This piece is a follow-up on clean water issues discussed in August 2017.
 
DURHAM – Clean water activists are working to address lingering problems from decades of improper coal ash disposal.
 
Clean Water of North Carolina is one organization working to address the mounting problems from the use of coal ash by Duke Energy. The Coal Ash Management Act, passed in 2014, requires Duke Energy to build better disposal sites for future coal ash disposal. Coal ash is the natural by-product of electricity production, and long-term surface disposal throughout the state resulted in spills, such as the massive Dan River spill in February 2014, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
 
“Besides hexavalent chromium, also in coal ash is arsenic and vanadium and other contaminants,” said Erica Faircloth, Water and Energy Justice Organizer for Clean Water for North Carolina.
 
In 2017, the number of clean water issues that have cropped up has risen. While coal ash remains an important issue, GenX and surface water runoff also take the attention of activists like Faircloth.
 
“Where the [Atlantic Coast] pipeline [for natural gas harvesting] is going will be through a ton of wetlands,” Faircloth said. “When you damage wetlands, really you damage nature’s free way of filtering out your water. Why would we damage something that does something very important for us for free?”
 
While water activists like Faircloth are working on all of these issues, coal ash maintains its position at the front of the line. In early October, the Southern Environmental Law Center sent notice to Duke Energy on behalf of other organizations a notice of intent to sue for violations of the Clean Water Act related to coal ash dumping in Stokes County, North Carolina.
 
“These lined ponds [required by the CAMA of 2014] are really just a temporary fix,” Faircloth explained. She believes that more will need to be done in the future to address this issue.

RALEIGH – More than 250 people attended the third annual AIDS Walk & 5K Run this weekend in an effort to increase money available for related programs.
 
This event, led by the Alliance of AIDS Services – Carolinas (AAS-C), took place at Dorothea Dix Park where individuals, business teams, families and even dogs participated in the event, helping to raise an estimated $50,000.
 
In addition to AAS-C, the North Carolina AIDS Action Network (NCAAN), LGBT Center of Raleigh and Crape Myrtle Festival assist in planning this event. Each organization receives a share of the proceeds although AAS-C takes home the lion’s share based on their status as the event lead, said AAS-C Executive Director Hector Salgado.
 
This year’s event almost doubled the 2016 run’s participation when 137 runners registered.
 
“The collaboration is really good, and we’ve also done some fine tuning,” Salgado said. “We were able to start planning earlier this year and have had a good group of people working on the event.”
 
The state of North Carolina currently ranks 42nd in spending per person who is living with HIV or AIDS. This lack of state funding means testing, education and prevention methods often fall to groups like the ones planning the run. They also help with housing, food and other needs that are concerns in the state population with people living with HIV, said Lee Storrow, executive director of NCAAN.
 
The state currently has more than 36,000 people living with HIV and AIDS, according to the North Carolina Health and Human Services. “An estimated 3,400 are undiagnosed and unaware that they are affected,” a report from the agency stated.
 
“We operate a food pantry that receives no funding,” Salgado said. “Two years ago we were giving out six tons of food. This year so far we’re up to 30 tons of food.”
 
The pantry is available to low-income people regardless of HIV status, Salgado said. The funds raised at the race are going to fund a part-time food pantry coordinator and to help purchase food and other items needed for the pantry.
 
 
 
 

RALEIGH – A food exhibit at the 2017 North Carolina State Fair offers up a serving of education about food production to visitors.
 
The Field of Dreams exhibit, funded by the North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture, has a closed loop path that children can take, aided by a worksheet of crops that can be found in each section. The sections – Taco Town, Subs & Spuds, Gobble Garden, and Pizza Patch – each has the crops needed to make each kid-friendly dish. Crops growing onsite include tomatoes, garlic, onions, corn and basil among others.
 
“We know that poor nutrition causes all kinds of health problems including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease,” said Kay Coleman, urban gardens manager for the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle in Durham, NC. “Increased obesity can lead to all kinds of problems. Helping people get good fresh food helps improve health in a community.”
 
The Inter-Faith Food Shuttle partners with more than 200 organizations in the Triangle area to provide fresh produce and meats to local food pantries for immediate consumption. The group also administers education programs aimed at teaching people to garden and cook and provides meals to schoolchildren through Backpack Buddies for dozens of schools throughout the region.
 
Marianne Weant, who has served the director of health programs for the North Carolina Parent Teacher Association (NCPTA) since 2010, said a comprehensive health and wellness policy can aid in helping stave off nutrition-related illnesses and absences.
 
“It’s a process,” she said. “It’s about exposure. Kids need to see, touch, and taste new foods. If there are opportunities for children to see fresh produce, they will begin over time to see eating those foods as good choices.”
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics suggest that “40% of daily calories for children and adolescents” comes from so-called “empty calories,” primarily soft drinks and junk food that do not provide nutritional value. These calories contribute to a number of health problems, such as higher rates of cancer, high blood pressure and osteoporosis.

​RALEIGH – Eager students spent their Saturday learning how to perform basic first aid and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on adults in a semi-annual educational event.
 
Dr. Olive Lamm, director of The Little Medical School of Greater Raleigh and a trained emergency room physician, taught 20 middle-school students in a Super Saturday course at Powell Center for Play and Ingenuity Elementary School.
 
The event, hosted by the gifted support group PAGE of Wake County, is home to classes on a range of topics beyond the CPR training, including hydraulic limbs, self-portraits and bee-keeping.
 
Lamm’s class, which included practice on dummies and a CPR certificate for attendees, drew a crowd of students who wanted to learn about this life-saving technique.
 
“We learn about CPR for adults because it’s more common than infants,” Lamm said. “Anyone can encounter someone who needs CPR, and in the class you learn what to do.”
 
The CPR training teaching the children how to ensure someone needs help. They also practice checking someone’s pulse and doing chest compressions in addition to talking about how to let others know how to help. Because people often will watch someone trying to help in an emergency, Lamm said it is important for people who know CPR to be able to ask for help, whether it’s for a stool to be positioned in the right place to perform CPR or for a call in to 911 for professional help, anyone trying to save a life should feel comfortable telling others what is needed.
 
“Don’t be shy about asking bystanders who are watching to help you,” Lamm said. She works to teach her students to be be confident in their abilities despite their age. “You can’t do it all yourself.”
 
Lamm, who scaled back her full-time work practicing medicine, cites her love of teaching others to be confident and knowledgeable about healthy choices as the motivation for teaching these classes. Through classes like the one she taught at Super Saturday, more people are learning valuable life-saving skills.
 
 
   

WAKE FOREST – Local officials and residents gathered Saturday for the opening of a greenway connecting neighborhoods, businesses and schools in the town.
 
The event, dubbed Tri-Creek Greenway Crawl, was the culmination of an 11-year effort to connect Wake Forest to nearby Rolesville and begin connections to other towns in the Triangle region. This 3.7-mile stretch of walking space has three creeks and many wooded areas in addition to providing a walking and bicycling connection between the town’s center and various neighborhoods.
 
“This effort actually started in 2006 when the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners approved the town’s Open Space and Greenway plans,” said Candace Davis, assistant to the town manager and staff member who worked on this project.
 
The town received over 4 million from federal funding sources. In 2014, Wake Forest voters approved a bond referendum to provide additional funding for greenways, and here we are.”
 
Davis worked on the project and organizing the opening day celebration. She said construction began in mid-2016.
 
The Tri-Creek Greenway Crawl included speeches from Deanna Welker, who chairs the town’s Greenway Advisory Board, and Jan Ammons, a longtime community activist who fought for the greenway to happen. Families could participate in a scavenger hunt along the trail, and advisory board members positioned themselves throughout the trail to provide information to visitors.  
 
Wake Forest is one of 12 towns and cities in Wake County, North Carolina. The county, which is home to state capital Raleigh, currently is ranked the “healthiest” county in the state by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
 
“It not only provides that recreational opportunity, but that creates a healthy community. So it’s making Wake Forest even healthier than it is today,” Hutchison said.
 
The American Heart Association recommends that adults have at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day, and recent guidelines report that walking briskly can help to lower blood pressure and rates of type 2 diabetes as well as lead to weight loss.
 
The Tri-Creek Greenway is one a almost 100 miles of greenway throughout Wake County. The county’s Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources department maintains greenways throughout the county, making Wake County a highly-rated “walkable” city.