Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Wassmer Running for Adrian City Commissioner

Hi everybody.
I want to announce my candidacy for Adrian City Commissioner to the members and readers of this blog so you can support my campaign if you feel inclined to do so.
I am running with the following slogan:
Healthy Planet = Healthy People!
The Primary will be on Tuesday, August 8, 2017, and the Election on Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Find out more about my goals and background at:
http://wassmer.org
On my site, you can download my flyer in PDF format, print it double-sided, cut it into 3 flyers, and help me spread the word. As there are 3 vacancies, every citizen of the City of Adrian will have 3 votes. Thank you in advance!

If anybody wants to meet me fact-to-face, I will be in the Adrian City Library on the July and August 1st Fridays 6-8pm, and the Candidates Forum organized by the NAACP on July, 18 at 7:00 pm at the Weber Center on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters.

Edit 8/21/17
Unfortunately, I did not get into the November election. I received 314 votes and I appreciate your support very much but I came in only 7th out of 8. I think this has several reasons: first, many people did not know me despite my frequent appearances at environmental and social events and their reporting in the Daily Telegram, my Environmental Documentary Series at Siena Heights University, my organizing of the Issa Endowment Speaker Series at Siena Heights University, my Letters To The Editor of the Daily Telegram, and my campaigning. I admit I could have hit the pavement more and show up at social gatherings - and attract followers with incentives like free ice cream - but that is not the sole reason of my shortcoming. Unfortunately, the environment is still not on top of many people's radar despite the urgency to deal with Climate Change, Biological and Chemical Pollution, and Habitat Destruction, which will make everybody's lives very challenging in the not so far future. A third reason for my insufficient performance is the fact that I was not born and raised in Lenawee County, not even in Michigan or the US and some people perceived me as an outsider from another country. I think that this should have been an advantage as I could have contributed a different and new perspective to Adrian's challenges and path into the future - but the majority of the 1706 voters seemed to have preferred more of the same old... 
I am not sure if I will run for a political office again but I will definitely not stop being an environmental activist and educator.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Drilling continues in Heritage Park: Flare and open pit with toxic sludge

Drilling started again about a week ago and continues since then. Today a notorious flare appeared that burns very inefficient exposing wildlife and recreationists with toxic fumes containing VOC (volatile organic compounds).


On the below video you can see how little of the flame actually burns and how much is escaping into the air.




On the last video, you see once more the flare and next to it the open pit with a substantial amount of drilling sludge containing many toxic compounds that are bound to be buried as soon as drilling concludes.




Friday, July 28, 2017

Monday, July 24, 2017

Toxic and cancerous coal tar sealant applied near River Raisin


Raisin Township is putting tar sealant on Howell Highway and other newly resurfaced roads. Coal tar is "The number one" carcinogen for non smokers and is accumulated in waterbodies. Really good timing again with the River Raisin "cleanup". Maybe instead of removing valuable bank vegetation the cleanup crews should prevent this toxic pollution and travel to the Lenawee CAFOs that are responsible for high coliform bacteria counts and phosphorus runoff that cause harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Drilling in Heritage Park Continues

The new drilling in Heritage Park does not involve hydraulic fracturing but falls under the category of  horizontal drilling.



This process consumes much less water but still produces substantial amounts of drilling fluids that mix with outflowing brine and is first captured in an open pit that is laid out with a heavy plastic tarp. Almost every hour, a brine truck needs to pump the fluids out of the pit and drives it to one of Savoy's 3 injection wells, where the poisonous mix is pumped into the ground.