Wyoming Ethanol to pay $49,000 for violations at Torrington facility

EPA News Release:

Wyoming Ethanol to pay $49,000 for violations at Torrington facility

Company cited for risk management planning and chemical reporting violations 

Contacts:

David Cobb, EPA, 303-312-6592, cobb.david@epa.gov

Matthew Allen, EPA, 303-312-6085, allen.matthew@epa.gov

(Denver, CO., Mar 7, 2013) – EPA today announced Wyoming Ethanol, LLC, located in Torrington, Wyoming, will pay $49,000 in penalties to settle claims related to the facility’s Risk Management Program and chemical reporting requirements. The alleged violations are associated with the use of hazardous chemicals and the failure to appropriately report chemicals used on site in violation of federal right-to-know laws.

“Companies that use chemicals and substances which pose a potential danger are responsible for reporting those chemicals to the Toxic Release Inventory and having a robust risk management program in place,” said Mike Gaydosh, director of EPA’s enforcement program in Denver. “Failure to do so places the environment, employees, and the nearby community at risk. We are encouraged that Wyoming Ethanol has been cooperative in correcting the violations and coming into compliance.”

Today’s agreement stems from an EPA inspection conducted during May of 2012 which found deficiencies in the facility’s risk management plan required under the Clean Air Act. These plans ensure the proper management of toxic and/or flammable chemicals and to prevent and respond to releases of chemicals that may occur. Wyoming Ethanol’s Torrington facility is subject to the Risk Management Program regulations because it stores flammable or highly toxic chemicals above the regulatory threshold amount. By agreeing to the settlement, the company has certified that they are now in compliance.

Effective risk management plans help 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.

According to EPA’s Denver office, Wyoming Ethanol also failed to accurately file Toxic Chemical Release Inventory (TRI) forms listing chemicals processed, manufactured, or used at its facility. These inventory forms are required by the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA).

The failure of a facility to submit information to the TRI deprives the local community of its right to know about chemicals present in the area. EPA’s action is expected to encourage compliance with EPCRA reporting requirements and to ensure that the community has information about chemicals being processed, manufactured, or otherwise used in the area. The required information also helps inform health studies based on the TRI database and assists federal, state, and local authorities prevent pollution and plan for potential releases.

Share Your Ideas for the Lower Basin!

EPA Release:

Share Your Ideas for the Lower Basin!

Learn More at Public Forums on March 20

Find out how you can share your ideas for pilot projects in the Lower CDA Basin. Pilot projects are smaller-scale cleanup "tests" -- cleanup actions that help evaluate the effectiveness of more complete, larger-scale cleanup actions that may be taken in the future. 

Come to one of the Public Forums on March 20 to learn more:

•     2-4 pm, Rose Lake Community Center, hosted by the Lower Basin Project Focus Team
•     6-8 pm, Medimont Grange, hosted by the Citizens Coordinating Council

Project suggestions and proposals are due to EPA by April 19. Proposal forms will be available online soon.

EPA is studying options to reduce risks to people and wildlife in the Lower Basin. The risks are caused by lead and other heavy metals washing downstream from past mining practices in the Upper Basin. Most of the lakes, wetlands and floodplains in the Lower Basin are affected. We welcome your input as we explore possible approaches.

Thank you all for your participation! We look forward to considering your ideas.

See this Site Update for details.

Visit the Coeur d’Alene Basin Facebook page

EPA settles Clean Air Act Case Against Conshohocken, Pa. Chemical Plant

EPA News Release:

EPA settles Clean Air Act Case

Against Conshohocken, Pa. Chemical Plant

            (PHILADELPHIA --- March 7, 2013) -- Montgomery Chemicals LLC will pay a $36,000 penalty as part of a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for Clean Air Act violations at its chemical manufacturing facility at 901 Conshohocken Road, Conshohocken, Pa., the EPA announced today.

The facility produces a hazardous air pollutant – methanol – during its manufacturing of sodium borohydride, a bleaching agent used by the paper industry.   Based on data collected during an EPA inspection, EPA alleges Clean Air Act violations pertaining to methanol emissions, monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting.

            In addition to the $36,000 penalty, Montgomery Chemicals has also agreed to correct the cited violations within six months. The company will also be installing a new scrubber to control emissions, as required by a previous consent order with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

            The Clean Air Act requires industrial facilities to closely control and monitor methanol emissions. Although human health effects associated with breathing or otherwise consuming smaller amounts of methanol over a long period of time are unknown, workers repeatedly exposed to methanol could experience adverse effects including headaches, sleep disorders, gastrointestinal problems and optic nerve damage.


BetterWorldBooks.com

Lockheed Martin News Release:

Lockheed Martin Successfully Migrates EPA to the Microsoft Cloud

ROCKVILLE, Md., March 7, 2013 – Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] and Microsoft have successfully migrated the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Microsoft Office 365, a cloud-based collaboration and communication service. This cloud-based system improves employee access to communications and mobility tools.

“Our partnership with Lockheed Martin in bringing Microsoft Office 365 to the EPA generated a level of excitement amongst our employees that has been unmatched,” said Malcolm Jackson, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Environmental Information and chief information officer. “Lockheed Martin exceeded my expectations in delivering this service to the EPA.”

Under a four-year contract, Lockheed Martin transitioned more than 22,000 EPA email users to Office 365 for Government, a service that stores U.S. government data in a segregated community cloud and includes email, calendars, scheduling and collaboration tools for internal and external use. The company will continue to provide engineering and ongoing integration services.

“Building on Lockheed Martin’s 35 years of information technology service to the EPA, this successful, on-schedule migration ensures EPA employees have the best possible collaboration and communication tools,” said Stephanie C. Hill, president of the civil product line at Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS). “Our expertise in cloud migration processes and our alliances with technology partners provide a strong foundation for flexible cloud-based solutions for federal customers.”

“The EPA’s vision of a more cost-effective, modernized collaboration environment has arrived, thanks in large part to the incredible work of our partners at Lockheed Martin,” said Greg Myers, vice president of Microsoft Federal. “By moving to the cloud with Office 365 for Government, EPA personnel can be more productive from any location, while maintaining the highest levels of reliability, accessibility, and security.”

As the number one provider of IT services to the federal government, Lockheed Martin is a leader in secure cloud delivery, with more than five years of cloud experience in developing innovation centers, implementing flexible cloud computing solutions and working with partners to deliver the most comprehensive offerings. The company’s Solutions as a Service (SolaS™) secure cloud delivery offers a flexible, mission-focused approach that combines domain expertise, proven processes and smart technology.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 120,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation's net sales for 2012 were $47.2 billion.

Hovnanian Enterprises and PulteGroup, Inc. Settle Clean Water Act Violations in Virginia and Maryland

EPA News Release:

Hovnanian Enterprises and PulteGroup, Inc. Settle Clean Water Act Violations in Virginia and Maryland

 (PHILADELPHIA - March 6, 2013) Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. and PulteGroup, Inc. have agreed to pay civil penalties of $130,000 and $56,000 respectively in separate settlements with EPA resolving alleged Clean Water Act violations at construction sites in Maryland and Virginia.

EPA alleged that the companies failed to take actions to prevent discharging sediment to nearby surface waters as required by law. Installing proper control measures is important since sediment-laden runoff from construction sites can pollute local waterways.  

Specifically, EPA, along with state and county representatives, inspected Hovnanian’s Shipley Farm and Palisades at Oak Creek construction sites in Prince George’s County, Md., in August 2011. These inspections revealed that Hovnanian failed to install and/or maintain required best management practices to prevent the discharge of sediment to surface waters at both sites.

The settlement requires Hovnanian to take actions to bring these two sites into compliance with permit requirements and develop a plan for preventing the recurrence of violations at its construction sites in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia within 45 days of the effective date of the settlement.  

In a separate complaint, EPA alleged that PulteGroup, Inc. failed to implement and maintain control measures to minimize pollutants such as sediments flowing into the Accotink and Piscataway Creeks in Virginia, and Maryland respectively. The creeks are tributaries of the Potomac River, as well as the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia and Maryland have identified the Accotink and the Piscataway waterways as impaired for aquatic life.

EPA, along with state and county representatives inspected the Pulte construction sites in August 2011 as a follow-up to a 2008 Clean Water Act settlement between EPA and Pulte resolving the

company’s alleged delays or failures to obtain stormwater permits for numerous construction sites across the country. EPA issued a Clean Water Act Administrative Order to Pulte on Sept. 27, 2012, which required the company to correct the violations discovered by EPA during its inspection of the sites. 

Construction projects have a high potential for environmental harm because they disturb large areas of land and significantly increase the potential for erosion. Without onsite pollution

controls, sediment-laden runoff from construction sites can flow directly to waterways and degrade water quality. In addition, stormwater can pick up other pollutants, including concrete, paint, used oil, pesticides, solvents and other debris. Polluted runoff can harm or kill fish and wildlife and affect drinking water quality.

Hovnanian and Pulte neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations.

The public may comment on the proposed settlement entitled In re Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., Docket No. CWA- 03-2013-0066 until April 8; and In the Matter of PulteGroup, Inc., Docket No. CWA-03-2013-0094 until March 26. Comments may be submitted to the Regional Hearing Clerk, U.S. EPA Region 3, 1650 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103.

EPA and four Yakima Valley dairies reach agreement to reduce nitrate in local groundwater

EPA News Release:

EPA and four Yakima Valley dairies reach agreement to reduce nitrate in local groundwater

Contact: Mark MacIntyre/EPA Seattle - 206-553-7302 - macintyre.mark@epa.gov

(Seattle, WA – March 6, 2013) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached legal agreements with four Yakima Valley dairies that will help reduce nitrate in area groundwater and nearby drinking water wells.

“This is good news, especially for those working locally to protect Yakima Valley groundwater,” said EPA Regional Administrator Dennis McLerran, in Seattle. “By working constructively with us in this local situation, the dairies have committed to protect drinking water and we have committed to collaborate on practices that keep people safe and farms in business."

Under the terms of the agreements, the dairies will: 

1. Provide alternate drinking water sources for neighbors within a one mile radius whose wells have levels of nitrate above EPA’s drinking water standard of 10 parts per million.

2. Take steps to control nitrogen sources, such as manure and commercial fertilizer, at their facilities.

3. Conduct soil and groundwater testing at each dairy, to evaluate if nitrogen sources are being controlled.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture voiced support for today’s action.

“Nutrient management issues are critical for the community, the environment and the dairy industry,” said WSDA Director, Dan Newhouse. “We look forward to working with the EPA, the dairy industry and other affected parties as we strengthen our efforts in crafting long term solutions to the challenges we face.”

Today’s agreements are specific to four dairies that were part of EPA’s study released last September: Cow Palace, LLC; George DeRuyter & Son, LLC; Liberty Dairy, LLC; H&S Bosma Dairy (part of Liberty Dairy); D&A Dairy, LLC; George & Margaret, LLC (part of both D&A and George DeRuyter & Sons Dairy).

The agreements complement ongoing efforts by the recently formed Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater Management Area (GWMA) to reduce threats posed to water quality from excess nitrogen from other dairies, other agricultural sources and from septic systems.

  

 “These agreements are an important step,” said EPA’s McLerran. “We expect to continue our work with state and local partners and the GWMA process to build on this collaborative effort to better understand and control other sources of nitrates in a meaningful manner."

GE Press Release:

Spanish City Upgrades Wastewater Treatment Plant with GE Technology

Downloads

March 6, 2013

• Ávila, Spain, to Use GE’s ZeeWeed* 500D Membrane Bioreactor Technology to Double the Amount of Water Treated
• Facility to Improve Quality of Effluent Water without Increasing Facility Footprint

ÁVILA, SPAIN—March 6, 2013—The city of Ávila, Spain, will install GE’s (NYSE: GE) ZeeWeed* 500D ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology to double the amount of water treated at its existing wastewater treatment plant. The city chose to upgrade the facility with MBR technology to increase the capacity and to comply with new regulations for nutrient removal while keeping the same footprint and reusing most of the existing infrastructure.

For the city of Ávila to meet the new regulations for nutrients in the existing plant, it would have had to double the size of the plant including purchasing new land. Instead, the city chose to implement GE’s MBR technology, which allowed it to improve the effluent quality without increasing the footprint. GE’s ZeeWeed membranes treat the same amount of water while removing all total suspended solids and complying with all other requirements. Since the extension of the current footprint was not necessary, economic advantages were gained as most of the existing infrastructure can be reused.

The original wastewater treatment plant was constructed in 1991 to service 190,000 inhabitants with a 30 million liter per day (MLD) average daily flow. However, due to new regulations, the discharge area of the Cogotas water reservoir was classified as a “sensitive area,” meaning that the new parameters are more restricted on effluent quality and require reductions in nitrogen and phosphorous.

“More and more municipalities are searching for solutions to increase efficiency and reduce energy consumption and costs, while getting the highest quality effluent possible. Our ZeeWeed technology will enable the Ávila wastewater treatment plant to remove pollutants, including nutrients, and increase the amount of water treated daily,” said Yuvbir Singh, general manager, engineered systems—water and process technologies for GE Power & Water.

The upgrade of the plant’s wastewater treatment processes with the GE MBR technology features four ZeeWeed 500D trains and 32 cassettes. A fifth train is designed for the future expansion. All together this will expand the plant’s treatment capacity to 37 MLD and improve the region’s quality of water.

Ávila is located in the autonomous community of Castilla and León, and is the capital of the Province of Ávila. It has a large number of Romanesque and Gothic churches and is referred to as the City of Stones and Saints. Although the city receives a good proportion of rain in autumn and winter, summers are typically dry, and the effluent of the wastewater treatment plant is an important additional resource to maintain the flows in the river.

GE’s ZeeWeed technology was selected for the upgrade of this plant by the Spanish Consortium Company as ZeeWeed can achieve the technical specifications required on the public tender by Somacyl. Somacyl was awarded the project by UTE EDAR Avila (a consortium formed by Aqualia and Volconsa).

GE’s ZeeWeed 500D reinforced, hollow-fiber membranes have been proven in more than two decades of wastewater treatment and water reuse. ZeeWeed 500 technology is an advanced filtration technology that separates particles, bacteria and viruses from water or wastewater. Nearly 1,000 plants worldwide use this technology to produce superior quality drinking water and to meet or exceed stringent wastewater treatment and water reuse standards.

Ultrafiltration is the use of a pressure-driven barrier to the suspended solids, bacteria, viruses, endotoxins and other pathogens in water to produce treated water with very high purity and low silt density. It serves as a pretreatment for surface water, seawater and biologically treated municipal effluent before reverse osmosis and other membrane water-treatment systems. Ultrafiltration also is used in industry to separate suspended solids from solution. GE’s ZeeWeed ultrafiltration membranes offer an unmatched combination of ultrafiltration performance, energy efficiency, fast installation, ease of operation and reliability.

Xylem Water Solutions and GE jointly developed the project and assisted on the technical specifications. The facility is expected to begin commercial operation in summer 2013, when it will be the second largest ZeeWeed MBR plant in operation in Spain.

About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

About GE Power & Water
GE Power & Water provides customers with a broad array of power generation, energy delivery and water process technologies to solve their challenges locally. Power & Water works in all areas of the energy industry including renewable resources such as wind and solar, biogas and alternative fuels; and coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy. The business also develops advanced technologies to help solve the world’s most complex challenges related to water availability and quality. Power & Water’s six business units include Distributed Power, Nuclear Energy, Power Generation Services, Renewable Energy, Thermal Products and Water & Process Technologies. Headquartered in Schenectady, N.Y., Power & Water is GE’s largest industrial business.

Follow GE Power & Water and GE’s water business on Twitter @GE_PowerWater and @GE_Water.

*Trademark of the General Electric Company; may be registered in one or more countries.