Category Archives: Pollution

550,000 abandoned mines, $50 billion to clean up the worst of them

Posted on December 9, 2016 by

[ Abandoned mines can cause soil erosion, heavy metal contamination (i.e., cyanide, lead, arsenic, mercury, uranium), and acid drainage that threatens thousands of streams and rivers. The EPA estimates it would cost $50 billion to reclaim abandoned and inactive mine … Continue reading →

Posted in Congressional Record U.S., Mercury, Pollution, Water | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

There are over 300,000 contaminated soil and water sites in the U.S.

Posted on December 6, 2016 by

[ There are too many problems requiring too much energy to solve after oil decline that we should have spent our energy on while it was still bountiful for the sake of future generations.  Along with climate change and nuclear … Continue reading →

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Why human waste should be used for fertilizer

Posted on September 16, 2016 by

[ At John Jeavons Biointensive workshop back in 2003, I learned that phosphorous is limited and mostly being lost to oceans and other waterways after exiting sewage treatment plants.  He said that it’s dangerous if done incorrectly and wasn’t going … Continue reading →

Posted in Soil, Waste, Water | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Benefits of promoting soil health in agriculture U.S. House hearing 2014

Posted on August 8, 2016 by

                    [ At last, 10 years after I first published “Peak soil: Why biofuels destroy ecosystems and civilizations“, Congress had a hearing that educated house members on why preserving topsoil is … Continue reading →

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Decommissioning a nuclear reactor

Posted on July 23, 2016 by

[ Below are excerpts from the 7 March 2012 NewScientist article: How to dismantle a nuclear reactor about the costs and challenges of dismantling nuclear power plants in Europe. Other decommissioning news: 2017-5-17 Lithuania RBMK plant clean-up cost forecast at … Continue reading →

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Toxic chemicals threaten health, reproduction, cause cancer, diabetes

Posted on March 8, 2016 by

September 29, 2015. Diabetes, obesity linked to chemical exposure – Endocrine Society.  www.rt.com Scientific research has increasingly linked common chemicals found in everyday products to diabetes, obesity, cancer, and other major ailments, according to a new policy statement.  Endocrine-disrupting chemicals … Continue reading →

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Chemicals banned in cosmetics

Posted on February 26, 2016 by

The environmental working group has this to say about cosmetics: “American families assume personal care products on the market today have been tested by the federal government. Unfortunately, the personal care products industry remains largely unregulated. The FDA does not … Continue reading →

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We’ll all be Flint Michigan someday: U.S. water infrastructure is falling apart

Posted on January 29, 2016 by

NRC. 2006. Drinking Water Distribution Systems: Assessing and Reducing Risks Committee on Public Water Supply Distribution Systems: Assessing and Reducing Risks.  National Research Council, National Academies Press. [ According to this Free National Research Council report, most water systems and … Continue reading →

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Arctic ice melt to release 1 trillion pieces of plastic into sea – a major threat to marine life

Posted on June 5, 2015 by

[Also see September 2015: Plastic for dinner: A quarter of fish sold at markets contain human-made debris. Original article here] Lewis, R. May 27, 2014. Arctic ice melt to release 1 trillion pieces of plastic into sea Increasing ice melt … Continue reading →

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External costs of coal: probably over $500 billion per year in USA

Posted on May 4, 2014 by

Paul R. Epstein, et al. 2011. Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal in “Ecological Economics Reviews.” Robert Costanza, Karin Limburg & Ida Kubiszewski, Eds. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1219: 73–98. This paper tabulates a wide range of … Continue reading →

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