by Ken Midkiff, Director, Ozark Chapter
New Staff on board:
Recently, we have added a part-time office secretary, Crystal Parrish, who works on Mondays and Tuesdays each week. Terri Folsom was promoted to Chapter Coordinator in recognition that this was what she was already doing.
The greater St. Louis area and eventually all of Missouri will benefit from the presence of the creation of national staff position by the Global Warming/Energy Program of the national Sierra Club. Carla Klein, founder of Lake Area Keepers of the Environment (LAKE), in the Table Rock Lake region, was selected by a Search Committee composed of six Ozark Chapter Executive and Conservation Committee members and Kate Simmons of the DC staff. While Carla’s primary function is to raise public awareness about global climate change, she will also be involved in air quality and energy issues as those relate to greenhouse gas emissions.
Another staff position has been created to deal with sprawling developments in the Missouri River valley area of St. Charles and St. Louis counties. The US Army Corps of Engineers has received requests for a chain of levees from the US40 bridge to the confluence with the Mississippi River. Many of these proposals are designed to protect major commercial enterprises trying to obtain public funding or tax subsidies to locate in areas that were ten feet under water only a few years ago.
Scott Dye remains as the Rural Organizer/Clean Water staffer, and I am still on as the Ozark Chapter Director. Both of us also have national roles: Scott is the Rural Organizer for the national Sierra Club, and I am the National Coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Clean Water Campaign.
Issues and activities:
The Holnam proposal (see article in this issue) has taken many hours of time. While the St. Louis area organizations (including the Eastern Missouri Group of the Sierra Club) have been dealing with the local issues very successfully, it has been my task to make the contacts and push our concerns in Jefferson City.
Lobbying the Missouri General Assembly has turned out to be less onerous than originally projected. Partisan and non-partisan power struggles have occupied the attention of the legislative leadership, and major bills have languished.
Water quality issues continue to occupy much of the time of Chapter Staff. If there is one issue that Missourians feel strongly about, it is water quality protection. Everyone wants clean and healthy water for boating, fishing, swimming, and of course drinking. We achieved a good settlement in our lawsuit against the EPA and the agency and MoDNR have made contractual commitments (backed by a court order) to clean up our state’s impaired waterbodies.
Air quality is a hot topic in the St. Louis area. The DC District Court ordered the EPA to take some steps and make some determinations that it was required by law to make four years ago. But, even with the court order, EPA continues to stall in taking assertive steps to clean up St. Louis’ air. The area has been out of compliance with clean air standards since 1990.
While the Doe Run Mining Company has been moving its operations to Peru, and the pressure is off the Ozarks temporarily, there are major studies going on by the US Geological Survey to try to determine what would happen if lead mining were allowed in the watersheds of the Jacks Fork, Current, and Eleven Point rivers. Several Ozark Chapter members attended an informational meeting of the agencies involved in the studies. While the agencies were quite uneasy having us there, they seemed to be conducting the appropriate research to address concerns. It is assumed that the moratorium on processing any mining permits will be continued until these studies are completed – perhaps up to five years.
The Chapter Staff continues to enjoy good contacts and access to the Holden Administration. And so far, Governor Holden seems to be making the right moves. Appointments to Boards and Commissions have been laudable to date. The Governor understands our positions on pending legislation, and even the controversial Transportation Budget contains a sizeable chunk (up to $100 million) for public transit.
Current problem areas we are working on: St. John’s/New Madrid Bayou levee project; regaining Third Party appeals on wastewater discharge permits; corporate liability for contract operations where the company exercises “substantial operational control”; Missouri River Management/Split Season flow regime; sand and gravel excavations in Ozark streams; chip mills and industrial forestry; redefining the boundaries of current wilderness areas; and trying to ensure that Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations are properly regulated (these are currently treated as agricultural, not the industrial operation that they are).
Funding:
Since all of the above matters take a lot of staff time, and some involve a lot of money, we have also sought and obtained grant funding for several projects. While some of this grant money comes from the national Sierra Club Foundation, and is made available to the Chapters via project funding, the Ozark Chapter has also been successful in obtaining funding from major independent national trusts and foundations. We seek funding for projects that the Chapter Executive Committee and Conservation Committee have identified as priorities – we do not take “donor driven” funding. We also will accept NO monies from any state or federal agency. Any rumors that you may have heard about how much money the Sierra Club gets from the EPA are just flat out fabrications.
If any of the above interests you – or if you just want to send money – contact: ken.midkiff@sierraclub.org.