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Nitrate News -- December, 1999

Conservatives and Congress Fight US Aide for Rivers (NY Times, December 26, 1999 By THE NEW YORK TIMES REGIONAL NEWSPAPER GROUP) WASHINGTON, Dec. 25 -- From the vantage point of its supporters, the Clinton administration's river restoration program is flowing smoothly, carrying federal aid to the neglected reaches of participating communities. To opponents, the program is an illegal expansion of federal powers. A conservative group this month asked the Supreme Court to hear a challenge to the American Heritage Rivers initiative, which President Clinton created in 1997 by executive order. And before leaving town, lawmakers imposed spending limits on the White House undertaking. "I don't think a program of that magnitude should go forward without the consent of Congress," said Representative Bob Schaffer, Republican of Colorado, the author of a ban on diverting any defense dollars to river projects. "I think it stands as an illegal executive order." Since President Clinton unveiled the concept of revitalizing the waterways and the communities they touch, conservatives have attacked it as an unconstitutional end run around Congress designed to expand federal authority. But in communities that won the designation, bestowed on 14 river systems chosen from 126 nominees in 1998, the special federal label is seen as a wellspring of aid, a unifying force and a point of pride. "It has been, in my opinion, one of the greatest opportunities that ever happened to this area of the New River watershed," said Patrick Woodie, who heads an organization coordinating redevelopment along 350 miles of the Appalachian waterway, which cuts through North Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia. The New, one of the oldest rivers in the nation, is benefiting from $6 million in grants. Just as important, Mr. Woodie said, the designation forced the three states to work together to achieve their shared goals. Residents of Jacksonville, Fla., were equally happy with the designation for 290 miles of the St. Johns River, which brought $1 million in aid. "We have been real satisfied," said Susan Wiles, chief of staff to the city's mayor, John Delaney. But the program is a lightning rod for foes suspicious of administration motives and a staple of conservative talk radio, where it is criticized as everything from a political stunt to a cover for United Nations confiscation of United States property. "The American Heritage Rivers Initiative is a wolf in sheep's clothing," said Representative Helen Chenoweth-Hage, Republican of Idaho, earlier this year. "Although it sounds harmless to some, the initiative gathers the powers of 13 federal agencies to create yet another opportunity for these agencies to affect local land use decisions." With the help of the Mountain States Legal Foundation in Denver, Ms. Chenoweth-Hage, Mr. Schaffer and two other members of the House Resources Committee sued in federal court in the District of Columbia to block the initiative. The complaint was dismissed on the grounds that the lawmakers lacked standing to contest the initiative, a decision upheld on appeal in July. Challenging those rulings, William Perry Pendley, head of Mountain States, petitioned the Supreme Court on Dec. 2 to review whether the creation of the rivers initiative deprived the four lawmakers of their constitutional right to vote on the enactment of new federal programs. Administration officials and river advocates are confident the legal assault will fail and wonder what the fuss is about, given the positive response to the program. "The river communities really love it," said Loretta Neumann, director of the initiative. "It is going quite well." Ms. Neumann conceded that the effort could be hindered by the new congressional spending limits. But she noted the final budget bill also declared agencies could participate "if it is a normal part of their programs." Opponents worry that language could now be cited by the administration as evidence Congress approved the program. Ms. Neumann said it reflects the broad, bipartisan congressional backing for the program that exists outside conservative circles. The other heritage rivers are: the Hudson in New York; the Lower Mississippi in Louisiana and Tennessee; the Upper Mississippi from Minnesota to Missouri; the Connecticut River from New Hampshire through Connecticut; the Detroit River in Michigan; the Cuyahoga River in Ohio. Also the Blackstone and Woonasquatucket rivers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island; the mid-Atlantic's Potomac; the Hanalei in Hawaii; the Rio Grande in Texas; the Willamette in Oregon; and the upper Susquehanna and Lackawanna rivers in Pennsylvania.

Farmers sue over Joshua Tree dump (Environmental News Network, Tuesday, December 21, 1999, By Associated Press) A California farming couple sued federal agencies Monday for approving a 2,200-acre dump on the border of Joshua Tree National Park, arguing that the agencies failed to protect the desert preserve, its groundwater and its wildlife. The proposed Eagle Mountain Landfill, which would be built in an abandoned iron ore mine, could accept up to 20,000 tons of trash a day — enough to fill 375 rail cars. Donna and Larry Charpied, who farm jojoba near the proposed landfill, argue that the dump could blow dust and garbage into the park, attract crows that could feed on threatened desert tortoises, and contaminate groundwater supplies. Their jojoba crop, which produces valuable oil, depends on the water. "As long as they try to destroy my life, our national park, this is going to go on," Larry Charpied said. The project was twice approved by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, while its environmental impact report was twice rejected by a state Superior Court judge. In May, however, a state appellate court ruled in the dump's favor, clearing the way for final approval by state and federal agencies. The dump, about 180 miles east of Los Angeles, received its final permit last week after a decade-long review. It should withstand this latest legal challenge because of the extensive reviews it already has undergone, said Richard Daniels, president and chief executive officer of Mine Reclamation Corp., the project's developer. "This project has been exhaustively reviewed — two complete environmental processes over 10 years, over 50 public hearings, extensive technical review. We're confident that that process has been complete, thorough and accurate," he said. He declined to comment further, saying he had not yet seen the lawsuit. Copyright 1999, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

Farm chemicals may be killing fish (Environmental News Network, Tuesday, December 21, 1999, By Associated Press) The chemicals farmers use in their fields may be linked to a huge dead zone off the coast of Louisiana where shellfish and other sea creatures are dying. And a solution could spell changes on farms along the Mississippi and elsewhere, some experts say. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous are getting into the Gulf via the Mississippi and the rivers that feed it, said Ron Gilderman, manager of the soil testing lab at South Dakota State University. When they do, they work on aquatic plants just as they do on farm crops, spurring algae blooms that deplete oxygen in the water. "I don't think it's totally proven why they're losing that fishery resource," he said. But he adds evidence is mounting that farm practices may be a leading cause. Excess nutrients may come not just from farms but from many sources including runoff from developed land, soil erosion, sewage and industrial discharges. The issue is so important that a 1998 federal law requires a plan for controlling low oxygen levels in the northern Gulf by the end of March. Among the solutions under discussion are proposals to return more farmland to wetlands and cutting nitrogen use by 20 percent. One program contracts with landowners for planting buffer zones along streams, said Doug Farrand, of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Similar to Conservation Reserve Program contracts, it shares with farmers the cost of seeding grass in areas near streams. "If you're keeping some nitrates out of Moccasin Creek, which is eventually going to get into the Mississippi, which is going to get into the Gulf of Mexico, you are one small step toward the solution to the greater problem," said Farrand. In addition, split application of fertilizer is becoming more popular, he said. A split application is when farmers put nitrogen on fields in two or three applications through the growing season instead of applying it all at once in the spring. States such as Iowa and Illinois are probably bigger offenders in sending farm nutrients down the Mississippi because those leading corn-producing states use a great deal of fertilizer, Gilderman said. Copyright 1999, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

Floyd may affect fish in North Carolina (Environmental News Network, Tuesday, December 21, 1999, By Associated Press) Hurricane Floyd may have another nasty surprise in store for North Carolina. Fishermen fear the effects of the September storm will create a springtime bumper crop of oxygen-robbing algae in Pamlico Sound that could be lethal to fish and plants. "We fully expect to see a long-term ecological response," said Hans Paerl of the University of North Carolina marine lab. "We're certainly not out of the woods in terms of long-term effects." Three months ago, Floyd caused $6 billion in damage in North Carolina alone and killed more than 50 people. It also washed unprecedented amounts of organic material — from raw sewage to agricultural chemicals — into North Carolina's rivers, robbing the water of oxygen in Pamlico Sound. Later storms churned oxygen back into the water and fishing today is thriving in parts of the sound, an enormous body of salty water bracketed by North Carolina's mainland and a string of barrier islands that keep it from flushing into the Atlantic. With nearby Albemarle Sound, it forms the nation's second-largest estuary behind Chesapeake Bay, and is a nursery for many of the fish caught along the mid-Atlantic coast. "Fishing is much better than what any of us projected," said Jerry Schill, director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association, which represents 8,000 commercial fishermen. "I was looking at devastation. That has not happened. It isn't as bad as what we once thought." But scientists warn the danger won't be apparent until after winter. More daylight and warmer weather, coupled with the nutrient-rich Floyd runoff of nitrogen from fertilizer and sewage, could spur the growth of massive algal blooms that might suffocate fish by spring or summer. Paerl said nitrogen nutrient levels are now 10 times higher than normal. When warmer weather arrives, he said, parts of the Neuse and Pamlico rivers and Pamlico Sound are at the highest risk for fish kills. "The scary part about this is it's a giant experiment. We don't really know how it's going to turn out," said Rob Young, a marine geologist at Western Carolina University. "If this had happened in the summer, right now we would probably be singing the funeral song for the sounds. One thing lucky about this is that it was a later-season hurricane, and the ecological systems of the sound were shutting down anyway." Dr. Larry Crowder of the Duke University Marine Laboratory at Beaufort said he and others have already seen large numbers of fish with sores and bloated bellies, an indication of bacterial infection. Crowder said almost all the menhaden caught in sample trawls recently have shown signs of disease. Also affected are other species, including hardier fish such as weakfish. Schill said Monday his members are catching about half the number of crabs they normally bring in, though there have been large catches of flounder in Pamlico Sound. While worried about the future, Schill is thankful conditions aren't as bad as he imagined just after the hurricane, which dumped 20 inches of rain across the state's coastal plain. The health of sounds and rivers is a delicate balance: If the water is too fresh — without the right amount of salt — or is contaminated or has too little oxygen, fish and other sea life will die. Since the flooding, which pushed higher than normal amounts of fresh water into the brackish sound, state health officials have tested fish but found no elevated toxin levels. Fecal bacteria also hasn't been found in alarming amounts yet, said Mark Sobsey, a microbiologist at UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Public Health. Still, fecal bacteria from sewage plants and farm lagoons might lie on the river and sound bottoms, Sobsey said, and be activated by warmer water in the spring. Crowder said the real test for the future health of the sound can be found in its sediment, which provides fertilizer for algae and could smother sea grass as it settles. "Everything that comes down the rivers just settles in Pamlico Sound," Crowder said. "All that sediment and goop just sorts of sinks out." Copyright 1999, Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

Well Water May Be Common Source of Ulcer-Causing Bacterium (American Society for Microbiology, October 7, 1999 Carol Potera) Although experts agree that infections by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori account for about 75% of stomach ulcers, they are not so sure where this pathogen resides and how it is transmitted to humans. Researchers in the Department of Environmental Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, Pa., now report a direct link between the presence of H. pylori in drinking water obtained from wells and stomach ulcers. Penn State microbiologist Katherine H. Baker headed a team that discovered H. pylori-contaminating water from private wells in rural areas of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Among 62 samples collected, 65% tested positive for H. pylori, suggesting that well water serves as an important, and possibly major, reservoir for the bacterium outside the human body and pointing to a likely route for the widely suspected waterborne route of transmission of this pathogen. A report describing these findings in detail has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. Traditional indicators of microbial drinking water quality involve testing for Escherichia coli and total coliforms. Indeed, long-established analyses depend on these microbes as markers for fecal contamination. In an early round of measurements, Baker detected total coliforms in 85%, and E. coli in 64%, of water samples obtained from this select sampling of wells. However, in four such well-water samples, she and her collaborators detected H. pylori in the absence of either E. coli or total coliforms, indicating to them that routine screening of water supplies by these traditional analytical methods fails to detect H. pylori, and therefore is not protecting consumers from exposure to this pathogen. After establishing that H. pylori often contaminates well water, Baker zeroed in on 10 drinkers of water from such sources who had recently been diagnosed with H. pylori infections. Samples of tap water from wells serving their homes were collected, and water from 8 of the 10 wells tested positive for H. pylori. The small sample size ``is definitely a limitation of the study,'' says Baker. However, the fact that most of the samples test positive for the pathogen is ``enough to raise a red flag.'' She presented this evidence, which is consistent with a direct link between contaminated drinking water and stomach ulcers, at the 99th ASM General Meeting in Chicago, Ill., during a session held early in June. Baker suspects that some H. pylori enters wells through contamination from nearby septic tanks. In other words, the bacteria reach septic tanks after infected individuals use the toilet; then, from the septic tanks, the bacteria seep into the wells. Although such tanks should lie at least 100 feet from wells, these standards often are overlooked or are not enforced in rural areas. In one case, she and her colleagues found that a contaminated well was located only 15 feet from a septic field. H. pylori bacteria reside in such wells just as would coliforms, according to Baker. Although the initial source of contamination seems to be infected individuals, they are not the only ones who are drinking water from their contaminated wells. Other family members, visitors, and other families who purchase and move into homes with such contaminated wells are among those who could become infected and, inadvertently, further disseminate H. pylori infections. ``We had a woman who was infected with H. pylori who took antibiotics and was cured,'' she says. ``Six months later she was reinfected--I think from her own well, which turned up positive for H. pylori.'' Because testing water for H. pylori is not a routine laboratory task, ``the last thing I want is people paying a lot of money to have their water tested for H. pylori,'' says Baker. She and her collaborators use an expensive and time-consuming research method to measure respiring H. pylori, confirming the identification with fluorescent antibodies and direct microscopic observation. In addition to its link to ulcers, H. pylori is associated with two cancers--gastric carcinoma and lymphoma of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT). The presence of H. pylori confers about a sixfold risk of gastric cancer, which is the second most common cancer worldwide. Biopsies show that 90% of MALT lymphomas are associated with H. pylori. More recently, Italian researchers reported in the 5 May 1998 issue of Circulation that H. pylori also may contribute to heart disease. In a study group of 176 individuals, half with heart disease, H. pylori was found in 62% of individuals with heart disease but only in 40% of those without the disease. The researchers say that H. pylori likely promotes heart disease by causing low-grade, lifelong infections and smoldering inflammation. Carol Potera is a freelance science writer based in Great Falls, Mont. .Copyright © 1999 American Society for Microbiology All rights reserved

Weevils beat weed on Lake Victoria (Environmental News Network, Friday, December 17, 1999, By United Press International) “Scientists fighting to control the spread of the water hyacinth weed that threatened to choke Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake, said Thursday their campaign is succeeding. The water hyacinth threatened marine life and fishing in the East African countries of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, with unforeseen ecological consequences. The fast-growing weed, which first crept unnoticed onto the lake in the early 1990s, turned Lake Victoria into a floating green carpet and became a major challenge to the economic life of the lakeside communities. Communities in Kenya's western Kisumu province and in northern Uganda, which depend entirely on fishing and marine transport, began to suffer economic stagnation. In Uganda, the Owen Falls hydroelectric power dam, which supplies all the country's electricity, had its power supply interrupted occasionally by strands of the weed being sucked into the turbines. In both Uganda and Kenya, several popular lakeside resorts fell idle as tourists deserted them. In 1996, the three East African countries released Brazilian weevils onto the lake, and officials said Thursday the insects have managed to eliminate 80 to 90 percent of the weeds. Previous strategies, including an attempt to use a combine harvester, proved ineffective. "We expected that we would see this impact after five years," Andrew Amailu, deputy director of the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute, told the BBC. He predicted that within the next two years, the hyacinth will have been eliminated entirely. Although there were fears originally that the Brazilian weevils would turn against other vegetation, it was discovered that they were specific to the water hyacinth. Realizing how much damage the weed could do to the ecology and the economy, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania agreed to import the weevils from Australia, West Africa, and South Africa.” Copyright 1999, United Press International, All Rights Reserved

Debate on Waste Regulations: Virginia poultry farmers, environmentalists debate waste regulations (Environmental News Network, Friday, December 17, 1999, By Greg Edwards, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.) “Regulations being developed by the Department of Environmental Quality to keep chicken and turkey manure out of Virginia waters have given poultry farmers reason to crow and environmentalists cause to squawk. DEQ has backed away from a plan to track poultry litter after it leaves the farm and enters the fertilizer market. The tracking proposal was supposed to ensure that the litter is used safely. The agency also decided not to write rules for a section of a new state law that holds big poultry processing companies partly responsible for safe use of the waste. In making the decision, DEQ agreed with the poultry industry that the law speaks for itself. Del. Tayloe Murphy Jr., D-Westmoreland, sponsored the 1999 poultry law. Poultry growers and processors initially opposed the bill, arguing that voluntary efforts to control pollution were sufficient. But the industry eventually agreed to a compromise with the law's supporters. Joe Maroon, head of the Virginia office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an environmental group, described the legislation as a model for the nation. But now the foundation, Murphy and others are angry with the DEQ for abandoning regulations they believe are needed to make the law effective. "We got out-lobbied," said Jeff Corbin, staff scientist for the foundation's Virginia office. The poultry industry had complained that proposed regulations went beyond the legislative compromise. Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation, said in a September letter to the DEQ staff that the industry would not have agreed to legislation extending control of chicken waste sold off the farm for fertilizer. The industry is not backing away from the commitment it made when it agreed to the legislation, Bauhan said. "Absolutely not... . Our industry will do the right thing when it comes to water quality with or without regulations." Anyone flying over the Shenandoah Valley will see hundreds of nearly football-field-length poultry houses. These houses and others around Virginia contain roughly 290 million chickens and turkeys converting high-grade feed into poultry manure. Poultry is raised on about 1,300 Virginia farms, most all of them in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which extends as far west as Botetourt County. The state ranks fourth nationally in turkey production, eighth in broiler chickens and 26th in eggs. Poultry provided $790.7 million in 1998, or nearly a third of the cash receipts on the state's farms. Until the passage of poultry-waste legislation this year, poultry had held an Orwellian status in Virginia, being more equal than other farm animals. Farms raising hogs, cattle and dairy cows, which also are kept in confined settings, were all regulated. But the poultry industry has worked on its own to reduce nutrient-laden waste flowing into state waters. Before passage of this year's law, the industry claimed that a vast majority of growers had voluntarily adopted nutrient management plans to guide the handling of poultry waste. For the past few years, poultry processors have required growers who want to do business with them to have nutrient plans, which are intended to prevent the excess application of nitrogen and phosphorus to the soil. Still, agriculture is the biggest contributor of nutrients flowing into the Chesapeake Bay. Farming accounted for 42 percent of the nitrogen pollution and 51 percent of the phosphorus in 1996. Urban runoff and septic systems contributed about 10 percent of the problem. Excess nutrients cause uncontrolled growth of microscopic algae plants in the water. Algae cloud the water, blocking sunlight and causing bay grasses to die. The grasses are crucial to the bay's health, adding oxygen to the water, preventing erosion, and providing a habitat for fish and water birds. The 64,000-square-mile Chesapeake Bay and the rivers that flow into it are healthier than they were when the effort to restore the bay was begun in 1983, according to the Chesapeake Bay Program, a voluntary partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, bay states and citizens groups. Nutrient pollution is declining in nontidal portions of rivers, bay grasses are coming back, chemical releases by industry into the bay are declining, and streamside forests are being restored. On the other hand, the oyster harvest has declined, blue crabs are just hanging on, and forest acreage in the bay watershed has dropped. Although many poultry farmers have acted voluntarily to ensure they aren't contributing to the bay's ongoing problems, the new state law was intended to provide some assurance that all growers are doing their part. In the dispute that has arisen over the writing of regulations to implement the law, the least contentious issue involves the striking of regulations applying to poultry processors. The law requires that processors file a plan with the Water Control Board by Jan. 1 showing how they will assist their growers with the management of waste and in getting rid of excess waste. The law also requires processors to study ways to reduce the amount of nutrients in poultry waste and to report yearly on what they have done to comply with the law. The poultry industry argues that the law is clear on what the responsibilities of processors are. Bauhan said the fact the legislature made the law effective on processors on Jan. 1 while grower regulations are not due to be finished until 10 months later is evidence the legislature didn't intend regulations for the processors. Murphy and others, however, contend that regulations are needed to provide performance standards for processors. The regulations on growers, which included the hotly disputed section on the tracking of waste off the farm, will not take effect until Oct. 1, 2001. Charles Horn, who grows 100,000 turkeys a year on a farm in northern Augusta County, says the new law, enforced as it was intended, won't hurt poultry growers. But Horn doesn't want to see the regulations extended to cover farmers who don't raise poultry but who buy poultry litter to fertilize their crops and fields. Horn, 58, sits on local and state soil and water conservation boards and on an advisory committee that is helping DEQ write the poultry regulations. Farmers in Augusta alone have spent millions of dollars in the past few years to establish conservation measures known as "best management practices," Horn said. He says there's still a need for increased state funding of a program that pays farmers up to 75 percent of the cost of installing conservation measures. Since 1992, Horn has had a plan to manage the nutrients from his poultry waste. He stores his poultry litter under a shed, which allows him to keep it dry and apply it at times when his fields need it. For his cows, he uses rotational grazing and has installed a 5,000-foot fence to keep them out of a creek running through his property. "We've preached conservation all our life," he said. But regulations that require tracking of litter beyond the farm will destroy the market for poultry litter, Horn said. Rather than put up with the hassle, farmers will buy commercial fertilizer and poultry growers will be stuck with litter, he said. Poultry litter currently sells for $3 to $5 a ton or $20 per ton delivered and applied to a field. It enjoys a considerable market advantage over comparable commercial fertilizer, which costs $27 a ton delivered, not including spreading costs. Bauhan of the Poultry Federation said the industry wouldn't object to requiring growers to keep records about who buys their litter but it opposes requiring those who buy litter to keep records. The industry also supports requiring growers to supply those who buy the litter with a fact sheet on its proper storage and use and with a recent analysis of its nutrient content. But Murphy said the law clearly calls for a regulatory program that "provides for waste tracking and accounting." Only by requiring an accounting of the final use of poultry waste transferred off the grower's farm can the state effectively monitor the pollution problems it can create, he told the State Water Control Board last week. "If you get rid of [the waste], and nobody happens to know what happened to it, you're not going to be any better off," Murphy said afterward. He urged the board to carefully weigh the regulations against the requirements of the legislation when it considers adopting poultry regulations at its March meeting. By one estimate, as much as three-fifths of the waste from Virginia poultry farms is removed from growers' farms for use or disposal elsewhere. Once the state switches from nitrogen-based nutrient plans to plans based on a crops' phosphorus needs in the fall of 2001, the amount of litter disposed off the farm could increase to 80 percent. That's because crops need less phosphorus than nitrogen. Jim Pease, an agricultural economist from Virginia Tech, has said it would be hard to satisfy the law's requirements for monitoring the waste when only poultry growers are involved. He cited a 1990 Tech study that showed that farmers who buy the waste for fertilizer actually apply it to their crops in greater amounts than the poultry growers do. But the farming community's awareness of the environmental consequences of excess nutrients is much greater now than in 1990, he added. Pease, who serves on the DEQ advisory committee on the regulations, said the agency should be able to develop a system that would provide information about the ultimate use of the waste while imposing the least regulation necessary. The state, he said, should have a way to determine in three or four years how things have changed as a result of the poultry law. But Kay Slaughter of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville believes more regulation is needed. She said that, because the law is meant to protect water quality, it is logical to follow the waste and make sure it is properly used. Sometimes middlemen or brokers are involved. They clean out poultry houses and then sell the waste. Slaughter said it's important to know that the waste is stored properly and applied. Otherwise growers can just get rid of the waste by giving it away and forgetting about it, she said. Corbin of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation said he was disappointed that the state proposed the rules and then backed away from them. He said the agency's staff, not environmentalists on the advisory committee, initially proposed off-farm regulations. Slaughter, Corbin and others on the advisory group were surprised in October when, before the group had completed its work, a DEQ official announced that the agency had decided to strike from the proposed regulations the off-farm tracking provisions and others related to the responsibility of poultry processing companies. Slaughter suggested the timing, before the fall election, was political. Dennis Treacy, the director of DEQ, made the decision to strike the provisions. Bauhan, the Poultry Federation official, had sent a copy of his letter complaining about the provisions to Treacy. He said he had also discussed the federation's concerns with John Paul Woodley Jr., the state secretary of natural resources, who is Treacy's boss. Anthony Moore, DEQ's director of policy and legislation, said there was no political intent in Treacy's decision. The regulations, Moore said, could have created a tracking nightmare. If someone could come up with a system that would be easy to apply, the agency would be glad to consider it, he said. Murphy had written Treacy a week before the decision to kill the regulations was announced. In his letter, he had urged Treacy to retain the regulations regarding the off-farm tracking of waste and the responsibilities of poultry processors. "Clearly, I think state agencies have a responsibility to adopt regulations that are as close to being in accordance with the provisions of statutes as possible, and I think this one is not even close," Murphy said later. Environmental regulations aren't anti-business; they are making business more responsible, Murphy said. "If a polluter doesn't pay the cost, someone else will have to pay it." POULTRY LAW Here are some of the major provisions of the new law: Nutrient plan: Provides that anyone owning or operating poultry houses have a manure management plan by Oct. 1, 2001 Tracking: Requires waste tracking and accounting Runoff prevention: Requires proper storage of waste Processor responsibility: Directs processors who contract with growers to provide growers with technical assistance and education in the management and storage of waste Transportation: Requires processors to help growers market their waste and develop a program in conjunction with the state to help move waste to areas where it is needed as fertilizer Coverage: Applies to growers with more than 20,000 chickens or about 5,000 turkeys Regulations: Directs State Water Control Board with assistance of Department of Conservation and Recreation to develop a permit program for poultry waste similar to existing regulatory program for hog, beef and dairy operations.” Copyright 1999, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va. Knight Ridder/Tribune, All Rights Reserved

Dead Zone Hit Record, Growing in the Gulf (NY Times, Science Times, December 14, 1999, By LIZ MURRAY) The "Dead Zone" that is formed in the Gulf of Mexico by pollutants from the Mississippi River was larger than ever this year, say researchers at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. The zone, an area too overrun with pollution to support any marine life, is at its worst in hot weather and covered an estimated 7,728 square miles when measured in July, said Dr. Nancy Rabalais, a marine ecologist at the consortium. That is roughly the size of New Jersey, and 700 square miles larger than its previous maximum size in 1995, Dr. Rabalais said in a telephone interview. The phenomenon was first reported in 1974 by Dr. R. Eugene Turner, director of the Coastal Ecology Institute at Louisiana State University, who discovered the deadly depletion of oxygen at the gulf's bottom. The main cause of the problem is pollution flowing in from the Mississippi in the form of excess nutrients, particularly nitrogen from agricultural runoff. These discharges promote an overgrowth of algae in the spring and summer. When these algae die, they sink to the bottom, where bacteria begin decomposing them, using up oxygen in the process. As a result, all life must either relocate or perish. Furthering the trouble, fresh water continues to flow in, forming a separate layer on top of the thicker, salty gulf waters. This prevents air from reaching the gulf's floor. The new measurement of the dead zone, based on water samples and instrument readings, has been made part of a report by a federal task force charged with drafting a management plan for nutrient issues in the Mississippi River basin. The proposed report is open for public comment until Dec. 20. Though it is clear that levels of nitrogen must be reduced to help solve the problem, researchers are still debating how to do it. Some say that although the nitrogen appears to be coming mainly from the middle and upper parts of the Mississippi watershed, it may be more feasible to regulate runoff in smaller amounts in other places. Others argue that pollution from a dominant source like the middle Mississippi must first be controlled.

Calif. water suppliers confront expensive new radon rules (Copyright © 1999 Nando Media, Copyright © 1999 Scripps McClatchy Western Service, A radon map for California is available at http://www.epa.gov/iaq/radon/zonemap/zmapp5.htm, By MICHAEL DOYLE, Nando Washington Bureau) WASHINGTON (December 3, 1999 10:23 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Radon kills, but it also costs, and that's what has California water suppliers like Ray DeSa so wary. As public works director for the city of Los Banos, DeSa is confronting potentially pricey new federal rules designed to ease the threat from cancer-causing radon gas. Along with his colleagues in cities from Sacramento to Fresno, DeSa faces some tough choices about costs, benefits, and political intervention. "The cost for treating radon is relatively expensive," DeSa said, but added, "it really depends on what level of treatment is required." For Californians, this is what some fear could be the $439 million question. A worst-case estimate compiled by the Association of California Water Agencies asserts the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed radon rule could cost Californians nearly half a billion dollars a year. That cost estimate is disputed by some, and falls dramatically if certain conditions are met, but it's become a powerful motivator for the state's water suppliers. DeSa, for one, is organizing meetings with other Merced County water agency officials to evaluate the proposed radon rule. Twenty-seven California House members are leaning on the EPA to give more time for public comments. And Central Valley water agencies are starting to measure the odorless, colorless radioactive gas that's the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. "It's a big hit to the San Joaquin Valley, because essentially we're all taking water from the same source," Doug Kirk, Fresno's water operations chief, said of the proposed new rules. The dispute, Kirk said, centers on what responsibility water suppliers should have for a health problem that's associated mostly with airborne exposure. Perhaps, Kirk suggested, the EPA shouldn't even set a drinking water standard for the gas. Roughly 20,000 lung cancer fatalities annually are attributed to radon; nearly all of these come from exposure to airborne radon. About 168 of the fatalities come from exposure to radon in water, according to the National Academy of Sciences. Most stem from breathing radon released into the air when the water tap is turned on. Knowing the dangers, the EPA first tried setting a radon standard in 1991. Congress blocked it. In 1996, Congress ordered the agency to set a standard, but only after the major National Academy of Sciences study. In August, officials proposed a new radon rule that gives water suppliers a unique choice. They can abide by the strict drinking water standard of 300 picoCuries per liter (pCi/L), or they can address both indoor air and water problems and thereby meet a looser water standard of 4,000 pCi/L. "We believe the multimedia approach provides the best flexibility for regulators and health officials in addressing all sources of radon in the home," EPA spokeswoman Robin Woods said. This is the first time the EPA has tried such a two-track approach. It's supposed to give cities and states an incentive for tackling both air and water exposure. Officials estimate that between two and 58 lives would be saved annually, depending on which standard is met. Federal officials also maintain the costs will be significantly less than those estimated by water agencies. For instance, the Association of California Water Agencies' $439 million worst-case estimate just for California is more than the EPA estimates it will cost the entire country. Undeniably, some areas are more vulnerable than others. Radon concentrations in the Tuolumne Utility District of the Sierra Nevada foothills, for instance, average a relatively high 2,425 pCi/L, according to a state survey. A worst-case scenario estimates the district's water rates could increase by 69 percent. Modesto officials, by contrast, say they aren't concerned about the city's surface water supplies, according to Lanora Hill of the city's water division. Unlike a number of other Valley cities, Modesto receives a large share of its drinking water from surface supplies rather than underground wells. "There's some historical analysis, and it shows (radon) is not much of a problem in the area," Hill said. Sacramento officials have begun testing radon levels even though they aren't yet required to. Utilities department spokeswoman Liz Brenner said it's likely the city eventually will turn to outside consultants. "We really need to take some time to look at this, and we just don't have the resources to internally sit back and say what it will mean to us," Brenner said. The city of Fresno already has estimated what it might cost to comply with the most stringent of the proposed EPA rules. The city previously had tested its 200-plus wells following the earlier EPA effort to regulate radon, and officials recently recalculated costs. It isn't pretty. Installing the necessary radon-cleaning equipment to protect Fresno's half a million water customers would cost $220 million, public utilities director Ted Rhinehart said, plus another $30 million a year to operate and maintain. "Financially, we don't see it," Rhinehart said. "It would be like asking every household in Fresno to fork over $1,500, and then we'd have to double their water bills." This high cost estimate, however, is based on the EPA's most stringent standard. Statewide costs for water systems would be less than one-tenth as much if California takes the multimedia approach favored by EPA. "It is our understanding that the California Department of Health has expressed an interest in developing a multimedia program," EPA assistant administrator J. Charles Fox advised California lawmakers earlier this year. "In that case, (water systems) in California would comply with the (easier) standard."

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