THERE GOES ENGLISH BAY: BUNKER FUEL SPILL IN VANCOUVER, CANADA WASHES UP ON OUR BEACHES

APRIL 9, 2015

The toxic bunker fuel that has spilled in Vancouver's English Bay has washed up on the city's popular beach in Kitsilano.

Vancouver police told CBC News that oil has washed up on the shore at Kits Beach, where there are visible clumps.

What is bunker fuel?

The spill has spreading as a grimy sheen on the water, and it may push the oil to shore in Burrard Inlet, the city tweeted.

Update: The substance spilled in Burrard Inlet is bunker fuel. Boater & watercraft alert: fuel is toxic, do not touch. #VanFuelSpill

— @CityofVancouver

Clean-up efforts are underway by the Canadian Coast Guard and West Coast Marine Response Corporation, using long orange booms on the surface of the water, said Port Metro Vancouver.

Bunker fuel leaks from the bulk carrier cargo ship Marathassa, anchored near Vancouver's downtown port terminal, on April 9, 2015. The fuel spilled into English Bay Wednesday night is toxic and should not be touched, the City of Vancouver warns. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

The clean-up is being overseen by Transport Canada under the National Oil Spill Preparedness and Response Regime.

Oil spreading to shore

The oil has already reached the sandy beach at the foot of Denman and Davie streets in Vancouver's West End, reported CBC's Farrah Merali.

A video posted by a Twitter user this morning of the north side of English Bay, near the edge of Stanley Park, shows what appears to be an oily substance at the water's edge.

Oil slick in English Bay now. pic.twitter.com/pEGXZcNaWT

— @Igottherunz

Grain ship possible source of fuel leak

The coast guard's environmental response team was dispatched to the spill yesterday.

The spill is surrounding a grain ship — named MARATHASSA — anchored in deep water off Vancouver, said John Parker-Jervis, a spokesman for Port Metro Vancouver.

"There was a fair amount of product — what appears to be fuel, oil for the ships, around a particular grain carrier," Parker-Jervis said. As a precaution a boom has been constructed around the ship in an attempt to contain the fuel, though the ship isn't yet confirmed as the source, he said.

Five vessels currently surround the ship.

The ship was in the process of loading grain. There is no evidence of fuel spilled between the grain terminal and where the ship is currently anchored, Parker-Jervis said.

There is no estimate on the amount of fuel that has been spilled

What is bunker fuel?

Bunker fuel, also known as residual fuel oil, is the fuel that powers commercial shipping

The toxic spill in Vancouver's English Bay has been identified as bunker fuel, otherwise known as residual fuel oil.

According to the oil industry's material data sheets, the oil is a complex blend of hydrocarbons derived from various refinery streams, usually residue from the oil refinery processes. It is recommended for use in marine diesel engines, boilers, furnaces and other combustion equipment.

The safety data sheet recorded by Shell Marine Fuel Oil in 2013, lists a number of hazards associated with the combustible material, including the possible presence of hydrogen sulphide, which is not only harmful if inhaled, but has a vapour that can also be trapped in clothing.

The list of possible effects are listed as:

Harmful if inhaled

• Suspected of damaging fertility or the unborn child
• May cause damage to organs or organ systems through prolonged or repeated exposure
• May cause cancer
• The fuel is also, according to Shell's data, extremely dangerous for the marine environment.
• Very toxic to aquatic life
• Very toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects

Source: www.cbc.ca

CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION FINES PG&E $1.6 BILLION FOR SAN BRUNO, CALIFORNIA DEADLY EXPLOSION THAT KILLED 8 AND INJURED DOZENS

APRIL 9, 2015

A PG&E gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno on Sept. 9, 2010. The explosion killed eight people, injured dozens and destroyed or damaged about 100 homes.

The California Public Utilities Commission voted today to fine Pacific, Gas & Electric Co. $1.6 billion in penalties for its role in the September 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people, injured dozens and destroyed or damaged about 100 homes.

The new penalty is $200 million more than an earlier internal recommendation by the San Francisco-based agency's administrative law judges assigned to the case. Along with earlier penalties related to the San Bruno incident, the total fines imposed on PG&E now exceed $2.2 billion.

CPUC President Michael Picker, who took office in late December, replacing disgraced former President Michael Peevey, described the penalty as one of the largest ever levied on a utility company nationally.

PSE&G, watch out.

DEAD ICAROS IDENTIFIED IN EXPERIMENTAL QUICKSILVER MXL II AIRCRAFT CRASH NEAR PETALUMA MUNICIPAL AIRPORT, CALIFORNIA

APRIL 9, 2015

SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

A pilot who was killed when his ultralight plane crashed south of the Petaluma Municipal Airport on Friday, February 3, 2015, was identified Thursday as David Michael Wright, 51, of Petaluma, Sonoma County sheriff’s officials said. 

Wright was the sole occupant of an experimental Quicksilver MXL II aircraft that crashed at about 12:30 p.m. Friday. 

Witnessed described watching the two-seat aircraft spiral toward the ground. The plane crashed in a field between Frates Road and Browns Lane. 

The plane was registered to Donald Wayne Wright of Petaluma, who purchased it last April, according to a match of its tail number on an FAA database. It was manufactured in 1984 and required a pilot’s license to fly. 

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the circumstances of the crash.

1,195 CRASH DEATHS REACH RECORD LOW IN PENNSYLVANIA FOR 2014. THIS IS ABOUT 1 DEAD PER 10,000 RESIDENTS OR EQUAL TO THE NATIONAL AVERAGE

APRIL 9, 2015

Statewide, 2014 saw the fewest traffic deaths in Pennsylvania since record keeping began in 1928, the state Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

A total of 1,195 people died in 1,107 crashes throughout Pennsylvania in 2014 down from 1,562 in 1997.  This is about 1 person dead per 10,000 residents or just about the national average death rate.  There were 3,040 total major injuries, down from 5,393 in 1997.  This is about 2.4 persons injured per 10,000 residents.

In Lackawanna County, PennDOT recorded a total of 17 people died in 15 crashes in 2014, which is about average, according to five years’ worth of local PennDOT data.

The analysis comes as PennDOT released a crash information tool Wednesday that allows the public to sort through and analyze myriad police crash report details at dotcrashinfo.pa.gov.

“PennDOT continuously strives to drive down crash and fatality numbers, and we ultimately want to reach zero deaths on our roads,” acting PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards said in a statement.

PennDOT gives local police departments grants to aggressively enforce traffic violations — like speeding, tailgating, running red lights and stop signs.

“Those (actions) are more likely to result in traffic accidents,” Scranton Police Chief Carl Graziano said.

As many as two to eight city officers are assigned to target aggressive driving, Chief Graziano said.

“That’s done across the state and locally here, also,” Chief Graziano said.

Scranton had six traffic deaths in 2014, the most in the county. Dunmore ranked second with three.

Since 2010, Scranton has had the most fatal crashes in the county, except for 2011, when there were none, and 2012, when there was one.

Eight out of the county’s 15 fatal crashes in 2014 were due to aggressive driving, the PennDOT data show. Alcohol-related fatal crashes accounted for one-third of the county’s 2014 fatal crashes — including the crash that killed 12-year-old Leonard Zupon Jr. in Old Forge last August. The Carbondale man who killed him, David Turano, was sentenced Wednesday to five to 12 years in state prison.

45,000 CHICKENS KILLED AND BARNS DESTROYED IN TWO PENNSYLVANIA FARM FIRES

APRIL 8, 2015

FREDERICKSBURG, PA. (AP)

Authorities say more than 45,000 chickens have been killed in fires this week at two central Pennsylvania farms.
A fire Monday killed 32,000 chickens and caused an estimated $400,000 in damage to a chicken barn and fields at Neal Sensenig's farm in Heidelberg Township.
Officials say the blaze isn't considered suspicious.
A fire early Wednesday at a Bethel Township farm destroyed a barn and killed about 13,000 chickens.
No people were harmed. Fire marshals are investigating the cause and origin of the fires.
Heidelberg and Bethel townships are about 14 miles apart in Lebanon County.