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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 17 June 2022
Production at bedeviled baby formula factory halted by storm

By TOM MURPHY and LAU- more than enough product
RA UNGAR to meet current demand.
Associated Press He also noted that other
Severe weather has forced U.S. baby formula manu-
Abbott Nutrition to pause facturers are running their
production at a Michigan plants around the clock.
baby formula factory that Califf said they hoped to
had just restarted after have a "super supply" of
being closed for several formula to get shelves fully
months, contributing to a restocked in perhaps two
national shortage. weeks.
Production for Abbott's "But it's too early to give an
EleCare specialty formula exact estimate of what the
has been suspended, but delay will be in the Sturgis
there is enough supply to plant," Califf said at a hear-
meet demand until pro- ing of the U.S. Senate Com-
duction is restarted, the mittee on Health, Educa-
company said. Abbott had tion, Labor & Pensions.
prioritized ramping up pro- Califf called the flood at
duction of the specialty for- the plant "an unfortunate
mula for infants with severe setback and a reminder
food allergies and digestive that natural weather events
problems who have few An Abbott Laboratories manufacturing plant is shown in Sturgis, Mich., on Sept. 23, 2010. can cause unforeseen dis-
other options for nutrition. Associated Press ruptions in supply chains."
Abbott says it needs to as- Abbott is one of just four
sess damage and re-sani- ed. The company expects since February due to con- on specialty formulas. companies that produce
tize the factory after severe production and distribu- tamination. President Joe Biden's ad- about 90% of U.S. formu-
thunderstorms and heavy tion to be delayed for a Abbott recalled several ministration has since la. Hamilton said Abbott
rains swept through south- few weeks as it cleans the leading brands of formula eased import rules for for- has produced 8.7 million
western Michigan late plant. then, including Similac. eign manufacturers, air- pounds of formula in June,
Monday. Spokesman Jona- Once it restarts, the factory That squeezed supplies that lifted formula from Europe or 95% of what it produced
thon Hamilton said flood- will begin with the produc- had already been strained and invoked federal emer- the month before the re-
ing hit a few areas of the tion of EleCare and other by supply chain disruptions gency rules to prioritize U.S. call.
factory, but he declined to specialty formulas. Abbott and stockpiling during CO- production. The Michigan factory was
provide more specific de- says it also plans to restart VID-19 shutdowns. FDA Commissioner Dr. closed after the Food and
tails about damage. production of its Similac for- The ongoing formula short- Robert Califf told a Sen- Drug Administration began
The storm also brought high mula as soon as possible. age has been most dire for ate committee on Thurs- investigating four bacterial
winds, hail and power fail- Abbott had initially restart- children with allergies, di- day that government work infections among infants
ures to Sturgis, Michigan, ed the factory on June 4 gestive problems and met- done to increase the sup- who consumed powdered
where the factory is locat- after it had been closed abolic disorders who rely ply means that there will be formula from the plant.q

New Mexico reaches $32M settlement over 2015 mine spill

governor said Thursday. year. Colorado and the communities like Farming-
"Every drop is precious," Navajo Nation also have ton, Bloomfield, and Aztec
Gov. Michelle Lujan inked multimillion-dollar to do the same," she said
Grisham said during a news agreements to settle claims in a statement, saying the
conference. "If we don't and sort out responsibility money is deserved in light
have that water, we aren't for continued cleanup at of the federal government's
growing our own food." the Superfund site that was role in the disaster.
The spill released 3 million established following the The state also received $11
gallons (11 million liters) of spill. million in damages from
wastewater from the in- Under the New Mexico the mining companies, and
active Gold King Mine in agreement, the federal the case against the fed-
southwestern Colorado, government will make cash eral contractors involved is
sending a bright-yellow payments for response pending.
plume of arsenic, lead and costs, environmental res- On Aug. 5, 2015, Environ-
other heavy metals south toration and efforts to miti- mental Protection Agency
to New Mexico, through gate the negative percep- contractors attempting
In this Aug. 14, 2015, photo, water flows through a series of sedi-
ment retention ponds built to reduce heavy metal and chemical the Navajo Nation and into tions about the area's rivers cleanup work caused the
contaminants from the Gold King Mine outside Silverton, Colo. Utah through the San Juan following the spill. Money release of the toxic waste-
Associated Press and Animas rivers. also will go toward wa- water. The plume eventu-
Water utilities were forced ter quality monitoring and ally reached Lake Powell in
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRY- polluted rivers in three west- to scramble and shut down cleanup activities. Utah.
AN ern states. intake valves while farmers Lujan Grisham called the Although the rivers are now
Associated Press Similar environmental ac- stopped drawing from the settlement a turning point safe for irrigation and other
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — cidents will be intolerable rivers as the contaminants for communities in the re- uses, state and local offi-
New Mexico and the U.S. in the future as the region moved downstream. gion. cials have said the stigma
government have reached grapples with shrinking wa- The New Mexico settle- "While the San Juan and associated with the event
a $32 million settlement ter supplies amid drought ment marks just the lat- Animas rivers have healed has had lasting effects on
over a 2015 mine spill that and climate change, the est reached over the past from the spill, it's time for the region's economy.q