Comment on PVWSP - DEIS

 

July Travels to Visit, Climb and study History

Pictorial of my travels to California to see Shannon and visit mountains, family, friends and history. Hope you get something from it?  

Cherokee Visitor Center Oklahoma

                                                 

                                                    The descent from Mount Lindsey Colorado

      Hike in to climb Mount Lindsey    

                                                    

                                                           An Hour before the top of Lindsey

Blanca and Elingwood Point is to the right

Bennett Peak; Rio Grand County Colorado

On top of Bennett Peak

      Always a Carin; Bennett Peak

                                                                

                                                                The best of friends; Jon Holst

Newspaper Rock south of Moab

Ancient and more recent petroglyphs

On top of Mine Camp with White Pine Peak in the Background, Millard County Utah

Mine Camp Peak looking to the West

Trailhead to Notch Peak, Millard County; Utah's west desert

Lots of steep canyons and rock walls

Notch Peak has head walls that are near the size of El Capitan's in Yosemite

Notch Peak

Best camp of the trip; a lonely spot in eastern California 

Now a nature education center at Crane Flat Yosemite; but in 1968 and my first job in the government, it was for the "blister rust control checkers"

Bunkhouse is on the left and dining hall on the right

Made for one hundred CCC workers in the thirties to eradicate goose berries and currents but housed only four of us in "68"

Shannon and I at the Kern County historical museum

Christina, Shannon and I at Pine Mountain Club

Sego Canyon pictographs Eastern Utah

High point of Logan County Colorado; State Line Bluffs

Funny face but still a high point

Rock Creek Station pony express; Nebraska

Rock Creek station where Oregon Trail, overland stage and pony express operated 

Also where Wild Bill Hickok killed his first two guys

Memorial to George Roger Clark; Vincennes

William Henry Harrison home; Vincennes

Monument to George Roger Clark

Early American imperialism 

For what ever it is worth these are what I posted. I had some other photos but there are far to many anyway and some were videos that I couldn't transfer to stills, if Peter is reading this his beautiful image will remain a one second video. Thanks for taking the time to share my travels, just maybe you saw one or two things you were not aware of?

Oral Comment associated with waste water permit renewal and TDEC authorization

                                                    Comments Critical of TDEC 

                                                            November 19, 2020 

  

To the Division of Water Resources - Tennessee 

 Re: NPDES Permit #TN0081566; Renewal 

I mailed in a comment about the renewal and reauthorization of U.S. Nitrogen’s waste discharge into the Nolichucky River. I now present my oral explanation on U.S. Nitrogen dumping pollution into the river which is somewhat more philosophical than legal. It is intended not only to describe displeasure with industries waste history and contemporary pollution, but also to our civil servants who have managerial and administrative responsibilities to our state and national agencies given the important task of protecting our land, air and water. 

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 or Clean Water Act (CWA), is to “Restore and Maintain the Chemical, Physical, and Biological integrity of the nation's waters by preventing point and non-point pollution. The CWA preamble declares that: “Our nation’s waters should be swimmable and fishable”. Yet our government officers responsible for the law, regulations, policy and implementation continue to seek any “loop hole” in the law to continue the practice of using our waterways for sewer disposal sites. 

 One such caveat is the Total Maximum Daily load. This item of law puts restrictions on heavily polluted waters to receive further pollution from a specific chemical but does not restrict the pollution of clean waters for the same chemical until it too has a total maximum load for that chemical. When in the discussion of water quality, you state that polluted waters cannot be polluted but unpolluted waters can, the listener is stymied? In the case of U.S. Nitrogen who wished first to discharge into Lick Creek heavy in Nitrates they needed to alter their plans and pollute the Nolichucky. 

Numerous requests to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation on multiple water quality concerns have yielded little results. It has been more than six years since I asked TDEC to acknowledge that the intent of our water quality laws is far more important than the caveats within the laws which allow for the authorization of discharged pollutions into our public waters. 

I have made comment on Nuclear Fuels Service’s discharge where we know radio-active material has been released into the Nolichucky. I have commented on gravel operations immediately along the river where a NPDES authorization was required and authorized knowing sediments and sediments containing pollution are released into the river. Witnessing employees of a county recycle center washing wastes into the river resulted in no action by TDEC. Then there is U.S. Nitrogen where I have commented, appealed and challenged with Pro Se litigation the discharge authorization for more than six years. 

 Nearly all the rivers of Tennessee in a short span of time have been altered by human activity to where the chemical, physical and biological integrity are but a remanent of their pre-industrial and community development self. An easy study of our waters including the Nolichucky will bear out that species have been eliminated, declined in numbers or are in poor health, the chemical nature of the waters have had foreign chemicals and biological organisms from farm, home and industry from thousands of point source locations authorized and unauthorized, as well as a myriad of non-point activities. 

Chronic permitted and un-permitted impacts of pollution to our surface waters is unwise, unwarranted and demands a greater over-site by our water quality agencies to work for water protection. How is it that whenever industry approaches with the offer of a few jobs and a few dollars with a large amount of profit for themselves that our elected officers fall over themselves in an effort to collect. 

Most individual citizens have little time in their daily and annual activities for over-site of the natural environs around them, they are far to occupied with life. They expect, without merit, that government agencies; whether county, state or national will protect our lands, air and water as necessary for present and future generations. 

It is a fallacy that the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation nor the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking out for the wisest approach to environmental concerns. I am not saying that we do not have professional and hard-working civil servants to protect our waters. I am saying that the political action from high, influenced by corporate money, focusing more on the dollar than any other issue, has historically and currently continue to degrade our open spaces and the natural habitat of our land, air and waters. 

Please stop this ignorance. Focus on the wisdom where the human species coexists with the natural world. Focus on the changing climate, habitat fragmentation, the loss of open spaces, the native species that have for millennium adapted to the local ecosystem. Discontinue our abuse to nature before we all are standing in our wastes without the pleasure of clean waters, clean air, natural landscapes and diverse flora and fauna. 

Take a long look at this specific waste water discharge permit, use it to reverse the earlier authorization and demand that U.S. Nitrogen assures their discharge will be near zero in pollutions and that wastes do not impact the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nolichucky River by focusing on the true intent of the CWA. Do not allow these pollutions to occur in our waters. 

Stan Olmstead – Natural Resource Advocate

Short comment on Trump's "Losers and Suckers".

Serious Times with Trump in the White House and One more "Nasty Comment" by our Commander and Chief after an Article in The Atlantic: "Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are 'Losers" and 'Suckers' - September 3, 2020

September 5, 2020

Tennessee is the Volunteer State! Citizens of the area have conducted military service since the French and Indian wars and at King Mountain in 1780 conducted a battle that became a turning point in the Revolution. Today in the volunteer state you can get discounts at stores just for being a veteran or service member often with only a "Yes I Serviced". But the state is a Trump supporter, it will be interesting to see if this latest scandal for Trump maintains "traction" in the election. What ever you think of the Atlantic Article and all the follow up conformations, Trump himself has in one way or another disparaged military service as for "Losers and Suckers". His bone spur deferment is a very large * to question his commitment to America. I have two brothers and myself that have served one of which only made it out of Viet Nam by skill and luck and to be totally uncharacteristic "divine intervention". Trump and his family avoided military service for more than 147 years if the latest article I read on his family is true? Let us hope that after all the damage he has done in America to science, society, economy, nature and national dignity that this latest scandal is the turning point of our Nation's disgrace and the public at last realize whom he is and place this moment in history with those of Joseph McCarthy, Roger Tanny, Nathan Bedford Forest, Richard Nixon and so many others that lost their way in the ethics of human dignity. I hope beyond hope that Trump loses the election by the greatest percentage ever and that the truth of his "essence and soul" are exposed in history as how not to act. I speak strongest to the GOP enablers that have sat silently by to profit from this horror and chaos!

3George Olmstead Coolbaugh, Marc Stavropoulos and 1 other

A Corvid Dead in the Forest

The Death of a Crow

July 22, 2020

By Stan Olmstead

Recently I was walking in a Virginia forest and noticed a dead crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) resting below a tree. That isn’t particularly interesting, but I had to wonder if it had died of natural causes or was “murdered” by humans? We have been messing with the natural order of things for a long time, unless you think humans are part of the “natural order of things”? Well of course we are, but it is a little more complex than that compared to other species with our technology, agriculture, governments and the like but still the crow interested me? 

Earlier that morning I crawled from my sleeping bag, wet by the morning dew, dressed for the day's hike and for a short moment sat in a foldable chair with a cup of coffee and enjoyed the scenery of an abandoned farm where I had laid my sleeping bag for the "night's sleep", such as it was. 

My thoughts that morning as I looked out at the Virginia hills went to others before ourselves, in this area I suspect it to be the Tutelo-Saponi, a Siouan speaking people although pressured and in competition with the Catawaba, Cherokee, Powhatan and Shawnee.  The indigenes folks of the Americas whom arrived before us occupied various regions with “flux” due to their own competition were then drastically and radically displaced, subjugated and removed from this area of the mid-Appalachian highlands after centuries of occupation so we could conduct our business without interference by those unlike ourselves. We have done a lot of that since “we” came from across the Atlantic and took up residence!

 Well the crow was dead and had been for a while, decomposing with only the bones and feathers representing its former self! As I looked at it my thoughts went to all that has changed in this ecological paradise. So much change, without even a “by your leave”? The abandoned farm represented that change to me since those we refer to as Europeans entered, occupied and altered the land.

"We" removed the forests for farm, energy, crafts and communities. Posting the boundaries of our occupation and listing them at the county courthouse as proof of ownership. The indigenes folks had only a social ownership of the land and thought of the forests, fields and streams as life and kept that pseudo ownership with very fluid boundaries by occupation of village or tribe. It wasn’t absolute it changed through time so I suppose people from Europe or those that they brought with them could claim we now occupy so move aside “please,” we suggest you move west until we wish the west as well.

The forest was cut, burned, plowed, planted, fenced and cattle occupied where once was bear, turkey, deer and even bison had a stable niche. Then at last the farm would be sold to another similar to our-selves. The wild critters were staples for the indigenes and a decline in the numbers meant a decline in their affluence of life. Well things were obviously going to change since the Europeans were crossing the Atlantic and they wished to take the open land for themselves and for the commerce of capitalism. The forest and wildlife were to be subdued. Deer were killed for their meat, hides and to prevent competition with farms. As for the Indigenes, Oklahoma would work for awhile? Even the all mighty American chestnut couldn’t survive our introduction of foreign life. A tree that provided for humans, wildlife and livestock succumbed to a fungal blight where now only sprouting remnants of the tree remains in small leafy stems never to mature and provide the life-giving fruit so important to the ecosystem but is now considered functionally extinct.       

So here I am today looking at the dead crow after a pleasant morning with coffee and the most wonderful pastoral image and what do I do? I think of the injustice of human activity, not just the murder of the crow but the murder of the planet. For only briefly before this moment had I set aside the violence in America in our cities, suffering in our hospitals and homes and the violence in other nations and the insults we inflict on nature, the ignorance of our insult to the natural world and insult to others of our kind. America is pretty damn great until you begin thinking of our mistakes. Yep we sure seem to want to screw with things. Un-necessary wars, suppressing other citizens to maintain “our privilege”, fouling the environment with our pollution of noise and chemicals as well as alteration of the vegetation with our development and activities.

Enlightenment is hard to obtain but if an individual is enlightened it makes witnessing our activities even more difficult since you are aware there are other solutions that we fail to capitalize. Yep the crow is dead, I have no idea why as so many questions end, and I can only imagine that the species as smart as it will fare better than us? We are now in troubling times, but we have been there before, but this time the open spaces are gone, nature is less healthy and there are so many Homo sapiens competing with the natural world. I feel bad for the crow today, but I know it has a system that moves its kind forward and to tomorrow. We may not be as fortunate since we appear to just want to make changes for wealth and pleasure not logic? It would be nice if we were more educated with the necessary ethical understanding, with an educated mix of wisdom, knowledge and common sense, cared more deeply for the environment that sustains us and the health of the planet and ask for an economy that is with justice for all. 

I dedicate this note to a chance encounter with Lidia or by her trail name Sunflower. Sunflower, you were breath of fresh air during a morning of thought about ignorance and you provided hope. I thought you wise beyond your years?