Disasters

"The warming climate is melting sea ice, opening U.S. Arctic waters to shipping and oil and gas development, but the National Research Council warned today that U.S. personnel, equipment, transportation, communication, navigation, and safety resources are not adequate for an Arctic oil spill response."

"Hundreds of West Virginia residents who sought emergency-room care in January were treated for symptoms that were 'consistent' with exposure to MCHM, the primary chemical that leaked from the Freedom Industries tank farm into the region’s Elk River drinking-water supply, according to a review made public Wednesday."

"In response to a deadly train derailment last summer, the Canadian government Wednesday ordered the country’s railroads to phase out tens of thousands of older, puncture-prone tank cars from crude oil transportation within three years."

"WEST, Texas -- Although the cause of the deadly blast at West Fertilizer Co. remains a mystery, a federal agency on Tuesday said the tragedy was preventable, citing shortcomings in existing regulations and standards at all levels of government."

"The Oregon Department of Transportation, the state’s rail safety overseer, says it will no longer ask railroads for reports detailing where crude oil moves through the state after The Oregonian successfully sought to have them made public."

"None of the tank cars currently in service carrying Bakken crude oil is adequate for carrying that product, a rail industry representative testified Tuesday, but until new federal regulations are completed, the use of inadequate cars will continue."

"A year after the West Fertilizer explosion, the nation is taking its first steps to repair the failed system for preventing chemical accidents. But whether the fixes will work, or even become reality, remains to be seen. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who chairs the Senate environment and public works committee, noted the disaster’s first anniversary with a call for action."

"Four years after the Deepwater Horizon spill, oil is still washing up on the long sandy beaches of Grand Isle, Louisiana, and some islanders are fed up with hearing from BP that the crisis is over."

"Massachusetts Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren today called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to direct the licensees of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts and Seabrook Station in New Hampshire to immediately implement mitigation measures against seismic risks that were previously unknown."

"The government withheld findings on estimated radiation exposure for Fukushima returnees for six months, even though levels exceeded the long-term target of 1 millisievert a year at more than half of surveyed locations."