12.02.2010

Filthy Ohio Polluters Pay 50K for killing 4,917 dead fish

Ohio Valley Electric Corporation Will Pay $50,000 for Ammonia Spill ($10.168 per fish)

In a settlement with Ohio EPA, the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC) has agreed to pay $50,000 for last year’s spill of ammonia into Kyger Creek from OVEC’s Gallia County facility, located at 5758 State Route 7 near Cheshire in Addison Township.

On July 25, 2009, OVEC determined that it was necessary to drain ammonia solution from its ammonia-on-demand tank to its south fly ash pond. This activity was not reported to Ohio EPA. The tank draining continued for two days until OVEC noticed several dead fish in the pond and stopped the draining process.

The company did not notify Ohio EPA about the high concentration of ammonia discharged from the pond to Kyger Creek or the subsequent fish kill. An anonymous caller notified Ohio EPA of dead fish in the creek on July 27, 2009. Ohio EPA and Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) investigated. ODNR found 4,917 dead fish, including large catfish, in the 1.5 miles between the OVEC pond’s discharge point and the Ohio River. Ohio EPA sampled the creek and confirmed that ammonia concentrations downstream of the pond were lethal to aquatic species.

As part of the settlement with OVEC, the company agreed to implement an approved plan for eliminating similar ammonia solution discharges to waters of the state. OVEC also agreed to pay $50,000 in civil penalties, $10,000 of which will go to Ohio EPA’s Clean Diesel School Bus Program Fund. The remaining $40,000 will go to the administration of surface water programs. OVEC has already paid $2,085 to ODNR for the cost of the dead fish and ODNR’s investigation.

Green Pressure Cookers ?!?

I look at a lot of green and "green" shite. I greatly enjoy hearing new applications for retro tech that is eco-chic now that one can claim being frugal is evergreen. This pressure cooking article is a great example. I use to be scared of em a'cause of a story my gramma told me. Now I have em on my great green radar screen, im cruising consumer reports for the best value.. and I am going to reel one in. Thank you UK Telegraph.

4.28.2010

Eco-Tuesday Cleveland Rocks! Featuring Chris Clark from Sunflower Solutions

Chris started things off by sharing the vision behind Sunflower Solutions. His invention is amazingly straight forward and he builds a strong case for simplicity of design. Conventional solar trackers with servo motors, microchips, and maintenance contracts have so many moving parts because they are adjusting some 60,000 times per day....over engineered for sure.

Chris's solution is the world first manually adjustable system of its kind. Radical simplicity that must be driving down the cost of P.V. installations in Africa while driving up efficiency of the panels by some 40% over a fixed installation (like on the roof your your next house). Not only that but have you ever tried to hunt for a spare servo in Haiti post quake?

His customers are NGOs operating in the 100-130 billion U.S.D. per year aid/ relief effort market targeting third world countries. Systems are going on line in Haiti to power hospitals as well. The system in Haiti has a 3 month payback period because the price of fuel is so high. His competition is the combustion powered generator market. Cheap but fuels is not cheap there, just like in other third world locales. His product has fewer moving parts compared with traditional solar tracking systems and generators alike. Far more akin to the solid state nature of P.V. today.

The system is so well balanced, I could adjust it with one hand, moving seemingly hundreds of pounds of P.V. and support rack.
These systems are providing power to some of the worlds most remote places and to those most in need. They are powering a small cybercafe to get folks online where users pay a small fee to access the web. Proceeds go directly to a nearby orphanage for children with AIDS.

Here is the system to guide the users through alignment with the sun.



This video shows just how agile the system is and how easily it moves.

Kudos to Sudhir and the Eco-Tuesday Cleveland team for another job well done. I really enjoyed learning about Sunflower Solutions. Its nice to meet businesses hell bent on pushing the next industrial revolution. Looking forward to hearing about Tremont Electric at the next Eco-Tuesday