REPORTS OF SIGNIFICANT FLARING AT THE RICHMOND CHEVRON REFINERY

APRIL 21, 2015

RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA (CBS SF)

Hazardous materials crews were in route to the Richmond Chevron refinery Monday after reports of flaring at the facility.

 

There is some visible flaring today at the Refinery to allow for equipment de-pressuring.  Flaring is a part of refinery operations.

— Chevron Richmond (@ChevronRichmond) April 21, 2015

Officials say no shelter in place has been issued but Contra Costa County had sent out a public health advisory for Richmond, North Richmond and San Pablo..

People with respiratory conditions are encouraged to remain inside until the smoke subsides, especially if they are downwind.

Contra Costa County Public health workers are monitoring conditions in the field around the refinery.

The flaring was due to depressurizing a processing unit.

Chevron officials say the flaring has since ended.

Flaring activity has stopped. We will continue to provide additional updates as needed.

— Chevron Richmond (@ChevronRichmond) April 21, 2015

Last December, there was significant flaring visible across the region at the refinery. Despite assurances from Chevron they were routine, later, officials said they were, in fact, an emergency reaction to something that went wrong at the plant.

NTSB Releases Video Safety Alert on Importance of Preflight Checks to Catch Flight Control Problems

APRIL 21, 2015

 

​WASHINGTON, DC A Video Safety Alert highlighting the extra vigilance that pilots should take in doing preflight inspections prior to a first flight after maintenance work was released today by the National Transportation Safety Board. The video also addresses the crucial role that mechanics have in ensuring that a plane’s flight control system is rigged correctly after maintenance activities.  It features an airborne close-call – an inflight emergency on a general aviation airplane that occurred near St. Louis in December 2014.  The 14-minute video features interviews with two college-aged pilots struggling to maintain control of a small single-engine airplane on its first flight following maintenance work. The pilot flying the Cessna T-182T talks about how he was able to figure out that the flight control trim system had been reversed, and how he remedied the situation in time to land the plane safely. In another interview, the highly experienced mechanic who did the work on the Cessna, shares his perspectives on how the maintenance error that led to the flight control problem occurred. He also offers advice to other aircraft maintenance professionals on how they can avoid a similar mistake. “Improving safety in general aviation has been one of our Most Wanted List items for the last several years,” said NTSB Chairman Christopher A Hart.   “These safety alerts are important tools to share the lessons learned from our many investigations. In this instance, tragedy was averted. It is our hope that pilots and mechanics will take these lessons and apply them and avert future tragedies.” This video follows the release of four Safety Alerts that the NTSB issued on April 7, all of them focused on general aviation. Two of those Safety Alerts, “Pilots: Perform Advanced Preflight After Maintenance” and “Mechanics: Prevent Misrigging Mistakes” summarize the key findings presented in the video. The Video Safety Alert released today, and eight others previously issued, are available at http://go.usa.gov/3ZYDH. The PDF versions of all the Safety Alerts are available at http://go.usa.gov/3ZYDh.

THOSE DUKE ASH HOLES: RESIDENTS NEAR DUKE ASH DUMPS TOLD NOT TO DRINK WELL WATER

APRIL 21, 2015

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina officials are advising dozens of residents near Duke Energy coal ash dumps not to drink or cook with water from their wells after tests showed contamination with toxic heavy metals.

The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources said Tuesday that tests of 87 private wells near eight Duke plants showed results that failed to meet state groundwater standards.

A state law passed after last year's massive spill into the Dan River required wells within 1,000 feet of Duke's 32coal ash dumps across the state to be tested. About 145 private wells have been sampled since October.

Tom Reeder, the assistant secretary overseeing water quality for the state, said Duke will be required to provide the affected residents with an alternative water supply if it is determined coal ash is the source of the contamination.

The agency's first public acknowledgement of the troubling test results came after The Associated Press reported 19 homeowners and a church near Duke's Buck Steam Station outside Salisbury had received written warnings.

Several of the letters cited high levels of vanadium, a naturally occurring element found in oil and coal. In a 2011 regulatory filing, Duke reported releasing about 1.5 million pounds of vanadium into the environment from its power plants.

According to documents obtained by AP, test results from private drinking-water wells near the plant showed readings for vanadium as high as 86 times the state groundwater standard.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has determined that vanadium is "possibly carcinogenic to humans." Studies show lab animals exposed to high oral doses of vanadium suffered neurological and developmental problems.

In addition to Buck, the state said it had test results from private wells that failed to meet groundwater standards near Duke's Allen, Asheville, Belews Creek, Cliffside, Marshall, Roxboro and Sutton facilities.

Duke spokeswoman Erin Culbert said the chemicals found in the private wells could be naturally present in local soils.

"Based on the state's test results we've reviewed thus far, we have no indication that Duke Energy plant operations have influenced neighbors' well water," Culbert said.

The nation's largest electricity company, Duke stores more than 150 million tons of coal ash in 32 dumps at 14 power plants in North Carolina.

In February, federal prosecutors charged Duke with nine criminal counts over years of illegal pollution leaking fromash dumps at five of the plants. The company has said it intends to plead guilty to the charges and pay $102 million in fines and restitution.

A separate state law passed in the wake of the Dan River spill requires the company to move or cap all of its dumps by 2029.

The company has three open-air pits at Buck that cover 134 acres and contain more than 5 million tons of coal ash. The ash is a byproduct of burning coal to generate electricity. It contains numerous toxic heavy metals, including mercury, lead and arsenic.

Many residents living near the plant in the close-knit rural community of Dukeville have long been concerned that Duke's coal ash might be making them sick. AP reported in June that well testing by an environmental group found readings for potentially toxic chemicals associated with coal ash at levels exceeding state groundwater standards.

Though similar readings were recorded from Duke's own monitoring wells, both the company and state health officials said last year there was no evidence the contaminates were coming from the coal ash pits.

Among those who received a state letter about their well water are James and Levene Mahaley, who have lived near the Buck plant since 1954. Test results from their well show readings for vanadium as high as 26 parts per billion — 86 times the state groundwater standard of 0.3 parts per billion.

In an interview, the couple said three Duke Energy employees came to their house in November and told them the company was going to start providing them bottled water. But, the couple says, they were asked to keep the shipments secret from their neighbors.

"They asked us to not say anything," recounted Levene Mahaley, 83. "Just don't mention it, that we're getting water. I was surprised, but we didn't ask any questions at the time."

Asked about the incident, Culbert said the company was "not aware of any expectation" that the Mahaleys keep quiet.

John Suttles, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the latest test results confirm what environmental groups suing Duke over its pollution have been saying in court for years.

"Duke's coal ash pits are leaking toxic pollutants into groundwater," Suttles said. "This news underscores the critical importance of removing coal ash from leaking, unlined pits to dry, lined storage away from our waterways and drinking water sources."

Source: http://www.citizen-times.com

DISTRAUGHT FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR COMMITS SUICIDE BY CRASHING HIS PLANE IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. THANK GOD HE DID NOT TRY TO COPYCAT THE GERMAN MASS-MURDER PILOT WHO MURDERED 149 PEOPLE WHILE COMMITING SUICIDE..

APRIL 21, 2015

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

A pilot killed himself by intentionally crashing his plane into a field in Northern California a day after pleading not guilty to domestic violence charges, authorities said Tuesday

Zachary Cain Stickler, 34, entered the plea on Friday in Shasta County Superior Court to a felony count of making criminal threats and a misdemeanor battery charge, Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said.

The charges stemmed from an argument in February in Redding, California, that escalated and became physical, Bridgett said. The victim was dating Stickler, and the two were living together.

She reported online to police that her boyfriend had been violent and then left, and that her cellphone had been destroyed in the process, according to a Redding police report. She declined medical attention.

Stickler killed himself by crashing into a pasture on Saturday morning, Shasta County Sheriff's Deputy Dustin Reynolds said. Sheriff's officials responded to a report of an explosion around 8:30 a.m. and found a small debris field at the site where the single-engine Cessna crashed.

Text messages Stickler sent to friends and family before he crashed indicated he was distraught and planned to kill himself, Reynolds said. There was no indication he wanted to hurt anyone else, Reynolds added.

Sheriff's officials said they did not know what, if anything, triggered Stickler to kill himself.

Stickler worked as a flight instructor in 2014 at AFT Center Flight Training in Long Beach, California, said Jason Lamberton, the company's chief operating officer.

He was a skilled trainer who had a good rapport with students, Lamberton said, adding that he offered to provide Stickler with a reference when Stickler said he was leaving so his girlfriend could pursue an opportunity elsewhere.

"I'm absolutely shocked," Lamberton said when told about the domestic violence charges and crash. "There was nothing like that whatsoever in his behavior. The young man was very professional with what he did here. We were really happy with him."

He worked more recently for Aperture Aviation, an aerial photography company, which extended its sympathies to his family and friends in a statement.

The Federal Aviation Administration has assigned two inspectors to the crash, one of whom may conduct an on-site inspection, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.

Listen folks, it does not worth killing yourself over a woman (or a man).  There are many orange trees that make oranges.  Keep trying to find the one that is good for your mind.

SOIL EROSION EXACERBATED BY OLD STORM WATER PIPE MAY CAUSE A HOME TO BE LOST INTO DELAWARE RIVER

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015

FLORENCE, N.J. (WPVI)

Land in Burlington County is slipping away before a homeowner's eyes, and right into the nearby Delaware River.

In the 400 block of E. Front Street in Florence, which overlooks the Delaware River, Chris and Lynne O'Dell have watched as over the last two years their yard has been eaten away.
Huge chunks of earth have given way and fallen down the cliff, creating a steep ravine and coming dangerously close to the Odell's home and their next-door neighbors.
Lynne tells us, "We lost, all of this is gone at this point in time. We also had a fence that separated. We've also watched the pieces go down. We've watched the birdhouses go down."
The situation became critical on Monday when torrential rains made things worse.
Municipal workers discovered that an abandoned storm drain and pipe installed by Burlington County years ago, that runs underground near the O'Dell's backyard, was leaking.
The flowing water further accelerated the erosion problem and created what the Florence Township administrator described as an emergency situation.
Chris O'Dell says, "It was literally pouring out of here like a fire hose. The water rushing down, it was a river cutting right through here. We have no idea how long that's been opened or at what point the plug they put in there failed."
The pipe was patched and geotechnical engineers are due to arrive on Wednesday to assess the situation.
But the Odell's fear they are just a few feet away from being forced to evacuate their home because it's too dangerous to stay.
Lynne says, "It's almost a relief that you find there is actually a reason for this and it's not just Mother Nature, like everyone would like us to believe."
The O'Dells say that the Burlington County insurance carrier denied a claim they tried to make. They were told the erosion problem is not the county's fault.  That may change or be revisited after the leaky pipe was exposed yesterday.
The county says it's aware of the situation and is working with local officials to find a cause and a remedy.
The O'Dells are waiting for what the engineers have to say because they may be forced to pack up and move out if the issue can't be fixed while they're still in their house.