Soundings
First Port Radiation Detector Installed in China. Equipment to detect nuclear and other radioactive material in cargo containers was installed at the Port of Yangshan outside of Shanghai, China, in December, becoming the first installation of such equipment in the country. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), part of the U.S. Department of Energy, completed the project in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Shanghai Customs and the General Administration of Customs, China, as part of the NNSA’s Second Line of Defense Program. Detection of radioactive materials will help to prevent the smuggling and proliferation of nuclear and radioactive materials that can be used in weapons or improvised nuclear devices, NNSA said in a press release. Under a 2005 agreement between the U.S. and China, NNSA’s Megaports Initiative has been working to install radiation detection equipment that will deter, detect and interdict illicit shipments of nuclear and other radioactive materials that might move through the Port of Yangshan.BOEM Moves Forward on Proposed Wind Energy Transmission Line. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in December said it was taking the next steps in its review of a potential wind energy transmission line in the Atlantic. Atlantic Grid Holdings LLC (Chevy Chase, Maryland) has requested a right-of-way grant to develop the Atlantic Wind Connection, a proposed high-voltage DC transmission line that would collect power from offshore wind facilities and deliver it to the regional high-voltage grid. The transmission system would enable up to 7,000 megawatts to be delivered to the grid. BOEM is asking whether other developers are interested in constructing transmission facilities in this area and is also seeking comments on the potential environmental consequences of a renewable energy transmission line on the OCS off the coasts of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The proposed transmission line would be constructed in phases to connect offshore wind power to the grid based on the company’s anticipated timing of offshore wind generation. A right-of-way grant occupies a corridor 200 feet wide and is anticipated to extend approximately 820 miles; full construction would take approximately 10 years.
NOAA Issues Scientific Integrity Policy. NOAA released in December its scientific integrity policy, saying the plan reflects the commitment of the agency and the Obama administration to protect scientific findings from being suppressed, distorted or altered and to encourage a culture of transparency. NOAA said its scientific integrity policy applies to all NOAA employees who conduct, supervise, assess or interpret scientific information on behalf of the agency. Scientists, their managers and policymakers are all governed by the policy. NOAA said that in support a culture of openness, a key provision of the policy affirmed that its scientists may speak freely with the media and public about scientific and technical matters based on their official work without approval from the public affairs office or their supervisors. The policy also protects those who report scientific and research misconduct.
Largest Purchase of Biofuel in Government History Made for US Navy. The U.S. Navy in December announced that the Defense Logistics Agency signed a $12 million contract to purchase 450,000 gallons of advanced drop-in biofuel, the single largest purchase of biofuel in government history. The biofuel is from a blend of used cooking oil from the Dynamic Fuels LLC, a joint-venture of Tyson Foods Inc. and Syntroleum Corp., and algae produced by Solazyme. The fuel will be used in the U.S. Navy’s demonstration of a Green Strike Group this summer during the Rim of the Pacific Exercise. In preparation for this demonstration, the Navy recently completed testing of all aircraft, including the F/A-18, all six Blue Angels and the V-22 Osprey. The Navy has also successfully tested the RCB-X, training patrol craft, the Self Defense Test Ship and conducted full-scale gas turbine engine testing. The Defense Logistics Agency will pay half the price for the Green Strike Group biofuel than it paid for biofuel for testing in 2009, the Navy said.
Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA Propose Policy for Endangered Species Act. A new federal policy proposed in December will help clarify which species or populations of species are eligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act and will provide for earlier and more effective opportunities to conserve declining species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. The proposed policy will define the phrase “significant portion of its range” in the act and provide consistency for how it should be applied, which the agencies said would help them make decisions on whether to add or remove species from the federal list of threatened and endangered wildlife and plants. Under the proposed policy, a portion of the range of any given species would be defined as “significant” if its contribution to the viability of the species is so important that, without that portion, the species would be in danger of extinction.
Environmental Groups Sue EPA Over Navy Ship Sinking Program. Earthjustice, on behalf of the Basel Action Network and the Sierra Club, in December filed suit against the EPA over what it says is the agency’s failure to regulate a U.S. Navy ship sinking program that “pollutes the sea with toxic chemicals.” The program, called SINKEX, uses decommissioned military ships—109 reported sunk over the past decade—for live-fire target practice, which the environmental groups say releases polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contained in the ships into the ocean. Recent studies in Florida have found that PCBs from the ship-sinking exercises are entering the marine food chain and lead to PCB concentrations in fish that are unsafe for human consumption.
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