MonLbly Planet
MARCH Volume4 Number 4
A PUBLICA noN OF THE ASSOC/A TED STUDENTS ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Reagan's EPA- Protection for Who? by
David Goldsmith
The .American public is finally getting their noses rubbed in sanething environmentalists have tried to alert them to since Reagan took office: the administration's aim has been to either eliminate or circumvent legislation protecting h1.1t1an health that impinges on oorporate profits. 'As the March 2 editioo o f ~ Guardian perceptively stated: "we can thank the top officials of the Enviranental Protectioo Agere'/ (EPA) for one thing: they have left no doubt as to the deadly meaning of Ronald Reagan's pranise to get the goverrment off the backs of big business." In the past two years, 1.tOOer EPA Director Anne Gorsuch (oow Anne Burford) , budget cuts and deregulation have tooroughly diminished the agency's reason for existing. "Anne Gorsuch has done at least a decade's worth of damage to the Agency in just two years," a former Senate staffer involved in creating environmental legislatioo wrote in the WashiMton Post February 22. "The extroordinary thing is that so much has happened in full view • •. " Indeed, EPA officials like Rita Lavelle have met regular 1y with chemical irdustry officials before reaching settlements affecting their firms. t-breover, the Agency has barred envirormentalists and non-irdustry scientists fran testifying in hearings. Anti-pollutioo standards have been allc:Med to lapse, and as The Guardian noted, "CCJtplnies have been given d wink and nod to igoore toose that remain." And now there's the "Superfurd," the $1.6 billion allocated b-j Coogress in 19fD for cleaning up toxic waste dllll[)S. Private citizens, genuinely concerned about the horror of lethal dunps in their own backyards, were hopeful that it would help eliminate the danger emanating fran thJse sites. State and local goverrwnents were also
oopeful that this fl.100, financed primarily fran taxes on the chemical irdustry, would help them absorb the cost of interminable legal challenges for cleanup and canpensatioo. It clR)earS now, however, that these l'qleS have faded. Burford' s EPA was firding it diffucult spending the rooney for its intended purpose because that would have risked "alienating the primary constituents of this aaninistration, the continued page 7
Sound Practices - For Puget's Sake b-j Ric Conner
For the past five years the Natiooal Oceanic and Atroospheric Administratioo (NOAA) has been CXX1ducting research to determine the extent to which pollution has effected the Puget Sound marine envirarnent. This major project is ooe of ally two Marine F.cosystem Analysis (MESA) programs being undertaken by r«lM. The result of the MESA-Puget Sound project has been oot ally to identify enviroomental contaminates and contaminated areas but, by drawing lJEXXl the expertise of professionals like Bert Webber in eoology and Terrence Wahl in orootoology, to assess the marine cx:mnunities which inhabit the Puget Sound waters as well. This scope has provided substantial baseline informatioo oo marine manmals, flora, benthos, avians, fish, currents and foodwebs. Voh.1nes of data have been generated and are available fran the U.S. Goverrnent Printing Office, and nt.Jnerous cxmnercial publications have been produced with the suwcrt of the tOA and the University of Washingtoo. These books detail the history, uses, and characteristics of Puget Sound, and are available at many local bookstores.
NOAA recently contracted the consulting agency URS Engineers to oanpile information oo public issues related to their findings and to identify resulting resource-use conflicts. URS is . oalducting a series of workshops around Puget SOund and will produce a final report designed to include strategies for resolving identified resourceuse conflicts. The first workshc:p; are being held for local government officials, private interest groups, and irdividual use of Puget Sound. A seoood set of workshops will cx:niucted with oore groups of state and federal regulatory agencies. The cx:mnunity workshops are meant to identify issues, conflicts, and priori ties, while the agency workshops are designed to outline alternative strategies for resolving issues raised at the oonmunity level. A draft report illustrating CQ'lOerns and strategies will be circulated for public oonment following the workstq,s, and a final report will be made available upal request. The goal of the URS contract is to provide agencies and the putr lie a basis for forming EX>licy decisions ooncerning activities which may effect Puqet Sound. Acoording
be
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