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Wednesday, October 4, 2006

The US Army Corps of Engineers decision to place restrictions on issuance of nationwide pollution permits has been upheld by a federal court. In National Association of Home Builders v. Army Corps of Engineers, the District Court for the District of Columbia found that the Corps of Engineers had not acted in an “arbitrary” or “capricious” manner in changing the terms and conditions for issuance of a national pollution permit, including reducing the size of area into which pollutants may be discharged from 10 acres to 1 acre, raising the threshold for requiring additional permits from 1 acre to 1/10 acre,

A nationwide permit allows an organization to engage in certain industrial activities on a national basis (such as mining and construction), reducing the amount of paperwork and filings needed for otherwise minor environmental impacts, as opposed to an ordinary permit for a specific location which will engage in activities which generate water pollution.

Due to concerns over the amount of discharge taking place in waterways, the Corps of Engineers began in the 1980s to reduce the authority granted by nationwide permits and to bar use of the permits in certain ecologically sensitive areas.

Some industry groups, including the plaintiff in the above case, The National Association of Home Builders, sued the Corps of Engineers in 2000 over the change in an attempt to block its implementation. Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, were given permission to intervene in the case in support of the actions of the Corps.

Environmental groups were pleased with the decision, but are concerned over other actions of the Bush Administration, such as the attempts to weaken provisions of the 2002 Clean Water Act to allow additional dumping of construction and mining waste into waterways as fill material.

Monday, September 6, 2010

President Alvaro Colom says torrential downpours causing flooding and landslides have undone the country’s reconstruction from Tropical Storm Agatha in May. Up to eighteen people are reported killed in rain-related incidents across the country as weather systems in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific batter the region, and forecasters expect another 48 hours of precipitation. At least ten people were killed, 20 rescued, when a landslide buried a bus as it traveled on the Inter-American highway in the worst single-incident.

Sources

• “Heavy rains devastate Guatemala” — BBC, September 4, 2010
• Reuters. “Torrential rains kill 18 in Guatemala” — Toronto Star, September 4, 2010

Five people are dead, 39 injured after a suicide bombing in the Dagestan Republic of the North Caucasus. The information is still unfolding, and earlier reports had three killed, 26 injured. The attack occurred at 00:30 local time (20:30 UTC) when a Zhiguli car packed with explosives drove into the gates of a military base near Buynaksk. AFP reports a second explosion nearby on a nearby highway, but with no injuries.

Sources

• “Death toll in N.Caucasus suicide bombing rises to five (Update 1)” — Ria Novosti, September 5, 2010
• “5 killed, 39 injured in Dagestan suicide bombing” — AFP, September 5, 2010

The Arizona Cardinals US football team has released Heisman trophy-winner Matt Leinart after being unable to find a favorable trade. Leinart had been unable to break out of the back-up quarterback role with the team after early injuries kept him on the sideline for a couple years, and expressed his frustration publicly on Monday. The Cardinals, forced to trim their team roster to 53 players, cut Leinart leaving him without a team.

Sources

• Bob Baum. “Arizona Cardinals release quarterback Matt Leinart” — Cape Cod Times, September 4, 2010
• Judy Batista. “Leinart, With Career Full of Disappointment, Is Now Without Team” — New York Times, September 4, 2010

After driving away from police, a thirteen-year-old driver struck a pole, plowed through a couple of fences, and bumped a parked car into the house before coming to a rest at the front door. Police spokesperson Ros Wetherall reported officers attempted to stop the Holden Commodore around 1 a.m. local time (5 p.m. UTC), but had to search for the vehicle which they found crashed into the home on Grovelands Drive, Camillo. The driver and one other youth in the car were uninjured. The young man will appear in court on charges of reckless driving, failing to stop and not having a driver’s licence.

Sources

• AAP. “Boy charged after car meets house” — TheAge.com, September 5, 2010
• “Car crashes into house: 13-year-old charged” — Australian Broadcasting Corporation, September 5, 2010

Monday, November 5, 2007

The space shuttle Discovery is coming back to Earth after 11 days in orbit. The a scan of the Shuttle’s heat shield (now routine since the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) showed no cause for concern and Discovery was cleared for the voyage home.

The current mission, STS-120 was launched on October 23. The mission’s primary purposes were to deliver the Harmony module to the International Space Station and to help reposition and extend solar power arrays.

The mission gained wide attention for including a space walk to repair damage in the solar power array. The space walk had not been planned until the mission was already underway when the damage was then detected. However, additional problems with a rotary joint were not repaired and if they are not repaired they could interfere with further station construction.

The return will also bring back Clay Anderson who is being replaced on the International Space Station by Dan Tani.

Discovery is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at 1:02 PM EST (UTC-5) on November 7.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

President of Mexico Vicente Fox spoke out on Friday in defense of Mexican workers headed North. Fox claimed that United States actions to halt illegal immigration are a step back from bilateral relations. Fox also said that the anti-immigration movement building in America is not “the road we should be building between friends and partners.”

In the past year, U.S. Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy have proposed a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain legal jobs and provide the option of becoming U.S. citizens. Others are proposing bills that would step up funding for border security and require U.S. government-issued I.D. cards.

Monday, June 13, 2011

In a unanimous decision, a US federal appeals court issued a ruling Friday against the federal government, in favor of Massey Energy Co, owner of the Upper Branch Mine in West Virginia, the location of last year’s mine disaster that killed 29 workers. The court ruled the company may appeal the restrictions placed on it by a government order hindering the company’s ability to conduct its own internal investigation of the disaster.

The order controlling Massey’s investigations into the disaster was placed on Massey immediately after the incident by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) when it seized control of the coal mine six hours after the blast on April 5.

MSHA’s controls prohibited Massey from “taking or retaining photographs, collecting and preserving mine dust samples, employing mine mapping technology, and participating in or objecting to any destructive testing of materials gathered underground.” Massey said MSHA’s restrictions prevented the company from evaluating the accident site before it was altered by investigators, and denied Massey the chance to gather evidence to use in the company’s defense.

Massey’s appeal to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (the commission that decides disputes over mining regulations) to void the order by MSHA was denied by the commission. It based its decision on its interpretation of the Mine Act that it had no authority to consider Massey’s appeal. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit set aside this decision, finding the commission’s interpretation of the act was “simply untenable” and the government’s actions had denied Massey the opportunity to gather “potentially important exculpatory evidence”.

The court rejected the commission’s position that the Mine Act’s language was ambiguous, allowing the government flexibility in its implementation. Rather, the court said, “No matter how you parse it, [the act] is a model of near-perfect clarity. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a clearer expression of congressional language.” It also rejected the commission’s position that the case was moot: “This case is not moot. Indeed, even the [Labor] Secretary’s counsel recognized the near-frivolity of this argument, and made only a half-hearted attempt to persuade us.”

The court’s ruling comes after a state government-comissioned report issued on May 19 by investigators found Massey Energy responsible for the deaths of the 29 workers. The workers were killed in an explosion that could have been avoided, the report said, if Massey had put in place standard safety procedures.

“The story of Upper Big Branch is a cautionary tale of hubris. A company that was a towering presence in the Appalachian coal fields operated its mines in a profoundly reckless manner, and 29 coal miners paid with their lives for the corporate risk taking,” the report read. “The company’s ventilation system did not adequately ventilate the mine. As a result, explosive gases were allowed to build up.” The report detailed claims Massey threatened miners with termination if they stopped work in areas that lacked adequate oxygen levels and listed numerous other state and federal safety standards that Massey failed to follow. Also blamed in the report was MSHA for failing to enforce federal regulations.

The report was considered by the those in the mining industry as especially direct and “hard hitting”. It firmly rejected conclusions reached by Massey officials that the incident was caused by an unexpected, massive, and uncontrollable methane bubble eruption, an occurrence that Massey said it could neither predict nor manage.

The company immediately challenged the report and issued its own report on June 3, blaming the blast on an act of nature and denying the company’s safety culture was at fault. MSHA also have an as-yet unreleased report in the works.

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Australia has clinched a dramatic win in the second 2006-07 Ashes Test match in Adelaide. In a massive swing of dominance and control, England forfeited a huge advantage on the fifth and final day after controlling the Test for the first four.

England won the toss and batted first on the Adelaide Oval wicket. After losing a couple of early wickets, they recovered to amass 6-551 dec. spanning the opening two days. Paul Collingwood scored a patient 206, whilst teammate Kevin Pietersen built an innings of 158 in a much more brief fashion.

In response, Australia began their first innings poorly, losing Matthew Hayden before the close of play on day 2. On the morning of day 3, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn also fell cheaply. However, a captain’s effort by Ricky Ponting (142) and support by Michael Clarke (124), as well as cameos by Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne, helped the Aussies to just shy of England’s massive total. Matthew Hoggard was the shining light for the visitors, taking 7-109.

England resumed the fifth day at 1-59, and the match looked headed for a draw. However, with some magic from Shane Warne, Australia managed to roll England for just 129 in the last over before tea, setting up a thrilling final session run chase. Warne took 4-49, and was backed up well by Glenn McGrath, who took 2-15.

Requiring 168 to win off 35 overs, Australia came out firing, scoring quickly before losing both Hayden and Justin Langer early. Ricky Ponting was joined by Michael Hussey, who was promoted to number four, and built a steady partnership before Ponting was dismissed for 49. Damien Martyn then fell cheaply, and Hussey was joined by Michael Clarke to complete the chase. The pair batted through to the total was reached, with Hussey scoring 61 not out. Australia reached the target with 19 balls to spare, at 6:45pm local time.

No team had lost after declaring on as high a total batting first as England did in more than 125 years of Tests. As a Nine Network commentator described it, “Australia has just won the most extraordinary Test match; however, it was [a Test] that England should never have lost”. Prior to the start of play, bookmakers had a draw paying $1.02.

Australia now go into the third test at the WACA ground in Perth, Western Australia knowing one more win will reclaim the Ashes urn which they lost for the first time in over a decade in England during 2005.

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