MEC&F Expert Engineers : 07/28/15

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Coast Guard medevacs injured mariner from the fish-processing vessel Northern Victor near Dutch Harbor, Alaska

Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew arrives at Spruce Cape near Kodiak, Alaska 

July 28th, 2015

JUNEAU, Alaska — 

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew medevaced an injured mariner from a fish-processing vessel in Beaver Inlet, near Dutch Harbor, Tuesday.

The Dolphin helicopter crew launched from Cold Bay, where they were staged overnight for a different case, and safely hoisted the injured man for transport to emergency medical services in Dutch Harbor.

The crew of the 360-foot fish-processing vessel Northern Victor, notified the Coast Guard 17th District command center of the injured crewmember, reportedly suffering from a swollen leg, Tuesday morning.

After transporting the injured man to Dutch Harbor, commercial services arranged a flight out of Dutch Harbor to a higher level of medical care.

“We strategically place our deployed aircrews to leverage their capabilities during time-sensitive missions,” said Adam De Rocher, a civilian senior search and rescue controller at the 17th District command center. “The extreme distances between airports and medical facilities make our air assets particularly useful during emergency medical situations.

Weather on scene was reported as light wind and calm seas.



NORTHERN VICTOR

Today, the NORTHERN VICTOR is the largest processing vessel owned by Icicle Seafood, Inc at 8902 gross tons. The vessel was originally built in 1945 for the U.S. war effort and was subsequently converted into an oil well drilling ship. 

Eastern converted it into a fish processing vessel in 1990. Since July 1990, the NORTHERN VICTOR has operated in Alaska as the second largest processing vessel in the United States fishing industry. 

With quarters for 222 crew members, the vessel  processes Alaskan Pollock out of her primary operating base in the Aleutians Islands, near Dutch Harbor.







Coast Guard, local responders assist 6 boaters from a boat fire near Point Wilson, Washington


The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox an 87-foor patrol boat home ported in Bangor, Wash. and Jefferson County emergency response personnel responded to a fire aboard the 32-foot pleasure craft Kloshi Bay near Point Wilson, July 27, 2015. The fire was quickly extinguished and the Kloshi Bay was towed into Port Townsend. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox)
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox responded to a fire aboard the 32-foot pleasure craft Kloshi Bay near Point Wilson, July 27, 2015.  (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox)

July 28th, 2015 

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

A Coast Guard Cutter crew and local fire department personnel responded to a fire aboard a pleasure craft with six people aboard near Point Wilson, Monday afternoon.

The six boaters, four kids and two adults, were unharmed in the fire and subsequently transfer to fire personnel aboard Jefferson County Fire Boat Guardian.

At about 4:20 p.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound in Seattle received a distress call from the master of the 32-foot pleasure craft Kloshi Bay stating there was a fire aboard their vessel. The watchstander issued an urgent marine information broadcast and diverted the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Sea Fox who was underway nearby.

The crew of the Sea Fox, an 87-foor patrol boat home ported in Bangor, removed the children from the Kloshi Bay and transferred them to the crew of fire boat while emergency responders extinguished the fire.

Once the fire was extinguished, company Vessel Assist was contacted to tow the Kloshi Bay into Port Townsend. The children were also transferred to Port Townsend via the crew of the Guardian.

Weather on scene at the time of the incident was reported as 4 mph winds and 2-foot seas.

Fennica investigation findings sent to Coast Guard Investigations National Center of Expertise for review



Sector_Anchorage 



JUNEAU, Alaska

Coast Guard Sector Anchorage marine casualty investigators have sent their initial findings about what caused a 3-foot crack in the motor vessel Fennica’s hull to the Coast Guard Investigations National Center of Expertise for analysis.

After completing their review, the NCOE will submit the information to the Coast Guard Headquarters Investigation Division personnel.  Coast Guard Headquarters will review the findings and issue a final report about the incident after all of the evidence has been examined. 

While Coast Guard marine casualty investigations are extremely thorough and may take several months to complete the following information can be shared:
  • The navigational charts found on board the Fennica were all up to date.
  • The Fennica’s draft at the time of the incident was 26.25 feet.
  • The Coast Guard issued a broadcast notice to mariners after a NOAA hydrographic survey revealed a (22.5ft + 3ft tide) uncharted shoal along Fennica’s track east of Hog Island.
  • The vessel’s Master, Mate, and Pilot onboard during the time of the casualty underwent DOT drug test.  All results were negative.
Individuals who would like to submit a FOIA request to obtain copies of the final investigation results can do so by sending an email to: EFOIA@USCG.MIL

Poor Air Quality Expected along the Southern Coast of New England Tomorrow (Wed. July 29)

Release Date: 07/28/2015

Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017



BOSTON, MASS.

Poor air quality, due to ground-level ozone, is expected tomorrow, July 29, in much of southern coastal New England. Air quality modeling and forecasting predicts high levels of ozone in the Connecticut counties of Fairfax, New Haven, Middlesex and New London, in coastal Rhode Island, and along southeastern Massachusetts, including Cape Cod and the Islands. Unhealthy air quality is forecasted today for southwestern Connecticut.
 
“We expect Wednesday to be an unhealthy air quality day in southern New England,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “On these days, EPA and the medical community suggest that people limit their strenuous outdoor activity.”
 
Exposure to elevated ozone levels can cause breathing problems, aggravate asthma and other pre-existing lung diseases, and make people more susceptible to respiratory infection. When ozone levels are elevated, people should refrain from strenuous outdoor activity, especially sensitive populations such as children and adults with respiratory problems.
 
Ground-level ozone forms when volatile organic compounds and oxides of nitrogen (ozone precursors) interact in the presence of strong sunlight. Cars, trucks and buses give off the majority of the pollution create ozone. Gasoline stations, print shops, household products like paints and cleaners, as well as lawn and garden equipment also add significantly to the ozone problem. 
 
When ozone is forecast to be unhealthy, EPA asks the public to take action. The public can help reduce ozone by:
 
- Using public transportation, car pooling and/or combining trips;
- Avoiding the use of small gasoline powered engines, such as lawn mowers and tractors, chain saws, power washers, string trimmers and leaf blowers.
 
The ozone standard is 0.075 parts per million (ppm) on an 8-hour average basis. Air quality alerts are issued when ozone concentrations exceed, or are predicted to exceed, this level. So far this year, there have been 10 days in New England when ozone concentrations have exceeded the standard. (A preliminary list of this summer’s unhealthy readings can be found at http://www.epa.gov/region1/airquality/o3exceed-15.html)
 
EPA and the New England states provide real-time ozone data and air quality forecasts at www.epa.gov/ne/aqi. This website can also be used to sign up to receive free air quality alerts by e-mail when poor air quality is predicted for a particular area. National real-time air quality data from AirNow is also available on smart phones with free iPhone and Android apps, available for download at http://www.airnow.gov/.

Android phone hack puts 950 million users at risk


Android phone hack puts 950 million users at risk
(Shutterstock)
Attention Android users, your phones can be hacked by a single text.

Cybersecurity company Zimperium discovered a hack in Android phones where the device can be compromised just by receiving a simple text message. The hack, known as Stagefright, stems from the way Android phones process incoming messages, where devices automatically process the media attached to a text message like photos or videos, according to CNN. That means a file corrupted with malware can infect and compromise your entire Android device before you even open a message.

The smartphone hack is estimated to be the largest in history, affecting 950 million Android users, or about 95 percent of Android phones in use today.

According to CNN, Zimperium had notified Google about the bug on April 9. But after 109 days, the bug still hasn't been fixed, prompting the cyber security company to go public with the news. While Apple was able to fix a similar bug by issuing an update to iPhone users, Google has many more impediments in its way: phone carriers and cellphone manufacturers would need to work together in order to deliver software updates.

"This vulnerability was identified in a laboratory setting on older Android devices, and as far as we know, no one has been affected. As soon as we were made aware of the vulnerability we took immediate action and sent a fix to our partners to protect users," a Google spokesperson told ABC via email.

At least 3 firefighters injured after a fire broke at the Gentry Apartment Complex in northwest Houston, Texas and it quickly grew into a 4-alarm blaze


A massive fire has caused severe damage to an apartment complex in northwest Houston. <span class=meta>KTRK/Foti Kallergis</span>A massive fire has caused severe damage to an apartment complex in northwest Houston. <span class=meta>Photo/KTRK</span>A massive fire has caused severe damage to an apartment complex in northwest Houston. <span class=meta>Photo/KTRK</span>A massive fire has caused severe damage to an apartment complex in northwest Houston. <span class=meta>Photo/KTRK</span>A massive fire has caused severe damage to an apartment complex in northwest Houston. <span class=meta>KTRK/Foti Kallergis</span>A massive fire has caused severe damage to an apartment complex in northwest Houston. <span class=meta>KTRK/Foti Kallergis</span>


The fire broke after 6pm at the Gentry Apartment Complex in northwest Houston and it quickly grew into a 4-alarm blaze





A four-alarm fire destroyed an apartment complex in northwest Houston Tuesday. At least three firefighters were injured while battling the blaze.

The fire broke out after 6pm at the Gentry House Apartments at 9001 Kempwood and was declared tapped out at around 7:30pm. HFD officials say there is significant damage.

A massive fire has caused severe damage to an apartment complex in northwest Houston. KTRK/Foti Kallergis

The three firefighters were transported to hospital for heat exhaustion. At least one of them also suffered a sprained ankle. All residents reportedly made it out safely.

Several streets around the complex are blocked off. About 120 firefighters helped get the fire under control.

About 60 to 80 families were displaced by the fire. Some residents are being sheltered at Edgewood Elementary School that is located near the complex. The Red Cross is on hand to help those residents.

Stay with Eyewitness News and online for the latest on this developing story. We'll have team coverage tonight on Eyewitness News at 10pm.

Cal Fire and U.S. military firefighters contained a 250-acre brush fire on the Camp Parks Reserve Forces Training Area in Dublin near the Santa Rita Jail

Crews contain large brush fire at Dublin Army training camp

Cal Fire and U.S. military firefighters contained a 250-acre brush fire on the Camp Parks Reserve Forces Training Area in Dublin near the Santa Rita Jail on Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Cal Fire and U.S. military firefighters contained a 250-acre brush fire on the Camp Parks Reserve Forces Training Area in Dublin near the Santa Rita Jail on Tuesday, July 28, 2015 (KGO-TV)
Cal Fire and U.S. military firefighters contained a 750-acre brush fire on the Camp Parks Reserve Forces Training Area in Dublin near the Santa Rita Jail Tuesday afternoon.

The fire was reported around 11:30 a.m.

Officials said there is no training at the facility and that no structures or homes were threatened.


"They started attacking the fire. They were getting the upper hand on it. We thought we had it under control, then wind came up and the containment lines blew and it started burning again and so we've been chasing this fire all day long," Alameda County Fire Department Battalion Chief Alan Evans said.

Tassajara Road was closed between Quarry Lane and Fallon Road because of the fire, according to Dublin city officials.

Cal Fire, the Alameda County Fire Department and the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District were among those assisting U.S. military
firefighters on the base.

Alameda County sheriff's spokesman J.D. Nelson said the fire did not have an impact on the nearby Santa Rita Jail.

US Army Garrison Commander Camp Parks Lt. Colonel Andrew Jones said one firefighter sustained a heat related injury, but is expected to be OK.

Water drops from the air were stopped briefly because someone was flying a drone over the fire. If a drone collides with firefighting aircraft the results can be serious even fatal.

3 injured in hydraulic lift explosion at the Lokey Mercedes Benz vehicle dealership in Clearwater, Florida

Tuesday, July 28, 2015



Three workers were injured, one seriously, in an explosion at a Clearwater dealership this morning.

It happened at the Lokey Mercedes Benz dealership at 19820 U.S. 19 N. around 10:30 a.m.

A 47-year-old man was taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg for treatment of injuries that were serious but not thought to be life-threatening.

Two others who were near the scene of the explosion declined medical treatment.

A subcontractor was at the site Tuesday morning attempting to perform repairs to a hydraulic lift when the explosion occurred in the service bay.

4 workers flash burned after transformer exploded when they struck a power line at the former Elkem Metals Plant in Ally, West Virginia



ALLOY, WV -

UPDATE (2 p.m. 7/27/2015)

Emergency personnel have cleared the scene following an explosion at a metals plant in Fayette County where multiple injuries were reported.

It happened about 12 p.m. at the WVA Manufacturing, LLC facility on Route 60, the former Elkem Metals Plant.

Fayette County EMS said four people were suffered injuries. Two people were taken to Charleston Area Medical Center and a third was being treated at a hospital in Montgomery. The fourth person was transported by helicopter to Cabell Huntington Hospital for treatment of first and second degree burns to the face, throat and arms. The extent of the other victims' injuries are not known, but officials said all are expected to recover.

Workers were reportedly digging a hole to put in a fence post when they struck a power line leading to multiple transformers, according to Chief Myers with the Boomer Volunteer Fire Department. When the line was struck, it caused a flash fire causing a transformer to blow, Myers said.

As of 2 p.m. operations at the plant had resumed.

The incident remains under investigation.
_____
UPDATE (12:50 p.m. 7/27/2015)

Fayette County Emergency Management tells 13 News at least four people have been injured. They say two people were taken to CAMC General Hospital and another person was taken to Montgomery Hospital. Authorities say a fourth person was taken by helicopter to an area hospital with first and second degree burns. 

Names of the victims have not been released.

Emergency responders arrived on scene about 12 p.m. to West Virginia Manufacturing on Route 60,  the former Elkem Metals Plant, with reports of multiple injuries.

Chief Myers with the Boomer Volunteer Fire Department tells 13 News a flash fire ignited when workers hit multiple transformers while jack-hammering.

Initial reports indicate that workers made contact with an underground power line.  According to deputies with the Fayette County Sheriff's Office, a couple of transformers blew. 

Keep clicking this story for updates.

_____
Three people have been injured following an explosion at Elkem Metals Plant in Alloy, WV. All Kanawha County EMS units were required to respond to the scene on Rt. 61.

We have a crew headed to the scene. 

This is a developing story.. please keep checking this story for updates.

Get these Motherfrackers: Tests find radiation in Clyde Mine water in Washington County, Pennsylvania


July 28, 2015


By Don Hopey / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Recent testing by the West Virginia Water Research Institute has found evidence of radiation contamination in water discharges from the abandoned underground Clyde Mine in Washington County near the Monongahela River that are likely related to past dumping of shale gas drilling wastewater.


The new water test findings were announced last week as the state Department of Environmental Protection continues to investigate radiation levels in Ten Mile Creek, a Monongahela River tributary in southern Washington County, and several abandoned mine discharges in the area. 


DEP tests done in April 2014 but released only last month in response to a citizen’s Right-to-Know request found radium at levels up to 60 times higher than allowed by federal drinking water standards.


The water research institute testing, conducted on June 25 of this year, did not support the DEP’s 2014 findings of widespread radiation contamination, except for the Clyde Mine discharge, which also contained high levels for bromides. 

Shale gas drilling wastewater often contains high concentrations of bromides, salts and other dissolved solids as well as natural radioactive elements picked up during the drilling and hydraulic fracturing of shale formations deep underground.



“There’s something going on there that’s not right,” said Paul Ziemkiewicz, a mine drainage expert and director of the water research institute. “The radiation, together with higher bromide levels than you would expect to see coming out of a deep mine, point to drilling wastewater. It’s something that’s worth continuing to take a look at.”

The 15-month-old DEP test results showing high radium readings triggered concern that Ten Mile Creek and more than 1.6 trillion gallons of water trapped in a maze of abandoned underground mines had been contaminated by radioactivity, said Ken Dufalla, president of the Harry Enstrom Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America in Greene County, and the person who filed the Right-to-Know request.

Ten Mile Creek is a major tributary of the Monongahela River, joining the river 66 miles south from Pittsburgh’s Point at the boundary between Washington and Greene counties. The creek has a long history of pollution from mining operations and its drainage contains many shale gas development sites. Despite that industrial activity, the creek is a popular warm-water fishery and its mouth is heavily used by recreational boaters.

“We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” said Mr. Dufalla, who asked the water research institute to do the water tests. “If the radiation is in the water, let’s stop it and keep it from flowing to Pittsburgh. I’m going to keep turning every stone over until we find out what’s going on.”

The DEP conducted a second round of tests at the Clyde and Cumberland mine discharges and on the creek in late June, during higher than normal water flows, and will release its results in late August or early September, said John Poister, a DEP spokesman.

Mr. Dufalla and Mr. Ziemkiewicz said the tests done when the creek was flowing high are unlikely to show high radiation contamination because the creek samples would be diluted.

“We’re not going to address that issue until we see the new test results. If the results show a problem, and we have to go back in and resample at some locations, we will,” Mr. Poister said. “We want to find out exactly what’s in the water and where it came from.”

When is this dog and pony show, that industry and the state DEP, ever going to end ? They know that the Marcellus shale is a uranium find. They know it is a dried sea bed that is rotting and gives off radon gas. They know that the drill cuttings are highly radio active. They know it is being dumped into our air by flaring, into our drinking water either by permit or criminal dumping, on to our roads and farmers fields. The gas is radio active. The New York times printed the story a couple of years ago. The total destruction of our living spaces are a result of the major corruption in Harrisburg. Laws that are passed and regulations are all in favor of the gas and oil industry. Where is the equal protection and the oath of office ? To protect the health , safety, and welfare of our communities is job #1. The taxpayers have not been able to clean up the mess from coal mining and coal ash. This is more toxic and unattainable. Where are we going to live , breathe, and drink ? The sleeping giant is alive and well in Pa.
/////---------------------////





PA Investigating Drilling Link in Stream Radioactivity Case




  • State officials are investigating high readings of radium in Ten Mile Creek. Photo: Reid Frazier

July 24, 2015

On the banks of Ten Mile Creek, a windy stream that snakes through Greene County, Ken Dufalla looked out at one of his favorite fishing spots.

“That’s probably one of best walleye fishing there is in the evening you can find. I’ve caught muskies, walleyes, saugers,” Dufalla said.

Four years ago, Dufalla stopped fishing here. That’s when he started testing the water, for the Izaak Walton League, a conservation group he belongs to. He found worrisome levels of a salt called bromide, found in high concentrations in Marcellus shale drilling waste, in the water at the Clyde Mine discharge along the creek. The discharge sends treated mine water into the stream. The state took ownership of the discharge after its former owner, LTV Steel, went bankrupt

The state is now investigating the possibility that radioactive materials from drilling waste may have gotten into the stream.

A Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) test of the water last year showed elevated levels of radium. The state is retesting the water and analyzing it for the presence of Marcellus shale indicators and acid mine drainage.

The sampling took place on June 22 and 23 at 13 sites. The DEP collected water, vegetation, sediment, soil, and fish. The DEP also tested water at the Tri-County Joint Municipal Authority, 3 miles downstream of the Clyde Mine discharge.

DEP RADIUM LEVELS: ‘SIMPLY WRONG?’

After seeing the 2014 data, Paul Ziemkiewicz, director of the West Virginia University Water Research Institute, did sampling of his own in June.

While the DEP showed levels of radium up to 60 times higher than federal drinking water standards, Ziemkiewicz’s results showed much less radium. “We were much much lower (than the DEP’s),” Ziemkiewicz said. “In fact, most of (the levels) were below the detection limit.”


Ken Dufalla has been sampling the water in Ten Mile Creek for four years. Photo: Reid Frazier
Ken Dufalla has been sampling the water in Ten Mile Creek for four years. Photo: Reid Frazier




Ziemkiewicz thinks the DEP may have erred in its previous sample. He’ll be watching closely to see what the agency’s retest shows.

“I would say the April 2014 results were anomalously high,” he said. “If they come up with results that were closer to ours, then I would say the 2014 data were simply wrong.”

DEP Spokesman John Poister said in a statement that the agency needs to conclude its sampling "before reaching any conclusion or making any comparative statements between any of the sampling events." 

HIGH RADIOACTIVITY IN MINE WATER

The 2014 test results weren’t made public until June, after an environmental group requested the results under the state’s Right-to-Know law.

In one sample taken at the Clyde Mine discharge, levels of radium-226, a naturally occurring radioactive material, were recorded at 301 picoCuries per liter. The federal drinking water standard is 5 picocuries per liter. Radium-226 and a related material, radium-228, can be found in higher quantities in Marcellus shale than in other rock formations, and can be found in waste water produced during fracking and production of oil and gas wells. 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, long term exposure to radium increases risk of lymphoma, bone cancer, and leukemia.  

How the material may have gotten in the water has been a mystery. Dufalla thinks someone dumped fracking waste in the Clyde Mine.

“It came from someplace—it did not appear miraculously—it came from somewhere and somebody knows where it came from,” he said.

Dufalla points out illegal dumping has occurred in this part of the state. In 2012, a local business man pleaded guilty to illegally dumping fracking waste, into streams, ponds, and an abandoned mine.

And last year, a local sewer authority announced it was investigating possible dumping of frackwater at its treatment plant.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition declined interview requests. But previously the trade group said its members handle drilling waste in an environmentally responsible manner, and stressed that the industry has increased the recycling of fracking waste.

Earlier this year, the DEP released a report stating natural gas drilling posed “little or limited” potential for radiation exposure to the public or workers in the industry. The report stated spills of oil and gas fluids could lead to “potential radiological environmental impacts.”



Dirty Mexicans: Citing Fecal Contamination, FDA Issues Import Alert for Some Mexican Cilantro

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Import Alert on Tuesday about cilantro from the state of Puebla, Mexico, due to concerns about fecal contamination which investigators reportedly found in fields and in cleaning and processing facilities in that area.

The alert affects cilantro being imported to the United States between April 1-Aug. 31, 2015, with the agency’s action linked to annually recurring outbreaks of cyclosporiasis.

Cilantro_406x250 

According to FDA, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state public health officials have identified annually recurring outbreaks (in 2012, 2013, and 2014) of cyclosporiasis in the U.S. associated with fresh cilantro from the state of Puebla.

CDC has reported that, as of last August, 304 people were sickened in the 2014 outbreak. About 210 people in Texas have reportedly been sickened so far this year. In 2013, a cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to imported salad mix and fresh cilantro sickened 631 people in 25 states.

There has been an ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis in the U.S. since May, and the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection have identified cilantro from Puebla as a suspect vehicle with respect to separate illness clusters, FDA stated.

FDA noted that it is “extremely unlikely” that these outbreaks are due to isolated contamination events because of their recurring nature, the timing (typically April to August of each year), and because of the association with cilantro from Puebla.

No single supplier, packing date, shipping date, or lot code can explain all the illnesses, the agency added.

Further, “FDA believes the source of C. cayetanensis contamination is likely attributable to a broader source of contamination. Sources of contamination may include fecal contamination of growing areas, irrigation of fields with water contaminated with sewage, cleaning or cooling produce with contaminated water, and/or poor hygienic practices of workers that harvest and process the produce, and lack of adequate cleaning and sanitizing of equipment that comes in contact with the product.”

The agency and its regulatory counterparts in Mexico have been investigating farms and packing houses in Mexico, including those in Puebla, to check on conditions and practices which may have resulted in contaminating the cilantro.

From 2013-2015, officials with agencies from both countries inspected 11 farms and packing houses that produce cilantro in the state of Puebla, 5 of them linked to the US C. cayetanensis illnesses, and observed objectionable conditions at 8 of them, including all five of the firms linked through traceback to the U.S. illnesses, FDA stated.

“Conditions observed at multiple such firms in the state of Puebla included human feces and toilet paper found in growing fields and around facilities; inadequately maintained and supplied toilet and hand washing facilities (no soap, no toilet paper, no running water, no paper towels) or a complete lack of toilet and hand washing facilities; food-contact surfaces (such as plastic crates used to transport cilantro or tables where cilantro was cut and bundled) visibly dirty and not washed; and water used for purposes such as washing cilantro vulnerable to contamination from sewage/septic systems,” the alert stated.

“In addition, at one such firm, water in a holding tank used to provide water to employees to wash their hands at the bathrooms was found to be positive for C. cayetanensis. Based on those joint investigations, FDA considers that the most likely routes of contamination of fresh cilantro are contact with the parasite shed from the intestinal tract of humans affecting the growing fields, harvesting, processing or packing activities or contamination with the parasite through contaminated irrigation water, contaminated crop protectant sprays, or contaminated wash waters,” FDA stated.

Because of these problems, FDA has concluded that imported fresh cilantro (whether cut or chopped) from Puebla, Mexico, appears to be adulterated and is therefore subject to refusal of admission into the U.S.

However, FDA noted, multi-ingredient processed foods that contain cilantro as an ingredient are not covered under this alert and neither is cilantro that has been processed in other ways besides being cut or chopped (e.g., dried).

Cyclospora cayetanensis is a human-specific protozoan parasite that causes a prolonged and severe diarrheal illness known as cyclosporiasis. In order to become infectious, the organism requires a period outside of its host. Illnesses are known to be seasonal and the parasite is not known to be endemic to the United States.

Cyclosporiasis occurs in many countries, but it seems to be most common in tropical and subtropical regions. People become infected with C. cayetanensis by ingesting sporulated oocysts, which are the infective form of the parasite. This most commonly occurs when food or water contaminated with feces is consumed. An infected person sheds unsporulated (immature, non-infective) C. cayetanenis oocysts in the feces.

Water Starved Tree dies and falls near Pasadena museum; 8 kids injured, 3 critically


Eight children were injured, three critically, after a tree fell near Kidspace Children's Museum next to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Tuesday.
Eight children were injured, three critically, after a tree fell near Kidspace Children's Museum next to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Tuesday.

Los Angeles firefighters responded to Brookside Park, just outside the museum grounds in the 400 block of N. Arroyo Boulevard at about 4:45 p.m. Thirty-three kids were participating in a summer day camp at the Kidspace Children's Museum. Several children were outside the camp waiting to be picked up when the tree fell.


Museum staff, firefighters, parents and police quickly converged on the scene.

"I heard a tree crack, and then I turned around and I saw little kids running, then I saw the tree fall on top of the little kids, maybe about five or seven of them. I ran over there with a bunch of parents and we just started going through the tree and the bushes and we started pulling them out," witness Greg Prodigalidad said.

Prodigalidad, who helped rescue some of the children who were trapped underneath the tree, says he couldn't help but think of his own two children.

"My heart was beating thinking about my own kids. I just went out there and I tried to save as many as I could," he said.

Children were loaded onto gurneys and rescuers began cutting the tree limbs apart to see if there were other victims. The children were transported to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

City of Pasadena officials are investigating what may have caused the pine tree to uproot.  It is obvious, though, that lack of water has taken the life of the tree.

"Thank you to the City of Pasadena first responders for their quick action and support, along with our Kidspace community and parents who helped immediately following the incident," the Kidspace Children's Museum said in a statement.

 
A tree fell near Kidspace Children's Museum in the 400 block of N. Arroyo Boulevard in Pasadena Tuesday, July 28, 2015.

Wragg Fire flare-up prompts new evacuations, road closures in Solano County, California

There has been a flare-up of the Wragg Fire in Solano County that has promoted new mandatory evacuations and road closures Tuesday afternoon.
There has been a flare-up of the Wragg Fire in Solano County that has promoted new mandatory evacuations and road closures Tuesday afternoon, a Cal Fire spokeswoman said.

About 400 acres on the east side of the fire near Vacaville re-ignited around 1:30 p.m., Cal Fire spokeswoman Suzie Blankenship said.

The flare-up occurred in a steep canyon with difficult access, Blankenship said. Sky Ranch, Gates Canyon, Blue Ridge Road and Mix Canyon roads are closed. Pleasants Valley Road is closed between Putah Creek and Mix Canyon roads, she said.

Cantelow Road at Pleasants Valley Road and Vaca Valley Road East at Pleasants Valley Road are also closed.

Cal Fire has reopened its call center at (707) 967-4209. You can also click here for more information.

The fire that has burned nearly 6,600 acres was reported 80 percent contained this morning. It started last Wednesday in the Lake Berryessa area of Napa County.
SKY7 HD was over a 400-acre flare-up of the Wragg Fire near Lake Berryessa on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. KGO-TV