ApocaDocuments (10) for the "Biology Breach" scenario from this week
[see full week] ~ [see full Biology Breach scenario and stories]
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Sun, Jul 6, 2008
from KTLA (California):
Fireworks Leave Tons of Pollutants For Months
When the rockets and the bombs burst in the air tonight, spectators will experience more than a spectacular show celebrating America's birthday.
When their blends of black powder, metals, oxidizers, fuels and other toxic ingredients are ignited, traces wind up in the environment, often spreading long distances and lasting for days, even months.
Although pyrotechnic experts are developing environmentally friendly fireworks, Fourth of July revelers this year will be watching essentially the same high-polluting technology that their grandparents experienced decades ago. ...
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Those rockets' red glare
just keep glaring.
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Fri, Jul 4, 2008
from University of Florida, via EurekAlert:
New study points to agriculture in frog sexual abnormalities
In a study with wide implications for a longstanding debate over whether agricultural chemicals pose a threat to amphibians, UF zoologists have found that toads in suburban areas are less likely to suffer from reproductive system abnormalities than toads near farms -- where some had both testes and ovaries.
"As you increase agriculture," said Lou Guillette, a distinguished professor of zoology, "you have an increasing number of abnormalities." ...
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That said, the suburban toads have that hellacious commute.
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Thu, Jul 3, 2008
from Barrie Examiner:
Massive fish deaths a puzzle for officials: carp washing ashore across Lake Simcoe
"I was down off De Grassi Point to fish for bass and I ran into three of them about 100 yards offshore. I thought it was a rock or something," he said yesterday.
He dragged the near-metre long fish behind his boat in the event the Ministry of Natural Resources or some other agency wanted to run tests on the carcass, prompting another nearby angler to ask him what his big catch was. So far, the carp die-off is being monitored by the MNR in lakes Simcoe and Couchiching and is reaching up as far as Sparrow Lake near Washago. ...
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Too bad carp are so ugly, or we'd be seeing bake sales to "save the carp."
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Wed, Jul 2, 2008
from University of Washington, via ScienceDaily:
Penguins Setting Off Sirens Over Health Of World's Oceans
[T]he culprit isn't only climate change, says a University of Washington conservation biologist. Oil pollution, depletion of fisheries and rampant coastline development that threatens breeding habitat for many penguin species, along with Earth's warming climate, are leading to rapid population declines among penguins, said Dee Boersma, a University of Washington biology professor and an authority on the flightless birds.
"Penguins are among those species that show us that we are making fundamental changes to our world," she said. ...
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The Lurch of the Penguins
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Tue, Jul 1, 2008
from Central Chronicle (India):
40 metric tons of toxic waste removed from Bhopal Union Carbide plant
"About 40 metric ton chemical waste and clay (lime sludge) was transported from Union Carbide Plant premises on June 27 to Pithampur. The work was executed under the eyes of experts and officials", said JT Ekka, Director, Gas Disaster & Relief Department on Tuesday.... Since the [Bhopal gas] tragedy, many NGOs ... have urged the State and Union Government to fulfil the demands of survivors [for] clean water in the gas-affected localities, and health care to the victims of gas tragedy.
Now the [NGOs] have begun questioning the State Government over the removal of toxic waste and its disposal in Pithampur.
"The entire dumping operation was carried under the cover of darkness. It's a big question that in what manner hazardous toxic waste was removed, transported and disposed in Pithampur plant", said Abdul Jabbar, convenor Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangathan (BGPMUS). ...
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See no evil, be no evil.
right?
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Tue, Jul 1, 2008
from ABS CBN News Online (Philippines):
Toxic chemical leak will have int'l repercussions: expert
One cargo in the sunken M/V Princess of the Stars off Romblon can very well be a ticking time-bomb.... Quijano rejects claims endosulfan in its raw form poses no immediate threat of contamination.
"The technical grade 92 percent (in the sunken ferry) endosulfan is a highly-concentrated form of the pesticide, so it doesn't need activation before it can be toxic. It is toxic by itself, and as soon as it gets out of the compartment, animals and humans are exposed to immediate and long-term danger of toxicity even in very small amounts," he said. "The level toxic to fish is .03 parts per billion. Assuming the container broke and all 10 tons spread, there can be sufficient concentration to kill fish within a 100 kilometer radius, even humans exposed to acute toxicity." ...
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That's about a 60 mile radius of death,
for the metric-impaired.
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Tue, Jul 1, 2008
from Daily News (Sri Lanka):
Toxic waste export harder to control, despite Basel Convention
A meeting of the Basel Convention on hazardous wastes was told of the continuing transfer of wastes to developing countries, including the export of used condoms to Indonesia and electronic wastes dumped in China and Nigeria inside equipment such as computers and cell phones.
African countries also recalled the immoral act of a Dutch-based shipping company that dumped toxic chemical wastes at Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, which killed three people and hospitalised 1,500. These incidents were cited by participants as signs that the problem of hazardous waste movement has not lessened and are more difficult to control, despite the Convention. ...
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If only their lives were as important as ours. But, y'know, they don't value life as much
over there.
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Mon, Jun 30, 2008
from ABS CBN News Online (Philippines):
No 'significant' release of toxic chemical yet: experts
The 10 tons of the toxic insecticide, endosulfan, in the [sunken ferry] MV Princess of the Stars' hull is still in a not-so-soluble "solid flake" form, which explains why a chemical disaster hasn't happened in Romblon, a government chemist said.... He said this could explain why the divers have not tested positive for chemical poisoning and why there are yet no reports of fish kills near the sunken ferry.... "It’s really highly-toxic to marine life" ... "a "chemical disaster" would already have happened if the endosulfan was in its ready-to-mix form.... Endosulfan is a severely-restricted [endocrine disrupting] pesticide that can only be used by Del Monte and Dole for their pineapple plantations. Only these two institutional users are allowed to handle the chemical, according to Dr. Norlito Gicana, FPA executive director. ...
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Only Del Monte and Dole?
How'd they get that dispensation? And how did this stuff get on a ferry with 800 people?
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Mon, Jun 30, 2008
from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona:
An Impossible Coexistence: Transgenic and Organic Agriculture
The cultivation of genetically modified maize has caused a drastic reduction in organic cultivation of this grain and is making their coexistence practically impossible. This is the main conclusion reached in one of the first field studies in Europe... The author's analysis reveals a social confrontation between proponents and opponents of GM technology regarding the consequences it can have and the measures to be taken in regulating and taking responsibility for any cases of admixture... Many farmers who could sue for damages prefer not to do so in order to avoid any local confrontations in small villages. ...
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Small-town morays
vs.
big-corporate ethics.
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Mon, Jun 30, 2008
from MSNBC (US):
Pentagon fights EPA on pollution cleanup
The Defense Department, the nation's biggest polluter, is resisting orders from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up Fort Meade and two other military bases where the EPA says dumped chemicals pose "imminent and substantial" dangers to public health and the environment.
The Pentagon has also declined to sign agreements required by law that cover 12 other military sites on the Superfund list of the most polluted places in the country. The contracts would spell out a remediation plan, set schedules, and allow the EPA to oversee the work and assess penalties if milestones are missed. ...
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Our money's on the EPA.
The Pentagon may have better weapons, but the EPA has that time-tested armament called bureaucracy.
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