BEAUTIFUL FROZEN NIAGARA FALLS

Millions of gallons of cascading water frozen in bitter temperatures.

 

For the second time in what has been a frigid winter in the Northeastern United States, Niagara falls has come to an icy halt as the six million cubic feet of water that typically flow over the falls every minute has frozen over.

 

The flow of water over the falls typically can withstand icy temperatures like those that have frozen much of the country this winter, but Monday's high of 9 degrees Fahrenheit brought Niagara Falls to a standstill - and photographers were there to snap some stunning images of the frozen waterfall.


 

In January, another record-breaking cold front managed to freeze the mighty falls in a 'polar vortex' that turned the cascading water to ice - and affected about 240 million people in the U.S. and southern Canada.  




No thaw is expected anytime soon, as temperatures at the western New York tourist attraction will dip below 0 degrees Fahrenheit Monday night through Tuesday morning.

Read more and see pictures here
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2572681/Niagara-Falls-comes-frozen-halt-AGAIN-subfreezing-temperatures-freeze-millions-gallons-water-normally-flow-Falls.html

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HOW MONSANTO WASTE POISONED QUARRY AND STREAM IN BRITISH VILLAGE

 

(NaturalNews) For a long time, the village of Groesfaen in the south of Wales, UK, was a desirable place to live. Quiet and untouched, yet located within short traveling distance of Wales' bustling capital city, Cardiff, Groesfaen had, by the turn of the twenty-first century, transformed from a nondescript hamlet into a small but prosperous hub of commuters - and with more housing estates being developed every year, its future seemed positive.

In 2003, however, the residents of Groesfaen began to complain about vile smells emanating from the Brofiscin quarry, a 36-meter deep quarry located at the edge of the village. More alarming still, the waters of the stream that flowed around the quarry began to turn vivid orange. Understandably concerned, the residents - including the quarry's owner, Barton Williams - urged the local Rhondda Cynon Taff council to investigate what was happening.

TIGER SWIMS UNDERWATER TO CATCH SNACKS - PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURES THOSE TERRIFYING JAWS

©http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/. Unauthorized duplication of this blog's material is prohibited.   Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit and link is given to Otters and Science News Blogspot.  Link to this post:  http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/01/tiger-swims-underwater-to-catch-snacks.html  Thank you for visiting my blog.
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Eating underwater is grrrrrreat!

Big cat who dives in pool for his food, caught on camera

The moment a big cat took the plunge and chased a meaty treat to the bottom of its enclosure at a wildlife park in California has been caught on camera.  This series of amazing pictures shows the tiger fully submerged in the pool, as it chased after a piece of meat. Californian photographer Pam Wood captured the stunning images as keepers at the zoo found new ways to keep the big cats entertained.

Source

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2547621/Tiger-splashes-dinner-Amazing-pictures-capture-moment-big-cat-dived-underwater-chased-food.html

 

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WEST VIRGINIA CHEMICAL LEAK - INFORMATION ABOUT ANOTHER TOXIC INGREDIENT IN THE SPILL WAS WITHHELD BY COMPANY

It has been discovered that a second toxic chemical has been leaked into the water supply, and it wasn’t reported by the sketchy Freedom Industries until 12 days after they realized that the leak had occurred. Apparently this chemical was in the same tank that polluted the water with 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol.   This chemical was not reported because they just figured the water treatment facility would take care of it.

-  Local officials whitewashing the situation
-  Freedom Industries is frantic to reduce their liability 
-  Reports on safety are conflicting.
-  Symptoms are downplayed.


Read more
http://www.thedailysheeple.com/more-west-virginia-water-deceptions-a-second-toxic-chemical-was-leaked-local-officials-whitewashing-the-situation_012014


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WEST VIRGINIA DISASTER - STORES WERE EMPTIED WITHIN AN HOUR - ARE YOU PREPARED?

By Mac Slavo,  SHTFplan.com

When toxic chemicals spilled into the Elk River in Charleston, West Virginia a couple of weeks ago we got another glimpse into what the world might look like in the aftermath of a major, widespread disaster.  There were several lessons we can take from this regional emergency and all of them are pretty much exactly what you might expect would happen when the water supplies for 300,000 people become suddenly unavailable.

Lesson #1: There will be immediate panic

DWARF PLANET CERES IS GUSHING WITH WATER

The round dwarf planet otherwise known as the largest asteroid in the solar system is releasing water vapour at a rate of 13lb (6kg) per second

Observations by the European Space Agency's Herschel telescope suggest it could be coming from geysers or ice volcanoes

SOMETHING STILL APPEARS TO BE WRONG WITH WEST VIRGINIA WATER AFTER THE CHEMICAL SPILL - VICTIMS FLOCKING TO HOSPITALS

Hospital admissions over W. Virginia chemical spill 

double even after water declared safe

Despite recent declarations that the water in West Virginia is now safe to use, hospital admissions related to the Kanawha Valley chemical spill have doubled over the last week.  About a week and a half ago, a chemical mixture used to wash coal – called “Crude MCHM” – began leaking into the Elk River, contaminating the water supply used by nine counties and roughly 300,000 people.

According to a recent story by the Charleston Gazette, 411 patients have been treated for chemical-related maladies at 10 different hospitals between January 9 and January 18. That’s a significant rise when compared to the numbers from just two days prior, when 317 individuals were treated for chemical exposure.

UK FARMERS TO BLAME FOR MASSIVE FLOODS - THE EU PAYS THEM TO CUT TREES - PICTURES OF FLOOD

Drowned by EU millions: Thought 'extreme weather' was to blame for the floods? Wrong. The real culprit is the European subsidies that pay UK farmers to destroy the very trees that soak up the storm.

Water sinks into the soil under trees at 67 times the rate of soil under grass

Farmers are not eligible for EU payment if the land is covered by trees

As a result, flood-preventing trees are cut down, removing vital protection

SUPERBUGS BREEDING IN WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS - WATER USED FOR DRINKING, IRRIGATION

IT HAPPENS AT WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
 

Tests at two wastewater treatment plants in northern China revealed antibiotic-resistant bacteria were not only escaping purification but also breeding and spreading their dangerous cargo.

 

Joint research by scientists from Rice, Nankai and Tianjin universities found "superbugs" carrying New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1), a multidrug-resistant gene first identified in India in 2010, in wastewater disinfected by chlorination.

 

They are everywhere, in every country.

 

They are growing by eating garbage, and no antibiotic can kill them.  They are the perfect survivors.

 

Worse.  They are transferring their antibiotic resistant genes to other less harmful bacteria. 

 

"It turns out that they transfer these genetic determinants for antibiotic resistance to indigenous bacteria in the environment, so they are not only proliferating within the wastewater treatment plant, they're also propagating and dispersing antibiotic resistance," said a scientist.

Read more - http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Superbugs_found_breeding_in_sewage_plants_999.html


RELATED

The end of antibiotics - Superbugs have won
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/11/the-end-of-antibiotics-superbugs-have.html


More articles on the fascinating subject of microbes on this blog
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Microbes

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UK MAY LEGALIZE FRACKING UNDER PRIVATE HOMES WITH NO WARNING

 

OUT OF CONTROL FRACKING IN THE UK 

 

UK GOVERNMENT WANTS TO GIVE THE GO AHEAD FOR FRACKING WITHOUT OBTAINING PERMISSION FROM PROPERTY OWNERS OR NOTIFYING THEM

 

Hydraulic fracturing may soon take place under thousands of homes across the United Kingdom without their owners’ knowledge.

 

Based on a proposed law change the burden of notifying homeowners will be lifted from energy companies, the Guardian reports.Planning Minister Nick Boles said a change in UK law will allow gas companies to put in drilling applications without notifying those in the area whose property could be affected, the Guardian reported. Companies will instead have to post notices in local newspapers and erect site displays in local parishes.

 

Many opposed to fracking cite potential health risks, air pollution and water contamination, as well as possible earthquakes. Nevertheless, the government portrayed alerting all those possibly impacted by localized fracking as too much of a burden for companies to weather.

Read more - http://rt.com/news/uk-fracking-notification-homes-466/

HALF OF UK SUITABLE FOR FRACKING, REPORT SAYS

Fracking – a process that involves splitting shale rocks deep underground - uses huge amounts of water, and in some places this would need to be shipped in by tanker.

Around 75% of water used for fracking flows back, and the Environment Agency wants it re-used for further fracking, with the addition of extra water.

But it is expected that in some places waste water will need to be removed from site by lorry, and the report’s authors say this could put a strain on local water treatment.

The energy minister Michael Fallon said residents’ objections would be dealt with at the local level by the planning system and water issues dealt with by the Environment Agency.

 

Read more - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25420552

 

 

FRACKING CHEMICALS LINKED TO BIRTH DEFECTS AND INFERTILITY

 

“More than 700 chemicals are used in the fracking process, and many of them disturb hormone function,” said one of the study’s authors, Susan C. Nagel, PhD, of the University of Missouri School of Medicine. “With fracking on the rise, populations may face greater health risks from increased endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure.” 

 

Read more - http://www.thedailysheeple.com/fracking-chemicals-linked-to-birth-defects-infertility_122013

 

More articles on fracking on this blog 

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Fracking

 

 

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HUGE GEYSER ERUPTS IN JUPITER'S MOON EUROPA

 
Could there be life on Europa? Hubble spots 100-mile high jets of water shooting from the surface of Jupiter's icy moon.
 

Scientists have detected two vapour jets appearing for up to seven hours

This proves that water from Europa's ocean can easily reach the surface

Experts believe the moon's ocean may have conditions that can support life

 
Like 'Old Faithful', the famous volcanic geyser in Yellowstone National Park, U.S., the plumes appear to erupt at regular intervals.
 
But while Old Faithful manages around 100 feet, Europa's vapour fountains are thought to reach heights of 124 miles - around 20 times higher than the peak of Mount Everest.
 
Similar plumes have previously been seen on one of Saturn's moons, Enceladus.
 
FACTS ABOUT JUPITER'S MOON EUROPA
 
Jupiter's icy moon Europa is slightly smaller than the Earth's Moon.
 
Europa orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is phase locked -- just like Earth's Moon -- so that the same side of Europa faces Jupiter at all times.  However, because Europa orbits in an oval, when it is close to Jupiter the tide is much higher.

It is thought to have an iron core, a rocky mantle and a surface ocean of salty water, like Earth.
Unlike on Earth, however, this ocean is deep enough to cover the whole surface of Europa, and being far from the sun, the ocean surface is globally frozen over.
 
Many experts believe the hidden ocean surrounding Europa, warmed by powerful tidal forces caused by Jupiter's gravity, may have conditions favourable to life

Read more and see illustrations - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2523047/Could-life-Europa-Hubble-spots-100-mile-high-jets-water-shooting-surface-Jupiters-icy-moon.html


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VAST FRESH WATER AQUIFERS EXIST UNDER THE OCEAN FLOOR

  

Vast freshwater reserves have been discovered under the ocean floor which scientists believe could sustain future generations.

 

Australian researchers claim to have found 500,000 cubic kilometres (120,000 cubic miles) of freshwater buried beneath the seabed on continental shelves off Australia, China, North America and South Africa.

 

The deposits were formed over hundreds of thousands of years in the past, when the sea level was much lower and areas now under the ocean were exposed to rainfall which was absorbed into the underlying water table.

 

When the polar icecaps started melting about 20,000 years ago these coastlines disappeared under water, but their aquifers remain intact - protected by layers of clay and sediment.

 

Post said the deposits were comparable with the bore basins currently relied upon by much of the world for drinking water and would cost much less than seawater to desalinate.

 

Drilling for the water would be expensive, and Post said great care would have to be taken not to contaminate the aquifers.

 

Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2519911/Vast-freshwater-reserves-discovered-ocean-floor-supply-future-generations.html

 

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In the meantime Japan continuously contaminates the oceans with tons of heavily radioactive waste from their Fukushima power plant.

 

Latest  news about the Fukushima disaster  - http://enenews.com/

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AERIAL PICTURES SHOWING WATER'S EFFECT ON LANDSCAPE - AND MAN'S EFFECT ON WATER

Canadian photographer Edward Burtunsky’s large-scale exhibition seeks to display water as both a victim and a partner of humanity all across the globe.

 

His amazing images truly capture how earth got its nickname ‘the blue planet’ showing the beauty of rivers, deltas and sea shores.

 

They were taken from the air in an attempt to highlight modern society’s effect on the water supplies and how it has changed its landscape.  It includes a couple showing oil spills.

 

See pictures - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2454639/Edward-Burtunskys-fantastic-aerial-photographs-highlight-mankinds-dependence-water.html

 

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BIZARRE WATER BEHAVIOR - SUPER HIGH TEMPERATURE MAKES WATER DROPLETS TRAVEL UPHILL

 

The Leidenfrost Effect  causes the water to levitate on the evaporated gas vapor.

 

 

If you've ever spilt water on a hot pan, you've seen the Leidenfrost Effect in action. 

 

The skittering and fizzing that takes place happens because the surface is super-hot, about twice as hot as the liquid's boiling point. 

 

This causes the water to levitate on the evaporated gas vapor which acts as a barrier that keeps the droplet and the hot surface separated.

Movement can be changed by adjusting the surface texture and temperature.

 

Read more and see pictures - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2442638/Leidenfrost-Effect-makes-high-temperature-water-travel-uphill.html


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TREES USING WATER MORE EFFICIENTLY AS CO2 RISES

TREES ARE ALREADY EVOLVING TO COPE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE

A study by scientists with the U.S. Forest Service, Harvard University and partners suggests that trees are responding to higher atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by becoming more efficient at using water.

 

This new analysis suggests that rising atmospheric carbon dioxide is having a direct and unexpectedly strong influence on ecosystem processes, and biosphere-atmosphere interactions in temperate and boreal forests.

Terrestrial plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, a process that is accompanied by the loss of water vapor from leaves. The ratio of water loss to carbon gain, or water-use efficiency, is a key characteristic of ecosystem function that is central to the global cycles of water, energy and carbon. 

Read more here - http://phys.org/news/2013-07-trees-efficiently-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide.html

Tree evolution - http://www.rfs.org.uk/learning/tree-evolution

More on plants and trees on this blog - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Plants%20and%20Trees

PINK LAKES REALLY EXIST

They look as if belonging in a child's coloring book

There are pink lakes all over the world.   They seem surreal.  But they exist and their color is due to the presence of algae that produces carotenoids. 

 

Once the lake water reaches a salinity level greater than that of sea water, with high enough temperature and adequate light conditions, the alga begins to accumulate the red pigment beta carotene.   You can find pink lakes in Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Senegal and Spain.

 

See pictures of pink lakes and read more here: 
Bizarre Pink Lakes from around the World that look like Milkshakes due to a Freak of Nature - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2344399/The-bizarre-PINK-lakes-world-look-like-milkshakes-freak-nature.html

Link to this post  -  http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/07/pink-lakes-really-exist.html

TWO DISASTERS IN ALBERTA, CANADA

ENVIRONMENT NEWS -

 

TWO DISASTERS IN ALBERTA, CANADA

 

The Tar Sands wreak havoc on the environment in the north, while the Bow river floods Oil Town Calgary in the south 

By Tracy W.

The province of Alberta was in the news this past week as raging waters from the Bow River innundated the city of Calgary and other southern Alberta localities.  It's a major disaster, as downtown businesses and residences all over town were completely flooded. The material loss is enormous.

 

The resulting emotional trauma is incalculable.  Many people have literally lost everything they owned.  The water in many basements reached eight feet.  Houses were wrenched from their foundations and carried away by the waters.  Power outages could last for months.  The number of fatalities was small, but each one is a major tragedy for their loved ones.

 

Calgary is also known as Oil Town, the hub where deals are made and fortunes are built. 

 

Higher up north is the region known as the TAR SANDS.  A huge scar in the earth where oversized machinery and oversized trucks and oversized greed extract oil.  - Where once there was pristine nature full of living things, today there is an ever expanding ecological disaster zone - all in the name of economic development. 

 

Precious water is being wasted and contaminated in the process of oil extraction.  The soil is forever toxic, lifeless. The air is foul.  This is a disaster of such magnitude that it is visible from the Space Station.  Tens of thousands of migratory birds have perished in the Tar Sands poisonous tailings ponds sludge.

 

See  pictures of Tar Sands muddy moonscape on articles below. 

 

National Geographic article :  The giant dump trucks that rumble around the mine, hauling 400-ton loads from the shovels to a rock crusher, burn 50 gallons of diesel fuel an hour each. And every day in the Athabasca Valley, more than a million tons of sand emerges from such crushers and is mixed with more than 200,000 tons of water that must be heated to wash out the gluey bitumen.

 

At the upgraders, the bitumen gets heated again, to about 900°F, and compressed to more than 100 atmospheres—that's what it takes to crack the complex molecules and either subtract carbon or add back the hydrogen the bacteria removed ages ago. That's what it takes to make the light hydrocarbons we need to fill our gas tanks.  

 http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/canadian-oil-sands/kunzig-text

 

Canadian Geographic picture and article on Tar Sands:  it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the Athabasca oil sands were launched on today’s bitumen mega-arc - bitumen being the thick, tarlike hydrocarbon extracted from the sands and refined into synthetic crude oil.

http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/jun08/feature_tar_sands.asp

 

Nature lashes out:

 

National Post  photos of an enraged Bow river as it devastates the city of Calgary just this past week:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/20/pictures-and-videos-of-massive-flooding-in-canmore-and-southern-alberta/

 

Globe and Mail more photos of the Alberta flood of June, 2013:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/incredible-videos-and-photos-of-calgary-flooding-shared-on-social-media/article12739881/

GEOLOGY NEWS -

 

CALIFORNIA HOUSES SINKING INTO THE GROUND

 

 

A slow motion disaster is taking place in Lake County, 100 miles north of San Francisco, California, where houses are collapsing into the sinking ground, with no apparent explanation.

 

Eight homes have been abandoned and  ten more are under notice of evacuation on a hilltop overlooking Clear Lake and Mount Konocti volcano.

 

Unlike Florida sinkholes that collapse homes in an instant, the gradual sinking of the surface in Lake County varies between a few inches and several feet each day.  Officials blame water rising to the surface, but this area suffers from water shortage.  

 

Lake County was shaped by earthquake fault movement and volcanic explosions that helped create the Coast Ranges of California.  Area groundwater sometimes makes its way to the surface then subsides. Many natural hot springs and geysers receded underground in the early 1900s and have since been tapped for geothermal power.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/sinking-california-homes-2013-5

BOOK BITS -

The World Without Us - Part 2

 

FLOODED MANHATTAN

 

 

By Tracy W.

 

In the movie The Day After Tomorrow Manhattan subway tunnels get flooded by unremitting rain over a period of just a few days. Technology that normally pumps excess water is simply overwhelmed.  In the movie things go from bad to worse, with abrupt climate change returning the city to the Ice Age. 

 

Alan Weisman takes on the subject of water flow in Manhattan from a different perspective.  His book The World Without Us speculates on what would happen to cities without people.

 

For the sake of argument, let's pretend that humans have simply vanished. Maybe a plague, maybe something else.  What happens to Manhattan?  It would quickly revert to its ancient ecology, while man-made structures would erode and crumble. 

 

The first act of natural reclamation of the island would be the reflooding of large parts of the city that used to be lakes and streams.

 

Ancient Manhattan had more than 40 streams running through it, plus lakes and marshes.  It was a landscape efficiently designed by nature to allow water management according to seasonal rain variations.  

 

When Europeans settled there, they tried to force nature to accept the building of a city that would eventually become a metropolis.  To start with, lakes, marshes and streams were filled in.  All water went underground.

 

But nature can't ever be defeated.  Man's dominance is tenuous and temporary at best.  Recurrent subway tunnel floods are challenging reminders. Not even the most advanced technology can defeat the force of zillions of drops of water. That water wants to return to the surface and the only way to contain it and rechannel it is by using pumps all over underground Manhattan.

 

Those pumps run on electric power.  With no people, there would be no power.  In only 30 minutes water would reach the trains.  Even with no rain the underground subways would be completely flooded in only 36 hours.

 

The Mannahatta Project

 

To get an idea of what the island used to be, Alan Weisman presents landscape ecologist Dr. Eric Sanderson's Mannahatta Project.  He has reconstructed in virtual form pre-urban Manhattan.

 

Gathering all kinds of archival and geological information, including sediment and fossil pollen studies, Dr Sanderson has been able to painstakingly recreate old Manhattan, its waterways, even trees and bushes.  With new technology he shows the island as it was first seen by Henry Hudson in 1609.

 
For more information on Dr. Eric Sanderson and his Mannahatta Project:

Mapping Mannahatta - Slide show
http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/10/01/slideshow_071001_maps#slide=1

2007 video  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKNEu_8t65s

2011 video - http://blip.tv/social-science-research-council/eric-sanderson-on-the-mannahatta-project-2195736

2011 - New York before the city - interview and pictures.   http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_sanderson_pictures_new_york_before_the_city.html

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IN THE NEWS:

New York City in the aftermath of 2012 Hurricane Sandy

Pictures of flooded Manhattan in darkness, rats take over. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225132/Superstorm-Sandy-2012-New-York-darkness-14ft-flooding--come-rats.html

Pictures of the flood and a technological idea that could protect Manhattan.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2238342/New-data-shows-flooding-overtake-New-York-City-300-years.html

Pictures of inside eerie Manhattan subway station months later, still in need of rehabilitation -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2316393/Eerie-Lower-Manhattan-subway-station-devastated-Hurricane-Sandy-need-600-million-rehabilitation.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

FRACKING FOR URANIUM

TWO THINGS ARE INFINITE:  THE UNIVERSE AND HUMAN STUPIDITY; AND I'M NOT SURE ABOUT THE UNIVERSE - Albert Einstein

The process to remove uranium takes place about 400 to 800 feet down, at the same level as groundwater!

ENENEWS:  “By design it’s much worse than fracking,” says Houston attorney Jim Blackburn, who is suing UEC on behalf of residents near the company’s new project in Goliad, Tex. “This is intentional contamination of a water aquifer liberating not only uranium but other elements that were bound up with the sand. We know this process will contaminate groundwater; that’s the whole point of it.”

The company says that it is doing the environment a favor by removing uranium from the ground.

http://enenews.com/fracking-uranium-start-doing-environment-favor

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