After a decade of neglect, the NPMS is partly back online and marginally functional. Parts of it don't even work. But if you want to get a general clue about the location of major natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines in your community, the NPMS is one place to start. And, there are other ways to get the info you need.
Exxon claims trade secrecy in its bid to hide inspection results for the pipeline that leaked 5,000 barrels of Canadian oil sands crude in Arkansas last spring, spurring debate over transparency and spill readiness. EnergyWire's Elana Schor has the story, raising questions that have still to be answered.
"Babies whose mothers consume nitrates in drinking water have a higher risk of spina bifida, cleft palate and other birth defects, according to a large study of children in Texas and Iowa. Used as fertilizers on crops, nitrates are one of the most widespread chemical contaminants in aquifers around the world. The study is the first to compare birth defects in kids to their mothers’ consumption of nitrates-tainted drinking water during pregnancy."
"In Vernon, a judge allows Exide to resume operations that had been suspended for alleged pollution violations. In the Central Valley, a state agency OKs expansion of a hazardous waste dump."
"A meeting of 24 nations and the European Union in mid-July will decide the fate of two proposed ocean reserves in Antarctica."
"Our planet's climate is rapidly changing and threatening the future of our civilization, yet mainstream media outlets and many conservatives continue to ignore the problem. Why?"
"Former FBI Director Louis Freeh will head an ethics probe of the organization that’s processing and paying oil-spill damage claims for BP Plc."
"The El Nino weather pattern that can bring drought to Australia and rain to South America was 'unusually active' at the end of the 20th century, possibly due to climate change, a University of Hawaii study found."
"Researchers studied 2,222 tree-ring records as proxies for temperature and rainfall over the past 700 years, the university wrote in an online statement dated yesterday. The records indicate the El Nino-Southern Oscillation weather phenomenon has been increasingly active in recent decades relative to the past seven centuries.
"Scientists have found a way to forecast El Nino weather events in the Pacific a year in advance, long enough to let farmers plant crops less vulnerable to global shifts in rainfall, a study showed on Monday."
"LAWRENCE, Kansas -- Monica Haverkamp is ready to heap praise on the upkeep and cleanliness of Clinton State Park. Until she’s asked about the beach."
