September 19 Environmental News

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http://ens-news.com/ens/sep2002/2002-09-19-09.asp#anchor5

Professor Recognized for Air Pollution Research

WASHINGTON, DC, September 19, 2002 (ENS) - A Brigham Young University (BYU)

professor whose research into the computer modeling of fuel combustion has

led to new insights into the formation and prevention of air pollutants is

the 2002 recipient of the Energy Department's Homer H. Lowry Award.

L. Smoot, who will retire at the end of the year from being a full

time faculty member of BYU's College of Engineering and Technology, will

receive the 2002 Lowry award, the highest honor given by the Energy

Department for outstanding contributions to fossil energy science and

technology.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced the award Wednesday, and will

present the award and $25,000 to Dr. Smoot at an awards ceremony in

Washington, DC on October 9.

" Dr. Smoot has championed the use of computational fluid dynamics to better

understand the complex chemistry that occurs when fossil fuels burn, "

Abraham said. " Today, throughout the world, industrial and academic

institutions are using the computer programs he helped develop. From his

research has come a much better understanding of how pollutants such as

nitrogen oxides are created when coal and other fuels burn, and equally

important, how new technologies can reduce or prevent their formation. "

" In short, Americans are breathing cleaner air today due in large part to

the brilliance of Dr. Smoot's computer models and his advocacy of computer

modeling throughout the fossil fuel industry, " Abraham added.

Dr. Smoot is a chemical engineer who earned dual bachelor degrees in

chemistry and chemical engineering in 1957 from Brigham Young University and

a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Washington in

1960. After serving as an assistant professor at BYU for three years, he

joined Lockheed Propulsion Company before rejoining BYU in 1967.

Since then, he has served as chairman of the Chemical Engineering Department

for seven years and dean of the College of Engineering and Technology for 17

years. He was the founding director of the Advanced Combustion Engineering

Research Center at BYU and the University of Utah.

This is the sixth time the Energy Department has presented the Lowry Award

since it was established in 1985. The award is named for Dr. Homer H. Lowry,

a chemist who founded the Carnegie Institute of Technology's Coal Research

Laboratories and who edited Chemistry of Coal Utilization, first published

in 1945, which became the standard work of reference for coal scientists and

technologists.

Chemical Controls Inadequate to Prevent Accidents

HOUSTON, Texas, September 19, 2002 (ENS) - Inadequate controls of reactive

chemicals are responsible for continuing deaths, injuries, and environmental

and property damage around the country, according to the U.S. Chemical

Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).

The CSB's new findings and recommendations stem from a two year

investigation into hazards at U.S. sites that manufacture, store or use

potentially reactive chemicals. The study examined 167 serious chemical

accidents in the U.S. over the last 20 years that have involved uncontrolled

chemical reactions.

These accidents caused 108 deaths as well as hundreds of millions of dollars

in property damage. CSB investigators have concluded that reactive chemical

accidents pose a " significant problem " and that the pertinent federal

process safety regulations contain " significant gaps " in their applicability

and in their specific provisions.

The CSB convened in Houston Tuesday to vote on recommendations to federal

agencies and trade groups to improve the safety of industrial processes that

use reactive chemicals, which can lead to hazardous chemical reactions if

not managed right. These uncontrolled reactions can cause fires, explosions

and toxic gas releases.

CSB's investigation was triggered by a runaway reaction at a Morton

International facility in New Jersey in 1998, in which chemicals reacted to

release heat, leading to an explosion.

The CSB study found that more than half of the 167 surveyed incidents

involved chemicals that are not covered by either the Occupational Safety

and Health Administration (OSHA) Process Safety Management (PSM) or U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Risk Management Program (RMP) rules.

These rules require companies to apply good safety management practices to

certain hazardous chemical processes.

" The lack of comprehensive regulatory coverage for reactive hazards has been

a deficiency since the process safety rules were first issued in the 1990s, "

said Carolyn Merritt, CSB chair and chief executive officer.

" The reactive chemical study is thus one of the most important

investigations the CSB has done, " Merritt added. " We will be voting on

recommendations to OSHA, EPA, and industry that - if thoroughly

implemented - will have a significant impact on chemical process safety in

this country. "

The CSB is an independent federal agency established in 1998 with the

mission to protect workers, the public, and the environment by investigating

and preventing chemical accidents.

* * *

Air Force Base Exempted from Reporting Rules

WASHINGTON, DC, September 19, 2002 (ENS) - President W. Bush has

suspended certain waste reporting requirements at the Air Force's operating

location near Groom Lake, Nevada due to security concerns.

Noting that the base is the subject of two ongoing environmental lawsuits

that could force the release of sensitive information, Bush said, " I find

that it is in the paramount interest of the United States to exempt the

United States Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada . from

any applicable requirement for the disclosure to unauthorized persons of

classified information concerning that operating location. "

The order, made in a memorandum to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) and the Secretary of the Air Force, exempts the Air Force base " from

any federal, state, interstate or local provision respecting control and

abatement of solid waste or hazardous waste disposal that would require the

disclosure of classified information concerning the operating location to

any unauthorized person. "

The exemption is effective for one year.

The Bush order notes that existing environmental laws are not intended to

require the disclosure of classified information, specifically citing the

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Under RCRA, the EPA regulates

hazardous waste from its creation to its safe disposal, and waste generators

must report on their wastes to the EPA.

* * *

Restaurants, Grocers Boycott GE Fish

SEATTLE, Washington, September 19, 2002 (ENS) - More than 200 grocers,

restaurants and seafood distributors across the nation have pledged not to

purchase or sell genetically engineered fish.

The latest business to join the boycott is Ray's Boathouse and Madison

Market in Seattle, which announced its pledge at a press event this morning.

" Our mission and respect for our members it to ensure food purity in

everything we sell. We are not willing to compromise our integrity by

embracing unproven, untested, and potentially dangerous biotechnology, " said

Foss, board member of Madison Market.

In February 2001, led the charge for Madison Market to create the first

Eco-Sustainable seafood counter of its kind. Madison Market only buys from

sustainable small family fishers, and no farmed fish products.

Signed pledges boycotting engineered fish have been gathered by a campaign

called Protect Our Waters from Genetically Engineered Fish, an alliance

between the Center for Food Safety, Clean Water Action and Friends of the

Earth. Through the campaign, thousands of consumers, and environmental and

fishing groups, are demanding a moratorium on the domestic marketing and

importation of genetically engineered fish - including a ban on their use or

release into open net pens and ponds.

Concerns about the commercial release of genetically engineered fish arose

after an application was filed with the federal Food and Drug Administration

(FDA) for approval of an experimental salmon developed by Aqua Bounty Farms.

" Approving Aqua Bounty's experimental salmon would mean releasing them into

the wild, " said Foss. " Escapes from fish farms are routine and impossible to

prevent. Earlier this year, more than 8,000 salmon escaped from a single

fish farm in Canada. "

The Center for Food Safety, with the support of Friends of the Earth and

more than 70 other organizations, has filed a legal action with the federal

government seeking a moratorium on the approval of GE fish.

" The FDA should listen to what the public is saying. Consumers everywhere

have spoken, and we don't want genetically engineered fish on our plates or

in our waters, " said , campaign coordinator for Friends of the

Earth.