"Polluted Passaic River Suffers Latest in History of Setbacks"
Efforts to remove 17 miles of dioxin-laced muck contaminating New Jersey's Passaic River seem to have failed.
Source: Bergen Record, 10/15/2012
Water & Oceans
"The Arctic Ocean Diaries"
"Julia Whitty is on a three-week-long journey aboard the the US Coast Guard icebreaker Healy, following a team of scientists who are investigating how a changing climate might be affecting the chemistry of ocean and atmosphere in the Arctic."
Source: Mother Jones, 10/11/2012
"Should Belugas Swim Wild and Free?"
NOAA is considering the Georgia Aquarium's proposal to import 18 beluga whales from the Sea of Okhotsk for display and breeding at aquariums.
Source: Green/NYT, 10/11/2012
"Climate Change Forecast: More Drought, Lower Great Lakes Water Levels"
"Climate change is expected to drop water levels in the Great Lakes, experts said Wednesday. Levels could drop anywhere from a few inches to several feet as water evaporates in the drought conditions."
Source: Medill, 10/11/2012
"Dam Inspectors Fear the Deluge"
"The floodwaters are swelling, but the resources needed to confront them are shriveling up. That's the frustrating reality that state dam officials face as they confront added stress to the thousands of structures they regulate."
Source: StateLine, 10/09/2012
"Whale Deaths Since 1970s Mostly Human-Caused, Study Finds"
"A report out this month found that humans might be to blame for most large whale deaths over the past 40 years in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, with entanglement in fishing gear the No. 1 killer."
Source: LiveScience, 10/09/2012
"Oceans' Rising Acidity a Threat To Shellfish -- and Humans"
"As carbon dioxide continues to build up in the atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels, the seas absorb much of it.The full effects have yet to be felt."
Source: LA Times, 10/08/2012
"Argus Energy Mine Spill In Lincoln County, West Virginia Kills Fish"
"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State regulators in West Virginia have ordered Argus Energy to repair a water treatment system at a Lincoln County mine site after a blackwater spill killed fish."
Source: AP, 10/04/2012
EPA To Propose Downgrading Access to Annual Drinking Water Quality Reports?
Some utilities want to get rid of the requirement — substituting online notification, even for water customers who lack Internet connections. A legislative effort to ease the notification requirement failed in the Senate in summer 2012. Now EPA is starting procedures which might lead to doing the same thing by rulemaking. Deadline for comments is October 11, 2012.
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Polar Bear Scientist Cleared; Interior Dept. Still Under Openness Cloud
Five years after wildlife biologist Charles Monnett's 2006 observations of dead polar bears, believed to have drowned because of disappearing Arctic ice, Interior started an investigation of Monnett's science. The findings — partially published September 28, 2012 — were confused and contained no findings of scientific misconduct.
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