Environment

In a study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, researcher Ivan Maggini and his colleagues studied how the western sandpiper (Calidris mauri), a migratory shorebird, is affected by small amounts of oil collected from the Deepwater Horizon spill.

The final environmental study of the proposed Northeast Corridor rail project inadequately analyzes the risk to at least four federally endangered or threatened fish and birds in Connecticut, according to Connecticut Audubon Executive Director Nelson North.

Tiny pieces of harmful plastic, called microplastics, are prevalent in many rivers that flow into the Great Lakes, according to a study published this week in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Results are also illustrated on a new USGS microplastics website.

A new study by researchers in Georgia published recently in Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts, found that contaminants from a Superfund site near Brunswick have spread much farther than previously thought.

The Department of the Interior has asked the Bureau of Reclamation to lead Interior's independent assessment of factors that contributed to the August 5 Gold King Mine incident in Colorado. Interior was asked to conduct the assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency to review the cause of the incident and provide recommendations to prevent future incidents from occurring.

Audubon New Mexico issued an official statement Aug. 11 in response to news that 3 million gallons of contaminated wastewater was released into the Animas River from the Gold King Mine in Colorado, saying the environmental effects could be felt for decades.

A recent study produced by the San Francisco Estuary Institute-Aquatic Science Center and funded by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) identifies the dramatic ecological transformation of the Delta over the past 150 years.

At the close of its annual conference in December, the Western Governors' Association (WGA) unveiled its Crucial Habitat Assessment Tool (CHAT), a cooperative effort of 16 Western states to provide the public and industry a high-level overview of "crucial habitat" across the West.

Eight national non-profit organizations concerned with the environment, food safety, children's health, bee and bird conservation, and pesticide management, sent two letters calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to halt the approval process for a new insecticide called Sulfoxaflor that would be used on various vegetables, fruits, soybeans, wheat and turfgrass. The letters were sent to EPA on Tuesday, February 12, 2013.