JVEWS FOR AMD ABOUT EPA EMPLOYEES INSIDE: • Human Resources Center • Partners-ln-Education VOLUME 6 NUMBER 2 FEBRUARY 1989 Reilly to Head EPA William K. Reilly of the Conservation Foundation and World Wildlife Fund, nominated by President Bush to serve as the next Administrator of EPA, has been confirmed by the Senate and awaits swearing in as we go to press. Lee Thomas says .Reilly's record of accomplishment, his willingness to tackle controversial issues and his ability to build consensus "make him an outstanding choice for this demanding job. I have had the pleasure of working with Bill on such successful efforts as the Wetlands Forum that concluded this fall. His other work on groundwater protection, Superfund improvements and rain-forest preservation has been equally outstanding. He enjoys the respect of environmentalists, industry, governors and other leaders in our continuing efforts to protect public- health and the global environment." We all look forward to Reilly's arrival here as EPA enters its 19th year. CFG Goes Over the Top Continuing an 18-year pattern, EPA again exceeded its Combined Federal Campaign goal for 1988. Some 2,560 people gave $397,933, which is 105% of target. About 55% of agency staff gave—that's fewer than last year, but each donor averaged more, so dollars were up. Clarence Hardy, chairman of the campaign, reported that EPA is a "blue ribbon" winner as one of the top agencies of 40 participating. Notably, seven more of EPA's organizational units exceeded their 1988 goals. APAC Launched An EPA Asian and Pacific American Community (APAC) has been formed to promote the general welfare and career advancement of its members in OOON89001 conjunction with the Office of Civil Rights. APAC has held its first general ballot, electing Takeshi Toma as chair, Aparna Koppikar as vice-chair, Henry Lau as executive secretary and Francisca Liem as treasurer. APAC holds a monthly meeting on the first Tuesday of each month, from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m., notices of which are routinely sent to the membership and interested parties. A Heritage Week is being planned at Headquarters for May, 1989 to promote awareness of the cultures of the Agency's Asian and Pacific-American employees. For information, call Takeshi Toma, 557-1900 or Henry Lau, 382-2709. Model HQ for '92 The Office of Administration has been trying to improve indoor-air quality at Waterside Mall by fine-tuning the ventilation system and checking the dampers to make sure they admit sufficient air. Now, a recognized expert on indoor-air quality in commercial buildings, Hal Levin, has been given responsibility for ensuring maximum efficiency and fully adequate heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in the new headquarters facility planned for 1992. Call Nelson Hallman on 382-2030 if you have any proposals that could help this vital planning succeed. Leave Samaritans During FY 88, 5.579 hours of annual leave were donated by 401 people for 53 of the 70 employees agency-wide who requested sick leave assistance, and both requests and donations are still pouring in. Indeed, as of this printing, more than 100 requests have been registered altogether. Medical, family or other emergencies may qualify if you have exhausted your sick leave and will be off at least 10 days. Note that only annual leave may be donated, not sick leave. For information call Marcia Brooks, 382-2678. Health Survey The agency's first questionnaire-based health survey, approved by OMB last fall, is now underway, so if you haven't turned in your answer sheet as yet please do so ASAP. A private contractor is conducting the survey and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will analyze the findings to determine what pathologies may have been triggered by conditions here at headquarters. The air will be monitored concurrently by ORD and NIOSH; results should be available in March. Meanwhile, substantial indoor air-quality progress has been made over the past three years. Facilities Management and Services Division (FMSD) has developed an integrated pest control plan for headquarters to limit the use of toxic pesticides, and (continued on next page] ------- (Continued from front page) has spent $250,000 to repair and rebalance the existing ventilation system. FMSD, EHSD and the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) conduct monthly inspections of the air-intake dampers, and EHSD takes monthly carbon dioxide readings. FMSD and EHSD hold monthly meetings for employees to discuss their concerns. NFFE has negotiated a contract with the Agency requiring a safe, healthy environment, including a smoking policy. Partners-ln-Education Last October, EPA's Partners-in-Education Task Force entered into a formal arrangement with DC's Bertie Backus Junior High School (see August Times] that has already attracted 120 highly motivated Agency volunteers. Based on a series of discussions with officials of that school and the District of Columbia system, EPA will sponsor several field trips, science project support, role modeling, a recycling campaign, a youth leadership program conducted by the EPA Toastmasters club, an Environmental Day and a speakers bureau providing weekly classroom presentations. The goals are to stimulate interest in science and mathematics, introduce students to environmental career opportunities, and provide students, faculty and the community with a basic understanding of urban environmental issues. The Agency encourages your participation in this project in whatever fashion you choose, from administrative support to on-site student guidance, lectures and mentoring. For information on PIE contact the liaison for your AA-ship (see PIE posters), or call Carolyn Scott (475-8833) or David Grim (382-4588). Clean Workspace The Agency has acquired alternative workspace to accommodate employees experiencing contamination problems in the Waterside complex. It's located at 1001 3rd St., SW., next to the East Tower. The Office of Human Resources Management has issued guidance to managers on how to handle employee requests for alternative workspace. Meanwhile, if ,you have any questions, contact Marita Llaverias, OHRM, 382-3319. Human Resources Center Have you ever wondered where to go with questions on health benefits, life insurance, retirement, career counseling, the thrift investment plan, personnel forms, job vacancies, training requests or where to get a merit promotion announcement? Well, that is what the new Human Resources Service Center is all about — a "one-stop" emporium to meet th< needs of each employee. The staff xvil either provide the information you need to make an informed decision 01 refer you to an expert who can. The Center opened last fall with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Charlie Grizzle, AA for Resources Management. We encourage you to make use of this new service, located in Room 3906 Waterside Mall (475-9686). Free Check-up Mark Bradley, a board-certified physician with more than 25 years' experience in occupational medicine, has joined the Health Unit and is available every Wednesday from 1-3 P.M. Make an appointment to use this service, free of charge to all EPA employees, by calling 382-4347. Medical information is strictly confidential and cannot be released without written permission from the employee. General information such as trends in symptomatology or demographic data can be reported to health experts, but no individual can or will be identified. Champion Blood Donor Carol Buckingham of the Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances has received an award from the National Institutes of Health for donating vital blood platelets every month during the past year. She was honored during a dinner at the Bethesda Armory. The continued commitment of donors is essential to basic research in leukemia, aplastic anemia and many other hematological disorders. Congratulations to Buckingham for her signal contribution to this worthy program. Grizzle opening Human Resources Center Security: Still an Enigma Christmas demonstrated that crime never takes a holiday here at headquarters, and thieves are again targeting government offices as handy sources of revenue. So don't be a sucker, make life hard for them. Here are some tips which, sad to say, are always timely. • Don't leave valuables, money, credil cards or checkbooks in, on or under your desk. • Don't assume the stranger in your office is somebody's brother-in-law. • Don't leave your office unlocked or unattended during the workday. • Make a list of your purloinables, including brand name, model and serial numbers and place purchased. Keep all receipts for tax loss or insurance purposes. Know the phone numbers for the Security Office during the day, 382-2010, and Guard Control at night and on weekends, 382-5040. Report any losses or any suspicious activity at once. The Editor, himself robbed recently, speaks from painful experience. ------- Sci-Tech Opportunity In 1987, Congress established a nationwide task force to develop a long-range plan lor broadening participation of women, minorities and the handicapped in the sciences and engineering. The task force, comprising leaders from 15 federal agencies, educational institutions and the private sector, has issued an interim report with recommended action and has required agency chiefs to describe progress toward implementing these actions by December 1989. A work group has been appointed to determine how best to implement task force recommendations here at EPA. Chaired by Clarice Gaylord of ORD, the group includes Tom Clark (ORD), Eileen Claussen (OAR), Tim Eields (OSWER), Clarence Hardy (OHRM), Ed Johnson (OIA), Harold Keeler (ORD), Denise Link (ESD Reg. VIII), Clarence Mahan (ORD), Harold Podall (OTS) and Dave Ryan (OARM). Drinking Water Survey A joint task force of OA and ODW staff has applied a test protocol developed and field tested by ODW to EPA Headquarters drinking water. All fountains and representative taps in every restroom in our Waterside Mall, Eairchild and Crystal City facilities were examined on a worst-case basis—water samples were taken on Sundays during a period of little or no water use, so that lead would be expected to accumulate. The results? Some 91% of the water outlets tested provided water with less than 20 parts per billion (ppb) of lead—the maximum recommended. Six coolers that provided water with elevated lead content were taken out of service at once and replaced with bottled water for the time being. The Facilities Management and Services Division staff is now running each restroom tap with more than 20 ppb lead and all untested taps every morning, thus ensuring that all washroom faucets are thoroughly cleared of any standing water which could possibly contain more than 20 ppb. Most of the dubious sinks are in newer areas ot the complex. None was in the West or East Towers at Waterside Mall. In any case, the procedure will continue until taps consistently provide less than 20 ppb. This type of ''water ranger" program has proven successful in several Connecticut buildings. In addition, remaining sinks will be sampled to determine the lead content of the water they provide. Follow-up samples will track down the cause of elevated lead levels and permit permanent corrective action. Finally, the agency will make sure that our new building is constructed with lead-free pipes and solder. If you have questions, call Stephen Buchanan, Environmental Health and Safety Division, 382-3648. No Nimby Here The bad news is that America's landfills are filling up, and finding new locations is becoming impossible due to the "Not In My Backyard" (NIMBY) syndrome. The public is concerned about health and environmental hazards of incinerator emissions and ash. The good nevys is that the recycling bug is spreading among the public and is entering a new phase at EPA. A collection program targeting computer paper and white office paper has been in motion here tor several years. This year, a recycling work group has recruited activist members to encourage even greater participation, and has procured new recycling boxes, now available free to all at the headquarters supply store. They should make the process more convenient, and all employees are urged to use them, but not to contaminate them with non-recyclables. Headquarters will also be investigating the purchase of recycled papers and programs for recycling aluminum, glass and other tossables, and is sponsoring a Recycling Awareness Week, a slogan/logo contest and an analysis of the headquarters waste stream. Some offices have already set up their own newspaper, glass and paper recycling programs. Region I recycles all computer paper and white office paper. Massachusetts has a bottle bill, so cans and bottles are returned to the store for the deposit. "Earthworm", a local group, picks up the Region's paper. Region II in New York also has a bottle bill and recycles computer and other paper throughout the office. Region III recycles aluminum cans, newspapers, computer paper and office paper. These materials are picked up every two weeks by a local non-profit group, Old City Recycling, which plants trees in Philadelphia with the proceeds. Regions IV, V and VII actively recycle paper, and aluminum cans are recycled in the Water Office of Region V. Region VI has just begun recycling aluminum cans through the Employee Association. Region VIII recycles aluminum cans and newspapers along with office paper, etc. through WISE (Women in Science and Engineering). Regions IX and X recycle white office paper and computer paper, and Region X's cans are "born again" through a separate program. Remember always to recycle the EPA Times. A Headquarters Profile Catherine Milbourn joined EPA on December 12, 1988, in the immediate office of the Acting Assistant Administrator for Water as a community relations specialist working in communication strategy. Prior to joining EPA, Milbourn spent ten years as a consultant to the Department of Energy, the federal emergency management team, EPA and various state environmental agencies where she coordinated public affairs activities among state governments, Indian tribes, utilities, interest groups and the public. Milbourn and her husband Gordon, also an EPA staffer, are committed to historic preservation. Through letter-writing campaigns to Congressmen, Boards of Supervisors, preservation magazines and local newspapers, they helped rescue Manassas Battlefield from developers, who proposed a giant shopping mall on the site. Recycling is routine in the Milbourn household. On a bi-monthly basis, the couple take newspapers and bottles to the West Ox recycling center in Fairfax, and encourage county residents to use one of three recycling plants. Cream or Sugar? A survey of top federal women in Government Executive Magazine has revealed that: • 26 percent say being a woman has hurt, instead of helping, in getting promotions. (Continued on back page] ------- • Nearly one-third of the executives felt their personal lives are subject to much closer surveillance than the off-duty social and sexual habits of their male counterparts. • More than half sense resentment when they assign male subordinates a task. • 63 percent say they've been mistaken for secretaries at meetings and automatically asked to serve coffee, take notes or run errands. • 65 percent believe their views are not taken as seriously as men's. • 21 percent said they have felt sexually harassed, much fewer than the 42 percent reported in a June survey by the Merit Systems Protection Board, whose data included lower-level women said to be more likely targets of colleagues or bosses. Unwanted sexual teasing, humor, remarks, questions and innuendoes are the most frequently reported incidents. Although 48 percent of the federal white-collar work force is female. women held only 627, or 8.9 percent, of 7,076 SES jobs. The median age of women in the SES is 44 years (it's 50 for men), women have 15 years of service compared with 22 years for men, and about 23 percent of women are political or noncareer appointees versus 8.3 percent of men. Social or personnel-oriented agencies (Labor Department, Office of Personnel Management, Departments of Education and Health and Human Services) have the highest percentage of female executives. Agencies with a military or scientific mission, such as Army, Navy, NASA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, have the smallest. One woman being interviewed for a top U.S. job was asked if her husband would let her travel. Another said, "it only takes one high-ranking man with an anti-female bias to exert a chilling effect on others' behavior in hiring, counseling and promoting women." Computer Stress Encore Using a computer can be a pain in the neck, plus the back, the arms, the wrists, the shoulders, the knees, the eyes, etc. But it doesn't have to be that way, according to recent research. The jury is still out over the long-term health risks of personal computers, at least regarding low-level electromagnetic radiation from the monitor. It appears to be especially prudent for pregnant women to limit computer time and avoid the backside of the monitor, the most likely source of emissions. Moreover, poor working conditions are common around terminals: both private and public sectors have installed computers rather absent-mindedly, putting terminals on desks or tables designed for the age of typewriters, and ignoring chair design, illumination and break patterns. Studies have shown that computer operators stare at their screens without blinking for much longer periods than their typewriting predecessors. Also, computer screens reflect glare from windows, overhead lights and even the user's own bright clothing. It is not surprising, then, to hear of eye-muscle strain and optical symptoms like the Karl Marx effect—the pink afterglow one experiences upon looking away from a green screen. But that isn't all. To avoid glare, operators cock their heads, squint and turn slightly in their chairs. To reach attached keyboards they lift their arms, rotate their wrists inward and lean forward. Hours pass without a 7th-inning stretch to obviate back strain. Here are some steps you can take to miminize health risks: • Arrange an eye exam every year. • Follow the 20-20-20 rule. Keep your face at least 20 inches from the screen and pause every 20 minutes for 20 seconds to look around the room, focusing on distant objects. • Get a glare filter; it should polarize light without blurring the characters. Reorient the screen to avoid reflections from windows or overhead fluorescents. • Order a stable, comfortable, adjustable chair. Some prefer ergonomic backless stools that put all the weight on the knees. Few people have access to adjustable tables, the kind with a lowered front platform for the keyboard, but adjusting chair height can compensate. • Above all, abandon the computer from time to time; this will preserve your sanity as well as your sacroiliac. One Of US By David Wann David Schaller, Region VIII's innovative Superfund section chief and once an OFA-Headquarters staffer, is locally famous as a running enthusiast. Not so well known is his background as an amateur anthropologist, solar energy pioneer and Peace Corps volunteer in the South Pacific. Not long ago Schaller flew down to Utirik Atoll in the Marshall Islands to check out a newly-installed photovoltaic power system first-hand. Utirik, a 0.63 square-mile speck boasting 410 inhabitants, lies some 2200 miles southwest of Hawaii at th far end of the global oil "pipeline"—an ideal spot to test remote solar operations. Schaller had the right stuff for this follow-up study; he had been a member of the federal team investigating the solar potential several years before. It struck him as kind of reparations to try to bring safe renewable energy to a community heavily impacted by fall-out from the hydrogen bomb tests of the 50s. Schaller found the new solar unit ii a clearing at the center of the island, delivering a steady 18 kilowatts underground to 45 households. He also discovered, much to his surprise, that night lighting had fomented a social revolution. People stayed up later, recalling ancient tribal tales, playing games and working on their unique crafts, which might become a economic asset if overseas markets could be exploited. Since the islanders went to bed later and had other things to occupy their time, the fertility rate was trending downward, thus easing pressure on local resourc And that's not all. The local electrician, formerly a landless man without any particular prestige, was now a leading figure in island society. The old electrical system had been set up so the matriarch's residence would be the last one to lose its juice if the voltage dropped. "But he must be a socialist," Schaller speculated. "He rewired the system so that when it loses power, all the lights go off at the same time. I guess that's democracy i action." Schaller enjoys his Superfund work as much as his overseas expeditions. "It's all part of the task of saving the ecosystems that sustain all life on earth". Right on. ------- |