Release Date: Apr 24, 2012Contact: 888-249-NEWS

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U.S. Chamber and Green Plus™ Launch Environmental Help Desk for Small Businesses and Local Chambers

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) and the Institute for Sustainable Development’s Green Plus™ program yesterday announced the creation of an online help desk to assist U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises with environmental business issues.  The Environmental Help Desk for Business, launched to coincide with Earth Day 2012, will provide clear, accessible advice on green supply chain requirements, green business certifications, and environmental innovations that can reduce both cost and environmental impact.

“Entrepreneurs, business development experts, and small business owners are becoming more and more engaged in “green” business opportunities, processes, tools and techniques,” said Stephen Jordan, founder and executive director of BCLC.  “This is why BCLC is proud to team up with the Institute for Sustainable Development to create the BCLC Environmental Help Desk to research and answer these questions.”

The Institute for Sustainable Development’s Green Plus™ staff will manage the Environmental Help Desk for Business, with support from business, environmental, and policy graduate students from Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and other universities in the Green Plus™ network.  Additionally, a variety of experts will offer insights about cutting-edge innovations and green supply chain trends.

“The Environmental Help Desk partnership with BCLC is a great way to extend our mission of making sustainable business best practices available to America’s small business community,” said Chris Carmody, executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Development and the Green Plus™ program.  “Being green and sustainable is no longer only a cost-reduction tactic for small business – it’s also the price of admission to competing for business from the world’s largest companies.”

Since 2007, the U.S. Chamber BCLC has managed the Office Depot Foundation-sponsored National Disaster Help Desk for Business.  This service has fielded more than 18,000 inquiries from across the nation and has directly served nearly 8,000 small businesses and chambers of commerce by connecting callers with simple and fast information.  The success of this original help desk paved the way for the Environmental Help Desk for Business.

The Environmental Help Desk can be reached by phone: (919) 886-4228, on Twitter, and through Facebook.  Visit the Help Desk online for more information.

The Institute for Sustainable Development / Green Plus™ is a 501(c)3 non-profit partnership of business and universities in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. The Institute is dedicated to democratizing sustainability, helping small businesses and their communities understand and use best practices in business and environmental management, as well as excellent employee and community engagement. Through its Green Plus program, the Institute provides open source sustainability expertise throughout the U.S., and serves business in the Green Plus™ Certification program in fifteen states. For more information on the Institute, please see www.gogreenplus.org.

BCLC is the U.S. Chamber’s resource and voice for businesses’ social and philanthropic interests.  Its mission is to advance the positive role of business in society. Visit http://bclc.uschamber.com.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

Nextiva Renews Participation in CarbonFree Program

Nextiva Maintains its Environmental Leadership Position by Renewing Participation in Carbonfund.org’s CarbonFree® Program

March 13, 2012 – Scottsdale, AZ

Nextiva (www.nextiva.com), the leading unified communications and business VoIP service provider, announced today that it is offsetting its carbon emissions with Carbonfund.org Foundation, a leading nonprofit carbon reduction and climate solutions organization. By renewing its participation for the fourth consecutive year in Carbonfund.org’s CarbonFree® Partner program, Nextiva demonstrates its commitment to the fight against global warming.

Carbonfund.org’s CarbonFree® Partner program supports third-party validated renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects in the U.S. and abroad to reduce CO2 emissions and accelerate the transition to a clean energy future. During the last year, Nextiva has enhanced its internal recycling program by providing employees with beverage cups to minimize the use of paper products, adding many plants around the office and reducing the number of printers onsite. Nextiva continues to utilize eco-effective technology in its data centers and support their clients’ eco-friendly goals at the same time by offering an online fax service called vFAX.

“Our commitment to being the best partner for our customers guides all of our business decisions, and we want them to know that in addition to providing cloud-based services, we also make environmentally-conscious decisions about our physical office locations,” states Yaniv Masjedi, VP of Nextiva. “By developing a carbon neutral office environment, we demonstrate to our customers and employees that we are doing our part to offset CO2 emissions.”

“We are thrilled to renew our partnership with Nextiva and applaud their ongoing efforts to protect our planet,” said Eric Carlson, president of Carbonfund.org. “Fortunately, Nextiva is as committed to protecting the environment as it is to delivering reliable VoIP services for businesses. We are excited about their ongoing participation in the CarbonFree® Partner Program.”

ABOUT NEXTIVA
Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Nextiva (www.nextiva.com) is member of the privately held Unitedwebfamily of companies. Nextiva is one of the country’s leading providers of cloud-based, VoIPunified communication services designed for growing small and mid-size businesses. Nextiva has won more than 30 Independent Technology & Telephony Awards, including being named “Best Business VoIP Provider” by Voice Reports for three years running. Nextiva delivers “Fortune 500″ phone service at start-up prices and serves more than 60,000SMB companies across the United States. For more information call 800-983-4289 or visit nextiva.com.

News Release from EPA Region 7 - Cedar Valley Electroplating

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

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

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

EPA Region 7 Orders Cedar Valley Electroplating in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to Take Immediate Action to Address Hazardous Wastes

Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394, whitley.christopher@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., March 9, 2012) - EPA Region 7 is ordering Cedar Valley Electroplating L.L.C., a metal electroplating business, to take a series of immediate actions to address multiple issues with leaking tanks and containers of hazardous waste at its facility in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Under a unilateral administrative order issued by EPA in Kansas City, Kan., Cedar Valley Electroplating – and R Squared Properties, L.L.C., which owns the property at 5611 Westminster Drive in Cedar Falls where the business is located – are ordered to: 

• Immediately comply with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and its implementing regulations.
• Immediately identify and contain any leaking tanks, containers or other vessels on the property.
• Identify all solid and hazardous wastes currently being treated, stored or disposed at the facility.
• Restrict access to solid and hazardous wastes that have been stored and/or disposed at the facility and to areas on the property where hazardous material has been released.
• Develop a plan for the immediate cleanup of releases, an investigation to determine if wastes have migrated off the property, and the cleanup of the building and any surrounding areas that may have been contaminated by the releases. 

Cedar Valley Electroplating is located in an industrial park area of southwest Cedar Falls, approximately 700 feet southeast of a child care facility, approximately 1,000 feet east of a stream, and approximately 1,300 feet east and southwest of the nearest residences.

EPA’s order notes that the business, which ceased operating in 2011, was inspected by EPA representatives in September 2005 and again in September 2010. The 2005 inspection resulted in the business being cited for failure to make a hazardous waste determination on 28 55-gallon containers of waste material. The 2010 inspection cited those same issues, and issues with additional containers.

EPA representatives visited the facility again last week and noted numerous totes, tanks, drums and other containers and materials stored in an unsafe manner throughout the facility, including numerous containers that were open and several that were leaking. Some of the hazardous wastes identified during the limited visit included chromium, ferric sulfate, ferric chloride, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide. During the visit, an EPA representative noted that the containers of chemicals cited in the 2005 and 2010 inspections were still present at the facility, but that some of the containers had since deteriorated to the point of leaking their contents.

Violations of EPA’s order could subject the respondents to civil penalties of at least $7,500 per violation per day. Violations could also trigger unilateral actions by EPA to carry out the terms of the order, under its legal authority. The Agency could also seek judicial enforcement of the order.

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