RoguePundit

Importing More Canadian Food Risk

Ridley Canada, one of the largest feed manufacturer in North America, is being sued over its possible role in spreading mad cow disease in Canada (previous blog here).  Within an article that provides the latest on that subject was the following nugget.

The lawsuit now proceeds - even as a new round of criticisms is being levelled at Ottawa over the Conservative government's latest policy shift on mad cow prevention and detection.

A scientist at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was fired this month after stumbling upon a classified policy document that shows the government decided last year to cut back on inspections of meat, meat products, animal feed and commercial seeds, among other food items.

The cost-cutting plan, which came from the office of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and was approved by Treasury Board last November, has not yet been made public.

But leaked copies indicate the Harper government is holding off on a public announcement of the plan "owing to significant communications risks."

November also happens to be when the U.S. reopened its borders to older Canadian beef (which is at greater risk of mad cow disease) by rescinding the 30-month rule (previous blog here).  Since then, Canada has had three more cases of the disease, two of which were in cattle born after the feed ban...which as we know has been violated at least once. 

FYI, one often reads that the most recent case of mad cow was the 13th discovered in Canada or the 13th there since 2003.  A better number might be 15...Canada's first case (in 1993) was a cow born in the UK, and the first case in the U.S. (Dec 2003) was a cow born in Canada.   

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, the union representing the fired scientist, says the new inspection policy "will amplify risk management and the risk will be to the health of Canadians."

Liberal MPs issued a news release this week demanding the Conservatives release the full policy document at once.

"Even with the little we know about it, it is clear that this plan will hurt farmers and threatens the food we all eat," said Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter.

And since we're importing so much food from Canada...

Lawsuit Over Dell Call-Centers Grows

Dell closed its call center in Roseburg last year, just a few months after two employees sued over claims of unpaid overtime.  That lawsuit now has class action status.

Telephone sales representatives who worked at Dell computer call centers in five states are eligible to join in a lawsuit filed by two of the company’s former Roseburg employees, according to a ruling by a U.S. District Court judge in Eugene.

U.S. Magistrate Thomas Coffin certified the lawsuit filed by David Norman and Walter Romas as a class action last week. As many as 5,000 Dell employees who worked for the company since Feb. 8, 2004, could petition the court to join in the suit.

Norman and Romas claim they weren’t paid for all of their hours spent on the clock and that they were shorted for overtime compensation. They seek an undisclosed amount in back wages, penalties and attorney fees.

The two men claimed they had to attend daily company meetings known as “huddles” that lasted 20 to 30 minutes, but for which they weren’t paid. Likewise, they turned on their computers and loaded programs, reviewed product memos and responded to e-mails before they were allowed to clock in. They also performed other duties after going off the clock at the end of their shifts, the lawsuit alleges.

Workers were regularly denied an hour break for lunch, yet had one hour automatically deducted from their work hours for the meal break, according to court documents. Some workers also responded to e-mails from customers from home but were not paid for that time, court filings allege.

At least 80 of the 212 employees who've asked to join the lawsuit worked in the Roseburg call center, which employed 350.  The lawsuit is only open to certain workers; for instance, part-time employees have to sue individually.  And there was this eye-opening factoid...

In court documents, the company reported the turnover among telephone sales representatives nationwide averaged 65 percent per year.

I wonder if any of that turnover is related to the reasons behind Dell recently losing the following lawsuit (from an Office of the New York State Attorney General press release).

State Supreme Court Justice Joseph C. Teresi, of Albany County, ruled today that Dell and (Dell Financial Services) engaged in fraud, false advertising, deceptive business practices, and abusive debt collection practices.

...

...“Dell has engaged in repeated misleading, deceptive and unlawful business conduct, including false and deceptive advertising of financing promotions and the terms of warranties, fraudulent, misleading and deceptive practices in credit financing and failure to provide warranty service and rebates.”

In other words, bait and switch.  And when it came to tech support provided under warranty or a service contract...

• Repeatedly failing to provide timely onsite repair to consumers who purchased service contracts promising “onsite” and expedited service;

• Pressuring consumers, including those who purchased service contracts promising “onsite” repair, to remove the external cover of their computer and remove, reinstall, and manipulate hardware components;

• Discouraging consumers from seeking technical support; those who called Dell’s toll free number were subjected to long wait times, repeated transfers, and frequent disconnections; and

• Failing to provide rebates that were promised to consumers.

Dell used to be a lot better.

Eating Clays and Other Soils

Pregnant women can eat some unusual things to satisfy their urges (end of previous blog here).  There are multiple terms that can be used to describe this phenomenon. 

Pica is a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for largely non-nutritive substances (e.g., coal, soil, feces, chalk, paper, etc.) or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered food, such as food ingredients (e.g., flour, raw potato, starch, ice cubes). In order for these actions to be considered pica, they must persist for more than one month, at an age where eating such objects is considered developmentally inappropriate.

The following article is about another.

"I know it is bad but I wanted to sustain the baby, so I eat it," she says, looking at her newborn daughter. While she was pregnant she would eat between 10 and 15 balls of clay each day. Sometimes she roasted them, sometimes she ate them plain. The old women in her community told her the clay would make her baby strong and remove "bad water" from her stomach.

"When I ate it, the vomiting stopped," she says. She understands the idea of gnawing on a rock-hard piece of clay may seem bizarre, but it's surprisingly common among her friends and family in rural Sierra Leone. Most mothers waiting with her at the maternity clinic admitted they also ate clay.

"It's cultural, it's traditional," said Ms. Jalloh's doctor, James Smith. "We have been telling them to stop taking these things."

The ingestion of earth or clay, known as geophagy, is a little-known but relatively widespread phenomenon in parts of Africa and Asia. It's usually consumed by pregnant or lactating women in order to reduce nausea and supplement a mineral-deficient diet. Some researchers suspect the clay coats the gastrointestinal tract and absorbs toxins, which is why a substance commonly found in the clay is used in some Western anti-diarrheal medicines. But it can also contain harmful parasites and cause lead poisoning, intestinal obstruction and colon rupture.

FYI, some Native Americans in California used to practice geophagy, and slaves brought the practice to the Southeast, where it still persists, mostly in rural areas.

Kaolin (also called kaolinite) used to be in and gave part of its name to kaopectate.  Attapulgite (named after Attapulgus, Georgia) is a common clay in the Southeast that's also been used in kaopectate.  Neither is in the current U.S. formulation, but attapulgite is still in the Canadian version...plus a number of other American diarrhea medications.   

Hunger is obviously a sad reason for eating clay, and there's no question that parasites can be an issue if the soil is contaminated with bodily wastes.  However, the article dwelled upon speculation that the practice itself is unhealthy...until it finally got to a very key point.

Dr. Smith said he's not aware of any medical studies about the effects of geophagy on pregnant women and insists more research is desperately needed.

"I don't even know the ingredients of this clay, so we need to do further studies."

If you're going to condemn traditional medicines, it would be great to have proof and to offer alternatives that are affordable and readily available.  Smith offers neither.  Nevertheless, some are trying to restrict supply rather than addressing the demand.  

Not far from the hospital, an entire community labours in the midday sun, knee-deep in mud. The men dig the pits and sieve the clay. The children haul off the buckets, and add salt and herbs. The women break the clay into pieces and roll them into balls. The balls are then sold in bags of 12 at markets across the country. One bag sells for 100 leones, the equivalent of three cents.

"We are not happy doing it," said John Kamara as he wades back into the pit and pours out a bucketful of clay. In a good month he will earn about $60. "I hope after my children are educated they will take me out of this filth," he said.

Some community groups are hoping to curb clay-eating by giving the miners a way out.

"If they're going to stop, they need a substitute," said Ramatu Fornah of the Women's Action for Human Dignity, a community-based organization in the heart of Sierra Leone's clay-mining district. "We've targeted about 30 of them and are teaching them agriculture."

Recently war-torn Sierra Leone is one of the poorest nations in the world, with a GDP per capita of about $700 per year.  It ranks dead last in the human development index.  Two-thirds of the population is already dependent upon subsistence agriculture...which is better than blood diamonds.  Life expectancy there is just 41.8 years. 

Meanwhile, how hard is it for consumers to find other sources of clay, especially when most can't afford a substitute that they may or may not believe is better?

Different Smokes

Many of the folks who are campaigning against the burning of grass fields in Oregon highlight the fact that our neighbors in California, Idaho, and Washington have outlawed it.  Despite such legislation...

In California, straw burning was outlawed, unless there are specific problems such as stem rust. Because stem rust is a problem there, California continues to burn as much as in the past.

In Washington State, when burning grass seed fields was outlawed, but wheat wasn't, the growers just switched their crops to wheat and burn 150,000 acres each year.

Idaho faced lawsuits over burning fields, but has reached a deal that allows burning to continue.

In the '80s, grass farmers burned as many as 250,000 acres in Oregon.  Nowadays, the average is about 50,000 acres.  However, quite a bit of that burning is fairly near population centers, and it bothers some people.   

The Willamette Valley farmers had voluntarily promised not to burn their fields during the Olympic Track and Field trials so that athletes would have better air quality conditions.

Unfortunately, now these farmers will face even greater hurdles.

Instead of appreciating what the farmers offered, environmentalists are eagerly lining up lawyers to race after farmers to quit burning fields completely.

Most farmers don't start burning their grass fields until at least July, so this wasn't much of a sacrifice. 

During the Trials, smoke from forest fires in the region blew into the valley, making the air quality worse than it normally is when fields are burning (but better than the athletes can probably expect in China next month).  Unsurprisingly, several folks called the ODA to gripe about the smoke from burning fields.  When you see activists and politicians quoting statistics regarding the number of complaints about field burning, remember that those ignorant complaints count.  And if you're a smoker who's griping about the smoke, I know a great way of addressing that air quality problem...

"It's not fair to protect only elite athletes," Charlie Tebbutt, staff attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene, said in an Associated Press story, when he demanded the burn ban year-round. "Those of us who live here the rest of the time deserve the same protection."

As I've said many times, there's no point in negotiating with zealots, because they have no interest in living with compromise.  

There aren't particularly good alternatives to field burning.  Most of them are involve more cost and the use of more chemicals, fertilizers, and fossil fuels.  It's a value judgment whether that's an improvement or not.  Same goes for if its preferable for those increased costs drive some of the grass farming out of the state.  But who needs to worry about the farmers because they can just switch crops, right?  That's obviously a wee simplistic.   

Opposition to field burning is NIMBYism that sometimes comes with a hypocritical twist.  If thousands of acres of fields burn, that's bad because it causes pollution.  However, if hundreds of thousands of acres of trees burn, that's okay because it's natural?  

State Rep. Paul Holvey (D-Eugene) has been trying to get field burning banned because of the health risks from the smoke.  He also claims that it contributes to global warming.  If he actually believes what he says, why isn't he jumping up and down about making our forests more fire-safe?  

Deporting More Criminals

Hopefully this is saving us a bit of money.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reinforced by more agents in the Pacific Northwest, has been combing through more jails looking for foreign-born inmates arrested on criminal charges.

The result has been a large increase in deportations from Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

In the nine months since October, deportations have jumped 39 percent over the same period last year.

So far this fiscal year, ICE has deported 7,345 people compared with 5,256 last year.

And the number of deportees who have criminal convictions has jumped by 26 percent to 2,024 from 1,594.

Those numbers show that more non-criminals are being deported as well.  FYI, when the article says "foreign-born," it's referring to non-citizens.

Neil Clark, director of detention and removal operations for the three states, credited the spike in deportations to an increase in the number of agents dedicated to the Criminal Alien Program, in which agents specifically maintain liaison with municipal, county and state jails.

In addition to interviewing foreign-born inmates, the agents run names through ICE digital indexes to determine if inmates are wanted for ignoring a deportation order.

...

...lawfully admitted, resident aliens can be deported if they have committed crimes such as an aggravated felony, more than one misdemeanor or crimes of moral turpitude.

Can't object to that.

Random Nature #175

Eradication:  Malaria has plagued man for as long as we've existed.  There are four species of protozoans (single-celled animals) which cause the disease, all from genus Plasmodium.  Three were once endemic to the U.S.

It is believed that malaria was introduced into the continental United States by European colonists (P. vivax and P. malariae) and African slaves (P. falciparum) in the 16th and 17th centuries. It became endemic in many areas of the country, paralleling the migration of people, with the exception of northern New England and mountainous and desert areas

Here are some maps that show when and where the U.S. used to have malaria problems. 

It was only in 1949 that malaria was finally eradicated from the U.S., thanks to effective treatment, changes in agriculture, aggressive mosquito-control initiatives, etc.  However, mosquitoes which can spread malaria are still common in many parts of the U.S.  Fortunately, there's nothing to spread unless people--the reservoir for the disease--are infected.  

Vigilance:  We have to remember that unless a disease is wiped off the face of the earth, eradication isn't permanent...it requires maintenance.  The following map shows the outbreaks of malaria in the U.S. from 1957-1994 (couldn't find a newer map).  Each has a letter corresponding to the species of malaria, followed by the two-digit year. 

International travel--mostly by immigrants--is what's been bringing the disease to the U.S.  These infected people give mosquitoes the opportunity to spread the disease...though two of the cases were probably related to transfusions.  We rely upon medical professionals to treat the sick and report the disease so that the authorities can attempt to identify the source and quickly stop the outbreak.  

Speaking of Vigilance:  Here's another disease that's been eradicated from the U.S. but keeps trying to make its way back.  In this case, it's the arrival of the vector that signals potential problems.

The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) marked an ominous anniversary July 3 by expanding the preventive cattle fever tick quarantine area in south Texas by 307,000 acres, after the dangerous livestock pests were detected on cattle outside quarantine areas in Starr and Zapata counties. Fever ticks, capable of carrying and transmitting deadly “tick fever” to cattle, have been detected on livestock or wildlife on 139 pastures during the past 12 months.

...

“This is no longer a ‘border war’ against the fever tick,” said Dr. Hillman.  “The fever tick has gained a substantial foothold on Texas soil, and without adequate resources to fight this pest, it will spread.”  The fever tick, which can survive winters from coast to coast and as far north as Washington, D. C., was successfully pushed back into Mexico in 1943.  Periodic tick incursions since then have occurred in Texas, but only one, in the 1970s, eclipsed the current outbreak for the number of premises infested and took six years to eradicate.

The fever ticks can carry Babesia, a genus of protozoan parasites.  There are many species of Babesia that can infect all sorts of vertebrates, including us.  But for now I'll just concentrate on a couple.  Switching links...

The southern cattle tick, Boophilus microplus, and the cattle-fever tick, B. annulatus, transmit the two species of blood parasites, Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, that cause the cattle diseases collectively known as “Texas fever,” “cattle fever,” or “bovine babesiosis.” Texas fever can kill up to 90 percent of yearling and adult cattle. Cattle infected as calves with Babesia normally do not develop debilitating disease but may be less healthy than uninfected animals.

But again, the ticks are vectors, so what are the host species for cattle fever?  The cattle themselves.  

The 1st scenario, explained Dr. Hillman, involves Mexico, where fever ticks and babesia have not been eradicated. Young calves there may be exposed to the babesia, survive the disease and develop immunity, but continue to carry the organism.

"Even if Mexican feeder cattle carry babesia, they will not cause a disease problem unless there is fever tick involvement," said Dr. Hillman, setting the scene for the scenario. "Mexican-origin feeder cattle enter the US under strict USDA fever tick inspection and dipping requirements. To keep them away from fever ticks, the TAHC requires Mexican-imported cattle to have an "M" branded on their hip and prohibits these animals from being maintained in the permanent quarantine zone."

"If fever ticks are moved to sites where Mexican feeder cattle are pastured, the pests may pick up babesia. The babesia infected female tick transmits the disease to the next generation of fever ticks. Only one element then would be missing from the dangerous disease equation: US cattle with no immunity to the babesia," noted Dr. Hillman. "If native US cattle, which are susceptible to babesiosis or 'cattle tick fever,' are infested with babesia-infected fever ticks, then disease transmission to the native cattle will occur. Most likely, this will cause significant death loss of native cattle. It's crucial to keep the fever tick pushed beyond the border, and support and fund surveillance activities in the permanent fever tick quarantine zone." 

So, if we can't eradicate the ticks, we just further limit the places where Mexican cattle can be taken?    

Dr. Hillman said the 2nd scenario involves wildlife as effective alternative hosts and sources for movement of ticks into Texas from Mexico and from the permanent quarantine zone to the free area of Texas. For once, noted Dr. Hillman, the beleaguered feral (wild) hog is not implicated. Fever ticks have not acclimated to swine, goats, sheep, or dogs. On the other hand, elk, white-tailed deer, nilgai, and red deer, serve as effective hosts for fever ticks, but are not affected by babesia.

"Free-ranging cervids do not respect national borders, shallow rivers, low fences, quarantines, or permits for movement," he said. "Wildlife hosts may crisscross the Rio Grande, hauling in fever ticks. Right now, wildlife presents the greatest risk for fever tick movement."

Man is not at risk from cattle fevers.  But there are other species of Babesia that can strike us.  More on that in the future.

Expendable Workers, Integrity, etc.

Agriprocessors Inc. is a meat processing and packaging company with revenues of about $250 million.  It's lone plant in Postville, Iowa is the largest kosher meatpacking plant in the nation...though nowadays about two-thirds of its products are non-kosher (like Iowa's Best Beef).  Until May 11, a goodly percentage of the plant's workers were illegal immigrants.  That changed when the feds detained 389 workers (including 12 juveniles)--mostly from rural Guatemala--and issued arrest warrants for another 307 in the nation's largest immigration raid thus far.  The company decided to replace the CEO--a son of the owner and founder--a few days after the raid.  Better late than never. 

For years, the company has not treated these workers very well...the same has occasionally been true with the environment and the slaughtered animals.  However, the state had been reticent to take serious actions regarding the illegal workers or their safety.  The raid has gotten the public more interested in what's been going on inside the plant, which has one of the worst safety records in the state.

In 2003, the company reported 83 employee injuries, including smashed ankles, lacerated tendons in hands, smashed arms, and amputated fingers.

In 2004, the number of injuries jumped 45 percent, to 120, with workers being treated for chemical burns to their eyes and feet, third-degree burns, hand lacerations and broken ribs.

In 2005, the number of injuries dropped to 103. They included hearing losses, smashed fingers and severed fingers.

Newer records aren't available yet, and it can be rather difficult to determine how those workers are doing now.  The state has made a number of inspections, which have tended to result in relatively small fines.  According to Iowa OSHA, the fines were often reduced to avoid lengthy appeals and to allow the money to be invested in improved safety and training.  While that sounds okay in theory, sometimes it has the opposite effect.

In early 2006, state officials cited the company for failing to provide protective jackets and boots to workers who used high-pressure hoses to spray corrosive chemicals and scalding water inside the plant as part of the sanitation process.

During an on-site inspection, an executive asked a state inspector whether she would recommend protective "rain suits" for the workers. "Yes!" she said.

She asked the company's operations manager and plant engineer whether they would want rain suits if they had to spray caustic chemicals. According to the inspector's report, both men said, "Absolutely."

But company records indicate that workers had long been forced to either do without the protective gear or purchase it themselves from the company. And because some workers allegedly had no lockers at the plant, they often took their chemical-soaked rain suits home with them at the end of their shift.

...

For at least six years, workers were being charged $30 for the pants and $30 for the jackets. Boots were $20.85. At those prices, 100 rain suits would have generated $8,000 in revenue for the company. By comparison, the state fine for this serious safety violation was $1,000.

The money for the gear was docked from their pay.  There were allegations of beatings, child labor law violations, paying some workers less than minimum wage in cash, and even producing meth at the plant.  The company had earlier been fined for short-weighting the cattle they bought, and unions weren't pleased with the owner and his son for collecting and keeping union dues at a textile plant they own in New Jersey.  Since the raid at the processing plant, several former female employees have claimed that they were offered better working condition in exchange for sexual favors. 

By early this year, multiple federal investigations were underway.

On April 11, ... an informant who worked at the Postville plant told U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that word of the impending immigration raid had leaked. Employees were openly discussing the matter, he said.

...

Leaders of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, who were trying to organize Postville workers, were concerned a raid would derail the child-labor investigation. On May 2, the union's Mark Lauritsen asked ICE to refrain from raiding the plant until the labor-law investigation was completed.

...

Court records indicate the Social Security Administration repeatedly warned Agriprocessors that hundreds of its employees - perhaps as much as 78 percent of the work force - appeared to be using fraudulent Social Security numbers or names.

Between 2002 and 2006, the company allegedly received 12 separate, written notices from the Social Security Administration highlighting hundreds of discrepancies in Social Security numbers and employee names.

Two supervisors have been charged with "aiding and abetting the possession and use of fraudulent identification by their workers," and a third of Palestinian origin has fled.  The defiant owner and his sons haven't been charged. 

Aaron Rubashkin, the owner of the embattled kosher slaughterhouse Agriprocessors, denies he has engaged in unethical labor practices and blames the failure of U.S. immigration policy for his mostly illegal workforce.

...

“Everything is a lie,” Rubashkin told JTA.

After the raid, Agriprocessors went to Labor Ready to get 150 replacement workers.  About ten days later, Labor Ready pulled the workers out of the plant over safety concerns.  Then, Agriprocessors started hiring from homeless shelters in Texas.  Meanwhile, the PR efforts haven't been going very well.

The PR firm hired to represent kosher meat plant Agriprocessors is being accused of posting comments on the Internet under fraudulent names to promote its client. Such tactics bear a striking resemblance to those Agriprocessors itself has been accused of, following the recent immigration raid.

The New York firm, 5W Public Relations - whose clients include McDonald's, pornographer Joe Francis of Girls Gone Wild, Pastor John Hagee and a slew of right-wing Jewish organizations - was accused last Wednesday of posting comments on several Jewish Web sites using a false identity.

The firm first blamed an intern, but has since admitted the responsibility belongs with a senior staff member.

What a mess.  The owners and upper-level management need to be slammed hard.

A New Prion Disease

There are multiple types of the fatal degenerative brain disorder knows as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD--previous blog here).  The one that's gained the most publicity is the "variant" form that's linked to mad cow disease.  However, the most common type is sporadic CJD, which seems to randomly develop in about one in a million people.  There's also genetic CJD which runs in families and iatrogenic CJD which is accidentally transmitted via medical procedures. 

However, there have been a few instances where patients were seemingly suffering from CJD, but testing proved negative.  

A new form of fatal dementia has been discovered in 16 Americans, 10 of whom have already died of the condition. It resembles Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease - with patients gradually losing their ability to think, speak and move - but has features that make it distinct from known forms of CJD.

No one yet knows how the disease originates, or under what conditions it might spread. Nor is it clear how many people have the condition. "I believe the disease has been around for many years, unnoticed," says Pierluigi Gambetti, director of the US National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Cases may previously have been mistaken for other forms of dementia.

...

As in other spongiform encephalopathies, such as CJD and mad cow disease (BSE), the brain tissue of victims is full of tiny holes. This damage is thought to be caused by the accumulation of prions, misfolded versions of a brain protein called PrP that can convert normal PrP molecules into their own misshapen form.

Until recent years, the only way of identifying CJD was an autopsy that opened up the skull.  Thus, one would definitely figure that the disease has been underdiagnosed historically.  Prion proteins weren't discovered until the early 1980s...they're still not that well understood.

Some features of the new disease are different, however. All known disease-causing prions resist degradation by proteases--enzymes which digest the normal form of PrP. But prions from patients with the new disease are broken down by the enzymes.

Some very rare forms of CJD run in families and are caused by mutations in the gene for PrP. Six of the cases described in Gambetti's paper were from families with a history of dementia, suggesting a genetic cause. However, these people had no mutations in their PrP genes. "Maybe there are other genes that have an influence on the disease," suggests James Ironside of the UK's National CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh.

This new disease is being called PSPr, short for protease-sensitive prionopathy.  Doctors in the UK are now reviewing previous cases of sporadic CJD to see if any of them might have been PSPr. 

After Wiping...

Amid all the catastrophism, it can be easy to overlook some of the areas where the U.S. excels on the environment.  One of them is sewage treatment.  We certainly still have plenty of room to improve, but thank goodness we're not like most of Canada (previous blog here) or for instance Taiwan...

The Environmental Protection Administration urged the public yesterday not to flush toilet paper.

Wang Yue-bin, a section chief with the Water Quality Protection division, made the remarks in response to a campaign launched by the Tainan City Government earlier this week encouraging the public to flush toilet paper as a way to cut disposal costs.

Flush the toilet paper as opposed to what?  Switching links...

“An old habit is to throw toilet paper in the trash can beside the toilet, which causes a major stink that’s bad for public sanitation,” city Environmental Protection Bureau Director Chang Hwang-jen told Reuters.

...

Toilet sitters in Taiwan and China customarily target trash bins instead of the porcelain because of pipe backup worries. Clogged pipes in Tainan are caused by the flushing of other objects, such as toothbrushes, Chang said.

To reduce the risk of clogged sewage lines, we use wider pipes and sweep elbows.  But if you don't flush toilet paper, the piping can be narrower, which is cheaper.  I still remember how many pipes we dug up during a deployment to a Jordanian air base in the mid-80s because our toilet paper clogged their pipes.  Most of them used their left hands to wipe and then rinsed them off. 

Returning to the original article...

As used toilet paper cannot be recycled, it must be disposed of through treatment that costs about NT$4,600 per tonne. This costs the nation about NT$600 million (US$20 million) per year, the bureau said.

In response, Wang said that although toilet paper does dissolve in water and that flushing it could cut the nation’s treatment costs, there were negative aspects that outweighed this argument.

Much of the public does not know which toilet papers can be flushed and which papers are too thick and could cause clogging, he said.

And if the toilet paper successfully navigates the piping, where does it go?

...only about 18 percent of toilets feed into sewage treatment systems. If toilet paper is flushed down the other 82 percent of toilets, it flows directly into rivers and other waterways and increases pollution, he said.

How Third World...but it's better than Victoria BC.

Timber Harvests Slowing Further

Today, there have been several news stories on Oregon's timber harvest last year.  Here's part of one article and some additional data and thoughts.

Oregon’s timber harvests continued their decline since 2004 with 3.80 billion board feet being harvested in 2007, a 12 percent decrease from 2006.

This is the smallest Oregon timber harvest since the recession-based record low recorded in 2001.

The harvest in 2001 was 3.44 billion board feet.  Last year's harvest also topped the ones in 1998 and 1999.  But before that, one has to go all the way back to 1938 to find a lower harvest (historical records here).  

The reduction in timber harvest volumes came from declining harvests from private forestland owners. An 11 percent, or 344 million board feet, decrease in volume from forest industry land owners was accompanied by a 43 percent decline in harvests on non-industrial private lands, which declined from 422 million board feet in 2006 to 240 million board feet in 2007. Federal harvests remained at historically low levels, accounting for less than 10 percent of the cut.

Timber harvests were down in both western Oregon and eastern Oregon. Harvests in all of western Oregon declined 11 percent from 2006 levels, driven primarily by the 44 percent decrease on non-industrial private lands, from 351 million board feet to 198 million board feet.

Klamath County straddles the Cascades, but its totals are included in--and easily lead--Eastern Oregon.  At 107 million board feet, its harvest is more than a quarter of the total from that side of the state.  However, its harvest only topped six counties in Western Oregon, which confusingly includes Hood River County from the other side of the Cascades.

Lane County continues to lead Oregon’s counties in harvesting, despite decreasing by 15 percent to 504 million board feet in 2007. Douglas County was second with 479 million board feet, while Clatsop and Coos were third and fourth with 338 and 303 million board feet respectively.

Overall, harvests decreased in all western Oregon counties except for Curry, Hood River, Linn, and Yamhill, resulting in the 11 percent decline in that region.

Curry County and Jackson County totaled 95 million and 74 million board feet, respectively.  And once again, Josephine County was next to last here in western Oregon, topping only Multnomah County (Portland).  Last year's harvest of 22.4 million board feet was the lowest here since 1939.  Our peak was in 1952 at 318 million board feet.  And note that none of last year's harvest here was from BLM or USFS land...none. 

Let's not forget with the BLM's former O&C lands...

Section 1181(a) of the 1937 O&C act reads that O&C lands "Shall be managed... for permanent forest production, and the timber thereon shall be sold, cut, and removed in conformity with the principal of sustained yield for the purpose of providing a permanent source of timber supply, protecting watersheds, regulating streamflow, and contributing to the economic stability of the local Communities and industries, and providing recreational facilities."

The feds don't have to backfill the reduction in timber fees due to decreased logging of the national forests, but they do owe us for the checkerboard of O&C lands (example map here).  With the success our Congressional delegation isn't having at extending the timber funds, why hasn't the State of Oregon sued the feds yet (previous blog here)?  

Meanwhile, here we sit...logging isn't generating much in the way of timber fees, Congress isn't replacing those timber fees, the majority of our county land isn't generating property taxes, and the fuels load and thus the fire risk continues to grow.  If we don't raise our property taxes this fall to replace the lost timber funds, our Sheriff's Office all-but-disappears.  And if we're burned out, it will be our fault for living near the forest.