pollution

Great Pacific Garbage Patch – Mapped

In the broad expanse of the northern Pacific Ocean, there exists the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a slowly moving, clockwise spiral of currents created by a high-pressure system of air currents. The area is an oceanic desert, filled with tiny phytoplankton but few big fish or mammals. Due to its lack of large fish and gentle breezes, fishermen and sailors rarely travel through the gyre. But the area is filled with something besides plankton: trash, millions of pounds of it, most of it plastic. It’s the largest landfill in the world, and it floats in the middle of the ocean.

The primary sources of ocean debris include storm sewers, illegal dumping, littering, commercial and recreational boats, and commercial shipping. [Continue Reading →]

Tags: · Environment, garbage_patch, hazard, pacific ocean, plastic, pollution, trash

Guilty Plea in Empress of The North Pollution Case

image002 Guilty Plea in Empress of The North Pollution Case Today, Juneau District Court Judge Keith Levy sentenced American West Steamboat Company, LLC for violating a Alaskan state criminal law that makes polluting state waters illegal. The charge arose out of the May 2007 grounding of the Empress of the North.

Judge Levy ordered the company to pay a $200,000 fine and serve 18 months of probation, with the condition that it not violate any more laws, including any environmental laws and regulations, and abide by its Safety Management System and Fleet Instructions. Judge Levy suspended $150,000 of the fine. The remaining $50,000 will be deposited into the state’s General Fund and credited to the Oil and Hazardous Substance Release Prevention and Mitigation Account. The legislature created the Mitigation Account to provide funds to investigate, contain, and clean up spills of oil and other hazardous substances and to protect human health and the environment. [Continue Reading →]