Smog, particulates, greenhouse gases, or hazardous wastes - what are your priorities?

Ok folks - many of us got into the environmental arena/profession because we were tired of seeing black smoke coming out of smokestacks. Others because we were tired of not being able to see the mountains we lived by because the smog was so thick. Some people were concerned about oil spills and hazardous wastes being dumped where they shouldn't be. Some of us are old enough to remember the Cuyahoga River catching fire in Ohio! And still others woke up when all of the alarm bells about global warming started ringing.

Photo credit: ©Frank J. Maccioli

How about you? What got you interested in the environment? Let us know by answering the questions below:

1. What first got you interested in the environmental field?

2. Is your focus of concern on one area over another or all of the above?

3. If it came down to economics, how would you prioritize spending? For example, would you favor a higher priority on reducing the pollutants that cause smog (which may only impact certain geographical areas) or focusing on controlling greenhouse gases because that's a world-wide problem? 

4. Do you have any other thoughts?

Please comment below. We are VERY interested in how you feel about this!

False alarm - Ventura lifts Do Not Use Water order

As we previously noted in an earlier post, residents and businesses in the Pierpont area of Ventura, CA, were notified by city officials earlier this week not to use or drink their water due to gasoline contamination.

Photo Credit: City of Ventura

However, that order has been officially lifted as of Wednesday, November 26, at 12:15 PM. City officials now say the water is safe to drink and that the original order was made due to a false positive for gasoline during routine testing.

Subsequent tests on several additional water samples have shown no such contamination. According to the city, the laboratory doing the testing, Eurofins Calscience, explained the false positives were caused by "carryover from unrelated high-concentration samples tested earlier in the batch. Reanalysis (and analysis of additional new samples) showed no detection of gasoline."

In short, Eurofins Calscience said the contamination of the Pierpont samples was due to contamination from samples from another, unrelated site that were done before the Pierpont samples were analysed. Retesting showed no contamination. 

Such an error does raise questions about quality control procedures during the analysis of samples from different sites.

You can see Eurofin Calscience's explanation here: False Positive letter from Eurofin Calscience to Ventura 

Thanksgiving Environmental Disaster in Ventura - drinking water supply contaminated with gasoline

Ventura city officials warned residents of the Pierpont neighborhood today not to use their tap water because it may be contaminated with gasoline. The neighborhood (see map below) consists of several blocks of residential housing and other structures located between Ventura Harbor and the Ventura Pier.

Pierpont area affected by gasoline contamination.

Photo Credit: City of San Buenaventura, CA

Officials said traces of gasoline were found in the city's water supply between Monmouth Way and Harbor Boulevard. A "DO NOT USE" order was issued for residents in the area. The gasoline was detected by existing monitoring wells in the vicinity.

Until the order is lifted, those in the affected area were urged not to use tap water for drinking, cooking, washing hands, bathing, or irrigation. Boiling, freezing, filtering, or other disinfection methods will not make the water safe according to the city.

Approximately 900 water customers have been affected, mostly residential customers, however, about 16 commercial customers and the Pierpont elementary school were also affected.

Until the city notifies residents that the water is safe to drink, only bottled water should be used in the affected area. The city said 5 gallons per day of potable water per family will be made available at the city's maintenance yard at 336 Sanjon Road. Water may be picked up there 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

How will the Trump administration impact California's Environmental Regulations?

There's a new (well, an old actually) Sheriff in town. Love him or hate him, Donald Trump has never been a President that favors stringent environmental controls on business and industry.

President Donald Trump, Official Portrait  Ref: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Donald_Trump_portrait_official_2025.jpg

On the opposite end of the environmental spectrum lies California, led by Governor Gavin Newsome, who clearly has a different view of these things than the current President of the United States.

Rather than write a detailed analysis of what we at California Environmental News /Environalysis think might happen, we pose the question to you, our readers:

What do you think Trump will try to do, what do you think he will succeed at doing, and what do you think he will never succeed at doing?

Please leave your comments below.