Press Mention Savannah Morning News April 20, 2004
SACE Quoted
We've met the polluters, and they are us
In this mention
A Savannah Morning News article about an Earth Day forum on non-point source water pollution features Sara Barczak of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, who draws a parallel between energy consumption and diffuse pollution sources. Barczak explains that individual decisions about energy use—such as turning on lights or computers—contribute to water pollution through power plant cooling demands, framing energy efficiency as a personal responsibility.
Energy is almost like a non-point source pollution because each of us turns on a light in the morning. Each of us has the ability to make the decision to use energy more wisely.
Sara Barczak
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Full transcript
We've met the polluters, and they are us
Forum to focus on ways everyone can reduce water pollution.
By Mary Landers
Savannah Morning News
mary.landers@savannahnow.com
912-652-0337
Water pollution used to be synonymous with a pipe sticking out of a factory. Increasingly though, environmentalists are looking at more diffuse sources of pollution, like the oil washed off your driveway and the fertilizer washed off your lawn.
Such pollution, called non-point source pollution, is the focus of a free Earth Day seminar Thursday night.
Non-point source pollution remains the nation's largest source of water quality problems. It's the main reason that approximately 40 percent of surveyed rivers, lakes and estuaries are not clean enough to meet basic uses such as fishing or swimming, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"People don't realize it, but that's a major source of pollution going into our rivers and streams — the runoff from urban and suburban areas," said Bob Scanlon, environmental affairs officer for the city of Savannah.
Clete Bergen II, of Citizens for Clean Air & Water, is organizing the forum.
"Thirty years ago, the (Savannah) river was filthy," he said. "It's a lot better today. Early laws focused on point source pollution; now it's non-point source. Each and every one of us is responsible for it."
Sara Barczak, of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, pointed out that her expertise about pollution from local coal-fired electric plants falls outside the topic of non-point sources. But she does see a connection.
"Energy is almost like a non-point source pollution because each of us turns on a light in the morning," she said. "Each of us has the ability to make the decision to use energy more wisely."
Other everyday activities put a burden on local waterways, she said, because river water is used for cooling at electric power plants.
"When you turn on your computer you're using water, because of the power plants and how they work."
The Future of Water in the Coastal Empire
When: 6-8 p.m. Thursday
Where: Hyatt Regency, Harborside Room
Sponsored by environmental groups including Citizens for Clean Air & Water and Citizens for Environmental Justice, the panel discussion includes moderator Bob Scanlon, environmental affairs officer for the city of Savannah; Bill Lynch, Savannah senior project manager for the river basin for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Courtney Power, environmental consultant with Integrated Science & Engineering Inc.; Mark Risse of the University of Georgia Agriculture Department; and Sara Barczak of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.