. . . . . is another Man’s Treasure.”  Whenever I see just how much we as Americans throw away each week in the form of leftover food, illegal recyclables, short lived appliances, materials, quickly out-dated computers, papers, cardboard and myriad other items. I wonder if anyone is working on a solution. A good percentage of our refuse may be useful to someone somewhere in this world but it ends up, each week, out at the curb waiting to be picked up, compressed, transported to a huge landfill and then buried somewhere in this county, state or country.

I have to wonder how long we can continue this common practice before we run out of places to contaminate even further than they are now. Our earth and our environment continue sending us all of the warnings signs about pollution, contaminated water supplies, contaminated air, contaminated food, sick wildlife and domestic animals, increasing human sicknesses and disease etc.

I know that many good recyclable materials are routinely thrown out with the garbage and this only adds that much more to the large volumes of household refuse. Part of the problem is the household and part of the problem is the refuse collector. The other part of the equation is the public servant who must first recognize that we have a problem and then all work toward a solution.

As I stated at the beginning “one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.” If there was a way that we could ship/distribute some of our discarded items to the less fortunate folks around the World then we would solve some of our own problems, help solve some of their problems and at the same time feel good about doing a good thing for humanity.

There are millions upon millions of less fortunate folks around the world who would welcome some of our valuable American refuse. It seems that we have an ongoing cycle of creating an artificial mountain of garbage, cap it and then move on to the next spot for a chosen landfill. Then to discover that the old landfill is situated over an important aquifer and/or may be leaching contaminants into streams, rivers and our very vulnerable domestic water supplies.

Old landfills and toxic waste dumps around the country are notorious for contaminating our environment, our drinking water, our air, our earth and in effect all living creatures. The total environmental and health impacts of huge landfills, toxic waste dumps and irresponsible industries may not be fully realized, understood and measured completely until sometime in the near future. Our children and our children’s children will be the recipients of our ignorance and inaction. And they’ll want to know why we’ve left them with the potential problems of huge landfills all over the country to remediate.

I’m sure that many of us remember back to about five years ago when a large barge of New York City garbage and refuse was traveling up and down the Atlantic Coast trying to find a place to dump its unwanted cargo. It seemed that it was getting turned away from every port that it wanted to enter.

And I’m sure that everyone, in our region, remembers the controversy that surfaced when certain public servants in the City of Newburgh were accused of trying to work out a deal where New York City Garbage would be shipped to the City of Newburgh waterfront by barge and then transferred to rail cars for shipment to other parts of the country.

Yard sales, recycling, back yard composting, becoming an educated consumer, buying smarter; the wise use, purchase and disposal of all types of chemicals, poisons, insecticides etc. will go a long way to prevent landfill overload and contamination.

I like the idea of back yard composting of leaves, vegetation and kitchen waste. The folks at the county level could be helping out with backyard composting equipment.

Several years ago I saw a well made composter (by Sears) that an old friend was using. The benefits derived are more than just a rich soil that can be used in the garden and flower beds.

More news on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)

New York State is extending the efforts to prevent CWD in our state’s deer herd by instituting temporary regulations that will prohibit the feeding of wild deer and ban the Importation of deer and elk.

These efforts are intended to prevent CWD from potentially infecting our deer herd in NYS. The Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Agriculture and Markets have issued temporary regulations that prohibit the feeding of wild deer and bans the import of certain deer and all species of elk.

A 90-day ban on the importation of deer and elk, which included all members of the deer, elk and moose families was first issued in April of 2002. A second 90-day ban is now in effect and has been slightly revised to prohibit only the import of white-tailed deer, mule deer, including the black-tailed subspecies and all species of elk including the European red deer.

The DEC and A & M press release quoted DEC Commissioner Erin Crotty that "New York State has a large, healthy deer population and these steps will help to prevent the possibility of chronic wasting disease being inadvertently spread into State herds. We are conducting extensive sampling to ensure that no deer in New York State have chronic wasting disease and the early results have shown that the herd appears to be unaffected by this disease. By prohibiting, the feeding of wild deer and by maintaining a ban on importing deer, we will help to eliminate potential pathways for this disease to enter New York State."

NYS Agriculture Commissioner Nathan L. Rudgers said, "States, such as New York, that have taken immediate action in prohibiting the importation of deer and elk are helping to slow or prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease in the United States. It is our responsibility to help protect New York's growing deer population and our more than 400 deer farms from potential CWD exposure. Therefore, I ask everyone to be supportive of these restrictions, as New York works to protect the health of our deer herds."

Under the recently-adopted regulation, "no person shall place, give, expose, deposit, distribute or scatter any substance with the intent to attract or entice deer to feed." This restriction is based on
information that certain types of deer feeds could be a source of chronic wasting disease infection. In addition, people feeding deer also may bring the animals together in a small area, which could increase the potential of the disease spreading from one deer to another. The prohibition against feeding deer does not apply to the feeding of captive deer in zoos or for agricultural purposes.

The DEC has also proposed that these temporary regulations be adopted as permanent regulations, and will work with the Department of Agriculture and Markets to obtain public comments on the proposed permanent rule.

CWD is an infectious brain disease (aka transmissable spongiform encephalopathy) that results in nerve cell death and loss of neurological function in the brain cells of its host. It is a progressive disease that affects deer and elk and is always fatal. It is believed to be transmitted by “prions” (an abnormal form of a normal protein), although its origin and mode of transmission are unknown. The chronic wasting disease agent appears to be resistant to enzymes, chemicals, heat and normal disinfectant procedures. Chronic wasting disease has been found only in members of the deer family in North America and there is no definitive evidence, to date, that it has been transmitted from deer to humans, although this is still under investigation.

CWD has been diagnosed in farm and captive elk and deer herds in a number of western states and two provinces of Canada. The disease has been confirmed in wild or free ranging deer herds in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Wisconsin, South Dakota and New Mexico.

NYS is developing a coordinated and long-term strategy to prevent the introduction and potential spread of CWD in NYS. This collaborative effort is being undertaken by DEC, Agriculture and Markets and the State Department of Health, in conjunction with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture Wildlife Services and Veterinary Services. The New York State Veterinary Diagnostic
Laboratory at Cornell also is providing assistance.

Sampling of wild deer from across the State is underway and the DEC has taken samples from approximately 160 deer. No cases of CWD have been detected. The results of this testing program will be published on a DEC website specifically designed to keep New Yorkers informed about CWD. The site can be found at: http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/deer/cwd.html

Wild deer provide a significant contribution to the State economy, with expenditures for hunting alone approaching $1 billion annually.

The full text of the temporary regulations and proposed permanent regulations can be found on DEC's website at: http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/regs/part189.htm

Two of my previous columns also carried information about CWD. Please visit my website

at http://www.outdoorliaisons.com and see my “past columns” of 6/19/02 and 5/22/02.

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A Correction: In my last column I wrote about the National Beef Recall. The correct amount should have read 18 million pounds that were recalled nationally due to contamination of e-coli bacteria.

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