www.ChicagoTribune.com
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit the Northern California coastline near Eureka around 2:34 a.m. on Tuesday morning, December 19th. It has been reported that the earthquake caused structural damage, power outages and some injuries.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported at least 13 aftershocks within 45 minutes after the initial 6.4 quake, one of which included a 4.6 magnitude in the town of Rio Dell several miles inland from the coast.
NYPost.com
FTX has a subsidiary called FTX Property Holdings, LLC which holds a $256 million portfolio of real estate in the Bahamas. John Pintarelli, a partner in Pillsbury’s Insolvency & Restructuring practice in New York, recently spoke to Business Insider about its fate.
Former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried purchased 35 properties in the Bahamas. Those real estate holdings are a part of the bankruptcy case against the crypto exchange as creditors seek to recover billions from the business.
A question is whether the Bahamas should have jurisdiction over the liquidation of those assets. Regulators and judges in the U.S. and the Bahamas should work to secure the biggest possible payout for creditors, but that total payout could change if either wait too long to liquidate the assets.
www.Entrepreneur.com
Allied Market Research report that the global real estate industry is estimated to generate $28,917.7 billion in 2021 and $4,923.3 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR of 5.3% from 2022 to 2031. The report is titled, "Real Estate Market By Property (Residential, Commercial, Industrial), By Business (Sales, Rental), By Type (Land, Buildings): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031."
The report details multiple drivers, restraints, and opportunities to expect within the future of the real estate market. After the negative effects of Covid-19, real estate companies have now started operating at their full-scale capacities that is helping the market to recover at a swift pace.
Residential real estate held the largest market share in 2021 and is expected to maintain a prominent growth during the forecast period through 2031. It is likely to exhibit the highest CAGR of 5.7% in 2031. Asia-Pacific was the largest market in 2021 and is expected to show the largest revenue growth during the forecast period. It is likely to grow at the fastest CAGR of 6.4%.
www.1011now.com
Lincoln, Nebraska Fire and Rescue says one person was found outside the building and was injured when the fire broke out. That person was transported to a Lincoln hospital, but the extent of that person’s injuries is unclear.
Battalion Chief Jim Bopp said firefighters arrived to heavy fire coming from the second floor of the apartment building and people living in all four units of the complex have been displaced.
Chief Bopp said the cause of the fire appears to be a cooking accident due to food being left unattended. The fire caused $250,000 in damage to the structure and $50,000 in damage to the contents inside.
DenverGazette.com
Angry subdivision residents southwest of the Aurora Reservoir are trying to stop Civitas Resources from drilling up to 191 horizontal well bores on more than 63 square miles of the former Lowry Air Force Base bombing and gunnery range. Two oil and gas companies merged to create Civitas Resources, Inc., one of the biggest operators in Colorado’s DJ Basin.
Kevin Chan, who recently moved to Colorado, started a Facebook page called Save the Aurora Reservoir when he found out about the drilling. The website is intended to inform community residents what Civitas is planning. Chan started a GoFundMe Nov. 9 to “buy yard signs, print flyers, and inform our community what is happening.”
According to the GoFundMe, “We have seen too many news stories about oil companies contaminating our water. We will not be the next Hinkley or Dimock. We will not have our water contaminated by various oil extraction activities.”
Civitas spokesperson, Rich Coolidge, in a statement to The Denver Gazette said: “There is a wealth of information that consistently dispels any concerns related to water quality.” The information that Coolidge spoke of is on the Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s website www.coga.org.
NextPittsburgh.com
The Greater Pittsburgh area has worked diligently to restore and improve areas affected by pollution caused by power plants and steel mills. However, researchers found that groundwater near GenOn’s plant contained arsenic levels 372 times higher than the U.S. EPA’s safety threshold and lithium levels 54 times higher. 70% of coal ash ponds that are close to groundwater are located in communities that are mostly Black or brown. While the New Castle plant is in the top 10 list, it was previously considered the fifth most contaminated coal ash site in the country in 2019.
TalkOfTheSound.com
An environmental cleanup effort will have to come first before plans for a redeveloped New Rochelle waterfront can proceed. State environmental officials have opened a public hearing period on toxic cleanup plans at the New Rochelle Armory site. The public is invited to comment on the suggested remedy currently being reviewed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC).
According to the NYSDEC in consultation with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), the primary contaminants of concern at the site are petroleum-related semi-volatile compounds (SVOCs), which are present site-wide in soil and groundwater, and PCBs and metals present in the southern portion of the site in soil and groundwater.
www.LegalExaminer.com
In November 2021 a strong petroleum smell was reported by families living at U.S. Navy Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. After an investigation by the Hawaii Department of Health it was revealed that a massive jet fuel leak from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility had contaminated the water throughout Honolulu, releasing petroleum levels 350 times that of safety standards. Officials ordered immediate suspension of all operations at the facility. A year after the event the Navy agreed to defuel and permanently close Red Hill, a process they say is on track for completion by June 2024.
Within water used for drinking, cooking, and bathing toxic chemicals have been found in at least 400 active and closed U.S. military installations. The Environmental Protection Agency has designated 149 of those locations as Superfund sites. Toxins found in the water include per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) which can cause liver damage, testicular and kidney cancer, changes in cholesterol and thyroid levels, and other issues.
www.CTVNews.ca
Canada’s Giant Mine is one of the most contaminated sites in the country and with an estimated cost of $4.38 billion it is projected to be one of the most expensive federal environmental cleanups in the country’s history. The Giant Mine does not stand alone as there are over 20,000 locations listed in the federal contaminated sites inventory which include dumps, mines, and military operations.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the four most expensive cleanups after Giant Mine are the Faro Mine in Yukon, the Port Hope Area Initiative in Ontario, Esquimalt Harbour in British Columbia and Yukon’s United Keno Hill Mine. These five sites have cost taxpayers over $2-billion and are expected to cost billions more in the coming years.
ABC7.com
On November 27, 2022, a fire damaged a two-story multi-family residential structure in Irvine. According to KABC eight people were displaced due to the fire. The fire happened at the 300 block of Deerfield Avenue where firefighters were dispatched at 4 a.m. extinguishing the fire in under an hour and a half. No injuries were reported from the fire and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
BIV.com
On November 15, 2021, a burst dike and record rains forced over 1,000 residents to evacuate over the previous 24 hours. However, not everyone evacuated and thousands of residents waded and swam through the floods. One year later an analysis of water quality across Sumas Prairie released Thursday revealed a toxic soup of fossil fuels, cocaine, pharmaceuticals and heavy metals.
“One cannot drink any of the water from any of the waterways. It would simply be too risky. One cannot touch the water. These waterways are dangerous for human recreation.” States Peter Ross, leading the study as the director of water pollution at Raincoast Conservation Foundation. After the flooding the ministry created a multi-agency provincial task force who’s results “found limited to negligible risks to public and environmental health as a result of the atmospheric river event” and “no widespread contamination issues to date.”
However, Raincoast reports that across Sumas Prairie average fecal coliform levels were found to be 641 times higher compared to a stream used as a reference site outside of the flood zone. Average pesticide concentrations were found to be 135 times higher; nitrogen 43 times higher, and hydrocarbons 6.5 times higher, pharmaceuticals concentrations — the most common being diabetes medication, painkillers, asthma medication and cocaine — were on average 60 times higher in the flood zone.
NBC-2.com
North Collier Fire Rescue stated that electric vehicle (EV) fires started appearing about 3 to 4 days after Hurricane Ian. The lithium ion batteries found within EVs are susceptible to saltwater with the North Collier Fire Rescue putting out five of these fires since Ian. As a result of these fires, two houses have burned down.
Over 9,700 people in 3 of the hardest-hit counties own EVs and with almost 100,000 EVs Florida is number two in the nation in EVs.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha announced that two large gasoline refiners will pay the state about $1.1 million to resolve a lawsuit alleging they caused soil and groundwater throughout Rhode Island to be polluted with a toxic gas additive. This is in addition to a $17 million agreement reached between the state and Shell, Sunoco, CITGO, Hess, Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA Inc., Marathon and Conoco, for their roles in contamination caused by methyl tertiary-butyl ether.
The lawsuits argue MBTE leaked from underground storage tanks such as those at gas stations and contaminated groundwater and soils. Rhode Island banned the use of MTBE in 2007 which is considered a probable human carcinogen. However, MTBE is still being discovered in groundwater around the state.
NBCPalmSprings.com
Warnings to the public were issued by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) this holiday season to help prevent house fires. NFPA Vice President of Outreach and Advocacy Lorraine Carli stated, “December is a leading month for home fires, in large part because many of the activities we engage in during the holiday season reflect leading causes of home fires year-round”.
Christmas trees are a leading cause of house fires and between 2016 and 2020 there were an estimated 160 house fires involving Christmas trees leading to two civilian deaths and an estimated $12 million in property damage per year.
“By knowing where potential fire hazards exist and taking some basic safety precautions to prevent them, people can enjoy a festive, fire-free holiday season,” said Carli (NFPA Vice President of Outreach and Advocacy).
www.NRDC.org
The EPA released the Drinking Water Quality in Private Group Schemes and Small Private Supplies 2021 report which studied drinking water across rural parts of Ireland and found one in twenty private water supplies were found to have E coli contamination.
In addition, the study also found, twenty-one private group schemes (7%) failed to meet the standard for Trihalomethanes (THMs,) including five schemes that the European Commission has identified as being of particular concern. THMs are formed during the treatment process when there is an excess of organic matter in water source.
Over a quarter of small private supplies, serving food businesses, nursing homes, crèches and B&Bs were not monitored in 2021. The EPA report outlines the actions needed to be taken to address the issues and water suppliers in conjunction with local authorities must ensure that private supplies are registered, and that monitoring is undertaken in line with the regulations.
Finance.yahoo.com/
In London, England, on Thursday, Dec. 5, 1952, the visibility was no more than five meters. This was due to a high-pressure air mass over the Thames River Valley mixed with the sudden cold air that came in from the west.
This fog was due to other factors as well, including a culmination of coal furnaces, smoke, soot, sulfur dioxide from cars, industrial plants, and buses. London had also recently replaced an electric tram system with steam locomotives and diesel-fueled buses.
That fog mixed with pollutant smoke and created a thick smog. Between Dec. 4-8, an estimated 4,000-12,000 people died.
www.SunLive.co.nz
A tornado has ripped through Aongatete, a settlement and rural community in the Western Bay of Plenty District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island, causing property damage on Sunday morning.
Resident Karyn Taylor and her daughter Gina were in there home when a sudden storm or rain and hail appeared. They looked out the window to see a swirl of leaves approaching them. The tornado passed their home quickly; however, one widow was open and the tornado ripped it off.
MetService weather radar has detected more severe thunderstorms approaching the area. They recommend that residents prepare as these storms can cause surface and/or flash flooding about streams, gullies and urban areas, and make driving conditions extremely hazardous.
ABC7.com
On November 27th a fire damaged a two-story multi-family residential structure on the 300 block of Deerfield Avenue in Irvine. Eight people were displaced by the fire.
The firefighters dispatched at 4 a.m. and extinguished the blaze in under an hour and a half. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire was under investigation.
www.BizJournals.com
Hundreds of people showed up to Blanchette Park in St. Charles for a U.S. EPA meeting to discuss contamination in the Elm Point Wellfield. The City of St. Charles said it had to shut down four of its wells due to contamination.
“Your public drinking water has never shown any detections,” Clint Sperry with the EPA said. St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer said that is because they shut down the wells before contaminated water could ever leave the wells, pointing to an Ameren substation and a superfund site.
Patch.com
Drinking water in the well serving a private home on Chequessett Neck Road contained nearly seven times the state’s limit for PFAS when it was tested in the spring of 2022. State and local health authorities are still working to find the source of contamination. The test was part of a Massachusetts state program offered to residents of towns where at least 60 percent of the homes have private wells.
The results for Wellfleet showed the Chequessett Neck Road residential well had tested at 139 parts per trillion (ppt). Massachusetts has set a limit of 20 ppt for the sum of six PFAS in drinking water.
Office: 33971 Selva Road, Suite 230, Dana Point, CA 92629
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