Tropical Storm Lidia helps firefighters against La Tuna wildfires

Weather delivers blow to La Tuna fire's spread: 'Mother Nature kicked in'

By Brittny Mejia

September 4, 2016 - 12 PM

The Los Angeles Times

Less than 24 hours after Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County, weather helped take the fight out of a more than 7,000-acre brush fire that officials said is the city’s largest in decades by acreage.

The La Tuna fire, which has raged in the Verdugo Mountains since Friday, is 30% contained, according to fire officials. There is “really no active fire left,” said Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas, although he noted that the wind could help kick the fire back up.

Temperatures Monday were projected to reach 86 degrees, with winds at three to 10 mph and a relative humidity of 40% to 45%. But that was a far cry from the heat wave temperatures that had helped the fire’s spread.

“Very favorable to the firefighters making continued progress,” Terrazas said. “As long as the weather continues to cooperate, I am very confident and convinced we’ll be fine.”

The La Tuna fire destroyed four homes, shut down the 210 Freeway and led to evacuations in Burbank, Glendale and the Sunland-Tujunga area. At the peak of the fire, more than 700 residents were evacuated throughout the region.

The evacuations have since been lifted and the freeway reopened. The cause of the fire is not yet known, but officials said there is no evidence of arson.

[...]

Relief from the heat wave came for firefighters on Sunday, when temperatures dipped a bit and rain fell in some burn areas as monsoonal moisture from Tropical Storm Lidia moved into the region.

“The moisture that damped down the fire yesterday was from Lidia,” said Jet Propulsion Laboratory climatologist Bill Patzert. “That was a gift from ... Lidia.”

Because of concern over future rain and mudslides, bulldozers will be used to clear out basins, which could get clogged and lead to mud and water flowing into communities, Terrazas said.

Burbank police said they would continue to monitor the situation, but that their police and fire departments were initiating a demobilization plan.

“Mother Nature kicked in overnight,” said Sgt. Derek Green, a spokesman with the Burbank Police Department. “We received some rain, some very welcomed rain.”

Firefighters continued battling a 3,800-acre brush fire in Riverside County that forced more than 400 people to evacuate their homes.

The Palmer fire broke out around 1:30 p.m. Saturday west of Beaumont and rapidly spread by nightfall. The blaze is believed to have been ignited by fireworks, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

As of Monday, the fire was 50% contained. Evacuation orders and road closures were lifted Sunday afternoon.

Patzert of JPL said September is “the heat wave month” so the risk of other fires will persist as brush and grasses and other vegetation continue to become dry and desiccated.

“The simple formula is that fire equals fuel, plus ignition, plus meteorology,” Patzert said Monday. After above-average rainfall last winter through February, March turned dry, he said.

“But the rainfall we did have really encouraged the brush and especially the grasses… So we were primed for fires all over the Southland. And we’re definitely not done,” Patzert said. “The fire season is the Santa Ana winds season and historically that’s October, with November being the peak of the old fire season.”

Times staff writer Emily Alpert Reyes contributed to this report.

[END REPORT]

********

"Anti-Trump ‘Resistance’ Groups Spreading North Korean Propaganda." Is that Eu De Toilette Soros I smell?

By Peter Hasson, Associate Editor 
September 3, 2017 - 8:16 PM EDT
The Daily Caller

Two of the nation’s most active anti-Trump “resistance” organizations are taking decidedly pro-North Korea stances in the United States’ developing nuclear standoff with the communist country, whose leader, Kim Jong Un, has repeatedly threatened to launch a nuclear strike against America.

One group is Refuse Fascism, a well-funded “resistance” group created for the express purpose of opposing President Trump’s administration. Internal presentations from a Refuse Fascism conference last month said the group intends to make America’s leaders lose “international legitimacy” as a way of ultimately bringing down the Trump presidency, as TheDC first reported.

The other group is Workers World Party, a Marxist organization that has played a leading role in anti-Trump demonstrations across the country.

Both groups have consistently echoed North Korean talking points that demonize America while excusing Un’s genocidal regime, and both groups have instructed their followers to distrust American media reporting that reflects negatively on North Korean leaders’ oppression of their own people.

After the United Nations’ Security Council unanimously voted on August 5 to impose further sanctions on North Korea, both Refuse Fascism and Workers World defended the North Korean regime as the victim of international imperialists.

Workers World’s magazine published an editorial titled “Korea won’t be intimidated.” The editorial claimed America — and not the North Korean regime — is the country standing in the way of peace. The last nine paragraphs of the editorial were direct quotes from North Korea’s government. [emphasis mine]

Five days later, the magazine published another editorial titled “Self-defense and the DPRK” that portrayed the U.S. as the “oppressor” of North Korea.

Three days after the UN voted on the new sanctions, Refuse Fascism — whose financial backers include left-wing financier George Soros — published an outraged statement that framed the U.S.-North Koreas standoff as “the largest military power in the world bullying a small, isolated country and terrorizing the people of that entire region.”

In July, Refuse Fascism issued a statement accusing the U.S. of using a “playbook of demonization” against Kim Jong Un. The statement urged Americans to put aside their country’s and “act in the interests of humanity instead.”

“Stop thinking like an American,” the statement said. “Start thinking about humanity.”

Both Refuse Fascism and Workers World have railed against the media’s coverage of North Korea.

Refuse Fascism’s statement last month urged against believing American media’s “lies and distortion” that portray North Korea — one of the worst human rights’ oppressors in the world — in a negative light.

“No, we should not be comfortable with the disgusting media frenzy, full of lies and distortion, that marches us toward not just another invasion of a small country but a nuclear attack that can wipe out millions of people in one day and threaten the future of life on earth,” the statement declared.

Workers World has similarly criticized “the entire web of the capitalist-owned press and electronic media that marches in lockstep, assuming that everyone will automatically believe their endless hostility against the DPRK.” Last month the group criticized America’s “corporate media” as untrustworthy.

Both Workers’ World Party and Refuse Fascism have been on the front lines of the anti-Trump “resistance.” Both groups were among the organizers of counter-protests on inauguration weekend, where far-left actors staged riots and attacked innocent bystanders.

Refuse Fascism has consistently organized mass demonstrations, in Berkeley and elsewhere, that have turned into riots. The group is backed by a progressive charity that is in turn funded by George Soros, a major labor union and several large companies, as TheDC’s Chuck Ross first reported. The group lists Ivy League professor and DNC platform member Cornel West as one of the group’s “initiators.”

For months, Refuse Fascism has been planning massive, nationwide demonstrations for November 4. According to the group’s statements, the protests are part of their long-term strategy of creating a “political crisis” resulting in both Trump and Pence being forced from their elected offices.

Three weeks ago, the group held planning conferences for the mass demonstrations. Presentations from the conference reveal the group wants to disrupt the “ability to govern” of America’s leaders and make them “lose respect and legitimacy in the eyes of people here and internationally.” Costing America’s leaders “international legitimacy” is key because it “is a very critical calculation for the rulers of this country.” 

(RELATED: Activists Plan To Make America’s Leaders Lose ‘International Legitimacy’)

Workers World Party was one of several far-left “anti-fascist” groups present at the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville last month, where James Fields, a 20-year-old white nationalist, drove through a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one person and injuring dozens of others. The group’s activists led the toppling of Confederate monuments following the violence in Charlottesville.

Workers’ World’s stated goals including igniting an international socialist revolution and “the shutdown of the Pentagon and the use of the war budget” — that is, the funding for the Department of Defense — “to improve the lives of the working class and especially the oppressed peoples.”

[END REPORT]

********

Congress better wait on Irma's track before making big payouts to Houston UPDATE 2:15 PM EDT

UPDATE - Latest advisory

The update is from Weather Underground's latest analysis of Irma (Threat increasing for Cuba, Florida, from intensifying Irma), although I question the time stamp on the report, 4:36 PM September 4; I'll assume it's meant to be AM.
END UPDATE

Irma is a classic "Cape Verde hurricane," a type of hurricane that forms in the far eastern Atlantic, near the Cape Verde Islands (now known as the Cabo Verde Islands), then tracks all the way across the Atlantic, CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller said.Cape Verde storms frequently become some of the largest and most intense hurricanes. Examples are Hurricane Hugo, Hurricane Floyd, and Hurricane Ivan.

The above is from CNN's latest Irma report, updated at 2:03 AM EDT today, on Irma's track. It is too early to have an inkling whether Irma will hit the continental U.S. For now:

Hurricane Irma is churning west across the Atlantic, putting parts of the Caribbean on watch and prompting warnings for the US mainland to be prepared should the storm head that way.

Sunday evening Irma was traversing the ocean as a Category 3 hurricane, with winds of 115 mph (185 kmh). It is expected to pick up strength over the next 48 hours, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.Irma's center was about 680 miles east of the Leeward Islands, a group of islands in the West Indies that start east of Puerto Rico, the NHC said.
[...]

Irma is expected to remain a "dangerous major hurricane" through the week and could directly affect the British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Turks and Caicos, and the Bahamas, the agency said, warning that residents of the Lesser Antilles should monitor the hurricane's progress.

[...]

********

Houston now 95 percent dried out. Update on Houston recovery.

See also: HARVEY WRECKS UP TO A MILLION CARS IN CAR-DEPENDENT HOUSTON; Wired, September 3

Funding battle looms as Texas sees Harvey damage at up to $180 billion

September 3, 3017

Reuters
[first part of report is about funding the storm recovery]

95 PERCENT DRY

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the city expected most public services and businesses to be restored by Tuesday, the first day after Monday’s Labor Day holiday.

“Over 95 percent of the city is now dry. And I‘m encouraging people to get up and let’s get going,” Turner told NBC News.

Even so, Houston mandated the evacuation of thousands of people on the western side of town on Sunday to accommodate the release of water from two reservoirs that otherwise might sustain damage. The storm stalled over Houston, dumping more than 50 inches (1.3 m) on the region.

Houston cut off power to homes on Sunday to encourage evacuations. The area was closed off on Sunday and military vehicles were stationed on the periphery to take people out.

Karen Waltmon, 58, who was returning to her home in one of the neighborhoods, said she wondered if parts of the city would have to be razed.

[...]

About 37,000 refugees stayed overnight in 270 shelters in Texas plus another 2,000 in seven Louisiana shelters, the highest number reported by the American Red Cross.

Some 84,700 homes and businesses were without power on Sunday, down from a peak of around 300,000, according to the region’s major electric companies.

In Crosby, Texas, an Arkema (AKE.PA) chemical plant that ran out of electricity needed to keep volatile organic peroxide refrigerated will burn the remaining containers as a “proactive measure,” company and Harris County fire officials said in a statement.

Officials last week evacuated residents and set up a 1.5-mile (2.4-km) perimeter around the area.

Energy disruptions pushed up gasoline futures to a two-year high ahead of the holiday weekend, but major refineries started to come back online on Friday.

Colonial Pipeline, the biggest U.S. fuel system, expects to reopen a Texas segment of its network on Monday, when it will resume transporting distillates from Houston to Hebert, Texas, the company said on Sunday, adding that it would be ready to start moving gasoline on Tuesday.

Those repairs would restore to normal Colonial’s entire pipeline from Houston to Linden, New Jersey, relieving shortages between Texas and the U.S. Northeast.

Reporting by Marianna Parraga and Gary McWilliams in Houston and Steve Holland in Washington; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Andrew Hay

[END REPORT]

Wildfires invade a metropolis. Los Angeles La Tuna fire update.

"It's actually really scary because we've never had a fire this close to us," said Tujunga resident Jessica Fernstrom.

La Tuna fire above downtown Burbank on September 3

Photo from Heavy.com website (includes map of fire area as of Sept 3)

• fire only about 30 percent contained. 
• winds had shifted several times during the day, making the fire spread in multiple directions and increasing the challenges for firefighters.
• More than 1,000 firefighters from multiple agencies were fighting the flames well into Sunday.
• Weather conditions were better, with temperatures slightly dropping throughout the Southland.
• Area winds, however, were expected to be the "biggest challenge" for firefighters.
• Firefighters took the unusual step of keeping their water-dropping helicopters in the air at night, outfitting crew members with night-vision goggles.

Updated 1 hour 28 minutes ago 

La Tuna Fire chars 7,003 acres, reaches 30 percent containment, fire officials say

By Chelsea Edwards, Amy Powell, Melissa MacBride and ABC7.com staff

KABC - ABC7 News, Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (KABC) --

The La Tuna Fire charred more than 7,000 acres and reached 30 percent containment with the help of sudden rains and cooler weather Sunday night.

All evacuation orders were lifted Sunday for residents in Sunland-Tujunga, Burbank and Glendale after the large fire moved away from the areas.

Earlier Sunday, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles County due to the effects of the blaze.

By Sunday night, the fire had grown from 5,865 acres to 7,003 acres, according to fire officials.

About 1,400 people from the city were in temporary shelters, but 90 percent of them have gone back home as firefighters gained the upper hand on the blaze.

Officials believe the La Tuna Fire is the largest blaze by acreage in Los Angeles city history.

Brown's announcement said a Federal Fire Management Assistance Grant has been requested and approved due the fire's magnitude, which requires the "combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat."

The declaration states the blaze is beyond the control of a single government and calls on state agencies to employ state personnel, equipment and facilities to help fight the La Tuna Fire.

The announcement comes after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed a declaration of emergency for the fire Saturday, calling on all the city's available resources to protect residents.

[VIDEO - Mayor, LAFD chief provide update on La Tuna Fire]

"The La Tuna Canyon Fire is an emergency that requires all available resources to protect our residents and keep our homes and other structures out of harm's way," Garcetti said. "We are grateful for the men and women of LAFD and all our partner agencies, for their heroic efforts to attempt to bring the fire under control and to keep people and their homes safe."

Garcetti's declaration calls on all city departments to take all necessary steps to protect life and property in the area affected by the fire.

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency has already authorized the use of federal funds to help firefighting efforts.

FEMA provides Fire Management Assistance Grants which can fund up to 75 percent of eligible firefighting costs. Expenses covered by the grants can include expenses for equipment, materials, supplies and mobilization and demobilization efforts related to fighting the fire.

The La Tuna Fire burned three homes and one shed. Cal Fire officials said the fire was also threatening 220KV power-lines.

More than 1,000 firefighters from multiple agencies were fighting the flames well into Sunday. Weather conditions were better, with temperatures slightly dropping throughout the Southland. Area winds, however, were expected to be the "biggest challenge" for firefighters.

Fire officials said four people suffered injuries in the blaze, but two were severe dehydration, other had minor burns and one person had an allergic reaction to a bee sting.

A flash flood watch was issued for many Mountain areas, including where the La Tuna Fire is burning, as well as other recent burn areas.

The watch is in place until 10 p.m., the NWS said, adding that burn areas will be especially at risk for debris flows if thunderstorms continue to develop.

MORE: Thunderstorms, rain hitting several SoCal areas Sunday

Southeast winds of 5-10 mph were fanning the flames on Saturday, sending embers to create new spot fires, said LAFD Capt. Erik Scott.

He said the winds had shifted several times during the day, making the fire spread in multiple directions and increasing the challenges for firefighters.



"We've increased the number of firefighters on scene," Scott said in a Saturday night briefing. "We have a very active fire that is spreading in multiple directions. However, we do feel we do have the appropriate quantity and type of resources on scene."

Two firefighters were treated for dehydration, but no other serious injuries were reported to firefighters or civilians.

A helicopter also apparently went through some mechanical difficulties and made a precautionary landing at Verdugo Hills High School. No injuries were reported.

The windswept blaze was burning in heavy hillside brush in the Sun Valley and Sunland-Tujunga areas, and then moved over the hills toward Burbank late Friday night.


Firefighters moved into structure defense mode to protect homes as residents were advised to evacuate immediately.

A smoke advisory was issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health for the San Gabriel Valley to the San Fernando Valley and Glendale as plumes billowed into the air. Residents were urged to limit outdoor activities.



Firefighters initially feared the flames would reach homes by midnight Friday. But the structure-protection efforts were able to hold off the flames until Saturday morning, when one home was lost near Verdugo Crestline Drive and Alene Drive in Sunland-Tujunga, officials said. Two other structures in that neighborhood were later destroyed.

Firefighters took the unusual step of keeping their water-dropping helicopters in the air at night, outfitting crew members with night-vision goggles. Officials said those goggles were purchased with funds donated to an LAFD foundation.

About 730 homes were evacuated on Saturday: 300 in Burbank, 250 in Glendale and 180 in Los Angeles, LAFD said.

In other nearby neighborhoods, nervous residents packed up essentials but stayed near their homes and watched the flames with a mix of fascination and dread.



"It's actually really scary because we've never had a fire this close to us," said Tujunga resident Jessica Fernstrom.

The blaze was first reported Friday around 1:30 p.m. in Sun Valley. Firefighters initially thought they had a good handle on the blaze. It only burned about a quarter acre of brush as it moved uphill.

"It was actually traveling in a northern direction (and) hopped the freeway, and we were initially worried about the homes on the northern side," said LAFD Capt. Branden Silverman.

"But then we had that storm cell come through. We had a little bit of rain, and that was enough to push the fire in a totally different direction," the captain said. "It started traveling south toward the Burbank city limits."

The blaze had shut down the 210 Freeway in both directions. It was reopened at 6 p.m. after authorities assessed the area.

During a Sunday afternoon press conference, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors plan to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday.

The flames and smoke did not immediately affect flights out of Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.

Los Angeles city and county agencies used water-dropping helicopters and Super Scoopers to help fight the flames from the air.

The cause of the fire was unknown.

[END REPORT]

*******

A look back at Red Cross efforts in Haiti

"Where did the half billion raised for Haiti go? The Red Cross won’t say."

Below I'm featuring only the closing observations in a 2015 ProPublica/NPR report on Red Cross activity in Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake, which I stumbled across while looking at a report at ProPublica on flooding issues in Houston, Texas. 

I had posted an article some years back by AP reporter Jonathan Katz on the disturbing Clinton Foundation activities in Haiti. But I'd expected nothing less from the Clintons; the allegations about the Red Cross I found to be very surprising, very upsetting.

Although I'm not going to follow up on the report at this time, the closing observations provide at least part of the answer to the haunting question: Where did all the donation money go? 

How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti ­and Built Six Homes

By Justin Elliott, ProPublica, and Laura Sullivan, NPR

June 3, 2015

ProPublica

Even as the group has publicly celebrated its work, insider accounts detail a string of failures
[...]

But the reality is that less money went to Haiti than 91 percent. That’s because in addition to the Red Cross’ 9 percent overhead, the other groups that got grants from the Red Cross also have their own overhead.

In one case, the Red Cross sent $6 million to the International Federation of the Red Cross for rental subsidies to help Haitians leave tent camps. The IFRC then took out 26 percent for overhead and what the IFRC described as program-related “administration, finance, human resources” and similar costs.

Beyond all that, the Red Cross also spends another piece of each dollar for what it describes as “program costs incurred by the American Red Cross in managing” the projects done by other groups.

The American Red Cross management and other costs consumed an additional 24 percent of the money on one project, according to the group’s statements and internal documents. The actual work, upgrading shelters, was done by the Swiss and Spanish Red Cross societies.

“It’s a cycle of overhead,” said Jonathan Katz, the Associated Press reporter in Haiti at the time of the earthquake who tracked post-disaster spending for his book, The Big Truck That Went By. “It was always going to be the American Red Cross taking a 9 percent cut, re-granting to another group, which would take out their cut.”

Given the results produced by the Red Cross projects in Haiti, Bellerive, the former prime minister, said he has a hard time fathoming what’s happened to donors’ money.

“Five hundred million dollars in Haiti is a lot of money,” he said. “I’m not a big mathematician, but I can make some additions. I know more or less the cost of things. Unless you don’t pay for the gasoline the same price I was paying, unless you pay people 20 times what I was paying them, unless the cost of the house you built was five times the cost I was paying, it doesn’t add up for me.”

***

This story was co-published with NPR. Mitzy-Lynn Hyacinthe contributed reporting. Design direction by David Sleight, production by Hannah Birch.

Read about how the Red Cross botched key elements of its mission after Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Isaac in PR Over People: The Red Cross' Secret Disaster. And about how the Red Cross' CEO has been serially misleading about where donors' dollars are going.

If you have information about the Red Cross or about other international aid projects, please email justin@propublica.org.

[END REPORT]

********

Antidepressants in American poop making shrimp suicidal

"The use of antidepressant drugs in the U.S. increased 65% between 2002 and 2014, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Portions of the drugs are excreted in human waste, and are now found in Great Lakes fish."
Frankly I am less concerned about how the problem could impact the multi-billion dollar sport fishing industry, as the report below indicates, and more concerned about the impacts on the ecosystem and the human brain and gene pool.

I am also increasingly troubled by the medical profession in the United States. I'm getting the feeling that between indiscriminately prescribed painkillers and psych drugs, too many American MDs are glorified pill-pushers for the pharmaceutical industry. I wonder if the doctors see where this is leading. Why not cut out the middle man and have representatives for drug companies diagnose and prescribe?

The large picture is also disturbing. We have evolved societies where billions of right hands have no idea what the left hands are doing, so to speak. The only way the problem with the antidepressant contamination of fish was found was because of advances in testing. Too many gates to watch, too few watchmen.

How antidepressants are ending up in Great Lakes fish

By Keith Matheny
Published 6:00 a.m. ET Sept. 1, 2017

Detroit Free Press

Scientists say antidepressants could change the ecosystem

A new study might depress anyone concerned with Great Lakes water quality.

Antidepressant drugs, making their way through an increasing number of people's bodies, getting excreted in small amounts into their toilets, and moving through the wastewater treatment process to lakes and rivers, are being found in multiple Great Lakes fish species' brains, new research by the University of Buffalo has found.

Researchers detected high concentrations of both the active ingredients and metabolites — byproducts of the parent drug — of popular antidepressant pharmaceuticals including Zoloft, Prozac, Celexa and Sarafem in the brains of fish caught in the Niagara River connecting Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.

Affected species included smallmouth and largemouth bass, rudd, rock bass, white bass, white and yellow perch, walleye, bowfin and steelhead. While the concentrations aren't potentially harmful to humans eating the fish, they are problematic, said University at Buffalo chemistry professor Diana Aga, the lead author of the study published Aug. 16 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

"It is a threat to biodiversity, and we should be very concerned," she said.

Previous research has shown antidepressants in water create "suicidal shrimp" that swim toward light instead of away from it, making them vulnerable to predator fish and birds, Aga said.

"Other research teams have shown that antidepressants can affect the feeding behavior of fish, or their survival instincts," Aga said. "Some fish won't acknowledge the presence of predators as much."

That has the potential to affect delicate ecological balances in the Great Lakes, already under siege from invasive species. Ultimately, it could disrupt the sport fishing that fuels a multibillion-dollar industry in Michigan.

Prior to her research, Aga expected that higher concentrations of the drugs would be found in larger fish, predators higher in the food web, due to bioaccumulation, a process by which big fish, eating medium-sized fish, that eat smaller fish, amplifies the concentration of contaminants each step of the way.

But that wasn't the case with the fish studied, "which means they are not getting it by eating smaller fish; they're getting it from being in the water," she said.

Sertraline, the active ingredient in Zoloft, was found at levels estimated 20 times higher than levels in Niagara River water. And levels of norsertraline, the drug's breakdown product, were even greater, reaching concentrations often hundreds of times higher than that found in the river. That means the drugs appear to be accumulating in the fish over their prolonged exposures to them, Aga said.

Concern for pharmaceutical contamination of lakes and rivers has risen with the emerging technological ability to detect the drugs in very small quantities in water bodies — and as use of the prescription drugs has exploded.

The percentage of Americans taking antidepressants rose 65% between 2002 and 2014, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. From 2011 to 2014, some 12.7% of Americans age 12 or older had taken antidepressant medication within the past month.

Most wastewater treatment plants don't screen for such drugs, only screening for waste solids and treating to kill E. coli bacteria.

"There is no way I could tell, because I am not measuring for those compounds," said Sree Mullapudi, director of wastewater operations and compliance at the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority. The utility provides wastewater treatment for Ypsilanti city and township, and seven other townships in the region, processing more than 8 billion gallons of sewage per year at its plant near Willow Run Airport.

If the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or Michigan Department of Environmental Quality confirmed negative impacts to the ecosystem from antidepressants, regulatory revisions would likely occur compelling wastewater treatment plants to implement filtration for those chemicals, Mullapudi said. But in an industry focused on meeting state and federal regulatory requirements, unless and until such a governmental mandate happens, few treatment plants would have the financial wherewithal to unilaterally take action, he said.

Noted Aga, "These plants are focused on removing nitrogen, phosphorus and dissolved organic carbon, but there are so many other chemicals that are not prioritized that impact our environment. As a result, wildlife are exposed to all of these chemicals.

"Fish are receiving this cocktail of drugs 24 hours a day, and we are now finding these drugs in their brains."

Aga said she will be partnering with fish biologists to look at the minimum levels at which exposures to antidepressants affect fish behavior and biology.

[END REPORT]

********

"Brush that hadn't burned in decades" creates largest wildfire in Los Angeles history

Matt Harman/AP

Largest wildfire in Los Angeles history forces hundreds to evacuate
By Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles

September 2, 2017 - 7:06 AM / Updated an hour ago
Reuters 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A wildfire on the northern edge of Los Angeles rapidly grew on Saturday into what the mayor called the largest blaze in the city’s history, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of people and the closure of a major highway.

The 5,000-acre (2,023-hectare) La Tuna Fire, named after the canyon area where it erupted on Friday, has led authorities to evacuate more than 700 homes in a north Los Angeles neighborhood and in nearby Burbank and Glendale, officials said.

Authorities warned of erratic winds that could force them to widen the evacuation zone, after the fire destroyed three houses in Los Angeles on Saturday.

“Other than that, no loss of any property,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a news conference. “That is a pretty amazing thing.”

The fire was only 10 percent contained with more than 500 firefighters battling it.

The blaze in thick brush that has not burned in decades was slowly creeping down a rugged hillside on Saturday toward houses, with temperatures in the area approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), the Los Angeles Fire Department said in an alert.

“This fire, which broke out yesterday, we can now say is the largest fire in the history of L.A. city, in terms of its acreage,” Garcetti told reporters.

On Saturday night, Garcetti declared an emergency, ordering “all available resources” deployed to protect residents and property.

”This declaration also requests that the Governor declare an emergency - so that state and federal assistance can be provided to the City as quickly as possible,” Garcetti said in a statement.

The fire could make air unhealthy to breathe in parts of Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest city, and nearby suburbs, the South Coast Air Quality Management District said in an advisory.

Video posted online by media showed the fire burning along the 210 Freeway when it broke out on Friday, with smoke hovering over the roadway as cars passed by flames a few dozen feet away. Officials quickly closed a stretch of the freeway.

More than 400 miles (644 km) to the north, the so-called Ponderosa Fire has burned 3,880 acres, or about 1,570 hectares, and destroyed 32 homes in Butte County since it broke out on Tuesday. It prompted authorities to issue evacuation orders earlier this week to residents of some 500 homes.

The blaze was 51 percent contained.

California Governor Jerry Brown issued an emergency declaration on Friday to free up additional resources to battle the Ponderosa blaze.

Wildfires in the U.S. West have burned more than 7.1 million acres (2.9 million hectares) since the beginning of the year, about 50 percent more than during the same time period in 2016, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Keith Coffman in Denver. Editing by Helen Popper and Mary Milliken.

[END REPORT]

********

Solving age-old question of why the chicken crossed to the other side of the road

Trust Sputnik's team of video hunters to find this gem. The shots of all the chickens walking down the road are priceless.

Chinese Farmer Just Whistles to Call His Army of Trained Chickens for Dinner
16:18 - September 1, 2017
Sputnik

This fantastic footage captured on August 14 [and posted at YouTube] shows the moment hundreds of hungry free-range fowls fly down the hills and walk along the road after their farmer blows a whistle. These clever chickens know this signal means it’s time to eat!

Luo Haitao, a farmer from Tongren Prefecture in China's Guizhou Province, has developed his own chicken feeding technique: he just blows a whistle, and his flock of birds come to him from different hills to get their food.

[END REPORT]

You know what this world needs? A Pulitzer Price for simple practical solutions. 

********

"Three reasons Houston was a 'sitting duck' for Harvey flooding"

By David Schaper
August 31, 2017 - 6:35 PM EDT
NPR

There isn't a city in the United States, and there are probably very few anywhere in the world, that could have handled Hurricane Harvey's 50 inches of rain without significant flooding.

But Harvey was Houston's third flood in three years to surpass the "100 year flood" mark. Urban planners and civil engineers say a combination of natural and man-made factors has created a chronic drainage problem that left the city especially vulnerable to Harvey's torrential rains.

Here are three reasons Houston was, in the words of one expert, a "sitting duck" for catastrophic flooding.

1. Flat landscape

Houston sits just under 50 feet above sea level and is among the flattest major metropolitan areas in the U.S. "We have a slope that is less than one foot per mile," says Phil Bedient, who teaches civil and environmental engineering at Rice University. "And because of that, we have very slow draining systems."

That system consists of natural bayous and man-made channels that funnel water from west to east to flow out of the city and into Galveston Bay. Bedient says such a gradual slope doesn't allow for floodwaters to move fast enough, so it backs up into nearby streets, parking lots, homes and buildings.

2. Aging infrastructure

"The stormwater drainage system is in desperate need of updating," Sam Brody, a professor at Texas A&M, Galveston, told NPR's Morning Edition on Wednesday.

Brody specializes in natural hazard mitigation. He and others in his field point to old and inadequate drains and pipes that can handle at most 1 to 1 1/2 inches of rain per hour. Hurricane Harvey's deluge overwhelmed them.

Many of the area's bayous are too small to even handle Houston's frequent heavy rainstorms. The main bayou through downtown, Buffalo Bayou, "is pretty much still a dirt mud channel like you would have seen 100 years ago," U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist Jeff East told The Associated Press.

Some of the bayous can handle only 10-year storms. That means there's a 10 percent chance of a storm meeting or exceeding that capacity in any given year, explains Joe Schofer, a civil engineering professor at Northwestern University.

"That's a really high probability. If you were buying lottery tickets with a 10 percent chance, that would be a good way to get rich," he says. "What you're saying is you're planning to be overwhelmed by a storm that is relatively high probability."

Expanding the bayous to increase their capacity is difficult because the county didn't leave enough room around them for widening. Where they can be widened, projects have been slow and inadequate, according to Rice University's Bedient.

In addition, there are only two major reservoirs to hold stormwater during heavy rain events, the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, which East, Bedient and others say are inadequate.

The earthen dams containing those reservoirs are about 70 years old. There has already been spillover, and officials have had to release some of the water pressing on the dams to help keep them intact, adding to flooding in neighborhoods downstream.

3. Rapid growth without zoning regulations

Houston's population has exploded in recent years. At nearly 2.4 million people, it is now the fourth largest city in the country. If you include the rest of surrounding Harris County, that number goes up to more than 4.5 million.

"When you've got rapid growth and development, along with that comes roadways, rooftops, and parking lots," says Brody.

Because Houston lacks a zoning code, builders aren't required to use flood mitigation techniques like green areas to absorb rainwater or retention ponds for runoff.

According to Brody, "all of that impervious surface makes it very difficult for the water to drain into the soil. Instead, it runs into the bayous and, in this case, into people's homes."

Brody adds that a lot of those roads, buildings and parking lots have been built up over grass and prairie lands to the west of the city.

"That compromises the natural infrastructure of this very flat and low-lying landscape, making it difficult for the water to absorb and be held by the prairie and the wetlands, and slowly release into Galveston Bay."

Scientists have been saying for years that Houston is extremely vulnerable to hurricanes and more should be done to protect the city. Over a year ago, an investigative series by The Texas Tribune and ProPublica pointed out how ill-prepared the region was.

Houston after Harvey

"It's not reasonable or fair to say, 'You people in Houston could have done a better job and it's too bad you're going through this,' " Northwestern's Schofer says.

"Harvey's an opportunity, when it's all done and everything is dried out, to step back and say what can we do to protect ourselves in the future because there will be a future. This kind of thing will happen again."

In fact, a 2016 analysis by AP showed that the number of extreme downpours — those with 10 inches of rain or more — are happening twice as often as they used to in Houston.

Going back into developed areas to retrofit stormwater systems and adding green space will be difficult, but Rice's Bedient says the government should seriously consider buying out homes and businesses that are flooding over and over again and turning those areas into retention ponds.

"We're so flat and the drainage is so slow in many areas that we should consider the idea of holding some of this stormwater back and then pumping it out at a later time," he says.

Brody says the discussion needs to also go beyond engineering and to policies on a regional scale "and look at where we're putting people, pavement and structures in relation to flood vulnerability."

"We need to invest in protection and we need to put resources against this so we don't suffer these damages in the future," says Schofer, who notes that similar ideas were discussed and then dropped after Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy and other flooding disasters.

"It's really too easy to lose the momentum a year or two or three after the storm and to not make the sacrifices really to buy and build the infrastructure that gives us some protection against a storm of this magnitude."

"The pattern is really clear," Schofer says. "It doesn't make sense to ignore this in the aftermath and fail to build the protection we really need."

[END REPORT]
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"Explosions rock flood-crippled chemical plant near Houston"

By FRANK BAJAK and REESE DUNKLIN
August 31, 2017 - 9:13 PM EDT
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS via ABC News (U.S.)

At least 2 tons of highly unstable chemicals used in such products as plastics and paint exploded and burned at a flood-crippled plant near Houston early Thursday, sending up a plume of acrid black smoke that stung the eyes and lungs.

The blaze at the Arkema Inc. chemical plant burned out around midday, but emergency crews continued to hold back because of the danger that eight other trailers containing the same compound could blow, too.

No serious injuries were reported. But the blast added a new hazard to Hurricane Harvey's aftermath and raised questions about the adequacy of the company's master plan to protect the public in the event of an emergency in the flood-prone Houston metropolitan area of 5.6 million people.

"This should be a wake-up call (for) all kinds of plants that are storing and converting reactive chemicals in areas which have high population densities," said Nicholas Ashford, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology expert.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Texasenvironmental regulators called the health risks minimal in Crosby but urged residents downwind to stay indoors with windows closed to avoid inhaling the smoke.

Arkema had warned earlier in the week that an explosion of organic peroxides stored at the plant was imminent because Harvey's floodwaters engulfed the backup generators and knocked out the refrigeration necessary to keep the compounds from degrading and catching fire.

All employees had been pulled from the plant before the blast, and up to 5,000 people living within 1? miles had been warned to evacuate on Tuesday.

Two explosions in the middle of the night blew open a trailer containing the chemicals, lighting up the sky with 30- to 40-foot (9- to 12-meter) flames in the small farm and ranching community of Crosby, 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Houston, authorities said. Aerial footage showed a trailer carcass, its sides melted, burning in a flooded lot.

The Texas environmental agency called the smoke "especially acrid and irritating" and said it can impair breathing and inflame the eyes, nose and throat.

Fifteen sheriff's deputies complained of respiratory irritation. They were examined at a hospital and released.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, an independent federal agency, launched an investigation into the accident.

The plant is along a corridor near Houston that contains one of the biggest concentrations of refineries, pipelines and chemical plants in the country.

Andrea Morrow, a spokeswoman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said the agency had not received any reports of trouble at other chemical plants in the hurricane-stricken zone.

Texas A&M chemical safety expert Sam Mannan said the risk management plan that Arkema was required by state and federal law to develop did not address how it would deal with power and refrigeration failures or flooding.

A 2016 analysis he did with university colleagues ranked the Crosby plant among the 70 or so facilities with the biggest potential to cause harm in greater Houston, based on such factors as the type and amount of chemicals and the population density.

Arkema, which is headquartered in France, did not immediately return calls on the plant's contingency planning.

Rachel Moreno, a spokeswoman for the fire marshal of Harris County, which encompasses Houston, would not discuss details of the risk management plan, such as how high the plant's backup generators were placed.

Arkema officials did not directly notify local emergency managers of the generator failure, Moreno said. It came, instead, by way of the plant's workers, who told the Crosby Volunteer Fire Department about it when they were rescued during the hurricane, she said.

On Thursday, Rich Rennard, an executive at Arkema, said the chemical compounds were transferred to refrigerated containers after power was lost. But he said those containers failed too, causing the chemicals in one unit to burn. Rennard said more explosions were expected from the remaining containers.

State and federal regulators have cited Arkema for safety and environmental violations at the Crosby plant dating back more than a decade, records show.

Texas' environmental commission penalized the company at least three times for a total of about $27,000, some of which was deferred pending corrective actions. Arkema denied the allegations.

During the last five years of compliance monitoring at the plant, state officials found five Clean Air Act-related deviations and two deviations from federal requirements on waste management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency records show.

In June 2006, the company had failed to prevent unauthorized emissions during a two-hour warehouse fire. Records show a pallet of organic peroxide was poorly stored, resulting in the blaze, and more than a ton of volatile organic compounds were discharged.

The biggest penalty, about $20,000, came in December 2011 after the commission found Arkema had failed to keep thermal oxidizers, used to decompose hazardous gases, at high enough temperatures over the course of several months.

More recently, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration in February fined Arkema nearly $110,000 — later reduced to just over $90,000 — over 10 serious safety violations found during an inspection.

Records obtained by the AP show Arkema had kept using some equipment even when safety systems weren't working properly, and didn't inspect or test it as recommended. In one unit, the company also didn't ensure equipment there was safe or keep employees up to date on their training.

Arkema is also embroiled in a series of lawsuits stemming from a deadly accident involving one of its contracts at a rail yard in New Orleans.

Arkema is defending itself in federal court after one worker died and two others were seriously injured after they were assigned to clean the inside of a rail car tank that had been filled with a harmful chemical. The men, who were working for a contractor with a long history of safety problems, were not wearing respirators and collapsed almost immediately, according to lawsuits filed by the survivors and the family of the man who died.

In court documents, Arkema denied responsibility for the accident, saying it had trusted its contractor to run the operation safely.

———

Dunklin reported from Dallas. Associated Press writers Emily Schmall in Dallas; Michael Biesecker, Matthew Daly and Seth Borenstein in Washington; Luke Sheridan in New York and Angeliki Kastanis in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

[END REPORT]

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"U.S. gives a further $91 million in food aid to drought-hit Ethiopia"

By Lesley Wroughton
August 31, 2017
Reuters

(ADDIS ABABA) The United States will give a further $91 million in food aid to Ethiopia to avert famine in the southeast, U.S. aid chief Mark Green said on Thursday, as he urged the government to open up political dialogue to all sides after deadly protests last year.

The funding raises to $450 million the amount given by the United States to tackle the drought in Ethiopia, one of six countries affected.

The extra $91 million in humanitarian aid "will provide additional emergency food assistance and vital medical care" for Ethiopians, Green said after a meeting with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in the capital Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian government and humanitarian groups warned in June the country would run out of food aid for 7.8 million people hit by severe drought, which has also affected Kenya, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria.

Green said he had also urged the government to take steps to create a "political space" to allow opponents a voice after last year's protests in which hundreds of people were killed, and to uphold constitutionally guaranteed rights.

The protests, initially triggered by a land row, highlighted tensions in the country where the government has delivered strong economic growth but faces criticism from opponents and rights groups that it has reduced political freedoms.

Human rights groups have accused the government of arbitrary arrests and politically motivated prosecutions to silence its opponents.

Ethiopia, which is still associated with a devastating famine in the 1980s, was hit by severe drought in the northern highland region last year. With the help of foreign food aid and government funds, a famine was avoided.

The drought is now affecting Ethiopia's lowlands bordering Somalia where rains are late and herders have lost livestock, prompting international concern of famine in the south.

Ethiopia's government allocated $272 million extra in 2015 and a further $109 million last year from its own coffers to deal with the drought. Green urged it to do the same to tackle the drought in the southeast.

"The U.S. will continue to provide assistance to vulnerable people, but we all agree that host country partners must also be willing to step up during crises and the prime minister indicated he was looking to do so," Green said.

Under pressure from proposed steep cuts to the USAID budget, Green has reassured countries on his Africa trip, which also included Sudan, that the United States would continue to provide humanitarian assistance during crises.

(Editing by Maggie Fick and Adrian Croft)

[END REPORT]

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Beaumont, Texas loses 70 percent of its drinking water due to Harvey

High and Dry: Harvey ‘Indefinitely' Knocks Out Water Source of Major Texas City
August 31, 2017 - 22:12 updated September 1 - 06:28
Sputnik

Residents in Beaumont, Texas, were handed yet another short straw on Wednesday after the city lost both its main and secondary water pumps due to high flood waters that were brought on by Hurricane Harvey.

Though Harvey has moved out of eastern Texas, the rainfall the city was hit with on Tuesday and Wednesday caused the Neches River to overflow and damage Beaumont's main pump, which is located along the swollen river.

According to Kyle Hayes, Beaumont's city manager, the main pump provided the community with 70 percent of its water supply. The secondary source, at Loeb Wells in Hardin County, Texas, only provided about 30 percent.

"We will get through this like we did with hurricanes Rita and Ike," Hayes said at a news conference Thursday. "We are going to do everything we can to restore water to our citizens."

Hayes later indicated at the conference that officials have to wait for floodwaters to recede before they are able to determine the extent of the damage.

With a population of over 100,000 people left without a drinkable water source, city officials said three water stations would be created for residents. Their locations have not yet been announced.

[...]

Supermarkets and convenience stores weren't the only ones forced to pick up and move: hospitals were also hit hard by the water pump failure.

"Due to the failure of the city's water pump, it is in the best interest of our current patients to transfer to other acute facilities," Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas said in a statement Thursday. "Due to the city-wide lack of services, we have no other alternative but to discontinue all services which will include emergency services."

"This is being done immediately," the notice concluded.

According to the National Weather Service, Beaumont has been hit with 45.73 inches of rain since the storm began.

[END REPORT]

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