Daily Archives: August 27, 2012

No surprise to see this happening at JPL #anonymous #cispa #drone #drones #legislation #ndaa #potus #rnc #sopa #usdor

No Drones Maryland: Calling for End to Drone Research at Johns Hopkins University

Stop Plastic From Killing Ocean Animals

The plastic you see and use every day is killing endangered birds, sea turtles and seals by the hundreds of thousands. Every year animals get tangled up in plastic, or eat it, with fatal consequences.

Please sign our petition asking the Environmental Protection Agency to curb plastic pollution on our beaches and in our oceans.

Plastic makes up 60 percent to 80 percent of ocean debris; there are 3 million tons of it in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The same durability we value in plastic makes it a persistent pollutant.

Plastic doesn’t belong in our oceans; it doesn’t belong in the diet of baby sea birds like this Laysan albatross chick; and it doesn’t belong wrapped around endangered seals. That’s why we’re asking the federal government to establish water-quality criteria for plastic pollution.

Please take action to join us in asking the EPA to get plastic out of our ocean ecosystems.

Take action by using this Web address: http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY…

This Friday people: August Route | baltimorebikeparty #bike #bicycle http://baltimorebikeparty.com/2012/08/24/august-route/

This Friday people: August Route | baltimorebikeparty #bike #bicycle
http://baltimorebikeparty.com/2012/08/24/august-route/

Ellicott City train derailment clean up (MORE PHOTOS) #Trapwire #OpTrapwire #csx #train #ellicottcity #derailment #csxderailment #environment

I finally managed to get some more of the photos posted. There are 50%
blowups available for all of these. Just ask. 

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These two pictures are of a different bridge, presumably downline towards Baltimore. This bridge is very near to one of the entreances to Patapsco State Park. A small footbridge is not far from this location, and people swim in the river below. Patapsco State park is a real treasure, a green gem.  It is likely that the whole coal transport system will receive much attention as a result of the the derailment accident. It passes very near the park.

 

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CSX – quality in motion. It is likely that the people of Ellicott City had a sense of irony when they saw that slogan.

 

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In the background is the bridge where the derailment occured, with some cleanup equipment surrounding. In the foreground is the adjacent bridge that crosses the river. I also caught a police officer watching me take the photo at the edge of the shot.

 

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This is the inside of a twisted coal car as it is being towed away.

 

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The river looks to me pretty much as it was before the accident.  I’ll admit that I am not much of an expert in such matters. I’m just a river lover, going way back.

 

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This shows the coal car being lifted onto a trailer that is sitting on the adjacent bridge. They were using the cranes or winches to do the lifting.

 

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This looks like a remote surveillance rig to me.  Some of my #Trapwire, #OpTrapwire friends might find this one interesting. There are 4 solar arrays to power the system. The camera sits at the top of the pole.

 

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There was definitely a police presence at the site, and they seemed far more interested in us observers than the clean up operation.

 

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This is another view of the coal car being loaded onto the truck.

 

I previously blogged some more interesting photes of the cleanup. Based on my Coast Gaurd experience, it seems to me that the CSX cleanup team has been taking measures to prevent coal contamination from spreading into the river. If you want to see that, here is the link.

http://proclus-gnu-darwin.posterous.com/ellicott-city-train-derailment-clean-up

Ellicott City is a wonderful place to visit, and I will certainly be returning there again and again.  If there is anything more to report, I will definitely push it out to the GNU-Darwin Spectrum.  All comments welcome.

 

Regards,

proclus

http://www.gnu-darwin.org/

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