Establishment of a Process for Evaluating the Proposed Use of Mine Influenced Water (MIW) for Natural Gas Extraction Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection http://files.dep.state.pa.us/Mining/Abandoned%20Mine%20Reclamation/AbandonedMinePortalFiles/MIW/Final_MIW_White_Paper.pdf [From Forbes] Based on a recommendation by Governor Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, the PADEP published a white paper in January detailing how the agency intends to review proposals from Oil & … Continue reading »
Filed under Human Health …
Estimation of Regional Air-quality Damages from Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Extraction in Pennsylvania
Environmental Research Letters (2013, v8 p014017; doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/1/014017) / by Aviva Litovitz, Aimee Curtright, Shmuel Abramzon, Nicholas Burger and Constantine Samaras http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/1/014017/pdf/1748-9326_8_1_014017.pdf [Abstract] This letter provides a first-order estimate of conventional air pollutant emissions, and the monetary value of the associated environmental and health damages, from the extraction of unconventional shale gas in Pennsylvania. Region-wide estimated … Continue reading »
The Water Resources Utility of the Future: A Blueprint for Action
Water Environment Federation | Water Environment Research Foundation | NACWA http://www.nacwa.org/images/stories/public/2013-01-31waterresourcesutilityofthefuture-final.pdf [From Press Release] Clean water utilities are undergoing a remarkable transformation. They are evolving from wastewater treatment plants to resource recovery facilities. Instead of simply collecting and treating wastewater, forward-thinking utilities are becoming managers of valuable resources, a partner in local economic development, and … Continue reading »
America’s Children and the Environment, Third Edition
US EPA http://www.epa.gov/ace/ America’s Children and the Environment is an EPA report that presents key information on environmental stressors that can affect children’s health. In January 2013, EPA released an updated third edition of this report (ACE3) that shows the status and trends of: Environments and Contaminants (contaminants in air, water, food, and soil and … Continue reading »
HealthStats, a World Bank Site for Global Public Health Indicators
World Bank http://data.worldbank.org/news/new-website-on-health-nutrition-population [InfoDocket]The World Bank has launched a new website featuring data on Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) topics. This new website, HealthStats, is a central place to explore, visualize and download HNP data. It provides access to more than 250 indicators for over 200 countries, covering topics such as health financing, HIV/AIDS, immunization, … Continue reading »
2011 Toxics Release Inventory National Analysis
US EPA http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri11/nationalanalysis/index.htm [Green Car Congress] Total toxic air releases in 2011 declined 8% from 2010, mostly because of decreases in hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions, even while total releases of toxic chemicals increased for the second year in a row, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report … Continue reading »
Technology Transfer: Use of Federally Funded Research and Development
Congressional Research Service http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33527.pdf The federal government spends approximately one-third of its annual research and development (R&D) budget for intramural work to meet mission requirements in over 700 government laboratories (including Federally Funded Research and Development Centers). The technology and expertise generated by this endeavor may have application beyond the immediate goals or intent of … Continue reading »
Global Mercury Assessment 2013: Sources, Emissions and Environmental Transport
UN Environment Programme http://www.unep.org/PDF/PressReleases/REPORT_Layout11.pdf [Green Car Congress] The fifth and final session of negotiations on the establishment of an international mercury convention—International Negotiating Committee on Mercury (INC5)—istaking place this coming week in Geneva… INC5 comes several days after UNEP released a new assessment showing that communities in developing countries are facing increasing health and environmental risks linked to … Continue reading »
H.R. 2273 and S. 3512: Analysis of Proposals to Create a Coal Combustion Residuals Permit Program Under RCRA
Congressional Research Service http://1.usa.gov/13lx9a6 [InsideEPA.com Dec. 10, sub. req'd] The Congressional Research Service (CRS) says legislation to circumvent EPA’s pending coal ash disposal rule with state-crafted standards would be an “unprecedented” move by creating a delegated waste permit program with no federal guidelines, likely prompting litigation that will result in courts having to determine such standards…While … Continue reading »
Provisional Assessment of Recent Studies on Health Effects of Particulate Matter Exposure
US EPA, National Center for Environmental Assessment http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/isa/recordisplay.cfm?deid=247132 EPA is announcing the availability of the final report, Provisional Assessment of Recent Studies on Health Effects of Particulate Matter Exposure. This report presents the findings of EPA’s survey and provisional assessment of studies published since the completion of the 2009 PM ISA. EPA has screened and … Continue reading »
