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AmeriScan: September 21, 2004
Bacteria Found in Airplane Drinking Water WASHINGTON, DC, September 21, 2004 (ENS) - One in every eight domestic and international passenger aircraft tested in the United States carried water that did not meet drinking water standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), test results released on Monday reveal. During August and September, the EPA randomly tested the water supplies on 158 aircraft. Aircraft tank water is used in the galleys and lavatory sinks. While 87.4 percent of the aircraft tested did meet EPA drinking water standards, 12.6 percent did not. Initial testing of onboard water supplies revealed 20 aircraft with positive results for total coliform bacteria; two of these aircraft also tested positive for E.coli. Both total coliform and E.coli are indicators that other disease causing organisms may be present in the water and could potentially affect public health, the EPA said. When sampling identified total coliform in the water, the aircraft was retested. In repeat testing on 11 aircraft, the EPA confirmed that water from eight of the aircraft still did not meet the agency's water quality standards. Passengers with compromised immune systems or anyone concerned about their health may want to request canned or bottled beverages, the agency suggested. "While boiling water for one minute will remove pathogens from drinking water, the water used to prepare coffee and tea aboard a plane may not be brought to a sufficiently high temperature to guarantee that pathogens are killed," the agency said. In the United States, water loaded aboard aircraft comes from public water systems regulated by state and federal authorities. That water may be delivered to the aircraft holding tank via piping from the airport itself or a hose from a water tanker. But the contaminated water may have come from other countries. "A significant part of aircraft travel includes international flights. According to the Air Transport Association (ATA), about 90 percent of ATA member aircraft have the potential to travel internationally. These aircraft may board water from foreign sources that are not subject to EPA drinking water standards," the agency said. The EPA said it will keep the American public "well informed of further testing and actions taken." The agency will review existing guidance to determine areas where it might be strengthened, conclude water quality protection agreements with the airlines and take enforcement actions where warranted. EPA said it is working with ATA, which represents a number of major airlines, as well as with non-ATA members, on agreements for additional testing to determine the nature and extent of the problem and actions the airlines will take to ensure acceptable drinking water quality. "If the parties are unable to reach an agreement or agreements promptly, EPA will exercise its enforcement authorities to achieve these goals," the agency said, but said it anticipates an agreement with U.S. airlines "shortly." In the United States, drinking water safety on airlines is jointly regulated by three agencies - the EPA, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The EPA regulates the parent systems that supply water to the airports and the drinking water once it is on board the aircraft. The FDA has jurisdiction over culinary water such as ice and the points where aircraft obtain water like pipes or tankers at the airport. The FAA requires airline companies to submit operation and maintenance plans for all parts of the aircraft, including the potable water system. The EPA began a review of existing guidance in 2002. In response to the aircraft test results, the agency has accelerated its priority review of existing regulations and guidance. The emphasis is on preventive measures, adequate monitoring, and sound maintenance practices such as flushing and disinfection of aircraft water systems, the agency said. For more information on the regulation of water supplies on airplanes and to view publicly available testing data, go to: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/airlinewater/ First Plutonium Shipment Leaves Charleston for France CHARLESTON, South Carolina, September 21, 2004 (ENS) - The first shipment of U.S. weapons-grade plutonium bound for France to be reprocessed left the Port of Charleston, in South Carolina on Monday under military escort. An escort of five inflatables met the two vessels as they entered the bay at 1 am Monday, according to Greenpeace International observers. Closer to the city, four police boats and two helicopters joined the escort. Police closed down access points to the Cooper River Naval Weapons Station where the plutonium was loaded onto the two UK-flagged commercial nuclear ships that will transport it to France. Massachusetts Congressman Ed Markey and others have objected to the shipment, raising safety issues, particularly the risk of terrorist attack. Pamela Turner Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs in a letter to the congressman on September 8 admitted that no "formal threat assessment" had been prepared on the shipment but that "a field intelligence report" on "environmental activist groups and their potential to impact this shipment" had been prepared by the Coast Guard. Greenpeace and other environmental groups opposed to plutonium shipments in general and to this one in particular say that they are not the security issue, instead the plutonium shipment itself is a security risk. "This shipment sends the strongest signal that the U.S. holds little regard for global efforts to keep nuclear weapons materials out of commerce," said Tom Clements of Greenpeace International. "It is the height of arrogance to conduct a shipment like this while demanding other nations refrain from proliferating nuclear weapons materials and technologies," he said. Recently a new organisation, Citizens Against Plutonium (CAP), was formed to express concern felt by many in Charleston about the shipment and the refusal of the Department of Energy to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment on it. "How sensible is it to sail a ship carrying plutonium round the world at a time when world security is volatile? Whenever such a deadly substance is moved, there will be a risk of accidents or terrorist attacks. In the event of an incident, plutonium could be dispersed into the ocean, poisoning people and the marine environment on which we depend," said local Charleston resident Merrill Chapman of Citizens Against Plutonium. Upon arrival in Cherbourg, France, the plutonium will be trucked over 660 miles to a closed plutonium fuel fabrication facility in Cadarache, in the south of France. This is the same facility, operated by the state-owned nuclear company Areva/Cogema, where a nuclear accident involving plutonium occurred on September 6, where two workers were contaminated. "This transport is part of a misguided plan to put weapons plutonium into commercial use by converting it into MOX fuel for use in nuclear reactors. This is an expensive and dangerous way to dispose of plutonium," said Clements. "All existing plutonium should be secured and mixed with nuclear waste and vitrified in robust containers." Forest Service Prosecutes Congressman for Escaped Fire WASHINGTON, DC, September 21, 2004 (ENS) - The U.S. Forest Service hand-delivered a criminal notice of violation to the Capitol Hill office of Representative Henry Brown, a South Carolina Republican, on Friday, citing him for negligence in allowing a fire on his property to burn out of control and spread into the Francis Marion National Forest. The agency’s action comes after charges filed by two of its senior criminal investigators that the Congressman and U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey politically obstructed appropriate law enforcement, according to the whistleblower complaint released last week by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). “The Forest Service leadership scuttled like cockroaches after the kitchen light was flicked on,” said PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, whose organization provides legal aid to public agency environmental whistleblowers. “We will be watching to ensure that the law enforcement officers who brought this matter to public attention do not suffer official retribution.” The Forest Service action comes more than six months after the fire and follows repeated directives from top officials to refrain from prosecuting Brown. The two Forest Service criminal investigators, John Gregory and John Sadler, found that Brown was responsible for the escaped fire and was totally unprepared to contain it. The escaped portion of the fire onto national forest lands totaled 20 acres. About 238 acres of land were burned on Brown’s property. Brown had been issued a permit for a prescribed burn, but he was found at the scene with no hand tools, two garbage cans filled with water but no means, other than a bucket, of delivering the water to the fire. Brown told Forest Supervisor Jerome Thomas three weeks after the fire that he did not feel responsible for the escaped fire that crossed onto Forest Service lands, attributing the fire to “an act of God,” the investigation report states. When told by Forest Service officials that he was in fact responsible, Brown expressed concern that his political opponents would somehow find out and use the Violation Notice against him and that he would be forced to disclose it on his ethics updates. The criminal notice of violation carries a $250 fine, which Brown indicates he will pay. But, contrary to its policy, the Forest Service did not assess Brown for the agency’s costs in suppressing the fire - about $4,000. Ruch says the Forest Service even offered Brown a federal grant to offset his fine and penalties. The Forest Service denies that media attention prompted it to criminally cite Brown. The "Atlanta Journal-Constitution," quoted Forest Service spokesman Dan Jiron as saying the agency “actually has been working for months reviewing policy.” But Ruch says the citation was issued only after a meeting between Undersecretary Rey and Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth following PEER's publication of the whistleblower complaint. The U.S. Department Agriculture Office of Inspector General will investigate the whistleblower complaint alleging extortion by Brown and violations of agency policies by top officials. Read the Forest Service whistleblower complaint at: http://www.peer.org/ForestService/BrownSetsFire.htm. Oil Development on Wyoming National Forest Postponed JACKSON, Wyoming, September 21, 2004 (ENS) - Public opposition has forced the U.S. Forest Service to postpone plans for oil and gas leasing across national forest lands south of Yellowstone National Park. The Service said last week that it will review the environmental impacts of the oil and gas development before the leases go forward. The leasing would have paved the way for development on nearly 158,000 acres in the Wyoming Range of western Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest, including 92,000 acres of pristine roadless areas that provide habitat for wildlife species from elk to Canada lynx. The Forest Service faced much public opposition to the proposed leasing, including standing room only public meetings in Jackson Hole and Alpine, Wyoming, and objections from Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, and Senator Craig Thomas, a Republican. Governor Freudenthal said, “The Forest Service has done the right thing here by taking into account significant public concern with the impacts and then slowing leasing until remaining questions can be answered." "I continue to fully support Wyoming’s oil and gas industry, but development needs to occur in a deliberate fashion that takes into account all the impact it brings," the governor said. "The Forest Service recognized that balance is needed when it decided to postpone these leases to provide an opportunity for further evaluation.” “We set out to nip this leasing proposal in the bud, and we did that,” said Earthjustice attorney Tim Preso,who filed detailed legal objections to the oil and gas development. Acting on behalf of a coalition of conservation groups, Earthjustice sent a letter to the Forest Service in August detailing numerous legal violations in connection with the proposed leases, which were scheduled to be auctioned to oil and gas companies beginning in October. The letter asked the Forest Service to withdraw the proposed leasing, and threatened a lawsuit if the agency refused. Finally, on September 14 the Forest Service yielded to this opposition by withdrawing the proposed leases from auction pending further environmental study. “The Forest Service’s decision amounts to a stay of execution,” Preso said. “Now the challenge is to ensure lasting protection for these public lands. People who want to pass an unspoiled Yellowstone ecosystem on to the next generation need to speak up and tell the Forest Service to leave these lands alone.” The proposed Bridger-Teton National Forest leasing is only one of several recent attempts by the Bush administration to permit industrial development in National Forest roadless areas. The administration has proposed oil and gas leasing of roadless lands in Utah's Uinta National Forest, and has proposed a logging operation in roadless areas of southwest Oregon's Siskiyou National Forest. Incinerators By Any Other Name Still Emit Toxics
WASHINGTON, DC, September 21, 2004 (ENS) - National emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and process heaters were issued as a final rule last week by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The standards identify these boilers and process heaters as major sources of hazardous air pollutants, and the EPA says the new rule is expected to reduce hazardous air pollution emissions by 50,600 to 58,000 tons per year. But environmental groups contend that the final rule exempts tens of thousands of on-site commercial and industrial waste incinerators from the protective air toxics emission standards that the Clean Air Act requires by redefining them. By labeling these on-site waste burners “boilers” and “process heaters,” the agency seeks to exempt them from compliance with the highly protective emission standards that the Clean Air Act requires, say Earthjustice, the Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action Network and the National Wildlife Federation These groups filed comments earlier this year, calling on the EPA to introduce tougher emission control standards for these facilities that more effectively protect human health and the environment. These facilities burn shredded tires, solvents, glues, treated wood, paper mill sludge and waste oils. As a result, they emit mercury, dioxins, and lead, among other pollutants. "Although the Clean Air Act makes plain that facilities combusting solid waste must be regulated as incinerators regardless of whether they recover heat from the combustion process, EPA has refused to treat heat recovery units as incinerators," the environmental groups say. The EPA says it has identified industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers and process heaters as major sources of hazardous air pollutants. The final rule will implement section 112(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) by requiring all major sources to meet hazardous air pollution emissions standards by application of the maximum achievable control technology (MACT), the agency says. Facilities in the boiler and process heater source category emit arsenic, cadmium, chromium, hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen fluoride, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, and various organic hazardous air pollutants, the EPA says. Exposure to these substances has been demonstrated to cause adverse health effects such as irritation to the lung, skin, and mucus membranes, effects on the central nervous system, kidney damage, and cancer, the agency warns. The final rule is effective November 12, 2004. Read it here. Chopping California's Environmental Boards Called Mistaken FRESNO, California, September 21, 2004 (ENS) - Protection of California's environment and public health could be shortchanged, if the state implements proposals by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's California Performance Review (CPR) Commission to eliminate state and regional boards and commissions, environmental, community and public health groups are warning. At a press conference before a CPR hearing in Fresno Friday, the groups said state government would become less, not more, efficient if the Air Resources Board, Energy Commission, state and regional water boards, and other boards and commissions are dismantled. "We all agree that California government could and should deliver services more efficiently," said Ann Notthoff, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) California advocacy director. "But abandoning California's world-class environmental institutions is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater." "Eliminating these boards and commissions will make it harder for the governor to achieve his goals to protect the environment," Notthoff said. "There's nothing efficient about weakening environmental protection." Fresno suffers from drinking water problems and poor air quality said local community activists. They questioned how Fresno and other California communities would benefit from concentrating environmental decisionmaking in Sacramento. "We're the ones whose children are suffering from asthma and who have to keep our kids home from soccer practice when we have a bad air day," said Kevin Hamilton of the Community Health Center Asthma Program. "I trust the independent Air Resources Board to make unbiased decisions to make the air cleaner. I would lose my confidence if an executive branch agency took over that function." The public has until September 30 to comment on the CPR recommendations, a deadline that critics say is unrealistic. "The 2,500 pages released last month are too much summer reading for the average Californian," said Rey Leon of the Latino Issues Forum, who wants the governor to extend the public comment period. The CPR Commission spent six months developing its proposals behind closed doors, a sore point for the groups, who say the public was shut out of the process. Few environmental or community groups were asked for their input. The groups now say if local boards are eliminated, the public will be even further from the center of environmental and public health decision making. "During his campaign, Governor Schwarzenegger again and again promised to bring the government back to the people," said Rico Mastrondonato, Northern California director of the California League of Conservation Voters. "Eliminating public boards and commissions would undermine the governor's commitment to public involvement by centralizing decision-making in Sacramento." Joining the local groups in testifying before the commission were representatives from a range of statewide environmental, public health and community groups, including: California League of Conservation Voters, the Environmental Justice Coalition, Heal the Bay, the Nature Conservancy, NRDC, the Ocean Conservancy, the Planning and Conservation League, Sierra Club California, Trust for Public Land, and The Wilderness Society. Last 300 Right Whales Will Encounter Less Lobster Gear BOSTON, Massachusetts, September 21, 2004 (ENS) - Some of the world's most endangered whales - the 300 remaining North Atlantic right whales - are too often entangled in lobster gear, two conservation groups have decided. Each group has mounted an effort this week to make life easier for the whales. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) announced that it will remove up to 3,250 miles and 220 tons of lobster rope off the coast of Massachusetts and replace it with whale-safe lobster gear. If laid end to end, the amount of line IFAW is replacing would stretch from Boston to San Francisco. The pilot project is a unique collaboration between IFAW, Massachusetts lawmakers Senator Edward Kennedy and Congressman Bill Delahunt, both Democrats, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association. "Traditional rope connecting lobster traps floats upward like the humps on a camel, creating a dangerous tangle under the water for whales to swim through.," IFAW says. "Right whales get entangled in the rope when they are diving and feeding, jeopardizing their ability to breathe, eat, swim and mate." Nearly three quarters of the North Atlantic right whale population shows signs of injury from fishing gear, and nearly a dozen North Atlantic right whales have been entangled over the past two years, said IFAW from its Yarmouth Port headquarters. "Many of the whale entanglements are fatal and, in the case of the North Atlantic right whale, every single death threatens the survival of the entire species," said Fred O'Regan, president of IFAW. "North Atlantic right whales are literally on the verge of extinction and two of the most critically important habitats on the east coast are right here off of Massachusetts." IFAW is providing a subsidy to Massachusetts lobstermen to replace old gear with whale-friendly gear. This is a pilot project, which can be replicated in other fishing areas in New England and around the world. In February 2004, the U.S. Congress approved a $660,000 appropriation to help fund IFAW's whale-friendly gear replacement project and approximately 300 Massachusetts lobstermen are participating in the program. "I think this will be a major step in reducing entanglements, especially serious ones, while at the same time assisting lobstermen in meeting the financial challenge of modifying their gear," said Gary Ostrom, vice president and spokesperson for the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association. In addition, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Monday announced a Request for Proposals for its Large Whale Gear Competition, a new project under NFWF’s National Whale Conservation Fund. http://www.nfwf.org/programs/large_whale_gear.htm The team competition is being conducted in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), the Northeast Consortium, and the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation.
The Large Whale Gear Competition supports the development of innovative fishing gear or gear modifications that decrease the incidence of entanglement of large whales, especially the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Awarded applicants will receive up to US$10,000 grants to build gear prototypes and travel stipends to test their gear at sea with commercial New England fishermen. An additional grant of up to US$50,000 will be awarded to the team that has designed and tested a prototype that shows the most promise in becoming a new, commercially viable whale friendly fishing gear or gear modification.
A review panel will invite up to 15 teams to participate in a poster display and design presentation competition in spring 2005. The NFWF Whale Council will award up to five finalist teams grants of up to US$10,000 each to build gear prototypes and conduct at-sea trials. Finalist teams will reconvene for the at-sea challenge competition during late fall 2005.
A final winner will be selected to receive a grant of up to US$50,000 to complete development of the new gear device and will be invited to conduct a final at-sea test with fishermen upon its completion in Spring 2006. Wilderness Celebrated at Star-Studded Gala WASHINGTON, DC, September 21, 2004 (ENS) - Celebrities and legislators were among 400 wilderness conservation activists gathered at the National Press Club on Sunday night to mark the anniversary of the Wilderness Act, signed 40 years ago this month. Robert Redford pointed out the unique richness of America’s wild landscapes, and the special legacy that all Americans share because we have set aside some of those lands as “forever wild.” “There are many great places in the world, but where else, in what other country can we find such an abundance of natural treasures as Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Sierras, the Tetons?” asked Redford, a lifelong advocate of wilderness conservation. “I sought the mountains and the deserts and other wild places in the west to find solace for myself.” “Now, like most Americans, who cherish the wide open spaces in this country, I feel that we owe it to future generations to protect those places from as much as possible, because uncorrupted beauty is really a rarity in these modern times. We have to fight now, right now, for our public right to preserve this fabulous gift of natural heritage.” The keynote address was delivered by former Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall, who recalled the bipartisan spirit of the Congress that led to the overwhelming vote that passed the Wilderness Act in 1964, and the uniquely American character of wilderness preservation. “The wilderness idea originated here in this country; the national park idea originated in this country,” said Udall, who served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Noting that wilderness protection bills for several states are currently awaiting Congressional action, he said "citizens all over this country, from the West and the East, got behind wilderness bills, and that’s how we got to the 106 million acres protected today. But the fight is not over.” Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Congressman John Dingell of Michigan, both Democrats, were among those recognized for their role in passing the landmark conservation legislation. Congressman Dingell was presented with the first John P. Saylor Wilderness Leadership Award, which honors a member of the U.S. House of Representatives “whose conservation record and commitment to public lands protection is distinguished by long tenure and consistent leadership.” Rep. Saylor, a Republican from Pennsylvania, was the father of the Wilderness Act in the U.S. House of Representatives – its lead sponsor through the eight years of debate and a stalwart in its implementation until his death in 1973. Senator Byrd was presented with the first Hubert H. Humphrey Wilderness Leadership Award, which honors a member of the U.S. Senate “who gives exemplary leadership for wilderness preservation and whose commitment to the betterment of his or her constituency extends to those in future generations.” William Meadows, president of The Wilderness Society, one of the conservation groups bestowing the award, called 87 year old Senator Byrd "a living legend." “Wilderness is the ultimate open space of democracy,” said author Terry Tempest Williams, who served as master of ceremonies. “Our elders started a conversation, and the conversation turned into ideas, and the ideas turned into public policy that literally changed the face of this country. Without wilderness, we would be less American.”
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