New steps to keep sewage from Passaic River

During heavy rains, Bergen and Passaic county towns along the Passaic River are the recipients of raw sewage swirling down the river from Paterson.

That’s because the rainwater rushes down the city’s streets and into storm drains, where it joins sewage from homes and businesses flowing into a sewage treatment plant. And the extra surge of rainwater can overwhelm the aging system, dumping the toxic mix of pollutants swept from the streets as well as the sewage through 24 overflow pipes directly into the river.

Paterson officials have estimated that to fix the system — ripping up streets and laying lines to handle sewage and rainwater separately — could cost $1 billion, money the city doesn’t have. For the full article click here 

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Robichaud: Beware of Hillary Clinton’s infrastructure plan promises

Hillary Clinton has announced a $275 billion upgrading infrastructure plan. While she calls it a “down payment,” that’s no small price tag. No wonder Hillary thought she was dead broke after living in the White House.

Her latest spending initiative includes giving free broadband to every American, fixing roads and bridges, improving mass transit, investing in ports, waterways, airports, railways and upgrading the electrical grid. Moreover, she wants to use $25 billion to create a national infrastructure bank. The only thing missing is a wall on the border.

Does every American need free broadband? Putting aside that debate, should we trust a Hillary Clinton administration to implement $275 billion in spending? For the full article click here 

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U.S. Plan Will Fix Area Roads

West Lebanon — There was good news out of Washington this week for Upper Valley officials seeking funding for a number of transportation projects, ranging from a major safety overhaul along Route 12 in Charlestown to the replacement or repair of aging bridges over Vermont rivers in towns such as Strafford and Chelsea.

After years of stymied efforts to address the nation’s aging and congested highways and transit systems, Congress found the sweet spot for passage on Thursday — a five-year, $305 billion bill laden with enough industry favors, parochial projects, safety improvements and union demands to gain overwhelming support.

The bill was approved, 359-65, in the House and 83-6 in the Senate Thursday night.

All seven members of the Vermont and New Hampshire delegations backed the bill, though U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., missed the vote because he was flying to New Hampshire that night for presidential campaign events on Friday. For the full article click here 

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Hackers could take over critical infrastructure and bring huge attacks, Reddit users warn in terrifying thread

Computer software is invading computer systems around the world and could be lying in wait to strike at our most important infrastructure, according to Reddit users.

People have been sharing some of the most powerful and scary powers that computer hackers might have. And they include taking over industrial machinery and using potentially to kill people, according to posts on the site.

In a thread asking “What are the best computer hackers able to do right now that most people are unaware of?”, Reddit users shared stories of the huge danger that computer hackers are able to bring to normal people. For the full article click here 

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Champlain Parkway inches forward

Rain trickled through cracked asphalt on the Champlain Parkway near U.S. 7 in Burlington Wednesday afternoon. Built in the 1980s and abandoned shortly thereafter, the divided highway has done little more than provide overflow parking for the nearby Howard Center.

A completed parkway, if wary South End residents set aside their skepticism, is on the horizon. City leaders this week promised to resume construction on the 50-year-old project by 2018.

Aware the derelict parkway reinforces the ugly trope of inefficient municipal government, Mayor Miro Weinberger and Chapin Spencer, his public works director, have pledged to complete a number of projects that have languished for years in planning stages. For the full article click here 

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Highway Bill Adds New Security Measures to Federal Power Act

Amendments to Federal Power Act grant the DOE authority to order emergency protective actions by utilities, provide greater protections for Critical Energy Infrastructure Information, and exempt utilities from environmental fines when subject to emergency DOE orders.

The newly passed “highway bill,” the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, amends the Federal Power Act to incorporate new energy security provisions. Those provisions aim to strengthen the federal government’s authority over electric grid emergency response, facilitate coordination among federal agencies on reliability issues, enhance the protocols for protecting and sharing Critical Energy Infrastructure Information (CEII), and exempt utilities from environmental penalties when operating subject to Department of Energy (DOE) emergency directives. For the full article click here 

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Anacostia Park can help weaken climate change’s damage

Anacostia Park could better serve the needs of the surrounding community if it were easier to access and there were more to do there. Fixing it up could also help protect generations of District residents from the worst impacts of climate change.

Real environmental problems are on the horizon

The primary challenge that climate change will put in front of the District in coming decades will be the risk of flooding caused by both tides and storm water. DC will lead the East Coast in tidal floods by 2045, due to rising sea levels, according to a report from the Union of Concerned Scientists released last year.

Large-scale projects such as seawalls are going up to protect DC’s critical infrastructure, but smart growth and green infrastructure can often accomplish the same mission at a fraction of the cost. For the full article click here 

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