• Defense Bill Includes Exemption for Military
  
• EPA Sued Over Washington DC Air Quality
  
• Forest Activists Shut Down Citibank
  
• Biotech Contamination Riles Activists
  
• Las Vegas Land Sales Fund Environmental Projects
  
• Wakulla Springs Gains New Protections
  
• Microbes Help Clean Contaminated Harbor Mud
  

Defense Bill Includes Exemption for Military

The bill authorizes $393 billion for defense programs - almost the same amount requested by the White House, which asked for $383.4 billion for core programs and $10 billion for the war on terrorism. The House passed the bill Tuesday, so it now heads to the White House for signature by President George W. Bush.

The measure includes a provision sought by the Bush administration that would allow the incidental take of migratory birds on 25 million acres of land controlled by the military. The Bush administration had requested an exemption for the military from a variety of laws, including the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Clean Air Act and Superfund (CERCLA).

Efforts by Senate Democrats helped bar most of these exemptions, but the bill will exempt the military from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for one year while it develops regulations for a long term exemption.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 implements a treaty the U.S. signed with Canada, Mexico, Japan and Russia. It provides protection for more than 850 species of migratory birds including songbirds, hawks and seabirds.

"We are thankful that Congress was able to defeat many of the anti-environmental exemptions originally in this bill," said Susan Holmes, legislative representative for the environmental lawfirm Earthjustice. "Unfortunately, the bill also includes a special exemption for the military to kill migratory birds and to destroy their habitat."

"The United States has fought a World War, Korea, Vietnam, and most recently the Persian Gulf War with this law in place," Holmes added. "Now, when many of these species are in decline, is not the time to turn our backs on our international commitments to protect species."

Environmental groups fear that in the next Congress, the Republican controlled Senate may prove more willing to give the White House the additional environmental exemptions it is seeking.

EPA Sued Over Washington DC Air Quality

The environmental lawfirm Earthjustice is representing the Sierra Club in the suit, which seeks to require EPA to reclassify metropolitan Washington from serious to severe for ground level ozone or smog, which would trigger stronger pollution controls for industries and motor vehicles. The suit also seeks to compel the EPA to reject the region's clean air plans, which the conservation group calls "inadequate."

"EPA needs to address our region's dirty air now," said Earthjustice attorney David Baron. "Clean air is a basic necessity for everyone. That's why we're pushing for full compliance with the Clean Air Act."

Last summer, the Washington region suffered from the worst ozone pollution in more than a decade. There were nine code red days, and another 19 code orange days when children were warned to limit outdoor play.

The situation looked even worse when measured against the EPA's new, more protective eight hour ozone standard, which was exceeded on 36 days in 2002 - including two code purple days when the air was deemed very unhealthy.

"Healthy air is a necessity, not a luxury," said Dr. Ronald Karpick, a Falls Church, Virginia, pulmonary physician. "I've treated hundreds of local residents suffering from asthma and other respiratory diseases who are unable to go outside in the summertime due to high ozone levels. This is unacceptable."

Ozone is a lung irritant that damages lung tissue and reduces lung function, causing symptoms such as chest pain, nausea and pulmonary congestion. At levels often experienced in the capital region, ozone can harm vulnerable individuals like the elderly, children and people with respiratory problems.

During a typical smoggy summer in the Washington DC area, breathing difficulties send more than 2,400 people to the emergency room and cause 130,000 asthma attacks.

Although the DC region's air has violated federal ozone standards for decades, the region still does not have an EPA approved plan to stop the violations. The Clean Air Act required adoption of such a plan by 1994.

In response to a previous Earthjustice suit on behalf of the Sierra Club, a federal court rejected the EPA's attempt to extend the 1999 clean air deadline to 2005 without reclassifying the area to severe. But since the court ruled in July, the EPA has indicated that it may allow delay of new clean air plans until March 2004.

"It's time for EPA to stop dragging its feet and start complying with the law," said Sierra Club spokesperson Melanie Mayock. Mayock pointed out that air quality staff at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments have indicated that a new clean air plan could be completed by spring of 2003, yet the EPA is proposing to give the region an extra year beyond that to write the plan.

"We need an effective, enforceable plan to get the necessary pollution reductions for healthy air, and we need it now," said Mayock. "The residents of Metropolitan Washington have waited too long to breathe healthy air because of delays from EPA."

Forest Activists Shut Down Citibank

At the same time, RAN activists blockaded every Citibank branch in the heart of the financial district in San Francisco, California.

At the DC protest, RAN unfurled a 30 foot banner reading, "Corruption on the Inside, Destruction on the Outside," from the bank's entrance. The group charges Citigroup with using its customers' money to fund some of the most environmentally destructive projects in the world, chopping down endangered forests and driving the global warming crisis.

Citigroup's lack of environmental standards is only one on a growing list of the financial giant's corrupt business practices, RAN says.

"Citigroup cannot be trusted with your money," said Ilyse Hogue, global finance campaigner, Rainforest Action Network. "It uses its customers' money and intentionally lags behind the industry's best environmental standards to profit off environmental devastation."

In San Francisco, 19 activists were arrested after the group hung a banner from one Citibank branch and inflated a giant earth balloon at the Citicorp Plaza. Citigroup has just acquired California based Golden State Bancorp in an effort to increase its market presence in the state.

In total, 24 activists locked themselves to the doors of all four Citibank branches in downtown San Francisco.

The San Francisco and Washington DC protests came on the heels of a full page ad targeting Citigroup, placed by RAN in Wednesday's "New York Times." The ad's headline read, "Did you know that someone is using your Citigroup credit card without your authorization?" and was accompanied by images of destruction that RAN says was caused by Citigroup funded projects.

RAN is calling on Citigroup to meet the financial industry's best environmental and social practices, already in place at some of the industry's leading players in Europe, including Dutch bank ABN AMRO, which has policies prohibiting the financing of extractive industries that clear or degrade primary forests or operate on native lands.

In contrast, Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill has refused to establish meaningful environmental and social lending policies, despite public support for wilderness preservation, RAN says.

"Citi's lack of business ethics bears a high cost to people and the environment," said Hogue, pointing to the controversial Camisea gas project that threatens the Peruvian Amazon, funding for palm oil plantations in critical orangutan habitat in Indonesia, and a pipeline through the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela.

According to Citigroup's website, the company is now working in Brazil to find ways to "contribute to the protection of the Atlantic forest and Amazon rainforest." In Indonesia, Citigroup says it is no longer working with Lonsum, a company involved in expanding and opening new palm plantations, and the company claims to be working with oil companies Conoco and Petroleos de Venezuela to ensure than environmental safeguards are included in the Orinoco Delta pipeline project.

"We understand that conducting business in an environmentally responsible manner is an ongoing process, and we are committed to taking a leadership role in the financial industry through our efforts in community, environmental and social initiatives," Citigroup says in its environmental policy statement. "We are committed to protection of the environment and the health and safety of our employees and the communities in the more than 100 countries in which we conduct business. We recognize that environmental impact and sustainable development are among the most important issues affecting business today."

Today's blockades and banners are the latest moves in RAN's Global Finance Campaign to transform the funding practices of the corporate financial system. RAN and a broad coalition of groups and individuals are calling on Citigroup to lead the corporate financial sector in ending investments in fossil fuel and deforestation and prioritize investments in clean, renewable energy.

For more information on RAN's campaign against Citigroup, visit: http://www.ran.org/ran_campaigns/citigroup/

Biotech Contamination Riles Activists

Prodigene Inc. also had problems in Iowa that led to the destruction of 155 acres of corn, federal officials revealed today.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in coordination with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now investigating ProdiGene for violations of the Plant Protection Act.

On Wednesday, APHIS announced that a small amount of corn, genetically engineered to produce a pharmaceutical product, had contaminated thousands of bushels of soybeans grown in Nebraska. And at a ProdiGene test site in Iowa, APHIS ordered the company to harvest and incinerate 155 acres of conventional corn that may have been cross pollinated by an engineered variety.

The Genetically Engineered Food Alert coalition is concerned because the Agriculture Department (USDA) has not revealed what chemical or drug was grown in the biopharmaceutical corn, or divulge the exact location where the contaminated soybeans are being quarantined. The USDA was unable to ensure a 100 percent containment of the contaminated crop, the coalition says, or to offer specifics on the failure of the biotechnology regulatory system.

"We warned the USDA earlier this year this was going to happen. If the USDA continues to allow biopharm food crops to be planted, someone is going to get prescription drugs or industrial chemicals in their corn flakes," said Larry Bohlen, director of health and environment programs for Friends of the Earth.

In a letter sent today, Friends of the Earth demanded that the USDA disclose specific information concerning the biocontamination, including:

• The name of the genetically engineered drug or chemical
• Detailed information on how the contamination occurred
• Information on potential human health impacts the drug or chemical could cause
• Confinement information
• The application and contingency plan from ProdiGene - the company that produced the crop
• Extensiveness of contamination
• Records of the USDA inspections

"The public has the right to know what's going on," said Matt Rand, biotechnology campaign manager for the National Environmental Trust. "There is a genetically engineered pharmaceutical or industrial chemical that mistakenly entered into the grain supply only one stop away from getting into our food and the government isn't talking."

The Genetically Engineered Food Alert coalition is calling on the USDA to prohibit open air cultivation of all crops genetically engineered with biopharmaceuticals such as vaccines, industrial chemicals, or other substances with potential human health impacts

APHIS says that once it completes its investigation into ProdiGene's compliance with federal regulations, it will decide whether the company's actions warrant a fine. Under the Federal Plant Protection Act, APHIS regulates the movement, importation and field release of genetically engineered plants.

APHIS requires safeguards to prevent the unauthorized release of genetically engineered material. Any company or individual that violates the Act faces civil penalties of up to $250,000 per violation, or $500,000 per adjudication, and may have their permits revoked.

Las Vegas Land Sales Fund Environmental Projects

Interior Secretary Gale Norton approved the use of the funds, which were raised under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. The Act, passed in 1998, authorizes the BLM to sell land identified for disposal in the Las Vegas Valley, and to use the proceeds to acquire land and pay for projects that benefit the people of Nevada.

"The Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998 is a landmark law that benefits the state school trust fund and the regional water authority," Norton said. "It provides for the protection of environmentally sensitive lands and multispecies habitat, improves recreation opportunities, and allows development to occur where appropriate."

Almost $40 million of the $109 million raised will be handed over to the local governments in Clark County to be used for the development of parks, trails and natural areas in and around Las Vegas. The projects to be funded include further development of the Clark County Wetlands Park, and the Las Vegas Preserve, as well as construction of miles of trails within the Las Vegas Valley.

Another $24 million will be on capital improvements at the most popular federally managed destinations for outdoor recreation in Clark County. There will be improvements to picnic areas, campgrounds, trailheads and other visitor facilities at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, and the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.

The balance of the approved funds - $45 million - will be used to acquire environmentally sensitive land in Clark County, including private in holdings in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area and the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Norton also approved the purchase of the Ballardini and McCarran Ranches in Washoe and Storey Counties.

"The Secretary approved 90 percent of the recommendation," said BLM state director Bob Abbey. "She asked that we take one more look at the properties recommended for acquisition that lie in Clark County, since that is where land sales occur."

The BLM will accept nominations for additional land acquisitions within Clark County for the next 30 days. Following the additional 30 day comment period, the federal agency representatives will review any new nominations and develop a recommendation for Secretary Norton.

A complete list of projects and land acquisitions can be found on the BLM Nevada web site by clicking on "Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act" at: http://www.nv.blm.gov

Wakulla Springs Gains New Protections

Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida Cabinet voted unanimously to protect the underground rivers, which serve as a primary recharge area of the Floridan aquifer and hold most of the region's drinking water supply.

"We know how important it is to protect Florida's springs but also recognize the significance of protecting the quality of water feeding those systems," said Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David Struhs. "I'd like to thank Governor Jeb Bush and the Cabinet for helping to preserve this first magnitude spring and other precious resources."

Connecting Wakulla Springs State Park with the Apalachicola National Forest, the 3,866 acre Wakulla Springs Protection Zone Florida Forever project provides camping, hiking and hunting opportunities, while also protecting one of the largest and deepest artesian springs in the world. With this addition, just 11 percent of the protection zone remains to be acquired.

A few hundred miles south in Lee County, almost 50 acres of an internationally significant archaeological site were added to the Pineland Site Complex Florida Forever project. Today's Cabinet vote preserves historical remains dating back almost 2,000 years. Inhabited by the Calusa Indians for more than a thousand years, the site contains burial and midden grounds, remnants of an Indian engineered canal, and buried deposits containing organic remains.

"This acquisition preserves natural lands for the future while safeguarding our link to Florida's past," said Struhs. "It provides a tremendous opportunity for the public to learn how the ancient inhabitants of this developing area lived."

Natural habitats within the project include red and black mangroves, a tidal saltern and creek, ponds used by several threatened species including the white ibis, egrets, herons, and wood storks, and an intertidal oyster community. The Florida Museum of Natural History will manage the property as a research and educational center.

Microbes Help Clean Contaminated Harbor Mud

The study suggests that if humans prevent future fuel spills and leaks, the harbor could cleanse itself within the next 10 to 20 years. The findings are detailed in the November 15 issue of the journal "Environmental Science and Technology."

Scientists had already determined that these contaminants, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, could biodegrade if suspended in water. But it was believed that once PAHs sank into the silt at the bottom of the harbor, they could not be oxidized or degraded - a theory that the new study challenges.

"This is important because it demonstrates that the self purification capacity of the harbor is much greater than previously recognized," said UMass microbiologist Derek Lovley, a coauthor on the paper. "Furthermore, if future spills of contaminants can be eliminated, the harbor may get cleaned up in large part due to natural activity without the requirement for expensive remediation strategies. It does give us hope for the longer term, if practices change."

Marine harbors are often polluted with contaminants from fuel spills, industrial waste, shipping activities, runoff, soot and creosote treated pilings, Lovley said. Although some chemical portions of these contaminants degrade, PAHs tend to accumulate in the sediment.

"They're not very soluble in water, and they don't react chemically with many other compounds," said Lovley, "so they collect in the mud at the bottom of the harbor."

Previous research has shown that PAHs accumulate in fish and other aquatic animals, and are often associated with cancers in some fish. Some PAHs are toxic, and are suspected to cause cancer in humans.

The UMass team was prompted to study the issue after earlier research by Lovley found that benzene degrades in the absence of oxygen, in certain conditions. PAHs are groups of two to five benzene rings, Lovley explained.

The key component in the microbial action appears to be the existence of sulfate in the water, said Lovley. "As long as there is sulfate in the water, the PAHs can degrade slowly."

In addition to Boston Harbor, the team also studied marine contaminants in San Diego, California, and in Latvia. The work was funded by the Office of Naval Research.

For the local portion of the project, Boston Harbor sediments were pulled from the harbor near a former coal-tar plant in an area of Everett known as Island End. Coal tar works had been in production in the area from the late 1800s to about 1960. The sediments used in the study overlaid the site of a leaking underground storage tank that had been removed in the 1980s.

Scientists monitored the sediment samples in the lab, replenishing the samples with fresh harbor water roughly once a month. They found that the PAHs in the collected sediments broke down 20-25 percent over 338 days - a little less than a year.

"In a way, it seems slow, but if you're thinking about the alternatives, it's not bad to have some patience," Lovley said.

Other alternatives for removing the contaminants, including dredging, are expensive and disruptive to the marine environment. Dredging also creates the additional problem of how to dispose of the contaminated mud.

"Of course, you don't want to say, 'Oh, it's okay to keep dumping this stuff.' The fact that it's even there shows that the spillage rate is too fast for nature to keep up with," Lovley concluded. "You have to actively protect the environment."