AltWeeklies Wire
Rampant Poaching Threatens Ginseng's Survivalnew
With wild ginseng root fetching upward of $800 a pound, untold numbers of poachers have taken to local forests, overwhelming meager law enforcement resources and leaving the plant's survival in doubt.
Mountain Xpress |
Jake Frankel |
09-04-2013 |
Environment
Tags: North Carolina
Not my problem: Local agencies powerless to address sewage leaksnew
Three agencies deal with local sewage issues in Asheville, N.C.: MSD, the Asheville office of the state's Division of Water Quality and the Buncombe County Health Department. And not one of them is necessarily empowered to either repair the kind of problem Vickie Bradley encountered or force a solution.
Mountain Xpress |
Caitlin Byrd |
08-30-2012 |
Environment
Duke Scientists: Dried Coal Ash Highly Toxicnew
An Aug. 15 Duke University study details just how toxic coal ash is: Samples taken from the Dec. 28, 2008, coal-ash spill near Kingston, Tenn., contain high levels of toxic metals and radioactive elements, including arsenic, mercury and radium. As the sludge dries, risk of exposure via inhalation increases dramatically, the Duke team found.
Mountain Xpress |
Margaret Williams |
08-20-2009 |
Environment
Twilight of the Giants: Old-Growth Hemlocks Under Siegenew
The country's largest Eastern hemlocks -- many of them hundreds of years old -- face a "functional extinction" because of a tiny pest, the hemlock woolly adelgid. Here's the story of one man’s mission to measure and document the trees before they're gone.
Mountain Xpress |
Kent Priestley |
01-15-2008 |
Environment
Tags: environment
Biologists Enlist Fish to Fight Aquatic Weedsnew
Unchecked, hydrilla can fill lakes and ponds with dense, green curtains that choke out native species and snare boats and swimmers. But it appears to have met its match in another equally exotic species -- the sterile grass carp.
Mountain Xpress |
Kent Priestly |
08-23-2005 |
Environment
Tags: environment
The Circle Game: Pluses and Pitfalls of Local Recyclingnew
Recycling isn't as simple as putting plastics and glass in the recycling bin. Cecil Bothwell describes what works in local recycling, what doesn't and why bottled water is part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Mountain Xpress |
Cecil Bothwell |
10-27-2004 |
Environment
Tags: environment, lead, carcinogen, glass, MRF, murpf, PET, phthalate, plastic, plastic film bags, recycle
Smell? What smell?new
Examining the decisions of a local air quality board in North Carolina reveals statewide problems with influence, laws and enforcement.
Mountain Xpress |
Steve Rasmussen |
07-23-2004 |
Environment
Cake Out in the Rain: Tanker Leaks Liquid Uraniumnew
While the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies was convened in San AANtonio, a truckload of liquified uranium was dripping on the highway in Asheville, N.C. -- and daily shipments of uranyl nitrate are routine.
Mountain Xpress |
Cecil Bothwell |
07-09-2004 |
Environment
