November, 23 2010, 11:45am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jeff Miller, Center for Biological Diversity, (510)
499-9185
Anthony Prieto, Project Gutpile, (805) 729-5455
Karen Schambach, PEER, (530) 333-2545
Lawsuit Filed Over EPA Refusal to Address Lead Poisoning of Wildlife
Suit Seeks to Prevent Annual Deaths of Millions of Wild Birds, Wildlife From Toxic Lead in Ammunition, Fishing Gear
WASHINGTON
Conservation and hunting groups today sued the Environmental Protection
Agency for failing to regulate toxic lead that frequently poisons and kills
eagles, swans, cranes, loons, endangered California condors and other wildlife
throughout the country. The EPA recently denied a formal petition to ban
lead in fishing tackle and hunting ammunition despite long-established
science on the dangers of lead poisoning in the wild, which kills millions
of birds each year and also endangers public health.
"The
EPA has the ability to protect America's wildlife from
ongoing preventable lead poisoning, but continues to shirk its
responsibility," said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate with the
Center for Biological Diversity. "The EPA's failure to act is
astonishing given the mountain of scientific evidence about the dangers of
lead to wildlife. There are already safe and available alternatives to lead
products for hunting and fishing, and the EPA can phase in a changeover to
nontoxic materials, so there's no reason to perpetuate the epidemic
of lead poisoning of wildlife."
In
August, a coalition of groups formally petitioned the EPA to ban lead in
bullets and shot for hunting and in fishing tackle under the Toxic
Substances Control Act. The petition referenced nearly 500 peer-reviewed
scientific papers illustrating the widespread dangers of lead poisoning to
scavengers that eat lead ammunition fragments in carcasses, and to
waterfowl that ingest spent lead shot or lost lead fishing sinkers. The
groups filing the lawsuit today are the Center for Biological Diversity,
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and Project Gutpile, a
hunters' organization. Since the original petition was filed, more
than 70 organizations in 27 states have voiced support for the lead ban,
including those representing veterinarians, birders, hunters, zoologists,
scientists, American Indian groups, physicians and public employees.
"Having
hunted in California
for 20 years I have seen firsthand lead poisoning impacts to wildlife from
toxicity through lead ammunition," said Anthony Prieto, a hunter and
cofounder of Project Gutpile, a hunters' group that provides
educational resources for lead-free hunters and anglers. "Although
many more sportsmen are now getting the lead out, the EPA must take action
to ensure we have a truly lead-free environment. It's time to make a
change to non-lead for ourselves and for future generations to enjoy
hunting and fishing with a conscience."
"Over
the past several decades Americans chose to get toxic lead out of our
gasoline, paint, water pipes and other sources that were poisoning people. Now
it's time to remove unnecessary lead from hunting and fishing sports
that is needlessly poisoning our fish and wildlife," said Karen
Schambach of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
"Today's action is a step to safeguard wildlife and reduce
human health risks posed by lead."
The
EPA denied the portion of the petition dealing with regulation of lead
ammunition based on an incorrect claim that the agency lacks the authority
to regulate toxic lead in ammunition. The EPA asserted that shells and
cartridges are excluded from the definition of "chemical
substances" in the Act. That claim is contradicted by the legislative
history of the Toxic Substances Control Act, which provides clear and
specific authority to regulate hazardous chemical components of ammunition
such as lead. Earlier this month the EPA also issued a final determination
denying the portion of the petition on fishing sinkers, even though the
agency itself had proposed banning certain lead fishing weights in 1994.
"The
EPA has known for years it has the authority to regulate lead," said
Miller. "Lead shot was eliminated in 1991 by federal regulation to
address widespread lead poisoning of ducks and secondary poisoning of bald
eagles. And in 1994, the EPA even proposed banning lead fishing weights
that were being eaten by waterfowl."
Hunters
and anglers in states that have restricted or banned lead shotgun
ammunition or lead fishing gear have already made successful transitions to
nontoxic alternatives, and fishing and hunting in those areas remains
active. Alternatives continue to be developed, including the U.S.
military's transition toward bullets made of non-lead materials.
"This
is clearly not an anti-hunting initiative, it is about using less toxic
materials for the sake of wildlife and our human health," said
Prieto. "When I hunt, I want to make sure I kill only my target
animal, and I want to use the least toxic ammunition possible since I will
be feeding the game to my family."
For
more information, read about the Center's Get the Lead Out campaign.
Read Frequently Asked Questions about
the lead ban petition.
View photo images and video of
wildlife poisoned by lead ammunition and sinkers.
The Center for
Biological Diversity (www.biologicaldiversity.org) is a national, nonprofit
conservation organization with more than 315,000 members and online
activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild
places.
Project
Gutpile is an educational organization comprised of hunters that provides
resources for lead-free hunters and anglers. Project Gutpile has been
promoting non-lead ammunition and raising lead awareness in the hunting
community since 2002.
Public
Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a 10,000 member
national alliance of local, state and federal resource professionals
working to protect the environment. PEER members include government
scientists, land managers, environmental law enforcement agents, field
specialists, and other resource professionals committed to responsible
management of America's
public resources.
Background
Lead is an extremely toxic substance that is dangerous to people and
wildlife even at low levels. Exposure can cause a range of health effects,
from acute poisoning and death to long-term problems such as reduced
reproduction, inhibition of growth, and damage to neurological development.
Animals are poisoned when they scavenge on carcasses shot and contaminated
with lead bullet fragments or pick up and eat spent lead shot pellets or
lost fishing weights, mistaking them for food or grit. Animals can die a
painful death from lead poisoning or suffer for years from its debilitating
effects.
Lead
ammunition also poses human-health risks since lead bullets explode and
break into minute particles in shot game and can spread throughout meat
that humans eat. Studies using radiographs show that numerous
imperceptible, dust-sized particles of lead can contaminate meat up to a
foot and a half away from the bullet track, causing a greater health risk
to people consuming lead-shot game than previously thought. A recent study
found that up to 87 percent of cooked game killed by lead ammunition can
contain unsafe levels of lead. Some state health agencies have had to
recall venison donated to feed the hungry because of lead contamination
from bullet fragments. Nearly 10 million hunters, their families and
low-income beneficiaries of venison donations may be at risk, as well as
the estimated 1 million or more people who manufacture lead fishing weights
in their homes, leading to inhalation of lead dust and fumes.
There
are now numerous commercially available, nontoxic alternatives to lead
rifle bullets, shotgun pellets and fishing weights. Nontoxic steel, copper
and alloy bullets and non-lead fishing tackle are readily available in all
50 states. More than a dozen manufacturers of bullets now market many
varieties of non-lead, nontoxic bullets and shot. The California Department
of Fish and Game has certified nontoxic ammunition from 24
manufacturers for hunting big-game and
non-game species in the range of the California condor. The Arizona Game
and Fish Department publishes a list of non-lead rifle
ammunition available for big-game hunters, including
120 bullets in various calibers produced by 13 ammunition manufacturers, as
well as seven manufacturers who provide custom-loaded nonlead rifle
ammunition. The federal Fish and Wildlife Service has approved 12 nontoxic shot types for
hunting waterfowl. At least 10 alternatives to lead fishing weights are now
available made from non-poisonous materials such as tin, bismuth, steel,
ceramics and recycled glass.
At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
(520) 623-5252LATEST NEWS
Oxfam Says Israel 'Actively Hindering' Aid to Gaza in Violation of ICJ Order
"There is an indisputable, man-made, intentional deprivation of aid that continues to suck the life out of any and all humanitarian operations, including our own," said one campaigner.
Mar 18, 2024
The Israeli government is intentionally restricting the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip by subjecting shipments to a prolonged and dysfunctional inspection process, arbitrarily rejecting items, attacking aid convoys, and limiting the number of crossings through which deliveries can pass, Oxfam International said in a report published late Sunday.
The report, titled Inflicting Unprecedented Suffering and Destruction, argues that Israel's continued obstruction of humanitarian aid is a direct violation of both international humanitarian law (IHL) and a January order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled the Israeli government is "plausibly" committing genocide in Gaza and must ensure that assistance reaches desperate Gazans.
Oxfam said Sunday that "humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip has effectively worsened" since the ICJ handed down its interim order nearly two months ago, and conditions on the ground in the Palestinian territory have deteriorated rapidly. New data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) shows that Gaza's "entire population" is facing "high levels of acute food insecurity" and 1.1 million people are experiencing "catastrophic" hunger—a figure that one expert called "unprecedented."
"The ICJ order should have shocked Israeli leaders to change course, but since then conditions in Gaza have actually worsened," said Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam's Middle East and North Africa director. "The fact that other governments have not challenged Israel hard enough, but instead turned to less effective methods like airdrops and maritime corridors is a huge red flag, signaling that Israel continues to deny the full potential of better ways to deliver more aid."
"Israeli authorities are not only failing to facilitate the international aid effort but are actively hindering it," Abi Khalil added. "We believe that Israel is failing to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide."
In its new report, Oxfam outlines seven ways in which the Israeli government is impeding humanitarian aid shipments and exacerbating one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in modern history:
In February—the first full month after the ICJ's order—Israel allowed just 2,874 aid trucks to enter the Gaza Strip, a 44% decline compared to the previous month, according to Oxfam.
The group said Israeli authorities "have rejected a warehouse full of international aid including oxygen, incubators, and Oxfam water and sanitation gear, all of which is now stockpiled at Al Arish just 40 kilometers away from the border of 2.3 million desperate Palestinians in Gaza."
Israel's military, which is armed by the U.S. and other major countries that are legally obligated to prevent genocide, has also blocked humanitarian staff from entering Gaza, adding "pressure and workload" to already overwhelmed aid efforts, Oxfam said.
Celine Maayeh, advocacy and research officer at Juzoor for Health and Social Development—an Oxfam partner organization—said Sunday that "there's been an alarming increase in cases of malnutrition among children in the last month, and yet the only food the team is able to find to feed people living in 45 shelters is some vegetables."
"There is an indisputable, man-made, intentional deprivation of aid that continues to suck the life out of any and all humanitarian operations, including our own," said Maayeh.
"If a famine is declared, it will already be too late for too many people—children are famine's first victims and are already dying in Gaza because of malnutrition."
Oxfam's findings are consistent with those of other aid organizations and lawmakers who have visited the region in recent weeks.
In January, U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told reporters that they witnessed "miles of backed-up trucks" stuck at border crossings as Gazans nearby struggled to survive, eating grass and drinking contaminated water.
The senators said they saw one warehouse full of items that Israeli authorities rejected in their inspection process, including oxygen cylinders and medical kits used for delivering babies.
Van Hollen said the warehouse was "a testament to the arbitrariness" of Israel's inspections.
Oxfam argued Sunday that the "only meaningful solution" to Gaza's intensifying humanitarian emergency is "an immediate, permanent, and unconditional cease-fire."
"Even the trickle of aid that a humanitarian response could provide under the current circumstances is being further obstructed by Israel's policies and practices, inflicting suffering on millions of Palestinians who are living under Israeli bombardment without access to food, clean water, and medical care," the group said.
Xavier Joubert, country director for Save the Children in the occupied Palestinian territory, echoed Oxfam's call for a cease-fire and warned in response to the new IPC figures that "we have a clear timeframe to stave off famine, and it demands urgency."
"If a famine is declared, it will already be too late for too many people—children are famine's first victims and are already dying in Gaza because of malnutrition," said Joubert. "Every minute counts for them. It should be on the collective conscience of Israeli authorities and the international community that every day without an immediate, definitive cease-fire and unfettered access for and to humanitarian aid is another catastrophic day of starvation and suffering, another step towards famine, and another death knell for Gaza's children."
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Warren Says Trump Will 'Try to Ban Abortion Nationwide' If He Regains Power
"Donald Trump is proud that he overturned Roe v. Wade, he's proud he ripped away a fundamental freedom from millions of women," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Mar 18, 2024
Sen. Elizabeth Warren warned Sunday that Donald Trump will aggressively pursue a national abortion ban if elected to another term after the former president and presumptive 2024 GOP nominee boasted about the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade—a move that opened the floodgates for draconian attacks on reproductive rights across the country.
Trump nominated three of the five Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe in 2022, and he stacked lower federal courts with far-right extremists.
In a Fox News interview that aired Sunday, Trump said the justices "did something that from a lot of standpoints is extremely good" and repeated commonplace right-wing lies that Democrats support infanticide—claims that are frequently used to justify further rollbacks of reproductive freedoms. Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case brought by right-wing groups that could dramatically weaken access to medication abortion.
The former president said he will be deciding "pretty soon" on a specific abortion policy for his 2024 campaign for the White House. The New York Timesreported last month that Trump has told advisers and allies that he "likes the idea of a 16-week national abortion ban with three exceptions, in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother."
Asked during the Fox News interview whether he thinks a 16-week abortion ban would be "politically acceptable," Trump responded, "We're gonna find out."
Trump's campaign previously dismissed the Times reporting as "fake news."
Trump on if a national 16 week abortion ban would be politically acceptable: "We're gonna find out."
He then lies about Democrats supporting the murder of born babies. pic.twitter.com/B5e41m9ftm
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 17, 2024
Warren (D-Mass.) said in response that "Donald Trump is proud that he overturned Roe v. Wade, he's proud he ripped away a fundamental freedom from millions of women, and if he regains power, he will go even further and try to ban abortion nationwide."
"By overturning Roe, Trump put judges and politicians in the driver's seat of women and their families' most personal healthcare decisions," said Warren. "He opened the door to even more extreme restrictions on our freedoms: criminalizing doctors, passing bans with no exceptions, and restricting access to IVF—and he brags about it."
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"As Project 2025 makes clear, opponents will not stop until abortion is banned and out of reach in all 50 states."
Right-wing groups, including the coalition known as Project 2025, have been working for months on a range of proposals that would further curtail reproductive freedoms at the federal level and undercut people's ability to receive basic medical care.
"In emerging plans that involve everything from the EPA to the Federal Trade Commission to the Postal Service, nearly 100 anti-abortion and conservative groups are mapping out ways the next president can use the sprawling federal bureaucracy to curb abortion access," Politicoreported last month. "Many of the policies they advocate are ones Trump implemented in his first term and President Joe Biden rescinded—rules that would have a far greater impact in a post-Roe landscape. Other items on the wish list are new, ranging from efforts to undo state and federal programs promoting access to abortion to a de facto national ban. But all have one thing in common: They don't require congressional approval."
Project 2025, a coalition of dozens of right-wing groups—including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and other anti-abortion organizations—is "drafting executive orders to roll back Biden-era policies that have expanded abortion access, such as making abortions available in some circumstances at VA hospitals," and "collecting resumes from conservative activists interested in becoming political appointees or career civil servants and training them to use overlooked levers of agency power to curb abortion access," according to Politico.
"Donald Trump is to blame for the ongoing abortion access crisis," Planned Parenthood Votes said in a statement earlier this month. "Because of his first-term actions, 21 states—and counting—now ban some or all abortion; and one in three women are blocked from access in their home states. As Project 2025 makes clear, opponents will not stop until abortion is banned and out of reach in all 50 states."
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Russia's Putin Secures Another Term
The controversial leader won a record number of votes for a post-Soviet candidate even as opponents organized a protest at noon on the election's third and last day.
Mar 17, 2024
Despite protests on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin won reelection with more votes than any candidate since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Exit poll the Public Opinion Foundation (POF) put the final tally after three days of voting at 87.8%, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) at 87%, and Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) at 87.3%. Putin will now serve another six-year term, meaning he will have been at the helm of the Russian state for longer than any leader since Catherine the Great, surpassing Josef Stalin.
The election comes less than a month after the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and is likely to lead to more tensions between the Russian and U.S. governments.
"It gives me some hope to see how many people are not happy with the dictatorship, the war, with what's happening in Russia."
"For a U.S. administration that hoped Putin's Ukraine adventure would be wrapped up by now with a decisive setback to Moscow's interests, the election is a reminder that Putin expects that there will be many more rounds in the geopolitical boxing ring," Nikolas Gvosdev, director of the National Security Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, told the Russia Matters project.
With most of Putin's prominent opponents either dead, imprisoned, or in exile, the elections results were considered a foregone conclusion by both friends and foes of his administration.
A Putin spokesperson said in 2023 that the election was "not really democracy" but instead "costly bureaucracy," according to CNN. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said the election was "obviously not free nor fair."
However, Russian opponents of Putin did find a way to demonstrate their position with a protest called "Noon Against Putin." The protest was called for by St. Petersburg politician Maxim Reznik, according to The Guardian. Participants were instructed to head to a polling place at noon and cast a paper ballot for one of the candidates running against Putin, or to write-in another candidate or spoil their ballot.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had endorsed the protest before his death last month in a Russian prison, leading the Independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper to dub it "Navalny's political testament."
The action drew crowds to polling places both in Russian cities like Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg and at Russian embassies around the world.
"This is the first time in my life I have ever seen a queue for elections," one woman waiting in line in Moscow told
CNN. Russian journalists reported that the lines at some stations within the country reached the thousands, according to Reuters.
Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who had also endorsed the protest, voted at the embassy in Berlin, while several protesters gathered outside the embassy in London.
"I expected there to be a lot of people, but not this many," London-based participant Maria Dorofeyeva told The Guardian, adding, "It gives me some hope to see how many people are not happy with the dictatorship, the war, with what's happening in Russia. And we want to stop it."
Ruslan Shaveddinov of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation told Reuters:
"We showed ourselves, all of Russia and the whole world that Putin is not Russia (and) that Putin has seized power in Russia."
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