Category Archives: Environment

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Local Reverend Talks Climate Change and Religion

Pictured: Pamela Dolan, rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Town and Country.

Pictured: Rev. Dr. Pamela Dolan, rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Town and Country.

The Rev. Dr. Pamela Dolan, the rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Town and Country, talks to Don Corrigan about the idea that religion and science, specifically climate change science,  can coexist.

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Gateway Greening Has The “Perfect Picks” For Your Garden

 

PP_GreenscapeGateway Greening, St. Louis’ expert in community gardening, is helping backyard and community gardeners find the perfect vegetables and herbs for their gardens this season through the “Perfect Picks” program, a retail produce line that began in 2015 and features vegetables and herbs that are “Gateway Greening Approved.”

Find out where you can purchase Gateway Greening’s “Perfect Picks” and how to register for an upcoming Perfect Pick Autumn Garden Workshop at the Science Center’s GROW Exhibit below.

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GROW – Bridging The Gap Between Farm and Fork

Pamela Braasch, SLSC education director and the GROW exhibit operations manager. All photos by Holly Shanks.

Pamela Braasch, SLSC education director and the GROW exhibit operations manager. All photos by Holly Shanks.

By Holly Shanks

Pass by the front lobby, the ticket lines and concession stands, and the watchful predatory eye of the T-Rex, and you’ll find a different kind of exhibit at the Saint Louis Science Center. It’s an exhibit, complete with chickens, vegetable gardens and tractors, and it tells the modern-day story of how our food makes it from a farmer’s hands all the way to our dinner table.

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Let’s GROW! Sights From New Exhibit At The Saint Louis Science Center

GROW, the newest exhibit at the Saint Louis Science Center. The exhibit opened June 18, 2016. Photos by Holly Shanks.

GROW, the newest exhibit at the Saint Louis Science Center. The exhibit opened June 18, 2016. Photos by Holly Shanks.

Here is a look at the sights you’ll find at GROW, the newest exhibit at theSaint Louis Science Center. The exhibit opened June 18, 2016.

Check back soon for Environmental Echo’s latest article that will have insights about the exhibit, what it took to bring the exhibit to life, and the collaboration between scientist and local farmers that brought accuracy and truth to the story of local agriculture.

See more photos from the GROW exhibit by visiting Environmental Echo’s new Facebook page HERE. Be sure to “like” our new Facebook page! 

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RIVERS ARE NOT OBEYING OUR RULES, MEEA POINTS OUT

2016meeaoakManaging rivers with dams, levees and channelization has always been a bit of an exercise in futility. Just ask the residents of the abandoned floodplain site of the old Valmeyer, Illinois. The Mississippi River did the town dirty in 1993.

More recently, residents of Fenton got a bad taste of Meramec River water when flooding in December and January overwhelmed the MSD sewage treatment plants.

Environmental Echo (EE) is posting a link to the June issue of the Missouri Environmental Educators Association (MEEA) newsletter. It has some great information on the regional history of trying to manage rivers and a map rendering that should not be missed.

EE Editor Don Corrigan has been a member of MEEA for several years and is always in awe of Missouri teachers and their commitment to teaching environmental issues and sustainability to students in the state.

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Meramec Caverns To Reopen Upper Level Of Caverns For Tours

UPDATEThe EPA announced that Meramec Caverns is approved to open tours in the upper level of the caverns as of June 10, 2016.

Find the EPA Region 7 announcement that includes a list of controls that have been implemented in the caverns HERE.

The show cave closed on March 10, 2016, because of unsafe levels of TCE fumes. TCE is an unsafe solvent used in manufacturing of metals, like vehicle parts. The contamination most likely originates from Sullivan, Mo, four miles away from a landfill and the former TRW/Ramsey facility, according to the EPA.

Learn more about the contamination from an earlier Environmental Echo podcast report that can be found below.

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The 2016 Sustainable Backyard Tour: More Than Veggies and Compost

Above: A scene from last year’s Backyard Sustainability Tour. Photo provided by Terry Winkelmann.

Ever drive by a neighbor’s yard or see a backyard garden in your local area that makes you think – “I wonder how much work it takes to maintain a backyard garden or I wonder what type of grass is in that yard because they only mow a couple times each summer?”

Well, here is your chance to find out the answer to those questions and much more during the 2016 Sustainable Backyard Tour coming up June 12.

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Corrigan’s GJR Media Coverage: Recent Coverage Of Westlake By Post-Dispatch Sparks Backlash

Westlake Landfill

Westlake Landfill

by Don Corrigan    (Article from the Gateway Journalism Review May 2016 )

When Dawn Chapman and other members of Just Moms St. Louis read a front-page story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch titled, “Misplaced Fear,” they immediately went to social media to express their upset with the piece.

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What’s Up With Meramec Cavern’s Closure And The Continuing Environmental Contamination Issues?

Pictured above: Jo Schaper. All photos courtesy Jo Schaper.

Pictured above: Jo Schaper. All photos courtesy Jo Schaper.

Meramec Caverns is closed due to environmental contamination of a substance called TCE, a chemical used in automotive parts manufacturing and cleaning. But how did the popular Missouri show cave become contaminated with TCE in the first place?

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Just Moms: The Struggle With Nuclear Waste, Politicians, And The Media

Pictured above: Dawn Chapman (Left) and Karen Nickel, co-founders of Just Moms STL.

Pictured above: Dawn Chapman (Left) and Karen Nickel, co-founders of Just Moms STL.

Dawn Chapman, from the Just Moms STL group, is the guest on this Environmental Echo podcast edition with Don Corrigan.

Chapman shares her thoughts and opinions about several recent issues, including the recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, which details expert opinions saying that “fear may be overblown and even misplaced” about the radiation risks in West Lake and Coldwater Creek areas. Also, the online threats to the EPA and other authorities on the Facebook page administered by Chapman and others, which caused the EPA to cancel an appearance at a public meeting.

Corrigan also asks about the outcome of the group’s trip to Washington D.C. visit to the White House, the United Nations, and members of Congress about the West Lake Landfill issues, and what it is like to try and balance family, being a mother, and being thrust into the advocate spotlight.

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