News Cut: March 10, 2008 Archive

What's in your water?

Posted at 5:05 AM on March 10, 2008 by Bob Collins (12 Comments)

It's quite simple, really. People urinate. It goes to a plant (hopefully) where it is treated, dumped into a river where -- downstream -- it is pumped out for drinking water, treated (hopefully) and then sent to someone's tap. What could go wrong?

Where to begin? First of all, not everything gets pulled out of ye olde water before it becomes drinking water, which is creepy enough. But now, the Associated Press finds in a nationwide investigation, a lot of the pharmaceuticals end up in your drinking water. Bodies absorb some of the medication being taken, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet.

Granted, it's relatively small amounts that end up drinking water, but it's not really known what the long-term health effect is. In Philadelphia, 56 different drugs were found.

None of this is going to surprise the experts. The problem was first identified in Germany years ago and similar studies, most notably by a Tulane professor, have shown similar results.

In addition to the obvious, what has some researchers concerned is that a large number of excreted antibiotics in the water will result in more powerful disease-inducing bacteria that will be immune to treatment.

The U.S. Geological Survey has been studying this issue for quite some time and has set up a fascinating Web site that includes research on the subject.

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New sins

Posted at 11:23 AM on March 10, 2008 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

A Vatican official has updated the list of sinful behavior. Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti said that sins increasingly manifest themselves as behavior that damages society as a whole, according to CNN.

Drugs, pollution and genetic manipulations as well as social and economic injustices are new areas of mortal sins.

The Times Online reported Girotti saying, "You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbor's wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos."

Morally debatable scientific experiments? OK, that's easy. Allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA? I understand.

But what constitutes "ruining the environment?" What does it mean to be a polluter? If one drives a car, one is clearly polluting. What if one throws the credit card offer in the trash, instead of the recycling bin?

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$4 a gallon for gas is coming

Posted at 12:53 PM on March 10, 2008 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)

Tomorrow should be a big day, according to AAA. With the price of oil hitting another new record today (up another 2%), the record average U.S. gas price should be set on Tuesday.

"I would anticipate we'd hit a new record price tomorrow," said Geoff Sundstrom, AAA fuel price analyst. The current record is $3.227, set when oil was around $65 a barrel, something that now seems like a bargain. In Minnesota, the highest price for gasoline currently is in the Roseau-Warroad area ($3.20)

As the chart below (from minnesotagasprices.com) shows, it's surprising the price of gas isn't higher. The red line is gas, the blue line is the price of a barrel of oil.

The experts are saying $4 a gallon by summer seems like a sure bet. When it crossed $3 a gallon, the same experts figured that would be the point when consumers would change their driving habits. Now, they're saying that, perhaps, the $4 mark will make a difference.

It was less than two weeks ago when President Bush said he hadn't heard anything about $4 a gallon gasoline.

On the Web site Op-Ed News, Patricia Johnson has just posted "The Crude Facts About Crude Oil," which does a nice job explaining how events -- as well as the falling value of the dollar -- have conspired to drive up the cost of oil. She also reminds us that the biggest single supplier of oil to the U.S. is Canada.

But regardless of the reason, the price of gasoline is what it is, and summer looks to be pretty pricey.

So, now the question: Will it change your plans for the summer? Will it change the way you use energy?

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Lost causes

Posted at 2:58 PM on March 10, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Apparently so many teenage boys are spraying themselves with body sprays like Axe that it's making people in Minnesota schools sick. One out of eight Minnesota students has asthma. But the kids have gotten it into their heads that dousing themselves will make them "babe magnets."

Now where would they get a stupid idea like that?

Rep. Karen Clark, today reintroduced a bill that originally banned fragrances in Minneapolis schools, but now calls for an "awareness campaign" instead.

What might such a campaign look like? Kids, take it from previous generations. Old Spice didn't work. Hai Karate didn't work. British Sterling didn't work. Brut didn't work. This stuff doesn't work. You got the same chance as if you just wear the sweater that smells like mothballs.

But how are you going to compete with this "education campaign"?

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The great cougar hoax

Posted at 4:49 PM on March 10, 2008 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

With some frequency there have been sightings of cougars in the upper Midwest, but the last mountain lion taken in Minnesota, according to the DNR, was in Becker County in 1897, although it acknowledges reports of sightings north of Duluth.

Today, however, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued a release saying recent reports of cougar sightings in the Badger State are a hoax.

The above picture was taken last year in Franklin (near Milwaukee), but it turned out to be a Photoshopped joke that a company sent out to customers.

The story behind this next picture, however, reveals the extent that game officials will go to in investigating something like this:

Said the Wisconsin DNR:

These are probably unretouched photos, but evidence suggests they may be contrived, and most certainly weren't taken in Wisconsin. The deer in the top picture is a mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) which is only found in the western United States. The shrubs are clearly western vegetation and the trees are most likely lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) another western species. In addition, several other things about the photos make them suspicious. The chances of getting both a deer and cougar in the same trail camera frame at the same time is extremely remote. Also the deer seems totally unaware of the cougar immediate behind it. This suggests a staged photo.

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At the scene of the crime

Posted at 6:03 PM on March 10, 2008 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

This is the money shot from today's press conference at which Elliot Spitzer acknowledged he failed to live up to his own standards, what with being linked to a prostitution ring and all.

The photo, taken by Timothy Clark of AFP/Getty Images, is one to look at for an extended period of time and it practically forces you to want to ask the guy, "was it worth it?"

Don't look at his expression; look at hers. Him? That's a well-rehearsed expression, as the following photos appear to show.

There'll be a fair amount of chortling and some talk about the damage to a rising political star.

But this is the damage that one (or more, who knows?) act of stupidity for any married man can do:

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Water quality follow-up

Posted at 6:01 PM on March 10, 2008 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

The AP report on caffeine and drugs in water supplies has been water cooler (sorry) talk today. For a follow-up, I sent an e-mail over to John Blackstone, who heads St. Paul Regional Water Services, to get his take on things. He was kind enough to send the following information:

I am familiar with the story you referred to. Saint Paul Regional Water Services tests for compliance with Safe Drinking Water Standards. Which you can view at http://www.ci.stpaul.mn.us/depts/water/WaterQuality.htm The AP Story reflects the common sense that Too Slim from Riders in the Sky has been recommending for years, "Don't drink downstream of the herd."

Testing capabilities are becoming more sophisticated. What couldn't be measured several years ago in parts per million can be measured now in parts per billion or trillion. Both ground water and surface water sources are being infiltrated by undesirable compounds. Saint Paul Regional Water Services recently upgraded to granulated activated carbon filters. This is similar to the filters found in devices like BRITA. The granulated activated carbon removes organic compounds such as pharmaceuticals.

The quality of treated water is directly related to the quality of source water and not everything can be removed. SPRWS has been actively working since the early 1980s to improve source water quality. We have worked with the Vadnais Area Water Management Organization to reduce the inflow of phosphorous to Vadnais Lake so that the phosphorous levels in Lake Vadnais are less than 25 parts per million.

This is important work because phosphorous and other undesirable compounds are transported by suspended solids. Reducing phosphorous levels tends to reduce other contaminants of concern. The Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Cloud and the Board of Water Commissioners of the City of Saint Paul formed the Upper Mississippi River Source Water Protection Project. The Cities and the Board have developed source water protection plans. One component of the source water protection plan is contaminants of concern. We have been working with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to move forward with Total Maximum Daily Loads for impaired waters in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

Again the removal of phosphorous and suspended solids to improve water quality is the goal. The purpose of Total Maximum Daily Loads is to meet Federal Clean Water Standards of swimmable and fishable. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has Mississippi River basin plans which identify water quality and goals for improving water quality. Bottom line is the better the water quality the better the finished water. Improved surface water quality benefits everyone.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has rated much of the nation's infrastructure substandard or failing. The collapse of the I35W bridge in Minneapolis is but one example. The Minneapolis Star Tribune recently reported on the storm water systems in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. It is not a pretty situation. Infrastructure for providing potable drinking water is aging. The McCarrons water treatment plant was initially constructed in 1922. It has been upgraded many times the latest being the addition of granulated activated carbon filters.

The cities of Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Saint Cloud are serviced by water that is treated. The rest of the metropolitan area is served by untreated ground water. Fluoride is added to most and chlorine might be added to some but that is not treating.Of note here is that many communities probably a population of 1.5 million of the metro area 2.5 million prefer ground water which may be more susceptible and generally is not treated to treated surface water. Saint Paul and Minneapolis serve approximately 1.5 million with treated surface water. The proposed clean water legacy would go a long way towards improving surface water quality in Minnesota if it is approved by voters.

Minnesota citizens are under the illusion that we have more than enough water. But if you look at the impaired water bodies identified by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency it tells a different story. We have been hesitant to invest in water quality and in parts of the state the water quality and supply is at risk.

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