Environmental▼News ing slowly on the issue as the Baltic states and the Netherlands introduce plans to speed waste treatment services at ports and include disposal charges in general port fees, he says. Nevertheless, on April 17, Canada dropped charges against the Tecam Sea, a Panamanianowned ship caught dumping bilge oil off the coast of Newfoundland, saying the evidence was not good enough to prosecute. The evidence was clear, but the government lacks the will to convict because the lead agency in these cases, Transport Canada, does not have protection of
marine life as its primary objective, charges Bob Rangeley, a marine biologist with the World Wildlife Fund. Another problem is that Canadian government prosecutors are not interested in pursuing cases based on falsified record books and lying to inspectors, a line of attack that has been successful in U.S. prosecutions, says Wayne Turpin, chief of enforcement for Environment Canada’s Atlantic Region. From 1994 to 2001, Canada successfully prosecuted only 24 cases, collecting on average a $30,000 fine, Rangeley says. Most of these cases relied on aerial detection and photographs of
As of June 27, Christie Todd Whitman has left her position as U.S. EPA administrator. Despite a reputation as an effective leader during her governorship, Whitman’s two and one-half year tenure as head of EPA garnered mixed reviews. In her resignation letter to President Bush, Whitman wrote that it was “time to return to my home and husband in New Jersey, which I love just as you do your state of Texas.” She praised EPA employees, calling them “as dedicated and committed a group as can be found in federal service.” Whitman’s accomplishments at EPA include a recent proposal to reduce pollution from off-road diesel engines, legal settlements with large electric companies, including pledges to reduce emissions, and a decision to require General Electric Co. to pay for the cleanup of PCBs in the Hudson River (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2002, 36, 231A). Also during Whitman’s tenure, Congress approved legislation to reclaim abandoned, polluted land known as brownfields, a victory since the law had been in the works for almost 10 years. The agency also took the lead in working with water utilities to protect drinking water supplies following the September 11, 2001, attack, and to decontaminate congressional office buildings after anthrax was found in the mail.
U.S. EPA
U.S. EPA chief resigns
spills, evidence that is very hard to obtain for a crime that is usually perpetrated at night far out at sea, he says. Two record fines in the past year of $93,000 mark an improvement, but Canadian officials still need to ratchet up the frequency of their ship inspections and put more money into spill detection, Rangeley says. Meanwhile, the European Commission has proposed a directive that would make it easier for European signatories to MARPOL to file criminal charges against polluters. —JANET PELLEY
Former U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman
Environmental groups found fault with a good deal of EPA’s work under Whitman. In 2001, they decried EPA’s announcement to pull a Clinton-era rule to reduce arsenic in drinking water, which EPA officials later decided to keep in place. The same groups still vehemently oppose Bush’s Clear Skies proposal, an ambitious plan to replace key Clean Air Act requirements with several “cap and trade” programs for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides, and mercury emissions from electric power plants (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2002, 36, 181A). Whitman came to her job in 2001 with a reputation as a moderate Republican following two terms as New Jersey governor, where she earned praise for her knowledge of environmental laws, political acumen, and business-friendly atti-
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tude. However, Whitman’s first few months at EPA were tumultuous as White House officials quickly “corrected” her for acting on Bush’s campaign pledge to control carbon dioxide emissions. The White House backed away from the pledge, saying that Bush had changed his mind. Bush also publicly dismissed EPA’s report on global warming, calling it the work of government bureaucrats. Nevertheless, in interviews given just before her resignation, Whitman asserted that she and the president had always been “on the same page,” and said she was proud of the agency’s work. Business groups, including the American Water Works Association and the Association of Manufacturers, praised Whitman for her noncombative style and knowledge of industry needs. But political groups representing the far right wing of the Republican Party criticized her, with the libertarian Cato Institute blaming the administrator for “her unwillingness to help construct a compelling Republican platform for environmental protection.” Criticism from environmental groups was kinder. “Whitman was not the force behind the Bush administration’s unprecedented assault on our landmark environmental protections, and her resignation is not the solution,” noted Gregory Wetstone of the Natural Resources Defense Council. —CATHERINE M. COONEY
