Subject: GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS 970118
From: gsenet@nac.net (Phil Reynolds)
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 15:29:56
970118
GARDEN STATE ENVIRONEWS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* CALLS NEEDED TO CLOSE DOWN ZOO
* LAWN HERBICIDES TRACKED INDOORS
* EPA REGISTERS SIX NEW BIOLOGICAL PESTICIDES
* ENVIRO-NEWSBRIEF 970117
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CALLS NEEDED TO CLOSE DOWN ZOO
Date: Jan 17, 1997
From: veganman@mail.idt.net (Stuart Chaifetz)
Hey all,
We need to get as many calls as possible into the NJ Govenors office
to help close down the Scotch Plains Zoo in Union County.
Last night Channel 9 did an excellent story on the zoo, and we have
heard that Gov. Whitman may be getting into the issue. We have been
fighting this zoo for awhile, and there seems to be light at the end
of the tunnel!
The calls should be positive, tell them that you hope Whitman helps
close the zoo, and that there are many people who are against this
terrible place.
There will also be a protest at the zoo this Sunday at 12:00pm. Call
Sherryl at 201-332-0279 for more info.
The Gov.'s office is 1-609-292-6000
Thanks,
Stu
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LAWN HERBICIDES TRACKED INDOORS
Date: 17 Jan 1997
From: PANNA InfoPubs
=====================================
P A N U P S
***
Pesticide Action Network
North America
Updates Service
http://www.panna.org/panna/
=====================================
January 17, 1997
Lawn Herbicides Tracked Indoors
Residues of widely used lawn herbicides may be tracked into
homes and deposited on indoor carpet surfaces or in household
dust, according to a recent study in the journal
Environmental Science and Technology. The study, which
examined transport of 2,4-D and dicamba, concluded that 3% of
dislodgeable turf residues (i.e. the portion of a pesticide
formulation that does not adhere to the turf) were
transported to carpet dust and that 0.3% of turf residues
were transported to the carpet surface. The authors reported
that once on carpet surfaces the residues can come into
contact with skin.
According to the study, previous research has suggested that
transport of pesticides into homes presents significant risks
of human exposure, particularly for children who may ingest
residues through hand-to-mouth behavior. Once indoors,
carpets, dust and furnishings may become long-term reservoirs
for pesticides because common environmental degradation
factors such as sunlight, wind, rain or soil microbes are
absent.
In the study, researchers applied a pesticide formulation
containing 2,4-D, dicamba and mecoprop (X-Gro Broadleaf Weed
Killer) to sections of a lawn that had not been treated with
pesticides for at least 10 years. Participants then walked on
the treated plots, staggering their times and walking in
different areas so that most of the treated ground was
covered. They then either wiped their feet on a mat or walked
directly onto indoor carpeting, both of which had never been
used before. Researchers analyzed residues tracked onto the
carpets at four hours, eight hours and one day after
pesticide application. In addition, they measured levels of
turf dislodgeable residues on the lawn at these times and
over the course of several days.
For the first three days after application, the researchers
estimated a potential track-in rate of 4.5 micrograms of 2,4-
D per day. Use of entryway mats reduced the level of
pesticide residues on carpet surfaces by 25% and reduced
carpet dust residues by 33%. The researchers estimated that
2,4-D residues could remain in household carpet dust for up
to one year after turf application at concentrations of
approximately 0.3 micrograms/square meter. The authors stated
that this level is consistent with levels of 2,4-D that they
found in household dust of nine suburban homes.
A range of health and environmental impacts have been
associated with exposure to 2,4-D, including endocrine
disruption, reproductive effects, cancer and toxicity to
birds and fish; impacts associated with exposure to dicamba
include neurological effects, non Hodgkins' lymphoma (cancer)
and mutagenicity.
The authors described a recent study of 2,4-D in children's
urine that compared children from a town containing a 2,4-D
manufacturing plant to children from a town without such a
plant. The study found 2,4-D in 18% of children from the town
with the 2,4-D plant and 23% of children from the town
without the plant, implying that the presence of 2,4-D was
due to some factor or factors other than the manufacturing
plant. The authors of the track-in study stated that "Given
the fact that children's hand-to-mouth activity promotes
ingestion of contaminated carpet dust, we might assume that
chronic indoor exposure will follow a lawn application and
may result in measurable urinary levels."
The authors also pointed out that their control lawn, an area
to which no herbicide was applied, offered information about
spray drift levels. The study found that eight hours after
application turf dislodgeable residues on the untreated plot
were 2-3% of the levels found on treated turf plots at the
same time. Detectable levels were also present in the carpet
dust after track-in from the unsprayed plot. The authors
surmised that their application gun may produce a finer
aerosol than some commercial sprayers, which could result in
more drift. They pointed out that previous agricultural drift
studies have found drift levels up to 8% of the application
loading rate.
Sources: Measuring Transport of Lawn-Applied Herbicide Acids
from Turf to Home: Correlation of Dislodgeable 2,4-D Turf
Residues with Carpet Dust and Carpet Surface Residues. Marcia
Nishioka et. al. Environmental Science and Technology, Volume
30, Number 11, November 1996.
National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP)
Technical Report, Volume 12, Number 1, January 1997.
2,4-D. Extension Toxicology Network, September 1993.
Dicamba. Caroline Cox. Journal of Pesticide Reform, Volume
14, Number 1, Spring 1994.
Contact: PANNA
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EPA REGISTERS SIX NEW BIOLOGICAL PESTICIDES
Date: Jan 17, 1997
From: GROUP PRESS 202-260-4355
EPA REGISTERS SIX NEW BIOLOGICAL PESTICIDES IN FIRST QUARTER OF FY97
EPA has registered six new biological pesticides in the first quarter
of FY l997, which ended Dec. 31, 1996. The new pesticides are aimed
at controlling a wide variety of pests including cockroaches, plant
diseases, borers, nematodes, aphids and other insects. These
registrations reflect growing trends toward greater reliance on
biological pesticides than conventional pesticides because they are
often more specific to the target pests and pose little or no risk to
other living organisms. They also pose valuable tools for integrated
pest management practices. The following is a brief description of
each of the six new products:
Woodstream Corp. of Lititz, Pa. was granted registration for a
pheromone (trade name German Cockroach Pheromone) to control German
cockroaches. It is used in boric acid bait stations as a cockroach
attractant. Boric acid on the body of the cockroach causes
dehydration and death. It is approved for indoor non-food areas of
homes, restaurants, health care facilities, educational institutions,
factories, garages, transportation and recreational vehicles, zoos,
kennels, utilities and sewers.
Agridyne Technologies of Columbia, Md. was granted registration for
dihydroazadirachtin (trade name DAZA) a hydrogenated form of the
naturally occurring azadirachtin obtained from the seeds of the neem
tree, native to India and Burma. It will be approved for use indoors
against numerous insects such as ants, aphids, beetle, caterpillars,
crickets, sawflies, whiteflies, centipedes, nematodes and sowbugs.
Outdoors it will be approved for use on bedding plants, flowers,
potted plants, foliage plants, plants grown hydroponically,
ornamentals, trees, shrubs, turfgrass, fiber crops, forage and fodder
crops.
Stine Microbial Products of Adel, Iowa was granted registration for
Burkholderia cepacia isolate (trade name Blue Circle) as a fungicide
for controlling damping-off disease on plant roots and seedling roots
of vegetables, fruits, nuts, vine crops, spices, ornamentals,
greenhouse crops, turfgrasses, flowers, bulbs and field crops. It may
be applied through the irrigation system, drenching roots of seedlings
or incorporating into seedbeds at planting.
Monsanto Co. of St. Louis, Mo. was granted final registration for
Bacillus thuringiensis CryIA(b) Delta-Endotoxin and the Genetic
Material Necessary for Its Production in Corn (trade name YieldGard),
a plant-pesticide for controlling or suppressing the European corn
borer, the Southwestern corn borer and the corn earworm. EPA has
limited annual use to l00,000 acres in Southern states. In addition,
the acreage may not exceed five percent of the corn planted in any
county with more than l,000 acres if cotton. These limitations were
imposed to mitigate the risk of developing resistance to Bt CryIA by
the corn earworm, a pest of corn, cotton, and other Southern crops.
Ciba-Geigy Corp. of Greensboro, N.C. was granted registration for
Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki strain M-200 (trade name Able) for
controlling lepidoperous (caterpillar) pests in tree fruits,
terrestrial small fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, alfalfa, corn,
cotton, soybeans, peanuts, herbs and spices and cranberries. It may
be applied aerially or by ground equipment.
Ecogen Inc. of Longhorne, Pa. was granted registration for Bacillus
thuringiensis kurstaki strain EG7826 (trade name Lepinox) for
controlling lepidopterous (caterpillar) pests of numerous terrestrial
food crops, ornamental plants, turf, nursery stock, shade trees and
forests. It may be applied aerially or by ground equipment.
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ENVIRO-NEWSBRIEF 970117
The following is a daily update summarizing news of interest
to EPA staff. It includes information from current news sources:
newspapers, newsletters, and other publications. For more
information, contact the EPA Headquarters Library at (202) 260-
5921, or e-mail LIBRARY-HQ.
**Viewpoints expressed in the following summaries do not
necessarily reflect EPA policy**
** GLOBAL WARMING **
Administration Poised to Release Its Draft Text for Emissions
Protocol. Daily Environment Report, January 17, 1997, pAA-1.
The Clinton administration will release its proposal for new
global agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions on January
17, according to officials from the State Department and EPA.
The proposal will expand on the US position paper released
in December 1996, but it will not contain specific numbers for
emission reductions or deadlines.
Robert Wolcott, deputy assistant administrator for EPA's
Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation said the proposal would
clarify several issues that were contained in the December 1996
document.
The new document will include details on the
administration's proposed global trading scheme for greenhouse
gas emissions. It will also include a definition of what the term
"binding" means in a treaty among sovereign nations, said
Wolcott.
Wolcott hopes academics, industry and environmental groups
support the administration's goal of market based controls on
greenhouse gas emissions. "Doing an ostrich number is just not
going to work on this," he said.
** CONGRESS **
Senate Energy Committee Names Members to Four Subcommittees.
Daily Environment Report, January 17, 1997, pA-2.
Frank Murkowski, (R-AK) chairman of the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee announced the membership of the four
subcommittees under his committee.
*Energy Research, Development, Production and Regulation-Don
Nickles, Chairman; Pete Domenici, Vice Chairman; Larry Craig, Rod
Grams; Slade Gorton; Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Gordon Smith.
Democrats: Wendell Ford, ranking member; Jeff Bingaman; Bob
Graham; Ron Wyden; Tim Johnson; Mary Landrieu.
*Forests and Public Land Management-Larry Craig, Chairman;
Conrad Burns, Vice Chairman; Pete Domenici; Craig Thomas; Jon
Kyl; Gordon Smith.
Democrats: Byron Dorgan, ranking member; Bob Graham; Ron
Wyden; Tim Johnson; Mary Landrieu.
*National Parks, Historic Preservation, and Recreation-Craig
Thomas, Chairman; Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Vice Chairman; Rod
Grams; Don Nickles; Conrad Burns.
Democrats: Jeff Bingaman, ranking member; Daniel Akaka; Bob
Graham; Mary Landrieu.
*Water and Power-Jon Kyl, Chairman; Gordon Smith, Vice
Chairman; Slade Gorton; Ben Nighthorse Campbell; Larry Craig.
Democrats: Daniel Akaka, ranking member; Wendell Ford; Byron
Dorgan; Ron Wyden.
** PESTICIDES **
Chlorpyrifos Risk Mitigation Measures Agreed to by EPA,
Registrant DowElanco. Daily Environment Report, January 17, 1997,
ppA-8-9.
EPA and DowElanco have agreed on a program designed to
reduce the risks associated with the use of the household
insecticide chlorpyrifos.
John Hagaman, President and Chief Executive Officer of
DowElanco sent Assistant Administrator Lynn Goldman a letter
stating the company supported the 10 point program. The program
requires the company to: conduct additional epidemiological
research, withdraw all products from the indoor total release
fogger market and direct application pet care market, revise
labels to specify re-treatment intervals, and improve the
training of pest control operators.
Goldman had written a letter to Hagaman on January 14 that
stated EPA is "pleased that DowElanco has voluntarily committed
to develop an agreement to implement the risk mitigation
measures."
Chlorpyrifos has to go through the same reregistration
process as older pesticide active ingredients. That work has not
been completed. According to Hagaman's letter the company has
spent "over 16 million dollars in research programs directed
toward the chlorpyrifos reregistration process."
"As you know, reported health concerns about chlorpyrifos
involve illnesses that are common to organophosphates, most
notably, vomiting, diarrhea, and nervous system disorders from
acute exposure and possibility of chronic neurological disease
from long-term exposures," said the Goldman letter.
Hagaman stated in his letter that the company "must state
unequivocally that our proposed initiatives are not prompted in
any way by a conclusion that any currently labeled uses create
exposures capable of causing human injury, and any attempt to
portray them in this light would only make difficult their timely
and effective implementation."
He acknowledged that there are reports and "allegations of
illness associated with chlorpyrifos," and said in the letter
"this anecdotal, inquiry-based information is clearly an
insufficient basis upon which to draw conclusions as to cause and
effect when considered in conjunction with all available
toxicological data and risk assessments."
** EPA **
EPA Officials Divided Over Design of Environmental Goals. Inside
E.P.A. Weekly Report, January 17, 1997, pp11-12.
Senior EPA staff are divided over proposed draft
environmental goals for fiscal year 1997 according to EPA sources
and agency documents.
EPA Administrator Carol Browner has the final decision over
whether EPA will move towards a cross-media approach, or go with
an approach that retains some aspects of the current single media
system.
The goals have been developed by the Planning, Budget
Analysis and Accountability (PBAA) group. The PBAA was formed in
response to the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act, and
a report by the National Academy for Public Administration. They
are responsible for improving the link between long-term
environmental planning and resource management.
The goals selected by Browner will be the fundamental
guidelines driving the new budget and will be similar to the
National Environmental Goals established by the Clinton
administration, said agency officials.
According to a memo by Acting Chief Financial Officer
Sallyanne Harper, the first option Browner would consider is the
current media structure. That would "allow a smooth evolution to
the new planning, budget and accountability structure for
EPA...allowing agency managers, information systems and budget
and planning structures to gradually change over the next few
years." It will also "result in less confusion to constituent
groups than option two."
Option two seeks a smaller number of goals by consolidating
some of the National Environmental Goals. This approach was
developed by EPA's Region V office. It adopts a full multi-media
approach and would collapse the national goals into six broad
categories. This would result in clearer guideposts for managing
activity guidelines.
Sources at EPA are downplaying the significance of the
decision Browner has to make. "The implications are not
staggering," said one source, noting that the goals "are the most
abstract part of the new planning system."
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=END=
Subject: On Hardin: an interview and commentary -- Ecology, Economy, and Ethics
From: bashford@psnw.com (Doug Bashford)
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 19:57:30 GMT
These are excerpts from
http://204.71.8.24:80/lrand/FM_Hardn.htm
plus commentary.
[My excerpts are for review, without permission.]
=========== Begin quotes:
LIVING WITHIN LIMITS & LIMITS ON LIVING
Garrett Hardin on Ecology, Economy, and Ethics
Copywrite Sceptic, Vol 4., No. 2 1996, pp.42-46.
Interview by Frank Meile
Garrett Hardin is a pioneer in the science of human ecology. He is
best known for his 1968 article in Science, "The Tragedy of the
Commons." Reprinted in over 100 anthologies, it is still cited by
proponents of the free market as a classic analysis of the inherent
failings in terms of economic loss and environmental degradation of
public, as opposed to private, ownership.
========[deletions]
Skeptic: You once wrote a sarcastic piece entitled,
"Nobody Ever Dies from Overpopulation." Would you care to comment?
Hardin: It's absolutely true. There should be a formal scientific
investigation by people who are trained in that sort of thing, which I
am not, of the change in attitude toward the subject of
over-population and how it came about. There was a lot of concern
about population in the first part of this century. It culminated, as
I see it, in Paul Ehrlich's book, The Population Bomb, in 1967.
Then all the attacks started from various economists and the public
just got tired of it as they became aware of the fact that the people
who were talking about over-population were not offering
any remedies. The feeling on the part of the public was What good is
it seeing a problem, if you don't offer a remedy?" The same criticism
has been made of my last book, Living Within Limits.
Right now we've reached a low point in getting people to take
population problems seriously. But I have been encouraged by the
letters to the editor I see in the local papers.
The best summary of the problem is the one Ehrlich uses - name any
problem that you regard as important and dangerous and you will find
that unless you solve the population problem, you can't solve that one
either.
Population is not the sole cause, but it's a contributing cause to all
the other major problems.
========[deletions]
Skeptic: Reading your books or Paul Ehrlich's, one gets the feeling
we're going to hell in a hurry rather than a hand basket. But doesn't
Julian Simon have a point that since Plato, and certainly since
Malthus, you doomsayers have always said this and you've always been
proved wrong?
Hardin: Not always proved wrong. Some of the things that were said
have proved right.
Skeptic: For example?
Hardin: Here we get into an argument. Many people think that living on
Manhattan all the time is not the ideal way to live. Society paints
itself into a cul-de-sac of urbanization. I grew up on a farm
in Missouri. When I was very young, I remember the creek running all
summer long. By my teens, it ran only at the beginning of the summer
and left a hole for the rest of the summer. By the mid-30s,
even the water-hole was gone. My grandfather told me that when he
first moved there, the water was so clear and you could see to the
bottom. As far as I was concerned, all water, in creeks,
rivers, and lakes, was brown. So it was a shock when I went to England
and Ireland in my 50s and saw small rivers that were so clear you
could see the fish.
Skeptic: But the argument against your story is that we now have,
along with that somewhat polluted water, more people, more goods, more
services. More people are living better than ever before. So what's
one dirty pond versus 100 more people with good jobs raising their
families?
Hardin: The important thing, and on which you can't get agreement, is
the question, "Why is having more people good?" Now, if you say more
people produce more goods so that there is a higher standard of
living, then you've got a good argument. But suppose more people is
just more people.
Suppose more people means a lower quality of life? Do we simply want
to maximize the number of people?
Skeptic: From a Darwinian perspective, more people allows a more
stratified society and more specialization of labor. In the long run,
those more populous, stratified societies will displace the less
populous, more egalitarian ones. It's going to be that way, whether we
like it or not.
Hardin: You may be right and this is the tragedy. Can we stop our
built-in suicidal tendencies? All species have the blessing of enemies
that keep their numbers under control. But we have been
getting rid of all our enemies. We thought we'd gotten rid of all
disease. We haven't quite, but if we can, by God we will. Having
gotten rid of all the lions and tigers and bears, then we get rid of
the micro-predators, the bacteria, and the viruses, there will be
nothing to control our numbers except ourselves. If not, we will
commit suicide. The Easter Island tragedy will be universalized. There
will be a few people, leading a miserable life.
If we control our numbers, we might be able to settle on a world
population of up to 100 million, living a hell of a good life. But
we're up to six billion now. That's six thousand million. This level
is impossible to maintain.
Skeptic: There is a certain self-satisfied negativity to much
ecological writing. Julian Simon has written other books about
starting your own mail order business and how to overcome depression.
I just can't imagine either you or Ehrlich writing anything so upbeat
and optimistic. Isn't that an inherent flaw in the ecological
movement? Aren't you going to lose the argument by induced
depression as your readers reach for the Prozac?
Hardin: If your only goal is to win, the answer is to become another
Julian Simon. I couldn't live with myself if I did that. I'd die of
shame. While I may be a bearer of bad news, I try to convince
people that what sounds like bad news is better than "good news"
that's wrong.
======== [deletions and end quotes] ========
A comment about a common argument quoting Hardin's
"The Tragedy of the Commons." Many private property enthusiasts
cite Hardin's 1968 essay as evidence for privatizing National
Parks, and Forests, etc. Their error in general it to equivocate
the "common good", the "common goods", and the "commons". For
example, a National Forest is NOT what Hardin described. His
"commons" was from an old English tradition where the the land
had utterly no stewardship nor ownership. Public ownership with
public property rights is NOT the same as no ownership and no
property rights! In fact, a National Forest is tightly regulated
to prevent a Tragedy of the Commons as its frequent users well know.
Another point. Many private property enthusiasts cite
environmentalist's
constant complaining about the stewardship of Public Lands as evidence
in favor of privatization. Environmentalists trapped in the trees
of the debate are often not aware this can be an honest mistake made
by those who would not recognize the difference between a forest and
a tree farm. In short, the reason environmentalists do not complain
about private tree farms is because they are private, and also, they
are farms.
Perhaps "Skeptic" has noticed Hardin's feelings that in the long
run, ecology will be defeated because it will not reach the mass
market, will never be very "popular":
Skeptic: Isn't that an inherent flaw in the
ecological movement? Aren't you going to lose the argument
by induced depression as your readers reach for the Prozac?
Yep. And the growthmaniacs count on that. Hardin's reply?
Hardin: ...While I may be a bearer of bad news, ....
So Hardin, like most environmentalists, seems to miss the point.
What happened to his; "living a hell of a good life"?
Environmentalists are bearers of good news in a world that
many people see as falling apart. The growthmaniacs' underemployment,
downsizing, environmental degradation, and exploding crime is the bad
news we have been seeking to AVOID. Perhaps we should spend more time
communicating our grand visions of humans in harmony with the Earth?
More important, shouldn't we include the values of the people who are
not environmentalists? What will a balanced world bring, anyway?
- We seek increasing individuals' wealth and freedom
- rather than stimulating the gross economy. We look to abundance
- and wholeness instead of so-called; "economic growth".
- Growthmania consumes what it promises. Ecology delivers.
--Douglas bashford@psnw.com -- Middle-of-the-road extremist.
Science, Ecology, Economics, and Politics (title)
http://www.psnw.com/~bashford/e-index.html
