WSNetwork News

Did you know that, in the 1980s, one of the top two sites considered for nuclear waste storage was
the Wolf River Batholith located along the Wolf River in central and northeast Wisconsin?

Now that there are numerous problems with using Yucca Mountain, the Wolf River Batholith
could once more be a target site for nuclear waste storage.

Many of the people and groups who opposed the proposed Crandon mine, are organizing to
keep the Wolf River Batholith from ever being used to store nuclear waste.

A website for the group (under heavy construction) has been started at www.notinmybatholith.com.
If you would like to receive meeting notices, volunteer or receive information about this important issue,
send email to info@notinmybatholith.com

ACTION ALERT: Stop the Army’s Plan to Burn PCBs

From CSWAB
info@cswab.org

You can help by sending email to voice your opposition to the proposed open burning of PCBs and other toxins by the Army at Badger Army Ammunition Plant.

Click here for more information and to see a sample letter.

Laura Olah, Executive Director
Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
E12629 Weigand’s Bay South
Merrimac, WI 53561
(608) 643-3124 phone
(608) 643-0005 fax
info@cswab.org
www.cswab.org

Help Needed for America's Most Endangered Rivers

On April 13, American Rivers announced America's Most Endangered Rivers of 2005. They are:

1. Susquehanna River (NY, PA, MD)
2. McCrystal Creek (NM)
3. Fraser River (CO)
4. Skykomish River (WA)
5. Roan Creek (TN)
6. Santee River (SC)
7. Little Miami River (OH)
8. Tuolumne River (CA)
9. Price River (UT)
10. Santa Clara River (CA)

Brief descriptions of threats facing these rivers below, and the full America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2005 report is a available on the American Rivers website.

These rivers need your help!
You can Click Here to Take Action Today.

White House Dilutes EPA Cancer Risk Rules

From eMagazine

April 11, 2005
Reporting by Roddy Scheer

Environmentalists were aghast last week upon discovering that the Bush administration's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had weakened otherwise stringent new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines on assessing the cancer risk of various chemicals. In essence, the added OMB requirements allow for unlimited industry challenges on cancer risk rulings, meaning chemical companies will be able to at least slow down phase-outs of products already known to increase childhood cancer rates.

"The White House decided it was more important to protect the chemical industry than protect our kids from cancer," reported Jennifer Sass, senior scientist with the advocacy-oriented Natural Resources Defense Council.

Sass and her colleagues contend that the so-called "expert elicitation" language inserted by OMB at the eleventh hour opens the door for chemical manufacturers and their lobbyists to contest how EPA applies the new risk assessment guidelines, potentially adding years to decision-making processes on substances already causing problems. Furthermore, OMB also added language requiring EPA cancer evaluations to meet the standards of the Data Quality Act, a law designed by tobacco industry lobbyists to invalidate protective legislation.

"The White House took what would have been strong guidelines to protect our children from cancer and turned them into an industry punching bag," said Sass. "Chemical companies will be able to pummel any new safeguard to death. The chemical industry wins, our children lose," she concluded.

Sources:
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?2449
www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/2772/1/1?TopicID=1 and http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/050329a.asp

Bid Cleans River
Excerpt from Menomonee Valley eNews
From: "RenewTheValley.org" <info@renewthevalley.org>

BID#26 and the City hired Cramer Marine to remove 24 cubic yards of debris from the Menomonee River at Emmber Lane during the first week of April. It took four men two and a half days to remove all the debris! The skimmer will return as needed to ensure debris does not collect again. MVP is working with Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers, Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful, the DNR and the City to find a long term solution
to this corner of the river. Click here for photos and more details

Help Control Purple Loosestrife: Be a PL Biocontrol "Cooperator" this Spring

From Wisconsin Wetlands Association
<wetlands@wiscwetlands.org>

WDNR has raised and released millions of biocontrol insects, but they need help from citizen cooperators around the state to expand biocontrol efforts.

You can make a difference by raising Cella beetles to help control purple loosestrife in a wetland near you. Biocontrol projects are educational, so they're great for classrooms, 4-H groups, and other clubs. There are three main steps in a biocontrol project:

Growing loosestrife plants to feed your beetles
Raising your beetles, and
Releasing them into a loosestrife infested wetland

The whole process takes about 10-12 weeks, and you'll get to watch the full life cycle of your beetles, from eggs to larvae to pupae to adults. The result will be about 100 times more beetles than you started with, and they will be hungry for just one thing: purple loosestrife!

Click here to Learn m ore on how to conduct a biocontrol project

Comments sought on master plan for largest state forest

Plan would guide management of Northern Highland American Legion State Forest

A draft master plan and environmental impact statement (EIS) for the 225,000-acre Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest is now available for public comment through June 1, 2005.

The plan proposes additional recreational opportunities including more primitive and developed campsites, designation of areas for both motorized and non-motorized activities and an expansion plan that would add high quality aquatic communities and patches of old growth to the forest as they become available from willing sellers.

The forest is located in Vilas, Oneida and a small portion of Iron counties in north central Wisconsin.

For more information See DNR Announcement