Environmental Geochemistry Issues Semi-Monthly

A continued problem met by Farmers worldwide is that of Soil Salinity .   Because fresh water -- whether from surface or groundwater sources -- is a non-renewable resource , it is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain Agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions around the world.  To illustrate this growing concern of soil salinization within rural communities located in areas of Interior drainage , California Watch produced a video detailing the current plight of farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, CA USA in September 2012. Salt in the Fields (Video Transcript; Reveal ; September 27, 2012) https://www.revealnews.org/article/video-salt-in-the-fields/ The Scientific community has taken soil salinization to task by researching Irrigation Salinity and Irrigated Agriculture Sustainability in light of continued limited fresh water resources - a stark reality faced by Agriculture, Industry and Environmental stakeholders alike.  Therefore, I present the followin...

Here is an update to my December 19, 2012 post concerning hydraulic fracturing ("Fracking") processes and water pollution.   A recent newspaper article by Ben WOLFGANG from the Washington Times discusses a forthcoming Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study, and its impending "rigorous and independent peer review" : EPA offers details of its controversial fracking study (Ben WOLFGANG, The Washington Times ; December 21, 2012) https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/21/epa-offers-details-its-controversial-fracking-stud/

As 2012 is about to end, I wish to draw attention to the 40 th  Anniversary of 33 U. S. C. §1251 et seq. (1972) .    Commonly known as the “Clean Water Act” , this piece of legislation brought forth “the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters.” (U. S. EPA) That being said, I move from my last blog post concerning the Oil & Gas Industry practice of “Fracking” to another source of groundwater and surface water contamination – “Nitrogen Pollution” .   This has both geogenic as well as anthropogenic sources.   However, it has been determined that high contaminant levels of nitrates (NO 3 - ) measured in Rural area water sources are a direct result of Agricultural Industry practices.    Below is a video documenting the problems associated with Nitrate pollution.    A link is provided to the report discussed in the video from t...

My attention was caught by a KBFX Fox 58 Evening Newscast story in Bakersfield concerning legislation and regulation of the hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, in the State of California.   So, I decided to dig a little deeper into the subject, and share my findings with you.   An article released yesterday afternoon by the San Jose Silicon Valley MercuryNews.com covers the story quite succinctly: “California Releases First-Ever Fracking Regulations”   by Paul ROGERS http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_22219233/california-releases-first-ever-fracking-regulations According to a 35-paged report released by the Pacific Institute this past June entitled “Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Resources:   Separating the Frack from the Fiction” (COOLEY and DONNELLY, 2012), six key water-related issues were identified as follows:   1)       Water Withdrawals     2)       Groundwater Conta...

In continuation of my initial post, the Oil and Agricultural Industries in Kern County, California USA are now in the process of trying to reach a compromise to end their dispute.  Here is a link to KGET 17 News in Bakersfield, CA, where this subject was featured on a December 11, 2012 newscast: Kern County Agriculture and Oil Industries Take Steps to End Dispute Furthermore, the competition between these two industries and water sources does not seem to be limited to California.  Here is another link to a NY Times article dated September 5, 2012, which describes the struggle for surplus water sources in Colorado: For Farms in the West, Oil Wells are Thirsty Rivals

December 11, 2012 Hello!  Welcome to Environmental Geochemistry Issues Semi-Monthly .  Twice a month, I will post pertinent issues affecting Earth's system (i. e., atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere); including issues that concern our local and global communities. To begin, my first post concerns Big Oil Mineral Rights vs. Agricultural Land Ownership Rights that is currently being played out in Kern County, California USA.  The question:  Should Oil companies be allowed to pump hydrocarbons from fertile Agricultural lands to meet our energy demands? Take a look at the following link from "High Country News" by Jeremy MILLER entitled "Oil and Water Don't Mix with California Agriculture" , which includes an embedded video on the subject: http://www.hcn.org/issues/42.21/oil-and-water-dont-mix-with-california-agriculture/print_view Let me know what you think!