Since 2004, testing by water utilities has found 315 pollutants in the tap water Americans drink, according to an Environmental Working Group (EWG) drinking water quality analysis of almost 20 million records obtained from state water officials.

More than half of the chemicals detected are not subject to health or safety regulations and can legally be present in any amount. The federal government does have health guidelines for others, but 49 of these contaminants have been found in one place or another at levels above those guidelines, polluting the tap water for 53.6 million Americans. The government has not set a single new drinking water standard since 2001.

Water utilities spend 19 times more on water treatment chemicals every year than the federal government invests in protecting lakes and rivers from pollution in the first place.

Based on these data, EWG believes the federal government has a responsibility to do a national assessment of drinking water quality. It should establish new safety standards, set priorities for pollution prevention projects, and tell consumers about the full range of pollutants in their water.

Because it has not, EWG launched a 3-year project to create the largest drinking water quality database in existence. This user-friendly, interactive resource covers 48,000 communities in 45 states and the District of Columbia.

Mount Vernon Iowa Water Quality can be found here

Exceeds National Health Guidelines in 7 chemicals

including radium, arsenic , lead

to be continued.

State of the Air 2009 Report
Iowa
http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/states/iowa/

For Particle Pollution:

Johnson County Gets an F with 11 Orange Days (Unhealthy for Sensitive Populations)

Linn County Gets an F rating with 10 Orange Days

What you can do
Individual citizens can do a great deal to help reduce air pollution outdoors as well. Simple but effective ways include:

• Drive less. Combine trips, walk, bike, carpool or vanpool, and use buses, subways or other alternatives to driving. Vehicle emissions are a major source of air pollution. Support community plans that provide ways to get around that don’t require a car, such as more sidewalks, bike trails and transit systems.
• Don’t burn wood or trash. Burning firewood and trash are among the largest sources of particles in many parts of the country. If you must use a fireplace or stove for heat, convert your woodstoves to natural gas, which has far fewer polluting emissions. Compost and recycle as much as possible and dispose of other waste properly; don’t burn it. Support efforts in your community to ban outdoor burning of construction and yard wastes. Avoid the use of outdoor hydronic heaters, also called outdoor wood boilers, which are often much more polluting than woodstoves.
• Make sure your local school system requires clean school buses, which includes replacing or retrofitting old school buses with filters and other equipment to reduce emissions. Make sure your local schools don’t idle their buses, a step that can immediately reduce the emissions.
• Get involved. Participate in your community’s review of its air pollution plans and support state and local efforts to clean up air pollution.
• Use less electricity. Turn out the lights and use energy-efficient appliances. Generating electricity is one of the biggest sources of pollution, particularly in the eastern United States.
• Send a message to decision makers. Send an email or fax to urge Congress to oppose measures that weaken the Clean Air Act.

Log on at www.LungUSA.org to see how easy that can be.

source: http://www.stateoftheair.org/2009/key-findings/executive-summary.html

Useful Air Quality Links

Iowa

• Iowa Weather Alerts including Air Quality Alerts from the National Weather Service
• Iowa Air Quality Forecast
• Pollution Rankings in Linn County Iowa
• Iowa Department of Natural Resouces

EPA SuperFund Cleanup Sites List – Locations in Iowa

The 25 Most Ozone-Polluted Regions from 2005 American Lung Association

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-
   Riverside, CA
2. Bakersfield, CA
3. Fresno-Madera, CA
4. Visalia-Porterville, CA
5. Merced, CA
6. Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX
7. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-
   Truckee, CA-NV
8. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
9. New York-Newark-Bridgeport,
   NY-NJ-CT-PA
10. Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland,
    PA-NJ-DE-MD
11. Washington-Baltimore-Northern
    Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV
12. Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC
13. Hanford-Corcoran, CA
14. Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH
15. Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN
16. Modesto, CA
17. Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA
18. Youngstown-Warren-East
    Liverpool, OH-PA
19. Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH
20. Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI
21. Buffalo-Niagara-Cattaraugus, NY
22. Sheboygan, WI
23. Chicago-Naperville-Michigan
    City, IL-IN-WI
24. El Centro, CA
25. Lancaster, PA

source: http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/05/09/07/the-25-most-polluted-regions-in-the-united-states.htm

QI colors

EPA has assigned a specific color to each AQI category to make it easier for people to understand quickly whether air pollution is reaching unhealthy levels in their communities. For example, the color orange means that conditions are “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” while red means that conditions may be “unhealthy for everyone,” and so on.

Understanding the AQI

The purpose of the AQI is to help you understand what local air quality means to your health. To make it easier to understand, the AQI is divided into six categories:

Each category corresponds to a different level of health concern. The six levels of health concern and what they mean are:

• “Good” AQI is 0 – 50. Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
• “Moderate” AQI is 51 – 100. Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people. For example, people who are unusually sensitive to ozone may experience respiratory symptoms.
• “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” AQI is 101 – 150. Although general public is not likely to be affected at this AQI range, people with lung disease, older adults and children are at a greater risk from exposure to ozone, whereas persons with heart and lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from the presence of particles in the air. .
• “Unhealthy” AQI is 151 – 200. Everyone may begin to experience some adverse health effects, and members of the sensitive groups may experience more serious effects. .
• “Very Unhealthy” AQI is 201 – 300. This would trigger a health alert signifying that everyone may experience more serious health effects.

source: http://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqibasics.aqi#sens

“Hazardous” AQI greater than 300. This would trigger a health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected.

✴ Subsidy payments were received directly from USDA and USDA attributed additional subsidy benefits to this person that were passed through one or more subsidized farm business(es).

✴✴ Subsidies benefits were attributed by USDA only as pass-throughs from one or more subsidized farm business(es).
Entities without ✴ or ✴✴ received all of their money directly from USDA.

source: http://farm.ewg.org/sites/farmbill2007/s1614_addrsearch.php?yr=S1614&s=yup&stab=IA&mailfips=19113&city=Mount+Vernon&c=Search&zip=&last=&first=&fullname=

Subsidy Recipients 1 to 20 of 837 in zipcode 52314
Recipients in this zipcode received $38,527,837 from 1995-2005

Select names below to view details of that farm/farmer. View Complete List here.

(WordPress is mangling this list)Â

source: http://ewg.org/farm/addrsearch.php?s=yup&stab=SC&city=&zip=52314&z=See+Recipients

View The List at the Environmental Working Group

More Information here at this web page.

Pella Seeks Rain Forest

Some Want Project Near Lake Red Rock

Brian Morelli

Iowa City Press-Citizen

May 7, 2006

[Note: This material is copyright by the Press-Citizen, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.]

Even on a quiet day, the sounds of tractor-trailers cannot be heard from Lake Red Rock.

The lake, located in Knoxville, just southwest of the Pella border, is the largest one in Iowa. DML Land Development plans to create a 250-acre, $700 million development off the lake’s southeastern shore that would include hotels, retail, a water park, a marina and, some hope, an indoor rain forest.

Lake Red Rock/Pella is among four locations — Tiffin, Grinnell and Riverside are the others — vying to land the rain forest project, which also would feature an aquarium, wetlands and prairie land. A final selection is expected sometime between mid-May and early June.

“The strongest point, bar none, is the site. No other site has the ambiance of this place,” said Kevin Conway, one of five leaders of DML. “We would keep the (tree) canopy. It would have the feel like this place has been here 100 years.”

The selection of a site will be based on the ability to meet a four-part criterion, including ambiance, accessibility, acreage and a $25 million local match.

Accessibility is one concern because the site is about half an hour south of Interstate 80, Conway said.

Still, the tourist draw from the events throughout the year, such as the Tulip Time Festival and races at the Knoxville Raceway, is proof that people would make the drive to the area, Conway said.

“If you are trying to create an iconic destination, I don’t believe you can do that on the interstate,” city administrator Mike Nardini said.

City leaders are still negotiating with DML over how much they would help with money and infrastructure.

“The city is supportive of the developer’s efforts,” Nardini said. “In general, you’ll find the community is supportive. And there would be some economic value to have (the project) here,” he said.

Several people in the 3,500-person town of Pella, which also is the home to Central College, liked the idea of bringing such a project, but some had concerns about losing what makes Pella special.

Sarah Gyolai, 31, lives in Knoxville and works in Pella. She owns Horn’s Ferry Hideaway, a cabin rental business. The tourist draw would help business, she said, but she had mixed feelings.

“It would be bittersweet,” said Gyolai. “Pella is a great kept secret right now.”

Alan Naaktgeboren, 63, has lived in Pella his whole life. He had some concerns about effects on taxes and traffic but likes the idea.

“It would be great for the community. It would be good for tourism, especially with all the other things going on with Lake Red Rock,” he said.

Kathy Haug, 26, and husband Chris Haug, 30, said because the site is not in town, it is seen as separate and people haven’t been vocal about the project.

“I’d be supportive if it came, but then I wouldn’t be upset if it didn’t come, either,” Chris Haug said.