Fw: GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 020206

[Guest guest]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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{*} PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE

{*} FLUORIDATION AND CANCER

{*} BERGEN BUYS A PIECE OF SCOUTING HISTORY

{*} MILLVILLE OPEN SPACE PROHIBITION

{*} DAMAGE TO HUDSON RIVER WILDLIFE FROM PCBS UNDER STUDY

{*} EPA REBUKED FOR SEWAGE SAFETY

{*} CUMBERLAND COUNTY RAPTOR FESTIVAL - FEB 9

{*} OYSTER CREEK NUKE DRY CASK STORAGE - FEB 13

{*} GOOSE DAMAGE MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP - FEB 15

{*} BLACK BEAR TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM AT PEQUEST - FEB 20

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PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE

Date: 6 Feb 2002

From: chopyak@...

INDUSTRY VERSUS PRECAUTION IN MASSACHUSETTS

By A.J. Chien, ZNet Commentary, February 06, 2002

Something's wrong with the kids.

Childhood asthma incidence has doubled in the past decade. For

children under five it increased by 160 percent between 1980 and 1994.

Asthma is now the leading chronic disease in children, affecting 5

million kids in the U. S.

Learning disabilities are increasing dramatically. One child in six

is afflicted by autism, aggression, dyslexia, or attention deficit

disorder. In New York, cases of learning disability rose 55 percent

between 1983 and 1996, from 132,000 to 204,000. In California there

were 11,995 reported cases of autism in 1998, up 210 percent from

1987.

The rate of genital birth defects in boys has soared. Between 1968

and 1993, incidence of hypospadia (in which the urethra exits near the

base of the penis instead of the end) doubled in the U. S., and now

affects one in every 125 boys born in the country, an astonishing

rate.

Girls are reaching puberty at startlingly young ages. According to a

1997 study, some 15 percent of white girls were budding breasts and

growing pubic hair by age 8, and about five percent by age 7. For

African Americans girls almost half were developing breasts or pubic

hair by age 8.

Childhood cancer rates are rising. According to the National Cancer

Institute, the age-adjusted incidence of cancer in children under 14

increased by almost 21 percent between 1975 and 1998. During this

time, bone and joint cancers rose by almost 66 percent, gliomas by

over 38 percent, nervous system tumors by 30 percent, and acute

lymphocytic leukemia by over 25 percent.

As Dr. Philip Landrigan of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine puts it,

these are " ominous trends. " What's behind them? In some cases a

genetic component is suspected, but population-level genetic change

comes much too slowly to explain recent trends.

In contrast, the number and volume of synthetic chemicals introduced

into the environment and marketplace has exploded over the postwar

decades, and there is suggestive evidence for a range of consequent

health problems. Solvents in paint, gasoline, strippers, and dry

cleaning have been associated with miscarriages, birth defects, and

child leukemia and brain cancers.

Pthalates, found in cosmetics and many plastic products including

toys, have been correlated with lung, liver, and heart problems, and

with premature puberty in a study of Puerto Rican girls. Sulfur

dioxide and other air pollutants can trigger asthma, a possible

explanation for the existence of " asthma clusters " in polluted areas.

Various pesticides found on food, no-pest strips, lawns, and other

sources, have been linked to leukemia and other cancers.

Mercury-contaminated fish eaten by pregnant women is a contributing

cause of the more than 60,000 children born every year at elevated

risk for learning disabilities, according to the National Academy of

Sciences.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), ubiquitous worldwide, have been

linked to deficits in intellectual performance, memory and attention

span for kids exposed before birth, even at what are considered

" normal " levels of exposure. Cadmium released from incineration,

energy plants, sewage, and other sources has been linked to various

neurological disorders.

A component of plastic which leeches into food from the lining of tin

cans, food containers, and baby bottles has been linked in animal

studies to early puberty, reproductive disorders, and breast cancer

risk. Dioxins emitted by incinerators and numerous industrial

processes, and pervasive in meat and dairy products because like PCBs

and other toxins they accumulate in animal fat, are probable

carcinogens which have also been linked to developmental and learning

disabilities.

This past May, an array of doctors, scientists, activists, and public

health professionals presented such evidence to a subcommittee of the

Massachusetts state legislature, in support of a proposed bill. The

bill, S-1115, would establish a commission to comprehensively study

and recommend action on children's health issues.

Why a special effort for kids? Because, the subcommittee heard, they

are more vulnerable to toxins as they breathe, eat, and drink more per

pound of body weight than adults. They encounter contaminants in dust,

dirt, and carpets as they crawl and stumble, and often ingest them

when they suck their thumbs or put objects in their mouths.

Nursing children are exposed to contaminants accumulated in breast

tissue, receiving their total lifetime " safe " limit of dioxin in the

first six months of nursing.

Children's immune systems, brains, and reproductive systems are

immature and susceptible to permanent damage, at the same time that

they are not fully capable of detoxifying alien chemicals. Damage can

occur even at low levels of exposure.

As the book Our Stolen Future first comprehensively discussed, timing

can be more important than dosage: at early ages, even small

disruptions of the hormone messages that instruct development can

result in lifelong damage.

But current regulations on toxic chemicals are based on research

which gauges effects on a 155-pound adult male, with children regarded

simply as " little adults. " In March of 1998, the EPA's Scientific

Advisory Panel warned that current guidelines for developmental

neurotoxicity testing did not cover the full window of children's

vulnerability.

The regulatory system also has many other problems. For non-pesticide

and non-pharmaceutical chemicals, no pre-manufacturing toxicity tests

are required by the EPA.

For pesticides, a number of tests are required but none for the

endocrine system, immune system, or nervous system. Such omissions

partly explain why, of the nearly 3000 high-volume chemicals which are

produced at over a million pounds per year, basic toxicity data is

lacking for 75 percent. It is almost entirely lacking for combinatory

effects, as testing proceeds on a chemical-by-chemical basis.

One might have thought that an advisory commission dedicated to

protecting children would be uncontroversial, particularly since no

funding was requested. But in fact the subcommittee heard considerable

opposition. Representatives of the biotechnology and chemical

industries argued that the commission is unnecessary, expressing

satisfaction with the regulatory status quo.

The lightning rod for industry opposition was the " Precautionary

Principle " (PP), formulated in the bill as " the responsibility of all

persons, agencies and legal entities in the Commonwealth to take

responsible precautionary measures whenever there is a potential for

harm to health or the environment...even when the nature or magnitude

of the harmful effects are not fully understood. "

The wording closely follows the 1998 Wingspread consensus of a panel

of scientists, activists, and government researchers, as well as

statements issued from the UN Earth Summit Conference, the Kyoto

protocol, and European environmental ministers.

Essentially it's just " better safe than sorry, " as for example when

the Surgeon General's warning for cigarettes was mandated at a time

when smoking's links to lung cancer were suspected but not yet proven.

Reasonable people may disagree on precisely how to state the PP and

apply it in specific cases. As Halloran of the Consumers Union

remarks, " In the case of bovine growth hormone, with zero benefits to

consumers, there's no reason to tolerate any risk, no matter how

farfetched or small. With a new cancer drug, we'll tolerate a lot of

risk.

With beef hormones, we can imagine two different societies coming to

different judgments, but we can also imagine the beef industry in one

of those societies distorting science to exaggerate or underestimate a

risk in order to influence how society ends up feeling. "

But the industry representatives had no interest in advancing the

discussion. They aimed rather to dismiss the PP entirely, by attacking

its least plausible version. Thus the Massachusetts Chemistry and

Technology Alliance testified that the PP tolerates no risk, and would

have ruled out water purification, seat belts, and polio vaccination -

contrary to the bill's actual proposal, that proponents just must

prove an activity to be " the least harmful feasible alternative. "

Another tactic was to call the PP " anti-science, " a flaw that somehow

escaped the scientists testifying in favor of the bill. But the charge

does seem to apply to industry groups' influence on the direction of

research, their privatization of scientific results, and their

suppression of findings that they don't like.

(For details see Rampton and Stauber, Trust Us We're Experts, and

Fagin and Lavelle, Toxic Deception.)

The PP is anyway not just about science. It's for scientists to

discover evidence of safety and harm, evidence which comes in degrees.

But it's for the public to determine what actions to take given what

degrees, and the PP just means acting sooner than later.

Under the veneer of its professed concern for public safety and sound

science is industry's fear of what the PP could mean to profits. As

Rampton and Stauber note, the PP " is revolutionary because there are

tens of thousands of chemicals that have already been introduced into

common use without careful testing for long-term health effects.

For the biotechnology industry, the principle is dangerous because

thousands of products in development involve genetically modified

foods, medical treatments, and other processes that they believe are

safe but whose safety cannot be proven except in practice. For the

automobile, fossil fuel, and mining industries, the [PP] is dangerous

because growing evidence of global warming threatens to impose

substantial changes on the way they do business. "

This is why industry spends large sums on public relations. For

example in December 1994, two months after being advised by a

consulting firm to " mobilize science against the precautionary

principle, " the Chlorine Chemical Council (CCC) increased its budget

to $12 million for lobbying and public relations.

Much of it was devoted to challenging an incriminating EPA report on

dioxins and similar compounds. In 1999, industry groups organized two

forums devoted to attacking the PP, including one hosted by the

industry-funded Harvard Center for Risk Analysis (which testified

against the proposed child health commission) and whose sponsors

included the CCC, Chemical Manufacturers Association, and Koch

Industries (which recently agreed to pay a record $35 million for

hundreds of oil leaks in six states).

Through these and many other efforts, industry continually influences

policymakers, the media, scientists, and professional associations,

and is effectively present in government itself through a " revolving

door " - including EPA advisory panels, as recently reported by the

General Accounting Office.

So the fierce opposition to the Massachusetts bill was to be

expected. It was also successful, at least for the time being.

According to McNabb, State Legislative Director for Clean Water

Action, the bill would have been killed but for a last-minute

intervention by Senator Fargo.

After McNabb alerted her, Fargo persuaded Chairman Koczera and

Senator Marc Pacheco to instead place the bill in " active study, "

meaning that there will be another session to consider it sometime

before the end of 2002. (Governor Jane Swift also has the power to

create a child health commission on her own, though as yet there are

no indications she'll do so.)

The chemical industry and its allies have not yet won, but their

determination will have to be matched by an ongoing collective

response from those who want to see a decent future for our kids, and

everyone else too - not just in Massachusetts.

- - -

Postscript: Concerned citizens of Massachusetts can help by contacting

their state representatives about S-1115, and by joining the Alliance

for a Healthy Tomorrow, at http://www.healthytomorrow.org.

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FLUORIDATION AND CANCER

Date: 6 Feb 2002

From: NYSCOF@...

NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, February 6, 2002

New York - Fluoride added to public water supplies may be linked to

cancer suggests two new studies, reports the New York State Coalition

Opposed to Fluoridation.

" The likelihood of fluoride acting as a genetic cause of cancer

requires consideration, " writes Takahashi and colleagues in the July

2001 " Journal of Epidemiology " (1) who found that 23 of 36 cancer sites

(63.9%) were associated positively with fluoridation status, using

World Health Organization data and the U.S. Fluoridation Census.

Some studies, e.g., Hoover (1976) and Knox (1985) claim no credible

fluoridation/cancer association exists. However, Takahashi and

co-authors found the Hoover/Knox assessments flawed, and explain why

in their paper.

The authors report that the National Cancer Institute provided

epidemiological evidence of a relation between cancer incidence and

water fluoridation in 1987. These findings provoked a 1990 National

Toxicology Program (NTP) study that determined fluoride could be a

cancer-causing agent because four, out of 261, male rats developed

osteosarcoma (a rare bone cancer).

The NTP study " supplied a detailed description of the toxicology of

fluoride, not only in terms of osteosarcoma, but also lesions in the

oral mucosa, thyroid gland, skin and uterus...(which) prompted us to

re-test the hypothesis of an epidemiological association between water

fluoridation and cancer incidences..., " wrote Takahashi who found

fluoridation status positively correlates to cancers of the oral

cavity, pharynx, colon, rectum, hepato-bilary & urinary organs and

bone cancer in males.

" Such a broad spectrum association has never been observed for any

particular known carcinogen, but it may be reasonable for fluoride,

because of its strong electronegative nature, " the authors explain.

After ten years of water fluoridation, children aged 7-18 in

Newburgh, N.Y., had more cortical bone defects than the

non-fluoridated control city, Kingston. And more osteosarcoma occurred

in young males in fluoridated portions of New Jersey. " ... these two

facts may be connected pathophysiologically, " Takahashi reports.

Takahashi urges researchers worldwide to " further assess fluoride as

a genetic cause of cancers...and stop the application of fluoride for

prevention of teeth caries (cavities) if this indeed presents as a

risk factor for cancer. "

In another study, (2) Ramesh and colleagues " propose that high

fluoride bone content might have been one of the major factors causing

osteosarcoma, " in the " Journal of Environmental Pathology, Toxicology

and Oncology, " 2001, Vol. 20, Issue 3.

Ramesh, et al, analyzed bone samples of 20 Indian osteosarcoma

patients. " The very high levels of fluoride accumulation in the bone

samples of (2 Indian osteosarcoma patients) in which p53 gene mutation

have also been detected suggest that possible adverse effects of

fluoride on the DNA of the osteosarcoma patients, " Ramesh and

colleagues write.

Mutations in the p53 genes are the most commonly observed genetic

alterations in human cancer. Ramesh concludes " that fluoride probably

causes mutations in p53. "

" These new findings raise important questions about potential harm

from water fluoridation, especially when coupled with the current

recognition that ingesting fluoride does not reduce tooth decay but

has caused a massive increase in disfiguring dental fluorosis, " says

lawyer Beeber, President, New York State Coalition Opposed to

Fluoridation.

The NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation consists of scientists,

physicians, dentists, legislators, lawyers, environmentalists,

university professors, other professionals, and concerned citizens who

volunteer their efforts to inform the public about

fluoride's/fluoridation's scientifically supported harmful dental,

systemic and cumulative effects to balance the usually

pro-fluoridation opinion that's reported by mainstream media.

- - -

(1)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & l

ist_ uids=11512573 & dopt=Abstract

(2)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & l

ist_uids=11797833 & dopt=Abstract

* * *

Contact:

Beeber, NYS Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc.,

516-433-8882, nyscof@..., http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof

Connett, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, St. Lawrence University

in Canton, NY, 315-379-9200, ggvideo@...

Fluoride Action Network http://www.fluoridealert.org/f-bonecancer.htm

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BERGEN BUYS A PIECE OF SCOUTING HISTORY

Date: 020206

From: http://www.nj.com/

$5.1 MILLION DEAL WILL MAKE CAMP GLEN GRAY IN RAMAPO MOUNTAINS A PARK

By T. Murray, Star-Ledger Staff, February 06, 2002

Smoldering campfires, cheering children and the splash of canoe

paddles will still fill the mountain air around Bergen County's

Vreeland Lake, although it's reign as one of the nation's oldest Boy

Scout camps ended yesterday.

The 750-acre Camp Glen Gray, once a forested jewel of the Boy Scouts

of America, was purchased yesterday by Bergen County under a deal that

will make it a public park and part of 13,400 contiguous protected

acres in the Ramapo Mountains. The Northern New Jersey Council of the

Boy Scouts of America will get $5.1 million in the deal.

The Scouts are not completely pulling up stakes, however.

The sale, brokered by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, preserves

the rights of Scouts to pitch tents at Camp Glen Gray just as they

have since it was established in 1917 by " Uncle " Fellows Gray, a

founding father of American Scouting.

Girl Scouts also will be able to use the site, which will become

Bergen County's first public overnight camping facility.

" I think we were very fortunate, " said Hartinger, chairman of

the Friends of Glen Gray, a splinter group of Northern New Jersey

Council that fought to keep the land open to Scouting, if not under

Boy Scout ownership.

" Today we are not just celebrating the preservation of nature. We are

preserving our natural heritage that was granted to us by our fathers

and grandfathers - the heritage that we now pass on to our

grandchildren and great-grandchildren, " said Bergen County Executive

" Pat " Schuber during a ceremony at the camp yesterday morning.

The deal gives Friends of Glen Gray a management role, responsible

for maintaining about 20 log cabins at the camp, administering

overnight stays and scheduling outdoor events. It is an arrangement

born out of a bitter battle that had pitched Scout leader against

Scout leader inside the Northern New Jersey Council when its executive

board first voted to sell the camp last year.

Although supporters of Camp Glen Gray had incorrectly identified the

site as the oldest operating Scout camp in the nation, it is arguably

the oldest camp operated by a New Jersey Scouting organization.

Treasure Island Scouting Camp, located in the Delaware River on the

New Jersey side, was established in 1913, but it is operated by a

Philadelphia organization.

Scout historians rank Camp Glen Gray, which straddles Mahwah and

Oakland, among the six oldest camps in the nation. About 8,000 Scouts

from the Northern New Jersey Council use the camp annually.

" Selling Glen Gray was a very difficult decision, but I think it was

a sound management decision. No one wanted to see the camp sold, " said

Northern New Jersey Council member Tober, 76, as he walked

through the camp he first visited as a Boy Scout in 1937.

The decision to sell was a matter of financial pressure, which is

affecting all Boy Scout organizations.

With 40,000 Scouts, the Northern New Jersey Council formed in 1999

when money and resources forced old Scouting councils in Essex,

Bergen, Hudson and Passaic counties to merge and pool their assets.

Camp Glen Gray followed the Essex council into the merger, and the new

council had to decide how to manage nine camping facilities.

Council mergers and the selling of camps have become a national trend

for Boy Scout organizations in their struggle for financial survival.

The controversy over a national ban on gays in the Boy Scouts only

added to years of already declining private donations, further

pressuring Scouts from California and Texas to Indiana and New York to

sell land.

" I think the biggest problem is that years ago people gave us these

lands, but over the years people have not given us the financial

donations necessary to maintain the camps, " said Pedone, vice

president of operations and programs in the Northern New Jersey

Council.

" We didn't want to sell, but we had to. Unfortunately, we may see

more of it nationally. But the money we make from this sale will

enable the Scouts to improve our other eight facilities and better

serve future Scouts, " he added.

Many Northern New Jersey Council members feared that selling the camp

would mean dealing away the group's sovereignty because Camp Glen Gray

was one of three council-owned camps in New Jersey.

The council owns a Pennsylvania camp and two tracts in New York, but

leases its other New Jersey sites. One of the leased sites, Camp

Yawpaw in Bergen County, also may be bought by the county.

Still, all sides involved in the Camp Glen Gray battle are united in

the comfort that the land is not falling into the hands of developers.

" This is a day I have looked forward to for many years. Since I first

set foot on this land several years ago, I have dreamed of the day we

could lock away the treasures of this forest and keep them safe

forever from bulldozers and subdivisions, " Schuber said.

" We tried to find a solution that would somehow help to preserve

Scouting at Glen Gray as well as the land, " Hartinger said. " I think

this unique private-public partnership will work well. "

The state Department of Environmental Protection furnished $2.7

million for the county's purchase of Camp Glen Gray through a Green

Acres grant. The county added $2.1 million, and more than $250,000 was

provided by the Trust for Public Lands through private donations.

* * *

Copyright 2002 The Star-Ledger

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MILLVILLE OPEN SPACE PROHIBITION

Date: 6 Feb 2002

From: Forrivers@...

Dear Members and Friends,

Millville City Commission just passed a resolution that requests that

the Governor prohibit the sale of any more land to conservation

organizations or Fish and Wildlife within the City of Millville. What

other communities might also adopt this philosophy? This is appalling.

The figures that they quote to support their claims of excessive

preservation include undevelopable space like wetlands - lands too

sensitive to develop and where development would be prohibited by

current laws in any case. They are probably even including their own

Green Acres purchases. Maybe the City doesn't want Green Acres dollars

for City improvements such as parks and the new walkways they are

establishing ie. Arts District or playing fields?

The City Commission is showing no consideration for supply and

demand. The property values here are low because of the amount of land

available and the historically low pressures for development. The

properties purchased would be expensive to service (schools, trash

collection, road maintenance) and have no sewage.

This resolution fails to recognize that one of our best assets is our

abundance of open space. This aspect of our area contributes greatly

to the quality of life we all enjoy. If North Jersey communities could

start from scratch, boy would they envy Millville. This move on the

part of Millville's leaders is very upsetting.

Below is the article from the Daily Journal.

Sincerely,

Jane Morton Galetto

* * *

Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River

POB 474

Millville NJ 08332

Tel: 856-327-1161

Email: forrivers@...

Web: http://www.cumauriceriver.org

# # #

MILLVILLE CITY WANTS OPEN-SPACE BUYS TO END

By ph P. ; jsmith@..., February 6, 2002

Millville - The city is petitioning the new administration in Trenton

to cease buying land here for its open space programs.

The request is contained in a resolution passed unanimously at

Tuesday night's City Commission meeting. It is being sent to Gov.

McGreevey.

The rate at which developable properties are moving into tax-exempt

categories is at the point where it threatens Millville's economic

health, city officials said.

The continued loss of commercially appropriate property is a

particular concern.

" We're at a time when, due to a lot of reasons, we have great

economic opportunities looking at us, " Economic Development Director

Don Ayres said. " We need to ensure that development potential can be

reached. "

The resolution includes a breakdown of what amounts of land state

agencies and private groups own here.

- The Department of Environmental Protection owns 5,384 acres, or

about 19 percent of the city's landmass. The DEP also is in the

process of acquiring another 550 acres of land.

- The Nature Conservancy owns 561 acres, or about 2 percent.

- The Natural Lands Trust owns 260 acres, or about .9 percent.

The city's own reserve of open space-dedicated land is 298 acres, or

about 1 percent.

The city estimates that those holdings, when coupled with lands not

developable because of state and federal environmental regulations,

amount to 36.8 percent of the city.

Mayor Quinn acknowledged open space as an important element of

the city's quality of life, but there needs to be a balance between

open space and revenue-producing land.

Quinn said payments from the state, made in lieu of property taxes,

are well below what the lands would bring in if they were taxable.

In other business, the commission unanimously voted to adopt a salary

ordinance covering the next three years.

There was no public comment during the ordinance's hearing phase,

held before the vote.

Later on, an audience member questioned and criticized the size of

potential salary increases for the city administrator.

Commissioner Parent, who oversees the revenue department,

defended Lew as " worth his weight in gold. "

Also Tuesday, Commissioner ph Derella announced an agreement

among the city, the Cumberland County Board of Health and farmer Danny

Chupasko on how fertilizer will be applied in the future to farmland

near Silver Run Road.

The land is fertilized with liquid chicken manure. Last summer,

residents complained that the process fouled the air for a

considerable distance from the land.

The agreement was reached with arbitration assistance from the State

Agriculture Development Committee.

* * *

Copyright © 2002 Daily Journal. .

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DAMAGE TO HUDSON RIVER WILDLIFE FROM PCBS UNDER STUDY

Date: 020206

From: http://www.recordonline.com/

By Wayne A. Hall, Times Herald-Record, whall@...

February 06, 2002

General Electric faces a wildlife damages claim for alleged harm by

toxic PCBs to Hudson River wildlife that could cost millions on top of

the $460 million cleanup just made final last week by government

officials.

" This is very, very important because the cleanup decision doesn't

address the effects the PCBs have had on the ecology of the river. It

just says there are PCBs in the river and GE has to take them out, "

said Manna Jo Greene, environmental director of the Hudson River Sloop

Clearwater. " The damages claim could cost more than the cleanup, maybe

one or two billion. "

Before anyone can talk about suing GE to get damaged habitats

restored - or compensation imposed - studies have to be finished. A

three-member coalition of state and federal officials expects to

release a damages plan soon.

" It will lay out the injuries we will be evaluating, how to go about

determining damages and approaching restoration, " said Brosnan,

a Hudson River project manager for the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration.

There's already some evidence in hand, environmentalists say.

Government officials say GE released between 209,000 to 1.3 million

pounds of the chemical compounds from the 1940s to 1977.

Some of those compounds have entered the river's web of life. That,

said a 1999 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report, is a threat

to reproduction and growth in mink, tree swallows, little brown bats

and waterfowl, and other creatures that eat food from the river.

Also high on environmentalists' to-do restoration list is the river's

estimated $20-million-a-year striped bass commercial fishery.

Cancer worries about PCBs shut it down in the 1970s.

NOAA will brief local environmentalists Monday on its damages plan.

" What might be done is starting a fund to re-establish commercial

striped bass fishing industry for when the fish are safe enough to eat

again, " Greene said.

The point of collecting damages, Greene said, is to put " a dollar

value on what might seem to be intangible effects on the toxicity

caused. "

And how long would it take to restore a damaged ecosystem?

" It could take years, " said Jahn, a biologist with the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, a member of the Hudson River Natural

Resources Trustee Council.

The damages won't be collected and the restoration work won't start

until after the cleanup is finished; that could take nine years.

GE couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

In 1997, the company said the initial damages process, which laid out

the goals, was flawed and ignored " the vast improvement in the river

brought about by the hard work of companies like GE in cooperation

with state and federal agencies. "

* * *

Copyright 2002 Orange County Publications, a division of Ottaway

Newspapers Inc., all rights reserved.

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EPA REBUKED FOR SEWAGE SAFETY

Date: 020206

From: http://www.newsday.com/

By , Associated Press Writer, February 6, 2002

Washington - Four millions tons of recycled sewage are being spread

on suburban and rural fields across America each year, and the

government has done too little research to ensure humans are safe from

the viruses, bacteria and toxins in the sludge, an internal review

concludes.

The investigation by the inspector general of the Environmental

Protection Agency cites " gaps in the science " used to approve sludge

recycling in the 1990s and says the agency has cut money, staff and

oversight since then despite growing safety worries.

" The agency can neither investigate nor keep track of all of the

complaints of adverse health affects that are reported, " the internal

watchdog wrote in a draft report obtained by The Associated Press.

EPA said Wednesday it has asked the National Research Council, a

panel of distinguished scientists, to study any possible health

concerns related to the sludge recycling.

" It has been quite awhile since we put a rule in place, and we've

asked NRC to make recommendations and give us some advice, " EPA

Director of Wastewater and Management Mike Cook said Wednesday.

Cook said the agency had significantly cut money and staff for sludge

oversight to deal with other clean water issues. He said the agency is

now setting up a program to review compliance of sludge makers and

users and to review concerns in local communities ranging from odors

to illness.

He stressed the EPA has no evidence to suggest sludge poses increased

risks.

" We have thousand of workers in sewage treatment plants and handling

biosolids all the time, every day. We have tens of thousands, if not

hundreds of thousands, handling raw manure. There is no evidence these

people are any sicker than the general population, " he said.

The inspector general report comes amid growing concerns among some

states, communities and federal scientists that recycling of

solidified sewage, known as sludge or biosolids, may not be as safe as

thought when the government approved it in the mid-1990s.

Among the concerns:

* EPA microbiologist , a sludge critic, told a conference

of scientists in November that his research into nine sludge-

treated fields found nearby residents with irritated eyes, skin and

airways who were 25 times more likely to contract S. aureus

bacterial infections, a form of staph, than even high-risk hospital

patients.

* The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's worker safety unit

issued a hazard alert in 2000 for workers who prepare or spread

treated sludge after finding " potentially pathogenic bacteria " in

soil and air samples at workplaces. Several workers suffered from

stomach and intestinal ailments. The hazard alert urged precautions

ranging from tentanus-diptheria immunizations to protective gear

like goggles, face shields and respirators.

* A few EPA scientists have given sworn testimony to a federal

whistleblower's group alleging the research conducted before the

government approved sludge recycling was inadequate.

" They're taking a position that I viewed as indefensible from a

public health standpoint, " one scientist testified to the National

Whistleblower Center when asked why EPA didn't post warning signs

on properties treated with sludge.

* Several counties in California, Florida and Virginia and 62 towns

in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania have placed

new restrictions or bans on sludge recycling.

In Pennsylvania, the deaths of two youths who lived near fields

treated with sludge prompted public concerns although the state has

not linked their deaths to the sludge.

State health officials recently performed soil testing near Reading,

Pa., where the 17-year-old son of and Antoinette Pennock died

in 1995 across the street from a field treated with sludge.

Eight relatives or frequent visitors to the Pennock home suffered

from multiple staphylococcal infections before the boy died from

staphylococcal pneumonia, the family said. Staph is a bacterium that

can reside in treated sludge but also appears in common dirt.

" We had repeated infections - boils, sore throats, coughing - but we

had no clue as to what these infections were coming from, "

Pennock said Wednesday.

" We did not even know they were putting this stuff across the street.

I wouldn't have bought the property. Now, there is no doubt in my

mind, everything I know points to it, " he said.

Eleven-year-old Tony Behun raised similar alarm in Pennsylvania a few

years back when he died from multiple infections just a few days after

riding a dirt bike through a sludge-treated field. Though the state

never cited sludge as the cause, opponents have used his case to

bolster their arguments.

With tougher clean water and air rules and declining landfill space,

the government approved using solidified wastewater sewage to spread

on fields as fertilizer during the 1990s. It is most commonly spread

in suburban and rural properties, especially farms.

There are two forms of sludge - the less common is so heavily treated

that is not believed to contain any detectable poisons. The other and

more common recycled sludge is treated but still contains reduced

levels of bacteria, viruses, toxins and parasites.

The harmful substances can include salmonella, typhoid, dysentery,

hepatitis, rotaviruses, cryptosporidium, and tapeworms.

EPA requires owners of fields treated with sludge to restrict human

access for a period of time to let those toxins naturally degrade.

Warning signs aren't mandated, but farmers are restricted in when they

can plant crops.

When EPA approved the rules, it acknowledged additional research was

needed. Since then, the government has conducted one study and did not

finalize those findings, the inspector general found.

In a separate letter, the inspector general told EPA officials they

had not done enough. " We have seen little effectual action from EPA, "

the letter said.

* * *

Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

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CUMBERLAND COUNTY RAPTOR FESTIVAL - FEB 9

Date: 6 Feb 2002

From: Forrivers@...

CUMBERLAND COUNTY WINTER RAPTOR FESTIVAL

Saturday, February 9, 2002

Mauricetown Firehall

Noble Street

Mauricetown, NJ

7:00 Sunrise walk at Turkey Point Road

8:00 Registration begins at the firehall

10:30 Keynote Speaker - Pete Dunne

Vice-president NJ Audubon Society

Lectures, exhibitors, and bird viewing locations throughout the day

Firehall will be open until 5:00 for lunch, exhibitors and restrooms

5:00 Sunset owl watch at Turkey Point Road

Cost - $5.00 per person or $8.00 per family

For more information or directions, please call 856-453-2177

* * *

Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River

POB 474

Millville NJ 08332

Tel: 856-327-1161

Email: forrivers@...

Web: http://www.cumauriceriver.org

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OYSTER CREEK NUKE DRY CASK STORAGE - FEB 13

Date: 03 Feb 2002

From: Norman Cohen {ncohen12@...}

PROGRAM ON OYSTER CREEK NUKE DRY CASK STORAGE OF NUCLEAR WASTE

To Be Held at OCCC, 2/13, 7:00 PM

The urgency to educate the public regarding the risks in storing

radioactive waste in aboveground " dry casks " at the Oyster Creek

Nuclear Power Plant in April, has prompted concerned organizations to

sponsor a free, public program on this issue at Ocean County College,

in Toms River.

On Wednesday, February 13th at 7:00 pm in the College Center -

Conference Rooms A and B, speakers will present information relating

to safety hazards and dangers involved with above ground concrete

casks being loaded and stored with highly radioactive waste at the

Oyster Creek Nuclear plant, as well as other nuclear power issues

The Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch urgently requests public support for

the 26 (out of 33) Ocean County municipalities that passed resolutions

calling for the whole issue of dry cask storage at this plant to be

revisited by means of an official Nuclear Regulatory ad judicatory

hearing. These municipalities also have shown their concern, in light

of the Sept. 11th event, that the dry casks will create expanded

targets for terrorists.

The municipalities want a voice in this decision that affects the

safety of 3.5 million people living within a 50-mile radius of this

aging and dangerous nuclear plant.

The Nuclear Regular Commission has not held public hearings regarding

this issue in our area. The only hearing that have ever been held has

been held by the Lacey Township Zoning Board.

Speakers at the program. both experts in their fields, will be:

Dr. JUDITH JOHNSRUD, First Vice-Chair, Pennsylvania Chapter of the

Sierra Club; Director of Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power;

U.S. Department 0£ Energy Advisory committee on DOE Low-Level

Radiation. Phd, Boards of Directors: Nuclear Information and Resource

Service (founded 1978); New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution

(founded 1971); Pennsylvania League of Conservation Voters; Citizen

Power; GE Stockholders Alliance; Government Advisory Committees:

Pennsylvania State Low-Level Radioacitve Waste Advisory Committee;

U.S. Department of Energy Advisory Committee on the DOE Low-Level

Radiation Research Program; Professionally: Geographer, specializing

in the Geography of Nuclear Energy (since 1968) (retired) MA

University of Wisconsin, Madison; PhD Penn State; Past academic

positions: Wayne State University; Southern Illinois University; State

University of New York at Oswego; Bicknell University; Penn State

University; Past Public Interest Boards and Advisory Boards; Center

for Atomic Radiation Studies; Solar Lobby; Childhood Cancer Research

Institute (for Dr. Alice ); Pennsylvania Governor's Energy

Council Advisory Committee; Radioactive Waste Campaign; Jobs in Energy

(national).

JOSEPH MANGANO, National Coordinator of the Radiation and Public

Health Project and the Tooth Fairy Project. Mangano, MPH, MBA, is a

public health researcher. Since 1994, he has written 13 medical

journal articles on the increased disease risk from radiation

exposure. Mr. Mangano is the author of Low-Level Radiation and Immune

System Damage: An Atomic Era Legacy (1998), about the suffering of the

Baby Boom generation from atomic bomb tests and nuclear reactors. He

received his master's degrees from the University of North Carolina

and Fordham University.

There will be a question and answer session.

Sponsors for this program are the Ocean County College Social Science

Dept.; Environmental Club and Students Learning About Politics and

Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch

* * *

Edith Gbur

Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch

POB 4283

Brick NJ 08723

Tel: 732-255-8044

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GOOSE DAMAGE MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP - FEB 15

Date: 06 Feb 2002

From: maryarnoldmba@...

On February 15, 2002, the County of Board of Chosen

Freeholders and the Whippany River Watershed Action Committee - a

13-member intermunicipal watershed association - will host the 3rd

Annual All-County Goose Damage Management Workshop.

The event will run from 8:30am until noon at the Haggerty Center

Auditorium of the County Park Commission's Frelinghuysen

Arboretum in Township, NJ.

Participants will learn about techniques that can help them reduce

harmful populations of Canada geese and the damage they do to public

and private lands, including campuses, recreational open space, and

water bodies.

The workshop will present an actual case study of the use of multiple

goose damage management techniques - including habitat modification,

egg oiling by a team that included volunteers, and no-feed signage -

that were used successfully in a public park in 2001.

Experts from USDA Wildlife Services, the Humane Society of the United

States, and TRC Omni Environmental Corp. will speak at the workshop.

Groups that will benefit from this workshop include municipal and

county departments of public works, animal control, health, parks &

recreaton, etc. Private groups that can benefit include businesses,

schools, golf courses, and developments that must deal with lawns and

detention basins or other water bodies that attract Canada geese.

Call 973-605-8538 to obtain additional information and a registration

form. There is a $10 registration fee, which includes continental

breakfast. "

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BLACK BEAR TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM AT PEQUEST - FEB 20

Date: 06 Feb 2002

From: " Marc Rogoff " {MROGOFF@...}

The New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife Black Bear Education

Program will host its first teacher training workshop to debut the

Black Bear Education Activity Guide at the Pequest Trout Hatchery &

Natural Resource Education Center on February 20, 2002 from 9:30 am to

1:00 pm. Bring a lunch. Registration begins at 9:00 am. The workshop

is free of charge.

Teachers and non-formal educators will learn about the natural

history of black bears in New Jersey, findings from current research

and practical activities and information to be used in a classroom

setting. The program includes a PowerPoint presentation, and a

hands-on session. All participants will have access to Black Bear

Trunks chock full of bear artifacts for use back at school. Teachers

can receive 3 professional development credits.

To participate, call to register by February 15th. Space is limited.

For more information or to register for this workshop contact Liz

at (908) 637-4125 or email us at njbearlady@....

* * *

Liz

NJ Division of Fish & Wildlife

Pequest Trout Hatchery &

Natural Resource Education Center

605 Pequest Road

Oxford, NJ 07863

(908) 637-4125

# # #

SEEDS - The State Environmental Education Directory WebSite

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/seeds

Environmental Education Program

NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection

PO Box 402

Trenton NJ 08625

609-984-9802

609-292-1474

609-292-3198 (Fax)

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Back issues of the Garden State EnviroNews are available at

http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/11gsn.htm

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Garden State EnviroNet, Inc.

19 Boonton Ave, Boonton NJ 07005

Tel: 973-394-1313 - Fax: 973-394-9513

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