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PCB chemical threat to Europe's killer whales and dolphins
14 January 2016
PCBs were once used in electrical gear, paints and flame retardants, but were banned from the 1970s because of their toxic effect in humans and animals.
However the manmade chemicals have persisted in the environment, and are accumulating in top predators.
The study finds Europe's cetaceans have levels of PCBs that are among the highest found in on the oceans.
The study finds Europe's cetaceans have levels of PCBs that are among the highest found in on the oceans.
Lead author Dr Paul Jepson, a wildlife veterinarian from the Zoological Society of London, said: "For striped dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and killer whales, we have mean PCB levels that are excessive - they are really high - probably the highest in the world right now, by some way.
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Chemical cleanup continues at foreclosed GR plant
February 15, 2016
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A large vat of toxic chemicals has leaked inside a foreclosed industrial plant in Grand Rapids.
The site is at the corner of Blane Avenue and Cottage Grove SE. Last year, the Kent County Land Bank took over the closed chrome plating company due to unpaid property taxes and discovered about 100 drums containing various highly corrosive chemicals were still there.
At the site Monday, officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said some of the material had leaked into the cement. They are investigating whether it seeped out of the building. Officials say if the corrosive chemicals get into the air or water, they could lead to health problems for neighbors.
After four months, progress on removing sunken tugboat
February 1, 2016
By JAMES BROOKS
Four months after the 96-foot tugboat Challenger sank in Gastineau Channel, detailed efforts to remove the hulk are about to begin.
On Friday, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Juneau spokeswoman Lt. Jennifer Ferreira announced that the Coast Guard has received approval (and funding) to remove the Challenger.
“We will make it a priority to keep the community and stakeholders informed throughout this process,” said Capt. Shannan Greene, commander of Coast Guard Sector Juneau, in a prepared statement.
According to the Coast Guard, Global Diving and Salvage has been awarded the contract to remove the Challenger from the spot where it has rested, surrounded by an orange oil-spill containment boom, since Sept. 12.
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A Plastic Ocean documentary
More than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans every year. See the results in this trailer for the new adventure documentary "A Plastic Ocean”.
In A Victory For Environmentalists, Officials Halt Offshore Fracking Permits In California
Jan 31, 2016 8:55 am
The federal government won’t be issuing any new permits to frack for oil or gas in the waters off California, after a settlement was reached Friday in a case brought by the Center for Biological Diversity. The settlement also directs the U.S. Department of the Interior to analyze the environmental impacts of offshore fracking.
“Every offshore frack puts coastal communities and marine wildlife at risk from dangerous chemicals or another devastating oil spill,” Kristen Monsell, an attorney with the group, said in a statement. “Once federal officials take a hard look at the dangers, they’ll have to conclude that offshore fracking is far too big of a gamble with our oceans’ life-support systems.”
In 2013, an investigation by the Associated Press revealed that there were more than 200 instances of fracking operations in state and federal waters off California — which were all unknown to the state agency that oversees offshore oil and gas. The lawsuit alleged the federal regulators were rubber-stamping permit applications.
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