New Jersey Currents|online, Summer 2010

The Good and the Bad of the State House's New Leaders

Feed Your Lawn - Without Poisoning Your Water

Clean Air...Good Jobs

New Jersey Currents|online, Summer 2009 - update

2008-9 Legislature Worst In New Jersey History?

By Peggi Sturmfels, Program Organizer, New Jersey Currents|online, Summer 2010

Tritium (or radioactive hydrogen) contamination of ground water was discovered at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generation Station (OCNGS) in Lacey Township, New Jersey on Friday May, 14, 2010. According to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) it was attributed to an airborne release of tritiated water from OCNGS' isolation condenser system following a reactor shutdown on July 17, 2007.

By Jenny Vickers, Communications Coordinator, New Jersey Currents|online, Summer 2010

Like vitamins, nutrients are thought to be good for you, but too many can also make you sick. In New Jersey, our aquatic ecosystems are showing severe signs of stress from excessive nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus which can come from many sources including synthetic fertilizers*, discharge from wastewater treatment plants, overflowing septic systems, and runoff from croplands and builtup areas.

By David Pringle, Campaign Director, New Jersey Currents|online, Summer 2010

The Christie Administration and new legislative leadership of Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver recently completed their first 100 days in power and are completing their budget balancing battle. We have seen the good, the bad and the ugly come to the fore, and there is certainly more to come.

Governor Chris Christie and the Environment

In this issue of Minnesota Currents|online:

2010 Legislative Summary

The 2010 legislative session ended in the early morning hours of May 17 after a brief special session was called by the Governor. Fights over the state budget and funding for health care and education dominated the atmosphere at the Capitol, making it a tough year to pass meaningful environmental legislation. However, once again Clean Water Action was able to celebrate several legislative victories this session. In addition to passing another bill to keep toxins out of our environment, we were able to stop attempts to weaken current environment laws and move Minnesota towards dirty energy options.

Federal Climate and Energy Legislation

Clean Water Action and all of the other activists and allies working for strong, comprehensive climate and energy legislation are still waiting for the introduction of new climate and energy legislation by US Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Lieberman (I-CT). These senators have been working with Senator Graham (R-SC) to craft a bill capable of passing the Senate since earlier efforts stalled. A draft was released during the middle of May.

Minnesota Currents|Online, Summer 2010

The 40th anniversary of Earth Day meant time for a celebration at Clean Water Action.

See more photos from our Earth Day celebration

Clean Water Action members, volunteers, allies and staff celebrated Earth Day’s 40th Birthday with food, fun and activism!

One of the main activities featured at this year’s Earth Day celebration was having consumer products tested by an XRF analyzer, a device used by the Food and Drug Administration, which uses X-ray fluorescence to detect the presence of heavy metals in products. We tested numerous toys and household items to find out whether they were healthy or sick. Fortunately, the majority of the products we tested were safe but we did find a few sick ones.

The summer is a time for hot weather and enjoying our lakes, rivers and streams. It is also a time when we tend to have our water closer to the forefront of our minds. Sometimes it seems like there is not much we can do to protect the health and vitality of our water because these problems seem too big. Increasingly, we all share a responsibility to do our part to protect our waters. How we use water, what happens to the rainwater falling on our lands and what we send down our drains are the next greatest challenges we must face together.

Minnesota Currents|Online, Summer 2010

Get the report of the President's Cancer Panel

Pesticide issues have gained momentum and long awaited attention at the federal level this year. Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota is leading the fight to ban the highly toxic and commonly used pesticide atrazine, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking to disclose inert ingredients in pesticides and the President’s Cancer Panel released a report stating that chemicals threaten our bodies.

Rep. Ellison re-introduced a bill to ban atrazine, an herbicide used primarily on corn in Midwestern states, which has been found in many surface and ground waters throughout the region. The European Union banned this toxic chemical in 2004. Professor and scientist Tyrone Hayes from the University of California Berkeley found that atrazine has very potent hormonal impacts on frogs. Hayes’ research indicates that this chemical is responsible for changing the sex of frogs giving them female characteristics and even allowing male frogs to mate with males and give birth.

Minnesota Currents|Online, Summer 2010

The drinking water sources for nearly 1 million Minnesotans are at risk of losing Clean Water Act protections. Congress now has an opportunity to fix this and restore protections weakened by the Supreme Court and Bush Administration.

For those whose water sources are no longer protected under the Clean Water Act, the status quo means increased contamination risks. Communities also face the prospect of higher water costs as expensive filtration and disinfection technologies are deployed.