Mon, July 14, Nature Program for Children 3 pm, Edgartown Library. With Gus Ben David and animal friends. Weather permitting. 508-627-4221.

Cluster Systems: A Decentralized Approach to Enhanced Wastewater Treatment

August 6, 2008 (Note date change from July 24)

Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve

9:00 am – 12:00 pm
(Optional Field Visit, 12:00 - 1:00 pm)

As towns embark on developing comprehensive wastewater management plans (CWMPs) to help meet nitrogen TMDL limits and restore coastal water quality, it is recognized that there is no one solution that will fit every communities needs. Instead, there are a number of technologies and treatment options spanning decentralized and centralized management approaches that communities could potentially employ as part of their overall wastewater management strategy. The Waquoit Bay Reserve will launch a monthly workshop series for decision-makers. The targeted audience includes municipal officials, wastewater committees, planning boards, health boards, conservation commissions, public works staff and consultants. Call Tonna-Marie Rogers, Coastal Training Program Coordinator Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve 508-457-0495 ext. 110 Tonna-marie.surgeon-rogers@state.ma.us to sign up and for more information.

Every two years, elections are held for nine Commissioner positions on the Martha's Vineyard Commission. A minimum of one and a maximum of two Commissioners are elected from each town, based on Island-wide voting results. Though the election is in the fall, the deadline for submitting applications is in July.

Interested candidates for election to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission can obtain nomination papers and information at the MVC Offices (33 New York Avenue, Oak Bluffs) and all Town Clerk offices. These papers must be submitted to the local Board of Registrars for certification of signature no later than 5:00pm on Tuesday, July 29, 2008, and thereafter filed with the Commonwealth no later than 5:00pm on Tuesday, August 26, 2008.

For further information, contact Mark London, MVC Executive Director (london@mvcommission.org or 508-693-3453).

August 15, 7p.m. The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. Vineyard Haven Library. National Book Award winner. From Publishers Weekly: Egan tells an extraordinary tale in this visceral account of how America's great, grassy plains turned to dust, and how the ferocious plains winds stirred up an endless series of "black blizzards" that were like a biblical plague.

EDGARTOWN — Art Smadbeck and Kitt Johnson see gold under the sparkling blue waters off the island — electric gold, that is.

The pair are spearheading Edgartown's effort to build a tidal-energy platform in Muskegat Channel between Chappaquiddick and Nantucket that would generate electricity from turbines spun by tidal flow. It is one of two tidal-energy projects proposed for the Cape and Islands.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20080706/NEWS/807060335/-1/NEWS01

MassDEP and the Department of Public Safety have revised Appendix G of the Massachusetts Basic Building Code (780 CMR 120.G). The amended Code (which went into effect January 1, 2008) promotes the natural storm damage prevention and flood control capacity of coastal dunes, facilitates consistency between the Building Code and the Wetlands Protection Act regulations, adopts recommendations from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s post-storm damage assessments, and brings the Code into better conformance with the National Flood Insurance Program requirements. In addition, the revised Code establishes special administrative, design, and construction requirements for new and existing buildings and structures located in A and V flood zones, and/or in coastal dunes. For detailed information about the new requirements, see the MassDEP website. From the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management

On May 28, Governor Deval Patrick signed the Oceans Act of 2008, legislation that requires Massachusetts to develop a first-in-the-nation comprehensive plan to manage development in state waters, balance natural resource preservation with traditional and new uses, including renewable energy development. The Act requires Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Ian Bowles to develop the ocean plan based on scientific and stakeholder participation, and requires a draft plan by the summer of 2009 and a final plan by December 31, 2009. Deerin Babb-Brott, Assistant Secretary and Director of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office and former CZM Assistant Director, has been appointed to lead development of the ocean plan and oversee CZM’s ongoing work as Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Coastal Zone Management. CZM will provide technical and planning support to EEA and the two bodies established by the Act—the Ocean Advisory Commission and the Ocean Sciences Council. For details on the work done by the Massachusetts Ocean Management Task Force to lay the foundation for this current planning effort, see the Massachusetts Ocean Management Initiative website, which includes links to the Task Force's Waves of Change report, the Massachusetts Ocean Education Guide, and technical reports.

SANDWICH — The water bubbling through the cement trough was gray and dirty, the all too familiar smell of its contents surprisingly bearable in the open air.

Siphoned off a nearby sewer pipe headed for the treatment plant at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, the daily 18,000 to 20,000 gallons of wastewater flow from toilets and sinks at the county jail and Coast Guard housing.

Surrounding the sluiceway was what appeared to be a giant football field-size science experiment. In a way, the PCV piping, trailers and solar panels are exactly that.

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20080710/NEWS/807100333/-1/NEWS01

For the next few weeks we will be displaying some very powerful art pieces. The work is done by Seattle artist, Chris Jordan. Here is part of his artist statement:

Running the Numbers
An American Self-Portrait
Running the Numbers looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society; in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. Employing themes such as the near versus the far, and the one versus the many, I hope to raise some questions about the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.

Paper Bags, 2007
60x80"
Depicts 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number used in the US every hour.