Mindi Messmer represents the Seacoast towns of Rye and New Castle in New Hampshire’s House of Representatives. She has been an environmental consultant for 25 years, working with businesses, banks, and the U.S. government on the presence of environmental contaminants. This blog was originally published as an article in Less Cancer Journal. I am a… Continue reading Guest Blog: We Are All “Invested” in New Hampshire’s Water
Money has been a big part of the clean water conversation at the Vermont State House this year. In January, State Treasurer Beth Pearce put a price tag of $62 million per year for the next 20 years on the efforts needed to reach our clean water goals. A week later, Governor Phil Scott announced that… Continue reading We Need to Fully Fund Clean Water in Vermont Now
Vermont’s House Committee on Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife is considering a bill to improve how the state manages its rainfall. Pollution from stormwater runoff is one of the gravest threats to clean water in New England. When rain falls on pavement rather than soil, two things happen: first, it gains speed as it runs… Continue reading Vermont Takes Action to Rein in Stormwater Pollution
New Hampshire communities are already acting to adapt to climate change.
Climate change will impact septic systems. Lawmakers can get ahead of this clean water issue by adapting septic system regulations to the climate changes to come.
This past year was big for clean water in Vermont. The pollution limits for Lake Champlain were finalized, and a slew of new rules for agriculture, development and wastewater were established. CLF fought hard to shape these new policies to protect the environment and to ensure we have regular check-ins and honest accounting on how… Continue reading What’s Next for Clean Water in Vermont
New Hampshire is not a huge state. But, it is home to almost 5,000 dams – some active, some in disrepair, and some abandoned. That large number can now be reduced by one. The Great Dam in Exeter is no more. Great Bay is fed by seven freshwater rivers – and now two are without head-of-tide dams. In 1638,… Continue reading The Great Dam Is History
… “There were a lot of secondary challenges,” Shelley said. “At the time, I don’t think anyone had full knowledge of how badly the system had fallen. . . . We had no sense of how big of a mountain we were looking at in terms of the challenges, and no one understood it was going to… Continue reading After 30 Years, Court Marks Boston Harbor Cleanup
… Vermont set phosphorus pollution levels for Lake Champlain in 2002. The EPA reopened the TMDL limits in 2011 in response to a lawsuit filed in 2008 by the Conservation Law Foundation questioning the calculations. CLF is the host organization for Lake Champlain LakeKeeper Rebekah Weber. Read more here…
… However, the Conservation Law Foundation and its partner organizations oppose this delegation of authority to Massachusetts without adequate funding and without being able to explain the benefits the state is claiming will come from oversight of the program, said Caitlin Peale Sloan, a Conservation Law Foundation staff attorney. “We’ve already seen over the last… Continue reading Massachusetts to Seek Water Permitting Authority
