#california water storage tanks

[darkmaga-returns]

Putting US Aid to Ukraine in Perspective

8 January 2025 by Larry C. Johnson 110 Comments

The politicians in Washington dole out foreign aid like it is Halloween treats. Millions, billions, who cares? As long as the money is flowing. So, to give this some perspective, let me use the losses from the raging wildfire sweeping the hills surrounding Los Angeles:

🔶 Empty Hydrants: Firefighters faced a significant setback when numerous hydrants in Pacific Palisades ran dry. Chief Engineer Janisse Quiñones of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power confirmed that all water storage tanks in the area were depleted by 3 am Wednesday. 🔶 Budget Cuts: The LAFD is grappling with a significant $17.6 million budget cut for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the second-largest reduction among city departments. This could further strain their ability to combat future infernos, as reported by the NY Post. 🔶 Sending Gear to Ukraine: Joe Biden’s USAID has funded 16 Ukrainian fire departments with protective gear, motor pumps, chainsaws, and more by 2024, according to the organization’s reports. This has raised eyebrows, with figures like Elon Musk tweeting, “But what about California?” as LA burns. The toll is sobering: two fatalities, over 1,000 buildings — schools, churches, and libraries included — destroyed. Palisades and Eaton fires spread across 26,000 acres with 0% containment reported.

Let us assume that the average cost of the 1,000 buildings consumed by flames so far is $3 million (I suspect the number of destroyed buildings will be much higher as well as the average cost, and the media selling price of a home in Palisades is $3.3 million). That is $3 billion dollars. A devastating sum, and it does not begin to capture the loss of keepsakes and family heirlooms that went up in smoke.

How much money has the US sent to Ukraine? A total of $75.1 billion between January 2022 and June 2024.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Matt Gertz at MMFA:

The right-wing propaganda machine’s opportunistic and unhinged response to the wildfires sweeping the Los Angeles area provide an instructive but foreboding look at what the next four years could look like.

Firestorms have swept parts of Los Angeles Country and its environs since Tuesday, as a “perfect storm” of dry conditions (spurred in part by human-caused climate change) and winds gusting over 80 miles per hour sparked apocalyptic conflagrations and severely hampered firefighters’ response.  While the fires are not uniquely large, the fact that they are burning in a densely populated area has resulted in staggering costs — at least ten people are reported dead as of Friday morning, tens of thousands have fled their homes, and more than 9,000 structures are damaged or destroyed, with economic loss estimates in the tens of billions of dollars.  Political leaders would ideally respond to such horrific circumstances by putting aside partisan differences and standing together to help the victims rebuild. But something very different is happening this week in right-wing spaces.

President-elect Donald Trump is lying a lot in order to blame his political opponents for the fire. The president-elect's Truth Social feed this week is alternating between memes highlighting his purported plans to take over Canada and Greenland and falsehood-heavy rants about how “the gross incompetence and mismanagement” of President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are responsible for the fire.  Trump’s MAGA media allies are aiding his effort by turning the right-wing information ecosystem into an unrelenting wave of bogus attacks related to the fires. When any major story breaks, the top priority for the hosts on Fox News, Trumpist social media influencers, and the rest of the echo chamber is to identify scapegoats for their audiences to rage against. 

[...]

As SoCal burns, the right finds false scapegoats

Responding to natural disasters is a core function of government, and leaders’ response to such tragedies deserves careful scrutiny. But the evidence Trump and his allies are pointing to in order to claim that California’s fires stem from liberal mismanagement don’t hold up. The main avenue the right has seized upon — blaming California Democrats and environmentalists for supposedly limiting the water supply used to fight the fire — is entirely false. Trump alleged on Truth Social that there was “no water for fire hydrants” to fight the fire because “Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water to flow” from northern to southern California because he wanted to protect populations of the delta smelt, a rare fish.  His right-wing propagandists quickly parroted his argument to their audiences. On OAN, Dan Ball claimed that “You liberal Democrats running that city, county, and the state have blood on your hands tonight,” before reading Trump’s post. On Fox, Jesse Watters claimed of Newsom that “there is no water coming out of the fire hydrant because this man mismanages the water there.” And Larry Kudlow said on his Fox Business show that the governor “cut the water flow that never got to Southern California, in defense of this obscure fish.” But none of this is true. 

It’s not a water shortage that is impeding the firefighting effort — Southern California’s reservoirs are full, and LA County officials say they filled “all available water storage facility tanks” before the fires started. Some water hydrants ran dry in the Palisades because the extraordinary high demand on the area’s tanks (“four times the normal demand of water was seen for 15 hours straight in the area of the fires”) depleted them faster and reduced the water pressure needed to replenish them.  The long-running dispute over protecting the smelt has nothing to do with the firefighting effort — beyond the fact that there wasn’t a water shortage, that dispute hinges on whether water resources should be used instead for farm irrigation in the South and Central Valley.

And the “water restoration declaration” doesn’t exist, according to Newsom’s staff.  The right regularly responds to disasters by fixating on efforts to hire a diverse workforce, and this case has proved no different. On social media, right-wing influencers targeted Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley, the first woman and first openly LGBTQ person to serve in the role, claiming her leadership of the department shows that “DEI is quite literally getting people killed,” “DEI = DIE,” and “DEI has deadly consequences.”  Such attacks moved swiftly up the right-wing food chain. “This is the leadership of the LA Fire Department — I sure hope they know what they’re doing,” Fox star Jesse Watters said on Wednesday while shaking his head. He later claimed that “California is committing suicide before our very eyes. DEI is deadly.” 

[...]

The right uses the same playbook after every disaster

The right treats every disaster as an opportunity to attack the left, with talking points bubbling up from the fever swamps or filtering down from Trump, then spreading swiftly through the ecosystem thanks to the all-encompassing nature of its propaganda machine.  We’ve seen the same pattern repeatedly over the last few years, following deadly natural disasters in North Carolina and Puerto Rico and California, among others. 

The right-wing response to the Los Angeles wildfires is what we’ll be seeing during the next four years: Having Donald Trump and right-wing media in sync blaming Trump’s foes for disaster responses.

[quaranmine]

Wildfire & Environmental Health

Here's a few interesting studies I read recently at work that were related to wildfire. Y'all know I find wildfire to be an interesting topic, and I'm an environmental scientist who primarily works in the public health sphere, so I thought I would share them!

The first is about metals found in wildfire suppressants. You know, the stuff they drop from planes?

This one immediately caught my interest since I primarily work in theings related to lead, which is a heavy metal. I had not thought about heavy metals in wildfire suppressants before, but it did not suprise me given our track record with fire fighting products in the past (PFAS in fire fighting foam and asbestos as a flame retardant....)

This study looked at fire suppressants approved by the US Forest Service and consumer use to see if it could contribute to increased heavy metals found in soil and water in areas following a wildfire. They looked at vanadium, chromium, manganese, copper, arsenic, cadmium, antimony, barium, thallium, and lead and found councentrations 4–2,880 times greater than drinking water regulatory limit. At least 8, if not all, of the above metals were found in every fire suppressant tested. The products themselves are not meant to be ingested, obviously, but the concern was that if it were many times above the drinking water maximum contaminant level, that it could still be high enough to impact drinking water quality if it ran off into a reservoir used for that. The Forest Service does have buffer zones around bodies of water where fire suppressants should not be dropped, but accidents happen frequently. They estimated that "fire retardant application in the U.S. contributed approximately 380,000 kg of toxic metals to the environment between 2009 and 2021."

All fire suppressants must be tested by the US Forest Service and have their full ingredient list disclosed, but for public facing material safety data sheets up to 20% can be considered "proprietary" and not disclosed. Chromium and cadmium are effective as aluminum corrosion inhibitors, so they have been added to prevent the product from corroding the aircraft's tanks. Chromium, cadmium, lead, copper, manganese, arsenic have all been documented a contaminants in phosphate ores, which could explain some of the heavy metal concentration in fire suppressants that contain phosphates (but not all of them contained phosphates.) Leaching from metal storage/production tanks could also potentially explain some of the metals in the fire suppressants.

This is an interesting article to me. The authors did not mention it, but I want to note that heavy metal contamination can be just as harmful to wildlife as it is to humans, so even if this contamination did not actually enter human drinking water, it could still kill wildlife. This is also just a terrible glimpse into the way we damage ecosystems. Decades of total fire suppression and poor forest management has lead to increasingly worse wildfires with more fuel to burn, and climate change is fueling through hotter and drier seasons, changed weather patterns, and more. Worse wildfires means fires that are harder to control, and thus fires that need increased use of fire suppressants....which are also toxic. Sigh.

The other one is a new study I just saw today, about the potential link between wildfire smoke inhalation and dementia:

This study looked at 1.2 million people in Southern California to see if long term exposure to wildfire fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was associated with dementia diagnosis. PM2.5 exposure is already known to be a risk factor for dementia but wildfire smoke is an increasingly common source of it that can have different chemical and physical properites than other sources of PM2.5. Wildfire-generated PM2.5 now accounts for "over 70% of total PM2.5 exposure on poor air quality days in California."

They found that for every one microgram increase in wildfire PM2.5 per cubic meter of air over the course of 3 years, the odds of dementia diagnosis rose by 18%. For comparison, the odds of dementia diagnosis for the same parameters of non-wildfire PM2.5 only rise by 3%. (This is compared to everyone's baseline risk, so it is still a fairly small risk over the total population.) The difference could because wildfire smoke participles often have higher concentrations of oxidative or inflammatory compounds, have a smaller average particle size, and typically spike intermittently at high levels at certain parts of the year. Low income communities and people of color were noted to be at higher risk—potentialy due to housing quality (air filtration) and systemic discrimination compounding their risks later in life.

This study is very full of statistics and analysis, so in full disclosure some of my summary is also based off a paywalled article I read first on it. It is an intersting study for sure—I would not have guessed that wildfire smoke specifically had so much higher of an impact than other sources of particulate matter.

Uh, happy Wednesday!

[blubushie]

is it accurate to hc sniper as having a lot of junk orrrrr?

Uh.

Explanation under the cut so this doesn't take up a bunch of room in the TF2 tag (sorry folks).

There is NOT much space in here. My camper is a '78 btw, Sniper's is a '68 at the youngest which makes it even more cramped.

Also it very much depends on the size of the junk?

If you've been here more than a week you might remember me mentioning something about a GVW/GVWR—"gross vehicle weight" or "gross vehicle weight rating". This is how much weight a vehicle can carry while still maintaining its factory-level performance. LEGALLY, YOU CANNOT OPERATE A VEHICLE OVER ITS WEIGHT RATING. People do it anyway, but it is ILLEGAL and will void any manufacturer's warranty as well.

Now, if we're getting TECHNICAL, cars can take quite a bit over their rating. The rating is just for how well a car can operate in "extreme conditions"—ie, how well it can be controlled while driving over things like ice or rough terrain. By Ford's standards, the max weight that Mattie can bear while still operating reliably to manufacturer-guaranteed standards is 7500#. But if we're being technical, that is a VERY LOW ESTIMATE. Car manufacturers rate them low to avoid liability if someone puts the load higher and loses control. Technically, a '68 F250 alone can handle anywhere from 4000#-5500# in the tray without damage. With Mattie being a Camper Special, she's rated on the further end of that range. So while I won't damage her with my crap, I WOULD be operating a vehicle illegally.

And sure, there's a lot of road laws I don't give a shit about, but I obey them anyway cuz actions have consequences and I like having a driver's licence.

Tilly, the camper alone–

–Weighs 2400# dry. Mattie, the truck you see in the photo, has a GVWR of 7500#. Mattie herself weighs in at around 4100#. This brings the current total weight to 6500#, 1000# under the GVWR. But when you fill up the water tanks in Tilly fully, this bumps our total weight up to 3204# wet.

This gives us a difference of only 196# for the weight of my body (~130#), the weight of Misty (~40#), my clothes (~5#), my food (??, at least ~30# in tinned goods), and any equipment I have, like my rifle (~9#)—which would bring us over the limit.

So I don't fill my water tanks fully. I only keep things I NEED unless the difference is nonlegible (like a lucky coin in my wallet).

All this is to say that no, I don't reckon Sniper would have a lot of junk. He wouldn't risk damage to his vehicle by overbearing it, or risk his Good Driver status by ending up with a revoked licence for overbearing. He might have some bits and bobs stashed away in a lockbox somewhere, but he'd keep the total weight of them fairly low.

Also—telling you right now, wall decor does not last. That shit WILL fall off. The wall decor you see in the photo? Yeah that's hotglued in. And I still have to hotglue it in every few months again. I've tried those sticky frames and shit, nothing works against the bounciness of outback—or California—roads. It's a bitch! Keep in mind that Sniper would have to completely clean off everything on his countertops and stove and put them away in his cabinets in order to not have shit go flying everywhere. Which makes lack of storage even worse, lol

[mariacallous]

The Los Angeles fires are already one of the most devastating disasters in California—and national—history. Fanned by high winds and fed by a prolonged drought, the blazes rapidly spread across thousands of acres in the nearby Santa Monica Mountains and into several neighborhoods. More than a week since the fires erupted, they have destroyed at least 5,000 homes and countless other structures, in addition to causing numerous deaths, evacuations, and other impacts. Costs are ballooning, with initial estimates reaching $50 billion or more—nearly five times the cost of the largest wildfire ever previously recorded. 

While the visible destruction to homes, businesses, and livelihoods has understandably garnered most of the attention, the fires are also a reminder of the struggles to recognize and reinvest in the country’s water infrastructure.  

Typically out of sight and out of mind before any disaster hits, the plants, pipes, reservoirs, and other systems responsible for treating, moving, and storing water are facing a variety of threats in Los Angeles and beyond. Immediate challenges became evident from a lack of water to help combat the rapidly spreading fires, with dry hydrants, depleted storage tanks, and drained reservoirs struggling to keep up. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP)—the primary utility responsible for overseeing this infrastructure—faces soaring demand yet has few resources to respond, financially or otherwise. And these short-term impacts do not begin to touch all the long-term concerns around water quality and supply likely to emerge from the wildfire’s various byproducts and contamination.   

As frustration and confusion mount alongside the fire’s damage, the finger-pointing has already started. The state has launched investigations into the fire’s cause, including the dry hydrants. Private lawsuits are hitting the DWP. And pundits and policymakers, including President-elect Donald Trump, are pushing different claims (and falsehoods) about the region’s water resources. 

But the ultimate reality facing Los Angeles and the DWP—similar to many other communities and water utilities nationally—is one of underrecognized and underinvested infrastructure.  

The city’s existing water infrastructure faced an impossible expectation—and task—as the historic fire spread. While Los Angeles has endured recent droughts and dry vegetation helped ignite the fire, water supply was not as much an issue as the infrastructure’s underlying design and function. The hydrants, pipes, and other systems were built to service ordinary residential, commercial, and industrial customers—not to combat unprecedented wildfires or other disasters. Simply operating and maintaining these systems represents a formidable challenge for utilities such as the DWP, which provides 163 billion gallons of water across 739,000 service connections annually. 

Whether during a disaster or normal operating conditions, the DWP and other utilities too easily get ignored or blamed by policymakers, residents, and other stakeholders amid a lack of sustained, proactive investment to manage existing and evolving infrastructure needs. Nationally, more than $744 billion is needed to address all the various drinking water and wastewater improvements over the next two decades, from fixing leaking pipes to upgrading treatment plants. Los Angeles is just one piece in that complicated puzzle. Local utilities tend to not only be the primary owners and operators of all this infrastructure, but also the primary investors, responsible for more than three-quarters of all public water spending each year despite often lacking durable and predictable customer revenue, state support, and federal funding. When combined with increasingly extreme impacts fueled by climate change (including wildfires), these investment needs are only increasing over time. 

Rather than being used to cast blame at underequipped and overwhelmed utilities, disasters such as the Los Angeles fires should serve as a rallying cry to get ahead of these infrastructure challenges. Federal, state, and local leaders need to prioritize the immediate wildfire response and recovery, but they have a collective need—and opportunity—to ensure existing systems offer safe, reliable water service at all times, not just during a crisis. This takes additional money, of course; federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) needs to play a key role, especially by targeting investments in more climate-resilient upgrades. More innovative and flexible financing at a state and local level geared toward these upgrades matters too. But meeting this need also requires more comprehensive regional planning, data collection, and capacity-building (e.g., staffing and technical knowledge) around evolving climate threats. 

Improving water infrastructure alone will not prevent or solve disasters like the Los Angeles fires. And no single actor or action will solve all of Los Angeles’ or the country’s water infrastructure challenges overnight. But repeated disasters—from the Los Angeles fires to past tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina—serve as continued reminders of the need for proactive water infrastructure planning and investment. Doing so will not only help limit future devastation, but also support improved environmental and economic outcomes over time.  

[neoatlantiscodex]

Neo-Atlantis Codex: Part III: Grid Storage

So, you want to use some unstable form of power. Wind and Solar are the biggest ones, but we could also add tidal and microhydro to the list.

Currently, 95% of grid power storage, world wide, is pumped hydro. This is in theorygood, as it does work. The problem is that regions that can use pumped hydro will typically have geography to use regular hydro, which is very, very, very efficient. But you can add pumped hydro to an existing system.

For home power storage, we use chemical cells. Typically Lithium. By current estimates, we do not have enough lithium and cobalt in the world to replace our cars, nevermind the entire grid. A lot of the mining is also done by child slaves in Africa. They also use water leeching, which works. but also uses a LOT of fresh water. It's often done in deserts, in which fresh water is the most precious thing you can have.

Lithium is also EXTREMELY flammable.

What about other chemicals? Well, we can make chemical cells out of salt water and iron. This used to require a pump, and which made it hard to miniaturize. Anything mechanical is also prone to mechanical breakdown. They have recently developed technology to elimitate the use of pumps. It's still not good for grid storage, but would be good for home power storage. It might make sense to move to a paradigm that the state provides power when it can, and homes had to store their own power. This would work, although it would require a complete change of our paradigm, and would be expensive for the poor. Which is the problem for anything to do with power, as any increase in energy cost punishes the poor, and will drop people into poverty. It will also kill off the vulnerable.

Earth Batteries. You take something with a high durability and heat capacity, like earth, stone, brick, etc. You put it inside an insulated shell. You have a heater inside. Power added from the outside becomes heat inside. The heat can be kept for a week without too much loss. You can either use this directly for heat, or use it to heat water into steam. Doing so would allow it to produce electricity. This is suitable for neighbourhoods or industrial applications. The problem with a steam engine is that you would likely need a steam engineer, which are expensive. It would also require individual neighbourhoods to be self-governing villages/shires, which would help with so many other problems. We'll talk about this later in Neo-Atlantis government/electoral system. This would reduce the work required from other parts of the power system, and in theory, in some areas, these neighbourhoods/villages/shires/wards could be entirely self-generating. If California could shed it's horrifying Fascist control, it has more than enough sunlight that individual neighbourhoods could be self-generating if it could store the power. This would also prevent blackouts. Everytime I look back, it gets further way, but in 2003, the entire Eastern side of Canada, and the New England had a power outage. Because of how connected the grids are. Independent neighbourhood production would completely eliminated this. If you had a tree down over the power lines, it would hurt at most, one neighbourhood.

Compressed air storage. The best usage of this is, funny enough, CO2. You have a giant balloon, kind of an expanding membrane. You hook it up to a pump and a turbine and heat exchanger. Power causes the pump to pump the CO2 from the balloon into the tank. You release CO2 from the tank through the turbine, and it produces power. The big drawback for this is that it requires a lot of space. Which makes it perfect for isolated solar / wind power plants. This also requires nothing in the way of novel technology, and is perfect for large grid storage.

Hydrogen. Contrary to expectations, hydrogen fuel cells never went away. Both Toyota and Hyundai have production Hydrogen fuel cell cars. Hydrogen combustion cars are also perfectly viable, if not currently commencial. Hydrogen can be produced from water through electrolysis, though not efficiently so. It can be produced mechanically from natural gas / methane; the mechanical converters use a portion of the power they produce to power themselves. Before the government were... what?.. afraid the fuel cells might actualy work? I'm old enough to remember the promise of a Hydrogen Highway from California to British Columbia to allow you to drive hydrogen fuel cell cars up and down the coast. Well, they forgot about that. Before this happened, there was a research group that made it with algae in glass tubes. All you needed to do was pump water through them. People in California could probably add it to a closed system in their car.

Synthetic Fuel. Synthetic fuel has been used, in a small scale, in racing for years. Formula 1 is also planning to replace it's entire usage with synthetic fuel in the future, apparently from atmospheric carbon dioxide and wind power. This would have the advantage of requiring no time or money to implement. It would use our existing fuel infrastructure, while also allowing the small producers to be created everywhere.

[seositetool]

New 1 million gallon water tank to improve fire safety in Visalia

VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Visalia is getting a new one-million-gallon water storage tank to improve water supply reliability and fire protection in the city, the California Water Service (Cal Water) said Friday. Cal Water says the water storage tank and its booster station will help augment water supply as residential growth continues in northeast Visalia. The new system will be built on a…

[cambriaguide]

A-1 Tank now delivering water storage tanks to Los Angeles County and Southern California

  -A-1 Tank, LLC has been custom-manufacturing and delivering galvanized water storage tanks since 1984. The company delivers and installs water tanks anywhere in California, even the roughest terrain. Water storage tanks are in-demand for a variety of urban and rural residential and commercial, agricultural, and fire suppression uses. Manager Jim Raymond recently announced the company’s renewed…

[newstfionline]

Saturday, January 11, 2025

‘It Was Biblical’: Ash and Flame Upend Life in Southern California (NYT) It has long been a local article of faith: Southern California disasters are rarely as sweeping as they seem. Delaware and Rhode Island could fit, with room to spare, in Los Angeles County. A drive from Pacific Palisades to Pasadena takes nearly an hour, even without traffic. When the Los Angeles riots erupted in 1992, Americans recoiled at the fires silhouetting the downtown skyline. Not shown were the jacaranda-lined streets and placid suburbs where the rest of Southern California watched the mayhem on TV. This time, it was different. In a furious assault that began Tuesday morning and continued into Wednesday night, a wind-and-wildfire monster attacked a metropolis of 4,753 miles and nearly 10 million people, whipping up flames that tore through communities of every socioeconomic status and stripe. Mansions were reduced to ash in Pacific Palisades, a West Los Angeles celebrity enclave. Subdivisions burned to the ground 35 miles to the east in the tidy suburb of Altadena. Ranch hands in rural Sylmar, 25 miles to the north, fled into the fiery night, leading horses. New homeowners in freshly built developments hours away in inland communities like Pomona braced for evacuations as 59-mile-per-hour winds rattled the windowpanes and palm trees. “The only thing I can think of that would compare with this would be a massive earthquake,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, 76, who served for decades in Los Angeles as a city councilman and county supervisor. “Except that earthquakes have an epicenter. This thing is all over the place,” he said. “It’s impacting everybody who breathes the air. When I went to get the paper this morning, a big black cloud hung over the city from the Eaton fire. It was biblical.”

‘Completely Dry’: How Los Angeles Firefighters Ran Out of Water (NYT) Capt. Kevin Easton and his firefighting team had already spent hours battling an out-of-control fire sweeping through Los Angeles’s Pacific Palisades area, leaving gutted homes in its wake. Then, around midnight, their water lines started to sputter. Before long, the hydrants had run dry. Even on Wednesday afternoon—hours after the hydrants had gone dry—there was still no water. Houses in the Highlands burned, becoming part of the more than 5,000 structures destroyed by the Palisades fire so far. Officials now say the storage tanks that hold water for high-elevation areas like the Highlands, and the pumping systems that feed them, could not keep pace with the demand as the fire raced from one neighborhood to another. That was in part because those who designed the system did not account for the stunning speeds at which multiple fires would race through the Los Angeles area this week. Municipal water systems are designed for firefighters to tap into multiple hydrants at once, allowing them to maintain a steady flow of water for crews who may be trying to protect a large structure or a handful of homes. But these systems can buckle when wildfires, such as those fueled by the dry brush that surrounds Los Angeles’s hillside communities, rage through entire neighborhoods.

Judge sentences Donald Trump in hush money case but declines to impose any punishment (AP) President-elect Donald Trump was formally sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment. Instead, he chose a sentence that sidestepped thorny constitutional issues by effectively ending the case but assured that Trump will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency.

House Passes Bill to Impose Sanctions on I.C.C. Officials for Israeli Prosecutions (NYT) The House on Thursday passed legislation that would impose sanctions on officials at the International Criminal Court, making a frontal assault on the tribunal in a rebuke of its move to charge top Israeli leaders with war crimes for their offensive against Hamas in Gaza. The bill instructs the president to freeze property assets and deny visas to any foreigners who materially or financially contributed to the court’s efforts to “investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person.” Protected persons are defined as all current and former military and government officials of the United States and allies that have not consented to the court’s jurisdiction, such as Israel.

Venezuela’s Maduro is sworn into office with no proof of his victory (Washington Post) Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro began a third term as president on Friday, cementing his increasingly authoritarian rule after more than a decade in office and after claiming an electoral victory without providing any proof. With the backing of the military, Maduro tightened his grip on power by waging a months-long campaign of repression and fear, arresting more than 1,700 political prisoners, according to the human rights organization Foro Penal, and forcing the opposition’s candidate, Edmundo González, into exile. His inauguration to a new six-year term came a day after the popular opposition leader, María Corina Machado, said she was briefly detained by “the repressive forces of the regime” as she left an opposition rally in Caracas. It is not the first time Maduro has taken office after an election widely considered fraudulent. But it is the first time the opposition has provided evidence of its claim to victory. Some observers described the election as the largest electoral fraud in recent Latin American history. Voting center receipts collected by the opposition, and verified by The Washington Post and independent election observers, show González likely beat Maduro in a landslide.

A Sinkhole Is Threatening to Consume Ecuador’s Main Source of Power (Bloomberg) The $3 billion Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric power plant in Ecuador has been a public relations disaster since its inception nearly a decade ago—for its construction flaws, cost overruns and a corruption scandal. But its location is proving the biggest problem of all. The facility, from which Ecuador gets almost a third of its electricity, is on the verge of slipping into a sinkhole. That could compound an energy crisis in a South American nation that’s already been crippled by 14-hour rolling blackouts and power rationing. The plant going offline would be disastrous for Ecuador, and only add to turmoil and frustration from residents who are dealing with increasing crime and political instability.

Danes struggle with response to Trump Greenland threat (BBC) Copenhagen’s gloomy January weather matches the mood among Denmark’s politicians and business leaders. “We take this situation very, very seriously,” said Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen of Donald Trump’s threats to acquire Greenland—and punish Denmark with high tariffs if it stands in the way. But, he added, the government had “no ambition whatsoever to escalate some war of words.” But behind the scenes, hastily organised high-level meetings have been taking place in Copenhagen all week, a reflection of the shock caused by Trump’s remarks. Greenland PM Mute Egede flew in to meet both the prime minister and King Frederik X on Wednesday. And on Thursday night, party leaders from across the political spectrum gathered for an extraordinary meeting on the crisis with Mette Frederiksen in Denmark’s parliament. Faced with what many in Denmark are calling Trump’s “provocation,” Frederiksen has broadly attempted to strike a conciliatory tone, repeatedly referring to the US as “Denmark’s closest partner”.

Boarding Schools in Tibet Reshape the ‘Souls of Children’ (NYT) Hundreds of thousands of Tibetan children are being separated from their families and placed in boarding schools by the Chinese government, being indoctrinated with official Chinese values of loyalty and patriotism. Tibetan rights activists, as well as experts working for the United Nations, have said that the party is systematically separating Tibetan children from their families to erase Tibetan identity and to deepen China’s control of a people who historically resisted Beijing’s rule. They have estimated that around three-quarters of Tibetan children age 6 and older—and others even younger—are in residential schools that teach largely in Mandarin, replacing the Tibetan language, culture and Buddhist beliefs that the children once absorbed at home and in village schools. When China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, visited one such school in the summer, he said education must “implant a shared consciousness of Chinese nationhood in the souls of children from an early age.” Dozens of research papers and reports from experts and teachers within the Chinese system have warned about the anxiety, loneliness, depression and other psychological harm of the schools on Tibetan children.

More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, officials say (AP) More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday, with no end in sight to the 15-month conflict. The ministry said a total of 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 wounded. It has said women and children make up more than half the fatalities, but does not say how many of the dead were fighters or civilians. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in residential areas. Israel has also repeatedly struck what it claims are militants hiding in shelters and hospitals, often killing women and children.

Egypt Frets About Refugees (NYT) In easier times for Egypt’s refugees, Azza Mostafa, a pro-government TV anchor, had nothing but generous words for the many thousands of Syrians who had built new lives in Egypt after their own country imploded into civil war in 2011. But there she was on her show in June, fulminating against Egypt’s growing number of outsiders—an echo of the country’s leaders, whose policy toward refugees and migrants has hardened as they wrestle with an economic crisis made worse by wars in neighboring Gaza, Sudan and Libya. “This has become unbearable,” Ms. Mostafa said, accusing migrants of driving up rents and promoting female genital mutilation. “There are many acts of overstepping bounds. Is that acceptable? After we opened our country for them?” The past 13 years have brought a near unbroken stream of newcomers fleeing conflict to the country that is known among Arabs as the “mother of the world.” That includes not just Syrians but also Sudanese, Yemenis, Eritreans and, most recently, Palestinians from Gaza.

Chad foils attempt to destabilise country (BBC) The government of Chad announced that it had foiled a coup attempt on Wednesday night. Apparently, a group of would-be rebels wanted to overthrow the government while armed with only knives, attacking the Chadian presidential palace located in the capital city of N'Djamena. “Nineteen people died and six were injured, including 18 assailants and one soldier,” said Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah in an official statement yesterday. The group consisted of 24 knife-wielding people who were not in their right minds, literally. “We found that they had a lot of alcohol, small bottles of water filled with alcohol. It looks like whiskey or something like that. Also some drugs, they were completely drugged, at least the survivors,” added Koulamallah.

Partners (Pew Research Center) The percentage of adults who did not live with a spouse or partner increased steadily up through around 2019, hitting 44 percent. Since then, though, the trend has reversed, and now 42 percent of adults are unpartnered, thanks to slight increases in the percentage of married adults and percentage of adults who cohabitate with an unmarried partner. In general, young people are way more likely to be unpartnered than any other age demographic, with 88 percent of men aged 18 to 24 and 83 percent of women 18 to 24 not having a partner.

Live music runs on seniors (NYT) It sometimes appears that the music business devours the young and ignores the old. But there’s a fascinating exception: Many of the industry’s most respected and consistently employed roadies, instrument techs and live sound people are well into their 60s and even 70s. Many of them have been on the job for half a century, experience that typically makes them preferable to their younger colleagues. “I’ll do this until I can’t crawl in there,” said Betty Cantor-Jackson, 76, who first worked a soundboard for the Grateful Dead in 1968.

[oilgasenergymagazine]

AI and Historical Maps Unite to Locate Abandoned Oil Wells

Source: newscenter.lbl.gov

Category: News

  

The Hidden Legacy of Abandoned Wells

AI and Historical Maps are proving to be a game-changer in identifying and addressing the environmental hazards posed by undocumented orphaned wells (UOWs). The United States is grappling with the environmental consequences of its long history of oil and gas extraction, particularly in the form of undocumented orphaned wells (UOWs). These abandoned wells, many of which have been left without a responsible operator or official documentation, pose significant threats to both the environment and public health. From methane emissions that accelerate climate change to the contamination of water supplies with toxic substances, the dangers are clear. Yet, pinpointing the locations of these hidden relics, estimated to number between 310,000 and 800,000, has long been a daunting challenge.

Combining AI and Historical Maps to Find UOWs

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have provided a promising solution to the problem of locating orphaned wells. In a groundbreaking project, researchers have turned to historical maps, some dating back as far as 1884, to help identify the sites of former oil and gas operations. These topographic maps, digitized by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), offer valuable insights into early drilling activities. The challenge, however, is sorting through vast archives of these old maps.

Fabio Ciulla, a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has been instrumental in leveraging AI to analyze these maps. By using a U-Net convolutional neural network, an AI algorithm designed to recognize oil well symbols, researchers can now identify potential UOW locations with remarkable accuracy. The system was trained on manually labeled maps and applied to regions with significant oil production histories, such as Kern and Los Angeles counties in California, and Osage and Oklahoma counties in Oklahoma. In these areas, the AI identified over 1,300 potential orphaned wells.

Verifying AI Findings and Expanding Detection Efforts

While AI has proven effective in identifying potential well sites, verification remains a critical step. Researchers use satellite images and historical aerial photos to search for visual signs of abandoned wells, such as pump jacks or storage tanks. In cases where surface evidence is lacking, magnetometers are deployed to detect buried metal well casings. The accuracy of the AI is impressive, with wells being located within an average of 10 meters of their predicted positions.

AI and Historical Maps represent a significant leap over traditional approaches, such as manual record searches or on-the-ground surveys, which are often slow and geographically limited. However, the project doesn’t stop at map analysis. As part of the Consortium Advancing Technology for Assessment of Lost Oil & Gas Wells (CATALOG), the effort includes a range of advanced tools, such as drones equipped with methane sensors and magnetometers, to detect leaks and locate buried wells. Additionally, researchers are working on cost-effective solutions to monitor methane emissions, an essential step in mitigating the environmental impact of orphaned wells.

The CATALOG initiative is also tapping into citizen science, encouraging individuals to use smartphone magnetometers to help locate abandoned wells. This crowdsourced approach expands the reach of detection technologies, providing valuable data while complementing professional surveys.

A Cleaner Future Through Collaboration and Innovation

The AI and Historical Maps-driven efforts spearheaded by CATALOG offer a glimmer of hope in addressing the legacy of America’s oil boom. By integrating historical data with modern technology, the project not only improves the accuracy of orphaned well detection but also lays the groundwork for more effective remediation. Collaboration with local communities, including Native American tribes and environmental agencies, is crucial to the initiative’s success. As researchers continue to refine their techniques, they are not only tackling the immediate environmental risks posed by orphaned wells but also contributing to broader climate mitigation efforts.

As Sebastien Biraud, a scientist at Berkeley Lab, notes, finding solutions to limit emissions is essential for the future. By combining AI, cutting-edge sensors, and community involvement, researchers are uncovering a hidden legacy of the nation’s energy history while paving the way for a cleaner and safer future.

[services7781]

Top Reasons to Invest in Bladder Tanks for Efficient Water Storage in California

These tanks are designed to hold significant quantities of water securely and are often used for applications ranging from residential water storage to emergency response systems. Unlike traditional hard-shell tanks, bladder tanks are flexible, making them suitable for a variety of spaces and uses. Bladder tank California are becoming an increasingly popular choice for households and businesses needing reliable water storage.

For More Data Visit At-https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/top-reasons-to-invest-in-bladder-tanks-for-efficient-water-storage-in-california-pdf/273982861

[mariacallous]

In the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires, many people—including city officials—described the aftermath as being like a bomb had detonated. Not only have buildings been destroyed, but underground, melted plastic and a slurry of ash and debris threaten to end up in the maze of pipes that transport fresh drinking water, contaminating the municipal water supply.

Residents in affected areas have been placed under unsafe water advisories, being instructed not to drink the tap water until further notice. How long drinking water will remain unsafe for residents is still unclear, says Faith Kearns, scientist and director of research communications with the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative at Arizona State University. Drinking contaminated water in fire-affected areas could lead to waterborne illness, like the intestinal infection Giardia, or result in long-term health consequences from exposure to cancer-causing chemicals.

Initially, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) issued a “boil water” advisory on Wednesday January 8 that allowed residents in fire-affected and fire-adjacent areas to drink water after boiling it. By Friday, however, it was upgraded to a “Do Not Drink” alert. While boiling water kills viruses and bacteria, it will not protect against common chemical contaminants often introduced during wildfires, says Daniel McCurry, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California.

According to the City of Pasadena, where the Eaton Fire is burning, you should not try to treat the water yourself. “Boiling, freezing, filtering, adding chlorine or other disinfectants, or letting water stand will not make the water safe to drink,” reads the alert. The advisory also warns residents not only to avoid drinking the water, but to limit hot water activities such as bathing, dishwashing, and laundry, which can release chemicals into the air.

“If your region is under a Do Not Drink advisory, it’s probably because some part of the water distribution system has burned,” says McCurry. Burned components can introduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other harmful chemicals into the water supply. The severity of these issues will depend on how much physical damage the water infrastructure has endured. “These fires aren’t even out yet, so it’s a very dynamic situation,” Kearns says.

Vulnerable parts of the water system include the plastic components in water meters, pipes, gaskets, and storage tanks. This plastic is largely made up of polyvinyl chloride—PVC—and contains VOCs that are known to cause cancer if released. The most well-known is benzene, but dozens of equally harmful chemicals could enter the system depending on the material that’s breaking down. Once the plastic melts, these chemicals leach directly into the water and evaporate into the air.

Although experts haven’t confirmed VOC contamination in Los Angeles yet, because it’s too early for workers to perform testing in burned areas, past fires—like the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, California and the Lahaina Fire in Maui, Hawaii—suggest that it’s highly likely. “In recent years, we’ve seen that fires are burning so hot that they will melt plastic piping,” says Kearns. “With structure destruction and depressurization, the water utilities likely have contamination,” adds Andrew Whelton, associate professor of civil, environmental, and ecological engineering at Purdue University, who frequently consults with municipalities across the country about wildfire water response.

Depressurization, the other big contributor to contamination, occurs when firefighting efforts draw massive amounts of water from the system in a short period. “A water line that connects to a house can generally put out about 9 gallons per minute,” says Whelton.“Firefighters can draw 500 gallons or up to 1,500 gallons of water per minute. So if you were to run five or six pumper trucks off of a water line, you’re looking at thousands of gallons of water being extracted from the water system in a very short period.”

When that happens, water pressure plummets, and the system becomes vulnerable to bacteria or chemicals entering the system from the surrounding environment. Usually, the high pressure of the water inside the system prevents any outside contaminants—such as soil or groundwater—from being able to find their way inside the system’s components.

Structural damage from fires can also result in pressure losses, says Whelton. In the case of large-scale fires like the Palisades or Eaton fires, you can have huge volumes of water dumping, uncontrolled, out of the system, due to pipes and other parts of the system being ruptured. Where there is damage, smoke and debris can be sucked into the water system, while damaged sewage lines can leak into the drinking water pipes that run nearby. “When the water system utility starts to try to repressurize, they start pushing that contaminated water through the infrastructure again,” says Whelton.

During the Marshall Fire in Louisville, Colorado in 2021, which burned over 1,000 homes, city officials advised residents to use mains water only for flushing until extensive testing confirmed safety. Given that over 12,000 structures have burned in Los Angeles as of Monday morning, the potential of widespread contamination is significant, Kearns warns.

The coming days and weeks will be crucial. Once water experts assess the damage, they will determine whether the system can be flushed clean or if infrastructure repairs are necessary. If enough has burned, workers will need to replace pumps, pipes, and even tanks. For parts of Los Angeles County served by LADWP, McCurry estimates this recovery could take anywhere from a few days to weeks.

Altadena and the surrounding regions, however, are serviced by multiple smaller water providers, like the Lincoln Avenue Water Company, Las Flores Water Company, Rubio Canon Land and Water Association, and Kinneloa Irrigation District—all of which have issued Do Not Drink notices. “In the case of a large water system like LADWP, you’ll probably see things resume a little bit faster,” says Kearns. “For smaller water providers, which can sometimes have just a couple of employees and not have the budgets for these kinds of events, they may have some struggles.” Santa Cruz experienced similar challenges during the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020, with the water service taking months to stabilize. McCurry warns that some regions may require years to build from scratch or overhaul large systems that have burned.

It’s vital for residents to stay informed about recovery efforts, because alert systems can be complicated, and many residents may not even receive them, says Kearns. People should “proactively seek out any boil or Do Not Drink water alerts from your water provider, your city, your county,” she advises. “Share those with your neighbors and make sure any folks who might have languages other than English as a first language get those alerts and understand what’s happening.”

Some places, like Louisville in Colorado, and Maui in Hawaii, released public access maps that tracked water quality at each land plot, which helped to keep residents informed during the months and years that followed.

Before lifting advisories, water providers are legally required by the State of California to monitor for benzene. However, Whelton cautions that benzene isn’t the only chemical of concern and the list of potential contaminants is long. Both government and third-party testing services do not always account for every possible exposure. “It’s possible that some of those chemicals could linger for longer than water providers expect,” echoes McCurry. He still recommends staying vigilant. Activated charcoal filters can help remove some organic contaminants, but they may not fully eliminate risks.

“Safe water can be restored after a fire,” says Whelton. “The communities that recover rapidly and stronger are those who work together and support one another.”

[waterheatersos]

What Are the Different Types of Water Heaters Available

When it comes to ensuring a consistent supply of hot water in your home, understanding the different types of water heaters available can help you make an informed decision. At Water Heater SOS, we specialize in providing high-quality water heaters tailored to meet your needs. Below, we explore the various types of water heaters, highlighting their features, benefits, and ideal applications.

1. Tank Water Heaters

Tank water heaters are the most common type found in residential homes. They consist of a large tank that stores a specific amount of hot water, typically ranging from 20 to 80 gallons. These heaters are available in both electric and gas models.

Pros:

Relatively low initial cost.

Simple installation and maintenance.

Provides a large supply of hot water at once.

Cons:

Limited supply; once the tank is depleted, you’ll have to wait for it to refill.

Higher energy costs due to standby heat loss.

2. Tankless Water Heaters

Also known as on-demand water heaters, tankless models heat water directly as it passes through the unit, eliminating the need for a storage tank. This type of heater provides hot water only when needed.

Pros:

Energy-efficient; no standby heat loss.

Unlimited hot water supply.

Compact design saves space.

Cons:

Higher upfront cost compared to tank water heaters.

May require upgrades to your home’s electrical or gas systems.

3. Heat Pump Water Heaters

Heat pump water heaters utilize electricity to move heat from one place to another instead of generating heat directly. They extract heat from the air or ground and use it to heat water, making them highly efficient.

Pros:

Highly energy-efficient; can reduce energy bills significantly.

Environmentally friendly as they use renewable energy sources.

Cons:

Higher initial investment.

Performance can decrease in colder climates.

4. Solar Water Heaters

Solar water heaters harness solar energy to heat water. They consist of solar collectors and a storage tank, making them a sustainable choice for environmentally-conscious homeowners.

Pros:

Reduces utility bills significantly over time.

Eco-friendly option with low environmental impact.

Cons:

Initial installation cost can be high.

Efficiency depends on climate and sunlight availability.

5. Condensing Water Heaters

Condensing water heaters are similar to tank water heaters but are designed to use the heat from exhaust gases to heat water. This type is particularly effective in gas-powered systems.

Pros:

Highly efficient and can save on energy costs.

Good for larger households with high hot water demand.

Cons:

More complex installation process.

Higher upfront costs.

Conclusion

Choosing the right water heater for your home depends on your hot water needs, budget, and energy efficiency preferences. At Water Heater SOS, we offer a range of water heaters, from traditional tank models to modern tankless systems, ensuring you find the perfect solution for your hot water requirements. For expert advice and high-quality installations, contact us today!

Author  :  Stuart McHenry

Who We Are

Water Heaters SOS, a family-owned enterprise water heater repair company based in Redlands, California, extends its specialized services throughout the Inland Empire. They are dedicated to delivering a superior customer experience, ensuring that every step of our service process, from initial contact to completion, is executed with utmost professionalism and care, surpassing client expectations.

Their expertise encompasses the repair and installation of both conventional tank water heaters and advanced tankless systems, alongside providing effective water filtration solutions. Water Heaters SOS aims to make every service interaction seamless and hassle-free for their customers.

Contact Us

Water Heater SOS

328 Sonora St., Redlands, California, 92373, USA

(800) 697-4014

https://www.waterheatersos.com

Find Us On Social Media

Instagram

To Know More

Brand Map

[cambriaguide]

Fire season is here—there’s still time to install a water storage tank

-As California faces another potentially devastating wildfire season, residents and businesses are considering investing in water storage tanks for fire suppression. A-1 Tank, LLC, a manufacturer of galvanized water storage tanks for fire suppression reminds us that it’s not too late to get a tank. Here are the top reasons why a water storage tank could be a lifesaving addition to your…

[wiseluminarywolf]

The Mystery of Porta Potties: What Happens to the Waste Inside?

The humble porta potty, often overlooked and underappreciated, plays a crucial role in ensuring hygiene and convenience at events, construction sites, and festivals. But have you ever stopped to ponder the mysteries of these portable toilets? What happens to the waste inside them? How do they work? And what considerations should be made when renting one?

In this comprehensive exploration, we will delve deep into the world of porta potties, uncovering everything from their functionality to their maintenance. We’ll also address popular concerns and common questions that arise around portable toilets. So, let’s dive in!

The Mystery of Porta Potties: What Happens to the Waste Inside?

To understand what truly happens inside a porta potty, we first need to take a closer look at its design and function. A standard portable toilet consists of a plastic enclosure, a waste tank beneath it, and some kind of ventilation system—usually just a small vent hole or pipe.

How Does a Porta Potty Work?

When you use a porta potty, your waste drops directly into the holding tank. Unlike traditional toilets that rely on water for flushing, most porta potties utilize a chemical solution that helps break down waste while controlling odor.

Chemical Treatment: The blue liquid you see in the bottom is not merely for decoration; it contains chemicals designed to neutralize odors and break down solid waste.

Ventilation: The design usually includes ventilation systems that allow air circulation within the unit while minimizing unpleasant smells from escaping into the surrounding environment.

Waste Storage: As more people use the toilet, waste accumulates in the tank until it's time for servicing.

What Happens When It's Time to Empty?

When a porta potty is full—or nearly full—a service truck arrives. The technician connects a hose from their truck to the porta potty's waste outlet and pumps out all contents into their vehicle's storage tank. After emptying:

Cleaning: The technician will clean and sanitize both the inside of the tank and the toilet itself. ada compliant porta potties Refilling: They will then refill it with fresh chemical solutions before sealing it up once again.

It’s like giving your favorite restaurant's bathroom an overhaul every few days—only this one travels around!

Portable Toilet Rental: Understanding Your Options What is Portable Toilet Rental?

Portable toilet rental refers to hiring portable restrooms for temporary use at events or job sites. These rentals can vary greatly in size, capacity, and features depending on your needs.

Why Rent Instead of Buy?

Many choose rental options because buying portable toilets requires significant upfront investment along with ongoing maintenance costs. Renting offers flexibility tailored to short-term needs without long-term commitments.

How Much Does It Cost to Rent a Porta Potty?

The cost of renting varies widely based on location, duration OSHA of rental, features included (like hand-washing stations), and overall demand.

In California, prices might hover around $200-$300 for daily rentals. Florida may see s