------- ------- Preface Introduction potential areas for future re- search. EPA's Office of International Activities (OIA) is involved in many broad ranging and dynamic programs that are designed to allow for EPA participation in international decision making on worldwide environmental issues; provide EPA with the benefits of institutional and technological environmental innovations in other nations, and share the knowledge and experience obtained domestically with other governments. This report describes one of OlA's international programs that has been instrumental in addressing several areas of EPA's needs while fostering' valuable professional relationships with environmental scientists abroad /s/ Alice Brandeis Popkm Since 1971 the U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency has cooperated with a number of other countries in its Scientific Activities Over- seas Program to pursue re- search and development in environmental controls This program, like the char- acter of the environmental movement itself, is world- wide. It transcends ideologi- cal and national boundaries. It has brought together scientists, physicians, engi- neers, and administrators in a common pursuit—to pre- serve and enhance the quali- ty of the environment. Scientific Activities Overseas began with funds from ex- cess foreign currencies lar- gely acquired through sales of U S farm products under the Agricultural Trade Devel- opment and Assistance Act of 1954 (Public Law 480). From its inception this histor- ic Act has pursued several goals. It has sought not only to develop export markets for U.S. farm goods but also "to improve the foreign relations of the United States, and for other purposes" The excess foreign currency generated through these sales has been put to work in a constructive way not fore- seen by the original authors of the Act, supporting envir- onmental research and de- velopment for the United States in half a dozen coun- tries. This report outlines the history of the EPA program, describes some representa- tive projects, and indicates Because the majority of the projects are being carried out in Poland, the work of scientists and engineers in that country have been dealt with in detail. As a measure of the success of the program, it might be noted that the Polish govern- ment is now making direct contributions into a special account to assure that this research will continue. Since U.S.-owned zlotys in Poland were largely used up by the mid-1970's, a bilateral mone- tary arrangement, the Maria Sklodowska-Curie Fund, was established that extended the life of the cooperative scientific program in that country through 1981. Polish contributions to this joint fund match U S contributions from U.S.-owned zlotys, with each country obligating and depositing approximately 614 million zlotys (about $31 million). The obligation of such money into the joint fund expired December 31, 1976 when the zloty went off the U S. excess foreign cur- rency list. ------- ------- EPA's Research Program Abroad Well before the United Na- tions held its first Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June, 1972, there was widespread recog- nition that pollution was an international problem. In 1969 Congress passed, by unanimous vote, the National Environmental Policy Act di- recting that all Federal agen- cies "shall recognize the worldwide and long-range character of environmental problems and, where con- sistent with the foreign policy of the United States, lend appropriate support to initia- tives, resolutions, and pro- grams designed to maximize international cooperation in anticipating and preventing a decline in the quality of man- kind's world environment" Shortly after its creation, on December 2,1970, the U S Environmental Protection Agency continued a far- reaching program of scientif- ic cooperation with other na- tions to encourage and pro- mote research in pollution control. The mechanism that made this possible was an accumulation of excess, non-convertible currency over the years in certain countries purchasing Ameri- can products, chiefly farm exports under Public Law 480 EPA has supported environ- mental research in Poland, Yugoslavia, Tunisia, Egypt, India, and Pakistan through its Scientific Activities Over- seas Program by means of this special foreign currency. The program is administered by the Agency's Office of International Activities This research covers a broad range of investigation including air and water pollu- tion control, the health ef- fects of pollutants, radiation studies, the impact of pollu- tion on vegetation, sludge disposal, and management of animal wastes EPA-financed engineers have developed methods of removing wastes from textile plant discharge water. Under the Agency's direction, scientists have found and analyzed historic airborne pollution in distant glaciers, and have drawn important conclusions from this about the nature of global pollution Biologists also are finding new information about up- take of heavy metals by veg- etables from the soil in in- dustrial regions where air pollutants settle in the ground There are several broad phil- osophies that underlie this program of environmental research around the world One is that by supporting such investigation, the Uni- ted States furthers its own interests in a direct and con- crete way. Many of the indi- vidual projects are carried out in industries identical to those found in this country, such as coal mining, textile manufacture, copper smelt- ing, and power generation stations, and the results of environmental research elsewhere can be applied to industry here In addition, research involves areas of public health, such as waste- water treatment and the pro- tection of the public from toxic effects of pesticides, that are common to all na- tions Another rationale involves global environment. In the 20th century, pollution crosses international borders without a passport. Scientists have found DDT in the tissues of penguins in the Antarctic, and sulfur mist in Norway blown from coal- burning power plants in countries many miles distant. Because these problems cut across national and political lines, affecting people ev- erywhere, it has been United States policy to cooperate with other nations in a variety of ways to control such pollu- tion. By supporting research abroad, and the mutual ex- change of American and for- eign scientists visiting re- search centers, the United States as an advanced in- dustrial nation has manifest- ed its concern and its willing- ness to cooperate in dealing with this international problem Historically there is prece- dent for such international scientific cooperation. The Mutual Education and Cultu- ral Exchange Act of 1961, for example, provided financial support for a broad spectrum of visits and interchanges of specialists between the Uni- ted States and other coun- tries, of studies and re- search, by Americans and nationals of other countries, including participation in scientific and technical meetings here and abroad. In this and in PL 480, Congress acknowledged the value of strengthening ties to other nations through financial aid of various types in peaceful activities. ------- The EPA's Scientific Activi- ties Overseas Program is therefore a continuation of a broad policy that has been pursued for many years by the United States, an expres- sion of the idea that science knows no boundaries, that a laboratory in Warsaw or Cai- ro or Cincinnati can discover new methods of pollution control that will benefit all mankind. Following is a description of some examples of research under the Agency's SAO program. ------- Poland: Environmental Initiatives At this writing there were more than 30 separate pro- jects in environmental re- search being conducted by scientists, engineers, and physicians in Poland under the Agency's SAO program. This represented 62 percent of the total projects support- ed by EPA around the world. In several ways Poland serves as a model country for the SAO program. First, the nation has a tradition of scholarship and scientific re- search dating back more than six centuries to the founding of the Jagiellonian University of Cracow. Poland has produced two figures in the history of science whose contributions were epochal: Nicolaus Copernicus, the Renaissance mathematician and astronomer, and Maria Sklodowska-Curie, co- discoverer of radium and polonium. Since World War II the Government of the Polish People's Republic has ac- tively supported research that is directly applicable to the industrialization and mo- dernization of the country, and the intellectual climate is highly receptive to support and encouragement from the United States. Research is conducted by more than 100 institutes in various branches of government. To deal with environmental problems the Polish Parlia- ment has organized the Min- istry of Administration, Local Economy and Environmental Protection. Its activities in- clude protection against wa- ter and air pollution, waste treatment, noise and vibra- tion prevention, and protec- tion and recultivation of soils. The Research Institute on Environmental Development (RIED) coordinates scientific cooperation of all Polish re- search institutions with EPA Poland's climate, topo- graphy, and industrial base all present challenging con- ditions in environmental stu- dies. For example, the coun- try suffers from a chronic shortage of water, ranking 20th in Europe in its water resources. This means that during periods of low rainfall, pollution in rivers and streams is heavily concen- trated, and as a result water protection is a pressing en- vironmental problem. The topography of Poland includes a long range of mountains on its southern and southwest border, des- cending north through foot- hills to a fertile plain in the central region. Lying at the base of the mountains is Silesia, rich in coal and other mineral deposits and the in- dustrial heart of the nation. This means that the major rivers and streams flow al- most immediately from the mountains through the most industrialized sector, where they are contaminated be- fore reaching farmlands on the plains. Scientists and public health officials are therefore confronted with an unusually severe problem in water pollution that begins close to the source of a ma- jor watershed. The rich Silesian industrial complex, which resembles in several ways the coal-and- steel producing areas of eastern United States, also has problems in air pollution. It is in this region that many of EPA's environmental re- search projects are located. Several of EPA's projects are associated with POLTEGOR, an acronym for Polish Mining Technology, (Polska Techni- ka Gornicza) This large organization conducts re- search and operates pilot operations in opencast min- ing, earthmoving, and related activities. EPA and POLTEGOR jointly sponsored a Polish-U.S. symposium, "Environmental Protection of Openpit Coal Mines," at Denver, Colorado in May 1975 with the assist- ance of EPA's Region VIII staff. Another symposium, on legal and administrative sys- tems in environmental pro- tection, is scheduled to be held in 1977 in Poland under auspices of the Ministry of Administration, Local Econo- my and Environmental Pro- tection. EPA also works closely with the Polish Insti- tute of Meteorology and Wa- ter Management, where it has 11 projects; the RIED, and the Ministry of Agricul- ture. A joint Symposium on Wastewater Treatment and Sludge Disposal was held in Cincinnati in February, 1976 with participants from Po- land, EPA, several American universities and the Ameri- can Iron and Steel Institute. Discussions focused on sev- en water-related research projects being conducted in Poland. ------- Poland's Coal Industry and Environmental Protection Poland has very large coal reserves—an estimated total of 100 billion tons plus 30 billion tons of brown coal (lignite) The fuel plays a significant role in Poland's economy, and the country ranks as the world's third largest exporter of coal Coal-burning power plants accounted for about 95 percent of Poland's elec- trical generation in 1972, vs. only 2 percent from hydro- electric plants Thanks to the abundance of this fuel, Po- land has been able to export electricity in recent years to Czechoslovakia and the Ger- man Democratic Republic The intensive development of the country's coal industry of course carries an environ- mental cost—in air pollu- tion, mine drainage, under- ground water contamination, and problems in disposal of coal ash, Polish authorities accordingly have devoted much effort to environmental controls on coal combustion and its byproducts. Approxi- mately $1.5 million of EPA's SAO funds are involved cur- rently in such research in cooperation with POLTE- GOR in Poland One of the most visible prob- lems is the ash and slag wastes from coal-fired power plants The volume of the wastes is large and grow- ing—from nearly 12 million metric tons annually in 1975 to an estimated 30 million tons by the year 1990 POL- ------- TEGOR scientists and engi- neers in cooperation with EPA have made remarkable strides in demonstration pro- jects for storing this ash and slag with appropriate envir- onmental safeguards. In one experiment, these wastes have been deposited in two open sand pits created by surface mining operations at Kotlarnia and Goguszo- wice. POLTEGOR specialists are monitoring the sites to prevent adverse effects of the wastes on water resour- ces. The factors considered include climate, drainage and soil chemistry. A number of monitoring wells have been drilled to help deter- mine chemical effects of the waste on the subsoil. Ulti- mately these two sites will be entirely reclaimed with top- soil and plantings of various grasses, shrubs, and trees and made into attractive, ecologically desirable areas. A related project, in coopera- tion with POLTEGOR, is the reclamation of the so-called spoil stack—a mixture of waste ash and clay over- burden—from the Turow mine in southwestern Po- land This is the largest opencast lignite mine in the country, producing 24 million tons of brown coal annually, and its volume of waste to- tals more than 70 million cubic meters a year. It is estimated that by the time the Turow operation is com- pleted in the year 2020, the external waste stack will cover an area of more than 7,000 acres to a depth of 320 meters. The waste initially was distributed at ground level, but due to its increas- ing height, stacking ma- chines must now be used. These toxic spoil stacks re- semble problems found in coal fields in the United States and the development of a reclamation technology is therefore of special inter- est. Specialists at the Turow operations now are conduct- ing a three-year program to establish farm crops for hu- man consumption on re- claimed spoil stacks Scien- tists will measure the uptake of metals by these crops and also will measure the effects of air pollution from a nearby power plant. So a once-ugly blight on the landscape is being turned into healthy, productive land A third project with POLTE- GOR seeks to develop me- thods for reclamation of the alkaline ash piles from power plants that burn brown coal (lignite) and bituminous coal. Again, this work is of special relevance to utilities in the United States because pow- er plants now operating here have produced large ash "ponds" with undetermined groundwater contamination. The anticipated growth of coal-fired power stations in the United States, particular- ly in the Northern Great Plains, is expected to aggra- vate the problem Sites in Poland involved in power plant ash reclamation include one at Konin in cen- tral Poland concerned with fly ash from the combustion of the low-grade brown coal. Another at Halemba in south central Poland is dealing with ash from the burning of bi- tuminous coal. These wastes present serious environmen- tal problems not only be- cause of their potential for polluting underground waters and adjacent soils but also the atmosphere since winds carry away dusts and chemi- cal materials from the sites To stabilize the ash deposits and convert them to useful land, POLTEGOR specialists have successfully planted a variety of grasses and trees under controlled conditions in numerous plots. With fertil- ization, there is generally a good growth of grasses and nitrogen-producing species of plants such as alfalfa, with yields equal to those on neighboring farmland If rain- fall is normal, it is anticipated that economically productive crops can be harvested on these reclaimed sites In 1977 POLTEGOR scientists will evaluate various crops grown on the ash deposits and will be directing their project toward production of food for both humans and farm animals The Polish efforts in recent years to manage coal wastes have not been without prob- lems. The projects menti- oned have required the ex- tensive use of soils, fertilizer, plant husbandry, and analy- sis. But it is clear from achievements thus far that this pressing environmental challenge not only can be met but even turned to ad- vantage by the conversion of wasteland to valuable farm- land and forests. In the pro- cess the POLTEGOR teams have shown that nature can be enlisted to help convert such sites from eyesores and environmental hazards to attractive, productive areas. It is an experiment from which U.S. industry can draw valuable lessons ------- ------- Cutting Costs in the Textile Industry The manufacture of textiles is an important industry in Poland, with production valued at more than 95 billion zlotys in 1972 (about $359 million at the official ex- change rate that year), 7.5 percent of the country's total industrial production. Like textile manufacture in the United States, this indus- try discharges wastewater with widely varying physical and chemical characteris- tics. Much of this wastewater is colored and is high in oxy- gen-demanding properties which endanger the quality of the streams and rivers where it is discharged. The effluent also varies in its acidity or alkalinity and may contain substances difficult to remove by conventional treatment methods. In 1973 EPA and the Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, Cracow Division, began investigating treatment of textile waste- water by means other than conventional biological me- thods. Since cities in Poland charge textile plants for puri- fying their wastewater, with fees directly related to the quantity and quality of the waste purification, this can represent a substantial budget item for an industry Research to achieve lower costs is therefore considered a sound investment. Polish textile technology does not differ markedly from its coun- terpart in the United States, and the benefits of research may therefore be applied equally well here. The Polish team set out in 1972 to evaluate several techniques of removing co- lor, detergents and other stubborn pollutants from tex- tile wastewater after primary and secondary treatment They kept in mind not only the effectiveness of the me- thods but their cost. The project was set up on a pilot scale near the municipal treatment facility and a textile plant in Andrychow, 40 miles southwest of Cracow, in col- laboration with a laboratory at Cracow Polytechnic Uni- versity The plant produces a variety of textiles from cotton and synthetic fibers, and a host of chemicals are used in manufacture including many dyes (reactive, vat, naphthol, indigo, sulfur and disperse) as well as detergents and caustic. Initially, municipal wastewat- er is mixed with textile efflu- ent because the bacterial action of the sewage actually helps to break down the con- taminants in the factory waste. At Andrychow the mix is on a one-to-one ratio. After conventional treatment at the municipal plant, various types of advanced (tertiary) treatment are used to re- move the most persistent textile pollutants. The EPA-Polish team inno- vated by taking seven differ- ent types of advanced treat- ment, installing them at one site, and then comparing their cost and effectiveness on the scene The seven processes were ion ex- change, carbon absorption, chemical coagulation, ozo- nation, chlorination, filtration and reverse osmosis. Inves- tigators ran treatment me- thods both in parallel and in series. Among the more important results of this work was the development of a new pro- cess in chemical coagula- tion—multimedia filtration. Normally this requires four tanks, but at Andrychow the work was performed in one. The process removes solids without sedimentation by means of a technique termed "upflow contact filtration" which reverses the normal gravity-fed procedure. The technique provides signifi- cant savings, costing about 50 percent less than conven- tional methods and requiring less time An EPA paper on the system will be published later in 1977. Since all such methods are developed under joint U.S.- Polish government auspices, the findings of this project are openly available to the public without restriction. This applies to all projects in every country under the Spe- cial Foreign Currency pro- gram ------- I V \Z_<^JX ------- Energy and Protein from Animal Wastes The production of pork is an important industry in Poland. Not only is this a major source of food for the popu- lation but Polish hams are exported around the globe and have become significant earners of hard currency Exports to the United States alone in 1975 were valued at more than $74 million Po- land raises more than 20 million pigs a year, and total exports of ham exceeded 38,000 metric tons in 1975 For these reasons, large farm operations devoted exclu- sively to swine have become common in Poland, and it is not unusual to find State- owned farms of 10,000 to 35,000 pigs operated by agri- cultural cooperatives. At the same time, the animal waste load from such large operations represents an en- vironmental problem that has compelled authorities to con- struct special wastewater treatment plants exclusively for swine farms The present method of treating this waste is both expensive and re- quires a heavy input of energy and chemicals, and authorities therefore have been exploring ways to turn the waste into useful bypro- ducts to offset treatment costs, Scientists know, for example, that methane gas can be derived from wastewater, thereby providing a fuel for various purposes Engineers working in the U S -Polish SAO project are seeking the optimum method of obtaining methane and using it to heat water at swine farms, which can help to make them more self-sufficient in energy At the same time investiga- tors also will be exploring ways to recover protein from the waste. By biological treatment they plan to recov- er protein which can ulti- mately be fed back to the pigs after processing and removal of certain contami- nants like heavy metals. A third use of the wastewater is for irrigation of crops. The end product of the waste treatment plants now is suit- able for irrigation, but it would be much more valuable for this purpose if it contained certain nutrients now re- moved during purification such as phosphorus, nitro- gen and carbon. So the real challenge to scientists is to determine the correct treatment that will make possible all these valu- able uses from a product that now is considered chiefly an expensive environmental burden. The idea of food, fuel, and fertilizer from animal waste holds great appeal both for emerging nations and for U.S feedlot opera- tions ------- e-s T i,.> ^ «^ « ------- 13 Renovated Water tor Industry As indicated earlier, Poland is a nation poor in water supply. At the same time, its heavy industry—like those in other countries—must use large amounts of water for cooling and other purposes. Poland's rivers are already heavily polluted, and this presents an environmental and economic dilemma. It means that in some cities such as Walbrzych in Upper Silesia, with a population of 100,000, industry now actu- ally uses sewage for cooling water. To cope with this problem the Technical University of Wroclaw has been cooperat- ing with Polish industry and municipalities on treatment of such sewage to render it of adequate quality for use in factory processes. Under another EPA project, investigators have been working to determine the most efficient method of ren- ovating water from city sew- age treatment plants so it can be recycled back to in- dustry. There are extensive opera- tions in Upper Silesia in copper and steel manufac- ture and also in mining, and the Oder River and its tribu- taries suffer from heavy pol- lution as they flow through the Wroclaw area. This means that among other things the wastewater must be neutralized and cleansed of phenols and heavy metals before it can be reused. Now under construction and scheduled for completion in June, 1977 is a pilot plant to treat 2,000 cubic meters of sewage per day for industry in Walbrzych. The cost of this facility will total approximate- ly $500,000, and its output will chiefly be used as cool- ing water in a glass and china factory. In a second phase, a larger plant with a capacity of 20,000 cubic meters of water per day is also planned for completion in 1978 on the Palecznica River in the same city This facility, costing ap- proximately $3 million, will provide not only cooling wa- ter for a coke plant but also about 10 percent of its output will be used by boilers in the electric generating plant for the same industry. The use of renovated water is of growing interest in other industrialized nations be- cause heavy industry, partic- ularly steel plants, require enormous amounts of cool- ing water at a time when this resource is becoming scarce. The Sparrows Point Plant of Bethlehem Steel Co. at Baltimore, Maryland, for example, uses 115 million gallons a day of treated sew- age water for cooling pur- poses Because of Poland's unusu- ally severe water shortage, combined with its heavily industrialized southwestern region, the country is there- fore serving as a "worst case" model and testing ground to stimulate research in recycling water, and the results of these projects will be of value everywhere to industry and municipalities faced with similar problems ------- 14 ------- Looking Ahead The SAO program responds to local needs in each coun- try where it operates. Thus, scientists are studying water renovation and recycling not only in Poland but for food processing in Egypt, where water is also a precious re- source. Similarly, eutrophica- tion in the Lake of Tunis is under investigation to assess the potential benefits of di- verting sewage from that im- portant body of water in Tuni- sia In Yugoslavia, research is being conducted on water pollutants such as silicates, heavy metals, and acid dust In Pakistan, biochemists are studying sewage water and sludge to establish control measures for protection of public health and marine life At the same time the pro- gram also remains flexible to adapt to new domestic priori- ties such as land reclamation in strip mining and synthetic fuel production The emer- gence of the energy problem also has made this a special consideration in future re- search. The need for energy conser- vation of course already was being reflected in certain projects, such as research on management of wastes from animal feedlots It is a factor in systems achieving lower costs of wastewater treatment, since energy is a function of such costs In another area, the need for more food to feed a growing population is a part of future research For example, ef- forts in Poland under SAO to restore the fertility of lands despoiled by mining are not only environmentally desira- ble but may open up new acreage to the production of crops and livestock As not- ed earlier, the experience of the POLTEGOR organization in land restoration can be of special usefulness to U S planners in the exploitation of surface coal in regions such as the Great Northern Plains However, the mam thrust of future research under the SAO program will be a conti- nuation of those lines of in- vestigation already appar- ent—in areas already identi- fied by each nation as impor- tant to deal with its own par- ticular environmental prob- lems The United States will con- tinue to benefit from the fruits of such research As this report has emphasized, many of the problems under investigation are shared by American industry and American cities, and the knowledge gained in pollu- tion control overseas will be freely available here ------- ------- ------- United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Public Awareness (A-1071 Washington D C 20460 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300 Postage and Fees Paid Environmental Protection Agency EPA 335 Third Class Bulk ------- |