Trash and Recycling News Release (HQ): EPA Announces 2010 Game Day Challenge Winners

CONTACT:
Richard Yost
yost.richard@epa.gov
202-564-7827
202-564-4355

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2010

EPA Announces 2010 Game Day Challenge Winners

Seventy-seven colleges and universities divert 500,000 pounds of waste from landfills

WASHINGTON ­– The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the 2010 Game Day Challenge winners. U.S. colleges and universities competed to reduce the most amount of waste during a home football game.

“Disposing of valuable materials in the waste stream represents a lost opportunity for our economy and for our efforts to protect the environment,” says Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “Through participation in the Game Day Challenge, these colleges and universities are encouraging our society’s future leaders to improve the ways we manage our resources.”

During the month of October, 77 participating schools targeted more than 2.8 million fans at football games. The schools together diverted more than 500,000 pounds of waste from landfills, which prevented the release of nearly 940 metric tons of carbon dioxide. This is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 179 cars.

Participating schools tracked the amount of recycled, composted, reused, donated, and disposed of waste during one home football game. Winners were determined based on the amount of waste that was diverted from the landfill in relation to the amount of generated waste and the number of people at the game.  

2010 Winners:
Waste Minimization Champion: Ithaca College and University of Tennessee at Martin
Diversion Rate Champion: University of California, Davis
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Champion: University of Central Oklahoma
Recycling Champion: University of Central Oklahoma
Organics Reduction Champion: Marist College

The competition was sponsored by EPA’s WasteWise program, a voluntary program through which organizations eliminate costly municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes, benefiting their bottom line and the environment. Launched in 1994, the program has more than 2,700 members.

More information on participant results: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/wastewise/challenge/gameday/results.htm

More information on how the results are determined:
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/wastewise/challenge/gameday/measure.htm

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(Region 9): U.S. EPA Fines Kettleman City Landfill

For Immediate Release:  November 30, 2010
Media Contact:  Nahal Mogharabi, mogharabi.nahal@epa.gov

U.S. EPA Fines Kettleman City Landfill
Chemical Waste Management Fails to Meet EPA Requirements for PCB Storage and Disposal

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today fined Chemical Waste Management, Inc. (CWM) more than $300,000 for failure to properly manage PCBs at its Kettleman Hills Hazardous Waste Landfill. In order to protect human health and the environment, EPA regulations and facility specific permit requirements require that PCBs are properly tracked, stored and disposed. EPA vigorously enforces PCB requirements and will continue to monitor this facility and other PCB storage and disposal facilities.

The CWM Kettleman Hills Facility is a commercial hazardous waste facility located in Kings County, CA. The facility handles the treatment, storage and disposal of PCBs, hazardous and non-hazardous waste. The Kettleman Hills Landfill is the only landfill in California federally regulated to handle PCBs, and is just one of ten PCB regulated landfills in the country.

“Companies charged with safely disposing of society’s most toxic materials need to rigorously follow the protective laws established to secure both the public safety and public trust. Violations of federal environmental laws at the Kettleman hazardous waste facility are unacceptable,” said Jared Blumenfeld, the EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest.

During a series of 2010 inspections, EPA investigators found that CWM improperly managed PCBs at the facility. Further analysis revealed spills next to the facility’s PCB Storage and Flushing Building. Samples taken by EPA and CWM in and around the building detected PCBs at elevated levels ranging from 2.1 parts per million (ppm) up to 440 ppm. These levels are above the regulatory limit of 1 ppm and, in soil, demonstrate that PCBs were improperly disposed of in violation of federal law.

In January 2010, EPA committed to working with the State of California and the community of Kettleman City to both investigate compliance with federal laws and research environmental stressors. The current fines relate to the mismanagement of PCBs within the confines of CWM’s property.  There is no evidence to suggest that the current spills posed any danger to adjacent communities.  The question of whether there is any human health or environmental risk of PCBs migrating off site is being evaluated by a PCB congener study that is nearing completion.

PCBs are liquids that were used in electrical transformers, capacitors, circuit breakers, voltage regulators/switches, plasticizers, and additives in lubricating and cutting oils. Tests have shown that PCBs cause cancer in animals and are suspected carcinogens in humans. Acute PCB exposure can also adversely affect the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems as well as liver function.

The EPA’s Hazardous Waste Program oversees the safe management and disposal of hazardous waste including PCBs. Concerns about human health and the extensive presence and lengthy persistence of PCBs in the environment led Congress to enact the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976. The Act authorized EPA to secure information on all new and existing chemical substances, as well as to control any of the substances that were determined to cause unreasonable risk to public health or the environment.        

In addition to the PCB releases, CWM failed to fully comply with information and decontamination requirements.  A PCB container label and some materials containing PCBs did not display essential data required by federal law. EPA investigations also found that CWM failed to decontaminate PCB handling areas prior to continued use.

CWM has cleaned up PCB releases at the facility under a cleanup plan approved by EPA and the State of California, Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).  The plan was submitted to the agencies and approved in September and October 2010. DTSC issued a Corrective Action Order on October 18th that required CWM to clean up PCB contamination in accordance with state and federal requirements. CWM will be submitting a final report documenting its cleanup to both agencies.

For more information on PCB violations found at the Kettleman Hills Facility, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region9/kettleman/index.html

For more information on PCB regulation and enforcement as well as the Toxic Substances Control Act, please visit: http://epa.gov/region9/toxic/pcb/index.html

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Sent by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW · Washington DC 20460 · 202-564-4355

Research News Release (HQ): EPA Administrator and NAS President Recognize EPA 40th Anniversary, Announce Groundbreaking National Research Council Study

CONTACTS:
LaTisha Petteway (News Media Only)
petteway.latisha@epa.gov
202-564-3191
202-564-4355

Dale Kemery (News Media Only)
kemery.dale@epa.gov
202-564-7839
202-564-4355

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2010


EPA Administrator and NAS President Recognize EPA 40^th Anniversary, Announce Groundbreaking National Research Council Study

WASHINGTON – Today, at an event recognizing the Environmental Protection Agency’s 40^th anniversary, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and National Academy of Sciences (NAS) President Ralph Cicerone announced that EPA has commissioned a National Research Council (NRC) study that will help the agency build upon its expertise in protecting human health and the environment. The study will define how to incorporate sustainability concepts into EPA programs.

The event is part of EPA’s week-long commemoration of the agency’s 40th anniversary. The week began with an event at the Aspen Institute, which unveiled a list of 10 ways EPA has strengthened America. The administrator and EPA offices across the country will be participating in events to highlight the impact of its efforts to clean up the air Americans breathe, the water they drink and the communities they live in. These events will also focus on some of the unfinished business of the environmental movement.

The agency has asked the NRC to develop the Green Book, a groundbreaking effort to incorporate sustainability into the way the agency approaches environmental protection. This tool will assist EPA in its work to find links and coordinate among its various functions, including air, water and land protection. The announcement signifies an important step toward building a society that can meet its needs while preserving the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The effort parallels the 1983 Red Book, published by the NRC in an effort to systematize risk assessment and risk management into EPA’s work. At that time, EPA Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus delivered a landmark speech to the National Academies, calling for the development of the risk framework and emphasizing its critical role in improving the agency’s effectiveness.

Historically, environmental programs have largely focused on reducing air pollution and water pollution, and how to identify and monitor chemical and environmental risks to human health and the environment. Today’s challenges depend on the sustainable use of energy, water, materials and land, and require solutions that stress the linkages between energy use, water use, environmental protection, human health, quality of life,  and the global economy. The Green Book will provide recommendations to EPA that will support the agency’s shift toward viewing this complex set of modern-day environmental challenges through a sustainability lens.

The recently announced Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Initiative exemplifies this type of thinking. The initiative does not merely focus on reducing risk, but it forges a sustainable solution linking environmental issues such as air quality and deforestation to health and quality of life issues for women and girls. The Green Book will provide the foundation for the agency’s shift toward a sustainability framework.


R398

 

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EPA News Release (HQ): EPA Announces New Tool to Promote Safer Chemicals and Products

CONTACT:
Dale Kemery (News Media Only)
kemery.dale@epa.gov
202-564-7839
202-564-4355

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2010

EPA Announces New Tool to Promote Safer Chemicals and Products

WASHINGTON - As part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s commitment to strengthen and reform chemical management, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced new criteria to help companies and other groups, such as states and environmental organizations, identify safer chemicals. As part of the agency’s Design for the Environment (DfE) program, EPA unveiled the new criteria which are an important tool under its DfE Alternatives Assessments for identifying safer alternatives to chemicals that pose a concern to human health and the environment.

“This new approach for evaluating and identifying safer chemicals is an important step toward ensuring that that the chemicals used in this country are safe,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “Making this information available will not only lead to the manufacture of safer products, it will increase the public’s access to critical chemical information.”

The DfE program works in partnership with industry, environmental groups, and academia to help industry choose safer alternatives to chemicals that may pose a concern to human health or the environment. Information on chemical hazards from DfE Alternatives Assessments is combined with industry data on performance and cost to guide the choice of safer alternatives. To distinguish among alternatives, DfE evaluates data for each chemical and assigns hazard levels of high, moderate, or low for human health and environmental concerns.

DfE Alternatives Assessments will be conducted for bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE), hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates (NP and NPEs). Both the BPA and decaBDE efforts are under way and include the use of BPA and its alternatives in thermal paper, such as cash register receipts, and the review of flame retardant alternatives to decaBDE in products such as textiles, plastic palettes, and electronics. Assessments of phthalates, the flame retardant HBCD, and NPEs will begin in 2011.

The assessments will lead to the manufacture of safer products and reduced chemical exposures. For example, replacing BPA in thermal paper with safer alternatives will safeguard children, cashiers, and others from BPA in cash register or sales receipts. Similarly, safer alternatives to decaBDE flame retardants used in textiles and electronics will eliminate an important route of human and environmental exposure to this chemical.

EPA will accept comment on the criteria through January 31, 2011.


More information: http://epa.gov/dfe/alternative_assessments.html

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Research News Release (HQ): EPA Screens 1,000 Chemicals Using ToxCast

CONTACTS:
Latisha Petteway
petteway.latisha@epa.gov
202-564-3191
202-564-4355

Dale Kemery
kemery.dale@epa.gov
202-564-7839
202-564-4355

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2010


EPA Screens 1,000 Chemicals Using ToxCast

WASHINGTON— The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ToxCast screening program has entered a new phase, screening 1,000 chemicals for potential toxicity to people and the environment. ToxCast is designed to determine how chemical exposures impact the human body and how the chemicals most likely lead to health effects.  When fully implemented, ToxCast will be able to screen thousands of chemicals in fast, cost-effective tests that provide people with relevant information.

“ToxCast integrates revolutionary advances in molecular biology, chemistry and computer science to quickly and cost-effectively screen chemicals,” said Dr. Paul Anastas, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development.  “This ground-breaking approach to chemical toxicity testing allows us to start predicting potential toxicity to human health and the environment instead of just describing the toxic effects that occur after chemical exposure.”

During the first phase ToxCast tested about 300 chemicals, primarily pesticides, in more than 500 fast, automated tests or assays. The assays use human and animal cells and proteins to screen chemicals. Another 700 chemicals are now being screened in Toxcast’s second phase. The chemicals being tested are found in industrial and consumer products, food additives and drugs that never made it to the market. The failed drugs and associated human clinical trial data, donated by major pharmaceutical companies, are significant because EPA will be able to compare ToxCast screening data to human clinical data and other toxicology studies.

Only a small fraction of the tens of thousands of chemicals in commerce have been adequately assessed for potential risks to human health and the environment. ToxCast is reducing EPA’s reliance on slow and expensive animal toxicity tests, enabling the agency to screen chemicals more quickly and to predict and identify potential health risks. 

EPA scientists have compared the first phase of ToxCast data to the vast number of animal studies available in EPA databases. This comparison is helping determine which ToxCast assays can accurately predict different types of toxicity and disease. EPA scientific studies using ToxCast have already been published in peer-reviewed science journals and demonstrate the ability of ToxCast to predict a chemical’s potential to cause a variety of diseases.

The ToxCast research project is a substantial contributor to the the federal agency collaboration, Tox 21. Comprised of EPA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health, Tox21 will screen 10,000 chemicals by the end of next year. 

More information on ToxCast and the list of chemicals:  http://www.epa.gov/comptox

 

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Partnerships and Stewardship News Release (Region 4): Administrator Jackson Marks EPA 40th Anniversary in Atlanta with Event at Coretta Scott King Leadership Academy

 

Administrator Jackson Marks EPA 40^th Anniversary in Atlanta with Event at Coretta Scott King Leadership Academy

 

            Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8327, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

 

 

(ATLANTA – Nov. 30, 2010) — Today, as part of a weeklong series of events to highlight EPA’s 40 years of protecting American communities, EPA Administrator Jackson visited the Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Academy in Atlanta to highlight the Agency’s commitment to children’s health.

 

Administrator Jackson was joined by City of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed along with a number of partnering organizations, including the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, City of Atlanta, Mothers and Others for Clean Air, the Captain Planet Foundation and the Georgia Clean Air Campaign, in this event to help promote awareness to people of all ages about environmental issues that adversely impact children’s health.

 

"For 40 years we've worked to create a healthier, stronger nation for our children," EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said. "It's encouraging to see that clean water and air haven't made our youth complacent. They understand a clean environment is essential to our health and they want to be engaged in protecting our environment. We must give them the tools to do so and harness their energy as we think about the next 40 years beyond."

 

"The City of Atlanta is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of all our citizens and especially our youth. As we celebrate the achievements of the EPA on its 40th anniversary, I couldn't be more pleased that the work being done at the national level at EPA is affecting positive change for our youth that will continue for generations to come," said Mayor Kasim Reed.

 

EPA and the Academy also signed a Memorandum of Understanding, the first of its kind in the region.  Through the MOU, EPA will work with its partners, local minority academic institutions, and community-based organizations to provide guest lecturers and project demonstrations and assist the school with their science and math program though volunteer tutors, student mentors, and professional development sessions

 

"EPA recognizes that we play an important role in educating the future caretakers of the environment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Gwen Keyes Fleming.  “By working with our partners, we can give the proper tools and information to children to improve their health and environmental awareness.”  

 

Other event highlights included: a flag raising ceremony for the Air Quality Index (AQI) flag program; a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new community garden and composting center and the initiation of a waste minimization and recycling program.  Students attended an assembly and enjoyed a number of environmentally focused activities throughout the day. 

 

The CSKYWLA, a public single gender middle school in the city of Atlanta, is the first school in Georgia to institute a flag program based on EPA’s AQI.   This program, which was introduced to the school by Mothers and Others for Clean Air, informs students about air quality and notifies teachers, coaches, students and the community about outdoor air quality.   The school will be provided with opportunities to incorporate voluntary programs developed by EPA and others to help maintain a healthy, safe and green environment.

 

Protecting children's health from environmental risks is important because their bodies are still developing. They eat more, drink more, and breathe more in proportion to their body size. Children's behavior can also expose them more to chemicals and organisms.  With a new office and director, EPA is committed to protecting all children from environmental health threats by fully considering risks to children and addressing those risks, where appropriate, in national health-based environmental standards.

 

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EPA News Release (Region 7): Public Given Additional Time to Comment on Carter Carburetor Site

 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

901 N. Fifth St., Kansas City, KS 66101

 

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

 

Public Given Additional Time to Comment on Carter Carburetor Site

 

Contact Information: David Bryan, 913-551-7433, bryan.david@epa.gov

Environmental News

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

(Kansas City, Kan., Nov. 30, 2010) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 has extended the public comment period 60 days for the Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA) Report findings for the Carter Carburetor Superfund Site in St. Louis. The current comment period was expected to expire today.

 

Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks granted a final extension of the public comment period until Jan. 31, 2011, in response to a letter from Robert Kuehn, Co-Director, Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, Washington University School of Law. Kuehn contacted EPA on behalf of the Lindell Park Neighborhood Development Association. The letter asked for a 90-day extension.

 

“It is important that we give the community sufficient time to submit comments, but we also need to move forward on the most appropriate long-term remedy for the site,” said Brooks. “I believe this second extension meets our policy to afford the affected community every opportunity to participate in the process, but I will also emphasize that in response to the overwhelming sentiment expressed at a public meeting in October, I will not grant a further extension.”

 

The Carter Carburetor Superfund Site is located at 2800 to 2840 N. Spring St. The EE/CA Report was prepared by ACF Industries, Inc., a former owner of the Carter Carburetor Plant and a potentially-responsible party (PRP). EPA has reviewed and approved the report.

 

Written comments should be postmarked no later than Jan. 31, 2011, and should be sent to:

 

Janette Lambert

Community Involvement Coordinator

U.S. EPA - Region 7

Office of Public Affairs

901 North 5th Street

Kansas City, Kansas 66101

Telephone: 913-551-7768 or

Toll Free: 1-800-223-0425

E-mail: lambert.janette@epa.gov

 

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