Scientists Have Discovered a Sea of Fresh Water Under the Ocean

Quartz: Thousands of years ago, glaciers covered much of the planet. Oceans receded as water froze in massive sheets of ice blanketing the North American continent. As the ice age ended, glaciers melted. Massive river deltas flowed out across the continental shelf. The oceans rose, and fresh water was trapped in sediments below the waves. Discovered while drilling for oil offshore in the 1970s, scientists thought these "isolated" pockets of fresh water were a curiosity. They may instead prove to be a parched world's newest source of fresh water.

As told in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, scientists from Columbia University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution spent 10 days on a research ship towing electromagnetic sensors from New Jersey to Massachusetts. By measuring the way electromagnetic waves traveled through fresh and saline water, researchers mapped out fresh-water reservoirs for the first time.

It turns out the subterranean pools stretch for at least 50 miles off the US Atlantic coast, containing vast stores of low-salinity groundwater, about twice the volume of Lake Ontario. The deposits begin about 600 ft (183 m) below the seafloor and stretch for hundreds of miles. That rivals the size of even the largest terrestrial aquifers.

Federal Black Lung program is failing to prevent new illnesses AND running out of money.

By Joe Davidson
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/11/black-lung-disease-cases-grow-while-federal-programs-financing-suffers

Like the miners who work underground in dark and dangerous conditions, black lung disease is, for many, largely out of sight, out of mind.

But for folks such as Gary Hairston, who spent more than 27 years in the mines around his Beckley, W.Va., home, the ailment is ever-present. He lives with it. Many have died of it.

Now, the number of black lung cases is growing. At the same time, funding for a federal program to care for those with the disease has fallen sharply.

While the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund has been in debt regularly since 1979, its financial situation is increasingly bleak. Even with the debt, the fund provides medical and financial assistance to certain miners who are totally disabled by the disease. About 25,600 people, including dependents, received black lung benefits in fiscal 2018. The average annual cost for medical treatment was $9,667.

A Government Accountability Office report says the trust fund's penury is exacerbated by this year's 55 percent decrease in the coal tax rate, declining coal production and coal company bankruptcies. The tax is levied on coal produced and sold domestically. When coal companies go broke, their responsibility to fund the black lung program is transferred to taxpayers.

The GAO predicts that the fund's debt could grow from less than $5 billion last year to more than $15 billion by 2050.

What matters more than money is the coal miners' misery.

Hairston's doctor initially thought the mass on his lung was cancer. A biopsy showed the Fayette County Black Lung Association vice president had a complicated form of black lung.

"I was 48 years old when I had to quit work. I can't play with my grandkids," Hairston told a hearing of the House Education and Labor subcommittee on workforce protections. With his large gray goatee and broad shoulders, Hairston is a distinguished-looking man, but he nearly broke down while delivering passionate testimony.

"I never did think at a young age that I wouldn't be able to take care of my family," he said. He wiped away tears before subcommittee Chairwoman Alma Adams (D-N.C.) allowed Hairston, almost overcome with emotion, to cut his testimony short.

Recent research indicates "an unprecedented increase" in the most severe form of black lung disease, according to a July 2018 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The update does not provide a reason for the increase.

A 2016 CDC document said the factors leading to an increase of black lung in Kentucky are unknown, but it did offer some suggestions. Among the possibilities are new or modified mining practices, including slope mining and continuous use of mining machines. More miners seeking X-rays to determine whether they are eligible for state or federal programs also could be a factor.

Please read full By Joe Davidson at:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/11/black-lung-disease-cases-grow-while-federal-programs-financing-suffers

550,000 Acres on Fire in Alaska

Two small communities near Anderson, Alaska were ordered to evacuate late Thursday due to a wildfire, as the state's summer of heat and smoke continues.

The Kobe Fire was reported at 6:45 p.m. Thursday and by 10:50 p.m. had grown to 600 acres, The Alaska Division of Forestry reported. There are no reports that anyone was burned, but multiple buildings were threatened, prompting the evacuation of the Kobe and Anderson subdivisions. The residents of the City of Anderson, around 10 miles northeast of the blaze, were told to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

The fire is the latest to ignite in Alaska, where 1.2 million acres have burned so far this year, making 2019 one of the state's three biggest wildfire years.

https://akfireinfo.com/2019/07/11/evacuations-ordered-for-city-of-anderson-due-to-rapidly-growing-wildfire/

Updated Consolidated List of Lists under EPCRA/CERCLA/CAA 112(r)

EPA revised the consolidated list of chemicals subject to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA); Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); and Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act; also known as the List of Lists. The List of Lists is available as a PDF file and as an Excel spreadsheet.

The revised List of Lists can be accessed at: https://www.epa.gov/epcra/consolidated-list-lists-under-epcracerclacaa-ss112r-june-2019-version.