SCOOP: There's A Dirt Shortage

Short Wave

NPR

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4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2021

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

Mud and dirt have often been treated as waste products from excavation or dredging sites. But these days, coastal communities need massive amounts of mud and dirt to protect their shorelines from rising seas. This is leading to a dirt shortage, where the demand for it is higher than supply. NPR climate correspondent Lauren Sommer gives us the scoop — including why one federal agency that has dirt often disposes of it instead of reusing it for these projects.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:04.8	Hey, everybody.
0:06.8	I'm Lee Kwankeer with NPR Climate Correspondent, Lauren Summer.
0:10.8	Hey, Lauren.
0:11.8	Hey, there.
0:12.8	So, you have a scoop on a job opportunity?
0:14.7	Yeah.
0:15.7	I do.
0:16.7	It's a job in a growing field.
0:18.0	It deals with a hot commodity.
0:19.8	Okay.
0:20.8	And, you know, there's some opportunity there.
0:22.9	Yeah.
0:23.9	I met someone with this job.
0:25.0	His name is Pat Mapelli.
0:27.2	And he's a dirt broker.
0:28.9	What?
0:29.9	A dirt broker.
0:31.2	But he's not a fan of that title just to be clear.
0:33.3	I hate that name.
0:34.3	I'll be honest with you.
0:36.0	Dirt just has that negative connotation.
	...

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