Eco Report – October 28, 2022

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HEADLINES

All stories this week by Norm Holy

Indiana is often where out-of-state corporations propose to put highly polluting processes. WFYI reports a company that wants to build a coal-to-diesel plant in southern Indiana has hit a roadblock.

Flexsteel Industries Inc. has agreed to a consent decree that requires it to pay $9.8 million for the cleanup of contamination at the Lane Street Ground Water Contamination Superfund Site in Elkhart, Indiana, and to reimburse the Environmental Protection Agency for a portion of its past costs incurred at the Lane Street Site.

A new $850 million electric transmission line is planned to connect an area of Mid-Michigan targeted for renewable energy development to the power grid in Indiana. ITC Michigan announced plans for a 110-mile line connecting an electric substation near Mt. Pleasant with a facility in LaGrange County in northern Indiana.

With purple North Carolina poised to play a leading role in next month’s midterm elections, the state grapples with dangerous “forever chemicals” in drinking water, a large legacy of toxic coal ash from coal-fired power plants, polluting hog farms and their waste, destruction of forests and an array of vulnerabilities related to climate change.

NBC News reported the Supreme Court opened its nine-month term by hearing a conservative challenge to the federal government’s authority to regulate wetlands under a landmark environmental protection law, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asking multiple questions on her first day on the bench.

The State of Indiana and Hoosier Mountain Bike Association officially opened two new trails in Brown County State Park on October 7.

CALENDAR

Learn all about Animal Tracking Basics and Beyond at Wapehani Mountain Bike Park on Saturday, October 29th, from 12:30 to 2:30 pm.  You will receive instructions and perform exercises that will teach you how to identify signs that wildlife has left behind.  Bring drinking water.  Register at bloomington.IN.gov/parks.

Join park expert, bird enthusiast, and NPR’s “Moment of Science” radio personality, Don Glass, for a presentation and discussion about Indiana’s seven species of native woodpeckers at Brown County State Park on Saturday, October 29th, from 11 to 11:45 am.  Meet at the Nature Center to learn what they look like, their behaviors, and some of the issues they face today.

Spring Mill State Park will present a “Scary or Not, Here I Come!” program on Saturday, October 29th, from 7 to 8 pm.  The naturalist, Sheree, will meet you at the Activity Center to teach you about three animals that tend to scare us and that are misunderstood.

Join the naturalist for an Owl Prowl Hike at the Fairfax State Recreation Area at Monroe Lake on Saturday, November 5th, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.  You will walk through forest and field to learn about the species of owls found in southern Indiana.  Learn which habitats they prefer, and what they sound like.

Take a Full Beaver Moon Hike at Spring Mill State Park on Saturday, November 5th, from 8 to 9 pm.  The hike is one mile long on Trail 5.  You will learn the folklore and history of the Full Beaver Moon.