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Dow predicts EPA review of herbicide safety resolved soon
Posted by Reuters: Karl Plume on November 26th, 2015
Reuters: Dow Chemical Co expects environmental safety concerns about its new herbicide Enlist Duo to be resolved, the company said Wednesday, after the government asked a federal appellate court to pull regulatory approvals while the chemical's safety is re-examined. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved Enlist Duo for sale and use in several U.S. states over a year ago. But the agency has since found its assessment of the product's two active ingredients was incomplete, according to EPA's...
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Mississippi barge traffic snarled by floods, accidents
Posted by Reuters: Karl Plume on April 23rd, 2013
Reuters: Commercial shipping traffic was moving again on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis after a pair of barge accidents that forced the U.S. Coast Guard to close the waterway over the weekend, but navigation remained severely impaired further north.
Flooding following torrential rains across the central United States forced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to close about a dozen locks on the Illinois River and the Mississippi River north of St. Louis late last week.
The U.S. Coast Guard will...
Mississippi River barge backup tops 1,000 after oil spill
Posted by Reuters: Karl Plume on January 30th, 2013
Reuters: More than 1,000 barges were backed up on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Mississippi, on Wednesday after a weekend barge accident and oil spill forced the closure of the major shipping artery, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
An 80,000-gallon tanker barge that struck a railroad bridge on Sunday continued to leak crude oil, but cleanup crews have deployed 2,800 feet of boom to contain the spill and airborne spotters have not detected any oil outside the containment area.
Response crews will...
Rain to help raise Mississippi River, ease shipper woes
Posted by Reuters: Karl Plume on January 10th, 2013
Reuters: A storm moving up the Mississippi River valley will help replenish the river, low in parts from drought, and ease concerns that shipping could be halted along a shallow stretch from St. Louis to Cairo, Illinois.
Shipping groups had warned as recently as last week of an effective closure of the river along that busy stretch, through which billions of dollars of grain, coal, fertilizer and other commodities flow every year.
Rain and the brisk pace of efforts to remove underwater rock could help...
Drought eases in U.S. Midwest, worsens in northern Plains
Posted by Reuters: Karl Plume on August 30th, 2012
Reuters: The worst U.S. drought in a half century loosened its grip on the Midwest in the past week, helped by rain and cooler temperatures, but the drought grew more dire in the northern Plains, a report from climate experts said on Thursday.
But the improved Midwest weather arrived too late for crops in major farm states such as Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana, where severe corn and soybean yield losses have already been realized.
The portion of the contiguous United States suffering from at least...
Low water strands 97 vessels on Mississippi River: USCG
Posted by Reuters: Karl Plume on August 20th, 2012
Reuters: The U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday that 97 vessels were stranded by low water on the Mississippi River near Greenville, Mississippi, after it closed an 11-mile stretch of the drought-parched waterway for dredging and to replace missing navigation buoys.
The worst U.S. drought in 56 years has left the river there at its lowest point since 1988, a year when a similarly dire drought also stalled commercial traffic on the major shipping waterway.
Further north, dredging operations near St. Louis...
U.S. Midwest and central Plains bake as drought intensifies
Posted by Reuters: Karl Plume on August 2nd, 2012
Reuters: The worst U.S. drought in 56 years intensified over the past week as above-normal temperatures and scant rainfall parched corn and soybean crops across the Midwest and central Plains, a report from climate experts said on Thursday.
The drought became more severe in the southern United States as well, just a year removed from a record-breaking dry spell that ruined crops and wilted grazing pastures across Texas and Oklahoma enough to force an unprecedented northward migration of cattle.
Nearly...
Nebraska farms told to halt irrigation as drought drains rivers
Posted by Reuters: Karl Plume on July 16th, 2012
Reuters: More than 1,100 farmers in Nebraska have been ordered by the state's Department of Natural Resources to halt irrigation of their crops because the rivers from which they draw water have dropped due to a worsening drought.
The orders come as the central United States is enduring the worst drought in a quarter century, which has parched corn and soybean crops and sent prices of both commodities to near-record highs.
As of Friday, orders had been sent to a total of 1,106 farmers in the country's...
Drought parches more of U.S. Midwest, crops suffer
Posted by Reuters: Karl Plume on July 12th, 2012
Reuters: The worst drought in a quarter century tightened its grip on the Midwestern United States over the past week as sweltering temperatures and scant rainfall punished corn and soybean crops across the region, a report from climate experts said Thursday.
Nearly two-thirds of the nine-state Midwest region was in some stage of drought in the week ended July 10, up from just over 50 percent a week earlier, according to the Drought Monitor, a weekly report on drought throughout the country compiled by...