Enviro-Tech Services: Environmental Equipment

The Smog Belt?

2006-10-31T15:58:00.000-08:00

In an effort to combat pollution, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District sponsored several "Spare the Air" days in which commuters and travelers were enticed to public transportation by the magical word "free." Free public transportation cost the program $13.3 million dollars.

What do we have to show for it?

Air pollution levels were higher than federal health standards on 12 days this summer - 4 of which were on "Spare the Air" days. As a commuter, I can attest to the fact that I did not make it into work a minute faster than usual, which makes me think that all that free public transportation was primarily used by the unemployed on sight-seeing ventures.

So what else could we have done with our $13.3 million? Maybe we should have bought 400 Prius's to distribute to 400 enterprising minds who can come up with realistic solutions to our air problems.

Friends of Hudson Air Monitor Project

2006-01-18T14:48:00.000-08:00

I was recently contacted by a customer from Friends of Hudson, a non-profit grassroots organization maintained by civilians to help create awareness of environmental issues and take action against major pollutors and skewed data results that prevent the Hudson area from achieving an acceptable level of environmental quality. They worked to ensure that St. Lawrence Cement, a company that produces air toxins arsenic, lead, and mercury, would be denied permission to build a new factory powered by coal in the Hudson area and achieved success in April of 2005. The photo above shows the scale model of the proposed factory location.

Friends of Hudson is now working on a project to achieve New York State air monitoring standards in the region by purchasing and setting up NYS-endorsed air monitoring equipment in order to show accurate pollutant levels. Currently, the Department of Environmental Conservation uses data from Albany, which has different environmental conditions than Hudson, an area already full of "noise, dust, fumes and tremors from milling, quarrying, and other operations" (http://www.friendsofhudson.org/menu/faqs.html). Friends of Hudson hopes to set a precedent of citizens working for the environment by setting up private monitoring sites.

So how can I help? If you are a vendor or a distributor, you can help by donating equipment detailed in the NYS DEC's website to the Friends of Hudson; or, you can follow their donation link to become a member or make a first-time donation. If you are an air monitoring specialist, you can also donate your time and expertise in equipment knowledge.

Friends of Hudson Awards & Accolades:

-Environmentalist of the Year Award given by Environmental Advocates of New York
-Pillar of New York Award given by The Preservation League of New York

You can also help by letting us know of any similar non-profit groups establishing air monitoring by citizens. Please contact me at lauren@envirotechonline.com with any information or ideas for this project, or just to let me know what you think.

The Sliding Rocks of Bonnie Claire Playa

2005-11-23T14:34:00.000-08:00

Enviro-Tech Services, located in Martinez, CA, is a distributor and renter of several environmental products including water, air and soil monitoring and sampling equipment. One of our customers, Eric Garcia of Quest GeoSystems Management, is doing research on the sliding rocks of Bonnie Claire Playa in Nevada. Eric currently needs weather station equipment in order to complete his thesis on this phenomenon; if this article interests you, contact me at lauren@envirotechonline.com to let me know how you would like to help, or visit us online at http://www.envirotechonline.com.

The Sliding Rocks of Bonnie Claire Playa
Author: Eric Garcia

On a few dry lake beds located in the southwest Basin & Range, researchers have noted a poorly understood and enigmatic aeolean process. Numerous rocks (of sizes as small as a few ounces to boulders as large as 150 lbs.) sit on dry lake playas with trails in the surface that appear to indicate many of these rocks have slid substantially long distances (in excess of 300 feet). The most notable and investigated of these playas is Racetrack Playa located at the northern end of Death Valley National Park (DVNP). It has been found that indeed this process is not unique to Racetrack Playa and can be observed on at least eight other dry lakes in southestern California and western Nevada. In 1952 Thomas Clements of UCLA provided a brief investigation of a small dry lake, Bonnie Claire Lake, to the northeast of DVNP near Scotty's Castle in Nye County, Nevada. This lake appears to be a smaller analogue of the Racetrack Playa and is readily accessile on BLM land adjacent to Highway 267.

Although much thought and a few minor field investigations have been completed, few have come to a complete definative process/mechanism for the movement of rocks on a playa surface. These rocks appear to have moved unaided by human intervention. Although no one has actually seen them move, these rocks leave tale tell signs and can often be found at locations far from their origins. Theories have been presented by various authors, ranging from differential swelling of clays, to large sheets of ice moving entrained rocks, to high velocity winds propelling the rocks over wet slippery clays that line the playa surface. It is the latter two theories at the forefront of the debate. While most investigators agree that wind is the principal agent in the inception of motion of rocks, much debate has centered around the ability of the rocks to move over a wetted clay rich surface. Some investigators argue the sliding friction of the soil is much too high; requiring wind velocities in excess of 180 mph. It has been suggested that other intermediaries are required to move rocks. The theory developed from this argument is that of "ice floe rafting." The theory of "ice floe rafting" requires the playa surface to be flooded with water, which freezes over night to form a thin bed of ice, which entraps the rocks. Winds of far less velocity are then required to move this ice mass, with rocks in tow, across the playa surface. These investigators find proof to this argument in the similarities in adjacent rock plow marks and their high degree of parallelism.

The key defining processes in these two theories are: (1) Soil conditions at the initiation of movement, (2) the physical properties of the rocks, and (3) the atmospheric conditions preceding and during a sliding event, and its effects on the soil conditions and the rocks. Therefore, it is the purpose of this investigation to establish parameters necessary to promote and initiate movement of the rocks on the lake playa. It is our team's intention to identify and document the physical process involved with this phenomena. The investigation has been designed to answer the following questions and thus will be distinct areas of research:

Soil Mechanics: What are the soil conditions present at the initiation of sliding?
Rock Properties: What are the characteristics of the rocks that slide?
Local Climatology: What are the atmospheric conditions present at the inception of motion?

Soil Mechanics
Soil conditions appear to have a controlling effect on the initiation and translation of rocks on a playa surface. Our team will collect soil samples at the playa surface and return to the laboratory to conduct a series of tests that will enable our team to identify the provenance of the soil and its physical properties as they relate to moisture and temperature.

Rock Properties
It appears that rock morphology controls not only the initiation of rock movement (due to form drag), but may also determine speed and direction of the sliding rock. Our team will collect representative rock samples from the playa surface and return back to the laboratory to measure the physical and aerodynamic properties of the collected rocks. The rocks will be tested in a small wind tunnel in order to identify the fluid drag and lift characteristics of the rocks.

Local Climatology
Atmospheric conditions appear to significantly control the initiation and translation of rocks across the playa surface. The atmospheric conditions of concern include: (1) the timing and quantity of precipitation on the playa surface, (2) the timing and intensity of wind at the playa surface, and (3) the ambient temperature prior to and during sliding events. Our team will assemble a remote weather station on the playa surface in order to identify the conditions prior to and during rock motion events.