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A $2.3 billion, five-year contract to manage the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was awarded to the University of California by the Department of Energy on April 19. The award came as no surprise--UC has managed the lab since 1943, and no organization bid against the university. DOE noted, however, that the award is the first involving a major DOE science laboratory since a congressional directive ordered competitive bidding for five management and operation contracts that were awarded more than 50 years ago without competition. The Berkeley lab is home to many chemical researchers and is funded primarily by DOE's Office of Science. Its mission is basic science and technology development with no classified programs or facilities, DOE notes. The department has the option of extending UC's contract for 15 years beyond the five-year term if UC meets DOE performance criteria. The lab, which rests a few miles from the UC Berkeley campus, was founded in 1931.
Despite some senators' objections to parts of the bill, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) introduced the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act (S. 852) on April 19. The bill would create a trust fund of $140 billion to compensate people injured by asbestos. The fund would be paid for by defendant companies and their insurers, which would be shielded from further liability. If the trust fund were insufficient, those injured by asbestos could take their claims to court. One source of contention in the bill is workers' compensation. If victims receive compensation from the trust fund, this would not reduce the value of their payments under workers' compensation. Some senators object to this provision, saying victims should not be compensated twice. Another issue is compensation of people who have no clear markers of illness from exposure. Under the bill, those people would not be compensated. But some argue that people who were exposed and currently have no signs of injury may eventually develop asbestos-related disease. Specter plans to meet with dissatisfied senators one more time to resolve differences over the bill and hopes to have the committee mark up the bill on April 28.
A voluntary pilot program to measure and reduce fugitive mercury air emissions from an Occidental Chemical Corp. chlor-alkali plant in Delaware will begin this month, according to EPA, the state, and OxyChem. The plant is one of nine U.S. mercury-cell chlor-alkali facilities that employ some 3,000 tons of mercury in the manufacture of chlorine and sodium hydroxide. Recent studies have shown that at least 30 tons of mercury are "consumed" and unaccounted for each year by the plants (C&EN, March 15, 2004, page 31). EPA increasingly is focusing on mercury emissions from the plants, and OxyChem voluntarily came to the government agencies with a plan to use its plant as a pilot to conduct real-time measurements with state-of-the-art instrumentation in a yearlong program. The Chlorine Institute applauds the company's effort and notes that two other mercury-cell chlor-alkali plants are considering doing the same. However, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has sued over mercury emissions, is concerned that the monthly average reporting requirement spelled out in the agreement may mask high episodic emissions that could explain some of the missing mercury.
Exposure to perfluorooctanoate from consumer goods is not expected to cause health effects or quantifiable levels of the chemical in the blood, says a DuPont-sponsored, peer-reviewed study (Environ. Sci. Technol., published online April 20). The study examines potential exposure to the anion of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from consumer use of clothing and cookware coated with fluoropolymers or fluorotelomers, including those sold under DuPont's Teflon brand. Some fluoropolymers are made with PFOA, and fluorotelomers contain trace amounts of the chemical as an unintentional by-product. EPA is investigating PFOA, which is found widely in people's blood at low levels, for potential health effects. In a related development, the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union is alerting paper companies about possible health risks from DuPont's Zonyl and Foraperle fluorinated telomers, which are applied to paper to make it grease-resistant. Recent studies suggest that fluorinated telomers may break down in the environment to form PFOA (C&EN, June 14, 2004, page 44). PACE wants to determine if employees in the paper industry are exposed to DuPont's telomers and whether they have elevated levels of PFOA in their blood. DuPont says its telomers don't pose worker safety issues.
On April 18, the U.S. released the strategic plan that will serve as a framework for its contribution to the international Global Earth Observation System of Systems. GEOSS is a worldwide, Earth-monitoring network involving almost 60 countries that aims to understand Earth as an integrated system and to achieve specific societal benefits. It is expected to evolve slowly from national systems to a global network in which data from weather stations, satellites, ocean buoys, tsunami detectors, and other instruments would be shared around the world. The U.S. plan was developed by 15 federal agencies over almost two years. It focuses on providing societal benefits such as better weather forecasting, reduced loss of life and property from disasters, better protection of ocean resources, and better understanding and adaptation to climate change. Except for funding for new tsunami gauges, the Administration is requesting no new monies for the plan and has not yet determined how much the plan will cost. The plan is available on the Internet at iwgeo.ssc.nasa.gov.
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