Tap water contaminant 'castrates' frogs - USATODAY.com

USA TODAY:  An herbicide that contaminates the tap water consumed by millions of Americans has been found to produce gender-bending effects in male frogs, "chemically castrating" some and turning others into females, a study shows.

Frogs in the experiment were exposed to amounts of the weedkiller atrazine that are comparable to the levels allowed in drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency, says lead researcher Tyrone Hayes of the University of California-Berkeley.

The study was released Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In Hayes' earlier studies, atrazine caused male frogs to begin growing eggs in their testes. In this experiment, 10% of the males exposed to atrazine — one of the most commonly used herbicide in the world — actually changed sex; some were able to breed and lay eggs. Nearly all of the other males had low testosterone and sperm levels, which made them unable to reproduce, Hayes says.

The experiment can't tell scientists whether atrazine affects humans in a similar way, Hayes says. But it does raise new questions about the safety of atrazine, which other studies have linked to human birth defects, low birth weight, prematurity and low sperm count.

The EPA said in October that it planned to reassess atrazine's safety, including its cancer risk. The European Union has banned the chemical.

About 75% of stream water samples and 40% of groundwater samples contain atrazine, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group, detected atrazine in 90% of tap water samples from 139 water systems. Inexpensive faucet-top water filters can remove the chemical, says Jennifer Sass, a scientist with the group.

Please continue reading By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/2010-03-02-1Aatrazine02_ST_N.htm

Solar-Powered Toilet Torches Waste For Public Health #biochar

With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Reinvent the Toilet challenge, [a] team has developed a toilet that uses concentrated solar power to scorch and disinfect human waste, turning feces into a useful byproduct called biochar ... a sanitary charcoal material that is good for soils and agriculture. By converting solid waste to biochar (liquid waste is diverted elsewhere, as it's easier to deal with), the toilet thus allows for sanitary waste disposal without huge infrastructure investments. The toilet itself, called the Sol-Char, is a fascinating bit of engineering. In order to sanitize waste without the help of massive treatment facilities, Linden's team instead designed the toilet to scorch waste in a chamber heated by fiber optic cables that pipe in heat from solar collectors on the toilet's roof. 'A solar concentrator has all this light focused in on one centimeter. It'd be fine if we could bring everyone's fecal waste up to that one point, like burning it with a magnifying glass,' Linden said. 'But that's not practical, so we were thinking of other ways to concentrate that light.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Forests Around Chernobyl Aren’t Decaying Properly #Science via @Smithsonian

Smithsonian: Nearly 30 years have passed since the Chernobyl plant exploded and caused an unprecedented nuclear disaster. The effects of that catastrophe, however, are still felt today. Although no people live in the extensive exclusion zones around the epicenter, animals and plants still show signs of radiation poisoning.

Birds around Chernobyl have significantly smaller brains that those living in non-radiation poisoned areas; trees there grow slower; and fewer spiders and insects—including bees, butterflies and grasshoppers—live there. Additionally, game animals such as wild boar caught outside of the exclusion zone—including some bagged as far away as Germany—continue to show abnormal and dangerous levels of radiation.

However, there are even more fundamental issues going on in the environment. According to a new study published in Oecologia, decomposers—organisms such as microbes, fungi and some types of insects that drive the process of decay—have also suffered from the contamination. These creatures are responsible for an essential component of any ecosystem: recycling organic matter back into the soil. Issues with such a basic-level process, the authors of the study think, could have compounding effects for the entire ecosystem.

Please continue reading

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/forests-around-chernobyl-arent-decaying-properly-180950075/

The Rich See a Different Internet Than the Poor - Scientific American

Scientific American: Imagine an Internet where unseen hands curate your entire experience. Where third parties predetermine the news, products and prices you see—even the people you meet. A world where you think you are making choices, but in reality, your options are narrowed and refined until you are left with merely the illusion of control.

This is not far from what is happening today. Thanks to technology that enables Google, Facebook and others to gather information about us and use it to tailor the user experience to our own personal tastes, habits and income, the Internet has become a different place for the rich and for the poor. Most of us have become unwitting actors in an unfolding drama about the tale of two Internets. There is yours and mine, theirs and ours.

Please continue reading

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/rich-see-different-internet-than-the-poor/

U.S. Agrees to Allow BP Back Into Gulf Waters to Seek Oil - @NYTimes

NYTimes: Four years after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, BP is being welcomed back to seek new oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico.

An agreement on Thursday with the Environmental Protection Agency lifts a 2012 ban that was imposed after the agency concluded that BP had not fully corrected problems that led to the well blowout in 2010 that killed 11 rig workers, spilled millions of gallons of oil and contaminated hundreds of miles of beaches.

BP had sued to have the suspension lifted, and now the agreement will mean hundreds of millions of dollars of new business for the company. But even more important, oil analysts said, it signifies an important step in the company's recovery from the accident, which has been costly to its finances and reputation.

"After a lengthy negotiation, BP is pleased to have reached this resolution, which we believe to be fair and reasonable," said John Mingé, chairman and president of BP America. "Today's agreement will allow America's largest energy investor to compete again for federal contracts and leases."

Please continue reading from U.S. Agrees to Allow BP Back Into Gulf Waters to Seek Oil - NYTimes.com | shared via feedly mobile

"water quality trading" is a thing. Like carbon credits, but for the pollution that goes into rivers.

"water quality trading" is a thing. Like carbon credits, but for the pollution that goes into rivers.

"Water quality trading is a market-based approach that could enable facilities to meet permit limits using nutrient reduction credits from farmers who implement conservation practices. Many parties, such as industrial sources, farmers, and the general public, contribute to nutrient loading, which may lead to serious ecological problems. Today's transactions will produce cleaner watersheds, advance sustainability practices, and test more cost-effective regulatory compliance options."

Please continue reading at:

EPRI | EPRI Transacts First Credits in World's Largest Water Quality Trading Program

Study: Pesticides hurting French sperm [feedly]

Ecowatch - Pesticides used on agricultural land appear to be the main cause of declining sperm counts among men in France, according to a recent study published in the scientific journal Human Reproduction. Until better protections are in place, anti-pesticide experts suggest supporting organic agriculture as a method of avoiding exposure to these dangerous chemicals.

Until better protections are in place, anti-pesticide experts suggest supporting organic agriculture as a method of avoiding exposure to these dangerous chemicals.

The study, which first published its findings in 2012 and has now been refined, found that sperm counts across France had plummeted 30 percent in 16 years, and noted those living in mainly rural regions of southwest France had been most affected, reports Connexion—France's English-language newspaper. 

The affected regions, Aquitaine, Burgandy and Midi-Pyrenees, contain the highest concentration of farms in the country and subsequently rely heavily on agriculture for their economies.

The findings coincide with a recent development where the use of pesticides were blamed for variations in the quality of water in France, with rural areas again the most affected.

Please continue reading at: Ecowatch

#2014MatchDay Help the #hungry today by retweeting! #FF #Donate!

Just wanted to send out a quick reminder that today is Match Day!

Hunger Task Force’s social media campaign is underway, and you can out by retweeting, liking, and sharing “Match Day meme” posts throughout the day. Their phone bank is also live at 4:30am, and folks can call (414) 939 MEAL to donate!

Once again, here is the official Match Day hashtag and link for all posts:

#2014MatchDay

http://matchdaymke.razoo.com/story/Hungertaskforce 

Thank you again for all your help!

Environmentalists Propose $50 Billion Buyout of Coal Industry - To Shut It Down

What's $50 billion among friends, right? At least Felix Kramer and Gil Friend are thinking big, so there is that. The pair have published an somewhat audacious proposal to spend $50 billion dollars to buy up and then shut down every single private and public coal company operating in the United States. The scientific benefits: eliminating acid rain, airborne emissions, etc). The shutdown proposal includes the costs of retraining for the approximately 87,000 coal-industry workers who would lose their jobs over the proposed 10-year phaseout of coal. Since Kramer and Friend don't have $50 billion, they suggest the concept could be funded as a public service and if governments can't do it maybe some rich guys can — and the names Gates, Buffett and Bloomberg come up. Any takers?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Speaking of gas leaks, last year, District found nearly 6,000 natural gas leaks from the city’s aging pipe system

Washington Post, Jan 16 - Researchers who conducted a street-by-street survey of the District found nearly 6,000 natural gas leaks from the city's aging pipe system, including 12 in manholes where methane had collected to potentially explosive levels, according to a study published Thursday.

The team, after warning Washington Gas about those 12 locations, retested them four months later and discovered eight places where the gas buildup was still at concentrations that could cause explosions.

Radioactive Isotopes from #Fukushima Meltdown Detected near #Vancouver

Radiation from Japan's leaking Fukushima nuclear power plant has reached waters offshore Canada, researchers said today at the annual American Geophysical Union's Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu.

Two radioactive cesium isotopes, cesium-134 and cesium-137, have been detected offshore of Vancouver, British Columbia, researchers said at a news conference. The detected concentrations are much lower than the Canadian safety limit for cesium levels in drinking water, said John Smith, a research scientist at Canada's Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Tests conducted at U.S. beaches indicate that Fukushima radioactivity has not yet reached Washington, California or Hawaii, said Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Woods Hole, Mass.

"We have results from eight locations, and they all have cesium-137, but no cesium-134 yet," Buesseler said. (Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei. In this case, cesium-137 has more neutrons than cesium-134.)

The scientists are tracking a radioactive plume from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Three nuclear reactors at the power plant melted down after the March 11, 2011, Tohoku earthquake. The meltdown was triggered by the massive tsunami that followed the quake. [Fukushima Radiation Leak: 5 Things You Should Know]

Please read on at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/radioactive-isotopes-from-fukushima-meltdown-detected-near-vancouver/

Chemical Facility Security: DHS Issues and Options for the 113th Congress (PDF)

Chemical Facility Security: Issues and Options for the 113th Congress (PDF)
Source: Congressional Research Service (via University of North Texas Digital Library)

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has statutory authority to regulate chemical facilities for security purposes. The 113th Congress extended this authority through January 15, 2014. Congressional policymakers have debated the scope and details of reauthorization and continue to consider establishing an authority with longer duration. Some Members of Congress support an extension, either short- or long-term, of the existing authority. Other Members call for revision and more extensive codification of chemical facility security regulatory provisions. Questions regarding the current law's effectiveness in reducing chemical facility risk and the sufficiency of federal chemical facility security efforts exacerbate the tension between continuing current policies and changing the statutory authority.

Bill would upgrade urban farming in DC

New proposed DC council legislation provides that the the mayor shall identify at least 25 District owned vacant lots that can be potentially be used for urban farming ventures, and that they would be a minimum of 2,500 square feet. Applicants (must be a D.C. resident with at least some farming experience) who are approved to farm the land will then be exempt from real property taxation or possessory taxation on the land leased.  Another part of the bill creates a tax credit for urban farmers who donate to a D.C. Food Bank or Shelter.
Please continue reading Text of legislation

MIT’s Liquid Metal Batteries Could Compensate for Intermittent Nature of Renewable Energy

Bloomberg: A 40-foot trailer loaded with 25 tons of liquid metals may be the solution to the renewable-energy industry's biggest challenge: making sure electricity is available whenever it's needed.

A Boston-area startup founded by MIT researchers is working to turn this new concept into a commercially viable product, liquid-metal batteries that will store power for less than $500 a kilowatt-hour. That's less than a third the cost of some current battery technologies.

The technology promises an alternative to the massive pumped-water systems that make up 95 percent of U.S. energy-storage capacity. At that price, developers will be able to build wind and solar projects that can deliver power to the grid anytime, making renewable energy as reliable as natural gas and coal without the greenhouse-gas emissions.

"If we can get liquid-metal batteries down to $500 a kilowatt-hour, we'll change the world," Donald Sadoway, chief scientific adviser at Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Ambri Inc., said in an interview.

Power storage will compensate for the intermittent nature of renewable energy. Batteries can store energy when the wind blows at night, and then send electricity to the grid the next day when it's needed. Please continue reading at Bloomberg

Appalachian coal firm to pay $27.5 million for water pollution, largest civil penalty ever levied by EPA

Alpha Natural Resources agreed in federal court at Charleston, W.Va., to pay a record $27.5 million civil penalty for nearly 6,300 cases of pollution at the company's operations across 79 active coal mines and 25 coal processing plants in Appalachia, Ken Ward reports for the Charleston Gazette. Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will share half the fine; the agreement also applies to locations in Virginia and Tennessee. 

As part of the agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bristol, Va., company will also be required to improve its water treatment practices, Ward writes. It will spend $200 million "to install and operate wastewater treatment systems and to implement comprehensive, system-wide upgrades to reduce discharges of pollution from coal mines."

Other plans "include building new treatment facilities, but others would piggyback on treatment operations already underway as a result of previous court settlements with citizen groups," Ward writes. "The deal also involves some locations where Alpha will deal with selenium by pumping contaminated water into old underground mines."

"Monitoring records attached to the complaint show that in some cases, the releases exceeded permit limits by as much as 35 times," Allie Robinson Gibson writes for the Bristol Herald Courier.

Robert G. Dreher, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, said "The unprecedented size of the civil penalty in this settlement sends a strong message to others in this industry that such egregious violations of the nation's Clean Water Act will not be tolerated." (Read more)

3 groups sue EPA for rules to disclose pesticide ingredients?

"Three environmental and public health groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, seeking to press it to move forward with rules that would require public disclosure of certain pesticide ingredients," Carey Gilliam reports for Reuters. The groups, the Center for Environmental Health, Beyond Pesticides and Physicians for Social Responsibility, "claimed there has been an 'unreasonable delay' on the EPA's part in finalizing rules to require chemical manufacturers to disclose hazardous inert ingredients in their pesticide products." 

The EPA was petitioned in 2006 by more than 20 health groups and state attorneys to take action, but it wasn't until 2009 that the agency said "it was starting the rule-making process regarding disclosures of such ingredients," Gilliam writes. Five years later the EPA still hasn't adopted any new rules. The suit claims "There are more than 350 inert pesticide ingredients that can be just as hazardous as active ingredients that are labeled and can comprise up to 99 percent of a pesticide's formulation. Of the common inert ingredients, many are classified as carcinogenic, possibly carcinogenic or potentially toxic." (Read more)

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Another Home Aquaponics System for the Beginner via @Sustainablog

Got a 10-gallon aquarium laying around in the basement or garage? The detritus of a failed attempt at adding tropical fish to the home decor? Austin, Texas college sophomore Jack Ikard found one in the back shed a year and a half ago, and decided to see if he couldn't turn it into an indoor aquaponics system. After lots of tinkering, much of it at laser cutting co-op MakeATX, Jack came up with a prototype, and began showing it off at local food co-ops, farmers markets, and even last Fall's SXSW Eco.

Please continue reading post Another Home Aquaponics System for the Beginner: AquaSprouts on Sustainablog.

50 Reasons We Should Fear the Worst from Fukushima | @EcoWatch

50 Reasons We Should Fear the Worst from Fukushima... Rickover, father of the nuclear navy, warned that it is a form of suicide to raise radiation levels within Earth's vital envelope, and that if he could, he would "sink" all the reactors he helped develop. "Now when we go back to using nuclear power," he said in 1982, "I think the human race is going to wreck itself, and it is important that we get control of this horrible force and try to eliminate it." See full article: http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/02/50-reasons-fear-fukushima/

Take the plunge! with @EPAwaterSense @H2Otel Challenge Online Training

As you might know, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially launched the WaterSense H2Otel Challenge one month ago to help hotels assess, change, and track their water use using best management practices. Interested hotels can dive right in and take the pledge today, and any organization can help spread the word and recruit hotels.

As part of the H2Otel Challenge, WaterSense is offering a series of technical training webinars that begin this week. To learn more about the WaterSense H2Otel Challenge, review specific water best management practices, and hear from professionals who are using water more efficiently, register now:

Assess, Track, and Realize Payback

March 6, 2014, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/946107650

Take the Plunge! The WaterSense H2Otel Challenge

March 12, 2014, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Eastern

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/172743234

Washing 101: A Plumbing and Laundry Efficiency Primer

March 27, 2014, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/463041434

Make a Splash With Outdoor Water Savings

April 17, 2014, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/523553538

We hope you will join us! Please feel free to forward this email to others who might be interested in these topics. 

If you have any questions, vist http://www.epa.gov/watersense/commercial/challenge.html

Solar-panel skin could make Dutch homes energy neutral

Around 60 percent of the homes in the Netherlands are row house terraces, with around a quarter of those built in the post-war period. While these constructions characterize much of the Dutch urban landscape, they weren't exactly built with energy efficiency as their first priority. A team of Delft University students has developed a concept for a solar-powered skin designed to optimize energy usage, while also preserving this classic Dutch architecture... Continue Reading Solar-panel skin could make Dutch homes energy neutral 

Shared via feedly // published on Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine // visit site

New H5N8 Avian Influenza Penetrated Biosecurity Defenses at Premier Poultry Research Center

Science: A new, deadly H5N8 strain of avian influenza penetrated the biosecurity defenses of a National Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) campus near Seoul, prompting authorities to cull all of the facility's 11,000 hens and 5000 ducks.

The devastating loss could set back poultry experiments at the NIAS lab for 2 years. "It will likely to take up to 95 weeks to fully rebuild [the flocks] and resume normal research," says Kim Sung-Il, head of the contingency team at the Rural Development Administration, which oversees NIAS. Kim adds that the institute, which studies breed improvement and animal husbandry techniques, will reconstitute its flocks from birds kept at other facilities.

A wild goose that died of the virus was found 10 kilometers from NIAS's Suwon campus, near Seoul, on 1 February. The entire NIAS staff went to work disinfecting and shoeing away wild birds. Despite those efforts, 30 ducks were found dead on 2 March. The next day, authorities confirmed the cause of death as H5N8 avian influenza. NIAS immediately initiated culling, which was completed on 4 March.

Please continue reading Via: Science

Santa Barbara Proposes Changes to its AIM Rule limits for volatile organic compounds (VOC) and Method 313

PAINT.ORG: California’s Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (SBCAPCD) has proposed amending its Rule 323.1 for architectural and industrial maintenance (AIM) coatings limits for volatile organic compounds (VOC). Santa Barbara is the latest air district to do so; 10 other California Air Districts have developed rulemakings to adopt the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 2007 AIM Suggested Control Measure (SCM).

Santa Barbara has scheduled a public workshop for March 11, at which time the air district will discuss some of the deviations from the CARB 2007 SCM and the reasoning behind them.

On Jan. 1, California’s South Coast AQMD’s AIM VOC coatings 1113 rule went into effect — new rules for 11 categories with lower VOC limits, colorant VOC limits, and labeling requirements for small containers (e.g., date code and VOC content). Late in 2013, the San Diego Air Pollution Control District (SDAPCD) proposed its new Rule 67.01 for AIM coatings, as well as the repeal of former Rule 67.

Santa Barbara’s proposed amendments include the following:

• Solvent cleaning limits, work practice standards, and reporting provisions, which likely overlap the current CARB Consumer Product rule (that includes paint thinner and multipurpose solvent limits) as well as the and the Santa Barbara Solvent Cleaning Rule (Rule 321), which currently exempts most AIM cleaning activities;

• A revised definition of Reactive Penetrating Sealer Definition, based on suggestions from the California Department of Transportation;

• Deletion of the Specialty Primer and Undercoater category; and

• Inclusion of SCAQMD’s Method 313 test method, even as meetings are ongoing to resolve problems with Method 313.

In its proposal, Santa Barbara suggests a one-year effective date. ACA typically advocates for at least a one-year effective date to allow industry members to lock out product, inform customers, etc.

ACA’s AIM VOC Committee tracks, reviews, and comments on AIM VOC regulations on behalf of the industry. ACA offers members resources to track and comply with these rules.

ACA and its committee will be submitting comments on the proposed Santa Barbara rule amendments by the March 25 comment deadline.

More information on the Santa Barbara proposed rule is available fromhttp://www.sbcapcd.org/rules/download/323.1proj-desc-sum20140212.pdf, and information on the March 11 workshop is available athttp://www.sbcapcd.org/rules/workshops.htm.

Source: http://paint.org/news/industry-news/item/1415-santa-barbara-proposes-changes-to-its-aim-rule.html

Food packaging chemicals may be harmful to human health over long term. More research needed into impact of chemical constituents leaching into foodstuffs

British Medical Journal Press Release:

The synthetic chemicals used in the packaging, storage, and processing of foodstuffs might be harmful to human health over the long term, warn environmental scientists in a commentary in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

This is because most of these substances are not inert and can leach into the foods we eat, they say.

Despite the fact that some of these chemicals are regulated, people who eat packaged or processed foods are likely to be chronically exposed to low levels of these substances throughout their lives, say the authors.

…

They point out that lifelong exposure to food contact materials or FCMs – substances used in packaging, storage, processing, or preparation equipment – “is a cause for concern for several reasons.”

These include the fact that known toxicants, such as formaldehyde, a cancer causing substance, are legally used in these materials. Formaldehyde is widely present, albeit at low levels, in plastic bottles used for fizzy drinks and melamine tableware.

Secondly, other chemicals known to disrupt hormone production also crop up in FCMs, including bisphenol A, tributyltin, triclosan, and phthalates.

“Whereas the science for some of these substances is being debated and policy makers struggle to satisfy the needs of stakeholders, consumers remain exposed to these chemicals daily, mostly unknowingly,” the authors point out.

And, thirdly, the total number of known chemical substances used intentionally in FCMs exceeds 4000.

Furthermore, potential cellular changes caused by FCMs, and in particular, those with the capacity to disrupt hormones, are not even being considered in routine toxicology analysis, which prompts the authors to suggest that this “casts serious doubts on the adequacy of chemical regulatory procedures.”

They admit that establishing potential cause and effect as a result of lifelong and largely invisible exposure to FCMs will be no easy task, largely because there are no unexposed populations to compare with, and there are likely to be wide differences in exposure levels among individuals and across certain population groups.

Please read full at:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/bmj-fpc021714.php

2014 Great Lakes Green Chemistry Conference: Innovating for Success

April 1-2, 2014, Cleveland Ohio

The purpose of this conference is to show how innovations in green chemistry drive advances in business, academia, policy, and human health protection in the Great Lakes region, and how integration and collaboration of these areas are crucial for success.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative logoThe conference will include keynotes, plenary sessions, panel sessions, breakout sessions, and a poster networking exchange. Submissions should specify a desire for inclusion as either a presentation or a poster.

Early Bird Registration Through March 14!

http://www.glrppr.org/conference/

EPA's Latest State and Local Climate and Energy Newsletter

​The following is p

osted from

​ EPA Newsletter site: 

To subscribe to this newsletter, go to the Newsletters page.​

​​

​​Listen Now to EPA

​'​

s Webcast Series on Communications for Climate and Clean Energy Programs

If you missed our popular December 2013 webcast series on communications strategies for state and local governments, you can listen now to all three online, access presentations, and read audience Qs&As. Over 1,000 state and local staff tuned in to listen to some or all of these webcasts, making it one of our most popular offerings to date.

The structure of the three webcasts parallels the general phases of program development and implementation: attracting stakeholder support and participation, sustaining change, and gaining momentum from program successes. Participants will learn how to design communications strategies to engage and empower stakeholders, use communications methods to instigate and sustain behavior change and foster individual and community solutions, and effectively communicate their programs

​ ​

successes and resulting benefits to diverse audiences.

New Report on Municipal Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction

This report, drafted by the Environmental Financial Advisory Board, was written to help smaller communities understand the benefits of developing and methods of financing energy efficiency projects. The Board reviewed existing information and distilled it down into this report to help communities, particularly those without dedicated energy staff, decide whether and how to move forward on efficiency measures.

The report is available on EPA�s Environmental Finance site.

EPA Regions and Antioch University-New England to Host Regional Conference, "Local Solutions: Northeast Climate Change Preparedness," May 19-21 in Manchester, New Hampshire

Antioch University-New England and EPA will host a regional conference this May for local planners, decision makers, and educators to understand how to create healthy resilient communities that are better prepared to handle severe weather and climate impacts. The first two days of the conference will focus on the topic of Building Resilient Communities: informing community planners, decision makers, and those responsible for implementing change at the local level how best to identify current and future vulnerabilities, followed by adaptive responses to build resilient communities. The last day of the conference will feature an Educators Summit, which will inform middle and high school teachers how to design a community-based, problem-solving curriculum that will teach students how best to support municipal officials preparing for impacts from a changing climate. For more information and to register, visit the conference website.

USDA Announces Regional Hubs to Help Agriculture, Forestry Mitigate Impacts of Changing Climate

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the creation of the first ever Regional Hubs for Risk Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change at seven locations around the country. These �Climate Hubs� will address increasing risks such as fires, invasive pests, floods, and droughts on a regional basis, aiming to translate science and research into information to farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners on ways to adapt and adjust their resource management. The Hubs were chosen through a competitive process among USDA facilities. In addition to the seven Hubs, USDA is designating three Subsidiary Hubs (�Sub Hubs�) that will function within the Southeast, Midwest, and Southwest. The Sub Hubs will support the Hub within their region and focus on a unique set of issues in that region. The Climate Hubs will build on the capacity within USDA to deliver science-based knowledge and practical information to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to support decision-making related to climate change across the country. For more information, see the press release.

U.S. Geological Survey Tool Provides County-Level Maps with Historical and Projected Climate Change Data for 21st Century

For the first time, maps and summaries of historical and projected temperature and precipitation changes for the 21st century for the continental United States are accessible at a county-by-county level on a website developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in collaboration with the College of Earth, Oceanic, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. The maps and summaries are based on NASA downscaling of the 33 climate models used in the 5th Climate Model Intercomparison Project and the current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report. The USGS leveraged this massive dataset and distilled the information into easily understood maps, 3-page summaries, and spreadsheet compatible data files for each state and county in the United States. A similar implementation for the USGS nested hydrologic units will be available in the next month. Other useful tools for characterizing climate change include plots of monthly averages of temperature and precipitation, time-series spanning 1950-2099, and tables that summarize possible changes in the extremes of temperature and precipitation. For more information, see the press release.

Federal Funding Compendium for Urban Heat Adaptation

Given that city residents are particularly vulnerable to the public health and environmental impacts of escalating temperatures, state and local governments are often looking for creative sources of funds to prepare for climate changes.

This compendium, recently released by the Georgetown Climate Center, seeks to provide assistance to local and state governments that are striving to adapt to urban heat islands in their communities. While none of the 44 programs within the compendium were created specifically to address the problem of urban heat, all of the programs allow funds to be used for projects that would provide urban heat relief while also addressing important program objectives, such as promoting economic development and energy efficiency.

The compendium examines each program for its potential to fund urban heat adaptation. For each program, we also include information on the following:

• Who can apply for the funds
• What activities the funds can support
• The amount of money in the program 
• The average size of grant 

Download the compendium

Lessons Learned from Irene: Climate Change, Federal Disaster Relief, and Barriers to Adaptive Reconstruction

A recently released case study by the Georgetown Climate Center examines the challenges encountered by Vermont localities trying to use federal disaster relief funds to rebuild their transportation system to be more resilient to future climate impacts in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.

Irene dumped more than seven inches of rain on the state over the course of two days, which washed out hundreds of miles of roads and bridges. In the aftermath of the disaster, Vermont chose to rebuild its roads and bridges to higher state standards, but encountered legal barriers when FEMA initially refused to reimburse communities for the added costs. The state appealed the decision and ultimately FEMA allowed one locality to be reimbursed and is considering the appeals of other localities. 

The story of the Vermont appeal highlights some of the challenges that states and localities face in trying to adapt to climate changes by rebuilding differently after a natural disaster. 

Download the case study

�Beyond the Basics" Website Shares Best Practices in Local Mitigation Planning 

The "Beyond the Basics" website is the product of a five-year research study conducted by the Coastal Hazards Center and the Center for Sustainable Community Design at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). As part of this study, researchers at UNC systematically analyzed 175 local hazard mitigation plans drawn from six states to assess their content and quality. Each plan was evaluated using a hazard mitigation plan quality protocol that has been developed, tested, and applied over several projects across the country. The website is designed to help guide the user through the process of developing or updating a local hazard mitigation plan that will meet the requirements for approval by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). To learn more, visit the mitigation guide website.

Adaptation Planning: Kingston Tidal Waterfront Flooding Task Force

Kingston, New York, has piloted a climate adaptation planning process with several analytical tools and extended citizen engagement in the process. The city unanimously adopted the resulting report through the town council and is pursuing capital improvements, long-term land use planning, and state and federal grants in accordance with the �Planning for Rising Waters� report.

For more information, see the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation�s Climate January 2014 Smart Webinar on Kingston�s Tidal Waterfront Flooding Task Force.

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State and local officials interested in additional information about developing and implementing cost-effective climate and energy strategies that help further environmental goals and achieve public health and economic benefits may visit EPA�s State and Local Climate and Energy Program site.

Free Webinar on California's Safer Consumer Products Regulations - What you need to know NOW!

Webinar: California's Safer Consumer Products Regulations -  What you need to know NOW!

When: Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Don't get caught off guard! The California DTSC will announce the first round of Priority Products under the Safer Consumer Products regulations by the end of March 2014. Your company will only have 60 days to report whether you manufacture, sell, or import a product that falls into that description. Now is the time to evaluate whether the ~200 Candidate Chemicals are present in any of your products.

Join Senior Regulatory Analyst, Kirsten Wallerstedt to understand the implication of this law, how your company may be affected, and what you should be doing now to prepare.

The last day to register is March 4, 2014.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014 - North America and Europe

10:00 am U.S. Pacific

01:00 pm U.S. Eastern

06:00 pm UK

07:00 pm Central Europe 

Register HERE!

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/227370065

‘Construction flaws’ in six Hanford nuclear waste tanks, 13 more may be compromised – report

"The price for cleaning up the environment once this stuff gets out is incalculable," 

RT USA |"Significant construction flaws" have been found in at least 6 of the 28 double shelled radioactive waste storage tanks at the Hanford nuclear waste complex in Washington State, which may lead to additional leaks, documents obtained by the AP say.

After one of the 28 huge underground double shelled tanks was found to be leaking in 2012, subsequent surveys performed for the US Department of Energy by one of its Hanford contractors found that at least six of the other tanks shared the same defects, according to the documents. A further 13 tanks may also be compromised, the inspectors found.

...the six double-walled tanks which have construction flaws similar to those at the leaking tank contain about 5 million gallons of radioactive wastes.

...Hanford is located on the Columbia River in Washington State near the border with Oregon and contains 53 million gallons of high-level nuclear waste from the production of plutonium for the US nuclear weapons program. It was built during World War Two as part of the Manhattan Project to build the nuclear bomb. There are some 177 underground storage tanks on the site, many of which date back to World War Two. These are single skinned and many have already leaked. The 28 double walled tanks were built as replacement between the 1960's and 1980's.

After the AP published its report, Senator Doc Hastings, R-Wash, released a statement saying there is "no new threat to our communities or our environment" and that "new storage tanks will never be a panacea" for the Hanford nuclear waste problem.

 Please continue reading from 'Construction flaws' in six Hanford nuclear waste tanks, 13 more may be compromised – report shared via feedly mobile

Oil From the Exxon Valdez Spill Still Lingers On Alaska Beaches

It's been 25 years since the Exxon Valdez dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil in Prince William Sound, and you can still find oil sticking to rocks. Worse yet, scientists say the oil could be around for decades yet to come. From the article: 'There are two main reasons why there's still oil on some of the beaches of the Kenai Fjords and Katmai National Parks and Preserves in the Gulf of Alaska, explains Gail Irvine, a marine ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and lead researcher on the study. When the oil first spilled from the tanker, it mixed with the seawater and formed an emulsion that turned it into a goopy compound, she says. "When oil forms into the foam, the outside is weathering, but the inside isn't," Irvine explains. It's like mayonnaise left out on the counter. The surface will crust over, but the inside of the clump still looks like mayonnaise, she explains.'

Please continue reading via feedly // published on Slashdot // visit site

72% plastic food containers leached some amount of synthetic estrogens.

A Frightening Field Guide to Common Plastics

The safety debate over plastic products has centered largely on BPA, but many BPA-free items may be exposing us to harmful chemicals with similar effects. Neuroscientist George Bittner and his colleagues tested 455 products, from plastic wrap to food containers, and found that 72 percent leached some amount of synthetic estrogens. Here's a guide to common plastics (often identifiable by the number stamped on them) and the percentage of samples that displayed estrogenic activity.

Please continue reading via feedly // published on MoJo Articles | Mother Jones // visit site

In a Host of Small Sources, Scientists See Free Energy Windfall

Yale Environment 360 ...The concept isn't new — in a sense all energy drawn from the environment is "harvested." Nor is there a standard definition for the emerging technology known as energy harvesting or energy scavenging, but it primarily involves collecting low-power electromagnetic, thermal, mechanical, or light energy and converting it to electric current. 

Exploiting free, ambient energy is "an interesting idea and you're going to see more applications of it," said Jonathan Koomey, research fellow at Stanford University's Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance. But the technology has a long way to go, he said. Constraints on space and the amount of energy that can be gleaned in many settings now limit its use to small, fairly low-power devices. "It's not this magic bullet," Koomey said.

Still, in today's power-hungry world, energy scavenging can help ensure that no watt goes to waste. 

"Your computer, hot asphalt, there's a million things that are fairly hot but not really viable for standard thermoelectrics," said Harry Radousky, a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California and co-developer of a nanoscale harvester for low-temperature heat, such as exhaust from appliances. In contrast to high-temperature, waste-heat capture systems — in which sources like flue gas provide a steep heat gradient for thermoelectric generators — the small heat differences between low-temperature sources and their surroundings are much harder to convert into electricity. But new low-temperature thermal harvesting technology could turn these overlooked resources into working power. 

For instance, Radousky said, "we park our cars in hot parking lots all over the U.S. in the summer, so in principle we could charge batteries in electronic devices, [and] run coolers to keep food cold" with heat from the pavement. Other prospects for reaping low-temperature thermal power include light bulbs, hot ovens, and plastic seats inside cars baking in the sun. "My rule of thumb is that if it is too hot to touch, it's a candidate source," he said. "So we were looking for things that could harvest that low

"Our motto is 'No wires, no batteries, no limits,'" says one expert.

quality of heat ... where a small amount of energy can get you a long way." 

As energy harvesters become increasingly efficient and cost-effective, a growing number of products such as light switches, thermostats, gas detectors, and avalanche alarms are going off-grid and battery-free. 

"Our motto is 'No wires, no batteries, no limits,'" said Graham Martin, chairman of EnOcean Alliance, a California-based consortium of companies promoting a wireless standard for automated building controls that run on scavenged power. 

Regulating building heat, cooling, and lights with devices like room occupancy sensors can cut energy use by as much as 40 percent, Martin said. EnOcean Alliance reports that more than 250,000 buildings worldwide contain its energy-scavenging devices, like wireless, battery-free controls with tiny, integrated photovoltaic cells that harvest energy from room lights, or vibrations that agitate a pressure-sensitive material, releasing electrons. Martin estimates that EnOcean devices have saved 50 million batteries, and predicts that 3 billion switches, sensors, thermostats, transmitters, and other low-powered, self-contained gadgets will be in use within five years. 

Please continue reading from by Cheryl Katz In a Host of Small Sources, Scientists See Energy Windfall by Cheryl Katz: Yale Environment 360 | shared via feedly mobile

Federal agency won't set deadline for HazMat tank-car rules

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration refused a request by lawmakers on Wednesday to set a deadline for new tank-car rules. Administrator Cynthia Quarterman testified that "tank car fixes weren't 'a silver bullet,' and were only 'one piece of the mitigative puzzle' in making crude oil transportation safer," Curtis Tate reports for McClatchy Newspapers. "The rail industry petitioned the agency three years ago for a rule on tank cars, but the process didn't begin until this past September and could take at least another year to finish." (Minneapolis Star-Tribune photo: An oil-train crash in December in North Dakota)

Quarterman's refusal came one day after the Department of Transportation issued an emergency order requiring oil-train shippers to check their crude for volatility. More crude oil was spilledin U.S. railway accidents in 2013 than in the previous 37 years, and an accident in July in Quebec that left 47 people dead. 

"In addition to the safety of crude oil shipments on railroads, the hearing in the House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees railroads also examined recent commuter rail accidents and the problems the industry has meeting a December 2015 deadline to install a collision avoidance system," Tate writes. "Federal regulators and industry officials told lawmakers that commuter and freight railroads will not be able to install the system, called Positive Train Control, by the end of next year. Congress required the system in 2008 after 25 people died in a head-on collision between a commuter train and a freight train in southern California." (Read more)

W.Va. inspectors find more than 1,600 chemical storage tanks in critical areas near water supplies

Reuters graphic: Site of Jan. 9 spill

The January chemical spill that dumped thousands of gallons of a coal cleaner into a major regional water supply in West Virginia has led to an investigation that continues to shed light on the lack of state regulations on above-ground chemical storage tanks located near public drinking-water supplies (not just a problem in West Virginia). State inspectors say they have found 600 more tanks, bringing the total to more than 1,600, Ken Ward reports for The Charleston Gazette.

"The Department of Environmental Protection for the first time released lists of storage tanks that could be subject to new rules if lawmakers pass legislation drawn up in response to the January chemical leak on the Elk River," Ward writes. "DEP officials cautioned that they could end up with a final inventory showing even more storage tanks located in or near the 'zone of critical concern' near public water-supply intakes." Inspectors are still visiting sites, "and plan to examine a much larger number -- 600 facilities with an estimated 3,000 tanks -- to confirm locations, double-check the number of tanks and examine the tank contents." The list includes coal-fired power stations, chemical plants, lumber mills, and trucking operations, but does not identify what chemicals are being stored or the amount of chemicals.

"To define tanks that could potentially impact public water systems, DEP officials expanded the area covered by the Bureau of Public Health's 'zone of critical concern'," Ward writes. "The bureau defines the term to cover anything located within five hours upstream and within a 1,000-foot corridor around main-stem water supply streams and 500 feet alongside tributaries. The DEP added 500 feet to the main-stem and tributary zones to be more inclusive, officials said." (Read more)

Tim Cook wants Apple to give up on environmental initiatives that don't contribute to bottom line

Nick Statt reports at Cnet that at Apple's annual shareholder meeting Friday, Apple CEO Tim Cook shot down the suggestion from a conservative, Washington, DC-based think tank that Apple give up on environmental initiatives that don't contribute to the company's bottom line. The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), hasn't taken kindly to Apple's increasing reliance on green energy and said so in a statement issued to Apple ahead of the meeting. 'We object to increased government control over company products and operations, and likewise mandatory environmental standards,' said NCPPR General Counsel Justin Danhof demanding that the pledge be voted on at the meeting. 'This is something [Apple] should be actively fighting, not preparing surrender.' Cook responded that there are many things Apple does because they are right and just, and that a return on investment (ROI) was not the primary consideration on such issues. 'When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind. I don't consider the bloody ROI,' said Cook. 'We do a lot of things for reasons besides profit motive, We want to leave the world better than we found it.' Danhof's proposal was voted down and to any who found the company's environmental dedication either ideologically or economically distasteful, Cook advised 'if you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot