Water Resources News and Events

The News Review:

- Tennessee Ash Flood Larger Than Initial Estimate
- Water Supplies Tested After Tennessee Spill
- Energy dispute over Rockies riches

Tennessee Ash Flood Larger Than Initial Estimate
New York Times United States 
which owns the electrical generating plant one of the authority’s largest. Moulton said Friday that the levels exceeded safety limits for drinking water but that both metals were filtered out by water treatment processes. Mercury and arsenic he said were “barely detectable” in the samples. The ash pond was adjacent to the Emory River and near a residential area where three houses were destroyed by the tide of muddy ash. Water sampled several miles downstream from the spill was safe to drink but its iron and manganese content exceeded the secondary drinking water standards set by the.
Related from Freewheelintornados: PartnerRe Ltd. Updates its Estimate of Claims from Hurricane Ike

Water Supplies Tested After Tennessee Spill
New York Times United States 
A sample taken near the intake for the water supply of Kingston met standards for drinking water said Gilbert Francis Jr. a spokesman for the authority. He said heavy rain and freezing temperatures were probably to blame for the breach. Jeremy Heidt of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said barriers had been constructed to prevent the ash from reaching the Tennessee River. The report from the most recent inspection of the retention wall in ctober was not yet complete but a preliminary report showed that a “wet spot” was found indicating “a minor leaking issue” according to a fact sheet released by the authority.

Energy dispute over Rockies riches
Los Angeles Times CA 
But the science to extract fuel is imperfect and locals worry about their water supplies which ultimately feed Southern California reservoirs. By Julie Cart December 28 2008 Reporting from Salt Lake City — A titanic battle between the West’s two traditional power brokers — Big il and Big Water — has begun. At stake is one of the largest oil reserves in the world a vast cache trapped beneath the Rocky Mountains containing an estimated 800 billion barrels — about three times the reserves of Saudi Arabia. Extracting oil from rocky seams of underground shale is not only expensive but also requires massive amounts of water a precious resource crucial to continued development in the nation’s fastest-growing region. The conflict between oil and water interests has now come to a head.

December 28th, 2008 at 3:55 am