Act 43

Pretty much since wrapping up work on the task force report on Lake Champlain back at the end of August, my attention has been focused on our next major deliverable - a report to the Vermont legislature that is due January 15th. Last session our legislature passed Act 43 which requires, among other things, that the Agency of Natural Resources reconsider the phosphorus pollution target that has been established for Lake Champlain and that we evaluate the role the additional phosphorus reduction measures at our wastewater treatment facilities might play. I have pretty strong opinions on both fronts - a strong "yes, the target is more than adequate for where we are" and "no, we don't need to do more work at the wastewater plants right now". The real challenge is how to convey these messages to the general public - with the right amount of technical detail and without overwhelming folks with the numbers and jargon the form the basis for the argument. I took my first crack at sharing these messages this past Wednesday when I talked to our local environmental reporter. Her story ran in this morning's Burlington Free Press, and I feel like this piece does a really nice job explaining the issues. Hopefully this "win" will give us a little momentum going into a series of public meetings that are scheduled to start tomorrow night (weather permitting).