• U.S. Navy Exempt From Sonar Limits Ahead of RIMPAC War Games
  
• Northeast Flooding Eases, Food, Water Distribution Begins
  
• New York City Seeks to Expand Stormwater Capacity of Dams
  
• Pacific-Gulf Marine Fined $1.5 Million for Criminal Discharge
  
• National Renewable Energy Lab Offsets All Its Energy Use
  
• Unitarian Universalists Resolve to Combat Global Warming
  
• Small Ecotourism Outfits Gain New Market Gateway
  

U.S. Navy Exempt From Sonar Limits Ahead of RIMPAC War Games

WASHINGTON, DC, June 30, 2006 (ENS) - The Department of Defense today authorized a six month national defense exemption from requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) for naval activity involving mid-frequency active sonar use during major training exercises and on established ranges and operating areas.

A statement by the U.S. Navy says it sought the exemption after a lawsuit was filed Wednesday by conservation organizations to stop sonar use during U.S. Pacific Command's Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) sea, air and land exercise.

The RIMPAC exercise is taking place in a 210,000 square nautical mile area near the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, created earlier this month by President George W. Bush.

The lawsuit was brought by the Natural Resources Defense Coucil in conjunction with the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Cetacean Society International, the Ocean Futures Society, and Jean-Michel Cousteau. It was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, in Los Angeles.

The lawsuit was filed although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued three documents on Tuesday supporting RIMPAC exercise operations involving the use of sonar.

High intensity, mid-frequency sonar, used to detect underwater objects such as submarines, is a technology that has been directly associated with mass strandings of marine mammals around the world.

"This is an historic and unprecedented retreat by the U.S. Navy from our national commitment to protect whales, dolphins and other marine life," said Joel Reynolds, a senior attorney at NRDC and director of its Marine Mammal Protection Project. "It's not that the Navy can't comply with the law; it's that the Navy chooses not to."

During the last RIMPAC exercise in 2004, a group of over 150 melon-headed whales stranded in Hanalei Bay on the island of Kauai following a Navy sonar exercise.

After that incident, NRDC and other organizations approached the Navy about the need for planning, review, and mitigation measures to prevent a recurrence. The filing of litigation this week followed the Navy's refusal to include adequate protective measures or to obtain legally required permits and review, the group said.

Under the national defense exemption, the Navy will not be required to seek permits for activities under Marine Mammal Protection Act during a six-month period. The Defense Department says it authorized this exemption after conferring with the Department of Commerce.

"The Navy will continue to employ stringent mitigation measures to protect marine mammals during all sonar activities, to include habitat controls, safety zones around ships, trained lookouts, extra precautions during chokepoint exercises, in coordination with National Marine Fisheries Service," said Navy Rear Adm. James Symonds, director of environmental readiness.

"The Navy has a comprehensive strategy in place to comply with the MMPA. This temporary exemption period will give us the time to work with NOAA and devote our resources to the success of our long term environmental actions which form the core of our compliance strategy," said Symonds.

The Navy's long-term compliance plan will ultimately cover all Navy ranges and operating areas with environmental impact statements under NEPA, letters of authorization under the MMPA and consultation under the ESA as required. Navy policy mandates that all its ranges and operating areas be covered by overarching compliance actions by the end of fiscal 2009.

Northeast Flooding Eases, Food, Water Distribution Begins

Flooding continues in and around New Hope and Yardley, Pennsylvania, and about 4,000 residents of the two towns have evacuated voluntarily. The Delaware River is expected to crest in the area late today.

The Commonwealth has reported the eight people have died due to the severe rains and flooding, but this number is unconfirmed by the Pennsylvania Public Health Department. In New York, two people are confirmed dead and another is missing and presumed dead

Levees in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania have not been overtopped, and the more than 200,000 people who were evacuated were permitted to re-enter their homes at noon today.

Twenty Pennsylvania counties have declared local emergencies. There are currently 5,000 residences without electricity due to flood damage, and 1,700 homes are without power due to wind damage.

There are 5,000 homes in the Bloomburg area without water and officials say it will be up to five days before the water treatment plant is restored to service. The state has water distribution sites set up to assist residents.

Some 1,025 National Guard troops were activated, most serving in northeast Pennsylvania. They conducted 936 water rescues, and the U.S. Coast Guard rescued four people. Thirteen additional rescues were conducted by others. The American Red Cross reports 37 shelters open serving 2,160 people.

In Willow Grove, Pennsylvania a staging area is receiving commodities for 50,000 people for three days. Nine truckloads of cots and two truckloads of blankets are enroute from Ft. Pickett, Virginia, and 20 truckloads of water, two truckloads of ice, and 10 truckloads of ready to eat meals will be leaving Edison, New Jersey for Willow Grove today.

An additional 52 trucks of water and 39 truckloads of meals are enroute and will start arriving tomorrow. Federal and state emergency managers are identifying sites that will be points of distribution for these supplies.

In Maryland, officials in Montgomery County Thursday evening lifted the evacuation order keeping people from their homes near Lake Needwood. More than 2,200 people were evacuated from the area because officials were concerned about residents who live downstream of the dam.

The evacuation order was lifted late last night after experts determined it was safe for residents to return to their houses. The water level has dropped from 21 feet to 17 feet and continues to recede at a rate of two inches per hour.

In Delaware, more flooding is a concern in New Castle County as the Delaware River flood wave moves downstream.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) preliminary damage assessment for the Delaware Department of Transportation estimates $1.3 million dollars in damages. FEMA is conducting assessments throughout the flooded areas in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

In New York, rivers are beginning to crest in some areas but are expected to remain above flood stage through Saturday and possibly Sunday. Road and bridge closing lists continue to grow as rivers are still rising in many areas.

Over 100 New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) police officers have been deployed to flood-affected parts of the state. They have conducted or assisted in hundreds of rescues and evacuations, including the rescue of over 50 employees who were trapped in a building collapse at Breakstone Dairy in Walton.

DEP has sent a 1000-gallon tanker truck with fresh drinking water to the town of Walton to assist with water supply needs. A second 1000-gallon truck is standing by to shuttle water from New York City to the town.

DEP has offered to send leak detection crews to Walton to help locate the source of the town's broken water pipes. These crews have extensive experience locating leaks beneath New York City's streets and are equipped with the latest pipe monitoring equipment.

Power and gas services are being cut by utilities in many flooded areas for responder safety. New York reports the cities of Binghamton, Johnson City, Port Jervis and the town of Andes have shut down their sewage systems due to flooding. Over 5,000 customers are without water services and others are under boil water advisory.

In Trenton, New Jersey State offices remained closed Thursday to all but essential staff. A total of 1,759 homes were evacuated with a population of 6,170 people, most of whom are staying with friends and family.

New York City Seeks to Expand Stormwater Capacity of Dams

"Watershed reservoirs were designed to ensure a safe and reliable water supply for New York City, but they also provide a secondary benefit of reducing flooding downstream," said Lloyd. "Even when full, they slow the rate at which water cascades downstream, reducing the inundation area."

Over the past three years, New York City has sought and received approval for two innovative proposals to create additional storm water capacity.

Lloyd said that recently DEP briefed the other Delaware River partners on a third proposed change. With more frequent storms and droughts predicted by climate scientists, DEP hopes to work with West of Hudson watershed counties and with state and federal agencies to develop long-term strategies to address flooding while continuing to provide safe and reliable drinking water to about half the residents of New York state.

New York's Delaware Watershed also supplies drinking water to millions of residents of New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court stepped in to set up a framework for cooperation between New York and these states to regulate how water is distributed from the City's Delaware reservoirs.

Some watershed communities have suggested that making additional controlled releases downstream might further mitigate flooding and they have asked DEP to study this. The agency has agreed to conduct the studies.

The Department of Environmental Protection continues to monitor its West of Hudson reservoirs and dams, and none of the six dams has been placed in danger by this week's events, Lloyd says. None of the city's dams has shifted or been damaged by the flooding.

Flood mitigation programs are in place at the Pepacton and Neversink reservoirs where from December to March each winter, the Department of Environmental Protection lowers reservoir levels based on the amount of snow that will melt and refill the reservoirs. Unless there is any significant snowpack, the reservoirs are lowered by an amount equal to the runoff that would result from a one-inch rainfall taking place over a six-hour period.

These programs were enacted with the unanimous approval of all the parties to the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), including New York City, New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Lowering the Cannonsville, Pepacton, Neversink and Rondout reservoirs requires downstream water releases, and this must be approved by the DRBC parties.

This year, New York City Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff announced that the DEP would implement similar flood mitigation programs at the Schoharie Reservoir once new release works are installed as part of the 2008 overall reconstruction of the Gilboa Dam.

Construction work that began early this year at the Gilboa Dam has been temporarily halted because of the need to remove equipment and personnel from the spillway of the dam.

The volume of controlled downstream releases from the four Delaware River reservoirs has not increased throughout this past week of heavy rains and it continues to be the minimum amount as required by state conservation law and by the DRBC.

About 580 million gallons per day continues to be diverted from the Schoharie Reservoir through the Shandaken Tunnel in order to help minimize pressure on the Gilboa Dam. There have been no downstream releases from the Ashokan Reservoir during the storms this week.

"In addition to exploring these long-term water management proposals, DEP has been assisting watershed counties and towns with rescue and emergency operations. DEP's emergency and operations staff have been in close communication with county, state, and municipal emergency services officials beginning June 23," said Commissioner Lloyd. "The department and the city are ready to provide on-going emergency assistance."

Pacific-Gulf Marine Fined $1.5 Million for Criminal Discharge

If approved by the court, the plea agreement requires PGM to pay a $1 million criminal fine and pay $500,000 for community service.

In a related case, a federal grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday, charging two former chief engineers of the M/V Tanabata, one of the four ships in the fleet, with a variety of environmental crimes.

PGM officials admitted that ship records misrepresented that hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil-contaminated bilge waste were properly discharged overboard through required pollution prevention equipment.

In reality the ships used bypass equipment, sometimes referred to as a magical pipe, to circumvent the device, known as an oily water separator.

In agreeing to plead guilty, PGM admitted that its shore-side management "failed to provide sufficient management resources and support to the ships, and also failed to exercise sufficient supervision and management controls to prevent or detect criminal violations by its employees." The motive for the criminal conduct was to save money, according to papers filed in court.

After learning of the federal investigation, PGM disclosed to the United States the results of an internal investigation including 50 reports of interviews with various current and former employees who had worked aboard the four giant car carrier vessels used to transport vehicles.

"The government was previously unaware of PGM's internal investigation and did not request or require the disclosure," according to papers filed in court. "Many of the interviews contained confessions, admissions or otherwise revealed incriminating information and evidence of illegal conduct relating to environmental violations."

"Companies that voluntarily assist in federal criminal investigations and accept responsibility for their own crimes will receive credit," said U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein for the District of Maryland. "By waiving privilege claims and disclosing the results of its own internal investigation, PGM helped to ensure that others also will be held accountable."

The criminal investigation began on September 2, 2003, after U.S. Coast Guard inspections of the M/V Tellus and M/V Tanabata in Baltimore.

However, like an earlier inspection on March 29, 2003, in which a bypass pipe laden with oil was found hidden under the engine room floor of another ship managed by PGM, engineers denied any illegal conduct.

Under the terms of the proposed plea agreement, which must be approved by the court, $1 million will be paid as a criminal fine and $500,000 will be devoted to community service.

The community service projects, to be administered by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, include funding of environmental projects in Chesapeake Bay and to provide environmental training to those enrolled in U.S. maritime academies.

Stephen Karas and Mark Humphries, former chief engineers of the M/V Tanabata, were charged with conspiracy, failing to maintain an Oil Record Book, and false statements. Karas was charged with a count of obstruction of justice for alleged witness tampering while Humphries has been charged with a count of obstruction for the alleged destruction of evidence, allegedly throwing the bypass pipe overboard after the Coast Guard inspection in Baltimore. The investigation is continuing.

National Renewable Energy Lab Offsets All Its Energy Use

NREL encompasses 618 acres on several sites, with 665,000 square feet of laboratory and office space, housing more than 1,100 researchers and support staff.

The Laboratory exceeded its five year goal as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Leaders Partnership, having cut overall greenhouse gas emissions more than 10 percent since 2000.

"We at NREL are proud to be leaders in energy efficiency and renewable energy," NREL Director Dan Arvizu said, "by both providing the research that helps the nation reduce its dependence on foreign energy sources, and by using those very technologies to make our own facilities the very best they can be."

Several of NREL's laboratory buildings are among the most energy efficient of all comparable federal facilities, while on-site electricity production from wind turbines and solar electric systems contributes 138,000 kilowatt hours annually to the Laboratory's power needs.

At NREL's National Wind Technology Center south of Boulder, when wind turbines used for research and development are operating, the electricity they generate is used to meet on-site power needs.

Thermal energy sources include solar hot water systems and ventilation air preheat systems. Passive solar heating and day-lighting are used extensively.

All new construction at NREL is committed to exceed the current Federal Model Energy Code by at least 30 percent.

The Laboratory's new Science and Technology Facility, a 71,000 square foot laboratory structure scheduled for completion this summer, is projected to use 38 percent less energy than the "base building standard," says Arvizu. It was designed in accordance with criteria for Gold-level LEEDTM, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

NREL's comprehensive energy management program also includes retrofitting with new energy-efficient equipment and devices, peak demand management, an energy monitoring and metering project, as well as regular staff education on energy-reduction practices.

NREL is credited with 'numerous important advances in photovoltaics, wind energy, building technology, advanced vehicle and automotive systems, solar thermal electric, hydrogen, superconductivity, geothermal power and distributed energy.

NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by Midwest Research Institute and Battelle.

Unitarian Universalists Resolve to Combat Global Warming

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, June 30, 2006 (ENS) - The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) concluded its annual General Assembly in St. Louis Wednesday with a renewed commitment to protect the Earth and to witness on behalf of liberal religious values.

The convention attracted 4,300 Unitarian Universalists from more than 1,000 congregations across the country for the annual gathering.

The Assembly delegates adopted a formal Statement of Conscience on the "Threat of Global Warming/Climate Change." The statement culminates a two-year study process on environmental sustainability and commits Unitarian Universalists to promoting individual and collective actions to slow and ultimately reverse global warming.

This religious commitment honors the seventh principle Unitarian Universalism, a "respect for the interdependent web of existence," the Assembly declared.

"We declare by this Statement of Conscience that we will not acquiesce to the ongoing degradation and destruction of life that human actions are leaving to our children and grandchildren. We as Unitarian Universalists are called to join with others to halt practices that fuel global warming/climate change, to instigate sustainable alternatives, and to mitigate the impending effects of global warming/climate change with just and ethical responses."

During the Assembly, ministers and guest speakers voiced the need for the progressive faith community to offer a powerful spiritual response to the religious right.

In his annual report to the Assembly, UUA President William Sinkford celebrated the recent strides toward Marriage Equality, and he pledged "to continue to oppose the discriminatory, mean-spirited Federal Marriage Amendment every single time it is introduced."

Sinkford also urged Unitarian Universalists to question the religious right's agenda, warning that "the current debate, with its fear-based focus on sexuality and gender, is designed to distract the attention of America from the far more essential conversations that we should be having."

Small Ecotourism Outfits Gain New Market Gateway

WASHINGTON, DC, June 30, 2006 (ENS) - Conservation International (CI), a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, has entered into a partnership with the British online travel agent responsibletravel.com to improve market access for small ecotourism enterprises globally.

The partnership is aimed at providing small ecotourism operators the means to market and promote their destinations to consumers and tour operators.

Responsibletravel.com (RT), an on-line travel agent based in Brighton, England, was launched in 2001 for travelers who want vacations that benefit the environment and local people.

The site allows consumers and tour operators to search an extensive database of ecotourism locations around the world.

Conservation International has been working with many local communities creating ecotourism sites in order to help them conserve their environments, but says these smaller locations have lacked a mechanism to market their destinations to the ecotraveler.

"Working with CI, we intend to bridge the gap between the rapidly increasing number of tourists interested in authentic ecotourism and small scale ecotourism ventures that are failing because tourists and the industry are unaware that they exist," said Justin Francis, RT co-founder and managing director.

The principal area of weakness for small scale and remote sustainable tourism ventures lies in marketing and access to travelers and travel agents. Many smaller ecotourism sites have very low booking levels due to this and are either supported by donors or go out of business.

"By partnering with RT, we will be able to provide smaller ecotourism sites with the opportunity to use a branded and well-known mechanism so that they can connect and market their sites directly with ecotourists and tour operators all over the world," said Neel Inamdar, CI ecotourism business advisor.

More interest from consumers and tour operators means additional creation of ecotourism sites, which in turn translates into better conservation of the world's biodiversity hotspots, says Inamdar.

The biodiversity hotspots are 34 regions worldwide where 75 percent of the planet's most threatened mammals, birds, and amphibians survive within habitat covering just 2.3 percent of the Earth's surface - roughly equivalent to the combined areas of the five largest U.S. states.

This habitat originally covered 15.7 percent of the Earth's surface, an area equivalent in size to Russia and Australia combined.

New hotspot analysis shows that an estimated 50 percent of all vascular plants and 42 percent of terrestrial vertebrates exist only in these 34 hotspots, CI says.

In addition, the CI and RT partnership will collaborate on the First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards 2006 to be presented on November 8, 2006 at one of the largest tourism trade events in the world - the World Travel Market.