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Another Coal Chemical Spill Pollutes Public Waterway, This Time in Kentucky
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on June 10th, 2014
EcoWatch: On Friday, May 30, another coal-related chemical spill polluted a public waterway in Central Appalachia, killing hundreds of fish and alarming local residents. The chemical spill happened at a Cumberland Coal Company prep plant in Harlan County, KY. This time, the spill was not of coal slurry or a coal-washing chemical, but of a flocculant—a type of compound usually used to control other substances in sediment ponds or clean up spilled material in creeks. Reminiscent of the slurry spill from the...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Another Coal Chemical Spill Pollutes Public Waterway, This Time in KentuckyPermanent Protest Setup at Proposed Tar Sands Strip Mine in Utah
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on June 2nd, 2014
EcoWatch: Construction of what could become the first tar sands strip mine in the U.S. is expected to begin this summer in Book Cliffs, UT, with bitumen production and sales expected to commence next year.
Local community members have vowed to stop the Canadian-based U.S. Oil Sands controversial project, and on Friday established a permanent protest vigil inside the boundaries of the planned tar sands mine.
“These beautiful lands that U.S. Oil Sands plans to destroy have been enjoyed by Utahns for decades...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Permanent Protest Setup at Proposed Tar Sands Strip Mine in UtahCalifornia Assembly Passes Historic Law Remove Plastic Microbeads
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on May 24th, 2014
EcoWatch: In a historic vote yesterday, the California Assembly passed the Microplastic Nuisance Prevention Law to ban the sale and manufacturing of personal care products containing tiny, synthetic plastic microbeads. Thanks to 5 Gyres Institute, the group that authored the bill sponsored by Assembly Member Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), California sets a national precedent for holding companies liable for products that harm aquatic species and pollutes our water.
“The passage of our bill by the California...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California Assembly Passes Historic Law Remove Plastic MicrobeadsEmails Reveal North Carolina Officials’ Close Ties With Fracking Lobby Groups
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on May 16th, 2014
EcoWatch: In North Carolina, Halliburton and other fracking industry interests helped write a fracking chemical disclosure bill. But when that bill ended up requiring disclosure of harmful chemicals to the state environmental agency, the bill was killed and replaced with one that further limited disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking.
A cache of emails obtained by Greenpeace has revealed the cozy relationship between the hydraulic fracturing industry and North Carolina’s Mining and Energy Commission....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Emails Reveal North Carolina Officials’ Close Ties With Fracking Lobby GroupsReport Reveals High Risk, No Reward Enbridge Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 31st, 2014
EcoWatch: A new report released today by the Sierra Club and a coalition of 13 other organizations, including the Indigenous Environmental Network, examines the proposed expansion of the Alberta Clipper tar sands pipeline and concludes that there are significant threats to water, health and climate. The report, All Risk, No Reward: The Alberta Clipper Tar Sands Pipeline Expansion, comes in advance of a rally to stop the Alberta Clipper expansion that will take place before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Report Reveals High Risk, No Reward Enbridge Tar Sands Pipeline ExpansionCalifornia Drought Forces Fisheries to Truck Salmon Smolts to Sea
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 26th, 2014
EcoWatch: Every year between late March and early June, roughly 30 million Chinook salmon make their way from five Central Valley hatcheries to the Pacific Ocean. This year, however, these young salmon—called smolts—face a perilous journey due to California’s enduring drought. In order to ensure that the Chinook make it all the way to the sea, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have adopted a drought contingency plan to transport salmon smolts...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California Drought Forces Fisheries to Truck Salmon Smolts to SeaTexas Oil Spill Expected to ‘Get Much Worse’ for Wildlife
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 26th, 2014
EcoWatch: The oil spill off the coast of Galveston, TX, has the potential to get a lot worse than previously expected. The 168,000 gallons of thick, sludgy fuel oil that escaped a barge—whose hull was breached after a collision with another ship—is proving extremely difficult to contain. As of yesterday morning, oil was reported as far as 12 miles from the site of the collision.
From the start, wildlife experts have said this spill could not have been in a more sensitive spot in Galveston Bay. The area,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Texas Oil Spill Expected to ‘Get Much Worse’ for WildlifeDocuments Show Australia Ignored Expert Advice Against Dredge and Dump in Great Barrier Reef
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on March 5th, 2014
EcoWatch: Last December the Australian Federal government gave the go-ahead to dredge and dump in the Great Barrier Reef. It did so despite strong, expert advice from the independent authority charged with protecting the reef that it was dangerous to the reef’s health.
Newly released internal documents clearly show that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority repeatedly advised the Environment Department to reject the controversial dredging and dumping proposal--which would allow the expansion of the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Documents Show Australia Ignored Expert Advice Against Dredge and Dump in Great Barrier ReefFracking Moratorium Bill Introduced in California
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 21st, 2014
EcoWatch: Yesterday, Senators Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 1132 to the California Legislature, which calls for a moratorium on fracking and other types of unconventional well stimulation (like acidizing).
Current law (SB4) requires an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) but there are at least two problems with it:
Fracking and acidizing is allowed to continue while regulators conduct the EIR--essentially treating Californians’ water and health as...
MSNBC’s The Ed Show Visits Nebraska to Hear From Those in the Path of Keystone XL Pipeline
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 21st, 2014
EcoWatch: Today, MSNBC news host Ed Schultz traveled to Nebraska to meet with farmers and ranchers facing threats of eminent domain on their land from TransCanada for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Schultz came to Nebraska to hear firsthand and share with his audience the stories of people in the path of the pipeline. They met at the Build Our Energy Barn, the wind and solar-powered barn that was built with online donations and volunteers on land directly in the path of the proposed Keystone XL.
According...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on MSNBC’s The Ed Show Visits Nebraska to Hear From Those in the Path of Keystone XL Pipeline