1) Incineration Opponents Offer Alternative Plan
2) New Alarming Mercury Tests Performed By the Mobile Register
3) Water Compact Negotiations Pushed Back
4) New Air Quality Problems In Birmingham
5) National Recycling Economic Information Released
6) BEN Notes : Celebrate Wildlife Refuges, Clean Water Act 30th Anniversary Website, AEC Recycling Center Benefit, Nature Conservancy Work Day, Coastal Kids Quiz, Christmas Shopping At Red Rain

1. Incineration Opponents Offer Alternative Plan - Opponents of chemical weapons incineration unveiled a plan in Oxford, Alabama earlier this month for destroying the nation's stockpile of lethal munitions.

Craig Williams, head of the Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group, said the solution for ridding stockpile sites of chemical weapons lies in disassembling the munitions and then neutralizing the lethal nerve agent so that it can be safely stored or destroyed. Incineration opponents called on President George W. Bush to convene a panel to study their idea in the next 60 days. The Anniston Army Depot has more than 661,000 chemical weapons including rockets, land mines, artillery shells, motar rounds and bulk containers that contain the nerve agents sarin, and VX as well as mustard blister agent. An incinerator is scheduled to begin destroying the weapons in June 2002.

Anti-incineration activists say their new plan is safer, quicker and cheaper than incineration. According to the Anniston Star, Army officials have expressed a high level of skepticism at some aspects of the plan. To learn more about the Chemical Weapons Working Group's alternative plan to incineration, visit their website at: http://www.cwwg.org

2. New Alarming Mercury Tests Performed By the Mobile Register - New hair tests conducted by the Mobile Register on people who eat regularly predatory fish (grouper, amberjack, tuna and redfish) have federal officials and scientists concerned that mercury contamination in the region is much more severe than expected. According to the Mobile Register, the most disturbing
aspect of the tests is that most of the people tested by the Register developed high levels of methylmercury even though their fish consumption habits were well within guidelines issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for avoiding the toxic compound.

Of the 65 hair tests sponsored by the Mobile Register, only 14 of the participants tested had mercury levels within the federal safety standard for mercury of 1 part per million. Ten participants had mercury levels over 5 parts per million, including one participant from Mississippi whose mercury level reached 11 parts per million. The participants in the study were from the northern Gulf Coast.

To read more about the Mobile Register's latest findings visit their website at :
http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/10060785242937132.xml

To read the entire the Mobile Register "Mercury Series" go to:
http://www.al.com/specialreport/?mobileregister/mercuryinthewater.html

3. Water Compact Negotiations Pushed Back - Water Compact negotiators from Alabama, Georgia and Florida have agreed once again to push back their deadline for an agreement on Tri-State water use.

The long standing Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) water use negotiations have been stalled for several years. The new deadline for an agreement is January 15, 2002. Lindsey Thomas, a former congressman representing U.S. government interests in the process has suggested that the states allow federal agencies a larger role in trying to find an end to the decade long deadlock.

4.New Air Quality Problems In Birmingham - Earlier this month (November 6th and 7th), the Jefferson County Department of Health reported higher concentrations of particulate matter, due in part to stagnant air and early morning temperature inversions. Both days were code orange on EPA's Air Quality Index (AQI) scale, which represents unhealthy air quality for sensitive groups.

The Jefferson County Department of Health recently began monitoring very fine particles of air pollution called Particulate Matter 2.5 or PM-2.5. The 2.5 micron size particulates, which are much smaller than dust particles, can cause greater health problems because they can be deposited more deeply into the respiratory system. This condition may result in disease of the lung or worsen pre-existing respiratory problems.

The Jefferson County Department of Health posts the area's AQI scale daily on their website at:
http://www.jcdh.org/environmental/arprotection/airpollution/airquality.asp

5. National Recycling Economic Information Released - This month, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) proposed rules to adopt a state solid waste plan (a public hearing will be held on the plan December
17th and a copy of the plan can be found at http://www.adem.state.al.us/RegsPermit/PropRules/proprule.htm ). The plan calls for an increase in recycling and waste reduction statewide.

How important is recycling to the U.S economy? A recent economic study by the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) provides some pretty astonishing numbers.

For example, recycling is responsible for 1.1 million manufacturing jobs - creating $37 billion in annual payroll. The industry is comparable to the auto and truck manufacturing industry and is significantly larger than mining and waste management disposal industries.

Check out a summary of the NRC study at : http://www.nrc-recycle.org/Programs/rei/summary.htm

6. BEN Notes: Celebrate Wildlife Refuges, Clean Water Act 30th Anniversary Website, AEC Recycling Center Benefit, Nature Conservancy Work Day, Coastal Kids Quiz, Christmas Shopping At Red Rain

Celebrate Wildlife Refuges - On December 1-2 come celebrate our country's National Wildlife Refuge System at the Wheeler Wildlife Festival in Decatur. The event will be held at the Refuge Visitor Center and will include weekend long wildlife related activities, programs by Bob and Martha Sargent, the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center and much more! For additional info, contact Kathy Whaley at kathy_whaley@fws.gov or 256-350-6639.

Clean Water Act 30th Anniversary Website - The National Clean Water Network is celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act by adding a section to its website http://www.cwn.org . Click on the 30th Anniversary logo to access an 8 page brochure outlining successes and failures of the 1972 Clean Water Act, educational materials and information about a photo and
essay contest.

AEC Recycling Center Benefit - The Alabama Environmental Council will be holding its 2nd Annual "Beer & Gear" Recycling Center Fundraiser to promote awareness and raise monies for the AEC's downtown Birmingham recycling center. The event will held on December 5th at Zydeco's, from 6:00 PM -'till. There will be a raffle and live bands. For more information call the AEC State office at 205-322-3126.

Nature Conservancy Work Day - Want to spend a day making a difference? Join a Nature Conservancy of Alabama "Work Day" at the TNC Coosa Bog Preserve in Cherokee County, December 1st at 9:30 AM. The TNC preserve in Cherokee County harbors one of the few remaining natural colonies of the green pitcher plant, a federally endangered species. Contact Keith Tassin if you plan to attend (he will also give you directions) at ktassin@tnc.org or 205-251-1155.

Coastal Kids Quiz - The Alabama Coastal Foundation and The Project CATE Foundation are partnering to sponsor the 2002 Coastal Kids Quiz. The competition is geared toward 5th grade students and their teachers who are interested in conservation and the environment. Students/teachers from Baldwin and Mobile counties are encouraged to enter this exciting new environmentaleducation program which uses the highly acclaimed "Ribbit's Big Splash" CD ROM as its base curriculum. For more information about this project, contact Cathy Barnette at 251-990-6002.

Christmas Shopping At Red Rain - When the Christmas shopping fever hits you on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, think about turning this year's gift giving shopping spree into a "green" one by visiting "Red Rain" in Homewood. Red Rain is an Environmental General Store which specializes in all natural, organic, reclaimed, recycled and sustainably produced products. Red Rain also offers environmental consulting for homes, offices and institutions. Visit Red Rain's website at http://www.redrainstore.com and check them out!

Please share BEN with friends and fellow conservationists. If you have any questions or comments about this publication, contact Pat Byington, the author and publisher of BEN at 205-226-7739 or pkbyington@aol.com To receive back issues of BEN, please go to our website at: http://www.BamaNews.com