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10/31/2013 10:30 AM EDT By Lina Younes Over the summer, I had the opportunity to visit several sites in Maryland and Virginia along the Chesapeake Bay. I marveled at the beauty of this important watershed. Did you know that the Chesapeake Bay watershed covers six states and Washington, DC? In fact, it’s the largest estuary on the U.S. mainland. [...]
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Thursday, October 31, 2013
Protecting the Chesapeake Bay
To Your Good Health: Climate Action May Yield Significant Health “Co-Benefits”
| You are subscribed to It All Starts With Science Blog for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. 10/31/2013 05:00 AM EDT By John Dawson Everyone likes a two-for-one deal, and a study published in Nature Climate Change shows we get such a bargain when we reduce carbon dioxide, an air pollutant also known as a greenhouse gas. Carbon dioxide emissions from cars, trucks, coal-fired power plants and other fossil-fuel-burning sources are causing a threat to our [...]
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EPA News Release: EPA Settles Alleged Violations of Safety Standards at Pretium Packaging Plants in Manchester, Pa and Muscatine, Iowa
| Contact: Bonnie Smith smith.bonnie@epa.gov, 215-814-5543
EPA Settles Alleged Violations of Safety Standards at Pretium Packaging Plants in Manchester, Pa and Muscatine, Iowa
PHILADELPHIA (October 31, 2013) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that Pretium Packaging, LLC will pay a $75,860 penalty to settle alleged violations of federal risk management requirements at two plastic bottle manufacturing facilities - - one in Manchester, Pa. and another now-closed facility in Muscatine, Iowa.
EPA cited the Missouri-based company for violating the Clean Air Act’s risk management program requirements. These safeguards require regulated facilities to take steps to identify and assess the hazards posed by regulated substances, develop an accident prevention program to reduce the risk of accidental releases and develop an emergency response program. The alleged violations at both plants involved fluorine, an extremely hazardous substance. According to EPA, Pretium’s Manchester, Pa. facility did not have adequate safeguards in place for the fluorine process equipment, did not file a risk management plan in a timely manner and had not updated emergency contact information. Pretium also allegedly failed to submit a risk management plan for fluorine at its Muscatine facility which ceased operations in October 2010.
As part of the settlement, the company did not admit liability for the alleged violations, but has certified that it is now in compliance with applicable regulations. For more information about the Clean Air Act’s Risk Management Program requirements, see http://www.epa.gov/compliance/monitoring/programs/caa/112r.html and http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/rmp/.
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013
U.S. EPA News Release: EPA Administrator McCarthy Announces $6.6 Million in Funding to Support Chesapeake Bay Projects
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Advancing Children’s Environmental Health: Our Best Investment
| You are subscribed to It All Starts With Science Blog for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. 10/30/2013 12:50 PM EDT Reposted from EPA Connect, the Official Blog of EPA's Leadership Anyone who has ever enjoyed watching a toddler explore their world knows that along with that marvelous sense of discovery comes potential trouble. Young children crawl around on the floor, play in the dirt, and don't hesitate to retrieve a wayward cookie or other delectable treat [...]
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News Release: EPA Announces Cleanup Plan for the Ellis Property Site in Evesham Township, New Jersey; EPA Cost of Removal of Contaminated Soil Estimated at $13.6 Million
| EPA Announces Cleanup Plan for the Ellis Property Site in Evesham Township, New Jersey EPA Cost of Removal of Contaminated Soil Estimated at $13.6 Million
Contact: John Martin, (212) 637-3662, martin.johnj@epa.gov
(New York, N.Y. – October 30, 2013) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized its plan to clean up soil contaminated with trichloroethylene and other volatile organic compounds at the Ellis Property Superfund site in Evesham Township, New Jersey. The contaminated soil is polluting ground water underlying the site. The ground water is not currently being used as a source of drinking water, but ground water at the site has been used in the past for drinking water and for irrigation of farmland nearby. Exposure to trichloroethylene and other volatile organic compounds can have serious health impacts, including liver damage and increased risk of cancer.
The plan announced today was first proposed to the public in July 2013. The EPA held a public meeting and received public input for 30 days. The EPA reviewed the extensive public comments submitted and has prepared detailed responses to them, which can be found on the EPA’s website at http://epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/ellis/index.html.
"The removal of contaminated soil will prevent continued pollution of the ground water at this site, protecting people’s health and the environment," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck.
Under the cleanup plan, the EPA will excavate 67,500 cubic yards of soil at the site. Clean soil will be used to fill excavated areas and contaminated soil will be disposed of at an EPA-approved disposal facility.
The EPA will also consider using a soil treatment method called “in-situ” treatment in some portions of the site if it can be shown that it would be as effective as removal. Under this method, contamination is broken down into less harmful materials by applying chemicals, electricity, heat, or biological organisms into the soil. Less soil would need to be excavated using this method, reducing truck traffic to and from the site. During the design phase of the cleanup, the EPA will determine if and where in-situ treatment will be used to complement excavation.
Levels of contamination in the ground water are expected to reach cleanup goals soon after the contaminated soil is removed. However, the ground water treatment system currently being used at the site will be kept in place for approximately one more year to further reduce ground water contaminants. The EPA will conduct quarterly ground water monitoring for the first year following this cleanup, followed by annual ground water monitoring for the next nine years.
The Ellis property was purchased by Irving Ellis in 1968 and was used for the reconditioning of storage drums until the late 1970’s. These operations are believed to have resulted in spills of solvents and metals, which contaminated soil and ground water at the site. In 1980, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection discovered numerous corroded and leaking drums on the site. In 1983, the DEP removed over 100 drums and contaminated surface soil from the site. In 1989, the EPA disposed of over 200 additional drums that had been buried in the soil. The site was added to the Superfund list in 1990.
In 1992, the EPA issued its first cleanup plan for the site. During this cleanup, contaminated soil was removed and a system to extract and treat contaminated ground water was constructed. Tests performed in 2006 and 2007 revealed continued tetrachloroethylene contamination in soil below the water table. Despite the ongoing operation of the ground water treatment system at the site, trichloroethylene from the soil continues to contaminate the ground water.
The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers. After sites are placed on the Superfund list of the most contaminated waste sites, the EPA searches for parties responsible for the contamination and holds them accountable for the costs of investigations and cleanups. In this instance, no viable party was identified to pay the cleanup costs. The EPA estimates the cost of this cleanup will be $13,600,000, which will be paid entirely by the EPA Superfund program.
For more information on the Ellis Property Superfund site, go to: http://epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/ellis/index.html
Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/eparegion2
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