EPA misled public on 9/11 pollution

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, the White House instructed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give the public misleading information, telling New Yorkers it was safe to breathe when reliable information on air quality was not available.

That finding is included in a report released Friday by the Office of the Inspector General of the EPA. It noted that some of the agency’s news releases in the weeks after the attack were softened before being released to the public; reassuring information was added, while cautionary information was deleted.

“When the EPA made a September 18 announcement that the air was ‘safe’ to breathe, it did not have sufficient data and analyses to make such a blanket statement,” the report says. “Furthermore, the White House Council on Environmental Quality influenced . . . the information that EPA communicated to the public through its early press releases when it convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones.”

On the morning of Sept. 12, according to the report, the office of then-EPA Administrator Christie Whitman issued a memo: “All statements to the media should be cleared through the NSC (National Security Council in the White House) before they are released.” (Newsday)

2003 ozone hole may be record size

The ozone hole over the Antarctic is growing at a rate that suggests it could be headed for a record size this year, Australian scientists said on Friday.

A study by Australian Antarctic bases attributed the development to colder temperatures in the stratosphere where the ozone hole forms.

Ozone is a protective layer in the atmosphere that shields the Earth from the sun’s rays, in particular ultraviolet-B radiation that can cause skin cancer, cataracts, and can harm marine life.

In 2000, NASA said the ozone hole expanded to a record 28.3 million sq km (10.9 million sq miles), three times the size of Australia or the United States, excluding Alaska.

The ozone hole in 2003 presently covers all of the Antarctic.

The full extent of the 2003 ozone hole will not be known until the end of September, as August and September are the coldest months for the South Pole. Temperatures begin to warm by early October and the ozone layer will then start to recover. (Reuters)

Brazilian activists oppose plans to complete nuclear plants

A decade-long controversy over the building of a third nuclear power plant in Brazil has heated up again, with environmentalists launching a campaign to block the government’s stated intention of completing the unfinished plant.

The coalition of some 20 non-governmental organizations has come together to block continued work on the partially-built power plant, after the administration of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former trade unionist who took office in January, announced that it planned to finish construction on the plant.

Brazil already has two functioning nuclear plants, Angra-1 and Angra-2, which comprise the Admiral Alvaro Alberto Nuclear Plant located on a beach in the city of Angra dos Reis, less than 100 kilometers directly west of Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil’s ambitious but frustrated nuclear energy program based on an agreement with Germany had also projected the construction of six other plants before the end of the 20th century.

Germany’s decision to dismantle its own nuclear power sector by 2030 has provided fuel for the arguments of critics of Angra-3, who say the plant would depend on technology and equipment that are already being phased out elsewhere.

There are also safety problems posed by storing the nuclear waste in the plant itself until a final destination for the waste has been decided, and the emergency plan in case of accidents is full of holes, said Rafael Ribeiro, an adviser to the Angra Ecological Protection Association.

A drill carried out on July 31 to test the emergency response plan “was a disgrace,” he told IPS, because the neighborhoods near the nuclear plant — which are home to tens of thousands of people who would need to be evacuated in case of an accident — did not even hear the warning siren. (IPS)

Arctic ice cap will melt completely in 100 years

The Arctic ice cap will melt completely within the next century if carbon dioxide emissions continue to heat the Earth’s atmosphere at current rates, according to an international study.

Observations of the Arctic by satellite show that the polar ice cap has shrunk by one million square kilometers over the last 20 years and is only six million square kilometers in the summer.

According to Ola Johannessen, a professor at the Nansen research institute in Bergen, Norway, the total melting of the ice cap would set free a massive flow of cold water, which would strongly reduce warm surface ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream.

The Gulf Stream is the reason behind Europe’s temperate climate and a reduction in its influence would have serious consequences for climate and the ecosystem in the continent. (AFP)

Pakistan cleans up big spill

Authorities are only now coming to terms with the ravages of the Aug. 14 catastrophe in which a Maltese tanker spilled 15,000 tons of crude across a 25-mile stretch of the Karachi coast. Environmentalists say things could get worse as the ship has plenty more crude left in its hold.

A clean-up operation launched last week to scrape the thick black sludge from the city’s popular Clifton beach and other areas of the coastline still continues, which, the authorities claim, will last 12 days.

Police and paramilitary forces have cordoned off the area and declared Clifton beach a restricted area. Authorities have closed the beach to the public and do not expect to open it for another month.

The pungent smell of crude has percolated into posh neighborhoods near the Karachi beaches, with residents complaining of breathing difficulties. Many have fled the area to stay with relatives and friends in other areas of the city.

Leaked oil has destroyed young mangroves and affected marine life, say environmentalists. (OneWorld.net)

Cargo ship leaking chemical off S. Africa also carrying uranium

A US-flagged cargo ship blown aground off Cape Town this week is carrying 56 tons of unprocessed uranium bound for the United States and is leaking a flammable chemical, industry officials admitted on Aug. 22.

The Sealand Express, which ran aground Tuesday in stormy seas near Cape Town, is carrying 5,000 tons of crude oil, containers of industrial chemicals, including leaking propyl acetate, and 59 sealed drums of uranium oxide, a byproduct of gold mining and the raw material for nuclear fuel rods, port and industry officials said.

US officials in South Africa said the stranded uranium oxide shipment, loaded in Cape Town, was headed to a uranium processing plant in Newport News, VA. US Coast Guard officials have arrived in South Africa to consult on the ship rescue effort, US Embassy officials said.

The uranium shipment was being made in accordance with international atomic energy regulations and with local mining and energy rules, Lenahan said. (Chicago Tribune)