KOAT, May 20, 2014: 500 WIPP barrels of questionable nuclear waste packed with kitty litter — New Mexico environment officials said more than 500 barrels of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory were packed with the kitty litter suspected of causing a chemical reaction and radiation release […] In addition to 369 containers at the dump, environment officials said 57 more are still at Los Alamos and more than 100 are in storage in West Texas.

AP, May 20, 2014: New Mexico: 500 barrels of questionable nuke waste […] packed with the kitty litter suspected of causing a chemical reaction and radiation release at the nation’s underground nuclear waste dump. Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn Tuesday gave the U.S. Department of Energy and the contractor that runs [WIPP] until Friday to detail plans for permanently sealing the underground rooms where more than 300 barrels of the potentially dangerous containers of waste are stored.

KRQE, May 21, 2014: New Mexico Environment Department issued a new order to WIPP to make sure material suspected of causing February’s radiation leak is secure and not causing a health or environmental threat. The same order was issued to Los Alamos National Lab […] Tuesday’s order also calls for the feds to come up with an action plan to close the rooms that contain nitrate salt-bearing containers […]

National Journal, May 20, 2014: New Mexico Sees ‘Imminent’ Danger From Nuclear-Waste Barrels […] New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn gave Los Alamos National Laboratory until Wednesday to propose steps for locking down the […] barrels, which it packed using materials tied to a burst container in an underground area of [WIPP].

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Pipeline rupture spews 50,000 gallons of crude oil in Atwater Village

Jason Wells
LA Times: May 15, 2014

A 20-inch pipeline ruptured in Atwater Village early Thursday, spewing more than 50,000 gallons of crude oil over an approximately half-square-mile area, authorities said.

In some places, the oil was knee-high, affecting several businesses near the line rupture in the 5100 block of West San Fernando Road, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The above-ground pipeline, which ruptured shortly after 1 a.m., was shut off remotely as fire crews worked throughout the morning to contain the runoff, the department said.

(read full article at LA Times)

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Our national nutrition experts are in bed with Big Food. And we wonder why we’re fat.

I Went to the Nutritionists’ Annual Confab. It Was Catered by McDonald’s.

Kiera Butler
Mother Jones: May 12, 2014

One recent Friday afternoon, in a Mariott Hotel ballroom in Pomona, California, I watched two women skeptically evaluate their McDonald’s lunches. One peered into a plastic bowl containing a salad of lettuce, bacon, chicken, cheese, and ranch dressing. The other arranged two chocolate chip cookies and a yogurt parfait on a napkin. “Eww,” she said, gingerly stirring the layers of yogurt and pink strawberry goop. The woman with the salad nodded in agreement, poking at a wan chicken strip with her plastic fork.

When I asked how they were liking their lunches, both women grimaced and assured me that they “never” go to McDonald’s. So why were they eating it today? Well, they didn’t really have a choice. The women were registered dietitians halfway through day two of the annual conference of the California Dietetic Association (CDA). They were hoping to rack up some of the continuing education credits they needed to maintain their certification. McDonald’s, the conference’s featured sponsor, was the sole provider of lunch. “I guess it’s good to know that they have healthier options now,” said the woman with the salad.

As I wandered the exhibition hall, I saw that McDonald’s wasn’t the only food company giving away freebies. Cheerful reps at the Hershey’s booth passed out miniature cartons of chocolate and strawberry milk. Butter Buds offered packets of fake butter crystals. The California Beef Council guy gave me a pamphlet on how to lose weight by eating steak. Amy’s Naturals had microwave brownies. The night before, Sizzler, California Pizza Kitchen, Boston Market, and other chain restaurants had hosted a free evening buffet for conference-goers: “Local Restaurant Samplings for Your Pleasure.”

And that wasn’t all. The sessions—the real meat and potatoes of the conference—had food industry sponsors as well. The Wheat Council hosted a presentation about how gluten intolerance was just a fad, not a real medical problem. The International Food Information Council—whose supporters include Coca-Cola, Hershey, Yum Brands, Kraft, and McDonald’s—presented a discussion in which the panelists assured audience members that genetically modified foods were safe and environmentally sustainable. In “Bringing Affordable Healthier Food to Communities,” Walmart spokespeople sang the praises of (what else?) Walmart.

After lunch, I attended “Sweeteners in Schools: Keeping Science First in a Controversial Discussion.” Sponsored by the Corn Refiners Association, whose members produce and sell high-fructose corn syrup, it included a panel composed of three of the trade group’s representatives. The panelists bemoaned some schools’ decision to remove chocolate milk from their cafeteria menus. Later, one panelist said that she’d been dismayed to learn that some schools had banned sugary treats from classroom Valentine’s Day parties, which “could be a teachable moment for kids about moderation.” The moderator nodded in agreement, and added, “The bottom line is that all sugars contain the same calories, so you can’t say that there is one ingredient causing the obesity crisis.” The claim was presented as fact, despite mounting scientific evidence that high-fructose corn syrup prompts more weight gain than other sugars.

Later, I asked conference spokeswoman Pat Smith whether she thought it was fair to present such a one-sided discussion. She claimed that the sponsors did not influence any of the content in the program. “We like to think that our dietitians have a thought process and that we are presenting them with what is out there,” she said. “They need to make their own decisions on what they have listened to and apply that to their client base.”

“But it’s hard to make a decision if you’re only hearing one side of the story,” I countered.

She told me that she hadn’t known beforehand that the Corn Refiners panel would be composed entirely of its own representatives. And yet, when I asked her how the panel was chosen, she explained that it was approved by a committee. She also confirmed that the Corn Refiners had paid for the panel, but she declined to say how much. (She had previously declined me press credentials for the conference, explaining that the CDA would have its own journalists covering the event.)

With 75,000 members, the CDA’s parent organization, the national Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), is the world’s largest professional association for nutritionists and dietitians. It accredits undergraduate and graduate programs in nutrition science and awards credentials to dietitian degree candidates who pass its exam. In Washington, its lobbying arm is active on issues including childhood obesity, Medicare, and the farm bill.

It also has strong ties to the food industry. In 2013, Michele Simon, a public health lawyer and food politics blogger, launched an investigation (PDF) into the academy’s sponsorship policies. Simon found that its corporate support has increased dramatically over the past decade: In 2001, the academy listed just 10 sponsors. By 2011, there were 38, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Mars, and many others. Corporate contributions are its largest source of income, generating nearly 40 percent of its total revenue.

Simon also learned that in 2012, Nestlé paid $47,200 for its 2,500-square-foot display in the exhibition hall at the annual AND conference, and PepsiCo paid $38,000 for 1,600 square feet. The academy’s position papers, she noted, state that its sponsors do not influence its positions on controversial issues. And yet it often takes a pro-industry stance. When New York City was considering a ban on sales of oversized sodas, for example, the academy opposed it.

AND is not the only powerful nutritionists’ group with strong corporate ties. The sponsors of the School Nutrition Association‘s 2013 annual conference included PepsiCo, Domino’s Pizza, and Sara Lee. SNA made headlines recently when it asked Congress to lift the rule that students must take fruits and vegetables on the lunch line, and to ease the rules around sodium and whole grains.

Marion Nestle, a New York University nutritionist, wrote about nutritionists and corporate sponsorships in her 2007 book, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. “I worry a lot about food industry co-optation of my profession,” she wrote to me in an email. “Food companies are smart. They know that if they can make friends and help inform dietitians and nutritionists that the people they are supporting or helping will be reluctant to suggest eating less of their products.”

Andy Bellatti, a dietitian and member of AND, recalls his shock the first time he attended the organization’s national conference, in 2008. “I could get continuing education credits for literally sitting in a room and listening to Frito-Lay tell me that Sun Chips are a good way to meet my fiber needs,” he says. “I thought, ‘No wonder Americans are overweight and diabetic. The gatekeepers for our information about food are getting their information from junk-food companies.'”

(Read the full article at Mother Jones)

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Laura Zuckerman
Reuters: May 12, 2014

Pesticides may be linked to a spike in cases involving breathing difficulties and skin rashes in central Washington state, health officials said on Monday.

Washington health department spokeswoman Kelly Stowe said the illnesses could be tied to 15 separate incidents of spraying pesticides in commercial orchards. Roughly 60 people have been sickened in the agricultural region since March, including agricultural workers, neighbors to orchards and a utility crew working near fruit farms.

At least eight people sought emergency medical treatment for symptoms that included nausea, vomiting and headaches, Stowe said.

The majority of pesticides used by commercial orchards are strictly regulated by state and federal environmental and agricultural agencies, which prohibit applications that cause exposure to humans, either directly or in so-called drift events, when pesticides drift from the intended targets, said Washington State Health Officer Kathy Lofy.

“We’re concerned with this spike in potential drift exposures (and) protecting people from unnecessary exposure to these chemicals is a responsibility that needs to be taken very seriously,” Lofy said in a statement.

(read the full article at Yahoo)

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A new study from Harvard implicates two neonicotinoid pesticides, imidacloprid and clothianidin, in the ongoing plague of honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder. Imidacloprid is the most widely used pesticide in the world, and both are approved by the EPA.

World’s No. 1 pesticide brings honeybees to their knees, say scientists

By Fabien Tepper
The Christian Science Monitor : May 9, 2014

A team of Harvard biologists has come closer to cracking the mystery of honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), eight years after its appearance.

CCD persists in transforming bee colonies around the world into ghost towns: by the end of each winter, some colonies wind up littered with dead bees and emptied of many more, with no signs of renewal.

“One of the defining symptomatic observations of CCD colonies is the emptiness of hives in which the amount of dead bees found inside the hives do not account for the total numbers of bees present prior to winter when they were alive,” states the report, published May 9 in the Bulletin of Insectology.

The exact mechanism behind these collapses remains dauntingly unclear, but they have been linked with pathogen infestation, malnutrition, and pesticide exposure. This week’s report strongly indicates that two neonicotinoid insecticides that are widely used on crops can decimate honeybee colonies’ winter survival rates, whether or not mites or parasites are present.

The two chemicals, imidacloprid and clothianidin, both block insects’ central nervous systems, killing them by paralysis. Imidacloprid is the world’s most widely-used insecticide, and has been registered for use in the US since the 1994; clothianidin was registered in 2003 by the US Environmental Protection Agency, which found that it had passed honeybee-specific toxicity tests.

These scientists studied the health of 18 bee colonies in central Massachusetts over a six-month period spanning the winter of 2012-2013. Six of the colonies were fed sugar spiked with sub-lethal doses of imidacloprid, six had theirs laced with clothianidin, and six less-unfortunate control colonies ate clean sugar, starting in October.

All of the colonies went about their apian routines in good form throughout the fall. But by late January, six of the 12 poisoned colonies experienced collapses with CCD-like symptoms, like en-masse disappearance and the presence of un-hatched young. Of the six control hives, only one failed to survive the winter, seemingly due to an infestation by Nosema Ceranae parasites.

“The honey bee clusters in the six surviving neonicotinoid treated colonies were very small, and were either without queen bees or had no brood,” reports the study, suggesting the poisons harm the animals’ abilities to raise and train new young. In contrast, the five surviving control hives replenished their populations quickly, as the winter gave way to spring.

According to the report, these results “reinforce the conclusion that sublethal exposure to neonicotinoids is likely the main culprit for the occurrence of CCD.”

(read the full article at CS Monitor)

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