News items from Eutrophication News

Chinese government adds two new pollution indicators to its list of reduction targets in bid to curb emissions

Should Vermont impose taxes on those who pollute Lake Champlain? The idea, once unthinkable, was squarely on the table this week as a government-appointed citizens committee — impatient over continuing algae blooms and rampant weed growth — struggled to agree on priority actions to recommend to the 2011 legislature.

As warming intensifies, scientists warn, the oxygen content of oceans across the planet could be more and more diminished, with serious consequences for the future of fish and other sea life

The world’s oceans have been experiencing enormous blooms of jellyfish, apparently caused by overfishing, declining water quality, and rising sea temperatures. Now, scientists are trying to determine if these outbreaks could represent a “new normal” in which jellyfish increasingly supplant fish.

New Zealand - A potentially toxic blue-green algal bloom has been found in Lake Ohakuri, the largest lake in the Waikato River hydro system.

CLEARWATER — Last January, the Pinellas County Commission banned residents from using certain fertilizers in the summer, warning that tougher federal water pollution limits were coming and the county needed to protect its waterways.

THE Environment Protection Authority is investigating several reports of a red substance forming slicks in the Derwent estuary

HAI DUONG — Untreated waste water from the industrial zones has been discharged into the canal serving as the main sewer gate of Hai Duong City. The water then flows to the Thai Binh River.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines—Fishery officials in Northern Mindanao on Friday issued a fresh warning against the gathering, selling and eating of shellfish from Murcielagos Bay due to the presence of red tide organisms.

TAIPEI: Taiwan's environmental authorities said Wednesday they are planning to promote potty training for pigs to help curb water and waste pollution.

New Jersey adopted the nation's toughest restrictions on fertilizer today as part of a package of bills signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie to protect the fragile Barnegat Bay from further pollution.

Legislators will be presented Wednesday with a revolutionary wish list that, if adopted, could ensure the future of clean water in Minnesota.

In a victory for opponents of a proposed giant dairy in northwest Illinois, regulators are requiring the facility to submit more detailed plans for how to prevent massive amounts of manure from polluting the water.

Fish, crabs and prawns caught from the Sarawak River are not safe for human consumption as they contain high levels of coliform bacteria. State Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) controller Peter Sawal revealed that the river is among the most polluted in the state.

More than a year after former Governor John Baldacci requested help, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke issued a “fisheries disaster” declaration that makes the Maine shellfish industry eligible for federal assistance to help it recover from the combined effects of heavy rainfall and a prolonged red tide outbreak during 2009.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved California’s water quality improvement plan for restoring salmon fisheries and water quality in the Klamath River. The plan calls for massive pollution reductions for the California portion of the river, including a 57 % reduction in phosphorus, 32% in nitrogen, and 16% in carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD).

The Little Stour, which flows into the main Great Stour at Plucks Gutter, near Stourmouth in Canterbury, was included in a list of "sensitive" rivers by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Although first designated in 2007 after the Environment Agency found high levels of the pollutant nutrient phosphorous as well as excessive plant growth – known as eutrophication – it has yet to be removed from the list.

RICHMOND, Va. — The Environmental Protection Agency outlined a plan Wednesday to restore the Chesapeake Bay, calling the 64,000-square-mile water pollution control project the largest ever undertaken in the United States.

A non-toxic, naturally occurring algae has been plaguing Wanaka residents for several years but attempts by the Queenstown Lakes District Council to reduce or eliminate it have failed.

State Environment and Ecology Wing’s analysis Dr T Brajakumar said,“Artificial eutrophication coupled with climate change is another threat to our wetland as it reduces oxygen level and increases carbon dioxide level in the lake water.”