Environmental News...to Use.
Contaminated water may be releasing vapors at Fort Lewis. A toxic plume lies beneath Fort Lewis. But despite years of urging from the EPA, the Army has not tested family homes for toxic vapors, nor even warned the families. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Gagging an eyewitness to Monsanto's PCB dumping. The Environment Agency is gagging the one eyewitness to what is potentially the biggest environmental crime to occur in the UK: massive dumping of PCBs by Monsanto in South Wales. The Ecologist
Arsenic in chicken production. FOR ENVIRONMENTALISTS and some public health experts, one of the most puzzling practices of modern agriculture is the addition of arsenic-based compounds to most chicken feed. The point of the practice is to promote growth, kill parasites that cause diarrhea, and improve pigmentation of chicken meat. But Tyson Foods, the U.S.'s largest poultry producer, stopped using arsenic compounds in 2004, and many high-end and organic growers raise chickens quite successfully without them. What's more, McDonald's has asked its suppliers not to use arsenic additives, and the European Union banned them in 1999. Chemical & Engineering News.
Study seeks to explain drop in male births. A new study says environmental and other factors may be affecting conception of male embryos and hindering the health of male fetuses. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Mercury mystery in oil refining. Hundreds of pounds of mercury from Bay Area oil refineries are unaccounted for and could be flowing into San Francisco Bay every year, poisoning fish and threatening public health, state water regulators said Monday. San Jose Mercury News
Living on the edge, Indians watch their islands wash away. A recent study by Sugata Hazra, an oceanographer at Jadavpur University in Calcutta, found that during the last 30 years, 163 square kilometers, or 63 square miles, of the Sundarbans, a group of islands in India, have vanished entirely. International Herald Tribune.
Appeals court rejects Bush salmon plan for Columbia dams. A federal appeals court Monday strongly rejected the Bush administration's novel 2004 plan for making Columbia Basin hydroelectric dams safe for salmon, saying it used 'sleight of hand' and violated the Endangered Species Act. Associated Press.
More new construction adopting green' design. Proponents say the payoff from 'going green' comes in the form of lower utility bills, a healthier workplace for employees, reduced impact on the environment, and community goodwill. Buffalo News
Asthma: most common chronic childhood disease. Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, affecting nearly five million children in the United States, or more than one child in 20. Craig Daily Press
In praise of ... bees. Humans need bees more than we trouble to acknowledge. At least a quarter of our food supply depends on their pollination. London Guardian
Undoing deregulation blunder. Ten years ago, the Montana Legislature made one of the greatest public policy blunders in recent history with the enactment of Senate Bill 390 to deregulate the electric utility industry. Helena Independent Record
Global warming: The risk of doing nothing is too big. The risks of global warming - especially for a coastal community such as the Pensacola Bay Area - make it seem inconceivable that anyone would choose to wait to see what happens, rather than try to forestall it. Pensacola News Journal
Legally polluting the Levisa. Consol Energy is convinced it needs to pump untreated, high-chloride mine wastewater -- at a rate of thousands of gallons a minute -- into the Levisa Fork river to keep its mining operations in Buchanan County afloat. Roanoke Times
Legal toxins in air. Chemical pollutants that can damage the brain and central nervous system, and can cause learning and developmental disabilities in children, are on the rise from the exhaust stacks at General Motors' Flint Truck Assembly Plant on Van Slyke Road. Flint Journal
The alien fungus that came to Canada. A medical mystery is unfolding on Vancouver Island, centered on a tropical disease apparently brought to North America by a warming climage. Washington Post.
Mercury rising. A recent study warns of widespread mercury contamination in the Adirondacks after scientists found high levels of the dangerous element in the picturesque wilderness and wildlife that personify the region. Glens Falls Post Star
Killer bug escapes. One of the world's most aggressive and potentially fatal superbugs — once found only on hospital wards — has become more virulent and is now infecting healthy people in the community. Melbourne Age
Unicorns of the sea: Dying in the depths. Narwhals, the "unicorns" of the sea, are in particular danger as whales and dolphins, already depleted by centuries of hunting, are driven towards extinction by global warming, a new report reveals. London Independent