Month: February 2016

Hydrofracking, otherwise known as hydraulic fracturing, has been a concerning matter for many. “A technique in which large amounts of water, combined with smaller amounts of chemicals and sand, are pumped under high pressure into a drilled gas well” (energywilkes). And although harsh sounding, the energy sources that are readily accessible to us today would no longer be so, well, accessible. Things such as oil shale, tight oil and coal seam gas. Since this is the case, we haven’t had to import oil nearly as much nor have we had to be dependent on other countries for such an incredibly important good-oil. Hydrofracking also provides for good paying jobs. According to greengarageblog.org, Hydrofracking brought stable employment for several states such as, Colorado, Wyoming and North Dakota. This then lead to a domino effect of all good things to follow; that being the rise in living standards, an uprise in local businesses and the ability to provide wages that will keep families afloat.

On the other hand, Hydrofracking like anything else has it’s downfalls. First off, it’s just unsafe. Yes, hydrofracking is mostly the use of water and sand, but there are other chemicals that enter this process, which then may lead to contamination in local water supply. These chemicals that are use in Hydrofracking leak into the ground-water used that local residences may use as drinking water, which is quite terrifying.

Hydrofracking also produces both silicon and methane as well and comes with high risks of oil spills.

So while taking all of this into consideration, it’s clear to see that Hydrofracking needs constant looking over; and if it’s properly performed and watched over, the method doesn’t seem too harmful. As a matter of fact, it seems quite practical, with it’s potential societal advantages and economic benefits. But it’s also comes with an endless warning label. Is there too much at stake?

Via (http://vjel.vermontlaw.edu/topten/cracking-down-on-fracking/)

 

On Monday, February 15, 2016, our class was based around experimenting with acceleration and mass- seeing as the two correlate and show a distinct relationship. We tried multiple power levels with the same mass (2.5 kg) and found that each time we changed the power level, there was a difference in acceleration.

For example, at power level 100 and with the mass at 2.5 kg, the acceleration came to be 59.4602, but at power level 75 (while still remaining at the same 2.5 kg mass) the acceleration decreased and came out to be 30.7652.

Here are some of our recorded results:

This photo shows our results that we recorded in Excel. We found that acceleration

This photo shows our scatter plot graph of our results.

This is a photo of our trials; we recorded various power levels along with the Mass in kg and the acceleration that would change with each change in power level and mass.

A Cattle Farmer from Parkersburg, West Va. reached out to corporate defense attorney, Rob Bilott, for help once he noticed his cows were dying at an abnormal rate. The Farmer, Wilbur Tennant, had his suspicions about chemical company, DuPont, as they had been operating a site in Parkersburg. Tennant had tried to reach out locally, but it was no match for DuPont, as they have power over nearly all of Parkersburg. Tennant had been shut down by all sources of help, by his own community. But what intrigued Bilott to take this case was not the concern Bilott took to the cows, but rather something a bit more personal- his grandmother, Alma Holland White. White happened to live in Parkersburg, and during Bilott’s many visits to his grandmothers, he’d spend much of it at the Graham’s cattle farm.

Once the Graham’s heard about Tennant’s hunt for legal assistance, they referred Tennant to the only child they had known to grow up to be an environmental lawyer; consequently, not knowing that Bilott was not exactly the proper lawyer for the case. But this didn’t stop Bilott, he had a connection to this place, so he went for it.

The Tennant’s had sold 66 acres of their farmland to DuPont in the 80’s- leading DuPont to later name the plot Dry Run Landfill. A creek that runs through this plot is the same creek that the Tennant’s use to graze their cattle. Tennant noticed an immediate change in the cows after the sale. They were acting deranged, as if someone had flipped a switch.

DuPont, for years, had been allowing toxic pollution to run through the creek, the very same creek Tennant used as a source of water. A chemical called PFOA, one of the only chemicals that was left untested by TSCA, and was therefore untouched by government regulations, was too much of a profit for DuPont to cut ties with. DuPont had kept this scheme up for more years than anyone could have imagined- far too many years. DuPont is responsible for poisoning generations, according to the Times article that shares Tennant’s side of the story and ultimately, revealing the sickening truth. DuPont is just one of the many companies that pollute without care, without consideration of animals, environment, and worst of all, humans.

On January 25th, we began to mess around with LabView in order to become familiar with the program before constructing our robotic cars. We experimented with the output ports, power levels, and the time (in seconds). We mainly spent Tuesday’s class trying to absorb as much information as we could, seeing that we were eager to tinker with our robotic car. 

Come Thursday’s class, January 27, 2015, our robotic cars were only plastic pieces resting in a box, ready to be assembled into a robot. We spent nearly the entire class trying to figure out how to properly assemble our cars, as we reached the end of class, we were familiar with it’s capabilities and functions.

On February 3rd and 10th, we mainly spent class time navigating the ways of LabView and testing multiple power levels. Thursday I believe we were working with weights and tested power levels and mass levels to receive different outcomes of indicators. My group tested about five various levels to see how these factors effected the speed and time of the weights movement.

Magic Johnson Tweets About Flint, Michigan Water Crisis

Contaminated water has polluted the tap water of the city of Flint, a predominantly black and poverty stricken city in Michigan. “Since April 2014, residents of Flint, a city that is almost 57 percent black and incredibly poor, have been drinking and bathing in water that contains enough lead to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of ‘toxic waste'” (Huff Post). Many are dubbing this as a clear case of system neglect, as this is only history repeating itself (since these cities usually have weak environmental regulations, it’s been easy for polluters to prey on these cities and we’ve kept it up for decades). In 1966, 2.2 million gallons of waste were being voluntarily dumped into Flint’s river each day by Buick City. If that’s not enough to outrage a person, Buick City actually made transactions with Detroit as they purchased their water and used it as an anti-corrosive. Flint’s water crisis has proven to be quite the failure on all levels of government.

As of August and September of 2014, “City officials issue boil-water advisories after coliform bacteria are detected in tap water” (NYTimes). This was after their reassuring that the water was safe to drink. In October, the city was able to move forward in limiting the potential for another boil-water advisory. In Feb. 18, 2015, one resident found “104 parts per billion of lead” in her drinking water. According to scientists, no amount of lead in drinking water is considered ‘safe’ yet the E.P.A sets 15 parts per billion and up as a requirement for them to take action. There is also a major concern that Miguel Del Toral, an E.P.A. expert had pointed out in February of 2015, stating that there was an issue with how the state was testing the water; it seemed to be improper, therefore leaving the real results of lead found in the water completely understated and at much scarier highs than anticipated.

“It was not until Jan. 5 that Snyder declared a state of emergency and Jan 12. that he mobilized the National Guard to assist with distribution of bottled water and water filters”(USA Today). President Obama then declared a state of emergency in Flint on the 16th of January, which meant $5 million is going towards immediate assistance with the cities water crisis. Snyder is not showing signs of resignation, as he is aiming to “make things right”. Snyder is working on receiving nearly 30 million to cover the immediate needs of his city, along with testing and replacing fixtures at schools and public places.