More and more Americans are being warned that the local fish they eat could be contaminated with mercury and other toxins, according to a new report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett reports:
Transcript
More and more Americans are being warned that the local fish they eat could be
contaminated with mercury and other toxins, according to a new report by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett
reports:
The EPA report reflects the number of state-issued fish consumption advisories. And
according to those advisories, more than a third of the nation’s lakes, and close to a
quarter of its rivers contain fish that could be contaminated. In addition to that, 100
percent of the Great Lakes and its connecting waterways are covered by fish consumption
advisories.
EPA officials say the increased warnings reflect better monitoring by states, and not
increased emissions.
But environmental groups are using the data to attack the Bush administration’s proposed
new mercury emission rules as doing too little, too late. Ed Hopkins is with the Sierra
Club.
“I’m sure that everyone would like to see mercury emissions reduced sharply, so that fish
are safe to eat again.”
The EPA is expected to issue new rules for mercury that would require coal-fired power
plants to reduce their emissions by 70 percent by 2018. By contrast, the Clinton
administration called for a 90 percent reduction by 2008.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Sarah Hulett.
The city of Toronto is using the deep, chilly waters of a Great Lake as “green” air conditioning for some of its skyscrapers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Sommerstein explains how:
Transcript
The city of Toronto is using the deep, chilly waters of a Great Lake as
“green” air conditioning for some of its skyscrapers. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s David Sommerstein explains how:
Toronto and a provincial pension fund joined forces to form a company
called Enwave. It plunged three new intake pipes 3 miles out and 270 feet
deep into Lake Ontario. The pipes suck up near-icy water, which is used to
cool other water that’s pumped to air conditioning systems around the city.
The original water is re-used as drinking water.
Chris Asimakis is Chief Operating Officer of Enwave. He says the project
saves energy and reduces pollution.
“Literally you’re offsetting between 75 and 90 percent of the electricity that
you would have otherwise used and paid for to run a traditional type chiller.
And as a result, the air in Toronto is cleaner because we’re displacing
electricity generation from coal-fired plants, as an example.”
The project has the capacity to air condition 100 office buildings or 8,000
homes. Current clients include some of Toronto’s most prominent
landmarks, including the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m David Sommerstein.
Engineers say they have a new system that will extract more energy out of coal-fired power plants. And, they say, it has the added benefit of reducing pollution. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports:
Transcript
Engineers say they have a new system that will extract more energy out
of coal-fired power plants. And, they say, it has the added benefit of
reducing pollution. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush
reports:
Coal-fired power plants convert only one-third of the fuel’s energy
potential into electricity. The rest of that energy is heat that’s
lost out the smokestack. Engineers say they’ve now found a way to
capture that heat, transferring its energy into electricity.
Dan Stinger is president of Wow Energies. He says reducing heat in
smokestacks has an added benefit:
“Not only are we able to generate power from waste heat without
consuming fuel, which is an immediate reduction in pollution. But
we’re also able to knock the temperature out of an exhaust stack or
flue gas, and by doing that we condense out a lot of the pollutants
that normally would be exhausted into the environment up a huge exhaust
stack.”
Stinger says a cooler smokestack means fewer pollutants, such as
mercury and chemicals that cause acid rain and ozone, will be sent up
into the atmosphere. Instead, much of that pollution will be condensed
out and trapped. Stinger says the company plans to install its first
small-scale system by the middle of next year.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
A government report has found federal agencies collect a lot of data on water quality, but don’t always share the information in a way that can help the environment. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
A government report has found federal agencies collect a lot of data on water
quality, but don’t always share the information in a way that can help the
environment. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
The investigative arm of Congress, the General Accounting Office, looked at how
federal agencies and state governments gather water quality data. It found the
different agencies are either not coordinating their efforts or have difficulty
doing that. That’s because: 1) agencies collect the same data for different
reasons; 2) they use different methods; 3) each agency is unaware what the
others are collecting; and 4) coordinating the information is just not a big
priority for them. The problem is collecting water quality data is expensive,
so duplication is a waste of taxpayer money.
The General Accounting Office is recommending Congress designate a lead agency
to coordinate the water quality data and establish clear standards so everyone
is measuring the same things in the same way.
For the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium, this is Lester Graham.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a list of counties it says are out of compliance with new rules governing fine-particle pollution or soot. Dozens of the counties are in states in the Midwest, but many states are contesting the EPA’s list. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports:
Transcript
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a list of counties it says
are out of compliance with new rules governing fine-particle pollution
or soot. Dozens of the counties are in states surrounding the Great
Lakes, but many states are contesting the EPA’s list. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton reports.
State environmental officials and the U.S. EPA agree about one thing:
fine-particle pollution, or soot, causes thousands of premature deaths
a year. But state officials say many of the counties on the EPA’s list
are actually complying with the new rules. Indiana says it only has
six counties out of compliance instead of 19. Southeast Michigan says
only two of its seven counties on the list are out of compliance.
Chuck Hersey is with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments,
which monitors air pollution. He says the EPA’s list could be both
costly and ineffective.
“Once the EPA puts a boundary around a larger area, you’re obliged to
put controls in that whole area even if they’re not necessary.”
EPA officials say they included many counties that they believe are
creating pollution that travels into nearby counties. That can be
because they have coal-fired power plants or lots of commuter traffic.
States have until September to convince the EPA to reconsider the list
before it becomes final.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m
Tracy Samilton.
The Environmental Protection Agency will soon make a decision about how quickly power plants must reduce mercury emissions. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports:
Transcript
The Environmental Protection Agency will soon make a decision about how quickly power plants must reduce mercury emissions. The Great Lake Radio Consortium’s Celeste Headlee reports:
Mercury poisoning is related to numerous chronic ailments, including severe kidney damage. In January of this year, the Bush administration issued a proposal to lower mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by 54% within 14 years.
Kate Madigan with the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan says Bush’s proposal is not strong enough.
“The current mercury proposal would allow 6-7 times more mercury into the nation’s air and for at least a decade longer than the Clean Air Act would allow if faithfully implemented.”
The public comment period on the proposed regulation ended on June 28th. The EPA says more than 600,000 Americans sent in letters over the past six months. That’s nearly three times as many comments as the agency has received on any other issue. New mercury emissions regulations will be issued by December of this year.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Celeste Headlee.
New numbers released by the government show one state pollutes more than any other in the region when it comes to toxic chemicals released into the air. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports:
Transcript
New numbers released by the government show one state pollutes more than any
other in the region when it comes to toxic chemicals released into the air.
The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports:
In the eight states surrounding the Great Lakes, Indiana tops the list for
cancer-causing chemicals released into the air. The EPA’s Toxic Release
Inventory shows that 34 million pounds of these chemicals were released in 2002.
Indiana is responsible for 8.7 million pounds of that. That’s more than one
quarter of the entire region’s release of that kind of pollution.
Karen Teliha is with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
She says these chemicals are mostly released in the northern counties of the
state:
“Our number one carcinogenic chemical that’s released is Styrene. And it’s one
that we’ve been working on with the fiber reinforced plastics industry, and in
Indiana that’s mainly RV and boat manufacturers.”
Teliha concedes that the amount is high, but she says it’s been declining over
the last five years. Environmentalists say the state isn’t doing enough to curb
the release of these cancer-causing chemicals.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mark Brush.
An annual report by NAFTA’s environmental agency says electric power plants are the worst air polluters in North America. It also says much of the pollution comes from states and provinces in the region. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David Sommerstein has details:
Transcript
An annual report by NAFTA’s environmental agency says electric power plants are the
worst air polluters in North America. It also says much of the pollution comes from
Great Lakes states and provinces. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s David
Sommerstein has details:
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation studied industrial chemical releases in
North America in 2001, the latest data available. After Texas… Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Indiana, and the province of Ontario led in toxic emissions.
The study also found air pollution was down overall. But it still accounted for two-thirds
of all chemicals released by industry. Bill Kennedy is the commission’s Executive
Director.
‘There’s still a lot of chemicals that are going into the air and we think that the
governments and industry need to do a better job.”
Kennedy says the electric industry has the most work to do. Mostly coal-fired power
plants produced almost half of all the air pollution in 2001, including 64% of all mercury
emissions. The report calls for the United States, Canada, and Mexico to use more
renewable energies to reduce reliance on polluting power plants.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m David Sommerstein.
Carl Pope is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club. (Photo courtesy of the Sierra Club)
Lynn Scarlett is the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Interior's Office of Policy, Management and Budget.
As the political campaigns get into full swing this presidential election year, the environmental record of George W. Bush is being scrutinized. The big environmental groups are very critical of the Bush administration. In the first of two interviews about the Bush White House approach to environmental protection, the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham talks with the Executive Director of the Sierra Club, Carl Pope. Pope and the Sierra Club are critical of the Bush administration’s record on environmental protection:
Transcript
As the political campaigns get into full swing this presidential election year, the
environmental record of George W. Bush is being scrutinized. The big environmental
groups are very critical of the Bush administration. In the first of two interviews about
the Bush White House approach to environmental protection, the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham talks with the Executive Director of the Sierra Club, Carl Pope.
Pope and the Sierra Club are critical of the Bush administration’s record on environmental
protection:
POPE: “The biggest environmental problem this country faces right now is the policies of this
administration. It’s kind of stunning too, when you add it all up, just how much damage they
have quietly managed to set in motion in only three years.”
LG: “Now, we’ve listened to folks in the Bush administration who indicate that what they’re
really doing is bringing some balance to dealing with the economic issues the nation faces and
how it relates to the environmental issues that we face.”
POPE: “Well, let’s look at three trends. In 1980, when Ronald Reagan was President, we began
cleaning up toxic wastes dumps in this country with the Superfund. In 2003, for the first time
because the Bush administration both allowed the Superfund to run out of money and allowed
companies to start dumping new kinds of toxins on the landscape, the American landscape
became more polluted. We started going backwards after 20 years of progress.
1972, under Richard Nixon, another Republican, we made a national commitment under the
Clean Water Act to clean up our rivers and lakes. In 2003, because the Bush administration cut
funding for clean water clean-up and because they exempted large factory feedlots from clean
water regulation, EPA had to report for the first time in 30 years America’s waterways had gotten
dirtier.
And finally, in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt, a third Republican, created Grand Canyon National
Monument. And every president since Theodore Roosevelt left us with more of the American
landscape protected than he found it. And in only three years uniquely, singularly and in the
violation of the entire trend of the entire 20th century, this President Bush has stripped
environmental protection from 235 million acres. It’s an area as big as Texas and Oklahoma that
is now open to development which was protected when George Bush became President. I don’t
think that’s balance.”
LG: “I assume that you’re not all that chummy with everyone in the White House these days….
POPE: “That’s a safe assumption.”
LG: …but I’m trying to get an insight into what you think the thinking might be behind some of
the decisions that the Bush administration makes.”
POPE: “Well, in 1970 we made a national compact in this country. It was a national
environmental compact which was: we were environmental optimists and we believed that as a
nation that we could clean up every waterway, we could modernize every power plant and we
could remedy every toxic waste dump. We said as a nation ‘You know, everybody in this country
is going to have water that’s safe to drink. Everybody is going to live in a community where the
air doesn’t give their kids asthma. And we’re going to take time to do it. The federal government
is going to help everybody. And we’re all going to do it as a community.’ I think the fundamental
problem with that compact from the point of view of this administration is the ‘everyone’ part of
it. They really don’t believe that the community should do very much. They believe individuals
should take care of themselves. If you want to have safe drinking water, get yourself your own
supply; buy bottled water. If you want to breathe clean air, move somewhere where the air is
cleaner. They really don’t believe in the idea that every American ought to enjoy certain basic
environmental amenities simply as a consequence of being an American.
And, I think what motivates them is their concern that if it’s the federal government that
is cleaning up our toxic waste sites, then people will have faith in the federal government. And
they don’t have faith in the federal government. In fact, one of their chief advisors says he wants
to shrink the federal government down to a size where he can drown it in a bathtub. And I think
it’s the fact that the environmental compact in this country was based on the idea of an
environmental safety net for everyone that they find antithetical to their view that we all ought to
be tough, we all ought to be competitive, we all ought to be self-reliant and on our own. And
they don’t like the fact that the environmental compact says wait a minute, we’re all in this
together and we’re going to solve it together.”
HOST TAG: Carl Pope is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club.
The EPA is getting ready for smog season. (photo courtesy of USEPA)
On ozone action days people with respiratory
problems are asked to stay indoors. (photo courtesy of
GATech)
Problem areas (with
ground-level ozone exceeding the new EPA standards) in the U.S. (photo courtesy of USEPA)
The federal government’s tougher regulations on pollution might have consequences on prices at the gasoline pump. To meet the Clean Air Act, some areas might be required to use cleaner-burning fuels. That could make it tougher to get gasoline supplies where they need to be. And that could mean higher prices. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
The federal government’s tougher regulations on pollution might have consequences on prices at
the gasoline pump. To meet the Clean Air Act some areas might be required to use cleaner-
burning fuels. That could make it tougher to get gasoline supplies where they need to be. And
that could mean higher prices. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
The Environmental Protection Agency says 31 states are not complying with the Clean Air Act.
The EPA indicates tougher standards for ground-level ozone make many areas that didn’t know
they had a problem in violation of air pollution laws.
John Mooney is an environmental specialist with the EPA. He says the government used to
check for ozone pollution for short periods… but started monitoring for longer periods and found
more instances of high levels of ozone.
“The other issue is that we’re changing the number of the standard from 120 down to 80 parts-
per-billion. So, it’s a lower level that we’re looking at. And we think that’s more reflective of
the health effects that are being caused by this pollutant.”
Ground-level ozone aggravates asthma. People with lung diseases can find it hard to breathe.
And those who work outdoors are affected by the unhealthy air.
Ozone is created when factories and cars emit volatile organic compounds. That chemical stew is
affected by sunlight and ozone can form. Cities that have had high ozone levels have worked to
reduce emissions from businesses, encouraged car-pooling, made announcements asking people
not to use gas-powered mowers on high ozone days.
And… for some cities… part of the solution has been reformulated gasoline. It’s gas that’s
cleaner burning. Different formulations are used in different areas. And… gas formulas change
from winter to summer. Refineries and gasoline suppliers have to empty their tanks and pipelines
before switching. That makes gas supplies tight for a while and that drives the price up. We
asked the EPA’s John Mooney about that.
LG: We’ve got several cities with reformulated gasoline right now and that’s put a strain on the
distribution system nation-wide. If more cities have to start using reformulated gasoline and each
city has to have a different formulation, that’s going to further strain the distribution problem at a
time when gasoline prices are at an all time high.
JM: “We’re extremely sensitive to the infrastructure issue and the energy issue and are trying to
promote clean-burning fuels that have environmental impacts without significant economic
disruptions. Having fuel shortages and price spikes and things of that nature don’t contribute to
the success of our mission to improve public health. And so, we’re going to be tied into the fuel
distribution issues and we’re going to be working with the oil refiners to make sure that the fuels
programs that are ultimately decided upon operate without significant disruptions.”
Significant disruptions that could cause gasoline shortages and high prices.
Bob Slaughter is the President of NPRA, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association. He
says the government needs to work closely with gasoline suppliers to make sure that efforts to
make the air easier to breathe don’t make problems for the economy of an area.
“You know, you have to be very careful that you don’t have so many fuels in certain areas that it
becomes difficult to re-supply if there are problems, say, with a refinery or a pipeline in a
particular area.”
For instance, in recent years a fire at a refinery at a bad time meant shortages and higher prices.
But… even with lots of cooperation between government and the gasoline suppliers, the added
burden of different types of reformulated gasoline to the fuel distribution system might mean
spikes in gas prices.
(road sound, gas station)
We asked some people buying gas if they were willing to pay more if it meant cleaner air…
VOXPOP (voice 1) “Well, the gas prices are high enough. Uh, am I willing? I suppose so if it’s
better for the environment.” (voice 2) “Well, I think the federal government regulates everything
way too much right now. I think they do have a lot of safeguards in place right now to lower the
emissions in a lot of vehicles. Why do we have to make further regulation to control that?”
(voice 3) “I mean, I hate to – I hate to pay more gas prices. I really do. But, I guess for cleaner
air, it might be worth it.” (voice 4) “I haven’t thought about it too much. I pay what they make
me pay. I don’t care.”
The EPA is giving states and cities three years to get their ground-level ozone pollution problems
below the government’s new standards.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.
