Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Big industries are waging an intense lobbying effort to block new, tougher limits on air pollution that is blamed for hundreds of heart attacks, deaths and cases of asthma, bronchitis and other breathing problems. The Environmental Protection Agency is to decide within weeks whether to reduce the allowable amount of ozone — commonly referred to as smog — in the air. A tougher standard would require hundreds of counties across the country to find new ways to reduce smog-causing emissions of nitrogen oxides and chemical compounds from tailpipes and smokestacks. Groups representing manufacturers, automakers, electric utilities, grocers and...

MOSCOW (AFP) - A major oil spill off the southern coast of Russia could take months to clear, a top environmentalist said on Wednesday as the first charges were brought over the accident. Some 2,000 tonnes of fuel oil seeped into environmentally sensitive waters of the Kerch Strait in the northeastern corner of the Black Sea, after a fierce storm on Sunday wrecked five ships including an oil tanker. "It will take nearly a week to clear the coast of pollution and months to eliminate fuel oil from the sea surface," Igor Chestin, head of the Russian branch of the...

A tidy-up in Raleigh could spell sore legs for bus riders -- at least for now. The city wants to rid streets of shopping carts that get pushed away from markets and become makeshift benches for Raleigh's bus passengers. On many corners, an overturned cart is a rider's only comfort. Of about 1,700 stops, more than 1,300 lack benches. "You can't blame them for wanting to sit down somewhere," Assistant City Manager Julian Prosser said. Taking a cart off-premises already violates state law, along with city ordinances, said Philip Isley, chairman of the City Council's Law and Public Safety Committee....

Soldiers of the Army Reserve 329th Chemical Company, Multi-National Corps-Iraq, utilize the ‘shower’ area to clean off any nitric acid residue. Photo by Army Spc. Beatrice Florescu. BAGHDAD — Soldiers of the Army Reserve 329th Chemical Company, Multi-National Corps-Iraq, work in dangerous environments, here and in the United States. They are called upon when chemical waste or hazardous material is in need of identification, isolation, removal and disposal.During one mission, the Soldiers had to operate quickly and accurately while receiving small arms fire, said Army Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Hart, 329th Chem. Co., MNC-I.Every cleanup mission involves thorough planning. It...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- As the nation's coal-fired power plants work to create cleaner skies, they'll likely fill up landfills with millions more tons of potentially harmful ash. More than one-third of the ash generated at the country's hundreds of coal-fired plants is now recycled -- mixed with cement to build highways or used to stabilize embankments, among other things. But in a process being used increasingly across the nation, chemicals are injected into plants' emissions to capture airborne pollutants. That, in turn, changes the composition of the ash and cuts its usefulness. It can't be used in cement, for...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Democrat Barack Obama, who accepts special interest money and played poker with lobbyist pals as an Illinois lawmaker, acknowledged Thursday that he swims in "the same muddy water" that corrupts Washington, but he pledged to reform the system if elected president. Presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton "doesn't recognize the problem," Obama told The Associated Press. "I have a bunch of friends who were state lobbyists. The fact of the matter is ... I played poker with them, so I don't think that lobbyists are evil," said the first-term Illinois senator. "I just think they've got an...

They call themselves "hunters who care." Their goal is to rid the desert of the trash left behind by illegal immigrants. Saturday, they fanned out across the Amado area to make a difference. "It was like a big surprise. I thought it would be clean and no trash. Just of bunch of trees and stuff," said Matt Aragon. Matt spots more than just wildlife when he goes hunting. "...a bunch of trash and it's causing damage to the environment." Most of the garbage was left behind by illegal immigrants. It's a sight Mother Nature wouldn't be proud of. That's why...

Trash, that had covered neighborhood streets, made a good hiding place for explosives. By 2nd Lt. Mike Daschel 2nd Battalion 12th Cavalry Regiment BAGHDAD, Feb. 6, 2007 — Streets in Ghazaliya are cleaner and safer now for residents due to the efforts of the Iraqi Army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers. The 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, attached to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, with the help of the 642nd Engineer Company from Fort Drum, N.Y., and elements from the 1st Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army, completed Operation Thunder Tide. This operation was aimed to clear the streets...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE YUSUFIYAH, Iraq, Jan. 9, 2007 — When soldiers first arrived in Iraq in 2003, they often had to wash their clothes in buckets or plastic bags. Now, main camps have laundry facilities staffed by local nationals or even contracted workers from other countries - but soldiers on forward operating bases often have to send their laundry back to the camps to get clean clothing, and it can take several days. Recently though, the 442nd Quartermaster Company, 541st Combat Service Support Battalion, attached to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI),...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nancy Pelosi stands to make life much tougher for President Bush if the November 7 elections net her a powerful job that puts her just two steps behind him. The 66-year-old California liberal stands to become the first woman to lead the House of Representatives if she and fellow Democrats win control of the chamber from Bush's Republicans. She vows to ensure Congress acts as an equal to the most powerful man in the world. Often ignored or even mocked by Bush during his six years as president, Pelosi, now the House Democratic minority leader, told Reuters...

A group of U.S. Army soldiers pulls security on a recently trash-, barrier- and debris-choked street, July 5, 2006, during the final stage of cleaning Baghdad’s Karada Peninsula, part of the citywide Operation Baghdad is Beautiful. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Rodney Foliente Operation Seeks to Help Clean Up Baghdad Soldiers, Iraqis take part in a joint operation aimed at helping to restore and improve Baghdad. By U.S. Army Spc. Rodney Foliente 4th Infantry Division BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 5, 2006 -- Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers, in coordination with local Iraqi governments, continue their efforts in Operation Baghdad is...

AL ASAD, Iraq (June 6, 2006) -- Amidst the debris of a war-torn country lies a landmark from biblical history. With a lush green sanctuary of trees and vegetation surrounding a small pool of calm water rests the Al Asad Oasis, which has almost been untouched by the war. According to Arabic legend, the Quran and other Islamic writings, the oasis was the campsite of Abraham, a patriarch of the Hebrew bible, during his journey from Ur, located near the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, now named Tellel-Mukayyar, to Harran, located in southeastern Turkey, now Carrhae. The village,...

IAEA acts to clean up Iraq atom site, 1,000 at risk Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:15 PM BST Printer Friendly | Email Article | RSS VIENNA (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Agency has begun a drive to clean up the former Tuwaitha nuclear site in Iraq where radioactive residue poses a health risk to 1,000 nearby inhabitants, the nuclear watchdog said on Monday. Residents of Ishtar village near Tuwaitha, 20 km (12 miles) south of Baghdad, are exposed to contaminated rubble left by aerial bombing and looting during and after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein,...

CINCINNATI -- The Vatican has removed from the priesthood a man accused of sexually abusing girls at a Catholic high school where he was chaplain.Thomas Brunner, who resigned in 2003 as pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Troy, is permanently stripped of all clerical functions and privileges, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati said Wednesday. Brunner had been on administrative leave, barred from functioning as a priest, because of the abuse accusations stemming from his time at Mount Notre Dame High in the late 1970s and 1980s.Pope Benedict XVI approved Brunner's petition for what the church calls "laicization." Brunner signed documents...

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ignacio A. Betancourt, a civil affairs team sergeant with the 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, speaks with an Iraqi youth in a neighborhood reportedly troublesome to coalition forces, Jan. 10, 2006. Civil Affairs has been working with the Iraqi police for several days to develop a relationship with the community. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael Pfaff U.S., Iraqis, Clean Up Neighborhood for Hajj U.S., Iraqi Police joint effort restores electricity, removes trash, and establishes trust. By U.S. Army Spc. Michael Pfaff KIRKUK, Iraq, Jan. 25, 2006 — On many days in this city, a city...

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 23, 2006 – New Orleans faced an uphill battle against mountains of debris after storm surge and levee flooding from hurricanes Katrina and Rita brought city services to a halt in 2005. With the city and its municipal solid waste collection contractor unable to resume operations, the garbage, stench and health risk increased with each sultry day. "Our contractors were having problems regrouping their people and equipment," said New Orleans Director of Sanitation Veronica T. White, a specialist in public and environmental health. "The No. 1 urgency here was health." On Sept. 21, New Orleans asked the...

GUERNEVILLE, Calif. (AP) - Northern Californians focused Monday on cleaning up a mess of mud and debris swept into city streets and over roadways by two powerful winter storms as the heavy rain moved into Southern California, prompting flash flood watches for areas left blackened by recent wildfires. Initial estimates put the damage throughout Northern California at more that $100 million. Meanwhile, authorities continued to repair and monitor several levees that had either breached, cracked or overtopped from the San Francisco Bay area to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, causing flooding and evacuations of dozens of residents. The break in the...

Workers load the hazardous items for transport to a disposal site. Reconstruction efforts in Iraq also include hazardous waste cleanup. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo Iraqi Rebuilding Includes Environmental Cleanup Almost 100 containers of hazardous waste were removed from a field in Mosul. By Claude D. McKinney Gulf Region North U.S. Army Corps of Engineers MOSUL, Iraq, Dec. 30, 2005 — Reconstruction of Iraq includes more than the restoration of dilapidated infrastructure. In this case, it includes hazardous waste clean up. "These types of projects, though seemingly small, send a very visual message to the community that things...

"French anti-terror police on Thursday arrested three suspects they believe have "indirect" links to al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi ......"

WASHINGTON – Sexed-up, profanity-laced shows on cable and satellite TV should be for adult eyes only, and providers must do more to shield children or could find themselves facing indecency fines, the nation's top communications regulator says. "Parents need better and more tools to help them navigate the entertainment waters, particularly on cable and satellite TV," Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin told Congress on Tuesday. Martin suggested several options, including a "family-friendly" tier of channels that would offer shows suitable for kids, such as the programs shown on the Nickelodeon channel. He also said cable and satellite providers could...