Nation in brief

Embargoes on U.S. beef, poultry could lift

WASHINGTON - The United States is making headway in lifting the bans that some of its leading customers have imposed on U.S. beef and poultry exports because of mad cow and bird diseases, Agriculture Department officials said Friday.

Next week, China may announce progress toward reducing restrictions on U.S. beef and poultry, and Mexico will announce that it will open its borders to more U.S. poultry, they said.

Officials sounded less optimistic about coming talks with Japanese officials. In a wide-ranging news conference, the officials also said the government's plans to increase testing for mad cow disease are on target.

China had banned U.S. beef products after the United States announced in December that a Holstein in Washington state had the brain-wasting disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE. China banned poultry imports in February after bird flu was found in Texas and unrelated cases were found in East Coast states.

About 50 other nations also have refused to accept U.S. beef and poultry.

SEATTLE - In a report analyzing the economics of protecting a threatened fish in the Pacific Northwest, the Bush administration this month deleted all references to possible monetary benefits.

Instead, in releasing the report on bull trout and their vast habitat in four states, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made public only those parts of an analysis that detailed the costs of saving the fish.

They were put at $230-million to $300-million over 10 years, adversely affecting hydropower, logging and highway construction.

Gone from the published analysis - written for the Fish and Wildlife Service by a Missoula, Mont., consulting firm called Bioeconomics Inc. - were 55 pages that detailed the benefits of protecting bull trout.

Estimated at $215-million over 20 to 30 years, they include revenue from sport fishing, reduced drinking water costs and increased water for irrigation farmers, especially late in the summer when streams are run low.

An official for the Fish and Wildlife Service said the benefits analysis was cut because of its methodology.

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. - A chunk of the former Rocky Mountain Arsenal, once home to the most contaminated square mile in the nation, opens this weekend as a national wildlife refuge.

Rolling prairie where defense workers produced deadly sarin nerve gas, mustard gas and napalm for four decades is now home to more than 300 species, from white pelicans to bald eagles.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton, preparing for today's opening of the first phase of the refuge, said the project will serve as both a habitat and an oasis of open space in the increasingly urban Denver suburbs.

Not everyone is convinced opening the site to the public is a good idea. The arsenal is a Superfund site, still undergoing a cleanup expected to cost $2.2-billion.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - A motorist was issued a $128 ticket Friday in a fiery crash that shut down Interstate 95, a major highway link between New York and Boston.

Sarah Waddle was cited for failure to drive in the established lane. It was the only citation issued in the now-completed police investigation of the March 25 accident.

Waddle was driving southbound when a tanker truck carrying heating oil swerved to avoid her car and overturned on a highway overpass, police said.

The tanker exploded into flames, and the intense heat caused structural steel in the overpass to sag. No one was seriously hurt.

The bridge is used by 120,000 vehicles each day. Northbound lanes were reopened three days after the crash; southbound lanes were back after less than a week.

The government freed up $11.2-million in previously allocated bridge-repair money, and provided another $2-million in emergency funds.

State transportation officials have said a final cost for bridge replacement will be available in five or six months. They have estimated equipment and labor cost about $250,000 a day during the emergency repair. Additionally, rental of a temporary bridge was estimated at $150,000 to $200,000.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Someone charged more than $800 to Sen. Pete Domenici's credit cards last month after he lost his wallet during a visit to Albuquerque.

Speaking to a business group this week, the New Mexico Republican said he was surprised none of the cashiers who rang up the purchases raised questions when the buyer signed the six-term senator's name to a receipt.

"Geez, you thought everyone knew me," Domenici said.

A spokesman for Domenici said two or three credit cards were in the wallet. Before Domenici could cancel the cards, someone purchased a $500 appliance, $300 worth of groceries and a tank of gasoline.

The credit card companies will not hold the senator responsible for the purchases, he said.

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