• New Nukes Win Senate Support
  
• Otero Mesa Drilling Threatens New Mexico Aquifer
  
• Oil Wells of the Future Three Inches in Diameter
  
• Greenpeacers Arrested in Oregon Timber Sale Protest
  
• Rubber Companies Agree to $18 Million Ohio Dump Remediation
  
• Alaska Men Admit Poaching Bears for Gallbladders
  
• House Approves Marine Turtle Conservation Act
  
• Ford Gives 12 Hybrid SUVs to National Parks
  

New Nukes Win Senate Support

The funds come on the heels of a decision by Congress last year to lift a decade old ban on researching new low yield nuclear weapons. These five kiloton nuclear weapons are about half the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

Congress has also approved a Bush administration request to shorten the time required to prepare for a full-scale nuclear test from 24 months to 18 months.

The Bush administration says research into these new nuclear weapons will make the nation's nuclear arsenal into a more effective deterrent. The administration argues that these kinds of weapons could reduce the potential for causing civilian casualties and could improve the effectiveness of nuclear weapons in destroying deeply buried and hardened targets.

Republicans stressed that the funding is only for research. The administration would have to ask Congress for authority to develop the new nukes.

“It is not realistic to think we can put the nuclear genie back into the bottle,” said Senator Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican. “We cannot hope that if we ignore the evolving nuclear threat that it will go away.”

But critics are concerned that the Bush administration’s plan blurs the line between the use of nuclear and conventional weapons and could undermine the international effort to contain the world's development of nuclear weapons.

“I strongly believe that to proceed on this path is folly because by doing so we are encouraging the very nuclear proliferation we are seeking to prevent,” said California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, a coauthor of the amendment. “In other words, we are telling other countries, do not do what we do, do what we say. We are practicing the ultimate hypocrisy.”

Critics say the administration's concept of modifying or developing nuclear weapons for use against deeply buried and hardened targets is not only misguided, but fundamentally flawed.

A nuclear weapon exploded just beneath the Earth's surface would create a massive crater and would throw more radioactive dirt and particles into the air than one detonated above the target, according to Sidney Drell, a nuclear physicist with Stanford University.

For fallout to be contained, even a 0.5 kiloton nuclear weapon would have to penetrate at least 150 feet into the Earth in order for fallout to be contained.

But there is no known material that could be used to encase a bomb that could penetrate more than 50 feet, Drell said, “even if we slam them in at supersonic speeds.”

All 42 votes in favor of the amendment were cast by Democrats, but four Democrats crossed party lines to vote with the Senate’s 51 Republicans to defeat the measure.

Otero Mesa Drilling Threatens New Mexico Aquifer

The study by the Albuquerque water resource consulting firm John Shomaker & Associates, Inc. was conducted for the Otero Mesa Coalition and the Campaign to Protect America's Lands.

The findings were released on Tuesday, in advance of today's hearing on more environmentally sensitive rules for drilling proposed by the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division at the direction of Governor Bill Richardson, a former U.S. energy secretary in the Clinton administration.

The Shomaker study finds that the "water supply beneath Otero Mesa is potentially vulnerable to contamination by the BLM proposed oil and gas development because of the proximity of existing water supply wells and the porous nature of the regional aquifer."

"In many cases, there are existing or proposed water supply wells in the same area as BLM land proposed for oil and gas developments," the study states.

Study author Steve Finch, who is vice president, senior geochemist and hydrologist at John Shomaker & Associates, said, "The proposed BLM plan puts in place no special provisions for protection of groundwater resources, which is to say the public water supply."

"The vulnerability of the aquifer under the Otero Mesa can be inferred from fracture mapping, the direction of groundwater flow and the proximity of water supply wells to the BLM land proposed for oil and gas developments," said Finch.

The report criticizes the BLM plan for permitting oil and gas development without sufficient protective measures, even though the aquifer underneath the Otero Mesa and Salt Basin areas in New Mexico is fractured and susceptible to contamination from the injection of oil and gas waste into underlying rocks or from spills and leaks.

In its "Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement for Federal Fluid Minerals Leasing and Development in Sierra and Otero Counties," the BLM does appear to warn of groundwater problems if the drilling goes ahead.

"With regard to groundwater resources," the BLM states, "water demands such as irrigation and domestic needs due to population growth could make even the small water requirements for fluid minerals development a burden to the water system."

Next, however, the BLM says drilling will have little impact on groundwater. "Declining water levels are of concern to residents of Otero County; however, fluid minerals development on non-Federal land is not expected to greatly increase the groundwater supply demands in the Planning Area. None of the other potential projects in the area are believed to impact the supply of groundwater resources," the agency states.

Elsewhere in the "Proposed Resource Management Plan" the BLM acknowledges that fracturing of the Mesa might make the groundwater vulnerable to contamination.

"Records indicate that both public and private water supply wells have been impacted by contamination," the BLM states. "The NMWQCC [New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission] has identified both point source and nonpoint source contamination in groundwater of the Planning Area."

"Portions of aquifers located in the Planning Area are considered highly vulnerable to contamination from surface water discharges in areas of a shallow water table where the vadose zone is highly fractured," the agency states.

According to the Shomaker study, the more cautious plan for Otero Mesa outlined by Governor Richardson highlights this danger and includes measures to avoid contaminating the aquifer.

The Wilderness Society BLM Attorney Nada Culver said, "This new report provides a detailed scientific basis for the public's concerns about the risk to the critical water supply below Otero Mesa posed by the BLM's willingness to permit oil and gas development without adequate information or protections."

Covering some 1.2 million acres of Chihuahuan Desert grassland that is among the most biologically rich and diverse desert eco-regions in the world, Otero Mesa extends eastward from the Hueco Mountains to the Guadalupe Mountains and north from the Texas border into New Mexico.

View the "Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact Statement for Federal Fluid Minerals Leasing and Development in Sierra and Otero Counties," at: http://www.nm.blm.gov/lcfo/white_sands_rmpa_eis/docs/Vol%20I.pdf

Oil Wells of the Future Three Inches in Diameter

Greenpeacers Arrested in Oregon Timber Sale Protest

A three ton cargo container with two people locked to the inside and one attached to the outside was placed between chainsaws and 236 acres of old growth forest designated for the Soukow timber sale about five miles west of Glendale.

Jennifer Kirby of Washington, DC; Kingman Lim of Berkeley, California; and Anthony Villagomez of Northern Oregon locked themselves to the container at dawn. They were charged with disorderly conduct after the locks were cut off by Douglas County sheriffs.

Greenpeace is calling for a moratorium on commercial logging on public lands, and for increased protection of forests and restoration efforts. Earlier this month, Greenpeace opened its first U.S. Forest Rescue Station in Oregon. The station, on the Kelsey Whiskey timber sales 20 miles west of Galice, is open to the public. It is one of a string of similar stations that Greenpeace plans to open in endangered forests across the country.

The protest came the day after BLM officials signed an agreement with Greenpeace that was supposed to avoid conflict and illegal activity.

Joan Resnick, acting manager of the Glendale Resource Area, said the protest breached the signed agreement, but Greenpeace campaigns director Bill Richardson said the agreement applied only to the forest rescue station, and any protests are a separate issue.

"These beautiful, old trees are our national treasures and the lungs of the planet. But instead of protecting the last remaining forests, the Bush administration is attempting to destroy them," said Richardson. "If Bush continues to ignore the public’s wishes to keep their forests healthy, it will be up to the American people to rescue our public forests from this imminent danger."

The BLM and other federal agencies have allowed extensive logging and road building in ancient forests across the nation destroying forests and key fish habitats and costing taxpayers billions of dollars in net losses and direct subsidies to logging corporations, Greenpeace says.

Despite U.S. Forest Service findings that recreation on public lands generates more revenue and creates millions of jobs, timber sales like the one in Oregon threaten forests on public lands across the Pacific Northwest and around the country, the organization says.

The Soukow sale, covers two million board feet of timber, is on the BLM’s Glendale Resource Area. It was purchased by the Swanson Group in 2001 for the appraised price of $232,377.

Rubber Companies Agree to $18 Million Ohio Dump Remediation

The settlement requires the companies to reimburse the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about $18 million for work already performed at the site. It will take effect after a 30 day public comment period, if the judge approves it.

The Industrial Excess Landfill was used as a dump from 1965 to 1980. A variety of chemical pollutants have been found in the groundwater at and near the site.

The companies that signed the settlement agreement are - The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.; Goodyear Aerospace Corp.; Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.; B.F. Goodrich Co.; and Gencorp, Inc.

The suit against these companies alleged that while the dump was open, they illegally arranged for disposal of hundreds of thousands of gallons of waste solvent.

The settlement requires the five companies to plant trees and other vegetation that will enhance the process of natural attenuation of the groundwater contamination and to monitor the groundwater to ensure the contamination continues to decline.

“This settlement will protect the public and make those responsible for the pollution bear the burden of the costs associated with completing the needed work,” said Thomas Sansonetti, assistant attorney general for the U.S. Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Part of the lawsuit against other parties the Justice Department has alleged are liable for cleanup of the landfill will continue until a settlement is reached or a judgment is entered.

Alaska Men Admit Poaching Bears for Gallbladders

Charges were brought in February against Tae Won Roe, Kwan Su Yi and James Ho Moon for attempting to export and sell 10 black bears illegally snared in Prince William Sound. They were charged with conspiracy, attempted export and sale of illegally taken wildlife, and making false statements in violation of the federal Lacey Act.

Ro also pleaded guilty to illegal use of a firearm.

According to the indictment, the bears were snared on privately owned Chenega Island and at Bainbridge Passage, part of Chugach National Forest.

Ro and Yi set snares that would trap bears in nooses of aircraft cable hanging from trees. They and Moon later visited the sites, the indictment charges, "then remove the legs, heads and gallbladders" from the bears.

In September 2002, biologists doing stream surveys came across a live bear caught in a snare. They called Alaska State Troopers, who found a cooler full of bear parts.

The men intended to sell the organs into the South Korean black market, where they are highly valued for their supposed ability to treat conditions such as rheumatism, high blood pressure and impotence.

Bear gallbladders can bring from $500 to $4,000 each and have been sold for as much as $20,000, Stan Pruszenski, special agent in charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska told the "Anchorage Daily News."

The three men face fines of $3,000, restitution to the state of Alaska, a term of probation and forfeiture of a boat, motor and trailer used in the operation. Formal sentencing is scheduled for September, Skrocki said.

Bear organ poaching may be taking place on a wider scale near Prince William Sound, Skrocki said. "The investigation revealed other activity we couldn't attribute to anyone in particular," he said. "It's pretty widespread."

House Approves Marine Turtle Conservation Act

The measure will authorize up to $5 million a year for projects to conserve marine turtles and their nesting habitats in foreign countries. The Senate passed its version of the bill in November.

"Marine turtles are now among the oldest living creatures on earth," said Gilchrest. "They may have outlived the dinosaurs but without our help their long term survival is in serious peril. Since extinction is forever, this bill emphatically states that we will not allow marine turtles to disappear from this planet."

House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, a California Republican, said, "It is crucial that we provide sound and balanced means of preserving our wildlife, and Mr. Gilchrest's bill does just that for marine turtles."

WWF testified in support of the Marine Turtle Conservation Act before the House subcommittee in March. Brooks Yeager, vice president of WWF's Global Threats program, said if the measure becomes law it will advance conservation goals, build conservation partnerships and leverage resources from private and other sources, and build goodwill abroad.

"Passage of the Marine Turtle Conservation Act will support international conservation of threatened sea turtles outside of the U.S. to ensure that the successes of ongoing conservation efforts here are not lost when the animals leave our shores," said Yeager.

"WWF has been working all over the world to protect sea turtles and their habitats for more than 40 years. We have learned that strategic investments and long term commitments pay off," said Yeager.

"It is crucial that we take every opportunity to ensure the survival of marine turtles. Six of the world's seven marine turtle species are endangered or critically endangered. Habitats key to their survival are being rapidly degraded."

Ford Gives 12 Hybrid SUVs to National Parks

Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who serves as chairman of the foundation, accepted keys to the vehicles Wednesday from the company's Chairman and CEO, Bill Ford.

"Ford's long term commitment to innovative, sustainable transportation solutions will enrich the experience of all national park visitors while protecting our important natural resources," Norton said. "I commend the company's efforts in being effective and proud partners of the National Park Foundation."

The 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid is the world's first hybrid sport utility vehicle. The fuel efficient vehicle can operate independently using gas or electric power, minimizing exhaust emissions.

Two of the 12 donated vehicles will remain in the Washington, D.C. area for use by park rangers and staff at the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal Historical National Park and select units of the National Capital Region.

The remaining vehicles are expected to be utilized in urban national parks in California, Colorado, Massachusetts and New York.

Fod's donation to the National Park Foundation is part of an ongoing effort to provide advanced technology vehicles that help the parks preserve the environment.

Ford has assisted with the restoration of a fleet of 33 historic red buses in Glacier National Park. The buses were restored with new chassis and engines that run on cleaner-burning propane fuel.

Ford also has donated more than 600 electric vehicles to national parks, state parks and other federal land management agencies in California, Massachusetts, and New York.