-Caveat Lector-
notes from Das GOAT
--------------
Forwarded Message:
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 1999 1:05:31 AM
From: J1mS1
Subj: Re: Toxic Waste Sites, Leaking Tanks, etc. in your area
Sent on: AOL 3.0 16-bit for Windows sub 58
Subj: Toxic Waste Sites, Leaking Tanks, etc. in your area
Date: 99-02-24 01:08:12 EST
TOXIC WASTE SITES, LEAKING TANKS, POLLUTION SITES, ETC. IN YOUR AREA
Many of you are familiar with Nexis databases. However, Lexis/Nexis also has
many other databases with which you may be less familiar.
Library:
ENVIRON environmental files library
within which are these
Files:
SITE pollution site records
FDSITE federal sites
STSITE state sites
NPL national priority list
FINDS facility index
CORRACT Corracts sites
FTTS fifra and tsca tracking
NPDESF npdes facilities
RCRIS rcra sites
NPLIST npl list
PRP potentially responsible parties
SPL state priority
NFRAP cercla nfrap sites
TRIS toxic release inventory sites
OSHAIR osha inspections
LUST leaking underground storage tanks
SWS state waste sites - landfills
USTAST underground tanks
So, you can look up any township, county, municipality or city, on any or all
of these databases to obtain lists of locations and owners. Searching
uncommon names makes your task earlier, and avoids the need to restrict the
search by including a state abbreviation.
Important Note: Find out from your reference librarian or IT specialist
whether your use agreement covers these databases, first to see if you can
access these databases and secondly to avoid any unpleasant cost surprises.
If you search your immediate geographic area on these databases, you would be
likely to come up with surprising results.
Another Important Note: For whatever reasons, there are some disclaimers on
the accuracy of the data. You probably want to cross check the results,
and/or perhaps to use a disclaimer yourself.
Finally, the EPA Regional Office closest to you, and perhaps NICAR, also may
have SOME of this data.
===================================
** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, material appearing
here is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for research and educational purposes.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml **
=====
Canadians Blame FDA for Bad Blood
By PETE YOST
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Already in court in Canada, hemophiliacs who are victims of
AIDS and hepatitis are taking their campaign for compensation to the United
States.
They say the U.S. government knew about infected blood plasma from state
prison inmates yet failed to stop its export.
``If I had asked questions 15 years ago, lives could have been saved,'' said
Michael Galster, a former medical worker at a now-defunct Arkansas company
which collected plasma from a state prison in Grady, Ark.
The plasma was sold in Canada and is suspected of having caused widespread
disease among hemophiliacs who need the blood-clotting characteristics of the
blood product.
The Food and Drug Administration decided the plasma was ``not fit for the
United States,'' said hemophiliac Michael McCarthy. ``It's unbelievable that
they allowed it to be exported.''
McCarthy is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against the Canadian
government for failing to safeguard that nation's blood supply.
At a news conference, the Canadians said they plan to sue the FDA and the
states of Arkansas and Louisiana, which allowed private companies to take
blood plasma from prison inmates in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
They said they plan to question President Clinton in connection with the
lawsuit about what he knew of the prison plasma program when he was Arkansas'
governor.
According to a report prepared for the Canadian government, the Arkansas
company, Health Management Associates, promptly told the FDA about blood
samples that had been collected from five Arkansas inmates who had previously
tested positive for hepatitis.
The FDA informed the Canadian government, because some of the plasma from the
company had been exported to Canada, and the company voluntarily kept off the
market the plasma it still had.
FDA spokesman Lawrence Bachorik said the agency does not comment on pending or
potential litigation.
The 1983 incident at the prison in Grady became an important part of the study
prepared for the Canadian government on how hemophiliacs in Canada might have
contracted hepatitis C.
Regarding Clinton, ``there's no credible suggestion of any involvement by the
president when he was governor,'' said White House spokesman Jim Kennedy.
``Any issues relating to how the state of Arkansas dealt with this matter
should be referred to the relevant agencies. Any suggestion of any possible
future legal actions involving the president are at this point hypothetical,
and unless and until legal action is taken we're not going to comment on
hypothetical legal actions.''
=====
NBC To Air Clinton Accuser's Story
By DAVID BAUDER
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) -- NBC has decided to air its story on Juanita Broaddrick
tonight, less than a week after the Arkansas woman's claim of a 1978 sexual
assault by Bill Clinton hit the newsstands.
The interview was to be shown on ``Dateline NBC,'' which airs at 8 p.m. EST.
Clinton's lawyers have said the charges are ``absolutely false.''
NBC's Lisa Myers interviewed Broaddrick in January. While the network
continued to check her allegations, The Wall Street Journal editorial page ran
a piece Friday based on Broaddrick's charges and other media organizations
followed suit.
NBC News President Andrew Lack said the network wanted to complete its
reporting on the story before airing it and wasn't angry that others had
beaten NBC.
Mrs. Broaddrick said she first met Clinton in 1978 when he was running for
governor and she was a campaign worker. A week after meeting him, she was in
Little Rock, Ark., at a seminar and arranged to meet Clinton, then Arkansas'
attorney general, for coffee at her hotel.
They went to a hotel room, where Clinton forced her to have sex, she claims.
``I was sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton,'' she has told The Associated
Press.
Myers' interview with Broaddrick quickly circulated within the media, with
some conservative groups charging that NBC sat on the interview because it was
embarrassing to Clinton.
``Everyone involved in the process knows there's no truth to that,'' Lack said
Tuesday. He said NBC planned to run the story on the first ``Dateline NBC''
available as soon as the reporting was complete. NBC finished its reporting
Tuesday, he said.
The timing of the broadcast had nothing to do with the end of Clinton's
impeachment trial, he said.
``When you have a story that was 21 years ago, that involves lots of
information and facts and involves serious charges, you need to do a lot of
checking,'' he said. ``And that's what we were doing.''
Lack said he found it ``odd'' that NBC was criticized for taking too much time
in reporting.
``You wouldn't have asked that question a few years ago,'' he said. ``That is
unfortunately some of the fallout of the pace of journalism over the past few
years.''
Mrs. Broaddrick said that she was telling her story to counter rumors that she
had been bribed and intimidated to stay quiet. She complained that NBC had let
her ``hang out to dry'' by waiting to air the interview.
Lack said he would not comment on Mrs. Broaddrick's complaints.
=====
Ex-President Ford Touts Gov. Bush
By CRAIG HORST
.c The Associated Press
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) -- Former President Ford had kudos for Elizabeth Dole,
but says Texas Gov. George W. Bush is the GOP's best hope to regain the White
House.
Ford spoke at the Harry S. Truman Library at the opening Tuesday of an exhibit
detailing the presidency from Franklin D. Roosevelt through the first term of
Bill Clinton.
The Lewinsky scandal damaged the institution of the presidency, Ford said, but
the Republicans rather than President Clinton suffered the most in the short
term.
``I think it ended up very inconclusive,'' Ford said of Clinton's impeachment
trial. ``I don't think there's any question of it having had an adverse impact
on the presidency.''
He said Republicans have moved too far to the right, just as Democrats moved
too far left with liberal nominees George McGovern, Walter Mondale and Michael
Dukakis.
``You're not going to win if you retain the policies of the hard right,'' he
said. ``The Democrats lost with hard-left policies. I think we can win if
we're wise enough to go down the middle.
``George W. Bush is talking a lot more moderately than his father,'' Ford said
of the son of former President Bush. ``(Republicans) aren't going to win on
one issue. They've got to have a broader view. And it doesn't do any good to
finish second, I can tell you that.''
On the issue of a woman president, Ford said he felt Mrs. Dole, wife of 1996
GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole, might not be successful in the Iowa
caucuses, but could be a formidable candidate in the open primary of New
Hampshire, splitting the Republican vote.
But a more likely scenario for the country to have its first woman president
would be if she was the vice presidential candidate on a ticket with a man,
and then had to serve out a term if he ``should die or get shot or whatever,''
Ford said.
``And that's the last time,'' Ford said to the applause of the audience,
``that we'll ever have a male president.''
=====
When dirt piles up at home, go clean your neighbor's house.
Summit on Fighting Corruption Opens
By EUN-KYUNG KIM
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Corruption in one country can trigger economic,
environmental and leadership crises in nations around the world, Vice
President Al Gore said Wednesday.
``No country can seal itself off from the impact of corruption beyond its
borders, and therefore every nation must work with every nation to fight
corruption wherever it is in the world,'' Gore said in remarks opening a
three-day conference on the subject.
The forum, chaired by the vice president and organized by the State
Department, attracted representatives of 79 nations, here to outline
strategies against corruption in their judicial, economic and national
security systems.
Gore said that while the United States has made strides in guarding itself
against corruption domestically and abroad, it is not immune to weakness. ``No
nation has a monopoly on virtue. None has a corner on corruption,'' he said.
``And no nation has the right to lecture any other.''
As an example, Gore pointed to the arrest this month of three U.S. immigration
employees responsible for patrolling the Mexican border near Nogales, Ariz.
They were arrested for allegedly participating in a drug-smuggling scheme.
``The alleged role was simple -- looking the other way,'' Gore said. ``The
alleged crime was vile -- betraying the trust of their country and selling out
the millions of young people we seek to protect.''
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who opened the conference with a brief
welcome, suggested a pay increase for border guards, because increased
salaries would make them less susceptible to accepting bribes.
Gore said better world leaders and a decreasing tolerance for crime are forces
helping battle corruption worldwide. A growing trend toward government reform
also is helping, he said.
``In many cases, the very steps you would take to reform government to reduce
corruption are the same steps you would take to reform government to increase
efficiency,'' he said. He suggested adoption of fewer, clearer regulations,
demolition of monopolies and increased accountability among government
officials.
Recent technological advances, specifically, easier access to the Internet,
also has helped because it has allowed more information to reach a wider
audience.
``Information is the natural enemy of corruption,'' Gore said.
=====
DEA: Mexican Cartels Penetrate U.S.
By GEORGE GEDDA
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Just ahead of President Clinton's expected endorsement of
Mexico's counterdrug effort, a top Drug Enforcement Administration official
said Wednesday the Mexican narcotics cartels' penetration of the United States
has increased dramatically.
Clinton is expected to ``certify'' Friday that Mexico fully cooperated with
American counterdrug efforts last year. The announcement is part of an annual
process that evaluates the law enforcement performance of drug source and
transit countries.
DEA Administrator Thomas Constantine strongly suggested to the Senate Caucus
on International Narcotics Control that the drug war, as far as Mexico is
concerned, is being lost. But he stopped short of saying Mexico should be
decertified.
Several senators joined Constantine in expressing exasperation over Mexico's
seeming inability to make headway against the drug kingpins. Sen. Jeff
Sessions, R-Ala., said that if the issue comes before the Senate, he would
vote to decertify.
During a visit to Mexico last week, Clinton signaled that Mexico would be
certified when he said it ``should not be penalized'' for its counternarcotics
efforts. Economic sanctions can be imposed against countries that are
``decertified'' unless a presidential waiver is issued on national security
grounds.
Asked by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., whether penetration of the United
States by Mexican criminal organizations has increased since 1994, Constantine
said, '' It has increased dramatically.''
Constantine added that the corruption in Mexican civilian law enforcement has
no parallel with anything he has seen in 39 years of police work.
Feinstein expressed grave disappointment over Mexico's record in extraditing
drug kingpins to the United States for trial, saying only in one minor case
has Mexico approved such extradition requests.
Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, said Mexican authorities' seizures of heroin and
cocaine were down last year compared with 1997.
But Randy Beers, the State Department's top counternarcotics official, said
Mexico deserves credit for a ``serious effort'' to deal with drug traffickers,
saying it has conducted an ``unprecedented antidrug campaign that, to my
knowledge, has never been duplicated'' elsewhere.
He added that, proportionally, Mexico earmarks a higher percentage of its
national budget to counterdrug efforts than does the United States. He also
noted that Mexico plans to spend more than $400 million over the next three
years to combat narcotraffcking through high technology.
The administration generally acknowledges that Mexico's antidrug efforts have
fallen short but not for lack of trying.
``There is a difference between cooperation and success,'' the State
Department said earlier this month.
Some senators advocated new approaches.
Feinstein suggested a ``binational army'' should be formed to go after the
drug kingpins.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said the United States might be better off just
buying all the production of South American drug chieftains and then
destroying it. Such an approach, he said, would be cheaper than the current
strategy emphasizing eradication and interdiction.
Mexico is a major transit point for U.S.-bound cocaine shipments from South
America. It is also a major producer of marijuana and a significant producer
of heroin.
DeWine said the administration shares part of the blame because it failed to
seek funding for the top priorities in the Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination
Act approved by Congress last year. One priority sought funding for a fungi
that government researchers believe can kill narcotics plants without harming
other crops or animal life.
``What kind of message does this send to Mexico if our administration is not
willing to fund programs that will make a difference for Mexico and our own
country,'' he asked. ``What is our commitment to Mexico?''
$143M in Cocaine Seized in Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) -- A massive hoard of pure cocaine with a street value of $143
million was confiscated in the Chicago Police Department's largest drug
seizure ever, authorities said Wednesday.
Four men, two described as high-ranking members of a Mexican cartel that
specializes in smuggling cocaine over the U.S. border, were arrested Tuesday
night when police raided an auto detail shop.
``This is a tremendous seizure, and it should have an impact on the crack
cocaine dealing on the streets of Chicago,'' said Cmdr. Philip J. Cline.
Authorities called reporters to a police garage where brick-shaped kilos of
cocaine with blue and yellow, balloon-like rubber wrappings were stacked
across the floor. The hoard weighed 2,500 pounds and resembled a waist-high
brick wall.
Some of the kilos were marked with designs that police described as the
trademarks of the Colombian cartels that produced the cocaine.
=====
Vatican Urges Sharing 2000 Wealth
By RON KAMPEAS
.c The Associated Press
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Any commercial benefits from an anticipated mass pilgrimage
to the Holy Land for the millennium should be equally divided between Israel
and the Palestinians, the Vatican envoy to the region said Wednesday.
Monsignor Pietro Sambi, addressing a meeting of the Interreligious
Coordinating Council in Israel, said the Roman Catholic Church has been
coordinating with other churches on the anticipated influx of visitors.
``The churches hope that commercial benefits will be evenly distributed among
all sectors of the community, both in Israel and in the Palestinian
Territories,'' Sambi said. '' ... Such benefits should also reach the poor.''
Palestinian official Nabil Kassis, who is in charge of millennium festivities
for Bethlehem, said Wednesday that 2000 celebrations are helping ``jump-
start'' economic development for the Palestinian-run city.
Pope John Paul II has encouraged Catholics to celebrate 2000 as a way of
seeking spiritual renewal and said it should be ``celebrated not only in Rome,
but also in the land which is rightly called `Holy' because it was there that
Jesus was born and died.'' Between 3 million and 4 million pilgrims are
expected to travel to the Holy Land.
The Vatican was the host for a Bethlehem 2000 event last week, attended by
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. It was aimed at reinforcing the papal
endorsement of Holy Land pilgrimage.
Arafat complained at the event that Israel was attempting to discourage
pilgrims from staying overnight in Palestinian areas, depriving the
Palestinians of hotel dollars. Vatican officials seemed sympathetic to his
complaints.
Israel denied it is discouraging tourism to Palestinian areas and said it had
not been invited to attend the Bethlehem 2000 event.
Also Wednesday, the United States Agency for International Development
launched a $8 million road works project in Bethlehem. Along with construction
and road repair, money will go to cover landscaping, side walks, benches,
tourist information signs and lighting.
=====
Census Bureau To Revive Sampling
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- If the Census Bureau's decision to go ahead with two types
of counts next year was intended to end bickering over its methods, it didn't
work.
Census Director Kenneth Prewitt announced Wednesday that the agency will use
traditional counting to produce one number for allocation of seats in the
House, and then apply statistical methods to develop a second, ``more
accurate,'' population count for other purposes.
``The two-number census is going to be an absolute disaster,'' contended Rep.
Dan Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Government Reform Committee's census
subcommittee. ``To try to focus on two censuses, you run the risk of having
two failed censuses.''
He accused the bureau of ``hiding under a thinly veiled shield of so-called
accuracy.''
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee panel
that oversees the census, said he will block the bureau from using any money
for statistical sampling.
``The bureau's decision to seek a two-track approach not only ensures a more
expensive census but also a census that will not be done in time,'' he said.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert called the decision a ``political flip-flop,''
which is ``hypocritical and confounding.''
The new plan was also attacked by the Southeastern Legal Foundation, which
brought the lawsuit decided by the Supreme Court last month banning sampling
for reapportionment. Matthew J. Glavin, the group's president, said he will
file another suit to block the plan, which he called unconstitutional.
Prewitt said the time for arguing about census methods has run out. ``We've
simply got to be doing it. We've got to move forward.''
His agency has to hire 200,000 enumerators and open 520 offices in the 13
months before the national count begins on April 1, 2000.
Prewitt said his bureau will use traditional methods to make population
estimates for the 50 states by Dec. 31, 2000, for use in distributing the 435
seats in the House. The Supreme Court required such counting for apportionment
in a decision last month.
But the job will not be finished then, Prewitt said.
The bureau will then undertake a statistical-sampling method it calls Accuracy
and Coverage Evaluation to determine how many people were missed and to
develop more accurate numbers. Those numbers will be released April 1, 2001,
for use when states draw new congressional and legislative districts. They
also will be available for use in distributing federal funds and other
purposes.
It's the issue of sampling -- ``guessing'' to the Republicans -- that has
caused controversy.
After producing two census numbers in 1990 -- one with sampling, one without
-- the bureau had been seeking to avoid confusion with a one-number count in
2000. But the Supreme Court banned use of sampling in 2000 for House
reapportionment, while leaving the question open for other uses of census
numbers.
Prewitt said he doesn't see it as a two-number census but rather one number
that is less complete followed by another that is more complete.
``Given the lateness of the hour, we must acknowledge the hard reality that we
no longer have the luxury of debates about alternative designs or substitute
procedures,'' he said.
That will no doubt lead to further conflict with Miller, who has been
promoting ideas he believes will improve the census.
``It's difficult for us to design a census when congressional committees are,
at this late stage saying, `Let's do this instead of that,''' Prewitt said.
He said he wants to meet with Miller and ``talk about which of his ideas can
be incorporated in a productive way and which cannot.''
Prewitt's boss, Commerce Secretary William J. Daley, said: ``The time has come
for the professionals at the bureau to be allowed to get on with producing the
best census possible.''
House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., called the plan ``an important
step toward the goal of carrying out the most accurate possible 2000 census.''
``Congress must not micromanage Census 2000,'' Gephardt said. ``We must count
each and every American -- this plan will do so.''
=====
"Public health experts still hope it could be a weapon against the
world's next killer flu pandemic, which they say is overdue."
Gov't. Advisers Reject New Flu Drug
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
.c The Associated Press
GAITHERSBURG, Md. (AP) -- A drug that showed promise for easing flu misery has
received a serious setback: Government scientists say it needs more study to
go on the market.
Glaxo Wellcome's inhaled drug Relenza appeared to slightly shorten bouts of
flu suffered in Europe and Australia, but a similar study among U.S. patients
failed. So scientific advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted
Wednesday that Glaxo must better research Relenza before it is approved here.
Some panelists called the decision a reluctant one because Americans need a
new flu treatment and Relenza is regarded as safe.
``We're all feeling a bit of a tug here,'' said panelist Dr. Gregory Poland of
the Mayo Clinic, before the 13-4 vote.
It was a major blow to Glaxo, which had hoped to sell Relenza in time for next
year's flu season.
The flu strikes 30 million Americans a year. Most are fine after about a week
of fever, aches, cough and malaise. But the flu kills 20,000 Americans a year,
mostly the elderly; hospitalizes 50,000 to 300,000; and medical care costs
billions.
A yearly vaccine usually wards off serious illness, but few people are
vaccinated and sometimes the vaccine doesn't protect against all flu strains.
Two older drugs are available, but don't work well, cause numerous side
effects and work only against Type A flu.
Doctors had eagerly anticipated Relenza, a drug specially designed to strike a
chink in the armor of all flu strains. It inhibits an enzyme called
neuraminidase that is vital to letting the flu virus spread throughout the
body.
In foreign studies, inhaling Relenza alleviated the flu symptoms of European
and Australian patients two to 2 1/2 days sooner than symptoms waned in
patients who inhaled a dummy drug.
Relenza also seemed to make flu less severe for some patients, cutting by 29
percent the chance of flu worsening into bronchitis or even pneumonia, a
serious risk for thousands of people.
But when Relenza was tested in the United States, a problem appeared. Under
Glaxo's best-case analysis, Relenza seemed to shorten Americans' flu by just
one day. FDA officials, however, attacked that study as inadequate and said
Relenza proved no benefit to Americans.
Faced with dueling studies, the FDA's advisers called for more research. They
particularly want to know if Relenza would help better when used in vulnerable
nursing homes than in the healthier general population. Relenza also may cut
the amount of flu virus in people's bodies, meaning it might work to, say,
protect other family members when a child comes home sick, some panelists
said.
The FDA is not bound by its advisers' recommendations but typically follows
them.
Wednesday's rejection was surprising, because doctors had had high hopes for
Relenza.
Public health experts still hope it could be a weapon against the world's next
killer flu pandemic, which they say is overdue. Preliminary results of ongoing
studies suggest taking Relenza daily during an outbreak can cut by 60 percent
to 80 percent the chances of people catching influenza. Laboratory and animal
testing suggest Relenza could have protected against previous pandemic flu
strains and even against the strange ``bird flu'' that struck people in Hong
Kong a year ago.
Based on the foreign data, Relenza's sale was just approved in Sweden and has
been recommended in Australia.
So why did Relenza work better abroad than here?
Glaxo said American study participants didn't start taking the drug soon
enough. Using Relenza within 36 hours of the first symptom is vital, it said.
Europeans and Australians did so but Americans often didn't start Relenza for
48 hours or longer.
Plus, Americans were more than twice as likely to use lots of Tylenol, cough
syrup and other over-the-counter medicines to treat their symptoms, thus
confusing the study.
-----
Aloha, He'Ping,
Om, Shalom, Salaam.
Em Hotep, Peace Be,
Omnia Bona Bonis,
All My Relations.
Adieu, Adios, Aloha.
Amen.
Roads End
Kris
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