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Los Angeles Must Spend $2 Billion to Settle Sewage Violations LOS ANGELES, California, August 9, 2004 (ENS) - In one of the largest sewage cases in U.S. history, the City of Los Angeles has agreed to a $2 billion settlement of two lawsuits that will see the city rebuild at least 488 miles of sewer lines, clean 2,800 miles of sewers annually, enhance its program to control restaurant grease discharges, increase the sewage system's capacity, and plan for future expansion.With some 6,500 miles of sewer lines serving almost four million residents, the city operates the largest sewage collection systems in the country. Since 1994, the city has experienced over 4,500 sewage spills. The Santa Monica Baykeeper filed its action against Los Angeles in 1998, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, and a coalition of community groups filed their action in 2001. The community groups include Baldwin Hills Estates Homeowner's Association, Inc.; Baldwin Hills Village Garden Homes Association; United Homeowners Association; Village Green Owners Association; and Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles. This settlement is an effort to address all causes of sewage spills and odors in the city of Los Angeles. "This is a historic moment in Santa Monica Baykeeper's fight for clean water,” said Tracy Egoscue, executive director of Santa Monica Baykeeper. "Baykeeper supports the leadership of the city of Los Angeles and their commitment to reduce sewage spills in our community.” The United States and the regional board are settling their civil penalty claims against the city for a total of $1.6 million, which they will share equally. The city will pay $800,000 to the U.S. Treasury. The regional board is directing its $800,000 to local environmental improvement projects that the city will perform. The terms of the settlement require a proactive approach designed to prevent problems from developing in the city's system. The city is required to undertake more aggressive maintenance practices and advanced planning to identify and repair or replace problem sewers before they spill. “The joint enforcement action will bring long term significant improvement to Los Angeles’s sewer system,” said Tom Sansonetti, assistant attorney general for the U.S. Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This demonstrates that federal and state agencies and local organizations can work together to achieve compliance with our environmental regulations.” “Today's settlement recognizes and memorializes the city's commitment to repair and replace its aging sewage infrastructure, to serve the needs of generations to come,” said Wayne Nastri, administrator of the EPA’s Pacific Southwest office in San Francisco. "This investment will protect neighborhoods and millions of beachgoers from the ill effects of sewage spills." "This settlement agreement is well worth the hard work that went into it," said Francine Diamond, chair of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. "Soon it will not be commonplace to have spills resulting in raw sewage flowing down our streets and polluting our waterways. The agreement is a great victory for community members, as well as everyone concerned about public health and clean water." Under the settlement, the city of Los Angeles will perform $8.5 million in environmental projects to restore streams and wetlands and to capture and treat polluted storm drain flows in addition to the work required to improve its sewer system. The environmental improvement projects include projects throughout the city. The agreement takes effect when signed by the District Court judge following a 30 day public comment period.
Oil Dumping Whistleblower Awarded Largest Ever Bounty WASHINGTON, DC, August 9, 2004 (ENS) – A shipping company based in Connecticut that transports petroleum products in the United States and abroad was sentenced to pay $4.2 million for illegally concealing the dumping of thousands of gallons of waste oil and sludge at sea.And the former crew member who reported the crimes to the government received a bounty of $2.1 million, the largest ever awarded, for blowing the whistle on the dumping. U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden ordered OMI Corporation to pay a $4.2 million fine and serve three years of probation. The reward was issued under a bounty provision in the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships. In pleading guilty, OMI admitted that it had deliberately discharged waste oil, sludge and oily water mixtures directly overboard from the oil tanker Guadalupe without the use of required pollution prevention equipment known as an Oil Water Separator. The device is designed to separate out harmful quantities of oil so that they could be incinerated on the ship or properly disposed on shore. Instead, the company intentionally polluted by circumventing this key equipment with the use of a bypass hose. The deliberate discharges were then concealed in a false and fictitious Oil Record Book, a required log in which all overboard discharges must be accurately recorded and which is regularly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard. The government learned about OMI’s oil dumping from a former member of the engine room crew on the Guadalupe. In September, 2001, when the ship arrived in Carteret, New Jersey, the ship’s 2nd Engineer walked off the ship and straight to the local police department where he reported that he was being ordered to engage in criminal activity. At sentencing, prosecutors informed the Court that the crew member had risked his career with OMI and the industry in coming forward and qualified for an award under the statute. “This prosecution demonstrates the continuing commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office to aggressively prosecute environmental crimes,” said Christopher Christie, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. After learning of the discharges, the Captain of the ship participated in efforts to cover up what had happened from U.S. Coast Guard inspectors. The Chief Engineer was charged with making false statements in the Oil Record Book. The ship’s Captain Ashok Kumar and Chief Engineer Elangovan Mani have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Civil Groups Denied Entry to Mississippi Reactor License Hearing PORT GIBSON, Mississippi, August 9, 2004 (ENS) - A federal licensing board of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has denied four environmental, public interest and civil rights organizations entry into a licensing hearing on Entergy’s application to site a new nuclear reactor in Mississippi under the agency’s new streamlined licensing proceedings.The licensing board denied all of the groups’ criticisms, known as contentions, about an Entergy Nuclear application for a permit to site at least one new nuclear reactor near its existing Grand Gulf Unit 1 reactor in Port Gibson. The proposed reactor would be located in Claiborne County, with an 84 percent African American population and 32 percent of its residents living at or below the poverty line. The ruling came from a three judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) appointed by the NRC, the federal agency responsible for licensing and regulating the domestic nuclear industry. The ASLB denied contentions on the application’s lack of analysis of safety implications from locating a reactor of a new design adjacent to an older and earlier model reactor. The Board did not accept the groups' contention that there is no need for reactors of "below grade construction," especially after September 11. The groups' concerns about severe accident impacts, emergency planning, and the lack of a demonstrated national long-term management plan for new nuclear waste generated by any new reactors were dismissed. “NRC simply ignored very real environmental justice issues in Claiborne County and factual disputes in dismissing our case,” said Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Watchdog Project for Nuclear Information and Resource Service. “NRC offered very little, if any, rationale for its denial of a hearing on how a predominately minority and poor community sitting right next door to an atomic power plant is hurt by expanding this dangerous site,” Gunter said. “This is an assault on environmental justice in a bid to push new reactors through the agency’s new McLicensing procedure,” said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program. “In the process, the licensing board has given short shrift to a proceeding vitally important to the future health, safety and livelihood of Claiborne County’s residents,” she said. The two groups said they would appeal the Atomic Safety Licensing Board (ASLB) decision to the agency’s Commissioners within the required 10 days. Public Citizen and NIRS also filed contentions with the NRC for the Early Site Permits in Illinois and Virginia. To read today’s rulings at all three sites, go to Court Opinions at: http://www.citizen.org/cmep/esp.
Sick Nuclear Workers in Iowa Will Get Compensation WASHINGTON, DC, August 9, 2004 (ENS) - Sick nuclear workers from a closed Cold War ammunition plant in Iowa will be able to get payment of their compensation claims because the Department of Energy has determined who should pay the claims.Former employees of the Iowa Army Ammunition plant manufactured and assembled high-explosive components for nuclear weapons, as well as tank ammunition, artillery rounds and demolition charges. Between 1949 and 1975, under the jurisdiction of the Atomic Energy Commission, the plant was operated by the Mason and Hanger-Silas Mason Company, a company that no longer exists. Because the company is out of business there was no "willing payer" to cover the claims, but on Friday Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham Friday announced that he had identified the nearest responsible party. By conducting an exhaustive analysis of Mason and Hanger-Silas Mason’s contractual relationships in the years following the closing of the Iowa plant, the Department of Energy (DOE) recently determined that BWXT-Pantex should serve as the “willing payer” for the validated Iowa Army Ammunition Plant applications. Now that a “willing payer” has been identified, Secretary Abraham will direct BWXT-Pantex not to oppose any cases deemed valid by the independent medical panel. “A major problem has been solved for these former employees who worked so hard to keep our nation safe from the Cold War threat,” Abraham said. Now, those workers who receive positive determinations from a DOE Physician Panel should, if they choose to then apply for state workers’ compensation benefits, be able to receive appropriate benefits in a much easier and expedited fashion. Generally, benefit awards consist of a portion of lost wages plus reimbursement for out-of-pocket medical costs. Under Subtitle D of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act of 2000, the Department of Energy works to assist employees and their survivors by helping to gather records relevant to the worker’s illness, and providing access to panels of independent occupational medicine physicians. More information about the program is available at www.eh.doe.gov/advocacy or from a toll-free hotline at 1-877-447-9756.
Tobacco Industry Coaxed Journalists to Soft-Pedal 2nd-Hand Smoke ROCHESTER, Minnesota, August 9, 2004 (ENS) - The tobacco industry's own documents show the extent of the tobacco industry's efforts to influence the print media on the health effects of secondhand smoke.Mayo Clinic researchers Richard Hurt, M.D., and Monique Muggli, along with Lee Becker, Ph.D., at the University of Georgia reviewed previously secret internal tobacco company documents that revealed the tobacco industry launched an extensive, multifaceted effort to influence the scientific debate about the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. The tobacco industry attempted to derail public perception of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) risk assessment on secondhand smoke by recruiting a network of journalists to generate news articles supporting the industry's position and public relations messages about the secondhand smoke issue. The research is published in the current issue of "American Journal of Preventive Medicine." The authors found that tobacco companies still are attempting to influence journalists by financially supporting a U.S. school of journalism - the University of Missouri, in Columbia which accepted a $150,000 grant from Kraft General Foods, owned by Philip Morris, in 1990. Dr. Hurt says that he is "no longer shocked at the extensive reach of the tobacco industry and what it does, but I am quite surprised that parts of the institution we call journalism can be so swayed to purposely mislead their readers on such an important public health issue as secondhand smoke." The results of this study highlight the important but precarious role of the media in educating the public on secondhand smoke, says Dr. Hurt. The authors suggest that more scrutiny is warranted by media organizations of articles written by their reporters to insure the public is accurately informed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta says that as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke an estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 coronary heart disease deaths occur annually among adult nonsmokers in the United States. Each year, secondhand smoke is associated with an estimated 8,000 to 26,000 new asthma cases in children, and an estimated 150,000 to 300,000 new cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children aged less than 18 months, 7,500 to 15,000 of which will require hospitalization.
Recovery Plans Proposed for Two Rare Midwestern Species WASHINGTON, DC, August 9, 2004 (ENS) - A draft plan outlining steps to ward off extinction for the scaleshell mussel has been released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which seeks public comment on the plan. Found in streams in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, the Service listed the scaleshell as an endangered species in 2001.The draft plan provides federal, state and tribal natural resource managers and their partners with a blueprint of actions needed to prevent extinction for the scaleshell and recover it to the point that protection of the Endangered Species Act is no longer needed. The Service recommends releasing mussels produced in captivity into existing populations and portions of the scaleshell’s historic range. The draft calls for protecting existing populations, restoring habitat in and adjacent to streams in the mussel’s range, and raising public awareness about the scaleshell’s role in stream environments. The draft describes the goals that must be met to upgrade the scaleshell’s status to threatened and criteria for achieving recovery and removing the mussel from the list of endangered and threatened species. Once found in 55 rivers in 13 states in the Missouri River basin, the scaleshell is now limited to 14 rivers in three states. Remaining populations face threats from activities that modify its habitat, such as stream channelization, and may soon be affected by the invasion of the non-native zebra mussel. The species requires good water quality to survive and is threatened by declining water quality in the streams it inhabits. A small beetle found only in northern Lower Michigan and Ontario, Canada, is the focus of another draft recovery plan. The Service has announced a draft recovery plan for the endangered Hungerford’s crawling water beetle, and is seeking input on the draft. The draft plan to recover the beetle focuses on acquiring additional information on the species that will help determine effective recovery practices. Other recovery strategies recommended in the draft include protecting known sites, conducting additional surveys and monitoring known populations, and increasing public awareness of the species and its role in the natural community. Listed as endangered by the Service in 1994, the Hungerford’s crawling water beetle inhabits five isolated sites in Michigan and Ontario. In Michigan, the beetle is found in four locations within the Boardman-Charlevoix , Cheboygan, and Black watersheds in Emmet and Montmorency counties; it is also found at one site in Bruce County, Ontario. This species inhabits areas downstream from culverts and beaver dams in clean, well-aerated areas of streams. Threats to this species include activities that degrade water quality or remove or disrupt the pools and streams in which this species lives. Both recovery plans and instructions for public comment can be found online at: http://midwest.fws.gov/endangered/
Diving Vehicle Will Take Humans to New Depths ARLINGTON, Virginia, August 9, 2004 (ENS) - After 40 years of scientific research that led to the discovery of new life forms, helped confirm the theory of plate tectonics, and fascinated schoolchildren around the world with seafloor images, the research submersible Alvin will be replaced by a new, deeper diving human occupied vehicle."Most of the seafloor is unexplored, yet it is one of the most exciting environments on our planet," said Arden Bement, acting director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), which will provide funding for the vehicle through a cooperative agreement with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). "This new submersible will be the flagship for the next phase of deep-sea exploration, and the many exciting discoveries that are anticipated in coming decades," Bement said. "New developments in communication technology also will link deep submergence scientists in real time with shore-side observers to encourage the next generation of ocean explorers." The replacement vehicle will be capable of reaching more than 99 percent of the seafloor to depths of 6,500 meters (21,320 feet) and conducting a broader range of research projects around the world. When completed in 2008, it will be the most capable deep-sea research vehicle in the world. Alvin, which has undergone nearly continuous upgrades since its launch in 1964, dives to 4,500 meters (14,764 feet). The four year design and construction project is expected to cost $21.6 million and will be funded largely by the NSF. A merit based review of an unsolicited proposal led to a cooperative agreement with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for the first phase of construction, the NSF says. WHOI will operate the new sub as part of the National Deep Submergence Facility and will provide $2 million of its own funds for the project - $1 million for enhancements to the submersible's imaging and lighting systems and other sensors, and $1 million toward operating costs for the first four years. A 2004 National Research Council (NRC) report, Future Needs of Deep Submergence Science, recommended construction of a new, more capable human occupied vehicle (HOV) as part of a suite of tools for ocean research, which includes remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The preliminary report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy also points to the importance of research and exploration of the deep seafloor, and to the excitement emanating from such missions to the depths of the ocean. Alvin is one of only five deep diving human occupied vehicles in the world and the only such HOV in the United States. Alvin revolutionized deep sea exploration by providing U.S. scientists with an unprecedented ability to routinely conduct research on the deep-sea floor, at mid-ocean ridges and hydrothermal vents with exotic marine life now believed to hold clues to the origin of life on Earth. More than 4,000 dives have transported 12,000 people to the seafloor to spend 16,000 hours on the bottom to observe and sample the deep. With a current average of 175 dives per year, Alvin has a reliability record greater than 95 percent over the past 20 years, with the remaining percentage lost mainly to bad weather. "The contribution Alvin has made to science is unquestioned," said Robert Gagosian, president and director of WHOI. "Alvin enabled whole generations of scientists to gain access to a previously unseen world, and for engineers to push the limits of their creativity. The replacement vehicle is designed to continue and extend this legacy."
New Coral Reef Website Offers Wealth of Information WASHINGTON, DC, August 9, 2004 (ENS) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has opened a new website on the nation's coral reefs featuring links to more than $5 million in funding opportunities for reef scientists and managers.Created by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program, the site supports the program's mission "to provide effective management and sound science to preserve, sustain and restore valuable coral reef ecosystems," NOAA said. The site links to several grant programs supported by NOAA that fund coral reef conservation activities. Detailed information on the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Grant Program is provided as well. In 2004 this grant program expects to award over $5.5 million for activities supporting coral reef science and management. "We have seen increasing demand for information about coral reef ecosystems from managers, scientists, teachers and the public including scuba divers, boaters and fishermen," said David Kennedy, program manager. "This website provides a new way to access a wide variety of useful information on coral reefs including grants, products and services from NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program." NOAA's Coral Reef Information System, launched in 2002 to consolidate access to NOAA's coral reef information and data products, is featured on the site. NOAA Coral Reef News, the Coral Reef Conservation Program's monthly electronic newsletter is offered as another information resource. Educators can explore the wealth of information here, including ready made lesson plans. Fact sheets show how healthy coral reefs provide valuable services such as income, coastal protection and habitat, medicines and recreation. The website is found at: http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov
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