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CLick here to go straight to Fireclay's site.

Posted by: Jason Fults guest blogger and CWC volunteer

Get involved: The next CWC/Neutral Gator day of action at Village and Forest Green will take place Saturday, November 14th at 10 am. More details below...

A little over a year ago, I signed up for a three-Saturday course to learn how to provide free energy audits and retrofits for low-income homeowners. The training, organized by the Community Weatherization Coalition (http://rebuildgainesville.wordpress.com/cwc/), was an excellent introduction to the myriad factors that influence people’s energy and water consumption. I was very impressed with the other volunteers that I met at the training, and by the innovative model that the Community Weatherization Coalition (CWC) utilizes to help homeowners cut back on their utility bills.

It works like this: Anyone who falls within the CWC’s income guidelines can apply for assistance. The client is then partnered up with 2-3 volunteer energy auditors who spend a few hours at their home inspecting it for structural issues which may be contributing to increased energy consumption (e.g., leaky pipes, missing insulation, gaps around windows and doors, etc.). The auditors also provide conservation tips and make minor retrofits on site (replacing incandescent bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescents, installing low-flow aerators on faucets, etc.). If major issues are uncovered (e.g., structural damage, broken heating & cooling system, etc.), the auditors make note of these on their audit report, which is submitted to the CWC’s Case Management Committee. The many organizations which comprise the CWC, such as Rebuilding Together, Gainesville Regional Utilities, and the Central Florida Community Action Agency, have been able to do significant follow-up repairs on the homes of CWC clients, providing them with safer, more comfortable, and more efficient homes.

Since my auditor training, I have become very active in the CWC, even serving as its interim volunteer coordinator for a few months this past summer. One of my major goals is to help expand the CWC’s operations locally and to replicate the CWC model in other communities. As someone who has never owned a home however, I have been acutely aware that there is a significant portion of the population which is unable to benefit from our services. So a few months ago, I helped forge a partnership between the CWC and another great local organization, Neutral Gator (http://neutralgator.org/), in order to take the CWC model and expand it to the rental market. The good folks at Neutral Gator had already been organizing some CFL exchanges in the name of offsetting the UF Athletics Program’s carbon emissions, so the partnership with the CWC was a great opportunity to expand both organizations’ programs.

Our first “target” in what we’ve come to call the “Renters’ Initiative” has been Village & Forest Green apartments in east Gainesville. We’ve worked closely with the fantastic management staff at the apartments and, over the past few months, have brought volunteers together to provide free audits and retrofits to nearly half of Village Green’s 200 apartments. In our follow-up discussions with residents, it’s clear that they’ve enjoyed the new showerheads, aerators, and lightbulbs that they’ve received, and many have already realized significant savings on their utility bills. We’ve also uncovered significant opportunities for follow-up work (e.g., added insulation) that could make an even bigger difference.

We’re winding down the first phase of our Village Green project, and are already in discussion with the city and county housing authority to figure out where we’ll be headed next. But what’s clear is that there is a significant need for this effort in our community, and that this project will continue until we’ve helped everyone who needs it. Another great aspect of this project is that it’s created great new volunteer opportunities for people looking to get out and support their community. At each event, we spend the first two hours providing training, then partner new volunteers with people who have some experience with this sort of work. Local businesses such as CH2MHill and Indigo have also provided material support. So what are you waiting for?!? Come on out and get involved; you’ll have a great day helping folks in need and making our community more energy efficient, and I can almost guarantee you’ll learn something that you’ll be able to implement in your own home.

The next CWC/Neutral Gator day of action at Village and Forest Green will take place Saturday, November 14th at 10 am. New volunteers will receive a training from 10-12, but returning volunteers can get started on audits right away. We’ll also be providing lunch for all participants. If you have any questions or would like to support this initiative in any way, please contact Angelica (angelica@neutralgator.org) or Jason (jasonfults@gmail.com; 352-318-0060). Even if you can’t make it out on Saturday, please take a look at Neutral Gator, the CWC, and the CWC’s partner organizations like Rebuilding Together (http://rebuildingtogetherncf.org/). These groups are all doing some amazing work in our community and I can assure you, they’ll make great use of whatever resources you have to offer.

Click here to view November 2009 DIG

Going Nuclear by Jason Fults

Two events in the past week have had me thinking a lot about nukes. I am currently an underemployed electrician’s apprentice enrolled in the training program of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), local 1205. In class on Monday, our instructor bemoaned the current state of the economy, how unfortunate it is that so few of us are benefitting from on-the-job training at the moment, and how this is “the worst he’s ever seen it.” The only bright spots on the horizon, it seemed to him, are the proposed nuclear power plants in Levy County which, if approved, could potentially put an awful lot of union electricians to work.

Then, on Wednesday, I was at the downtown Farmer’s Market helping a friend show off a new type of solar panel and encountered a large contingent of folks who are none too excited about north central Florida’s nuclear prospects. Dressed in all manner of outlandish costumes, they led a boisterous march through the middle of the plaza, speaking out against “nuking Florida” and inviting citizens to attend a community forum on the subject November 23 at the Alachua County main library (details are available at http://www.nukeflorida.net/).

Personally, I am hoping for a career in residential electrical work, and am particularly interested in working in the solar industry. The idea of starting my new career off working on a nuke plant is a little disquieting, but honestly, any electrical work would be hard to turn down at this point. I can only hope that the positive example being set by our local utility, Gainesville Regional Utility (GRU), will take hold throughout the region. GRU grabbed international headlines over the past few months with the introduction of its solar feed-in-tariff and the approval of a planned 100 megawatt biomass-fueled power plant (http://www.gru.com/OurCommunity/Environment/renewGRU.jsp). GRU also has ambitious energy efficiency goals and, according to a recent customer bulletin, aims to generate 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2014 (http://www.gru.com/Pdf/CustomerBulletin/September_2009_v23_n12.pdf).

Will Progress Energy, a Fortune 500 company with $9 billion in revenues, follow a similarly progressive path, or will they continue to promote the risky, expensive nuclear option? Ultimately, it may depend on how many of us are willing to get involved and make some noise around this issue. Citizens groups like the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (http://www.cleanenergy.org/index.php?/Florida.html) and the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy (http://www.floridaallianceforrenewableenergy.org/) continue to advocate for a renewable energy future for our state. Check it out, get involved, make your voice heard!

The AC Health Department still continues to show a positive spin on the fact that dioxin tests which are coming back from EPA directed soil surface samples, are still above state residential standards. Their postive spin comes from the fact that the levels are decreasing because they continue to move farther from the source, which would be predictable. The first tests were 100', then 200' now they are at 300' on the right of way of Aves 26th-31st on the west side of Koppers.
From what I understand, "above state residential standards" is not a good thing unlike when your child does a good thing by testing "above state standards". In this case, we need to stop with the confusion and tell it like it is. "Above state standards" is below human standards which, is almost comically funny if it weren't so tragic. Even our local NPR station mimed the spin this week by saying it was an improvement over the last sample analyzed in August.

Dioxins are classified as one of the worst Persistant Organic Pollutants(POPs) by the World Health Organization along with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polucyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). According to Dr Declan Barraclough, the project manager of the UK Soil and Herbage Survey of 2007, "Dioxin concentrations in soils from urban and industrial locations are still two to three times those in rural areas. This is because dioxins are persistent in soil and act as a historical marker, reflecting emissions from industrial sites over the last 10-30 years". If this is accurate, that means we have soil samples that reflect the dioxin output of the Koppers plant over the last 10-30 years here in the heart of Gainesville.
Here's the official release:

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - The Alachua County Health Department has reviewed the dioxin test results of six additional surface soil samples that were recently analyzed from the right-of-ways of NW 26th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd Avenues, Gainesville. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required this additional testing approximately 300' feet west of the Koppers hazardous waste site after finding potentially hazardous levels of dioxins in the City of Gainesville easement along the site boundary. The levels of dioxins in three of the samples between NW 26th and NW 29th Avenue are above State of Florida residential standards. These additional samples indicate a continued decrease in the concentrations of dioxins from previous testing in June approximately 200' west of Koppers and in February 2009, approximately 100' west of the Koppers site in the same street right-of-ways where levels of dioxins, arsenic and benzo-a-pyrene were above state residential standards.

Incidental ingestion (swallowing) of very small amounts of dioxin contaminated surface soil at these three locations is not likely to cause harm. The Health Department continues to recommend area residents practice good general hygiene including hand washing with soap and water after contact with bare soil in areas within 300' west of the Koppers facility western boundary fence.

These test results do not affect the current Health Department Advisory. The Health Department continues to recommend that children should avoid playing in the 15'-20' City of Gainesville easement just west of the Koppers facility western boundary fence between NW 26 Avenue and NW 30 Avenue. Children under the age of six are at a higher risk of exposure from incidental ingestion (swallowing).

The Health Department will continue to evaluate the health risks as more test data becomes available.

For more information, contact Alachua County Health Department Environmental Health Director Anthony Dennis at 352-334-7930.

For toxicology information, contact the Florida Department of Health, Health Assessment Team Leader Randy Merchant toll free at 877-798-2772. To contact Scott Miller, United States Environmental Protection Agency Section Chief in charge of this Superfund Site project, call 404-562-9120.

The goal of the Alachua County Health Department is to promote, protect, maintain and improve the health and safety of all citizens and visitors.

Now if you want to ask questions and hear the details, I recommend you go to the stakeholder meeting on Monday, October 19th at the Alachua County Health Department located at 224 SE 24th St from 5:30pm-7pm. This meeting is a chance for the public to comment on the EPA Feasability Study and is happening prior to a Joint City and County Commission on October 29th whereStaff from the City of Gainesville, Gainesville Regional Utilities, Alachua County Environmental Protection Department (EPD), and the Alachua County Health Department will be presenting their findings.
The Feasability Study can be read here.
Click here to read through the Alachua County EPD Cabot-Koppers document library.