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U.S. Turf Experts Will Install Olympics Field in Four Days LANSING, Michigan, June 14, 2004 (ENS) - The 2004 Summer Olympics events held at Athens' Olympic Stadium will be played on a portable field created in four days by turf experts from Michigan State University and GreenTech, a Richmond, Virginia manufacturer of turf modules.The field will be laid in the Olympic Stadium, the center point for the Olympic Games. Part of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, the Olympic Stadium seats 72,000 spectators, who will attend the athletic events, the football gold medal match and the opening and closing ceremonies. Michigan State will oversee the placing of some 6,000 portable modules of turf in the Olympic stadium after the August 13 opening ceremonies are held on the stadium's concrete floor, and the grass will be ready for the games to begin in the stadium on August 17. The Olympic Stadium's portable field is another generation of Michigan State expertise, after the first indoor pitch created for the 1994 World Cup at Michigan's Pontiac Silverdome, and the moveable field in Michigan State’s Spartan Stadium. John “Trey” Rogers, professor of crop and soil sciences, says Michigan State's expertise in turf science is Olympic class. “The difference this time is that it’s an opening ceremony that’s driving the job,” Rogers said. “But a portable field clearly is the solution, and people have gained confidence in us.” The Michigan State team is working with GreenTech, a Richmond, Virginia based turf module manufacturer as consultants on the project. Each GreenTech high density polyethylene module, 46 inches square, is its own complete growing environment. Mature turf, grown off-site, is installed using flatbed trucks and forklifts. Modules can be secured into place on any hard surface. Foot locator pads create a guide system that locks each module securely in place. Perforated bases allow water and air to circulate freely - eliminating saturation, reducing the likelihood of disease and encouraging a robust root zone. Channels between the modules provide the ability to pump hot or cold air through the field, helping manage growth rate of the turf. Like Spartan Stadium the Olympic Stadium has a sunken floor. Michigan State experts, such as crop and soil sciences professor James Crum, have been working for months designing root zones and recommending appropriate grasses that are tough enough to withstand the rigors of soccer and field events, as well as the scorching Greek summers. Bermuda grass is the ticket, they have determined. Michigan State graduate student Matt Anderson traveled to Greece April 20 to assist in field construction in a remote area similar to Spartan stadium field and will stay through the games to oversee the installation. Rogers and Tim VanLoo, a senior, will join Anderson in late June to assist in a practice run of moving modules into the stadium. “It is important that this field perform for the games, obviously, but this field will also stay in the stadium after the Olympics,” Rogers said. "This will be the stadium field for the nation.”
Power Plant to Discharge Hot Water to Lower Charles River BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 14, 2004 (ENS) - A proposed draft water discharge permit for the Mirant Kendall Station power plant that will limit the Cambridge facility’s environmental impacts on the Lower Charles River was jointly issued Thursday by state and federal officials.Last year, the Kendall power plant installed a new natural gas fired generator to increase in its electrical generating capacity from 113 megawatts to 283 megawatts. The upgrades make it possible for the power plant to shift from providing electricity only during peak electrical demand to operate nearly year-round, but the 283 megawatt power plant is now the largest industrial discharger on the Charles River. The draft permit is concerned with the impacts from the power plant’s once-through cooling system, which requires water withdrawals from the Charles River and heated discharges back into the river. Newly converted from oil to natural gas, the Kendall station now uses a once-through cooling system that withdraws an average of 70 million gallons a day from the Charles River and discharges it back into the river at temperatures up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit warmer, or as hot as 105 degrees Fahrenheit. The plant’s current water usage is up to five times greater than the flow of the Charles River during low flow periods. In developing the draft permit, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s New England Office and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection paid attention to the facility’s potential impacts on fish populations in the river – in particular, resident fish such as yellow perch and migrating fish such as river herring. Two species of river herring, alewife and blueback herring, use the Lower Charles River Basin for their annual life cycle - adult migration and spawning and development of larvae herring to juveniles and then adults from May to October each year. If river water is too hot during this time of year, fish will avoid heated portions of the river or may die. The draft permit requires seasonal barrier nets or other devices to limit the number of fish that are trapped or pulled into the power plant when cooling water is pumped into the facility. It requires new continuous water quality monitoring, including temperature readings, that will evaluate the ecological health of the Lower Charles River Basin and the impacts the facility may be having on the lower basin. The permit places new limits on heated-water discharges when water temperatures in the river’s lower basin become excessively warm, thereby jeopardizing the ecological health of the river, including native and migratory fish populations. The hot water has the potential to cause or worsen eutrophication, a process in which excessively warm nutrient-rich water can cause excessive growth of algae which, in turn, cause oxygen depletion and green and brown color in the water. “This draft permit is an important component of continuing public and private efforts to restore the health of the Lower Charles River and Boston Harbor,” said Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England Office. “With sound science as its foundation, this draft permit provides an appropriate balance between the power plant’s operational needs and protecting the Charles River ecosystem, one of New England’s most valuable natural resources.” In 1995, the EPA’s New England Office launched a program to restore the river so that it is safe for fishing and swimming by 2005. The partnership, known as Clean Charles 2005, includes federal, state and local agencies, nonprofit organizations, and businesses. “The Lower Charles is an active ecosystem that currently struggles to support dozens of species of aquatic life,” said DEP Commissioner Robert W. Golledge Jr. “This draft permit requires the use of an innovative, real-time water quality monitoring system that, once installed, will provide immediate protection within this critical waterbody.” The draft permit is subject to a 45 day public comment period that opens today. Comments may be addressed to: George Papadopoulos, US EPA, Suite 1100 (CMA), 1 Congress St., Boston, Massachusetts 02114. Email: papadopoulos.george@epa.gov. Read all the documents at: http://www.epa.gov/region1/npdes/mirantkendall/.
Erosion Changes More Than Half the Gulf of Mexico Shoreline RESTON, Virginia, June 14, 2004 (ENS) - A new assessment of coastal change on the Gulf of Mexico released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows that 61 percent of the Gulf Coast shoreline is eroding,The assessment shows that coastal Louisiana is most vulnerable to shoreline erosion along with barriers islands in Texas. In Florida, erosion is concentrated around tidal inlets. The most stable Gulf beaches include those on the west coast of Florida. In some areas in Texas, shorelines have actually accreted, or gained sand. "At the beginning of hurricane season, coastal residents recognize how important their beaches are, not just for enjoyment but also for protection from mighty coastal storms," said Robert Morton, a USGS coastal geologist and the assessment's lead author. "Beach erosion is a chronic problem along most open-ocean shores of the United States." The completion of the Gulf of Mexico portion of the study marks the first in a series that will address the Atlantic Coast, Pacific Coast, and parts of Hawaii and Alaska. It was designed to help coastal managers at all levels of government make more informed decisions. "As coastal populations grow and community infrastructures are threatened by erosion, there is increased demand for accurate information regarding past and present trends and rates of shoreline movement," Morton said. The new assessment was done to address the need for accurate shoreline change data, including rates and trends that are consistent from one region to another. To meet these national needs, USGS is undertaking the first ever analysis of historical coastline change along the entire conterminous United States and parts of Alaska and Hawaii, Morton said. The analysis looks at shoreline change from early maps made in the 1800s to modern LIDAR measurements made as recently as 2002 by bouncing light off target objects such as shorelines. "One of the reasons the USGS is doing this nationwide study is that there is no widely accepted standardized method for assessing shoreline changes. Each state has its own data needs and coastal zone management responsibilities and therefore each state uses a different technique and standard," Morton said. "Data from one state can't be compared directly to other states." "USGS has the only dedicated program to track coastal change using consistent methods nationwide," he said. "Such a program is critically important to assess national issues such as the coastal impacts of sea level rise." "Soon," said Morton, "we'll be able to look at shorelines in their entirety - even crossing state lines - and compare rates of change directly with other parts of the country." A 44-page full-color report discussing historical shoreline change and coastal land loss along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico is available for viewing and printing at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1043/. A data catalog complements the report and the IMS by offering downloadable data layers complete with FGDC compliant metadata. These data can be found at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1089/. Data generated by the project, including vector shorelines and transects, associated short- and long-term rates of change, statistical uncertainties, and areas of beach nourishment, have been compiled in an Internet Map Server (IMS). The IMS brings the usefulness of GIS to a web browser, allowing the user to interactively view and manipulate data layers. The USGS U.S. Gulf of Mexico Shoreline Change Internet Map Server can be found here.
Orchid Ambitions the Downfall of Virginia Dealer TAMPA, Florida, June 14, 2004 (ENS) - A Virginia orchid dealer who wanted a newly discovered species of Peruvian orchid to be named after him has pleaded guilty to smuggling orchids from Peru into the United States.James Michael Kovach of Goldvein, Virginia, entered a plea of guilty Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida, to two misdemeanor counts of violating the Endangered Species Act. Kovach is the sole proprietor of Southwind Orchids. Kovach was charged by a federal grand jury in January 2004 with one felony count of smuggling and one misdemeanor count of violating the Endangered Species Act. A plea agreement allowed Kovach to plea to a lesser included misdemeanor offense under the first count. The charges against Kovach arose from his role in the illegal importation of a protected species of orchid into the United States from Peru in June 2002. On June 4, 2002, Kovach entered the United States at Miami, Florida, from Peru, carrying with him over 300 orchids, including at least one specimen of a previously unidentified species of the genus Phragmipedium, commonly known as Tropical Lady’s Slipper orchids. All species of the genus Phragmipedium are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which the United States, Peru, and some 162 other nations are signatories. The U.S. Endangered Species Act prohibits trade in plants or animals banned under the CITES treaty and prohibits possession of specimens that have been traded contrary to CITES. Kovach transported the orchids into the United States without any CITES permits even though he was aware that under CITES the transportation of the specimens from Peru into the United States required a valid export from Peru. Once inside the U.S., Kovach took the specimens from Miami to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. Selby received two specimens from Kovach, a live plant in flower and a second flower, and agreed to publish a formal identification of the new species, naming it Phragmipedium kovachii, after Kovach. Both Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and its director of systematics, Wesley Higgins, have been found guilty of violating the Endangered Species Act in relation to the receipt of these orchid specimens. The investigation of this case was led by special agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with assistance from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Customs Service, officials of INRENA, which is the CITES management authority in Peru, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Wildlife Refuge Acquisitions, Wetlands Projects Funded WASHINGTON, DC, June 14, 2004 (ENS) - The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission has approved some $18 million for habitat conservation to benefit migratory birds. At the same meeting, last week, the Commission approved the purchase of more than 3,500 acres of migratory bird habitat to be added to the National Wildlife Refuge System.The Commission's action will fund grants to states and other partners through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), to meet habitat goals for migratory birds. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who chairs the Commission, said, "Wetlands provide excellent habitat for wildlife, and provide millions of Americans with a broad range of outdoor recreational opportunities." The NAWCA Small Grant Program funded 43 projects for $2 million in 22 states and Puerto Rico to protect or restore 12,000 acres of wetlands and associated upland habitats. Project partners contributed more than $11 million. The Commission also approved more than $16 million for 19 projects in Canada. Partners added more than $22 million to conserve more than one million acres of wetlands. "Since many of North America's waterfowl species are dependent on breeding habitat in Canada it is important that we use our NAWCA funds to conserve habitat there as well," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams. Funding for this program comes from Congressional appropriations, funds collected from fines, penalties, and forfeitures under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, interest accrued to the Pittman- Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, and from excise taxes paid on small engine fuels through the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act. The Commission also allocated $6.4 million from the sale of the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, the Duck Stamp, to purchase key tracts of land for the Service's National Wildlife Refuge System in Michigan, Texas and West Virginia. All acquisitions were previously approved by the affected states. In Michigan, 409 acres will be aquired to protect wetlands for migratory waterfowl within the boundaries of Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge in Wayne County. In Texas, 2,681 acres will be purchased to protect wetlands for migratory waterfowl within the boundaries of McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge in Galveston County. Also in Galveston County, 43 acres will be bought to protect wetlands for migratory waterfowl within the boundaries of Anuhuac National Wildlife Refuge. Elsewhere in Texas, 225 acres will be acquired to protect wetlands for migratory waterfowl within the boundaries of San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge in Brazoria County. And in West Virginia, 155 acres will be bought to protect wetlands for migratory waterfowl within the boundaries of Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Tucker County. "Sportsmen and women have contributed a great deal to the development of the National Wildlife Refuge System," Norton said. "Money raised by the sale of Federal Duck Stamps pays for these land acquisitions. Since the first Duck Stamp sale in 1934, nearly $700 million has been raised to purchase more than five million acres of wetlands for the refuge system." The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission meets three times a year to approve funding proposals. Permanent Commission members are Interior Secretary Norton, Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt, as well as Senators Thad Cochran, a Mississippi Republican, and John Breaux, a Louisiana Democrat; and Representatives John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, and Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican. For more information on NAWCA, please see http://birdhabitat.fws.gov/NAWCA/grants.htm.
Rare Frog, Snake to Coexist With Blue Rock Country Club HAYWARD, California, June 14, 2004 (ENS) - Two endangered species - the California red-legged frog and the Alameda whipsnake - will benefit from a mediated agreement reached last week between conservation groups and Hayward 1900, developer of the Blue Rock Country Club.The settlement will lead to the lifting of an injunction on construction in the hills east of Hayward issued in May by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The agreement covers the immediate lifting of the injunction on construction of housing, a public school, and a golf course at Blue Rock. Under the settlement, 125 acres of adjacent land that is habitat for the endangered snake and frog will become part of the East Bay Regional Park system. The developer will donate $1.5 million to a third party conservation organization for future purchases of property within the Regional Park District that now forms a checkerboard pattern to help create continuous habitat for the snake and frog. This agreement ends future litigation over the project. "Walpert Ridge is one of the largest, near-intact ecosystems so close to the urbanization of the East Bay," said Sherman Lewis, chair of the Hayward Area Planning Association. "We are pleased that Hayward will get its new school and that important natural habitat will be protected for endangered species and future generations of East Bay residents to enjoy." The Hayward Area Planning Association has worked since 1978 to protect Walpert Ridge, to stop the Foothill Freeway and to preserve habitat for the native California species that still survive in the region. Located on 1,642 acres of prime land overlooking San Francisco Bay, the Hayward 1900 Development Company will build 614 homes, an elementary school and a Cal Olson designed, 18 hole championship golf course. For 12 years, three civil engineering firms had failed to solve complex hillside grading issues on the site complicated by sensitive environmental obstructions until the Haaland Group was able to balance the grading quantities and reduce the grading volume by millions of cubic yards. "The firm also saved scores of trees with no loss in the project’s total number of units," said Haaland engineer Ron Wensley. "For the Alameda whipsnake and the red-legged frog the best outcome would have been no additional development on Walpert Ridge and preservation of the critical migration corridor," said Jeff Miller, Bay Area Wildlands Coordinator with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the litigation. "Through the settlement we will be able to acquire and preserve habitat for endangered species, increase recreational opportunities, and the school project will move forward," added Miller. The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit, public interest environmental organization, dedicated to the protection of native species and their habitats through science, policy, and environmental law. "There's no question that Blue Rock's golf course puts an additional strain on threatened Alameda whipsnakes and California red-legged frogs. However, with the permanent protection of nearby land assured, we expect that these native species will be able to survive and recover," said Greg Loarie, an attorney for Earthjustice, the nonprofit public interest law firm that represented the conservation groups. "We are pleased the children who attend this school will enjoy an expanded park system nearby that will be protected forever," Loarie said.
Kauai Landowner Must Restore Hanalei Wetland HANALEI, Kauai, Hawaii, June 14, 2004 (ENS) - The Hanalei River runs through the largest taro farming area in the state of Hawaii and is the site of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge. The picturesque valley on Kauai's North Shore has been featured in films, calendars, postcards and many a tourist's take-home gallery.But regardless, in 2002 and 2003 a Kauai landowner excavated a pond and ditch on his property and illegally dumped the spoil into wetland marshes adjacent to the Hanalei River without a permit. He also had workers bury portions of the remaining wetlands with dredged soils and plants and imported materials. Now, he will be restoring all of the damage he has done to the satisfaction of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA issued an order last week that requires Ed Ben-Dor of Hanalei not to discharge any additional dredged or fill material into wetlands and other waters without a permit. The EPA order cites violations of the Clean Water Act. "Hawaii's wetlands deserve protection because they are habitat for endangered Hawaiian waterbirds, provide flood water storage, and help protect water quality," said Alexis Strauss, the EPA's director for water programs in the Pacific Southwest region, which covers the Pacific island state of Hawaii. The EPA order requires Ben-Dor to choose a contractor for the agency's approval by July 6. Once the contractor is approved, Ben-Dor must submit to the EPA within 45 days a removal and restoration plan that includes steps to remove all unauthorized wetland fill and restore the disturbed area into a functional wetland habitat, with a maintenance program to preserve the wetland. Work will include replanting the wetland with native plant species to be recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. "The Hanalei Valley is an important wetlands resource in Hawaii," Strauss said. Any dredge and fill work, creation or realignment of any ditch or stream in a wetland area or open water requires a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico Fined for Hazwaste NEW YORK, New York, June 14, 2004 (ENS) - The Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico faces $280,600 in penalties for alleged violations of hazardous waste regulations at its main campus in Ponce.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking action against the university for violations of federal laws that provide for the safe handling and storage of hazardous wastes. "Catholic University in Puerto Rico could have avoided some of these penalties by volunteering to look at its own facilities and remedying any problems found," said EPA Regional Administrator Jane Kenny whose region extends to Puerto Rico. The EPA complaint charges Catholic University with violations of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which requires hazardous waste to be managed in an environmentally sound manner from "cradle to grave." An EPA inspection of Catholic University's main campus, where 12,000 students are enrolled, revealed the university had failed to determine if wastes it generated were hazardous wastes; stored hazardous wastes without a permit in open containers and in containers that were in poor condition. Catholic University did not maintain and operate its facility to minimize the possibility of fire, explosion and other risks if an unplanned or sudden release of hazardous waste to the environment should occur, the EPA alleges. "Many chemicals were stored in an unsafe manner, significantly increasing the risk of fire or an explosion occurring," the agency said. The university failed to provide employees with required training in hazardous waste management. Nor did the university develop emergency contingency plans or a make arrangements with emergency responders and nearby hospitals in the event of sudden or unexpected releases of hazardous wastes to the environment. The complaint includes an order requiring the university to promptly address the alleged deficiencies if it has not already done so and to comply with federal hazardous waste laws. Catholic University has informed the EPA that it is working towards correcting the violations found at its main campus. The agency established its Colleges and Universities Initiative in 1999 because it found that many institutions were not aware of their responsibilities under various environmental laws. As part of the initiative, EPA sent letters to colleges and universities, held free workshops to help colleges and universities comply and set up a website that provides information about their duties under the law. Then the EPA warned the colleges and universities that inspections of their facilities with the risk of financial penalties were imminent. EPA encouraged the institutions to avail themselves of the agency's Voluntary Audit Policy through which institutions can investigate and disclose violations to the agency and, if the necessary conditions are met, receive a partial or complete reduction in financial penalties. "EPA has developed voluntary self audit programs to protect people's health and the environment," said Kenny, who is in charge of EPA's Region 2 covering New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. "We continue to provide alternate approaches to colleges and universities, as well as all other regulated entities, to assist their efforts to come into compliance." To date, 76 colleges and universities in EPA Region 2 have come forward to disclose more than 800 violations to EPA. Most of them have been granted a 100 percent waiver of certain penalties totaling more than $2.4 million.
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