On March 3, the U.S. Energy Dept. formally withdrew its application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to make southern Nevada the site of national nuclear-waste repository. The move comes after 23 years and $38 billion in studies at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, where it had planned to store up to 77,000 tons of radioactive waste from 80 sites in 35 states. The construction price tag was estimated at about $100 billion. It leaves the waste problem unresolved and the federal government exposed to utility lawsuits. Since 1983, ratepayers have paid over $33 billion into the Nuclear
Enbridge Inc. is itching to get going on its proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline stretching from outside Edmonton, Alberta, to Kitimat, B.C. Initially introduced in 2005, the 727-mile pipeline project is headed to Canada's National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for joint review "very soon," according to Jennifer Varey, spokesperson. If approved, construction could start in 2012. Calgary, Alberta,-based Enbridge plans to transport 525,000 barrels per day of petroleum in the 36-inch west-moving pipeline and 193,000 barrels per day of condensate—a product used to thin petroleum products for pipeline transport—in the 20-inch east-moving line. The project, estimated at
In a strongly worded response that was not a surprise to the U.S. military, a San Francisco-based official of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has raised concerns about the potentially major environmental and infrastructure damage from the planned relocation of thousands of Marines and others to the tiny Pacific island of Guam. EPA is concerned the movement of thousand of U.S. Marines, construction workers and others to Guam will harm its sensitive ecology and overstress infrastructure. In a Feb. 17 letter to Roger Natsuhara, acting assistant U.S. Navy secretary for installations and environment, EPA regional administrator Jared Blumenfeld says the
De-authorizing navigation on the Missouri River would do wonders to ensure a robust water supply for irrigation and recreation in the Midwest—although at a cost to certain interest groups, many of them downstream. Photo: Harry Weddington, Omaha District, USACE Some call for de-authorizing navigation to relieve restrictions on water for crops. Photo: Harry Weddington, Omaha District, USACE Spillway is at Gavins Point Dam, near Yankton, S.D. Every option is on the table as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers launches a study to challenge whether the “eight purposes” enshrined in a 66-year-old federal act that governs water management policy on
A joint U.S.-European group has presented the low bid to analyze the options for a vehicular crossing at the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal, officials said on Monday. Photo: C.J. Schexnayder The Third Lane Expansion project will be built roughly at the site of a previous excavation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, visible to the left of the Gatun Locks. San Francisco-based URS Corp. and the Danish firm COWI A/S submitted a bid of $895,000—the lowest of five tendered—to examine the possibilities of a permanent crossing at the historic waterway’s Atlantic entrance that will allow uninterrupted traffic
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared on March 2 that the Gowanus Canal will be added to the list of federal Superfund cleanup sites. The heavily polluted canal runs through an old industrial sector in the New York City borough of Brooklyn and empties into New York harbor. EPA’s decision will set in motion a $500-million, decade-long effort to clean up the former industrial canal, which EPA says is contaminated with PCBs, coal-tar waste, heavy metals and volatile organics. Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) had opposed the EPA designation, fearing it would endanger real estate developement plans for the area. EPA
Hours after Chile was hammered on Feb. 27 by one of the most powerful earthquakes in its history, President Michelle Bachelet made it clear the country already is preparing for recovery. Photo: AFP/Getty Images The naval port city of Talcahuano, about 20 km from Concepción, was devastated by a tsunami about an hour after the quake, catching unwarned residents by surprise. No tsunami warnings were issued for Chile’s coastal towns. Related Links: Chile’s Quake Damage Mitigated by Past Lessons “We are facing a catastrophe of unforeseen magnitude which caused damage that will require enormous efforts of all sectors of the
The most powerful earthquake to strike Chile in a generation may have left hundreds dead and the South American nation’s infrastructure in tatters, yet the fact the destruction was not far worse is being cited as a testament to Chile’s application of improved building codes and decades of efforts to prepare. Slide Show Photo: AP/Wideworld Nine died and seven were missing—with some believed trapped alive behind a wall that took the load—when the 70-unit Alto Rio Apartment complex in Concepción rolled off its foundations in the Feb. 27 quake. Investigators likely will study the structure’s perfomance for what worked and
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and levee districts throughout Mississippi River Watershed are preparing for potentially imminent floods by drawing on a battery of strategies, the first of which is keeping a close watch on weather patterns, water levels and soil conditions. Photo: USACE Ringing sand boils with sandbags raises the head, lowers velocity and prevents erosion of internal levee material + Image Photo: USACE/New Orleans District Related Links: Saturated Watersheds and Stormy Forecast Worry Flood-Control Officials in the Heartland The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and levee districts throughout Mississippi River Watershed are preparing for potentially imminent floods
As spring approaches, officials from Minnesota to New Orleans are eyeing Mississippi River levees—already lapped by higher-than-normal water levels—and bracing for likely floods. Photo: USACE Sandbag rings (above) keep levees from eroding from within. Control structures like the Bonnet Carré Spillway (below) can relieve pressure. Photo: Angelle Bergeron Related Links: Flood Strategy Taps Proven Tools, But Will Rivers Play By The Rules? “There is an above-normal probability of major flooding on the Mississippi River this year, all the way up to Minnesota, but especially north of St. Louis,” says Bill Frederick, National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist and liaison with the
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