n">(Reuters) - California Energy Commission staff on Friday said BrightSource Energy's proposed 500-megawatt Hidden Hills solar thermal power project would have "significant" impact on the environment.

In a statement on the final staff assessment, the state's primary energy planning and policy agency cited impacts on "biological resources, cultural resources, land use, and visual resources" even if recommended mitigation measures are implemented.

BrightSource said the company is looking forward to the formal evidentiary hearings upon which the Commission will base its final decision.

"Unmitigated environmental impacts and non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations would require the Commission to adopt override findings if the project is approved," the CEC said in a statement.

The proposed project would consist of two 250-MW solar plants, each having about 85,000 heliostats - elevated mirrors used to focus the sun's rays on a solar receiver. It would be located on 3,277 acres of private land leased in Inyo County next to the Nevada border.

The construction of the $2.2 billion project, if approved, would take about 29 months with work scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2013 and end in the fourth quarter of 2015.

BrightSource's first major project, the $2.2 billion Ivanpah plant in California, is nearly complete. The 377-megawatt plant is backed by a $1.6 billion government loan guarantee and is expected to enter service in 2013.

California has a goal to produce 33 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles and Koustav Samanta in Bangalore; editing by Jim Marshall)

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A protective layer of ice form on oranges in a grove near Dover, Florida December 14, 2010.

MIAMI | Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:37pm EST

MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. government forecasters have issued a freeze warning for parts of Florida's key citrus-growing region as a cold front threatens to carry icy temperatures into the Sunshine State this weekend.

The National Weather Service office in Tampa Bay-Ruskin said in an advisory on Friday that the freeze warning for Levy, Citrus, Sumter, Hernando and Pasco counties was in effect from 2 a.m. to 9 a.m. EST (0700-1400 GMT).

Tyler Fleming, a senior forecaster in the Tampa Bay office, said it was the first freeze warning of the year for the area and that temperatures could dip below freezing for at least two hours.

A freeze watch was also in effect for the same five-county area for late Saturday night through early Sunday morning, Fleming said.

Typically, citrus can be damaged by four hours or more of temperatures below 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 2 Celsius).

Andrew Meadows, spokesman for the state's leading growers association, Florida Citrus Mutual, said the weekend chill was unlikely to be long-lasting or extreme enough to cause any damage to the state's $9 billion citrus industry.

"Actually, this kind of cold event is a good thing because it brings the brix content up in the fruit and helps prepare the tree for any cold weather ahead," Meadows said in an email.

Ray Royce, executive director of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association in central Florida, agreed that there was no cause for alarm.

"The next two nights will be the coldest nights of the season so far," Royce told Reuters in a phone interview.

"There may be a chance for frost," he said, "but it doesn't appear that there's going to be enough cold to damage wood or to damage fruit."

Royce added a note of caution, however.

"You never know what could happen. You just don't want to get flat-footed and have it all of a sudden be 5 or 6 degrees colder than you're expecting."

Florida's groves yield more than 75 percent of the U.S. orange crop and account for about 40 percent of the world's orange juice supply.

(Reporting by Tom Brown; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:28pm EST

n">(Reuters) - A controversial genetically engineered salmon has moved a step closer to the consumer's dining table after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday the fish didn't appear likely to pose a threat to the environment or to humans who eat it.

AquAdvantage salmon eggs would produce fish with the potential to grow to market size in half the time of conventional salmon. If it gets a final go-ahead, it would be the first food from a transgenic animal - one whose genome has been altered - to be approved by the FDA.

The AquAdvantage Atlantic salmon egg was developed by AquaBounty Technology to speed up production to meet global seafood demand.

In a draft environmental assessment, the FDA affirmed earlier findings that the biotech salmon was not likely to be harmful. It said it would take comments from the public on its report for 60 days before making a final decision on approval.

"With respect to food safety, FDA has concluded that food from AquAdvantage salmon is as safe as food from conventional Atlantic salmon, and that there is a reasonable certainty of no harm from consumption," the FDA assessment states.

AquaBounty officials said they were caught by surprise by the news that its product was a step closer to approval as years of controversy had followed the company's application for a go-ahead from the regulator. They said they did not know the timing or details of the process the FDA will follow following the 60-day comment period.

"We are encouraged that the environmental assessment is being released and hope the government continues the science-based regulatory process," said AquaBounty Chief Executive Ronald Stotish.

Critics say the new salmon is a "dangerous experiment" and have pressured the FDA to reject it. They say the FDA has relied on outdated science and substandard methods for assessing the new fish.

"We are deeply concerned that the potential of these fish to cause allergic reactions has not been adequately researched," said Michael Hansen, a scientist at the Consumers Union. "FDA has allowed this fish to move forward based on tests of allergenicity of only six engineered fish, tests that actually did show an increase in allergy-causing potential."

There were also concerns the FDA would not require the genetically modified salmon to be labeled as such, and some critics said they may file a lawsuit to prevent what they fear could be the imminent approval of the engineered fish.

"Congress can still keep FDA from unleashing this dangerous experiment," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, a consumer advocacy group. "Although this latest FDA decision is a blow to consumer confidence, we encourage everyone to contact their members of Congress and demand this reckless decision be overturned."

The Center for Food Safety, another non-profit consumer protection group, was highly critical of the FDA report, and officials said they might sue the regulator over the issue.

"It is extremely disappointing that the Obama Administration continues to push approval of this dangerous and unnecessary product," said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety. "The GE salmon has no socially redeeming value. It's bad for the consumer, bad for the salmon industry and bad for the environment."

FDA spokeswoman Morgan Liscinsky said no final decisions have been made on labeling or on the application for approval.

"The release of these materials is not a decision on whether food from AquAdvantage Salmon requires additional labeling; nor is it a decision on the new animal drug application currently under review. It also does not provide a final food safety determination," Liscinsky said.

The AquAdvantage salmon would be an all-female population with eggs produced in a facility on Prince Edward Island in Canada and shipped to a "grow-out facility" in Panama, where they would be reared to market size and harvested for processing.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum; and Peter Galloway)

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The tanker Stena Primorsk hauling crude oil sits anchored in the Hudson River after loosing its steering and running aground south of Albany, New York December 20, 2012.

NEW YORK | Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:53am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil trapped in a tanker that ran aground on the Hudson River near Albany, New York will be transferred to a barge on Friday night, the Port of Albany said.

The Stena Primorsk, a 600-foot (182-metre) motor tanker, was carrying 11.7 million gallons (under 280,000 barrels) of light crude oil when it lost steering control on Thursday morning and hit land near Stuyvesant, New York, about 20 miles downriver from Albany, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The light crude oil on the tanker was from the Bakken shale in North Dakota destined for Irving Oil Ltd's 300,000 barrel-per-day Saint John, New Brunswick refinery in Canada, Richard Hendrick, general manager of the Port of Albany said. This was the first such shipment out of the Albany port.

A smaller barge and tug unit is en route to the site of the accident after it left Brooklyn, New York early on Friday, Hendrick said. The barge is expected to arrive around 5:00 PM EST (2200 GMT) Friday, he added.

The U.S. Coast Guard said no pollution was reported related to the incident.

(Reporting by Selam Gebrekidan;editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)

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A natural gas well is drilled near Canton, in Bradford County, Pennsylvania January 8, 2012. Bradford County is currently ground zero for fracking the Marcellus shale in the Northeastern United States.

WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 21, 2012 1:57pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration issued the framework on Friday of a long-term study on whether fracking for natural gas pollutes drinking water, but will not make conclusions until 2014 about the controversial technique that is helping to fuel a domestic drilling boom.

Critics of the Environmental Protection Agency study, called for by Congress in 2010, complain it does not closely examine the impact of drillers' injecting waste water deep underground, a practice that has been linked to small earthquakes.

The progress report outlined case studies at drilling sites in states including North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Texas that will inform the final study. For a link to the study click here r.reuters.com/jec84t

It also explained the scientific methods the EPA is using to understand how drinking water supplies are affected by the lifecycle of water used fracking. That cycle ranges from withdrawing the water from ground and surface supplies to treating it in wastewater plants.

Although conclusions are more than a year away, power utilities, chemical companies and other big consumers of natural gas fear the study could lead to more regulations and raise costs as a result. Power generators, including American Electric Power and Southern Co, have been enjoying rock bottom prices for natural gas in recent years.

Fracking involves forcing large volumes of water laced with chemicals and sand deep underground to crack rock and free oil and natural gas. Critics of fracking, including many environmentalists, worry drilling operations near schools and homes can pollute water and air.

The drilling industry and some Republicans in Congress have said the EPA study is overkill because fracking is safe.

The EPA's long-term study will examine the large volumes of water sucked up by fracking operations, surface spills of fracking fluids on well pads, and the drilling itself.

The study will also look at spills of so-called "flowback" water that rushes up from wells when they start producing gas, and how well wastewater treatment plants operate.

But the study does not closely look at the effects of injecting waste water deep underground, a practice environmentalists worry could become a dormant threat to water supplies.

Drillers say they are recycling more and more water used and produced in fracking. But some of the waste is still injected underground.

Ben Grumbles, a former assistant administrator for water at the EPA, said injection of the waste is "legitimate and important concern."

Ohio recently linked the disposal method to a series of small earthquakes and placed a moratorium on the injections but lifted it in November.

Grumbles, who is now president of the U.S. Water Alliance, said the omission of examining the practice was "not a fatal flaw" of the study because he believes a different arm of the EPA is doing research on waste water injection.

"They really do need to look at the issue," he said. "I would hope the offices were coordinating and efforts to review potential risks of large volumes of waste water being injected ... will be looked at, " he said.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Sofina Mirza-Reid)

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1 of 4. An opposition activist waves a flag portraying journalist Al-Hosseiny Abu Deif during his funeral in Cairo December 19, 2012. Abu Deif died on December 6, 2012 during clashes between supporters and rivals of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi. Egyptian Islamist groups are planning a mass protest in Alexandria on Friday, a move that will raise tensions a day before the final stage of a referendum on a new constitution that has split the nation.

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt | Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:34am EST

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Egyptian Islamists prepared to stage a rally in Alexandria on Friday that could fuel tensions on the eve of a divisive referendum that will shape the most populous Arab nation's political future.

The Muslim Brotherhood called for the mass gathering after a violent confrontation between Islamists and the liberal, secular opposition in Egypt's second city last week ended with a Muslim preacher besieged inside his mosque for 14 hours. Rival factions were armed with clubs, knives and swords.

The run-up to the vote on a new constitution has been marked by often violent protests that have cost at least eight lives.

Islamists formed groups checking worshippers arriving for Friday prayers at Alexandria's al-Qaid Ibrahim mosque, scene of last week's violence. Riot police were deployed nearby.

Banners referring to last week's clashes read: "Our revolution will remain peaceful despite the thugs."

President Mohamed Mursi and his Islamist allies back the draft constitution as a vital step in Egypt's transition to democracy almost two years after the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

The opposition, facing defeat in the referendum, has called for a "no" vote against a document it views as leaning too far towards Islamism.

The first day of voting on December 15 resulted in a 57 percent majority in favor of the constitution. The second stage on Saturday is expected to produce another "yes" vote as it covers regions seen as more conservative and likely to back Mursi.

The National Salvation Front, the main opposition coalition, said a "no" vote meant taking a stand against attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood, Mursi's political base, to dominate Egypt.

"For the sake of the future, the masses of our people should strongly and firmly say 'no' to injustice and 'no' to the Brotherhood's dominance," the Front said in a statement.

POLL WITHIN TWO MONTHS

The constitution must be in place before elections can be held. If it passes, the poll should be held within two months.

Mursi and his backers say the constitution is needed to seal a transition from decades of military-backed autocratic rule. Opponents say it ignores the rights of women and minorities, including the 10 percent of Egyptians who are Christian.

Demonstrations erupted when Mursi awarded himself sweeping powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through a drafting assembly dominated by his Islamist allies and boycotted by many liberals.

The referendum is being held over two days because many of the judges needed to oversee polling stayed away in protest. In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of those voting.

Adding to the uncertainty as the final round of the referendum approaches, Egypt's chief prosecutor suddenly announced that he was retracting his decision to quit.

Prosecutor Talaat Ibrahim, appointed by Mursi when he assumed his new powers, said he had changed his mind because his resignation on Monday was under duress.

Ibrahim had quit after more than 1,000 members of his staff gathered at his office to demand he step down because his appointment by the president, rather than by judicial authorities, threatened the independence of the judiciary.

After he announced he was staying, several prosecutors announced they were suspending work and would stage an open-ended protest outside Ibrahim's office.

(Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

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