• Revised Settlement Addresses Anniston PCB Problem
  
• Suit Seeks Information on Forest Regulation Revisions
  
• Grazing Program Costs Taxpayers Millions
  
• INEEL Cleanup Ahead of Schedule
  
• Bhopal Activists Confront Dow Chemical CEO
  
• Geologists Offer New Tools for Water Studies
  
• Flooded Florida Nature Center Files Suit
  
• Rancher Will Aid Southern Idaho Ground Squirrels
  

Revised Settlement Addresses Anniston PCB Problem

The original proposed settlement, reached in March, was criticized by community members and the state of Alabama for spending too much time on studies, and waiting too long to begin cleaning contaminated homes. The settlement was negotiated by the Justice Department on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and involves two companies considered responsible for the PCB pollution: Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia Corporation.

"This revised settlement requires Solutia and Pharmacia to immediately address the Anniston site to reduce the risks to human health and the environment," said John Peter Suarez, the EPA's assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, in a prepared statement.

The settlement, which still needs the approval of a federal judge in Birmingham, is the result of a February jury decision finding chemical giant Monsanto responsible for polluting Anniston with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Monsanto manufactured PCBs as electrical insulators for 40 years, halting production in 1971 just eight years before the federal government banned the chemical's manufacture and use. During that period, the company disposed of tens of thousands of pounds of PCBs by flushing them into waterways or burying them in and around Anniston.

Solutia Inc., the company that Monsanto spun off in 1997 to handle its chemical division, and Pharmacia have agreed to continue ongoing emergency cleanups of area residences that are the worst contaminated. Under the revised settlement announced this week, the cleanup of additional residential properties can begin two years earlier than under the previous consent decree lodged with the court.

The revised settlement also makes the EPA, rather than the defendants, responsible for performing a human health risk assessment - a comprehensive study and evaluation of risks to human health caused by PCBs. PCBs are considered a probable carcinogen and are linked to neurological and developmental problems.

"We have listened to the residents of Anniston, the community impacted by the contamination," said Tom Sansonetti, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's environment and natural resources division. "Today's revised settlement takes steps to address those concerns and rectify the situation there."

Solutia and Pharmacia will hire EPA approved contractors to conduct a remedial investigation and feasibility study that will study any contamination, including PCB contamination, and evaluate what risks the pollutants may pose to public health and the environment.

The study will also determine the cleanup options and suggest a strategy for restoring the community. The cleanup will be reviewed and overseen by the EPA, as is the immediate cleanup of residences where high levels of PCBs have already been found.

Included in the settlement is an agreement to establish a $3.2 million foundation to assist in funding special education needs for Anniston area children. In response to public comments, funding has been revised so that monies are paid into the foundation each year of the life of the fund.

Other revisions include an increase in the penalties the companies must pay, and an agreement by the defendants not to challenge the addition of the Anniston site to the national Superfund list.

However, the EPA said it could not accommodate activists' requests that the settlement provide for regular monitor of residents' health. The EPA "does not have the authority nor the expertise to conduct health studies and medical monitoring," the agency said.

"Solutia looks forward to implementing the revised consent decree and continuing cleanup activities in Anniston, Alabama," said John Hunter, Solutia president and CEO .

"We understand that Anniston residents have concerns about the impact of PCBs in their community from Monsanto's former operations," Hunter added. "We can either spend years talking about a cleanup or move forward and get the job done. Solutia believes the clear choice is to complete the cleanup safely and responsibly so the community can put this issue behind them."

For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/npl/nplal/annpcbal.htm

Suit Seeks Information on Forest Regulation Revisions

The requested information relates to contacts between the timber industry and Agriculture Department officials, including former timber industry lobbyist Mark Rey, who now oversees the Forest Service.

A recent internal agency draft of new regulations implementing the National Forest Management Act echoes at least eight specific recommendations made by the American Forest and Paper Association, according to the conservation group. The National Forest Management Act of 1976 governs management of all 192 million acres of national forests, and requires forest plans for each of the 155 national forests and 22 national grasslands.

"The Bush administration is stonewalling our request for information on why they suspended and began rewriting the rules for managing national forests, forcing us to go to court to pry these records loose," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.

"Just as the administration is withholding documents on the Cheney Energy Task Force and its meetings with energy companies, they are withholding information about national forest regulation activities and meetings," Schlickeisen added. "A leaked draft of the administration's revised forest regulations confirms our worst fears - that they are listening to only to their timber industry supporters."

The Bush administration's draft regulations reflect industry wishes in a number of areas, including: demoting the priority the U.S. Forest Service places on ecological sustainability; eliminating required protections for wildlife; eliminating scientific oversight of agency actions; and reducing mandatory standards for forest management.

The regulations would also exempt forest plans from the National Environmental Policy Act, considered "the Magna Carta of U.S. environmental law," Defenders of Wildlife charges.

"Gutting the national forest regulations is just the latest attack of the Bush administration's determined war on national forests," Schlickeisen said, "which includes failing to maintain roadless, old growth, and species protections; hiring a former top timber industry lobbyist to oversee the Forest Service; and promoting increased logging and decrease environmental protections in the name of fire prevention."

Defenders' request for information was made under the Freedom of Information Act, which requires federal agencies to respond to requests for information, generally within 20 days, and to disclose documents unless they are withheld under certain limited exceptions. Defenders' original FOIA request was filed almost five months ago; to date, the Department of Agriculture and Forest Service have not responded.

Defenders of Wildlife has posted key documents related to the suit at: http://www.SaveNationalForests.Org

Grazing Program Costs Taxpayers Millions

Economists commissioned by the Center for Biological Diversity have released a report entitled "Assessing the Full Cost of the Federal Grazing Program," documenting the many subsidies that support grazing on public lands by the 23,600 permittees in the western U.S.

The report also documents the costs to the public of compensating or mitigating for the damage to public resources, wildlife, watersheds and human health by livestock on public lands.

Cattle ranchers are allowed to graze their herds on public lands for minimal costs - $1.35 per month for each cow-calf pair. According to the study, the minimum cost to the federal taxpayer of the federal grazing program is $128 million a year, though the real full cost may lie in the range of one half to one billion dollars a year, the economists argue.

Allowing grazing fees be determined by the market would not recoup the full costs of the program, the report notes, because of the damage that grazing does to natural resources. There is no accounting system that discloses these indirect costs of the grazing program, the report says.

"The lack of transparent accounting was the most frustrating thing," said the study's principal author Karyn Moskowitz, a Rockefeller Fellow at the University of Kentucky. "It was difficult to get a clear idea of just how much money the government is pumping into the federal grazing program to keep it going."

Coauthor Chuck Romaniello, who works as an agricultural economist for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Colorado, agreed.

"The range management programs of the BLM and Forest Service run at a loss of about $124 million, after subtracting fee receipts," Romaniello said. "This however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Numerous programs both in and outside the two agencies also bear costs related to the grazing program. We could find no system that adequately accounts for all of these costs."

The Center for Biological Diversity commissioned the study because it was alarmed at earlier reports of massive economic losses from the grazing program, and wanted to get a more objective and updated summary of the cost of the federal program to the public.

"The deeper problem is the ecological cost," said Kieran Suckling, the Center's executive director. "Livestock cause massive and widespread damage to watersheds, streams, wildlife and endangered species, because they are virtually everywhere most of the time on public lands. A lot of money is spent trying to correct these problems and we have no full accounting of those costs because the government simply ignores them."

George Wuerthner, author of the book "Welfare Ranching: the Subsidized Destruction of the American West," observed that the new report gives further weight to the earlier reports that the cost of the program is between $500 million and $1 billion.

"Even raising the grazing fee to market levels will not cover the real cost of livestock production on public lands," Wuerthner said. "If we did a full accounting of the ecological costs - soil erosion, extirpation of predators, water pollution, endangered species, spread of weeds, dewatering of rivers for irrigated pasture - the price we pay annually to sustain this 19th century relic would be in the billions of dollars. The pittance paid in grazing fees doesn't even begin to cover these real uncounted costs."

The National Public Lands Grazing Campaign is promoting legislation that would pay ranchers to give up their permits on public lands. Andy Kerr, the campaign's director, notes that, "If we pay the ranchers to let go of their permits, we estimate we would recoup the investment in about seven years in terms of avoiding the massive annual costs of the program."

More information about the National Public Lands Grazing Campaign is available at: http://www.publiclandsranching.org

INEEL Cleanup Ahead of Schedule

The last shipment to meet the 3,100 cubic meters goal, agreed to by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the state of Idaho, was shipped from INEEL on Monday and has arrived at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico, two months earlier than expected.

"Moving waste out of Idaho is an important step forward for INEEL employees and the citizens of Idaho, but also for the department," said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. "It proves that working together we can meet our commitments and cleanup goals."

"There is more work to be done and more goals to reach and we can accomplish these objectives by moving forward with our accelerated cleanup programs in Idaho and other states," Richardson added.

The removal of the 3,100 cubic meters of transuranic waste - amounting to about 15,000 55 gallon drums - was a commitment in the court ordered Idaho Settlement Agreement signed by DOE, the state of Idaho and the U.S. Navy in 1995. That agreement laid out commitments for DOE to manage and remove waste from the state of Idaho.

Completion of this milestone maintains 100 percent compliance with the requirements of the 1995 court order, Richardson said.

The shipment was downloaded into the underground repository at WIPP on Thursday, beating the December 31, 2002 completion date. INEEL has been shipping transuranic waste to the repository at a rate of 14 to 17 shipments per week since mid-July to meet the milestone.

The department's New Mexico based National Transuranic Program, which facilitates shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, assisted INEEL in meeting this goal. Program management designated INEEL as the priority shipping site and has ensured that INEEL had enough shipping containers, trucks, trailers and drivers to move the waste.

A project history can be found at: http://www.inel.gov/environment/3100.shtml

Bhopal Activists Confront Dow Chemical CEO

The activists presented Parker with authentic Indian brooms, asking that he accept the symbolic gifts as a commitment to clean up the Bhopal site where a toxic chemical leak killed thousands of people leaving near a Union Carbide chemical plant in 1984.

Parker, a guest speaker at the Tenth Annual Houston Conservation Leadership Awards luncheon on Wednesday, reportedly appeared shocked when approached by Bhopal activist, Houston resident and India native G Krishnaveni, who appeared at the luncheon in traditional Indian dress to offer him the brooms.

"Dow must stop their stalling and take responsibility for the Bhopal tragedy," Krishnaveni said. "The Bhopal disaster is far from over. With contaminated soil and ground water siting atop a still uncontained factory site, today babies are poisoned through a 'slow motion Bhopal' by the toxins in their mother's breast milk. Court cases in India and the United States are pending against Dow; while Dow drags their feet in court, Bhopalis are dying."

Parker did not take the brooms.

Dow, which spent almost $10 billion dollars to purchase the Union Carbide Corporation in February of 2001, has yet to deal with the toxic legacy of Carbide's Bhopal pesticide plant, the site of the world's largest industrial disaster. The 1984 methyl isocyanate and hydrogen cyanide gas leak killed an estimated 8,000 within a few days, and the activists say that more than 20,000 people have perished as a result of the accident.

Joining Krishnaveni was a former Texas shrimper turned activist, Diane Wilson. Wilson staged a hunger strike and other civil disobedience at Dow's Seadrift facility this summer.

"When Dow bought Union Carbide last year, they settled outstanding asbestos litigation here in Texas. Instead of also constructively dealing with Bhopal, they attempt to greenwash their public image by sponsoring a conservation awards luncheon to the tune of $40,000," Wilson said. "Where is the justice here?"

Greenpeace campaigner Rob Fish took note of the form letter reply that Parker and Dow have sent to the more than 30,000 people who have requested that Dow take responsibility in Bhopal.

"Mr. Parker tells concerned citizens that Dow is engaged in meaningful dialogue with groups in Bhopal to discuss their concerns. This is simply not true," Fish said. "This international coalition has made their aims quite clear to Mr. Parker, expressing them to him directly during a meeting at this May's Dow shareholder meeting in Midland, Michigan. Until we receive a meaningful and substantive reply from Dow that reflects our demands, our pressure will continue."

The International Coalition for Justice in Bhopal is calling on Dow Chemical to face trial in Indian and American courts, to clean up the Bhopal factory site at its expense as would be required in the U.S., to secure long term medical treatment facilities and medical rehabilitation for the survivors of the poisonous gas leak, to ensure economic compensation for the gas affected people and their families, and to provide clean drinking water.

Geologists Offer New Tools for Water Studies

In January 2000, Virginia Tech geological sciences professor Thomas Burbey challenged new master's degree candidate Miles Gentry with finding ways to learn the source of springs that trickle up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. While there is equipment for determining the source of springs that pump several million gallons per day, no such equipment existed for low volume springs - until Gentry invented it.

Gentry plans to unveil his invention, which has been field tested for the past 18 months, at the Geological Society of America 114th annual meeting in Denver, Colorado October 27 - 30.

"When it rains, if we see a giant increase in flow, it means that the spring's source is connected to the surface, such as through a fracture or fault," Gentry explained. Where the equipment shows different rates of flow in response to rain, it may indicate two sources of water, he said.

Gentry's goal is to find out how much water is available for wells, which is becoming a pressing problem in Virginia because of an ongoing drought, and also because rapid growth, particularly as the Washington, DC region's growth spreads west, towards the Blue Ridge.

"Municipalities need to know whether homes can have wells or if water will have to be provided. Our aim is to develop a method that makes quantifying available water easier," Gentry said.

Another study to be presented at the Geological Society meeting will show how researchers at Virginia Tech are using global positioning system (GPS) antennas to measure aquifer use and storage capacity.

In the past, how much water is in an aquifer has been determined by how much the water sinks vertically as it is used. Master's degree student Sandra Warner is determining how capacity changes horizontally as well as vertically.

As aquifers are emptied, there is shifting to fill the areas emptied of water. The newest GPS antennas will make it possible to measure land subsidence with millimeter accuracy.

Warner and Professor Burbey are conducting a large scale aquifer test on a new municipal well in the Virgin River Valley near Mesquite, Nevada. In addition to the monitoring wells that surround a pump site, the researchers are using 10 GPS antenna as a new way to measure land subsidence.

They also hope to incorporate data from a remote sensing radar satellite that measures land change.

The researchers will be conducting a 30 day test at the new site. The well is a unique opportunity in that it has never been pumped.

"An aquifer usually behaves differently the first time it is stressed," Warner said. "When it is recharged, it won't hold the same amount of water because of initial compaction. Knowing the characteristics of the aquifer will help managers maintain its elastic range, that is, prevent it from being pumped to the point it cannot rebound."

The Mesquite well is near Las Vegas, so the expectation is it will be drawn upon during the summer and have to recharge during the winter.

"If we know how much water is there, we can determine how much we can take out without land subsidence or using up resources," Warner said. "Also, GPS antennas are cheaper and more accurate than sensor wells. One antenna covers more area than the wells."

Flooded Florida Nature Center Files Suit

The flooding, caused by irrigation runoff from three large agricultural operations, has already killed hundreds of trees in the swamp and the nature preserve. Crowley seeks an end to the flooding so that the once flourishing wetland ecosystem can be restored.

"It's unconscionable that so much damage has been done to such a beautiful, natural place, when it was preventable. Simply put, the trees are drowning because there is no longer a dry season," said Myriam Springuel, chair of the Crowley Museum and Nature Center's board of directors. "They would never be allowed to come into our Nature Center and just start cutting down trees, but what they're doing with irrigation is virtually the same thing."

The agricultural operations are drawing irrigation water from underground aquifers, under permits issued by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Even though the Myakka River Basin is in a water shortage area, the District continues to allow excessive irrigation during the dry season.

The defendants pump millions of gallons of water onto their crops each day, much of which drains into ditches, creeks and the swamp. According to a 1998 study by the District, these excess flows are the primary cause of the death of thousands of trees in the Myakka River Basin.

Wildlife that once flourished in these wooded wetlands is now disappearing.

"Agriculture isn't the problem here, but wasteful irrigation practices are," said Earthjustice attorney Aliki Moncrief. "Because these agricultural operations are over watering during the dry season, the swamp is receiving in excess of eight million extra gallons of mineral laden water a day. There's no way for the ecosystem to absorb that kind of imbalance."

The Crowley Museum and Nature Center covers 190 acres next to the Myakka River. The Center is a wildlife sanctuary and education center where visitors can observe and learn about the fauna and flora of natural Florida.

The preserve is part of a wildlife corridor extending to Charlotte Harbor and a floodplain wetland system just upriver of Myakka State Park. Pop ash, tupelo, water oak, and red maple trees are among the species dying because of the year round flooding.

Rancher Will Aid Southern Idaho Ground Squirrels

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has entered into a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Soulen Livestock Company, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and the Idaho governor's Office of Species Conservation to implement conservation measures for the southern Idaho ground squirrel. The ground squirrel, a federal candidate species, has experienced a decline in population throughout its range in southwestern Idaho in recent years.

Through the agreement, the parties will protect and enhance ground squirrel populations and habitat. Soulen Livestock will not allow shooting, trapping or poisoning of ground squirrels, and will allow agency personnel access to their property to conduct ground squirrel surveys, reintroductions and translocations.

In exchange, the USFWS issued a permit authorizing some impacts to southern Idaho ground squirrels as a result of Soulen Livestock's land use activities if the species is ever listed as threatened or endangered.

The conservation effort will occur over about 43,000 acres of Soulen Livestock's land in Washington and Payette Counties, Idaho, for the next 20 years.

"We saw two benefits from this project," said Margaret Soulen Hinson of the Soulen Livestock Company. "First, it was a good way to demonstrate how landowners can work with federal and state wildlife management agencies. We all need to do a better job of this."

"Second," Hinson continued, "through our agreement, the interest demonstrated by other landowners in similar agreements, and the increased interest in southern Idaho ground squirrels, we believe we can prevent the need to list the species as threatened or endangered. And that benefits everyone."

The southern Idaho ground squirrel was identified as a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act in October 2001. Southern Idaho ground squirrels occur only in southwest Idaho, and are found in a 518,000 acre area in the Weiser River Basin. Current information indicates that the species has been declining throughout its range since 1985.

Conservation measures implemented on private lands are important for the long term survival of the southern Idaho ground squirrel. About 85 percent of the known occupied ground squirrel sites are located on private lands, including ranches and farms. About 12 percent of the species' occupied sites are federally managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and three percent of the sites are on lands managed by Idaho Department of Lands.

"Fish and wildlife conservation today requires strong partnerships across many boundaries," said Bob Ruesink, USFWS Snake River Basin Office supervisor. "This work is accomplished in a wide range of geographic areas or habitat conditions with varied methods and results, but no one agency or landowner can do the job alone. Dedicated partners such as Soulen Livestock and the state agencies involved in this agreement can make serious strides toward species conservation."