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Fukui
Gov Issei Nishikawa will soon give his consent for the restart of two
nuclear reactors in the prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, sources
close to the matter said Sunday, as the central government seeks to
bring more reactors back online after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.
The
governor will visit the site of the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai
Electric Power Co’s Takahama plant on Monday to check safety measures
before expressing his consent, they said. The governor’s consent is
necessary to restart the reactors.
Earlier in the day, industry
minister Motoo Hayashi, in charge of the country’s energy policy, met
with Nishikawa at the Fukui prefectural office and sought the Fukui
governor’s consent for the restart of the two nuclear reactors.
Interior
Sally Jewell testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec.
9, 2015, before the House Natural Resources Oversight Committee hearing
on the Animas River Spill in Colorado. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) more >
By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell
said Wednesday she is unaware of anyone being fired, fined or even
demoted for the Gold King Mine spill, prompting Republicans to accuse
her of taking the EPA off the hook for the toxic blowout.
“So you’re letting the EPA get off scot-free it sounds like. They are not being held accountable,” said Rep. Doug Lamborn, Colorado Republican, at the House Natural Resources Committee hearing.
Republicans took Ms. Jewell to task for the Interior Department’s
investigation into the Aug. 5 spill, saying the October report failed
to hold anyone responsible for unleashing 3 million gallons of orange,
toxic wastewater into the Animas River near Silverton, Colorado.
“You’re directly responsible for this report. The EPA
had promised this committee a thorough investigation,” said Rep. Tom
McClintock, California Republican. “We have not gotten one. What we have
gotten is a complete, deliberate whitewash.”
Licences
for more than half of the Kgalagadi transfrontier park, one of Africa’s
largest conservation areas, have been granted to drill for shale gas
The Kgalagadi transfrontier park straddles Botswana and South Africa
and is home to the cheetah and black-maned Kalahari lion. Photograph:
Jeffrey Barbee/Alliance Earth.org
Wednesday 2 December 2015 04.53 EST Last modified on Wednesday 2 December 2015 19.00 EST `
The Botswana
government has quietly sold the rights to frack for shale gas in one of
Africa’s largest protected conservation areas, it has emerged.
The Kgalagadi transfrontier park, which spans the border with South Africa,
is an immense 3 6,000 sq km wilderness, home to gemsbok desert
antelope, black-maned Kalahari lions and pygmy falcons. But
conservationists and top park officials – who were not informed of the
fracking rights sale – are now worried about the impact of drilling on
wildlife.
Prospecting licences for more than half of the park were
granted to a UK-listed company called Nodding Donkey in September 2014,
although the sale has not been reported previously. That company
changed its name earlier this month to Karoo Energy.
Park
officials said that no drilling has yet taken place, but the Guardian
found oil sediment on the ground near a popular camp site. There was an
overwhelming smell of tar and a drill stem protruded from an apparently
recently drilled hole. It is not known who had carried out the drilling
or when.
Scientist Gus Mills worked and lived in Kgalagadi for 18
years studying cheetahs and hyenas. He said he is worried about the
impact on wildlife and environment.
“The development that is going
to have to go on there, with infrastructure that has to be moved in,
seems to be yet another nail in the coffin of wild areas in the world.”
Dr Peter Apps, who studies large predators for the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust , said drilling could have a range of impacts, notably on water sources in the park.
Environmental
groups claim Nestlé is breaking federal law by operating on an expired
permit to remove millions of gallons of water from a southern California
forest despite the state’s historic drought
A new lawsuit against Nestlé claims the company is illegally pumping
millions of gallons of water from California’s San Bernardino National
Forest. Photograph: Larry W Smith/EPA
A
consortium of environmental advocacy groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday
against the US Forest Service, alleging that the federal agency has
allowed food and beverage giant Nestlé to illegally pump millions of
gallons of water from California’s San Bernardino National Forest for
decades, despite the current historic drought.
The Story of Stuff
Project, along with co-plaintiffs the Center for Biological Diversity
and the Courage Campaign Institute, claim that Nestlé is breaking
federal law, operating on a permit expired nearly 20 years ago, in 1988,
removing between 50m-150m gallons of water each year from a creek in
the southern Californian forest to use in its Arrowhead bottled water
brand. The organizations are asking the US Forest Service to immediately
turn off the water spigot and conduct a permit review, assessing the
environmental impact of Nestlé’s operations.
“They are taking
water from a national forest that desperately needs that water,” said
Michael O’Heaney, executive director at the Story of Stuff, a group that
advocates to clean up consumer culture. “The Forest Service is
obligated by law to ensure the natural resources of the forest are
protected.”
Lisa Belenky, senior attorney at the Center for
Biological Diversity, said the Forest Service “has a duty to look at
permits and make sure they’re current and do an environmental review to
make sure it isn’t impacting areas of the forest”.
But Nestlé says it isn’t breaking any laws, and insists that its permit hasn’t expired.
ASSOCIATED PRESSIn
this Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015 photo, Genetha Campbell carries free water
being distributed at the Lincoln Park United Methodist Church in Flint,
Mich, Since the financially struggling city broke away from the Detroit
water system last year, residents have been unhappy with the smell,
taste and appearance of water from the city’s river as they await the
completion of a pipe to Lake Huron. They also have raised health
concerns, reporting rashes, hair loss and other problems. A General
Motors plant stopped using the water, saying it was rusting its parts.
(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
DETROIT
(AP) -- A public health emergency has been declared in cash-strapped
Flint after tests showed the Michigan city's water supply is causing
elevated levels of lead in children and following months of complaints
about the smell and taste.
Gov. Rick Snyder
this week questioned the switch to the Flint River from the Detroit
water system in 2014, a decision that was made as a cost-saving move
while a new regional pipeline is built to Lake Huron.
And
on Thursday, the Genesee County health department declared a public
health emergency, recommending that people not drink the water unless it
has been filtered and tested to rule out elevated levels of lead. More
steps will be announced Friday.
The problem: Although the river water is treated, it is corrosive and releasing lead from old plumbing in thousands of homes.
A
coalition of residents and national groups petitioned the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to order the state to reconnect Flint to
Detroit water.
As we have covered extensively in recent months,
Monsanto’s herbicide Glysophate, the primary ingredient in their
top-selling product “RoundUp” has been proven to cause cancer. Now,
according to new reports, the chemical doesn’t even work and is creating a new resistance in weeds that make them more resiliant and more difficult to get rid of.
Nebraska farmer Mike Pietzyk recently discussed how the weeds are becoming resistant to RoundUp in a recent interview with Chemicals And Engineers News.
“The days of going out and spraying RoundUp twice a year—those are long gone,”
he said, adding that he was forced to use a cocktail of different
chemicals, some of which are even more dangerous than RoundUp. Pietzyk
and other farmers are now seeking new solutions to avoid the harsh
pesticides used in conventional farming.
“People
in urban areas and towns need to understand—we live here, we drink the
water under the ground out here,” he says. “We want to be good stewards
of what we’ve been entrusted with,” he said.
According to
U.S. weed scientist Dallas Peterson, one type of weed, in particular,
called Palmer amaranth, has become especially resistant to pesticides
and is overgrowing farms across the country.
Complaints of
herbicide-resistant weeds have become so common that the House
Agriculture Committee has scheduled a meeting on December 4th to
specifically address the situation.
Roundup, formulated to be used on GMO
or “Roundup Ready” crops engineered to be resistant to it, is the most
widely used herbicide in the world. It was originally introduced in the
1970s to control weeds and then took off when the planting of GMO crops
skyrocketed in the past 15 years.
According to a U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS), glyphosate use in the U.S. increased from about 20 million
pounds in 1992 to 110 million pounds in 2002 to more than 280 million
pounds in 2012.
In a statement
released earlier this year, the World Health Organization’s
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced that
glyphosate, the main ingredient in RoundUp, is “probably carcinogenic.”
John Vibes
writes for True Activist and is an author, researcher and investigative
journalist who takes a special interest in the counter culture and the
drug war.
Mudslide survivors in Argu village, Afghanistan. Photograph: Nasir Waqif/EPA
Lailema's
soft wailing filters through the canvas of her tent, a 12-year-old's
hopeless lament for her mother and a life that is gone forever. Her
three younger siblings play on the dusty floor as her grandmother cries
silently nearby and her uncle wonders how to feed his new dependents.
None
of them have eaten since the landslide in the village of Aab Barik – in
the north-eastern province of Badakshan – that took away their home and
six relatives two days earlier, despite trucks full of food aid parked
just a few metres away. No one has distributed the bags of rice, oil and
other necessities, they say.
"They promised that they would hand
them out after the government officials leave today," said Khan Baay,
the uncle, who was heading out to hear the vice-president, Yunus Qanuni,
lead prayers for the dead and promise survivors whatever help they
need, backed by a delegation of ministers, members of parliament and
European ambassadors.
But many on the ground were less interested
in pledges from dignitaries helicoptered in to survey the damage than
getting their hands on something edible. "I am so hungry I could scratch
your eyes out," said Bibi Jaahan, a grandmother in her early 60s who
lost her home and several relatives to the mud. "I haven't eaten for
over two days."
Sharing her tent is Zaina, breastfeeding her
11-month-old son but worried that her milk is drying up, as he grumbles
then starts crying. She has only scavenged a few biscuits to feed him,
and knows he needs more solid food.
The Afghan Red Crescent was
quick to hand out tents to those who lost their homes in last Friday's
devastating mudslide, and in the corner of newly motherless Lailema's
cramped new home, barely two metres wide and perhaps three times as
long, there are new plates and tea cups but nothing to eat off them.
They
were part of their package of "non-food items", explains Ahmad, an
official from the charity who stops by to check on the family. "We
started handing out tents on Friday, but other organisations are
responsible for food. We cannot provide everything ourselves."
Around
250 people were feared dead following a landslide in northeastern
Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. According to local government
officials, the incident took place in Argu district and dozens of others
have been trapped under the rocks. A local official in Badakhshan
province said around around 250 people have been killed following the
landslide while 200 houses and dozens of more people were trapped
following the rockslide. Provincial police chief, Fazluddin Ayar
confirmed that over 250 people were trapped following a landslide in Aab
Khoshk village. Mr. Ayar further added that the incident took place
around 12:00 pm local time and Afghan secuirty forces and rescue teams
have been deployed to the area to assist the local residents. This comes
as deputy Afghan interior minister Gen. Ayub Salangi earlier said
around 200 houses were affected following the rockslide. Gen. Salangi
had said preliminary reports suggest that the casualties due to the
rockslide is around 200 people.
A
landslide triggered by heavy rains buried a village Friday in
northeastern Afghanistan, leaving as many as 2,000 people missing, a top
official said. Badakshan province Gov. Shah Waliullah Adeeb said more
than 2,000 people were missing after a hill collapsed on the village of
Hobo Barik. Adeeb said the landslide buried some 300 homes in the area -
about a third of all houses there. The governor said rescue crews were
working but didn't have enough equipment, appealing for shovels. "It's
physically impossible right now," Adeeb said. "We don't have enough
shovels; we need more machinery." He said authorities evacuated a nearby
village over concerns about further landslides. Faziluddin Hayar, the
police chief in Badakshan province, said the landslide happened about 1
p.m. Friday. Badakshan province, nestled in the Hindu Kush and Pamir
mountain ranges and bordering China, is one of the most remote in the
country. The area has seen few attacks from insurgents following the
2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
A
landslide triggered by heavy rain buried large sections of a
northeastern Afghan village Friday, killing at least 350 people and
leaving up to 2,500 missing. Villagers looked on helplessly and the
governor appealed for shovels to help dig through the mass of mud that
flattened every home in its path. The mountainous area in Badakhshan
province has experienced days of heavy rain and flooding, and the side
of a cliff collapsed onto the village of Hobo Barik at midday, burying
it under up to 60 feet of mud and rocks, officials said. Landslides and
avalanches are frequent in Afghanistan, but Friday's was one of the
deadliest. It was one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory in
Afghanistan, where spring rainfall and snowmelt make the mountainous
northeast susceptible to flash floods and mudslides. U.N. officials said
more Afghans had been killed in natural disasters in the past seven
days than in all of 2013. Gov. Shah Waliullah Adeeb said up to 2,500
people were missing after the landslide buried some 300 homes, about
one-third of all the houses in the area. At least 350 people were
confirmed dead, according to Ari Gaitanis, a spokesman from the United
Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. He said the U.N. was working
with authorities to rescue trapped people.
The governor said
rescue crews were working, but didn't have enough equipment. "It's
physically impossible right now," Adeeb said. "We don't have enough
shovels; we need more machinery." The Badakhshan provincial police
chief, Maj. Gen. Faziluddin Hayar, said rescue workers had pulled seven
survivors and three bodies from the mounds of mud and earth, but held
out little hope that more survivors would be found. "Now we can only
help the displaced people. Those trapped under the landslide and who
have lost lives, it is impossible to do anything for them," Hayar said.
Video footage showed that a large section of the mountain collapsed,
sending mud and earth tumbling onto the village below. The landslide was
likely caused by heavy rain, said Abdullah Homayun Dehqan, the
province's director for the National Disaster Department. He said the
landslide happened about 1 p.m. Friday, a day of worship in Afghanistan
when many families would have been at home instead of at work. President
Obama said the United States was ready to assist. "I want to say on
behalf of the American people that our thoughts are with the people of
Afghanistan, who have experienced an awful tragedy," he said at the
White House during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela
Merkel. U.N. humanitarian officials said some areas remained difficult
to reach, making the scale of the damage unclear. Officials fear more
landslides are possible because of more rain and melting snow. About 700
families living on a hillside near Aab Barik were told to move to
higher ground and wait for emergency aid to reach them, Adeeb said.
About
2,250 people are feared dead after a mudslide Friday buried an Afghan
village in the far-north-eastern province of Badakhshan, a spokesman for
the provincial governor said. More than 300 houses in Ab-e-Barik were
swept away in the mudslide, which occurred after heavy rainfall, Naveed
Ferotan said. "Our rescue teams have so far found 150 bodies in the
area, and they are working hard to save the villagers," he said. About
2,100 other people are missing and also feared dead, officials said. The
mudslide first struck a wedding party, killing 250 people, and then
buried nearly all of the village as well as farmland, said Haji Abdul
Wadood Saeedi, governor of the Argu district, where Ab-e-Barik is
located. About 300 families are missing, he said. The ground is still
unstable, and people in nearby villages are scared they could also
become victims, Saeedi said. Rescue teams were dispatched to the area
and at least 1,500 people have been evacuated from Ab-e-Barik so far,
Saeedi said. The United Nations said 700 families lived in Ab-e-Barik
and at least 120 houses were destroyed. "Reportedly, 350 people have
died and 580 families are at severe risk of further landslides," said
Ari Gaitanis, a UN spokesman in Kabul. "The village is flooded, and a
drainage channel must be opened to prevent further destruction," he
said. The national government and United Nations planned their own
rescue and aid response.
At
least 300 families have been burried under a hill that collapsed in a
remote mountain village in northeast Afghanistan on Friday. The
confirmed death count at present is 2,100, and is expected to rise in
the coming days. "More then 2,100 people from 300 families are all
dead," Naweed Forotan, a spokesman for the Badakhshan provincial
governorsaid. The United Nations said the focus was now on the more than
4,000 displaced by Friday's disaster. There is a risk of further
landslides in the area, officials said.
The
Afghan government officially named the scene hit by a massive landslide
in Badakhshan province as a mass grave and started focusing on helping
the survivors on Sunday. "The religious scholars and high level
officials has convinced the locals to give up looking for dead bodies,"
Haji Abdul Wadoud, governor of Argo district in Badakhshan told Anadolu
Agency. "It is almost impossible to search for dead bodies," he said.
"When muslims die, they must be buried, and they are already under a
huge hill of mud." The first Vice President Mohammad Younus Qanooni also
visited the area on Sunday along with some cabinet members and
religious authorities. "All agreed that it would be named as the mass
grave of Abe Barik martyrs," Abdul Wadoud said. Early Friday afternoon, a
massive landslide triggered by heavy rainfall engulfed the village of
Abe Barik in northern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. At least 300
families have been trapped under dirt and mud, whereas only 255 of the
dead bodies have been identified so far, but the local authorities
estimate that more than 2,100 people are dead. Heavy rains in the last
few weeks have also caused flash floods in different parts of the
country, taking dozens of lives and damaging hundreds of houses.
Turkey's IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has delivered humanitarian
aid to 350 families hit by Friday's landslide disaster in Badakhshan
province in northeast Afghanistan. "Emergency packages were prepared for
350 families in the first stage of the aid campaign," Orhan Sefik,
Central Asia regional coordinator of the foundation, told Anadolu
Agency. He said the packages contained food, rugs, blankets and kitchen
utensils, adding that the foundation would continue to provide aid to
the area. Earlier, Noor Mohammad Khawari, head of the Badakhshan central
hospital told Anadolu Agency that it would be tragic if the locals
agreed to the village becoming a mass grave although he said it would
require an extraordinary effort driving by a big number of professionals
and machinery to find the buried individuals. "Now they are discussing
securing the scene from the threat of floods so that members of the
victim families can come here to prayer" Khawari added. In a statement
released from his office late Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai
said he was deeply saddened after hearing the news of the landslide. The
Afghan government has also announced a day of national mourning in the
country.
Senators Seek To Force Approval Of Keystone XL Pipeline
Posted: Updated:
WASHINGTON
–- Senate supporters of the Keystone XL pipeline say they think they
have enough votes to pass a bill that would force the approval of the
controversial project. A group of 56 senators -- all 45 Republicans plus
11 Democrats –- introduced legislation on Thursday that would bypass
the Obama administration and grant approval for the pipeline.
Sens. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) introduced the bill on Thursday.
Democrats Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Mark Pryor
(D-Ark.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Claire McCaskill
(D-Mo.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), John Walsh
(D-Mont.), and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) are cosponsoring it.
Because it
crosses an international border, the decision on the pipeline falls
under the authority of the State Department. The State Department
announced another delay on a decision
last month in response to a court decision that invalidated the
pipeline's proposed route through Nebraska, saying that it would wait to
decide until there is more clarity on where the pipeline will
ultimately run. The legislation would grant approval to "any subsequent
revision to the pipeline route" in Nebraska, without requiring further
environmental analysis.
"We continue to hear delay, delay, delay
from the Administration about the Keystone XL pipeline. I’m beyond sick
of it," Heitkamp said in a statement Thursday. "We have strong
bipartisan support in the Senate for this project –- and I’m proud to
have recruited support from 10 other Democrats last month. Now, all of
those Democrats also signed onto this bill that we crafted to fully
approve the construction of the Keystone pipeline. If the Administration
isn’t going to make a decision on this project after more than five
years, then we’ll make it for them. End of story."
Tuesday, April 22, 2014 by: Derek Henry
(NaturalNews)
With thousands of toxins circulating in the world it can be very easy
to become overwhelmed. Formerly nutritious foods have been denatured to
the point that they have very little benefit, and air and water have
become dangerously polluted. These are 5 toxins to be especially
concerned about.
Heavy metals
Heavy metals are not
something that people should normally concern themselves about with
regards to food, air, water, and personal care products. Unfortunately,
that is not the current situation.
Common exposure points to heavy
metals include seafood, dental amalgams, vaccinations, personal care
products, pots and pans, baking powder, smoke, paint, water, work sites,
and chem trails.
These deadly toxins can immediately wreak havoc,
causing chronic pain, fatigue, brain fog, gastrointestinal problems,
allergies, headaches, depression, skin problems, insomnia, paralysis,
and more.
GMOs
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are
foods that have been created by gene-splicing vegetable seedlings with
poisonous pesticides, herbicides, and bacteria so plants are inherently
protected from pests that may try to damage them.
With 85 percent
of all corn, soy, and canola oil being GMO and the fact that they are
some of the most heavily consumed food products on the planet, people
find themselves with a major problem. Add in sugar beets, cotton, and
other popular grains which may be contaminated or are on the agenda to
become GMO (wheat, rice), and there is a nutritional apocalypse in the
making.
As a result of this engineered process, consumers are
essentially consuming toxic seeds laced with chemicals that are known to
mutate cells of the body, resulting in tumors and other forms of
cancer.
Radiation
There are a few forms of radiation, but
the most deadly that are currently polluting the planet are cesium-137
and electromagnetic radiation.
Natural and social scientists develop new model of how 'perfect storm' of crises could unravel global system
This
Nasa Earth Observatory image shows a storm system circling around an
area of extreme low pressure in 2010, which many scientists attribute to
climate change. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
A new study
sponsored by Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center has highlighted the
prospect that global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming
decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly
unequal wealth distribution.
Noting that warnings of 'collapse'
are often seen to be fringe or controversial, the study attempts to make
sense of compelling historical data showing that "the process of
rise-and-collapse is actually a recurrent cycle found throughout
history." Cases of severe civilisational disruption due to "precipitous
collapse - often lasting centuries - have been quite common."
The
research project is based on a new cross-disciplinary 'Human And Nature
DYnamical' (HANDY) model, led by applied mathematician Safa Motesharri
of the US National Science Foundation-supported National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center,
in association with a team of natural and social scientists. The study
based on the HANDY model has been accepted for publication in the
peer-reviewed Elsevier journal, Ecological Economics.
It finds
that according to the historical record even advanced, complex
civilisations are susceptible to collapse, raising questions about the
sustainability of modern civilisation:
"The fall of
the Roman Empire, and the equally (if not more) advanced Han, Mauryan,
and Gupta Empires, as well as so many advanced Mesopotamian Empires, are
all testimony to the fact that advanced, sophisticated, complex, and
creative civilizations can be both fragile and impermanent."
By
investigating the human-nature dynamics of these past cases of
collapse, the project identifies the most salient interrelated factors
which explain civilisational decline, and which may help determine the
risk of collapse today: namely, Population, Climate, Water, Agriculture,
and Energy.
These
factors can lead to collapse when they converge to generate two crucial
social features: "the stretching of resources due to the strain placed
on the ecological carrying capacity"; and "the economic stratification
of society into Elites [rich] and Masses (or "Commoners") [poor]" These
social phenomena have played "a central role in the character or in the
process of the collapse," in all such cases over "the last five thousand
years."
Currently, high levels of economic stratification are
linked directly to overconsumption of resources, with "Elites" based
largely in industrialised countries responsible for both:
"...
accumulated surplus is not evenly distributed throughout society, but
rather has been controlled by an elite. The mass of the population,
while producing the wealth, is only allocated a small portion of it by
elites, usually at or just above subsistence levels."
The study challenges those who argue that technology will resolve these challenges by increasing efficiency:
"Technological
change can raise the efficiency of resource use, but it also tends to
raise both per capita resource consumption and the scale of resource
extraction, so that, absent policy effects, the increases in consumption
often compensate for the increased efficiency of resource use."
Productivity
increases in agriculture and industry over the last two centuries has
come from "increased (rather than decreased) resource throughput,"
despite dramatic efficiency gains over the same period.
http://www.democracynow.org
- We speak with a University of California scientist Tyrone Hayes, who
discovered a widely used herbicide may have harmful effects on the
endocrine system. But when he tried to publish the results, the
chemical's manufacturer launched a campaign to discredit his work. Hayes
was first hired in 1997 by a company, which later became agribusiness
giant Syngenta, to study their product, Atrazine, a pesticide that is
applied to more than half the corn crops in the United States, and
widely used on golf courses and Christmas tree farms. When Hayes found
results Syngenta did not expect -- that Atrazine causes sexual
abnormalities in frogs, and could cause the same problems for humans --
it refused to allow him to publish his findings. A new article in The
New Yorker magazine uses court documents from a class-action lawsuit
against Syngenta to show how it sought to smear Hayes' reputation and
prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from banning the
profitable chemical, which is already banned by the European Union.
Officials said the coal ash is burying aquatic animals and their food. Photograph: Gerry Broome/AP
Federal officials said Tuesday that toxic coal ash has coated the
bottom of a North Carolina river as many as 70 miles downstream of a
Duke Energy dump where a massive spill occurred two weeks ago.
The
US Fish and Wildlife Service advised that a massive pile of coal ash
about 75ft long and as much as 5ft deep has been detected on the bottom
of the Dan river near the site of the February 2 spill. Deposits varying
from 5in deep to less than 1in coated the river bottom across the state
line into Virginia and to Kerr Lake, a major reservoir.
Federal
authorities expressed concern for what long-term effect the contaminants
will have on fish, mussels and other aquatic life. Public health
officials have advised people to avoid contact with the water and not
eat the fish.
“The deposits vary with the river characteristics,
but the short- and long-term physical and chemical impacts from the ash
will need to be investigated more thoroughly, especially with regard to
mussels and fish associated with the stream bottom and wildlife that
feed on benthic invertebrates,” said Tom Augspurger, a contaminants
specialist at the federal wildlife agency. Benthic invertebrates are
small animals that live in the sediments of rivers and lakes, such as
clams, worms and crustaceans.
RALEIGH,
N.C. (AP) — North Carolina officials said Tuesday that groundwater
containing unsafe levels of arsenic apparently leaching from a Duke Energy coal ash dump is still pouring into the Dan River, which is already contaminated from a massive Feb. 2 spill.
The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources
ordered Duke to stop the flow of contaminated water coming out a pipe
that runs under a huge coal ash dump at its Eden power plant. A nearby
pipe at the same dump collapsed without warning two weeks ago, coating
the bottom of the Dan River with toxic ash as far as 70
miles downstream.
State
regulators expressed concern five days ago that the second pipe could
fail, triggering a new spill. The water coming out of that pipe contains
poisonous arsenic at 14 times the level considered safe for human
contact, according to test results released by the state on Tuesday.
"We are ordering Duke Energy to eliminate this unauthorized discharge immediately," said Tom Reeder, director of the N.C. Division of Water Resources.
Video
taken last week by a robot sent inside the 36-inch-wide concrete pipe
showed wide gaps between seams through which groundwater is gushing in,
likely from the toxic dump above.
Tests
on water from the pipe before it goes under the dump showed none of the
dangerous contamination detected at the other end. The concrete inside
the pipe is heavily stained around the numerous leaks, suggesting the
contamination is likely not new.
A
state inspector received the video recorded by Duke during a Feb. 11
visit to the site, but did not review it until Thursday. On Friday
night, the state agency went public with concerns about the pipe's
structural integrity.
Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan quickly issued a statement, downplaying the risk.
"After reviewing the videotape, we determined that no immediate action was necessary," it said.
In
the wake of the initial spill, public health officials issued
advisories telling people to avoid contact with the river water and not
eat the fish.
Authorities
said public drinking water in Danville, Va., and other communities
downstream of the Duke plant remain safe. Heavy metals detected in the
river at levels exceeding state and federal safety standards — including
arsenic, lead and selenium — are being successfully filtered out of
water drawn from the river at municipal treatment plants, they said.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
said Tuesday a massive pile of coal ash about 75 feet long and as much
as 5 feet deep has been detected in the river by the site of the Feb. 2
spill. Deposits varying from 5 inches deep to less than 1 inch coated
the river bottom across the state line into Virginia and to Kerr Lake, a
major reservoir.
Federal
authorities expressed concern for what long-term effect the
contaminants will have on fish, mussels and other aquatic life.
"The
deposits vary with the river characteristics, but the short- and
long-term physical and chemical impacts from the ash will need to be
investigated more thoroughly, especially with regard to mussels and fish
associated with the stream bottom and wildlife that feed on benthic
invertebrates," said Tom Augspurger, a contaminants specialist at the federal wildlife agency.
