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Archive for April 3rd, 2013
Australia: Climate change report a wake-up call: Combet
Posted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Sabra Lane and Eleanor Hall on April 3rd, 2013
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says a new report is a wake-up call to those who deny global warming is a problem.
The Climate Commission's latest report warns that of extreme weather in Australia.
The report, which has been backed by Australia's top climate scientists and science bodies, says that in some cases Australia's climate has shifted permanently.
Mr Combet says the report underpins the reason why the Government has put a price on carbon.
"These are things that people in...
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Ex-army helicopter engines drill for gas, with gas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2013
Reuters: LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Helicopter jet turbines that once flew for the U.S. military are on a final, earthbound mission - pumping gas on home soil as part of an assault on costs in the shale drilling industry.
Operational for about a year now, a project led by Green Field Energy Services (GFES) is about to embark on a new stage, converting the makeshift pumps that are already half the price and twice as powerful as purpose-built diesel units to run even more efficiently, on cheap natural gas,...
Leak near Colo. plant highlights pipeline problems
Posted by Associated Press: Alexandra Tilsley on April 3rd, 2013
Associated Press: Authorities are investigating after construction crews discovered a problem with a liquid gas pipeline that allowed a carcinogen to seep into the ground near a large creek that feeds into the Colorado River.
The leak near an energy plant in Western Colorado was discovered largely by accident, even though several state and federal agencies are charged with monitoring gas pipelines in the state.
"It's possible that we've narrowly dodged a bullet this time," said Michael Saul, with the National...
NWF finds lingering BP spill effects
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2013
United Press International: The maritime ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico is still feeling the effects of the 2010 oil spill, a report from the National Wildlife Federation said.
A federal court in New Orleans is examining issues related to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A well below the Deepwater Horizon oil rig failed, causing an explosion on the rig, which caught fire and sink. The explosion killed 11 rig workers and led to the worst offshore incident of its kind in the industry's history.
The NWF said dolphin...
Groups Give Notice of Suit Over Coal Dust
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2013
New York Times: An environmental coalition on Monday charged that coal and coal dust spilled from railroad hoppers is polluting the scenic Columbia River Gorge, and pledged to sue mining companies and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad if they do not halt the spills. Representatives of the Sierra Club and other conservation groups said they were invoking a clause in the Clean Water Act that permits lawsuits if those accused of polluting do not remedy environmental problems within 60 days. Each coal train...
Treatment Plant for Waste in Nuclear Cleanup Has Design Flaws, Panel Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2013
New York Times: A treatment plant that the Energy Department is counting on to stabilize the radioactive waste at the nation's largest environmental cleanup project, at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State, has design problems that could lead to chemical explosions, inadvertent nuclear reactions and mechanical breakdowns, a federal advisory panel warned on Tuesday.
The panel, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, said the waste was also not safe where it was now, in leaking tanks that have...
Canada Turns Its Back on International Drought Treaty
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on April 3rd, 2013
Environment News Service: The Government of Canada is quietly withdrawing from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, UNCCD, the only legally binding international treaty that addresses desertification, land degradation and drought.
The decision of Stephen Harper`s Conservative Government, which is still unannounced on the government`s website, makes Canada the only country in the world outside the agreement.
The federal cabinet last week ordered the withdrawal on the recommendation of Foreign Affairs Minister...
U.S. government issues corrective order for Exxon spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2013
Reuters: U.S. pipeline regulators on Tuesday ordered Exxon Mobil Corp to take necessary corrective action for its ruptured pipeline that spilled thousands of barrels of crude oil into a small Arkansas housing development last week.
The U.S. Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Administration's corrective order said Exxon estimated that 3,500 to 5,000 barrels of crude spewed from the breach. Exxon had so far only said publicly that it had recovered 12,000 barrels of oil and water. ...
Pipeline Spills Stir New Criticism of Keystone Proposal
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2013
New York Times: Two recent oil pipeline spills have prompted new criticism from opponents of the proposed Keystone XL project, while raising more questions about whether the federal government is adequately monitoring the nation's vast labyrinth of pipelines.
An Exxon Mobil pipeline ruptured in central Arkansas on Friday, leaving a sheen of oil on nearby streets and causing the evacuation of 22 homes in the small town of Mayflower.
Exxon Mobil said its Pegasus Line, which runs from Patoka, Ill., to Nederland,...