SantaMariaTimes.com
Santa Barbara County supervisors are being urged to clean up contaminants that have been in the subsurface soil of the Santa Maria Airport for at least the past 42 years. It remains unknown how large the contaminated area is, what compounds were released, and by whom. One of Santa Maria’s drinking-water wells was shut down in 1985 because of the environmental threat, and other wells may also be vulnerable. One chemical compound of concern is TCE.
www.TheLundReport.org
The Oregon Health Authority has issued a warning to residents of an Oregon neighborhood after it was found that dioxin contamination in the soil of some yards. The contamination is thought to have been caused by a wood creosoting factory owned by J.H. Baxter, which was shuttered last year after increasing criticism and state and federal fines for chemical mishandling and emissions violations. The state is now conducting further testing on contaminated sites and plans to remove polluted earth this summer.
www.NZHerald.co.nz
Residents of Awatoto, a flood-stricken part of Hawke's Bay, are facing potential health risks from toxic sludge and contamination caused by the flooding. The community is adjacent to one of Napier's largest industrial centers, and damage to nearby plants has posed health concerns. Although the risk of pollution contaminating residential areas of Awatoto is now "low," residents have expressed concerns about looting and a lack of communication from local authorities regarding the situation.
The Napier City Council says it is working closely with Civil Defense to coordinate response efforts in Awatoto. The council has provided email and paper notices to residents and has made welfare checks via phone to those who are not in their homes. The council has also given residents in the area full personal protective equipment for any cleanup work they may need to do.
Council contractors will begin collecting flood-damaged rubbish in Meeanee, with plans to move into further areas over the next few days. Meanwhile, residents continue to call and email the council to get more information about the situation and to request the removal of the silt and protection for their homes if they have to leave.
SpectrumNews1.com
Two tornadoes touched down in Highland County, Ohio on Friday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). An EF1 tornado first touched down at around 5:25 p.m. The tornado moved to the northeast and damaged trees and structural damage was reported. The tornado traveled over 14 miles and ended around 5:40 p.m. A second EF0 tornado touched down around 5:35 p.m. near Panhandle Road with one house and a shed behind another home sustaining damage. It caused damage to several barns with estimated winds of 90 mph. More significant damage was noted at a couple of properties on state Route 131 with one home and a detached garage both sustaining damage. A church also reported heavy damage.
TheHill.com
Around a third of Ghaziabad’s potable water is adulterated with fecal contamination, according to district officials. Teams of the health department collected samples from 359 sources such as residential societies, schools and commercial complexes.
“This puts residents of Ghaziabad at risk of acquiring infections such as typhoid, jaundice and cholera”, said Dr. Rakesh Gupta, district surveillance officer. “The presence of fecal coliform or other type of fecal contamination could be due to mixing of sewerage or broken sewer lines or failure to disinfect water source,” said Gupta.
The samples were picked up from water plants, handpumps, religious places, schools, water-tanks of buildings like high-rises, food outlets in malls, hotels, JJ clusters and water sources at residential localities.
www.CantonRep.com
A recent storm front rolled through Ashe County North Carolina that brough rain, high winds and resulted in power outages and several property damage reports. Approximately 2,500 residents lost power overnight due to broken power poles and line damage in 36 different areas of the county.
Excessive winds caused a shopping cart return corral at Big Lots to break loose and overturned a large outbuilding at Mike’s Mufflers. Numerous incidents of downed trees and roof damage were reported throughout the county. 68 MPH winds were reported around 2:10 a.m. according to the National Weather Service.
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
The Environmental Protection Agency announced an agreement to oversee the testing and evaluation of a contaminated rail yard in Northeast Houston. Higher-than-average cancer rates have been confirmed in the area. The rail yard was used decades prior to treat wooden railroad ties and has since seeped into the soil and groundwater.
According to the agreement with the EPA, Union Pacific is required to conduct and pay for testing both on-site and in the community.
Earthea Nance, EPA Regional Administrator, stated in a press release, “Houston’s Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens neighborhoods have experienced generations of harm. Today’s action represents a major step forward for people living in this area. We intend to use every tool at our disposal for this community.”
AlaskaBeacon.com
Within Anchorage and Fairbanks Alaska perfluoroalkyl substances and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known collectively as PFAS substances, have been found in the waterways. Samples taken in 2021 and 2022 at 15 sites in the state’s two biggest cities, found the highest PFAS levels in Anchorage’s Lake Spenard and Lake Hood. At 952.2 parts per trillion and 698.7 parts per trillion, they were about 10 times the health-advisory threshold for drinking water set in 2016 by the Environmental Protection Agency
Within Legislature a bill has been introduced sponsored by Senator Jesse Kiehl addressing PFAS. This bill would ban the use of fire suppressing foam which is a source of PFAS. Pam Miller, executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics states that while the bill is a good start more is needed such as the establishment of statewide drinking-water standards in line with modern knowledge, stepped-up monitoring of both water and fish, alternative water sources provided for people who need it and other measures
InsideClimateNews.org
On February 22, 2023 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) deleted River City Metal Finishing site in San Antonio, Texas, from the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. The River City Metal Finishing site was a metal plating shop that operated from 1994 until approximately 2002. In 2017 the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) referred the site to EPA in 2017 when hexavalent chromium was found in groundwater.
TCEQ performed cleanup work such as removing containers of waste and demolishing the building while disposing of hazardous materials off site. Investigation activities were done by the EPA at the site from March 2019 to July 2020. EPA’s 2021 Record of Decision selected “no action” because no hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants remain at the site above levels that preclude unlimited use and unrestricted exposure.
“This is an action that has been decades in the making for the residents of Bexar County,” said Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “By working alongside impacted communities and the TCEQ, we improved public health and the environment while paving the way for the land to be reused. We are pleased with this outcome, and I want to thank all parties involved in making this monumental achievement possible.”
In Peshtigo, Wisconsin residents have been exposed to high levels of a group of toxins known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in their groundwater. PFAS have difficulty breaking down in the environment and are thus called “forever chemicals.” Issues with PFAS include high blood pressure in middle-aged women and stunted developmental growth in children, as well as kidney and testicular cancers.
The PFAS within the community comes from a local manufacturing facility the produces firefighting foam which had spread through the town’s groundwater networks. Creeks within the area have reported PFAS levels as high as 3,800 ppt while groundwater wells near the facility reporter concentrations of 2,100 ppt, or 30 times the state’s drinking water standards.
Fox5SanDiego.com
Severe storms over the month have caused widespread damage to the Bay area and Santa Cruz region. Damages from the storm include ripping a 40-foot section of the Capitola wharf apart.
Capitola’s director of public works Jessica Kahn estimates that the cost to rebuilt or repair public property in Capitola is around $3.5 million. That’s almost $1 million more than the previous estimate of $2.6 million.
The city is currently in the process of obtaining funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Public Assistance Program for storm-related repairs. Funds will go towards construction, engineering and permitting costs.
www.Yahoo.com
Residence of a home in La Canada Flintridge, California were sleeping when they were startled by a loud noise, however, it wasn’t until the morning that they realized that their home had been hit by a mudslide.
According to authorities a 40-foot-wide section of the hillside came sliding down into the residence. The residence of the home removed their belongs and evacuated out of fear that more of the hillside might come down.
Fire officials plan to monitor the area for more hillside instability. Going forward, building and safety officials intend to inspect the home and the structural integrity.
CentralJersey.com
Approximately 100 properties were damaged by a tornado in West Windsor on February 21. Estimated peak winds reached 110-115 mph, uprooting trees, power lines, and causing damage to homes.
Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes stated, “Fortunately, no injuries were reported despite the serious damage to homes, buildings, cars and landscape, including at our Mercer Oaks golf course”. It was reported that no residences suffered structural damage and there were no reported injuries.
About 27 condominiums were declared uninhabitable resulting in the displacement of 75-100 people. The American Red Cross has stepped in to assist in finding temporary housing for those displaced.
Curriculum-Press.co.uk
Citizens of Chandrawaddo, Fatorda have expressed frustration as sewage overflowing from chambers continues to contaminate wells and pollute agricultural fields. Citizens are worried about the possible spread of disease if the contamination is not properly dealt with. In addition, farmers in the area have stopped growing vegetables as the flow of sewage has been increasing into the farmland. Some citizens depend on well water when there is no supply of water from the Salaulim reservoir.
NYPost.com
The house on King Road where 4 Idaho students were murdered is now boarded up and set to be demolished. The six-bedroom house was a rental house often used by students from the nearby University of Idaho.
After the incident, the owner of the property offered to donate the house to the University of Idaho. President Scott Green of the University of Idaho accepted the offer and said, “The house will be demolished. This is a healing step and removes the physical structure where the crime that shook our community was committed.”
pulse.ncpolicywatch.org
A devastating fire at the former Weaver Fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina forced the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents a little over a year ago. On Jan. 31, 2022, 600 tons of ammonium nitrate caught fire at the Weaver Fertilizer plant at 4440 N Cherry Street and burned for four days. Contaminated soil has been found with samples containing high levels of arsenic.
Contaminated groundwater was also found with elevated concentrations of several chemicals, including nitrite and benzene. Levels of arsenic in the soil were greater than background levels near the former rail spur in three spots on the west side of the property, the highest concentration was 42.2 part per million which is 62 times greater than the Residential Health-Based Preliminary Soil Remediation Goals. In the groundwater, three wells indicated nitrate/nitrite levels 15 to 50 times the groundwater standard.
A spokesperson for the NC Department of Environmental Quality stated that they are reviewing the report and will be following up regarding specific review comments and next steps.
www.KSBY.com
Members of Congress asked the federal government to help clean up toxic lead contamination from the former Exide Technologies plant site. The plant in Vernon, California, is the source of the largest and most costly cleanup in California history. It plant operated near the Los Angeles River for nearly a century and was cited by local, state and federal officials for violating hazardous waste laws by emitting too much lead and arsenic around the plant and on state highways.
More than 10,000 properties are in need of lead contamination clean up and removal. 73 of 93 remediated homes had lead concentrations over the state health limit in their soil. In 22 of those homes, at least one sample exceeded the California state health limit threshold fivefold.
The state is currently overseeing the $750-million remediation effort and has, so far, spent more than $336 million to remediate nearly 4,400 properties.
www.ToledoBlade.com
A thunderstorm that went through the Mount Vernon area on April 6th, 2022 caused property damage in several counties. The worst of the storm was about 9 miles south of Mount Vernon, on a northeast trek. The storm included nickel sized hail and gusts over 60 mph. East Bernstadt Fire & Rescue responded to several incidents in regard to the thunderstorm. Property damage reports ranged from a structure fire, multiple power lines down on trees, and trees down in the roadway. The steeple of the First Baptist Church in East Bernstadt was blown off.
www.CBC.ca
An explosion occurred on February 13th, in East Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, leaving neighboring homes with property damage. The explosion took down multiple homes under construction off Tenth Line Road and sent six people to the hospital. Two of those people were rescued from rubble. Five residents were also treated on site for minor injuries. The cause of the explosion was determined to be a gas leak. The tenants of the home and their neighbors describes the explosion as feeling like an earthquake.
www.WashingtonPost.com
A train derailment spilled toxic chemicals into East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3rd, 2023. Local Officials informed East Palestine residents on February 14th, eleven days later, to use bottled water until testing could confirm that the local water supply is safe to drink. Water officials are tracking a large plume of contamination flowing down the Ohio River. Nearly 3,500 fish in local waterways have been killed due to the chemical release. Cleanup crews are excavating a “grossly contaminated” 1,000-foot area around the train tracks where butyl acrylate puddled and vinyl chloride burned.
Some residents have decided to leave due to the concern of contamination in the water supply, the strong odor of chemicals, and the limited information they have been given about their potential exposure to toxic chemicals.
Office: 33971 Selva Road, Suite 230, Dana Point, CA 92629
Phone: 949.497.7603 Fax: 949.497.7601
