Monday, 07 Nov 2005

Between Barack and a Hard Place

Obama will block EPA nominees until agency issues new lead rules

President Bush's latest U.S. EPA nominee has run into an obstacle no one anticipated: a Democrat with cojones. On Friday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) announced he was placing a hold on the nomination of Susan Bodine to head the EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response -- and furthermore, that he planned to block all future nominees to the EPA. What's his beef? Long-delayed rules for lead-paint exposure from home remodeling, which the agency has been under orders to produce since 1996. The EPA's own figures show that about 1.4 million children under age 7 are at risk of exposure to health-impairing levels of lead from home repairs and renovations; Illinois has the nation's highest rate of childhood lead poisoning. Faced with Obama's threat, EPA blinked and now says it'll get those rules out by year's end -- but the senator wants the promise in writing before he'll relent. Swoon.


It's raw out there, and nothing eases the chill like a nice, hot shower. But nothing increases the chill (and the guilt) like having to run lots of cold water before you can get to the steamy stuff. An apartment-dweller inquires of advice maven Umbra Fisk whether, in such a situation, 'tis better to run the tap on full blast or slow flow. Umbra warms right up to the question.

But Please, Come on Back

Toxic nasties abound in New Orleans muck; big cleanup being planned

Despite a well-publicized -- hyped, even -- recent study suggesting that Hurricane Katrina floodwaters weren't so bad, turns out the muck coating much of New Orleans poses serious long-term health risks. The Dallas Morning News compared the government's raw testing data from New Orleans, where the U.S. EPA looked for about 200 metals, industrial compounds, petroleum products, pesticides, and more, with screening levels the agency applies to residential soil testing. About 77 of the 200 substances were found in the post-Katrina glop, at least 15 at potentially dangerous concentrations. Potentially unsafe amounts of arsenic appear at nearly every site tested; petrochemical carcinogens at worrisome levels are widespread. The now-banned pesticide dieldrin was found at 58 of about 300 spots, nearly all at potentially dangerous levels. The Army Corps of Engineers is now planning one of the most massive environmental cleanups ever -- and given its successes so far in this tale, what could go wrong?


Steve Blackmer is a certified tree-hugger. A native New Englander with a lifelong appreciation for the woods of the region, he helped organize the Northern Forest Alliance and then founded the Northern Forest Center, which focuses on locals' social and economic needs as well as protection of the land. Blackmer is this week's InterActivist, so send him a question by noon PST on Wednesday; we'll publish his answers to selected questions on Friday.

Arup and at 'Em

China hires British engineers to create self-sufficient urban centers

Remember Logan's Run, the futuristic 1970s sci-fi flick where sex-crazed twentysomethings lived in a self-contained city sealed off from the ravages of a devastated environment? Seems reality might be catching up with fiction: China's hiring British firm Arup to design and build up to five "eco-cities" that will be self-sufficient in water, energy, and much of their food supplies, with climate-neutral transportation systems. They're envisioned as prototypes for eco-correct urban living in overpopulated and polluted environments -- and also as catnip to attract more investment in China's booming economy. The first eco-city may be open by 2010, with a population of about 50,000; it's projected to be three-quarters the size of Manhattan by 2040. "It is no gimmick," says Peter Head of Arup, who claims the highest levels of the Chinese government are on board with the project. "They are very committed to developing a new paradigm of economic development." Just watch out for your 30th birthday -- it's a killer.