Finnish embassy first to earn LEED Gold certification

WASHINGTON — The Finnish Embassy has become the first embassy awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, according to The Cable.

According to the story, the 15-year-old embassy was retrofitted with occupancy sensors, recycling capabilities were increased, traditional cleaning supplies were replaced with green products, a non-smoking policy was introduced and garage space was redesigned to encourage alternative transportation among staff.

The building is now carbon-neutral, the story stated.

Finnish Ambassador Pekka Lintu said: "We are extremely proud to be the first embassy in the U.S. to achieve this recognition. Retrofitting our embassy building demonstrates that we Finns strive to be active but energy efficient members of our neighborhood and the greater D.C. community. We hope that our adaptation of green principles and our commitment to the well-being of people and the environment will inspire other foreign missions to view their opportunities in this field."

The Finnish embassy says that the have fundamentally changed the way they approach energy use, the story added.

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Proposed EPA budget dedicates millions to chemical safety

WASHINGTON - The Obama Administration today proposed a budget of $10 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This budget heeds the president’s call to streamline and find efficiencies in the agency’s operations while supporting the seven priority areas EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson outlined to guide EPA’s work.

The $10 billion Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget proposed yesterday by the Obama Administration includes nearly $100 million for chemical assessment and risk review, lead poisoning elimination and the reduction of exposure to mercury and asbestos, according to a press release.

According to the release, along with improving air quality, cleaning up communities and a number of other areas of concern, the budget will focus on chemical safety, with the goal of ensuring that no unreasonable risks are posed by new or existing chemicals.

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said: "The president's budget is focused on creating the conditions that help American families, communities and small businesses thrive. Clean air, clear water and green jobs are rebuilding the foundations for prosperity in communities across the country."

The budget comes after a number of EPA measures and proposed resolutions to increase chemical safety, including increased diligence under the Toxic Substances Control Act, the release added.

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Univ of New Hampsher had extensive cleaning for anthrax

DURHAM, NH — The Waysmeet Center at the United Campus Ministry for the University of New Hampshire (UNH) will undergo extensive cleaning after a woman was exposed to anthrax spores during a December 4 drum circle event, according to the Foster's Daily Democrat.

According to the story, the woman is doing much better and continues to recover from the exposure as state health officials prepare to decontaminate the building.

The cleaning plan includes the use of bleach and vacuuming to decontaminate five common areas that tested for low levels of anthrax, the story stated.

Deputy State Epidemiologist Jodie Dionne-Odom said the state will use one of the companies on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended list experienced with anthrax cleaning, but it will be the responsibility of the ministry to hire and pay a company, the story noted.

Dionne-Odom said: "It will be a period of a few weeks because several rooms need to be cleaned from top to bottom."

The quarantine of the Waysmeet Center, which began last month, will be lifted once the building has been cleaned, the story added.

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Woman sues cleaning crew over slippery hospital floors

GALVESTON, TX — A woman who slipped on a reportedly wet floor mat has filed a $75,000 lawsuit against the cleaning company for the University of Texas Medical Branch Harborside Trauma Center, according to the Southeast Texas Record.

According to the story, Leticia Thompson, in her suit against Sodexo and Sodexo Inc., claimed the cleaning company allowed the floor mat to become "slippery and dangerous," resulting in her fall on January 17, 2008.

The suit filed states: "The defendants' agents, servants and/or employees knew of or, in the exercise of ordinary care, should have known of the existence of the dangerous condition of the water under the mat."

Thompson claims a member of the cleaning staff was power washing in the area and water was allowed to collect under the mat, resulting it in slipping out from under her, the story stated.

The hospital was not named as a defendant in the suit, the story added.

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Student files lawsuit over coed bathrooms

POULTNEY, VT — Green Mountain College (GMC) freshman Jennifer Weiler has filed a lawsuit against the Vermont Department of Public Safety (DPS) claiming that coed bathrooms in the dormitory where she lives are in violation of state plumbing and building codes adopted in 2003, according to the Daily Orange.

According to the story, the codes require that separate facilities be provided for each gender where restroom facilities are required in public buildings, but the DPS said the codes are only applied to bathrooms in existence before the codes were in place if the plumbing has been changed or altered.

Kevin Coburn, the director of communications at GMC, declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said that students uncomfortable with the coed bathrooms could work with residential life staff to find a more suitable living situation, the story stated.

Weilers attorney, Pamela Moreau, said: "[…] A dorm is such an intimate place, and people disrobe to get in the shower. There is not at all the same kind of intimacy in most other public buildings, yet coed bathrooms are not allowed."

Moreau also added that it is uncommon to find coed bathrooms in public buildings, the story added.

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High school invaded by dozens of bats

MONT BELVIEU, TX — Barbers Hill High School turned into the bat cave after as many as 52 winged rodents invaded the building, according to KHOU-TV.

According to the story, the school was in chaos Monday as students ran from the bats and maintenance workers rushed to round up all the pests and remove them from the building.

Grayson Long, a sophomore at Barbers Hill High School, said: “It almost hit me and someone else in the head.”

Extruder devices, allowing the bats to exit the building but not fly back in, were installed at the school, the story stated.

According to Mont Belvieu Independent School District Assistant Superintendent Gayle Woodall, the captured bats have been tested and none of them are diseased, the story noted.

Officials are still determining whether or not students will return to the building for classes today, the story added.

New Facebook data center to be energy efficient

PRINEVILLE, OR — A data center for the popular social networking site Facebook.com currently under construction will have a number of energy efficient features, according to Environmental Leader.

According to the story, the new facility will feature an evaporative heating and cooling system in which an airside economizer brings in cool air from the outside and heat generated from servers will be used to heat the offices.

The 147,000-square-foot data center will also feature a system for maintaining uninterrupted electricity that saves energy usage by 12 percent, the story stated.

The data center — a first for Facebook, which had previously only leased storage — is seeking a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold designation, the story added.

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