An Explosion in Texas Shows the Hidden Dangers of Tanks Holding Heavy Fuels
Industry experts believe that changes in the makeup of asphalt and No. 6 fuel oil products stored in heated tanks across the country could pose a risk to workers and nearby communities.
This article was produced in collaboration with Berkeley Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program.
Justin Chambers arrived at the U.S. Polyco plant in Ennis, Texas, on the morning of April 23, 2018, with a job to do. One of the asphalt tanks at the plant had been damaged and needed to be demolished, and the 32-year-old foreman was part of a five-man crew of contractors charged with getting it done.
My Turn: Baby baked endangered sturgeon: A Connecticut River shortnose delicacy and river satire
Rock Dam’s dewatered cobbles CONTRIBUTED PHOTO KARL MEYER
Published: 6/1/2021 4:48:08 PM
Taste-sampling the baked baby Connecticut River shortnose sturgeon is among the rarest of rare culinary treats. It is one solely accessed by those with a keen love of the hunt and an exceptional pull of the palate. To partake of this rarity one must be willing to undertake the most minute and patient of foraging paths to this endangered species’ exposed and ephemeral presentation site. This culinary marvel is only available at the sole documented natural spawning site of the federally endangered Connecticut River shortnose sturgeon, and only to be accessed sporadically during a brief 2-month window from late April through the end of June.
Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images
This story was originally published by the Guardian
as part of their two-year series, This Land is Your Land, examining the threats facing America’s public lands, with support from the Society of Environmental Journalists, and is republished by permission.
Joe Biden’s administration is facing an onslaught of criticism from environmentalists after opting to defend the approval of a massive oil and gas drilling project in the frigid northern reaches of Alaska.
In a briefing filed in federal court on Wednesday, the Department of Justice said the Trump-era decision to allow the project in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska’s North Slope was “reasonable and consistent” with the law and should be allowed to go ahead.