EPA CUTS LEAD PROTECTIONS, CHILDREN ESPECIALLY AT RISK
by Sarah Morgan

The US Environmental Protection Agency has weakened lead protections by changing a requirement that only certified contractors using workers trained in lead-safe practices could do remodeling in buildings constructed before 1978.

The new rules call for a "voluntary approach," according to reports from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

PEER cites agency records showing that under the Toxic Substances Control Act the EPA was to adopt "regulations for renovation or remodeling activities" by October 28, 1996. Although behind schedule, EPA continued to develop regulations through 2003, until then-deputy and now acting administrator Stephen Johnson "moved to scrap plans for renovation regulations," in 2004.

According to Bush Green Watch, a nonprofit information clearinghouse, an EPA spokesperson said the decision to switch to a voluntary approach was not made by Administrator Johnson, but would not say who did.

"There is more than a little irony here. The EPA--the same agency that took lead out of gasoline--is now weakening any attempt to eliminate the most important remaining source of lead poisoning: household paint and dust," Dr. Herbert L. Needleman told Bush Green Watch.

In an earlier press release, Needleman, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and other physicians and lead investigators said that "as pediatricians who have seen the tragic consequences of lead poisoning close up, we are outraged at the quiet abandonment of a program that could eliminate this avoidable epidemic."

The principal source of US children’s exposure to lead dust is renovation and repair of older residences, which have a much higher prevalence of lead-based paint, according to PEER. The EPA’s own analyses show that an estimated 1.4 million children under age 7 reside in the roughly 4.9 million households that are at risk of lead exposure due to unsafe repair and renovations; the renovation regulations could be expected to prevent at least 28,000 lead-related illnesses each year.

While lead exposure levels have fallen over the past 40 years, PEER reported, those improvements have leveled off in recent years. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that 434,000 US children under age 5 currently have blood lead levels linked with serious developmental health consequences.

COMPASS PORT LNG TERMINAL COMMENT PERIOD CLOSES FRIDAY
by Sarah Morgan

Yet another liquid natural gas terminal is in the works along the Gulf Coast, this one approximately 11 miles south of Dauphin Island, Alabama.

The United States Coast Guard is accepting public comments concerning the ConocoPhillips Compass Port facility until March 28.

The Gulf Restoration Network, a network of groups that includes the Bayou Preservation Association and the Galveston Bay Conservation Preservation Association, released a statement that said the Draft Environmental Impact Statement created for the facility "failed to fully analyze available data on potential impacts from the Compass Port liquefied natural gas facility."

According to GRN, the designated project area includes habitat designated by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council as Essential Fish Habitat for various life stages of red drum, red snapper, gray triggerfish, vermilion snapper, lane snapper, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, lesser amberjack, cobia, dolphin, bluefish and little tunny. Each of these is a species managed by the GMFMC and for each there are commercial and recreational fisheries. Also found within this area are menhaden, a prey species for which there is a commercial fishery managed by the Gulf States Marine Fish Commission, and bay anchovy.

GRN says that, in its analysis of possible impacts on fisheries, the USCG considers in detail only four species for within the Essential Fish Habitat -- red drum, red snapper, menhaden and bay anchovy. GRN is concerned that no analysis of potential impacts to additional species is included in the DEIS. The project area also includes designated Essential Fish Habitat for brown, white, and pink shrimp, and blue crab, all commercially important species. But the DEIS also fails to consider the potential impacts on these species, according to GRN.

Further, within the current DEIS there is no commitment to require a closed-loop or submerged combustion vaporizer system less harmful than the open-loop system commonly used. And the US Coast Guard fails to fully analyze the cumulative impacts of the Compass Port facility and all proposed LNG facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission lists a total of 43 approved, proposed, and potential sites for LNG facilities that have been identified in the waters of the United States -- most in the Gulf of Mexico.

For more information, visit http://www.healthygulf.org/fisheries/issues.htm. To submit comments, visit http://dms.dot.gov/.

WORLD WATER DAY EMPHASIZES ‘WATER FOR LIFE’
by Sarah Morgan

Wednesday, March 22, was World Water Day, an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro and is aimed at bringing adequate water resources to all people.

This year marks the first year of the International Decade for Action, "Water for Life." The Water for Life decade sets the world’s goals on "a greater focus on water-related issues," while striving to ensure the participation of women in water-related development efforts, and further cooperation at all levels to achieve water-related goals.

The first "water decade" from 1981 to1990 brought water to over a billion people and sanitation to almost 770 million, according to worldwaterday.org, a Web site maintained by the IRC International Water and Sanitation Center. Still, the Web site notes that today, there are almost 1.1 billion people who have inadequate access to water and 2.4 billion without appropriate sanitation.

Those without adequate water supplies must resort to using potentially harmful sources of water, which leads to about 3,900 child deaths every day, according to IRC.

What’s worse, IRC says, is "4 of every 10 people in the world do not have access to even a simple pit latrine and nearly 2 in 10 have no source of safe drinking-water."

The goal of "Water for Life" is to cut this number in half by 2015.

At home, there are simple ways to use water more efficiently, including stopping all water leaks, replacing old toilets and clothes washers (the two largest water users in a household), and using proper landscaping, plants, and irrigation, as well as watering only when needed.

For more easy ways to save water around the house, visit http://www.h2ouse.org/.

AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION THIRD ANNUAL ASTHMA WALK

Join groups such as Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention and Mothers for Clean Air Saturday, April 2, at the 2005 Blow the Whistle on Asthma Walk on at Tom Bass Regional Park. Help Make Strides for Finding a Cure for Asthma by raise money to fight asthma and clean the air. Early registration begins at 8 am and the walk begins at 9 am. The walk is a three-mile loop that even kids can complete, and it is a fun way for the whole family to get some exercise. The Asthma Walk is not a race or test of fitness, but is a chance for people who care about asthma and other lung diseases and clean air to gather together, meet each other, and have fun. There is no registration fee, but if you raise $100 you will get a free T-shirt. Money raised will support the American Lung Association efforts to reduce people's suffering from asthma and search for a cure through research, community and school programs, and state and federal advocacy. Every year approximately 5,000 people die from asthma. It is the leading cause of school absenteeism and number one cause of hospitalization in children. In fact, this disease affects more than 20 million Americans. Throughout the morning, there will be complimentary food and beverages for all participants, live music, costumed characters, and other activities and games for kids. There will also be free lung screenings and asthma education. Tom Bass Regional Park is just south of Beltway 8 and east of 288. The Walk will be in Section 1 of the park. To make a tax deductible contribution or register for the walk, visit http://www.mrsnv.com/evt/e01/team.jsp?rid=280544&id=492&acct=0713122496

FEATHERFEST 2005: GALVESTON ISLAND BIRDING & NATURE EVENT

Join hundreds of birders as they celebrate spring migration on Galveston Island, Texas, during the Third Annual FeatherFest nature festival, sponsored by the Houston Audubon Society, March 31 through April 3. Participants will spot more than 300 bird species on field trips to some of the nation’s top birding areas, traveling by van, bus, kayak, or harbor cruise. Top birding experts will lead field trips and conduct seminars, and a wide array of social activities are planned to showcase the beauty of this Texas barrier island steeped in history and rich in natural resources. Speakers and field trip leaders come from all over the country. Special children's activities will include a birdhouse/feeder-building contest. FeatherFest 2005 has moved to the restored Old Galveston Square building on the Strand between 22nd and 23rd streets in the historic downtown area. For details, please visit http://www.galvestonfeatherfest.com, or contact Houston Audubon Society at (713) 932-1639 or http://www.houstonaudubon.org.

TEXAS WILDLIFE REHABILITATION COALITION HOSTS VOLUNTEER BABY BIRD TRAINING PROGRAM

The Baby Bird Program at the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition is looking for volunteers to help care for orphaned and injured birds. Volunteers need to be 16 years of age or older. The training begins March 31 and continues through April. The Baby Bird Program (caring for baby birds) runs from mid-April through mid-August. For more information or to sign up, contact the TWRC shelter at (713) 468-8972 or e-mail rozeven@earthlink.net. The event is free, but pre-registration is requested.

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