• Lost Fuel Rods Prompt Fines
  
• U.S. Approves Vicuna Wool Imports
  
• Dying Trees Release Air Polluting Chemical
  
• Environmentalists Challenge Nevada Land Sale
  
• Grants Support Clean Car Research
  
• Prairie Dogs Need Protection on BLM Lands
  
• Cleanup Begins in Ohio's Little Scioto River
  
• House Subcommittee Supports Efficiency Funding
  

Lost Fuel Rods Prompt Fines

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposed the fine Tuesday for Dominion's violations of NRC regulations regarding the fuel rods.

Northeast Nuclear Energy Company (NNECO), the former operator of Millstone Station, informed the NRC in November 2000 that two fuel rods were unaccounted for. The company was conducting a spent fuel pool inventory when it determined the fuel was missing.

A subsequent investigation by NNECO concluded that the fuel most likely had been cut into segments and sent to a low level radioactive waste facility along with other irradiated reactor hardware sometime between March 1985 and December 1992.

Last fall, the NRC conducted an inspection to review the results of the company's investigation, and agreed with NNECO's conclusions. The NRC also concluded that there are now adequate controls to account for all of the spent fuel at Millstone - aside from the missing rods.

The NRC found no evidence to support the possibility of that the rods were stolen. The very high radiation level of the material would have made theft difficult and dangerous, the agency said.

Since Dominion is now the operator of Millstone Station, it will be held responsible for the misplaced fuel rods.

"Notwithstanding the fact that there was no realistic threat, past or present to the public health and safety, the loss of highly radioactive fuel rods is unprecedented and is a very significant violation," wrote NRC Region I administrator Hubert Miller in a letter to Dominion.

Dominion was cited for two violations, one based on inadequate management of the spent fuel rods, and the other for not reporting their loss promptly.

The NRC decided to triple the base penalty of $96,000 for the penalties because of the "unprecedented nature of the loss of highly radioactive material and to further emphasize the importance of adequate accounting of irradiated fuel at nuclear power reactors," Miller said.

Because of the radiological controls that are in place at all of the possible locations of the missing fuel, the NRC believes there is no current threat to public health and safety.

U.S. Approves Vicuna Wool Imports

The populations of the vicuna, the smallest member of the camel family, were downlisted because their numbers are increasing in response to conservation actions taken in the four countries. Ecuador's small population of vicuna remains listed as endangered.

The USFWS issued a special rule allowing the import of sheared raw fiber from the four vicuna populations as well as products crafted from that fiber. These populations are also in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

CITES is an agreement under which the more than 150 member nations monitor and regulate trade in wild species of animals and plants through a system of permits. Appendix II of the CITES agreement allows regulated trade in products from listed animals.

The USFWS plans to monitor trade in vicuna products to determine if vicuna conservation measures are effective. If the UFSWS decides that a country's population is not continuing to recover, the agency may restrict or suspend vicuna imports from that country.

"Thanks to decades of global conservation measures aimed at curtailing the illegal wildlife trade in vicuna products, and on the ground partnerships working to develop viable management plans and protect vital habitat, these four vicuna populations continue to rebound," said Craig Manson, assistant secretary of the Interior for fish and wildlife and parks.

"The United States is the world's largest marketplace for wildlife and wildlife products, and the resumption of trade makes this beautiful wool once more available to our own apparel and specialty goods industry," Manson added. "Hopefully, this action will also benefit the economies of these four South American countries."

The vicuna is a hardy animal adapted to the high altitudes of the Andes Mountains. The Incas used wild vicuna for its golden colored fleece and considered the wool so valuable that only the ruler and his court were allowed to wear it.

Vicuna wool later became so popular throughout the world and the illegal wildlife trade so profitable that the species almost went extinct. By 1974, fewer than 8,000 vicuna remained in the wild throughout the entire Andes range.

Vicuna management programs in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru allow the shearing of fiber from live vicuna and the marketing of fiber and fiber products. The programs provide rural communities with economic incentives for protecting vicuna populations.

"We commend the extensive ongoing vicuna conservation and recovery efforts of these countries," said Manson. "Furthering conservation partnerships at home and abroad continues to be an important tool in helping ensure the long term survival of the world's natural resources."

Dying Trees Release Air Polluting Chemical

Renyi Zhang, an atmospheric chemist, is studying one substance, isoprene, given off by oak trees and leading to increased ozone in the atmosphere. Working under a grant from the National Science Foundation, Zhang and chemistry professor Simon North are trying to unravel the more than 1,000 reactions that transform isoprene from trees into toxic atmospheric pollutants.

"Air pollution is probably one of the most serious problems facing humankind in the 21st century," said Zhang, a professor in the college of geosciences. "And certainly, much of that pollution results from human activities. But most people are not aware of the role played by chemical reactions which change substances produced by biogenic species into harmful airborne pollutants."

"Isoprene - C5H8 - is released by the respiration of oak trees and is the second most abundant naturally produced hydrocarbon (after methane) in our atmosphere," Zhang continued. "After a complicated series of chemical reactions, isoprene facilitates ozone production, so increased isoprene means more ozone in the air."

Ozone in the upper atmosphere blocks out harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun, Zhang explained, but nearer the ground, it traps heat. More ground level ozone - a component of smog - can mean rising temperatures and global warming.

"Although near ground ozone has some beneficial effects, providing excited oxygen atoms needed to produce the free OH radicals that help to bind other chemicals like sulfur and cleanse them from the atmosphere, excess ozone proves harmful to the health of humans and plants," Zhang said. "For example, too much ozone can retard tree growth or even kill trees. And if too many trees die, there will be more CO2 in the air, further trapping heat and raising the temperature of the planet."

Zhang and North are studying isoprene oxidation in oak trees in the Houston area, where ozone is contributing to air pollution. They hope to unravel the critical reactions that turn isoprene to ozone in order to find ways to reduce air pollution.

"The isoprene chain reaction is very complicated - in fact, it's been studied for over 30 years without significant results with regard to fundamental details," said Zhang. "Dr. North and I are seeking to discover the direction in which reaction pathways proceed. If we can fully understand the critical steps in the reaction, maybe we can determine where best to intervene in the process to keep both our oak trees and ourselves healthier."

Environmentalists Challenge Nevada Land Sale

Much of the public land in this area is designated as critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In the lawsuit, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Land Exchange Project, and Committee for Idaho's High Desert allege that the BLM has violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The groups are concerned about impacts on water supply, water and air quality, endangered species, and the combined impact of this and several other development plans on the fragile Mojave Desert.

In addition to the desert tortoise, which would have its habitat bulldozed, at least five other endangered species are threatened by water mining that would occur if this public land was privatized and developed, including three native fish and two native songbirds.

"[Interior Secretary Gale] Norton's blindfolded 'see no evil' approach fails to consider the harm this sale would cause to the desert tortoise and the Virgin River ecosystem," said Daniel Patterson, a desert ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity who once worked with BLM in the Mojave desert.

Katie Fite of Committee for Idaho's High Desert is concerned that there is "no known source of water to support this development. It will take water away from rare fish and bird habitat in the Virgin River and other uses in southern Nevada."

The Lincoln County Land Act, passed by Congress in 2000, authorized the BLM to sell a total of 13,000 acres of federal land in Lincoln County, Nevada over a period of five years. The environmental assessment for the project states that the first phase of the disposal alone, covering 6,500 acres, would allow for a 13 fold increase in the county's population over the next 20 years.

Yet the environmental assessment states that the source of water to sustain such development has not been identified. Nor did the analysis evaluate the impact of this project in conjunction with several other development schemes in the same area, including other land sales and exchanges, two proposed water cooled power plants, and a new regional airport.

"The purpose of NEPA is to provide an honest analysis of the effects of a project, alone and in conjunction with others," said Christopher Krupp, the Western Land Exchange Project staff attorney who drafted the complaint. "The BLM skirted many of the issues it is required to evaluate before offering the land for auction. The agency broke the law."

Grants Support Clean Car Research

The Department of Energy (DOE) selected the researchers as partners through the Cooperative Automotive Research for Advanced Technology (CARAT) Program, designed to fund the development of the most promising ideas from small businesses and universities, and match the finished prototypes with manufacturers that can help bring the new technologies to market.

"The CARAT Program provides an opportunity for these organizations to research, develop and validate advanced automotive technologies for cars and light trucks that are ultra-fuel efficient and low in emissions," said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. "These awards reflect President Bush's commitment to work with the private sector in making FreedomCAR technologies available for all Americans."

The cooperative agreements announced today total more than $1 million in cost shared research. Each organization will receive up to $150,000, subject to negotiation.

The awardees and projects selected are:

• Aspen Systems Inc. of Marlborough, Massachusetts: Sulfur and Coke Resistant Autothermal Diesel Fuel Reforming Catalysts

• Hi-Z Technology of San Diego, California: Cost Effective High Efficiency Materials for Quantum Well Thermoelectric Devices

• InnovaTek Inc. of Richland, Washington: Diesel Injector System with Novel Atomizer/Mixer for Hydrogen Generation

• Kinetic Art and Technology Corporation of Greenville, Indiana: Cost Effective High Efficiency Integrated Systems Approach to Auxiliary Electric Motors

• Materials & Systems Research Inc. of Salt Lake City, Utah: High Power Density Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with Rapid Start-Up Capability for Auxiliary Power Units

• University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas: Integrated Controllers for Automotive Auxiliary Electric Motors

More information on the CARAT Program is available at: http://www.ipd.anl.gov/carat/

Prairie Dogs Need Protection on BLM Lands

"Saving the black tailed prairie dog on these public lands is critical because the majority of prairie dog towns are on private lands that are rarely subject to even minimal protections for this imperiled species," said Tom France, NWF counsel.

The petition cites specific black-tailed prairie dog colonies in Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico, but seeks protections for all colonies on BLM administered land.

In 1998, NWF petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to have black-tailed prairie dogs listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). That petition noted that black-tailed prairie dog habitat has been reduced to less than one percent of the species' historic range in 11 Western and Midwestern states.

The decline in the species' population was troublesome because the black-tailed prairie dog is a keystone species for the grassland ecosystems of the Great Plains, playing a vital role in supporting populations of numerous others species, including the swift fox, mountain plover, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk, and the nation's most endangered mammal, the black-footed ferret.

The USFWS responded in February 2000 with a ruling making the black-tailed prairie dog a candidate species under the ESA. The agency said listing the prairie dog was warranted but precluded, meaning other species had more urgent need of protection.

In its petition to the BLM today, the NWF cites provisions of the ESA and the Federal Land and Policy Management Act in nominating all black-tailed prairie dog colonies on BLM administered lands as areas of critical environmental concern. The petition also cites a BLM Instruction Memorandum, which states, "Public land under BLM's jurisdiction is vital to the conservation and recovery of the black-tailed prairie dog and other species dependent on the prairie ecosystem. It is incumbent upon all managers and staff to take positive steps towards conservation of these species."

The petition specifies that the BLM should prohibit poisoning of prairie dogs, except under exceptional conditions, promote the relocation of prairie dogs to suitable habitat when necessary, and protect existing colonies by dusting to combat plague, a common killer of prairie dogs.

"These actions are necessary to begin to reverse the decline in black-tailed prairie dog populations," France said. "They can be accomplished with minimal impacts on others uses of the land."

Cleanup Begins in Ohio's Little Scioto River

The river's sediment was contaminated by the Baker Wood Preserving Company, a wood treatment plant that operated from the 1890s to 1960s. A separate EPA cleanup has been under way at the Baker Wood property, a few blocks east of the river, since 1998.

The EPA believes chemical waste from Baker Wood, which used creosote and other petroleum byproducts to pressure treat wood, was discharged directly from the plant to the sewers that drain into the ditch and the river.

The project, expected to be paid for by the EPA using Oil Pollution Act funds, aims to remove up to 40,000 cubic yards of material - about 60,000 tons - from the half-mile North Rockswale Ditch and a 3.5 mile stretch of the Little Scioto River.

The EPA has moved equipment to the area and will begin clearing and excavating the ditch after the July 4 weekend. Ditch work is expected to run through August. After that, EPA will establish a series of 200 to 400 foot long sections of the river, which will be drained prior to sediment removal.

The excavated material will be laid out to dry and then shipped to a disposal facility. The river portion of the cleanup will take about 12 months, spread over two full constructions seasons.

Work at the former Baker Wood plant site has been halted while the river excavation begins. To date, 3,000 tons of contaminated soil from that site have been excavated, treated with a mixture of water and liquid fertilizer, and stored for later disposal.

House Subcommittee Supports Efficiency Funding

"This is an encouraging step towards energy security, a stronger economy, and cleaner air," said Steven Nadel, executive director at the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). "For the subcommittee to increase efficiency funding in one of the toughest fiscal climates in years is a vote of confidence in efficiency's key role in our energy policy."

According to subcommittee figures, the Bush administration had requested an $11 million cut in the 2003 budget for energy efficiency, but the subcommittee restored that and added another $72 million above the 2002 spending level of $913 million.

ACEEE's research, in addition to that of the National Academy of Sciences and DOE's internal review, has shown that DOE's energy efficiency programs return $4 to $75 in economic benefits for each federal dollar spent. That does not include the benefits energy efficiency creates by reducing air pollution or improving energy security.

The bill cleared by the subcommittee includes $16 million in new funds for research, design and deployment (RD&D) for distributed generation technologies such as combined heat and power, an additional $20 million for the low income weatherization program, and $11 million in additional funding for industrial RD&D programs.

ACEEE says that some important areas remain underfunded. For example, the bill does not increase funding to increase the efficiency of appliances, windows or buildings.

The subcommittee's bill must still pass the full Appropriations Committee and the full House. When the Senate completes its appropriations work, the two bills will be reconciled in conference.