Conn, Jennifer. “Cuyahoga Valley National Park Earns Award for $50M Krejci 

Remediation.” Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s Krejci Dump Remediation, 28 Aug.

2022,

https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/dayton/news/2022/08/26/cuyahoga-valley-national-park-earns-award-for-krejci-dump-remediation-. 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio bought new land in the 1980s in order to expand the National Park, and soon after they realized it was a very polluted old dump site. The family who had owned this land before had used this land to dump waste and therefore it became very toxic. The land was not safe for visitors to use because it was making people very ill. The National Park then closed the area and began to restore it. It took many years, but eventually they were able to remove all of the toxic soil and waste from the site. Then, they started to fix the land and let it have nature again. By 2015 there were plants and trees growing on the site and now it has ponds, wildlife, and beautiful flowers and plants. 

This is a very important part of environmental restoration because due to the loose laws they used to have on dump sites, many parts of nature have become completely destroyed. This land can now be used and it can hold a thriving ecosystem, rather than before when people could not even go on this land without getting sick and getting rashes. 

Gamage, M. (2022, January 24). BC Oil and gas cleanup ‘going in wrong direction’. The Tyee. Retrieved January 26, 2022, from https://thetyee.ca/News/2022/01/24/BC-Oil-Gas-Cleanup-Wrong-Direction/ 

Old oil and gas infrastructure from wells and refineries are now posing a long term environmental risk. The companies in charge of the cleanup are no longer having to meet the contaminated site requirements and are now shifting to an industry-funded regulator. This means that the government will no longer be in charge, the staff that the industry funds will be in charge. The cause of this though is that the ones in charge will prioritize the industry instead of actually helping the environment and putting it first. There will now not really be any government control overseeing that everything is going well. The BC Oil and Gas company refutes these claims when they say that they aren’t writing their own environmental regulations but it is hard to tell whether that is the truth or not. Even if they do violate any environmental regulations, the article states that there are never really any concrete consequences so they would continue to do it.

When it comes to the protection of the environment I feel like the most important aspect is ensuring that everyone is doing their part and carrying the same amount of weight. The issue with an industry self-regulating the cleanup creates selfish impulses where the industry will want to do what’s in their best interest instead of what the environment needs. This article can relate to the topic of environmental cleanup and restoration because this argument centers around how this oil infrastructure should be cleaned up. The government should always have at least some authority when it comes to cleanup like these to make sure that there is no selfishness. A lot of industries like this one could take advantage of their power. It has become apparent that without restrictions and limitations, people will take advantage and would not choose the environment. This is an issue that ought to be fixed and people need to start choosing the environment first over their own desires. 

Kil-Tone Superfund Site Project finally funded, should address its wider effects too. Press of Atlantic City. (2022, January 24). Retrieved January 25, 2022, from https://pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/editorial/kil-tone-superfund-site-project-finally-funded-should-address-its-wider-effects-too/article_744e27d4-7a3d-11ec-aea2-fbd05790954c.html 

The Kil-Tone Superfund Site is located in Vineland. It was contaminated years ago by a pesticide company and was never cleaned up. This is claimed as one of the most hazardous waste sites and the cleanup has been occurring for a while now. The ones in charge of the cleanup are the Environmental Protection Agency. The work didn’t seem as bad in the start but then the workers began to realize how much effort would have to be put into the project. As a cause of this, there was a backup of remediation projects formed. Right now it is just a bunch of waiting. This is a danger though because the plant puts arsenic and lead into the ground and soil there. Lawns were replaced at the houses surrounding it but more toxins continue to be found. 

This area poses a threat to human health and any creatures who come upon the area which should put it as a superior threat. There shouldn’t be anyone just waiting for these toxins to be removed. This is because the longer that you wait, the more of a threat it becomes. If the issue had been solved prematurely then there wouldn’t have been such an economic threat. When it comes to the environment, it is always important to address the issue right away. Another example of this is climate change where we waited so long that there is already permanent damage done to the earth. The issue that occurred at Kil-Tone should be a lesson for everyone to address environmental issues immediately, not later. 

Authorship, M. B. C., Brake, M., & NeubergerAssociate, J. (n.d.). How to address legacy fossil fuel sites for a clean energy future. Greenbiz. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-address-legacy-fossil-fuel-sites-clean-energy-future 

The main purpose of this article was to inform of ways to become more environment friendly when it comes to fossil fuel sites. Fossil fuel sites are being stranded as renewable energy is being used more and more in the United States. There are abandoned oil, gas, and coal mines everywhere. The cause of this is economic, environmental, and health effects on communities around these fossil fuel sites. This is because the sites are a large cause of any contamination that may be occurring in the water and there are also dangerous air pollutants that could be emitted and could also lead to explosions. These sites need to be fixed and rehabilitated. There has already been some funding by the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Abt that has provided a large sum of money to begin the restoring project.  They have given this large sum because it would provide nearly 116,000 jobs. The article then mentions how this federal funding is not enough because there also needs to be policy requirements for oil and gas wells while there also being cleanup costs for those held accountable. The technical and administrative capacity also needs to be improved. 

I am glad that the United States has started using renewable energy and these abandoned sites are evidence of that. In the end though, these oil companies need to pay the price for what they have done and restore the area to what it was before. Moving to using renewable energies isn’t a viable excuse for leaving a toxic area open to communities. There still needs to be work done to help the environment. This article also helps prove that there needs to be policies created for those who are still using their fossil fuel sites so that they are held accountable for the cleanup. The environment and climate change won’t be helped if no one does something to take the place of their mistakes. There is no point of moving to renewable energy if in the end the fossil fuel sites left behind are still a danger to the environment. 

Alex SchwartzH&N Staff Reporter / Report for America, & Staff photo by Arden Barnes / Report for America. (2022, January 14). Why we probably can’t Dredge Upper Klamath Lake. Herald and News. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/local_news/why-we-probably-cant-dredge-upper-klamath-lake/article_d1ad4b25-072d-59c4-bbe4-5904f00ba54a.html 

This article began to describe how Upper Klamath Lake is in trouble. This is due to the massive amount of cyanobacteria that is blooming across the whole lake. This bacteria deteriorates the quality of water and is also threatening the extinction of species living in the lake. What they need to do to fix thi is rehabilitate the lake. This would mean extremely expensive costs. An idea was addressed that proposed dredging the lake so it could become unpolluted. This lake is much too large though to accomplish anything. The lake is what you would call “hypereutrophic” meaning that there are too many nutrients released into the watershed so there is even more sediment coming into the river which then creates even more bacterial growth. So ultimately, dredging would only be a quick fix and wouldn’t end the problem forever. On one hand though it could help remove at least some sediments and create a start.       

It is important that we keep the lake alive and get rid of some of the algae because it is so rich with algae that it creates a home for plants and microorganisms alike. It should be our top priority to provide the fish in the lake with oxygen because it could lead to the die off of entire species. This article can also help relate to other lakes or especially the one at Jasper Ridge near Stanford where sediments are plaguing the river and there is an immediate solution required. Dredging, as said in the article, is an easy fix but it could also be the start of the restoration and something is done after to make it more permanent. Lakes like the one at Upper Klamath are extremely important because they fuel the development of important species and plants so that is why we should spend our money on fixing this issue.

Casey, M. (2022, January 14). Environment groups, company Settle Lawsuit Over Landfill. AP NEWS. Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://apnews.com/article/business-environment-and-nature-lawsuits-environment-new-hampshire-00cdd81a362d2ecdfbd1747ba2e09bb2

This article begins by talking about how there is a decades worth of sediment in the channel that is flowing into the Ammonoosuc. This is because a waste management company leaked toxic chemicals into the river. The toxic chemicals leaked were concentrations of iron, manganese and 1,4-dioxane. The company denied these claims but in the end the waste company was given two years to remove all of the sediments and they also have to pay 50,000 dollars towards restorative projects that would promote a cleaner environment in the future. This allows for more infrastructure to be developed to protect public health and at the same time help the environment.  

This article demonstrated a milestone in the development of environmental restoration because it shows the roles that laws can play in improving the quality of our environment. It shows how there is a possibility to create fines that can be saved to restore the environment. By doing this, people can pay for the external costs of their actions. In my opinion, lawsuits should all have some sort of payback for what they did instead of jail or a fine. Something should be done to repay what someone has done. This should happen especially when it comes to the environment, so, for example, if someone cuts down a tree they should have to replant 2. So, ultimately, this article illuminated the fact that every action taken against the environment should always have a consequence no matter how small of an issue it may seem in the moment. 

$1B windfall fuels toxic cleanup of great lakes, but uphill battle looms. Bridge Michigan. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14, 2022, from https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/1b-windfall-fuels-toxic-cleanup-great-lakes-uphill-battle-looms 

This article summarizes how Utah Lake is increasingly getting into more danger. This is because of climate change that is causing a massive drought. The lake continues to be faced with issues like toxic algae blooms and the obvious demand for water. There has been talk in Utah about restoring it, but it would have to be a multi-billion dollar project. It would cost so much because they have to use the process of dredging where they are removing silt and other material from the bottom of the lake. This would allow for a deeper lake, meaning it would be much cooler and less toxic algae blooms. There is of course pushback though from the local community. They say that the dredging will leave a huge environmental burden and leave it all to the taxpayers to fix. An idea was proposed that they take other smaller restoration measures instead of dredging. There will still be conflicts, leaving Utah in trouble over whether it is worth it to help the lake. 

I think when looking at this problem we should take into account that it is an entire ecosystem that is endangered. This means that whatever we do will have an effect. It is hard to weigh what should be done because on one hand, if you do nothing then the lake will keep acquiring more soil and soon evaporate, causing the death of thousands of living things that rely on the lake, but on the other hand, if you restore it there could be issues that concern the local community and economic costs. I think the environment should always be put first and whatever else comes after. This can relate to APES because the environment will be affected whether we restore it or not. It is up to us if we want to make the decision.