Cleanup Work Complete in the Ashtabula River Area of Concern

EPA Press Release:

For Immediate Release         

No. 14-OPA107

Cleanup Work Complete in the Ashtabula River Area of Concern

Ashtabula, Ohio (Sept. 4, 2014) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the completion of all cleanup work required to remove the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie from the binational list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern. EPA Region 5 Administrator/Great Lakes Program Manager Susan Hedman was joined for the announcement by U.S. Representative Dave Joyce, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Craig Butler, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Marie Therese Dominguez and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Deputy Regional Director Charlie Wooley.

The Ashtabula River is one of 43 contaminated sites on the Great Lakes designated as a Great Lakes Area of Concern by the United States and Canada under the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

“Today is a great day for the Ashtabula River and for Lake Erie,” Hedman said. “Federal, state and local agencies have now completed all of the work required to remove the Ashtabula River from the list of Great Lakes Areas of Concern.”

Since the early 1990s, the federal government, the State of Ohio and several private companies have spent approximately $85 million to remove contaminated sediment and to restore habitat in the Ashtabula River Area of Concern. Since 2010, almost $14 million from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has been used to complete the final actions to remediate and restore this Area of Concern.

“The cleanup efforts here on the Ashtabula River should serve as a model for similar projects around the country,” Congressman Joyce said. “This success story demonstrates why we must ensure that the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative receives the funding it needs. I was pleased to help secure $300 million for GLRI this year and will continue to lead bipartisan efforts to protect the Great Lakes, our greatest economic and environmental resource.”

“The cleanup of the Lower Ashtabula River and Harbor Area of Concern has been a long journey but the payoff will be well worth the investment. Ohio EPA commends the partnerships between government agencies and community groups who made the removal of impairments and addition of in-water and riparian habitat restoration possible,” Butler said. 

"The Ashtabula River is a great example of a successful partnership,” Dominguez said. “Thanks to the efforts and commitment of local, state and federal governments and organizations, the removal of over 100,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments will result in the delisting of the Ashtabula Area of Concern, a high priority for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.  Today marks the Army Corps' successful completion of an extraordinarily important dredging project which improves navigation, and the environment of the Ashtabula River."

“When it comes to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s work and the work of partners in the Ashtabula River, I believe that our actions here and in other Great Lakes AOCs will be remembered for years to come as the point in history when our country rallied our expertise, our resources and our hope to usher in an era of Great Lakes water stewardship,” Wooley said. “The Service is proud to be a part of this historic endeavor.”

“There’s no substitute for a committed, passionate, tenacious group of people in the community who care,” EPA Senior Advisor Cameron Davis said. “Thanks to them, Ashtabula can be added to the growing list of cleanup completions around the Great Lakes that we all love.”

More information about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Ashtabula River and Harbor cleanup and restoration is available on EPA’s web site:

-http://www.glri.us

-http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/aoc/ashtabula/index.html

-http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/sediment/legacy/ashtabula/index.html

Secretary's Column: The Land and Water Conservation Fund at 50: As Important Today as Ever

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on September 3, 2014 at 12:00 PM

Today, September 3, 2014, marks two important 50^th anniversaries: the signing of the Wilderness Act and the establishment of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Since President Lyndon Johnson signed both pieces of legislation in 1964, Americans in all 50 states, across thousands of rural and urban communities, have reaped the benefits of accessible outdoor recreation opportunities and protected natural areas.

Together, these landmark pieces of legislation helped to usher in a new era for conservation.

The Wilderness Act protects wild and scenic undeveloped land across the United States for the benefit of all. Today, the National Wilderness Preservation System includes more than 750 wilderness areas covering almost 110 million acres.

The Act works alongside the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports federal, state and local governments in purchasing priority recreation and wildlife habitat lands and waters from willing sellers. Nationwide, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has supported over 40,000 state and local projects, protecting seven million acres of working forests and ranches, wilderness, and world-class recreational lands.

For example, the Land and Water Conservation Fund helps to support an ongoing Forest Service purchasing program to acquire wetlands in the North Florida Wildlife Corridor, which provides freshwater supplies for nearly 20 million Floridians and Georgians and provides habitat for migratory waterfowl, bobcat, black bear and many species of threatened or endangered wildlife. The Fund helps to protect these natural resources while also benefiting local communities that depend on the 800,000-plus tourists who visit these public lands and waters each year. More than 40,000 acres within the 170,000-acre wildlife corridor have been protected, thanks to the Fund.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund achieves results while using no taxpayer dollars. Instead, the Fund uses earnings from offshore oil and gas leasing to help protect sensitive lands.

That’s good, but since its inception, the program has been consistently underfunded. A 2009 analysis by the Trust for Public Land indicates that that every dollar invested in land conservation through the Land and Water Conservation Fund creates $4 in economic value—imagine what could be done if the Fund was used at its full potential.

As we celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, we look back to successful conservation efforts, but we also look forward to the needs of growing numbers of Americans who want to enjoy America’s great outdoors. That is why President Obama has called on Congress to fully and permanently fund this important law so that even more can be done to ensure that future generations have protected and accessible places to play and that rural and urban communities can continue to benefit from the economic opportunity provided by proximity to premiere natural and recreational lands.

EPA settles with Washington Crab Producers, Inc., for “Community- Right-to-Know” violations at Westport, WA Processing Facility

EPA Press Release:

EPA settles with Washington Crab Producers, Inc., for “Community- Right-to-Know” violations at Westport, WA Processing Facility

Local fire department gets valuable emergency response technology as part of settlement

Contact:  Hanady Kader, EPA Public Affairs, 206-553-0454, kader.hanady@epa.gov

(Seattle – Sept. 3, 2014) Washington Crab Producers, Inc., owner and operator of a seafood processing facility in Westport, Washington, will pay a $16,551 penalty and provide a high-tech thermal imaging camera to the Westport Fire Department to settle alleged violations of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, known as EPCRA.

EPA documents allege that Washington Crab Producers, Inc., stored anhydrous ammonia and nitrogen gas above EPCRA threshold quantities at their Westport facility during calendar year 2012. During that time, they failed to file the required emergency and hazardous chemical inventory forms on time with the state emergency response commission, the local emergency planning committee, and the local fire department, as required by law.

According to Kelly McFadden, Manager of EPA’s Pesticides and Toxics Enforcement program in Seattle, Washington, diligent reporting at facilities handling large amounts of toxic and hazardous chemicals can save lives by aiding in community planning and emergency responses.

“Accidents can and do happen,” said EPA’s McFadden. “When responders arrive at a facility, they need to know what they’re dealing with to stay safe. We’re trying to prevent a serious industrial accident from becoming a community tragedy.”

According to legal documents filed with the case, Washington Crab Producers, Inc. has since corrected the violations.  

To learn more about EPA’s work to keep communities safe under EPCRA, please visit: http://www2.epa.gov/epcra/what-epcra

EPA, ODEQ settle with JELD-WEN Millworks for Clean Air Act Violations at Klamath Falls facility

EPA News Release:

EPA, ODEQ settle with JELD-WEN Millworks for Clean Air Act Violations at Klamath Falls facility

Agreement includes $444,000 investment to improve local air quality, over $150,000 in state and federal penalties

CONTACT:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

Hanady Kader / Public Information / 206-553-0454 / kader.hanady@epa.gov

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality:

Jenny Root / Environmental LawSpecialist / 503-229-5874 / root.Jenny@deq.state.or.us

South Central Oregon Economic Development District:

Pamela Ruddock / Community Development / 541-884-5593 / pam@scoedd.org

(Seattle, Washington – Sept. 4, 2014) JELD-WEN’s Millworks Manufacturing-Thomas Lumber facility (JELD-WEN) in Klamath Falls, Oregon has settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for alleged air quality violations. Headquartered in Klamath Falls, Oregon, JELD-WEN employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide and has manufacturing and distribution locations across the United States and in more than 20 countries.

“This settlement will help improve the air people breathe in the Klamath Falls area,” said Ed Kowalski, director of EPA’s Enforcement Program in Seattle. “By meeting its financial obligations under today’s settlement, JELD-WEN is investing in the health and welfare of people who live, work and play near this facility.”

In addition to paying a $108,000 civil penalty to EPA and a $48,000 civil penalty to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, JELD-WEN will perform a major Supplemental Environmental Project by providing $444,000 to implement a local woodstove change-out program in the Klamath Falls area and the nearby town of Chiloquin to replace older, non-certified wood-burning stoves in the community with appliances that use cleaner fuels such as natural gas or new, certified wood-burning stoves. The program will be administered by the South Central Oregon Economic Development District for the next two years and will include both replacement of uncertified woodstoves and installation of fireplace inserts.

EPA alleged numerous violations of JELD-WEN’s air operating permit, primarily in 2008 through 2010, relating to opacity (an indicator of particulate matter), deviation reporting, compliance certification and monitoring. Also as part of today’s action, JELD-WEN is concurrently resolving the same violations with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

For more about how EPA’s Clean Air Act Enforcement Program helps protect the air we breathe: http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/air-enforcement-policy-guidance-and-publications

For More about ODEQ’s Air Quality Program:  http://www.oregon.gov/DEQ/AQ/Pages/index.aspx

For more about the South Central Oregon Economic Development District: http://www.scoedd.org/

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Provides Funding to Target Harmful Algal Blooms in Lake Erie

EPA Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 3, 2014

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Provides Funding to Target Harmful Algal Blooms in Lake Erie

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy today announced that the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) will provide almost $12 million to federal and state agencies to protect public health by targeting harmful algal blooms (HABs) in western Lake Erie. The funding builds upon the GLRI’s on-going efforts to reduce algal blooms and will be made available to Ohio, Michigan and Indiana state agencies and to the U.S. Geological Survey, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“The importance of clean water cannot be overstated, which is why the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is taking further action to target harmful algal blooms in western Lake Erie,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “This important funding will address the immediate need for state and federal agencies to protect public health and build upon on-going efforts to reduce harmful algal blooms.”

The new FY 2014 funding will be used to:

·     Expand monitoring and forecasting to help drinking water treatment plant operators and beach managers minimize health impacts associated with HABs;

·     Increase incentives for farmers in western Lake Erie watersheds to reduce phosphorus runoff that contributes to HABs; and

·     Improve measurement of phosphorus loads in Lake Erie tributaries.

In early August, the City of Toledo issued a "Do Not Drink" order for almost 500,000 people in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan when a drinking water treatment plant was adversely impacted by microcystin, a toxin produced in connection with HAB outbreaks on Lake Erie.  In addition to generating toxins that pose risks to human health, HABs create low oxygen "dead zones" and harm shoreline economies.

On August 13, EPA Regional Administrator, Susan Hedman, convened a meeting of federal and state agencies to identify opportunities for collaboration to minimize HAB-related risks in the western Lake Erie Basin. GLRI funding announced today targets immediate needs identified during that meeting.  The group will continue to focus resources on this issue in FY 2015 and beyond.

McCarthy, who chairs the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, which oversees the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, made the announcement today at the task force meeting in Washington, D.C.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was launched in 2010 to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the largest system of fresh surface water in the world. GLRI resources are used to strategically target the biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem and to accelerate progress toward long term goals which includes eliminating harmful algal blooms. Under the initial GLRI Action Plan, GLRI resources doubled the acreage enrolled in agricultural conservation programs in the western Lake Erie, Saginaw Bay and Green Bay watersheds where nutrient runoff contributes to harmful algal blooms. Under the new GLRI Action Plan, which covers 2015-2019, projects to reduce nutrient loads from these agricultural watersheds will continue. Watershed management and green infrastructure projects to reduce untreated runoff from urban watersheds will also continue.

Information about the GLRI: http://www.glri.us/

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EPA Public Availability Session to be held for the Columbia Nitrogen Site

EPA Press Release:


EPA Public Availability Session to be held for the Columbia Nitrogen Site

Contact Information: James Pinkney, (404) 562-9183 (Direct), (404) 562-8400 (Main) pinkney.james@epa.gov

(ATLANTA – September 3, 2014) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a Public Availability Session from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 4, 2014 at the Freddie Whaley Community Center, 1810 Doscher Ave. in Charleston, SC. Representatives from EPA will be available to provide information and answer questions about the Site.

The Site is approximately 33 acres in size, located at the end of Milford Street in Charleston, SC. From 1905 until 1966, the Site was used for phosphate fertilizer manufacturing. The production of phosphate fertilizer at the Site involved reacting phosphate ore with sulfuric acid to produce phosphoric acid, the building block of nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (N-P-K) agricultural fertilizers. The environmental impacts at the Site resulting from the fertilizer manufacturing include elevated lead and arsenic, and low pH, in soil, sediment, and groundwater. As past owners/operators of the Site, or current owners/operators of the Site, PCS Nitrogen, Inc., Ashley II of Charleston LLC., J. Holcombe Enterprise, L.P., James H. Holcombe, J. Henry Fair, Jr., (collectively referred to as Holcombe and Fair), have been identified as Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) for the Site.

The PRPs are on schedule to begin the removal action beginning in September 2014. The cleanup activities will include excavating the impacted soil and sediment, transporting the soil and sediment off-site to an EPA-approved landfill for disposal, and long-term monitoring of groundwater. For more detail, refer to the documents in the Administrative Record file. The removal action will be completed in 2015. EPA will oversee cleanup operations. 

Community members interested in obtaining additional information are encouraged to contact Sherryl A. Lane, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator, at (877) 718-3752 or 404-562-8611.

For more information about the Site, please visit:

http://www.epaosc.org/sevenout

Connect with EPA Region 4 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion4

And on Twitter: @EPASoutheast

ATTENTION: A media availability session will be held at the Freddie Whaley Community Center, 1810 Doscher Ave. in Charleston, South Carolina, from 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 4, 2014.  EPA will be available to answer media questions concerning the Site. This arrangement will allow for the public to use the entire public availability session to get information and have their questions answered.

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EPA Awards Arkansas Nearly $3 Million to Protect Water Quality

EPA News Release:

EPA Awards Arkansas Nearly $3 Million to Protect Water Quality

DALLAS – (Sept. 3, 2014) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded $2,988,000 to the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC) to support management of nonpoint-source water pollution. The funding will be used for a variety of projects designed to improve water quality in several priority watersheds.

Nonpoint-source pollution (NPS) is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over the ground. This runoff picks up natural and man-made pollutants as it flows, eventually depositing the material into lakes, rivers, and groundwater. This type of pollution can be difficult to manage since it cannot be traced to a specific source. 

EPA’s grant will help the ANRC to fund NPS management projects such as controlling animal wastes, sediment, pesticides, and fertilizers; watershed planning and monitoring; and education and outreach programs. The projects will focus on reducing pollution in priority watersheds throughout Arkansas, including the Illinois River, Bayou Bartholomew, Strawberry River, and L’Anguille River.

The nonpoint-source pollution control program supports the goals of the Clean Water Act to protect rivers, lakes, bays, wetlands, and coastal waters. Streams and wetlands benefit communities by trapping floodwaters, recharging groundwater supplies, removing pollution and providing habitats for fish and wildlife. Families and farms located downstream understand the importance of healthy headwaters upstream. One in three Americans get their drinking water from public systems that rely on seasonal and rain-dependent streams. EPA is taking public comment on a rule to help protect our nation’s waters. For more information please visit: www.epa.gov/uswaters.

Connect with EPA Region 6:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eparegion6 

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAregion6

Activities in EPA Region 6: http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.htm 

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