Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rejected a federal agency’s petition to overturn a state coastal management program consistency objection. The objection in question was to the Jordan Cove LNG project (Project). This proposal called for the construction of a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal and 229-mile natural gas pipeline.
April 22nd, 2021 — by Taylor Harris — Category: Water Quality
In the Meet the Team installment of this Lead in Water Series, I told you the embarrassing story of how six-year-old me resolved to protect herself from lead poisoning—which mostly involved being veryyyy suspicious of #2 pencils. What six-year-old me did not know, among other things (like pencils aren’t made from lead), is that there are regulatory agencies in the U.S. that ensure limited contact with lead by implementing laws like the Safe Water Drinking Act and the Lead and Copper Rule.
The dusky shark is a migratory predator that inhabits coastal waters from Nova Scotia to Brazil. The shark has an average length of twelve feet and weighs approximately 400 pounds. Commercial and recreational fishermen heavily fished the species at the end of the 20th Century, resulting in the species’ drastic population decline. The National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) designation of the shark as a “prohibited species” in 2000 made it illegal for fishermen to possess, sell, take, or retain them.
April 20th, 2021 — by Taylor Harris — Category: Water Quality
One thing all good villains have in common is that they’re evasive. Hard to catch before it’s too late; the bank is already empty; and the kryptonite already planted before you notice they were even there. Sometimes this feels like the case with lead. The only way to know you’ve been exposed is to be tested for it. Once lead exposure is identified, dust from lead paint is the most often-considered culprit. But up to 30% of elevated blood lead level (EBLL) cases in children have no immediate lead paint source, and the only way to know where the exposure originated is to test for a source.
April 16th, 2021 — by Taylor Harris — Category: Water Quality
Some questions are better left unasked. For example, you probably shouldn’t ask your doctor how much student loan debt they’ve accumulated, and it’s probably not the best idea to ask the chef at a restaurant what their secret recipe is. Other questions you flat out might not want to know the answer to, like whether something (or nothing) is moving around in the dark when everyone is supposed to be out for the night. But what about whether lead is leaching into your drinking water?
Supreme Court Sides with Georgia Against Florida in Long-Running Water Rights Dispute
April 15th, 2021 — by Betsy Lee Montague — Category: Environmental Law
The U.S. Supreme Court recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by the State of Florida against the State of Georgia concerning the proper apportionment of interstate waters. Florida v. Georgia, No. 142, 2021 WL 1215718 (U.S. Apr. 1, 2021). In a unanimous opinion written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Court rejected Florida’s argument that Georgia was consuming more than its fair share of water from an interstate network of rivers in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.
April 14th, 2021 — by Taylor Harris — Category: Water Quality
The best people to ask about great food spots, hidden gems, or improvements that could be made in a community are its members. A well-meaning decorator might try to help you re-arrange your living room, but they wouldn’t know where the sun shines brightest and casts a glare on the television or that your pet likes to sunbathe in a certain corner of the room. Research, especially where community resources are concerned, isn’t so different.
April 12th, 2021 — by Taylor Harris — Category: Water Quality
The first time that I considered the dangers of lead poisoning was during a presentation in elementary school. I didn’t understand exactly what lead was, but I did gather that my safety absolutely depended on being suspicious of any inclinations to ingest paint and keeping a safe distance from any mishaps with my #2 pencil. I’ve found since then that all paint (not just lead based) is pretty unappetizing and that pencils aren’t actually made with lead, it’s just in the name.
NMFS Not Required to Release Famous Orca’s Death Records
April 9th, 2021 — by Betsy Lee Montague — Category: Miscellaneous
In a brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on March 19, 2021, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) maintained that it lacks the legal authority to obtain the medical records of Tilikum, the orca made by famous by the documentary Blackfish, who died in 2017.
