As social unrest explodes in French West Indies, chlordecone is key to the crisis

© Hélène Valenzuela, AFP

AFP
08/12/2021

The current social unrest in Guadeloupe and Martinique has brought international attention back to the critical issue of chlordecone pollution in these Caribbean islands. This highly toxic insecticide, banned since 1993 throughout France and its territories, is currently undergoing intense scientific study to understand its harmful effects on the human body and ecosystems.

Chlordecone has left a permanent scar on the French West Indian population. Throughout the protests that have shaken Guadeloupe and Martinique since the end of November, this highly toxic insecticide has been named as one of the key factors behind the social unrest which was provoked by the Covid-19 situation.

France was forced to postpone implementing a vaccination mandate for health workers there after the measure spurred widespread protests on the French territories in which police officers were injured and journalists attacked. If the people in these islands are hesitant to trust the Covid-19 vaccines, it is because they have been failed by Paris on the chlordecone issue.

Former farm workers, who were exposed to this insecticide for many years in banana plantations, believe that chlordecone is directly connected to specific cancers and neurological diseases. This controversial pesticide is now the subject of several scientific studies aimed at finding out more about its effects on health and the environment.

Chlordecone was first used in banana plantations in Guadeloupe and Martinique in 1972 in a battle against an insect called the banana weevil. Banned in 1976 in the United States, the substance was classified as a probable human carcinogen by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1979. France itself did not ban it until 1990. However, a governmental exemption allowed its continued use in the West Indies for three more years, until 1993.

The insecticide which polluted the banana trees, poisoned the soil, which then went into the groundwater, the rivers and all the way to the coast. Much of the islands’ vegetation has also been contaminated as the poison has become ingrained in the soil. As a result, chlordecone has been found in animal pastures and subsequently in meat products.

“At least one third of the agricultural land used for cultivation and breeding and at least one third of the marine coastline have been polluted by chlordecone,” said Luc Multigner, epidemiologist and director of research at France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Inserm, speaking with FRANCE 24.

As its molecules disintegrate very slowly in the soil, it is difficult to know how long it will stay in the ecosystem. According to the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRAE), “it could still be there for anything between one to six centuries”.

>> Thousands protest in France’s Martinique against insecticide ‘impunity’

 
Almost the entire population poisoned

Chlordecone has poisoned, to varying degrees, more than 90% of the population of the two islands, according to Santé publique France and Inserm. “In terms of the general danger of chlordecone, its intrinsic toxicity is well known,” said Multigner, referencing hundreds of published research papers dedicated to exploring this poison.

Research into the health consequences of chlordecone is not new. The first studies took place as early as the 1960s, before it had even been introduced to the West Indies. Researchers detected neurological disorders in laboratory animal tests, but also testicular disorders and liver tumour lesions. In the mid-1970s, scientists then discovered neurological damage and liver enlargement in workers at the chlordecone factory in Hopewell, USA.

A few years later, research showed that chlordecone has hormonal properties. Today, it is considered an endocrine disruptor. “Twenty years ago, when the issue of chlordecone received very little media attention, a series of studies were carried out by Inserm to find out whether this pollution was contaminating the population. We found that the West Indian population had indeed been poisoned, since chlordecone was detected in the blood of most of the people studied,” said Multigner. “Once this observation was made, the question was do these traces of chlordecone in the blood cause health problems?”

In the 2000s, the Timoun (“child”, in Creole) study led by Inserm highlighted a link between chlordecone exposure levels during pregnancy and an increased risk of premature birth. Numerous data acquired during the follow-up of children born to the Timoun cohort are currently being analysed to understand the impact on their development. Other research is still underway, notably on the evolution of chronic hepatitis.

As early as 2010, the Karuprostate study, coordinated by Multigner and Pascal Blanchet, head of the urology department at Pointe-à-Pitre University Hospital in Guadeloupe, identified a clear link between exposure to this harmful substance and occurrences of prostate cancer.

“We observed that the more men were exposed to chlordecone, the greater their risk of developing prostate cancer”, said Multigner. “In the West Indies, the incidence rate of this disease is almost twice as high as the estimated incidence rate in mainland France over the period 2007-2014,” according to an Inserm study entitled “Pesticides and health effects” and updated last June.

In this context, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Julien Denormandie announced on November 28 that a decree officially recognising prostate cancer as an occupational illness following the use of this pesticide will be issued “before the end of the year”.
New prostate cancer studies

There is much research currently being done on the particular connection between this disease and chlordecone. A new study (Cohorte KP-Caraïbes-Breizh) on prostate cancer, “will pay particular attention to environmental contaminants (including chlordecone) on the evolution of the disease according to the treatments”, according to France’s Institute of research in health, environment and work.

Faced with an understandably anxious West Indian population, the National Cancer Institute launched a multidisciplinary research programme on November 9 devoted to investigating the link between exposure to chlordecone in the West Indies and the risk of developing prostate cancer. For five years, researchers from different disciplines (epidemiology, human and social sciences, clinical science) will work on this subject to “further our understanding of the role of chlordecone in the risk of prostate cancer as well as its perception and social consequences in the West Indies”.

“The strong presumption of a link between chlordecone exposure in the general population and the risk of prostate cancer occurrence has been confirmed,” the authors of the “Pesticides and health effects” study write, noting that “the causality of the relationship [between chlordecone and prostate cancer] is considered likely.”

“Until now, all scientific knowledge [on the link between chlordecone and prostate cancer] has had no contradiction,” said Multigner.

If there is a scientific consensus, on the political level, it is another matter. On February 1, 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron, who six months earlier had denounced this as an “environmental scandal” and recognised, for the first time, that “the State has its share of responsibility”, spoke again on the issue.

“We must not say that it is carcinogenic. It has been established that this product is not good, there have been scientifically recognised cases, but we must not go so far as to say that it is carcinogenic because we are saying something that is not true and we are feeding fears,” said Macron at the time.

His statement provoked the indignation of international elected leaders and scientists, including Multigner. The Elysée Palace later claimed it was a “misunderstanding”. “The president said that chlordecone pollution was a scandal, that’s fine. But to say at the same time: ‘It is not carcinogenic’ is contrary to research,” says Multigner.

All the scientific studies carried out so far have helped the authorities put in place successive action plans, which aim to protect, raise awareness and repair the damage caused by this insecticide. Specific measures have been taken. Foodstuffs produced in the West Indies may not contain more chlordecone residues than the maximum limit authorised by the State. In addition, many areas are closed to fishing because the fish are contaminated. These decisions have also had socio-economic consequences, as some farmers and fishermen have no longer been able to continue their professional activities.

The deployment this year of the fourth plan to combat chlordecone pollution has not been enough to calm rising tensions among the population. The Guadeloupean and Martinican associations that filed a complaint against the state in 2006 for “endangering the lives of others” are still waiting for a trial. As a result of the statute of limitations, the case is likely to be dismissed.

This article has been translated from the original in French.

Increased ER visits for asthma linked to seasonal air pollution, study finds

Emergency room visits by children with asthma may be triggered by seasonal levels of airborne pollutants, a new study has found. File Photo by M. Dykstra/Shutterstock

Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Rising rates of emergency room visits among children with asthma may be linked with seasonal air pollution, even in areas with generally low levels, a study published Wednesday by the journal PLOS ONE found.

Based on data from urban and rural regions of South Carolina, coarse airborne particulate pollution -- particulate matter measuring 1.0 to 2.5 microns, known as PM1.0-2.5 -- and nitrogen oxide levels are linked to the rate of hospital ER visits among children with asthma, particularly during the fall, the data showed.

So-called fine particulate matter, which are microscopic pollutants that measure 2.5 microns, plays its largest role in fostering severe asthma symptoms in the summer, the researchers said.

PM typically comes fom industry and vehicle exhaust, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

RELATED Scientists identify new chemicals in air pollution that trigger asthma in kids

Meanwhile, relatively cool and dry conditions in the summer asthma season and increased temperatures in the spring and fall asthma seasons also are associated with increased risk for emergency room care, according to the researchers.

"With improved individual awareness of the seasonality of their own triggers, people with asthma may be able to introduce seasonally adaptive behaviors to reduce or prevent environmental exposures" to triggers, study co-author Matt Bozigar told UPI in an email.

"However, marginalized groups of people may not have the resources to make behavioral changes, such as staying inside in a place with filtered air on a hazy summer day, for example," said Bozigar, a post-doctoral associate with the Boston University School of Public Health.

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Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the lungs that causes wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About one in 12, or 6 million, children in the United States have asthma, the agency estimates.

A study published in October by the Journal of Clinical Investigation identified 18 airborne pollutants that worsened asthma symptoms in children.   

RELATED Breathing, lung problems more common in low-income households

Separate analyses have indicated that breathing problems such as asthma are more common in low-income households, which are often concentrated in areas with higher air pollution levels.

For this study, Bozigar and his colleagues estimated air pollution levels across South Carolina and compared with data on hospital ER visits related to asthma among children in the state.

From 2006 and 2014, 48% of ER visits related to asthma for children in South Carolina occurred during the fall, or between Aug. 20 and Dec. 31, while 26% were reported during the spring, between March 1 and May 31.

The remainder of ER visits for children with asthma in the state occurred during the summer and winter, which are relatively mild seasons for the breathing disorder there, according to the researchers.

Elevated levels of PM1.0-2.5 in the fall, which often brings warmer, wet weather to the region, increased the risk for hospital ER visits among children by 14%.

Similarly, higher levels of nitrogen oxides in the air increased the risk for hospital ER visits for asthma among children by 3% during the same season, the researchers said.

"Individuals with asthma could benefit from understanding that their own asthma symptom rhythms may be influenced by different things at different times of the year," Bozigar said.

"What triggers asthma from the environment, such as air pollution, appears to change by season [and these] asthma exacerbations do not follow normal astronomical seasons," he said.

Abortion rights council calls on California to pay for out-of-state patients if Roe vs. Wade falls

Abortion rights activists wave signs on the Wilshire overpass overlooking the 110 freeway at a Stop Abortion Bans rally organized by NARAL Pro-Choice California in Los Angeles on May 21, 2019. 

File Photo by Chris Chew/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A council made up of abortion rights and women's health advocates recommended Wednesday that California prepare to provide abortion access -- and funding -- to all Americans if the Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade.

The California Future of Abortion Council was convened in September with support from California Gov. Gavin Newsom and members of the California State Legislature to provide recommendations to government officials on ways to make access to abortion more safe, equitable and affordable. The so-called FAB Council, which comprises more than 40 organizations, issued a report Tuesday making 45 policy recommendations.

The recommendations come as the Supreme Court considers challenges to restrictive abortion laws in states including Mississippi and Texas that could upend the landmark 1973 ruling that protects a woman's right to an abortion. That could result in several states choosing to outright ban abortions, leaving millions of Americans without access to the procedure.

"When I ran clinic services for a women's health center, I saw countless individuals who needed information, services, and support," state Sen. Toni Atkins, president pro tempore, said. "Working with the FAB Council, my colleagues and I will ensure Californians and people from every state can get the reproductive health services they need in a safe and timely way -- and that all our rights remain enshrined in law. This is crunch time, but we will not be dragged into the past. California will keep leading for the future."

Included among the 45 policy recommendations:

-- Provide more funding, support and infrastructure for those seeking an abortion.

-- Reimburse patients for abortion-related expenses.

RELATED  Study: Abortion medically safe, unwanted pregnancy poses greater health risk

-- Invest in a more diverse abortion provider workforce.

-- Reduce institutional barriers to abortion care.

-- Provide legal protection for patients, providers and their supporters.

-- Counteract misinformation and provide accurate education about abortion.

-- Collect data and carry out research on abortion and education needs in the state.

Abortion rights activists wave signs and banners on the Wilshire overpass overlooking the 110 freeway at a Stop Abortion Bans rally organized by NARAL Pro-Choice California in Los Angeles on May 21, 2019. File Photo by Chris Chew/UPI | License Photo

Jessica Pinckney, executive director of Access Reproductive Justice, said the state must strengthen access to abortion as it prepares for an influx of patients from other states. The Guttmacher Institute, a research group that advocates for abortion rights, predicts out-of-state women seeking abortions in California will increase from 46,000 to 1.4 million if Roe vs. Wade falls and 26 states ban abortion.

"Abortion funds and practical support organizations have long supported individuals in transportation to and from their appointments or money for gas, lodging for overnight stays, support with childcare, among other supports, however, the unmet need far exceeds what we are able to support. The policy recommendations made in the FAB Council report are integral to filling the gaps in abortion access that exist for Californians and those in our sibling states," she said.

California plans to be abortion sanctuary if Roe overturned

By ADAM BEAM

 People rally in support of abortion rights at the state Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., May 21, 2019. On Wednesday Dec. 8, 2021, a group of abortion providers and advocacy groups recommended California should use public money to bring people here from other states for abortion services should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. The report has the backing of key legislative leaders, including Senate President Pro Team Toni Atkins, a Democrat. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — With more than two dozen states poised to ban abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court gives them the OK next year, California clinics and their allies in the state Legislature on Wednesday revealed a plan to make the state a “sanctuary” for those seeking reproductive care, including possibly paying for travel, lodging and procedures for people from other states.

The California Future of Abortion Council, made up of more than 40 abortion providers and advocacy groups, released a list of 45 recommendations for the state to consider if the high court overturns Roe v. Wade — the 48-year-old decision that forbids states from outlawing abortion.

The recommendations are not just a liberal fantasy. Some of the state’s most important policymakers helped write them, including Toni Atkins, the San Diego Democrat who leads the state Senate and 

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom started the group himself and in an interview last week with The Associated Press said some of the report’s details will be included in his budget proposal in January.

“We’ll be a sanctuary,” Newsom said, adding he’s aware patients will likely travel to California from other states to seek abortions. “We are looking at ways to support that inevitability and looking at ways to expand our protections.”

Abortion, perhaps more than any other issue, has divided the country for decades along mostly traditional partisan lines. A new decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which could come next summer, would be the culmination of more than 40 years of conservative activism. But Wednesday’s report offers a first glimpse of how Democratic-dominated states could respond and how the debate over abortion access would change.

California already pays for abortions for many low-income residents through the state’s Medicaid program. And California is one of six states that require private insurance companies to cover abortions, although many patients still end up paying deductibles and co-payments.

But money won’t be a problem for state-funded abortion services for patients from other states. California’s coffers have soared throughout the pandemic, fueling a record budget surplus this year. Next year, the state’s independent Legislative Analyst’s Office predicts California will have a surplus of about $31 billion.

California’s affiliates of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, got a sneak preview of how people might seek abortions outside their home states this year when a Texas law that outlawed abortion after six weeks of pregnancy was allowed to take effect. California clinics reported a slight increase in patients from Texas.

Demonstrators rally to to demand continued access to abortion during the March for Reproductive Justice, Oct. 2, 2021, in downtown Los Angeles. On Wednesday Dec. 8, 2021, a group of abortion providers and advocacy groups recommended California should use public money to bring people here from other states for abortion services should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. The report has the backing of key legislative leaders, including Senate President Pro Team Toni Atkins, a Democrat. 

(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)

Now, California abortion providers are asking California to make it easier for those people to get to the state.

The report recommends funding — including public spending — to support patients seeking abortion for travel expenses such as gas, lodging, transportation and child care. It asks lawmakers to reimburse abortion providers for services to those who can’t afford to pay — including those who travel to California from other states whose income is low enough that they would qualify for state-funded abortions under Medicaid if they lived there.

It’s unclear about how many people would come to California for abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned. California does not collect or report abortion statistics. The Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights, said 132,680 abortions were performed in California in 2017, or about 15% of all abortions nationally. That number includes people from out of state as well as teenagers, who are not required to have their parents’ permission for an abortion in California.

Planned Parenthood, which accounts for about half of California’s abortion clinics, said it served 7,000 people from other states last year.

A huge influx of people from other states “will definitely destabilize the abortion provider network,” said Fabiola Carrion, interim director for reproductive and sexual health at the national Health Law Program. She said out-of-state abortions would also likely be later term procedures, which are more complicated and expensive.

The report asks lawmakers to help clinics increase their workforce to prepare for more patients by giving scholarships to medical students who pledge to offer abortion services in rural areas, help them pay off their student loans and assist with their monthly liability insurance premiums.

“We’re looking at how to build capacity and build workforce,” said Jodi Hicks, CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. “It will take a partnership and investment with the state.”

Abortion opponents in California, meanwhile, are also preparing for a potential surge of patients from other states seeking the procedure — only they hope to convince them not to do it.

Jonathan Keller, president and CEO of the California Family Council, said California has about 160 pregnancy resource centers whose aim is to convince women not to get abortions. He said about half of those centers are medical clinics, while the rest are faith-based counseling centers.

Many of the centers are located near abortion clinics in an attempt to entice people to seek their counseling before opting to end pregnancies. Keller said many are already planning on increasing their staffing if California gets an increase of patients.

“Even if we are not facing any immediate legislative opportunities or legislative victories, it’s a reminder that the work of changing hearts and minds and also providing real support and resources to women facing unplanned pregnancies — that work will always continue,” Keller said.

He added: “In many ways, that work is going to be even more important, both in light of the Supreme Court’s decision and in light of whatever Sacramento decides they are going to do in response.”

'Zombie fires' burn despite temperatures plunging to 74 degrees below zero

By Adam Douty, Accuweather.com


Bone-chilling conditions are being reported across parts of Siberia, which has been experiencing some of the coldest air on Earth in recent days. Despite a blast of cold that is the most extreme in nearly eight years, "zombie fires" continued to burn beneath the frozen landscape.

On Tuesday evening, the temperature in Delyankir, Russia, fell to 75 degrees below zero, making it the lowest temperature recorded in that location since January 2014. Last winter, the temperature fell to a minimum 73 below zero on Jan. 18.

Delyankir is located in remote eastern Russia about 300 miles to the north of the Sea of Oshkosh.

The region is known for its extreme cold. Oymyakon, located about 90 miles to the southwest of Delyankir, is touted as the coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth with a record low of 90 below zero that occurred in 1933.

On Tuesday evening, local time, the temperature in Oymyakon plunged to minus 72 degrees, brutal to be sure, but still 1 degree shy of where the mercury bottomed out there last January.

Oymyakon, Russia: the coldest town on Earth

It was cold enough for local schools to close late last week, according to The Siberian Times. When temperatures fall below minus 63 degrees, children younger than 11 stay home. Anytime temperatures are "milder" than 63 below zero, all students are expected to attend class. At minus 65 degrees, all in-person classes are canceled.

The extreme cold may have been able to cancel school for some kids in the region, but it had a harder time extinguishing some of nature's most unrelenting wildfires, which have continued to burn right through the brutal cold snap. Peat fires, also known as "zombie fires," can burn for months or even years at a time. Video obtained by The Siberian Times and posted on Twitter showed smoke rising from the depths of a snowy landscape last week as the fires continued burning underground.

"I [saw] them near to grasslands close to the village of Khara Tumul, not far from Oymyakon," local photographer Semyon Sivtsev told The Siberian Times. "It was in the area where wildfires were burning in the summer."

"I know at least one zombie peat fire burning for several years in the area of Mundullakh, not far from Oymyakon," Sivtsev said. The fire was ultimately extinguished by snowmelt and heavy rains, according to Sivtsev.

Peat fires smolder under ice and snow during the winter only to emerge in the spring, according to Nature. Peat is a layer of soil that often consists largely of decaying plant material, and the fires that it fuels can release vast amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere since peatlands are carbon-rich.

The wildfire season across Yakutia, Russia's largest territory and home to Oymyakon, was one of the worst on record for the region as nearly 31,000 square miles were charred, according to The Siberian Times. These fires can ignite peat which in turn can smolder for years, even under snow and ice and through some of the world's lowest temperatures.

The extreme winter climate of far northeastern Asia is also referred to as the "Pole of Cold," according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist Jim Andrews.

"The Siberian 'Pole of Cold' is located within the Sakha Republic, or Yakutia, in northeastern Asia," Andrews said. "In winter, it is the coldest inhabited area on Earth -- only the tops of the great Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets are colder."

Normally in Delyankir, high temperatures of 40 to 50 degrees below zero range from the middle of November through the middle of February. The normal low temperature during the time dips into the minus 60s.

During a record cold stretch of weather last winter, Yakutsk experienced one of the longest stretches of temperatures below minus 40 degrees in at least 14 years. Yakutsk is also situated in eastern Russia, about 500 miles to the southwest of Delyankir.

Widespread snow cover, the lack of heating due to a low sun angle and no nearby large bodies of water tend to make the region prime for extremely low temperatures during the depths of winter.

Huge bodies of water tend to retain heat better than land, so places that are situated closer to large bodies of water tend to be milder compared to places that are landlocked far from a body of water.

This cold snap comes less than six months after the region baked in record heat. Back in late June, temperatures in Oymyakon soared to 88.8 degrees, the hottest it has ever been in June up to that point.

While temperatures typically do not remain at levels currently seen across the region for much more than a few days to a week at a time, it is unlikely the region will have a significant turn to milder conditions anytime soon.

Leaking California oil pipe’s safeguards not fully working

By BRIAN MELLEY and MATTHEW BROWN

FILE - Workers in protective suits clean the contaminated beach in Corona Del Mar after an oil spill off the Southern California coast, on Oct. 7, 2021. A Dec. 3, 2021, report filed with federal regulators revealed the offshore pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil off the Southern California coast in October 2021 did not have a fully functioning leak detection system. The report was filed by pipeline operator, Beta Offshore, a subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy.

 (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The ruptured offshore pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil off the Southern California coast this fall did not have a fully functioning leak detection system at the time, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press.

The report was compiled by pipeline operator, Beta Offshore, a subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy, and filed with federal regulators. It reveals Amplify is investigating whether personnel or control room issues contributed to the accident but does not explain what was wrong with the detection system.

The report, filed last week and released to the AP under a public records request, gives no new details on a possible anchor strike on the pipeline from a cargo ship suspected to be the cause of the roughly 25,000-gallon (112,000-liter) spill. Coast Guard investigators have said they suspect the pipeline began leaking long after it was snagged by the drifting cargo ship during strong winds in January.

It’s not clear why it took so long for the 1/2-inch (1.25-centimeter) thick steel line to leak, or whether another anchor strike or other incident led to the rupture and spill. But experts say that a properly functioning leak detection system might have been able to catch that things were amiss before an oil sheen spotted on the surface led to the leak’s discovery.

“The fact that they did not have the leak detection system working is surprising,” University of Houston pipeline expert Ramanan Krishnamoorti said, noting that the company’s accounting of the accident appeared inconsistent. “For experienced hands at this, when you’ve got a leak like this, you’d have seen signatures of it with pressure drops and flow rates.”

The spill came ashore at Huntington Beach and forced about a weeklong closure of that city’s beaches and others along the Orange County coast. Fishing in the affected area resumed only last week after testing confirmed fish did not have unsafe levels of oil toxins.

In its report, Beta said the pipeline’s leak detection system, while not fully functional, still helped to detect and confirm the leak. Federal investigators have previously said a low-pressure alarm went off at 2:30 a.m. on Oct 2, indicating a possible failure.

This still image from video taken Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, and provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows an underwater pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of oil off the coast of Orange County, Calif. Video of the ruptured pipeline shows a thin crack along the top of the pipe. A Dec. 3, 2021, report filed with federal regulators revealed the offshore pipeline off the Southern California coast did not have a fully functioning leak detection system. The report was filed by pipeline operator, Beta Offshore, a subsidiary of Houston-based Amplify Energy. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP, File)

But in its report the company says the leak wasn’t discovered until 8 a.m. that day, by a third-party contractor who reported an offshore slick and notified personnel on a nearby Beta oil platform. The spill wasn’t reported to authorities until more than an hour later.

Spokesperson Amy Conway with Amplify Energy declined to answer questions from AP about the leak detection system, citing the ongoing investigation.

“Amplify continues to remain committed to working with the regulatory agencies investigating this event,” she said.

Accident reports filed with the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration require companies to disclose the pressure of pipelines that fail. Beta said the line did not exceed maximum pressure but declined to answer what the pressure was when the line leaked. It said it would supplement its response when it determines the exact time the accident occurred.

The break in the pipe that runs along the sea floor 100 feet (30.5 meters) under water was less than one-hundredth of an inch wide (.2 millimeters) and more than 20 inches (50 centimeters) long, the report said. That means the line could have been leaking for hours or days, according to Krishnamoorti and a second expert, pipeline accident consultant Richard Kuprewicz.

“It isn’t like a rupture that’s wide open, but it’s going to move some oil,” Kuprewicz said. He added that the report leaves unresolved questions about the spill and the company’s response.

“We don’t know how their leak detection system is set up. People think we ought to be able to see a pressure loss, but sometimes pressure loss wouldn’t show up even when you have big pipeline ruptures,” he said.

As of Nov. 11, the cleanup from the spill had cost the company more than $17 million. It also lost up to about $45,000 in oil, based on an estimated 588 barrels lost at a price of $76 each.

The damaged section of pipeline was expected to be removed under an order from pipeline safety officials that required a metallurgical analysis of why the line failed within 45 days of receiving the Oct. 4 order. However, that hasn’t happened.

Amplify attorneys said in a civil lawsuit related to the spill that it is awaiting approval of a repair plan the company submitted to federal officials on Nov. 19.

Because a dive team that was to perform the work was called away by the U.S. Navy to the Persian Gulf, the earliest the repairs would happen would be Dec. 15, and next February is more likely, the company’s attorneys said in a report to the federal court filed last week.

___

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.

Giant Christmas tree outside Fox News headquarters set afire | AP News

 

A man was charged with arson and other crimes

 Wednesday for setting fire to a 50-foot (15-meter) 

Christmas tree in front of Fox News headquarters in

 midtown Manhattan, police said. (Dec. 8)

Father’s Nazi past haunts Chilean presidential frontrunner
By FRANK JORDANS and JOSHUA GOODMANtoday


1 of 8

An image of an ID card issued by Germany's Federal Archive that shows that an 18-year-old named Michael Kast joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or NSDAP, on Sept. 1, 1942. While the Federal Archive couldn't confirm whether Michael Kast was the German-born father of the Chilean presidential frontrunner José Antonio Kast, the date and place of birth listed on the card matches that of José Antonio Kast's father, who died in 2014. A copy of the ID card, identified with the membership number 9271831, was previously posted on social media by Chilean journalist Mauricio Weibel.

 (German Federal Archive via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — The German-born father of Chilean presidential frontrunner José Antonio Kast was a member of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party, according to a recently unearthed document obtained by The Associated Press, revelations that appear at odds with the far-right candidate’s own statements about his father’s military service during World War II.

German officials confirmed this week that an ID card in the country’s Federal Archive shows that an 18-year-old named Michael Kast joined the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or NSDAP, on Sept. 1, 1942, at the height of Hitler’s war on the Soviet Union.

While the Federal Archive couldn’t confirm whether Kast was the presidential contender’s father, the date and place of birth listed on the card matches that of Kast’s father, who died in 2014. A copy of the ID card, identified with the membership number 9271831, was previously posted on social media on Dec. 1 by Chilean journalist Mauricio Weibel.

The ID card’s emergence adds a new twist to a highly charged presidential runoff billed on both side as a battle of extremes — between communism and right-wing authoritarianism — and marked by a steady flow of disinformation that has distorted the record and campaign pledges of Kast’s opponent.

Kast, 55, from the newly formed Republican Party, led the first round of Chile’s presidential election last month, two points ahead of leftist lawmaker Gabriel Boric, who he now will face in the Dec. 19 runoff.

A fervent Roman Catholic and father of nine, Kast’s family has deep ties to the military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet that came to power following a coup in 1973. His brother, Miguel Kast, served as the dictator’s central bank president.

“If he were alive, he would have voted for me,” Kast said of Pinochet during the 2017 campaign, in which he won just 8% of the vote. “We would have had tea together” in the presidential palace.

On the campaign trail this year, he has emphasized conservative family values, attacked migrants from Haiti and Venezuela he blames for crime and blasted Boric as a puppet of Chile’s communists.

He’s made inroads with middle class voters concerned that Boric — a millennial former student protest leader — would disrupt three decades of economic and political stability that has made Chile the envy of many in Latin America. To underscore those concerns, Kast traveled last week to Washington and met with American investors as well as Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the subcommittee overseeing U.S. relations with Latin America.

Some of his more radical supporters have also launched an online scare campaign involving a fake tweet from leftist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, false allegations that migrants are manning voting booths and a made-up medical report after Kast in a debate urged Boric to take a drug test.

The latest opinion polls give a slight edge in the runoff to Boric, who has pivoted to the center to galvanize support from voters fearful of a return to the country’s tumultuous past.

“This backs up Boric’s framing of the race as a dichotomy between fascism and democracy,” Jennifer Pribble, a Chile expert at the University of Richmond, said of the older Kast’s wartime record. “To the extent Kast seems to be hiding some element of his family’s history, it plays into that narrative.”

It’s unclear if Kast was aware of his father’s NSDAP membership card. Carolina Araya, a spokeswoman for Kast’s campaign, wouldn’t comment when asked repeatedly by the AP.

But in the past Kast has angrily rejected claims that his father was a supporter of the Nazi movement, describing him instead as a forced conscript in the German army.

“Why do you use the adjective Nazi?” he said in 2018 TV appearance in which he said he was proud of his father and accused a prominent Chilean journalist of trying to spread lies.

“When there is a war and (military) enrollment is mandatory, a 17 or 18 year old doesn’t have the option to say, ‘I’m not going,’ because they will be court martialed and shot to death the very next day,” he said later that year in comments posted on his social media account.

There is no evidence Kast had a role in wartime atrocities such as the attempt to exterminate Europe’s Jews. But while military service was compulsory, membership in the Nazi party was voluntary.

Some Germans enthusiastically joined the party while others did so believing it would bring advantages in a society where large parts of public life were expected to fall in line with Nazi ideology from 1933 onward.

“We don’t have a single example of anyone who was forced to enter the party,” said Armin Nolzen, a German historian who has extensively researched the issue of NSDAP membership.

Kast joined the party in 1942 within five months of turning 18 — the minimum age required for membership. He likely was a member of the Hitler Youth for at least four years before joining the party and would have been recommended by the district leader, Nolzen said. In all, the party had 7.1 million members that year — about one-tenth of the population.

Michael Buddrus of the Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History in Berlin cautioned against overestimating the significance of NSDAP membership in people that young, but agreed that Kast must have joined of his own volition.

Given that Kast entered the military soon after, Buddrus said it was possible the teenager had never actively participated in a party gathering or paid dues.

“If you’re a party member, you’re a party member,” said Richard F. Wetzell, a research fellow at the German Historical Institute in Washington. “Being a party member does bind you to the party and its ideology even though many may have joined for purely opportunistic reasons.”

A 2015 book about Pinochet’s civilian collaborators written by Chilean journalist Javier Rebolledo claimed that the older Kast was at first reluctant to join the Nazi party. But he was persuaded by a sergeant to do so as he was being deployed to the Crimean Peninsula, according to Rebolledo’s book, which cites a memoir by Kast’s wife.

The war at the time was dominated by the Battle of Stalingrad, a turning point for Nazi Germany’s assault on the Soviet Union that resulted in some 2 million deaths and the local surrender of Axis forces a few months later.

As the war was ending, Kast, then serving in Italy, obtained a false ID indicating he was a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to Rebolledo.

After twice escaping arrest at the hands of the Allied forces, he returned to Germany and was discovered during the postwar period of denazification. But when he confessed his deceit, a sympathetic prosecutor took pity and in recognition of his honesty burned his army record, according to Rebolledo’s book.

The younger Kast has accused the Chilean journalist of taking his mother’s memoir out of context and distorting facts to attribute sinister motives to his father’s wartime activities.

Whatever his record, Kast migrated to Chile in 1950, followed a year later by his wife and oldest two children, and established himself in Paine, a rural community south of the capital of Santiago. Eventually, the couple built a small business selling cold cuts from a roadside kiosk into a nationwide chain of restaurants and manufacturer of packaged food.

A 1995 law passed by Chile’s congress granting the older Kast citizenship highlights his deep Catholic roots and “grand spirit of social justice” that translated into his role helping build five chapels, hospitals and a youth center as well as providing employees of his company, Cecinas Bavaria, with the means to buy their own homes.

But there was a darker side to the clan’s success.

According to Rebolledo, leftist agitators and peasants had threatened to expropriate the family’s business during the socialist administration of Salvador Allende. The day after Pinochet’s coup against Allende, police in Paine mopped up, disappearing in broad daylight a young militant, Pedro Vargas, who had been organizing workers at Bavaria, as he waited in line to buy bread.

The candidate’s brother, Christian Kast, testified that as a 16-year-old in the immediate aftermath of the coup, he had delivered food to the town’s police and spent the night with them. He told investigators probing Vargas’ disappearance that the next day he attended a barbecue at the police station and saw a dozen detainees — but not Vargas — hauled away, their heads shaven, never to be seen again.

With Vargas missing, a member of his family went in anguish to appeal for aid from Michael Kast.

“I thought he was going to help,” the person told the AP on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation nearly five decades on. “But he told me to go home, that there was a war going on and it was a matter of life and death. I couldn’t believe it.”

Today, just a few miles from where the presidential hopeful lives, symbols of the passions that filled Vargas’ shortened life — a book, a scale of justice, a photo of his dog — decorate one of 70 mosaics paying tribute to each of the victims stolen from the bucolic town that has the distinction of having suffered the most disappearances per capita in all of Chile.

___

Goodman reported from Miami. AP Writers Patricia Luna and Eva Vergara in Santiago, Chile contributed to this report.

Spain considers banning smoking in cars
by Arshiya Jahanpour
December 8, 2021
in Spain




The draft health plan also promotes generic packaging on cigarettes

The government in Spain has been forced by the priority of the coronavirus pandemic to delay moving forward on its fight against tobacco use, but has pushed ahead this week by finalising its ambitious Comprehensive Plan for the Prevention and Control of Smoking. The proposal contains five main goals and 21 objectives to be achieved in the next four years, among which include banning smoking in cars, introducing generic packaging for brands and equalising the law by imposing restrictions on electronic cigarettes.

The final draft has now been sent to scientific and medical experts as well as all the autonomous communities who will have until December 15 to submit their contributions.

Smoke-free outdoor spaces
The rule change would include “certain spaces of the private sphere”, such as “private vehicles”.

Electronic cigarettes
In the very near future, the Ministry of Health also wants to modify the current law to reflect “the changes in the market with the appearance of new products”, including e-cigarettes. If approved, the legislation will mean that electronic cigarettes are subject to the same rules and regulations as regular tobacco products.

Generic packaging
Spain plans to follow in the footsteps of countries such as France and Australia by implementing generic packaging for all cigarette brands, as well as banning flavouring additives in tobacco and related products.

In addition, the government plans to crack down on the “advertising, promotion and sponsorship” of tobacco and the covert advertising and promotions on social networks.

Objective
With this proposal, “Spain plans to reach the goal established by the WHO of a relative reduction of 30% in tobacco consumption by the year 2025” while reducing its environmental impact by prohibiting smoking on beaches.

Overall, this country wants to follow the European recommendation of lowering daily smoking rates by 5% by 2040 in general and by 7% for those aged between 14 and 18.

Source: Murcia Today

UK ‘open to influence’ from world’s kleptocrats

by Arshiya Jahanpour
December 8, 2021


LONDON — The U.K. should clamp down on money laundering by kleptocrats from post-Soviet republics, who have become increasingly influential donors to the Conservative party, a leading foreign affairs think tank warned.

In a report published Wednesday, Chatham House said Westminster — and Boris Johnson’s Conservative parliamentary party in particular — “may be open to influence from wealthy donors who originate from post-Soviet kleptocracies and who may retain fealty to these regimes.”

According to the report, the Conservative Party received £3.5 million from naturalized British citizens of Russian and Eurasian backgrounds between 2010 and 2019 — and the volume of donations appears to have increased ever since.

The authors argue regulatory failures and a lack of enforcement make it easy for kleptocrats from countries including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan to launder money and their reputations in the U.K. The think tank calls on the government to come up with a new anti-kleptocracy strategy.

“The situation is materially and reputationally damaging for the U.K.’s rule of law and to the U.K.’s professed role as an opponent of international corruption,” the report states. “It demands a new approach by the U.K. government focused on creating a hostile environment for the world’s kleptocrats.”

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss did not comment when asked during an event Wednesday whether the government is doing enough to restrict the access of Russian and Eurasian finance to the City of London to launder cash.

The report warns that after securing residency and moving their capital to the U.K., kleptocrats often try to gain traction in British society by hiring public relations agents; forging ties with political and business leaders; creating charitable foundations; seeking the support of think tanks and elite universities; or buying prestigious commodities such as football clubs.

British universities and think tanks should be part of any future strategy, the report argues, because unlike U.S. institutions they are not required to make their donors, amounts of money handed over or any conditions attached public. Only seven out of 24 leading research universities in the U.K. have established public ethical guidelines and a dedicated and independent gifts committee, according to a survey carried out by Chatham House.

Source: Politico

Bionic eyes gives hope to the blind
by Arshiya Jahanpour
December 8, 2021


The Phoenix99 Bionic Eye is an implantable system, designed to restore a form of vision to patients living with severe vision impairment and blindness caused by degenerative diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa. The device has two main components which need to be implanted: a stimulator attached to the eye and a communication module positioned under the skin behind the ear.

Published in Biomaterials, the researchers used a sheep model to observe how the body responds and heals when implanted with the device, with the results allowing for further refinement of the surgical procedure. The biomedical research team is now confident the device could be trialled in human patients.

The team will now apply for ethics approval to perform clinical trials in human patients, as they continue to develop and test advanced stimulation techniques.

The Phoenix99 Bionic Eye works by stimulating the retina – a thin stack of neurones lining the back of the eye. In healthy eyes, the cells in one of the layers turn incoming light into electrical messages which are sent to the brain. In some retinal diseases, the cells responsible for this crucial conversion degenerate, causing vision impairment. The system bypasses these malfunctioning cells by stimulating the remaining cells directly, effectively tricking the brain into believing that light was sensed.

Source: Healthcare in Europe