In Our Backyard Podcast

Mike Ross is an assistant professor in the University of Tennessee Department of Plant Sciences’ Sustainable Landscape Design concentration and in the School of Landscape Architecture. Originally he was trained as an organismal biologist and evolutionary ecologist. And now, he translates ecological systems and relationships into design and management strategies.

In the episode we talk about city design in an environmental context. According to the United Nations, more than half the world’s population live in cities. By 2050, an estimated 7 out of 10 people will likely live in urban areas. Cities are drivers of economic growth and contribute more than 80 per cent of global GDP.

In our conversation we talked about a lot of different aspects of city planning and design from elements that make a city well designed, public transportation, and green infrastructure but ultimately we couldn’t talk about city planning without mentioning equity, poverty, homelessness, redlining, privilege, and more. It is all interconnected and complex so we mention some of those aspects as well.

We also discuss suburbs vs cities in an environmental context, and know both have their pros and cons. There is no right answer because again, it’s a complex system, we were just having a conversation about them. And we end it by discussing how we should change some of our languaging from sustainable cities to regenerative cities.

Julie Griffin and Julie Owen, are residents in Ringgold, VA where they have an industrial, open air landfill in their backyards. The landfill is owned by First Piedmont where they created the landfill after the community had already existed there for 50+ years. The residents have to look at that mess every time they come out of their houses’ and deal with the odor from it 24 hours a day. There is no fence around it so there is high risk with children and pets in this residential area, not to mention what is in the air and water from it. 

They are a chapter of BREDL called, Coalition for a Clean Dan River Region, where they are taking a stand to protect their family, homes and the air and water that we all depend on!

Industrial landfills have industrial waste in them which can contain metals, glass, asphalt, and more. Landfills produced gasses such as methane, carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and non methane organic compounds. Not to mention, they produce leachate which is a liquid produced by landfill sites, contaminating nearby water sources, which further damages the ecosystems.

I would highly suggest going to their facebook page “Save our rural community” to see pictures of the  landfill and what they have to deal with daily. 

We’re back with Jason Burns who is Executive Director at Last Call Foundation and he's been a Firefighter since 2006. He has spent much of his career advocating for better and safer working conditions for his firefighters. I talked with Jason at the end of last year in episode 24, about how there is PFAS in firefighters PPE. We ended the conversation on how when they wash their PPE, the PFAS ends up in their waterways. Now we’re picking the conversation back there.

In 2022, there was a test of 114 waterways from across the country, in which 83% were found to contain at least one type of PFAS—dangerous per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that are widely linked to serious public health and environmental impacts. 

These findings are an important step toward filling in a major data gap and validate the call to EPA for increased and widespread monitoring to gain a complete picture of PFAS contamination in all watersheds across the country.

In spite of the serious health risks, there are currently no universal, science-based limits on the various PFAS chemicals in the United States. For many PFAS chemicals, the EPA has not even set a health advisory limit that would give the public a baseline to determine what amount of PFAS is unhealthy in drinking water. In most cases, the EPA is not doing adequate monitoring for these chemicals, which is why these findings are so unique and important.

Contact and connect with Jason: jasonjburns@comcast.net

Dr. Michael McKinney is the Director of Environmental Studies at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I personally did microplastic research with him on invertebrates in local creeks and the Tennessee River. And now, he is teaching a course on microplastics at UTK along with his research. 

Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that result from both commercial product development and the breakdown of larger plastics.  They are classified as less than 5 millimeters in diameter. The problem with microplastics is that—like plastic items of any size—they do not readily break down into harmless molecules. Plastics can take hundreds or thousands of years to decompose—and in the meantime, wreak havoc on the environment. They can be from sources such as synthetic clothing, fishing nets, food packaging, cosmetics, PPE, and so much more. There is still so much research being done about them and what dangers they impose.

With Dr. McKinney, we talk about his research on them, how washing clothes put microplastics into our waterways, how they affect wildlife and humans alike, bioaccumulation, and policy solutions.

Contact and connect with Dr. McKinney: mmckinne@utk.edu

Steven Lester is a Toxicologist and the Science Director at the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, CHEJ.

We speak about the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment where 38 of its 150 cars derailed while carrying a variety of hazardous chemicals on February 3rd. A few days after the train cars derailed the company, Norfolk Southern, was afraid of a bigger explosion and decided to dump and burn the 5 cars carrying vinyl chloride. 

The burning of this leads to dioxins in the air, soil, water, and farm animals there. “Dioxin” is the name given to a group of persistent, very toxic chemicals that share similar chemical structures. Dioxin is not deliberately manufactured. It is the unintended byproduct of industrial processes that use or burn chlorine. Dioxin exposure can have serious environmental and human health effects such as cancer, reproductive damage, developmental problems, type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease, infertility in adults, impairment of the immune system and skin lesions.

The high exposure to this particular chemical puts the community at high risk, but also has the potential to travel through the air and water and have an effect on the produce and animals we consume as it's in the soils. Norfolk Southern and the EPA have been denying and delaying testing for this. Steven along with the community has been putting pressure on them to do accurate and timely testing. Steven also got invited by the community to attend public meetings and is in contact with residents on the ground there. We speak about their concerns and if the area will ever be safe again. 

Sabrina Webster is a resident of Piney Grove, NC - which is in the 1 mile radius of where the Winston-Salem Weaver Fertilizer Plant Fire that happened in January of last year.

I did four other episodes about the fire itself and stricter regulations that need to be in place, especially for Ammonium Nitrate that the community was exposed to, so listen to episodes 5,6,7, and 8 for that.

There is now a report out about the fire from the Analysis of Publicly Disseminated Air Quality Information During Facility Fire Incident highlights instances when local officials told the public that the air quality was okay and pollutants were just “irritants” when, in fact, levels of Particulate Matter 2.5 were in the EPA’s hazardous and very unhealthy categories. Yet, they told residents it was safe to go back to their homes four days after the fire.

With Sabrina, we talk about the day the fire happened, the process coming back, the rich history of the Piney Grove community, how the media portrays the community, the lack of compensation they got, and now the current situation.

Emily Franc is the Vice President of Development & Philanthropy at Potomac Riverkeeper Network.

Freshwater mussels like Eastern Lampmussel, and Alewife floaters are among 16 species native to the Potomac River and its Maryland tributaries, and they once existed in the millions, similar to the oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay. Like oysters, mussels are effective at removing nutrients and toxins, filtering out sediments and improving water quality. The mussels population in the Potomac has suffered due to climate change, increased urbanization, and stormwater erosion. Scientific opinion is unanimous that mussel recovery is an important part of improving the water quality in the Chesapeake Bay; both Maryland and Virginia’s departments of environment have expanded their commitment to the recovery of mussel populations.

With Emily we talk about the history and significance of the Potomac River, why mussels are a vital part of our ecosystem, why we’ve seen a decrease in them, their mussel restoration work, and how we can support this work.

Contact and connect with Emily: emily@prknetwork.org 

This is New Mexico, a sacrifice zone for the nuclear industry. From the first testing of a nuclear weapon, the relentless mining of uranium, radioactive areas, and now transportation and storage of nuclear waste. New Mexico and the Indigenous Peoples have experienced far too much neglect and harm - all caused by the nuclear industry.

In September 2022 Jesse Deer In Water, based in Michigan, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and a leader in CRAFT (Citizen Resistance At Fermi Two) and I went to visit Leona Morgan in New Mexico, who is a Dine/Navajo woman who has spent a good portion of her life in New Mexico and is fighting against nuclear coming into her communities. (both of whom are co-hosting this 3 part series) Within the episodes and conversations we  learned about their history from the local people and those who are fighting against it.

I saw the injustice and hurt that has gone on here, but also immense strength that has gotten the People where they are today. This is a story of the People in New Mexico, who are fighting for justice and guiding a new generation of activists to write their own narrative. Los Alamos National Lab came into New Mexico in 1943 and were the ones who designed and tested that first nuclear weapon. Beata, who we hear from first, speaks about how Los Alamos National Lab was actually supposed to be a temporary site and they stole the land through eminent domain from the Pueblo Peoples. There is now a narrative from the Lab that the people in the area should strive to work for them, coming into schools and speaking of the good they’re doing. While leaving out the stolen land as well as the vast amounts of radiation they’re consciously exposing them to. Another aspect to this is that they don’t encourage the Native People to work in management roles, rather the clean up and remediation of it.

We’re back with the New Mexico series where Jesse Deer in Water, Leona Morgan and I talk to and learn from the local peoples who are fighting against the nuclear fuel chain in New Mexico. As mentioned, New Mexico has been a sacrifice zone for the nuclear industry. From the first testing of a nuclear weapon, the relentless mining of uranium, radioactive areas, and now transportation and storage of nuclear waste. New Mexico and the Indigenous Peoples have experienced far too much neglect and harm.

Jesse: Now we’re in Churchrock, just east of Gallup, New Mexico. Where the world’s largest uranium spill happened. On July 16th 1979, the United Nuclear Corporation's mill tailings dam collapsed which released the largest amount of radioactive materials in the world. More than 11,000 tons of solid radioactive waste and 94 million gallons of acidic, liquid radioactive tailings made their way into the Puerco River and contaminated more than 80 miles downstream. Residents along the Puerco report smelling chemicals  during heavy rains, even more than 40 years after the spill. In 2015, twice the legal limit of allowable uranium was found in the tap water in Sanders, Arizona just downstream from Churchrock. The community was told not to drink the water and the schools were given bottled water.

Petuuche Gilbert is an elder from the Pueblo of Acoma. He talks about his life in the “Grants Mining District,” and takes us on a tour of cultural sites and abandoned uranium mine lands in the region, where he worked and still lives today.

Uranium extraction in New Mexico was primarily done in the “Grants Mineral Belt,” or “Grants Mining District” –depending who you ask, which is in the northwest part of the state. Residents in this area have had abnormally high rates of lung cancer, from radon gas in poorly ventilated in underground mines. The effect was particularly pronounced among miners, because the incidence of lung cancer is normally low among Indigenous populations. Further south in central New Mexico, on July 16th, 1945, a plume of plutonium mushroomed over New Mexico. Less than 20 miles away from people and communities. This was the United States government's first detonation of a nuclear weapon, a part of the Manhattan Project, one of the first ways New Mexico became a national sacrifice zone for the nuclear industry.

Mark Vick is the Chief Volunteer Firefighter for the Rich Square Volunteer Fire Department and President of the Northampton County Firefighters Association.

As a volunteer firefighter, they’re not only in service of the community, but also a more visible member of the community. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 70 percent of firefighters in the United States are volunteers. As mentioned in the previous two episodes, firefighters are at particular risk of exposure to PFAS from it being in their Personal Protective Gear as well as the foam to put out fires. The research shows that PFAS can leach out of turnout gear onto firefighters' skin and potentially enter their bloodstream.

With Mark, we talk about his experience as a firefighter, when he began to learn about PFAS, where volunteer departments get their funding and what volunteer departments can do to reduce their exposure.

Thanks for a great year everyone and I’ll be back with more episodes in January!

Jason Burns who is Executive Director at Last Call Foundation and he's been a Firefighter since 2006. He has spent much of his career advocating for better and safer working conditions for his firefighters. He currently serves as a District Vice President for the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts. Jason has also been a part of the team of people who have collaborated on a nation wide effort to rid firefighters’ personal protective equipment of toxic PFAS chemicals.

PFAS is used in fire fighter turnout gear and poses an unnecessary occupational threat. Recent studies have shown that all three layers of firefighter turnout gear contain Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), a class of fluorinated chemicals known as “forever chemicals” which have been linked to cancer and other serious health effects. These studies highlight the risks associated with the materials and finishes used in turnout gear even before it is exposed to its first fire.

With Jason, we talk about his experience as a firefighter, what he’s seen in the field, the nation wide effort he’s apart of, what risk this puts firefighters at, and alternatives fire departments can use instead.

Kevin Ferrara is considered a PFAS subject matter expert who has 34-years of fire service experience, and agile Fire Protection and Emergency Service (FPES) consulting expertise, to emergency service affiliated organizations around the world.

Dean Rivkin is an attorney as well as a professor at University of Tennessee, Knoxville College of Law. His work includes civil rights, air pollution, public interest, protecting the environment, and more.

He has been counsel in public interest litigation concerning issues such as air pollution, TVA, and a challenge to the Tennessee Barratry Statute.  As well as he was a member of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Initiative, a comprehensive effort to combat the adverse effects of air pollution on the national parks and wilderness areas in the Southeast.

With Dean we speak about how he got into law, people’s expectation of lawyers in Appalachia, the term “petty disturbances”, what he’s currently working on, and how he thinks citizen groups can make the most effective change.

Grace Tuttle Development & Programs Coordinator at Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR).

POWHR is an interstate coalition representing individuals and groups from Virginia and West Virginia dedicated to protecting water, land, and communities from harms caused by the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, including the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline system that spans approximately 303 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia.

Current happenings of the MVP are that, they have asked FERC to amend its ‘certificate’ to allow it to bore under water bodies to install pipes and they applied to the US Army Corps of Engineers for a Clean Water permit to cross waters.

With Grace we talk about the people power and frontline communities that are fighting against the MVP and what litigation comes their way. As well as ways to combat environmental injustice and meaningfully address the climate crisis.

Freeda Cathcart who is the Mothers Out Front Team Coordinator.

We talk all about the Manchin Bill which is proposed by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin. It's a bill with an outline of tax, climate, energy, and healthcare measures that speeds up fossil fuel and clean energy projects. In the episode we will focus on its effects on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, MVP.

Manchin’s bill includes a mandate for agencies to approve the contentious Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline project. Many Virginia communities have revolted against the venture. The pipeline, proposed will run through West Virginia, Virginia and a sliver of North Carolina, has had multiple permits repeatedly struck down since it was initially approved in 2017. It is now expected to cost more than $6 billion to complete, more than double the original cost estimate.

The Manchin bill would move the legal venue for challenges to Mountain Valley from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond to the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The bill text also includes a provision imposing a two-year deadline on permitting reviews for major projects under NEPA, and one year for projects with less impact.

With Freeda we talk about the work she does, the bill, the effects it has on the MVP, how the MVP effects communities and energy permitting provisions.

Beth Markesino is the founder of the non-profit North Carolina Stop GenX.

North Carolina Stop GenX in Our Waters is a group wanting to stop the contamination of GenX and other harmful chemicals in North Carolina waters. GenX is a Chemours trademark name for a synthetic, short-chain chemical compound. The chemicals are used in products such as food packaging, paints, cleaning products, non-stick coatings, outdoor fabrics, and firefighting foam. In North Carolina, the Chemours Fayetteville plant released GenX compounds into the Cape Fear River, which is a drinking water source for the Wilmington area.

With Beth we speak about what got her into this work, what GenX is and where it comes from, environmental racism from corporations, her personal experience with these chemicals, the report she helped with, and how people can protect themselves.

Leona Morgan (Diné/Navajo, she/her) is an indigenous community organizer and activist who has been fighting nuclear colonialism since 2007. Her work includes stopping: new uranium mining, transport of radioactive materials, and nuclear waste dumping in the Southwestern United States.

Theaux Le Gardeur who is executive director of Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER®, they are a grassroots, advocacy-based membership organization charged with protecting, conserving and restoring the Gunpowder, Bird and Bush Rivers and their Watersheds located in Monkton, MD.

Because of the economic, biological and recreational importance of the Gunpowder River, there exists a pressing need for independent, comprehensive baseline environmental monitoring and mapping of the river and its watershed. They participate in monitoring projects such as temperature, pH, dissolved solids, Chlorophyll A, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and bacteria are collected throughout the watershed. This data will be visualized with GIS mapping and shared with regulatory agencies.

With Theaux we talk about the river itself, what problems the river is facing, projects and sampling they’re working on, and NASA satellite training that they’re a part of.

And to give more information on the NASA satellite training we attended, every day, several NASA satellites circle the globe from the North to the South Pole. As the earth turns, these satellite routes will cross over the entire planet, one swath at a time. Some of these satellites take pictures of the ever-changing waters of the earth.

This program is designed to ground truth the satellite data by comparing information from samples obtained in the field to the satellite data to determine how precisely the space images capture water quality data.

Charles Utley is Associate Director of BREDL. He was last on the podcast 2 years ago in Episode 45 called “What’s Happening at Plant Vogtle?” so go back and listen to that one. Now, I check back in with Charles to get updates on what’s been happening with his projects and BREDL for the past two years.

We speak about the Shell Bluff for Concerned Citizens chapter, the zero waste plan for Augusta, GA, industries coming into the area, Plant Vogtle, and what he’s looking forward to in the future.

Charles mentioned a chemical company that is coming to Augusta and they called Aurubis and they are a world leader in recycling copper, precious metals and other non-ferrous metals, which sounds good, but they are known for contaminating waterways during this process and that is the last thing the city of Augusta needs in their community.

Contact and connect with Charles: bredlutley@gmail.com

Jesse Deer In Water, based in Michigan,  is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and a leader in CRAFT (Citizen Resistance At Fermi Two). This grassroots, Indigenous-led environmental activism group is focused on protecting the Great Lakes. The Fermi 2 Power Plant, on the shore of Lake Erie in Newport, Michigan, supplies 20 percent of the power generated by DTE Energy.

Fermi 2 power plant and a neighboring coal plant are polluting the water, air, and land of this area. CRAFT originally formed after the Christmas Day 1993 incident at Fermi2 that resulted in radioactive release due to damage to one of the main turbines, subsequently dumping 1.5 million gallons of untreated toxic, radioactive water into Lake Erie.

With Jesse we talk about what got him into this work, the dangers of the Fermi 2 plant, actions his organization has done, the tie between the Fermi plant and nearby coal plant, and what is stopping the government from making changes.

Steph Compton is a Baltimore Organizer for Energy Justice Network, she has been working on Environmental justice issues since 2012 and she is currently working on all things pertaining to zero waste.

In this re-release episode I talk with John LaForge who is the co-director of NukeWatch. We highlight his work advocating the issue of the U.S. nuclear bombs in Germany. To give some historical background, Despite the end of the Cold War, about 20 US nuclear bombs are still deployed in Germany. German pilots are both trained and obligated to take off with these bombs in their Tornado jet fighter-bombers and, if the orders come from a US president through NATO, to use them on their targets. This terrifying NATO war plan is part of the “nuclear sharing agreement” between the US and Germany, and includes a first-strike option. NATO calls this nuclear proliferation “Power and Burden Sharing.”

Because of this every year a Peace Delegation is held in Germany to bring together people and organziations to send the existing U.S. nuclear weapons back home, and to halt production of the new B61-12 nuclear bomb to be deployed in five European countries as well as to pressure the government and remind lawmakers to permanently remove the US weapons.I will be attending the Germany Peace Delegation at the Büchel Air Base from July 11-17th to participate in direct actions towards this goal.

With John we talk about Germany and the US relationship with nuclear weapons, differences in direct actions between the two countries, the goals of the Peace delegation they hold every year, if Germany is making itself a target by having these nuclear weapons, and the relationship Germany has with other NATO countries.

Contact and connect with John: nukewatch1@lakeland.ws

In this episode I check back in with Ruth Ann Tesanovich of the Madison County Clean Power Coalition Chapter (MCCPC) and retired Medical Laboratory Scientist from UGA.

When I last talked to Ruth Ann 2 years ago, they were in the middle of their fight to ban the burning of creosote railroad ties at the biomass plant in their small agricultural community. Now we talk about their massive success in getting the State of Georgia to unanimously pass the bill to ban the burning of them across the entire state. And how they are now working on the noise pollution and water quality concerning the plant.

This episode I bring back Lisa Sorg after 2 years on the podcast, she is an Environmental Reporter for N.C. Policy Watch. She has been a journalist for 22 years covering environmental issues, including social justice, pollution, climate change and energy policy. To listen to your previous episode is episode 8, called Inside the Mind of An Environmental Reporter.

With Lisa we talk about what’s been going in terms of her environmental reporting in the last 2 years, her recent articles about Hurricane Matthew victims, microplastics, her motivation to write these articles, and what she’s looking forward to in the future.

Jennifer Wilson is a member of CHASE which is a chapter of BREDL. CHASE stands for Citizens for a Healthy and Safe Environment based in Georgia.

Metro Green is a recycling plant that is placed in a residential area of StoneCrest, GA. The community there has been fighting this facility for the past 2 years over their health and the pollutants it gives off and the environment.

Jennifer lives directly across from this plant and with her we discuss the health effects, Metro Green’s motive, their current litigation case against them, and getting involved in your own community.

Jennifer cannot answer questions at the moment due to the litigation case, but if you could like to contatc and connect with Renne Cail who is the organizer of CHASE, her contact information will be in the show notes below.

Elise Traywick is a Masters student of Public Administration at UNC Chapel Hill. She’s been doing research with BREDL on all about 1,4 Dioxane in North Carolina landfills.

1,4-Dioxane is used as a stabilizer for chlorinated solvents such as trichloroethane and trichloroethylene. 1 It can also be an unintended contaminant of chemical ingredients used in consumer products including bubble bath, shampoo, laundry detergent, soap, skin cleanser, adhesives, and antifreeze. Causing this chemical is in NC landfills and has been getting into their groundwater. In water, it dissolves completely, even at high concentrations and does not evaporate readily. These properties make 1,4-dioxane difficult to remove from water.

With Elise we talk about how 1,4 dioxane is ending up in landfills, where it's going, what products it's in, testing methods and research, and how we can prevent this from occurring.

Darya Minovi, MPH, is a CPR Policy Analyst. She is a public health advocate passionate about environmental justice and the use of research to inform policies that protect human health and safeguard the environment.

This is our last episode on the topic of the Winston-Salem Fertilizer plant fire. This one is centered around the public and environmental health surrounding it.

With Darya we talk about the air quality, what chemicals were released and how long they stay in the air, what can be done now, and overall public health concerns today.

Contact and connect with Darya: DMinovi@progressivereform.org  

Sidney A. Shapiro is the Frank U. Fletcher Chair in Law at  Wake Forest University and Vice-President at the Center for Progressive Reform. We talk further about the Winston-Salem fertilizer plant disaster that happened earlier this year. You can listen to the past two episodes to get further details on the disaster.

With Sidney we talk about his personal experience with the evacuation, the demographic that lived directly by it, EPA’s role in this, reform that should be put into place, and how lucky they were that this plant didn’t explode.

David Flores, J.D., is a CPR Senior Policy Analyst. He joined CPR in 2016 to work on climate adaptation policy and advocacy.

Therese Vick is the NC Sustainable Economic Development Coordinator/ Community Organizer for us here at BREDL. Community groups, especially our BREDL chapters, often use air monitoring as a tool for organizing. They are often concerned about the quality of the air they breathe and how it may affect their health or the health of family and friends. With smaller, low-cost sensors available, groups have become increasingly engaged in monitoring the air quality in their neighborhoods to understand and reduce potential health risks.

To define it, air monitoring is the systematic, long-term assessment of pollutant levels by measuring the quantity and types of certain pollutants in the surrounding, outdoor air. There are many reasons to do air monitoring such as:

With Therese we discuss the validity of community air monitoring, the process for a good air monitoring set up, what people can do with this information after, and how to keep these industries accountable for polluting our air.

Leanna Powell is the Director of Development and Communications at Blue Water Baltimore whose mission is to restore the quality of Baltimore’s rivers, streams and Harbor to foster a healthy environment, a strong economy and thriving communities.

This is another re-release episode where I talk with Ralph Hutchinson who is the coordinator of The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance. OREPA is committed to nonviolence and believes in using every tool in the toolbox. Their main focus is stopping nuclear weapons production at the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and protecting the environment threatened by legacy and ongoing activities at the Oak Ridge Nuclear Reservation. We discuss background on Y12 and Oak Ridge, the dangers of nuclear weapons productions, the environmental impacts of the nuclear weapon chain, how we are in a new nuclear arms race, getting to the base of why these nuclear weapons are being invested in and made, and then what you can do to get involved.

Ian Zabarte is the Principle Man of the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians and works with the Native Community Action Council. He lives in Las Vegas, NV and has worked on nuclear issues for 30+ years.

Dave Kraft is the Executive Director and co-founder of Nuclear Energy Information Service or NEIS for short. Dave was responsible for creating the “Know Nukes!” series of videos on nuclear topics in cooperation with CAN-TV Chicago; and is a co-founder of the Radiation Monitoring Project, designed to provide training and field monitors to communities contaminated by radioactive substances.

With Dave we talk about the impacts nuclear has from resources, economics, land use, the climate, and the short and long term effects.

Petuuche GIlbert tells his personal experience of living in the Grants Mining District in New Mexico and has been working on nuclear and mining issues for 30+ years. Petuuche is also an environmental and human rights activist as well as a member of the Multicultural Alliance for Safe Environment and President of the Indigenous World Association, a United Nations NGO.

New Mexico has no nuclear power plants, but it does have the nation's second-largest uranium resource equal to nearly one-third of U.S. known uranium reserves. We talk about uranium mining which is the first part of the nuclear fuel chain and is the  process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Uranium from this type of mining is used almost entirely as fuel for nuclear power plants.

The Grants Mining District, where Petuuche lives, was the primary focus of uranium extraction and production activities in New Mexico from the 1950s until the late 1990s. Nuclear is responsible for infusing about $3 billion a year into New Mexico’s economy, Los Alamos National Laboratory is being held up by lab officials, politicians and others as an example of the kind of high-tech economic drivers.

With Petuuche we talk about the Grants Mining District, nuclear activity and funding in New Mexico, Consolidated Interim Storage (CIS), his work in the area, and what his hope for the future is. 

This week I spoke with Maggie and Arnie Gundersen. Maggie is the president of Fairewinds Energy Education and Arnie is a nuclear engineer and expert witness he is also the chief engineer for Fairewinds Associates, Inc, paralegal services and expert testimony firm. They both previously worked in the nuclear industry when they both came to the conclusion that this is not the future they want to support or work in and began their research and formation of Fairewinds to inform and educate people around the world, legislative officials, and members of the press concerning the scientific and economic issues relating to the production of electricity and the sources of energy used to create power.

With both Maggie and Arnie we talk about the history of nuclear, what resources we need for it, fission vs. fusion, their peer-reviewed publications, and what they're currently working on. To contact and connect with them and Fairewinds Energy Education will be in the show notes below.

Thank you so much to both Maggie and Arnie for speaking with me. To read their peer-reviewed publications and learn more about their organizations Fairewinds will be in the show notes below. And tune in next week where we will talk about how the uranium is mined to get the end product of nuclear. Thanks everyone and have a good week!

Hi everyone and welcome back to the In Our Backyard Podcast and if you’re new, welcome. In the Real Cost of Nuclear season, I thought I would start things out with a re-release episode with Kevin Kamps who is with Beyond Nuclear. He specializes in high-level waste management and transportation; new and existing reactors; decommissioning; Congress watch; climate change; and federal subsidies.

We talk about all things nuclear: breaking down nuclear jargon and terms, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), how likely it is that another accident will happen, and how Kevin got into anti-nuclear himself.

To contact and connect with Kevin will be in the show notes below and I hope you enjoy the episode.

Thanks Kevin for speaking with me, if you have any suggestions for future episodes contact BREDL through their website bredl.org or on one of our social media platforms in the show notes. Thanks for tuning in and come back next week for another episode of the Real Cost of Nuclear season.

Contact and connect with Kevin: kevin@beyondnuclear.org

Jacqueline Fahrenholz is a rising second year master’s student at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. She is pursuing a dual master’s degree in Environmental Management focusing in Ecosystem Science and Conservation along with a master’s degree in Forestry. Jackie worked with BREDL as a GIS Specialist this past summer, helping the organization get familiarized with the program as well as identifying tools necessary for completing tasks that have already been Identified. Some of the projects the team has focused on, include but is not limited to AERMOD modeling and the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate extension.

With Jackie we break down what GIS is, how environmental groups can use it, what got her interested in the environmental field, and what her plans for the future are.

Leija Helling is a Community Organizing Associate with Center for Health Environment and Justice (CHEJ). The campaign that she is working on is called Make Polluters Pay which is making polluting corporations pay for their contamination.

To give some background, there are currently 1,388 toxic waste sites in the United States that are so dangerous they have been designated “Superfund” sites by the federal government. But there’s no money left to clean up the contamination. Originally, big polluting companies paid into a fund that was used to clean up their messes. But in 1995, Congress let the Polluters Pay Tax expire. By 2003, our Superfund was broke. Ever since, cleanup efforts have slowed to a crawl while all of us as taxpayers are left holding the bag.

Today, some of the biggest polluting corporations are making billions of dollars per year in profits and paying zero dollars in taxes. As climate change causes more flooding, hurricanes, and other natural disasters, increasing the risk of widespread toxic exposure from these sites, there is no time to waste.

With Lejiah we talk about what got her into organizing work, the Make Polluters Pay campaign, why young people should / are involved in the climate movement, and imaging a better future.

This week we will be diverting from the Youth in the Climate Season to bring you a bonus episode about the No Coal UNC rally happening today at UNC Chapel Hill. Today at 11, there will be a Kick off rally where people will be using their voices and presences to demand justice for the dirty coal that UNC is continuing to burn. You can listen to episodes 3 on the Road to Renewable Season with Jovita Lee and 1 on this season with Amelia Covington if you want to hear more on the UNC coal plant. On this episode is Chris Carlton and Liz Evans who are apart of a group called Raging Grannies which are grannies who are using creative actions to speak out for social issues.

CLEAN ENERGY NOW!

(Tune: “Bella Ciao” Song of the Italian Resistance WWll)  New lyrics by Chris Carlson for the Raging Grannies

We need to wake up! We need to wise up!

We need to open our eyes

And do it NOW! NOW! NOW!

We need to stop this toxic coal plant

And we need to stop it now!

They’ve been mining, they’ve been burning,  They’ve been dumping their coal ash

For a hundred years!

Hardest hit/ are poor communities,

And that’s got to stop right now!

Coal is burning. It’s quite concerning.

We’ve got to solve it, get involved

And do it NOW! NOW! NOW!

DAQ! we’re telling you:

Restore the Heat Input Limit, Now!

We’re on a campus/ that’s in a crisis

They’re full of shit! Useless permit!

Change it NOW! NOW! NOW!

We need the proof/ that you’re complying

With the Clean Air Act right now!!

No point in waiting/ or hesitating;

We must get wise to their lies

If we’re to stay alive!

We need to build/ a Clean New Future,

And we’re gonna start right Now!!

This episode is a re-release from a few months ago where I talk with Nick Trombetta who is a part of the Sunrise Movement which is a youth movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. They’re building an army of young people to make climate change an urgent priority across America, end the corrupting influence of fossil fuel executives on our politics, and elect leaders who stand up for the health and wellbeing of all people.

With Nick we discuss the Sunrise Movement's mission, why it is important for youth to be involved in the climate movement, the Green New Deal, and actions they’re taking locally.

In the episode there are talks about politicians, but BREDL does not endorse any politician or political party. Thanks for listening and if you like it, please share with a friend!

Madeline Parker is from NC Warn. Madeline is a Youth Climate Justice Organizer, which is an arm of the organization that was created in 2017. Their intention is to further develop and deepen NC WARN’s commitment to actively involving youth in the fight for climate justice and against the climate crisis, working both in school settings and out in the general community.

We are all impacted by the climate crisis, but youth are the ones most impacted and all too often are not invited to the conversation or able to amplify their voices and engage in the movement.

With Madeline, we discuss her work, working with Youth who are already engaged in the Climate Movement, why there has been an uprising in youth speaking out, challenging the status quo, how youth are keeping engaged in COVID and more. Thank you for listening and if you enjoy it please share with a friend!

This week I’m bringing you a very special episode because it is, Lou Zeller, our Executive Director at Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League last week with us as he retires. This month is also marking his 35-year career with BREDL including nine years as executive director. BREDL’s founding principles of earth stewardship, environmental democracy, social justice and community empowerment is the embodiment and legacy that Lou has and will still carry on.  Lou, the communities, people, organization, and the environment are forever grateful for your time and contributions you’ve made, you will be greatly missed! In the episode we celebrate and reminisce about his time at the organization and talk about his plans for the future and retirement.

We also discuss:

Margot Franchini is a high school senior from Chapel Hill in North Carolina, Margot is apart of Earth Uprising, a youth led organization who describe themselves as “team of young people who want to save the planet.” They have strong values and principles, some of which are to “listen, believe and act on science and scientific facts,” use “ non-violent” words and actions, and be inclusive of all ethnicities, genders, cultures, and backgrounds. Margot’s organization, Earth Uprising knows that they are the generation that will have to deal with the consequences of our neglect of climate change so they are rising up to take action. Thanks for tuning in and I hope you enjoy the episode!

Last week, we wrapped up our Road to Renewables season and wow what amazing variety of people we got to speak with. We are now following the season up with our new topic, Youth in the Climate Movement. We will be talking to all sorts of experts and people on the ground about the action being made amongst the young millennial and generation Z. We are kicking off the season by chatting with Amelia Covington from Climate Action. Amelia’s organization uses activism in Greensboro, Raleigh, Durham, and Charlotte, to advocate for sound environmental policies both locally and within the wider nation. Amelia will discuss their overarching goal to progress North Carolina towards a clean energy future, and how she got involved in the climate movement and activism herself. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy!

In this episode, Perrin will discuss the UNC coal plant and why we should be more alarmed about the lack of action being taken to remove it or at least reduce the emissions. Coal plants are not just an issue contributing to the climate crisis but also to public health and endangered species. And Perrin works as an attorney on these matters in North Carolina.  Coal contains trace amounts of naturally occurring radioactive elements. This means some coal plants emit more radiation than a nuclear power plant and can cause acid rain, affecting our plants and wildlife. Perrin also goes into depth about the personal health complications he had from growing up near a coal power plant. With its abundance and inexpensive tendencies, coal has been one of the United States' leading energy resources. However, the air pollution and water pollution alone have counteracted these benefits, not to mention the inhabitants, waste, mining destruction, and significant contribution to greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. It's up to us to put pressure on these coal plants, legislators, and energy companies to put a stop to coal power.

Today we are speaking with Dr Tim Johnson. A common argument against renewable energy is the perceived unreliable nature of it, the sun isn’t always shining and the wind isn’t always blowing. Luckily, we have those issues being solved by people like Dr Johnson. He works in the more logistical side of renewables, conducting research on systems planning and management on resources. He also spends his time as a professor at Duke University, teaching in the Nicholas graduate school about energy system planning and management. We unpack the intersection between energy system design’s environmental quality and human health, the economic influences on our journey to renewables, and the present and future plans for energy storage. His notable publications include investigations on solar power, the economics within sustainability bio energy and its relationship with agriculture, and the assessment of the environmental effects from gasoline and ethanol production.

This week, we are bringing back one of our previous podcast that follows the theme of our season, Road to Renewables. We chatted with Brianna Kinsley who has a degree in sustainable development and works for Appalachian Voices assisting the people of East Tennessee to address the energy efficiency needs. This podcast looks further into how Appalachian Voices is assisting in energy democracy, the local people having control of how their electricity is produced and distributed to ensure everyone has access to affordable and clean power. With the help of solar, wind and hydro power, Appalachian Voices is helping citizens decrease their carbon footprint by allowing them to choose clean, renewable energy. Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy the episode!

Contact and connect with Briana: brianna@appvoices.org   

Micheal Walton, Executive Director and Gabrielle Chevalier, Director of Marketing and Community Outreach with Green | Spaces. Green | Spaces a nonprofit working toward regional sustainability by progressing the way we live, work, and build in Chattanooga and the surrounding region. They have a focus on making awareness and application of sustainable practice accessible to the wider community.

In recent years, “sustainability” has been a focus for Chattanooga's economy. The city has received three national awards for outstanding livability and 9 Gunther Blue Ribbon Awards for excellence in housing and consolidated planning.

Sandy Kurtz is co -president of BREDL’s board of directors and she works with numerous other environmental organizations. We will be discussing how renewable energy has changed and advanced within her lifetime and all the work she has been doing along the way. And from the beginning BREDL has supported communities and organizations, big and small, in making internal changes to achieve their renewable energy goals. Sandy will speak some about that and ways you personally can reduce energy consumption.

Jovita Lee is with the Center for Biological Diversity. By applying law, science and creative media, the Center for Biological Diversity believes that to fight the climate emergency and extinction crisis, we must revolutionize our world to be entirely powered by clean, renewable, wildlife-friendly and democratic energy. They wage innovative legal and grassroots campaigns to drive this urgent transition for energy justice. Recently in North Carolina, a permit was approved for livestock liquid waste to be transformed into natural gas and Jovita will begin by covering what the new bio gas permit in North Carolina means for halting the Road to Renewables and other projects she’s working on.

Thank you so much to Jovita for speaking with me about your passion and expertise. BREDL along with the Center for Biological Diversity does not approve of biogas for CFAOS as a renewable energy source and you can read why in our Smoke and Mirrors report in the show notes below. And tune in next Friday where I talk with Sandy Kurtz and how renewable energy has changed in her lifetime.

John Farrell works with the Institute for Local Self Reliance, a national research and advocacy organization fighting corporate control to develop the intersection between the economy and the environment. John Farrell is the director of their Energy Democracy Initiative, which, as the name suggests, is a movement to allow more public choice in energy source consumption. The cause hopes to take the decision of energy sources from larger utilities and corporations and give it to us as individuals, so we have more options in our energy resources and hence can choose a more sustainable, renewable energy source. Join me as we learn more from John what the Energy Democracy Initiative means for us and progression to sustainability.

Contact and connect with John: jfarrell@ilsr.org  

Court Lewis is President of the Executive Committee of Unicoi Clear. The asphalt company, Summers-Taylor Materials Corp. has revised its application for an air quality permit to expand operations at the former Construction Asphalt Paving Services plant in Unicoi, TN.

The town of Unicoi joined in the request for a public hearing in June following a Unicoi Planning Commission meeting in which town residents addressed concerns including:

• An increase in emissions beyond those permitted by the state since the plant began operations in the 1990s.

• Increases in noise and truck traffic that could negatively impact property values.

• Detrimental impacts on the quality of life, health and property values of residents of more than 100 families who live near the plant.

• TDEC’s failure to publish a notice of Summers-Taylor initial application for a permit to expand operations in Unicoi in a newspaper likely to be read by Unicoi County residents and subsequent award of that permit.

• Summers-Taylor purchase of property adjoining the plant and town zoning ordinances that prohibit asphalt plants outside the two-acre CAPS site.

With Court we discuss Unicoi Clear and why they formed as a group, rezoning of the site, public health and environmental impacts of asphalt plants, proximity of the asphalt plant to residents, and how you can support their work.

Elizabeth O’Nan is Chair of Chapel Hill Organization for Clean Energy or CHOCE for short.

Despite past promises by UNC to cut coal by 2020, the administration reneged on that promise a few years later and they are still burning dirty coal. UNC Chapel Hill is the only institute of higher learning in North Carolina still operating a coal-burning plant.

Now, North Carolina’s Division of Air Quality or DAQ for short has just issued a draft of its Title 5 Air Permit for the UNC coal plant which would allow them to burn MORE coal and emit MORE air pollution.

Every major polluting facility in the country must have an air permit to operate. Permits are required by Title V of the Clean Air Act. The permit sets legal allowable limits for how much air pollution a facility can emit. Specifically, the permit regulates sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter/soot, and hazardous air pollutants emitted from the UNC coal plant.

Some of the major impacts of this draft permit is that it will significantly increase pollution and worsen the health impacts on the community.

DAQ has removed the heat input limit from the draft permit. Without a heat input limit, there is no way to enforce the limit on the amount of pollutants that can be released from the coal plant’s smokestack and allows the coal plant to pollute as much as it wants.

This permit will lead to increased asthma attacks, respiratory illness, heart attacks, and premature death for the surrounding communities.

With Elizabeth we discuss this Title 5 permit and what it could mean, health and environmental impacts, and tune in for the last bit to learn how you can take action to oppose this permit!

Hope Taylor is Executive Director Emerita at Clean Water for North Carolina. Their vision is to have clean, safe, accessible water for all North Carolinians, protected by empowered, educated communities and a publicly accountable government and economy.

Campaigns they work on surrounding clean water include: fracking and fracked gas pipelines, water justice, coal ash, and factory farms.

CWFNC’s Hope and BREDL were cohorts on Salisbury asphalt and Blue Ridge (formerly Champion) paper mill campaigns, among many others. As well as involved in the victorious decade-long fight against the Southeast Compact Commission and the eight-state low-level radioactive waste dump.

With Hope we discuss campaigns CWFNC and BREDL have worked on together, her journey to become Executive Director and what she is doing now in retirement, what clean water means to her, and how you can support their work.

Nick Trombetta is an organizer with the Sunrise Movement in Chapel Hill, NC.

The Sunrise Movement is a youth movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. They’re building an army of young people to make climate change an urgent priority across America, end the corrupting influence of fossil fuel executives on our politics, and elect leaders who stand up for the health and wellbeing of all people.

Cathy Buckly who founded the Raleigh, NC chapter of the Climate Reality Project.

In 2006, former US Vice President Al Gore got the world talking about climate change with the Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth.

It was just the beginning of a climate revolution. Later that year, he founded what would become The Climate Reality Project to move the conversation forward and turn awareness into action all across the Earth.

The Climate Reality Project’s mission is to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis by making urgent action a necessity across every sector of society.

They believe real change comes from the ground up. And that a small-but-committed critical mass of activists can not only transform society, but change the world.

They recruit, train, and mobilize people to become powerful activists, providing the skills, campaigns, and resources to push for aggressive climate action and high-level policies that accelerate a just transition to clean energy.

With Cathy we discuss the background with the climate reality project, some of the biggest factors in climate change today, actions they are doing on a state level, and a climate training you all can participate in.

Maya van Rossum is Executive Director of Delaware River Keepers whose mission is to champion the rights of our communities to the Delaware River and tributary streams that are free-flowing, clean, healthy, and abundant with a diversity of life.

The Delaware is the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi, flowing freely for 330 miles as it travels from New York state, through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware to the Atlantic Ocean. The Delaware's 13,539 square mile watershed is only about four-tenths of one percent of the continental U.S. land area, but it supplies water to five percent of the nation's population --- over 15 million people. The lower end of the River and its Estuary host the world’s largest horseshoe crab population and an active commercial fishery, yet are marked by heavy industry and busy shipping traffic. The Delaware River Port Complex is the largest freshwater port in the world and is the largest for steel and paper in North America. The Port is the East Coast’s largest importer of cocoa beans and fruit and as much as seventy percent of the oil shipped to the Atlantic Coast moves through the Estuary. The Delaware River is a beautiful waterway that people from all around enjoy every day. From fishing to swimming, kayaking to paddleboarding - the Delaware River provides us with dozens of recreation opportunities.

Brianna Knisley is TN Field Coordinator for the Energy Democracy Program at Appalachian Voices. Bri’s passion for rural solutions was formed through her upbringing in a community struggling with economic, social and environmental issues faced by many rural places across the U.S.

In the episode we talk about, “Energy Democracy” which is local people having control of how their electricity is produced and distributed to ensure everyone has access to affordable and clean power.

Two decades into the 21st century, advances in solar panels, battery storage, modernized electric grids and other technologies are revolutionizing how our electricity can be produced and distributed. But large utility companies with monopoly control over the market are keeping us locked into using increasingly expensive polluting fuels like coal and fracked gas to generate our electricity.

But a movement toward Energy Democracy is growing across Appalachia and throughout the country. Local individuals and groups are standing up to demand a seat at the table with decision makers to ensure we transition to a system that is affordable and fair, provides community wealth and jobs, and is built on clean, renewable energy.

With Brianna we discuss what energy democracy is and its importance, what’s going on with energy democracy in TN - specifically with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), actions they do, suggestions to the Biden Administration’s transition team, and how you can support their work.

John Runkle who is a retired Attorney at Law. Over the many years, John shared his legal skills to many BREDL campaigns  – with communities all over North Carolina. Including landfills, coal ash, nuclear plants and more. Some fights were won, others lost, but John was there to make sure folks had legal protection against being trampled by polluters or various government agencies.

Our Executive Director, Lou Zeller has said “John’s the best environmental attorney in the state, bar none,” “What he understands that many attorneys do not is how community organizing campaigns work. He will tell you if that’s a bad idea and won’t work. When we do get into a campaign John is willing to work with us side by side.”

With John we discuss the BREDL campaigns he’s worked on, how to work with attorneys in grassroots campaigns, and challenges he’s seen in his work.