NEW ENGLAND
ENVIRONMENTAL
CHALLENGES
2001
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NEW ENGLAND
ENVIRONMENTAL
CHALLENGES
2001
www.epo.gov/regKxi 1
0
This report is printed on 100% recycled paper mode from 100% post-consumer waste,
using vegetable based inks
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Introduction
Since 1995, EPA's New England Office has published an annual "State of the Environment" report on environmental
conditions in the region and the agency's strategies for improving those conditions. This year's report focuses on the ways
our work is affecting real people and real neighborhoods across New England. In it, we aim to provide a living picture of the
environmental challenges the region is facing and our unique partnerships with the residents, communities and businesses
with whom we work to meet those challenges.
In this "New England Environmental Challenges 2001" report, we provide an intimate look at 13 of the region's more
pressing environmental threats—issues ranging from urban decay and childhood lead poisoning to contaminated drinking
water and global warming. We look at these issues through the eyes of individuals who are living these problems first-hand
and are battling—with EPA's support—to make them go away.
You will read how a Boston grandmother is fighting the scourge of lead poisoning on her street and how a Vermont pond
watcher is doing her part to curb runoff pollution at her local pond. You will follow the lives of citizen activists in Bridgeport
and Hartford battling to revitalize their old urban neighborhoods.
These and other stories are shining examples of the many individuals and groups in New England whose creative perspec-
tives are steering EPA to environmental solutions that are smarter and more cost-effective. We are profoundly grateful for the
dedication of these and other citizens who are making New England a better and safer place.
This report reflects the agency's obvious and long-held commitment to clean and healthy water, clean and healthy air,
healthy communities and healthy ecosystems. We are committed to achieving these four goals and to a new system of
accountability to measure our progress toward achieving them. Rather than measuring progress by the number of facilities
we inspect or the number of violators we take to court, we are asking ourselves, "Is our air cleaner, our water healthier and
our land safer?" With clean water as a goal, for example, we are measuring the number of streams, lakes and ponds in New
England that are meeting water quality standards and targeting our actions to improve those numbers.
This report does not try to capture all of the work we are doing, nor our many successes—among those, the Boston Harbor
cleanup, redevelopment of the Raymark Superfund site and forcing General Electric to remove PCBs from the Housatonic
River. But the report does provide snapshots of how a federal agency can improve individual communities and lives.
In publishing this report, we owe a debt of gratitude to Mindy S. Lubber, whose five-year tenure at the agency, the last year
as regional administrator, ended in January. Lubber's passionate commitment to neighborhood-based environmental
advocacy and public health protection for all New Englanders was an inspiration to everyone working at and with EPA
New England.
We invite you to look at the environmental challenges we have presented and consider the many ways that individuals and
neighborhoods are playing significant roles in addressing environmental and health threats. We can't solve all of our
environmental problems today, but with help from people like those in this report—and from people like you—we can make
it safer and more enjoyable for all of us and for future generations.
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Reducing Lead Exposure • Dorchester, Massachusetts
When Elnora Thompson
bought her house in
Dorchester in 1990, the
city of Boston sent a team
to remove lead paint from
her interior walls.
Unfortunately, when her two young granddaughters were tested for lead in
their blood, the levels were unacceptably high, threatening them with future
developmental problems.
"For ages, I washed the entire inside of the house every week—walls, wood-
work, floors," Thompson said. "Then the city tested the soil outside.
Close to the foundation there were enormous levels of lead."
Thompson, an avid gardener, was devastated when her doctor told her she
had to stop gardening and that her grandchildren couldn't play on her large
urban plot anymore.
Fortunately, her home was chosen for Boston's Lead Safe Yards project. Her
yard was among 50 targeted for cleanup under the EPA-funded pilot project
that is part of a larger effort to reduce lead exposure oil across the country.
The Boston Lead Safe Yard team inspected Thompson's yard with hand-held
sensors and then had workers cover the most contaminated soil with rocks,
gravel and an above-ground deck. Soon, Thompson was allowed to plant
flowers in a raised garden bed constructed in a less contaminated area
further from the house.
"I planted tulips, irises and other bulbs for next year," Thompson said. "I love
it and am so thankful this was possible."
More importantly, her grandchildrens' lead levels have dropped to
acceptable standards.
Lead 'ate Va'ds. tne p'oiect 'hat helped Thompson,
«i being usea ar, a n-.oael ioi lead sale ,a'd
programs all across 'he country A dozen New
England cities have a^eady receued training on the
program and Rhode Island recently received
$250,000 from EPA to apply the project to outdoor
areas at two-dozen daycare centers Under EPA NE's
leadership, the agency also adopted a policy last year
that mates it less e«pensive for landlords and
homeowners to delead their properties Property
owners can now dispose lead demolition debris m
standard landfills 'nsteod of sending it to more costly
hazardous waste landfills
Lead Safe Vards is a key component of EPA New
England's Children First Initiative Launched last fall,
the campaign is focused on creating healthier
environments in the three places where children spend
most of their time — at home, m schools and outdoors
Amony our priorities is reducing lead exposure,
reducing pollution that aggravates asthma and
improving air quoliry in public schools
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f/noro Thompson with her greof nephew
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Preserving Tribal Lands • Meddybemps, Maine
EPA's Superfund team expected to excavate soil, rocks
and a variety of hazardous materials at the Eastern
Surplus Company Superfund site in Meddybemps,
Maine in 1999. What they discovered was a trove
of American Indian artifacts and an archaeological
site older than Egypt.
Eight thousand years of soil and 50 years of toxic contamination cover the
ancient Indian village in the heartland of Passamaquoddy country. EPA's goal
of restoring the environment at this former Army surplus site is now coupled
with the critical goal of preserving the historical and cultural integrity of this
tribal property. The parcel sits on the shores of what was once a hub for a
popular canoe travel route connecting coastal areas to the Saint Croix River
and other interior regions.
"This is an important site because it is opening up a new book in our history
that had been taken away," said Donald Soctomah, Passamoquoddy legisla-
tive representative. The last people to hove touched the newly discovered
artifacts are members of the Passamaquoddy who lived here 8,000 years
ago and the first people to hold the excavated treasures are the
Passamaquoddy who live here now."
The five-acre site, named Ntolonapemk ("My Relatives' Place") by
Passamaquoddy tribal elders, has been transformed from a polluted eyesore
to a monument to the past. Hundreds of stone tools, drills, pottery shards
and scrapers typical of early eastern woodland tribes are being collected by
archaeologists from the University of Maine in Farmington, while the Abbe
Museum in Bar Harbor is acting as custodian for the artifacts.
Cooperation in preserving this landmark and its culture is a testimony to
a relationship that can be achieved between Indian groups, federal
agencies and the state working together. "Meddybemps is a symbol of
new healing, of people and governments working together to save what
is important to all of us," Soctomah said.
The Meddybemps proie-n is among many examples
of EPA New England s efforts 'o forge closer relation-
ships v 'h the nine federally recognized tribes in New
England. The centerpiece of this effort is our commit-
ment to build the tribes' capoot, for odminis'ering
and managing their natural resources. Many oi our
collaborations are tocused on public health and
ecosystem protection.
In addition to the '.'c-ddybemps cleanup, EPA is
working with the Possomaquoddy and Penobscot tribes
to analyze liver iiiiue in moose and deer for toxics
occumulo'ton We've also formed on Indian Air Work
Group thai is working with six tribes on a mercury
proiect to determine the health risks from eating fish.
EPA is also assisting the Bureau of Indian Affairs with
a collaborative study to evaluate i( dioxin, lurans and
PCBs in »he Penobscot River pose public health and
environmental risks
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/Vncncon Indian archaeological site in Meddybemps
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Protecting Coastal Communities • Block Island, Rhode Island
For decades, sailboats and powerboats anchored
at Block Island's Great Salt Pond routinely emptied
their sewage directly into the water.
It's no wonder then that shellfishing wasn't allowed in the harbor,
especially in the summer when the island was besieged with boaters.
All this changed in the mid-1990s, when EPA declared Block Island a "No
Discharge Zone,* a designation that makes it illegal for boaters to
discharge sewage into coastal waters. Instead of dumping waste directly into
the pond, Block Island boaters must now discharge their waste at official
pumpout stations.
Within months after the designation, water quality in the Great Salt Pond
improved dramatically. Forty acres of clam beds in the harbor have since
reopened.
Last year, Block Island boaters pumped 89,000 gallons of waste into
holding tanks—waste that might otherwise have been discharged directly
into the water.
"Clammable and swimmable year-round," Block Island harbormaster Larry
Constontine says proudly. "All boats hove to do is call Channel 73 for pumping
services and they get pumped out at no charge. It costs the town a little
money, but the outcome—a clean harbor—is well worth it.*
Block Island is among many coastal communities in New England using No
Discharge Zones to make their waters cleaner. In 1998, Rhode Island be-
came the first state in the country to declare all of its coastal waters—all
waters three miles out from the shoreline—a No Discharge Zone. And last
summer, all of Buzzards Bay was similarly designated, resulting in a
continuous No Discharge Zone from the Rhode Island/Connecticut border
to the Elizabeth Islands off Cape Cod. More additions are expected in the
coming months.
In the 1970s, wostewoter treatment plants and
factories were the biggest culprits in our bottle against
pollution along New England's coastline. Today we
ore focusing much more of our attention on
controlling "nonpoint" pollution sources such as
boater waste, storm-voter and failing septic systems.
Block Island is one of the many coastal communities
where we are waging a multi-pronged effort to fight
nonpoint pollution. Named recently by the Nature
Conservanc r as one of America's "Last Great Places,"
Block Island faces twin challenges of outdated septic
systems and high summertime wastewater loads which
threaten both drinking water and shellfish areas.
Using a SI .5 million EPA grant. Block Island is imple-
menting on innovative septic system maintenance
program. This includes repairing and upgrading dozens
of septic systems and hundreds of septic system tanks.
The island will also implement o new program in which
new and existing vv&'ic system:, are required to meet
site-specific treatment standards.
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View overlooking Great Sail Pond on Block Island
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Reducing Toxics in the Workplace • Cranston, Rhode Island
If chemistry laboratories aren't your cup of tea, don't
plan a trip anytime soon to Technic Inc. in Cranston, Rl.
Techmc produces chemical mixes—hundreds of them, actually—used by
electroplaters, jewelers and other companies that do precious-metal finish-
ing work. On any given day, the company's laboratories and production
facilities create dozens of different chemical baths made from a dizzying
array of toxic materials.
Tracking, stonng and disposing of these materials is a big responsibility, with the
safety of 375 workers and the local environment at stake. So when Wayne Ganim,
Techmc's director of operations, was contacted by the EPA about an enforce-
ment/compliance assistance initiative focused on his industry, he took notice.
"I told the owners of the company that this was a good thing," said Ganim. "We'd
always had a program handling hazardous waste, but it needed tweaking."
As part of the initiative, EPA and state environmental agencies gave Techmc
and 160 other companies in the industry 10 months to get their waste
handling and disposal practices in order. During that time, EPA offered work-
shops and written materials on such matters as proper labeling of containers,
inspection procedures and proper waste disposal. Companies were also
encouraged to review whether they were complying with environmental laws
and, if not, disclose them to EPA.
Ganim paid close attention to EPA's suggestions and incorporated many of
the ideas. By tracking its inventories more closely, the company was able to
dispose of 75 containers of old and unusable materials and products—
containers that might otherwise still be taking up floor space and posing an
environmental threat. "This project helped us to create a more efficient, cleaner
and safer operation, especially in our labs," Ganim said.
EPA, in tandem with state environmental agencies in Massachusetts,
Connecticut and Rhode Island, followed up its compliance assistance with
enforcement inspections. Among the companies inspected was Technic.
Ganim said it was gratifying to get a clean slate—so clean, that he won a
25C wager with his boss, who thought it impossible to survive an EPA
inspection without a fine.
A key component of EPA New England's compliance
strategy is integrating enforcement, assistance and
pollution prevention in order to get the best
environmental results. We're focusing these efforts
on specific sector* where violations are pervasive
and the environmental benefits would be highest.
In addition to the Chemical Industry Audit Project
that Technic participated in, we're targeting metal
finishers, schools, municipalities and universities.
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Tectonic employee handling molten metal
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Tackling Air Toxics • Providence, Rhode Island
When Deborah Wyatt was approached about having
air monitoring equipment installed on the roof of the
West End Community Center she runs in Providence,
she jumped at the chance.
She knows many neighborhood youngsters suffer from asthma and other
respiratory problems. And she's often wondered whether the high number of
factories and industries in the area contributed to the health 'problems.
"If hospitals were compiling data on asthma and children with breathing
difficulties," said Wyatt, "children in the West End would no doubt figure in
with very high incidence rates."
The air monitoring equipment will provide information about metals and
other toxic air pollutants in the neighborhood, and help determine steps to
reduce their possible health threats.
The sampling effort is the largest of its kind in New England. A $500,000
EPA grant will enable the R.1. Department of Environmental Management to
operate sampling stations at five urban locations—four in Providence and
one in East Providence.
The project is part erf a larger national EPA effort to better understand the
cumulative health impacts of air toxic pollutants on people. A key piece of
that effort is the agency's Cumulative Exposure Project (CEP), which uses
complex computer models to estimate pollution levels from an array of air
toxics in census tracts across the country. Perhaps not surprisingly, the
modeling showed that in many urban areas throughout the country,
including the Providence area, levels of numerous air pollutants regularly
exceed health benchmarks.
For Wyatt, the study provides her with hope that neighborhood kids will miss
fewer school days because of breathing difficulties. "Anything that will keep
children in school is a good thing," she said.
Improving our understanding of toxic air pollutants
is one of many air issues EPA is addressing in New
England and across the country. A major success
has been reducing summertime smog, or ozone.
Since 1983, the number of days when the region
had unhealthy smog levels dropped from 90 per
year to just 20 lost year.
Reducing pollutant emissions from vehicles and
. power plants is another priority. EPA recently adopted
tighter emission standards for all passenger vehicles,
including SUVs, minivans and pick-up trucks. These
standards will be phased in starting in 2004 and
will cut smog-causing pollution from new vehicles
by 77 to 95 percent. EPA also adopted new rules for
heavy-duty trucks and buses, effective 2006. With
the cleaner diesel fuel that will also be required,
future vehides will be 95 percent cleaner.
EPA also moved last yearto require coal-fired power
plants to substantially reduce mercury emissions. This
is a big step forward for New England, where 83
percent of water bodies are subject to fish advisories
due to mercury contamination in fish.
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Deborah Wyo» and children of the Wesf End Community Center
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Protecting Drinking Water • Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Professor Joel Feigenbaum moved to Cape Cod in
1980, looking forward to retiring to the salty fresh air
and quiet of the seashore.
No one told him that his solitude would be drowned out by periodic shelling
and ordnance booms from a nearby military base. Even worse, no one told
him that the Cape's sole source of drinking water was in grave peril from
decades of military training activities at the 14,000-acre Massachusetts
Military Reservation.
Feigenbaum soon learned the various military activities had contaminated
billions of gallons of the Cape's groundwater. "My first walk on the base in
the 1980s was like a walk on the moon—barren, bleak terrain—but with
piles of disgusting garbage," Feigenbaum recalled. Given the region's
exploding growth, and that current water supplies were slated to run short by
2010, it wasn't a situation that could be ignored.
In 1997, EPA—in an unprecedented move—ordered the military to halt
training activities on the base and investigate whether training was harm-
ing the environment. The study demonstrated that training was, in fact,
damaging the Cape's aquifer, and EPA immediately ordered the military to
undertake a major cleanup of contaminated soil, groundwater and
unexploded ordnance. The orders were issued under emergency provisions
of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
As a result of EPA's actions on the Cape, the Department of Defense is now
looking seriously at the environmental impacts that firing ranges—
encompassing 20 to 50 million acres nationwide—are having on
groundwater supplies all across the country. The military is reconsidering its
use of open bum and open detonation training activities.
For Feigenbaum, the end of the shell blasts and launching of the cleanup are
an encouraging first step. "I'm very excited we've gotten this far," he said.
"Now we want to make sure that the cleanup is completed."
The cleanup of the Cape Cod Aquifer is one of many
strategies EPA is pursuing to make New England's
drinking water supplies safer. While we're fortunate
that 94 percent of the region's public water supply
systems currently meet drinking water quality
standards, drinking water safely cannot be taken for
granted. The agency's tools include tough enforce-
ment, technical and financial assistance to public
water suppliers, and boosting public awareness.
In a major new effort, EPA will work with many
partners to help small systems cope with new drink-
ing water regulations for contaminants. EPA continues
to support the requirement that all public water
suppliers provide annual 'Consumer Confidence
Reports" to their customers, which explain where their
water comes from and whether it complies with drink-
ing water rules. EPA is also working with states to
have all public water suppliers assess potential
contamination threats to their drinking water
supplies and take steps to protect them.
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Joel Feigenboum of the Mossochuseffs Military Reservation
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Restoring Brownfields • Bridgeport, Connecticut
When Edith Diaz bought her house in 1994, Went Field
Park in the west end of Bridgeport, CT was a no man's
land. Open space that had once been used by RT.
Bamum to house his circus elephants was decrepit and
rundown, a magnet for drug dealers and gangs.
Diaz and a group of neighbors in the Went Reid Park Association made it
their mission to bring the park back, in the late 1990s, they used EPA's
Brownfields Program to leam about the technical aspects of site cleanups.
Next, they tapped state and federal funds to get a major portion of the park
cleaned up. Now the group is focusing on restoring two neighboring indus-
trial sites, which will eventually be added to the park.
Diaz, a city employee, spends much of her time getting residents around the
park involved in its improvement. When residents complain that they can't
understand the jargon, she shows them videos. When residents are
confused, she answers their questions.
As a result, the community has had a major role in shaping and designing
what is now an eight-acre park that will include a playground, a soccer field,
a football field and extensive open space for recreation. Diaz's dream is that
the park will help galvanize a cleaner, safer neighborhood which, in turn,
will also attract stores, shops and other businesses.
The successiDiaz hopes to see can already be found two miles east in down-
town Bridgeport, where the Ballpark at Harbor Yards is a shining example of
Brownfields redevelopment. Ten years ago, the former Jenkins Valve Co.
properly was a blighted, polluted eyesore with no future prospects. A five-
year collaboration between EPA, state, community and business leaders, turned
this long-idle property into a new 5,500-seat baseball park, which employs
nearly 200 residents. Construction of a new indoor arena is now underway
next to the ballpark.
For Diaz, the turnaround she is seeing in Bridgeport is inspiring. "Everyone in
the community is involved,* she said. 'It's helped bring the crty together."
Throughout New England, abandoned industrial sites
pose a huge challenge for cities and towns. Burdened
by real and perceived contamination problems,
Brownfield sites have long been spumed by developers
who are fearful of exorbitant cleanup costs.
EPAs Brownfields Program is reversing this trend.
Through grants, site evaluations and other assistance,
EPA New England has helped clean up dozens of
contaminated properties, resulting in thousands of new
jobs and million.? of- dollars of tax revenues for
.•^ *
municipal coKefSj-Sucn projects also help the region's
rural areas, which are'scrambling to preserve
precious open space from new development.
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Edith Diaz of Went Field Pork
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Reducing Our Footprint • Chelmsford, Massachusetts
EPA New England devotes substantial resources to help-
ing companies, states, cities and even other federal
agencies reduce their impacts on the environment.
Now, through a program colled Tread Lightly, our own regional office is
looking at its own environmental footprint and working to make it smaller.
The centerpiece of our strategy is reducing energy consumption and waste
generation—and tracking those improvements in terms of greenhouse gas
emissions—at our Boston offices and our new laboratory/field office in Chelmsford.
Slated to open this spring, our 68,000-square-foot New England Regional
Laboratory will be a showcase for environmental and energy-efficient tech-
nologies. Energy for the building will be derived entirely from off-site wind
power and on-site solar power. Many of the building's lights will be powered
by solar energy generated from dozens of photovoltaic awnings on building
windows. The awnings also will block heat from the sun in summer. EPA is
buying the wind power from the Green Mountain Power Corp., which
supplies all-renewable electricity from its wind-powered turbines in Vermont.
The state's utility restructuring law enabled EPA to buy the renewable power.
The laboratory will also indude state-of-the-art systems for lighting, heating,
cooling, plumbing and recycling. For heating, the building will use a batch of
smaller boilers, which can be activated on an as-needed basis, rather than the
traditional mega-boiler. All systems hove been designed to expand as the use
of the building expands, and to be recycled if the building is ever demolished.
Our regional office in Boston is aiming to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions
by 20 percent by Earth Day 2002. To achieve this goal, we're setting increas-
ingly stringent goals for the amount of electricity, heating and cooling we're
using and the amount of waste we're generating.
Through a series of calculations, the reductions are converted to pounds of
carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas, so EPA can measure its
own contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. In 1999, we realized a 7
percent reduction, keeping or goal on schedule. Our new recycling program
has nearly tripled the amount of waste recycled from 24 percent to 67 percent.
Tread lightly is EPA New England's effort to identify
innovative and cost effective strategies that could help
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by
2010, the goal set for oil federal facilities.
We're also encouraging companies to reduce their
own energy demands through our Energy Star
Partnership program. Across New England, 730
companies hove been recognized as Energy Star
participants. Combined, they hove saved more than
$1.9 billion in energy costs, while removing 76 million
pounds of nitrogen oxide and 167 million pounds of
sulfur dioxide from their emissions. Through the
Energy Star program, these companies ore getting
the recognition they deserve while cutting costs and
reducing their impact on the environment.
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Wind farm turbines in Seorsburg. Vermont
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Restoring Urban Neighborhoods • Hartford, Connecticut
Interstate 84 is a big plus for suburban Hartford
commuters, but it doesn't do much for the neighbor-
hood of Parkville. "Since they put in the freeway in the
'60s, it's really cut us off from the rest of the city,"
said Parkville resident Ruth Klue, of the multi-lane highway that literally casts
a shadow over parts of the neighborhood.
Though just a couple miles west of downtown Hartford, traveling to and from
Parkville is difficult. There are buses, of course, but they are slow with
meandering routes. Using a car would be far quicker, but nearly half of
Parkville's residents cannot afford cars.
Parkville's isolation is similar to many New England urban neighborhoods
that have been largely abandoned in recent decades as business owners and
home builders turned their attention to the suburbs.
(due and her neighbors are trying to bring Parkville back to life—and it doesn't
involve tearing down Interstate 84. They are teaming with state and federal
agencies on projects aimed at revitalizing Parkville. The centerpiece is a unique
12-mile-long busway that will provide residents with quick and convenient
transportation to downtown Hartford in the east and New Britain in the south-
west. Modeled after light-rail service, the buses will travel unimpeded on an
existing rail right-of-way. Slated to be up and running by 2004, the busway
will include 12 station stops, including two in Parkville.
Klue, chairperson of a neighborhood committee, Picture It Better Together,
has high hopes for the busway. She's excited about the prospect of new
businesses springing up near the two transit stops. She also hopes the busway
will draw more visitors to the neighborhood's many ethnic restaurants.
"This could be a real boon," Klue said. "It not only makes things more acces-
sible for residents. It will also help businesses and buildings that are less full
and in need of new blood."
Among New England's most daunting challenges
is rejuvenating urban centers and reversing the
spread of sprawl, which is devouring open space,
clogging highways, worsening water pollution and
eating away at the sense of community that helps
define us as New Englanders.
EPA New England has taken a lead in tackling the
sprawl issue. Our Brownfields and Urban Environ-
mental Initiative programs ore making cities more
livable and economically vibrant. We've also launched
o federal agency partnership that will identify smart
growth solutions in such areas as Hartford. One of
the outgrowths of that partnership is a coordinated
approach to speed up the implementation of the
busway through Parkville and help spur redevelop-
ment in the neighborhood.
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RWh KJuc at fas site ol future bus route
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Eliminating Sewer Overflows • Manchester, New Hampshire
Terri de Langis was walking her dog around Dorrs Pond
last year when it struck her that planting flowers would
significantly enhance the pond at the northern edge of
Manchester, N.H.
For years in the early part of this century, Dorrs Pond was a hugely popular
swimming hole and recreation site at the end of a trolley line. Today, it shows
the effects of 50 years of over-development and neglect.
From de Langis' passing thought on planting flowers, the Dorrs Pond Initia-
tive was bom. De Langis got together with a small group of residents and
outlined goals for a cleaner, revitalized pond. In addition to planting flowers,
the group is restoring trails, improving wheelchair access and making plans
to offer the pond, with its rich colony of turtles, as an outdoor classroom for
schools. Another group is working to improve the pond's water quality.
"Truly there is not a person who grew up here who hasn't a story or associa-
tion or memory of this place," de Langis said.
The pond's transformation is being helped by a landmark agreement signed
in 1999 by EPA New England, the state of New Hampshire and the city of
Manchester. The agreement requires the city to tackle a major pollution
problem in the Merrimack River—sewage and stormwater discharges that
enter the river through antiquated storm pipes known as combined sewer
overflows (CSOs). The discharges typically occur after rainstorms when the
volume of stormwater and sewage going to the city's sewage treatment plant
is more than the sewer system can handle.
EPA New England agreed Manchester could tackle the CSO problems in
phases, as long as it funded $5.6 million in other environmental improve-
ments at the some time. The Dorrs Pond effort is just one piece of the pack-
age, a part of a $1 million urban ponds restoration initiative focused on
seven city ponds. The city also agreed to fund a $2 million program to
preserve wildlife areas and wetlands and a $500,000 program to tackle
childhood lead poisoning and asthma.
Sewage discharges from combined sewer overflow
(CSO) pipes are o major problem and are a big
reason why many of the notion's rivers remain
unsafe for swimming and fishing. The problem is
especially acute in New England, where more than
100 communities ore burdened with CSO pipes that
discharge untreated sewage and stormwater into
waterways after heavy rains.
EPA New England recognizes the significant
burden that CSO abatement projects pose for
municipalities and is working with Manchester and
other cities to develop cost effective plans that
balance environmental benefits with affordability.
Manchester recently finished the first of eight CSO
separation projects it is required to undertake as part
of its 1999 agreement with EPA and the NH Depart-
ment of Environmental Services. The eight projects
will eliminate about 124 million gallons of sewage
that enters the Merrimack River each year.
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Maxwell Pond is one of seven city ponds in Manchester's urban ponds restoration .mfiahve
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Restoring an Urban River • North Providence, Rhode Island
Joseph Vitullo has lived on the Woonasquatucket
River for more than a half-century and he still
remembers fondly his childhood days swimming, fishing
and chasing after turtles. "We always had wildlife in
there," said the 65-year-old North Providence resident.
Those were the good old days. The river that was once Vitullo's playground
is now marked off with "No Swimming" and "Do Not Eat the Fish" signs. The
warnings stem from dioxin contamination and other pollution in the
Woonasquatucket, a heavily urbanized river that flows 18 miles from Sm'rthfield
to Providence.
"Ducks and the swans still come back, but it's not like it used to be," Vitullo
said, adding sadly, "We don't really use it anymore." EPA and a host of
partners are trying to change that. Designated recently as an American
Heritage River, the Woonasquatucket is the target of a top-to-bottom turn-
around aimed at improving its water quality and its shorelines.
Dioxin is the most immediate challenge. Widespread contamination has been
found in and along the river in North Providence—so much, in fact, that the
area was added last year to EPA's Superfund list. EPA and its community partners
have moved quickly to prevent the dioxin from spreading, restore contami-
nated floodplain areas and warn Rhode Islanders not to eat fish from the river.
The Woonasquatucket's shoreline is also being revitalized, particularly in
downtown Providence, where the river is the centerpiece for the nationally
acclaimed Waterfire shows. The lower river has also been targeted for a 4.4
mile-long "Greenway* bike path connecting downtown Providence with
Johnston. One section of the bike path will pass through the former Riverside
Mills property that is now being addressed under EPA's Brownfields Program.
For Vitullo, the cleanup and shoreline improvements give new hope to his
dream that his grandchildren will eventually be able to play in the
Woonasquatucket as he did. "Restore it back to what it was—that's what I'm
hoping for," he said.
EPA's involvement in the Woonasquatucket River is o
result of the agency's Urban Environmental Initiative
(UEI) which was launched in 1995. The program was
prompted by a recognition that New England cities
are exposed to a disproportionate share of environ-
mental and public health hazards, ranging from
asthma and lead poisoning to air toxics and
contaminated industrial sites. With strong public
involvement as its foundation, the program's goal is
to help communities build their capacity for solving
their own environmental problems. Since its inception,
the program has focused on New England's
largest cities—Providence, Boston and Hartford.
24
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Joseph Vifu/lo on the Woonosquofuclref
25
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Nonpoint Source Pollution • Lake Champlain, Vermont
Virginia Rasch loves canoeing around Bliss Pond
—and it isn't just for the beauty and solitude. She
also derives great pleasure collecting water
samples, knowing it is helping to protect the pond's
fragile ecosystem.
Rosch, of Calais, VT, is one of more than 50 volunteer lake monitors for the
Lake Champlain Basin Program. Rain or shine, these hearty pond watchers
paddle to their monitoring stations each and every week of the summer to
measure water clarity, pH, temperature and other water quality indicators.
Rasch's decision to become a volunteer monitor was prompted by a sense of
love and stewardship. "I knew there were environmental problems," Rasch
said, referring to the 46-acre pond near her home that is plagued by algae
bloom problems caused by aging septic systems. "I also believe in being
responsible for the place where you live.*
The Lake Champlain Basin is a hugely rich biological resource—a resource,
however, that is under siege. Nutrient-rich discharges from sewage treatment
plants and nonpoint sources—farm lands, lawns, septic systems and road
runoff, among others—act to 'fertilize' water bodies. This, in turn, causes
unwonted algae blooms and other vegetative growth which
eventually causes oxygen depletion.
In addition to providing water quality information, volunteer monitors galva-
nize the public to reduce pollution. They serve as a springboard for more
action-oriented projects like watershed surveys and shoreline restoration
work,* said Amy Picotte, a Vermont Department of Environmental
Conservation employee who coordinates the volunteers.
The Lake Champlain Basin Program—a collaboration of agencies,
communities and private organizations—has 20-year reduction targets for
curbing nutrient-rich discharges, specifically phosphorus, into Lake Champlain.
By the end of this year, the program expects it will have reduced phosphorus
loadings by 38 tons a year—more than double what the program was look-
ing to achieve in the first five years.
Nonpoint source pollution accounts for about 80
percent of the pollution entering New England
waters, malting it one of EPAs biggest water quality
protection challenges.
In the early 1990s, the University of Connecticut
Cooperative Extension, in partnership with EPA New
England and other agencies, created the "Nonpoint
Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO)* project.
Founded on the principles that water quality is a
function of land use and that land use is locally
controlled, NEMO uses mapping technology and
other visual aids to provide decision makers witn the
information necessary to better protect their local water
resources. Many communities in Vermont and
elsewhere in the region have followed NEMO
guidelines to reduce paved surfaces associated with
new development, require 'best management
practices," and create open space plans to protect
sensitive areas. This program hos been so well
received nationally that over 30 states have adopted
similar programs, including Massachusetts, Maine and
New Hampshire.
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Kyokers on Lake Champkjin
27
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Going Beyond Compliance • Jay, Maine
The International Paper Co/s biggest claim to fame is
that they make the glossy paper used for printing Forbes
Magazine and LL Bean catalogues. In environmental
circles, the Jay, Maine paper mill is heralded for its
success in combining environmental stewardship with
a healthy corporate bottom line.
International Paper is a model for developing systems that are more environ-
mentally stringent than are required by federal standards. It is an example of
how companies can collaborate with EPA on projects that help both the
environment and their operating costs.
"Environmental leadership means creative thinking," says Steve Groves,
manager of environment, health and safety at IP's Jay facility, which makes
1,500 tons of paper a day.
With 1,200 employees, IP's Androscoggin Mill is a self-contained city. Its
wood yard, utilities, pulping, bleaching and paper making operations are
regulated by the federal government, state of Maine and town of Jay.
Since joining EPA New England's Environmental Leadership and StarTrack
Programs in the late 1990s, the company has slashed mercury discharges
by 80 percent and reduced dioxin emissions to non-detectable levels. The
mill has also begun reusing all of its solid waste, which will end the need
for a landfill, and cut hazardous wastes from 80,000 pounds a day to 220
pounds a day.
Now, the company is working to discharge even deaner wastewater into the
Androscoggin River. EPA is assisting through its Project XL, a program that
allows companies to experiment with new regulatory schemes that can achieve
better environmental results.
"We want to continue to be an environmental leader because it's good for
business, good for the environment and good for our neighbors," says mill
manager Michael Craft.
EPA New England has found that creative alterna-
tives to traditional regulatory approaches can often
yield far better environmental results at less cost.
International Paper was one of the first participants
in the region's StarTrack Program, o program that
recognizes and rewords companies and agencies that
demonstrate a commitment to superior environmental
performance. In exchange for going above and
beyond what environmental laws require, StarTrack
participants receive more flexibility and latitude in how
they are regulated.
StarTrack has been so successful that it was re-
cently folded into a new national voluntary
compliance program launched by EPA last fall.
Infemoiionol Paper was among 30 New England
facilities named as charter members to the new
National Environmental Achievement Track program.
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View ocross (he Androxoggm Over ol the International Paper m,ll
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Contacts
Acknowledgments
This report is on our website at www.epa.gov/regionl,
and includes various links to programs and projects
in the report.
EPA New England's Customer Service
888-EPA-REG1 (888-372-7341)
Emergency Response
(reporting spills/environmental incidents)
800-424-8802
Criminal Investigations Division
617-918-2300
EPA New England Library
888-EPA-LIBR (888-372-5427)
Additional Sources of Information
National Lead Information Center
800-424-LEAD(5323)
Children first Initiative: Alice Kaufman, EPA New England
617-918-1064
New England Lead Coordinating Committee
"Keep it Clean-Lead Safe Renovation Campaign*
617-636-2431
No Discharge Areas: Ann Rodney, EPA New England
617-918-1538
Lake Champlain Basin Program: www.lcbp.org
802-655-6382 (NY & VT: 800-468-5227)
Lake Champloin: Erik Beck, EPA New England
617-918-1606
Air Risk Information Support Center (Air RISC)
Hotline 919-541-0888
New England Environmental Challenges 2001
is published by:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
New England
1 Congress St., Suite 1100
Boston, AM 02114-2023
Project Coordinators
Peyton Fleming, Maureen Hilton, Amy Miller and
Diane Switzer
Writer
Barbara Donnelly
Graphic Design
Liz Pucci
Photograph Credits
Roy Crystal (pages 5, 9, 11, 13,25)
University of Maine at Farmington Archaeology Research
Center (page 7)
Matt Suess (page 15)
Paul Shoul (pages 17, 21)
Vermont Environmental Research Associates (page 19)
Cyndy Carlson (page 23)
Alden Pellett (page 27)
Steve Groves (page 29)
Special Thanks
Larry Constantine, Terri de Longis, Edith Diaz,
Lucy Edmondson, Joel Feigenbaum, Wayne Ganim,
Steve Groves, Edward Ketchen, Katrina Kipp, Ruth Klue,
Amy Picotte, Virginia Rasch, Matt Schweisberg,
Donald Soctomah, Martha Staskus, Elnora Thompson,
Joseph Vifullo and Deborah Wyatt
EPA Tribal Program: Valerie Ferry, EPA New England
617-918-1674
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