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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-weight:bold'>Trinity River water pumped
from the collapsing <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Bay</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> Delta irrigates this
land.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><font size=4 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
font-weight:bold'>LLOYD CARTER: Selenium poisoning is still a threat today<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><b><font size=1 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
font-weight:bold'>By Lloyd Carter<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<!--/STORYHEADLINE--><!--STORYBODY-->
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=1 color="#999999"
face=Arial><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:#999999'>07/05/07
04:24:00<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
<!-- START /pubsys/assets/common/related_content.comp --><!-- no related content to display --><!-- no related content to display --><!-- no gallery to display --><!-- no PDFs to display --><!-- no related content to display --><!-- no poll to display --><!-- no related content to display --><!-- no related content to display -->It
has been nearly a quarter of a century since federal scientists discovered that
selenium in Western San Joaquin Valley farm drainwater was triggering massive
embryo deformities in ducks and shorebirds and killing all the edible fish at
the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge. </span></font><font size=2 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>The fish die-off and
deformities or embryo deaths in more than half the Kesterson nests were caused
by selenium that had been leached from the western Valley soils by irrigation
practices and then dissolved in subsurface drainwater funneled to the
"refuge." Scientists would rediscover that selenium, while a micro
nutrient, is the most toxic of all biologically essential elements in mammals. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Officials of the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation, which built the federal irrigation facilities on the
west side, and political appointees at the parent Department of Interior
initially claimed the Kesterson selenium poisoning was an isolated problem. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>But as investigations
spread to other national wildlife refuges, selenium contamination was confirmed
in the southern <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType> (<st1:City w:st="on">Tulare</st1:City> basin),
<st1:City w:st="on">Salton Sea</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Utah</st1:State>,
<st1:State w:st="on">Nevada</st1:State>, <st1:State w:st="on">Wyoming</st1:State>,
<st1:State w:st="on">Colorado</st1:State>, <st1:State w:st="on">Montana</st1:State>,
<st1:State w:st="on">New Mexico</st1:State>, <st1:State w:st="on">Arizona</st1:State>
and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kansas</st1:place></st1:State>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Now 25 years later, with
hundreds of millions of dollars on studies and research spent, the Department
of Interior still has no selenium safety standards for wildlife, although a
committee was appointed in 1989 to adopt such standards. Yet the evidence
continues to grow that selenium poisoning, caused by farming, mining, coal
burning, oil refining and other industrial activities, is occurring all over
America. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>According to the U.S.
Geological Survey Web site or other Internet scientific sources: <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Six horses and between
200 and 300 sheep died from grazing on selenium-laced plants near phosphate
mines in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Idaho</st1:place></st1:State>
between 1996 and 2003. Phosphate mining of shale soils to make fertilizers
generates large amounts of selenium-laced mining wastes, which contaminate
waterways and land. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Hay from western states
high in selenium is suspected of causing selenium poisoning in horses in <st1:State
w:st="on">Missouri</st1:State>, according to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Missouri</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>
veterinarians. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Fish and ducks in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Bay</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> have elevated selenium levels. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Cutthroat trout are
disappearing from streams along the Idaho-Wyoming border because of selenium
contamination from phosphate mining. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Shellfish and birds in
the <st1:place w:st="on">Great Lakes</st1:place> region have elevated selenium
levels. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Although drainage flows
to Kesterson were halted in 1985 following intense media exposure of the
problem, selenium-contaminated farm drainage continues to flow to many wildlife
refuges in more than a dozen western states, and food chain levels of selenium
in those refuges reveal a continuing threat to bird populations. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Dennis Lemly, of the
U.S. Forest Service, who is considered a premier expert in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">America</st1:country-region> on selenium poisoning of wildlife, has
described the disappearance of fish in southeast <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Idaho</st1:place></st1:State> as "an insidious ticking time
bomb." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Seventeen of 26 closed
phosphate mines in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Idaho</st1:place></st1:State>
have been designated Superfund sites by the Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA officials say not a single closed phosphate mine has ever been cleaned up.
The current Secretary of Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, formerly served as a public
relations spokesman for one of those phosphate mining companies. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Although Reclamation
officials claimed they were surprised at Kesterson, it is only because they did
not do their homework. Selenium poisoning of livestock and forage foods had
been known for decades in the <st1:place w:st="on">Dakotas</st1:place> and the
southwest. High levels of selenium were confirmed in the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Range</st1:PlaceType> -- parent soil material of the
western <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> -- in 1939. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Time magazine complained
in a 1933 article that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was "inclined to
silence" about selenium poisoning of cattle fed wheat, corn and alfalfa
grown on high selenium soils in the American Southwest dating back to the 19th
century. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>The late David Love,
"grand old man of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Rocky</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Mountain</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> geology,"
warned in a famous 1949 memorandum, which he later claimed was suppressed by
the Department of Agriculture, that farming and irrigating high selenium soils
in the American West would create an environmental disaster. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>And closer to home the
Westlands Water District, which once funneled its selenium-laced waste waters
to Kesterson, now faces a drainage disposal problem that may cost in excess of
$2 billion. Surrealistically, Interior officials are suggesting the
construction of more Kesterson-like evaporation ponds as a "solution"
to the farm drainage problem. Federal irrigation districts north of Westlands
now drain their selenium-laced waste waters into the polluted lower <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> and want to continue doing so. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>In 2007, with the
Kesterson debacle a memory, the federal government is still "inclined to
silence" about the extent and seriousness of the selenium problem. You
don't hear politicians giving speeches about the selenium threat. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p style='background:white'><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Federal scientists tell
me selenium impacts on bird reproductivity are still occurring here in the
Valley and elsewhere in America where farming and mining on high selenium soils
is slowly but surely contributing to the steady decline of bird and fish
populations. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><i><font size=1 color=black
face=Arial><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;
font-style:italic'>Lloyd Carter, a Fresno lawyer, is director of the <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State> Water Impact
Network. </span></font></i><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place>, Chair</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>California Trout, Inc., Advisor</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810 cell</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.caltrout.org">http://www.caltrout.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org"></a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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