Northrop Grumman Corp To Clean Up Califonia Water At Superfund Site

Northrop Grumman Corp on Thursday reached a settlement with U.S. environmental regulators that requires the aerospace giant to spend about $21 million to clean up groundwater pollution dating from World War II manufacturing through the 1980s.

Northrop operated three of 62 "source properties" that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found had discharged contaminants into groundwater at a Superfund site in the San Gabriel Valley, northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

The EPA announced the settlment on Thursday in a statement.

The Northrop sites were not the largest source of pollution, said Dustin Minor, EPA's acting branch chief in EPA's Office of Regional Counsel. "They just really stepped up to the plate and worked with the other parties," which will help pay for the clean-up, he said.

A Northrop spokesman had no immediate comment on the settlement, which requires it to build a groundwater cleanup system that will pump out the contaminated water and remove "volatile organic compounds" from degreasers and metal cleaners used in area factories, EPA said.

The treated water will be used for drinking, water reclamation projects or discharged to surface water, EPA said.

The project is aimed at stopping the spread of a pollution plume that stretches six miles in length by one to two miles in width in underground aquifers that provide most drinking water to the valley's one million or so residents, Minor said.

The Superfund site is one of four areas of contaminated groundwater listed by EPA in the San Gabriel Valley in 1984.

The EPA plans to operate the groundwater cleanup system for about a decade while it formulates a plan to remove the contaminants from the aquifers, Minor said.

Northrop has already spent more than $10 million on remediation efforts under a 2002 EPA order, and total cleanup costs in the area so far have topped $70 million, the agency said.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Sberbank To Lend RusHydro $626 Million For Dam Repairs

Russia's largest lender, state-run Sberbank, will lend power major RusHydro 20 billion rubles ($626.2 million) to help it repair a power station crippled in an accident last week.

Sberbank's chief, German Gref, told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin the loan would be granted at low rates, with the first 10 billion-ruble credit line to be opened before the end of the year, the government said in a statement on Tuesday.

A surge of water destroyed a turbine room at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric dam in eastern Siberia on August 17. RusHydro said on Tuesday 71 workers had been killed and four more were still missing.

RusHydro has said it will take three years to repair the dam and analysts have estimated repair costs at around 40 billion rubles.

The chief executive of aluminum producer RUSAL, one of the station's main customers, said last week repairs on the dam could take between four and five years.

RusHydro shares were down 1.7 percent down at 0836 GMT, slightly underperforming the broader MICEX index.

SOURCE : REUTERS

Mexico Hit By Lowest Rainfall In 68 Years

Mexico is suffering from its driest year in 68 years, killing crops and cattle in the countryside and forcing the government to slow the flow of water to the crowded capital.

Below-average rainfall since last year has left about 80 of Mexico's 175 largest reservoirs less than half full, said Felipe Arreguin, a senior official at the Conagua commission, which manages the country's water supply.

More than 1,000 cattle have been lost due to lack of rainfall, and up to 20 million tons of crops managed by 3.5 million small farmers are at risk of being lost, agriculture groups say.

The arid northwest region of Mexico has been hardest hit, along with the central part of the country surrounding Mexico City where 20 million people live.

Mexico typically has a rainy season from around June to October, topping up lakes and reservoirs that supply much of the country's water during the rest of the year.

The El Nino weather phenomenon, a warming of the seas in the Pacific Ocean, has induced a dry spell in South America and is likely partly to blame for Mexico's lack of rain, experts say.

Authorities have reduced the flow from the Cutzamala series of dams and rivers more than 60 miles long that supplies a quarter of Mexico City's water to ensure enough is available until next year's rainy season.

Trucks are delivering water to some parts of the capital where cuts have made the flow of water intermittent.

In Mexican states like San Luis, Aguascalientes and Colima, some farmers have been unable to successfully plant their crops because of a lack of rain, while others watched their corn and beans plants wilt. Authorities are handing out cash to small farmers in hard-hit areas.

Four-fifths of Mexico's water resources are used to irrigate crops and the government is encouraging farmers to adopt more efficient methods over the long term.

In neighboring Guatemala, the government is distributing emergency food to 56,000 families whose crops have been damaged.

Mexico's sugar crop was harvested before the drought set in, and coffee farms are mostly in unaffected areas.

Already-taxed underground water accounts for most of the supply to Mexico City, an urban sprawl built over a drained lake bead, and will likely face more stress.

Mexico has had slightly less rainfall over the past decade but there is insufficient data to say how much global warming can be blamed, Arreguin said.

Mexico City officials are urging residents to conserve water by installing efficient shower faucets and to use buckets instead of hoses to wash their cars.

SOURCE : REUTERS

IBM Sees Big Opportunity In Water Management IT

IBM is pushing ahead into providing technology services to manage water, a market $10 billion market that the company sees growing quickly.

"This to me is an area that's really going to explode in the next three to five years," said Sharon Nunes, who heads IBM's Big Green Innovations initiative. "People see it as a gap. The water market is transforming."

Big Green Innovations, a play on IBM's nickname Big Blue, is part of IBM's so-called 'smarter planet' initiative that aims to apply information technology to efficiently manage electrical grids, transportation systems and other infrastructure.
"We are actually looking at three different markets -- industrial sector, for example food and beverage companies ..., local and municipal governments, water utilities," said Sharon Nunes.

Her group looks at business opportunities in sectors such as water, carbon management, solar technology and desalination.

"We are in discussions with a lot of food and beverage companies and some of the industrial processing companies," Nunes said, referring to new water management contracts.

Government stimulus in the water sector China and the United States, estimated at around $10 billion to $15 billion, will help establish the market for water management, Nunes said.

Governments, investors and human rights activists all see managing fresh water as key challenge in the coming decade. Billions of people already lack access to clean water and development and climate change are expected to disrupt the supply of fresh water even more.

IBM estimates leaks account for up to 60 percent of water supplied, costing water utilities worldwide $14 billion every year.

Managing water resources would include monitoring rivers, water reservoirs and pipes. IBM also provides systems for managing water infrastructure, such as level oversight and flood control, Nunes said.

The technology company, whose products range from servers and software to consulting services, currently has a commercial deal underway with the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries in New York to build a monitoring and forecasting network for the Hudson River.

Also, IBM is working with researchers to monitor wave conditions and pollution levels in Galway Bay, Ireland, and is putting together smart water meters in Malta in cooperation with the utilities there.

The company's flood management and control system is getting a lot of attention from flood-prone countries in Asia.

"We are seeing some initial inquiries from a lot of smaller Asian countries," Nunes said. "In areas where there is government stimulus packages, there's been a lot of outreach from some of the companies to IBM."

SOURCE : REUTERS