Posts Tagged: contamination

California throttles down small-engine pollution

A landscaping worker trims a bush with a gas-powered machine while a technician monitors the air quality for FairWarning. (Photo: Stuart Silverstein)

by STUART SILVERSTEIN, FAIRWARNING posted 11.14.2017

New California rules aimed at curbing the surprising amount of pollution coming from leaf blowers, lawn mowers and other small gas-powered machines cleared a final hurdle Monday, and are set to take effect on Jan. 1. The requirements mark another step in the state’s long-running battle to reduce emissions from a category of small engines that have come to rival cars as a source of smog-forming pollution.

Tiny pest prompts big concerns

A tiny Asian citrus psyllid enjoying some eats. (Photo: UC Riverside)

by ALVIN CHEN posted 07.24.2015

It’s a barely visible, tiny insect but it could be a huge headache for California’s $2 billion citrus industry. The Asian citrus psyllid, only few millimeters long, has turned up in the San Gabriel Valley and authorities are plotting a strategy to contain it.

Diving into groundwater — what’s left of it

An old wind-driven pump that tapped groundwater on a California ranch. Photo: Steven Frame)

by CHRIS AUSTIN posted 05.07.2014

As the warm temperatures melt California’s meager snowpack, turning rivers into streams and streams into mere trickles, communities and farmers across the state will be increasingly turning to groundwater to meet customer demand and to keep crops and livestock alive. But there’s a problem: Many will be drawing from aquifers already depleted and long under stress as groundwater levels in many basins across the state are reportedly at historic lows.