National "Documerica" Environmental Photo Exhibit Comes to Dallas

Press release:

National "Documerica" Environmental Photo Exhibit Comes to Dallas  

 

(DALLAS – August 7, 2012) The Environmental Protection Agency will open “Documerica” exhibit of photographs depicting environmental conditions of the past and present beginning August 7, 2012. The display arrives in Dallas after a quick stop in Austin at the Texas Environmental Superconference as part of its national tour. The exhibit will be open on the 7^th Floor at Fountain Place in downtown Dallas through August 14, 2012.

From its development in 1971, “Documerica” became the United States’ first serious pictorial examination of the environment. The project collected more than 15,000 images, documenting the environmental and human conditions of this country when EPA was starting its mission. The idea was to visually record the difference in conditions in later years, providing the public with a measurement of progress made to accomplish goals set by Congress.

Forty years later the project was rediscovered with the help of National Archives. “State of the Environment” launched Earth Day 2011 as an opportunity for the public to participate and engage in a modern revitalization of Documerica. There are more than 1,900 new images that have been submitted to EPA through Flickr.

The EPA photo project will continue accepting submissions through the end of 2013. Public entries will be considered for a larger exhibit of both projects set for March-September 2013 at the U.S. National Archives’ Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery in Washington, D.C.

To learn more and to follow the project, visit: www.epa.gov/stateoftheenvironment

To match images near you, a selection of the full record is available on the National Archives Flickr photostream

More about activities in EPA Region 6 is available at http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html

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EPA Announces Funding for Research to Improve Air Quality, Protect Health

Press release:

EPA Announces Funding for Research to Improve Air Quality, Protect Health

Release Date: 08/06/2012

Contact Information: Latisha Petteway (News Media Only), petteway.latisha@epa.gov, 202-564-3191, 202-564-4355; En español: Lina Younes younes.lina@epa.gov,202-564-9924 , 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded five grants totaling almost $2 million to academic institutions for research on innovative processes to further improve air quality in the U.S. and help track the effectiveness of pollution control measures. Pollutants such as ozone and fine particles are linked to a variety of serious health effects, including aggravation of asthma and other lung diseases, heart attacks, increased hospital admissions and medication use, and premature death.

The grants announced today are focused on generating better data and tools to enable regulatory authorities to more effectively ensure that the air we breathe is healthy. The information gathered through this new research will help inform policy decisions that affect air quality, including the way states and cities address short-term air quality challenges.

"These grants will encourage innovative solutions for incorporating new information, technology advances, and current scientific understanding into air quality management,” says Bob Kavlock, deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “This research will help improve our efforts to respond quickly to short-term air pollution issues such as heat waves or seasonal impacts on air quality."

The funding covers projects that will examine links between short-term air pollution drivers and existing management strategies, development of decision-making models, and air quality forecasting techniques. The five grantees include:

University at Albany-SUNY, Albany, N.Y., will help incorporate short-term forecasts of emissions from electricity generation and traffic into modeling and air quality forecasts.
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, will include the design and testing of innovative methods to link electricity generation and emissions pricing for the prevention of air pollution episodes.
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga., will develop a system for estimating and minimizing the impacts of prescribed burning on air quality, particularly in Georgia.
Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, Texas, will address the issues of multi-pollutant air quality management and develop integrated decision-making models for air quality policy making.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C., will develop new tools for linking air quality modeling and forecasting with forecasts of electricity demand.

These grants are part of EPA’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, which supports human health, ecology, economics, and engineering sciences through grants, centers, and fellowships. EPA provides air quality and environmental information to the public through websites including AIRNow, Window to My Environment, and Envirofacts. These tools help educate the public and increase their participation in decisions that affect air quality.

More information on the grantees: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/dynair
More information on the EPA’s STAR program: http://www.epa.gov/ncer
More information on AIRNow: http://www.airnow.gov
More information on Window to My Environment: http://www.epa.gov/enviro/wme/
More information on Envirofacts: http://www.epa.gov/enviro/

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EPA Finalizes Settlement with Companies for Cleanup at Mercury Refining Superfund Site in Albany County; Value of Cleanup Work Estimated at $9 million

Press release:

EPA Finalizes Settlement with Companies for Cleanup at                        Mercury Refining Superfund Site in Albany County;                                                    Value of Cleanup Work Estimated at $9 million

Contact: Larisa Romanowski, (518) 747-4389, romanowski.larisa@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y. – August 7, 2012) Five companies considered responsible for contamination at the Mercury Refining Superfund site have reached a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to do work needed to clean up the Mercury Refining Superfund site in the Towns of Colonie and Guilderland, New York. Under the terms of the legal agreement, the Gillette Company, KeySpan Gas East Corp., Energizer Battery Manufacturing, Inc., Union Carbide Corporation and Spectrum Brands, Inc. will address soil, sediment, and ground water contaminated with mercury. Mercury is an extremely toxic metal that can cause health problems, especially in children. Exposure to mercury can harm the heart, kidneys, lungs, immune and nervous systems. In addition, the settlement provides for 19 federal agencies and 46 additional entities also responsible for the contamination to make payments into an escrow account to fund the cleanup work at the site. The current owner of the site is also part of the settlement and will take responsibility for land use restrictions to be put into place at the site.

“This agreement allows EPA to finish the important work that began several years ago to clean up the site so that people and the environment are protected,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “The agreement also ensures that the parties responsible for the contamination at the site will also be held accountable for cleaning it up at their own expense, rather than at the expense of taxpayers.”

From the 1950’s until 1998, mercury from batteries and other materials, such as thermometers, pressure regulators, and electrical devices, was recovered, refined, and marketed by the Mercury Refining Company. Through the reclamation process, mercury contaminated the site, including soil and stormwater draining off the site and into an unnamed tributary to the Patroon Creek. Mercury reclamation activities ended at the site in 1998; however, some precious metal recovery continues today.

In 1983, the Mercury Refining site was placed on the federal Superfund list. Until 1999, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation oversaw various cleanup actions at the site. The EPA assumed the lead for the cleanup in 1999. After an extensive investigation and evaluation of various options for cleanup of the site, the EPA selected its final cleanup plan for the site in 2008. That plan requires a combination of soil excavation and treatment of the soil and ground water. The design work for that cleanup plan is underway and is expected to be completed by the spring of 2013.

Under the agreement announced today, the five companies will conduct the cleanup work at the site. Contaminated soil at the surface, which is more easily accessible to people, will be excavated and taken off-site to a secure facility. Contaminated soil that is deeper will be treated using a technology that treats the contaminated soil and ground water by locking the mercury in a mixture of Portland cement and another agent, preventing it from moving into the surrounding soil and ground water. In addition, the cleanup plan calls for the removal of contaminated sediment from a tributary to Patroon Creek, which receives rainwater runoff from the Mercury Refining property. Water will be removed from the excavated creek sediment and disposed of at an off-site landfill. According to the agreement, the owner of the site, 26 Railroad Ave, Inc., will be responsible for taking action to secure legal land use restrictions to ensure that people aren’t exposed to contaminants on-site and to ensure that the treated soil and groundwater is not disturbed. The five primary companies will be ultimately responsible for conducting all the cleanup work called for in EPA’s cleanup plan.

The value of the cleanup work to be performed under the agreement is estimated at $9.3 million.

Superfund is the federal cleanup program established in 1980 to investigate and cleanup the country’s most hazardous sites. The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers. When sites are placed on the Superfund list, the EPA looks for parties responsible for the pollution and requires them to pay for the cleanups.

The proposed settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period, which will begin shortly, upon the publication of a notice in the Federal Register. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and either emailed to pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov or mailed to P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20044-7611, and should refer to United States of America v. The Gillette Company, et al., Civil Action No. 1:12-cv-01247-MAD-TWD, D.J. Ref. 90-11-2-07742/7. During the public comment period, the proposed Consent Decree may be examined on the following Department of Justice website, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html. The settlement requires approval by the United States District Court before becoming final.

Further information about the Mercury Refining Superfund site can be found at: http://epa.gov/region2/superfund/mercuryrefining/.

Follow the EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.

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EPA Reaches Agreement with Carmeuse Lime to Control Dust from its Chicago Plant

Press release:

For Immediate Release           No. 12-OPA061

EPA Reaches Agreement with Carmeuse Lime to Control Dust from its Chicago Plant
Chicago (Aug. 7, 2012 ) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached agreement with Carmeuse Lime, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to resolve Clean Air Act violations at its Chicago lime manufacturing facility. The company will pay a $350,000 fine and spend $125,000 on lead abatement in south side neighborhoods.
“As a result of this agreement, residents of Chicago’s south side will breathe cleaner air and children will be protected from lead contamination,” said EPA Regional Administrator Susan Hedman.
EPA and the City of Chicago conducted a joint inspection of the Carmeuse plant in response to complaints from local residents about excess dust. The inspection revealed poor maintenance at the facility, which led to the release of dust into the surrounding neighborhood.

The consent decree requires Carmeuse to upgrade and replace equipment and to improve maintenance and housekeeping practices. By implementing these changes, which have been/will be incorporated in the facility's air permit, Carmeuse will dramatically reduce the amount of dust released into the neighborhood.
Under terms of the consent decree, Carmeuse will also hire a nonprofit organization to install new energy-efficient windows in neighborhood homes that have window frames with lead-based paint. Window replacements will occur in the houses of low income residents with young children in the Englewood, West Englewood and South Chicago neighborhoods.

Carmeuse is a major lime producer, with 35 facilities in the United States and Canada.

EPA Awards $100,000 to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to Reduce Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico

Press release:

EPA Awards $100,000 to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

to Reduce Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico

(DALLAS – August 6, 2012) The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) $100,000 to reduce hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. This area in the northern Gulf of Mexico is known as the ‘dead zone.’ The funds will be used to develop a statewide nutrient reduction strategy for Louisiana which adopts strategic elements identified in action plans of the Gulf of Mexico Alliance and the Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force.

Hypoxia means low oxygen and is primarily a problem in coastal waters. The Gulf of Mexico dead zone is an area of hypoxic waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Its area varies in size, but can cover up to 6,000 to 7,000 square miles.   The zone occurs between the inner and mid-continental shelf in the northern Gulf of Mexico, beginning at the Mississippi River delta and extending westward to the upper Texas coast. The dead zone is caused by nutrient enrichment from the Mississippi River, particularly nitrogen and phosphorous.

Because of the devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the Louisiana Legislature restructured the state's Wetland Conservation and Restoration Authority to form the CPRA. The CPRA is the single state entity with authority to articulate a clear statement of priorities and to focus development and implementation efforts to achieve comprehensive coastal protection for Louisiana.

Additional Information on EPA grants is available at http://www.epa.gov/region6/gandf/index.htm

More about activities in EPA Region 6 is available at http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html

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Three Utah facilities to pay penalties for Risk Management Program violations

Press release:

Three Utah facilities to pay penalties for Risk Management Program violations

Clean Air Act requirements designed to prevent accidental releases of hazardous chemicals

Contacts: David Cobb, 303-312-6592; Richard Mylott, 303-312-6654

(Denver, Colo. - Aug 6, 2012) Three facilities in Utah -- Utah Olympic Park (Park City), Duchesne Valley Water Treatment Plant (Duchesne), and Ashley Valley Water Treatment Plant (Vernal) -- have agreed to pay civil penalties and correct violations associated with the safe management and use of hazardous chemicals.

The penalties, collectively totaling $11,650 at all three sites, were assessed under the federal Clean Air Act which requires the development of Risk Management Programs for all public and private facilities that manufacture, process, use, store, or otherwise handle flammable and toxic chemicals such as chlorine and anhydrous ammonia.
"These requirements ensure that facilities have up-to-date procedures in place to prevent and respond to releases of toxic chemicals used on-site,” said Mike Gaydosh, EPA’s Enforcement Director in Denver. “Failure to comply with these requirements can leave the public and environment at risk from accidental releases."

By agreeing to the settlements, all three facilities have certified that they are now in compliance with federal Risk Management Program regulations. Utah Olympic Park will pay total penalties of $7,000. Duchesne Valley Water Treatment Plant will pay total penalties of $2,470. Ashley Valley Water Treatment Plant will pay total penalties of $2,180. Duchesne Valley and Ashley Valley are both owned and operated by the Central Utah Water Conservancy District.

EPA inspected the three facilities in 2011 and found various violations of Risk Management Program regulations designed to prevent accidental chemical releases and minimize the impact of releases or other accidents that may occur. The three Utah facilities are subject to these regulations because they store highly toxic chemicals above regulatory thresholds.

The establishment of effective risk management plans help companies, industries and municipalities operate responsibly, assist emergency responders by providing vital information necessary to address accidents and other incidents, protect the environment by preventing and minimizing damage from accidental releases, and keep communities safer.

For more information on the Clean Air Act and risk management requirements: http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/rmp/caa_faqs.htm

Colorado ethanol plant to pay $5,850 penalty for Risk Management Program violations

Press release:

Colorado ethanol plant to pay $5,850 penalty for Risk Management Program violations

Clean Air Act requirements designed to prevent accidental releases of toxic chemicals

Contacts: David Cobb, 303-312-6592; Richard Mylott, 303-312-6654

(Denver, Colo. - Aug 6, 2012) Yuma Ethanol, LLC has agreed to pay a $5,850 civil penalty and correct violations relating to the storage and use of toxic and flammable substances at its ethanol plant in Yuma, Colorado. An EPA inspection of the plant in October 2011 found the company had violated Risk Management Program regulations under the Clean Air Act. By agreeing to the settlement announced today, the company has certified that the facility is now in compliance with these regulations.
"These requirements ensure that facilities have up-to-date procedures in place to prevent and respond to releases of toxic chemicals used on-site,” said Mike Gaydosh, EPA’s Enforcement Director in Denver. “Failure to comply with these requirements can leave the public and environment at risk from accidental releases."

Under the Clean Air Act, the Yuma Ethanol facility was required to maintain a risk management plan because it exceeded the 10,000-pound storage threshold for anhydrous ammonia, an extremely hazardous chemical, and natural gasoline, a flammable substance used to denature ethanol. Yuma Ethanol was storing approximately 97,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia at the time of the EPA inspection.

This enforcement action will benefit the community, which includes minority and low-income areas. Minority populations comprise nearly half of the residents within a five-mile radius of the facility and 45 percent are below poverty level. Approximately 35 percent of the area’s population is Hispanic.

EPA enforces the Risk Management Program regulations of the Clean Air Act with the goal of preventing accidental chemical releases and minimizing the impact of releases or other accidents that may occur. The establishment of effective risk management plans helps companies, industries and municipalities operate responsibly, assists emergency responders by providing vital information necessary to address accidents and other incidents, protects the environment by preventing and minimizing damage from accidental releases, and keeps communities safer.

For more information on the Clean Air Act and risk management requirements: http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/rmp/caa_faqs.htm