In The News / Feb 9

• Venting gas can be fatal.

  The purging of gas from pipes has been a common theme in at least seven serious industrial accidents since 1997 according to the Chemical Safety Board, which has been critical of the hodgepodge of local regulations that allow the procedure to be conducted dangerously. Others have, too. New York Times

• Tritium hot zone expands.

  The Department of Health said late Monday there appears to be "a very large area" at the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor contaminated with radioactive tritium, and contamination levels continue to rise. Rutland Herald, Vermont

• Dismantle the NJ DEP? Christie camp has environmentalists worried.

  It's a blueprint for devastation," said William "Captain Bill" Sheehan, executive director of Hackensack Riverkeeper, expressing his opinion of the provisions suggested by Governor Chris Christie's Department of Environmental Protection. Newsroom Jersey, New Jersey

• Governor's budget could reduce DEC pollution monitoring, critics charge.

  While Gov. David Paterson's proposed 2011 budget would increase staff overseeing gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, it would cut almost twice as many staff regulating other environmental cleanups, such as those in the Superfund and Brownfield programs. Ithaca Journal, New York

• Dish imposes gas drilling moratorium.

  After only a few minutes of discussion, town leaders declared a 90-day moratorium on issuing new drilling permits inside town limits, citing concerns about emissions from production equipment and their effect on human health. Denton Record-Chronicle, Texas

• Former ammunition employees suffer health effects.

  The Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant operated in Grand Island until 1973. Forty years later it is taking a toll on people's health. Hastings KHAS TV, Nebraska

• China releases first national pollution census.

  China has revealed its most ambitious measure of what explosive development has done to its environment, saying Tuesday its first national pollution census has mapped nearly 6 million sources of industrial, residential and agricultural waste. Associated Press

• Amnesty report slams alumina mine run by Vedanta subsidiary in India.

  A mine in Orissa state is causing air and water pollution that threatens the health of local people and their access to water, a report finds. London Guardian, United Kingdom

• Uranium mine leak '5400 times normal level.'

  Contaminated water seeping from a mine in Kakadu National Park has a uranium concentration more than 5,000 times the normal level, a Senate estimates committee has heard. Sydney ABC News, Australia

• U.S. proposes new climate service.

  The Obama administration proposed a new climate service on Monday that would provide Americans with predictions on how global warming will affect everything from drought to sea levels. Washington Post

• Melting ice alters way of life in Iqaluit.

  A new report finds that global warming is altering the Arctic ecosystem in a way never seen before by humans. It predicts that the Arctic, which has had sea ice for more than 800,000 years, might lose summer sea ice as soon as 2030, and that the melting Arctic will lead to a 3-to-6°C increase over the next century. London Financial Times, United Kingdom

• Climate change will make world more 'fragrant.'

  In response to the disruptions of climate change, plants will emit greater levels of fragrant chemicals called biogenic volatile organic compounds, a major scientific review finds. The problem is too complex to yet gauge many of the consequences. BBC

• US couple take lead on carbon trade by selling their first credit.

  Individuals keen to tackle carbon emissions should consider the example of Tami and Randy Wilson. The Pennsylvania couple have sold the world's first carbon credit awarded for a reduction in personal carbon emissions. About 1,800 others have signed up to follow suit. London Financial Times, United Kingdom

• $78.5 million effort to keep dangerous carp out of Great Lakes.

  Federal authorities on Monday presented a $78.5 million plan intended to block Asian carp, a hungry, huge, nonnative fish, from invading the Great Lakes. New York Times

• Killer pesticide? Layton girl dies, toddler sister hospitalized.

  The 15-month-old sister of a Layton girl who died Saturday has been hospitalized in critical condition as investigators try to understand the role a pest-control chemical might have played in making the girls and their family sick. Salt Lake Tribune, Utah