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313.849.2333 - 24/hour
11320 E Lakewood Blvd., #11
Holland, MI 49424
800-521-8232 – 24/Hour
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AT&T to pay California $52 million in hazardous waste disposal settlement
November 22, 2014
(Reuters) - AT&T Inc (T.N) will pay $52 million in civil penalties and environmental compliance as part of a settlement with California over illegal dumping of hazardous waste but won't be required to clean up the resulting contamination, state officials said on Thursday.
State officials said it marked the first enforcement action in California against a telecommunications company for mishandling of electronic waste. The settlement must still be approved by the Alameda County Superior Court, where it was filed.
Chemical Change Causing Lakes to Get Gooey
November 22, 2014
If you grew up drinking milk because you thought it was good for your bones, you know about the importance of calcium, the human body’s most plentiful mineral. But it turns out that calcium is important for the health of aquatic environment, as well.
A new study by Canadian researchers, published in Proceedings of the Royal Academy B, reports that calcium concentrations are decreasing in softwater lakes across North America and Western Europe, causing what the researchers call “aquatic osteoporosis.” But instead of bones, it’s the balance of nature that becomes brittle.
The scientists from Queen’s University found that declining calcium levels, which are caused by acid rain from air pollution and timber-harvesting that disturb forest soils and cause excessive runoff, are making it difficult for many lake-dwelling microorganisms that need the mineral to survive. Their place, in turn, is being taken by organisms that are coated with a capsule of protective jelly.
Environmental groups, tribe file challenge to pipeline from Canada
November 14, 2014
Environmental groups on Wednesday filed a legal challenge to the U.S. State Department’s approval of a major increase of Canadian tar sands oil flowing through Enbridge Energy pipelines into the U.S.
The groups, joined by the White Earth Ojibwe Nation, filed suit in federal district court in Minneapolis, alleging federal officials acted illegally and in collusion with pipeline industry executives when they approved a major expansion of oil moving across the border.
The State Department recently signed off on a plan by Enbridge to use the Canadian portion of the Alberta Clipper line to move oil south, transfer the oil to another, parallel pipeline — called Line 3 — for the actual border crossing, then transfer it back into Alberta Clipper once the oil is in the U.S.
Toilet to Tap - San Diego Approves $3.5B Recycled Water Project
November 18th, 2014
With drought relief in California a long way off, San Diegans got one step closer to a more reliable, long-term water supply.
By a 9-0 vote Tuesday, the City Council approved a long-envisioned sewage purification system that'll crank out water you can drink.
Experts say it'll likely exceed current water quality standards – while supplying about a third of the city's daily needs and saving big bucks on wastewater treatment costs.
"It originally met with some opposition,” says Matt O’Malley, a water scientist and attorney with San Diego Coastkeeper, a leading local environmental group.
“You have the moniker 'Toilet to Tap' -- it gets thrown around a lot,” O’Malley said in a City Hall interview Tuesday. “But really, what people have to realize is that every source of water they have is recycled many times over. What we're just doing is maximizing that recycling here locally."
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World losing battle against global warming
November 10, 2013
In the battle to combat global warming, the world isn't moving fast enough to stay in the fight.
The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — which releases a new report every few years — again gave grim news last week as emissions rose 2.3% to a record in 2013, marking the largest year-to-year change in three decades.
"We're about at a 3" on a scale of 0 to 10 in reducing emissions that cause global warming, said Michael Oppenheimer, a Princeton University geoscientist and contributing author of an international report out earlier this week that warned of "severe, pervasive and irreversible" damage if nations fail to corral greenhouse gases.
Meanwhile, Earth is also on target for its hottest year ever recorded, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as reaching the highest level of atmospheric carbon dioxide in at least 800,000 years. And in the U.S., emissions rose 2.9% in the past year — after several years of declines.