Infrastructure

A Year Later, Unfiltered Flint Tap Water Is Still Unsafe To Drink

Wed, 2016-12-14 11:47 — Maeryn Obley

The state says more than 600 pipes have been replaced in Flint, Mich., this year — but 30,000 suspect pipes remain. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Image: The state says more than 600 pipes have been replaced in Flint, Mich., this year — but 30,000 suspect pipes remain. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

npr.org - December 14th 2016 - Steve Carmody

A year ago, Flint, Mich., Mayor Karen Weaver declared a state of emergency because of lead-contaminated drinking water, attracting national outrage and sympathy, and millions of gallons of donated water.

But a year later donations have slowed to a trickle, and little has changed — unfiltered water here is still unsafe to drink.

With frigid temperatures and flurries swirling around outside, the crowd inside Flint's downtown transit station ebbs and flows as buses come and go.

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The Crisis in Flint Isn't Over. It's Everywhere.

Wed, 2016-06-01 21:36 — Maeryn Obley

Tony Palladeno’s rental units sit unoccupied; his water still irritates his skin and eyes when he bathes. Photo by Dan Winters

Image: Tony Palladeno’s rental units sit unoccupied; his water still irritates his skin and eyes when he bathes. Photo by Dan Winters

wired.com - June 1st 2016 - Ben Paynter

At his home near Kearsley Park, on the east side of Flint, Michigan, Tony Palladeno Jr. grabs his keys and a pair of 1-liter medical-grade plastic bottles—one full and one empty. He filled the first yesterday, with slightly cloudy water from his own tap. To fill the second, he strolls a few doors down to a two-story home he once rented out.

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Evaluating Investments in Community Resilience: New Guide Explains How

Tue, 2016-01-05 21:49 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Albert Gomez

nist.gov - January 4, 2016

Communities weighing choices for capital improvement projects intended to improve their resilience to severe weather, wildfires, earthquakes, or other types of hazards now have a new guide to help them sort through the costs and benefits of each when deciding which investment is best for their particular circumstances.

Prepared by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) economists, the Community Resilience Economic Decision Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure Systems details steps for evaluating the “economic ramifications” of contemplated resilience investments as well as the option of maintaining the status quo.

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New Orleans Area's Upgraded Levees Not Enough for Next 'Katrina,' Engineers Say

Tue, 2015-08-18 21:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Lake Borgne Surge Barrier, which rises 26 feet above sea level, is designed to be overtopped by storm surges created by a hurricane with a 1 percent chance of occurring in any year, the so-called 100-year storm, hits the area. The overtopping water will be stored in the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Industrial Canal in New Orleans. Larger storms will cause even more water to overtop the wall.

nola.com - by Mark Schleifstein - August 18, 2015

The rebuilt New Orleans area hurricane levee system remains inadequate to protect the heart of the nation's 45^th largest metropolitan area from another Hurricane Katrina or larger storm, nationally-known engineers and scientists said almost a decade after the 2005 storm.

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100% renewables by 2045 is now the law in Hawaii

Wed, 2015-07-29 14:36 — Albert Gomez

Link to Article: http://www.argusmedia.com/News/Article?id=1051970

Hawaii law sets target of 100pc renewables by 2045

9 Jun 2015, 2.15 pm GMT

Washington, 9 June (Argus) — Hawaii's governor David Ige (D) signed legislation making the island state the first in the US to set a mandate for all electricity to come from renewable resources.

The governor signed HB 623, which requires electric utilities to supply 100pc of their sales with renewables by 2045. The new renewable portfolio standard includes interim targets of 30pc by 2020, 40pc by 2030 and 70pc by 2040. HB 623 replaces a previous standard that called for 15pc by 2015, 25pc by 2020 and 40pc by 3030. The bill takes effect on 1 July.

Ige said the move to local sources of energy will help the state's economy, which relies on about $5bn/yr in oil imports. Fuel oil provides about 70pc of the state's electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

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How big data is beating Ebola

Mon, 2015-03-09 10:22 — mike kraft

Computational epidemiologists at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) have been working to combat the world’s largest and deadliest outbreak of Ebola. - See more at: http://www.information-age.com/technology/information-management/123459120/how-big-data-beating-ebola#sthash.CTk2zlgo.dpuf

Computational epidemiologists at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) have been working to combat the world’s largest and deadliest outbreak of Ebola. VBI’s Bryan Lewis writes - See more at: http://www.information-age.com/technology/information-management/123459120/how-big-data-beating-ebola#sthash.CTk2zlgo.dpuf

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Medical charity MSF opens Ebola clinic for pregnant women

Sat, 2015-01-10 18:10 — mike kraft

REUTERS BY Umaru Fofana Jan. 10, 2015

FREETOWN --Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) has opened the first care center in the current Ebola epidemic for pregnant women, whose survival rate from the virus is virtually zero, the charity said on Saturday....

An Ebola virus treatment center is seen in Bo, Sierra Leone, November 17, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Benjamin Black

There is currently one patient in the clinic, which is perched on a hill in the compound of a disused Methodist boys high school in the Sierra Leone capital.

Women are particularly vulnerable to a disease spread through direct contact with infected people and with the corpses of victims, because women often care for sick family members, said MSF Field Coordinator, Esperanza Santos.

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British-built Ebola hospital in Sierra Leone only partly operational

Fri, 2014-11-21 15:42 — mike kraft

THE GUARDIAN Nov. 21, 2014
By Lisa O'Carroll

The Ebola hospital built by the British army which opened two weeks ago in the capital of Sierra Leone will not be fully operational until January, it has emerged.

The facility was the first of six hospitals announced by the Department of International Development two months ago as part of Britain’s £250m assistance in the fight against Ebola in the country....

Equipment wrapped in plastic inside the Kerry Town Ebola Treatment Centre in Sierra Leone before it opened. Photograph: Louis Leeson/Save the Children

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Structural Adaptivity, Before and After Thoughts

Tue, 2014-11-04 12:57 — WDS1200-Columbus

As a means of concluding these writings on Structural Adaptivity and Resilience, following are some of the background thoughts, with recent revision, that led me to my proposals. Originally, my writings were directed at city and regional planning. However now I realize they are also about resilience. I hope my submittals will be helpful. I will try to write more soon.

Time. Planners, resilience makers, and all other leaders and professionals dealing with the built environment must focus on long time spans. In order to have significant impact on the future of our world, we must recognize that only by looking at big chunks of history and big chunks of future time can we really see the reality of what is going on. Likewise, we need to do so in order to see the reality of what needs to be done.

Typical urban or regional plans target a future some 20 years ahead. Moreover, they typically are based on past trends of 20 years or so. However, our world does not change in 20-year cycles. Twenty years is a very short time period in the flow of transformation.

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Structural Adaptivity, Rebalancing by Watersheds - Part II

Thu, 2014-10-23 19:32 — WDS1200-Columbus

Here is the second part of my Rebalancing by Watersheds Exercise. I presented the background work recently in my Part I post. Part II contains a Concept Plan Map and a discussion of the more particular information and data that led me to the Plan.

Both Parts I and Part II are only a condensed version of the full text I prepared. Within the portions I left out for this version is a considerable amount of technical information that some readers may want to see. I will provide more of it upon request.

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