The EE Sampler - Jefferson County Public Schools

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Aaron Olson Impervious Surfaces: What are They? A growing threat to water quality, not just in the Louisville area but nationwide, are impervious surfaces. Impervious surfaces are any type of surface that prevents water from slowly draining into the soil. They can include parking lots, roofs, driveways, streets, and even severely compacted soil which is usually the result of human interference. The more impervious surfaces there are in a particular watershed, the more damage to the water quality and streams in the area. These surfaces lead to increased erosion, flooding, sediment in the water, as well as fewer habitats for organisms of all sizes. When water slowly enters the soil, a process called infiltration, the groundwater supply is replenished, plants and soil filter out pollutants, and the water slowly moves to the larger bodies of water. However, when water lands on impervious surfaces, it has no where to go and is often directed to drains which channel the water directly into local streams or rivers. While this process may be desirable to humans using the parking lots or driveways, it is utterly destructive to the streams and creeks of the city. All the water rushing into the streams causes rapid flooding and also washes into the water everything sitting on the sidewalk or other impervious surface, including trash and harmful chemicals that have not been disposed of properly. Another negative impact from this rapid runoff is erosion of the creek bed and riparian area. The erosion causes more sediment to travel downstream, damaging habitats and water quality miles away. Recreational interest in the streams decreases due to erosion and the chemicals polluting the water, not just killing off the wildlife but potentially harming humans as well. A good start to reduce the amount of impervious surfaces is to make changes in the planning stages of development. Concrete or asphalt can be replaced with a more porous type of material or water could be channeled to an area of vegetation instead of into storm drains. Large changes will have to occur in the Louisville area in order to fix the damage already done by impervious surfaces and to prevent the damage from getting worse. It is important to remember that changes not only benefit local communities, but also communities located downstream. Only through a cooperative effort between the cities and communities in a watershed can this problem be fixed before the damage done to streams and rivers becomes irreversible. 17
Disposal of Animal Waste Sarah Payne Home of the Innocents is a children’s village which gives medical aid, counseling and shelter for young people who are in need. While this institution was newly built in 2003, the land that it rests on has a long and interesting history. What is now the Joan E. Thomas children’s village used to be the Bourbon Stockyards. Butchertown, the area surrounding the stockyards, has been linked with the meat industry since the 1830s. Due to Louisville’s location on the Ohio River, the city was a good spot to slaughter animals and ship the meat downriver to reach markets in the South. In 1834 a hotel for farmers known as the Bourbon House became the center of the meat industry. A stockyard was constructed in 1864 at Main and Johnson streets. Eleven years later it became a corporation called the Bourbon Stock Yard Company. Lasting from 1864 to 1999, the Bourbon Stockyards was the oldest constantly operating stockyard in the United States. Early in its business, the Bourbon Stockyard created serious environmental dangers in Louisville. Beargrass Creek was a convenient place to dump waste from the stockyard and the butchers. All of the unwanted parts of the slaughtered animals, such as guts, hides, blood and hooves were disposed of in Beargrass Creek. This was convenient for soap and candle makers who could scrape fat off the banks of the creek in order to make their products. However, it posed a serious environmental hazard to the city. Animal parts would enter the Ohio River from the creek at 2 nd Street and would wash downtown. They would then get stuck on rocks and rot. The smell from the rotting entrails was so overpowering that eventually something had to be done. Instead of outlawing the disposal of waste into the water, town leaders chose to move Beargrass Creek so that it flowed into the Ohio River north of the city. Though such waste disposal practices are now forbidden, the Beargrass Creek is still polluted with nearly every water quality problem that can be imagined. In fact, none of the bodies of water in Kentucky are safe for body contact. Much progress still needs to be made in order for our waters to be environmentally safe. In the future, we may see our environmental practices as revolting as we now view the disposal of animal waste into creeks and rivers. 18
Page 1 and 2: The EE Sampler Selections from the
Page 3 and 4: Introduction This environmental sam
Page 5 and 6: The EE Sampler Selections from the
Page 7 and 8: Cleaning Beargrass Creek Kristen Ba
Page 9 and 10: the many shopping carts. We piled a
Page 11 and 12: A Beargrass Creek Experience By: Du
Page 13 and 14: Patti Reitz 13 Nov 2007 Second Hand
Page 15 and 16: Do you hear the noise? By Vanessa H
Page 17 and 18: Liz Gramiak to as “fussy” and o
Page 19 and 20: Brian Durham Similarly, riding the
Page 21: Rain Gardens: What, Why, and How? K
Page 27 and 28: David Soleimani-Meigooni Mining Pro
Page 29 and 30: Farming v. Fishing? Is One Industry
Page 31 and 32: Literary Writing: Short Stories, Mo
Page 33 and 34: Cory Child Urban Water “As you ca
Page 35 and 36: The Lights come up with Evan and Ja
Page 37 and 38: Literary Writing: Poetry Poetry is
Page 39 and 40: Diana Neamtu The Oak Tree A tall oa
Page 41: Recycle - Amy Kuhn Empty, Sort, Sta

The EE Sampler - Jefferson County Public Schools

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