Environmental Geochemistry Issues Semi-Monthly

New!   Public Overwhelmingly Opposes Drilling in Arctic Refuge (Press Release,  EarthJustice ; March 13, 2019) https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2019/public-overwhelmingly-opposes-drilling-in-arctic-refuge Administration moves closer to opening Arctic refuge for oil (Ellen KNICKMEYER, Associated Press/Washington Post ; December 20, 2018) https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/administration-moves-closer-to-opening-arctic-refuge-for-oil/2018/12/20/5e4d8468-049b-11e9-958c-0a601226ff6b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.703aa0c628dc An unexpected agency weighs in on offshore Arctic oil drilling:  NASA (Elizabeth HARBELL, Alaska Public Media ; November 21, 2018) https://www.alaskapublic.org/2018/11/21/an-unexpected-agency-weighs-in-on-offshore-arctic-oil-drilling-nasa/ BLM projects "insignificant" impact from seismic work in ANWR (Liz RUSKIN, Alaska Public Media ; July 30, 2018) https://www.ktoo.org/2018/07/30/blm-projects-insignificant-impact-from-seismi...

Public Hearings:  Revised Definition of "Waters of the United States" (U. S. Federal Register, EPA ; February 7, 2019 ) https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OW-2018-0149-0002 N. B.:    " The agencies will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, February 27 and Thursday, February 28, 2019 , in Kansas City, Kansas." " The hearing will be held in the Wyandotte Ballroom of the Reardon Convention Center, 520 Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, Kansas 66101. The Wednesday session will convene at 4:00 p.m. (local time) and will conclude no later than 8:00 p.m. and the Thursday session will convene at 9:00 a.m. and will conclude no later than 12:00 p.m." EPA and Army Postpone Public Hearing on Proposed New "Waters of the United States" Definition ( U. S. EP A; January 7, 2019) https://www.epa.gov/wotus-rule/epa-and-army-postpone-public-hearing-proposed-new-waters-united-states-definitio n Proposed Rule:  Revised Definition of ...

New Estimate Finds Less Fresh Groundwater In U. S. Than Previously Assumed (Brett WALTON, Circle of Blue ; December 13, 2018) https://www.circleofblue.org/2018/world/new-estimate-finds-less-fresh-groundwater-in-u-s-than-previously-assumed/ Featured Research Article: Competition for shrinking window of low salinity groundwater (FERGUSON et al. , 2018) http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aae6d8/meta Also... Preliminary Groundwater Salinity Mapping Near Selected Oil Fields Using Historical Water Sampling Data, Central and Southern California (METZGER and LANDON, 2018) https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2018/5082/sir20185082_.pdf Water and petroleum well data used for preliminary regional groundwater salinity mapping near selected oil fields in central and southern California  ( Supplemental Material for  METZER and LANDON; July 24, 2018) https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5a735aaee4b0a9a2e9e1429d Brackish Groundwater in the United States (ST...

Fossil Fuel Extraction on Public Lands Produces One Quarter of U. S. Emissions (Adam ATON, E & E News ; November 27, 2018) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fossil-fuel-extraction-on-public-lands-produces-one-quarter-of-u-s-emissions/ Featured USGS Research Report: Federal Lands Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sequestration in the United States: Estimates for 2005 - 14 (MERRILL et al. , 2018) https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2018/5131/sir20185131.pdf N. B.:   More information on an on-going Public Lands issue concerning Oil and Gas leasing within counties of Central California may be perused in "Blog Archives" under the following title and date: 30 day "Scoping" Comment Period for BLM Oil Leasing on CA Public Lands - Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura Counties                8/8/2018

Victims of Brazil corporate mining disaster await justice, three years on (The Observers, France 24 News ; November 19, 2018) http://observers.france24.com/en/20181119-victims-brazil-mining-catastrophe-dam Brazil dam disaster:  firm knew of potential impact months in advance (Dom PHILLIPS, The Guardian ; March 1, 2018) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/28/brazil-dam-collapse-samarco-fundao-mining Selected Research Articles: Metals and Arsenic in Water Supply for Riverine Communities Affected by the Largest Environmental Disaster in Brazil:  The Dam Collapse on Doce River (OLIVEIRA DE CARVALHO  et al ., 2018) http://www.orbital.ufms.br/index.php/Chemistry/article/download/1081/520 The environmental impacts of one of the largest tailing dam failures worldwide (HATJE et al. , 2017) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11143-x.pdf Fund ão  tailings dam failures:  the environmental tragedy of the largest technological disaster of...

EPA Announces Changes to Dicamba Registration (Newsroom, U. S. EPA ; October 31, 2018) https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-changes-dicamba-registration N. B.:   For more information on Dicamba , please refer to "Blog Archives" for my former blog posts under the following titles and dates: Arkansas Supreme Court Halts Farmers' Access to Dicamba and More...        4/27/2018 Impacts of Dicamba Herbicides on Agriculture, Environment                          3/4/2018

New!   Hidden oil spill:  New study contradicts owner’s claims (Janet MCCONNAUGHEY, Associated Press ; June 24, 2019) https://apnews.com/198dd1dde1ff4461bb8cda2e36bc2c82 Company sues to block order to contain 14-year-old oil leak (Michael KUNZELMAN, Associated Press ; December 21, 2018) https://apnews.com/ea14af563f9c47f2b4c97b0df5f047b1 A 14-year-long oil spill in Gulf of Mexico verges on becoming one of the worst in U. S. history (Darryl FEARS, The Washington Post ; October 22, 2018) https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-14-year-long-oil-spill-in-the-gulf-of-mexico-verges-on-becoming-one-of-the-worst-in-us-history/2018/10/20/f9a66fd0-9045-11e8-bcd5-9d911c784c38_story.html?utm_term=.bb886da55696 Taylor Energy oil platform, destroyed in 2004 during Hurricane Ivan, is still leaking in the Gulf (Mark SCHLEIFSTEIN, The NOLA Times-Picayne ; July 1, 2013) https://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/07/taylor_energy_oil_platform_des_1.html Th...

Peru's oldest and largest Amazonian oil field poised for cleanup (Barbara FRASER, Nature ; October 2, 2018) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06886-0?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20181004&utm_source=nature_etoc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20181004&sap-outbound-id=4FA9B997B4302983BC33FB13B50BE1B824393109 Ministry accelerates environmental remediation process that will be carried out in lots 192 and 8 (Press Release, Ministry of Energy and Mines/BNAmericas.com ; June 1, 2018) http://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/oilandgas/ministry-accelerates-environmental-remediation-process-that-will-be-carried-out-in-lots-192-and-8/ Selected Research Publications: Oil pollution in soils and sediments from Northern Peruvian Amazon (ROSELL-MELÉ  et al. , 2018 ) https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pedro_Mayor/publication/319356597_Oil_pollution_in_soils_and_sediments_from_the_Northern_Peruvian_Amazon/links/5a147992458515005213033c/Oil-pollution-in-soils-and-sediments-from-th...

  "Monitoring Land Subsidence in the San Joaquin Valley"   -- a  Water Education Foundation (WEF) Workshop Event   -- took place on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 at the CSU Fresno Campus in Fresno, CA. Once again, timely information regarding the Sustainable Groundwater Management Program (SGMA), continued Land Subsidence Measurement and Monitoring, and updates on Groundwater conditions within the San Joaquin Valley was presented by Researchers from the  California Department of Water Resources (DWR) ,  the  Friant Water Authority ,   the  National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA-JPL) , and the  U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) . Copies of the 2018 WEF Workshop Agenda and six (6) Power Point presentations may be accessed by clicking the following  Water Education Foundation  link provided below: https://www.watereducation.org/foundation-event/monitoring-land-subsidence-san-joaquin-valley ...

In Nigeria, Shell's onshore roots still run deep (Ron BOUSSO, Reuters ; September 23, 2018) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-shell-insight/in-nigeria-shells-onshore-roots-still-run-deep-idUSKCN1M3069 Timeline:  Shell's operations in Nigeria ( Reuters Environment ; September 23, 2018) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-shell-timeline/timeline-shells-operations-in-nigeria-idUSKCN1M306Dhttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-shell-insight/in-nigeria-shells-onshore-roots-still-run-deep-idUSKCN1M3069 N. B.:  To learn more about the Bodo Oil Spill in Ogoniland, Nigeria ; please refer to "Blog Archives" for  my former blog posts under the following titles and dates: Niger Delta Infant Mortality Study, and Bodo Oil Spill Clean Up Commencement     12/18/2017 Update:  Nigerian Oil Spill Claims vs. Shell Oil - UK High Ruling                             ...

New!   Judge Denies TransCanada Request for Pre-construction Work on Keystone XL Pipeline (Press Release, Center for Biological Diversity ; December 7, 2018) https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2018/keystone-xl-pipeline-12-07-2018.html Judge Blocks Trump's Approval of Keystone XL Pipeline (News Editor, Environmental News Service ; November 9, 2018) http://ens-newswire.com/2018/11/09/judge-blocks-trumps-approval-of-keystone-xl-pipeline/ Keystone XL Pipeline Send Back for New Environmental Review (Rachel ADAMS-HEARD, Bloomberg News ; August 16, 2018) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-16/keystone-xl-oil-pipeline-sent-back-for-new-environmental-review Federal Court Rules State Dept. Must Conduct Full Environmental Review of Keystone XL in Nebraska (Press Release, Center for Biological Diversity ; August 15, 2018) https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2018/keystone-xl-pipeline-08-15-2018.php Court Documentation: ...

Scientists find a way to make mineral which can remove CO2 from the atmosphere (Goldschmidt Conference 2018, Phys.org ; August 14, 2018) https://phys.org/news/2018-08-scientists-mineral-co2-atmosphere.html Featured Publications: Magnesite formation at Earth's surface (POWER et al. 2018; GOLDSCHMIDT Abstracts) https://goldschmidt.info/2018/abstracts/abstractView?id=2018001242 Room Temperature Magnesite Precipitation (POWER et al. , 2017) http://www.envgeolab.com/s/Power-et-al-2017-Cryst-Growth-Des.pdf

Updates :    California court upholds verdict in Monsanto cancer case ( Associated Press ; July 20, 2020) https://apnews.com/36def67c18784cd41f226d32e0aa71b5 Court Docs:  Monsanto Paid Chemistry Industry Front Group To Claim Cancer Causing Weedkiller ‘Safe’ and Attack Its Critics [Bill WALKER, Environmental Working Group (EWG) ; May 29, 2019] https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2019/05/court-docs-monsanto-paid-chemical-industry-front-group-claim-cancer Groundskeeper Accepts Reduced $78 Million Award  in Monsanto Cancer Suit [Emily SULLIVAN, National Public Radio ( NPR) ; November 1, 2018] https://www.npr.org/2018/11/01/662812333/groundskeeper-accepts-reduced-78-million-in-monsanto-cancer-suit ____________ Monsanto Ordered to Pay $289 Million in California Roundup Cancer Trial (Tina BELLON, Reuters ; August 10, 2018) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-monsanto-cancer-lawsuit/monsanto-ordered-to-pay-289-million-in-california-roundup-cancer-tria...

Mineral Rights : Mineral Rights Basic information on mineral, surface, oil and gas rights (Hobard M. KING, Geology.com ) https://geology.com/articles/mineral-rights.shtml Educational Video : US Mineral Rights and Leasing Preview  ( EnergyTrainingResLLC ; August 7, 2017) BLM California : "BLM California manages nearly 600 producing oil and gas leases covering more than 200,000 acres and 7,900 usable. Between 80% and 90% of all surface-disturbing activities related to oil and gas activities occur in the San Joaquin Valley on public lands administered by Central California District, Bakersfield Field Office. More than 95% of all Federal drilling occurs in established fields within the Kern County area of the San Joaquin Valley." Retrieved from:    California Oil and Gas  (U. S. Department of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management) https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/oil-and-gas/about/california...

Updates: California sues to block Trump administration fracking plans (Don THOMPSON, Associated Press ; January 17, 2020) https://apnews.com/0e702e74d3f1a6420b1ed6a59d6e837b Lawsuit Challenges Trump Plan to Frack, Drill 1 Million Acres of California Public Lands, Minerals   (Press Release, NRDC ; January 14, 2020) https://www.nrdc.org/media/2020/200114 Lawsuit Seeks Records on Trump's California Oil, Gas Leasing Plans (Press Release, Center for Biological Diversity ; March 28, 2019) https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2019/california-oil-and-gas-leasing-03-28-2019.php Public comments sent to BLM oppose increased Central Coast oil, gas production (Mike HODGSON, Santa Maria Times ; January 22, 2019) https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/public-comments-sent-to-blm-oppose-increased-central-coast-oil/article_f6955db9-a099-581a-8479-edd60d605d04.html BLM issues Report Highlighting Overwhelming Public Opposition to Drilling and F...

Binding of Cd by ferrihydrite organo-mineral composites: Implications for Cd mobility and fate in natural and contaminated environments. - White Rose Research Online Featured Research Article: Binding of Cd by ferrihydrite organo-mineral composites:  Implications for Cd mobility and fate in natural and contaminated enviroments  (DU  et al. , 2018) https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Huihui_Du/publication/325390808_Binding_of_Cd_by_ferrihydrite_organo-mineral_composites_Implications_for_Cd_mobility_and_fate_in_natural_and_contaminated_environments/links/5b0a9aa4aca2725783e8e18c/Binding-of-Cd-by-ferrihydrite-organo-mineral-composites-Implications-for-Cd-mobility-and-fate-in-natural-and-contaminated-environments.pdf N. B.:   Associated research involving Cobalt(II) complexation via Organo-minerals in Soils may be found posted on this Blog's sister site via the following link: https://cmeilinghamilton.com/2018/08/01/possible-cobaltii-remediation-via-organo-m...

Natural chromium sources threaten California groundwater, Stanford scientists find (Danielle Torrent TUCKER, Stanford News ; July 23, 2018) https://news.stanford.edu/2018/07/23/widespread-groundwater-contamination-risk-chromium/ Selected Research Publications: Cr(VI) occurrence and geochemistry in public-supply wells in California (IZBICKI et al. , 2015) https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/gama/docs/cr_vi_occ.pdf Delta Chromium 53/52 isotopic composition of native and contaminated groundwater (IZBICKI et al. , 2012) https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Izbicki/publication/253011745_delta53Cr_mixing_fractionation_and_exchange_in_contaminant_plumes/links/58779ec208ae8fce492fc8ca.pdf Chromium(VI) generation in vadose zone soils and alluvial sediments of the southwestern  Sacramento Valley, California:  A potential of geogenic Cr(VI) to groundwater (MILLS et al. , 2011) http://www.academia.edu/download/45877924/j.apgeochem.2011.05.02320160523-570-1j8118s....

Flint Water crisis prompts call for more federal oversight (Ellen KNICKMEYER and John FLESHER, Associated Press ; July 19, 2018) https://apnews.com/d0e8f8400c374786a458cb5674aee11d/Flint-water-crisis-prompts-call-for-more-federal-oversight Inspector:  EPA 'management weakness' prolonged Flint Crisis (Jonathan OOSTING, The Detroit News ; July 19, 2018) https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/07/19/epa-flint-inspector-general-report/801322002/ 'Nothing to worry about.  The water is fine':  how Flint poisoned its people (Anna CLARK, The Guardian ; July 3, 2018) https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/03/nothing-to-worry-about-the-water-is-fine-how-flint-michigan-poisoned-its-people Selected Research Publications: Management Weaknesses Delayed Response to Flint Water Crisis (BANKS et al. , 2018) https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-07/documents/_epaoig_20180719-18-p-0221.pdf Flint Water Crisis Caused By Interrupted Corros...

Arvin approves restrictions for oil industry (Lexi WILSON, BakersfieldNow.com ; July 17, 2018) https://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/city-of-arvin-approved-new-restrictions-and-regulations-on-the-oil-and-gas-industry Arvin passes ordinance to restrict new oil operations near neighborhoods (Kennedy THOMAS, KGET News ; July 4, 2018) https://www.kget.com/news/local-news/arvin-passes-ordinance-to-restrict-new-oil-operations-near-neighborhoods/1283906379 Arvin, CA - A City in the Most Drilled County in the Country - files for a Setback Ordinance (Kyle FERRAR, FracTracker Alliance ; January 30, 2018) https://www.fractracker.org/2018/01/arvin-ca-setback-ordinance/ Small California towns are facing off against oil companies - and winning (Dean KUIPERS,  GRIST ; April 5, 2017) https://grist.org/article/small-california-towns-are-facing-off-against-oil-companies-and-winning/ Website: City of Arvin - The Garden in the Sun https://www.arvin.org/

EPA proposal to limit science studies draws opposition (Ellen KNICKMEYER, Associated Press ; July 17, 2018) https://www.apnews.com/2ed28009486144749a75897a855101d2/EPA-proposal-to-limit-science-studies-draws-opposition Even Geologists Hate the EPA's New Science Rule (Robinson MEYER, The Atlantic; July 17, 2018) https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/07/scott-pruitts-secret-science-rule-could-still-become-law/565325/ Letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt regarding proposed "Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science" rule (Drew Gilpin FAUST, Harvard University ; June 4, 2018) https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2018/letter-to-epa-administrator-scott-pruitt-regarding-proposed-strengthening Joint Statement on  EPA proposed rule and public availability of data (BERG  et al. , 2018) http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2018/04/30/science.aau0116/tab-pdf EPA Published Documentation:  Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Scienc...

Agriculture is a major source of NO x   pollution in California (ALMAREZ et al. , 2018) http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/advances/4/1/eaao3477.full.pdf Evaluating ammonia (NH 3 ) predictions in the NOAA National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NACFQ) using in situ aircraft and satellite measurements from the CalNex2010 campaign (BRAY et al. , 2017) https://tes.jpl.nasa.gov/uploadedfiles/1-s2.0-S1352231017303333-main.pdf Ozone Design Values in Southern California's Air Basins:  Temporal Evolution and U. S Background Contribution (PARRISH et al., 2017) http://cose.sfsu.edu/sites/default/files/files/jgrd54136%255b1%255d.pdf WRF-Chem simulation of aerosol seasonal variability in the San Joaquin Valley (WU et al. , 2017) https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bad1/e66053df3771a6ce29bf4e80651d8369c567.pdf Fine scale simulation of ammonium and nitrate over the South Coast Air Basin and the San Joaquin Valley of California during CalNex-2010 (KELLY et al. , 2014) ...

New!   Florence's rains:  Coal ash landfill collapses in Carolinas (Michael BIESECKER, Associated Press ; September 16, 2018) https://apnews.com/28d9884e801248a39ff8669cd720ab78 EPA eases rules on how coal ash waste is stored across U. S. (Juliet EILPERIN and Brady DENNIS, Washington Post ; July 17, 2018) https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/epa-eases-rules-on-how-coal-ash-waste-is-stored-across-the-us/2018/07/17/740e4b9a-89d3-11e8-85ae-511bc1146b0b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5bdc35911f72 Why the EPA's Proposed Coal Ash Rule is Concerning (Avner VENGOSH, PhD; Power Magazine; June 1, 2018) http://www.powermag.com/why-the-epas-proposed-coal-ash-rule-is-concerning/ Legal Documentation: Environmental Comments on Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0286 (EarthJustice et al. , 2018) http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2018-04-30-Envtl.-Comments-EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0286.pdf Selected Research Articles: Rankin...

New!   The Valley floor is sinking, and it's crippling California's ability to deliver water (Dale KASLER and Phillip REESE, The Sacramento Bee ; July 13, 2018) https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article214631455.html Dry wells, sinking land and fears of a global food crisis (Jeremy P. JACOBS, Western Water - E&E News ; June 25, 2018) https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060086059 N. B.:   For more information on Land subsidence and Groundwater overpumping in the San Joaquin Valley , please refer to "Blog Archives" for my former blog posts under the following titles and dates: Increased Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater due to Overpumping - San Joaquin Valley, California            6/6/2018 About the WEF San Joaquin Valley Land Subsidence Event       8/20/2017 Permanent Groundwater Storage Reduction due to Overpumping - San Joaquin Valley, CA    4/13/2017 California Drought ...