Marine Pollution ControlMarine Pollution Control
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Holland, MI 49424
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The Buoy That May Finally Make Wave Energy Feasible


4/11/2016


We already harness energy from the sun, the wind, and many other natural processes for our own uses, and electricity generated from ocean waves could be the next big thing in renewables. Known as wave energy, the concept is relatively new and technologies are still a bit rudimentary (and expensive), especially when it comes to large-scale energy generation. CorPower Ocean, based in Sweden, has developed a buoy that is surprisingly productive. One small buoy can generate enough electricity from the ocean to power 200 homes. Imagine what a farm full of floating buoys could do.
 
At just 26 feet wide, CorPower’s buoy is small in comparison to other wave energy generators. The company says their floating orange buoys are five times more efficient than the next competing technology, due to the addition of phase-controlled oscillation which makes high energy density possible. By setting up farms where hundreds of buoys would simultaneously generate clean electricity, CorPower estimates as much as 20 percent of the total electricity on Earth could be supplied through wave energy.
 
Because the ocean is always in motion, wave energy could potentially be more efficient than solar or wind, both of which suffer in less-than-reliable conditions. Wave energy generation is just as clean as solar and wind, too, with zero carbon dioxide emissions. So far, a one-half scale model of the wave energy converter has passed tank tests with flying colors, and the CorPower team is heading out to open waters later this year for field tests of its game-changing technology.
 

Oceans of Plastic


The oceans are the most magnificent, diverse and abundant ecosystem on the planet, and every day they are facing attack in the form of plastic, toxic chemicals and waste which is extremely damaging to marine life, plants and habitats. 
 
Every year we dump over eight million tons of plastic into the ocean. Not only does this plastic get mistaken for food by wildlife, it also manages to find its way back to coastlines and beaches causing damage and destruction on its journey. Plastic takes, on average, 400 years to degrade, and even then it only breaks down into smaller pieces, which may not be visible to the human eye. 
 
Toxic chemicals are also being deliberately dumped into the ocean by industrial sources at an alarming rate. Additionally, surface run-off from rain and flooding carries chemicals such as fertilizers, petrochemicals and animal waste with them into oceans. 
 
Small, free-floating plastics have the ability to absorb these toxic chemicals, as do the plankton which form a key part of marine food chains. Plankton is eaten by small marine creatures, which are then eaten by larger fish, which inevitably end up on our plates. 
 

Two Connecticut Companies Settle EPA Claims of Violating PCB Regulations


Two Connecticut companies, a scrap metal recycling facility and a waste oil transporter, agreed to pay fines to settle claims by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that they violated federal laws regarding toxic substances in their handling of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In addition, as part of the settlements one company will clean up PCB contamination and the other has voluntarily changed operations to reduce the chance of contaminating waste oil shipments with PCBs. 
 

Crude oil spilled into Louisiana waterway


3/29/2016


The U.S. Coast Guard said early Tuesday an unknown amount of crude oil had spilled from a tank into a Louisiana waterway and the source of the leak had been secured.
 
The tank was being filled with crude oil when the spill occurred in Bayou Teche, a 125-mile-long waterway winding through south-central Louisiana, the Coast Guard said.
 
PSC Industrial Outsourcing reported the spill.
 

DEQ director to visit Ann Arbor to discuss dioxane plume


ANN ARBOR, MI — State Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, has announced details for a town hall meeting to discuss the toxic plume of dioxane that's spreading through the groundwater in Ann Arbor and Scio Township.
 
In an email on Friday, Irwin said the meeting will take place from 6-8:30 p.m. April 18 inside the auditorium at Eberwhite Elementary School, 800 Soule Blvd.
 
There will be presentations by the local Coalition for Action on the Remediation of Dioxane and Keith Creagh, acting director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.