The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) has proposed new rules for Mold Assessors and Remediators. The proposed new rules are necessary to implement the transition of the Mold Assessors and Remediators program from the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) to TDLR. Texas Senate Bill 202 proposed transferring Mold licensing from TDSHS to Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) effective on November 1, 2017. The proposed rules are published in the April 21, 2017, issue of the Texas Register (42 TexReg 2057). The TDLR will accept comments on the proposal until May 22, 2017. The proposed Read More »
High Speed Video of Frogs Nabbing Dinner For the full article, visit ScienceNews.
Community Environmental services Industry news Safety SSCI history
Hidden Dangers of Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells
Oil spills consisting of crude oil or drilling “mud” are often found at oil and gas drilling sites. Drilling fluids are captured during drilling in pits and held for later disposal. The frequency of spills and improper maintenance and disposal of drilling mud results in soil, surface water, and groundwater impacts. Once the drilling field has been exhausted or abandoned due to economic reasons, the wells, drilling equipment, tanks, pits, gathering lines, and other equipment (as seen in the pictures above) are left behind for property owners to cleanup. Because there are no requirements in most states for property owners Read More »
Many people enjoy feeding bits of bread to hungry ducks and geese as their children laugh, squeal, and giggle feeling as if they are part of nature. However, Texas Parks and Wildlife warns that feeding migratory ducks at local ponds and creeks can create problems for the birds and the environment. These problems include: Malnutrition Dependency Disease Environmental Degradation Water Pollution Artificial feeding also attracts birds to human habitats such as parking lots, fast-food restaurants, and retention ponds where they are subject to injury or accidental death. Waterfowl are protected by natural cover in wildlife areas that provide protection from bad Read More »
Community
A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at the office! A great day of fishing is even better.
SSCI participated in a fishing trip courtesy of Armand Bayou Nature Center (ABNC) and Texas Legacy Outdoors. Captain Dwayne Green navigated the waters of Matagorda Harbor and Matagorda Bay resulting in a successful catch by Helen I. Hodges, President of SSCI. Ms. Hodges with her catch, a Speckled Trout, is pictured with Captain Green on Matagorda Bay on March 18, 2017. ABNC located in Clear Lake, Texas stands out as one of the largest urban wilderness preserves in the United States, providing the community with exceptional educational, recreational, and health benefits of nearby nature. ABNC is planning for the future Read More »
SSCI has a long tradition of mailing out seeds in the spring. This year we are mailing Forget-Me-Not-Seeds (Blue – Myosotis sylvatica). Forget-Me-Not Flowers grow well in shady areas and require minimal care to flower. Forge-Me-Not flowers grow best in damp, shady areas but adapt well to sun light. These long-lived flowering plant product beautiful foliage year after year. Plant in fall or spring when cooler temperatures help them get a healthy start. Drop us a note at ssci@sscienvironmental.com if you would like to receive a package of seeds.
Mercury is dangerous to us and animals. This naturally occurring element can affect the nervous system of any animal with too much exposure. Exposure to mercury during digestion is less hazardous to our bodies than inhalation of mercury gas. People who inhale large amounts of mercury are susceptible to harm because the mercury absorbs in our lungs and begins attacking our nervous system. Different animals can be extremely sensitive to ingestion of mercury. As a child of the 1970s, I remember the scramble of a classroom when a mercury thermometer broke in a classroom. I remember the hype associate with Read More »
We just received the following update from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). We are pleased to announce the TCEQ updates to the Texas Risk Reduction Program (TRRP) Tier 1 Protective Concentration Levels (PCLs) are now available. You can access these tables using the link: http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/remediation/trrp/trrppcls.html. We are releasing the 2016 PCL table update as a single Microsoft Excel workbook with each table on a separate worksheet. We are also releasing the updates as a print only Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF) file. The Excel file and the PDF file each contain PCL tables 1 through 10 and the Read More »