My original plan was the ten-mile perimeter trail in the Indiana Dunes State Park, but rain and cool temperatures were forecasted for today which turned out to be accurate. (Why distrust the meteorologists?) I wore my Keen water sandals and nylon hiking pants rolled up to my knees. Both came in handy later. My brown-striped double fleece shirt and bright yellow wind breaker also came in handy once we got to the lakefront. They shielded me from the wind so notorious here any time of year.
It was 55F when I took off from Crown Point at 9am and it never warmed up during the hike. (I found out later on that the southern Lake Michigan area was the coldest region in the country today.)
The more southern trailhead was flooded and school kids were crowding the rest of the trail. Instead, I took Sadie on the more northern terminus near the Dunes Acres guard shack.
The walk was beautiful. The grey sky made the green stand out more; I felt like I was walking in a photoshopped photograph with the green saturation set on high. This special hike is scenic in any season, with the various habitats in their glory. Today the hike sparkled in shades of bright greens and greys and browns, sprinkled with yellows, purples and reds from the flowers. Milkweed seeds floated in the air.
Cowles Bog was named after a University of Chicago biologist Henry Cowles who would come here in the 1920s and conduct studies of the dunal diversity. He loved this place. The trail is more of a swamp than a bog, as hikers cross from swamp and marshland to lowland forests, predunal flora and finally the dunes and the beach. On a good day, one can see various birds and wildflowers and collect leaves of the various oaks, hickories, black walnuts, beeches, berries and grasses that make this area their home. The flora changes the closer one walks to the beach.
Cowles Bog is administered through the National Park Service that includes this stretch of swamp-beach to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. There is no admission to this section, which adds to its popularity.
Goldenrods, lupines, phlox, spiderwort, lilies and ladyferns lined this trail, with many more flowers I did not recognize.
Few birds were out. I saw a few red-winged blackbirds, flycatchers, jays. Bullfrogs croaked from some of the marshes.
I've come to this place during every visit to Indiana. It's a short hike, no more than 4.6 miles and a fairly easy hike. Hikers are rewarded at the half-way mark with a trip to the lakeshore, which takes up half the time for this hike as I comb the beach looking for sandstones with holes in them and eroded crioids. For years I've collected these sandstones with the plan of making a windchime out of them, and yet I never do so.
This is also the place I hiked in solitude when my father was in the hospital after his stroke. This is also where I hiked after he died and we attended his funeral. I will always cherish this little hike so close to the state park and steel mill/power plant.
Other locals like this hike as well. I've always come across joggers and power hikers on this hike no matter what season it was.
The trail was especially flooded today. Sadie was scared to cross a wet section that was a foot deep in the mud. Logs and a rope tied to several trees helped hikers along, but a slipped foot could easily land a hiker in the water. Sadie yelped in fear, attempting to cross but turning back several times. I had to turn around here and hike the more western loop of this trail to get to the beach where she frolicked for quite a long time in the water. There was little beach debris on the sand, perhaps because beach season had already started and most of the trash had been taken away a month ago.
The lake was steaming near the steel mill, casting an eerie feeling over the beach. The seagulls huddled further away on a sandbank, avoiding the shore completely. We were the only ones on the beach and I let Sadie romp off leash while we were alone.
Once the school kids had caught up with us it was time to leave. We walked back the way we came, stopping a few times to listen to critters. We made it back to the van four hours later. Sadie was exhausted and it was no surprise that she devoured most of a small rack of babyback ribs on the return drive to CP.
It never warmed up today, nor did the sun come out. It was 60F at 5pm when we got back to the house.
It's supposed to be just as cool tomorrow, but with lesser chances of rain. I will go out and do another lakefront trail, depending on the actual weather at the start of the hike. There are three trails within a ten-mile radius of each other off IN49 near the lake; I won't be lacking in any opportunities.
____
Local beaches perform poorly in water tests(http://www.post-trib.com/news/1691596,water-beach-0730.article)
July 30, 2009
By Teresa Auch Schultz, Post-Tribune staff writer
Indiana beaches along Lake Michigan had some of the worst water qualities out of 32 states tested last year, according to a national study.
The Testing the Waters report, released Wednesday by the National Resources Defense Council, shows that beaches in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties had advisories for bacteria or were closed because of bacteria 333 times in 2008, a 56 percent increase from the 213 events in 2007.
That's up from 111 advisories and closings in 2006.
Overall, 18 percent of the beach samples taken in Indiana last year had bacteria levels higher than the recommended levels. That put the state 28th of the 32 states tested. The report includes samples from any coastal, bay or Great Lakes state.
The bacteria levels have kept some local residents from going in Lake Michigan. Chantel of Valparaiso, who declined to give her last name because she was discussing medical issues, spent Wednesday afternoon lying on a blanket at the Indiana Dunes State Park but kept away from the water.
She said she's had medical problems that her doctor said likely were caused by the water and advised her to stay away from it.
"It seems like when I was a kid it wasn't so bad," she said.
Not everyone stays out of the water, though. Kayte Hawkins of Valparaiso waded in Lake Michigan at Porter Beach on Wednesday. She said that if levels were really bad, she would stay out but otherwise she wasn't too concerned.
"I don't go under the water," she said.
Tom Anderson, executive director of Save the Dunes, said part of the reason for the increase in beach advisories and closures was because of the number of storms last year, including the regionwide flood in September. Runoff from heavy rains overflows the storm-water drainage system and bypasses the water treatment plants, going straight to the lake.
However, only 1 percent of the samples where bacteria levels exceeded state limits could be attributed to storm water. Officials couldn't determine where the rest of the bacteria in samples came from, meaning they could come from storm water, sewage or any other source.
Anderson said not knowing the source of the pollutants makes it hard for local officials and groups to fight the problem.
"It's like where should we focus something if we don't know where it's coming from?" Anderson said.
He called for source testing to be included in the study, but that has its own problems. The federal act that requires the testing does not provide funding for source testing, said Amber Finkelstein, a public information officer for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Low-cost solutions for bringing down bacteria levels are available, however, Anderson said. He pointed to Michigan City, which recently prohibited people from feeding birds and bought lids for garbage cans.
The steps have helped decrease local birds in the area, which can contribute to E. coli levels.
Finkelstein said although the state did have a high level of advisories and closures, Indiana also has a high criteria level for deciding bacteria limits to help protect the public.
"That is so that we can make sure the public is educated about water quality in the area and keep them safe," she said.
July 30, 2009
By Teresa Auch Schultz, Post-Tribune staff writer
Indiana beaches along Lake Michigan had some of the worst water qualities out of 32 states tested last year, according to a national study.
The Testing the Waters report, released Wednesday by the National Resources Defense Council, shows that beaches in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties had advisories for bacteria or were closed because of bacteria 333 times in 2008, a 56 percent increase from the 213 events in 2007.
That's up from 111 advisories and closings in 2006.
Overall, 18 percent of the beach samples taken in Indiana last year had bacteria levels higher than the recommended levels. That put the state 28th of the 32 states tested. The report includes samples from any coastal, bay or Great Lakes state.
The bacteria levels have kept some local residents from going in Lake Michigan. Chantel of Valparaiso, who declined to give her last name because she was discussing medical issues, spent Wednesday afternoon lying on a blanket at the Indiana Dunes State Park but kept away from the water.
She said she's had medical problems that her doctor said likely were caused by the water and advised her to stay away from it.
"It seems like when I was a kid it wasn't so bad," she said.
Not everyone stays out of the water, though. Kayte Hawkins of Valparaiso waded in Lake Michigan at Porter Beach on Wednesday. She said that if levels were really bad, she would stay out but otherwise she wasn't too concerned.
"I don't go under the water," she said.
Tom Anderson, executive director of Save the Dunes, said part of the reason for the increase in beach advisories and closures was because of the number of storms last year, including the regionwide flood in September. Runoff from heavy rains overflows the storm-water drainage system and bypasses the water treatment plants, going straight to the lake.
However, only 1 percent of the samples where bacteria levels exceeded state limits could be attributed to storm water. Officials couldn't determine where the rest of the bacteria in samples came from, meaning they could come from storm water, sewage or any other source.
Anderson said not knowing the source of the pollutants makes it hard for local officials and groups to fight the problem.
"It's like where should we focus something if we don't know where it's coming from?" Anderson said.
He called for source testing to be included in the study, but that has its own problems. The federal act that requires the testing does not provide funding for source testing, said Amber Finkelstein, a public information officer for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Low-cost solutions for bringing down bacteria levels are available, however, Anderson said. He pointed to Michigan City, which recently prohibited people from feeding birds and bought lids for garbage cans.
The steps have helped decrease local birds in the area, which can contribute to E. coli levels.
Finkelstein said although the state did have a high level of advisories and closures, Indiana also has a high criteria level for deciding bacteria limits to help protect the public.
"That is so that we can make sure the public is educated about water quality in the area and keep them safe," she said.
http://www.post-trib.com/news/1903944,power-plant-1125.article
ReplyDeleteNIPSCO plant makes dubious national list
(http://www.post-trib.com/news/1903944,power-plant-1125.article)
November 25, 2009
BY GITTE LAASBY, (219) 648-2183
Northern Indiana Public Service Co.'s R.M. Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield is the 43rd-dirtiest power plant in the nation in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report also states that Indiana power plants emitted the fourth-most carbon dioxide pollution in the nation in 2007.
Four of Northwest Indiana's power plants are mentioned in the report by Environment America, "America's Biggest Polluters: Carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in 2007": The R.M. Schahfer Generating Station, Michigan City Generating Station, Bailly Generating Station and Whiting Clean Energy. Combined, they emitted more than 18.9 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2007. That's the equivalent of more than 3.3 million cars.
Power plants are the single-largest source of the country's carbon dioxide emissions, according to the report. The emission numbers come from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's acid rain program, which requires power plants to report certain emissions.
"America's fleet of coal-fired power plants emitted more than 80 percent of CO2 pollution from U.S. power plants in 2007 and 36 percent of the total U.S. CO2 pollution, as well as disproportionate amounts of smog- and soot-forming pollutants, toxic mercury, and other toxic air pollutants," the report says.
Gabriel Filippelli, chairman of the Department of Earth Sciences at Indiana University-Purdue University-Purdue at Indianapolis, said cutting emissions is key to avoiding the most dangerous effects of global warming, but would also reduce soot pollution, which can lead to asthma, and mercury pollution, which can damage the nervous system.
About half of the country's electricity comes from coal, which has the highest carbon content of any fossil fuel per unit of energy, according to the report.
"We should be moving to clean, renewable energy like wind and solar. At least, old and new plants should be required to meet the same modern standards for global warming pollution. No plants currently have to meet standards for global warming pollution, making them unchecked contributors to global warming," said Megan Severson, Midwest field organizer for Environment America.
The EPA has proposed requiring new and significantly modified power plants and industries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. Within a few months, the U.S. Senate is expected to consider a cap-and-trade proposal to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Older plants pollute proportionally more than new plants. Plants built before 1980 produced 73 percent of America's carbon emissions although they represent less than half of the plants, the report said. For each year older a coal generator is on average, it creates an additional kilo of carbon dioxide per megawatt hour of electricity it produced.
Severson said older plants emit more carbon dioxide because newer plants burn natural gas while older ones mainly burn coal. She said efficiency may be another reason newer plants emit less than older ones, but couldn't elaborate.