Environment

The Superintendent of Lafayette’s wastewater treatment plant says it’s more efficient than four years ago.

Brad Talley says the Water Pollution Control department has taken steps to reduce electrical and natural gas consumption.

Natural gas consumption is down by 50-percent and electrical consumption by about 40-percent since 2007.

He says that has made the facility more environmentally friendly.

He says the savings come as the amount of flow has increased by nearly 10-percent.

Right about now, gardeners are aching to get out and plant. Usually, in the February dregs of winter, that desire is dashed by cold, wet, maybe even frozen soil. But this year is different.

Here in Washington, D.C., snowdrops came up almost a month ago, and the daffodils have been blooming for two weeks. It's tempting to think that if these harbingers of spring showed up three weeks ahead of schedule, it's safe to plant early, too.

A proposed settlement has been reached in a big class-action lawsuit against Monsanto. The case is connected to the company's production of the controversial herbicide "Agent Orange," the defoliant the military sprayed over Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.

Public comments on Purdue’s Comprehensive Energy Master Plan are being reviewed by university administrators.

The proposal aims to improve energy efficiency while still meeting heating and cooling needs on campus.

A hearing was held last night in Stewart Center, allowing the community members to give feedback in person.

In addition, the university has been fielding written comments on the plan since it was made available to the public January 10th.

An environmental group at Purdue is asking the administration to include greener measures in the university’s Energy Master Plan.

The Sierra Student Coalition is presenting more than one-thousand public comments on how to provide additional clean energy options.

Organizer Alexis Boxer says the goal is to bring Purdue’s practices in line with some of its neighboring schools.

Boxer says there are prime opportunities now to raise funding for alternative energy efforts without increasing tuition for students.