|
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
U.S. Calls Off Search for Mad Cows WASHINGTON, DC, February 10, 2004 (ENS) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has closed its investigation into the nation's first case of mad cow disease because it is unlikely the remaining animals of interest can be found, federal officials announced Monday. Investigators only tracked down 29 of the infected cow's 81 original herdmates, but officials say there is little to no risk to from the remaining animals."Our investigation is now complete," USDA Chief Veterinarian Ron DeHaven said. "We never expected to be able to find all of them it is remarkable we found as many as we did. It is time to move on." USDA officials announced the discovery of mad cow disease in the United States on December 23, 2003 and the investigation confirmed the infected cow, found in Washington state, came from a farm in Alberta, Canada. Fourteen of the herd tracked down by the investigation are part of a subgroup of 25 that were considered most at risk of the fatal brain wasting disease. DeHaven said culling practices suggested the department would only find 11 of the 25. "We are very confidant that the remaining animals represent little risk," he said. "It would be rare to find two infected cows in one herd." Mad cow disease, officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), spreads when an animal consumes feed, such as meat and bone meal, that contains nervous system tissue from an infected animal. Humans can get a parallel fatal brain wasting disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (vCJD), by consuming beef from BSE infected cattle. USDA officials said they hope the conclusion of the investigation will prompt some 40 trading partners to lift their bans on U.S. beef imports. An international review panel last week said the United States had done a thorough job with its investigation, but warned that there is a high probability the country has more BSE infected cattle. The panel called for stricter safeguards against the contamination of cattle feed with brain and spinal cord tissue and increased testing of slaughtered cows. DeHaven said the department is reviewing the recommendations, but intends to stick with its plan to test 40,000 cattle from "high risk groups" in 2004. The Bush administration's budget request for fiscal year 2005 does not include an increase for BSE testing. Some 36 million cattle are slaughtered annually in the United States - last year 20,000 were tested for BSE.
North Slope Faces Increased Air Pollution WASHINGTON, DC, February 10, 2004 (ENS) - A watchdog group released records from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday that reveal the agency is weakening air pollution limits for British Petroleum oil and gas production and exploration operations on Alaska's North Slope. In addition to releasing the documents, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is petitioning EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt to intervene in the matter.PEER filed its petition on behalf of a former Alaska state environmental engineer, Bill MacClarence, who raised these issues both internally and externally. Both the state of Alaska and the EPA have reversed earlier positions that would have prevented tons of additional hydrocarbons from being emitted by massive oil facilities based at Prudhoe Bay. At immediate issue is a permit for new facilities at a massive British Petroleum (BP) complex. The new facilities have been classified as a standalone operation and not included, or aggregated, into BP's existing permit. MacClarence, a 20 year environmental engineer, persuaded the state of Alaska to require aggregation in the BP permit, but the oil and gas industry complained, and the state reversed its stand in July 2003. The EPA raised concerns about the move, but by October of last year had signaled that it would not count pollution from new BP units towards previous permit limits. "This case is a golden opportunity for Mr. Leavitt to match his rhetoric with action," said PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch who filed the petition seeking a veto of the BP permit. "The pollution stakes of this action are enormous and the benefits will be realized if EPA merely enforces its own rules." PEER says the EPA and Alaskan state officials are allowing the facility to illegally subdivide its operations, a move that enables it to avoid air pollution emission limits on existing permits and put many thousand of tons of additional hydrocarbons and other toxic air pollutants into the atmosphere. As a result of these rule changes, North Slope oil operations will be emitting as much nitrogen oxides (NOx) as the entire Washington, DC metropolitan area. Elevated levels of NOx represent a serious health problem for workers and native communities in the region. In the Arctic, air pollution is much more significant than in temperate zones because the Arctic region is subject to extreme atmospheric inversions, which results in the pollution being trapped in a mixing layer only a few feet above the surface. In addition to NOx, other pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide emissions, are increasing and will continue to increase as the oil fields age. PEER says if Leavitt does not act on the petition, the next step would be a citizen lawsuit on MacClarence's behalf under the Clean Air Act.
Settlement Benefits Rare Rock Frog WASHINGTON, DC, February 10, 2004 (ENS) - A legal settlement between conservationists and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires that the federal agency prepare a recovery plan for the coqui guajon, also known as the Puerto Rico rock frog, by November 2004 and make a critical habitat determination for the species by September 2006.The Fish and Wildlife Service listed the species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in June 1997. The agency did not prepare a recovery plan nor designate critical habitat, prompting a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Manunabo Development Committee in June 2003. The settlement was approved last week by U.S. Federal District Court Judge Richard Roberts. "We are very hopeful that with this legal settlement, the coqui guajon will be on the road to recovery," said Peter Galvin, a conservation biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity. "Puerto Rico's magnificent coqui species are truly biological wonders of the world. We must work to ensure that no more coqui species are driven into extinction." The coqui guajon is a rare frog that occurs only in southeastern Puerto Rico in the municipalities of Maunabo, Yabucoa, San Lorenzo, and Humacao. The frog lives in caves and rock grottos known as "guajonales" and is the only one of the Puerto Rico coqui species to occur in caves and grotto formations. Coquies are much revered and beloved in Puerto Rico. Coqui artwork and testimonials to the importance and majesty of coquies are ubiquitous throughout Puerto Rico. There were originally 16 coqui frog species in Puerto Rico, but three are believed to be extinct and many of the remaining 13 are believed to be rare or declining. "The efforts to declare a critical habitat for the coqui guajon in the Pandura Mountains are essential to assure the continued survival of this species," said Dr. Pedro Torres-Morales, president of the Maunabo Development Committee.
Bush Budget Sinks Army Corps Upper Mississippi Plan WASHINGTON, DC, February 10, 2004 (ENS) - In a policy reversal, the Bush administration has proposed ending all federal expenditures for the controversial Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway lock expansion in its fiscal year 2005 federal budget.The budget request completely drops the line item for the estimated $2.3 billion navigation project, omitting any funding requests for further study, design, or construction. Environmentalists, who criticized the project as unnecessary and harmful to the environment, hailed the move, which is part of a 13.1 percent reduction in the budget for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "Not with a bang but with a whimper, this budget should pull the plug on the seemingly never-ending campaign by the Corps to build this multi-billion dollar white elephant," said Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Ruch's group represents Army Corps employees who have disclosed previous attempts by Corps management to manipulate study data in an effort to justify this project. The Army Corps has been considering the modernization plan since the late 1980s and is keen to build longer locks on the waterway to accommodate barge traffic. But the Corps was forced to abandon its initial plan in 2000 after the Corps economist for the project, filed a whistleblower disclosure saying top commanders had altered key numbers in an effort to "cook the books" so that the project would appear justified. Army Corps projects must be shown to have benefits that outweigh their costs in order to receive Congressional approval. A Pentagon investigation, and findings by the National Research Council, verified the assertions of the whistleblower. Two generals were disciplined and the agency began work on a new plan. But the economic study for the new plan was criticized by another National Research Council report and PEER filed suit in federal court last December alleging that the Army Corps economic study does not meet legal standards and must be withdrawn.
Nerve Agent Wastewater Proposed for Delaware River Discharge ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Maryland, February 10, 2004 (ENS) - The U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency announced Friday that it will provide public information sessions in both New Jersey and Delaware regarding its consideration of DuPont’s Secure Environmental Treatment Unit in Deepwater, New Jersey to treat caustic wastewater - the material left over after nerve agent VX is destroyed.The Army Chemical Materials Agency is responsible for safely storing and eliminating the United States’ aging chemical weapons and agent stockpiles according to the Chemical Weapons Convention and for the safe elimination of recovered chemical materials. Dates and times of the public meetings will be announced shortly. “We are awaiting the completion of DuPont’s analysis of their transportation assessment, ability to treat the wastewater, and the environmental effects of the discharge of the treated water to the Delaware River,” said Colonel Jesse Barber, project manager for U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency’s Alternative Technologies and Approaches Project. Dupont will provide for public review a transportation risk assessment, a study of the discharged effluent, and an assessment to ensure DuPont will be able to handle the waste material safely and in an environmentally sound manner. In addition, a treatability study on the caustic wastewater, or hydrolysate, will be conducted. These tests will evaluate the effectiveness of the DuPont wastewater treatment process to treat the caustic wastewater safely and effectively. The studies will be reviewed by independent resources to provide an objective peer review of the reports and final results. “We recognize the importance of providing the public a full opportunity to learn about and comment on the plan,” said Barber. The documents, which will be available for public review at least 14 days before the public information sessions, will provide the public a broader perspective of the potential project. The public comment period will be extended for 30 days after the information meetings to allow a further opportunity to provide input on the proposal. WASHINGTON, DC, February 10, 2004 (ENS) - U.S. automakers continue to lag behind foreign manufacturers in the production of environmentally friendly vehicles, according to a new guide ranking the "greenness" of new cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles. The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) unveiled its new "Green Book" on Tuesday. The annual guide from the Washington based nonprofit research group provides analysis of a vehicle's environmental friendliness through a measure that incorporates fuel consumption and air pollution, including both tailpipe emissions and the emissions of greenhouse gases. No U.S. models made it into the guide's list of the top 12 least polluting, most efficient vehicles, an absence that is disappointing, says ACEEE's Transportation Program Director Therese Langer. "But the fact is that the greenest vehicles today excel in both fuel economy and tailpipe emissions, and Detroit has yet to do that," Langer said. The greenest car of the year is Honda's natural gas powered Civic GX, followed by Honda's hybrid electric two seater Insight and Toyota's Prius, a hybrid-electric midsize sedan. The Honda Civic Hybrid and Toyota Echo round out the top five. Others in the top 12 are conventional gasoline vehicles from automakers Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai, and Scion. The list of "meanest" vehicles is once again dominated by large sport utility vehicles. The diesel powered version of Volkswagen's Touareg SUV tops the list in part because burning diesel fuel emits higher levels of harmful tailpipe pollutants. "For the most part, it is the combination of poor fuel economy and mediocre tailpipe emissions that lands a vehicle on this list," Langer explained. "The list is troubling, because it contains a number of very popular nameplates, both domestic and foreign." The organization acknowledges consumers' desire for vehicles of all types, and includes listings of the best pickups, minivans, and SUVs as well. "It is the choices we make in buying cars and trucks that determine how clean the air is, and how dependent we are on Middle East oil," said Bill Prindle, ACEEE's policy director. "If new car and light truck buyers chose the most efficient vehicles in each size class, we would slash the 2004 fleet's gasoline use by 18 percent, reducing gasoline purchases by $3.2 billion and saving the average buyer $195 a year," said Prindle. "And, of course, we would also cut greenhouse gas emissions." This year, a vehicle's environmental impact varies as much as four fold within a given class, and five fold across all model year 2004 vehicles. A link to the guide can be found here.
EPA Chief Touts Freight Industry's Voluntary Emissions Cuts WASHINGTON, DC, February 10, 2004 (ENS) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Mike Leavitt joined 52 freight shippers and carriers from around the nation on Monday to promote the Bush administration's voluntary program to cut greenhouse gas emissions.Speaking at the American Trucking Association's Annual Leadership Conference at the Capital Hilton Hotel, Leavitt thanked the 52 firms for joining the administration's "SmartWay Transport Partnership." The program falls under the umbrella of the President's initiative to assist industry in adopting improved practices, processes and energy technologies that are cost effective, cleaner, more efficient, and more capable of reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. The Bush initiative calls for every sector of the American economy to voluntarily contribute to reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of the economy by 18 percent by 2012. The EPA estimates the SmartWay Transport Partnership can achieve nearly 10 percent of the initiative's goal. "America has always counted on the freight industry to deliver the goods - in joining this partnership, you will deliver them in a new, smarter way," Leavitt said. "By meeting the performance goals established under your leadership, we can make our economy stronger, our air cleaner, and - at the same time - improve your bottom line." Companies can become a SmartWay Transport Partner by committing to an environmental improvement goal over a three-year period and annually reporting their progress to the EPA. Partners who achieve superior performance are eligible to display the EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership logo in their advertising, marketing, and business-to-business interactions to signify their environmental stewardship. Leavitt added that adoption of SmartWay Transport's best practices in combination with the new regulations for reduction of sulfur in diesel fuel will have an immediate and large impact on meeting the nation's air quality standards. Charter partners are Canon USA Inc., Coca-Cola Enterprises, CSX Transportation, FedEx Express, H-E-B, IKEA North America, Interface, Nike, Norm Thompson Outfitters, Roadway Express, Schneider National, Swift Transportation, The Home Depot, UPS, and Yellow Transportation.
Ag Department Doles Out Emergency Conservation Funds WASHINGTON, DC, February 10, 2004 (ENS) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has provided almost $2 million in Emergency Conservation Program funding for nine states, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced Monday.The funds will be given to Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah. "These funds will help farmers and ranchers rehabilitate farmland damaged by various natural disasters throughout the country," Veneman said. "We are able to provide this funding as a result of unused allocations from other states." The Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) provides funds for technical assistance to help producers remove debris from farmland, restore fences and conservation structures, provide water for livestock in drought situations and grade and shape farmland damaged by a natural disaster. The funding to states is as follows: $135,678 for flood damage in Alabama, $600,000 for drought in Colorado, $297,000 for drought in Idaho, $146,000 for tornado damage in Missouri, $20,000 for tornado damage in Mississippi, $42,500 for tornado damage in Oklahoma, $330,000 for drought in South Dakota, $39,800 for tornado and flood damage in Tennessee and $331,600 for drought in Utah. The program is administered by USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) state and county committees. Locally elected county committees are authorized to implement the Emergency Conservation Program for all disasters except drought, which is authorized at the national office of the FSA. The ECP funds may, in some cases, be used to cover requests already approved for which funding was previously unavailable. Eligible producers will receive cost-share assistance of up to 64 percent of the cost of the approved practice, as determined by FSA county committees.
|
