Water & Oceans

States Partly Fill Federal Vacuum on Fracking Fluid Disclosure Law

Colorado, which adopted its disclosure rules December 13, 2011, joins Texas, Pennsylvania, and several other states in requiring some disclosure by drillers of the chemicals they pump into shale formations under high pressures to release natural gas. Scores of chemicals, some very toxic, may be involved.

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"Disasters Doom Texas Oyster Crop"

"A monstrous bloom of toxic algae looming across the Texas coast has shut down oyster season. Fueled by Texas' ongoing drought, the algae — known as Karenia brevis— thrives in warm, salty water and has spread through the bays and islands along Texas' 350-mile coast, says Meridith Byrd, a marine biologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The algae could cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea in humans and is harmful to fish but not fatal to people, she says."

Source: USA TODAY, 12/14/2011

"White House Releases Report on Gulf Restoration"

"NEW ORLEANS -- The Obama administration has released a report on how the Gulf Coast can be restored following the nation's worst offshore oil spill after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana in April 2010. The report from the White House's Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Restoration Task Force comes out the same week Congress considers a bill designed to handle billions of dollars in Clean Water Act fines BP is expected to pay for the release of more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf."

Source: AP, 12/06/2011

"Atrazine In Water Tied To Menstrual Irregularities, Low Hormones"

"Women who drink water contaminated with low levels of the weed-killer atrazine may be more likely to have irregular menstrual cycles and low estrogen levels, scientists concluded in a new study. The most widely used herbicide in the United States, atrazine is frequently detected in surface and ground water, particularly in agricultural areas of the Midwest. The newest research, which compared women in Illinois farm towns to women in Vermont, adds to the growing scientific evidence linking atrazine to altered hormones."

Source: EHN, 11/28/2011
November 30, 2011

Harnessing NEPA to Manage Cumulative Impacts in the Ocean

This Environmental Law Institute seminar in Washington, DC (and via teleconference) will bring together experts to discuss methods for improving cumulative environmental impacts analysis and utilizing NEPA to enhance ecosystem-based, adaptive management of human activities in the ocean.

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