tagged w/ Water Quality
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Vermont is poised to become the first state to ban a controversial natural gas drilling technique known as fracking.
The Legislature finished work on the measure Friday, and it's on its way to Gov. Peter Shumlin for his signature.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting water and chemicals deep into the ground to fracture rock that contains bubbles of natural gas.
Chittenden Senator Ginny Lyons was a lead sponsor of the measure in the Senate. Even though there isn't much shale in Vermont that contains natural gas, Lyons said the ban is important as a preventative measure to protect the environment.
"We do have some deposits, shale deposits in the northwestern part of the state and possibly in the southern part of the state," she said. "As this kind of exploration goes on it results, possibly results, in significant problems with the drinking water safety. So it could affect ground water, as well as surface water.
Fracking has caused water and air pollution in other states, Lyons said. She says the Vermont ban could be lifted someday if studies show fracking is safe.
"But right now the industry is not forthcoming with the process and the chemicals that are used. So until we have total knowledge, I think we ought to err on the side of caution," she said.
A bill that passed the House earlier called for a moratorium on fracking. But a conference committee sided with the Senate's version, which called for an outright ban.
More at the linkVermont is poised to become the first state to ban a controversial natural gas... more
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In his State of the Union speech, President Obama lauded natural gas from shale as a key part of his clean energy plan. Fracking shale for natural gas is an intensive extractive process that has polluted the water and air of communities across the country. There is nothing clean about it.
President Obama said that he "will not walk away on the promise of clean energy." Tell him that the gas industry's promises are deceptive.
Fill out the form below to send a message today!
More at the linkIn his State of the Union speech, President Obama lauded natural gas from shale as a... more
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The state of water in our world currently is endangered. Pollution, privatization, waste, climate change effects and lack of attention to this most crucial life crisis is bringing us to the brink as a species. And we have no one to blame but ourselves. In trying to assess in my own mind why something so basic and necessary to our lives is given such little attention it is frustrating to say the least. Especially in this age of technology when we see through our modems and other devices so much more information than ever before being shared on this and so many other global crises.
When you look at the world as a whole and realize that 3/4 of it live in poverty and that the majority of those areas also do not have access to potable water/sanitation, the corrolation is obvious. Yet, we as a species even in the 21st century are failing at even providing the basic necessities of life to ourselves and others. Why? Why is water so unimportant to so many even though they know they cannot live without it? Is it ignorance? Arrogance? Or is it because there are those who have been made to believe that we will always have what we need because money can buy you anything even at the expense of taking it from others.
Just look at the levels of pollution in our global waterways. Industry and nitrogen fertilizer rich agriculture alone have managed to kill some of the major river systems of the world and made dead zones devoid of the oxygen marinelife needs to survive. The burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other destructive land uses (fracking, tarsands extraction, strip mining, mountain top removal) are culminating to push our atmosphere and water to the tipping point. We are now seeing more extreme events (storms, floods, droughts) around the world which are the results of human forcings on the natural cycles of the planet to the point where we have actually affected the hydrologic cycle. And this is now being touted as the "new normal."
This has already resulted in billions of dollars of lost agriculture to the world, most recently in Thailand where much of their rice crop has been destroyed from unprecedented floods that are also happening globally simultaneously, as well as extreme droughts on both sides of the world. This then has a domino effect regarding food prices and the ability to live. And with predictions of these events (extreme floods and droughts) becoming more severe with rainfall patterns changing, the entire way the world grows food is being challenged. And in the process more fall into poverty, illness, war and hopelessness as those with more green paper think it buys them rights to the resources of Earth that belong to all mankind.
So for me there can only be one main reason why this has happened. We have strayed from our humanity. We have allowed materialistic manmade forces to infiltrate our consciousness and perceptions of life on this Earth and those skewed perceptions are now killing us and in the process destroying this Earth for future generations.
And it is the hope of changing those perceptions and bringing a paradigm shift in thinking that is now bringing people out into the streets worldwide calling for justice and equality. Calling for accountability for those who have stripped this Earth of all that was once good in exchange for a world of their making that can sustain no one, not even themselves. The false illusion of money's worth in comparison to the limitless value of this Earth coupled with delusions of grandeur built on sand in failing to understand the true meaning of humanity and its true purpose must now be challenged. And that right now is the hope we have as a species... awareness, awakening, gnosis.
The inate instinct that tells us as humans that we are one with this planet and that to destroy her destroys us. This is the lesson we must learn. This is the perception we must impart to others. We are at the brink, but we don't have to go over. There are ways to heal her and ourselves. We can join globally with likeminded individuals who know the stakes and make this shift happen with our thoughts and our actions. We can reclaim our humanity and in the process save ourselves. It won't be easy. However, the alternative is simply not an option.
Water is life, it is our life, it is the blood of Earth.
And it is worth fighting for.The state of water in our world currently is endangered. Pollution, privatization,... more
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Earlier this month, officials in the South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu had to confront a pretty dire problem: they were running out of water. Due to a severe and lasting drought, water reserves in this country of 11,000 people had dwindled to just a few days' worth. Climate change plays a role here: as sea levels rose, Tuvalu's groundwater became increasingly saline and undrinkable, leaving the island dependent on rainwater. But now a La Niña–influenced drought has severely curtailed rainfall, leaving Tuvalu dry as a bone. "This situation is bad," Pusinelli Laafai, Tuvalu's permanent secretary of home affairs, told the Associated Press earlier this month. "It's really bad."
So far Tuvalu has been bailed out by its neighbors Australia and New Zealand, which have donated rehydration packets and desalination equipment. But the archipelago's water woes are just beginning — and it's far from the only part of the world facing a big dry. Other island nations like the Maldives and Kiribati will see their groundwater spoil as sea levels rise. Texas, along with much of the American Southwest, is in the grip of a truly record-breaking drought — even after days of storms in the past month, Houston's total 2011 rainfall is still short of its yearly average by a whopping 2 ft., or 60 cm. Australia has experienced severely dry weather for so long, it's not even clear whether the country is in a state of drought, or more worryingly, a new and permanent dry climate that could forever alter life Down Under. "Climate-change impacts on water resources continue to appear in the form of growing influence on the severity and intensity of extreme events," says Peter Gleick, one of the foremost water experts in the U.S. and head of the Pacific Institute, an NGO based in Oakland, Calif., that focuses on global water issues. "Australia's recent extraordinary extreme drought should be an eye-opener for the rest of us."
(See photos of the world's water crisis.)
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2097159,00.html#ixzz1bAUCHxtB
More at the link.Earlier this month, officials in the South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu had to... more
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The EPA is currently considering requiring ALL Water Tanks to be inspected!
Why is this a BIG DEAL?
Currently there are no EPA regulations requiring water tanks and towers to ever be inspected. Most states do not require tank inspection or cleaning. The water in the storage tanks goes from the tank directly to your tap.
All water tanks accumulate sediment over time. The soft sediment in the floor of water tanks and towers becomes a safe habitat for bacteria, protozoa and even VIRUSES!
Out of site out of mind-
No one thinks about the sediment.
The water is tested daily, if the chlorine residual goes down - operators do not ask why, they just add more chlorine, over time the additional chlorine breaks down and itself becomes a contaminate in the tank that can cause cancer.
Instead of constantly adding more and more treatment chemicals, simply cleaning the sediment from the floor of the tanks is the solution.
A countless number of biological contaminates can use the sediment in the floor of water tanks and towers to get a foot hold in a municipal drinking water system and grow into a real health concern. Why should we care what is on the bottom of a water storage tank?
We drink off the bottom of water storage tanks! Of course like many things the adverse health effects are unequally distributed to poor communities where drinking store bought bottled water is not a given, It is also these communities who have underfunded water systems that suffer from lack of maintenance.
Many utility systems that can afford inspection and cleaning of their systems simply do not allocate the funds for it because there are no regulations requiring them to do so.
What do you think?
Take the poll at www.ronperrin.us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLfqaWH_nO4&feature=youtu.beThe EPA is currently considering requiring ALL Water Tanks to be inspected!
Why is... more
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For 26 years, American Rivers has sounded the alarm on hundreds of rivers through our America’s Most Endangered RiversTM report. By shining the spotlight and mobilizing the public to take action, we save rivers from urgent threats like pollution, mining, and dams. The report emphasizes solutions to secure a better future for the rivers, their fish and wildlife, and communities.
The ten rivers named as America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2011 highlight an issue of urgent concern to all Americans: clean water. It is vital to the health of our families and communities. Sixty-five percent of our drinking water comes from rivers and streams, but many of our rivers are too polluted to use.
Working with local partners and concerned citizens, American Rivers fights to safeguard our rivers and clean water for this year’s endangered rivers — and rivers nationwide — for generations to come.
Here they are:
#1 Susquehanna River
#2 Bristol Bay Rivers
#3 Roanoke River
#4 Chicago River
#5 Yuba River
#6 Green River
#7 Hoback River
#8 Black Warrior River
#9 St. Croix River
#10 Ozark Scenic Riverways
Special Mention: Mississippi RiverFor 26 years, American Rivers has sounded the alarm on hundreds of rivers through our... more
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The Ohio and Mississippi River levels were falling Wednesday at the site where engineers blasted holes in a Missouri levee to relieve pressure. But unleashing torrents of water across 35 miles of farmland in what has already been a terrible flooding season could carry other consequences.
One risk, scientists cautioned, is fertilizer runoff from the flooded farm country along the Mississippi. As it moves downstream, they predicted it would contribute to the largest-ever summertime depletion of oxygen in the Gulf of Mexico, posing a substantial risk to marine life.
The concern is that the water is likely pulling up components of fertilizers—notably nitrogen and phosphorus—and washing them downstream toward the Gulf, helping slash oxygen to levels marine life can't survive, said Nancy Rabalais, a marine scientist who is executive director of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium on the Gulf coast.
Those chemicals act as nutrients in the Gulf, intensifying the growth of microscopic plants. Microbes eat away at those plants. In the process, they consume oxygen, reducing it to levels that kill marine life.
In the days leading up to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' breach of the levee near Birds Point, Mo., authorities began removing fuel and other chemicals stored in tanks in a 35-mile long floodway bordering the Mississippi River, said Karl Brooks, administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency region that includes much of the Midwest.
In addition to the effects in the Gulf, another concern has begun to emerge: drinking water. Much of the Midwest gets its water from rivers, and scientists say they'll be monitoring to see whether the floodwaters show elevated levels of nitrate, a derivative of nitrogen in fertilizers. Nitrate can cause sickness, particularly in infants, the EPA says.
Water-treatment plants filter out nitrate to government limits. But "the faster the water moves across the land, the more sediment it picks up, and the more nitrate and other pollutants," said John Downing, a professor at Iowa State University specializing in inland-water issues.
James Kopp, chemistry manager for the water division in St. Louis, said nitrate levels of water filtered in the city don't appear to be any higher than in a normal May—a month when nitrate levels are typically elevated because of spring runoff.
Not far from the breached levee, some 3,800 Western Kentucky residents have evacuated their homes as the Mississippi River and its tributaries continue to rise.
Kentucky, along with Tennessee, Mississippi, and other Southern states have been urging evacuations and bracing for what state officials say could be near-record crests of the Mississippi River in the coming days after the intentional breach of a flood wall upstream in Missouri.
Heavy rains on Monday and Tuesday brought as much as four-and-a-half inches of rain to Kentucky and have contributed to flooding that has already hit low-lying parts of the state; in addition, authorities expect the Ohio River to crest on Thursday, and the Mississippi River to do so on Friday.
The levee breach sent water rushing across the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway, and water levels Tuesday dropped as much as three feet from expected levels on the Ohio River at Cairo, Ill. The Corps blew a second hole Tuesday and was preparing Wednesday to blow a third, to let the water drain back into the river.
Springtime flooding is natural along the Mississippi, as melting snow and ice and seasonal rains swell the river. But in recent years some floods have gotten more severe, and their ecological effects heightened.
Officials probably won't have a sense of how the flood affected the area until the weekend, when they expect rushing water will have slowed enough so they can enter the area and begin environmental testing, said the EPA's Mr. Brooks. "Until we see what the landscape looks like, it's going to be hard to know how extensive that is," he said.
This week's flooding comes one year after the country's largest-ever offshore oil spill sent 4.1 million barrels of crude into the Gulf ecosystem.
For decades, summertime oxygen levels in a large swath of the Gulf spreading out from the mouth of the Mississippi have plummeted to levels that have killed fish, shrimp crabs and other marine life. The oxygen depleted areas, known as dead zones, began to appear in the early 1970s, also the time when chemical-fertilizer use was intensifying on Midwest farms, said Ms. Rabalais, a dead-zone expert.
Even before the latest flooding, high water levels along the Mississippi earlier this year were creating signs of an earlier—and larger—than normal dead zone in the Gulf, she said. Now, she said, scientists are predicting a Gulf dead zone this year far larger than the prior record—an 8,500-square-mile dead zone in 2002.
cont,The Ohio and Mississippi River levels were falling Wednesday at the site where... more
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This year's theme for World Water Day is Water For Cities. More people are moving to urban areas, the majority of this migration taking place in the developing world. This is in part due to expansion of corporate landgrabs, deforestation, overpopulation and effects of biodistress that push people into urban areas looking for a way to survive as agriculture which is the main way of life is impacted greatly.
Three quarters of our population is predicted to be living in cities by 2050 which will put a tremendous strain on infrastructure, water quality, water access and sanitation, which then leads to an increase in waterborne diseases.
Access to clean water is the moral challenge of our time and our right. So please, tomorrow take time to reflect upon the importance of clean water, water access and sanitation for those in our world lacking it. We take so much for granted here in America regarding water and the ability to have sanitation that leads to better health.
This site lists events globally and I will be posting about events in this thread as well as listing organizations working to provide clean water and sanitation and how you can help, as well as other entries about the importance of this most beautiful life giving resource.
Please feel free also to add poems, videos, comments, etc.about water here and make a pledge that for this and the next generation we will work to see all with clean water that revives our bodies and souls. This is one way that can lead people out of poverty and into a world of health and peace.
Thank you
http://current.com/groups/water-is-life/This year's theme for World Water Day is Water For Cities. More people are moving... more
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Good old hydrofracking. You know about it right? It's the method to produce natural gas by fracturing rock formations with millions of gallons of water and toxic chemicals. It's been contaminating groundwater in the Western US for many years and now it is being pursued with a vengeance in the East, particularity with respect to the Marcellus Shale formation that extends across Pennsylvania and New York.
Everyone in the know has warned us for years that hydrofracking was highly dangerous to sources of groundwater used for human consumption. But only now are we being told how much worse is that contamination of our water supplies. So bad it will make you ill after you read this investigative report from the NY Times:
With hydrofracking, a well can produce over a million gallons of wastewater that is often laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens like benzene and radioactive elements like radium, all of which can occur naturally thousands of feet underground. Other carcinogenic materials can be added to the wastewater by the chemicals used in the hydrofracking itself.
While the existence of the toxic wastes has been reported, thousands of internal documents obtained by The New York Times from the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and drillers show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.
The documents reveal that the wastewater, which is sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle.
In short, if your source of drinking water is a water plant that receives treated waste water from hydrofracking operations, your health and the health of your children and your neighbors and everyone else you know is at serious risk, a risk far greater than previously acknowledged by the oil and gas industry and federal regulators.
The Industry has known of these problems for many years, as has the EPA, as the documents shown to the NY Times reporters demonstrate. Yet neither the Industry nor the EPA has acted on those reports. Instead, both have turned a blind eye to the fact that waste water from hydrofracking is hazardous to your health. Indeed, since 2006, beginning with the Bush administration, the EPA told hydrofracking operators in Pennsaylvania that they did not need to test the the waste water that was released for radioactivity.
Astonishing, but true. Your government, politicians and the Oil and Gas Industry collaborated in a conspiracy of silence regarding the safety of using hydrofracking techniques to produce natural gas. As one alarmed expert stated:
“We’re burning the furniture to heat the house,” said John H. Quigley, who left last month as secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “In shifting away from coal and toward natural gas, we’re trying for cleaner air, but we’re producing massive amounts of toxic wastewater with salts and naturally occurring radioactive materials, and it’s not clear we have a plan for properly handling this waste.”
The risks are particularly severe in Pennsylvania, which has seen a sharp increase in drilling, with roughly 71,000 active gas wells, up from about 36,000 in 2000. The level of radioactivity in the wastewater has sometimes been hundreds or even thousands of times the maximum allowed by the federal standard for drinking water.
cont.Good old hydrofracking. You know about it right? It's the method to produce... more
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Multiple environmental stressors, such as agricultural runoff, pollution and invasive species, threaten rivers that serve 80 percent of the world's population, around 5 billion people, according to researchers from The City College (CCNY) of The City University of New York (CUNY), University of Wisconsin and seven other institutions. These same stressors endanger the biodiversity of 65 percent of the world's river habitats and put thousands of aquatic wildlife species at risk.
The findings, reported in the September 30 issue of Nature, come from the first global-scale initiative to quantify the impact of these stressors on humans and riverine biodiversity. The research team produced a series of maps documenting the impact using a computer-based framework they developed.
"We can no longer look at human water security and biodiversity threats independently," said the corresponding author, Dr. Charles J. Vorosmarty, director of the CUNY Environmental CrossRoads Initiative and professor of civil engineering in The Grove School of Engineering at CCNY. "We need to link the two. The systematic framework we've created allows us to look at the human and biodiversity domains on an equal playing field." The framework offers a tool for prioritizing policy and management responses to a global water crisis.
Many stressors threaten human water security and biodiversity through similar pathways, but influence water systems in distinct ways. For example, reservoirs convey few negative effects on human water supply but they significantly challenge aquatic biodiversity by impeding migration routes and changing water flow regimes.
Understanding and responding to the myriad threats to water security requires new methods to make diagnoses and to act on these findings. "As is the case with preventive medicine, our study demonstrates that diagnosing and then limiting threats at their local source, rather than through costly remedies and rehabilitation, is a more effective and sensible approach to assure global water security for both humans and aquatic biodiversity, " notes Professor Vorosmarty.
"We've integrated maps of 23 different stressors and merged them into a single index," said study co-leader Dr. Peter McIntyre, assistant professor of zoology, University of Wisconsin. "In the past, policymakers and researchers have been plagued by dealing with one problem at a time. A richer and more meaningful picture emerges when all threats are considered simultaneously."
Among the stressors analyzed were the effects of pollution, dams and reservoirs, water overuse, agricultural runoff, loss of wetlands and introduction of invasive species. The authors said their findings are "conservative," since there is insufficient information to account for additional stressors like pharmaceutical compounds and mining wastes.
High incident threat levels to human water security were found in developed and developing nations around the world. Affected areas include much of the United States, virtually all of Europe and large portions of Central Asia, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and eastern China.
"We uncovered a broad management principal operating at the global scale," Professor Vorosmarty said. "In the industrialized world, we tend to compromise our surface waters and then try to fix problems by throwing trillions of dollars at the issues. We can afford to do that in rich countries, but poor countries can't afford to do it."
The researchers noted that causes of degradation of many of the developing world's most threatened rivers bear striking similarities to those of rivers in similar condition in wealthy countries. However, going down the path of instituting highly engineered solutions practiced traditionally by industrialized nations, which emphasize treatment of the symptoms rather than protection of resources, may prove too costly for poorer countries.
There are many more cost-effective solutions, they point out. For example, engineers, can re-work dam operating rules to achieve economic benefits while simultaneously providing water releases downstream that preserve habitat and biodiversity.
With the high price tag for bringing water quality and supply in the developing countries to levels found in industrialized economies, Professor Vorosmarty argues that a more economical approach is called for. A strategy called integrated water resource management, which balances the needs of humans and nature, would best meet the dual challenge of establishing human water security and preserving biodiversity in the developing world.
contMultiple environmental stressors, such as agricultural runoff, pollution and invasive... more
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http;//www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/08/marcellus_shale_gas_drillers_c.html
Marcellus Shale gas drillers in Pennsylvania commit an average of 1.5 regulatory violations per day, according to a report from the Pennsylvania Land Trust, based on Right To Know requests to the Department of Environmental Protection.
In the last two and a half years, drilling companies were cited for 1,435 violations -- 952 of which were considered most likely to harm the environment, according to the report.
Share Land Trust spokeswoman Alana Richman said DEP provided a computer spreadsheet with information about each violation.
“We simply wanted to know what was going on with the drilling and put it out there as a statement of fact,”Richman said.
Nearly half of the violations were related to improper erosion and sedimentation plans and improper construction of wastewater impoundments that contain fracking water. These impoundments were improperly lined or not structurally sound.
In one instance, the Department of Agriculture quarantined a Tioga County farmer’s cattle because they could have ingested the frack water that leaked from the impoundment.
There were 155 citations for discharging industrial waste onto the ground or into commonwealth waters.
There were 100 violations of the state Clean Streams Law.
East Resources Inc. of Warrendale had the highest number of violations with 138, followed by Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, a subsidiary of Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy, with 118, and Chief Oil & Gas LLC of Dallas with 109.
Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas, the company responsible for contaminated drinking water wells in Dimock, was fourth with 94 violations.
The list of companies with the worst performance records in terms of the number of violations per well drilled was topped by J-W Operating Co., of Dallas, which drilled only one well and racked up 11 violations. Citrus Energy Corp. of Castle Rock, Colo., averaged seven violations per well, and Penn Virginia Oil & Gas Corp. of Radnor averaged four violations per well.
The numbers in the report might reflect only a fraction of the violations, according to Jeff Schmidt, director of Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter.
“There’s likely to be lots more violations out there that haven’t been identified,” Schmidt said. “Many people feel this is the tip of the iceberg.”
The Sierra Club and Clean Water Action said the report was evidence Pennsylvania needs to enact legislation and make environmental inspection of Marcellus wells mandatory.
“DEP already has a policy that requires inspections,” Schmidt said. “This policy is not followed.”
continued.http;//www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/08/marcellus_shale_gas_drillers_c.html... more
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Sediment builds up in water storage tanks & towers. This company inspects drinking water tanks with a underwater camera, a Remotely Controled Vehicle (ROV) and when needed a diver. This sample video will show you a Video Ray ROV inspecting a clearwell, a diver inspecting a clearwell and then we will watch a diver cleaning a welded steel potable water ground storage tank.
It is important to know if the tanks have a sediment build up. The water storage tanks hold treated water until the consumer uses it. The sediment in the floor of a water storage tank can be a habitat for bacteria and other contaminates. Since the water has already been treated the consumers can be served contaminated water if bacteria or other contamination starts to grow in the tanks. Inspections that allow water utility officials to actually see the floor of the facility allow them know if the tanks are dirty and to get the tanks cleaned when needed.
A dive crew can remove all loose sediment and is a much more effective way to keep the tanks clean than a bucket & shovel. visit www.ronperrin.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cYPRVre2joSediment builds up in water storage tanks & towers. This company inspects... more
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An influential federal panel tasked this summer by President Obama with revitalizing the nation's coasts, oceans and the Great Lakes Thursday set out a wide-ranging plan they hope will boost the safety of seafood, preserve wildlife, improve water quality and protect the economies of coastal communities.
Members of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, which include representatives from 20 different administration agencies and departments, released the interim report on the same day the group heard from political leaders, environmentalists and businesses in San Francisco.
The multicity tour, which also includes Anchorage, Providence, R.I., Cleveland, New Orleans and Honolulu, is part of the panel's effort to gather public comment on a final plan they intend to send to the president in the next few months. The goal is to create a comprehensive national plan for managing, restoring and protecting the marine environment.
Among the varied stakeholders there is widespread agreement that the country's oceans and coasts are under assault from climate change and rising seas, pollution, overfishing, habitat loss and the development of traditional and alternative energy sources.
The draft report recommended several broad strategies, including improving coordination among local, state and federal agencies; boosting ocean water quality through more sustainable land practices; basing management of marine resources on the health of the environment and the use of marine spatial planning - that is, accurately mapping ocean space to create a more detailed picture of the resources and uses in a given area.
Environmental groups, many of which have long fought for a national ocean policy, were thrilled at the administration's quick progress.An influential federal panel tasked this summer by President Obama with revitalizing... more
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A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on the state of American beaches show that no area beaches received a five-star rating and that Zach’s Bay at Jones Beach was cited for receiving one-star. All other area beaches received a two-star rating.
NRDC’s report – Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches – illustrates that American beaches are egregiously contaminated. One of the main sources of contaminants and cause of beach closures is storm water runoff. Funneled through stormwater pipes and the sewer system, human and animal waste matter infiltrate the nation's beaches after heavy rains.
In New York City more than 70 percent of the 6000 mile sewer system is combined with stormwater pipes that have the potential to send debris into local waterways. Once in the eco-system the debris collects into slicks that have the capacity to wash up on shore if not detected in advance.
“Pollution from dirty stormwater runoff and sewage overflows continues to make its way to our beaches. This not only makes swimmers sick – it hurts coastal economies,” said Nancy Stoner, NRDC Water Program Co-Director. “Americans should not suffer the consequences of contaminated beachwater. From contracting the flu or pink eye, to jeopardizing millions of jobs and billions of dollars that rely on clean coasts, there are serious costs to inaction.”A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on the state of American... more
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There's a one-in-two chance that the water reservoirs of the Colorado River will dry up by 2050 if water management practices remain unchanged in our warming world, a new study finds.There's a one-in-two chance that the water reservoirs of the Colorado River will... more
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is easing the way for coal companies to dump debris from mountaintop mining into nearby valleys and streams in a move deplored by environmental and Appalachian citizens' groups.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday approved the repeal of a 1983 law that prohibited surface coal mining within 100 feet of flowing streams. Most U.S. surface coal mining is done in the steep mountains of Appalachia, across Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky.
EPA's approval was the last hurdle for a proposal that originated at the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining. The rule goes into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, which has not yet occurred.
This will allow more mountaintop-removal mining, where coal is mined by blasting off the tops of mountains and the crumbled mountaintop debris is pushed into adjoining valleys, environmental groups said in a statement.
"The EPA's own scientists have concluded that dumping mining waste into streams devastates downstream water quality," said Ed Hopkins of the Sierra Club. "By signing off on a rule to eliminate a critical safeguard for streams, the EPA has abdicated its responsibility and left the local communities that depend on these waters at risk."
Some 126 million tons of coal came from U.S. mountaintop mining in 2007, accounting for 10 percent of U.S. coal production, said Carol Raulston of the National Mining Association.
Raulston disputed the environmentalists' charges, saying the new rule was "merely a clarification of what is required in order to conduct any type of mining activity."
Mountaintop mining is safer for miners than underground mining, but its ecological impact has drawn fire from local communities and environmental activists.
More than 400 mountaintops have been stripped of trees and flattened, 1,200 miles of mountain streams have been buried under mining debris since mountaintop mining began in earnest, the groups said in a statement after EPA approved the rule.
"The EPA's decision is a slap in the face of Appalachian communities, which have already endured enough injustice from mountaintop removal," said Vernon Haltom of West Virginia-based Coal River Mountain Watch. "My home and thousands of others are now in greater jeopardy."
The U.S. environment agency said in a statement that it worked closely with the Office of Surface Mining to "enhance environmental protections in the final rule, including requirements that no mining activities may occur in or near streams that would violate federal or state water quality standards."
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The EPA is really not helping anything but special interests at this point. Lets hope Obama does something to restructure it...WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is easing the way for coal companies to... more
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New Heal the Bay campaign promotes checking local waters before diving in.
By Jon Steely / Special to The Malibu Times
Malibu and other Southern Californian beachgoers might stop when they see the sign that reads, "'It Could Be Really Icky in the Water," posted on lifeguard towers. And they might not go in the water, depending on what other information they find, which is exactly what local environmental organization Heal the Bay wants people to take into consideration before they dive into local ocean waters.
In a continued effort to protect the environment and improve public safety, Heal the Bay has launched a new ad campaign promoting its Beach Report Card, by posting the warnings on 30 billboards installed on Los Angeles County lifeguard towers. Locally, the billboards are found on lifeguard towers at Nicholas Canyon, Trancas, Zuma, Surfrider, Las Tuna, Topanga and Will Rogers.
The billboards "encourage ocean users to think twice about the water and to use our new text messaging service before getting into the water," said Matthew King, communications director at Heal the Bay, which provides grades for more than 500 beaches statewide. In addition to the "Icky" warning, the bill boards post a text code for that specific beach a mobile user could type in to "get real-time water quality grades right there on the sand," King said.
With the Beach Report Card, Heal the Bay collects technical water quality data and puts it in a user-friendly form, posting water quality grades for California's beaches, ranging from A to F, based on the health risks of swimming or surfing at a particular location. Typically, the report card is published online at healthebay.org, or in local newspapers.
"The Beach Report Card was created, with the hopes that the public will use it to make informed decisions about the best beaches to go to, or avoid, to best protect their health," James Alamillo, spokesperson for Beach Report Card, said. "You can make decisions that you are comfortable with based on your own individual level of risk. Surfers may be okay with a letter grade of C if other surfing conditions are excellent, whereas parents may want nothing less than an A grade for the safety and health of their children."
The Beach Report Card started in Los Angeles County, but is now available for locations throughout the state from San Diego up as far north as Humboldt, Alamillo said.
"Most recently, we have added the text messaging ability to get information to the public in a way that is time relevant and easily accessible," Alamillo said. "If you are not at a computer, you can text us to get a water quality report and there is no additional charge from Heal the Bay, other than what it would cost to send a text. The text codes for the report card are now up on lifeguard towers at beaches throughout Santa Monica Bay and will remain up through the summer."
Mike Grimmer, data analyst for Heal the Bay, collects the data and performs the task of taking the scientific findings and converting them into a simple letter grade for the Beach Report Card. The grades are based on daily and weekly fecal bacteria pollution levels in the surf zone.
"A beach is innocent until proven guilty," Grimmer said. "A beach always starts out with a grade of an A-Plus. Only when the level of bacteria exceeds the state standard will it have points subtracted from its total score. We see problematic locations more during wet weather and near storm drains, creeks, rivers and enclosed beaches. Over 90 percent of beaches that receive good letter grades are in dry weather and not near storm drains, creeks, or rivers."
New Heal the Bay campaign promotes checking local waters before diving in.
By Jon... more
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Last summer's bad weather caused a record drop in the number of British beaches receiving top ratings for water quality, the Marine Conservation Society has said. Coastal areas were hit by pollution washed down by the heavy rains, the organisation said.
There was a 10% fall in the number of bathing spots recommended for excellent water quality in the MCS's annual Good Beach Guide.
Last summer's bad weather caused a record drop in the number of British beaches... more
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Wouldn't it be nice to jump in the river on a hot sweaty day in New York City? Well, the Manhattan Island Foundation does just that. The group organizes swims in the New York City rivers and the harbor. I wasn't totally convinced that this was the cleanest idea, until I did some testing for myself.Wouldn't it be nice to jump in the river on a hot sweaty day in New York City?... more
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