Fw: OPPT-Newsbreak Monday, 27 September 1999

[Guest guest]

>OPPT NEWSBREAK Monday 27 September 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

>

> " Blasts at Fireworks Warehouse, Market Kill at Least 56, Hurt

>348. " Washington Times, 27 September 99, A15.

> At least 56 people were killed and 348 others were injured

> after a series of explosions at an illegal fireworks depot

> in Celaya, Mexico, yesterday. The cause of the disaster is

> not yet known.

>

> " EPA Proposes to Prohibit Chemicals That Are Being Dumped in

>Great Lakes. " Wall Street Journal, 27 Sept 99, B19.

> The EPA has proposed to prohibit the dumping of so-called

> " bioaccumulative chemicals of concern, or BCCs " , into the

> Great Lakes. This includes mercury and PCBs. There are

> about 300 " mixing zones " in industrial areas of the Great

> Lakes Basin where chemicals have been dumped and diluted

> with water. The proposal, which EPA hopes to finalize by

> next fall, was made to ensure that Great Lakes mixing zones

> are also prohibited in Illinois, New York, Ohio and

> Pennsylvania. By the end of the year, EPA expects to

> complete its final review of state cleanup plans by

> Illinois, New York and Wisconsin. EPA has already approved

> plans by Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and

> Pennsylvania.

>

> " With New Diagnosis, Experts Suspect More Died of Encephalitis

>[New York Report]. " New York Times, 27 Sept 99, A19.

> As many as 11 people have been killed by the mosquito-borne

> virus outbreak in New York, that, until recently, officials

> had attributed to a single virus, St. Louis encephalitis.

> Additional tests on blood samples, including those from

> people who died but did not test positive for encephalitis,

> revealed the presence of a different virus called the West

> Nile or Kunjin virus. Officials have changed their testing

> approach and are currently retesting blood samples from all

> of the people who died. They announced that 1 of the 3

> initial deaths that had been attributed to encephalitis are

> now being attributed to the West Nile virus. The West Nile

> has also been detected in dead birds from the New York

> metropolitan area. Symptoms and treatment of both viruses

> are similar.

>

> " Nuclear Site Is Battling A Rising Tide of Waste [National

>Report]. " New York Times, 27 Sept 99, A10.

> Officials at the Department of Energy and Lockheed

> Hanford Corporation reported that the crust in a million-

> gallon radioactive-waste storage tank at the Hanford nuclear

> reservation, near Richland, Washington, has grown too thick.

> Its subsequent expansion, despite efforts to lance the crust

> with high-powered water jets, threatens to clog a pump that

> is used to prevent hydrogen gas from reaching dangerous

> levels. Officials are " rushing to pump some of the waste

> into another tank, possibly within a month " . A schematic

> diagram of the nuclear-waste storage tank is included.

>

> " Owners to Demolish Dam that Blocks Fish from Breeding Areas. "

>USA Today, 23 September 99, 4A.

> The owners of the Condit Dam on the White Salmon River in

> Washington state have agreed to begin dismantling the dam in

> 2006. The dam, which was built in 1913, has been blocking

> salmon and trout from reaching their breeding grounds.

> Sidebar: map.

>

> " Stopgap Spending Measure Looms. Budget May Yet Tap Social

>Security Fund. " Washington Times, 27 September 99, A1, A13.

> Congressional Republicans have indicated that Congress will

> pass a " 'continuing resolution' " to keep the government

> running beyond Sept. 30 if the fiscal 2000 budget is not

> approved by then.

>

> USA TODAY, FROM USA TODAY

>

> " Boise, Idaho [Across the USA]. " USA Today, 23 September 99,

>12A.

> EPA's Inspector General's Office is praising state and

> regional EPA officials for improving Idaho's program that

> penalizes polluters. There are now three settlements up to

> $200,000 pending with companies who violated the Clean Air

> Act.

>

> " Ellsworth, Maine [Across the USA]. " USA Today, 24 September 99,

>8A.

> State officials are encouraging residents to have their well

> water tested for arsenic. State geologists speculate that

> arsenic occurs naturally and is common in the state's

> bedrock.

>

> " Alamogordo, New Mexico [Across the USA]. " USA Today, 24

>September 99, 8A.

> The city warned residents to boil drinking water after

> traces of E. coli bacteria were found in the water supply.

> The source of the contamination has not been found.

>

> " Greenville, South Carolina [Across the USA]. " USA Today, 23

>September 99, 12A.

> The Greenville County Council agreed to remove 3,000 barrels

> of metal sludge from the Blackberry Valley landfill and will

> try to force Carolina Plating to pay some or all of the

> $700,000 cleanup costs.

>

> PHARMACEUTICALS IN THE NEWS

>

> " As Bacteria Outsmart Old Antibiotics, Drug Makers Ready New

>Arsenal [Marketplace]. " Wall Street Journal, 27 Sept 99, B1, B4.

> This article highlights the most recent gains and

> developments the drug industry has made against " the rising

> tide of medicine-resistant bugs " . Several companies, named

> in the article, are pressing forward with experimental

> antibiotics, called ' " super-antibiotics " ', that promise to

> stand up to mutant bacteria. Among new drugs mentioned are

> Synercid, approved by the FDA last week, and Daptomycin,

> which is undergoing human trial testing. Zyvox is waiting

> for FDA approval as well. In San Francisco this week,

> infectious-disease researchers will discuss their progress

> at the annual meeting of the American Society of

> Microbiology. Strains of resistant bacteria are becoming a

> serious problem for hospitals; the Centers for Disease

> Control reports that hospital-acquired infections have risen

> about 36% in the past 20 years.

>

> CAR CORNER

>

> " EPA Plans Stricter Emission Rules for Big Trucks [Economy]. "

>Wall Street Journal, 27 Sept 99, A2.

> In the next few weeks, the EPA is expected to unveil an

> initiative proposing tougher standards for both engine

> emissions and diesel fuel. The proposal is aimed at

> reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter

> (soot) from large trucks. Details will be available next

> year. The proposal is tentatively expected to start taking

> effect in 2007. Further details provided in the article.

>

> LIVING IN THE INFORMATION AGE

>

> " Unsuspecting Web Users Get 'Page-Jacked' into Porn Sites. " USA

>Today, 23 September 99, 3A.

> The Federal Trade Commission is cracking down on Internet

> scams in which scammers use a popular search engine to trick

> users into visiting porn sites, then disable the controls on

> users' Web browsers so they can't leave the sites.

>

> INTER ALIA

>

> " Floyd Uncovers 4-Million-Year-Old Fossils [Metro in Brief:

>Virginia]. " Washington Post, 27 Sept 99, B3.

> In southeastern Virginia, Hurricane Floyd provided

> paleogeologists with " a treasure trove of fossils at a

> Colonial burg golf course where a dam gave way " .

> The fossils are those of 4-million-year-old scallop shells

> of the ancient mollusk known as Chesapecten jeffersonius.

> Some shells are 8 inches wide.

>

> " Clearcutting In Your National Forests? [Advertisement:

> Extinction Crisis]. " New York Times, 27 Sept 99, A11.

> Advertisement is the 3rd in the Extinction Crisis series put

> out by the Turning Point Project, an environmental

> coalition. The ad, which declares that 95% of the original

> forests in the U.S. have been destroyed, urges membership

> with coalition groups (listed) that are actively campaigning

> against commercial logging on public lands. By continuing

> to log, the ad says, " we lose species, we lose

> biodiversity... " . The ad says that our National Forests are

> not protected and that " Smokey the Bear " is " auctioning off

> vast tracts of trees far below market value " . The effect of

> logging on the economy and on taxpayers is also described.

>

> " Endangered Bats. " Wall Street Journal, 27 Sept 99, A1.

> Tourism executives and local officials are among critics in

> North Carolina who say that mills " encourage clear-cutting,

> trashing local landscapes and harming wildlife " . Last month,

> the U.S. Forest Service halted logging on a national forest

> in N.C. after environmentalists discovered 2 dozen Indiana

> bats living there. The bats are on the endangered-species

> list.

>

>

>* 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.*

>

>To subscribe to OPPT Newsbreak, send the command

> subscribe OPPT-NEWSBREAK Firstname Lastname

>to: listserver@...

>To unsubscribe, send the command

> signoff OPPT-NEWSBREAK

>Also available on the World Wide Web (see banner for address)

>The OPPTS Chemical Library is operated by GCI Information

>Services

>

>