Hydrogen Fluoride – A Toxic Chemical in Your Neighborhood?
by Leeann Sinpatanasakul, 11/19/2013

http://bit.ly/1bYLxZF 

Center for Effective Government  Across the nation, 167 industrial facilities currently store & use hydrogen fluoride, a dangerous and highly toxic gas. But what is it? And is it in your neighborhood?

...Safer alternatives to hydrogen fluoride exist for use in oil and gas refineries. However, it seems most companies will not adopt these safer alternatives voluntarily, despite the fact that millions of residents could be harmed by explosions. The Center for Effective Government continues to urge the EPA to use its authority to issue new guidance on the regulation of hydrogen fluoride and hundreds of other toxic chemicals stored at facilities situated near residential communities. Concerned citizens should examine our map of these facilities to see if their communities are at risk and advocate for safer alternatives. You can also make your voices heard by signing a petition asking the EPA to issue new guidelines.

Louisiana Environmental Action Network

E-Alert: Louisiana's Dirty 100 Orphaned Oil & Gas Wells

The "Dirty 100" are the 100 orphaned wells that are ranked as having the highest priority for the need of permanent plugging. They are leaking oil or Natural Gas, are currently causing an environmental problem and may also present a hazard or concern to human health and safety. These wells are orphaned wells, which means that the well's operator of record is no longer a viable responsible party. In other words, the companies that extracted minerals from the wells no longer exist so the responsibility of dealing with the wells now rests on the State of Louisiana. The State of Louisiana charges the Oil and Gas industry a fee of one and one-half cents ($.015) for every barrel of oil and condensate produced, and three-tenths of one cent ($.003) for every thousand cubic feet of gas produced which goes to the states Orphaned Well Program . This allows the Louisiana Orphaned Well Program to deal with approximately 160 wells per year. There are currently 2820 wells identified as orphaned wells in need of permanent plugging in the State of Louisiana.

Read more.

The Endocrine Disruption Exchange (TEDX) has developed a new search page for the TEDX List of Potential Endocrine Disruptors that includes 14 different categories to identify the uses and sources of exposure for each chemical.  You can also see a short tutorial on how to use the searchable list.

http://www.endocrinedisruption.org/enews/2013/10/08/tedx-list-of-potential-endocrine-disruptors/

EARTH SCIENCE WEEK UPDATE 
American Geosciences Institute Vol. 11, No. 10: October 2013
http://www.earthsciweek.org/ 

IN THIS ISSUE…
* Act Now to Win Award for Earth Science Teaching
* Classroom Activities Now Searchable Online
* Esri Blogs for Educators Mapping Out GIS Science
* Contest Winners to Be Announced Next Month
* Celebrate Earth Science With NASA Resources
* Post Your Photos Online From Earth Science Week
* Thanks to Earth Science Week’s Generous Sponsors
* Nuclear Regulators Tout Geoscience Careers Online
* Geologic Map Day Boosts Mapping Education
* National Fossil Day Event in DC Cancelled

SELECTED LINKS:

Classroom Activities Now Searchable Online

Ever wish you could go online to search for a classroom activity tailor-made to match the Earth science topic you’re teaching? Visit the continually updated Earth Science Week Classroom Activities page for more than 120 free learning activities, most of them contributed by the leading geoscience agencies and groups that are Earth Science Week partners.

Activities are organized and searchable by various criteria, including specific Earth science topics. To find the perfect activity for your lesson, just click on “Search Classroom Activities.” Search by grade level and science education standard. Maybe most useful, you also can search among 24 categories of Earth science topics, from energy and environment to plate tectonics and weathering.

This updated, database-driven resource is ideal not only for supplementing a prepared curriculum, but also for generating activities that address in-the-news events such as fossil discoveries and volcanic eruptions. See the Classroom Activities page athttp://www.earthsciweek.org/forteachers/classroomactivities.html.

Esri Blogs for Educators Mapping Out GIS Science

How can you explore the Earth Science Week 2013 theme of “Mapping Our World”? Start with longtime program partner Esri. Leading the charge to incorporate GIS (geographic information system) technology and mapping software in Earth science education, Esri is blogging to provide educators with useful resources and information during Earth Science Week 2013.

The first of the recent blog posts, issued just a few days ago, focuses ways that Esri is providing curriculum support for Earth Science Week, including related activities, lessons, data, and web maps (http://gisandscience.com). In addition, another recent blog on “Story Maps” shows how cutting-edge technology is revolutionizing the ways we create and use maps (http://blogs.esri.com/esri/esri-insider/).

GIS technology - which can illuminate features such as local geology, watersheds, and roads - can require some training before it can be used effectively. To learn more about GIS and Esri, see http://www.esri.com.

Celebrate Earth Science With NASA Resources
 
Throughout Earth Science Week 2013 and beyond, students of all ages can join NASA in celebrating the importance of maps to represent complex phenomena about our planet. A wealth of educational resources, blog posts, and other items can be found online (http://nasaesw.strategies.org).

For example, a new “Mapping Our World” sampler resource is available in both English and Spanish (http://nasaeswespanol.strategies.org/ciencias-terrestres-recursos-educativos-nasa-espanol/). And you are invited to participate in social media events to interact with NASA Earth explorers, see how they use mapping technologies in their research, and learn ways to use real data and images (http://nasaesw.strategies.org/events/).

See more: http://www.earthsciweek.org/

The IPM Practitioner’s 2013 Directory of Least-Toxic Pest Control Products

is now available online. This Directory lists more than 2,000 products such as baits, traps, pheromones, microbials, biocontrol agents, and other materials needed for IPM.

 Contact information is provided for more than 600 national and international suppliers. The Directory can be found at the following link http://www.birc.org/Directory.htm

Please contact me if you have any questions,

William Quarles, Ph.D.

Bio-Integral Resource Center

PO Box 7414

Berkeley, CA 94707

510-524-2567, fax 510-524-1758

birc@igc.org

www.birc.org

www.ecowisecertified.org 

Chemicals of concern demystified by Jim Stanislaski AIA / October 2, 2013  http://www.architects.org/news/chemicals-concern-demystified

PRACTICE http://www.architects.org/news/practice

Photo by June Lee. Taken December 6, 2012 at BSA Space-hosted forum, Road Work Ahead.

On September 24 at BSA Space, the BSA Committee on the Environment (COTE) hosted a lively roundtable discussion regarding how chemicals in the built environment affect human health. 

Moderated by Andrea Love AIA of Payette, the panel included experts with diverse backgrounds, experience, and opinions. Breeze Glazer of Perkins+Will gave a designer’s perspective, Paula Buick of Payette offered insights as a former intensive care nurse, Melissa McCullough of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute spoke from an owner’s and industrial hygienist’s point of view, and Meredith Elbaum summarized her work with the Health Product Declaration Collaborative.

Some of the toughest questions of the evening included these: As nonscientists, how do architects translate the often confusing data on building materials and design the safest possible environments for human health? How do we keep up with changing materials? For example, reading a material safety data sheet on a floor tile tells only part of the story. McCullough outlined how Dana-Farber Cancer has developed a methodical process for reviewing building materials and suggested a risk-based assessment. Glazer outlined how Perkins+Will has used organizations, tools, and frameworks such as LEED, Pharos, the Living Building Challenge, and the Healthy Building Network.

“The BSA has taken a stance on energy and many other sustainability aspects that affect our work as architects, but we [the BSA] have been largely silent on this important issue,” said audience member and current BSA president Mike Davis FAIA. Davis asked for help from the panel to draft an official BSA policy on healthy building materials as a means of showing leadership and continuing the discussion and education among designers and the larger group of stakeholders in related industries. Making a positive impact will require partnerships with multiple stakeholders, including owners, architects, interior designers, contractors, manufacturers, vendors, health experts, and chemical companies.

If you would like to help, please contact BSA COTE co-chairs Philippe Généreux AIA or Jim Stanislaski AIA.

Living Downstream

Renowned biologist Sandra Steingraber has made fighting environmentally induced cancers her life’s work. We hear excerpts of the documentary film, Living Downstream, which chronicles her efforts to create a world free of cancer causing toxics.
Saturday, 05 October 2013 13:17By Staff, Making Contact National Radio Project 
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/19246-living-downstream

Ruth Patrick, a Pioneer in Science and Pollution Control Efforts, Is Dead at 105

Ruth Patrick, a pioneer in studying the health of freshwater streams and rivers who laid the scientific groundwork for modern pollution control efforts, died on Monday in Lafayette Hill, Pa. She was 105...

Dr. Patrick, an adviser to presidents and the recipient of distinguished science awards, was one of the country’s leading experts in the study of freshwater ecosystems, or limnology. She achieved that renown after entering science in the 1930s, when few women were able to do so, and working for the academy for eight years without pay.

“She was worried about and addressing water pollution before the rest of us even thought of focusing on it,” James Gustave Speth, a former dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, said in an e-mail message.

Dr. Patrick built her career around research on thousands of species of single-cell algae called diatoms, which float at the bottom of the food chain. She showed that measuring the kinds and numbers of diatoms revealed the type and extent of pollution in a body of water. Her method of measurement has been used around the world to help determine water quality...

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