The state's top environmental official has called for an independent investigation of the agency that regulates Bay Area water pollution after the botched response by Marin County officials to two spills that dumped more than 5 million gallons of raw and partially treated sewage into the bay last month. In a letter, Linda Adams, secretary of the state Environmental Protection Agency, faults the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board for not immediately investigating a decision to release 2.5 million gallons of untreated sewage into Richardson Bay on Jan. 25. SF Chronicle 2/07/08
Salinas-area growers and agricultural organizations on Wednesday expressed support for proposed changes to the nation's foreign agricultural-worker program but said they're no substitute for comprehensive immigration reform. The revisions, pitched Wednesday by the U.S. Labor Department, would streamline the application process and modify housing and wage requirements for employing H2-A visa holders. In some cases, it would allow companies to pay lower wages to the workers, who are in the country legally to perform farm-related jobs. The Californian 2/07/08
For the second time this week, a federal court found today that a Navy anti-submarine training program threatened to subject whales and other sea creatures to harmful blasts of sonar and ordered protective measures in several sensitive zones, including one near Monterey Bay. She said the Navy must establish sonar-free zones around several areas where sensitive marine life is plentiful, including the Davidson Seamount, which adjoins the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. SF Chronicle 2/07/08
In the wake of a USDA announcement this week that it was shutting down operations at a Chino-based meat producer, food industry insiders are questioning just how reliable the USDA's inspection process is. The incidents recorded at Hallmark Meat Packing occurred under the noses of eight on-site USDA inspectors. Particularly shocking was evidence of downer cattle entering the human food chain. Downer cattle, cattle that are unable to walk, are banned from use as human food because they show a higher occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease. LA Times 2/07/08
New, big ideas are going to be crucial to shore up and secure California's water supply, according to experts who spoke last week at the California Irrigation Institute's 46th annual conference.
The conference took place Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 in Sacramento. . The Thursday session opened with a status report on water issues in the state Legislature offered by state Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, and a panel of water experts took up the issue of the state's water in light of changing environmental and legal conditions. Capital Press 2/06/08
Standing on a levee next to the Natomas Cross Canal, Gov. Schwarzenegger and his staff announced they were releasing $211 million in state bond funds several months before the money normally would roll out to help move forward four big flood control projects. Of the total, $49 million will go toward strengthening and raising the Natomas Cross Canal. The director of the California Department of Water Resources said the state's cash infusion will come from Propositions 1E and 84, which voters approved in 2006 to improve flood control. Sacramento Bee 2/07/08
A malady that has killed billions of bees since 2006, threatening about $15 billion in pollinated crops, is devastating hives again, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's top honeybee researcher. The effects of the renewed onset of Colony Collapse Disorder won't become apparent until month's end, when California almond growers begin to assess the quality of crop pollination. Bloomberg 2/07/08
The College of Agriculture at California State University, Chico, says it will host the 2008 Organic Dairy Conference at its Agriculture Teaching and Research Center on March 25-26. Central Valley Business Times 2/07/08
In a post on his blog, Michael Bauer, food editor for the SF Chronicle, chimes in over the problem with hospital food, and argues for the need of a patients’ rights advocated to reform the hospital cafeteria like Alice Waters reformed school lunch. 2/07/08
No comments:
Post a Comment