Category: Environmental

Above-Ground Oil Storage Tanks the Center of Debates in Mobile, AL

Mobile, AL has long considered itself a hub of industry, where shipbuilding, chemical manufacturing and other industrial activities can all find a home along the city’s Gulf of Mexico waterfront.

But now, the city has become the center stage of a debate over regulations on the energy sector — in particular, regulations regarding above-ground oil storage tanks. Seven of these storage tank facilities sit along the Mobile River, a January 29 AL.com article reports. These facilities play a sizable role in the local economy, employing some 1,800 Mobile County residents in 2013.

Above-ground storage tanks are typically subject to a number of regulations, from the federal level to the state and local levels. Many of Mobile’s residents, economic developers and businesses have become concerned about how new oil storage tanks will be constructed ever since a planned 32-tank construction project fell through before the Mobile Planning Commission.

The one problem? None of these groups can agree with each other, each wanting to influence Mobile County’s storage tank regulations in their own way, AL.com reports.

Last week, Mobile residents gathered at the commission chambers at Government Plaza, offering their own ideas on above-ground oil storage regulations to a city committee . Their concerns for increased oil storage tanks involve public health, quality of life and safety matters, such as the impact of tank explosions and leaks on residents. Local businesses are, somewhat predictably, concerned with the economic impact of these storage tanks, while environmental groups are seeking to make county regulations stricter on the tanks’ effect on the Mobile River, its fish and the wildlife that depends upon these fish.

Another public meeting took place on Tuesday, February 3. The city committee will eventually make recommendations based on these meetings with residents and other groups to a full planning commission, which will vote on whether or not to change current county storage tank regulations.

University of Georgia Researchers to Study Declining Salmon Populations in Alaska

The health of global fish stocks is of increasing concern across the world. According to a study published in Science, popular fishing stocks will be entirely wiped out by 2048, if current fishing and environmental practices are not modified in significant ways.

For most, those findings represent only an abstract, and is too often the case, abstracts haven’t gone very far in pushing people to action. In Alaska, however, declining fish populations are of mammoth concern; the Alaskan fishing industry supports more than 78,000 jobs in the Last Frontier, generating more than $5.8 billion in revenue for the state and its people each year. Needless to say, declining fish populations mean a bit more to Alaskans.

Luckily, UGA Today, a publication from the University of Georgia, reports that a $500,000 grant will go toward studying the causes of the continued collapse of one of Alaska’s most important fish. The Chinook salmon, classically one of the state’s most popular fish, both among commercial and recreational fishers, has seen staggering decline in the last few years. Gary Grossman, professor at UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and Jason Neuswanger, a post-doctoral researcher, will investigate why Chinook aren’t surviving very long after making their way out of Alaskan streams and rivers and into the Pacific. The half-million dollar grant from the North Pacific Research Board will hopefully yield answers for Grossman and Neuswanger, not to mention the tens of thousands of Alaskans who will rely on this valuable live crop for generations to come.

Chinook Aren’t the Only Salmon in Decline
Even if UGA research yields an answer to the woes of Chinook salmon, it’s unlikely Alaskan fishers will breathe easy. The giant king salmon, the state fish of Alaska, has been banned from commercial and recreational fishing since May of this year. This ban followed emergency funding from Congress of $21 million in February to help king and Chinook stocks recover. So far, the efforts funded by that $21 million have failed to yield results. In short, Alaskan salmon stocks, like those almost everywhere else in the world, have reached a critical tipping point.

Independence Pass Officially Closed For the Season Due to Weekend Weather Forecast

With bad weather in the forecast for the next few days, the Colorado Department of Transportation has closed Independence Pass for the remainder of the season.

Authorities had contemplated keeping Highway 82, which traverses the pass, open throughout the day on Thursday, but with six inches of snow already covering the ground and more snow in the forecast, they decided to close the gates as an extra precaution.

Independence Pass is closed at some point in the fall each year and remains closed for the entirety of the winter season. This year’s closing was actually much later than it has been in the past. The pass closed on November 4 last year, November 9 in 2012, November 2 in 2011 and October 26 in 2010, according to Aspen Daily News Online.

Icy, snowy roads have made driving conditions difficult for Aspen residents so far this season, and a number of accidents have already been reported.

By rush hour on Wednesday, there had already been 11 accidents in the city. Across the county, 13 accidents were reported by early evening, including a four-car pileup. Due to the poor road conditions and high number of weather-related car accidents, authorities temporarily closed down a number of roads, including Owl Creek Road between Highway 82 and Highline Road, and Jaffee Hill where McLain Flats Road crosses Smith Hill Way.

Authorities from the Aspen Police Department blamed many of the accidents on poor car maintenance. Recent studies have shown that over 75% of cars on the road are in need of repairs or maintenance, and old, worn-out tires were responsible for several of the accidents seen on Wednesday.

“We urge everyone to winterize their vehicles. Snow tires and/or studded tires are highly recommended,” said Aspen Police Department community relations specialist Blair Weyer, according to Aspen Daily News Online.

On top of bad road conditions, many traffic lights in the city were also hard for drivers to see. Thick layers of ice and snow covered a number of traffic lights along Highway 82 earlier in the week. Even a Colorado Department of Transportation worker sent to try and de-ice some of the lights broke his scraper in the process.

According to Aspen police, the proper procedure when traffic lights are either covered or not working is to treat the intersection as a four-way stop, though they say they rarely see drivers follow this rule.

Monterey County Begins Compliance with California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act for Overdrafted Basins

Monterey County, CA, officials have begun a move that will balance groundwater basins in Salinas Valley, after facing a state mandate to meet this goal over the next 20 years.

The county’s Board of Supervisors and water resources agency urged county staff in a meeting to develop a proposal for the establishment of a local groundwater agency and a sustainability plan for the next few years.

The proposal will be reviewed by the county water board by next month, before receiving final direction from the Board of Supervisors in early December.

Groundwater comprises 95% of available fresh water for the United States, including for agricultural use, with around 50% of U.S. residents getting their drinking water from these resources. Because the Salinas Valley well has overpumped, or overdrafted, the Salinas River for several years, many in the region’s agriculture sector called these actions unsustainable back in September.

The push for the proposal comes from California’s recently adopted Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, signed into law last month by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The act states that local communities with vulnerable groundwater supplies must have a local agency for sustainability by mid-2017, formed either from an existing agency or a brand new one. That agency must have a solid groundwater sustainability plan no later than 2022 to assure long-term water supply and quality, or else the state takes over.

Some state officials are wary of the act’s potential costs, as the state does not provide funding for these projects.

Supervisor Simon Salinas, who represents the Salinas Valley, said the focus is on meeting the act’s requirements by the deadline in order to maintain control of local water supplies.

The legislation only targets water basins of high or medium priority rather than all of the state’s groundwater supply. Salinas Valley, Carmel, and Pajaro basins are affected by the legislation.

The Carmel basin will be taken over by the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, and the Pajaro basin’s lead agency is the Pajaro Valley Water Management District.

In the Salinas Valley, however, no agency has yet been chosen as of yet. When one is chosen, it will have the ability to adopt rules and regulations, conduct investigations, levy fines and impose taxes, regulate and suspend groundwater extractions, and build new and expanded wells, according to a report from Chief Assistant County Counsel Les Girard.

Groundwater plans must have measurable objectives, including five-year milestones, and provisions to monitor and manage groundwater levels and quality. The plans must include descriptions of monitoring systems and plans for halting overdraft seawater intrusion, among other criteria.

The Sun is Shining Bright on the Future of the Solar Carport Industry

Earlier this year, websites were blowing up with the news that researchers were experimenting with solar roadways — roads that could be used as energy systems for entire cities, potentially.

The popularity of this idea may have taken some industry analysts by surprise. Though solar power has experienced consistent market growth — experiencing a 41% growth in solar installations in 2013 alone — it has, in many ways, been operating in the background of energy discussions. People have known about it, but haven’t looked into it much.

Now, though, other industries are thinking about ways they can incorporate solar energy into their products or services. Not only is it better for the environment, but it can serve as a powerful additional incentive for a customer to choose one company over many similar options out on the market. One example of this opening solar industry is carports.

Carports, not surprisingly, are used to cover cars — they offer a roof that shields the automobile from sunlight, rain, snow and more. They are affordable, and popular with public and private business parking garages, as well as in residential areas where people might not want to invest in another garage, but want a way to partially shelter their automobiles or boats from some of the elements. According to Green Tech Media (GTM), there are multiple reasons that developers should be excited about the future of the U.S. solar carport market.

They point out that since 2010, the price of solar carports have fallen 51%, and that state-level incentives given for solar energy have been favorable for nonprofit organizations, government entities, and schools. It’s also worth noting that, while the market for carports in 2014 was largely stagnant, the solar carport market segment continued to experience consistent growth. It currently has about a 12% share of the non-residential carport market.

Why else should developers be excited? Thanks to changes in legislation, it is now easier for companies and organizations to invest in solar carports without requiring extensive paperwork or liability acceptance. This means that the customer base for the product is still expanding. Most sales have so far been based in California; as awareness of the technology grows, and states across the country begin offering similar incentives that California does for energy conservation, so too will the market likely grow along with it.

How much will the solar carport market grow within the next several years? According to a report by GTM titled “U.S. Solar Carport Market, 2010-2018,” the industry is expected to hit a high of $843 million in value by 2016.

Ground-Penetrating Radar leads to Breakthrough in Wildlife Preservation

Northern pine snakes in New Jersey are getting by with a little help from their friends: a collaborative team of Air Force Officials and researchers at Temple and Drexel University equipped with ground-penetrating radar. For 10 years, the officials at the Warren Grove Gunnery Range and researchers at the two universities have been working together to preserve the habitat of the northern pine snake. The International Union for conservation of nature listed the snake as a threatened species, and the population has to be closely monitored and nurtured to keep from dying out.The collaboration allows the Air Force to sustain ecosystems and biodiversity while carrying on their training and testing activities. Military ranges are common refuges for wildlife, and the endangerment of a species on military land can result in restrictions for the base. Their preservation work with the researchers has allowed them to continue their own work with very few land restrictions.

It also allows university students a chance for hands-on research and interdisciplinary training. The interdisciplinary research actually benefits the universities as well, making the departments more competitive when applying for funding.

In 2013, researchers had the bright idea to begin using ground-penetrating radar technology to map the snake population’s winter hibernation habitats.

“Ground Penetrating Radar can be used for a-lot of different applications and allows you to see alot of different anomalies such as voids, tree roots, as well as underground utilities.” States Stan Wood Jr of Woods Inspection Services. GPR uses electromagnetic waves to create high-resolution imagery of the landscape several feet below the Earth’s surface. While GPR is traditionally used in prospecting, mining and archeology, the researchers protecting the snakes saw the technology as a huge opportunity.Before the use of GPR, researchers had to physically surround hibernation habitats and keep track of the individual snakes in each area to help them manage the population. The efforts were costly and time intensive. In addition, disturbing the snakes in their hibernation areas forces them to hibernate elsewhere in later years, adding extra work for the snakes and their monitors.

Ground-penetrating radar allowed the researchers to quantify snakes within their hibernation zones without disturbing them, allowing the species to thrive and saving the researchers time and money. The electromagnetic waves travel at roughly the same speed as radio waves and have no negative affects on the hibernating northern pine snakes.

Hopefully, the use of ground-penetrating radar and the continued efforts of the Air Force and research team, the northern pine snake will live comfortably on the military range for years to come.

Flooding in Balkans Causes Billions in Damages and Millions of Lost Homes

Six days of flooding in the Balkans has led to over 100 deaths throughout Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia and has already caused estimated billions of Euros in damage, with more costs projected in the future. Over 40 percent of Bosnia is affected by the floods, and Serbia has had over 2,200 miles of roads destroyed or damaged.

In addition to the tragedy of lost human lives, much of the region does not have the money to rebuild. However, Bosnia and Serbia have begun negotiating with the European Union to receive support for reconstruction, and Bosnia’s Serb region has asked its ally Russia for aid.

The northern flatlands in Bosnia received some of the worst flooding, and much of the region’s infrastructure, farms, buildings, and homes have been wiped out, and over one quarter of the country’s population of 4 million have been affected by the floods. Along with the flooding throughout the Balkans, there have been approximately 2,100 landslides in Bosnia alone.

Many in the Balkans are dealing with weak economies and high unemployment rates. As a result of the region’s poverty and the fact that the vast majority of homeowners there do not have property insurance, many who have been affected by the floods have lost everything.

While countries such as the United States and Canada have significantly better infrastructures, flooding can still cause considerable damage. This spring throughout New England and eastern Canada, melting snow and heavy rains made rivers overflow. Previous storms, such as Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy, created billions of dollars in damage, killing thousands of people and displacing hundreds of thousands more.

In addition to carrying flood insurance for your home, homeowners should be prepared for all weather events. Even a typical thunderstorm can lead to a flooded basement or a leaking roof.

One helpful precaution homeowners can take is waterproofing their foundations, which can keep water from entering a basement. Any sign of water damage in a home should be taken care of immediately, as significant damage can lead to mold growth and, eventually, structural failure.

Studies Indicate Adults Not the Only Victims of Back Pain

Too many adults find themselves victims of the notorious “desk hunch,” a poor sitting posture taken all day at work that causes a milieu of musculoskeletal problems, but few ever consider the back pains that children may have. A recent study found that as many as 50% of kids complain that their packs are putting undue stress on their backs, causing them significant aches and pains.

While adults can easily change their habits or buy items such as back pillows to lessen the static posture and ease back pains, these poor kids are unable to do anything about their own circumstances.

More than 79 million U.S. students nowadays have to use backpacks, which are filled with textbooks that are heavier than ever before. Since these books can weigh up to seven pounds apiece, children have to take home 14 or 21 pounds of material. It doesn’t sound like too much, but when you consider that a grade schooler only weighs about 60 pounds, you realize that their backpacks weigh 23% of their body weight. For an adult who weighs 170 pounds, it’s the equivalent of carrying almost 40 pounds to and from work.

These overladen packs can be detrimental to kids, causing them to develop musculoskeletal issues at an early age. One particularly study measure the response of healthy children’s lumbar portion of the spine in response to school pack loads. The study naturally found that the heavier the backpack, the more significantly compressed their lumbar discs, which are their bodies’ “shock absorbers,” were. The study also found that the heavier the pack, the more asymmetrical the lumbar was.

Thankfully, parents can help their children buy buying the right kind of pack. It’s crucial that the backpack be a proper backpack, and not a messenger back. This ensures that the weight is distributed evenly on the body. Secondly, the pack itself needs to be lightweight, with padding in the back and wide straps. The lack of padding can make the load worse to carry, and narrow straps can dig into the shoulders.

Wheeled bags may seem like a convenient option, but they’re not nearly as practical and mobility becomes a serious issue. If you’re concerned about your child’s load, make sure that they have the right backpack, or else their problems may worsen over time.

First Geothermal Energy Plant in New Mexico Begins Production of Green Energy

New Mexico’s first geothermal plant is up and running.

The plant taps into a readily available heat source — geothermal energy — to produce up to four megawatts of energy, or enough to power over 4,000 homes. By next year, they hope to increase output to 10,000 megawatts.

How does it work? The more pressure something is under, the hotter it gets. Layers of the Earth’s crust get progressively warmer the deeper you go, and this difference in temperature can be used to heat water, which can then create the steam needed to generate electricity.

This process works not only works well for large-scale production like the New Mexico plant, but can also be successfully applied to individual homes. Even just six feet underground, the temperature differential can provide enough energy to provide hot water for an entire household, eliminating the need for a hot water heater.

How does geothermal compare to other renewable resources? While solar and wind energy have been getting a lot of press, they do have their limitations — namely, cloudy days or days without wind.

But the heat of the Earth never shuts off. Geothermal energy can be utilized 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without interruption. At just six feet below the surface, energy prospectors find an excellent source of heat, which radiates constantly between 45 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

And the water sent through the underground pipes is not wasted. Once the heated water has done its job and dispersed its energy, it can be sent down again for reheating.

Is geothermal energy the reliable, renewable source we’ve been waiting for? At the very least, it may end up being a key component.

But the future of residential green energy may not come from only one source. A combination of solar, wind, and geothermal energy may be the perfect answer to home energy consumption. Government incentives exist for homeowners who “green” up their homes, and some areas actually allow owners who produce more energy than their home uses to sell that energy back to the grid, creating a more direct financial incentive.

South Korea ferry disaster: Fake survivor posts add to nation’s anguish

The South Korean authorities said that shivering messages, social media posts, and short messages were totally false. Messages like “Help me, I am alive” and “Please help me, my battery is turning down, please believe me” brought hopes for parents who lost their children in the recent ferry incident. These rumors circulated in the country like fire in the forest and created troublesome situation for the authorities engaged in the rescue operation.

A mother said to a private news agency that I was so excited when I heard through social media that most of the missing students are still alive and sending their messages to relatives.

After receiving such messages, hundreds of people gathered at Jindo and showed the messages to South Korean authorities. Later on, they lost their patience and started hurling different objects at the officials. They mourned loudly and said that “you people are doing nothing to save life of our children”.

On the contrary, officials of Police Cyber Terror Response Center said that “we have verified all the messages and they are not genuine”. In press conference, the officials requested to people that “please stop sending fake messages to the grieved families otherwise they would be dealt as per the cyber law”.

Last but not the least, there is national grief across the country and all scheduled concerts and school field trips have been postponed.