Region V Public Report
December,
Federal officials Approach Shoreline Krosion Problem.
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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,
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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
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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-
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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
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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