Focus
EPA to roll back regulations on O&G industry emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas
The New York Times – August 29
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Thursday a proposed rule aiming to eliminate federal requirements that oil and gas companies install technology to detect and fix methane leaks from wells, pipelines, and storage facilities. It will also reopen the question of whether the EPA has legal authority to regulate methane as a pollutant. Carbon dioxide is the most prevalent greenhouse gas, but, by some estimates, methane has 80 times the heating-trapping power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years in the atmosphere. The rollback is particularly notable because major energy companies have spoken out against it. The new rule must go through a period of public comment and review, and would most likely be finalized early next year, analysts said.
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News
State launches probe into Kern County oil spills
KQED – August 26
The state Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) is launching an investigation into operations at a Kern County oil field after a series of large, uncontrolled crude petroleum releases near Chevron wells, including one that has continued on and off for more than 16 years and may have released more than 50 million gallons of crude oil. DOGGR served Chevron with a notice of violation last Friday, ordering the company to stop major, uncontrolled surface flows at a site in the Cymric oil field, site of a release that dates back to 2003. The order comes as DOGGR says it is stepping up enforcement of a regulation that took effect in April banning uncontrolled surface flows, known as “surface expressions.”
Colder waters off West Coast mark end of “the blob”
The San Diego Union-Tribune – August 27
Record high Pacific Ocean temperatures recorded off the West Cost in recent years have receded to near normal, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That cool shift marks the end of “the blob” -- the mass of warm water that has predominated in ocean waters off the West Coast -- and of the El Nino event that followed. “The big thing is that a lot of the physical conditions of the ocean here off of our coast are beginning to return to normal,” said Elliott Hazen, a research ecologist with NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center. “But it is not clear yet whether the ecosystem is as well.”
Microplastics are found in Lake Tahoe’s waters for the first time
Los Angeles Times – August 26
Scientists have detected microplastic pollution in Lake Tahoe for the first time. Now they are trying to determine its source and potential harm to the lake’s flora and fauna. Preliminary analyses of water samples collected by researchers at the Desert Research Institute in Reno revealed the presence of particles of synthetic fiber and bits of red and blue plastic no bigger than the head of a pin. The pollution in the basin cradling Tahoe’s water could be local, or from locations around the world. Recent studies have shown that particles from discarded plastic products, including flip-flops, toys, toothbrushes, water bottles, synthetic clothing, and Styrofoam packaging, can be transported long distances through the atmosphere by wind, rain, and falling snow.
Groups sue over wildlife management plan for the North Bay and Sacramento areas
SFGate – August 27
Three conservation groups, led by the Center for Biological Diversity, sued the Wildlife Services division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture this Tuesday over the agency’s plans for killing or managing wild animals that could harm people, livestock, and farms in the North Bay and Sacramento area. Animals killed by the Wildlife Services division include bears, wolves, foxes, and coyotes. In their complaint the groups allege that the program’s last environmental review from 1997 is out of date, and that that animal control techniques authorized in that plan, such as leg-hold traps, poison gas in dens, strangulation snares, and aerial gunning, are inhumane and also harm non-targeted animals, including endangered and threatened species and companion animals.
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