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Environment

Railroad Safety Plan Announced

May 23, 2005 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 83, Issue 21

Railroad safety plan announced

Emergency planners and other local officials can now obtain a ranked list of the top 25 hazardous materials transported by rail through their communities, upon written request to railroad companies, the Department of Transportation announced last week. Local emergency responders also will be able to gain access to key transportation information when a hazardous materials rail accident occurs in their town through a pilot program to be launched in July by DOT's Federal Railroad Administration. The DOT concessions come in the face of growing demands from local officials for more information about rail transport of hazardous materials. The plans fall far short, however, of requests by 50 U.S. mayors for advanced notification any time hazardous materials are shipped by rail through their communities (C&EN, March 21, page 35). The announcements were made by Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta in Columbia, S.C., near the scene of a tank car chlorine release that killed nine people early this year. Mineta also said DOT would accelerate an ongoing study on the structural integrity of rail tankers. The study is driven by another fatal accident, this one in 2002 when a tank car derailed in North Dakota, releasing anhydrous ammonia. The study will result, Mineta said, in a system to rank the ability of tank cars to withstand different accidents.

NIH acts to retain two top scientists

Battey
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Credit: NIH PHOTO
Credit: NIH PHOTO

Officials at NIH have successfully addressed the stock divestiture concerns related to the agency's new interim conflict-of-interest rules that threatened the retention of one NIH institute director and the recruitment of another. National Institute on Deafness & Other Communication Disorders Director James F. Battey Jr., who had announced his plans to retire rather than make costly changes to a family trust fund that he manages (C&EN, April 11, page 10), has come to an understanding with NIH that will allow him to maintain his financial holdings and still comply with the rules. Likewise, NIH has successfully addressed the concerns of David A. Schwartz, director of pulmonary, allergy, and critical care at Duke University Medical Center, who was scheduled to take the helm of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in April but postponed his start date until his concerns over the conflict-of-interest rules were assuaged. He is scheduled to join NIEHS on May 23.

EPA's mercury rule challenged

Environmental groups are mounting a legal challenge to EPA's rule controlling emissions of mercury from coal-fired power plants. In four lawsuits filed on May 18, separate coalitions of activist groups argue that under the Clean Air Act, EPA must require every U.S. power plant to install equipment to control its mercury emissions. Instead, EPA's rule, unveiled in March, uses a cap-and-trade approach (C&EN, March 21, page 11). Under the regulation, EPA will give power plants credits allowing them to emit a specified amount of mercury. Facilities that release less of the metal may sell their excess allowances to utilities that emit more mercury. EPA in 2000 classified power plants among the pollution sources that must install maximum achievable control technology for toxic emissions, but the agency delisted the utility sector as part of the mercury rule. The environmental coalitions say that under the Clean Air Act, pollution sources cannot be taken off the list unless there are no health or environmental effects from delisting, which the environmental groups argue is not the case with mercury emissions from power plants.

Governor urges hold on new Gulf LNG terminals

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco urged the federal government to allow a greater role for states in the development of plans to locate liquefied natural gas terminals in offshore waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Offshore Louisiana is expected to be a primary location of new LNG facilities in the U.S., and the governor was particularly concerned about plans for some eight of the 23 facilities proposed for the Gulf (C&EN, April 25, page 19). These terminals will use a so-called open regasification system, which draws seawater into radiator-like racks to help shift LNG to a gaseous state and then returns the water to the sea. Critics say the systems will harm Gulf fisheries by killing billions of fish eggs and larvae through temperature changes, chlorine added to the seawater, and physical damage. The state's letter was addressed to the Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration, which, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, oversees federal permitting of offshore facilities. The governor, who supports LNG development, said she was unable to reach an "acceptable comfort level" with the potential risk posed by the cumulative impact of multiple offshore facilities using open-rack systems. She urged a hold on installing new open-rack facilities unless studies show these systems are safe for ocean ecosystems.

GOVERNMENT & POLICY ROUNDUP

A federal grand jury subpoenaed documents from DuPont related to perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts, the company reports. The U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental Crimes Section served the subpoena on May 17, DuPont says, adding that it "will be fully responsive to the DOJ in this matter."

The President's Council of Advisors on Science & Technology has released its first report assessing the National Nanotechnology Initiative. PCAST serves as the National Nanotechnology Advisory Panel, which is legislatively mandated to review the initiative every two years. The report is available at www.ostp.gov/html/PCASTNanoReport5-17-05.pdf.

Scientists in academia, industry, and other institutions are encouraged to prepare proposals for research that uses the Department of Energy's advanced computer systems, through a recently announced competitive department-funded grant program. Several million hours of supercomputer time are offered to winning researchers (hpc.science.doe.gov).

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