Puritan Justice for Polluters, Dirt Cheap Farmland and U.S. Average Life Expectancy

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ILLUSTRATION: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF
A company convicted of illegally dumping toxic wastes took out a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times to confess its sins against the environment.

News briefs on the puritan style justice for environmental polluters, dirt cheap farmland and the latest information on the U.S. average life expectancy.

Biological Pest Controls

Almost every month brings news of another promising biological pest control. The latest USDA find is a tiny South American wasp, Edovum puttleri, which attacks the eggs of the Colorado potato beetle, the number one pest of potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants in the U.S. The wasps parasitized 60 to 80% of potato beetle eggs in preliminary field trials. Edovum puttleri is also easy to raise, which should please vegetable farmers, who spend more than $120 million a year to control the insecticide-resistant beetle.

Puritan Justice for Environmental Polluters

It sounds like the modern equivalent of a scarlet letter: As part of its punishment, a company convicted of illegally dumping toxic wastes took out a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times to confess its sins against the environment. The advertisement, which cost the offender $15,000, began, “Warning: The illegal disposal of toxic wastes will result in jail. We should know. We got caught.”

  • Published on Sep 1, 1985
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