United States Region 5 April 2008
Environmental Protection 77 West Jackson Boulevard
Agency Chicago, Illinois 60604
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It's been several years since EPA Region 5 published a report like this one, but we had a number of success stories in 2007 that I wanted to
share with you.
For example, Region 5 worked with partners in Michigan to improve environmental factors that affect children's health. We spent a little bit of
money and got big results. Now we're taking this successful program to other states. Through the efforts of Region 5 staff and our state and
local partners, the air in the Midwest is cleaner today than it's been in the past 35 years. We also made great strides in cleaning up the Great
Lakes during 2007, and we took steps to significantly improve water quality in the many other lakes and waterways in our six-state Region.
And we improved Region 5's ability to respond to environmental emergencies - whether man-made incidents or natural disasters.
We are proud of the accomplishments in this report, but we did not achieve these results alone. You'll see the word "partner" in a number
of the pages in this report. That's because we work closely with the six state environmental agencies in our Region, as well as a host of
private-sector partners, including industries and environmental groups, to obtain environmental improvements. Our private-sector partners
are taking action to reduce diesel emissions, eliminate childhood lead poisoning and put formerly polluted sites back into productive use.
EPA strives to work with the regulated community in a collaborative way to benefit the environment without placing an arduous burden on
industry. This approach has won us many new friends and partners while achieving excellent results. But there are still a few cases in which
we must use our authority as a regulatory agency. You'll read about a few of those cases from 2007 also.
I hope you enjoy reading about the many successes Region 5 enjoyed during 2007. Please know that there is much more to be done for
the environment, and Region 5's outstanding people are working hard every day to make the Midwest a better place to live. Please join with
us in being proactive about the environment. There are many things you can do, from simply recycling and conserving energy, to getting
involved with local grass-roots organizations on projects that benefit the Earth.
Please visit our Web site, www.epa.gov/region5, for more information about what Region 5 is doing, and what you can do.
Administrator, EPA Region 5
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Table of Contents
Message from the Regional Administrator
Clean Air
• Innovative approach helps clear the air in southern Illinois Oil Town
• MCDI has success in reducing diesel emissions
• 23 Midwestern communities see smos levels fall
Clean Water
• Resion 5 helps Illinois CAFOs pollute less
• Great Lakes becoming greater because of Legacy Act
• Record TMDL approvals in 2007
Clean Land
• Cleanup completed at Region's most expensive Superfund site
• Brownfields: A feel-good story
• Region 5 winning in the Resource Conservation Challenge
Communities and Ecosystems
• Region 5 is getting the lead out
• Children benefit from Region 5 initiative in Michigan
Compliance and Stewardship
• BP permit issue raises public awareness
• Permit renewal not routine
Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
• Disaster strikes the Midwest - on paper
• Chicago Regional Lab plays homeland security role
Contact Information
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Innovative approach helps clear the air in southern Illinois oil town
A gathering facility consists of tanks where crude oil is stored
before being transferred by truck to a refinery. Hydrogen
sulfide gas, called "poison" on PennTex's sign, regularly
escaped from the tanks.
The stench was terrible and people were setting sick, but there were no rules covering re-
lease of the hydrogen sulfide gas affecting residents of Bridgeport, III. EPA didn't even list
hydrogen sulfide as a hazardous air pollutant. So it took some creativity and tenacity on the
part of Region 5 staff and their federal and state partners, but the people of Bridgeport can
breathe a little easier today.
The hydrogen sulfide gas - which is colorless but smells like rotten eggs - leaked from oil wells
and oil storage facilities near Bridgeport, a town of about 2,000 in Lawrence County. It was a
big problem because there are so many oil wells in Lawrence County you'd think you were in
Texas or Oklahoma, not Illinois. Most of them are owned and operated by PennTex Resources
Inc., and many are very close to homes or schools.
The Illinois Basin oil field is more than 100 years old. The gas that escapes dunng pumping has
a high sulfur content, so it's called "sour gas." People in Bridgeport had been complaining of
headaches, nausea, watering eyes, sleeplessness, fainting, difficulty breathing, asthma, allergies
and damaged personal property. Oil field workers reported similar symptoms. People with
asthma or chronic lung disease such as emphysema were particularly at risk because hydrogen
sulfide could make their symptoms worse.
"Something needed to be done, but there were no federal or state regulations applicable to
the situation," said Region 5 project manager Bonnie Weinbach. "So we had to be innovative."
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Some PennTex oil wells are in residential areas of Bridgeport. In the
background, the buff-brick building on the right is an elementary
school; the playground can be seen on the left.
The Resion 5 team first needed data. They worked closely with the federal Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to set up a network of air monitoring stations. It
was the first time Region 5's Air and Radiation Division had worked in collaboration with
ATSDR on what's called an "exposure investigation." At first the monitoring was limited,
but it showed levels of hydrogen sulfide high enough to cause health problems. That
led to action.
"The data from the exposure investigation supported ATSDR's determination that this
was a public health hazard," said environmental scientist Kathryn Siegel. "We relied on
the data and ATSDR's determination to support our actions under the 'imminent and
substantial endangerment' clause of the Clean Air Act."
EPA then expanded the monitoring until it became the largest monitoring network ever
assembled for a single project by Region 5's Air Monitoring and Analysis Section. And
the agencies put it together in record time. It's still operating today - in fact, it is now the
Section's longest running monitoring operation.
Armed with data from the monitoring network, Region 5's lawyer, Mary McAuliffe,
worked with U.S. Department of Justice and Illinois Attorney General's office to pro-
duce the first known judicial consent decree filed under Section 303 of the Clean Air Act, and talks began with PennTex.
During legal negotiations, EPA and PennTex agreed to keep the public informed about the situation that was having such a direct effect on
their health. They held a public meeting to brief the people of Bridgeport, and nearby Petrolia, about the health threat and what was being
done about it.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Negotiations with PennTex were productive, and the company asreed to the terms
of the consent decree, which was filed in April 2007.
"When PennTex purchased the company that owned these wells, they didn't know
the size of the hydrosen sulfide problem," Weinbach said. "But they've been very
cooperative throushout the process They're still working with us on expanding and
improving their controls."
Yet another "first" on the PennTex-Bridgeport project was the use of a borrowed
infrared camera to detect emissions at wells and at gathering facilities, where crude
oil is stored until it can be loaded onto trucks for transport to a refinery. The IR
camera helped the Region 5 team find out how well PennTex's control measures
were working, and detected new emissions sources. It worked so well that Region
5 was able to buy its own IR camera for future use.
There were a number of "firsts" in this project But the best result was a reduction in
hydrogen sulfide emissions of about 50 tons per year.
Before (he consent decree, PennTex used unsecured barrel
flares like this one to burn off hydrogen sulfide gas. These
makeshift flares have been replaced with proper equipment.
Because of the long-lasting and special circumstances of the problem, the Bridge-
port Team reached out to numerous other agencies around the country to gather
the necessary resources and expertise They collaborated with environmental agencies from four states and consulted with Environmental
Response Team-West from Las Vegas, Nev, and the Thermo Scientific Co in order to build the monitoring network and acquire the necessary
instruments.
Their efforts paid off for the people of Bridgeport.
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EPA Resion 5 — The Best of 2007
MCDI has success in reducing diesel emissions
A diesel oxidation catalyst similar to the catalytic convener on most cars, he/ps reduce
the soot and ozone-causing nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons from diesel emissions.
One of the biggest air quality challenges in the Midwest today is diesel
engine emissions. That black puff of diesel smoke is familiar to anyone
who has ever sat in traffic behind a bus or followed a big rig down the
interstate.
But the Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative is out to change all that. MCDI
is a voluntary, public-private collaboration in the Region 5 states. Part-
ners include private-sector companies and non-profit organizations,
as well as federal, state and local governments.
The focus is on voluntary reduction of diesel emissions through tech-
nology, alternative fuels and fuel-efficient practices. EPA has put more
stringent rules in place to reduce pollution from new diesel engines.
But millions of older engines continue to give off large amounts of
pollution, and they can last more than 20 years. So what to do about
those already on the road?
That's where MCDI comes in.
"We encourage our partners to take steps that will reduce diesel
emissions," said MCDI manager Steve Marquardt. "The best step, of
course, is to buy new vehicles or replace older engines with newer,
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
cleaner ermines. We also promote retrofitting existing
diesel engines with devices like participate filters or oxi-
dation catalysts, using cleaner fuels and doing regular
engine maintenance Emissions can also be cut by re-
ducing idling "
Simply clearing the air is a good reason to have MCDI,
but the health reasons are even stronger. The nitrogen
oxide, fine particles and other toxics in diesel smoke
contribute to serious public health problems Diesel
emissions are linked to asthma attacks, lost work or
school days and even premature death
Since its inception in 2004, MCDI partners have funded
more than $81 million in clean diesel projects and re-
duced emissions from more than 370,000 vehicles.
And Region 5 has recruited more SmartWay Transport
partners than any other EPA region - 162 at last count,
which is one-quarter of all partnership members
There are about 3.3 million diesel-powered engines in
the Midwest that MCDI can affect The ambitious goal is
to reduce emissions from 1 million of those diesels by
2010
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EPA Resion 5 — The Best of 2007
MCDI made major strides toward that goal in 2007. During the year, the collaboration gave almost $1 million in grants to reduce emissions from
school buses, garbage trucks and similar vehicles. MCDI awarded a total of $689,700 for retrofitting school buses, and more than $231,000 for
other diesel engines.
Marquardt said an important 2007 milestone was formation of the 33-member MCDI Leadership Group to provide overall direction and scale
up the program. The group supports building coalitions in each Region 5 state to focus on problems in geographic areas, specific vehicle types
or technology options.
For example, the Illinois coalition is working with rail companies to reduce locomotive emissions, while in Indiana the effort focuses on highly
industrialized Northwest Indiana. Wisconsin is making $1 million a year in state funds available for a truck anti-idling equipment grant program,
and Ohio has secured $20 million for its Emissions Reduction Grant Program.
"The goal is for these state-level coalitions to secure state funds and leverage private-sector money," Marquardt said. "The leadership of our
private-sector partners is very important."
With the efforts of Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative and its partners, that familiar black puff of diesel smoke will soon be a thing of the past.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
23 Midwestern communities see smog levels fall
Redesignation Status
8-hour Ozone Areas
Nonattainment
This mop of the Region 5 states shows areas
redesignated during 2007 in green. Red indicates
areas that still do not meet the national air quality
standards for ozone.
The air 30! cleaner in the Midwest in 2007.
During the year, 23 communities in the Region 5 states saw ground-level ozone readings that were low
enough to meet air quality standards. And some of the 23 are big cities with long-standing air quality
problems
EPA and its state partners monitor air quality throughout the Midwest, checking for what are called "criteria
pollutants." They are ozone, fine particles (better known as "soot"), carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide,
sulfur dioxide and lead.
"Ground-level ozone and fine particles are the real problems here in Region 5," said John Mooney, chief
of the Air and Radiation Division's Criteria Pollutant Section. 'All areas of the Region 5 states already meet
the national standards for the other four criteria pollutants."
If the air quality in a community fails to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for a particular air
pollutant - such as ozone EPA labels that area as being in "nonattainment" of the standards State and
local officials in nonattainment areas must take steps to bring air quality back to acceptable levels.
When monitoring shows air quality in a community meets the standards over a period of time, that's the
first - and often most important - step for an area to be redesignated to being in "attainment."
"These communities worked hard to gam redesignation," Mooney said. "They implemented all kinds of emission reduction programs over many
years. The states and local communities also took action to reduce emissions from power plants and from other industrial sources."
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Five of the communities are in Indiana, eight in Ohio and 10 in Michigan. That includes cities such as Toledo and the Dayton-Springfield area
in Ohio; Flint, Grand Rapids and Lansing in Michigan; and Indianapolis. Many of the communities are in an industrial area and have a significant
number of vehicles.
Three Wisconsin communities applied for redesignation during 2007. Major metropolitan areas like Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland are still
working on air quality issues and have not yet asked EPA to consider redesignation.
Minnesota is the only state in Region 5 where every county meets the ground-level ozone standard.
Ozone is the main ingredient in smog. It comes from vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, gasoline vapors and chemical solvents. There are also
natural sources of ozone. Smog forms when ozone and other compounds bake in the hot summer sun.
"Reaching attainment with the standard is only half the battle for these communities," said Mooney. "Now they have to be sure the air continues
to meet the standard for ozone. Each community must submit a plan telling Region 5 what they will do to keep from going over the standard
again. That's the whole idea - to clean up air pollution and keep it clean."
Region 5 will continue to work with local officials in each community to support their efforts at maintaining attainment. Mooney said that usually
means keeping the programs in place that helped the community reach attainment, such as cleaner fuel programs and controls on power plant
emissions.
As more communities find ways to reduce ozone and other pollutants, air quality in the Midwest will continue to improve.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Aerial view of a CAFO in Whiteside County, III. Brown
areas to the right of the buildings are feedlots. Ma-
nure flows into an earthen storage structure that was
not designed, operated or maintained to contain the
Region 5 helps Illinois CAFOs pollute less
Experts say a single dairy cow produces about 120 pounds of manure every day. Put 1,000 cows on
5 acres in rural Illinois and you've essentially got a hypothetical town the size of Quincy, III., with no
sewer system.
In EPA terms, such a large herd of livestock in a small, confined place would qualify as a CAFO, short
for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation. Without proper management techniques, falling rain
or melting snow can wash manure into nearby lakes, rivers and streams. Nutrients such as nitrogen,
phosphorus and ammonia, and potentially dangerous pathogens such as E. coli cause serious
problems for those bodies of water.
Manure is not the only problem. Runoff can wash concentrated nutrients into local waters from
stockpiles of feed. That not only pollutes the body of water, it reduces the quality of the feed.
EPA Region 5 is trying to ensure that owners and operators follow the right procedures to reduce the
effect of water pollution from CAFOs. An important part of that is getting a Clean Water Act permit.
"Our goal for the six Region 5 states is to get at least 75 percent of large CAFOs under a permit by
2010," said Patrick Kuefler, chief of Section 2 in the Water Division's Enforcement & Compliance
Assurance Branch. "We're currently at about 63 percent. While we conducted inspections in several
states in 2007, we concentrated our efforts in Illinois because the number of facilities with permits was
low compared with the other five states in the Region."
manure.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Kuefler said his team used EPA databases to locate areas where nutrients or pathosens
have impaired bodies of water. Then they looked for possible sources of contamination.
"Where CAFOs were potential sources, we started doing inspections," he said.
Illinois EPA estimates there may be as many as 500 large CAFOs in the state, but the
agency has issued only about a dozen permits. Kuefler said Region 5 Water Division staff
conducted 11 inspections at Illinois CAFOs in 2007. In seven of those cases, EPA found
problems big enough to warrant issuing what's known as an "administrative order."
"The order requires a CAFO operator to stop discharging pollutants into the nearby body
of water and apply for a permit from the state," said life scientist Cheryl Burdett. "It also
gives them specific procedures to follow until they get a permit."
What good does a permit do? Burdett said a typical permit requires the CAFO operator
to properly store manure and other waste when it cannot be safely applied as fertilizer on
crops. The permit also requires the operator to properly document waste management
operations. All this can be very good for the environment.
This manure storage structure was only a few feet from a creek.
"One CAFO operator in Michigan made the necessary fixes to get a permit," Burdett said. 'As a result, a body of water near the facility recovered so well
that it was taken off the state's list of impaired waters."
Of course, it's not just the local waterways that are affected. Pollution can travel downstream and into larger streams. In Illinois and other Midwestern states,
the pollution can flow into the Mississippi River and ultimately to the Gulf of Mexico where excess nutrients have created a "dead zone," an area without
enough oxygen to support life.
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EPA Resion 5 — The Best of 2007
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permit would eliminate this problem.
Kuefler said some operators balk at the idea of qualifying for a permit.
The process can be expensive and take as Ions as a year But others see
the process as an opportunity because they retain and use the nutrients
that otherwise wash into local waters. Using manure as fertilizer is a good
example.
"Commercial fertilizers are excellent products, but they are made with fossil
fuels," Burdett said. "So capturing manure and using it as fertilizer helps
reduce greenhouse gases and is a cost savings for the operator And as
long as the manure is applied properly, the technique protects important
bodies of water."
"Many operators come to realize that every time it rains, some of their
money washes away," Kuefler said "They find that keeping the nutrients in
the feed and using manure as a fertilizer can keep money in their pockets. It
keeps the neighbors happier, too "
Just like installing a sewer system in that hypothetical Illinois town
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Great Lakes becoming greater because of Legacy Act
Arizona has the Grand Canyon, Florida has the Everslades, but no one state or group of people can lay claim to the Great Lakes. Each of the
Region 5 states has at least some Great Lakes shoreline, and we share this treasure with our neighbors in Canada - except for Lake Michigan,
which is fully within the U.S.
Millions of people depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water, recreation and even for their livelihood. Today, we value this natural resource.
In the past, though, we were not so kind. So there is a legacy of pollution around the lakes.
"The biggest culprit is sediment contaminated with PCBs," said Gary Gulezian, director of EPAs Great Lakes National Program Office. "This
contamination comes primarily from industrial sources that have operated on the lakeshores for many years."
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
EPA's R.V. Peter Wise Lake Guardian is the only self-contained, non-polluting research
vessel on the Great Lof-es. The ship allows researchers to sample the water, aquatic
life, sediment and air using state-of-the-art data collection techniques ami instruments
EPA and its Canadian partners have identified a series of 43 'Areas of
Concern" around the lakes. Cleanins up these spots - called AOCs
- is critical to restorins the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem In
2002, Congress passed and the president signed a new law, the
Great Lakes Legacy Act, to target these AOCs with $270 million over
five years. Legacy Act funds are used to clean up sediment in the
AOCs, as well as for site monitoring, evaluation and actions to prevent
further contamination.
"We've been very active in using the Great Lakes Legacy Act to clean
up contaminated sediment," said Gulezian. "We have completed
five cleanup projects to date under the Legacy Act, including two
projects in 2007 - the Ashtabula River project in Ohio and Tannery
Bay in the St. Mary's River at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. We also started
work on five new projects - two in Michigan, one in Wisconsin, one
in Indiana and one outside the Region 5 states in Buffalo, New York."
Earlier, cleanup work was completed at Black Lagoon on the Detroit
River and Ruddiman Creek on Muskegon Lake, both in Michigan, as
well as at Hog Island Inlet on the St. Louis River in Wisconsin
After the Black Lagoon project was completed, the community of Trenton, Mich, renamed the site "Elias Cove " The site has received several
grants for shoreline restoration and construction of a new marina. The Hog Island and Ruddiman Creek projects have led to development of
Habitat Restoration Master Plans funded by other programs, and these blueprints are being implemented.
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EPA Resion 5 — The Best of 2007
All of the completed cleanup projects have resulted in new
areas, either for recreation, preservation or development.
"The Legacy Act really is the cornerstone of the Areas
of Concern cleanup program," Gulezian said. "Cleaning
up contaminated sediment is important, not just for
restoration of the Great Lakes, but also because cleanups
increase property values and they promote economic
development."
The work done in 2007 removed from the AOCs a total of
537,000 cubic yards of sediment that contained more than
900,000 pounds of contaminants. That's enough sediment
to fill every square foot of floor space in the Pentagon
building (one of the world's largest office buildings) with a
pile of sediment 4 feet high.
One important aspect of the Great Lakes Legacy Act is its
requirement that 35 percent of the funds for each project
must come from non-federal sources. Since 2004, EPA has
spent about $53 million to clean up more than 800,000
cubic yards of sediment, and the cost-sharing clause has
helped leverage an additional $44 million in funds from
state, local and private-sector sources.
The Great Lakes Legacy Act helped fund dredging of contaminated sediment in Tannery
Bay, pan of the St. Mary's River Area of Concern near Sault Ste. Marie. Mich.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Habitat restoration is an important, part of Great Lakes Legacy Act cleanups,
like this work being done in Tannery Bay.
"These Lesacy Act projects are true partnerships among EPA, the states and the
communities from start to finish," said Marc Tuchman, Sediment Team leader for
the Great Lakes National Program Office. "We all have a common goal of getting
these Areas of Concern cleaned up and off the list."
It's a goal that's crucial for the restoration and protection of the Midwest's
greatest natural resource.
Region 5 conductors set out markers (o show areas in Tannery Bay where
habitat is being restored after contaminated sediment was removed.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Record TMDL approvals in 2007
In 2007, Resion 5's Water Division staff approved a record
865 TMDLs. That's impressive even if you don't know what
a TMDL is.
TMDL stands for Total Maximum Daily Load. It's a plan for
bringing a polluted body of water back to health - back
to where the lake, river or stream can be used safely for its
intended purpose. That may be for recreational purposes,
for commercial fishing or navigation, or as a source of
drinking water.
"Basically, a TMDL is a pollutant diet," said Dean Maraldo,
Region 5 TMDL program manager. "It's a measure of how
much pollution a body of water can handle and still meet
water quality standards. We don't think it's always possible
to reach zero water pollution, but we can reach ecology-
and human-health-based standards, and the TMDL is one
way to do that. Good implementation plans can help guide
local efforts to restore the lake or stream."
The states are required, under the Clean Water Act, to prepare
TMDLs for every impaired body of water in the state. EPA
This stretch ofPowderlick Run in central Ohio was one of many polluted streams in
the Bakes Creek Watershed. Agricultural and stormwater runoff, and manure man-
agement problems in the watershed killed fish and fouled the habitat.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Once TMDL limits are put in place and restoration activities completed, streams like Powderlick Run be-
come cleaner and more free-flowing.The TMDL limits point source discharges and sets habitat restoration
goals for nonpoint source restoration projects in the watershed.
approves those TMDLs, one for each different
pollutant goins into that body of water. So for one
stretch of river, there may be several TMDLs needed.
It's a fact of life that many lakes, rivers and streams in
the U.S. are polluted. Some of it comes from what
are called "point sources," such as industrial plants
that discharge wastewater into rivers as a byproduct
of the manufacturing process. And some of it comes
from "non-point sources," such as runoff from farms
after heavy rains.
"Region 5 has been working to get our six states up
to speed." said Maraldo. "We've been providing
EPA-approved contractors and other kinds of
technical support, and in many cases we've
provided funding for TMDL projects. That's one
reason we were able to approve a record number
in 2007."
The record 865 approvals exceeded Region 5's
commitment level, and 2007 was the first time all
Region 5 states met their TMDL commitments.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
One high-water mark of 2007 was completion of the Green Bay National Watershed Pilot. This was one of three projects selected by EPA
Headquarters to demonstrate the advantases of planning efforts that take an entire watershed into account, not just individual bodies of water.
Maraldo said watershed-based TMDLs work well when non-point sources of pollution are the primary problems in the watershed.
While watershed-based efforts are still relatively new, Minnesota went a step further with a regional TMDL for mercury - an innovative approach
that led to a national first in the development and approval of TMDLs
"Region 5 worked closely with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on the regional TMDLs for mercury," Maraldo said. "This was a huge
deviation from the traditional system, and it represented 500 of the 865 TMDLs we approved during the year. Some states are already doing
TMDLs for entire watersheds, but Minnesota's regional TMDL approach, addressing waters located across the state, was a first."
Most of the mercury that pollutes a lake or stream actually starts out as air pollution from the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants and other
industries. Rain picks up the mercury out of the air and deposits it in water. This is called "air deposition" of mercury, and it's a non-point source
that's difficult to control. In Minnesota, 99 percent of the mercury in bodies of water got there through the air.
The difficulty in trying to regulate non-point sources of mercury is that some of those sources are outside the state's control. Mercury in the
air over Minnesota, for example, may have come from a state well to the west. This unique regional TMDL approach includes many emission
reduction goals for industrial sources, including those outside Minnesota.
EPA Headquarters knows all about TMDLs, and they were impressed with Region 5's leadership in this important arena. So much so, in fact,
that Region 5 was awarded additional funds in 2007 to lead a national effort to develop and publish a TMDL/stormwater integration guidance
document. You should be reading about that in these same pages next year.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Cleanup completed at Region's most expensive Superfund site
It was a pretty big celebration After all, EPA had spent $4.4 billion over nearly 20 years, and now the project was finally finished The EPA Administrator
was there, as were federal, state and local elected officials, the press and local residents - many of whom worked at the site from the early 1950s until the
old facility closed in 1989
The occasion was a ceremony to mark what EPA calls "construction completion," or the end of major cleanup work at a Superfund site The place was
the Fernald Superfund site, about 20 miles northeast of Cincinnati, more appropriately known as the Feed Materials Production Center site. That was the
name this place went by during the Cold War days when it produced uranium for the nation's nuclear weapons program It was a name that - at the time -
concealed the true nature of the work being done there, as well as the environmental risk that work posed to plant employees and local residents
"This was the most expensive cleanup completed in Region 5 so far," said Jim Sane, Region 5 remedial project manager for the Fernald site. "Closing out
this site - which we refer to as a 'megasite1 - proves that large, complex sites like Fernald can be cleaned up, and that federal and state agencies can
cooperate to get the job done"
Sane says Region 5's success at the Fernald site is a model of how to effectively work with other agencies and local residents to establish a vision for the
site and attain a consensus.
Region 5, working closely with state partner Ohio EPA, oversaw the cleanup at Fernald Responsibility for getting the work done, however, fell to U S
Department of Energy, which owns the 1,050-acre site.
"We took a balanced approach to the cleanup at Fernald," Sane said "We all agreed that we needed to get the higher-level radioactive material off the site
and remove contaminated topsoil We also were able to reach agreement on leaving the less-contaminated material - and there was a lot of it - in an on-
site landfill. Working together on this probably saved about $2 billion in costs and several years of work "
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EPA Resion 5 — The Best of 2007
Saric said it took a lot of creativity to bring everybody - especially the residents and former plant workers affected by the site - on board. Being "on
board" was literal in this case, since one of the innovative aspects of the cleanup process was development of a Fernald board game.
"There were different colored chips that represented pollution," Sane explained. "The players could choose to leave materials on-site or move materials
off-site. We let area residents and people from other agencies play the game to help them become more aware of the site's complexity and the financial
compromises that had to be made. The game opened a lot of eyes and helped people get a better idea of what had to be done.
"Getting the community involved early was important to success." Sane said. "Over the course of the project we spent lots of time in public meetings.
Fernald was a model site."
After demolishing 200 buildings and digging up 2.5 million cubic yards of contaminated soil, the result is an area now known as the Fernald Preserve.
"The area will never be redeveloped, and the ground water is still being cleaned up," Sane said. "But we created a nature preserve that provides a habitat
for the Indiana bat and includes the nation's largest man-made wetland, complete with lots of native grasses."
There's also a museum that shows how use of the land went "From Weapons to Wetlands." One exhibit shows visitors what the Fernald site was once used
for, and explains America's involvement - and Fernald's role - in the Cold War. There's also an environmental education aspect to the museum, showing
school groups how wetlands work and why they are important to our environment.
All in all, worthy of a big party.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Brownfields: A feel-good story
An aerial view of the Highway 7 Bus/ness Center, the former National
Lead Superfund Site, in St. Louis Park, Minn., before redevelopment.
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be" was good advice in Shakespeare's time, but
today Region 5 is helping make great things happen throughout the Midwest through
revolving loan fund grants in EPAs Brownfields program.
Brownfields are abandoned, idled or under-used industrial and commercial facilities
where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental
contamination. EPA awards grants to help communities and other stakeholders put
these properties back to work.
Region 5 awarded 86 grants in 2007, worth a total of $27.7 million. About half of all
grant applicants each year are repeat customers - communities that have received
grants in the past and are applying for additional funds.
Some of those grants are used to assess properties, some are for getting the cleanup
done and some are specifically for job training programs. But where Region 5 excels,
according to Brownfields program manager Joe Dufficy, is in grants that establish or
add to revolving loan funds. Communities use the EPA grant to lend money to other
communities or to private interests involved in redeveloping brownfields.
"The number of grants we've awarded in Region 5 overall has remained fairly constant
for the last few years," Dufficy says. "But through 2007, Region 5 communities have
made more than 40 percent of all such loans in the nation."
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EPA Resion 5 — The Best of 2007
Dufficy says that while an assessment or cleanup grant helps one community, a
revolving loan fund grant can help several communities, and if managed well can
become self-sustaining over time.
"Milwaukee is a good example," Dufficy says. "They have been receiving
revolving loan fund grants every year since 2002. They loan the money for
specific projects, so there aren't cleanups just for the sake of a cleanup - there's
an immediate turnaround. Plus, the city gets interest on repayment of the loan,
and they benefit in other ways, such as more taxes and more jobs from the
redeveloped properties."
Region 5 communities made 16 loans totaling more than $11 million in 2007,
more than in any previous year.
"The Brownfields program really is EPAs best feel-good story," says Dufficy.
"The first brownfield to be redeveloped was right here in the Midwest in
1994, so we feel like Region 5 was the birthplace of brownfields. Since the
national Brownfields program started in 1995, EPA has spent nearly $800 million
nationally to put property and people back to work. In the Region 5 states, that
translates to more than $160 million in grant funding, which in turn has generated more than $2 billion in cleanup and redevelopment investments, 22,000
acres made ready for reuse, and 5,000 new jobs created."
About 27 percent of brownfield cleanups in the nation are in the six Region 5 states. If the Bard lived in the Great Lakes region today, he just might revise that
famous line from Hamlet about borrowing money to add, "except for the Brownfields program's revolving loan fund grants."
The completed Highway 7 Business Center in St. Louis Park, Minn., was
cleaned up with a combination of grant and loan funds partially funded by
brownfields and administered by state and county agencies.
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EPA Resion 5 — The Best of 2007
Region 5 winning in the Resource Conservation Challenge
It's a real challenge, this environmental protection business Part of that challenge is convincing the rest of the country that it's not just EPAs job - it's
everybody's job to be a good steward of the environment.
That's the philosophy of the Resource Conservation Challenge, a national program that promotes recycling and pollution prevention through better
management of materials Reuse and recycling programs help conserve energy and cut down on the flow of waste into the nation's landfills.
"One of the RCC's four main goals is to help move our nation beyond our current recycling rate of about 33 percent," said Jerri-Anne Garl, chief of the
Land and Chemicals Division's Materials Management Branch "While our efforts resulted in greenhouse gas reductions of nearly 50 million tons of carbon,
equivalent to the annual emissions of 39 million cars, we know there is more we can accomplish The primary focus for additional recycling is on paper,
packaging materials, food scraps and yard trimmings We're also encouraging greener management of electronic equipment and industrial byproducts, as
well as a reduction in the use of 31 toxic chemicals"
Some industrial byproducts - primarily coal combustion products, construction and demolition debris, and foundry sands - can be effectively used in
building highways and in other construction projects. Using these materials in construction products like concrete or asphalt can result in significant energy
savings and greenhouse gas reductions Region 5 is working to get the word out on these materials and their uses. In the fall of 2007, Region 5 hosted
two forums on the beneficial recycling of asphalt shingles and foundry sands. Hundreds of people learned about the many uses of these materials in
construction Already, the impact of these forums can be seen in new recycling efforts that have started in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Removing the 31 priority chemicals - including lead, mercury and cadmium - from the environment is critical because they are persistent, bioaccumulative
and highly toxic. Through the National Partnership for Environmental Priorities Program, Region 5 encourages companies to reduce the use or release of
4 million pounds of priority chemicals by 9011. Region 5 currently has 23 partners who have reduced more than 165,000 pounds of priority chemicals
Region 5 also collected mercury and other toxic chemicals from 143 schools in 2007
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
J
Another area where Region 5 excelled in 2007 was the Federal Electronics Challenge. This program encourages federal facilities and agencies to buy
greener electronic products and manage obsolete electronics in an environmentally safe way. The program encourages the use of Energy Star electronic
products to help reduce energy use. Through the Energy Star program and by reusing
and recycling electronics, the Region saved more than 4.9 million kilowatt-hours of
electricity and 1,423 metric tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, that would
have been expended to run equipment longer or to make new equipment. During
2007, Region 5 transferred or donated 347 desktop computers, 32 laptops and 275
old monitors with cathode ray tubes.
Region 5 also makes grants available to address all the pillars of the RCC. For example,
this year our grants are supporting several efforts in Chicago to increase recycling in
stadiums, multi-unit residential buildings and businesses. The results of these efforts
can be used by other urban centers. With support from EPA grants, the Chicago
Waste-to-Profit Network, a collaborative network of Chicago-area businesses,
identified innovative recycling and market opportunities by linking partner industries
and diverted more than 20,000 tons of waste from disposal in its first year.
Finally, Region 5 promotes the national WasteWise program, a voluntary partnership
program designed to reduce waste. There are close to 200 WasteWise partners in
Region 5. One of them, Subaru of Indiana, recycled 13,000 tons of waste and nearly
eliminated all of its production waste. Several other partners received awards last year
for their exceptional waste reduction efforts.
Computers are packaged for recycling. Region 5 participated in the
Federal Electronics Challenge, donating hundreds of old computers for
With numbers like those, it's easy to see how well Region 5 is meeting the challenge of resource conservation.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Region 5 is getting the lead out
EPA wants to eliminate childhood lead poisoning by 2010 Since most of the reported cases of this disease are in the Midwest states, Region 5
is playing a major role in achieving this goal.
Thanks in part to Region 5's efforts over the past 10 years, the percentage of children with elevated blood-lead levels in this part of the country
has dropped by 15 percent, according to Mardi Klevs, chief of the Chemicals Management Branch and a member of Region 5's lead reduction
team.
She got her eyes from Grandma, her laugh from Dad
and her lead poisoning from home.
Ll AD H
Most homes built before 1978 contain lead. Lead poisoning is found
in more than 20,000 Chicago children each year. Protect your child
from harmful lead found in and around your home.
Get Your Child Tested Today!
CALL 1-800-424-LEAD
This public-service ad was placed in
Chicago Transit Authority' buses and
"el" duins thmughout the city.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
"The actual numbers are down as well as the percentage of cases reported in the Region 5 states," Klevs said. "But Region 5 still has a
disproportionate share of the problem because the Midwest has many older buildings that still have deteriorating lead-based paint on some
window frames."
Region 5 lead program specialist Phil King explained that opening and closing those windows creates a small amount of dust containing lead.
"The child touches the dust, the hand goes into the mouth and the child gets a dose of lead," King said. 'A child can become poisoned by
ingesting or breathing a very small amount of lead dust. So we have to eliminate or control lead-based paint hazards."
And the numbers show Region 5 is having success with a four-pronged approach - public outreach and education, state capacity-building,
enforcement of environmental laws, and initiatives with public and private partners.
"We probably have the most extensive outreach effort of all the EPA regions," King said. "We have booths at home shows, baby fairs and other
community events. We hand out a lot of printed educational material and talk to a lot of people about the dangers of lead-based paint in older
structures."
In 2007, Region 5 gave away more than 276,000 brochures and other handouts - more than in any previous year. Staff members attended 27
events during the year and filled nearly 800 requests for information.
"Our state partners are just as committed to this issue as we are," said Tony Martig, chief of the Region 5 Water Division's Toxics Section. "The
second part of our approach is working with the states to help them do more at the state level. We have a good relationship with each of the
six state environmental agencies. We share ideas and success stories."
But there are still landlords who have not gotten the message about lead-based paint, and Region 5 sometimes must use its authority as a
regulatory agency. Klevs says the Region does an exceptional job of targeting high-risk areas.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
"We've been aggressive about that," Klevs says "We work with local organizations that track childhood lead poisoning, and they know where
the problems are If a landlord won't cooperate with our attempt to help fix the problem, then we take legal action In more than half of the
cases we settle The landlord agrees to make the building a safer place for children And that's really our goal."
The fourth part of Region 5's effort is partnerships with state agencies, private organizations, community groups and other federal agencies,
such as Department of Housing and Urban Development. Region 5 also partners with EPA Region 7, based in Kansas City and responsible for
Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas This region also has a large number of children with elevated blood-lead levels
"This is a fairly new approach," Martig said "We met with our Region 7 counterparts in St. Louis in 2007 Part of that meeting was a technology
transfer forum that helped both regions "
Martig said three major initiatives with Region 5's partners are under way In the first, Region 5 is working with the banking industry to make low-
cost loans available for the replacement of windows The second is targeted lead grants for higher-risk communities in the Region 5 states.
EPA awarded nearly $1.9 million to 13 communities in 2007 to support lead poisoning prevention and cleanups in many of our hardest hit
cities. A third initiative has state environmental and health agencies working with hardware stores to reach do-it-yourselfers and remodeling
professionals with educational materials on lead-safe building and remodeling practices
Finally, Region 5 is proud to have had a role in the recent development of EPA's new Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, which will
require renovators who disturb lead-based paint to have the proper training and follow practices to reduce lead dust The new rule is
expected to be published in April 2008
The goal of eliminating childhood lead poisoning in the United States by 2010 is a real challenge. Region 5 continues to make great strides
toward that goal, and we're looking forward to celebrating when we reach it
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Children benefit from Region 5 initiative in Michigan
The mission was to create an effective program in a specific geo-
graphic area that would improve children's environmental health by
leveraging local resources, and that could be copied in other areas.
Mission impossible? Not for Region 5 staff from the Air and Radiation
Division and the Land and Chemicals Division, who put it all together.
The result is the West Michigan Children's Environmental Health Initia-
tive. In 2007, Region 5 operated on several fronts to attack the prob-
lem of environmental factors affecting the health of children, such as
asthma triggers, lead-based paint and hazardous chemicals. In EPA
terminology, the WMCEHI is a successful "multi-media" project.
"We wanted to have a positive effect on children where they live,
learn and play," said Mar/Ann Suero, children's health program man-
ager in the Region's Land and Chemicals Division. "We chose West
Michigan because there were already about 30 organizations there
involved in environmental health. We built our collaboration around
three local champions: Get the Lead Out, Grand Rapids - now the
Healthy Homes Coalition of West Michigan - West Michigan Asthma
Network and West Michigan Environmental Action Council."
Region 5's Mary Ann Suero trains facilities managers from 30 different school
districts on how the environment can affect children's health.The training
I i O
was held at Kent Intermediate School District.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Unused chemicals cleaned out of o school science lob ore
sorted by chemical properties at a collection ceritei.
The initiative started in a four-county area, then expanded to take in 10 counties in West
Michigan, centered on the Grand Rapids area
"We built a partnership with local community groups and agencies, but also with Michigan
departments of environmental quality, health, education and agriculture," Suero said
Most of the effort focuses on reducing environmental hazards in homes and schools.
"We took a holistic approach to creating healthier homes because the problem is not one-
dimensional," Suero said. "For example, if moisture gets into a home - and that's a common
problem - it can cause mold, which is an asthma trigger Moisture may also attract pests such
as cockroaches and increase the dust from deterioration of lead-based paint Many homes
need all interventions, not just one "
Region 5 also joined with partners at U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
to tram 60 property managers who hold HUD contracts to run apartment buildings for low-
income residents. The managers learned techniques to keep the environment in their build-
ings safer for children
Schools posed some of the same challenges as homes, and then some
"We conducted training on environmental hazards for facility managers and for science
teachers," said Jack Barnette, WMCEHI project manager for the Air and Radiation Division.
"We taught school district staff members about the indoor environmental quality tools EPA
has specifically for schools, and we helped science teachers improve their management of
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
chemicals in their classrooms. In 2007 alone, we helped teachers remove about 5,500 pounds of potentially danserous chemicals that were
not being used."
Improving environmental health for children was the initiative's primary pur-
pose. But Region 5 had other issues in mind.
'A major goal was sustainability," said Barnette. "We knew at some point Re-
gion 5 would move on and the community would step up, and they did. The
community successfully competed for two major federal grants to continue
the program. They also formed a partnership with a health maintenance orga-
nization. The HMO has worked with the community to decrease the incidence
of asthma-related emergency room visits, which is a cost-benefit to the HMO,
but it's a quality-of-life-benefit to the people of West Michigan."
It's all part of what the community refers to as improving "the triple bottom
line" of the environment, social justice and economics.
Another challenge was portability - could the program be transported to
other areas with similar success? Region 5 has already started trying to answer
that question by working with potential local champions in the Fort Wayne,
Ind., area. Duplicating West Michigan's success in other parts of the Midwest
will mean better health for millions of potential beneficiaries - children of all
ages in the six Region 5 states.
Mission accomplished.
At the Battle Creek Area Mathematics and Science Center in
Battle Creek Mich., science teachers from 25 school districts
learn how to properly maintain chemicals in a classroom.
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BP permit issue raises public awareness
2007 was a year in which people showed how concerned they are about the environment, especially the Great Lakes And it was a year in which many of
those same people learned more about water pollution and the resulatory process. All thanks to a wastewater discharge permit issued to BP by the state
of Indiana.
BP applied for the permit - actually a renewal of a long-expired National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit - because the company planned a
major expansion of its Whiting, Ind., refinery. BP wanted to refine Canadian tar sand crude oil, which is plentiful but requires more processing than normal
crude oil to turn into fuel, and results in more pollution at the refinery.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management proposed a new permit that allowed the refinery to increase its discharge of ammonia and
a pollutant called "total suspended solids" into Lake Michigan. IDEM cited parts of state and federal laws that allow such increases under specific
circumstances. Region 5 reviewed the permit and determined it was not outside the scope of the Clean Water Act.
Then the Chicago Tribune ran a front-page story that shocked people It said the new permit allowed the refinery to "dump" more ammonia and TSS into
Lake Michigan than did the previous permit As other media outlets picked up the story, more Chicagoland residents learned the details and thought it had
to be a mistake. EPA would never let that happen, would they7
"The story really captured the public's attention, and EPA got a lot of phone calls from people who were upset," said Peter Swenson, acting deputy
director of Region 5's Water Division "We talked to a lot of people who didn't know that sometimes it's legal under the Clean Water Act to discharge
pollutants into Lake Michigan, as long as they're at safe levels. They didn't understand that Indiana's permit was within the law. We had to explain that, yes,
pollution needs to be controlled but it can't always be brought down to zero."
Area residents - most of whom get their drinking water from Lake Michigan saw the increase in pollution levels as a step backward. Many were upset
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
that state and federal agencies approved the higher levels. But Swenson said that in fact, BP originally requested even higher ammonia discharge limits in its
permit application, and that IDEM did not approve that request.
Public reaction to that was so great that something needed to be done, and Region 5 acted quickly.
Regional Administrator Mary A. Gade convened a Lake Michigan Summit that brought together elected officials, environmental groups, industry
organizations and BP executives.
"The summit was a success on several levels," Swenson said. "Primarily that we brought stakeholders and critics together in the same room with BP to
discuss positive ways the company could reduce pollution In other areas - voluntary actions the company could take to minimize the effect of the
increased discharge levels. Also, the permitting process was opened up to the public, and many people gained a greater understanding."
After the summit, and following extensive negotiations, BP agreed to abide by the discharge limits in the original permit, and the public outcry died down.
Swenson pointed to a "Chicago Magazine" article from August 1970 that predicted Lake Michigan would be essentially "dead" by 1979 because of
industrial pollution.
"We've come a long way in the more than 30 years since that article," he said. "We've had great success in cleaning up and protecting the Great Lakes, and
some people have come to believe that we're actually taking pollution levels to zero."
Now they know that's not the case, and that we have a long way to go before reaching the ultimate goal of eliminating pollution. But the awakening of the
public in this matter did make a difference, and ultimately helped to prevent the increase of pollutants into Lake Michigan.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Permit renewal not routine
The nation's largest steel mill was applying for a renewal of its state-issued permit to discharge a limited amount of pollutants into Lake Michigan. Normally,
that would be a routine procedure But news of the permit renewal hit the media only a few months after a public outcry over a similar permit was issued
to the nearby BP refinery. That permit allowed the refinery to increase the level of pollution it discharges into the lake.
Residents of Chicagoland thought, "Here we go again" But this issue was different.
U.S. Steel had applied in 1999 for renewal of a permit originally granted in 1994 for its plant in Gary, Ind. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
permits must be renewed every five years, but in the mid- to late-'90s there was a backlog of permit renewals. It was a nationwide problem
"By the time 2007 rolled around, Indiana Department of Environmental Management had worked hard to reduce its backlog," said Steve Jann, deputy chief
of the Water Division's NPDES Programs Branch 'And they were successful. Indiana went from having one of the biggest backlogs in the country to having
one of the smallest"
U.S. Steel's renewal application was part of that effort to eliminate the backlog
"This was a huge permit, with IDEM proposing a number of more stringent limitations," said Region 5 attorney Gary Prichard "But unlike the permit for BP, U.S.
Steel was generally not asking for increases in discharge limits and there was no plant expansion going on."
However, when the permit hit Region 5 for its federal review, Region 5 had questions.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
"We had some concerns about the permit," Prichard said. "People in Gary, and in the Chicaso area, were very interested in this because of the earlier BP
permit. U.S. Steel's permit was a completely different situation. But once again, EPA took extra steps to show the public exactly what EPAs role is in the
permitting process."
Normally, EPA would simply explain its concerns to IDEM and the state would revise the permit. This situation, thoush, provided an opportunity.
"IDEM had already conducted public meetings on their permit, but we decided to have a public hearing on our objections to the permit," said Jann. "We
also sought public comments on matters beyond EPAs specific objections. It was a little unusual to do that, but it really helped. We listened to all sides and
made the whole process much more open. People learned more about what the regulatory process can and cannot do."
Once Region 5 expressed its concerns about the permit, the state had a choice - rework the permit to take care of EPAs concerns, or do nothing. If IDEM
had chosen to do nothing, they would have passed on responsibility for issuing the permit to EPA. That didn't happen. IDEM is committed to work with
EPA to resolve all objections to the permit.
"IDEM has said they will resolve EPAs questions about the permit," said Jann. "I think people have more confidence in the process now."
As routine wastewater permit renewals go, it was far from routine. But the outcome promises to be increased water quality protection and a more open
regulatory process.
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and/
EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Disaster strikes the Midwest - on paper
A SONS '07 po/t/cipanf checks exercise resource charts..
It was a nishtmare. A tornado ripped open a huge storase tank, spilling two million gallons
of diesel fuel into Lake Michigan and threatening water supplies for millions of people As
emergency responders were en route, a massive earthquake jolted the New Madrid Fault in
Missouri, rupturing pipelines and causing oil and chemical spills in several Midwest states.
The good news - it wasn't real. The bad news - someday, it could be And that was
the whole point of the emergency preparedness exercise called SONS '07 - or "Spill
of National Significance." SONS was designed to test EPAs ability to respond to a major
environmental disaster.
"Similar exercises have been done in the past, but this was the first time EPA was the lead
federal agency," said Ann Whelan, program analyst in the Superfund Division. "It was also
the first time a disaster exercise was based on an inland spill All the previous scenarios
were based on spills happening in the ocean with the Coast Guard as lead agency. This
exercise covered a very large area and involved a lot of people."
Four EPA regions participated in SONS '07, with Region 5 taking charge. In addition to the
Coast Guard and other federal agencies, there were players from 10 states and numerous
local governments, as well as from the private sector
"SONS challenged EPA in ways we may have been overlooking," said Whelan. "But that's
the purpose of a big exercise like this - to find our vulnerabilities and fix them. Everybody
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
learned a lot. I think one thing we all learned is that we have tremendous
capacity in Region 5, not just from EPA but from our partners at the local,
state and federal levels."
Whelan said the lessons learned from SONS included a need for an
expanded and upgraded Regional Operations Center and a need for more
Region 5 staff to be trained in incident response. Senior staff members
are looking for space in Chicago's Ralph Metcalfe Federal Building for a
new emergency operations center, and every Region 5 employee is being
trained in the basics of the National Incident Management System. In
addition, Region 5 is recruiting and training new members of its Response
Support Corps.
One of the most significant lessons learned during SONS was the need
for immediate access to up-to-date databases and maps, including
geographic information systems, called GIS.
"The first day we spent a lot of time setting things up," said Steve Goranson,
chief of the Resource Management Division's Office of Information Services.
"We quickly learned that it's very important to have access to data on the first
day When incident reports started coming in to the operations center, we
needed to know what the hazard was and who was affected. We also learned
that GIS information is very important from the beginning. It's important in
targeting resources."
An EPA Reg/on 5 team checks water quality in Lake Michigan as pan of the
SONS '07 exercise.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Goranson said Region 5 work groups are already improving data quality and accessibility, including GIS information on specific locations that might be
susceptible in a natural or man-made disaster. He said regional response teams are being trained in GIS systems so they can get to an incident faster and
with better data.
"When an incident is reported, people in the operations center need the best address possible," Goranson said. "We need to be as thorough as we can
with information so responders know what they need to deal with Are there any schools in a half-mile radius of the incident7 Are any bridges out7 Are
there hospitals nearby7"
Whelan said an important facet of SONS was the second week of the exercise, which was an attempt to examine what the issues would be for the
affected area at several points in the future - two weeks after the destruction caused by the tornado and the earthquake, then three months, six months
and two years after the disaster
"Of course, we've learned a lot from the real-world of Hurricane Katnna," she said. "That helped us in the SONS exercise because we knew the importance
of looking two years out, and we knew some of the questions we should be asking."
Whelan said other lessons learned included the importance of keeping elected officials at all levels informed about incident responses.
Hurricane Katnna was proof that when it comes to natural disasters, it's a matter of "when" and not "if." Some experts use the same phrase when talking
about a possible catastrophic New Madrid earthquake. But because of SONS '07, Region 5's emergency response teams are now better prepared to deal
with the real-life nightmare that would pose.
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
Chicago Regional Lab plays homeland security role
When homeland security experts consider "worst case" scenarios, a terrorist attack on American soil with chemical weapons is pretty near the top of the
list In 2007, Region 5's Chicago Regional Laboratory played a major role in keeping the nation safe from the effects of deadly nerve agents, blister agents
and mustard compounds.
The lab developed important new ways to detect the presence of chemical weapon agents in surface water - chemicals such as sann gas and other
deadly compounds that can be used as weapons.
Since the lab is not certified to handle substances like sarin, EPA scientists studied the degradents - chemicals that are left over after the agent degrades,
or breaks down. Most chemical weapon agents can't be seen or smelled. The tests offer a way to identify the agent by the trad it leaves.
"Chemical agents degrade in water and other environmental situations," said Dennis Wesolowski, the lab's director "EPAs National Homeland Security
Research Center asked us to come up with ways to detect the degradents that would be in surface water after the chemical breaks down. If you can
identify the degradents, then you know a particular chemical weapon agent was used. It's also a water quality test, because the degradents are harmful,
too."
Wesolowski said Chicago Regional Laboratory scientists developed and validated tests for 16 dangerous chemical compounds. Now the accuracy of the
tests must be independently confirmed - an important part of the scientific process.
"The next step is to have other labs validate the tests," he said. "We've already started doing that, working with other EPA regional labs as well as state labs
and commercial facilities"
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EPA Region 5 — The Best of 2007
The tests developed at Region 5's lab could save lives in the event a deadly chemical agent ever gets into a public drinking water supply - whether it gets
there accidentally or by design.
Wesolowski says any well-equipped environmental laboratory could conduct the tests.
"Any federal lab and most of the state labs could do it," he said "Labs operated by big cities like Chicago would most likely be able to do the test, as
would many commercial labs"
Wesolowski said the basic technology of testing water samples could be adapted for other purposes.
"When the inter-lab validation is completed, we'll be looking at developing a wipe test," he said. 'A technician could wipe down a surface and find out if
a chemical agent had been used We'll also explore using the same technology in testing soil samples. This would be a way to determine if the soil is safe
after an attack."
Tests were also developed to detect the presence of dangerous pharmaceutical products such as LSD, or hazardous industrial chemicals that could be
put into drinking water.
While nobody wants to see a worst-case scenario actually happen, the Chicago Regional Laboratory is helping EPA, and the nation, be better prepared.
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Contact Information
Environmental Hot Line:
800-621-8431
(8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Central Time)
From the Region 5 states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
On the Web:
www.epa.gov/region5
Use our online comment form to send us a comment or question, or send e-mail to r5hotlme@epa.gov.
Offices:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
312-353-2000
Cleveland Office
440-250-1700
) post consumer recycled paper
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