EPA Releases Report on First Year’s Accomplishments of The Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic Pollutants Initiative

 

NEWS ADVISORY-TO NATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

EPA’s Latest Developments

Following are some Agency developments which may interest you. If you need more information on any of these subjects, call the appropriate contact.

EPA Releases Report on First Year’s Accomplishments of

The Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic Pollutants Initiative

Martha Casey 202-564-7842

EPA’s Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Pollutants Initiative (PBT) has released its 1999 PBTI Accomplishments Report highlighting the major activities the agency implemented through its first year to address PBTs and to reduce their production, use, and releases nationwide. These pollutants, including mercury, PCBs and dioxin among others, are highly toxic, long-lasting substances that can build up in the food chain to levels that are harmful to humans and ecosystems. PBTs are associated with a range of adverse human health effects, including the nervous system reproductive and developmental problems, cancer, and genetic impacts. Reducing risks from PBTs presents a challenge to the agency because of the pollutants ability to travel long distances, move easily from air to water or land and linger for generations in people and the environment. The PBT Initiative employs a pollution prevention approach, but also recognizes treatment and remediation may also be necessary to protect public health and the environment. Development of an agency-wide strategy has enabled EPA to utilize all of its tools - voluntary, regulatory, international, enforcement, compliance and research to focus on a set of priority pollutants of common concern to all EPA program offices. The report is available at the PBTI web site at: http://www.epa.gov/pbt/accomp99.htm . A limited number of hard copies will be available from the Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse at 202-260-0123.

EPA Seeks Public Comment on National Action Plans Proposed

For Two Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic Chemicals

Martha Casey 202-564-7842

On Fri., Aug. 25, EPA published in the Federal Register two Notices of Availability for Public Comment on proposed National Action Plans that identify Alkyl-lead and Octachlorostyrene as persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals. Alkyl-lead is used as a fuel additive to reduce "knock" in combustion engines and also to help lubricate internal engine components. The largest uses of alkyl-lead are in aviation and racing gasoline. The proposed action plan promotes the development of alternative fuel additives as a substitute for leaded fuels. Octachlorostyrene (OCS) is a PBT halogenated aromatic compound with no known commercial use. It is, however, an inadvertent by-product that persists in the environment and bioaccumulates in animal tissue. Because of limited data on sources and levels of OCS emissions, the proposed action plan outlines an approach to investigate OCS levels in the environment including its potential sources. Once determined, the agency would share the information with its stakeholders and form partnerships to reduce OCS emissions. The two proposed National Action Plans, developed under the Agency’s Multimedia Strategy for PBT Pollutants, are available via the EPA PBT Initiative web site at:

http:/www.epa.gov/pbt/ocs-pb.htm . Comment will be accepted for 30 days.

EPA Makes Available Preliminary Information on Water Pollution

From Cruise Ships

Robin Woods 202-564-7841

EPA is making available a discussion paper with preliminary information on waste management practices on cruise ships. The paper highlights waste streams associated with most cruise ships, identifies existing domestic and international authorities available to regulate water pollution from cruise ships and provides some preliminary recommendations for addressing water pollution from cruise ships. The paper is part of an agency information gathering exercise to assess impacts from cruise ship discharges and will be used to stimulate discussion at three public meetings scheduled in September. The meetings will be held in Miami, Los Angeles and Juneau. The cruise ship "white paper," is available at EPA’s Office of Water web site: http://www.epa.gov, click on "What’s New," scroll down to Aug. 23.

Innovative Water Quality Management Begins in Chicago

Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818

On Aug. 30, the EPA and the Illinois environmental agency signed an agreement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago (MWRD) in an attempt to improve the National Pretreatment Program, which protects water quality. The main goal of this EPA Project XL (which stands for eXcellence and Leadership) agreement is to work with local publicly owned treatment works to explore innovative ways to reduce pollutants entering local wastewater treatment plants and the Chicago River. The MWRD is an independent government entity and treats wastewater from domestic, commercial and industrial sources in the Chicago area. Under the agreement, MWRD will reduce reporting for small industrial companies with good compliance records and will redirect resources to other activities with greater potential for environmental benefit. MWRD will establish partnerships with local metal finishers, who comprise more than seventy percent of the small industrial users regulated under MWRD’s pretreatment program. Together, they will work to reduce pollutants in wastewater discharged to the treatment plants operated by MWRD. This approach builds upon the National Strategic Goals Program for metal finishers, established under EPA’s Common Sense Initiative to improve sector-wide environmental performance. EPA, the state agency, MWRD and interested stakeholders will also work to identify and reduce pollutants, such as chlorinated solvents which have the potential to harm water quality but are not currently regulated. MWRD will attempt to reduce these pollutants through pollution prevention strategies and consumer education. Project XL is a national initiative which tests innovative ways of achieving better and more cost-effective public health and environmental protection. It encourages testing cleaner, cheaper, and smarter ways to attain environmental results superior to those achieved under current regulations and policies and is carried out in conjunction with greater accountability to stakeholders. To participate in the program, an applicant must develop strategies that produce superior environmental results beyond those that would have been achieved under current regulations and policies. More information is available at: http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL .

Enforcement Wrap-Up

Tanya Meekins 202-564-7819

Company and Employees Plead to Dumping in Pensacola Bay

Odebrecht-Metric (OM), a joint venture between Odebrecht Contractors of Florida, Inc. of Coral Gables, Fla., and Metric Constructors, Inc., of North Carolina; and three of its employees: Frank Doddi, General Superintendent;

Steven Spry, Assistant Superintendent; and Marcellino Romero, Assistant Superintendent; all pleaded guilty on Aug. 23, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Pensacola to negligently violating the Clean Water Act. Between January 1997 and March 1999, the defendants illegally disposed of construction waste, such as concrete and waste cut-off bridge pilings into the East Bay and Pensacola Bay during the construction of the Garcon Point Bridge. Illegally dumping construction wastes into bays can damage habitat for fish and other aquatic life. The plea agreement calls for Odebrecht to pay a $1 million fine and also pay $2,423,000 in restitution to the Garcon Point Restoration Trust for cleaning up and restoring East Bay and Pensacola Bay. In addition, Odebrecht will also pay $42,000 to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Law Enforcement, $20,500 to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, $10,500 to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Submerged Land Section, $2,000 to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office and $2,000 to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission’s Marine Patrol. Odebrecht has also agreed to purchase and donate 60 acres of land in Santa Rosa County to the state of Florida and pay $500,000 to the Florida Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund to supplement the financing of future environmental crimes investigations in Florida. This is the largest federal penalty to date for an environmental crime in the Northern District of Florida. Doddi, Spry and Romero will potentially face maximum sentences of one year in prison and/or fines of $25,000 per day of violation. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Department of Transportation-Office of Inspector General, the FBI, the U.S. Coast Guard-Criminal Investigative Service and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection-Division of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida in Pensacola.

Three Florida Men Sentenced in Hazardous Waste Case

Ralph G. Dearden of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and German Delgado of Hialeah, Fla., were sentenced on Aug. 18, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami for conspiracy to violate the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). In addition, Dearden was also sentenced on two counts of illegally disposing of hazardous waste under RCRA. Dearden was sentenced to two years in prison, was ordered to pay $117,800 in fines and restitution and was ordered to serve three years probation after release. Delgado was sentenced to four months in prison, three years probation and approximately $400 in fines. According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, Dearden owned and operated D&B Paint Manufacturing Co., in Fort Lauderdale. From the 1970’s until 1995 when D&B stopped operations, it generated a variety of hazardous wastes during manufacturing. The defendants conspired to dispose of 40 55-gallon drums of these wastes which were dumped near the Everglades National Park. The wastes included mercury, benzene, lead, methyl ethyl ketone, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. Benzene is a known cause of cancer and exposure to sufficient quantities of lead and mercury can cause neurological disorders. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Dade County Department of Environmental Resources Management’s Environmental Crime Unit and the Florida Marine Patrol. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida in Miami.

CONTACT: Martha Casey, 202-564-7842; Robin Woods, 202-564-7841; Luke C.

Hester, 202-564-7818; or Tanya Meekins, 202-564-7819, all for the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency.

SOURCE U.S. Environmental Protection Agency