5 plant employees hospitalized after chemical spill at Gehl Gurney Farms in Germantown, WI

Posted: Jun 07, 2016 8:49 PM EST Updated: Jun 07, 2016 8:49 PM EST

A chemical spill at a plant in Wisconsin leaves five people injured. (Source: WTMJ/CNN)


GERMANTOWN, WI (WTMJ/CNN) - A chemical spill at a plant in Wisconsin left five people hospitalized Tuesday.

Hundreds of employees had to be evacuated due to the spill.

It happened at Gehl Gurney Farms in Germantown.

The factory makes cheese and sauces.

According to the Germantown Fire Department, a contractor accidentally poured acid into a tank of sodium chloride.

The combo caused the tank to burst, releasing lethal fumes into the air.

Fire crews were working to clear out the chemicals and get operations back to normal.

Copyright 2016 WTMJ via CNN. All rights reserved.

Leave it to Mother Nature: From BP Oil Spill, Lessons on Bacteria’s Secret Talents

By Danielle Lopez in 40 Acres, Research on June 8, 2016 at 12:17 pm



Six years have passed since the largest accidental oil spill in history invaded the Gulf of Mexico. From the day the BP oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded, pumping thousands of gallons of oil into the water, engineers and scientists have relentlessly tried to return the environment to its normal state. But all the while, nature was working on its own solution.

When the oil began making its way through the water in 2010, scientists noticed a few particular species of bacteria began to grow exponentially. Though they usually exist in small numbers among the millions of bacteria living in saltwater, these species thrived because of their ability to easily break down the complex structure of oil. This advantage in oil consumption, which has been a key part in the Deepwater Horizon cleanup, recently caught the interests of UT microbiologist Brett Baker and his team at the UT Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas.

“I just kind of noticed that a lot of research that’s been done on the bacteria has been on figuring out who is there,” Baker says. “We wanted to go beyond that. We wanted to figure out what [the bacteria] were actually doing.”

So he and five other researchers spent roughly a year closely studying these oil-eating bacteria. Before publishing their findings in the journal Nature Microbiology in May, they ventured into the community of organisms surrounding the oil spill and extracted their DNA. Employing techniques similar to those used to sequence the human genome, the researchers were able to decode what about their physiology gave particular bacteria an upper-hand.

“It’s really powerful,” Baker says. “It’s essentially changing our whole views of the environment.”

Including species named Alcanivorax and Neptuniibacter, the bacteria have specific characteristics that allow them to use compounds found in oil, like alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons, as their carbon source. “It’s their food,” Baker says, despite oil’s complexity.

Considering the recent Shell oil spill in May, UT marine science professor Edward J. Buskey says Baker’s research can mean a number of possibilities for future oil spills. “You could stockpile some of these hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria, and the idea is if you had an oil spill you apply them to it,” says Buskey, who is also the director of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Consortium.

Currently, scientists use recovery methods like the spreading of chemical dispersants throughout the water to break down the oil into small droplets. But applying these chemicals to the ocean, which coincidentally helps bacteria more readily consume oil, might be damaging to the environment. If scientists could harness the genetic potential of the oil-eating bacteria, harmful methods could be avoided. “One of the reasons we’re doing these studies is to help decision makers decide when to use dispersants,” Buskey says.

The problem they run into is the bacteria themselves. Unlike terrestrial bacteria, which are typically cooperative in a lab, ocean bacteria are more stubborn and must be worked on in their natural environment. The next step for Baker and his team is determining how to culture the species and turning them into a practical tool.

“What [Baker’s] lab is doing is very important,” Buskey says. “In the past, people have mainly just said what’s out there. So [this research is helping] to get an idea of which species are doing what and what are some really new insights to the world of bacteria.”

A ship floats among a sea of spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. Photo by Kris Krug via Flickr.

Crews extinguish chemical fire at Talley Farms, in Stanly County, NC

 Wednesday, June 8th 2016, 1:18 pm EDTWednesday, June 8th 2016, 3:48 pm EDT
By WBTV Web Staff





WBTV graphic STANLY COUNTY, NC (WBTV) -

Crews responded to a chemical fire at a Stanly County warehouse Wednesday afternoon.

Officials say it happened at Talley Farms in the 6300 block of Talley Road. Charlotte Fire Department's Hazmat crews assisted with the chemical fire, which was extinguished around 1 p.m.

Stanly County officials say the fire involved pallets of chemicals used in the feed mill process. Hydrogen peroxide and ammonium were the primary threats.

Crews say some of the containers continued to leak after the fire was put out, so the Regional Hazmat Response Team from Charlotte was called in to help. The chemicals have since been "contained and secured."No injuries were reported.

Tourism has bounced back, but the long-term effects on Gulf fisheries and wildlife remain unknown — and thousands of businesses are still battling to get some compensation

BP Oil Spill’s Ripple Effects
Tourism has bounced back, but the long-term effects on Gulf fisheries and wildlife remain unknown — and thousands of businesses are still battling to get some compensation
By Lazaro Aleman





Courtesy Stephen Ramsey


The worst marine petroleum disaster in U.S. history, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill — or BP oil spill, as it’s most commonly called — marred beaches, estuaries and marshes along 1,000-plus miles of coastline, caused immeasurable harm to sea and shore wildlife, and hurt the fishing and tourism industries in coastal communities across Northwest Florida. Some six years later, however, the spill appears to be all but history.

Tourism is reported at unprecedented levels, as sun-and-surf lovers again flock to Emerald Coast beaches; fishing, a major component of Florida’s economy, is back on track; Gulf seafood, shunned as risky following the spill, is once more considered safe; and dolphins, pelicans and other seabirds appear plentiful, attesting to their hardiness.

BP and the federal government, meanwhile, long ago ceased their concerted cleanup/mitigation operations. BP, the five affected states and Washington last year reached a landmark settlement resolving all government claims and assuring billions of dollars for restoration projects. And the news media and public have mostly moved on, their attention captured by new concerns and disasters.

BP, in a 40-page paper in March 2015, touted the Gulf’s resiliency, essentially declaring the disaster over.

“Areas that were affected are recovering and data BP has collected and analyzed to date do not indicate a significant long-term impact to the population of any Gulf species,” the report states.

The state and federal organizations that manage the nearly 200 Gulf species considered commercially or recreationally valuable seemingly agree.

“If there were any impacts on the fishery population, I can’t see them,” says Luis Barbieri, director of Marine Fisheries Research at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. “I know some parts of the ecosystem have been more impacted. But in terms of the fisheries, I really haven’t seen anything that dramatic.

“So yes, overall and in general, the abundance and sustainability of Gulf stocks are OK,” Barbieri asserts, allowing that some species are overfished, others are undergoing overfishing, yet others are rebuilding and a few are struggling for reasons other than the spill.

Not everyone is convinced normalcy has returned, however. Scientists caution that the spill’s full environmental and ecological effects are still playing out. Of note, the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustee Council (composed of state and federal agencies tasked with assessing the spill’s impact and recommending solutions) in 2015 declared that full recovery could vary from decades to hundreds of years. Oil, meanwhile, continues washing up on Escambia County beaches.

“It’s much better than 2010, but you can still go on the beach and find marble-sized tar balls,” says Chips Kirschenfeld, interim director of the Escambia County Department of Natural Resource Management.

Many businesses that submitted claims to BP, moreover, had yet to be reimbursed in early 2016.

“The fact there are still millions of dollars’ worth of private claims pending means there are individuals and businesses that haven’t been reimbursed for their losses,” avers University of West Florida (UWF) economist Rick Harper.

Which is to say that six years out, the spill’s economic and environmental ramifications continue reverberating. The seafood industry well illustrates the point.

Florida is dubbed the “Fishing Capital of the World” for good reason. Economically, the state’s commercial fisheries (ranked among the country’s top-producing) and marine recreational fisheries (ranked the nation’s best) have an annual impact in the billions of dollars and support hundreds of thousands of jobs, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The Gulf of Mexico, moreover, is rated one of the world’s most productive fisheries, second only to Alaska in the United States. It therefore stands to reason that the ruptured well, which spewed oil for 87 days between April 20 and July 15, 2010, would cause “significant socioeconomic injuries to the Gulf of Mexico fishing industry,” as a 2011 congressional paper notes.

“Commercial and recreational fisheries are among the main activities supporting the economy and social well-being of many Gulf coastal communities,” the Congressional Research Service report states.

The spill’s most immediate impact resulted from the closing of tens of thousands of square miles of federal and state waters to fishing to ensure the seafood’s safety. The data suggest the closing’s impact on commercial fishing. NOAA, for example, shows that Gulf landings, or catches, dropped from 1,435,665,309 pounds in 2009 to 1,072,068,111 pounds in 2010, then increased to 1,792,550,312 pounds in 2011. Specific to Florida’s Panhandle, FWC data show amberjack landings at Panama City, for example, dropped from 80,554 pounds in 2009 to 39,364 pounds in 2010, and climbed to 66,275 pounds 2011. The decreased landings in 2010 largely hold true across species for Apalachicola, Destin, Panama City and Pensacola. Landings, of course, translate into revenues for harvesters.

It’s more difficult to gauge the spill’s economic impact on recreational fishing. That’s because, unlike commercial fishermen who must report all catches, recreational fishermen’s landings are calculated based on surveys, interviews and samplings. Even so, a University of Florida study published in 2014 found that anglers lost $545 million during the Gulf fisheries’ closures. Nor was the impact limited to recreational fishing; it rippled to ancillary businesses that supported or depended on the industry, such as bait-and-tackle shops, restaurants and hotels.

Today, recreational and commercial landings are back to normal, allowing for year-to-year fluctuations because of availability of species, number of trips, market prices and such.

“Absolutely, the Gulf seems to be thriving,” says Eddie Morgan, general manager of Harbor Docks Seafood Market in Destin. “Our seafood market’s as busy as ever. It’s hard to say on a week-to-week basis, but we definitely have 30,000-pound weeks and 20,000-pound days sometimes. Some species have rebounded completely. There are as many red snappers as ever. And tuna fishing seems to be as good as it’s ever been.”

“Business is great,” concurs Frank Patti, of Joe Patti’s Seafood, a Pensacola business dating from 1930. During the Gulf fisheries’ closure, Patti coped by switching to East Coast and Lower Caribbean products.

“The customers were leery about the product during those days, but we survived and we’re now doing great,” Patti says.

A possibly longer-lasting effect of the spill was the public’s perception that Gulf seafood was unsafe.

“People were afraid even the year after to eat the fish because they were afraid they were tainted,” says Pam Anderson, operations manager of Captain Anderson’s Marina in Panama City, which runs a seafood market and offers deep-sea fishing trips, charter boats and dinner/sightseeing cruises.

Morgan agrees.

“Even after they opened the waters back up, there was uncertainty with the public,” he says. “We knew the fish were safe, but a lot of people still didn’t trust it.”

Bob Jones, executive director of the Tallahassee-based Southeastern Fisheries Association, which represents commercial fishermen from Texas to Maryland, underscores the point.

“One of the biggest things that hurt us is we lost our seafood brand,” Jones says. “Everybody said, ‘Don’t eat Gulf fish or shrimp, they taste like oil.’ ‘You don’t have to put oil in the pan; they’ve got enough oil to cook themselves.’”

Where Jones differs from the others is his belief that the negative perception persists.

“Absolutely,” he says. “I’m talking about today; it’s still out there.”

This is despite assurances from state and federal officials and researchers that Gulf seafood is safe.

In Florida, for example, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services ensures the safety of Gulf seafood. It reports screening thousands of seafood samples since the spill and finding that “all are well below the FDA levels of concern.”

Steven Murawski, a marine scientist and professor with the University of South Florida (USF), is one whose research links the spill to tumors, skin lesions and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in some key species. He affirms the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ findings.

“I’m not worried about the seafood’s safety,” Murawski says. “I have studied this fairly significantly. And in terms of both the government and independent research, there is no significant public health risk for consuming the seafood.”

Jones doesn’t dispute the scientific findings. His argument is that not enough has been done to convey the point to the public.

“Probably one of the bitterest pills to swallow for the industry is that we can’t get any BP money for marketing,” Jones says. “And we know how important marketing is, because BP must have spent billions marketing its brand after the spill.”

Generally speaking, however, the consensus in the fishing community is that things are back to normal.

“It’s much better,” says Anderson of Captain Anderson’s Marina. “Some of us are still recovering from the losses we incurred. It takes a while for businesses to totally recover clientele and rebuild. But 2015 has been the best year we’ve had since the spill.”

As for dolphin sightings, Anderson says they are common, notwithstanding documented evidence of their increased mortalities because of the spill.

“About 80 or 90 percent of the time, guests will see dolphins,” she says. “In our area, fishermen will tell you dolphins are plentiful.”

Reimbursements are the notable outlier.

“We have multiple businesses between our 12 restaurants and the seafood market,” says Morgan of Harbor Docks. “We’ve been reimbursed for some claims, but we still have others ongoing.”

Several reasons account for the non-reimbursement of losses some six years later. One is that not every spill-affected business was able or eligible to file a claim. Of the 382,192 claims filed, moreover, tens of thousands were still in resolution or appeals processes in early 2016. Yet others were denied or reimbursed at lower levels. Then there were the intangible losses — unrecoverable because unquantifiable — such as damage to natural resources, quality of life or brand name.

UWF economist Harper explains that the court-set damage test required that businesses demonstrate a V-shape (dramatic dip and rebound) revenue loss pattern to qualify for compensation. If failing this test — except in an area where damages were presumed — compensation wasn’t likely, he says.

He cites as an example a beer distributor whose warehouse was inland. If that business couldn’t prove the V-shape pattern, it wasn’t eligible for compensation.

“In Florida, businesses too far north of the spill or away from the coastline, even though they may have experienced revenue losses, were not compensated,” Harper says.

He talks also of damages that can’t be tabulated in dollars and cents, but are real nonetheless.

“You don’t pay for seeing Florida’s natural beauty,” Harper says. “But the flip side is that when you lose it, that kind of damage can never be compensated.”

Another of the uncompensated losses, he posits, resulted from businesses’ failure to realize reasonably expected higher returns on theirs or a public entity’s substantial investment to upgrade services.

“What would your business have been, given that Southwest Airlines started flying passengers into the brand-new Panama City airport in 2010?” Harper asks by way of example. “Well, if you couldn’t demonstrate that V-shape pattern, maybe you weren’t eligible to be compensated, because your revenues didn’t dip. Or maybe you invested additional dollars in advertising or providing greater amenities. If you’d done that, you would have expected to see your revenue rise in 2010, but the test for damage was that you demonstrated it fell and then rose.

“Or a charter fishing business that worked hard to get a client who visited regularly,” he continues. “If they lost that client for a summer because of the spill and that client went off and discovered charter fishing off North Carolina, it may be that business lost that person forever.”

The bottom line, Harper says, is that not all spill-related losses are recoverable or even quantifiable.

“So to the original question, some losses are difficult to calculate, some are nonmonetary, claims are still pending, and some businesses didn’t meet the V-shape revenue requirements,” he says. “So yes, as the settlement process winds up, I expect many damages will never be compensated.”

The Congressional Research Service report to Congress touches on the potential for irreversible losses to the industry. Not only did the spill interrupt the Gulf’s seafood supply, the report notes, it also disrupted demand for Gulf seafood, causing buyers to switch to other regions or imports for substitutes. To the extent that Gulf seafood producers weren’t able to recapture these markets, the losses were permanent, the report suggests.

The spill’s long-term environmental and ecological damages also pose potential consequences for the industry.

Wade Jeffrey, a biology professor and director of the UWF Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, conducts research in the Gulf, especially post-Deepwater Horizon. Jeffrey’s expertise is microbial growth and the food web. He points out that although resiliency is evident at the microbial level, some research suggests a significant post-spill shift in the bacterial community. His own research, interestingly, finds that sunlight (think Sunshine State) makes oil more toxic and inhibitory for microbial growth. Given the ecosystem’s interdependency, the findings suggest at minimum a potential impact on the food web and ultimately the larger fish populations.

Jeffrey disagrees with BP’s assessment that the Gulf is largely back to normal. For one thing, he says, the extent of the spill’s damage is unknowable, as the Gulf’s preexisting condition was unknown due to a lack of pre-spill data. Secondly, he says, the Gulf’s vastness and complexity make it impossible to assign it a whole value.

“To say the Gulf as a whole is OK is pushing it, because there are localized areas where absolutely it hasn’t recovered and it’s not going to recover for a long time,” Jeffrey says. “As to what the average person sees when he goes to the beach, it looks fine. And that’s great, because tourism is up and people are fishing. But as an ecological question, it depends on the specific question asked, where you ask it about and how you ask it. That’s where the long-term things come in. So I can’t agree the Gulf is back to what it was in 2009, because that’s washing over those places where it was really impacted.”

He cites as examples the fair amount of oil remaining on the seafloor, severely affected coral communities that haven’t recovered, and oil-linked heart defects in tuna larvae.

“But what people want to know is can they catch red snapper, and for that part, yeah,” he says. “But what the jury’s still out on, in terms of the red snapper and other fisheries, is whether 2010 will have an effect on their long-term populations.”

Ultimately, Jeffrey posits, the science, environment and economy are interconnected.

“If the water’s clean, people go to the beach,” he says. “If the water’s fouled for whatever reason, people won’t go to the beaches. If the fish are there, people fish and spend money on charter boats. If the fish population crashes, the economics of the fishing industry falls apart. It’s all dependent on the Gulf working the way the ecosystem is supposed to work.”

Murawski, of USF, likewise finds BP’s declaration premature.

“It’s way premature, given the amount of environmental health effects that have been seen in turtle, bird and fish populations and in oysters and other species that have an economic outcome and that are major players in the ecosystem,” he says.

Although he doesn’t necessarily see fish populations crashing in the future as a consequence of the spill, Murawski does see potential generational effects because of the die-offs in certain species.

“Fish like red snapper, for example, are very long-lived in the absence of fishing,” he says. “They can live 30 years or more. If they’re not there to participate, you have to look at a lifetime potential drop in reproduction and new egg production. So yeah, the spill can potentially have ramifications for decades.”

If the spill has a silver lining, one possibility is a greater understanding of the Gulf’s workings.

“The Gulf was phenomenally understudied before the spill,” Jeffrey says. “We now know a whole lot more about it and are learning more with every project. So we may not be able to tell for sure what’s a direct result of the spill because we didn’t have the pre-spill data, but we have a lot of data since, should something else happen.”

Another possibility is greater public awareness and appreciation of the Gulf’s ecology and vulnerability.

“It helped people recognize that the health of our Gulf economy is intrinsically linked to the health of our environment, and that the Gulf, while a vast and bountiful resource, is in fact a dynamic system that may not always be able to provide all of the natural resources we rely on for food, fun and the economy,” says Bethany Kraft of the Ocean Conservancy, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group that helps formulate ocean policy at the federal and state levels.

“History,” Mark Twain remarked, “does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” Indeed, as recently as 2015, separate incidents on oil-processing platforms belonging to the state-owned Mexican company Pemex killed several workers and spewed oil into the Gulf. Given the continuation of offshore drilling in these waters, it isn’t inconceivable that another major mishap — whether human- or nature-caused — will one day occur. That’s something to ponder as the BP oil spill recedes into memory.

Quaker Valley High School in Leetsdale was evacuated after a chemical spill in a classroom

Crews respond to chemical spill in Quaker Valley HS classroom

  By Bobby Cherry | Thursday, June 9, 2016, 1:21 p.m.



Quaker Valley High School in Leetsdale was evacuated at about 12:45 Thursday afternoon after a chemical spill in a classroom, district spokeswoman Angela Yingling said.

Formaldehyde and two forms of xylene mixed in a third-floor science lab, Leetsdale fire Chief Ernie Logan said. Nobody was injured.

No students were in the building at the time. Their last day of class was June 7. But an unknown number of district staff members and some community members were inside.

The spill was contained, Logan said.

He said the mixture can be an inhalation hazard, which prompted the evacuation.

Logan said he expected crews to be on scene through mid-afternoon.

Fire crews from Leetsdale and Sewickley went to the scene.

Beaver Street from Valley Lane to Oak Drive was closed during the incident, and Port Authority buses were detoured using Route 65.

7 years later, Garner, NC recalls deadly ConAgra gas explosion that killed 4

Four people died in the Garner natural gas plant explosion on June 9, 2009.





By Elaina Athans
Thursday, June 09, 2016 06:52PM
GARNER (WTVD) -- There's a small memorial outside of the former ConAgra plant in Garner. Flowers line the fence that faces Jones Sausage Road. The items were placed there by children of one of the victims killed in the 2009 explosion.

Seven years ago this Thursday, there was a blast at the plant while 300 people were inside.

"It was chaos," recalled Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams. "I saw the building was demolished. I saw the cars demolished and I saw people that were hurt, emotionally and physically."

When EMS arrived at the plant, employees were running toward first responders and calling out for help. The ceiling collapsed, small fired were popping up, toxic chemicals were pouring through the building, and dozens of people were trapped inside.

A natural gas leaked caused the explosion.





Investigators survey the wreckage during recovery operations Wednesday, June 10, 2009, at ConAgra Foods Inc., in Garner (The News & Observer/Chris Seward)

"I stayed there three days total. I lost a lot of sleep. I slept about three hours in three days, but I felt like I needed to be on top of it for my citizens," Williams said.

Four people were killed. The Medical Examiners Report shows all the victims suffered blunt-force head trauma when debris fell on them.

Maggie Jones worked at the plant for 37 years. She lives up the road from the former facility and used to walk to work.

Jones was very good friends with one of the victims, Rachel Pulley.

"She was a mom and she was a Christian lady, that's why we always stayed together," Jones said.

There's a mosaic memorial at White Deer Park to honor those killed.

FROM NOVEMBER 2009: CONAGRA WORKERS TO LOSE JOBS

After the explosion, ConAgra donated the 98-acre property to the Town of Garner.

The lot has sat vacant for years. The building was leveled. "No Trespassing" signs are up, and weeds are growing among concrete.

The Town says it is aggressively trying to bring in another company.

RELATED: JURY SAYS CONAGRA LIABLE FOR $108.9 MILLION IN 2009 GARNER PLANT EXPLOSION

"We lost about $55 million worth of taxable investment and around 400-500 jobs," said Garner Economic Development Director Joseph Stallings. "We're looking for a company that is going to be a real jewel in the Garner's crown. Something the community can be proud of and something that will offer the folks that lives there the opportunity to better themselves and lives of their children."

In March of this year, ConAgra was found liable of negligence in a civil lawsuit. The company was ordered to pay more than $108 million.

A spokesperson for the Omaha-based company says it has multiple grounds for appeal.

An unloading accident caused an acid spill that prompted the evacuation of a Starkist Foods canning facility in Eastvale, CA where 15 workers were sent to the hospital for treatment of inhalation problems

EASTVALE, CAL: Acid spill sends 15 Starkist workers to hospital (UPDATE)





By RICHARD BROOKS / STAFF WRITER
Published: June 9, 2016 Updated: 7:25 p.m.

An unloading accident caused an acid spill that prompted the evacuation of a Starkist Foods canning facility in Eastvale where 15 workers were sent to the hospital for treatment of inhalation problems, say Riverside County Fire Department officials.

A firefighter also went to the hospital with unspecified minor injuries not related to breathing difficulty, officials said.

Roughly 40 gallons of concentrated cleaning acid spilled about 2:45 p.m. Thursday, June 9, at the sprawling facility at 12450 Philadelphia Avenue, just east of Milliken Avenue. The area is in the northeast corner of the city, nearly a mile northwest of Interstate 15 and Highway 60.

"They were off-loading (the acid) with a forklift from a trailer at loading dock," said Capt. Lucas Spelman. "One of the forklift arms pierced the bottom of the blue, plastic container."

The crews of five fire engines and a ladder truck were dispatched to the incident, along with county health department and fire department hazardous materials teams. By 5:25 p.m., the spill had been contained and the cleanup was beginning, allowing officials to lift the evacuation.

FIMA Announces Availability of Benefit Cost Analysis Tools for Drought and Ecosystem Services

Hazard Mitigation Assistance: Climate Resilient Mitigation Activities Updates This email provides information on three new activities eligible for the HMA programs: Aquifer Storage and Recovery, Floodplain and Stream Restoration, and Flood Diversion and Storage, known as the Climate Resilient Mitigation Activities (CRMA).

FIMA Announces Availability of Benefit Cost Analysis Tools for Drought and Ecosystem Services FEMA has developed Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA) Tools and Guidance to calculate benefits for climate resilient mitigation activities, including drought mitigation, ecosystem services, and pre-calculated benefits for cost-effectiveness evaluation of soil stabilization, flood diversion, and reforestation projects in wildfire impacted areas to support expedient implementation of post-wildfire mitigation actions. The tools and guidance include: Aquifer Storage and Recovery BCA Calculator Tool Ecosystem Service Benefits Calculator Supplemental BCA Guidance for Floodwater Diversion and Storage Projects Supplemental BCA Guidance for Floodplain and Stream Restoration Projects Pre-calculated benefits for post-wildfire mitigation actions If you require the Microsoft Excel version of either of the calculator tools, or if you have any questions on details of the Benefit Cost Analysis (BCA), visit the BCA website, contact the BCA Helpline at 1-855-540-6744 or bchelpline@fema.dhs.gov. These additional BCA Tools are available for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), and the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) for which the application period is open on or after the date of the May 12, 2016. Please note that not all mitigation activities are eligible under all three programs. For example, wildfire mitigation is eligible under HMGP and PDM, but not FMA. The Climate Resilient Mitigation Activities are available for HMPG funding resulting from a major disaster declared on or after September 30, 2015, and for competitive PDM and FMA funding for which the application period opened on or after September 30, 2015. Hurricane Preparedness: Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins June 1 marked the start of the Atlantic Hurricane season and FEMA encourages everyone to take action and prepare for disasters now. A good resource you can use is to download the FEMA smartphone app to your device. This will give you information about what to do before, during, and after a hurricane. You can also receive weather alerts in your area from NOAA’s National Weather Service, find lifesaving safety tips, and have access to disaster resources should you need them. The app is available in English and Spanish from the Apple App store or the Google Play store. HMA Home Page: http://www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-assistance  FEMA Regional Offices: https://www.fema.gov/fema-regional-contacts FEMA State Hazard Mitigation Officers: http://www.fema.gov/state-hazard-mitigation-officers HMA Helpline: 1-866-222-3580 or email: HMAGrantsHelpline@fema.dhs.gov  MT eGrants Helpdesk: 1-855-228-3362 or email: MTeGrants@fema.dhs.gov

Mitigation Best Practice - Higher Standards Mean Lower Flood Insurance Rates

This Best Practice tells how the city of Myrtle Beach joined the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and agreed to adopt and enforce a flood damage prevention ordinance designed to protect property that is at high risk for flooding. In exchange, residents are allowed to purchase federally-backed flood insurance.

To find out more about Mitigation Best Practices, and how the stories in this portfolio offer ideas for you to use in reducing or preventing damage from disasters, visit the Mitigation Best Practices Portfolio web page.
Higher Standards Mean Lower Flood Insurance Rates for Myrtle Beach Property Owners

Myrtle Beach, SC: The Myrtle Beach boardwalk is a sight to see. A meandering 1.2 miles of solid oak walkway guides visitors along a scenic path that’s reminiscent of a 1940s classic film. Situated along that boardwalk are boutiques, restaurants, and a pre-war replica of a 187-foot-high Ferris wheel, which harkens back to a time when World War II soldiers took their dates on evening rides, soaring through the night air beneath a well-lit sky.

But that bygone era is now tucked away in time, and the boardwalk has gone from bobby socks to bandanas, with annual visits from spring-breakers, vacationing families, and a rambunctious biker crowd. Boardwalk merchants and other property owners in this southern coastal community understand that an oceanfront lifestyle has its risks. To manage those risks, the city of Myrtle Beach joined the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1971, agreeing to adopt and enforce a flood damage prevention ordinance designed to protect property that is at high risk for flooding. In exchange, residents are allowed to purchase federally-backed flood insurance.

Myrtle Beach Permit Services Supervisor Emily Hardee is an enthusiastic supporter of the NFIP, and oversees the community’s membership in the Community Rating System (CRS), an incentive program that rewards property owners with discounts on flood insurance premiums, if the community in which their property is located adopts and enforces higher than minimum regulatory and building standards. CRS discounts are based on a class rating system that ranges from 1 to 9. The lower the number, the greater the discount. The city of Myrtle Beach is a class 5 community and policy holders in high risk areas receive a 25% discount on their flood insurance premiums. The city is “very proud of the 25% savings on flood insurance premiums we have earned for our property owners,” says Hardee. “They save that money and it’s put back into the community.”

Although Hardee has served as Myrtle Beach’s floodplain manger and CRS coordinator for the past seven years, the life-long resident and former permitting technician remembers the devastation of Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and the resulting 15-20 inches of torrential rain and subsequent flooding. “After Floyd, a bunch of city departments came up with a plan to spend $70-75 million dollars on storm water management and drainage basin projects to decrease flooding,” explained Hardee. Due to rigorous management of the floodplain, residents and property owners have experienced a decrease in flooding, and Myrtle Beach has continued its efforts to advance in higher regulatory building standards.

“The city adopted a three-foot freeboard requirement, which means new construction must be elevated at least three feet above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE*),” said Hardee. “Myrtle Beach also monitors substantially improved buildings (more than 50% of the property’s pre-event market value), limiting improvements to a total of 50% over a 10 year period.” The city also established a community Coastal Protection Zone, a designated area where no new construction can be built. Not everyone is pleased with these types of restrictions. “Of course we have citizens, contractors, and property owners who try to fight us, but city council has been supportive,” explained Hardee. “When we tell property owners how many CRS points they will lose, and how that loss will increase their flood insurance premiums, they understand and support the higher building standards.”

The benefits of implementing a rigorous floodplain management and CRS program were obvious during the state’s most recent major disaster. “Only about 20-25 structures had water come in them from October 2015’s Hurricane Joaquin, but none had more than 20% damage,” said Hardee. Myrtle Beach also has a committee that meets annually to work on floodplain management and storm water management plans. They review actions and make sure the plans are up-to-date.

When asked about how Myrtle Beach’s CRS status may encourage other coastal communities to participate in the program, Hardee modestly admits, “Other jurisdictions come to us and ask us for advice about what we do in our programs; but we also have to stay on top of things ourselves. Our legacy is to stay continually involved in the construction process and knowledgeable about the updates the National Flood Insurance Program provides.”

With this attitude and the city’s commitment to the CRS program, Myrtle Beach property owners will stay “high and dry” for years to come.

To learn more about the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System, visit: http://www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program-community-rating-system

* The BFE is the anticipated height floodwaters are expected to reach during the 1-percent-annual flood (commonly referred to as the 100-year flood).

In preparation for the opening of Hurricane Season 2016, FEMA has developed a new Fact Sheet on wind retrofit projects

Residential Hurricane Wind Retrofit Fact Sheet

In preparation for the opening of Hurricane Season 2016, FEMA has developed a new Fact Sheet on wind retrofit projects. Wind retrofits are enhancements made to strengthen roofs, walls, doors and windows to minimize damage to homes from wind and wind-driven rain caused by high wind events such as hurricanes. FEMA offers two Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grants that provide funds for cost-effective wind retrofit projects: Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM).

The Wind Retrofits Fact Sheet provides an overview of wind retrofit projects and the streamlined process for determining the cost effectiveness of wind mitigation projects. The Fact Sheet compliments FEMA's guidance P-804: Wind Retrofit Guide for Residential Buildings (2010), which provides guidance for selecting and implementing wind retrofit projects for homes in all coastal regions, and FEMA’s Cost Effectiveness Determination for Residential Hurricane Wind Retrofit Measures Funded by FEMA (2015), which provides a simplified pre-calculated benefits methodology for determining cost effectiveness that can be used instead of the traditional Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA).

The Residential Hurricane Wind Retrofits Fact Sheet is available from the FEMA website.

Salem Police Department evacuated in hazmat situation. 3 treated after exposure to noxious cleaning chemicals

UPDATED 4:48 PM EDT Jun 10, 2016



 
WMUR/Andy Hershberger

SALEM, N.H. —The Salem Police Department was evacuated Friday afternoon after employees were exposed to noxious cleaning chemicals.



A hazmat team was called to the station about 12:15 p.m.

Officials said someone was trying to clear a clogged drain and mixed two cleaners together, causing a reaction. Three officers complained of irritation, and they were taken to a hospital to get checked out.

Officials said the hazmat team would perform air quality tests before employees would be allowed back inside the building. The building re-opened about 3 p.m.

Police said people should still call 911 for emergencies. Business calls were being routed to the Fire Department.

Floodwaters cause oil spill near Spring Creek in Texas

 













Large oil containers were toppled during heavy rains over Memorial Day weekend causing more 70 barrels of oil to spill onto the ground.





Posted: Friday, June 10, 2016 10:51 pm | Updated: 9:14 am, Sat Jun 11, 2016.

By Catherine Dominguez


Soil testing following the clean up of an oil spill is continuing after floodwaters toppled several large barrels of oil near Spring Creek in south Montgomery County.

Sulpher Springs-based Hopco Operating Company operates a drilling site just south Pruitt Road near the creek. According to information from the Texas Railroad Commission, the site was flooded during the storms that moved through the area Memorial Day weekend. More than 10 feet of water flooded the area causing between 70 and 77 barrels of oil to spill on the two acre site located in the 45-acre Montgomery County Preserve.

“They have the right to do things on that drill site even if we own the land,” said Assistant County Attorney BD Griffin. “The mineral (rights owner) has some primary rights.”

Griffin said the lease for the minerals rights dates back to 1948. The county acquired the land in 2012 as part of the Spring Creek Nature Preserve project and only owns the surface rights.

Ramona Nye, spokesperson for the TRC, said Hopco was issued a notice of violation regarding the spill. The company reported the spill to the Commissioner May 31. The spill occurred May 27.

“The Railroad Commission will continue to monitor the operator’s cleanup activities until the lease is brought into compliance with Commission rules,” Nye said in a statement to The Courier. “The Railroad Commission responds to all reports of potential oil releases with urgency to ensure protection of public safety and the environment. Operators are required by Commission rules to report spills to the Commission and contain and remediate releases.

“Additionally, the Commission dispatches inspectors to reported spills as quickly as it is safe for them to access a potentially affected area. The Railroad Commission oversees containment and cleanup to ensure it is done in compliance with RRC rules.”

Officials with Hopco could not be reached before press time.

Scott Nichols, director of Environmental Health for Montgomery County, said he has been on site during the clean up.

“At this time, I do not believe there is major concern,” he said noting samples are being collected for testing to determine the environment impact.

Part of the process of cleaning the spill included excavating the area and removing the soil, Nichols said.

However, Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said the county was not notified of the spill. It was actually discovered while he and his staff were surveying the areas along the creekafter the floodwater has receded.

“My concern is the fact that Montgomery County, the property owner, was not notified,” he said. “My job is to protect the integrity of our assets. A pristine greenway is not only an asset to the county but the entire region.

“In the future, we want to be notified as soon as possible so we can make sure that our assets are protected.”

2 Dead, 2 Injured on board Air Carrier INS Vikramaditya at Karwar in Karnataka.

June 11, 2016 at 08:58 by Mikhail Voytenko in Accidents 66


NEW DELHI -- At least two people, including a civilian, were killed and another two injured, on June 10, following leakage of toxic fumes from the sewage plant on board Russian-made aircraft carrier INS VIKRAMADITYA , which was undergoing repairs at Karwar in Karnataka.

The incident of gas leakage took place at about 5:00 PM while the ship was undergoing maintenance repairs.

Maintenance work was being undertaken in the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) compartment. Due to inhalation of the toxic fumes, four personnel (two naval sailors and two civilian workers) were evacuated to Naval Hospital at Karwar, a statement by the Navy said.

The Huffington Post
Air carrier INS VIKRAMADITYA (ex Baku, ex Admiral Gorshkov), built 1987, renovated 2012, displacement 45400 tons, length 283 meters, speed 30 knots, complement 1610, max capacity 36 aircraft, including 26 fighters and 10 helicopters.

Woman dragged 100 feet by car dies in Midtown in Houston, Texas

A homeless woman was struck by a vehicle in the Midtown area





By Foti Kallergis
Updated 1 hr 43 mins ago
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police say a woman was struck by a car and dragged about 100 feet in the Midtown area.

Now that woman is dead and detectives want to find the drivers responsible.

The accident happened on San Jacinto Street. The victim has been described by police as homeless.

They say she was seen between Webster and Hadley just before she was struck and killed.

We do not know much about the moments before she died, only that the suspect's vehicle is a white or light colored, four door BMW.

The HPD vehicular crimes unit is checking street cameras for surveillance video and anything that can lead to the person who did this.

We're following this story on Eyewitness News. Watch for updates on air, online and on our mobile news app.

Two separate crashes overnight in the northbound lanes of I-75 have taken the lives of at least two people in Ohio

2 dead in 2 separate crashes on I-75



By Tony Geftos |
Posted: Sat 5:47 AM, Jun 11, 2016 |
Updated: Sat 11:23 AM, Jun 11, 2016

 

PERRYSBURG TWP. (13abc Action News) -- Two separate crashes overnight in the northbound lanes of I-75 have taken the lives of at least two people.

The first accident was around midnight, one mile north of the state line into Michigan.

Three commercial vehicles were involved.

13abc's cameras spotted a tractor-trailer in the ditch, the cab smashed. The trailer of another semi was also heavily damaged.

The Monroe County Sheriff's office says Amarveer Dhugga, 38, of Ontario approached slow moving traffic, when he plowed into a another semi.

Dhugga's semi-truck went off the road and caught fire. He did not survive.

I-75 NB was closed at Alexis Road for more than 8 hours overnight.

Farther south, at mile marker 188, just north of Ohio State Route 582 in Wood County, another person is dead after a crash that happened around 4:45AM.

That single-vehicle rollover closed the northbound lanes of I-75 north of Bowling Green for two and a half hours.

Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol identified the woman who was killed as Kayla Gilden, 22, of Cincinnati.


Gilden was in the back seat of a vehicle that veered off the right side of the roadway, overcorrected, then hit the concrete median barrier.

That impact caused the vehicle to overturn and Gilden, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was partially ejected.

Troopers say Gilden died from her injuries.

A 19-year-old woman from Toledo was behind the wheel. She was taken to the hospital, treated and released.

Two others inside the vehicle also had minor injuries.

Investigators suspect alcohol or drug use may have been a factor in the crash.

East New York collision at an intersection leaves 1 dead, 2 in custody

Eyewitness News
Saturday, June 11, 2016 08:34AM

EAST NEW YORK, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Two people were taken into custody after a car wreck Friday in Brooklyn that left one dead.

Around 10 p.m., at the intersection of Livonia Avenue and Georgia Avenue in East New York, a 2016 black Ford Explorer heading north on Georgia Avenue hit a 2001 silver Toyota Sienna.

The Sienna had been traveling eastbound on Livonia Avenue. When they collided, the man driving the Explorer tried to run away, but was taken into custody by officers at the scene.

A passenger in the Explorer stayed inside the vehicle and was uninjured.

The two people in the Sienna were taken to Brookdale Hospital; the driver is stable with neck and back pain. The passenger was pronounced dead.

The deceased has been identified as Saber Mohammed, 20, of Brooklyn.

The two people who had been in the Explorer were taken into custody. The investigation is underway.

ANOTHER BICYCLIST KILLED: Bicyclist hit, killed by SUV in Bronx hit-and-run

Marcus Solis reporting live





Eyewitness News
Updated 2 hrs 14 mins ago
THROGGS NECK, Bronx (WABC) -- Police are looking for the driver of a vehicle who fatally hit a bicyclist in the Bronx, then drove away.

Around 1 a.m. Saturday, a man was hit at East Tremont and Mayflower avenues, in the Throggs Neck section.

Both were eastbound on East Tremont, the bicyclist slightly ahead of the vehicle, when the bicyclist attempted to cross, mid-block. He was hit by a light-colored SUV traveling.

The vehicle did not remain at the scene.

Giovanni A. Nin, 26, of the Bronx, has been identified by police as the victim. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

There are no arrests and the investigation is ongoing.