Current News

The EPA has completed its review of site cleanups at 22 Superfund Sites across New England, including a Vermont one at the Old Springfield Landfill, by doing routine Five-Year Reviews of each site.
EPA conducts evaluations every five years on previously-completed clean up and remediation work performed at Superfund sites and Federal Facilities listed on the ‘National Priorities List’ (aka Superfund sites) to determine whether the implemented remedies at the sites continue to be protective of human health and the environment. Further, five year review evaluations identify any deficiencies to the previous work and, if called for, recommend action(s) necessary to address them.

The president Wednesday declared a major disaster exists in the State of Vermont and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe winter storms during the period of December 20-26, 2013.
Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe winter storm in the counties of Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, and Orleans.
Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named James N. Russo as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

Students and faculty from the Center for Legal Innovation at Vermont Law School will attend LegalTech 2014 in New York City, bringing with them ideas and expertise that are sought after by industry leaders like Google, LexisNexis, and Capital Novus. This is the fourth year Vermont Law has attended the conference, which has resulted in jobs for students and research support for faculty.
Considered the largest and most important legal technology event of the year, LegalTech annually draws tens of thousands of attorneys and legal staff seeking the latest information in an estimated $20-30 billion industry to improve the way they practice law in an ever-changing technological world.
Among the Vermont Law faculty attending LegalTech is Professor Oliver Goodenough, director of the Center for Legal Innovation (CLI) and recipient of a Google grant on how technology is changing the study and practice of law.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org The House and Senate agriculture committees are gearing up for a showdown over changes to the state’s flagship land conservation program. A special study committee chaired by Sen. Bobby Starr, D-Essex/Orleans, struck all the language from a bill that passed the House in 2013, sponsored by Rep. Alison Clarkson, D-Woodstock, and five others. The Senate version ‘ still a rough draft ‘ was discussed at the Statehouse on Tuesday evening at the fifth and final in a series of public hearings.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org A new method of harvesting sap from young trees could revolutionize maple syrup production in Vermont ‘ and potentially around the world.
Researchers at the University of Vermont’s Proctor Maple Research Center have discovered that sugar maple saplings produce the same sweet liquid that mature trees yield.
Abby van den Berg and Tim Perkins at Proctor Maple Research Center with new technology they are applying to maple saplings for maple syrup. Photo by Sally McCay/UVM
Sugar maple saplings can out-produce mature trees by an order of magnitude. A plantation-style crop of 6,000 saplings can produce 400 gallons of syrup per acre, while a mature sugarbush of 80 mature maple trees produces 40 gallons per acre, researchers say.
Saplings are ready to harvest in seven years, while mature trees take four decades to tap.

A GasBuddy analysis released this week tracked trends over the last four years showing what day of the week saw the cheapest gasoline price. The analysis also provided a conclusion for what day of the week offers the lowest price, showing a wide variation of the cheapest day to get gas, but not every day was well-represented.
Meanwhile, gasoline prices in Vermont continue to fall and are now under $3.50 a gallon average.
‘Surprisingly, many states see the lowest gasoline prices for the week during the weekend, which may come as a surprise to many motorists,’ said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com.
According to the analysis, 65% of states saw lower prices during the weekend than the week, which included Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. GasBuddy’s data also found that very few states sawTuesday or Wednesday as the best day to fuel up. The complete listing is included below.

Kilawatt Technologies has reduced Vermont Mutual Insurance’s total annual building energy use by 31% since it began working with Vermont Mutual in 2011.That includes a 23% reduction in electrical consumption and an amazing 43% reduction in #2 fuel oil consumption. As a result, Vermont Mutual has saved more than $50,000 per year in energy costs by optimizing their existing HVAC equipment. In 2013, alone, Vermont Mutual eliminated more than 166 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. According to the US EPA, that is the equivalent of 306,900 miles of driving or 14.5 flights around Earth. Kilawatt remains committed to reducing its clients’ energy use, operating costs, and carbon emissions.
Kilawatt Technologies, founded in 2008, provides a data-centric, statistically based energy and environmental management program. The methods involve continuous trending and analysis of energy and interior environmental data for commercial, multi-family, and industrial buildings.

Vermont motorists will soon be filling their tanks with gas increasingly derived from dirty Canadian tar sands oil, says a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council. This means that despite strong concern in Vermont over tar sands crude flowing through the state via a reversed Portland-Montreal pipeline, the state could nonetheless suffer a backdoor inflow of tar sands oil’as refined fuels.
A flood of dirty fuel into Vermont would also undercut its efforts to reduce carbon pollution. The NRDC report found that under current plans, tar sands-derived gasoline supplies in 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, including Vermont, would soar from less than one percent of the total in 2012 to 11.5 percent of the total by 2020, due to increased imports from Canadian refineries, fresh supplies of refined tar sands fuels from Gulf Coast refineries, and quantities from East Coast refineries that would obtain tar sands crude via rail and barge.

The University of Vermont is one of four new sponsors supporting the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (the Food Systems Journal), along with three other leading North American university programs focused on food systems.

BioTek Instruments was recently honored with the 2013 Worksite Wellness Gold Level Award from the Vermont Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. As a three-time winner, BioTek will receive the award from Governor Peter Shumlin at the Worksite Wellness Conference, to be held March 27, 2014 at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center in Burlington, VT.
"Our BioFit wellness program enhances a culture of well-being for BioTekkers that includes physical, nutritional, emotional, social, financial, career and community service activities and education," notes Kathy Gendron, BioTek's Vice President, Human Resources. "This program is embraced at all levels of the company, and it strengthens us, not only as individuals, but as a team."

By a vote of 255-161, the House of Representatives today approved a House-Senate conference report on a five year Farm Bill. The Senate is expected to begin debate on the legislation later this week or early next week. Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) voted for the legislation which includes several important priorities for Vermont’s agricultural sector.
After House Speaker John Boehner blocked the inclusion of dairy reforms championed by Vermont’s dairy farmers and the Vermont Congressional delegation, House and Senate conferees reached an important compromise under the leadership of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), a conferee and the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

The Vermont Realtors released a study on Tuesday that shows overall spending for education has increased dramatically over the last 15 years, and during that same period school enrollments statewide have dropped by 1,000 students a year.
Isaac Chavez, the CEO of the Vermont Realtors, called on Statehouse leaders to begin reforming the state’s education delivery and finance systems this legislative session.
The Realtors association says the rising cost of education is hurting the economy. Lowering property taxes, realtors say, would make Vermont a more attractive place for business and more affordable for young people who want to live and work in Vermont.