Schumer: Mattis should expedite Stewart cleanup.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer is calling on Defense Secretary James Mattis to expedite cleanup of toxic chemicals at Stewart Air National Guard Base as he and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced Tuesday that a spending bill passed by a Senate committee last week includes provisions spurred by the contamination.
In a recent meeting with Mattis, Schumer said he demanded that the Department of Defense speed up its investigation and cleanup of perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, a chemical found in foams used to extinguish aircraft fires.
High levels of the toxic chemical, which has been linked to cancers and other health problems, forced the closure of the City of Newburgh’s primary water supply more than a year ago and led to the designation of the base as a state Superfund site last August.
Federal and state officials have been demanding that Stewart move quicker to address the contamination and end discharges of wastewater into Silver Stream, which was determined to have carried the chemical into Newburgh’s Washington Lake.
“The DoD has tried to circumvent liability instead of honoring its responsibility to taxpayers and innocent families,” Schumer said.
One provision would give DoD authorization to clean up contamination at Air National Guard and Reserve bases.
In addition to Stewart Air Base, contamination from PFCs has been tied to Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Suffolk County.
The NDAA also includes $7 million in funding so the Centers for Disease Control can study the health impacts on people exposed to the chemicals through drinking water and the levels at which health problems occur.
“These provisions would allow the Air Force to address this crisis head-on and work with communities in New York to clean up and restore public-water supplies around the Air National Guard bases so residents can have access to clean drinking water,” Gillibrand said.

Egypt set to improve water access with new filtration technology.
As Egypt continues to make every effort to improve the living conditions of its inhabitants and in line with the National vision of Egyptian development 2030, under the auspices of the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development and the Ministry of Local Development.
Dr. Mostafa Medbouli – Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban communities, and Dr. Hisham Al-Sherif -Minister of Local Development will inaugurate the national conference “River Bank Filtration (RBF) for Drinking Water Supply in Egypt”, organized by the United Nations Human Settlements Program in cooperation with the Holding Company for Drinking Water and Sanitation, and with the attendance of Eng.
Mamdouh Raslan, Chairman – Holding Company for Water and Wastewater, and Mrs. Rania Hedeya, Programme manager of the United Nations Office of Human Settlements Egypt office.
Five UN organizations (UN-Habitat, UNIDO, UN-Women, ILO and IOM) have collaborated with the support and cooperation of the Ministry of Local Development and Minya Governorate to develop an example of integrated local development based on the combined protection and empowerment approach for local communities and administrations, through “Hayat project for local development”, funded by the United Nations Trust Fund and Swiss Development Cooperation.
As part of the project’s objectives of supporting and developing the infrastructure, the project was able to provide clean drinking water with innovative technology to 150,000 residents of Al Adwah and Maghagha centers in Minia governorate in less than 6 months and at a cost of less than 5% of the cost of water delivery using traditional technology.
The conference aims to develop a strategic vision for the scale up and replication of the implementation of this technology at the national level, which will save about 2.5 billion Egyptian pounds of the state budget and enable delivery of clean drinking water to more than 3 million people prioritizing vulnerable communities.
The conference calls on donors, international development and research communities to support this project to develop an executive plan that includes the stages of feasibility study for the implementation areas and the transfer of international expertise for planning and implementing these units through a clear system of management, operation and maintenance.
This shall ensure sustainability and effectiveness of interventions to enable Egypt to comply with the latest international technologies that ensure economic and environmental efficiency, supporting Egypt’s progress towards development goals in line with the global vision of sustainable development and the envisioned enabling of Egypt’s human rights commitments and achieve prosperity for all its citizens throughout the country.
Do you have more to share about this story – photos or video etc – you can send them to: (newsghana101@gmail.com)

Women Still Carry Most of the World’s Water.
Most of the work of getting water falls on women and girls.
Imagine going through your day without access to clean, safe water in your home for drinking, cooking, washing or bathing whenever you need it.
An insufficient supply of safe and accessible water poses extra risks and challenges for women and girls.
Simply to get water for drinking, bathing, cooking and other household needs, millions of women and girls spend hours every day traveling to water sources, waiting in line and carrying heavy loads – often several times a day.
The new UNICEF/WHO report states that 263 million people worldwide have access to water sources that are considered safe, but need to spend at least 30 minutes walking or queuing to collect their water.
Even when a household or village has access to a safe water source close to home, residents may not use it if they believe the water is inferior in some way.
A Focus on Women’s Needs When communities initiate programs to improve access to water, it is critical to ask women about their needs and experiences.
Although women and girls play key roles in obtaining and managing water globally, they are rarely offered roles in water improvement programs or on local water committees.
Numerous water projects in developing countries have failed because they did not include women.

New refilling stations to make water more accessible.
Local Business Three new refilling stations installed across the region are set to make drinkable water more accessible for residents.
The all-abilities accessible refilling stations come equipped with a drinking fountain and an outlet for refilling water bottles.
The feature also has a tap especially designed for filling a water bowl for four-legged friends.
The stations were donated via the Choose Tap initiative, aimed at promoting tap water as the best hydration choice for health, the environment and consumer’s hip pockets.
Northern Grampians Shire Council Mayor Tony Driscoll thanked GWMWater for the donation of the refilling stations.
He said the installation and continued upkeep of the stations was indicative of Northern Grampians Shire Council’s commitment to ensuring the health and wellbeing of residents.
"These stations have been distributed at various points around the Shire.
“They will help ensure that our residents and their animals have instantaneous access to water which is suitable for drinking."
Our residents will have instantaneous access to water.

New Jersey American Water’s Online Infrastructure Upgrade Map Provides Details on 2017 System Investments.
VOORHEES, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Showing its commitment to invest approximately $350 million in 2017 – nearly $1 million dollars a day – in needed system improvements, New Jersey American Water has published an interactive Infrastructure Upgrade Map on its website to share details about its pipeline renewal projects.
The map is located at www.newjerseyamwater.com under Water Quality, System Updates.
“One of the biggest challenges the country is facing is the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure is aging and needs to be repaired or replaced” Tweet this The user-friendly Infrastructure Upgrade Map allows customers to view details about the company’s water and wastewater pipe renewal or replacement projects across its 190 service areas in the state.
The map features summaries of pipe upgrades across the state, total dollars invested and length of pipe being installed.
“Oftentimes customers do not see their water bills at work because we may not be upgrading infrastructure in their neighborhood, and also because underground water and wastewater pipes are typically considered out of sight, out of mind,” said New Jersey American Water President Robert MacLean.
“This innovative, interactive map highlights our projects and provides details that customers can access from their computer or smartphone.” New Jersey American Water invests approximately $350 million annually to maintain and upgrade its water and wastewater systems to help ensure reliable service to customers.
And our ability to time these projects with municipal or county road work benefits everyone too, saving money and time and reducing inconvenience to residents.” New Jersey American Water, a subsidiary of American Water, is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 2.7 million people.
More information can be found at www.newjerseyamwater.com.
More information can be found by visiting www.amwater.com.

Robot can inspect water or gas pipes from the inside to find leaks long before they become catastrophic.
Unfortunately, leak detection systems are expensive and slow to operate—and they don’t work well in systems that use wood, clay, or plastic pipes, which account for the majority of systems in the developing world.
The device can be inserted into the water system through any fire hydrant.
It detects even small variations in pressure by sensing the pull at the edges of its soft rubber skirt, which fills the diameter of of the pipe.
Monterrey itself has a strong incentive to take part in this study, since it loses an estimated 40 percent of its water supply to leaks every year, costing the city about $80 million in lost revenue.
In Saudi Arabia, where most drinking water is provided through expensive desalination plants, some 33 percent is lost through leakage.
The next step for the team, after the field tests in Monterrey, is to make a more flexible, collapsible version of their robot that can quickly adapt itself to pipes of different diameters.
The value of the robot is not just for reducing water losses, but also for making water services safer and more reliable.
There is also the issue of loss of service to residents and business for extended period of time," says Mark Gallager, director of engineering and distribution at the Cambridge, Massachusetts, Water Department.
The MIT system was actually first developed to detect gas leaks, and later adapted for water pipes.

The surveys, conducted by a Water Resources team from the Pacific Community’s Geoscience Division have mapped new sources of underground water in Qerelevu (Ba) and Nanuku-Wailevu (Ra).
The initiative, funded by the European Union and implemented through the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Micro Projects Program, was carried out near a number of communities who are yet to be connected to the Water Authority of Fiji network and have a history of water shortages.
“Access to safe, reliable water for drinking and farming is essential for healthy, productive communities.
Due to the increased demand and the impact of extreme weather events, this access remains a challenge for some communities .
Sources of groundwater can be tapped to help meet demand, but it takes expert knowledge, specialist equipment and sustainable management.
SPC’s Water Resources Adviser, Peter Sinclair said the surveys – which use sophisticated geophysical electrical resistivity equipment – have detected places where there are likely to be sources of fresh underground water that could be potentially tapped.
“The areas surveyed currently rely on a combination of collected rainwater, springs or shallow wells.
“Groundwater from deeper sources has the distinct advantage that it is less impacted by droughts and cyclones, and so it offers greater reassurance of a safe water supply.
Identifying the sources of new water supplies is just the first step in the process but it is a significant one as the information can be used to develop future water supply systems as needed.
“The best approach for ensuring safe and resilient water supply to rural areas is to work within the physical and social limitations of the communities for which the water supplies will be used, operated and maintained,” Sinclair said.

Ho, July 18, GNA – Ghana ranks lowest in sanitation levels among all lower middle income countries, although richer than a lot, Mr David Duncan, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Chief of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) has said.
He said “political will is the challenge and not household wealth, a change in behaviour and not only constructing toilets” and asked stakeholders to take challenging decisions, and make sanitation paramount in all policies.
Mr Duncan said thousands of children died from diarrhoea and that the nation lost about 290, and 79 million dollars annually to poor sanitation and open defecation respectively.
Open defecation rates had dropped by one per cent in 24 years and he said with such rate of improvement, it would take Ghana about 500 years to become Open Defecation Free (ODF).
Mr Duncan said although the nation had about 70 per cent access to improved water, a quarter of health facilities lacked water, whiles only two out of five schools had clean supplies, and three out of five had toilets.
Mr Duncan said nationally, only one out of five people washed their hands and that the rate of diarrhoea in children under five years old was highest in communities with unimproved sanitation facilities.
About 90 per cent of Ghanaians had access to water but only a third drank quality water and Mr Duncan said UNICEF was supporting the drive for access to safe water by helping government make key decisions.
He said about 60 per cent of the populace used shared toilet facilities, 15 per cent used improved ones, six per cent unimproved, and 19 per cent practised open defecation and asked that toilets be built to withstand the weather, and be made affordable for the poor.
Donors had contributed over 500 million dollars towards WASH in Ghana, and he asked stakeholders to consider leveraging on internally generated funds as donor-funding declined in view of the country’s rising income status.
Mr Duncan said the Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach improved within three months of “incremental trials” and that there was the need to correlate behavioural change, sanitation marketing, and improved waste management.

Griffith tap water is safe despite its funny taste, Griffith City Council provides advises water sourced from Lake Wyangan.
He added testing regimes have been increased during this period as an additional measure to ensure water quality.
South Lake Wyangan is currently subject to an amber alert for the presence of blue-green algae, though the MI website says this does not prevent normal domestic water use.
The Area News understands Lake Wyangan water is “shandied”, or mixed with higher quality water, and then treated again to ensure it is safe.
NSW Waters works at Berembed Weir has meant the MI network has had no access to river water since early June with only water contained in the MI network available for town supply “As a result of the dry winter, town water use in the Griffith area has been significantly higher than expected, and this is putting pressure on supply,” Mr Stonestreet added.
He called for local residents to limit, and avoid unnecessary use of water over the next few weeks to protect the remaining supply.
MI advises Water NSW and MI works will be complete by early August.
Murrumbidgee Council has also advised Darlington Point water is safe to drink, and chlorine will continue to be added to the town’s water supply until further notice.
A press release stated a rigorous water quality program is being carried out, with daily testing carried out by Council and weekly tests by an independent testing laboratory.
Some 62 per cent of respondents to The Area News poll say their tap water is undrinkable and they have to buy, boil or filter.

Although the SDGs do not have goals and indicators specifically focusing on consumer rights, all the goals are in some way or the other related to protecting consumer rights.
Foundation of life Sustainable consumption and production are directly linked to fair markets and consumer welfare.
Achieving the goal of sustainable consumption and production is impossible without establishing fair markets, raising consumers’ consciousness and protecting their interests in accordance with the principle of consumer rights.
The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, which have set priorities and determined the kind of work necessary to address consumer concerns, will also help achieve the SDGs.
On the one hand, due to the lack of consumer awareness and absence of proper transport and storage facilities, more than 1.3 billion tons of foodstuffs are wasted every year.
On the other hand, about 1 billion people lack adequate nutrition and another 1 billion suffer from starvation.
Without consumers’ awareness, consciousness and feelings of ownership, it is virtually impossible to meet the targets set by SDG 12 such as implementation of the 10-year plan on sustainable consumption and production, prudent consumption and sustainable management of natural resources, reduction by half in the wastage of foodstuffs during production, storage, transport and consumption by 2030, dissemination of right information about sustainable development, proper waste management, etc.
As such, realising sustainable development goals requires effective initiatives towards consumer education and awareness, and a fair and consumer-friendly market system.
Citizen’s access to production and consumption is ensured in the fundamental rights and state’s policy in the Constitution of Nepal 2015.
Although it is the government’s responsibility to implement the policies to ensure the rights enshrined in the constitution, it doesn’t look possible without the pressure and support from the private sector and the civil society.