LONDON - Living near an airport isn’t just irritating, it is also unhealthy, researchers said on Wednesday, in a study that showed loud noise instantly boosts a sleeping person’s blood pressure.

The louder the noise, the higher a person’s blood pressure went, a finding that suggests people who live near airports may have a greater risk of health problems, said Lars Jarup, who led the European Commission-funded study.

“Living near airports where you have exposure to night time aircraft noise is a major issue,” Jarup, an environmental health researcher at the University of Glasgow, told Reuters.

“The reason we did airports is because there was no study that has looked at particular problems of aircraft noise.”

High blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart failure, heart attack and kidney failure. It affects more than a billion adults worldwide.

Click here to read the entire story.

Airport Noise Can Seriously Affect The Health And Psychological Well-Being Of Children

CornellNews (Mar. 6, 1998) — ITHACA, N.Y. -- The constant roar from jet aircraft can seriously affect the health and psychological well-being of children, according to a new Cornell University study. The health problems resulting from chronic airport noise, including higher blood pressure and boosted levels of stress hormones, the researchers say, may have lifelong effects.

"This study is probably the most definitive proof that noise causes stress and is harmful to humans," says Gary Evans, a professor of design and environmental analysis in Cornell's College of Human Ecology. This is, he says, the first longitudinal study of noise and human beings to look at the same group of individuals before and after noise pollution.

Airport noise and pollution linked to increased health problems

Researchers have known for years that exposure to excessively-loud noise can cause changes in blood pressure as well as changes in sleep and digestive patterns -- all signs of stress on the human body. The very word “noise” itself derives from the Latin word “noxia,” which means injury or hurt.

Airport Noise and Pollution Increases Risk for Illness
On a 1997 questionnaire distributed to two groups--one living near a major airport, and the other in a quiet neighborhood--two-thirds of those living near the airport indicated they were bothered by aircraft noise, and most said that it interfered with their daily activities. The same two-thirds complained more than the other group of sleep difficulties, and also perceived themselves as being in poorer health.

posted by Administrator  # 8:00 AM 0 Comments

Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a special use permit that would allow Evergreen Construction to build 45 multi-family town homes on the 5-acre lot that sits just north of the railroad tracks.

Commissioner Bill Connolly proved to be the deciding vote. Connolly had voted against the request at a previous meeting, but said Monday that he was in favor of the project after the developers agreed to build a second entrance into the development.

Click here to read the entire article.

posted by Administrator  # 9:00 PM 0 Comments

Partnership: School diversity remains vital

The Wake Education Partnership is standing behind the Wake County school system's policy of balancing the number of low-income students attending individual schools and is asking the public to do so, too.

For the complete story ... click here.

posted by Administrator  # 6:00 PM 1 Comments

From: Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks (dean.nrf@worldnet.att.net)

!!ACTION ALERT!!

Please Tell Raleigh City Council the Proposed National Bio Agro
Defense Facility Does Not Belong In Our Drinking Water Supply

The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that the
Umstead Farm in Butner had made the short list of possible sites for
the proposed National Bio Agro Defense Facility (NBAF).  This would be
a $450 million state-of-the-art Biosafety Level-4 laboratory to study
the world's deadliest diseases, which would be located at the
headwaters of Knap of Reeds Creek, just above Falls Lake.  For
decades, the NBAF's predecessor, Plum Island Animal Disease Research
Center - a 50-year-old lab - was intentionally located off the tip of
Long Island, N.Y. to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases to the
American public.  For the proposed lab to handle the viruses and
disease pathogens it plans to conduct research on, Congress would have
to rewrite the law just to allow it on the mainland United States.

The NBAF site would use nearly 100,000 gallons of water per day from
already stressed water supplies.  It would discharge 80,000 gallons of
pre-treated wastewater through Granville County's problematic sewage
treatment plant, discharging the effluent into Falls Lake - a drinking
water supply for 400,000 Wake County citizens.  Probably most
disturbing is the possible risk of air-borne pathogens, which Raleigh
has expressed concerns about, but Home Land Security is not responding
to their request for information.  Possible droplets of water called
aerosols could potentially release bacteria or viruses into 5 major
drinking water supplies for more than 600,000 Triangle area residents,
all located within five miles of this proposed facility.  The risk of
accidents or even potential terrorist attacks on the NBAF makes this
an inappropriate location for this facility.

Citizens in Granville County have overwhelmingly opposed this
facility. Granville County Commissioners, the town of Creedmoor and
Stem have all withdrawn their support for this project.  If the people
of Granville County do not want this project in their community, why
would Wake County leaders want it in our drinking water supply?

Please write Mayor Charles Meeker and the Raleigh City Council and
urge them to:
1) Tell Home Land Security that Raleigh is opposed to NBAF being
located in the Falls Lake watershed before it goes any further in the
approval process.
2) Ask Home Land Security to identify more appropriate locations for
NBAF away from critical drinking water supplies and population
centers.

Mailing Address: c/o Gail Smith, P.O. Box 590, Raleigh, N.C., 27602
Phone: (919) 890-3050 - voice, 890-3058 - fax
Email:  charles.meeker@ci.raleigh.nc.us; gail.smith@ci.raleigh.nc.us

posted by Administrator  # 5:45 PM 1 Comments

From: Upper Neuse Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks (dean.nrf@worldnet.att.net)

The drought issue is getting very hot in the South East. We had a two for one special in yesterdays USA Today quoting both the Upper Neuse Riverkeeper and Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. We have also gotten a lot of media locally (see video link below). While Atlanta is the grips of serious drought, national attention might start focusing on the Raleigh Durham area which might be the first major metropolitan area in the Nation (more than 600,000 people) to run out of drinking water. The Army Corps of Engineers believes Raleigh may run out of water by June or July. Durham could run out sooner but has the option to get more water from nearby Jordan Lake. Raleigh does not. I believe media is turning to Riverkeepers for answers because we know our local water ways very well and more importantly we speak the truth about what is happening. The truth is, the Corps have poorly managed Falls Lake the last three out of the six years we have been in a drought, which is resulting in reactionary and drastic measures (like cutting off water from Falls Lake to the Neuse River). They have allowed Raleigh Public Utilities, who sells water to more than 400,000 people/seven municipalities, wait as long as possible to encourage water conservation. This time, they may have waited too long. Yet, there is no accountability. Thankfully, we do have new leadership at Raleigh City Council that is taking much bolder steps than previous pro development backed city council members, but they are facing an uphill challenge. Increasing population growth and global warming will ensure that this will not be the last time we are at risk of running out of water. Read below.

Go to the story and click on the video link:

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2423561/

Drought spreading in Southeast
By Larry Copeland, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/drought/2008-02-11-drought_N.htm

ATLANTA — Georgians will be able to water their azaleas and swim in their pools this spring after the state eased a ban on outdoor watering.

Barely 400 miles away, residents of Raleigh, N.C., should be so lucky. Their city council just enacted the toughest water restrictions available, essentially banning all outdoor watering in Raleigh and six surrounding towns.

As the historic drought gripping much of the Southeast stretches into a second year, Atlanta and Raleigh find themselves in similar drought conditions but are adopting contrasting strategies.

Both depend on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake for drinking water — Atlanta on Lake Lanier, Raleigh on Falls Lake. Both have experienced explosive growth that is straining water supplies. Both are still among the hardest-hit places in the region as the drought shows the first signs of abating.

North Carolina environmentalists say Raleigh shouldn't aspire to be like Atlanta in water management. "Up here, we constantly point to Atlanta as the failed example of what happens when you don't plan," says Dean Naujoks of the Neuse River Foundation. "I'm hopeful we don't make the same mistakes Atlanta has made."

Others say it's unfair to single out Atlanta because the entire Southeast has taken water for granted for centuries. In recent decades, the region has been a Sun Belt growth engine, adding people and impervious surfaces such as concrete and rooftops with little regard to whether there would be enough water.

"I would not just point the finger at Atlanta," says Graeme Lockaby, director of the Auburn University Water Resources Center in Alabama. "All of us in the Southeast are probably guilty of that. Until the last 10, 15, 20 years, we always had plenty of water. Then we had this acceleration of people and development."

He says this drought has made people realize that water is a finite resource. That reality is sharpening tensions as state and local officials across the region fight the drought and begin planning for the next one:

•Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue last week relaxed the watering ban one day after a federal appeals court said Georgia needs congressional approval to increase the amount of water it takes out of Lake Lanier, metro Atlanta's main water source. Lanier also supplies users in Alabama and Florida.

The ruling was a victory for the two neighboring states in their 18-year water war with Georgia. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said the ruling blocked Georgia's "massive water grab."

•Two Georgia legislators last week introduced legislation that would effectively move the state's northern border to include part of the Tennessee River, a move they say would correct an 1818 surveyor's error.

"The boundary between Georgia and Tennessee is the 35th parallel," state Sen. David Shafer says. "The 1818 survey party erroneously marked the 35th parallel about 1 mile south of its actual location. It's not a matter of changing the border, but … accurately surveying the border."

The bills, which enjoy near-unanimous support in both chambers, could ignite a bitter water war with Tennessee. Gov. Phil Bredesen says he'll fight any Georgia attempt to siphon water from Tennessee.

•A South Carolina state senator is pushing a bill that would allow the state to control withdrawals of more than 3 million gallons a day from the state's rivers and lakes. Last year, South Carolina sued North Carolina over a plan by the North Carolina cities of Concord and Kannapolis to withdraw 10 million gallons a day from the Catawba River. The suit is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court.

As the Southeast keeps growing, such fights are likely to intensify and multiply, says William Ferris, associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "You're absolutely going to see more of this kind of tension," he says. "We can see it out West in places like California and Arizona over the water in the Colorado River. We'll see that here."

There were some glimmers of hope last week from the U.S. Drought Monitor, which tracks conditions nationwide. Recent rainfall is expected to bring improvement in Virginia, southeastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee and the western Carolinas. Drought conditions are likely to persist in central Alabama, central Georgia, the eastern Carolinas and southwest Florida, according to the monitor's 90-day outlook.

"There has been some easing of conditions in the Southeast," says climatologist Mark Svoboda of the National Dro ught Mitigation Center. "But are they totally out of the woods yet? Not by any means."

Perdue nonetheless announced that residents of 61 north Georgia counties, banned from watering outdoors since September, will be allowed to do so during certain hours three days a week, but without sprinklers. They'll have to use a garden hose with a spray nozzle that shuts off when it's released. Residents also will be allowed to fill outdoor swimming pools this spring and summer.

The restrictions were relaxed to ease the crunch on the state's $8.12 billion landscape industry, says Marshall Guest, a Perdue spokesman.

posted by Administrator  # 10:00 PM 0 Comments

Hello all~

Due to increased interest and concern from various people
about missing the first MWW Training that was held on
January 22nd, we are having a make-up training.  The first
training went over information that was pertinent to know
for the remainder of the project, so please try to make
it if you missed the first.  Then, when Training #2 rolls
around February 26th everyone will be on the same page.

The Make-Up Training #1 Will Be:

February 12, 2008; 6:30-8 pm at the NC Cooperative
Extension Building on 4001 Carya Dr, ROOM 107

*Please see www.muddywaterwatch.org/workshops.html
for directions*

Hope to see you there!

Dean Naujoks

Upper Neuse Riverkeeper
Neuse River Foundation

posted by Administrator  # 5:38 PM 0 Comments