T his page features articles on current issues and events related to diversity in the environmental field. It also features upcoming conferences related to various environmental issues. Fellowships/Programs/Internships A Graduate Funding Program Supported by the National Science Foundation Janice Lee Fenske, Excellence in Fisheries Management Fellowship - Michigan State University, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife National Aquarium in Baltimore Conferences 'Environmental Justice Cross-Culturally: Theory and Praxis in the African Diaspora and in Africa' "The AGEP Advantage" Northwestern University Academic Employment Workshop Training Conference, Hispanics - Helping People Conserve the Land National Land Conservation Conference: Rally 2005 National Summit on Diversity in the Environmental Field - Thirty-Five Years After Earth Day: Where Do We Go From Here? Minority Serving Institutions: Leadership, Emerging Issues, and Their Role in Their Communities Summit 2005: Diverse Partners for Environmental Progress Fostering a Diverse Scientific Community in the Environmental and Biological Sciences Articles June 2008 Interview: Majora Carter Thousands of contracts, millions of jobs May 2008 Long Beach port's Middle Harbor plan aimed at clearing region's air April 2008 Citgo Sentencing Phase Underway March 2008 Is cap-and-trade system right for California? Opposition grows February 2008 Study Warns of Chemicals in Baby Items January 2008 Superfund Looks to Its Future State to curb toxic runoff December 2007 Hearing starts on Sunland Park dump permit November 2007 Environmental justice group to fight pollution in Lents area October 2007 EPA Awards Environmental Justice Small Grants to Communities September 2007 Not in Whose Backyard? EPA smog proposal sparks debate over environmental justice August 2007 Two Years After Hurricane Katrina: A Tale of Two Louisianas Supervisors rebuff urban limit line move July 2007 Cherokee Nation honored as an environmental steward June 2007 California Air Board Adds Climate Labels to New Cars City Kids Need Early Wildlife Encounters May 2007 Hair Straightening Chemicals Cleared of Breast Cancer Link Feds, Idaho, Tribe Settle Snake River Water Rights April 2007 EPA is Put on Legal Notice by Los Angeles Environmental Justice Pioneer Jesse Marquez and Others for "Gross Negligence" March 2007 Equal opportunity organic February 2007 Access to clean air unequal, study says Some Families Get a Head Start on Protecting Children from Secondhand Smoke January 2007 Bush Expected to Highlight Energy and Environmental Concerns in State of the Union Address Solis resurrects environmental health bill December 2006 Tribes promote increased energy production Fill 'er Up: A Grist special series on biofuels November 2006 Interior seeks 'creative' compensation for Indian water-rights settlements Great Lakes Fouled by Raw Sewage October 2006 Tohono O'odham protest proposed toxic dump: La Choya Hazardous Waste Facility would be on sacred grounds Americans Favor Environment, but Don't Vote on It September 2006 EPA Faulted on Environmental Justice Reviews March Today, Vote Tomorrow August 2006 Us vs. Stem A Heap of Sorrows: A controversial New Orleans landfill is set to close, but eco-disaster still looms July 2006 Biodiversity Experts Call for "One Clear Voice" to Advise Policymakers Gore Praises Wal-Mart for Sustainability Plans June 2006 Timber industry gets exemption from endangered-species law May 2006 Supreme Court to Decide When Best Pollution Controls Required April 2006 The New Hot Zones: Books, films and a slick ad campaign make global warming the topic du jour. March 2006 Public Land for Sale February 2006 Landfill report sounds alarm: Site could be liability for FEMA, it says January 2006 Report Finds Regulation of Nanotech Inadequate December 2005 U.S. Joins Informal Talks on Warming November 2005 House Votes for Public Land Mining Sales October 2005 Digital Dump Creates Concerns Study: Toxic-Waste Sites Mainly In Low-Income Areas August 2005 The Trailblazer: Lake Charles native Jerome Ringo doesn't believe in closed doors -- and he doesn't think environmentalists should, either July 2005 Ruling Sets Off Tug of War Over Private Property Energy Bill Removes Local Say in Siting Dangerous LNG Facilities Equipping Asian Americans with Tools to Break the 'Bamboo Ceiling' EPA's Environmental Justice Policy Drops Race As Factor In Future Decisions March 2005 EPA Orders Smog, Soot Reductions to Benefit People Downwind from Power Plants February 2005 Bush Seeks Nearly Six Percent Cut in Environment Funding January 2005 Bush Air Pollution Plan Up Against Deadlocked Senate Committee December 2004 Tribes, Environmentalists Clash over Proposed Casino in Columbia River Gorge Company Polluted Nitro, W.Va., with Dioxin, Lawsuit Says November 2004 NSF Budget Cut in Omnibus Appropriations Bill: EPA STAR Fellowships Restored Women's Groups Launch National Letter-Writing Campaign Demanding THAT Universities BREAK DOWN BARRIERS TO Women In The Sciences EPA Science Advisor Steps Down October 2004 EPA, National Urban League Join Forces to Protect Children September 2004 Senate Appropriations Bill Reverses House Cuts for National Science Foundation USGS Funding Restored by Senate Appropriations Committee August 2004 New Bedford, Massachusetts Third Graders Learn Underground Railroad History July 2004 NSF Budget Cut by $111 Million in House Bill June 2004 All Quiet on the Environmental Front E.P.A. Energy-Saving Spots Give Cars Short Shrift Study Ranks Bush Plan to Cut Air Pollution as Weakest of 3 A New Ice Age? None Soon, Snow 2 Miles Deep Implies 157 Members of Congress Support Highest Possible Budget for NSF May 2004 Global Climate Change and the African American Community (Part 1) New Educational Website Highlights Connections Between Human Health, Climate and Ecosystem Change: Site Offers Facts Behind Disaster Film, "The Day After Tomorrow" $50 Million Gift Aims to Further Legacy of Brown Case March 2004 And Justice for All: Bush EPA dilutes meaning of environmental justice Fellowships/Programs/Internships A Graduate Funding Program Supported by the National Science Foundation http://www.sage.wisc.edu/igert Application deadline, January 2, 2008. The University of Wisconsin's CHANGE (Certificate on Humans and the Global Environment) program is looking for exceptional Ph.D. students who want to become "change agents" through their research on global environmental vulnerability and sustainability. With IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education, Research, and Training) grant funding from the National Science Foundation we can provide up to two years of full financial support to qualified incoming Ph.D. students. The CHANGE program involves faculty members in departments ranging from atmospheric and oceanic sciences, geography, and environmental history to rural sociology, environmental studies, and public health. RETURN TO TOP Janice Lee Fenske, Excellence in Fisheries Management Fellowship - Michigan State University, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife http://www.fw.msu.edu/ The Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (Department) at Michigan State University is currently accepting applications for the Janice Lee Fenske Excellence in Fisheries Management Fellowship. Jan Fenske was the first female biologist for the Fisheries Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. During her 27 years of service, her love of the environment compelled her to work untiringly for the long-term protection and sustainable use of the State's aquatic resources. The intent of this award is to honor Jan's attitude, deep commitment to the resource, integrity, and memory by providing graduate students from the under-served community in the Department with additional financial and mentoring opportunities to assist them in developing successful careers in fisheries management. For more information about Jan Fenske, refer to the Biography of Janice L. Fenske in the Michigan Chapter of the American Fisheries Society web site. RETURN TO TOP National Aquarium in Baltimore http://www.aqua.org/ We would like to have students join us for a unique Hands-On Conservation Experience at the National Aquarium in Baltimore! In an effort to promote minority participation in conservation science, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Chesapeake Bay Trust, has developed and begun implementing a program that provides science-based experience to minority undergraduate college students. This program fosters the understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of aquatic habitats and the plants and animals they support. The primary objective of the work-study program is to expose students to experiences in the conservation sciences that may prompt interest for future career participation. Students will also have the opportunity to work with partners of the Aquarium that are actively engaged in conservation, research, and management issues. These involve a variety of state, local and federal government and non-government organizations. Students will have the opportunity to make very important contacts within the conservation fields; they will be enriched by the experience of working with experts in the various fields and will have the opportunity to utilize the tools and resources offered by an internationally recognized Aquarium. During the summer of 2007, the Aquarium will accept a total of four students (three in marine animal conservation and two in the wetland ecology program). The students will be paid, and therefore will not receive course credit. However, students may gather data for independent research projects to be coordinated his or her college/university advisor and Aquarium staff. For more information or to obtain an application please contact the Conservation Department at FutureOfConservation@aqua.org or 410-657-4274. RETURN TO TOP Conferences ‘Environmental Justice Cross-Culturally: Theory and Praxis in the African Diaspora and in Africa’ DATE: November 9-10, 2007 LOCATION: Africana Studies, Wellesley College OVERVIEW: Symposium Organizer: Professor Filomina Steady Chair, Africana Studies Wellesley College 106 Central Street Wellesley, MA. 02481 Contact: Dale Clarke, Administrative Assistant dclarke@wellesley.edu 781-283-2563 Hotel for Symposium: Hampton Inn 319 Speen Street Natick, MA. 01760 Phone: 508-653-5000 Fax: 508-651-9733 A bus will be available to take participants from the hotel to Wellesley College. Please inform Dale Clarke (dclarke@wellesley.edu) if you plan to attend. RETURN TO TOP "The AGEP Advantage" Northwestern University Academic Employment Workshop DATE: September 25, 2006 LOCATION: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois OVERVIEW: Northwestern University is hosting a one-day workshop for social, behavioral and economic sciences (SBES) advanced graduate students on issues faced by underrepresented minorities in searching for and succeeding in their first faculty or postdoctoral fellow appointment. Workshop attendees will be SBES PhD students soon to begin the academic job search. This workshop, consisting of two panel presentations and three interactive sessions, will cover a variety of issues including: 'Sealing the deal:' finding the best faculty/postdoctoral fellow position and negotiating the best start-up package; Managing the tenure process, deciding which requests for extra service to accept and which to turn down; Issues to be faced in the classroom; Balancing family/work issues; Surviving the first year as a professor The workshop will be held September 25, 2006 at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. All workshop attendees will have their travel, meals, and lodging provided. You are invited to apply to attend this workshop if you are in your final graduate school year and anticipate being in the academic job market by June 2007. If interested, please submit the following by Friday, August 2, 2006: A cover letter signed by you and your academic advisor indicating your interest in attending the workshop; A copy of your CV - (it may be the same CV you use for the job search) Send all information to: Cheryl Judice, PhD Director - AGEP The Graduate School Northwestern University 633 Clark Street - 1-502 Evanston, Illinois 60208-1113 Email: c-judice@northwestern.edu Phone: 847-491-8536 RETURN TO TOP Training Conference, Hispanics - Helping People Conserve the Land DATE: July 24-27, 2006 LOCATION: Orlando, Florida URL: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/intranet/hispanic/ OVERVIEW: The National Organization of Professional Hispanic NRCS Employees (NOPHNRCSE) is seeking college students interested in a career in natural resources to attend its this years Training Conference, "Hispanics - Helping People Conserve the Land", July 24-27, 2006 in Orlando, Florida. Attendance at this Conference will provide the best-qualified students with an opportunity to meet, interact, and network with NRCS professionals. Students will also have the opportunity to visit with hiring officials from across the country about federal internship programs and job opportunities. The organization will provide travel expenses for airfare, lodging (2/room), airport transportation and a $49/day allowance for meals and incidentals (less those provided). Must be a full time student currently enrolled at an accredited college or university, be a citizen of the United States, have a good academic standing with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or above, have a career interest in agriculture and natural resources within USDA-NRCS. CONTACT: Submit a resume and a copy of the most current transcript (unofficial copy is acceptable), a type-written Personal Statement between 350 to 500 words in length (double-spaced). The statement must include academic year, major, personal and career goals, academic and extra curricular achievements, and personal interest in public service working with USDA-NRCS. Submit the application by Deadline of April 7, 2006 to: 2006 NOPHNRCSE Training Conference-USDA NRCS c/o Russell Castro 101 South Main Street Temple, Texas 78628 For more information, contact either Russell Castro (254) 742-9982, russell.castro@tx.usda.gov or Rick Rodriguez (254) 742-9894, rick.rodriguez@tx.usda.gov. RETURN TO TOP National Land Conservation Conference: Rally 2005 DATE: Ocober 14-17, 2005 LOCATION: Monona Terrace Convention Center - Madison, Wisconsin URL:http://www.lta.org/training/rally.htm OVERVIEW: Join more than 1,600 conservation leaders at the world's premier gathering of land trust professionals, volunteers, board members, public agency staff, attorneys and land conservation advocates for the 18th Rally! Seminars and Field Trips are Filling Fast Register now to get your first choice. There are over 130 workshops to choose from at Rally! Register online to get immediate confirmation of your choices! The last day to register is September 19. RETURN TO TOP National Summit on Diversity in the Environmental Field - Thirty-Five Years After Earth Day: Where Do We Go From Here? DATE: Sunday, August 28, 2005 to Tuesday, August 30, 2005 TIME: 5:00 pm 8/28/2005 - 3:00 pm 8/30/2005 LOCATION: First Floor, Dana Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI URL: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/meldi SPONSOR: Conference Sponsored by the Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative (MELDI) OVERVIEW: The conference will bring together leaders of environmental NGOs, government environmental agencies, deans/chairs of academic environmental programs, corporate environmental units, and students for a national conversation about diversity in the environmental field. RETURN TO TOP Minority Serving Institutions: Leadership, Emerging Issues, and Their Role in Their Communities DATE: May 11, 2005 LOCATION: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA URL: http://www.thenationalforum.org/projects_msi_register.shtml OVERVIEW: This one-day symposium will focus on issues particular to the ways in which MSIs interact with their communities. For this symposium, community is defined as both the local/physical community as well as the greater cultural and ethnic communities of color. Symposium topics and themes include the relationships between the university and the community; the ways in which the community influences the institution, and the ways in which the institution involves itself with the community. Registration is free; however, space is limited. Registration forms are available in the National Forum, Suite 2339 in the School of Education building. Please return your registration form via fax, 734/615-9777, or mail, 615 E. University, Suite 2339, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, by Friday, April 29, to reserve your space. RETURN TO TOP Summit 2005: Diverse Partners for Environmental Progress Sciences DATE: Oct.16-19, 2005 LOCATION: Airfield 4H Center in Wakefield, Virginia OVERVIEW: This historic conversation among leaders, advocates and others active in the conservation, environmental justice, health, civil rights, public lands and funding communities will be convened to explore issues linked to our living environment, and to strengthen the network of environmental advocates that is reflective of race, ethnicity, culture, class and geography. Summit Objectives: To connect leaders from the traditional/non-traditional environmental community, the environmental justice, health and civil rights, public lands and other interested parties to develop a common framework for supporting a pro-environment slate of issues. To engage in a full day of facilitated dialogue that examines the real and/or perceived barriers and constraints that have served as obstacles to moving forward together. To determine the most pressing and cross-cutting issues on which we can commit to work together. To form a network of diverse parties interested in communicating beyond the summit and developing a strategy to sustain the conversations and action steps developed. To identify at least one other "next step"everyone is willing to take together, in light of the current political climate, that supports these goals. Who Should Participate? Leaders from the Environmental Justice, traditional and non-traditional environmental, public health, faith, civil rights, environmental education, parks, conservation /recreation fields as well as those who are involved with funding to improve the environment for diverse communities. Registration: The Summit will convene more than 200 critical voices in the fields above, including 100 top environmental leaders and our invited partners as described above. Look for registration details in early March. For more information, please contact: Iantha Gantt-Wright Phone: 301-292-6677 Email: thekeniangroup@earthlink.net RETURN TO TOP Fostering a Diverse Scientific Community in the Environmental and Biological Sciences DATE: Aug. 12-13, 2004 LOCATION: Campus of Howard University, Washington, D.C., USA URL: http://www.ots.duke.edu/en/symposium/ OVERVIEW: The Organization for Tropical Studies is presenting a symposium at Howard University on August 12-13, 2004 that will focus on Fostering a diverse scientific community in the environmental and biological sciences. The two-day-event will feature internationally recognized scholars and industry executives who will present perspectives on the topic from a variety of disciplines, including environmental science, biology, mathematics, and sociology. The symposium will include plenary sessions addressing issues of identification, recruitment and retention of underrepresented groups at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels as well as poster and oral presentations by alumni of the OTS Minority Scholars Program. Results of the symposium will be reported in a manual of best practices and disseminated to interested parties and throughout the OTS consortium. The keynote speaker for this conference will be Dr. Dorceta Taylor, director of the MELDI program. RETURN TO TOP Articles Interview: Majora Carter The following is an article on the CNN Website. It appeared on June 6, 2008. By Staff Writer Majora Carter, the founder and executive director of Sustainable South Bronx, is a passionate advocate of environmental justice. Her organization promotes green-collar jobs and sustainable development as a route out of poverty and to create stronger, healthier and greener communities. CNN spoke to her about her inspiration, her work and her hopes for the future. CNN: Tell us about your background. I grew up here, back in the days when the South Bronx was considered the poster child for urban blight. A lot has been happening that's good since then, but growing up here was very difficult. It was the worst place in the country to live. CNN: How and why did you come back? I was a cinema studies and creative major at university and I came home because I needed a cheap place to continue my graduate degree. When I got here, I realized just how much poor communities and poor communities of color were really being discriminated against by placing lots of noxious waste facilities and other kinds of polluting infrastructure here, and I just wanted to get more involved. CNN: What drove you to stay? When I came back, I realized that I could be a part of the solution and not pretend that it didn't exist and go to live my life somewhere else. I realized that I owed it to myself and also to my community to be a part of its future in a way that is more helpful. CNN: What is Sustainable South Bronx's mission? Sustainable South Bronx advocates for environmental justice through sustainable environmental and economic development projects. CNN: How has Sustainable South Bronx evolved over the last seven years? Sustainable South Bronx has gone from being an army of one, me, to about 12 staff all working on policy and projects that are going to improve the quality of life, economically and environmentally, for folks in the community. CNN: What are the biggest challenges you face? The biggest challenge is helping Manhattan understand that they are technically an island, but they are not an island. Right now, Manhattan doesn't handle any of its own waste or its power generation or anything of that nature. It exists in all its glory because of communities such as the South Bronx, so (we need to help) them to understand that when we hurt, they are going to hurt too. We are trying to alleviate poverty by creating green collar jobs and industries to promote them. We want to create opportunities that employ people so they can become an active part of the fabric of the city's life. We are trying to put all those things together so that this great shining jewel to our south, Manhattan, understands that we are actually part of the equation of making a more sustainable city. CNN: Could you tell me some of the problems that South Bronx faces in terms of dealing with industrial waste? The South Bronx handles about 40 percent of the city's commercial waste. We have a sewage treatment plant, a sewage sludge palletizing plant, four power plants and the diesel emissions from about 60,000 diesel truck trips each and every week. Those are not nice places to be around. They have a pretty severe private health crisis associated with them. On average, 25 percent of our kids have asthma. Our child asthma hospitalization rate is between four and seven times the national average. We've got a child obesity rate that is six times higher than the rest of the city, and of course obesity and diabetes go hand in hand. CNN: Where do you see Sustainable South Bronx in ten years? In ten years I hope that Sustainable South Bronx has worked itself out of a job because our work to help create the South Bronx as a hope for green businesses, for clean businesses, has taken off so much; that our 25 percent unemployment rate is in the past; that our asthma rates have plummeted because there is so much green space along the new Greenway that has been built here; that there are so many people bike riding and the diabetes rate is gone; and that Nobel Prize Laureates are being born. CNN: Is that realistic? Absolutely. In 10 years, if we play our cards right and make the right partnerships, whether that's with the city or with businesses, absolutely. I don't think it would take much for that to happen. When my parents moved here 60 years ago, this place was a working class community and it was thriving. We can be thriving again. There was a different kind of manufacturing then, but it was manufacturing and the jobs were right here in this country. People were able to make livings out of it and the gap between rich and poor was smaller. I think we need to decide as a society, as a country, that it's not ok that people are as poor as they are right now. We've got to decide that we want to live in a world that is sane and happy and healthy, and that everyone deserves that. CNN: What is the future of urban communities? So much of the world is going to be living in cities in the next 10 to 15 years. We have got to understand the designing of them, where people are in close proximity to each other but in a way that provides health and well-being to everybody. The density allows for safety, allows for people to get to know each other, the density allows people to walk and bike and get healthier as a result. That could be the kind of city that people will want to live in. Those are the kind of cities we need to re-imagine so that we are building them for people and not just for cars. What is your personal vision of how you can help to achieve that? My real dream is that everybody will see their self-interest tied up with someone else, whether or not they see them, and see that as an opportunity for growing closer together as a culture and as a world. Just because you have a piece of trash and you throw it away and it gets hauled away, it doesn't mean that it's not affecting someone else. If we had bothered to recognize how close our worlds are, it would be harder for people to dismiss places like the South Bronx. RETURN TO TOP Thousands of contracts, millions of jobs The following is an article on the Twin Cities Planet Website. It appeared on June 2, 2008. By Staff Writer Van Jones is the founder and president of Green for All, a national organization working to get "green collar" jobs and opportunities to disadvantaged communities. In an interview last week with Insight News, Jones said, "We have to move into a greener economy. Oil is past tense. Coal is past tense. All of that stuff is too negative to keep using. We have to keep moving into something more clean and green. Billions of dollars are already flowing in that direction. We want to make sure that there is an equal opportunity and an equal access agenda. We don't want to build a green economy that is a white only economy or an eco-elite only economy," he said. "We want to have a green economy that includes us, that lifts people out of poverty and provides pathways to prosperity for people who need new jobs, who need new hope, who need new investment, and who need new opportunity," he said. "So we decided to make that our platform as Green for All." Jones founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, CA. The agency works to get kids out of jail and into jobs. The mission is restorative justice—making sure that when young people get in trouble they get the help they need to get out of trouble and out of the harm, he said. "But I burned out doing that work. I spent a lot of time going to funerals, a lot of time at prison, a lot of time with mothers or grandmothers who were waiting in long lines, not to touch and hold their child, but to just put their hand on the plexiglass between them and their child in the detention facility. I got burned out on that. It was too much for me," said Jones. "I discovered the over the bridge, in a place called Marin County there was a whole other scene [from Oakland] right over the horizon, with organic food and solar panels and hybrid cars and green lifestyle that was making people involved in it a lot of money. "I come back across the bridge wondering, 'What is this? Eco-apartheid?'" Jones said he decided that that was not going to be acceptable. "I came into it more from the economic opportunity side and the investment side and decided we can start weatherizing homes so people can pay less money on their energy bills. We can put our children to work getting our young people the tools and training and technology to install solar panels, to weatherize buildings, to get involved in green construction," he said. "I thought it was really important that those of us from the African American community and other communities of color really embrace this agenda and also expand it. And that's what we've been doing. We have great partners including the Blue Green Alliance, the Sierra Club, and other organizations that up until now haven't worked together closely," he said. More and more people see that working for an inclusive green economy can lift people out of poverty and save the planet at the same time, Jones said. "Connecting the people who most need work with the work that most needs to get done, is a common ground agenda for everybody," he said. Jones' was accompanied by Dave Foster, of the Blue Green Alliance, and Kathy Duval, national political director of Sierra Club, the most well known environmental advocacy organization in the country. The interview at the Marcus Garvey House, Insight News' North Minneapolis headquarters, included Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota (EJAM) organizer Karen Monahan; EJAM volunteer Rachel Dykoski; and Trayshana Thomas, Executive Assistant for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison. Eight-year-old Harvest Preparatory School student, Isaiah Howard, our grandson, opened the interview with a question to Jones. "What do you think we should do about the environment?" Howard asked. "How should we keep it clean? We should not let people fill it up with garbage." "The most important thing is that you recognize how much power you have as a young person," Jones said to Howard. "When things are clean and neat and healthy, everybody is a lot happier. Everybody gets along better. When things get yucky and dirty, nobody's happy. If you say, 'let's not throw stuff on the ground and dirty up the neighborhood, and, let's not throw bottles into the street just to break them,' stuff that might be fun but then later on might hurt somebody… if you have that kind of attitude, other young people will follow you. You can be a leader and keep the community clean and safe. This is your community and how it looks reflects on you. It is really up to you. You want people to come to your neighborhood and say, 'Wow this is a beautiful neighborhood.' You can keep it that way." Insight asked Jones to explore the perception that the environmentalism movement is not connecting with our experience as Africans in the New World. "The popular perception of an environmentalist is the person who complains about the toxins in the water and who wants to save the whales, but not concerned policies and barriers to my being able to get a job or keep a job, take care of my kids, pay my light bill, or pay my taxes. So my sole focus as a Black person may be on the stress of living day by day. How do I take time to hear a message about something esoteric like the environment? How do we get our people to embrace and understand our ownership of the environment?" we asked Jones. "I think we have to be clear from a historical perspective. How did respect for the earth become something that is 100% wholly owned subsidiary of white folks? Where did that come from?" He said, "Historically, African and indigenous families honored the earth, respected the earth. When the colonizer came the colonizer said, 'We're going to bulldoze this and chop this down.' After a while, we said, 'Hold it! You can't just come and knock all this stuff over. It's supposed to be like this. The Creator didn't make mistakes!' And the colonizers said, 'You worship rocks and trees. You worship rivers and stones. You are heathens. We have to civilize you. We have to educate you to understand that these are resources. These are not animals, these are pelts. Those are not trees, its lumber. We have to civilize you to understand that these things are not sacred.' Now three hundred years of doing it that way, we see the consequences," Jones said. "The reality is that a green agenda is not a white agenda. It is rainbow agenda. People all over the world including Europe have known for centuries, for millennia, that all life is connected and we have a central role as human beings to interact in a way that shows good stewardship. The people in Europe who were taught that way and believed in that way, were also called heathens and witches and burned at the stake because somebody had a better way to do everything. "People around the world can point back to a time when they had a much more sane relationship to the earth and it's been a very short time that we have been moving in another direction. But the idea that now that we are trying to move back is "whit"e doesn't make any sense. We're moving back to the sensibility of our own great-grandparents who knew a lot better. This adolescent rebellion of the whole human family against our mother, the Earth, is coming to an end. And that's an all people's agenda. If you want to make a case, you can certainly make a case for Africans and indigenous people to say that this is something that is not alien to us. Secondly, the people who suffer the most from environmental harm are poor people, people of color, people who work in environments where there are toxins," said Jones. "Not only do we get hit the worst by all the negatives of the pollution in the environment, but as we look forward to tomorrow, we are ironically in danger of benefiting last and least for all the positive things that are coming," he said. "Tomorrow green industry is coming. Tomorrow wind is coming. Organic food, healthy food is coming. Green chemistry is coming. Green manufacturing is coming, and if we say that is not our agenda, all those jobs, all that wealth building, all that healthy improvement will then be in somebody else's hands and we'll be mad tomorrow and say, 'Why did you leave me out?'" he said. "I would argue that today is the time for us to honor our past and say these are everybody's values, certainly our own, deal with the pain of today and say, 'We don't want this to be the pain of our children and our grandchildren.' Let's do something different to honor the earth and our community and look at tomorrow and say, rather than continuing to knock on the closed door of a pollution based economy that dishonors people and the planet, continuing to beg for jobs there, why don't we co-create a green economy that is inclusive, that honors and values our grandparents, that honors the future of our grandchildren and work hand and hand with the labor movement, with the environmental movement, with the progressive business community to build a new future," said Jones. RETURN TO TOP Long Beach port's Middle Harbor plan aimed at clearing region's air The following is an article on the Los Angeles Times Website. It appeared on May 27, 2008. By Ronald D. White If the Port of Long Beach builds its proposed Middle Harbor facility, shipping lines and terminal operators that use it would have to do a lot more than wipe their feet at the door. Vessels would have to be able to plug into the electrical grid and turn off their auxiliary diesel engines, and yard equipment would have to operate on the cleanest energy. The reason: As planned, Middle Harbor would be permitted to emit no more than half of current pollution levels. The 10-year, $750-million project would combine two terminals that are too old, inefficient and dirty to meet the port's goals for pollution reduction and greater productivity. It would be the second-most-expensive project in the history of the No. 2 container port in the nation, largely because of measures proposed in the face of threatened lawsuits to force Long Beach and the larger port in Los Angeles to clean up emissions tied to higher rates of asthma and cancer. The environmental impact report on Middle Harbor was released last week and faces a 50-day public comment period. Experts say the demands being put on the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports today will spread to harbors nationwide in the future, and that the appeal of cheap goods from Asia will be diluted by the high costs of cleaning up the nation's ports. "It's happening first here because these are the first two ports to really push their capacity and reach this size," moving about three times as many cargo containers as the No. 3 port, New York/New Jersey, said economist John Husing. "That's a short-term economic and competitive disadvantage, but other ports will be under the same pressure to do what is being done here." That's certainly the goal of the National Resources Defense Council, which is part of a coalition of community activists, labor and environmental groups that wield considerable influence with the nation's busiest seaport complex. "We're sensitive to the argument that if we beat up on Los Angeles and Long Beach too much that businesses and their cargo will go someplace else where they are less insistent about environmental protections," said David Pettit, senior attorney and director of the council's Southern California Clean Air Program. He said the organization had visited communities near the New York/New Jersey harbor complex and was in contact with communities near ports including Oakland, Houston and Charleston, S.C. "We don't want there to be a 'someplace else,' " Pettit said. The tide may already be shifting against unrestrained growth, no matter how many high-wage jobs are created on the docks and in related inland operations. Last year the Port of Tacoma, Wash., backed a $17.8-billion voter initiative on major improvements that would have included better rail links between the port and the rest of the U.S., allowing more cargo to be moved. Voters defeated the measure 56% to 44%. "This is going to be a growing theme. You are not going to expand unless you first ensure that you'll have no additional environmental impact and hopefully a positive impact on health and safety," Husing said. As planned, Middle Harbor would be a 345-acre terminal capable of handling as many as 3.3 million containers a year, more than most ports around the nation. It would use cleaner tugboats, have low-emission fuel mandates and boast its own electrical substation that would allow vessels to plug in and turn off their engines. "It's the right thing to do," said Dick Steinke, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, who called the project "an opportunity to implement the kind of 'green' growth initiatives that will be needed to carry us into the future." There are no guarantees that Middle Harbor will meet with widespread approval. Even with the promised environmental advances, the project leaves resident Angelo Logan skeptical. Logan, 41, moved to a home in Long Beach six months ago with his wife, Kristen, and his mother, Rebecca. The Logans thought the area was better than their old East Los Angeles neighborhood, and the house seemed far enough away from the port and close enough to the water to perhaps catch a sea breeze that might push the worst air inland. Then three months ago, Logan went online to the South Coast Air Quality Management District's Carcinogenic Risk Interactive Map at www2.aqmd.gov/webappl/matesiii and "felt deflated, like I had been punched in the belly" when he found that his 7th Street home fell in a zone with a significantly higher-than-normal risk of cancer deaths from pollution exposure. The family couldn't afford another move, so Logan quit his job as a mechanic and now serves full time as executive director of the 200-member East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice. Logan's thinking on the matter is pretty straightforward: If someone's an alcoholic, that person isn't necessarily the best one to decide how much he should be allowed to drink. "What do we have to do to have a port that is truly green? We have to start from there," Logan said. "We're starting from an unacceptably high level, and even cutting it 50% might still be unacceptably high." RETURN TO TOP Citgo Sentencing Phase Underway The following is an article on the KRISTV.COM Website. It appeared on April 29, 2008. By Erin Cargile CORPUS CHRISTI-Back in 2007, Citgo was found guilty of violating the Federal Clean Air Act. The sentencing phase of the case got underway Monday. The Department of Justice called four witnesses to the stand. Three people from TCEQ and one scientist with the Centers for Disease Control all gave strong statements against the chemical coming from two uncovered tanks. Citgo was found guilty of operating the uncovered tanks that did not have the required emission control equipment from 1992 to 2004. Prosecutors are now pleading their case about how those uncovered tanks could have allowed benzene and other harmful elements to be released into the air and harm nearby residents. After looking at victim impact statements, the scientist with the CDC told the judge their symptoms, such as headaches, nausea, ringing in their ears and burning throat, are a perfect match to being exposed to compounds in crude oil. Members of the local group Citizens for Environmental Justice filled the courtroom and were counting on a strong fine against Citgo. Citizens for Environmental Justice member Suzie Canales told KRIS 6 News, "It's not gonna send a message across the country that it's wrong to pollute, that it's wrong to break the law, and to commit these criminal acts against these people unless it's in the billions of dollars. Only then will we have a chance to better the air quality in Corpus Christi." The most compelling testimony is yet to come. Prosecutors plan on calling about a dozen locals who claim their health suffered because of Citgo's illegal actions. The judge will hear their personal stories beginning Tuesday morning. The court scheduled four days for the penalty phase of the trial, but prosecutors told KRIS it may very well take longer. Citgo faces up to half a million dollars in fines and five years probation. RETURN TO TOP Is cap-and-trade system right for California? Opposition grows The following is an article on the eenews.net Website. It appeared on March 18, 2008. By Colin Sullivan, Senior reporter Darren Samuelsohn contributed from Washington. SAN FRANCISCO -- A recent groundswell of local opposition to a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system in California could undermine state efforts to develop a West-wide carbon market, said experts here who are keeping a watchful eye on the process. What was a minor tremor started by environmental justice groups and a few Democrats in Sacramento appears to be gathering strength as regulators move closer to finalizing a draft blueprint for cutting emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The most recent example is an editorial last week in the L.A. Times that questioned whether a cap-and-trade program fits for the state. The paper's editorial page suggested that the complexities of a market-based system could leave the state vulnerable to the gaming and other shady trading practices that characterized California's deregulated power market, and the ensuing electricity crisis, starting in the late 1990s. "Unless the cap-and-trade program is designed extraordinarily well, we could be looking at deregulation deja vu," the paper wrote. "And the consequences won't just be higher power bills. If California, which leads the country in addressing the threat of global warming, gets this program wrong, it could discredit efforts to fight the problem nationwide, if not worldwide." Experts watching the process say the shift has been driven by the powerful defense industry in Orange County and other major emitters that have begun to fear the far-reaching effects of a carbon-constrained economy. There have also been complaints from low-income and minority communities worried about the kind of dirty pollution "hot spots" created by the sulfur-dioxide trading program. "Cap and trade is an old idea that's never worked," said Angela Johnson Meszaros of the California Environmental Rights Alliance. "We certainly support the notion that there should be a price on carbon ... but cap and trade is not the answer." All of which has some people revisiting the notion of taxing carbon directly rather than creating a market. "There is a kind of groundswell back to at least reconsidering a carbon tax," said Dan Kammen, an energy professor at University of California, Berkeley. "The pressure is intense, but it was going to be intense no matter what." How high does the price have to go? The Times editorial called carbon taxes a "simpler, harder to manipulate and less economically damaging way" to regulate GHGs, but the paper also appeared to admit cap and trade is inevitable given the political aversion to new taxes. Kammen agreed that cap and trade is still the most likely system to emerge from the state's scoping plan and said concerned parties are pushing for the right market structure. Kammen, the Times and others agree that the crucial factor is development of a regional market at the outset that steps beyond a one-party experiment. If other states in the West do not go along, then California is essentially shifting the problematic emissions elsewhere because the state imports about a quarter of its power from other states. This makes participation of the Western Climate Initiative -- a regional collaboration involving six Western states and two Canadian provinces -- essential, these sources said. "The WCI has to go along," Kammen said. Emilie Mazzacurati, a senior analyst at Point Carbon, added this in an e-mail exchange: "It is now quite likely that California will be part of a regional market in the West. While this makes the political process a little less smooth, it also opens the way for a larger market, with more players, which should help avoid both volatility and market power, two of the main issues that arose under the electricity crisis." Just as important are penalties for noncompliance and design decisions. Kammen supports stiff enforcement penalties and possibly additional carbon fees on top of cap and trade for some sectors to account for the real cost of carbon. Mazzacurati said "what matters is the design." "The electricity crisis came not from the deregulation, but from how it was deregulated," he said. "The same can be said of carbon markets ... one can hope they have learned from their past errors." Also important is the price threshold. At $25 per ton of carbon, that equates to a surcharge of about 25 cents per gallon of gasoline, according to Kammen. He argued that the price has to be set higher, by the market or otherwise, to get companies and consumers to change their behavior and lower emissions. "We already pay too little for energy," he said. "We don't really know how high it has to go to get [emitters] to respond." Boxer sticks by market approach In Washington, California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) last week found herself having to answer questions about the Times' editorial. The chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said she respects the paper but disagrees. "They're not here," Boxer told reporters. "They're not in the Senate. They don't know what can or can't pass." Boxer added that the political reality is such that cap and trade is the best available option. She takes the "warnings" seriously about market design but still supports a market approach for her home state and in Congress. We have shown this can work for acid rain," Boxer said. "This is a concept we created here. And we believe this will work. Could a carbon tax work better? I can't tell you the answer to that. But I can tell you it's not going to happen here." Across the Hill, House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) recently issued a white paper in which he cautioned that state programs threaten to create a patchwork system for regulating emissions. This, he said, could cost some regions jobs, especially in states dependent on auto manufacturing. He also appeared to signal a preference for an economy-wide federal law that would do away with some state programs (E&E Daily, Feb. 25). Market players weigh in Those with a financial stake in the market, meanwhile, insist a tax would send the wrong message to the international community. And some see the need for a hybrid structure that combines direct regulation with a market approach. "It's a strange choice to go for taxes when there is a better alternative available," said Henry Derwent, the president and CEO of the International Emissions Trading Association. "Far better for California to join in making the [WCI] a trading scheme to set the North American pace." Abyd Karmali, a managing director at Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., said the environmental justice advocates are misinformed. "Unlike SO2 and NOx, CO2 does not create pollution hotspots, so the argument that it is a problem if local utilities in California achieve some of their reductions elsewhere is a fallacy," he said. And Josh Margolis, co-CEO of CantorCO2e, wants the policy architects at the state's Air Resources Board to take heed of these crisscrossing issues and advance a twofold approach. "The effects of global warming ... cannot withstand the glacial pace of a command-and-control-only program," Josh Margolis said. "We need a hybrid approach that uses all the tools that we can muster [combining] command-and-control and cap and trade." Margolis cited the ozone standards pursued under the Clean Air Act and said the approach has not worked. More than three decades after the attainment deadline of May 15, 1975, he said, ozone is still a problem. "Today, some 33 years after the original deadline, at least 40 areas still fail to attain the ozone standards," he said. "If not cap and trade, then what?" California Environmental Rights Alliance's Johnson Meszaros dismisses these arguments and insists a carbon fee levied on emitters would cut more GHGs. She differentiates a fee from a tax, as a fee-based system would shuttle revenues to climate change innovations, as opposed to sending tax proceeds to the state's general treasury. She adds that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R), Vice President Al Gore (D) and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power support this approach. If cap and trade sticks, Johnson Meszaros argues, it is good for the players but not for consumers. "I think the banks will make more money, but I don't think it will reduce emissions," she said. RETURN TO TOP Study Warns of Chemicals in Baby Items The following is an article on the Chicago Tribune Website. It appeared on February 4, 2008. By Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer CHICAGO - Baby shampoos, lotions and powders may expose infants to chemicals that have been linked with possible reproductive problems, a small study suggests. The chemicals, called phthalates, are found in many ordinary products including cosmetics, toys, vinyl flooring and medical supplies. They are used to stabilize fragrances and make plastics flexible. In the study, they were found in elevated levels in the urine of babies who'd been recently shampooed, powdered or lotioned with baby products. Phthalates (pronounced thowl-ates) are under attack by some environmental advocacy groups, but experts are uncertain what dangers, if any, they might pose. The federal government doesn't limit their use, although California and some countries have restricted their use. Animal studies have suggested that phthalates can cause reproductive birth defects and some activists believe they may cause reproductive problems in boys and early puberty in girls. Rigorous scientific evidence in human studies is lacking. The current study offers no direct evidence that products the infants used contained phthalates, and no evidence that the chemicals in the babies' urine caused any harm. Still, the results worried environmental groups that support restrictions on these chemicals. "There is an obvious need for laws that force the beauty industry to clean up its act," said Stacy Malkan of Health Care Without Harm. The study's lead author, Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, a University of Washington pediatrician, said, "The bottom line is that these chemicals likely do exist in products that we're commonly using on our children and they potentially could cause health effects." Babies don't usually need special lotions and powders, and water alone or shampoo in very small amounts is generally enough to clean infant hair, Sathyanarayana said. Concerned parents can seek products labeled "phthalate-free," or check labels for common phthalates, including DEP and DEHP. But the chemicals often don't appear on product labels. That's because retail products aren't required to list individual ingredients of fragrances, which are a common phthalate source. The Food and Drug Administration "has no compelling evidence that phthalates pose a safety risk when used in cosmetics," spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said. "Should new data emerge, we will inform the public as well as the industry." The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the health effects in humans are uncertain. "Although several studies in people have explored possible associations with developmental and reproductive outcomes (semen quality, genital development in boys, shortened pregnancy, and premature breast development in young girls), more research is needed," a 2005 CDC report said. The new study, which appears in February's issue of the journal Pediatrics, involved 163 babies. Most were white, ages 2 to 28 months and living in California, Minnesota and Missouri. The researchers measured levels of several phthalates in urine from diapers. They also asked the mothers about use in the previous 24 hours of baby products including lotions, powders, diaper creams and baby wipes. All urine samples had detectable levels of at least one phthalate, and most had levels of several more. The highest levels were linked with shampoos, lotions and powders, and were most prevalent in babies younger than 8 months. John Bailey, chief scientist at the Personal Care Products Council, questioned the methods and said the phthalates could have come from diapers, lab materials or other sources. "Unfortunately, the researchers of this study did not test baby care products for the presence of phthalates or control for other possible routes of exposure," Bailey said. RETURN TO TOP Superfund Looks to Its Future The following is an article on the Environmental Factor Website. It appeared on January 2008. By Eddy Ball After two days of sharing the excitement of their science and recounting the accomplishments of the Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP)(http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/sbrp/index.cfm, on December 5 attendees at the twenty-year anniversary celebration (see Spotlight story) were confronted with the mass of unfinished business still to address and the challenges the program is sure to face in the future. Titled "Colloquium: Visions for the Future," the session included four presentations and a panel discussion. The session was chaired by SBRP Acting Director Claudia Thompson and moderated by University of Arizona pharmacologist Jay Gandolfi, Ph.D., and Texas A & M University geneticist Richard Finnell, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Professor Lynn Goldman, M.D., opened the colloquium with a grim assessment of the globalization of hazardous wastes in a presentation sparked by the question "What Are the Lessons for Public Health?" Beginning what she described as "one of the most challenging talks I've given in a while," Goldman enumerated a host of new challenges brought about by an increasing reliance on developing countries for processing the world's wastes. Goldman challenged the United States to adopt a regulatory system similar to the European Union's, which requires the same kind of authorization for chemicals that is required for pesticides. She also called for dramatic expansion of the "standard suite of [hazardous chemical] candidates" that are studied and a stronger commitment to the public's right to know. "If it's in our bodies," she argued, "I think we need to understand it." NIEHS grantee Randy Jirtle, Ph.D., a professor of radiation oncology at Duke University, offered an introduction to "Epigenetics: The New Genetics of Toxicology" to support his contention that the future of toxicology rests with an epigenetic approach utilizing high-throughput screening of human cell lines. Offering an overview of the differences in imprinting and epigenetic responses between species, Jirtle urged his audience to bear in mind that "a mouse is not a human." Quoting Alexander Pope's "Essay on Man," Jirtle argued that in toxicology, as in philosophy, "'The proper study of mankind is man.'" However, Jirtle's human-centric approach to toxicology did not go unchallenged during the question-and-answer session, as a more traditional toxicologist in the audience echoed some of the issues that persist in relation to alternative testing and countered that "a cell is not an organism" either. In a presentation titled "Systems Biology Approach to Optimizing Bioremediation," University of Massachusetts at Amherst microbiologist Derek Lovley, Ph.D., reported on his group's progress with in situ groundwater bioremediation using several species of the anaerobic bacteria Geobacter (http://www.geobacter.org/) Exit NIEHS. Lovley's lab has demonstrated that Geobacter species can break down contaminants such as acetate and uranium VI in groundwater and that the organisms show promise for use in the anaerobic degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - as well as in the conversion of waste matter to electricity. Lovley's systems approach utilizes sequence genomics, gene expression studies, proteomics and in silico modeling to predict optimal methods for use at Department of Energy, Department of Interior and Department of Defense hazardous waste sites. Coupled with hydrological and geophysical models, the approach promises to advance bioremediation and maximize resources available for cleaning hazardous waste sites. The final presentation, by Duke University Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Mark Wiesner, Ph.D., focused on "Research Needs in Evaluating Nanomaterial Risks: The Fullerene Example." As his experiments with the nano carbon C60 demonstrate, the more research that is performed with nanomaterials, the more questions arise about how these microscopic particles interact with the human organism. There are so many factors that influence nanomaterial behavior, he argued, that "the idea of putting all things that are small in the same box doesn't make any sense." Established risk parameters, he also noted, do not seem to work for nanoparticles. Until the new physics of nanoparticles is better understood, scientists will not understand how much of a threat, if any, they actually pose to public health. RETURN TO TOP State to curb toxic runoff The following is an article on the Los Angeles Times Website. It appeared on January 19, 2008. By Dan Weikel Millions of gallons of polluted runoff from state highways in Los Angeles and Ventura counties will be prevented from contaminating local waters and beaches every year under a court agreement reached Friday between Caltrans and environmentalists. Caltrans vowed to reduce storm water pollution by 20% below 1994 levels along more than 1,000 miles of state highway in the region, according to the agreement in federal court with the Natural Resources Defense Council and Santa Monica BayKeeper. Storm water that drains off highways can be a toxic brew of trash, oil, rubber, brake dust and microscopic bits of metal. Solvents, fertilizers and pesticides, along with human and animal waste, are often swept into the mix. Most of the plans to install pollution controls must be completed by 2011, and environmental groups expect the reductions to be achieved by 2015. The two sides have battled in court since 1993. "This represents a major step forward in the control of storm water runoff -- the largest source of water pollution in the state," said David S. Beckman, a defense council attorney. In an average year, more than 6 million gallons of oil run into California's waters from roads and sidewalks, the state Environmental Protection Agency reports. Tests of some Caltrans drains in the Los Angeles area have revealed contamination so foul it qualifies as hazardous waste. Toxic storm water runoff from roads and highways can harm fish, sea urchins, shrimp, birds and microorganisms, research shows. Approved by U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie, the storm water agreement replaces an April 2004 court settlement in which Caltrans promised to install filtering systems where appropriate when repairing, improving and building highways. For existing freeways, Caltrans had agreed in 2004 to treat runoff wherever feasible for improvement projects involving more than three acres, such as widenings and interchanges. Storm water controls vary from simple devices, such as drain filters and screens, to complex equipment that removes sediment and debris. Detention basins, sand traps, and strips of vegetation are often used to filter storm water before it reaches a storm drain or waterway. Beckman said it appeared to NRDC and BayKeeper about a year ago that Caltrans was having problems complying with the 2004 court settlement, which was reached after more than a decade in court. Negotiations began, Beckman said, to avoid pursuing a contempt citation against Caltrans. Unlike the earlier settlement, the new agreement requires a set reduction in runoff and avoids the previous piecemeal approach by allowing Caltrans to consider entire highway corridors when formulating a storm water strategy. "Not setting goals has been standard operating procedure when regulating storm water discharges in the state. Now we are setting an end goal," Beckman said. "Hopefully, this new approach will provide a model for local governments, transportation agencies and industries." Caltrans attorneys were either unavailable Friday or declined comment. But in a statement, Douglas R. Failing, Caltrans district director for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, said the settlement meshes with the agency's goals. "It is something we have been trying to achieve all along," Failing said. "What is important is that a methodology has been identified that we feel will work in this urban area of Los Angeles." Under the agreement, Caltrans will examine 1,000 miles of freeway in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and develop plans by 2011 for reducing storm water pollution. Caltrans also will supplement its existing efforts to reduce contaminated runoff with innovative practices that have performed well in recent studies. The new methods include porous pavement that can absorb pollutants before storm water enters watersheds. In the past, Caltrans has been concerned about the cost of storm water controls, both locally and statewide. The agency estimated a few years ago that equipping highways in Los Angeles County with filtering devices could approach $5 billion -- a figure that environmentalists have disputed. Beckman said the approach outlined in the new agreement should hold down costs. Caltrans, he added, has realized that their original cost estimates were too high and that the agency can treat runoff for a fraction of the total cost of a highway project. RETURN TO TOP Hearing starts on Sunland Park dump permit The following is an article on the Las Cruces Sun-News Website. It appeared on December 6, 2007. By Diana M. Alba SUNLAND PARK - A formal hearing on a contentious permit renewal for a landfill within the city began Wednesday with familiar arguments. Several opponents of the permit said the landfill's location in the low-income, mostly Hispanic city is an example of environmental injustice. Some said it's a health risk to the community. But an expert with Waste Connections Inc., which owns the 480-acre site, gave testimony that the landfill was used as a dumping spot for decades before it was privately owned, a sign it wasn't located in the area because of demographics. In addition, they said measures the company takes to protect against groundwater contamination exceed those called for by the state and federal government. The hearing - held at San Martin De Porres Church, 1885 McNutt Road - is expected to last at least 10 days, but a final ruling on the permit renewal won't come until April. It's being hosted by the New Mexico Environment Department. Hearing officer Rudy Apodaca, a retired New Mexico Court of Appeals Judge, heard opening statements from groups who will testify during the hearing. Officials with the city of Sunland Park, as well as a separate group of residents, spoke against the permit renewal. Sunland Park resident Sabino Segura said he thinks officials made a mistake granting an initial permit for the landfill years ago. He said the facility is a problem because the community is growing. "There are places where you could move the landfill, and everybody could come to an agreement with peace," he said during a public input session. "I'm saying that we ... don't have the resources in sufficient quantity to move someplace else." Landfill consultant Mark Turnbough testified that the landfill began as a spot the community used for dumping trash and was eventually permitted as one of 14 landfills allowed on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land in Doña Ana County. Turnbough was serving as a consultant to the BLM when it decided to shut down all but one of the landfills in 1986. The landfill that remained was in Sunland Park. "The reason we didn't close that one was because it was acquired by a private operator," he said. Waste Connections Inc. purchased the landfill from the initial operator. Turnbough said before the site was under private ownership, it had little oversight, which led to trash being scattered over a broad area. He said the dump often caught fire spontaneously and was a breeding ground for rats. He said those problems don't exist today. "This is the best landfill in North America," he said. "This facility so dramatically exceeds minimum standards. Unless you work in this industry, it's hard to get a sense of how sophisticated this facility is." Richard Moore, executive director for the Albuquerque-based Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, said he has a problem with the landfill being located in the low-income, working-class community. "I think the crucial point is Gov. (Bill) Richardson signed an order on environmental justice," said Moore, who was at the hearing. "It's time to move things off of paper and into practice." Waste Connections spokeswoman Suzanne Michaels responded to Moore's argument during a break in the hearing. "I think this is a community struggling hard to empower itself," she said. "I'm sad they're doing that by attacking a very clean, technically proficient landfill, but that is what is happening." Michaels said the landfill is situated in an ideal spot because of the site's geological make-up, and the company doesn't want to re-locate it. She said she's hopeful Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry will rule in favor of the permit. Sunland Park City Attorney Enrique Palomares said the city plans to present evidence that the landfill's presence will hurt the area's economic growth and stifle development and tourism. "The west side of El Paso is landlocked," he said. "There is nowhere else to grow except across the state line in New Mexico. ... No one wants to take an upscale residential or commercial development next to a landfill." Palomares said the city council passed a resolution opposing the landfill permit. Apodaca said the hearing will take place over the course of 10 days, including two Saturdays. Three sessions, including an evening session designated mostly for public comment, will be held each day. At the end of the hearing, he will make a recommendation to Curry, who has the final decision. An authorization of the permit would allow Waste Connections to continue operating in one of four areas, called units, at the site and expand operations into another unit, according to the environment department. RETURN TO TOP Environmental justice group to fight pollution in Lents area The following is an article on the The Gresham Outlook Website. It appeared on Nov 23, 2007. By Merry Mackinnon Several years ago, a community coalition assessing environmental health discovered that asthma rates were twice as high in Inner North/Northeast Portland for residents who lived by Interstate 5. Now, organizers involved in that initial assessment have identified Lents in Outer Southeast Portland as a neighborhood where greater highway related air pollution poses health hazards to residents. "Lents has housing and schools next to I-205," said Kevin Odell, founder and executive director of Organizing People Activating-Leaders (OPAL). "And Lents is about to go through a sea change of development that's already happening with the I-205 light-rail construction." A community organization working for Environmental Justice in the Portland metropolitan area, according to its Web site (www.opalpdx.org), OPAL "supports ignored communities that fight against the oppression of pollution and social injustice." Last October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $50,000 each in grants to 20 community based organizations nationwide seeking to improve environments in low-income communities, and OPAL was the only Oregon non-profit to receive a grant. Titled the Lents Community Project, OPAL's proposal satisfied EPA's three environmental justice priorities: reducing asthma attacks, reducing exposure to air toxics and revitalizing contaminated sites. "In Lents, you'll see asthma rates that are higher," said OPAL Board Member Ben Duncan. "Generally, asthma rates are higher where there's a nearby highway and amongst low-income households and people of color." Odell lives in Lents, Board President Jon Oster in Woodstock and Duncan in Brentwood Darlington, "So this is an extension of our community, too," said Duncan, a Multnomah County environmental community health worker. OPAL organizers are looking for office space in Lents and will soon hire a staff person. The first year's effort will be outreach oriented – to build relationships with schools, churches, businesses and renters. "We want community involvement, especially with people who have been traditionally ignored, for example, immigrants," Odell said. Odell contends that the Portland Development Commission hasn't done a good job of reaching out to all of the Lents community about decisions made for the neighborhood, an Urban Renewal Area, these past eight years. "Portland's only sustainable for a certain portion of the population," Odell said. After recruiting community members, OPAL's second year will involve hands-on education and training. Some ideas Odell has include organizing residents who live next to the highway to take air samples. In bucket brigades, plastic containers are used as simple air sampling devices to test for toxic gases in the air. In turn, the brigades' data could lead to identifying areas for plantings trees to aid in filtering air pollutants. Above all, Odell said, "We want the community to drive the projects." OPAL's mission of empowering the community to find local solutions to neighborhood environmental health hazards also includes addressing contaminated sites. "What's interesting about Lents is the land near the freeway off Foster Road. It has mixed industrial, a lot of car yards and a recycling facility," Odell said. "We want to explore the health implications." Lents neighborhood The Lents neighborhood in Outer Southeast Portland is bordered by Southeast Powell Boulevard, the Clackamas County line, Southeast 82nd Avenue and Southeast 111th and 112th avenues. One of Portland's oldest neighborhoods, Lents covers a large area and is one of Portland's most diverse neighborhoods, home to many Asian, Russian, Eastern European and Latino immigrants. Interstate 205 slices north and south through the neighborhood roughly between Southeast 94th and Southeast 96th avenues. Kelly Elementary School, at 9030 S.E. Cooper, and Marshall High School, at 3905 S.E. 91st Ave., are both close to I-205. RETURN TO TOP Environmental justice group to fight pollution in Lents area The following is an article on the The Gresham Outlook Website. It appeared on Nov 23, 2007. By Merry Mackinnon Several years ago, a community coalition assessing environmental health discovered that asthma rates were twice as high in Inner North/Northeast Portland for residents who lived by Interstate 5. Now, organizers involved in that initial assessment have identified Lents in Outer Southeast Portland as a neighborhood where greater highway related air pollution poses health hazards to residents. "Lents has housing and schools next to I-205," said Kevin Odell, founder and executive director of Organizing People Activating-Leaders (OPAL). "And Lents is about to go through a sea change of development that's already happening with the I-205 light-rail construction." A community organization working for Environmental Justice in the Portland metropolitan area, according to its Web site (www.opalpdx.org), OPAL "supports ignored communities that fight against the oppression of pollution and social injustice." Last October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded $50,000 each in grants to 20 community based organizations nationwide seeking to improve environments in low-income communities, and OPAL was the only Oregon non-profit to receive a grant. Titled the Lents Community Project, OPAL's proposal satisfied EPA's three environmental justice priorities: reducing asthma attacks, reducing exposure to air toxics and revitalizing contaminated sites. "In Lents, you'll see asthma rates that are higher," said OPAL Board Member Ben Duncan. "Generally, asthma rates are higher where there's a nearby highway and amongst low-income households and people of color." Odell lives in Lents, Board President Jon Oster in Woodstock and Duncan in Brentwood Darlington, "So this is an extension of our community, too," said Duncan, a Multnomah County environmental community health worker. OPAL organizers are looking for office space in Lents and will soon hire a staff person. The first year's effort will be outreach oriented – to build relationships with schools, churches, businesses and renters. "We want community involvement, especially with people who have been traditionally ignored, for example, immigrants," Odell said. Odell contends that the Portland Development Commission hasn't done a good job of reaching out to all of the Lents community about decisions made for the neighborhood, an Urban Renewal Area, these past eight years. "Portland's only sustainable for a certain portion of the population," Odell said. After recruiting community members, OPAL's second year will involve hands-on education and training. Some ideas Odell has include organizing residents who live next to the highway to take air samples. In bucket brigades, plastic containers are used as simple air sampling devices to test for toxic gases in the air. In turn, the brigades' data could lead to identifying areas for plantings trees to aid in filtering air pollutants. Above all, Odell said, "We want the community to drive the projects." OPAL's mission of empowering the community to find local solutions to neighborhood environmental health hazards also includes addressing contaminated sites. "What's interesting about Lents is the land near the freeway off Foster Road. It has mixed industrial, a lot of car yards and a recycling facility," Odell said. "We want to explore the health implications." Lents neighborhood The Lents neighborhood in Outer Southeast Portland is bordered by Southeast Powell Boulevard, the Clackamas County line, Southeast 82nd Avenue and Southeast 111th and 112th avenues. One of Portland's oldest neighborhoods, Lents covers a large area and is one of Portland's most diverse neighborhoods, home to many Asian, Russian, Eastern European and Latino immigrants. Interstate 205 slices north and south through the neighborhood roughly between Southeast 94th and Southeast 96th avenues. Kelly Elementary School, at 9030 S.E. Cooper, and Marshall High School, at 3905 S.E. 91st Ave., are both close to I-205. RETURN TO TOP EPA Awards Environmental Justice Small Grants to Communities The following is an article on the U.S. EPA Newsroom Website. It appeared on October 3, 2007. By Roxanne Smith (Washington, D.C. - Oct. 3, 2007) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $1 million in grants across the country for improving the environment in low-income communities. Twenty community-based organizations will receive $50,000 grants each for projects aimed at addressing environmental and public health issues as exposure to toxins, farm worker pesticide protection, fish consumption, indoor air quality, drinking water contamination, and pollution from shipping ports. "From Anchorage, Alaska to Boston, Massachusetts, engaged communities across the country are seizing the opportunity to clean up their own backyard," said Granta Nakayama, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "These grants provide necessary resources for local communities to take an active role in creating solutions to our nation's environmental problems." Financial assistance under the environmental justice small grants program is available to all non-profit organizations designated by the IRS or recognized by the state, territory, commonwealth or tribe in which it is located. The purpose of the funding is to assist affected communities so that they can develop proactive, strategic, and visionary approaches to address their environmental justice issues and to achieve community health and sustainability. Since 1994, EPA has provided more than $31 million in funding to more than 1,100 community-based organizations. The following organizations received grants today: 1. The Way Home Inc. (Manchester, N.H.) 2. Committee for Boston Public Housing Inc. (Boston, Mass.) 3. Brooklyn Center for the Environment Inc. (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 4. West Harlem Environmental Action Inc. (New York, N.Y.) 5. Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association (Philadelphia, Penn.) 6. Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project (Roanoke, Va.) 7. Farmworker Association of Florida Inc. (Apopka, Fla.) 8. Hyde & Aragon Park Improvement Committee Inc. (Richmond, Ga.) 9. Healthy Schools Campaign (Chicago, Ill.) 10. Madison Environmental Justice Organization Inc. (Madison, Wis.) 11. Border Fair Housing and Economic Justice Center (Doña Ana County, N.M.) 12. Doña Ana County Colonias Development Council (Las Cruces, N.M.) 13. Black Health Care Coalition Inc. (Kansas City, Mo.) 14. Stoddard County Development Foundation (Bloomfield, Mo.) 15. Plateau Restoration Inc. (Moab, Utah) 16. The Endocrine Disruption Exchange Inc. (Paonia, Colo.) 17. Environmental Health Coalition (San Diego, Calif.) 18. Asian Pacific Environmental Network (Alameda, Calif.) 19. Alaska Community Action for Toxics (Anchorage, Alaska) 20. Organizing People, Activating Leaders (Portland, Ore.) More information on the environmental justice grants: epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/grants/ej-smgrants.html Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email: http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/email_signups.htm RETURN TO TOP Not in Whose Backyard? The following is an article on the The New York Times Magazine Website. It appeared on September 2, 2007. By Amanda Griscom Little Consider this curiosity of United States environmental policy: Countless federal laws have been written to preserve far-flung wilderness that Americans rarely visit (the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for instance) and endangered species that we scarcely see (from longhorn fairy shrimp to piping plovers). Yet no legislation has been tailored to protect a landscape that is perhaps the most vulnerable: the low-income communities that shelter most of America's polluting facilities. Later this month, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will introduce the Environmental Justice Renewal Act, which would direct additional federal funds to assisting environmentally beleaguered communities. The bill complements another proposal Clinton helped sponsor, which would require the Environmental Protection Agency to monitor and mitigate the health impacts of power plants, waste-transfer stations, truck fleets, refineries and other industrial infrastructure, which tend to be overwhelmingly concentrated in America's poorest neighborhoods. Both bills are expected to meet opposition in Congress. Nevertheless, their introduction suggests a coming of age for the environmental-justice movement. The movement — whose proponents hold that minority and low-income populations should not be subjected to more environmental burdens than others — has been growing at the grass-roots level for decades. Yet disproportionately high pollution levels continue to plague poor communities, and race often correlates with which populations are hit the hardest: African-Americans, for instance, are 79 percent more likely than whites to live in areas where air-pollution levels pose health risks, according to a 2005 Associated Press analysis of E.P.A. data. Lead-poisoning rates among Hispanic and black children are roughly double those among white children. Environmental-justice advocates take pains to assert that they are neither antidevelopment nor anti-industry. "We can't fight this battle at the expense of jobs," says Majora Carter, a MacArthur fellow from the South Bronx, where children's asthma rates are several times the national average. "We need to work; we also need to breathe — our goal is to find a way of doing both." Carter and the organization she founded, Sustainable South Bronx, have fought dozens of proposals for new or expanded industrial sites, while simultaneously exhorting green businesses — like a high-tech recycling plant — to bring skilled jobs to the community. (The latter goal got a boost this summer when the House and Senate passed bills to put about $100 million toward training workers for jobs in green energy.) But are environmental-justice goals always compatible with economic growth? There is a debate, says Daniel Doctoroff, New York City's deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding: "On the one hand, environmental issues, versus having more jobs." Real estate is scarce. No matter how clean and efficient industrial sites are, he says, "there will always be things that nobody wants, and we have to find places to put them." And taxpayers will inevitably question why they should foot the bill for a sewage-treatment plant on the Upper East Side when it could be placed in a far less expensive neighborhood. Some critics of the environmental-justice movement go further. It is not surprising, they say, that land near toxic sites is inexpensive and that the people who live there are poor. "It's neither possible nor desirable in a free society to have all groups living equally close to everything — be it libraries or landfills," argues Michael Steinberg, a Washington lawyer with clients in the chemical industry. "Even the old Soviet Politburo would have a hard time pulling that one off." The mere fact of disparate impact, he says, is not evidence of intentional discrimination in the placement of polluting facilities — it's just economics. On the other side of the spectrum, some environmental-justice advocates say Clinton's proposals don't go far enough. Norris McDonald, president of the African American Environmentalist Association, calls the bills "a Band-Aid, nothing more." He points out that they don't give citizens the legal power to sue the industries polluting their backyards. McDonald sees Clinton's recent efforts as a political move to secure the black vote. Two years ago, Clinton and Barack Obama collaborated on a community-health bill. Now environmental-justice activists are waiting to see if Obama, who has been cautious on race-related issues, will respond to Clinton's latest proposals with a countermeasure: "Okay, Barack," McDonald taunts, "you gonna dance or let Hillary have the floor?" RETURN TO TOP EPA smog proposal sparks debate over environmental justice The following is an article on the Greenwire Website. It appeared on September 6, 2007. By Daniel Cusick ATLANTA — A rift between black mayors and public health experts over long-held notions about the racial dimension of environmental problems took center stage yesterday at a hearing here on a U.S. EPA proposal for tightening air pollution standards for ground-level ozone. Experts on public health in minority communities argued at the Atlanta Federal Center that poor air quality takes a disproportionate toll on blacks, and urged EPA to tighten the standard. But the National Conference of Black Mayors — representing more than 600 officials — strongly endorsed continuation of the current standard, set in 1997, which limits ozone concentrations to 80 parts per billion over an 8-hour period. "Cleaner air is important to our communities, but it is not the only thing that affects the health of our people," said Vanessa Williams, the conference's executive director. "The health and welfare of our communities is also dependent on having good jobs, economic growth and the quality of life that goes with it." In proposing a tighter ozone standard last June, EPA said the current health standard is not adequate to protect public health. While the agency has proposed tightening the ozone health standard to between 70 and 75 parts per billion over an 8-hour period, advocacy groups and many medical experts have called for an even tighter standard, to as low as 60 parts per billion. Williams added that a tightening of the ozone standard would cause many cities and counties in the Deep South to violate federal mandates for reducing smog, making it more difficult to attract new industry and allow established businesses to expand. The "stigma of being designated nonattainment," she said, would have "a disparate impact on communities undertaking economic revitalization efforts and rebuilding, like those in the Gulf Coast [region] after [Hurricane] Katrina." 'Abominable' But scholars from Clark Atlanta University, Dillard University and the Morehouse School of Medicine disagreed. Beverly Wright, director of Dillard's Deep South Center for Environmental Justice in New Orleans, called the National Conference of Black Mayor's view "abominable" and accused the organization of kowtowing to industrial interests that would face tougher pollution control requirements under a new ozone health standard. "The National Conference of Black Mayors evidently is not speaking for the people they represent," Dillard said. "The only stigma we're concerned about is that African-Americans are at a higher risk for getting sick and even dying from ozone pollution." Clark Atlanta sociologist Robert Bullard, who has done extensive surveys on pollution's impact on minority communities, said the group of mayors' position did not reflect broad public opinion in the black community, where asthma and other pollution-related respiratory diseases are a chronic problem, resulting annually in thousands of deaths, hospitalizations and lost work days among minorities. "This hearing is about public health. It's about life and death and saving lives," Bullard told the EPA panel assembled here. "It is not about compromise, economic tradeoffs, or a balancing act that subjects millions of Americans to unnecessary health threats — in this case ground-level ozone. "When we're talking about our right to breathe, we're talking about a basic human right," Bullard added. Bullard cited statistics showing 36 percent higher asthma prevalence rates among blacks over whites, and he said emergency room visits and hospitalizations for respiratory distress are three times higher for black than whites. Geography is also a key factor, he said, noting that more than 60 percent of U.S. minority children live in areas exceeding the current ozone health standard, compared to 51 percent of white children. Health worries Other experts noted that ozone, even at lower concentrations, can cause health damage. Richard Bright, associate director of the Morehouse School of Medicine's Prevention Research Center, said his own studies of pollution concentrations along metro Atlanta's traffic-choked highways suggest ozone could be having a significant health effect on people who live near such corridors. He called on EPA scientists to look carefully at ozone's effects on both plant and animal systems, including the mechanism by which ozone damages human lung tissue. "Ozone at any concentration is harmful," Bright said, "and you cannot easily reverse the impacts of ozone on the body." Flora Tommy, a longtime resident and community leader in southwest Atlanta, discounted much of the debate over the scientific research undergirding EPA's proposal to tighten the health standard. She cited years of anecdotal evidence suggesting that urban air pollution is taking a toll on her own health and that of her neighbors. "We need to stop with this argument that everything is OK," Tommy said. "The human data show the high cost that people are suffering. "As a citizen, I demand the right to clean air," she added. "That is quality of life for us." RETURN TO TOP EPA Awards Environmental Justice Small Grants to Communities The following is an article on the U.S. EPA Newsroom Website. It appeared on October 3, 2007. By Roxanne Smith (Washington, D.C. - Oct. 3, 2007) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $1 million in grants across the country for improving the environment in low-income communities. Twenty community-based organizations will receive $50,000 grants each for projects aimed at addressing environmental and public health issues as exposure to toxins, farm worker pesticide protection, fish consumption, indoor air quality, drinking water contamination, and pollution from shipping ports. "From Anchorage, Alaska to Boston, Massachusetts, engaged communities across the country are seizing the opportunity to clean up their own backyard," said Granta Nakayama, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "These grants provide necessary resources for local communities to take an active role in creating solutions to our nation's environmental problems." Financial assistance under the environmental justice small grants program is available to all non-profit organizations designated by the IRS or recognized by the state, territory, commonwealth or tribe in which it is located. The purpose of the funding is to assist affected communities so that they can develop proactive, strategic, and visionary approaches to address their environmental justice issues and to achieve community health and sustainability. Since 1994, EPA has provided more than $31 million in funding to more than 1,100 community-based organizations. The following organizations received grants today: 1. The Way Home Inc. (Manchester, N.H.) 2. Committee for Boston Public Housing Inc. (Boston, Mass.) 3. Brooklyn Center for the Environment Inc. (Brooklyn, N.Y.) 4. West Harlem Environmental Action Inc. (New York, N.Y.) 5. Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association (Philadelphia, Penn.) 6. Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project (Roanoke, Va.) 7. Farmworker Association of Florida Inc. (Apopka, Fla.) 8. Hyde & Aragon Park Improvement Committee Inc. (Richmond, Ga.) 9. Healthy Schools Campaign (Chicago, Ill.) 10. Madison Environmental Justice Organization Inc. (Madison, Wis.) 11. Border Fair Housing and Economic Justice Center (Doña Ana County, N.M.) 12. Doña Ana County Colonias Development Council (Las Cruces, N.M.) 13. Black Health Care Coalition Inc. (Kansas City, Mo.) 14. Stoddard County Development Foundation (Bloomfield, Mo.) 15. Plateau Restoration Inc. (Moab, Utah) 16. The Endocrine Disruption Exchange Inc. (Paonia, Colo.) 17. Environmental Health Coalition (San Diego, Calif.) 18. Asian Pacific Environmental Network (Alameda, Calif.) 19. Alaska Community Action for Toxics (Anchorage, Alaska) 20. Organizing People, Activating Leaders (Portland, Ore.) More information on the environmental justice grants: epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/grants/ej-smgrants.html Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email: http://www.epa.gov/newsroom/email_signups.htm RETURN TO TOP Two Years After Hurricane Katrina: A Tale of Two Louisianas The following is an article on the Environment News Service (ENS) Website. It appeared on August 29, 2007. NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, August 29, 2007 (ENS) - Two years ago today, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, costing at least 1,836 people their lives and causing at least $81.2 billion in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history and one of the deadliest. In Louisiana, the flood protection system in New Orleans failed in 53 different places as Hurricane Katrina passed east of the city as a category 3 storm. Nearly every levee in metro New Orleans broke open, flooding 80 percent of the city and many areas of neighboring parishes for weeks. The hurricane caused severe destruction across the entire Mississippi coast and into Alabama, as far as 100 miles from the storm's center. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday that accurate forecasts provided by NOAA meteorologists, including those at the National Hurricane Center, provided critical advance warning and saved countless lives, but countless others perished. Today, everyone from hurricane survivors to the governors of the affected states to President George W. Bush marked the anniversary in a diversity of ways. Many hurricane survivors held a Tribunal today at the PanAmerican Conference Center to try the U.S. government "for human rights violations and crimes against humanity" in the handling of citizens before, during and after the hurricane, and to call for justice and restitution. Tribunal organizer Kali Akuno, executive director of the People's Hurricane Relief Fund, says governments at all levels had at least four days advance notice that the levees could not contain mass flooding expected from a category three hurricane, but