"2010 Gives West a Respite From Fire — So Far"
Despite some bad wildfires, the 2010 fire season overall has been less severe than many recent years.
Source: Green (NYT), 09/23/2010
Disasters
Oil and Gas Pipeline Disasters Fail to Spur Bill Bolstering Oversight
"The Obama administration's bid to strengthen federal pipeline oversight is raising questions from environmental groups as well as industry, suggesting that safety reforms could fail to reach a legislative fast track despite three recent high-profile ruptures along the 2.3 million miles of U.S. oil and gas lines."
Source: Greenwire, 09/23/2010
Government Secrecy Over Pipeline Location, Regulatory Neglect Challenged
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration withholds data about pipeline condition and inspections, meaning pipeline explosions caused by preventable and fixable corrosion are far more likely to kill Americans than any caused by terrorists.
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More Resources for Digging Into the Gulf Spill Story
Despite the new, apparently unwritten law against digging journalistically into the impacts of the spill, there are information resources here that may help you dig into other oil/environment stories as well.
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Federal Cops to Gulf Journos: Don't Dig, It's Illegal
Watch the video: Pensacola TV reporter Dan Thomas is accosted by USFWS and NPS after finding layers of crude oil (with his toy shovel) less than a foot below the surface — giving the lie to BP and government claims that beaches had been cleaned.
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AK Spill Response Tech Outdated and Underfunded, Lawmakers Warned
"A Valdez-based citizen watchdog group told legislators Tuesday that the state's arsenal of oil-response equipment lags behind modern technology and the state division that enforces the rules for preventing and cleaning up spills has an 'ever-worsening funding shortage.'"
Source: Anchorage Daily News, 09/22/2010
"MSHA Increases Rock Dust Standard"
"Citing a 'grave danger' to the nation's coal miners, the Obama administration said Tuesday that mine operators must take additional steps to control the buildup of highly explosive coal dust underground."
Source: Charleston Gazette, 09/22/2010
Senate Banking Committee Looks at Flood Insurance Rescue Wednesday
The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday, September 22, will hold a hearing on the National Flood Insurance Program, which is teetering under some $19 billion in debt. The NFIP is set to expire Sept. 30, just as the hurricane season reaches its height. Congress has allowed the NFIP to expire four times already this year.
Source: Insurance Journal, 09/21/2010
"BP Oil Well Is Dead, Officials Say"
"BP's renegade Macondo well, which spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in the world's largest accidental release of hydrocarbons, is finally dead.
Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 09/20/2010
"Kids Without Food in Pakistan Floods Face Death"
"SUKKUR, Pakistan — Suhani Bunglani fans flies away from her two baby girls as one sleeps motionless while the other stares without blinking at the roof of their tent, her empty belly bulging beneath a green flowered shirt. Their newborn sister already died on the ground inside this steamy shelter at just 4 days old, after the family's escape from violent floods that drowned a huge swath of Pakistan. Now the girls, ages 1 and 2, are slowly starving, with shriveled arms and legs as fragile as twigs."
Source: AP, 09/20/2010
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