GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 030421
GSENet
GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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{*} IN THE SHADOW OF DANGER, THE CHEMICAL PLANT PERIL
{*} 80% OF AMERICANS SUPPORT PHASE-OUT OF TOXIC CHEMICALS
{*} GREENWICH WELLS TEST POSITIVE FOR CARCINOGEN
{*} STUDY FINDS ASTHMA IN 25% OF CHILDREN IN CENTRAL HARLEM
{*} TEAMSTERS, REPUBLICANS FORM ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP
{*} SENIORS BLAST BUSH ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
{*} AREA LEGISLATORS SURGE AGAINST CONECTIV PLAN
{*} SPRAWL BOOSTS RISK OF LYME DISEASE
{*} PASSAIC RIVER'S DUNDEE ISLAND PRESERVE PROPOSED
{*} P.O.E.T.S LONG IN COMING TO TIMBER LAKES
{*} BUSH WEIGHS ENDANGERED SPECIES DELAY
{*} CORRECTION (AGAIN!) - RENEWABLE ENERGY SEMINAR
{*} NEW JERSEY FUTURE "SMART CONSERVATION" PRESENTATION - APR 24
{*} SEVENTH ANNUAL TRENTON BIKE TOUR - MAY 17
{*} PARAMUS - CELEBRATION OF THE EARTH FESTIVAL - MAY 18
{*} COME CELEBRATE THE SUMMER SOLSTICE WITH US - JUN 21
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Please take a moment to let us know how we are doing. Visit the link
below to complete our short 10 question survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=45763154801
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The Garden State EnviroNet (GSE) gratefully acknowledges volunteers
Gerald Cullins, Bambi Dingman, Jeff Hook and Paul Neuman for their
contributions to today's issue. If interested in helping out, please
send an email message to mai...@gsenet.org.
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IN THE SHADOW OF DANGER, THE CHEMICAL PLANT PERIL
Date: 030420
From: http://www.philly.com
HOW SAFE, HOW SECURE?
By Adam Fifield, Inquirer Staff Writer, April 20, 2003
At a sleepy council meeting in December, Paulsboro's emergency-
management coordinator waited his turn. Then, Glenn Roemmich stood,
cleared his throat, and matter-of-factly suggested that the Gloucester
County river town needed six-story warning sirens - "in case something
happens" at the neighboring refinery.
But to warn of what?
It could be a small leak of hydrogen fluoride, like the one in
October 2001 that caused a local school to rush its children and staff
into the gym, and seal it with duct tape.
Or, it could be an unprecedented event - a mass release of this
potentially lethal gas. In that case, for those closest to the plant,
the siren might be a death knell.
The source of that danger could be the Valero Energy Corp. oil
refinery that cleaves to Paulsboro, across the Delaware from
Philadelphia International Airport. It is one of eight plants in the
Philadelphia region that could put more than one million people at
risk of serious injury or death in a "worst-case scenario," according
to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Across the country, there are at least 110 such facilities, though
none has experienced a disaster resulting in widespread loss of life.
Industry representatives say that worst-case scenarios are highly
unlikely and that the scenarios do not take safety mechanisms into
account. Valero has used hydrogen fluoride since the 1940s without a
major release.
But after the Sept. 11 attacks, the possibility of a deliberately
engineered chemical catastrophe has raised alarms and calls for
mandatory security measures.
No federal security standard exists for such companies, unlike for
nuclear plants. Measures are largely voluntary and generally secret,
with company officials saying they do not want to tip off terrorists.
Sen. Jon Corzine (D., NJ) calls the absence of such federal
regulations "Neanderthalic."
"If we can't deal with something as simple and straightforward a risk
to the population as these chemical plants and refineries, I think
we're not taking homeland security seriously," he said.
Valero's worst-case scenario, on file at the EPA, involves a toxic
release of 240,000 pounds of hydrogen-fluoride gas drifting 19 miles
and exposing schools, hospitals and dense housing before it
dissipates.
"Originally, when companies had to release worst-case scenarios, they
said: 'You don't have to worry about this,' " said Sanford Lewis, a
Boston environmental lawyer and author of a manual for community
groups seeking to reduce the risk of chemical-plant hazards. "You
can't say that anymore. We all know there are people of ill will who
want to see a worst-case scenario happen."
In February, the FBI warned that al-Qaeda operatives "may attempt to
launch conventional attacks against the U.S. nuclear/chemical-
industrial infrastructure to cause contamination, disruption and
terror."
The devastation of such a toxic-gas release became apparent in 1984,
when a cloud of methyl isocyanate from a Union Carbide pesticide plant
in Bhopal, India, killed nearly 4,000 and injured 200,000.
A day before the United States went to war with Iraq, the General
Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, warned that although
some chemical facilities were shoring up security, the extent of their
preparedness was unknown. The GAO urged laws to create security
standards.
That same day, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge increased Coast
Guard patrols for petroleum and chemical plants. However, many
communities are not aware of the hazards in their backyards.
On the East Coast, the Philadelphia region has the highest
concentration of facilities that could endanger more than a million
people. Four are in Gloucester County. There is one each in Salem and
Delaware Counties. Two are in Philadelphia. More than four million
people - or 86 percent of the population of the eight-county region -
could be exposed. . This month the debate over chemical-plant security
flared on Capitol Hill. On one side is Corzine, whose bill would
direct the Department of Homeland Security and the EPA to identify
"high-priority" facilities and compel them to fix security weaknesses
and study ways to reduce or eliminate chemical hazards.
Alternative legislation being developed by the Bush administration
would impose security standards but not require consideration of safer
technologies.
Corzine predicts the Republican-sponsored bill will be "100 percent
on the side of the chemical industry." After the GAO report, the
American Chemistry Council, a trade association of 200 companies that
helped defeat Corzine's bill last year, said that it supported a
"national program" to make sure chemical plants assessed their
vulnerabilities and addressed deficiencies.
A federal study of security at more than two dozen chemical plants in
1999 found measures at those plants ranged "from fair to very poor."
The eight Philadelphia-area plants, which were not a part of the
study, say they have strengthened their security since Sept. 11, but -
for security reasons - they provided few details.
Valero's spokeswoman Claire Riggs said the company's perimeter,
enclosed by a chain-link fence, was monitored 24 hours a day by
cameras and multiple roving and stationary guards.
Some facilities are working with the chemistry council's voluntary
security guidelines.
"Our industry has spent a tremendous amount of sweat, tears, energy
and creativity on addressing security since Sept. 11 and before Sept.
11," said Dorothy Kellogg, plant-operations team leader for the
council.
A New Jersey task force is working with the council to upgrade
plants' security. State Department of Environmental Protection
Commissioner Bradley Campbell said that "a great deal of progress" had
been made, but he would not elaborate.
"I think 9/11 was a loud wake-up call," said Hal Bozarth, executive
director of the Chemistry Council of New Jersey, representing 100
firms. "Right away, we all knew the business of chemistry was going to
be vulnerable, and that extraordinary measures had to be taken, and I
believe that in the vast majority of cases, they have been taken."
Bozarth said that the security measures included cameras, concrete
blocks, and stricter background checks. The Philadelphia Police
Department has offered non-mandatory security tips to city plants.
"The plants are all very different, and obviously there isn't much in
the way of standards," said Ronald Koopman, who runs the "chem/bio"
security program at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in
California.
Koopman said that some plants are better than others. Two refineries
that he visited in the western and southern United States had "zigzag
concrete barriers, they had borrowed armored personnel carriers, they
had armed guards. They had a fence and tank-stopping concrete blocks."
But citizen and labor groups say that security at many facilities
remains inadequate.
"Most security precautions to date have been superficial," said Rick
Engler, executive director of the New Jersey Work Environment Council,
representing 60 unions and environmental groups. "In this new era of
relatively sophisticated terrorism, much more needs to be done." . The
Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 directed companies to submit risk-
management plans - their worst-case scenarios, accident histories, and
prevention and emergency-response programs. The plans, first filed in
1999, must be updated every five years.
The million or more people at risk in each of the eight plants'
scenarios include everyone living within a radius of a facility, or
what the EPA calls the "vulnerable zone." But a toxic plume would only
affect those downwind of a release. Still, thousands or tens of
thousands could be exposed.
Among the region's eight plants is Repauno Products LLC, in
Gibbstown, Gloucester County, a specialty chemical maker that stores
sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide's vapor can cause severe shortness of
breath and suffocation.
Four other facilities use large quantities of chlorine - Solvay
Solexis and FERRO in Gloucester County, DuPont Chambers Works in Salem
County, and the Northeast Water Pollution Control Plant in
Philadelphia.
Employed by Germany as a chemical weapon in World War I, chlorine gas
can trigger chest pain, vomiting and, in high concentrations,
suffocation.
The Northeast plant will soon discontinue the use of chlorine.
The other three - Valero, the Sunoco plant in South Philadelphia, and
Conoco Phillips in Trainer, Delaware County - are oil refineries
storing what the EPA calls "one of the strongest acids known."
Hydrogen fluoride is used by 50 refineries in the United States to
make high-octane gas, while sulfuric acid - also dangerous, but less
likely to form a lethal cloud - is employed by 45 refineries.
Valero's Paulsboro plant is the only refinery in New Jersey using
hydrogen fluoride. Unlike a sister plant near Los Angeles, it has no
plans to switch to a safer form of the chemical.
Hydrogen fluoride can become a colorless, ground-hugging cloud that
can defoliate trees, scorch grass and etch glass. It may also burn
eyes and skin, and, in dense concentration, flood lungs with fluid,
causing suffocation.
"Hydrogen fluoride is really nasty," said Jonathan Ward, director of
toxicology at a University of Texas medical branch. "There are a lot
of things that, if released, might smell bad, or there might be some
chronic effects to be worried about, but you're not going to kill
people on the spot. Hydrogen fluoride could do that."
The chemical is also a known quantity to some terrorists, said Neil
Livingstone, board chairman of Global Options, a security firm in
Washington. "Many terrorists come from oil-producing countries.
Normally, people gravitate to stuff they know about, and [hydrogen
fluoride] is something they know well."
The vulnerable zones for the Valero, Sunoco and Conoco Phillips
refineries overlap across the Delaware River, encompassing
Philadelphia International Airport, the new sports stadiums, and many
city neighborhoods.
In 1986, tests conducted by Lawrence Livermore and Amoco Oil Co. in
the Nevada desert revealed the dangers of the concentrated kind of
hydrogen fluoride used by refineries. In one test, potentially lethal
levels from a 977-gallon release were detected five miles downwind.
There have been significant accidental releases elsewhere.
In October 1987, a crane operator at Marathon Oil's Texas City
refinery dropped a 30-ton heater on a tank, releasing 30,000 pounds of
hydrogen fluoride. About 3,000 residents were evacuated, and 900 were
treated for ailments ranging from eye irritation to long-term
breathing problems.
"There were houses right up against the fence," said Koopman, of
Lawrence Livermore. "The only thing that saved people was that the
[hydrogen-fluoride] plume shot 200 feet up in the air, and it went
about 900 meters downwind before it actually came down into the
neighborhood. If it had squirted out sideways, it would have killed
hundreds, if not thousands."
A month later, a Mobil refinery explosion in Torrance, Calif., caused
a 100-pound leak of hydrogen fluoride. Six workers were hurt in the
explosion.
In 1991, two workers died and five were injured after an accidental
release at Southwestern Refining Co. in Texas. In this area, there
have been small hydrogen-fluoride leaks.
Between 1995 and 1997, four one-pound releases at the Sunoco refinery
injured one worker in each accident. In 1997, seven pounds of hydrogen
fluoride escaped from the Trainer refinery, injuring two workers.
In Paulsboro, there have been two minor hydrogen-fluoride releases
since Valero acquired the refinery in 1998.
The three refineries said that hydrogen fluoride did not travel off-
site in any of the releases and that their facilities had numerous
safety mechanisms, including leak detectors, a "water curtain" to
remove vapors from the air, and a "rapid acid evacuation system" to
transfer leaking acid into an alternate tank.
On Oct. 2, 2001, when 150 pounds of hydrogen fluoride leaked within
the Valero refinery, the wind was blowing toward neighboring Greenwich
Township, recalled the township's emergency-management coordinator, Al
Silbaugh.
Broad Street Elementary School ushered all the children and staff
into the gym, and sealed the doors and windows with duct tape and
plastic.
A major release with a higher concentration of the chemical, Silbaugh
said, "could have been a real catastrophe." . Glenn Roemmich, a police
dispatcher, is responsible for protecting Paulsboro from disasters
such as floods and earthquakes. As the volunteer emergency-management
coordinator - a position with a $1,500 yearly budget - he also
supervises evacuation and sheltering procedures in the event of
chemical releases.
Roemmich, with Silbaugh, is trying to raise $112,000 for a system of
five sirens, because right now, "there is no way to notify people
except going door-to-door."
Valero spokeswoman Riggs said the company "is committed to
supporting" a siren system. But Silbaugh said he had yet to receive
any commitment from area companies to help fund it.
In South Philadelphia, a community group and the city sued Sunoco for
such improvements. A 1997 settlement required Sunoco to spend an
estimated $5 million in upgrades and provide additional funds to build
10 warning sirens.
The 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, passed
after the Bhopal tragedy, set up local emergency-planning committees
to prepare for such a catastrophe. But many are hamstrung by a lack of
resources.
Despite community efforts in Paulsboro to educate the public about
emergency procedures, the refinery's risks remain a mystery to many
residents.
Among a dozen interviewed in recent months, only one, a volunteer
firefighter, was aware of Valero's worst-case scenario or emergency
precautions.
"Both industry and government have a duty to warn people if they
could be put in harm's way from chemical releases," said Paul Orum,
director of the nonprofit Working Group on Community Right-To-Know in
Washington.
Also required of the companies by the Clean Air Act amendments was a
public meeting to discuss their risk-management plans. In 1999, Valero
and two other companies hosted an open house at the Gibbstown
firehouse. The event drew fewer than 10 people, recalled a Repauno
Products plant manager.
The companies also included some information on their plans in a
newsletter mailed out by a community advisory panel. The panel,
composed of community members and representatives of five companies,
has publicized the concept of "shelter-in-place," which involves
closing doors and windows, shutting vents, and sealing a room with
duct tape and plastic.
The panel's efforts include a coloring book featuring Shelly the
Turtle. "Shelly stays safe when she shelters in her shell," the book
explains. Children can connect numbered dots that form a toxic-gas
cloud.
Paulsboro Mayor John Burzichelli said shelter-in-place, not
evacuation, may be the town's only option.
"If you've ever tried to drive at 3:30 [p.m.] on our highways, you'll
never get anywhere," he said.
But John Sorensen, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in
Tennessee, explained that "sheltering-in-place is not a simple, one-
size-fits-all solution."
A study by Sorensen found housing built before 1950 "will likely be
unsuitable for sheltering without weatherization." In Paulsboro, 38
percent of the homes went up before 1940.
For those living at the edge of a plant, there may not be time to
shelter in place.
These people fall into what Stuart Greenberg, director of the
nonprofit Environmental Health Watch, dubbed "the sacrifice zone."
"It's the area into which a cloud of dangerous concentration could
move so fast that people will not be able to take protective action,"
he said.
In city neighborhoods near Sunoco, "the closest people to the
refinery don't have a chance," said Joanne Rossi, head of the
Community/Labor Refinery Tracking Committee in South Philadelphia.
"We're dead if anything happens. The [hydrogen fluoride] is something
the government itself needs to take a position on. The chemical is
just too hazardous for the city."
* * *
(c) 2003 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights
Reserved.
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80% OF AMERICANS SUPPORT PHASE-OUT OF TOXIC CHEMICALS
Date: 17 Apr 2003
From: Bill Smedley {bsme...@kcnet.org}
NEW VOTER POLL: 80% OF AMERICANS SUPPORT COMPREHENSIVE POLICY
TO PHASE OUT PERSISTENT TOXIC CHEMICALS
THE PENNSYLVANIA ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK SUPPORTS
ALTERNATIVES TO PERSISTENT TOXIC CHEMICALS
April 17, 2003
Fombell, PA - New polling data released today in 12 states shows that
nearly two out of three voters in states in different regions of the
U.S. are highly concerned about the unique dangers posed by persistent
toxic chemicals in our air, water, land and food. As a result of this
concern, an overwhelming majority of more than eighty percent of those
polled support a comprehensive policy to phase out such toxic
chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives. Pennsylvania's
citizens deserve a new policy's to protect the public health from
persistent toxic chemicals.
The polls represent one of the first comprehensive studies of voter
opinion on persistent toxic chemicals. Among the key findings of the
survey were the following:
* Nearly half of those polled said that toxic chemicals in land, air,
water and food represented an "extremely" or "very serious" problem
in their state;
* After hearing a description of the factors that distinguish
persistent toxic chemicals from other toxics, two out of three
voters indicated that they were "extremely" or "very concerned"
about the problems posed by such chemicals;
* More than three-quarters of voters mistakenly believe that chemical
companies are already required to provide information about the
health impacts of the chemicals they create, and a majority
mistakenly believe that the government conducts safety tests on
chemicals used in all major consumer products; and
* More than four out of five voters in each state said they supported
a proposal to phase out persistent toxic chemicals, replace them
with safer alternatives, and clean up the contamination they have
caused.
This information comes not long after the release of the Centers for
Disease Control's second National Report on Human Exposure to Toxic
Chemicals that shows the levels 116 dangerous chemicals in the bodies
of the American people. The government, however, does not require
health studies for new industrial chemicals unless they will be added
to food. Health tests are not required for chemicals used in
cosmetics, toys, clothing, carpets or construction materials.
Bill Smedley, the Dioxin/Toxics Team Leader for PEN stated "It's time
for the Pennsylvania Legislature to be pro-active in protecting the
citizens of this Commonwealth from needless exposure to a host of
toxic chemicals that are damaging the health of our communities
especially our children. It seems like most of our politicians are
more interested in the financial health of corporations who fund their
elections than the public health of our citizens, it's time for that
attitude to change with policy's that will phase out and replace known
hazardous toxic chemicals with safe alternatives. This poll shows that
average people want safer alternatives; It's time for the Pennsylvania
Legislature to move on policy's that protect the public from
unnecessary chemical hazards. It's no secret that our state Department
of Environmental Protection has failed horribly to protect us when
issuing "pollution permits" that legalize the release of toxic
chemicals into our communities. However, it is not entirely DEP's
fault as the Pennsylvania Legislature has the responsibility to give
them the guidelines to change their policy's regarding transition to
safer alternatives, Other States are moving fast on this tract, this
issue needs to get on the Legislative's radar sooner rather than
later".
In the absence of the long awaited, seriously overdue EPA Dioxin
Reassessment (still in draft form after over 10 years and being held
in limbo by the Bush Administration) and subsequent federal
regulations, activists have turned their focus on getting strong state
and local policies. In Washington State, there is a comprehensive
state-wide policy to phase out 29 persistent chemicals and push for
safer alternatives. Decision makers in Washington State have listened
to their voters and are moving in the right direction to protect them.
Today many environmental groups in 12 states have joined PEN and
participated in this national media event as part of the Launch of the
Alliance for Safe Alternatives. The Alliance, which is a project of
the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, is a national
partnership that works to eliminate persistent toxic chemicals and
promote safe, practical and cost effective alternatives.
"A number of the safer alternatives are already available and could
easily replace persistent toxic chemicals, says PEN Board Member
George Knox. "Using these safer alternatives would have minimal costs
and great benefits for public health. PEN supports and will work with
the new Alliance for Safe Alternatives to help protect our communities
and move Pennsylvania into safer alternatives to the host of toxic
chemicals that endanger us every day".
- - -
For More Information Contact:
Bill Smedley
Dioxin/Toxics Team Leader
Pennsylvania Environment Network
(PEN) PO Box 92 Fombell, PA 16123
570-398-7383
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GREENWICH WELLS TEST POSITIVE FOR CARCINOGEN
Date: 030419
From: http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/
By Linda Lisanti, Express-Times, April 19, 2003
Greenwich Twp. - A cancer-causing chemical found in several private
wells at a 76-home development off Willow Grove Road is fueling worry
among the development's residents.
One-third of the wells tested at the Pacesetter development have come
back positive for the carcinogen trichloroethylene, more commonly
referred to as TCE, which is often found in paint, spot removers,
carpet-cleaning fluids, metal cleaners and varnishes. It was first
detected last month when a well was tested during a real-estate
transaction, according to town officials.
Under the new Private Well Testing Act enacted in September 2002,
certain wells must be tested as a condition of a sale.
After the first test came back positive, the township decided to test
the surrounding wells. Each of the 76 homes has its own well.
So far, about 15 wells have been tested by a private company hired by
Greenwich. Five have come back positive for TCE, according to
officials. Plans are to test all remaining wells.
Residents in the development are worried. Within days, news of the
TCE contamination spread through the community with neighbors phoning
one another.
Elisabeth Taylor, who has lived here for six years, said she was
shocked when she received a call from her neighbor. She said her
husband had heard of TCE, but she never had. She has since spent hours
researching the chemical.
Although their well came back negative for TCE, Taylor is fearful for
her family's safety.
"It's scary to think that we've been drinking this water not knowing
this was in it," she said.
Long-term exposure to TCE can cause vomiting and abdominal pains,
liver damage and cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Web site. No health risks have been documented
with short-term exposure.
Township Committeeman Jeff Mallory, who also lives in the
development, said he and his neighbors aren't sure what they're
dealing with since each Web site says something different.
That only fuels their worries. His well has tested positive for the
chemical. The state limit is 1 part per billion. The first test of his
well came back at 1.5 parts per billion, the second test at 1.6 parts
per billion.
Mallory said he and his wife have "always been a little uncertain
about the well water."
The family isn't drinking the water, but they are showering and doing
laundry with it. He said he is concerned, but realizes there isn't
reason to be fanatical and thinks the risk is minimal.
Mallory said the homeowners are stuck in a waiting game until the New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection completes its testing.
Once the number of contaminated wells reaches 5, the DEP starts an
investigation. So far, the agency hasn't been able to find the source.
The DEP has set a meeting for all Greenwich residents with wells at
7 p.m. May 7 at the township municipal building. DEP officials are
scheduled to address concerns at that time and suggest ways residents
can protect their wells.
Committeewoman Elaine Emiliani, who is liaison to the Greenwich Board
of Health, said the township isn't sure when the TCE entered the water
supply. Before the act was passed in 2002, there wasn't any mandate
requiring well testing. Some were tested, others weren't.
All 76 homeowners have been alerted and are being asked to provide
data from when their wells were last tested in hopes of finding the
origin. Emiliani said this is the first known case of TCE
contamination in Greenwich Township.
In the mid-1980s, high levels of the chemical were found in 50 wells
in the Route 57 valley joining Washington and Franklin townships. The
theory is that it is migrating westward, Emiliani said. The Pacesetter
development is right on the border of Greenwich and Franklin
townships.
While she understands residents have concern, Emiliani pointed out
that the amounts of TCE that have been detected are minimal. She said
they are above the state's limit of 1 ppb, but not by much. Each
contaminated well varies.
Emiliani also pointed out that side effects are usually seen after at
least 30 years exposure. The wells in the Pacesetter development have
been tested several times in the last 30 years, and the community was
built about 25 years ago.
The committeewoman said residents can drink the water since the TCE
is at a minimum, but she said most are too afraid to do so.
"There is no reason to panic," she said.
Taylor said she isn't taking any chances.
"It's bottled water only," she said.
* * *
Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by email at
llis...@express-times.com.
Copyright 2003 The Express-Times.
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STUDY FINDS ASTHMA IN 25% OF CHILDREN IN CENTRAL HARLEM
Date: 19 Apr 2003
From: "Peter Montague" {Pe...@rachel.org}
By Richard Perez-Pena, NY Times, April 19, 2003
A study has found that one of every four children in central Harlem
has asthma, which is double the rate researchers expected to find and,
experts say, is one of the highest rates ever documented for an
American neighborhood.
Researchers say the figures, from an effort based at Harlem Hospital
Center to test every child in a 24-block area, could indicate that the
incidence of asthma is even higher in poor, urban areas than was
previously believed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that
about 6 percent of all Americans have asthma; the rate is believed to
have doubled since 1980, but no one knows why. New York City is
thought to have a higher rate than other major cities, but that, too,
is something of a mystery. The disease kills 5,000 people nationally
each year.
Previous studies have pointed to rates above 10 percent, and as high
as the high teens, in the South Bronx, Harlem and a few other New York
City neighborhoods where a long list of environmental factors put
people at higher risk. Several asthma researchers say they know of no
well-documented level above 20 percent in the United States.
Asthma is an inflammation and constriction of the airways that makes
it difficult to breathe. Scientists believe that only someone with a
genetic predisposition can become asthmatic, but environmental factors
like pollen, dust, animal dander, air pollution and cold air also
contribute to development of the disease and can lead to attacks.
Some of the worst triggers, studies have found, are most prevalent in
poor communities, including the feces of cockroaches and dust mites,
cigarette smoke and mold and mildew. Harlem, East Harlem and the South
Bronx also have a heavy concentration of diesel bus and truck traffic,
and the tiny particles in diesel exhaust are thought to be another
serious asthma trigger.
Most previous attempts to measure asthma were based on asking people
whether they had ever received a diagnosis of the disease, or suffered
from obvious symptoms of it. But a program begun last year tried
something far more ambitious: to conduct asthma tests on every child
under 13 who lives or goes to school in a 24-square-block area of
central Harlem, more than 2,000 of them.
Nearly halfway through the screenings, the effort - by Harlem
Hospital Center and Harlem Children's Zone, a nonprofit group, with
help from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, New
York City and T. Berry Brazelton, the child development authority -
has found that 25.5 percent of the children have asthma, including
many who were not previously diagnosed.
The Harlem Hospital findings suggest that if blanket testing were
more widespread, "the rates might be much higher than suspected in any
number of inner-city neighborhoods around the country," said Dr.
Stephen Nicholas, the head of the project, who is the director of
pediatrics at Harlem Hospital Center and an associate professor at
Columbia Medical School. "We found that a lot of kids are floating
through life without anyone knowing they have asthma."
"We know of a few other researchers doing similar studies in New York
City that have not been released yet that have found similar rates,"
said Mary E. Northridge, an associate professor at the Mailman school
and editor in chief of the American Journal of Public Health. She
helped set up the Harlem project's questionnaire and is evaluating the
resulting data.
"When I first met this group, I thought that they were nuts to think
that they could test every child in an entire community, and then
provide services to all of the ones who have asthma," she said. "It's
an enormous undertaking."
Herman Mitchell, an epidemiologist who is a leader in asthma research
coordinated by the National Institutes of Health, cautioned that
studies could differ simply because there were problems in defining
asthma and in making an accurate diagnosis.
Of the Harlem findings, he said: "This is certainly one of the
highest rates attributed in the United States, if not the highest.
What they're doing is quite exceptional in scope and it sounds like
it's good methodology, but until they publish and lay it out, it's
hard to judge."
In many cases, the Harlem researchers said, children had obvious,
longstanding signs of asthma but had never been diagnosed - either
because the parents did not seek treatment or because doctors missed
the signals. And in many other cases, they said, children whose
parents reported no obvious signs of asthma turned out, on
examination, to have mild cases of the disease, which can become more
severe if left untreated.
"This is a very poor community where a lot of the families have very
troubled lives, with lots of stresses, and that not only makes the
problem more severe, it makes it much harder to even identify the
problem and treat the problem," said Geoffrey Canada, president of
Harlem Children's Zone.
The finding of a high asthma rate is an accidental byproduct of an
attempt not to measure the disease but to treat it. It grew out of the
work of Harlem Children's Zone, which was formerly known as the
Rheedlen Centers. The group provides intensive, wide-ranging social
services as disparate as training adults in parenting and helping
people become homeowners, mostly in its self-declared zone, the area
bounded by 116th Street, 123rd Street, Fifth Avenue and Eighth Avenue.
The group set out to address asthma, but first it wanted a sense of
the problem's scope. A preliminary survey of students at Public School
149 by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene indicated an
asthma rate of about one in five, higher than expected.
In 2001, Harlem Children's Zone and Harlem Hospital joined forces,
and the hospital won a grant from the Robin Hood Foundation to help
the families of asthmatic children improve their medical care and
living conditions.
Then, beginning last year, a team at the hospital set out to screen
all of the roughly 2,200 children under 13 who live or attend school
in the zone, asking about symptoms, listening to their lungs and
measuring the rate at which they can exhale into a tube.
So far, the parents of 1,401 of the children have filled out
questionnaires intended to detect possible signs of asthma, like
nighttime coughing and wheezing, and 967 of the children have actually
been examined. Nearly all of those tested so far are of school age,
leaving out the younger children, in whom it can be hard to
distinguish asthma from the respiratory ailments common to toddlers.
The project staff aims to screen all the children by this summer and
then to publish its findings.
One preliminary finding of the Harlem study is that children with
asthma are about 50 percent more likely to live with someone who
smokes than children who do not have the disease.
Another is that even parents who seek medical care often have a poor
understanding of their children's condition and treatment and do not
give them medication properly. Yet another is that asthma is the
leading cause of school absenteeism in the neighborhood.
Like the other work of the Harlem Children's Zone, the goal of the
asthma project is intensive intervention. Doctors, nurses, social
workers and others repeatedly visit the families of asthmatic children
over many months, and, among other steps, help them get holes in walls
and broken windows repaired, in some cases help them replace dust-
loaded furniture and carpets, teach them to clean and provide cleaning
materials, go on doctors' visits with them and oversee the taking of
medicine.
* * *
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
# # #
Rachel's Environment & Health News
Environmental Research Foundation
POB 160
New Brunswick NJ 08903-0160
Tel: 732-828-9995
Fax: 732-791-4603
Email: e...@rachel.org
Web: http://www.rachel.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
TEAMSTERS, REPUBLICANS FORM ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP
Date: 18 Apr 2003
From: "Peter Montague" {Pe...@rachel.org}
Environmental News Service, April 17, 2003
Washington, DC - Labor unions frustrated with their traditional
environmental allies have teamed up with Republicans to advance a
lobbying agenda focused on balancing economic and environmental
interest.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Council of
Republicans for Environmental Advocacy announced Wednesday the
formation of the Labor Environment Alliance, which the organizations
say is dedicated to ensuring that the highest quality jobs and
healthiest environment coexist in the United States.
Both groups have lobbied for oil drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), something environmentalists have strongly
opposed. Domestic energy production will be a priority issue for LEA,
along with emissions reductions, brownfields redevelopment, road
construction.
The new lobbying group also announced support for the Bush
administration's Clear Skies initiative, something that has been
sharply criticized by most environmentalists.
"LEA will promote responsible environmentalism that walks hand in
hand with job creation," said Teamsters General President James Hoffa.
"It will recognize politicians who have taken a tough stand for the
environment and for labor."
The new lobbying group will focus on the belief that economic and
environmental concerns can be balanced.
"This alliance between labor and environment will put to rest once
and for all the false notion that we must choose between jobs and
quality of life," said Douglas Wheeler, advisory board member of the
Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy.
Some environmental groups were quick to criticize the newly formed
organization, which they say will do little to strengthen labor or
protect the environment.
"Mainstream labor groups have worked closely with the environmental
community for decades to find common sense ways to protect our
environment and strengthen our economy at the same time," said League
of Conservation Voters political director Betsy Loyless.
"The Labor Environment Alliance is merely an attempt by the Bush
administration to scare voters into believing that harmful
environmental policies are necessary to America's economic security
when the exact opposite is true."
# # #
Rachel's Environment & Health News
Environmental Research Foundation
POB 160
New Brunswick NJ 08903-0160
Tel: 732-828-9995
Fax: 732-791-4603
Email: e...@rachel.org
Web: http://www.rachel.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SENIORS BLAST BUSH ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
Date: 19 Apr 2003
From: aozo...@aol.com (Aozotorp)
EarthLink, April 19, 2003
Pittsburgh - Some seniors and environmentalists are accusing the Bush
administration of discriminating against older people by telling
agencies calculating the value of environmental programs to take the
age of those benefiting into account.
Critics say it's unfair to place a lesser value on environmental
regulations that help people who have fewer years to live. They plan
to raise questions about the idea Wednesday, when the EPA holds a town
meeting in Pittsburgh.
"How can they say my life is less valuable than an infant's?" said Jo
Ann Evansgardner, a 78-year-old environmental activist in Pittsburgh.
"It's like they're playing God, to claim they can put a dollar value
on me that differs from someone else."
The White House Office of Management and Budget has directed the
Environmental Protection Agency and other regulatory agencies to
factor age into cost-benefit analyses, but also to continue the
traditional process of calculating benefits regardless of age.
Using both methods will provide better perspective on the worth of
regulations, said the OMB's regulatory chief, John D. Graham.
In some cases, taking age into account could increase the value
placed on older lives, Graham said. In a recent EPA proposal to cut
diesel exhaust from off-road engines, the life of a person under 65
was valued at $172,000 a year, compared to $434,000 for people 65 and
older.
"It recognizes that the elderly have precious few life-years
remaining," Graham said.
Environmentalists, however, say the method still values seniors less
because it counts the per-year value for fewer years.
They point to an EPA cost-benefit analysis on a proposal to cut
snowmobile pollution in national parks. The worth of the proposal,
which was ultimately dropped, fell considerably when the benefit to a
person over age 70 was cut by one-third.
Heather Sage, outreach coordinator for Citizens for Pennsylvania's
Future, said lowering the value placed on seniors "would be a major
setback, given that seniors are a susceptible population to soot and
particulates." She accused the Bush administration of watering down
environmental initiatives to favor polluters.
* * *
(c) 2003 EarthLink, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
AREA LEGISLATORS SURGE AGAINST CONECTIV PLAN
Date: 030418
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/
By Dan P. Lee, Staff Writer, (609) 272-7209
Press of Atlantic City, April 18, 2003
The opposition continues to mount against Conectiv Power Delivery's
plan to install high-voltage power lines through residential areas in
parts of Atlantic and Ocean counties.
Legislators from New Jersey's 2nd District have now formally entered
the fray, drafting an open letter to the residents who stand to be
directly affected to tell them that state government officials are
united in their opposition to the utility's plan.
The legislators - state Sen. Bill Gormley and Assemblymen Frank Blee
and Paul D'Amato - also said they are preparing to introduce
legislation that would prohibit lines of such a high voltage from
being installed aboveground in any residential area in the state. It
was not immediately clear Thursday what impact that legislation could
have on the utility's existing proposal.
"If this proposal were implemented, the unique rural, historical and
environmental character of our communities would be forever
destroyed," the three wrote, referring to the substantially larger
poles the lines would be placed upon. "More seriously, the potential
for future health problems for those families living closest to the
(lines) would be elevated as a result of the dramatic increase in the
level of electromagnetic fields" they would emit.
Despite vociferous objections from residents and local politicians,
Conectiv recently returned to its original 2-year-old plan to replace
existing 69-kilovolt power lines with 230-kilovolt lines along a
partially residential route from Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County,
to the Oyster Creek Generating Station in Lacey Township, Ocean
County.
The utility said it has no choice but to do so because the state
indicated it would not agree to a more recent alternative plan to
place the lines aboveground on a route along the Garden State Parkway.
Conectiv said state officials offered the rationale that the lines
would compromise the parkway's aesthetic value and open up a Pandora's
Box for similar requests.
The utility maintains that those two are the only viable options and
that one must be pursued swiftly, since the region's surging demand
for electricity is expected to soon eclipse availability.
But the legislators as well as virtually everyone involved in the
discussions - except Conectiv - say a third option exists that would
have the least possible impact for residents: placing the lines
underground along the parkway.
Conectiv officials have fiercely resisted that option, saying three
factors - difficulty in repairing underground lines during a problem,
difficulty in acquiring the environmental waivers to install them and
the overall cost - make it unfeasible.
The utility's spokeswoman, Betty Kennedy, reiterated that sentiment
in an interview Thursday.
But Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley M.
Campbell told The Press last week that his agency agrees that the
lines should be placed underground along the parkway and said he will
do whatever he can to facilitate that option.
He said the utility nevertheless has made no attempt to contact the
DEP about working through any environmental issues associated with
burying the lines. He also noted that Conectiv has not filed a formal
application with the New Jersey Highway Authority to have any plan
that would involve the parkway considered.
Kennedy acknowledged Thursday that the utility still has not applied
formally with the authority but said Conectiv "continues to reach out"
to it to discuss "the various options." In response to a reporter's
question, she said she did not know whether the utility would be
willing to soften its opposition to installing the lines underground.
The utility has taken heat for months from residents as well as local
and state officials for the way it has handled the situation,
including Campbell, who last week called the company's tactics
"inexcusable." Among other things, they have chastised the utility for
its previous attempts to gain easements from residents with the offer
of $100 bills and what residents have said was the company's initial
characterization of the changes as "standard upgrades."
Galloway Township Mayor Chuck Endicott, whose municipality, along
with neighboring Port Republic, is leading the battle against
Conectiv's plan, said Thursday that he feels optimistic that the
option to place the lines underground ultimately will prevail.
"It makes you feel good that the legislators and the people in
Trenton are hearing our outcry and are willing to do the right thing
to prevent this from happening not only in Galloway but anywhere in
New Jersey," he said.
Meanwhile, Conectiv faces opposition to other upgrades it currently
is planning.
In Ocean City, Cape May County, residents and some officials, citing
concerns about potential health effects, want the utility to bury two
138-kilovolt lines that will run from Upper Township to the 35th
Street substation. On Long Beach Island, Ocean County, residents and
officials similarly want new 69-kilovolt cables placed underground to
avoid what they have described as the "aesthetic" of a built-up power
station around the entrance to the island.
Conectiv is resisting in both cases, citing the same reasons it has
in the 230-kilovolt case.
* * *
To email Dan P. Lee at The Press: DL...@pressofac.com
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SPRAWL BOOSTS RISK OF LYME DISEASE
Date: 18 Apr 2003
From: "carol" {ca...@njconservation.org}
THE STATE WE'RE IN
By Michele S. Byers, Executive Director
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
April 16, 2003 - Volume XXXV, No. 14
One of sprawl's worst impacts is the fragmentation of forests. Each
new development creates a new "clearing" in the forest. Clearings and
rights of way break forests into smaller fragments - a nibble here, a
bite there, and before you know it, sprawl shatters what was once a
large, complex forest ecosystem. The devastating consequences of
fragmentation on native plants and animals are well known, but a new
study has shown that people living in fragmented forest areas are
paying a price too, through a greater incidence of Lyme Disease.
It makes sense, when you think about it. After all, no matter how
insulated we may feel, we are part of our natural world, and are
ultimately affected by a dizzying array of factors from thousands of
miles away to right in our back yards!
Part of the problem is that many of our back yards were once part of
large forests, and the newly cleared areas have created new
opportunities for mice and ticks!
A recent study, which combines the expertise of biologists and animal
ecologists from Rutgers University, Bard College and the Institute of
Ecosystem Studies in New York, found that, in the case of northeastern
woodlands, the `conversion' of large blocks of forest to a myriad of
much smaller fractured woodlands has skewed the natural food chain.
By studying blacklegged ticks (also known as deer ticks) on 14
privately owned patches of maple forest, ranging from 2 to 18 acres,
scientists were able to track the impact of new development patterns.
In one 18-acre woodland, for example, they found 100 ticks per acre.
Of these, 40 percent were infected with the bacterium that causes Lyme
Disease. By contrast, one of the smaller woodland sites had 6 times
the number of ticks and 75 percent were infected!
It turns out that ever-adaptable white-footed mice find themselves at
home not only in dark basement corners, but also in lawns and hedges.
And in a forest fragmented by development, these locations have the
added benefit of being mostly free of predators, like foxes and
weasels, which require larger blocks of woodland as hunting grounds.
White-footed mice are the main carrier of the bacterium responsible
for Lyme Disease, and in small forest fragments, they also happen to
be a staple in the diet of blacklegged ticks.
With dire warnings about the future of the planet, conservationists
are sometimes accused of wild exaggeration. But this new study
highlights the real root of conservationists' concerns - we haven't
even scratched the surface of all the ways our sprawling development
patterns are impacting our environment, and by (very short)
extension - our health and our lives.
As we enter spring and summer, I hope you'll take advantage of the
outdoors and go walking, gardening, hiking, and canoeing. But please
take proper precautions against ticks as you do!
I hope you'll contact me at 1-888-LAND-SAVE or
in...@njconservation.org, or visit NJCF's website at
http://www.njconservation.org, for more information about conserving
New Jersey's precious land and natural resources.
* * *
Carol K. Banhart
New Jersey Conservation Foundation
Bamboo Brook
170 Longview Road
Far Hills, NJ 07931
Phone: 908-234-1225 x101
Fax: 908-234-1189
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PASSAIC RIVER'S DUNDEE ISLAND PRESERVE PROPOSED
Date: 030419
From: http://www.northjersey.com/
By Amanda Gerut, Herald News, April 19, 2003
The Passaic River Coalition is in early talks with officials to make
Dundee Island a nature preserve.
For more than five years, developers of every stripe have been eyeing
Dundee Island, which isn't an island but a long swath of land between
the Passaic River and Route 21. Town & Country Developers of Woodcliff
Lake is interested in developing the nearly 13-acre property and has a
contract with owner Akbar Ghahary.
The group is building a midrise and townhouse complex on Colfax
Avenue.
In the late 1600s, explorers rowed from New York City to Dundee
Island to set up a trading post with the Lenni-Lenape Indians, who
lived along the riverbank. Today, Dundee Island holds a bird sanctuary
and Safas Corp., which Ghahary owns. Safas provides raw materials for
producing hard surfaces.
Ella Filippone, the executive director of the Passaic River
Coalition, said the largest obstacle would be to acquire the property
and the contract from Town & Country, which has offices in New Jersey,
North Carolina and Arizona.
But it can be done.
Last November, the coalition bought a 35-acre parcel in Bloomingdale
that was supposed to be developed into residential housing by using
funds from borough, county and state sources.
Ghahary said he had an expansion plan for Safas but was considering
relocating to a more industrial area. Either way, Ghahary said, a plan
for the site is long overdue.
After the completion of Route 21 two years ago, the property became
more accessible and has attracted transients and people dumping
garbage, Ghahary said. A collection of old furniture appeared
recently, and a cleanup crew pulled hundreds of old tires out of the
river last year.
"We must do something about this property," Ghahary said. "It cannot
stay as it is."
Filippone said it was difficult to speculate in such early stages,
but there could be money for the Dundee Island purchase from the
state's Green Acres program, the county Green Trust or federal
wetlands funding.
During construction of Route 21, the state Department of
Transportation took eight acres of open water, she said. The loss
could have changed the river's flow and made it more prone to
flooding, she said. It flooded occasionally before construction.
City officials support the nature preserve, and public sentiment in
recent months has been largely in favor of ceasing development to
evaluate growth in the city. The department gave the city 2.5 acres of
the property during construction, and a purchase would be an addition
to that land, Filippone said.
Filippone envisioned a boardwalk so people could stroll or fish in
the river.
"It would be a passive area, but would remain wild," she said. "It
would be the only place like that on the Passaic River in the lower
area. It would be fantastic."
* * *
Reach Amanda Gerut at (973) 569-7172 or ge...@northjersey.com.
Copyright (c) 2003 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
P.O.E.T.S LONG IN COMING TO TIMBER LAKES
Date: 030419
From: http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/
By Daniele Cruz, Gloucester County Times, April 19, 2003
Monroe Twp. - Several residents in the Timber Lakes community who
were shocked three months ago upon learning their water wells were
contaminated are receiving filtration systems so they may have clean
drinking water.
Dorothy Mack has purchased countless bottles of water for drinking
and cooking and is eagerly looking forward to taking a shower without
worrying about the contamination found in her well. She filed with the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for a Point of Entry
Treatment System (P.O.E.T.) to be installed and has hired a contractor
to do the work shortly.
"It's going to cost about $1,000 for the unit to be installed," Mack
said. "They might as well take that money and put it toward water
lines."
Anthony Ayres, president of the Timber Lakes Homeowner's Association,
feels that the installation process is taking too long.
"Somebody's dragging their feet in getting this done and the
residents are suffering," he said. "Action is not being taken like it
should."
Ayres said that the township should pursue the possibility of running
municipal water lines to the southern end of the Black Horse Pike.
"We were trying to get it done when I was on council (about five
years ago)," Ayres said. "But in the last four years it has gone
backwards."
Don Schneider, Gloucester County environmental health coordinator,
said the Gloucester County Health Department is still conducting water
sampling in the Timber Lakes community.
He said another private well in that vicinity recently tested
positive for contamination, and he expects more to continue to pop up
as the Private Well Testing Act continues to protect new home buyers
from contaminated wells.
"It's (the act) helped," Schneider said. "It's scared people, but
something good is coming."
Schneider said studies show about 10 percent of the private wells
today are contaminated.
While the contamination is scattered, Schneider said the southern
portion of the county experiences more contamination because the wells
there draw from a different aquifer than the municipalities in the
northern part of the county.
He explained that the northern portion of the county, from Woodbury
to Glassboro, draws from the Raritan aquifer and the southern
municipalities draw from the Cohansey aquifer.
The Raritan aquifer has a thick clay layer on top that often protects
the water from ground contamination, but the Cohansey aquifer is
shallow and has a non-consolidated formation, meaning contaminants can
travel through it.
The Cohansey aquifer is used by Franklin, Monroe, Washington and Elk
townships.
* * *
dc...@sjnewsco.com
Copyright 2003 Gloucester County Times.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
BUSH WEIGHS ENDANGERED SPECIES DELAY
Date: 030419
From: http://www.latimes.com/
By Elizabeth Shogren, LA Times Staff Writer, April 19, 2003
Washington - The Bush administration is considering asking the courts
for more time to protect 24 endangered species, a strategy that has
outraged some environmental groups.
An internal U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service document obtained by The
Times lists 24 court-ordered actions - either proposing or designating
critical habitats - that the agency does not expect it will complete
by deadlines this fall. It is considering requesting extensions from
the courts.
In designated critical habitats, the government must consider the
endangered species' needs before deciding to permit development.
Developers, loggers and other groups have long complained that
government regulations unreasonably hamper their projects.
Some environmentalists say the administration's tentative plan to
seek more time to comply with the 24 court orders amounts to an
attempt to avoid having to curtail commercial activity on essential
land for species' survival.
It is no coincidence, they say, that the Fish and Wildlife Service's
list includes many of the most controversial habitat designations,
some of which have already been litigated several times.
"That shows a blatant disregard for the judiciary," said Bill Snape,
legal director for Defenders of Wildlife, a national environmental
group.
Species on the list, which is not final, include the Canada lynx
(which lives in the northern tier of states), the bull trout (the
Pacific Northwest, extending to Northern California) and the
southwestern willow flycatcher (California and six other states).
Many of the other species also live in California.
Officials in the Interior Department, the bureaucratic home of the
Fish and Wildlife Service, say the list merely reflects the agency's
inadequate budget. And they have the sympathy of Jamie Clark, who
directed the Fish and Wildlife Service in the Clinton administration.
"The fact that they're asking for extensions is not a surprise at all
to me," said Clark, vice president of the National Wildlife
Federation. "I am sure that they're financially strapped."
Clark agreed with Bush administration officials that the problem
stemmed from excessive litigation over critical habitat designations.
Like Bush officials, she complained that endless lawsuits required
government biologists to spend too much time designating critical
habitat for the species - a complicated and expensive process - and
too little time listing new species.
The Bush administration argues that the critical habitat designations
are a waste of time because other parts of the Endangered Species Act
adequately protect the species and their habitats.
"It sucks up a lot of government resources, causes a lot of social
angst and economic upheaval," said Craig Manson, assistant Interior
secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. "But in terms of real
conservation benefit, it's just about nil."
The court orders take up so much time and money, he said, that
federal biologists have no time to focus on listing species that they
believe most need protection.
"As of today, we have no capacity to carry out any discretionary
actions because...[the] budget is committed to court orders through
fiscal 2008," Manson said.
Some environmental activists charge that Interior Secretary Gale A.
Norton created the budgetary crisis by failing to request adequate
funds from Congress to do the work the courts had ordered.
"She engineered it; she wants a budget crisis," said Kieran Suckling,
executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, which is
responsible for many of the environmental lawsuits. "Look at the
species involved: These are very, very important species whose habitat
protection would have the greatest impact on industry - that's why
Bush has singled them out."
Many of the species on the Bush administration's tentative list have
storied legal histories.
For the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, the Fish and
Wildlife Service in 1997 designated 599 miles of stream and river beds
across California and six other states as critical habitat in response
to a court order resulting from a lawsuit filed by an environmental
group.
The New Mexico Cattle Growers Assn. sued the government, complaining
that fencing erected to protect the habitat of the petite bird was
making it difficult for their cattle to get to water and grazing land,
thus forcing ranchers to decrease their herds.
The association won the lawsuit two years ago, and the agency was
ordered to withdraw the critical habitat designation while it was
reconsidered. The Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to propose a new
habitat designation, and the flycatcher was on the list of species
being considered for seeking court extensions.
The National Home Builders Assn. filed a similar lawsuit contesting
the critical habitat designated in the Tucson area to protect the
pygmy owl. Rather than waiting for a judge to rule, the Bush
administration agreed with the builders' complaint, withdrew the
critical habitat designation and Fish and Wildlife began developing a
new plan.
The new proposal, to designate 1.2 million acres of private and
public land for critical habitat, was completed in November but the
designation process is not complete. It is among the cases for which
the Fish and Wildlife Service is considering requesting more time.
* * *
Copyright 2003 Los Angeles Times
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
CORRECTION (AGAIN!) - RENEWABLE ENERGY SEMINAR
Date: 18 Apr 2003
From: NJSSI Clearinghouse {njssi...@njssi.net}
Garden State EnviroNews 030418
NJSSI SEMINAR - RENEWABLE ENERGY IN NJ - MAY 1
Our apologies for again sending an incorrect phone number to RSVP -
please phone 732-932-2591 x763 to add your name to the list for the
May 1 seminar on renewable energy. If no one is there, please leave a
message. There is lots of room, so you don't need confirmation that
you are on the list as long as we have your name.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
NEW JERSEY FUTURE "SMART CONSERVATION" PRESENTATION - APR 24
Date: 18 Apr 2003
From: "Wilma Frey" {wi...@njconservation.org}
On Thursday, April 24th, from 8:00 to 9:30 AM, Sam Hamill and Chris
Sturm of the New Jersey Future staff will present - and provide an
opportunity for discussing - our new report, "Smart Conservation: The
Green Side of Smart Growth." The meeting will be in Trenton at Thomas
Edison State College, 101 West State Street, Townhouse Room 104. A
continental breakfast will be available. Please email
njfu...@njfuture.org if you plan to attend.
This report is based on NJF research and analysis of New Jersey's
programs for natural resource and farmland preservation, and programs
in other states. It argues that New Jersey's land acquisition programs
are necessary - but not sufficient - to protect environmental
resources, create parks, and preserve farmland. The report presents
the specifics of a new land preservation model based on closer
linkages among state and local open space planning, regulation, and
acquisition. The full report will be available next week at the NJF
website.
We hope you might be free to attend what we expect to be an
interesting and productive meeting.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SEVENTH ANNUAL TRENTON BIKE TOUR - MAY 17
Date: 2 Apr 2003
From: Lkas...@aol.com
EXPLORING THE URBAN LANDSCAPE
Saturday, May 17, 2003
9:00am
New Jersey State Museum
205 West State Street, Trenton
A leisurely 15 mile group bike ride through Trenton. This year we
will be visiting the Hamilton Trenton Marsh.
For more information, call (609) 394.8018.
Sponsored by the Trenton Cycling Revolution, in partnership with the
City of Trenton, the Whole Earth Center of Princeton and Trees for
Trenton.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
PARAMUS - CELEBRATION OF THE EARTH FESTIVAL - MAY 18
Date: 7 Apr 2003
From: ivan salinas {iva...@yahoo.com}
THe Paramus Environmental Commssion and The Learning Center For
Exceptional Children are proud to present
THE CELEBRATION OF THE EARTH FESTIVAL 2003
to be held on Sunday, May 18 from noon till 5 PM
at VAn Saun Park, Paramus, New Jersey
We invite you to participate in one of New Jersey's largest
Environmental Fairs. Thousands of people come each year to learn about
wasy to protect and celebrate our planet.
Would your organization like to have a table, or have information
about what you do on display? Would you like to inform a large number
of people about the good work that you do, or to get some important
information into the hands of people who noramlly would not know
about?
Please email us as soon as possible so that we can get the proper
info to you!
Ivan Salinas
Event Producer
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COME CELEBRATE THE SUMMER SOLSTICE WITH US - JUN 21
Date: 02 Apr 2003
From: "Carol Dunphy" {bagpip...@hotmail.com}
HOORAY FOR SUMMER!
Rejoice in the arrival of summer and help clean the beach.
Bring family and friends and enjoy the solstice outdoors.
A day of summer welcoming ritual followed by kite flying, beach
cleaning, fun in the sun and light refreshments.
This program is sponsored by WATERSPIRIT and Stella Maris Retreat
Center, and is held at the Retreat Center in Elberon, NJ. It is free,
but please let us know that you're coming by calling: 732-923-9788.
Sat., June 21, 1-4 PM
"COME TO THE WATER"
Do you love the ocean?
Do you enjoy being near the water?
Do you find that oceans, rivers and lakes lead you into a meditative
mood? Then this reflective, prayerful and educational experience is
for you.
Come to the water and;
Reflect on the spiritual significance of water and how water is key to
our interconnectedness with all creation;
Reverence water as a revelation of the holy;
Share in prayerful experiences that deepen appreciation of creation
and the Creator;
Grow in a spirituality that is connected with the whole community of
life;
Learn about environmental concerns related to water;
Meet people who are working on solutions to these problems.
Come to the water and enjoy a holistic experience of the sacred!
Program Dates: Thursday, July 10, 7:30pm - Sunday, July 13, 1:00pm
Cost: $275.00 Deposit: $75. 00 (non-refundable, non-transferable)
Location: Stella Maris Retreat Center, 981 Ocean Avenue, Elberon, NJ
If you should have any questions, please feel free to contact us at
WATERSPIRIT, either via this email address or by phone: 732-923-9788.
Carol Dunphy
WATERSPIRIT Staff
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Tina Bologna - Editor - bol...@gsenet.org
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