Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 7, 1995 TAG: 9511070071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NORFOLK - Some Virginia bird experts who oppose an effort to drop the peregrine falcon from the national endangered species list say the federal government is playing politics with biology.
The falcon has not yet recovered in the Chesapeake Bay region from years of pesticide contamination, the bird experts say. They contend the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to placate Republican leaders in Congress who want to relax the Endangered Species Act.
``They just want to say, `Hey look, we've got another one off the list.' They're looking for another success story to tell Congress,'' said Mitchell A. Byrd, a professor at the College of William and Mary.
The wildlife service counters that the falcon - known for its handsome white breast and spectacular midair attacks on prey - has returned in sufficient numbers across North America to warrant a lifting of federal protection.
This year in Virginia, there were 17 pairs of nesting falcons, Byrd said. Most roosted atop manmade towers on the Eastern Shore and under bridges in the Hampton Roads area
But only seven pairs successfully mated this spring, illustrating what Byrd describes as a consistent trend over the years of weak reproduction that ``hardly lends itself to any booming recovery.''
- Associated Press
Richmond, Norfolk have yet to clean air
WASHINGTON - Richmond and Norfolk are among 33 regions, many of them metropolitan areas, that have yet to clean up their air enough to meet federal smog standards, the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.
About 90 million people live in the areas that still violate federal health standards for smog, compared with 140 million people five years ago, the EPA said in its annual air quality report.
In rankings ranging from "extreme" to "marginal," Richmond was listed as "moderate" and Norfolk and Smyth County as "marginal."
Many cities with dirty air are not expected to bring their air quality into federal compliance until the middle of the next decade. Under federal law, they must attain compliance within two to 13 years, depending on the severity of the pollution.
A violation of federal health standards means that the ozone level in the air on some days exceeds 0.12 parts per million. Ground-level ozone, a key component of smog, causes respiratory problems as well as irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes.
- Associated Press
8 students hurt in truck-bus crash
EASTVILLE - A tractor-trailer and a school bus collided Monday in Northampton County, and 36 high school and middle school students were taken to a nearby hospital for examinations and treatment of various injuries, officials said.
None of the injuries was life-threatening, said spokeswomen for the state police and Northampton-Accomack Memorial Hospital.
Tammy Van Dame, the state police spokeswoman, said the worst injuries were a broken pelvis and a broken foot.
``The majority of the children were just checked as a precaution and released to their parents,'' said Candy Farlow, the hospital spokeswoman. ``It was a blessing.''
She said no more than eight required treatment and, of those, no more than four were likely to be admitted overnight.
The accident occurred about 3:30 p.m. south of this Eastern shore community on U.S. 13.
- Associated Press
by CNB