Using residential history and groundwater modeling to examine drinking water exposure and breast cancer.

Here's a study out of Massachusetts - I bet a number of folks' reaction to this will be to start drinking bottled water....

Conclusions

This analysis found evidence of a positive association between breast cancer and exposure to drinking water impacted by wastewater effluent from the BWPCF. The associations were strongest among women who were not regular bottled water users and among women exposed for long durations when latency periods were taken into account. The current exposure analysis expands on our earlier work to explore the spatial and temporal relationship between a source of environmental contamination and a route of exposure for this study population. Our prior spatial analysis identified groundwater plumes as a potential environmental exposure that had not yet been fully studied. We investigated this hypothesis using a detailed groundwater model and determined that contamination of drinking water by effluent from the BWPCF was plausible. Area groundwater sources for drinking water are subject to more protections now, and the impact of sewage on groundwater was carefully considered in recent expansion plans for the facility. However, this analysis suggests the sewage plume emanating from the facility may have had a significant historical impact on drinking water.

Sustainable Stormwater Classes for Homeowners & Others

Are you interested in the benefits that stormwater management can bring to your community? Do you want to learn how you can implement practices in your everyday life that will improve water quality? The City of Newberg & Green Girl Land Development Solutions have partnered to bring you this series of classes to choose from.
March 30 Sustainable Stormwater

Apr 13 Rain Gardens

Apr 27 Rain Gardens for Challenging Sites

May 11 Landscaping to Conserve Energy

All classes:

Cost: $10/class

Time: 6:30 – 8:30 pm

Location: Newberg Public Safety Building at 401 E. Third Street in Newberg, OR

For more info: www.greengirlpdx.com/Events.htm or see class descriptions below

To register: Contact Sonja Johnson at the City of Newberg at (503) 537-1282 or sonja.johnson@newbergoregon.gov



CLASS DESCRIPTIONS

Are you interested in learning more about stormwater? Do you want to install a rain garden? Unsure if you have the appropriate soil or yard size for low impact development? The City of Newberg is sponsoring classes by Green Girl Land Development Solutions to help you answer these questions and more. While the classes are designed as a series, you may participate in as few or as many as you wish for $10 per class. They will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Public Safety Building at 401 E. Third Street every other Wednesday night starting on March 30, 2011.



March 30 Sustainable Stormwater

Join the City of Newberg and Green Girl Land Development Solutions to find out why we have more stormwater in our streets. Learn how air, water, and soil are affected by landscaping and answer the question, “What is sustainable stormwater?” Each participant will receive the guide, Water Efficient Plants for the Willamette Valley.



April 13 Rain Gardens

Learn how to choose the right landscaping option, such as rain gardens or stormwater planters, to fit your site. We’ll answer questions such as, “Where should it go?”, “Where should it not go?”, “How big should it be”, and “How do I get stormwater to it?” Each participant will receive the Oregon Rain Garden Guide. This class provides a strong foundation for the following class on April 27.



April 27 Rain Gardens for Challenging Sites

Many of our yards have clay soil, high groundwater, or slopes that make it more challenging to have sustainable landscaping. In this class, we’ll discuss how to adapt designs for normal conditions for the unique conditions in your yard. Participants should be familiar with rain garden design and their normal landscape requirements.



May 11 Landscaping to Conserve Energy

Use micro-climate strategies to conserve energy inside your home. Learn how to incorporate shade, wind blocks, and cool pavements or roofs into your sustainable stormwater design. Save money while adding beauty to your yard.

Free Webinar on Nitrate in Groundwater - Focus on Oregon's Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area

This is very short notice, but perhaps someone can take advantage out there?

There is a joint presentation on the issue of nitrate in groundwater – here is a fantastic opportunity to hear the latest information on the Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area - as well as views from Wisconsin’s Public Drinking Water Program and an update from USGS on their NAWQA project including national data on nitrate in groundwater.

Here is the EPA website information – and there is a link to register for this Webinar below.

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EPA's Watershed Academy is pleased to sponsor its 57th free Webcast Seminar.

Webcast on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - 10 AM PT

"Nitrogen and Phosphorus Pollution Series: Nitrate in Ground Water"
by Jill Jonas, Director, Bureau of Drinking Water and Groundwater, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
Audrey Eldridge, Coordinator for the Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and
Neil M. Dubrovsky, PhD, Chief, Nutrients and Trace Elements National Synthesis Project, National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA), U.S. Geological Survey



Please use this link to register

http://water.epa.gov/learn/training/wacademy/webcasts_index.cfm

Effects of the Japanese earthquake on a well in the Edwards Aquifer

A nice little illustration of how connected we are to events on the other side of the world. Thanks, WaterDoc!

So much for the water they drink (Part 2)

I have a bit of a correction to make from my previous post. I misinterpreted some comments/events and ascribed the pushover vote to the wrong pushover. The second vote to repeal the local ordinance to protect groundwater will come from the Republican party, not the Democratic party, in Deschutes County. I apologize for the error. Either way, I smell blood in the water but I be afeared it is the local habitat for endangered fish species that is food for the sharks and not the so-called higher thinkers that make the decisions for that region of Oregon.

By the way, the word on whether the Democratic vote on this issue will be a pushover as well is still out. The vote will purportedly take place on this Wednesday, March 23rd.

Further, the juiciest bit of gossip is that the local representative from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality expressed dismay at the possibility of this ordinance being repealed. From what I have read on the issue so far, which I am sorry to report has taken much more of my life than I intended (there is a huge amount of info available online, is that the DEQ has taken a completely milk-toast stance on the issue. They have been so politically correct in their verbiage that you can't tell if they support protecting groundwater quality or not. They say the right things over all in terms of DEQ's program goals, but when it comes to the specifics of this matter in Central Oregon that affects one of the major rivers in the state, the tone and words are best described as bland, almost to the point of indifference. What did we the people hire these "professionals" to do?

Anyway, it appears from this vantage point that the endangered fish species (steelhead) in this basin don't have a voice. Where are the advocates that will fight to restore and prevent the further decline what was formerly a world class trout fishing stream? Where are the folks that would take action under the Endangered Species Act and use this nice little Citizen's guide to better understand their rights?

Here is state and local government using public resources to work to ensure there is one more reason not to come to Oregon.

So much for the water they drink

Last week was National Groundwater Awareness Week and while I exhort anyone out there reading to take a look at the website related to this event and do what they can, I have to bring the sorry news that a local jurisdiction in Central Oregon (Deschutes County) decided last week to roll back the clock on groundwater/drinking water protection for a portion of its population by rescinding a rule specifying that people need to clean up the sewage they are pumping into the ground. While I say this was "decided" last week, the vote of the three person commission is still to come, but based on the decisions last week, the deed is fait accompli. Lovely way to celebrate National Groundwater Awareness Week, Central Oregon! Rah, Rah, Go Team! ("Groundwater protection ordinance to be scrapped," Bend Bulletin, Thursday, March 10, 2011)

My local sources say that one of the three votes needed to rescind this rule is a mole in the Republican party installed by the local tea party ideologues and the other comes from a pushover posing as a Democrat. Good old boys to the core. The third vote, and I actually have not heard how this vote will go, is a good new girl that actually seems to think about issues rather than vote according to election statistics.

So, while I like to bring positive exhortations of how we can make a difference in this world, my first posting after a bit of hiatus is a look into short-sightedness and essential greed.