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Archive for March, 2013
Nuclear Safety Plan Has Ukrainians Worried
Posted by Inter Press Service: Pavol Stracansky on March 27th, 2013
Inter Press Service: A 300 million euro loan to improve nuclear safety in the Ukraine has been attacked by environmental groups who say it will instead be used to keep ageing reactors working well beyond their planned lifespans - increasing the risks of a nuclear accident -- while doing nothing to address serious issues with the country's energy intensity.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which approved the loan earlier this month, has said that the money will be used to upgrade safety...
Fracking ‘linked to biggest Oklahoma earthquake’
Posted by BBC: Jason Palmer on March 27th, 2013
BBC: Scientists say wastewater injection from hydraulic fracturing was linked to a magnitude-5.7 earthquake that struck the US state of Oklahoma in 2011.
Fracking, as it is known, injects water and chemicals into petroleum wells in a bid to extract trapped natural gas.
Opponents of the practice say that it risks causing seismic events and contaminating groundwater.
The study in Geology shows that "induced seismicity" can occur years after wastewater injection begins.
Most seismic events linked...
United Kingdom: New £5m funding pot aims to shield businesses from flooding
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on March 27th, 2013
BusinessGreen: The government has unveiled a £5m package to protect homes and businesses from the risk of flooding, amid rising fears that thousands of properties could be left without flood insurance next year.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) this week announced that 13 regions most at risk from flooding will benefit from the multi-million pound pot for community-based projects to bolster flood resilience.
The areas set to benefit are Blackburn, Buckinghamshire, Calderdale,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: New £5m funding pot aims to shield businesses from floodingUnited Kingdom: Half of beaches judged unsafe for swimming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 27th, 2013
Telegraph: The Marine Conservation Society tested 754 beaches at the end of last summer for sewage and dirt in the water.
The number recommended for swimming was down by only 403, 113 fewer than the previous year.
The remaining beaches could be dangerous for swimming at some point of the year because of sewage and other bacterial flowing into the sea.
The Marine Conservation Society said the fall in water quality was down to one of the wettest summers on record last year.
The rain and flooding led...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Half of beaches judged unsafe for swimmingCleanup of 2010 Mich. Dilbit Spill Aims to Stop Spread of Submerged Oil
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on March 27th, 2013
InsideClimate: If all goes well, the next oil removal operation on Michigan's Kalamazoo River will mark the beginning of the end for the cleanup of the largest oil pipeline spill in U.S. history The spill, which occurred in July 2010, already has cost pipeline operator Enbridge Inc. more than $820 million in cleanup expenses. That figure could top $1 billion [3] by the time the latest operation is carried out. The goal of the new effort is to dredge three areas of the river where the U.S. Environmental Protection...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Cleanup of 2010 Mich. Dilbit Spill Aims to Stop Spread of Submerged OilCanada: Wastewater Leak from Oil Sands Plant Enters Athabasca River
Posted by CBC: None Given on March 27th, 2013
CBC: Suncor has now confirmed that a wastewater leak from an outfall pond at its oilsands plant north of Fort McMurray, Alta., did enter the Athabasca River.
Samples from the leak have been sent to a lab for a rush analysis, according to Alberta Environment Minister Diana McQueen.
'Nobody will be held accountable for it -- but the fact remains that this is an ongoing issue.'-- Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam
McQueen said she doesn’t want to make any presumptions about the nature or volume of the leaked...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Wastewater Leak from Oil Sands Plant Enters Athabasca RiverArctic: Ice loss in the polar north may deliver a frigid spring in the temperate zone
Posted by ClimateWire: Christa Marshall and Stephanie Paige Ogburn on March 27th, 2013
ClimateWire: Ice loss in the Arctic may be fueling extreme weather like the frigid spring conditions lingering over much of the United States, scientists said yesterday.
While no one weather pattern can be tied to climate change, the ongoing chill is consistent with global warming in the sense that diminishing sea ice could be changing the jet stream, they said.
Could April repeat February? Scientists say rapidly melting ice in the Arctic may extend cold weather storms in the United States. New Englanders,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Arctic: Ice loss in the polar north may deliver a frigid spring in the temperate zoneCanada: Alberta Tests Athabasca River to Gauge Oil Sand Leak’s Toxicity
Posted by Globe and Mail: Kelly Cryderman on March 27th, 2013
Globe and Mail: More than a day after industrial waste water leaked from a Suncor Energy Inc. site into the Athabasca River, the oil-sands giant and the province were still trying to determine which, if any, toxic materials were carried into the major Alberta waterway.
On Monday, staff at the Suncor oil-sands base plant north of Fort McMurray discovered a pipe carrying water that had been used in bitumen extraction and upgrading had frozen, cracked and was leaking into an outfall pond near the river for at least...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Alberta Tests Athabasca River to Gauge Oil Sand Leak’s ToxicityFederal Plan Aims to Help Wildlife Adapt to Climate Change
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on March 27th, 2013
LA Times: The Obama administration Tuesday announced a nationwide plan to help wildlife adapt to threats from climate change.
Developed along with state and tribal authorities, the strategy seeks to preserve species as global warming alters their historical habitats and, in many cases, forces them to migrate across state and tribal borders.
Over the next five years, the plan establishes priorities for what will probably be a decades-long effort. One key proposal is to create wildlife "corridors" that...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Federal Plan Aims to Help Wildlife Adapt to Climate ChangeMainers Join to Petition U.S. on Tar Sands Regs
Posted by Public News Service: Mark Scheerer on March 27th, 2013
Public News Service: More than 55 groups and individuals are petitioning the federal government to halt plans to pump corrosive tar-sands oil from Canada to American ports for export.
Current regulations are inadequate, they say, and raise the risk of catastrophic spills. Petitioners are out to stop both the Keystone XL pipeline and a plan to use an existing, aging pipeline to send tar-sands oil across New England to Portland.
The corrosive tar sands, which Canadian companies want to sell and ship overseas, would...