the salmon runs on the east coast are loooong gone. Currently, "Atlantic salmon" is code for factory-farmed fish. You know, fish that are penned up and fed ground fish. They have grey flesh, so a red dye is added to make it look normal. Not exactly sashimi grade, eh?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-05/japan-finally-admits-truth-right-now-we-have-emergency-fukushima

40,000,000 Bq of iodine-131 in a single bed of kelp off Southern California — Amount most likely larger

Source: Environmental Science & Technology
Author: Steven L. Manley and Christopher G. Lowe, Department of Biological Sciences, California State University
Publication Date (Web): March 6, 2012

[...] Macrocystis is the keystone species supporting the kelp forest ecosystem, which is highly productive with complex community structure. Using a canopy density of 3.5 kg fresh weight m−2, the amount of 131I present in California kelp ranged from 0.3 to 1.3 kBq m−2 of canopy.11 Our estimate of the area covered by the Corona del Mar Macrocystis canopy was 33 000 m2 yielding a total of 40 MBq 131I sequestered into this kelp bed canopy. The total amount of 131I taken up by the canopy was most likely larger than that measured in the canopy tissue because iodine taken up by canopy blades is translocated throughout the kelp body as iodide. [...]

40,000,000 Bq of iodine-131 in a single bed of kelp off Southern California — Amount most likely larger

Source: Environmental Science & Technology
Author: Steven L. Manley and Christopher G. Lowe, Department of Biological Sciences, California State University
Publication Date (Web): March 6, 2012

[...] Macrocystis is the keystone species supporting the kelp forest ecosystem, which is highly productive with complex community structure. Using a canopy density of 3.5 kg fresh weight m−2, the amount of 131I present in California kelp ranged from 0.3 to 1.3 kBq m−2 of canopy.11 Our estimate of the area covered by the Corona del Mar Macrocystis canopy was 33 000 m2 yielding a total of 40 MBq 131I sequestered into this kelp bed canopy. The total amount of 131I taken up by the canopy was most likely larger than that measured in the canopy tissue because iodine taken up by canopy blades is translocated throughout the kelp body as iodide. [...]

U.S. to cut funds for water testing at beaches

The EPA plans to cut $10 million in grants it gives annually. Water quality advocates worry that swimmers and surfers will be at even greater risk of illness.
Health testing at beaches in California and across the nation is at risk of being cut under a plan to eliminate federal funds for monitoring whether the water is too contaminated to swim in.

Citing the "difficult financial climate," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in its budget request this week that it would do away with $10 million in grants it gives each year to state and local agencies in coastal and Great Lakes states to test for tainted water.

"While beach monitoring continues to be important to protect human health and especially sensitive individuals," the EPA said in an emailed statement, "states and local governments now have the technical expertise and procedures to continue beach monitoring without federal support."

But state and local officials have struggled to pay for health testing along California's busy coastline in recent years, and water quality advocates worry that swimmers and surfers will be at even greater risk of getting sick if the federal funds evaporate.

The proposed cuts come as the agency is drafting new nationwide beach water quality standards, which have been panned by environmental groups as being even weaker than the 1986 rules they replace.

"It feels like a double whammy to beachgoers," said Kirsten James, water quality director for Santa Monica environmental group Heal the Bay. "The EPA is on multiple levels telling them they are swimming at their own risk every time they go to the beach."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0216-beach-testing-20120216,0,7019192.story

U.S. to cut funds for water testing at beaches

The EPA plans to cut $10 million in grants it gives annually. Water quality advocates worry that swimmers and surfers will be at even greater risk of illness.
Health testing at beaches in California and across the nation is at risk of being cut under a plan to eliminate federal funds for monitoring whether the water is too contaminated to swim in.

Citing the "difficult financial climate," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in its budget request this week that it would do away with $10 million in grants it gives each year to state and local agencies in coastal and Great Lakes states to test for tainted water.

"While beach monitoring continues to be important to protect human health and especially sensitive individuals," the EPA said in an emailed statement, "states and local governments now have the technical expertise and procedures to continue beach monitoring without federal support."

But state and local officials have struggled to pay for health testing along California's busy coastline in recent years, and water quality advocates worry that swimmers and surfers will be at even greater risk of getting sick if the federal funds evaporate.

The proposed cuts come as the agency is drafting new nationwide beach water quality standards, which have been panned by environmental groups as being even weaker than the 1986 rules they replace.

"It feels like a double whammy to beachgoers," said Kirsten James, water quality director for Santa Monica environmental group Heal the Bay. "The EPA is on multiple levels telling them they are swimming at their own risk every time they go to the beach."
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0216-beach-testing-20120216,0,7019192.story

Fukushima will render Japan Uninhabitable

Fukushima will render Japan Uninhabitable

Fukushima will render Japan Uninhabitable