• Los Alamos Nuclear Waste Comes Under Cleanup Order
  
• Judge Halts Live-Fire Training in Makua Valley
  
• Atlantic Winds Could Blow in Energy Jobs
  
• Rainforest Action Network Asks Ban on Indonesian Timber
  
• Solar Power Switched on at San Francisco's Moscone Center
  
• Mercury Advisory Warns Against Eating Too Much Fish
  
• Three Men Charged for Burning Oil Based Paint
  
• Dust Bowl Created by Unusual Ocean Temperatures
  

Los Alamos Nuclear Waste Comes Under Cleanup Order

The agreement will ensure that the environmental problems created during LANL’s 60 years of operations are cleaned up in a timely manner enforceable by the state of New Mexico.

It will also allow New Mexico to collect $43 million, which is the LANL portion of DOE funding specifically prescribed by Congress for environmental cleanup work at DOE sites. The funding could not be allocated without an agreement between the state and DOE. Los Alamos was the only site in the lower 48 states without a signed agreement, leaving the $43 million in new cleanup funding in limbo.

Liquid industrial and radioactive waste remain at the site from 60 years of nuclear weapons production and stewardship. In addition, there is mixed low level waste and transuranic waste that is being treated and disposed of off-site at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico under a plan that is expected to take until 2010 to complete. Some 2,000 high activity drums account for about 60 percent of the risk of dispersible radioactivity.

U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican, and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat who served as energy secretary in the Clinton administration, jointly praised the agreement they termed "hard-fought."

Following months of stalemate that threatened to derail specific cleanup work at LANL, the agreement reached came after Domenici and Richardson worked together with the state and federal agencies to kick-start negotiations. Domenici is chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, which has funding jurisdiction over DOE and its national laboratories.

"The state and DOE have now agreed to a plan that should bring about real results, which is specifically what Congress wants in place before releasing the funding,” Domenici said. “The agreement will enable us to accomplish the cleanup in a shorter timeframe, almost 20 years earlier than originally projected.”

“This cleanup order will protect New Mexicans for generations to come,” Richardson said. “It is a tough plan that will ensure our resources, including our precious, limited water, will be cleaned up and protected.”

Governor Richardson recognized U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, who played a key role in helping to resolve this issue. “I want to recognize his public support and his behind-the-scenes work that helped get these talks on track. His constant efforts for the health and safety of New Mexicans were once again evident in the role h played here,” Governor Richardson said.

“As chairman of the subcommittee that provided the funds for accelerated cleanup, I will work to ensure a timely release of the cleanup funds for Los Alamos so we can get to the task at hand,” Domenici added. “I’m grateful to Governor Richardson and his administration for their cooperation to get this agreement. It is the result of good, solid negotiating and it will be good for New Mexico.”

Domenici has kept in close contact with Richardson on the cleanup issue, and provided a copy of the legislation covering the use of additional federal funding for accelerated lab cleanup work. Domenici and his staff also intervened with DOE representatives to foster better relations between the two negotiating teams as the agreement was crafted.

In November 2002, the state attempted to compel action by DOE and sought a Correction Action Order seeking comprehensive LANL cleanup.

Within the FY2003 and FY2004 Energy and Water Appropriations bills, Domenici provided additional and new funding for accelerated cleanup at DOE labs and affected sites only if an agreement for this work had been reached between each state and DOE.

Richardson repeatedly emphasized the importance of this issue to LANL/DOE leadership in Washington and in New Mexico, including talks with lab director Pete Nanos.

Nanos said, "Resolution of the jurisdictional and legal disputes associated with the original order is very welcome news. We are eager to resume expedited cleanup of legacy wastes throughout the laboratory site just as soon as the impounded funds are released."

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories.

Los Alamos is charged with ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to defense, energy, environment, infrastructure, health and national security concerns.

Judge Halts Live-Fire Training in Makua Valley

Atlantic Winds Could Blow in Energy Jobs

The group's report "Renewables Work: Job Growth from Renewable Energy Development in the Mid-Atlantic," shows that increasing renewable energy in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic Region would create thousands of jobs and increase economic activity in the state.

The research group has found that choosing wind power over a comparable amount of power generated by natural gas would create more than twice as many jobs.

“The potential for renewable energy to boost Maryland’s economy is enormous,” said Gigi Kellett, advocate with the MaryPIRG Foundation, which issued the report on Thursday.

“At a time when the state is scrambling for ways to bolster the state’s business climate, promoting renewable energy is an easy choice – more renewable energy equals more jobs for our state and, ultimately lower and more stable energy bills for consumers and businesses.”

MaryPIRG cites estimates by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), showing that the Mid-Atlantic region has enough natural wind resources to generate over 52 million megawatts per year, over 17 percent of current demand. This does not include potential from offshore wind power.

By developing the currently feasible sites, the Mid-Atlantic region would see over 11,000 new year long jobs in manufacturing, with a payroll of $334 million; 740 permanent jobs in wind farm operation and maintenance, with a yearly payroll of $30 million; and 12,700 year-long jobs and 850 permanent jobs indirectly supported by the wind industry.

At least $23 million in royalties paid to rural landowners who lease land for wind generation.

“Maryland has good wind resources that can bring local jobs, tax revenues, and investment to Maryland’s rural counties,” said Kevin Rackstraw of Clippper Windpower, Inc.

“Renewable energy programs provide a signal to the markets that there will be long-term demand for renewables, which in turn gives investors and power buyers the confidence to sign the long-term power deals that are necessary to bring substantial amounts of clean power to Maryland consumers."

“Wind energy in particular has the potential to be the cheapest and cleanest new power source available in the coming years to consumers in Maryland and the region,” Rackstraw continued.

The group has great hopes for the future of solar power, noting that NREL predicts that at least 10 percent of U.S. power generation capacity will be solar photovoltaic cells by 2030.

Currently, Maryland does offer an incentive for installation of solar power. An individual or a corporation may claim a state income tax credit of 15 percent of the total installed cost of a solar water heating or photovoltaic system. The maximum credit is $2,000 for a PV system and $1,000 for a for solar water heating system.

Installing a two kilowatt photovoltaic system on just one out of 10 homes in the Mid-Atlantic region would create 5,710 year long local jobs in installation, operation, and maintenance and 8,080 year long manufacturing jobs, the group estimates.

"As this report shows, clearly Maryland will only benefit from increased clean energy development. Wind and solar not only reduce air pollution and nuclear waste, prevent natural gas price spikes, and increase reliability, but clean energy also benefits our workforce and the economy," said Kellett.

In New Jersey, the report was promoted by the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group, joined today by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 269 and the wind company Community Energy.

The report was released the day after the Board of Public Utilities finalized new requirements on power companies to provide more clean energy to New Jersey homes and businesses. The new rules will increase the use of solar power in New Jersey more than tenfold, and require that four percent of the state’s electricity come from clean renewable sources, all by the year 2008. The solar requirement within the rules has resulted in dozens of new solar companies flocking to the state.

“Renewable energy like solar and wind have enormous potential to create jobs and boost New Jersey’s economy. NJPIRG strongly supports the McGreevey administration’s actions to increase clean energy in New Jersey,” said energy advocate Emily Rusch.

Rainforest Action Network Asks Ban on Indonesian Timber

The letter was prompted by the study from an international team of scientists led by Yale University Associate Professor Lisa Curran who teaches courses in tropical resources.

Curran and her team are is calling for the immediate transnational management of an Indonesian rainforest to halt illegal logging that is destroying protected lowlands.

Thirty-eight percent of lowlands of Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP) in West Kalimantan were deforested from 1988 to 2002. Lowland protected areas, such as the GPNP, are critical to maintaining Borneo’s biodiversity.

More than 420 resident bird and 222 mammal species exist on Borneo, and 61 percent of these birds and 52 percent to 81 percent of the mammals are confined to lowland forests. This park contains 17 percent of Borneo’s population of endangered orangutans.

The logging of dipterocarp trees, which are used to make plywood and Formica, is depleting the number of orangutans and pigs that live within Borneo’s lowlands and depend on the fruit that the trees produce.

Threatened nomadic and large vertebrates with extensive lowland ranges, including the Malayan sun bear, bearded pig and orangutan, are predicted to decline precipitously if logging continues.

In the March 18, 2004 letter, Rainforest Action Network executive director Michael Brune reiterated Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri's plea for an international moratorium to help stop illegal logging.

The letter affirmed widespread acknowledgement that reduced-impact logging and stump-to-store bar coding schemes have failed, quoting the Indonesian Minister of Forests' admission that "it has become clear that Indonesia will not overcome illegal logging without stemming the foreign demand for Indonesian logs and forestry products."

Brune challenges U.S. companies to join Centex Homes, International Paper and Lanoga Corporation and suspend purchasing from the region until legal supplies are verifiable.

Over the past two decades, the volume of timber exports from Borneo has exceeded all wood exports from tropical Africa and South America combined. Most legal Indonesian concessions have been depleted of their harvestable timber and abandoned by loggers who have illegally expanded their uncontrolled clearcuts into protected areas.

Except for the remote Betung Kerihun National Park - also currently being logged - large, intact protected lowlands no longer exist in Kalimantan. Curran and her team concluded that "stemming the flow of illegal wood from Borneo requires international efforts" and that a failure to institute solutions will lead to "irreversible ecological degradation."

"Indonesia is ground zero for illegal logging," said Michael Brune, executive director of Rainforest Action Network. "Corrupt logging companies are pillaging Indonesia's virgin rainforests and turning Borneo into a barren wasteland. American corporations that are trading in illegal Indonesian timber are as guilty as the criminals who supply them."

Solar Power Switched on at San Francisco's Moscone Center

Mayor Gavin Newsom and officials from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) joined with city and state officials in dedicating the new 675 kilowatt solar electric system that covers 60,000 square feet with an array of solar panels.

The electricity generated by Moscone’s solar system, combined with savings from energy efficiency measures, delivers the equivalent energy to power approximately 8,500 homes.

“It is with great pride that we dedicate this historic Moscone Center solar installation,” said Mayor Newsom. “San Francisco is a leader in the use of clean and renewable energy sources - solutions that make sense for both the environment and the economy."

The solar project marks the city’s first major step towards achieving its goal of obtaining all municipal energy from pollution free sources, while creating jobs and driving economic development, the mayor said.

The Moscone Center Energy project consists of two parts: solar power generation and energy efficiency. The solar electric system is a PowerLight photovoltaic roofing assembly installed on the Moscone Center roof. This system utilizes solar modules to convert sunlight directly into electricity. The solar panels also provide thermal insulation and protect the roof from ultraviolet rays and thermal degradation, which reduces heating and cooling energy costs and extends the life of the roof.

New building controls and energy efficient lighting reduce energy requirements. Together, the solar power and energy efficiency measures will make available more than five million kilowatt hours annually.

The Moscone solar installation was funded in part by the San Francisco Mayor’s Energy Account (MECA). Established in 2001, MECA directed funding to finance energy efficiency programs in city buildings and facilities.

“Reliable solar generation benefits both the city and the entire Bay Area region by reducing congestion on the electricity grid as well as improving air quality and preventing other environmental impacts,” noted SFPUC Assistant General Manager for Power Policy Ed Smeloff.

“PowerLight is proud to be part of a public-private partnership that allows local government to take a leadership role in implementing clean, renewable power,” said PowerLight President Dan Shugar.

“San Francisco is distinguishing itself as a forerunner in deploying technology innovations that are critical to our collective future. The Moscone Center energy project demonstrates that solar electric generation and energy efficiency are smart investments for business and government.”

By reducing the purchase of fossil fuel-generated electricity, Moscone Center’s solar system spares the environment from tons of harmful emissions. Over the next 30 years the solar generated electricity and energy efficiency measures will reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 35,000 tons. These emissions reductions are equivalent to removing 7,000 cars from Bay Area roads or not driving 88 million miles in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mercury Advisory Warns Against Eating Too Much Fish

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warned Friday that shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish are not safe for these sectors of the population to eat.

Eating up to 12 ounces - two average meals - a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury is considered an acceptable risk for women of childbearing age, pregnant women and young children.

Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish, the agencies said.

Another commonly eaten fish, albacore, or white tuna, has more mercury than canned light tuna. "So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to six ounces - one average meal - of albacore tuna per week," the two agencies advise.

But the Mercury Policy Project, an environmental advocacy group, says that the FDA’s own 2003 test results from 300 cans of tuna show that a single weekly serving of albacore would provide a dose in excess of the current EPA reference dose for many consumers.

The FDA’s own tests showed that albacore, or white canned tuna, has three times as much mercury as light tuna, the environmental group points out.

Fish and shellfish "are an important part of a healthy diet," the agencies said, because they contain high-quality protein and other essential nutrients, are low in saturated fat, and contain omega-3 fatty acids that contribute to heart health.

Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury. For most people, the risk from mercury by eating fish and shellfish is not a health concern. Yet, some fish and shellfish contain higher levels of mercury that may harm an unborn baby or young child's developing nervous system. The risks from mercury in fish and shellfish depend on the amount of fish and shellfish eaten and the levels of mercury in the fish and shellfish.

At the National Forum on Contaminants in Fish, held in San Diego in January, Dr. Kathryn Mahaffey, EPA’s senior researcher on mercury hazards, presented an analysis estimating that roughly one in six babies born in America, or 630,000 infants born each year, has a blood mercury level above the EPA’s safe level. This figure doubles a previous estimate that some 300,000 such at-risk births occur annually.

Prenatal mercury exposure has been associated with an increased risk of developmental toxic effects on the brain, including adverse effects on fine motor skills, memory and learning ability.

FDA Deputy Commissioner Lester Crawford said, "The updated advisory we are issuing today on methylmercury marks a whole new level of collaboration between the two agencies. It is the first time FDA and EPA have combined our advice into a single uniform advisory."

Previously, the FDA issued an advisory on consumption of commercially caught fish, while the EPA issued advice on recreationally caught fish.

It is "prudent," Crawford said, for pregnant women, nursing mothers, women who may become pregnant, and young children to continue eating fish but to avoid those fish that are higher in mercury.

The two agencies are reminding the public to check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to six ounces, one average meal, per week of fish you catch from local waters, but do not consume any other fish during that week.

Follow these same recommendations when feeding fish and shellfish to young children, the agencies advise, but serve smaller portions.

Three Men Charged for Burning Oil Based Paint

Dennis Ellis of Boise, Idaho; Robert Mominee, currently of Salem, Oregon; and Paul Woods of Wilder, Idaho, were indicted on March 10 on charges that they allegedly transported waste without a permit, took it to an unpermitted facility and illegally disposed it. Mominee is also charged with making a false statement to agents of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

They are charged with conspiring to violate the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Hazardous Materials Transportation and Uniform Safety Act.

In January 2000, Ellis sold the Ponderosa Paint Company in Boise, Idaho to Kelly Moore Paints for $14 million on the condition that Ellis would dispose of 20,000 gallons of waste oil based paint remaining at the facility. Instead of paying a licensed hazardous waste disposal company, Ellis allegedly hired Woods and Mominee to illegally dipose of the wastes.

Liquid, oil based paints are flammable and must be disposed of by companies licensed to handle hazardous wastes. If placed into the trash or a landfill, chemicals from the paints may seep into the groundwater and be consumed by animals or people.

The indictment alleges that Woods and Mominee took between 3,000 and 4,700 gallons of the paint waste to their Idaho homes in April 2000, and that Woods allegedly burned waste in an open pit behind his house.

After EPA agents searched Wood's property in June 2000, Mominee allegedly transferred the paint back to the Ponderosa facility. Mominee then allegedly lied to EPA agents, saying the paint was water based and had been removed from his property by an unknown painting contractor.

The case was investigated by the Portland Area Office of EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI with the assistance of the Idaho State Police, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the Canyon County Sheriff's Office, the EPA Idaho Operations Office, and EPA's National Enforcement Investigations Center. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boise.

Dust Bowl Created by Unusual Ocean Temperatures

Researchers with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) now say they can explain the Dust Bowl, one of the worst climatic events in the history of the United States, which devastated the Great Plains and all but dried up an already depressed American economy in the 1930s.

Siegfried Schubert of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and colleagues used a computer model developed with modern satellite data to look at the climate over the past 100 years. Their data is published in this week's issue of the journal "Science."

The changes in sea surface temperatures created shifts in the large scale weather patterns and low level winds that reduced the normal supply of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and inhibited rainfall throughout the Great Plains, the NASA team says.

"The 1930s drought was the major climatic event in the nation's history," Schubert said. "Just beginning to understand what occurred is really critical to understanding future droughts and the links to global climate change issues we're experiencing today."

By discovering the causes behind U.S. droughts, especially severe episodes like the Plains' dry spell, scientists may recognize and possibly foresee future patterns that could create similar conditions. For example, La Niñas are marked by cooler than normal tropical Pacific Ocean surface water temperatures, which impact weather globally, and also create dry conditions over the Great Plains.

The researchers used NASA's Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project (NSIPP) atmospheric general circulation model and agency computational facilities to conduct the research.

The NSIPP model was developed using NASA satellite observations including radiation measurements and the Global Precipitation Climatology Project precipitation data.

The model showed cooler than normal tropical Pacific Ocean temperatures and warmer than normal tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures contributed to a weakened low level jet stream and changed its course.

The jet stream, a ribbon of fast moving air near the Earth's surface, normally flows westward over the Gulf of Mexico and then turns northward pulling up moisture and dumping rain onto the Great Plains. As the low level jet stream weakened, it traveled farther south than normal. The Great Plains dried up and dust storms formed.

The research shed light on how tropical sea surface temperatures can have a remote response and control over weather and climate. It also confirmed droughts can become localized based on soil moisture levels, especially during summer. When rain is scarce and soil dries, there is less evaporation, which leads to even less precipitation, creating a feedback process that reinforces lack of rainfall.

Analysis of other major U.S. droughts of the 1900s suggests a cool tropical Pacific was a common factor. While the study finds no indication of a similar Great Plains drought in the near future, said Schubert, it is vital to continue studies relating to climate change.