Archived Water News Headlines | Endangered Species, Environmental Issues, Conservation

The following news headlines and archives were published during 2003 and 2004. Some of the archives may have decayed links.

Environmental News Headlines

Your Body, Your Superfund Site (Wired News - Dec 28, 2003)
SAN FRANCISCO -- Davis Baltz shops for organic food and otherwise tries to live as healthy as he can. So he was shocked to learn that the pollutants collecting inside his body sounded much like a Superfund cleanup site: pesticides, flame retardants and other nasty, man-made chemicals turned up in a recent test.

US says CO2 is not a pollutant (The U.K. Independent - 8/31/03) -
The Bush administration has decreed that carbon dioxide from industrial emissions - the main cause of global warming - is not a pollutant.

Fast fillet - Salmon no more wild than cattle or sheep (The Oregonian - 8/31/03) -
Fish farming is the fast revolution in food production worldwide. Related Interest - If You Love Salmon, This Will Scare You (Netscape | New York Times, Reuters - 09/03/03) -
Farm-raised salmon are laced with cancer-causing PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).

Environmentalist Suckling fighting misdemeanor charges (Tucson Citizen - 8/28/03) -
The executive director of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity is fighting misdemeanor charges filed against him after a demonstration this month at a homebuilders association press conference.

Bush's choice for EPA chief raises activists' ire (The Atlantic Journal-Constitution - 8/17/03) -
Environmental environmentalists fear that Leavitt will open the door for grazing, mining and other economic uses on federal lands.

Interior's top lawyer asks for investigation of own conduct (San Diego Union Tribune 8/14/03) -
Complaints about grazing issues made by Friends of the Earth and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility prompt Department of Interior inquiry.

Methane Extraction Methods Alarm Ranchers, Conservationists

(Reprinted with Permission from ENS)

SHERIDAN, Wyoming, March 12, 2003 (ENS) - An unprecedented coalition of western ranchers, hunters, anglers, conservationists, water users and renewable energy advocates is appealing to Congress to protect the natural resources of the Western states from the environmental problems caused by energy production, particularly coalbed methane extraction. Releasing its agenda for energy development on Tuesday, the coalition called on Congress to "protect private property rights, conserve and protect drinking and irrigation water resources, and preserve sensitive public lands" when national energy legislation comes before lawmakers this spring. 

A group of companies that includes: Lance Oil and Gas [Western Gas], Barrett Resources [Williams], Devon Energy, Yates Petroleum, Pennaco Energy [Marathon Oil], and CMS Oil and Gas [Perenco S.A.] - has notified the federal government that they intend to develop coalbed methane in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.

There are 12,000 coalbed methane wells currently operating in the Powder River Basin, and the companies have declared their collective intention to drill an additional 39,400 wells.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a federal agency under the Interior Department, has issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Proposed Plan Amendment for the Powder River Basin Oil and Gas Project, a plan that the coalition is protesting on the grounds that it is flawed, contains contradictory statements, and does not protect the lands, waters and wildlife of the region from the "enormous impacts" of development.

The FEIS "fails to reveal the full extent of impacts to the people, land, water and air resources in the Powder River Basin," the Powder River Basin Resource Council said February 18 in a letter of protest to BLM Director Kathleen Clarke. "The analysis is flawed and fraught with errors, provides contradictory information, and it especially fails to reveal or take the required “hard look” at the serious and long lasting impacts to the land owners living on top of these federal minerals," the council wrote. "Now, we are facing an unprecedented level of development in this proposed project and we have found that BLM has ignored the requirements of the Federal Land Policy Management Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act," the council wrote.

The majority of federal oil and gas resources on western public lands are open for energy production. The Bush administration indicates that 85 percent of the "technically recoverable" oil and 88 percent of the "technically recoverable" natural gas on federal lands in the Rocky Mountain West are currently available for leasing and development.

Some public land areas have "unique natural values that should be safeguarded from all impacts of energy development," the coalition says. The group is asking Congress to ban new leasing or re-leasing in national monuments, national wildlife refuges, national forest roadless areas, citizen proposed wilderness areas on Bureau of Land Management lands, wild and scenic rivers, and sacred sites.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson spoke on behalf of the coalition, asking federal agencies to "require environmentally compatible energy practices" in New Mexico.

The energy industry is lobbying Congress to weaken protections on 58 million acres of private property in the West that lie above federally owned mineral and gas reserves, said the coalition, which includes the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

"Ranchers have no way to protect their property from the impacts of irresponsible energy development," says Nancy Sorenson, a Wyoming rancher activist with the Powder River Basin Resource Council. "We need strong laws that protect our property rights and our way of making a living."

The coalition is asking Congress to require surface owner consent and surface use agreements before allowing energy development on their land. Today, Western land owners have little say over whether and how the federal minerals under their lands are extracted, and little recourse from the impacts this development can have on their drinking water, livelihoods and quality of life, the coalition states.

The coalition is urging Congress to adopt the reclamation standards to address the destructive impacts that coalbed methane development has on water resources. The lawmakers should require operators to submit proposed water management plans with their permit applications.

Ranchers oppose changes proposed by industry that would exempt coal bed methane gas development from the Clean Water Act. "We're in the middle of a horrible drought - we can't afford to pollute or waste a single drop," Sorenson says.

The coalition calls on Congress to regulate the gas industry practice of injecting toxic chemicals like benzene, MTBE and toluene into the ground to produce natural gas. Known as "hydraulic fracturing," the practice threatens to contaminate underground drinking water supplies.

"Hydraulic fracturing can contaminate our aquifers, which provide tens of thousands of western residents with their primary source of drinking water," warns Gwen Lachelt, director of the Oil and Gas Accountability Project in Durango, Colorado. The energy industry is asking Congress to exempt hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been asked to support legislation which would exempt hydraulic fracturing from the safe drinking water law. The agency completed a study in 2002 of the possible impacts of hydraulic fracturing on underground sources of drinking water. Based on its analysis, the EPA has "preliminarily found that the potential threats to public health posed by hydraulic fracturing of coalbed methane wells appear to be small and do not justify additional study." The EPA notes that states with jurisdiction over their underground injection control programs have the authority to place controls on any injection activities that may threaten underground sources of drinking water.

With the "expected increase" in coal bed methane production, the EPA report says, additional data collection may become valuable in the future, if development leads to injection of fracturing fluids into underground sources of drinking water that are simultaneously used as drinking water sources. The agency says it is committed to working with states to collect relevant data to monitor this issue.

Hunters, anglers and conservationists hope the proposed legislation maintains existing safeguards for critical wildlife habitat and pristine public lands. "Hunting, fishing and recreation are the cornerstone of the West¹s economy," says Tory Taylor, a wildlife guide based in Dubois, Wyoming. "If Congress removes wildlife protections to drill for gas, I could be out of a job." Wildlife recreation and outdoor activities contribute hundreds of thousands of jobs to the West¹s economy, and generate over $20 billion a year in economic activity, the coalition says.

The energy industry must be held accountable for cleanup costs and damages, the coalition urges. "Current law has proven insufficient to protect public lands and private property interests from the many damages caused by oil and gas development," the group says. "Legislation is needed to provide for bonding levels that reflect the real liabilities associated with energy extraction, to clean up past oil and gas development activity, improve reclamation standards, and strengthen inspection and enforcement activities."

A copy of the Western Energy Agenda is available at the Powder River Basin Resource Council website at: www.powderriverbasin.org.

The Powder River Basin Final Environmental Impact is online at: http://www.wy.blm.gov/nepa/prb-feis/

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2003. All Rights Reserved

Endangered and Threatened Species

The Pacific Northwest Hits Jackpot Of Salmon Administration Critics, Supporters Disagree: Was It Skill or Luck? (The Washington Post - 8/20/03) -
On the surface, at least, the numbers suggest that the Bush administration is skillfully protecting salmon from the killing effects of federal dams and habitat loss. That explains why Bush, with polls showing skepticism about his record on the environment, has scheduled a salmon event along the Snake River in eastern Washington. The White House has said he will appear Friday at Ice Harbor Dam, one of four large dams on the lower Snake that some environmentalists argue should be breached to improve passage for endangered salmon. Bush vowed in 2000 that he would never allow any of the hydroelectric dams on the Snake to be knocked down, saying that salmon could recover with the dams in place.

SONOMA COUNTY TIGER SALAMANDER PROTECTED UNDER FEDERAL ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT Species listed as "endangered" on an emergency basis

Feds Warn Stretches of Rio Grande May Dry Up, Kill Silvery Minnow

Environmentalist Activities

Greens Sue EPA to Stop Collusion (Wired News - 01/16/04)
A coalition of environmental groups has accused the Environmental Protection Agency of colluding with chemical and pesticide companies to weaken the Endangered Species Protection Act.

Groups File Lawsuit to Halt Salvage Logging on Santa Fe National Forest (01/06/04) -
SANTA FE, NM — Forest Guardians and Santa Fe Forest Watch filed a lawsuit in federal court on January 6th seeking to halt a salvage logging project that would harm sensitive wildlife on the Santa Fe National Forest west of Santa Fe. The money losing Lakes and BMG salvage logging project will harm the Mexican spotted owl, a species protected under the Endangered Species Act, as well as the state listed Jemez Mountains salamander and damage a natural fire recovery research site.

"The project has nothing to do with promoting forest health or protecting the public. It's about giving away the public's timber at fire sale prices and driving wildlife to extinction—plain and simple," said John Horning, Forest Guardians' Executive Director. "This is another example of the Bush Administration's Holy War against New Mexico's natural resources."

"In its rush to sell public trees at a loss to private parties the Forest Service will encourage future arson fires. It's a great a deal for loggers but a rotten one for the public, our wildlife and future generations of forest users," said Greg Pollak, founder of Santa Fe Forest Watch.

Nix the dam, drain Lake Powell, environmentalists say (8/9/03 - Associated Press) -
Environmentalist Richard Ingebretsen believes that getting rid of Lake Powell would restore the river to its natural state. People in Page, Arizona, and other lake supporters, say Ingebretsen is nuts.

Environmentalists Sue Over Factory Farms (03/11/03 - AP/Water Online) -
Three environmental groups (the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and Waterkeeper Alliance) are suing the Bush administration over new federal rules for large-scale farms that they say aren't strong enough to stop manure from fouling the nation's waters.