November 2018 Alaska Earthquake
 
November 30th, 2018: A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck eight miles north of Anchorage, Alaska at about 8:30 local time Friday morning; videos showed roads split open and buildings in disarray, though no deaths or major injuries are reported - the effects were likely muffled by its depth of about 25 miles below the surface; the U.S. Geological Survey reported four aftershocks, including one registering 5.8 magnitude, and at least 193 other quakes in the state over the course of two days. A Tsunami Warning was in effect for coastal zones of Cook Inlet and South Kenai Peninsula.
|
November 2018 Southern California Wildfires
  
November 8th, 2018: A wildfire began Thursday night south of Simi Valley in Southern California and was quickly spread by high winds southward toward the Santa Monica mountains, reaching Malibu Beach before morning (a distance of roughly 25 miles); the Woolsey Fire threatened homes in upscale neighborhoods of Malibu, Calabasas, and Thousand Oaks, engulfing more than 83,000 acres (33,400 hectares) of land and forcing the evacuation of an estimated 250,000 people from 75,000 homes - this included an unprecedented total evacuation of the City of Malibu. The fire damaged Western Town  , an Old West-themed movie & television location on the Paramount Ranch in Agoura and two bodies were found in a burned car on a mountain road. UPDATE 11/12: Authorities say that the Woolsey Fire grew to 93,662 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and has now destroyed at least 435 buildings, most of them homes; due to continuing high winds, the fire is only 30 percent contained. UPDATE 11/15: The Woolsey Fire has burned 98,362 acres, killed three people, and destroyed 483 structures; it is now 52 percent contained.
The much smaller Hill Fire north and west in Ventura County started on the same day but is only 4,500 acres and centered around Camarillo, California on both sides of the 101 Freeway; evacuation orders for the Hill Fire were lifted next day and officials declared the blaze to be 65% contained.
 
UPDATE Monday 1/7/2019: Parts of the Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles were shut down by the California Department of Transportation over the weekend by mudslides and flooding; rocky debris blocked stretches of the road, and cars & roads in the city of Malibu were covered with mud; some stretches of the iconic coastal road were expected to remain closed until at least Monday.
UPDATE Saturday 2/2/2019: A string of powerful storms are expected to bring four inches of rain in some areas, with 10-foot storm surge in the Pacific Ocean, and several feet of snow in the mountains; evacuations were ordered or recom-mended in many areas hit by wildfires in recent months, with specific orders to evacuate for residents near the Thomas, Whittier, and Sherpa 'burn scars' in Santa Barbara County.
|
November 2018 Northern California Wildfire
  
November 8th, 2018: A wildfire dubbed the Camp {Creek} Fire struck Butte County in Northern California and in less than 24 hours wiped out the Town of Paradise, prior population 26,000. The blaze was pushed by strong Diablo winds and rapidly burned more than 105,000 acres (420 km²), destroyed at least 6,713 structures, killed 23 civilians, and injured three firefighters; the Camp Fire is the most destructive and third-deadliest wildfire in California history. Other towns ordered to evacuate included Centerville and Butte Creek, northwest of Paradise, and the nearby hamlets of Pulga and Concow. UPDATE 11/12: Twenty-nine people have died in the Camp Fire in Northern California, which matches the deadliest fire in state history; more than 200 people remain unaccounted for. UPDATE 11/13: Authorities have reported 13 more fatalities, bringing the total death toll so far to 42 and making the Camp Fire the deadliest wildfire in recorded state history; the fire was still just 30 percent contained after burning 117,000 acres and destroying 7,177 homes and businesses, many in the devastated town of Paradise. UPDATE 11/15: The Camp Fire in Butte County has burned 138,000 acres, destroyed more than 10,300 homes & businesses, and killed at least 56 people, making it the deadliest California wildfire in a century; authorities say that 130 people are still unaccounted for and the blaze remains just 35 percent contained.
UPDATE 11/26: The devastating Camp Fire in California may finally be under control, but the death toll is up to 85 and 249 people are still missing. UPDATE 12/1: The number of people listed as missing has been whittled to 49 as the death toll rose to 88; the wildfires destroyed or damaged 14,354 homes and about 4,900 other structures.
 | "Fire in Paradise" [aired 29 October 2019]
episode of the PBS TV series "Frontline" [since 1983]
"California's Deadliest Fire" • Survivors and first responders provide insight into the 2018 Camp Fire, the most destructive wildfire in California's history • Co-produced & directed by Jane McMullen; narrated by Will Lyman; featuring reporters Priyanka Boghani, Sarah Childress, Rahima Nasa, and Katie Worth
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • full credits at IMDb •
watch full movie [54:17] online at YouTube
|
 |
"Fire In Paradise" documentary featurette [Netflix streaming Nov 2019]
documentary about the November 2018 Camp wildfire in California, where 85 souls
lost their lives • Co-produced & directed by Zackary Canepari & Drea Cooper
DVD/Blu-ray not yet available • full credits at IMDb
watch 10/2019 official trailer [1:36] online at YouTube
|
|
October 2018 Hurricane Michael
 
October 7th, 2018: Hurricane Michael was classified as a hurricane and continued intensifying; Florida Gov. Rick Scott ordered thousands of coastal residents to head inland and others to prepare to evacuate as forecasters issued a hurricane warning for the northeastern Gulf Coast from the Alabama-Florida border to Suwanee River, Florida - a distance of 350 miles. The storm made landfall late October 10th as the strongest storm to hit the continental U.S. since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and the strongest ever recorded in the Florida Panhandle; the central force of the hurricane destroyed the coastal town of Mexico Beach, Florida. The storm then moved north thru Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. By October 12th, after Hurricane Michael ravaged southern and western Virginia and moved into the North Atlantic Ocean; at least 17 people were dead – eight in Florida, one in Georgia, three in North Carolina, and five in Virginia, 1,200 roads closed, and more than 1 million homes and businesses were without power as rescuers moved into the devastated areas to search for survivors.
|
September-October 2018 Delta Fire in California
  
September 5th, 2018: The Delta Fire broke out in northern California and burned 15,000 acres on the first day; Interstate 5 was closed for six days (and again for six hours on September 13th); by September 24th, the fire was 97% contained, but spot fires kept erupting at the margins and the area slowly grew over many days; the fire was declared '100% contained' on October 7th, but not officially declared 'controlled' until November 28th; the Delta Fire burned 63,311 acres and was determined to be man-made, although the exact cause remains unclear •
Delta Fire entry at Wikipedia
|
September 2018 Hurricane Florence
 
September 2018: After Hurricane Florence flooded the coastal regions of the Carolinas; on Friday September 14th, the hurricane was downgraded to tropical storm as it moved slowly across the Carolinas, hitting some areas with more than 30 inches of rain, then wandered off toward the north and east.
Flooding from the swollen Cape Fear River washed toxic coal ash over an earthen dike/dam and back into the river at the L.V. Sutton Power Station near Wilmington, NC; the rising waters also swamped a 625-megawatt natural gas plant at the site, forcing it to shut down; the water at the gas-powered plant was at least six inches deep. Farther inland, the H.F. Lee Power Plant near Goldsboro, NC has three landfills containing toxic coal ash that are covered with earth and trees; heavy rains washed contaminants & debris from those sites into the nearby Neuse River; the exact same thing happened during Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.
Floodwaters from Hurricane Florence limited access by road to the Brunswick Nuclear Generating Station near Southport on the coast of North Carolina; the power station is just 20 feet above sea level, and both nuclear reactors were shut down prior to the arrival of the hurricane.
 
The North Carolina Recreational Water Quality Division said after Hurricane Florence that flood waters were tainted with septic tank waste, sewage, fuel, toxic chemicals, and animal waste, including some from industrial hog farms.
|
August 2018 Red Tide in Florida
August 2018: A toxic algae bloom of K. brevis organisms is centered on Sarasota and detectible 50 miles north and 100 miles south; beaches are closed to swimmers, and anyway are covered with dead fish; the eco-event began on August 2nd and continues into September.
|
Summer 2018 Wildfires in British Columbia
 
Summer 2018: Over 600 wildfires are burning across British Columbia in late August; officials of the B.C. Wildfire Service declared the 2018 wildfire season to be the second-worst in history, after last year's devestation; of the 1,950 wildfires since April 1st, they blame an estimated 400 or more on human activity, with the rest probably ignited by unusually high lightning storm activity.
|
July-August 2018 California Wildfires
 
 
July 27th, 2018: California's Carr Fire began in Shasta County, California on Friday and grew from 48,000 to 80,000 acres by Saturday; two firefighters were killed, then a woman and two grandchildren near Redding, then another resident for a total of six; more than a dozen other people are missing. California is dealing with a total of 17 large wildfires across the state; Gov. Brown declared state emergency status and asked for federal emergency funds, but has so far been ignored by Emperor Trump. More than 27,000 people remained evacuated but 10,000 had been allowed to return to their homes.
UPDATE August 4th: The death toll rose to seven when a power company lineman was killed; the Carr Fire has now burned 130,000 acres in a two-week span, displacing 35,000 people and destroying more than 1,500 buildings. Officials have determined that the blaze began when a tire on a trailer failed and the tire rim scraped the pavement, making sparks that ignited the fire.
Also, evacuee reports and examination of burned-out residential areas near Redding suggest a rare phenomenon occured, one called 'fire twisters' or 'fire whirls': extreme circular winds that uprooted trees and overturned vehicles and popped roofs off of buildings.
July 27th, 2018: Farther south, the River Fire and the Ranch Fire were given the name Mendocino Complex Fire; dozens of small communities were ordered to evacuate; the two fires raced through vineyards and brushy hills in Mendocino and Lake counties, threatening about 10,000 homes after burning seven homes and 107 square miles of rural land by late Monday; by August the two fires had burned over 80,000 acres.
UPDATE August 5th: The Mendocino Complex Fire suddenly expanded on Sunday to scorch more than 266,000 acres, making it the fourth-largest California wildfire on record; the fire is now threatening 9,300 structures; so far no deaths.
July 13th, 2018: California's Ferguson Fire outside Yosemite Valley has burned 58,000 acres, mostly of inaccesible brush. National Park officials closed large sections of Yosemite National Park because of the smoke; visitors and employees were ordered to evacuate Yosemite Valley and Wawona, as well as all park hotels, campgrounds, and other visitor facilities; the fire also shut down State Highway 140, the key route to Yosemite National Park. Two firefighters were killed, and the fire is still burning as-of August.
|
July 2018 Wheatfield Fires in Oregon
 
July 17th, 2018: Farmers and firefighters are battling the Substation Fire in Wasco County near The Dallas, east of Portland, Oregon; next day, the fire had been contained to 50,000 acres (roughly 80 square miles). The Substation Fire was the largest of some 200 wildfires across Oregon, many sparked by lightning.
|
July 2018 Klamathon Fire in California & Oregon
 
July 2018: The Klamathon Fire in Siskiyou County, northern California 'exploded' to cover 22,000 acres on Saturday July 7th, more than doubling in size and crossing the state line into Oregon; the blaze has killed one person and destroyed 15 buildings; by Sunday night, the massive blaze, fueled by erratic winds and dry vegetation, had burned 35,000 acres (60 square miles), threatening hundreds of homes; fire crews managed to make a little progress overnight thanks to high humidity, but the mammoth fire was still just 25 percent contained.
|
June-July 2018 Rains & Flooding in Japan
June-July 2018: Unprecedented rainfall caused widespread flooding and landslides in Japan's Hiroshima prefecture that killed 204 people; people were caught off guard because the region seldom gets such heavy rains. In one area, 10.4 inches fell in three hours, the highest such total since record-keeping started in 1976, making the events Japan’s worst weather disaster in decades.
|
June 2018 Train Derail & Oil Spill in Iowa
June 22nd, 2018: A B.N.S.F. freight train on its way from Alberta, Canada to Oklahoma derailed and spilled an estimated 230,000 gallons of crude oil into flood-waters in the northwestern corner of Iowa; the flooding from recent heavy rains is expected to be cited as cause of the derailment. Fourteen of the 32 derailed tank cars are leaking oil into surrounding floodwaters from the swollen Little Rock River just south of Doon in Lyon County: the dark area at lower left of the above photo is the oil plume. Nearly half the spill (100,000 gallons) of oil was quickly contained by several oil booms deployed near the oil spill site, with other containment booms deployed about five miles downstream; skimmers and vacuum trucks are already in use.
|
Summer 2018 Western USA Wildfires
 
July-August 2018: Lightning caused a wildfire on the Venado Mesa only a few miles west of Jemez Springs in northern New Mexico; a week later, the fire area was 3,582 acres and it was 66% contained; firefighters were hoping that predicted rain storms would extinguish the blaze.
July 25th, 2018: A fast-moving wildfire tore through trees and burned five homes as California sweltered under a heat wave and battled other ferocious fires at both ends of the state. The Cranston Fire, believed to have been sparked by arson, erupted in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles and turned into a wall of flame that torched timber and tinder-dry brush; in a matter of hours the wildfire grew to 7½ square miles (19 square kilometers). Authorities ordered residents to leave the forest town of Idyllwild, California, population about 12,000 people, as well as surrounding forest communities. The Cranston Fire was threatening an estimated 600 homes and was the largest of at least five fires that police believe were purposely set by a man whose car was reported to be at the starting point of the blazes. State fire officials arrested 32-year-old Brandon N. McGlover of Temecula; he was booked on suspicion of five counts of arson.
July 7th, 2018: More than 2,000 people have evacuated their homes to escape dozens of wildfires in Southern California; exacerbated by record temperatures and strong winds, the fires have quickly burned more than 60 buildings and spread to cover over 1,000 acres; no deaths have been reported in connection to the Southern California fires so far.
June 2018: A series of wildfires burned across northern New Mexico, including the Valles Caldera Fire, the Hidden Valley Fire (caused by lightniong), and the San Antonio Fire; each fire was small (less than 1,000 acres) and all were quickly contained.
June 12th, 2018: A blaze in Moab, Utah started in a wooded area in the residential Pack Creek neighborhood and quickly spread to nine acres; the fire was quickly contained and then extinguished, but eight homes were destroyed; officials say that the fire is 'human-caused, and under investigation'.
June 2018: The Badger Creek Fire in Medicine Bow National Forest near the Wyoming-Colorado border began Sunday June 10th and more than doubled in size in two days, increasing by Thursday to about 11,000 acres; nearly 400 seasonal and permanent homes were evacuated because of the fire.
|
June 2018 Mescalero Wildfire in New Mexico
June 7th, 2018: A wildfire began on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico about a mile north of tribal headquarters in the town of Mescalero; the Soldier Canyon Fire has burned about 2,500 acres and is threatening 100 structures & homes and the Mescalero School; U.S. Highway 70 is still open between Tularosa and Ruidoso, but there may be spot closures as firefighters relocate equipment, etc. Officials say that the fire is 'human-caused, and under investigation'.
|
June 2018 Colorado '416' Wildfires
 
June First, 2018: The wildfire began on private land next to Highway 550 and a railroad line in southwestern Colorado, near Durango; drought conditions and high winds quickly expanded multiple fires into the San Juan National Forest. Within days, the fire covered 14 square miles and at least 1,600 homes were evacuated; so far, no houses have been destroyed and there are no casualty reports. Officials continue to report that the fires are 10 percent contained.
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad tourist line shut down because the fires are less than ten miles from Durango, and because the locomotives are coal-fueled and sometimes cause sparks; service is cancelled thru at least 6/17; at least 30,000 reservations are affected; railroad employees have been furloughed.
UPDATE June 12th: The drought-driven fire has expanded to 22,131 acres; officials are closing the San Juan National Forest (first time in 113 years) 'until there is enough rainfall to reduce the danger'.
UPDATE June 21st: Officials re-opened trails, roads, and campsites in the San Juan National Forest with restrictions such as no campfires, no smoking outdoors, and no shooting of firearms due to continued severe drought conditions.
UPDATE July 16th: The railroad resumed full operation.
|
May-June 2018 Ute Park Fire in New Mexico
 
May 31st, 2018: The Ute Park Fire in New Mexico began in the afternoon, and due to drought conditions and high winds had quickly grown by the next day to 16,000 acres; efforts by firefighters to contain the fires slowed expansion, but ten days later it had burned 36,740 acres and was 77% contained;
26,387 of those acres were on Philmont Scout Ranch, where 14 outbuildings were destroyed (Philmont's headquarters are not yet threatened).
UPDATE June 12th: Officials are closing certain districts of the Cibola National Forest 'until there is enough rainfall to reduce the fire danger'.
|
May-June 2018 Hawai'i Volcanic Eruptions
 
May 2018: The Kilauea volcano is on the southeast coast of the Big Island of Hawai'i and is considered to be active since 1983. On May 3rd, multiple earthquakes and ground deformation and lava eruptions began on the east slope of the volcano, threatening several downhill housing areas. On May 4th, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit the area, called Puna.
After two weeks, over 20 fissures have erupted lava in or near the Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens subdivisions, resulting in the destruction of more than 40 structures and forcing the evacuation of 1,700 residents. A lava flow on May 19th buried part of Hawaii Route 137 and began flowing into the ocean, which caused new dangers for residents and rescue workers: poisonous gasses and airborne volcanic glass particles. The photo above left shows the rare phenomenon of methane gas seepage lit on fire by the heat of the lava. Professional vulcanologists swarmed to the Big Island; otherwise, tourism across Hawai'i is down.
|
April 2018 Hector Mine Spill in Minnesota
 
April 24th, 2018: The containment pond at the long-abandoned Hector Mine in St. Louis County, Minnesota {60 miles north of Duluth} suddenly breached and escaped into the Embarrass River and downstream to Embarrass Lake; the bright red-orange discoloration is due to iron and clay, and was declared non-toxic by officials; with snow still on the ground, officials expect that humans will not come in contact with the chemicals and silt, but are concerned about fish spawning over the Spring and Summer. { May 10th article in the Duluth Reader newspaper }
|
April 2018 Mississippi River Oil Spill
April 12th, 2018: More than 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the Mississippi River in New Orleans after the Singapore-flagged vessel Pac Antares hit a pier around 10:30 on Thursday morning. Coast Guard officials believe that the leak has been plugged; containment booms and other equipment are being deployed.
|
March 2018 Fuel Oil Spill in Jakarta, Indonesia
  March 31st, 2018: A marine fuel oil spill covering about 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles) in Jakarta, Indonesia put the city of Balikpapan and Semayang Port in an emergency state; the whole area reeked of gasoline fumes, there were several fires, four people were killed, and one person is missing. Original reports specified 'marine fuel oil' and were accompanied by photos of a burning oil tanker; several days later state-owned oil firm Pertamina admitted that the leak was from a Pertamina underwater pipeline that had been moved 328 feet from its original position on the seabed; restorationa and investigation continue.
|
February 2018 Amtrak Acela separation near Aberdeen, Maryland
February 6th, 2018: Two cars on Amtrak's Acela Express 2150 separated, which is described as a mechanical failure. The train was northbound from Washington, DC for New York and Boston at a speed of 125 mph; the incident took place 25 miles out, near Aberdeen, Maryland at around 6:40am Tuesday; no one was injured, the 52 passengers were transferred to another train by 7am.
|
February 2018 Amtrak train derailment in South Carolina
February 4th, 2018: No listing yet on Wikipedia. An Amtrak train traveling between New York and Miami collided with a C.S.X. freight train in Cayce (Lexington County), South Carolina at around 2:35 on Sunday morning, derailing the lead locomotive and several passenger cars. Eight crew members and approximately 139 passengers were on board, two crew members died, and 116 people were injured, with at least 70 injured taken to multiple local hospitals for treatment. About 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled and hazmat clean-up began immediately. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.
|
January 2018 commuter train derailment in Washington, DC
January 15th, 2018: No listing yet on Wikipedia. A northbound Red Line commuter train carrying 63 people derailed just after 6:30 a.m. outside the Farragut North station in Washington, DC; passengers were walked away, no injuries, one passenger was taken to hospital for shortness of breath. Business was light due to the Martin Luther King holiday, and other traffic was slowed due to routing on a single track; major delays expected next day when commuters return to work.
|
December 2017 passenger train derailment in Washington State
December 18th, 2017: On the first day of service on the new Amtrak bypass route south of Tacoma, Washington, high-speed Amtrak Train 501 carrying 78 passengers and five crew members derailed at 7:34am just south of the small city of DuPont; at least 77 people were hospitalized, and officials said multiple people on the train were killed (early reports were 3 confirmed deaths or maybe 6 killed). Railcars were left dangling from an overpass, several struck vehicles on Interstate 5 below; the trip recorder of the rear locomotive said that the train was going 80mph when it entered the 30mph zone that curves onto a bridge above the freeway; the forward engineer received head injuries, including both eyes swollen shut.
|
September 2017 Hurricanes Harvey & Irma & Maria
 
September 2017: Hurricane Harvey was downgraded from hurricane status on September First, but still earned the title 'Superstorm' - it was designated the most extreme rain event in U.S. history. Hurricane Irma was already forming, possibly aimed at the Tampa Bay area. After wreaking widespread devastation in the Caribbean, with at least 36 people there killed, Hurricane Irma hit Florida's West Coast on Sunday morning September 10th; at least 101 deaths were reported (44 in the Caribbean and 57 in the United States); 12-13 million residents in Florida were without power, and more than a million people lost power in Georgia.
Hurricane Maria increased strength to Category 5 and made its first landfall, devastating the tiny eastern Caribbean island of Dominica, then continued toward the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, estimated to be the strongest storm to hit Puerto Rico in 85 years. Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico on September 18 with 155-mph winds, knocking out power to the entire island of 3.4 million people. The death toll as-of October 2nd was 34 people in Puerto Rico, 30 in Dominica, 5 in the Dominican Republic, 3 in Haiti, 3 in mainland United States, 2 on Guadeloupe, and 1 in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
UPDATE May 2018: Roughly 4,600 people, possibly more, died in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Maria, largely from delayed or interrupted medical care, according to a report by Harvard researchers. That's more than 70 times the government's official death toll of 64. The new estimate would make Hurricane Maria deadlier than Hurricane Katrina, which killed 1,833 people in 2005. {The death toll figure later stabilized at 3,975.)
|
August 2017 passenger train derailment in Philadelphia
August 22nd, 2017: The inbound Norristown High Speed Line Amtrak passenger train crashed into an empty train parked at a suburban Philadelphia station at around 12:15am Tuesday. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority said that 42 people aboard the train were injured, at least four of them seriously. The 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby was blocked off for the day while the investigation took place. The immediate cause of the accident has not been reported; the real cause of the accident is prior reduction of Amtrak safety funding by Republicans in Congress.
|
August 2017 oil train derailment in Pennsylvania
August 2nd, 2017: Residents of the small town of Hyndman (pop. 800) in Bedford County near the Maryland border were awakened about 5 a.m. on Wednesday by the sound of C.S.X. tank cars derailing and crashing into each other. The freight train was transporting hazardous materials - mostly refined petroleum, but also liquid petroleum gas and molten sulfur - when at least 32 cars careened off the tracks, igniting fires in some rail cars and a garage and damaging other structures.
Residents were soon ordered to evacuate, though some remained locked inside their homes. Officials arrived around Noon, but could do little because the fires were still burning. No injuries were reported.
Amtrak suspended passenger train service between Pittsburgh and Washington, DC, providing buses to take travelers between the two stations.
|
July 2017 break-off of iceberg the size of Delaware
click to see
illustration full size | |
The Larsen A-68 iceberg broke off from the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica in July 2017, gradually extending the crack of separation over several weeks while scientists watched via satellite. The resulting iceberg was roughly the size of Delaware with an estimated size of 5,800 square kilometers in area and 113 miles in length, and is the second largest such iceberg in recent times.
Such Antarctic icebergs typically break into smaller pieces and melt as they move north and east toward the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands.more info on Iceberg Larsen A-68 at Wikipedia
|
|
March 2017 freight train derailment & spill in Iowa
March 10th, 2017: A Union Pacific Railroad freight train hauling ethanol derailed and burst into flames as it crossed a trestle bridge near Graettinger, Iowa on Friday; at least 27 of the 101 tank cars derailed. The fire burned until midday Sunday. An additional 1,600 gallons of ethanol spilled into Jack Creek (flowing leftward in photo) during cleanup operations.
|
March 2017 freight train derailment & spill in Canada
March 5th, 2017: Fourteen cars of a Canadian National freight train derailed in the town of Georgina, Ontario. C.N. Rail confirmed that the cars were hauling powdered copper concentrates, which they say are not an environmental or public safety hazard. Rail traffic was restored early the next morning.
|
February 2017 Oroville Dam evacuation
  
February 8th, 2017: Heavy rains over Northern California on Wednesday filled Oroville Lake to overflowing. By next day, workers at Oroville Dam had opened the spillway (to the left of the main dam) and discovered that it was damaged: a crater about one-third down had opened up, and was about 200 feet wide and thirty feet deep (see first photo). Officials hoped that using the spillway would lower the lake's content enough, but the damage grew worse - 500-feet wide and 45 feet deep (see second photo) - and threatened power lines. So the flow on the spillway was reduced early on February 11, forcing overflow to the auxiliary (emergency) spillway, which had never before been used. Fearing a possible 30-foot vertical breach of either spillway (causing 'uncontrolled flooding'), officials ordered evacuations in Butte, Sutter, and Yuba counties. As many as 200,000 residents were forced from low-lying homes and farms.
Erosion on the dirt and rock hillside below the emergency spillway (see third photo) caused officials to change tactics and increase flow on the main spillway. After rain runoff subsided and lake content fell below the lip of the emergency spillway, officials examined the two spillways and deemed both safe for the time being. The mandatory evacuation order was lifted at Noon on Tuesday February 14. The crater in the main spillway and erosion below the emergency spillway are being filled with large rocks as a temporary solution.
The earthen-fill Oroville Dam across the Feather River was completed in 1968 and is the tallest dam in the U.S.A.; it produces electricity and doles out water for agriculture; the main dam was not in danger during this episode. Local groups applied for upgrading the emergency spillway to concrete in 2005, but the $100M project was denied (Bush administration).
What's next? Heavy rains are expected Wednesday February 15.
|
November 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires in Tennessee
The first fire began on November 23rd, apparently set by two teenage boys. High winds spread the fire rapidly thru the tinder-dry forest; by December 12th the fires had burned 10,000 acres (about 15 square miles) inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park and 6,000 acres outside the park; many towns including Gaitlinburg and Pigeon Forge were evacuated; Dolly Parton's Dollywood properties were threatened but suffered little damage. The wildfires claimed at least 14 lives and injured 134, while over 2,500 buildings were damaged or destroyed.
|
June 2016 oil train derailment in Columbia River Gorge
Shortly after 12-noon on Friday June Third, a Union Pacific Railroad train carrying crude oil derailed near the small town of Mosier, Oregon along the Columbia River Gorge. Sixteen railcars were off the tracks, and four were on fire. Much of the town was evacuated, twenty-three miles of the interstate were shut down, and alternate routes were soon choked with traffic.
Little crude oil travelled through the gorge until 2012, when trains started transporting the commodity from the booming Bakken formation in North Dakota (made available by the new fracking processes) to a terminal near the coast. Since then, as much as sixty million gallons per week has moved down the rails on both sides of the Columbia River, sometimes on railroad trains more than a mile long.
The interstate remained closed until late Friday night, and the flames weren’t fully extinguished until two o’clock in the morning. The Union Pacific Railroad agreed to halt its 'unit trains' carrying only crude oil, but did not extend the suspension to other freight trains. On Sunday evening, trains once again started rolling through town.
On Monday afternoon, the town of Mosier swarmed with some two hundred workers from Union Pacific and the various state and federal agencies at work on the cleanup. Cleanup issues included a small spill of oil into the river, the removal of ten thousand gallons of oil from the town’s wastewater-treatment system, and the four burned railcars and 12 unburned rail cars.
|
May 2016 wildfires in Alberta, Canada
Wildfires erupted near Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada on Sunday May First and within days included a dozen fires surrounding the city. Officials ordered evacuation of the city of 88,000; some 17,000 residents quickly fled, most went south, some went north, many are still making plans or awaiting evacuation by air transport. By Friday, the flames were said to have burned 210,000 acres (also described as 850 km² or 328 square miles); officials reported that 1,600 homes and other buildings were destroyed within Fort McMurray, but there have so far been no deaths or injuries. Alberta declared a state of emergency that included fire restrictions over the entire province.
UPDATE: The Alberta fires were reversed by winds, and are now heading for oil camps north of Fort McMurray; the fires have already burned 1,350 square miles of forest land.
|
W.T.O.P News Radio in Washington, DC
Posted by Dennis Foley on 1 May 2016 at 9:30 am
C.S.X. train derails in Northeast D.C., possible hazardous leak
WASHINGTON, DC (WTOP) — A CSX freight train derailed near the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station Sunday morning leaving several cars overturned and a hazardous leak.
Upwards of 10 cars derailed from a train bound for Hamlet, North Carolina, from Cumberland, Maryland, about 6:40 a.m., and emergency responders were working to contain a leak throughout the morning.
“CSX operations and hazardous materials personnel are working with first responders on the derailment this morning in Washington D.C.,” CSX said in a statement released about 8:45 a.m. “The safety of the community, first responders, and CSX’s employees is our highest priority.”
The company said one derailed car is leaking sodium hydroxide, used primarily “to produce various household products including paper, soap and detergents.”
Rhode Island Avenue was still closed in both directions from 4th to 12th streets in Northeast as of 9:15 a.m.
The Red Line’s Rhode Island Station is also closed. Metro said it would establish bus shuttle service between the NoMa and Brookland stations.
 
CSX released the following statement at 8:45 a.m.:
At 6:40 a.m. on May 1, a C.S.X. train traveling from Cumberland, Md. to Hamlet, N.C. derailed approximately
10 cars near 9thStreet and Rhode Island Ave. near the Rhode Island Ave. Metro station. The CSX train had three
locomotives and 175 total cars, including 94 loaded cars carrying mixed freight, and 81 empties. One derailed
car is leaking sodium hydroxide, which is used to produce various household products including paper, soap,
and detergents. CSX is working with first responders to contain the released product.
[C.S.X. is] grateful for the swift response from Washington D.C. first responders and other agencies. C.S.X. is
working closely with them on this incident.
No injuries have been reported. [C.S.X.] will provide updates when available.
|
Working Minds / Worry About / Eco-News for 2019 to 2020 Page
was split off in Spring 2021
this Working Minds / Worry About / Eco-News for 2016 to 2018 Page
was split off in Summer 2018
Working Minds / Worry About / Eco-News for 2013 to 2015 Page
was split off in Summer 2017
Working Minds / Worry About / Eco-News for 2001 to 2008 Page
was split off in Spring 2015
|
![Earthweek: A Diary of The Planet - ecological news site [est. 1988]](images/earthweeknews.jpg)
![Environment News Service [est. 1990]](images/EnvNewsService.jpg)
![Climate Central [est. 2008] website](images/ClimateCentral.jpg)
, an Old West-themed movie & television location on the Paramount Ranch in Agoura and two bodies were found in a burned car on a mountain road. UPDATE 11/12: Authorities say that the Woolsey Fire grew to 93,662 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and has now destroyed at least 435 buildings, most of them homes; due to continuing high winds, the fire is only 30 percent contained. UPDATE 11/15: The Woolsey Fire has burned 98,362 acres, killed three people, and destroyed 483 structures; it is now 52 percent contained.