Category Archives: pollution

Atrazine Peaks In Illinois Waters In April And May – Still getting the word out never hurts

Posted on by
Reply

I got this from my buddy Darryl Malek-Wiley. At:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001252051472

He has been a very active environmentalist in Southern Louisiana for 30 years. He got it here:

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2011/2011-1123atrazine-tied-to-menstrual-irregularities

Atrazine in water tied to menstrual irregularities, low hormones

Women who drink water contaminated with low levels of the weed-killer atrazine may be more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles and low estrogen levels, scientists concluded in a new study. The most widely used herbicide in the United States, atrazine is frequently detected in surface and ground water, particularly in agricultural areas of the Midwest. The newest research, which compared women in Illinois farm towns to women in Vermont, adds to the growing scientific evidence linking atrazine to altered hormones.

2011-1129cropspray
University of Georgia
The herbicide atrazine is frequently detected in surface and groundwater, especially near cornfields in the Midwest.
By Lindsey Konkel
Environmental Health News
Nov. 28, 2011

Women who drink water contaminated with low levels of the weed-killer atrazine may be more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles and low estrogen levels, scientists concluded in a new study.

The most widely used herbicide in the United States, atrazine is frequently detected in surface and ground water, particularly in agricultural areas of the Midwest. Approximately 75 percent of all U.S. cornfields are treated with atrazine each year.

The newest research, which compared women in Illinois to women in Vermont, adds to the growing scientific evidence linking atrazine to altered hormones.

The women from Illinois farm towns were nearly five times more likely to report irregular periods than the Vermont women, and more than six times as likely to go more than six weeks between periods. In addition, the Illinois women had significantly lower levels of estrogen during an important part of the menstrual cycle.

Tap water in the Illinois communities had double the concentration of atrazine in the Vermont communities’ water. Nevertheless, the water in both states was far below the federal drinking water standard currently enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

:}

It is a long article. I stopped at the mention of Illinois. Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

The Next Annual Climate Summit – Same as the last one

Posted on by
Reply

They hold these every year and every year they get nowhere. The worldwide oil, natural gas and coal interests are just to strong for them to come too an agreement. But take heart, they are meeting in South Africa, the leading polluter in Africa bar none. Geographically their proximity to Antarctica is frightening. Not only that but they are the leading proponent of coal gasification. One of the nastiest 19th century practices still in use. Then there are the Canadians and their oil sands.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Durban+Dummies+What+stake+international+climate+change+summit+South/5774871/story.html

Durban for Dummies: What’s at stake at the international climate-change summit in South Africa

By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News November 27, 2011

???OTTAWA – A two-week United Nations climate change summit in the South African coastal city of Durban begins Monday with nations far apart on negotiations to achieve a binding treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent dangerous changes in the atmosphere.

Governments from around the world have reached a consensus, based on the latest scientific evidence, that global warming is being caused by human activity and that it will lead to a range of consequences such as melting ice sheets, rising sea levels, and more severe storms and weather. But they believe they can reduce the impact of climate change by taking action now.

Here is some background on what’s at stake:

What is the Kyoto Protocol?

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that updates the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The original convention was signed in 1992 and came into force in 1994. The nations that signed the UN treaty, both developed and developing nations, agreed on the necessity to take measures to prevent human activity from causing dangerous interference with the climate. It also recognized that rich countries produced the emissions in their industrial development which are causing the changes in the atmosphere and must do more than their counterparts in the developing world.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Fascinating New Photos Inside Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

Posted on by
Reply

I can’t post these photos here because there are 67 of them and they are linked. So I will just post the text. I might add that if you skip down to photo 40 or so you will see the real damage to the power plant itself. Most of the pictures are of the temporary village that houses the workers, the drive to the power plant and and the emergency control room. This is probably because this is where the photographer spent the bulk of his time and was bored. They are real cool for the geeks like me. Thank you Denver Post.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2011/11/14/inside-japans-fukushima-nuclear-reactor/5085/

Inside Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Station

Posted Nov 14, 2011

Associated Press photographer David Guttenfelder, along with other reporters, was allowed inside the Fukushima nuclear power station to witness the devastation, for the first time, caused by Japan’s March 12th earthquake and tsunami.
Eight months later, the plant remains a shambles. Mangled trucks, flipped over by the power of the wave, still clutter its access roads. Rubble remains strewn where it fell. Pools of water cover parts of the once immaculate campus.
Tens of thousands of the plant’s former neighbors may never be able to go home. And just as Hiroshima and Nagasaki become icons of the horrors of nuclear weapons, Fukushima has become the new rallying cry of the global anti-nuclear energy movement.
Yet this picture is one of progress, Japanese officials say. It has taken this long to make the plant stable enough to allow Saturday’s tour, which included representatives of the Japanese and international media — including The Associated Press. Officials expect to complete an early but important step toward cleaning up the accident by the end of the year. (AP)

:}

Go there and see them. More next week.

:}

Global Warming Is Huge – And so are the storms it spawns

Posted on by
Reply

This years weather was truly weird. Hot cold hot cold hot cold. Next year will be even more uneven. I wonder when the farmers are going to wake up to the fact that their livelihoods are on the line. Nitrogen fertilizer is one of the chief causes. Yet next spring they will be spraying it with gay abandon.

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/blogs/un-wilder-weather-on-the-way#

Russell McLendon

U.N.: Wilder weather on the way

The threat of heat waves and heavy precipitation are becoming especially severe, warns the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Russell McLendon

U.N.: Wilder weather on the way

The threat of heat waves and heavy precipitation are becoming especially severe, warns the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Fri, Nov 18 2011 at 12:36 PM EST
People around the planet should prepare for “unprecedented extreme weather,” according to a report released Friday by top international scientists and disaster experts. Earth’s recent wild weather is likely just a sneak peek, the report warns, as rising global temperatures cook the oceans and atmosphere into a frenzy.

“We need to be worried,” one of the study’s lead authors tells the Associated Press. “And our response needs to anticipate disasters and reduce risk before they happen rather than wait until after they happen and clean up afterward. … Risk has already increased dramatically.”

This dire outlook comes via the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a Nobel Prize-winning research group that issues periodic reports on global warming. The IPCC’s next big report is due in 2014, but a panel meeting in Uganda this week decided the threat of extreme weather warrants a warning now. If greenhouse gas emissions keep rising, the IPCC says temperatures — and weather — could quickly spiral out of control.
“For the high-emissions scenario, it is likely that the frequency of hot days will increase by a factor of 10 in most regions of the world,” says the IPCC’s Thomas Stocker. “Likewise, heavy precipitation will occur more often, and the wind speed of tropical cyclones will increase while their number will likely remain constant or decrease.”
Scientists avoid blaming specific storms on climate trends, but the broader link between weather and warming has been discussed for years — especially after the horrific 2005 hurricane season. It has become an increasingly common topic of debate over the last two years, as blizzards battered North America and Europe, wildfire and droughts ravaged Russia and Somalia, floods inundated Pakistan and Thailand, and tornadoes leveled U.S. cities from Missouri to Massachusetts.

:}

Go there and see the neat graphs and the rest of the story. More tomorrow.

:}

Morocco’s Bid To Become The New Saudi Arabia – Transmission losses will be killer

Posted on by
Reply

While solar projects in general are a good idea, location is everything.  Morocco is close to Europe. Well it is close to Spain and Southern France but the line losses with current technology will be huge. I suppose it would help to electrify Northwest Africa, but I doubt if that is the market.

http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=14771

World Bank backs Morocco concentrating solar power megaproject

november 18, 2011

Ouarzazate is only the first part of Morocco’s ambitious plan of developing 2000 megawatts in solar energy capacity by 2020. The first stage is a concentrated solar thermal power design, using parabolic trough mirrors.

World Bank backs Morocco concentrating solar power megaproject

The World Bank today approved $297 million in loans to Morocco to help finance the Ouarzazate Concentrated Solar Power Plant Project, taking a historic step toward realizing one of the first large-scale plants of this kind in North Africa to exploit the region’s vast solar energy resources.

With this approval from the Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, Morocco takes the lead with the first project in the low-carbon development plan under the ambitious Middle East and North Africa Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Scale-up Program. A $200 million loan will be provided by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the part of the Bank that lends to developing country governments, and another $97 million loan will come from the Clean Technology Fund.

“The World Bank is proud to provide the financing needed to make this large-scale renewable energy investment possible,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. “Ouarzazate demonstrates Morocco’s commitment to low-carbon growth and could demonstrate the enormous potential of solar power in the Middle East and North Africa. During a time of transformation in North Africa, this solar project could advance the potential of the technology, create many new jobs across the region, assist the European Union to meet its low-carbon energy targets, and deepen economic and energy integration in the Mediterranean. That’s a multiple winner.”

The 500 megawatt (MW) Ouarzazate solar complex, as the first power site, will be among the largest CSP plants in the world and is an important step in Morocco’s national plan to deploy 2000 MW of solar power generation capacity by 2020.

The World Bank has supported Morocco’s national Solar Power Plan since it was launched in 2009 and is now making this significant loan to co-finance the development and construction of the Ouarzazate Project Phase 1 parabolic trough plant through a Public Private Partnership between the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) and a private partner. Ouarzazate Phase 1 will involve the first 160 MW and will help Morocco avoid 240,000 tons of CO2 equivalent a year.

:}

More next week.

:}

Cement Kilns Burn Toxic Waste – But are not regulated like toxic burners

Posted on by
Reply

I skipped the lead which is about people having mixed feelings about the trade off between providing employment and pollution.  Personally I do not have mixed feelings because pollution controls supply jobs not take them away. But I skipped to the main fact that these kilns burn toxic waste but are much more loosely regulated. Nuff said.

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/10/142183546/epa-regulations-give-kilns-permission-to-pollute

Kilns ‘Not Designed To Burn Hazardous Waste’

Regulators have resisted, citing Ash Grove’s compliance with pollution standards. But those standards give cement kilns permission to pollute when they burn toxic junk for fuel.

Kilns are legally allowed to pump more toxins into the air than are hazardous-waste incinerators, which burn many of the same dangerous materials, including industrial solvents, aluminum plant waste and other toxic leftovers from the production of chemicals, oil and pharmaceuticals.

The Ash Grove Cement Kiln, as seen from an aerial photograph, sits on the northern edge of Chanute, Kan. 
Enlarge David Gilkey/NPRThe Ash Grove Cement Kiln, as seen from an aerial photograph, sits on the northern edge of Chanute, Kan. 

“The problem with cement plants that burn hazardous waste is that they’re not designed to burn hazardous waste,” says Jim Pew, a lawyer for the environmental group Earth Justice. “In my view it’s a loophole for the cement industry.”

Kilns like the one in Chanute that were built or rebuilt before 2005 can emit 43 percent more lead and cadmium — close to four times the hydrogen chloride and chlorine gas, and twice the particulates — than actual hazardous waste incinerators. Thirteen cement kilns in six states operate under those standards.

Three newer or upgraded kilns can emit even more toxic pollutants under EPA standards, including 18 times the lead and cadmium and 15 times the mercury.

These elevated levels are not harmful, says the EPA’s Brooks, because federal pollution limits are “set with a margin of public healthy and safety.”

The industry considers the safety margin huge — “far lower than what is necessary to protect human health and the environment,” says Mike Benoit of the Cement Kiln Recycling Coalition. The numbers are deceiving, he adds, and the actual emissions are minuscule.

“We’re talking about nanograms,” Benoit continues. “We’re talking about micrograms. Millionths of a gram — billionths of a gram.”

Mercury Pollution

But tiny measurements can add up, especially when it comes to mercury emissions at Ash Grove.

“In the year 2004, for example, the Chanute plant was the second-largest emitter of mercury in Kansas,” says Craig Volland, an environmental consultant who advises the Kansas Sierra Club on air pollution issues.

:}

Go there and read. More tomorrow.

:}

Mild Radiation Blankets Europe – But nobody knows where it is coming from

Posted on by
Reply

NO, there is no danger per se. This isotope decays in 8 days, but the detections have been coming in since Oct. 19th and so the source must be ongoing. The most troubling thing besides everyone’s complacency is the inability to pin point the source.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2060469/Radiation-Europe-UN-nuclear-agency-mystified-soaring-levels.html

??

Riddle of the radiation sweeping across Europe: UN nuclear agency mystified by soaring levels

  • IAEA say Fukushima blast not to blame
  • No increase reported in U.K despite changes in Europe

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 5:52 PM on 12th November 2011

Very low levels of radioactive iodine-131 have been detected throughout Europe, but the particles are not believed to pose a public health risk, the U.N.nuclear agency said on Friday. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Vienna-based U.N. watchdog, said it did not believe the radioactive particles were from Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant after its emergency in March.

The Czech Republic’s nuclear security watchdog said it had tipped off the IAEA after detecting the radiation it thought was coming from abroad but not from a nuclear power plant. It suggested it may come from production of radiopharmaceuticals.
 

Germany’s Environment Ministry said slightly higher levels of radioactive iodine had been measured in the north of the country, ruling out that it came from a nuclear power plant.

Hungary, Slovakia, Austria and Sweden also reported traces at very low levels that did not pose a health risk.

Experts said the origin of the radiation – which has been spreading for about two weeks – remained a mystery but could come from many possible sources ranging from medical laboratories or hospitals to nuclear submarines.

Iodine-131, linked to cancer if found in high doses, can contaminate products such as milk and vegetables.

Paddy Regan, a professor of nuclear physics at Britain’s University of Surrey, said the suggestion that it may have leaked from a radiopharmaceuticals maker ‘sounds very sensible and totally reasonable.

:}
I skipped the parts about it coming from a nebula, a nuclear submarine and patient’s excrement because they are ludicrous. You can go there and read the rest but the most likely source repeated a couple of times is some pharmaceutical company. Wonder why they can’t find it. Hmmm.
:}
More tomorrow.

:}

The Gulf Is Crying And The Animals Keep Dying – Humans too

Posted on by
Reply

I know I posted pretty much the same thing last week. Guess what I could pretty much post the same thing next week; and the week after that, and on and on. Still, the Gulf is in trouble and no one is offering answers.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rkistner/willie_seaman_of_irvington_al.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+switchboard_rkistner+%28Switchboard%3A+Rocky+Kistner%27s+Blog%29

Rocky Kistner’s Blog

As Dolphins Die, Gulf Residents Ask What About Us?

Willie Seaman of Irvington, AL, lays carpet and floors for a living. But last summer, as the BP well gushed thousands of barrels of oil daily into the Gulf, Seaman signed up with the BP cleanup program, working on a shrimp boat several miles off shore.

It was brutally hot and the smell of oil was putrid, Seaman remembers. His job was to use a net to try to pull in the thick, reddish BP crude that he says was up to a foot thick in places. Problem was, the white protective suits didn’t do much to keep the oil off, Willie recalls. Instead, he says they acted like absorbent pads, soaking up the oil that would rub against his skin.

Seaman says before long he started breaking out in blistery red hives on his hands and feet. The itching was so bad a coworker said Seaman would scrub his feet with a wire brush until his skin sloughed off like scales of a fish. Despite shots of steroids and numerous doctor visits, Seaman endured countless bouts of painful hives; and he still gets them, he says, especially after eating seafood from the Gulf. He also says he knows others who have broken out in hives after eating seafood.

“They took advantage of everyone down here because we were all poor and broke,” he says. “They told us in hazwhoper class that we didn’t have to worry about the toxins because the oil was weathered and there were no fumes. We’ll it was so bad my eyes were on fire and I had tears running down my throat.”

Seaman reports he got $12,000 from BP last year for lost wages and then took a $5,000 quick claim buyout from BP claims administer Ken Feinberg. “I needed the money, but now I can’t sue because I took the money,” he says.

:}

Go there and read more. You do not have to worry about the toxins. How sad. More tomorrow.

:}

Fukushima Reactors Still Not Controlled – Now the Japanese government bails out TepCo

Posted on by
Reply

Really this whole situation is absurd. TepCo claims that the plants are still behaving weirdly, that it could be 10 years before they can start to tear the reactors apart and 20 years before it will be resolved. Yet the Japanese government gives them 11 billion $$$. What?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/15550270

November 2011 Last updated at 02:30 ET

Japan nuclear crisis: Xenon detected at Fukushima plant

By Roland Buerk BBC News, Tokyo

A radioactive gas has been detected at Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the facility’s operator says.

Tepco said xenon had been found in reactor two, which was previously thought to be near a stable shutdown.

There has been no increase in temperature or pressure, but the discovery may indicate a problem with the reactor

:}

And Yet:

:}

Japan Starts Tepco Bailout as Fukushima Causes More Losses

November 04, 2011, 7:32 AM EDT

By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada

(Updates with comment from company in 13th paragraph.)

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) — Tokyo Electric Power Co. won approval for a 900 billion yen ($11.5 billion) bailout from the government after the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe to avert bankruptcy and start paying compensation for the crisis.

Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano approved the support after the company known as Tepco committed to cutting 7,400 jobs and 2.5 trillion yen in costs. The utility forecast an annual loss of 600 billion yen, its second since the March earthquake and tsunami wrecked its Fukushima nuclear plant.

The government of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is stepping in to ensure residents, farmers, fishermen and forestry businesses are properly compensated by a utility that supplies power to 29 million customers in the political and economic heart of Japan. Tepco may need more aid after March 2013, said Takashi Aoki, who helps manage 120 billion yen at Tokyo-based Mizuho Asset Management Co.

:}

Read both articles or until you get sick. Which ever comes first. More next week.

:}

Moving On To National Issues for Awhile – The Gulf of Mexico is still screwed up

Posted on by
Reply

If the Exxon Valdez incident is any example the Gulf will be damaged for 20 years and most of the people who had direct contact with the oil will be dead. Generally this is a crime with nobody in jail.

http://alabamashrimpfestival.com/2011/11/01/bio-hazard-beach-littered-with-possibly-hazardous-dead-dolphin-chunks/

 

Bio Hazard : Mississippi Beach littered with possibly Bio-hazardous dead dolphin chunks

by Michele on November 1, 2011

Click the link to see more of these pictures by Laurel Lockamy  : This is Disgraceful … instead of proper disposal of dead Marine mammal’s they bury potentially Bio Hazardous pieces of them all over this Mississippi beach

I am disgusted by what I am seeing … What are these people thinking… A Government report was just released stating that 5 of 21 dolphins that they’ve tested so far died from a  a Bacteria known as Brucella…. Yes it can be transmitted to humans as well as domestic animals… While Brucella is a naturally occurring bacteria these scientists involved in the study feel that either the bacteria has mutated in to a more viralent and Lethal Strain  after being exposed to Crude Oil and Dispersants  from the BP Oil Disaster .. or possibly that the Dolphins immune systems have been so compromised from the continuing environmental stressors related to the BP Oil Disaster that they can no longer fight off what would otherwise for the most part have been a non- lethal infection.. Wake up people The Gulf is not better than before the spill and the ongoing death and destruction continue daily from La.- Fl. Please stay out of the water,and DO NOT EAT GULF SEAFOOD !!!!

Here is Stuart Smith’s latest article on the subject > Government Scientists Tie BP Spill to Dolphin Die-Off in Gulf – And Suggest Humans Also Could BeAffected

Here is the link to the CNN report Bacteria linked to deaths of bottlenosed dolphins

Going to include this link to more info on Brucella : Welcome to Brucella Bioinformatics Portal

NRDC ‘s Rocky Kistner’s latest for the Huffington Post: As Dolphins Die, Gulf Residents Ask What About Us?

 

:}

More national news tomorrow.

:}