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Friday, November 26
Iowa Litter May End Up Back in the Ditch
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 26 Nov 2004 03:40 PM CST
 Iowa Litter May End Up Back in the Ditch
Des Moines Register
Stores don't want messy returns. Give redemption centers a chance, but if litter mounts, require grocers' participation.
Fareway [and now some HyVee stores] began telling customers at some locations [they are] no longer accepting
empties. Convenient drop-off at groceries has been a critical part of
the success of Iowa's quarter-century-old "bottle bill," which has kept
roadside ditches clean and increased recycling.
Given
some grocers' desire to get out of the return business, the state needs
to do two things: First, assure that redemption centers really are
convenient before allowing groceries to quit taking returns. And if the
reality proves otherwise, insist groceries take back the bottles. Then,
in the 2005 Legislature, open the debate on how to keep Iowa as
litter-free as possible and whether this law is still the best way to
do that.
...All
Iowa law requires is that groceries make arrangements for nearby
redemption centers to take the cans and bottles, with state approval -
a step Fareway neglected to take in some cases.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
Friday, November 19
Toxic Acid Dribbled Across Iowa
by
Trish Nelson
on Fri 19 Nov 2004 07:53 AM CST
 Toxic Acid Dribbled Across Iowa
The Des Moines Register
Rail inspectors missed 250-mile toxic leak
A train that dribbled toxic acid across more than half of Iowa [last week] went unnoticed by a safety net of government agencies and
railroad inspectors whose job is to prevent such incidents.
It wasn't until hours after the faulty Union Pacific Railroad tank car
left Cedar Rapids that it was spotted Saturday night in a Council
Bluffs rail yard with a black substance pooled beneath it. Half the
tank's phosphoric acid had drained.
Federal and state officials say the 3,973-gallon leak over 250 miles
was a rare occurrence and posed only a minor threat. Phosphoric acid
can cause skin burns or internal irritation if swallowed.
Still, environmentalists say, the incident is troubling because the
state is a major rail and highway route for dangerous materials such as
gasoline, industrial solvents and nuclear waste.
"This is a wake-up call," warned Jane Magers of Earth Care Inc., a Des
Moines advocacy group that opposes the shipment of nuclear material.
"We are way over our heads in allowing this stuff to be transported. There is no way to assure safety."
Davis, the Union Pacific spokesman, said an employee spotted the
leaking acid at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, [November 6]. State and federal agencies were
notified. Council Bluffs firefighters built a dike around the leaky
tank car to contain the liquid.
"By 1:30 a.m. Sunday, we had the railroad police dispatchers contact
all the county sheriff offices between Cedar Rapids and Council
Bluffs," he said.
(click here to read the entire story)
Friday, November 5
A Ray of Good News by Molly Regan
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 05 Nov 2004 10:52 AM CST
A Ray of Good News
by Molly Regan, DFIA Environmentalist
A ray of
good news. We were successful in Scott County for a Soil &
Water Conservation District Commission seat! A huge IOWA
“Thank You” to those on the steering committee: Alta, Chuck
(treasurer), Cliff, Monica, Joe, Lou, Betty, Cal, Caroline, Terry, Paul
and all who helped. There was a lot of work in putting out yard
signs and in letting your relatives, friends & neighbors know to
turn the ballot over to find the non-partisan section for Soil &
Water.
Molly Regan speaks at the Sierra Club/Eagle View
Chapter at the Bettendorf library.
There is
one important item I want to address during my 4 year tenure, and that
is to have MERCURY tested for on the waterways in Scott County.
Testing is done twice a year on the streams in our county, but MERCURY
is not on the list of things to be checked. Hopefully, that can be
addressed. Thanks again to all who helped and to those who
voted for me. A special thank you to Linda Thieman who placed a section on the blog
for information about my campaign, and to DFA for their support.
The teamwork in this organization is inspirational…..DEAN ON!…..NOW
MORE THAN EVER!
Molly Regan
 Congratulations,
Molly! Can't think of anyone more perfectly suited to the
position since you live and breathe environmental protection. A
job well done! We are very proud of you!
ENVIRONMENT: The Bush Administration's Swift and Steady Sabotage
by
Linda Thieman
on Fri 05 Nov 2004 05:00 AM CST
 ENVIRONMENT: The Bush Administration's Swift and Steady Sabotage
American Progress
Last
week, the Washington Post reported thirty-four Superfund projects in 19
states will go unfunded this year. The Environmental Protection Agency
acknowledged that Superfund, which is the government's toxic waste
cleanup program, is now nearly bankrupt. Why are these crucial sites
being neglected? Carol Browner, the administrator of the EPA from
1993-2001, explains, "Because the fees that are used to pay for these
cleanups are no longer being collected." In a sop to the oil industry,
the Bush administration ended the tax on corporate polluters that
funded the program by refusing to ask Congress to reinstate the fee oil
and chemical companies paid that generated the money for cleanups. This
is part of an overall pattern of a swift and steady sabotage of
environmental safeguards.
THE ENVIRONMENT AT A GLANCE:
A new study by Knight Ridder, for example, found that the steady
improvement in air and water quality of the past three decades "has
stalled or gone in reverse in several areas" since January 2001.
Specifically, Superfund cleanups of toxic waste fell by 52 percent;
fish-consumption warnings for rivers doubled; the number of beach
closings rose 26 percent; civil citations issued to polluters fell 57
percent; asthma attacks increased by 6 percent; and there were
"record-low" additions to national parks, wilderness, wildlife refuges
and the endangered species list. (For a look at how Iowa stacks up with
health, safety and the environment, check out American Progress' new
interactive map.)
LETTING THE INMATES RUN THE ASYLUM:
The Washington Post reports that the chemical industry has given $2
million to the EPA for a study supposedly "exploring the impact of
pesticides and household chemicals on young children." (For those of
you keeping track, the American Chemistry Council is the same group
that fought against the finding that wood treated with arsenic
shouldn't be used in playground equipment.) The EPA already has a $572
million research budget; no word on why the agency needed to take money
from the chemical industry to conduct an independent study. The EPA
admits the money means "We will seek their opinions." Carol Henry, a
vice president at the American Chemistry Council, also acknowledges the
association has set up a board of hand-picked academics and industry
officials to be a "resource to investigators," adding, "We'll give them
our guidance." (The administration has a track record of allowing
corporations to call the regulatory shots; check out this comprehensive
report about the special interest takeover.)
DRILLING AWAY THE WILDERNESS:
George W. Bush has claimed, "I guess you'd say I'm a good steward of
the land." Not really. According to the Los Angeles Times,
environmentally damaging policies put in place by Secretary of the
Interior Gale Norton take away the safeguards which for decades have
protected potential wilderness areas. Even more egregious, the
administration claimed that the Department of the Interior "is barred –
forever – from identifying and protecting wild land the way it has for
nearly 30 years." In effect, "The administration is giving industry
virtual carte blanche to look for oil and gas wherever it wants outside
of existing parks and wilderness areas." The Washington Post points out
that Bush has "approved about 70 percent more drilling permits on
public lands during the first three years of his administration" than
the three preceding years. And, writes the New Yorker, "By stripping
away restrictions on the use of federal lands, often through
little-advertised rule changes, the Administration has potentially
opened up sixty million acres, an area larger than Indiana and Iowa
combined, to logging, mining, and oil exploration."
GLOBAL WARMING:
A top NASA climate expert yesterday joined a long line of scientists in
criticizing the Bush administration for its disregard of science. Dr.
James E. Hansen, who has twice briefed Vice President Dick Cheney's
task force on global warming, charged, "In my more than three decades
in government, I have never seen anything approaching the degree to
which information flow from scientists to the public has been screened
and controlled as it is now." Hansen also "said the administration
wants to hear only scientific results that 'fit predetermined,
inflexible positions.'" Specifically, he charged the White House edited
reports that outline the potential dangers of global warming to make
the problem appear less serious. "This process is in direct opposition
to the most fundamental precepts of science," he said. "This," he
warned, "is a recipe for environmental disaster."
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