John Cronin

Imagine No Pollution

The Future, and the Failed Clean Water Act

Copyright 2009, John Cronin

The Clean Water Act has failed.  It is time for a new law.

There is a mistaken, popular belief that the central purpose of the 1972 Clean Water Act is to bring to justice the bad guys who are polluting the nation’s waters.

The Clean Water Act was written to create a global market place based on American innovation that would end pollution in our lifetime, and “restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation’s waters.” 

But a list of the Clean Water Act's failed policies reads like an indictment of the law itself.

The first policy goal on the first page of the Clean Water Act is the elimination of the discharge of pollutants by 1985.

The law also sets a goal of making the nation’s waters fit for sports and recreation, and for fish and wildlife by July 1983.

It calls for management plans to end pollution from runoff, protect watersheds, and enhance water resources, in keeping with the 1983 and 1985 goals.

It requires the cessation of toxic discharges in toxic amounts.

It establishes a sweeping domestic and foreign policy on water designed to protect life and health here and abroad.

Indeed, the enormity of the Clean Water Act’s failure can be measured in lives.  The law directs the Secretary of State to assist other nations in eradicating their water problems to “at least the same extent as the United States does under its laws.”  But since the Clean Water Act was enacted, an estimated 70 - 100 million people, mostly children in the developing world, have died from diseases related to water pollution.  The Pacific Institute estimates that between 36 million and 70 million will die by 2020.

The Pale Blue Dot

The narration for the above video is taken from the book Pale Blue Dot by the late Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. It is Dr. Sagan's voice. I chose the images.  The featured photo is by Stephen Codrington.

The Planetary Society explains that the book's title "was inspired by an image taken, at Sagan's suggestion, by Voyager 1 on February 14, 1990. As the spacecraft left our planetary neighborhood for the fringes of the solar system, engineers turned it around for one last look at its home planet. Voyager 1 was about 6.4 billion kilometers (4 billion miles) away, and approximately 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane, when it captured this portrait of our world. Caught in the center of scattered light rays (a result of taking the picture so close to the Sun), Earth appears as a tiny point of light, a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size."

See this post for more on Dr. Sagan, Ann Druyan and the Voyager mission.

Where Do All the Fallen Leaves Go?

Watershed Tea Anyone?

Copyright 2009, John Cronin

Soon our streets will be covered with newly fallen leaves.  And, shortly afterward, they will be lined with large plastic bags of leaves.  What did all those leaves do before we became so tidy?   They fed streams, lakes, ponds, wetlands, woodlands, parks and rivers. 

The Stroud Water Research Center explains that "Historically, most small streams in the eastern United States were forested. Leaf fall from the forest canopy was the dominant food resource for small streams. All ecosystems rely on a steady supply of energy. Solar energy drives photosynthesis that supplies carbon (chemical energy) for  the rest of the system. In many headwater streams, however, sunlight cannot reach the water's surface due to shading of the forest canopy. Therefore, most headwater streams rely on autumn leaf fall to supply much of the carbon needed to support the stream throughout the year."

The Stroud site offers a great primer on the role of leaves in the care and feeding of aquatic ecosystems.  It is a good reminder that a river is more than the water between the two shores.  It is the sum of its parts -- from the tree canopy overhead to the land, and street, underfoot. 

Cry Out for Kenya

Drought, Politics, Climate Change and Corruption Decimate the Horn of Africa

As Rivers Dry Up, Children, Livestock & Crops Die

The number of Kenyans in urgent need of food aid has jumped by more than 50 per cent to nearly 4 million, according to official figures, as the country is hit by mass hunger as well as shortages of power and water. The immediate cause of the three-fold crisis is a prolonged drought, but critics of Kenya's dysfunctional coalition government blame it for failing to mitigate the drought's effects, in spite of clear warning signs.   Kenya Coalition under Fire as Drought Leaves 4m Starving -- Financial Times

Crisis in the Fertile Crescent

The War of Water in Iraq

Copyright 2009, John Cronin

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers: the arms that embrace the Fertile Crescent, once an ecological paradise of such grandeur the Book of Genesis placed it in Eden; here was "the cradle of civilization," the seminal lesson in world-history we all learned as schoolchildren.   Today, in the shadow of the Iraq War, the once magnificent "land between two rivers" has become a war zone in its own right - a terminal nightmare of bombings, water diversions, marshland drainage, habitat destruction, and the persecution and relocation of the Ma'dan people, the "Marsh Arabs."

Crabbing with Bob

From INSIDEOUT, Sep-Oct '09. Copyright 2009, John Cronin

(NOTE: You can view a short video of Bob Gabrielson here.)

Bob Gabrielson handed me William Warner’s Beautiful Swimmers and told me to memorize it.  “It’s the bible,” he said. It was dog-eared and fragrantly stained with Baltimore spice; Bob had logged many hours studying it over plates of steamed and seasoned blue crab.

The book’s title is a translation of the scientific name for blue crab, callinectes sapidus.  In Greek, “calli” means beautiful and “nectes” means swimmer. “Sapidus” is Latin for savory or delicious.  The cover told me that Warner had won the Pulitzer Prize for his book about the lives of crab and watermen on Chesapeake Bay.  Bob told me, “To catch crab you have to think like a crab.” 

The Hudson Septuagennial

Copyright 2009, John Cronin

Seventy years ago, The Hudson, by Carl Carmer, was published.  It is the most auspicious river anniversary now before us, the Hudson River Quadricentennial notwithstanding. 

The Hudson was the sixth title in the Rivers of America series -- which grew to 64 volumes after its founding by editor Constance Lindsay Skinner in  1937.  Carmer's book is widely recognized as the best of the lot.  He became editor of the series following Skinner's death in 1939.  It is said she died late at night while doing final edits on his book. 

Once a celebrated work for its content, The Hudson is now more celebrated for its iconic status.  Its   unfortunate antiquarian reputation makes many think of it as a relic, an old voice of old tales.  This is undeserved.

Carmer's book is a people's history, told in an engaging, personal style. Rather than rely on the hackneyed river symbols of the Revolutionary War, the Hudson River School, and estate owners, he tells of American Indians, rent strikers, shad fishermen and whalers.  His hidden Hudson reminds us that this is a river of people as much as it is a river of fish, environmental groups, tourism and grants programs. A fresh read of The Hudson is well worth your time. 

The Power of Film

A Conversation with Filmmaker Jim Brown

From INSIDEOUT, Jul-Aug '09. Copyright 2009, John Cronin

If you have seen the documentary film Pete Seeger: The Power of Song,  you have seen Jim Brown at his best – as filmmaker, storyteller, and a master weaver of music, performance and visual art.   Jim cut his teeth making films about Hudson River pollution in the early 1970s.    He is a straightforward filmmaker in the way Steinbeck and Hemingway were straightforward writers.  His art is a beautiful blend of story, design and style that mysteriously reveals more than what is apparent.  But story always come first.  I have watched the simple but probing storytelling of Power of Song move an audience to cheer.  Known best for his music documentaries, Jim also made Wasn’t That a Time, Peter Paul and Mary: Carry it On, and Three Pickers.  Watch for Pete Seeger: The Power of Song on PBS.    You can learn more about Jim  at www.jimbrownproductions.com.

JOHN CRONIN:  So, let’s start at the beginning.  You grew up in the Hudson Valley, in Croton?

JIM BROWN:  Yeah, actually when I was first born my family lived right on the Croton River. The Croton River was really untainted and remains untainted – and, actually, except for the garbage dump at Croton Point, a good part of the river that I had access to was idyllic.

What Do PCBs Look Like?

A Dredging Photo Album

Copyright 2009, John Cronin

Many people have asked what General Electric's PCB dredging operation looks like.  Click the image below to link to an album of photos I took on June 15, a rainy Hudson River day punctuated by roving thunder and lightning.  The river around Fort Edward has been transformed into a mini-Mississippi of barges, workboats, tugs, laborers and engineers.  Local eateries stay open for the night crews, and there is the makings of a dredging tourism business.  It is fascinating to observe the activity and the breadth of the full operation.  And it is a beautiful part of New York State.  I recommend the trip.  While you're there, patronize local business.

For updates on the progress of the cleanup, visit EPA's Hudson River superfund website or visit GE's special dredging website.

Taking Questions on PCBs - Pt. 2

From June 17 - 19  I was the guest blogger on The New York Times' "Taking Questions" feature of its City Room blog.  The topic was "General Electric's project to remove PCBs from the Hudson River."   The Times asked that I respond to 5 reader-submitted questions daily.   Part 2 of the selected questions and my answers follows,  just as it appeared on the The New York Times site:

Where will the dredge material be disposed once it is removed from the river?

— Posted by Dan

A number of posts have asked about the amount and destination of dredged material from the Hudson. Dan’s is the simplest (and he asked first). But I will try to cover all the questions here, so pardon the lengthy answer.

First, the full operation of coordinating, staging and executing the dredging and material processing is impressive. G.E. is mobilizing 17 tugboats, 35 barges and 12 dredges working 24 hours per day, six days a week to remove and process the 400,000 tons of sediment that Environmental Protection Agency is focusing on for Phase 1, which ends in November when weather closes the Champlain Canal.

Despite the world-class collection of heavy equipment, one of the most striking aspects of the operation is its relative quiet. Attention to details, such as “hospital-grade generators,” was an essential part of the project design agreed to by the E.P.A. and G.E. If you visit the dredging project, and I recommend it, don’t expect a cacophonous construction site. (Carpool, and visit Jim’s Broadway Café, or one of the many local establishments.)