EDA News October 2022

Basecamp

EDA’s new communication platform has been rolled out. If you are an Active Member, you should have received an email invitation to join.

Basecamp was designed for organizations and teams that are juggling deadlines, workloads, and details on multiple projects. It’s an online hub for team collaboration that lets people manage their work and communicate with one another. This is an invaluable communication tool for EDA’s various teams allowing them to stay up to date on everything that's going on in EDA all in one convenient location.

EDA’s Active Members can see upcoming events on the calendar, learn what the Board of Trustees is discussing, review posted documents and talk to other members. It’s a new tool and may take a little time to get used to, but it will facilitate better communication and sharing of knowledge and ideas.

2022 has been a year of massive drought across the “lower 48” of the United States where much of the country (42 states) is experiencing some degree of drought. (See the US Drought Monitor map). For much of the Southwestern US, this drought has been ongoing since 2000. Scientists predict that this may be the new normal. So, our habit of using water as if it was limitless, must be revised.

Here are some statistics about the amount of water the average American uses in one day. These figures may vary in other countries but North Americans use more water than any other country.

EDA’s Research Team currently works with numbers representing how many people in a US household can be support based on 82 gallons a day per person, but world-wide this drops to between 13.21 to 26.42 gallons per day.

Here are some recommendations for reducing your personal impact on the water supply:

Toilet: Consider replacing your toilet with a water efficient toilet that removes waste by using water velocity instead of removing waste by volume of water.

Shower: Replace your shower head with a low-flow head that still allows for good water pressure and cut your shower time. If you're not very active every day, try showering every other day.

Hygiene: Don’t leave the water running while you brush your teeth. If you take baths, try reducing it to once a week and don't fill the bathtub so full.

Washing machine and dishwasher: Only wash full loads. If you wash dishes by hand, use a dishpan instead of letting the water run continually while washing the dishes. Use your rinse water for watering indoor plants.

Utah is world renowned for its excellent powder skiing, but those days are numbered without the lake effect snow that the Great Salt Lake provides. Diminished snow pack over the last 20 years has shrunk freshwater reservoirs and the runoff to the Great Salt Lake and the Colorado River. Utahns are asked to conserve water by watering their lawns less frequently, removing grass and replacing it with water resistant vegetation or xeriscaping, which means designing landscapes to reduce or eliminate the need for irrigation.

In July 2022, Utah Senator Mitt Romney introduced the Great Salt Lake Recovery Act hoping that the federal government would provide $10 million to study solutions to the West’s shrinking saltwater lakes.

Memphis Defense Depot Superfund Site

EDA is writing a report for Protect our Aquifer in Memphis. The Memphis Defense Depot comprises 632 acres that have a potentially profound impact on the aquifer that supplies water to Memphis. Rotha Randall has contributed background information to that report, summarizing the environmental investigations by the Environmental Protection Agency on the Memphis Defense Depot (MDD). This information is based on its 2018 Fourth Five-Year Review of the site.
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MDD is a decommissioned US Army supply depot which after WWII became contaminated with hazardous waste. It's probably the most notable Superfund site in the Memphis area. (A Superfund site is a term used for any land that is contaminated by hazardous wastes.)

When it closed in 1997, the EPA found the presence of metals, pesticides, and other toxic chemicals in surface and subsurface soils, surface water and sediment; and chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) in groundwater.

Memphis Depot Aerial View

For the Main Installation, remedies are to protect human health and the environment because there is no current exposure to the chemicals of concern in groundwater and exposure pathways that could result in unacceptable risks are being controlled.

For Dunn Field, exposure pathways that could result in unacceptable risks are being controlled through land use controls.

The land surrounding MDD has small commercial and manufacturing properties to the north and east and single-family residences to the south and west. According to the 2020 Population Census Data, MDD is surrounded by seven other census tracts with an average property level of 31.1%, and a 98% non-white population.

Remediation efforts to clean up soil and groundwater contamination at MDD have been ongoing for over 20 years and have been mostly successful. But work is still needed.

Michael: Yes. “C” stands for how we look at problems in a creative way and coming up with new solutions. So, what’s “O”?

Diane: Well, you know that ideas are just talk -- castles in the clouds without a solid foundation. You need a structure and some kind of support to make them into reality. To do that you need organization. That’s the “O” in COPD.

Michael: EDA has an organization?

Diane: It does. It has a charter, by-laws, a code of conduct, an organizational structure, procedures and people dedicated to making the ideas a reality.

Michael: Why do you need all that? Isn’t it just words on paper?

Diane: Well, a lot of things like our Charter are words on paper, but they’re like the U.S. Constitution. These are words we believe in and want to live by. And these are words we want to pass on to our children and their children.

Michael: That sounds pretty lofty. What does it mean?

Diane: It means that EDA is a legitimate organization and not just a lofty idea. We’re registered with both federal and state governments. EDA follows the laws and regulations that enable us to operate like any other business or organization.

Michael: OK, so EDA’s registered and the government considers it to be a bona fide organization. But what makes it real for people.

Diane: Well, in the old days, having property and a building would make your idea a reality. You could sell goods and services from your building, or grow crops on your land and sell them. And you can still do those things, but today there are other ways to bring an idea to life. One way is to have an internet presence, so that people can find you and learn who you are and what you do.

Michael: You mean like any business where I can get things shipped to my door, or my bank, or I can arrange for someone to provide a service?

Diane: Exactly. What makes EDA real are the services we offer. We offer research services, so that people are more informed about their communities and what their government is doing. We offer information about issues relating to economics, food, water and energy. We offer training to help people change their communities for the better.

Michael: So, how does this make it the “O” in COPD?

Diane: I’m glad you asked that. In order to allow people and organizations to find EDA, we need an informative website. We have to market our services and communicate with the public. EDA has to have some information technology organized to support that. And we have to have a solid strategy so that we know where we're going. We also need to manage membership, and like all non-profits, we need to fund raise.

Michael: But those are just things that support the organization. What about its mission?

Diane: An excellent point! The Action teams created in our Charter -- Research, Education, Advocacy and State Legislation -- all have to be organized so that members of the teams can do the work they volunteered to do. So, we have team Chairs who keep the work going and these teams produce the products and services that EDA uses to satisfy its customers.

Michael: So, “Organization” allows people to make real things and deliver them to the public. “O” sounds complicated.

Diane: It’s no more complicated than anything else. Just think what a farmer has to do to survive. And of course, towns and cities have to deliver water, remove sewage and garbage, maintain order, provide education, and make their cities livable. It can be quite complicated and that’s why organization is so important.

Michael: I could do with some good organization!

Diane: You bet!

In our next newsletter, we’ll talk about the “P” in C.O.P.D.

How green hydrogen could end the fossil fuel era

As climate change accelerates, finding clean alternatives to fossil fuels is more urgent than ever. Social entrepreneur Vaitea Cowan believes green hydrogen is the answer. Watch as she shares her team's work mass producing electrolyzers -- devices that separate water into its molecular components: hydrogen and oxygen -- and shows how they could help make green, carbon-free fuel affordable and accessible for everyone. "This is how we end the fossil fuel era!" Cowan says!

Every one of us is influenced by these events, in one way or another. After years of drought, will there be enough water to grow our food, affordable fuel to run the farm equipment and get the food to market. Will a growing population be able to get their most basic needs met? Will future generations suffer for what we do, or fail to do, today?

Representative democracy is not enough

Challenges of this scope call on each of us to step up and take action, working in partnership with our elected officials. This is participatory democracy.

As advocates or citizen lobbyists, the first step - before we set up any kind of meeting - is to begin educating ourselves. We need to learn as much as we can about the issues before we talk to our elected officials. This will enable us to transform our fears and concerns into responsible and effective action. It will also open the door to a deeper level of communication and trust with our elected officials.

Dig a little deeper

See if you can learn what the political issues around energy sources or energy use are that would impact potential legislative change. For example, if they source their coal in a nearby state, there may be reciprocal economic issues at stake. That state buys the finished products made by companies in your state, in exchange for better prices on the coal you buy from them. If that were the case, then you might approach your legislator with an “ask” to explore other ways the two states could shift their current arrangement that would still benefit both parties.

Learn more about your elected official

Going to your elected officials with a basic understanding of the conditions they have to contend with in their jobs will get you further than if you went to them with unrealistic demands that they’d be unable to act on - even if they agreed with your basic premise that renewable energy sources are cleaner and better for the environment. This way you become a valued partner and you stand a better chance of seeing what’s important to you to get enacted into law.

This is true representative-participatory democracy, where everyone gets at least some of what they want and ultimately, where we come closer to getting our basic needs met and those of succeeding generations.

This approach requires time and effort on your part. But you’ll come away better informed and more confident in your advocacy work. You’ll also stand a better chance of success.

Learning about the issues is the first step. The next step will be to look into your state’s legislative system. Each state is a little different in how it’s organized and functions, and it’s helpful to know how yours works. Join us next month to learn more about this important topic.

In the meantime, EDA’s teams invite you to check them out to see what they’re up to. (See contact information below.) The Advocacy team would love to hear from you to learn about concerns in your area, and to see where we might work together to develop a training program for your group.