Region V Public Report December, Federal officials Approach Shoreline Krosion Problem. ------- GOVERNMENT New Ohio EPA Begins Work Confident and optimistic Ira L. Whitman, Director of the new Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, looks forward to noticeably cleaner air and water for Ohio in two or three years. And he may be right, if activities during Ohio EPA's first two months are an indication of what is to come. Since it became legally effective on October 23 the agency has undertaken a variety of innovative actions. One of the first was announcement of the development of a Lake Erie strike force to take immediate action in clean-up of the lake that has become a national symbol of the worst effects of water pollution. In announcing the strike force, Ohio's Governor John J. Gilligan said, "The primary goal of this new program is to eliminate the contamination of water along the beaches and shoreline of the lake, and to open these beaches for recreational use by the public as soon as possible." In a special ceremony the first air pollution control permit to operate acutally five permits in all was issued to Avon Products in Springdale, Ohio, indicating that the plant is in complete compliance with Ohio's air pollution regulations. Also in the area of air pollution control the Ohio EPA has taken a somewhat unique step by contracting with thirteen local Ohio agencies, enabling them to have a joint role in the enforcement of Ohio's air pollution control program. The contracts, still to be signed by the local agencies, authorize them to act as representatives of the Ohio EPA in matters relating to air pollution control, including conducting inspections, investigating violations, expanding surveillance programs and air quality monitoring activities and assisting the Attorney General in acquiring evidence for possible enforcement actions. Since the establishment of the new pollution control agency, Ohio has seen the first criminal case brought for violation of the state regulation against open burning, resulting in conviction of Osborne Excavating, Inc. for the burning of construction scraps in the city of Mentor. In what Dr. Whitman called a precendent-setting action, the Ohio EPA recently issued two permits to the Columbus and Southern Ohio Electric Company for construction of two new generating stations at Conesville, based on the company's commitment to adopt technology that will put them in compliance with air emission regulations. So the new EPA is getting right to work, despite the fact that it is going through a difficult transition period necessitates by a radical change in the State's a struc- tural approach to pollution control. With creation of the Ohio EPA, the pollution control responsibilities of the former Department of Natural Resources, Department of Health, the Water Pollution Control Board and the Air Pollution Control Board have been brought together in one agency organized around the concept of "function" - functions such as regulations, planning, com- munications. Says Director Whitman, "What is important to remember is that problems of air, water, and solid waste pollution are directly related and should be treated as such. This comprehensive functional approach to problem solving is necessary if we are to make inroads PAGE 2 Ira L Whitman Director. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. into the totality of environmental concerns. It will give us the flexibility we need and, in the long run, prove to be more efficient." The functional approach was first recommended by the Stanford Research Institute of Menlo Park, California, in a study commissioned by the U.S. EPA and the State of Ohio to examine the state's existing en- vironmental organization and make recommendations for a more efficient structure. As EPA director, Dr. Whitman will be responsible for setting all regulations relating to air and water pollution control and solid waste disposal and for issuing, denying or modifying air and water pollution control permits. His responsibilities will also include safeguarding of domestic water supplies and passing approval on sewage treatment plans. Whitman serves also as chairman of the new Ohio Power Siting Commission. A native of New York City, 32-year-old Whitman holds a doctorate in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Previously with the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Whitman has been with the state pollution control effort for nearly a year. Working with Whitman will be an assistant director and two deputy directors. The Assistant Director, recently -appointed John Kroeger formerly Vice President of Frederick F. Leney Manufacturing Com- pany of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. instrumental in development of non-polluting inks, will assure the ef- ficient day-to-day operation of the organization. Harvard Law School graduate, Samuel Bleicher, Deputy Director for Regulation Actions currently on leave from his teaching post at the University of Toledo, ------- College of Law, will review the regulatory decisions of the agency, preparing or revising regulations as needed. Through the mechanism of an internal review board, Bleicher will assure equitable and uniform compliance to the agency's policy. Those policies, as well as objectives and programs of the agency, will be defined by the Deputy Director of Policy Development, Alan Farkas, a Princeton graduate and former Executive Director of the Governor's Task Force on Environmental Protection. He will also plan the long range environmental goals of the state and serve as legislative liaison, working with and keeping track of federal legislation. Coordination of environmental research and development in the state will also be one of his duties. The new EPA incorporates two additional functions of particular interest to the public. An Ombudsman's Office- A unique function not often found in government - will soon be established to listen and respond to citizen complaints and concerns about pollution. According to EPA's public relations man Dave Milenthal the ap- pointment of an ombudsman was an option in the establishing legislation which Whitman retained because of the importance he places in being responsive to the public. Adelle Mitchell, Vice Pres. of the League of Women Voters of Columbus, will serve as Ombudsman. Milenthal heads up the Public Interest Center which has responsibility for public education and involving the public in Ohio's environmental problems. The office is currently beginning to produce and plan literature, speeches, and seminars and has already published the first two issues of the Ohio EPA Newsleaf, a monthly publication intended to provide readers with technical as well as general information on EPA, business, and citizen activities throughout the state. Whitman has emphasized the importance of this public information function. He says, "we intend to be easily accessible for complaints and to give en- vironmental groups a voice in what we are doing ... we don't want to use our legal powers as the only tool for doing the job, but we will use enough legal action to make sure everyone knows we are seniors." by Helen Starr Message from Mayo The following letter was sent by Midwest Regional Administrator Francis T Mayo to State environmental agencies on November 13 Loans are now available from the Small Business Administration (SBA) for air and water pollution equipment for small businesses. The Development Council, a non-profit corporation, has received a grant from SBA to provide "packaging assistance" to small businesses in obtaining these SBA loans. Section 502 of the Small Business Act authorizes SBA to make loans to "local development companies" for the purpose of assisting an identifiable small business concern in acquiring capital assets, including pollution control hardware. Generally the borrowing local development company will construct the needed capital equipment and lease it to the small business involved. The purpose of the arrangement is to channel high- calibre business expertise toward the small business community on an ad hoc basis. State agencies and eligible companies may contact either Mr. David Vega, Development Council, 219 S. Dearborn, Room 437, Chicago, Illinois (312-353-4521) or Mr. John Egan, Development Council, 24451 Lakeshore, Apartment 204, Cleveland, Ohio 44123 (216-261-5052). This is a separate SBA program from that mentioned in Section 8 of the 1972 Amendments of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Information on this new program will be available in the future. More Solid Waste Literature It has been brought to our attention that certain publications on solid waste and resource recovery were not included in the listing in the October-November issue of the Public Report. The following are additional sources of information: The National Association of Secondary Material Industries, Inc. has available innumerable publications of various types. The extensive list includes "Recycling Resources", "Proceedings of A Recycling Day In New (Continued on page 12) Dr. Whitman turns the State's used phone books over for recycling Employment Opportunities The Region V office of Personnel is accepting applications for current and anticipated vacancies in engineering and the physical sciences. Oppor- tunities exist in a number of EPA programs in the Chicago office dealing with environmental problems of air, water, pesticides and solid waste management. Salaries range from $7,696 to $19,700 per year depending upon qualifications. Persons with education or professional experience in the field of pollution abatement and control are invited to send a Personal Qualifications Statement, SF 171 (obtainable from any U.S. Post Office) or resume to EPA Region V, One N. Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, Attn: Personnel Branch. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for appointment without regard to race, religion, color, national orgin, sex, political affiliations, or anv other non-merit factor. PAGE 3 ------- COVER STORY High Water And Shoreline Erosion On The Great Lakes by William Omohundro This article is the first in a two-part series. The con- cluding part of the article is scheduled to appear in the January edition of the Region V Public Report. High water and resulting shoreline erosion seems to be shapingupas one of the big environmental stories of the year in the Great Lakes Basin. The problem concerns Federal, State and local officials as well "as private citizens. Property owners who have been damaged or those who stand to be damaged are looking to government officials for help. So are environmentalists. Congressmen and Senators from the Great Lakes statesgathered in the Nation's Capitol November 28 for a special meeting on the crisis. The problem and possible solutions were discussed but what the government will do is not certain. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency with the major technical responsibility for the control of water levels along the nation's waterways and coastlines, is keeping an eye on the problem and weighing the alter- natives for alleviating it. The North Central Division of the Corps of Engineers headquartered in Chicago is responsible for the entire Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Basin within the United States. The Region V Public Report interviewed Maj. Gen. Ernest Graves, Division Engineer for the North Central Division, about the high water and shoreline erosion problem and what might be done about it. An Assessment of the Problem General Graves says the Great Lakes are now well above their long-term average levels for this time of year because of the higher than normal precipitation during the past two years. "The high lake levels are greatly aggravating shore erosion and damage to structures along the shores of the Great Lakes," he says. According to a recently com- pleted National shoreline study, 1,300 miles of the 3,700 - mile Great Lakes shoreline are subject to significant erosion. "This 1,300 miles includes approximately 200 miles of publicly - owned shoreline and about 1,100 miles of privately - owned shoreline," he adds. Further, he points out that over 200 miles of shoreline are subject to critical erosion and over 300 miles to flooding. Three hundred eighty miles of shoreline are protected. While some of the shoreline is rocky, most is relatively PAGE 4 Major General Ernest Graves, junior soft glacial deposits which offer little resistance to erosion by lake currents and waves. The greatest damage is waves generated by storm winds sweeping' over the lakes, and these are generally most severe in the Fall and Srping. "The best natural protection for a shoreline is a gradually sloping beach which waves can break against and dissipate their energy as they run up the slope," says General Graves. He says such beaches form naturally around the Great Lakes shoreline as the banks erode, and provide protection at normal lake levels. "However," he points out, "when extended periods of above-normal precipitation raise the levels of the lakes, the water surface extends over the beach, and the waves break directly against the steeper banks behind. This produces accelerated erosion and damage such as we are now experiencing." The current rate of damage to the Great Lakes shoreline is not precisely known, the General said. Following a similar period of high lake levels and severe storm 20 years ago, though, field surveys revealed some $61 million in damage in one year - from the Spring of 1951 to the Spring of 1952. He said $50 million of this was from wave action and $11 million was from flooding. "Converted to today's prices the figure would be $120 million, without any allowance for the extensive additional development which has occurred along the lakeshore during he last 20 years." The Corps' Authorities This, in general, is the problem. The questions are, what measures is the Corps of Engineers authorized to take to remedy the situation and under what legal authorities is it working? Public Law 727, 79th Congress (1946), as amended by Public Law 826, 84th Congress (1956) and Public Law 87- ------- 874 (1962), provided for Federal participation in the construction of works for the restoration and protection of the U.S. shoreline against erosion by waves and currents. These acts set the policy for reimbursement of construction costs, generally up to 50 percent, but under certain conditions up to 70 percent of the total costs. "To be eligible for Federal assistance the shore must be publicly owned, or available for public use if privately owned," General Graves points out. "For Federal participation exceeding $1 million the project must have been specifically authorized by Congress after in- vestigation and study by the Corps of Engineers." A project may be undertaken without specific authorization from Congress if the Federal participation is not more than $1 million for the complete project. In any case, according to General Graves, under law the project must be evaluated on the basis of benefits and costs and its environmental impact. "Where the hazard to the Great Lakes shoreline is flooding rather than erosion by waves and currents," he said, "Federal assistance is available under the Flood Control Act of 1936. However, such projects require specific Congressional authorization following a study of engineering and economic feasibility and recom- mendation by the Chief of Engineers." Section 205 of the Flood Control Act of 1948 provides for construction of small flood control projects not specifically authorized by Congress when, in the opinion of the Chief of Engineers, such work is advisable and the Federal share does not exceed $1 million for a single complete project. Section 14 of the Flood Control Act of 1946 authorizes the construction of emergency bank protection works to prevent flood damage to highways, bridge approaches, and public works when, in the opinion of the Chief of Engineers, such work is advisable, provided that not more than $50,000 is allotted to any single locality. General Graves says Section 111 of the River and Harbor Act of 1968 authorizes the mitigation of shoreline damage attributable to Federal navigation works, to be done entirely at Federal expense. "Specific authorization by Congress is required if the estimated first cost exceeds $1 million," he adds. The General cites a number of projects already un- dertaken under the authorities already mentioned. "Twenty-three shore protection projects, with an aggregate estimated first cost of $13 million, have been authorized for the Great Lakes shoreline," he says. "Of these projects, seven have been completed, one is under construction, preconstruction planning is completed for two, eight are not funded, and five are deferred or inactive." He said four flood control projects, with an aggregate estimated first cost of $2 million, have been authorized for the Great Lakes shoreline. Of these four projects, two have been completed and two are not funded. In addition, one emergency bank protection project costing $50,000 has been completed. General Graves said four authorized studies of Great Lakes shore erosion problems are underway, with aggregate funding in the 1973 fiscal year of $66,000. "To date," he said, "we have completed preliminary studies under Section 111 of the River and Harbor Act of 1968 for 27 areas of the Great Lakes shoreline." He said these studies have indicated that Federal navigation works are wholly or partially responsible for shore erosion in 17 cases, and the District Engineers have been authorized to prepare detailed project reports and estimates. What emergency measures are authorized to remedy the situation? Public Law 99, 84th Congress (1956) provides for Federal assistance to local communities in the preparation and execution of plans for emergency protection from flooding. The Act also provides for repairs at Federal expense to restore existing flood control works damaged by flooding. "During the recent flooding along the southern and western shoreline of Lake Erie teams from the Buffalo and Detroit Districts of the Corps of Engineers contacted local communities to offer such assistance," says General Graves. Since this event, he says, the Detroit District has un- dertaken the repair of the dike at Reno Beach, Ohio, under this authority. "We are studying other possible measures pursuant to Public Law 99 which might be undertaken during the present period of high lake levels." The Corps of Engineers is one of the Federal agencies which respond to requests from the Office of Emergency Preparedness when the President declares a Federal disaster area under the provisions of Public Law 606. "We sent teams into the field when reports were first received of the recent severe storms on the Great Lakes and have been supporting OEP efforts continuously since that date," General Graves noted. About one-sixth of the shoreline is eligible for a Federal program under the existing policy and five-sixth is not eligible under existing policy, according to the Division Engineers. "This is what I mean when I say that the national policy on this subject is not one that allows the Federal government to play a major role in solving the overall problem. That's the way the law is written," he added. General Graves will not speculate, on how the law will change. "Certainly there's strong Congressional sen- timent and of course local sentiment in the Great Lakes area to have much greater Federal participation in this problem." But, he says, it's bigger than the Great Lakes because we have the whole shoreline of the United States. "While you don't have as much private ownership, you never- theless have the same problem and when you're talking money, the amounts are massive." He said it would cost several billion dollars to provide protection for those areas of the shoreline which are getting serious erosion. "So in considering what the Federal policy should be the government is faced with the problem that if it makes a change in the present policy they're undertaking a very large committment of resources," the General says. High Water Predictions Do these high water levels come in cycles? "Not in predictable cycles," the General says. "The last time we had them was in 1951 and 1952. You can go into the records and see that they recur but not at any particular period of years. We had extremely low water levels in 1964, and now we're back. Well, it's 20 years, but that's not a magic number because it depends on rainfall and we know from weather records that you can't predict that." High water level predictions have been rumored for next spring. What would be the basis for these predic- tions? General Graves says the basis for that is that we have had a great deal of rain this summer and the ground is (Continued on page 12) PAGE 5 ------- ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION New "Gleam" In The Navy's Eyes by Wi//iam Omohundro If you think the military is lagging in such hip areas as the environment and ecology, you have a big surprise in store for you at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center on Lake Michigan north of Chicago. A group of dedicated environmentalists at Great Lakes has made believers out of those who scoffed 18 months ago when they organized as the Great Lakes Ecology Association of Military (GLEAM) and vowed to clean up their community. Furthermore, the group has declared war on all forms of pollution and is waving the ecology flag to rally those at other military posts, as well as the civilian com- munity, who stand ready to follow their example. Rear Admiral Draper Kauffman, Commandant of the Ninth Naval District headquartered at Great Lakes^ is emphatic when he says: "The Federal Government simply must take the lead to solve this whole en- vironmental problem. The Navy must do its part, and this is why GLEAM is important." Admiral Kauffman says he feels that GLEAM's ac- complishments are important in themselves but that the organization is more important as a symbol of an at- titude which must eventually prevail throughout the community. Although he fully backs GLEAM's goals, the Admiral's considerable administrative responsibilities as chief executive of a naval district preclude his taking part in much direct action. But with Mrs. Kauffman it's a different story. She's one of the most active environmentalists at Great Lakes and one of the founders of GLEAM. "We owe a great deal to Mrs. Kauffman," says Commander William Ahrens, Great Lakes Public Works Executive Officer and the man who Mrs. Kauffman calls "the real dynamo behind GLEAM." Mrs. Kauffman presently heads one of three per- manent GLEAM committees, the Education Committee. The other two permanent committees are the Recycling Committee headed by Commander Ahrens and the Conservation Committee headed by Chief Petty Officer Robert Stull. Commander Ahrens is quick to point out that without the aid of Mrs. Kauffman the whole GLEAM program might have fallen on its face. Both say the organization and its programs have caught the interest and received the endorsement of such top Department of Defense officials as Deputy Under- secretary of the Navy Joseph A. Grimes, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, and John A. Busterud, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environmental Quality as well as Congressman Robert McClory who represents the Illinois district in which the Great Lakes installation is located. Busterud was recently named a member of the Council on Environmental Quality by President Nixon. The obvious question is, "What has GLEAM done to merit this acclaim?" To answer it we have to go back to May of 1971 when Commander Ahrens gave a fiery talk on the world's environmental crisis to the Great Lakes Navy Wives. The Commander ended his talk by urging the women to PAGE 6 get angry and told them, "Let's get together and clean up this world." The message wasn't lost. One June 1, GLEAM held its first meeting, electing officers and setting goals. Commander Ahrens became the first chairman. The group decided it was going to beautify the base, create cycling and walking trails, sustain wildlife and nature areas, reduce waste, litter and pollution, and support national conservation organizations. By mid-August the newly launched group of volunteers from both civilian and military families on the post was already making a difference. They had worked out a program to recycle glass bottles, metal cans and paper; cleaned debris and refuse from Nunn Beach, a large recreation area along the Great Lakes waterfront; worked with Downey Veterans Hospital personnel to enhance a 10-acre park, and promoted interest and awareness among Navy youth through a poster contest on the theme, "This Land is Your Land - Save It." Open Ecology Center The posters created by the young environmentalists were on display at ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the grand opening of GLEAM's Ecology Center August 19 at Building 1713 Ray Street in Nimitz Village. Congressman McClory and Admiral Kauffman were on hand to officially open the Center, which was strictly a salvage job done with volunteer work and used materials from demolished buildings. "You'd have to have seen this building before our people restored it to really appreciate what was done here," says Commander Ahrens. Some of the volunteers, he notes, were Public Works Center civilian craftsmen who donated after-hours labor. The barrack-type building located in what was for- merly a part of the old recruit training area now sports a fresh coat of white paint trimmed with "ecology" green. The building contains an office, a library, a kitchen, rest rooms, a lounge area and a meeting hall for large group activities. It shelters the majority of GLEAM's indoor activities. "We try to make people feel that the Ecology Center is an important social center on the post where they are always welcome," Mrs. Kauffman points out. She says such an atmosphere is important to get the en- vironmental message across. About 150 school children come to the Center each week. An arts and crafts group meets every Saturday. Congressman McClory has brought in high school students from his district for a one-day Saturday workshop to orient them on environmental problems and to give them ideas that they could take back to their schools and communities. Commander Ahrens and Mrs. Kauffman work with the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts as well as the Cub Scouts on post. At Great Lakes there are three troops of Boy Scouts, three troops of Girl Scouts and numerous Cub Scout groups. Cub scout woodcraft activities are centered around a park on the base with a growth of original oaks. The Cubs have been working to beautify the park. continued on page J5. ------- Commander Ahrens, first Genera/ on the staff of Admiral chairman of GLEAM, talks to a Kou/fmon. Petty Officer Second youfh group in the Ecology Class John Shillabeer. a student Center meeting room. He was at the Service School Command, recently succeeded as chairman presently serves as vice fay Captain John Fox, Inspector chairman. Train station cleanup begins. . Mrs. Bi// Perry, one of the volunteers who staff the GLEAM-run greenhouse. Admiral Kauffman. Congressman McClory, at Ecology Center ribbon cutting ceremony. Ecology poster contest winners. Shrubbery planting fakes muscle. PAGE? ------- EPA A EPA Announces Construction Grant Allotments The allotment of Federal funds for construction of waste treatment plants during fiscal years 1973 and 1974 was announced late last month by EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus. Ruckelshaus stated, "The President has directed me to allocate no more than $2 billion for fiscal year 1973 and no more than $3 billion for fiscal year 1974 according to the formula set forth in the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972." The amendments had authorized allotments not to exceed $5.0 billion for 1973 and not to exceed $6.0 billion for 1974. Ruckelshaus said the allotments were deter- mined after a careful consideration of water pollution control needs in the contest of a responsible fiscal policy. In addition to the $5 billion allotment for fiscal years 1973-74, $1.9 billion will be made available to reimburse state and local governments for projects initiated bet- ween June 30, 1966 and July 1, 1972 which did not then receive the full Federal share. A total of $350 million in additional fiscal year 1972 authorization will be available immediately and will bring 1972 allocations to $2.0 billion. Allocations for Region V (Millions of Dollars) Fiscal Year Three Year 1971-72 1972-73 1973-74 TOTAL 111. bid. Mich. Minn. Ohio Wise. 105.9 50.0 84.8 36.9 101.6 42.6 125.0 67.3 159.6 40.6 115.5 34.8 187.5 101.0 239.4 61.0 173.2 52.2 418.4 218.3 483.8 138.5 390.3 129.6 Source: AIR AND WATER NEWS, Dec. 4, 1972. Joint Hearings In Wisconsin Region V and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources held joint informal hearings Nov. 28-29 in Appleton, Wis., to discuss remedies for the 180-day notices issued in early October to 14 communities and pulp and paper mills for pollution of the Fox River and Green Bay in northeastern Wisconsin. The enforcement actions on the Fox River resulted from extensive joint evaluation and cooperation between EPA and the Wisconsin DNR. "The 180-day notices to the 10 pulp and paper mills were the largest number ever issued to a single industry at one time," said James 0. McDonald, Director of the Region V Enforcement Division. Further, meetings were held Dec. 12-14 to work out the detailed abatement schedules for the alleged violators. Technology Transfer Seminar Region V hosted a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facilities Design Seminar Nov. 28-30 in Chicago as part PAGES of the Agency's Technology Transfer Program. The seminar focused on the design and cost aspects of selected topics related to the environmental im- provement of the Lake Michigan Basin. Technical sessions were devoted to nitrogen control, phosphorus removal, and the upgrading of existing wastewater treatment plants. Report On Radiation Released A National Academy of Sciences advisory committee report called "The Effects on Populations of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation" has been made public by EPA. The report analyzes population exposure to ionizing radiation sources and effects of ionizing radiation of genes, human growth and development, and somatic cells. Copies of the report are being printed and will be available in early December. Single copies of the report will bo made available upon request to the Public Inquires Branch, Office of Public Affairs, U.S. EPA, Washington, D.C. 20460. I.TC Hearings Held The International Joint Commission nas held the first of a series of hearings which will eventually cover water quality of the Upper Great Lakes - Superior and Huron - as well as pollution of the boundary waters of the Great Lakes System from agricultural, forestry and other land use activities. The first two hearings were held in Thunder Bay, Ontario, on Dec. 5 and in Duluth, Minn., on Dec. 7 to consider testimony relevant to water quality in Lake Superior. The IJC study is being undertaken at the request of the governments of Canada and the United States in accordance with provisions of the Canada - United States Water Quality Agreement of April 15,1972, and the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty which provides that boundary waters shall not be polluted on either side to the injury of health or property on the other. Public Hearings Held In Collinsville Region V held public hearings on Dec. 6-7 in Collin- sville, 111., to discuss remedies for the 180-day notices issued to East St. Louis, 111.; Sauget, 111.; Granite City, 111.; and the East Side Levee and Sanitary District of East St. Louis, 111., for violation of Federal-State water quality standards. These hearings were the last 180-day notice hearings to be held in the United States, under provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act as amended to 1970. Such hearings will be no longer be used as an enforcement instrument since passage of the 1972 Amendments to the Act. ------- CTION Water Pollution Against DuPont Resolved A water pollution suit filed against the DuPont Com- pany in East Chicago by the Federal Government on February 19, 1971 has successfully resulted in an agreement by the plant to reduce chemical wastes discharged into the Grand Calumet River. The consent decree agreed to by DuPont was entered in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, Indiana. The suit charged DuPont with discharging iron, sulfates, fluorides, acids and solids from its plant in violation of the Refuse Act of 1899. The decree requires DuPont to install additional sewage treatment facilities to restrict the discharge of the chemical pollutants and to develop an abatement program to achieve a maximum reduction of the discharge of those wastes. The company is required to install new sewer lines by September 15, to reduce discharges of zinc, phosphorous, suspended solids, chlorides, and toxic discharges of heavy metals by January 15,1974, and to reduce its discharge of sulfates and dissolved solids to levels that are achievable with current pollution control technology by October 15,1974. Motor Vehicle Control Regulations Announced EPA has announced that it has republished in the Federal Register all current applicable motor vehicle control regulations so that they will be available in one document. The various regulations and amendments, applicable beginning with the 1973 model year, have been published over the past years in several different issues of the Federal Register. Now, for the first time, all regulations will be in one publication, providing for greater ease in use. Chrysler Corporation Awarded Contract EPA Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus has an- nounced that a contract has been awarded Chrysler Corporation for research and development to resolve technical problems that now block the introduction of gas turbine auto engines that could meet the 1976 Federal emission standards. A major goal of the competitively won contract, which will be incrementally funded as progress on the project warrants, and which may ultimately involve government expenditures of $6.4 million, is to determine whether the gas turbine powered automobile can be made competitive with the con- ventional internal combustion engine in fuel economy, performance, reliability, and potential mass production. This is the first contract in the EPA advanced power systems program that has been awarded to an automobile manufacturer. EPA Announces Guidelines For Wastewater Discharges EPA has announced proposed guidelines for approval of State programs to issue permits to regulate wastewater discharges into rivers and lakes. This was the first formal action taken by the Agency to implement the recently enacted Federal Water Pollution Control Act of l972.The legislation established a national system of permits to control discharges by industries, municipalities, and other point sources of pollution. State programs to issue permits must be approved by EPA as meeting a number of requirements set forth in the new Federal law. Erosion and Sediment Control Guidelines Published Publication of the first Federal guidelines to control erosion and sediment, the top volume pollutant of the nation's waters, has been announced by the Environ- mental Protection Agency. The publication, "Guidelines for Erosion and Sediment Control Planning and Implementation," prepared by EPA's Office of Research and Monitoring, is designed as a manual for con- structors, local officials, and other involved with urban and suburban development. The 228-page publication is available for $1.75 from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. The report is EPA - R2- 72-015, August, 1972. EPA Issues Guidelines To Auto Manufacturers On November 15 EPA issued revised guidelines to automobile manufacturers for submitting requests for a one year suspension of the 1975-76 auto emission stan- dards required by the Clean Air Act of 1970. The Act authorizes the Administrator to grant a one-year suspension of the 1975 and 1976 standards under certain conditions. In March and April of this year, EPA received requests for suspension of the guidelines from Volvo, International Harvester, General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and American Motors. Those requests were denied by Ruckelshaus on May 12 because the companies failed to produce sufficient evidence that they could not comply with the standards. The revised guidelines issued on November 15 apply to any application or reapplication by manufacturers seeking suspension of the 1975 stan- dards, as well as to new applications filed after January 1, 1973, for suspension of the 1976 standard. PAGE 9 ------- BUSINESS THE SAGA OF CHRYSLER'S 66 CLEAN"FOUNDRY by James Wargo Reprinted with permission of MBA. The Master In Bus/ness Admfnfstrat/on. Copyright 1972 by MBA Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission of MBA, The Master in Business Administration. Copyright 1972 by MBA Communications, Inc. In 1964, Chrysler Corporation, ignoring the advice of its own engineers and outside consultants, announced plans for the construction of a new foundry within a residential area on the east side of Detroit. The claims were extravagant. The one most frequently heard was that the plant would be pollution - free. It would have to be - rarely had a major foundry been planned so close to private homes. Some people took the claim at face value. In May, 1967, Factory Magazine named it one of its "Top Ten Plants of the Year," citing specifically the lengths management had gone to protect the environment around the .plant. What the editors of Factory overlooked was that less than 30 days after the plant had gone into limited de-bugging operations in October of 1966, occupants of the small, orderly homes im- mediately across Huber Avenue, on which the foundry is located, began filling complaints against it. By the time the awards issue of Factory appeared, more than two dozen residents of the Huber community were threatening court action^ Today, six years after start-up, Chrysler is still mired in lawsuits over the Huber foundry. Its attorneys like to think the end of litigation will come this fall. But attorneys for the residents like to think they are just getting started. How did it happen that a so-called "clean" foundry was ever sited next to a residential community? And what ever became of the equipment that was meant to make that foundry "clean"? " The answers are really lessons. Chrysler has learned them at a cost of millions. Others can benefit from Chrysler's bad dream and save themselves the same amount or more. According to Chrysler's official press release, the Huber Avenue location was selected because the company already owned the land, the site was adjacent to two other Chrysler production facilities, skilled labor was plentiful, and there were excellent rail connections to other Chrysler plants within a 30- mile radius. Deal with Detroit Jerome Cavanagh, at that time mayor of Detroit, tells it a different way. According to his version, he learned towards the end of his first term that Chrysler was planning to abandon an antiquated foundry on the east side and relocate production in an Ohio suburb. At that time Detroit hadn't seen any new heavy industry for 11 years, and many other existing plants were cutting back or closing down. The relocating of Chrysler's foundry would idle another 2,500 Detroit workers. Cavanagh soon learned that Chrysler's main objection to any site in Michigan was a special state tax on jigs, dies, tools and fixtures. He felt he had enough political clout with the state legislature to suspend the tax. Would Chrysler, he inquired through channels, build in Detroit if he could get the tax lifted? No, came the reply, if the tax were removed Chrysler would probably build in nearby Warren, Michigan. Cavanagh applied personal pressure on Chrysler executives, and they relented. The Detroit bloc in the legislature succeeded in getting the tax lifted and Chrysler soon dropped plans for an Ohio foundry. Designing a clean foundry Actually Chrysler had reservations about the site other than the taxes. Across the street from what became the main en- PAGE 10 trance to the foundry was a neighborhood of lower middle class whites, primarily of central European ethnic origin. While they were good neighbors to a nearby Plymouth assembly plant, was it possible they could get to know and love a foundry as well? Chrysler engineers said no. Chrysler consultants said no. Common sense said no. But Cavanagh said he had a man, Mort Sterling, in the city's air pollution control bureau who would sit in on planning sessions to guide Chrysler in equipping the foundry with those systems which would best protect the residents. Every pollution control system adopted had Sterling's stamp of approval. In early spring of 1967, the Huber foundry went to work producing engine blocks, heads, flywheels, brake-disks and crankshafts. Casting operations were fed by two enclosed, water-cooled cupolas, each 108 inches in diameter and rated at 50 tons per hour, along with five 100-ton holding furnaces. High-noise areas were protected by extensive sound- deadening devices. An exhaust system, aided by 33 dust collectors, was to have provided a complete in-plant change of air every eight minutes without discharging dust to the neigh- borhood. Outwardly clean The outside of the plant, fronting Huber Avenue, was designed windowless, but is clean-cut and attractive. To this day it can pass as a long, but not unattractive suburban office structure, set 36 feet in from the sidewalk and fronted with a carefully manicured, treed lawn. Unfortunately, with the exception of the trees, hardly anything that was designed to make the plant a good neighbor functioned as planned. Chrysler engineers think they know why, and their reason is a good one. Their theory: the plant was too advanced. Many of the en- vironmental systems were simply not designed to work that close to a residential community. And because environmental concerns were not commanding as much attention in 1964 as they were today, some of the systems purchased were, in effect, ordered out of catalogues - Chrysler was the first to buy them. When these systems malfunctioned, the suppliers were at as much of a loss to explain what was wrong as were Chrysler personnel. As for the neighbors, they really didn't give a damn. They were going to court. At least 328 of them are still there. Raw smoke and dust The first things to go wrong were two massive 105-inch fans installed to pull gas through the dust collectors. Within days of their first usage they began vibrating. Welds at the base of the blades would break, causing noise that was annoying as far as several blocks away. To kiU the noise the fans were shut off. Since Chrysler was depending on the foundry for vital parts, operations continued while raw smoke and dust billowed out to settle over the neighbors. After each failure there would be a meeting with the supplier ending with the same conclusion - that the welds had been faulty. In 14 months five replacement fans were ordered. Soon after installation, the breakdown process would begin again. In addition, the fans were turned on and off so often that the motors wore out. Bigger, more costly motors were ordered. After the fifth fan failure it was determined by an outside consultant that the welds had been okay all along - but that the fan housing was poorly designed. It was of such a shape that it compressed the air before releasing it. The constant pulsing set up a rocking motion in the blades which in turn caused them to wobble and break. More than a year and a half after the first blade broke a new housing design abetted by tapered blades was ------- put into operation, solving the problem. But other problems, sometimes more easily solved, continued to plague the pollution control equipment for another two years. Each time one of the failures occurred, antipollution equipment would be shut down and billowing smoke would again blanket the neighborhood. The last cupola breakdown occurred in June, 1970, four years after the plant opened. The mysterious hum While the worst noise problem was fixed in 1968, grumblings continued about a hum. For months Chrysler officials dismissed these as crank complaints because they could hear nothing. The complaints continued, however, so Chrysler put some engineers on the job of figuring out why. They came back with nothing, yet residents continued to complain of a humming noise. Eventually Chrysler hired an accoustician who went from house to house interviewing complainants. An inquisitive man with an open mind, he was willing to consider all factors. After several months he determined that those complaining found the hum most annoying at night. Checking their bedrooms he found that most measured 12 feet in width, or close to it. His ruling ... the sound-deadening chamber above the new fans with their tapered blades was emitting a pure tone with a 12-foot wavelength. Anyone within two miles trying to sleep in a 12-foot- wide bedroom was being slowly driven off the scope. Thinking the solution was within grasp, Chrysler broke into the sound deadening chamber to install different baffles only to find that the original baffles, glass fiber wrapped with mylar, had deteriorated from the surges of heat experienced with each fan breakdown. Space-age solution No longer sure that the heat surges were containable, Chrysler searched for a new means of wrapping the baffles. Normal suppliers could offer nothing able to tolerate the 600 degree F blasts. But an article on space-age technology led Chrysler to Du Pont which had developed a plastic that could take up to 750 degrees F. Du Pont was willing to sell Chrysler as much as it wanted, but mentioned as an afterthought that no means of sealing the stuff existed. Chrysler people went into their labs, devised their own sealing method, and then encased the newly wrapped, nearly designed baffles in stainless steel boxes. It worked, Lapsed time: about a year. Concurrently, other Chrysler engineers were working to correct a flaw in Huber's auxiliary dust-collection system. Originally all 33 collectors were interconnected. When a single one broke down, the option was either to shut down the entire foundry or to keep working while dust poured out into the neigh- borhood. The obvious solution - and one which could have been avoided in the initial plant design - was to sectionalize the system so that malfunctioning units could be bypassed. In carrying this out it was discovered that butterfly valves originally designed to permit manual adjustment of dust flow had worn out because of the frequent adjustments needed. The butterfly valves were replaced with pinch valves in late 1968. Limited failures of small groups of collectors continue to be experienced, sometimes as frequently as once every six or eight weeks, but they have been mild in comparison with the original ones and Chrysler, although not necessarily the neigh- bors, regards the problem as solved. The rotten egg smell Some 18 months after the plant went into operation, residents began complaining of noxious odors. The rotten egg smell. Like everything else, it got worse. Chrysler checked each venting point under different conditions to trace the source of the foul air. Again a team of consultants was brought in. After several months they could only reduce the possible source to four auxiliary stacks over the core room. For a while it was assumed that one of the vegetable by- products used in the core process was the cause, but months of experimentation got them nowhere. Finally, unable to isolate and stop the specific odor, Chrysler gave in and ordered an activated charcoal system for the vents instead. It went into operation in July of this year with Chrysler officials crossing their fingers. The system, very expensive for a plant the size of the Huber foundry, is even more costly to operate. Moreover, it was ordered without knowing the precise problem it was meant to correct. The attorney for the majority of the complaining neighbors confided to a reporter that some of his client admitted the odor problem had abated since the new equipment was installed. But the admission came a week before the activated charcoal system was put into operation! While Chrysler's engineers and consultants were working to solve each problem that came up, the residents were com- plaining and suing. Top Chrysler executives were frequently confronted by the residents, by Mort Sterling (who in time was made head of the Wayne county air pollution control office into which his old office was incorporated), city councilmen, and a now-new mayor... all wanting to know what Chrysler was doing about the problem at Huber. With each such visit or contact, Chrysler spokesmen tried to simplify the involved and frustrating work being conducted to resolve each main cause of complaint. The language was so complex, however, that the only thing a complainant would get out of it was, "We're doing everything we can" - an answer that rang increasingly hollow. Monetary settlements. When the fan weld problem was at its peak, Chrysler engaged Ottawa Appraisal Services to assess damages on neighborhood cars and nouses. Many people were paid for their damages and a goodly number got sore as hell because they didn't get anything. It was at this point that the neighobors began pooling their grievances and formulating a class action suit that is still sputtering today. The first person they went to was, of course, Mort Sterling, the people's recourse for air pollution problems. This is the same Mort Sterling who sat in on the planning of the foundry, who understood the complex nature of each break- down, and the long road to each solution. His problem boiled down to one of keeping the citizens happy without unfairly penalizing a company that was doing all it could to solve problems for which it wasn't solely responsible in the first place. After all, Chrysler originally wanted to build in Ohio. Mort Sterling's solution In October of 1971 Sterling found his out. He sued Chrysler under the Michigan Environmental Protection Act, scant hours after the law went into effect. This is a revolutionary law. It permits anyone to sue anyone else they regard as damaging the environment. An almost identical version has been proposed in Washington by Michigan Senator Phillip Hart. Under the Michigan law only civil action can be brought. You can get a polluter to stop, but you can't get him fined. Sterling said he sued Chrysler to "get in writing (Chrysler's) oral agreement to shut down whenever equipment breakdowns occurred." Chrysler had been doing this for several months prior to Sterling's action. According to others, however, Sterling felt that by using the new Michigan law he could placate those demanding not sympathy but action and at the same time not increase the pressure on an already overburdened Chrysler. Harried Chrysler officials were reluctant to view Sterling's motives so simply, and company attorneys took great pains in preparing and arguing any agreement they would consent to. They waited too long. According to a member of Sterling's staff, "We were within two paragrphs of an agreement" when the Huber 328 jumped in with both feet, properly entering the case as intervenors. They had one goal in mind: to force into the court's decree an admission from Chrysler that it had wrongfully polluted the neighborhood. With this admission on the books, it would be child's play to get Chrysler to pay the claimed damages to health and property damages in a suit the 328 had aleady filed in another court. Consent decree signed After intervenors had blocked the signing of the settlement for more than a month, Chrysler attorneys appeared at a hearing and moved that the admittance of the intervenors to the case be reconsidered. Sterling rose and uttered token opposition, following which the judge granted the Chrysler motion and the settlement was signed. The settlement established a binding policy for cupola shut- down and outlined an extensive maintenance program. Both Sterling and Chrysler attorneys agreed that the entire program continued on next page PAGE 11 ------- continued from previous page was in effect even before Sterling had sued under the en- vironmental protection law. That settlement was signed in October of last year. The Huber 328 continued their case. In June of this year it went to a jury, which found Chrysler to be culpable for all damages traceable to its plant emissions up to June, 1970. That would seem to settle the case. Unfortunately there is a rather large discrepancy between what the plaintiff thinks the jury said and what Chrysler attorneys feel was decided. The attorney for the plaintiffs thinks the decision included damage to health and he is prepared to argue each case in- dependently, each one taking a weekor more.Over at Chrysler, the jury's ruling is regarded as relating solely to property damages, and they delight in noting that a sizable number of the Huber 328 didn't reside there until after June, 1970. It's a difference that a court must resolve, and it's one of those things that can drag on and on... as the Huber Foundry case has already done for almost eight years. Racial overtones The local press in Detroit, which has never once reported that Chrysler originally opposed building in the city, handles the Huber affair as a straight environmental story. Chrysler has dirtied the air and corroded houses and cars - and the people want payment. Just as Chrysler's $3 million struggle to make a "clean" plant clean is ignored so do some nuances in the plaintiffs' motivation go uncommented upon. The residents were assumed to be motivated solely by a desire for a pollution-free neighborhood until the spring of last year, when the Federal Mousing Administration announced it would cease guaranteeing loans on homes in the Huber area because of industrial pollution. The ban was subsequently limited to Huber Avenue and the street behind it. Other homes in the area, the revised FHA ruling said, would High Water (Continued from page 5) saturated. When it freezes this winter any precipitation will run off into the lakes. "But rather than say it's going to be higher," he adds, "let's put it this way. If we had normal precipitation this winter, the levels of the lakes change so slowly that we would again have high levels next summer." He said the lake water levels do go up and down ac- cording to seasons. "They go down in the winter when we're having freezing and snow because the runoff from the land in the lake basins is retarded. When the snow melts in the spring the runoff goes into the lakes and they rise." The General picked up a set of charts prepared by the Lake Survey Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which was once the Lake Survey District of the Corps of Engineers. Zeroing in on the Lake Michigan chart he said, "Here we are in November. Now predictably well get a drop this winter, and then we'll start up again. So the issue is whether the peak next summer will be higher or lower than the peak this last summer, and I would say that that is governed primarily by the amount of snow we get this winter." The Division Engineer said this prediction isn't based on any premonition about weather. "It's assuming that we have average precipitation. The prediction is based on the way the water is routed through the Great Lakes. It starts at Lake Superior. These charts simply predict howthe water will flow down through the lakes if rainfall and snow are average." (To be continued in the January Edition.) PAGE 12 be eligible for loan guarantee provided the buyer signed a release stating awareness of industrial pollution in the area. With that development, protests against the foundry took on a new stridency. The FHA release did not specify the foundry. There is ample evidence that other plants in the area contribute substantially to the neiborhood's periodic blanket of dust. Umbrage from the residents, however, was vented solely at the foundry. The FHA, by its ruling, denied to the residents of the Huber area their one hope of selling their homes for anywhere near the value they themselves put on them. Being in an area long zoned for heavy industry, their homes are now among the least desirable in the eyes of any prospective buyer. The children of the ethnic groups are moving to the suburbs, leaving only the poor to buy their old places with the aid of federal housing subsidies. Since January of this year, eight welfare recipients buying homes in the Huber area have defaulted and abandoned their homes, leaving them destined for demolition by the government. It is for the old timers in the Huber area the end of the neighborhood, the end of an era; and, since the foundry was the last thing to arrive on the scene before they noticed the change was irreversable, they are placing the blame solely on Chrsyler. Thus it is understandable why the counsel for the plaintiffs confides off the record that as soon as he finishes collecting for health damages he intends to launch action to get Chrysler or the government to buy all the homes in the area and then tear them down to create a buffer zone. How far he gets remains to be seen. He himself admits that several of his clients have lost interest, moved out, and that there is no way for his client base to grow. One top Chrysler executive, when asked what advice he would give to anyone searching for a site for a foundry, replied, "I'd tell him to get in his car and drive, and drive, and drive." There is scarcely a city in the United States that is not mourning the fact that business and industry are fleeing to the suburbs. In each one of these cities is a mayor or a chamber of commerce breathing into the ear of the captains of local in- dustry, trying to get them to expand, or at least to remain, in town. Chrysler bowed to just such pressure in 1964 and has been up to its ears in litigation ever since. There is no doubt a solution to the problems of both the Detroits and the Chryslers. But, as has been learned from the Huber Avenue experience, these solutions must be proceeded toward very, very carefully. "The attorney... confided... that some of hi* clients admitted the odor problem had abated since the new equipment was in- stalled. But the admission came a week before the activated charcoal system was pat into operation!" More Solid Waste Literature (Continued from page 3) York", "Effective Technology for Recycling Metal,", "Recycling: Where Are We? Where Are We Going?", "National Priorities For Recycling", and "A Suggested Solid Waste and Resource Recovery Incentives Act." For further information write the Association at 330 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017. "Non-Returnable Pop and Beer Containers: A Threat to the Environment and an Expense to Consumer", a pamphlet available from the Eau Claire Area Ecology Action, UW-X Eau Claire, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54701, free of charge with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. We will appreciate being notified of any additional publications we may have overlooked. ------- NEWS: Four high schools in the Chicago suburban area now have computer sensors on their roofs to keep a full-time eye on air pollution. The high schools are Niles North in Skokie, Proviso West in Hillside, Bloom Township in Chicago Heights and Thornton Fractional South in Lansing. The sensors will continually measure sulphur dioxide, dust in the air, carbon monoxide, smog, and wind speed and direc- tion. They are hooked up to an IBM System-7 computer in the County Building in downtown Chicago and will be operational in a few months, according to Samuel G. Booras, director of the Chicago Department of En- vironmental Control. Commonwealth Edison Company's costs for environmental control facilities will total about $85 million for 1972, according to J. Harris Ward, chairman. The company, which serves the Chicago area, will have spent about $250 million for environmental control since 1929, according to Ward. He said about $325 million more will be spent over the next five years. The Illinois Appellate Court, in a far- reaching decision, has stripped the state of its power to fine polluters in variance cases. Judges of the second district ruled that the New publications available from the Office of Public Affairs, One North Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60606. The Electrical Power Industry and The Environment, an address by William D. Ruckelshaus. The Crisis of Trust and the Environmental Movement, an address by John R. Quarles, Jr. The Economic Impact of a Cleaner Environment, and address by Thomas E. Carroll. Agriculture and the Environment, and address by John L Buckley. Action - Citizen Action Can Get Results Catalyst for Environmental Quality, and interview with William 0. Ruckelshaus. Midwest Environmental Directory - W2. Illinois Pollution Control Board no longer may impose money penalties as a condition of a variance, according to stories in recent editions of major Chicago newspapers. The court said that the board may impose fines only in enforcement cases, when formal complaints are brought by the state or private parties. David P. Currie has resigned as chairman of the Illinois Pollution Control Board. Currie, 36, has headed the five-member, full-time board since it was created in 1970. He is leaving the $35,000-a-year post to return to teaching at the University of Chicago Law School where he is a specialist in environmental law. Currie was the principal drafter of the state's 1970 En- vironmental Protection Act and served as Goy. Richard B. Ogilvie's co-ordinator of environmental quality before the state board was created. The Chrysler Corporation is installing facilities to eliminate improper air emissions and to provide new liquid waste control at its Twinsburg, Ohio, Stamping Plant. Chrysler said the new facilities will provide permanent safeguards against sulphur dioxide and participate emissions on the one hand and accidental discharge of oil bearing liquid wastes on the other. Two New Films From Region V EPA... "Get Together". The first film about environmental cleanup in the Midwest. Produced by the Region V Office of Public Affairs. Shows activities in Franklin, Ohio, Warsaw, Indiana, Detroit, Chicago, and other midwestem cities. 28 minutes, color, sound. "Come Learn With Me". Documentary film especially for teachers, showing a radically different approach to En- vironmental Education based on "learning by doing". Produced in cooperation with the Cleveland Institute for Environmental Education, which developed the nationally recognized TWon Curriculum Guides. 14 minutes, color. Both films are available free through MODERN TALKING PICTURES SERVICE, INC., 160 East Grand Ave., Chicago, Illinois. Order at least three weeks In advance. Give alternate dates. PAGE 13 ------- CITIZEN ACTION Citizens Meet In Bay City To Discuss Lake Huron Development Fran Falender Sanford, Michigan Housewife and Citizen Area of concern: Quality of Life She was there. So was a mason, bookstore manager, farmer, retired teacher, VA appraiser, planner, x-ray technician, toolgrinder, sporting goods manager, salesclerk, orderly, secretary plus assorted engineers, businessmen and college students. Sixty-seven had registered. About 10 of them wished to speak, the others came to listen. The scene was Delta College in Bay City, Michigan? These people had left warm homes on a cold, early December evening to drive through lightly snow-covered streets. They were all defying the odds that show most people don't think more than an hour or two into the future. They were sitting in the Delta college auditorium, watching a slide presentation by the Great Lakes Basin Commission on how the planners view future development in the Lake Huron basin. But they weren't just listening. They were talking for the record also. They were sharing their dreams and concerns with Frederick Rouse, chairman of the GLBC, member John Tull and State of Michigan representative. The slide program showed the residents of Bay City, Saginaw, and Midland that municipal growth will in- crease four times by the year 2020, that industrial growth will almost double and that power consumption will multiply by a factor of 26 times, not to mention a tripling of population growth. The residents were shown alternatives for wastewater control: combined sewer separation, storm water treatment, land disposal, zero pollution discharge, agricultural waste treatment. And they were putting their own point of view across: Jim Falender, chairman of the Saginaw Valley chapter of the Sierra club told the group that the rush to build power plants has threatened many scenic areas. Robert Richardson, State Senator from Saginaw, expressed his constituents' concern for the shoreline erosion that has resulted from high lake levels and resultant flooding. He called for new sports fisheries that provide for the commercial as well as the sports fisherman and talked of the possibility of new state legislation regulating land use management. Marian Sinclair, representing the National Inter- venors, asked the GLBC if it will be able to implement the results of its findings, especially in the area of nuclear power development. She said there are too many examples of agencies gathering expensive data which do pot the end influence their decision - making. She said she was talking primarily about issues involving atomic power plants. Richard Northrup, head of Delta College's science division, called for establishment of a permanent regional planning authority with enforcement capability. Mr. Winnifred C. Zacharias, who was representing some 40 families with frontage on Lake Michigan talked of the new difficulties of the "individual struggling against change." "One of our main problems today," he said, "is that of the slow walker on the beach. He no longer has the beach to himself. It has become the playground of the motor escapees from our crowded highways." He said he was referring to the proliferation of new types of off-road vehicles, like dune buggies, snowmobiles, etc. To the questions that occasionally came up during the hearing about what if any effect this study of Lake Huron, along with studies of the other basins in the Great Lakes will have on decision makers, Rouse said, "One thing we don't want is a pile of paper to sit gathering dust when its finished. It's going to be up to you," he said, "to keep the pressure on to make sure this study is used." The Great Lakes Basin commission is a Federal State organization of about 17 staff members plus a board representating Federal and State agencies. It came into business as a result of the Resources Planning Act of 1965 which divided the country into hydrological divisions and said that if the States wanted a super-water resource planning agency the U.S. would provide half the funds. The commission came into being in 1967 and began the massive task of developing a framework plant. That's what the people in Bay City and fourteen other Mid- western towns have been looking at this fall during these hearings. After the hearings are completed, says Rouse, the GLBC staff will spend about 9 months incorporating the remarks and editing a final report. "If there's one theme that we have been hearing from people throughout these hearings," says Rouse, "it's been limit growth." If you would like a copy of the framework study for your area write: Great Lakes Basin Commission, City Center Building 220 East Huron St., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108 or call 313-763-3590. Ask for the Public Affairs Office. by Frank Corrodo ------- New Gleam - continued from page 8 The walls of the Ecology Center library are covered with book shelves and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency posters. Many EPA publications as well as numerous other books on environmental subjects are available for reading, and some are for sale. Any profits are plowed back into the GLEAM program. The Recycling Program Outside the Center stands a row of dumpsters for discarded paper, metal and glass which GLEAM collects and sells to companies which recycle. A nearby Public Works building is used as a warehouse and drop site for newspapers, magazines and other types of paper which can be recycled and as a storage area for tools used by the group in its beautification projects. Two high school boys are employed by GLEAM to sort the papers according to type and quality. They receive $1.25 an hour for their work. They collect boxes from the Post Exchange, keep their own time schedule and are paid every two weeks. After the paper is sorted and boxed it is transported periodically to companies located nearby in rented Navy trucks with volunteer drivers. One hundred pounds of pure newspapers bring 60 cents and one hundred pounds of mixed paper suitable for shingles and roofing bring 50 cents. A major source of paper for the Center is the Elec- tronics Supply Office located on the base which contracts for electronic equipment used by the U.S. Navy. "This office is one of the heaviest waste paper producers in the Navy," said Commander Ahrens. "The director is an old friend of mine, and I was able to convince him of the merit of letting GLEAM assist him in disposing of all of the paper his office produces." He says the whole command now has boxes located at strategic points for dropping papers for GLEAM, and many people there now even bring their old newspapers from home. An old trailer which holds 12 tons of paper is used for storage, and once a month the papers are taken to nearby Waukegan for sale. The group pays for a tractor to pull the trailer to Waukegan and back, and the driver is a volunteer from the Public Works Center civilian force. Commander Ahrens points out that the paper used to go directly to a sanitary landfill. "The government saves money with this arrangement because it doesn't have to dig as much landfill," he adds. GLEAM isn't limited to the Navy base as a source of paper for its recycling program. As a result of publicity in the news media in nearby communities, people who dwell in those communities are driving their cast-off papers, cans and bottles in for recycling. GLEAM Gets a Greenhouse In 1971, Special Services turned over the base greenhouse and nursery to GLEAM, and they are now operated strictly with volunteer workers. Mrs. Lani Bayly, the wife of Captain Donald Bayly, Chief of Staff to Admiral Kauffman, is in charge of the greenhouse, and Chief Petty Officer Stull is in charge of the nursery. The greenhouse has two wings. One wing is used to grow flowers for communityprojects, and the other wing is used by the volunteers. The nursery is being used to grow trees and shrubs for projects around the base. The long-range goal is to provide trees and shrubs to all sections of the base, including housing areas. Last winter, GLEAM announced plans for a "Yard of the Month contest beginning in April, 1972. Thousands of tulip, hyacinth and daffodil bulbs were acquired and sold to householders at near cost to kick off the contest which was enthusiastically entered into by families on the base. Winners were recognized with Yard of the Month signs. Train Station Cleanup Probably the most notable success in the GLEAM beautification program was its effort to clean up the Great Lakes train station and the area around the station. Commander Ahrens said that when GLEAM went to work on the train station it was surrounded by brush and weeds, and the ground was covered with Utter and trash. Advertising billboards and garish neon signs lined the highway near the station and the main gate of the post. In addition, he said, the station itself left something to be desired. A new concessionaire took over the station and cleaned it up. The building was painted, the railroad put up a new sign, and a soft drink company was persuaded to take down its old sign which was much the worse for wear and to put up a new one. Volunteers cleaned up the litter and trash and cut the brush. The billboards lining the highway were removed, and GLEAM is presently planting shrubbery around the station and the main gate. "This area around the main gate and the train station was unsightly and it gave the visitor a bad impression of the post," says Commander Ahrens. "Cleanup of the area should do a great deal to improve the image of the Training Center." The concessionaire at the station is happy too because, according to Commander Ahrens, his business has im- proved since the cleanup. Despite these considerable accomplishments, GLEAM members know that they have to pass their organization on to dedicated environmentalists in order to make GLEAM self-perpetuating. They also know that the leadership at Great Lakes must believe that the GLEAM program is important. • "Our most important concern is to make this program permanent here at Great Lakes," says Commander Ahrens. "Navy people tend to be transient due to the nature of the Navy's responsibilities and it's important that we pass the baton to those who will continue the work that we've started here." PAGE 15 ------- REGION V PUBLIC REPORT is published monthly by the Office of Public Affairs, Region V Environmental Protection .Agency at One North Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606 for distribution in the states of the Region (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan.) Regional Administrator Direct or of Public Affairs Editor Art Director Francis T. Mayo Frank M. Corrado Helen P. Stan- Ann N.Hooe Federal Registers with Environmental Regulations Published Since November 21 Include: November 2\ KPA notice of hearings concerning cancellation of DDT registration Proposed implementation plant regulations; public hearing Public availability of environmental impact statements (CEQ > November 23 KPA announces filing of petition for, establishment of, and re- exlcnsion of temporary tolerances EPA establishes tolerances for herbicide and insecticide residues EPA proposes establishment of tolerance for residue of fungicide captain November 23 KPA proposes tolerance for the herbicide diuron EPA notices of tolerance petitions for a plant regulator and a microbial insecticide CEG lists and synopsizes environmental impact statements November 30 EPA notice of availability of comments on Environmental impact statements for period 11-1 through 11-15-72. Tolerances for pesticide chemicals in or on raw agricultural commodities; coordination product of zinc ion and maneb December 1: Interior Dept. proposes rules to prevent extinction and depletion of marine mammals EPA establishes tolerances for residues of pesticide chemicals EPA notice proposing establishment of an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues December 2: EPA issues interim tolerances for 13 pesticide chemicals CEQ notice on environmental impact statements from 11-20 through 11-24-72. NOAA proposal on conservation and protection of marine mammals December 5: EPA proposed guidelines for acquisition of information from owners and operators of point sources subject to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System December?: EPA establishes tolerances for benomyl, and revises class of dinitrophenolic compounds EPA establishes temporary tolerances for leptophos 1 SDA announces changes for 1973 Rural Environmental Assistance Program AEC issues draft statement on proposed acceptance criteria for certain nuclear power reactors Decembers: EPA establishes tolerances for endothall Re-extension of EPA temporary tolerances for an insecticide used on nuts and fruits State and local assistance grants for construction of water treatment works December 9: EPA rules on State compliance schedules, revisions and public hearings and emergency episode procedures Announcement of public meeting on Mobile Source Pollution Control Program Holiday FROM: Office of Public Affairs United States Environmental Protection Agency One North Wacker Drive Chicago, Illinois 60606 Third Class Bulk-Rate POSTAGE AND FEES PAID ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY EPA-335 PAGE ------- |