Hearings on Coal Plants

Info from Madison Area Clean Energy Coalition

Be a part of the Solution! Attend Two DNR Hearings
on Madison's Coal-fired Power Plants' Permits to Pollute

Wednesday, November 8, 5:30 pm
MADISON GAS & ELECTRIC's Blount Street Station

Wednesday, November 15, 5:30 pm
UNIVERSITY of WISCONSIN's Charter Street Heating Plant

Hearings location: GEF 2, 101 S. Webster St. Room G09 (Enter @ Plaza door)

The Wisconsin DNR is holding hearings on air pollution permits for two of
Madison's coal-fired power plants. This is our opportunity to protect the
air we breathe and encourage MG&E, the UW, and the State of Wisconsin to
join us in being part of the solution!

Need a Hearing Refresher and/or Issue Education?

You can get ready for the hearings by joining us the Monday before either
one to get a preview on the hearings, learn about what is at stake, and how
we can use the hearings to help us achieve a cleaner, greener, and more
efficient Madison:

Monday, November 6, 7pm
Wil-Mar Center
Mendota Room
953 Jenifer St.

or
Monday, November 13, 7pm
Neighborhood House
29 S. Mills St.

Additional Info on Parking and Driving Downtown during Halloween

From Mary Carbine at the BID. Sorry its a bit late . . .

Dear BID Members,

Mitch & I just got back from a walk around the district to see how Halloween preparations are shaping up. Here is some additional information we learned on parking & street closures, for Friday and Saturday.

Map of No Parking Zones / Alternate Street Routes: http://www.cityofmadison.com/halloween/documents/alt_traffic_routes.pdf

1) The No Parking zones indicated on this map will be in effect starting at 5:00 pm for both Friday and Saturday nights, 10/27 & 10/28. There are already signs on the streets and meters giving notice of the effective dates & times; you can check to confirm the times for your block.

2) There are no planned street closures tonight (Friday) for the streets crossing State (but of course, police reserve the option to close streets tonight if necessary for safety).

3) On Saturday, the plan is to start setting up street closure barricades around 7 pm, with closures to be in effect by 7:30 pm (start time of event gating). You will start seeing barricades being set out around 4 pm Sat. in preparation.

4) BUCKEYE LOT, 214 W. Gorham. There will be no parking available in the Buckeye Lot from 6:00 am Saturday 10/28 to 6:00am Sunday morning. Signage is being posted on the meters in the lot today. They will begin setting up the entertainment stage in the Gorham entrance of Buckeye at 2pm on Saturday. It was explained to us that the whole lot was needed for truck access to set up the staging, and that they needed to give adequate time to people in the lot to get their cars out.

We will do our best to keep you updated. We know how important it is for all of you that this weekend and the plan goes well, and we stand with you in hopes for a peaceful and successful Halloween.

Tenney Locks Lighting Update

From Supervisor Vedder . . .

I received this message this past week. Please write back if you have any input that you’d like to pass on. I’ll keep checking the shields situation with John Schraufnagel as well as Darren. I’ve been told that they have been ordered.

Barbara

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Marsh, Darren"
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 16:28:03 -0500
To: "Vedder, Barbara"
Conversation: Tenney Lock and Spillway Lighting
Subject: Tenney Lock and Spillway Lighting

Dear Supervisor Vedder,

Thank you for your call earlier. I am sorry for the delay providing the Tenney Lock lighting schedule. Dane County Parks is still working with the lighting vendor to make sure new system is working properly and that our staff have the training to operate the computerized timer system. Staff updated the timer light schedule to reflect our limited Lock Operation.

Current Schedule:

• Security Light at building will be on seven days a week
• Breakwall Lighting will be on seven days a week - may look at shutting down during the winter months (discussion with Sheriff Dept) to help save on energy costs
• Lock lights will be turned on manually by Lock Attendant Staff as needed (October Schedule is Sat and Sun 12 Noon to 6:00 PM)
  

As of this date Parks has not received the half shields for the Lock Lighting.

Please let me know if I can be of any additional assistance. Darren

Darren Marsh
Parks Division
Land and Water Resources Department
Rm. 234
1 Fen Oak Ct.
Madison WI 53718
(608) 224-3766
Fax (608) 246-3898

Water Update

Water Update from the new Water Quality Manager . . .

Water Quality Manager Hired

Effective Monday September 25, the Water Utility hired me (Joseph Grande) as its new Water Quality Manager. I look forward to the opportunity to serve Madison in this important and challenging position; to let residents know we have a safe, healthy, high quality water supply; and to help keep it that way for future generations. My highest priority in the near term is to work to restore full confidence in our drinking water quality for anyone who has lost that confidence. Toward that end, I want to encourage you and all our water customers to contact me with any drinking water quality concerns, questions or comments you may have. My email is jgrande@cityofmadison.com. My phone number is 266-4654. I will be making myself available to attend neighborhood meetings, civic groups and functions, school classes, and other groups seeking information about our drinking water quality. I will also be assuming responsibility for updating and maintaining this list-serve to provide regular water quality updates to those individuals who wish to receive it. If you have any suggestions for how I can improve communication of water quality issues to the public, please let me know.

Changes to Drinking Water Quality List-serve

There will be some changes to this list-serve effective immediately while other changes will occur more gradually, based largely on user recommendations. I look forward to hearing from you and modifying the content of this list-serve based on your suggestions. An immediate change is that updates will occur on a more regular schedule. A Water Quality update will be posted every third Tuesday of the month to coincide with Water Board meetings. The update will include a preview of information to be presented at the monthly meeting. Additional postings may also occur as needed.

Well 29 Shutdown for Winter --Chlorinator Problem Discovered

A Water Utility review of records today, following the shutdown of Well 29 for the winter yesterday, revealed that a faulty meter at the well had disrupted the introduction of chlorine and fluoride at the well since August 29. During that entire period, the well was on standby status and was only operating twice a week, in the middle of the night, for about eight hours total per week. At all times that the well was not operating, the area was being served by wells with proper chlorine and fluoride feed rates. As of yesterday, the well is shut down completely and is no longer providing any water to the system. When operating, Well 29 served residents on the far east side of Madison.

Routine testing at a distribution site served by Well 29 has shown sustained chlorine residual levels over the past month, indicating sufficient disinfection, and all bacteriological samples from that sample location have come back safe, indicating no bacterial contamination. Ten chlorine residual measurements and ten bacteriological samples were collected during the time period in which untreated water was added to the system.

Dr. Thomas Schlenker, Director of Public Health for Madison and Dane County said, “Because we get our drinking water from a deep underground aquifer that is protected from microbial contamination, and because drinking water samples collected nearby during the period of the meter malfunction consistently showed adequate chlorine levels and no microbial growth, the health risks associated with this incident would appear to be very minimal. Individuals who may have briefly consumed unchlorinated water would not likely have experienced any ill effects.” A review of public health records for the past month showed no increase in gastrointestinal illnesses that could be attributed to consumption of non-chlorinated water.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources was informed about the situation and is reviewing whether any code violations have occurred as a result of the incident.

The Mayor has asked Utility General Manager David Denig-Chakroff, Water Quality Manager Joseph Grande, and City Engineer Larry Nelson to review the incident to determine why it happened and how any similar occurrence can be avoided in the future.

Three Highest Manganese-Producing Wells Shutdown; Fourth to Follow


With water demand ebbing, Well 29 now joins Well 3 (Isthmus area) and Well 10 (near west side) offline and out of service for winter. These wells have been notorious for producing elevated levels of manganese and will remain out of service at least until demand picks up in the spring, when their need for stand-by service will be re-evaluated. Well 8 (southeast side of Isthmus) is also expected to be shutdown later this month or early next month.

Long-Term Options for Well 3

On Tuesday (October 3) at the request of the Emerson East Neighborhood Association, David Denig-Chakroff, General Manager, and I made a brief presentation to the neighborhood group on the long-term options for Well 3. Because of concerns over elevated levels of carbon tetrachloride as well as iron and manganese, three options are currently under consideration by the Water Utility. They include: 1) installing a filtration/treatment system to the existing well, 2) abandoning the well without replacing it, or 3) replacing Well 3 at a new location. Each option has its problems and the utility will investigate these options over the next several months. At the present time, option 1 is unlikely. The age of the well combined with site restrictions limit the feasibility of this option. From a water quality and cost perspective, option 2 is appealing. However, abadoning the well might lead to water shortages in the Isthmus area during peak demand periods or a fire emergency, and the Utility might not be able to satisfy our water supply redundancy requirement. The Water Utility is currently assessing these issues. Finally, siting a new well in the Isthmus area, option 3, may be very difficult due to regulatory requirements. If a site were identified, it would be costly and could take years before the new well came online. In the meantime, short-term water shortages could occur.

City-Wide Manganese Sampling Now Complete

The collection of household tap samples for the manganese monitoring program was completed this week. A total of 469 samples were collected city-wide and samples are currently being analyzed by the City lab. Results will be presented in future postings to this list-serve and at Water Board meetings.

Joseph Grande
Water Quality Manager
Madison Water Utility
266-4654
jgrande@cityofmadison.com

Ash Trees

This is from the Friends of the Yahara River listserve, but I thought others might be interested in it:

A sad but necessary action...

There are many good sources of information on this threat to one of our most common trees in Madison. Please do help us keep watch for this pest. This page from the DNR includes information on what to watch for and who to call if you suspect a particular tree is afflicted:

http://www.wnrmag.com/stories/2006/apr06/borer.htm#5

Ash trees to be cut down statewide
They will be tested for deadly pest in 17 counties
By Anita Weier
October 4, 2006

Dane County is one of 17 Wisconsin counties where some ash trees will be cut down to be tested for infestation by the emerald ash borer.

The destructive wood-boring beetle has left behind millions of dead and dying ash trees in the Midwest, but has not yet been found in Wisconsin.

State officials hope to find the beetle early if it does enter the state, so steps can be taken to stop it from spreading.

Unfortunately, testing for the disease - and fighting its spread if found - involves felling trees. State officials say about 270 trees in and around Madison will be taken down in the next 12 months.

The emerald ash borer, native to Asia, has been responsible for the loss of an estimated 20 million ash trees in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana since its detection in the United States in 2002. The beetle also was found in northeastern Illinois this summer.

Wisconsin has about 717 million ash trees in the forested areas of the state, according to Dick Rideout, head of the Urban Forest Council at the state Department of Natural Resources. Additionally, as many as 30 percent of the city-planted trees in many municipalities are ash.

Survey work by the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, the DNR and the U.S. Department of Agriculture started Oct. 2 in several counties, but work in Dane County will not likely begin for several weeks, according to Jane Larson, a spokeswoman for the state agriculture department.

"No one likes to cut down live trees," said Adrian Barta, a plant pest program coordinator for the state agriculture department. "Unfortunately, in this case, the best tools we have for detection of new infestations require taking down trees."

Early detection is the best protection against the ash borer, Barta said in a written statement.

Sample trees of less than 10 inches in diameter and in declining health will be targeted. Trees on public land will be chosen where possible, and some Wisconsin municipalities already have offered trees.

The surveyors plan to cut down 1,420 trees statewide this year and peel a 12-inch strip of bark, a process known as girdling, from another 4,480 trees that will be cut down next autumn, Larson said in an interview today.

"Girdling is a method that intentionally injures the tree bark. When ash trees are girdled, the tree releases distress chemicals that are believed to attract emerald ash borers," Barta said.

Counties chosen for testing are close to known infestations in neighboring states, have high tourist traffic, like Dane County, or have concentrated timber or firewood operations using ash.

Besides Dane, the counties selected for testing are: Adams, Brown, Columbia, Juneau, Kenosha, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Sauk, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha.

Work crews will locate and mark ash trees in public rights of way along roads for later removal and inspection. Crews will carry identification, and vehicles will have signs reading "EAB Survey," state officials said.

The number of trees cut down per county will vary. For instance, more trees will likely be sampled in border counties.

In Dane County, areas to be tested are in Madison and towns surrounding it. An estimated 135 trees would be cut now and another 135 girdled and cut next fall, Larson said.

"We have state and federal people helping with this, and we may work with some municipalities,

" Larson said. "Kenosha and Waukesha have already offered some of the trees in their public areas. We have not started working Dane yet. Before we go into a county, we would work with the county and municipalities so they know what we are doing."

The borer attacks all types of true ash trees, including green, white, black and blue ash trees. Hybrids also are susceptible, Larson said, but the mountain ash is not a true ash tree and would not be susceptible.

"If the borer is found, you do have to remove ash trees within a half-mile of infestation," Larson said. "You need to find out how large the infestation is. In Illinois, I don't think they are trying to remove trees yet; they are finding the size of the infestation."

More information about the emerald ash borer and ash trees can be obtained at datcp.state.wi.us or at entomology.wisc.edu.

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Neighborhood Conference

From Mayor Dave:

The City of Madison is pleased to announce the upcoming citywide Neighborhood Conference, "Building Strong Neighborhoods: Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future." The conference will take place on Saturday, November 11, 2006, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.

I want to extend a special invitation to you to attend the conference. Information and registration materials can be accessed on-line at www.cityofmadison.com/neighborhoods/neighborhoodconf2006/. The cost of the conference is minimal: $20.00 for Madison residents; $30.00 for government officials, non-profits, and non-City residents prior to the October 27, 2006 deadline.

We are excited to have Joel Bookman, who has over 25 years experience building community connections in Chicago, including recent work with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), as our keynote speaker. Over 30 workshops will be offered during the full-day event. Language translation, interpretation for people with hearing impairments, and other services will be available.

I look forward to seeing you at the conference! Please feel free to contact Linda Horvath, 608-267-1131, Ext. 219, lhorvath@cityofmadison.com; or Jule Stroick, 608-267-8744, Ext. 218, jstroick@cityofmadison.com, for more information.