• New Foam May Decontaminate SARS, Bird Flu
  
• Underground Brooklyn Oil Spill Complaint Targets ExxonMobil
  
• Boston Power Plant Inks $6 Million Clean Air Settlement
  
• Navajo, Hopi Agree on Tuba City Tank Cleanup
  
• Entangling Lines Lifted Off North Atlantic Right Whales
  
• Ring My Cell Phone at High Tide
  
• Bright Blue Migratory Forest Bird Disappearing
  
• Miss Waldron's Red Colobus Monkey May Still Exist
  

New Foam May Decontaminate SARS, Bird Flu

Underground Brooklyn Oil Spill Complaint Targets ExxonMobil

The letter of intent, filed on January 26, provides 60 days under the Clean Water Act and 90 days under RCRA for the defendants to come into compliance, after which Riverkeeper may file to hear the case in court.

Riverkeeper announced the filing during a press conference at City Hall in Manhattan, joined by Councilmembers David Yassky of Brooklyn and Eric Gioia of Queens, and other concerned residents and businesspeople.

Beneath the shores of Newtown Creek in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, BP Amoco, and other companies have permitted approximately 17 million gallons of oil to accumulate covering 55 acres, Riverkeeper alleges.

The spill, at least six million gallons larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, is the result of leaks in the 1940s and 1950s.

The letter of intent to sue alleges that ExxonMobil neglected the spill for more than two decades, as it slowly migrated under the community and into the creek.

Riverkeeper Executive Director Alex Matthiessen said, “Exxon has profited for five decades by neglecting this massive spill, at great cost to our waterways and the people of this city. A comprehensive cleanup of this neglected waterway is long overdue and the time of reckoning has come.”

Oil slicks consistently seep from ExxonMobil’s shoreline and often extend hundreds of yards with the tide, making Newtown Creek one of the dirtiest waterbodies in North America, Riverkeeper says.

In a 1978 helicopter patrol, the U.S. Coast Guard discovered a large plume of oil flowing out of the banks of the creek. Virtually no action was taken until 1990, when the state of New York entered into consent orders with ExxonMobil.

"Rather than bring the company to justice, the order required only the most rudimentary cleanup, demanded no cleanup benchmark, and failed to order a single penny in penalties," Riverkeeper complains.

The conservation group says the spill has destroyed the local aquifer, rendering more than 50 acres of land undevelopable, settling under more than 100 homes on three residential blocks, severely contaminating Newtown Creek, and threatening aquatic life across the harbor.

Boston Power Plant Inks $6 Million Clean Air Settlement

The agreement with Exelon Mystic LLC includes funding for salt marsh restoration in Chelsea and $250,000 for construction of a commuter bike path along the Amelia Earhart Dam on the Mystic River linking Everett and Somerville.

The agreement settles charges stemming from air quality violations over a five year period at the Mystic Station power plant in Everett. Plant owner Exelon Mystic has agreed to pay a $1 million civil penalty and fund more than $5 million of environmental projects in the Boston area.

The settlement was filed in U.S. District Court Thursday in Boston.

Among the projects is $3.25 million to retrofit 500 Boston school buses with pollution control equipment and supply them with ultra low-polluting diesel fuel. The project is expected to cut tailpipe emissions from the buses by more than 90 percent, or more than 30 tons a year. Upon being completed in 2005, Boston will be the first major city in the country to have retrofitted its entire school bus fleet. Some 28,000 school children who ride the buses every day will breathe cleaner air.

The settlement also includes $1.25 million for pollution control improvements to most of the commuter rail trains operating out of Boston’s North Station rail terminal. The funds will equip diesel locomotive engines of 15 to 20 commuter rail trains with oxidation catalysts to reduce particulate matter and supply the trains with low-sulfur diesel fuel for three years.

The result will be cleaner air for the 47,000 passengers who ride the North Station commuter trains each day, and for the residents of the many communities through which the trains pass. The EPA says that over three years, the project will reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 258 tons and particulate matter by 44 tons.

“This settlement is a big victory for Boston’s air quality and the millions of area residents who breathe that air every day,” said Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England Office. “In addition to reducing particulate pollution from the Mystic power plant, Boston area residents can look forward to hundreds of cleaner school buses, cleaner trains, restored wetlands and a new bike path linking Everett and Somerville.”

Located just over the Boston city line, the 2,600 megawatt Mystic Station power plant includes three 1950s era oil fired units, a larger, primarily oil-fired unit built in the 1970s, and two brand new units that burn only natural gas.

EPA’s complaint alleged over 6,000 violations of the Clean Air Act’s opacity limits at the four oil-fired units from June 1998 to November 2003. Opacity is a measure of smoke thickness, and is regulated to prevent visible air pollutants such as soot and other particulate matter from polluting the air.

Most of the violations took place at the three oldest units, which virtually ceased operations in March 2003.

Fine particulate matter from combustion sources such as power plants is a serious public health concern, particularly for sensitive populations such as children, the elderly and asthmatics, the EPA says.

Asthma is the leading cause of childhood emergency room hospitalizations in Boston. In some Boston neighborhoods, including Roxbury and Dorchester, asthma rates are more than double the state average.

After EPA issued a Notice of Violation in 2001 and a Compliance Order in 2002, Mystic spent over $2.5 million on new equipment and operating procedures, which improved the plant’s compliance with opacity regulations and reduced its particulate emissions.

Navajo, Hopi Agree on Tuba City Tank Cleanup

After numerous public meetings, hearings, outreach efforts and consideration of comments from community members, the agency and the Tribes selected two cleanup technologies designed to remove petroleum contaminants from the soil and ground water at and around the intersection of highways 160 and 264.

The first technology pumps air into the ground water which attaches to gasoline molecules that are extracted when the air returns to the surface. The injected air also stimulates the growth of naturally occurring bacteria that breaks down petroleum contamination.

The second technology enhances this natural process by injecting oxidizers into the soil and shallow ground water. These methods have proven effective in cleaning up petroleum contamination at underground storage tank sites across the Southwest, the EPA says.

"By working together with the Hopi and Navajo people, we are ensuring that we can provide a clean and healthy environment for our communities," said Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr.

"This cooperative effort reinforces the fact that we are all concerned about the safety of our environment and the quality of living as we work toward preserving our homelands," said Hopi Tribe Chairman Wayne Taylor, Jr.

Petroleum contamination was first discovered in Tuba City in the mid-1980s. In 1996, the EPA ordered Thriftway, National Petroleum Marketing Inc., and Sunshine Western, Inc., which operated what is now the Superfuels station, to investigate underground contamination from leaking fuel tanks and pipes from the operation of the gas stations.

Representatives from the EPA, Navajo Nation EPA and Hopi Department of Natural Resources held public meetings and public hearings in Tuba City and at the Hopi Village of Upper Moenkopi in August. The public was invited to comment on the proposed cleanup strategy for the site. This resulted in a final cleanup plan that includes responses to the written and oral comments submitted by the public during the meetings and public comment period.

Thriftway is currently performing all the work at the site on behalf of itself and all the responsible parties. Thriftway previously installed the air injection technology at two locations and these systems have been incorporated into the final cleanup plan.

"This is a great step toward cleaning up this site," said Jeff Scott, the director for the EPA's Waste Management Division for the Pacific Southwest region. "We thank the Navajo and Hopi Tribes for their dedication and commitment in protecting their communities' environment and public health."

Entangling Lines Lifted Off North Atlantic Right Whales

The funds will underwrite an innovative project coordinated by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), involving the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

The project involves replacing whale threatening, floating groundline currently used by Massachusetts lobstermen with more what IFAW calls "whale safe' line that sinks, or hovers slightly above the sea floor. Current lines connect one pot to another on the ocean floor, and the slack from these lines floats, creating an entanglement hazard to right whales when they are diving and feeding.

The new line does not float, making it safer for whales and other marine animals to travel through areas where lobster fishing occurs.

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the world's rarest whale species, numbering less than 350. Ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are the two primary causes of right whale deaths.

The project's funding resulted from more than a year and a half of efforts by IFAW working in partnership with Massachusetts Democratic lawmakers Congressman Bill Delahunt and Senator Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association, and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

"This is a remarkable project that brings environmentalists together with the fishing industry and government to create a solution that benefits all," said Congressman Delahunt, who authored the original proposal.

"This is a win for fishermen and a win for whales," said IFAW President Fred O'Regan from the organization's international headquarters on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. "It is only by working together with the fishing industry and government that we can save these majestic creatures and create solutions that succeed."

IFAW is committed to protecting the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale, and has spent over $2 million in the last eight years on key right whale research and protection including acoustic studies and disentanglement efforts.

IFAW is seeking to raise private matching funds for the grant to cover additional project costs. To learn more, visit: http://www.ifaw.org.

Ring My Cell Phone at High Tide

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and ekkosoft.us of Newburyport, Massachusetts, a wireless application development firm, launched the joint service last week. Until now, tidal information from NOAA has been available only in print and over the Internet.

Scientists from the NOAA Ocean Service Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) worked with ekkosoft.us to bring this service to cell phone users.

Mike Szabados, director of CO-OPS said, “This technology allows the public a new way to access tidal information, ensuring a safer more enjoyable time on the water.”

Information will be provided on cell phones using a program developed by ekkosoft.us called Salt Water Tides.

The program accesses data from NOAA servers and uses software based on NOAA algorithms to generate tide prediction graphics for thousands of locations around the United States coast. Salt Water Tides provides high tide, low tide, sunrise, sunset and moon phases for over 2,300 locations.

Features include daily color tide graphs with cross hairs indicators.

In order to access the program, users will need a wireless phone capable of transmitting and visually displaying tidal data, graphics and images. Users may be charged a fee for the service by their service provider.

Bright Blue Migratory Forest Bird Disappearing

The Cerulean Warbler Technical Group has just been formed as an international effort to focus research and use the results to conserve the species. The partnership includes industry, state and national governments, nongovernmental organizations, and universities in North and South America.

In the January issue of "The Auk," magazine, Paul Hamel, research wildlife biologist with the Forest Service Southern Research Station, says the migratory warblers are disappearing. "We are seeing a dramatic shift in range," he said. "Land use change is certainly one cause, but climate change - either short or long term - may also be a factor.”

Little is known about the behavior and population ecology of the cerulean warbler, due to the difficulty of catching females, locating nests, and observing the young. “Most glaring is our ignorance of the cerulean warbler during the non-breeding season,” says Hamel. “So far, we only have two published studies from South America.”

Scientists do know that the bright blue warblers migrate to the lower slopes of the Andes in August and return in April or May to build nests in the upper canopy of forests in the southeastern United States.

Since 1966, cerulean warbler populations have declined an estimated 70 percent, the decline tied to the fragmentation and destruction of habitat in both breeding and winter ranges.

In March 2003, El Grupo Ceruleo, which includes scientists from both the breeding and non-breeding ranges, met with in Ecuador to discuss the conservation of the cerulean warbler and other migratory and resident neotropical birds and to outline research needs.

Research findings in North America confirm habitat loss as the main reason for the decline of cerulean warbler populations. Studies have also found a growth in populations of cerulean warblers in areas where forests are regenerating. “We have some evidence that we can regenerate and manage forests to create or improve habitat for the cerulean warbler,” says Hamel, “but we need to act quickly and throughout the bird's range.”

For its breeding range, the bird needs large areas of mature deciduous forest, often along streams. In the southeastern United States, much of this habitat has been lost to agriculture or development. In its winter range in South America, forests are also being lost to agriculture.

The U.S. Forest Service and the Nature Conservancy are providing the funding for South American biologists to conduct new research on cerulean warblers in winter 2003 and 2004.

Miss Waldron's Red Colobus Monkey May Still Exist

If the monkey is extinct, it would be the first primate to have disappeared in 200 years.

But new evidence of the Miss Waldron's red colobus' existence has rekindled McGraw's hopes of finding the primate, reportedly last seen in 1978. McGraw, an associate professor of anthropology at Ohio State University, has never sighted this monkey in his 10 years of research, but he details the evidence that does exist and his continuing search in an upcoming issue of the "International Journal of Primatology."

Miss Waldron's red colobus is a small, black monkey with reddish fur on its forehead and thighs. Researchers think that they once lived in large packs in the canopy rainforests of eastern Ivory Coast and western Ghana. If the monkey is still alive, its range may be limited to the remote southeastern corner of Ivory Coast.

McGraw has not been to Ivory Coast since the winter of 2002. While the country's civil war ended last July, political tensions remain high. McGraw relies on Ivorian hunters he knows to tell him about sightings of Miss Waldron's red colobus, in return for a reward.

Hunting is illegal in Ivory Coast, but the laws are not enforced, McGraw said. Many people living in the country's remote areas hunt to eat or sell the meat into the bushmeat trade. About 85 percent of the country's original forest cover is gone, leaving little habitat for the rare monkey.

A year ago, McGraw received a photo of what appears to be an adult Miss Waldron's red colobus, but it had been killed.

"This is the only known photograph of a Miss Waldron's red colobus, and it's dead," fumed McGraw. "But everyone who knows anything about this primate says it's definitely a Miss Waldron's."

Two years ago, an Ivorian hunter gave McGraw the skin of a monkey with reddish markings. The skin is now framed and hangs on the wall in McGraw's Columbus office.

In 2001, in Ivory Coast, another hunter gave McGraw a black tail from a monkey. Two black-tailed monkey species inhabit the country's southwestern forests. DNA testing proved that the tail did come from a red colobus monkey. But the hunter said he had shot the animal a week after McGraw had left the country in 2000.

"When most of the forest is destroyed and the human population skyrockets and the most remote villages get shotguns, we can't expect to have a good number of these primates around," said McGraw."

He and his colleagues are trying to organize a conservation program in the country to help save animals that are near extinction. If he does not succeed, the consequences could affect many other species besides Miss Waldron's red colobus.

"Its extinction may represent the beginning of a wave of extinctions which will make their way across this part of Africa," McGraw said. "There could be a cascade of disappearances, including all of those animals that are dependent on high canopy forests. "Since there's very little canopy area left, this list could include forest elephants, leopards, chimpanzees, and so on."

Funding for McGraw's work comes from Conservation International, Primate Conservation Incorporated, the American Society of Primatology, the New York Zoological Society and Ohio State.