Friends Of The Earth

A uranium cartel, recombinant DNA, small farmers in court, Kepone poisoning and Mirex residues.

By the Mother Earth News editors

November/December 1976

One of the world's most effective environmental groups is San Francisco-based FRIENDS OF THE EARTH. Although FOE publishes Not Man Apart-a monthly tabloid magazines packed with a authenticated, hard-to-find facts that every concerned citizen needs-far too few of MOTHER's readers regularly see a copy of NMA. We are therefore quite pleased that FOE's staff has agreed to write a regular FRIENDS OF THE EARTH columm for THE Mother Earth News(restricted).

FOE UNCOVERS URANIUM CARTEL

Whatever happened to "cheap" nuclear power? Within the past half decade, the price of uranium has shot sky-high . . . and utility companies that use the fuel have consistently raised their customers' rates in order to cover the extra cost. What's behind it all?

Well, for years, nuclear activists have suspected the existence of an international price-fixing cartel of uranium producers. And now, Friends of the Earth's Australian branch has uncovered documents which detail the activities of just such an organization.

The papers were leaked to FOE from the files of Mary Kathleen Uranium Limited of Melbourne. They contain strong evidence which indicates that representatives of Australia, Canada, France, South Africa, and the Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation met in Paris in 1972 (and on several occasions thereafter) in order to fix the international price of uranium, and to draw up a private profit-sharing agreement. Members of "the club" also reportedly discussed ways of restricting sales to-and discouraging the resale of uranium by-"middlemen such as reactor manufacturers; e.g., Westinghouse and General Electric".

Interestingly enough, the world price of uranium jumped from $6.00 a pound to $40 a pound after those meetings were held.

What are the implications? Well, collusion by world uranium producers may already have cost Americans a very large amount of money . . . and could cost us even more. In recent years, U.S. suppliers of uranium have used the soaring international market figure for the fuel to justify their own price increases. In addition, most of the ore now under contract for delivery to American companies between 1980 and 1984 has been purchased from foreign sources . . . and will cost $3 billion at current (apparently fixed) prices. U.S. utility companies, in other words, have been (and will be) buying ore at cartel-controlled rates. And unfortunately, the one who ends up paying the artificially high bill is the energy consumer . . . you and millions of other citizens.

Surprisingly, reaction to the leaked documents has been slow to come . . . but is now-at long last-building up steam. Although the papers surfaced in Australia in early August, the national press scarcely covered the story. In fact, the proverbial ball didn't get rolling at all until Jim Harding-former head of FOE's energy department-brought the documents to the attention of his new boss, Dr. Ron Doctor, a member of the California State Energy Commission. Dr. Doctor, two other CSEC officials, and a member of the California Public Utilities Commission have now sent letters and copies of the documents to U.S. Attorney General Edward Levy, and Senator Frank Church, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Multinational Corporations. The Californians have requested investigations of the price-fixing cartel at both Senate and Justice Department levels.

Such hearings could result in lowered uranium prices . . . which in turn could lead to any one of several possible outcomes. Foreign suppliers might react to reduced profits by curtailing development of the ore, which could worsen the already anticipated long-term shortage of uranium. On the other hand, reduced fuel costs to utility companies could make nuclear power more competitive with alternative sources (such as coal), and might even lessen the "need" for recycling spent reactor fuel, or for developing the breeder reactor (which makes its own fuel).

At this point, however, such questions are mere exercises in speculation. No matter what the outcome, the very existence of the uranium cartel has put a very large dent in the nuclear industry's already-battered credibility. And a can of worms has been opened that-one way or another-promises to catch some very big fish.

RECOMBINANT DNA: PANACEA OR PERIL?

The creation of new forms of life in the test tube may have been fantasy twenty, ten, or even five years ago. Thanks to recent advances in the field of recombinant DNA research, however, such "fantasies" are now a reality.

The broad aim of this kind of research-in which genes from one type of cell (an animal cell, say) are transplanted into a different type of cell (such as a bacterium)-is to learn more about the properties of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the molecule of which all genes (bits of genetic information) are formed. The battle lines, however, are now being drawn.

Those who favor recombinant DNA research argue that it holds the key to far-reaching advances in medicine, agriculture, and any number of basic sciences. Among other developments-say some proponents-this work may lead to cures for genetic diseases (including, possibly, cancer), the inexpensive manufacture of hormones and drugs, self-fertilizing strains of food crops, and microorganisms that can eat up oil spills.

The opponents of this research-on the other hand-argue that the outcome of future experimentation will be highly unpredictable, and that-in the light of the potential hazards involved-present research is being given the green light too hastily.

What are the potential hazards? Unfortunately, one can only guess. A micro-organism that feeds on oil spills might also feed on the contents of oil holding tanks and pipelines. And a plant that can fertilize itself might-if unleashed on an unprepared world-spread its roots further and faster than any weed (so far) known to man.

Perhaps the aspect of this research that the opponents of gene-manipulation find most objectionable is the fact that the organism used for most DNA experiments to date happens to be a bacterium (E. coli) whose normal habitat is the human digestive tract. What this means, say some scientists, is that if a harmful mutant strain of the bacterium were produced in the laboratory and allowed to escape, there would be no way to prevent the spread of the new (manmade) disease organism to all members of the human race.

Friends of the Earth and other groups are calling for strong and immediate action to regulate recombinant DNA research nationwide. Recently, the National Institute of Health (NIH) issued preliminary safety guidelines for the conduct of this kind of experimentation . . . FOE, however, believes the restrictions set by the NIH are inadequate (especially in view of the fact that the guidelines are essentially voluntary and only apply to federally funded laboratories).

FOE would like to see the NIH write an environmental impact statement on this research . . . a statement which could then be used as the basis for truly meaningful guidelines. Also, we would like to see Congress hold hearings into this matter, as a means of providing an open forum for discussion of the social, political, and moral questions involved,

It's our view that recombinant DNA research is tampering with the product of 3,000,000 years of life on this planet. And we feel justified in asking if anyone-even white-robed Ph.D.'s working behind robot control panels-has the right to fool with something that took eons to perfect.

WESTLANDS: SMALL FARMERS IN COURT

The battle between agribusiness and small farmers over land in California's rich Westlands district has taken a heartening turn. As reported in this column in MOTHER NO. 40, the controversy involves a stipulation of the 1902 Reclamation Act which limits the size of farms that may receive federally subsidized water to 160 acres. The problem lies in the fact that much larger parcels of the Westlands region (all of which is irrigated under federal programs) are owned by huge agricultural conglomerates. So National Land for People-a Fresno-based organization of small farmers-sued the Bureau of Reclamation for failure to enforce the 1902 Act, and requested that Westlands' corporate owners sell off their excess property at pre-irrigation-era prices.

Until recently, however, the case has been held up because-according to law-the Bureau of Reclamation must set specific rules and regulations governing the sale and ownership of excess lands . . , and must publish those rules in the Federal Register. It has never done so, and therefore the courts could not make a determination as to [1] the legality of the present owners' holdings and [2] the legitimacy of NLP's request.

Now, however, Federal Judge Barrington Parker has issued a preliminary injunction banning any further sales of excess acreage in the Westlands until the Bureau of Reclamation publishes its ground rules in the Register and-most important-cites its legal basis for those rules. And because the 1902 Act is an existing statute, the Bureau will have virtually no choice but to formulate its guidelines within the context of the Act's stated purpose: namely, to encourage small-scale family farming.

Agribusiness is understandably upset over the decision, but some folks in high places-particularly those in Governor Jerry Brown's office-seem to like the idea. The Fresno Bee recently obtained a copy of a "discussion draft" of a bill from the Governor's office which proposed committing state and federal government to "the encouragement of resident, family farmers in the Westlands Water District which will result in a more stable, and more desirable community".

KEPONE KEEPS ON KEEPIN' ON

Earlier this year-you may recall-30 chemical workers in Hopewell, Virginia sued the Allied Chemical Corporation after becoming ill from Kepone poisoning. (Kepone is a highly toxic insecticide chemical.) Their case is still pending, but in a related matter nearly everyone was caught off guard when Allied Chemical pleaded "no contest" to 940 criminal charges of dumping Kepone wastes into the James River.

Allied's dumping of those wastes necessitated the closing of both the James and Chesapeake Bay to fishing when the EPA found that fish and shellfish samples taken from the waterways were contaminated with up to ten times the acceptable level of Kepone. (The EPA has since banned the use of this chemical.)

As things now stand, Allied Chemical still faces 154 charges stemming from an original indictment containing nearly 1,100 counts. A number of Allied executives have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges, including "aiding and abetting illegal discharge of Kepone wastes", lying about Kepone discharges, and conspiracy.

DON'T MAKE MINE MIREX

Meanwhile, another exceedingly poisonous chemical-Mirex (which degrades to Kepone in the body)-has recently been making headlines. The EPA reports, for instance, that of over 100 human cadavers tested so far in the South (where Mirex is widely used to control fire ants), 40% have shown detectable amounts of Mirex.

Even more ominously, Mirex residues have recently been found in faraway Lake Ontario. It turns out that a company involved in the manufacture of Mirex-containing flame retardant-the Hooker Chemical Company-has (according to the New York Times) been dumping about a pound per day of the chemical into the Niagara River . . . which empties into Lake Ontario. (Such dumping is patently illegal, since no permits have ever been issued in this country for the openwater disposal of Mirex.)

FOE and other groups have called for a ban on Mirex, and it looks like there's some hope that this carcinogen may-in fact-be legislated out of existence before long. When Mirex is finally banned, the Hooker Chemical Company will have to stop dumping it into the Niagara River . . . but-amazingly-they'll still have permits to pour large amounts of other chemicals into the same waterway: 18,000 pounds of fluoride per day, 950 pounds of chlorinated hydrocarbons, and 220 pounds of ammonia.

Sounds like pretty poor fish food to us. Certainly, though, it's food for thought.