And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) 22 U.S. NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS UNPREPARED FOR Y2K IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS ABOUT HORMONE CHANGING CHEMICALS PIONEERING AUSTRALIAN FORESTS PROCESS IN TROUBLE AMERISCAN: AUGUST 6, 1999 E-WIRE * FAIR Study Links Issues Immigration, Population Growth & Environmental Threat * Ivory Sale Opened Door for Illegal Trade Says IFAW * New CD Offers Rapid & Easy Lookup of EPA Water Monitoring Compliance For Full Text and Graphics Visit: http://ens.lycos.com *************************************************************************** Send News Tips and Story Leads to [EMAIL PROTECTED] *************************************************************************** 22 U.S. NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS UNPREPARED FOR Y2K WASHINGTON, DC, August 6, 1999 (ENS) - Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Greta Joy Dicus said Wednesday that 22 U.S. nuclear power plants are not yet ready for Y2K. Dicus was testifying before the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 1999 For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/aug99/1999L-08-06-05.html *************************************************************************** IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS ABOUT HORMONE CHANGING CHEMICALS WASHINGTON, DC, August 6, 1999 (ENS) - Too little is known about the effects of exposure to low doses of chemicals that change the balance of hormones in the human body, says a new report from a National Research Council committee. These chemicals include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the pesticide DDT. In high doses they are known to have harmful effects. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 1999 For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/aug99/1999L-08-06-03.html *************************************************************************** PIONEERING AUSTRALIAN FORESTS PROCESS IN TROUBLE By Andrew Darby CANBERRA, Australia, August 6, 1999 (ENS) - Australia's attempt to solve its repeated sharp conflicts over native forest logging in a series of binding agreements is now precariously balanced. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 1999 For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/aug99/1999L-08-06-04.html *************************************************************************** ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN: AUGUST 6, 1999 Uranium Hexafluoride to be Converted to Safer Form The Department of Energy (DOE) will convert about 700,000 metric tons of highly radioactive depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF6) into depleted uranium oxide, depleted uranium metal or a combination of both, the agency said Thursday. "This Record of Decision will allow the department to proceed with the project-specific environmental analyses that are needed to locate and build facilities converting the inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride into an environmentally safer form," said Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. The depleted uranium oxide products will be used "as much as possible," and the remainder will be stored for potential future uses or disposal. The DOE expects conversion to depleted uranium metal will occur as uses are developed. Depleted UF6 results from the enrichment process that makes uranium useable as fuel for nuclear power plants or nuclear weapons. Large-scale uranium enrichment in the United States began as part of atomic bomb development during World W! ! ar I I. By the late 1960s enriched uranium-235 was being manufactured as fuel for commercial nuclear power plants in the United States and abroad. DOE does not believe that long term storage and disposal of UF6 as depleted uranium metal are feasible alternatives, but remains open to exploring these options. The depleted UF6 is stored at gaseous diffusion plant sites in Paducah, Kentucky, Portsmouth, Ohio, and the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The DOE is seeking a private contractor to perform the conversions. * * * WILDFIRES RIP ACROSS PARCHED WESTERN STATES As the dry, drought-like conditions continue across much of the U.S. this summer, the National Interagency Fire Coordination Center reports the danger for wildfire has risen. The Texas Division of Emergency Management issued a state wildfire advisory Tuesday, in which they cautioned residents that the dryness and abundance of fuel could spell disaster if precautions are not taken. Several Texas counties have already issued burn bans, and more are anticipated. Increased fire activity is reported in the northern counties. In some areas, grasses, which are normally less than an inch tall at this time of year, have grown to more than 18 inches in height, creating fast-burning fuels. This week lightning has been blamed for as many as 50 new fires in Montana. This year state officials have recorded more than 1,200 fires in the northern part of the state, which have consumed more than 45,000 acres. Some of that acreage involved land in neighboring Idaho. In Wyoming and Colorado, more! ! tha n 1,800 fires have destroyed 72,000 acres. A very large wildfire has 73 people fighting to contain it in the Upper Snake River District of eastern Idaho on BLM land 22 miles northwest of Aberdeen. The fire was caused by lightning detected early Tuesday morning and spread extremly quickly due to high winds from thunderstorms. It has now burned 92,540 acres. Near Battle Mountain, Nevada a complex of 13 fires on Bureau of Land Management Land has blackened a total of 30,000 acres. Extreme fire behavior is currently threatening structures in the area and also an area near Winnemucca, Nevada where a group of 17 fires has burned 20,000 acres. As a result of this high numbers of fires, resources for fighting the flames are running short, officials warn. * * * MISSISSIPPI GAINS NEW ESTUARY RESERVE Some 18,400 acres of tidal marsh, shallow-water open bay, wet pine savanna, and coastal swamp habitats in southeast Jackson County, Mississippi, have been designated as the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). The open water estuarine areas of Grand Bay NERR support extensive oyster reefs and seagrass habitats. "We are delighted that the Grand Bay reserve has joined our national network of living laboratories. The research reserve system is a perfect example of how governments and communities can work together to benefit both the environment and people," said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administrator D. James Baker. Grand Bay is the 24th site in NOAA's nationwide network of research reserves dedicated to the study and preservation of these sensitive and delicate environments where rivers meet the ocean. ,.................... * * * DIRTY POWER PLANTS TO BE REPLACED IN NEW YORK New legislation passed by the state of New York is being praised by Governor George Pataki and Republican lawmakers as paving the way for environmentally-friendly power plants to replace older plants that emit more pollutants into the atmosphere. "This legislation opens the way for new, more efficient and environmentally sound power plants in New York State that will help meet our growing demand for electricity," Governor Pataki said. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, "We believe that this agreement will lead to the replacement of inefficient, dirty, polluting facilities with cleaner-burning plants and in the process create thousands of jobs." The legislation clarifies that both the board and the Department of Environmental Conservation may issue environmental permits for the construction of major electric generating facilities, consistent with the requirements of federal law....... * * * MINNEAPOLIS PUSHES HIGHWAY 55 REROUTE THROUGH SACRED PARK In Minneapolis, Minnesota more than 40 people have been arrested over the past week for obstructing workers cutting down trees in a park for the reroute of Highway 55. Minnehaha Park is the first state park to be designated in the country and contains the Minnehaha freshwater springs and four old-growth burr oaks amongst many other trees. Jim Anderson, cultural chair of the Mendota, Dakota Native Indian community, says the park is a sacred site, the highest plateau in the area, where native people have come to pray for many generations. He believes native burial sites will soon be discovered in the park and that will halt work on the highway rerouting. The protest began last summer when the city of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Transportation decided to put a roadway and possibly light rail transit through an area in south Minneapolis made up of land near Minnehaha Park. Anderson says the four large oaks planted in each of the four directions are not planned to b! ! e cu t until later, but hundreds of trees have already gone down. His group is bailing protesters out as quickly as they are arrested and helping them deal with the injuries sustained during arrests. "One 17 yr old girl had her hip dislocated; another's head was bashed into a railroad tie," Anderson told ENS. During last summer's protests two teenage girls were beaten by police with batons, an incident Anderson caught on videotape. Their parents filed a lawsuit against police that is still before the courts. * * * FOUR CHARGED WITH BLOCKING IDAHO TIMBER SALE Four forest activists arrested Monday for blockading the Otter-Wing timber sale have been released on their own recognizance after appearing in federal court in Boise, Idaho. All were charged with misdemeanors such as blocking a Forest Service road. Trials are set for all four on October 25 in Moscow, Idaho. Logging and roadbuilding work has continued at the Otter-Wing sale, 15 miles southeast of Grangeville, with contractors working around the protesters. Erika Hughes, 19, of Santa Cruz, California and Randy Mark, 19, of Brooklyn, Connecticut were arrested Monday. Mark had locked his arm into a pipe that had been cemented into the road. Hughes was sitting 35 feet up on a bipod platform blocking the road. Justin Oneill, 21, of Brookfield, Illinois, was arrested after allegedly charging officers dismantling the bipod. Molly Karp, 17, was arrested after she voluntarily climbed down from a hammock slung across the road. The Cove/Mallard Coalition and the Friends of the Clearwater! ! say the actions took place because the Forest Service violated agreements made with the environmental groups. Talks had been open between the groups and Forest Service officials, but that stopped after a July 23 meeting. The groups cited pending litigation against the Forest Service as the reason the talks broke down. The same timber sale was the scene of violent confrontations that led to activist arrests last summer. * * * ENDANGERED TIDEWATER GOBY HABITAT PROTECTED The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed critical habitat designations on Tuesday for the tidewater goby, an endangered fish found in coastal saltwater lagoons and in freshwater along the Southern California coast. The goby is an important food for many larger fish. The proposal covers 11.9 miles of rivers, streams, and estuaries in Orange and San Diego counties. Roughly 60 percent of this habitat occurs on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base........... * * * RUSSIAN BEES IMPORTED TO FIGHT VARROA MITES Imported Russian honey bees may help U.S. farmers in their fight against varroa mites. The eight legged parasites have eliminated most of North America’s wild honey bees and destroyed many of the hives used to pollinate American crops. The Russian bees have a genetic resistance to the mites, which can destroy a hive of tens of thousands of bees in as little as six months. ......... * * * DRINKING WATER CONTAMINANTS DATABASE ONLINE The first national database for regulated and unregulated contaminants in public drinking water systems and their source water supplies is now online. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set up the National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Database makes available data that the public could not access before, and will continue to be upgraded to provide current data. The EPA says the public should use this data with caution as many of the contaminants occur below health effects or regulatory levels or are rarely found........ The database is available at: http://www.epa.gov/ncod. The general public can get more information from EPA's drinking water Web site at: www.epa.gov/safewater Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 1999 For full text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/aug99/1999L-08-06-09.html *************************************************************************** E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE *************************************************************************** TO NATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS: FAIR Study Links Issues of Mass Immigration, U.S. Population Growth and Environmental Threat WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -/E-Wire/-- In an August 2nd interview on the NBC Nightly News, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt declared population growth to be the greatest threat to national parks and open space throughout the United States. Today, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) released a new study, E=(I): The Environmentalist's Guide to a Sensible Immigration Policy, linking rapid U.S. population growth to our immigration policies. /CONTACT: John Keeley of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, 202-328-7004 or fax, 202-387-3447/ /Web site: http://www.fairus.org/ For Full Text and Graphics Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/August99/06aug9901.html *************************************************************************** E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE *************************************************************************** TO NATIONAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS: New CD Offers Rapid and Easy Lookup for Assurance Of EPA Water Monitoring Compliance EPA's Best of the Best Sellers Now Even Better! SPRINGFIELD, Va., Aug. 6 -/E-Wire/-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's popular Methods and Guidance for the Analysis of Water (on CD-ROM) has been revised, expanded, and also now enhanced with several time-saving lookup tables. Version 2 contains the most comprehensive collection of wastewater and drinking methods and guidance accessible from one source. The newly re-engineered CD, Methods and Guidance for the Analysis of Water, Version 2 (on CD-ROM), is now available from the National Technical Information Service. Features of this new version include: /CONTACT: Renee Edwards, Public Affairs Director of the National Technical Information Service, 703-605-6400, or [EMAIL PROTECTED]/ /Web site: http://www.ntis.gov/envlab/ /Web site: http://www.ntis.gov/ For Full Text and Graphics Visit: http://ens.lycos.com/e-wire/August99/06aug9903.html Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 1991-1998. All Rights Reserved. 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