Sustainability (497)
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Sustainable Development Goals (911)
The Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere. The seventeen Sustaiable Development Goals (SDG) were adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the Goals.
Court finds TVA contractor potentially liable for Kingston coal-ash cleanup injuries and deaths
Written by Jamie Satterfield
On Dec. 23, 2008, a massive dam at the Kingston coal-fired power plant in Harriman, Tenn., ruptured and spilled 1.1 billion gallons of coal ash into the Clinch and Emory rivers. Appalachian Voices teamed up with Southwings to take pictures from the air and launched two separate missions by water to test the river and fish for pollutants as a result of the spill. Appalachian Voices
Contractor that cleaned up infamous TVA ash spill not immune from responsibility for alleged unsafe worksite
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.
CINCINNATI — A federal appellate court last week struck down a last-ditch appeal by a Tennessee Valley Authority contractor accused in the mass poisoning by radioactive coal ash waste of the utility’s Kingston disaster workforce.
The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jacobs Engineering Inc. cannot ride the coattails of TVA governmental immunity because TVA itself would not have been immune from liability had sickened workers chosen to sue the utility.
Ancient river, new threats: Water quality officials declare 19 miles of French Broad River in NC impaired by pollutants
Written by Jason Sandford
Recreational uses of the French Broad River in Asheville, including tubing, kayaking and canoeing, have grown dramatically in recent years. Jason Sandford/Ashevegas Hot SheetBooming construction and development, combined with more frequent heavy rains and an aging stormwater system, continue to threaten the age-old Appalachian river
This story was originally published by Jason Sandford of the Ashevegas Hot Sheet.
ASHEVILLE — North Carolina water quality officials declared a 19-mile section of the French Broad River in Buncombe County as officially “impaired” because of fecal coliform levels found during recent testing. It’s a sobering alarm bell (though there have been plenty of warning signs, as you’ll see below.) In Asheville, interest in the river as an economic force and tourist destination has never been higher. (The confluence of the French Broad and Holston rivers forms the Tennessee River above Knoxville.)
The designation will come as no surprise to even casual observers of the wide, northward-flowing river. Often, it runs a chocolate brown color, a clear sign of the sediment and other pollutants running through the waterway.
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Opponents of Oak Ridge waste dump, citing comms breakdown, urge extension of public comment period
Written by Thomas Fraser
Image from a 2018 memorandum authored by experts including former Department of Energy employees in Oak Ridge. EMWMF is the present landfill that has a history of failures and is reaching capacity. Ecologists say, after a decade DOE still is not adequately addressing waste acceptance criteria and feasible alternatives.
Public can comment in person Tuesday night in Oak Ridge on proposed DOE waste dump
OAK RIDGE — The Southern Environmental Law Center blistered the Department of Energy in a letter ahead of a May 17 hearing on construction of a toxic-waste landfill that opponents said poses contamination threats to portions of the Clinch River watershed and downstream TVA reservoirs.
The hearing is set for 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, May 17 at the Pollard Technology Conference Center, 210 Badger Ave. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. will be accepted through June 7.
The Department of Energy wants to bury contaminated debris from demolition of Manhattan Project-era complexes and associated legacy toxins from the Oak Ridge Reservation. The drawn-out debate about how best to safely store the materials now focuses on the transparency of the decision process and the health of the Bear Creek watershed and downstream pollution threats to the Clinch River.
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Knoxville kids go beast mode at new natural playscape
Written by Cindy Hassil
A child defends an elaborate stick fort at Ijams Natural Playscape, which opened this week at the South Knoxville nature center. Ijams Nature Center
New Ijams playground reconnects kids with neighborhood woods, forts and creeks of yore
KNOXVILLE — Ijams Nature Center officially opened a portal into pure childhood beast mode this week.
The Ijams Nature Playscape at Grayson Subaru Preserve is specifically designed for young children to play in a creek, climb hills, dig, build, crawl and engage with nature in an organic, unstructured way. The new space features a large nest, tunnels, log steps and different rooms to play in.
“For generations, many of us had the opportunity to roam and play in the woods, empty lots and fields that surrounded our homes and neighborhoods,” Ijams Executive Director Amber Parker said. “We remember the freedom we had to use our imagination, test ourselves and become a part of the natural landscape, at least until we were called home for dinner.”
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In Ukraine, fear of nuclear plants riven by Russia cuts to the core
Written by Jordan Gass-Poore
The Chornobyl Nuclear Plant in Ukraine is seen in 1986 after a fire devastated the plant and led to radiation emissions that spread across the European continent. United Nations
36 years after the Chornobyl crisis, Ukraine presents a test for nuclear reactor survivability
This story was originally published in The Revelator.
CHORNOBYL, UKRAINE — It took less than a minute after an unexpected power surge for one of the nuclear reactors at Chornobyl (Chernobyl in the Russian spelling) to explode on April 26, 1986, ripping the roof off and spewing dangerous toxins into the air.
The event, and emergency cleanup that followed, left 30 workers dead, thousands exposed to cancer-causing nuclear material and later death, and a legacy of radiation. Now, 36 years later and with war raging, Ukraine is desperate to prevent another nuclear disaster.
Nuclear reactors generate more than half of the country’s power. Ukraine is the first country with such a large and established nuclear energy program to experience war, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Sam Adams raises trees like healthy children at the University of Tennessee
Written by Keenan Thomas
University of Tennessee arborist Sam Adams stands in front of a blooming dogwood on the campus of UTK. Keenan Thomas/Hellbender Press
First campus arborist continues climb up Utree Knoxville
KNOXVILLE — Students at the University of Tennessee walk by hundreds of trees every day without thinking about them.
Sam Adams was thinking about them even before he became UT’s first arborist.
Adams, 58, has cared for trees in the field of arboriculture for decades. He’s worked privately and publicly, including as arborist supervisor for Sarasota County, Florida. He graduated with a degree in environmental studies at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina, where he initially pursued a degree in English.
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Dinosaurs released in Chattanooga to honor Earth Day 2022
Written by Ray Zimmerman
Tennessee Aquarium Director of Hospitality and Marketing Meredith Roberts and her daughter Lucy release a juvenile lake sturgeon during an Earth Day event on the Chattanooga riverfront. Tennessee Aquarium
Tennessee Aquarium releases endangered sturgeon on a fin and a prayer
CHATTANOOGA — Lake sturgeon are living fossils.
They are dinosaur fish. They have no scales. They are protected by a tough skin with boney plates, and are unchanged for millennia. They are part of a widespread related group of fish, with 23 species worldwide, and are an endangered species in Tennessee.
Tennessee Aquarium staff released some of these dinosaurs into the Tennessee River here on Earth Day, observed this year on April 22. Aquarium staff were joined by 30 students from Calvin Donaldson Elementary School and the public to release 65 juvenile lake sturgeon into the Tennessee River at Chattanooga’s Coolidge Park.
Clean sweep: Volunteers remove tons of trash from Smokies in largest one-day cleanup
Written by Ben Pounds
Volunteers who helped with the Save our Smokies cleanup on April 23 are shown here among their booty. Anna Lawrence/Hellbender Press
Amid the booze bottles and toilet paper, it’s ‘incredible what we found here’
Cleanup crews cleared garbage Earth Day weekend across Great Smoky Mountains National Park from mountain crests to the shores of Fontana Lake.
Save Our Smokies, which organized the April 23 event, called it the largest single cleanup ever attempted in the park. Volunteers wrangled some 5,000 pounds of garbage.
Save our Smokies Vice President Benny Braden said the organization removed 10,133 pounds of trash in all of 2021.
“Litter is a big problem. We can clean up a location and two months later we have to be back there because it’s worse than when we started,” Braden said in an interview Saturday morning at the Tremont section of the national park. “What gives us hope is our volunteers showing up,” he said, citing their tireless dedication.
Ijams Nature Center honors deep roots with expansion dedication
Written by Cindy Hassil
Martha, Elizabeth, Mary, and Josephine Ijams (from left) are seen in this 1923 photo. The girls were active in scouting and became accomplished naturalists early in life. Ijams Nature Center
Help give thanks across history to founders of the South Knoxville nature center and celebrate the addition of 3 acres
Cindy Hassil is a writer for Ijams Nature Center.
KNOXVILLE When H.P. and Alice Ijams purchased 20 acres of land along the Tennessee River in 1910, they couldn’t have known their family would still be contributing to the legacy that would become the 318-acre nonprofit Ijams Nature Center more than a century later.
Ijams Nature Center will celebrate the contributions of the Ijams family and dedicate three acres of land recently donated to the nature center by H.P. and Alice’s granddaughter, Martha Kern, at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 28. The public is invited.
Best Earth Day feature: We still know so little about so much that is vital to life on our planet
CBS News — Stunning midwater creatures of the deep sea
You have to endure a half-minute commercial to see this 6-minute report on the fascinating footage captured by a high-tech marine science project of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Make sure to turn on full-screen viewing, if you can. Have you ever seen a bloody belly comb jelly?
We think you’ll agree it’s the most worthwile video you watched today.
More...
Updated: It’s your Earth Day week! You should connect with your mother.
Written by Thomas Fraser
The horizon over Argentina is seen in this image taken from the International Space Station. NASA
Earth Day is every day, but it’s officially on Friday, April 22 this year. Get involved.
The 2022 observance of Earth Day is officially Friday, April 22, but the Knoxville area plans celebrations, work parties and seminars in honor of the 50-year-old annual recognition of Mother Nature through Saturday. Here’s a quick look at some local ways to love your mama. This list will be updated.
Updated: Your — once in 20 years — opportunity to influence the livability of Knox County
Written by Wolf Naegeli
You can still share your own ideas to improve and protect our community Advance Knox
Updated again on May 4: Hundreds of ideas, complaints and comments, many of them with map locations, have been posted on the Advance Knox website.
As announced in Hellbender Press earlier, Advance Knox held a series of public input events across Knox County during its Ideas Week at the end of March.
If you missed those in-person gatherings and could not attend the virtual session, we hope you recorded your preferences and opinions online at the Advance Knox website.
You can now see what others had to say about your neighborhood and your favorite places.
And, even if you already participated, you may have had new ideas or important thoughts not recorded yet. Please let us know,
— what you treasure in Knox County
— what you miss
— what you think is most important to consider as the county keeps growing.
The interactive facility to submit ideas will remain open online through May 10, as suggested at the last Advisory Committee meeting.
TWRA to establish prime trout fishing opportunities at Big Soddy Creek Gulf
Written by TWRAStep up for fresh produce at New Harvest Park
KNOXVILLE — The New Harvest Park Farmers Market kicked off in East Knoxville on April 14 and will be open from 3-6 p.m. every Thursday through Sept. 29.
The market will feature 15 small, locally owned businesses and showcase a wide variety of seasonal produce, meats, eggs, plants, prepared foods, and artisan crafts, and will grow to 20 vendors during peak season, according to a release from Knox County.
A community booth will house the Nourish Moves walking program in which market patrons can track their steps and redeem them for Produce Bucks to be spent at market on fresh fruits and vegetables. New Harvest Farmers’ Market Nourish Moves is a free, weekly walking program for adults and children 2 years or older. To participate, stop by our Community Booth to pick up a pedometer. Each participant receives $3 in Produce Bucks per visit that can be spent on any fruits, vegetables, and food-producing plants at the market.
Nourish Knoxville will continue to offer SNAP & P-EBT processing and doubling at the market through the Double Up Food Bucks Program. SNAP & P-EBT purchases will be doubled, up to $20 per day in Double Up Food Bucks tokens that are redeemable at the market for free fresh fruits and vegetables.