ABC7.com
On November 27, 2022, a fire damaged a two-story multi-family residential structure in Irvine. According to KABC eight people were displaced due to the fire. The fire happened at the 300 block of Deerfield Avenue where firefighters were dispatched at 4 a.m. extinguishing the fire in under an hour and a half. No injuries were reported from the fire and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
BIV.com
On November 15, 2021, a burst dike and record rains forced over 1,000 residents to evacuate over the previous 24 hours. However, not everyone evacuated and thousands of residents waded and swam through the floods. One year later an analysis of water quality across Sumas Prairie released Thursday revealed a toxic soup of fossil fuels, cocaine, pharmaceuticals and heavy metals.
“One cannot drink any of the water from any of the waterways. It would simply be too risky. One cannot touch the water. These waterways are dangerous for human recreation.” States Peter Ross, leading the study as the director of water pollution at Raincoast Conservation Foundation. After the flooding the ministry created a multi-agency provincial task force who’s results “found limited to negligible risks to public and environmental health as a result of the atmospheric river event” and “no widespread contamination issues to date.”
However, Raincoast reports that across Sumas Prairie average fecal coliform levels were found to be 641 times higher compared to a stream used as a reference site outside of the flood zone. Average pesticide concentrations were found to be 135 times higher; nitrogen 43 times higher, and hydrocarbons 6.5 times higher, pharmaceuticals concentrations — the most common being diabetes medication, painkillers, asthma medication and cocaine — were on average 60 times higher in the flood zone.
NBC-2.com
North Collier Fire Rescue stated that electric vehicle (EV) fires started appearing about 3 to 4 days after Hurricane Ian. The lithium ion batteries found within EVs are susceptible to saltwater with the North Collier Fire Rescue putting out five of these fires since Ian. As a result of these fires, two houses have burned down.
Over 9,700 people in 3 of the hardest-hit counties own EVs and with almost 100,000 EVs Florida is number two in the nation in EVs.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha announced that two large gasoline refiners will pay the state about $1.1 million to resolve a lawsuit alleging they caused soil and groundwater throughout Rhode Island to be polluted with a toxic gas additive. This is in addition to a $17 million agreement reached between the state and Shell, Sunoco, CITGO, Hess, Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA Inc., Marathon and Conoco, for their roles in contamination caused by methyl tertiary-butyl ether.
The lawsuits argue MBTE leaked from underground storage tanks such as those at gas stations and contaminated groundwater and soils. Rhode Island banned the use of MTBE in 2007 which is considered a probable human carcinogen. However, MTBE is still being discovered in groundwater around the state.
NBCPalmSprings.com
Warnings to the public were issued by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) this holiday season to help prevent house fires. NFPA Vice President of Outreach and Advocacy Lorraine Carli stated, “December is a leading month for home fires, in large part because many of the activities we engage in during the holiday season reflect leading causes of home fires year-round”.
Christmas trees are a leading cause of house fires and between 2016 and 2020 there were an estimated 160 house fires involving Christmas trees leading to two civilian deaths and an estimated $12 million in property damage per year.
“By knowing where potential fire hazards exist and taking some basic safety precautions to prevent them, people can enjoy a festive, fire-free holiday season,” said Carli (NFPA Vice President of Outreach and Advocacy).
www.NRDC.org
The EPA released the Drinking Water Quality in Private Group Schemes and Small Private Supplies 2021 report which studied drinking water across rural parts of Ireland and found one in twenty private water supplies were found to have E coli contamination.
In addition, the study also found, twenty-one private group schemes (7%) failed to meet the standard for Trihalomethanes (THMs,) including five schemes that the European Commission has identified as being of particular concern. THMs are formed during the treatment process when there is an excess of organic matter in water source.
Over a quarter of small private supplies, serving food businesses, nursing homes, crèches and B&Bs were not monitored in 2021. The EPA report outlines the actions needed to be taken to address the issues and water suppliers in conjunction with local authorities must ensure that private supplies are registered, and that monitoring is undertaken in line with the regulations.
Finance.yahoo.com/
In London, England, on Thursday, Dec. 5, 1952, the visibility was no more than five meters. This was due to a high-pressure air mass over the Thames River Valley mixed with the sudden cold air that came in from the west.
This fog was due to other factors as well, including a culmination of coal furnaces, smoke, soot, sulfur dioxide from cars, industrial plants, and buses. London had also recently replaced an electric tram system with steam locomotives and diesel-fueled buses.
That fog mixed with pollutant smoke and created a thick smog. Between Dec. 4-8, an estimated 4,000-12,000 people died.
www.SunLive.co.nz
A tornado has ripped through Aongatete, a settlement and rural community in the Western Bay of Plenty District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island, causing property damage on Sunday morning.
Resident Karyn Taylor and her daughter Gina were in there home when a sudden storm or rain and hail appeared. They looked out the window to see a swirl of leaves approaching them. The tornado passed their home quickly; however, one widow was open and the tornado ripped it off.
MetService weather radar has detected more severe thunderstorms approaching the area. They recommend that residents prepare as these storms can cause surface and/or flash flooding about streams, gullies and urban areas, and make driving conditions extremely hazardous.
ABC7.com
On November 27th a fire damaged a two-story multi-family residential structure on the 300 block of Deerfield Avenue in Irvine. Eight people were displaced by the fire.
The firefighters dispatched at 4 a.m. and extinguished the blaze in under an hour and a half. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire was under investigation.
www.BizJournals.com
Hundreds of people showed up to Blanchette Park in St. Charles for a U.S. EPA meeting to discuss contamination in the Elm Point Wellfield. The City of St. Charles said it had to shut down four of its wells due to contamination.
“Your public drinking water has never shown any detections,” Clint Sperry with the EPA said. St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer said that is because they shut down the wells before contaminated water could ever leave the wells, pointing to an Ameren substation and a superfund site.
Patch.com
Drinking water in the well serving a private home on Chequessett Neck Road contained nearly seven times the state’s limit for PFAS when it was tested in the spring of 2022. State and local health authorities are still working to find the source of contamination. The test was part of a Massachusetts state program offered to residents of towns where at least 60 percent of the homes have private wells.
The results for Wellfleet showed the Chequessett Neck Road residential well had tested at 139 parts per trillion (ppt). Massachusetts has set a limit of 20 ppt for the sum of six PFAS in drinking water.
www.HoustonPublicMedia.org
NASA started the countdown for last month’s planned liftoff of its new moon rocket, although hurricane damage caused yet another flight delay. Hurricane Nicole’s high winds caused a 10-foot section of caulking to peel away near the crew capsule. Mission managers wanted to make sure the narrow strip wouldn’t damage the rocket if it breaks off during liftoff.
The nearly $4 billion mission has been grounded since August by fuel leaks and Hurricane Ian, which forced the rocket back into its hangar for shelter until the end of September. The rocket remained on the pad for Nicole; managers said there wasn’t enough time to move it once it became clear the storm was going to be stronger than anticipated.
BTLaw.com
Research in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) is “focused on addressing the pressing environmental and health challenge of a lack of sufficient information on chemicals needed to make informed, risk-based decisions.”
The Strategic Research Action Plan developed by the EPA will continue to:
· Develop the science needed to reduce, refine, and replace vertebrate animal testing consistent with EPA policies;
· Accelerate the pace of chemical assessment to enable our partners to make informed and timely decisions concerning the potential impacts of environmental chemicals on human health and the environment; and
· Provide leadership to transform chemical testing, screening, prioritization, and risk assessment practices.
www.CNN.com
Beginning on Tuesday several storms began to travel across multiple states. Weather officials in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana issued at least 36 tornado reports since then.
A tornado in the Flatwood area of Montgomery County resulted in the death of two people. The deaths occurred when the tornado caused a tree to fall on a home. Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency found others injured and issued for search-and-rescue crews to check houses in the area. A local church was opened as shelter for impacted residents.
In addition, several buildings were damaged overnight with an apartment complex in Eutaw losing its roof and Elmore and Hale Counties were also reported to have damaged buildings.
ShaferServices.com
BNN Bloobmerg and RATESDOTCA released results from a survey that found that 32% of homeowners don’t know “that standard home insurance policies don’t cover water damage from seepage, overland flooding, or sewer backup.”
Burst pipes and malfunctioning appliances are some examples of what home insurance policies generally cover; however, big weather-related events are generally not included under standard policies. The survey also found that only 13% of homeowners had “seepage coverage” which would protect against overland flooding — when water pours in from the outside as a result of a street flooding or an overrun river.
www.WFTV.com
Following Hurricane Nicole, damages in a Central Florida coastal county were estimated at more than $522 million.
During Hurricane Ian the beach community Wilbur-by-the Sea suffered from beach erosion leaving the community vulnerable to the impact of Hurricane Nicole resulting in single-family homes falling into the ocean. Officials from Volusia County said that 29 single-family homes in Wilbur-by-the-Sea had damage and that 17 were deemed unsafe following Hurricane Nicole. Additionally, seven single-family homes in nearby Ponce Inlet and three homes in New Smyrna Beach were deemed unsafe by inspectors.
According to a Volusia County property appraiser, Daytona Beach Shores by far had the most property damage in the county, estimated at $370.3 million. New Smyrna Beach was estimated at $51.1 million and Daytona Beach at $50 million; however, the property appraiser’s office warned that those figures would likely rise as more buildings are inspected.
www.BayJournal.com
The cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia filed suit on November 3rd, against multiple manufactures of PFAS. The cities of Baltimore and Philadelphia join more than 100 other public entities nationwide in bringing litigation that seeks to hold the makers and industrial users of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS accountable for the cost of remediating contaminated drinking water.
Tests of Baltimore treated drinking water performed in 2021 found a combined concentration of 4.93 parts per trillion of two PFAS compounds, PFOS and PFOA, according to the city’s Department of Public Works.
Currently there is no federal limit on PFAS in water; however, the EPA proposed new lifetime health advisories for PFOA and PFOS, along with two other PFAS, indicating that essentially any detectable levels of those two compounds pose unacceptable risks to the public. In addition, the EPA is looking to propose nationwide drinking water limits on PFOA and PFOS at the end of 2022.
www.MLive.com
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) announced it has allocated $1.73 million in grants that will be put toward redeveloping West Michigan’s contaminated areas. Funding comes from a statewide effort to address brownfields in Michigan, which are unoccupied or deserted areas that are suspected or confirmed to be contaminated.
$1 million will go toward the redevelopment of Boston Square Neighborhood in Grand Rapids. The redevelopment will include building a pair of mixed-use buildings with 102 apartment units and 16,000 square feet for businesses. An additional $430,000 will go to Grand Rapids to help add multiple residential buildings, and $300,000 will go toward Grand Haven for the construction of three five-unit condominiums.
www.power-eng.com
Evergy is a utility company engaged in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in Kansas and is headquartered in Topeka and Kansas City. The EPA announced a settlement under the Agency’s Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) program with Evergy Kansas Central Inc. at the company’s retired Tecumseh Energy Center coal-fired power plant in Tecumseh, Kansas. Evergy will take certain actions to address potential groundwater contamination from a CCR impoundment at the Tecumseh site.
CCR is produced primarily from the burning of coal in coal-fired power plants. It is a large industrial waste stream by volume and can contain harmful levels of contaminants such as mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and cobalt.
EPA established national rules for coal ash management and disposal in order to address the risks from disposal and discharge of coal ash, including leaking of contaminants into groundwater, blowing of contaminants into the air as dust, and the catastrophic failure of coal ash surface impoundments. Evergy will install additional monitoring wells, conduct groundwater sampling and analysis, and update closure plans for the facility’s CCR impoundment.
finance.yahoo.com
Four sites along the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipeline were unexpectedly damaged off the coast of Denmark in the Baltic Sea in late September. Western defense officials suspect that this may have been the largest methane leak in history.
Preliminary analytics found traces of explosives on "foreign objects" that were found near the damaged Nord Stream pipelines, Swedish authorities confirmed on Friday. Chamber prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist suspects this was an act of sabotage but said the analytics work continues so that investigators can "draw safer conclusions about the incident."
The pipelines were built to carry natural gas from Russia to Europe. Because Moscow has continuously blocked gas supplies to the continent since its invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent fallout with European nations, some Western officials are blaming them for the attack.
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