Pesticides. "Study of Pesticides and Children Stirs Protests: Staffers Fear EPA Project Endangers Participants" is the headline of this Washington Post story today. It begins:
An Environmental Protection Agency proposal to study young children's exposure to pesticides has sparked a flurry of internal agency protests, with several career officials questioning whether the survey will harm vulnerable infants and toddlers.Development.The Louisville Courier-Journal has a story today on real estate development. Some quotes:The EPA announced this month that it was launching a two-year investigation, partially funded by the American Chemical Council, of how 60 children in Duval County, Fla., absorb pesticides and other household chemicals. The chemical industry funding initially prompted some environmentalists to question whether the study would be biased, and some rank-and-file agency scientists are now questioning whether the plan will exploit financially strapped families.
In exchange for participating for two years in the Children's Environmental Exposure Research Study, which involves infants and children up to age 3, the EPA will give each family using pesticides in their home $970, some children's clothing and a camcorder that parents can keep.
The developer of a planned subdivision along the Ohio River shoreline in Jeffersonville is suing the city's Plan Commission and seeking damages that one lawyer said could reach millions of dollars. The Perrin Pointe subdivision at 2307 Utica Pike already is the subject of one lawsuit involving neighborhood residents who oppose the project. A second suit, filed Thursday in Clark Circuit Court, claims that the Jeffersonville Plan Commission's decision to reject part of the subdivision plan was illegal and arbitrary. * * *Posted by Marcia Oddi at October 30, 2004 07:29 AMPerrin Pointe has become the focus of a heated community debate over riverfront development. A number of Utica Pike residents want to preserve the shoreline neighborhood, which sits on the Ohio River Scenic Byway, and features mostly older homes with large front lawns looking out over the water toward Jefferson County, Ky.
Harding wants to turn part of an old dairy farm with a single-family residence into an upscale community with 26 patio homes selling for as much as $300,000 each. The Plan Commission has approved certain aspects of the project, and members of the City Council have said the patio homes would boost the city's tax base. * * *
The Plan Commission voted 6-5 last Tuesday not to approve Perrin Pointe's so-called detailed development plan, which covers construction details, landscaping and other items. Commission members cited traffic, aesthetics and density as reasons for the denial.
Without that approval, the project can't proceed. The suit filed Thursday contends that the commission's action was "vague," "irrational" and violated city ordinances. It also contends that the commission never suggested changes to the subdivision in previous meetings. The suit seeks legal fees, economic damages and a reversal of this week's decision.