• DOE Steps Up Plans for Plutonium Shipments
  
• Companies Solicited to Produce Medical Isotopes
  
• 16 Species Added to Possible Protection List
  
• Bumper Crop of Florida Panthers Born
  
• Illegal Waste Disposal Has Serious Consequences
  
• Hotels Can Compare Energy Performance Nationwide
  
• Critical Habitat Proposed for Hawaiian Moth
  
• Environmental Groups Launch Orphan Orca Fund
  

DOE Steps Up Plans for Plutonium Shipments

The DOE's legal counsel informed South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges of the proposed schedule after a district court in South Carolina threw out Hodges' lawsuit seeking to bar the shipments.

Hodges has filed an appeal in the 4th Circuit United States Court of Appeals in Virginia, and on Thursday, the governor issued an executive order authorizing state troopers to block all plutonium shipments.

But on Friday, Judge Cameron Currie - the same district judge who dismissed Hodges' lawsuit - ordered the governor to allow the shipments to proceed, warning that road blockades against the plutonium shipments could become a terrorist target.

"The harm that a blockade of plutonium shipments might present is obvious," Currie wrote. "An arguably peaceful blockade, therefore, presents a target of opportunity for those with less peaceful intentions."

The DOE plans to ship 6.5 metric tons of weapons grade plutonium from its Rocky Flats, Colorado facility to the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The plutonium is to be turned into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for nuclear power plants.

"The court made clear its view that under the Constitution, the Governor has no authority to interfere with the Department of Energy's shipments of plutonium," said Joe Davis, DOE spokesperson. "We are extremely disappointed the Governor has chosen to totally disregard the Court's admonition and intend to ask the Department of Justice to seek further relief from the court as expeditiously as possible."

"We appreciate the District Court's expeditious ruling in favor of the federal government," Davis added. "As part of that proceeding, we said that we would not begin shipments before June 15th. As a practical and logistical matter related to our transportation operations, the earliest date that the Department could begin national security shipments of weapons grade plutonium to South Carolina is June 22nd."

Companies Solicited to Produce Medical Isotopes

The program is part of an initiative to clean up Cold War nuclear sites. The DOE's plan aims to increase the supply of these medical isotopes, which show promise in treating cancer, by 5,000 percent.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory stores uranium, containing uranium-233, that was produced at DOE's nuclear defense production plants. This material is stored at a laboratory facility that dates back to the Manhattan Project and that requires expensive environmental, criticality and security controls.

The DOE project will allow the extraction of medical isotopes as the material is stabilized. The department has used this material to provide modest quantities of bismuth-213 for the past five years.

Bismuth-213 is a decay product of uranium-233 that is being used in cancer treatment research, such as the human clinical trials for the treatment of acute myologenous leukemia. Bismuth-213 is also being explored in the treatment of cancer of the lungs, pancreas and kidneys.

The isotope is bound to monoclonal antibodies that attack the cancer while minimizing the impact on surrounding tissues.

"DOE has an important responsibility to clean up the dangerous materials and old contaminated structures left over from the Cold War," said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. "That we can fulfill this mission while producing valuable new tools in the fight against cancer is an exciting and unique opportunity."

Each year, the DOE provides about 600 shipments of more than 215 types of isotopes to more than 300 domestic and international customers, including hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and industries. Between the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory, more than 10 DOE facilities now produce radioactive isotopes.

16 Species Added to Possible Protection List

The USFWS publishes its Candidate Notice of Review to solicit new information on the status of candidate species and threats to their survival. The Notice, last updated in October 2001, also informs the public which species the USFWS is considering proposing for protection and encourages conservation measures that may prevent the need for species listing.

The current Notice includes 39 domestic animal and plant species that have already been proposed for addition to the list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants, but for which a final listing determination has not been made.

"The candidate list is an important tool, helping to identify imperiled species and focusing attention on the need to conserve them before they receive Endangered Species Act protection," said USFWS Director Steve Williams. "By working to recover these species now, in partnership with states, local communities and individuals, we can implement flexible, cost-effective conservation measures that put them on the road to recovery."

Species are added to the candidate list when the USFWS has enough information to warrant proposing a plant or animal as endangered or threatened. The agency prioritizes which species will be proposed for listing based on their need for protection.

The USFWS has removed eight species from the candidate list since it was last revised in 2001. Six species were listed as threatened or endangered, one species was removed due to lack of biological information, and one species was removed because it had been included in the previous candidate list by mistake.

The new Additions to the List of Candidate Species includes four amphibians: relict leopard frog from Nevada and Arizona; Austin blind salamander from Texas; Sonoma County population of the California tiger salamander; and the Salado salamander from Texas.

Five fish also made the list: the chucky madtom from Tennessee; the grotto sculpin from Missouri; the rush darter from Alabama; the sharpnose shiner from Texas; and the smalleye shiner from Texas.

The other new species include the Altamaha spinymussel from Georgia, a snail called the elongate mud meadows pyrg from Nevada, Dakota skipper from the American Midwest, Stephan's riffle beetle from Arizona, and three plants from California and Nevada: the Siskiyou mariposa lily, the Webber ivesia, and the Soldier Meadow cinquefoil or basalt cinquefoil.

Bumper Crop of Florida Panthers Born

This year's births are a highlight for the refuge in the recovery of the imperiled cousin of the mountain lion or cougar. Only 80 to 100 Florida panthers remain in the wild, making Florida's official state animal one of the most endangered mammals in the world.

"We're also pleasantly surprised about the size of the litters," said Sam Hamilton, southeast regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). "The dens produced three kittens in one litter and four in the other."

The Florida panther's population was decimated after bounties were placed on the cats from the late 1800s through the 1950s. Today, other factors continue to threaten the species.

A Florida panther - one of less than 100 remaining in the wild - in a tree in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo courtesy USFWS)

Hamilton added, "The panther deaths from car collisions can be greatly reduced if people will share a little of their time with the animals and slow down to the posted speed limits."

Extensive development over the last few decades has reduced the panther's preferred habitat of hardwood hammocks and pine flatwoods, wet prairies, marshes and swamp forests.

Florida panthers are most active at night and avoid one another except during breeding season. Adult males defend territories averaging 200 miles while females have territories of 75 square miles.

Florida panthers, like all cougars, stalk and ambush their prey. They leap distances of more than 15 feet and rely on surprise. The cats can run up to 35 miles an hour for short distances.

Panthers prefer large animals such as deer and wild pigs but will eat smaller game such as raccoons, armadillos, rabbits and even alligators.

The USFWS is working with a number of federal and state agencies such as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as well as private organizations to save the Florida panther from extinction and develop healthy populations.

More information about the Florida panther is available at: http://endangered.fws.gov/i/A05.html

Illegal Waste Disposal Has Serious Consequences

In Virginia, David Stephens Klein and the Davold Real Estate Partnership pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act by illegally disposing of asbestos containing material from two buildings. Klein, a medical doctor who ran clinics in the Shenandoah Valley, operated buildings in Staunton owned by the Davold Real Estate Partnership, a property management company.

Workers untrained in the proper removal of asbestos were used to remove asbestos from pipes and boilers and were not provided with property safety equipment. The asbestos was dumped at the Augusta County landfill and various other sites in and around Staunton.

Klein faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine, while Davold could be fined up to $500,000.

In Alaska, Je Yong Lee, chief engineer of the motor vessel Soho, pleaded guilty to keeping and presenting a false oil record book, obstructing a federal investigation and telling crew members to lie to a federal grand jury in Anchorage.

The Soho is a Panamanian flagged freighter that is owned by a Korean company named Oswego Limited, and carries seafood to Asia. Lee was the vessel's chief engineer in charge of engine room operations.

During a Coast Guard inspection in February, inspectors found a hose which they suspected was used to bypass the ship's oil water separator, a pollution control device that limits the amount of oil a ship discharges into the ocean.

Lee admitted in his plea that he knowingly recorded false information in the ship's oil record book, failing to indicate that the bypass hose was used to discharge oil contaminated bilge water and oily sludge into the ocean during the ship's passage from Japan to Alaska. Lee also admitted to instructing engine room crew members to lie to a federal grand jury about the use of the bypass hose.

Lee faces a maximum sentence of up to 33 months in prison.

In Nevada, Gene Moran and John Gold, operators of Silver State Plating in Las Vegas, were sentenced for illegally discharging electroplating wastes containing zinc, chromium, copper, lead and nickel into sewers operated by the Clark County Sanitation District.

Moran, who was convicted of illegally discharging plating wastes, was sentenced to 12 months in prison. Gold, who pleaded guilty to illegally discharging wastes into sewers, intentionally discharging similar wastes, conspiring to illegally dispose of plating wastes and making false statements to conceal illegal discharges, was also sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Discharging electroplating wastes into sewers can cause sewage treatment equipment to fail and can lead to untreated sewage being discharged into streams and rivers.

Hotels Can Compare Energy Performance Nationwide

EPA Administrator Christie Whitman launched the new ENERGY STAR™ performance rating tool during a speech at the Energy Efficiency Forum last week, where she highlighted the success of EPA's ENERGY STAR™ program in saving money and energy while protecting the environment.

"Hotel companies can now compare the energy performance of their hotels to others nationwide and are eligible to earn and display the prestigious ENERGY STAR™ label for their top performers," said Whitman.

"Last year alone, Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR™, saved $5 billion on their energy bills and reduced pollution equivalent to that of 10 million cars," Whitman added. "Over 800 office buildings and schools across the country have already earned the ENERGY STAR™ label, and thousands have used EPA's tool to compare their buildings. I look forward to working in partnership with the hospitality industry to improve upon our success and have an enormous impact on our environment."

Whitman also recognized the first two hotels in the country to receive the ENERGY STAR™ label for superior energy performance. The two hotels are the Courtyard Indianapolis Capital, owned by White Lodging Services Corporation, and the Sheraton Boston Hotel, owned by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.

Several hoteliers, including Tharaldson Lodging, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, White Lodging, Meristar Hotels and Resorts, Hyatt Corporation, and Servidyne Systems, helped the EPA develop the new ratings scale.

The hotel industry spends almost $5 billion a year on energy bills. If hotels improved their energy efficiency by an average of 30 percent, the annual electricity bill savings would be almost $1.5 billion and almost six million fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide would be emitted.

The EPA is now testing the first performance indicator in the industrial sector, for automotive assembly plants.

More information is available at: http://www.energystar.gov

Critical Habitat Proposed for Hawaiian Moth

Once widespread and abundant on several of the main Hawaiian Islands, the moth's native dryland habitats are now some of the rarest in the islands.

Blackburn's sphinx moth is one of Hawaii's largest native insects, with a wing span of up to five inches. Considered to be extinct by the late 1970s, Blackburn's sphinx moths were rediscovered on East Maui in 1984. Sightings have since occurred on Maui, Hawaii and Kahoolawe.

Although no population estimates are available, the East Maui and Kahoolawe populations appear to be the largest. The moth was once found on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii.

"This was the first Hawaiian insect to be protected under the Endangered Species Act, and it is the first for which we are proposing critical habitat," said Anne Badgley, USFWS regional director for the Pacific region. "Designating critical habitat for the Blackburn's sphinx moth will help conserve a species found nowhere else on earth, and demonstrates our commitment to protecting as many aspects of Hawaii's unique ecosystems as possible."

Today, an unknown number of Blackburn's sphinx moths are distributed in what appear to be two core populations and four sub-populations. At least 70 percent of the species' historic range has become unusable by the species.

Much of the decline of Blackburn's sphinx moth can be attributed to habitat loss. Recent threats to the moth include introduced ants and parasitic wasps that prey on its eggs and caterpillars, and the continued loss of its native host plants, which are dryland forest trees.

The critical habitat areas include 70,290 acres of state owned lands, and 29,140 private acres. Only two acres of federal lands are proposed for designation as few federal lands are believed to be inhabited by this species.

The designation stems from a lawsuit by the Conservation Council for Hawaii, in which the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii ordered the USFWS to publish a final critical habitat designation for Blackburn's sphinx moth.

Comments on the proposal will be accepted for 60 days at: Field Supervisor, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 3-122, Box 50088, Honolulu, HI 96850.

Environmental Groups Launch Orphan Orca Fund

The Orphan Orca Fund provides a coordinated opportunity for the public to support the reintroduction of A73, dubbed Springer, to her pod in Canada. The fund will be administered by The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, Washington.

Sponsoring organizations also include the American Cetacean Society Puget Sound Chapter, Earth Island Institute, Friends of the San Juans, Orca Conservancy, Orca Alliance and People For Puget Sound, in addition to The Whale Museum.

"I want to express my appreciation for the support A73 is receiving from the citizens of Puget Sound through these organizations," said Bob Lohn, regional director of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

"Much of the monitoring, evaluating, and protection of the whale to date has been organized and freely given by these groups. Their continued support will be equally important in these next weeks and months," Lohn continued. "The funding and in kind donations that they're soliciting, and the volunteers serving with them, will provide significant supplies and services for the orca's treatment and rehabilitation."

The story of Springer, the orphaned orca calf alone in mid-Puget Sound since January, has captivated people around the world. Now it has spurred an unprecedented effort by scientists, federal agencies and non-governmental organizations to return her to the waters of her birth in Johnstone Strait, British Columbia, to give her a chance to return to her pod.

The purpose of the Orphan Orca Fund is to support the rehabilitation project now underway in Puget Sound. If all goes well, Springer will be relocated to Johnstone Strait later this summer.

The Fund will collect the expertise and resources of the coalition's participants to secure supplies and services for the project. The coalition has been given assurances from NMFS and other responsible parties that Springer is to be rehabilitated in a natural seapen or embayment, minimizing human contact.

All funds left over from the Springer reintroduction effort will support scientific research and conservation efforts surrounding Puget Sound's Southern Resident Community orcas.

Donations can be sent directly to Orphan Orca Fund, c/o Juanita Johns, Islanders Bank, PO Box 909, Friday Harbor, WA 98250.