The City of Alcoa Utilities has added a $3 fee to resident's water bills to cover the EPA stormwater Phase II program requirements.

Permit requirements include system-wide erosion and sediment controls, pollution control, and public education initiatives. The stormwater utility will serve as an alternative to increasing taxes to meet the added expense of funding these requirements set by the federal government.

Probably a good thing and I suppose I don't mind paying the extra $3. However, keeping in mind I have not studied this in depth, I hope not that many businesses get credits while I, a resident, am not able to get credits.

Update: I called the City of Alcoa regarding residents that have two water meters, one for the house and one for watering the lawn. It sounds like they made a mistake in charging this fee on the second meter for watering the lawn. It sounds like they should have this handled and not charge this fee next month on the second meter.

Earth Day is Tuesday, April 22, 2008

In Blount County, the Cities of Alcoa and Maryville along with Maryville College, The Little River Watershed Association, and many others are holding an Earth Round-Up on Saturday, April 19th, 2008.

The events begin at 8AM with a clean up of Little River and Blount County Roadways and culminate with festivities at the Maryville College Campus from 5PM to 8PM

Check out KnoxViews for more Earth Day/Month events in the East Tennessee area.

The Tennessee Clean Water Network has launched a new blog. The blog will cover water quality issues, legislative updates, stories from local communities, and updates on TCWN's activities.

The House conservation subcommittee voted against a ban on mountaintop removal mining.

Tom Humphrey files this report on the House subcommittee vote. Voting against the bill were William Baird, R-Jacksboro; George Fraley, D-Winchester; Joe McCord, R-Maryville; Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains; and John Tidwell, D-New Johnsonville.

Sen. Tommy Kilby, chair of the the Senate environment and conservation committee, has rejected Sen. Raymond Finney's call for a hearing and a vote. More on the Senate action here.

Residents invited to Annual Earth Roundup. The 2nd Annual Earth Roundup will be held on Saturday, April 19th beginning with the Little River Clean up that begins at 10 a.m. and lasts until 2 p.m. Call Keep Blount Beautiful at 681-4809 for more details. Then, beginning at 4 p.m., bring your family to Maryville College for food, activities, and information about a variety of environmental subjects how you can take steps to improve and conserve our most precious resources such as our rivers, air, and electricity. For more information on the entire event call, Cathy Rhodes, Little River Watershed, at 980-2130.

I came across this at the City of Maryville website and thought it worthy enough to post here. Link...

Maryville Daily Times

More than 500 people packed the auditorium at Heritage High School Tuesday evening for a public meeting on the proposed extension of the Pellissippi Parkway.

Knoxville News Sentinel

Supporters and opponents of the proposed Pellissippi Parkway Extension jammed the auditorium at Heritage High School Tuesday night for a public hearing on one of the most contentious issues facing Blount County.

WBIR

A standing-room-only crowd of several hundred people flooded Heritage High School's auditorium Tuesday night for the latest details on a proposed Pellissippi Parkway expansion project.

If you did not get to ask your question or submit your comment last night, here is the person to contact at TDOT:

Michael W. Russell, P.E.
TDOT
7345 Region Lane
Knoxville, TN 37914

or

P.O. Box 58
Knoxville, TN 37901

Phone: 865.594.2334
Email: Mike.Russell@state.tn.us

The Pellissippi Parkway Extension is a done deal. The heads of the five families (Blount Co. Mayor, Maryville Mayor, Maryville City Manager, Alcoa Mayor, and Alcoa City Manager) all support it. A massive Chamber of Commerce turnout arrived in Mercedes Benz and wool suits to support it. They are well organized, and shouted down the "antis" at several points.

From the Maryville Daily Times, Maryville Mayor Joe Swann responds to Vulcan threatening the citizens of Maryville with an expensive lawsuit:

"This is a response to the charge that the city of Maryville is 'wasting' money in its lawsuit to prevent the expansion of the quarry owned by Vulcan Materials Inc.," Swann wrote in the letter. "It is the job of the city to enforce its zoning laws and to protect citizens from operations that diminish the quiet enjoyment of their homes and property."

Blount Countians Unite! Let's start a campaign to do one little thing to save the planet. When you go to fast food restaurants, banks, whatever, park your car and go inside. Do you realize how much gas you use? Do you realize how much money you waste? Do you realize how much pollution is released in the air when you spend the 5-10 minutes at the drive-thru?

Now, obviously there are times when it is not practical. For me that might be when it is hot outside and the pupster is in the car. Maybe, at those times I could just forgo the stop all together.

What do you say? Can you do it for a week? A month? Forever?

Think about it. Try it. Save the planet one step at a time.

SPEAKER: Al Wiberly, a First Friday regular (except for summers when he is in Maine) since our beginning 4 years ago. Al's topic will be THE ENVIRONMENT--the big picture. He will discuss "Why the environment is going to hell."

Friday luncheons are held on the first Friday of the month, 11:30 am at Ryan's Steakhouse at Hunter's Crossing (Walmart) in Alcoa.

Citizen groups are welcome to join us at all First Friday Luncheons. Our programs tend to be non-partisan with an emphasis on good government and honest officials--both elected and appointed

Blount County Democratic Party Friday Luncheon
Ryan's Steakhouse at Hunter's Crossing (Walmart) in Alcoa
11:30AM TO 1:00PM

I wonder if the Pellissippi Parkway Extension controversy prompted this?

According to the KNS, Maryville and Alcoa have ended mandatory restrictions on water usage. Can't seem to get my MDT. Hope it starts back up soon.

In addition, the KNS article goes on to say, "A preliminary study estimates that the total reduction of water use by all customers in both cities led to a 30 percent drop in water withdrawals from the Little River." Good job!

Interesting tidbit from the City of Alcoa. We receive a newsletter with our bill. Alcoa included a chart this time outlining who uses City of Alcoa water.

Inside City Residential Customers = 7.4%
Inside City Commercial Customers = 10.3%
Outside City Residential Customers = 12.0%
Outside City Commercial Customers = 7.1%
Aluminum Co. of American= 45.3%
Tuckaleechee Utility District = 17.9%

I guess this is old news. After all, Vulcan's giant hole off Court St. in Maryville severed Duncan Branch creek over 10 years ago now. It is still sad to me, though, and to those who grew up in the area and played in the creek as children.

Duncan Branch was a spring-fed creek that is found on maps that date back over 100 years. It flowed year-round with clear, clean water. Then Vulcan expanded the quarry right over the stream bed, and now the creek flows into the hole.

The picture below was taken during Vulcan's open house on 9/11/07 (complete with free BBQ). The quality isn't very good; the light was fading and it was taken through the tinted windows of a moving bus. Still, if you look carefully you can make out the little waterfall (see circle, and close-up view). That's what's left of Duncan Branch, flowing into the hole.

Keep in mind that this picture was taken during one of the worst droughts in recorded history. A few years ago I questioned a quarry representative on the lack of water in the creek, and his response was "Sometimes springs dry up." Right.

Unfortunately, TDEC has been of no help (which is really no wonder, since the state mining regulations were written by mining consultants). Their position is that they can only regulate water pollution. The complete elimination of water apparently is not their concern.

Vulcan uses the water that flows into the quarry for their own purposes, for processing rock and dust control. If there is any excess, they pump it into what used to be Duncan Branch creek.

I'm afraid rock quarries don't make very good neighbors. Some free BBQ every few years does not compensate for the blasting, constant truck traffic, clouds of dust, incessant noise, hideous eyesores, and destruction of the environment.

I attended the second of four Streams Done Right Seminars presented by the Little River Watershed Association and the University of Tennessee Environmental Landscape Design Lab. It was a wonderful seminar held on a magnificent day in the park.

This is a result of a project of the Blount Soil Conservation District, supported by Blount Parks and Recreation as well as the Little River Watershed Association, the University of Tennessee Environmental Landscape Design Lab, the City of Alcoa, TVA, and the ALCOA Foundation.

The project is to return some stream banks to a native habitat. It is a pleasure to see all of these organizations working together to better our environment. UT helped out with providing students on “service learning” projects. In addition, a UT intern was retained to maintain the new plantings through the summer.

The seminar was held along the stream in Springbrook Park where a portion of the stream is in the process of being restored to a native habitat. Apparently the project has already been in progress along a portion of the Blount County Green Belt bike trail. The next project is in Farragut.

Fourth of four seminars on the importance of stream buffers.

Refer to the initial announcement for details.

Third of four seminars on the importance of stream buffers.

Refer to the initial announcement for details.

Second of four seminars on the importance of stream buffers.

Refer to the initial announcement for details.

The Little River Watershed Association and the University of Tennessee Environmental Landscape Design Lab (sponsored by ALCOA Foundation) are presenting a "Streams Done Right: Picnic Seminar" series.

The program will teach about managing stream buffers and what native plant species can be used to protect and preserve stream habitats on your property.

Sam Rogers, Landscape Architect and Associate Professor of Plant Sciences and Director of the Environmental Landscape Design Lab at UTK will lead the seminars.

There are four seminars scheduled: September 12th, 19th, 22nd, and 26th, each starting at noon. The seminars will be at Springbrook Park, the site of a recent demonstration project. A free picnic lunch will be provided for up to 30 attendees.

Contact the Little River Watershed Association at 980-2130 to make a reservation.

(As seen in a Maryville Daily Times advertisement.)

The drought is taking its toll on Blount County's water supply. Maryville and Alcoa get most of their water from Little River, and Little River is running at historic lows.

Maryville uses nearly 6 million gallons of water per day, most of it from Little River. (They are currently purchasing about 1 million gallons per day from the South Blount Utility District, which gets its water from the Tellico Reservoir.)

Alcoa's Little River intake is downstream from Maryville's. According to news reports, Little River's flow this week was about 42 cfs at the Maryville intake, and about 28 cfs at the downstream Alcoa intake. It is currently about 31 cfs at Townsend, as compared to a springtime flow of around 300 cfs.

Having waded, tubed, and fished Little River for about 40 years or so, it's about as low as I can recall ever seeing it. Fishing is out of the question, and so is tubing for the most part.

The bottom line is, everyone needs to conserve. (We've only watered our lawn once in about the last month. We're watering one more time tonight, though, before mandatory restrictions are put in place Monday morning. So, yeah, we're part of the problem, but our lawn is also nearly a complete loss from trying to be responsible all summer.)

Click read more for more photos of Little River taken yesterday...

If you would like to help, please print out this flyer, share it with friends and post it at all the places you frequent: (Link...)

Saturday, September 29th, 2007, 6:30 p.m.: Free Annual Benefit Concert at The Shed at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson (Link...) for Save Chilhowee Mountain. Note: H-D is allowing SCM to use The Shed for free to help with the cause!

Price: FREE -- Donations of $10 (or more) greatly appreciated! All proceeds of this event will go to Save Chilhowee Mountain. (Link...)

Here are the bands coming so far, donating their time:

Cherohala: Link...
Sisters of the Silver Stage: Link...
Scott McMahan: Link...
The Bearded: Link...

With guest artists:
Trisha Gene Brady, and Rob McNurlin

Check out Link... for more info.

On a clear day...

Yesterday...

The air quality is bad, bordering on unhealthy, with no immediate relief in sight. One problem is that TVA can't generate as much hydro-electric power because of the drought, so coal-fired power plants are running overtime.

Now would be a good time to turn your thermostat up a couple of degrees and install a CFL light bulb or two.

Click read more for larger views...

Meet PEER

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Link...

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a national alliance of local state and federal resource professionals. PEER's environmental work is solely directed by the needs of its members. As a consequence, we have the distinct honor of serving resource professionals who daily cast profiles in courage in cubicles across the country.

Click image for larger view...

Here's a great new environmental education project over in Springbrook Park. On our evening walks over there we had noticed some work going on around the stream near the footbridge on the lower end of the park. A couple of days ago we found out what they were doing when they installed this sign.

Lots of native plants and trees now line the stream banks to demonstrate ways to protect riparian habitat from runoff and erosion caused by nearby development.

The sign has a wonderful painting by Leah Gardner of the UT Environmental Landscape Design Lab with a key depicting the various species that were planted, including Ironwood, Sycamore, American Beech, Hearts-a-bustin', Cherokee Sedge, Swamp Milkweed, River Oats, and lots more.

It's a good thing they have a guide, because I wouldn't be able to identify more than a couple of these plants and trees.

The sign also explains stream buffers and how they help protect the environment, and what you can do to help protect stream water quality with plantings in your yard.

We're not sure who organized the project, but according to the sign the cooperating partners are the City of Alcoa, the City of Maryville, Blount County, the National Fish and Wildlife Federation, the Blount County Soil Conservation District, TVA, the UT Environmental Landscape Design Lab, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Little River Watershed Association, the Little River Water Quality Forum, the ALCOA Foundation, and the EPA.

Stop by and check it out the next time you're over in Springbrook Park.