United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
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Office of I
Public Aftirs (A-107)
Washingn DC 20460
Volume 8
Number 5
September-October 1982
EFAJCDURNAL
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21
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Ohio
and the
Environment
Sailing
on
Lake Erie
iW*
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CANADA
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Lake Erie
Toledc
IN
Cleveland
Akron
PA
Dayton $^$ OHIO
Columbus
Cincinnati
Ohio River
KY
Ohio
Perspectives
Q ailboats rippled through the
Lake Erie waters, their
brilliantly dyed sails ballooning
before them. A water skier wear-
ing an orange jacket clung to
his guide ropes as his skis
bounced through the choppy
wake of a careening motor boat
On the shore in a park near
Painesville. Ohio, a large family
speaking volubly in Italian sat
at a long picnic table under
the cottonwood trees From time
to time they glanced upward and
laughed nervously as a few drops
of rain splattered on the table
and thunder rumbled in the
distance.
On the beach a mother raised
her umbrella and called for her
young child wading in the water
to come ashore.
Despite the threatening
weather, this was a scene of
people enjoying the waterfront of
Lake Erie, a body of water once
almost given up for dead.
This lake, while still afflicted
with pollution ills, is today a ma-
jor recreational asset. On warm
summer days thousands of peo-
ple swim, fish and boat in this
body of water.
A major beneficiary of this im-
provement in water quality is the
State of Ohio, which is also
profiting from many other pollu-
tion control advances.
This issue of EPA Journal
contains several reports from and
about Ohio—spotlighting this
highly industrialized State's ef-
forts to control the inevitable
waste byproducts.
The general consensus of the
reports is that Ohio has been
making considerable progress,
but still has serious problems to
wrestle with in the years ahead.
Acknowledging that some
parts of his State have been
widely known in the past for their
pollution, Gov. James A. Rhodes
emphasizes that Ohio for the
past several years has led the
Nation in State capital expen-
ditures to improve waste control.
Valdas V Adamkus, EPA's
Midwest Regional Administrator,
reports significant gains in both
air and water pollution condi-
tions in Ohio.
While no one is claiming that
waste maladies in Ohio have
been completely conquered, the
articles give several specific ex-
amples of progress in air, land
and water quality, reflecting im-
provements in the State's overall
environmental condition.D
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United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Public Affairs (A-107)
Washington D C 20460
Volume 8
Number 5
September-October 1982
r/EPA JOURNAL
Anne McGill Gorsuch, Administrator
Byron Nelson III, Director, Office of Public Affairs
Charles D. Pierce, Editor
Truman Temple, Associate Editor
Articles
Protecting Ohio's Environ-
ment 3
Governor James A. Rhodes
reviews his State's progress
curbing pollution
Progressive Environmental
Control 6
EPA Regional Administrator
offers insights on the Ohio
picture
Cleveland's River on the
Mend 10
Ohio newspaper finds
Cuyahoga River improving
Rescued from Death 14
Reports that Lake Erie was
dead found "greatly
exaggerated"
Ohio Edison Spending $600
Million to Control Pollu-
tants 19
Improvements underway at
seven power plants
Preserving a Treasure 20
A case history in how to save
a river like the Little Miami
Hazardous Waste Manage-
ment in Ohio 22
A State official tells what is
being done about dangerous
wastes
Massive Voluntary Cleanup
to Help with Hazardous
Waste Removal 24
A total of 109 companies
have agreed to fund most of
the costs at Hamilton site
EPA Water Pollution Con-
trol Center Internationally
Recognized 26
The $28 million center in Cin-
cinnati attracts scientists from
around the world
Bubble Plan Expected to
Save Millions 28
Armco is working on in-
novative plan at its facility in
Middletown
Cleaning Up the
Ohio River 31
The role of a key interstate
agency in the Ohio Valley
EPA is charged by Congress to protect
the Nation's land, air and water systems.
Under a mandate of national environ-
mental laws, the Agency strives to for-
mulate and implement actions which lead
to a compatible balance between human
activities and the ability of natural
systems to support and nurture life.
The EPA Journal is published bi-monthly
by the U S Environmental Protection
Agency The Administrator of EPA has
determined that the publication of this
periodical is necessary in the transaction
of the public business required by law of
this Agency Use of funds for printing this
periodical has been approved by the
Director of the Office of Management
and Budget through 4/1/84. Views ex-
pressed by authors do not necessarily
reflect EPA policy Contributions and in-
quiries should be addressed to the Editor
(A-107). Waterside Mall, 401 M St..
S W , Washington. D C 20460. No per-
mission necessary to reproduce contents
except copyrighted photos and other
materials.
Front Cover: A sailboat knifes through
Lake Erie waters as its red and black
spinnaker billows before a stiff breeze.
Photos: B. A King, Photri, Ohio Depart-
ment of Natural Resources, Ohio River
Valley Water Sanitation Commission,
Akron Beacon Journal, Little Miami, Inc.,
Ohio EPA Public Interest Center, Armco,
Ohio Edison
Design Credits' Robert Flanagan and
Ron Farrah
EPA JOURNAL
Subscriptions
The annual rate for subscribers in the
U S for the bi-monthly EPA Journal is
$9 50. The charge to subscribers in
foreign countries is $11.90 a year. The
price of a single copy of the Journal is
$2 75 in this country and $3.45 if sent to
a foreign country. Prices include mailing
costs. Subscriptions to EPA Journal, as
well as to other Federal Government
magazines, are handled only by the U.S.
Government Printing Office Anyone
wishing to subscribe to the Journal
should fill in the form at right and enclose
a check or money order payable to the
Superintendent of Documents The re-
quest should be mailed to Superinten-
dent of Documents. GPO, Washington.
D C , 20402
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EPA JOURNAL
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Protecting
Ohio's Environment
By Governor James A Rhodes
T he State of Ohio often takes a "bad rap"
when it comes to environmental matters
Over the years, we have been singled out for
having the dirtiest city in the country
(Steubenville), a river so polluted it burned
(the Cuyahoga). and a Great Lake that was
nearly unusable for recreation (Lake Erie)
Problems like these are part of Ohio's history
because Ohio is an industrial state, and as
such we have had more pollution problems
than states with less industry But Ohio has
done more to clean up these problems Ours
is a state of great natural beauty We take
pride in it, and we work hard to protect it
For the past several years, the State of
Ohio has led the nation in state capital ex-
penditures for pollution control, according to
a federal report on environmental quality In
air. water, and solid waste categories, Ohio
has ranked first In fact, according to the
most recent figures available from the US
Department of Commerce. Ohio accounted
for nearly three-quarters of all state govern-
ment expenditures on air pollution control In
addition. Ohio industries have spent more
than $1 5 billion since 1972 on air pollution
control equipment.
The results of these expenditures have
been striking In 1972 Steubenville averaged
230 micrograms per cubic meter of par-
ticulates per day In 1972, an average of one
air pollution alert a month was called, and in
1975. Steubenville had 35 air alert days In
1981. the paniculate average was down to
83 7 micrograms per cubic meter per day.
and Steubenville had not had an air alert in
two years.
Across Ohio, the improvements in air
quality are evident In the past ten years, par-
ticulate levels have dropped 30% and sulfur
Lake Erie freighter
looms against skyline
Gov James A Rhodes
dioxide levels have dropped 47%. This last
point is important, because Ohio is so often
accused of being the major contributor to the
problem of acid ram.
While it is true that Ohio is the largest
emitter of sulfur dioxide in the United States.
few people realize how much Ohio is doing to
reduce these emissions. This is despite the
fact that far more study is needed before we
can pinpoint the causes of acid ram For ex-
ample. Ohio industries are now spending
$1 50 million every year to control their sulfur
dioxide emissions. To do this, nearly 50% of
the coal burned in Ohio today is imported
from other states Unfortunately, this has
helped to cause unemployment and personal
hardship m the coalfields in Southeast Ohio
Nevertheless our sulfur dioxide emissions
have dropped from 32 million tons m 1976
to 2 7 million tons in 1980 Consequently in
1981, there was not a single violation of the
sulfur dioxide air quality standards in Ohio
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
-------
n L.ike En?
'fr ; ,1/7 L.^f Er
By 1985, sulfur dioxide emissions should
be down around 2.3 million tons. We have
three major coal washing facilities comple-
ted, two more under construction, and one
for which a permit has just been issued.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency,
acting on the recommendation of my
Governor's Task Force on Acid Precipitation.
has created an Acid Ram section to handle
this problem, and we are supporting
additional research
To control water pollution, industry has
spent more than $1.2 billion in Ohio since
1972 Also in the past 10 years, Ohio com-
munities have spent or committed $2.7
billion for 250 sewage treatment projects
through the federal Construction Grants
program, over which Ohio EPA now has
delegation This is more than ten times the
amount that was spent from 1956 to 1972.
We expect that most major Ohio
municipalities will have funding for at least
secondary treatment by 1985.
As a result of these expenditures. Ohio now
ranks above the national average in com-
pliance with wastewater discharge stan-
dards. Eight-six percent of Ohio's municipal
dischargers are in compliance compared with
a national average of 73 per cent.
Ohio's lakes, rivers, and streams show the
improvement our efforts have brought about
The Cuyahoga River is only one among many
that are significantly cleaner than they were
ten years ago And Lake Erie, which was
declared dead in the early seventies, now
boasts record walleye catches as one of the
best sports fishing areas in the world The
beaches have reopened, and the Lake is
thriving once again And, we now project that
Ohio will meet the International Joint Com-
mission standards for phosphorus to the Lake
by the end of this year
Drinking water quality is also an important
consideration in Ohio. We have abundant
water resources, and value them highly To
protect our drinking water supply, we have
increased sanitary inspections from 552 in
1972 to 1,166 in 1981 Ninety-five percent
of public water supplies are now monitored
regularly, and Ohio is developing a ground
water protection strategy to insure continued
supplies of safe drinking water
EPA JOURNAL
-------
Ohio has also made progress in the area of
solid waste disposal. In place of the 1.300
open dumps that marred our landscape in the
1960's, today we have 235 sanitary landfills
Two resource recovery plants are being
developed, and others are in the planning
stages. Ohio also has an active multi-million
dollar litter prevention program
The first part of the program is regulations
to control hazardous waste disposal now and
in the future Under Ohio's hazardous waste
legislation, which I signed into law on Oc-
tober 9. 1980. Ohio EPA has adopted and is
enforcing regulations parallel to U.S EPA's
regulations under the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act We have applied to US
EPA for interim authorization of the hazar-
dous waste program, and hope to achieve
that status by early 1983
The second part of the program is per-
mitting of the facilities that store, treat, or
dispose of hazardous waste in Ohio In 1981.
Ohio's Hazardous Waste Facility Approval
Board issued permits to 336 such facilities,
making Ohio the first state in the nation to
have its operating hazardous waste facilities
under permit Each of these facilities is in-
spected regularly to make sure that it is com-
plying with state and federal requirements
The third part of our program is the clean-
up of problem hazardous waste sites that
were created in the past We have had much
success in this area with nineteen sites
cleaned up or in the clean-up process At two
of the largest sites, multi-million dollar settle-
ments have been reached with companies
that originally sent waste to the sites
Another large part of our success has been
the result of the federal Superfund, from
which we have received over $8 million The
Superfund program has been an overwhelm-
ing success in Ohio One of our nationally
ranked sites and several smaller ones, have
been fully cleaned up and money has been
provided for critical emergency measures at
others For their cooperative effort in
processing Superfund grants to Ohio, we
owe US EPA a lot of gratitude
The bottom line in Ohio is that as long as
we have industry which provides badly
needed jobs, we will have pollution This is
true everywhere But in Ohio, we will con-
tinue to work toward cleaning up our en-
vironment, so that industry and nature can
both prosper
Ohio is a national leader in pollution con-
trol We have the figures to prove it, and
more importantly, we have some of the best
fishing, the finest parks, and the greatest out-
door recreational opportunities We can
stand on that record, and we are committed
to maintain it. D
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
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Progressive
Environmental
Control
by Valdas V. Adamkus,
Regional Administrator,
EPA Region 5
|_| istoncally. few States in our nation have
enjoyed as much economic growth and
development as Ohio Strategically located
between rich iron deposits to the west and
the coal reserves of the Appalachian Valley,
Ohio is within 500 miles of two-thirds of the
country's population and three-fourths of
most of its natural wealth Its own abundant
natural resources provide the State a com-
manding industrial potential that has yet to
be fully realized
Although its land area is small, 35th
among all the States in the Union, Ohio ranks
third among States in manufacturing output:
an astounding $37 billion annually. This
enormous production helps explain why Ohio
is tied for second among States in the
generation of hazardous waste materials
With thousands of factories affecting air
and water quality, and millions of people liv-
ing within its borders, Ohio is a microcosm of
all the environmental problems confronted by
this nation There are no easy solutions to the
country's pollution dilemma, and none exist
for Ohio
Controlling
Wastes
Ohio EPA, like the Federal EPA. has
assigned its highest priority to the proper
management of hazardous and toxic wastes
Under the authority of Ohio Senate Bill 269,
enacted in 1 980, the State has established a
very active program covering both the control
of newly generated wastes and the cleanup
of sites where there has been uncontrolled
disposal of hazardous materials
Even though Ohio has not yet been
authorized to operate its program in lieu of
the Federal program, the State has accepted
a major role in the implementation of the
mandated Federal program pending
authorization The State entered into a
"Cooperative Agreement" with Region 5 un-
der which Ohio EPA, with funding from U.S.
EPA, provides information and assistance to
the regulated community on all aspects of
the program, initiates action to resolve dis-
crepancies between information reported by
generators at the time of shipment and that
reported by treatment and disposal facilities
at the time of receipt, and performs com-
pliance inspections This is a substantial
commitment by Ohio EPA since there are ap-
proximately 900 treatment, storage and dis-
posal facilities, 3,700 generators, and 850
transporters who have filed notifications in
Ohio
More than 95 percent of all compliance in-
spections conducted in Ohio during Fiscal
Year 1982 have been completed by State
personnel Inspectors are required, among
other things, to review and evaluate contin-
gency plans and emergency procedures,
waste analysis plans, and groundwater
monitoring data During 1981, Ohio EPA
conducted approximately 550 such inspec-
tions, and in FY 1982, another 450 inspec-
tions have been completed by the State.
Unlike the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act, which provides grant
assistance to States for the development of
programs to control newly generated hazar-
dous wastes, the Comprehensive, Environ-
mental Response, Compensation and
Liability Act ("Superfund") contains no sup-
port for State management of the program. It
provides US EPA with the authority to ini-
tiate enforcement actions so that uncon-
trolled waste sites can be cleaned up by
those responsible for the disposal of wastes,
and it established a trust fund to be used in
cleanups where responsible parties are un-
known, or are unable or unwilling to under-
take the cleanup. A State's ability to use
these provisions successfully depends on
cooperation between key agencies and on
the State's ability to meet the statutory re-
quirement for matching funds requested from
the trust fund.
Ohio has been notably successful, both in
securing voluntary cleanups by responsible
parties and in qualifying sites for cleanup us-
ing Superfund Ohio EPA played an important
role in the successful negotiations which
resulted in a settlement under which more
than 100 companies will pay $24 million
towards the cleanup of the Chem-Dyne site
in Hamilton, Ohio That settlement, which
was the largest voluntary waste cleanup
commitment by industry in the nation, and
was characterized by Administrator Anne
Gorsuch as "dramatic evidence of a new
trend," succeeded in large part because of
the State's commitment to proper waste
management
EPA JOURNAL
-------
Ohio EPA and US EPA continue to work
closely on a number of removal actions—
short-term cleanups, which cost less than SI
million and can be completed within 6
months
Managing Air
Pollution Problems
Air quality in Ohio has improved signifi-
cantly in the last ten years Sulfur dioxide
has been reduced to the point that it
is virtually no longer a health problem
anywhere in the State Although most Ohio
urban areas are currently designated as non-
attainment for ozone, the Ohio EPA has
developed evidence that indicates that con-
trol strategies are working and that all of the
State may be rid of unhealthy levels of this
pollutant by year's end Total suspended par-
ticulates have proven to be a more stubborn
adversary, and even with recession-reduced
production levels the State s steel making
areas continue to violate health standards
State, local and Federal air pollution con-
trol officials are focusing their enforcement
efforts on these remaining pockets of pollu-
tion with particular emphasis on insuring
compliance with the State s newly adopted
fugitive dust regulations These rules address
for the first time the problem of windblown
dust from storage piles and heavily used m-
plant roads which have been identified as
major contributors to the remaining par-
ticulate problems One fortunate aspect of
controlling this type of air pollution during a
period of economic hardship is that fugitive
dust controls do not generally require large
capital investments but can accomplish
significant air quality improvements with im-
proved housekeeping practices
The pollutants nitrogen dioxide and carbon
monoxide are associated almost entirely with
automobile emissions Ohio has no ambient
nitrogen dioxide problems and has seen
significant reductions in its carbon monoxide
levels due in large part to improved vehicle
emission controls Of course continued
diligent air quality monitoring will be needed
to determine if these improvements will be
maintained in the future Strong State and
local air pollution efforts will be needed to
keep the gams of the last decade
Ohio EPA and the local air pollution con-
trol agencies that it oversees have
demonstrated a high degree of technical
competence and program management A
greatly improved State enforcement
capability has caused a shift in the relative
burden of compliance activities from the
Federal level as the State has assumed more
of the primary role assigned to it by the Clean
Air Act Further evidence of the strength of
the State program is the delegation to the
Ohio EPA of the responsibility for administer-
ing the important Federal programs for con-
trolling hazardous air pollutants and stand-
ards for new sources of air pollutants
Ohio was among the first States to assume
a maior role in enforcing Federal rules curb-
ing lead in gasoline With its industrial sector
beset with economic problems Ohio has
been receptive to many of the cost effective
regulatory reform initiatives of the U S EPA
and the bubble concept which was
pioneered at an Ohio facility of Armco Stee
has led to man\ other applications from
-------
Sailboats skim over Lake Erie
dustries in the State Each bubble is subject
to a strong technical analysis to insure that air
quality protection is achieved
A major air quality issue that could have a
significant impact on Ohio is acid rain About
half of Ohio's utilities burn locally mined
medium- to high-sulfur coal in rural areas
Most power plants located in urban areas use
low sulfur coal. As noted above, current use
of coal does not violate ground-level ambient
air quality standards, but a number of
eastern States and Canada have alleged
that Midwestern power plants contribute
to acid rain through long-range transport
and conversion of sulfur dioxide into
paniculate sulfates
While agreeing with US. EPA that the
causes of acid rain remain a matter of conjec-
ture. Ohio EPA is exploring alternative ways
to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions through
such techniques as coal washing The fact
that installing scrubbers on existing plants or
switching to low-sulfur coal will have im-
mediate, severe economic impacts on the
State's industrial base or on its coal-mining
communities—with no scientifically
demonstrated benefit to the acid ram
problem—is a primary reason for the State's
position All new power plants built in Ohio
do employ scrubber technology and over
time will gradually replace the existing
generating capacity
Ohio continues to make good progress in
cleaning its air and is doing so in the face of
the difficult social and economic problems
caused by a declining industrial base
Water
Quality
Water quality in Ohio has labored under
tarnished images of Cleveland's Cuyahoga
River afire and a "dying" Lake Erie In fact, a
walk down the Cuyahoga or along Ohio's
Great Lake would surprise the most jaun-
diced critic As stories on those waterways
elsewhere in this Journal will reveal, Ohio
has seen real progress in cleaning up not only
its water resources, but its national environ-
mental image as well The progress made by
Ohio EPA management to achieve the goals
of the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking
Water Act is impressive and the State's 11
million residents have benefited.
As water quality programs mature, the
Region, and the State as well, are placing
new emphasis on the coordination and in-
tegration of the various program
components—planning, the development of
standards, construction grants, permit
monitoring and compliance. We recognize
this new approach is helping to achieve
water quality improvements.
The State was quick to implement the
'stream specific approach" to water quality
standards These standards are based on the
physical, chemical, biological factors of
specific stream segments, rather than on
state-wide numerical criteria. Local economic
conditions are also a prime consideration
when the State proposes new standards for
US EPA review Ohio is further along than
most other States in meeting water quality
standards and in recognizing environmental
economic realities without violating legal
responsibility.
The State is a leader in the use of
biological criteria to determine "use
classification" when developing standards.
As opposed to using strictly chemical water
quality criteria, which can vary widely from
day to day, this approach looks at a habitat
for species and ecological composition.
Biological evidence presents a truer deter-
mination of how a body of water should be
restored and protected.
Ohio EPA and this Agency have been en-
couraged by the results of a project recently
funded by U.S EPA for the management of
non-point pollution in the farm community.
Together with agricultural public interest
groups, the State is identifying small
geographic areas that impact water quality,
and designing appropriate land management
practices for these critical areas. Through
voluntary public implementation, this
program is succeeding.
Wayne S. Nichols, Director of Ohio EPA,
and his staff have also succeeded in creating
a new effluent toxicant strategy in conjunc-
tion with our Regional Office. This is an im-
portant activity because it allows us to iden-
tify the most significant sources of toxicants
in industrial effluents thorugh the National
Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permitting and pretreatment
programs. Now, after evaluating effluents,
Ohio EPA can identify significant facilities
that have the highest potential for toxicant
discharge and control where toxicants are
found in high enough levels of concern to
human health and aquatic life. We expect
NPDES permitting for the iron and steel in-
dustry to reflect this new strategy by year's
end.
One of the goals of this Agency has been
the delegation of as many Federal programs
to the States as they can effectively manage.
Procedures have recently been developed
between Ohio and U.S. EPA to fully delegate
the overview function for NPDES permitting
programs, minimizing Federal overview. U.S.
EPA is also working with the State to com-
plete delegation of NPDES pretreatment per-
mitting to Ohio.
EPA JOURNAL
-------
Another program in which Ohio is firmly
established is its monitoring of the stringent
Federal requirements of the Safe Drinking
Water Act Since the State had a successful
history of managing its own water supply
program prior to the enactment of the
Federal legislation, there were few difficulties
in transferring Federal enforcment respon-
sibilities to the State in 1978 The 1,691
community water systems in Ohio directly
supervised by the State have an exceptional
compliance record of 97%.
Improving water quality through the con-
struction of municipal wastewater facilities
has been a major effort of US EPA Ohio is
3rd among States in the nation in total
Federal monies allotted for construction
grant activities, and as of March of this year
has been managing this program under a
delegation from U.S EPA
This achievement is the result of many
years of effort on the part of Ohio EPA and
this Agency to create a satisfactory manage-
ment program despite a history of problems
At one time, Ohio had been the first State in
the history of national construction grant
allocations to lose money from the program
when it was unable to provide a sufficient
stream of fundable projects in the late 70's
This situation has been reversed and the
State now has proven its ability to manage
its own construction grants activities
Both Ohio and US EPA are keenly aware
of Ohio's environmental problems caused by
heavy industry and dense population Yet, we
share a sense of pride, as must most
Ohioans, in the environmental achievements
in the State during this past decade Despite
a myriad of social and economic problems,
Ohio has made progress in cleaning up its
land, air and water
I am encouraged by our developing
partnership in meeting these responsibilities
With Ohio's support, and with the assistance
of local governments, industry and citizens,
we will continue to gain the benefit of a
cleaner and more healthful environment in
which all Ohioans can live and prosper. D
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
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mHB *MMI '• ^^^^^^^^H
M
10
EPA .ini IRNAL
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Cleveland's River
on the Mend
By Bill Sloat
Beacon Journal Staff Writer
This article is a reprint of the final one in a
series about the Cuyahoga River carried by
the Akron Beacon Journal last summer.
Akron Beacon Journal reporter Bill Sloat and
photographer Ron Kuner set out to discover
the Cuyahoga River by canoe and boat The
river that once gained national notoriety for
catching fire is nothing like the river found by
Sloat and Kuner. They started in Geauga
County, followed the Cuyahoga through
Portage and Summit counties and traveled
through Cleveland into Lake Erie.
arfield Heights
Burton C]
Brecksville I ~S~agYmore~HilTs r
Silver Lake
Cuyahogat Falls ,.""—••
? Akron T
I <^,_
Little Cuyahoga River -.
J
X1 Mantua
0^
Lake Rockwell
IRavenna
Breakneck Creek
Jf.tn anil Peggy La Bdrre,
with fnt'nd Samuel Luciano.
t)i!3id their boat on the Cuyahoga
Ri\ ei near dtnvntown Cleveland.
and \\torkiny cialt
shaie the Cuvahoqa River
in Cleveland
J ean LaBarre lives in a trailer on the banks
of the Cuyahoga River in downtown
Cleveland
Sometimes at night, he said, he can hear
car thieves pushing stripped hulks into the
water.
His home is where the river once was
stained red by pollution, a spot where all visi-
ble life was extinguished by chemicals and
abuse
But things have changed, said LaBarre.
and the Cuyahoga River doesn't paint Lake
Erie with hues "that would make Picasso
proud "
Now you can see hundreds of fishermen
lined up on jetties at the mouth. They catch
rock bass and perch and arrive early to claim
their posts
According to biologists who have studied
this part of the river, it is still "severely
degraded," but improving.
Migratory fish, including walleye, have
been sighted in the lower Cuyahoga,
although none stay long enough for
sportfishing
A 1972 federal law, the Clean Water Act.
is the main impetus behind the cleanup
The act said all U S waters must be fit for
swimming and fishing by July 1983
"The Cuyahoga won t meet that goal,"
said Andy Vidra, an environmental specialist
for the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coor-
dinating Agency (NOACA), the planning
agency for Cuyahoga County "But it's in
halfway decent and not in all that bad a
shape compared to where it was 10 years
ago "
The Northeast Ohio Four County Regional
Planning and Development Organization
(NEFCO), the planning agency for Summit
County, said in a recent environmental
assessment that the Cuyahoga River remains
troubled
"Various physical, chemical and biological
factors contribute to the degradation of water
quality of the lower Cuyahoga River, in-
cluding the dredging of the channel for
navigation purposes, the naturally occurring
low velocity of the river's flow, the high con-
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
-------
The Cuyahoga River
winds past scenic factories and bridges
in Cleveland's Flats.
centration of chemical and steel plants,"
NEFCO concluded
"This segment is so polluted that it cannot
meet the state's general water quality stand-
ards Therefore Ohio EPA has applied special,
less stringent standards"
Even so, water samples taken in the heart
of Cleveland indicate there is less pollution
there than upstream near Akron and Penin-
sula
One reason is rigid enforcement of clean
water standards set by the Ohio and U S En-
vironmental Protection Agencies
Another is that the dredged river channel
allows cleaner water from Lake Erie to flood
the mouth, turning it into an estuary
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer Dis-
trict also has spent almost $300 million on
the Southerly sewage treatment plant in Gar-
field Heights, which sprawls over several
hundred acres of bottomland
Neighbors complain that the plant is noisy
and stinks, and it is under a court order to
eliminate those problems It often breaks
down, and Ohio EPA inspectors from
Twinsburg have cited it more than 200 times
for violating discharge regulations
But the giant sewage plant is bettering its
record
Labarre, 60. keeps his head shaved and
smokes cigars and is putting the finishing
touches on a 49-foot sailboat he has been
building since 1972 It is docked in the river
by his house-trailer
He's known as "The Colonel " He sub-
scribes to Soldier of Fortune magazine and
dreams of sailing away to the South Pacific
He's a self-avowed river rat And for the
last 10 years he has watched the river im-
prove, "although the pollution problems
haven t been solved by any stretch of the
imagination
The Cuyahoga is a wide, deep stream as it
flows past LaBarre's home near the
Columbus Street Bridge, about two miles
from Lake Erie
The navigation channel is 500 feet wide.
30 feet deep, with mud. silt and organic
debris on the bottom
There is hardly any current and scientists
describe the mouth as having a lake effect.
The water is stratified, with river water in-
truding over lake water.
There is hardly any aquatic vegetation.
Freighters carry iron ore, coal, limestone,
lumber and petroleum products up the river
into the heart of Northeast Ohio's most in-
dustrialized valley. Docks and factories line
the banks here—a place that Clevelanders
call The Flats.
No longer is the Cuyahoga a recreational
stream flowing through rural countryside,
looping and lallygagging under a green
canopy of sycamore and aspen. It's not a lazy
river at the finish.
Three miles from the mouth, the terrain
flattens out, forming Lake Erie's Basin.
Here it's a tough, blue-collar river that
works for a living like the men in the factories
and ships
It's dirty but it won't burn. Toss a match
into the water and the flame hisses out.
"The water has been progressively getting
better," LaBarre said. "Sometimes we can
Businessman Clem Reiss believes Cuyahoga
Ri\ er pollution controls are stronger.
see fish swimming upstream, and that never
used to happen. They probably come in from
Lake Erie."
His wife, Peggy, a doctoral student at Kent
State University, said she also has seen the
fish die.
"When they get to the pollution, we can
watch them float to the surface dead. It
seems like they die as they move up the
river," she said
Saturday's leg of our trip from Geauga
County to the Cuyahoga's mouth took us
from Cleveland Heights, north of the Flats, to
Lake Erie Because canoeing experts warned
us a canoe would be hazardous on this leg of
the river, we switched to a 14-foot boat.
But we still had problems.
In shallow water in Cuyahoga Heights, we
damaged our outboard motor's prop, and by
the time we reached the Flats, it conked out
John Bohach, 47, of Brecksville, and his
son Rick, 1 3, found us stranded at the Jones
& Laughlin steel mill ore dock. He towed us
to the river's mouth
That opening has been moved since 1796,
when Moses Cleaveland first entered the
region and founded the city Shipping in-
terests had a new mouth built in the 1800s
i IQMAI
-------
A whitewashed but abandoned US Coast
Guard lighthouse marks the conclusion of the
river's meandering 100-mile course through
Northeast Ohio
Saturday's journey took us past West
Third Street, where the river burned on June
22. 1969 The water was a respectable
green, and not stained copper-color by waste
dumped from the mills
It was still a great torrent of capitalism
But the Audubon Society's description of
the Cuyahoga River as "oiled and happily
bubblmg-oozing waters" no longer applies
A flotilla of boaters was using the river
Saturday, many lured into Cleveland by the
city's "Days of the Ships" celebration
They shared the channel with the tugboat
William A Lydon, which nudged a barge
carrying sand downstream under draw
bridges All the action was near high-rise of-
fice buildings
It seemed like hordes of pleasure craft
churned up white wakes below mills belong-
ing to Republic Steel and Jones & Laughlm
While the boats played, blast furnaces
worked, smelting ball bearing-sized pellets of
iron ore into steel ingots to make cars
The ore from mines in Canada and
northern Minnesota was piled up in moun-
tains along the river
But not far away from that, people, too,
were piled up on the waterfront They were
partying at riverside restaurants called
Pagan's, D'Poo's and the Dock
And like the LaBarres. people told us of
seeing signs of life where once there were
none
In 1969, after the notorious fire, the US
Water Pollution Control Administration
issued a report that called the Cuyahoga
River a "virtual waste treatment lagoon "
The agency said the river was so horribly
scarred by pollution, it was unable to support
"any visible life, even low forms such as
leeches and sludgeworms, which usually
thrive on wastes "
Chester Barzal, 58, a steelworker at Jones
& Laughlin. said he started seeing the water
change seven years ago
"Up until then, it seems, everything used
to go in the river," Barzal said "Now they're
very strict at the plant "
Barzal has been at the plant for 36 years
"I've seen the river both ways, dead and
alive like it is now." he said It's not oily
anymore like it used to be That's all it was,
an open sewer
"I like it a lot better alive They're doing a
good job bringing it back
Businessmen like Clem Reiss, 40. presi-
dent of Reiss Oil Terminal Corp , have learned
to live with the new environmental rules af-
fecting the Cuyahoga River
He said the EPA and Coast Guard monitor
his company, which has a cluster of oil
storage tanks in the Flats
"They do a good job in following up on
what's happening," Reiss said "The rules are
a little more defined "
He said he has been told that there hasn't
been a major spill for "quite some time
Bohach, our rescuer, said he has been
cruising the Cuyahoga River on weekends for
the last five years
"It's starting to get real nice," he said "In
fact, I think the river down here is one of the
best places around to go for a boat ride If
you go to Portage Lakes, that's like suicide
because so many boats are there And I don't
like Lake Erie because it can get so bad if the
weather gets bad. so we come down here
and we don't have to go far out
One treat about the Cuyahoga. Bohach
added, is that there is a lot to see
"It's a scenic route with all the old fac
tones and bridges, to take m a boat You qet
a nice view of the skyline ' D
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
-------
Rescued
from Death
I ake Erie has undergone a striking
change for the better during the past
dozen years or so The wide, green mats of
floating algae that once washed up on the
Ohio shores are now mostly gone. Gone, too,
are the masses of alewives, herring and
decaying plant material that littered the
beaches.
So notorious was the condition of the "dy-
ing" lake that one of the earliest proclama-
tions of the first EPA Administrator, William
D. Ruckelshaus, was a demand in 1971 that
Cleveland and Detroit reduce their pollution
of Lake Erie Beaches were closed, commer-
cial and sport fishing in the lake had prac-
tically ceased, and drinking water drawn from
Lake Erie frequently had taste and odor
problems.
Today the Lake Erie beaches are open and
frequented by crowds of swimmers, boaters,
and water skiers. Commercial fishing is mak-
ing a comeback, and the walleye catch by
sport fishermen has tripled since 1975. The
near-shore lake water is clear, and while
Cleveland-area residents still complain that
the tap-water sometimes smells and tastes
peculiar, there is a consensus among en-
vironmentalists, scientists, sanitation
engineers, and the general public that ac-
celerated eutrophication (or premature ag-
ing), which was killing Lake Erie long before
its time, is being slowed and even reversed
by pollution control measures adopted in
response to the demands of an aroused
public.
How did Lake Erie reach the condition at
which it found itself at the beginning of the
"Decade of the Environment"? The situation
was at least a century and a half in the mak-
ing.
The five Great Lakes, of which Lake Erie is
the shallowest, constitute the
world's largest reservoir of navigable,
drinkable water. They were formed by a two-
billion-year process that included shifts in the
earth's crust and glacial movements through
several ice ages The last glacial withdrawal
took place about 10,000 years ago, and the
level of the Lakes has been stabilized for
some 2,500 years. The Lakes contain 20 per-
cent (6 quadrillion gallons) of the earth's and
95 percent of the United States' supply of
fresh surface water. They cover some 94,750
square miles, extending 850 miles from east
to west and 700 miles north to south. Lake
Erie has a surface area of 9,910 square miles.
is about 240 miles long and 57 miles wide at
its broadest. Its average depth is only 58 feet
(28 feet in the Western Basin). With high
winds, this shallowness allows extremely tur-
bulent waves to develop with very little warn-
ing, making the lake a graveyard of ships and
boats.
All five of the Great Lakes were discovered
by the French. Lake Erie remained under
French control until the British, after their vic-
tory in the French and Indian War, took over
in 1760. After the War of 1812, which saw
the Americans under Commodore Oliver
Hazard Perry triumphant in the naval Battle
of Lake Erie, settlement around the lake
began in earnest. The Erie Canal, completed
in 1825, connected the Hudson Valley with
Buffalo at the eastern end of Lake Erie,
opened up the Great Lakes area to trade, and
by reducing the cost and difficulty of travel,
promoted the settlement of the Great Lakes
Basin
The southern shore of Lake Erie was a
logical site for the infant steel industry. Ships
brought iron ore from the Minnesota ranges
to the smelters around cities like Cleveland,
and the smelters fed pig iron to the ravenous
steel mills. Railroads were built to haul coal
up from the Appalachians to fuel the mills. In
1859 (in Pennsylvania) Col. Edmund Drake
brought in the Nation's first oil well, and by
1866, just seven years later—Cleveland was
having problems with drinking water drawn
from an intake in Lake Erie near the mouth of
the Cuyahoga. This river was already badly
polluted by industrial wastes that came
mainly from the oil refineries on its banks.
Sun oses over
the world's greatest
fresh water supply,
the Great Lakes,
of which Lake Erie
is the shallowest.
14
EPA JOURNAL
-------
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
15
-------
By 1909, the United States and Canada
were sufficiently concerned about pollution in
Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes to sign
the Boundary Waters Treaty, in which each
sovereign power promised not to do anything
to harm the Lakes The agreement es-
tablished the International Joint Commission,
with members from both countries, to iden-
tify Great Lakes problems Despite the ex
istence of the treaty, industries and
municipalities in both countries continued to
contribute to the deterioration of the lakes In
response to the environmental movement in
the 1960s, the Canadian and U S Govern-
ments held a series of meetings that resulted
in the United States Canada Water Quality
Agreement of 1972 It set limits for the
allowable concentration of pollutants in the
waters of the Lakes These pollutants in-
cluded phosphorus, radioactivity, petro-
chemicals, and metals such as mercury
In 1978 the agreement was expanded to
specifically address many different toxic
compounds, particularly persistant
chlorinated organics that accumulate in living
organisms
Lake Erie is a vital resource serving
millions of people In comparison with the
other Great Lakes, it contains the smallest
water volume while its drainage basin in-
cludes the largest population Because of this.
Lake Erie has experienced greater changes in
water quality than any other Great Lake
Lake Erie water quality declined during the
1960s, prohibiting the full recreational and
commercial use of the lake Like many similar
lakes exposed to cultural changes in their
drainage basins. Lake Erie underwent ac-
celerated eutrophication The maior
symptoms of this premature aging are high
production of algae, cloudiness, and at times
low oxygen content These conditions com-
bine to cause unpleasant tastes and odors,
nuisance plants and organisms on surface
waters and on beaches and a general
degradation of the lake s ecosystem which
leads to the proliferation of undesirable fish
species in the lake
Approximately one-fifth of the water drain-
ing into the lake originates within its own
drainage basin The other 80 percent comes
from the upper Great Lakes and enters Lake
Erie via the Detroit River Except for evapora-
tion from the lake surface. 97 percent of the
outflow from Lake Erie leaves by way of the
Niagara River, the other 3 percent leaving by
way of the Welland Canal
Population within the Lake Erie Drainage
basin grew from 2 million in 1878 to 14
million in 1979, contributing nutrient
loadings (mainly phosphorus) which have, in
turn, stimlated the growth of phytoplankton,
the first biological level in a lake's ecosystem.
Phosphorus enters the lake form the at-
mosphere, from tributaries that drain the
watershed, and from direct wastewater
discharges
Phosphorus loadings into the lake are be-
ing reduced, however, by control of
phosphorus discharges from point sources.
This is being achieved by adding phosphorus
removal processes to existing wastewater
EPA JOURNAL
-------
Ohio Edison
Spending $600 Mill!
To Control Pollutants
Massive air pollution control equipment
has been erected on a special deck
constructed over a highway
at Ohio Edison's W. H. Sammis
power plant at Stratton, Ohio.
treatment plants or by incorporating these
processes in newly constructed plants. This
program will reduce the total loadings of
phosphorus to Lake Erie from the present es-
timated "base year" figure of 19,969 metric
tons per year to between 14.200 and
1 5.500 metric tons per year Between 1975
and 1981 the point-source loading from ma-
jor U.S. plants was reduced from 6,719 to
2,654 metric tons per year. This stands as a
world-class success in pollution control. The
United States-Canada Water Quality Agree-
ment of 1 978 set a total phosphorus loading
objective of 1 1,000 metric tons per year, a
goal dependent on control of nonpoint
sources of pollution, such as agricultural
runoff, as well as point sources such as
municipal wastewater treatments plants.
Even if all point sources were eliminated,
the phosphorus loading objectives would not
be achieved without reduction of pollution
from non-point sources, a fact first quantified
by IJC studies and confirmed by the Corps of
Engineers. The Corps study, building upon
earlier EPA projects, also quantified the
benefits of low-cost farm tillage practices
The practices leave crop residues on the sur-
face, reducing erosion of soil and associated
phosphorus to such an extent that wide-
spread adoption could result in meeting the
target loads needed to protect the Lake
The challenge of further analysis and
cleanup is especially intense in a few concen-
trated problem areas The IJC has identified a
list of key "areas of concern" where uses of
Lake water and fish are impaired and require
special attention due to both local impair-
ment and lake-wide loading of pollutants
coming from these areas While these are
certainly not the only problem areas, they are
the most acute and are targeted for closest
observation The areas are reported in the
US -Canada Water Quality Board reports of
1981 and 1982, and include the following in
the Lake Erie basin: Detroit River, toxics;
Rouge River, toxics; lower portion of the
Raisin River near Monroe, Mich., toxics;
Maumee River, phosphorus; Lower Maumee
River near Toledo, toxics; Lower Black River
near Lorain, Ohio, toxics; Lower Cuyahoga
River near Cleveland, oxygen loss; Lower
Ashtabula River, toxics.
The need to protect Lake Erie and the
other Great lakes has reaffirmed EPA's com-
mitment to an aggressive and dynamic Great
Lakes program EPA, in late 1977, created
the Great Lakes National Program Office
(GLNPO) headquartered in Chicago Its pur-
pose is to keep the Agency's focus on Great
Lakes cleanup efforts as they are related to
the US -Canadian Great Lakes Water
Quality Agreement, and to support the
Regional Administrator as EPA's national
Program Manager for the Great Lakes and as
the US Co-Chairman of the US -Canada
Water Quality Board of the International
Joint Commission.
The Great Lakes National Program office
has been supporting agricultural demonstra-
tion projects in the Lake Erie Basin These
projects are designed to determine the
feasibility of using various conservation prac-
tices in reducing the use of phosphorus
Together with a demonstration project con-
ducted by the Corps of Engineers, the
agricultural projects have shown that conser-
vation tillage practices are highly cost-
effective in terms of both phosphorus control
and farm income. EPA is currently supporting
an expanded demonstration program by
assisting soil and water conservation districts
in 31 counties that are conducting projects to
demonstrate conservation tillage practices
The projects are being carried out in close
cooperation with the States, the Corps of
Engineers, the US Soil Conservation Service
and other US Department of Agriculture
agencies
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
17
-------
One of the most serious results of
phosphorus pollution in Lake Erie was the
decline of commercial and sport fishing
Species of desirable fish simply could not live
in water depleted of its oxygen by
phosphorus-nourished algae
Lake Erie fish are used not only by the
people of Ohio, but also by the populations of
the surrounding States of Michigan,
Pennsylvania, and New York, and the Cana-
dian Province of Ontario Although there are
differing State and Provincial views on the
use of the common fish stocks, all fishery and
environment protection agencies recognize
the need for management programs
designed to maintain or improve fish popula-
tions in Lake Erie
The results of these conservation
programs have been significant. The
dramatically increased walleye population is
an example During the 1960's and early
1970's, the "fishable" walleye population
(fish 141/2 inches and larger) was estimated
at or below two million But by 1981 the
fishable walleye population in the lake had
jumped to nearly 20 million. This tenfold in-
crease is a result of good international and
State management of fish harvests as well as
of improved water quality in the lake The
Lake Erie Fisheries Unit Staff of the Ohio
Department of National Resources. Division
of Wildlife, reports that their Fall 1981 survey
of Lake Erie fish also indicated the presence
of older and larger walleyes.
Other fish species, such as freshwater
drum and white perch, are either maintaining
high population levels in the lake or increas-
ing The total estimated Ohio Lake Erie fish
harvest for 1981 was 159 million pounds
ieuieonuiidiiy, diiu ebiiieucdiiy.
"Much remains to be done, however.
Further reduction of phosphorous pollution in
the lake will require sound land as well as
water management practices. And other,
more recently recognized pollution problems,
especially that of toxic pollutants, will have to
be dealt with The record indicates that the
people of Ohio and the other residents of Lake
Erie's shores are equal to the task.
"It is important to remember that the
Great Lakes are themselves part of a
watershed or drainage basin that forms a
sensitive ecosystem The improvement in the
fish population in Lake Erie is a heartening
example of what can be done when the
State. Provincial and Federal Governments,
using professional expertise and supported
by public opinion, unite to protect these
natural systems We need to continue the
same interdisciplinary and intergovernmental
approach to remedy the remaining problems
in the Great Lakes system." D
18
EPA JOURNAL
-------
Ohio Edison
Spending $600 Mill!
To Control Pollutants
Massive air pollution control equipment
has been erected on a special deck
constructed over a highway
at Ohio Edison's W. H. Sarnmis
power plant at Stratton, Ohio.
T he Ohio Edison Company is
engaged in a massive air
pollution control improvement
program at seven of its coal
burning power generating sta-
tions which serve eastern Ohio,
West Virginia, and western
Pennsylvania.
Ohio Edison has been
spending over $600 million on
the cleanup effort which has
been progressing rapidly follow-
ing lengthy negotiations to settle
EPA's enforcement action
against the company.
A total of $445 million of the
$600 million the company is
spending is earmarked for a pro-
ject at its W. H. Sammis plant at
Stratton, Ohio. This project is
designed to eliminate the emis-
sion of 75,000 tons of par-
ticulate matter each year and
achieve a major reduction in sul-
fur dioxide emissions.
Valdas V. Adamkus, EPA
Regional Administrator in
Chicago, said he was "greatly
encouraged" by the progress
made by Ohio Edison. He added
after making a recent visit to the
Sammis plant, "I was intrigued
by the unique deck and the
shoehorn precision involved in
the installation of the equipment
at Sammis."
At Sammis, Ohio Edison is
now installing baghouses on four
generating units, and elec-
trostatic precipitators on the
remaining three. Six of the seven
devices have been installed on a
bridge constructed over Ohio
Highway 7 Approximately three
football fields in length, this deck
holds all the necessary control
equipment.
The decree requires that
Sammis achieve compliance by
August of 1984.
Ohio Edison's other six facilities
will reduce paniculate emissions
by a total of 41,000 tons a year.
The company's settlement with
EPA will bring all facilities except
Sammis into compliance with
Ohio's particulate emission
regulations by the end of 1982.
The other six facilities are: R. E.
Burger (Shadyside, Ohio);
Edgewater (Lorain, Ohio); Gorge
(Akron, Ohio); Niles (Niles,
Ohio); Toronto (Toronto, Ohio);
and Mad River (Springfield,
Ohio).
The original consent decree
required that the company clean
up twelve plants in the state.
However, since 1980, three of
the older, less efficient plants
have been closed, and two have
been sold, leaving a total of
seven needing improvement
The Sammis station located
on the Ohio River in Stratton,
Ohio, is the largest single
generating station in the Ohio
Edison System.
EPA's Region 5 has been con-
cerned about the operation of the
Sammis plant since I973.
Following an EPA request for
emission data pursuant to Sec-
tion 1 1 4 of the Clean Air Act, the
Company submitted an air pollu-
tion emissions report in Septem-
ber of 1973. The report detailed
information regarding combus-
tion for generation of heat, steam
and power, air cleaning equip-
ment, and stack and pollutant
emissions data
Air monitoring in 1974
revealed that the area in which
the station is located did not
achieve the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards for Par-
ticulates of 75 micrograms per
cubic meter set to protect human
health.
In 1974, EPA smoke readers
visited the Sammis facility and
conducted readings of visible
emissions emanating from the
second stack from the south. In
1976, smoke readers again
made observations of the visible
emissions at the Sammis plant.
On September 22. 1 976, EPA
issued a Notice of Violation to
the Ohio Edison Company detail-
ing a violations of the applicable
implementation plan for the
State of Ohio A formal court-
order was filed against the com-
pany in 1979 seeking a court-
ordered compliance schedule. D
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
19
-------
Preserving
a Treasure
Aerial surveillance flights sponsored by Little
Miami Inc. have detected illegal construction
in the Little Miami river floodp/am which
could not bf seen from the road because of
trees and shrubs
~J" echniques used by an Ohio citizens'
group to protect the scenic Little Miami
River include aerial and canoe surveillance
Eric Partee. Director of the Little Miami
River. Inc , explains that even though the
waterway has been designated as a scenic
river by both the State and Federal Govern-
ments, it is still threatened by pollution and
sometimes illegal construction on its banks
and within the flood plain
A tributary of the Ohio, the Little Miami's
main stem runs approximately 105 miles
from its source near Dayton. Ohio, to its con-
fluence with the Ohio River at Cincinnati.
"Throughout the summer trees and other
vegetation sometimes form a screen to hide
illegal construction of buildings on the flood
plain," Partee explained
"In less populated areas, whole houses
can be constructed in the floodplain in spite
of the best efforts of local building inspection
and zoning offices."
He said that a pilot friend of his takes his
plane up for a "cost only" charge when re-
quested to allow aerial photos to be taken of
the stream area
Information and photos from these aerial
surveys sponsored by the Little Miami River
group has led to investigations by the Ohio
EPA and the apprehension of companies
breaking state environmental regulations.
Partee said
Generally, he noted, normal government
aerial surveillance work is not sufficiently
timely and is not oriented toward protecting
the Little Miami. However, he said, his
organization hopes soon to co-sponsor with
the State a detailed aerial surveillance of the
entire river valley
Partee said that aerial surveillance is
backed up by canoe trips by organization
members when they receive complaints from
river area residents of foul odors, construc-
tion activities, and other types of degrada-
tion
These surveillance float trips have
provided information to local and State
authorities who have then been able to
correct problem discharges.
Also of concern to the Little Miami River
group is controlling abuses in the increasing
recreational activities along the river. Last
September the group began a study of the
recreational demands being placed on the
Little Miami so that appropriate policies
could be proposed to local and State agen-
cies to deal with litter, trespass and other
problems
To further protect the river, the Little
Miami River organization has joined forces
with the State and local governments to in-
crease funding priorities for municipal waste
water treatment projects along the river.
"Reports containing Little Miami views
were developed and submitted to the Ohio
EPA for consideration in the development of
the Statewide priority list and formula.
Political allies were also brought in to rein-
force the group's suggestions. Other State
agencies were also solicited for their support,
particularly those holding land or facilities
along the State's scenic rivers."
The Ohio Department of Natural Resoures,
for example, has provided $3 million for land
acquisition and development for public
access areas along the river.
"Besides water pollution," Partee said,
"highway construction continues to be a ma-
jor threat to the survival of the lower segment
of the river. The organization has been suc-
cessful in holding back the bulldozers for fif-
teen years, ever since the first meetings were
called to discuss the relocation of a major
highway along, and in some places within,
the stream banks of the Little Miami. With
the recent completion of an interstate
highway connector to the Cincinnati business
district in Kentucky, projected traffic loads
have been diminished and even current com-
puter models show that a mild upgrade of ex-
isting highways in the valley will be sufficient
to solve all anticipated traffic problems. Little
Miami members have been active and in the
forefront throughout this long historic battle
and are responsible for sidetracking efforts to
destroy the serenity of the river.
"On the legislative front. Little Miami has
been active over the years to promote legisla-
tion which will directly or indirectly, benefit
the valley More recently, the river organ-
EPA JOURNAL
-------
A scenic vista
on the Little Miami river
near its headwaters
ization has actively supported two pieces of
legislation with its testimony and phone and
letter campaigns." New to most states is the
check-off system for raising monies for
wildlife and natural area protection. Little
Miami Inc has presented a united front with
the Sierra Club of Ohio and other groups to
push this bill through the Ohio legislature
When enacted, this bill would give Ohio
citizens the option to donate all or part of their
tax refund to preservation in Ohio. This would
be accomplished through use of a "check-
off" box on the State tax form and a space for
the dollar amount Some 12 States have
enacted this law and have raised as much as
several million dollars annually
Little Miami has introduced another bill in
the State legislature which would establish
the Little Miami Forest Preserve Starting
with existing State-owned lands, the
preserve concept is designed to stimulate
donations from private individuals and cor-
porations
The river organization is also actively
engaged in several reforestation and land
preservation efforts.
While the Little Miami Inc. has been
widely recognized for its work, Partee states
that "our job is far from over There is still
precious little protection for the river. Zoning
remains inconsistent or incomplete and there
are 52 governmental entitles which govern
the river the valley. There is not protection or
recognition of several natural areas along the
river and there is a great need for a master
plan for development, recreation and preser-
vation." D
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
21
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Hazardous
Waste
Management
in Ohio
by Charles J Wilhelm, Chief,
Ohio Division of Hazardous Materials
Management
"\/\/ e have produced almost as many
automobiles as Michigan, led the
nation m tire production, had a major share of
the steel industry and been a major glass
producer Our industry has brought Ohio
many benefits, but it also made us one of the
nation's top generators of hazardous waste
Wayne S Nichols, Director, Ohio Environmen-
tal Protection Agency
As Director Nichols has pointed out, Ohio
has historically been one of the leading in-
dustrial states And, prior to passage by Con-
gress of the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976, much of the hazar
dous waste generated in industrial produc
tion in Ohio and elsewhere around the coun-
try was transported, treated, stored, and dis
posed of by a variety of improper methods
Even after the passage of RCRA in 1976,
to avoid future hazardous waste problems,
Ohio, and most of the other states, still had to
deal with numerous abandoned and
dangerous hazardous waste disposal sites
that originated from past practices
To assist the states in dealing with
problems of abandoned hazardous waste
sites. Congress enacted the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and
Liability Act, generally referred to as the
"Superfund" law, in 1980
In that same year, the Ohio General
Assembly passed Senate Bill 269. which
gave the Ohio EPA the responsibility for
managing the hazardous waste control
programs in the state
On July 20. 1981. our Division was
provided an initial start-up appropriation by
the Ohio General Assembly We moved im-
mediately to establish an Unregulated
Sites Superfund Unit headed up by Roger
Hannahs This unit is under our Surveillance
and Enforcement Section, managed by
Richard Shank In August. 1981, the agency
submitted a list of 20 sites to U S EPA for
possible Superfund grants Four of these 20
Ohio sites subsequently appeared on U S
EPA s National Interim Priority List of 1 1 5
sites Summit National in Deerfield. Chem-
Dyne in Hamilton Chemical Mineral
Reclamation in Cleveland, and Fields Brook
m Ashtabula
»*•
This was the scene in February, 1980, at the Summit National Liquid Disposal Service site
in Deerfield, Ohio, marked by the Ohio EPA as its worst abandoned hazardous waste
facility
ner.i! •
>• shows the same setting last June after the drums of hazardous wastes had
'".•ed as .1 result of cleanup financed bv the waste generators The removal action
'ed bv an agreement negotiated by the Ohio EPA and the Ohio Attorney
Office
EPA JOURNAL
-------
At Summit National, once Ohio's worst
site, several of the hazardous waste
generators contributed nearly $3 million to a
private-sector-financed, total-surface
cleanup negotiated by the Ohio EPA and the
Ohio Attorney General. This surface cleanup
was completed in June, 1982. At Chem-
Dyne, Ohio's other large site, about 21,000
of the 30,000 barrels of drummed waste that
had accumulated since 1975 were removed
and properly disposed of by the generators,
through negotiations conducted by the Ohio
EPA and the Ohio Attorney General.
Ohio then recieved the first remedial grant
in the Midwest from Superfund for Chem-
Dyne, a $3.4 million award to complete the
surface cleanup and to study any subsurface
soil and ground water contamination
problems that may exist. Recently, U.S. EPA
and Ohio EPA announced that over 100 of
the original generators would subsidize 70%
of the award. This was the largest settlement
of its kind nationwide.
The Ohio EPA has also submitted State
Superfund Agreement contracts to U.S. EPA
for a Superfund-financed study of subsurface
soil and ground water contamination at Sum-
mit National, and for an engineering study to
determine the nature and extent of con-
tamination and cleanup alternatives at Fields
Brook.
Removals are short-term cleanups which
cost less than $1 million and which can be
completed in six months or less. In the case
of removals, the Division sent U.S. EPA,
Region 5 pollution reports which provided in-
formation on the nature and extent of the
problems. These reports were sometimes
supplemented by Region 5 with additional
data before the formal requests were for-
warded to Washington.
Removal grants have been awarded for
complete sampling, surface analysis and the
removal of all waste at: Chemical Mineral
Reclamation in Cleveland, $440,000; Rock
Creek $160,000 and Raser Tannery in north-
eastern Ohio, $50,000, $100,000 to cap a
lagoon at Greiner's in northwestern Ohio,
$50,000 for the Ohio Drum site in Cleveland;
$50,000 for the Anaconda site in Akron; and
three separate removal grants totaling $1.64
million for the Laskins/Poplar Oil site in
northeastern Ohio. To contend with the con-
tamination problems at this latter site, U.S.
EPA lifted the $1 million, six-month ceiling
for expenditures at a single site.
In all, Ohio has been allocated $7.1 million
for nine immediate or planned removals;
believed to be more than any other state, and
for three remedial grants. Eight other sites
have also been cleaned up without Super-
fund money. Earlier this fall, thirty-five ad-
ditional sites were sent to U.S. EPA for
potential inclusion on the National Superfund
Priority List of 400 sites.
Ohio EPA has taken positive steps to clean
up those sites that posed an immediate
danger to the people of Ohio. Ohio EPA's
commitment to protecting public health and
the environment is clear from the progress
we have made in cleaning up our state's
abandoned hazardous waste sites. However,
our commitment does not stop there.
We have established our regulatory con-
trol program by adopting regulations that are
"consistent with, and substantially equivalent
to' the federal regulations. With the help of
Steve White, Assistant Chief, and Martha
Gibbons, RCRA Administrator, Phase II
regulations are being developed that parallel
the federal regulations under RCRA. This will
help the Ohio EPA insure that hazardous
waste generated now and in the future is
properly managed.
We are also developing a Comprehensive
Hazardous Waste Data Management System
in our Permit Records Section. It will include
information from annual reports by
generators and facilities and from our regular
compliance inspections. We consider this in-
formation essential for effective program
planning and decision-making. The manager
of this section is Thomas Crepeau. As one of
the five national recipients of a 1982-1983
German Marshall Fund Scholarships, he is
currently in Europe studying similar systems
in three countries.
A notable achievement of Ohio's hazardous
materials management program occurred in
October 8, 1981, when Ohio became the first
state in the nation to issue state permits to
existing treatment, storage and disposal
facilities. The Division and its engineering
section, managed by Paul Flanigan, had
made technical recommendation on 350 per-
mit applications for approval or denial to the
State of Ohio's permit issuance agency, the
Hazardous Waste Facility Approval Board
(HWFAB). The five-member board, chaired
by Director Nichols, took the following ac-
tion: 336 applications were approved, nine
were denied in full and five were partially
denied, and special terms and conditions
were added to over 70 of the permits.
Now that Ohio's existing facility per-
mitting process is complete, the Division's in-
spection unit, headed by Paula Cotter, will in-
spect all of these facilities at least once a
year, and more often if the terms and condi-
tions in the permit require it or if the facility
handles large amounts of waste. This helps
insure that all permitted facilities meet the
applicable federal and state statutory and
regulatory requirements and comply with any
special terms and conditions in their permit.
Governor Rhodes has made this program
Ohio's top environmental priority. We feel we
have already made progress in better manag-
ing our hazardous materials and we see no
reduction in our effort for the next several
years. D
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
23
-------
Workmen cleaning up
Chem-Dyne site
Massive
Voluntary
Cleanup
to Help With
Hazardous
Waste
Removal
A total of 109 firms are paying $2.4
million to help finance cleanup of hazar-
dous waste deposits at the Chem-Dyne
waste facility.
This is the largest voluntary waste cleanup
commitment so far and will fund 70 percent
of the costs of EPA-managed surface cleanup
and an assessment of possible groundwater
damage caused by the facility.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department,
acting on EPA's behalf, has filed suit against
23 companies and two individuals who used
the site but declined to voluntarily participate
in the settlement.
The 10-acre Chem-Dyne Corp. site in
downtown Hamilton was used to store hun-
dreds of thousands of gallons of chemical
and industrial wastes, including arsenic and
PCB's. The list of defendants that have used
the dump includes Shell Oil Co., Phillips
Petroleum Co., Monsanto Co., B.F Goodrich
Co., Georgia-Pacific Corp., Allied Corp., and
Ciba-Geigy Corp.
Some of the largest companies that volun-
tarily agreed to share the cleanup costs are
General Electric Co., DuPont Co., Stauffer
Chemical Co., American Cyanamid Co., PPG
Industries Inc.. Owens-Corning Fiberglass
Corp., Union Carbide Corp., Volkswagen of
America Inc. and units of Dow Chemical Co.,
and Occidental Petroleum Corp.
The lawsuit stated that large quantities of
a variety of hazardous chemicals (including
PCB's, vinyl chloride, benzene, and trichlorc-
ethylene) stored at Chem-Dyne have con-
taminated soil and groundwater beneath and
near the site, and also present a danger of fire
and explosion. The abandoned facility is in an
urban-industrial area. It recently contained
about 10,000 drums and 150,000 gallons
of hazardous waste in bulk.
The Chem-Dyne site is one of the largest
hazardous waste facilities in the country and
one of the 160 sites targeted for priority ac-
tion under Superfund (the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and
Liability Act of 1980).
EPA Administrator Anne M. Gorsuch com-
mented on this landmark event: "With the
very large number of companies agreeing to
help share environmental responsibility at
Chem-Dyne, we see dramatic evidence of a
new trend. We believe this is being engen-
dered by EPA's approach of a willingness to
negotiate, backed with a strong enforcement
commitment to litigation when negotiation
fails to reach voluntary resolution." Mrs. Gor-
such said that the settlement is an indication
of the success of EPA's policy of encouraging
the private sector to assume an attitude of
responsibility and cooperation.
"This agreement," she added, "demon-
strates that this approach will succeed even
where we confront complex legal issues with
many companies involved in discussions."
She emphasized that "Where parties respon-
sible for depositing hazardous waste are will-
ing to talk about contributing substantial
amounts to cleanup, EPA is willing to talk.
However, EPA is prepared to sue under
provisions of the Superfund law and the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to
establish the liability of parties who con-
tributed to hazards and to have courts direct
their participation in cleanup activities when
they shun opportunities to do so voluntarily"
Rita M. Lavelle, Assistant Administrator
for Solid Waste and Emergency Response
also commented on this agreement to clean
up the Chem-Dyne site.
She said, "This agreement represents by
far the largest and most complex settlement
negotiated to date by State and Federal of-
ficials and private industries involved in any
hazardous waste site.
"It is a tribute to the responsibility of the in-
dustrial community which is accepting the
challenge of cleaning up the nation's aban-
doned sites.
EPA JOURNAL
-------
> .
-* -
?,:
"It also confirms the validity of EPA's new
policy of cooperation with industry rather
than confrontation Together the public and
private sector are accomplishing far more
than the government could ever accomplish
by itself, and we are doing the job much
faster
"More than 100 private companies have
agreed to help fund this massive cleanup
Together they are contributing more than
two-thirds of the estimated $34 million re-
quired for the first phase of the work, a
cleanup of the surface and an assessment of
groundwater contamination
"This is not an isolated action in Hamilton
Concerted attacks by industry and govern-
ment on hazardous waste sites are being
mounted across the country, with increasing
regularity."
She continued. "I commend the State of
Ohio which has demonstrated strong and
consistent leadership throughout this Chem-
Dyne case I applaud industry which has
stepped up to the table and accepted their
fair share of the responsibility
"Continuation of such cooperation will en-
sure an early and effective eradication of our
hazardous waste problem "D
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
-------
EPA
Water Pollution
Control Center
Internationally
Recognized
"F" o protect, preserve, and maintain the
environment we live in, the U S Environ-
mental Protection Agency must have the
scientific expertise to understand many
physical chemical, and biological aspects of
the environment and ways to maintain its
quality The mission of the Andrew W
Breidenbach Environmental Research Center
in Cincinnati. Ohio is to help in providing this
understanding
Reflecting multi-disciplinary approaches
to environmental problems, the research and
monitoring carried out at the Center provides
for the study not only of the effects of en-
vironmental contamination on man and the
ecology, but also of the means for controlling
and preventing these effects Such research
programs provide the necessary foundation
for EPA's environmental regulatory
programs
The $28 million Center, a 10-story struc-
ture situated on a 22 acre site donated by
the City of Cincinnati, houses extensive
research laboratories and administrative of-
fices It is recognized as the most modern
research facility of its type in the world In re-
cent years, it has attracted water pollution
specialists from every corner of the globe
who come to meet and exchange information
with its staff
The history of Federal water pollution con-
trol in Cincinnati dates from 1913, when a
team of physicians, sanitary engineers.
chemists, biologists and bacteriologists—
officers of the U S Public Health Service —
under the direction of Wade Hampton Frost
set up the Stream Pollution Investigations
Station there The Station was housed in the
old Kilgour Mansion, an abandoned Public
Health Service Marine Hospital, near the
Ohio River
By the time the Ohio River Survey had
been completed in the 1920's these in-
vestigators had developed what remain today
as two of the best known indices of pollution.
the coliform bacteria index and the
biochemical oxygen demand test Harold W
Streeter, one of the early workers and direc-
tor for a short time, was well known for his
contribution to stream modeling and the
development of the Streeter-Phelps equa-
tion, still used in calculating the effects of
pollution on the dissolved oxygen concentra-
tion in streams Still used information on the
design and operation of municipal sewage
treatment plants also grew out of studies at
the Cincinnati laboratory during the 1 920's
and 1930s
Further noteworthy benchmarks in this
history include these
1948—The first Federal Water Pollution
Control Act authorized the Public Health Ser-
vice to protect water quality for fish and
aquatic life, and authorized facilities at Cin-
cinnati for research on water pollution and for
training personnel in pollution control
The Water and Sanitation Investigations
Station was renamed the Environmental
Health Center and given more
responsibilities
1953—The Center moved to a new
laboratory building on Columbia Parkway,
subsequently dedicated as the Robert A Taft
Sanitary Engineering Center
1966—The Federal Water Pollution Control
Program was transferred to the newly
created Federal Water Pollution Control Ad-
ministration, first as an independent agency
in the Department of Health, Education and
Welfare, and later within the Department of
Interior, where it was renamed the Federal
Water Quality Administration The Cincinnati
operation then became a Regional Office of
the FWQA
During this decade another major study of
the Ohio river dwarfed the earlier one. The
Ohio River Basin Comprehensive Study in
1969 presented a comprehensive program
for water and related land resources of the
Ohio River Basin, including water pollution
control Cincinnati facilities and field stations
m Wheeling, West Virginia, and Evansville,
Indiana participated
1969—Cincinnati acquired 22 acres of prime
land near the University of Cincinnati and
donated it to the government This led to
construction of the present facility, named in
memory of its first Director and former Assis-
tant Administrator for EPA, Andrew W
Breidenbach President Gerald R Ford par-
ticipated in dedication ceremonies on July 3.
1975
1970—The Federal Water Quality Ad-
ministration, National Air Pollution Control
Administration and 13 other Federal units
were merged to create the Environmental
Protection Agency
At the Cincinnati facilities, the major
emphasis has remained on water pollution
control, although research now deals with all
aspects of environmental pollution These
programs represent a vital segment of the
Agency's Office of Research and Develop-
ment (ORD) In August 1971, the facility was
designated as one of three National Environ-
mental Research Centers Cincinnati's role
was later broadened, particularly with
respect to hazardous wastes, and today
scientists there also assist and train foreign
scientists and engineers seeking to establish
environmental programs in their home coun-
tries
The Breidenbach Center is organized with
three major ORD research laboratories plus
other research components, as well as units
from the EPA Office of Water and Office of
Administration
Dr David G. Stephan is the Senior ORD
Official at the Breidenbach Center and func-
tions as "post commander" for the facility as
well as Director of one of its laboratories
Following are the components and their func-
tions:
The Municipal Environmental Research
Laboratory develops technology to prevent.
control and treat pollution affecting cities and
towns Under the direction of Francis T.
Mayo, research includes the development
and demonstration of cost-effective methods
for handling sewage and urban stream runoff,
solid and hazardous wastes, abandoned
hazardous waste dumps, spills of oil or hazar-
dous materials, community environmental
management, and protection of public drink-
ing water supplies
The goal of the Industrial Environmental
Research Laboratory, under the direction of
Dr Stephan, is to identify and assess in-
dustrial, mining and energy-related sources
of pollution and to develop and demonstrate
cost-effective control methods The current
programs of the Laboratory include industrial
air and water pollution control, environmen-
tal problems of oil shale mining and retorting.
and hazardous waste incineration or detox-
ification by other methods.
The Environmental Monitoring and Sup-
port Laboratory develops methods for the
analysis of water and wastewater under the
direction of Robert L Booth. These include
analyses for physical properties, chemical,
biological, microbiological, and radio-
chemical constituents The Laboratory also
provides specifications and test instruments
that will continuously monitor water quality
26
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ST.
-*j»v
i ' " fc*
•' •
The Toxicology and Microbiology Division
is part of the Health Effects Research
Laboratory in Research Triangle Park, N C
The Laboratory generates data for develop-
ment of environmental standards The Cin-
cinnati Division, supervised by Richard J
Bull, performs research to identify, charac-
terize, and quantify harmful effects that may
result from exposure to biological or chemical
agents found in the environment
The Environmental Criteria and Assess-
ment Office documents the degree of hazard
posed by toxic waters to human health and
the environment Under the direction of Jerry
F Stara. risk/hazard assessment documents
primarily concerning water pollution and
solid and hazardous wastes are prepared as a
basis for setting environmental standards and
legislative and enforcement activities of EPA
The Center for Environmental Research In-
formation, directed by Calvin 0 Lawrence.
distributes scientific and technical informa-
tion to other Federal. State and local agen-
cies and to the public The center's
Technology Transfer and Technical Informa-
tion staffs coordinate a comprehensive
technical information program to support
EPA's Office of Research and Development
The Technical Support Division. Office of
Water, is directed by Lowell A Van Den
Berg It provides technical support on the
operation and maintenance of water treat-
ment plants, monitoring and surveillance
programs, and in the development and
review of regulations and guidelines to help
EPA Regions and States carry out their
EPA's Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmen-
tal Research Center in Cincinnati.
responsibilities under the Safe Drinking
Water Act
The Office of Administration, under the
direction of William J Benoit, provides per-
sonnel services, facilities management, and
contracts management and also operates an
ultramodern library, complete in-house
television unit and a central computer facility
for the Center
As a result of its long and distinguished
history in the environmental field. Cincinnati
research has been responsible for many
significant advances in environmental protec-
tion. Some of the most significant are
• Research on treatment techniques to
control tnhalomethanes (THM) formed by the
chlorination of drinking water and considered
to be human carcinogens has led to the THM
Regulation protecting the health of approx-
imately 35 million people served by com-
munity water systems.
• Control technology for mining operations
has dramatically enhanced the environment
for minimizing adverse environmental im-
pacts from both surface and underground
coal mining.
• The development and evaluation of
biological and physical-chemical treatment
techniques for a broad range of municipal in-
dustrial sources and pollutants has allowed
numerous cities and industries to reduce
their water pollution discharges to accep-
table levels
• Methodology for control of phosphorus
in municipal wastewaters has been a major
contributor to improvement in the quality of
the Great Lakes The successful development
of this technology has also contributed to the
improvement in quality of many lesser known
ponds, lakes and estuaries
• Development of proper techniques for
spreading municipal wastewater sludge on
land has provided valuable fertilizers By
using sludge this way. environmental disad-
vantages, such as air pollution from in-
cinerating sludge, can be avoided.
• Standardization of analytical and
biological methodology, the development of
quality control samples, and work on a
laboratory certification program have helped
provide monitoring tools and techniques re-
quired to generate environmental data of
known quality that can be used by both EPA
and State management to make regulatory
decisions
• Studies of water supply problems have
resulted in a number of actions under the
Safe Drinking Water Act These studies help-
ed determine how clean water supplies must
be to protect public health and how water
can be treated economically to meet the
standards D
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FPA JOURNAL
-------
Bubble Plan
Expected to Save
Millions
f^ n outstanding example of how air pollu-
tion control plans known as "bubbles"
can bring both savings and cleaner air is at
Middletown, Ohio where Armco Steel Com-
pany operates a large complex.
Armco estimates that its bubble control
plan is eliminating six times the amount of air
particles—4,000 tons per year—that the
firm would have had to achieve under ex-
isting regulations.
The company also anticipates savings of
at least $14 million to $16 million at the
facility as a result of the plan. If the program
were duplicated at all of Armco's other
facilities, it could save as much as $42
million without sacrificing air quality, ac-
cording to the company.
EPA's bubble policy visualizes a factory
with many smokestacks under a large im-
aginary dome or bubble with only one emis-
sion point. The policy permits industry
management to calculate the best way to
clean up air pollution at individual plants
provided overall clean air requirements are
met.
The program, which is voluntary, differs
from the traditional approach of having
regulatory agencies set specific emission
standards at each pollution source within a
factory. The bubble allows plant managers to
propose their own emission standards—
tightening them in places where it is least
costly and relaxing them elsewhere where
pollution control costs are high, to achieve
the same desired results.
Final approval of Armco Steel's bubble by
EPA was granted on March 26, 1981.
Ten sprayers mounted on towers near a 15-
acre coal pile at Armco's Middletown Works
regularly cover the coal with water to keep
coal dust out of the air. The spraying is part of
Armco's $6 mi/lion implementation of EPA's
bubble policy
However, the story went back several years
before that date during which a prototype
program was developed to show that signifi-
cant improvements in ambient air concentra-
tions of total suspended particulates were
possible with a comprehensive fugitive dust
control program. In addition, improvements
in smaller particles were also achieved.
In late 1977, Armco had begun to assem-
ble information supporting the position that
controlling fugitive dust sources would be
more effective and less costly than controll-
ing process fugitive emissions of particulates,
escaping from the plant's doors, windows,
and vents.
Methods for estimating emissions of
fugitive dust from sources such as traffic on
paved and unpaved roads, material handing,
and storage piles were developed by
Midwest Research Institute under contract
from EPA.
A comprehensive emission inventory of
the Middletown works revealed that more
than 60 percent of the plant's particulate
emissions evolved from such open dust
sources. Other studies showed significant im-
pacts of open dust sources on areawide air
quality but little impact from process-related
(that is, steelmaking) sources.
So the bubble concept furnished a means
for focusing on fugitive dust sources as a
better alternative.
In 1979 Armco decided to go ahead with
a $6 million fugitive dust control plan con-
taining these measures:
• Paved parking lots;
• A shuttle bus system to reduce the number
of trips within the grounds;
• Paving and sweeping of permanent plant
roads;
• Treating unpaved plant roads with
chemical dust-retardants;
• Installation of water and dust suppressant
sprays on raw material and ore piles;
• Seeding of open areas;
• Installation of monitors to measure air
quality improvements.
At that time open dust sources were ex-
cluded from bubble concept considerations,
but Armco went ahead anyhow and kept EPA
advised of its progress on the Middletown
program. The turning point came December
11, 1979 when the final bubble policy
published in the Federal Register no longer
excluded open dust sources. However, it did
impose some limiting requirements for mak-
ing demonstrations in cases involving such
sources.
In subsequent actions, EPA requested
and received post-control analysis of air data,
a historical trend analysis, and other informa-
tion on the project. This ultimately led to final
approval after extensive negotiations involv-
ing Federal, State and company officials.
Harry Holiday, Chief Executive Officer of
Armco Steel, declared following EPA ap-
proval,
"I'm convinced that full implementation of
the bubble can save literally hundreds of
millions of investment dollars for steelmakers
alone, plus who knows how much more for
other basic industries. And its greatest asset
is that such savings can be achieved in con-
junction with the improvement of ambient air
quality. That's a combination hard to beat,
and I'm confident the Reagan Administration
will vigorously support this cooperative ap-
proach to fewer and better regulations."
John E. Barker, Armco's Director of En-
vironmental Engineering, said that other steel
companies and industries such as aluminum,
copper, mining, chemicals and utilities have
been watching Armco's program evolve in
hopes that they too can apply the bubble
concept to their plants.
"Based on the Armco experience,' he
declared, "the bubble concept can prove to
be of great value and utility if a bubble policy
were to be implemented across the nation.
Significant environmental improvements can
occur much quicker with major savings in
capital and energy "D
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
29
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f
30
EPA JOURNAL
-------
Cleaning Up
the Ohio River
Q uring the first half of this century, the
Ohio River and its major tributaries had all
the attributes of a sewer as they carried
"away" the domestic and industrial wastes of
the numerous cities and towns lining their
banks.
At the same time, these waterways were
the sources of drinking water for the popula-
tions of many cities. Historically, major fluc-
tuations in river stage were common: at Cin-
cinnati in 1883, for instance, the level drop-
ped one foot, 1 1 inches At such low water
levels the likelihood that waste discharges
would create serious water-borne disease
problems was more threatening as water
users made more demands on the meager
supply.
By the 1 930's, public health officials and
others were extremely concerned about the
growing number of outbreaks of pollution-re-
lated illnesses and taste and odor problems
in water supplies in the Ohio Valley
However, Valley States were reluctant to take
action to control pollution and increase the
financial burden on their citizens and in-
dustries unless States upstream acted
similarly. But who would make the first
move?
It finally took a consortium of business and
government interests to get the ball rolling. In
1934, the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce
was celebrating "Clean Up and Beautify
Week." "Was there anything left to clean
up?" asked the Chairman of the event,
Cincinnati Enquirer Editor William F. Wiley, at
the conclusion of the highly successful pro-
ject.
"Yes, the Ohio River," came the unexpec-
ted reply from Hudson Biery, public relations
director for the Cincinnati Street Railway
Company. And with that suggestion, the
Chamber's Stream Pollution Control Commit-
tee was born.
Historic
Compact
However, World War II intervened, and it
wasn't until 1948 that eight States—Illinois,
Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia with
the approval of the U.S. Congress signed a
Compact pledging to enact legislation
preventing pollution from entering their
waters. The Compact also established the
Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commis-
sion (ORSANCO), an interstate agency in-
vested with the powers to promulgate and
enforce rules and regulations protecting the
interstate waters of the valley from water
pollution. One sign of growing national
awareness of pollution problems was that
President Harry S Truman signed the first
Federal water pollution control legislation on
the very same day the governors of the eight
States signed the Compact.
The Compact was nothing short of
revolutionary The eight States were es-
tablishing a separate entity—controlled by
the States in concert, but separate nonethe-
less—with powers previously reserved for
those States alone.
The Commission consisted of three
representatives from each State, appointed
by their respective governors, and three
representatives of the Federal government,
appointed by the President The budget
allocation from each State is determined by a
50 percent matching formula for population
and land area in the Ohio Valley. The com-
mission currently also receives grants from
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
under Section 106 of the Clean Water Act,
and operating assistance for monitoring from
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers A number
of advisory committees assist the commis-
sion and provide information from a variety of
viewpoints. Commissioners and committee
members receive no compensation, only
reimbursement from commission-related ex-
penses Advisory committees representing
Ohio Valley industrial sectors cover their own
expenses.
The 1950 Annual Report of the Ohio River
Valley Water Sanitation Commission
demonstrated how much work needed to be
done. The status of wastewater treatment in
cities in the Ohio Valley with populations
over 5000 was by today's standards
seriously deficient. Of the 310 cities in the
valley in this category, only one-third had
sewage treatment plants serving the sewered
population, two percent had plants under
construction and 50 percent had plans for
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
31
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sewage treatment plants in preparation.
However, by 1961 approximately 87 percent
of the valley's cities with populations over
5000 were providing treatment, and by
1964, this figure was 99 percent.
Spill
Alerts
The 7360 Annual Report emphasized a
new commission requirement: Industries in
the valley were required to inform State
pollution control agencies in the event of a
spill or accidental discharge. This require-
ment was begun more than ten years before
a national spills alert system was developed
and a number of years before computers
eased the process of tracking the movement
of hazardous chemicals. The annual report
also announced the ORSANCO Robot
Monitors, a system of electronic analyzers
and transmission equipment, aimed at
automatically providing information about
waterways along the valley. This system is
still in operation measuring temperature, dis-
solved oxygen, acidity and alkalinity, and dis-
solved solids at 21 key locations along the
Ohio River and its major tributaries. The
Corps of Engineers is one of the major users
of this and contributes to the electronic
monitoring program's support. The program,
along with a monthly manual Sampling
Program which collects data from 37 loca-
tions, forms the nucleus of ORSANCO water
quality data provided to State and Federal
agencies.
By 1965, the Federal government inten-
sified its activity in water pollution control.
States were required to adopt water quality
standards for submission to the Secretary of
the Interior. The commission in 1970
promulgated effluent standards for the Ohio
River which met the requirements of the in-
dividual states but also permitted a compati-
ble approach to the problem. One of the ma-
jor sections of these standards required
secondary treatment at municipal sewage
facilities. It also set limitations on the con-
centration of certain substances in industrial
effluents, including inorganic chemicals,
cyanide and pesticides. Federal legislation
adopted in 1972 established a national pollu-
tion discharge elimination system (NPDES)
designed to establish technology-based ef-
fluent standards as a more viable approach to
regulate discharges.
Fish
Increase
During the late 1 960's and 1970's, the
commission intensified its data collection and
evaluation activities, enabling the member
States to develop and implement cooperative
pollution control projects as well as reduce
duplication of efforts in monitoring programs.
Annual fish population surveys were begun in
1968, and data obtained over the years in-
dicate that fish diversity has increased in the
Valley. Fish fillet and whole fish analysis by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and
Fish and Wildlife Service measured levels of
bioaccumulative chemicals such as
chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides.
In 1981, only two fish out of 70 showed
either of these substances in their fillet
portions at levels above the FDA temporary
tolerance limits.
As the rivers of the Ohio Valley became
cleansed of what are commonly called the
conventional pollutants, new substances ap-
peared on the danger lists, man-made
chemicals unknown in nature, with toxicities
at extremely minute concentrations. Their
control was difficult and their detection also
impossible without extremely sophisticated
expensive equipment.
Help
from EPA
But these chemicals could cause grave
concern. In the winter of 1 977-78, a series of
spills of carbon tetrachloride on the Kanawha
River in West Virginia found their way un-
detected into Ohio River water supplies. In
response to the intense public reaction to this
threat, the commission, along with nine
water utilities and two concerned industries
in the Valley, all chosen for their locations,
laboratory support and willingness to par-
ticipate, formed the Organics Detection
System (ODS). A special grant from EPA
helped provide the stations with detection
equipment, telecopiers and gas
chromatographs. In the event of a spill or ac-
cidental discharge, the ODS provides im-
mediate notification to downstream water
users. Because samples are analyzed daily at
the 1 1 sites, the System is also compiling an
impressive data base on background river
levels of the family of chemicals known as
volatile halogenated organics. This family in-
cludes chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and
other halogentated ethanes and ethylenes.
Two of the stations also monitor for aromatic
hydrocarbons such as toluene and benzene.
Since the ODS was established, the num-
ber of unreported spills on the Ohio River and
its major tributaries has dramatically
decreased. Between May, 1978 and August
1980, nine unusual levels" of chemicals
were detected and six later confirmed by
special laboratory analysis. Since August of
1980, no detections have been confirmed.
(An "unusual level" is defined by the ODS as
a concentration of a detectable chemical of
more than 25 micrograms per liter or 10
times the previous day's reading.)
The comparison functions at its best when
it is coordinating, bringing together the par-
ties to a dispute, the experts needed for a
project, and the support essential for a
program. The commission has grown into the
key role of providing a forum, of being a
mechanism that enables communication and
cooperation among its member States. This
activity has become essential in recent times
with the realization of how interdependent
the States of the Ohio Valley are in terms of
economics, environment, and social and
political impacts. Yet very few organizations
and governmental bodies deal with these
issues from a regional viewpoint. Fewer yet
define their regions on the basis of river
basins. In the Ohio Valley, however, it is the
rivers that interconnect the States, as well as
form their boundaries.
This was made obvious to the commission
in a recent joint study with the Council of
State governments of how to deal with in-
terstate issues arising from energy facilities
development. The Ohio Valley has been cited
as a prime area for energy facilties expansion
because of its proximity to major population
centers and coal fields, abundant water sup-
ply, and trained workforce. The commission
was concerned that this development occur
in an orderly manner, with attention to in-
terstate issues, particularly environmental
ones dealing with water quality and quantity.
As a result of the study, the commission is
establishing an Ohio Valley Energy
Roundtable, consisting of one commissioner
from each State and the Federal government
and representatives of the power, transporta-
tion, coal and oil and gas industries, the
general public, and public utilities commis-
sions. The Roundtable is aimed at better
communication among the parties interested
in energy development to resolve interstate
issues early in the process and avoid costly
and time-consuming litigation. These issues
do not recognize State boundaries and thus,
can only be resolved through regionally
based decision-making. D
32
iURNAL
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A freighter p/ys the St. Lawrence River which
connects Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes
with the Atlantic Ocean and countries around
the world.
Back Cover: A shower of spray marks the
course of a water skier on Lake Erie.
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