Watchaug Pond beach closed AGAIN to swimming

Unhealthy bacteria levels

By Will Collette

We seem to be having a tough summer season for contaminated water. On and off closures of popular beaches like Scarborough certainly disappoint tourists and day-trippers.

Shell-fishing bans at cause problems for our growing aquaculture industry and endanger private citizens who enjoy coming home with a bucket of fresh clams.

The new, second closure for Watchaug Pond raises questions about what we are doing to our water. It may also give further grounds for opposition to DEM’s potential re-opening of the long-closed North Campground in Burlingame.

Here is the state Health Department’s announcement about Burlingame.

Nukes for Saudi Arabia?

Trump Adviser Tom Barrack Pushed for Saudi Nuclear Deal — and Planned to Profit From It

By Isaac Arnsdorf for ProPublica

President Donald Trump’s inauguration chairman, Tom Barrack, lobbied the new administration to share nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia while, at the same time, making plans to team up with the Saudis to buy a company that would benefit from the policy change, according to documents obtained by a House committee.

During the campaign, Barrack advised Trump on the Middle East, where he has long-standing business relationships. 

As Trump clinched the Republican nomination in 2016, Barrack shared a draft of a policy speech with a businessman from the United Arab Emirates, according to text messages quoted in the committee’s report. 

The businessman then consulted with unspecified others and suggested adding a paragraph praising the powerful princes of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the text messages show.

Barrack incorporated the suggested language and sent a new draft to campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to the report. 

In an email, Barrack seemed to suggest he knew he was entering an ethical or legal gray area: “This is probably as close as I can get without crossing a lot of lines,” he said.

On the day of the speech, Manafort sent Barrack a final draft, saying, “It has the language you want.”

VIDEO: How Corporate Welfare hurts you

To watch this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qq8LQqT_bw

GOP's 2020 election plan

At the Mystic Aquarium

August is National Water Quality Month, which means it’s the perfect time to celebrate what water does for us, where it comes from and why it’s so important to our survival. After all, more than 70% of our planets’ surface is covered in H2O. #DYK that in 1972, the Clean Water Act was passed to federally regulate the discharge of pollutants into lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, coastal areas and other waterways? But even with this federal law in place, pollution throughout each is on the rise. Here at Mystic Aquarium, we take the quality and purity of our water very seriously because it’s more than water to us – it’s the lifeline for all of the animal ambassadors in our care. And what we learn from the water throughout the Aquarium and by testing the quality of local waterways helps us to better understand the health of animals and the environment as a whole.  In fact, we have an entire team dedicated to ensuring the water at every Aquarium habitat has perfectly balanced levels – temperature, acidity, salinity, oxygen and more – to maintain a safe and healthy environment. Plus, we have a SCUBA team who regularly dive most of our habitats (they even splash in the mono exhibit and with the sharks!) to clean, vacuum and examine the space and animals closer. Our dedicated team of research scientists even pulls samples from Long Island Sound, local beaches and even from Arctic waters to help in their studies. So how can you help to protect our worlds’ oceans and waterways?     ·         Avoid flushing unwanted or dated medications down the toilet or drain. ·         Fix leaks in your car and line your driveway to collect oil and other run-off contaminants. ·         Avoid using pesticides or chemical fertilizers. ·         Choose nontoxic household products. ·         Learn about your local waterways and discover ways you can protect and conserve them. ·         Volunteer at an area cleanup or make a habit of leaving someplace cleaner than it was when you arrived.

CORAL REEFS IN DANGER Meet one of our Scientists in Residence and Associate Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Amy Apprill. Last month, she joined us as a guest blogger to share her thoughts on conservation for the most biodiverse and productive ecosystem in the ocean. Read Amy's Blog

MUSIC ON A MISSION As part of their Summer Music Series, Stonington Vineyards is donating 25% of parking fees to Mystic Aquarium for their final concert on August 30. Enjoy food, wine and live music from local favorites Azalea Drive. Learn More Here

LOOKING AHEAD Every Monday through August 26: Summer Nights provides after-hours fun at an equally fun price August 9: Only at Prosecco with Penguins can you sip, socialize and meet an African penguin August 10: Help collect valuable data during this Amphibian Monitoring Field Survey August 24: Kids (and kids at heart!) love dinnertime during Pizza with Penguins September 21: The area's premier annual black-tie Ocean Commotion Gala in support of our mission See All Events

The Trump & Boris Show

Some new, lowbrow basic-cable comedy? Don't you wish.

Peter Dykstra for Environmental Health News

There are Trump's children: Eric, Junior, Ivanka, and the rest. Then there are his symbolic spawn, taking root in governments around the globe like a rejected sci-fi movie pitch.

When Queen Elizabeth II formally made Boris Johnson the newest British Prime Minister on July 24, he joined a growing list of "populist" new leaders whose collective rise bodes ill for a healthy planet.

Scott Morrison in Australia may not play the tyrant card, but he represents a turn toward coal-burning, climate change denial. Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines loom as a return to cold-blooded tyranny; Duterte is halfway into his six-year term in the Philippines, and has earned comparisons as "the Filipino Trump."

State says all clear at Winnapaug and Point Judith ponds

DEM, RIDOH Announce Reopening Of Winnapaug And Point Judith Ponds To Shellfishing

The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) are announcing that all waters of Winnapaug Pond in Westerly and waters of Point Judith Pond in Narragansett and South Kingstown that were affected by last week's emergency closure reopen to shellfishing on  August 1.

The agencies enacted the closures because water samples collected last week had unsafe bacteria levels, likely caused by stormwater runoff from the more than three inches of rain that fell on July 22 and 23 in southern Rhode Island.

RIDOH initiated a recall of shellfish harvested either commercially or recreationally in both waterbodies since July 23.

On July 29, DEM collected water samples to test for fecal coliform bacteria in response to the emergency closures.

Results completed July 31 from RIDOH's laboratory analysis indicated that these waters are now suitable for the harvesting of shellfish.

Facebook won’t change until Zuckerberg faces prison

Facebook Joins the Multi-Billion-Dollar Penalty Club

By Phil Mattera for the Dirt Diggers Digest

It is a sign of how jaded we have become to corporate misconduct that the $5 billion fine imposed on Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission for privacy violations is being shrugged off by the company, by the market and by the public. Many are describing it as a slap on the wrist.

It’s true that a ten-figure penalty is no longer such a rarity. According to Violation Tracker, 35 parent companies have had to pay that amount in at least one case in the United States.

Eleven corporations have been hit with billion-dollar-plus penalties more than once. Of these, nine are big banks: Bank of America, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland and Wells Fargo. 

The other two are BP and Volkswagen.

Bank of America, whose penalty total is far greater than that of any other corporation, has racked up seven ten-figure cases, including three in excess of $10 billion.

BofA’s rap sheet is perhaps the most persuasive evidence that escalating penalties are not having the desired effect of deterring corporate wrongdoing. Even at the higher levels, the fines are seen by large companies as a tolerable cost to pay for continuing to do business more or less as before.