OCTOBER  1972
                                                               bulletin
                            PUBLISHED BY THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION /
3-Year  Study  Seeks  to  Save  1,100   Lakes
  EPA  has launched  an intensive
study of some 1,100 lakes through-
out the country in an effort to assist
States in pinpointing water  bodies
most in danger of pollution damage
and to  provide assistance in devel-
oping control strategies.
  Called the National Eutrophica-
tion Survey, the project is scheduled
to take three years and is expected
to cost  about $5 million, according
to Dr. Stanley M. Greenfield, Assist-
ant  Administrator for Research and
Monitoring.
  In the largest field sampling pro-
gram ever undertaken by EPA, lakes
are  being  sampled by scientists in
three jet helicopters and one fixed-
wing aircraft several times over the
spring and summer months.  Major
tributaries  to  the  lakes  are  being
sampled monthly  by  thousands of
National Guardsmen.  Sewage plant
operators  also  take samples from
their outfalls for EPA analysis.
  The  survey is  concentrating  on
lakes and reservoirs  that receive
waste water from  municipal sewage
treatment plants and are, therefore,
likely to be threatened with eutrophi-
cation (premature  aging).
  After careful and complex meas-
urements over  a  year's time, the
survey scientists will attempt  to de-
termine:
  • The present status of each lake
    (its trophic condition)
  • The extent of nutrient loading
    from natural sources, from sew-
    age plant  sources  and  from
    other identifiable sources.
  • The tolerance of each  water
    body for various  levels of spe-
                                                           ^
                                            —photo by Mike Gordon
 Tom  Beaver,  aircraft mechanic, lowers the contact sensor and sampling
 package (called "the fish")  from  the  helicopter into Lake  Mead, Nev.,
 during tryouts of equipment for EPA's National Eutrophication Survey.
    cific nutrients that control plant
    growth.
  • The probable effects of present
    or planned phosphorus removal
    at the treatment plants and the
    ability to control excess nutri-
    ents from other sources.
  A preliminary  survey using the
STORET computer system has indi-
cated  that of the  nation's 12,500
sewage treatment  plants, about ,3-
800 contribute their effluent to some
1,100 lakes.
  Lakes smaller than 100 acres and
those having average retention times
of less  than a week  are eliminated.
Rivers  (including "run-of-the-river"
impoundments), coastal bays  and
estuaries are not  included because
they are relatively free of  threat of
eutrophication.
  Lakes in the survey were chosen
after detailed discussion with State
water quality authorities and EPA
regional  offices. The  field effort in
each state is closely coordinated with
State and local officials to  assure
that data collected will  have maxi-
mum usefulness and  because of the
survey's  commitment  to assist State
authorities.
  Much  initial background informa-
tion on each lake's water character-
istics and quality  is  obtained from
detailed questionnaires sent to State
and municipal agencies, independent
scientists and conservationists.

  In this first year  of  the survey,
about 240 lakes are  being studied
in  10 northeastern and north cen-
tral states: Maine, New Hampshire,

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 LAKES  Continued
 Vermont,  Massachusetts, Connecti-
 cut, Rhode Island, New York, Mich-
 igan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
   Next year about 450 lakes in the
 remaining  states  east of the  Missis-
 sippi will be surveyed and in 1974
 about 400 lakes in other states.
   After sampling  and  analysis in
 each  state,  the  survey  team  will
 report on  the condition  and pros-
 pects  for  each  of its lakes. These
 reports will  be reviewed  by appro-
 priate State  officials and EPA re-
 gional personnel to make the proper
 recommendations for the implemen-
 tation of control  strategies.
 Sampling by Air
   Much of the field work is being
 performed with helicopters specially
 equipped for the  National Eutrophi-
 cation Survey. Three Army Huey jet
 helicopters  have  been  lent  by the
 Department of Defense for the sur-
 vey. Early  this year, they were fitted
 at the National  Environmental Re-
 search Center—Las Vegas with  pon-
 toons  for water  landings and  with
 sophisticated water  sampling  and
 analysis equipment.
   A team  of 13 persons does  the
 field   sampling,   initially  working
 seven  days a week.  The team in-
 cludes three  complete air crews-
 each with a pilot, limnologist (lake
 scientist) and a sampling technician
 —and mobile laboratory personnel.
 The crews rotate between two of the
 aircraft while the third  is held in
 reserve.
   On  sampling  flights, the  fourth
 aircraft, a  DeHavilland Otter,  also
supplied by DOD, flies over a target
 lake and makes measurements of its
chlorophyll content and surface tem-
perature using remote sensing radi-
ometers.
   Then  one  of  the  helicopters,
 dubbed "Mr. Clean" by the NERC-
 Las  Vegas  mechanics  who fitted
 them out, descends to the lake  sur-
 face to make further  measurements
 and  to take  water samples  at an
 average of  four stations and at  sev-
 eral depths.
   An  extendable  boom  lowers  a
 contact sensor  package  into  the
 water  to  gather  information   on
 depth,   temperature,  acidity,  dis-
 solved  oxygen  content,  electrical
                                                 —photo by Mike Gordon
 Workers at NERC-Las Vegas attach pontoons to one of the helicopters to
 permit it  to  "land"  on  lakes. The helicopters  were lent  to  EPA by  the
 Department of Defense and modifications were made at the EPA hanger.
conductivity  and  turbidity.  Then
samples are taken at depths selected
by  the limnologist on the basis  of
the contact sensor data. Some  of
these  samples are immediately ana-
lyzed  in the mobile  laboratory and
others are airmailed  to  EPA lab-
oratories at Las Vegas or Corvallis
for chemical  analysis.
   Half-meter cores of lake sediment
are planned to be taken  once each
year.  Other samples  will be  taken
for algal analysis—one for identifi-
cation of types present in the water
and another  for analysis of  algal
growth rates and response to various
nutrient levels.
  On some lakes with special recre-
ational use, water samples  will be
sent to NERC-Cincinnati to deter-
mine if those  waters contain  a  path-
ogenic amoeba, Naegleria.
Tributary  Sampling
   The airborne sampling program,
which identifies a lake's condition
and  its tolerance  for nutrients,  is
complemented  by  extensive  sam-
pling  of the major streams entering
and leaving each lake to determine
the amount of nutrient loading and
the sources of excess nutrients. This
entails taking periodic samples from
the lake's  main tributaries at points
 above and below sewage treatment
 plants and  at  the  stream's mouth.
 When combined with  stream  infor-
 mation from the  U.S.  Geological
 Survey, these data will  permit the
 calculation  of  nutrient  inflow, re-
 tention and  outflow for each  lake.
   An enormous number of tributary
 samples is involved:  about 20,000
 for the 240 lakes being  surveyed
 this year and an estimated 180,000
 for  the  entire  survey.   National
 Guardsmen  have been collecting all
 tributary samples in  the  10  states
 programmed  for  this  year,  and
EPA Administrator Ruckelshaus has
asked  Defense Secretary Laird to
 authorize Guard involvement in the
survey for the  rest of the country.
The  entire   military  aid to  the
Agency has been cost-free, an effort
that Assistant Administrator Green-
field calls "exceptional  public-mind-
edness" by Laird and the Guard. In
addition, samples of  effluent  from
sewage  treatment plants  are being
taken by the plant operators,  with
collection  and  dispatch  being co-
ordinated through state water qual-
ity  officials.  These  effluent samples
are analyzed thoroughly for phos-
phorus, nitrogen and carbon.
  Managing the survey from Wash-

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Dump-Closing  Drive  Nears  2,200
  State and  local  officials through-
out the country closed 2,175 open
dumps during the first 24 months of
the Office of Solid Waste Manage-
ment's "Mission 5000" campaign.
  A July report listing 1,666 clos-
ings was widely used by news media
with statistics and details of local
performance highlighted.
  The result was a spurt of belated
reporting or  new activity  or a com-
bination  of  both.  Now  the  Solid
Waste office is preparing a revised
press release which will include more
recent data.
  "Although we failed (by July) to
reach our  goal of closing 5,000
dumps," said Samuel Hale Jr., Dep-
uty Assistant Administrator for Solid
Waste Management programs, "Our
batting average  was  a  respectable
333. We  are very  pleased with  the
signs that the effort is continuing."
  The Mission 5000 campaign was
started July 1, 1970, and was to  run
for  20 months.  Previous  surveys

LAKES Continued
ington is Robert R, Payne, Special
Assistant to  the  Deputy Assistant
Administrator for Monitoring.  The
co-directors of the field activities are
Dr. Jack H. Gakstatter,  of NERC-
Corvallis,   and  Donald  Wruble,
NERC-Las Vegas. The  conception
and design of the survey was  the
responsibility of the Special Projects
Staff in the Office of Research  and
Monitoring,  including Dr.  Eric D.
Schneider, Dr. Norman  Glass  and
Dr. Al Lefohn.
  The staff  is hopeful  that  one
aspect of the survey, new techniques
of  interpreting aerial photographs,
may eventually reduce the labor  and
cost of determining nutrient loadings
for any drainage basin. The determi-
nation of land use by aerial photo
analysis,  plus data on rainfall  and
runoff may some  day permit accu-
rate calculation  of nutrient transfer
without the necessity of taking thou-
sands of water samples and analyz-
ing them separately. Survey planners
forecast   the  development of  the
aerial reconnaissance  program dur-
ing the 1973-1974 period.
had  indicated  a  total of approxi-
mately 16,000 open dumps in  the
country. Judged on this basis, about
10 percent of these dumps had been
eliminated by the  deadline.
  New Jersey leads the latest list of
50 states and  four territories with
168  dumps closed—75 percent  of
the number it had  at the start of the
campaign.
  Seven  States and  one territory
listed in  the earlier report showed
no dumps  closed during the  20-
month period. They included Alaska,
Hawaii, Maine, North  and South
Dakota,  Utah, Wyoming and  the
Virgin Islands.
  Two territories  on the list,  the
District of Columbia and Guam, had
no dumps to begin with.
  EPA's work to  encourage  the
closing of dumps  will go on, Hale
said,  although  the Agency  has  no
authority to  order  such closings.
Working through regional represent-
atives, the Agency assists States and
local  governments with  technical
standards, model  legislation, prob-
lem-solving aid, and special training
for solid-waste disposal planning and
operating. EPA also will assist citi-
zens'  and  volunteer  organizations
with  information on good waste dis-
posal practices.
  The recent publication "Mission
5000—A  Citizens'  Solid  Waste
Management  Project,"  20  pages,
publication SW-115ts, is available to
all interested  persons from  EPA's
regional   Public   Affairs   offices
(single copies are  free).  Multiple
copies are  available at 50 cents each
from the Superintendent of Docu-
ments, Washington, D.C. 20402.
  Administrator William D. Ruck-
elshaus said the Mission 5000 cam-
paign had  helped in the passage  of
many new State  and  local laws
banning open  dumping and burning
of garbage and trash. More progress
could be made, he said, if greater
resources and manpower were pro-
vided to local  and State  waste-man-
agement agencies  and if more ag-
gressive enforcement programs were
initiated.
  "The number of dumps  elimi-
nated is not  the sole criterion for
judging a  State or community pro-
gram," he  said. "Many dumps were
closed before  Mission 5000 began
.  . . and the closing of a dump serv-
ing  a large population  takes more
effort than closing  a small rural
dump.
  "Moreover,  a community  cannot
close a dump  until it has developed
an alternative, better system, such
as a well engineered sanitary land-
fill,  a modern  incinerator, or both."
New Jersey Leads in Percent Closed
Here are the 10 states which dumps during the first
were reported to have
greatest percentage of
State
New Jersey
Illinois
Ohio
Idaho
Virginia
Maryland
Delaware
Pennsylvania
Honda
Massachusetts
National total
closed the of the
their open These
Number of Dumps
220
606
582
45
201
132
19
547
427
285
16,166
Mission 5000
figures are as
Dumps Closed
168
416
197
13
51
30
4
112
87
57
2,175
24 months
campaign.
of July 1.
Percent
76.4
68.7
33.9
28.9
25.4
22.7
21.0
20.5
20.4
20.0


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New Waste  System  Tested
On  a  Delaware  Bay  Ferryboat
  A recirculating waste water treat-
ment system now being tested on a
Delaware Bay ferry may help  solve
the problem of marine  waste  dis-
posal.
  The system  has  been operating
since Sept. 1 on the "Delaware," one
of the ships that ferries passengers
and automobiles on the 16-mile run
between Cape May, N. J. and Lewes,
Del. An EPA demonstration grant
of $140,000 to the  Delaware River
and  Bay Authority helped to  pay
for installing the system, after exten-
sive  testing in EPA's Edison,  N.J.,
Water Laboratory.
  The project officer, Bill Librizzi,
said the system receives all the ship's
sanitary  and  food-handling  waste
water, separates the solids, and re-
circulates  the clarified  and  disin-
fected water for toilet flushing.
  The system includes a  vibrating
screen for  removing  most of the
solids, followed by treatment in a
high-speed  centrifuge  to  remove
solids small enough to pass through
the screen. The  waste water then
passes through a series of column
filters containing activated carbon.
Disinfecting and deodorizing agents
are added  before the water is ready


Greenfield  Shares

Lake Study Post

  Dr. Stanley M. Greenfield, EPA's
Assistant  Administrator   for  Re-
search  and Monitoring, has  been
named cochairman of the Research
Advisory Board for the International
Joint Commission  of  the United
States and Canada,
  With James P. Bruce, director of
Canada's Centre for Inland Waters,
Greenfield will coordinate the Great
Lakes water quality research pro-
grams now under  way  and being
planned  by both countries.
  The Commission  is responsible
for  implementing the Great  Lakes
Water Quality Agreement signed by
the  United States and Canada  on
April 15.
for recirculation.
   Librizzi  said  laboratory  tests
showed  the system removed  more
than 90% of solids and more than
84% of  the biological oxygen de-
mand (BOD). He hopes that the full-
scale tests on the "Delaware" will
match the lab  results  and provide
information on day-to-day operating
characteristics and costs.
Staten Island Ferry Tests
   Meanwhile, New York City offi-
cials have announced plans to test a
somewhat similar self-contained, no-
discharge system on a Staten Island
ferry this fall.
   After   conferring  with  Edison
Water  Laboratory  scientists,  the
New York officials accepted an in-
dustrial  firm's  plan  for  the  pilot
installation. This  system  will  filter
out solids, disinfect and  deodorize
the water, and recirculate it. The
filtered out solids will be evaporated
into an inert ash in a retort heated
to 1,700° F, and some  of the liquid
wastes will also be evaporated on
board the ferry.
CONFERENCE  SET

ON  TOXIC  METALS
  An  Environmental  Resources
Conference on the Cycling and Con-
trol of Metals will be held Oct. 31 to
Nov. 2 in Columbus, Ohio, spon-
sored jointly by EPA, the  National
Science Foundation, and  the Battelle
Memorial Institute.
  Dr. Andrew W. Breidenbach, Di-
rector of EPA's National  Environ-
mental Research Center at Cincin-
nati, is a cochairman of  the con-
ference. The planning  committee
includes three NERC-Cincinnati per-
sonnel John J. Convery,  Director of
the  Advanced  Waste  Treatment
Laboratory; Leland J. McCabe  Jr.
of the Water Supply Research Lab-
oratory; and Ira Wilder  of the Edi-
son,  N.J., Water Quality Research
Division.
   Metallic elements, usually in trace
amounts, are  important  environ-
mental pollutants because many are
toxic. The  conference will discuss
the natural and man-caused sources
of trace metal pollutants,  how the
metals  are transported through the
food chain,  methods of control and
monitoring,  and the economics of
recovery and reclamation.
   Training  Pays  Off,  91  to  1!
     For a dollar invested, the re-
   turn is $91.
     This  is not an old prospector
   talking about the Lost Dutchman
   gold mine, but a sober calculation
   of the benefits of training sewage
   treatment-plant operators.
     A  study of waste water treat-
   ment in Texas showed that train-
   ing operators at  19  plants was
   mainly responsible for improved
   performance  in  reducing  basic
   oxygen  demand and total sus-
   pended  solids so that the plant
   effluents met or bettered the State
   water quality  board standards.
     Performance improvement val-
   ued at $5 million, in capital dissi-
   pation avoided, resulted from an
   operator training expenditure of
   562,715. This is a ratio of 91 to L
     Engineers of Harbridge House,
the  Boston-based  firm  which
made the study for EPA's Office
of Research and Monitoring, said
they had anticipated that opera-
tor training would have "a posi-
tive effect," but "the measurable
value of such  training ... as-
tounded us."
   Untrained   or   inadequately
trained operators  involve a sub-
stantial risk of capital dissipation,
they noted. "Based  on Texas
data, a  conservative estimate of
average   plant value  entrusted
to each operator is about $64,000
—more  than six times the aver-
age industrial investment per pro-
duction worker—and, because of
understaffing,  individual  opera-
tors are  actually  entrusted  with
capital plant of up to $160,000,"
on the average.

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Lead  in  Boston's  Drinking Water;   EPA  HELPS INDIANS
New  Hazard  Laid  to  Old  Piping       RAISE  OYSTERS
  A new  potential source  of  en-
vironmental poisoning, lead in drink-
ing  water,  is  being closely watched
by EPA scientists and public health
officials in Boston, Mass.
  Tests  last  spring by the  State's
Department of Public Health found
unsuspected  quantities  of lead  in
water samples  taken  from  nearly
half of 52 households in  the city's
old and affluent Beacon Hill section.
  Dr. Dorothy Worth, then Depart-
ment  Director  of  Family Services,
said  the amounts were well below
the  level considered toxic, but that
they exceeded the maximum  recom-
mended  by the U.S.  Public  Health
Service:  0.05 milligrams  per liter.
  The lead is believed to come from
the  lead "service lines" still in  use
in older sections to  convey water
from the city's mains to the  houses,
and, in a few  cases, from lead piping
in the houses.
  Lead is  no longer used for water
piping, not because  it is a health
hazard, but, because other materials
are  cheaper.
  Boston  gets its drinking water
from the Quabbin Reservoir, a large
artificial lake about 60 miles from
the  city in central Massachusetts.
Some experts feel that the reservoir
water may be  getting slightly acid
from acid-forming sulfur and nitro-
gen oxide air pollutants washed out
of the air by rains. Such acidity, they
say, could  increase the rate of lead-
ion  pickup  as  the  water flows
through  the old pipes.
  Floyd  Taylor,  acting  chief  of
EPA's  Northeast  Water  Supply
Branch  where  the Beacon Hill's
samples were assayed, said it would
be relatively  easy to  control such
acidity by  adding alkaline com-
pounds during  routine water treat-
ment, as is done in many city sys-
tems, including New York's.
  "Corrosion control would be more
practical  than  ripping up  all  the
lead  pipes  in  Boston,"  he said,
explaining  that such  control might
be  achieved  by  adding  chemicals
that  would coat the  pipes,  as well
as keep a neutral acid-alkali balance.
But first more tests should be made
to ascertain if acidity is indeed the
problem, and if lead compounds are
present in water from other parts of
the city.
  Metropolitan  District  Commis-
sioner  John  Sears, whose  State
agency operates the Quabbin Res-
ervoir,  said  he favored more  re-
search  before  trying  to alter  the
quality of the reservoir water. The
Quabbin system, built  nearly  50
years ago,  also regularly  supplies
water for Chicopee and a number
of other communities,  and it is
tapped occasionally by  Cambridge
and other cities when their supplies
run low.
  Sears ordered an engineering firm,
now studying proposals to fluoridate
the Quabbin system, to  expand its
study to include the lead problem.
  Meanwhile,  residents  who have
lead  service lines have been advised
to let their household water run for
a few minutes each morning to flush
out water  that has been standing
overnight in the lead piping.
  Raising  oysters  artificially  for
market is a new project designed to
help the Lummi Indians in northern
Washington to help themselves.
  The tribe this summer unveiled a
$3.5  million  Aquacenter  on  the
Lummi Reservation on Puget Sound,
where it expects to provide jobs for
some  200 of its people and repay
the  Federal investment in the Aqua-
center in about two years.
  The project has been several years
in  the  making.  EPA  cooperated
with the loan of  bayshore land at
Manchester, Wash., for pilot studies
and tests in shellfish culture.
  The Lummis are raising oysters in
tanks, where temperature, salinity,
and nutrient materials can be care-
fully controlled to assure the maxi-
mum  fertilization of the free-floating
oyster eggs. When the tiny,  young
animals are  ready  to  settle down
and grow shells,  they  are  trans-
ferred to larger  vats in the  Aqua-
center building and to diked pools
in the Sound.
States Get  Three-in-One Grants
For Environmental  Management
   A new three-in-one type of grant
 to States for environmental planning
 and management has been alunched
 by EPA.
   These "comprehensive grants" in-
 clude in one package funds author-
 ized  under three different  acts of
 Congress:  the Water Pollution Con-
 trol Act, the Clean Air Act, and the
 Solid Waste Disposal Act.
   Four grants totalling  more than
 $3.5 million were  announced Aug.
 23 for States in four regions. The
 States  and the  grant amounts for
 Fiscal  1973 were:  Hawaii, $288,-
 600; New  York, $2,300,000; Utah,
 $297,000; and Washington, $679.-
 400.
   Benefits to the States  from com-
 bining  the three types of granHnlo
 one  include:
   • Faster processing and reduction
of paperwork,  compared  with sep-
arate applications.
  • Encouragement fdr considering
environmental  planning  and man-
agement on  a  unified, rather than
piecemeal, basis.
  • Comprehensive grants apply to
the  overall management function of
a State's environmental  programs,
not to particular  construction proj-
ects like sewage treatment facilities
or demonstrations of new pollution
control technology.
  The three-in-one  approach tits in
with the State's trend toward cen-
tralized agencies  that  deal with  all
environmental problems.  L.ist year
22 States had unified environmental
agencies. As of last July the number
had risen to 37. The comprehensive
grants are given only to States with
such central agencies.

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CONFERENCE  SET

ON  POLLUTANT

'FINGERPRINTING'
  Advanced  methods of  "finger-
printing"  pollutants  will be  dis-
cussed at a conference  sponsored
by EPA's Southeast Water Labora-
tory and the University of Georgia's
Chemistry Department at  Athens,
Ga., Nov. 6 and 7.
  The symposium, "Applications of
Mass Spectrometry to Environmen-
tal Problems," will deal  with tech-
niques for identifying atoms  and
molecules by their individual masses.
Because chemical compounds, in-
cluding pollutants, may have mass
spectra  as unique  as fingerprints,
mass spectrometry is a powerful tool
for   the measurement of air  and
water contaminants, including very
complex hydrocarbons compounds,
pesticides, and  pesticide residues.
The  relation of mass  spectrometry
to other analytical methods includ-
ing  gas and liquid chromatography
will also be discussed.
  On the program will be speakers
from SWL and the Perrine Primate
Laboratory; the National Institutes
of Health; M.I.T., Cornell, and the
University  of  Georgia;  Battelle
Columbus Laboratory, Naval  Re-
search Laboratory, and the  Bureau
of Mines Research Center.
  Persons wishing reservations or
more information should  contact
Mrs. Ann  Alford,  Southeast Water
Laboratory, College Station Road,
Athens, Ga. 30601, tel. (404) 546-
3186.	

  The EPA Bulletin is published
  monthly by the Office of Public
  Affairs  to  inform  State  and
  local environmental officials of
  EPA's  research, standard-set-
  ting,  and enforcement activi-
  ties.
  The Bulletin will welcome let-
  ters, contributed articles, and
  photos  suitable to  its  purpose
  and audience.
     Van V. Trumbull, Editor
     Room W239, Waterside
       Mall
     Washington, D.C. 20460
     Tel. (202) 755-0883
Anchorage   Dedicates   Plant
  Anchorage, Alaska, recently dedi-
cated  a new sewage system that,
when  completed, will  serve more
than one third of the State's popu-
lation.
  The fast-growing Anchorage area
had more than 124,000 residents in
1970,  about four times its 1950
population.  Until the Greater An-
chorage  Area Borough was formed
in 1964, there was no local govern-
ment agency to deal  with sewerage
problems on an  areawide basis. In
1967,  the voters approved a $20-
million bond issue to begin construc-
tion, which was started the next year.
  Current  estimates  of  "eligible
costs" for which  Federal aid applies
—interceptor lines, treatment plant,
and sludge  and  effluent disposal—
total $23 million, and the  Federal
Government is providing 55 percent.
  Many unusual engineering prob-
lems were encountered  because of
the area's cold climate, high ground-
water  table, and mammoth tides in
Cooke Inlet where the treated waste-
water must be discharged.
  Some 27 miles of concrete pipe,
ranging in size from 24 to 96 inches
in diameter, were manufactured at
Anchorage at a specially built plant,
rather than being imported from the
"lower 48" states.
  The  area, dotted with lakes, is
used for  recreation,  water  supply,
and seaplane  anchorages. To pre-
vent sewer construction from lower-
ing  the water  table or draining the
lakes required special sheathing of
the  trenches. One stretch of  84-inch
line was bedded in concrete and cov-
ered with clay  to the level  of  a
nearby lake, creating an impermea-
ble  underground dike.
  The  waste water outfall from the
treatment plant extends 800 feet into
Cooke  Inlet, whose waters ebb and
flow in the second highest  tides in
the  world.  In winter, these  tides
carry ice floes that can grind  and
crush any  shore-based installation
in their path. The outfall  pipe is
designed  to withstand these forces
and yet remain  sufficiently  flexible.
  The  incinerator to burn the sew-
age sludge is equipped not only with
devices to prevent air pollution, but
also with equipment to reduce fog-
generating  emissions  because  the
plant is near the Anchorage airport.
  EPA officials  at the dedication
praised  the people of Anchorage,
and especially the borough chair-
man, John H.  Asplund, for their
foresight  in deciding to build such
an advanced sewage system  and for
their courage  and determination in
carrying out the plans.
  SAFETY NOTE:
  Perchloric  Acid   Is  Explosive
     Perchloric acid, a reagent fre-
   quently used  in  environmental
   laboratories, can cause death and
   destruction if  improperly  used,
   according to Karl Spence, EPA
   safety officer.
     At elevated  temperatures per-
   chloric  acid becomes a  strong
   oxidizing  agent and may react
   explosively with reducing agents
   and  organic  materials,  causing
   fires  that  burn  with great inten-
   sity and are nearly impossible to
   extinguish. Perchloric acid spilled
   on  combustible  material  and
   dried can be ignited by  impact,
   friction, or moderate heat.
  Spence recommends these pre-
cautions when using  perchloric*
acid:
  • Wear goggles, masks, and
    protective clothing.
  • Don't breathe the acid fumes
    or allow skin or eye contact.
  • Conduct tests only in a fume
    hood.
  • Wash away any spilled acid
    immediately with large quan-
    tities of water.
  • Don't store the acid in wood-
    en  cabinets,  on  wooden
    shelves, or with  oxidizable
    materials.

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 3  Communities  Get  $11.3  Million
 To  Extract Valuables  From  Waste
   Three large grants totaling $11.3
 million to demonstrate the recovery
 of resources from municipal garbage
 and trash were  announced Sept. 8
 by EPA Administrator William D.
 Ruckelshaus.
   These are the first grants under
 Section 208 of the Resource Re-
 covery Act,  to  help  municipalities
 build and operate full-scale systems
 to recover valuable products from
 waste using new technology.
   "We hope to demonstrate systems
 that can be put  to use some day in
 other  cities and towns across  the
 country," Ruckelshaus said. "We

         ERRATUM
   We erred in our  August issue in
 stating that boatowners who install
 approved waste  treatment devices
 within five years from the date of
 Coast Guard regulations  would be
 exempt from further cleanup for the
 life of the vessel.
   Owners of existing boats may in-
 stall treatment devices within three
 years after  promulgation of Coast
 Guard regulations, and operate such
 devices for  the  life of the device,
 not for the life of the boat. A device
 installed between  three  and  five
 years  after  promulgation  of  the
 Coast Guard regulations may be op-
 erated for three years after the effec-
 tive  date  of the  regulations—pro-
 vided the  device remains  operable.
 Otherwise, the device  must comply
 with the no-discharge standard.
   The article also erred in stating
 that  the EPA  standard specifically
 provides   that  States  may  pass
 tougher rules  if  they wish.  The
 standard, in fact, provides  that a
 State may request the EPA Admin-
 istrator to issue a regulation "com-
 pletely prohibiting discharge from a
 vessel of any  sewage." After  the
 effective date of the Federal regula-
 tions, no State may adopt or enforce
 regulations with respect to the de-
sign, manufacture, or installation or
use of any marine sanitation device
on any vessel subject to the Federal
standards.
 GPO 940.118
realize that this will take time. The
major problem in resource recovery
from municipal waste is the absence
of stable and large markets  for the
kinds of commodities that  can  be
produced. Developing new markets
will take some effort and will prob-
ably call for new incentives  for
industry. These demonstrations are
one step in that process."
  Three different techniques, hither-
to tested only on a  laboratory scale,
will be  used: gasification of com-
bustible  waste,  conversion  to fuel
oil, and mechanical  sorting of in-
cinerator residues.
  Baltimore,  Md.,  will use a grant
of $6 million to help  build  a  $14-
million gasification system to handle
1,000 tons of waste  per day, half
the   city's  output.  After   ferrous
metals  and crushed  glass  are  ex-
tracted  from  the waste, the com-
bustible portions will be heated  to
produce  a  fuel gas,  that  will  be
burned to maintain the process and
to make steam for sale to an electric
 utility company. Revenues from sale
 of the steam and scrap materials are
 expected to exceed $ 1.5 million per
 year. The system is to be completed
 about June,  1974.
    San Diego County, Calif., will re-
 ceive $2.9 million toward the con-
 struction of a $4-million facility to
 convert  combustible waste to fuel
 oil by a similar  process—heating in
 the absence of oxygen. The oil will
 be sold  as utility or industrial fu'el
 and  ferrous metals and  glass ex-
 tracted.  Annual revenues  of $200,-
 000 to $300,000 are expected. The
 plant is to  be ready  in  November
 1974.
   Lowell, Mass.,  will get a  $2.4
 million grant to build a $3.2-million
 facility  to sort ferrous  metals,  non-
 ferrous metals,  and glass from in-
 cinerator ashes, using a series of ore-
 treatment processes developed by
 the Interior Department's Bureau of
 Mines. The plant will process about
 250 tons per day of  residue  from
 Lowell  and  also  from Somerville
 and Newton, Mass. Annual income
 from the  sale of scrap metals and
 glass is  estimated at $500,000. The
 plant is to start operation in Sep-
 tember  1974.
         Recent  EPA  Publications
   The Quality of Life Concept. 154
p., August 1972.  An anthology of
readings and study material assem-
bled for an EPA symposium held at
Warrenton, Va.,  Aug.  29-31, on
ways  to  define  and quantify the
"quality of life." The  symposium
sought to help decision makers at all
levels of government and in many
areas of private enterprise include
quality-of-life considerations in their
assessment of environmental policies
and actions. Single copies available
from   EPA Office   of   Research
and Monitoring, Washington, D.C.
20460.
   Guide   to  Engineering  Permit
Processing, 384 p.,  July  1972. A
manual on designing and adminis-
tering systems to regulate air pollu-
tion   emissions  from   stationary
sources. Limited  copies  available
from EPA Air Pollution Technical
Information Center,  Research  Tri-
angle Park, N.C. 27711.
   Estimates of Ionizing Radiation
Doses  in the United States,  1960-
2000,  171  p., August  1972. Joint
study with the Atomic Energy Com-
mission and the Departments of De-
fense and Health, Education and
Welfare of  the  average  radiation
dose to the U.S. population expected
over the next 30 years from environ-
mental, medical,  and  occupational
sources. Office of Radiation Pro-
grams, EPA, Rockville, Md. 20852.
Available also for  $1.50 per copy
from Superintendent of Documents,
Washington, D.C. 20402.
   Guide for Compiling a Compre-
hensive Emission Inventory, 196 p.,
June 1972. A manual to assist State
and local air pollution control agen-
cies. Limited copies available from
the EPA Air  Pollution Technical
Information Center, Research Tri-
angle Park, N.C. 27711.

               Continued on page 8

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EPA  Publications
Continued
   Air Pollution Aspects of Emission
 Sources. Three new compilations of
 abstracts  of technical  articles  on
 pollution by particular industries are
 available from  the EPA Air Pollu-
 tion Technical  Information  Center,
 Research  Triangle  Park,   N.C.
 27711.  They include:
   Boilers,  125  p., May  1972
   Iron  and Steel Mills,  84 p., May
     1972
   Petroleum Refineries, 68 p., July
     1972
 Previously  published in  the same
 series and  still  available are:
   Electric  Power Production
   Cement  Manufacturing
   Sulfuric  Acid Manufacturing
   Nitric Acid Manufacturing
   Municipal Incineration.
   Noise Facts  Digest, 202 p., June
 1972. Pilot issue of a new publica-
 tion containing articles and selected
 abstracts on noise control, with sub-
 ject and author  indexes, glossary,
 and list of sources.  Sample  copies
    available from EPA Office of Noise
    Control and  Abatement, Washing-
    ton, D. C. 20640.
       Evaluation of DDT and Dieldrin
    in Lake Michigan, 149 p., August
    1972. Reports on a three-year study,
    supported by EPA grants to the four
    participating  States   of  the  Lake
    Michigan Enforcement Conference,
    of pesticide  residues and  metabo-
    lates in lake and tributary water, in-
    vertebrates, and fish. Observed levels
    "warrant concern from both a pub-
    lic health and wildlife preservation
    standpoint," the study finds, and the
    presence of  such  industrial wastes
    as PCBs and phthalates greatly com-
    plicates the analysis. Available  for
    $1.25 per copy from Superintendent
    of Documents,  Washington,  D.C.
    20402.
      Surface Pollution Problems in the
    United  States,  29  p., May  1972.
    Brief  review of groundwater con-
    tamination  from  waste  injection
    wells,  percolation  and runoff from
surface sources, and saline intrusion.
EPA  Office  of  Water  Programs,
Washington, D.C. 20460.

  Forest Fertilization, 57 p., August
1972. Reviews the use  of inorganic
fertilizers on  commercial forests in
the U.S. and several foreign  coun-
tries and discusses probable trends
and effects on  the water and  soil
environment.  By  William A. Gro-
man,  NERC, Corvallis. Office of
Research  and  Monitoring,  EPA,
Washington,  D.C.  20460.  Also
available  for  65  cents  per copy
from Superintendent of Documents,
Washington, D.C. 20402.

   Lime/Limestone  Wet-Scrubbing
Symposium,  Proceedings, Vol.  II,
556 p.,  June  1972. Concluding  vol-
ume of papers  on sulfur  removal
processes  fof utility and industrial
plants  burning  fossil fuels.  Papers
were given at an EPA conference
in New  Orleans in November 1971.
Limited copies available from EPA
Air Pollution Technical Information
Center,  Research  Triangle  Park,
N.C. 27711.
     Use  of funds  for  printing  this  publication  approved  by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Dec. 6, 1971).
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