“A Little of This and That – Part Two”

By Dannie McIntire

SEPTEMBER 8, 2022

Good morning Indiana, time to review news items that caused me to go back to the kitchen for a splash of Jim Beam In my morning coffee

California continues to be at the top of the list of states I would never move to. Those who enjoy entering the water at the beaches in Southern California are being bitten by swarms of aggressive sea bugs which have an appetite for human feet.

The bugs, which are tiny water isopods referred to as “mini sharks”, can form swarms of more than 1,000 individuals.

Beachgoers who are attacked by the isopods describe their bites as being painful pinpricks, saying the swarms of bugs resemble a group of tiny piranhas attacking their extremities.  

Well, I certainly wouldn’t wade in waist-deep in loose-fitting trunks!

Now I tried hard not to turn this snippet of news into anything political, but let me be the first to extend an invitation to Nancy Pelosi to enjoy the refreshing waters off the coast of Southern California; perhaps someone would care to dunk her.  

I’m back from refreshing my cup of coffee.

Well, rest easy my fellow Hoosiers; I’m here to report our tax dollars are continuing to be well spent. I’m sure you remember the $1.9 Trillion dollar American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) passed by congress in early 2021.

Apparently, it’s not as easy to spend 1.9 trillion dollars as you might think, but they’re trying for the “good of the taxpayer”.

The city of Seattle budgeted $2.5 million of those ARPA dollars to upgrade over 25 miles of their neighborhood greenways. Now I could possibly view that a reasonable expenditure of our tax dollars if the intent is to supply shade to their many homeless encampments. 

New York City budgeted nearly $4.9 million of its ARPA funds for a “No Stopping New York” ad campaign. I’m just saying to me that was an unnecessary expenditure as I have no plans of ever “stopping In New York”.

Another cup Of Coffee; Well the rush to go “green” seems to be progressing with just a few hiccups.

Amazon, the online retail juggernaut, has temporarily shut the rooftop solar panels at all their US facilities due to “critical fire or arc flash events” that have occurred at six installations.

One such fire broke out at an Amazon warehouse in Perryville, Maryland, in June 2021 and caused $500,000 worth of damages.

After California recently banned the sale of fossil fuel vehicles after 2035, there are apparently seventeen states that have rules, and laws, setting their state’s vehicle emission standards to match those in California.

Many of those states are located in our country’s northeast which usually in winter have more severe winter temperatures. Outside temperatures affect electric car batteries when the temperature falls below 20 degrees.

Triple AAA did a study that found that if you use your electric car’s heater while driving in cold temperatures, your mileage can be temporarily cut by as much as 41 percent.

Hey, I have a promotion idea for all-electric car dealers in our northern states, “buy an all eclectic vehicle and receive a free fleece coat”.

One last cup of coffee this morning;

Well, with the passing of Labor Day the old saying of “don’t wear white after Labor Day” comes to mind. Is it time to put away your white articles of clothing? 

One theory on the origination of the above saying is that wearing white in the nineteenth century distinguished between those that came from “money” and didn’t have to work from those that did have to work, as white clothing would more easily become dirt stained if one worked.

Now I could be wrong, though it’s highly unlikely, it seems to me since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and government money giveaways a lot more people seem to be wearing white.

FOOTNOTE:  The City-County Observer posted this article without bias or editing.

  

EPA Updates Superfund National Priorities List To Clean Up Pollution and Address Public Health Risks

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just announced that it is adding five sites to the Superfund National Priorities List and is proposing to add another two where releases of contamination pose significant human health and environmental risk.

“All people in this country, no matter the color of their skin, their zip code or income, deserve to live in communities free from harmful pollutants and contaminated lands,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “By adding sites to the Superfund National Priorities List, we are accelerating cleanups and working to ensure that more people living near the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination have the health and environmental protections they deserve.”

Thousands of contaminated sites, from landfills and processing plants to manufacturing facilities exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will accelerate EPA’s work to help communities clean up these contaminated sites with a $3.5 billion investment in the Superfund Remedial Program and reinstates the Superfund chemical excise taxes, making it one of the largest investments in American history to address legacy pollution. This historic investment strengthens EPA’s ability to tackle threats to human health and the environment, and EPA has already set action in motion to clear the backlog of the 49 contaminated sites which had been awaiting funding to start remedial action.

With this Superfund National Priorities List update, the Biden-Harris Administration is following through on its commitment to update the Superfund National Priorities List twice a year, as opposed to once per year. By pledging to add sites more regularly to the Superfund National Priorities List, EPA is taking action to protect the health of communities across the country while cleaning up and returning blighted properties to safe and productive reuse in areas where environmental cleanup and jobs are needed most.

EPA is adding the following sites to the Superfund National Priorities List:
Lower Hackensack River, Bergen and Hudson Counties, New Jersey
Brillo Landfill, Victory, New York
Ochoa Fertilizer Co., Guánica, Puerto Rico
Georgetown North Groundwater, Georgetown, Delaware
Highway 3 PCE, Le Mars, Iowa

EPA is proposing to add the following sites to the Superfund National Priorities List:
East Basin Road Groundwater, New Castle, Delaware
PCE Carriage Cleaners, Bellevue, Nebraska

EPA is also withdrawing a previously proposed site, the East Tenth Street site in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, following the Agency’s determination that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will continue to investigate and clean up the site pursuant to its state cleanup authority. EPA remains committed to using all available tools to ensure the protection of human health and the environment.

Background
The Superfund National Priorities List includes the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination. The list serves as the basis for prioritizing EPA Superfund cleanup funding and enforcement actions. Only releases at non-federal sites included on the Superfund National Priorities List are eligible to receive federal funding for long-term, permanent cleanup. Cleanup at federal facilities is funded by the lead federal agency responsible for the site.

EPA proposes sites to the Superfund National Priorities List based on a scientific determination of risks to people and the environment, consistent with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. Before EPA adds a site to the Superfund National Priorities List, a site must meet EPA’s requirements and be proposed for addition to the list in the Federal Register, subject to a 60-day public comment period. EPA will add the site to the Superfund National Priorities List if it continues to meet the listing requirements after the public comment period closes and the agency has responded to any comments.

Superfund cleanups provide health and economic benefits to communities. The program is credited for significant reductions in both birth defects and blood-lead levels among children living near sites, and research has shown residential property values increase up to 24 percent within three miles of sites after cleanup.

Further, thanks to Superfund cleanups, communities are now using previously blighted properties for a wide range of purposes, including retail businesses, office space, public parks, residences, warehouses, and solar power generation. As of 2021, EPA has collected economic data on 650 Superfund sites. At these sites, there are 10,230 businesses operating on these sites, 246,000 people employed, an estimated $18.6 billion in income earned by employees, and $65.8 billion in sales generated by businesses.