• Labor Groups Sue for Clean Air Standards in U.S. Factories
  
• Green Groups Sue DuPont for Shenandoah River Pollution
  
• California Urged to Adopt Tougher Smog Plan
  
• MTBE Waiver Benefits Texas Oil Refiners, Enviros Say
  
• Feds Decide Not to List Wolverine Under Endangered Species Act
  
• Wildlife Service Unveils Hawaiian Forest Bird Recovery Plan
  
• Poll Finds U.S. Public Supports Action on Global Warming
  
• Arctic Conservationist Margaret Murie Mourned
  

Labor Groups Sue for Clean Air Standards in U.S. Factories

The suit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, asks the court to order OSHA to issue standards reducing the permissible exposure to metalworking fluids in U.S. workplaces.

OSHA has "failed miserably" in its responsibility to protect U.S. workers, said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger.

"The UAW petitioned OSHA to take action on metalworking fluids 10 years ago," said Gettelfinger. "Since then, millions of factory workers have been exposed to these hazardous chemicals. Tragically, some have developed asthma, pulmonary fibrosis or other severe respiratory ailments, while others have cancer because of the metalworking fluid mists they have been forced to breathe at work."

More than a million workers are exposed each year to metalworking fluids, which are widely used in the manufacture of autos, farm equipment, aircraft and other metal products.

Breathing mist from metalworking fluids can cause severe respiratory ailments, including asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis, an inflammation of the lungs that frequently leads to hospitalization.

Continued exposure can lead to pulmonary fibrosis, or permanent scarring of the lungs, which can be fatal.

There have been 16 recorded outbreaks of hypersensitivity pneumonitis in U.S. factories since the UAW first petitioned OSHA in 1993 to reduce worker exposure to metalworking fluids.

The labor groups say the present OSHA standard - set in 1971 - does not reflect existing science and should be much lower. The current standard requires that no worker be exposed to more than 5 milligrams of oil based metalworking fluids per cubic meter of air during an eight-hour day. There is no exposure limit for synthetic fluids.

In 1998, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) determined that the 5 milligrams standard for oil based fluids exposed workers to serious health hazards, and recommended a standard 10 times more stringent. NIOSH's recommendation applied to both oil-based and synthetic metalworking fluids.

The labor groups say OSHA abandoned a rulemaking process to set stricter standards due to industry pressure.

"This is an egregious example of a public rulemaking process that has been obstructed by backroom industry lobbying," said USWA President Leo Gerard. "It is way past time for OSHA to stand up to the industry lobbyists who do not care how many workers suffer from exposure to metalworking fluids."

Green Groups Sue DuPont for Shenandoah River Pollution

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club plan to file suit in federal court alleging that the company's past mercury discharges from its Waynesboro, Virginia textile manufacturing facility pose a serious environmental and public health threat.

The Southern Environmental Law Center will be assisting in the case, which will center on violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

"There are well known, scientifically valid ways to study and remedy mercury pollution in rivers, but DuPont is avoiding those," said Nancy Marks, senior attorney with NRDC. "Instead of solving the problem, the DuPont funded team is just generating lots of reports, not one of which is aimed toward a cleanup."

DuPont's Waynesboro textile operation discharged tens of thousands of pounds of mercury into the South River from 1929 to 1950. When the contamination was disclosed in 1977, the state was forced to declare a fish consumption health advisory for over 100 miles downriver of the plant - that advisory continues today.

The environmental groups say that more than 20 years ago, DuPont and its consultants convinced government regulators that the mercury contamination would disappear on its own. But the most recent data collected by state officials found some fish in the two rivers with mercury levels more than eight times the level at which the state issues health advisories.

Rather than take what the plaintiffs see as effective enforcement action to make DuPont clean up, state and federal regulators have joined DuPont in a collaborative South River Science Team to examine various aspects of the mercury contamination as part of a 100 year monitoring plan. The team has no cleanup plans.

"For decades, DuPont has managed to dodge responsibility for dumping mercury into these waters. That means the health of the people in the Shenandoah Valley is at risk, and a Virginia treasure - part of our children's heritage - is being diminished," said Michael Town, director of the Sierra Club's Virginia Chapter.

California Urged to Adopt Tougher Smog Plan

The coalition of air officials from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), environmentalists and public health advocates are concerned that the plan does not go far enough.

The coalition says the board was supposed to consider an air plan at its hearing last month, but delayed the hearing amid a wave of protests that the plan was too timid.

The revised plan has not yet been released to the public, but critics say indications are that it only cuts at most an additional 10 tons of pollutants per day in the near term. To comply with a federal clean air mandate, the plan should expedite reductions of more than an additional 400 tons per day.

"This is an anemic plan," said Gail Ruderman Feuer, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and director of the organization's Southern California Air Project. "It puts off all the hard work until years from now, and that does not help anyone."

"AQMD has worked hard to reduce emissions from the tens of thousands of businesses we regulate," said Barry Wallerstein, executive officer of the South Coast AQMD. "However, the state and federal regulators have sole jurisdiction over 80 percent of smog forming emissions, and we can not win this battle without more help from them."

AQMD has responsibility for reducing pollution from stationary sources, such as gas stations to oil refineries and power plants, whereas the state air board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have authority to reduce emissions from mobile sources.

A coalition of environmental and public health groups last week sent a letter to the Air Resources Board outlining numerous pollution reduction measures it wants the board to adopt this Thursday.

The letter reflects similar recommendations made by AQMD's Governing Board, including mandated pollution control devices for old cars, adoption of new reformulated gasoline standards that reduce sulfur content, stricter rules for jet skis and a requirement that lawn and garden equipment be electric.

It also called on the board to follow through on a commitment Governor Gray Davis made last month to reduce "the use of diesel generators in ships at West Coast ports."

"Everyone knows that the plan before the board will not cut pollution quickly enough to get us back on the path toward clean air," said Dr. Joseph Lyou, executive director of California Environmental Rights Alliance. "It is time for board members to roll up their sleeves and take a stand against air pollution."

MTBE Waiver Benefits Texas Oil Refiners, Enviros Say

The provision, which looks set to be part of the comprehensive energy bill, has drawn a range of criticism from Senate Democrats, environmentalists and state officials. MTBE has been used in U.S. gasoline at low levels since 1979 as an octane enhancer and in larger concentrations since 1992 to reduce harmful emissions from gasoline.

It has helped reduce emissions, but MTBE is readily soluble in water and has been detected in ground and drinking water in every state in the nation.

Although the health risks of the suspected carcinogen have not been widely researched, low levels of MTBE can make drinking water supplies undrinkable due to its offensive odor and taste and the chemical is relatively persistent in ground water.

The specific provision in the energy bill would protect MTBE manufacturers from legal cases based on the argument that the additive is a defective product - it would not protect them from lawsuits over negligent actions that could have allowed MTBE contamination of water supplies.

But critics say this would undermine contamination cases and contend the liability exemption is unwarranted because oil and gas companies have known for years about the dangers of MTBE and did not take precautions to prevent spills and leaks.

The analysis by the EWG says that millions of consumers and their water utilities in 25 states will be forced to pay billions of dollars to clean up MTBE.

The environmental research firm reports that 75 percent of MTBE was produced in Texas last year - House Majority Leader Tom Delay, a Texas Republican, is considered the driving force behind inclusion of the liability waiver in the bill.

"The liability waiver for MTBE polluters is the last big gusher for the Texas oil industry," said Ken Cook, president of EWG. "This is an industry that knowingly polluted the tap water of millions of Americans. Courts have been finding them liable. So they have gone to high-placed friends in Washington to rig the legal system in their favor - which will save them billions in cleanup costs."

Feds Decide Not to List Wolverine Under Endangered Species Act

The federal agency said the petition and other currently available data are not sufficient to determine wolverine distribution, habitat requirements, and whether there are threats to the continued existence of the wolverine.

"Very little is currently known about the wolverine," said Ralph Morgenweck, the Fish and Wildlife Service's director of the Mountain Prairie region. "We will continue to seek new information on the biology, ecology, distribution, and habitat of the wolverine, as well s potential threats to its continued existence. We anticipate that ongoing research will greatly improve our understanding of the wolverine and how its conservation can be incorporated in land management activities."

The petition to list the wolverine within the lower 48 U.S. states was filed by the Biodiversity Legal Foundation, Predator Conservation Alliance, Defenders of Wildlife, Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, Friends of the Clearwater, and Superior Wilderness Action Network. A similar petition to list the wolverine was filed in 1994 - that petition was rejected by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

In its announcement Tuesday, the federal agency says little new information has been published regarding wolverine ecology since the 1994 petition.

Conservationists blasted the move as a possible death knell for the species.

"The wolverine will not survive without federal protection," said Mike Senatore, legal director for Defenders of Wildlife Legal Director. "Unless this administration is willing to set aside its hostility to environmental protection laws, we could be witnessing the beginning of the end for this rare creature in the lower-48 states."

Wolverines are the largest land species of the weasel family with adults weighing as much as 40 pounds. More like a small bear than a weasel in appearance, wolverines naturally occur in low densities and the species is difficult to study and rarely observed. The Fish and Wildlife says that lack of sightings does not necessarily mean that wolverine numbers are declining.

In North American, wolverines occur in a variety of habitats, primarily boreal forests, tundra and western mountains throughout Alaska and Canada with the southern portion of the range extending into the contiguous United States.

The current range of the wolverine in the contiguous United States is believed to include Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and possibly California.

Within these states, the range and habitat requirements of the species is not well understood, thus the Fish and Wildlife Service says it can not use existing data to accurately delineate the historic or current range.

In addition, records of the species' historic range in the Great Lakes region and northeastern United States are poor, according to the agency, and therefore it is difficult to ascertain whether habitats in many states were historically capable of supporting the wolverine.

Much of the wolverine's known range occurs in land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, which is leading a cooperative research effort with other federal agencies, states and tribes.

Wildlife Service Unveils Hawaiian Forest Bird Recovery Plan

These species are from four families, with the majority being Hawaiian honeycreepers.

The draft plan would replace four previous recovery plans written in the 1980s for most of the species.

Recovery efforts for two other Hawaiian forest birds, the `io or Hawaiian hawk and `alala or Hawaiian crow, are being addressed in separate plans.

The Fish and Wildlife Service says historical records indicate that most of the species covered by the draft plan once occurred in much larger areas and at lower elevations.

Habitat degradation and loss, predation from introduced species and expansion of nonnative invasive plant species are considered the primary threats to Hawaiian forest birds.

Due to their small populations and narrow distributions, these birds also are subject to an increased likelihood of extinction from naturally occurring events such as hurricanes.

The plan centers on addressing threats to the birds' remaining habitat as well as disease and predation issues. The Fish and Wildlife Service notes that efforts will vary by area and species, but says there are some common habitat improvement actions - such as controlling introduced rodents and feral cats, as well as feral ungulates that degrade forest habitat, promote the spread of introduced plant species, and create breeding sites for disease carrying mosquitoes.

Elimination of invasive plant species is another key focus of the plan, which calls for surveys and monitoring of forest bird populations at least once every 5 years.

The plan may be viewed at http://pacific.fws.gov and comments will be accepted through December 16, 2003.

Poll Finds U.S. Public Supports Action on Global Warming

The nationwide Zogby International poll, which was commissioned by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), found that 79 percent of Americans believe the United States should curb its greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide (CO2) that are said to contribute to global warming.

In a poll of 1,200 American adults conducted October 15 to October 20, 75 percent said they favor federal legislation currently under consideration by the U.S. Senate to mandate that major industries cut emissions back to year 2000 levels.

The poll found nearly 67 percent said addressing global warming by requiring major industries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can improve the environment without harming the economy.

"These numbers are a clear indication of where America stands on the issue," said Jeremy Symons, manager of climate change and wildlife for the NWF. "The question now is, where does the U.S. Congress stand? Americans know that requiring big industries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions is not going to hurt the economy. It will, however, be a long overdue first step in addressing one of the planet's biggest threats."

The poll comes on the heels of a bipartisan letter signed this week by 155 U.S. mayors urging Congress to join their cities' efforts to reduce the threat of global warming. The mayors represent more than 46 million people in local communities ranging in size from 700 people in LaConner, Washington to more than four million in Houston, Texas.

The Senate is poised to take action on a bipartisan proposal known as the "Climate Stewardship Act of 2003" that proposes to reach the CO2 reductions through an emissions trading system. The sectors affected account for 80 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions - the United States accounts for more than a quarter of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

The bill requires the industrial, utility, commercial and transportation sectors of the U.S. economy to reduce emissions of C02 down to 2000 levels by 2010.

With a margin of error of 2.8 percent, 1,201 respondents from across the nation were given a description of the proposal and asked their opinion about it. In every region, more than 70 percent of respondents said they favored the bill.

Arctic Conservationist Mardy Murie Mourned

Considered by many as the "Godmother of the American Wilderness," Mardy was born in Seattle in 1902. She grew up in the frontier town of Fairbanks, Alaska and was the first woman graduate of the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

She married biologist Olaus J. Murie in 1924 and the two became pioneers in the exploration - and protection - of the area known today as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

In 1962, Mardy authored a book entitled "Two in the Far North" that chronicled trips in the remote area with her husband and firstborn son by dog sled and canoe. Olaus, a preeminent wildlife biologist for the U.S. government, drew the illustrations for the book.

After Olaus died in 1963, Mardy continued the work the two had begun in the 1950s to urge Congress to pass the Wilderness Act. The legislation was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 and today, more than 100 million acres of public land are protected in the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Mardy received a great many awards and honors, including the Audubon Medal in 1980, the John Muir Award in 1983, and the Robert Marshall Conservation Award in 1986. She was made an Honorary Park Ranger by the National Park Service and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Alaska.

In 1998 President Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Nearing her 100th birthday in 2002, Mardy was honored with the J.N. Ding Darling Conservationist of the Year Award, the National Wildlife Federation's highest honor.

Mardy is survived by her sister Louise Murie-MacLeod; and her three children, Martin, Joanne and Donald; nine grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.

Following a private family ceremony, a public memorial service is being planned by The Murie Center for later this year. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials and donations be made to The Murie Center, P.O. Box 399, Moose, Wyoming 83012.