Green Time TV, Dec. 2015: Protecting Natural Missouri
by Don Fitz
Missouri’s forests, rivers, public lands, aquifers and communities all need protection. December Green Time episodes explore ways citizens have been coming together to work for preservation.
The first December Green Time remembers Leo A. Drey (January 19, 1917–May 26, 2015) Missouri’s most effective forestry advocate. Host Don Fitz and guests Greg Iffrig, of the L-A-D Foundation, and Terry Cunningham, Retired Manager of Pioneer Forest, discuss how his conservation efforts went beyond forestry to include rivers and public lands in general. They describe the unique mission of Pioneer Forest, how it came to be, and its potential future. Leo Drey is best known for “Uneven Aged Forest Management” or “Single Tree Selection.”
During the second December Green Time, Sierra Club members Dr. Judy Dasovich from Springfield and Jennifer Conner from Monett discuss a proposed coal ash landfill in Springfield MO with host John Hickey. They look at the health impacts of coal ash, including consequences of heavy metals from the ash contaminating drinking water. Porous karst topography is such a bad location for a landfill that the MO Dept. of Natural Resources rejected this site due to the high likelihood of a catastrophic collapse. But City Utilities is still trying to move forward with the project.
The third December Green Time explores how karst areas are formed when limestone-based sedimentary rock is dissolved underground. This creates caves, springs, sinkholes and losing streams, which are creeks where the water goes underground. Host Don Fitz and Karst Project Director Denise Vaughn discuss how, in karst areas, rainwater flows quickly underground with little filtering, so it can easily be polluted. Karst geology also creates many popular Ozark destinations: springs, rivers and caves.
More than 800 people got sick when the West Plains sewage lagoon drained into the groundwater. This was due to the karst geological formation which dominates southern Missouri. Denise Vaughn returns to the final December Green Time to discuss the need to avoid polluting groundwater in karst areas. Keeping the area around a foundation well drained is a good way to prevent soil from eroding underground and eventually creating a dropout sink-hole.
December shows include the movies Leo Drey and Pioneer Forest, People's Climate March, 200 Dirty Coal-Fired Power Plants Closed, Karst in the Ozarks, Building on Ozark Karst.
Green Time appears at noon on Saturdays in St. Louis on Channel 24-1 and at 8 pm on Mondays in St. Louis on Channel 24-2, Springfield on Channel 39, Joplin on Channel 36 and Marshfield on Channel 17. Green Time programs air on these dates:
· December 5 & 7: “Remembering Leo Drey,”
· December 12 & 14: “Springfield Coal Ash Landfill,”
· December 19 & 21: “Karst in the Ozarks,”
· December 26 & 28: “Building on Ozark Karst.”
“Like” Gateway Greens on Facebook and click “Get notifications.” Also see Green Time on greentime.tv. To help produce Green Time TV call 314-727-8554 or email don@greentime.tv
