EPA Provides $2.7 Million to Newark and Jersey City to Clean Up and Revitalize Contaminated Properties

News release:

EPA Provides $2.7 Million to Newark and Jersey City to

Clean Up and Revitalize Contaminated Properties

Contact: Elias Rodriguez, 212-637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y. – May 31, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing a total of $2.7 million to the cities of Newark and Jersey City to help them clean up abandoned and contaminated sites. The funding was awarded through EPA’s Brownfields Program, which helps communities assess, clean up, redevelop and reuse contaminated properties. Brownfields are properties at which moderate contamination threaten environmental quality and public health and can interfere with redevelopment.  In addition, Newark was awarded a pilot Multi-Purpose Brownfield grant to conduct both assessments and cleanups. This new type of grant allows recipients to move more quickly from assessment of a site to cleaning it up. 

“Investment in the clean up and reuse of contaminated properties provides the catalyst to improving the lives of residents living in or near Brownfields communities. This funding will help foster local economic growth and leverage jobs in communities where they are needed most,” said EPA Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus. “A revitalized Brownfields site reduces threats to human health and the environment, promotes community involvement, and attracts investment in local neighborhoods.”

“Cleaning up brownfields sites protect people’s health and the environment, revitalizes neighborhoods and create jobs,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “Brownfields cleanups and the reuse of formerly contaminated properties improve the lives of those who live and work in these communities.”  

The Brownfields Program was created by Congress in 2002. It helps states and communities clean up and revitalize properties that may be contaminated and are not currently being put to use. EPA’s Brownfields Program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.

• Newark will $600,000 to clean up three sites contaminated with hazardous substances.      

o   The first and second sites are the former Stacor site at 275-297 Emmett Street and the Empire Street site at 61-77 Empire Street.  From the early 1900s to the late 1990s, the 2.6-acre former Stacor site was used for various industrial operations, including metal works and metal products manufacturing.  Two 10-foot-in-diameter above ground storage tanks and 150 drums are located on the site.  Area soil is contaminated with metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
o  A third cleanup will take place at the former Northern New Jersey Oil, Lot 12, South Yard site located at 2052-2070 McCarter Highway.  Since at least 1930, this one-acre parcel was used for wholesale distribution of petroleum products and later for auto repair and storage.  The currently unused site contains three aboveground petroleum tanks and several unlabeled 55-gallon drums.  Newark will also receive a $550,000 multipurpose brownfields grant to conduct assessment and cleanup at a site in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood.

• The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency will receive $350,000 to assess brownfields at the Grand Jersey Brownfield development area site on Jersey Avenue and Aetna Street.  The area was once part of the former Communipaw Bay.  After the area was filled in, it was used as a railyard, a metal smelter and reclamation facility, a paper recycling center, a manufacturing facility for waterproofing and insulating materials, and a transformer facility.  Grant funds also will be used to prepare cleanup plans and conduct community outreach activities.

• The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency will also receive $400,000 to cleanup sites contaminated with hazardous substances.


 o Hazardous substances will be cleaned up at two sites located at 441 and 443 Ocean Avenue.  Both sites were developed between 1898 and 1912 for mixed residential and retail use.  The sites were vacated and all structures were demolished in 1988.  The sites contain oil fill material contaminated with heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and soil and groundwater contaminated with perchloroethylene.  Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach activities.

• Lastly, the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency will receive $928,090 to support a revolving loan fund from which the city will provide loans and subgrants to cleanup sites contamined with hazardous substances and petroleum.  Grant funds also will be used to market the program, oversee fund management activities, and provide technical support for the program.

 The EPA recently announced a total of more than $69.3 million in new investments across the country that will redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and help create jobs while protecting public health. Since its inception, EPA’s brownfields investments have leveraged more than $16.3 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources and have created approximately 70,000 jobs. The 214 grantees receiving grants through the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup Grants programs include tribes and communities in 39 states across the country. The agency also announced nearly $4 million nationally in multipurpose grants that allow for a quicker transition between assessing a site and conducting a cleanup.

Information on grant recipients can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/eparegion2 and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.

12-070                                                             # # #

EPA Evaluates States’ Final Phase II Watershed Implementation Plans for Restoring the Chesapeake Bay

News release:

EPA Evaluates States’ Final Phase II Watershed Implementation Plans for Restoring the Chesapeake Bay

(PHILADELPHIA May 31, 2012) – Today, EPA released its evaluations of the final Phase II Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Completion of the plans marks a significant stage in the Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort, and represents the local level planning needed to continue accelerating implementation of the necessary practices to restore the health and economic engine of the Bay watershed’s streams and rivers. 

The plans were developed by the states and the District with support from EPA, and in collaboration with local governments and conservation districts. They outline steps each jurisdiction will take toward restoring clean water to the thousands of streams and rivers that make up the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and improving the quality of life for the more than 17 million people who live in the watershed.

“While significant progress continues to be made across the watershed, the Phase II WIPs represent a transition from planning to implementing the necessary practices at the local level,” said EPA mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin during a conference call with reporters today. “We will continue to work closely with the states and the District as we reaffirm our shared commitment for restoring this incredibly valuable national resource.”

Regional Administrator Garvin acknowledged that the jurisdictions are already doing much of this work, consistent with their Phase I WIP commitments. He added that the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership, including state and federal officials, have committed to having all of the needed pollution control measures in place to fully restore the Bay by no later than 2025.

Obama Administration Working to Close Racial, Ethnic Gap on Asthma

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 31, 2012

Obama Administration Working to Close Racial, Ethnic Gap on Asthma

Asthma disproportionately affects minority children, children living below poverty level

WASHINGTON – Today U.S. federal agencies unveiled the Coordinated Federal Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Asthma Disparities. White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Chair Nancy Sutley, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan discussed the new plan during an event at Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC), which houses The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington along with other community groups.

Nearly 26 million Americans are affected by this chronic respiratory disease, including 7 million children, especially minority children and children with family incomes below the poverty level. Asthma rates of African American children are currently at 16 percent, while 16.5 percent of Puerto Rican children suffer from the chronic respiratory disease, more than double the rate of Caucasian children in the United States. The annual economic cost of asthma, including direct medical costs from hospital stays and indirect costs such as lost school and work days, amounts to approximately $56 billion.

“Across America we see low-income and minority children and families at a disproportionately higher risk for asthma and respiratory illnesses. Air pollution and other challenges are having serious health effects, which compound economic challenges through medical bills and missed school and work days,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “As the mother of a child with asthma, I know what it means for our children to have clean and healthy air to breathe. This Action Plan enables federal agencies and our partners to work more collaboratively and comprehensively on tackling a major health threat, so that we can protect all Americans, no matter what community they call home.”

“Low-income and minority communities often face an unacceptable burden of pollution in this country, diminishing their economic potential and threatening the health of millions of American families,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “As we close National Asthma Awareness Month today, the President’s Administration is standing behind his commitment to integrating environmental justice into the missions of federal agencies, promoting clean air and healthy communities, and ensuring this really is a country of equal opportunity for all.”

“The report is a blueprint for how we can work together to reduce asthma disparities and help ensure children with asthma get the right care with the right support,” said Secretary Sebelius. “One key factor that is so critical to controlling a child’s asthma is access to health care. Uninsured people with asthma are less likely to take the preventive medicine they may need to keep their condition under control, making them more likely to suffer an attack. That’s why we are focused on expanding access to care.”
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said, “The numbers don’t lie: Asthma disproportionately impacts low-income minority families which is why we must do everything we can to ensure all children have a healthy place to call home. Today’s announcement will help the federal government support the development of innovative new approaches to improve and control asthma.”
The action plan will coordinate efforts to improve asthma management and prevention:

• Reduce barriers to asthma care: Ensure that the populations most severely impacted by asthma receive evidence-based comprehensive care, which includes access to medical services, education and environmental interventions.
• Build local capacity: Enhance capacity to deliver integrated, community-based asthma care systems.  
• Target services: Identify the children, families and communities most impacted by asthma disparities.
• Accelerate prevention efforts: Increase understanding of the cause or causes of asthma and test interventions that may prevent the onset of asthma.

More on the action plan: http://www.epa.gov/childrenstaskforce

R098

Recology Teams with IBM in Quest to Help San Francisco Become First City in North America to Achieve Zero Waste

News release from IBM.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) announced today a collaboration with Recology, San Francisco’s resource recovery company, to continue reducing landfill disposal by further improving recycling programs designed to help the city achieve zero waste by 2020.

For more, click the link below:

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/37874.wss

Judge gives preliminary OK to Syngenta settlement

Judge gives preliminary OK to Syngenta settlement

EPA, Precision National Plating reach settlement on cleanup at Clarks Summit, Pa. site

Press release:

EPA, Precision National Plating reach settlement

on cleanup at Clarks Summit, Pa. site

PHILADELPHIA – (May 31, 2012) --- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with Precision National Plating Services, Inc. on a plan to clean up groundwater and surface water contamination at a site in Clarks Summit, Pa. where the company had operated a chrome plating facility from 1958 to 1999.

EPA has been overseeing Precision’s cleanup activities at the site since 1991. The company was performing this cleanup work under a prior EPA order, which addressed soil contamination. This order has been replaced by the settlement agreement announced today, which also addresses groundwater and surface water contamination. Under the agreement, Precision will continue to implement the EPA-selected cleanup plan for the site. The plan includes using a process known as “in situ chemical remediation” that involves injecting a chemical reducing agent into the ground to treat groundwater that is contaminated with hexavalent chromium, a chemical compound that had been used at the facility.

The final cleanup plan, expected to take several years, will also include extensive monitoring of groundwater wells on the site and around the perimeter of the site.

Located about 10 miles north of Scranton, the Precision National Plating Site, 198 Ackerly Road, Clarks Summit, Pa. includes 46 acres overall and about five acres that were used for site operations. The rest of the property is undeveloped and largely wooded.

Precision used the site for a chromium electroplating facility for locomotive crankshafts. Under an April 1998 EPA Administrative Order, Precision performed an investigation of ground water impacts due to hexavalent chromium contamination, conducted an ecological risk assessment and installed collection and treatment systems at all chromium impacted seeps at the site. In a 2008 consent decree, Precision agreed to pay for EPA’s costs in overseeing the site cleanup.

For more information on the settlement and cleanup plans, visit www.epaosc.org/precision.

U.S. EPA Announces $400,000 Brownfields Grant to Mt. Shasta to Assess, Clean Up Toxic Former Lumber Mill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 30, 2012

 U.S. EPA Announces $400,000 Brownfields Grant to
Mt. Shasta to Assess, Clean Up Toxic Former Lumber Mill

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced approximately $3.8 million in new pilot grants to nine recipients across the country for cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties. One of the grants will go to the City of Mt. Shasta, Calif., for a brownfields multi-purpose pilot grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to assess and clean up the Roseburg Commerce Park “New Mill” site located west of South Mt. Shasta Boulevard.

The pilot multi-purpose grants, funded by EPA’s Brownfields program, will help recipients to conduct assessments and cleanup activities, and secure funding to eliminate delays in moving from assessment to cleanup. The investments will continue to provide communities with necessary funding to help clean up America’s land, boost local economies and create jobs while protecting public health.


“Investment in the clean up and reuse of contaminated properties provides the catalyst to improving the lives of residents living in or near Brownfields communities. This funding will help foster local economic growth and leverage jobs in communities where they are needed most,” said EPA Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus. “A revitalized Brownfields site reduces threats to human health and the environment, promotes community involvement, and attracts investment in local neighborhoods.”


The Mt. Shasta site is a former lumber mill contaminated with petroleum compounds. Assessment grant funds will be used to conduct an environmental site assessment and develop a cleanup plan. Cleanup grant funds will be used to clean up the site, prepare closeout reports, and certify that the site is ready for redevelopment. Both assessment and cleanup funds will be used to conduct community engagement activities. The site is expected to be redeveloped as a multi-use commerce park that will include a conference facility and space for offices, retail stores, restaurants, entertainment, and environmentally clean light-industrial uses.


Nationally, the multi-purpose projects selected, represent a broad range of redevelopment such as a grocery store located in a food desert in Tampa, Fla., a potential tree farm or urban garden in Newark, N.J., a garden honoring Chinese culture in Astoria, Ore. and the rehabilitation of a County Courthouse in Missoula, Mont. One grantee, Bay City in Michigan, has a development agreement to transform a 43-acre downtown, riverfront brownfield site into a LEED-certified, mixed-use, $150 million commercial and retail center with more than25 buildings, anchored by a globally significant corporation guaranteeing at least 440 new high-tech jobs.


The nine grant recipients represent communities in need of redevelopment across the country. More than half of the grantees have been affected by recent plant closures. In addition, five of the nine communities are located in non-urban areas with populations of 100,000 or less. The nine multi-purpose grant communities demonstrate a high level of preparedness to undertake their specific project and many already have committed leveraged funds necessary to move their projects forward as well as detailed redevelopment plans and anticipated leveraged jobs.
There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in America. EPA Brownfields program targets these sites to encourage redevelopment, and help to provide the opportunity for productive community use of contaminated properties. Brownfields grants target under-served and low income neighborhoods – places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.


Since inception in 1995, EPA’s brownfields investments have leveraged more than $18.3 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources and have resulted in approximately 75,500 jobs. In 2012, EPA awarded $69.3 million to 245 grantees in 39 states across the country to assess and clean up abandoned industrial and commercial properties.


More information on brownfields grants by state: http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/
More information on EPA’s Brownfields program: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
More information on brownfields success stories: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/index.htm

###

EPA Awards Nearly $3.5 Million to Cleanup and Revitalize Connecticut Communities

News Release
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
New England Regional Office
May 30, 2012

Contact: EPA Public Affairs, (617) 918-1010

EPA Awards Nearly $3.5 Million to Cleanup and Revitalize Connecticut Communities
Neighborhoods to gain economic, health, environmental benefits

(Boston, Mass. – May 30, 2012) – EPA is providing $3.45 million in Brownfields grants to help Connecticut communities to assess, cleanup and redevelop abandoned or contaminated properties.  The funding is part of more than $69 million in EPA brownfields investments across the country announced by EPA last week to protect health and the environment, create jobs and promote economic re-development in American communities.

The grant money can assist work to reclaim sites including old textile mills, sites containing hazardous substances and petroleum products and other abandoned industrial and commercial properties.  EPA’s Brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.

In Connecticut this year, EPA is providing Brownfields grants to the following municipalities and groups:

·    City of Meriden, $200,000 (cleanup grant, 116 Cook Ave. parcel)
·    City of Middletown, $200,000 (cleanup grant, Midstate Autobody Property)
·    Town of Newtown, $200,000 (cleanup grant, Fairfield Hills Campus)
·    Town of Preston, $800,000 (1 assessment and 3 cleanup grants, Norwich State Hospital Property)
·    Regional Economic Xcelleration Development (REX), $350,000 (Community-wide Revolving Loan Fund Supplemental grant)
·    Valley Council of Governments, $750,000 (2 Community-wide assessment and 1 Revolving Loan Fund Supplemental grant)
·    Waterbury Development Corporation, $950,000 (2 Community-wide assessment and 1 multi-purpose grant for assessment & cleanup work at Waterbury Industrial Commons at 1875 Thomaston Avenue)

“EPA Brownfields funding helps strengthen the economic foundation and is a catalyst for further growth in our communities,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA New England’s office. “Cleaning and revitalizing contaminated sites helps create jobs, and can help a community to create new businesses and neighborhood centers, while making our environment cleaner and the community healthier.”

This year for the first time, EPA is also making available approximately $3.8 million in new pilot grants to nine recipients across the country for cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties. The pilot Multi-Purpose grants, funded by EPA’s Brownfields program, will help recipients to conduct assessments and cleanup activities, and secure funding to eliminate delays in moving from assessment to cleanup. The investments will continue to provide communities with necessary funding to help clean up America’s land, boost local economies and create jobs while protecting public health. The Waterbury Development Corp. is the recipient of one of these new grants.

“Investment in the clean up and reuse of contaminated properties provides the catalyst to improving the lives of residents living in or near Brownfields communities. This funding will help foster local economic growth and leverage jobs in communities where they are needed most,” said EPA Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus. “A revitalized Brownfields site reduces threats to human health and the environment, promotes community involvement, and attracts investment in local neighborhoods.”

Since the beginning of EPA’s Brownfields Program, in New England alone EPA has awarded 296 assessment grants totaling $72.7 million, 62 revolving loan fund grants and supplemental funding totaling $68.4 million and 213 cleanup grants totaling $47 million.  These grant funds have paved the way for more than $1.45 billion in public and private cleanup and redevelopment investment and for 9,756 jobs in assessment, cleanup, construction and redevelopment on over 2200 sites across New England.

Nationally, the figures are impressive: As of May 2012, EPA’s brownfields assistance has leveraged more than $18.3 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources and helped create approximately 75,500 jobs. More than 18,000 properties have been assessed, and over 700 properties have been cleaned up. These investments and jobs target local, under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods – places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.

More Information:

EPA Brownfields program in New England: http://epa.gov/region1/brownfields/index.html

#  #  #

EPA to Support United Way’s Health Day of Action Event on Saturday, June 2, 2012

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

901 N. Fifth St., Kansas City, KS 66101

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

EPA to Support United Way’s Health Day of Action Event on Saturday, June 2, 2012

Contact Information: Ben Washburn, (913) 551-7364, washburn.ben@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., May 30, 2012) - EPA Region 7 will support the United Way’s Health Day of Action event on June 2, 2012, with a team of volunteers. The Day of Action (formerly Day of Caring) is a community-wide service event that connects volunteers with non-profit organizations to do special projects in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

The EPA team will volunteer at the Niles Home for Children’s Organic Garden at 1911 East 23rd Street, Kansas City, Mo. The garden provides affordable food in the Kansas City urban core. EPA volunteers will plant, weed, harvest and work with urban gardener and youth volunteers.

“The Day of Action is a great way for EPA Region 7 employees to support our local community and promote healthy living through green practices such as urban gardening,” EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks said. “I am proud of our employees for taking some of their personal time on Saturday to participate in this event.”

The Days of Action campaign is coordinated by the Heart of America United Way, other area United Ways, the Heartland Combined Federal Campaign, and organized labor groups.

# # #

Salt Lake and Ogden receive $1.3M for cleanup and revitalization of contaminated properties

Contacts:

U.S. EPA: Richard Mylott 303-312-6654

Salt Lake City: Art Raymond, 801-535-7971

Salt Lake County: Jim Braden, 385-468-7003

Ogden City: Brandon Cooper, 801-629-8947

Utah DEQ: Donna Spangler, 801-536-4484

Salt Lake and Ogden receive $1.3M for cleanup and revitalization of contaminated properties

EPA Brownfields grants to address critical property assessment and cleanup needs, advance redevelopment in targeted areas

(Denver, Colorado — May 30, 2012) At an event today along the North Temple corridor in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Jim Martin presented the Mayors of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County and Ogden City with $1.3 million in grant awards to advance the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of properties. The grants are part of $69 million in EPA Brownfields funds awarded to 245 communities nationally to advance property revitalization, job creation and economic development.

"Salt Lake and Ogden have built a strong coalition that is taking a strategic approach to cleaning up properties and opening new doors for investment and job creation," said EPA Regional Administrator, Jim Martin. "These funds will not only protect public health by removing contaminants like petroleum compounds, arsenic, and lead from urban neighborhoods, they will help restore dozens of properties to productive use.”

The Wasatch Front Brownfields Coalition (comprised of Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City and Ogden City) is receiving a $1 million Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund grant which will be used to provide loans and sub-grants for cleanup activities at various sites contaminated with hazardous substances and petroleum. These resources will be used to cleanup contaminants at critical priority sites, including properties in West Millcreek and the Granary District in Salt Lake City and County. In Ogden, sites receiving cleanup attention include multiple properties along the 24^th Street Corridor and the 24^th Street Interchange, as well as properties within the Wall Avenue Retail Corridor. Contaminants removed will include petroleum hydrocarbons, arsenic, lead, asbestos, and PCBs, among others.

“It will take a growing public-private partnership to make the progress necessary to clean up the hundreds of thousands of contaminated sites in our country,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon. “I applaud the EPA and the State Department of Environmental Quality for their generous support and leadership in cleaning-up brownfield lands.”

EPA is awarding an additional $300,000 Brownfields grant to Salt Lake City for environmental assessment activities at properties in the North Temple corridor, a six-mile gateway between Salt Lake International Airport and the City’s central business area that includes the Fairpark and Poplar Grove neighborhoods. The City is partnering with the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake and the Utah Transit Authority to focus on the revitalization of this area. Environmental assessment activities will complement ongoing efforts to develop light-rail transit, multi-use paths, landscaping, and other area improvements. Many sites with contamination concerns are adjacent to residential properties, the Jordan River, and the Jordan River Parkway. The types of properties that will be assessed using these funds include automotive-related businesses, metal working facilities, and dry cleaners.

"We have seen numerous examples of opportunities here in Utah to turn blighted property into economic prosperity with just a little investment and great initiative and foresight, said Amanda Smith, Executive Director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. “We applaud our partners for making a commitment to improving the environment with economic benefits to our communities throughout Utah."

Today’s grant recipients are among 245 grantees, including tribes and communities in 39 states across the country, funded by EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grants, and Revolving Loan Fund Supplemental grants. The grants awarded will assess and clean up abandoned industrial and commercial properties. Nearly half of the grantees this year are new awardees who demonstrate a high level of commitment for undertaking specific projects and leveraging the funding to move those projects forward.

There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in America. In 2011, EPA’s brownfields program leveraged 6,447 jobs and $2.14 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funds. Since its inception EPA’s brownfields investments have leveraged more than $18.3 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources and have resulted in approximately 75,500 jobs. More than 18,000 properties have been assessed, and over 700 properties have been cleaned up. Brownfields grants also target under-served and low income neighborhoods – places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.

See list of all awarded brownfields grants by state: http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/

More information on EPA’s brownfields program: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

More information on brownfields success stories: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/index.htm

EPA Awards $1.2 Million to Cleanup and Revitalize Rhode Island Communities

News Release
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
New England Regional Office
May 29, 2012

Contact: David Deegan, EPA Public Affairs, (617) 918-1010

EPA Awards $1.2 Million to Cleanup and Revitalize Rhode Island Communities
Neighborhoods to gain economic, health, environmental benefits

(Boston, Mass. – May 29, 2012) – EPA is providing $1.2 million in Brownfields grants to help Rhode Island communities to assess, cleanup and redevelop abandoned or contaminated properties.  The funding is part of more than $69 million in EPA brownfields investments across the country announced by EPA last week to protect health and the environment, create jobs and promote economic re-development in American communities.

The grant money can assist work to reclaim sites including old textile mills, sites containing hazardous substances and petroleum products and other abandoned industrial and commercial properties.  EPA’s Brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.

In Rhode Island this year, EPA is providing Brownfields grants to the following municipalities and groups:

• Blackstone Valley Community Action Program, Pawtucket, $200,000 (cleanup grant, Lonsdale Ave. parcel)
• Mosaico Business & Community Dev. Corp., Bristol, $200,000 (cleanup grant, Bristol Industrial Park parcel)
• Paul Cuffee School, Providence, $400,000 (two cleanup grants, Living Room Site - Parcels A & B, 15-27 Rathbone St.)
• Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, $400,000 (two community-wide assessment of hazardous substances and petroleum contamination grants) 

“EPA Brownfields funding helps strengthen the economic foundation and is a catalyst for further growth in our communities,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA New England’s office. “Cleaning and revitalizing contaminated sites helps create jobs, and can help a community to create new businesses and neighborhood centers, while making our environment cleaner and the community healthier.”

Since the beginning of EPA’s Brownfields Program, in New England alone EPA has awarded 296 assessment grants totaling $72.7 million, 62 revolving loan fund grants and supplemental funding totaling $68.4 million and 213 cleanup grants totaling $47 million.  These grant funds have paved the way for more than $1.45 billion in public and private cleanup and redevelopment investment and for 9,756 jobs in assessment, cleanup, construction and redevelopment on over 2200 sites across New England.

Nationally, the figures are impressive: As of May 2012, EPA’s brownfields assistance has leveraged more than $18.3 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources and helped create approximately 75,500 jobs. More than 18,000 properties have been assessed, and over 700 properties have been cleaned up. These investments and jobs target local, under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods – places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.

More Information:

EPA Brownfields program in New England: http://epa.gov/region1/brownfields/index.html

#  #  #

U.S. EPA to dispose of PCB waste from leaking Guam Power Authority transformers

For Immediate Release:  May 29, 2012
Contact:  Dean Higuchi, 808-541-2711, higuchi.dean@epa.gov     

MEDIA ADVISORY

U.S. EPA to dispose of PCB waste from leaking Guam Power Authority transformers

Old large electrical transformers located at Apra Heights and Talofofo Substations

HONOLULU – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be conducting work to remove polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) oils from old leaking electrical transformers stored at the Guam Power Authority’s Apra Heights and Talofofo Substation facilities.

EPA Region 9’s Emergency Response staff will be working with GPA and Guam EPA to drain the PCB oil from the transformers, clean the insides of the transformers, and package the PCB waste for shipment and transport to the U.S. mainland for proper disposal.  In addition, soil sampling will be performed to determine if there is any soil contamination from the leaking transformers.

Two large transformers, one at Apra Heights and one at Talofofo each have about 3000 gallons PCB cooling oil and were found leaking. The transformers are stored inside of a fenced and secured outdoor spill containment area at the substations. It is unknown how long the transformers have been leaking, but GPA has plans to repair and reuse the transformers once they are drained of the PCB oil and refilled with non-PCB cooling oil. 

Other smaller transformers with PCB oil located at a GPA storage location in Dededo will also be drained and cleaned.  All of the transformers are stored outside, subject to the weather and elements.

PCBs were manufactured in the United States from 1929 until 1979 when their manufacture was banned.  The chemical has been used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors and other electrical equipment because of their insulating properties.  PCBs do not readily break down in the environment and bioaccumulate in the food chain. The chemical has been determined to be a probable human carcinogen and the most commonly observed health effects in those exposed to the PCB oil are skin conditions such as acne and rashes. Other health effects may include effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, and endocrine system.

###

CCI Concerned Citizens Group to be Recognized for Successful Community Involvement at CCI Superfund Site in Olathe, Kan.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

901 N. Fifth St., Kansas City, KS 66101

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

CCI Concerned Citizens Group to be Recognized for Successful Community Involvement at CCI Superfund Site in Olathe, Kan.

Contact Information: Belinda Young, (913) 551-7463, young.belinda@epa.gov

Environmental News

NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY

(Kansas City, Kan., May 29, 2012) - EPA will honor a citizens’ community involvement organization this week for its successful work in addressing public concerns related to the Chemical Commodities, Inc., (CCI) Superfund Site in Johnson County, Kan.

The recognition event for the CCI Concerned Citizens Group will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 31, at the CCI Superfund Site, 320 S. Blake Street, in Olathe, Kan. EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks will present the group with EPA’s 2012 National Notable Achievement Award for Citizen Excellence in Community Involvement.

Residents near the former chemical brokerage and recycling facility formed the CCI Concerned Citizens Group when EPA began its remedial investigation of the site in 2001. Working through EPA’s community involvement process, the group served as a liaison between the community, EPA, the State of Kansas, and the site’s responsible party, to ensure the community’s concerns were addressed.

The CCI Concerned Citizens Group has remained active through the entire cleanup process at the site, which has been on EPA’s National Priorities List since May 1994. CCI operated from 1951 to 1989 as a brokerage facility where chemical recycling activities occurred. Business operations began at the site in an era when few environmental laws and regulations were in place. Numerous fires and explosions occurred at the facility during the 1960s and 1970s.

EPA provided oversight for the cleanup of soil and groundwater at the site, continuing through completion of construction in January 2012. Nationally, the CCI Superfund Site is one of three to reach “construction complete” status this year, and one of 1,123 sites to reach that status since the EPA Superfund Program began in 1980.

WHAT: Presentation of EPA’s 2012 National Notable Achievement Award for Citizen Excellence in Community Involvement

WHO: EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks and CCI Concerned Citizens Group Representatives

WHEN: 11:00 a.m. Thursday, May 31, 2012

WHERE: CCI Superfund Site, 320 South Blake Street, Olathe, Kan. 66061

# # #

EPA and Department of Veterans Affairs to Connect Veterans with Jobs in Water Sectors

CONTACTS: Enesta Jones (News Media Only)jones.enesta@epa.gov202-564-7873202-564-4355

Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Public Affairs Media Relations 202-461-7600

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 29, 2012

EPA and Department of Veterans Affairs to Connect Veterans with Jobs in Water Sectors

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program announced today a memorandum of understanding to connect veterans with disabilities to career opportunities in the water and wastewater sectors -- such as at wastewater plants and drinking water facilities -- as part of EPA’s Water Sector Workforce Initiative. This effort will be beneficial to both the environment and economy as clean water and job placement for veterans are top priorities of the Obama Administration.

The agreement allows EPA and VA to connect qualified veteran employees with staffing needs at water and wastewater utilities. EPA and the VA will work with water utilities, states and local VA counselors to promote water sector careers and resources for finding water jobs for veterans as well as educational programs to help veterans transition into careers in water industries.

“This agreement comes at the perfect time to address the predicted workforce shortages in the water and wastewater industries and the need for transitioning veterans into civilian jobs,” said Nancy Stoner, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water. “EPA believes that well-trained and experienced water sector professionals are vital to ensuring sustainable, properly operated systems.”

“VA has cultivated relationships with both public and private industry to ensure disabled veterans have opportunities to find and maintain meaningful employment,” said Under Secretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey. “We are thrilled to forge this relationship with EPA to assist them with hiring veterans through our Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program.”

More than one-third of all current water operators are eligible to retire within seven years and, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment for water and wastewater operators is expected to grow by 20 percent between 2008 and 2018, faster than the national average for all other occupations. EPA sees the need to invest now in creating a pipeline of future water sector professionals to fill these essential water sector careers.

VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program assists more than 100,000 disabled veterans annually prepare for, find, and maintain meaningful careers. Veterans are an important target group for water and wastewater utility jobs because many veterans already possess training and technical skills that are directly transferable to careers in the water sector. There is a wide spectrum of water sector careers that veterans could be qualified for, including engineering, laboratory and water science, operations and maintenance, management and administration, communications, and public education. The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program further supports veterans for the water workforce by providing necessary accommodations and additional training as needed.

More on EPA’s Water Sector Workforce Initiative: http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/ws_workforce.cfm

More about VA connecting qualified veterans with employer needs: http://www.vetsuccess.gov/

 R094

Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative in Luana, Iowa, to Pay $33,880 Penalty for Community Right-to-Know Violations

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

901 N. Fifth St., Kansas City, KS 66101

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative in Luana, Iowa, to Pay $33,880 Penalty for Community Right-to-Know Violations

Contact Information: Ben Washburn, 913-551-7364, washburn.ben@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., May 29, 2012) - Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative, a cheese manufacturer, has agreed to pay a $33,880 civil penalty to the United States to settle two violations of environmental regulations related to the public reporting of toxic chemicals at its facility in Luana, Iowa.

In settlement of this matter, Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative will also complete a supplemental environmental project. Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative will purchase emergency response equipment for the Luana, Iowa, fire department valued at approximately $10,786.

According to an administrative consent agreement and final order filed by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan., in May 2011, the Agency requested information from Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative and found the company had failed to submit reports to EPA and the State of Iowa concerning quantities of certain toxic chemicals that were manufactured, processed or otherwise used at the facility during 2009. Those chemicals were nitric acid and nitrate compounds. Nitrate compounds are known to be harmful to human health and toxic vapors of nitric acid may cause severe injury, burns, or death. During calendar year 2009, the facility manufactured, processed, or otherwise used 187,000 pounds of nitric acid and 71,000 pounds of nitrate compounds.

Submission of the annual toxic chemical reports is a requirement of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Under EPCRA regulations, companies of certain size are required to submit annual reports to EPA and state authorities listing the amounts of regulated chemicals that their facilities release into the environment through routine activities or as a result of accidents. The reports provide an important source of information to emergency planners and responders, and residents of surrounding communities.

EPCRA was enacted by Congress in 1986 as an outgrowth of concern over the protection of the public from chemical emergencies and dangers. After the catastrophic accidental release of methyl isocyanate at Union Carbide’s Bhopal, India, facility in December 1984, and a later toxic release from a West Virginia chemical plant, it was evident that national public disclosure of toxic release inventory information was needed.

# # #

Mid-America Pipeline Company LLC, Enterprise Products Operating LLC to Pay $1M for Spills in Iowa, Kan., Neb.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

901 N. Fifth St., Kansas City, KS 66101

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

Mid-America Pipeline Company LLC, Enterprise Products Operating LLC to Pay $1M for Spills in Iowa, Kan., Neb. 

Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7433, whitley.christopher@epa.gov

Environmental News 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., May 29, 2012) - Mid-America Pipeline Company, LLC (MAPCO), and Enterprise Products Operating LLC (Enterprise), of Houston, Texas, have agreed to pay a civil penalty of more than $1 million to the United States to settle violations of the federal Clean Water Act related to three natural gasoline pipeline spills in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.

As part of a consent decree lodged today in U.S. District Court in Omaha, Neb., and in addition to paying the $1,042,000 civil penalty, the companies have agreed to undertake various measures aimed at reducing external threats to their pipeline, enhance their reporting of spills, and spend at least $200,000 to identify and prevent external threats to the pipeline involved in the spills.

MAPCO owns and Enterprise operates the 2,769-mile West Red Pipeline, which transports mixed natural gasoline products between Conway, Kan., and Pine Bend, Minn. The settlement resolves Clean Water Act violations related to three spills that occurred along the pipeline:

• A March 29, 2007, rupture near Yutan, Neb., which caused the discharge of approximately 1,669 barrels of natural gasoline directly into an unnamed ditch and Otoe Creek.
• An April 23, 2010, rupture near Niles, Kan., which caused the discharge of approximately 1,760 barrels of natural gasoline directly into an unnamed ditch, Cole Creek, Buckeye Creek and the Solomon River.
• An August 13, 2011, rupture near Onawa, Iowa, which caused the discharge of approximately 818 barrels of natural gasoline directly into the Missouri River.

“More than 20,000 miles of pipeline, carrying oil and petroleum products, cross the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska in EPA’s Region 7,” EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said. “A frequent cause of pipeline breaks is the action of third parties during farming and excavation. This settlement requires the defendants to honor a schedule of pipeline inspections on the ground and from the air, and reach out to local agencies, contractors and excavators to make sure they are more fully aware of pipeline locations and depths.”

“This settlement requires proactive vigilance to ensure that our soil and waterways are protected from contaminants,” said Deborah R. Gilg, U.S. Attorney for the District of Nebraska. “The agreement will result in safer pipeline operations and that will be good for Nebraska’s environment.”

In addition to the proactive inspections and outreach efforts, the settlement also requires MAPCO and Enterprise to spend $200,000 to relocate, cover, lower or replace pipeline segments; install new remote shutoff valves; install new physical protections such as fences or concrete barriers; and install other new equipment, structures or systems to prevent spills from reaching navigable waters.

The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval.

# # #