tagged w/ Water Pollution
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What's the point of the Interior Dept. issuing decrees if companies are still going to be allowed to get away with toxifiying the planet and destroying national landmarks for profit?What's the point of the Interior Dept. issuing decrees if companies are still going to... more
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Excellent film telling the story of the history of the Great Lakes and the challenges of the freshwater crisis.Excellent film telling the story of the history of the Great Lakes and the challenges... more
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The garbage I saw here which really in contrast was not as bad as some days was not put there by seagulls or any other species. It was put there by us. Water pollution is a manmade crisis and one that is toxifying the water we need to live. And it is only miles away from all of us.The state of our water and air is a moral reflection on man. We all have some work to do.The garbage I saw here which really in contrast was not as bad as some days was not... more
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An estimated one in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals, parasites, bacteria or viruses, or fails to meet federal health standards. Part of the problem, says journalist Charles Duhigg, is that water-pollution laws are not being enforced.An estimated one in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains... more
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U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking waterU.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271... more
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ScottP
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added this
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1 month ago
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AS if we didn't have enough to worry about, it's the return of THE BLOB.
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quanta
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added this
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1 month ago
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Appalachian communities are suffering as a result of mountaintop removal mining. Earthjustice is working through the courts to protect Appalachian communities from this destructive practice and to ensure the Clean Water Act is enforced.Appalachian communities are suffering as a result of mountaintop removal mining.... more
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Radiation levels were higher than normal at the homes of as many as 10 Acreage families with brain tumors or brain cancer, according a New York City law firm affiliated with the nationally known environmental activist Erin Brockovich.
The radiation appears to be coming from well water, said Lemuel Srolovic, an attorney with the law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, which is investigating a suspected cancer cluster in the semi-rural community. A Stuart engineering company hired by the firm measured the radiation in mid-September using a Geiger counter.
Acreage cancer watch
Latest water report (pdf) (10/01/09)
"Generally, it showed there appeared to be radioactive material in ground water being drawn up," Srolovic said.
A report issued last week by the state Department of Environmental Protection similarly found elevated levels of radioactive particles in four wells in The Acreage. But the DEP stressed that the radiation can occur naturally, and the report said the problem is "simple" for homeowners to address by installing water-treatment systems.
The DEP report found no evidence that water in the Acreage faces hazards from man-made pollution. But a state Health Department investigation into the possible cancer cluster is continuing, as is a separate inquiry by Brockovich's firm.
Brockovich, best known for being portrayed by Julia Roberts in an Oscar-winning move, is scheduled to appear Thursday in West Palm Beach to update residents on the firm's findings.
The law firm's investigation started after the state Health Department in May began a resident-prompted study of brain cancer rates in the community. That study is now in its second phase, examining nine children who were diagnosed with brain tumors from 1995 through 2008.
Meanwhile, the DEP last week declared that its testing of 50 randomly selected Acreage wells showed that water in the 45,000-resident community generally meets state health standards. None of the 50 homes tested appear to have included families suffering from brain cancer or brain tumors.
"Our effort was kind of a supplemental testing to fill in the holes we feel weren't filled in by the DEP," Srolovic said.
The law firm's digging is fine with state environmental officials, said DEP spokesman Doug Tobin.
"While DEP has concluded our initial and secondary testing in and around The Acreage, the department encourages any other independent review or testing," Tobin said.
EnviroHome Inc., the environmental engineering firm that Weitz & Luxenberg hired, used a Geiger counter throughout the 10 residents' homes and yards. Only at water sources - wells, faucets and filtration systems - did readings rise higher than "background," or normal, radiation levels.
That prompted the Stuart company to take well water samples from nine of the 10 locations. Results are expected later this week and will include analysis for radium-226 and radium-228, radioactive metals that could cause cancer at elevated levels.
Geiger counters are used to read radiation levels but can't tell what is causing the radioactivity.
Srolovic said he was concerned about the DEP's test results.
"Certainly the Florida DEP testing at Seminole Water Plant and at private wells generally show widespread radiation in the water," Srolovic said. "The presence of this harmful material in water is a matter of concern."Radiation levels were higher than normal at the homes of as many as 10 Acreage... more
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The EPA's recent announcement that it is now considering regulating the use of deicing chemicals and mandating runoff prevention measures is oversight that is long overdue. But this new proposal won't prevent deicing chemical runoff completely...not even close.The EPA's recent announcement that it is now considering regulating the use of deicing... more
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As far as I am concerned, if it is toxic in any way and pollutes land, water or air, it is not GREEN. That includes nuclear and natural gas.
Excerpt:
Pennsylvania environment officials are racing to clean up as much as 8,000 gallons of dangerous drilling fluids after a series of spills at a natural gas production site near the town of Dimock last week.
The spills, which occurred at a well site run by Cabot Oil and Gas, involve a compound manufactured by Halliburton that is described as a "potential carcinogen" and is used in the drilling process of hydraulic fracturing, according to state officials. The contaminants have seeped into a nearby creek, where a fish kill was reported by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP also reported fish "swimming erratically."
The incident is the latest in a series of environmental problems [1] connected to Cabot’s drilling in the Dimock area. Last winter, drinking water in several area homes [2] was found to contain metals and methane gas that state officials determined leaked underground from Cabot wells. And in the spring, the company was fined for several other spills, including an 800-gallon diesel spill from a truck that overturned.
Dimock, Penn.Neither Cabot Oil and Gas nor Halliburton immediately returned calls for comment on Monday. A Halliburton spokesperson sent an e-mail referring any questions to information on the company’s Web site.
DEP officials were also unavailable for interviews, but said through e-mail that faulty piping is suspected and that they have not confirmed the exact cause of the spill. A press spokesperson said to expect an announcement and actions toward Cabot by Tuesday.
ProPublica interviewed state officials several months ago about drilling problems in Dimock [1]. "Cabot has definitely had their share of problems out there," Craig Lobins, a regional oil and gas division director, said then. "Some of them is just being a little bit careless … or sloppy, or maybe a little bit of bad luck too."
The drilling fluid spill Wednesday may be the most serious yet, because it involves chemicals that are known to pose a risk to human health and has spread into the area’s surface water system.
end of excerptAs far as I am concerned, if it is toxic in any way and pollutes land, water or air,... more
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"Abandoned mercury mines throughout central California's rugged coastal mountains are polluting the state's major waterways, rendering fish unsafe to eat and risking the health of at least 100,000 impoverished people.
But an Associated Press investigation found that the federal government has tried to clean up fewer than a dozen of the hundreds of mines — and most cleanups have failed to stem the contamination.""Abandoned mercury mines throughout central California's rugged coastal mountains are... more
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For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to limit the quantity of toxic metals that coal-fired power plants release into waterways.
The agency said Tuesday that equipment required to reduce pollution in the air has increased harmful contaminants in water discharged by power plants, particularly heavy metals such as selenium, cadmium, mercury and lead. Current regulations do nothing to control metals and are not enough to protect water quality and wildlife, the agency said.
The agency said the new rules will be unveiled in 2012, but EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is pushing for an earlier target date.
In a preliminary study released last year, the EPA found that only a fraction of the nation's power plants were using readily available technologies to remove pollutants before they are released into waterways. The water pollution comes from scrubbers that strip gases of acid-raining causing sulfur dioxide and coal ash storage ponds where power plants store the leftovers of burning coal.
A spill at a coal ash pond in Tennessee late last year, which flooded hundreds of acres of land, damaged homes and killed fish in nearby rivers, helped raise awareness about the toxic contents of coal combustion waste and has put increasing pressure on the government to take action.
The announcement comes a day after three environmental groups threatened to sue the EPA for failing to update its regulations, first put in place in 1982. Federal law requires the agency to review regulations annually and revise them if necessary, which the advocates say the agency failed to do.For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to... more
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Jennifer Hall-Massey knows not to drink the tap water in her home near Charleston, W.Va.
In fact, her entire family tries to avoid any contact with the water. Her youngest son has scabs on his arms, legs and chest where the bathwater — polluted with lead, nickel and other heavy metals — caused painful rashes. Many of his brother’s teeth were capped to replace enamel that was eaten away.
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A water sample collected from a water heater by Patty Sebok, a neighbor of Jennifer Hall-Massey. Residents say such water is typical and has destroyed toilets, dishwashers and washing machines.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/09/12/business/13water2_190.jpgJennifer Hall-Massey knows not to drink the tap water in her home near Charleston,... more
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KSirys
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added this
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2 months ago
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Man's impact on water is global.
http://current.com/groups/water-is-life/
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Wouldn't of believed it if I hadn't seen it. This could really change the way people live, one would think it would have the same effect on other contaminates.Wouldn't of believed it if I hadn't seen it. This could really change the way people... more
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Scientists have confirmed that there are millions of tonnes of plastic floating in an area of ocean known as the North Pacific Gyre.
The first of two ships on a voyage to study plastic pollution there has recently returned to port.
Scientists on board say they found increasing amounts of plastic of all sizes as they travelled into the gyre.
They plan to analyse the effects of the waste on marine life and will propose methods to clear it up.
The North Pacific Gyre is a slow-moving clockwise vortex where four major ocean currents meet. Little lives there besides phytoplankton.
Larger than Texas
However the currents have carried millions of tonnes of rubbish into the centre of the gyre, which now covers an area estimated to be larger than the US state of Texas.
The two ships from Project Kaisei set off for the gyre from San Francisco more than three weeks ago.
The research vessel New Horizon from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography arrived back earlier this week. The second, the tall ship Kaisei, will be back on Monday.
The scientists conducted more than 50 surface debris trawls in 17 sites, studying and detailing debris and invasive species.
This collection of plastic was pulled from the ocean in just one hour
They were shocked by the amount of plastic they found.
Project director Doug Woodring said: "One thousand miles from shore with no sign of human life for days, yet our human footprint is now apparent in even one of the most remote places on the planet."
Mary Crowley, Project Kaisei co-founder, said: "More than 30 years ago, on my first trip to the North Pacific Gyre I found a few glass ball fishing floats, one net and there were, in four days, perhaps two pieces of floating plastic.
"Returning now with Project Kaisei .. the marine debris situation shows a startling change in this same area. In 30 minutes one easily can count up to 400 pieces of plastic on the sea's surface."Scientists have confirmed that there are millions of tonnes of plastic floating in an... more
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"The global roads network is vast and growing at one of the fastest paces in history. In 97 percent of the continental U.S., you're no more than three miles from a paved road of one kind or another, and the most recent CIA World Fact Book places the number of worldwide paved roads at 15.99 million kilometers. By comparison, the moon is a mere 384,400 kilometers (almost 239,000 miles) away."
"The environmental effects of a road do not stop when construction is complete. The new road affects local plant and animal life as well as the region's water and soils. The road acts as a barrier that cuts through animal ranges and creates a crossing hazard, further diminishing wildlife habitats, especially if trees were cleared to make way for the road.
Increased travel through the area introduces invasive plant species to the existing vegetation. For as many as 1,000 meters [PDF] from the road, water and soils must contend with increased heavy-metal and salt deposits from gasoline and de-icing, as well as changes to run-off patterns and underground flow rates that affect larger bodies of water further downstream. In addition, the heat island effect that is generated does not just threaten creatures such as birds and snakes. Cool rainwater that lands on hot roadbeds is heated and then runs off into nearby aquatic ecosystems, where the rapid temperature changes can put fatal stress on life in the water."
May be we could use Hemp as the new asphalt.
Join Organic:
http://current.com/groups/organicgreen/"The global roads network is vast and growing at one of the fastest paces in history.... more
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For decades, farmers, lawn care workers and professional green thumbs have relied on the popular weed killer atrazine to protect their crops, golf courses and manicured lawns.
But atrazine often washes into water supplies and has become among the most common contaminants in American reservoirs and other sources of drinking water.
Now, new research suggests that atrazine may be dangerous at lower concentrations than previously thought. Recent studies suggest that, even at concentrations meeting current federal standards, the chemical may be associated with birth defects, low birth weights and menstrual problems.
Laboratory experiments suggest that when animals are exposed to brief doses of atrazine before birth, they may become more vulnerable to cancer later.
An investigation by The New York Times has found that in some towns, atrazine concentrations in drinking water have spiked, sometimes for longer than a month. But the reports produced by local water systems for residents often fail to reflect those higher concentrations.
Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency say Americans are not exposed to unsafe levels of atrazine. They say that current regulations are adequate to protect human health, and that the doses of atrazine coming through people’s taps are safe — even when concentrations jump.
But some scientists and health advocates disagree. They argue that the recent studies offer enough concerns that the government should begin re-examining its regulations. They also say that local water systems — which have primary responsibility for the safety of drinking water — should be forced to monitor atrazine more frequently, in order to detect short-term increases and warn people when they occur.
The E.P.A. has not cautioned pregnant women about the potential risks of atrazine so that they can consider using inexpensive home filtration systems. And though the agency is aware of new research suggesting risks, it will not formally review those studies until next year at the earliest. Federal scientists who have worked on atrazine say the agency has largely shifted its focus to other compounds.
Interviews with local water officials indicate that many of them are unaware that atrazine concentrations have sometimes jumped sharply in their communities. But other officials are concerned. Forty-three water systems in six states — Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi and Ohio — recently sued atrazine’s manufacturers to force them to pay for removing the chemical from drinking water.
end of excerptFor decades, farmers, lawn care workers and professional green thumbs have relied on... more
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Time for a massive worldwide boycott of these polluters. And these companies always refuse comment, so it's time for us to speak with our dollars. If you drink Coke or Pepsi, you condone the toxification of waterways around the globe. Think of that the next time you pick up your Diet Coke.
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The Beijing plants of US soft drink giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been listed as among the top 12 factories causing major water pollution in China's capital, the city government has announced.
The list issued by the Beijing Development and Reform Commission, the capital's economic planning agency, was published along with the top 15 energy users in the capital, which included the Beijing Benz-DaimlerChrysler plant.
China has set a goal of reducing average energy consumption by 20 percent from 2006 to 2010. This means it has to cut average consumption by four percent annually over the five-year period -- a target it has so far failed to meet.
"2009 is a key year for fulfilling our energy-saving and pollution-reduction goals," the commission said in a statement on its website, cited by the Beijing News on Wednesday.
The 27 entities will be subject to increased supervision and asked to submit plans to reduce energy use and pollution emissions, the commission said.
PepsiCo-Beijing and Coca-Cola-Beijing refused immediate comment on the issue when contacted by AFP on Wednesday.
The Beijing News quoted Beijing Benz-DaimlerChrysler as saying it would this year "step up the scope of reducing energy use and emissions, saving energy and treating waste water and waste through technological upgrading".
The Tsingtao brewery in Beijing, top juice maker Huiyuan and several major Chinese dairy producers made the list of major water polluters.
Among Beijing's top energy users were the Capital Iron and Steel Corporation and the American chemical company Praxair.Time for a massive worldwide boycott of these polluters. And these companies always... more
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