• Energy Department Fails To Clean Up Radioactive Sludge
  
• EPA To Allow Emergency Dumping in Gulf of Mexico
  
• Government To Ban Sewage Discharge in Barnegat Bay
  
• Government Ordered To Protect Workers From Lung Carcinogen
  
• Study Suggests Cancer Link to Arsenic in Drinking Water
  
• Fish and Wildlife Releases Plan To Save California Scrub
  
• Scientists Dig Up 50 Million Years of Plant Diversity
  
• Fabric Group Makes Green Energy Pledge
  

Energy Department Fails To Clean Up Radioactive Sludge

The sludge consists of dirt, water and corroded spent nuclear fuel, which has been stored in the water-filled basin. The EPA has deemed it highly radioactive and high risk waste, and noted that its removal is a top human health and environmental priority.

For more than 50 years plutonium was produced at the Hanford site for the U.S. military. Environmental cleanup and restoration has been the focus of activity at the 586 square mile site since the late 1980s.

The K East and K West Basins at Hanford have been the storage locations for the majority of the site's spent nuclear fuel since the 1970s. The are two water filled indoor pools that originally held some 2,300 tons of spent nuclear fuel only 400 yards from the Columbia River.

The water becomes radioactive from the fuel and sludge. On several occasions, water from the K East Basin has leaked into the Columbia River.

"The EPA is pleased with the Department of Energy's progress in removing the spent nuclear fuel from the two K Basins," said EPA Regional Administrator John Iani. "Over half the original spent fuel has been removed to environmentally protective storage.

"However, sludge removal has not been a success story. Starting - and completing - this activity on schedule is an important part of reducing risks from the Hanford site."

The DOE agreed to begin removing the sludge by December 31, 2002. Under the agreement it is party to, the department is liable for penalties of $5,000 for the first week of delay and up to $10,000 for each additional week.

EPA To Allow Emergency Dumping in Gulf of Mexico

The agency has initiated consultation with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the first required step under an international treaty that governs dumping of wastes into ocean waters.

The treaty, called the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter and also known as the 1972 London Convention, calls for the EPA to notify the IMO and consult with other countries likely to be affected by the action.

EPA officials expect the emergency permit will be issued in the next several days. The permit will require Florida to continue to pursue alternatives and use other solutions to the maximum extent feasible.

"There are dire risks to human life, health and the environment," said Region 4 Administrator Jimmy Palmer.

"We agree with the panel of scientific experts, consulted by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, all of whom believe that dispersal of the treated wastewater into the Gulf of Mexico poses minimal ecological and health risks compared to either continuing the discharge of treated wastewater into Tampa Bay or, worse, suffering a large release of millions of gallons of untreated industrial wastewater into this nationally significant ecosystem."

The treated wastewater comes from the Piney Point phosphate fertilizer facility, in Manatee County, Florida. The bankrupt owners of Piney Point abandoned the facility in 2001 and Florida state officials have spent the last two years exploring options for removal of the wastewater.

The DEP was able to reduce the volume of wastewater at the site by 145 million gallons in 2002, but record rainfall last year added 280 million gallows of new acidic wastewater. Federal and state officials believe the dikes at the facility are in danger of breaking if heavy rains, which have been predicted by the National Weather Service, hit the area.

Government To Ban Sewage Discharge in Barnegat Bay

The EPA aims to designate an 85 square nautical mile area within Barnegat Bay as a "no-discharge area," where sewage dumping would be banned.

The rationale for the proposal rests on the agency's determination that a sufficient number of pump out facilities exist to receive sewage from vessels in the Bay. This is a criteria for tentatively approving a request made in 2002 by the state of New Jersey for the no-discharge designation.

The agency determined that the 66 existing pump out facilities and two pump out boats available to boats in Barnegat Bay are sufficient.

Notice of the EPA's approval of the designation was published in the Federal Register last week. The agency will take public comments through May 1, 2003 on the plan.

Barnegat Bay is a key New Jersey recreation area, with hard clam and blue crab populations available for harvest. Boat sewage can cause health problems for swimmers and fish, and contributes to the overall degradation of marine habitats.

Eliminating sewage discharge has been identified as a key part of the overall strategy to protect the environmental health of Barnegat Bay by an array of local, state and federal agencies.

"One of the most effective ways to protect our waterways is to end the practice of discharging sewage waste from vessels into bays, rivers and lakes," said Jane Kenny, EPA Regional Administrator. "A no-discharge designation for Barnegat Bay will protect the many New Jerseyans who enjoy this beautiful area, and the shellfish beds that play an important role in the local economy."

Government Ordered To Protect Workers From Lung Carcinogen

One million U.S. workers are exposed to hexavalent chromium each year, and studies find an estimated 21 percent exposed to levels above OSHA's eight hour permissible exposure limit (PEL).

Public Citizen, a nonprofit public interest organization, and the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy (PACE) Workers International Union, filed suit last year to contest OSHA's standard, which they believe is far too low.

Last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ordered the OSHA to issue a proposed rule governing workplace exposure to hexavalent chromium no later than October 4, 2004, and a final rule no later than January 18, 2006.

"It is very unusual for a court to step in and order an agency to act by a specific date," said Scott Nelson, the Public Citizen attorney who argued the case. "The court's action here is a reflection of the agency's extreme delay in the face of a problem that even it has admitted for a decade is very serious. We hope this case will send a message that agencies can't expect to get away with neglecting their missions indefinitely."

OSHA's existing PEL for hexavalent chromium is 100 micrograms per cubic meter, but an agency study conducted in 1985 found that as many as 34 percent of workers could contract lung cancer if exposed for eight hours a day, for 45 years, to the industrial chemical at this level.

In response to a 1993 petition from Public Citizen and PACE, the agency had promised to issue a proposed rule in 1995. OSHA postponed action to tighten the standard. In 1997, Public Citizen and PACE filed suit in the Third Circuit to compel strengthened regulation of the chemical, but lost because the agency said it would issue a proposed rule by 1999.

Faced with continue inaction, the organizations filed suit again last spring.

In a December 24, 2002 order, the court blasted OSHA's "indefinite delay and recalcitrance in the face of an admittedly grave risk to public health" and held that "OSHA's delay in promulgating a lower permissible exposure limit for hexavalent chromium has exceeded the bounds of reasonableness."

The final order issued last week is the product of compromise by OSHA, the plaintiffs and the court.

"We would have liked the agency to move even faster," said Peter Lurie, deputy director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group. "But the important point is that the agency has now been told that it has to act, and that the leisurely schedule it wanted will not adequately protect workers' health."

Study Suggests Cancer Link to Arsenic in Drinking Water

The study, published in the April issue of the "International Journal of Cancer" suggests arsenic in drinking water may inhibit the expression of genes that enable cells to repair damaged DNA, a major biological defense in the body's ability to fight cancer.

It is the first study to report diminished expression of DNA repair genes in cells taken directly from humans exposed to arsenic through their environment, in particular through drinking well water. The researchers compared the arsenic exposure of individuals to expression of DNA repair genes isolated from samples of the same person's blood.

The weakened DNA genes found in people with elevated arsenic exposure are those involved in identifying and removing damaged DNA parts.

"We were primarily interested in uncovering the mechanism to explain how arsenic causes cancer," said Angeline Andrew, lead author and research assistant professor of community and family medicine at Dartmouth University. "This study supports the hypothesis that arsenic may act as a co-carcinogen, not directly causing cancer, but allowing other substances, such as cigarette smoke or ultraviolet light, to cause mutations in DNA more effectively."

The researchers say larger studies are needed to strengthen their findings, but believe this is an important first step in identifying the link between arsenic and cancer.

"It is often difficult to establish patterns in human studies, due to inter-individual variation," said Andrew, "but our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that inhibition of DNA repair capacity is a potential mechanism for the co-carcinogenic activity of arsenic."

Inorganic arsenic is a naturally occurring element in the Earth's crust and water in wells often has higher concentrations of arsenic than surface water.

Last year, after considerable deliberation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lowered the standard for allowable levels of arsenic in drinking water from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion. The agency had considered placing the standard as low as five or three parts per billion.

Fish and Wildlife Releases Plan To Save California Scrub

Two federally threatened species, the Alameda whipsnake and pallid manzanita, are targeted by the draft recovery plan. The whipsnake, a three to four foot long slim, dark snake, was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1997.

Pallid manzanita, a bristly upright shrub, was listed under ESA in 1995.

The draft also covers four additional plant and animal species that have been identified as threatened by urban development, habitat fragmentation and endangered species.

These four species include the Mount Diablo buckwheat plant and the Berkeley kangaroo rat, both of which have not been documented in several years and could be extinct. The remaining two species that fall under the plan are the Contra Costa manzanita and the Mount Diablo bird's-beak.

The draft recovery plan recommends protection and management activities in chaparral and coastal-sage scrub areas where these species currently or potentially occur. This area is some 400,000 within portions of Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Joaquin counties.

Chaparral vegetation is described by the Fish and Wildlife Service as short, tough, mostly evergreen trees and small shrubs that are specially adapted to drought and fire. Scrub plants are often called soft chaparral because they have flexible leaves and bend easily compared to the hardier chaparral.

The draft recovery plan focuses on determining species status, providing long-term protection to crucial habitat areas, restoring habitat, and conserving the biological integrity of the area.

In addition, it lays out options for reintroducing or mimicking the natural fire regime because fire is important for many of the plant and animal species in the chaparral community, including pallid manzanita and the Alameda whipsnake.

The Fish and Wildlife Service will take comments on the plan through August 7, 2003.

Scientists Dig Up 50 Million Years of Plant Diversity

Tropical South America is the most biodiverse region on Earth today, explained Peter Wilf, a member of the research team and an assistant professor of geosciences at Penn State University.

"This richness is usually considered to be geologically recent," said Wilf. "There has been little evidence but much debate about the history of the exceptional plant diversity of tropical South America."

Wilf was part of the international team of scientists, who reported their findings in the April 4 issue of the journal "Science."

"Adjusted for sample size, observed richness exceeds that of any other Eocene leaf flora, supporting an ancient history of high plant diversity in warm areas of South America," the researchers reported.

The fossils were found in the Patagonia area of Argentina, some 800 miles southwest of Buenos Aires. The researchers collected more than 1,500 fossils and identified more than 100 different fossil leaf species as well as a variety of seeds, fruit and flowers.

The fossils were dated at between 52 and 53 million years old and helped the scientists determine that this temperate desert area was warm, frostfree and moist with lush vegetation some 52 million years ago, during the early Eocene period.

High neotropical diversity was thought to have originated as late as two million years ago when the ice ages may have shrunk the rainforests, Wilf explained, or as early as 20 million years ago when the Andean range began to rise.

The Eocene era was the warmest of the past 70 million years of Earth history and predated the Andes mountain range, which now blocks moisture from the Pacific Ocean from reaching the region.

"With good dating information, an adjusted sample size and a large number of species, we can say that South American plant diversity began very far in the past and continues to this day," Wilf explained.

Fabric Group Makes Green Energy Pledge

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Interface Fabrics Group's purchase of wind power will save approximately 4.1 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year.

"Conventional electricity generation is the nation's single largest industrial source of air pollution," said Kurt Johnson of EPA's Green Power Partnership. "Interface Fabrics Group is leading by example and proving that business can operate in an environmentally responsible manner while helping protect our environment."

The company purchased the green tags for 2003 from Bonneville Environmental Foundation with the help of the Maine Green Power Connection, a new grassroots organization dedicated to helping Maine businesses, organizations and residents create a viable market for greener electric power in the state.

Through this purchase, the energy Interface Fabrics Group draws from the nation's power grid will be replaced by wind energy, increasing the quantity of clean energy available for every electricity user in the United States.

This is not the fabric firm's first foray into alternative energy sources - it uses biomass to fuel its Maine facilities. Combined with the wind initiative, this brings the company's green power usage to over 58 percent of the total energy it consumes in the state of Maine.

The purchase demonstrates that Interface Fabrics Group is moving forward on its goal "to continually reduce our dependence on nonrenewable energy sources by conservation and to begin to fuel our factories with renewable energy," said Paul Paydos, the company's vice president of technical services.

The green tag deal fulfills a commitment the company made last July with the Maine state government to purchase an additional 10 percent renewable electrical energy beyond the amount used in 2001.