• Bayer Urged to Drop Poultry Antibiotic
  
• Medical Supply Buyers Make Environmental Choices
  
• EPA Launches New Compliance Database
  
• Smart Growth Winners Show Innovative Solutions
  
• New Marine Institute Studies Upwelling Ecosystems
  
• Cargill Fined for Hog Waste Spill
  
• Ranch Earns Wildlife Habitat Certification
  
• Polar Bears FedExed to New Homes
  

Bayer Urged to Drop Poultry Antibiotic

For two years, Bayer has opposed the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) efforts to bar the use of certain antibiotics in livestock. The FDA has proposed the ban due to concerns that the agricultural use of antibiotics that are related to common drugs used in humans may hasten the development of drug resistant bacteria.

New preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) bolster the FDA's case that continued use of Bayer's fluoroquinolone antibiotic, Baytril, in poultry flocks is undercutting the effectiveness of the similar drug ciprofloxacin (Cipro) against the most common cause of severe food poisoning, campylobacter bacteria. The FDA believes that people eating poultry treated with Baytril are at greater risk for contracting Cipro resistant campylobacter, which is a common contaminant on store bought chicken.

Cipro is a key drug in treating campylobacter food poisoning, which causes an estimated two million illnesses and 100 deaths a year.

"This new CDC data show that antibiotic resistance to Cipro in treating the most common cause of severe food poisoning jumped from 14 to 19 percent last year and has increased four of the last five years," said Dr. Rebecca Goldburg, a senior scientist for the conservation group Environmental Defense, as she delivered the 16,000 letters at Bayer's headquarters.

"This new data give even greater urgency to the American Medical Association's recommendation that Bayer should stop fighting the FDA's proposed ban, and stop playing chicken with the public's health," Goldburg added.

Bayer officials say that the growing body of scientific evidence shows that prudent use of the antibiotic Baytril for poultry is an important safeguard for the nation's food supply.

"Judged on scientific data rather than emotion and speculation, there is no justification for withdrawing Baytril and, thereby, exposing poultry flocks to unnecessary illness, poultry farmers to unnecessary hardship and the American people to unnecessary hygiene risks in one of America's favorite and most healthful foods," said John Payne, president and general manager of Bayer Animal Health. "In fact, withdrawing Baytril from poultry farming could very well cause more harm than good while doing nothing to reduce the risk of resistant bacteria infecting humans."

The new CDC data on campylobacter resistance will be presented Wednesday at the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring Systems 2002 Annual Scientific Meeting in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Six of the top 19 U.S. poultry producers say they no longer use fluoroquinolones in chickens produced for human consumption, including Tyson Foods, Gold Kist, ConAgra Poultry, Perdue Farms, Foster Farms and Claxton.

"We call on Bayer to practice what it preaches in its slogan, 'Expertise With Responsibility'," said Dr. Richard Michaels, the former chief of infectious disease at the University of Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital.

Michaels, also a member of the steering committee for the Pittsburgh area chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, noted that the only other maker of fluoroquinolones for poultry, Abbott Laboratories, has respected the FDA proposed ban since it was issued in October 2000.

"Bayer should follow Abbott's lead, drop its two year challenge to the FDA's proposed ban and immediately pull Baytril from the poultry market," Michaels concluded.

Medical Supply Buyers Make Environmental Choices

The commitments were formalized late last month at the second annual CleanMed, an international health care conference on environmentally preferable products and green buildings. In attendance were leading institutions from across the health care supply chain, including medical device manufacturers, GPOs, health care systems and hospitals.

Premier, Inc., Novation, Broadlane and Consorta, Inc. ­ which together represent about $30 billion in medical purchasing power - each announced initiatives designed to reduce the purchasing of medical products containing mercury, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, and the chemical plasticizer DEHP.

Among the companies' commitments:

• Novation will label DEHP containing and PVC medical products in its catalogues so customers can seek alternatives.
• Consorta will ask shareholders for permission to label DEHP containing and PVC products in catalogs, and to take mercury containing medical devices off contract because of environmental concerns.
• Premier will take mercury containing medical devices off contract, and has developed a comprehensive list of pharmaceutical products containing mercury to help hospitals identify these drugs and manage or dispose of them appropriately.
• Broadlane indicates in its online catalogue and contract implementation packages which products are free from chlorine, DEHP, latex, mercury and PVC.

"We applaud the commitment of these four GPOs to educate their customers about environmentally preferable products and to move to offer better and safer alternatives," said Mark Rossi, senior research associate for Health Care Without Harm and coordinator of the CleanMed conference. "This reflects a developing consensus that mercury, PVC, DEHP and other highly toxic substances do not belong in medical products except where alternatives are not yet available."

EPA Launches New Compliance Database

On Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to release the pilot website Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO), which was developed in partnership with the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), a national association representing state and territorial environmental commissioners.

The EPA will be seeking public comment for 60 days about this pilot information service. When final, ECHO will provide users with detailed facility reports, which include:

• Federal and state compliance inspections
• Environmental violations
• Recent formal enforcement actions taken
• Demographic profile of surrounding area

"We encourage all parties interested in environmental protection - industry, environmental groups, citizens - to review ECHO during the 60 day pilot period and give us reactions and suggestions about how to make it as useful and effective as we can," said John Peter Suarez, the EPA's assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance.

"We believe that ECHO will significantly increase public awareness of information about environmental compliance," Suarez added.

The public comment period will give users and other interested parties, including those responsible for facilities included within the database, an opportunity to review and comment on ECHO's content, design and data accuracy. ECHO will also provide an online error reporting process to ensure continued public participation on data quality.

"The states have been leaders in the development of data systems that provide information to citizens. We have formed an effective, ongoing partnership with EPA to improve both the quality and accessibility of data," said Steve Thompson, chair of the ECOS compliance committee, and executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. "We also understand that care must be taken to present the data in such a way as to reduce unintended misunderstanding of the data."

Although all of the information on ECHO was already available to the public, ECHO provides additional benefits, including a single point of access to environmental compliance information.

ECHO includes compliance information for facilities regulated under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Data reports are updated monthly and cover a two year period. The system retrieves information from federal and state data entered into a variety of EPA databases, and includes links to additional state enforcement and compliance information.

The database will offer easier to understand information regarding environmental issues, and allow companies to monitor their own record of compliance under federal environmental laws.

ECHO will be available at: http://www.epa.gov/echo

Smart Growth Winners Show Innovative Solutions

The award recognizes innovative approaches and actions taken by state, local and regional governments to achieve smart growth. Each award recipient incorporated principles of smart growth to create places that respect community culture and the environment, foster economic development and enhance quality of life.

"The driving force of smart growth is to provide each Americans with greater quality of life by developing healthy communities with flourishing economies, open space for parks and recreation and convenient transportation choices," said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman during the award ceremony at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. "That's what this award does - shines a spotlight on the best of the best smart growth achievements.

Whitman said smart growth is about planning growth to form healthy communities and neighborhoods, minimize environmental impacts, and support a strong economy.

Arlington County, Virginia won the award for Overall Excellence, for Smart Growth in the Rosslyn/Ballston Corridor. Arlington planned dense, mixed use development at five commuter train stations creating urban villages where people live, shop, work and play using transit, pedestrian walkways, bicycles or cars.

The Breckenridge Planning Department in Colorado won the Built Projects award for the Wellington Neighborhood. This project recycles land, creates affordable housing for working families, provides a free transit shuttle to the nearby downtown and helps the region avoid mountain sprawl.

The City County Association of Governments of San Mateo County, California won the award for Policies and Regulations for its Transit-Oriented Development Incentive Program. This program uses transportation funds to help towns that build housing near rail stations, linking land use with efficient use of the existing transportation system.

The state of Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs won the Community Outreach and Education award for the Community Preservation Initiative. This is a statewide smart growth program that helps municipal officials and community leaders understand the potential effects of future growth and make more informed choices.

"Communities from around the country can learn from today's winners," said Whitman. "Each one provides valuable lessons that can be put to use to improve the quality of life today and for generations to come."

The creation of the National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement was announced by Whitman on January 24, and over 100 applications were submitted in this first competition. Winning entries were selected based on their ability to be replicated and the effectiveness in advancing smart growth and on the level of citizen and stakeholder participation or partnership.

The competition was open to state, regional or local governments and other public sector entities.

For more information about the awards program and the winners, visit: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/awards.htm

New Marine Institute Studies Upwelling Ecosystems

The center will use new technological approaches to study the processes driving the productive coastal upwelling ecosystems along the California coast. The aim is to establish a scientific basis for the effective monitoring and management of these ecosystems, and the fisheries and other resources associated with them.

The center brings together an interdisciplinary group of researchers from five partner institutions around Monterey Bay, with UCSC as the lead institution. The other partners are the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Laboratory in Santa Cruz.

The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is also involved, said Gary Griggs, a principal investigator on the grant and director of UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences.

"Our goal is to develop an integrated view of these highly productive coastal ecosystems, using the Monterey Bay sanctuary as kind of a big laboratory," Griggs said. "Part of the project will be to put all the data together in a way that is accessible and can be visualized, both for scientists and for public user groups."

The California coast is one of just five major coastal upwelling regions in the world. While they make up just one-tenth of a percent of the ocean's surface area, upwelling regions account for 95 percent of the global marine biomass and more than 21 percent of the world's fisheries landings.

Despite the ecological and economic importance of coastal upwelling centers, scientists have only a rudimentary understanding of how coastal upwelling fuels the engines of productivity associated with them, said Donald Croll, a principal investigator on the grant and assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCSC.

The Center for Integrated Marine Technologies (CIMT) will help scientists understand how key marine resources - including fisheries, seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles - respond to short term and long term changes in oceanographic processes, Croll said.

Cargill Fined for Hog Waste Spill

The Audrain County Circuit Court has ordered the company to pay $286,778 in damages for the fish kill resulting from a hog waste spill. Several thousand fish died between July 27 and July 31, 2000 when Cargill spilled hog wastes from a lagoon at its McCaw Farm storage facility, contaminating more than three miles of the Loutre River.

An inspector from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) discovered the spill on July 31, 2000, during a follow up inspection at McCaw Farms, which had experienced another hog waste spill in June 2000. McCaw Farms, which works under contract with Cargill Pork operations, has a state permit allowing it to operate a concentrated animal feeding operation with as many as 16,800 hogs in 24 barns.

The fine assessed against Cargill includes payment for the economic value of the fish killed and costs incurred by the Missouri Department of Conservation in investigating the spill.

The Conservation Department will receive $62,687. Cargill must pay $160,000 to the Audrain County School Fund and $54,091 to the Missouri DNR for violating the Missouri Clean Water Law.

Cargill, a diversified company with more than 80,000 employees worldwide, also was ordered to pay $10,000 to cover the legal and investigative costs incurred by the Missouri Attorney General's office.

Cargill's interests include food production and processing, trading in oil and agricultural commodities, futures brokering, feed and fertilizer production and steelmaking. The company is the nation's top grain grower and second largest meat packer.

Ranch Earns Wildlife Habitat Certification

Beaverhead Ranch is owned by Matador Cattle Company, a subsidiary of Kansas based Koch Industries, Inc., and is located west of Yellowstone National Park.

The 250,000 acre ranch and its employees, working with federal and state agencies, have helped restore the breeding waters of the threatened Westslope cutthroat trout by removing beavers and beaver dams, replanting desirable trees and limiting cattle access on a portion of Bear Creek. The ranch also provides calving grounds for hundreds of elk, and is home to whitetail and mule deer, antelope, moose and wolves.

"Beaverhead Ranch exemplifies the success that working ranches can have in enhancing natural resources and increasing natural biodiversity," said WHC president Bill Howard. "We strongly believe that running an economically profitable ranch is compatible with good stewardship of natural resources, and Beaverhead Ranch proves the point."

Using market based principles that give employees more responsibility and accountability for natural resource protection, the Beaverhead Ranch has increased its operational efficiency and long term productivity while restoring and managing the existing natural resources.

The ranch has increased its overall carrying capacity by eight percent since 1991, while at the same time decreasing feed costs by 25 percent and achieving record calf crops. The ranch it now supports more than 8,000 head of cattle, and is the seasonal home to more than 4,000 elk.

WHC is a nonprofit group dedicated to increasing the quality and amount of wildlife habitat on corporate, private and public lands. WHC's certification program recognizes outstanding wildlife habitat management and environmental education efforts at corporate sites, and offers third party validation of the benefits of such programs.

The program requires that sites apply for periodic renewal. Since 1990, WHC has certified 312 sites worldwide.

"Together with our partners and members, we share a vision to conserve and restore natural ecosystems for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity," Howard said. "Through knowledge and passion, we can promote a greater understanding of the natural world, and continue to focus on educating youth who are the future conservators of our natural resources."

Polar Bears FedExed to New Homes

The polar bears were seized earlier this month from the Mexico based Suarez Bros. Circus, which has been stationed in Puerto Rico since May 2001. The seizure followed an 18 month long campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Humane Society of Puerto Rico.

The six bears, accompanied by bear experts and veterinarians, left San Juan on a Federal Express transport, heading to the FedEx Express hub in Memphis, Tennessee. From there, the bears were to be separated and taken on flights to their final destinations. All the bears are expected to be in their new facilities by late this evening.

"It is gratifying to know that the bears will soon be in their new homes, getting proper veterinary attention and professional care," said Sydney Butler, executive director of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA). "These bears have been in some wretched conditions, and we are proud to help place them in accredited zoological facilities."

The Detroit Zoo will be taking in the female bear, dubbed Barle, while the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington will house two males, Kenneth and Boris. The remaining three male polar bears - Wilhelm, Masha and Royale - will go to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro.

The bears had been performing in the circus, but a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) investigation uncovered violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which resulted in their confiscation. The AZA Bear Taxon Advisory Group (TAG), a cooperative team of bear experts from AZA accredited zoos and aquariums, was asked by USFWS to find placements in accredited zoos, and to arrange transport from Puerto Rico.

"Awesome, awesome, awesome effort on everyone's part," said Diana Weinhardt, curator of large mammals at the Houston Zoo and chair of the AZA Bear TAG. "We couldn't have managed this operation without the expertise of so many people - including PETA for bringing this to our attention, and the Louisville Zoo, as they took in a lone male polar bear from North Carolina Zoo in order to make room for the three confiscated bears."

The AZA's Bear TAG also worked with USFWS to find an appropriate home for a female polar bear in March 2002. The bear, named Alaska, was confiscated from the Suarez Circus due to permit irregularities and moved to a new home at The Baltimore Zoo.

Federal wildlife agents confiscated the remaining six polar bears on November 5, in Yabucoa, Puerto Rico.

Federal Express, the world's largest express transportation company, donated the use of its express transportation network to ship the six polar bears from San Juan to the three zoos.

"It is our privilege to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and these zoos as part of this rescue mission," said Michael Ducker, executive vice president, International, FedEx Express. "We are proud to put our unique global network to this use in order to relocate the bears to a more suitable environment."