Researchers warn of legacy mercury in the environment

Environmental researchers at Harvard University have published evidence that significant reductions in mercury emissions will be necessary just to stabilize current levels of the toxic element in the environment. So much mercury persists in surface reservoirs (soil, air, and water) from past pollution, going back thousands of years, that it will continue to persist in the ocean and accumulate in fish for decades to centuries, they report.

“It’s easier said than done, but we’re advocating for aggressive reductions, and sooner rather than later,” says Helen Amos, a Ph.D. candidate in Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and lead author of the study, published in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.

 

Click here to read more at www.seas.harvard.edu

 

Claremont Canyon Resource Analysis Report – A Model for the Calaveras Watershed

By: Dale Sanders, Phd

Over 20 years ago I helped develop a plan that worked well for developing an understanding of the Claremont Canyon watershed in Berkeley.

The canyon is primarily the property of the East Bay Regional Park District, East Bay Municipal Utility District, and the University of California, Berkeley. The Campus uses the canyon for various purposes, including academic research, and physical facilities, including roads and trails.

As a Senior Planner in the Campus Planning Office I was the primary contact for individuals, professors and graduate students and campus units proposing uses and activities in the canyon and the Campus Hill Area.  I had been hired to manage the EIR for the Long Range Development Plan (LRDP).  We were concerned about how the Hill Area (1,300 acres or so) should be analysed and treated for the long term (2005 target).  The LRDP is up for revision for 2020, right now.  The question then, as it is now, what to do about this area of multiple and often, conflicting uses?