Ecosystems


Oil spill cleanup

Commentary: BP Didn't Raise the Bar

Jocelyn K. Scheffler, who worked in the command center during the the Exxon oil spill cleanup, says many qualified emergency response and hazmat experts were excluded from the Gulf spill cleanup effort.

EPA Releases Risk and Consequence Tools for Water

The Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool and the Water Health and Economic Analysis Tool have been developed to help drinking water and other facilities assess their responses to threats and natural disasters.

Black capped chickadee with deformed beak

Deformed Beaks May Signal Greater Problem

U.S. Geological Survey scientists have not been able to isolate the cause of the highest rate of beak abnormalities ever recorded, particularly in birds in the Northwest and Alaska.

Louisiana Vessel Company to Pay $2.1M in Penalties

Offshore Vessels pleaded guilty in July to charges that its crew knowingly discharged oily wastewater from the bilge tank.

World Governments Agree on Zero Extinction Target

An Alliance for Zero Extention map poinpoints sites where endangered wildlife are located and could be used to identify places that need habitat protection.

Fertilizer Group Opposes Senate's Chesapeake Restoration Bill

The Fertilizer Institute and other agricultural groups are urged senators to stop S. 1816 because of its precedent-setting language.

Court Establishes Security Zone around Deepwater Horizon Site

The security zone will remain in please until October 2011, according to the U.S. District Court of New Orleans.



Living Wall Is More than Display of Art

According to its designers, the green wall makes use of the vertical planting to save energy, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and create a new ecosystem.

Research Shows No General Trends When Contaminants Bond to Nanoparticles

Texas Tech researcher Moira Ridley said her experiments with strontium and nanoparticles of titanium dioxide revealed subtle differences depending on particle size.

Toledo's Sewer System Improvements to Cost about $315M

In the latest settlement, the city will expand its system to reduce discharges of untreated combined sewage from about 35 per year to four or less.

Oil Spill Responders Tested DHS Communication Prototype

The Department of Homeland Security released its Virtual USA information-sharing system early to help southeastern states keep abreast of activity in the Gulf of Mexico this spring.

Virginia Tech Researchers to Study Impact of Gulf Oil Spill on Plovers

Researchers from Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment have received a $3.4 million grant from the Department of the Interior to study the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on piping plovers -- shorebirds that have been listed as threatened since 1986.

More Injuries Reported for BP Oil Spill Wildlife Cleanup Workers

NIOSH releases its evaluation of potential exposures and health effects of those involved in the Deepwater Horizon response activities.

ConocoPhillips, Sasol North America to Reimburse Estuary Cleanup Costs

The agreement will reimburse EPA Superfund more than $4.5 million, resolve nearly $1.2 million in natural resource damages assessment costs, and perform a removal action and restoration project.

Agency Gathering Input on Chesapeake Bay Stormwater Rules

EPA is inviting stakeholders to participate in listening sessions in Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia and Pennsylvania about proposed stormwater regulations.

Lake Mead lake level

SWRO Desalination: A Viable, Long-Term Solution to Water Scarcity

As the seawater reverse osmosis industry has evolved and matured over the last 10 years, it is addressing concerns about energy efficiency and ecosystem impacts from concentrate discharge and seawater intake processes.

EPA Lays Out Five-Year Plan on Priorities

The plan includes benchmarks to track progress against such priorities as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting America's waters.

Study Claims Human Activities Overload Ecosystems with Nitrogen

Resulting ecological damage is serious, but could be reduced by wider use of more sustainable, time-honored practices.

Bacteria May Remove Steroid Used in Tilapia Fish Farming from Water

Methyltestosterone is used in aquaculture to produce male tilapia because they grow faster; Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus ceresus may help remove the steroid from the water.