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Wunderground.com

Land & Environmental Section

  • New grants for Agraria —  Kids get the dirt on soil education

    By Megan BachmanNovember 15, 2018

    Mills Lawn third-graders Emery Fodal and Wyatt Fagan counted soil invertebrates using Berlese Funnels at Agraria last spring. They also kept data on soil temperature levels over a four-week period at the farm. (Submitted photo by Peg Morgan)

    The architect and inventor Buckminster Fuller often used a metaphor to illustrate how small targeted actions can move massive systems. Fuller noted that the “trim tab,” a tiny mechanism of a ship’s rudder, can change the ship’s course with a minute movement. At the Agraria Center for Regenerative Agriculture, soil is seen as that “trim tab.”

  • Tecumseh Land Trust to host resource fair

    By Gary McBrideNovember 8, 2018

    The Jacoby Greenbelt west of the village contains the largest concentration of properties that the Village, working with the Tecumseh Land Trust, hopes to preserve permanently as agricultural and conservation land. (Map by YS News; data courtesy of Tecumseh Land Trust)

    Land and water preservation and management, soil conservation and other environmental matters will be explored at the Landowner Resource Fair hosted by the Tecumseh Land Trust this weekend. 

  • Environmental news — EPA responds to Vernay cleanup plan

    By Megan BachmanOctober 25, 2018

    YSI Senior Scientist Jessica Moyer displayed the flag the company received for an Ohio EPA Encouraging Environmental Excellence award at its Brannum Lane facility. YSI received the highest level — platnium —for its work to conserve resources at their facility and in the wider community. YSI, now owned by Xylem, is a 70-year-old local company that designs and manufacturers water sampling and monitoring instruments used around the globe and in the region, including by the Ohio EPA. (Photo by Megan Bachman)

    It’s been 16 years since Vernay Laboratories began working under order of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop a plan to clean up contamination at and around the company’s former manufacturing facility at 875 Dayton St. But Vernay has more work to do before its final cleanup plan is approved.

  • Landowner resource fair slated

    By YS News StaffOctober 22, 2018

    The public is invited to a planning charrette hosted by Community Solutions.

    The public is invited to attend a landowner resource fair on Saturday, Nov. 3, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., at the John Bryan Center. A number of private and public organizations with conservation, land management, legal and financial skills and resources will be on hand in the gym, with speakers and resource specialists addressing ways to make land more productive and green throughout the day.

  • Soybean, corn farmers challenged by price drops

    By Diane ChiddisterSeptember 20, 2018

    Several local farmers cited Chinese tariffs on soybeans and an anticipated robust harvest as factors contributing to significantly lower prices for local crops, which spell diminished profits for farmers. (Photo by Diane Chiddister)

    While they differ in their assessment of causes, several local farmers agree on their current situation: it’s a challenging time to be a farmer in Ohio.

  • Village Council — Vernay cleanup plan probed

    By Megan BachmanSeptember 6, 2018

    Groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents and volatile organic compounds at levels above EPA drinking water standards from the former Vernay rubber parts manufacturing facility on Dayton Street has spread eastward across Wright Street and Suncrest Drive. Soil contamination at the site is concentrated in an area near the two former plants, where chlorinated solvents used to degrease metal parts were disposed, and at the front of a property, where a common pesticide was used. Contamination is also present in the the storm sewers (and the backfill surrounding them), which continue to transport pollutants off the property. (Map was generated using data and maps from cleanup oversight firm EHS Technology Group of Dayton)

    A member of the Yellow Springs Environmental Commission urged Village Council at its Aug. 20 meeting to weigh in on a plan to clean up a highly contaminated industrial site in the village.

  • Antioch College recognized for sustainability practices

    By Guest Contributor

    The college’s first crew of four-legged lawnmowers in 2015, shown with Farm Manager Kat Christen and then-student and Farm Assistant Alli King. (YS News file photo)

    Antioch College has been recognized as a top performer in the 2018 Sustainable Campus Index, achieving a second-place rating in top performing institutions for grounds.

  • Grounding vision of resilience at Agraria

    By Megan BachmanJuly 26, 2018

    Community Solutions Executive Director Susan Jennings looked out at the Agraria farm from the renovated barn at the 128-acre property just west of the village. Community Solutions’ annual meeting will be at Agraria on Saturday, July 21, from 2 to 4 p.m. (Photo by Megan Bachman)

    On the property Community Solutions purchased last year, the 75-year-old local nonprofit wants to model regenerative agriculture as part of its mission to create resilient communities in the face of climate change.

  • Celebrate 50 years of scenic rivers

    By YS News StaffJuly 11, 2018

    The Little Miami River. (Photo by Lauren Shows)

    A special screening of the documentary “Call of the Scenic River” will be featured at the Clifton Opera House on Friday, July 13, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Ohio being the first state to pass Scenic River Protection legislation.

  • Downtown tree removed, to be replaced by native species

    By Morgan BeardJuly 10, 2018

    The tree, which stood in front of Subway, was a member of an invasive species called the Bradford Pear, the same species which used to border village sidewalks until they were removed and replaced with native trees in 2013.