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US, Massachusetts: Sinkhole Found in Boston's I-90 Tunnel

Richard Weir, Chris Cassidy and Christine McConville
Boston Herald
Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00 UTC
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© The Associated Press / Michael DwyerMass DOT officials say the problem is in the same connector tunnel where Milena Del Valle was killed in 2006 when a three-ton slab of concrete fell on top of her car.
But officials say road safe

A massive "sinkhole" at least 4 feet deep and up to 190 feet long has created a "void" under the Interstate 90 connector tunnel in the problem-plagued Big Dig, adding to a growing list of engineering failures that include a deadly ceiling collapse, dangerously unstable light fixtures and lethal railings, state transportation officials revealed yesterday.

Transportation officials insist there is no risk of a new catastrophic collapse in the tunnel - the same one where Milena Del Valle was killed by a 3-ton slab of concrete five years ago - but some critics said they aren't convinced.

"You hear this and think, 'What's coming next?' " asked Rep. Peter Durant (R-Spencer), a Transportation Committee member calling for a probe of the latest Big Dig fiasco. "This is just another in a long line of problems for this project."

The gap 9 feet under the tunnel's roadway, filled with water and resembling a subterranean pond, was caused by an unexpected degree of settling of the clay soil around the tunnel as a result of a pioneering technique called "ground freezing" while contractors dug under the train tracks serving South Station.
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US, New York: Sinkhole on Elm Street Got 'Bigger and Bigger'

Keshia Clukey
UTICAOD
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 09:26 UTC
sinkhole
© Keshia ClukeyObserver-Dispatch A reader contacted Public Eye regarding a "sink hole" in the street, around 1114 Elm St., in Utica. The hole has since been filled by the city, but its cause still remains unknown.
Utica resident Ralph Stevens wrote to Public Eye regarding a large sinkhole on Elm Street near his home.

"I keep watching this thing grow bigger and bigger," Stevens said.

The details

The hole, near 1114 Elm St., was between 1- and 1½-feet deep and several inches wide. Trash collected in it and it looked as though the asphalt was crumbling.

Stevens said he noticed the hole about five weeks ago.
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Info

Australia: Dugong Deaths Way up Down Under

John R. Platt
Scientific American
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 14:12 UTC
Dugong
© Scientific American

More dugongs (Dugong dugon) have died in Australia this year than in all of 2010. At least 90 of the marine mammals, close relatives of manatees, have starved to death off the coast of Queensland after floods destroyed the area's sea grass, the dugong's main source of food. Another six were killed by boats or fishing nets. Only 79 dugongs were found dead in that region in 2010.

Sea grass suffers when it is overwhelmed by freshwater. Massive floods in December and January followed by a cyclone in February dumped a lot of river water into the ocean off Queensland. The runoff also brought pesticides and sediment, providing what Queensland Minister for Environment Vicky Darling called a "triple whammy" to the vegetation.

The sea grass problem has also hurt sea turtles in the region. Several hundred dead turtles washed up along the state's northern coast late last month. Experts fear many other bodies drifted away or sank to the bottom and were never observed or counted.

Darling said the sea grass is not likely to recover this year, although it is expected to eventually bounce back. She said the dugongs, aka sea cows, are also expected to recover in time.
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Bizarro Earth

Indonesia: North Sulawesi's Mount Soputan Erupts


Jakarta Post
Sun, 14 Aug 2011 14:04 UTC
Mt Soputan
© AFPMount Soputan near Manado emits thick clouds of volcanic ash on Sunday.
Mount Soputan in Minahasa, North Sulawesi, emitted a cloud of ash on Sunday morning, reaching 1 kilometer in height.

The volcanic eruption drew the attention of residents of Tompaso district in Minahasa, from which the volcano can be clearly seen.

"I was surprised and panicked seeing the eruption at about 10 a.m. It was a big eruption; the clouds and ash looked very tall; almost the same as those produced in the big eruption several months ago," said Tompaso resident Riko Tamunu, 24.

He said he was attending church when the eruption occurred, adding that there had been smaller eruptions earlier at about 6 a.m. on Sunday.

Some Tomoso residents also left their houses, churches or other buildings upon hearing the sound of the eruption. Several residents captured the event using their cell phone cameras, TribunNews reported.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Black, slimy, foamy water, hundreds dead fish and turtles mystery in Louisiana

Deborah Dupre
Examiner
Sun, 14 Aug 2011 10:28 UTC
water,foam
Hundreds of dead fish and black water have led a multi-agency investigation team to a submerged pipeline in Louisiana's Washington Parish along Pearl River that flows into the Gulf of Mexico but investigators now want to know what is in the black water, draining into the Gulf of Mexico dead zone stench and suffocation, topic of a recent conference.

'There's got to be something wrong with the bayou,' said Mike Tardo, owner of Tardo Hair Designs, 601 W. Second St. in Thibodaux earlier on Wednesday after hundreds of dead fish and turtles had been reported on Monday and Tuesday prompting a Louisiana and Mississippi multi-agency investigation.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) reported to WWLTV that "effects from the water" are seen all the way to Walkiah Bluff, Miss., 40-50 miles down river.

Officials had said water out of the pipeline, just above Richardson Landing, leading to Temple Inland paper mill is making the water black and filmy according to WWL but whether the mill is the cause is yet to be determined.
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Indiana, US: Stage Collapse Kills At Least 4 and Injures Dozens Before Sugarland Concert

Cliff Brunt
The Associated Press
Sun, 14 Aug 2011 06:22 UTC
Sugarland concert
© The Indianapolis Star/Matt KrygerFans waiting to see Sugarland run away after high winds blew the stage over at the Indiana State Fair Grandstands, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011, in Indianapolis.
A stage collapsed during a powerful storm at the Indiana State Fair on Saturday, sending steel scaffolding into the terrified crowd below and killing at least four people among fans awaiting a performance by the country band Sugarland.

The collapse came moments after an announcer warned of the advancing storm and gave instructions on what to do in event of an evacuation. Witnesses said a wall of dirt, dust and rain blew up quickly like a dust bowl and a burst of high wind toppled the rigging. People ran amid screams and shouts, desperate to get out of the way.

Hundreds of concert-goers rushed afterward amid the chaos to tend to the injured, many with upraised arms seeking to lift heavy beams, lights and other equipment that blew down onto the crowd. Many of the injured were in the VIP section closest to the stage. Emergency crews set up a triage center in a tunnel below the grandstand at the Indianapolis fairgrounds.

About 40 people were injured, including at least one child, WTHR reported. Witnesses reported seeing many people with head and neck injuries and broken bones.
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Bizarro Earth

Indonesia: Mount Papandayan's Alert Level Raised


The Jakarta Globe
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:46 UTC
Mount Papandayan
© Suara Pembaruan PhotoIn the file photo taken in July 2004, Mount Papandayan in Garut, West Java was spewing smoke from its craters. On Saturday, the volcano's alert level is raised from level 2 (beware) to level 3 (stand-by).
The alert level of Mount Papandayan in Garut, West Java has gone up a notch to alert level 3 - just one level below eruption.

According to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) the 2,665-meter volcano had shown a significant increase in tectonic earthquake activity since Friday.

"BNPB has dispatched a quick-response team to assess the necessary emergency action local government and other agencies need to take in order to ensure the safety of residents living around the volcano," Sutopo said.

Mount Papandayan last erupted on Nov. 11, 2002. Even though there were no deaths or casualties, dozens of houses were destroyed by the lava that swept through the villages within the volcano's 10km radius.

It's earliest recorded eruption was in 1772 when it destroyed 40 villages and killed 2,951 people.
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Bizarro Earth

US: FEMA program models catastrophic disasters

Manuel Valdez
SeattlePI.com
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:12 UTC
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© Unknown
With the disaster modeling program on his computer, project analyst Adam Campbell dials up a 7.2 earthquake for Seattle and King County.

He's looking for how many buildings will topple, how much debris will fill the streets, making them impassable for emergency responders. He wants to know how many casualties the massive quake will produce.

"Cascadia is a scary fault," said Campbell, a contractor for Federal Emergency Management Agency, in what will prove to be an understatement, as he demonstrates the program to The Associated Press,

Minutes later, FEMA's Hazus computer program churns out its hair-raising answers: Billions of dollars in structural damage; area hospitals leveled; tons of debris blocking the streets, and more than 1,000 deaths and several more thousand injured.

"The data that comes out of a tool like Hazus shows our risks and what kind of impacts could occur here," said John Schelling of the Washington Emergency Management department. "The program brings some resolution. It provides some context so people can begin to see some of the challenges following these types of disasters."
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Fish

Australia: Mystery fish kill worries locals


Fraser Coast Chronicle
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:03 UTC
dead fish
A Queensland estuary groper, estimated to weigh up to 30kg, lies dead on the banks of the Burrum River during the week.

A giant groper has died in the Burrum River, prompting speculation as to why fish are perishing in an apparently healthy waterway.

The stench of decaying fish hangs over sections of the river and stunned barramundi are reportedly being caught by hand as they swim aimlessly in the shallows.

Lifetime local Peter Pearson said he had never seen anything like it in his time living and fishing in the region.
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Eye 1

ConocoPhillips reports new China oil leak, faces bigger clean-up


M&C News
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:54 UTC
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© Chinafotopress/Getty ImagesA ship cleans up the leaking oil near the platform C in the Bohai Sea, China.

Beijing - The Chinese subsidiary of US-based oil firm ConocoPhillips has found a new oil leak and faces a bigger clean-up following two earlier spills in the Yellow Sea off north-eastern China, reports said on Friday.

The State Oceanic Administration said ConocoPhillips China (COPC) on Sunday reported a new leak at the C Platform of the Penglai 19-3 oilfield in the Bohai Gulf.

The new leak was about 11 metres away from the source of an oil spill reported at the platform in June, the administration said.
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