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Archive for January, 2016
California gas leak spotlights shoddy regulation of nation aging underground infrastructure
Posted by Reuters: Nichola Groom on January 23rd, 2016
Reuters: Long before a natural gas storage well sprung a disastrous leak near Los Angeles, utilities and national industry groups were raising alarms about the danger of aging underground storage infrastructure.
The leaking well`s owner, Southern California Gas Co. warned state utility regulators in 2014 of "major failures" without a rate hike to pay for comprehensive inspections of 229 storage wells.
Twenty-six of its wells were "high risk" and should be abandoned -- even though they complied with...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on California gas leak spotlights shoddy regulation of nation aging underground infrastructureNew York Nears Record Snowfall After Blizzard Pummels City, East Coast
Posted by NY Magazine: Chas Danner on January 23rd, 2016
NY Magazine: The Latest • As of midnight Saturday, a light snow is still falling in New York City, where a total snowfall of as much as 30 inches was forecast from the powerful storm. Regardless, it has already become the second biggest snowstorm in the city's recorded history (since 1869). Snowfall in Central Park had reached 26.8 inches as of midnight, just one tenth of an inch short of matching the all-time record, which the storm will still likely break. In addition, Saturday was already the snowiest single...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New York Nears Record Snowfall After Blizzard Pummels City, East CoastBlizzard of 2016 lives up to the hype, and then some
Posted by Mashable: None Given on January 23rd, 2016
Mashable: Call it what you want to: The Blizzard of 2016, Winter Storm Jonas or Snowzilla. The fact is that for tens of millions of people from New York to the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky and West Virginia, this storm lived up to -- and even exceeded -- the days of hype leading up to it.
In New York City, for example, millions of residents went to bed on Friday night expecting to wake up to a few inches of snow, only to find a raging blizzard outside. The storm is the No. 2 snowstorm on record in...
United Kingdom: Guernsey and 3M in legal fight over fire extinguisher chemicals
Posted by Telegraph: Marion Dakers on January 23rd, 2016
Telegraph: A dispute over pollution from fire extinguishers has brought the island of Guernsey into a court battle with 3M, the conglomerate best known for making Post-it notes and Scotch tape. The States of Guernsey this week argued in the High Court in London that two decades of using 3M’s firefighting foam at its airports contaminated the groundwater. The island has spent millions of pounds treating soil and water after a fire in 2005 led to tests that showed signs of Perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS),...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Guernsey and 3M in legal fight over fire extinguisher chemicalsUK flights cancelled due to US east coast blizzard
Posted by Guardian: Chris Johnston on January 23rd, 2016
Guardian: The huge blizzard affecting much of the US east coast has also caused travel disruption in the UK, with at least 45 flights cancelled on Saturday.
Inbound and outbound flights from major airports across the country are being affected by the US weather system.
Ten US state governors have declared emergencies and at least eight people have died, mostly in car accidents on icy roads. Residents have been told to stay at home until the blizzard subsides.
More than 4,300 flights into, within,...
Proposed Canada pipeline project would threaten US tribal rights, lawyer says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2016
Associated Press: A proposed pipeline-expansion project in Canada will put the fishing rights and cultural heritage of US tribes at risk, a lawyer representing several Washington state tribes told Canadian energy regulators.
Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain project would nearly triple pipeline capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels of crude oil a day. It would carry oil from Alberta’s oil sands to the Vancouver area to be loaded on to barges and tankers for Asian and US markets. The project would dramatically increase...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Proposed Canada pipeline project would threaten US tribal rights, lawyer saysA Lake in Bolivia Evaporates, and With It a Way of Life
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2016
Associated Press: Overturned fishing skiffs lie abandoned on the shores of what was Bolivia’s second-largest lake. Beetles dine on bird carcasses and gulls fight for scraps under a glaring sun in what marshes remain.
Lake Poopó (pronounced po-oh-PO) was officially declared evaporated last month. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have lost their livelihoods and have left the area.
High on Bolivia’s semiarid Andean plains at more than 12,000 feet and subject to climatic whims, the shallow saline lake has dried...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on A Lake in Bolivia Evaporates, and With It a Way of LifePoliticians Work Remedy Flint Water Crisis
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2016
National Public Radio: NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Harvey Hollins, the coordinator of Michigan's clean-up efforts, about how the state is going to address the myriad problems.
Flint Families Make Tough Sacrifices Amid Contaminated Water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2016
National Public Radio: Like many residents of Flint, Mich., She'a Cobb doesn't trust the water that comes out of her faucets. So now, everyday is a carefully orchestrated one — from brushing her teeth to taking a shower.
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Flint Families Make Tough Sacrifices Amid Contaminated WaterCalifornia gas leak spotlights shoddy regulation of aging storage wells
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2016
Reuters: Long before a natural gas storage well sprung a disastrous leak near Los Angeles, California, utilities and national industry groups were raising alarms about the danger of aging underground storage infrastructure.
The leaking well’s owner, Southern California Gas Co, warned state utility regulators in 2014 of “major failures” without a rate hike to pay for comprehensive inspections of 229 storage wells.
Twenty-six of its wells were “high risk” and should be abandoned - even though they complied...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California gas leak spotlights shoddy regulation of aging storage wells