• Federal Tests Find Rocket Fuel Toxic in Milk, Lettuce
  
• Bacardi Settles Water Violations with $1 Million Marshland
  
• Wheaton College Stops Polluting Rumford River
  
• Cape Wind Energy Hearing Open to Public Comments
  
• Yellowstone Buffalo Wars Flare Up
  
• Gas Drilling Forces Deer Off Wyoming Winter Range
  
• Colorado Town Makes Use of Fallen Leaves
  
• Nominations Open for 2005 National Wetlands Awards
  

Federal Tests Find Rocket Fuel Toxic in Milk, Lettuce

The chemical, perchlorate, was documented in concentrations above the level considered safe in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to the EPA's preliminary risk assessment, currently under review by the National Academy of Sciences, exposure to the chemical should not exceed one part per billion (ppb) in drinking water - the same level adopted by Massachusetts. Health officials in California have set a preliminary safety standard of six ppb.

The FDA tests, completed in August and posted online Friday, confirm previous findings by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), university researchers and California journalists, but are the first to document nationwide contamination of food.

In the new studies, the Food and Drug Administration reported finding perchlorate in 217 of 232 samples of milk and lettuce in 15 states.

The FDA tested 128 samples of lettuce, including some organically grown samples, from Arizona, California, New Jersey, Texas and Florida.

The average concentration of perchlorate was 10.49 parts per billion (ppb). Almost 60 percent of the samples exceeded six ppb.

The highest concentration, an average of 11.9 ppb, was found in 25 samples of romaine lettuce. Red leaf lettuce averaged 11.7 ppb, green leaf 10.7 ppb and iceberg 7.76 ppb.

The agency tested 104 samples of milk - raw and pasteurized, in all fat concentrations. They came from Maryland, California, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington state. The average concentration of the rocket fuel chemical was 5.76 ppb. More than 38 percent of the samples exceeded six ppb.

Previous studies have shown that the rocket fuel chemical, leaking from hundreds of military bases and defense contractors' facilities, concentrates in lettuce grown with contaminated irrigation water. When contaminated water is used to grow alfalfa, cattle feeding on the hay take in the chemical and pass it on in their milk.

The results provide new evidence that perchlorate is moving into the nation's food supply, according to the Environmental Working Group, a nongovernmental team of scientists, engineers, policy experts, lawyers and computer programmers based in Washington, DC.

"With these results, it's time for health officials, perchlorate polluters and food producers to stop stalling by saying we need more studies," said Renee Sharp, an EWG senior analyst. "Rocket fuel is in our water, in vegetables, in milk. How much more evidence do we need to take action?"

Perchlorate can affect the thyroid gland's ability to make an essential hormone. For fetuses, infants and children, disruptions in their thyroid hormone level can cause lowered IQ, mental retardation, loss of hearing and speech, and problems with motor skills.

Based on what the group says it "growing evidence showing harm at very small doses," the EWG argues that a drinking water standard should be no more than one-tenth the EPA's recommended level.

The FDA began its sampling program after EWG reported in April 2003 results of tests on winter-grown lettuce from California's Imperial Valley, which is irrigated by the perchlorate contaminated Colorado River.

EWG estimated that, just by eating lettuce, 1.6 million American women of childbearing age are exposed daily during the winter months to more perchlorate than the EPA's recommended safe dose.

In July 2004, EWG reported that its tests by an independent laboratory and unreleased tests by California agriculture officials found the rocket fuel chemical in 45 out of 46 samples of milk from around the state.

A computer-assisted analysis of federal dietary data showed that by drinking milk contaminated with the levels of perchlorate found in the two studies, half of all children ages one to five would exceed the EPA's provisional daily safe dose just by drinking milk, and more than a third would get twice that dose.

The FDA accompanied its test figures with the warning that the data "are exploratory and should not be understood to be a reflection of the distribution of perchlorate in the U.S. food supply."

"Consumers should not view the perchlorate levels as an indicator of perchlorate exposure, or as the 'risk' of eating certain foods," the agency warned, saying that the scope of the data is too limited to draw such a conclusion.

Bacardi Settles Water Violations with $1 Million Marshland

This environmental restoration project is part of a settlement reached by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with Bacardi for violations of the company's wastewater discharge permit under the Clean Water Act, at its Cataño, Puerto Rico facility.

The land will be perpetually maintained as an environmentally protected area through deed restrictions and covenants consistent with a Land Management Workplan that was developed for this project.

"This project reduces pollution and protects valuable ecosystems and endangered species that live in the watershed by preserving areas of the Cucharillas Marsh as a natural, open space," said EPA Regional Administrator Jane Kenny from her office in New York. "Preserving this land reduces risks to the environment by protecting it from industrial or commercial development."

The land preservation project was designed by that EPA, Bacardi and Universidad Metropolitana, and it has support from several community environmental organizations. It ensures future social and environmental benefits for the Cataño community and the San Juan Metropolitan area, Kenny said.

The transferred land, valued at about $1 million is located in the sensitive watershed of Las Cucharillas marsh in Palmas Ward, Cataño. Las Cucharillas Marsh is located at the intersection of the municipalities of Cataño, Guaynabo and Bayamon and covers 1,236 acres of mangroves, forests, wetlands and open water areas.

The marsh serves as a flood plain for the Santa Catalina, Lajas and San Diego creeks, which run into the San Juan Bay through the Malaria Channel. It also acts as a sediment and nutrient filter for runoff waters before they reach the San Juan Bay.

Universidad Metropolitana will preserve and manage the land according to a contract with Bacardi that has been approved by the EPA.

Wheaton College Stops Polluting Rumford River

Cape Wind Energy Hearing Open to Public Comments

The Army Corps of Engineers has led a review process of the plan and is seeking public comment on its 4,000 page draft Environmental Impact Statement, which was released November 9, triggering a 60 day public comment period.

The impact statement says the 420 foot tall turbines may kill as many as 364 birds per year but would not affect endangered species or specific populations of birds.

The project would affect shellfish and fish populations only during construction, the impact statement predicts.

Wind energy, a renewable source that today provides less than one percent of the electricity generated in the United States, could become a major contributor to the nation's energy mix, some experts believe.

The Cape Wind project would improve public health by generating energy without emitting pollutants. The Corps' report estimates the public health savings each year at $53 million.

Although for years wind power research has focused on promising locations on land, interest has shifted to offshore areas because high populations nearby need electricity, power transmission is expensive, and offshore winds are a strong source of potential energy.

But locating wind farms near coastlines is controversial. Critics of the Cape Wind windfarm say it will be unsightly, will degrade property values and will be more damaging to fish and wildlife than the Corps' report predicts.

Critics also worry about the potential for an oil spill from an electric service platform.

Other offshore wind farms have been proposed, including one off Long Island, but Cape Cod's is the largest and the first to go through the federal permitting process.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant is sponsoring a public hearing on the project in December to foster public understanding and offer an opportunity for affected communities to voice their thoughts.

The hearing will take place December 16 from 6 to 11 pm, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Room 10-250, in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Contact Cliff Goudey, Outreach Coordinator, MIT Sea Grant College Program, 617-253-7079, cgoudey@mit.edu.

For more details log on to: http://web.mit.edu/seagrant/news/pressreleases/2004/capewind/capewind.html

Yellowstone Buffalo Wars Flare Up

The DOL claims the capture was justified under the Interagency Buffalo Management Plan, which is in place to prevent the transmission of brucellosis to Montana cattle. The DOL says that Montana’s livestock industry gained brucellosis free status in 1985, an accomplishment that required five decades and over $30 million to achieve.

Brucellosis is an abortive disease of female animals, and male animals such as the bull buffalo captured Monday are considered low risk as carriers of the disease.

The Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC), a wild buffalo advocacy group, points out that no cattle are present in the area, so the risk of brucellosis transmission to livesock is nonexistent. In October, DOL agents assisted in removing the last domestic cattle grazing near the park's western boundary. Cattle will not be present near the western boundary again until the middle of June 2005.

The Yellowstone bison population is approximately 4,000 animals, the Montana DOL says. About 50 percent test positive for brucellosis, a disease that causes abortions and weak calves in animals, and undulant fever in humans.

The BFC says that although there has never been a documented case of brucellosis being transmitted from wild bison to livestock, the agency insists on harassing and killing bison when they leave the park.

Local landowners have been increasingly critical of bison hazing and capture operations. During the week of November 15 a restaurant owner in the Upper Bear Trap area refused to allow DOL agents access to her property because she enjoyed the presence of a bull bison.

"It angers me that they are doing this. There's no reason to be chasing the bison this time of year," said Jean Koski, owner of Enos restaurant. "I'm not happy about the waste of our tax dollars to needlessly kill this bull. I live here because of the animals. The buffalo are not a problem. The thing we have to remember is that we're in their country."

Last week, area residents held a meeting with agency representatives to say they want the buffalo to remain in their neighborhoods and that they think the harassment and slaughter is an unjustified waste of tax dollars.

The agency responded by hazing five buffalo from the neighborhood the next morning.

"This is an insult to a community whose income is based on the buffalo and other wildlife," said Mike Mease of the Buffalo Field Campaign, "the war against the buffalo is unjustified and not supported by area residents."

Montana's incoming Governor Brian Schweitzer has said that buffalo will enjoy more tolerance in Montana. In his statements, Schweitzer said that management of buffalo and the protection of Montana's brucellosis free status should be determined by "science, not hyperbole," and that the DOL is "ill-equipped" to manage wild buffalo for the state of Montana.

In the nine years that the DOL has had authority over wild buffalo that migrate into Montana from Yellowstone National Park, 2,784 buffalo have been killed. Hundreds of others have been hazed and captured by DOL agents.

The Buffalo Field Campaign says that the DOL's hazing and capture operations inflict damage on the buffalo and on the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, including elk, moose, trumpeter swans, threatened grizzly bears, and bald eagles that inhabit the area.

Gas Drilling Forces Deer Off Wyoming Winter Range

Hall Sawyer, a wildlife biologist with Western Ecosystems Technology, Inc., uses helicopter net-gunning techniques to capture deer every December. He equips them with GPS radio collars that record an animal’s position every two hours. The collars are designed to drop off on April 15.

Sawyer retrieves them and plots their data on maps, which show where these deer spent their winter. His work covering the winter of 2003-04 yielded 15,000 GPS locations from 10 deer.

"This report shows that energy development is forcing mule deer out of their natural winter range habitat," said hunter and outfitter Tory Taylor of Taylor Outfitters of Dubois, Wyoming.

"Forcing mule deer to expend more energy during the winter when there’s less available food could have serious consequences for our future hunting opportunities. It is unclear whether mule deer migration corridors and winter ranges will remain for deer after the current gas boom is gone," Taylor said. "Twenty years ago, big game winter range was considered sacred ground by wildlife managers; land was left alone and undisturbed during the crucial winter months."

Bounded by the Wind River, Gros Ventre, and Wyoming Ranges, the Upper Green River Valley harbors some of the continent’s most spectacular wildlife populations and also holds vast deposits of natural gas.

Oil and gas development so thoroughly dominate the region that more than 75 percent of BLM’s 1.2 million acre Pinedale Resource Area is under lease, and the agency’s draft management plan, scheduled for release in April, is expected to allow at least 10,000 new wells in the next 10 to 15 years - over three times the number of existing wells.

Sawyer’s work is the first multi-year study examining the effects of natural gas development on mule deer habitat use. Sawyer found that development appears to displace deer to less preferred habitat off their crucial winter range, so what were high-use areas before development became low-use areas as the Anticline gas field developed.

"This study shows that energy development is happening too fast without understanding the full impacts," said Ralph Faler a lifelong hunter and fifth generation Sublette County resident. "The mule deer herd is very important to local residents and hunters like me. So if we are to protect Wyoming’s heritage and traditions, then energy development here must happen at the right place and right pace. When it’s gone, it’s gone for good."

In response to Sawyer's evidence, local residents and conservation groups have developed a plan of their own to guide energy development in the Upper Green River Valley and are urging the BLM to adopt it in their upcoming Resource Management Plan revision.

Titled the "Responsible Energy Development Proposal," their plan promotes best management practices and off-limit areas in order to decrease the energy industry’s ecological footprint and lessen the potential of well development to displace wildlife. Read the proposal at: www.uppergreen.org

Linda Baker of Pinedale's Upper Green River Valley Coalition said the community plan seeks to balance energy development with protection of local air and water quality, as well as preservation of habitat in "one of America’s finest wildlife areas."

"The BLM has a responsibility to develop a plan that meets both the needs of industry and those of our community," Baker said, "so that ongoing drilling does not destroy the Wyoming we love - its incredible wildlife, clean air and water, and agricultural tradition."

Colorado Town Makes Use of Fallen Leaves

Residents of Boulder, a university town of about 100,000 people, dropped off 234 tons of leaves at city drop-off sites during six Saturdays this fall, a 45 percent increase over the 2003 collection of 161 tons of leaves.

Boulder residents want to do their part to improve the environment, but there is an economic motive at work as well. "This is the third year of the city’s pay-as you-throw trash regulation, and many residents took advantage of the drop-off program to avoid paying the higher cost of landfilling these leaves," said Kara Mertz, environmental analyst for the city.

"This year’s program was once again a great success, and Boulder residents should be proud of their efforts to keep organic material out of the landfill," she said.

The leaves were hauled to local farms where they are composted or tilled directly into the soil, Mertz said. "This volume of leaves would have filled about 82 trash trucks, but instead, the leaves have been recycled into beneficial soil amendment."

The 234 tons of leaves that were collected could cover University of Colorado's Folsom Field in a layer of leaves a foot and a half deep, she said.

Jennifer Sherry, a consultant with Ecosystem Analyses, estimates that Boulder's trees store 112,000 tons of carbon, save $600,000 in energy costs, and act as a pollution filter valued at $644,000.

Boulder residents can take leaves, branches, and grass clippings for composting to the city’s Yard Waste Drop-off Center year-round. The facility of free to city of Boulder residents, while county residents and businesses that use the center are charged a small fee.

Nominations Open for 2005 National Wetlands Awards

To sponsor the 2005 National Wetlands Awards, the Federal Highway Administration will join for the first time with the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and its group of federal agency partners.

Since 1989, the National Wetlands Awards Program has been directed and managed by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), an independent, non-profit research and educational organization based in Washington, DC.

ELI enjoys sponsorship from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NOAA Fisheries, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. For 2005, the Federal Highway Administration will join this group.

The National Wetlands Awards Program recognizes individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary effort, innovation, and excellence at the regional, state, or local level.

Their efforts serve to educate the public about the value of wetlands, the programs that are available to protect and restore wetlands, and the value of cooperation.

The awards recognize six categories of individual achievement - Education and Outreach; Science Research; Conservation and Restoration; Landowner Stewardship; State, Tribal and Local Program Development; and Wetland Community Leader.

Organizations and federal employees are not eligible.

Nomination forms for the 2005 National Wetlands Awards Program are now available at: www.eli.org/pdf/2005_nwa_nomination_formwritable.pdf The deadline for submitting nominations is December 15, 2004.

For further guidance on submitting nominations for the National Wetlands Awards go to: www.eli.org/pdf/nomformguidance.pdf

For more information or questions about the National Wetlands Awards Program, email wetlandsawards@eli.org, or contact Katie Wells at 202-939-3810.