EPA EnviroFacts

The EPA offers a website that will allow people to access environmental facts and statistics in their area. What first caught out attention was the database of NPDES permits available for each zipcode. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. By searching your local zip code, you can determine which companies or organizations have NPDES permits for discharging into surface water as well as violations. All the information can be found here.

Sustainable Agriculture Policy Internship for Spring 2010

The Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI) is a non-profit agricultural institute founded in 1984 in East Troy, Wisconsin. Internships last for five months and begin in January of 2010. Interns will work on a wide range of programs and campaigns dealing with sustainable agriculture. Interested applicants should submit a letter expressing reasons for interest in this position, relevant background, a writing sample, names/contact information for three references, and confirmation of housing and other arrangements by Friday, October 30, 2009. (Applicants from out of town may simply note that they understand that they need to make these arrangements and are prepared to do so.) Please send applications to Margaret Krome, MFAI Policy Program Director, 2524 Chamberlain Ave., Madison, WI 53705. For more information, you may contact Margaret at mkrome@sbcglobal.net or (608) 238-1440.

Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge

Need a way to energize the youth in your community about a more sustainable future? The Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge gives students the opportunity, tools and inspiration to become those agents of change. Beginning August 19, 2009 through March 15, 2010, middle school student teams from across the country will be challenged to create sustainable, reproducible environmental improvements in their local communities. Top prizes will include a chance to appear on Discovery Network's Planet Green, a share in thousands of dollars in savings bonds, a Discovery Adventure trip and more. More information here.

Model Ordinances

Looking for good examples of ordinance language to adapt for your local community? Here you will find model ordinances and coming soon -- real-world ordinances from all over the nation used to better protect the environmental resources of a community. If you've got an innovative, approved ordinance or program that you think others could use, please send a copy to include in the library. This resource can be accessed at: http://www.cwp.org/Resource_Library/Model_Ordinances/index.htm

Kentucky Conservation Committee Seeks Campus Liaisons

The Kentucky Conservation Committee, (KCC), a nonpartisan coalition of environmental groups and individuals, is looking for Kentucky Higher Education students to participate in its advocacy efforts as Campus Liaisons. Campus Liaisons will have the exciting opportunity to spend time with KCC’s experienced legislative agent in Frankfort for a behind-the-scenes look at government. For information regarding eligibility, responsibilities and how to apply, go to: http://www.kyconservation.org/campus-Liaison.htm

Free Clean Water Resource

An independent PBS production company has created an environmental learning kit from its acclaimed new two-hour PBS Frontline documentary "POISONED WATERS." The materials pair ten five-minute video segments with ten companion essays in a 26-page discussion guide that addresses the state of America's water ways, new pollution threats, and strategies for combating pollution and habitat disruption. The kit, which comes in a compact packet the size of a DVD box, is suitable for environmental groups, college university and high school science and environmental teachers, park rangers and natural refuge guides, garden clubs, soil conservation districts, water keepers, and grass roots activities engaged in public education and community organizing. It is not for sit-down viewing. The material is suitable for an adult audience, not for elementary and middle schools and are free of charge. Those interested should contact Simona Raetz at Hedrick Smith Productions at simonaraetz@live.com

AQUATOX Release 3 - Now Available

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Science and Technology, has released an enhanced version of the aquatic ecosystem simulation model AQUATOX. AQUATOX is a PC-based ecosystem model that predicts the fate of nutrients and organic chemicals in water bodies, as well as their direct and indirect effects on the resident organisms. AQUATOX Release 3 contains many enhancements that increase the realism and utility of the model. The most important enhancements include:

- Capability to represent estuaries at a screening level
- Capability to model multiple linked river and reservoir segments
- Enhanced nutrients analysis, including nutrient release from sediments, daily dissolved oxygen fluctuations, and toxicity from low oxygen and ammonia
- Capability to simulate biological effects of suspended and bedded sediments
- Calculation of biological metrics
- Enhanced sensitivity and uncertainty analyses
- Toxicity data estimation from ICE (Interspecies Correlation Estimation)
- Expanded data management, graphics and statistical analysis
- The software is now open source, meaning that other modelers can customize AQUATOX for their particular application

Visit the AQUATOX web site at http://epa.gov/ost/models/aquatox/ for more information or for downloading the model and its associated documentation.