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U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
1973
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Foreword
Americans today are very concerned about pollution and the damage it is
causing to our environment. This is understandable. Each of us, old
and young alike, wants this to be a good world in which to live. We
recognize that the world belongs to all of us and all of us, therefore, have a
responsibility for making the world today and, more importantly, the world
tomorrow, an even better place to live.
What we do, now and in the next few years, will largely determine the
kind of place in which you will live. And you, in turn, as you become an
adult, will have to help determine the actions which must be taken in order
to have a clean, wholesome, livable world for your children.
To do that, you need to know and to understand our environmental
problems. You need to know what your government is doing to make and
keep the world a good place in which to live, and you need to know what you
can do to help. That is why the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is
publishing this book.
You will find that there are many ways you can help to improve the
environment now. In your own town and neighborhood, for example, people
of all ages can join the fight against litter in our parks, playgrounds and
streets. Each of us can help protect the plants and trees that purify our air.
Each of us can avoid the wastefulness that adds to our ugly, unsanitary
dumps and uses up our valuable resources. Each of us can demand that
standards and regulations for pollution control be set and enforced. We
are sure you and your classmates will be able to think of many more ways in
which you can become good environmentalists. And if you start now, you
will be able to intelligently and responsibly participate in the many difficult
decisions your generation will have to make about the environment.
Some of these decisions will be personal ones—such as which product
to buy, what to repair and what to throw away, how to take care of your
own house and property. Others will be public decisions—about laws and
regulations and government policy—that affect the lives of all. But, make no
mistake, they will be your decisions.
We constantly must remember, that in our nation even the biggest and
most important decisions are really made by all of us, acting together as a
government "of the people, by the people and for the people."
So it's up to us! It's your world and my world, and only we can make
sure that it's a good world.
WILLIAM D. RUCKELSHAUS
ADMINISTRATOR
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Earth Is a Spaceship
Have you sometimes wished you could go with the astronauts on a trip
into space? Well, all of us really are on a spaceship—the earth itself.
At this very moment, Planet Earth is moving around the sun at more
than 18 miles per second. On board are nearly four billion people and a
limited supply of air, water and land. These supplies—just like the air in the
astronauts' spaceship—must be constantly used, purified and reused, for
that's all there is, there is no "space shop" where we can get new supplies.
In proportion to the earth's size, the layer of air that surrounds our
globe is no thicker than the skin on an apple. A shallow crust on the earth's
surface has all the soil and water that will ever be available
to earth's people. This tiny envelope of air and this crust of earth and water
are called the biosphere—that part of our world that makes life possible.
This is the environment on which our lives depend.
The biosphere is a "closed system" because nothing new is ever added.
Nature recycles all things and uses them again and again. Water, for ex-
ample, evaporates and floats in invisible droplets into the air to make clouds.
Sooner or later, this same water conies back to earth as rain or snow or hail
or sleet. It nourishes the plants and trees. It trickles over rocks and into the
rivers where oxygen in the air helps to remove impurities it may have picked
up on its way. The rivers flow into the oceans, and the great water cycle
begins again. The rain that falls on your house is actually the same water
that fell on dinosaurs 70 million years ago.
You probably know other ways in which this great natural recycling
works—how the air is purified by trees and plants and how fallen leaves and
other natural "wastes" nourish the soil for new crops.
Today, Spaceship Earth is in trouble because of the careless way we
have used our limited supplies. Thousands of years ago there were few
people on earth, and they lived simple lives of hunting and fishing. They did
little to affect their environment. But the number of people increased. And
as the years passed, we learned to make greater use of the earth's resources.
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We took such things as wood and metals and various chemicals and
combined them in new ways to make things like refrigerators, automobiles
and airplanes that are supposed to make our lives easier and pleasanter. We
built great cities. We learned to grow great amounts of food by using chem-
ical fertilizers and pesticides. We made medicines to heal the sick. We
learned how to produce energy for light and heat—from coal, oil and even
nuclear fission. But what we failed to realize was that, in doing all these
things, we were actually rearranging things on Spaceship Earth in ways that
interfere with its system of recycling and purification.
Now we are pouring back into our land, air and water more wastes than
nature's system can handle. Some of these are different kinds of wastes that
resist the natural recycling process. So we have pollution. And along with
pollution, we have many other unpleasant changes in our environment—un-
usable water, land erosion, noise, smog and ugliness.
These things not only make the Earth less pleasant, but they also en-
danger fish, birds and other wild things that share our world and that are
important to us. And pollution is a real threat to human health and well-
being. Indeed, many scientists believe that, if we do not soon change our
ways, the earth will one day become so polluted that human beings will no
longer be able to survive on it.
We must change our habits. Of course, we have to go on using the air
and water and the earth's resources; we need these for food and shelter, as
well as for other products that make our lives comfortable and convenient.
But we must learn to use these resources without destroying them.
We have to stop dumping our wastes into the air and water. We have to
begin recycling paper, metal and other valuable materials. Many things we
now throw away are made from resources that can be reused, but never can
be replaced. Even the smoke you see coming out of stacks often contains
chemical substances that have important uses in industry; many can be re-
captured and used instead of being expelled into the air where they are
harmful.
If we want to save Spaceship Earth, we have to learn to cooperate with
nature—by using, but not abusing, the environment on which our lives
depend.
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What EPA Is and Does
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established on
December 2, 1970 to lead the Nation's fight against pollution. It reports
directly to the President.
It is in charge of Federal programs to control air and water pollution
and other environmental problems caused by solid wastes, pesticides, radia-
tion and noise. Its authority to control pollution by setting standards and
enforcing regulations is made possible by the various laws passed by
Congress.
The President, with the consent of Congress, decided it was best to have
a single, independent agency so that all environmental problems could be
considered as a whole. In this way,we can be sure that in reducing air pollu-
tion, for example, we don't add to water pollution or make some other
environmental problem worse.
All levels of government and all our citizens must join the effort to save
our environment. To help them, EPA has set up 10 regional offices in dif-
ferent parts of the country. EPA's regional office specialists are experts in
pollution prevention and control. They also know a lot about the problems
of their area. The list on page 48 tells you which regional office serves
your State.
Here are some of the important things EPA does:
• It is our Federal environmental "policeman."
EPA makes people stop polluting by setting and enforcing environ-
mental standards. This is important because the standards define the kinds
and amounts of pollutants that must be kept from entering our environment.
The standards also set up timetables for cleaning up pollution. Some-
times they say everyone must immediately stop putting a particular chemical
into air or water or on crops and fields; this is done if the pollutant is dan-
gerous. If there is no immediate danger, some time may be allowed to install
machinery in manufacturing plants or make other changes to remove the
pollutant.
For some types of pollution EPA has a lot of authority to set standards
and enforce them; for others, most authority is with the State or local gov-
ernments. It depends on the nature of the problem.
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I In general, Congress decided that strong Federal authority is needed to
I curb pollution that crosses State boundaries (as air and water pollution often
i do), or where it would be difficult for the States to make or enforce the laws
I (such as in making sure all new cars are low-polluting). Problems, like keep-
i ing streets clean or collecting garbage or building parks, are handled by State
I and local governments.
But on the big problems of national pollution, EPA makes sure that the
same rules are followed all over the country. It uses the best research and
knowledge available to decide what is harmful in the environment and
should be banned or limited.
• It finds out new things about pollution and pollution control through
research.
EPA studies our air and land, our rivers, lakes and oceans, to find out
just what pollutants are there and where they come from. There are so many
things released into the environment that it is hard to keep track of exactly
what they are and how they all interact with each other.
It also does experiments in its laboratories to find out what effect pol-
lutants have on our health and on plants and animals. It studies the findings
of other scientists all over the world.too. This is how it determines what and
how standards should be set.
EPA also develops new methods for controlling pollution such as ways
of purifying sewage water, keeping harmful smoke and gases out of the air,
preventing oil spills and recycling trash and garbage.
The agency has four National Environmental Research Centers—at
Cincinnati, O.: Research Triangle Park, N.C.; Las Vegas, Nev.. and Corvallis,
Ore. There are also 36 other EPA laboratories that do special kinds
of research, such as the effects of pollution on shellfish, the control of
pollutants from automobiles, the effects of radiation on human health and
many more. In addition to its own work. EPA has universities and other
scientific institutions doing research.
• It helps State and local governments.
EPA helps State and local governments fight pollution by sending them
the new information it develops through research, especially about ways to
control pollution. The people in the regional offices are always ready to help
solve pollution problems. EPA gives money to help run State and local en-
vironmental control programs and to construct sewage treatment plants. It
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also provides money to cities, counties or States to build experimental facil-
ities that demonstrate new ways of controlling pollution; these are called
demonstration grants.
• It trains more pollution experts.
Because many highly skilled people are needed to solve environmental
problems, EPA conducts short-term schools for employees of State and local
governments and industry in control techniques and pollution program man-
agement. It gives fellowships to students for advanced training in the environ-
mental sciences, and it supports the teaching of environmental courses in
universities.
• It helps citizens be good environmentalists.
EPA thinks it is very important that everyone has the information
needed to make decisions about the environment right in his or her own
community.
It holds many public hearings before various standards and regula-
tions are made final. At these hearings, anyone who wishes can come and say
whether he thinks the standards are good or necessary, and suggest changes.
Citizens can also attend local town council and zoning board meetings where
important environmental decisions are made. They also must vote on State
laws and local bond issues that affect pollution control, and they have to
judge how different candidates for public office will decide environmental
matters. Private citizens may even file lawsuits against polluters and against
the government. So every citizen should know all he can about what is good
and bad in the environment. EPA helps here too, by making available book-
lets, films and other information on environmental problems.
You make environmental decisions every day. The moment you decide
what to do with an empty candy wrapper or soft-drink bottle, you have made
an environmental decision. When you help plant a tree or a shrub or go out
to spray the insects in your garden or burn leaves, you are making an en-
vironmental decision. Each of us makes many such decisions every day.
Some are easy, others are complex, and it is hard to make the better choice
unless we have all the facts.
So EPA tries to make all its scientific information widely available and
understandable to help people to make sensible choices about the kind of
environment they want, and what they must do to get it.
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• It helps other Federal agencies work for a better environment.
When you stop to think that the environment is practically everything,
you realize that almost anything we do affects the environment in some way.
You can see that EPA cannot be in charge of the whole environment.
Other government agencies take many actions that help determine the
kind of world we live in. From your study of government, you know that one
department is concerned with agriculture. Others are responsible for dams,
highways or airports. Still others are concerned with parks, forests and wild-
life, maintaining our harbors and other things that affect the environment.
The National Environmental Policy Act was designed to make sure
that all departments of government work towards the same purpose. When-
ever a department is planning any major project, it must think about whether
it will affect the environment. Under the law, each Federal agency must pre-
pare a statement that tells in advance what affect the proposed action will
have on the environment. This is submitted to the President's Council on
Environmental Quality and is reviewed by EPA and other agencies.
The National Environmental Policy Act, signed into law on Janu-
ary 1, 1970 said that the United States intends to "maintain conditions
under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony and ful-
fill the social, economic and other requirements of present and future
generations of Americans."
Other nations are also concerned about changes in their parts of
the world, and efforts are under way for a cooperative worldwide fight
against pollution problems. EPA already works with many other coun-
tries to make our country a better country and our world a better world.
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We Need Clean Air
The dark smoke you see coming out of stacks or from a burning dump,
contains particulate matter—that is, tiny particles of solid or liquid
matter. This is a form of air pollution; but there are also many gases,
most of which are not so visible. Altogether, they make up the serious air pol-
lution that, in so many places, keeps us from seeing the sun and often irri-
tates our eyes or causes us to cough or makes us ill.
Every year, over 280 million tons of wastes are released into the air
over the United States. (You must not forget that gases—even ordinary fresh
air—have weight). This is where they come from:
• 51 percent from transportation (chiefly the internal combustion en-
gines that power our automobiles and planes)
• 16 percent from burning fuel in furnaces and power generators
• 14 percent from industrial processes
• 4 percent from burning of trash and other solid wastes
• 15 percent from forest fires and other miscellaneous sources.
Among the main classes of pollutants, in addition to particulate matter,
are sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides.
Sometimes these combine in the atmosphere to form new classes of pol-
lutants. By the action of sunlight, nitrogen oxides can combine with gaseous
hydrocarbons to form photochemical oxidants. These sting the eyes and have
other harmful effects. They are an important part of the famous Los Angeles
"smog." That city has lots of sunshine, as well as frequent "temperature in-
versions" that keep pollutants from rising and trap them in stagnant air.
Photochemical oxidants may form a brownish haze over your own city, es-
pecially in nice weather and in times of high auto traffic.
Air pollution can spread from city to city. It even spreads from one
country to another. Some northern European countries have experienced
"black snow" from pollutants that have traveled through the atmosphere
from other countries and fallen with the snow. So environmental pollution
is really a global problem.
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When air pollution is bad, it can be a killer, especially of babies, old
people and those who have respiratory diseases. In London, in 1952, four
thousand people died in one week as a result of a serious air pollution epi-
sode. In 1948, in the small town of Donora, Pa., 20 people died in a four-day
period of bad air pollution.
We know that at levels frequently found in our cities, air pollution in-
creases the incidence of certain lung diseases, such as emphysema, bronchitis
and asthma. Of course, smoking and other factors help to cause these ail-
ments, too, but these cases have increased dramatically during recent years
as air pollution has become worse.
We know, too, that air pollution can cause both airplane and auto acci-
dents because it cuts down visibility.
But there are other possible health dangers from air pollution that we
don't know much about. For example, scientists are now trying to determine
whether certain chemicals that reach us from the air may create changes in
our cells, changes which might cause babies to be born with serious defects.
There are many other things we are still trying to learn more about; one is
how all the many chemicals we are apt to take into our bodies from air and
water and food and even medicines act together to affect our health and the
way our bodies function. That is another reason why it is so important to
begin to control pollution now instead of waiting until we learn all the
answers about just how bad it could be.
Have you ever considered just how much money air pollution costs us
now? It soils and corrodes our buildings. It damages farm crops and forests.
It has a destructive effect on our art treasures. The cost of all this damage in
the United States is estimated at more than $16 billion every year—far more
than the cost of controlling air pollution would be.
The Federal government began to do research on air pollution in 1955.
In 1963, Congress passed the Clean Air Act which authorized financial help
to State and local air pollution control programs. Later the Clean Air Act
was amended to give some new ways to fight air pollution. But it was only in
1970 that Congress authorized EPA to establish national air quality stand-
ards. This was an important change, because it meant that all parts of our
country have to clean up their air to meet the national standards.
This is the way your Government is now fighting air pollution:
• EPA established national air quality standards in 1971. They define
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just how much of the principal pollutants will be allowed in the air. First,
they tell the maximum amount of each pollutant that can be permitted in
order to protect our health; these are primary standards. Next, they tell the
maximum amount of each pollutant that can be permitted to prevent other
undesirable effects; these are secondary standards.
• All of our States and territories must now clean up their air to meet
these national air quality standards. Each State has developed a plan which
is to insure that the primary standards (those required to protect our health)
will be met by the middle of 1975. Some extra time will be permitted to make
the air clean enough to meet the secondary standards. These State plans are
called implementation plans, and they must all be approved by EPA. If any
State should fail to do the things required by its implementation plan, EPA
can step in and see that they are done. So, if you live in a badly polluted
area, you should begin to notice a big improvement in the air you breathe
within the next few years.
Find out what is being done in your own community under your State
plan to clean up the air. Probably open burning is no longer permitted. Fac-
tories, power plants and incinerators may be required to install control equip-
ment or close down. Perhaps there are plans to limit automobile traffic in
certain areas or during certain hours, because auto exhausts contribute so
much pollution. If so, this may mean that public transportation—bus, train
or subway—will have to be improved, and people may have to use more car-
pools. Some people won't like changes of this sort, but they should change
their minds when they see how much cleaner the air will be.
• To make sure that new plants and factories, or those that are being
enlarged or changed in some way, do not pollute, EPA has established and
will enforce emission standards for certain industries. These require such
plants to use the best possible methods to keep pollution down to an absolute
minimum. They are different from the air quality standards because they tell
the plant exactly what may be allowed to come out of its stacks.
• Certain pollutants are known to be extremely harmful to human
health. Among these are beryllium, mercury and asbestos. EPA has proposed
emission standards for such pollutants which must be observed by all
plants, old or new.
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• Automobiles are among our worst polluters, so EPA establishes and
enforces emission standards for all new model cars. Since 1968, all new cars
have been required to reduce pollution levels. The newest standards require
that, by 1975, the carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons in auto emissions be
reduced by 90 percent below 1970 model cars, and that nitrogen oxides from
1976 models be 90 percent less polluting than the 1971 models. During
1972, emission standards for aircraft are also being established.
The best answer to auto pollution would be to develop power sources
that don't emit harmful pollutants. Some engineers are working to make
the gasoline internal combustion engine—the kind most cars now use—non-
polluting. Others believe the best solution would be a different engine alto-
gether. EPA is doing research itself, as well as encouraging others to develop
a truly non-polluting vehicle.
Of course, even if we had a non-polluting car today, there would still
be lots of old cars on the road, so we would still have pollution from this
source for some time to come.
You can see that we can't cure air pollution just by ordering everybody
to stop polluting. If we did that, most of our factories and power plants
would have to close down, and we couldn't even drive our cars. But we can
clean up our air in the next few years if we are all willing to change our ways
of doing things—ways that cause air pollution—just as quickly as we can.
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We Need Clean Water
Not so many years ago, most streams and lakes in America were
sparkling and clean. People could swim and fish in them without be-
ing afraid of becoming sick. But as our nation grew bigger, we built
towns and factories on the banks of these streams and lakes, and every year
we dumped more and more wastes into them. People thought that the water
would carry the wastes away and purify itself. This was true when the
amount of wastes was small, but as our population has grown, the greater
amounts of wastes have not been properly handled.
What we have done is to overload the natural water recycling system of
Spaceship Earth. Now most of our streams and lakes show some signs of
man's abuse, and many are grossly polluted. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio,
for example, had so much rubble and oily pollution in it, that it actually
caught fire a few years ago.
Did you know that lakes can die? One of our beautiful Great Lakes—
Lake Erie—is not dead, but it is in serious trouble as a result of what is
called eutrophication or aging. This is a natural process for all bodies of
water, but it is speeded up today by man's pollution. Certain pollutants, in-
cluding the phosphates, for example, stimulate too much plant growth and
otherwise disturb the ecological balance of the lake. According to scientists,
pollution has aged Lake Erie many years in a relatively short time. To save
it, we must stop dumping wastes into the Lake and take positive action to
clean it up.
Marine scientists have found that even the ocean depths show the effects
of pollution. And in shallower waters near our coasts, contamination pre-
vents the harvesting of fish and shellfish in many areas. Oil—accidentally
spilled or even deliberately dumped in the ocean—has become a big problem
because it spoils our beaches and destroys fish and sea birds.
The water that we drink is ordinarily taken from the best and least pol-
luted source, then treated to make sure it is safe for drinking. But you can
see that with so much pollution, it gets more difficult to find good water and
to make sure that it is properly treated. Even water far below the ground,
from which many cities get their drinking water, is sometimes polluted by
poisonous wastes seeping into the soil.
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Where does all this water pollution come from? Here are some of the
most important facts:
• More than 1,416 communities discharge their sewage into waterways
without any treatment whatever. And more than 2,300 communities use
just primary treatment, which removes only 30 to 40 percent of some pol-
lutants. Within your lifetime, sewage wastes in the United States are expected
to increase by nearly four times. So you can see how important it is to build
better, more advanced sewage treatment plants that can remove almost all
contamination.
• The largest amount and the most poisonous of pollutants come from
industrial plants. There are about 240,000 plants that use water to carry
away all kinds of chemical wastes.
• Big oil spills from vessels and from off-shore drilling have caused
serious damage. In addition, smaller amounts, totaling thousands of barrels
of oil, are wasted or spilled every day in streams and lakes across the country.
• Huge feedlots, contained areas where thousands of cattle or other
animals are fattened for the market, cause a problem because animal wastes
seep into the ground and get into waterways.
• Fertilizer and pesticides run off from our fields and forests.
• Wastes from mining operations drain into the water.
• Water, principally used to cool electric power generators, is put back
into streams still hot from the power plants. This thermal pollution often
changes plant and animal life by raising water temperature.
• Sewage from big ocean liners and small pleasure boats is dumped into
our waters. Leaking gasoline and oil from boat motors are also pollutants.
The Federal government began its efforts to clean up the Nation's waters
in 1948. The early Federal program was amended several times over the
years and was then revised and greatly strengthened by Congress in 1972.
Here are some of the ways EPA now fights water pollution under the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act:
• EPA gives money to communities to help them build sewage treat-
ment plants.
• EPA helps train men and women to design and operate sewage treat-
ment plants.
• EPA gives money to the States to help them carry on their water
pollution control programs.
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• EPA establishes various standards to make sure that water pollu-
tants from factories and community sewage treatment plants do not harm
our health. The standards also seek to protect our water supplies; to protect
fish and wildlife that live in or depend upon water; to make and keep the
water clean enough for swimming, water skiing and boating: and to make
sure that industries and farmers have water that is safe enough to use in
manufacturing the products and growing the food we need and want.
Some standards set limits on the amounts of pollutants that may be dis-
charged into the water. Some standards define how factories and sewage
treatment plants can operate with a minimum of water pollution.
• Some pollutants are so dangerous that they are never allowed to be
discharged into the water, in any amount. These include radiological, chemi-
cal and biological warfare materials and high-level radioactive wastes.
• To make sure that clean water will be achieved, the Federal law pro-
hibits discharges of pollutants into the water without a permit. Permits are
issued by EPA, or by a State government if EPA approves the State's permit
program.
The permit is a most important part of the water pollution control pro-
gram, for each permit applies various standards to a specific polluter. The
permit tells a polluter what pollutants, and how much, he may discharge into
the water. If the polluter cannot meet the standards immediately, the permit
tells him exactly when he must do so over a period of time.
A permit for discharging pollutants is like a contract between the gov-
ernment and a polluter. It requires the polluter to reduce his discharges to
meet government standards. It contains clear deadlines for action. And all
permits are made public, so anyone can find out if polluters are living up to
the conditions of their permits on schedule.
• EPA also sets standards to control sewage discharges from ships and
boats (except small ones, like canoes and rowboats). EPA also sets stand-
ards for the cleanup of oil spills and other hazardous substances, and EPA
can require anyone spilling oil or other hazardous materials into the water
to pay the cleanup costs.
• Anyone violating the water pollution control law may be fined up to
$25,000 a day and be given one year in prison. In emergencies, EPA has
the power to take whatever action is necessary to stop or prevent water pol-
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lution that is an immediate danger to people's health.
• In addition, under another law, EPA regulates the dumping of wastes
into the oceans to protect human health, to safeguard the ocean environment
and its ecological systems, and to protect the recreation and scenic values of
the ocean. And under still another law, EPA recommends standards for
drinking water supplies, to help cities and towns keep their drinking water
safe.
In general, EPA's water pollution control programs require polluters to
use what the law calls the "best practicable" technology for controlling
water pollution by July 1, 1977, and then to use the "best available" control
methods by July 1, 1983.
The combination of strict standards, good technology and fair but firm
enforcement should enable the United States to achieve two goals established
by Congress for our waters. The first goal is, wherever possible, water that
is clean enough for swimming and clean enough for fish and wildlife by July
1, 1983. The second goal is no more discharges of any pollutants into our
streams, rivers, lakes and oceans by 1 985.
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The Things We Throw Away
Even the earliest cavemen had some things to throw away. Their dis-
carded stone tools, and the charred remains of their cooking fires which
sometimes are found today show us what their life was like. Of course,
not much remains because most of what they threw away was animal or vege-
table matter that quickly returned to the earth by nature's own recycling
system.
Even our early American ancestors didn't have to worry much about
disposing of trash. They wasted very little, and their wastes were largely
simple, natural materials. But our lives are different today, and the problem
of getting rid of wastes (we call it solid waste management) has become a
difficult one to solve.
America now has a large population, much of it gathered in large cities.
Every year we manufacture, use and throw away more and more. And today
much of what we throw away does not, in fact, go "away" because it is made
of materials that decay slowly or not at all. Our annual "throw-away" in-
cludes 48 billion cans, 26 billion bottles and jars, 4 million tons of plastic,
7.6 million television sets, 7 million cars and trucks and 30 million tons of
paper.
Much of what we throw away winds up on some open dump. If a dump
is allowed to burn, it pollutes the air. Liquids leaching out of dumps pollute
water. And, of course, a dump is a good breeding place for disease-carrying
rats and insects. Open dumps are ugly, smelly and unsanitary. Besides that,
most cities and towns are running out of places to have a dump—nobody
wants one near his house.
Some cities have big incinerators for burning trash and garbage, but
most of these now must add pollution control equipment because they pollute
the air. Quite a bit of our trash, as you can see, is not collected at all but
litters our roads and sidewalks and makes our countryside ugly.
Today, we are looking for better methods of disposing of things that
cannot be reused. Also, we are determined to find ways to recover and reuse
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I valuable resources. That is why ecology-minded citizens are setting up re-
cycling centers for paper, cans and bottles in many communities. That is why
) the Congress passed a law called the Resource Recovery Act of 1970 to
j help us find new ways of managing our solid wastes.
How serious is the solid waste problem? Look at these statistics:
• Americans make up only 7 percent of the world's population but
we use nearly half of all the industrial raw materials used throughout the
whole world.
• The solid wastes produced in the United States now total 4.3 billion
tons a year. Of this amount, 360 million tons are household, municipal and
industrial wastes. In addition, 2.3 billion tons are agricultural wastes, and
1.7 billion tons are mineral wastes.
• Every year, 190 million tons are collected and hauled away for dis-
posal at a cost of over $4.5 billion a year. This amount of trash and garbage
amounts to about 6 pounds per day for each and every one of us. By 1980,
it is expected to be 8 pounds per person per day.
EPA is trying to get communities all over the country to use better
methods of collection and disposal that have been developed. It is also
working on various ways to salvage usable materials and recycle them back
into new products.
In Franklin, Ohio, for example, one advanced recycling plant takes all
the city's garbage and trash, sorts it mechanically and salvages paper pulp and
some metals. Glass and other metals will also eventually be reclaimed. This
is one of EPA's demonstration projects to test the process to see if it can be
used in other communities.
Other demonstrations show how solid wastes can be used as fuel to
generate heat or power; this is a form of recycling since it recovers energy
which is now thrown away. EPA is also developing and testing many other
recycling ideas. Glass, for example, is being tested as a substitute for gravel
in making asphalt or "glassphalt" for road surfaces. There are also ways of
transforming old materials into new ones by chemical action. EPA is also
trying to determine what changes might be required in taxes, freight rates
and other economic policies to encourage more recycling and reuse of waste
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materials. Right now, our production plants often find it cheaper to use new
materials than recycled ones, so there are not enough markets for large
amounts of salvage.
Our aim is to increase recycling as fast as we can so that eventually
almost everything usable that we throw away goes back to be used again.
We must remember, however, that even if we recycled everything we
could, we would still have the problem of disposing of wastes. We must,
therefore, start using better methods of disposal right away.
One method of disposal that many communities can use is the sanitary
landfill. In this system, wastes are compacted and covered with a layer of
earth each day. Of course, the proper methods must be used to be sure the
landfill is really sanitary and does not cause any pollution. When completed,
such landfills are used for parks or other recreational uses, making them of
more value to the community than before.
Pests—Some We Need, Some We Don't
Scientists tell us that there are from three to ten million known species of
insects in the world, and thousands more are identified every year. Many
of the known insects feed on living plants. Some, such as butterflies and
moths in the larval stage, can seriously damage a whole field or forest; yet
later, as adults, they carry the pollen that insures the growth of new plants.
Some insects are harmful to man because they are disease-carriers, some are
just unpleasant nuisances, while many others are beneficial because they
destroy insects that cause damage.
In the United States, we have been using various chemicals for many
years to control insect pests. Among the earliest insecticides were sulfurs and
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compounds containing arsenic. Light oils were often used to control mos-
quitoes. Later, man-made organic compounds (organic me-ans they contain
carbon) were developed. Some of these kill insects long after they are ap-
plied. Chemicals, called herbicides, were developed to control undesirable
plant growth, and others, fungicides, to protect plants from diseases. Chem-
icals are also used to control pests such as rodents. By now, thousands of
such pesticides in liquid, granule and powder form have been used in the
United States. Many people probably use too much pesticide on the theory
that "if a little is good, a lot is better."
We know, of course, that these chemicals are beneficial. They have en-
abled us to increase food production greatly, and they have controlled such
killing diseases as malaria and encephalitis. We know now, however, that
some of these compounds may also seriously damage our environment.
Some of the newer pesticides are called persistent compounds because
they do not break down readily in nature's recycling system. This is especially
true of the chlorinated hydrocarbons such as DDT. They persist in the en-
vironment and eventually accumulate in the tissues of birds, fish, wildlife
and even man. As larger species feed on smaller ones, more and more
chemicals are concentrated in their tissues. Some predatory birds, fish and ani-
mals may accumulate levels several thousand times the concentration found
in the water or air or plants around them because they receive all the chem-
icals stored by all the animals in their "food chain."
Man is at the top of this food chain, and the average American now
carries about eights parts per million of DDT in his fatty tissues. We do not
know if this amount is harmful to humans. However, we have known for
some years that DDT kills fish and there is evidence that it threatens other
desirable wildlife species.
For example, certain bird species now produce fewer offspring, prob-
ably because of pesticide accumulations in their bodies. Pesticides may cause
birds' eggs to have thin shells which crush before babies can be hatched.
The brown pelican and the peregrine falcon are among birds regarded as
"endangered species" because so few young birds are now being hatched
either because of pesticide residues or other environmental factors.
A large part of the pesticides we use finally reaches the ocean. It is esti-
mated that about one-fourth of the world's entire production of DDT may be
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A A A A
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that damage the environment. EPA can also seize and confiscate unregis-
tered pesticides.
• EPA also sets standards to limit the amount of pesticide residues that
can be in our food and in feed crops for animals. These safety limits—or
"tolerances," as they are called—protect our health, and the health of ani-
mals, and are set well below the point at which pesticide residues might be
harmful. The Food and Drug Administration, part of the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare, enforces the tolerances and may seize any
food that contains too much pesticides.
•Anyone violating the pesticide control laws may be fined up to
$25,000, be sentenced to one year in prison, or both.
• EPA also monitors pesticides in the environment—in the air, soil,
water, plants, and in man and animals. EPA also conducts research on the
effects of pesticides on the environment, including humans.
Pest control is necessary if we are to have the food we need and to pro-
tect our health. Thus some chemicals will probably always be used to fight
pests. However, a strange thing is happening. More and more insects are be-
coming immune to chemicals that once killed them. In some places, mos-
quitoes that carry malaria are increasing and are even more difficult to
destroy than before.
Scientists, in EPA and throughout the world, are therefore seeking other
methods of pest control than the use of chemicals. It is known, for instance,
that some pests that attack crops and livestock can be partly controlled by
their natural enemies, called predators and parasites. Some plant varieties
resist insect and disease damage better than others. Planting different crops
at different times can also reduce pest infestations.
Scientists have also been able to sterilize some male insects by atomic
radiation and thus prevent massive reproduction of those insects. Sound and
ultraviolet light can also be used to trap and kill insects. And research is
being done on the use of disease to destroy some insects by using viruses and
bacteria to kill them. Research is also being done on the use of hormones to
stop insect growth.
Eventually, by combining many methods into an integrated attack on
pests, science hopes to sharply reduce the need for widespread use of chemi-
cal pesticides. Meanwhile, EPA seeks to make sure that the chemical pesti-
cides we use are safe and will not endanger the environment.
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The Problems of Man-Made Radiation
There are many kinds of radiation but the one that interests environ-
mentalists is radioactivity—radiation caused by man-made changes in
the structure of the atoms of which all matter is composed. Changes in
the atom release tiny particles of radioactive matter that can be harmful to
man and other living things.
Man always has been exposed to radioactivity. It reaches us in cosmic
rays from the sun and outer space. It is in the air, ground and rocks—all
from natural sources. We have adopted units of measurement for it, called
rems. In order to measure quantities smaller than a rem, we have divided it
into 1000 parts, each of which is called a millirem.
People in different parts of the United States are exposed to natural
radiation ranging from 100 to 250 millirems annually, with the average expo-
sure about 130 millirems. In addition, the average person now receives about
77 millirems a year of man-made radiation because we use nuclear and
electro-magnetic technology in many ways.
About 91 percent of man-made radiation comes from x-rays and other
medical uses of this technology; some of us receive more than others, but
medical radiation now accounts for about 35 percent of all radiation to
which the average person is exposed.
Before 1963, nuclear bombs were tested in the atmosphere by our own
and other countries. Fallout from these tests still accounts for about 5 per-
cent of the man-made radiation to which we are exposed. In 1963, the
United States and the Soviet Union agreed to stop testing these weapons in
the atmosphere to help eliminate this problem.
Radiation comes from other sources—such as color television sets,
luminous dial watches, microwave ovens, various processes used in research
and industry, nuclear plants which generate electric power and the facilities
handling the fuel for these plants.
About 23 nuclear power plants are now operable in the United States,
and this number is expected to reach 100 by 1976. By 1985, there may be
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as many as 200 to 300. Small amounts of radioactivity are released from
these nuclear reactors in both gaseous and liquid form, and also from the
plants where used fuel is processed for reuse. People living within a 50-mile
radius of an operating reactor receive relatively little radiation exposure, less
than one millirem a year on the average or less than one percent of what they
receive from natural sources.
It is important to understand both the benefits and the risks of using
nuclear technology. For example, our country needs and will continue to
need a great deal of electricity. Nuclear power can generate electricity in al-
most unlimited amounts without using up scarce supplies of fossil fuels such
as oil and gas and without the pollution that comes from burning these fuels.
Because we need so much power, President Nixon, in 1971, announced that
we would try to speed the development of a new type of "fast-breeder"
nuclear plant to add to power production.
On the other hand, radiation can be hazardous to man. Any increase
of radioactivity in the environment is believed to increase the risks to health,
so we must try to keep man-made radiation exposures as low as possible.
We know quite a lot about the effects of large doses of radiation. They
can cause leukemia and other types of cancer, as well as cataracts and other
eye damage. Also, people who receive a large enough dose may not be able
to have children, or they may show signs of old age earlier in life.
However, we still do not know very much about the long-term effects of
low levels of radiation. One thing scientists are concerned about is the pos-
sibility that this might alter or damage human genes. Genes are the parts of
our body cells that determine our inherited characteristics—that is, they
cause us to look and act like our parents and ancestors. Damage to
these genes could cause defects or other undesirable changes in the charac-
teristics of newborn babies. Scientists believe that natural background radi-
ation is one of the causes of natural mutation—that is, the gene changes
that have, over many thousands of years, produced different races of men
and different species of animals and plants. That is why we must be careful
even about low levels of radiation exposure.
What about the risk of accident in a nuclear reactor which would re-
lease large amounts of radioactivity? All possible safety precautions are
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built into the plants. For example, there are failsafe devices to compensate
for human error, monitoring and control systems, and several layers of steel-
lined reinforced concrete, one inside the other, to act as barriers to any acci-
dental release of radioactivity. In nearly 20 years of nuclear development,
no member of the public has been injured by the operation of a commercial
nuclear power plant. But, of course, the possibility of an accident cannot be
taken lightly.
Other problems of nuclear reactors are the disposal of radioactive
wastes and the hot waste waters which, if not cooled before they are put back
into a river or bay, have a detrimental effect on fish and plant life. This latter
problem is called thermal pollution.
EPA has the authority to establish environmental radiation standards
that limit the amount of radioactivity that may be released by a nuclear
power plant. The Atomic Energy Commission, which regulates development
of the nuclear power industry, enforces these standards. EPA also reviews
all proposals for the location, construction and operation of nuclear facilities
to make sure they will not adversely affect people and the environment.
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Noise is an Invisible Pollution
Noise is a danger to our health and welfare, especially in our congested
urban .areas. Jet planes, trucks, buses, railroad trains, power lawn-
mowers, motorcycles, snowmobiles, jackhammers and other construction
equipment, kitchen appliances—those are some of the sources of noise
that afflict our ears, endanger our hearing, and may even be affecting our
hearts and other body functions.
Even when we try to escape the noise and congestion of our cities, noise
follows us to the mountains and to the seashore. We just cannot get away
from noise. The only alternative is to stop making so much noise, to lower
the decibel din of our modern, mechanized way of life.
In response to growing public annoyance and protests about the growing
noise problem, Congress enacted the Federal Noise Control and Abatement
Act in 1972. Under this law, EPA will now begin to take steps to make life
in the United States quieter and more pleasing. Here's how:
• EPA will study the effects of noise and issue regulations setting maxi-
mum noise levels necessary to protect public health and welfare, with an
adequate margin of safety.
• EPA will issue noise-emission standards for major sources of noise
in the environment—including trucks, railroads, buses, construction equip-
ment, motors and electrical equipment.
• EPA will submit proposed regulations to control aircraft noise and
sonic booms to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FA A will then
use the EPA recommendations to establish and enforce aircraft noise
standards.
• EPA will certify low noise-emission products and the Federal
government will buy those products whenever possible instead of noisier
ones.
• Noisy products that can damage public health or welfare will have to
be labeled with their noise-emission levels.
Scientists and engineers already know how to control noise from many
sources. We know how to make quieter construction equipment, cars,
trucks, buses, airplanes and appliances. We know how to build sound-
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proof buildings and quieter machinery. The new noise pollution law
will stimulate our country to use the noise control methods we already have
—and the law will speed the development of new noise-control technology.
We don't want to shout about it, but for the first time it appears that there's
a quieter future ahead.
An Afterword
At the beginning of this book we compared the earth to a spaceship be-
cause it is a self-contained unit, and its resources are limited. In the
pages that followed, we discussed the problems within our Spaceship
Earth, as well as the actions being taken to resolve them. Perhaps there is no
better way to end this book than with a description of the earth by a man
who has viewed it from a unique and detached perspective—from the moon.
That man is Astronaut Frank Borman. These are his words:
"When you are privileged to view the earth from afar, when you can
hold out your thumb and cover it with your thumbnail, you realize that we
are really, all of us around the world, crew members on the Space Station
Earth. Of all the accomplishments of technology, perhaps the most signifi-
cant one was the picture of the Earth over the lunar horizon. If nothing else,
it should impress our fellow man with the absolute fact that our environment
is bounded, that our resources are limited and that our life support system is
a closed cycle. And, of course, when this Space Station Earth is viewed from
240,000 miles away, only its beauty, its minuteness and its isolation in the
blackness of space are apparent. A traveler from some far planet would not
know . . . that the breathing system is rapidly becoming polluted and that
the water supply is in danger of contamination with everything from DDT
to raw sewage. The only real recourse is for each of us to realize that the
elements we have are not inexhaustible. We're all on the same spaceship."
So its up to us. as we said at the beginning of this book. "It is your
world and my world, and only we can make sure that it's a good world."
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United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Regional Offices
Boston, Massachusetts
02203
New York, New York
10007
States covered
Connecticut, Maine,
Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Rhode Island
Vermont
New Jersey, New York
Puerto Rico, Virgin
Islands
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Delaware, Maryland
19106 Pennsylvania, Virginia
West Virginia, D.C.
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
Chicago, Illinois 60606
Dallas, Texas 75201
Kansas City, Missouri
64108
Denver, Colorado 80203
San Francisco, Calif.
94111
Seattle, Washington
98101
Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Kentucky,
Mississippi,
North Carolina,
South Carolina,
Tennessee
Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Minnesota,
Ohio, Wisconsin
Arkansas, Louisiana,
New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Texas
Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, Nebraska
Colorado, Montana,
North Dakota,
South Dakota,
Utah, Wyoming
Arizona, California,
Hawaii, Nevada,
American Samoa, Guam,
Trust Territories of the
Pacific, Wake Island
Alaska, Idaho,
Oregon, Washington
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