Saturday, February 19, 2005

Lead in Environment Causing Violent Crime - Study

Well, with the study report Zero into the cause of violents is Lead.

Then the steps we need to do is:

1. Consummer's Awareness Program.

2. Water Authorities Must Not Lower The Standard of the acceptable contaminations

3. Drinking Water Filter need To filtered the Contaminations Before Drinking

4. Reduce The Usage of Gasoline

5. Hydrogen, Solar or Other Clean Energy Source Shall Be Promote To minimism Lead emission


Yahoo! News - Lead in Environment Causing Violent Crime - Study: "Lead in Environment Causing Violent Crime - Study

Fri Feb 18, 2:08 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lead left in paint, water, soil and elsewhere may not only be affecting children's intelligence but may cause a significant proportion of violent crime, a U.S. researcher argued Friday.

He said the U.S. government needs to do more to lower lead levels in the environment and parents need to think more about where their children may be getting exposed to lead.

'When environmental lead finds its way into the developing brain, it disturbs neural mechanisms responsible for regulation of impulse. That can lead to antisocial and criminal behavior,' said Dr. Herbert Needleman, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Needleman's team, using a technique called X-ray fluorescence, found very low levels of lead in the bones of children.

Needleman cited several studies that associate crime with high levels of lead either in the bodies of those accused or in the environments they came from, including one that showed the average bone lead levels of 190 juvenile delinquents were higher than those of adolescents not charged with crimes.

His study suggested that between 18 percent and 38 percent of delinquent crimes in the Pittsburgh area could be attributed to lead toxicity in the adolescents.

Another one tested 300 delinquents and found those with higher lead levels reported more aggressive feelings or behavior disorders.

'The brain, particularly the frontal lobes, are important in the regulation of behavior,' Needleman told a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (news - web sites).

'Exposure to lead, at doses below those which bring children to medical attention, is associated with increased aggression, disturbed attention and delinquency. A meaningful strategy to reduce crime is to eliminate lead from the environment of children.'

Taking lead out of most gasoline has contributed to a sharp reduction in the level of lead in the blood of Americans over the past 30 years.

But lead is still found in paint, some types of fuel for older vehicles, older water pipes and in the soil."

Friday, February 18, 2005

Western storms help raise Lake Mead water level

As you can see from the news below, even the 2.5 months of storm, the Water in Lake Mead still fall short the normal & it is only at 58% capacity.

Southern California have been buying water from Colorado river as well as Lake mead for the demand.

It is essential to ensure that the Water conservations shall continue, so that the people in Southern California shall not be facing the suffering of Water Rationing.

Western storms help raise Lake Mead water level

LAS VEGAS (AP) — This winter's wet storms helped raise Lake Mead water levels almost 7.5 feet in January, and the water could rise another 2.5 feet by the end of February, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says.

But with Friday's water level at 1,140 feet above sea level, the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam remains well below normal, at about 58% capacity.

"The water's up, but it's not high yet," Bob Walsh, Bureau of Reclamation spokesman, said Friday. "We're still in a drought. That's key."

Water officials expect the lake will drop 12.5 feet by the end of the year as the region's drought continues into its sixth year and as water is pumped out to Las Vegas and other areas that use the lake's water. It would still be more than half full.

Flooding last month set records on rivers and washes feeding Lake Mead from southern Nevada, southern Utah and northwestern Arizona.

That contributed to the largest monthly rise in the lake level since 1983, and the third-largest monthly rise since the Glen Canyon Dam opened upstream in 1966, forming Lake Powell in Utah.

With precipitation above average in the mountains of the Colorado Basin, water levels at Lake Powell were expected to be higher this summer than last summer, said Barry Wirth, spokesman for the bureau's regional office in Salt Lake City.

However, water levels aren't expected to rise on Lake Powell until snow begins melting in April, Wirth said Friday.

Lake Powell is about 35% full, and should rise about 45 feet to become more than half full this year, Wirth said.

Lake Mead benefitted from storms reducing water demand from farms and cities that draw from the Colorado River, and from gushing river tributaries above and below Hoover Dam.

"It all adds up to some extra storage in Lake Mead as a result of the storm systems in the last two and a half months or so," Walsh said.

Friday's water level at Lake Mead was 14 feet above the record lowest level in recent years, set at 1,126 feet last Sept. 30.

Las Vegas draws about 90% of its drinking water from Lake Mead, with intakes at 1,000 feet above sea level.

Despite the rise, the largest man-made reservoir in North America still finished last month down about 3 feet from the year before.

USATODAY.com - Western storms help raise Lake Mead water level

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Environmentalists allege dirty water seeping into drinking supply -- Stop Drinking Recycle Water Worldwide

In the earlier report about Singapore Newater Project. Singapore have use some facts & figures of USA using recyled waste Water for drinking. These includes the Orange County of Southern California & some eastern counties as well.

Now the following report talking about Tallahassee in Florida. Therefore, Sierra Cub concern is believe to be most influencial.

In the Case of recycling of waste water to become drinking water be it following UN study or national or Local government standard.

My observations is that it is still not a safe answer to the health of the consumers, knowing that whenever the standard cannot be met, then the authority would lower the standard. That is in return bad the consumer health.

Therefore, the best is to stop drinking recycling water. The recycled water should be use only for toilets..& those usage other than drinking fot the Great Health of our people.


Environmentalists allege dirty water seeping into drinking supply

DAVID ROYSE
Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The state Department of Environmental Protection allows dirty water that's injected into the ground to seep into drinking supplies, an environmental group said Thursday in a federal lawsuit. The agency responded that wells "are closely monitored to protect natural resources."

The dispute concerns the South District Wastewater Treatment Facility in Miami-Dade County, where 112 million gallons of treated wastewater per day is pumped more than 2,500 feet below the ground, according to the suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee.

The Sierra Club contends in the suit that since 1994, trillions of gallons of the treated sewage has migrated from the injection zone into the Floridan Aquifer, where drinking water is drawn from. The suit cites warnings from the federal Environmental Protection Agency going back to 1994, warning that the county could be in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

The Sierra Club is suing the state agency because it is charged with regulating injection wells, which dispose of treated sewage by pumped it into the ground. The agency should have ordered some sort of fix upon discovering that contaminants could be moving into the aquifer, but hasn't, according to the suit.

The department responded to the lawsuit in a statement that defended its regulation of the process.

"Underground injection wells in Florida meet rigorous standards and are closely monitored to protect natural resources," the statement said.

The department implied improvements in the process were needed when it signed a consent decree last year with Miami-Dade County that requires more treatment of the water before it's injected.

"An enforceable, legal order secured by the department is improving operations at the South District Facility, requiring Miami-Dade to improve its wastewater treatment to meet drinking water standards and conduct long-term water quality monitoring," the statement said. "Additionally, an extensive groundwater study will ensure potential future supplies of drinking water remain protected."

But Sierra Club lawyer Kristin Henry said that wastewater shouldn't be injected underground at all in Florida because of the nature of the geology.

"The injection zone does not have the geological structure to prevent that sewage from migrating into drinking water," Henry said.

Sierra Club officials acknowledged there isn't any proof that anyone is being harmed by contaminated drinking water, but they said there hasn't been adequate testing on the issue.

"Sewage in drinking water is a bad idea, period," Henry said.
Environmentalists allege dirty water seeping into drinking supply

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Water restrictions set to stay

Water Saving is a good practice for everyone on earth.

As a Kid in the 60's, I have won several Water Saving drawing Competitions.

In Singapore, using of Water Hose for washing the car may result to heavy fine by the authority.

When I travel in Australia & Canada, USA.. I found that many family like to have their own swimming pool. Perhaps it is better to convert these pools to water collection pool then swimming. My observations found most of the time, these peoplehardly use the pool. & water have been wasted.

In a report I read last year, Australia would have short of 50% of Water especially drinking Water.

Therefore, effort must be done now to ensured that enough water need to overcome these shortage.


Water restrictions set to stay
Milanda Rout 16feb05

VICTORIANS will soon face permanent water restrictions despite the recent heavy rains.

Permanent bans are expected to replace stage two restrictions on March 1. These include:

A BAN on hosing down driveways, paths and other paved areas.

PRIVATE gardens to be watered with manual watering systems between 8pm and 10am and automatic watering systems between 10pm and 10am only.

HOSES must be fitted with trigger nozzles to wash cars and water gardens.

Water Minister John Thwaites yesterday praised Victorians for conserving water, with consumption down almost 20 per cent on the 1990s average.

But he said we still needed to keep saving water despite heavy rain.

"Although we've had recent rain the challenge now is to make water saving a life-long habit, " Mr Thwaites said.

Many smaller dams are at almost 100 per cent capacity, including Maroondah, Sugarloaf and Greenvale.

But Premier Steve Bracks said the state's main catchment, the Thomson Reservoir, was only half full.

Melbourne's dams are 59.5 per cent full.

Victorians have saved almost $6 million in the two years since government water-saving rebates were introduced.

More than 91,000 Victorians have taken up the Water Smart incentives since January 2003, saving 649 million litres of water -- the equivalent of 649 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The program provides rebates for people who buy water-saving devices with a discount on their water bill.

Mr Thwaites praised Victorians who took up the rebates.

The most popular water-saving product was a high-pressure cleaning device, with more than 33,000 Victorians investing in one for a $30 rebate each.

Another 13,000 residents bought water-efficient washing machines and 5000 opted for dishwashers.

The Government announced yesterday a further $22.5 million would be spent on improving safety at Eildon Dam.

Mr Thwaites said investigations had revealed the 50-year-old dam's spillway had serious structural flaws and required a significant upgrade to ensure it could withstand an extreme flood.
Herald Sun: Water restrictions set to stay [ 16feb05 ]

Monday, February 14, 2005

Senate Poised To Give Power Plants Free Ride

Yes, I can recalled that during my time in Wales, the water within the 50miles radius are not drinkable.

Therefore action must be taken as the united front to ask the Senate Committee To stop giving Power Plant Free Ride.


Senate Poised To Give Power Plants Free Ride
Waterkeeper 2/11/2005

A critical issue needs your immediate attention. Next Wednesday, the 16th of February, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will be voting on Senate Bill 131, Bush's latest incarnation of his failed "Clear Skies" legislation. For mercury contamination of all our waterways, this is a decisive moment and we need your help.

Whereas the current Clean Air Act currently requires mercury reductions at each and every power plant based on the emissions reductions achievable through affordable and proven technologies, S. 131 will amend the CAA to allow a mercury trading scheme that will enable industry to freely transfer mercury pollution credits among facilities. In other words, utility units will be able to purchase the right to pollute your air and water with toxic levels of mercury and avoid reducing these poisonous emissions. Under S. 131, some power plants will not have to reduce their mercury emissions at all; indeed, many of the older, dirtier power plants can even increase their mercury emissions, resulting in mercury hotspots across the country. Passage of this bill will mean that the coal-fired utility industry will be free to continue contaminating our air and waterways with dangerous mercury emissions for years to come.

In recent Committee hearings, Senator Barbara Boxer described S. 131 as “an industry wish list that not only fails to adequately address power plant pollution, but which would result in at least 21 million tons of additional pollution placing public health and the environment at risk.” This bill is also a dream come true for the Environmental Protection Agency - it would let them off the hook from passing a proposed mercury rule next month that would be clearly illegal under the strict, current CAA mandates and make it almost impossible for environmental organizations such as Waterkeeper and concerned citizens such as yourself to force coal-fired power plants to reduce their mercury emissions to acceptable levels.

We must act now; if this bill makes it out of Committee it will likely be passed by both the Senate and the House. Please take a moment to take action by clicking on the Act Now button on this page. By doing so, you will be able to send a message to every Senator on the Committee and make your voice heard before this important vote is cast on Wednesday.
Waterkeeper Alliance

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Phoenix Water Woes Run Deepad - How Could One Blame On Luck??

Phoenix officials say a convergence of bad luck and unforeseeable circumstances is to blame for last month's water quality alert, which forced 1.5 million residents to boil water and some businesses to close.


These certainly is an excuse. Water is the basic Life line of each individual. How could that be depending on the Luck & due to Convergence of Bad Luck.

In the 80's till mid of 90's people in position's very frequently sit on the information & hold on to the informations. But now 2005, the tactics of sitting on informations is no longer works.

With the internet, informations should be available on the real time, on time & everytime, it these cannot be accomplished, then there must be something wrong with the people in command.

Think about safe water, Think about clean Water, for the People, Protect your people. then even Bad luck come , it have less impact after all.


Phoenix water woes run deep
Chaos, violations plague agency


Ginger D. Richardson, Dennis Wagner and Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 13, 2005 12:00 AM

Phoenix officials say a convergence of bad luck and unforeseeable circumstances is to blame for last month's water quality alert, which forced 1.5 million residents to boil water and some businesses to close.

But an Arizona Republic investigation - including interviews with key city officials and a review of thousands of memos, lab reports, maintenance records and e-mails - shows that the chaos surrounding the water scare was indicative of deeper, more pervasive problems that have plagued the city's Water Services Department for more than a decade.

The documents portray an agency that chronically violated state and federal water laws.

They also indicate that Water Services leaders failed to communicate with top city officials because of a belief that outsiders cannot understand the technical operations. At the same time, they cultivated an attitude that working with regulatory agencies was not a top priority. Consider:


• The department's troubling history with state and federal regulators dates to at least 1988 and includes a lawsuit, more than $1.6 million in penalties and hundreds of violations in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, which sets water quality standards.


• Top water officials' response to state and federal regulators was, at best, inconsistent. They repeatedly downplayed violations by claiming the non-compliance did not endanger public health.


• Water officials gave incorrect and false information to top city managers about problems with regulatory agencies and within the water treatment system. At one point, the director was suspended for five days for the way he handled an audit.

"They've shown an almost terminal sense of denial, a refusal to look at themselves in the mirror and say, 'We have a problem here,' " said Erik Olson, a researcher with the Natural Resource Defense Council, an environmental group that gave the city a poor grade for water quality and a failure for openness in a 2003 report.

The Republic's review shows that these systemic problems were represented in the January water contamination scare that spun quickly out of control. The situation left panicked residents jamming City Hall phone lines in search of information, resulted in a run on bottled water at grocery stores and forced top city officials to launch an internal investigation into what went wrong.

The situation evolved over three days at the end of last month, when water with a high sediment content, known as turbidity, made its way from Phoenix's Val Vista Water Treatment Plants in Mesa into the city water supply because officials could not effectively treat it.

The failure clearly stemmed from a litany of events, including heavy storm runoff from the Verde River and the lack of a backup water supply because three of the city's four other treatment facilities were closed. Two plants had been shut for routine maintenance and a third was knocked out by floodwaters.

But other evidence raises questions about how the city handled the problem:


• Workers ran out of a key treatment chemical, lime, that other cities were using to deal with turbid water.


• Phoenix's ultimate solution was to dump the "untreatable" water into a canal that flows into plants operated by Tempe and Chandler, which apparently managed to clean the water.


• Officials did not follow protocols that require workers to notify the City Manager's Office by phone of potential threats to the water supply.


• The information from Water Services to top city officials and to the public was muddled, contradictory and in some cases, wrong. At one point, residents were told to boil water until noon Wednesday, but the alert wasn't lifted until 4 p.m.

Even now, an explanation of the crisis from the city water officials raises serious questions.

Essentially, they say the plant was fouled by a buildup of microscopic dirt in the water that apparently had never before been blamed for a treatment system failure.

City Manager Frank Fairbanks stripped longtime Water Services Director Mike Gritzuk of his title two days after the debacle, saying serious changes were needed in the department.

Gritzuk, who lead the department for 16 years, did not respond to repeated interview requests for this article.

His direct supervisor, Deputy City Manager Andrea Tevlin, criticized his management style, saying he cultivated an environment of "stonewalling and denial" in the department when things went wrong.

"I think it was a culture that came from the top down."

Top city officials said the Water Department seemed to think of itself as isolated from the city because it operated using its own revenue and was so technical in nature. That mindset, Fairbanks said, contributed to communication breakdowns, a problem he said had been addressed repeatedly over the years.

Fairbanks acknowledged that the department has had problems, but he defended its daily performance.

"It isn't that the whole department is broken," he said. "There are many, many things it does right. Someone can paint the whole department as a disaster, but that isn't the case."

Tevlin also said she thinks the manager's office acted appropriately.

"I take responsibility for the things that I need to," she said Thursday. "I am not a perfect manager, but I feel that I managed this department to the best of my ability."

Tevlin has supervised Water Services for roughly three years.

But the city's feud with water regulators goes back at least 17 years.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the city failed from 1988-95 to get permits, test equipment and adequately check treated water for contaminants.

From 1993 to 2000, the city did not monitor for coliform, which would indicate the presence of fecal material in water.

In 1996, the EPA issued violation notices for excess nitrate levels, inadequate testing and a failure to monitor. That same year, workers at a city treatment plant mistakenly mixed toxic chemicals in a vat, then damaged the facility trying to neutralize the mixture. Efforts to conceal the blunder by bleeding the chemicals slowly into city water lines also failed before public exposure and federal regulators forced the city to haul 60,000 gallons to a California hazardous-waste plant.

In 1997, after being unable to force compliance for nearly a decade, the EPA and state Department of Environmental Quality sued Phoenix in a U.S. District Court complaint that contained hundreds of suspected violations covering the entire water system.

City officials have consistently said the citations involved technicalities and paperwork oversights rather than actual public safety threats.

Marvin Young, a regulator with the Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco for 18 years, disagrees.

"That's not the way we saw it," he said. "If you don't do the monitoring, you don't know if the water's unsafe."

Young said the government files suit only when there are serious problems and chronic non-compliance.

As a result of the lawsuit, Phoenix paid $350,000 in penalties and agreed to finance clean-water programs for a total cost of $1.6 million. That's the highest penalty Young said he has ever seen levied against a municipal water agency.

In 2002, more problems surfaced when two state audits of a Water Services laboratory found analysts were manipulating computer data to make it appear as if water samples had passed safety standards.

The audit also found that city equipment used to measure contaminants in water was in need of repair and the analysts falsified data to make it look as if it were operating properly.

The two technicians resigned under threat of termination in fall 2003, after the city hired an outside firm to do another audit and verify the state's findings.

The state audit resulted in a $41,750 fine and a city agreement to change training procedures, hire two new chemists and take other steps to tighten lab procedures.

It also forced city officials to take a hard look at Gritzuk.

In a July 2003 reprimand, Fairbanks wrote that Gritzuk tried to deny that there was a problem with the lab and was not forthcoming with information.

The letter in Gritzuk's personnel file reads, "Management has determined that you are ultimately responsible for this continued unacceptable performance. Despite your having received repeated instructions to the contrary, you have given the appearance of ignoring management's directives by not establishing a culture of environmental excellence . . . in your department."

He was suspended for five days without pay, an action that Fairbanks considers appropriately harsh.

Fairbanks called the action a "warning shot" in the "progressive discipline" policy the city uses for its employees.

He and Tevlin said they thought the message had gotten through, ending problems with the department and Gritzuk's communication style.

"These issues had been addressed repeatedly," Fairbanks said. "We had strong assertions that this would not happen again, and my sense was that (we) thought that progress had been made."

They were wrong.

Tevlin heard about the boil advisory not from Gritzuk, as required by city protocol, but from an early morning phone call from Gordon, who heard it on the morning television news.

"I was shocked," Tevlin said of the communication breakdown. "I really thought we had solved this."

During the water scare, three advisories were issued.

The first was issued late Monday afternoon, Jan. 24, roughly 29 hours after the water first tested high for turbidity. Federal law requires notification within 24 hours.

Next came a late-night plea for conservation, and then finally, the boil-water alert around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, as water managers anticipated a batch of murky water entering the system.

Turbidity itself is not a health threat, but it can create an environment where bacteria can grow.

The boil-water alert also was a surprise to county overseers, even though they are required to be notified by law, and city officials had worked with them days earlier when issuing the murky water advisory.

"The county should have been involved in (the decision)," Fairbanks said.

Bob Hollander, the city's administrator for compliance and regulatory affairs, said he tried to reach two county officials after midnight Monday but couldn't raise anyone.

John Kolman, manager of Maricopa County's drinking water and solid waste program, said the city should have used an on-call number that would guarantee a response from a county employee. Instead, Kolman said he awoke early Tuesday to learn of the boil-water advisory from broadcast news and to find a message from Hollander that arrived on his cellphone in the middle of the night.

Those who advised Gritzuk to issue the alert - Hollander, Water Production Superintendent Keith Greenberg and Assistant Water Services Director Wayne Janis - stand by the decision.

Greenberg said that failure to tell consumers to boil the water would have been "criminal" because of what was learned 12 years ago when 400,000 people were sickened by contaminated water in Milwaukee. The event was blamed on failure to remove turbidity, which allowed an intestinal parasite known as cryptosporidium to bloom. The episode prompted a tightening of national drinking-water standards. Read More....
Phoenix water woes run deep



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