• Demolition of Most Dangerous Building in America Begins
  
• Feds to Sell Oil, Gas in Lieu of Cash Royalties
  
• Governors Seek Greater Environmental Role for States
  
• Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Wins Fusion Office
  
• Judge Asked to Order Effective DC Metro Smog Plans
  
• Poll: West Virginians Opposed to Mountaintop Mining
  
• Everglades Mercury Levels Lower Due to Incinerator Regulations
  
• Small Grants Reconnect Hometown Streams to Oceans
  

Demolition of Most Dangerous Building in America Begins

In 1995, the Department of Energy (DOE) concluded that Building 771 was its greatest vulnerability and the building was called the "most dangerous building in America," in media reports.

“The demolition of one the most contaminated buildings in the country, once thought impossible, demonstrates the nation’s commitment to accelerated cleanup and closure of Rocky Flats," said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

Rocky Flats is now classed as a DOE owned cleanup and closure site operated by Kaiser-Hill Company under an accelerated closure contract. As part of that contract, dismantlement of Building 771 is expected to take six to eight weeks, with completion scheduled for September 2004.

When this historic cleanup is complete," Abraham said, "it will show that the U.S. government can clean up the legacy of the Cold War and turn the 6,000 plus acre reserve from a perceived public liability into a true public asset, a National Wildlife Refuge managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”

The safe cleanup and closure of an entire former nuclear weapons production site has been a task of such magnitude and complexity that it has never before been attempted, or accomplished, anywhere else in the world, Abraham said.

During a nine year cleanup process conducted in preparation for the demolition 15,000 liters of plutonium solutions have been drained and stabilized, the DOE says. Workers have removed 240 contaminated gloveboxes, 251 tanks, more than 11 miles of aging piping, and 40,000 liters of contaminated sludges.

“Under the Energy Department’s accelerated cleanup plan, all the weapons usable material at Rocky Flats is gone – 12 years ahead of the original schedule,” said Secretary Abraham.

The majority of the plutonium stockpile at Rocky Flats was shipped to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Other materials were sent to the Pantex facility on Texas and to facilities in Tennessee. Some of the leftover plutonium was declared a waste and treated and packaged for shipment to the Waste Isolation Plant in New Mexico.

An issue at the site is thousands of cubic yards of wastes that still must be shipped away. Some is waste left from the weapons production era, but most of it is being generated during the site's cleanup as buildings are torn down and soil contamination is addressed.

The Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Board warns that while some waste has already been shipped to sites in New Mexico, Nevada and Utah, some types of radioactive waste do not yet have a disposal location designated or available. These "orphan" wastes must be addressed if the site is to successfully close.

The successful decontamination and demolition of the major plutonium production facilities such as Building 771 must be done carefully to prevent air dispersion of the plutonium embedded in these facilities, the Board says.

Plutonium emits alpha radiation, which can travel only short distances and will not penetrate through items like a piece of paper or human skin. The much thinner lining of the human lung is not as effective a deterrent so the greatest danger from plutonium comes if a person inhales plutonium. Once inside the lung, the energy released by the plutonium particle can cause damage to the surrounding tissue and may lead to the development of a cancerous tumor.

Another risk at the site centers on protection of surface water leaving the site. Soil and groundwater cleanup projects are underway to accomplish this risk reduction.

Cleanup of Rocky Flats was expected to take 65 years and cost in excess of $36 billion. Abraham said the cleanup now is expected to be completed at a cost of $7 billion "a savings to the taxpayers of $29 billion."

The 6,550 acre site is part of the national nuclear weapons complex, at one time responsible for the production of nuclear weapons. Operations at the site began in 1952. During the Cold War, Rocky Flats was responsible for manufacturing the nuclear trigger device or "pit", a small, hollow sphere made from plutonium. No longer needed for nuclear weapons production, the site is left with a legacy of contamination.

Building 771 is the second of the site’s five major plutonium contaminated facilities to be demolished. Over the next 18 months, the remaining 450 facilities and structures at Rocky Flats will be decommissioned and demolished and environmental remediation completed. Rocky Flats is scheduled to close in 2006. It will then be classed as a National Wildlife Refuge.

View the Kaiser-Hill Rocky Flats contract with the U.S. Energy Department online at: http://www.rfets.gov/doe/rfoffices/rffo/doeprocurement/KHContract/index_Contract.htm

Feds to Sell Oil, Gas in Lieu of Cash Royalties

On Monday, Norton released a five year business plan for the federal royalty in kind program, which will be managed by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Minerals Revenue Management (MRM) organization, a division of the Interior Department.

"The new MMS Five Year Royalty in Kind Business Plan provides the blueprint to successfully increase revenues and decrease administrative costs associated with managing our oil and gas royalty assets," said Norton. "We are applying proven private sector business practices to improve government efficiencies and effectiveness."

Planning for royalty in kind operations began in 1997 under the Clinton administration. The plan advanced by Norton is the result of six years of pilot testing and validation of the royalty in kind approach. Administrators view the program as a way to diminish the costs associated with audit and enforcement functions of collecting royalty in value, that is, cash.

Norton noted that assessments of the royalty in kind program to date indicate that "business efficiencies are being achieved, conflict with oil and gas producers is diminishing, and MMS is achieving revenue increases of generally one to three percent more than cash royalties."

The business plan incorporates suggestions of the General Accountability Office, the investigtive arm of Congress, and recommendations from MMS’s commercial consultant, the Lukens Energy Group of Houston, Texas, to clearly outline the royalty in kind program objectives and to routinely and comprehensively measure the program's performance.

Norton committed the government to routine reporting to Congress on MMS’s progress in achieving the plan’s goals.

Many in the oil industry support a royalty in kind (RIK) system. Representing the Independent Petroleum Association Of America, Bruce Thompson told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last July 10, "RIK eliminates the complexities of determining the royalty value, thereby saving both the government and the producer from the convoluted determinations that are now necessary and are frequently questioned - sometimes years after the sales occur."

"Offshore production is particularly suited for royalty in kind," Thompson said, "paying the royalty with production instead of dollars. It is a more economical and fairer approach. Recent actions to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve could utilize 80 percent of this offshore royalty oil. RIK should be encouraged for natural gas."

The royalty in kind implementation will focus on Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production. At present, about 84 percent of the federal oil and gas revenues are produced from leases located on the Outer Continental Shelf.

The MRM is responsible for ensuring that about $5 billion in revenues from federal and Indian mineral leases are efficiently, effectively, and accurately collected, accounted for, and disbursed to recipients.

Copies of the business plan are available online at: www.mrm.mms.gov.

Governors Seek Greater Environmental Role for States

The primary session, “Is There a Case for Environmental Optimism?” will take place on Sunday. The committee will focus on federal policies, including the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, Superfund, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act, and governors will discuss strategies to increase states’ role in helping these laws reach their full potential.

"This meeting affords governors the opportunity to learn about the reality of the state of the environment, as opposed to the portrayals of gloom and doom that often surround media coverage of that topic," said Colorado Governor Bill Owens, a Republican, the environment committee chair. "Things have, in fact, improved dramatically over the last 30 years and there is every reason to believe that such improvements will continue."

"The recent reductions in air and water pollution, as well as the progress in dealing with other environmental issues, is important for our country," said West Virginia Governor Bob Wise, a Democrat, the committee vice chair. "It's critical for governors to have a strong voice in the ongoing public dialogue about the effectiveness of some of these policies."

Contributing their views will be Jerry Tayor, director of Natural Resources Studies at the conservative Cato Institute, and J. Clarence (Terry) Davies, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future, an institute dedicated analyzing environmental, energy, and natural resource topics.

Taylor will discuss the strides that have been made in improving the human condition and the environment since the 1970s. Davies, on the other hand, will speak about the successes and failures of federal environmental laws over the course of the last three decades.

Governors and panelists are expected to discuss the current trends and what implications they may have for the future health of the environment.

“Across the country, governors and states are implementing innovative strategies to protect the environment and improve American’s quality of life,” said National Governors Association Executive Director Ray Scheppach. “This committee meeting will provide governors with an invaluable opportunity to explore this critical issue and to discuss in-depth a range of informed perspectives on the successes and failures of some of these landmark pieces of legislation.”

On Monday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will conduct a special tabletop exercise in a governors-only session on crisis preparedness and bioterrorism response.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory Wins Fusion Office

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), is the next major step for the development of nuclear fusion, the same type of energy that powers the Sun and other stars. It is the fusion of atoms, rather than the splitting of atoms, the process that powers today's nuclear electric plants and weapons.

No fusion energy will be generated at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (PPPL). The experimental facility will be located in one of two potential host countries - the European Union and Japan - each of which is making its case to the group of ITER partner nations - China, European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, and the United States.

There are two competing sites to host the $5 billion test bed for harnessing nuclear fusion to generate electricity. The European Union has selected Cadarache, France, as its candidate site; Japan's contender is Rokkasho. The U.S. supports the Japanese site.

In partnership with the DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the plasma Physics Lab will be responsible for overseeing the U.S. ITER Project Office and providing it with the staffing and facilities to support construction of this international research facility.

These will include securing technical assistance from the U.S. fusion community, procuring and shipping U.S. hardware contributions, arranging for U.S. personnel to work abroad at the ITER site, representing the U.S. with the international ITER organization on construction and preparation for ITER operations, and coordinating and integrating the U.S. fusion community's ITER project activities with the international ITER project.

The PPPL/ORNL proposal was one of three proposals submitted by DOE national laboratories to lead the Project Office. The two other proposals were from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

PPPL Director Robert Goldston said, "We had very highly qualified competition, and so we are particularly pleased with the outcome of the selection process. The efforts of the U.S. in support of ITER will be nationwide and we will be drawing on the capabilities of the whole U.S. fusion research community."

Judge Asked to Order Effective DC Metro Smog Plans

Poll: West Virginians Opposed to Mountaintop Mining

Mountaintop mining - labeled mountaintop removal coal mining by environmentalists - is a form of strip mining widely used in Appalachia in which mining companies blast hundreds of feet off the tops of mountains to easily access coal deposits.

The debris and waste rubble is bulldozed into surrounding valleys and into streambeds – called valley fills - but the practice has fouled hundreds of miles of Appalachian waterways and thousands of acres of forests.

The Bush administration has moved to relax environmental restrictions governing mountaintop mining, citing concerns by industry groups who fear regulations will undermine the economics of the practice.

The coal mining industry remains a key economic engine for Appalachia and other regions of the country and some 50 percent of U.S. electricity is generated by coal. Tighter regulation of mining wastes from mountaintop coal mining would costs thousands of jobs, according to industry groups.

The poll, conducted by Lake, Snell, & Perry of Washington, D.C., found that 56 percent said they opposed mountaintop removal coal mining while only 29 percent were in favor. In addition, 65 percent said that a political candidate's position on the environment was important.

"Rarely do we see such unanimity of opposition," observed Daniel Gotoff, Vice President of Lake, Snell, Perry and Associates. "Across the state, a solid majority of voters opposes the practice of mountaintop removal, and there is remarkable intensity to that opposition. Furthermore, candidates for elected office should take heed, as many voters say they will consider a candidate's position on this crucial issue when they cast their ballots."

In addition to questions about mountaintop removal, the survey asked West Virginians their opinion of current environmental policies and laws, as well as their thoughts on the Bush administration's handling of environmental issues.

In response, 60 percent of those questioned reported being strongly opposed to changes made to federal environmental laws and a majority of the West Virginians polled said that they supported strengthening current environmental laws.

"This independent survey sends a clear message to our elected officials at both the state and federal level," said Joe Lovett, executive director of the Center. "Citizens care about the effects of the coal industry on the environment, and they will bring these concerns with them to the polls in November. These results are a wake-up call to those candidates who think they can get away with ignoring the devastation that mountaintop removal has brought to so many West Virginia communities."

The Center also announced on Thursday that it will run a series of paid ads statewide to tell the public about the results of the poll and how they can learn more about the controversial mining practice.

Everglades Mercury Levels Lower Due to Incinerator Regulations

After analyzing nearly 100 years worth of mercury data stored in the feathers of wading birds preserved in museums, the researchers say waste incinerators in the 1980s were responsible for the mercury contamination.

Their study confirms earlier findings that controls on emissions from waste incinerators, combined with a reduction in the use of mercury in household items, are effectively cutting mercury levels in Everglades birds.

“This is a triumph of regulation, which is something you don’t hear about very often,” said Peter Frederick, an associate professor of wildlife ecology at University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Concerned about the disappearance of wading birds in the Everglades wetland, Frederick led a team of researchers who measured mercury levels over the past century using feathers from museum specimens of Everglades wading birds. Their findings appeared in the June issue of the journal "Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry."

Use of incinerators to burn garbage - including household products containing mercury, such as flashlight batteries - boomed nationwide in the 1980s.

But because airborne mercury particles can travel hundreds or thousands of miles before settling to a body of water, scientists said it was possible the pollution was coming from smokestacks in other states or countries, and not from South Florida.

Frederick looked at the history of Everglades mercury contamination by testing the feathers of Everglades birds from 1905 to the late 1990s. “When birds ingest mercury, some of it will bind in a durable form with their growing feathers, which leaves a record of their exposure,” he said.

A slow increase in mercury content of the feathers over the 20th century would indicate a global increase in use of mercury. If levels increased sharply during the 1980s incineration boom, local sources were probably to blame, he said.

The researchers tested museum specimens from four species - anhingas, great egrets, white ibises and great blue herons - and were collected between 1905 and 1990. They tested feathers from live birds in the Everglades of the same types after 1990.

They found low mercury levels until the 1970s. Levels increased from the late 1970s and to the early 1990s, roughly coinciding with the nationwide growth in the use of incineration, Frederick said.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, some states and the federal government tried to stop the contamination by imposing limits on mercury emissions from medical and municipal waste incinerators.

Mercury levels in the feathers dropped after 1994, reflecting the delayed effect of emissions regulations, Frederick said. “There’s a certain amount of lag time, up to seven years, between the passage of the regulations and the changes we observed in the field. It takes some time for existing mercury to cycle through the environment.”

Bird populations in the Everglades fell by 90 percent between the 1950s and the 1980s, and Frederick believes high mercury levels played a part in their disappearance.

Mercury, found in medical thermometers, batteries and electrical switches, is a toxic that causes reproductive and behavioral problems in birds and humans. When materials containing mercury are burned, particles of the metal are released into the air and settle into water bodies where they become hazardous to fish and birds.

When fish ingest mercury, either by absorbing it through their gills or by eating smaller contaminated fish, the element is stored in their bodies for life. Wading birds, which consume large amounts of fish, are particularly at risk from mercury contamination.

Tom Atkeson, coordinator of the mercury program at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said the study presents “very convincing” evidence that reduced incinerator emissions are responsible for the drop in mercury levels in Everglades birds.

Atkeson said state and federal governments cannot take all the credit for the cut in mercury emissions. Several large battery manufacturers voluntarily phased out the use of the mercury in the 1980s, reducing the amount of the toxic burned in incinerators.

Small Grants Reconnect Hometown Streams to Oceans

Once the work is finished, Brentwood residents will have an inviting stream where salmon will return to spawn once again.

NOAA and American Rivers announced Wednesday that they are renewing their three year partnership to restore streams and rivers by funding projects like Brentwood's.

Federal funding of $531,260 will make the projects possible, but this three year budget is just over half of the previous three year appropriation.

Under their previous three year agreement, NOAA and American Rivers distributed more than $1 million to remove 13 unwanted dams, bypass six other dams that will remain in place, replace three culverts, and complete five feasibility studies for future work.

Still much can be accomplished with small amounts of money, says Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers. "Small dams can be big obstacles to fishery restoration, and small budgets can be big obstacles to reopening streams," she said.

"Sometimes we provide seed money, sometimes we provide the last piece of the funding puzzle, but our partnership is always about helping communities reconnect their hometown streams to the ocean," she said.

Twice a year for the next three years, new proposals for dam removals and fish passage projects will be accepted anywhere in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and California. To be eligible, applicants must secure additional matching funds and detail how their proposed project will benefit migratory fish species.

American Rivers and the NOAA Restoration Center will begin the new three year partnership by committing to distribute funds to remove barriers to salmon, striped bass, American shad, and other species that migrate between fresh and salt water.

"This partnership between NOAA and American Rivers is a great example of the valuable projects and initiatives that NOAA grants help support," said Dr. Conrad Lautenbacher, undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "NOAA's goal of healthy coastal habitats and vibrant coastal communities can only be accomplished when there is strong local stewardship of the habitats that support our fisheries resources."