Residents raise concerns over serious risk creeping into iconic beach waters: 'Getting more and more frequent'
Mill Bay Homes, a company that has developed more than 300 properties in southwest Wales since 2013, intends to add 76 more homes overlooking the resort near Marine Parade in Broad Haven, Pembrokeshire, according to the news outlets.
About 34% of the new dwellings and apartments would be classified as affordable housing, according to the reports. It's a need, as the World Economic Forum reported that about 1.6 billion people around the planet lack an adequate place to live.
But recreationists are worried about sewage lines that already have documented leaks draining even more into their favorite swimming holes as a result of the development.
"Swimming is very popular, but there is quite often a problem with sewage, especially when the weather's been bad," Kate Freeman told the BBC. "There needs to be more houses for people, but the sewage treatment infrastructure needs to improve before that happens."
BBC reported that sewage discharged for nearly 602 hours in 2023, with 47 spills. Foul water also oozed from Broad Haven South Beach "for a total of 53 hours in 2023, with 21 separate spills recorded." The data was from the utility company Welsh Water.
As a result, local environmental consultant Andy Drumm has written to local officials with concerns about more homes.
"In recent years there has been quite a lot of additional housing development in the village, but the sewage treatment works has not kept up," he said in BBC's story. "We're getting more and more frequent dumps and leaks of raw sewage into the stream that flows onto the beach here. Any increase in housing has to be accompanied by an increase in sewage treatment capacity."
Sewage leaks can be a disaster for waterways. Nonprofit American Rivers said that untreated waste has salmonella, hepatitis, dysentery, cryptosporidium, and other diseases — all of which are not conducive to an enjoyable swim.
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And American rivers are not immune to pollution. Water watchdogs are concerned about microplastic contamination in the Great Lakes. The tiny particles are being studied for human health concerns, including how they impact our organs, according to Health Policy Watch.
For Mill Bay's part, the company told the BBC that plans would be made "'to mitigate any additional pressures' on the existing sewage system and that they would 'fully fund improvement works to the sewage infrastructure.'"
Residents can make sure developers in Wales and elsewhere hold true to their promises by staying educated on the topic, spotlighting so-called greenwashing. That's primarily when a company makes impressive planet-friendly plans but seldom lives up to them because it never intended to, or it inflates the importance or impact of a change to obscure polluting acts it continues to carry out.
American Rivers can help you focus your efforts on advocacy as well as other ways to help waterways stateside. Simple actions like collecting water in a rain barrel can save town water and cut your bill.
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Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
I toured the USS Silversides, a World War II submarine that sank 23 enemy vessels and earned 12 battle stars. Take a look inside.
The USS Silversides submarine sank 23 ships and earned 12 battle stars during World War II. Visitors can tour the vessel at the USS Silversides Submarine Museum in Muskegon, Michigan. The submarine was the site of a successful emergency appendectomy in enemy waters in 1942. Christmas Eve, 1942. The USS Silversides, a US Navy submarine, is surrounded by Japanese warships on a covert patrol in enemy-controlled waters. And George Platter's appendix is about to burst. Platter, a crew member on the USS Silversides, will die if he doesn't get surgery immediately. When the commanding officer gives the order, crew members spring into action. They fashion surgical tools out of utensils from the galley. They find an ironing board to prop up Platter's feet since the table in the wardroom is too short to lie him flat. They submerge beneath the waves to create more stability for the operation, even though the submarine's batteries are only partially charged. The pharmacist's mate, Thomas Moore, has never performed the surgery before. He keeps a medical textbook open next to him the whole time. Platter wakes up during the surgery when the local anesthetic wears off, so they sedate him with ether. It leaks into the rest of the submarine and sedates some of the crew, as well. After four hours, against all odds, the surgery is successful. Platter makes a full recovery and is back on watch six days later. It's extraordinary stories such as this one that are preserved at the USS Silversides Submarine Museum in Muskegon, Michigan. Visitors can climb aboard the historic submarine, which was awarded 12 battle stars for its service in World War II, and explore its battle stations, cramped bunks, and even the operating table where Platter received his appendectomy. I toured the USS Silversides in May. Here's what I saw. Commissioned in 1941, the USS Silversides sank 23 ships over its 14 war patrols, making it one of the most successful American submarines from World War II. The Gato-class submarine measures 312 feet long and weighs 2,410 tons while submerged. Its standard crew consisted of eight officers and 72 enlisted men. After it was decommissioned in 1946, the USS Silversides was used as a teaching submarine and became a National Historic Landmark. From 1947 to 1969, the USS Silversides was used as a training vessel for the Ninth Naval District in Chicago. It was then moved to the Naval Armory and Navy Pier before arriving in Muskegon to serve as a museum in 1987. It was also used as a movie set for the 2002 film "Below." The submarine is now the star attraction at the USS Silversides Museum in Muskegon. The USS Silversides Submarine Museum is open seven days a week from April through December and operates Thursday through Monday in the winter months of January, February, and March. An all-inclusive ticket to the museum costs $17.50 for adults, $15 for veterans, and is free of charge for active-duty service members. Tickets can be purchased on the museum's website. Like the USS Cobia in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, the museum also offers visitors the chance to spend a night on the submarine. The USS Silversides is docked outside the museum in the Muskegon Lake Channel, which leads into Lake Michigan. The Lake Express ferry passes by the USS Silversides Submarine Museum on its route between Muskegon and Milwaukee. As I began my tour of the submarine, the ferry honked its horn as passengers waved at me from the upper deck. The deck featured weapons such as a 4-inch, 50-caliber deck gun, a 40-millimeter antiaircraft gun, and a 20-millimeter surface-to-surface gun. The 40-millimeter antiaircraft gun had the longest range, capable of shooting targets up to 22,800 feet away. A plaque on the deck memorialized the crew member Mike Harbin, who was killed by enemy fire while manning the deck gun. Harbin was 19 years old when he was shot in battle on May 10, 1942. He was buried at sea. The torpedo loading ramp was made of a wood called lignum vitae, which gets slippery when wet. Lignum vitae is Latin for "wood of life." The rest of the deck was made of teakwood, which is impervious to water, fire, and termites. It also doesn't float, which was crucial to maintain the submarine's covert operations if a piece broke off. Decals on the side of the submarine indicated its many wartime accomplishments. The USS Silversides featured stickers showing it sank 30 ships, but that number has since been amended to 23, Bethann Egan, the museum's executive director, told Business Insider. The USS Silversides also damaged 14 ships, cleared 16 enemy mines, and rescued two American paratroopers. The first stop on my tour was the forward torpedo room, where crew members loaded torpedoes into the six torpedo tubes. The room slept 16 crew members on bunks that unfolded alongside the torpedoes, which measured 22 feet long and weighed 3,000 pounds. Lockers above the bunks were used to store personal possessions. All of a crew member's personal items had to fit into one small locker. Colored lights were used to help crew members' eyes adjust to the dark to prevent night blindness. If the submarine was too bright inside, crew members wouldn't be able to see in the dark if they went up onto the deck at night during an attack. The lights used to be blue and then switched to red, which is why the light fixture said "blue" on it even though the light bulb was red. The shower and bathroom in the forward torpedo room were used by the officers, whose bunks were down the hall. Flushing the toilet on the USS Silversides was a 12-step process. One wrong move would cause the toilet's contents to shoot back out. Meals were plated and reheated in the officers' pantry. Officers ate the same meals as the rest of the crew but dined in the privacy of the wardroom instead of the crew's mess. The pantry also stocked snacks and coffee. The table on display in the wardroom was the original table where George Platter's successful appendectomy took place in 1942. "The pharmacist's mate who actually performed it did not technically have permission from all the way up, but the commander made the decision that this needed to happen or else the sailor was going to die," Egan said. "So he stood up for him and made sure that he was not court-martialed after." The wardroom also served as the officers' dining room and lounge. The higher an officer's rank, the fewer people he had to share a room with. Junior and senior officers served as administrators on the submarine, while the executive officer, known as the "XO," was second-in-command to the commanding officer. Officers' quarters included foldout desks and sinks. The rooms also came with storage areas where they could hang their uniforms. The commanding officer enjoyed the only private room on the submarine. His stateroom featured a depth gauge and a compass above the bed so that he could tell how deep the submarine was and which way it was facing at all times. Chief petty officers slept in a room nicknamed the "goat locker." According to the Naval History and Heritage Command, the nickname dates back to the 1890s, when chief petty officers took care of the goats kept on ships for fresh milk. Another explanation is that chief petty officers served in the Navy for more than a decade to reach their positions and were known as "old goats." In the yeoman's shack, the yeoman handled the submarine's paperwork. In addition to managing personnel records, the yeoman also kept logs of the submarine's changes in direction, speed, and depth. In the control room, crew members managed the USS Silversides' vital functions with numerous technical instruments. The bow and stern plane wheels pictured above controlled the submarine's depth and angle. The commanding officer would give commands such as "2 degrees right rudder," which the crew would repeat and execute. The ship's inclinometer worked like a carpenter's level to show if the submarine was tilting to one side or the other. Keith Gill, the museum's director of curatorial services, told BI that staff members use this inclinometer "every day" to check on the submarine. "It's almost never centered, and that's because we have some leaks in some tanks that we're monitoring and adjusting air pressure to keep water out," Gill said. The hull opening indicator light panel was known as the "Christmas tree" for its red and green lights. A green light indicated that a vent or hatch was closed, while red meant it was open. The submarine could only submerge when the board was fully lit up in green. The helmsman's wheel steered the submarine. On some World War II submarines, such as the USS Becuna, the main helm was in the conning tower above the control room. On the USS Silversides, the main helm was in the control room itself. The control room also housed the compressed air manifold and trim manifold. The compressed air manifold distributed compressed air throughout the submarine, which was used to start the engines, fire torpedoes, and surface the vessel. The trim manifold showed how much weight was in different tanks on the submarine and moved water between them to maintain the ship's balance as it used up fuel or fired weapons. In the radio room, crew members could communicate with vessels up to 12,000 miles away. Most communications happened in code. Cooks prepared all of the crew's meals in the galley. Cooks were also trained to operate the deck guns and perform other technical tasks around the submarine. Gill noted that during World War II, Black crew members were often relegated to roles in the kitchen and weren't allowed to advance beyond serving as stewards because of the Navy's segregation policies. "One of the negative sides of our past is how we treated African American citizens," he said. "They were in the military, but they were segregated somewhat. On a Navy ship, on a sub, you really can't segregate, but you can control what they're doing." The kitchen featured a piece of equipment I'd never seen on a submarine before: a soft-serve ice cream machine. The kitchen also included a deep fryer. Crew members ate meals in three shifts in the crew's mess. Submarines were known for doing some of the most dangerous work and having some of the most difficult living conditions in the military, but the Navy ensured they received the best food. Submariners also received hazard pay, the highest in the Navy. The enlisted men also slept in shifts in the crew's quarters. Newer crew members slept on the bottom bunks, which could also occasionally be used as food storage early on in a patrol. "Supposedly, they called this the honeymoon suite on top," Egan said. "I don't know if that's 100% accurate." The mattresses in the two middle bunks were placed so close together that they essentially functioned as one bed. Regular crew members showered only every 13 to 15 days in the crew's washroom. Officers showered every three to five days, while the cooks showered every day since they were handling food. The forward and after engine rooms each contained two 1,600-horsepower diesel engines manufactured by Fairbanks-Morse. At top speed, the USS Silversides could travel at 21 knots, or about 24 miles an hour. The forward engine room also contained two evaporators that distilled ocean water into fresh water. The engines are still operational. The USS Silversides' insignia was painted on one of the aft engines. The logo depicts a silverside fish smoking a cigar and holding a torpedo. The maneuvering room was crewed by two electricians who controlled the propulsion of the submarine. At full power, the USS Silversides used 4 million watts of electricity. The last stop on the tour was the aft torpedo room in the back of the submarine. The aft torpedo room was smaller than the forward torpedo room, with four torpedo tubes and room for eight torpedoes. The room displayed a real demilitarized Mark 18 electric torpedo. Electric torpedoes such as the Mark 18 didn't leave a wake, or trail of waves, behind them, making them more difficult to detect. After I finished my tour of the submarine, I visited the museum itself, which featured photos and artifacts from World War II and beyond. I particularly enjoyed an exhibit about the appendectomy that took place in the wardroom, featuring photos from the procedure. Preserving the aging submarine is no small task, but the USS Silversides remains a fascinating testament to the dedication of American service members in World War II. After running its engines in an annual Memorial Day tribute, the museum hopes to give the USS Silversides its first oil change since the 1950s this summer. Eventually, the entire vessel will have to be removed from the water and dry-docked because of leaks in its tanks. The museum applied for federal funding through the Save America's Treasures grant program, but Egan said during my May visit that they might not end up receiving it because of sweeping cuts made by the White House DOGE office. "They have not officially cut that funding source yet, but it's not looking good," Egan said. When the submarine was on active duty, the entire 80-person crew worked tirelessly to maintain the ship, and the Navy financed all necessary repairs and upgrades. The USS Silversides Submarine Museum's preservation efforts, however, are privately funded and largely volunteer-driven. "We're just poor museum people who are trying to honor the commitment that these guys made over 14 war patrols to protect our country," Gill said. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
7 hours ago
- Business Insider
After living in a dozen cities across the globe, I finally settled down in the coastal city where I grew up
I spent most of my life moving, never living in a single place for more than a few years. In fact, I attended five different elementary schools, each in a different part of the globe. When I tell people how often I've moved, many assume one of my parents was in the military. However, each move was voluntary, as my parents are Chinese immigrants who left the motherland in search of better opportunities in America. I spent my childhood in several different cities I was born in Nanjing, China, where I lived until I was 5. We moved for the first time after my dad was accepted into a Ph.D. program in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which he mistook for an American state. I immediately fell in love with the city's turquoise beaches and creamy flans. However, I had to white-knuckle my way through kindergarten because I knew neither Spanish nor English — a frustration that left me silent and sullen most school days. After a year in Puerto Rico, my dad decided to pursue his postdoctoral fellowship, this time in Ames, Iowa. The transition from spending long Caribbean days at Catholic school to attending public school in a small Midwestern town surrounded by cornfields was a culture shock, albeit not an unwelcome one. Being the only Asian kid at school meant that my classmates couldn't pronounce my name and questioned everything about me, from what I had for dinner to whether my black hair was real. But to this day, Iowans remain the nicest folks I've ever met. We stayed for nearly two years, just long enough to make my first American friend and be heartbroken when my dad's fellowship ended, forcing us to move once again. I spent a longer stretch of two-and-a-half years in College Station, Texas, where my dad found another postdoctoral position at Texas A&M. After spending most of our time renting apartments and student housing, my folks could finally afford their first house there, a little duplex with a gooseberry tree. However, I was once again the sole Asian student in school, and I longed for a place where I felt like I belonged. Our time there was cut short when my dad's postdoctoral position wasn't renewed, and we had to move again — this time, to California for my mom's new job. I spent my formative years in California Next, we settled in Torrance, a beachside suburb in Southern California, where I spent all of middle and high school. Moving here was a game changer: it had glorious beaches, people I could call friends, and perfect weather to boot. Plus, Torrance was much more diverse than other places we lived. I finally felt at home because it was the first place (outside China) where I didn't have to look for fellow Asians or assess the likelihood that my ethnicity was going to be a liability. In my high school, the homecoming queen and captain of the football team were both Asian. I had groups of friends at church and in school, and we bonded over AP classes and checking out local boba shops. Being settled in one place with people I loved was a thrill. College and graduate school led me to live in different parts of the state: the Bay Area, where I went to UC Berkeley for undergrad, and the Central Coast, where I went to UC Santa Barbara for graduate school. In Santa Barbara, I even met the man who'd become my husband, and we had our first child together. We then spent years living in different cities across the state, but none of them truly felt like the right long-term fit for us. After a brief period of living with my parents in Rancho Palos Verdes, an affluent hillside community full of retirees in Southern California, I left the West Coast for Cambridge, Massachusetts, to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard. As much as I loved Cambridge's proximity to Boston, buzzy energy, and easy public transportation, my family couldn't stomach the brutal winters. So, after three years there, we once again headed back to California. Now, I'm finally settled and happier than ever We spent several years bouncing around different California cities for work, but by 2020, I was ready to settle down in a place I could call my permanent residence. Months into the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to relocate to Torrance — where I'd spent my formative years — and move back into my childhood home. The whole family fell in love with the city's beaches, diverse food options, weather, and spectacular public schools. After two decades away, I was delighted to reconnect with my old high school friends and teachers. I love that my children go to the same schools I did and even have some of the same teachers. Living in all the cities that have marked the different chapters of my life has given me a newfound appreciation for this coastal suburb — something I wouldn't have if I had stayed here all along.
Newsweek
9 hours ago
- Newsweek
Husband's, Wife's Gravestones Go Viral as People Notice Shocking Difference
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Two tombstones have gone viral on Reddit after users noticed a striking difference between the way a husband and wife were memorialized. The post, shared by Reddit user u/teragram333, showed the graves of James Delmage Ross and his wife, Alice Maud Ross. The tribute to the man read: "James Delmage Ross 'J.D.' Ross one of the greatest Americans of our generation was an outstanding mathematician and an equally great engineer. "He had also the practical ability to make things work in the sphere of public opinion and successful business; more than that he was a philosopher and a love and student of trees and flowers. His successful career and especially his long service in behalf of the public interest are worthy of study by every American boy." Ross was born November 9, 1872 and died March 14, 1939. His wife's headstone, by contrast, read: "Alice Maud Ross. Devoted and Loving wife to 'J.D.'" Carla Harvey, a grief specialist at Parting Stone, told Newsweek that this kind of erasure reflects a long history of everyday sexism in death care, but it also mirrors how women are treated in everyday life. Too often, Harvey said, women are remembered only for the roles they played in service to others, while their own passions, achievements, and identities go unacknowledged. "When I visit with female hospice patients, their eyes light up when I ask about their careers, hobbies, or dreams, and I often wonder how long it's been since anyone cared enough to ask," Harvey said. "Many women gave up so much for their families, and yet their personal stories fade into the background." While undeniably an issue of sexism, Harvey added, it also speaks to a broader cultural habit of alienating the elderly and failing to engage with them in meaningful conversation. "We live in a time when people broadcast their every move on social media, yet we don't always take the time to ask the older women in our lives what set their souls on fire," Harvey said. "Imagine discovering that your grandmother was once a painter, a dancer, or an educator and realizing you'd never known." For Harvey, memorialization should start with honoring the whole person—not just their relationships. "Every life deserves to be remembered as the complex, multifaceted story it truly was," she said. Stock image: Flowers are seen laid out at a gravestone. Stock image: Flowers are seen laid out at a gravestone. Claude Laprise/iStock / Getty Images Plus The post prompted strong reactions from Reddit users, many of whom shared their own experiences of women's identities being overlooked. "She did nothing of particular note in her entire life other than marry this guy," said one user. "Every month I get a mortgage statement, and every single time it's addressed to 'Mr. and Mrs. [Husband's first name] last name'. "MINE IS THE ONLY NAME ON THE EFFING MORTGAGE!! The money comes from my bank account, not shared. He's not even a cosigner! The only place his name in that entire bank institution is as a beneficiary in case I drop dead before he does. "But for some godforsaken reason, they still put his name on the mortgage statements, and nothing I've done in the last 3 years has changed that," posted another user. A third wrote: "My boyfriend and I have a shared account for vacation money. My regular bank account is at the same bank. Almost every time I go to cash a check or whatever, even if I give the bank account number, they put MY MONEY in either the shared account or his. And then when I go back to say hey you did this wrong they just shrug and say they assumed it was 'my husband's money.'" "My name is the only one on the mortgage, and to make it even more fun, it's in my maiden name. The bank asked if I wanted to change it, I said this is fine. Lol [laugh out loud] my husband doesn't care though," shared another user. Newsweek reached out to u/teragram333 for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case. Do you have any viral videos or pictures that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@ and they could appear on our site.
