Chemists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have developed a new substrate called “SLUG-26,” which is designed to soak up negatively charged pollutants from water. Much like water softening systems remove positively charged ions, such as calcium and magnesium in hard water, SLUG-26 has been designed to trap the radioactive metal technetium, which is produced in nuclear reactors and can contribute to groundwater contamination. Read the full article at Water Online.
Last fall, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Wastewater and Drinking Water Infrastructure Sustainability Policy, and has since redesigned a section of its website dedicated to providing information and resources for meeting water infrastructure challenges.
The newly redesigned web pages include information specifically for local officials providing, according to a release issued by the USEPA, “information that every local official should know about their community’s water infrastructure.”
Visit the EPA’s revamped sustainable infrastructure web pages.
Visit the local officials’ section of the EPA site.
In response to long lag times between beach water sampling and test results, officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under a court order to come up with a better test, are preparing to introduce a new procedure that could yield test results in about four hours. Read the full story at mvtimes.com.
Driven away by Somali pirates, international scientists are asking the Australian and U.S. navies for a favor: deploy 19 robotic instruments in the Indian Ocean to record critical data on climate and monsoon.
The Australian and British robots will be released by the two navies over the next six months, says Ann Threhser, a lead scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia’s national science agency. [Read the Full Article on LaboratoryEquipment.com]
With summer around the corner, millions worldwide will head to pristine beaches and waterways. However, with items such as bottles, cans and other debris washing up on U.S. shores each year, the Univ. of Georgia and theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have teamed up to create a new, innovative cell phone reporting mechanism to combat the marine debris problem. Read the full article…
Washington — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced improvements to the availability and usability of drinking water data in the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) tool. ECHO now allows the public to search to see whether drinking water in their community met the standards required under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), which is designed to safeguard the nation’s drinking water and protect people’s health…Read the full article.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a draft permit for public comment aimed at regulating the discharge of stormwater from construction sites.
Stormwater discharges during construction activities can contain sediment and pollutants that harm aquatic ecosystems, increase drinking water treatment costs and pollute waters… Read the full article.
A recent health & safety report by Lisa Sigell of CBS TV in Los Angeles featured the Sper Scientific Model 850009 UVA/B Light Meter measuring UV output of nail dryers.
CLICK HERE to view the video.
The EPA held hearings last week focusing on a proposed rule to implement numeric nutrient standards for Florida waters. The current statewide standard requires that “…in no case shall nutrient concentrations of a body of water be altered so as to cause an imbalance in natural populations of aquatic flora and fauna….”
Audubon of Florida argued that numeric nutrient standards must be implemented to eliminate subjective enforcement of the current standard. According to a post on the Audubon of Florida’s blog last week, in addition to numeric nutrient standards, “…specific changes in the way water is processed, land is used, crops are grown, and urban developments are designed will all be necessary to produce any results….”
The proposed new rule faces opposition from business interests, citing difficulties in meeting the new standards and the costs associated with implementation.
More information on EPA water quality standards for Florida lakes and flowing waters is available on their website.
Washington State Senate Passes Environmental Protection Legislation
On Friday, the Washington State Senate passed several pieces of environmental protection legislation, including SB6557, aimed at limiting the amount of dissolved copper from brake pads entering Puget Sound. It has been reported that more than 7 million tons of dissolved copper enters Puget Sound every year, causing harm to salmon and their habitat. Half of this total is said to originate from brake pads.
Senate Bill 6289, sponsored by Sen. Craig Pridemore, D-Vancouver, also passed a Senate vote on Friday, and will limit the amount of phosphorous contained in lawn fertilizers beginning in 2012. Phosphorous runoff into rivers and lakes is known to cause excessive algae and plant growth. Upon decomposition, algae and plants consume dissolved oxygen used by fish to breath. Algae blooms can also become toxic and cause skin irritation.