News for November, 2012
Friday, November 30th, 2012
The ComEd Residential Real-Time Pricing (RRTP) program has a brand new look. The RRTP program gives you access to hourly, real-time electricity prices, but it is more than just a different electricity rate. The program also provides information and customer support to help you make the most of real-time electricity pricing.
ComEd recently brought on CNT Energy as the program administrator for the RRTP program. CNT Energy will provide the added services, tools, and information that RRTP participants receive, along with a team of specialists to answer your questions. For RRTP participants, ComEd will continue to supply your power, respond to service calls, and issue your bill. Read more »
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Wednesday, November 28th, 2012
Community members work together to make room for the Bowman Community Garden.
Volunteers working together—children and adults pushing wheel-barrows and carrying shovels—bring the words care, community, and cooperation to mind. Thanks to the support from the Prince Charitable Trusts, CNT helped create three new neighborhood open spaces. Each of our community partners—the Albany Park Community Center, Bowmanville Community Organization, and the United Church of Rogers Park—brought local volunteers together with CNT to reduce urban flooding in their neighborhood. The result: accessible community open spaces that reduce stormwater run-off in backyards and basements, and engage community members through hands-on participation. Read more »
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Wednesday, November 14th, 2012
Since March of 2012, CNT has been a leading participant in a workgroup facilitated by the Association of Illinois Soil & Water Conservation Districts (AISWCD) to develop specific recommendations for statewide post-development stormwater standards for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). The effort stems directly from the “Green Infrastructure Study” required by the Illinois General Assembly and completed in 2010, which recommended the adoption of such standards. CNT was a member of the study research team and helped prepare the recommendations as well.
Members of the public have until November 30, 2012 to provide comments on draft recommendations for state-wide stormwater standards in Illinois. Read more »
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Thursday, November 8th, 2012
The parking lot at Our Lady Gate of Heaven Church (about 20 miles south of Chicago) had frequently been filled with up to two feet of water after large storms. Now instead of remaining flooded for about three days, the bioswale soaks up rainwater and the lot is usable within a day.
A week after Sandy, another storm is brewing along the U.S. East Coast bringing more rain and flooding to communities that are still struggling to recover. As mass evacuations are ordered, we are reminded of the obvious: nature knows no boundaries when it comes to flooding. Every property owner is at risk.
The statement may seem obvious now, and yet it is so easy to forget. Here in Chicago, the region was pummeled by Hurricane Ike in 2008, with severe storms and flooding in July 2010 and then again in July 2011. Damage is not restricted to cataclysmic events—CNT’s interviews with property owners tell a tragic story of ongoing damage when it rains. Elizabeth Rafferty’s South Side Chicago home has flooded four times in the last two years; flood damage to Jim Vinci’s home in Des Plaines cost him $150,000; and Darlene Crawford estimates that she’s been flooded around 30 times in the last four decades. People told us of the stress they suffer whenever it rains; of days off work, and of the problems tackling mold and dampness. Read more »
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Tuesday, November 6th, 2012
The neighbors’ rain garden straddles their front yards and serves both homes.
On a quiet tree-lined street in Rogers Park, two neighboring households have devised an elegant way to manage stormwater – they built a shared front yard rain garden watered by its own “river.”
Rob Hansen and Kristi Piccolo live next door to Richard and Ami Herzon. After responding to the CNT’s flood reduction survey and visiting with a CNT auditor, both families decided to reduce the threat of flooding by directing roof runoff water away from their single family homes. They also wanted to keep their yards free of standing water.
Over the course of two weekends earlier this summer, Rob and Kristi and Richard and Ami worked together to curtail neighborhood flooding and keep polluted water out of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. As a bonus, they now have a lushly decorated yard. Read more »
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