EHD virus kills 700 deer so far in seven New York counties

Disease is not transmissable to humans; Public encouraged to report sick or dead deer to DEC

From the New York Department of Environmental Conservation

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today confirmed Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Nassau, Oswego, Suffolk, and Ulster counties. DEC is tracking suspected cases in Albany, Jefferson, Oneida, Orange, Putnam, Rensselaer, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester counties and new reports of dead deer to track the spread and estimate the number of deer succumbing to this disease. To date, DEC has received reports of approximately 700 dead deer.

Transmitted by midges In New York, the EHD virus is typically a fatal disease for deer that is transmitted by biting midges, small insects sometimes called no-see-ums or ‘punkies.’ The disease is not spread from deer to deer and humans cannot be infected by deer or bites from midges.

EHD virus was first confirmed in New York deer in 2007, with relatively small outbreaks in Albany, Rensselaer, and Niagara counties, and in Rockland County in 2011. From early September to late October 2020, a large EHD outbreak occurred in the lower Hudson Valley, centered in Putnam and Orange counties, with an estimated 1,500 deer mortalities.

Once infected, deer usually die within 36 hours. EHD outbreaks are most common in the late summer and early fall when midges are abundant, although initial cases this year were detected in late July. Signs of the EHD virus include fever, hemorrhage in muscles or organs, and swelling of the head, neck, tongue, and lips. A deer infected with EHD may appear lame or dehydrated. Frequently, infected deer will seek out water sources and many succumb near a water source. There is no treatment or means to prevent EHD. Dead deer do not serve as a source of infection for other animals. EHD has been in New York since July, and has had time to circulate and spread prior to the first killing frosts. Consequently, it has been more widespread this year than during previous outbreaks.

EHD outbreaks do not have a significant long-term impact on regional deer populations, but deer mortality can be significant in small geographic areas. EHD is endemic in the southern states, which report annual outbreaks, so some southern deer have developed immunity. In the northeast, EHD outbreaks occur sporadically and deer in New York have no immunity to this virus. Consequently, most EHD-infected deer in New York are expected to die. The first hard frost is expected to kill the midges that transmit the disease, ending the EHD outbreak.

Sightings of sick or dead deer suspected of having EHD can be reported to DEC via a new online EHD reporting form, also available via DEC’s website or by contacting the nearest DEC Regional Wildlife Office. DEC will continue to collect samples from deer and analyze data from deer reports to determine the extent of the outbreak. In addition, DEC has alerted Department of Agriculture and Markets veterinarians in the region to be aware of the disease and to report suspicious cases among captive deer.

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How a nasty tropical storm and a computer chip shortage have combined to make your next auto purchase more costly

LEAH MISHKIN, Correspondent, NJ Spotlight News

There’s a buyer-beware warning for those in the market to buy a new or used car. With thousands of vehicles destroyed in the floodwaters of Tropical Storm Ida, owners are now heading to dealerships in search of replacements. That’s putting pressure on an already distressed industry because of supply chain problems caused by the pandemic, including a microchip shortage. Inventory is at record lows.

Consumers should watch out for storm-damaged vehicles that have been cleaned up and are being resold to unsuspecting buyers.

Eric Gensinger, the owner of Mike’s Auto Sales in Garfield, warns of people trying to sell cars that were damaged by flooding. “They come in with the cars fully detailed and tell us how they just had it detailed. We’re not stupid. We know they didn’t have insurance, they got flooded, and they’re trying to sell it to us.”

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How California’s Dixie Fire became the largest blaze of a devastating summer

Exceptional drought and searing heat exacerbated by climate change helped to fuel the monstrous inferno


By Marisa Iati and Dylan Moriarty The Washington Post

For two months, the Dixie Fire has menaced Northern California — stripping forests, forcing thousands from their homes, and swallowing most of a Gold Rush-era community.

More than 1,300 structures have been leveled. Government agencies have doled out roughly $540 million to battle the blaze. And a federal judge is scrutinizing what role California’s largest utility, the already-embattled Pacific Gas and Electric, may have played in the fire’s origin.

The blaze is the second-largest in California’s history and the biggest to burn in the U.S. this summer, as climate change turbocharged severe storms, floods, and fires. The Dixie Fire has now burned nearly 1 million acres, an area larger than New York City, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles combined.

The fire’s tear through remote, rugged terrain, exceptional drought bringing moisture levels in California’s forests to historic lows, searing heat, as well as a series of unexpected obstacles, combined to fuel a monstrous blaze unlike any firefighters said they had seen before.

This timeline, based on public records and interviews with people affected by the Dixie Fire, shows how a relatively small ring of flames burning 100 miles north of Sacramento morphed into a dangerous harbinger of the devastating wildfire seasons that could be more common as the Earth continues to heat up

July 13:  A PG&E employee reports seeing flames and a tree leaning on a power line near the Cresta Dam in Feather River Canyon, a stretch of land known for both its natural beauty and powerful Jarbo winds that in 2018 helped fuel the Camp Fire, California’s deadliest.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, colloquially known as Cal Fire, arrives at the blaze about 25 minutes after being notified and names it the Dixie Fire after one of the nearest roads. There are few, given the remote location. An unauthorized drone flies near the fire, temporarily forcing firefighting tankers and helicopters to pause their efforts.

PG&E spokesman James Noonan later tells The Washington Post that the company last evaluated the area’s trees on Jan. 14 and found none that needed trimming. PG&E also inspected the poles and wires in the area on May 13 and found nothing awry, he says.

Story continues here

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EPA Removes Butler Mine Tunnel from List of Nation’s Most Contaminated Sites

PHILADELPHIA (Sept.. 14, 2021) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has deleted the Butler Mine Tunnel in Pittston Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL is a list of the nation’s most contaminated hazardous waste sites.

EPA deletes sites or parts of sites from the NPL when no further cleanup is required to protect human health or the environment. Years, and sometimes decades, of complex investigation and cleanup work have gone into getting these sites to the point where they can be deleted from the NPL.

“Deleting sites from the NPL is a major milestone for Superfund impacted communities,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Acting Regional Administrator Diana Esher.  “An NPL deletion signals that cleanup is complete and the site no longer poses a threat to public health and the environment.”

EPA published a Federal Register Notice on May 14, proposing to delete the Butler Mine tunnel site from the NPL and establishing a 30-day public comment period during which the agency did not receive any significant adverse comments.

The Butler Mine Tunnel Site was created by the illegal disposal of oily waste into abandoned underground coal mines during the late 1970s.  Waste oil was discharged from the mines in 1979, and again in 1985, following heavy rains associated with Hurricane Gloria.  In each case, waste oil is discharged from the mines into the Susquehanna River via the Butler Mine Tunnel.

The EPA response to the discharges included:

  • Establishing an Administrative Center to monitor the site.
  • Responding to flush outs with construction and equipment.
  • Closing boreholes.
  • Developing an operations and maintenance plan.
  • Encouraging more responsible disposal of waste through a community education program.

Based on monitoring data collected, further oil flush outs associated with the original disposal activities are not expected.  The EPA response at the Butler Mine Tunnel is now complete and as a result, the Site has been deleted from the NPL.

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Sporting Rutgers’ colors, there’s a bad new bug on campus

If you've been on the Rutgers campus, you've probably seen one of these black speckled creatures crushed onto the sidewalk. While they seem harmless, they're a beastly foe that ought to be eliminated on sight. – Photo by Wikimedia.com

By Ameena Qobrtay The Daily Targum

I want to tell you a story about an infestation.

Not only are Rutgers students faced with broken air conditioners in residence halls, inconsistent bus schedules, and, of course, the delta variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but also my beloved Rutgers peers, we’re currently braving a battle of grave magnitude: the plague of the spotted lanternflies (SLF).

The SLF is an invasive insect species native to China, India, and Vietnam, that feed on the sap from more than 70 different plant species. They secrete a sticky substance called honeydew, which sounds kind of nice, but is actually dangerous to the conditions of the plants they feed on.

Although these scarlet, red, white, and black insects match the Rutgers colors almost perfectly, don’t be fooled: The SLF is nothing short of our collective enemy on campus.  

Lycorma delicatula sounds like some sexy secret — the rising and falling of the breath forming the perfect whisper to share between lovers. But friends, it’s anything but that: Lycorma delicatula is the scientific name for the SLF. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this was somehow another orchestrated propaganda trick from the SLF themselves to win the hearts and minds of the New Jersey populace.

I saw infographics on Instagram warning me of this foe, and I waited for the day that I would encounter one of the life-sucking lanterns. The first time I saw an SLF was on a hot day in the middle of July. One of the sorry members of its wretched kind flew to the side of my apartment building.

Acting with all the bravado I could muster in the span of a few fateful seconds, I destroyed an SLF with a Birkenstock and a hopping motion that I would be far too embarrassed to ever repeat upon request. 

My roommate stood beside me, awestruck, as I replaced the shoe on my foot like some vengeful Cinderella. I made no move to clean up the squished mess I created. Instead, I left my fallen foe’s insides on the outside of my building as a warning to all of its friends not to cross me.

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49-acre solar farm in Warren County, NJ, sells for $3.5M


By Derek Hall NJBIZ

Cushman & Wakefield has arranged the sale of the I-78 Solar Farm in Warren County for $3.5 million, the firm said in a statement.

The 10-megawatt solar farm, installed and operated by NJR Clean Energy Ventures III, sits on 49 acres just off Exit 3 of Interstate 78 in Pohatcong.

The property is fully leased to NJR, a subsidiary of New Jersey Resources Corp. and the largest owner-operator of solar farms in the state, Cushman & Wakefield said.

The team of Andy Merin, Kyle Schmidt, Andrew Schwartz, Jordan Sobel, and Andre Balthazard represented the seller, RDG at Pohatcong, and procured the buyer, Turner Group, the firm said.

“Considering the enormous barrier to entry and the fact this site took 10 years of planning, negotiating, and constructing to ultimately come online in January 2020, it’s no surprise that we saw strong interest in the I-78 Solar Farm,” Schwartz said.

The site is part of a 170-acre development that, once finished, will include 244 single-family townhomes and a 120-unit apartment complex, Cushman said.

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