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U.S. Coastal Waters in Fair to Poor Condition WASHINGTON, DC, March 10, 2004 (ENS) - The overall condition of U.S. coastal waters is rated as fair to poor, according to a new report on the environmental condition of the nation's coasts issued Tuesday by four federal agencies.Only 21 percent of the coastal waters assessed were rated in good condition for aquatic life use or human use, whereas 35 percent are impaired - in poor condition, and 44 percent are threatened - in fair condition. Conditions in the estuaries, the Southeast, Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes have improved somewhat since 2001, while the Northeast and the West coasts remain the same, the National Coastal Condition Report II (NCCR2) says. But in this first assessment of all the U.S. estuaries, 28 percent of estuarine waters are "impaired for aquatic life use," the report states. Suitability of waters for aquatic life use is measured using the water quality, sediment quality, habitat loss, and benthic indices. Like the first National Coastal Condition Report in 2001, this second report is intended to enhance scientific understanding of coastal conditions; and help scientists, environmental managers and the public make informed decisions to protect coastal resources. Dr. Paul Gilman, science advisor and assistant administrator for research and development for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), released the "Draft National Coastal Condition Report II" (NCCR2), saying it was a collaborative effort of the EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey. "With this draft report, we have come very close to achieving a scientifically defensible way to measure the health of our coasts. When finalized, the second edition of the report will serve as a continuing foundation for efforts to protect, manage and restore coastal ecosystems," said Gilman. NCCR2 is based on 1997-2000 data and represents 100 percent of estuarine acreage in the Lower 48 states and Puerto Rico, while the first report was based on 1990-1996 data and surveyed only 70 percent of the estuaries. NCCR2 used the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program's National Coastal Assessment Survey to obtain data from monitoring of coastal waters. Data on the Great Lakes was collected through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the United States and Canada. State and local environmental agencies also contributed data. Information related to offshore fisheries and beach advisories and closures was added to obtain a comprehensive picture. Regional conditions are provided in the report using five indicators - coastal habitat, water quality, sediment quality, bottom-dwelling organisms and fish tissue. For the first report, seven indicators were used. The eutrophication index was replaced by a water quality index including dissolved oxygen and water clarity, both of which were distinct indicators in the first report. The indicators that show the poorest condition throughout the United States are coastal habitat condition, sediment quality, and benthic condition. The indicators that generally show the best condition are the individual components of water quality - dissolved oxygen and dissolved inorganic nitrogen. EPA also announced the signing of an agreement with the National Oceanographic Partnership Program, an interagency organization, to establish the Integrated Ocean Observing System to improve forecasting of climate change effects on the ocean and to preserve and restore healthy marine ecosystems. The program supports the interagency OCEAN.US Office, which was formed to meet the common oceanic research and coastal management needs of different federal agencies online at: http://www.ocean.us The NCCR2 report is available on the EPA's website at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/nccr2/index.html. Public comment on the report is welcome for the next 90 days until June 8, 2004.
Nashville Vehicle Air Pollution Worst in the Nation WASHINGTON, DC, March 10, 2004 (ENS) - Cities in the Southeast are first in the nation for air pollution from vehicles, according to a report released today by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG).The most polluted city is Nashville, Tennessee, followed closely by Atlanta, Georgia, and then Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina. Fifth most polluted is Indianapolis, Indiana. All top the list of large cities with the most air pollution per capita from cars and trucks. Los Angeles, which led the nation in polluted air for decades, did not even make the U.S. PIRG list of the 20 cities with the most polluted air. The report, "More Highways, More Pollution," analyzes Federal Highway Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data on highway capacity and vehicle emissions for 314 metropolitan areas in 1999, the most recent year for which complete data are available. The report concludes that building new roads will do little to alleviate traffic congestion in the long run and likely will worsen already severe air pollution problems in cities across the country. Cities with the most highways tend to have the worst air pollution from cars and trucks, according to the report. Nashville, which is first in the nation for air pollution from vehicles, ranks second for the most highway capacity and third for the most miles driven, per capita, among large cities. In 2003, Nashville received an "F" grade from the American Lung Association for its air quality. "Roads and air pollution go hand-in-hand," said U.S. PIRG Clean Air Advocate Emily Figdor, "and air pollution is linked to asthma attacks, lung cancer, heart disease, and early deaths." U.S. PIRG released the report at this time in hopes of influencing Congress, where a multi-billion dollar transportation bill is working its way through the legislative process. In February, the Senate passed a six year, $318 billion bill (S. 1702) to reauthorize federal surface transportation programs. The bill increases federal funding for highways by 40 percent and weakens existing clean air protections - specifically transportation conformity. Among other things, the bill would allow large highway projects to be built without first considering their long term air pollution impacts, which would result in more air pollution from sprawl and poorly planned growth, U.S. PIRG warns. The House is scheduled to consider its transportation bill within the next few weeks. "A powerful highway lobby is driving Congress towards weakening clean air protections, which will leave the public breathing dirtier air for a longer time," said Figdor. The highway lobby - car companies, oil companies, developers, and others with a financial stake in road building - poured more than $41 million into the campaign coffers of federal candidates in the most recent six year fundraising cycle and spent more than $124 million lobbying Congress in 2001 and 2002, Figdor observes. "The House should stand up to the highway lobby and reject any transportation bill that weakens clean air protections for America's children and seniors," concluded Figdor. Half of all Americans live in areas with unhealthy levels of ozone smog. Air pollution contributes to asthma attacks, lung cancer, heart disease, and tens of thousands of premature deaths each year. While vehicles coming off today's assembly lines are 80 to 99 percent cleaner per mile than those of the 1960s, cars and trucks remain a leading source of air pollution because of the dramatic increase in driving, U.S. PIRG says. From 1970 to 2002, the number of vehicle-miles traveled in urban areas tripled from 570 billion to 1.73 trillion miles. In Nashville, people drive a total of 23,300 miles every day, or 35 miles per resident per day.
Citizen Participation in Environmental Policy Act Encouraged WASHINGTON, DC, March 10, 2004 (ENS) - The Department of the Interior has revised the procedures for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in order to encourage what the department calls "cooperative conservation goals.""We have updated the procedures to reflect our commitment to public participation and cooperative problem solving," said Lynn Scarlett, assistant secretary for policy, management and budget, who chaired the departmental working group assembling the procedures. The revised procedures were published March 8 Federal Register. While compiling the changes, the department held four listening sessions across the country in Anchorage, Portland, Denver and Washington, DC to elicit best practices from interested citizens and partners. The revisions emphasize increased opportunities for public involvement early in the NEPA process, Scarlett says, as well as developing diverse partnerships, consultation and collaboration with interested parties, including federal agencies, states, tribes, and nongovernmental organizations; and community focused NEPA training to demystify the NEPA process. "We looked across bureaus and found the best practices that reflect our 4 C's philosophy of conservation through communication, consultation, and cooperation. The manual revisions codify these best practices and communicate them throughout the department," Scarlett said. The revisions are the culmination of several years of work by the department, and are consistent with the recently released White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Task Force Report, "Modernizing NEPA Implementation." Enacted in 1969, NEPA describes a vision for balancing environmental, cultural, and economic goals. It provides the primary basis for public comment on agency decisions through consideration of the environmental effects of federal actions. The department made procedural changes to incorporate into the NEPA process the use of emerging environmental management techniques such as consensus-based management, where possible, to reduce conflict and enhance cooperative problem solving. "These revisions reflect Interior's strong commitment to enhancing and supporting public participation through NEPA processes," Scarlett said. "We know they will bring positive results." The revisions provide the department's eight bureaus with the guidelines necessary to implement and carry out the objectives of NEPA, which the act states are to, "encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment…to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans." The procedures reflect public comments received in response to a notice of proposed revised procedures published in the Federal Register on September 4, 2003. The department's policies are posted in its Electronic Library at: http://elips.doi.gov. More information on the department's NEPA program can be found on the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance's web site at: http://www.doi.gov/oepc/nrm.html
Quarter Million Sea Turtles Caught Annually on Longlines DURHAM, North Carolina, March 10, 2004 (ENS) - More than 250,000 loggerhead and 60,000 leatherback turtles are estimated to be caught each year by the commercial longline fishing industry, and tens of thousands are dying, according to the first global assessment of the problem.The study, by researchers from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, was published in the March 2004 online and print editions of the research journal "Ecology Letters." First author was Rebecca Lewison, a research associate at the Duke University Marine Laboratory. Co-authors were Larry Crowder, who is the Stephen Toth Professor of Marine Biology at Duke and Sloan Freeman, also of Duke. Their research was funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The problem is at its worst in the Pacific Ocean, they found. More turtles "are killed than nest in the Pacific," Crowder told a February symposium on marine animal conservation at the American Association for the Advancement of Science 2004 annual meeting in Seattle. Although their numbers are estimates, the researchers say they are firm enough to warrant the development of rules for fishing equipment and practices to reduce or avoid such losses. Longlines are lengths of monofilament fishing lines that can stretch for 40 miles and dangle thousands of individually baited hooks. They are set at optimal depths and times to catch tuna and swordfish. Because the endangered loggerheads and leatherbacks frequent the same zones where these longlines are strung, many are either hooked attempting to swallow the bait or are entangled in the fishing gear. Such unintentional captures are classified as "bycatch." "There have been few attempts to quantify the magnitude and extent of protected species bycatch even for fisheries in which bycatch is perceived as a pressing concern," Crowder and his colleagues wrote. "This is, in part, a consequence of limited data." In the face of those shortcomings, the Duke team gathered available turtle bycatch data from the 13 nations that collect such information. And they extrapolated estimates for areas like the Indian Ocean where bycatch data was unavailable. They also collected the most current fishing information from three primary sources: The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission and the Secretariat for the Pacific Community Oceanic Fisheries Programme. To obtain a global picture, the researchers then superimposed fishing and bycatch data on a grid map of all Earth's oceans. They also added available demographic data for loggerheads and leatherbacks. The published study located four "primary hotspots" for longline fishing - in the central and southern Pacific Ocean, the southern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. Crowder said those longlining hot spots mark sectors where currents converge in a way that boosts the productivity of marine life, which in turn attracts both hungry turtles and commercial fish. The authors estimated that longline fleets from 40 different countries set about 1.4 billion hooks in the studied year of 2000 - the equivalent of about 3.8 million hooks each day. As a result, longline fishing worldwide was "likely to have caught at least 200,000 loggerheads and 50,000 leatherback turtles in 2000," they wrote. In an interview, Crowder said that loggerheads tend to become bycatch much more frequently than leatherbacks because loggerheads are much more interested in nibbling longline bait. "Leatherbacks very often are not caught by being hooked in the mouth, but they're sometimes hooked in a flipper or have a line wrapped around their flippers," he said. Using National Marine Fisheries Service bycatch mortality figures, the study estimated that "tens of thousands" of the total hooked or entangled turtles ultimately died from those encounters. Because they are air breathing, turtles can often still surface after they are snared, so most deaths are not caused by drowning but by "injury related to hooking or entangling," Crowder said. Previous research, the study also noted, revealed that longlines set to catch swordfish snare turtles at a 10 times greater rate than tuna longlines. Crowder said such a difference arises because tuna longlines tend to be set deeper in the water than the depths where turtles tend to frequent, and during daylight hours. Ideas under consideration to address the turtle bycatch problem include substituting circle-shaped longline hooks for the present "J" shape, and altering the kind of bait used. "The National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing that circle hooks and changes in bait will largely solve the problem," Crowder said. "I tend to think it's a recommendation that is very promising, but not yet ready to implement in the fishery."
Cousteau to Lead Olympics Coastal Cleanup in Greece EMERYVILLE, California, March 10, 2004 (ENS) - Jean-Michel Cousteau, head of the Emeryville based Ocean Futures Society, has announced he will be leading a coastal cleanup in Greece ahead of this summer's Olympic Games.The ATHENS 2004 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (ATHOC) and the Athens Environmental Foundation (AEF) will pool their efforts in the cleanup operation on the occasion of World Environment Day, June 5, 2004. Cousteau is an AEF Board member, a diver and the Olympic movement's first ambassador for the environment. He will lead a team of divers and marine industrial cleanup crews that will clean the regional beaches and coastal waters around the Olympic perimeter of the Athens region from June 3 through 5. "We need to stop using the ocean as a garbage can," said Cousteau. "The pollution that we are inflicting on marine life ends up hurting every one of us and the quality of all of our lives. If we protect the ocean we protect ourselves." The expedition will include simultaneous beach and underwater cleanup operations. Schoolchildren and members of the World Olympians Association will clean specific beach areas. In addition to using divers for removal of trash generated by human activities from the waters surrounding the beach, it will include the use of marine tugboats with cranes for the removal of larger objects that are polluting those waters. The refuse will then be separated and collected by trucks that will distribute it to entities that can recycle or reuse whatever is possible while properly disposing of the rest. "The return of the Olympic Games to their birthplace offers an unprecedented opportunity to highlight our responsibility for the environment and to protect and improve the world's beautiful beaches and waters," said Tony Diamantidis, AEF Executive Director. "Improving our environment is one of the key Olympic principles," said Yannis Pyrgiotis, ATHOC executive director. "This is a celebration of human collaboration, with people working together for peace, sustainability and respect for the environment." "Greece is known for its uniquely beautiful beaches," said Diamantidis, "and that's why clean seawater is of the highest importance. By organizing this expedition, we wish to assert our steadfast commitment to the conservation of the priceless ecological heritage which our coasts, beaches and seas comprise." The events are organized in coordination with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and on the occasion of World Environment Day 2004. This Year's UNEP Global Theme is "Wanted! Seas and Oceans - Dead or Alive?" in an effort to raise awareness of the many issues of marine pollution and sustainability. The events will conclude on the evening of June 5, with a forum and reception in which ATHOC and AEF, together with the World Olympians Association, will "show and tell" invited dignitaries, a global Webcast audience and the media, what is possible with global cooperation. The International Olympic Committee established Environmental Responsibility as the third dimension of Olympism, along with Sport and Culture, in 1994. Environmental awareness and sensitivity is a focal point for the preparation of the ATHENS 2004 Games. The Athens Environmental Foundation is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization established to organize, support and promote global programs for Sport and Environmental responsibility associated with the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece and future Olympic Games. Fine it online at: http://www.athensenvironmental.org
Michigan Seeks Federal Funds to Fight Emerald Ash Borer LANSING, Michigan, March 10, 2004 (ENS) – Six counties in southeast Michigan are being asked to evaluate the damage done to millions of ash trees in their communities by the emerald ash borer, an exotic insect, and consider declaring local emergencies if warranted.The local evaluations and emergency declarations will be used by the Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, to request federal disaster assistance to help fund the removal and disposal of millions of dead and dying ash trees that pose a threat to public health and safety. "Controlling emerald ash borer and its devastating consequences continues to be one of my administration’s top priorities," Granholm said. "2004 signals a critical year for taking advantage of the opportunity to act now to stop this insect and minimize the threats it poses to Southeast Michigan, the rest of the state, and beyond." In the summer of 2002, scientists detected the borer, an invasive species native to Asia and never before found on the North American continent. The insect has killed nearly six million ash trees in the southeast part of the state. Michigan has an estimated 700 million ash trees. The dead or dying ash trees present a significant danger to public safety because of their dry, brittle, and deteriorating condition and their close proximity to homes, businesses, schools, sidewalks, roadways, or utility infrastructure. Citing significant safety hazards, the state is asking Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne Counties to consider declaring local emergencies by March 15. If the communities determine such action is necessary, Granholm said she is prepared through the Michigan State Emergency Management Division of Michigan State Police to aggressively pursue federal assistance for them. “This effort is a great step forward to help meet a critical need in Southeast Michigan communities that have been hit hard with the environmental and economic losses associated with this destructive insect,” said Dan Wyant, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA). The MDA is a member of the state’s active Emerald Ash Borer Task Force along with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan State University, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in cooperation with local units of government and various industry groups, associations, and universities. Granholm continues to urge the Bush administration to release federal funds for the state’s fight against the economic and environmental losses caused by the invasive beetle. The current allocation of federal funds expires on April 30, just before the start of the insect’s emergence when EAB containment efforts are most critical. State agriculture officials have quarantined all ash trees and timber products in the affected counties to help prevent and control the spread of this pest. Under this quarantine, ash trees, branches, logs, and firewood may not be moved outside the affected area unless certified for movement by the MDA. All area residents are urged to comply with the quarantine as it is a critical component of the state’s overall response and eradication strategy by helping prevent any further spread of the pest.
Cell Phone Tower at Old Faithful Condemned YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, March 10, 2004 (ENS) - Former veteran National Park Service manager Frank Buono is unhappy, and he is not the only one. An 80 foot tall cell phone tower now looms over the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park, destroying the famous view. Worse, Buono says, it was erected in violation of the law and without required public notice."Its custodians have been unfaithful to Old Faithful in a way that suggests commercial convenience matters more than protecting a public resource," said Buono, who now serves as a Board member of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Unshielded by trees and without any attempt at camouflage, the silver pole and its three antennas are visible from much of what has been legally designated as the Old Faithful Historic District. "The Old Faithful viewshed is one of the most recognized assets in our national park system but it is being managed with all the care of a strip mall," Buono said. Western Wireless Corporation built the cell phone tower in the summer of 2001 with the approval of Michael Snyder of the National Park Service Regional Office in Denver, Colorado. While the Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened the door to cell towers on federal lands, Congress directed federal agencies to make appropriate regulations for preventing unsightly proliferation of towers. This direction was acknowledged in 1995 by the House Commerce Committee report. "The Committee recognizes, for example, that use of the Washington Monument, Yellowstone National Park or a pristine wildlife sanctuary, while perhaps prime sites for an antenna and other facilities, are not appropriate and use of them would be contrary to environmental, conservation, and public safety laws." PEER contends that Snyder's action ignored both the intent of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 as well as violating the National Historic Preservation Act of 1965. He sidestepped one of the primary directives of the agency's 1916 Organic Act that the Park Service conserve park scenery, Buono and PEER say. "By way of a lame justification, the Park Service claims that the tower is needed for emergency situations but Yellowstone has plenty of other options; safety does not require that we trash Old Faithful," Buono complained. In a letter dated January 7, 2004, Judy Wolf of the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office wrote to the National Park Service at Yellowstone urging that the the service "reduce or eliminate this adverse effect" caused by the large cell phone tower in the Old Faithful Historic District. Prompted by a complaint filed by PEER, Wolf also found that the National Park Service had changed the size and contours of the structure from what had been submitted to the state for review. While the state was contacted before the tower was erected, the park service not alert the public. The service failed to file a notice in the Federal Register as required by law that it was even considering approving the tower. PEER today released the draft public notice that the service composed but never filed. See the Federal Register notice that the Park Service composed but never filed: http://www.peer.org/yellowstone/noticeletter.html
Child Health Experts Showcased on New Video PORT WASHINGTON, New York, March 10, 2004 (ENS) - From diesel exhaust to pesticides, cleaning products to art materials, children are exposed to an increasing number of toxins in their environments. Because of their biological vulnerability and behavioral patterns, children are more at risk from exposure to toxic substances than adults.Now Grassroots Environmental Education has released a video documentary that dramatizes the risks. The not-for-profit organization, which works to publicize scientific information about environmental toxins and human health, wants everyone who cares about the health of children to watch its new half-hour documentary entitled "Our Children at Risk." "Part of our mission is to empower individuals to act as catalysts for change within their own neighborhoods and communities," says Grassroots' Executive Director Patti Wood. "We designed this documentary to be used by people who are concerned about the health of their children, and who want to do something about it." Based on interviews with experts in the field, the video explores the latest scientific research linking environmental toxins to children's health problems, and helps parents understand the issues and learn what they can do to reduce the risks in their homes, schools and communities. Philip Landrigan, M.D. of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, John Wargo. Ph.D. of Yale University, Frederica Perera, Ph.D. of Columbia University, and Elizabeth Guillette, Ph.D. from the University of Florida have each been studying the unique relationship between environmental toxins and human health. Their research and their findings are featured in the documentary. Each of the experts urges parents to take action. "I always say to parents that they can make a difference on three levels" says Dr. Landrigan. "First, they can make a difference in their homes. Secondly, they can make a difference in their communities. And thirdly, they can make a difference in the broader society." "Sometimes we can't do these things alone," said Landrigan, "but if we join with tens and hundreds of others we can make a huge difference." Accompanying the video is an action packet which contains ideas for getting communities involved with issues covered in the video. A preview clip and ordering information is online at: http://www.grassrootsinfo.org.
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