GLIN==> new book "Cold, Clear and Deadly" addresses toxic transport

["Dave Dempsey" <davedem@hotmail.com>]

NEWS RELEASE

CONTACT: Julie Reaume, Sales & Marketing Manager, Michigan State University 
Press, 517/355-9543, ext. 109 or reaumej@msu.edu.

Contact author Mel Visser at vissermel@hotmail.com.

New book uncovers why northern waters remain contaminated

	While social and economic globalization continues apace, globalization of 
environmental responsibility lags far behind. Developed countries have long 
recognized the health and environmental hazards of persistent pesticides and 
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and banned them in the 1970s and 1980s ? 
but the developing world has not. Because of large scale global use, these 
materials continue to settle into northern waters, far from where they are 
released.
What is the effect?

?	PCB concentrations in Lake Superior are stagnant and toxaphene levels ? 
the pesticide that replaced DDT ? have increased since toxaphene was banned 
in the U.S. and Canada.
?	Eagles nesting on the shores of the Great Lakes hatch deformed chicks or 
do not reproduce at all. Native trout do not reproduce naturally. We are 
advised to limit fish consumption.
?	In the Arctic, killer whales, polar bear, birds of prey and the indigenous 
Inuit are seriously affected by PCBs and pesticides.

	Are these stories related? In Mel Visser?s Cold, Clear and Deadly, we find 
out they are really one story ? a story that Visser tells with reasoned 
passion. Avoiding the dogmatic points of view sometimes brought from both 
the left and the right of politics, Visser looks behind outmoded federal 
environmental policies as he journeys far and wide to determine why the best 
efforts of the USEPA and Environment Canada are not ridding the Great Lakes 
of their most toxic chemicals.
Cold, Clear and Deadly is more than a story of science or politic -- it is 
the saga of one person?s relentless quest to unravel a toxic legacy. Mel 
Visser may be the best guide we?ve had to the truth about Great Lakes 
pollution.

	As with many complex mysteries, once the answer is found, the beauty of 
simplicity prevails. We introduced the chemicals that made the cold, clear 
waters of our Northern Hemisphere deadly, and we taught others how to make 
and use these chemicals. We found our way out and banned these chemicals, 
but still have toxic waters.  Until the rest of the world follows suit, the 
mistakes of the past will continue to haunt all who share our global 
ecosystem.

?If the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes ever found himself searching ?for 
an honest man? on the shores of the Great Lakes, he need look no further 
than Mel Visser in his intrepid and relentless quest for the truth behind 
toxic contamination, its causes and its consequences.  From Lake Superior to 
the Arctic Circle, and back again, Visser brings his impressive scientific 
knowledge and moral integrity to the search for answers to difficult 
questions which vex policy makers across the globe.?

?G. Tracy Mehan, III, formerly Assistant Administrator for Water, U.S. 
E.P.A., and Director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes.


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