Disasters Of State

Fishermen still fighting Fukushima’s aftermath

"The environment ministry recently announcement that 300 tonnes of contaminated groundwater from Fukushima Daiichi is still seeping over or around barriers into the Pacific every day, more than two years after it was struck by a tsunami in March 2011. Government officials said they suspected the leaks had started soon after the accident, which resulted in a nuclear meltdown. Unable to make a living from a sea poisoned by radiation, the town’s 70 fishermen earn money clearing tsunami debris; the only fish they catch are taken not to market, but to makeshift labs where they are tested for radiation from the plant, located just 12 miles to the north." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFishermen still fighting Fukushima’s aftermath

Tons of radioactive water pouring out of crippled Fukushima nuclear plant

"Highly radioactive water from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is pouring out at a rate of 300 tons a day, officials said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the government to step in and help in the clean-up. Tepco only recently admitted water had leaked at all. The leak from the plant 220 km (130 miles) northeast of Tokyo is enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool in a week. The water is spilling into the Pacific Ocean, but it was not immediately clear how much of a threat it poses. As early as January this year, Tepco found fish contaminated with high levels of radiation inside a port at the plant." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTons of radioactive water pouring out of crippled Fukushima nuclear plant

Japan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an ‘emergency’

"Highly radioactive water seeping into the ocean from Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is creating an 'emergency' that the operator is struggling to contain, an official from the country’s nuclear watchdog said on Monday. This contaminated groundwater has breached an underground barrier, is rising toward the surface and is exceeding legal limits of radioactive discharge, he told Reuters. Countermeasures planned by Tokyo Electric Power Co are only a temporary solution, he said. Tepco’s 'sense of crisis is weak,' Kinjo said. 'This is why you can’t just leave it up to Tepco alone' to grapple with the ongoing disaster." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan nuclear body says radioactive water at Fukushima an ‘emergency’

Police arrest more than 200 protesters for trespassing at Chevron plant

"Police arrested more than 200 demonstrators for trespassing at Chevron Corp in the California city of Richmond on Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of a massive refinery fire and to protest a proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The arrests came as a throng of sunflower-carrying picketers chanted, 'Hey hey, ho ho, fossil fuels have got to go,' as people of all ages walked onto Chevron’s property to draw attention to a growing movement against fossil fuel. The arrests included three people in wheelchairs and demonstrators as young as 18 years old. Media reports said most of those arrested were cited and released." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice arrest more than 200 protesters for trespassing at Chevron plant

Halliburton pleads guilty to destroying Gulf spill evidence

"Halliburton Co has agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday. The government said Halliburton's guilty plea is the third by a company over the spill and requires the world's second-largest oilfield services company to pay a maximum $200,000 statutory fine. Halliburton also agreed to three years of probation and to continue cooperating with the criminal probe into the April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Houston-based Halliburton also made a separate, voluntary $55 million payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHalliburton pleads guilty to destroying Gulf spill evidence

Japan: Fukushima clean-up will cost $58 billion

"The clean-up after the Fukushima nuclear disaster could cost five times more than estimated, far more than the 1 trillion yen the government has so far allocated, as Tokyo Electric Power said on Wednesday that steam had been seen again in a reactor building. Earlier this month, the utility had reported spiking levels of possibly cancer-causing materials in soil from underneath the plant, but maintained that toxic groundwater was likely contained. On Monday it admitted its own study, completed days earlier, revealed the groundwater was leaking into the ocean, prompting criticism over the delay." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan: Fukushima clean-up will cost $58 billion

Safety Statistics Are Not to Be Ignored, Especially Not in Oil Transport

"An oil spill is 34 times more likely with a railway accident compared to just the aging pipeline infrastructure. So why then are we relying more and more on rail transports? The answer is simple: there is simply too much uninformed opposition to building new pipelines and replace the aging infrastructure criss-crossing North America. But the fact of the matter is this: for every day that we delay implementing a 'Casey Sensible Solution,' we are in fact putting rural communities such as Lac Mégantic at risk from either rail disasters or spills from pipelines that have been around since the Eisenhower administration." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSafety Statistics Are Not to Be Ignored, Especially Not in Oil Transport

Coroner confirms teenager in Asiana plane crash killed by fire truck

"A coroner announced on Friday that a teenager killed in the Asiana Airlines crash earlier this month in San Francisco was killed by a motor vehicle — likely a fire truck that arrived on the scene to provide assistance — and not injuries sustained in the crash, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The coroner warned as early as July 8 that the the victim, a 16-year-old Chinese high school student later identified as Ye Mengyuan, had sustained injuries more consistent with being struck by an emergency vehicle than that of a plane crash. Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White apologized to the family on Friday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCoroner confirms teenager in Asiana plane crash killed by fire truck

Christie accepts $4.5M donation from United Arab Emirates for Sandy relief

"The United Arab Emirates Embassy has donated $4.5 million to the Hurricane Sandy relief organization founded by Gov. Chris Christie’s wife to upgrade computer technology for schools in areas hardest hit by the storm. The money will be divided among 30 schools in nine school districts most affected by Sandy to upgrade their computer technology and position them for the new statewide standardized testing to start in the spring of 2015. The announcement was made Monday by Christie, his wife Mary Pat and Yousef Al Otaiba, United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the United States, at the Highlands Elementary School, one of the recipients of the funding." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChristie accepts $4.5M donation from United Arab Emirates for Sandy relief

The Myth of the Efficent Government Organized First Responders

"As critically injured passengers lay on the tarmac near the wreckage of Asiana Airlines Flight 214, other passengers pleaded with emergency dispatchers to send ambulances to help the victims, according to 911 tapes released Wednesday.[...] 'There are no ambulances here. We've been on the ground 20 minutes,' one woman said on the tape, which was obtained by NBC Bay Area. 'There are people laying on the tarmac with critical injuries, head injuries,' the woman continued. 'We're almost losing a woman here. We're trying to keep her alive.' Another female passenger told a dispatcher that there were not enough medics to treat the injured." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Myth of the Efficent Government Organized First Responders