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Archive for February, 2014
Toxic Leak Taints North Carolina Coal Plants, And Regulators
Posted by National Public Radio: Ben Bradford on February 20th, 2014
National Public Radio: A broken pipe funneled 30,000 tons of toxic coal ash into the Dan River in North Carolina earlier this month, turning it gray. The pipe has been plugged, but the spill has reignited a fight over storage of coal ash, and scrutiny of the state regulators responsible for monitoring it.
The U.S. Justice Department began a criminal investigation into North Carolina's coal ash ponds and the state's environmental officials last week. The inquiry widened Wednesday, The Associated Press reports, as federal...
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Comments Off on Toxic Leak Taints North Carolina Coal Plants, And RegulatorsHow to Save Water on Fracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 20th, 2014
Bloomberg: Among the environmental worries posed by hydraulic fracturing, including the release of methane into the air and contamination of groundwater, one has recently escalated: the concern that the enormous quantities of water used in fracking will leave parts of the country parched.
In 2012, fracking consumed some 50 billion gallons of water -- water that many communities can ill afford to spare. New practices can make fracking somewhat less thirsty, however. States should see that drilling companies...
Nestled Amid Toxic Waste, a Navajo Village Faces Losing its Land Forever
Posted by New York Times: Dan Frosch on February 20th, 2014
New York Times: In this dusty corner of the Navajo reservation, where seven generations of families have been raised among the arroyos and mesas, Bertha Nez is facing the prospect of having to leave her land forever.
The uranium pollution is so bad that it is unsafe for people to live here long term, environmental officials say. Although the uranium mines that once pocked the hillsides were shut down decades ago, mounds of toxic waste are still piled atop the dirt, raising concerns about radioactive dust and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Nestled Amid Toxic Waste, a Navajo Village Faces Losing its Land ForeverCourt Strikes Down Nebraska Law That Allowed Keystone XL Pipeline
Posted by Omaha World-Herald: Joe Duggan on February 19th, 2014
Omaha World-Herald: A judge has declared unconstitutional a Nebraska law used to reroute the Keystone XL pipeline. Lancaster County District Judge Stephanie Stacy ruled Wednesday that the 2012 law improperly gave the governor authority to approve the pipeline route, said David Domina, an Omaha attorney who represented plaintiffs in the case. He said the ruling doesn't necessarily reset the clock on federal approval of the pipeline. President Barack Obama only has to decide whether to grant a permit to allow the pipeline...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Court Strikes Down Nebraska Law That Allowed Keystone XL PipelineSome New York City streets closed due to falling ice, snow
Posted by Reuters: Victoria Cavaliere on February 19th, 2014
Reuters: New Yorkers got a reprieve from the relentless winter weather on Wednesday only to find that the season's wrath created a fresh menace of large chunks of snow and ice falling from skyscrapers to the sidewalks below. Several streets in Lower Manhattan around One World Trade Center, the city's tallest building, had to be closed when packs of snow and ice began to melt and fall from the 1,776-foot (541 meter) building, according to the city's Office of Emergency Management. Some of the falling icicles...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Some New York City streets closed due to falling ice, snowSteyer may spend $100 million to push climate cause in midterms, but polluters will spend more
Posted by Grist: Ben Adler on February 19th, 2014
Grist: After years of being outgunned by polluters and their allies, environmentalists have been celebrating the arrival of a savior: Tom Steyer, a Bay Area hedge-fund billionaire. Last year, he spent $11 million to help Democrat Terry McAuliffe get elected as Virginia governor, and millions more on anti-Keystone ads and the campaign to elect Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey to the Senate. And on Tuesday, The New York Times’ Nicholas Confessore reported, “He is rallying other deep-pocketed donors, seeking...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Steyer may spend $100 million to push climate cause in midterms, but polluters will spend moreMore sinkholes will open up across Britain as the effects of flooding continue
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 19th, 2014
Independent: A spate of sinkholes have opened up across the country as floodwater dissolves the underlying rock, while a “second wave” is likely to appear in the coming weeks as the rain stops and the ground begins to dry, the British Geological Survey warned yesterday.
The number of sinkholes reported has soared to six so far this month – many times more than the one to two that is typical across the whole of a normal year, experts said.
These have generally occurred as soluble rocks such as chalk, limestone...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on More sinkholes will open up across Britain as the effects of flooding continueBritons need to accept their new climate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 19th, 2014
New Scientist: IN THE crypt of Winchester Cathedral stands a sculpture of a featureless man contemplating water pooled in his cupped hands. When it rains, the crypt floods, so the man is partially submerged. That's fitting for a building whose bishop until AD 862, Saint Swithin, is associated in folklore with incessant rainfall. Last week, however, the water reached levels unmatched in recent memory, preventing anyone from visiting Antony Gormley's sculpture. Weeks of stormy weather have swollen the river Itchen...
86 flood warnings still in place southern and central England
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on February 19th, 2014
Blue and Green: The Environment Agency has confirmed that a total of 86 flood warnings, two of them severe, remain across southern and central England, as the extreme weather begins to settle.
It added that river levels along the Thames, which rose to its highest level since 1883 last week, will remain high this week but gradually begin to drop. This is also the case for the Severn.
Of the 86 flood warnings, the two severe alerts are in the badly-hit south-west. This means there is a danger to life. Elsewhere,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on 86 flood warnings still in place southern and central EnglandCalifornia faces the worst drought on record while ‘exporting water’ to China
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on February 19th, 2014
Blue and Green: California is experiencing its worst drought in a century, which is putting at risk the survival of many species and damaging the economy.
Experts have warned that the lack of rainfall has already dried 95% of wetlands in California, causing the death or migration of many animal and bird species.
As the availability of watery spots decreases, waterfowl and other animals are forced to converge to the few that remain intact, increasing the threat of spreading parasites and diseases more easily....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California faces the worst drought on record while ‘exporting water’ to China