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
-------
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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