EPA Fines Sims Metal $189K for Polluting SF Bay

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice announced the $189,000 fine against Sims Metal Management on Thursday September 18th over allegations that it polluted the San Francisco Bay with toxic metal debris. The EPA charged the company with allowing toxic dust from metal to fall off a conveyor system and into a creek that feeds into the San Francisco Bay since at least the early 1990’s. As part of a settlement agreement, the recycling company will be required to pay the cost of cleanup in addition to the fine.

Sims Metal spokeswoman Jill Rodby said the company has implemented a number of best practices around the conveyor and agreed to the settlement without acknowledging any wrongdoing.

Source: NBC Bay Area

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Good As New Parts From Boeing For Half the Price?

Bloomberg just published an enthralling article about Boeing’s strategy behind whether or not they should refurbish older used airline parts. The article first explains the situation, goes into an industry overview, then defines the problem/opportunity, goes into examples and lastly their competition. Here’s a summary:

There are “potential riches in the aircraft that land in aviation’s junkyards as airlines ditch older jets for models that burn less fuel”. Also, Boeing is the world’s largest plane maker and so they may be in the market for a salvage company that recycles engines, landing gear and other components from scrapped jetliners.

Right now Boeing is in the maintenance, repairs and spare-parts business which has been profitable but they have been contracting out the dismantling of used planes that Boeing buys so this part of the business is what Boeing is considering adopting.

There’s a $3.2 billion market for used parts and this figure is growing since airlines commonly discard planes way before their 30-year service lives.

Some of the companies that Boeing might have looked at acquiring in their desired space are Aircraft Demolition LLC and AAR Corp. Also, it was reported that in January of this year, Fort Lauderdale raised $500 million from clients

In terms of problem/opportunity there’s risk that if Boeing deals used parts at a price that’s as much as 50% cheaper, and is certified to be as good as new, their new aircraft parts sector will suffer the consequence. Considering that 6,000 jetliners are expected to be driven out of service over the next decade due to improvements in fuel savings engineering, refurbished jetliner parts might help Boeing keep older air craft afloat longer.

We’ve posted a few articles on the shift towards greener skies, here are a few hits:

https://mygreenhalo.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/virgin-america-flies-the-greenest-skies/

and

https://mygreenhalo.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/solar-power-plane-preparing-for-around-the-world/

We hope you enjoy them and please, let us know what you think on Twitter @GreenHaloUSA

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-07/boeing-s-treasure-is-others-trash-in-parts-recycling.html

 

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Lake Erie Toxins Contaminated Toledo’s Drinking Water

Algae blooms in Lake Erie, one of the five Great Lakes in North America that borders Canada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan and contaminated Toledo, Ohio’s tap water to a scary point. Phosphorous and nitrogen from farm runoff, livestock runoff, and sewage systems make the algae in this lake bloom, it’s also a shallow, warm lake that also contributes to algal growth. On Saturday, August 2^nd, 2014, the City of Toledo put an alert warning people not to drink or bathe in the water from the city water supply which affected about 400,000-500,000 residents.

The toxin is called microcystin which is produced by the algae microcystis. This toxin causes skin rashes, may result in vomiting and liver damage if ingested. The U.S. EPA and the Ohio EPA showed that the toxin returned to safe levels just a few days later but the issue is “too close for comfort” according to the Toledo Blade.

Source: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/toledos-water-supply-was-contaminated-toxins-algae-180952242/?no-ist

The most effective way to combat tap water pollution

Did you know that 99% of the molecules inside of your body are water? Drinking water is huge! That’s why when we read about contaminates that are in water nowadays that can’t be removed with current water processing plant technologies it felt devastating. Across some regions such as India it’s essential that everyone purify their own water and for this reason, bottles of purified water are often toted around town wherever people go.

It seems like this article focuses on U.S. water treatment, and it pointed out that common medication such as anti-depressants, birth control and antibiotics do not get filtered out of our tap water! This leaves the responsibility up to the consumer if they don’t want to drink water filled with chemicals. In addition to medication pollution in tap water, other contaminates in municipal water and well-water may include pesticides, herbicides, and volatile organic chemicals.

Our source also has a list of good filters to buy that can get rid of these chemicals. The best water filtration system is a carbon block filter because it will “remove all the bad stuff” and reverse osmosis filtration systems are another option. The main difference between these two filters is mainly that the reverse osmosis filtration system will remove trace minerals from what which over time can be problematic.

(Source: http://naturallysavvy.com/live/5-things-about-drinking-water-everyone-needs-to-know#.U7yC_M5f3QY.twitter )

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The Portland-Montreal Pipe Line: Victory?

The Portland-Montreal Pipe Line (PMPL) carries crude oil between South Portland, Maine and Montreal, Quebec. The PMPL was built in the beginning of World War II to transport the oil shipments to Canada to central Canada. The Portland-Montreal Pipe Line was originally finished in 1941 which could transport oil to Montreal from The USA. Today the Port of Portland is the largest volume oil port on the Eastern Seaboards because of the PMPL.

At the beginning of 2008 the PMPL parties looked into expanding and/or reversing the flow of the PMPL since crude oil reserves are increasing in western Canada. The Athabasca oil sands in Alberta, Canada for one have also been in the news a lot recently because they have bitumen or heavy crude oil. Since the modern method of oil production from heavy crude oil causes devastation to the natural environment and human health, the South Portland, Maine area recently made the decision to keep tar sands out of its port.

The PMPL Corp. says that “the ban won’t hold up in court”.

More from:

http://www.npr.org/sections/environment/

http://www.pmpl.com/

and http://updates.mainetoday.com/updates/021895.html

 

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Inspirational and #Educational #Sustainability Across the U.S.A.

Did you know that Chicago, IL has become the epicenter for LEED-certified buildings?

How about the fact that landscaping designed to conserve water is called Xeriscaping and it’s big in Denver, CO?

Freshkills landfill in New York, NY is a landfill that’s three-times the size of Central Park and it’s being worked on so that it can be turned into a park!

Portland, OR is home to the Bicycle Transportation Alliance whose mission it is to create healthy, sustainable communities by make bicycling safe, convenient and accessible.

 

Source: http://ecowatch.com/2014/07/14/ranking-sustainability-programs-u-s/

and 

http://btaoregon.org/

 

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Vermicomposting tips and tricks

Sustainable America put out an infographic about how to compost in small places like an apartment building. It’s a common concern especially for those who cook and have food scraps or those who are gardeners (composting makes some of the most nutrient rich soil!). So how do you compost in your apartment without experiencing weird odors? Look here:

 

( Source: http://www.sustainableamerica.org/

And

https://wastetracking.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/foodfuelfuture-sustainable-americas-infographic-on-composting-in-small-areas/ )

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Feel like you should clean-up #OurOcean2014 ? We are!

Litter from the streets usually makes its way to the ocean and the chances of litter harming any of the wild life on its “way to the bay” are huge and it’s extremely devastating.

The U.S. Embassy Manila’s Public Affairs Section just released a wonderful guide on how to organize a clean-up. There are simple guidelines for what to do 1 week before the clean-up, how to organize the clean-up 2 weeks before the date, on the date, and after the date making this quick and easy! Another awesome thing about this document:

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/manila/19452/pdfs/Coastal%20Clean-up%20Toolkit.pdf

Is that it shows you what tags will attract people to help you and to help you gain visibility to spread the word. There are trending Twitter, Facebook and Instagram tags right now such as #OurOcean2014 and #PHcares4oceans that can make clean-ups this year different than previous years.

Please Tweet us @GreenHaloUSA if we inspired you to clean-up #OurOcean2014 !

 

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The Production of Bio-products as a Source of Energy and Waste Water Treatment

The fifth International Engineering Invention & Innovation Exhibition (i-ENVEX 2014) in Kangar just wrapped up and the goal medalists beat out more than 87 entries with their project on the production of bio-products as a source of energy and waste water treatment.

The goal medalists are from the UCSI University chemical engineering and the students names are Jing Ren, Selvaraja, Chun Man and Shapnathayammal. The team, including Teoh Kai Wen developed an alternative fuel source that helps overcome fossil fuel dependence, and also reduces the pollution resulting from fossil fuel production. “It combines both the immobilization of cellulase enzyme (attachment of cellulase to a solid support) and functionalization (surface modification) of multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) processes,” Jing Ren explained. Jing Ren also said that: “The past few decades have seen cellulase enzyme being used as the catalyst in industrial processes but large quantities are often involved and the associated purchase cost for raw cellulase is very high”.

The raw material used in this project was palm oil sludge, which was usually disposed after palm oil production. The chemical engineers converted the waste into different products, “bio-oil” and “biochar” by processing the palm oil sludge with pyrolysis.

 

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Education/2014/06/08/Kudos-for-turning-waste-to-fuel/

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Coconut oil as biofuel for an island is 1 thing to add to the amazing list of coconut uses

Tokelau, a New Zealand island has an abundance of coconuts but the same can’t be said for other natural resources that help us survive. For this reason, Tokelau’s leader Foua Toloa announced in 2009 that the island will switch to using coconuts and solar power to provide all of the energy for the island. At the moment, diesel is administered to the island from New Zealand to meet the island’s electricity demands (about 42,000 gallons annually). In addition to diesel, gasoline and kerosene is also imported to the island.

In Tokelau, most of the population has modern appliances, including satellite TV and Internet. It’s astonishing to think that the island can run off of solar power and coconut oil but we applaud Foua Toloa and Tokelau for being so bold.  

The new energy plan is to transfer most of the islands’ power generation to 93% photovoltaic solar arrays and biofuel from coconuts will supply the remaining 7% of power generated in Tokelau. Some say that this effort is purely symbolic but we should note that this is part of an effort amount South Pacific island nations to encourage renewable energy systems.

Source: http://www.fastcoexist.com/1678915/a-tiny-pacific-island-is-now-powered-by-coconuts

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