EPA ASKS FOR NEVADA’S HAND IN CLEANING UP RADIOACTIVE GROUNDWATER AT BP’S ANACONDA MINE Meanwhile, in Yerington: The EPA is pushing to place Nevada’s Anaconda Copper Mine on the Superfund list, after 15 years of investigating the area’s uranium-contaminated groundwater and a nearly $20 million resident settlement: a 2013 class-action suit accused mine owner Atlantic Richfield and parent company BP America of intentional and negligent concealment of the extent of contamination from the site. The EPA sent a letter to Nevada governor Brian Sandoval last week, giving the state about a month to respond with any concerns about the intended listing. Nevada has previously fought the listing of the site 65 miles south of Reno, hoping to avoid drops in property values. In 2004, former Anaconda cleanup supervisor Eddie Dixon was fired by the Bureau of Land Management for alienating groups that help the agency to work “in an efficient and effective manner” — a 2008 panel upheld that Dixon was actually fired for insisting that health concerns be publicized. Dixon also documented irregularities like changes to content in his presentations by company marketing consultants. (Some dozen Superfund NPL sites are listed around the Greater Houston Area, including sites adjacent to or within a few blocks of 610 North, 610 South, and I-10 east of downtown.) [NYTimes, High Country News, Houston Chronicle, previously on Swamplot, HBJ]
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Tag: Meanwhile
A SAMPLER OF 2015’S MOST FOGGY, BEST FORESTED, AND OTHERWISE INTERESTINGLY UNHELPFUL ARCHITECTURAL RENDERINGS Meanwhile, in the digital ether: Designing any building comes with the concurrent challenge of producing appealing and informative renderings of the new project — a feat which not every project manages to achieve. To wrap up the year, the folks over at CityLab have pulled together 2015’s most um, “memorable” renderings. Notable entries include the museum shown entirely obscured by fog, a skyscraper optimistically covered in mature trees, and developments set in blank space and mysterious marshes. [CityLab]
FLOODING IN SOUTHEAST INDIA WORSENED BY MANMADE ISSUES OTHER THAN JUST CLIMATE CHANGE Meanwhile, in Chennai: An unusually heavy winter monsoon season led to serious flooding in the coastal Indian city earlier this month, costing hundreds of lives, disrupting local infrastructure and economic sectors, and interrupting access to food and water for millions of residents. The city’s plight precipitated discussions during the Paris Climate Conference of how the impacts of extreme weather events may be exacerbated by poor urban planning. The New Delhi-based Indian Express released a short video walking through some of the local planning issues that contributed to the catastrophic flooding — including illegal construction in floodplains or on top of filled-in water bodies, stormwater runoff infrastructure built without crucial topographic data, and valuable projects never executed at all. [Indian Express, Citylab]
DUBAI’S ENERGY PLAN WOULD PUT SOLAR PANELS ON EVERY ROOFTOP BUT WOULDN’T CUT CONSUMPTION Meanwhile, in Dubai: The United Arab Emirates, long a global symbol of extravagant wealth derived from the oil industry, is hoping to step into an equally dramatic role in the green energy scene — the recently-announced Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 calls for 25 percent of Dubai’s energy to come from clean sources by 2030, ramping up to 75 percent by 2050. The plan calls for solar panels to be placed on all rooftops in the city, and for a 5,000 megawatt solar energy park, which will generate nearly 10 times as much electricity as the next-largest such park currently in existence, California’s Solar Star. The push comes alongside neighboring Saudi Arabia’s movement toward solar energy, rooted in efforts to reserve more oil for export and remain a dominant fossil fuel force. [CityLab, the Atlantic]
DUTCH ARCHITECT READY FOR FUTURE MIXED-USE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN ABANDONED OIL TANKERS Meanwhile, in Amsterdam: As the IMF announces predictions of oil prices as low as $20 to $30 per barrel, architect Chris Collaris is already deep into planning for the conversion of empty oil megatankers into residential and mixed-use spaces. Collaris refers to “an overdose of pretentious iconic buildings” in oil-wealthy Persian Gulf states such as Dubai, and suggests that retrofitted tankers would serve as “a true icon” of today’s economic landscape “into the present and next era”, referencing a hypothetical post-oil future. Check out interior and exterior renderings and plans for the group’s inaugural design: the enormous Black Gold. [Chris Collaris, via CityLab]
SUBTERRANEAN GARDEN UNDERGOING LABORATORY TESTING IN NYC Meanwhile, under Manhattan: In a dense urban environment where natural settings come at a premium, a team of designers is following the lead of the High Line (which repurposed an elevated rail line track to create a linear public greenspace). The new plan: to turn a former trolley terminal into a sunlit underground park. The most obvious problems facing the Lowline project revolve around getting enough natural light underground to enable plants to survive and thrive — the designers have now opened the Lowline Lab, a laboratory-slash-community-center in which they will test out technological and horticultural ideas, while getting the public involved. [arch daily]
A&M TO ESTABLISH MARINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN ISRAEL AFTER PEACE CAMPUS TALKS BREAK DOWN Meanwhile, in Haifa: Details regarding a proposed Texas A&M institute in Israel were announced this week, with major edits to location, scale, and scope from earlier plans to place a campus in the country. In late 2013, A&M System Chancellor John Sharp announced a $200 million “peace campus” proposed for the city of Nazareth, intended as a multicultural university in the region’s notoriously tense ethnic landscape. But Sharp told the AP this week that the plans have been rethought due to concerns that local officials would exert control over the direction of the campus — instead, a $6 million marine observatory will open in collaboration with the University of Haifa, 20 miles west of Nazareth on the Mediterranean coast. A&M’s believes its Gulf of Mexico expertise will compliment the research at the new institute, which will also contribute to offshore oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. [Texas Tribune, AP]
PLANS TO PUT A HIGHRISE ON A TEXAS RANGERS STADIUM PARKING LOT RESURFACE YET AGAIN Meanwhile, in Arlington: The Arlington City Council and the Texas Rangers baseball team are discussing plans for a mixed-use highrise development on a parking lot next to Globe Life Park; the issue will be discussed at tonight’s City Council meeting. This is the fourth time plans have begun to move forward on developing the area around the stadium into a new downtown core — the last effort, in the leadup to the 2009 recession, ended in a tangle of reciprocal lawsuits between various developers of the 1.2-million-sq.-ft. “GloryPark” project and then-Rangers-owner Tom Hicks. Current plans under discussion include restaurant, retail, hotel, convention, and entertainment space; past plans have included residential development and a lake for watersports. [Dallas Morning News]
HOUSTON OIL COMPANY WANTS TO BUILD AN ISLAND ON THE ALASKAN COAST Meanwhile, in Prudhoe Bay: Houston-based oil company Hilcorp is seeking permission to construct 23-ac. Liberty Island off the north coast of Alaska by trucking 83,000 cu. yd. of gravel (more than 3 times the volume of the Astrodome) across sea ice to a hole, cut 6 miles offshore above only 19 feet of water. The island would serve as a base for several offshore drilling projects, collectively the first in federal waters off the Alaskan coast. A 5.6-mile undersea pipeline is part of the project. Manmade gravel islands have been in use in the region’s oil fields for decades. [Hilcorp, Associated Press]
THE NEW STANDOUT ON THE CORNER OF FAIRFAX AND WILSHIRE Meanwhile, in L.A.: The Petersen Automotive Museum reopened to visitors this week after a reddish redo spearheaded by NY design firm Kohn Pedersen Fox — to somewhat mixed reviews from architecture critics. Is the building’s new swirly facade of stainless-steel ribbons “kind of hideous,” “too Vegas,” or just “gloriously badâ€? [The Architect’s Newspaper; LA Times]
A SEAWALL IN CANADA TAKES A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO COMBATING COASTAL EROSION Meanwhile, in Vancouver: Those familiar with Galveston’s frequent sand replenishment projects likely know that flat seawalls can exacerbate beach erosion by reflecting wave energy that would dissipate more readily in a natural sandy setting. In response so-called king tides pummeling the coast of Vancouver, a Canadian landscape artist collaborated with a biologist and engineers to address beach erosion in a new way. Blending principles of ecology, hydrology, and aesthetics, Metamorphous incorporates boulders, plant life, and an angular a steel structure intended to rust away altogether in less than 100 years. The functional public art piece slows the flow of water as it rushes inland, causing sand to be deposited on the beach for the first time in resident memory. [Citylab]
CONSUMERS SEEK TO ESCAPE FROM HEAVY SMOG BY BUYING MORE CARS Meanwhile, in China: Unusually heavy smog levels led to disruptions across the country this morning. Beijing issued its first-ever Red Alert for unsafe air quality, shutting down schools and business across the capitol as particulate matter measurements topped out at 10 times higher than World Health Organization safety standards. National news agency Xinhua reported a deadly 33-car pileup in Shanxi province, exacerbated by poor visibility due to smog. On the East Coast, Hangzhou air traffic faced delays caused by smoggy conditions, which reduced visibility to 250 meters. Smog levels are expected to continue at today’s extreme levels for several more days. November smog is also thought to have contributed to a spike in car sales — the commonly held perception that air is cleaner inside a car is thought to be boosting vehicle purchases. Increased auto ownership in the past decade is ranked alongside coal-fired power plants as a leading cause of Chinese air pollution. [Independent, Xinhua, Bloomberg]
PHOTOS OF THE OIL DERRICKS THAT ONCE TOWERED OVER ALL THOSE FAMOUS CALIFORNIA BEACHES Meanwhile, in Los Angeles: Northern California’s redwoods are striking, but the forests of oil derricks that once spread across areas of urban southern California leave a distinct impression as well. The Retronauts at Mashable have pulled together a collection of photos of densely-spaced derricks that loomed over Venice, Long Beach, Signal Hill, and other well-known L.A. areas in the 1920’s and 30’s. The derricks can be seen standing tall in, around, and over urban scenes across the region — between houses, in commercial areas, and at the beach, all the way to the water’s edge. [Mashable]
DUTCH MUSEUM EMBRACED BY ITS SWAMPY SURROUNDINGS Meanwhile, in Werkendam: The Biesbosch Museum in the Netherlands now appears to have merged with the extensive wetlands of the surrounding national park, following renovations this summer that blanketed the building’s sloping exterior with grass and herbs. The new vegetation flows directly into the landscape of the Museum’s created island (developed as part of the extensive “Room for the River” initiative, meant to address severe flooding in areas of the low-lying nation). The Museum’s new exterior creates the illusion that sections of the landscape have been peeled up to form the building’s wedge-shaped exhibition spaces. [Dezeen]
DOWNTOWN ACREAGE SECURED FOR AUSTIN’S TALLEST AND WEIRDEST TOWER Meanwhile, in Austin: Land has been purchased for the construction of the proposed 58-story Independent highrise, also nicknamed “the Jenga Tower” for its unsettling offsets and angles. The Independent is planned to be the the tallest residential building in Austin, not to mention west of the Mississippi. You can take an animated tour through the structure’s floorplans and amenities in a dizzying video released by the developers. [Austin-American Statesman; Independent Austin]