Kauai
shrimp farm wants to dump waste in ocean
A Kauai shrimp farming operation is proposing
to discharge up to 30 million gallons of wastewater
effluent and treated shrimp remains into the
ocean on a daily basis. Sunrise Capital has
filed for a Draft National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination permit with the state Department
of Health, according to an e-mail from the
DOH's communications office yesterday.
....when the farm was operating at full
capacity from February 2000 to December 2003,
the "disastrous effects" of the
waste in the sea were monumental, he said.
The smell was overwhelming, the feces and
dead shrimp attracted sharks, the canals
were depleted, and it killed every single
fish in the area, he said. In addition, the
dumping affected surf spots known as Kinikinis,
Major's Bay and Family Housing. The current
can carry the waste which would allow it
to "travel miles," LaBedz
said.
3/16/10 Environmentalists
aghast at Chetco mining proposal CAVE
JUNCTION — Three years ago, Dave Rutan
opened a gold mining retreat inside the Kalmiopsis
Wilderness of southern Oregon, bringing in
helicopters, gas-powered dredges and paying
customers.He did so without the permission
county authorities say he needed.Now he wants
to commercially dredge miles of the Chetco,
one of Oregon's purest rivers. He plans to
helicopter in four-man crews to seek gold
from the equivalent of nearly 50 truckloads
of river gravel each season.Some environmentalists
are aghast.
"A lot of things he's proposing
are inconsistent with the wilderness," said
Barbara Ullian, a Grants Pass nature photographer
with a passion for protecting the Kalmiopsis.
3/8/10 India
tribes fight mining firm in real-life Avatar (Reuters)
- As Hollywood rolls out the red carpet for
the Oscars, a world away in remote eastern
India, activists say the story of the blockbuster
sci-fi film Avatar -- nominated for nine
awards -- is being played out.In India's
impoverished but mineral-rich state of Orissa,
hundreds of indigenous tribespeople are battling
to stop London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc
from extracting bauxite from what they say
is their sacred mountain.
"The fundamental story of Avatar --
if you take away the multi-colored lemurs,
the long-trunked horses and warring androids
-- is being played out today in Niyamgiri
mountain in India's Orissa state," said
Stephen Corry, director of the British charity,
Survival International.
"Like the Na'vi of Avatar, the Dongria
Kondh tribe are also at risk."
3/2/10
Seoul
Transforms a Freeway Into A River and Public
Park A stream runs through the center
of Seoul,
dividing the city into North and South, but
for three decades it was totally buried beneath
a busy downtown highway. In 2003, as part
of a vast urban
renewal project, the highway was removed
and the stream was recovered and turned into
a beautiful 5.8 km urban park. Demolishing
roads in favor of urban
parks is is a development project
we can really get behind.
‘Hand
Made’ Eco-Friendly Wallpaper for
Kids from Paperboy The ancient art of
shadow puppetry gets a modern day spin with
Paperboy’s ‘Hand
Made’ wallpaper. An enchanting herd
of cleverly crafted hand animals come to
life on this FSC accredited sustainable forest
paper, available in berry
purple ink with hand screen printed
animal shapes in shiny silver, or in shadowy
black ink atop a classic gray background. ‘Hand
Made’ paper is made to order by Robert
Hamlin-Wright at his small factory
in Norfolk, England. We give it two bunny
hopping index fingers way up.
Gender
Bending Frogs, Killer Snakes, and Fat MammothsFrogs
go from male to female
When exposed to weed-killer chemicals, some
male frogs develop female reproductive systems
and the ability to lay eggs. Huh? The bizarre
discovery was recently highlighted in a buzzy
article from the Washington
Post. In a study published on Monday,
scientists concluded that the herbicide known
as atrazine ("one of the most common
man-made chemicals found in U.S. waters")
can cause male frogs to become "so completely
female that they can mate and lay viable
eggs."
The study comes out of the University of
California at Berkeley and has the potential
to stir up the debate over what qualifies
as a safe chemical. The lead researcher,
Tyrone Hayes, says that atrazine "causes
hormone havoc" by converting testosterone
into estrogen.
2/25/10
Report:
Contamination from coal ash waste is worse
than EPA says Two environmental groups
report that at least 31 cases of coal ash
waste contamination in 14 states are not
listed by the EPA. Dangerous chemicals
include arsenic, selenium, and boron.Coal
ash waste contamination nationwide is far
worse than indicated by a new Environmental
Protection Agency tally, with dozens more
ash-waste ponds and landfills also leaching
toxins into streams and drinking water,
a new study finds.At least 31 “new
damage cases” not listed by the EPA
in its end-of-the-year tally of 70 coal-ash
pollution sites are identified and their
pollution profiled in a report released
Wednesday by the Environmental Integrity
Project and Earthjustice groups...the rest
of the story at the link
Trees
make way for new passing lane on Hwy. 199 Question:
"I was heading over to the coast
on Redwood Highway earlier this week
and couldn't help noticing a large swaths
of trees cut down next to the highway
several miles outside of Grants Pass.
Do you have any information on why this
has occurred? It was more than annual
trimming. There were stumps everywhere"
Answer:You are witnessing the initial stages
of a 1.3 mile passing lane which is being
installed on Highway 199 between Wonder and
Wilderville, according to Gary Leaming of
the Oregon Department of Transportation. This
section of highway has been the site of several
accidents over the years. The removal of
the trees will create more space for the
passing lane, increase visibility and, ultimately,
improve driver safety, said Leaming. Currently,
there is about an 8-mile section of Highway
199, between the Applegate River and Hayes
Hill, which is limited to a single lane of
traffic in each direction.
(editor opinion) once more the beauty of
the trees shading the highways and giving
lovliness for us all, and privacy to the
home owners gives way because drivers can't
be responsible and careful of each other
and the road......so we lose again.
2/24/10 Oil
spill threatens 'ecological disaster' in
Italy (AP)ROME – An oil spill that
fouled a small river in northern
Italy reached the Po
River on Wednesday, with officials
warning of an ecological
disaster as they scrambled to contain
the sludge before it contaminated Italy's
longest and most important river.Milan regional
officials said the cause was certainly sabotage
at a former refinery turned oil depot, since
the cisterns were opened and the oil allowed
to flow unimpeded into the Lambro River near Monza.The
cisterns "were opened by someone
who was familiar with the plant and knew
how to operate them," said Cinzia Secchi,
a spokeswoman for the Milan provincial government.
President Obama's recently announced 8
Billion dollar publicly
financedstart
upof
the Nuclear Industryin
Georgia, with
loan guarentees of 54 Billion, goes in
the face of the fact that 25% of America's
nuclear reactors are leaking radioactive
material with the potential of huge future
taxpayer liabilities and bailouts: Allen
L Roland. The Associated
Press recently reported that
at least 27 of 104 nuclear reactors across
the United States are leaking potentially
dangerous levels of tritium into the
groundwater around the plants ~ which
includes Vermont Yankee Nuclear plant.This
reactor is evidently pumping large amounts
underground under the reactor in badly
leaking disintegrating pipes.
2/18/10
TOXIC:
Garbage Island visit and video to
The Garbage Patch which is located at
a natural collecting point at the center
of a set of revolving currents called the
North Pacific Gyre. The middle of the Gyre
is more of a meteorological phenomenon
than an actual place: a consistent high-pressure
zone north of the Hawaiian Islands that,
combined with the extremely weak currents,
helps keep the ocean surface as placid
as lake water. the story at the link.
Report
on Marines' water omitted cancer chemical An
environmental contractor dramatically underreported
the level of a cancer-causing chemical found
in tap water at Camp
Lejeune, then omitted it altogether
as the Marine base prepared for a federal
health review, an Associated Press review
has found.The Marine Corps had been warned
nearly a decade earlier about the dangerously
high levels of benzene, which was traced
to massive leaks from fuel tanks at the base
on the North Carolina coast, according to
recently disclosed studies.For years, Marines
who served at Camp Lejeune have blamed their
families' cancers and other ailments on tap
water tainted by dry
cleaning solvents, and many accuse
the military of covering it up. The benzene
was discovered as part of a broader, ongoing
probe into that contamination.
2/13/10
EPA's
decision to regulate greenhouse gas emissions
is challenged.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
announced late Friday that it would challenge
the Environmental Protection Agency's decision
to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under
the Clean Air Act, setting the stage for
a protracted legal battle with the Obama
administration over global warming.
2/9/10 Chevron
hires twelve public relations firms to discredit
indigenous Indians in Ecuador
(NaturalNews) In response to an environmental
lawsuit filed against the oil giant, Chevron
has fortified its defenses with at least
twelve different public relations firms whose
purpose is to debunk the claims made against
the company by indigenous people living in
the Amazon forests of Ecuador. According
to them, Chevron dumped billions of gallons
of toxic waste in the Amazon between 1964
and 1990, causing damages assessed at more
than $27 billion.
1/28/10
Forest Service
shares plan for Siskiyou travel
The U.S. Forest Service will make 3,176
miles of roads available for the mixed
use of highway-legal and off-highway motorized
vehicles in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National
Forest.
The long-awaited travel management plan
decision released Wednesday also includes
230 miles of trails that can be used by
OHV riders, out of the roughly 1,200 miles
of trails in the forest.
The only cross-country OHV travel allowed
in the forest will be the existing Woodruff
off-highway vehicle area near Prospect,
and selected gravel bars in the lower Rogue,
Illinois, Chetco and Elk rivers.
"This decision provides for a diversity
of motorized and nonmotorized opportunities
that reduces conflict between uses, improves
public safety and maintains and protects
important natural and cultural resources," forest
supervisor Scott Conroy said in a prepared
statement.
The 45-day appeal period for the decision
begins Monday, ending March 11. The 1.8-million
acre forest has some 5,300 miles of roads.
The decision is the result of a nationwide
effort launched in 2005 to establish
a designated and managed system for motorized
use on national forests because increased
OHV use has caused user conflicts and
resource damage, officials said."We
tried very hard to balance everything
in this decision," said
Steve Johnson, the forest's interdisciplinary
team leader on the project. "We
looked at the resources and really listened
to the public to do the best job we could.
It wasn't an easy decision."Some
people will like the decision but others
on both sides of the issues will not
be happy," he added.
1/27/10 Lawsuits
battle clear-cutting in Sierra Nevada and
Cascade ranges Will clear-cutting forests
increase global warming? That's a contentious
issue as California, which is seeking to slash
its carbon footprint, wrestles over rules
to manage the state's private forests.Today,
the Center for Biological Diversity, a Tucson-based
environmental group, filed lawsuits against
the California Department of Forestry in
seven California counties to halt logging
plans for 5,000 acres across the Sierra Nevada
and Cascade regions. The group contends that
the agency approved the projects without
properly analyzing carbon emissions and climate
consequences under the California Environmental
Quality Act. "Clear-cutting
is an abysmal practice that should have been
banned long ago due to its impacts on wildlife
and water quality," said Brian Nowicki,
CBD's California climate policy director. "Now,
in an era when all land-management decisions
need to be fully carbon-conscious, there
is no excuse to continue to allow clear-cutting."
1/21/10
BLM uses stimulus to remove Russian olives
Amid the whine of chain saws and acrid scent
of exhaust fumes, Dan Hoff is cutting down
thorny Russian olive trees on public land
along the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone
River near Laurel.
ed note: there is controversy on the removal
of the trees, planted with an original
good intention, but as life has its way
with things, now the results are not condusive
to helping the natural wildlife/fowl and
fauna it seems.
Health
fears over Chinese villagers clearing up toxic
rocket debris Questions are being asked about
the environmental health impact ofChina's space programme
amid allegations that thousands of villagers
are being recruited to clear up booster rockets
and other toxic debris.According to the South
China Morning Post, residents below the flight
path of last
Sunday's satellite launch were under
financial and political pressure to collect
the first-stage fallout of the Long March
rocket, despite warnings of contamination
by the carcinogenic rocket fuel, unsymmetrical
dimethyl hydrazine, or UDMH.The Hong Kong-based
newspaper said the scavengers in Guangxi
province were rewarded with a finders fee
if they found pieces of fuselage or other
items, and that the local Communist party
had made retrieval a political mission
1/20/10 Oregon,
others petition FERC to halt gas pipeline The
state of Oregon and the National Marine Fisheries
Service filed separate petitions Tuesday for
a new hearing with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission in an attempt to stop construction
of a liquefied natural gas import terminal
in Coos Bay and a gas pipeline that would cross
the upper Rogue River watershed.
They joined a coalition of local residents,
environmental groups and fishermen who filed
a similar petition on Saturday, asking FERC
to reconsider its December approval of the
terminal and 234-mile pipeline from Coos
Bay to Malin near the California border.
1/8/10
Pressure
builds against mountaintop coal mining
Mountaintop coal mining, which involves blowing
up mountain peaks to get access to coal seams
below, should be halted immediately because
of growing evidence of its environmental
and health threats, scientists urged Thursday
in the journal Science.
The paper,
by a group of hydrologists, ecologists and
engineers, presents a new and difficult challenge
to the Obama administration, which has upset
environmentalists by continuing to approve
such permits even as it has promised to rely
on scientific expertise in deciding whether
to grant permits for the controversial practice.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently
released a permit for a large mountaintop
removal mine in West Virginia, which raised
objections from environmental activists.
Coal companies say the practice is more efficient
and safer than traditional deep-shaft mining,
and that steps are taken to mitigate damage.
Environmentalists say it degrades the landscape,
destroys habitat and pollutes streams that
get filled with debris from explosions.
12/10/09
U.S.
sends a parade of promises to Copenhagen Obama
dispatches a slew of Cabinet-level secretaries,
advisors and envoys to prove to world leaders
that the U.S. is serious about combating
climate change. His own assurances might
carry more weight. Obama dispatches a slew
of Cabinet-level secretaries, advisors
and envoys to prove to world leaders that
the U.S. is serious about combating climate
change. His own assurances might carry
more weight.
12/9/09
Giant
oil spill in Alaska likely caused by ice Officials
believe that ice plugged up a pipeline and
likely caused a rupture that sent 46,000
gallons of crude
oil and water gushing onto
snow-covered tundra on Alaska's North Slope
late last month.
The spill is one of the worst by volume
since the March 2006 spill of 200,000 gallons
of crude at Prudhoe
Bay, the biggest spill ever on the
North Slope, according to Department of
Environmental Conservation figures.
BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said Wednesday
that an ice buildup is likely to blame
in the Nov. 29 spill, leading to an increase
in pressure that caused the 18-inch diameter
pipe to rupture.
Two of the scientists involved in "Climategate" – the e-mail
hacking incident at the Climatic Research
Unit (CRU) of the University of East
Anglia, UK – have been
emailed death threats since the contents
of their private e-mails were leaked
to the world. No further information
can be revealed about these particular
threats at present because they are currently
under investigation with the FBI in the
United States.
Many other CRU scientists and their colleagues
have received torrents of abusive and threatening
e-mails since the leaks first began in
mid-November 2009. Tom Wigley, previous
Director of CRU and now at the National
Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR),
Boulder, US, has been horrified by the
e-mails he and other colleagues have received. "They
are truly stomach-turning and show what
sort of venomous monsters we are up against," he
told environmentalresearchweb.
Copenhagen
Climate Summit In Disarray After 'Danish
Text' LeakCopenhagen : The
UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray
today after developing countries reacted furiously
to leaked documents that show world leaders
will next week be asked to sign an agreement
that hands more power to rich countries and
sidelines the UN's role in all future climate
change negotiations.
ExxonMobil
Providing Big Bucks to Climate Skeptics
Groups
(NaturalNews) In spite of a 2008 promise
to stop funding global warming denial groups,
oil giant ExxonMobil has given such groups
hundreds of thousands of dollars since then,
according to researchers from the London
School of Economics.
BLACK MESA, Ariz.— In
response to an appeal brought by a diverse
coalition of tribal and environmental groups,
this week the Environmental Protection Agency withdrew a
controversial water permit for the massive
Black Mesa Coal Complex, a coal-mine complex
located on Navajo Nation and Hopi lands in
northeastern Arizona. EPA’s permit
withdrawal means that discharges of heavy
metal and pollutants – including selenium,
nitrates, and other heavy metals and toxic
pollutants from coal-mining operations at
the Black Mesa Complex – are threatening
washes, tributaries, groundwater, and the
drinking water for local communities, but
are not being regulated.
“EPA is to be commended for doing
the right thing in this instance and withdrawing
the inadequate water permit for Black Mesa,” said
Wahleah Johns of the Black Mesa Water Coalition. “Our
community was shut out of the permitting
process and our requests for public hearings
on the permit denied. If a new permit is
issued, the agency must ensure that impacted
communities are meaningfully involved in
environmental decision-making.”
For more background information please visit: www.blackmesawatercoalition.org.
Global
warming e-mails prompt Republican letter
to EPA
Reporting from Washington - Citing e-mails
that critics say cast doubt on global warming,
congressional Republicans called on the Obama
administration Wednesday to suspend efforts
to combat climate change until the controversy
is resolved. In a letter to the Environmental
Protection Agency, the lawmakers requested
that a pending move to regulate greenhouse
gases under the Clean Air Act be halted,
along with plans to limit emissions from
vehicles, power plants and other sources, "until
the agency can demonstrate the science underlying
these regulatory decisions has not been compromised."
11/30/09
Bhopal:
The victims are still being born Twenty-five
years on, the world's worst industrial
accident continues to kill and blight many
lives. And still there's been no trial
Bhopal is a calamity without end. On 3 December
1984, clouds of poison leaking from a Union
Carbide pesticides plant brought death to
thousands in this central Indian city. Today,
fully a quarter of a century later, victims
of this, the world's worst industrial disaster,
are still being born.
Here, in neighbourhoods where people depend
on water contaminated by chemicals leaking
from the abandoned factory and to mothers
exposed to the toxic gas as children, brain
damaged and malformed babies are 10 times
more common than the national average. Doctors
at Bhopal's Sambhavna Clinic say that as
many as one in 25 babies are still born with
defects and developmental problems such as
a smaller head, webbed feet and low birth
weight.
Quote: Tom Sprick from
Union Carbide, said: "Neither
Union Carbide nor its officials are subject
to the jurisdiction of the Indian court since
they did not have any involvement in the
operation of the plant... The government
of India needs to address any ongoing medical
and health concerns of the Bhopal people."
It looks like the 'buck' doesn't stop
anywhere but is put back into the laps
of the people who have died and suffered
and are still suffering.......Union Carbide/Dow
should be ashamed and do all they can to
clean it up and make right restitution
as they can, since they can't bring people
back to life......what can we do?.....boycott
Union Carbide/dow products until they become
responsible human beings.
.
11/19/09
Al
Gore: Earth's Interior 'Extremely Hot,
Several Million Degrees' For several
years as uneducated sycophants in the media
gushed and fawned over every utterance
from former Vice President Al Gore, NewsBusters
has informed readers of just how absurd
the junk science he's peddling really is.
watch the video....Gore says the center
of the earth is millions of degrees, when
in fact:
It is approximately 4000°C at the centre
of the Earth. To put this in context:
1. The centre of the Sun is approximately
15 million°C
2. The surface of the Sun is 5500°C
3. Iron melts at 1535°C (when at atmospheric
pressure)
4. Water boils at 100°C (when at atmospheric
pressure)
5. Human skin is comfortable with temperatures
up to about 60°C
6. The highest temperature recorded on the
Earth's surface is 58°C (Libya 1922)
Amazing
Pictures, Pollution in China Lu Guang
(卢广), freelancer photographer,
started as an amateur photographer in 1980.
He was a factory worker, later started
his own photo studio and advertising agency.
August of 1993 he returned to post-graduate
studies at the Central Arts and Design
Academy in Beijing (now is the Academy
of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University).
During graduate school, he studied, traveled
all over the country and carved out a career,
became the “dark horse” of
the photographer circle in Beijing. Skilled
at social documentary photography, his
insightful, creative and artistic work
often focused on “social phenomena
and people living at the bottom of society”,
attracted the attentions of the national
photography circle and the media. Many
of his award winning works focused on social
issues like, “gold rush in the west”, “drug
girl”, “small coal pit”, “HIV
village”, “the Grand Canal”, “development
of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway” and
so on.
Toxic
algae 'wiped out dinosaurs' Previous
studies had claimed an asteroid impact
produced devastating climate changes and
rising sea levels which caused the mass
extinctions over the earth's 4.5 billion
year existence. But a team of American
geologists and toxicologists claim algae
commonly found naturally around the world
could be the culprit that led to the demise
of the dinosaurs. They say the current
environmental conditions show significant
similarities to times when previous mass
extinctions occurred and warned that levels
of toxic algae are increasing. ....(are
they saying this is what point we also
have come to and are facing extinction
also? ...more at the link
10/17/09
Alarm
raised anew on disappearing Lake Chad The
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
is weary over the disappearance of Lake
Chad in 20 years because of climate change.
Found in Africa, the lake suports 30 million
people in surrounding countries Cameroon,
Chad, Niger and Nigeria. It was once one
of the world’s largest lakes but
has shrunk from 25,000 square kilometres
to less than 1,500 square kilometres in
2001. It has lost around 90 percent of
its water in a span of 38 years.
Residents
shocked by fire damage to Deukmejian Wilderness
Park The burned, crumbling hillsides
of Deukmejian Wilderness Park were an alien
sight to visitors who got an inside look
over the weekend at what authorities fear
is a disaster waiting to happen.
9/21/09
The
Aurora Beneath the Waves: a Brief Glimpse
at the World of Bioluminescence As the
sun is setting, people gather at beaches around
the world, waiting for the ocean to come
alive with displays of bioluminescence. But
while they are drinking in the beauty of
this living light, few know of the drama
of life and death that unfolds every night
at the surface of the ocean…
9/18/09
What
Is Gallium At 110 ppm Doing In Phoenix
Air Samples Gallium does not exist
in free form in nature, and the few high-gallium
minerals such as gallite (CuGaS2) are too
rare to serve as a primary source of the
element or its compounds. The only two
economic sources for gallium are as byproduct
of aluminium and zinc production, while
the sphalerite for zinc production is the
minor source. Most gallium is extracted
from the crude aluminium hydroxide solution
of the Bayer process for producing
alumina and aluminium. A mercury cell electrolysis and hydrolysis of
the amalgam withs odium hydroxide leads
to sodium gallate. Electrolysis then gives
gallium metal.
9/17/09
C.R.O.C.
PSA This latest Public Service Announcement
from C.R.O.C. (the Carbon Regulatory Offset
Committee) explains how YOU the taxpayer
are now eligible to redeem carbon offset
points just a like a multi-national corporation.
It couldnt be simpler: do something good
for the environment, then do something
bad to it!
9/14/09
The Town that wants to Disappear
Welcome
to Our Town. Wish We Weren’t Here. For
most of the early part of the 20th century,
this little city in the southeast corner of
Kansas had the feel of a rollicking boom town,
its prosperity coming from land rich in lead, zinc and
iron ore. Part of a vast mining district where
Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma meet, Treece
and its twin city across the Oklahoma state
line, Picher, became the unofficial capitals
of a zone that in its heyday produced more
than $20 billion worth of ore — much
of it used for weaponry to fight World Wars
I and II. But when the last of the mines closed
in the 1970s, Treece was left sitting in a
toxic waste dump of lead-tinged dust, contaminated
soil and sinkholes. On a hot summer day, children
can be seen riding their bikes around enormous
mounds of chat — pulverized rock laced
with lead and iron. It is the waste product
left over from mining that is the cause of
so many problems here. Uncontrolled, it blows
in the wind.
Improving
weather gives exhausted crews hope Increasing
humidity and slightly cooling temperatures
this morning brought the first signs of
hopefulness from firefighters battling
the Station fire.
'Treacherous'
fire bears down on Acton Some residents
in La Cañada and parts of Glendale
are cleared to return. But about 6,000
homes across the 19-mile fire line remain
under an evacuation order.
Los
Angeles: 35,000 acres burned, more homes
threatened Firefighters are predicting
another difficult battle today as they
try to prevent a wildfire that has already
burned 35,000 acres from destroying more
homes along a massive front that extends
from Acton near the Antelope Valley to
Altadena in the San Gabriel Valley. More
evacuations.
8/28/09
BREAKING: Fire
evacuations are underway in La Canada Flintridge
[Updated] The Station fire prompted
authorities Thursday night to begin evacuating
residents in La Cañada Flintridge
neighborhoods near Angeles Crest Highway.The
evacuations were underway along Vista del
Valle Road east of La Cañada Boulevard,
the U.S. Forest Service said. An evacution
center has been set up at La Crescenta
High School.The blaze, which has consumed
more than 500 acres of dry chaparral, reversed
direction along one flank and turned toward
residential areas earlier Thursday.[Updated
at 10:56 p.m.: The fire has moved
within three-quarters of a mile from neighborhoods
in La Cañada Flintridge, where about
500 homes are under mandatory evacuation,
the U.S. Forest Service said.]
Angeles
National Forest fire threatens ranger station Flames
from a wildfire above La Cañada
Flintridge changed direction Thursday night
and were threatening the Angeles Crest
Ranger Station, officials said. The so-called
Station fire in the Angeles National Forest
was burning north toward remote areas,
but one of its flanks reversed direction
and was heading down a steep canyon toward
the station and several surrounding structures,
the U.S. Forest Service said.
Two
new brush fires erupt in L.A., Riverside
counties A Palos Verdes Peninsula brush
fire Thursday burned at least one structure
and threatened several others, prompting
officials to order evacuations in the Portuguese
Bend area. The fire, which has charred
about 30 acres, is one of two new wildfires
that erupted Thursday in Southern California.
8/26/09 Smoke
from wildfire causing unhealthy air quality
in L.A. Basin [Updated] Smoke
from a wildfire burning in the Angeles
National Forest blanketed much of L.A.
County today, seeping into cars and offices
as people began their workday and causing
itchy eyes, runny noses and sneezing.
Public health officials said air quality
is unhealthy throughout the county, and
the top health officer recommended people
take precautions when going outdoors.
8/25/09 Brush
fire burning in Angeles National Forest,
prompting campground evacuations [Updated] A
fast-moving brush fire has broken out
in Angeles National Forest near Highway
39, prompting evacuations of some campgrounds.The
fire broke out about 4:40 p.m. along
San Gabriel Canyon Road near Morris Dam.
KABC Channel 7 showed firefighters battling
tall flames on a ridge off Highway 39,
which is closed in both directions.
9/1/09
Mobile
towers threatening honey bees in KeralaThiruvananthapuram,
Aug 31 (PTI) Mobile towers are posing a threat to honey
bees in Kerala withe electromagnetic radiation from mobile towers
and cell phones having the potential to kill worker bees that
go out to collect nectar from flowers, says a study.
A plunge in beehive population has been reported from different parts of Kerala
and if measures are not taken to check mushrooming of mobile powers, bees could
be wiped out from Kerala within a decade, environmentalist and Reader in Zoology,
Dr Sainudeen Pattazhy says in his study.
Auburn
residents sift through ashes of the 49 fireAUBURN – Firefighters
tackled hot spots Monday as
anxious residents filtered back into smoldering neighborhoods – some
against fire officials' requests – the day after a hard-charging
fire devoured 63 homes on a north Auburn hillside.
Thousands
flee as Hurricane Jimena roars toward Mexico LOS CABOS,
Mexico — Tourists fled resorts at the tip of the Baja
California Peninsula as Hurricane Jimena roared their way Tuesday,
but many slum dwellers concerned about looting refused to leave
their imperiled shanties.Jimena, a Category 4 hurricane with
winds of near 145 mph, could rake the region of harsh desert
fringed with picturesque beaches and fishing villages by Tuesday
evening.
8/30/09
Auburn
area fire destroys 20-plus homes and businesses A wind-whipped
fire Sunday destroyed more than 20 homes and businesses and
forced hundreds to head to shelters, as it scorched and hopscotched
through wooded neighborhoods at the north edge of Auburn. The
fire left entire cul-de-sacs with nothing but smoldering hulls
where once houses valued between $250,000 and $400,000 stoo
8/29/09
Mosier
tensions mount as fire grows A wildfire estimated at 800
acres late Friday is threatening the town of Mosier in the Columbia
River Gorge. Gov. Ted Kulongoski declared a conflagration, allowing
nearby counties and other agencies to send reinforcements to
fight the flames from land and air. Power was cut off, and some
roads and trails in the area were closed.
8/22/09
Mountaintop
Mining Legacy: Destroying Appalachian StreamsThe environmental
damage caused by mountaintop removal mining across
Appalachia has been well documented. But scientists are now
beginning to understand that the mining operations’ most
lasting damage may be caused by the massive amounts of debris
dumped into valley streams. Laurel Branch Hollow was once
a small West Virginia mountain valley, with steep, forested
hillsides and a stream that, depending on the season and the
rains, flowed or trickled down into the Mud River about 200
yards below. The stream teemed with microbes and insect life,
and each spring it became a sumptuous buffet for the birds,
fish, and amphibians in the valley.
But over the past decade, the Hobet 21 mountaintop removal coal mining operation
has obliterated 25 square miles of surrounding highlands. From the air, the mine
is a 10-mile-long, mottled gray blotch among the green, crisscrossed by trucks
and earth movers, appended by black lakes of coal sludge.
Mercury
found in all fish at 300 US streamsA
study of mercury contamination has found the toxic substance
in every fish tested at nearly 300 streams across the US.The
finding underscores how widespread mercury pollution has become.The
government study, released yesterday by the US Geological Survey,
tested thousands of fish from 291 streams nationwide from 1998
to 2005.
8/10/09
I knew bottled water was a social ill but I didn't
know how damaging it was until I saw an explosive and compelling new
documentary called Tapped.
7/30/09
Iraq
in throes of environmental catastrophe, experts say Reporting
from Baghdad -- You wake up in the morning to find your nostrils
clogged. Houses and trees have vanished beneath a choking brown
smog. A hot wind blasts fine particles through doors and windows,
coating everything in sight and imparting an eerie orange glow.
Dust storms are a routine experience in Iraq, but lately they've
become a whole lot more common.
7/26/09
Poisonous
gas from African lake poses threat to millions More than
two million people living on the banks of Lake Kivu
in central Africa are at risk of being asphyxiated by gases building
up beneath its surface, scientists have warned.It is estimated
that the lake, which straddles the borders of the Democratic
Republic of Congo and Rwanda,
now contains 300 cubic kilometres of carbon dioxide and 60 cubic
kilometres of methane that have bubbled into the Kivu from volcanic
vents. The gases are trapped in layers 80 metres below the lake's
surface by the intense water pressures there. However, researchers
have warned that geological or volcanic events could disturb
these waters and release the gases.
7/24/09
Gov't
considers 7 states for mercury site The federal government
is trying to find a location to store the nation's excess mercury
deposits, with seven states being considered. But the government
is quickly finding out that very few people want the stuff.
A Colorado woman who showed up at a public forum on the issue
last week had this to say about the plan: "No, no, no,
no, no. No mercury." The Idaho governor was equally emphatic
in his opposition, saying "not gonna happen." The
Kansas City Council already passed a resolution against the
plan.
7/23/09
Dead
Sea Sinkholes Swallowing Up Unwary The
Dead Sea is the lowest spot of land on the planet, where the
Bible says God rained fire and brimstone down on the misbehaving
residents of Sodom and Gomorrah — and where now, the
Earth occasionally opens up and swallows people.Geologist Eli Raz was
one of those people."It happened so
quickly," says Raz. "I was busy documenting, taking
pictures, writing in my notebook,
using my equipment, etc. All of a sudden, I found
myself down. It was terrible."That
scene is repeated over and over as rescuers haul hikers from
subterranean misfortune. Some 3,000 sink holes have appeared
on the banks of the Dead Sea — and an estimated 3,000 more
are ready to burst open.
Texas
cleaning up oil blobs on South Padre Island
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas – Gooey oil blobs as big as
basketballs have been washing up on the sandy
beaches of South Padre Island in
Texas, officials said Thursday.
The Texas General Land Office said
it doesn't know what is causing the tar-like blobs, but authorities
were working to clean up the popular tourist
destination. Beaches have not been closed.
7/18/09
Are
the deserts getting greener? It has been assumed
that global warming would cause an expansion of the
world's deserts, but now some scientists are predicting
a contrary scenario in which water and life slowly
reclaim these arid places.They think vast, dry regions like the
Sahara might soon begin shrinking. The evidence is limited and
definitive conclusions are impossible to reach but recent satellite
pictures of North Africa seem to show areas of the Sahara in
retreat.
Mudslide
swallows house in Germany, 3 missing A mudslide undermined
a house and buried it in a crater along a lake shore
in central Germany on Saturday. Three people who
lived in it were missing. ....why is this in environment
updates? Because this lake is a former coal pit
that was flooded in 1994......once again showing
how we damage the environment and eventually it 'gets
us!".
7/11/09
The
real problem with oil is not carbon vid Who's gonna
pay this "carbon tax?" Al Gore gets his knickers
in a knot about global warming and carbon emissions,
two propositions that are dubious at best.
He splices video of polar bears swimming in the Arctic
as proof the world is melting down "due to carbon."
Well, polar bear populations are up in some places
and carbon dioxide happens to be food for plants.
But one thing that is indisputable is the calculated
maliciousness of oil companies in Third World countries
and the fact that crude oil and its fuel by-products
are highly toxic.
No mystery here, except these particular "inconvenient truths" don't
merit mention in the US news media or in Gore's documentary
for that matter.
Could the fact that the Gore family owns a piece
of Occidental Petroleum, a company that wants to
drill elsewhere in Latin America have anything to
do with that?
Fast-growing
kelp invades San Francisco Bay A fast-growing kelp from
the Far East has spread along the California coast from Los
Angeles to San Francisco Bay, worrying marine scientists
and outpacing eradication efforts.In May, scientists for the
first time found the invasive seaweed called Undaria pinnatifida
clinging to docks at a yacht harbor in San Francisco Bay, fouling boat
hulls and pier pilin
7/5/09
Why
I Was Arrested in Coal River, West Virginia by Daryl Hannah.Why
would I fly across the country on my own dime
knowing I would most likely end up in jail in
one of the poorest parts of America?Well, have you ever heard
of MTR? Don't feel bad, my friends are intelligent, well-read
and informed people, but most of them had never heard of MTR
(Mountain Top Removal) either.
Mountain Top Removal is a devastatingly destructive form
of mining and has already destroyed 2,000,000
acres in the Appalachian Mountains.Coal companies
have literally blown up over 500 mountain
tops to access the coal seams and then dumped
the refuse into the valleys below, killing over 3000 miles
of headwater streams. The EPA just gave the go
ahead for an additional 42 mountaintops to be
blown off with another 6 permits pending.
Dead
Sea peril: sinkholes swallow up the unwary EIN GEDI, Israel – Eli
Raz was peering into a narrow hole in the Dead
Sea shore when the earth opened up and swallowed him.After
14 hours a search party pulled him from the hole
unhurt, and five years later the 69-year-old geologist
is working to save others from a similar fate, leading
an effort to map the sinkholes that are spreading
on the banks of the fabled saltwater lake.The phenomenon,
Raz said, stems from a dire water
shortage, compounded in recent years by tourism and chemical
industries as well as a growing population. "This is the
most remarkable evidence of the brutal interference
of humans in the Dead Sea," he said. Full story at the
link
EPA
declares health emergency in Montana town The Environmental
Protection Agency for the first time has declared a public
health emergency in a contaminated community, targeting
a Montana town Wednesday for immediate federal
attention.The declaration by EPA
Administrator Lisa Jackson involving Libby, Mont., will
not result in an evacuation, but will require
an extensive cleanup and better health protections for residents
with asbestos-related illnesses.Jackson called
Libby a "tragic
public health situation" that has not received the recognition
it deserves from the federal government for far
too long.Asbestos contamination from a now-closed vermiculite
mine near Libby has been cited in the deaths of more than 200
people and illnesses of thousands more. Full story
at the link
MIRACLES CAN HAPPEN: Wal-Mart
bans beef illegally produced in the Amazon rainforest Brazil's
three largest supermarket chains, Wal-Mart, Carrefour
and Pão
de Açúcar, will suspend contracts with suppliers
found to be involved in Amazon deforestation,
reports O
Globo. Greenpeace welcomed the developments.
"This is an important first step towards winning a halt to further deforestation
for cattle in the Amazon," stated the NGO on its blog. Full
story at the link
The
Great Federal Water Grab VID Senate Bill - 787 The
sponsors call it the "Clean Water Restoration Act."
It's kind of like calling the shredding of the
Bill of Rights under Bush II, the PATRIOT Act. If the federal
government takes control over all the non-navigable water in
the US and the land adjoining it, then it will have the right
to seize it and give it away. Give it away to who? Well, that
multi-trillion dollar deficit has to be paid off somehow. Look
to the Feds to to try to take control of more and more private
property in the months and years to come. Just say no.Full
story at the link
Fighting
a fatal fungus There is an international pandemic killing
off millions of amphibians, and university biology
professor Karen Lips is trying to save them. Lips and her colleagues
discovered an unusual fungus called Chytridiomycosis that thrives
in cold, moist environments and infects the skin of amphibians,
killing them by hampering their ability to absorb both oxygen
and water. The effect on international ecosystems has been drastic,
Lips said, and while she's not optimistic about finding a cure
for the fungus, she is trying to develop a better understanding
of "chytrid" to better predict where it will hit next.Full
story at the link
5/9/09
40 Years After America's Biggest Nuclear Blast, the
Damage Continues Echoes
of Amchitka (excepts, full text at the link)
Amchitka Island sits at the midway point on
the great arc of Alaska's Aleutian Islands,
less than 900 miles across the Bering Sea from the coast of
Russia. Amchitka, a spongy landscape of maritime tundra, is
one of the most southerly of the Aleutians. The island's relatively
temperate climate has made it one of the Arctic's most valuable
bird sanctuaries, a critical staging ground for more than
100 migratory species, as well as home to walruses, sea otters
and sea lions. Off the coast of Amchitka is a thriving fishery
of salmon, pollock, haddock and halibut.
The aftershocks of those blasts are still being felt. Despite
claims by the AEC and the Pentagon that the test sites would safely
contain the radiation released by the blasts for thousands of
years, independent research by Greenpeace and newly released documents
from the Department of Energy (DOE) show that the Amchitka tests
began to leak almost immediately. Highly radioactive elements
and gasses, such as tritium, americium-241 and plutonium, poured
out of the collapsed test shafts, leached into the groundwater
and worked their way into ponds, creeks and the Bering Sea.
At the same time, thousands of Amchitka laborers and Aleuts living
on nearby islands were put in harm's way. Dozens have died of
radiation-linked cancers. The response of the federal government
to these disturbing findings has been almost as troublesome as
the circumstances surrounding the tests themselves: a consistent
pattern of indifference, denial and cover-up continues even today.
The continuing cover-up
and manipulation of information by the DOE
not only denies justice to the victims of Amchitka,
but indicates that those living near other DOE sites may be at
great risk. "DOE
management of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex is of the old
school in which bad news is hidden," says Pamela Miller,
now executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics. "This
conflicts with sound risk management and makes
the entire system inherently risky. The overwhelming threat
is of an unanticipated catastrophe."
FAA
CONFIRMS ONGOING MILITARY OPERATION OVER U.S.
EAST COAST PORTLAND, ME -- An FAA official in charge of
air traffic control over the northeastern United States has
confirmed an ongoing military operation in America’s skies.
In an exclusive taped interview with freelance radio reporter
S. T. Brendt, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) manager said he
was told on as many as four occasions in March, 2001 to re-route
commercial air traffic around military aircraft taking part
in an undisclosed aerial operation over the northeastern seaboard.
On her way to the interview location, Brendt
observed six big jets laying brilliant white lines above a broken
cloud layer. Instead of dissipating like normal condensation
trails, these lingering plumes grew wider and wider, intersecting
and merging.
Speaking on condition of strict anonymity as
intense Chemtrail activity continued overhead, this Deep Sky
federal aviation source expressed concern over the classified
nature of military operations repeatedly conducted at altitudes
between 37,000 and 40,000 feet. While air traffic controllers
normally ignore air traffic above 10,000 feet, the ATC manager
said he was ordered to divert incoming European air traffic
away from the military planes.Full story at the
link
3/26/09
Pharmaceuticals
found in fish across U.S.Residue of allergy, cholesterol, other meds
were in fish near 5 major cities. Fish caught near
wastewater treatment plants serving five major U.S. cities had
residues of pharmaceuticals in them, including medicines used
to treat high cholesterol, allergies, high blood pressure, bipolar
disorder and depression, researchers reported Wednesday.
Full story at the link
Official: Australian
oil spill worse than thought Ten times more oil than originally
thought leaked from a ship to blacken miles of white
sand beaches along Australia's northeast coast, a
government official said Saturday.Authorities declared
a disaster zone along 37 miles of some of Australia's most popular
beaches in Queensland state after they were covered in a blanket
of heavy fuel oil that spilled from a ship hit by rough seas
on Wednesday.Queensland state Deputy Premier Paul Lucas told
Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Saturday that officials originally
thought between 5,300 and 7,900 gallons of oil had leaked from
the ship. Lucas said it is "now apparent" that the
amount of oil spilled was around 60,700 gallons .
He did not explain how he arrived at that estimate or offer any
further details.Full story at the link
This spring, old growth timber sales in roadless areas
in the Tongass is scheduled to begin. Clearcutting
old growth permanently damages its habitat value
for old growth dependent species and building
new roads will further fragment this important ecosystem.But
early in its tenure, the Bush administration excluded Alaska's
Tongass rainforest from roadless protections. The Tongass
is our nation's largest national forest and the largest remaining
old-growth temperate rainforest in the world. Tell USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to end the Bush administration's
exemption of the Tongass from the roadless rule. Take
action >>
lacda (Los Angeles Center of Digital Arts) presents: Rex
Bruce "Inversions"
March
12-May 2, 2009
Reception March 12, 6-10pm
Rex Bruce gave up
his car and spent two years riding public transportation recording
images of the L.A. sky-scape as a meditation on the
climate crisis. The camera is always aimed towards that which
daily absorbs tons of greenhouse gas: the atmosphere. Stills
and video are shot through dirty windows of buses traversing
Hollywood and central L.A. and composited at different frame
rates, compression levels, resolutions and varied states of digital
degeneration. The resultant damage is visually appealing and
painterly in texture and form while generating an atmosphere
of technological and urban overkill, Los Angeles style.Full
story at the link
Crop
Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are
Thwarting Research Biotechnology
companies are keeping university scientists from
fully researching the effectiveness and environmental
impact of the industry’s
genetically modified crops, according to an unusual
complaint issued by a group of those scientists. “No truly
independent research can be legally conducted
on many critical questions,” the
scientists wrote in a statement submitted
to the Environmental
Protection Agency. The E.P.A. is seeking public comments
for scientific meetings it will hold next week on
biotech crops. Full story at the link
Fighting
Forests With Fire: A Soldier's Story by Timothy Ingalsbee, Ph.D., Director, Western
Fire Ecology Center
IF YOU ARE A GRUNT, YOUR JOB IS TO FOLLOW ORDERS, PERIOD. You
dig a line, stand in line, hurry up and wait, or work your ass
off according to the orders of your superiors. Your crew boss
and foreman tell you when and where to eat, sleep, and shit.
I tended to follow my orders with gusto and few gripes, and earned
superior evaluations (but no medals) for my combat service. It
is scary for me to look back now and see how years of playing
with G.I. Joe dolls, and psychological training in school athletics,
conditioned me with the ability to ignore my own anarchist instincts,
pacifist principles, and anti-imperialist politics, and willingly
enlist as a grunt in Uncle Sam's firefighting army. Now I deeply
regret doing the many awful damn-stupid, dangerous, and destructive
things that go on in firefighting. Full
story at the link
2/17/09 Ireland
scrambles over Russian navy oil spill Irish aircraft monitoring
an oil spill believed to come
from a Russian navy refuelling accident off
Ireland's south coast have recorded 522 tonnes of
fuel spreading across the sea, officials said Tuesday.
Following an overfly of the spill, Irish authorities
downgraded an earlier estimate of 1,000 tonnes given by the British
coastguard, and said the fuel oil was now in three distinct slicks
in the North Atlantic, heading east Full story at
the link
2/10/09 US
Interior Secretary breaks with 'drill-only' energy
policy US Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday moved away from "drill-only" energy
policies as he blocked a last-minute attempt by the administration
of George W. Bush to push
through the sale of offshore leases to gas and
oil companies.Full story at the link
Tree
deaths soar in Western U.S. Tree deaths, spurred by global
warming, have more than doubled in older forests across Western
states, federal scientists reported Thursday. Droughts and pests
brought on by warmer temperatures have killed firs, hemlocks,
pines and other large trees in particular over the past 30 years
without allowing replacements to sprout, the study published
in the journal Science finds. Full story
at the link
Antarctic
ice shelf set to collapse due to warming WILKINS ICE SHELF,
Antarctica. A huge Antarctic ice shelf is on the
brink of collapse with just a sliver of ice holding
it in place, the latest victim of global warming that
is altering maps of the frozen continent.Full story
at the link
The world gets crazier and crazier everyday, doesn't it? The world that many
of us thought was there, isn't. The bottom has dropped out of everything. The
illusions have been revealed, we have found out who has been pulling the strings
behind the scenes. Millions have lost their jobs, have mortgage
problems, credit card issues, credit repair problems and
foreclosure. What can be
done? Amazingly, we have been mislead. We have been taught that we can control
government by voting. The founder of the Rothschild dynasty, Mayer Amschel
Bauer, told the secret of controlling the government of a nation over 200 years
ago. He said, "Permit
me to issue and control the money of a nation and I care not who makes its
laws." Get
the picture? Your freedom hinges first on the nation's banks and money system.
It's all about 'commerce'. Freedom is connected with Debt Elimination for
each individual. Not only does this end
personal debt, it places the people first in line
as creditors to the National Debt ahead of the banks. They don't wish for
you to know this. It has to do with recognizing WHO you really are in A
New Beginning: A Practical Course in Miracles, an informational study. Is
your credit rating bad for reasons that seem out of your control? There are
ways of credit repair,
so you can men those broken fences too. Do you want to keep your children protected
from outside forces, there are ways of protecting
your children. Do you want
to keep your sons and daughters free from 'the draft'? Check this out.
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'Freezer
plan' bid to save coral The prospects
of saving the world's coral reefs now appear
so bleak that plans are being made to freeze
samples to preserve them for the future.
Official: 
lacda (Los Angeles Center of Digital Arts) presents: 
Permafrost
Is Thawing In Northern Sweden
