Is dilution really the solution to pollution—especially when it’s nuclear waste that can stay radioactive for 100,000 years? A four-member expert group told a federal joint review panel it is.
The panel is examining an Ontario Power Generation proposal to bury low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste from the Darlington, Pickering and Bruce nuclear plants in limestone at the Bruce site in Kincardine, beside Lake Huron. According to the Toronto Star, the experts reported that 1,000 cubic meters of contaminated water could leak from the site, although it’s “highly improbable.” But even if it did leak, they argued, the amount is small compared to Lake Huron’s water volume and the quantity of rain that falls into it.
This “out of sight, out of mind” mentality must end. We can’t continue to dump garbage into the oceans, waterways and air or bury it in the ground and hope it will disappear.
If the materials were instead buried in Canadian Shield granite, any leaking waste would be diluted by active streams and marshes, the experts claimed: “Hence, the volumes of the bodies of water available for dilution at the surface are either immense (Great Lakes) or actively flowing … so the dilution capacity is significant.”
Others aren’t convinced. The Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump group has more than 62,000 signatures on a petition opposing the dump. Many communities around the Great Lakes, home to 40-million people, have passed resolutions against the project, including Canadian cities Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Kingston, Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Windsor and more, and local governments in the states of Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Ohio. The United Tribes of Michigan, representing 12 First Nations, is also opposed.
Michigan’s Senate recently adopted resolutions to urge President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Congress to intervene, and for the International Joint Commission, the Great Lakes Commission and all Great Lakes States and Ontario and Quebec to get involved.
According to Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump, burying such highly toxic wastes in limestone next to 21 percent of the world’s fresh water “defies common sense.” The group’s website notes, “There are no precedents anywhere in the world for burying radioactive nuclear waste in limestone.The repository must function to safely contain the nuclear wastes for over 100,000 years. No scientist or geologist can provide a 100,000 year guarantee.” The Great Lakes are only 12,000 years old!
On top of that, retired Ontario Power Generation research scientist and chemist Frank R. Greening wrote to the review panel stating that OPG has “seriously underestimated, sometimes by factors of more than 100” the radioactivity of material to be buried.
Greening says the company acknowledged his criticism but downplayed its seriousness, which he believes raises doubts about the credibility of OPG’s research justifying the project. “Their response has been, ‘Oops we made a mistake but it isn’t a problem’ and that really bothers me as a scientist,” he told Kincardine News. “It is rationalizing after the fact.”
According to the newspaper, “a radiation leak at a nuclear waste site in New Mexico—cited by OPG as an example of a successful facility—is further fueling criticism of the project.” In February, radiation was detected in vaults and in the air a kilometre from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, where radioactive materials from the nuclear weapons program are stored. The facility, the world’s only deep geologic repository, had only been in use for 15 years and is closed for now. The cause of the leak isn’t yet known.
Those and other factors led the joint review panel to re-open hearings beginning September 9. They initially ended October 30, 2013. A federal cabinet decision is expected sometime next year.
This “out of sight, out of mind” mentality must end. We can’t continue to dump garbage into the oceans, waterways and air or bury it in the ground and hope it will disappear. If we can’t find better ways to use or at least reduce waste products, we must stop producing them.
In the meantime, this project must be halted. The Great Lakes are already threatened by pollution, agricultural runoff, invasive species, climate change and more. We can’t afford to add the risk of radioactive contamination to one of the world’s largest sources of fresh water.
A Henry County sheriff’s deputy was arrested in DeKalb County and stands accused of attempting to arrange a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old.
Capt. David McCart of the Henry County Sheriff’s Office was arrested Tuesday after a two-month investigation, according to Channel 2 Action News.
DeKalb investigators told Channel 2 that McCart met the boy online through social media. The two allegedly talked about different sexual activities and agreed to meet, according to the television report.
“We were doing a cross-country operation with the FBI and during that time we came into contact with an individual later identified as Captain McCart,” DeKalb County police Sgt. Torrey Kennedy told Channel 2. “Mr. McCart was on a social media website chatting with who he believed was an underage child. During that chat, they had a sexual, explicit conversation in which they agreed to meet for sex.”
The conversation moved to texting as McCart allegedly planned to meet the child. Once they agreed on a time and place, McCart showed up at the mall, where he was met by police, according to the report.
The investigation into McCart’s activities continues, as police determine whether he had contact with other children.
A Henry County sheriff’s deputy was arrested in DeKalb County and stands accused of attempting to arrange a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old.
Capt. David McCart of the Henry County Sheriff’s Office was arrested Tuesday after a two-month investigation, according to Channel 2 Action News.
DeKalb investigators told Channel 2 that McCart met the boy online through social media. The two allegedly talked about different sexual activities and agreed to meet, according to the television report.
“We were doing a cross-country operation with the FBI and during that time we came into contact with an individual later identified as Captain McCart,” DeKalb County police Sgt. Torrey Kennedy told Channel 2. “Mr. McCart was on a social media website chatting with who he believed was an underage child. During that chat, they had a sexual, explicit conversation in which they agreed to meet for sex.”
The conversation moved to texting as McCart allegedly planned to meet the child. Once they agreed on a time and place, McCart showed up at the mall, where he was met by police, according to the report.
The investigation into McCart’s activities continues, as police determine whether he had contact with other children.
Japan Newspaper: “The seriousness of the current situation at Fukushima can’t be understated” — Report: Unmitigated radiation is pouring into Pacific Ocean — Video: They don’t know how to stop the radioactive leaks… we’ll never know how to stop this
Published: August 23rd, 2014 at 10:25 am ET
By ENENews Email Article
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Yomiuri Shimbun (“The pro-nuclear Yomiuri Shimbun” –Source), Aug. 20, 2014 (emphasis added): Efforts to contain water contaminated with radioactive substances… are progressing at a snail’s pace. At present, dealing with radioactive water is the overriding issue in resolving a series of problems following the nuclear crisis… In May, TEPCO began… the “groundwater bypass program.” But this effort failed… The seriousness of the current situation cannot be understated… Another concern is the huge amount of highly radioactive water—11,000 tons—that has leaked and now remains in underground tunnels near the coast. The Nuclear Regulation Authority has pointed out there is a high risk of this water leaking into the sea and causing other problems. Simply pumping the highly radioactive water out of a tunnel will not work, as it would soon be replaced by more contaminated water flowing in from reactor buildings. TEPCO has tried to freeze water in a section connecting the tunnel to a reactor building, but the attempt failed.
Asahi Shimbun, Aug 20, 2014: [R]adioactive water [is] pouring from turbine buildings into trenches at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, as ice walls are proving insufficient.
Mainichi, Aug 20, 2014: TEPCO officials say the speed of the water flow… increased, making it difficult to freeze water there.
Even though highly radioactive water has been pouring into the trenches at ever increasing speed, they contain only 11,000 tons of fluid – the same amount as in March 2011.
NHK, Aug. 19, 2014: In April, [TEPCO] began installing pipes to carry coolants in and out of the tunnels [i.e. trenches] at the No.2 reactor. Workers hoped to freeze the wastewater to stop itflowing out to the sea.
VICE News, Aug. 20, 2014: [U]nmitigated radiation [is] still pouring into Pacific waters […] in June 2013, TEPCO admitted that almost 80,000 gallons of contaminated water had been leaking into the Pacific Ocean every day since the meltdown. As of today, that leak continues [and accounts of] swelling radiation levels continue to surface […] 80 feet from the Pacific Ocean [groundwater] contained 20 million becquerels of the harmful radioactive element Strontium-90 per gallon […] these measurements were hidden from Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority […] As of August 2014, we know that radiation levels around the Fukushima areacontinue to rise, even after three years of containment attempts.
Speech by Kazuko Ito, Esq., member of the UN Women Regional Civil Society Advisory Groupand Secretary General of Japan-based NGO Human Rights Now (At 5:00 in), published by Cinema Forum Fukushima on July 30, 2014 (at 1:15 in): To date, TEPCO still does not know how to stop the ongoing radioactive leaks from its facilities… The contaminated water isleaking, leaking, leaking into the sea – every day — and we never know how to stop this.
200,000,000,000,000 becquerels/kg in fuel rod materials found near Tokyo… “the material spread globally” — Composed “major part” of worst Fukushima plume — Persists for long time in living organisms — Must reconsider disaster’s health effects (PHOTOS)
Presentation by Yasuhito Igarashi of Japan’s Meteorological Research Institute at IAEA’s expert meeting (pdf), Characteristics of Spherical Cs-Bearing Particles Collected during the Early Stage of FDNPP Accident, February 2014: […] We have found spherical Cs-bearing particles (Cs-ball) from HV filter samples collected during Mar. 14-15, 2011, when the first radioactive plume arrived from the FDNPP accident at the MRI [Meteorological Research Institute] as well as Univ. Tsukuba, Japan. […] experiments showed that the Cs-ball occupied major part in the Mar. 14-15 Fukushima plume. They would persist for a long time in the environment as well as in living organisms. […] the investigation on radioactive aerosol during the second plume arrival gave no such Cs-ball. […] The finding
should be a key to understand the processes of the FDNPP accident, to accurately evaluate the health and environmental impacts and to improve efficiency of the decontamination of the polluted area. […] Further studies are recommended for the present Cs-ball in more detail!
The Fukushima nuclear accident released radioactive materials into the environment over the entire Northern Hemisphere […] Although the accident has global impacts, we still do not know exactly what happened in the reactors […] The chemical and physical properties of the radioactive materials released into the environment are not well known. Such knowledge is necessary to improve the numerical models to estimate the geographical distributions and evaluate the human exposures […] released radioactive material […] was spread globally […] The spherical Cs-bearing particles likely have longer retention times on the land surface than those of the water-soluble Cs particles. The retention time of the particles in the soil or other environments needs to be reconsidered. The health effects of the particles should be evaluated […]
Scientists: “Absolutely every one” of bluefin tunas tested from S. California was contaminated with Fukushima radiation — “We were definitely surprised to see it at all – and even more surprised to see it in every one we measured”
Pacific bluefin tuna migrating last year from coastal Japan to the waters off Southern California contained radioactive cesium isotopes from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, scientists reported Monday.
[…]
“The tuna packaged it up and brought it across the world’s largest ocean,” said marine ecologist Daniel Madigan at Stanford University, who led the study team. “We were definitely surprised to see it at all and even more surprised to see it in every one we measured.”
[…]
“We found that absolutely every one of them had comparable concentrations of cesium-134 and cesium-137,” said marine biologist Nicholas Fisher at Stony Brook University in New York state, who was part of the study group.
AP: Marine birds disappearing in Pacific Northwest — Significant ecological shift, crashes in many species — “Something’s happening on a big level, but what is it” — Herring problem may be far worse than revealed… result of contamination? Mexico suddenly bans bluefin tuna fishing, US may be next
Seattle Times (AP), Craig Welch, July 24, 2014: Once-common marine birds disappearing from our coast […] a significant ecological shift in our region — a major decline in once-abundant marine birds. […] the number of everyday marine birds here has plummeted dramatically in recent decades. […] several new studies now also link many dwindling marine bird populations to what they eat — especially herring, anchovies, sand lance […] Some forage-fish species, such as herring, are a fraction of what they once were. […] There’s certainly no shortage of crashes […] “It’s one thing to have a rare species decline,” said Joe Gaydos, with the SeaDoc Society. “[…] We’re talking about big, common species, and a lot of them.” […] it wasn’t clear whether this was a local or continental- scale problem, said Scott Wilson, a biologist with Environment Canada. It’s both: Up and down the West Coast, the winter breeding population [of Western grebes] is half what it was in 1975. […] since 1970 [Puget Sound’s biggest] herring stock has crashed, with more than 90 percent of the population all but gone. […] some scientists believe the herring problem itself may be far worse than others acknowledge. […] Wayne Landis, at Western Washington University […] found that while Puget Sound herring used to live eight to 10 years, they now survive only to age 3 or 4. […] “They don’t get old anymore,” he said. That could be the result of disease or toxic contamination or other changes […] Usually after a bust, herring eventually recolonize, Landis said. The question now: Is this bust different […] “Something’s happening on a big level,” [Gaydos] said. “But what is it?”
KCET, July 23, 2014: Feds to Consider Ban on Bluefin Tuna Fishing — [NOAA] is opening a formal rulemaking process to determine whether it should add Pacific bluefin tuna to its list of fish species that must be released immediately if caught. […] Pacific bluefin spawn in the western Pacific off the coast of Japan […] Mexico closed its Pacific bluefin fishery for 2014 […]
San Diego Union Tribune, July 16, 2014: Mexico’s sudden and unforeseen banning of bluefin tuna fishing […] shut down bluefin tuna fishing at the height of the summer season […]
San Diego Union Tribune, July 14, 2014: [S]tatement from the Mexican government: […] the capture of Blue Fin Tuna in Mexican waters is forbidden for the remainder of the 2014 calendar year. Any incidental catches are to be released. This measure will be strictly enforced […]
‘Unthinkable Twist’: Japan expert calls for immediate health exams outside Fukushima, must act urgently or damage will be worse — Gov’t Officials: “I don’t want to discuss the issue”… Discovery of cancer could cause excessive anxiety
The Ministry of the Environment Expert Meeting Discussing Health Support After the Fukushima Nuclear Accident is taking an unthinkable twist. At the July 16th meeting, an outside researcher asked for the expansion of health checkups, but the committee chair [said] “I don’t want to discuss the issue.”
Invited guest speaker Toshihide Tsuda, an epidemiologist and Okayama University professor: “Radioactive materials [being disseminated due to the Fukushima nuclear accident] are not thought to remain within borders of Fukushima Prefecture. We need to urgently figure out if there are any cases in non-Fukushima residents. […] Fixating on dose assessments will delay countermeasures, worsening the damage […] health checkups should be immediately carried out within and out of Fukushima Prefecture, in order to identify cases of thyroid cancer and other illnesses.”
Shigenobu Nagataki, the committee chair […] pushed aside what Professor Tsuda pointed out […] Despite inviting Professor Tsuda to the meeting, Chairman Nagataki practically ignored his opinion.
Professor Tsuda retorted, “My opinions are based on a textbook published by Oxford University Press. Chairman, you are the one that is unique.”
Chairman Nagataki unilaterally cut off the conversation, stating, “I have no intention of arguing with you. We are going to carry on discussion based on exposure dose.”
Only about 1,000 had direct measurements of exposure from radioactive iodine taken, which is 0.3% of residents eligible for thyroid examination
A member of the expert meeting and a professor at Osaka University, Tomotaka Sobue, explained disadvantages of health checkups using the term, “overdiagnosis.” This means […] discovery of cancer during health checkups could cause excessive anxiety and a psychological and physical burden due to surgery.
Requests for expansion of health checkups are swelling from […] residents.
‘Green burst’ and ‘criticality event’ under investigation by gov’t in connection with plutonium release at U.S. nuclear site #WIPP — Official: Underground fire may have initiated reaction in ruptured radioactive waste drum — Concern over possible arson/sabotage? (VIDEO)
Sante Fe Reporter, July 23, 2014 (emphasis added): Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are still trying to determine exactly what caused a barrel buried at the Waste Isolation Pilot Project to burst open in February, said LANL chemist Nan Sauer. […] investigators now believe the metals in [a] glove might have reacted with nitrate salts after temperatures rose in the barrel at WIPP. […] Just how the temps increased to initiate the reaction, however, is still up for debate. Theories about what initiated the reaction include warmth generated by decomposition of the litter (a commercially available substance called Swheat that Sauer says won’t be used anymore ). Another hypothesis would put the blame on heat from a truck fire that occurred inside WIPP a half mile from the barrel location about nine days beforean air monitor detected the radiation leak. Smoke from the fire might have also affected ventilation systems and led to hotter air, she said. […]
Chemical Reactivity: Trace Metal Impurities, Process Changes, Radiation Chemistry, Trigger Mechanisms
Broader Issue: Green Burst, Related to Truck Fire, Criticality Event, Issue with Other Waste Containers, Arson/Sabotage, Other Materials
Santa Fe New Mexican, July 23, 2014: After the waste had been stored at LANL for nearly three decades, a chemical reaction ripped open a drum, releasing radiation at WIPP just weeks after the drum had been processed at LANL in mid-December. […] “It’s interesting that we went for this extended period of time with no incident, and then all of a sudden we take components, you put it in a drum, you characterize it and six weeks later we have an incident,” said Rep. Donald Bratton […] Wednesday’s legislative hearing was the first public mention of the theory […]
When is our government going to be honest with us? It is not only the Japanese being lied to. What? Because they cannot evacuate the entire West Coast, and the Northern Hemisphere, they will lie and say we have not been contaminated?
Do you people see what the Japanese and even the persons in Denmark are saying? Sheeple awaken, while you still can!!!
Fox: Fukushima radioactive material still being found in U.S. soil — Japan Gov’t: The disaster “posed radiation threat to human society”… In 4 days “detectable all across northern hemisphere” — Denmark: Fukushima clearly had widespread consequences, not limited to borders (VIDEOS)
National Institute of Radiological Sciences (Japan), March 3, 2014: The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident led to the release of large amounts of radionuclides into the environment. […] The released radioactive materials posed radiation threat to human society. Thus, source identification of radioactive contamination and long-term environmental behavior of released radioactive materials are important issues of study after the FDNPP accident.
Japan Atomic Energy Agency & University of Tokyo, Apr. 10, 2014: By March 15, traces from the accident in Fukushima were detectable all across the northern hemisphere. By April 13, the associated radioactivity had spread to the southern hemisphere of the Asia-Pacific region and was clearly detectable at CTBT IMS stations located in Australia, Fiji, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea.
Danish Emergency Management Agency’s Carsten Israelson, Nordic Nuclear Safety Research’s 2013 Fukushima seminar (at 4:15 in): The accident in Fukushima… clearly showed that there are consequences that are widespread, and is not limited to borders… Nuclear accidents do happen! Nuclear accidents will likely have widespread consequences – for all of us. >> Watch presentation here
Fox 10 News — Phoenix, AZ, July 15, 2014: [Aubrey Godwin, director of Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency] says radioactive material can still be found in Arizona soil from nuclear weapons testing in the 50′s and from Fukushima’s nuclear disaster in 2011. Despite that Godwin says there is no health concern.
Fukushima Press Conference: “To the people of the world… dangerous developments… we need your help” — I vomited blood, skin inside mouth peeled out… no limit to radiation damage… contamination is all over Japan — Speaker nearly cries when revealing babies in rain waiting for food after explosion, “Gov’t didn’t issue any warnings” (VIDEO)
14:45 in — I was so ignorant of nuclear power plants, I kept on living [in Koriyama, 60 km from Fukushima Daiichi]. After Apr. 15, I started coughing very hard — couldn’t stop coughing and producing lots of green phlegm — then finally vomited blood. […] My husband couldn’t stand to see my suffering, he was wondering what had happened. I had a terrible headache. My skin inside my mouth kept peeling out, I had to spit it out. I also had a nose bleed in May, an awful lot of blood, it didn’t stop for a long time. I had tingling on hands and feet, always sick and tired. I happened to have a friend, a 2nd generation of atomic bomb victims, so I talked about my suffering to her. I also asked my friend to get in contact with Dr. Hida, who has been an authority on treating atomic bomb victims for a long time in Japan. He immediately said it’s rapid symptoms of nuclear radiation. […] Most people don’t even think of this area 60 km away from the power plant, that we have to suffer so much from the radiation. I’m now thinking that there is no limit to the radiation damage […] Thank you for listening to my story.
33:30 in — Radiation contamination is not only in Fukushima, because of the transport it’s been scattered all over Japan, and this issue is a national one I believe.
41:15 in — After the explosion, the weather changed. When the rain dropped on me while waiting in line for water, I was standing not knowing what is happening to me. [Almost crying] Many people — not only adults, but children, babies — were standing in line waiting to get water supply and food […] it lasted 5 days. I have to admit I was very ignorant, the prefecture’s local government or the state government didn’t issue any warnings about the radiation contamination. We just behaved as we did before the explosion.
1:04:00 in — The Ministry of Environment claims that this small burner will [dissipate???] all the radiation dosage. But the manufacturer of this burner says maximum it will be 60% […] So this is something I really want you people to know, that the government is burning the radioactive materials in Japan and spreading all radioactive materials into the air.
Saeko Uno of Fukushima City, at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, July 3, 2014 (at 11:45 in): To the people of the world, we’d like you to be aware of the dangerous developments in Japan and pay attention to them. We need your helping hands to our activities toward [minimizing the] damage of nuclear power disaster. Thank you.
Japan Correspondent: It’s very scary, officials trying to brainwash public about Fukushima crisis — Professor: We’re wrapping our heads more and more around Fukushima’s legacy… human impact becoming more clear… that’s a very big and serious issue here — “Virtually no public support for nuclear power” (AUDIO)
KWMR 90.5 FM, July 14, 2014 (h/t Fukushima Response) — Umi Hagitani, interpreter, Japan correspondent for Ecological Options Network (at 9:30 in): The survivors of the nuclear power accident and supporters of children… are asking the city of Koriyama to evacuate them because of the exposure to the radiation. But the women of Fukushima, their statement demanded that the reduction of the radioactive exposure is more urgent than the current federal policies and practices in Japan, which is to force people to remain in the contaminated area… Many students of the 5th and 6th grade in elementary school, they attend something called a cancer seminar where they learn about how cancer is such a typical story for many people, they don’t have to worry about it… They’re trying to even build a junior high school and high school combined together by 2020 in Futuba County — that is the closest place to the Fukushima Daiichi. But the administration of the town invited and made a survey of the kids, and I guess kids were not told about the options that they could evacuate, they made it look like they’re interested in coming back. It seems that right now the Abe cabinet has already schemed out a lot of brainwashing and making people feel that it’s possible to decontaminate — and its making the suffering of the people invisible… I feel like that after 3 years, there are more cover-ups and silencing the survivors of this ongoing nuclear accident in Fukushima Daiichi, and it’s really well supported by the structural power hierarchy… it’s very scary to see this. The current situation is that the Ministry of Environment is putting fake radioactive monitors all over. >> Full KWMR broadcast here
ABC 90.3 FM, July 14, 2014 — Dr. Robert Jacobs, associate professor at Hiroshima City University (at 3:15 in): It’s become a much more common and regular thing you read in the newspapers and topic of discussion among people in Japan… it’s become increasingly a topic of conversation because we do here have to deal with the fact that it’s every day pouring radiation into the sea. We’re wrapping our heads more and more around the legacy of it… The human impact is unfolding in more clear view than it did at first, so that’s a very big and serious issue here… People are very, very aware of [contamination in the food supply]… People are very anxious about it… There’s virtually no public support for nuclear power, especially in the communities in which the plants are located. >> Full ABC broadcast here
NHK, July 16, 2014: An NHK survey [on] the government’s policy to allow the restarting of nuclear power plants that pass safety screening [found] 21 percent supported the policy […]
NHK, July 14, 2014: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has suggested his cabinet’s new security policy may have influenced the outcome of a gubernatorial election in western Japan. Voters rejected the candidate recommended by Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party in the Sunday race in Shiga Prefecture. They elected an independent instead [who] campaigned on the promise of phasing out nuclear power generation in Japan.
1 STATEMENT OF FACTS In 2006 and 2007, Citigroup Inc., through certain of its affiliates (“Citigroup”), securitized thousands of residential mortgage loans and sold the resulting residential mortgagebacked securities (“RMBS”) for tens of billions of dollars to investors, including federally insured financial institutions. Prior to securitization, Citigroup conducted due diligence on loans (including credit, compliance, and valuation due diligence). In securitizing and issuing the RMBS, Citigroup provided representations in offering documents about the characteristics of the underlying loans. As described below, in the due diligence process, Citigroup received information indicating that, for certain loan pools, significant percentages of the loans reviewed did not conform to the representations provided to investors about the pools of loans to be securitized. Citigroup’s RMBS securitization process and representations In 2006 and 2007, Citigroup securitized and sold RMBS, through both “thirdparty” and “principal” transactions. For “third-party” transactions, Citigroup served as an underwriter. In certain of those transactions, Citigroup served as the lead underwriter. In that role, Citigroup, among other things, structured the transaction and sold RMBS certificates to investors. Citigroup acted as an underwriter through its wholly-owned subsidiary Citigroup Global Markets Inc. For “principal” transactions, Citigroup purchased groups or “pools” of loans from third parties prior to securitization and, in certain instances, originated the loans itself through another of its subsidiaries. Citigroup also acted as underwriter for certain of the principal transactions. Citigroup bought pools of mortgage loans from numerous lending institutions, or “originators.” These lending institutions included Ameriquest Mortgage Company, Argent Mortgage Company LLC, Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., New Century Mortgage Corporation, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and others. 2 In these transactions, Citigroup securitized the loans under its own shelf registration, such as its shelf known as “Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust Inc.” or “CMLTI.” In various RMBS offerings, Citigroup provided representations, or otherwise disclosed information, in certain offering documents, about the loans it securitized, telling investors that: Loans in the securitized pools were originated generally in accordance with the loan originator’s underwriting guidelines. Exceptions to those underwriting guidelines had been made when the originator identified “compensating factors” at the time of origination. The securitization sponsor or originator (which, in certain instances, was Citigroup) represented that each loan had been originated in compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The loans being securitized had various characteristics, such as loan-to-value ratios at origination within various ranges.
In the base prospectus for certain RMBS offerings, Citigroup further represented that it would not include any loan “if anything has come to [Citigroup’s] attention that would cause it to believe that the representations and warranties made in respect of such mortgage loan will not be accurate and complete in all material respects as of the date of initial issuance of the related series of securities.” Citigroup’s due diligence process Citigroup reviewed due diligence results on loans prior to securitization. 3 In principal transactions, before purchasing a pool of loans from a third-party originator, Citigroup conducted due diligence on those loans. Citigroup typically conducted this due diligence by reviewing certain loans in the loan pool, rather than the entire pool. This sample was generally composed of certain loans from the pool with characteristics that Citigroup viewed as warranting review. Citigroup would contract with a due diligence vendor to review the sampled loans. The vendor would “re-underwrite” the individual loan files in the sample. Part of this review focused on “credit,” including whether the loan met the originator’s underwriting guidelines, or whether the originator had found the loan to possess sufficient “compensating factors” to warrant a deviation from the guidelines. Another part of this review was focused on “compliance,” to determine whether the loan had been originated in compliance with federal, state, and local laws and regulations. For each sampled loan reviewed for “credit” and “compliance,” the due diligence vendor assigned a grade. In general, the vendor graded a loan “EV1” when the loan was underwritten according to the applicable guidelines and originated in compliance with applicable laws. The vendor generally graded a loan as “EV2” when the loan did not comply with applicable underwriting guidelines, but nonetheless had sufficient compensating factors that the originator had found to justify the extension of credit. The vendor graded a loan “EV3” when the loan was not originated in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, the loan did not comply with applicable underwriting guidelines and lacked the sufficient offsetting compensating factors, or the loan file was missing a key piece of documentation. Citigroup obtained the results of the credit and compliance reviews from the due diligence vendors and was provided information about the number or percentage of loans in the sample that the vendor had graded EV3. Citigroup also was provided with the reasons that the vendor had assigned the EV3 grades, including the nature of the defects, such as
4 whether the borrower had unreasonable stated income, when the borrower’s credit score was below guidelines, when the ratios of loan-to-property value and debt-to-income exceeded the underwriting guidelines, and when the loan file reviewed was missing documents or had inadequate documentation. Citigroup referred to EV3 loans as “kicks,” “kickouts,” or “rejects.” Citigroup also used a due diligence process to assess the reported values of the properties that served as collateral for the mortgage loans. This “valuation” review was intended to determine whether information about the property’s value sufficiently supported the reported value for the property. The valuation review was conducted by a vendor, using methods such as automated valuation models, broker price opinions, and appraisal reviews. The vendor used one or more of these methods to calculate a valuation determination for the property being reviewed. Citigroup used thresholds or “tolerances” for the valuation firm to assess whether the information about the property’s value sufficiently supported the reported value as determined by an appraiser. Citigroup instructed the vendor to recommend the loan for rejection if the vendor’s valuation determination differed from the appraised value by more than 15 percent with respect to certain types of loans. In other words, Citigroup had an internal “tolerance” of up to 15 percent. This meant that Citigroup routinely accepted, for purposes of the valuation review, specific types of loans for purchase and securitization when the valuation firm’s determination deviated by less than 15 percent from the reported appraised value. Citigroup’s thresholds further provided that if a valuation firm determined that the combined loan-to-value ratio for a loan exceeded 100 percent, the loan would be recommended for rejection. In third-party transactions, depending on the role played by Citigroup, Citigroup would work with due diligence vendors to perform diligence on samples of loans selected with 5 the participation of the issuer or otherwise review reports from due diligence vendors retained by the issuer or other underwriters to the transaction. Due diligence on Citigroup RMBS in 2006 and 2007 In 2006 and 2007, Citigroup’s due diligence vendors provided Citigroup with reports reflecting that the vendors had graded certain of the sampled loans as EV3. For numerous pools, the reports showed that the vendors had graded significant percentages of the sampled loans as EV3.1 In addition, Citigroup’s internal due diligence personnel reevaluated loan grades and subsequently directed the due diligence vendor to assign grades of EV1 or EV2 to loans as to which Citigroup’s due diligence vendors had previously assigned grades of EV3. Certain of Citigroup’s main due diligence vendors would track when loans that they had graded as EV3 were “waived” in by Citigroup. Citigroup’s contemporaneous records did not in all cases document Citigroup’s reasons for directing the due diligence vendors to re-grade loans. Further, in certain instances, Citigroup learned from the vendors conducting valuation due diligence that loans in particular loan pools exceeded Citigroup’s valuation tolerances. The vendors also reported that a number of the properties securing the loans had reported or appraised values that were higher than the vendors’ valuation determination. In certain instances, Citigroup securitized loans that its vendors had reported exceeded Citigroup’s valuation tolerances or where the vendor’s valuation determination exceeded the reported or appraised value.
1 There were loans in each of the RMBS reviewed by the Justice Department that did not comply with underwriting guidelines, including the securitizations set forth on Appendix 1, which the Justice Department determined to contain significant percentages of defective loans. 6 Examples In the following deals, Citigroup securitized loans, making representations of the type described earlier that the loans generally complied with underwriting guidelines or had sufficient compensating factors, had been originated in compliance with law, and possessed certain characteristics. 1. In three CMLTI RMBS issued and underwritten by Citigroup in 2006, Citigroup’s due diligence vendors reported to Citigroup their findings that loans in the samples had not been originated in compliance with underwriting guidelines and with applicable federal law and regulations. Certain of these loans were missing documentation, such as HUD-1 documents that Citigroup had told the vendor were necessary. A due diligence report sent to Citigroup, after the re- underwriting was complete, showed that more than 12 percent of loans in the sample had been graded EV3. A due diligence report for another large pool, which contributed over 2,000 loans to another RMBS, showed that more than 29 percent of the sampled loans had been graded EV3. Citigroup securitized the loans from these pools that had not been rejected at the end of the due diligence process in the three RMBS.
2. In an RMBS where Citigroup served as the lead underwriter in 2006, the due diligence report provided to Citigroup by its vendor showed that more than 25 percent of the loans in the sample reviewed for credit and compliance had been graded by the vendor as EV3 or were found to have missing file documents. Many of the loans did not comply with underwriting guidelines or represented exceptions to those guidelines: more than 67 percent were graded as EV2 by the vendor. The vendor graded only approximately 6 percent of the loans in the sample as EV1. Notwithstanding these results, Citigroup securitized loans from this pool in the RMBS.
3. In a CMLTI RMBS issued and underwritten by Citigroup in 2007, the due diligence vendor initially reviewed a sample of loans selected based on certain criteria (the 7 “adverse sample”). Early in the diligence process, the vendor notified Citigroup employees that it had graded over 44 percent of the adverse sample as EV3s. The vendor identified trends associated with its review of those loans and stated that, if the trends continued, it expected the pool to have an “unusually large” number and percentage of rejects. Later in the due diligence process, the vendor asked Citigroup whether it would be “prudent” to perform additional diligence based on a random sample, to determine whether the large number of “kick outs” were the result of the adverse selection method or reflective of the loans across the entire pool. Thereafter, the due diligence vendor advised Citigroup that it had graded over 32 percent of the random sample as EV3. In addition, during the due diligence on the same loan pool, Citigroup’s due diligence personnel reevaluated certain of the vendor’s loan grades and directed the due diligence vendor to change some of those grades from an EV3 to an EV2 or EV1. The final report from the vendor graded approximately 20 percent of the sample as EV3. Apart from the random sample, Citigroup did not conduct further due diligence to determine whether the remaining loans in the pool contained defects. Instead, Citigroup securitized loans from this pool in the RMBS.
4. In two CMLTI RMBS issued and underwritten by Citigroup in 2007, Citigroup’s due diligence vendor identified a number of loans that were outside of Citigroup’s valuation rules and tolerances. These included loans where the difference between the reported original appraisal and the vendor’s valuation determination exceeded 15 percent, or otherwise exceeded Citigroup’s thresholds. Citigroup also instructed the due diligence vendor to change the grades of loans that its vendor had recommended for rejection, following Citigroup’s review of those loans and loan grades. Citigroup then securitized hundreds of the loans that its vendor had identified as outside of Citigroup’s tolerances. 8 In addition, early in the due diligence process, a trader at Citigroup wrote an internal email that indicated that he had reviewed a due diligence report summarizing loans that the due diligence vendor had graded as EV3s and had noted that “a lot” of these rejected loans had unreasonable income and values below the original appraisal, which resulted in combined loan- to-value in excess of 100 percent. The trader stated that he “went thru the Diligence Reports and think that we should start praying… I would not be surprised if half of these loans went down. There are a lot of loans that have unreasonable incomes, values below the original appraisals (CLTV would be >100), etc. It’s amazing that some of these loans were closed at all.” Despite this trader’s observations, Citigroup securitized loans from this pool in the two RMBS.
5. In four CMLTI RMBS issued and underwritten by Citigroup in 2007, Citigroup securitized loans from two loan sellers. Citigroup employees had been informed that in prior RMBS securitizations where the underlying loans were from the same companies, a significant number of loans had already gone into early default. In addition, prior to the securitization of those four RMBS, Citigroup received additional information about the quality of mortgage underwriting at those companies. Prior to the issuance of the four RMBS in 2007, Citigroup had begun the process to acquire assets from one of the companies. As part of that acquisition, Citigroup conducted due diligence on the companies. As part of that due diligence, Citigroup received some of the company’s internal audit reports, and distributed them to, among others, a Managing Director who was involved with Citigroup’s RMBS securitizations. The internal audit reports showed that the seller had itself found, in the prior year, that it lacked key internal controls over its quality assurance for loan production, and that substantial percentages of the loans failed to adhere to underwriting guidelines, which the seller itself labelled as “high risk.” 9 Citigroup also conducted its own reviews of a sample of loans provided by the seller. In that process, Citigroup identified issues with the seller’s internal quality controls. During this time, Citigroup’s due diligence vendors graded a number of sampled loans, both from loan pools to be securitized and from loans funded through “warehouse” lines of credit, as EV3, including loans that the vendors found did not comply with applicable laws and regulations due to missing documentation. In certain instances, Citigroup’s due diligence personnel reevaluated certain of the vendors’ loan grades and instructed its due diligence vendor to change some of those grades from an EV3 to an EV2 or EV1. Notwithstanding the information Citigroup had received about the companies’ loans, Citigroup purchased the loan pools and securitized loans from those pools in the four RMBS.
CNN Breaking News: Strong M6.8 quake off Fukushima — Tsunami warning issued — Gov’t: “Marine threat is in place… Get out of the water and leave the coast immediately” — Footage shows nuclear plant shaking for over a minute (VIDEO)
CNN: Earthquake rocks region of northern Japan; tsunami advisories issued — A 6.8-magnitude earthquake early Saturday struck in the area of Fukushima, Japan – the epicenter of a nuclear crisis following a massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami – the Japan Meteorological Agency reported. The same agency issued a tsunami warning for the Pacific coast in the region of Tohoku. […] “Marine threat is in place,” the meteorological agency warned for those in imperiled areas. “Get out of the water and leave the coast immediately.” >> Watch CNN here
AFP: Japan issues tsunami warning after strong quake near Fukushima […] Japan Meteorological Agency said a local tsunami of up to one metre could impact the Pacific coastline […]
AP: Strong quake hits Japan, triggering tsunami — A 6.8-magnitude earthquake has hit Japan’s northern coast near the [Fukushima] nuclear power plant […] Japan’s Meteorological Agency says the quake struck early Saturday 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the sea surface off the coast of Fukushima […] The agency issued tsunami advisory along the Japanese northern coast. Public broadcaster NHK says the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is checking if there is any damage from the quake.
Telegraph: The Japan Meteorological Agency said a local tsunami of up to 3.3 feet could impact the Pacific coastline in Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi prefectures after the quake. The quake was measured at a depth of 6 miles and occurred at 4.22am local time [3:22p ET], the US Geological Survey said. […] Plant operators Tokyo Electric said there were no immediate reports of abnormality after the quake, according to Kyodo news agency. […] The meteorological agency advised people to leave the coast immediately, while Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said some local authorities issued evacuation advisories to their residents.
I swear! It never ceases to amaze me, the stupidity of the public. Everyone sitting around with their fingers in their asses while we are continually nuked! What the f–k is wrong with people? Is it Ok that you children’s children will be unrecognizable as humans? What are you people thinking?
No one gives a shit! What is going on? Years ago, when 3-Mile Island was going on, people became afraid of nuclear reactors, and rightfully so. Now, the horrible scary news about Fukushima, WIPP, and Hanford are just like totally ignored by you people! Hell, I didn’t have kids, and I am more frantic about the situation than the people with kids, and grandkids. What the fuck are you people paying attention to? Nothing?
Yes, I am mad! Mad as hell! All the people that protested in the 60’s early 70’s what the hell are yall thinking? Shit! You would protest anything and everything, and now, it is suddenly ok to nuke everyone? What the hell did you grow up to be? A Senator or Congressman, protected from the radiation on earth?
I tell you what people… If you don’t get out of your zombie states, and you own little world taking whatever kind of I don’t give a shit pills yall are taking, there won’t be nothing but radiation sickness, damaged genes, and the mutation of all mankind.
I don’t know what to tell yall! I thought everyone snoozing through Foreclosure Hell was bad enough, but now they are literally killing us with an unseen toxin. Do you really think you are immune?
Internal Memo: 10 times more WIPP nuclear drums risk exploding than media reported — Expert: Data shows increasing amount of radioactivity going into environment — Official: Something “caused drum to later catch fire”; Gov’t should investigate if truck fire & electrical surge led to the radiation release
AP, July 4, 2014 (emphasis added): Teams of scientists and engineers are still trying to determine exactly what caused a barrel [at New Mexico’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)] from Los Alamos to burst […] Despite hundreds of experiments to date, investigators have been unable to create any reaction that would have caused the container to leak like it did […] The accident has […] indefinitely shuttered the mine […] According to the memo obtained by The Associated Press, [Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Principal Associate Lab Director Terry Wallace] told employees at a meeting Monday that the probe is focused on 16 barrels of highly acidic, nitrate-salt-bearing waste, including the drum that leaked at [WIPP]. Ten of the other barrels [11 total, including the one that ruptured] are also underground at the [WIPP] mine[…] Wallace is quoted in the memo as saying that a technical review “identified certain conditions that might potentially cause an exothermic reaction inside a drum. Among them are neutralized liquids, a low pH and the presence of metals.”
According to the AP’s article above, the investigation is now focusing on 11 barrels in the WIPP underground, yet only a few weeks ago the AP reported: “Officials say 6… potentially explosive containers of waste [were shipped] from Los Alamos National Laboratory… [Five] are being stored at a site in West Texas [and] one at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant [believed to be the source of the radiation leak].
Albuquerque Journal interview with Miles Smith, EnergySolutions’ vice president of Southwest operations, July 3, 2014: “We don’t believe the combination we put into the drums, we don’t think it has the ability to start burning on its own. It needs an outside source of ignition […] It doesn’t look like the kitty litter was the cause […] I don’t believe [absorbent materials] caused the explosion or the fire. [One of the two suspect products, an acid neutralizer, is not a problem]. Its safety sheet says it is not incompatible [The other product, a base neutralizer, is incompatible with the nitrates in WIPP waste but this neutralizer wasn’t used in the WIPP-bound barrels.] We think there are other things that caused the drum to later catch fire [there] are a lot of things out there [to investigate, including a truck fire and an electrical surge in the days before the leak.]
Albuquerque Journal, July 3, 2014: Don Hancock of the Southwest Research and Information Center, a WIPP watchdog, said Smith’s comments are consistent with those of state Environment Department […] but noted that no one from [Los Alamos National Lab] has weighed in. “I would say I’ve always been skeptical of the kitty litter issue,” he said. “Anybody with a cat knows that kitty litter itself is not combustible. It’s got to be kitty litter and something else.”
Don Hancock, Southwest Research and Information Center, June 25, 2014: […] the current data show that there are increased amounts of radioactivity going into the environment as contaminated filters are being changed. […] DOE presumes that the ventilation system and the exhaust shaft are too contaminated to use in a re-opened facility. On June 18, the House Appropriations Committee approved $20 million dollars […] as a down payment for new ventilation and a new exhaust shaft. […] it is very difficult or impossible to determine exactly what happened and how much contamination was released.
Ya know, I used to think that Foreclosure Hell was the worst thing we in this Country had to face. Wow, Was I Wrong!
I didn’t realize that just like in Japan, they will cook us to death with radiation, and not even bother to tell us. I have condemned the Japanese for nuking the world and not telling us the truth about it, but fuck me, this country is doing the same thing.
While most people go about their daily business, they never think about the fact, that a pleasure of getting rained on is killing them. We are the walking dead, and being asleep to the fact is just fucking us up more.
I would apologize for my slang, no, crude language, but something needs to wake these sleeping zombies up!
So, they are not only going to take every house they can get their grimy paws on, but they are going to continue the slow kill of humankind from the planet.
It is not the kids growing up now that will suffer so much, it is like the butterfly test in Fukushima. It is the children’s children that will be riddled with deformities.
No matter what they try to tell us, we cannot be stupid, and believe that radiation is ok. The thought of believing that, well, it is, stupid. The sheeple that make up this country now, is amazing. If the government says the radiation is not hurting us, we’ll just believe them. Because the government says so? Yall need to get out from under the rock, and out of the sun, cause damn! You been drinking too much water with fluoride in it, for too long, and it has made you dumb! I take that back, it has made you dumber than dirt!
For years, they have been doing things with the weather, with our food, with our prescriptions, our health! They have taken healthy human beings and turned them into out of shape, fat slugs that have lives that are meant for cattle. Chemtrails is no lie either. What about HARP? I guess that you also believe that 911 was not an inside job.
No, I am not a conspiracy theorist, I believe in taking what is put before me, studying it, seeing it for what it is, listening to scientists, listening to experts, and deducing my own opinion. You see, we woke up. We quit drinking the tap water. We quit watching the regular news. The news media is brainwashing you sheeple, which is not hard for them to do.
Terrorists are here, they are going to get you, so we have to militarize the Police forces. These false flag shootings, are to outrage you sheeple, so that you will agree that guns are bad, and they can confiscate our guns. We are told that our rights have to be taken, so that we can be protected from the terrorists, etc.,
If you are so blind you cannot see your nose on your face, you will not notice that Fannie Mae, and the banks are throwing our elderly out on the street. Right now, in Goodyear, Arizona, and 83 year old woman and her 86 year old husband are being thrown out of their home. No one cares. In Colorado Springs, CO, an 82 year old woman is being thrown out of her home. No one cares.
What the hell is wrong with you sheeple? It’s not you, so it is Ok? The Bank With the Most Homes in the End Wins, Get Used to It!!!
Some 39 months after the multiple explosions at Fukushima, thyroid cancer rates among nearby children have skyrocketed to more than forty times (40x) normal.
More than 48 percent of some 375,000 young people—nearly 200,000 kids—tested by the Fukushima Medical University near the smoldering reactors nowsuffer from pre-cancerous thyroid abnormalities, primarily nodules and cysts. The rate is accelerating.
More than 120 childhood cancers have been indicated where just three would be expected, says Joseph Mangano, executive director of the Radiation and Public Health Project.
The nuclear industry and its apologists continue to deny this public health tragedy. Some have actually asserted that “not one person” has been affected by Fukushima’s massive radiation releases, which for some isotopes exceed Hiroshima by a factor of nearly 30.
But the deadly epidemic at Fukushima is consistent with impacts suffered among children near the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island and the 1986 explosion at Chernobyl, as well as findings at other commercial reactors.
READ THE REST AT : http://ecowatch.com/2014/06/14/fukushima-children-dying/
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NBC stations reveal nuclear workers suffering severe brain damage, dementia — Toxic waste raining down from sky, wore baseball caps for protection — Brains being eaten away, teeth falling out — Workers raising safety issues framed using false evidence, fired — Gov’t not allowed in to investigate (VIDEO)
NBC Right Now, Apr. 30, 2014: Former Hanford Worker Sick from Nuclear Waste
Jane Sander, reporter: A nuclear waste spill happened hours before at the tank farm.
Lonnie Poteet, Hanford worker: I was already burning from my glove line to my t-shirt line and… starting to lose a little bit of vision in my right eye… Why didn’t they say something?
Sander: Poteet describes living his life now as recluse… sharp pains in his head, they cause him to often twitch. He says medication prevents him from collapsing in pain due to severe nerve damage in his brain.
Poteet: [More Hanford workers] are going to be exposed to the same situation… Nobody is going to do anything to stop it… As long as there’s profit… and they get their bonuses on a decent time, that’s all they care about… Most of the workers onsite right now are running scared. They will not bring up any safety concerns because as soon as you do, you’re going to be labeled and thrown off the site, just as fast as they can go. They’ll either create stuff that never happened, or they’ll find ways to get you.
NBC Right Now, June 5, 2014: Sick Former Hanford Worker Speaks Out
Jane Sander, reporter: He sadly lives his life with a deadly disease…
Lawrence Rouse, Hanford worker: I have toxic encephalopathy… it eats your brain away.
Sander: Near the end of his almost 20 years at Hanford… he began to develop severe symptoms. Stuttering, memory loss, losing teeth…emotionally unstable…violent outbursts.
Rouse: [My son] wrote this letter, this little poem, and said that his dad is gone… It would rain the chemicals on you from the stack. That’s why we wore the baseball caps.
Sander: The Washington Dept. of Labor and DOE denied [compensation]… Since the [EEOICPA] program began in 2001, they’ve paid more than $1 billion in compensation and medical bills to [6,936 Hanford] workers…
Rouse: DOE has always denied everything. And that’s not going to change.
Sander: More Hanford workers continue to file claims for their illnesses.
KING 5 Seattle (NBC), June 4, 2014: It’s an unprecedented series of workplace accidents in the state. Since mid-March the number Hanford workers seeking medical help after breathing in chemical vapors has risen to 34.
Susannah Frame, reporter: Vapors causing serious illnesses at Hanford is not new… at the most contaminated workplace in the nation, OSHA can’t get past the gates to investigate.
Diana Gegg, Hanford worker: It’s turned my life upside down.
Frame: Brain damage, sudden tremors, vision loss, dementia – Illnesses the gov’t admits were caused by exposure… she can’t go out without a wheelchair, cook, or drive.
New emails reveal concern over plutonium chain reaction in WIPP containers — “There shouldn’t be a ‘significant’ reaction… criticality safety issues are not my area of expertise” — “Significant amount of plutonium” — No mention of kitty litter
Albuquerque Journal News, May 29, 2014: WIPP probe: Emails raise new questions […] internal Los Alamos National Laboratory emails showing Los Alamos approved products to be used in the drums that some experts say contain ingredients widely known to cause a heat reaction when combined with the drums’ other contents. The emails are not about the switch from inorganic to organic cat litter […] The emails trace LANL’s approval of two products […] to neutralize the pH balance of drum contents sent to WIPP. […] despite product warnings clearly stating that the product is incompatible with metallic nitrates and “strong oxidizers,” such as nitrate salts, both of which are found in the LANL drums. Nitrates and organic matter are known to oxidize, a reaction that generates heat. […] When Zeke Wilmot, [LANL contractor] EnergySolutions industrial hygienist, asked in an August 2013 email for approval to use the product, he notes that “criticality safety issues are not my area of expertise” and “it may be advisable to have LANL personnel weigh in on these issues as well.” […] WIPP and LANL did not grant requests for interviews regarding the emails […]
Email to LANL from Zeke Wilmot, EnergySolutions Industrial Hygienist (pdf): […] we would like approval for use of liquid — acid and base neutralizers […] I believe immediate solidification would resolve any criticality safety related concerns […] As we have received a significant amount of Pu-cemented waste, I have looked into the reactivity issues potentially associated with incidental contact with plutonium. From the limited research I have done, elemental plutonium and plutonium hydride (hydride is not likely to be encountered) are water reactive, but there should not be a significant reaction if an aqueous fluid makes contact with plutonium dioxide. I expect most of the cemented Pu waste we’ve handled is the oxide. As the water reactivity of plutonium and criticality safety issues are not my area of expertise it may be advisable to have LANL personnel weigh in on these issues as well.
Feb. 10, 2009: The main headquarters of the FBI, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, in Washington, DC.AP
SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has struck down a set of laws allowing the FBI to issue so-called national security letters to banks, phone companies and other businesses demanding customer information.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said the laws violate the First Amendment and the separation of powers principles and ordered the government to stop issuing the secretive letters or enforcing their gag orders, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The FBI almost always bars recipients of the letters from disclosing to anyone — including customers — that they have even received the demands, Illston said in the ruling released Friday.
The government has failed to show that the letters and the blanket non-disclosure policy “serve the compelling need of national security,” and the gag order creates “too large a danger that speech is being unnecessarily restricted,” the San Francisco-based Illston wrote.
A Department of Justice spokesman told the Journal the department was “reviewing the order.”
FBI counter-terrorism agents began issuing the letters, which don’t require a judge’s approval, after Congress passed the USA Patriot Act in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The case arises from a lawsuit that lawyers with the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed in 2011 on behalf of an unnamed telecommunications company that received an FBI demand for customer information.
“We are very pleased that the court recognized the fatal constitutional shortcomings of the NSL statute,” EFF lawyer Matt Zimmerman said. “The government’s gags have truncated the public debate on these controversial surveillance tools. Our client looks forward to the day when it can publicly discuss its experience.”
Illston wrote that she was also troubled by the limited powers judges have to lift the gag orders.
Judges can eliminate the gag order only if they have “no reason to believe that disclosure may endanger the national security of the United States, interfere with a criminal counter-terrorism, or counterintelligence investigation, interfere with diplomatic relations, or endanger the life or physical safety of any person.”
That provision also violated the Constitution because it blocks meaningful judicial review.
Illston ordered the FBI to cease issuing the letters, but put her order on hold for 90 days so the U.S. Department of Justice can appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Illston isn’t the first federal judge to find the letters troubling. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York also found the gag order unconstitutional, but allowed the FBI to continue issuing them if it made changes to its system such as notifying recipients they can ask federal judges to review the letters.
Illston ruled Friday that it’s up to Congress, and not the courts, to tinker with the letters.
In 2007, the Justice Department’s inspector general found widespread violations in the FBI’s use of the letters, including demands without proper authorization and information obtained in non-emergency circumstances. The FBI has tightened oversight of the system.
The FBI made 16,511 national security letter requests for information regarding 7,201 people in 2011, the latest data available. The FBI uses the letters to collect unlimited kinds of sensitive, private information like financial and phone records.
TV: “Like a horror show” at Los Angeles-area beach — Unusual number of marine animals suddenly getting sick and dying — “I wonder if something’s in the water” killing them — They “hobble and fall over, it’s heartbreaking” (VIDEO)
KTTV Los Angeles, May 22, 2014: Marina Del Rey’s Horror Show — “It’s like a horror show, really!” That’s what Kerma Boyum-Sarmiento said after watching a pelican die […] to Shay Yuval, the “horror show” is watching a number of pelicans and other critters die or show signs of serious sickness in the last couple of weeks in the rocks by Via Marina and Pacific. To the […] women what’s happening is very suspicious. […] Is there a connection between the anchovy-die-off and pelicans and other sealife suddenly getting sick?
KTTV: A lot of concern about the wildlife in Marina Del Rey tonight. Days after tons and tons of fish died there, other creatures are now dying too […] more on the mystery.
Hal Eisner, KTTV reporter: The big question is […] are these deaths connected or are they coincidental? If you ask the people who live around here, whatever it is they’re very suspicious. […] Neighbors say an unusual number of marine animals have started dying. This pelican took its last breath while we were standing here.
Yuval: You see them helpless and want to help. They’re fighting to walk and hobble and fall over, it’s heartbreaking.
Eisner: Heartbreaking to Shay Yuval, who lives right by the water, and Kerma Boyum-Sarmiento who does too. And both think the anchovy die off has something to do with these other animals dying.
Boyum-Sarmiento: I wonder if there’s something in the water killing these animals.
Eisner: We wondered too. […] Whatever is happening is unsettling.
Boyum-Sarmiento: It’s like a horror show, really.
Fox 13 LA, May 19, 2014: Carol Baker with LA County’s Department of Beaches and Harbors tells us that testing will have to be done on the fish to find out why they died. It could be an algae bloom or the lack of oxygen or something altogether different. Right now no one knows for sure, she says. “Whether it’s an environment anomaly or if this is something we created, I don’t know”, said Marnella Stout who lives in the area. “But I think we’re going to get a lot more of this.”
Hundreds of tons of radioactive water now being intentionally dumped into Pacific at Fukushima plant — Tepco: “We’d like to express our sincere appreciation” — Nuclear water stored since last year to be dumped next week — Official: Tepco “utterly inept” at taking accurate radiation readings (VIDEO)
Tepco, May 21, 2014: Today, we have commenced operation of the groundwater bypass at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to many parties, including Fukushima Prefecture and members of the fishing industry […]
Yahoo News, May 21, 2014: Wednesday [TEPCO] began to dump controlled quantities of water with low radioactivity into the sea. This is the method it plans to start using to reduce the alarming accumulation of contaminated liquid […] TEPCO revealed that around 560,000 litres [~148,000 gallons] of water was emptied Wednesday.
Japan Times, May 21, 2014: [Tepco] said Wednesday it began dumping into the Pacific Ocean hundreds of tons of groundwater […] The next release is expected to involve about 790 tons of groundwater stored since last year […] the official said there could be a water discharge roughly every week.
The Australian, May 21, 2014: Nuclear water released into sea off Japan […] not clear whether the water was more radioactive than normal
Xinhua, May 21, 2014: [Tepco] has also been slammed by Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka for incorrectly measuring levels of radioactive materials in groundwater […] Tanaka has said that even though three years has passed since the reactor meltdowns at the plant, TEPCO is still “utterly inept” when it comes to taking accurate readings […] and “lacks a basic understanding of measuring and handling radiation.” […] A spokesperson for the utility said the massive error [measuring strontium-90] was due to a “calibration error” […] He added that other machines had also been mistakingly calibrated […]
Kyodo, May 21, 2014: The official said the amount of water seeping into the reactor buildings may be reduced by up to 80 tons per day [out of the 400 tons per day of contaminated water that flows into the Pacific], but added that the effect of the groundwater bypass system needs to be checked through actual operation.
CNN: Fukushima fallout ‘grossly underestimated’ says new Japan study — “Radioactive poison… contaminating the North Pacific Ocean” — Tepco: ‘Impossible’ to know how much really got out (VIDEO)
CNN, May 21, 2014: […] This is my first time visiting one of the most dangerous places on earth. […] the highly contaminated “red zone” […] remains a desolate wasteland […] Impact underestimated? The true scope of the contamination is a subject of debate, with a research team from Fukushima University recently releasing a study that claims [TEPCO] grossly underestimated the amount of radioactive poison cesium-137 released into the environment. Exposure can heighten the risk of cancer. […] TEPCO acknowledges it’s impossible to know for sure how much cesium was released […] Researchers told me they don’t believe the risk extends far beyond Japan and the North Pacific Ocean, even though small traces of radioactive ocean water have been detected as far away as Canada.
Transcript Excerpt – Will Ripley, CNN: A senior scientist and his research team at Fukushima University just published a study claiming the power plant’s operator Tepco grossly underestimated the amount of radioactive poison — Cesium-137 — released during the meltdown. This material has already gone into the ocean. It’s already there. He’s especially worried about contaminated fish in a country where most meals come from the sea. His research team says cesium spewed into the air during the meltdown and later fell into the water contaminating the North Pacific Ocean and the Japanese mainland. Tepco says the company’s radiation estimates come from the best information they have, but a spokesperson admits nobody really knows for sure. […] The invisible danger from Fukushima is why these town will continue to sit empty for years, as crews try to contain the slow moving catastrophe that turned their homeland into this wasteland.
CNN Student News, Daily Curriculum, May 22, 2014: Where is Fukushima? What disasters struck the city three years ago? What does the city look like now? Why are fields that once were full of crops now full of bags of soil? What radioactive poison was released during the nuclear plant meltdown? Why is the professor seen in the video especially worried about the poison’s effect on fish? What does the reporter have to do before he enters the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant? What are workers there trying to do to the plant? How long will the cleanup take? According to the video, why will the town continue to sit empty for years?
Gov’t Report: Fukushima radioactive material still raining down on U.S. in 2013 — Contamination “worked its way into local ecosystems” — ‘Incremental impacts’ from Fukushima radiation release — Health implications ‘incompletely understood’
Several massive pulses of radionuclides were released to the atmosphere from Fukushima between March 12 and 18, 2011 […] 134Cs and 137Cs persisted at trace levels […] in on-going air monitoring at Berkeley through the end of 2012.
Rainwater Contamination in California
March 2011 was an unusually wet month in California (~200% of normal monthly precipitation in the Bay Area) due to several large storms which resulted in discrete wet deposition events on March 18-20 and 22-26. […] 134Cs and 137Cs were present, at low levels, after 70 days. However, it is worth noting that low levels of radioactive cesium were still detectable in rainwater during subsequent wet seasons in 2012 and 2013, reflecting the continued presence of Fukushima-derived cesium in the atmosphere. […]
Food Chain Contamination in California
Fukushima-derived radionuclides transferred from the atmosphere to the land through rainout or dry deposition have the potential to contaminate soil and water supplies, and to enter the food chain. […] Sampling of soil and sediments from several California locations detected a clear pulse of 131I, 134Cs and 137Cs between April – June 2011, with only 137Cs remaining above the pre-accident background thereafter (through Nov 2012). Plant and food samples collected in the Bay Area in April and May 2011 contained detectable concentrations of Fukushima-derived 131I, 134Cs, and 137Cs, indicating that low-level contamination of the water and soil had worked its way into local ecosystems.
Public Health Impacts
Fukushima disaster presented (and continues to present) a low risk to public health relative to other concerns. However, it is worth reiterating that the health implications of exposure to low levels of radiation remain incompletely understood, and that the incremental impacts of the radiation released at Fukushima may be very difficult to separate from those of other radiation sources and the many other causes of disease.
CBS News: “Potential ‘imminent’ threat from New Mexico nuclear waste” — Official: Risk of “substantial endangerment” to public health — 57 barrels of nuclear waste could rupture, came from multiple gov’t labs — ‘Unclear’ how many are now at WIPP — Being monitored for rise in temperature (VIDEO)
CBS/Associated Press, May 20, 2014 (Emphasis Added): Potential “imminent” threat from New Mexico nuclear waste, officials say — Los Alamos National Laboratory packed 57 barrels of nuclear waste with a type of kitty litter believed to have caused a radiation leak at the federal government’s troubled nuclear waste dump, posing a potentially “imminent” and “substantial” threat to public health and the environment, New Mexico officials said Monday. […] two of those containers are known to be at WIPP. It doesn’t say where the rest of the barrels are […] The lab has taken a series of precautionary measures, the statement said, including packing the drums into special containers and moving them under a dome with a fire protection system. The lab is also monitoring the drums for any rise in temperature.
New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Secretary Ryan Flynn, May 20, 2014: “Based on the evidence presented to NMED, the current handling, storage, treatment and transportation of the hazardous nitrate salt bearing waste containers at LANL may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment.”
KUNM, May 19, 2014: Flynn on Monday gave the lab two days to submit a plan for fixing the problem, saying the barrels may “present an imminent and substantial threat” to public health and the environment.
Xinhua, May 19, 2014: Troubled U.S. nuke lab has new woes: officials — A nuclear laboratory in the U.S. state of New Mexico packed dozens of waste containers with a type of kitty litter believed to have caused a radiation leak at another nuclear facility, posing a potentially “imminent” and “substantial” threat to public health and environment, officials said Monday.
Carlsbad Current Argus, May 20, 2014 (Emphasis Added): State officials announced this week that the DOE was analyzing 57 drums of waste containing a mixture of kitty litter and nitrate salts suspected of causing a reaction that led to the radiation leak. The 57 barrels of waste originated from Los Alamos and Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. The drums in question are scattered across the state at Los Alamos, WIPP and Waste Control Specialists, a private nuclear waste disposal facility in Andrews County, Texas, straddling the Texas-New Mexico border. The number of drums stored at each site is unclear […]
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MERS Virus Raising Global Alarms
May 17, 2014
On May 12, 2014, AlertsUSA issued the following
related Flash messages to subscriber mobile devices:
5/12 (b) – CDC: 2nd MERS case a healthcare worker who flew SA Flt 113 from Jeddah > London > Boston > Atlanta. Now hospitalized in Orlando. 500+ exposed & being notified.
5/12 (a) – CDC: 2nd confirmed US case of deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Florida patient. Awaiting more details from 2:00 PM press conf.
What You Need To Know
Twice this week AlertsUSA subscribers were notified via text messages to their mobile devices regarding a 2nd confirmed case the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS CoV) here in the U.S.. This week’s case also involved an individual who traveled from Saudi Arabia through via flights through London, Boston, Atlanta and into Orlando. CDC’s Div. of Global Migration and Quarantine is working with Pan-American Health Org. (PAHO), Public Health England, Public Health Agency of Canada, and U.S. state and local public health authorities to contact and interview all travelers that may possibly have been exposed to the Florida patient between when he left Saudi Arabia and was ultimately diagnosed and quarantined here in the U.S..
As previously reported by AlertsUSA and Threat Journal on multiple occasions since the virus was first identified in the Spring of 2012 (see this and this), public health and epidemiology professionals tend to cringe each year when the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca rolls around, planned this year for the first week in October. It goes without saying that when millions of international travelers from all points on the globe converge in one city for a physically active, horrendously overcrowded, hot and humid gathering involving communal shaving, touching common surfaces and staying in tightly packed quarters, one is considered lucky to leave without having contracted some respiratory or digestive bug, if not worse. Even a cursory search of the Internet shows that cholera, pneumonia, meningitis, all forms of hepatitis , measles, mumps, typhoid, dysentery and a host of other communicable diseases run rampant during the Hajj. Then the Pilgrims, just a quickly, return to their countries of origin.
In the May 14th edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC cautioned clinicians and other healthcare professionals of the need to consider MERS-CoV infection in persons who have fever and pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome and either a history of travel from countries in or near the Arabian Peninsula within 14 days OR close contact with a symptomatic traveler who themselves have traveled to the region within 14 days. Additionally, the CDC points out that individuals who have recently traveled may seek medical care far from cities that are served by international flight connections. Therefore, all health care professionals should be cautious and ” prepared to consider, detect and manage cases of MERS.”
Despite the WHO statement, 22 international airports across the U.S. this week began prominently displaying health advisory posters from the CDC warning of the MERS virus. In addition to educating travelers about the symptoms of MERS, the posters warn those who travel to the Arabian Peninsula (including Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen) to wash their hands often, avoid touching their face, and to avoid close contact with sick individuals.
In public health emergencies, officials will ALWAYS downplay a threat so as to minimize panic. Thus, while it is important to follow what officials SAY, it is equally important to watch what the professionals actually DO.
If the CDC is hanging MERS warning posters in airports and issuing guidance to healthcare professionals on identifying, isolating, caring for infected individuals and protecting staff (see this and this), these are clues that perhaps you should be taking some steps on your own to protect yourself and family. In the event that the MERS coronavirus infections become more widespread, the following items will disappear from availability overnight:
Medical Grade Skin Cleanser
In principle, it is the current understanding that the MERS-CoV can be transmitted by three routes: aerosols, large droplets, and direct contact with infected surfaces and secretions. One of the best risk mitigation steps you can take is to acquire a medical grade skin and surface cleanser. One of the gold standards in hospitals and other clinical settings is Chlorhexidine Gluconate, which is sold under the product name HIBICLENS. The product is intended for use as a surgical scrub and personnel hand wash, a patient pre-operative skin preparation and a skin wound cleanser. The antimicrobial cleaner bonds to the skin to create a persistent antimicrobial effect and protective germ-killing field against a wide range of microorganisms.
An ESSENTIAL risk countermeasure for reducing the spread of MERS-CoV, not only for caregivers but also for the sick, is to acquire a supply of N95 particulate masks. The N95 respirator filters at least 95% of airborne particles, is in wide use within hospitals and will be impossible to find during a any major disease major outbreak or pandemic. These are (currently) inexpensive and a critical element for one’s preparedness supplies.
AlertsUSAcontinues to closely monitor the overall situation with the spread of the MERS virus and will immediately notify service subscribers of reports of new U.S. cases or the release of updated information from health authorities indicating an increased threat environment as events warrant.
5/12 US STRATCOM begins major nuclear arms drill involving cross spectrum DoD resources. Expect heightened security + gate delays at mil bases nationwide & abroad.
5/14 San Onofre nuclear power plant near San Diego now being evacuated due to approaching wildfire. Monitoring…
5/17 Overnight: USGOV issues travel alert for Thailand, partic Bangkok, due to political & social unrest over gov corruption. Avoid all protests, vigilance urged.
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U.S. and Russia Trade Jabs,
NATO Launches Massive Military Drills,
Ukraine Nuke Plant Attacked
May 18, 2014
On May 13, 2014, AlertsUSA issued the following
Flash message to subscriber mobile devices:
5/13 – Russia to end operation of all 11 U.S. GPS stations on Russian territory on 6/1, + bans U.S. use of Russian rocket engines for defense satellite launches.
What You Need To Know
On Tues of this week AlertsUSA subscribers were notified via text messages to their mobile devices regarding Russia’s response to the latest round of economic sanctions.
According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin who is himself a target of U.S. sanctions, Russia will ban the U.S. from using Russian-made MK-33 and RD-180 rocket engines for launching defense satellites. The engines are used to power Atlas V rockets lofted by United Launch Alliance LLC, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing which is currently the sole supplier of rocket launches for the Pentagon. A day after Russia’s threat, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren revealed that United Launch Alliance has a two-year supply of the engines already in hand.
The announcement was followed by yet another threat from Secretary of State John Kerry who warned, “If Russia or its proxies disrupt the elections or stand in the way of the Ukrainian people being able to exercise their vote, that is when and if there would be additional sanctions.”
On Friday NATO kicked off a major military exercise in Estonia involving 6000 troops from nine countries. Known as “Steadfast Javelin 1” the exercise is based on a fictitious scenario and involves allied forces repelling an attack on Estonia. Participating units include an extensive array of air and ground forces.
AlertsUSAcontinues to closely monitor the increasingly tense situation in Eastern Europe and will immediately notify service subscribers of changes in the overall threat environment, major escalations and force deployments or the outbreak of hostilities as events warrant.
Travel Security Update
The U.S. Dept. of State is the authoritative federal source for information on the security situation at travel destinations worldwide. With tensions rapidly increasing in most regions, readers planning on international travel, even to such common destinations as Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean Islands, are strongly encouraged to do a little research on the security situation prior to departure.
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Ezekiel 33:2-6
“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.”
New study reveals deaths and mutations ”increased sharply’ from exposure to Fukushima contamination, “especially at low doses” — ‘Small’ levels of cesium may be ‘significantly toxic’ — Smithsonian: “In other words, things don’t look good for the animals living around Fukushima”
Published: May 15th, 2014 at 3:14 pm ET By ENENews
Smithsonian Magazine, May 14, 2014: Even Tiny Amounts of Radioactive Food Made Caterpillars Become Abnormal Butterflies […] Researchers in Japan […] discovered, even a small amount of radiation is too much. […] The scientists collected plant material from around Fukushima and fed it to pale grass blue butterfly caterpillars. When the caterpillars turned into butterflies, they suffered from mutations and were more likely to die early [… even if they] had only eaten a small amount of artificial caesium […] In other words, things don’t look good for the animals living around Fukushima.
Nature — Scientific Reports (pdf), Published May 15, 2014: [We] examined possible relationships between the dose of ingested cesium per larva and the mortality and abnormality rates. Both the mortality and abnormality rates increased sharply, especially at low doses […] the mortality and abnormality rates increased sharply, especially at low doses. Additionally, there seemed to be no threshold level below which no biological response could be detected. […] the dose-response data suggests that the relatively small level of artificial cesium from the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP may be significantly toxic to some individuals in butterfly populations […] the half lethal [i.e. LD50, amount that will kill 50% of a test subjects] dose [is 1.9 Bq per larva] and the half abnormal dose [is 0.76 Bq per larva] […] relatively small [levels] of artificial cesium from the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP may be significantly toxic to some individuals in butterfly populations […] we assert that the half lethal and abnormal doses we obtained were quite high. […] it should be noted that we sampled contaminated leaves from Fukushima City, which many people inhabit as though nothing had happened […] Implications of the half lethal and abnormal doses we obtained in the present study will impact future discussions on the effects of radioactive exposure on other organisms, including humans. […] In conclusion, it is important to recognize the risk of internal radiation exposure due to ingested radioactive cesium, at least for the pale grass blue butterfly, and likely for certain other organisms living in the polluted area, possibly including humans. […]
Gundersen: New development at Fukushima, “Essentially entire plant has a gamma ray haze over it… a haze of radioactive particles” — Tepco: It’s impossible to stop, using more shielding won’t help (AUDIO)
Published: January 16th, 2014 at 7:39 pm ET
By ENENews
Interview with nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Energy Education, Power Hour, Jan. 16, 2014: “The most fascinating new thing is there’s a gamma ray haze over the plant. Gamma rays are like x-rays. Essentially, the entire plant has a gamma ray haze over it to the tune of about 1,000 millirem a year […] There’s essentially a haze of radioactive particles.”
Tepco Press Conference with summary translation by Fukushima Diary, Jan. 10, 2014: There is no way to shield Bremsstrahlung from contaminated water tanks, Tepco stated […] shielded by water and the tank material, it turns into Bremsstrahlung. […] it is technically impossible to shield each tank. Even if they put the shielding material inside of the tanks, it also causes Bremsstrahlung. […]
HOW FRIGGIN STUPID DO THEY THINK WE ARE? April 18, 2004; April 20, 2014; May 04, 2014
NBC: Record level of sick or injured California seals and sea lions turning up — “The numbers are extraordinary” — “Scientists worried… The worst kind of perfect storm” — Pups should be weighing 2 or 3 times as much, “severely malnourished” (VIDEO)
Published: April 18th, 2014 at 11:10 pm ET
By ENENews
NBC Bay Area, Apr. 18, 2014: Seals and sea lions in California are turning up sick or injured at a record pace this year. Sausalito’s Marine Mammal Center has more animals in its care right now than ever before in its 39-year history. There are three factors at play: First of all, this is the time of year when pups get stranded or separated from their mothers for an unknown reason. Also last year’s sea lion epidemic sent malnourished, sick pups onto California shores at record levels. On top of that, a Monterey Bay algae bloom is making a lot of animals sick. Experts say it’s creating the worst kind of perfect storm.
NBC Southern California, Apr. 17, 2014: Scientists Worry Sea Lion Epidemic May Return […] Marine scientists are worried about the increasing number of sick, often severely malnourished, sea lions showing up at a San Pedro care facility. […] An increase in the number of stranded sea lion pups in Southern California has scientists and marine mammal experts asking the question, “Could it be happening again?” […] The center was caring for more than 200 mammals Thursday, most of them California sea lion pups. […] During a normal year, in comparison, the center takes in about 250 animals total. […] Experts hope what they were dealing with last year was an anomaly rather than a new normal for California’s sea lion pup population.
David Bard, director of Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro: “It was definitely linked to food availability or the distribution of their normal food source last year.[…] Is it related to human activity along the coastline […] or is it something of a natural source?”
Jeff Boehm, Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito: The numbers are extraordinary […] “Out of the gates this year, it’s a record-setting pace. We don’t know what May is going to bring us yet. We don’t what June is going to bring us yet. We’ve had peaks of activity as late as October.”
CBS San Francisco: Record number of sick seals & sea lions — Doctor: A lot with “large pockets of green and yellow puss all over their body” (PHOTO & VIDEOS)
Published: April 20th, 2014 at 4:49 pm ET
By ENENews
CBS San Francisco, Apr. 16, 2014: Marine Mammal Center Says More Animals In Need Than Ever Before […] Walking among the pens of California sea lions, elephant seals and harbor seals, Marine Mammal Center spokeswoman Laura Sherr said they expect to have 200 mammals by the end of the week, which will be a per-day record.
CBS Video Title: A record number of seals and sea lions have become sick and are being treated at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito >> Full broadcast here
KCBS Radio, Apr. 16, 2014 — Marine Mammal Center spokeswoman Laura Sherr: “Right now we have in hand, live animals, 194.” […] The previous per day record for patients at the facility was 179. >> Full broadcast here
USC Impact, Kaysie Ellingson, Mar. 27, 2014: An environmental problem threatens the lives of sea lions on the California coast
At 8:30 in
Rescue and rehabilitation wasn’t the [California Wildlife Center’s] only responsibility. Much of their work dealt with the pups that had died.
Duane Tom, veterinarian at the California Wildlife Center: “We were doing a lot of necropsy for them. We found a lot with abscesses — there were just large pockets of green and yellow puss all over their body — whether it’s in their lungs, in their liver. It looks like they got sick systemically.”
Alarm as record numbers of seals & sea lions ‘starving to death’ along California coast — “It’s just spiked… calls started coming nonstop” — “So many unhealthy… washing ashore” — “Extremely complex issue… multitude of factors in play” — “Definitely a mystery, we’re hoping it’s not the new norm”
Orange County Register, May 2, 2014: Sea lions are […] washing ashore, many of them pups dehydrated, malnourished and on the brink of death. The year started off quieter than last year, and the Pacific Marine Mammal Center’s director of development, Melissa Sciacca, thought they were in the clear – until about a month ago, when the calls started coming in nonstop. […] “We thought it was going to be a nice calm year; in the last month it’s just spiked,” she said. “The rescues just keep coming in at a steady pace.” It’s the second year stranded sea lions have been reported in alarming numbers. […] Last year, scientists tested for radioactivity, and it was determined that wasn’t the cause, and infectious disease was also ruled out.
San Francisco Chronicle, May 3, 2014: Young seals, sea lions starving in record numbers — Rescuers are scrambling to save a record number of young sea lions and seals along California’s northern and central coast while scientists work to understand why the animals are beaching themselves […] The emaciated and dehydrated pups are turning up along the 600 miles of coastline from Mendocino to San Luis Obispo monitored by the Marine Mammal Center. Many are too weak to move after washing ashore […] As of Wednesday, the center had brought in 429 California sea lions, elephant seals, harbor seals and fur seals this year. That’s well above the 291 animals admitted by the same date last year […] Southern California witnessed an almost 70 percent die-off of young sea lions – those born in summer 2012 – near the Channel Islands, where most American sea lions breed.
Sharon Melin, NOAA biologist: “In 2013, it was only the young animals that tried to do it on their own […] this year there’s lots of stranding going on, but those are a different age-class of pups.”
Dr. Shawn Johnson, Marine Mammal Center: “The ones we are seeing are basically starving to death […] It’s definitely a mystery. We’re hoping it’s not the new norm.”
Coastline Pilot, May 1, 2014: “In the last month we’ve seen the rescues spike,” [Pacific Marine Mammal Center’s Keith Matassa] said. […] Researchers are still trying to determine why so many unhealthy sea lions are washing ashore. “The reasons behind the animal strandings are an extremely complex issue,” Matassa said. “Although there is a leading theory that their food source is playing a significant role, there are a multitude of factors that come in to play.”
Is dilution really the solution to pollution—especially when it’s nuclear waste that can stay radioactive for 100,000 years? A four-member expert group told a federal joint review panel it is.
Japan Meteorological Agency reported. The same agency issued a tsunami warning for the Pacific coast in the region of Tohoku. […] “Marine threat is in place,” the meteorological agency warned for those in imperiled areas. “Get out of the water and leave the coast immediately.” >> 
caterpillars. When the caterpillars turned into butterflies, they suffered from mutations and were more likely to die early [… even if they] had only eaten a small amount of artificial caesium […] In other words, things don’t look good for the animals living around Fukushima.
happened […] Implications of the half lethal and abnormal doses we obtained in the present study will impact future discussions on the effects of radioactive exposure on other organisms, including humans. […] In conclusion, it is important to recognize the risk of internal radiation exposure due to ingested radioactive cesium, at least for the pale grass blue butterfly, and likely for certain other organisms living in the polluted area, possibly including humans. […]
