ECHOES AND UPDATES

On 10/25, a federal appeals court struck down the EPA's preposterous ban on asbestos on the grounds it had failed the economic test of using the least burdensome requirement, and failure to take into account the health risks of products that would be substituted for asbestos. It also criticized the EPA for not taking into account the incredibly high costs relative to the little gain. This is a third blow to the EPA after the alar and the dioxin debacles.

Frightened by the possibility of illegally dumped radiophar-maceuticals, landfill managers in Pennsylvania increased the sen-sitivity of their radiation detectors and got a mighty response: from brine sludge, oil and gas pipes, paper mill wastes and dozens of other materials. The bureaucrats, themselves radioactive, are now pondering the regulation of NORMs (naturally occurring radioac-tive materials; see Science News 10/26/91). Meanwhile Nader's Public Interest Research Groups have issued a scandalous "Ac-tion Alert" against deregulation of radioactive materials Below Regulatory Concern (BRC), which include NORMs such as Ralph Nader's butt, containing radioactive isotopes of potassium and carbon (and some others in lesser amounts).

As we go to press on 11/10/91, the British have come to within 10% of break-even in (hot) fusion. Magnetic confinement with a deuterium-tritium mix won the race over compression by laser or particle beams. The time to commercialization had generally been estimated at 30 years, but British scientists put it at 50 years.

R.T. Kaczorowski of Houston, who seems highly knowledge-able in geology and climatology points out in a letter to the Wall St. J. (10/21) that we are in a warming trend, but one that began 15,000 years ago.

Prof. Thomas Gold disputes that fossil fuels come from prehistoric plants and animals, but are of non-biological origin [AtE Nov 81, Jan 84]. But some of the oil and gas world stopped snickering when in October his team struck oil in an unlikely place 25 miles from the nearest sediments in Sweden, at a depth of 2.8 km. He is now drilling on, hoping for gas at 7 km.

Ecogimmick: Montgomery Ward wisely prints colored ad-vertisement on unrecycled paper, which is cheaper and better than the recycled stuff (and uses trees grown for that purpose). But to appear dutifully Green, Montgomery Ward says "Printed on recyclable paper." Maybe the fat boy from Chappaquiddick should consider sporting a button "Electable as President of the USA".