• Coast Guard Secures Petroleum Cargo Barge Adrift Off Cape Fear
  
• Massachusetts Fuel Spill Source Still a Mystery
  
• Weather Blocks Emergency Response Capacity to Indian Point Reactors
  
• Louisiana Seeks to Locate Thousands of Missing Katrina Victims
  
• Proposals Welcome for Ag Conservation Grants Worth $38 Million
  
• Hawaii’s Wildlife Action Plan Approved by Fish and Wildlife Service
  
• South Carolina City Bills State $21.4 Million for Organotin Spill
  

Coast Guard Secures Petroleum Cargo Barge Adrift Off Cape Fear

Massachusetts Fuel Spill Source Still a Mystery

The Coast Guard, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Clean Harbors Environmental Services, and local police and fire departments have worked together to collect more than 3,000 gallons of an undetermined fuel product, collect samples and investigate the source of the spill.

The Coast Guard initially received several reports of a strong fuel odor and sheen near the Meridian Street Bridge Tuesday morning. Coast Guard Sector Boston dispatched a pollution investigation team who arrived on scene to discover an aqua-green colored fuel product in the water near the Admiral's Hill Marina in Chelsea. The team collected samples from the spill and several possible sources and sent for laboratory comparative analysis.

The Coast Guard and the DEP, pending the identification of a responsible party, determined that the spill was cleanable on Tuesday afternoon. Clean Harbors Environmental Services was contracted and immediately began to recover the product. Clean Harbors has deployed over 2,000 feet of boom in the clean up effort.

Weather Blocks Emergency Response Capacity to Indian Point Reactors

Louisiana Seeks to Locate Thousands of Missing Katrina Victims

Dr. Louis Cataldie, state incident commander for the Find Family National Call Center, said Wednesday that he intends to ask state and parish officials to reinvestigate about 400 addresses, most in east New Orleans, where people have been reported missing from flood devastated neighborhoods.

Some of the missing may have floated down to Lake Pontchartrain, or their bodies are buried in the debris that still covers many New Orleans neighborhoods.

Following Katrina, almost 11,500 people contacted the Find Family National Call Center to report a missing loved one. Each of these callers completed a comprehensive Victim Identification Packet.

To date, work by the Center’s staff has resulted in 7,420 missing people being found alive. Another 785 people have been identified as having died due to the storm.

Dr. Cataldie says his staff believes many of the missing have been found alive by loved ones, but the center has no record of this reunification.

“We are asking family members and friends who once called to report a missing loved one and have since found that person to call us back and give us an update,” Cataldie said.

Currently, state officials, working with coroners from local parishes, have recovered 1,103 bodies, an increase of three from the figure reported on January 11. Seventy of the people killed in Louisiana are still unidentified, Cataldie said.

More than 1,300 deaths due to Katrina have been reported across five states.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) has posted a list of the missing on its website, www.katrinamissing.dhh.louisiana.gov in an effort to help reunite families.

“Concerned citizens who once reported a person as missing should access this site and see if the name of their loved ones is listed. If so, and if that person’s whereabouts are now known, we’d appreciate a call to the center so the name can be removed from the list,” Cataldie said.

He said his staff then can concentrate their efforts on looking for those who remain missing and not lose valuable time searching for people who have already been found.

The telephone number for the Find Family National Call Center is 1-866-326-9393. DHH has partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to operate the Find Family Center. The center includes staff members from the state, mental health professionals and FEMA’s National Disaster Medical System and Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team branches.

Proposals Welcome for Ag Conservation Grants Worth $38 Million

Agriculture Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner Tuesday announced that the funds are available for projects in four conservation emphasis areas.

• $20 million for Conservation Innovation Grants for development and adoption of innovative conservation technologies and approaches, in conjunction with agricultural production.

• $9.5 million for Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program partnership proposals that address wetland creation and enhancement efforts on prior-year enrolled contracts, where cooperators will contribute to the Wetlands Reserve Program delivery and technical assistance costs, and easement management projects.

• $4 million for the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) for proposals to control and manage invasive species affecting grazing lands. The GLCI, a partnership of individuals and organizations, maintains and improves the management, productivity, and health of privately owned grazing land.

• $4 million for Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) proposals to help partners identify and solve regional, state and local natural resources concerns. CCPI offers a Conservation Priorities component that will fund watershed or airshed planning projects that address terrestrial and freshwater aquatic wildlife habitat, invasive species, livestock nutrient management, minor and specialty crop management, and agricultural air quality.

State and local governments, nongovernmental organizations, federally recognized Indian tribes, and individuals are invited to submit proposals for these funds. The request for proposals can be found http://www.grants.gov/. Information is also available at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/.

Hawaii’s Wildlife Action Plan Approved by Fish and Wildlife Service

HONOLULU, Hawaii, January 19, 2006 (ENS) - The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) has received federal approval of its Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, a plan to conserve the state's wildlife and the places they live for future generations. The plan is the result of three years of work by a coalition of the DLNR with other state agencies, partners, nonprofit organizations, resource users, and individual citizens.

“The scope and scale of this planning effort is unprecedented in the state of Hawaii,” said DLNR Chair Peter Young. “This plan will not only benefit wildlife but the people of this state as well. The plan is a cost-effective investment to protect and enhance native habitats and vital natural areas throughout the state for future generations."

“Much of our native wildlife and habitats are threatened or at risk. As a result, Hawaii presents both an opportunity and challenge for conservation,” said Young.

In March 2002, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced the implementation of a new state wildlife grant program to fund conservation activities for a wide array of wildlife species and their habitats through an $80 million federal apportionment.

One of the primary purposes of this program is its focus on conservation actions to benefit species of greatest conservation need.

“Hawaii’s officials have put an impressive amount of effort into creating their Wildlife Action Plan,” said David Allen, regional director of the USFWS six-state Pacific Region, from his office in Portland, Oregon. “My staff and I are very pleased with the high quality and thoroughness of this document and we are committed to working with our Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources partners to implement their strategies.”

Allen said the plan will guide conservation in the state of Hawaii for decades to come. “We look forward to working with all the partners involved in this historic conservation effort."

Experts estimate that the Hawaiian Islands may be inhabited by more species of plants and animals than any other state. Due to the isolation by thousands of miles of Pacific Ocean and unique climate conditions, Hawaii has over 10,000 species found nowhere else on Earth.

Hawaii’s native wildlife and habitats play significant roles in Native Hawaiian culture and traditions as well as in its economy and way of life.

Hawaii’s strategy lays the foundation for conservation of native wildlife and their habitats by identifying important species and habitats, key threats, and objectives and strategies for their conservation and by creating a framework to measure the effectiveness of these measures.

On the ecological level, the plan takes a habitat management approach, adopting a "landscape view" that takes into account the complex inter-relationships between species and their habitats and the need for change and adaptability.

To receive federal funds through the SWG program, each state and territory is required by Congress to develop a Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. Also known as wildlife action plans, these proactive plans will help conserve wildlife and vital natural areas before they become too rare and costly to protect.

The Hawaii Wildlife Action Plan is online at: http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/cwcs

South Carolina City Bills State $21.4 Million for Organotin Spill

COLUMBIA, South Carolina, January 19, 2006 (ENS) - The City of Cayce has sent a bill for $21.4 million to the South Carolina State Legislature for funds spent on repairing the city's municipal wastewater treatment plant that was damaged during a 2000 chemical spill.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which studied the fate of the chemicals in the environment, called the incident "the largest known spill of highly toxic organotin compounds."

The spill not only caused the shutdown of the wastewater treatment plant but also the closure of the City of Cayce's only drinking water intake. The chemicals contaminated the freshwater ecosystem of Red Bank Creek in South Carolina.

The organotin compounds spilled are used in the manufacture of plastics, glass coatings, adhesives, and caulks, said the USGS. The compounds are also used in antifouling marine paint where their toxicity prevents the growth of nuisance organisms on the hulls of ships.

Cayce’s request came on Friday, a few hours after Circuit Judge Larry Patterson awarded the city that amount in a judgment against Tin Products, the chemical maker that caused the spill, according to "The State" newspaper.

Cayce had to buy water from West Columbia and Lexington County for two years while building a new water supply line which served to 7,700 homes and businesses when the spill occurred.

The spill also damaged a county sewer plant, contaminated a 12 mile stretch of two creeks, killed thousands of fish and forced water use limits during the summer of 2000.

The EPA oversaw a $1 million cleanup of the 45 acre Tin Products plant near the town of Lexington from 2001-2002. Two company executives were imprisoned and a worker put on probation for the spill.

Because organotins are very toxic to nontarget organisms, such as oysters, the fate and toxicity of these compounds has been extensively studied in the marine or estuarine ecosystems where they are most likely to occur.

By contrast, there was a void of information on the fate and toxicity of organotins in freshwater, which the joint USGS/EPA study helped to fill, the agencies said.

Based on methods developed by the USGS's Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, the USGS and EPA scientists found that by 2003 the organotin compounds in the creek's ecosystem had naturally degraded to levels that were thousands of times less than the levels found just after the spill and consequently were "below levels of concern."

The EPA used the results of this study as one of the deciding factors to select monitored natural attenuation as the remedial solution for the stream - a decision that saved millions of dollars. Removing the stream's contaminated sediments would have cost in excess of 10 million dollars.