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Water Environment & Technology (WE&T) is the premier magazine for the water quality field. WE&T provides information on what professionals demand:
cutting-edge technologies, innovative solutions, operations and maintenance, regulatory and legislative impacts, and professional development. |
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June 2007, Vol. 19, No. 6 |
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Waterline
Airport Bomb Squad ‘Detonates’ Water Research
Anne Jefferson, a research associate studying hydrology in the department of geosciences at Oregon State University (Corvallis), never knew her data logger for tracking water temperatures would come under the scrutiny of an airport bomb squad.
Jefferson had been using the devices to collect water temperature data in stream channels along the Mississippi River. According to a press release from the data logger’s manufacturer Onset Computer Corp. (Bourne, Mass.), she put the data loggers in the trunk of a rental car she had been driving Thanksgiving weekend. Jefferson and her husband spent the holiday with family, and forgot to look in the trunk when they returned the car to the airport. By the time they arrived in Oregon and found federal agents waiting for them at the gate, the damage was already done.
A rental car company employee had been suspicious of the five 305-mm (12-in.) lengths of PVC pipes filled with gravel that he found in the car’s trunk, according to the manufacturer. The pipes each contained three battery-powered, underwater temperature-monitoring devices, which are slightly larger than bottle caps and have blinking LED lights.
The employee called the airport police, who in turn called the FBI, who eventually brought in a bomb squad. Onset reported that when bomb-sniffing dogs found nothing, the squad removed the pipes from the trunk and used a high-pressure stream of water to “detonate” them. Nothing exploded, but the pipes were reduced to bits of plastic pipe and gravel.
Two weeks after the incident, Jefferson finally received all the loggers in a sealed police evidence bag. When Onset learned that Jefferson’s underwater temperature loggers were water blasted by the Minneapolis–St. Paul airport bomb squad, the company helped her recover the 5 months worth of data stored on them.
“The data is the study, the basis for my postdoctoral research,” said Jefferson, “and without it, there was going to be a problem.”
Overall, no great harm was done, according to the manufacturer, though Jefferson hasn’t tried to fly anywhere or rent a car since the incident. “We're probably on their blacklist,” she said.
Six Wetland Stewards Win National Awards
Six citizens have been recognized nationally for their on-the-ground wetland conservation efforts and decades-long dedication to protecting these important natural resources. A panel of wetland experts assembled at the Environmental Law Institute (ELI; Washington, D.C.) in March to select the winners of the 2007 National Wetlands Awards. Winners exemplify the extraordinary commitment and innovation that is instrumental to conserving wetlands in the nation’s communities, according to a press release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“These wetland champions are restoring and protecting one of America’s greatest natural assets through education, conservation, and dedication,” said Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA assistant administrator for Water.
The 2007 awardees are members of the Brockway family, who have enhanced and restored more than 100 ha (250 ac) of wetlands on their land in Burlington, Iowa; Jeanne Christie, a national leader in the development of local, state, and national wetland programs; Paul Keddy, a wetland ecologist and professor at Southeastern Louisiana University (Hammond), who has developed strategic plans for scientific wetland restoration; Jeff Nania, who as director of the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association (Hartland) has led the restoration of thousands of acres of wetlands; Lynda Saul, wetlands program manager at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, who established the Montana Wetlands Council with more 400 members statewide; and Alice Wellford, a wetlands advocate and community organizer based in Richmond, Va.
Collectively, the award winners have conserved thousands of wetland acres and mobilized hundreds of other individuals to contribute to wetland conservation, according to EPA.
EPA notes that program co-sponsors — ELI, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Federal Highway Administration, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service — hope that recognizing wetland leaders for their efforts will inspire others to follow their example.
“Wetlands provide a vital link between our land and water resources, supplying a wide variety of ecological functions,” commented Forest Service Chief Abigail R. Kimbell. “The Forest Service is proud to support the National Wetland Awards program and to recognize the extraordinary work of the award recipients.”
For more information on the National Wetlands Awards Program and the 2007 awardees, see www.nationalwetlandsawards.org.
©2007 Water Environment Federation. All rights reserved. |
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