• Utility Legal Settlement Clears Capital District Air
  
• U.S. Supports Limits on Trade in Great White Sharks
  
• Anti-Bush Scientists Form Advocacy Group
  
• Northern Spotted Owl Numbers Still Shrinking
  
• Animal Groups Aim to Shoot Down Maryland Bear Hunt
  
• Suburban Sprawl Linked to Health Problems
  
• Americans Ate Record Amounts of Seafood Last Year
  
• Black Lagoon Chosen for Great Lakes Restoration Funding
  

Utility Legal Settlement Clears Capital District Air

The settlement includes Mirant, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the Commonwealth of Virginia and the state of Maryland.

It resolves federal and state claims that Mirant has violated the NOx emissions limitation set forth in the operating permit for its Potomac River plant in Alexandria, Virginia.

NOx contributes to acid rain and is a key ingredient in smog.

Under terms of the agreement, the company will install pollution controls to cut NOx emissions from its four coal-fired electricity generating plants in Maryland and Virginia.

"This settlement, reached with the help of Maryland and Virginia, will significantly reduce air pollution in the Metropolitan Washington, DC area," said Tom Skinner, acting assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "It protects the competitiveness of utilities that comply with the nation's environmental laws."

Mirant will also pay a $500,000 civil penalty, $250,000 of which will go to Virginia, and it will spend at least $1 million to finance nine projects that are designed to reduce particulate matter and fugitive dust emissions from the Potomac River plant.

"The pollution controls required by this settlement will lead to cleaner air and significant environmental and public health benefits," said Assistant Attorney General Thomas Sansonetti. "This action demonstrates that strong enforcement of coal-fired utilities continues to be a high priority for this administration."

The agreement was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for public comment and is subject to a 30 day public comment period and approval by the court.

U.S. Supports Limits on Trade in Great White Sharks

Manson said that great whites, like many species of sharks, have been over-harvested, in particular for their fins, which are used in soups and medicines.

"People have a natural terror of 'Jaws,' but great white sharks and many other plants and animals are the species that are truly threatened," Manson said.

The international agreement, to which 166 nations are Parties, regulates global trade in wild animals and plants that are or may become threatened with extinction due to commercial trade.

Australia and Madagascar have proposed including the great white shark in Appendix II to the convention with a zero quota.

Trade in species listed on Appendix II is regulated through the use of export permits.

Manson said the United States supports adopting the proposal with modifications to the zero quota to allow for scientific research samples or other noncommercial, nondetrimental trade.

The United States will push the international community to ease export restrictions on American bald eagles during the CITES meeting.

Manson said this move would reflect their improved population status and added that the only practical effect of the U.S. proposal would be to make it easier for Native American tribes in the United States and Canada to exchange eagle feathers and parts for religious purposes.

The United States is not yet taking a formal position on proposals by South Africa and Namibia to allow export of a small number of sport-hunted black rhinoceroses.

"We will decide whether to support the proposals, which are designed to raise funds for rhino conservation efforts in those countries, after consultations with all African range nations," Manson said. "We will support these proposals only if we are assured that they are part of a comprehensive long term program to benefit the species."

The administration will oppose a proposal by Namibia to establish an annual export quota for sale of ivory, Manson said.

The United States supported a one time sale of ivory stocks by Namibia, South Africa and Botswana at the last CITES conference of the Parties in 2002 on the condition that a system for monitoring the illegal killing of African elephants be established before the sale.

"Those conditions are not yet in place and as such, the consideration of additional commercial ivory trade, especially a sustained annual quota, may be premature," Manson said.

The United States remains undecided on a proposal by Indonesia to restrict trade in ramin, a tropical hardwood found in Malaysia and Indonesia that has been subject to widespread illegal logging.

"We have serious concerns about unregulated trade in ramin, but we want to discuss the situation with range countries before reaching a decision on the proposal," Manson said.

The United States has also submitted proposals to protect three Asian turtle species, and a North American songbird known as the painted bunting. Survival of this colorful native migratory finch is at risk due to habitat destruction.

The humphead wrasse, a large coral reef fish sold as a high-priced delicacy in Asian restaurants, and four species of Asian yew tree under pressure from harvest for anti-cancer drugs also received U.S. protection endorsements.

Anti-Bush Scientists Form Advocacy Group

More information about the group can be found here.

Northern Spotted Owl Numbers Still Shrinking

The analysis of available evidence on the species finds owl numbers have been declining by 3.7 percent annually from 1985 to 2003.

The decline appears twice as severe in Washington state as elsewhere in the owl's range.

The study cites wildfire, diseases such as West Nile virus and sudden oak death syndrome, as well as the incursion of the barred owl as new threats faced by the northern spotted owl.

The report, coordinated and produced by the Sustainable Ecosystems Institute, will be used by the federal wildlife agency in its review of the need to keep the northern spotted owl on the endangered species list.

The owl was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1990 - a move that imposed new logging limitations on federal lands.

Habitat loss from logging was considered a primary threat to the future of the species.

The Bush administration agreed to review the status of the northern spotted owl as part of a court settlement with the American Forest Resource Council.

The timber industry group filed suit in 2002 challenging federal protections for the spotted owl and its old growth forest habitat.

The Sustainable Ecosystems Institute study does not make recommendations on listing status or on management, but it indicates the need to continue protection of the remaining habitat used by the species.

"This report is yet another very compelling message from our best scientists that underscores the need to protect the old-growth forest habitat we have left," said Scott Greacen of Environmental Protection Information Center, a California based environmental group.

Environmentalists say the Bush administration's policies are moving in the opposite direction, in particular the proposal to relax protection of roadless forest areas and revisions to the Northwest Forest Plan.

The Northwest Forest Plan was created in 1994 by the Clinton administration in the wake of lawsuits centered on federal mismanagement of forests.

The plan aimed to balance potential logging with protection for the northern spotted owl, wild salmon and hundreds of species associated with old growth forests. It affects logging operations on some 24 million acres of federal lands in Washington, Oregon and Northern California.

The Bush administration has changed the plan in a bid to encourage more logging by relaxing environmental regulations designed to safeguard imperiled species.

The new study on the northern spotted owl can be found here.

Animal Groups Aim to Shoot Down Maryland Bear Hunt

The state's first bear hunting season in 51 years is scheduled to start on October 25.

Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich and state officials contend the hunt is need to reduce a bear population that is increasingly in contact with the state's human population.

State scientists estimate there are some 500 black bears in Maryland, primarily within the state's two westernmost counties.

The hunt is expected to cull the population by 30 bears.

The plaintiff groups allege that the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) bear hunt regulations violate several Maryland laws.

The suit was filed by The Fund for Animals, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and several Maryland residents.

They contend the agency failed to provide the public with a sound or plausible rationale for the decision to permit bear hunting and instead relied on faulty bear statistics.

In addition, the groups charge that the DNR made its decision without first determining the public's views on bears and how they should be managed.

"The DNR has changed its rationale for the hunt time and again, first saying it was needed to reduce conflicts with nuisance bears, and then stating that the bear hunt was needed to prevent the growth of the population," said HSUS President Wayne Pacelle.

The DNR reports that more than 2,200 individuals have applied for the 200 black bear hunting permits.

Hunt advocates note that adjacent states - including Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia - allow bear hunting.

Maryland banned bear hunting in the 1950s when the population fell to less than 15 animals, and the animal protection groups say there remains widespread opposition to lifting the ban.

They cite an independent poll of statewide voters in August showing that a majority of Marylanders - including those who live closest to bears in western Maryland - oppose the bear hunt.

In August, the Maryland General Assembly's Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review voted 12 to 7 to reject the DNR's proposed regulations, yet Ehrlich and the DNR held firm on their support for the hunt.

"In their zeal to allow trophy hunters to kill bears for their heads and hides, Governor Ehrlich and his DNR have thumbed their noses at the science, thumbed their noses at the wishes of Maryland citizens, and thumbed their noses at Maryland law," said Michael Markarian, president of The Fund for Animals.

Suburban Sprawl Linked to Health Problems

The study by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, finds that people who live in areas with a high degree of suburban sprawl are more likely to report high blood pressure, arthritis, headaches and breathing difficulties than people who live in less sprawling areas.

A more sprawling area has streets that are not well connected and more separated land use mix - shopping, schools, work, and residential areas are far from each other.

The differences between people living in the two types of areas remained even when researchers accounted for factors such as age, economic status, race and the local environment that might explain the differences.

An adult who lives in a more sprawling city such as Atlanta will have a health profile similar to someone four years older, but otherwise similar, who lives in a more compact city such as Seattle, according to researchers.

"This is the first study that analyzes suburban sprawl and a broad range of chronic health conditions," said Roland Sturm, a RAND health economist and co-author of the study. "We know from previous studies that suburban sprawl reduces the time people spend walking and increases the time they spend sitting in cars, and that is associated with higher obesity rates. This probably plays an important role in the health effects we observe."

The findings appear in the October edition of the journal "Public Health."

Researchers found the unhealthful impacts of suburban sprawl disproportionately affect the poor and the elderly, who often have fewer resources to make up for the limitations created by their environment.

"To improve our health the study suggests that we should build cities where people feel comfortable walking and are not so dependent on cars," said Deborah Cohen, a RAND researcher and physician who co-authored the study. "This study gives the public a way to personalize the issue of sprawl in a way that has not happened before."

Regions that had the worst suburban sprawl include: the Riverside-San Bernardino region of California; Atlanta, Georgia; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; West Palm Beach, Florida; Bridgeport-Danbury-Stamford, Connecticut; Knoxville, Tennessee; Rochester, New York; and Detroit, Michigan.

Regions with the least amount of suburban sprawl include: New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Portland, Oregon; Miami, Denver, Chicago, and Milwaukee.

Americans Ate Record Amounts of Seafood Last Year

Seafood consumption in 2003 rose 0.7 pounds from 2002 - a four percent increase - and extended a continued upward trend of U.S. seafood consumption in recent years, despite repeated warnings about toxic amounts of mercury in fish such as swordfish and tuna, and toxic amounts of PCBs in farmed salmon.

Among the 4.7 billion pounds of seafood consumed last year in the United States was 4.6 pounds per person in canned fish, up 0.3 percent from 2002, and a record four pounds of shrimp consumed per person, also up 0.3 percent from 2002.

NOAA has been calculating the nation's seafood consumption since 1910.

"Along with the latest news from NOAA that fish populations are rebuilding, we have plenty of reasons to incorporate more fish into our diets," said NOAA Fisheries Administrator Bill Hogarth. "The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture are recommending that Americans double their intake of fish to two servings per week as part of a heart healthy diet."

But if the U.S. population does increase its seafood consumption, it is unlikely that additional food will come from domestic sources under the management of NOAA.

The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) notes that the increases are largely attributed to imports, which now account for 78 percent of U.S. consumption.

The commercial fishing group said the imports reflect increased consumer demand because of seafood's nutritional value, the popularity of high protein diets, and the growing supply of many farmed species.

"More and more health professionals are encouraging Americans to eat fish because of its positive health benefits," said NFI President John Connelly. "We are encouraged that American families are enjoying seafood's variety - and the great ways it helps our healthy lifestyles."

The report comes amid growing concern about the sustainability of the world's appetite for seafood.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says that some 47 percent of the world's major marine fish stocks are fully exploited, with another 18 percent overexploited and some 10 percent depleted or recovering from depletion.

Black Lagoon Chosen for Great Lakes Restoration Funding

The lagoon, which is burdened with tons of toxic sediment, lies on Michigan's Detroit River, a 32 mile waterway linking Lake St. Clair and the upper Great Lakes to Lake Erie.

Site preparation begins this week and the dredging will begin in mid-October, Leavitt said.

The project will be completed using $4.2 million in Legacy Act funds and $2.3 million in state funds from the Clean Michigan Initiative.

The Great Lakes Legacy Act authorizes $270 million in funding over five years, beginning this year, to assist with the remediation of contaminated sediment in "areas of concern," toxic hot spots around the Great Lakes. The Bush administration has requested $45 million for the program for fiscal year 2005.

Leavitt said the Black Lagoon was chosen as the first project to be funded because the type, amount and extent of the contaminants are well known and they are confined to one area making it possible to improve the environment quickly.

"Purging the Black Lagoon underscores our commitment to protecting the Great Lakes," Leavitt said. "Targeting this riverbed contamination means every drop of water flowing through here will be cleaner."

Contaminated sediment in the lagoon is a source of pollution to the Detroit River and Lake Erie.

The EPA and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will remove some 90,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with mercury, PCBs, oil and grease, lead and zinc from the bottom of the lagoon.

Mercury and PCBs are the leading causes of fish consumption advisories in the Great Lakes.

The project is the first of many that must be completed in order to reverse the widespread environmental degradation across the Great Lakes.

Including Black Lagoon, there are 42 heavily polluted "areas of concern" throughout the Great Lakes - and sediment pollutant is not the only environmental threat to the freshwater ecosystem. It is besieged by invasive species and pollution from urban and agricultural runoff, including raw sewage, as well as air pollution from vehicles and industry.

The Black Lagoon cleanup is expected to be complete by mid-January. Once the sediment is removed, the bottom of the lagoon will be covered with sand and rock.