COLUMBUS, Ohio, January 21, 2009 (ENS) – The Ohio EPA has introduced a new online voluntary air emissions credit banking system to make it easier for companies to build or expand in Ohio counties that cannot meet federal air quality standards.

Currently, 32 out of Ohio’s 88 counties do not meet federal standards for particulate matter and ozone.

“The emissions bank can help buyers and sellers of emission credits connect quickly and easily, which is a big plus in today’s fast-paced business environment,” said Ohio EPA Director Chris Korleski.

Under the Clean Air Act, a major emissions source, such as a factory or power plant, cannot construct in a nonattainment area unless it obtains emission reduction credits, also known as emission offsets.

An emission reduction credit represents a permanent, quantifiable, federally enforceable and surplus reduction in air pollutant emission that exceeds the amount of reduction required under state or federal law. It is measured in tons per year.

If a new facility wanted to locate in a nonattainment area and planned to emit 100 tons of carbon monoxide per year, it would need to obtain that amount of reductions, or credits, from another source.

Gavin is the largest power plant in Ohio and has two of the seven largest coal-fired generating units ever built. (Photo courtesy AEP)

It can be time consuming and difficult for companies to find and verify available emission offsets. As a result, they often exclude nonattainment areas when considering where to locate a new facility.

“We hope this will help foster economic activity in nonattainment areas, while still allowing us to improve air quality in these same areas,” Korleski said.

Ohio must meet federal air quality standards for nitrogen oxide, volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide, fine particulates, carbon monoxide and lead.

Ohio currently has designated nonattainment areas for the eight-hour ozone standard and the particulate matter 2.5 standard. The entire state is in attainment for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and lead.

The eight-hour ozone standard is not being attained in areas of Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland-Akron, and Columbus.

The PM 2.5 standard is not being met in: Adams County’s Monroe and Sprigg Townships; Ashtabula County’s Ashtabula Township; Coshocton County’s Franklin Township; and Gallia County’s Cheshire Township.

In December, the U.S. EPA announced designations for the 24 hour ozone standard for fine particle pollution, PM 2.5, which is emitted by diesel engines, power plants, foundries.

“These new designations are a continued alarm to Ohio officials that they must do more to protect public health. Failing to meet the standard for particle pollution means our communities are at risk and are suffering,” said David Celebreeze, director of air and water special projects with the Ohio Environmental Council.

If the state fails to meet the standard, the federal government could withhold funds for highways.

Ohio has submitted plans to the U.S. EPA to lower pollution levels in ozone nonattainment areas. Ohio EPA said in a statement that its goal is to bring these areas back into attainment, improving the areas’ quality of life and the local economy.

The state of Ohio is required to submit to the U.S. EPA a State Implementation Plan that will achieve attainment of federal standards for particle pollution by 2014.

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SAN FRANCISCO, California, January 7, 2009 (ENS) – Groundwater on and around the site of the U.S. Energy Department’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is contaminated with volatile organic compounds and chromium from activities at the nuclear weapons research site, yet the DOE has halted cleanup, putting the drinking water supply of local communities at risk.

The shutdown began early in 2008 when Congress cut funding to the DOE, and although full funding was restored last July, the cleanup has not resumed.

There are 50,000 people living within a two-mile radius of the lab, and groundwater in downtown Livermore, about two miles west of the site, is used as a municipal drinking water source.

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered the Energy Department to immediately resume cleanup activities at the lab or face escalating financial penalties.

The EPA says the Energy Department has failed to operate numerous groundwater and soil vapor treatment facilities and associated wells – an integral part of cleanup activities at the site.

“The shutdown of the treatment systems puts the community and the environment at risk,” said Michael Montgomery, assistant director for the EPA’s Superfund Division in the Pacific Southwest region.

“The taxpayers have already paid for the construction of the treatment systems – it’s DOE’s responsibility to operate them,” Montgomery said.

The laboratory, about 45 miles east of San Francisco, is operated by a five member team including Bechtel National, University of California, Babcock and Wilcox, the Washington Division of URS Corporation, and Battelle for the Department of Energy.

As part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s nuclear stockpile research, an explosive is loaded for testing at the Livermore lab’s High Explosives Application Facility. (Photo courtesy LLNL)

Research and support activities at the lab handle, generate, or manage hazardous materials that include radioactive wastes. The lab is a Superfund site, listed as one of the most contaminated sites in the country.

The EPA says the recent failure of a large treatment unit on the perimeter of the site has resulted in a loss of contaminated groundwater plume control off-site, where it may spread beneath adjacent local neighborhoods.

Fuel hydrocarbons including benzene and ethylene dibromide, the heavy metal lead, and radioactive tritium appear in wells on the lab site.

Soil excavated from the site was contaminated with solvents, radioactive wastes, heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, and fuel hydrocarbons. Soils remaining on-site contain volatile organic compounds, tritium, PCBs, fuel hydrocarbons, and inorganic substances.

The EPA warned in a statement today that people may face a health threat if they ingest or come in direct contact with contaminated water or soil.

The EPA, the Energy Department and California state agencies first signed an agreement to clean up the lab in 1988.

In 2007, the EPA certified that the Energy Department had built the necessary groundwater and soil vapor treatment systems needed to clean up the site. The intention was for DOE to operate the systems until the cleanup standards selected by both federal agencies were met – a time period estimated in decades.

In early 2008, the Energy Department informed the EPA that Congress had reduced funding for the cleanup and that DOE would need to start shutting down the treatment systems.

The EPA advised the Energy Department to seek reprogramming of funds from Congress. By the time this was accomplished, 28 treatment systems had been shut down and 60 percent of the technical support staff had been laid off.

Despite receiving full funding in July 2008, the Energy Department has still not restored operation of most of the systems.

While pump-and-treat systems have been shut down, site contamination has spread both laterally and vertically, resulting in a larger volume of contaminated groundwater and increasing timeframes for completing the overall cleanup.

The EPA is seeking $105,000 in penalties for the period from July to September 2008 for the Energy Department’s failure to resume cleanup and also is continuing to assess penalties of $10,000 per week from October 1 until the DOE resumes the cleanup.

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TALLEVAST, Florida, October 13, 2008 (ENS) – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection today reached a legal agreement with defense contractor Lockheed Martin to resolve violations that occurred when about 5,000 gallons of untreated wastewater was released from the company’s on-site pump and treat system in the small town of Tallevast on Florida’s west coast.

The company was using the pump and treat system to clean up long-standing groundwater contamination from the site of a former nuclear weapons parts production facility.

The wastewater contaminated with volatile organic compounds escaped on August 3, after a faulty shut-off sensor and a compromised secondary containment structure allowed the release of the contaminated groundwater.

“These are significant violations, and DEP has taken the necessary steps to ensure that Lockheed Martin is taking swift action to address these issues in a timely manner,” said DEP Southwest District Director Deborah Getzoff.

“DEP is committed to enforcing the state’s environmental regulations, and we are confident that Lockheed Martin has taken these violations seriously,” she said.

As a part of the enforcement agreement, Lockheed Martin has 30 days to pay DEP almost $50,000 in penalties and agency costs.

The company must also upgrade the failed pump and treat system. Lockheed Martin cannot resume operations of the system until DEP’s provides written authorization to resume pumping.

Lockheed Martin is cleaning up the groundwater associated with the release to prevent further migration of the contaminated water into the deeper aquifers.

The company drilled 15 shallow extraction wells in the area around the treatment plant’s secondary containment tank. A double-walled storage tank was brought on site to hold the water extracted from the ground. The water was transferred from the storage tank to tanker trucks, which transported the water off site to a permitted treatment and disposal facility.

Night drilling in the Tallevast community
to install groundwater monitoring wells.
(Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin)

DEP is currently reviewing Lockheed Martin’s long-term plan to clean up groundwater contamination that has historically moved off-site and into other Tallevast properties in this town of about 100 families.

In 1996, Lockheed Martin assumed ownership of the former Loral American Beryllium Company, which was producing parts for nuclear weapons and reactors in Tallevast. ABC’s operations were discontinued in 1997, and the property was sold in 2000.

In 2000, during due diligence activities connected with the sale, volatile organic compounds were identified in shallow groundwater beneath former concrete sumps located on the former ABC site. The volatile organic compounds are primarily trichloroethene and tetrachloroethene, commonly used industrial solvents and degreasers, and their breakdown products.

Lockheed Martin notified the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and entered into a voluntary site cleanup.

But the company did not notify the residents, and the people of Tallevast did not learn that they were living atop a plume of toxic chemicals until 2003 – three years after the problem was discovered.

Based on more extensive sampling from 2002 to 2003, Lockheed Martin discovered that the volatile organic compounds had migrated off-site to the northeast, east and southeast of the ABC property line.

The DEP was notified of the discovery of the off-site contamination and has been involved in the cleanup process.

A third site assessment completed by the company and submitted to the state indicates that groundwater in the vicinity of the site is impacted with volatile organic compounds and 1,4-dioxane. These impacts cover an area of about 200 acres and extend below ground approximately 200 feet.

Despite agreeing to do the cleanup, the company has declined to relocate the small community of eighty houses, claiming that the contamination poses no risk to the residents’ health.

Residents say they are seeing increased incidences of various cancers, breathing problems, neurological problems, miscarriages, and unusual nose bleeds. Over the last three years most deaths in the community have been related to throat, stomach, and digestive cancers, they say.

Lockheed Martin says it has made a medical program and a property value guarantee program available to residents in the vicinity of the site.

The medical program provides free examinations to residents and former employees. The property value guarantee provides gap payments to residents and property owners wishing to sell their property if they are unable to get full market value due to the groundwater contamination in the area

Lockheed Martin says it remains committed to removing the contamination from the Tallevast community and will proceed with a plan to conduct further groundwater and soil investigation as well as an Interim Remedial Action. The company has entered into a consent decree with the state of Florida that identifies a definitive plan for cleanup action.

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TRENTON, New Jersey, August 28, 2008 (ENS) – Tens of thousands of New Jersey residents are drinking polluted water from private wells, according to a new state report, and radioactive contamination is the most common violation of state standards.

The new report from the state Private Well Testing Act Program covers the five-year period from 2002-2007 and includes samples from more than one out of eight of the estimated 400,000 private residential drinking water wells in New Jersey.

Issued without comment by New Jersey environmental officials, it shows that more than 12 percent of over 51,000 residential wells sampled failed to meet drinking water standards.

This means that people drinking from those 6,120 wells are drinking polluted water.

Found in 2,209 wells, the most frequent violation was radioactive contamination, called in the report “gross alpha particle activity.”

Water in New Jersey’s private wells tests
too high for radioactivity, arsenic and
other contaminants. (Photo by Ray
Rocket Creasey)

The term “gross alpha” does not refer to a specific contaminant, but to a group of radioactive elements found in drinking water. Data on gross alpha particle radioactivity in New Jersey private wells are included and evaluated in this report for the first time, the report states.

The next most common violations found through sampling were high levels of arsenic, found in 1,445 wells; nitrates, found in1,399 wells; fecal coliform or E. coli, found in 1,136 wells; volatile organic compounds, found in 702 wells; and mercury, found in 215 wells.

These figures do not count the contamination from lead, found in more than 5,200 wells, because the state Department of Environmental Protection considered the sampling results to be “questionable” in part due to “unrealistically high concentrations of lead.”

“Some results have confirmed expectations about ground water quality,” the report states. “In those counties requiring arsenic testing, the results have shown that arsenic is detected in the Piedmont region of New Jersey at a greater frequency than other areas of the State that are required to test for arsenic.”

“Other results are leading us to a better understanding of ground water quality,” it states. “The fecal coliform results have shown that the wells in the bedrock aquifers of New Jersey are more likely to have fecal coliform contamination than wells in the Coastal Plain.”

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an association of government workers in natural resources agencies, said today that the report shows the public is ignorant of the dangers of drinking well water because there is no requirement to inform neighbors of a polluted well in their vicinity, and there is no requirement to clean up the pollution.

“This report says that when you drink from a well in New Jersey, do so at your own risk,” said New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, a former analyst with the New Jersey DEP. “What is at the bottom of these wells proves that the state testing program is broken and in need of a total overhaul.”

“A classic example of what’s wrong occurred in Sussex County, Byram Township, where a well at a house being sold was found to be seriously contaminated with trichloroethylene,” said Wolfe.

“The public notification regulations suggest that the local health authority notify neighboring properties within at least 200 feet but because no homes were located within 200 feet of the property, neither the local health authority nor the state performed any subsequent sampling,” he said.

New Jersey does not require that pollution problems found in water from private wells be fixed. The report notes that the Private Well Testing Act and subsequent regulations “do not require water treatment if any test parameter standard level is exceeded.”

Neighbors of polluted wells are not required to be warned, because, the act states, “these individual tests are considered confidential, the exact location of the well test failure cannot be identified.”

Additionally, the Private Well Testing Act cannot be enforced due to lack of data, the report states, in these words, “Since no state agency has the ability to verify that all real estate transactions (sales and leases) subject to testing under the PWTA have been reported to NJDEP, the absence of results, along with errors or mistakes in the reported data, could have a significant impact on the evaluation and interpretation of the data presented.”

To read the report, “Well Test Results for September 2002 – April 2007,” click here [www.nj.gov].

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AUSTIN, Texas, August 27, 2008 (ENS) – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has resolved the state’s environmental enforcement action against two Lyondell Chemical Company subsidiaries that operated seven petrochemical plants in Houston and along the Gulf Coast.

Under an agreed final judgment proposed by the state, defendants Equistar Chemicals and Millenium Petrochemicals Inc. will each pay $3.25 million in penalties, Abbott announced Monday.

In December 2006, the attorney general charged the Lyondell subsidiaries with repeatedly failing to prevent the release of harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.

“Texas has an obligation to enforce environmental laws that protect the health and safety of its residents,” Abbott said. “Industrial growth must be balanced with environmental stewardship in order to ensure a bright future for our state. We are committed to working with industry leaders to protect the quality of our air, water and natural resources for future generations.”
The La Porte plant is on the south shore of the Houston Ship Channel. (Photo courtesy Lyondell)

Under the proposed agreement, Equistar and Millenium will each set aside $500,000 to fund supplemental environmental projects identified by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The agreement still is subject to court approval.

An investigation by the TCEQ revealed that the seven Lyondell facilities released harmful emissions, including volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, into the atmosphere over a long period of time.

The TCEQ discovered that the defendants’ plants in La Porte, Channelview and Chocolate Bayou either ignored long-term pollutant releases or did very little to remedy chronic problems over time.

Investigators found that Millennium’s La Porte plant may have allowed its pressurized rail cars to vent uncontrolled chemical emissions directly into the atmosphere. Plants in Corpus Christi, Bayport and Beaumont self-reported multiple violations to the state environmental agency.

According to the defendants’ own reports, thousands of components were ignored. Equistar and Millennium failed to implement required detection and repair programs that should have addressed valve, connector, pump and other component leaks.

For years, the Houston area has been designated an ozone non-attainment zone by the federal government. Polluters in these zones are required to implement controls and technological innovations that curb air emissions that form ground-level ozone, or smog.

With $16 billion in assets, Lyondell Chemical Company is one of the world’s largest chemical manufacturers and a refiner of heavy, high-sulfur crude oil.

The Lyondell, Equistar and Millennium companies manufacture basic chemicals and derivatives such as ethylene, propylene, titanium oxide, styrene, polyethylene, propylene oxide and acetyls.

The seven plants involved in the state’s environmental enforcement action are located in La Porte, Channelview, Chocolate Bayou, Corpus Christi, Bayport and Beaumont.

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ANN ARBOR, Michigan, June 2, 2008 (ENS) – Short-term exposure to low levels of particulate air pollution may increase the risk of stroke or mini-stroke, according to new research conducted in Texas that suggests current exposure standards are not sufficient to protect the public. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States.

The study examined particulate air pollution in the southeast Texas community of Corpus Christi where there is a large petroleum and petrochemical industry presence.

The results showed what the researchers called “borderline significant associations” between same day and previous day exposures to fine particulate matter and risk of ischemic strokes.

Refinery row at Corpus Christi, Texas
(Photo by Maria-Christina)

Ischemic (is-skeem-ic) stroke occurs when an artery to the brain is blocked.

In the study, researchers identified ischemic strokes and also transient ischemic attacks, or TIA, sometimes called mini strokes, that often lead to a stroke later.

Findings suggest that recent exposure to fine particulate matter may increase the risk of these types of stroke events specifically.

Particulate matter is a combination of fine solids such as dirt, soil dust, pollens, molds, ashes, and soot; and aerosols that are formed in the atmosphere from gaseous combustion by-products such as volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

Particulate pollution comes from such diverse sources as factory and utility smokestacks, vehicle exhaust, wood burning, mining, construction activity, and agriculture.

“The vast majority of the public is exposed to ambient air pollution at the levels observed in this community or greater every day, suggesting a potentially large public health impact,” said Lynda Lisabeth, lead author and assistant professor in the University of Michigan School of Public Health, where the research is based.

Despite the fossil fuel industry in the area, fine particulate matter exposures were low relative to other regions of the country, the researchers said probably because of the proximity to the coast and prevailing wind patterns.

Lisabeth stressed that the association requires further study in other areas with varying climates and alternative study designs.

Ischemic stroke is by far the most common kind of stroke, accounting for about 88 percent of all strokes. Stroke can affect people of all ages, including children.

Many people with ischemic strokes are 60 or older, and the risk of stroke increases as people age. At each age, stroke is more common in men than women, and it is more common among African-Americans than white Americans.

For this study, researchers looked at data from the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi Project, a population-based stroke surveillance project designed to capture all strokes in Nueces County, Texas.

Ischemic stroke and TIA cases between 2001 and 2005 were identified using trained staff and later verified by neurologists.

Daily historical air pollutant and meteorological data were obtained for the same time period from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Monitoring Operations database.

Data on fine particulate matter and ozone from a centrally located monitor in Corpus Christi located upwind of the local industrial facilities was used in the study.

The majority of stroke and TIA cases were found to be located upwind of local chemical plants and refineries.

Some research has shown that particulate air pollution is associated with acute artery vasoconstriction and with increased thickening of the blood, which may enhance the potential for blood clots.

Similar associations were also seen with ozone, another type of air pollution.

This study confirms earlier research showing that exposure to fine particle matter air pollution increases a person’s risk for hospital admission for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

The study, “Ambient Air Pollution and Risk of Ischemic Stroke and TIA,” will be published in the July 2008 issue of Annals of Neurology www.interscience.wiley.com, the official journal of the American Neurological Association.

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DENVER, Colorado, May 22, 2008 (ENS) – The flex-fuel vehicles at this summer’s Democratic National Convention will be running on waste beer, thanks to the Molson Coors Brewing Company.

Molson Coors, along with its U.S. subsidiary, Coors Brewing Company, will be the Official E85 Ethanol Producer for the convention, which is set for August 25 through 28 in Denver.

Molson Coors is donating all the clean-burning ethanol fuel for the fleet of 400 General Motors flex-fuel vehicles to be used for the convention’s transportation needs. The fleet will be for the use of U.S. House and Senate Leadership, DNC officials and state party chairs, delegates, staff, and members of the media.

The latest model of GM’s Chevy Express
is a flex-fuel van that runs on E85.
(Photo courtesy GM)

All the buses and motorpool vehicles are flex-fuel, hybrids or run on biofuel, the DNC Host Committee says.

No one will be going hungry because ethanol is fueling the motorpool. Coors’ ethanol is not the corn-based variety – it is made from waste beer generated at the Golden, Colorado, brewery, which now produces about three million gallons annually.

Coors is the first major U.S. brewer to convert its waste beer into ethanol. Since 1996, Coors has been recycling waste beer, which the company says is beer lost during packaging or deemed below quality standards, and converting it to alcohol automotive fuel.

The company says production of ethanol from waste beer also helps it eliminate about 70 tons of harmful volatile organic compounds from its air emissions annually.

Molson Coors CEO Leo Kiely said, “We are pleased that our waste beer can fuel the convention fleet and help support an environmentally conscious convention.”

“Bill Coors used to say that waste was a resource out of place,” Kiely quoted, adding, “that thinking still drives us today to recycle, reuse and reduce our consumption of energy and materials when and where we can. Minimizing our impact on the environment is the right thing to do and it’s good for our business.”

“From fueling a national conversation about sustainability to fueling convention vehicles, we’re working toward a green convention on every front,” said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

“This flex-fuel initiative highlights Colorado’s historic status as an energy and beer capital as well as its reputation for environmental and economic innovation,” said the mayor.

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, a Democrat, applauded the company for turning waste beer into fuel, saying, “The upcoming convention will be the perfect opportunity to showcase Colorado’s accomplishments in developing advanced renewable fuels.”

General Motors has pledged that half of the vehicles it produces by 2012 will be flex-fuel capable, and two million flex-fuel vehicles are now on the road. The company currently has 11 flex-fuel models for 2008, and more than 15 planned for 2009.

GM North America President Troy Clarke said in February, “We will continue to make more of our lineup flex-fuel capable because we believe ethanol, and specifically E85, is the best near-term answer to reduce our nation’s dependence on oil as energy demand rises here and around the world.”

Clarke said, “The focus needs to be on making E85 more available by developing cellulosic ethanol sources and dramatically increasing the number of stations that offer E85.”

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CORAL GABLES, Florida, April 27, 2008 (ENS) – It sounds like something out of a householder’s fantasy – walls covered with self-cleaning paint that repels dirt and grime.

But this new kind of paint is a reality now being tested on the walls of research lab at the University of Miami College of Engineering. The experimental initiative is designed to fit into the university’s commitment towards environmental sustainability on campus.

Dr. James Giancaspro, an assistant professor at the department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering has applied the innovative product on the walls of his lab, where undergraduate and graduate students work.

Dr. James Giancaspro (Photo
courtesy U. Miami)

The self-cleaning paint is an ecologically friendly product, Giancaspro says, which has the ability to keep walls clean and maintenance free by repelling dirt, smog, bacteria, algae and fungus that normally accumulates on surfaces, eliminating toxic odors at the same time.

He is currently in the process of designing ways of monitoring the anti-bacterial, anti-pollutant qualities of the paint.

The secret of how the paint works was discovered in the 1960s by Dr. Akira Fujishima in Japan.

He found that titanium dioxide crystals, stimulated by ultra-violet light, could break down the molecules found in grime and organic matter that are necessary for bacteria to grow.

This chemical process is called photocatalytic activity.

Using energy found in the UV light, the photocatalyst titanium dioxide can break down organic substances such as oil grime and hydrocarbons from car exhaust and industrial smog, volatile organic compounds found in building materials and furniture, as well as organic growth such as fungus and mildew.

The contaminants are transformed into non-toxic molecules and reduced to such small quantities that they can no longer damage the surfaces.

A photocatalyst coating can control sick building syndrome by removing volatile organic compounds emitted from building materials, carpeting and furniture, creating a purer space for more comfortable living and working.

Giancaspro says this “eco-active” product was developed by Global Engineering, the Italian company that made the product available to the University of Miami scientist.

Although the paint is used in Europe and Asia, this is the first time it has been utilized in the United States.

Global Engineering plans to fund research of this paint at the University of Miami, which may lead to development of the product for the U.S. market.

The University of Miami began its protection of the environment in 2005 when it launched GreenU, a program that puts into practice safe solutions to environmental problems.

As part of the university’s commitment towards the creation of a green campus, UM President Donna Shalala, who served as secretary of health and human services in the Clinton administration, set the campus on a green path in 2007.

During a ceremony marking Earth Day 2007, Shalala signed the Talloires Declaration of the Association of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future and the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.

The Talloires Declaration is an international document that pledges signatories to use every opportunity to raise public, government, industry, foundation, and university awareness by openly addressing the urgent need to move toward an environmentally sustainable future.

The Presidents Climate Commitment is a high-visibility effort to address global warming and to accelerate the research and educational efforts of higher education to equip society to re-stabilize the Earth’s climate. To date, the leaders of 526 institutions across the country, representing 25 percent of the total student population and all 50 states, have pledged their commitment.

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WASHINGTON, DC, March 12, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration has tightened federal air quality standards for smog-forming ozone, but not to the extent recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s scientific advisers. The decision was met with dismay by state and local air quality officials, public health advocates and environmental groups, who contend the new rules fail to adequately protect the public or the environment from the serious health hazards of smog.

The head of the EPA defended his decision during a press call Wednesday, telling reporters he analyzed “the most recent scientific evidence” about the health and environmental impacts of ozone before making his decision.

“The bottom line is … I adhered to the law and I adhered to the science,” said EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.

The rules, which cover average concentrations of ground-level ozone over an eight-hour period, lower the current standard of 80-84 parts per billion, ppb, to 75 ppb.

A band of smog hangs over Los Angeles. (Photo credit unknown)

Ozone is formed in the presence of sunlight by reaction of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. These pollutants are released by motor vehicles, power plants and other industrial facilities.

Linked to a slew of respiratory ailments, ground-level ozone – the main ingredient in smog – has major public health impacts and can damage ecosystems even at low levels.

Johnson told reporters that since EPA last updated the standards in 1997, scientific studies have indicated that the health impacts from ozone “are more significant and more certain than we previously thought.”

But critics remained unconvinced that Johnson has followed the science.

“EPA’s new standard is like lowering the speed limit in a neighborhood from 85 miles per hour to 75,” said John Walke, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Clean Air Program. “Sure, it’s better, but it still won’t get the job done in keeping folks safe.

Walke and other critics note that EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee recommended a stricter standard.

The committee sent a letter to Johnson last year outlining its “unanimous recommendation” that the standard be set “no greater” than 70 ppb and suggested it could be set as low as 60 ppb.

That recommendation was echoed by an EPA children’s health advisory panel, as well as more than 100 scientists and a long list of public health advocacy groups and environmental organizations.

“We wish we could be happier about this decision, but we cannot,” said Bernadette Toomey, head of the American Lung Association. “We are unable to celebrate half measures when the risks are so evident, when the science and the scientists are so united about what is needed and when the missed opportunity means that thousands will suffer more and die sooner than they should.”

The agency also refused to set a separate standard, recommended by the science advisers and the National Park Service, to protect natural ecosystems from the impacts of smog.

When pressed on what weight he gave the recommendations of EPA’s science advisers, Johnson repeatedly stated that his final decision complied with the requirements of the Clean Air Act.

Atlanta steeped in smog
(Photo by Ben Ramsay)

The law requires EPA to review air quality standards for several pollutants, including ozone, every five years. EPA is bound by the statute to determine the standards based solely on the scientific knowledge of impacts on public health – it is not permitted to consider economic impacts.

The law requires the EPA administrator “protect public health with an adequate margin of safety,” Johnson said. “I followed my obligations.”

Industry groups and governors from at least 11 states lobbied against the changes, arguing that new rules are too costly and the health impacts of the stricter standards questionable.

“EPA is promising health benefits that people may never receive, even though they’ll end up paying for them at the pump and through higher energy bills,” said John Kinsman, spokesman for the Edison Electric Group, an electric utility lobbying group.

At least 345 counties do not meet the new standard and could be forced to take measures to cut emissions of smog-forming pollutants.

Johnson acknowledged that it would take years for the rules to truly enter into effect. EPA won’t determine which areas are officially not in compliance until 2010. Counties out of attainment with the rules will then have at least three years to develop plans to cut smog and could have up to two decades to make the reductions, the EPA chief told reporters.

EPA estimates the new rules could cost some $7.6 to $8.5 billion. Health benefits could range between $2 billion and $19 billion, according to agency estimates.

Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, said the rules would require relatively few areas of the country to take additional smog cleanup steps beyond those already planned.

“Unfortunately, real science appears to have been tainted by political science,” O’Donnell said. “The Bush administration is compromising public health to save industry money.”

Johnson rejected claims that he considered economic costs when making his decision, but added that the Bush administration is keen to see the Clean Air Act changed so that future decisions can take into account the economic impacts and feasibility of more stringent air quality standards.

“It is time to modernize the Clean Air Act to improve human health,” Johnson said. “We have a responsibility to overhaul and enhance … to ensure it translates from paper promises to cleaner air.”

Democrats in Congress were quick to throw cold water on the administration’s call for an overhaul of the law.

The idea is “outrageous,” said Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat and chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

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WOBURN, Massachusetts, March 3, 2008 (ENS) – Dredging of the Aberjona River and off-site disposal of contaminated sediments are included in a $31 million settlement agreement reached Wednesday between two companies and the federal government to handle cleanup at the Industri-Plex Superfund Site in Woburn, 12 miles north of Boston

The Pharmacia Corporation, a successor to the Monsanto Company, which manufactured chemicals at the site, and Bayer CropScience Inc., a successor to Stauffer Chemical Company, which manufactured glue products at the site, must address soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water contamination at the site.

The Industri-plex site is a 350 acre property containing two branches of the Aberjona river, streams, ponds, and wetland areas. Contamination at the site was the subject of the film, “A Civil Action,” which documents the lawsuit filed by families who had children with leukemia against three companies responsible for contaminating the water.

The settlement agreement clears the way for work to begin cleaning up contamination at the site under the oversight of the U.S. EPA. The site is primarily contaminated with heavy metals such as arsenic, as well as ammonia and volatile organic compounds such as benzene.

Some redevelopment has already
taken place at the Industri-plex
Superfund site. (Photo
credit unknown)

“This marks the beginning of a new chapter at the Industri-Plex Superfund Site,” said Ira Leighton, deputy regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “The settlement agreement ensures that the site, including portions of the Aberjona River, will be cleaned up for the benefit of the community.”

“We look forward to working with the settling parties and the community over the next several years to implement the site’s cleanup,” Leighton said.

Chemical and glue operations occurred at the Woburn site for more than a century, from approximately 1853 to 1969. The Aberjona River was known to be contaminated as early as the mid-1800s.

In 1922, the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife released a photoessay of 150 photographs documenting contamination the entire length of the Aberjona River. In 1956, the Aberjona River Commission studied and released a report documenting both point and nonpoint sources of pollution in the Aberjona River Watershed.

During the 1970s, the property was purchased for development of a shopping mall and an industrial park, which met with community resistance as the extent of contamination was revealed.

The developer had permission from the state agency responsible for hazardous waste at the time to excavate and consolidate material on the property. In doing so he built a pile of animal hides and wastes, commingled with soils containing arsenic, chromium, and lead, which is the size of a football field and 40 feet high. The pile sits in a wetland area adjacent to two ponds.

And in 1982 the EPA released the results of a study of extensive ground and surface water contamination in the Aberjona River Watershed.

The Industri-Plex site was added to the national Superfund list in 1983 due to soil, sediment and water contamination from heavy metals including arsenic, ammonia and volatile organic compounds such as benzene.

This new phase of the cleanup work initiated by the settlement with Pharmacia and Bayer CropScience will include dredging and off-site disposal of contaminated sediments. The companies must establish institutional controls to restrict contact with contaminated soils, the groundwater and the sediments.

Workers will construct wetlands to compensate for wetlands impacted by the cleanup, and finally the companies must conduct long-term monitoring of the groundwater, surface water and sediments to ensure that cleanup measures continue to protect human health and the environment.

The comprehensive cleanup costs are estimated to be approximately $25.6 million. In addition, the settlement calls for the settling parties to pay for all future federal oversight expenses and recovers $6 million in past response costs incurred by the federal government at the site.

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WASHINGTON, DC, January 17, 2008 (ENS) – Sinclair Oil Corp. has agreed to pay a $2.45 million civil penalty to state and federal governments and spend more than $72 million for new and upgraded pollution controls to reduce air pollution from the company’s three refineries.

The settlement resolves alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at the company’s facilities in Casper and Sinclair, Wyoming and in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday.

The states of Oklahoma and Wyoming have joined in the consent decree and will share portions of the civil penalty with the EPA.

The three refineries covered by the settlement have the capacity to produce nearly 160,000 barrels of oil per day.

The agreement requires new pollution controls to be installed that will reduce annual emissions of nitrogen oxides by approximately 1,100 tons per year and sulfur dioxide by almost 4,600 tons per year when fully implemented.

The new controls also will result in additional reductions of volatile organic compounds and particulate matter from each of the refineries.

Sinclair is known by its
signature green dinosaur.
(Photo courtesy Sinclair)

Volatile organic compounds, a component of smog, and sulfur dioxide, the primary component of acid rain, can contribute to respiratory disorders such as asthma and reduced lung capacity.

People with lung disease, children, older adults, and people who are active can be affected when smog levels are unhealthy.

These chemicals can also cause damage to ecosystems and reduce visibility.

In addition, Sinclair will spend $150,000 on supplemental environmental projects in Oklahoma, including $100,000 to install new controls to reduce emissions of particulate matter from the city of Tulsa’s fleet of municipal trash trucks.

The agreement with Sinclair is the latest in a series of settlements under an EPA initiative to reduce air pollution from refineries nationwide. The first of EPA’s comprehensive refinery settlements was reached in 2000.

Last year, similar settlements were reached with Valero Energy, Total Petrochemicals and Hunt Refining Company, requiring $300 million in new pollution controls at refineries located in Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, Alabama and Mississippi.

Including the Sinclair agreement, 95 refineries located in 28 states, representing over 86 percent of the nation’s refining capacity, are required to install new controls to significantly reduce emissions.

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