Going Green!

At their monthly meeting on Friday, Feb. 27, the Fenwick Island Town Council voted to consider a resolution to modify the building permit fees for the installation of solar panels.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

This Margaret Mead quote sums up the intent of a Sierra Club forum on coal ash – held, interestingly enough, on the day Catholics celebrated Ash Wednesday this year, Feb. 25.

The Holiday Inn Express in Bethany Beach, along with the one in Rehoboth Beach and the Atlantis Inn in Rehoboth Beach – all owned by Atlantic Management – have been recognized as Delaware Green Lodging Hotels by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC).

Bluewater Wind’s offshore wind project is going full-speed ahead, despite news in the past weeks of owner Babcock & Brown restructuring of its corporate debt.

The Delaware Chapter of the Sierra Club is hosting “Coal Ash in Your Backyard,” a free community forum on the problems surrounding the piles of contaminated coal ash stored at the Indian River Power Plant. The forum will be held Wednesday, Feb 25, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. The presentation will begin at 7 p.m.

OK, so a 35-foot windmill in the front yard isn’t for everybody. And for many people, even a rooftop turbine is financially out of the question. But, if coal or nuclear power just doesn’t cut it, there are others ways to “vote with your dollars.” And for Buzz and Betsy Henifin of Fenwick Island, changing electricity suppliers to one that offered an option for wind-powered electricity was even about saving money – at first.

OK, so a 35-foot windmill in the front yard isn’t for everybody. And for many people, even a rooftop turbine is financially out of the question. But, if coal or nuclear power just doesn’t cut it, there are others ways to “vote with your dollars.” And for Buzz and Betsy Henifin of Fenwick Island, changing electricity suppliers to one that offered an option for wind-powered electricity was even about saving money – at first.

With snow on the ground and weather-related cancellations galore, about 140 people still came out to the Nutrient Management Conference on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2009. The conference focused on both the success of the Nutrient Management Program, started after the Nutrient Management Law – now 10 years old – was signed in 1999, and the new challenges facing the inland bays and its watershed as development has continued to affect the natural habitat.

Blinds and window treatments might not be the first things that come to mind when thinking about “going green” or energy efficiency, but they sure can be on the list, since controlling the interaction between the inside and the outside of a structure can make a difference in how well it stays warm or cool.

Fenwick Island’s Environmental Committee was back to business in the new year at its meeting this past week. Some of the items on their agenda included a possible recommendation to the town council that it write a letter to state natural resources officials about the dangers of the fly-ash pit at the power plant in Millsboro. Councilwoman and committee member Vicki Carmean also put forth a motion to have an experimental rain garden created on a property in town.

In the first days of 2009, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) sued Indian River Power Plant LLC (NRG), owner and operator of the Indian River power plant in Millsboro, over more than 5,000 emissions violations stemming from 2004 to 2008. Just a day later, the two entities reached a settlement to resolve the violations.

With news of one of the nation’s largest-ever coal-ash spills in Tennessee last week, it’s only natural that local residents are thinking about the repercussions should something similar happen in Sussex County. As residents and property owners along the river and lake there push for a recovery plan and deal with concerns about contamination of their land, air and water with arsenic, mercury and other hazardous materials, the incident only serves to increase worry in coastal Delaware about the potential impact of local coal-ash storage sites.

South Bethany has big green plans for 2009. Their Water Quality Committee, chaired by Councilman Jay Headman, is tasked with four main environmentally-focused objectives: educating the community about stormwater management and water quality, working with state and federal governments, reviewing current ordinances and creating new ones when necessary, and working closely with the Center for Inland Bays – all with the main vision of maintaining high quality water in the inland bays watershed and beyond.

Like two excited kids with a science experiment, Carole and Ron Patten of Selbyville proudly check their electric meter every day to see how much it has electricity it has generated. After installing a 24-panel solar system last fall, they have already seen dramatic decreases in their electric bill and have generated 1,300 kilowatts of power.

Town across Sussex County, as well as the country as a whole, will be stepping it up in 2009 to continue efforts to go green. The last few years have already seen great strides toward environmental friendliness in the area, and that trend is expected to continue.

Web site showcases scenic trails at state parks

Dec. 26 has to be the most depressing day of the year. There’s nothing like Christmas and the holiday season to make you re-think what life is about, why we do the things we do and what it all means anyway.

Representatives of BlueWater Wind offered an update on the company’s planned wind farm project off the coast of Rehoboth Beach at the meeting of the Sussex County Council on Dec. 9 and gave some answers to questions council members had about the project.

The Science and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) of the Delaware Center for Inland Bays met on Friday, Dec. 5, in Lewes. The committee and members of the public heard from Scott Andres of the Delaware Geological Survey; David Goss, executive director of the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA); and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Ron Graber.

Under a cooperative agreement between the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) and the Agriculture Marketing Service-United States Department of Agriculture (AMS/USDA), eligible Delaware organic crop and livestock producers can now apply for cost-share assistance for their certification costs.