Dispatches
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May/June 1999
Features
Bike Friendly Cities
by Lucinda Means
Undermining the Dunes
Auto Industry Greed is Destroying Our Most Scenic Treasures
Motor City Challenge
Ecology Center Demands Cleaner Cars from Auto Industry
by Jeff Gearhart and Charles Griffith
Columns
Great Lawns
A Great Lawn with No Toxic Chemicals, by Nancy Franklin
Great Lawns without Grass, by Bret Rappaport
Welfare for Waste
National Coalition Calls for End to Anti-Recycling Subsidies
Healthy Home and Garden
Growing Herbs in Your Backyard, by Mimi Mather
The Cranky Consumer
Toxic Waste "Recycling?" by Mary Beth Doyle
Capitol Watch
New from Lansing: PR for Toothless DEQ
At the Ecology Center
Reuben Chapman, Hospitals Pledge Mercury-Free, Help Wanted, Wish List
U.S. Fights Danish Lead Ban
The Guardian reports that the United States is threatening to take Denmark to court if it implements an intended domestic ban on lead compounds, which some Danish scientists say cause brain damage to children. It is the latest battle in a looming trade war where the U.S. is challenging what it sees as protectionist moves by the European Union. European governments claim they are entitled to protect the health and environment of their citizens and should not be forced to accept imports over which they have safety doubts. American beef produced with growth hormones is another product at issue.
The Danes want to ban around 200 lead compounds used in pigments and chemical processes because they are concerned at the continuing high levels of lead in the environment in Denmark. Scientists believe this is reducing intelligence in young children and Svend Auken, Denmarks' Environment and Energy Minister, has notified the European Commission and the WTO of his country's intention to ban all lead compounds. The Americans have replied that such a ban would be a restraint of trade and only by proving each individual lead compound is dangerous can the Danes ban the products under WTO rules. According to Mr. Auken's officials, this would be prohibitively expensive and take 30 years.
Dow Busted by Feds
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 has recently filed an administrative complaint against Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, MI), for violation of federal laws on the reporting of hazardous chemical releases on three separate occasions. EPA has proposed a $661,237 fine.
EPA alleged that the company failed to promptly report the release of hazardous chemicals to the proper authorities in three incidents between November 1997 and October 1998. The Dow facility was previously cited for an incident on Aug. 24, 1994, which resulted in an October 1997 settlement that included a $24,760 fine and an environmental project to enhance local emergency response capabilities.
The incidents covered in the proposed penalty include a 1997 major release of methyl chloride when a pressure relief device failed, a 1998 release of vinyl chloride, and a 1998 release of ethylene oxide when a maintenance operator mistakenly drained a process valve into the plant's chemical sewer system. EPA charges that the company did not report the accidental releases promptly enough.
National Town Meeting Sparks "Livability Agenda"
VP Al Gore took advantage of the National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America in Detroit to push federal "smart growth" initiatives and promote the "Livability Agenda" that is expected to prove central to his 2000 presidential campaign. Gore announced 47 new federal commitments, including plans by the Transportation Dept. to launch a Transportation Livability Initiative, and by the General Services Administration to create a Center of Expertise for Urban Development and Livability. The proposals include $6 billion to help communities develop alternatives to building more roads, and $700 million in new tax credits for state and local bonds to build "more livable communities" by preserving open spaces, building parks, improving water quality and redeveloping brownfields.
Political observers commented that the initiatives build on the relatively recent national agenda of addressing "issues that appeal almost entirely to suburbanites." According to the New York Times, Gore and other Democrats are "talking of suburban sprawl, traffic congestion and a need to preserve open space - matters that are already playing prominently in state and local political races." Though none of the other major presidential candidates are focusing on "livability," Gore points to the more than 200 growth-control initiatives that appeared on ballots across the country last year - 70% of which were approved - as evidence that voters are looking to the government for solutions to traffic congestion and destruction of natural resources.
Michigan Leads Nation in Toxic Trash Imports
Michigan was the leading importer of hazardous waste among the 50 states in 1997, according to the preliminary biennial RCRA hazardous waste report recently released by U.S. EPA. The state imported 394,406 tons of regulated hazardous waste in 1997, edging out Ohio by more than 5,000 tons in the competition. Michigan exported 189,391 tons the same year, leaving a net import of approximately 195,000 tons. Michigan also imported over 12% of the solid waste buried in Michigan landfills last year, according to DEQ numbers.
Wisconsin May Pay Poor to Clean Up Toxic Sites
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentine reports that Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) has introduced a plan to give businesses, non-profit groups and government agencies $10 million over the next two years to hire low-income residents to clean up abandoned industrial sites. Thompson says the proposal, which would double the current $10 million budget for the state's brownfield cleanup program, would "help people get off welfare" and provide jobs. No one would be forced to clean up hazardous waste sites to continue receiving state benefits.
But critics denounce the plan. Lakesha Gibson of Welfare Warriors says the plan provides "irresponsible companies who dumped toxic waste free money from the government and slaves to clean up their mess."