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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 1989)
Home (1 Geor| with |)j h ’"uriij. olfered St «e Coi; mind. paid to go S'UMip, 1 ai ul ad. 1° give ■ All of, mg me io '■ Brown 1 mid had ireshinsin •i added id all of a notice. iach Ji® t seen a ictedly as ms pitch- I he was miles |)ei Morrison ed — we - he was •4. From season, ck of the : ’t. tched in en down Hire rs never lies may e for his ason. He and was re Texas ’re ven sh led the g- g^ pressive Id and ugh de- slocking con# rst-yeat md ilit idn t Id ade Hit the sec- percent i team- second nds 30T Thursday, March 23,1989 The Battalion Page 11 Government figures show sad state of America’s air Study shows Gulf Coast firms release most toxins WASHINGTON (AP) — In a one-two punch on the state of Amer ica’s air, government figures re vealed Wednesday that 2.4 billion pounds of toxic: chemicals are re leased annually while 100 million people live where other pollutants, chiefly from automobiles, exceed federal standards. The report on toxic substances, poisonous materials released by chemical plants and other industries, is the first comprehensive look at them. Many have been linked to can cer, birth defects, reproductive dysfunctions, neurological disorders and genetic mutations. Among the 328 individual and classes of chemicals surveyed were 60 government-identified cancer- causing agents; methyl isocyanate, the toxic gas that killed at least 3,400 people and injured some 20,000 in Bhopal, India, in December 1984; and phosgene, a nerve gas used in World War I. “The magnitude of this problem far exceeds our worst fears,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who released the preliminary Environ mental Protection Agency figures for 1987 at a news conference with Reps. Mickey Leland, D-Texas; Jim Florio, D-N.J., and Gerry Sikorski, D-Minn. Waxman said the EPA “has bro ken commitment after commitment to deal with this problem” during the 19-year life of the Clean Air Act, and all four lawmakers said they’ll soon introduce legislation to force the EPA to control these emissions. Only seven of the substances are now regulated by the EPA, although a separate agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has set standards for more than 400 toxics in the workplace. Donald Clay, EPA’s top official on air quality issues, acknowleged that more should be done to protect against toxic pollutants but said the agency has been hamstrung in deal ing with 320 separate chemicals one atatime under current law 7 . “The idea of going down 320 (separate) rules . . . is just too cum bersome” especially since in many cases industry can be expected to contest tighter restrictions in the courts, Clay told reporters, adding that “some other approach is needed.” He suggested, for example, deal ing with the toxic emissions on a “source” basis instead of each chemi cal separately as required by the 1970 law that envisioned far fewer toxic chemicals than now being re leased. As to the preliminary EPA figures released by Waxman, Clay acknowl eged the volume of pollutants were greater than he had expected. “It’s a WASHINGTON (AP) — Pe trochemical plants along the Gulf Coast are largely responsible for the annual release of 229.9 mil lion pounds of toxic chemicals into the air by Texas industry, according to government figures indicating Texas led the country in poisonous emissions. Louisiana ranked second according to the Environmental Protection Agency preliminary data released Wednesday, with emissions totaling 134.5 million pounds per year. The national total was 2.4 bil lion pounds of toxic: chemicals, including substances that have been linked to cancer, birth de fects, reproductive dysfunctions, neurological disorders and ge netic mutations. Rep. Mickey Leland, a Hous ton Democrat, said the findings reveal a need for strong, immedi ate federal regulation. The EPA’s failure to take leadership, he said, “has jeopardized the health of our constituents.” “Texas has suffered the most from the EPA’s failure to exercise leadership in this area,” Leland said. EPA spokesman Rogei Mea- cham in Dallas said the data is preliminary and subject to change. “1 think it would be unfair and a disservice to the public to say -ffr ,. , 111, rJTi/'l de — s eat to public healtn, because it doesn’t,” Meacham said. The greatest source of the pollutants is the petrochemical industry, he said. big number. I think it’s a health problem that needs to be ad dressed.” EPA, meanwhile, released its an nual report on air quality, and con cluded more than 100 million Amer icans live in areas where they breathe unhealthy air, with pollut ants exceeding federal standards. EPA said ozone pollution and car bon monoxide emissions, both largely caused by automobiles, re main a major problem, especially in urban areas. Ozone levels increased 5 percent from 1986 to 1987 and, largely be cause of the unusual heat last sum mer, jumped another 14 percent in 1988, according to the EPA statistics Meacham said the agency be lieves in the need for a more thor ough regulation of these emis sions “because the potential is there for long-term public health effects because (petrochemical) companies use toxic chemicals.” Leland charged that the EPA has forced states and local juris dictions to decide between public health and economic well-being. “Local jurisdictions are told that if they implement strong reg ulations against toxic air releases, companies will be forced to close plants and relocate to areas with no regulation,” he said. Leland said a company in states such as California or New Jersey cannot compete with one located in Louisiana or Texas because air quality standards there are not as stringent or as vigorously en forced. Leland said uniform standards are needed to reduce the routine release of toxic pollutants. He promised to introduce legislation al ter the Easter recess that w ill list hazardous air pollutants and mandate that the sources use the best available technology to re duce their emissions. Leland said that in Houston alone, the fire department in 1988 responded to an average of 1.3 Hazardous materials alarms every day. “It’s time for the EPA to stop dancing and start doing its job,” Leland said, “protecting the envi ronment and the citizens of this nation.” Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. said, “The magnitude of this problem far exceeds our worst fears.” covering 1978 to 1987 for five pol lutants and through last year for ozone. EPA did, however, note a long term reduction of all six of the pol lutants surveyed. The comprehensive information on toxics was collected for the first time under a “community right to know” amendment to the nation’s Superfund law that passed in the House by a single vote in 1986. Information was shown on a state- by-state basis but Sikorski said more localized information has been given to each state, to inform residents of a community about emissions from their local plants. Tabloid TV (Continued from page 8) of a difference between these types of shows and older, more established talk shows. “People are oriented toward this type of format,” he said. “They want to reject all this coldness and brittle ness of society and rehumanize in stead of dehumanize. “Tabloid TV is simply a version of that. It’s the tawdry side, but how far is it to go from the old Johnny Car- son show to tabloid TV? How far is it from (David) Letterman?” Tomlinson believes these tabloid programs are popular because the public often can relate to the prob lems being discussed on the air. “It’s almost like an Ann Landers type of thing,” he said. “People feel better when their problem has been aired even if it hasn’t been solved. They can poke at it and look at it. It makes more sense to them. At least they feel better about it because it got out in the open.” Rodger Lewis, educational tele vision program director of KAMU- TV, thinks these tabloid programs are a fad. He doubts they will be around for much longer because the television industry is constantly changing. Lewis, who is most offended by Downey’s show, said these programs contain elements of both entertain ment and television. “There’s a certain amount of en tertainment in all journalism,” Lewis said. “We may not think so, but there is. Journalism is simply reporting. If you look at journalism in American history, you’ll find the concept of unbiased journalism is relatively new.” Smith said these kinds of pro grams won’t be a threat to the mod ern American press. “It’s not damaging to the mains tream American news media,” he said. “Historically, when new media came along the old ones changed slightly and supported themselves. Radio was scared when TV came along. Radio is bigger now than it has ever been.” Rogers believes newspapers can deal with sensitive issues just as w'ell or better than tabloid television. “I think newspapers can and have dealt with sensitive topics before,” he said. “They can deal with it more in telligently and more completely and without the trapping sideshowism that goes on in these TV shows.” Tomlinson thinks the programs will exist as long as there are people wlio want to see those kinds of issues dealt with that way on the air. As long as the programs are available, people will see them, he said. Tomlinson said the most impor tant thing for modern journalists to do is try to separate themselves from these kinds of tabloid journalism. “I would hope it makes us a little better,” he said. “I hope we look at that and say, ‘W'e’d better not ever look at that and see ourselves.’ We’d better look at it and say that’s the definition of that, now let’s define what we are. There needs to be a dif ference between the two.” N 8 MSC Jordan Institute for International Awareness Applications are now available for: EXECUTIVE POSITIONS Applications and job descriptions are available in the MSC Jordan Institute office (Room 223G MSC, in the Browsing Library). Fur ther information is available by calling the Jordan Institute office at 845-8770. Applications are due by noon on Monday, March 27. Interviews will be held on Tuesday, March 28 (6:00 - 7:30 P.M.) and on Wednesday, March 29 (10:30 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.). 2nd Annual 3-on- PTUCP Basketball Tournament, Apr. Sponsored by the Pi KappojJupha Fraternity Proceeds donated toUnited Cerebral Palsy ^r^l^amn^a^JAtjOUfun. For more information contact 693-9157 Team Captain —i— \ i Phone Full Address —i— / Team Members ‘--wi y ■ j —f— Circle aDi vision: Men's Collegiate,HKten's QpetT' Fratemi^ High School Mail thi^Jbrm ,.a*d $15 teahn Pi Kappa Alpha entr$N<ie no ^-sS-on-S for UCP later tViarir--^ jR.O. Box 4396 Saturday to:\ C^ge Sta., Tx 77844 Tournament is to be held on the 4th floor of the Reed Bldg> April 1 starting a GLOTX)am.. For more information contact ) on Sat., 693-9157 .A&M jSteakhousef !i=s ^ ^Delivers (h'S^846-5273 Problem Pregnancy? •We listen, We core, We help •Free. Pregnaney Tests S •Concerned CounseCors Q Bravos Valley Crisis Pregnancy Service We’re Local! 3G20 E. 29th Street (next to Medley's Giftsj 24 fir. hotfine 823-CARE ^==== = — - - ^ ‘T'Uitte Stroll through the vineyard and taste our award winning wines Easter Winery Tours Saturday March 25 & Sunday March 26 by Reservation 778-WINE Retail Hours: Monday - Friday 8-4:30 Saturday 10-5 Qi it-.H/'-tw 1 0_/l Directions to Winery 1) Exit Hwy 6 at Hvvy 21 2) Travel east 2 mi. to Wallis Rd. 3) Follow signs to Winery MSC JORDAN INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS JORDAN FELLOWS LECTURES March 23, 1989, 7:00PM, Memorial Student Center, Room 206 Eric Henderson: Spain Scott Rosen: People's Republic of China These presentations relate recent student experiences of research and study in preparation for careers concerned with international affairs.