Sunday, April 11, 2021

WE NEED OUR OWN WORKER REPS FOR CPPIB

'A short on human ingenuity': Why CPPIB's new chief says fossil fuel divestment is off the table under his watch

John Graham believes science will find solutions to many of the issues facing the oil and gas industry today

Author of the article: Barbara Shecter

Publishing date: Apr 09, 2021 • 
John Graham, the new chief executive officer of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. PHOTO BY CANADA PENSION PLAN INVESTMENT BOARD

The new chief executive of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has no plans to institute a blanket divestment of oil and gas assets during his tenure, in part because he believes science will find solutions to many of the issues that have made environmentalists and some investors question such holdings.

“Simple divestment is essentially a short on human ingenuity,” John Graham told the Financial Post in a recent interview, adding that there are “incredibly bright, talented” scientists and engineers in the oil and gas industry.


“We’ve taken the position that we invest in the entire energy ecosystem, and we do not pursue a path of blanket divestment,” he said.

Invoking science to support energy investments may not be a popular position in some quarters these days, but the 49-year-old, who was abruptly named to the top post at the $475 billion fund in February, has the credentials to back it up.

A research scientist for more than a decade, Graham has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Western Ontario, as well as an MBA from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

Navigating the political minefield around energy investments will be one of the key challenges Graham faces as head of the investment platform for Canada’s national pension scheme, which has mandate to “maximize investment returns without undue risk of loss.” Like other large institutional investors, CPPIB is facing criticism not only from environmentalists but from academics who are quick to point out that fossil fuels, no matter how lucrative now, represent risk.

But Graham is not taking sides.

We will continue to invest across the entire energy ecosystem
JOHN GRAHAM

OnTuesday, CPPIB announced that two existing investment groups — energy and resources and power and renewables — will be rolled into a single $18-billion platform called the Sustainable Energy Group to build on investments in renewables, conventional energy and innovation through new technologies and services.

“We will continue to invest across the entire energy ecosystem including active investments we have in Alberta,” Grahamsaid in the interview, which took place shortly before the announcement.

Among those investments is Calgary’s Wolf Midstream, which hepointedto as an example of what he sees as the path forward.

The company, which CPPIB first invested in six years ago, is involved in the conventional oil and gas sector. But Wolf also built and is part owner of the 240-kilometre Alberta Carbon Trunk Line, which captures industrial emissions from fertilizer facilities and refineries and delivers the carbon dioxide to use in enhanced oil recovery at mature oil and gas reservoirs and for permanent storage.

“It is one (investment) we’re quite proud of — a great example of some of the forward-looking thinking around carbon capture,” Graham said.
The 240-kilometre Alberta Carbon Trunk Line captures industrial emissions and delivers the carbon dioxide to use in enhanced oil recovery and for permanent storage. PHOTO BY ALBERTA CARBON TRUNK LINE

“I’ve met lots of people through my career, scientists and engineers, who work in the oil and gas sector, and they’re incredibly bright, talented people who will undoubtedly play a role in the energy transition.”

Graham is the second consecutive executive with a science background to lead the investment management team for Canada’s national pension scheme. His predecessor, Mark Machin, was trained as a medical doctor before turning his attention to high finance. Machin resigned from his job as CEO of CPPIB suddenly in February after it was revealed that he had travelled to the United Arab Emirates and been vaccinated against COVID-19 while those his age in Canada were still awaiting inoculation.

While Machin only worked as a doctor for about a year before moving into the world of investing at Goldman Sachs, Graham worked for several years asa researcher in the innovation group at Xerox, before transitioning to a strategy role at the technology company.

He had begun to work on his MBA when a headhunter came calling and lured him to CPPIB. He started in portfolio construction before moving into private investments and credit. As he moved up the ranks, his application of the scientific method was evident.

Take his decision in 2018 to move all CPPIB’s credit investors into a single department, a shift he describes as deliberate and methodical.

Before then, what had become one of the largest global asset classes was being managed within regional departments and asset class groups such as real estate, with a district focus on investment grade versus non-investment grade assets.

Graham’s view was that a broader lens across geographies and assets would help CPPIB capitalize on the opening of less-developed credit markets in China, India and Latin America, where there were fewer such silos or distinctions.

“We think of credit as an investment in credit, and really have built this department that can do public, it can do private, it can do corporate, it can do real estate, it can do structured credit,” he said. “The investment teams will build a portfolio with the best opportunities.”

The investment management organization won’t set “hard” allocations for specific asset classes, Graham said, adding that he will rely on chief investment officer Ed Cass when it comes to assessing macro-economic factors such as interest rates to determine portfolio construction and capital allocation.

While Graham’s ascent to the top job in February was abrupt, given the circumstances, he was far from a dark horse and had been on a very short list of possible successors to Machin since last summer, according to sources with knowledge of the succession planning.

His experience on the credit side of investing is understood to have worked in his favour, given the growing prominence of private debt alongside the sometimes flashier world of private equity. A person with knowledge of the pension management organization’s inner workings said Graham worked under seasoned fund veterans such as Cass andMark Jenkins, who spearheaded CPPIB’s $12-billion acquisition of major credit platform Antares Capital, and was recognized as a smart and disciplined investor who also possessed a combination of strong leadership skills and strategic sense.


AIMCo’s next move: As Alberta contemplates CPP exit, investment manager focuses on rebuilding trust


Pension plan chief’s resignation renews debate over vaccine queue jumping


Graham is one of three CPPIB executives on the board of Antares, which was purchased in 2015. He described the in-house investment process that drove that acquisition as a guide to what can be expected under his leadership. Perhaps not surprisingly, the two-year process was methodical — it involved identifying a promising market segment and its key players, the writing of a research paper to back the investment thesis, and then careful observation.

“We watched the market…. When GE went to sell Antares, in many ways we’d already done all the homework,” he said. “We knew it was the market leader, we knew it was the platform we wanted to buy, and the organization was able to move (with) speed. And it’s been a fantastic investment for us.”

• Email: bshecter@postmedia.com | Twitter: BatPost


DeSantis’ anti-riot bill advances in Senate despite criticism it infringes on free speech

John Kennedy, Capital Bureau
USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA


TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “anti-riot” bill, which has become one of the Legislature’s most controversial measures, finally advanced Friday in the state Senate.

Dozens of Floridians testified against the legislation, with many condemning it as a racially tinged attack on free speech. Republican legislators who spoke in favor of the measure echoed DeSantis’ stance that it’s needed to protect businesses and communities from violence.

The governor proposed the legislation following the Black Lives Matter protests last year that followed the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Some of the demonstrations around the nation turned violent, with stores burned and looted, while protesters and police were injured in confrontations.

“I believe those rioters took away from what those peaceful protesters were trying to change,” said Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, Senate sponsor of the measure, which already cleared the House on party lines.

Previously: DeSantis-backed ‘anti-riot’ bill clears Florida House following hours of tense debate

More from the state legislature:After drawing heat, Republican leaders boost housing money — but still take most of it

The legislation (HB1) toughens penalties for crimes that occur during protests that turn violent and creates new crimes including “mob intimidation,” “inciting a riot,” and “defacing, damaging or destroying a monument,” largely aimed at protecting Confederate statutes across Florida that are occasional targets of protests.

Senate Democrats, who unsuccessfully tried to water down the legislation with amendments beaten back by ruling Republicans on the Appropriations Committee, said the proposal is not needed – and likely unconstitutional.

“This language is so broadly worded, so badly defined, so potentially harmful to the right of free speech that, you know, you could have peaceful protesters prosecuted simply for being present while someone near them ... breaks the law,” said Senate Democratic Leader Gary Farmer of Lighthouse Point.

Floridians who traveled to Tallahassee to testify remotely blocks away from the Capitol blistered the legislation and warned that the criminal sanctions are certain to be applied more rigorously against Black protesters.

The Rev. James T. Golden, a minister and member of the Manatee County School Board, said the approach reflected the state’s Republican-dominated government seeking to quash criticism.

“This is not about race. This is about power,” Golden told the committee.

Along with the tougher criminal penalties, city and county governments could be held financially liable for damages if they failed to control protests that get out of hand. They also could be subject to new challenges if they attempt to reduce spending on law enforcement.

“This punitive and political preemption is not how democracy works,” said Sabrina Javellana, a Hallandale Beach city commissioner, urging lawmakers to kill the legislation.



Republican leaders unveiled the anti-riot measure the evening of Jan. 6, when a pro-President Trump mob overran the U.S. Capitol. But DeSantis talked about taking the steps contained in the bill as early as September – when the Black Lives Matter protests were still fresh.

“This is a very robust package,” DeSantis said when he outlined tougher penalties against protesters, most of which are contained in HB 1. “I think what it’s saying is we are not going to let Florida go down the road that some of these other places have gone.”

Among the provisions in the package approved Friday is a mandatory six-month sentence for anyone convicted of battery on a police officer during a riot. Another would impose a felony carrying penalties ranging from a $5,000 fine to 10 years in prison for anyone convicted of injuring someone or damaging property during a “violent public disturbance” involving three or more people.

Those arrested as part of a riot would be unable to immediately bond out and would have to wait for a first appearance before a judge.

While the legislation was an early priority for the House, which approved the bill two weeks ago, Friday’s hearing was its debut in the Florida Senate. The delay was viewed by some as a sign senators had problems with at least a few of the provisions. But the governor’s priority bill now looks set for a final vote well ahead of the Legislature’s scheduled April 30 finish.
FLORIDA
Nearly "catastrophic" wastewater leak could devastate marine life

Li Cohen 
CBS NEWS
4/11/2021

Florida officials have been scrambling over the past week after a wastewater pond at the former Piney Point phosphate mining facility sprung a major leak — a situation officials described as a potential "catastrophe." While officials have managed to drain the reservoir enough so that a "tidal wave" of wastewater did not flood the area, experts told CBS News that the threat to the environment remains.

© John Raoux ap060105026656.jpg

Residents who live immediately around the area are physically safe for the time being, state officials said, but millions of gallons of water have flowed into the ground and local waterways, and millions more were pumped directly into Port Manatee, an entrance to Tampa Bay on Florida's west coast, to prevent the reservoir from collapsing.

From March 26 to April 9, approximately 237 million gallons of water either leaked or were intentionally discharged from the reservoir, the state's environmental department said. Officials stopped discharging water into the port on Friday, according to the state's water quality dashboard.

The water was determined to not have harmful levels of radioactive material, and officials have said the water in the reservoir meets marine water quality standards "with the exception of pH, total phosphorus, total nitrogen and total ammonia nitrogen."

When questioned by CBS News, the state's environmental department did not specify what the water quality standards are for both the facility and marine waters. "It is slightly acidic, but not at a level that is expected to be a concern," the department said in a statement. "Field operation teams are now deploying nutrient reduction and removal treatments of the water on-site to address any required discharges in the future. This will significantly reduce nutrient loading to Port Manatee and help minimize water quality impacts."


Dr. Henry Briceño, a professor and water quality researcher at Florida International University who has several degrees in geological engineering, told CBS News that despite what officials say, the water does not meet water quality standards and officials should not "try to play games with people."

"The concentrations of the nutrients are way higher than the receiving water body," he said, referring to Port Manatee. "Those waters are not within normal, regular criteria of water quality for Tampa Bay. "

The nutrients most of concern when it comes to the wastewater — which is a combination of saltwater from a local dredge project, process water and stormwater — are nitrogen and phosphorus. While both are essential to plant life, excessive amounts can destroy ecosystems, experts say.

A joint statement issued this week by the environmental groups Suncoast Waterkeeper and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper estimated that the amount of nutrients entering Tampa Bay were equal to "approximately 100,000 bags of fertilizer" and that the wastewater "has approximately ten times the nitrogen of raw sewage." These figures, the groups said, are based on recent samples and levels of nitrogen may vary throughout the water column.

Jenna Stevens, state director of the organization Environment Florida, described the impact of this "nutrient pollution" to CBS News.

"Each body of water has a certain amount of pollution that it can take before things get really, really bad and we start seeing large water quality problems. And this amount of nutrient pollution can be really damaging," Stevens said. "When [officials] were like, 'Oh, well, it's no more acidic than a cup of coffee,' well, it still doesn't meet water quality standards for marine waters. It's too acidic for our waterways and it's too loaded with these pollutants."


The Tampa Bay Estuary Program, which is tracking water data near Piney Point, says on its online database that they are most concerned about increased total nitrogen and ammonia going into the coastal waters because of the drastic impact these nutrients can have on the ecosystem's health. Nitrogen concentrations higher than 5-10 milligrams per liter may be problematic, the program says, and reports show that water near Piney Point was recorded with nitrogen levels significantly higher than that.

On March 31, five days after the company that owns Piney Point submitted a report to the state that water was seeping into the gypsum stack that holds the water, one water sample from Piney Point Creek, which wastewater was initially leaking into, registered 191.5 milligrams per liter of nitrogen, an amount more than 19 times higher than the noted limit. Another point nearby registered 214.4 milligrams per liter, which is more than 21 times higher, according to the database.

According to environmental officials, the total nitrogen concentration in marine water should be limited to 0.74 milligrams per liter.

A week later, on April 7, officials said "elevated levels of phosphorus" were detected in Port Manatee, where wastewater from the Piney Point reservoir was being discharged. An April 5 water sample detected 2.1 milligrams per liter of orthophosphate, a form of phosphorus. That level is 21 times higher than the marine quality standard for phosphorus, which is 0.10 milligrams per liter. Other samples taken from the port on that date also had levels at least double the standard threshold.

Stevens, from Environment Florida, fears what this spill, or any in the future, could do to Tampa Bay, which for decades has been the focus of restoration and protection after being disastrously polluted in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s, locals, the state and the federal government took on extensive efforts to revitalize the area.
© Provided by CBS News A history of protection and restoration efforts in Tampa Bay. / Credit: Tampa Bay Estuary Program

A priority of those efforts was maintaining appropriate levels of nitrogen. Excessive amounts of the nutrient leads to more algae, which reduces the amount of light able to enter the water. Algal blooms, Briceño explained, create a devastating cascading effect for marine life, as the algae changes oxygen levels as it continues to expand, and even when it dies and rots.

"It's a mechanism that feeds itself and is continuous," Briceño said, adding he "will not be surprised" if it happens.

Environmental officials told CBS News on Saturday that there are "visual observations" of increased algae in the water.

"Algal bloom samples have been collected in an abundance of caution and are currently being processed," they said.

And if it does, it will also take a negative toll on seagrass, a vital plant for Tampa Bay's ecosystem. Seagrass, along with being a vital food and habitat source for manatees and other marine life, is essential for improving overall water quality.

It's taken decades and millions of dollars to restore seagrasses, and all it takes, Stevens said, is extra acidity to wipe it all out.

"So much of our way of life here in Florida is about our time on the water... It's where we get outside and enjoy our lives," Stevens said. "Scientists and advocates alike have been saying for decades that this is a problem, and polluters were not held accountable. And now, Floridians have to pay the price for their mess."

And if the seagrass goes, it could jeopardize Florida manatees, which are a threatened species that are in the midst of an unexpected die-off event, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More than 600 manatees were found dead between January 1 and April 2. Between 2016 and 2020, the population averaged 203 deaths per year.

Experts believe that manatees' access to food is a contributing factor, though not the sole reason, for the sudden die-off.

"There needs to be more studying obviously done to totally determine what are the causes of all these deaths," Stevens said, "but what we are seeing leads us to believe that these manatees are running out of food, that they are potentially starving to death because of seagrass loss around the state."

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has made similar statements, nothing that food loss is a "contributing factor" to manatee deaths.

"Seagrass like many plants requires sunlight to grow," the commission says on its website. "Since 2011, persistence of algal blooms has resulted in reduced water clarity and light penetration which led to a dramatic reduction of seagrass. Seagrass is the primary food for manatees in these systems."

The Florida Senate voted to allocate $3 million for the 2021-2022 fiscal year to help clean up the wastewater at Piney Point. But the funds, if they are included in the final budget, would not be available until July 1 — a month after hurricane season officially begins.

Tropical storms and hurricanes pose a larger risk to local and environmental safety around Piney Point, as strong storms could cause damage overflows in ponds and infrastructure. These storms have become more frequent and more intense over the years, and this year, the National Hurricane Center will start routinely monitoring tropical weather.

Todd Crowl, director of the Institute of Environment at Florida International University, said that while the wastewater dump into Port Manatee is bad, normally ecosystems can recover as long as they are not continuously infiltrated.

"But if you whack it once, and then you whack it again in a pretty short amount of time," he said, "it never has time to quite recover."

Tampa Bay, he said, "is getting dangerously close" to such a problem, and a hurricane hitting before the system can recover may create more permanent damage.

It could take months to see the full effects of the wastewater dump, but Briceño fears that the ramifications will impact South Florida's already fragile waters.

"That's what I am afraid that we could have in those ecosystems... that we go beyond those tipping points," he said. "And then we don't know what's gonna happen, but it's not gonna be good, for sure."


Environmental concerns mount as millions of gallons of wastewater head towards Tampa Bay
By Briona Arradondo
Published 4 days ago



Waters watched closely for effects of dump


Briona Arradondo reports

PALMETTO, Fla. - As millions of gallons of contaminated wastewater flows into Tampa Bay, wildlife advocates say they’re worried about a chain reaction coming for marine life while fearing for their hard work to restore the bay’s quality. Tuesday, state officials updated on progress monitoring the impact on water quality.

"They’ve been testing actually the clams and the oysters and right now they don’t see any issues," said Nikki Fried, the Florida commissioner of agriculture and consumer services.

The state is draining wastewater from a reservoir holding fertilizer byproduct at Piney Point’s abandoned phosphate plant, piping it to Port Manatee on the southern shore of Tampa Bay. The water has phosphates and nitrogen in it, two things normally not in the water this time of year.

"When you put nitrogens and phosphates into the Tampa Bay estuary, you’re essentially fertilizing the bay. And the first organism that’s able to absorb those nutrients are algae," said Peter Clark, the president and founder of Tampa Bay Watch, an environmental education center and nonprofit.




What’s in the Piney Point wastewater?


The contaminated water pouring into Tampa Bay from the old Piney Point phosphate site could cause a lot of problems for the environment. Experts fear it will feed algae blooms that will choke out fish and could even be harmful to humans. Craig Patrick explains what we've seen elsewhere in Florida.

READ: Who's to blame for the Piney Point wastewater mess -- and its $200M price tag?

Clark said the algae then grows fast and covers the water, and a chain reaction follows that damages marine life, starting with seagrass.

"Seagrass is just like the grass on your lawn, it needs a certain amount of sunlight to grow. So when you shade it out with and algae bloom, it doesn’t allow the seagrass to grow and it eventually will die back," said Clark.

Fishing guides call seagrass a vital base to the ecosystem. It cleans the water, gives fish a place to breed, hatch, and more.

"All the birds, the fish, the manatees, and the manatees are having a hard enough time. When you start killing the seagrass off that these mammals are eating, you’ve got problems," explained Capt. Scott Moore of Moore Fishing.

MORE: Piney Point wastewater leak: A history of the former phosphate plant site




From SkyFOX: Manatees and manta ray
Check out what SkyFOX happened to spot in Tampa Bay on Tuesday, not far from the Cockroach Bay area: A mama and baby manatee, then a larg
e ray.

Now, they're looking ahead to the rainy season this summer when even more nutrients seep into the bay. Environmentalists worry what’s there now will add up and make potential algae blooms worse.

"It’s important that we wait and see the quantity of nutrients that go into the bay how well Tampa Bay’s able to deal with that influx of nutrients and when the rainy season does come, how is that affected as well," added Clark.

There’s not a lot of chance for the contaminated water to flush out into the gulf, so environmentalists said it will linger in the bay. State leaders said they are looking at ways to take the nutrients out of the water.
Company that owns leaking Florida wastewater reservoir filed bankruptcy, sued by bank

FL governor pledges to make owner pay



DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH

During a tour of the former Piney Point phosphate mine on Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged he would hold the property owner financially responsible for the mess.

EMPTY RHETORIC FAUX OUTRAGE



By: WFTS Staff
Posted  Apr 06, 2021

PALMETTO, Fla. — Late last week, officials in Florida discovered a small leak at a Florida wastewater reservoir that quickly prompted a state of emergency and mass evacuations in the area. While touring the former Piney Point phosphate mine on Sunday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged he would hold the property owner financially responsible for the mess.

But according to newly uncovered records, that might be a difficult task.

“Please allow me to begin with, this is very unfortunate. I am very sorry, and all steps and measures that I know of are being taken,” said HRK Holdings, LLC employee Jeff Barath last Thursday to Manatee County Commissioners.

He was called to the meeting last Thursday to explain how a small leak quickly became a major emergency, leading to the evacuation of hundreds of residents the next day.

The contaminated water stored on the site has been an issue since the phosphate mine shut down in 2001.

“The county didn’t permit this site, we didn’t create this mess, yet here we are,” Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said.

DeSantis, who toured the site Sunday, has mobilized the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and other resources to help.

“Our administration is dedicated to full enforcement of any damages to our state’s resources and holding the company HRK accountable for this event. This is not acceptable. This is not something we will allow to persist,” DeSantis said.

Barath assured commissioners the company will make it right.

“This is my community, too. And we are doing everything possible to prevent a true catastrophe, which would be the failure of that stack system,” Barath said.

But getting the company to come up with millions of dollars to pay for containment and clean-up could be a problem.


The company’s authorized representative is William F. Harley, III. of Massapequa, New York. He’s a hedge fund manager who recently became CEO of a medical marijuana venture.

Prior to that, records show he owned multiple Hooters franchises and served as a director and major investor Frederick’s of Hollywood, which sells lingerie and adult novelties.

Harley signed off as the debtor on a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition for HRK Holdings, LLC. in 2012, just six years after the company was formed. It currently leases space to multiple companies that have operations near Port Manatee.

At the time of the bankruptcy filing, the company included an exhibit saying it needed money to repair and monitor the facility.

“If the materials are not properly monitored and maintained, or if a gypstack failure occurs, the materials may pose a risk to the environment in the future,” the document says,

During and after the bankruptcy case, HRK Holdings continued to borrow millions from a bank, but according to a foreclosure lawsuit filed in Manatee County Circuit Court last November, the company didn’t pay it back.


The phone number for HRK Holdings, LLC. in Manatee County is disconnected.


This story was originally published by Adam Walser on WFTS in Tampa, Florida




ECOCIDE
Piney Point: USF and Sarasota Dolphin Research Program to study environmental impact of crisis

Timothy Fanning
Sarasota Herald-Tribune



PALMETTO – As the Piney Point environmental crisis has drawn national attention, ecological groups have raised alarms over the impact that the pumping of polluted water will have on Tampa Bay and its natural inhabitants.

A team of scientists at the University of South Florida College of Marine Sciences has responded by embarking on the first research cruise in Tampa Bay dedicated to studying the environmental impact of the leaking from a wastewater holding pond at Piney Point and the ensuing emergency dumping of tens of millions of gallons of polluted water into the bay.

The team will collect water samples, surface sediment and fish from Tampa Bay and Port Manatee. Researchers hope to answer how the changes in water chemistry affect marine life.

In case you missed it:Discharges of polluted wastewater from Piney Point into Tampa Bay reduced by 90%

More like this:Top Florida environmental regulator implies agency should have closed Piney Point years ago



Separately this week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and staff from the Chicago Zoological Society’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program announced that it has begun monitoring the dolphins in the area surrounding the gypsum stack spill.

The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, a leading dolphin research organization, has maintained the world’s longest longitudinal study of dolphins in the wild.

Earlier this week:Dumping of polluted wastewater from Piney Point continues, DEP working to treat water

Through research measures such as dolphin surveys and seasonal monitoring of dolphin prey fish, the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program helps scientists learn about dolphin biology, environmental impacts on their health and reproductive success, their social structure and the effects of human activities.

Applying some of the approaches the team uses with Sarasota Bay’s dolphins to the emerging situation in Tampa Bay, the state’s largest estuary, the organization will work to understand the effects the spill has had on local wildlife.



The Sarasota Dolphin Research Program is trying to identify:
Which dolphins are being exposed to the highest concentrations of discharged waters (many are individually identifiable).
How dolphin distributions may have changed in response to the discharges.
Whether dolphins are having respiratory issues, exhibiting abnormal behavior or developing unusual skin conditions.
If dolphins have left the area, where they went.

The group has conducted photo-identification research in the area near Port Manatee from 1988 to 1993. It has also identified a resident dolphin community adjoining that of Sarasota Bay.
And :Scientists have been studying Sarasota-area dolphins for 50 years; what have they learned?

“Since the discharge began, we have seen many fewer dolphins in the area than we did in our earlier surveys, and they are mostly more than two miles from the discharge site. These findings are preliminary, and the situation is changing daily,” said Randall Wells, director of the program.



On Wednesday, a team of scientists at USF launched the the university’s Weatherbird II research vessel. The vessel previously monitored the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

The research team is being led by USF chemical oceanographer Kristen Buck and biological oceanographer Steve Murawski.

College of Marine Science Dean Tom Frazer said in a university news release that “rapid deployments like this one provide us with an unprecedented opportunity to get out there and provide the science necessary to inform an effective response, as well as any necessary mitigation efforts, so that we can safeguard our vulnerable coastal resources.”



The scope of the work by the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program remains to be fully defined, temporally and geographically, and depends on how the spill develops.

In addition to providing essential baseline data for both the conservation of dolphins in the wild and their welfare in zoos, the program will continue to contribute to management actions that help mitigate negative influences humans can have on marine ecosystems.

More: Florida Senate seeks to use federal COVID relief money to clean up Piney Point site

For now, no government funds have been available to cover program expenses.


The Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation has diverted existing funding to the organization to aid the Tampa Bay efforts and is attempting to raise more money.

“Dolphins have been long considered our water-based ecological sentinels – breathing the same air, swimming in the same waters and eating the same fish we do,” said Teri A Hansen, the president and CEO of the Barancik Foundation. “If we can identify what effects this crisis has on them, we can better understand what risks it poses for our own health and hope others lend their philanthropic support to this important work.”

Saturday, April 10, 2021

First images of cells exposed to COVID-19 vaccine reveal native-like Coronavirus spikes

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

Research News

IMAGE

IMAGE: ARTIST IMAGE OF PROTEIN SPIKES view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

New research has for the first time compared images of the protein spikes that develop on the surface of cells exposed to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the protein spike of the SARS-CoV-19 coronavirus. The images show that the spikes are highly similar to those of the virus and support the modified adenovirus used in the vaccine as a leading platform to combat COVID-19.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, has a large number of spikes sticking out of its surface that it uses to attach to, and enter, cells in the human body. These spikes are coated in sugars, known as glycans, which disguise parts of the viral proteins to the human immune system.

The vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca is an adenovirus-vectored vaccine, which involves taking a safe version of a virus and adding in the information from part of a pathogen, in this case the SAR-CoV-2 spike, in order to generate neutralising antibodies against that target.

In this new study, published in the journal ACS Central Science, scientists from the University of Oxford and the University of Southampton, worked together to characterise the SARS-CoV-2 spikes manufactured by the cells presented with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The Oxford work was led by Professors Teresa Lambe, Peijun Zhang and Sarah Gilbert and Professor Max Crispin led the work in Southampton.


CAPTION

Graphic depicting how the protein spikes form on the surface of cells presented with the vaccine.

CREDIT

University of Southampton

The Scientists exposed a range of cells in vitro to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Using an imaging technique known as cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) they took thousands of images which they then combined to build up a clear picture of the resulting protein spikes on the cells. Professor Peijun Zhang, of the University of Oxford and the Electron Bio-Imaging Centre (eBIC) at Diamond Light Source, who led the imaging work said, "CryoEM is an immensely powerful technique which enabled us to visualise the dense array of spikes that had been manufactured and presented on the surface of the cells".

Further chemical analysis of the glycans that coat the newly developed protein spikes revealed that they bear a high resemblance to those surrounding the SARS-CoV-2 spikes. This is an essential feature of the vaccine as it means that it can deliver close mimics of the coronavirus that are important in triggering the immune response needed to protect against COVID-19.

Professor Crispin said, "In this study we set out to see how closely the vaccine induced spikes resembled those of the infectious virus. We were really pleased to see a large amount of native-like spikes."

"This study will hopefully provide further understanding for the public, helping them see how the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine works. Many people may not realise how their cells become little factories manufacturing viral spikes that then trigger the immune response needed to fight off the disease. This may also provide reassurance that the vaccine is doing its job and generating the material that we need to present to our immune systems."


CAPTION

Artist imaging of protein spike on the surface of cells exposed to the vaccine.

CREDIT

University of Southampton

Lessons in equity from the frontlines of COVID-19 vaccination

BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER

Research News

Cambridge, Mass. - When the first COVID-19 vaccines were approved for emergency use in December 2020, healthcare systems across the Unites States needed to rapidly design and implement their own approaches to distribute COVID-19 vaccines equitably and efficiently. This new role has required Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) to develop new strategies and build large operational teams to organize and successfully vaccinate more than 14,000 patients a week across Eastern Massachusetts. In an Insight article published in JAMA Health Forum, Leonor Fernandez, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Peter Shorett, MPP, Chief Integration Officer at BILH, identify five key lessons about health equity that have emerged from BILH's vaccination campaign for the health system's approximately 1.6 million patients.

"This is an unprecedented public health campaign for a health system," said Fernandez, a primary care physician and Director of Patient Engagement at Health Care Associates, BIDMC's primary care practice. "Organizing our approach to COVID 19 vaccination is teaching us a lot about what we do well and how we can further advance the delivery of equitable health care. To ensure that all patients, including Black, Latinx, and other marginalized communities can access these life-saving vaccines, we have to be able to reach out, create trust, and speak their language."

Fernandez and Shorett describe five actions that help promote vaccine equity: obtain reliable patient demographic data; address structural inequalities intentionally in order to achieve equitable results; communicate with patients in understandable terms and in their preferred languages; involve diverse stakeholders in decisions; and embrace equity, diversity and inclusion as fundamental organizational values.

Obtain reliable patient demographic data The authors note that accurate and complete demographic data are essential to identifying and deploying strategies to reach and engage patients, but data are not consistently elicited or accurate. Information about patients' race, ethnicity, preferred language and geography is helping drive greater understanding and accountability in the health system's efforts to address historic racial and ethnic health disparities.

Intentionally addressing structural inequalities and speaking patients' languages "BILH's strategy has been to invite patients in three waves for each eligible phase, focusing first on our patients associated with our healthcare centers in Dorchester and Chelsea," said Shorett, who led the patient vaccination efforts for the health system. "We then move to patients in towns and neighborhoods in our region that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and shortly after that to randomized cohorts of eligible patients."

BILH teams developed a broader communications approach, deploying a mix of SMS texting, outgoing phone messages in many languages, and live phone outreach to patients in highly affected communities. Community health centers and primary care practices in highly affected communities have been and will continue to be critically important in the vaccination invitation, outreach and communication process as trusted messengers for their patients.

"Relying exclusively on digital invitations can mean that patients and those who lack familiarity and access to digital technology or speak a language other than English will have less access to vaccination," said Fernandez, who is also a member of the health system's vaccination leadership team.

Involving diverse stakeholders for better decision making and embracing equity as a fundamental value to create greater change

Following the widespread civil unrest in response to several high-profile incidents of police brutality, BILH's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Taskforce developed recommendations for action incorporated in part from listening sessions including thousands of employees. This backdrop, along with extreme health disparities observed during the pandemic, made the issue of health equity both more familiar and more urgent within the health system. "The integration of diverse institutional and community stakeholders into decisions enables better recognition of structural inequities, provides needed knowledge and skill sets, and supports more effective strategies to help the health system address health disparities," noted Shorett.

Vaccinating the U.S. population against COVID-19 will require an unprecedented ongoing public health campaign. "Sustaining this positive momentum will rely on the shared understanding that when it comes to health, we are all in this together," said Fernandez.

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The authors reported no funding or disclosures.

About Beth Israel Lahey Health

Beth Israel Lahey Health is a new health care system that brings together academic medical centers and teaching hospitals, community and specialty hospitals, more than 4,800 physicians and 36,000 employees in a shared mission to expand access to great care and advance the science and practice of medicine through groundbreaking research and education. For more information, visit http://www.bilh.org.

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More nuanced approach to deciding who gets COVID-19 vaccine needed in face of third wave

Job site and neighborhood risks should be taken into account when setting priorities, authors argue

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA FACULTY OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY

Research News

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IMAGE: FINLAY MCALISTER LED AN ANALYSIS THAT INDICATES PEOPLE IN NEIGHBOURHOODS AND WORKPLACES WITH A HIGHER RISK OF COVID-19 INFECTIONS SHOULD BE PRIORITIZED FOR VACCINATION AS CANADA FACES A THIRD WAVE... view more 

CREDIT: FACULTY OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY, UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

It's time for a more nuanced approach to vaccine prioritization, as more contagious COVID-19 variants become prevalent and a third wave of infections threatens to overwhelm hospitals in some provinces, according to an analysis published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

"It's time to move the debate away from age and medical risk factors," said lead author Finlay McAlister, professor in the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

"The third wave is showing us that the most vulnerable are people in economically marginalized neighbourhoods, Amazon factories and Superstores, where there are a lot of people in close proximity, a group that wasn't prioritized for vaccination before."

McAlister and three other authors, including U of A infectious disease professor Lynora Saxinger, who co-chairs the scientific advisory group for Alberta Health Service's COVID-19 Emergency Coordination Centre, analyzed data for 61,000 Canadian patients using data from the Canadian Community Health Survey. They identified how many have conditions which are recognized as risk factors for severe COVID-19 disease, including high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking.

"At least 75 per cent have at least one risk factor and one third have two or more," McAlister said. "When 75 per cent of people are eligible, that's not really prioritization."

It was appropriate to give seniors living in communal settings and the very elderly shots first, as they were clearly the most likely to face severe disease and death at the time, McAlister said, but now the focus should be more targeted to neighbourhoods and workplaces facing a higher risk of infection. He applauded the Alberta government's recent announcement that it will open vaccine clinics at the Cargill meat packing plant in High River, as an example of the new direction that should be taken.

McAlister also supports the recommendation from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization to give first doses to as many Canadians as possible, even if it means waiting up to three months to administer second doses while supplies are limited.

"The science is evolving rapidly and there is accumulating evidence now, showing that after the first shot we are getting about 80 per cent efficacy, so it looks like delaying that second dose is a good approach," McAlister said. "Of course, how long that first-dose protection will last, we will only know in retrospect."

He noted that some groups should be given special consideration to get their second dose more quickly, for example evidence shows cancer and transplant patients do not develop the same level of immunity from the first dose as others.

"They seem to get only partial immunity, which means they are at a greater risk for infection, giving the virus another chance to develop a variant and get passed on," McAlister explained. "We want as many people as possible to develop immunity as quickly as possible so there's less chance for new variants to develop."

He also reiterated that until we know whether vaccines protect against all of the variants of concern and until the Canadian population has reached herd immunity, thought to be around 70 per cent, we will have to continue public health measures such as wearing masks, socially distancing and washing hands frequently.


One in ten have long-term effects 8 months following mild COVID-19

KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET

Research News

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IMAGE: RESEARCHERS CHARLOTTE THÅLIN AND SEBASTIAN HAVERVALL AT DANDERYD HOSPITAL AND KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET. view more 

CREDIT: LUDVIG KOSTYAL

Eight months after mild COVID-19, one in ten people still has at least one moderate to severe symptom that is perceived as having a negative impact on their work, social or home life. The most common long-term symptoms are a loss of smell and taste and fatigue. This is according to a study published in the journal JAMA, conducted by researchers at Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

Since spring 2020, researchers at Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institutet have conducted the so-called COMMUNITY study, with the main purpose of examining immunity after COVID-19. In the first phase of the study in spring 2020, blood samples were collected from 2,149 employees at Danderyd Hospital, of whom about 19 percent had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Blood samples have since then been collected every four months, and study participants have responded to questionnaires regarding long-term symptoms and their impact on the quality of life.

In the third follow-up in January 2021, the research team examined self-reported presence of long-term symptoms and their impact on work, social and home life for participants who had had mild COVID-19 at least eight months earlier. This group consisted of 323 healthcare workers (83 percent women, median age 43 years) and was compared with 1,072 healthcare workers (86 percent women, median age 47 years) who did not have COVID-19 throughout the study period.

The results show that 26 percent of those who had COVID-19 previously, compared to 9 percent in the control group, had at least one moderate to severe symptom that lasted more than two months and that 11 percent, compared to 2 percent in the control group, had a minimum of one symptom with negative impact on work, social or home life that lasted at least eight months. The most common long-term symptoms were loss of smell and taste, fatigue, and respiratory problems.

"We investigated the presence of long-term symptoms after mild COVID-19 in a relatively young and healthy group of working individuals, and we found that the predominant long-term symptoms are loss of smell and taste. Fatigue and respiratory problems are also more common among participants who have had COVID-19 but do not occur to the same extent," says Charlotte Thålin, specialist physician, Ph.D. and lead researcher for the COMMUNITY study at Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institutet. "However, we do not see an increased prevalence of cognitive symptoms such as brain fatigue, memory and concentration problems or physical disorders such as muscle and joint pain, heart palpitations or long-term fever."

"Despite the fact that the study participants had a mild COVID-19 infection, a relatively large proportion report long-term symptoms with an impact on quality of life. In light of this, we believe that young and healthy individuals, as well as other groups in society, should have great respect for the virus that seems to be able to significantly impair quality of life, even for a long time after the infection," says Sebastian Havervall, deputy chief physician at Danderyd Hospital and PhD student in the project at Karolinska Institutet.

The COMMUNITY study will now continue, with the next follow-up taking place in May when a large proportion of study participants are expected to be vaccinated. In addition to monitoring immunity and the occurrence of re-infection, several projects regarding post- COVID are planned.

"We will, among other things, be studying COVID-19-associated loss of smell and taste more closely, and investigate whether the immune system, including autoimmunity, plays a role in post-COVID," says Charlotte Thålin.

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The article has been peer-reviewed and published as a Research Letter in the journal JAMA.

Facts about the COMMUNITY study:

  • The study is conducted in close collaboration between Danderyd Hospital (principal of the study), Karolinska Institutet, KTH, SciLifeLab, Uppsala University, and the Public Health Agency of Sweden.

  • The research group includes the following investigators: from Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institutet, specialist physician, medical doctor, and principal researcher Charlotte Thålin and deputy chief physician Sebastian Havervall (PhD student in the project); from Karolinska Institutet and the Public Health Agency of Sweden, associate professor Jonas Klingström; from KTH, professors Sophia Hober and Peter Nilsson; and from Uppsala University, associate professor and associate senior lecturer Sara Mangsbo and Professor Mia Phillipson.

  • The study is funded by the Jonas & Christina af Jochnick Foundation, Leif Lundblad with family, Region Stockholm, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, SciLifeLab, the Erling-Persson Family Foundation, and Atlas Copco.

Publication: "Symptoms and Functional Impairment Assessed 8 Months After Mild COVID-19 Among Health Care Workers", Sebastian Havervall, Axel Rosell, Mia Phillipson, Sara M. Mangsbo, Peter Nilsson, Sophia Hober, Charlotte Thålin. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, online 7 April 2021, doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.5612.