Fw: OPPT-Newsbreak Monday, 19 April 1999

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>OPPT NEWSBREAK Monday, 19 April 1999

>

>

> Today's " Toxic News for the Net "

> Brought to you by the OPPTS Chemical Library

> http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/oppt_nb.txt

>

> NEWS

>

>

> " Experts Fear War Accident Could Spread Lab Uranium. " New York

>Times, 19 April 99, A10.

> International nuclear inspectors fear the possibility of a

> ' " radiological risk " ' that could come from the release of

> uranium stored at the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Science if

> the building, which is 10 miles from Belgrade, Serbia, is

> struck by a NATO missile. Concern that the Yugoslav

> Government may resolve to " embark on a nuclear weapons

> program " gives rise to this fear as well. Some believe that

> the 5,000 spent fuel rods at the Institute are " too small "

> and " too old " to be converted into weapons, much less

> produce a " Chernobyl " event if dispersed.

>

> " Wildfires Darken South Florida. `Deceiving' Blaze Thwarts

>Firefighters in the Everglades. " Washington Times, 19 April 99,

>A3. " Florida Rain Fails to Remove Threat of Fires. " New York

>Times, 19 April 99, A12.

> Wildfires in the Everglades destroyed 70,000 acres yesterday

> and forced the closing of a section of Interstate 75 known

> as Alligator Alley. Reddish-brown smoke from the fire

> drifted 45 miles south to downtown Miami and left a layer of

> ash on cars in the suburbs.

>

> " Suit Filed in Illness After Waste Dump Fire. " New York Times, 19

>April 99, A20.

> Though Los Angeles County health officials determined that

> the chemicals found after last summer's fire at Santa

> Clarita Greenwaste " were well within Federal safety levels " ,

> firefighters who fought the blaze, along with area workers

> and area residents, have sued the county contending that the

> maladies they continue to experience such as breathing

> problems and chronic fatigue are a result of that fire.

> Lead, arsenic and other poisons were found in the blood of

> at least five firefighters. Firefighters did not wear

> " self-contained breathing apparatuses " while fighting the 2-

> week blaze.

>

> PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

>

> " Rain Forest Advocate Wins Goldman Award [American Scene]. "

>Washington Times, 19 April 99, A5.

> The winners of this year's Goldman Environmental Prize

> include " an African man who has devoted his life to

> protecting the world's second-largest tropical rain

> forest...two aboriginal women who have campaigned against an

> Australian uranium mine and a man who exposed environmental

> and human rights abuses under Burma's military rule. " [The

> article does not provide the names of the winners.--OPPT NB

> Editor]

>

> ACROSS THE USA, FROM USA TODAY

>

>Portland, Oregon [Across the USA]. " USA Today, 16,17,18 April 99,

>10A.

> State officials will " hunt " for industry-produced toxic

> wastes in Portland harbor, a six-mile segment of the

> Willamette River.

>

> AROUND THE BELTWAY: DC/MD/VA REGIONAL NEWS

>

> " Fort Meade Accepts Cleanup Agreement [Metro: In Brief:

>land]. " Washington Post, 19 April 99, B3.

> Last July, EPA designated Fort Meade a Superfund site.

> Officials at Fort Meade and the land Department of the

> Environment have now reached an agreement in which the

> post's Environmental Management Office will reshape

> tributaries and plant the banks of lin Branch to

> reduce runoff, and the Department of the Environment will

> " close the books " on a violation stemming from the discovery

> of buried oil drums at the Defense Reutilization and

> Marketing Office in September 1997. EPA will take over

> cleanup of the site and will monitor pollution abatement.

>

> EDITORIALS & COMMENTARY

>

> " Environmental Justice for All [Commentary]. " Washington Post,

>19 April 99, A19.

> Geneva Overholser writes about the departure from Louisiana

> of Bob Keuhn, director of the Tulane Environmental Law

> Clinic that in recent years became well-known for aiding

> poor, minority clients in environmental justice matters.

> Column describes the ire the clinic has raised among

> Louisiana's politicians and industry, focusing on the

> proposed Shintech polyvinyl chloride plant case. Keuhn is

> going to the University of Michigan to teach law.

>

> GLOBAL WARMING

>

> " A Silver Lining in El Nino? " Washington Post, 19 April 99, A9.

> Another brief report on the findings by researchers at the

> National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that El Nino

> is helping to slow global warming.

>

> BIOTECHNOLOGY

>

> " Plant Sterility Research Inflames Debate on Biotechnology's Role

>in Farming. " New York Times, 19 April 99, A18.

> By inserting engineered genes into plants' DNA, Melvin

> Oliver, a scientist at the Department of Agriculture in

> Lubbock, Texas, can create " seeds that could render plants

> sterile " . Before planting, seeds are sprayed with chemicals

> that would turn engineered genes on or off in plants at

> certain times, for example, a crop's normal defenses could

> be elicited " at the first sign of fungal invasion, reducing

> reliance on the harsh pesticides normally used to stop the

> disease " . If the technology proves successful outside the

> laboratory, scientists hope to apply it to field crops to

> control plants' responses to damage caused by insects, for

> example. Critics of Oliver's patented research say that

> farmers are becoming more and more dependent on chemical

> companies which are buying seed companies and are " moving

> rapidly toward dominance in agriculture. "

>

> CAR CORNER

>

> " New EPA Emissions Rules Won't Stem Flow of Trucks. " Wall Street

>Journal, 19 April 99, B4.

> New EPA auto-emission limits, expected this month, will

> require oil refineries to produce cleaner gasoline. Sales

> of sport-utility vehicles are not expected to decline with

> the new standards since models that run cleaner will be

> phased into the market between 2004 and 2009, enabling the

> initial phase-ins to escape the final or most strict

> regulations, expected by 2008. Several automakers are

> asking that the EPA permit an outside group to determine if

> the strictest standards are attainable.

>

>

>

>* All items, unless indicated otherwise, are available at the

>U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

>Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxics Substances (OPPTS)

>Chemical Library

>Northeast Mall, Room B606 (Mailcode 7407)

>Washington, D.C. 20460

>(202) 260-3944; FAX x4659;

>E-mail for comments: library-tsca@....

>(Due to copyright restrictions, the library cannot provide

>photocopies of articles.)

>

>*Viewpoints expressed in the above articles do not necessarily

>reflect EPA policy. Mention of products does not indicate

>endorsement.*

>

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