"The polar bear does not have a small wild population, it does not have a restricted area of distribution and no marked decline has been observed, " Environment Canada says on its website.

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Additionally, a slew of refineries in the area keep distribution costs down.

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By taking the plunge on FMC Tech, GE is expanding its offerings in a particularly promising area of the smart-grid space: distribution automation.

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In the United States a liver travels an average of 160 miles between donor and recipient, and only 10% of organs leave their regional distribution area.

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But the distribution of drugs and equipment is an area where private firms could help.

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Instead, he says, it should be on the "middle mile, " the substation and distribution network that is the least transparent area of power delivery.

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As far as I know, there are no current issues with distribution of water or food in the local area.

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The surrounding area has become a prime spot for a bevy of companies to set up their own distribution facilities thanks to UPS' presence.

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It controls 20 percent of the world's natural gas reserves and operates the world's largest gas distribution network -- approximately 157, 000 kilometers of pipelines covering an area from Europe to the Far East, according to its Web site.

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Home Depot, IKEA, Target and Wal-Mart all have distribution centres of more than 1m square feet (100, 000 square metres) in the Savannah area to handle cargo coming through the port, which sits at a nexus of interstate highways and railway lines that provide quick access to the south-east and Midwest.

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