Save Our Wetlands Environmental Archives

Environmental news, editorials, letters and legal documents

1. While the whole process of alcohol fuel is less damaging to the climate than fuel from gasoline or oil, what can be positive for the environment can turn negative. The Bush administrations choice of "Ethanol" could destroy everything from the Gulf of Mexico with its expanding 'dead zone', to the Amazon ramping up deforestation, while increasing food prices worldwide.

2. June 08, 2007 - Group Targets Louisiana Logging - Environmental activist and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Waterkeeper Alliance joined the fight to halt cypress logging in Louisiana's coastal forests by buying a full-page advertisement in USA Today urging the public to boycott cypress mulch

3. Bill of Rights For Future Generations - WE, the people of the future, like the twenty thousand generations who came before us, have the right to breathe air that smells sweet, to drink water that runs pure and free, to swim in waters that teem with life, and to grow our food in rich, living earth.

4. May 23, 2007 - From Recycling to Hurricanes - There was no option for recycling anything that might, in fact, reduce the energy use that would begin to alleviate the global warming that generates bigger hurricanes that, without the marshes, the old city cannot survive.

5. May 15, 2007 - SOWL Responds to Nation Exploited Our Coast; Now It's the Nation's Job to Fix It - The nation as a whole gets nearly all the benefits of engineering the river. Louisiana and some of coastal Mississippi get 100 percent of the costs. Eastern New Orleans (including the lower Ninth Ward) and St. Bernard Parish -- nearly all of which, incidentally, is at or above sea level -- exemplify this allocation of costs and benefits.

6. March 30, 2007 - Letter To Louisiana Public Service Commissioners - Re: Entergy's Request to Build a New Nuclear Power Plant in Louisiana. This is pursuant to previous email of March 25, 2007 concerning opposition by Save Our Wetlands Inc.(SOWL) and Save Louisiana Wetlands Inc. on Entergy's outrageous, absurd, reckless, and dangerous proposal to build a new nuclear power plant in Louisiana, and charge consumers in advance of construction.

7. March 29, 2007 - Report Says Interior Official Overrode Work of Scientists - A top-ranking official overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service at the Interior Department rode roughshod over agency scientists, and decisions made on her watch may not survive court challenges, investigators within the Interior Department have found.

8. March 29, 2007 - Shell Drops its Plans for LNG Terminal - Opponents Were Worried About Technology's Impact on Fisheries - The CCA, along with the Gulf Restoration Network, the Sierra Club and the Louisiana Charter Boat Association, had been fighting plans for so-called "open loop" LNG ports that would use billions of gallons of seawater to warm the supercooled gas that is brought to the United States on tankers.

9. March 26, 2007 - Report Queries Nuclear Role in Beating Global Warming - The surge in political popularity of nuclear power as a quick-fix, zero-carbon solution to global warming is misguided and potentially highly dangerous, a group of academics and scientists said on Monday.

10. March 25, 2007 - Letter To Louisiana Public Service Commissioners - Re: Rate-setters Look At Rules For Possible Nuclear Plant. It is with deep regret and horror that I read in March 22, 2007 Times Picayune that Entergy is appearing before you, requesting special economic favors to build another nuclear power plant in Louisiana. I as executive attorney for Save Our Wetlands Inc.(SOWL) am extremely knowledgeable about the lies of the nuclear industry and the Federal government it funds.

11. March 22, 2007 - Are Genetically Modified Crops Killing Bees? - A mysterious decimation of bee populations has German beekeepers worried, while a similar phenomenon in the United States is gradually assuming catastrophic proportions. The consequences for agriculture and the economy could be enormous.

12. March 22, 2007 - Rate-setters Look At Rules For Possible Nuclear Plant - The proposed rules would turn the traditional regulatory process on its head by allowing a utility to earn money on a nuclear plant before it is in operation. The rules would also require the PSC to approve of the need for a nuclear plant before it is built and again at the beginning of each of three phases.

13. March 21, 2007 - Corps Caused Disaster, Report Says; State Inquiry Finds Decades of Blunders - Decades of incompetence and neglect by the Army Corps of Engineers allowed Hurricane Katrina's storm surge to devastate New Orleans, according to a long-awaited report being released today, the state's only official investigation into the causes of the disaster.

14. March 21, 2007 - U.S. Navy Asserts "State Secrets" in Sonar Case - The U.S. Navy on Tuesday said it had asserted the "state secrets" privilege in a lawsuit by environmental groups, a move to keep the military from being forced to disclose classified information about the use of sonar believed to injure whales and other animals.

15. March 19, 2007 - Scientist Accuses White House of 'Nazi' Tactics - A government scientist, under sharp questioning by a federal panel for his outspoken views on global warming, stood by his view today that the Bush administration's information policies smacked of Nazi Germany.

16. March 15, 2007 - U.S. Open Ocean Fish-Farming Plan Flayed By Local Experts - The news that the Bush administration has launched a major effort to expand US fish-farming by allowing farms to operate in the open ocean has led local experts to criticise the novel plan as difficult and expensive, and to complain that escaped fish could migrate into local waters.

17. March 10, 2007 - Video Clips: MRGO "Hurricane Highway" & The Wetlands - How their Destruction by the Corps of Engineers by building miles of shipping lanes for oil and gas exploration contributed to the New Orleans Flood.

18. March 7, 2007 - Brazil's Ethanol Push Could Eat Away At Amazon - Just an hour's drive outside this traffic-choked metropolis where President Bush kicked off a Latin American tour yesterday, sugar cane fields stretch for hundreds of miles, providing ethanol. But a top UN environmental official is warns that an increase in ethanol production poses risks to Brazil's Amazon rain forest.

19. March 2, 2007 - New Orleans May Sue Army Corps for $77 Billion Over Katrina - Submitting a claim for a staggering $77 billion, the city of New Orleans joined tens of thousands of would-be plaintiffs who rushed to beat a Thursday deadline to alert the Army Corps of Engineers that they may sue for losses resulting from the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina.

20. Feb. 20, 2007 - Study Ties Television to Premature Puberty, Autism - Watching television can harm children much more than previously thought as it raises the risk of bad eyesight, obesity, premature puberty and autism, a study found Monday
21. Bush Administration Wants to Sell Off America - "Our hunters, anglers, campers and other recreational users benefit from — and depend on — access to public lands," Bingaman said. "In my view, selling public lands to pay down the deficit would be a shortsighted, ill-advised and irresponsible shift in federal land-management policy."

22. Feb. 19, 2007 - Depleted Uranium: Pernicious Killer Keeps on Killing - The more questions raised, the more the military-industrial complex has hauled out studies showing the safety of DU munitions. One CEO called DU the "skim milk" of uranium in an article penned for my local paper. An Air Force officer is even stalking the internet, trying to intimidate anyone who suggests DU is anything but benign.
23. Feb. 15, 2007 - How Feds' Top Environmental Prosecutor Built Home With Big-Oil Lobbyist - A House committee will investigate and request documents on a real estate deal involving the government's top environmental prosecutor and ConocoPhillips's top lobbyist, and also legal agreements between the government and the oil company. The inquiry by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was announced hours after The Associated Press reported that the prosecutor, Sue Ellen Wooldridge, bought a $1 million vacation home with ConocoPhillips Vice President Donald R. Duncan, nine months before agreeing to let the company delay a half-billion-dollar pollution cleanup.
24. Feb. 15, 2007 - Dying for a Home: Toxic Trailers Are Making Katrina Refugees Sick - Along the Gulf Coast, in the towns and fishing villages from New Orleans to Mobile, survivors of Hurricane Katrina are suffering from a constellation of similar health problems. They wake up wheezing, coughing and gasping for breath. Their eyes burn; their heads ache; they feel tired, lethargic. Nosebleeds are common, as are sinus infections and asthma attacks. Children and seniors are most severely afflicted, but no one is immune
25. Feb. 15, 2007 - Disaster Feared in Ship Fire Off Antarctica - Penguins in path should flagship of Japan's whaling fleet start leaking oil. Officials warned of a potential environmental disaster in Antarctica after fire erupted Thursday on a Japanese whaling ship, as the search continued for a missing crewmen from the crippled ship.
26. Feb. 14, 2007 - Plan to Ease Gulf Wetlands Rules Scaled Back - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled a plan last fall to cut red tape in an effort to speed construction following Hurricane Katrina, but the proposal triggered a storm of protest from the environmental community.
27. Jan. 31, 2007 - In Love With the Lusty Wind - Randy Tinkerman is one of the pioneers of wind power, and he agreed to answer some of my questions about the status of windpower today. Randall M. "Randy" Tinkerman co-developed the world's first utility-scale windplant, in the Altamont Pass near San Francisco.

28. Jan. 24, 2007 - Navy Exempt in Sonar Ban - The Navy has been given a two-year exemption from provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act that will allow it to use mid-frequency sonar and a new sensor that uses small explosive charges during major training exercises and on established ranges and operating areas.
29. A Summary Analysis of the Failure to Close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet(MRGO) - Before Hurricane Katrina the closure of the MRGO was not going to happen internally from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It would have to come from political pressure from U.S. Louisiana Senators like Mary Landrieu and Senator Breaux. We all knew the Corps was not going to do it.

30. Jan. 11, 2007 - Opponents of Nevada Bomb Test Fault Impact Studies - A twice-postponed non-nuclear bomb test in the middle of the Nevada desert may face additional legal challenges over its potential to propel dangerous radioactive particles from the soil into the air over four states...

31. Jan. 11, 2007 - Global Warming, Warring and Warning - Amy Goodman discusses the milestones of the year: "2006 was among the hottest years in recorded history ... Exxon Mobil profits were slated to be the greatest ever ... December 31, the Pentagon announced another grim milestone: 3,000 US soldiers killed in Iraq."

32. Jan. 8, 2007 - Nuclear Power Not Clean, Green or Safe - Caldicott points out there are truly green and clean alternative energy sources to nuclear power. She refers to the American plains as “the Saudi Arabia of wind,” where readily available rural land in just several Dakota countires “could produce twice the amount of electricity that the United States currently consumes.”

33. Dec. 9, 2006 - Congress Approves Offshore Drilling Bill - Hours before adjourning for the year, the U.S. Congress on Saturday sent President George W. Bush legislation that would open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural gas drilling and redistribute billions of dollars in royalties to four Gulf states.
34. Dec. 8, 2006 - Bark Beetles Ravaging Western U.S. Forests - Scientists say a warming climate is behind the beetle epidemic which has killed vast swaths of spruces, pines and firs in some of the most picturesque regions of the Rocky Mountains.
35. Nov. 15, 2006 - Cypress Falling Faster Than Thought - State forestry officials have dramatically underestimated the extent of cypress logging in Louisiana, with new figures released this week revealing a 15-fold increase from previous harvesting estimates for a tree emblematic of the state's imperiled coastal wetlands.
36. Oct. 19, 2006 - Army Corps Proposes Easing Gulf Wetlands Rule - The Corps’ proposal would allow property owners and developers to skirt the conventional "regional general permit" process for any projects that fill up to 5 acres of “low-quality” wetlands in the six southernmost Mississippi counties. Especially galling to environmentalists: The new process would also eliminate the requirement for public notice of such projects.
37. Editorial: U.S. Corporate Controlled Puppets Approve More Oil & Gas Drilling - Well hell let's just open up more areas of the Gulf of Mexico to the good old boys, why not just destroy the Louisiana coast, let's do Florida, Alaska, and California while we're at it.
38. Aug. 28, 2006 - Enviromental Disaster in Mediterraen Caused By Israeli Bombing - These are the scars of the Lebanese oil spill, triggered July 15 when Israeli jets bombed the power station at Jiyeh, 18 miles south of Beirut. Between 10,000 and 15,000 tons of heavy fuel oil spilled into the Mediterranean Sea and began flowing north...

39. Aug. 1, 2006 - Senate Approves More Offshore Drilling - Some critics of the legislation noted that it will be years before any oil or gas will be taken from the 8.3 million acres and that the legislation falls short of addressing many of the country's energy problems.
40. July 30, 2006 - Playing Politics On The Coast Harms Us All - Let's please stop all these shenanigans. Sen. Trent Lott, this is much more than just oysters. It's about our common coast and the lives, property and businesses of everyone in the region. It's about the future of both Louisiana and Mississippi.
41. July 20, 2006 - Editorial: Letter to the Orleans Levee Board - It's the same old development scheme in low lying areas, extremely susceptible to hurricane tidal surges at the expense of federally subsidized tax payer's flood insurance...at the expense of Lake Pontchartrain waterbottoms...at the expense of water quality.
42. July 20, 2006 - Levee Board Eyes South Shore Deal - "The devil is in the details," Foley said, noting that before the board discusses a lease, it first must examine a range of complex issues, ranging from the development team's financial wherewithal to the project's merit.
43. July 20, 2006 - Earth Faces 'Catastrophic Loss of Species' - Scientists estimate that 12 per cent of all birds, 23 per cent of mammals, a quarter of conifers, a third of amphibians and more than half of all palm trees are threatened with imminent extinction. Climate change alone could lead to the further extinction of between 15 and 37 per cent of all species by the end of the century.
44. July 13, 2006 - Antarctic Under Threat as Oil-Hunger Grows: Expert - "In the next 14 years, if my predictions are correct, one third of today's oil supply will be gone," Bakhtiari said. "Wait until you see these pressures that are coming up. They will come up one day."
45. Death in the Gulf of Mexico - Just south of Whiskey Pass, where the last of Louisiana´s barrier islands gives way to open sea, Gene Foret cuts the throttle and eases his boat across an unseen boundary. All around him the water looks as blue as ever, but beneath the boat an ocean of life quietly fades to black. Foret is entering the "dead zone."
46. July 8, 2006 - Editorial: Louisiana Politicians Want to Use Coastal Restoration Funding for Golf Course - It is Save Our Wetlands (SOWL) position that using taxpayer monies for this private, pork barrel, wetland destroying, golf course project is in direct contrast to wetland restoration and, will promote future development in this low lying area that is extremely susceptible to hurricane tidal surges.
47. June 19, 2006 - Top Court Split Over Wetlands Protections - Justices decided on a 5-4 vote, split along ideological lines, that regulators may have misinterpreted the federal Clean Water Act when they refused to allow two Michigan property owners to build a shopping mall and condos on wetlands they own...

48. Another Nail in Coal’s Coffin: Cheap Solar Power - If present trends continue, this could very well be the case…in as little as 10 years. Prices for solar electric power have fallen 90% in the last decade and further steep drops in price are highly likely. By 2016 solar electric power could be cost-competitive with coal and natural gas fired power plants.
49. January 2006 - Rebuild New Orleans Green
    we will need your help in the months ahead when the media spotlight shifts to some other story of the moment. That’s when there will be a struggle over how to rebuild our devastated city.

50. Oct. 20, 2005 - SOWL Responds to Hate Emails; RE: Save Our Wetlands Enjoining U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from Building Hurricane Barrier at Rigolets & Chef Menteur Pass - After Hurricane Katrina ravaged and flooded the city of New Orleans and surrounding parishes, there was a barrage of emails sent to Save Our Wetlands filled with anger and hate. These emails sent to SOWL seem to be reactions from two misguided and inaccurate articles.
51. October 2005 - New Orleans Crawfish Atlantis, SOWL's Prophetic Voices
    Louisiana and Florida politicians continue to bill and permit housing developments over wetlands, which protect us from hurricane tidal surges. SOWL can only continue at this point to provide historians with documentation of this environmental and economic destructive course. It’s only a matter of time before New Orleans becomes the Crawfish Atlantis.

52. July 17, 2005 - China-The Awakening Colossus Economic boom, environmental bust - China’s environmental crisis is evident everywhere. The country’s air quality is among the worst in the world: According to the World Bank, 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are on the mainland, and acid rain affects one-third of China’s agricultural land.

53. June 28, 2005 - Letter to Senator Mary Landrieu’s RE: Deadly Oil Spill in Breton Sound Kills 400 Pelicans - Enclosed is the New Orleans Times Picayune, June 15, 2005 article reporting the above captioned. Your coastal aid bill promoting more oil coastal drilling is a reason these 1,400 brown pelicans are dying.

54. June 15, 2005 - Cleanup Launched After Deadly Oil Spill - Officials from several federal and state agencies scrambled on Tuesday to deal with a small but deadly oil spill in Breton Sound that is blamed for killing at least 400 brown pelicans and oiling a 1,000 more at a rookery on West Breton Island.

55. June 5, 2005 - Three Open Letters to the U.S. Senate, RE: Senator Mary Landrieu’s Coastal Aid Bill - SOWL is opposed to the Senator Landrieu-Billy Tauzin bill and support the Permanent Protection for America Resources 2000 Act. The Landrieu bill encourages increased drilling activities by tying the state’s shares to production without enough safeguards to ensure the money is spent wisely. Oil company canals are a major reason for the loss of Louisiana wetlands. No drilling should be encouraged.

56. May 15, 2005 - Local Environmental Groups Seek Federal Permit Ban for Liquefied Natural Gas Facility - The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a permit to a natural gas facility in the Gulf of Mexico despite its potentially severe impacts to critical Louisiana fisheries, including redfish, shrimp, crabs, and other species.

57. May 13, 2005 - Environmentalist Protest LNG Facilities, Tell Shell: No Fish For Fuel - The group is targeting Shell Corporation because it recently received a permit to operate an open-loop LNG terminal 38 miles off Louisiana’s Cameron Parish coast. The facility could destroy as much as the equivalent of 3.8 percent of Louisiana’s annual redfish catch.

58. March 1, 2005 - Greenhouse gas 'threatens marine life' - Since the Industrial Revolution, the amounts have greatly increased, now more rapidly. The scientists believe 400 billion tons of man-made CO2 - half that produced - have been taken up by the seas, and much more is going in as the world economy relentlessly expands.

59. March 1, 2005 - Bush’s Choice for Energy Secretary Was One of Texas’ Top Five Worst Polluters - It’s not just a few clouds of smoke emanating from an oil refinery or a power plant that got Bodman’s old company, Boston-based Cabot Corporation, those accolades. It was the 54,000 tons of toxic emissions that his company’s refineries released into the air in the Lone Star state in 1997 alone.

60. October 2004 - The Lost Coast - When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation.

61. June 18, 2004 - SOWL (Glynn Brock) vs. St. Tammany Parish Council - SOWL Lawsuit filed June 18th 2004 in 22nd Judicial District Court Covington, LA against the St. Tammany Parish Council contesting there issuance of a rezoning permit to Tammany Holding Corporation for the Lakeshore Village Estate 2 billion dollar Planned Urban Development (PUD) project adjacent to the Eden Isles and Oak Harbor subdivisions on the North shore of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish, Slidell, LA smack dab in the middle of a hurricane tidal surge pathway. SOWL did not have the ability or resources to continue to appeal this lawsuit but these lawsiuts are listed here for historical purposes and SOWL contends that the issuance of these permits was in bad faith.

62. June 17, 2004 - Letter to Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality - Letter from Gulf Restoration Network, and other environmental groups. To Dr. Mike McDaniel Secretary Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Office of the Secretary detailing how the DEQ's public meeting on April 29, 2004 in Slidell, Louisiana on Tammany Holding Corps. plans to obtain water quality certification for their expansion of the Oak Harbor and Lakeshore Estates subdivisions is shoveling smoke. This letter is a good indication of how the new democratic Governor Kathleen Banco's administration is business bullshit as usual.

63. June 12, 2004 - Letter to SOWL’s Board of Director’s Resolution - authorizing 3 separate lawsuits against Col. Peter J. Rowan, Governor Kathleen Blanco and St. Tammany Parish Council for approving Tammany Holding Corp’s 2 billion dollar mega-city Planned Urban Development (PUD) on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish Slidell, LA adjacent to the Eden Isles and Oak Harbor subdivisions in illegally drained wetlands smack dab in the middle of hurricane tidal surge pathway. And SOWL’s letters to U.S. Congressional Committee’s on the hypocrisy of LA politicians requesting billions of dollars from U.S. Congress to restore LA wetlands and at the same time issuing any and all wetland destruction permits for shopping centers and housing developments.

64. June 12, 2004 - Letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Enclosed are various documents and letters from Save Our Wetlands Inc. SOWL requests you place such on your official record concerning the federal – State Louisiana Costal Area Ecosystem Restoration Plan. SOWL feels these documents and letters best summarize SOWL’s position. SOWL requests they be placed in your official records for present and future coastal historians to study and ponder.

65. June 9, 2004 - Letter to U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Members - Concerning the present proposal to build two billion dollar mega city titled the Lakeshore Village/Estates Project by Tammany Holding Corporation over a vast tract of illegally drained wetlands, located in an unprotected flood plain, extremely low lying and susceptible to hurricane tidal surges, situated on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, St. Tammany Parish, Slidell, LA – right smack-dab in the middle of a hurricane tidal surge pathway!

66. June 8, 2004 - Wetlands Group Tries Courts Again - Times Picayune article concerning SOWL’s two lawsuits filed against Corps of Engineer’s and DEQ granting permission to Tammany Holding Corporation to construct Lake Shore Village Estates adjacent to Eden Isles and Oak Harbor Subdivisions on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA

67. June 8, 2004 - Letter to Senate and House Committee on Energy and National Resources - Concerning the destruction of Louisiana Wetlands by Louisiana politicians and their Housing/Commercial development schemes, promoting such developments in low lying flood plains extremely susceptible to hurricane tidal surges.

68. June 6, 2004 - Letter to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs - Concerning the present proposal to build a 2 billion dollar mega city called the Lakeshore Village Estates Project by Tammany Holding Corp. over a vast tact of illegally drained wetlands located in an unprotected flood plain on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, St. Tammany Parish, Slidell, Louisiana – right smack-dab in the middle of a hurricane tidal surge pathway!

69. June 5, 2004 - Council Backs Lake Tract Project - Times Picayune article concerning St. Tammany Parish Council granting zone changes to Tammany Holding Corporation to construct their 2 billion dollar mega-city titled Lake Shore Estate Village Planned Urban Development (PUD) on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain adjacent to the Eden Isles and Oak Harbor Subdivisions St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA.

70. June 3, 2004 - SOWL vs. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality - Save Our Wetlands suit filed June 3, 2004 against Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. Contesting their issuance of a Water Quality Certification to Tammany Holding Corporation for their proposal to construct a 2 billion dollar mega-city titled Lake Shore Estates Village Planned Urban Development (PUD) on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain adjacent to the Eden Isles and Oak Harbor Subdivisions in St Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA. SOWL did not have the ability or resources to continue to appeal this lawsuit but these lawsiuts are listed here for historical purposes and SOWL contends that the issuance of these permits was in bad faith.

71. June 2, 2004 - SOWL vs. United States Army Corps of Engineers Col. Peter J. Rowan - Save Our Wetlands lawsuit filed on June 2, 2004 in the U.S. District Court of New Orleans contesting the issuance of a permit to Tammany Holding Corporation by Colonel Peter J. Rowan in order to construct a 2 billion dollar mega-city over 650 acres of wetlands on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain adjacent to the Eden Isles and the Oak Harbor Subdivisions in St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA. Colonel Rowan concluded this 2 billion dollar project over illegally drained wetlands smack dab in the middle of a hurricane tidal pathway does not merit an environmental impact study under the National Environmental Policy Act. SOWL did not have the ability or resources to continue to appeal this lawsuit but these lawsiuts are listed here for historical purposes and SOWL contends that the issuance of these permits was in bad faith.

72. June 2004 - SAVE OUR LAKE-Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation - The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation publicly released a report in July 2002 commissioned by the University of New Orleans - Coastal Research Laboratory (UNO-CRL), entitled Urbanization Effects on Habitat Change in St. Tammany Parish.

73. May 12, 2004 - Appeal to St. Tammany Parish Council May 12, 2004 - SOWL’s appearance before the St. Tammany Parish Council in matters relating to the zoning change request made by Tammany Holding Corporation for their Lake Shore Village Estate on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA. Enclosed is SOWL’s May 12th, 2004 appeal made to the St. Tammany Parish Council asking them to reverse the Parish and Planning Zoning Commission approval of May 4th, 2004. Below are SOWL letters dated April 12, June 6, June 8, June 9 and June 12, 2004 written to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking Housing & Urban Affairs, the Senate and House Committee on Energy and National Resources and the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. These letters discuss the Lake Shore Village Estate Project and also surmise SOWL’s position on Louisiana coastal restoration. Please note that none of the Congressional Committee's nor the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's rsponded to any of SOWL's letters. As of now Florida has been devastated by hurricanes Frances, Charley, Ivan and soon to be Jeanne. While these communities have been devastated our government is spending billions of dollars for wars in the middle east to monopolize oil and gas resources that the american population uses in vast amounts and in turn increases the green house effect which heats up the global atmosphere and as we all know higher global temperatures fuels hurricanes.Louisiana and Florida politicians continue to bill and permit housing developments over wetlands which protect us from hurricane tidal surges. SOWL can only continue at this point to provide historians documentation of this environmental and economic destructive course. It's only a matter of time before New Orleans becomes the Crawfish Atlantis.

74. April 12, 2004 - Letter to U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs - Concerning U.S. Senate Bill 2238, sponsored by Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky. Bill to amend National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 – to reduce losses of property for which flood insurance claims have been made. SOWL's position is that while Louisiana politicians scream to the U.S. Congress for billions of dollars to restore Louisian's eroding coastal zone, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and former Governor Mike Foster push and subsidize every wetland destruction permit for housing and shopping center malls. Also the St. Tammany Parish Council rubber-stamps all wetland destruction proposals causing a massive flood potential in St. Tammany Parish.

75. March 21, 2004 - Harbor Center: What Happened? - A permit that never came, a levee that never materialized, unexpected costs and a tax that fell short. One thing led to another...

76. March 21, 2004 - Harbor Center Board Still Hopeful that Needed Money can be Found - The East St. Tammany Events Center Commission (ESTECC) expected to fund the North Shore Harbor Center for $10 million back in 1998, but now it will cost over $17 million to construct the first phase of the development...

77. March 19, 2004 - Global Extinction Theory Backed by Wildlife Poll - A steep decline in birds, butterflies and native plants in Britain supports the theory that humans are pushing the natural world into the Earth’s sixth big extinction event...

78. March 12, 2004 - Mississippi plan to dam Pearl River called ‘horrible’ - “A reduction in freshwater flow and a drop in water quality could seriously affect our marine resources in the estuary,” said Patrick Banks, a fisheries biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

79. March 1, 2004 - Nutrasweet™ Alert ! - Children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to the accumulative effects of methyl alcohol released from Nutrasweet™. Methyl alcohol is very toxic to the fetus causing malformation and even death.

80. Feb. 17, 2004 - Frequent Antibiotic Use May Cause Breast Cancer - The study, by researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle, said women who used antibiotics of any kind for a total of 500 days or more over nearly two decades faces a 1.5 times greater risk of developing the disease than women who took none.

81. Feb. 5, 2004 - Doctors Link Child Vaccines to Autism - Scientists have found what they believe could be a “smoking gun” linking vaccines to autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children...

82. Jan. 16, 2004 - Deodorants Linked to Breast Cancer Again - The notion that deodorants may cause breast cancer is gaining new attention after tests by a scientist, who tossed out her own antiperspirants on a gut feeling...

83. January 2004 - The Nuclear Phoenix - Having a close working relationship with the nuclear industry well before taking office the Bush administration is pushing ahead with a full-scale revival of atomic power.

84. Dec. 21, 2003 - Sluggish wetland is salty, sinking - Repeated invasions by saltier water pushed west through Lake Pontchartrain into Lake Maurepas are killing trees at an alarming rate, he said.

85. Nov. 15, 2003 - GOP Using Bills to Gut Environmental Rules - An amendment to the defense authorization bill, given final congressional approval this week, exempts the Navy from federal protections of whales, dolphins and other ocean mammals if they get in the way of important military operations and maneuvers.

86. November 2003 - Humane Holidays - Now that the Holidays have arrived, here’s a thought: “What do turkeys do the rest of the year?”...

87. Sept. 7, 2003 - Ominous Energy Bill in the Works - Anna Aurilo, legislative director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, expressed a similar view. "Their energy policy looks nothing like the future," she said. "It is all about the past big polluters, special interests, nuclear, oil, and coal."

88. Aug. 18, 2003 - Canada, the U.S. Not Enforcing Pollution Laws, Kennedy Says - Kennedy also stressed that environmental protection must take precedent over a healthy economy and that corporate polluters should have to take responsibility for their actions instead of governments turning a blind eye in order to foster economic growth.

89. Aug. 28, 2003 - The White House is Bush-Whacking Our Health! - The new regulations will allow them to overhaul and expand by as much as 20 percent without installing any new anti-pollution technology, even if the upgrade increases emissions.

90. August 2003 - Save Our Wetlands Inc.,(SOWL) Files Lawsuit Against ChevronTexaco Inc., et al - Save Our Wetlands Inc. (SOWL) announces today she has filed suit to enjoin Chevron-Texaco, Orleans Parish School Board, Clear Channel Outdoor Advertisement Inc., and New Orleans Rapid Transit Authority from advertising and using Save Our Wetlands corporate name in conjunction with such a major polluter as Chevron-Texaco.

91. August 2003 - Troubled Waters: Local Environmental Issues throughout the Summer of 2003 - In the 4.5 million square miles of U.S. territorial waters, the report said, more than 90 percent of all large marine fish, including tuna, marlins, and swordfish, have disappeared, while numerous other commercial species have gone extinct. The nation loses 20,000 square miles of coast each year, much of it from Louisiana, and about 10.9 million gallons of oil, enough to match the Exxon Valdez spill, washes into coastal waters from cities every eight months.

92. May 22, 2003 - Letter to Honorable Mike Foster - The idea is to do away with Mississippi and back levees below Chalmette and below Belle Chasse and thereafter do only the civil engineering needed to keep a navigation channel open through Plaquemines Parish to the Gulf. Let the river have her head and natural alluvial processes rebuild the Delta region.

93. May 21, 2003 - GOP Rebuffs Effort to Kill Some Nukes - The vote was 51-43, largely along party lines, in favor of a GOP proposal to lift a decade-old ban on research or other activities to develop the new battlefield weapons.

94. May 2003 - Energy Policy Killing Our Coast - What once was blacktop road near Shell Beach has eroded away into a nearby bayou between the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and Lake Borgne.

95. April 2003 - Letter to Army Corps of Engineers; St. Charles International Airport-Scoping Comments for the EIS Permit Application - The Louisiana Audubon Council, the Gulf Restoration Network, Save Our Wetlands, and the Sierra Club--New Orleans Group (collectively "Citizen Groups"), through undersigned counsel, respectfully submit the following scoping comments for consideration in the preparation of an environmental impact statement ("EIS").

96. April 2003 - Letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in oppisition to Corps Permit 404 to St Charles International Airport - Section 404 of the Clean Water Act authorizes the United States Army Corps of Engineers ("Corps") to deny or issue permit for the discharge of dredge or fill material. In considering permit applications, the Corps is required to apply the regulations found in Title 33 and Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

97. April 2003 - Letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Opposition to Water Quality Verification for St Charles International Airport - The proposed project would cause a massive, negative impact to a highly sensitive and valuable wetland resource. Water quality impacts from the proposed project extend would throughout the Lake Pontchartrain basin. The proposed project would violate Louisiana's water quality standards. Local citizens and government are strongly opposed to the project. The applicant failed to provide in its application the information the Department of Environmental Quality needs to make an informed decision.

98. March 2003 - Alaskan Drilling Measure About More than Just Oil - When Republicans took control of the Senate after midterm elections, the leadership developed a strategy it believed would finally push the ANWR legislation through after 23 years of failure. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., agreed to add the measure to a budget bill, which is not subject to a filibuster and needs only 50 votes for passage. Vice President Dick Cheney was available to cast the tie-breaking vote if necessary, but the opportuniy never came.

99. May 2002 - Open Letter to the Firemen of New Orleans - $12 million of Firemen's Pension Fund goes to destruction of 250 acres of wetlands. "SOWL had almost stopped this illconceived-controversial project. On March 8, 2001, the Jefferson Parish Council, to their credit, refused to become guarantors of the $12 million in bonds needed for this project to proceed, citing an indebtedness of $800,000 a year for 30 years.Later, out of nowhere comes the City of New Orleans Firemen's Pension Fund, guaranteeing the $12 million bonds in spite of two (2) pending SOWL lawsuits, and in spite of the Jefferson Parish Council members' refusal to do the same."

100. Apr. 24, 2002 - Letter to Honorable Richard Ieyoub, LA Attorney General - Cigarette Newspaper Advertisement. "These full page ads appear in practically every issue of Gambit by both Marlboro and the Camel cigarette industry. Please provide an opinion on whether such ads are legal under the settlement reached by the State of Louisiana in their multi-billion dollar lawsuit against the tobacco companies."

101. Mar. 19, 2002 - Sierra Club Defies Bush, Landrieu On Drilling - Environmental lobbyist Melinda Pierce makes clear the Sierra Club's position on oil drilling and energy conservation. "I think it is false to suggest we can drill our way to energy security, or national security for that matter, given that we sit on less than 3 percent of the known oil reserves. You can't drill your way to independence, but you sure can get yourself out of the hole a lot quicker with conservation." SOWL response to article published in Times-Picayune 3/19/02...

102. Mar. 15, 2002 - Landrieu Makes Environmentalists Blood Boil - "Senator Landrieu supports President Bush's push for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and goes so far as to say that environmentalists have gone "too far" in trying to block the drilling. SOWL demands Alternate Energy and Conservation NOW."

103. Mar. 15, 2002 - Environmentalist 'Shocked' at Tirade - "Adam Kolton of the Alaskan Wilderness League said he was 'shocked and alarmed' by Landrieu's comments. He said they are reminiscent of those delivered by conservative Senate Republicans who routinely demonize environmentalists." Published in the Times Picayune 3/15/02...

104. Feb. 28, 2002 - Letter to New Orleans U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - RE: Comments on Behalf of Save Our Wetlands, Gulf Restoration Network, Louisiana Audubon Council, and Sierra Club - New Orleans Group in Opposition to Water Quality Certification for the St. Charles International Airport. "Members of these groups use the water resources of Louisiana, including the water bodies threatened by the proposed airport project, for recreational and commercial purposes. The membership of these organizations fish, hunt, recreate and boat in areas that would be destroyed or severely harmed by the proposed new airport project."

105. Feb. 8, 2002 - Letter to Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality - RE: Comments on Behalf of Save Our Wetlands, Gulf Restoration Network, Louisiana Audubon Council, and Sierra Club - New Orleans Group in Opposition to Water Quality Certification for the St. Charles International Airport. "The applicant proposes to build a second international airport in the New Orleans area immediately adjacent to the current Louis Armstrong International Airport. The project would involve filling of more than 4,000 acres of wetlands and the relocation of Interstate 310, the Illinois Central railroad, and several oil and gas pipelines."

106. Jan. 15, 2002 - Wetlands Rules are Eased - The Fish and Wildlife Service said in an Oct. 15 memo that the ecological effects of the changes had not been assessed adequately. The agency said it “does not believe the corps has sufficient scientific basis to claim” that the new, expedited permits will “cause only minimal impact on the nation’s natural resources.”

107. Apr. 12, 2001 - Letter to Jefferson Parish Council - RE: Westwego Golf Course "It is becoming quite apparent that there is an unlimited pithole of potential liability on the Jefferson Parish taxpayers in construsction and possible default by the developer of the Westwego Golf Course."

108. Mar. 28, 2001 - Letter to Jefferson Parish Council - RE: Westwego Golf Course "...Save Our Wetlands, Inc. (SOWL) consisting of over 1,200 Louisiana citizens outraged because of the rampant destruction of 250 acres of Louisiana wetlands in connection with the proposed golf course in Westwego, Louisiana."

109. Mar. 8, 2001 - Golf Course Proposal Hits Snag - A proposed PGA golf course on the West Bank took a hit Wednesday when surprised Jefferson Parish Council members postponed action on becoming guarantor of $12 million in bonds needed for the project..."

110. Feb. 24, 2001 - Letter to the Editor Times Picayune - "Where I used to hunt and walk in the marsh, today I'm trying to raise oysters. The barrier islands are no more, and too many oysters enemies are destroying our land. What we need to do is rebuild our barrier islands, and with the Davis Pond Diversion Project opening soon we have a good chance of keeping what we have today." - Peter Vuynovich, Capt. Pete's Oysters

111. Sept. 12, 2000 - Letter to the Professional Golfer's Association (PGA) - RE: Destruction of 196 acres of wetlands in Westwego, LA for construction and development of a PGA Compaq Classic golf course. "It is SOWL's opinion that the PGA should adopt a policy to withdraw the agreement to contribute $10 to $12 million to help and develop this golf course because of its destruction of Louisiana wetlands."

112. Aug. 19, 2000 - Suit Filed to Stop West Jeff Golf Course - RE: Destruction of 196 acres of wetlands in Westwego, LA for construction and development of a PGA Compaq Classic golf course. "...he cannot find any record of state officials discussing the environmental impact of the project on the wetlands either before, during or after the project was included in the construction budget bill."

113. May 17, 2000 - Letter to Louisiana Dept. of Environmental Quality - RE: Bedico Creek Golf Community, St. Tammany Parish, LA. "It is well documented that golf courses are full of pesticides and herbicides. In this case, such chemicals will run off Into Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding wetlands."

114. May 17, 2000 - Letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - RE: Bedico Creek Golf Community, St. Tammany Parish Permit No. ES-19-970-1715. "Your agencies have an obligation to take over the Louisiana DEQ, and/or to do the proper and legal water qualitycertifications."

115. May 16, 2000 - Letter to Department of Environmental Quality - Power Plants proposed in Louisiana that will each deplete 5 to 7 million gallon per day per power plant out of Louisiana's aquifer system, discharging heated water and other pollutants into Louisiana's Waterways, plus emit thousands of tons of hazardous air pollutants." Letter of Objection and Comments, plus Notice of Intent to Sue under Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Louisiana Public Trust Doctrine, Louisiana Civil Code, Equal Access to Justice Act, Louisiana Public Nuisance Civil Code Articles and Endangered Species Act.

116. May 07, 2000 - Golf course on track despite lawsuit, critics - The plan to move the Compaq Gold Classic from English Turn to the proposed new course near Bayou Segnette is on hold, and may be delayed for several years, by a lawsuit filed by Environmentalists (Save Our Wetlands, Inc.)

117. Apr. 12, 2000 - Landrieu Alert! - "Senator Mary Landrieu is No Friend of Wetlands... She's pushing for more oil and gas exploration and siding with the powerful oil and gas lobby to drill and gut the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Center."

118. Apr. 2, 2000 - Conservancy of the Phoenix - Enviro Alert! - "Developers propose to drill COALBED METHANE WELLS on public lands. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is about to allow this development without appropriate consideration of the environmental effects. These are YOUR public lands under attack."

119. June 24, 1999 - Letter to Senator Boxer and Congressman Miller - Save Our Wetlands is opposed to the Senator Landrieu-Billy Tauzin bill and support the Permanent Protection for America Resources 2000 Act. The Landrieu billencourages increased drilling activities by tying the state's shares toproduction without enough safeguards to ensure the money is spent wisely. Oilcompany canals are a major reason for the loss of Louisiana wetlands. Nodrilling should be encouraged.

120. Apr. 7, 1999 - Letter to Senator Landrieu - Enclosed is SOWL letter to you dated November 19, 1998 requesting you introduce a resolution in the United States Senate to investigate our disappearing wetlands in Louisiana and the affect on flooding as well as our insurance rates.

121. Mar. 31, 1999 - Letter to John E., Reddoch, Chief Regulatory Functions Branch New Orleans District, Corps of Engineers from EPA Marine and Wetlands Section - "Although the forested wetlands found on the site have been altered hydrologically, they still provide good quality habitat for wildlife andresident and migratory avian species that inhabit the immediate and surroundingareas. It is well-documented that these types of forested wetlands haveexperienced a tremendous decline in Louisiana.... The EPA recommends that a Department of the Army permit not be issued for this activity."

122. Dec. 17, 1998 - Letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; RE: Permit #EB-19-970-1715 John Poole/Bedico Creek GolfCommunity - The Army's New Orleans Corps' decision to grant permits for mega projects in St. Tammany Parish without requiring a full F-IS under NEPA is causing massive destruction of wetlands as buffer zones for flooding.

123. Nov. 19, 1998 - Letter to Senator Mary Landrieu; Re: Investigate Disappearing Wetlands - On behalf of SOWL, I wish to request that you introduce a resolution in the United States Senate to investigate our disappearing wetlands in Louisiana and the effects on flooding as well as our flood insurance rates.

124. Nov. 19, 1998 - Letter to Congressman Robert Livingston; Re: Investigate Disappearing Wetlands- As you are well aware, wetlands act as hurricane buffers and are rapidly disappearing especially on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish.

125. Nov. 19, 1998 - Letter to Mr. James Lee Witt Director of FEMA; Re: Investigate Development on Wetlands - By Wal-Mart, Sam’s Wholesale Club and Home Depot, mega commercial development over wetlands on North side of Slidell, Louisiana off I-12.

126. Mar. 27, 1995 - Letter to President Clinton & Vice-President Gore - Please stand up for what is right and good and is in the economic interest of the public. Please stand up for our economic treasures and fortunes found in protecting and preserving our natural resources for future generations.

127. Mar. 27, 1995 - House Republican’s Efforts & Determination to Destroy the Clean Water & Endangered Species Act - Can you explain why SOWL’s 20 year plus track record did not at least merit an invitation by Tauzin’s “Sham and Scam” congressional hearings held in Belle Chase recently? There was no proper notice of such hearings except for an article in the Times-Picayune the weekend before the hearing.

128. October 1995 - The Streetcar Conspiracy; The Dismantling of Electric Street Car Lines in North America by General Motors - The electric streetcar, contrary to Van Wilkins incredible naïve whitewash did not die a natural death - General Motors killed it. GM killed it by employing a host of anti-competitive devices, which, like National City Lines, debased rail transit and promoted auto sales...

129. April 20, 1991 - Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) Fact Sheet; AFFIDAVIT - That the SFEIS contains projections of the dispersal of toxic substances in a plume (or cloud), which are based upon computer models, which are unproved, untested and not scientifically sound. Data from rocket motor in Utah, which has a much different and dryer atmosphere than southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi, were used in evaluating plume characteristics or impacts from ASRM testing at SSC. The SFEIS contains projection for dispersal of toxic substances up to 12 miles from the test site and NASA has filed projections of dispersal of the toxic substances with the Mississippi Bureau of Pollution Control projecting dispersal up to 50 km. Toxic materials will be discharged and deposited in much greater concentrations and quantities than predicted by the computer model.

130. Mar. 2, 1990 - Policy Statement on Air Quality and Regional Transportation - In Los Angeles, the air quality Management District in that area has set a target of 40% of passenger and 70% of trucks to operate on clean fuels, including electricity by the year 2007. SOWL agrees with this policy and will take action to have cities and the State of Louisiana to take similar planning action.

131. Mar. 24, 1982 - Letter to Pope Paul VI - I wish to report scandalous, indecent and immoral conduct by a member of the Jesuit order who is involving himself politically in support of a nuclear power plant 24 miles up the Mississippi River from New Orleans, Louisiana.

132. Mar. 13, 1978 - Corps ‘Footsie’ Game Charged - "The New Orleans Corps has constantly been on the fringe of circumventing NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and FWPCA (Federal Water Pollution Control Act)."

133. Uknown Date in 1977 - Save Our Wetlands lawsuit filed in Louisiana Civil District Court of New Orleans against Guy Lemieux - President of the Orleans Levee Board to enjoin him from expanding the New Orleans Lakefront Airport over the public owned water bottoms of Lake Pontchartrain.

134. Unknown Date in 1976 - Save Our Wetlands lawsuit filed in United States Federal District Court in New Orleans - Versus Col. Early Rush DISTRICT ENGINEER, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, NEW ORLEANS DIVISION, Guy Lemieux Director of the Orleans Levee Board, William Guste Louisiana State Attorney General et al - To stop the expansion of the Orleans Lakefront Airport over Lake Pontchartrain water bottoms. The final result of this lawsuit is that it stopped phases 2, 3 and 4 of the Orleans Levee Board's plan to expand their airport over Lake Pontchartrain.

135. Apr. 13, 1975 - Drained Wetlands: How Infirm a Foundation? - “How can the developer get away with it? Why don’t the homeowners sue the developer? Why don’t they throw the city administrators out for allowing it? Are there no laws to prevent it?”...