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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

EPA to Reduce Testing of Ground Zero
In a slap in the face to resident of New York City, EPA released yesterday a reduced testing plan for contaminants released in the collapse of the World Trade Center. EPA backed away from initial broader testing plan that included parts of Brooklyn and areas north of Canal Street in Manhattan. From the Washington Post:

The fires at Ground Zero burned for three months, and western Brooklyn sat directly within the smoke-and-dust plume from the World Trade Center. But EPA officials said that their tests have not been able to distinguish between World Trade Center contamination and the dust and detritus of normal urban life.
"We would prefer to go further, but the science won't let us," said E. Timothy Oppelt, an EPA official who has chaired an expert technical review panel intended to guide the testing. "We can't be whimsical."
The EPA also announced Tuesday that it is shutting down Oppelt's review panel -- which includes toxicologists, doctors, environmentalists and residents. The committee was supposed to meet monthly but has not convened since July.
The panel will hold a final meeting in December, and that meeting will be shorter than usual.
"It's crucial for this panel to continue," said Suzanne Mattei, New York City executive of the Sierra Club, which has issued several studies on Ground Zero-related contamination. "If we can't get a proper response after a disaster of this magnitude, what's the point of having a federal government?"

In a statement on the testing, Sen. Hilary Clinton lamented that "[t]he panel has not even begun to meet its mandate to identify unmet public health needs," she said. More on EPA's testing plans and the panel.

Posted by Genevieve Smith, 11:44:00 AM

Friday, November 18, 2005

Maybe This Time the Wrap Will Stick
This might make you think twice the next time you order pizza or unwrap a piece of candy. An ex-DuPont official recently leaked documents detailing how DuPont covered up 20-years of studies showing that the chemical Zonyl, produced by DuPont and used in the making of candy wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, pizza boxes and other food packaging, was degrading into the dangerous chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and seeping into the food products at levels three-times the FDA-recommended limit from 1967. Studies in rats, which DuPont conveniently withheld from federal agencies and the public, showed kidney and liver damage as a result of exposure. Zonyl is related to another DuPont chemical, Teflon, which has also been found to leak PFOA into food when the Teflon coating degrades.

In January, EPA issued a draft risk assessment of the PFOA, which though acknowledging the potential health risks, fell far short of condemning the chemical or its makers. EPA will have a change to redeem itself, however, when an advisory panel meets next month to decide whether PFOA should be listed as a likely human carcinogen. EPA is also currently in settlement with DuPont over the withheld studies.

More Information:

AP: Papers: DuPont Hid Chemical Risk Studies"

EPA Risk Assessment Finds Potential Risk to Humans in Teflon(1/24/2005)

Making Sure that Nothing Sticks: EPA and DuPont (1/18/2005)

Posted by Genevieve Smith, 06:39:49 PM

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Fecal Matter Matters
Vegetarians, beware: In yet another threat to the long-term safety of our food supply, scientists have recently discovered that antibiotics given to farm animals are being passed through manure to food crops. From the NewStandard:

According to the study, published in the Journal of Environmental Quality last month, three test crops — corn, green onions and cabbage — were found to absorb chlortetracycline through the soil. The drug, which is part of the tetracycline class of antibiotics, is often administered to pigs and other farmed animals as part of their food. Since the animals cannot process all of the drug, it is passed along in feces, which are then packaged and sold for use as fertilizer.
Earlier studies examining the use of antibiotics in animal feed found that their presence can kill or stunt plant growth. The overuse of antibiotics can also contribute to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and germ strains.

Posted by Genevieve Smith, 04:36:25 PM

Unmet Needs: Warning Sirens
In the case of a national emergency, such as a natural disaster, chemical plant failure, or terrorist attack, many communities rely on warning sirens for important information. Yet many victims of the tornado that recently ravaged southern Indiana say they didn't hear the warning sirens intended to alert residents of the approaching storm. From the New York Times:

The authorities in both counties said their siren systems had activated a short time before the storm, once the National Weather Service alerted them to the approaching tornado. In fact, one of Vanderburgh County's 21 sirens is about half a mile from the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park, and the three-minute alarm should have been audible there about 15 minutes before the storm hit, Sherman Greer, director of emergency management there, said.
"But the truth here is, there's no perfect warning system," Mr. Greer said. Marvin Heilman, the Warrick County sheriff, said that county's sirens were "very audible," but conceded that even he did not hear the one a mile from his house that night. "It's something I know we'll look at," Sheriff Heilman said.
The issue has arisen elsewhere before. Such siren systems are common in many local communities, and in states like Tennessee and Iowa, some people have raised questions about their usefulness.
Besides, some residents here said, even those who heard the sirens were not always sure what to do next.

22 people died as a result of the tornado, most of them having never left their homes.

National security infrastructure failures have been making headlines ever since Hurricane Katrina. And this example only further underscores how woefully unprepared we are to manage a large-scale disaster of any type.

Posted by Genevieve Smith, 03:15:22 PM

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

The Bush Administration's Chummy Deal with Wal-Mart
Most people by now have read the news coverage of the Labor Dep't Inspector General report criticizing DOL for its chummy settlement with Wal-Mart in which it pledged to give Wal-Mart advance notice before it comes in to inspect for violations. If you want to read the report for yourself, click here to download it.

Among the highlights:

"Wal-Mart attorneys author[ed] key provisions of the Wal-Mart agreement." Of course, letting industry write its own rules is a pattern for the Bush administration.
"The Wal-Mart agreement required jointly developed press releases, in violation of stated [DOL press policy]." Giving industry approval over Bush administration press releases? -- also not new (click here and jump to page 24 of the PDF).
"The agreement between Wal-Mart and [DOL] was significantly different from other agreements entered into by [DOL]. Specifically, the Wal-Mart agreement has the most far-reaching restrictions on [DOL]'s authority to conduct investigations and assess [civil penalties]."

On this last point -- could the Bush administration be so chummy with Wal-Mart that it would put the public at risk? If this child labor case isn't bad enough, consider the White House's endorsement of industry's call for an anti-regulatory hit list that includes, among other things, allowing companies that aren't in the trucking business but have workers who drive trucks to force those workers to spend even more time on the job -- what some call a "Wal-Mart rule."

Posted by Robert Shull, 04:05:18 PM

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

More Evidence of Homeland Insecurity
The Department of Homeland Security has failed to meet security standards set after Sept. 11, according to USA Today.

The Bush administration has missed dozens of deadlines set by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks for developing ways to protect airplanes, ships and railways from terrorists.
A plan to defend ships and ports from attack is six months overdue. Rules to protect air cargo from infiltration by terrorists are two months late. A study on the cost of giving anti-terrorism training to federal law enforcement officers who fly commercially was supposed to be done more than three years ago.
"The incompetence that we recently saw with FEMA's leadership appears to exist throughout the Homeland Security Department," said Mississippi Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee. "Our nation is still vulnerable."

Some of the missed security deadlines could even have helped allay the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, according to Rep. Thompson. "Thompson said the government has yet to develop a comprehensive plan to protect roads, bridges, tunnels, power plants, pipelines and dams. He said a broad plan to protect levies and dams might have helped prevent the New Orleans levies from being breached."

From chemical plant security to food safety, insecurity in our national infrastructure is pervasive and could have devastating effects in the event of a terrorist attack or another natural disaster. Read more about national security failures in the latest Watcher: "Katrina Exposes Some, But Not All, Unmet Security and Safety Needs"

Posted by Genevieve Smith, 12:50:31 PM

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