Just When You Thought It was Safe to Go Back in the Water . . .

The Chaos Of Clean-Up  consists of a review of scientific research on each of 57 chemical ingredients that are found in dispersants, like those used during the Deepwater Horizon disaster (2010).

The ingredients and formulas for various dispersants on the market typically are not available, and it is not fully known which chemical ingredients among the 57 are found in which dispersant.

However, the research shows that some of the ingredients in oil dispersants are hazardous to our health and the health of the organisms living in the Gulf of Mexico.

Of the 57 chemicals researched:

• 5 chemicals are associated with cancer
• 33 chemicals are associated with skin irritation, from rashes to burns
• 33 chemicals are linked to eye irritation
• 11 chemicals are suspected or potential respiratory toxins or irritants
• 10 chemicals are suspected kidney toxins
• 8 chemicals are suspected or known to be toxic to aquatic organisms
• 5 chemicals are suspected to have a moderate acute toxicity to fish

While revealing some of the potential hazards of dispersants, the extent of our current lack of knowledge about dispersants and their impacts is made evident.

From the executive summary:

These findings call for more research, greater disclosure of the information that is known, comprehensive toxicity testing, the establishment of safety criteria for dispersants, and careful selection of the least toxic dispersants for application in oil spill response.

Download Complete Report: The Chaos Of Clean-Up (PDF)

I shared the information below in the post, Oil Companies are Ruinging Our Environment (9/2/11), but I think it is worth repeating:

According to Dr. Michael Robichaux, a physician in Raceland, Louisiana, Gulf residents continue to suffer health effects related to the disaster clean-up:

. . . the main problems at this time are a loss of memory, seizure type problems, severe abdominal pain, fatigue, irritability and other neurological and endocrine manifestations (AlterNet, 8/29/2011).

I would feel negligent if I did not warn you to stay off the beaches and out of the water in the Gulf. People have been reporting rashes and other symptoms that may be caused by the oil, gases or dispersants unleashed in the Gulf in 2010.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water . . . don't.

New Nature Conservancy PSA

USA Ten Most Endangered Rivers 2011

Ten Endangered Rivers in USA Selected

American Rivers has published the America's Ten Most Endangered Rivers list for this year.  Below you may locate these 10 rivers on the map of the USA.

2011 Ten Most Endangered Rivers

Below us a summary of what is endangering each river. One river given special mention is the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River has the third largest drainage basin in the world, after the watersheds of the Amazon and Congo Rivers. It drains 41 percent of the 48 contiguous states of the United States. The basin covers more than 1,245,000 square miles, includes all or parts of 31 states and two Canadian provinces (US Army Corp of Engineers-New Orleans District).

Note that of the ten most endangered rivers for 2011, two are endangered by gas extraction and four are endangered by mining (uranium and coal).  For an economy supposedly going GREEN, why are we endangering rivers to process substances that will add more CO2 to the air and toxins to the water?

Take Action for the Rivers

Contact the local policymakers directly about these rivers.

1. Susquehanna River
Learn More | Act Now

2. Bristol Bay Rivers
Learn More | Act Now

3. Roanoke River
Learn More | Act Now

4. Chicago River
Learn More | Act Now

5. Yuba River
Learn More | Act Now

6. Green River
Learn More | Act Now

7. Hoback River
Learn More | Act Now

8. Black Warrior River
Learn More | Act Now

9. St. Croix River
Learn More | Act Now

10. Ozark National Scenic Riverways
Learn More | Act Now

Make Your Home Defensible Against FIRE

It is no secret that Texas is burning. 

Record drought and record temperatures have made tinder out of most of Texas. The latest fire occurred in the Lost Pines area of Bastrop. The fire destroyed 1,554 homes and 17 people are missing. Check out status of this and other wildfires in Texas at the Texas Forest Service website.

 

What Happened?

Texas is one of the few states that rely primarily on volunteer fire departments to protect rural areas from wildfires. About 330 firefighters with the forest service traditionally serve as a second tier of defense when such fires get larger than the local department can handle.

Funds to volunteer fire departments were cut 75 percent and funding for Texas Forest Service were cut 35 percent this biennium by the Texas Legislature.

Also,  Texas Guard members, who normally help fight fires are fighting for their lives on foreign shores, so Texas burns . . .

What Can You Do?

Do not expect volunteer firefighters with aging trucks and equipment to be able to save your neighborhood. Take steps NOW to protect your home from wildfires. California Fire Alliance publishes a tip sheet that has many good ideas on how to build, site and landscape your home to give it a better chance of surviving a fire. If your home is surrounded by a defensible space, it is more likely to survive.

The Defensible Home

Firefighters and emergency professionals do all they can to stop wildfires, but they have to be smart and they will look for homes and buildings that are easier to protect. Homes with defensible space are the homes that firefighters look for, because they are safer to go near and easier to save.

Download the PDF fact sheet here (right click on link and select "save as" and save it to your computer. This fact sheet is two pages that just might save your home.

Tips From a Texan

I have lived in Texas my entire life.  Fire is a natural occurrence, set by lightening, sparking equipment, cigarettes thrown from cars, campfires left untended, burning yard waste under a burn ban, dumb people . . .

Here are a few money-saving tips if you are in the market for these items:

• When my house needed new siding, I paid to have the outside covered in HardiPlank, a mixture of cement and fibers that is mostly fireproof. 
• When my roof was punctured by hail and taken off by a tornado, I looked for the best shingle I could buy.  I found a shingle that was hail-resistant, fire-resistant and wind-resistant to 130 mpg. No roofing company had heard of these shingles, let alone had any in stock. I had to call the manufacturer and they shipped the shingles to me.
• Other improvements were to knock down a wooden shed and replace it with a metal building.

Not only is the outside of my home fire resistant, I received a hefty discount from my insurance company and some of the improvements qualified for energy tax credits.

Water Catchment Systems

Rock Drains
On the back side of my home, the ground and grass came up to the bottom of the siding.  This was a place for rot, ants and moisture to invade my home. I had a five foot wide and twelve inch deep trench dug around the back and side of my home and filled it with river rock.  We included a perforated PVC pipe to water the foundation.  The trench acts as a drain in rain and can be filled with water to buffer my home in time of fire.

Rain Barrels and Rain Walls
I have rain barrels for catching what rain we do have. With the drought, the water pressure at my house is basically a thin stream. With rain barrels, I have some gravity-fed water on hand to wet down the area around my home. I plan to buy rain wall, which is modular, with each section holding 350 gallons of water.

Grey Water
I water my lawn with grey water.  This is water from my washing machine.  Some grey water systems will use every drop of water that does not come from the toilets.  I use ecologically sound detergent, so I am not adding anything but water and some organic compound to my lawn.

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I hope this post has given you some ideas about how you can improve the chance your home will survive the next fire.  Download the PDF file and read it. Make changes, as you have time. Clean out the chimney, cut back brush, install a rain harvesting system, trim the lower branches of your trees, buy some new hoses. Keep fire in mind when you replace siding, roofing and outbuildings.

May God grant us rain soon..

Remembering Twin Towers Ten Years Later

 September 11, 2001

Even after ten years, this video bring the memories vividly to mind.  We never had a disaster in the USA caught on camera by so many people.  It reminded me of the day President John F. Kennedy died. We watched the one black and white video over and over, hoping that the ending would be different.

Petermann Glacier Disappearing at Alarming Rate

Between August 3 and 5, 2010, an area four times the size of Manhattan Island (106.2 square miles) broke away from the front the Petermann Glacier. Located in northwest Greenland, the Petermann Glacier is one of a few remaining floating glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere and among the largest.

When ice is lost from the glacier front, there is less flow resistance and acceleration follows. This is important because Petermann is a glacier that flows through bedrock trenches that extend inland to the thickest parts of the ice sheet.

With assistance from Greenpeace, Dr. Alun Hubbard, a glaciologist with the Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University, placed time lapse cameras and GPS sensors during July and August of 2009. The instruments were placed on the Petermann Glacier in anticipation of a large ice area detachment that occurred between August 3-5, 2010.

With support from the US National Science Foundation and the UK Natural Environment Research Council, Dr. Hubbard returned to Greenland in July 2011 to retrieve the data from the cameras and sensors.

On his return from collecting the data, Dr. Hubbard said:

Although I knew what to expect in terms of ice loss from satellite imagery. . . [it was like] looking into the Grand Canyon full of ice and coming back two years later to find it’s full of water (Glacier Demise).

While the data is being analyzed, the photographs below tell the story.  View more photographs at the Byrd Polar Research Centre.

Oil Companies Ruining Environment

Mobile, Alabama

On Thursday, about 275,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil spilled at the Gulf Coast Asphalt Company's facility on the Mobile River. An unknown amount of oil flowed into the Mobile River, according to Coast Guard officials (blog.al.com 9/1/2011)

Black Sea Spill

After spilling an estimated 1,300 barrels of oil into the North Sea off Scotland, the oil leak from the Shell-operated Gannet Alpha platform in the North Sea has been stopped. But, wait . . . it appears there were two leaks!

A relief valve close to the faulty pipeline at Shell's Gannet Alpha oil platform in the North Sea appears to be the source of a secondary leak that is adding to the worst oil spill in UK waters in a decade (Guardian.co.uk 22 August 2011)

The oil slick from the spill is one-half square kilometer and changes from day to day. According to a Shell spokesperson:

The high winds and waves over the weekend have led to a substantial reduction in the size of the oil sheen as can be seen from the current levels on the water. We continue to expect that the oil sheen will disperse naturally due to wave action and that it will not reach the shore (Shell.com 15/08/2011).

BP Gulf Leak Revisited

This suggestion that what we cannot see will not hurt us is the same mindset as BP on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They sprayed tons of dispersants to break the oil down, hoping the spill would not reach the beach. It did. Several beaches in several states were effected and continue to be effected by the oil and the dispersants in the water and on the beaches.

Two oil dispersant products used heavily by BP during the Gulf of Mexico oil leak are COREXIT 9500 and 9527, both produced by Nalco/Exxon. Five of the 57 ingredients in dispersants approved by the EPA for use on oil spills have been linked to cancer (AlterNet, 8/29/2011).

I would feel negligent if I did not warn you to stay off the beaches and out of the water in the Gulf. People have been reporting rashes and other symptoms that may be caused by the oil, methane or dispersants unleashed in the Gulf in 2010.

According to Dr. Michael Robichaux, a physician in Raceland, Louisiana, Gulf residents continue to suffer health effects related to the disaster clean-up :

. . . the main problems at this time are a loss of memory, seizure type problems, severe abdominal pain, fatigue, irritability and other neurological and endocrine manifestations (AlterNet, 8/29/2011).

After the BP spill, large underwater plumes in the Gulf of Mexico were detected and ignored.  Now, it looks like the plumes are dispersing and the oil is surfacing.


(Video from blog.al.com)

BP Alaska

In July, a spill at the BP Lisburne field, part of Greater Prudhoe Bay Unit, leaked 2,100 to 4,200 gallons of methanol and oily water onto the tundra. This spill affected about 2,040 square feet of wet and aquatic tundra in Alaska (REUTERS, Jul 18, 2011).

Russia and USA to Cooperate on Drilling in Arctic 

Now, the USA and Russia are cooperating about how to drill in the Arctic. See Exxon, Rosneft tie up in Russian Arctic (REUTERS, Aug 31, 2011).

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Things have never seemed as dire for the environment.  I am physically ill at what the oil companies have done to our oceans, gulfs, estuaries, beaches and their inhabitants.The destruction of these critical habitats will signal the extinction of many species of flora and fauna. I hope humans are not included in this event.

Guess What Country Uses Most Electric Energy Each Year?

Could it be the USA?  Yes, with less than 5 percent of population of the world, we manage to consume a lion's share (46 percent) of the world's electric energy. Texas (second largest state in US), California (third largest state in US) and Florida (twenty-second largest state in the US) are the top three energy hogs in the US.

Toward the bottom of the infographic is a list of power consuming activities and then tips on how to reduce your energy consumption. I found this handy infographic about electricity consumption in the USA and how to reduce your impact at Power SuperSite.

So, now you know. Think about what you can do to change your energy gobbling habits. A good place to start is EnergyHog.org. They have divided the site into adult and child sections.  You can login as a child. No one is looking!