Stumm and Morgan win Stockholm Water Prize In March, Werner Stumm and James Morgan learned that they had won the 1999 Stockholm Water Prize for their "outstanding contributions to aquatic chemistry." Because the prize will not be officially presented until August, the family of Stumm, who died in April, will receive his share of the $150,000 award. Both researchers' work has resulted in fundamental discoveries about the physical and chemical processes that take place in the water environment, according to the Stockholm Water Foundation, the organization that awards the prize. "For decades, Professors Stumm and Morgan have been the paramount scientists in the field of aquatic chemistry," the members of the prize's nominating committee wrote, crediting Stumm and Morgan's research with improving wastewater and drinking water treatment techniques diroughout the world. "Our water environment is the product of very complicated interactions between chemical, biological, and physical agents. Nature, as usual, is far more complicated than the laboratory, where most classical chemistry is practiced," said Rafael Bras, head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the nominating committee. "Stumm and Morgan tackled that complicated reality and gave credibility to the field. Thefieldis truly in mourning because of the passing of Dr. Stumm." "As a colleague, Werner Stumm will be sorely missed," said Bill Glaze, editor of ES&T. "But because of his work and his prolific writings, he will never be forgotten." Stumm was a professor emeritus at the Swiss Federal Institute for Water Resources and Water Pollution Control in Zurich, Switzerland, where he previously served as the agency's director. Environmental Science & Technology dedicated its October 1998 issue to Stumm's work, calling him "the father of aquatic
Werner Stumm
James Morgan
(1924-1999)
chemistry." Morgan, currently the Marvin Goldberger Professor of Environmental Engineering Science at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, was the founding editor of Environmental Science & Technology in 1966. The two award recipients first met at Harvard University in 1960, where Morgan was Stumm's first Ph.D. student. Their collaboration continued over the years, producing three versions of the well-known Aquatic Chemistry textbook. "Aquatic Chemistry [has] been used by almost every environmental scientist and engineer in the world, and its influence has been enormous," said Jerry Schnoor, associate editor of ES&T. Stumm and Morgan were among the first to recognize the
importance of phosphorus in eutrophication, and they provided a scientific basis for the development of processes to remove phosphorus from wastewater streams. Their contributions to the basic understanding of how iron and manganese cycle through aquatic systems have resulted in important methods for removing these metals from drinking water and coping with problems such as acid mine drainage. "I was very happy to learn that Werner Stumm and I would be sharing the prize for joint contributions to aquatic chemistry," Morgan said. "He was my 'doctor father,' my colleague, and my friend." The Stockholm Water Foundation was established in 1990 to encourage research and development of the world's water environment. Considered by many to be the "Nobel Prize of water," the Stockholm Water Prize is presented annually to an institution, organization, individual, or company that has made a substantial contribution to the preservation, enhancement, or availability of the world's water resources. —KELLYN BETTS
Belated acid rain report may trigger legislation, investigation Rep. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) blasted the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) for holding back release of a report that was to show the environmental improvements resulting from the 1990 Clean Air Act (CAA) acid rain program. The tardy report concludes that acid rain continues to harm lakes in New York and is a looming threat across the country. The NAPAP Biennial Report to Congress: An Integrated Assessment was due in December 1996. But it was not until August 1998 that 16 draft copies trickled out to select members of Congress. Mike Uhart, NAPAP's director, claims that this initial distribu-
tion fulfilled the report's mandate. But Sweeney, who introduced legislation this year to curb acid rain emissions, requested a General Accounting Office investigation of the report's delay in March. NAPAP finally distributed the report broadly in late April. It is expected to lend support to a host of bills aimed at reducing releases of sulfur and nitrogen. The NAPAP report shows that even though sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants have been reduced below mandated levels—at half of the initially anticipated $1.3 billion annual cost—further cuts in sulfur and nitrogen emissions will be
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required to protect sensitive ecosystems. Lakes and streams in the Adirondack Mountains are projected to continue to acidify, even though sulfuric acid deposition has declined, Uhart said. The failure of the 1990 CAA to fix the acid rain problem can be explained by new research on the role of nitrogen in acidification and the loss of buffering capacity in soils, said Charles Driscoll, environmental engineering professor at Syracuse University. The 1990 amendments focused on controlling sulfur dioxide emissions, which mix with rain or snow to form sulfuric acid, Driscoll said. He and his colleagues at the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study in New York have measured sulfate decreases of 45% in precipitation and 30% in stream water since 1963. Still, Hubbard Brook has failed to recover, showing little improvement in acid levels in rain, snow, and stream water. Part of the reason, Driscoll said, is that soils have lost more of their buffering capacity than scientists originally expected. Cations in the soil, such as calcium, act like stomach antacids, neutralizing the effects of acid precipitation. Driscoll found that soil calcium in Hubbard Brook has dropped more than 50% since 1950, dramatically slowing the ability to recover from reduced acid inputs. The U.S. Geological Survey has linked calcium depletion in soils to acid rain in the eastern United States (ES&T, June 1, 1999, p. 235A). New data from Hubbard Brook show that nitrogen may now constitute 25-50% of the acid in precipitation, Driscoll said. Nitrogen oxide emissions from cars, trucks, and power plants mix with rain and snow to form nitric acid, he explained. High-elevation forests in the southern Appalachian Mountains, Colorado Front Range, and the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles are saturated with nitrogen, which acidifies soils and streams, Uhart said. "What is needed to protect sensitive ecosystems is more cuts in sulfur emissions and a focus
on nitrogen emissions," concluded Jack Cosby, environmental science professor at the University of Virginia. Two environmental groups, Trout Unlimited and the Adirondack Council, have called for deeper cuts in S0 2 emissions and a cap on nitrogen emissions. However, an electric industry representative argued that new legislation is not needed. Environmental scientists and engineers are incorporating the new research on nitrogen into models that predict ecosystem response to acid rain reductions, but much remains to be under-
stood about nitrogen's role, Cosby cautioned. Meanwhile, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation this year that would amend the Clean Air Act to establish a year-round cap and trade program for nitrogen oxide emissions from utilities and a further 50% cut in sulfur dioxide emissions. The legislation has garnered support from scientists such as Driscoll, who praised the bill's provisions for adaptive management and continued funding for monitoring. Two other similar bills also are pending in Congress. —JANET PELLEY
Is ailing U.S. environmental industry missing opportunities overseas? In April, Environmental Information Ltd. released figures showing continued declines in the environmental services industry. Some industry observers charge that U.S. firms have compounded their woes by ignoring overseas opportunities. The U.S. environmental industry's service sector has been on a steep and steady downward slide since 1993, according to Cary Perket, senior analyst at Environmental Information Ltd. Between 1996 and 1998, the number of active firms fell by 13%, making the total drop since 1993 a discouraging 39%. Small firms have been the hardest hit, Perket said, noting that his firm's surveys cover laboratories, consultants, hazardous waste management, and remediation. Larger firms, which he defines as having more than 100 employees, have actually seen an upturn in business over the last year, he explained. Services have been hit hard, agreed Grant Ferrier, chief executive officer of Environmental Business International (EBI), another firm that conducts regular environmental industry surveys. Though EBI's preliminary figures for 1998 suggest the service sector's fiveyear decline is in the less-dramatic 20% range, Ferrier acknowledged that the entire environmental industry was "in a period of stagnation." His organization's figures
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nonetheless show the industry doing "a little better" in 1998 than it did in 1997 or 1996. EBI's figures also show that the international environmental technology market is booming. The markets in Asia, Latin America, and Africa are expected to grow at least 10% annually between 1999 and 2002. The U.S. industry is "behind the other developed countries in exploiting the export market because they've been so used to being fat and happy at home," charged Miriam Pemberton, a research fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank that annually publishes reports on environmental technology exports. Though Ferrier disagreed with the contention that U.S. firms were going after the wrong market, both he and Pemberton faulted the U.S. government for failing to provide sufficient support to help environmental companies tackle the export market. Countries like Germany, France, England, and Japan have "much more concerted, well-financed strategies," Pemberton said. The Environmental Industry Coalition, a group Ferrier helped found last year to promote the industry's needs, is actively trying to promote the passage of legislation to accelerate the industry's trade exports, Ferrier said. —KELLYN BETTS
