Deaths at Illinois ADM corn lab ruled accidental by jury

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) — A coroner’s jury has ruled that the February deaths of two Decatur men killed at an Archer Daniels Midland corn processing laboratory were accidents.

Fifty-five-year-old Charles Newgard and 46-year-old Jeffrey Miller died of carbon monoxide poisoning Feb. 10 at the lab in Decatur. The company has said an air-handling unit at the agricultural processing company caught fire.

Macon County Coroner Michael Day said 16 other workers were sickened during the accident.

Newgard had worked at ADM for 33 years, while Miller had worked for the Decatur-based company for 17 years.

New bird flu outbreak hits South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea reported another bird flu outbreak at a poultry farm Saturday, days after confirming the return of the deadly H5N1 virus following a year-long absence.
Ducks at the farm tested positive for a general bird flu virus, but more tests are needed to determine if it is the specific strain that has caused worldwide concern, said Kim Ung-sang, an Agriculture Ministry official.

Several strains of bird flu typically circulate in poultry, but H5N1 is particularly deadly when it infects humans. Scientists fear it could eventually trigger a new human flu pandemic.

As a response to the latest outbreak, Kim said the ministry would destroy 6,500 ducks and has banned transport of poultry within six miles of the duck farm in Jeongeup, about 155 miles southwest of Seoul. The farm is 17 miles from a chicken farm where the H5N1 strain of bird flu broke out earlier this week, prompting the slaughter of about 308,000 chickens.

It was the first time since last year that the deadly virus has hit South Korea. The country slaughtered 2.8 million birds in response to outbreaks from November 2006 to March 2007.

Bird flu remains difficult for people to catch, but health experts worry the relatively new virus could mutate into a form that passes easily among humans who have not developed immunity to it, possibly infecting millions worldwide.

Malt-O-Meal voluntarily recalls some cereal due to salmonella

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Malt-O-Meal is voluntarily recalling some packages of its unsweetened Puffed Rice and unsweetened Puffed Wheat Cereals because they may be contaminated with salmonella.

The company says the packages include those with “Best If Used By” dates between April 8, 2008, and March 18, 2009. The cereal was distributed nationally under the Malt-O-Meal brand and under some private label brands including Acme, America’s Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw’s, ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality.

The Minneapolis-based company said no illnesses have been reported. The company said in a statement that the recall began after internal food safety testing found salmonella in a product produced on March 24. Malt-O-Meal investigated and issued the recall as a precaution.

Environmentalists pleased that odor study bill has stalled

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Some environmentalists are celebrating the apparent rejection of a proposed study on animal confinement odors.

A measure calling for the study remains alive in a legislative committee, but opponents and lawmakers said it has little chance of being approved. That’s good news, they said, for those who have had enough of studies and want some action on the odor issue. Some argued the proposed five-year-long study was aimed more at delaying action than laying the groundwork for solutions.

“Ultimately we do want action ...,” said Lisa Whelan, rural project director for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. “The legislature, the House in particular, has had the opportunity to take action but they haven’t taken it up.”

The matter has already been studied and it’s time to move ahead with solutions, such as giving local governments more control over construction of animal confinement operations and toughening permitting standards, Whelan said. She claimed the proposed study, estimated to cost $22 million over five years, was “a pretty outrageous stall tactic.”

Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey proposed the so-called odor study bill, calling it “a great opportunity to apply science to this issue which has been so divisive in this state for too long.”

No explicit goal is listed in the legislation, apart from creating the study, but supporters said it would provide the bedrock for more comprehensive regulation of farm odors. House and Senate agriculture committees approved the bill, but it never came up for a vote on the floor of either chamber, and last month it was moved to the House Appropriations Committee.

“It was thoroughly discussed in our caucus ... but a number of issues came up,” said Rep. Mark Kuhn, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. “The funding hurdle is a big one, but there have also been a lot of studies done on this issue and a lot of people in my caucus think that we’ve studied this issue long enough. It’s time for results and it’s time to take some action.”
Kuhn, a Charles City Democrat, said the bill faces long odds. Northey rejects claims that the bill is dead and the notion that he had ulterior motives in pushing for the measure.

“We are still trying to advance the bill this year,” Northey said. “The livestock industry is so important to this state economically that this seems like a reasonable step. That’s why (Iowa State University), the (Department of Natural Resources) and our department have all been working so hard on it.”

Environmental groups aren’t buying it. They note that Northey is a farmer with close ties to the Iowa Farm Bureau, a group environmentalists said has opposed previous efforts at odor control. E-mails obtained by The Associated Press last year using Iowa’s public records law showed that Northey alerted representatives of corporate farming interests first before he publicly floated the idea of an odor study bill.

“This thing is pushed by the Farm Bureau, pork producers – they’re all out there to delay action,” said Vern Tigges, a farmer who lives outside of Carroll and near a number of hog confinements. “They’ve seen air quality studies before. One was supported by Governor Vilsack and was OK’d ... but the results weren’t what they wanted, so they ignored it.”

Regardless, Northey said the study is necessary before the state takes action. And he said state officials also must remain mindful of what animal confinement operations mean to Iowa’s economy.
“I really think this is a logical and reasonable first step to help protect an $8 billion industry in this state,” Northey said. “In putting this proposal together, we tried to be as frugal as possible while also making it of a large enough scale to have a real impact.”