• Suit Challenges Navy Low Frequency Sonar
  
• Faster E. Coli Test Could Protect Beachgoers
  
• City Birds Prefer Rich Neighbors
  
• Pantex Plant Headed for Early Cleanup
  
• Phytoplankton Populations On the Decline
  
• Montana Billboards Denounce Coalbed Methane Plans
  
• California Ranch May be Saved for Butterflies
  
• Report: Obsolete California Dam Should be Removed
  

Suit Challenges Navy Low Frequency Sonar

The coalition, led by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), filed the lawsuit in federal district court in San Francisco on Wednesday.

The sonar system, known as Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active sonar (SURTASS LFA) relies on loud, low frequency sound to detect submarines at great distances. According to Navy studies, the LFA system generates sounds capable of reaching 140 decibels more than 300 miles away.

"One of the truly disturbing aspects of this system," said Joel Reynolds, senior attorney and director of NRDC's Marine Mammals Protection Project, "is its unprecedented power and geographic scope. If the Navy deploys LFA, tens of thousands of square miles of ocean habitat would be saturated with extremely loud and dangerous sound. The Navy has illegally been given a blank check to deploy LFA in 75 percent of the world's oceans."

Over the last few years, scientists have become concerned about undersea noise pollution from high intensity sonar systems. Scientists are particularly concerned about active sonar, the kind that sends out a signal and waits for a response, which some say has the potential to harm and even kill whales and other marine mammals.

A mass stranding of multiple whale species in the Bahamas in March 2000 intensified these concerns. Many of the beached whales died. A federal investigation determined that the strandings were caused by exposure to high intensity sound waves from the U.S. Navys' mid-frequency active sonar system.

"From a scientific point of view, there is very little question that, given the right set of circumstances, active sonar can kill marine life," said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Humane Society of the United States, one of the coplaintiffs. "The frightening thing about LFA is that we're flying blind, because the Navy has never seriously applied the lessons from previous strandings to its LFA system."

The lawsuit filed this week is a response to a decision last month by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with protecting ocean resources, to issue the Navy a permit allowing the global deployment of LFA. Attorneys for the environmentalists said they would challenge LFA deployment under several federal statutes, including the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

"The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued the Navy a so called 'small take' permit, which in reality authorizes the Navy to injure, harass and disturb marine mammals on a stunningly large scale throughout the world's oceans," said Andrew Sabey, a partner with the international firm of Morrison & Foerster, which is representing the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs in the case - NRDC, the Humane Society, the League for Coastal Protection, the Cetacean Society International, and the Ocean Futures Society and its president, Jean-Michel Cousteau - will seek a court decision before the Navy deploys the LFA system.

"The ocean is a precious resource shared by all the world's peoples," said Cousteau. "The LFA system poses an unacceptable risk to our oceans and our children's heritage."

Faster E. Coli Test Could Protect Beachgoers

When officials close a public beach because the water is contaminated, those announcements often do not come until days after the E. coli level has reached dangerous levels. Likewise, the order to reopen a beach may happen days after the level has dropped.

Rolf Deininger, a professor of Environmental Health Sciences in the UM School of Public Health, and Jiyoung Lee, a post-doctoral research fellow at the School of Public Health, developed a faster, portable testing unit that can yield results on the spot in about 45 minutes. This is faster than sending the sample off site for analysis, which often takes a day or two for results.

The Michigan Great Lakes Protection Fund helped finance the development, though now Deininger is waiting on funding for full field testing.

Deininger, who has helped design similar testing methods for drinking water and pool water, tested this new process at beaches in Michigan's Genesee, Macomb, Monroe and Washtenaw counties. Deininger used his process to test water at the same time the county health departments conducted traditional testing to show that they both got the same results, but in different time frames.

The goal is to have the equipment be both portable and simple enough that a lifeguard could test the water each morning before allowing the public to swim at a beach that day.

The challenge with testing beach water, as opposed to pool or drinking water, is to work through the great amount of natural debris near the shore. An effective test needs to filter out enough debris to keep it from clogging the test unit's filter, but not do so much pre-treating as to tamper with results.

Deininger's test uses a process called immunomagnetic separation, which uses tiny paramagnetic beads coated with antibodies specific to E. coli. Testing involves mixing the beads with a water sample. Treated beads attach to bacteria and the beads with attached bacteria are pulled out with a magnet, and later mixed into clean water.

The bacteria are lysed, or broken open, to release adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an energy generating substance found in every living cell. Then luciferine/luciferase - the substances that make fireflies glow - are added to the clean water suspension, where they light up when they interact with the bacteria's ATP.

The amount of light generated is measured with a hand held luminometer and the light reading tells whether the water sample is safe.

Equipment needed for the new test would cost about $5,000, and the disposable supplies for each test are about $5, which Deininger says is comparable to existing technology. The question, he said, is not one of cost, but of timeliness.

City Birds Prefer Rich Neighbors

The Central Arizona-Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research Project has already found that the bird population has a slightly higher species richness - number of species - and greater abundance - number of birds in general - in urban Phoenix than in the surrounding Sonoran Desert. The project's researchers were surprised to learn that the bird populations seem to also be influenced by economic factors - more species live in wealthy neighborhoods than in middle and lower income areas.

In a study of 15 small community parks located in Phoenix neighborhoods with distinct socioeconomic classifications ranging from lower to upper income, Arizona State University ecologists Ann Kinzig and Paige Warren measured the abundance and diversity of both birds and trees. The researchers chose parks rather than residential yards because these city controlled spaces offered comparable environments for the study sites, with a similar landscape - grass, athletic fields, facilities and scattered trees - but differences in the surrounding neighborhoods.

"What we are seeing is a pretty strong trend in the data," said Kinzig. "We can't explain bird diversity in the parks by the size of the parks, or the types or sizes of trees in the parks, which is what we might expect. Instead, the characteristics of the neighborhood, including the income of the residents, seem to play a significant role in influencing the number of species that live in the park."

Trees and other vegetation are considered to be a major factor affecting bird populations. But the study's findings on diversity and abundance of park trees, which are the primary vegetation in the survey sites, do not correspond with the bird data.

While bird populations were found to be most diverse in upper income neighborhood parks and less diverse in parks in middle and lower income neighborhoods, tree diversity was highest in lower income neighborhood parks.

The lack of influence of park vegetation was even clearer when the researchers examined bird abundance - the total number of birds seen, regardless of species. Summer bird abundance was consistently lower where tree abundance was higher.

The lack of correlation between trees and the bird populations is important, Kinzig noted, because the variety and number of trees planted are among the few significant variables present in the make up of the parks themselves, and could be affected by economic factors. Tree landscaping is done by the city, and could be influenced by the neighborhood's age and economic status.

Though the study eliminates park landscaping as a factor, it does not yet pinpoint specific explanations for how neighborhood economic status could affect bird populations.

"Something that happens in the radius of 200 meters from the park boundaries is influencing the diversity of birds," Kinzig noted. "Whatever people are doing is having an influence, because we can't explain it with the park itself."

There are still some ecological factors that Kinzig thinks could be relevant. Kinzig's team plans to look at variations in food sources, such as what trees and shrubs people in different neighborhoods plant in their yards. Other variable might by the availability of water, in bird baths, dog dishes and other sources, the number of cats and other predators in different areas, or the effects of different city zoning decisions.

Kinzig said learning what factor influence bird populations could prove crucial to the survival of a variety of species.

"We need to learn fundamentally how these neighborhoods differ from each other," she said. "Cities are where people live now, and parks are going to provide their daily access to nature. We have to understand what kind of nature people will have in their parks, and what determines that."

Pantex Plant Headed for Early Cleanup

The DOE has set aside an additional $5 million from its Accelerated Cleanup Reform Account for the Pantex Plant, increasing the site's cleanup budget to $16 million.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state of Texas officials have signed a Letter of Intent to accelerate cleanup at the Pantex Plant, one of the agency's Cold War era nuclear weapon's production facilities.

This agreement was reached under the Department's Environmental Management Accelerated Cleanup Program, whose goal is to streamline operations by working with states and regulators to target and reduce the greatest health and environmental cleanup risks at such sites.

"This agreement provides the framework necessary to accelerate cleanup and it is a major step to effectively reduce health risks and expedite the environmental cleanup at the Pantex Plant." Abraham said. "Working with the states and other regulatory agencies, DOE is proposing a new way of doing business, leading to greater accountability, responsibility, and opportunities for both the Department and the states."

Initiatives for accelerating cleanup and reducing risks at the Pantex Plant include:

• Accelerating the remediation of groundwater and soil contamination at the Pantex Plant
• Ensuring that data quality objectives support the cleanup decision making process during the investigation phase of the cleanup
• Identifying regulatory performance standards for ground water cleanup, engineering controls, and risk targets necessary to protect human health and the environment
• Prioritizing cleanup work on a risk basis, completing investigation by May 2005 and final remedial action by the end of fiscal year 2008
• Eliminating duplication of effort in addressing similar statutory requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, since Pantex is a joint jurisdiction facility

"Accelerated cleanup agreements will accomplish results in a manner that is safe, protective of human health and the environment, and in compliance with state and federal environmental laws," Abraham said.

The Pantex Plant Letter of Intent is available at: http://www.em.doe.gov

Phytoplankton Populations On the Decline

A comparison of two datasets taken from satellites also shows that phytoplankton levels in open water areas near the equator have increased over the same time period. Since phytoplankton are more concentrated in the north, the study found an overall annual decrease in phytoplankton around the globe.

Watson Gregg of the Goddard Space Flight Center and Margarita Conkright, a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Oceanographic Data Center, also discovered what appears to be an association between more recent regional climate changes, such as higher sea surface temperatures and reductions in surface winds, and areas where phytoplankton levels have dropped.

Phytoplankton include many species of microscopic free floating marine plants that serve as food for other ocean living forms of life.

"The whole marine food chain depends on the health and productivity of the phytoplankton," Gregg said.

The researchers compared two sets of satellite data - one from 1979 to 1986 and the other from1997 to 2000 - that measured global ocean chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants that absorbs the Sun's rays for energy during photosynthesis. The researchers blended both satellite measurements with surface observations of chlorophyll from ocean buoys and research vessels over corresponding time periods.

Their results showed that phytoplankton in the North Pacific Ocean dropped by more than 30 percent during summer from the mid- 80s to the present. Phytoplankton fell by 14 percent in the North Atlantic Ocean over the same time period.

Summer plankton concentrations rose by more than 50 percent in both the Northern Indian and the Equatorial Atlantic Oceans since the mid-80s. Large areas of the Indian Ocean showed increases during all four seasons.

"This is the first time that we are really talking about the ocean chlorophyll and showing that the ocean's biology is changing, possibly as a result of climate change," said Conkright. The researchers note that it remains unclear whether the changes are due to a longer term climate change or a shorter term ocean cycle.

Phytoplankton now account for half the transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere back into the biosphere by photosynthesis, a process in which plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air for growth. Since carbon dioxide acts as a heat trapping gas in the atmosphere, the role phytoplankton play in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere helps reduce the rate at which CO2 accumulates in the atmosphere, and may help mitigate global warming.

The study appears in the current issue of the journal "Geophysical Research Letters."

Montana Billboards Challenge Coalbed Methane Plans

The conservation group is concerned that a pending decision to be made by federal and state regulators could pose dire consequences for fisheries, wildlife, downstream irrigation and drinking water.

"Montanans have a critical decision to make about the future of coalbed methane development," said Mary Wiper, a Sierra Club conservation organizer. "If we say 'hello' to coalbed methane development, we can say 'goodbye' to our state's clean water."

In spring 2002, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), and Montana Board of Oil and Gas released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on coal bed methane development in Montana. Citizens from across the state commented on the plan, and a final plan will likely be released this fall.

The Sierra Club found the EIS to be inadequate, warning that none of the alternatives will prevent or mitigate the impacts of the web of industrial development that will spread across the eastern two-thirds of Montana. The BLM estimates that up to 26,000 coal bed methane wells will be developed in Montana, from eastern Montana to as far west as Gallatin County.

"The consequences of industrial coal bed methane development within the state of Montana threaten our clean water and wildlife habitat, and therefore our rich tradition of angling, hunting, agriculture and outdoor recreation," said Bernie Rose, a volunteer who chairs the Sierra Club's Yellowstone Basin Group. "Our goal is to inform Montanans about the dangers of this type of development and to have them join us in protecting the special places where we hunt, fish and camp."

Every coal bed methane well drilled in Montana would pump huge volumes of water out of the ground to release methane gas from underground coal seams. The salty water would then be released into rivers, threatening fisheries, wildlife, downstream irrigation, and drinking water.

The BLM estimates that 93 million gallons of water a day could be pumped out of Montana's groundwater and dumped into rivers and streams. The increased erosion of soils, high level of water pollutants and added sedimentation from coal bed methane could destroy spawning grounds and habitat for fish.

Wildlife, such as deer, pronghorn, and the endangered mountain plover and sage grouse, would also be threatened by loss of habitat from industrial development. Access roads, drill pads, pipelines, power lines, transmission stations, compressors, and increased traffic that come along with development could break-up home and winter ranges and migration routes.

Each well would disturb an estimated three to four acres of land. More than one million acres could be disturbed by this methane coalbed development.

The billboards will be in place until the end of September and can be viewed at: http://www.sierraclub.org/cbmethane

California Ranch May be Saved for Butterflies

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has announced an agreement with real estate development company Comstock Homes and Santa Barbara Development Partners to protect the 135 acre Ellwood Mesa property along the Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County.

The bluff top property provides a roosting site for 100,000 butterflies during their annual winter migration, and is part of the longest stretch of undeveloped coastline in Southern California. The site, located between the University of California Santa Barbara campus to its east and the Santa Barbara Shores City Park to its west, was threatened with the development of a large residential subdivision.

Butterflies at Ellwood Mesa. (Photo by Frank S. Balthis, courtesy TPL)

Through a two pronged conservation strategy, developed in response to the high market value of the oceanfront land and the community's desire to protect the property, the city of Goleta is working with TPL to ensure the entire mesa is protected. TPL will launch a campaign to raise public and private funds to compensate the landowner for a portion of the property's value. To complete the conservation effort, the city will work with the landowner to swap an inland portion of an adjacent city park for the remainder of the landowner's interest in the mesa.

Once these efforts are complete, TPL intends to transfer its portion of the mesa property to the city of Goleta for long term stewardship as park and open space for public recreation and wildlife habitat protection.

"TPL has been engaged with the Santa Barbara community for years trying to put together a viable acquisition strategy to protect the Ellwood Mesa, and finally a seller who is willing to respond to the community's interests has entered the picture," said Debra Geiler, senior project manager at TPL. "Once protected, the Ellwood Mesa will be the cornerstone of the two mile stretch of open space that forms the gateway to the Gaviota Coast."

The Gaviota Coast is where the northern and southern California ecosystems meet, and is host to a wealth of biological diversity. More than 40 sensitive vertebrate species are found there, as well as 525 plant species, representing about half of the plant families found in California.

"This community has fought for years to prevent development on the Ellwood bluffs to protect the sensitive natural resources including the monarch butterfly aggregation, and to preserve the stunning mountain and ocean views for future generations," said Kevin Barthel, president of Friends of the Ellwood Coast. "This unique opportunity for the public to acquire the land cannot be missed."

Report: Obsolete California Dam Should be Removed

California Trout and the 225,000 member Southern Coalition Steelhead Coalition released a report this week supporting the removal of Rindge Dam, located 30 miles north of Los Angeles on Malibu Creek. The groups say the dam has been obsolete for more than 45 years and blocks access to critical spawning habitat for endangered Southern California steelhead.

"Rindge Dam serves no beneficial purpose. It does not help with flood control, water supply, or hydropower generation because it is completely filled with sediment," said Jim Edmondson, CalTrout's conservation director. "Yet, it remains in place, restricting one of the most important runs of steelhead runs along the entire Pacific coast to a tiny fraction of habitat available in the Malibu Creek watershed."

Southern California steelhead, the only steelhead population listed as endangered by the federal government, contain the parent genetic material for all steelhead, the groups say. The steelhead have unique warm water adaptability that could be critical to preserving all steelhead along the Pacific Coast that are now threatened by global warming.

Before Rindge Dam was erected, steelhead could access miles of upstream habitat, and Malibu Creek hosted a self sustaining population of close to 1,000 individuals. Since the dam was completed, the population has declined to less than 50.

The dam was erected in 1926 to provide agricultural water supply, but its reservoir soon filled with sediment. By 1945, 84 percent of the reservoir's capacity had been displaced by sediment, and by 1955 it was filled. The California Department of Water Resources decommissioned the dam in 1967.

CalTrout and the Coalition released their report as a set of formal comments on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Malibu Creek restoration feasibility study. The Corps study examines options for restoring the Malibu Creek ecosystem, including alternatives for removal of the dam.

The Corps is expects to complete its study and announce the decision of its preferred restoration alternative in 2004.