Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
PEER Refuge Keeper • P.O. Box 359 Aurora, NY 13026 PEER DC Headquarters Staff
tel: 315-364-7495 fax: 315-364-7810 email: refugekeeper@peer.org
Executive Director • Jeff Ruch
California PEER • PO Box 4057, Georgetown, CA 95634 Associate Director • Carol Goldberg
tel: 530-333-2545 fax: 530-333-1113 email: capeer@peer.org Legal • Paula Dinerstein & Adam Draper
Florida PEER • P.O. Box 14463 Tallahassee, FL 32317-4463 Development • Angela Welsh
tel: 850-877-8097 fax: 850-942-5264 email: flpeer@peer.org Membership & PEEReview Layout • Justin Haas
New England PEER • P.O. Box 574 North Easton, MA 02356
tel: 508-230-9933 fax: 508-230-2110 email: nepeer@peer.org PEER Board
New Jersey PEER • P.O. Box 1 Ringoes, NJ 08551 Chair • Howard Wilshire (USGS, retired)
tel & fax: 609-397-8213 email: njpeer@peer.org Member • Frank Buono (National Park Service, retired)
Rocky Mountain PEER • P.O. Box 280396 Lakewood, CO 80228 Member • Louis Clark (G.A.P. President)
tel: 303-316-0809 fax: 303-322-4689 email: rmpeer@peer.org Member • Dr. Adam Finkel (former OSHA Executive)
Southwest PEER •738 N. 5th Ave., #210, Tucson AZ 85705 Member • Magi Shapiro (Army Corps, retired)
tel: 520-906-2159 email: swpeer@peer.org
Tennessee PEER • 4443 Pecan Valley Road Nashville, TN 37218 PEEReview is the quarterly newslettter of
tel: 615-313-7066 email: tnpeer@peer.org Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility 2000 P Street, NW • Suite 240 • Washington, D.C. 20036
P.O. Box 188 Valdez, AK 99686 tel: 907-835-5460 fax: 907-835-5410 tel: 202-265-7337 • fax: 202-265-4192
email: info@peer.org • website: http://www.peer.org
PEEReview
Pharma Pollution
Pharma Pollution is a New Reality Prison Industry Health
Regulatory agencies at all levels of government are beginning to Perils Grow
realize that pharmaceutical and personal care products and endo- In an investigation sparked by PEER, federal health of-
crine disrupting chemicals in surface and drinking water are of ficials found staff and inmates are being exposed to off-
concern. This phenomenon of “pharma pollution” is being found the-chart levels of lead and cadmium in a prison industry
in rivers, lakes, and groundwater, which serve as drinking water computer recycling plant. These officials urged an im-
sources, and even in treated drinking water. mediate shutdown of computer recycling operations at the
Pharma pollution includes over-the-counter and prescription Elkton Federal Correctional Institution, in eastern Ohio,
medications, dietary supplements, hormones, cleaning agents and strict new anti-contamination safeguards if the factory
(especially antibacterial cleaners), and the inert ingredients that is to reopen.
are associated with these products. Many of these components
are not completely metabolized Written by officials from the National Institute of Occu-
by the human body. Therefore, pational Safety and Health as well as the Federal Occu-
the unmetabolized portions are pational Health Service, the November report determined
excreted when people defecate that airborne lead and cadmium, both dangerous heavy
or urinate. For example, when metals, are accumulating at alarming concentrations in-
amoxicillin, a common anti- side air filters and ventilation systems:
biotic, is ingested, 60% of the
drug comes out unchanged in the “[T]he data from the ‘filter change-out’ operation
urine. showed that airborne exposures can exceed by a
factor of 450 times the concentration adopted by
During a March, 2007 congres-
sional briefing on compounds of OSHA as the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)
emerging concern, Dana Kolpin, for cadmium and over 50 times the PEL for lead.
Chief of the U.S. Geological Even though workers performing this operation
Survey’s toxic substances hy- wore respiratory protection equipment…these ex-
drology program, stated that the cessive exposures will exceed the Protection Factor
USGS has “definitive” evidence afforded by this type of respirator.”
from laboratory experiments
Pharmaceuticals as Pollutants. From 1999 Most of the contamination springs from inmates breaking
to 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
that chemical compounds found
studied surface and groundwater samples in household detergents, drugs, up computers with hammers in “the cathode ray tube glass
from around the country and found at least and other compounds that pass breaking operation.” In one factory section, “one [dust]
one compound in 80% of streams and 93% through wastewater treatment sample…was as high as 16% lead.”
of groundwater. plants are responsible for “femi-
nizing” male fish downstream of such plants. Potential human The report was submitted to the Justice Department Office
health impacts include cancer, compromised immunity, Type II of Inspector General as part of its system-wide review of
diabetes, behavioral changes and neurological effects. all the recycling centers. The Justice Department oversees
the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The review is expected to
Even if these compounds are then treated to the highest standards
prescribed by state and federal law, the compounds make it into conclude this year.
the waste stream and are discharged into the environment. Oth- This review stems from a whistleblower disclosure from
ers make it into the waste stream when people flush unused com- a prison safety manager, Leroy Smith, about similar dan-
pounds down the drain.
gers in the federal institution at Atwater, California {see
While people can be educated as to why flushing medications is PEEReview Fall ‘06}. “Ever since Leroy Smith went
dangerous, it is impossible to enforce a no-flush policy. Waste wa- public, every one of the six other federal prisons with
ter treatment plants are not designed to remove these compounds computer recycling plants should have been on notice that
from the waste stream. Moreover, no drinking water standard for they are putting the health of their own people at risk,”
these compounds currently exists. stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that
Under the leadership of New England PEER Director Kyla Ben- besides workers, families of staff members are routinely
nett, a former EPA biologist and lawyer, PEER is putting together exposed to dust carried home in clothing. “The Justice
a Pharma Pollution Program. The PEER program will push agen- Department needs to provide thorough health check-ups
cies to educate consumers, develop standards, take pharma pollu- for everyone who may have been exposed at all of these
tion into account in all discharge permits, and, above all, use the institutions.”
precautionary principle.
Winter 2008
Environmental Protection Agency
Congress Orders EPA Libraries Re-Opened
C
apping a nearly two-year cam- as its only library dedicated to the ef- of Congress is welcome, it comes after
paign by PEER, Congress or- fects of pesticides and new chemicals. several closures and much disruption,
dered the U.S. Environmental leaving the remaining EPA librarians
The report language attached to the
Protection Agency (EPA) to restore with the task of putting Humpty Dump-
omnibus appropriations bill for the
library services across the country and ty back together again.
remainder of the 2008 fiscal year di-
has earmarked money for that purpose.
rects EPA to use $3 million to “restore “We have already been contacted by
Beginning in early 2006, without pub- the network of EPA libraries recently EPA librarians who are concerned
lic announcement or congressional ap- closed or consolidated” and to report that the same officials who destroyed
proval, EPA began dismantling its net- within 90 days on its plans to “restore the libraries will be in charge of their
work of technical and research libraries. publicly available libraries to provide restoration,” said PEER Associate Di-
Altogether EPA has closed regional li- environmental information and data to rector Carol Goldberg. “We will help
braries serving 23 states and its head- each EPA region…” Congress closely oversee whether EPA
quarters library in Washington, D.C. It fully restores the full range of library
The EPA libraries are not only impor-
has also reduced services and hours in services it had provided.”
tant to the public but are invaluable
libraries covering another 14 states. In
tools for the agency’s own scientists
addition, EPA has shuttered several of
and specialists. While the intervention
its specialized, technical libraries, such
PEEReview
Massachusetts
Winter 2008
U.S. Forest Service
Forest Service Getting Taser-Happy
T
he U.S. Forest Service has bought Wolf-Baiting on the Range
$600,000 worth of “Electronic Con-
PEER and other conservation groups
trol Devices” without any training are pushing for a full investigation
program, rules for use or even a written ex- into reports that a ranch hand on the
planation as to why the devices are needed. 275,000 Adobe-Slash spread in New
Known as Tasers, the devices are sitting Mexico used a pregnant cow that was
in storage and cannot be issued because about to birth as bait to lure wolves so
the agency has yet to develop a training that the wolves could then be destroyed
course. for attacking livestock. The rancher
knew wolves were in the area by track-
Due to an intense fire season, the Forest 700,000 Volts of Persuasion. The Forest ing the radio signals from their collars.
Service is now staggering under a more Service is inexplicably looking for more bang “We would sacrifice a calf to get a third
than quarter-billion dollar deficit, causing it with your bucks. strike,” he reportedly said, referring
to jettison core programs. For example, the to the federal policy of shooting any
police use of Tasers since 2001. wolves linked to the loss of three live-
agency lacks enough funds to draw up new
stock within a year.
timber sales. At the same time, the agency Tasers are touted as a non-lethal alterna-
law enforcement program is hobbled by tive to the use of deadly force, but since the The reintroduction of the Mexican gray
more than 200 vacant positions, leaving Forest Service rarely is called upon to ap- wolf into the Southwest has been rocky.
Nearly one wolf is killed or removed
only one officer to cover each 300,000 ply deadly force, the use of these electronic
from the wild for each documented pre-
acres of National Forest and 750,000 an- devices on forest visitors is problematic. In dation – a removal rate that will doom
nual visitors. addition, agency law enforcement officers the reintroduction effort.
already have pepper spray as standard issue
Yet, in late September 2007, the Forest Ser- equipment. The Forest Service, however,
vice purchased 700 weapons and “related was unable to explain why it needed these
accessories” from Taser International, at a new weapons.
cost to taxpayers of more than $600,000,
according to agency records obtained by “There must have been a fire sale on Tas-
PEER. This represents more than enough ers, otherwise why would an agency buy
to equip every single sworn Forest Service 700 of them without a program, protocol
law enforcement official with an Electronic or need?” asked PEER Executive Director
Control system at a cost of $857 apiece. Jeff Ruch, noting that the federal fiscal year
ended in September, around the time of the
In addition to the cost of training its entire hurried single source purchase. “Along
law enforcement staff, the Forest Service with the howl of the coyote and the hoot
may be assuming significant financial li- of the owl, soon the plaintive cry of ‘Don’t
ability for injuries and deaths. In October, tase me, bro’ may echo through the forest
Amnesty International released a study es- night.”
timating that 290 civilians have died from Mexican Gray on the Move. PEER is
urging suspension of grazing permits of
any ranchers baiting wolves.
PEEReview
National Park Service
Cyber-Parks Coming to a Flat Screen Near You
V
isitors soon will be able to Yellowstone’s Echoing Ring Tones
watch the spectacular Old
Faithful Geyser without leav- Even as Yellowstone National Park of-
ing the comfort of home, the nearest ficials finalize a policy to govern cell
cyber-café or wherever there is a wire- towers inside the park, officials are
less signal. Yellowstone National Park mobilizing to block a cell tower slated
for a private campground just outside
is readying a web camera to air live
the park. Alltel Corp. has announced
streaming video of the park’s most fa- plans to erect a 115-foot cell phone
mous feature. Real-time views of the tower in Gardiner, Montana, adjacent
most stunning sites in our national to the park’s north entrance. The Yel-
parks may soon be available to anyone lowstone superintendent is concerned
with access to the Internet. that it would mar views at historic and
popular natural settings. Since the
Streaming webcasts may usher in a Cyber Tree House. The new webcam would offer the structure would be on private land,
whole new era in which people can tune first live streaming video of Old Faithful and nearby it does not require approval from the
geysers. park or the National Park Service.
into national park vistas whenever they
choose. On-line visitors could one day The concern by park management
outstrip actual park visitation. Yellowstone about the negative effects of cell tow-
already has three webcams (at Mammoth ers on park values is somewhat ironic
Hot Springs, Mt. Washburn and Old Faith-
Park Cell Phone Bill Shocker given Yellowstone’s own history of ap-
ful) providing static images every 30 sec- proving inappropriate cell towers within
In 2005, Yellowstone spent $92,000 in park boundaries. PEER points to a
onds or so. cell phone charges and nearly $94,000 number of park actions which appear
The public unveiling of the streaming Old in 2006. Prior to 2005, the park was to promote what it is now protesting, in-
Faithful webcam has been delayed until reli- illegally receiving free phones and cluding approval of a controversial cell
minutes while improperly depositing tower that is visible throughout the Old
able 24-hour, 365-day operation can be as-
lease fees in its own accounts rather Faithful Historic District and its secret
sured. This delay may give the Park Service meetings with telecomm companies to
time to consider ramifications, including: than the U.S. Treasury.
divide up the remaining portions of the
park lacking cell coverage.
• Will more streaming webcams be installed, Employee use of cell phones at
and, if so, where? Who will make that deci- Yellowstone has more than doubled Other national parks are struggling with
sion and how? in recent years. Park records obtained cell tower proposals for sites inside as
by PEER indicate employees were well as adjacent to, but visible from,
• Will 24-hour webcasts from Old Faithful park confines. For example, Harpers
lead to fewer visitors, or more visitors, and issued 70 cell phones in 2004 but by
Ferry National Historic Park is protest-
what are the repercussions of each? August 2006 that number had grown ing plans for a 195-foot cell tower that
to 188. As of November 14, 2007, would loom above the Civil war battle-
• Will Yellowstone officials include these the park counts 155 employees with field that is the park’s raison d’être.
and other webcam issues in its new Wireless government-paid cell phones but this
Plan, which it has been developing for the number reflects off-season usage and “The National Park Service provides
no guidance or assistance to its super-
past three years? may grow again this spring. These
intendents who are left to cope, tower-
numbers raise the question of how by-tower, with a widening web of wire-
“It would behoove the Park Service to dedi- Yellowstone can objectively develop a less scaffolds,” stated PEER Executive
cate at least a thimbleful of planning toward wireless plan when more than 40% of Director Jeff Ruch, noting that only one
possible web applications and priorities be- the park’s 380 full-time permanent staff of the nearly 400 national parks has a
fore going too far down the road,” stated is cell phone dependent. cell tower siting plan. “Even today, our
PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting national parks consider the cacophony
that agency policy for permissible webcam National Park Service policy limits
of ring tones to be part of the natural
use is also muddled. “Tellingly, far more soundscape.” PEER is campaigning
issuance of cell phones to when it “is for the Park Service to develop a sys-
organizational thought and effort has gone necessary for the employees to perform tem-wide approach to the proliferation
into the selection of the park ornaments for Service work.” Additionally, the need of cell towers and the intrusion of the
this year’s White House Christmas tree than must be documented and validated in wireless world into places that other-
has gone into charting the park system’s cy- official forms. Yellowstone appears to wise offer solitude. Follow our efforts in
ber-future.” be ignoring both policies. our web campaign center.
Winter 2008
U.S. Office of Special Counsel
Bizarre Bloch tion on the basis of sexual orientation.
T
his is one of those man
bites dog stories (and the While Bloch continues to implode, federal
dog gets rabies). The Bush whistleblowers are getting precious little
appointee serving as the U.S. official assistance.
Special Counsel, Scott Bloch, has
managed to make himself the tar-
get of several investigations. The News You Should Know
Special Counsel’s main job is
protecting federal whistleblowers Futurists no longer read chicken
but whistleblowers need protec- entrails for omens. Instead, they
tion from him. Bloch’s bizarre decipher informational bits such as
behavior is leading to a rising these:
bi-partisan chorus calling for his
resignation. As he enters the last Pacific Dead Zone. Scientists will
year of his five-year term, short of survey the Great Pacific Garbage
A Desi Arnaz Moment. Scott Bloch has some ‘splaining to
resigning he can only be removed do to Congress about deleting his e-mail records. Patch, a three million-ton floating
by the President for cause. trash mass formed by ocean current
e-mails in the unresolved affair of the fired patterns one thousand miles west of
In the latest installment, following a com- U.S. Attorneys. Bloch has also gone after San Francisco. Consisting mostly of
plaint lodged by PEER, other groups and public employees for even incidental use of plastic, the patch extends to depths
his own employees, Bloch is the subject e-mails with political overtones. Early in 300 feet below the surface in places.
of an Office of Personnel Management In- his tenure, he issued this warning to his Of-
spector General (OPM IG) investigation fice of Special Counsel (OSC) employees: Georgia on My Mind. Governor
for retaliating against internal whistleblow- Sonny Purdue sank $19 million into
“OSC employees do not have a right,
ers, politicizing Hatch Act enforcement, his dream project (“Go Fish Georgia”)
nor should they have an expectation,
imposing illegal gag orders, and dismissing to “turn Georgia into a fisherman’s
of privacy while using government
more than 1000 whistleblower disclosures paradise.” Unfortunately, “Go Fish”
office equipment. To the extent that
without investigation. The OPM IG had tournaments had to be cancelled due to
OSC employees want their personal
been trying to get hold of Bloch’s e-mails, the state’s persistent drought. Perdue
activities to remain private, they
only to find he purged them from his gov- has angrily denied that the state’s utter
should avoid using government
ernment computer. lack of water planning may also be a
equipment, such as their computer,
the internet, or e-mail.” factor; some dreams just die hard.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Bloch
hired a computer-help company, Geeks on
Adding another twist to the pretzel, Bloch Penny for Your Thoughts.
Call, to scrub his office computer’s hard
contends that the OPM IG investigation of International Paper has announced a
drive and the laptops used by his two top
him is illegal due to a “conflict of inter- ‘partnership” with the National Park
political deputies. Specifying a “seven-
est” in the White House ordering the probe Foundation to sell a customized cup
level” wipe procedure, Bloch tried to make
while Bloch is supposedly investigating the (a “fully compostable, recyclable
it virtually impossible for forensics experts
White House – although the OPM IG probe ecocontainer ™”) with “printed
to restore the data.
predates Bloch’s latest Karl Rove goose messages that will raise awareness
In the ensuing firestorm, Bloch asserted chase. Even more weirdly, Bloch is claim- about the National Park Centennial
his privacy and First Amendment rights – ing in radio interviews that he is a victim of in 2016 and educate the public about
which is beyond ironic because Bloch pur- a plot by “the homosexual lobby,” due to conservation and environmental
ports to be investigating missing Karl Rove his refusal to legally recognize discrimina- stewardship” to parks and
concessionaires. International Paper
Chambers Case before Federal Circuit will generously donate a penny from
each cup sold “up to $1million back to
the National Park Foundation to help
The bid to restore Teresa Chambers as Chief of the U.S. Park Police was finally
fund” more of this “joint effort” with
argued by PEER lawyers before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
IP, whose corporate selflessness knows
this November. Known as “the Honest Chief,” Chambers was removed for ad-
no bounds.
mitting officer shortages in an interview with the Washington Post. A decision is
expected this winter.
PEEReview
U.S. Army
Chem Weapons Smackdown
I
n a Lexington courtroom, developments have moved the state’s two
a parade of current and U.S. senators, Mitch McConnell and Jim
former specialists from Bunning, along with Rep. Ben Chandler, to
an Army chemical weapons seek changes in conditions at the depot. A
plant testified about safety ruling in Van Winkle’s case is expected this
breakdowns, inadequate train- spring.
ing and a practice of silencing
those who pointed out prob- Legal Bid to Restore
lems. The case concerns the
refusal by Blue Grass to re- EPA Ombudsman
store the position of, and clear- The U.S. Environmental Protection
ances for, Donald Van Winkle, Agency is fighting a novel legal bid
a chemical weapons monitor- to re-create an independent internal
ing operator. Van Winkle had watchdog. At the time that it was
revealed that — disbanded in 2002, EPA’s National
Handle with Better Care. A state inspection of Blue Grass Ombudsman Office had begun inves-
• Air monitors inside stor- found improper storage practices which crush the shells of VX tigating the public health conditions
nerve gas rockets and cause leaks. following the World Trade Center col-
age units called igloos
were configured so as to be lapse and had conducted high-profile
Many of Van Winkle’s disclosures were
ineffective; hearings exposing agency mishan-
confirmed in an October 2007 site inspec- dling of several Superfund cleanups.
• Employees at the depot were not being tion by the Kentucky Department of Envi-
ronmental Protection which took the un- The attempt to force EPA to recon-
properly tested for low level exposures stitute the Ombudsman Office flows
to nerve agent; and usual step of issuing notices of violation to
the Blue Grass Depot, where more than 500 from a whistleblower complaint filed
by Hugh Kaufman who was the Chief
• The chemical weapons facility lacked tons of chemical warfare agents, including
Investigator for the National Ombuds-
critical preparedness procedures in case highly lethal nerve gas, are stored. man Office from 1999 until its disman-
of an emergency, provided inadequate tlement by then-EPA Administrator
maintenance of monitoring equipment In addition, Van Winkle’s reports are at the
Christie Whitman. “If ever an agency
and suffered from training gaps among heart of an ongoing federal grand jury in-
needed an independent ombudsman,
key personnel. vestigation into base management. These it is the EPA,” stated PEER Senior
Counsel Paula Dinerstein, who is as-
Comings & Goings sisting in the case.
We are proud to announce that Dr. Adam Finkel has joined our Board of Directors.
He was a senior executive at the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administra-
tion (OSHA) and was its Regional Administrator in Denver. He was a PEER client
in 2003, when the Assistant Labor Secretary retaliated against him for protesting that
OSHA had decided to forego blood testing for its own inspectors to detect the early
stages of chronic beryllium disease. He received a substantial monetary settlement
and OSHA changed its mind about testing, discovering that at least a dozen inspec-
tors tested positive for beryllium sensitization. In 2007, Adam forced OSHA to make
public its workplace exposure database.
Today he is a Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University
of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Public Health and Executive
Director of the Penn Program on Regulation at the University of Pennsylvania Law
School. He recently received the David P. Rall Award from the American Public
Health Association for “a career in advancing science in the service of public health
protection.”
Also, we are thrilled that Angela Welsh joins our D.C. staff as our first Director of EPA Role Still at Issue. First responders
are seeking redress for lack of warning about
Individual Giving. Angela previously directed the (Princess) Diana Legacy Fund, harmful air quality at the World Trade Center.
helped grow Kidsave and designed the donor program for the World War II Memorial
campaign.
Winter 2008
PEER Perspective
Help, I’ve Fallen and Can’t Get Up
D San Francisco Board of Supervisors
President Aaron Peskin
After Jared Blumenthal, head of the city’s Depart-
ment of Environment, advocated non-fossil fuel alternatives
D Paul Souza, Vero Beach Office Director,
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
The already tattered range of the highly endan-
gered Florida panther just lost another 900,000 acres of
to a plan by Peskin to build a natural gas-burning power- protected habitat thanks to Souza, who heads the local
plant, the politician struck back. Peskin authored legisla- Ecological Services Office. Souza insists his decision
tion to abolish the entire department and re-assign all 64 was “driven by science” but a transportation official with
employees. The city attorney nixed the move to eliminate fast-growing Collier County begs to differ: “The reason
the voter-established department, ruling it violated the city they changed it is because we asked them to change it.”
charter. When pressed by a colleague about his motive, Unfortunately, in today’s Fish & Wildlife Service, bio-sti-
Peskin replied “Payback is a bitch.” Asked about this com- tutes like Souza have a bright future.
ment, Peskin would not deny it but groused that it made
him appear “vindictive.” Perish the thought.
D Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks toward meeting its goal of restoring the Chesapeake Bay
to health by 2010 is plagued by inflated inputs and “overly
Commissioner Vic Workman optimistic” assumptions, according to an academic review.
After a close encounter of the grizzly kind, Work- The findings echo those of a 2005 GAO report that de-
man suggested that hunters should be allowed to kill some bunked claims of progress for what EPA touts as one of its
of the bears so they would learn to fear humans. “We’ve premier environmental programs. While critics charge the
got grizzly bears eating people who come here to hunt,” “bay program has evolved into a public-relations machine,”
he reasoned. Workman, however, apparently flat missed Lape declines to retract the model and instead sniffs “For
the grizzly he shot at – wasting what would have been an some people to suggest that there was a deliberate attempt
important teachable moment for the entire disrespectful to be optimistic is just wrong.” “Avoiding Optimism” may
species. become EPA’s new mantra.
10 PEEReview
Tennessee
Forest Service Promises to Kick ORVs Out of Trout Streams
F
acing a threatened suit from into the headwaters of the upper Tellico
PEER and other conservation River. Streams by ORV trails receive
groups, the U.S. Forest Service 500 to 1,000 times more sediment than
says it will close all off-road vehicle streams just outside the trail system.
(ORV) trails in a two-state area for the
“We have been trying to get some ac-
winter – when wet weather exacerbates
tion like this for the past several years,”
muddy runoff into streams. The area
said Tennessee PEER Director Barry
affected is the Tellico watershed in
Sulkin, who coordinated the effort.
the Nantahala National Forest through
“Now that it has finally taken some
Tennessee and North Carolina, which
effective steps, we will make sure the
contains what are considered among
Forest Service sticks to its guns.”
the best trout streams in the region.
Intensive use has turned some ORV
trails into massive ditches more than Shameless Promotion. Tennessee PEER Director
shows off some equipment donated to PEER by
seven feet deep. The Forest Service Patagonia to aid our efforts in exposing failed
estimates more than 25,000 tons of wetland mitigations offered to compensate for
sediment has become muddy runoff destruction of natural wetlands.
Updates
A few brief follow-ups on some PEER projects from past PEEReviews:
Winter 2008 11
Off-Road Vehicles
Throttles Top Threat
continued from page 1
conflicts. Agency officials cannot cope with the “exponential” in- Blue Ribbon Coalition Flashes Green
crease in recreational demands on the nearly half-million acre fed-
The Blue Ribbon Coalition is the die-hard advocate for all
eral preserve south of Phoenix – particularly abusive off-roading
forms of motorized recreation and against trail closures and
by excessively large groups,
wilderness designations. Now, this rock-ribbed anti-green
according to internal memos group has amended its articles of incorporation to say that
obtained by PEER. it “shall [also] be dedicated to…the protection of the envi-
The Sonoran Desert National ronment.”
Monument is an increasingly Either this is a sign of the apocalypse or an indication that
popular recreational destina- even the most rabid rock crushers realize that they have a
tion in between the burgeon- serious image problem.
ing populations of Phoenix
and Tucson. One of the fast- teers are not enough to restore all the damaged areas. Volunteers
est growing components of are also getting tired of seeing their work destroyed.” In 2006,
Monument visitation is off- there were 73 illegal off-road “incursions” into the three congres-
road traffic, allowing ever sionally designated wilderness areas inside the Monument. All
bigger groups to damage re- told, Arizona BLM recorded 280 wilderness violations last year by
mote and sensitive areas. off-roaders. BLM documents cite a wide range of growing head-
aches arising out of off-road groups, from improper disposal of
Attempts to restore damaged human waste to the intensive police presence needed.
areas are being thwarted by
Failure to Communicate. Bullet-riddled “Reckless off-roaders are trashing America’s natural heritage,”
repeated improper off-road closure sign hints at the extent of law
intrusion. One BLM staff enforcement problems created by growing
said Patterson, noting that the Sonoran Desert is the most biologi-
member noted that “volun- ORV usage. cally rich of the world’s deserts. “America’s national monuments
must be protected from vandalism and environmental destruction,
even if that means keeping off-road vehicles out of monuments.”
Help the Environment Even More... The partial closure of the Sonoran Desert National Monument is
Go Paperless with PEER the first such emergency ban of ORVs from federal lands. It will
not be the last.
See Centerfold for Details
Name: _________________________________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________________________
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$14.00
Bureaucratic Career by Richard Kroger
Beloved of the Sky: Essays and Photographs
$9.00
on Clearcutting, by various authors
The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia
Movement and the Radical Right, by Daniel $16.00
Levitas
The Art of Anonymous Activism: Serving the
Public While Surviving Public Service by $10.00
PEER, GAP & POGO
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the $15.00
Politics of Dignity by Robert Fuller
Membership dues/special contribution
TOTAL
Save trees, Hug PEER
Save us postage, save yourself the time,
save our environment, and spare the trees!
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