Global Disasters/ Significant Events – August 20, 2014

MAJOR DISASTERS/ SIGNIFICANT EVENTS
SCENARIOS 888, 817, 699, 505, 444, 111, 101, 100, 070, 023, 09, 08, 07, 05
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Thousands of tremors recorded near Bárðarbunga volcano

Seismic activity continues around the Bárðarbunga volcano in the northwestern part of Vatnajökull glacier, with about 5,000 tremors recorded since Saturday. The largest quake so far measured 3.0Mw, officials said.

The seismicity is said to be the most intense ever recorded in the area. Most of the quakes are occurring at depths of 5 – 10km, said the Iceland Met Office.

Fearing a major eruption, authorities have evacuated an area north of the volcano, where severe flooding could occur as a result of the ice cap of the Vatnajökull glacier melting.

Related Links

• Seismic activity – last 48 hours + 3D Map of the Tremors
• Bárðarbunga Webcam

Dozens killed in Hiroshima landslides

An extreme rain event, said to be the equivalent of a month’s worth of rain, unleashed severe flooding and landslides killing at least 40 people in the outskirts of the Hiroshima in western Japan. About a dozen others are reported missing, and the death toll is expected to rise, police said.

A record 217mm of rain fell in just 3 hours in the northern part of the city, more than the average for the entire month of August, the local media reported.

The city’s fire department have reportedly admitted to their own incompetence for the large number of casualties: “Something went wrong in our analysis (of the emergency) … We failed to issue an evacuation advisory ahead of the disaster. Looking back, … this is something we need to amend.”

“In 1999, Hiroshima City and nearby Kure City were hit by similar landslides which killed more than 30 people,” said a report.

Meantime, flooding and mudslides have destroyed or damaged more than 2,100 homes and other buildings in Fukuchiyama City in Kyoto Prefecture, and Tanba City in neighboring Hyogo Prefecture in the Kansai region west of Honshu island.

Major Wildfires Burning across Western U.S.

About two dozen wildfires burning across California, Oregon and Washington state amid rising temperatures and worsening drought. Authorities say this is one of the worst wildfire seasons on record.

Thousands of gallons of oil spills from Duke Energy coal plant into Ohio River

At least 5,000 gallons of fuel oil spilled into Ohio River from a 60-year-old power plant owned by Duke Energy near Cincinnati, said the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Ohio River stretches more than 1,500km from Pennsylvania to Illinois and provides drinking water for at least 3 million people, said the Ohio River Foundation (ORF).

It is also a major artery for shipping agricultural produce by barge from the eastern United States to export terminals on the Gulf Coast.

The Ohio River is now the worst toxic water dump in the U.S., said ORF.

• Polluters dumped 31 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Ohio River in 2007, making it the most toxic river in the U.S.
• Violations of the Clean Water Act are going unprosecuted.
• About half of lakes and reservoirs are contaminated above EPA “safe levels,” said ORF.

“Amazingly, in some cases this is permitted pollution; however, the number of permit violations appears to be growing.”

Toxins Leak into North Carolina River [Again]

UPDATED on February 20, 2014

CRIMES AGAINST NATURE
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Dan River water samples show elevated levels of arsenic

Groundwater is showing elevated levels of arsenic reportedly leaking from a Duke Energy coal ash dump in Eden, North Carolina into the Dan River, which was already contaminated following a massive spill on February 2.

The discharge from a large stormwater pipe under a coal ash dump was the second so far this month at the Eden plant.

“The duration and volume of the discharge are not known.” Duke Energy said. [More likely, they are unwilling to disclose the extent of damage. Editor]

DUKE-ENERGY is preventing FIRE-EARTH moderators in FIVE locations from accessing its website.

When tried to access their website using a different system we received the following WARNING:

The first [known] spill at Dan River Steam Station, a Duke Energy retired power plant in Eden, NC, occurred on February 2, 2014, when another broken stormwater pipe located under a 27-acre ash pond released about 27 million gallons of ash basin water, according to the company.

Close up of excavation and pipe work inside the Dan River ash basin. Source: Duke Energy

Earlier this month FIRE-EARTH commented:

Other than for obvious reasons, there were no immediate comments from Duke Energy as to why the ash pond was built over a stormwater pipe and so close to Dan River, nor any reason why the largest electricity provider in the U.S. failed to remove the toxic ash nearly two years after the plant was retired.

Source: Duke Energy

Aerial view of the retired Dan River Steam Station and ash basins in North Carolina. Source: Duke Energy [This photo taken on February 5, 2014 shows the primary basin almost completely drained into Dan River.]

On January 12, 2014 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]

If Anything Can Explode, Leak, Contaminate…[IT WILL]

Estimated 100,000 HAZMAT storage sites across the U.S. can potentially explode, leak, contaminate the environment—FIRE-EARTH

United States is dotted with an estimated 100,000 HAZMAT storage sites containing one or more of deadly substances including radioactive, biohazardous, toxic, explosive, flammable, asphyxiating, corrosive, oxidizing, pathogenic, or allergenic materials, as well as herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers that don’t fall into those categories.

Some of the substances (hazchems), which include more than 200 types of dioxins, are so lethal that even a small leak into the water supply could kill or permanently harm millions of people, before they are detected.

Related Links

• Up to 27 Million Gallons of Coal Ash Spill into Dan River, NC February 7, 201

• If Anything Can Explode, Leak, Contaminate… January 12, 2014
• UPDATE: Hundreds are Sick after West Virgina Water Pollution January 11, 2014
• 737 People Reported Sickness after West Virgina Water Pollution January 11, 2014

• UPDATED: State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia after Chemical Spill January 10, 2014
• State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia due to Chemical Spill January 10, 2014
• State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia after Chemical Spill  January 10, 2014

Up to 27 Million Gallons of Coal Ash Spill into Dan River, NC

COLLAPSING INFRASTRUCTURE
WATER POLLUTION
.

82,000 tons of ash spill into NC river after a pipe break at a Duke Energy retired coal plant

The spill was detected on Sunday at Dan River Steam Station, a Duke Energy retired power plant in Eden, NC. A broken stormwater pipe located under a 27-acre ash pond released about 27 million gallons of ash basin water, said a company spokesperson.

Other than for obvious reasons, there were no immediate comments from Duke energy as to why the ash pond was built over a stormwater pipe and so close to Dan River, nor any reason why the largest electricity provider in the U.S. failed to remove the toxic ash nearly two years after the plant was retired.

Source: Duke Energy

There’s no immediate threat to drinking water in nearby Virginia towns; however, officials are concerned about  long-term impact of the spill on the Dan River.

“The Dan River does not have a clean bill of health,” said the director of the North Carolina Division of Water Resources.

Lab tests of water samples collected from an affected part of the river showed “extremely high levels of arsenic, chromium, iron, lead and other toxic metals typically found in coal ash,” said Waterkeeper Alliance, a group of water advocates.

“Duke could have avoided contaminating the Dan River and poisoning Virginia’s water supplies if it had removed its toxic ash heaps years ago after being warned by EPA,” said the president of Waterkeeper Alliance.

Aerial view of the retired Dan River Steam Station and ash basins in North Carolina. Source: Duke Energy [This photo taken on February 5, 2014 shows the primary basin almost completely drained into Dan River.]

One of our readers who first read the report commented:

“Coal ash basin water” probably safer than fracking fluid!!!

Full report posted at … coal ash spill in North Carolina

On January 12, 2014 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]

If Anything Can Explode, Leak, Contaminate…

Estimated 100,000 HAZMAT storage sites across the U.S. can potentially explode, leak, contaminate the environment—FIRE-EARTH

United States is dotted with an estimated 100,000 HAZMAT storage sites containing one or more of deadly substances including radioactive, biohazardous, toxic, explosive, flammable, asphyxiating, corrosive, oxidizing, pathogenic, or allergenic materials, as well as herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers that don’t fall into those categories.

Some of the substances (hazchems), which include more than 200 types of dioxins, are so lethal that even a small leak into the water supply could kill or permanently harm millions of people, before they are detected.

Related Links

• If Anything Can Explode, Leak, Contaminate… January 12, 2014
• UPDATE: Hundreds are Sick after West Virgina Water Pollution January 11, 2014
• 737 People Reported Sickness after West Virgina Water Pollution January 11, 2014

• UPDATED: State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia after Chemical Spill January 10, 2014
• State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia due to Chemical Spill January 10, 2014
• State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia after Chemical Spill  January 10, 2014

Nuclear Waste Recycling: A Nightmare Scenario

Thought for the Day:

Can we trust GE Hitachi, Duke Energy, Areva … like we did BP?

ABOUT  100,000 tons of nuclear waste (aka High Level Waste, HLW) sit in radioactive dumps across the U.S.

Additionally, The U.S. nuclear energy industry is producing more than a third of the 12,000 metric tons of HLW piling up globally every year.

[A 1000-MWe nuclear power plant produces about 30 metric tons  of spent nuclear fuel.]

There are also “millions of gallons of radioactive waste, thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel and material [as well as] huge quantities of contaminated soil and water,” the Department of Energy (DOE) has reported.

Nuke energy companies say they can recycle the waste squeezing more energy from the spent nuclear fuel thus reducing the waste behind [sic.]

“When it comes to energy, America is strong on technology but weak on policy,” says the high-rolling GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy Chairman John Fuller. “And it’s a critical handicap.” [Remember BP CEO?]

Incidentally, since its inception in 1878, GE hasn’t produced a single environment-friendly product.

As for Hitachi, they can’t even produce a household appliance that stands upright [a colleague who lives in Japan is about to receive a third fridge-freezer unit in just over a week because the first two were defective lemons.

GE Hitachi says they could build a new generation of fast reactors that can extract up to 99 percent of energy contained in the uranium fuel rods. The question is can the nation trust GE Hitachi, like they did BP?

Defective Hitachi fridges don’t kill many people, but a GE Hitachi reactor could.

• Exelon bids goodbye to GE Hitachi ESBWR
• Entergy bids goodbye to ESBWR

At the end of the day, of course, all of these concerns are academic …

Related Links:

• Want a Mandate to Kill Life on the Planet?
• U.S. Support for Nuclear Power had Climbed to New High of 62% [Polls !!]
• Gallup Polls Work Miracle

• Chernobyl: The Day After
• Obama Goes Nuclear!
• Three Mile Island Cats Have 9 Lives, Too?
• All is NOT Well at Chernobyl
• Chernobyl: A Night to Remember!

• Smoke Detected at Japanese Nuke Plant
• Another fire at TEPCO nuclear plant

• The Deep F*cking Greencovered Corporations
• Duke Energy Protesters Arrested

• This’s Got to Be the Year of Radioactive, Chemical and Oil Spills, Too!
• Another Hole in Areva’s Nuclear Cheese
• French Water!

Duke Energy Protesters Arrested

FOSSIL FOOLS DAY OF ACTION

Eight protesters were arrested Tuesday morning after critics of Duke Energy chained themselves to construction equipment at the Cliffside [coal-fired] Steam Station.

Duke is adding an 800-megawatt boiler to the Rutherford County plant, which has drawn intense opposition from environmental advocates.

Main Entry:

FOSSIL FOOLS DAY OF ACTION

http://www.charlotte.com/breaking_news/story/562845.html