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Doctors Lack Environmental Health Training RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina, October 25, 2004 (ENS) - Doctors and nurses need more environmental health training to prevent, recognize, and treat diseases caused by environmental exposures, particularly in children, finds a new study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).Childhood diseases related to the environment in American children, such as lead poisoning, asthma and cancer, cost Americans billions annually, but few pediatricians are trained to ask their patients questions on environmental exposures or give advice on environmental poisons, the study found. Medical and nursing schools should add environmental health topics to training programs, advised the physicians, nurses, and educators on the scientific team. The group also recommended that government organizations should focus on advancing children's environmental health issues. Most pediatricians see patients with health issues related to the environment, and the majority of parents have expressed worry about their children's exposure to environmental poisons, but doctors and nurses are not trained to address these issues, the study found. "We know pediatricians want to provide the best care possible," said Dr. Allen Dearry, NIEHS associate director. "We want them to have the tools they need to protect their patients against environmental hazards." The expert group studied the medical and nursing education systems from undergraduate education through continuing education courses. The experts identified places in the educational systems, such as licensing exams and field work for nurses, where environmental health could be incorporated. The study reviewed ongoing evaluations of medical and nursing training programs. Previous studies have shown that pediatric residency and undergraduate medical and nursing education programs do not routinely include comprehensive pediatric environmental health training in their curricula. The group of experts included representatives of National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Association of American Medical Colleges, American Public Health Association, Children's Environmental Health Network, George Washington University, Medical University of South Carolina, Children's National Medical Center, Temple University, Oregon Health Sciences University, Rutgers School of Nursing, Northeastern University, Drexel University, Howard University, and the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. "It's essential that we give more priority to pediatric environmental health," said Leyla Erk McCurdy at the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation. "By following our recommendations, pediatric health care providers will be better equipped to recognize, treat, and prevent diseases related to factors in the environment." The study, conducted by the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, points to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Association of Faculties of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners as organizations that could help promote environmental health training. The study results will be published in the December 2004 issue of the NIEHS journal "Environmental Health Perspectives."
Feds Snatch Western Wilderness From Congress for Oil Auction DENVER, Colorado, October 25, 2004 (ENS) - No matter who wins the Presidential election on November 2, the current administration will auction off an unprecedented number of wild areas in Colorado to oil and gas drilling exactly one week later, a scheduled auction that the Colorado Environmental Coalition would like to prevent.According to recent analysis of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) November 9 oil and gas lease sale, the agency will offer for lease more than 15,000 acres located within seven areas proposed by citizens and pending before Congress for wilderness protection. But the auctions are moving forward before Congress has had a chance to decide on a wilderness designation for the lands at issue. “Citizens have spent thousands of hours verifying that these areas are eligible for formal wilderness designation,” said Kurt Kunkle, volunteer field inventory coordinator for the Colorado Environmental Coalition. “These unspoiled places protect Colorado’s clean air and clean water, and they should be off-limits until Congress has had a chance to weigh in on them.” Before an April 2003 settlement between Interior Secretary Gale Norton and the state of Utah, most proposed wilderness in Colorado was off limits to oil and gas drilling. But since then 43,600 acres of proposed wilderness in Colorado have been offered for auction in the past 18 months, including the lands on the block in the November 9 auction. “Not only has this administration refused to provide protection for these special places while they are considered for wilderness designation, it is clearly targeting those very same areas for oil and gas development,” said Pete Kolbenschlag of the Colorado Environmental Coalition. “If these area are opened to drilling, roads, and industrial activity, their wilderness character will be lost forever. Colorado’s future wilderness is threatened as never before,” Kolbenschlag warns. The November sale covers Granite Creek, which the environmentalists say is unique to the entire Wilderness Preservation System. Lower in elevation than most wilderness, this land is located in Mesa County, Colorado and Grand County, Utah about 30 miles southwest of Grand Junction. Granite Creek is a red sandstone canyon tributary of the Dolores River. The canyon, ranging in depth to 800 feet, is dotted with picturesque fins, columns, windows, and buttes. It is inhabited by deer and a herd of 150 to 300 elk, black bears, mountain lions, and bald eagles. So far, Granite Creek has been free of oil and gas leases. The BLM’s November sale would change that, prompting wilderness advocates to formally protest the leases proposed there and in the six other areas. Other lands proposed as wilderness but now on the auction block are scattered between northwestern and southwestern Colorado, including Big Ridge, Dragon Canyon, Grand Hogback, Granite Creek, Maverick Canyon, McKenna Peak, and Sagebrush Pillows. “We’re not asking them to stop drilling everywhere. We’ve challenged only a small percentage of the areas that BLM has auctioned off,” Smith said. “We’re just asking them to leave a few of the most special places for future generations to enjoy.” In response to the protests, the administration claims it is required by Congress to hold these lease sales. But Steve Smith of The Wilderness Society says, “The Bureau of Land Management has the choice of which lands to lease or not lease for drilling. For them to suggest that they are required to lease these particular special places is just misleading. The Mineral Leasing Act gives the BLM the discretion to decide whether or not to lease any given tract of land.”
Marine Restoration Grants Worth $7.58 Million Handed Out WASHINGTON, DC, October 25, 2004 (ENS) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has distributed some $7.58 million to fund restoration projects in coastal states. The grants announced on Thursday, will benefit salmon, groundfish and oyster restoration and fisheries research programs.The Virginia Institute of Marine Science was awarded the largest single grant - $1.9 million to support an Oyster Restoration Monitoring Program. The grant will finance the restoration effort that is a collaboration between the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NOAA. Four programs are to be completed with the funding including habitat restoration, oyster broodstock enhancement, field tests of oyster strains that may be able to better survive, and molecular genetics research in support of the above efforts. “Funding from this NOAA grant will help return the abundance of oysters to their native habitat in Virginia,” said NOAA administrator Conrad Lautenbacher. A grant of $1.56 million went to Oregon State University to support West Coast fisheries research on the effects of ocean variability and the physical and biological processes that influence salmon and groundfish, including the causal relationships between ecosystem structure and ocean habitat, climate and human activities, particularly in estuaries and coastal regions of the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Alaska received two of the grants for a total of $2.1 million. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game received $1.55 million to fund their Groundfish Monitoring Project. The grant continues the cooperative management of the crab, scallop and rockfish fisheries in federal waters. The grant will support 16 projects concentrating on research, administrative support and fishery management activities. The same department received $583,000 to increase sockeye salmon fry production. The Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association received $943,360 to fund Western Alaska marine salmon studies. The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission won $706,380 to create a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Pacific Coast Groundfish. The grant will be used to develop new information and new tools for assessing future federal and state regulations and policies associated with west coast fisheries, particularly in the areas of protecting essential fish habitat and reducing bycatch, building ecosystem based management decision tools, providing greater access to the public to available data and developing models and information that evaluate the economics of essential fish habitat decisions. And finally, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services received $545,000 to create a river instream flow management program for the Lamprey and Souhegan Rivers.
Adirondack Council Praises Local, Scolds State Lawmakers ELIZABETHTOWN, New York, October 25, 2004 (ENS) - Local government leaders received their highest rating in 19 years from the Adirondack Council’s Annual State of the Park Report, which was released Thursday. But the New York State Legislature earned the lowest marks in the 19 year history of the report which details how the actions of local, state and federal leaders helped or harmed the Adirondack Park in the past 12 months.State of the Park 2004 is compiled by the Adirondack Council, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that does not accept government grants or taxpayer funded support. “Protecting the quality of drinking water, as well as the Park’s vast network of lakes and streams, emerged as a real priority for local governments all over the park this year,” said Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian Houseal. “Local leaders assisted in the push for a Constitutional Amendment that would secure safe drinking water supplies for communities hemmed in by the Forest Preserve. They took action to control road salt contamination. They upgraded sewage systems and took stands against erosion." The report gives local governments credit for work they did with the Council to resist a plan to build a fake pine tree cell tower, nicknamed Frankenpine, on the slopes above eastern Lake George. In all, local government leaders earned 11 favorable ratings and only two unfavorable ratings. Houseal said the Legislature failed to cooperate on enhancement of the park. "Individually, the Senate and Assembly had good marks, with Assembly showing the most improvement over last year. But both houses failed to come together on important matters. The overall effect was negative for the Park’s ecology and wild character," he said. Each house passed its own version of a Constitutional Amendment designed to solve a drinking water crisis in the park. But to date no action has been taken. "The Legislature has until December to reverse this negative rating. After that, the rules concerning the adoption of Constitutional Amendments will prevent an official solution for another two to three years," Houseal said. Governor George Pataki won a favorable rating because he landed the largest conservation deal in state history in partnership with International Paper Company and the Conservation Fund. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer won commendation because he overcame partisan politics on acid rain and secured funding for expansion of the High Peaks Wilderness New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer again proved his interest in clean air by pressing important lawsuits, the Council said. Two Republican Congressmen John Sweeney and John McHugh were praised for their support of new federal legislation to control acid rain, and whose bill became a prototype for the proposed Clean Air Interstate Rule. State of the Park 2004 is found online at: www.adirondackcouncil.org.
Textile Mill Loaded with Asbestos Debris to Be Demolished PLAINFIELD, Connecticut, October 25, 2004 (ENS) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) started an asbestos cleanup today at the Carvill Combing Company site in Plainfield. The abandoned two story building is a former textile mill abandoned in the late 1970s.EPA contractors will remove asbestos wherever it is accessible before demolishing the building. The demolition will be conducted in a manner that minimizes the volume of the asbestos contaminated demolition wastes, the agency said. Drums and containers recovered from the building will be characterized and disposed of at an EPA approved disposal facility. Steel and other salvageable construction material will be segregated, stockpiled and transported off-site to be recycled. Debris containing asbestos will be loaded into lined dump trailers before being transported off site for disposal at an EPA approved facility. The asbestos containing demolition debris will be wetted down to minimize dust and air monitoring will be conducted during the removal activities to protect surrounding residents. Earlier this summer, EPA posted signs and installed a temporary chainlink fence around the site to restrict access to the work area. Also, EPA, with the permission of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, temporarily closed a portion of the Moosup Valley State Park trail in order to access the site to conduct the cleanup. About 113 tons of asbestos containing material and approximately 240 tons of miscellaneous demolition debris will be removed and transported off site for recycling and/or disposal at a permitted facility. The removal work is expected to take three months and cost about $960,000.
Cleanup Advances at Two New Jersey Superfund Sites SAYREVILLE, New Jersey, October 25, 2004 (ENS) - Contaminated soil and debris at the Horseshoe Road and the adjoining Atlantic Resources Corporation Superfund sites in Sayreville will be cleaned up, according to a plan announced Thursday by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).The agency's plan includes the long-term monitoring of groundwater at both sites. Soil and groundwater at the sites are contaminated with a foul mixture of organic and inorganic compounds, including arsenic, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, methoxychlor, 1,2-dichloroethane and trichloroethylene. "We selected a cleanup plan for the Horseshoe Road and Atlantic Resources Corporation sites that will remove the sources of contamination that threaten ground water and pose a long-term risk to the community," said EPA Regional Administrator Jane Kenny. "Our efforts will now be focused on starting the work as soon as possible." The Horseshoe Road site was listed on the EPA's Superfund List in September 1995, and the Atlantic Resources Corporation site was placed on the list in September 2002. The two sites are being cleaned up jointly in phases. In the first phase, completed in 2003, buildings and above-ground structures were demolished and disposed of. Under EPA's current plan, the agency will excavate and dispose of approximately 62,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and debris, and monitor ground water to determine if further actions are needed. A third phase will address sediments in an adjoining marsh and the Raritan River. The complex is located in a remote area in the northern outskirts of the Borough of Sayreville, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Before 1972 ammonia wastes were reported to have been disposed of in the impoundments at the Atlantic Resources site. Activities at the site during this period were primarily recycling and recovery of precious, semi-precious, and non-precious metals. After 1972, the site continued to be used for recycling activities including solvent reclamation; possible hazardous waste incineration; and the reclamation, recovery, and refinement of precious metals, including gold and silver, from a variety of sources, including film and printed circuit boards.
Los Angeles Debuts Natural Gas Bus Fleet LOS ANGELES, California, October 25, 2004 (ENS) - The first of 200 compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled transit buses were unveiled in Los Angeles today.The Metro Liner bus engines are developed and marketed by Cummins Westport Inc., a joint venture of Cummins Inc., a publicly traded U.S. company, and Westport Innovations Inc., a publicly traded Canadian company. The low emissions super-sized articulated buses will operate with CWI's 320-hp L- Gas Plus engines and are part of a previously announced 600 engine order being delivered to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LAMTA) from 2005 to 2006. At 60 feet, the Metro Liner is 20 feet longer than the standard transit bus and seats 57 passengers, 45 percent more than the standard bus. The new buses will operate on Los Angeles' busiest bus corridors, and on the Metro Orange Line, a 14 mile transitway due to open in 2005. Unaffected by traffic, Metro Liners will carry passengers to destinations within the San Fernando Valley and throughout Los Angeles County. "LAMTA operates the largest natural gas transit fleet in the United States," said Richard Hunt, LAMTA's general manager for the San Fernando Service Sector. "We have been testing the Cummins Westport L Gas Plus engine for more than a year, and it has performed flawlessly. By deploying more of this clean engine technology, LAMTA continues to assist in the reduction of harmful emissions in the Southern California region while meeting our commitment to expand our service to Los Angeles stakeholders." "LAMTA's decision to address growing transit needs with the use of high capacity, articulated, CNG-fueled vehicles called for special power requirements," said Gordon Exel CWI's vice president for sales in North America. "The new L-Gas Plus was specifically designed for large transit vehicles like the Metro Liner, which are becoming increasingly popular for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) operations." Two hundred Metro Liner buses with CWI engines, each one costing $633,000, are on order from North American Bus Industries of Anniston, Alabama. Delivery of the first 30 vehicles is scheduled to be completed by June 2005 and the remaining 170 vehicles by June 2006. LAMTA has about 2,500 buses, over 1,900 of them are CNG buses, making this the largest alternative fuel bus fleet in the United States.
Beluga Caviar Imports Allowed Under Special Rule WASHINGTON, DC, October 25, 2004 (ENS) - Americans who can afford to pay $105 an ounce for beluga caviar will be able to continue to buy it due to a special rule adopted by the Bush administration. The luxurious caviar will temporarily continue to be allowed to be imported into the United States even though beluga is now listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.An interim special rule was issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday, the day the threatened species listing for the beluga sturgeon took effect, the Service said. The listing determination was made in April, but the effective date of the listing was delayed for three months to allow the agency enough time to promulgate a special rule under the authority of the Endangered Species Act. The special rule issued by the agency in June exempts countries around the Black and Caspian seas from strict requirements on shipment to the United States under the act as long as those countries develop beluga conservation and management plans. The interim special rule just adopted allows trade in products derived from the threatened beluga sturgeon provided that trade is consistent with regulatory requirements already in force under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The interim rule also continues international cooperative conservation efforts to ensure the survival of the species in the wild, the Service said. The Service said it would likely issue a final beluga imports special rule some time in January 2005. The delay until January 2005 gives the agency "additional time to evaluate and consider all of the comments it received in response to the proposed rule," the Service said in a statement. The exemption applies only to imports of caviar, byproducts such as cosmetics, and beluga meat from harvested wild fish - not to live beluga or to products from commercially raised fish. Countries currently exporting beluga sturgeon are Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Iran, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia and Turkmenistan. Romania is expected to ship the most beluga exports in 2004. Beluga sturgeon is listed under CITES Appendix II, a category that allows controlled trade through a system of permits. All sturgeon and their byproducts must be accompanied by valid CITES documentation to be legally imported into or exported from the United States.
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