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"The declaration of a State of National Calamity will hasten the rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts of the government and the private sector, including any international humanitarian assistance, and will effectively control the prices of basic goods and commodities for the affected areas."
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) ? With a driver and his bulldozer missing in a thick, dark lake of coal slurry, a mine safety expert and critic of the coal industry says regulators are ignoring stricter construction standards that could prevent more failures at hundreds of similar dam-like structures around the country.
For at least a decade, state and federal regulators have allowed coal companies to build or expand the massive ponds of gray liquid and silt atop loose and wet coal waste, said Jack Spadaro, an engineering consultant and former director of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy.
"They're building on top of the existing slurry, and therein lies the problem," Spadaro said. "It's wet and it has no stability. It's creating hazards for all of us downstream."
In all, there are 596 coal slurry impoundments in 21 states. West Virginia has 114, more than any other state, according to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. Kentucky has 104, while Illinois is third with 71.
Slurry is a byproduct of washing coal to help it burn more cleanly. Companies have disposed of the dirty water and solids in various ways over the years, injecting it into abandoned mines, damming it in huge ponds like the one at Robinson Run and, less commonly, disposing of it with a costly dry filter-press process.
Spadaro's criticisms follow the Nov. 30 failure of a section of embankment at Consol Energy's Robinson Run mine slurry pond near Lumberport in the north-central part of West Virginia. Two workers escaped after pickup trucks slid into the massive pond, but the dozer and driver are missing.
"Since we're still in recovery mode and have barely begun the investigation, it would be premature to comment at this time," MSHA spokesman Amy Louviere said.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection also declined comment on Spadaro's charges, but Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said impoundment failures are rare.
"These are the most scrutinized and most engineered earthen structures in the world, certainly in this country," he said. "They're monitored routinely. They have lots of eyes looking at them. ... Anytime there's a heavy rainfall, the agencies are out there looking at them."Pennsylvania-based Consol was working to raise the elevation of the impoundment when the accident happened, vice president for safety Tom Barletta said. Once the worker is found, the company will determine what happened "so we can learn from it and prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future," Barletta said.
The pond encompasses about 78 acres and is estimated to hold at least 1.6 billion gallons of wastewater, the equivalent of more than 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Impoundments typically hold up over time. But they do fail, and in spectacular fashion.
In 1972, an earthen dam in Buffalo Creek in southern West Virginia collapsed after heavy rain, unleashing 130 million gallons of water, sludge and debris that killed 125 people, injured 1,100 and left 4,000 homeless.
Spadaro dedicated his life to preventing that sort of disaster from happening again and helped write the nearly 40-year-old regulations that are now on the books to guide slurry pond construction. The regulations give the government and coal companies detailed design, compaction strength and other criteria so the structures will withstand internal pressures and additional stress from big rain storms.
The regulations require the operator to do daily, quarterly and annual inspections, while the state must make monthly checks. MSHA relies partly on data provided by the companies to spot problems, which critics see as a weakness in the system.
Spadaro is not the only one to question the soundness of impoundments.
Retired miner-turned-activist Joe Stanley raised concerns over the Brushy Fork impoundment in southern West Virginia last year, but his complaints were dismissed by state regulators, and their decision was upheld by the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
Stanley called Bushy Fork "the biggest and the baddest" of all impoundments and said MSHA inspectors routinely found violations during its construction. But fines weren't levied and construction wasn't stopped.
"They just let them keep going, and then they say, 'Well, there's no way to fix this now, so let's just change the plan.' They're hodge-podging this stuff."
He heavily criticized state regulators and said if it weren't for MSHA, "I think all the damn things would fall down. Immediately."
Just two years ago, MSHA said it had improved oversight of impoundments, with better training and a new handbook on dam management.
The agency made the comments on the 10th anniversary of a disaster in Martin County, Ky., when slurry burst through the bottom of the Martin County Coal Corp.'s 68-acre holding pond, sending black goo through an underground mine and into 100 miles of waterways. The spill in 2000 polluted the water supply of more than a dozen communities and killed aquatic life before reaching the Ohio River.
Massey Energy eventually paid $46 million for the cleanup, along with about $3.5 million in state fines and an undisclosed sum to residents.
Spadaro, who helped investigate that accident, believes MSHA could go further, requiring better engineering evaluations of potential weak spots in impoundments.
He claims regulators at all levels continue to go easy on the industry in favor of coal production. Rather than require companies to build new dams on solid earth or dispose of the wastewater and refuse through a drying system, they allow the operators to raise the height of existing dams and ponds.
Federal law, he said, requires impoundments to be stable during all phases of construction.
"Well, if you build a dam on top of 80 feet of fine coal waste that's wet," Spadaro said, "that is not stable material."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/critic-questions-way-coal-firms-build-slurry-ponds-095912523.html
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This combo made from undated photos provided by the FBI shows cousins Lyric Cook, 10, right, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, who have been missing since Friday, July 13, 2012. Authorities say hunters have found bodies believed to be two young Iowa cousins who disappeared while riding their bikes in July. (AP Photo/FBI)
This combo made from undated photos provided by the FBI shows cousins Lyric Cook, 10, right, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, who have been missing since Friday, July 13, 2012. Authorities say hunters have found bodies believed to be two young Iowa cousins who disappeared while riding their bikes in July. (AP Photo/FBI)
A flower sits near the bike path at Meyers Lake Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in Evansdale, Iowa, where cousins Lyric Cook, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, disappeared in July while riding their bikes. Family members are waiting to hear whether the two bodies discovered by hunters on Wednesday are the two missing cousins. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Law enforcement officials walk down a gravel road near the Seven Bridges Wildlife Area, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in Readlyn, Iowa. Family members of missing cousins Lyric Cook, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, who disappeared in July while riding their bikes in Evansdale, Iowa, are waiting to hear whether the two bodies discovered by hunters in the park on Wednesday are the two missing girls. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
A police car passes a sign Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in Evansdale, Iowa, for cousins Lyric Cook, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, who disappeared in July while riding their bikes at nearby Meyers Lake. Family members are waiting to hear whether the two bodies discovered by hunters on Wednesday are the two missing cousins. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
A sign sits attached to a memorial near Meyers Lake where cousins Lyric Cook, 10, and Elizabeth Collins, 8, disappeared in July while riding their bikes, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012, in Evansdale, Iowa. Family members are waiting to hear whether the two bodies discovered by hunters on Wednesday are the two missing cousins. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
EVANSDALE, Iowa (AP) ? Northeast Iowa residents who have been holding out hope that two young cousins missing for five months might be home for Christmas were grappling Thursday with the news that hunters likely found the girls' bodies.
Autopsies by the state medical examiner's office were still under way, but the remains are believed to be those of Lyric Cook and Elizabeth Collins, who were 10 and 8 when they did not come back from riding their bikes July 13, Black Hawk County sheriff's Capt. Rick Abben said.
The girls' families were stunned by the news that two bodies were found, family friend Sara Curl, who has organized community events to support the families, said Thursday night.
"To be honest we have been trying to keep the positivity going so much this 100 percent blindsided us and it absolutely did them as well," she said. "I don't think that when they were called down there yesterday that they expected to hear the news that they did. so it's really going to take some time to process."
Curl helped organize a vigil for the families Thursday night around a Christmas tree decorated to honor the girls, hoping they would be home for the holiday.
Tammy Marvets, whose husband, Randy, came up with the idea, said her 7-year-old son went to school with Elizabeth and rode the same bus.
"He's pretty upset. He says, 'Mom, I just want to cry.' I said, 'It's OK to cry, honey,'" Marvets said.
Hunters found the bodies Wednesday in a rural wildlife area in northeastern Iowa, about 25 miles from Evansdale, the city of 4,700 where the girls were last seen. Authorities found their bikes and a purse near a recreational lake in the city, and their disappearance sparked a massive search and kidnapping investigation involving the FBI, state and local police.
Abben said at a news conference Thursday that investigators were "confident" the bodies were Lyric and Elizabeth based on evidence found at the scene and a preliminary investigation. He said the bodies were smaller in stature and authorities "have no one else that's missing in this area."
Abben said investigators were leaning toward reclassifying the case as a homicide investigation, but would wait for information from the autopsies before proceeding. He declined to say whether the bodies were concealed, or how long investigators thought they had been there. Relatives have not gone to see the bodies and "there's no reason for them to do so," Abben said.
Officers from several agencies scoured fields, woods and ditches near the Seven Bridges Wildlife Area for any possible evidence in the case. Deer hunters apparently stumbled on the remains Wednesday in the secluded area, which is intersected by the Wapsipinicon River and is a popular spot for hunting and fishing.
Abben said investigators would continue combing the area for clues for several days and the park would remain closed to public access until at least Monday. "We will gather whatever is out there," he said.
The news of the girls' likely deaths hit hard throughout northeastern Iowa, which had rallied behind the girls and their families in the five months since they disappeared. Some residents in Evansdale, which is 90 miles northeast of Des Moines, had been holding out hope that they would be found alive.
"We are all grieving. We hurt for the families and believe me it touches the community deeply because it is a small community," said Jeff Rasanen, pastor of the Faith Assembly of God Church in Evansdale. "It's a sad time. We were just praying for a much better outcome."
In a posting on her Facebook page Thursday, Heather Collins, Elizabeth's mother, said it was not the outcome the family wanted but now "we know our girls are dancing up with our savior." Collins thanked the community for an outpouring of support.
At the girls' schools, additional counselors were made available Thursday for students and others, according to Sharon Miller, the Waterloo schools spokeswoman. Lyric would have been in fifth grade at Kingsley elementary in Waterloo and Elizabeth would have been in fourth grade at Poyner school in Evandsale.
The two were being watched by their grandmother at Collins' home in Evansdale when they went for a bike ride on a Friday summer afternoon. Surveillance footage and witnesses have confirmed that they were riding nearby. After they didn't return, relatives reported the girls missing hours later. A firefighter soon found their bikes near Meyers Lake, and a search that involved hundreds of volunteers and several police agencies ensued.
An FBI dive team brought in special equipment to search the lake days later, and the case was reclassified as an abduction after no sign of the girls emerged. Months passed ? as did each girl's birthday ? without any news as police chased thousands of tips and explored theories about what could have happened. Volunteers held prayer vigils and hung pictures of the girls. An anonymous donor last week pledged $100,000 for information leading to their return and the conviction of those responsible for their disappearance, on top of the $50,000 authorities had announced.
Authorities had asked hunters to look for the girls in remote woods and fields this fall. Jennifer Lancaster, chief law enforcement official for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in northeastern Iowa, said she believed deer hunters happened to come upon the bodies and called police.
"I think it's the first time someone happened to be in that particular spot," she said. She said she believed anyone who saw the remains would have reported them immediately because "that is certainly a case that has tugged the hearts of many people around northeastern Iowa."
___
Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.
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EVANSDALE, Iowa (AP) ? Hunters discovered two bodies Wednesday believed to be the young Iowa cousins who vanished five months ago while riding their bikes, authorities said.
The families of 9-year-old Elizabeth Collins and 11-year-old Lyric Cook were notified of the discovery and are asking for privacy, Black Hawk County sheriff's Capt. Rick Abben said.
He said the bodies were found in a wooded area, but he wouldn't say where, and that they're being sent to the state medical examiner's office for identification.
Appearing to fight back tears during a news conference in Evansdale not far from where the girls were last seen, Abben said: "It's definitely not the outcome that we wanted, obviously."
"This is a difficult thing for us to go through. It's a difficult thing for the community," he added.
The cousins disappeared July 13 near a popular recreational lake in Evansdale, a city about 110 miles northeast of Des Moines. Investigators found their bicycles and a pink purse near the lake hours later, but no sign of the girls.
Abben declined to say if there were any suspects in the cousins' disappearance.
On Wednesday night, about 70 people attended a prayer vigil at the lake, some cradling plastic cups with candles to protect the flames from the cold wind. Some were holding out hope that the bodies weren't those of the missing cousins, though others seemed resigned to the tragic news.
"These were just innocent children. These girls should have been left alone. They should be home safe in their beds, and it's only a coward who would have done something like this," said Barb Collins, a machinist who grew up in Evansdale and helped lead the group in prayer.
Hundreds of volunteers had helped investigators search for girls after they went missing, traipsing through cornfields and wooded areas in and around Evansdale, a city of 8,000 residents. The mayor even flew above in his private plane looking for them.
Days later, an FBI dive team brought in specialized equipment to search the bottom of the lake for the girls but found nothing. Police then classified the case as an abduction.
Investigators had largely been tight-lipped in the months since. An FBI spokeswoman initially said investigators had reason to believe the girls were alive, raising the region's hopes. But other investigators backtracked, saying only that there was no reason to believe the girls were dead.
Authorities had asked hunters to look for the girls in the region during this fall's popular deer hunting season.
Abben said the bodies were discovered around 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, but refused to say where. He said the area was still being processed as a crime scene and could not be compromised.
"Preservation of that scene is paramount," he said.
Abben said he hoped to release additional details Thursday.
Abben said the girls' families wanted to express gratitude to the community for their support but have asked the media to respect their privacy at this time.
Investigators have poured through thousands of tips and chased many different theories in the case.
They looked into Cook's parents, who had criminal records for prior involvement in making methamphetamine. Cook's father, Daniel Morrissey, is being prosecuted for domestic assault and a series of meth and other drug charges, and he backed out of a plea agreement with prosecutors the day before the disappearance. They have denied any involvement.
The region had rallied in support of the girls. Photographs of the cousins seemed to be everywhere in northeastern Iowa: on T-shirts and buttons worn by locals, and on fliers hung on gas station walls and in business windows.
"In the beginning, I helped search, and I've been to many other vigils they had. The community is so involved," said Amanda Mulzac, who lives in nearby Waterloo and attended Wednesday night's vigil. "My heart breaks. It's just devastating."
"At their age I was out by myself, but now it's different," she added. "Hold your babies close."
Local residents had held prayer vigils, even as the months passed and both girls had birthdays. Just last week, an anonymous donor pledged $100,000 for information about the girls' whereabouts, on top of the $50,000 that police had offered.
After Wednesday night's vigil, family friend Sarah Curl said she had seen "a lot of heartbreak" after news broke about the bodies being found.
"We're a tight community that cares about one another, and when something happens to one family it happens to all of our families," she said. "This could have happened to anyone."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hunters-bodies-believed-2-iowa-cousins-234557148.html
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Public release date: 6-Dec-2012
Share ] Contact: Maria C. Zacharias
mzachari@nsf.gov
703-292-8454
National Science Foundation
Today NSF Director Subra Suresh announced Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW), a new and coordinated effort that will expand and enhance international collaborative research opportunities for NSF Graduate Research Fellows, with initial agreements with science agencies in eight countries.
"Today's graduate students being trained as scientists and engineers in the U.S. will increasingly collaborate and compete with their peers from around the globe throughout their career," said Suresh. "GROW will prepare NSF Graduate Research Fellows (GRFs) to engage successfully in the global research enterprise by connecting them to leading scientists and research infrastructure around the world."
GROW builds on a program NSF has sponsored for several years with researchers in Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden. Under GROW, these opportunities are expanded and enhanced, and a streamlined and well-coordinated process has been developed to connect a much larger cohort of NSF GRFs to a number of strategically selected educational and research institutions around the world.
"This program gives an opportunity to promote international cooperation at a very early stage of a scientific career," said Sofie Bjrling of the Swedish Embassy's Office of Science and Innovation. "It creates bonds that can last for a long time and can involve many more persons than the GRF alone. This is of great benefit to science as a whole and really fits into the thinking that science is without borders."
The Fellows, selected through the normal process through the NSF GRF Program and invited to participate in GROW, will be hosted by a science agency in a partner country for a period of three to 12 months. While overseas, they receive a living allowance from the host country as they pursue their research in a host institution. They will also be eligible to receive an international travel allowance from NSF. In addition to the four Nordic countries, GROW plans to include inaugural co-funding partner agencies from Japan, South Korea, Singapore and France. It is anticipated that additional partners from NSF counterpart agencies from other countries will join GROW in the months ahead.
"Having these graduate students step outside their comfort zones personally and professionally will enable intellectual growth and provide a broader perspective on research challenges and opportunities," said Joan Ferrini-Mundy, NSF assistant director for Education and Human Resources.
"GROW supports NSF's broader commitment to address the internationalization of science and engineering and to provide multiple pathways to engagement with top researchers worldwide," noted David Stonner, head of NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering. "GROW joins other recent NSF efforts such as Science Across Virtual Institutes (SAVI) and Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) in providing mechanisms to foster international partnerships and address global challenges."
GROW was announced as part of a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Graduate Research Fellowship Program, NSF's flagship program for graduate students in the science and engineering fields within NSF's mission. The program has been in operation almost as long as NSF itself, making an investment in students with demonstrated potential for significant achievements in science and engineering. Some 40 NSF-selected GRFs have won the Nobel Prize.
The program has continued to evolve over six decades, and is now providing opportunities for students to conduct research that is increasingly interdisciplinary. Today's Graduate Research Fellows can also gain experience and mentoring outside the lab--in entrepreneurship, business, industry or government.
###
More information about GROW is available on the GROW website.
More information about NSF international opportunities is available on the Office of International Science and Engineering website.
-NSF-
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 6-Dec-2012 Share ] Contact: Maria C. Zacharias
mzachari@nsf.gov
703-292-8454
National Science Foundation
Today NSF Director Subra Suresh announced Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW), a new and coordinated effort that will expand and enhance international collaborative research opportunities for NSF Graduate Research Fellows, with initial agreements with science agencies in eight countries.
"Today's graduate students being trained as scientists and engineers in the U.S. will increasingly collaborate and compete with their peers from around the globe throughout their career," said Suresh. "GROW will prepare NSF Graduate Research Fellows (GRFs) to engage successfully in the global research enterprise by connecting them to leading scientists and research infrastructure around the world."
GROW builds on a program NSF has sponsored for several years with researchers in Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden. Under GROW, these opportunities are expanded and enhanced, and a streamlined and well-coordinated process has been developed to connect a much larger cohort of NSF GRFs to a number of strategically selected educational and research institutions around the world.
"This program gives an opportunity to promote international cooperation at a very early stage of a scientific career," said Sofie Bjrling of the Swedish Embassy's Office of Science and Innovation. "It creates bonds that can last for a long time and can involve many more persons than the GRF alone. This is of great benefit to science as a whole and really fits into the thinking that science is without borders."
The Fellows, selected through the normal process through the NSF GRF Program and invited to participate in GROW, will be hosted by a science agency in a partner country for a period of three to 12 months. While overseas, they receive a living allowance from the host country as they pursue their research in a host institution. They will also be eligible to receive an international travel allowance from NSF. In addition to the four Nordic countries, GROW plans to include inaugural co-funding partner agencies from Japan, South Korea, Singapore and France. It is anticipated that additional partners from NSF counterpart agencies from other countries will join GROW in the months ahead.
"Having these graduate students step outside their comfort zones personally and professionally will enable intellectual growth and provide a broader perspective on research challenges and opportunities," said Joan Ferrini-Mundy, NSF assistant director for Education and Human Resources.
"GROW supports NSF's broader commitment to address the internationalization of science and engineering and to provide multiple pathways to engagement with top researchers worldwide," noted David Stonner, head of NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering. "GROW joins other recent NSF efforts such as Science Across Virtual Institutes (SAVI) and Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) in providing mechanisms to foster international partnerships and address global challenges."
GROW was announced as part of a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Graduate Research Fellowship Program, NSF's flagship program for graduate students in the science and engineering fields within NSF's mission. The program has been in operation almost as long as NSF itself, making an investment in students with demonstrated potential for significant achievements in science and engineering. Some 40 NSF-selected GRFs have won the Nobel Prize.
The program has continued to evolve over six decades, and is now providing opportunities for students to conduct research that is increasingly interdisciplinary. Today's Graduate Research Fellows can also gain experience and mentoring outside the lab--in entrepreneurship, business, industry or government.
###
More information about GROW is available on the GROW website.
More information about NSF international opportunities is available on the Office of International Science and Engineering website.
-NSF-
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/nsf-nlg120612.php
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