Issue 10    January 2002
                                                                 ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE PURCHASING
                           Environmental  Management Systems
                           Drive Agencies To  Meet EPP  Goals
                                                        Organizations around the world are using
                                                        Environmental Management Systems (EMSs)
                                                        more and more to integrate environmental con-
                                                  siderations into day-to-day decisions and practices.
                                                  Recently public agency facilities at all levels—federal,
                                                  state, and local—have begun implementing EMSs to
                                                  reduce their operational costs and to improve overall
                                                  environmental performance. Moreover, Executive Order
                                                  13148, "Greening the Government Through Leadership in
                                                  Environmental Management"  (which can be found at:
                                                  ),
                                                  requires federal agencies to implement EMSs by the end
                                                  of 2005 at all applicable facilities.
                                                                              < Continued on Page 2 >
    Highlights
• EMSs and EPP
• New Product-Specific
 Purchasing Guides
• Federal Electronics
 Stewardship Forum
• EPP Grants
• Biobased Lubricants
• NPS Partnership
• And More!
PROFILE OF A PIONEER:
Working Toward  a Greener  EPA
     The new EPA Headquarters complex
     is located in the historic Federal
     Triangle District in the heart of the
Nations capital. Part of what makes these
new and old buildings so important goes
beyond their impressive architecture. The
buildings incorporated sustainable build-
ing practices where feasible through all
phases of design and construction.
Thanks to many dedicated individuals,
including EPAs Cathy Berlow, the EPA
Headquarters Project became a reality.
  Cathy was involved in  EPAs headquar-
ters project long before she was an EPA
employee. She had previously worked at
the Pennsylvania Avenue Development
Corporation (PADC), a
small federal government
agency involved in the
development of
Pennsylvania Avenue and
the original REP for con-
struction of the Ronald
Reagan International Trade
Building, which houses a
variety of federal offices. Since EPA was
going to be housed in the  Ronald Reagan
Building, Cathy's experience at PADC and
the Ronald Reagan Building led her to
accepting a position at EPAs New
Headquarters Project.
               < Continued on Page 9 >
                          Printed on processed chlorine-free paper containing 100 percent recycled content, including 25 percent hemp and 75 percent postconsumer fiber.

-------
  iPP  in  Practice
Hemp Paper Is an
Environmental Choice
                 Ie is printed on
     Vanguard Eco Blend paper,
     developed by the Living Tree
Paper Company. The paper is 100 per-
cent processed chlorine-free (PCF),
which helps reduce toxic dioxin and
other persistent organic pollutants that
are released into the environment.
  The paper also contains 100 percent
recycled content, which means no vir-
gin wood (i.e., wood from cut trees)
was used to produce the paper.
Instead, the paper is produced using
25 percent hemp—which requires no
wood or paper resources—and 75
percent postconsumer fiber. A similar
product, Vanguard Recycled Plus, uses
10 percent hemp and 90 percent
postconsumer waste and is a bright
white color. All Living Tree papers use
chlorine-free resources and postcon-
sumer waste fibers, supporting the
market for recycled paper and helping
to reduce overall wood consumption.
  For further information on
Vanguard Eco Blend or other Living
Tree papers, contact the Living Tree
Paper Company at 800  309-2974, or
visit the company's Web site at
.
EMS < Continued from Page 1 >

  EPA must not only comply with the Executive Order at its own
facilities, but also has specific management and oversight responsi-
bilities to assist other federal organizations in complying with the
Order. In that role, EPA encourages the use of EMSs that focus on
improved environmental performance and compliance, as well as
pollution prevention and system performance. EMSs provide a
framework for managing environmental responsibilities, including
regulatory compliance. By improving overall environmental perfor-
mance and putting more emphasis on pollution prevention and
continuous improvement,  EMSs also can help organizations move
beyond compliance.
  Purchasing decisions can have a significant impact on an organiza-
tions environmental performance and, thus, the EMSs success. EPA
maintains a leadership role in supporting environmentally preferable
purchasing and practices. Environmentally preferable products may
have a variety of positive attributes—such as reducing the amount of
virgin resources used, diverting materials from landfills, conserving
energy and water, and generating fewer emissions during manufac-
ture or use of the product. The benefits of purchasing environmen-
tally preferable products become even more apparent to an
organization implementing an EMS.
  EPAs leadership role in promoting environmentally preferable pur-
chasing also encourages other agencies to explore EMSs.  The
Interagency Work Group,  chaired by Will Garvey with EPAs Office
of Federal Facility Enforcement, is responsible for assisting other
federal agencies with EMSs by holding workshops and training ses-
sions. According to Garvey, agencies across the federal community
are becoming more aware  of the EMS program—and the benefits it
can provide—and are engaging in the planning process.
EPP—Environmentally

Preferable Partnerships

     EPAs Environmentally Preferable Purchasing program is partnering
     with the National Park Service (NFS) in a new initiative to help
     green our national parks. The purpose of this new partnership is
to integrate green purchasing into our parks through a series of work-
shops that NFS is developing.
  NFS has recently established 20 parks as Centers for Environmental
Innovation (CEI) to advance the concept of sustainability. These will
be park areas where research, development, and appreciation of sus-

-------
A number of EPA offices have  shared their experiences in  incorporating
EPP guidelines into their EMSs. Two reports from regions  follow:

Region 10: Seattle, Washington
  Officials have been developing a plan for  setting up an EMS in EPA Region 10. The
team has been working to define the nature and the scope of an EMS, as well as ana-
lyzing the potential for success. Region 10 already has made significant steps to mini-
mize the environmental impacts associated  with its internal purchases, which include
computers and other office equipment, furniture, office supplies, and energy.
Integrating all these pieces into an EMS allows the Region to comply with E.O. 13148
while increasing awareness of the sustainable practices and goals for future environ-
mental impact reductions.
  For more information about the Region 10 EMS, contact Bill Glasser with Region
10 at 206 553-7215 or , or the new EMS Coordinator in
Region 10, Clark Gaulding, at 206 553-1849 or .

Region 8:  Denver,  Colorado
  EPAs Region 8 also is designing an EMS. Representatives from each Assistant
Regional Administrators office formed a team and began holding meetings in Fall
2001. The region first hired a contractor for implementation support during the first 5
to 6  months of the project. Region 8 had already established some purchasing practices
to reduce the environmental impacts of products and services used by employees.
  The team identified areas for environmental impact analysis,  including purchasing com-
puters and related hardware; energy and water use; grants and contracts; meetings and
conferences; and lunchrooms. The regions next step is identifying specific project ideas
within these general categories. According to  Dianne  Thiel of Region 8, division offices in
Region 8 will be able to use the information gathered during the EMS planning stages to
help accomplish their missions. In addition, divisions with a specific need in mind can
develop their own projects and contribute their information to the regional EMS.
  For more information about the Region 8 EMS, contact Marie Zanowick with
Region 8 at 303 312-6403 or .
tainable practices occur and will serve as cat-
alysts to teach and inspire people with con-
cepts and values of sustainability. One of the
key expectations of these CEI parks is that
they will be showcases for environmentally
preferable products and practices. CEIs will
focus on educating staff and working with
park partners to purchase more environmen-
tally preferable products.
  A key element of the sustainability training
workshops is to demonstrate to park visi-
tors, staff, and managers that environmental-
ly preferable purchasing is a tool to achieve
their sustainability goals.  EPAs role in this
partnership will be to work directly with
these parks to identify the types of products
and services that will improve parks'
resource stewardship capacity. The first
workshop will be piloted at Big Cypress
National Preserve in Florida March 26-27,
2002. NFS hopes that the partnership will
expand to include other NPS-EPA opportu-
nities that exist in programs such as Green
Lights and Energy Star. For more informa-
tion, please contact Shawn Norton at the
National Park Service at 202 565-1260 or
Julie Shannon at EPA at 202 564-8834.

-------
For more information,
contact EPA's Alison
Kinn at 202 564-8859
or by e-mail at
.
EPP  Supplements Its  Suite  of Tools with

Product-Specific  Purchasing  Guides

                           Government purchasers looking to procure "green" goods
                           and services have a new resource at their disposal. EPA
                           has recently produced a series of purchasing guides
                     covering the following product and service categories: food ser-
                     viceware, copiers, cleaners, carpets, electronics, and meetings.
                     These "one-stop shops" for green purchasing information
                     describe the challenges, successes, and resources
                     associated with each product or service,
                     focusing on how to incorporate environmen-
                     tal considerations into purchasing decisions.
                     Although the guides have been developed
                     with government purchasers in mind, they
                     may be useful to anyone who wants to buy
                     greener products for their office or household.
                       Each guide offers  a product-specific education
                     about environmental impacts of purchasing deci-
                     sions. For example,  when buying food service-
                     ware, the green purchaser should consider
                     products made from renewable resources, like agri-
                     cultural  waste; when buying copiers, the purchaser
                     should look for a variety of energy- and paper-saving options
                     currently offered by a number of manufacturers. The
                     "Success Stories" section of each guide highlights how vari-
                     ous government agencies have identified and purchased
                     environmentally preferable products. The "Contacts and
                     Resources" section will lead purchasers to groups defining what
                     makes a certain product green and to organizations that are
                     successfully practicing EPP.
                       The six, 6-page guides are available in an
                     easy-to-use format on the EPP Program Web
                     site at , or you may
                         order hard copies of these colorful publica-
                                tions  by contacting the Pollution
                                   Prevention Information
                                  Clearinghouse at 202 260-1023.
                                  In the future, EPA expects to pro-
                                 duce additional guides on other
                                products, including paper, and will
                               refine  the content, if necessary, based on
                              users' response to this initial set. Let us
                              know what you think!

-------
Three-Day  Conference Will  Focus  on
Training  Green   Purchasers
     The Center for a New American
     Dream, a nonprofit organization
     dedicated to helping Americans
change the way they consume to help
protect the environment, and
TerraChoice, the contractor supporting
Canada's eco-labeling program, are co-
hosting  an environmental purchasing
conference April 22 to 25, 2002, in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The confer-
ence, which will be held at the Sheraton
Rittenhouse, one of the greenest hotels
in the United States, is open to govern-
ment purchasing officials and private
sector companies interested in increasing
their environmentally preferable pur-
chasing.
 The conference is the first of its kind to
focus on the needs of government and
other institutional purchasers since EPAs
1997 EPP conference in Baltimore,
Maryland. The conference will give par-
ticipants the opportunity to learn about
new EPP tools and strategies, as well as
provide  information on a wider variety of
products and services that are now avail-
able. It also will give purchasers the
opportunity to meet with others to com-
pare notes about progress made and
issues they're struggling with and provide
a forum for them to work collaboratively
and share information about green man-
ufacturers and vendors.
 The Center also has been sponsoring a
series of free bimonthly conference calls
for purchasers that focus on a variety of
green purchasing topics. The first two
calls addressed buying environmentally
preferable cleaning products (October)
and paper (December), and each includ-
ed more than 100 participants from more
than 30 states. Each call features product
experts and government purchasers who
have recently participated in green pur-
chasing programs. Conference call partic-
ipants receive a PowerPoint presentation
when they register, so they can follow
along with the speakers during the call.
Future calls will cover energy efficiency
and energy purchases, integrated pest
management, paint, carpet, eco-labels,
and other related topics.
  For additional information on the con-
ference or a schedule of upcoming con-
ference calls, visit the Center's Web site
at , or
contact Scot Case at the Center for a
New American Dream at 610 373-7703,
or by e-mail at .

-------
The MOU, presentatio
and draft action plans
from this forum are
available on line for
review and comment.
.
                            Federal   Government   ilectronics
     impacts associated with govern-
     mental use and disposal of elec-
tronic equipment, a number of federal
agencies recently signed a
Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU)  to address this issue. Although
efforts to reduce this waste stream, such
as favoring purchases of environmental-
ly preferable and energy-efficient equip-
ment, the MOU outlines ways agencies
                            within the entire federal government for
                            purchasing and disposing of electronic
                            products.
  The White House Task Force on
Recycling, U.S. Postal Service, the
Departments of Defense, Energy, and
Interior, EPA, and the Council for
 Environmental Quality all signed the
MOU on "Improving Environmental
Management of Electronic Assets." The
administration will work to sign up
more agencies and is soliciting input
from other public and private sector
stakeholders. Electronic products cov
ered by the MOU include computers
and monitors, fax machines, phones,
                                     scientific applications, communicatioi
                                     and information systems.
                                                                Stewardship Forum held in October (see
                                                                sidebar) was an opportunity to gather
                                                                input from stakeholders on the proposed
                                                                action plan for the MOU participants, as
                                                                The purpose of the Action Plan is to
                                                                identify the goals, objectives, and strate
                                                                 ies the MOU  arties will commit to in
                                                                order to reduce the overall environmen-
   "Promising
   Practices"
   Will  Guide
   You to  EPP
   Success
     Competitive bidding and contract
     processes often hinder agencies
     from buying environmentally
preferable products. Many agencies
realize the importance of environmen-
tally preferable purchasing but question
how they can apply it to their current
purchasing process. To help educate
federal purchasers, EPAs EPP program,
showcases concrete examples of green
purchasing success stories in its
"Promising Practices Guide," available
online at .
  Distinct from other tools on the EPP
Web site, the Promising Practices Guide
not only illustrates that environmentally
preferable purchasing is possible, but
also outlines the steps pioneers have
taken to make green purchasing deci-
sions. For example, the Guide shows
how the Department of Interior (DOI)
wrote EPP criteria into a solicitation for
its new custodial contractor, to ensure
use of environmentally sound cleaning
products and to provide a safe, toxic-
free working environment for janitors.
Consequently, environmental preferabili-
ty was a significant factor in the selec-
tion of the contractor, and DOI included
"greening" language  in the final contract.

-------
Stewardship  Forum
           tal and energy impacts of using and dis-
           posing of electronics assets across the gov-
           ernment. The two main objectives
           identified in the action plan are:
                  op a government-wide strategy
            ror managing the electronics waste
            stream; and,
           • Promote growth of the  infrastructure for
            the use, de-manufacturing, and re"
            cling of obsolete electronic equipment.
            At the forum, the White House Cou^ „
           product stewardship in the
           on the successes of the last [several] years,
           to continue to set the example for the
           world in terms of the kinds of stewardship
           practices and forward thinking about how
           we utilize all the assets that the federal
           government brings to its disposal in the
           service of the public," he said.
     In October 2001, the Federal Government Electronics
     Stewardship Forum was held in Arlington, Virginia. The
     forum was established by the workgroup created under
  the MOU on "Improving Environmental Management of
  Electronic Assets." Attendees, including federal chief informa-
  tion officers and environmental and procurement profession-
  als, gathered to identify issues and make recommendations
  that federal agencies can use to develop a government-wide
  strategy to implement environmentally preferable and energy-
  efficient management practices and reduce the economic and
  lifecycle costs of electronic equipment.
   The forum organizers identified five areas to consider as a
  government-wide strategy is developed:
  1.  Facilitating the procurement of greener electronics.
  2.  Ensuring efficient use/management of electronics.
  3.  Ensuring proper management of electronic products
     through  recycling and/or disposal.
  4.  Overcoming barriers and seeking opportunities in the
     regulatory arena.
  5.  Determining the important components needed for a
     government-wide strategy.
            Many of the Guides success stories
          include on-line contract language with
          the exact specifications used to achieve
          results. In addition, the primary con-
          tacts, lessons learned, and links to addi-
          tional information also are available for
          those with further questions. This com-
          bination of tools will enable agencies to
          embark on the EPP journey with replic-
          able models  that can be tailored to their
          specific needs.
            To date, the Promising Practices
          Guide includes  16 success stories, cate-
          gorized by both agency and product
          category. As  the guide evolves, it  will
feature additional resources, including
relevant Federal Acquisition Regulations
citations and requirements and infor-
mation on which environmental con-
cerns should be examined at each step
of the purchasing process. More success
stories are on the way—if you have any
of your own that the EPP Program
should consider adding, contact EPA at
.

-------
EPA  Grants  Focus  on  EPP
E
      PA recently awarded three grants to support other organizations' environmentally
      preferable purchasing efforts. The grants aim to boost markets for "greener" prod-
      ucts and services.
Foundation  Helps Make
Meetings Greener
   EPA awarded a grant to the Oceans
    Blue Foundation to develop a Web-
   i based tool to help meeting planners
    and others incorporate environmen-
    tal considerations when organizing
    conferences and meetings. The Web
   tool will be market-tested in spring
  2002, with a launch tentatively sched-
uled for July 2002. The foundation is a
Canadian nonprofit that works to con-
serve marine and terrestrial environ-
ments by promoting environmentally
responsible tourism and developing best-
practice standards for all sectors of the
tourism industry.
  The purpose of the Web tool is to tell
professional meeting planners, service
providers, and the public about the envi-
ronmental issues they should consider
when planning meetings and events.
With a user-friendly and interactive
design, the tool will help users make
environmentally sound choices when
planning meetings.
  "Meeting industry professionals, whether
they be planners or suppliers, need the
tools to be able to make appropriate deci-
sions about how to minimize the impacts
of their activities on the environment. This
Web tool will provide them with easy,
accessible guidelines and information to do
just that," said Julie Shannon, Branch Chief
of EPAs Prevention Integration Branch,
Pollution Prevention Division.
  For more information on Blue and Green
Meetings, visit the Oceans Blue Web  site at
, or e-mail
 for
further updates on the project.
                                         Hotels Looking for a
                                         Green Seal
                                          As part of its Green Meetings Initiative,
                                         EPA has awarded a grant to Green Seal
                                         to certify five Washington, D.C.-area
                                         hotels. Green Seal will evaluate hotels on
                                         their water and energy efficiency, fresh
                                         water usage, wastewater treatment, haz-
                                         ardous materials management, and envi-
                                         ronmentally preferable purchasing. The
                                         grant allows Green Seal to conduct the
                                         audits free of charge to the hotels. Green
                                         Seal plans to send an informational
                                         packet outlining the
                                         program to hotels,
                                         asking them if they
                                         would like to have
                                         their facility audit-
                                         ed and certified.
                                         Green Seal's team
                                         of experts will eval-
                                         uate the first five
                                         hotels to respond.
                                          The goal is to market the District of
                                         Columbia as the first area to offer environ-
                                         mentally responsible lodging facilities and
                                         to grow the market for green hotel ser-
                                         vices. The program is supported by the
                                         government of the District of Columbia,
                                         select federal agencies, and corporations
                                         that will provide the buying power to
                                         increase the demand for green hotels.
                                         Government travelers and visitors will be
                                         encouraged to stay and hold their meetings
                                         in certified hotels. This, in turn, will help
                                         motivate others in the hotel industry to
                                         green their services—especially since busi-
                                         ness travel is a major source of revenue for
                                         the industry. In 2000, U.S.  business travel
                                         expenditures totaled $185 billion, with
                                         $37 billion spent on accommodations.

-------
  For more information on Green Seal's
Greening the Lodging Industry cam-
paign, visit .

Nonprofit To  Evaluate
Environmental Paper Market
  Conservatree, a nonprofit organization
that works to grow the market for envi-
ronmental papers,  has received a grant
from EPA to conduct a study on the
obstacles slowing market development
for these papers. The Recycled Paper
Coalition will collaborate with
Conservatree in researching issues ham-
pering market development. The project
will add collaborators with other areas of
expertise as it progresses.
  Conservatree will use a list of nearly 100
questions on issues and controversies with-
in the environmental paper field to begin
gathering perspectives from all interested
and involved parties. "We want to talk to
everyone involved in manufacturing, mar-
keting, buying, and using environmental
papers and hear as many different view-
points as possible," said Susan Kinsella,
executive director at Conservatree.  "We
hope to help make it more possible for
people with differences of opinion to work
together on achieving an environmentally
and economically sustainable paper pro-
duction system for the future."
  More information is available at


  At EPA, she spent 10 years working
on EPAs New Headquarters Project,
helping with the transition of EPA office
space from Waterside Mall, where the
agency had been housed since its incep-
tion, and other satellite buildings, to the
new facilities in the Ronald Reagan
Building and adjacent Ariel Rios
Building and ICC/Customs (EPA East
and West) Buildings. During that time,
she worked with General Services
Administration (GSA) contractors to
make sure that the construction con-
tracts met EPAs sustainability goals.
  Cathy began pursuing her environ-
mental interests in her early career as
an architect.  "My original focus was on
historic preservation,  but my interest in
conservation issues flowed naturally
from there," she said.  "It was a natural
progression, and for me it seemed like
the right thing to do."
   In May 2001, Cathy moved to EPAs
 Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch,
 where she still works on sustainability
 issues, but now in a national capacity
 In her new post, Cathy examines how
 to apply the U.S.  Green Building
 Council's Leadership in Energy and
 Environmental Design (LEED™) rating
 system to EPA facilities across the
 United States.
   Cathy also is coordinating an effort
 through GSA to green the proposed EPA
 onsite cafeteria in  the ICC Building and
 concession stands throughout the head-
 quarters complex. The plan is to set up a
 program similar to the one adopted by
 the U.S. Department of the Interior,
 which incorporates several environmen-
 tally preferable products and practices.
   EPAs EPP program extends a special
 thanks to Cathy for her continued efforts
 in sustainable construction and design.

-------
        Using  Biobased  Lubricants  at  Hydroelectric
                                   Recent laboratory studies undertak-
                                   en by the U.S. Department of
                                   Interior (DOI) show the superior
                              performance of biobased lubricants under
                              extreme pressure conditions at hydroelec-
                              tric power facilities. These "green" lubri-
                              cants can perform as well as or better
                              than traditional lubricants, without the
                              negative environmental impacts.
                                DOI's Bureau of Reclamation operates
                              58 hydroelectric power plants in the
                              Western United States. DOI is con-
                              cerned about the environmental impact
                              of grease released during the produc-
                              tion of energy. Some wicket gate grease
                              "washes out" from the turbine with the
                              discharge water. Potential harm to
                              aquatic life is a concern, as the petrole-
                              um hydrocarbons in traditional greases
                              biodegrade fairly slowly and are highly
                              toxic to aquatic species. Also, some
                              petroleum greases contain toxic metals
                              that can accumulate  in the food chain.
               In 1994, staff at Parker Dam in
              California began investigating the use of
              alternative greases in wicket gates.
              Parker Dam staff found that food-grade
              (i.e., safe enough to be in contact with
              food) petroleum grease from
              Lubrication Engineers, Inc. provided
              excellent lubrication qualities and
              resisted washout. Called Quinplex
              4024, the grease is rated as a low-haz-
              ard material to human health, though
              complete information on its biodegrad-
              ability and aquatic toxicity was lacking
              when it was tested.  It performed well at
              Parker Dam from 1994 to 2000, show-
              ing exceptional resistance to washout.
               During this period, Parker Dam staff
              examined information from the Bureau of
              Reclamations Water Resources Research
              Laboratory (WRRL) in Denver, Colorado,
              as it also was evaluating several alterna-
              tive lubricants. WRRL compared five
              alternative greases against a standard lithi-
             Hydroelectric Power Plants
A                    hydroelectric plant pa
                    through a series of louvers, called
                    "wicket gates," to a turbine that
             powers an electric generator. Opening and
             closing the wicket gates regulates the flow
             of water to the turbine. Greases lubricate
             the wicket gate bushings [see illustration].
             These greases must function under difficult-
             use conditions, including frequent opening
             and closing of the wicket gates and high
             pressures on the bushings. The greases also
             must provide sufficient protection to maxi-
             mize the service  life of the wicket gate
             bushings.
Two-gage arrangements sensitive to torque
and relatively insensitive to bending.
10
                            N
                            BUSHING

-------
Power   Facilities
          um-petroleum grease. The five greases
          tested included three food-grade petrole-
          um greases similar to the grease used at
          Parker Dam, a synthetic ester-based
          grease, and a canola-based grease.
           The tests were performed on a scale
          model of a prototype wicket gate at the
          Mt. Elbert Power Plant near Leadville,
          Colorado. The model gate operated
          under conditions that simulated the
          most severe  duty cycle experienced by
          a wicket gate. WRRL determined lubri-
          cation efficiency by measuring the fric-
          tion torque during gate opening and
          closing. The performance of the  lithi-
          um-based grease was defined as  a good
          lubrication rating  of 100 percent.
           Synthetic ester-based and canola-
          based greases, with lubrication ratings
          of 93 percent and 105 percent, respec-
          tively, performed much better than the
          food-grade petroleum greases in these
          tests. The average rating  for the three
          food-grade greases was 55 percent.
          Environmental data  on these  and simi-
          lar lubricants are available from manu-
          facturers.  After analyzing its
          performance under extreme-wear con-
          ditions, WRRL recommended that
          Parker Dam switch to a canola-based
          wicket gate lubricant.
           Parker Dam switched to a canola-
          based grease—Cor-Tek VSG—made by
          Utility Service Associates in 2000, and
          staff at the dam are satisfied with the
          performance of this grease, although
          some are concerned  that VSG's appar-
          ently higher washout factor could com-
          promise its superior  wear
          characteristics. Utility Service Associates
          reports that other  facilities using  VSG
          are using less grease, indicating greater
                                           For more information,
                                           contact Jim Darr of EPA
                                           at 202 564-8841 or
                                           .
                                           Details of the studies
                                           done by the Bureau of
                                           Reclamation are at
                                           .
resistance to washout. A more complete
understanding of washout performance
under various use conditions would
provide valuable information to poten-
tial users of VSG and similar products.
  Data on biodegradability and aquatic
toxicity supplied by Utility Service
Associates show VSG's environmentally
preferable characteristics:
• VSG demonstrated more than 80
  percent biodegradation in a 21-day
  test (meeting the German Blue Angel
  eco-label criteria for "ready
  biodegradability").
• VSG was virtually non-toxic to rain-
  bow trout and Daphnia magna (a
  water flea), with a 96-hr LC50 value
  in trout of greater than 93cc/l and a
  48-hr LC50 in Daphnia of greater
  than 1,000 ppm.
                                                                                                                    11

-------
Pollution Prevention and Toxics
(7409M)
EPA742-N-02-001
www.epa.gov/oppt/epp
January 2002
                             ailing  All  Private  Sector
                             PP  Pioneers!
                          Don't let your EPP efforts go unnoticed—
                          tell your success story in a new EPA report!
      Due to the popularity of the June
      1999 report, Private Sector
      Pioneers, available on the Web at
, EPAs EPP Program is col-
lecting information for a new report
highlighting the efforts of companies to
"buy green" and "sell green." The 1999
report showed how 18 companies were
expanding the market for green prod-
ucts, preventing tremendous amounts of
pollution, and saving millions of dollars,
all as a result of considering the environ-
ment, along with price and performance,
when making purchasing decisions.
  Great strides
have occurred
in the last 2l/2
years, so we
are excited to
hear how
you are con-
tributing to
the green
purchasing
trend. If you are
interested in sharing your EPP experi-
ences, please contact the EPP Program at
.
                                                                                00e$ asn aieAUd JDJ
                                                                                        ssaujsng |e
                                                                              AouaBy uojpajoy
                                                                                            (W60W.)

-------