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 Archive
of Environmental News - September
2000
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September 19, 2000 -
US
Helps Ukraine Probe Illness KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - A group
of U.S. experts have arrived in Ukraine to help the former
Soviet republic investigate a case of mass poisoning
possibly caused by leaks of Soviet-era rocket fuel,
officials said Monday. The team includes two scientists from
the Environment Protection Agency and three from the
Atlanta-based Center for Disease Control. They will spend a
week in Ukraine, meeting with officials in Kiev and
traveling to the four poisoned villages in the southern
Mykolaiv area, said an official with the U.S. Embassy.
The experts are expected to take water and
soil probes to determine the cause of the mysterious
illness, which affected about 400 people in July and August
in the villages. The illness caused burning eyes, difficulty
breathing, upset stomachs and skin rashes. Those
hospitalized have been released, and no new cases were
reported. A base with solid-fuel SS-24 nuclear missiles,
which now have no warheads and are to be dismantled in 2001,
is located in the region. The area once housed other Soviet
missiles powered by liquid fuel.
Some health experts have cited possible
leaks of missile fuel as the cause of the illness, though
the defense ministry has denied the possibility. The
ministry's medical service said the disease was most likely
caused by the burning of plastic in the presence of copper,
such as burning the insulation off cables stolen by
scavengers with the aim of selling the metal. Other
government officials said the supposedly high concentration
of nitrates in the area's water and soil was to blame. The
government has declared the region a disaster zone and set
up a commission to investigate the poisonings. Its findings
are expected later in the week.
September 18, 2000 -
KEY
WEST, Fla. (AP) - A baby pygmy sperm whale found stranded on
a Key West beach might become the first of its species
to live permanently in captivity because it might not be
able to hunt for food. Marine mammal experts will decide
within the next few weeks whether Summer, a 205-pound,
six-foot female whale found in June, can be released to its
natural habitat. Experts say the calf, who was never weaned
by her mother, can't forage for food and possibly has a
ruptured air sac on her head. Though a ruptured sac isn't
serious in captivity, it makes deep diving impossible. Pygmy
sperm whales catch squid and jellyfish at depths of more
than 800 feet. Veterinarians are planning an MRI to
determine the air sac's condition. If marine biologists
decide that Summer can't be freed, the 11-month-old would be
the only rehabilitated pygmy sperm whale in captivity.
According to experts, the most time a baby pygmy sperm whale
has lived in captivity after being stranded is 100 days.
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