GreenWatch

B. McPherson How many of these children will develop cancers? Tokyo Electric Power Company continues to bob and weave around the truth of what is really happening at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power station. Since the disastrous tsunami , explosion and meltdown of the power station, the for-profit electrical company has played fast and loose. February 6 th they revealed that radioactive levels of water on the seaward side of the ruined reactors were one thousand times higher than allowed. They had the readings last July, but did not reveal them because the Stronium 90 count read 900 000 becquerels per litre and they thought that too high so they retested the water, found it really was five million and kept it quiet for seven months. Since the disastrous earthquake hit Japan in 2011 crippling the nuclear power station, a litany of coverups and missteps has continued. Little attention has been paid to the real human cost of the wrecked plant. Perhaps the most pathetic ...

B. McPherson How many people will die because of Fukushima? Thousands The nuclear disaster known as Fukushima Daiichi has entered a new chapter, one without a happy ending. The head of the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority delivered a very public, stinging rebuke to the Tepco executives in charge of the Fukushima cleanup. Since the combination earthquake tsunami on the east coast of Japan two years ago, the nuclear power plant has been leaking radioactive materials into the atmosphere and ocean. While the executives for the Tokyo power company have downplayed the danger to the public, a litany of coverups and glitches have served to undermine the public’s confidence that those in charge are competent to do the job. The latest “accident” saw more highly radioactive water spill from a storage tank, run into a drainage ditch and discharge into the ocean. Workers were attempting to fill an already filled storage tank. This radioactive water is very dangerous, measuring 2...

B. McPherson Fukushima the gift that keeps on giving Tokyo Electric Power Company(TEPCO) executives have finally admitted that radioactive water is leaking into the Pacific Ocean and has likely been doing so since the ill fated Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power station failed so spectacularly in March 2011. TEPCO’s behavior since the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan in 2011 has been of incompetence. It has appeared that the executives of the company were more concerned with profits and saving face than saving the people who were affected by the disaster. The clean up and shut down of the Fukushima complex has been so fraught with bungling that it would be laughable except for the fact that people’s lives have been ruined and many will die as a result of their floundering. Incidents where the cooling system is knocked off line by gnawing rats in the electrical system beggars belief.  That’s just one of the incidents that threatened the world with an...

B. McPherson Crude oil is a complex substance that contains deadly toxins.   In the news again is the pipeline company consortium Enbridge. Again we have a pipeline spouting a leak. This time about 1200 barrels of crude escaped into the environment. Enbridge is touting its fast reponse and is working hard to clean up the mess. The company is trying to show that this toxic spill is of little environmental consequence. “An image of the site posted on Enbridge’s website showed a patch of damp, blackened earth near a stand of trees about one-third the size of a football field. It found some oil on two small farm ponds, but said they did not connect to moving waterways and that drinking wells did not seem to be affected.” Edmonton Journal Notice the waffle words. Gosh, why did the farms have ponds? – maybe as drinking water for their livestock, maybe for irrigation of their fields. If the black goop hit the ground, how do they know it won’t affect water wells. ...

B. McPherson The United Farm Workers is calling on California Governor Brown to review the use of methyl iodide now that a new head of the Department of Pesticide Regulations is in place. Methyl iodide replaces the use of methyl bromide to kill unwanted plants and their seeds, insects and nematode worms. It has also been implicated in causing miscarriages and cancers. It has been dubbed one of the most toxic chemicals on earth by Pesticide Action Network . It is also a known neurotoxin and endocrine disruptor. The agricultural workers as well as those living in close proximity to non-organically raised strawberry fields are exposed to traces of this toxin which is injected into the soil and may infiltrate groundwater. Methyl iodide is a known carcinogen that could cause spontaneous miscarriages and contaminate groundwater. Injecting it as a gas into the soil presents unacceptable risks to farm workers, nearby rural communities, pregnant women and children. Clearly, ...

By B. McPherson Fracking for natural gas in the fields outside of Innisfail, Alberta, has seen a spectacular result. A pumpjack in a farmer’s field suddenly started spewing a black liquid into the air. Fracking fluid, nitrogen and oil from the well were sprayed onto the field. Crews are attempting to clean up the mess. Chief Executive for the fracking company, Midway Energy, Scott Ratushny was quoted in the Calgary Herald: “ Approximately 50 cubic metres of oil, fracturing fluid, nitrogen and sand were spilled on the surface and have been recovered from the site, Ratushny said.”  "We have drilled over 40 wells in the Cardium in the region without any incidents," Ratushny said. "We've never seen this before." Calgary Herald Fracking has become a hot environmental issue as the pace of this technology has increased exponentially in the past few years. The search for natural gas – the clean fuel – has corporations fracturing rock formations with e...

By B. McPherson While Americans were celebrating the end of 2011 and the beginning of a new year, the USDA quietly approved a new strain of genetically altered corn developed by Monsanto in coordination with the large chemical corporation BASF. According to Monsanto’s press release, the corn will be able to better able resist drought conditions as well as stand up to Roundup and the predations of insects. “For the 2012 trials, Monsanto plans to have Genuity® VT Triple PRO® and Genuity® VT Double PRO® technology serve as the agronomic trait platform to be used with the drought-tolerant trait. These technologies offer growers excellent insect protection and tolerance to Roundup® agricultural herbicides.” Monsanto Press Release Corn varieties that have these characteristics are ‘stacked’ in that they have multiple non-corn genes inserted into their DNA.  There is little to no independent research done on the possible synergistic effect of multiple alien genes ins...