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Who Was That Unmasked Man, Anyway?

Hanford Cleanup Workers Worry About Toxic Vapors Dozens of cleanup workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state — the most contaminated site in the nation — have registered complaints in the past two years about ammonia-laden vapors seeping up from waste tanks at the site. The workers blame the noxious fumes for a […]

Threat Level: Orange

Legacy of Agent Orange Continues to Haunt Vietnam Decades after the U.S. military sprayed Vietnam with millions of gallons of Agent Orange, fish and livestock in some parts of the nation are still highly contaminated with dioxin and other toxic chemicals contained in the defoliant. Dioxin levels in some people’s bloodstreams are also high, according […]

Depths of Despair

West Coast Trawlers Accused of Wrecking Deep-Sea Coral Colonies Even as marine scientists are discovering extensive colonies of deep-sea coral off the western coast of the U.S., huge factory trawlers are already destroying the fragile areas, which are believed to provide habitat to large populations of marine species, conservationists say. “These are the old-growth forests […]

Throw in the Powell

With Lake Powell Depleted by Drought, Enviros Push to Drain It Environmentalists have long loathed Lake Powell, created in the 1960s by damming the Colorado River and drowning beautiful Glen Canyon in southern Utah and northern Arizona. Now, with drought having depleted the lake to its lowest level in 30 years, enviros are feeling energized […]

John Mauro, Pilchuck Audubon Society

John Mauro is smart growth director for Pilchuck Audubon Society in Everett, Wash. He works to stop sprawl and ensure that clean water and wildlife habitat maintain a high profile in the growth-management dialogue. Monday, 11 Aug 2003 EVERETT, Wash. I live a good portion of my day in spandex. Perhaps atypical apparel for a […]

Keeping the Chemical Fires Burning

Army Begins Burning Chemical Weapons in Alabama To the dismay of environmentalists and many community members in Anniston, Ala., the U.S. Army on Saturday started incinerating millions of pounds of chemical weapons stored at an army depot in town, a process expected to take seven years. A federal judge cleared the way on Friday when […]

Going Down in Flames

California Bans Flame Retardants Linked to Serious Health Problems In a precedent-setting move, California has become the first state in the nation to ban two flame-retardant chemicals that have been shown to accumulate in the blood of mothers and nursing infants. The chemicals, known as PBDEs, are widely used to coat furniture, electronics, plastics, and […]

A View to a Drill

Bush Administration Seeks to Increase Drilling In Rockies Federal land managers throughout the Rocky Mountain region must look for ways to remove or relax environmental restrictions on oil and gas drilling on federal lands, according to a Bush administration mandate issued yesterday. In the mandate, the Bureau of Land Management calls on its regional officials […]

Special Delivery

UPS and FedEx Look to Cleaner Vehicles What can brown do for you? Go green, apparently. That’s right: United Parcel Service and Federal Express have begun phasing out diesel engines from their combined 100, 000 vehicles in favor of cleaner, less expensive fuels. Today, UPS boasts about 2,000 vans running on alternative fuels, from compressed […]

Trash Cows

South Africa Contemplates Legislation to Reduce Solid Waste Hoping to stem a rising tide of solid waste, South Africa is introducing a new tax on consumer goods designed to discourage trash dumping and promote recycling. The tax would amount to a compulsory deposit on items ranging from bottles and cans to car tires and plastic […]