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Asthma Inhalers With CFC Propellants Could Be Banned WASHINGTON, DC, January 27, 2006 (ENS) - A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel recommended a ban on some non-prescription inhalers used to treat asthma because the devices contain propellants that harm the Earth's protective ozone layer.The FDA advisory panel voted 11-7 Tuesday to remove the "essential use" status that Primatene Mist and other similar nonprescription inhalers require to be sold. Final revocation of that status would mean a ban on the sale of these inhalers. If the agency opts to follow the recommendation, it would begin a rulemaking process that would include public comment. The inhalers proposed to be banned contain the drug epinephrine along with chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which propel the medicine into the lungs of people with asthma. The drug opens air passages to the lungs to relieve temporarily wheezing, shortness of breath and troubled breathing, according to the FDA. CFCs have long been used as aerosol propellants in a variety of products, but they are being phased out under an international treaty known as the Montreal Protocol because they destroy the Earth's ozone layer. The American Lung Association agrees with the FDA recommendation because it protects the environment and removes an over-the-counter substitute that has more side effects than prescription medications," said Dr. Norman Edelman, the Lung Association's chief medical officer. But Edelman says the American Lung Association is aware and concerned that many people use over-the-counter asthma inhalers because they have no medical or drug insurance and cannot afford the more effective prescription-only medications. In March 2005, the FDA said inhalers using CFCs to dispense the prescription drug albuterol would be banned at the end of 2008. Meanwhile, lung disease death rates continue to increase while other leading causes of death have declined, the Association says. Edelman says the announcement "highlights the need for all people with asthma and other lung diseases have access to regular medical care and life-saving medicines." The 100 year old American Lung Association says it remains committed to measures that ensure "universal access to quality health care services and appropriate specialty care for all Americans."
FirstEnergy Nuclear Pays $28 Million for Davis–Besse Reactor Hole WASHINGTON, DC, January 27, 2006 (ENS) - The FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), has agreed to pay $28 million in penalties, restitution, and community service projects as part of a Justice Department agreement to defer prosecution of the company for operating the Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station with a hole in its reactor head and other violations.FENOC owns and operates the Davis–Besse facility on the southwestern shore of Lake Erie, near Oak Harbor, Ohio. Under the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement, FirstEnergy Nuclear admits that the government can prove that its employees, acting on its behalf, knowingly made false representations to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the course of attempting to persuade the NRC that its Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station was safe to operate beyond December 31, 2001. Prasoon Goyal, a design engineer, also accepted and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the government. In addition to these agreements, two former employees and one former contractor of FirstEnergy Nuclear were charged in a five-count indictment for allegedly preparing and providing false statements to the NRC. It is alleged that David Geisen, Andrew Siemaszko, and Rodney Cook falsely represented to the NRC that past inspections of the plant were adequate to assure safe operation until February or March of 2002. “By misleading the NRC about its prior safety inspections, FENOC failed to meet its regulatory obligations and violated the public's trust," said Assistant Attorney General Sue Ellen Wooldridge for the Justice Department’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division. “The deferred prosecution agreement entered today involves a full admission of responsibility by FENOC and includes a financial penalty that reflects the revenue that FENOC realized by misleading the NRC and delaying required safety inspections at the Davis–Besse facility," Wooldridge said. To produce energy, the plant utilizes pressurized water reactors to heat water to ˜600 degrees Fahrenheit through the process of nuclear fission. At that temperature, the reactor coolant water—which is sealed inside a reactor pressure vessel—reaches a pressure of ˜2000 pounds per square inch (psi). The reactor coolant is then used to super-heat steam to drive turbines that generate electricity. Reactor operators use two systems to control the rate of fission. First, they can raise or lower vertical control rods in the reactor core to absorb the neutrons that drive the reaction with machinery attached to the reactor vessel lid. Nozzles pierce the dome shaped lid and the control rods are raised and lowered through those nozzles. The Davis–Besse reactor vessel head has 69 nozzles. Second, for fine fission and reactor power control, operators also add or remove boric acid from the reactor coolant water. In the 1990s, some pressurized water reactors in power plants, like Davis–Besse, started to develop cracks where the nozzles were welded to the reactor vessel head. Engineers predict that a broken nozzle, propelled by reactor coolant at 2000 psi, would violently launch itself out of the reactor vessel head, leaving a hole through which reactor coolant would escape into the containment building. In August 2001, following reports of nozzle cracks, the NRC issued Bulletin 2001–01, requiring pressurized water reactor operators to report on their plant’s susceptibility to cracking, the steps they had taken to detect it, and their plans for addressing the problem in the future. After the issuance of Bulletin 2001–01, FENOC submitted five letters to the NRC, arguing that its past inspections were adequate to assure safe operation until February or March 2002, when the plant had a prescheduled shutdown. The indictment charges that in order to persuade the NRC that their plant was safe to operate until the prescheduled shutdown, FENOC engineers and contractors - including Geisen, Siemaszko, and Cook - presented false information in its submissions to the NRC and concealed material information, eventually persuading the NRC that Davis–Besse was safe to continue operation until February 15, 2002. Upon the scheduled shutdown in March 2002, workers discovered a pineapple-sized cavity in the head of the reactor vessel at Davis-Besse. Analysis showed that this hole was the result of corrosive reactor coolant, boric acid, leaking through a nozzle crack. As a result of the deferred prosecution agreement, FENOC will pay more than $23 million in fines and will spend an additional $4.3 million on community service projects. The projects include an $800,000 wetlands restoration project at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and $550,000 worth of improvements to the Visitors Center; a $500,000 communications systems upgrade for the Ottawa County Emergency Management Association; and a $500,000 project aimed at developing energy efficient technologies at the University of Toledo, College of Engineering. In addition, FENOC will undertake two projects worth $1 million each - one to extend the Towpath Trail at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and another for the Northern Ohio Chapter of Habitat for Humanity for the construction of EPA Energy Star certified homes.
Polluted Runoff Linked to Fish Cancers in Maryland River ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, January 27, 2006 (ENS) - Tumors found in catfish from a Maryland river are a form of skin cancer, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist confirms, based on laboratory studies. Scientists have linked this type of tumor in brown bullheads, a species of catfish, with exposure to cancer-causing chemicals that enter rivers through contaminated runoff.In studies conducted over the past 10 years, the Service linked the types of tumors found in bullheads with a class of chemicals known as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Petroleum, coal and other fossil fuels contain PAHs. They enter rivers through water runoff and build up in sediments where bullheads live. Service biologists found high concentrations of these compounds in areas of the Chesapeake watershed that also had a high incidence of tumors in bullheads, said Fred Pinkney, environmental contaminants biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Chesapeake Bay Field Office in Annapolis. "We collected 30 fish from the South River near Annapolis last year," Pinkney said. "Sixteen fish had raised, pinkish red lesions around the mouth." Dr. John Harshbarger, a tumor pathologist with George Washington University Medical Center, identified the lesions as tumors. He diagnosed 13 of the 16 fish with invasive carcinomas - the remaining three fish had non-invasive skin tumors. In addition to the skin tumors, six of the 30 fish had liver tumors. "Since 1992, we have surveyed 10 other locations in the Chesapeake watershed. These catfish from the South River have the highest skin tumor rate and second highest liver tumor rate," Pinkney said. Fish from the Anacostia River have a higher incidence of liver tumors. The South River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay that extends about 12 miles from just above Route 50 to its mouth. With population growth in Anne Arundel County, the watershed is being developed. PAHs enter the river by running off roads into stormwater pipes throughout the watershed, the Service said. Once in the river, PAHs in sediments can be resuspended during storms. But whether PAHs are in fact responsible for the cancers found in South River fish is still in question. "In the South River we have not established a link between the tumors and PAH exposure," Pinkney said. Pinkney says the available monitoring data for the South River do not indicate high concentrations of these compounds in sediments. In fact, the average concentration of PAHs in South River and Tuckahoe River sediments near the fish collection sites were nearly equal. No other data are available that suggest which chemicals may be contributing to the high rate of tumors in the South River. This study was a partnership between the Service and the South River Federation, a local watershed group. Together, they are pursuing follow-up studies to identify classes of chemicals that may be responsible for the high tumor incidence. "I am very concerned we are seeing unusually high cancer rates among these fish. We are determined to continue investigating this issue until we establish what is giving these fish cancer," said Drew Koslow, riverkeeper for the South River Federation. A fact sheet is at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/pdf/southriv.pdf. A full report on the study is available from the Service"s Chesapeake Bay Field Office or from http://www.fws.gov/chesapeakebay/envcont.htm The Maryland Department of the Environment has a restricted consumption advisory for some fish species in the South River based on the presence of PCBs and pesticides.
NASA Heat Seekers Keep New York City Cool NEW YORK, New York, January 27, 2006 (ENS) - The heat is on in New York City in summer or winter due to a phenomenon called the urban heat island effect. It causes air temperatures in major cities to be warmer than in neighboring suburbs and rural areas and can impact air quality, public health and the demand for energy.In cities, the urban heat island effect is caused by the large number of buildings, sidewalks and other manufactured surfaces that limit the amount of land covered with grass and trees. Land surfaces with vegetation offer high moisture levels that cool the air when the moisture evaporates from soil and plants. The urban heat island occurrence is particularly pronounced during summer heat waves and at night when wind speeds are low and sea breezes are light. During these times, New York City's air temperatures can rise 7.2 degrees F higher than in surrounding areas. In the past several years, innovative approaches developed by scientists, public officials, environmental activists, community organizations and others have been put in place to cool the Big Apple's temperature. They have tried promoting light colored surfaces such as roofs and pavements that reflect sunlight, planting urban forests and creating living roofs filled with green plants. NASA researchers, using NASA satellite observations, weather pattern data and computer models, now have assessed how well those strategies are working. Their results will be presented at the 2006 American Meteorological Society’s annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, January 29 through February 2. "We need to help public officials find the most successful ways to reduce the heat island effect in New York. With ever-increasing urban populations around the world, the heat island effect will become even more significant in the future," said Stuart Gaffin, an associate research scientist at Columbia University, New York, and a co-author of the new NASA study. "The summertime impacts are especially intense with the deterioration of air quality, because higher air temperatures increase ozone," Gaffin said. "That has health effects for everyone. We also run an increased risk of major heat waves and blackouts as the heat island effect raises demand for electricity." The researchers conducted a city-wide case study over the summer of 2002 to measure changes in air temperatures. They also used six smaller case studies during the same period in places like Lower Manhattan, the Bronx's Fordham section, Brooklyn's Crown Heights section and the Maspeth section of Queens. "We found that vegetation is a powerful cooling mechanism. It appears to be the most effective tool to reduce surface temperatures," Gaffin said. "Another effective approach is a man-made approach to cooling by making very bright, high albedo, or reflected light, on roof tops," he said. "These light-colored surfaces, best made using white coatings, reflect the sun's light and thereby, its heat. Interestingly, more area is available to create the lighter surfaces than to add vegetation in a city such as New York."
Pennsylvania Picks Up a Ton of Mercury in 2005 HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, January 27, 2006 (ENS) - The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says that its six regional offices collected 1,451 pounds of mercury in 2005 through a variety of collection strategies aimed at reducing the dangers posed by the neurotoxin to people and wildlife. “This is important because our children are at risk,” said DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty. “Babies born each year can suffer learning disabilities and impaired motor function, memory and vision problems due to the high levels of mercury in their bloodstream. The state government is combating mercury exposure in Pennsylvania by pushing for more stringent federal controls on mercury emissions from power plants and imposing state-specific regulations. The state has formed a partnership with Pennsylvania dentists to review voluntary best-management practices for mercury-bearing amalgam wastes and collect obsolete supplies of elemental mercury. In addition, the state is creating the Pennsylvania mercury automobile switch removal rogram, which encourages the recycling of mercury from scrap automobiles, and and holding door-to-door collection events for elemental mercury, McGinty said. Since 1997, DEP’s six regional offices have collected almost 17,000 pounds of elemental mercury from schools and homes. Liquid elemental mercury is most commonly found in homes in thermometers, thermostats and barometers. At schools, elemental mercury may be found in containers in laboratories and thermometers and blood-pressure gauges in nurses’ offices. Mercury is not dangerous when sealed inside these devices and containers, but exposure can result if the devices and containers are broken or improperly thrown away. Mercury can be particularly harmful when products containing mercury are spilled, discarded in drains or incinerated as waste. By reducing the amount of elemental mercury in the public’s hands, the chances of human exposure to mercury vapors, or of spills to the environment, are lowered. DEP collections ensure that the mercury is recycled by a reputable company, rather than disposed of in a municipal waste landfill. Once mercury is released into the air it will fall back to the ground in rain and snow, contaminating soils and water bodies. Bacteria in aquatic ecosystems can convert mercury to organic methylmercury - a potent neurotoxin - that builds up in organisms and becomes more concentrated as it travels up the food chain, where it can accumulate in the tissues of fish and shellfish. Consumption of contaminated fish is a health concern leading to fish consumption advisories in most states, including Pennsylvania. Beyond its dangers to public health, the accumulation of methylmercury in fish also threatens Pennsylvania’s economy, McGinty said. Some two million people fish in Pennsylvania each year, including about 500,000 youths under age 16, and more than 18 million fishing trips annually take place in the commonwealth - generating $1.6 billion for the state's economy.
Aloha Airlines Shows Reef Etiquette Video to Hawaii Visitors HONOLULU, Hawaii, January 27, 2006 (ENS) - Next week, Aloha Airlines will start to show a reef conservation video on all incoming flights to Hawaii. The Hawaii Reef Etiquette public service announcement teaches visitors how to enjoy, respect and preserve fragile Hawaiian reefs. Ziggy Livnat's For the Sea Productions made the seven minute video with major grants from the Hawaii Community Foundation, the Snorkel Bob Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Livnat is an international award-winning filmmaker who lives on the Island of Hawaii. Livnat says, "Every day I see tourists stepping on corals, feeding fish, littering and harassing sea turtles, dolphins and endangered monk seals. Most people want guidance, and now the Hawaii Reef Etiquette PSA can help solve this problem." Based on Hawaiian lore with musical background and narration from some of Hawaii's top entertainers, the video takes place entirely underwater with the fish talking to deliver the message of conservation. "We want all other airlines to show the PSA as well,” said Livnat “It is given at no charge to the tourist industry to promote reef health and to save our reefs from their current decline. The bigger the audience for the PSA, the better chance we have to make a difference." Livnat said, "I'm most pleased by the reaction of every test audience. They all watched closely and at the end became animated in their compassion for the reefs and for reef protection. Everyone agrees that this problem has been with us for a long time, and with tourism growing, the PSA should shed some light, at last, on our greatest treasure." Livnat also said that all Sheraton and Outrigger hotels and resorts are going to show the PSA on in-house TV channels. The Maui Ocean center is in the process of integrating the PSA into their permanent exhibit and the Waikiki Aquarium is already showing it. "Everyday more organizations join in to show the PSA to their guests. Together we will make a difference," he said. Among our partners are DLNR/DAR, Coral Reef Outreach Network, Forward Foundation, PADI project AWARE, UH Sea Grant, Maui Coral Reef Network, Hawaii Lifeguard Surf Instructors, Kona Beth Shalom, Big Island Divers, Lahaina Divers, Malama Kai, Dive Oahu, Grass Shack Records and private donors. The Snorkel Bob Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization providing fiduciary service for the Reef Etiquette PSA at no charge whatsoever; ensuring that 100% of every dollar donated is applied to the Reef Etiquette PSA. For more information and request forms please log on to www.forthesea.com
New Web Tool Helps Determine Causes of Waterway Impairment WASHINGTON, DC, January 30, 2006 (ENS) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new online tool which simplifies determining the cause of contamination in impaired rivers, streams and estuaries. An impaired body of water does not meet the state or federal water quality standards for one or more pollutants.More than 1,000 U.S. water bodies have been identified as impaired, and the EPA saysin many cases, the cause of impairment is unknown, There are many possible sources of pollution such as nonpoint source pollution, industrial waste, municipal sewage, agricultural runoff, naturally occurring minerals in rock and sand, and biological materials. Before restorative or remedial actions can be taken, the cause of impairment must be determined. By helping to find the source of contamination, state and local organizations will be better able to implement the Clean Water Act. The new Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System (CADDIS) provides a standardized and easily accessible system to help scientists find, use and share information to determine the causes of aquatic impairment. Causal analyses look at stressor-response relationships. They examine the effects of a specific substance or activity - the stressor - on the environment. Typical water stressors include excess fine sediments, nutrients, or toxic substances. In December 2000 the EPA published the Stressor Identification Guidance to lead water resource managers and environmental investigator through stressor identification and evidence assembly. To make the process easier, CADDIS was developed by EPA scientists through partnerships with EPA programs and regions, as well as states and tribes. "The development of CADDIS has been an impressive effort and a great example of customer focus by EPA's Office of Research and Development," said Michael Shapiro, deputy assistant administrator in EPA's Office of Water The version of CADDIS released January 25 is the first of three. Future versions will include modules to quantify stressor-response relationships, and databases and syntheses of relevant literature on sediments and toxic metals. CADDIS is available on the EPA website at: http://www.epa.gov/caddis The Stressor Identification Guidance is found at: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/biocriteria/stressors/stressorid.html
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