EPA to Work with Drinking Water Systems to Monitor Unregulated Contaminants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 1, 2012

EPA to Work with Drinking Water Systems to Monitor Unregulated Contaminants

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today published a list of 28 chemicals and two viruses that approximately 6,000 public water systems will monitor from 2013 to 2015 as part of the agency’s unregulated contaminant monitoring program, which collects data for contaminants suspected to be present in drinking water, but that do not have health-based standards set under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

EPA will spend more than $20 million to support the monitoring, the majority of which will be devoted to assist small drinking water systems with conducting the monitoring. The data collected under the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 3 (UCMR 3) will inform EPA about the frequency and levels at which these contaminants are found in drinking water systems across the United States and help determine whether additional protections are needed to ensure safe drinking water for Americans. State participation in the monitoring is voluntary. EPA will fund small drinking water system costs for laboratory analyses, shipping and quality control.

The list of contaminants to be studied includes total chromium and hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6. Addressing hexavalent chromium in drinking water is a priority for EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. In January 2011, EPA issued guidance to all water systems on how to assess the prevalence of hexavalent chromium and in the March 2011 proposal for UCMR 3, EPA invited comments on whether the agency should include chromium in the final rule. Public comments received by EPA were strongly supportive of adding total chromium and hexavalent chromium for monitoring.

“The monitoring that will take place will provide EPA with invaluable information about what municipalities are seeing in their drinking water all across the country,” said EPA acting assistant administrator for Water Nancy Stoner. “The results of this multi-year monitoring effort will help inform EPA’s work to ensure Americans receive safe drinking water.”

EPA selected the contaminants by first reviewing the agency’s contaminant candidate list, which highlights priority contaminants that need additional research to support future drinking water protections. The contaminants on the list are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems. However, they are not addressed by existing national drinking water standards. Additional contaminants of concern were selected based on current occurrence research and health-risk factors.

EPA has standards for 91 contaminants in drinking water, and the Safe Drinking Water Act requires that EPA identify up to 30 additional unregulated contaminants for monitoring every five years.

For more information, visit: http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/ucmr/ucmr3/index.cfm

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Mission Health in Asheville, N.C. Wins 2012 National Environmental Leadership Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2012

Mission Health in Asheville, N.C. Wins 2012 National Environmental Leadership Award
EPA Highlights Asthma Awareness Month in May

Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

ATLANTA – As part of Asthma Awareness Month, EPA is honoring Mission Health in Asheville, N.C. with the 2012 National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management.  Mission Health was awarded for their efforts to improve the lives of people with asthma in underserved communities across the country. Other winners include:  Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, Conn.; L.A. Care Health Plan, Los Angeles, Calif.; and  Michigan Department of Community Health’s Asthma Prevention and Control Program, Lansing, Mich.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also encouraging Americans to take action against asthma by learning more about the disease and how it affects their families and communities. Nearly 26 million Americans, including more than 7 million children, are affected by this chronic respiratory disease, including low income and minority populations at the highest rates.

The annual economic cost of asthma, including direct medical costs from hospital stays and indirect costs such as lost school and work days, amount to about $56 billion. Through the Clean Air Act, EPA has helped prevent millions of asthma attacks across the country and continues to work alongside federal, state and local partners to address this nationwide problem. In 2010 alone, pollution prevention standards under the Clean Air Act lead to reductions in fine particle matter and ozone pollution that prevented more than 1.7 million incidences of asthma attacks. Recent standards, such as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, will further reduce air pollution and help prevent asthma attacks.

Americans who suffer from asthma can learn to control their symptoms and still maintain active lifestyles. Here are some simple steps:

Know your Asthma Triggers and Avoid Them: Air pollution, dust mites, mold, secondhand smoke and even cockroaches can trigger asthma attacks. Learn your triggers and avoid them in your home and neighborhood. 

Create an Asthma Action Plan: You can help avoid the emergency room by managing your asthma daily. With a doctor's help, you can create an asthma action plan to help you effectively manage your asthma and reduce exposure to triggers.

Get Active: Even if you have asthma, by taking the appropriate medications and avoiding your triggers, you can still participate in sports and activities.

Be 'Air Aware': Check local air quality conditions at airnow.gov and make informed decisions about participating in outdoor activities. To help, an Air Quality Index mobile app is available for smart phones.

More on Asthma and the 2012 Award winners: http://www.epa.gov/asthma

More on the Air Quality Index Mobile App: http://m.epa.gov/apps/airnow.html

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EPA to partner with Cobb and Douglas Public Health to Raise Awareness about Asthma

Media Advisory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2012

EPA to partner with Cobb and Douglas Public Health to Raise Awareness about Asthma

Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

ATLANTA - In celebration of World Asthma Day, EPA Region 4 is partnering with Cobb and Douglas Public Health to hold a training event with the theme “Being Active with Asthma”. Representatives from EPA will provide training to maintain a healthy learning environment.

Who:  EPA and Cobb and Douglas Public Health
What:  Maintaining a healthy learning environment.
When:  Tuesday, May 1, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Where   Cobb Safety Village   
 1220 Al Bishop Drive
 Marietta, GA 30008


The training session will cover three objectives that will enhance participant awareness of common indoor air quality issues, and provide low cost or no cost solutions to resolve these concerns. Objectives include: 
 
- Understanding of basic indoor air principles and approaches to communicate with teachers and parents about indoor air events;
- Learning how to perform classroom and home assessments to identify and resolve common indoor air asthma triggers; and
- Learning how to the steps to establish a preventive maintenance program for both the classroom and home.

More on how to control asthma and still live a healthy active life: http://www.epa.gov/asthma

More on the community award winners: http://epa.gov/asthma/awards.html

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Companies Fined for Failing to Notify Tenants About Lead Paint at Two Navy Bases in New England

News Release
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
New England Regional Office
May 1, 2012

Contacts: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

Companies Fined for Failing to Notify Tenants About Lead Paint at Two Navy Bases in New England

(Boston, Mass. – May 1, 2012) – Two companies have agreed to pay a penalty of $89,300 to settle EPA claims that they violated federal lead paint disclosure laws at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine and the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn.

In a recent EPA enforcement complaint, EPA alleged that Northeast Housing, LLC, and Balfour Beatty Military Housing Management, LLC failed on multiple occasions to notify prospective tenants, including families with young children, about potential lead paint hazards in housing managed by the companies on the two Navy bases in New England.  Specifically, the companies failed to comply with the Lead Based Paint Disclosure Rule when they entered into contracts to lease housing with military personnel during the years 2007-2010 by failing to provide available records and reports regarding lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards to 13 lessees (10 lessees at Portsmouth and three lessees at the Conn. base).  Nine of the lessees were families with children, including seven families with children under the age of six.

Notifying prospective tenants of housing units helps parents protect young children from exposure to lead-based paint hazards.  Infants and young children are especially vulnerable to lead paint exposure, which can cause intelligence quotient deficiencies, reading and learning disabilities, impaired hearing, reduced attention span, hyperactivity, and behavior problems. Adults with high lead levels can suffer difficulties during pregnancy, high blood pressure, nerve disorders, memory problems, and muscle and joint pain.

Many homes built before 1978 have lead-based paint. The federal government banned lead-based paint from housing in 1978. The purpose of the Lead Disclosure Rule is to provide residential renters and purchasers of pre-1978 housing with enough information about lead-based paint in general and known lead-based paint hazards in specific housing, so that they can make informed decisions about whether to lease or purchase the housing.

The housing at both bases is owned by Northeast, a joint venture limited liability company between the Department of the Navy and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Balfour Beatty Communities, LLC, of which the BBC affiliate is the managing member.  There are approximately 25 pre-1978 housing units located at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, where housing was built in the 1800s and early 1900s.  There are approximately 735 pre-1978 housing units at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton which were built in the early 1960s.

Northeast Housing and Balfour Beatty Military Housing Management cooperated with EPA in promptly correcting the violations and in reaching a quick settlement.


More information on lead hazards and lead disclosure rule: http://epa.gov/lead/pubs/leadinfo.htm

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EPA Takes Next Step to Implement 2008 Ozone Standards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 1, 2012

EPA Takes Next Step to Implement 2008 Ozone Standards

Most areas that need to take steps to reduce ozone pollution are close to meeting the standards; only three new areas have been added


 WASHINGTON – Working closely with states and tribes, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is identifying areas that meet or do not meet the 2008 air quality standards for ground-level ozone, known as smog. The agency’s approach to implementing these standards will improve air quality, protect public health, increase certainty for states and tribes, maximize flexibilities and minimize the burden on state, tribal and local governments. Breathing air containing high levels of smog can reduce lung function and increase respiratory symptoms, aggravating asthma or other respiratory conditions. Ozone exposure may also contribute to premature death, especially in people with heart and lung disease.

In 2008, EPA set new smog standards at 75 parts per billion. Working with states and tribes and following an open public process that included a 45-day public comment period, EPA has determined that 45 areas across the country, including two separate areas of Indian country, are not meeting the 2008 standards based on the most recent certified air quality data. Almost all of these areas already have programs in place to improve air quality because they did not meet the 1997 smog standards. Only three areas will be identified for the first time as not meeting smog standards. Reflecting ongoing improvements in air quality, EPA is identifying fewer areas that do not meet the 2008 standards than the agency identified as not meeting the 1997 standards.

Reducing smog and improving air quality is a shared responsibility of federal, state, local and tribal governments. National clean air programs such as EPA’s standards to reduce power plant emissions that cross state lines, clean vehicle and fuel standards, and more locally focused state, tribal air quality programs are already contributing to air quality improvements. These actions will help areas meet the standards and protect public health. In addition, EPA expects that most areas would be able to meet the 2008 standards as a result of recent and pending rules.

The Clean Air Act requires EPA to review and, if necessary, revise air quality standards every five years to ensure that they protect public health with an adequate margin of safety. Following a change in standards, EPA works with states and tribes as appropriate to identify areas that do not meet the standards and establish plans to improve air quality. EPA continues to work to review the science needed to inform the next five-year review of the smog standards and currently expects to propose action in 2013.

 More about final designations throughout the country: http://www.epa.gov/ozonedesignations/2008standards/index.htm

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Sentara Norfolk General Hospital Settles Hazardous Waste Violations

Contact: Donna Heron 215-814-5113 / heron.donna@epa.gov

 Sentara Norfolk General Hospital Settles Hazardous Waste Violations

PHILADELPHIA (May 1, 2012) -- Sentara Norfolk General Hospital has agreed to pay a $19,920 penalty to settle alleged violations of hazardous waste regulations at its medical facility, located at 600 Gresham Drive in Norfolk, Va., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

EPA cited Sentara for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the federal law governing the proper treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste.

Following an inspection by EPA and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, EPA alleges Sentara failed to properly label and date containers of chemical waste. These RCRA requirements are preventative and ensure that public health and the environment are protected from potential cleanup situations if an incident occurs.

The $19,920 settlement penalty reflects the company's compliance efforts, and its cooperation with EPA in the investigation and resolution of this matter. As part of the settlement, Sentara has neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations, but has certified its compliance with applicable RCRA requirements.

For more information about hazardous waste and RCRA, visit http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/index.htm.

EPA Works to Help the Nearly 26 Million Americans with Asthma

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2012
EPA Works to Help the Nearly 26 Million Americans with Asthma
Highlights Asthma Awareness Month in May
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is encouraging Americans to take action against asthma by learning more about the disease and how it affects their families and communities. Nearly 26 million Americans, including more than 7 million children, are affected by this chronic respiratory disease, including low income and minority populations at the highest rates.
"Asthma is a disease that touches the lives of American families every day. EPA is working hard to clean the air we breathe and reduce the environmental causes of asthma and other respiratory illnesses,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “As we mark Asthma Awareness Month, it’s important for parents and children to learn more about the disease and its triggers, so we can prevent asthma attacks and better protect our health and our children's health."

The annual economic cost of asthma, including direct medical costs from hospital stays and indirect costs such as lost school and work days, amount to approximately $56 billion. Through the Clean Air Act, EPA has helped prevent millions of asthma attacks across the country and continues to work alongside federal, state and local partners to address this nationwide problem. In 2010 alone, pollution prevention standards under the Clean Air Act lead to reductions in fine particle matter and ozone pollution that prevented more than 1.7 million incidences of asthma attacks. Recent standards, such as the 2011 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, will further reduce air pollution and help prevent asthma attacks.

Americans who suffer from asthma can learn to control their symptoms and still maintain active lifestyles. Here are some simple steps:

Know your Asthma Triggers and Avoid Them: Air pollution, dust mites, mold, secondhand smoke and even cockroaches can trigger asthma attacks. Learn your triggers and avoid them in your home and neighborhood.

Create an Asthma Action Plan: You can help avoid the emergency room by managing your asthma daily. With a doctor's help, you can create an asthma action plan to help you effectively manage your asthma and reduce exposure to triggers.

Get Active: Even if you have asthma, by taking the appropriate medications and avoiding your triggers, you can still participate in sports and activities.

Be 'Air Aware': Check local air quality conditions at airnow.gov and make informed decisions about participating in outdoor activities. To help, an Air Quality Index mobile app is available for smart phones.

As part of Asthma Awareness Month, EPA is honoring exceptional health plans, health care providers and communities in action for their efforts to improve the lives of people with asthma in underserved communities across the country. The winners of the 2012 National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management include Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, Conn., L.A. Care Health Plan, Los Angeles, Calif., Michigan Department of Community Health’s Asthma Prevention and Control Program, Lansing, Mich., and Mission Health, Asheville, N.C.

More on Asthma and the 2012 award winners: http://www.epa.gov/asthma

More on the Air Quality Index Mobile App: http://m.epa.gov/apps/airnow.html

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