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Archive for September 10th, 2010
Industry: No need for EPA to regulate gas drilling
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2010
AP: The oil and natural gas industry is willing to cooperate with a federal study of natural gas drilling, but opposes regulation of a practice known as hydraulic fracturing. The Environmental Protection Agency has asked nine natural gas companies to disclose the chemical components used in that process. The agency is studying its effect on water and public health. Stephanie Meadows of the American Petroleum Institute says states have regulated natural gas drilling for years and ...
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United States: Enbridge says Line 6A pipeline leak stopped
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2010
Reuters: A massive oil leak in Romeoville, Illinois, from Enbridge Inc's Line 6A pipeline has been stopped, a company spokesman said on Friday afternoon. "The leaking has stopped," said Enbridge spokesman Larry Springer in a telephone interview. Enbridge had no estimate as of Friday when the pipeline that supplies crude oil to four refineries would return to service. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency confirmed the spill had been contained. Oil remaining in the ...
United States: Group warns global warming promotes severe weather
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2010
Dover Post: With record snows this winter and a summer fraught with heat waves and drought, Mother Nature has not been kind to Delaware this year. And though no major hurricanes have traipsed up the coast to the Delmarva Peninsula, there are still two months of tropical storm season left. A new report released Sept. 8 by a national environmental advocacy group links the severe weather the region has seen to global warming and warns that, as worldwide average temperatures climb, so will the ...
Africa’s Water Security Hinges on Better Infrastructure
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2010
Inter Press Service: As Africa continues its seemingly endless struggle for water security, why is the beleaguered continent lagging behind Asia and Latin America - despite commitments and declarations by political leaders? "It is hard to generalise across a continent," Alex Simalabwi of the Global Water Partnership told IPS. He pointed out that progress has been made, and the African Ministers' Council on Water has a framework programme to implement the commitments. "The political will is ...
EPA orders Enbridge to stop Ill. pipeline spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2010
AP: The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday ordered Enbridge Energy Partners to stop the flow of oil from its leaking pipeline outside of Chicago by noon Monday. EPA said that Enbridge crews have contained oil spilling from the pipeline and are trying to determine how the leak happened. EPA spokeswoman Anne Rowan said the pipeline was leaking an estimated 200 to 600 gallons of crude per hour. "The leak site itself is contained but oil is continuing to drain out of the ...
United States: Planning for rising water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2010
Living on Earth: YOUNG: It's Living on Earth. I'm Jeff Young. [FERRY BUILDING CLOCK RINGS, WAVES] YOUNG: Most people think of sea level rise as a problem for future generations to deal with. But in San Francisco, planners warn it's just around the corner. Sea level rise is already happening. Predictions about how much to expect over the coming century vary greatly. The IPCC said oceans could rise two and a half feet. Many other scientists say the rise might be more than twice that. In ...
Peru water wars threaten agricultural export boom
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2010
Planet Ark: The World Bank, which has lent millions of dollars to turn Peru's fragile desert coast into verdant farmland, has stumbled into a film noir scene straight out of Roman Polanski's 'Chinatown' about the violent water wars of 1930s Los Angeles. When a World Bank employee went in April to investigate complaints that loans made by its private sector arm had hastened the drying up of the Ica aquifer, he was shot at by gunmen after he spotted land pockmarked by clandestine ...
E.P.A. Meeting Stalled by Security and Cost
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2010
NYT: The Environmental Protection Agency has been on something of a listening tour lately, holding public meetings around the country where stakeholders concerned about hydraulic fracturing can share their thoughts with the agency. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is an increasingly contentious practice in which drilling companies blast a cocktail of sand, water and chemicals deep underground to break up rock formations and release hard-to-reach oil and gas deposits. It's an issue ...
Photos: the world’s most endangered turtles
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2010
Mongabay: More than 40 percent of the world's freshwater turtle species are threatened with extinction, according to a new assessment by Conservation International. Turtles are threatened primarily by hunting, habitat destruction, and the pet trade, making them among the most endangered groups of animals. "Their decline is an indicator that the freshwater ecosystems that millions of people rely on for irrigation, food and water are being damaged in a manner that could have dire ...
Freshwater turtles ‘in decline’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2010
BBC: Freshwater turtles are in catastrophic decline, according to a new analysis by Conservation International (CI). The group says more than a third of the estimated 280 species around the world are now threatened with extinction. The unsustainable collection of turtles for food and to supply a lucrative pet trade are the key drivers behind the fall in numbers. Habitat loss as a result of river-damming for hydro-electricity is another major concern. Dr Peter Paul van ...