Environment

A nuclear waste leak in the U.S., which has become known as ‘Americas Fukushima’, has left 33 workers ill from exposure to radiation, as authorities scramble to clean up the facility at the Hanford Site in Washington state.  The leak was found back in 2011 on the inner hull of one of the site’s 28 double-wall storage tanks. Weather.com reports: The previous leak posed an insignificant threat, but workers came across an even larger leak in recent weeks while attempting to clear the inner hull of its remaining waste.

By EconMatters

The mild winter has Nat Gas stocks at record levels, but the last time this many natural gas rigs went offline in 2012, prices rebounded to the $5 level nicely on a long trending trade. Traders and Investors are trying to anticipate and evaluate the likelihood of this move in Natural Gas happening again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfyGxfjSLfU

The devastating wildfire that has already forced all 88,000 residents to flee Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, exploded tenfold in size on Thursday, cutting off evacuees in camps and shelters north of the city. Firefighters are trying to battle the out-of-control blaze, which has already destroyed homes and is threatening infrastructure. Wildfire Spreads in Fort McMurray https://t.co/WP4HnKjL7T#NASApic.twitter.com/7dUTDAmqRd — NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) May 5, 2016 Officials estimated that 1,600 structures had been damaged or destroyed by Wednesday night.

Submitted by Wolf Richter of Wolf Street

Freight Rail Traffic Plunges: Haunting Pictures of Transportation Recession

292 Union Pacific engines idled in Arizona Desert

Total US rail traffic in April plunged 11.8% from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads reported today. Carloads of bulk commodities such as coal, oil, grains, and chemicals plummeted 16.1% to 944,339 units.

An estimated 40,000 tons of salmon, 8,000 tons of sardines, and masses of dead wales have washed up on the beaches across Chile in recent months. The mass creature deaths are thought to be as a result of the El Niño that arrived at the beginning of 2016, which authorities say have choked the sea life to death. Telesurtv.net reports: That is about 12 percent of annual salmon production in Chile, the world’s second-biggest producer of the fish after Norway. This month, some 8,000 tons of sardines were washed up at the mouth of the Queule River.