Reports of mutant shrimp spawned recent news stories linking Gulf of Mexico shrimping closures to the British Petroleum oil leak of 2010. It turns out the closures are regularly scheduled seasonal occurrences that allow small shrimp to grow to a marketable size.

The ABC affiliate in Pensacola, Mobile, and Fort Walton Beach published an April 21 post on its website entitled “Looming Crisis: Officials Close Gulf Waters to Shrimping as Reports of Deformed Seafood Intensify.” the now-deleted story is replaced by a simple retraction announcing a temporary closure by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) due to shrimp size. “And we’d like to clarify that the closures were not due to lesions being found on shrimp as we reported earlier this weekend and Monday morning,” notes the site.

Indeed, ADCNR’s marine resources director, Chris Blankenship, confirms otherwise. According to the local NBC affiliate, Blankenship announced the state will likely open its shrimping season early this year due to unseasonably warm weather but denied any link between the size of shrimp and the BP leak.

Likewise, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is set to close shrimping in that state on may 15. “The closure is designed to allow these small shrimp to grow to a larger more valuable size before they are vulnerable to harvest,” said Robin Riechers, TPWD coastal fisheries division director. According to the Texas Victoria Advocate TPWD biologist Norman Boyd predicts a good year for shrimping based on preliminary studies. And Bloomberg reports Louisiana shrimping is set to open may 21 when shrimp catches are projected to measure 100 count per pound or less. (The larger the shrimp, the fewer shrimp per pound.)

Yet media reports still point a finger of blame at BP. Writing about the doomsday retraction, New Orleans attorney Stuart Smith warned on his blog, “However, let me be very clear, the confusion over the water closures in no way changes the fact that there are severely deformed shrimp, crabs and fish coming out of the Gulf of Mexico.” He references an AP story in Texas’ Beaumont Enterprise detailing accounts of sick marine life near the leak site. It provides evidence of contamination there but acknowledges the relatively small percentage of fish affected by what scientists refuse to definitively attribute to the 2010 incident.

Writing for The Picayune Item in Mississippi, David Farrell reports the problem with seafood isn’t safety but supply. He quotes George Lods, an area seafood wholesaler, who gets most of his product from the Gulf of Mexico. “Because of the BP oil spill, Gulf Coast seafood is probably the most tested seafood in the world, and yes, it is safe, no question,” said Lods.

Farrell interviewed several other local business owners who agree dwindling supplies are driving costs up, partly due to government interference. Lods points out oyster reefs were closed for months after the leak, and now oyster prices are double. New EPA refrigeration requirements for boats have driven up costs for fishermen as well. But more is involved than seafood. even the price of farm-raised freshwater catfish has tripled since the leak, hardly attributable to BP.

Lods is optimistic about this year’s catch. “The supply should get more plentiful and prices should start to fall,” he predicts. “I think this year will be a decent season.”

Others are not as hopeful. Seafood business owner Dean Blanchard is distressed by scanty catches full of shrimp with lesions and tumors, “stuff that I’ve never seen in my life,” reported The Daily Comet in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. He blames the 2010 leak and chemical dispersants used to dissolve the oil.

It is true that dispersants injected into the leaking oil in 2010 prevented it from surfacing and instead formed a toxic sludge on the Gulf floor. as shrimp are bottom-feeders, they could easily be affected. Back at the time of the leak The New American interviewed Dr. Walter Starck, a marine biologist who specializes in coral reefs and fisheries. He explained such dispersants were “far more damaging to marine life” than crude alone. “Their only real purpose is cosmetic and PR at the expense of the environment,” Starck asserted.

“It is impossible to tell whether there has been a significant increase in the natural rate of deformations from a few anecdotal accounts,” Starck says in response to current reports of sick shrimp. “If such an increase is real and related to the oil spill it would seem most likely to be related to the massive use of chemical dispersants rather than to the oil itself. Deformities do not seem to have been associated with numerous previous spills, but the use of dispersants in this one was far greater than ever before.”

Mutants No Danger to Gulf Shrimping

Some worker bees really have it made.

At the iconic Fairmont San Francisco, located atop Nob Hill, they live in one of San Francisco’s poshest neighborhoods amid fragrant lavender, kumquats and edible flowers. They literally buzz upstairs to the penthouse for a drink.

We’re talking real bees here; bees that refresh themselves at the outdoor penthouse fountain high above the fray. If you’re staying with your kids at the Fairmont — and when I was there recently the hotel was packed with families — show them the beehives in the hotel’s 1,000-square-foot culinary garden, installed by Executive Chef jW Foster to help support the bee population, which has dropped 90 percent since the 1980s. The kids can peer through the glass to see the bees flying around the lavender. (Learn more with the “Chef’s Apprentice” package)

The honey in their muffins or cookies comes straight from the hives in this urban garden, Chef Foster says, and veggies are grown by local farms. Foster has made a great effort since he arrived at the Fairmont two years ago to improve and upgrade both the kids’ and adults menus with fresher, local ingredients — a Fairmont-wide initiativ — that is especially notable at this historic hotel, Fairmont’s first, which was originally set to open on April 18, 1906 — the day of the great Earthquake. (It opened a year later, heralding the city’s recovery and has been a prominent San Francisco fixture ever since.)

At the Fairmont’s Laurel Court restaurant (kids will love the domed ceilings and murals), the kids’ menu now includes “organic weeds,” (translated: baby greens with balsamic vinegar), gluten-free sesame rice noodle salad and Vegan Butternut squash bisque, along with mini burgers (made with local organic beef) and mac and cheese (with local cheese).

Finally, it appears, the hotel industry is paying attention to what traveling families have long been saying: make kids’ menus healthier; give kids more choices! Early this summer, Hyatt, too, is set to unveil new children’s menus, according to Susan Terry, vice president of Culinary Operations for Hyatt’s North American Hotels. Hyatt’s initiative will be monitored by the Partnership for a Healthier America (which works with the private sector and honorary chairwoman first Lady Michelle Obama to solve the nation’s childhood obesity crisis. This is all part of Hyatt’s new Food Thoughtfully Sourced, Carefully Served global initiative that stresses local ingredients and healthier cooking.

Hyatt will offer fruits or vegetables as sides for children’s meals and free refills for nonfat or low-fat milk. Kids can also order half portions from the adult menu for half the price, as they can at Fairmont hotels.

At the same time Destination Hotels and Resorts a collection of hotels from Austin to Aspen to Palm Springs to Maui has not only created a new healthy Kids Cafe menu, but also launched a contest for kids’ healthy recipes. Their just-announced winner (judged by kids) — Hidden Veggie Pepperoni Mac and Cheese — will be part of the hotels’ menus for the next year. Runners up included grilled Chicken with Mint Ginger Citrus Orzo.

“Kids should have the opportunity to explore local cuisine, just like their parents,” says Mariano Stellner, Fairmont’s corporate director of Food and Beverage, who launched the revamp of the children’s menus this past spring as the latest component in the hotel group’s Lifestyle Cuisine Plus Initiative, which offers healthier, low-fat foods.

“A lot of children are Food Network junkies,” adds Hyatt’s Terry. “They are much more sophisticated eaters than their parents were … they want interesting food.” Parents are telling hoteliers, “They don’t want to fill their kids up day after day with junk!”

First Lady Michelle Obama certainly would applaud these changes. She is at the forefront of a national effort to combat childhood obesity with her Lets Move campaign that encourages healthy eating and physical fitness.

“The whole (healthier foods) program has been very successful,” said Stellner. “Why not include children?” Why not offer baked chicken fingers rather than fried, veggie sticks instead of French fries or a half portion instead of a full order? Why not encourage kids to try local cuisine in Mexico or British Columbia?

Even the kids’ selections in the Fairmont San Francisco’s Tonga Room — popular since 1945 and recently restored (love the big canoe in the middle!) — have been updated to include spring rolls , chicken satay, little chowchow (wok flashed vegetables and noodles) and grilled teriyaki chicken.

Just don’t mention the word healthy. And parents should never assume what kids will or will not eat, says Susan Terry.

Still, every parent of a fussy eater knows it can be very difficult to get kids to embrace new foods. Jan Dane, a Rhode Island mother of three, acknowledges it is sometimes easier to take the path of least resistance and serve them chicken fingers, especially when you are traveling. It’s up to parents, she says, to give kids the nudge they need to try something new.

Dane’s job is to do just that. She’s the resident forager for the Ocean House Hotel in Watch Hill, RI. She teaches culinary classes to kids and adults at the small, upscale beachfront hotel and works closely with local farms. “I loved seeing a little boy eat his first oyster,” she said.

In France recently with her own children, Dane realized that most restaurants didn’t offer children’s menus, just smaller portions for smaller prices. “That makes so much sense,” she said.

To help kids understand where their food comes from — and maybe try something different — she suggests taking them to visit a farm or a farmer’s market wherever you travel — the one at the Ferry Building in San Francisco is one of my favorites. (Websites like FarmFreshRI in Rhode Island, LocalHarvest and FarmStayUS can help.)

Wherever we’re taking kids this summer, let’s make food part of the adventure.

And let’s hope more hotels and restaurants help us.

Click here for more Taking the Kids, and also follow “taking the kids” on www.twitter.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.

(c) 2012 EILEEN OGINTZ DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Taking the kids: food is part of the adventure at some hotels

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Pennystocksinsiders.com (PSI) has issued insider trading reports and Equity Research for the following companies: Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S), Macy’s (NYSE: M), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY), Goldcorp (NYSE: GG), and Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC).

(Logo: photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120307/HK65974LOGO )

(Read full report by clicking the link below, you may need to copy and paste the full link to your browser.)

Report Highlights:

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S): At the 2012 annual  meeting of Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S), shareholders appointed 10 Directors: Robert R. Bennett, Gordon M. Bethune, Larry C. Glasscock, James H. Hance, Jr., Daniel R. HessDe, V. Janet Hill, Frank Ianna, Sven-Christer Nilsson, William R. Nuti and Rodney O’Neal. in addition, according to the survey of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Sprint Nextel Corporation is the number one most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all 47 industries, over the last four years. Sprint Nextel Corporation shares ended lower by 2.83% to US$2.40 on over 43.28 million shares, below its 30-day average volume of 51.56 million shares. Investors may want to find out how company insiders like Executive Officers and Directors are thinking about the future business prospects of the company. Check this insider trade report for S here.

Read full Report: Pennystocksinsiders.com/PR/051712A/S/SprintNextel.pdf

Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M): By market close, Macy’s, Inc. (NYSE: M) advanced US$0.28 per share (equivalent to 0.76%), where stock prices went up to US$37.29. in the past 52 weeks, Macy’s, Inc. share prices have been bracketed by a low of US$22.66 and a high of US$42.17, and are now at US$37.29, 65% above that low price. the company has a market capitalization of 15.46 billion. are insiders starting to take huge profits by selling shares or exercising stock options? Academic studies have shown that insiders traditionally make higher investment returns than ordinary investors. want to find out how they do it?

Read full Report: Pennystocksinsiders.com/PR/051712A/M/Macys.pdf

ConocoPhillips Company (NYSE: COP): Pennystocksinsiders.com found Market Option Sale made by company Executive Vice President — Wallette Don E Jr. on May 11, at stock price US$53.80. Disclose date: May 15. by market close, ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) tumbled 0.40% to US$52.32. in the past 52 weeks, ConocoPhillips share prices have been bracketed by a low of US$52.13 and a high of US$80.13, and are now at US$52.32, 0.4% above that low price. Since insiders such as CEOs, CFOs and Directors have better access to company non-public information, investors would be wise to pay close attention to their stock trading behaviors. Check this insider trade report for COP here.

Read full Report: Pennystocksinsiders.com/PR/051712A/COP/ConocoPhillips.pdf

Today Pennystocksinsiders.com also observed abnormal trade volume for the following companies; insiders may involve trading in these companies. it will take some time for insiders to report their trades. Read these reports and add these companies into your Insider Trade Radar.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY):

Read full Report: Pennystocksinsiders.com/PR/051712A/OXY/OccidentalPetroleum.pdf

Goldcorp Inc. (USA) (NYSE: GG):

Read full Report: Pennystocksinsiders.com/PR/051712A/GG/Goldcorp.pdf

Kinross Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE: KGC):

Read full Report: Pennystocksinsiders.com/PR/051712A/KGC/KinrossGold.pdf

Insider Filing Source Reference: All observations, analysis and reports are based on public information released by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Pennystocksinsiders.com features a team of experienced data analysts striving to provide the investment community with the tools, software, and data necessary to carry out more effective investment research.

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Today’s Hot Stocks: Sprint Nextel, Macy’s, ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum, Goldcorp, and… — VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ –

NEW YORK  — Facebook Inc. sold 180 million of its shares in its initial public stock offering. Another 241.2 million came from existing stockholders, including the company’s earliest investors and CEO mark Zuckerberg.

Even after the IPO, Zuckerberg remains Facebook’s single largest shareholder, with 503.6 million shares. And he will control the company with 56 percent of its voting stock.

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• Reports come in from all over on Facebook’s stock market debut

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• Facebook: IPO presents rare opportunity to prosper

• Facebook: Hype is the enemy in investing

• Facebook prices IPO at $38 per share

The IPO sold at $38 per share, generating $6.8 billion for Facebook and $9.2 billion, collectively, for existing stockholders.

Here’s a look at early Facebook Inc. investors who sold stock in the IPO, how much money they gained and how many shares they still own.

— mark Zuckerberg

Number of shares being offered: 30.2 million

Number of shares still owned: 503.6 million

— James Breyer and Accel Partners, where he’s a partner

Year invested in Facebook: 2005

Number of shares being offered: 49 million

Number of shares still owned: 152.3 million

— Peter Thiel, managing partner at The Founders Fund and PayPal co-founder

Year invested in Facebook: 2004

Number of shares being offered: 16.8 million

Number of shares still owned: 27.9 million

— DST Global ltd. and affiliates, a London-based, Russian-founded investment firm focused on Internet companies and founded by Yuri Milner

Year invested in Facebook: 2009 and late 2010

Number of shares being offered: 45.7 million

Number of shares still owned: 85.6 million

— Goldman Sachs and affiliates, investment bank and one of the IPO’s underwriters

Year invested in Facebook: 2011

Number of shares being offered: 28.7 million

Number of shares still owned: 37.3 million

— Elevation Partners, private equity firm focused on media and technology and affiliates

Year invested in Facebook: Undisclosed

Number of shares being offered: 4.6 million

Number of shares still owned: 35.5 million

— Greylock Partners, Silicon Valley venture capital firm and affiliates

Year invested in Facebook: 2006

Number of shares being offered: 7.6 million

Number of shares still owned: 29 million

— Mail.ru Group ltd., Russian Internet company

Year invested in Facebook: 2009

Number of shares being offered: 19.6 million

Number of shares still owned: 36.8 million

— mark Pincus, Zynga Inc. CEO

Year invested in Facebook: 2004

Number of shares being offered: 1 million

Number of shares still owned: 4.3 million

— Meritech Capital Partners, venture capital firm focused on late-stage investments

Year invested in Facebook: 2006

Number of shares being offered: 7 million

Number of shares still owned: 33.4 million

— Microsoft Corp.

Year invested in Facebook: 2007

Number of shares being offered: 6.6 million

Number of shares still owned: 26.2 million

— Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn Corp. and affiliates

Year invested in Facebook: 2004

Number of shares being offered: 942,784

Number of shares still owned: 3.8 million

— Tiger Global Management, New York-based investment firm

Year invested in Facebook: Undisclosed

Number of shares being offered: 23.4 million

Number of shares still owned: 30.4 million

— Other, smaller stockholders are offering another 70,504 shares.

Source: Facebook and Associated Press calculations

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Facebook IPO: A look at who’s selling shares in the social network

Editor’s note: this article is part of a series on earthquake preparation. Read the rest of the articles here.

The Great Utah ShakeOut may be over for this year, but as its organizers, we hope your personal preparedness isn’t. if you haven’t heard yet, more than 941,000 people registered to participate. more than 33 percent of the state did an earthquake drill this past week, giving Utah the highest participating percentage of any ShakeOut yet.

Thousands of people, hundreds of businesses and many government agencies are beginning to make plans to improve themselves to be the best we can be when disaster strikes. Eventually, we’ll invite everyone to do this again to test the new plans we create.

If you participated, you can still share your stories, pictures and videos at ShakeOut.org/Utah.

The goal, to help people prepare, continues, and that’s why the Deseret News and Utah Disaster Kleenup came together to produce a Classroom Connections piece about what to do after an earthquake. The guide was distributed in the April 17 Deseret News.

Recovering from an earthquake will take all of us: law enforcement, firefighters, emergency management, volunteer organizations and neighbors helping neighbors.

Here are some more things you can be aware of:

Your personal recovery for a damaged home will depend on what you do now. consider adding earthquake insurance to your homeowner’s insurance policy. My family recently shopped around and found a policy with Farmer’s Insurance, which offers a 5 percent deductible. after seeing how the 1994 Northridge earthquake easily damaged my parents’ home to the tune of $40,000 and how earthquake insurance paid for $38,000 of those costs, it’s easy for me to shell out a few hundred extra dollars a year to know my home can be repaired.

Currently, only about 14 percent of Utah homeowners have earthquake insurance.

Going to a shelter

Care for large numbers of people displaced during a disaster will take place in shelters set up by relief organizations, such as the American Red Cross. if your family needs to stay in a shelter, plan to take the following items with you:

• Personal disaster supply kits.
• Water, food and snacks.
• Blankets, pillows and a change of clothing.
• Toothbrush, diapers and baby supplies.
• Personal identification and items for comfort.
• Games and toys for children.

What you do now will help you and your loved ones recover. more information is always available at BeReadyUtah.gov.

Blue Med Tent Drill, Ogden Regional

A tour of the “Blue Med” tent erected at Ogden Regional Medical Center for disaster drill as part of the Utah Great ShakeOut on April 19. this tent would be used as a mobile hospital during an actual disaster.

Joe Dougherty is a preparedness expert and the spokesman for the Utah Division of Emergency Management and be Ready Utah. Send your preparedness tips to jdougherty@utah.gov. Daily preparedness tips available at twitter.com/bereadyutah.

After quake practice, it’s time to improve

Resilience PDX is an event to connect Portlanders who want to acquire or share knowledge and skills about disaster preparedness. Geologists suggest we are due for a major earthquake in this region, and better preparedness can save lives and minimize impacts of a disaster. the more we are prepared, the faster we will be able to recover and return to ‘normalcy’. at this event, we will showcase the various groups around Portland that can serve as resources for the community before, during, and after a major emergency. There will also be a number of skills workshops, where experts will share knowledge to help you prepare for and recover from a disaster. All for free! Come learn and get connected. the final schedule will be posted by the end of may.

The following workshops will be offered:

The expected attendees include : Multnomah County Emergency Management, City of Portland Bureau of Emergency Management, Multnomah County Environmental Health, Earthquake Tech, Seismic NW, Oregon Red Cross, Oregon Food Bank, PREP, PHLUSH, Cloacina, Terra Firma, Portland Preparedness Center, Metrofiets, Portland Parks, Trackers Earth, PortlandNET, Betsy Shand, and more!

Who is behind This?

This event is a not-for-profit venture undertaken by the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN). Arif Khan, who has managed disaster preparedness and response projects in Asia and Africa for the past six years volunteered to help NECN identify ways to reduce the risks of disaster for the residents and business owners of Northeast Portland. he contacted various agencies and groups that were working in disaster preparedness and found that great work was being done by public agencies, community groups, and businesses. However, there was no effort to link-up the various efforts. So, he proposed a project to identify and map the resources, and he recruited a team of four extremely talented Portland State University Urban planning Masters students to take on this important project, which will culminate in June. This event on June 2nd is an outgrowth of that project and will bring together the individuals and groups that were involved, along with countless others from across the Portland area. the Steering Committee for this event includes: Patty Reuter (City of Portland), Steve Bullock (Multnomah County), Alice Lasher Busch, Rafael Gutierrez, and Liz Bryant (PREP).

Why

Disasters are often destructive and tragic. but as observed in many places in the world, disasters can also bring people together. it is through disasters that we are reminded of our shared humanity, regardless of our political or religious affiliations. while we don’t want a disaster to strike Portland, we must accept the reality of the risks that face our region and this planet. it is our vision that through preparedness, we can build upon Portland’s key strength, which is its cooperative culture of sustainability, and thus bring out the best of people, and a better future. Starting now!

http://www.resiliencepdx.org/

Resilience: Community Disaster Preparation workshop at King School, June 2nd « King Neighborhood Association

Earthquake-resistance checks lag on Tokyo buildings

News DeskThe Yomiuri ShimbunPublication Date : 14-05-2012

Earthquake-resistance checks have been conducted on only about 10 per cent of the buildings the Tokyo metropolitan government ordered inspected to prevent vital roads from being blocked after a major earthquake, sources have said.

It is urgent for the metropolitan government to have the checks implemented, as the collapse of such buildings along main roads and highways could severely hamper lifesaving efforts.

The metropolitan government enacted a local ordinance in April last year obliging buildings along specific emergency roads to improve their quake resistance so traffic would not be blocked during a major quake.

The metropolitan government designates major highways as emergency transportation roads on which lifesaving and reconstruction vehicle traffic is prioritised during disasters, such as a possible inland temblor under Tokyo.

Critical roads, such as Shuto Expressway’s Central Circular Route, Koshu Kaido and Ome Kaido, which total about 1,000 kilometres, are designated as specific emergency transportation roads.

The metropolitan government imposed the structural checks on owners of about 5,000 high-rise buildings constructed in or before 1981 along such roads.

There is concern that buildings constructed under the old quake-resistance standards in place until that year could collapse in the event of a tremor registering upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale.

The ordinance obliged owners to submit reports on building structures, and whether they had received quake-resistance checks and implemented measures to improve quake resistance, by January.

However, owners of about only 3,500 buildings out of the 5,000 submitted the reports by the deadline. Of the buildings that were reported on, only about 600 were confirmed to have received quake-resistance checks.

Concerning the other 1,500 buildings, an official of the metropolitan government’s Bureau of Urban Development said, “We know nothing about actions taken on the buildings to improve quake resistance.”

Since fiscal 2009, the metropolitan government has repeatedly visited the homes of the owners of the buildings in question to persuade them to implement the quake-resistance checks.

In fiscal 2011, the metropolitan government started a three-year subsidy programme that allowed building owners to receive the checks at the government’s expense, during a limited period.

The ordinance enables the metropolitan government to publicise names of sites and buildings that have not received the quake-resistance checks and impose a fine of up to 500,000 yen (US$6,200) on their owners.

A 67-year-old man who rents out buildings in Taito Ward said, “If the quake-resistance check result shows my buildings need to be repaired, I’ll have to compensate tenants for the inconvenience, so I can’t make up my mind.”

A 70-year-old director of a condominium association board that manages about 130 units in Setagaya Ward said: “Many unit owners live in other parts of the country, and fewer than 10 of them regularly attend the board’s general meetings. I’m not sure when we’ll be able to discuss the quake-resistance issue.”

In April, the metropolitan government announced its damage predictions in the event of an inland, magnitude-7.3 earthquake striking Tokyo with its epicentre in northern Tokyo Bay.

The predicted quake is much shallower than previous predictions, and the number of buildings expected to be destroyed in such a disaster increased from 51,000 to about 116,000.

An official of the metropolitan government bureau said: “The subsidy programme will end next fiscal year, after which owners will have to pay for the quake-resistance checks on their own. For this reason we want owners to take action as soon as possible.”

Earthquake-resistance checks lag on Tokyo buildings

BATTLE CREEK, MI — the trial began Wednesday for a former Kalamazoo River oil spill cleanup worker who sued his former employer after being fired in the weeks following the spill from Enbridge Energy’s pipeline in 2010. 

John Bolenbaugh said he was fired from SET Environmental because he said he told the Environmental Protection Agency of an illegal cover up of oil along the Kalamazoo River. But SET said he was fired because he brought footage of the cleanup to a Fox News affiliate.

Bolenbaugh, however, said he believes he was let go because he went to the Environmental Protection Agency. 

He is suing for lost wages, any future wages he would have collected, as well as compensation for emotional distress.

Bolenbaugh’s lawyer, Thomas Warnecke, said in his opening statement that Bolenbaugh brought footage of the “cover up” to a television station in Detroit after he went to his bosses and the EPA with his concerns about what he believed to be illegal activity.

“He blew the whistle to protect the community,” Warnicke said. “Why wouldn’t you clean (the oil) up properly? It cost money … This is all about the money with the oil companies.”

Warnicke said when Bolenbaugh talked with SET’s human recourses director, Jill Schoneman, the day before being fired, Bollenbaugh told her he had talked to the EPA. That, the attorney says, qualifies the case as a whistleblower lawsuit.

SET lawyer Doug Van Essen said in his opening statement to jurors, however, that Bolenbaugh was fired solely because he went to media, which is against the company’s policy. and not only that, after being told it was not acceptable, Bolenbaugh said he would continue to shoot videos and photos with his Blackberry cell phone, according to the lawyer for SET.

Bolenbaugh, Van Essen said, was an “openly insubordinate employee. … he can be a community activist, but cannot wear an SET hardhat,” the attorney said.

Van Essen said the company had no knowledge at the time of Bolenbaugh’s termination that he said he either had or would talk to the government agencies. “If he did talk to the EPA or DEQ, we haven’t heard from them,” Van Essen said.

Van Essen said Michigan’s Whistleblowers’ Protection Act only shields employees who bring evidence of wrongdoing by an employer to a public body, such as a government agency. the media is not a public body, he said.

Bolenbaugh is also suing under Michigan’s public policy law, which protects an employee for refusing to do something illegal. In this case, Warnicke said, it was refusing to dispose of hazardous material — oil — in an improper manner.

But Van Essen said Bolenbaugh was hired to help with the immediate cleanup of the spill and does not have the experience to judge if the cleanup was being done correctly.

Cleanup workers, Van Essen said, were trying to get as much oil handled as they could in the weeks following the spill so it wouldn’t spread further down the Kalamazoo River.

The lawyers in their opening statements cited two specific incidents during the cleanup. the first was when the crew ran out of material called “pom-pons” to absorb the oil, and instead of getting more they used grass that had just been cut to cover the oil, Van Essen said.

Another time, he said, a foreman from another company ordered employees the spread out the oil. A foreman from SET told his employees they didn’t have to do the work because it wasn’t the way the company normally does thing, according to Van Essen. “It’s not necessarily an illegality, just a disagreement on approach and they left,” the SET lawyer said.

Warnicke, however, said the conduct by SET workers was improper and that Bolenbaugh should not have been fired because he wanted to make known the improper cleanup methods.

The ways they went about cleaning up the oil were, Warnicke said, “improper … wrong and … illegal.”

Enbridge said it “would never instruct a contractor to cover oil” and the EPA would not comment on the lawsuit.

The trial is scheduled to continue Thursday in Calhoun County Circuit Judge James C. Kingsley’s courtroom with testimony from Schoneman and other SET employees.

Whistleblower lawsuit trial begins for former Kalamazoo River oil spill worker John Bolenbaugh

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has today announced the final decision in almost 11 months of flat land residential zoning in Canterbury.

“Today's news delivers certainty to the owners of 401 properties in Southshore West, following a long and frustrating wait,” Mr Brownlee said.

“It brings the number of residential properties zoned red because they are unsuitable for residential occupation to 7256.”

The first of eight zoning decisions (including today's) affecting over 150,000 houses on flat land in greater Christchurch was made on 23 June 2011.

“We always said the final zoning decisions would be the most difficult, because the nature of the damage and options for remediation were less clear cut than in the areas zoned earlier, but Southshore West has proved particularly challenging.

“Southshore West suffered major lateral spreading along the edge of the estuary in last February's quake, in some places over a metre.

“For that reason, and because treatment to prevent future lateral spreading would be invasive for people already living in damaged homes and take a number of years, 198 of the 401 properties in Southshore West closest to the estuary have been zoned red.

“The owners of these properties are now eligible to receive a Government offer of purchase,” Mr Brownlee said.

A recently announced change to the offer period means the owners of today's red zoned properties will have 12 months from the date on the offer letter to select an option and return the sale and purchase agreement to the Crown.

The remaining 203 properties in Southshore West have been zoned green, in Department of Building and Housing (DBH) Technical Category 3. Owners of these properties can now begin the process of making necessary repairs or rebuilding on their land.

The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) will now hold community meetings to help all affected residents understand what the announcement means and their options.

“Earthquake Support Coordinators and the Red Cross will be visiting all rezoned properties in the Southshore West area today, and will leave further information at those properties where no one is home when they visit,” Mr Brownlee said.

Flat land residential zoning now complete

Best selling crime author Peter James talks to Hannah Fleming about how he got the idea for his new book and what it is like to meet killers.

Peter James has been on risky police raids, spoken with some of Britain’s most dangerous psychopaths, and put up with his own stalker for 10 years.

These experiences have inspired the books which helped him become an international best-selling crime writer, most notably for his series involving detective superintendent character, Roy Grace.

While his books are filled with crime, which is sometimes quite horrific, James said one of his earlier novels Prophecy contained the most alarming scene he had ever written.

“Someone was put to death by a red hot poker up their backside, which was how King Edward II died. I was wincing while I was writing that,” he said.

Giving talks in prisons had also been an eye-opener. One woman in particular, who had poisoned her mother-in-law and husband, stood out to James.

“She was complaining to me about the amount of time she was given. that woman gave me the chills, it was as if she was complaining about a parking ticket.”

Spending time with the Los Angeles Police Department’s celebrity stalking team, and dealing with his own stalker for the past 10 years, provided James with the inspiration behind his latest novel Not Dead Yet.

“That really spooked me,” he said of his middle-aged, female stalker.

“If I left a talk and walked down a dark street I would look up and down and immediately think Kathy Bates in Misery.”

Also a film producer, James has worked with the likes of Sharon Stone, Charlize Theron and Al Pacino, who starred in his film, The Merchant of Venice.

that film was the work he was most proud of, said James, among a number of others which didn’t exactly receive rave reviews.

“I have made a few decent things, but not intentionally,” he laughed.

in his top five novels, James acknowledges Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock, and Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, however he also admits to reading the odd piece of chick-lit. “I read anything that’s on the bestseller list so I can find out what has made that book so successful.”

there are three things that make a successful novel, he said – characters that people will be engrossed with, an intriguing plot, and adequate research.

The keen motor racer said the most rewarding thing was receiving emails from people who had been inspired to read more after finishing one of his books.

“That is the best thing. I think if everybody read more, the world would be a better place.”

– © Fairfax NZ News

Research takes crime writer to scary situations