President Barack Obama has signed a bill that would allow $82 million for research in controlling the outbreak of toxic algae. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, sponsored the bill which amends the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998. Nelson said that it would "help battle the algae that's been choking off life in Florida's waterways," according to The Palm Beach Post.
To read more about it, click here.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Endangered Everglades Birds' Numbers Climbing
An endangered species of bird known as the Everglades snail kite appears to growing in number, signaling hope for both the species as well as the River of Grass in which it lives. While the snail kites had numbered 3,600 as recently as 1999, the numbers had dropped to a mere 800 in 2008, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. The bird of prey feeds primarily on apple snails, which lay their eggs just above the water line.
Between recent droughts and floods, along with manmade manipulations of the water flows and level, the next generation of snail kite food is at risk. Fortunately for the finicky species, a new snail is invading the Everglades. While the new non-native snail is not seen as a threat to the Everglades' ecosystem, it has provided "a more steady food source" for the snail kite.
To read more of the Sun-Sentinel article, click here.
Between recent droughts and floods, along with manmade manipulations of the water flows and level, the next generation of snail kite food is at risk. Fortunately for the finicky species, a new snail is invading the Everglades. While the new non-native snail is not seen as a threat to the Everglades' ecosystem, it has provided "a more steady food source" for the snail kite.
To read more of the Sun-Sentinel article, click here.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Savannah River Third Most Toxic In Nation
The Savannah River (Savannah, Georgia) has been called "the third most toxic in the United States" by a nonprofit research and policy center following a report that showed more than 4 million pounds of toxic discharge were released into the river in 2010. The report, released Thursday by Environment Georgia Research & Policy Center, also stated that more than 10 million pounds of toxic chemicals had been dumped into Georgia's waterways in 2012, making it the eighth worst state in the nation. The report showed that Augusta's DSM Chemicals North America Inc. was the state's biggest polluter, dumping "more than 4 million pounds of the toxic pollution" into the Savannah River, according to The Florida Times-Union.
The Lower Ohio River-Little Pigeon River, which runs through Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, and Virginia's New River were the only watersheds found to have higher volumes of toxic pollution than the Savannah River.
To read the article in its entirety, click here.
The Lower Ohio River-Little Pigeon River, which runs through Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, and Virginia's New River were the only watersheds found to have higher volumes of toxic pollution than the Savannah River.
To read the article in its entirety, click here.
Judge Allows Arkansas Case Against Exxon To Proceed
A U.S. district judge has rejected a request by Exxon to have a lawsuit over a pipeline spill in Arkansas dismissed, thereby allowing the lawsuit to move forward. Federal and state attorneys had sued Exxon Mobil Corp. over the March 2013 Pegasus oil pipeline burst in Mayflower, Ark. The rupture sent an estimated 210,000 gallons of Canadian diluted bitumen into a nearby neighborhood and cove, according to the Miami Herald. The lawsuit seeks penalties that could dwarf the $2.66 million proposed fine set by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration.
To read the Miami Herald article in its entirety, click
To read the Miami Herald article in its entirety, click
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