Coalition Notes
GBEP Offers Grants/Stewardship Awards
The Galveston Bay Estuary Program (GBEP) is accepting applications for its Grant Program. GBEP awards $10,000 to $25,000 for projects that create solutions to local water pollution problems; protect, preserve, and restore habitat; and encourage people of all ages to be environmental stewards. Applications are due November 6th.

GBEP is also accepting nominations for the Galveston Bay Stewardship Awards, which recognize people, partnerships, and activities that are doing great things for the environment in the Galveston Bay area. Please submit nominations by November 30.

Call GBEP at 281-332-9937 or visit http://gbep.tamug.tamu.edu for more
information.

Free Tour of the Houston Ship Channel
Mothers for Clean Air (MfCA) will host a free overview and tour of the Houston Ship Channel on the M.V. Sam Houston on Sunday, November 5, from 1:30 to 4:00 pm beginning at the M.V. Sam Houston Pavilion. Space is limited; call MfCA at 713-526-0110 for reservations.

Coalition Members Win Texas Community Forestry Awards
On September 21, the Texas Forest Service, the Texas Urban Forestry Council, and the International Society of Arboriculture presented their annual Texas Community Forestry Awards. Several Coalition members were winners, including Kathy Lord, Executive Director of Trees for Houston, who received an Outstanding Professional Award, and the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention, which received a Civic Award for the publication, Trees & Our Air: The Role of Trees and Other Vegetation in Houston-area Pollution.

Eco Notes
Researchers in UK find Pesticides in Produce
The Pesticide Residue Committee, a government appointed panel in the United Kingdom, found detectable pesticide levels in 43 percent of fresh fruit and vegetables sampled in 1999, up from 33 percent in 1998. Each year, the committee tests more than 2,000 food products for pesticide residue. (ENS 9/20/00)

Asthma Prevalence Related to Urban Living, Not Race
The high prevalence of asthma among African-American children can be attributed to urban living rather than race, says a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The research, which monitored 17,110 children from birth to age 17, showed that African-American children had significantly higher rates of asthma than white children did. However, when the study controlled for city living, urban children of all races and socioeconomic classes displayed an equally heightened risk for the disease. (UniSci 9/21/00)

Ozone Hole May Be the Deepest Ever
According to United Nations meteorologists, the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica is growing at an unprecedented rate and could reach a record depth this year. For the first time this September, the hole extended over an urban area - Punta Arenas, Chile. Previously, it had only covered Antarctica and the surrounding ocean. (Reuters 9/22/00; Associated Press 10/5/00)

Housing for Poor Close to Polluters
Almost 46 percent of federally subsidized apartments in the United States lie within one mile of industry that produces toxic pollution, according to a study by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas-Dallas. (Associated Press 10/4/00)

Dioxins in Arctic Canada traced to Far Away Sources
For the first time, cancer-causing dioxins found in Canada’s Arctic have been linked to their sources – specific incinerators and smelters thousands of miles away in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The study, completed by the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, demonstrates the long-range atmospheric transport of certain air toxins. (Reuters 10/4/00)

Power Lines Linked to Cancer
Researchers in the United Kingdom recently found significantly higher cancer rates in populations living near overhead power lines. They say their findings are strong evidence in support of the theory that electric fields may damage health. (BBC News Online 9/21/00)