• White House Picks New Team to Guide Missouri River Plan
  
• Energy Secretary Urges Stronger Nonproliferation Efforts
  
• Judge Cancels Seven Forest Service Grazing Permits
  
• Feds Deny Petition to Ban Arsenic Treated Playground Equipment
  
• Senate Bans Downed Animal Processing
  
• Condor Refuge Saved From California Fire
  
• Engineers Develop Safety Standard for Mold Remediation Work
  
• The Mystery of Ocean Potholes
  

White House Picks New Team to Guide Missouri River Plan

The two agencies are working together to review the biological assessment within 45 days in order to comply with court hearing schedules.

"This issue is nationally significant and the consultation involves many complexities dealing with the nation's longest river with an extremely short deadline," said Steve Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "This team will render a decision based on the best available science, and it will do so quickly and objectively."

The new team will be led by Robyn Thorson, regional director of the agency's Big Rivers Great Lakes region, and Dale Hall, regional director of the agency's Southwest Region.

Conservationists say the move indicates the administration is focused on the politics - not the science - of the management of the nation's longest river.

"It appears to us that political appointees at the Interior Department are putting tremendous pressure on federal scientists to reach politically expedient conclusions, regardless of their scientific validity," said Chad Smith, director of American Rivers' Nebraska Field Office. "The subtext of this order is 'since you will not give us the answer we want, we will ask someone else.'"

The Army Corps operates six dams on the Missouri River - in Montana, North and South Dakota, and Nebraska - and conservationists have criticized the agency's management of water flows from these dams for more than a decade.

To ensure the Missouri River is navigable for barges, the Army Corps releases high volumes of water from its upstream dams.

This past summer the Army Corps resisted a court order to lower the river in order to safeguard the pallid sturgeon, the piping plover and the interior least tern - all three are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency eventually complied with the court order for a limited time period, but the controversy has deepened.

Conservationists argue that reduced summer flows have little impact on the barge industry because 80 percent of the cargo that transported by barges on the river moves before July and after August.

But the Army Corps has agreed with river barge operators and some agricultural interests, who say the economic interests of barge operation merit keeping the Missouri River high enough for barges to operate throughout the summer.

And senior Bush administration officials have stated over the last couple of months that they oppose any flow changes despite the conclusion by the Army Corps that these changes would also improve the economy along the river.

The Army Corps has requested a new biological opinion from the Fish and Wildlife Service outlining the impacts of operations on the endangered species. Conservationists fear the new team formed to carry out the new opinion will be guided by politics, not science and will omit any call for restoring the Missouri River ecosystem with reforms in dam operations.

"There is no justifiable reason for replacing a dozen experts with a decade of experience with a completely new bunch, particularly when distinguished outside scientists have repeatedly said the existing team is getting it right," said Tim Searchinger, attorney for Environmental Defense.

This latest development is likely to spark additional legal action over the operations of the Missouri River.

"If politics do win out over science, we stand ready to defend the health of the Missouri River in court," said John Kostyack, senior species conservation counsel for the National Wildlife Federation.

Energy Secretary Urges Stronger Nonproliferation Efforts

In an address to the United Nations First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, Abraham said current nonproliferation efforts "face serious challenges."

"Illicit efforts to acquire nuclear and radiological weapons technologies and materials continue to be reported at alarming rates," Abraham said. "There are real reasons for concern."

The Energy Secretary took direct aim at North Korea, which he says has been in violation of the Nonproliferation Treaty since 1993.

The international community has made "no concrete progress over the last decade toward remedying that violation," Abraham said. "To the contrary, we know that North Korea was able to continue to make progress on its nuclear weapons program during this period."

"North Korea's activities send a worrisome message to other would-be proliferators - but the responsible nations of the international community must send an even stronger message," he said. "We must learn from this chain of events, and not allow it to happen again."

Abraham praised efforts by the United Kingdom, France and Germany in urging Iranian compliance with nonproliferation requirements, and he called Iran's announced decision to suspend uranium enrichment and processing activities "a positive step in the right direction."

The United States is committed to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Abraham said, and is keen to strengthen the obligations of the accord.

Abraham's speech came as a joint Congressional conference committee agreed to provide much of the Bush administration's requested funding to research new nuclear weapons - a move that critics believe could undermine U.S. nonproliferation efforts.

The spending legislation, which funds water and energy projects, includes half the $15 million for research into nuclear "bunker buster" weapons and all $6 million requested for low yield nuclear weapons less than five kilotons.

The 2004 military spending bill passed in May by the U.S. Senate lifted a decade old ban on researching new low yield nuclear weapons - a five kiloton nuclear weapon is about half the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

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

Critics, including many Congressional Democrats, are concerned that the Bush administration's plan blurs the line between the use of nuclear and conventional weapons and could undermine the international effort to contain the world's development of nuclear weapons.

Judge Cancels Seven Forest Service Grazing Permits

Bury canceled grazing permits on seven allotments in the Cibola, Coconino, Coronado, and Tonto National Forests. He ruled that the Forest Service failed to analyze the effects of grazing prior to issuing a grazing permit and consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the effects of grazing on endangered wildlife over the entire ten year term of the grazing permits.

Conservationists hailed the ruling, which they hope will set a precedent.

"This ruling is a huge victory for wildlife because Judge Bury did not merely slap the Forest Service on the wrist," said Laurele Fulkerson, grazing program director for Forest Guardians, which brought the suit against the Forest Service. "Instead, he required the removal of cattle until the necessary analyses are completed, reversing a long standing Forest Service policy of permitting grazing damage while lengthy analyses are conducted."

The lawsuit is one of more than a dozen legal challenges brought by Forest Guardians against the Forest Service for its grazing policies.

Conservationists believe the federal grazing program, which costs taxpayers some $128 million a year, is a clear case of corporate welfare that has caused severe environmental degradation throughout the Western United States.

Bury also ordered the Forest Service to consult for the full 10 year term of 21 additional grazing permits on seven New Mexico and Arizona national forests.

In order to expeditiously bring all national forest grazing activities into compliance with the ESA, the Forest Service has preferred to analyze grazing on only a three year term, even when issuing permits for a 10 year period.

But critics say an analysis of three years of grazing is much less likely to show the long term adverse environmental impacts of a ten year grazing permit on threatened and endangered species. This ruling requires the agency to submit the allotments to a more rigorous and binding consultation process under the ESA.

Feds Deny Petition to Ban Arsenic Treated Playground Equipment

More than 90 percent of wood playground equipment and residential decks now in use has been treated with CCA, which is an arsenic based pesticide used to protect wood from rotting caused by insects and microbial agents.

The CPSC said the ban was unnecessary because CCA manufacturers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed in February 2002 to phase out CCA treatment of wood for most consumer uses by the end of 2003. The EPA says there is no reason to remove or replace CCA treated structures.

"The industry has already agreed to stop using this chemical as a treatment for wood for most residential consumer uses," said CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton. "The EPA action effectively addresses the petitioners' request."

CCA is a registered chemical pesticide that is subject to EPA regulation, but the playground equipment made with the pesticide treated wood is the jurisdictional responsibility of the CPSC.

The petition was filed in 2001 by the Environmental Working Group and the Healthy Building Network; the organizations contend the government has been far too slow in responding to growing evidence of the health risks posed to children by the treated wood.

A CPSC study released earlier this year found that two to 100 of every one million children frequently exposed to CCA treated wood risk developing lung or bladder cancer from that exposure. The increased risk from CCA treated wood is in addition to other risks of developing cancer and is primarily due to exposure to arsenic residue on children's hands followed by hand to mouth contact.

To minimize the risk of exposure to arsenic from CCA treated playground equipment, the CPSC staff recommends that parents and caregivers thoroughly wash children's hands with soap and water immediately after playing on such equipment.

In addition, the staff recommends that children not eat while on CCA treated playground equipment.

Senate Bans Downed Animal Processing

These animals - too sick or injured to walk - are dragged or even bulldozed to slaughter. Downed farm animals are more likely to be afflicted with a disease that can be passed on to humans and supporters of the ban note a downed Canadian cow was diagnosed with Mad Cow disease - also known as bovine spongiform encephalophathy (BSE) - last May.

Individuals concerned about the costs of such a ban on the livestock industry should remember what has happened to the Canadian beef industry since that discovery, said Senator Daniel Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat and sponsor of the amendment.

"One single downed cow in Canada diagnosed with BSE this year shut down the world's third largest beef exporter," Akaka said. "It is estimated that the Canadian beef industry lost over $1 billion as a result of the discovery of BSE and more than 30 countries banned Canadian cattle and beef. As the Canadian cattle industry continues to recover from its economic loss, it is prudent for the United States to be proactive in preventing BSE and other animal diseases from entering our food chain."

Akaka's amendment was accepted by the managers of the appropriations bill and approved by voice vote.

The provision is not in the House version of the appropriations bill - an effort to include it failed by a vote of 199 to 202 in July. Once the Senate passes its version of the bill, a joint conference committee will be tasked with ironing out differences in the legislation.

Condor Refuge Saved From California Fire

The Piru Fire, which started on October 23rd, burned across the refuge on October 26 and threatened the refuge compound used for the condor program.

The agency says three U.S. Forest Service engine crews from Los Padres National Forest and Angeles National Forest set backfires in front and behind the refuge compound, successfully saving it from the flames.

Prior to evacuation on October 25, field biologists observed 29 condors at the feeding site on the refuge. When the biologists returned on November 2, they observed 28 birds at the feeding site.

"The condors seemed to have weathered the firestorm and are back to business as usual," said Marc Weitzel, project leader for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex. "We are extremely grateful to the Forest Service firefighters for saving our facilities."

The largest bird in North America, condors are scavengers that have soared over mountainous areas of California since prehistoric times.

Habitat loss, declining prey and chemical poisoning caused their numbers to plummet in the 20th century, and the species was listed as an endangered species in 1967, under a law that predated the existing Endangered Species Act.

In 1982, the condor population reached its lowest level of 22 birds, prompting biologists to start collecting chicks and eggs for a captive breeding program. By late 1984, only 15 condors remained in the wild.

After seven condors died in rapid succession, it was decided to bring the remaining birds in from the wild for the captive breeding program.

In 1992, the Recovery Program began releasing California condors back into the wild.

There are 220 condors in existence, with 41 condors living in the wild in California, 37 in Arizona and 5 in Baja. The remaining 137 condors live in captivity at the Los Angeles Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho.

The goal of the California Condor Recovery Plan is to establish two geographically separate populations, one in California and the other in Arizona, each with 150 birds and at least 15 breeding pairs.

Engineers Develop Safety Standard for Mold Remediation Work

The organization, which boasts some 30,000 members, says the purpose of the standard is to establish minimum requirements and recommended procedures to be implemented by employers to minimize employee exposure to mold.

The proposed standard will not, however, establish an exposure level or action level for identification purposes or trigger remediation activities.

"Mold is an important safety, health and environmental issue for everyone," said ASSE Environmental Practice Specialty member Mary Ann Latko.

"Since safety, health and environmental professionals are already responding to mold related concerns and are working without a universally accepted standard from a cognizant authority, a standard aimed at protecting workers is very much needed."

There is no one universally accepted consensus standard that can be held as the standard of care to protect mold remediation workers in an indoor environment. This prompted the ASSE to petition the American National Standards Institute to be the secretariat of a canvass standard initiative to address worker safety and health during mold remediation projects. The petition has been approved and the work is proceeding.

Although adverse health effects related to exposure to some types of mold have been reported, at this time, there is no conclusive link to pulmonary hemorrhage nor is there conclusive evidence that mold-related illnesses are increasing. Currently there is no consensus among safety, health and environmental workers and healthcare professionals as to the level of mold exposure that is acceptable in indoor environments.

"A key part of the mold debate is that as of today there is still no documentation of universal adverse health effects related to exposure to mold," Latko said.

The organization notes that developing guidelines before the adverse health effects of the work environment are not well defined or where the science is still maturing is not a new approach.

"Minimizing worker exposure to mold is extremely important," Latko said. "We cannot wait until we are comfortable with the science of mold, we need to protect workers from potential adverse health effects now."

The organization's position statement on mold can be found here.

The Mystery of Ocean Potholes

They explain that these bubbles occur when lava seeps up from underground volcanoes on to the ocean floor. The molten mass vaporizes water confined beneath it, creates a briny steam that gets trapped under the lava's surface and forces it to bubble up and outward.

Under the pressure of tons of near freezing seawater, these bubbles quickly condense, then implode and harden, causing the collapses, the geologists say.

In findings to be published this week in the journal "Nature," the scientists report that the research helps explain the long observed porosity of much of the upper ocean floor. It may offer fresh insights into the mysteries behind the abundant microbial life inhabiting the "deep biosphere," said lead researcher Mike Perfit, a University of Florida geology professor.

"The bacteria and other life forms that reside on the deep, dark, cold ocean floor - they need heat, water and space," he said. "These pits and cavities may provide a kind of habitat."

No one has ever witnessed an underwater volcanic eruption in the deep ocean thousands of feet down; Perfit and his colleagues relied on evidence from hardened lava samples they retrieved along the mid ocean ridge a few hundred miles from Mexico's west coast.

The area, about 8,000 feet deep, is the site of recent underwater volcanic eruptions and is replete with hydrothermal vents, deep sea animal communities and collapse pits ranging in size from several inches to dozens of yards.

Perfit and his colleagues focused on samples collected from the underside, or ocean bottom facing side of the hardened lava. There, they found several features that suggested the lava did not harden immediately, including curious lava drips that look like crystalline stalactites. These drips, the scientists believe, form between the cooling lava and the superheated vapor.

"The bubble buoys up the lava flow and allows the lava inside it to move around, but once the vapor cools it creates negative pressure and it collapses," Perfit said. "The process also allows the lavas to flow over greater distances of the seafloor."