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Does 3M Run Minnesota Health Agency?

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Archive

December 23, 2005

Incredible Sulk

When the Senate voted Dec. 21 to block his bid to force open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling by breaking Senate rules and tacking the measure onto the annual defense spending bill , Sen. Ted Stevens told reporters “this has been the saddest day of my life.” The second saddest would now officially be the day in December, 1978, when a Lear Jet carrying Stevens crashed in high winds at Anchorage Airport, injuring the senator and killing five people, including his first wife, Ann. -- KC

December 12, 2005

Newspaper Tests Fish for Mercury

The Chicago Tribune is running a powerful series this week on mercury in seafood, including test results for eight different kinds of fish purchased in Chicago-area fish markets and supermarkets. The authors discuss mercury's health risks, interview government, industry and independent experts and even offer readers a calculator that lets people enter their weight and find out how much fish they can safely eat.

Three points the authors make in today's installment:

> Officials with the Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for the safety of commercial seafood, told the Tribune that the agency has neither the time nor the money to routinely test fish.

> The FDA, for instance, does not require exporting countries to maintain safety, sanitation and inspection programs comparable with the U.S. system, even though 80 percent of the seafood that Americans consume is imported. By contrast, the Department of Agriculture, which monitors meat and poultry, requires every exporter to meet such standards.

> The FDA has issued warnings for canned albacore tuna, which has averaged 0.35 parts per million in the agency's testing. Yet the agency has not issued warnings for orange roughy, which averaged 0.57 parts per million in the Tribune testing, or walleye, which was at 0.51.

EWG's research on mercury in seafood is viewable online at http://www.ewg.org/issues/siteindex/issues.php?issueid=5010.

Use EWG's tuna calculator to see how much tuna is safe for you: http://www.ewg.org/issues/mercury/20031209/calculator.php.

December 8, 2005

Clear Lies Initiative

The independent Congressional Research Service has put out a report stating that the EPA skewed its research on air pollution to favor the Bush administration's Clear Skies Initiative, exaggerating the costs of pollution curbs and downplaying the health and economic benefits. Clear Skies is currently stuck in the Senate.

The Washington Post has the full story, and EWG's analysis of the costs of pollution in California, Smoggy Schools, is here.

December 6, 2005

Does 3M Run Minnesota Health Agency?

A legislative hearing last week revealed that 3M managers called the shots during a meeting at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). When state scientists laid out plans to study Scotchgard chemical water contamination, 3M reps told them not to bother – and MPCA bosses sat by and said nothing. The agency is run by former 3M manager Sheryl Corrigan. Last week marked the second hearing on 3M pollution that Corrigan refused to attend, sending her deputy to take the heat from frustrated senators.

Local Coverage of the Hearing:
Pioneer Press
Star Tribune
Local NBC Affiliate
Minnesota Public Radio

All coverage of Scotchgard and Teflon Chemical Contamination

« November 2005 | Main | January 2006 »