Snow in the Rearview Mirror - Digging Out and Diving In
On Thursday, December 18, 2008, a Spokesman-Review headline read, “Region paralyzed by snow.” Paralyzed! Yes, say it aloud, paralyzed! What a dynamic word, so strong, drawing upon such powerful emotions. However, the use of such language was neither sensational nor inaccurate.
Photo from of jimgspokane @ Flickr
The storm, “snowpocalypse as it was called”, left “Snowcan” buried amongst some 80 inches of snow and brought the region to a virtual standstill. Not everything was dormant however. Frustration, anger and a sense of hopelessness grew and festered in a time when such negative emotions could hardly be afforded. A financial travesty callously coinciding with the holiday season already had the region on edge, but when the snow started falling on Tuesday the 16th it’s as if it fell to the cackle of the Grinch. For many it was a disastrous way to end such a cataclysmic year – like a cruel aftershock following a devastating quake.
As of today, besides lingering frustration, all that remains is a hard icy base, sore backs, and stubborn snow berms unyielding to Mother Nature or the fate of city plows. Weather rarely leads the nightly news casts and shovels have been propped up in garages for weeks. Until the fog lifts and the white stuff starts falling again, “Winter Storm 2008, for all intents and purposes, is just, “a fascinating socio- observation of community, frustration, tolerance, optimism, depression, persistence and beauty...etc,” as one DTE reader put it. But who would we be if we didn’t consider the environmental impact of such a powerful storm.
Immediate Impact – Becky Brown, a professor of biology at Eastern Washington University had this to say via email in response to the effects of the storm, “As far as the impacts of the storm itself - I would categorize those as a form of natural disturbance... with impacts such as tree breakage, impacts on wildlife, etc.” Evidence of the impact on wildlife was made clear when reports started surfacing of wild deer, elk and moose finding their way dangerously close to civilization. A moose crashed through the basement window of a home in north Idaho, several elk were killed in a collapsing barn as they took coverage from the ferocious storm and higher numbers of deer found their way in front of vehicles as they escaped higher elevations and found refuge along our lower-elevation highways and interstates.
Combined Sewer Overflow – By the second week of January when the snow started melting at a furious rate and rain replaced snow flakes, Spokane’s Combined Sewer Overflow system became maxed out, resulting in the release of raw sewage into the Spokane River. And though the untreated, bacteria- ridden raw sewage is diluted by runoff, it poses serious environmental and health risks. The city, since the 80’s, has been looking into reducing combined sewer overflows, but following 2 consecutive years of increased snow and runoff, the time to act is now.
Snow leads officials to burn our recyclables – The Spokane Skeptic said it best, “You have got to be kidding me.” If only that were the case – the truth is, following the snow, recyclables that citizens put out for curbside pickup, though picked up, ended up being burned with other garbage. The decision came with no warning to citizens who may have wanted to hold back their blue bin full of recyclables for a later time when their good deed would be effective. Instead, recycling trucks made their normal routes, picked up the goods, and took them to the Waste-to-Energy Plant with other garbage to be burned.
