Episode 9: The Sydney Tar Ponds

In this current events episode, we recap some of the things that happened in the month of April. We will cover the correlation between drug toxicity and acidity in waterways, The EU's CO2 border tax, Alessandra Korap Munduruku winning the 2023 Goldman Prize, and an extinct group of lions that turn out to not really be extinct.Episode Source MaterialStory 1: Correlation between toxicity of drugs in waterways and acidityToxicity of drugs released into waterways partly depends on acidity, study shows by University of Tübingen.Why Use Zebrafish to Study Human Diseases? by Elizabeth BurkeIbuprofen: Toxicology and Biodegradation of an Emerging Contaminant by Janet Jan-Roblero and Juan A. Cruz-MayaStory 2: CO2 border taxBorder tax on carbon dioxide offers huge opportunity to fight climate change, say researchers by Samuel HanegreefsEU lawmakers adopt deal on emissions trading, carbon tax by AP news‘Fit for 55’: Council adopts key pieces of legislation delivering on 2030 climate targets by Council of EU Press releaseStory 3: An Indigenous woman wins the 2023 Goldman PrizeAlessandra Korap Munduruku Bio by Goldman Environmental Prize Alessandra Korap Munduruku, Leader at KOEF Grant Partner, Awarded the 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize by Cultural SurvivorStory 4: Extinct lion is not really extinct‘Extinct’ lion spotted in Chad’s Sena Oura National Park for first time in 20 years by Charlotte Elton‘Extinct’ lion in national park almost 20 years after last sighting by Eleanor Noyce

Episode Source MaterialThe Love Canal Tragedy by Eckardt C. BeckUpstate Waste Site May Endanger Lives by Donald G. McNeil‘Love Canal’ still oozing poison 35 years later by The Associated PressLove Canal: A Brief History by Jordan KleinmanLove Canal: Public Health Time Bomb by The Office of Public HealthLove Canal and the Poisoning of America by Michael H. BrownLaying Waste: The Poisoning of America by Toxic Chemicals by Michael H. BrownFrom Homemaker to Hell-raiser in Love Canal by Ronnie GreeneLove Canal Chronologies by the Niagara GazetteA Brief History of: The Love Canal (Short Documentary) by Plainly Difficult

Episode Source MaterialThe Bhopal Saga: Causes and Consequences of the World’s Largest Industrial Disaster by Ingrid EckermanBhopal revisited – the tragedy of lessons ignored by Annie RiceBhopal disaster 1984 – working conditions and the role of trade unions by Ingrid EckermanThe Bhopal Disaster and its aftermath: a review by Edward BroughtonAdvocacy After Bhopal: Environmentalism, Disaster, New Global Orders by Kim FortunThe Bhopal Disaster by Centre for Science and EnvironmentBhopal: Vulnerability, Routinization, and the Chronic Disaster by S. Ravi RajanBhopal study represents “missed opportunity” by Dinesh C. Sharma A Brief History of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy (Short Documentary) by Plainly Difficult The Bhopal gas tragedy: Toxic legacy by The Economist Living in the Shadow of the Bhopal Chemical Disaster by Maggie OatmanBhopal Fact Sheet by Bhopal Medical Appeal

Episode Source MaterialRelationship of serum TCDD concentrations and age exposure of female residents of Seveso, Italy by Brenda Eskenazi, Paolo Mocarelli, Marcella Warner, Larry Needham, Donald G Patterson, Jr, Steven Samuels, Wayman Turner, Pier Mario Gerthoux, and Paolo BrambillaDisaster of Seveso, Italy by Environmental Justice AtlasSeveso – 30 Years After by RocheUnderstanding the Seveso Disaster: Science, Impacts, and Policy Changes by Autumn SpanneThe Seveso accident: A look at 40 years of health research and beyond by Brenda Eskenazi, Marcella Warner, Paolo Brambilla, Stefano Signorini, Jennifer Ames, Paolo MocarelliChloracne or Acneform Disease and Agent Orange by The Department of Veterans AffairsA brief history of the Seveso disaster by Plainly Difficult The Seveso Dioxin DisasterSeveso Oak Forest: The gradual reconstruction of an area contaminated to TCDD by Paolo Lassini, Paolo Ballardini, Antonio Mambriani, and Francesco Monzani.Seveso: A paradoxical classic disaster by B. De Marchi, S. Funtowicz, and J. Ravetz

Episode Source MaterialThe Whiskey Fungus SourcesWhiskey Fungus Fed by Jack Daniel’s Encrusts Tennessee Town by Michael LevensonWhiskey fungus lawsuit forces Jack Daniel’s to halt building project by Max MatzaThe Willow Project SourcesThe Willow Project has been approved. Here’s what to know about the controversial oil-drilling venture by Ella NilsenWhat is Willow? And how an Alaska oil project could affect the environment by Timothy PukoThe Red Tide SourcesToxic Red Tide is Back in Florida - Here’s What to Know by Sarah KutaWhat is red tide and why is it killing fish in Florida? by Amudalat AjasaWhat is a red tide? by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)The IPCC Report Sources Five things we’ve learned from the UN Climate Report by Matt McGrathFive key points in the IPCC report on climate change impacts and adaptation by Lisa Schipper, Vanesa Castán Broto and Winston Chow

Episode Source MaterialWe still don’t know the full impacts of the BP oil spill, 10 years later by Alejandra BorundaDamage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA)Doug Brown’s lonely fall from the Deepwater Horizon to ‘The Great Invisible’ by Steve DruinIs Using Dispersants on the BP Gulf Oil Spill Fighting Pollution with Pollution? by David BielloEffects of Corexit dispersants on cytotoxicity parameters in a cultured human bronchial airway cells BEAS-2B by Yongli Shi, Astrid M. Roy-Engel and He Wang‘Super skimmer’ a giant bust in Gulf cleanup by NBCDeepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico by The Marine Mammal Commission Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Long Term Effect on Marina Mammals, Sea Turtles by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)Relief wells are last hope to stop oil leak by Eryn Brown and Joy LeovyDeepwater Horizon by The United States Department of JusticeSummary of the Clean Water Act by the United-States Environmental Protection AgencyBP paid a steep price for the Gulf oil spill but for the US a decade later, it’s business as usual by David M. Ulmann

This event put international eyes on the oil and gas industry, claimed many human lives, and was one of the worst environmental disasters to befoul the coastal United-States. Episode Source MaterialDeepwater Horizon In Their Own Words (Full Episode) by Frank Alcock for National GeographicProfit, Pollution and Deception: USA’s Largest Oil Spill by ENDEVRThe Devastating Environmental Impact of BP’s Deepwater Horizon by Earth StoriesDeepwater: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore DrillingRemembering Deepwater Horizon, 10 Years Later by The NASEMFleet Specifications: Deepwater Horizon by TransoceanDynamic positioning mobile offshore drilling units by Global Maritime AS/GardMonitoring system reduces rig downtime by Judy Maksoud U.S. exempted BP’s Gulf of Mexico drilling from environmental impact study by Juliet EilperinThe Forensic Anatomy of the Events on the Deepwater Horizon by Bartley J. Eckhardt and Arthur FahertyEleven workers missing after Louisiana oil rig explosion by USA TodayDeepwater Horizon: one of history’s worst offshore accidents by Arnold & Itkin Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hours by David Barstow, Stephanie Saul and David RohdeTelling the true story of the heroes behind ‘Deepwater Horizon’ without using ‘stolen valor’ by Josh RottenbergUnderstanding Gas Kick Behavior in Water and Oil-Based Drilling Fluids by Kaushik Manikondam, et al.

Episode Source MaterialSydney Tar Ponds by Environment & Society PortalSydney Tar Ponds – Project Spotlight by LafargeCoke Ovens Emissions – National Cancer InstituteLaying Waste to Toxic Waste by Barbara WebberCoke by U.S. Energy Information AdministrationSydney Tar Ponds Environmental Class Action is Over by Dianne SaxeLocal Willingness-to-Pay Estimates for the Remediation of the Sydney Tar Ponds in Nova Scotia by Ida Ferrara, Sephen McComb and Paul MissiosIslanders Cast Adrift; Nova Scotians Feel Forsaken Amid Toxic Waste by Steven PearlsteinThe Sydney tar ponds: lessons learned from Canada’s first superfund level project by E. MacLellan & A. BrittenSteel’s Legacy Contained – Remediation of the Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens Site in Sydney, Nova Scotia by Alan Van NormanWhat are PCBs by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

If you were to fly over the Crown Prince Range of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea you would be soaring above a lush, jade-green tropical rainforest. Amid this verdant expanse, you would see a gaping hole, opening sky-ward and dotted with uncanny-blue waters, looking like a poorly healed flesh wound. This is the defunct Panguna mine and its story is the catalyst for an era of violence and pollution.Episode Source MaterialPaguna mine at centre of bloody Bougainville conflict set to reopen after 30 years by Leanne JorariRio Tinto accused of environmental damage and human rights violations in Bougainville by Natalie WhitingBiodiversity Hotspots and Major Tropical Wilderness Areas: Approaches to Setting Conservation Priorities by Russell A. Mittermeier, Norman Myers, Jorgen B. Thomsen, Gustavo A. B. Da Fonseca and Silvio OlivieriBougainville communities file human rights complaint against Rio Tinto for impacts of mine waste pollution The by Human Rights Law CentreAfter the mine: living with Rio Tinto’s deadly legacy by The Human Rights Law CentreWeaving Consensus: The Papua New Guinea – Bougainville Peace Process by Conciliation Resources in collaboration with BICWFA development consequence — Disposal of mining waste on Bougainville, Papua New Guinea by M.J.F. BrownRio Tinto’s Panguna mine and the history of resistance in Bougainville by Beyond Mining – Protecting Land and LifeThe economic causes and consequences of the Bougainville crisis by Herb ThompsonRio Tinto's billion-dollar mess: 'unprincipled, shameful and evil' by Daniel FlittonBougainville starts process to reopen controversial Panguna mine by Catherine Wilson

The aim of this podcast has always been to highlight some of humanity’s greatest failures when it comes to the environment. Although most of the topics that we have covered to date happened in the not-so-distant past, I think it’s important, every now and then, to talk about what is happening on our planet in real time. This is why, once a month, I’ll be talking to you about some of the current events happening in the world today that affect the world we live in. So, here we are, rounding out February 2023 with an overview of some of the month’s greatest environmental Happenings.Episode Source MaterialTrain Derailment in OhioWhat to know about the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio by Becky Sullivan Crew tried to stop train before toxic derailment, NTSB preliminary report says by Laura ClawsonIt’s been 3 weeks since a freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in Ohio. Here’s what’s happened since by Alisha EbrahimjiEarthquake in Turkey and SyriaEnvironmental impacts feared following the earthquakes in Turkey by Aude CazorlaTurkey earthquake: Why did so many buildings collapse? by Jake Horton and William ArmstrongTurkey earthquake death toll prompts questions over building standards by Peter BeaumontVenice Canals Dry UpVenice canals start to run dry as low tide and lack of rain hit by Manuel SilvestriGondolas Grounded and Canals Run Dry Amid Venice’s 2023 Drought by Lizzy RosenbergThe DUH lawsuit victoryVolkswagen: The scandal explained by Russell HottenVW May Recall TDIs In Germany After Environmental NGO’s Diesel Win by Sebastian Bell