Archive for the ‘Agriculture’ Category
EPA to Conduct First Five-Year Review of Hudson River PCB Cleanup
May 17th, 2012 | 
Author: Release Date: 03/30/2012Contact Information: Elias Rodriguez, 212-637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov
(Fort Edward, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently conducting a five-year review of the cleanup that has been conducted so far on the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site, which extends from Hudson Falls, New York, to New York City. The cleanup work is being performed in the Upper Hudson River north of Troy, New York. The purpose of this five-year review, which is legally required under the Superfund law within five years after the start of on-site construction, is to ensure that the cleanup is working as intended and continues to protect public health and the environment.
In conducting the five-year review, the EPA is reviewing site operation, maintenance and monitoring information. The plan for dredging underwent extensive review by the EPA and the General Electric Company at the end of the 2009 dredging program. The dredging was also reviewed by a panel of independent scientific experts at that time. The results of that evaluation will be summarized in this five-year review and will be supplemented with information gathered during the 2011 dredging season. The five-year review will also include a review of the 1984 cleanup plan for the areas of PCB-contaminated sediment upstream of the areas targeted for dredging. These areas, known as the remnant deposits, became exposed after the river water level dropped following removal of the Fort Edward Dam in 1973.
Between 1947 and 1977, an estimated 1.3 million pounds of PCBs were discharged into the river from two General Electric capacitor manufacturing plants located in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls, New York. The dredging of the Hudson River was designed to occur in two phases. The first phase of the dredging project was conducted in 2009 and the second and final phase began in June 2011. The cleanup is being conducted by General Electric Company under a legal agreement with the EPA.
Under the law, the ongoing five year review of the Hudson River dredging project must be completed by the end of April 2012. The results will be shared with the public and will be available on the EPA’s Hudson River website at www.epa.gov/hudson and in the local repositories established for the site: Edgewater Public Library, 49 Hudson Avenue, Edgewater, NJ 07020; Adriance Memorial Library, 93 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601; NY State Library, Cultural Education Center, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12230; Crandall Public Library, 251 Glen Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801; Saratoga County EMC, 50 W. High Street, Ballston Spa, NY 12020; EPA Hudson River Field Office, 421 Lower Main Street, Hudson Falls, NY 12839; and at the EPA Region 2 Superfund Records Center, 290 Broadway – 18th Floor, New York, NY 10007.
Project information can be found on the Internet at http://www.epa.gov/hudson and http://www.hudsondredgingdata.com.
For further information or to submit comments on the five year review of the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site, please contact Gary Klawinski (Remedial Project Manager) at klawinski.gary@epa.gov
or Larisa Romanowski (Community Involvement Coordinator) at romanowski.larisa@epa.gov. They can also be reached at:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Hudson River Field Office
421 Lower Main Street
Hudson Falls, NY 12839
(518) 747-4389 or (866) 615-6490 (Toll Free)
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October 4, 2011 – Webinar on Long-Term Green Power Contracts, October 26
(1) NREL. 2010. Green Power Marketing in the United States: A Status Report (PDF). (69 pp., 1.1M)
July 27, 2011 – Webinar on Converting Food Waste to Energy, August 17
Cleanup Complete at Hiteman Leather Superfund Site In West Winfield, New York; Site Ready for Redevelopment
Release Date: 02/13/2012Contact Information: Larisa Romanowski, (518) 747-4389, romanowski.larisa@epa.gov
(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has completed the cleanup of the Hiteman Leather Superfund site, a former tannery in West Winfield, New York, and deleted it from the Superfund National Priorities List of the county’s most hazardous waste sites. Soil and sediment on the site was contaminated with chromium, a dangerous metal that can cause serious health effects. After a review of conditions at the site, the EPA has determined that the cleanup continues to protect people’s health and the environment.
The Hiteman Leather Company operated as a tannery on the 12-acre site from 1820 to 1968. By 1964, approximately 180,000 gallons of treated industrial wastewater was being dumped each day from the tannery into three unlined lagoons. The lagoons discharged into the Unadilla River and a nearby wetland. The company was closed in 1968 because it could not meet requirements for the proper management of wastewater. The EPA added the Hiteman Leather site to the Superfund list in 1999 after finding high levels of chromium in the soil on the site and in sediments in the adjacent wetland and river.
The EPA first demolished the contaminated, structurally unsound buildings on the site and fenced the property to restrict access. The contaminated soil from the site and contaminated sediment from the wetland and the river were excavated and consolidated on-site. A soil cover was then installed over the entire site.
The EPA finished the cleanup work in 2008 and has continued to monitor the site. Based on the monitoring results, EPA proposed to remove the site from the NPL in December 2011 and received no comments on its proposal. The EPA will continue to assess conditions at the site every five years to ensure that the cleanup continues to be protective of human health and the environment.
In 2003, the EPA awarded a $100,000 grant to the Village of West Winfield to develop a Reuse Assessment and Redevelopment Plan for the Hiteman Leather site as part of the EPA’s Superfund Redevelopment Initiative. The plan calls for the construction of a community center, development of recreational facilities, consolidation and modernization of the existing Department of Public Works facility, and commercial development. With the deletion of the site from the Superfund list, West Winfield can now redevelop the site consistent with the Reuse Assessment and Redevelopment Plan.
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EPA Orders AVX Corp. to Clean Up New Bedford Harbor (MA)
Release Date: 04/18/2012Contact Information:
(Boston, Mass. – April 18, 2012) – EPA has issued an enforcement order to AVX Corp. to implement the ongoing cleanup work at New Bedford Harbor, including dredging PCB-contaminated sediment from the Harbor and disposing the dredged sediment to an appropriately licensed off-site facility, into a confined aquatic disposal cell in the Harbor, and into confined disposal facilities to be built along the shoreline.
The unilateral administrative order requires AVX to take action to remediate contamination in the Upper and Lower Harbor, and will provide more rapid protection of public health and the environment by addressing polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated sediment at the New Bedford Harbor Superfund Site in New Bedford, Mass. EPA has consulted with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in connection with the issuance of today’s order.
EPA is issuing the order under authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and pursuant to the terms of a prior settlement with AVX. From the 1940’s to the 1970’s, AVX’s corporate predecessor, Aerovox Corp., owned and operated what is known as the Aerovox mill, an electrical capacitor manufacturing facility located on the western shore of New Bedford Harbor, from which it discharged hazardous substances including PCBs wastes into the Harbor. EPA has determined that Aerovox Corp.’s facility was the primary source of PCBs released at and to the Harbor.
Following a lawsuit, the United States (on behalf of EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts entered into a Consent Decree with AVX in 1992, requiring AVX’s payment of past and future response costs and natural resource damages, and reserving the governments’ legal rights against AVX through reopener provisions.
Following EPA’s 1998 issuance of the “Record of Decision” for the remediation of the Upper and Lower Harbor areas of the Superfund site, the Agency has been performing the remedial design and action work using settlement funds received from AVX and other settling defendants to finance this work. The funds were depleted in 2004. As of Dec. 31, 2011, approximately $456 million has been spent on all aspects of the cleanup at the New Bedford Harbor Superfund Site, with the vast majority of these funds from the federal government’s Hazardous Substance Superfund. EPA estimates that the net present value of additional costs required to complete the Upper and Lower Harbor cleanup may be as much as $401 million.
Since 2008, EPA and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have engaged in discussions with AVX concerning the company’s remaining liabilities at the Harbor site and for the Aerovox mill site. As a result, under a 2010 settlement agreement with EPA, AVX agreed to dismantle and remove building debris relating to the cleanup of the Aerovox mill. An agreement has not been reached for the Harbor site; however, EPA’s enforcement order includes a delayed effective date of sixty days to provide AVX an opportunity to continue discussions with the governments concerning the extent to which AVX would pay for and/or perform the cleanup of the Harbor site. EPA will continue to perform the remediation as long as Superfund funds are available until responsibility for the site cleanup passes to AVX under the administrative order or a settlement agreement.
“In keeping with EPA’s long-standing ‘polluter pays’ principle, because Aerovox Corp. was responsible for a significant volume of PCBs that now contaminate New Bedford Harbor, AVX is obligated to play a major role in the cleanup,” said Curt Spalding, the regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “We are hopeful that this step will allow cleanup work to continue much faster than it currently is, and we will more rapidly be able to ensure that both human health and ecological health are being protected from exposure to PCBs in New Bedford Harbor.”
PCBs are mixtures of up to 209 individual synthetic chlorinated compounds that are chemically stable, adsorb onto sediment particles readily and are resistant to biodegradation. PCBs are characterized as a probable carcinogen in humans.
Fish, lobster, quahog and other seafood from New Bedford Harbor and the Acushnet River contain high levels of PCBs. In 1979, the Mass. Dept. of Public Health issued restrictions on fishing and lobstering based on health risks from eating fish and lobster from the 18,000-acre New Bedford Harbor and Acushnet River estuary. EPA has issued additional health advisories regarding seafood consumption from the Harbor that can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/nbh/seafood.html
More information: EPA’s New Bedford Harbor website (http://www.epa.gov/nbh).
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Commission for Environmental Cooperation Announces Funding to Address Environmental Problems in North America
Release Date: 02/16/2012Contact Information: Stacy Kika (News Media Only), kika.stacy@epa.gov, 202-564-0906, 202-564-4355; en español: Lina Younes, younes.lina@epa.gov, 202-564-9924, 202-564-4355
WASHINGTON – Today, Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) council members including U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced the winners of more than $1.3 million of grants under the CEC’s North American Partnership for Environmental Community Action (NAPECA) program. The grants will support community efforts to promote healthy communities and ecosystems, encourage activities that address climate change through the transition to a low carbon economy, and advance innovative projects that could assist in greening the economies of the three countries.
Eighteen projects were chosen from 500 proposals received last year as part of a new initiative announced at the CEC Council’s meeting held in Montreal. The successful projects span the eco-regions of North America and support environmental action at the community level from the sub-arctic tundra, to the grasslands of the Great Plains, to the tropical forests of Mexico. Projects address issues ranging from the effects of climate change on Woodland Caribou and the Athabaskan Peoples in Canada, to citizen-powered air quality testing in Louisiana, and protecting the health of women and children through the adoption of better clean energy cook stoves in Mexico.
The 18 projects were selected based on their significance for addressing community and North American environmental issues, their innovation and technical or scientific approaches, their emphasis on promoting partnerships and demonstration of a plan to produce clear and tangible results. The projects represent an extremely broad base of hands-on groups and organizations, representing tribal nations, indigenous peoples, community organizations, environmental groups, and academic institutions.
The CEC council members include the environment ministers of the three NAFTA countries: Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent, Mexico’s Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources Juan Elvira Quesada and US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
A complete list of grantees: http://www.cec.org/napeca
More information on the Commission for Environmental Cooperation: http://www.epa.gov/oia/regions/na/nacec/index.html
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September 27, 2011 – Green Power Planet Newsletter
EPA Awards Over $200,000 to the Oklahoma Department of Labor to Reduce Exposure to Asbestos
Release Date: 03/07/2012Contact Information: Dave Bary or Jennah Durant at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov
(DALLAS – March 7, 2012) A grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will assist in reducing asbestos exposure in schools and state buildings in Oklahoma. The grant for $234,713, given to the Oklahoma Department of Labor (ODOL), will be used for inspections and encouraging compliance with the Asbestos in Schools Program which is designed to protect the health of school children and other occupants as well as the community. ODOL will complete 100 audit inspections in Oklahoma schools during 2012 and verify asbestos workers are properly trained and accredited prior to and during asbestos abatement work.
More information about the Asbestos in School Program is available at http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/asbestos_in_schools.html
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
EPA audio file is available at http://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/podcast/mar2012.html
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$20 Million Available for Clean Diesel Projects
Release Date: 04/23/2012Contact Information: Molly Hooven (News Media Only), hooven.molly@epa.gov, 202-564-2313,
202-564-4355
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of up to $20 million in FY 2012 grant funding to establish clean diesel projects aimed at reducing harmful pollution from the nation’s existing fleet of diesel engines and improving air quality and Americans’ health. In addition to these grants, approximately $9 million will be available through direct state allocations. EPA estimates that for every $1 spent on clean diesel funding up to $13 of public health benefit is realized.
"Technology has evolved to make diesel engines more efficient and cleaner than ever," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. "These grants enable owners of older diesel vehicles to make investments that modernize their vehicles while making the air in their communities cleaner and healthier to breathe.”
This is the first competition since the Diesel Emission Reduction Program, also known as DERA, was reauthorized in 2011. The program cleans up existing diesel vehicles, many of which can be operated for decades, by targeting projects that utilize the most cost-effective clean diesel strategies. By reducing diesel emissions in areas that have significant air quality issues the program can have a direct impact on community health.
Diesel engines are durable, fuel efficient workhorses in the American economy. EPA has standards in place that make new diesels more than 90 percent cleaner. However, older diesels that predate these standards emit large amounts of air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). These pollutants are linked to health problems, including asthma, lung and heart disease, and even premature death. Nearly 11 million older diesels still operate throughout the nation’s transportation system.
States, tribes, local governments, and non-profits are eligible to apply for these grants. Projects can reduce air pollution from older school buses, transit buses, heavy-duty diesel trucks, marine engines, locomotives, and other diesel engines. The closing date for receipt of proposals is June 4, 2012.
DERA was enacted in 2005 and since it was first funded in FY 2008, EPA has awarded over 500 grants nationwide. These projects have reduced hundreds of thousands of tons of air pollution and saved millions of gallons of fuel. As part of EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign, many of these projects fund cleaner diesel engines that operate in economically disadvantaged communities whose residents suffer from higher-than-average instances of respiratory ailments.
Request for Proposals forms and related documents: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/diesel/prgnational.htm
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EPA Adds Corozal Well Site in Corozal, Puerto Rico to the Superfund List
Release Date: 03/13/2012Contact Information: Rodriguez, 212-637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov or Brenda Reyes, 787-977-5869, reyes.brenda@epa.gov
(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it has added the Corozal Well site in Barrio Palos Blancos, Corozal, Puerto Rico to its Superfund National Priorities List of the country’s most hazardous waste sites. Sampling at the site, which is in a rural area near the municipalities of Corozal and Naranjito, found that the chemical tetrachloroethylene or PCE is contaminating a well used to supply drinking water to local residents. Exposure to PCE, a solvent commonly used in industrial processes, can have serious effects of people’s health including liver damage and an increased risk of cancer. After discovering the contamination in 2010, the Puerto Rico Department of Health ordered the well closed. In March 2011, the EPA installed a treatment system on the well to remove the contaminants and provide the community with water that is safe to drink.
“Ensuring that people have a safe source of drinking water is essential to protecting public health and is an EPA priority,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator. “By placing the Corozal Well site on the Superfund list, the EPA can do the extensive sampling needed to find the best ways to address the contamination and protect people’s health.”
The Corozal well, known locally as the Santana well, serves a small, rural population that is not connected to the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority public water supply system. Ground water samples collected in 2010 and 2011 confirmed the presence of PCE in the well. The EPA has not yet identified the source of the ground water contamination.
Nationwide, EPA is proposing to add 10 other sites to the Superfund list today and is designating nine others as final on the list. The EPA periodically proposes sites to the Superfund list and, after responding to public comments, designates them as final Superfund sites. The Superfund final designation makes them eligible for funds to conduct long-term cleanups. The Corozal Well site is now designated as final on the Superfund list.
The EPA does an extensive search to identify and locate the parties potentially responsible for the contamination at all sites on the Superfund list. The agency requires responsible parties to pay for or perform the cleanup work with EPA oversight. The majority of Superfund cleanups are performed by or paid for by polluters. Taxpayer dollars are used to cover EPA cleanup costs when no responsible party can be identified.
For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm.
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