The Loma Prietan
May/June 2001
Meandering
by John Maybury
Bay Park
The U.S. Navy is cleaning up its former fuel depot at Point Molate in Richmond. If toxic cooties left behind by the swabbies can be neutralized, the 413-acre shoreline property will become a city park, including trails, bay views, a 1,400-foot-long pier, a Rhineland-style castle that used to be the largest winery in the United States, intertidal eel grass, and coastal prairie/ coastal bluff native plants.
Greenest
Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel
and Patrick Burt of Acteron Corporation in San Carlos recently won Sustainable San Mateo County environmental awards. The hotel was honored for recycling 22 tons of material in two years, and for its other environmentally aware business practices. Acteron, a metal plating concern, received honorable mention
for reducing its monthly water use from 30,000 to 500 gallons and its metal waste to the size of two nickels. When most other such businesses have left the county due to strict environmental regulations, Acteron stayed and played by the book.
Eco-shopping
Green marketing fails to overcome human and economic factors, says environmental writer Joel Makower. Despite their strong declared interest in environmentally correct products, most people tend to fall back on cheap prices, familiar brand names, complacency, laziness, confusion, and ignorance when
it comes to making tough choices at the checkout counter. Makower cites the poor judgment of the guy who hops in his gas-guzzling SUV with underinflated tires and a cold engine and drives a couple of miles in bumper-to-bumper traffic to buy his favorite brand of recycled paper towels. Nevertheless, Makower sees small glimmers of hope: Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) saves millions of pounds of aluminum a year by shaving one-eighth
of an inch off the diameter of its beer cans. Makower estimates only 10% of us shop green but says that “a relatively small number of consumers can be a potent force. The model works. We just need
to make it work harder.” (Read about Makower’s Center for a New American Dream at www.newdream.org
and his Green Business Letter at www.greenbiz.com.)
Fox and Cows
When Tampa, Florida investigative reporters Steve Wilson and Jane Akre broke a TV news story on Florida dairies secretly shooting up milk cows with rBGH hormone, the husband-and-wife team hit a brick wall. Their station (Fox Broadcasting’s WTVT Channel 13) covered up the story and fired the couple. Wilson and Akre sued and won a judgment against the Rupert Murdoch-owned network, saying rBGH’s maker Monsanto had pressured Fox to suppress the story. Anyone concerned about free press and clean food, visit www.foxbghsuit.com.
Superbugs
“Certain practices in the poultry industry affect our health, especially the health of our children. A contagious gastrointestinal illness called campy (campylobacter bacteria) is pervasive among infants and preschoolers. Symptoms are vomiting, stomach pain, and diarrhea. The Food
and Drug Administration recently banned two fluoroquinolone antibiotics for use
in poultry because of evidence from the Centers for Disease Control that fluoro-quinolone overuse had made campy antibiotic resistant. The FDA also is looking at this problem in cattle, and it
says antibiotic resistance is spreading. One fluoroquinolone maker, Bayer, disagreed with the FDA, but another, Abbott Labs, said it would abide by the ban. My source is the Dec. 2000 issue of Natural Food Merchandiser, a trade journal I’ve worked at for the past 10 years.” (Cathy Sulak)
Laundering bills
Thirty percent of bills turned in to the U.S. Treasury by banks as unfit are actually just soiled. At one time the government used washing machines to clean currency. Today “unfit” bills are shredded at Federal Reserve banks and sent to landfills. Some shredded bills are recycled as stationery
or given away as souvenirs at the Federal Reserve. (from Flashbacks: A Cartoon History of D.C., by Patrick M. Reynolds,
a serious comic strip available by calling 888/839-5673.)
Sea and Shore
Get California Coastal Conservancy’s fact-packed quarterly magazine, Coast and Ocean. Subscribe by calling 510/286-0934 or view most of the content, including color photos and back issues, at www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov. Recent articles include hiking trails, gray whales, fish-friendly farming, nature poetry, invasive alien species, habitat restoration, and recommended nature websites.
Rails over the Bay
Cross San Francisco Bay on a train between Redwood City and Newark? Great idea! The City/County Association of Governments has approved a strategic
plan for passenger rail service over the old Dumbarton train bridge. More than $150 million may be needed to improve the bridge and rail connections on both sides of the bay. An estimated $3.25 one-way fare might lure as many as 2,500 riders a day. Caltrain could partner with AC Transit on this project, coordinating service with BART and Amtrak trains. If area jobs and commuting grow 20 percent as projected, this rail link will be just the ticket.
Quarry Park
Birdwatchers and nature lovers like Quarry Park in El Granada. Take Highway 1 south to Coronado Street, turn right
on Santiago Avenue, left on The Alameda, right on Santa Maria Avenue. The park
is at Santa Maria and Columbus Street (uphill side). Main entrance is to the left
of the park sign; playground is to the right.
E-Tour
Check out Save Our Shores at www.andearth.com. You’ll learn about unique habitats and wildlife of our marine sanctuary and local political issues affecting the coast.
GMO to Go
Genetically modified foods will not require labels in the United States, per new Food and Drug Administration rules. The FDA says GM foods are not substantially different from other foods, but a recent Harris Poll found 86 percent of Americans want mandatory GM labeling. The European Union and Japan already have such labeling. The Biotechnology Industry Organization welcomed the FDA move, but anti-GM forces denounced it. Two bills in Congress would override the FDA regulation, but their outcome may be in doubt. (from www.newscientist.com)
Sealcam
Live elephant seal action on the Internet. See marine giants cavorting on Año Nuevo beach, courtesy of the State of California web site: www.ca.gov.
Sustenance
Fascinating environmental stuff at www.foodandwater.org.
Clean Boats
Boaters can help protect marine life from oily bilge water. Dock Walkers from Save Our Shores are patrolling marinas
up and down the coast distributing Clean Boating Kits. Info: 800/974-6737 or www.saveourshores.org.
Adopt a Beach
Get your feet wet and learn about ocean conservation, earning a certificate as a marine sanctuary steward. Stewards present beach cleanup and sanctuary slide shows to school and community groups. Info: hmbshore@pacbell.net.
Caltrain’s Best Friend
State Senator Jackie Speier has introduced a money bill, SB 180, to give Caltrain $180 million for grade separations, safety improvements, and more shuttles. Last year she carried legislation providing $147 million for faster, more frequent Caltrain service. Richard L.
Silver, executive director of the Train Riders Association of California (TRAC), calls Speier “Caltrain’s best friend in the legislature.”
Hauling Ash
A boat full of incinerator ash left Philadelphia in 1985 and plied the high seas for several years looking for someplace to dispose of the load that nobody wanted. Apparently most of the ash was finally dumped at sea, but 3,000 tons of it that had been offloaded to a barge in Haiti in 1987 has now turned up off the Florida coast looking for a final resting place. Florida is considering whether to allow the ash to be buried in a landfill [right along with all those defective voting machines and dented chads].
Grammar cops
Here’s a new wrinkle on an old fruit. Through the power of modern marketing, the lowly prune has been elevated to the top shelf with a new name: dried plum. But prune juice still will be called prune juice, because the Food and Drug Administration says dried-plum juice is an oxymoron. I’m so glad to see the federal grammar patrol in action.