Israel on which I stand. I am on the side of blameless children and families on both (all) sides of the conflict. They must be protected and cared for amid the military response. But how is it possible?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hamas attackers know how the current leadership in Israel will likely respond to their unspeakably heinous attacks. They know it will rain hellfire down on innocent Palestinians. In the past, Israel has met their crazy, bloody incursions with even more indiscriminate slaughter, much to the condemnation of the Arab world. That is their plan. If the United States appears to support this conduct of war now, our status in the world will be diminished as well. It is a trap that Hamas hopes to achieve. They want the rest of the world to hate and condemn all Jews.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The situation Israel faces as it prepares for battle requires great discernment and mercy for the innocent lives of those trapped in Gaza. A victory against Hamas conducted in a righteous manner, which protects innocent children and families, can lead to peace and Justice for everyone. God demands nothing less.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ADDENDUM: </span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">https://aseyeseesit.blogspot.com/2023/11/in-pursuit-of-peace-in-middle-east.html</span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEQDP9L-5EzhUrMu_FruwsJEFPgvZ4Zm0J2vMDvSw4uEKxZ9JZkY5GxQohi8mQbCWZy0kJHxZ32OfCHGHAkyWHQh_3nqJH9SrL5SRmSCXTFEGmmJ43ekDgM_L4lLuOJGzQHVv_K70klEFe0tRzwW1_blkUCgKTjsIZvqZDmRhYN9ge71KqwybHB9ktWQ/s1656/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-04%20at%201.01.29%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="1656" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEQDP9L-5EzhUrMu_FruwsJEFPgvZ4Zm0J2vMDvSw4uEKxZ9JZkY5GxQohi8mQbCWZy0kJHxZ32OfCHGHAkyWHQh_3nqJH9SrL5SRmSCXTFEGmmJ43ekDgM_L4lLuOJGzQHVv_K70klEFe0tRzwW1_blkUCgKTjsIZvqZDmRhYN9ge71KqwybHB9ktWQ/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-04%20at%201.01.29%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></span></b></div><b><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></span></b><p></p>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-23895194908319407872023-09-19T20:23:00.001-04:002023-09-20T09:06:58.702-04:00Save the World to Save Ourselves<p> by Brian T. Lynch</p>If you are over 50 years old, the population of the Earth has more than doubled since you were born. In the year 1800, before the industrial revolution took hold, there were one billion people on earth. There will soon be 8 billion. For perspective, there have been about 40,000 generations since the dawn of civilization. It has taken us just nine generations to go from one to eight billion inhabitants. Our primitive brain cannot grasp such a geometric explosion, but the numbers tell a story.<br /><br />Our success as a species is on pace to be our downfall. Our exploitive and wasteful use of natural resources now has impacts on a planetary scale due to our population level. Our collective behaviors threaten the survival of our species and many other life forms on Earth. The destruction is well underway, and some irreparable harm to the biosphere is baked into the future.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhSxRThq-2QnUGExPeloXhdCzitfEgs3VP0KeWEPytmBeXWqV98WYSWArTarxtK-pTsW-f6ADfEts515cxVJMXdredNsNtluFLWSNlu574V9UyKsvrZfGpHaoz4OIWKjUSpPy7IBsYpCAPcr6D-_r3jUzSUfuNK21wFSlExycac697luSmJDDIatXSPQA/s2105/IMG_9001.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2105" data-original-width="1205" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhSxRThq-2QnUGExPeloXhdCzitfEgs3VP0KeWEPytmBeXWqV98WYSWArTarxtK-pTsW-f6ADfEts515cxVJMXdredNsNtluFLWSNlu574V9UyKsvrZfGpHaoz4OIWKjUSpPy7IBsYpCAPcr6D-_r3jUzSUfuNK21wFSlExycac697luSmJDDIatXSPQA/w366-h640/IMG_9001.jpg" width="366" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>There are nine scientifically identified boundaries within which life thrives on Earth. We have already breached six of them. One of these boundaries is the degree of biodiversity between and within living species. This is an essential buffer against naturally occurring environmental changes. It is estimated that the normal background rate of global extinctions, excluding mass extinction events, is between five and twenty species a year. Within the last two centuries, the current extinction rates have accelerated at least 100 times that rate, and we are solely responsible for this change.</div><div><br />Another broken boundary is the balance between the thermal energy we receive from the Sun vs. the amount the Earth loses in space. The ever-higher levels of carbon dioxide we release by burning fossil fuel is warming our oceans and atmosphere. The proliferation of phosphorus and nitrogen in our ecosystems from fertilizers and other sources is a boundary we have crossed. These chemicals are wreaking havoc on terrestrial aquatic and marine environments. The accumulation of hazardous man-made chemicals in the biosphere, such as PFAS and DDT, is another boundary breached. Land use and the loss of forest lands is another example of a broken barrier, and all these boundaries have been crossed because of the unprecedented scale of human population in the last 100 years.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>The damage we have done to our sacred planet is great, but not as great as the damage we can yet prevent. We will save most living things and ourselves if we atone for our sins against nature, make righteous choices from here on out, and take timely actions. We have the power and the duty to save our world. What we don’t yet have is visionary leadership, a knowledgeable public, or the consensual urgency to act. The obstacles to global salvation are formidable. Our social, cultural, religious, and economic frameworks stand as bulwarks against the fundamental changes required. Our social institutions are homocentric and as self-serving as the public at large. This has to change. We must all become advocates for change.<br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Here is an article about the nine boundaries (but there may be a paywall):</div><div><br /></div><div>https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/humans-have-crossed-6-of-9-planetary-boundaries/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=week-in-science&utm_content=link&utm_term=2023-09-15_featured-this-week&fbclid=IwAR0W4PQzrP96bYHUqJZajz2Qd3Lr-Baxr6sYieyJbeeo9TyNHoGTrbTj6ho</div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-42859475285811759522023-09-08T11:01:00.002-04:002023-09-08T11:24:29.904-04:00Roxbury Planning Board Grapples with Traffic Patterns in the Hercules Redevelopment Plan<br /><br />by Brian T. Lynch, MSW<br /><br />The turnout for the September 6th Planning Board meeting was good, with few open chairs left in the meeting room. Hartz Mountain, the proposed developer for 57 acres of warehouses on the Hercules site, had expected to complete testimony on the Traffic Plan and provide testimony with respect to the Community Impact Statement and the Environmental Impact Statement. However, the meeting bogged down in discussions of the minutia regarding traffic patterns for over two hours.<br /><br />Board members questioned the validity of the traffic study and disparities in the numbers of vehicles at various ramps and intersections during peak morning and evening rush hours. Due to the pandemic, the locally collected traffic study counts, which involved just one day’s sample, were uncharacteristically lower than normal. The published 2019 NJDOT traffic study data from before the pandemic were used to extrapolate current patterns using the highest number of vehicles as calculated from this combined data. The traffic sample and traffic study were completed by Langan Engineering in 2021, which may be before traffic patterns fully returned to normal. The Board was reluctant to rely on the findings. They also pointed out that some of the numbers are just too low for certain intersections based on their own driving experiences on Howard Blvd. One example was the westbound off-ramp from Rt.80 across from the park and ride. It showed a single-digit number (8?) of cars per hour. Lagan Engineering agreed to conduct a second traffic study sample in the future to confirm or alter their current findings.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghZoDMbVxMA5oH-ggQM6culWpaEIg-vXPSUaVxDNz-WsxWDN_gBgZ9CFV6P6w4KlqvilyfnAXopjcoMajFJfbf8Z952O0ukSJHUJz8z8zL7Sie2PHsz3hXwvEcP4lAy1FmV7LxdHU21Bkxkkp0saDTE6eH4rKHfbN1_q1iTko5OpaJX1EUg4-fep7vRc/s3186/IMG_8941.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2277" data-original-width="3186" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghZoDMbVxMA5oH-ggQM6culWpaEIg-vXPSUaVxDNz-WsxWDN_gBgZ9CFV6P6w4KlqvilyfnAXopjcoMajFJfbf8Z952O0ukSJHUJz8z8zL7Sie2PHsz3hXwvEcP4lAy1FmV7LxdHU21Bkxkkp0saDTE6eH4rKHfbN1_q1iTko5OpaJX1EUg4-fep7vRc/w640-h458/IMG_8941.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><br />There was a lengthy discussion about the adequacy of the proposed intersection that is designed to allow traffic into and from the Hercules property. The total number of vehicles coming either in or out of the warehouse facility each day will be 4,106. Trucks will only be allowed to turn right when exiting the property. Vehicles exiting to the right will have their own lane from which to merge into the northbound lane. Vehicles turning right from the northbound lane will have their own entrance lane. Trucks and cars coming southbound off of Rt.80 will have their own turn left lane to enter the property with a traffic light and left turn arrow. The proposed left turning lane is only about 250' long, which means it can hold, at most, three tractor-trailers (or some combination of cars and trucks) before the turning lane traffic backs up into the through lane. The Lagan representative said It takes 9 seconds for a stopped semi to make a left turn and 5 sec. for a car. The traffic light’s left arrow is green for 23 seconds before northbound thru traffic gets the green light. The traffic light cycles 40 times per hour. Southbound cars and trucks on Howard Blvd. can continue to make a left turn for another 47 seconds if oncoming northbound traffic allows. The Board is worried that the left turn lane may not be long enough to prevent backups into the thru lane, and the 23-second delay for vehicles to turn left only allows 2.5 trucks to make the turn. Additionally, because of the topography, a hill beside Howard Blvd, looking towards the oncoming traffic from Rt.46, obstructs the vision for oncoming traffic. The plans call for lowering the height of the hillside to allow truckers an adequate view of oncoming traffic before making the left turn. There is a question of whether the plans to improve the sightlines are adequate due to vegetation growth and snowbanks in the winter.<br /><br />There was also a discussion of the planned improvement by the State for the Rt.80 entrance and exit ramps. The Board questioned whether the net improvements in traffic flow from the planned improvement would be canceled out by the additional truck traffic expected for the warehouse operations.<br /><br />Other questions about noise and air pollution raised by local residents were differed because other experts are expected to testify about those issues in a future meeting.<br /><br /><b>The next meeting will be at the Roxbury Municipal Building on October 4th at 7:30 p.m.</b></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-11926044921363203492023-08-13T08:38:00.001-04:002023-08-13T08:38:37.210-04:00HERCULES IN KENVIL REMAINS A POLLUTED HOTSPOT<br /><b>HERCULES KENVIL, NJ, PHASE II REMEDIATION INVESTIGATION REPORT SUMMARY</b><br /> <div>by Brian T. Lynch, MSW</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTuFEFw5soRJNRL_BU_6F6h9Iq0Zjcde_k0l04JMWVJsAehD5psyEE9kDz8LvWRnffnLWIFjAV8PxpprHPcqzEh_PpsdK-NFsh9QX5xD7ZBJbDHv3x7f1UEEHghBtRjwdJX8JC_rmAQ6OPSH_3eY55Uhx1WHlm4E5cCybpD_0J6tsAKLCNiibc7PwS" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1514" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTuFEFw5soRJNRL_BU_6F6h9Iq0Zjcde_k0l04JMWVJsAehD5psyEE9kDz8LvWRnffnLWIFjAV8PxpprHPcqzEh_PpsdK-NFsh9QX5xD7ZBJbDHv3x7f1UEEHghBtRjwdJX8JC_rmAQ6OPSH_3eY55Uhx1WHlm4E5cCybpD_0J6tsAKLCNiibc7PwS=w640-h416" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>After decades of wondering, we now can be sure that the 900+ acre former Hercules Powder Company property in Kenvil, NJ, would still qualify as a superfund site. After twenty years of study, the final Phase II Remedial Investigation Report was released six years ago to the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) with little fanfare. The DEP decided years earlier not to list the abandoned Hercules Powder property as a State Superfund site. Instead, the agency chose to assign the investigation and clean up of the property under a new law at the time that permitted Ashland Chemical, the corporation that purchased the property, to self-fund environmental studies and cleanup operations on land where explosives were manufactured for over 150 years. <br /><br />Under the supervision of a Licensed Site Remediation Specialist (LSRP) indirectly employed by the Ashland Corporation, privately hired subcontractors specializing in environmental assessment and remediation services conducted the investigation of soil, sediment, groundwater, and surface water contamination. Concurrently, an LSRP has overseen the most critical remediation actions taken over the past 30 years, including work to safely demolish buildings on the site, remove and destroy chemicals stored there, and other measures required to limit the further release of toxic chemicals.<br /><br />Under this legal arrangement with the State, an LSRP (there have been several over the years) prepares periodic reports and submits all study materials and documents to the DEP for review and approval. It has been estimated that the number of documents submitted to the DEP over the years exceeds thirty-thousand pages. <div><br /></div><div>While all documents are public records, accessing them is not easy. Many older documents are only now being digitalized. Interested parties have to request a review of older documents from the DEP. This involves a trip to the DEP's Trenton headquarters, where boxes of paper documents are brought into a reviewing area from a nearby warehouse. Many reports are highly technical and incomprehensible to non-scientists. <br /><br />For most residents, the former Hercules property has been a black box of potential health risks for everyone downwind or downstream. The general public is unaware of the extent or severity of the pollution. <br /><br />Last month, the Raritan Headwaters Association obtained about 30,000 pages of more recent, digitally accessible records, including the complete copy of the Hercules Phase II Remedial Investigation Report summary (RIR). The RIR summary reveals that many significant contaminants remain in the site's soil, sediments, groundwater, and surface water. Some contaminants are at unsafe levels, and the site must remain off-limits to the general public. The good news is that the natural, undisturbed conditions at the site have so far confined the most toxic substances within its boundaries. The summary report is over 900 pages long and difficult to synthesize further. What follows are snippets of the report (in bold) to support some of the report's general conclusions. <br /><br /><br />From the Report as regards just the surface waters and sediments at the facility:<br /><blockquote><b><i>“• SVOCs were detected in sediment, but not in surface water at five of the seven co-located<br />sample points.<br /><br />• Beryllium, selenium, and silver were detected in sediment and not in surface water,<br />indicating these constituents are not partitioning from sediment to surface water.<br /><br />• Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, vanadium, and zinc<br />were detected in surface water and sediment.<br /><br />• Aluminum, barium, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and manganese were detected in both surface water and sediment samples from each co-location. Per the United States<br />Geological Survey (1984), these metals are commonly found in surficial geologic material in the vicinity of the Facility.”</i></b></blockquote><br />And this:<br /><blockquote><b><i>“In certain instances, constituents were present at concentrations that exceeded their aqueous solubility limits by two to four orders of magnitude, indicating that these constituents were associated with suspended sediment entrained in the surface water sample.”</i></b></blockquote><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYfYGcOqJadHBpdPs14gZyWVvSED3RhUftgLTwVjVtnIJmmpuHa5b8DjwbUewmE1G0zVI03e6ruByoOpzvP-c55pSb4vX7G_HcojnPkcjj9-FCAgNBFuvblPXiBgnYlxsAbz0uIE0xWfY7uLltPo8h_O9b4fKLISqEO9Acp4hw3dm5bmJ5HxgDmTr9" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2074" data-original-width="3828" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYfYGcOqJadHBpdPs14gZyWVvSED3RhUftgLTwVjVtnIJmmpuHa5b8DjwbUewmE1G0zVI03e6ruByoOpzvP-c55pSb4vX7G_HcojnPkcjj9-FCAgNBFuvblPXiBgnYlxsAbz0uIE0xWfY7uLltPo8h_O9b4fKLISqEO9Acp4hw3dm5bmJ5HxgDmTr9=w640-h346" width="640" /></a></div><br />Different contaminants are found in different areas on the property according to the manufacturing activity that took place at those locations. In addition, many contaminants were spread throughout the site as a result of drainage ditches, construction work, burn pits, and explosions. This created mixed layering and cross-contamination in many areas. For example, soil samples in the TNT manufacturing area, which took place closest to the Great Springs wetlands on the southern end of the property, contain the highest levels of toxic chemicals related to TNT manufacturing but also contain various contaminants from different manufacturing locations on the property.<br /><br />From the Report: [4-13, pdf pg 35]<br /><blockquote><b><i>“TNT in soil exceeds its IGWSSL [Impact to Groundwater Soil Screening Levels] in the TNT Area, the PETN [Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate] Area, and the western portion of the Dynamite Area. TNT and related breakdown constituents (4-Amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene, 2,4/2,6-Dinitrotoluene, and 2-Amino-4,6-Dinitrotoluene) exceed their respective GWQS[Groundwater Quality Standards] in… [12]… monitoring wells… located downgradient of soil sample results exceeding the IGWSSL for TNT."</i></b></blockquote><br />And this: <br /><blockquote><b><i>"RDX [1,3,5-Trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine, Hexahydro-1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5-Triazine] exceeds its GWQS in a monitoring well (MW-36) co-located with and/or downgradient of soil samples with RDX detections that exceed its IGWSSL.”</i></b></blockquote><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfb8wobPiwoQ24_hTaP_uUyNaZ6swnc4toLnXHZFr8rCNqmdBJkKGh1i0PwpW9NM0TvXqVel5ET2DbrXje21ToHmEENhVVVlCR_r7Ldhomwnb0e2iD6PW6BFaUvKL8FQD9vropaj8ayhnOpEILlTwehCAnwRJki8VxrLSVaK6w1d2WbafA29fS3XeD" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="2216" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfb8wobPiwoQ24_hTaP_uUyNaZ6swnc4toLnXHZFr8rCNqmdBJkKGh1i0PwpW9NM0TvXqVel5ET2DbrXje21ToHmEENhVVVlCR_r7Ldhomwnb0e2iD6PW6BFaUvKL8FQD9vropaj8ayhnOpEILlTwehCAnwRJki8VxrLSVaK6w1d2WbafA29fS3XeD=w640-h220" width="640" /></a></div><br />As a result of different contaminants at various toxicity levels in different areas, anyone authorized to be on the property must first receive special training. Note that the word “receptor” is used throughout the report to refer to any living thing that can potentially be harmed by the contaminants, including “human receptors.”<br /><br />From the Report:<br /><blockquote><b><i>“Facility-related influences in environmental media result in unacceptable levels of [the] potential risk to ecological receptors based on the screening and conservative exposure modeling conducted in the EE/ERA… Current Facility use precludes human health exposure risks, as personnel permitted to access the Facility are trained in the identification and control/mitigation of potential exposures.”</i></b></blockquote>The report states that hunters are brought into the facility to hunt deer and wildlife that graze on potentially toxic vegetation, presumably so they don’t carry pollution off-site. It’s possible that deer contaminated from grazing on toxic plants could end up in another hunter's venison. Also, trappers are brought in to control the beaver population. Perhaps this is to keep the hydrology on the property from becoming dangerously altered by damn buildings or other bever activities. The report doesn’t specify why the need to control wildlife populations. <br /><br />From the Report:<br /><blockquote><blockquote><b><i>5.3.3.1.2 Hunters/Trappers<br />“Hunters and trappers occasionally enter the Facility under Hercules direction to facilitate control wildlife populations using the Facility (e.g., deer and beaver). Access is limited to weekends during approved hunting/trapping seasons, and their activities are non-intrusive in nature. These individuals receive hazard communication training and are restricted from entering areas where constituents [i.e. contaminants] are likely to be present on the surface.”</i></b></blockquote></blockquote>We also learned some good news. To date, the most concerning contaminants on the property haven’t migrated off-site to residential areas. For example, toxic chemicals on the property have not been detected in nearby residential wells. The Black River flowing out of the wetlands at the site's southern end isn’t picking up the toxins detected in the surrounding soils or sediments. Note that the report refers to the Black River as a “drainage ditch.” That ditch is actually thousands of years old.<br /><br />From the Report:<br /><blockquote><b><i>“Surface water leaves the Facility in a single location, via a drainage ditch beneath Route 46 in the southeastern corner of the Facility. SI/RI data at this location indicate that constituents are not leaving the Facility via surface water transport.”</i></b></blockquote>There is a caveat that increases in the flow rate could cause contaminates embedded in the surrounding soil or sediments to become suspended in the water and carried downstream. This fact should be of immediate concern when assessing the adequacy of safeguards to prevent this from happening during the current bioremediation activity. <br /><br />From the Report:<br /><blockquote><b><i>“Beyond the direct transport of dissolved phase constituents in surface water, surface water may transport constituents adsorbed to suspended sediment offsite during high flow conditions… As previously discussed, flowrates influence the transport of suspended sediment.”</i></b></blockquote>Trees and vegetation that have grown back over time seem to be keeping the wind and rain from carrying off potentially polluted soil. However, high levels of soil contamination in some areas have caused those areas to remain barren.<br /><br />From the Report:<br /><blockquote><b style="font-style: italic;">“It is believed soil erosion was much more prominent historically (estimated to</b><br /><b style="font-style: italic;">be from the late 1800s until approximately 1950) when the Facility intentionally removed</b><br /><b style="font-style: italic;">vegetation to prevent the spread of fires. The removal of vegetation destabilizes the surficial</b><br /><b><i>soils allowing erosion to occur more freely. From the 1950s through Facility closure in 1996, low-growing groundcover (e.g., turf) was maintained, reducing the potential for erosion. Following Facility closure, maintenance activities ceased and vegetation now covers much of the Facility.</i></b></blockquote>And this from the Report: <br /><b><i><blockquote>"Areas devoid of vegetation do exist and are attributed to constituent concentrations in soil (e.g., over-nitrification of soil where TNT is present)."</blockquote></i></b><br />Now, however, there has been a recent change of status. Earlier this year, soil remediation activity has begun for the first time. Trees have been cut down; vegetation has been removed. Soil contaminated with PCB was excavated for transport to a special landfill. Other polluted soil was excavated and taken to a bioremediation facility that was built on the edge of the Black River wetlands. This is the area that Lenape natives called “the Great Spring” and is the headwaters of the North Branch of the Raritan River.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5BSLlGWjJCMVtrsgR2vJECpHO4dj0wEHDYpBCGZI8zGYCqMOGqsQbn54V_l-sARSkGn9iw2CdOX0Ku54QYW0hAowdNfIWlwIhgZiFvHbPiV_coLTiF1Q9nMWO9vo31t_KebHZZDvfyW8w_uVIo1L7_5clpXoDciezytUZmv-AZaap_6pnARX3Gagr" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1628" data-original-width="2654" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg5BSLlGWjJCMVtrsgR2vJECpHO4dj0wEHDYpBCGZI8zGYCqMOGqsQbn54V_l-sARSkGn9iw2CdOX0Ku54QYW0hAowdNfIWlwIhgZiFvHbPiV_coLTiF1Q9nMWO9vo31t_KebHZZDvfyW8w_uVIo1L7_5clpXoDciezytUZmv-AZaap_6pnARX3Gagr=w400-h245" width="400" /></a></div>Nevertheless, according to the investigation report, the surface water discharge to the Black River from the Great Spring is not carrying contaminants off-site. That’s good news so long as the current excavations underway don’t accidentally release dangerous chemicals that could turn the Black River into a conduit carrying pollution downstream. All is well so long as newly exposed soil doesn’t get carried away by the wind or severe rainstorms. All is well so long a stable plume of contaminated groundwater discovered under the property's southwest corner doesn't migrate into residential areas.<br /><br />From the Report: <br /><blockquote><b><i>“A small well defined RDX [groundwater] plume exists within the area bounded by monitoring wells MWs 25, 33, 35, 37, J2, and J3 located immediately southwest of the Development Area.”</i></b></blockquote>We trust that all conceivable safeguards are in place and that the stream flowing from that land is frequently and rigorously tested. We <u>must trust</u><i> </i>the NJDEP, the LSRP, and the Ashland Corporation because we don’t have all the data or information necessary to independently verify the adequacy of the current remediation plans. </div></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-8979588551715335962023-08-13T08:38:00.000-04:002023-08-13T08:38:15.106-04:00More Oversite Needed at the Polluted Hercules Propertyby Brian T. Lynch, MSW<br /><br />The clean-up and redevelopment of the Hercules tract in Kenvil have always been a private enterprise with insufficient public oversite. That needs to change before March 1st, when the Roxbury Planning Board and the public will hear the case for approving a Hartz Mountain Corporation plan to build 57 acres of warehouses on this polluted land. <br /><br />After over 150 years of explosives manufacturing on the Hercules property in Kenvil, New Jersey, all manufacturing activity stopped in 1996. This left behind a thousand acres of arguably the most complex land contamination in the state's history. It created a major quandary for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and potentially a substantial financial burden for taxpayers if the property was designated as a State Superfund Site. <div><br /></div><div>That didn’t happen. Instead, an agreement was reached between the DEP and Hercules (<span id="docs-internal-guid-4465ea81-7fff-a4d9-7b1d-56dd6ba64531"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">now with Ashland Global, a large chemical corporation that purchased the property). U</span></span>nder a new law, this agreement allows private companies to conduct and pay for all remediation activity on polluted land. All the initial decommissioning work and scientific studies of the property have been privately funded since then, including a twenty-year-long, two-phase Remediation Investigation Report (RIR) completed about seven years ago. </div><div><br /></div><div>That RIR report, and tens of thousands of other documents, were recently obtained the Raritan Headwaters Association under an OPRA request to the DEP. The review of this massive tranche of documents is ongoing, but potential environmental risks are immediately obvious. Here is just a small example of information contained in the 1,800-page RIR Summary<div><br /><div>From the Report as regards just the surface waters and sediments at the facility:<br /><blockquote><b><i>“• SVOCs were detected in sediment, but not in surface water at five of the seven co-located<br />sample points.<br /><br />• Beryllium, selenium, and silver were detected in sediment and not in surface water,<br />indicating these constituents are not partitioning </i>[moving]<i> from sediment to surface water.<br /><br />• Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, vanadium, and zinc<br />were detected in surface water and sediment.<br /><br />• Aluminum, barium, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and manganese were detected in both surface water and sediment samples from each co-location. Per the United States<br />Geological Survey (1984), these metals are commonly found in surficial geologic material in the vicinity of the Facility.”</i></b></blockquote>And this:<br /><blockquote><b><i>“In certain instances, constituents were present at concentrations that exceeded their aqueous solubility limits by two to four orders of magnitude, indicating that these constituents were associated with suspended sediment entrained in the surface water</i></b></blockquote><p>Here is another example of what the report says regarding soil in another area of the property: </p><p>From the Report: [4-13, pdf pg 35]</p><blockquote><b><i>“TNT in soil exceeds its IGWSSL [Impact to Groundwater Soil Screening Levels] in the TNT Area, the PETN [Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate] Area, and the western portion of the Dynamite Area. TNT and related breakdown constituents (4-Amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene, 2,4/2,6-Dinitrotoluene, and 2-Amino-4,6-Dinitrotoluene) exceed their respective GWQS[Groundwater Quality Standards] in… [12]… monitoring wells… located downgradient of soil sample results exceeding the IGWSSL for TNT."</i></b></blockquote><p>And this example is regarding groundwater under the property: <br /></p><blockquote><b><i>"RDX [1,3,5-Trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine, Hexahydro-1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5-Triazine] exceeds its GWQS in a monitoring well (MW-36) co-located with and/or downgradient of soil samples with RDX detections that exceed its IGWSSL.”</i></b></blockquote><p> </p><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYfYGcOqJadHBpdPs14gZyWVvSED3RhUftgLTwVjVtnIJmmpuHa5b8DjwbUewmE1G0zVI03e6ruByoOpzvP-c55pSb4vX7G_HcojnPkcjj9-FCAgNBFuvblPXiBgnYlxsAbz0uIE0xWfY7uLltPo8h_O9b4fKLISqEO9Acp4hw3dm5bmJ5HxgDmTr9" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2074" data-original-width="3828" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYfYGcOqJadHBpdPs14gZyWVvSED3RhUftgLTwVjVtnIJmmpuHa5b8DjwbUewmE1G0zVI03e6ruByoOpzvP-c55pSb4vX7G_HcojnPkcjj9-FCAgNBFuvblPXiBgnYlxsAbz0uIE0xWfY7uLltPo8h_O9b4fKLISqEO9Acp4hw3dm5bmJ5HxgDmTr9=w640-h346" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A massive amount of demolition and decontamination work initially took place on the highly polluted Hercules property in the early 2000s. Many contaminated buildings and other structures were demolished and disposed of. Miles of pipelines were drained of toxic chemicals and removed from the ground where they were buried, and a decades-long science-based study of pollution on the site was begun. These efforts have been verbally characterized as successful, but any consequences that these early decommissioning activities may have had on the movement of toxic chemicals are not well documented in the final report. The RIR mostly provides a contemporary status of soil, sediment, groundwater, and surface water contamination.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfWZTmtAthPhOCq5AfV-WjpJljkFMGHBaqL1q7tBZ_K6RjaObeXdoblPT9KVYi5vNDqWQlKF9wOeNxXkw0qTSBWQSfc0I8V69sAfVYWDzqRfhbYxUKnZWjy3Ekce2UEY7r05_M2ZU2mdZw0p1cxWFzb8wYnue5ZNQmVIGWhAzL6kvRXn2U6aax8_L/s1626/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-22%20at%204.16.10%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="1626" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQfWZTmtAthPhOCq5AfV-WjpJljkFMGHBaqL1q7tBZ_K6RjaObeXdoblPT9KVYi5vNDqWQlKF9wOeNxXkw0qTSBWQSfc0I8V69sAfVYWDzqRfhbYxUKnZWjy3Ekce2UEY7r05_M2ZU2mdZw0p1cxWFzb8wYnue5ZNQmVIGWhAzL6kvRXn2U6aax8_L/w640-h470/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-22%20at%204.16.10%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The private work, by property owners and their contractors, must be overseen by a privately hired LSRP, or Licensed Site Remediation Professional. This person is specially trained and licensed by the state to oversee cleanup operations. The LSRP sends all reports and documents pertaining to the clean-up to the NJ DEP for final review and approval. The Hercules tract was eventually sold to Ashland Chemical’s property division which continues to privately fund all remediation activities at the Hercules tract today. The general concept is that the private corporation's investments to clean up the site will eventually yield corporate profits when the property is redeveloped. This type of agreement obviously precludes the possibility of the entire property being returned to a natural state.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxR7Kg44bFLOkJRdCwfFBq7_Drxg3T6LqzTSNKAxbfzzpQitrwz3DjTGE3JH-8z43oCj3oTHDvb7HVev65yi49y4w4GAsQ_bh0pq6XuiqKTkzrlAyHZX5h_GEGyAMXYRY8-e_Ub1gBK2YtBk0DCmhpauInGCQXBmhZxSD6Ir1AoJc46IgBBTWqgqW0/s1722/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-22%20at%2011.17.46%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="1722" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxR7Kg44bFLOkJRdCwfFBq7_Drxg3T6LqzTSNKAxbfzzpQitrwz3DjTGE3JH-8z43oCj3oTHDvb7HVev65yi49y4w4GAsQ_bh0pq6XuiqKTkzrlAyHZX5h_GEGyAMXYRY8-e_Ub1gBK2YtBk0DCmhpauInGCQXBmhZxSD6Ir1AoJc46IgBBTWqgqW0/w640-h236/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-22%20at%2011.17.46%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the intervening years since the initial decommissioning work, the land has been largely undisturbed. The RIR summary found that the current hydrology, the regrowth of vegetative cover, and an absence of human activity have stabilized the many chemical and heavy metal contaminates on the Hercules property. That is to say, the contamination is not currently migrating off the property. Furthermore, the vegetation covering the grounds helps to naturally break down many toxins in the soil. This is good news, but this still leaves pockets of substances in highly toxic quantities scattered throughout the site. As a result, the Hercules property remains off-limits to the general public. Those who have reason to be there must receive special training to avoid contamination, according to the RIR report.</div><br />An important finding suggested throughout the RIR is that if stabilizing conditions on the property change in the future, the contaminants could migrate off-site. This would create potential health risks for Roxbury residents and anyone downstream from the Black River. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUyz_flxKd34c8-w_OOMg8K86Gc10AYMnjKrGqwH2cOvnpB3zY8apyrjEvM1UA3W0OAdRUdOtFiTekAbLcylxe1VIAYtAxTS0KIdb2ntgdDTn04B5IcLhX8V9Ho_bF_EK6KYSEzmOVCmvtWwMsAcPhnbEBGCmYcJlkJD_t33PoTljuiRHodLL7GaEd/s4032/IMG_1921.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUyz_flxKd34c8-w_OOMg8K86Gc10AYMnjKrGqwH2cOvnpB3zY8apyrjEvM1UA3W0OAdRUdOtFiTekAbLcylxe1VIAYtAxTS0KIdb2ntgdDTn04B5IcLhX8V9Ho_bF_EK6KYSEzmOVCmvtWwMsAcPhnbEBGCmYcJlkJD_t33PoTljuiRHodLL7GaEd/w300-h400/IMG_1921.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><div>Many people are unaware that the Black River originates from the southern wetlands and the prolific freshwater springs on the Hercules property. The property sits over an "unconfined" aquifer that stretches across the Succasunna plains. But there is another "confined" aquifer (between nonporous rock layers) below it. That aquifer is tapped by both private and commercial wells in the region. It is believed that fissures in the rocks at the Hercules site allow some water to rise to the surface within the wetlands adding to the water that comes from rainfall. The quality of water from this area of springs, known to the original Lenape natives as the Great Spring, appears to be very good.</div><div><br /></div><div>The RIR Summary and other documents consistently refer to the </div><div><br /></div><div><br />To visualize the general flow of water at the Hercules site, think of a horseshoe leaning against a peg. The back of the horseshoe is elevated, while the open end of the horseshoe faces south along Rt. 46. The metal shoe represents a rocky ridge that encloses a sloped basin comprised of glacier-deposited sediments (the unconfined aquifer). A dip in the ridge at the northeast corner allows surface water in that area to run northeast into the Rockaway River basin. The rest of the groundwater and surface water travels in a southwesterly direction into the wetlands on the southern edge of the property. This then forms the Black River that drains into Sunset Lake and the Raritan River Basin. <br /><br />The list of toxins found on the Hercules tract is long and varied. The entire site is cross-contaminated, but the concentrations of chemical pollutants in excess of safety standards are mostly found in locations where those substances were stored or used in manufacturing. For example, in the section referred to as the Maintenance Area near the center of the property, there was once an electrical generation plant where Hercules made its own electricity. It contained many electrical components that used PCB as a coolant. The huge 1940 explosion destroyed this equipment spreading PCBs over the property, much of which seeped into the soil at that location. In the area where TNT and dynamite were made, spills, past explosions, and antiquated production practices left unsafe concentrations of toxic explosives and energetic chemicals (or E&E) in the soil.<br /><br />Near Duck Pond to the north, chemical waste and other polluted items were burned in a burn pit that released Dioxin and other chemicals into the air and surrounding soil. Further west of the burn pit, there is a licensed landfill covering multiple acres. According to documents recently reviewed, there is no record of what was deposited in that landfill in the early years of its operation. In another area, there is significant lead contamination in the soil where Hercules fabricated equipment made of lead (because it doesn’t spark when struck). There is also an inactive chemical waste treatment plant that is still licensed by the DEP to release up to 135,000 gallons of treated wastewater into the Black River daily. No wastewater has been released since 2002, and the license is up for renewal. An application to renew that license was just submitted to the DEP this month.<br /><br />The Maintenance area mentioned above is where tons of PCB-tainted soil was hauled away last spring to special landfills. The TNT and Dynamite Areas are the current focus of bioremediation activities. Critically, all these remediation activities and future redevelopment activities require disturbing the soil and vegetation that keep toxic chemicals from migrating off the property. That’s why precautions being taken to prevent this from happening are essential to protect the environment and maintain human safety. The public has a right to know how we are being protected.<br /><br />The two-decade-long RIR summary provides the factual basis for the bioremediation activity begun in January 2022. It documents the environmental hot spots on the site and informs future development plans, including the recently proposed Hartz Mountain redevelopment plan to build warehouses to be leased to future tenants. An area known as the Maintenance Area will be partly covered by the 57 acres of warehouses proposed by Hartz Mountain. The plan also requires building roadways, and parking lots. The redevelopment would encompass 200 acres in all. Covering that much land with impervious surfaces is an element of the remediation plan. The idea is to cap the tainted soil to prevent contaminants from migrating to the ground or surface water. This plan would generate millions of gallons of stormwater yearly based on rainfall averages. This stormwater would have to be captured, treated, and released to the Black River. <br /><br />Given the changes to the hydrology and land use of the property resulting from ongoing remediation activity and the proposed redevelopment, how this ultimately impacts the groundwater and the surface water flowing into the Black River requires full disclosure and public consideration.<br /></div></div></div></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-83438486157604822212023-07-07T20:41:00.002-04:002023-07-08T09:19:49.096-04:00Mountain Park in Dover, New Jerseyby Brian T. Lynch, MSW<div><br /></div><div> </div><div><div>Mountain Park is in Dover, a valley town settled 300 years ago in the Appalachian Highlands of Northern New Jersey. For those unfamiliar with the area, Dover is surrounded by hills once rich in magnetite, a mineral with very high iron content. The Rockaway River runs through town, as once did the Morris Canal, which made it an ideal location to support early mining operations and industrial development.</div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc5h7suYTI3wF5m7PVCovYxvQaO3iDtJCzNazG6bu8p2D2gba1BhdektHPSASBnm7jQaZw2Y24s5ZS-DHFXGycVUHZpCUQK5BFEEoqEsix5dlkZS4cFSsC4SCocySlxuRG5jgEbpecLBpZ3wgly0tvwC3kLWxYVpEPd6BBllW_ocdMspa5jdoWeLBk1lk/s2772/IMG_7720.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2746" data-original-width="2772" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc5h7suYTI3wF5m7PVCovYxvQaO3iDtJCzNazG6bu8p2D2gba1BhdektHPSASBnm7jQaZw2Y24s5ZS-DHFXGycVUHZpCUQK5BFEEoqEsix5dlkZS4cFSsC4SCocySlxuRG5jgEbpecLBpZ3wgly0tvwC3kLWxYVpEPd6BBllW_ocdMspa5jdoWeLBk1lk/w295-h292/IMG_7720.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to Mountian Park </td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>Mountain Park History: One small mining operation in Dover was the Munson Iron Mine located on Oram Hill(?) in South Dover. The Munson Mine built two railroad tracts to carry ore down to the town, but production was small and economically insufficient. Mining operations were soon abandoned. Over many decades that followed, the Munson Mine property remained untouched as it was too steep for development. Vegetation and a wide variety of trees reclaimed the land to form a verdant forest. It was purchased by the Town of Dover under an Open Space Preservation Grant in the mid-1970s(?) and renamed Mountain Park.</div><div><br />Mountain Park has a peak elevation of 750 feet and rises about 100 feet above the town. It features an excellent overlook of the valley. The park entrance is on S. Morris Avenue, just north of the Christadelphian Church. The only public parking would be street parking on Woodland Avenue across the street.</div><div><br />The trailhead starts in a narrow patch of woods that opens to a large lawn flanked by private houses. Don’t be concerned because almost the entire field is park property. Cross the lawn to where the White Trail begins at the edge of the woods. It is generally well-marked and maintained by volunteers (I as understand it). The ground was soft, damp, and mostly covered by fallen leaves when I hiked the trail. It is a modest and steady climb to the top of the hill under a canopy of a wide variety of trees and some ground cover near the entrance. The sound of rushing water can be heard on your right near the trailhead, but the brook is not visible.<br /><br />The brook, I discovered later, is an unnamed tributary to the Rockaway River flowing from underground springs into storm drains along Warren Street and Rose Way. On an 1853 map of Randolph Township, the spring’s water flowed freely over the surface. The brook was apparently buried when the residential neighborhood was built.<br /><br />Continuing up the trail, the incline becomes steeper as it nears the top. There are areas where the trail has washed out during recent rains. There are also two optical internet cables going into Victory Gardens strung haphazardly across the pathway. One is about chest high and the other near the ground. It is a foot-trip hazard, so beware.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinuwRiysKEPIDQ8AcXVGQe5aj6WOzooZhKoJdIQ4TccX5q9GznqpgVD7NbRW690iD_hDx1wEdWRgUQz3tWbahWijBQG-gYoF3_Pqc1dbGEU33Q1-oZGQijB9LgQT4tiCkvpEJSSI5rflf9cyu-dXQAsaWWqxtx78pjVH17xMiubXpXiMHg8we9XQK3pAo/s4032/IMG_7728.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinuwRiysKEPIDQ8AcXVGQe5aj6WOzooZhKoJdIQ4TccX5q9GznqpgVD7NbRW690iD_hDx1wEdWRgUQz3tWbahWijBQG-gYoF3_Pqc1dbGEU33Q1-oZGQijB9LgQT4tiCkvpEJSSI5rflf9cyu-dXQAsaWWqxtx78pjVH17xMiubXpXiMHg8we9XQK3pAo/w200-h150/IMG_7728.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fiber optic cable across the trail<br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div></div> Further along, the trail crosses two former railroad beds once used to carry iron ore and equipment to and from the Munson Mine. According to the NJDEP’s GeoWeb maps, these railroad beds may be eligible for historic status in the future. There are also some mine sinkholes in this, so stay on the trail. The Blue Trail forks off to the right in this vicinity and loops around the far side of the hill, meeting up again with the White Trail at the peak. So, both trails lead to the overlook.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNmtvS6n3lAFhQJp-B9Z4P4AB4NTVCtpswbTySTVAixTSmqTjv5KURhjXtz-y_mmT1ikKU--sNRxkPM98WcOxEkFiCxmG24TngRv1SKPW2091yRniCbinaEPNoZ7kJDFDWusiEgm1bTeLPDjDL1MbA950faO68JxHrIVJlRLOHEeOMFXuKR9KTMj0Il8/s4032/IMG_7740.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNmtvS6n3lAFhQJp-B9Z4P4AB4NTVCtpswbTySTVAixTSmqTjv5KURhjXtz-y_mmT1ikKU--sNRxkPM98WcOxEkFiCxmG24TngRv1SKPW2091yRniCbinaEPNoZ7kJDFDWusiEgm1bTeLPDjDL1MbA950faO68JxHrIVJlRLOHEeOMFXuKR9KTMj0Il8/w640-h480/IMG_7740.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">View of Dover, NJ, from the overlook at Mountain Park.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The vista at the top of Mountain Park looks to the north, with the Gunther Mill building towards the center view. The Dover rail yard is just out of sight below. The rocky outcrop provides good places to sit while enjoying this beautiful scenic view. But be careful. The spot appears to attract underage or thoughtless drinkers who leave trash, empty beer bottles, and broken glass strewn about. It is an unfortunate distraction to an otherwise peaceful spot.<br /><br />Another feature of the park that visitors might miss is the broad variety of the trees that populate this forest sanctuary and the many different birds they attract. Among the trees I identified along a portion of the trail were Red Oak, various species of Maple, American Beech, Sweet Birch, Swamp Chestnut Oak, Smooth Adler, and Black Oak. I’m sure there are others. A future enhancement to Mountain Park might be a project to identify and label the many different trees along the trails for the educational benefit of school children and adults interested in learning to identify them.</div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_GcrWf7jbcmjnfnqY_N40Xhgqub53MZIHBfS5DNo23YUetFTtIfqfiNKkLNAYmEQjkDlYSF5iIsKKVeMyxfBt2PiWN0-1kOnmBvDshHUJYxvAZWDT-SN4xgetn8a81SP4jZFpkfxi0Vxr9aMtzjGlOaYcE0clHceN9m6YHEdhfEcjpPT5Gq_gDbjqe0/s3840/IMG_7756.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="2160" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_GcrWf7jbcmjnfnqY_N40Xhgqub53MZIHBfS5DNo23YUetFTtIfqfiNKkLNAYmEQjkDlYSF5iIsKKVeMyxfBt2PiWN0-1kOnmBvDshHUJYxvAZWDT-SN4xgetn8a81SP4jZFpkfxi0Vxr9aMtzjGlOaYcE0clHceN9m6YHEdhfEcjpPT5Gq_gDbjqe0/w225-h400/IMG_7756.JPG" width="225" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1464" data-original-width="1938" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhch93sHn128579FY8bzqwse0_t9UXqEpcHwyAXra7phFgMx_DoR79N9L3XNS6QBQWNB9u0TQkQfQhKeyaxd54dZp6wEJ0Li_4GUQyYDNNRtgZT7t-qgDIFo0_RwB9T1ZYTJu7ZM3nCsLQXR6wON673rZDUALY47JnhTKTNJqZAROd0vhiJyiP1OWDnalc/w640-h484/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-05%20at%2011.13.39%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzu195yAiwsEChmCd-FwKtLS6WSU-9AQSYGbTjNprP2wfbAobCAK_ZxDPssZQsf8iuq4Zis2dMHvUT9Vr_p63eEKFG7XqqE5Sfv44UucSD7DuhQyloql2L6EDZdAmqpDrk2cje8TuKqgqt4uP01Xo2l-xRRbxJQQFZdbFpcdN9h8rVVmtpzgTKvkDV9R8/s3579/IMG_7747.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3579" data-original-width="2395" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzu195yAiwsEChmCd-FwKtLS6WSU-9AQSYGbTjNprP2wfbAobCAK_ZxDPssZQsf8iuq4Zis2dMHvUT9Vr_p63eEKFG7XqqE5Sfv44UucSD7DuhQyloql2L6EDZdAmqpDrk2cje8TuKqgqt4uP01Xo2l-xRRbxJQQFZdbFpcdN9h8rVVmtpzgTKvkDV9R8/w428-h640/IMG_7747.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSi7nnPivDSseP8-jkrt4ueEGz0ItpWE5flWxDBPEKJfdVnYJPqBXDmOKqgONr0NtF2_P83hSJGAlvcf5P8TaHqixi5rXIxkOS7h8MDiyQOW64Jupjz-KnE7f7M4pX5GAFCp1eISCI1ZSrzX6fB_aCu3hH9A6kdVwVyAokSKlm-hoTeaJZuxDH5hf58nU/s1468/Mountain%20Park%20DoverNJ%202023-07-03%20at%209.31.17%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1112" data-original-width="1468" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSi7nnPivDSseP8-jkrt4ueEGz0ItpWE5flWxDBPEKJfdVnYJPqBXDmOKqgONr0NtF2_P83hSJGAlvcf5P8TaHqixi5rXIxkOS7h8MDiyQOW64Jupjz-KnE7f7M4pX5GAFCp1eISCI1ZSrzX6fB_aCu3hH9A6kdVwVyAokSKlm-hoTeaJZuxDH5hf58nU/w640-h484/Mountain%20Park%20DoverNJ%202023-07-03%20at%209.31.17%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-47273414516071631752023-07-02T10:18:00.001-04:002023-07-02T10:34:54.486-04:00SCOTUS Turns a Blind Eye to Black Infant Mortality Rates - Replaces Affirmative Action with Affirmative Inaction<p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p>by Brian T. Lynch, MSW<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"The United States has never been color blind."</b></span><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNG7oa9auZhpr_RO0UcUCY3fyGBVTvtKliX2xCsmNUHuGTy-hoe_BF0OUY8YGmBSWBwhrET86c0UL1OsOgmiDFU9KvkMDsvs2o60-orFwuu1zJEH4cAzkQTAgTf89JfSykX0dqWefh2t6qeb7oCo1FAiSXh_gzi14haWohNteTBocR1TiisKfnr9GNXA/s1680/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-02%20at%209.44.28%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="1680" height="398" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNG7oa9auZhpr_RO0UcUCY3fyGBVTvtKliX2xCsmNUHuGTy-hoe_BF0OUY8YGmBSWBwhrET86c0UL1OsOgmiDFU9KvkMDsvs2o60-orFwuu1zJEH4cAzkQTAgTf89JfSykX0dqWefh2t6qeb7oCo1FAiSXh_gzi14haWohNteTBocR1TiisKfnr9GNXA/w640-h398/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-02%20at%209.44.28%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div> So wrote Justice Ketanji Jackson in her scathing dissent of the conservative majority decision to end Affirmative Action and the holistic methods universities use to overcome the systemic advantages of white students in college admissions. All evidence in the case point to the fact that affirmative actions taken to overcome racial disadvantages in college admission decisions are working, over time, to narrow the historical gaps in outcomes of Black Americans in areas of health, wealth, and well-being. <br /><br />One of many examples that Justice Jackson cited struck me as particularly disturbing. It is also emblematic of the problem-solving abilities of affirmative action programs to close a real-life, race-based disparity. Black infant mortality rates, which are 2 to 3 times higher than for white infants, are reduced by half when their doctors are also African-American. <br /><br />I couldn’t believe it. I had to check.<br /><br /><blockquote>“Although Black newborns are three times as likely to die as White newborns, when the doctor of record for Black newborns — primarily pediatricians, neonatologists and family practitioners — was also Black, their mortality rate, as compared with White newborns, was cut in half.” - Washington Post.</blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0xp29oR41X804_k2CSNdyAPgDrocF6QgFtbNSRtSRhBmdt-cC6zV60BLHOXKATnOVsmpMWqB1pTSZFu-a_VWn97VIj12T-mqjJyqD0XSDqiciRJuoAXXSct1GZ6rtSLqJzStSH_RwObRLOtLGffFPpgpnQKLNjcbVve-s9dcqgZbXD38t_udaHQCWLcQ/s1708/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-02%20at%209.25.57%20AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1148" data-original-width="1708" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0xp29oR41X804_k2CSNdyAPgDrocF6QgFtbNSRtSRhBmdt-cC6zV60BLHOXKATnOVsmpMWqB1pTSZFu-a_VWn97VIj12T-mqjJyqD0XSDqiciRJuoAXXSct1GZ6rtSLqJzStSH_RwObRLOtLGffFPpgpnQKLNjcbVve-s9dcqgZbXD38t_udaHQCWLcQ/w200-h134/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-02%20at%209.25.57%20AM.png" width="200" /></a></div><p></p><span>For the record, the mortality rate for white newborn infants treated by black physicians is the same as it is for white doctors. </span>An <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1913405117#:~:text=Under%20the%20care%20of%20White,White%20newborns%20(column%204).">underlying study</a> lays it out more starkly: <br /><br /><blockquote>"In the simple model absent controls, the Patient Black coefficient indicates that, under the care of White physicians, <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Black newborns experience triple the in-hospital mortality rate of White infants</span> (column 1 of Table 1). Under the care of White physicians, the White newborn mortality rate is 290 per 100,000 births, as implied by the constant term (0.290). Black newborn mortality is estimated at 894 per 100,000 births (0.290 + 0.604). <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">The Physician Black coefficient implies no significant difference in mortality among White newborns cared for by Black vs. White physicians </span>(columns 1 to 5 of Table 1). In contrast, we observe a robust racial concordance benefit for Black newborns, as captured by the Physician Black * Patient Black interaction. <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Under the care of White physicians, Black newborns experience 430 more fatalities per 100,000 births than White newborns</span> (column 4). <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Under the care of Black physicians, the mortality penalty for Black newborns is only 173 fatalities per 100,000 births above White newborns,</span> a difference of 257 deaths per 100,000 births, and<span style="background-color: #fcff01;"> a 58% reduction in the racial mortality difference." </span>- Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS)</blockquote><br />Here is a clear example of where an affirmative intent to locate and educate highly qualified African-American students to perhaps become doctors can directly solve a horrible and long-standing racial gap in health outcomes for infants who are born Black. The transformational powers of Affirmative Action programs made it a target for the opponents of change. The colorblind admissions criteria mandated by the Supreme Court turn a blind eye to tens of thousands of avoidable deaths of Black babies every year. How does this square with the sanctity of life principle behind last year's Dobb decision overturning abortion? How will requiring institutions of learning to avert their attention from the social impacts of racial disparities ever solve problems like this?<br /><br /></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-1465472262286494402023-06-12T09:37:00.011-04:002023-06-13T08:43:44.858-04:00Black River in Kenvil Looks Good Despite the Odds Against It - Preliminary Stream Monitor Results<p> by Brian T. Lynch, MSW</p><p>Here is my initial report on the Raritan Headwaters Association (RHA) monitoring of the Black River this year. The monitoring site is about 100 meters downstream from where it flows out of the Hercules Property in Kenvil (Roxbury Twp.), NJ.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNg4xuXKbFsJiezluVi7eTlm8xMblyRKZTsM3TdMvotjfk3Dle4_9BvbPOFF9-8jicjGI5bMnRksGxnKe39FPwxA7K9AMKrKb9anvuSzjjTBJvWCHcL4ds2GcWsRBbuf1MeffW7J5ZS6yoZIsQVuquYOSH8-bkO9648YHmYocuuOEvuJEQNTc7Orx/s2288/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-11%20at%208.50.06%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1444" data-original-width="2288" height="405" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxNg4xuXKbFsJiezluVi7eTlm8xMblyRKZTsM3TdMvotjfk3Dle4_9BvbPOFF9-8jicjGI5bMnRksGxnKe39FPwxA7K9AMKrKb9anvuSzjjTBJvWCHcL4ds2GcWsRBbuf1MeffW7J5ZS6yoZIsQVuquYOSH8-bkO9648YHmYocuuOEvuJEQNTc7Orx/w640-h405/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-11%20at%208.50.06%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;">Aerial view of the Black River monitoring site (white line) in Kenvil, NJ just after it emerges from the former Hercules Powder property. </td></tr></tbody></table><p>Unlike most headwaters, the Black River, a.k.a. the Lamington, originates under very threatening circumstances. It vents from the earth on a polluted tract of land where chemical explosives were manufactured for over one hundred and fifty years. Four hundred years ago this water source was a pristine wetland known as Great Spring. Early settlers two-hundred years later knew this stream and its cool, abundant water as the Black River. More recently it was relabeled as a drainage ditch for industrial chemical waste. Its name was removed from many modern maps. It was off limits to environmental scientists who studied this region, and it remains underappreciated for its contribution to the waters of the North Branch of the Raritan River. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2SusVanKsRXhTEUEh2yvoI2Rw4IveY_VMxZwLyADFy5shhw6LAtZWPQMcqCPrSeLI4oxTFj-xhz2CWSlVlJ25KNiNjrVNVAMrtM2TSQH5ARrJWmDclN2jVAQ5bQR5m1S1kY8cE16sD9ic4sjvfLmaBMmazBSmgLQVZB4GKCfwCMVPv8u0nrB6_PIy/s4032/IMG_7302.HEIC" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2SusVanKsRXhTEUEh2yvoI2Rw4IveY_VMxZwLyADFy5shhw6LAtZWPQMcqCPrSeLI4oxTFj-xhz2CWSlVlJ25KNiNjrVNVAMrtM2TSQH5ARrJWmDclN2jVAQ5bQR5m1S1kY8cE16sD9ic4sjvfLmaBMmazBSmgLQVZB4GKCfwCMVPv8u0nrB6_PIy/w400-h300/IMG_7302.HEIC" width="400" /></a></div><p>And there are other challenges. Unlike most streams in the Highland, this one flows over a stream bed of glacial sand without the benefit of the many rocks and riffles that add life-sustaining oxygen. Riffles also provide habitat for the bugs that live in the stream.</p><p> Before this spring water travels 100 meters to the first RHA monitoring site, it crosses two busy roadways and receives the liquid burden of four major stormwater culverts. These storm drains contribute road salt in winter, tire dust, plastic trash, leaked motor oil, heavy metals, and who knows what else from Route 46, Hillside Avenue, and several large commercial parking lots. These challenges, threats, and a generally sub-optimal habitat always evoke a feeling of dread when I first enter the stream at the monitoring site. The question arises, "Will this be the year I discover the macroinvertebrates have disappeared?." </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Three other Raritan Headwaters Association stream monitors joined me this year. We spent half a day carefully assessing the status of the Black River site (known as BR07) off Hillside Avenue behind Krauser's. I was happy to have so many fresh eyes on the stream and their help collecting macroinvertebrates (small aquatic bugs living in the streambed) needed to test the water quality. </div><p></p><p>The morning was clear and bright. The air was a comfortable 65°, and the recent air quality crisis from burning forests in Canida had cleared. The stream was a cool 58°, but the volume was less than usual. The water height at the monitoring site was lower than normal but only about three inches lower than usual. It dropped an inch since it was last measured eight days earlier. Less than an inch of rain fell in over a month. The last significant rain, about a half-inch, fell 21 days prior. This is a dry spell. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2JPSSSirbdu-jY9buvfTmePPLHZ9KslnnmqPnikfapmiIfdaCUGzOhZs-WKG1tMvhRYfzqG2BKXG_ko-I7nCXnT_Kpk0ecMcEKKNBXqO1JWLX8AaiSj1uWwz_DGkWh7Q5Px_4BHhx7-HfI8yjbAxnBlMliUE-2aBtVrG_kq-Sck_MAU_I-c5cql8/s1994/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-12%20at%209.13.08%20AM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1994" data-original-width="1414" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2JPSSSirbdu-jY9buvfTmePPLHZ9KslnnmqPnikfapmiIfdaCUGzOhZs-WKG1tMvhRYfzqG2BKXG_ko-I7nCXnT_Kpk0ecMcEKKNBXqO1JWLX8AaiSj1uWwz_DGkWh7Q5Px_4BHhx7-HfI8yjbAxnBlMliUE-2aBtVrG_kq-Sck_MAU_I-c5cql8/w142-h200/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-12%20at%209.13.08%20AM.png" width="142" /></a></div>Sampling for macroinvertebrates went better than expected. There was no difficulty obtaining the minimum sample size needed for the laboratory analysis. The variety of bugs was broader than in years past. The bugs' pollution tolerance ranged the full spectrum from pollution-intolerant to pollution-tolerant. We also caught a crayfish, three freshwater mussels, and three small fish (catch and release only) in the sample. I haven't identified the type of fish we caught yet, but we'll send the pictures to the experts. We also spotted three larger fish in the stream but couldn't get pictures or identify details. This was the biggest number of fish observed during stream monitoring at this site.<p></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGz-KAxKURfZIGbfXdAfe76GcURd5EAX6KRve5JKJvgNiL4i6Nk6fLadE5rLue4H8GBjWUIH2HDd2V159eUXz3MC-sMuq3Gc2G9shfaUwdjnQGzHtUYjs-GBDloCDtBDrX_V7NR5VjJU-bZr3pIF74BOhziYoScVWATIwhbIU8s6va727RSsmKqcq/s1634/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-12%20at%209.14.32%20AM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1634" data-original-width="1342" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGz-KAxKURfZIGbfXdAfe76GcURd5EAX6KRve5JKJvgNiL4i6Nk6fLadE5rLue4H8GBjWUIH2HDd2V159eUXz3MC-sMuq3Gc2G9shfaUwdjnQGzHtUYjs-GBDloCDtBDrX_V7NR5VjJU-bZr3pIF74BOhziYoScVWATIwhbIU8s6va727RSsmKqcq/w164-h200/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-12%20at%209.14.32%20AM.png" width="164" /></a></div><p>We were visited by two ducks, a squirrel, many species of birds. Deer tracks and other animal tracks were seen along the stream bank. A neighbor living by the stream told us she hears lots of frogs in the evening. She pointed to the spot where she saw six American Brook Lamprey this past April. These 380 million-year-old species of fish are considered a "species of concern" by the NJDEP. They are on the endangered list in several other states. Freshwater brook lampreys' cannot survive in turbid, polluted, or overly warm water. The EPA lists them as a good bio-indicator species. Their presence in the stream, and the good macroinvertebrate samples we gathered, indicate that this stretch of the Black River has miraculously overcome environmental adversity once again. We will await the laboratory results and subsequent chemical monitoring by RHA for confirmation. </p><p>The other piece of good news is that despite the dry spell, the volume of water in the stream is good. Last year was a wet Spring carrying lots of stormwater into the Black River. This year there is no stormwater or even surface water runoff at all, yet the annualized volume of water is still over a billion gallons per year. </p><p>Below are some of the raw monitoring data from the past three years. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-pXQi4FiM1hh79wQMN7Aou2_zPsOFBbNp5zl0v4WECXZtfG3UjGgQfy26qqmdsHzEVmNEU0oDbsG_zfjy8kOEEI9WnnLwrlLmJqRU_hQ2OWrHbub7jMVlNJ6NzNF4EBd9YYmAh0TlFIz4xcI6cTZkPYG29GnRO9Z1muZ755AA5bznlBCCUrOvifg/s1666/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-12%20at%209.26.27%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1562" data-original-width="1666" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-pXQi4FiM1hh79wQMN7Aou2_zPsOFBbNp5zl0v4WECXZtfG3UjGgQfy26qqmdsHzEVmNEU0oDbsG_zfjy8kOEEI9WnnLwrlLmJqRU_hQ2OWrHbub7jMVlNJ6NzNF4EBd9YYmAh0TlFIz4xcI6cTZkPYG29GnRO9Z1muZ755AA5bznlBCCUrOvifg/w640-h600/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-12%20at%209.26.27%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div><br /></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-46946090790994118012023-05-25T10:48:00.005-04:002023-05-25T10:51:29.527-04:00American Brook Lamprey Are Cool Fish That Need to Stay Cool<br />by Brian T. Lynch, MSW<br /><br />A difference of 5°c in stream water doesn’t sound like much, but for the American Brook Lamprey in the Black River between Hercules and Sunset Lake, it could be the difference between survival and extinction.<br /><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDnMlQF0ZaGudQ9xsLO8UsZsk_PM5r1aaiD3C9YMbXhL0jKmveHdnJiOeYVJui6zIGG2om4FS2Toqpv5CJIufAPra7BCKubacg2X-mLtySMj5AD_gnNnjnJf54emx50wRGzdvP0Cw-thgs53CM-pjduM1RqeqdORqHw6yU3DiDvGnO3GYyP-2pZwIl/s1244/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-25%20at%2010.18.44%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="1244" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDnMlQF0ZaGudQ9xsLO8UsZsk_PM5r1aaiD3C9YMbXhL0jKmveHdnJiOeYVJui6zIGG2om4FS2Toqpv5CJIufAPra7BCKubacg2X-mLtySMj5AD_gnNnjnJf54emx50wRGzdvP0Cw-thgs53CM-pjduM1RqeqdORqHw6yU3DiDvGnO3GYyP-2pZwIl/w640-h468/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-25%20at%2010.18.44%20AM.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Brook lamprey are prehistoric fish that survived every calamity of nature over the past 360 million years. No one knows how many millennia these “living fossils” have inhabited this stream in Kenvil, but if the NJDEP grants a pending “Discharge to Fresh Water” permit to Ashland Chemical, the lamprey here could vanish.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Why should their survival matter?</span></b><br /><br /><div>Among the many good reasons, these ancient survivors have one of the most<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5071338/#:~:text=Ancient%20lamprey%20fossils%20have%20provided,known%20as%20%22evolutionary%20diapause%22."> robust immune systems</a> on the planet. Scientists are convinced they hold genetic secrets that might enhance our immune system someday. There is an urgency to study these fish because their numbers are dwindling. They require cool, clear, pollution-free water to survive.<br /><br />The Hercules permit request is a renewal of an active but obsolete permit from years ago. It allowed Hercules Powder Company to discharge treated wastewater into the Black River, but the property has been vacant for 27 years. It’s being renewed because the proposed redevelopment will need to rebuild the waste treatment plant for the proposed warehouse complex. Among the provisions from the old permit carried over to the new one is the 25°c maximum temperature range for the treated wastewater. The<a href="https://www.fishbase.se/summary/2521"> maximum water temperature</a> in which the American Brook Lamprey can survive is 20°c. Because water temperatures in New Jersey are already rising due to global warming, this old temperature restriction is obsolete. New temperature parameters need to be calculated based on our changing climate conditions.<br /><br />This is where the public can help. During the prior public comments period, the Raritan Headwaters Association made DEP aware of the American Brook Lamprey in the Black River. The harmful impact of carrying over the old temperature limit for treated wastewater was raised, but the revised permit retained the limit. They won’t reconsider this question again in the current public review period without strong public support for reconsideration.<br /><br />If you agree that the temperature restrictions on wastewater discharged into the Black River should be lower than 25°c, please call or write Bennett Moss at the DEP address below. Here is the DEP memo:<br /><br /><br />From: Moss, Bennett [DEP] <Bennett.Moss@dep.nj.gov><br />Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2023, 7:52 AM<br />To: Moss, Bennett [DEP] <Bennett.Moss@dep.nj.gov><br />Subject: Issuance of the Re-Draft Permit Action for NJPDES DSW NJ0000876<br /><br />Good morning,<br /><br />Please find attached the Re-Draft Discharge to Surface Water Renewal Permit Action issued for the following facility as prepared by the Bureau of Surface Water and Pretreatment Permitting:<br /><br />Permit Class: B – Industrial Wastewater<br />Permittee: Hercules, LLC<br />Facility: Hercules, LLC - Kenvil<br />Township / County: Roxbury Township, Morris County<br />Program Interest Number: 46431<br /><br />The Department has attached a PDF version of the re-draft permit to provide you an opportunity to submit formal comments. The public comment period will close on June 16, 2023 as detailed in the re-draft permit cover letter. Notice of this re-draft permit action appeared in the May 17, 2023 DEP Bulletin. The DEP Bulletin is available on the internet at <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/dep/bulletin">http://www.state.nj.us/dep/bulletin</a>.<br /><br />Please note that the Department has only issued this permit action by email and a paper copy of the permit will not be mailed. If you have any questions regarding this permit action, please contact me either by e-mail or by phone at (609) 292-4860.<br /><br /><br />Thank you,<br />Bennett<br /><br />Bennett Moss, Environmental Specialist<br />Bureau of Surface Water & Pretreatment Permitting<br />Division of Water Quality<br />NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection<br />Phone: (609) 292-4860<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=327bd79e30&view=att&th=1882ebf3dad54029&attid=0.1&disp=attd&safe=1&zw"><img src="https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/pdf.gif" /></a> Re-Draft Permit Renewal for NJPDES DSW NJ0000876.pdf<br />2688K <a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=327bd79e30&view=att&th=1882ebf3dad54029&attid=0.1&disp=vah&safe=1&zw">View as HTML</a> <a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=327bd79e30&view=att&th=1882ebf3dad54029&attid=0.1&disp=attd&safe=1&zw">Scan and download</a><br /><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="att" style="color: black; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><tbody><tr><td><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-91338914876476717062023-05-20T00:06:00.002-04:002023-05-20T00:06:31.334-04:00In Search of Indian Spring<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-12e43521-7fff-06cf-038a-a43f513bae7f"></span></p><br /><br />by Brian T. Lynch, MSW<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgH2kWUBCL4qIfXu7_Udor-JRNxJCUgQba8X4gyitULUeJ50YfVHoj5ANpUdtDPGjc5v0XcNrtBX2ydoAKnxjv83fOiXS3XMXa_yrlm9x-YrWG3pN99bjIueg0dvls0wK2--5_bfg2btYoTdA8Xzsb84Akc96ZkfH9fMpVRrQ5NXmJAXiSK90Su8t/s4032/IMG_7326%203.heic" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgH2kWUBCL4qIfXu7_Udor-JRNxJCUgQba8X4gyitULUeJ50YfVHoj5ANpUdtDPGjc5v0XcNrtBX2ydoAKnxjv83fOiXS3XMXa_yrlm9x-YrWG3pN99bjIueg0dvls0wK2--5_bfg2btYoTdA8Xzsb84Akc96ZkfH9fMpVRrQ5NXmJAXiSK90Su8t/w480-h640/IMG_7326%203.heic" width="480" /></a></div></div>In 1973, the Indian Springs Water Company had already been a going concern in Rockaway township for many years. It delivered hundreds of five-gallon bottles of pure spring all over Northern New Jersey each day. Customers ranged from Doc Severinsen (Johnny Carson’s band leader), who lived in Sussex County, to the N.J. Statehouse in Trenton. The company was owned and operated by Joe Oram, a cantankerous yet likable old man. His spring and bottling plant was in a quiet, wooded ravine on the edge of White Meadow Lake, a residential community. His ancestors were among the founders of Morris County. Joe told me that the spring had been in his family for many generations.<br /><br />A small spring house with a cobblestone floor covered the vent where water sprung from the ground. A layer of sand was spread over the floor to filter the water before it was pumped into a stainless-steel holding tank. The sand was periodically replaced. Spring water was pumped from the tank into the spring house during operations. The only other water treatment was from an ultraviolet filter near the spigot filling the bottles. It was pure, clean, and delicious water that was regularly tested to meet state regulations.<br /><br />The bottling operation took place on weekdays in a modest cement-block bottling house. Three or four delivery drivers would unload wooden crates containing empty bottles from their trucks and stack the crates on one side of the loading dock. Next, they reloaded the trucks with full crates of water stacked on the other side of the dock before heading out to make their deliveries. A bottle washer carried all the empty bottles into the wash area and ran them through a bottle washing machine. The bottles were temporarily stored along the back wall if the bottle washer was working alone. When all the bottles were cleaned, he carried them to the other side of the bottling house where they were refilled and capped. The filled bottles were then carefully slipped back into wooden crates and stacked on the loading dock.<div><br /></div><div>Production was modest. The bottle washing machine could only clean about 84 bottles per hour. With only one employee in the bottling house, only about 350 bottles could be filled in an eight-hour shift. Sometimes that was enough. <br /><br />The brains of this operation appeared to work part-time in a mobile office trailer beside the spring house. It was equipped with a desk, two chairs, a telephone, an old typewriter, filing cabinets, and lots of handwritten invoices and office supplies scattered about. The back half of the trailer was crammed with water coolers in various states and conditions. Joe Oram seemed to know the names and addresses of most of his customers by memory. This was a small, simple, but profitable business. By lunchtime, Joe was off to his favorite restaurant, The Three Sisters, for drinks and a meal. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIA3eXyyiRa-mRhKktj4iqlxN5ZHccjDFC8b3GSOaALY8Jibx_WF0xAIZxgc-EvMpdehvA_NOxSsLmThzV_d54lFdvCOn_k-YqqkbHDP_EEQf8bFUI5-U-CjeRBOmoVP2wsjy79VNcrvVBJi-RAgFPxxxym647T2mZTe9cnnF7v44DWb_R82QX7p3/s2708/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-19%20at%2011.46.24%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="2708" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIA3eXyyiRa-mRhKktj4iqlxN5ZHccjDFC8b3GSOaALY8Jibx_WF0xAIZxgc-EvMpdehvA_NOxSsLmThzV_d54lFdvCOn_k-YqqkbHDP_EEQf8bFUI5-U-CjeRBOmoVP2wsjy79VNcrvVBJi-RAgFPxxxym647T2mZTe9cnnF7v44DWb_R82QX7p3/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-19%20at%2011.46.24%20PM.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>I worked for Joe in the summer of 1973 delivering spring water all over Northern N.J. I switched in the fall to be his bottle washer while attending college part-time. I helped a friend of mine get the delivery job I gave up. He eventually went into the spring water business himself and comfortably retired at an early age. Joe eventually sold Indian Spring. By then, the spring water business was changing due to mergers and acquisitions. One very large spring operation in Pennsylvania was able to sell bottled water wholesale to other companies at a cost that was less than some bottling operations. <br /><br />The fate of the actual Indian Spring was not so happy. Water tests some years later showed that the spring was becoming polluted from groundwater contamination migrating from Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. Army Armament Research facility. By that time, the Indian Spring Water Company had other water sources, including the wholesale purchase of water from the plant in Pennsylvania. But, the Indian Springs plant was abandoned. The land was eventually sold to a developer.<br /><br />That was fifty years ago. Recently I went looking for Indian Spring to see if it was still flowing. Hardly anyone I talked to about the spring (local residents, town road crew members, etc.) remembered it or the bottling company for whom I worked. It isn’t referenced in Google searches, doesn’t appear on Google Earth images, or appears in the NJDEP’s GeoWeb maps.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiepZ1W7lau3YQXwQlWvtOOM6jsjfD157NyD5mdbFXPkY3iOD6mIIa2CgtTCrxrtlxjBu7U0ciV-AfXJFkaHxx0muHWgWIVwSUYaU7NsARgmvj2AMBbFY7satp2_BHzDtXZvcmqdBB7Xfqjr_IsAJHdBt37S2mXhv2VLvw8VRDGHW8TAK2DUETPajW1/s4032/IMG_7334%203.heic" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiepZ1W7lau3YQXwQlWvtOOM6jsjfD157NyD5mdbFXPkY3iOD6mIIa2CgtTCrxrtlxjBu7U0ciV-AfXJFkaHxx0muHWgWIVwSUYaU7NsARgmvj2AMBbFY7satp2_BHzDtXZvcmqdBB7Xfqjr_IsAJHdBt37S2mXhv2VLvw8VRDGHW8TAK2DUETPajW1/w200-h150/IMG_7334%203.heic" width="200" /></a></div>My first attempt to find the spring was not successful. I drove around, but nothing looked familiar. On my second attempt, however, I found it. It is hidden from view in a gully behind a townhouse in a development aptly named Indian Springs. </div><div><br /></div><div>Just a short way downstream from the vent, I watched it's water cascade over a low, moss-covered rock wall someone had built long ago. The sound of it was musical. I felt at peace knowing that despite the radical changes and damage we inflict on the natural world, this little spring just keeps flowing.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqUP0oJ96IeGslBQkH7VHikpar0InaEhuG_dJ0A5wpg22fmg69srSeG0SPB40fkDQah_4M3z5LB2j3hFBnOPk6LA-5HPAaLSKLxSVuqCg7pliFSA6w6S7mKqlCeZtS9oe_sfsgprJeLimRNkCxHiOYmxEWRdhc2ohHYDzr2LnI7R5w1zumx2g73G1/s4032/IMG_7319%203.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbqUP0oJ96IeGslBQkH7VHikpar0InaEhuG_dJ0A5wpg22fmg69srSeG0SPB40fkDQah_4M3z5LB2j3hFBnOPk6LA-5HPAaLSKLxSVuqCg7pliFSA6w6S7mKqlCeZtS9oe_sfsgprJeLimRNkCxHiOYmxEWRdhc2ohHYDzr2LnI7R5w1zumx2g73G1/w480-h640/IMG_7319%203.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><br /><br /></div></div></div></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-44840475355386207022023-04-28T13:30:00.003-04:002023-04-28T23:07:16.972-04:00Conserving the Rain That Falls in Morris Countyby Brian T. Lynch, MSW<br /><br />As the atmosphere in the Highlands of New Jersey warms up, we will see more heavy rainfall events. That’s because warm air holds more water vapor. Heavier rainfall will add to our considerable flood hazards. The recent proliferation of warehouses and the rapid land development for housing complexes in Morris County only compound the potential for severe flooding because it leaves less undeveloped land, called recharge areas, where rain can soak into the ground.<br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieRjxaIKTllr_MC-cf_MU13LFZGCIV2Rd4mV3rpj_oqLjPQPXzFAyKR8xSpL3Q7Wapx8UohdISvn0KpO3j1pBjrwrfpCzU8dHlITI98FZ2_T0u81KSs5QewZsC753wZijSYYz1wfEYXqY3pd4uGiro8tYez_OmG18uUIGZMQfyp3Iufkv-fqFvwBpN" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="1628" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieRjxaIKTllr_MC-cf_MU13LFZGCIV2Rd4mV3rpj_oqLjPQPXzFAyKR8xSpL3Q7Wapx8UohdISvn0KpO3j1pBjrwrfpCzU8dHlITI98FZ2_T0u81KSs5QewZsC753wZijSYYz1wfEYXqY3pd4uGiro8tYez_OmG18uUIGZMQfyp3Iufkv-fqFvwBpN=w640-h346" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p>In reading how stormwater experts plan to manage future flooding, the focus relies on “smart stormwater” technologies and grand solutions. These require lots of taxpayer funding and a slow rollout of construction projects. Missing is a discussion on practical, simple, and less costly ideas to reduce stormwater in the short term, but first, some background.<br /><br />Most rainwater runoff results from covering the ground with impervious surfaces such as roads, buildings, sidewalks, and driveways. This causes more rainwater to flow over the land rather than seep into the soil. The traditional solution has been to funnel stormwater into our natural streams and rivers to carry this excess back to the ocean. This extra water volume was tolerated by our river systems 100 years ago when the land was not highly developed, and one-hundred-year floods didn’t occur every decade.<br /><br />Today, the volume of rainwater running off impervious areas overwhelms our rivers, erodes streambeds, destroys natural habitats, and turns streams into nearly lifeless drainage ditches. More rainwater rushing out to sea means less groundwater to replace what we draw from underground aquifers. Excessive stormwater overflows riverbanks and spills out beyond the natural floodplains to inundate whole communities. Annual flood damage costs us millions of dollars every year. Action is necessary.<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: medium;">What can Morris County residents do right now to begin reducing excess stormwater?<br /></span></b><br />We can start where we live. Where does your rainwater go during a storm if you live in a single-family home? Most homeowners will answer that their excess stormwater runs into the street, nearby lake, or stream. This is especially true during heavy rainstorms when soil quickly becomes saturated as rain falls faster than it can be absorbed into the soil. This also means less infiltration to the roots where grass and trees need moisture. Roofs are a big source of excess stormwater. Most houses have gutters and leaders that direct water into the street. Impervious or semi-impervious driveways made of asphalt, cement, or pavers contribute to the stormwater volume. Sidewalks, patios, and pools where water can’t penetrate the ground also contribute to the problem. All these sources of excess runoff can be eliminated. Older homes can be modified, and new homes can be designed to conserve most of the four feet of annual rainfall Morris County receives.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>How much of a difference would residential rain conservation measures make in controlling flood waters and saving the ecology of our river systems?</b></span><br /><br />There are at least 204,000 single-family homes in Morris County on an average lot size of about 20.6% of an acre. In the aggregate, each lot has about 44% impervious cover. When you do the math, our homes generate about 2.4 trillion gallons of residential stormwater annually. The total impervious cover from all sources (roads, residential, and commercial development) comes to 6.3 trillion gallons annually. That means our homes alone account for 38% of the excess stormwater in the County. So yes, we can take many actions to conserve rainwater on our property, and it can make a real difference, both in controlling floods and preserving our streams and rivers.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimb93hM4KI6p5x72FcHFbK48m6tTlFIkrBS3ptLMppLOPR8cEJ1JCA0XwAn1Q1ISvE8a-ZbbvPjZdc1nw1TlJOcU4KCrSzqUuM1wIxaYG9TfC1OWQwvdXzVhpkF-ujnrjiG9KiRHWblJ-JmgNceh60OTlWESyOH28nUwV6aT7VO30mkzX3cvnJyH7n" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="1272" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimb93hM4KI6p5x72FcHFbK48m6tTlFIkrBS3ptLMppLOPR8cEJ1JCA0XwAn1Q1ISvE8a-ZbbvPjZdc1nw1TlJOcU4KCrSzqUuM1wIxaYG9TfC1OWQwvdXzVhpkF-ujnrjiG9KiRHWblJ-JmgNceh60OTlWESyOH28nUwV6aT7VO30mkzX3cvnJyH7n=w640-h300" width="640" /></a></div><div> https://www.njfuture.org/2019/11/11/where-does-impervious-cover-have-the-biggest-impact/</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Rain is an indispensable resource. Life on land only exists because it rains. Managing rainwater and maximizing its use is essential for a more sustainable world. Below are some links to articles on how to conserve rain for interested homeowners. But, I also hope to interest local municipal planners and stormwater utility officials. There is so much that local towns can do to update and tweak building codes and zoning regulations and support homeowner and business owner initiatives to reduce stormwater runoff.<br /><br /> <br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u><br />What You Can Do to Soak Up the Rain (US EPA)</u></b></span><br /><a href="https://www.epa.gov/soakuptherain/what-you-can-do-soak-rain">https://www.epa.gov/soakuptherain/what-you-can-do-soak-rain</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>Soak Up the Rain: Permeable Pavement (US EPA)</u></b></span><br /><a href="https://www.epa.gov/soakuptherain/soak-rain-permeable-pavement">https://www.epa.gov/soakuptherain/soak-rain-permeable-pavement</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><u><b>Stormwater Drainage Wells (US EPA)</b></u></span><br /><a href="https://www.epa.gov/uic/stormwater-drainage-wells">https://www.epa.gov/uic/stormwater-drainage-wells</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>Urbanization and Stormwater Runoff (US EPA)</u></b></span><br /><a href="https://www.epa.gov/sourcewaterprotection/urbanization-and-stormwater-runoff">https://www.epa.gov/sourcewaterprotection/urbanization-and-stormwater-runoff</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><u>Sustainable Landscapes: Designing a Rain Garden for Residential Property</u></b></span><br /><a href="https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/sustainable-landscapes-designing-a-rain-garden-for-residential-property.html">https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/sustainable-landscapes-designing-a-rain-garden-for-residential-property.html</a><br /><br /><br /><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Stormwater Management: Rainwater Harvesting in Residential-Scale Landscapes</span></u></b><br /><a href="https://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/html/g2148/build/g2148.htm">https://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/html/g2148/build/g2148.htm</a></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2648025887105945618.post-70847202101527274702023-03-31T09:06:00.003-04:002023-03-31T09:32:52.397-04:00Fact Sheet on Hercules Polluted Explosives Manufacturing Property in Kenvil, NJ<ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-large;"><b>HERCULES of KENVL, NJ</b></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">PROPERTY FACT SHEET – DID YOU KNOW?</div></b></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgl55d89txw-G4dG85zOVPFaH600A1Sw1an46-VqIzd5GPCOVdMW21FscmRfpBEE_zrKpGMqb7d1MhKEJl9Dk_Z3yR8UZ_E-bFGoPoOX0up-xHn36G8sPBjSMlSNDNoIVlWyswzgZAK3UvL21hm3Tm700yu27vTIofWCzyzi7HPfpXmpwYSahu8T-nm"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgl55d89txw-G4dG85zOVPFaH600A1Sw1an46-VqIzd5GPCOVdMW21FscmRfpBEE_zrKpGMqb7d1MhKEJl9Dk_Z3yR8UZ_E-bFGoPoOX0up-xHn36G8sPBjSMlSNDNoIVlWyswzgZAK3UvL21hm3Tm700yu27vTIofWCzyzi7HPfpXmpwYSahu8T-nm=w640-h480" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The Issues at the abandoned Hercules Property</span><br /><br /><br /><br />Reports and Plans for the Hercules Site, currently owned by Ashland Global, an international chemical company, are not easily available to the public.<br /><br />NJDEP (NJ Department of Environmental Protection) and the LSRP (Licensed Site Remediation Professional) assigned to oversee the private cleanup of contaminants on the site should provide access to their plans and public outreach to residents and groups concerned about the natural areas on the Hercules site. There should be public information about the impacts on water quality in underground aquifers, private wells, and the downstream outflows of the Black River.<br /><br />The public should be invited to review information regarding the studies of the contaminants, the natural features of the site, and the remediation plans. <br /><br />The public should have opportunities to discuss potential impacts that future development may have on natural features and the Black River’s downstream communities in Roxbury. Containment of the contaminated areas of the site and stormwater runoff from the Hercules property are major concerns in addition to impacts to natural areas on site. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8qVZuEctTs9ZHXnNRO27IQEhcQnATZ30E55o0pE0TNIxexqNL0DuBEdk689WOKocoZLnbHdJ-80Td_DTqLwiOJ6kwJ2QxFfNPPIcezlIUV6kZtM6kY5OP81srQCwTmwc3fqRoGkrQbQVajrasmwaGtYBdHWDhcWSZlwAxQ_k4IQ1bi_UsLNbYWMmo"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj8qVZuEctTs9ZHXnNRO27IQEhcQnATZ30E55o0pE0TNIxexqNL0DuBEdk689WOKocoZLnbHdJ-80Td_DTqLwiOJ6kwJ2QxFfNPPIcezlIUV6kZtM6kY5OP81srQCwTmwc3fqRoGkrQbQVajrasmwaGtYBdHWDhcWSZlwAxQ_k4IQ1bi_UsLNbYWMmo=w568-h640" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The Great Spring and Black River</span><br /><br />Approximately 15 acres of wetlands on the southern portion of the former Hercules Powder Company property have been the headwaters for the Black River since the end of the last ice age; the soil remediation project is occurring within the wetland or wetland buffer zone.<br /><br />The Leni Lenape natives called these 15 acres of wetland the <a href="https://aseyeseesit.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-great-spring.html">“Great Spring.”</a> They lived near the spring and the Black River during the summer months. The spring appears to have received little notice in the Remediation Investigation Report, and the Black River is referred to as a drainage ditch.<br /><br />Roxbury’s section of the Black River is home to a rare <a href="https://aseyeseesit.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-great-spring-home-to-earths-oldest.html">prehistoric species of fish</a> that has existed for over 360 million years, well before the first dinosaurs. <a href="https://aseyeseesit.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-great-spring-home-to-earths-oldest.html?fbclid=IwAR19E-Vsso79Gzrz6bdZXvRN5rZ7fkLJhI8aAwSU4ePSyiNldG6P2CcawBg">https://aseyeseesit.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-great-spring-home-to-earths-oldest.html</a><br /><br />The Raritan Headwaters Association has a stream monitoring location downstream from the Hercules site. Water volume measure at the monitoring site indicates that the volume of water flowing from the Hercules Property may be as much as two billion gallons per year.<br /><br />The Black River in the Upper Raritan River Watershed Region is a major tributary of the North Branch Raritan River. The Raritan River is the largest river contained entirely within New Jersey.<br /><br />The Raritan River system provides drinking water for more than 1.8 million New Jersey residents.<br /><br />The aquifers that flow under the Hercules Property are the same aquifers providing most of the commercial drinking water in the area and most of the private well water from Roxbury Township to Hunterdon County.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgX9m0_ZGHrPY9-7hPqWmL6wspAxp19LVRSv-tnvejgOpMjR8r1jR04jUu3Uv6z-xVraWhWlAtqlONTgGK4H_2L-5U-0pHhkn3DVkc0Def8A86FGRtZ7HFu0molnsObofDb8FoqqX03UUcd8uaKvz4zdN50lOeNGaLMU0Yn5jDldpA76XuN03ZAkKCP" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="1626" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgX9m0_ZGHrPY9-7hPqWmL6wspAxp19LVRSv-tnvejgOpMjR8r1jR04jUu3Uv6z-xVraWhWlAtqlONTgGK4H_2L-5U-0pHhkn3DVkc0Def8A86FGRtZ7HFu0molnsObofDb8FoqqX03UUcd8uaKvz4zdN50lOeNGaLMU0Yn5jDldpA76XuN03ZAkKCP=w640-h470" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;">Hercules Powder Company</span><br /><br />The 1,059-acre Hercules property has been privately owned for over 150 years and the site of commercial explosives manufacturing since 1871. The Facility was operated by various companies until 1912, when Hercules became the sole owner.<br /><br />Between 1912 and 1996, Hercules manufactured propellants and explosives such as TNT, nitroglycerin, pentaerythritol tetranitrate or PETN, smokeless powder, <br /><br />ammonium nitrate fuel oil or ANFO, and other specialty products for both military and commercial applications.<br /><br />Over this 94-year period, archaic manufacturing processes, pre-regulated discharges of waste material into brooks and drainage ditches on the property, open burning of toxic chemicals, and cross-contamination of the soil and water due to explosions and construction activities severely polluted the Hercules site with a wide variety of toxins.<br /><br />Since this large industrial site became inactive in 1996, forests, shrublands, meadows, and wetland habitats have regenerated over most of the property and are host to a variety of fish and wildlife species, including some that are rare or endangered in the state. However, there have not been thorough biological surveys of the site. <br /><br />Remedial investigations of the Hercules site by Hercules began as part of an ongoing environmental investigation on March 10, 1995, in response to a Remedial Agreement reached between the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and Hercules.<br /><br />Ashland Inc., who purchased the property from Hercules, continued funding decommissioning, remediation, and environmental studies of the site under the direct supervision of a privately hired Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) until May 2016. The 20-year contamination study culminated in the Phase II Remedial Investigation Report (RIR) submitted to the NJDEP.<br /><br />The RIR found that after 20 years, areas of the property remain significantly polluted with TNT, PCBs, mercury, arsenic, and a host of other highly toxic chemicals. Different contaminants are found in excess in different areas on the property according to the manufacturing activity that took place at those locations. <br /><br />In addition, many contaminants were spread throughout the site due to drainage ditches, past construction activity, burn pits, and explosions. This created mixed layering and cross-contamination. Soil samples in the TNT manufacturing area closest to Great Springs, for example, contain the highest levels of toxic TNT chemicals but also contaminants from different locations on the property. <br /><br />The study also found evidence of polluted groundwater in the southwestern portion of the site. The plume appears to be stable and contained within the boundaries of the property. <br /><br />The good news is that contaminated soils, sediments, and groundwater on the site remain in place and are not migrating beyond the property boundaries. This is partly attributed to the property being undisturbed by human activity for many years. This allowed for the regrowth of vegetation which stabilized the soil and prevented erosion and release of contaminates bound up in the soil and sediments. <br /><br />As of 2016, the date of the environmental report, there were no contaminates entering the Black River waters flowing from the southeast corner of the property. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSbBzGpr1PJodtp0f6L0n9LxOtjaL500ej-WzcUmtGmTf7dTi_idCWsBi7fr27UvS1Fs3j8vvJtOgkuqFqme-v3kBK_LNlsgDD74oKnO5KZk6KKFVb9LVt15CA4JNYxjAvWu1bE5u1_AinHs2hbDcfD8eahCbD-HmU-Ph-i3KNBk2tPCHOAGhhQ1Y3" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1738" data-original-width="2322" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiSbBzGpr1PJodtp0f6L0n9LxOtjaL500ej-WzcUmtGmTf7dTi_idCWsBi7fr27UvS1Fs3j8vvJtOgkuqFqme-v3kBK_LNlsgDD74oKnO5KZk6KKFVb9LVt15CA4JNYxjAvWu1bE5u1_AinHs2hbDcfD8eahCbD-HmU-Ph-i3KNBk2tPCHOAGhhQ1Y3=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">Soil Remediation Activity and Development Plans <br /></span><br /><br />Soil remediation activity and an announcement of industrial development plans for the Hercules property began in 2022 with little public disclosure or discussion of the extent to which the Hercules property remains contaminated.<br /><br />Hartz Mountain Company plans to purchase over 200 acres of the Hercules land and build warehouses on a 200-acre complex near the center of the Hercules site that would serve as a protective cap over the tainted property. At a Roxbury Planning Board meeting in March, under oath, the company’s representatives were unaware of what remediation activity would take place on that site prior to it being capped by their redevelopment.<br /><br />Soil remediation methods underway require the removal of vegetation overgrowth to expose and excavate contaminated soil. This soil disturbance increases the risk of releasing toxic contaminants into the surface water on the property, which flows into the Black River. There has been no public explanation of how risk factors are managed during the current remediation or development processes. <br /><br />The site chosen to conduct the bioremediation of contaminated soil appears to be located within the boundaries of the <a href="https://aseyeseesit.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-great-spring.html">Great Spring</a> wetlands from which flows the Black River. No public explanation has been given for this decision. <br /><br />The potential for significant environmental threats that the former Hercules property poses to residents of Roxbury Township and the surrounding region warrants substantial public disclosure of contamination risks and the opportunity for public participation in the Remediation and planning process.<br /><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caryn Barnes of</span><a href="https://www.langan.com/" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Langan </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Engineering is the Licensed Site Remediation Specialist responsible for all remediation decisions for the Hercules site. Ed Meeks is the Senior Manager for Remediation at</span><a href="https://www.ashland.com/" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ashland, LLC</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Neither has responded to written requests for a meeting by the scientists at the </span><a href="https://www.raritanheadwaters.org/about-raritan-headwaters/" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Raritan Headwater Association</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #050505; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.5pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p></li></ul><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.3333px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15.3333px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Prepared by Dr. Kristi Macdonald, Mara Tippit, and Brian T. Lynch</span></span></span></div>Brian T. Lynch, MSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14639147301063129077noreply@blogger.com0