URBAN WATERWAYS PROGRAM EXPANDS The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in
create jobs, and protect Americans’ health through
partnership with the White House Council on Environmental
collaborative efforts.
Quality, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other federal partners, announced at a May 15 press conference in Grand Rapids, Mich. that the Urban Waters Federal Partnership has added 11
Among the 11 new project locations are the Big River and Meramec River watersheds near St. Louis, Mo., the Grand River in Grand Rapids, Mich., and the Western Lake Erie Basin near Toledo, Ohio.
new locations. Through the partnership, federal agencies are
The partnership is now in 18 communities and is looking
working to revitalize urban waterways and communities that
to expand to the country’s largest cities and underserved
surround them, transforming overlooked assets and driving
communities. These projects will address a wide range
urban revival.
of issues, such as improving water quality, restoring
The goal of Urban Waterways is to restore waterways and
ecosystems, and enhancing public access to urban waters.
their environments, boost recreation, help local economies,
TRANSATLANTIC SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION MS Turanor PlanetSolar,
phytoplankton and ocean eddies, and whirlpools that carry
the largest solar-
large amounts of energy. The vessel will also conduct
powered yacht ever
environmental clean-up missions by collecting fl oating
constructed set
plastic waste and host educational events in port cities to
sail in April on a
raise public awareness of climate issues.
transatlantic, scientific expedition to study climate change.
The MS Turanor PlanetSolar will sail along the Gulf Stream’s ocean current, one of the most important regulators of European and
The 102-ft. catamaran will dock in 16 different cities along its
North American
journey. The expedition kicks off the vessel’s second global
climates, from
tour and the launch of the 2013 “PlanetSolar Deep Water”
May to August.
expedition, where scientists from the University of Geneva will
planetsolar.org
collect data from air and water to study the key parameters of climate regulation, specifi cally atmospheric aerosols,
BOATING FATALITIES AT ALL-TIME LOW The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) released its 2012 Recreational
other top five primary contributing factors in fatal boating-
Boating Statistics on May 20, revealing that there were only
related accidents.
651 boating fatalities in 2012, making it the lowest number of boating fatalities on record (see Safety Article on pg. 16 of May/June 2013).
Almost 71 percent of all fatal boating accident victims drowned, and of this number, 84 percent were not wearing a life jacket. Approximately 14 percent of the deaths occurred
From 2011 to 2012, deaths in boating-related accidents
on vessels where the operator had received boating safety
dropped to 651 from 758, a decrease of 14.1 percent. The
instruction. The most common types of vessels involved
number of injuries from boating-related accidents dropped
in reported accidents were open motorboats, followed by
to 3,000 in 2012 from 3,081 in 2011, a 2.6 percent reduction.
personal watercraft and cabin motorboats.
The total number of reported recreational boating accidents also dropped to 4,515 in 2012 from 4,588 the previous year, a decrease of 1.6 percent. Boating accidents in 2012 accounted for approximately $38 million in property damages. Alcohol use was listed as the leading factor in 17 percent of all deaths. Operator inattention, operator inexperience, improper lookout, machinery failure, and excessive speed were the
Only 9 percent of all boating accident fatalities occurred on vessels where the operator had received boating safety instruction from a National Association of State Boating Law Administrators-approved course provider. To view the 2012 Recreational Boating Statistics, go to: www.uscgboating.org/statistics/accident_statistics.aspx.
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