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WaterNews for June 15, 2004Benjamin Grumbles WaterNews is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water. In This Week’s WaterNews:
Fish Tissue Data AvailableThe Office of Water has released second-year data from the National Study of Chemical Residues in Lake Fish Tissue, a national four-year study to assess the condition of lakes and reservoirs in the lower 48 states. The study will provide the first national estimate for 268 persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals and will help us track reductions of these chemicals in freshwater fish. We are analyzing the fish samples for mercury, arsenic, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and dioxins/furans, along with many pesticides and other organic chemicals, such as phenols and chlorobenzenes. Chemical analysis of all fish samples should be complete by the end of 2004. EPA plans to finish statistical analysis of the cumulative four-year fish tissue data set in 2005 and produce a final report in 2006. You can learn more about the fish tissue study by visiting our web site at www.epa.gov/waterscience/fishstudy Planting Fields of Wild Rice Helps To Bring Back Life to the Anacostia RiverEPA and the Chesapeake Bay Program are helping the Anacostia Watershed Society develop the Rice Rangers project, a three-year restoration effort that reintroduces native wild rice to the tidal mudflats along the Anacostia River. At a rice-planting event along the Anacostia on Friday, June 11. Benjamin Grumbles, Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, presented a check for $100,000 to the Anacostia Watershed Society to work with students and teachers on wetlands planting and environmental education projects. On Earth Day 2004, President Bush announced a new goal of restoring, improving and protecting at least three million acres of wetlands by 2009. The goal includes restoring one million acres of wetlands, improving one million acres and preserving one million acres. Specifically, EPA is charged with achieving 6,000 acres of wetlands restoration and 6,000 acres of improvement over five years, which is an average of 1200 acres a year in each category. Information about EPA's wetlands program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/. Information about the Anacostia Watershed Society and the Rice Rangers Program is available at: http://www.anacostiaws.org To read the article "Youngsters Dig to Restore Wetlands" that ran in the Washington Post on Friday, June 11 click here http://www.washingtonpost.com/ EPA Announces the First Meeting of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council’s Water Security Working Group (WSWG)The purpose of the Water Security Working Group’s (WSWG) first meeting—a teleconference call—is to provide for WSWG membership introductions, to set ground rules and standard operating procedures for the WSWG, and to determine how the WSWG will approach and complete their charge. The WSWG has been asked to identify, characterize and recommend best security practices and policies for drinking water and wastewater utilities to achieve a broad response within the water sector. The conference call will take place on July 6, 2004, at 3:30 p.m., eastern standard time. Contact Marc Santora at 202/ 564-1597 for additional information. Television Special about Watersheds to Air on The Weather Channel June 26EPA is pleased to announce that the new ½ hour television special about watersheds, co-produced by the Environmental Protection Agency and The Weather Channel, will air again on The Weather Channel on Saturday, June 26, at 8:30 PM and 11:30 PM EST. After the Storm premiered on The Weather Channel on Wednesday, February 4, 2004. Additional showings are scheduled for Saturday, September 18 at 8 PM and 11:00 PM EST. &quo;I encourage everyone to tune in on June 26 to learn more about the threats facing our nation’s waters from polluted runoff," said Acting Assistant Administrator Grumbles. "After the Storm shows the connection between weather and watersheds and the importance of watershed protection. We all live in a watershed and we all have an impact on our environment." Visit the EPA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/weatherchannel/ for more information about what they can do, including a free brochure about stormwater pollution. VHS copies of the After the Storm program are now available. Order a free copy by contacting the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) at 513-489-8190 or 800-490-9198 or send an email to ncepimal@one.net. Please request After the Storm (VHS) and refer to document number, EPA 840-V-04-001. After Aug. 5th, EPA will have full rights to the After the Storm program and we will be lending high quality Beta SP copies of the program to cable and other television stations for broadcasting. To borrow a copy, please contact NSCEP as well and ask to borrow After the Storm (Beta SP),EPA 841-V-04-001, Aug. 2004 (we are taking orders now for delivery AFTER Aug. 5, 2004). Subscribe to WaterNewsPlease forward this message to your friends and colleagues who share an interest in water-related issues and would like to hear from EPA's Office of Water. To subscribe to the WaterNews listserv: Send an email message, leave the subject line blank, and address it to: In the body of the message write: Subscribe WaterNews firstname lastname (Please leave one blank space between each word, do not include any other message, and use your actual name- i.e. Subscribe WaterNews Robert Jones) A welcome message will appear in your email box once you are officially subscribed.
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