Environment

A new nanotechnology to clean up contaminated water will soon be tested in Louisville. It will use two precious metals—gold and palladium—to remove chloroform from contaminated groundwater at the DuPont plant in Rubbertown.

Nanotechnology is a term that refers to materials made in a lab that manipulate chemicals at an atomic level. They’re smaller than a red blood cell, hence “nano.”

It’s no secret that Louisville has issues with air pollution. But it’s difficult to determine which pollutants are present, how present they are and whether some areas of town are disproportionately affected by pollution.

Over the next few months, WFPL is partnering with community members to conduct small-scale environmental testing. Interested participants just have to be willing to host a small monitor in their homes for three days, and be interviewed for any stories that result from the testing. It’ll be easy, fun and informative.

A new study estimates that 65 percent of current coal-fired power plants won’t be economical to run in the near future.

Volunteers will gather in Louisville’s Parkland neighborhood on Saturday to begin construction of a community garden.

Right now, the future community garden is just a vacant lot at the corner of 28th and Dumesnil Streets…only blocks from where a shooting last spring killed three people. But after a day of work Saturday, organizers hope it’ll be well on its way to being a place for the community to gather and grow food.

The garden will have about 40 raised beds, six of which are designed for people with physical disabilities.

Louisville’s Air Pollution Control District is moving forward with several changes to regulations, including fee increases for some permits. The district’s board held a hearing yesterday to get public comment on the proposed changes.