The Coast Guard is relaxing certification standards for Shell’s oil spill containment barge. The company convinced regulators the Arctic Challenger should be considered a mobile unit. Among other things, that means its mooring system only needs to be able to weather a 10-year storm, as opposed to the more rigorous 100-year standard for fixed platforms.
Heather Bryant
Groups Push EPA Over Clean Air Waiver for Shell
A few more than a dozen activists gathered at the national headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency protesting Shell’s request for a waiver from the Clean Air Act.
No agreement reached on renovating old theater
The Juneau Housing Trust and the owners of the Gross 20th Century Theater failed to reach agreement on a plan that would have resulted in more affordable housing and a performing arts theater for the downtown.
Crews wrap up turf replacement project at Adair Kennedy Park
The goal posts are up and games will soon be played on the new turf field at Adair Kennedy Park in the Mendenhall Valley.
Social media becoming an information lifeline during natural disasters
The next time an earthquake or other disaster unleashes near you, Twitter, Google and Facebook might be useful places to turn. And not just you. Disaster-response agencies are plunging into social media.
Engineers study 2011 Japanese earthquake to prepare Northwest for the Big One
Two major earthquakes last year raised red flags for seismically-active parts of North America. Some of the damage in Japan and New Zealand resulted from a phenomenon called liquefaction, which turns the ground turns into Jell-O-like quicksand. Transmission towers topple, buildings sink and utility pipes break. Now, geologists in the Pacific Northwest have mapped the…