|
Loading...
|
If you have an interesting news
item you'd like to see published below, click here.
|
Oil Spills Are Commonplace, Decried, and Tolerated
Far
from isolated mega-catastrophes -- such as the 1989 Exxon Valdez
disaster in Alaska's Prince William Sound -- oil spills occur routinely
around the world, causing environmental and economic damage, provoking
investigations by regional governments, and often leaving the victims
unsatisfied.
Entering the words "oil spill" in the Google News
search engine returned more than 2,500 distinct articles published in
the last 30 days on the topic.
At the top of the news right now
is the 100-foot fountain of petroleum that smothered the Canadian town
of Burnaby this week, after a pipeline was pierced by a road-excavation
crew.
Fifty homes were evacuated and the contamination spread to
the nearby Burrard Inlet, a harbor and wetlands ecosystem home to a
variety of marine wildlife, including four species of salmon.
Experts
told the Canadian Press that the cleanup will cost millions, and that
the toxic effects of petroleum in soil, sand and water could last for
decades.
According to the Canadian Broadcast Corporation,
members of the road crew that breached the pipeline said it was
improperly marked, a charge denied by the company that owns it.
Burnaby officials, meanwhile, say the city has strict guidelines to prevent such accidents.
International Problem But Canada is not alone in its plight.
In Kenya, 40,000 liters of oil spilled from an overturned tanker truck into the nearby Nzoia River.
The
Nation, based in Nairobi, reports that the river is already degraded
from overfishing and deforestation, and that the spill could be a coup
de grace for fish species there.
South Africa's Saldanha Bay is also threatened by a spill from a ship that was refueling last weekend.
Environmentalists
called for bolstered fines and enforcement, saying that the harbor is
already degraded, and that oil has covered the water and shoreline,
threatening fish, crustaceans and birds, including flamingos.
In
Spain, the cleanup of tons of oil leaking from a sunken ship off the
coast of Ibiza was set back by renewed leaks, after underwater welding
failed to seal cracks in the ship's hill.
In Scotland,
authorities say an oil slick spreading through the Firth of Forth can
only partly be blamed on a nearby refinery, but they are at a loss to
identify other potential sources.
Lebanon's coast remains polluted with oil spilled during Israel's 2006 war with the Hezbollah militia.
The
Lebanon Daily Star reports that spokespersons for the Environment and
Public works ministries blame each other for the lack of action.
United States Disasters Back
in the United States, 813 reported oil and fuel spills have
contaminated Prince William Sound from 1995-2005, despite new
regulations and awareness following the Valdez disaster.
The latest saw 3,500 gallons of diesel fuel pour from a fishing vessel that grounded itself in well-marked waterways.
In
Massachusetts, a state senator complained that four years after a
"catastrophic" spill near Cape Cod, coastal waters are still vulnerable
after the state's Oil Spill Prevention Act was largely nullified by a
federal court.
The U.S. Justice Department successfully argued
that coastal regulation was the domain of the Coast Guard, not states.
The ruling is currently under appeal; The Standard-Times of New
Bedford, Mass., reports that more than 2 billion gallons of petroleum
products pass through Cape Cod every year.
In New York,
officials are suing ExxonMobil for 17 million gallons of oil spilled
over 50 years in Brooklyn; CNN reports that even now oil is spilling
into local waterways, which border on numerous refineries, including
ExxonMobil properties.
And a 72,000 gallon refinery spill
affecting Oklahoma and Kansas residents was described by
environmentalists as "another Love Canal."
Lawyersandsettlements.com,
a trade and consumer publication, claims that "thousands" of homes have
been condemned, farm crops destroyed, and "hundreds" of fish killed.
Legal Solution? The
publication also says that the refinery was built in a low-income
neighborhood, and that complaints of odors and pollution have been
ignored, provoking a class action lawsuit by residents.
But legal recourse can be cold comfort.
In
the Philippines, the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund
turned down more than 125,000 claims over a spill near the island of
Guimaras.
The fund said many claimants "failed to prove they
were directly affected by the spill," GMA News reported, and that 134
applications still needed final approval.
While a governmental
task force said that "life in Guimaras has been restored," a Wikipedia
entry flagged for potential bias claims that the spill is an "ongoing
environmental and economic disaster," and "the worst oil spill" in
Philippine history.
Sources:
Google News Topic Search: "Oil Spills"
"Burnaby oil spill will have long-term toxic impact: experts"
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, July 25, 2007
"Oil-spill cleanup could cost millions"
Canadian Press, July 25, 2007
"Kenya: Experts Want Dangers of Oil Spills Tackled"
The Nation (Kenya), July 25, 2007
"Oil Spill in Saldanha Bay Poses Threat to Wildlife"
Cape Argus (South Africa), July 23, 2007
"Spain Deals With Oil Spill Near Island"
Associated Press, July 14, 2007
"Watchdog on alert after oil spill in Forth"
The Scotsman, July 20, 2007
"Environmental group presses ministry to clear coastline of polluted sand"
The Daily Star (Lebanon), July 25, 2007
"Cleanup starts on large diesel spill in Prince William Sound"
Associated Press, July 23, 2007
"Sen. Montigny says Buzzards Bay still 'unprotected' in oil spill aftermath"
The Standard Times (Massachusetts), July 24, 2007
"New York sues Exxon over oil spill"
CNN.com, July 17, 2007
"'Another Love Canal': Environmentalists Assess Oil Spill Dangers" -- BIAS CONCERNS
Lawyers & Settlements, July 21, 2007
"Int'l body junks 125,000 Guimaras oil spill claims"
GMAnews.tv (Philippines), July 23, 2007
"Guimaras oil spill" -- BIAS CONCERNS
|
|
Much Puffery About Air-Powered Car
An automobile that runs on compressed air got a boost this week with an investment from India's Tata Motors.
MDI Industries, of Carros, France, designed the cars based on technology invented by Guy Negre, a former Formula One engineer.
The project has been in development for 14 years, but no carmaker has yet put the car into production.
Now,
according to some reports, Tata is planning to manufacture and sell air
cars in India later this year for the equivalent of about $5,000.
But,
in the Financial Times of London, Tata's managing director downplayed
expectations, saying: "It's a very exciting concept, this way of
running a car. We hope something will come out of it."
The air
car, which has a glass fiber body and weighs less than 772 pounds, has
pistons powered by compressed air, as well as a fuel-burning engine for
higher speeds.
The engine can be filled with compressed air from an on-board compressor or at fueling stations.
Some press coverage of the air car has questioned where these fueling stations will come from.
"There
is a degree of skepticism about the air car," said Indian car analyst
Murad Ali Baig, according to the Web site ClimateChangeCorp.com.
The British Web site the Register mocked Negre's long struggle to produce the car, calling it a "French hot-air jalopy."
--Will Crain/Newsdesk.org
Sources:
"Tata aids air car launch"
ClimateChangeCorp.com, February 14, 2008
"India's Tata funds air-power car"
CleanTech, February 15, 2008
"Tata looks to develop air-powered car"
Financial Times (registration required), February 18, 2008
"Inventor promises bottle-o-wind car in a year. Again."
The Register, February 14, 2008
|
|
|
