bulletin
Aim at Results, Fri Urges States
In working to protect the environ-
ment, State agencies should concen-
trate on substance and results, not on
forms and procedures, Robert W. Fri
told the Council of State Governments
in Washington recently.
The then deputy administrator of
EPA confessed to the State officials
that much of the Agency's instruc-
tional and regulatory material has been
oriented to "the size of the budget,
the kind of people that belong in a
State agency, how many computers
you have, what methodology you use"
and other matters that "have very
little to do with what results get
accomplished."
"It is perfectly clear," Fri told the
Council's second annual Symposium
on Environmental Legislation, "that
the results (in pollution abatement and
environmental control) are more or
less independent of many of the
things . . . we've told you are terribly
important in setting up a State pro-
gram. . . ."
Three Ace Planners
He cited one State that has a staff
of only three people working on solid
waste management but which "turns
out the very best plans in the shortest
EPA Acting Administrator Robert Fri leans over the speakers' table at a
conference on Managing the Environment in Washington last month to hear a
question from Rev. A. Kendall Smith of New York City. Fri told the meeting,
sponsored by EPA's Office of Research and Monitoring and the International
City Management Association, that local governments must develop "new
expertise" in science and employ a "system approach" to pollution control. But
he warned against falling into "the trap of thinking our work is done when we
get a theoretical or engineering 'solution'.. .The burden will fall on the shoulders
of State and local governments (who) remain closest to the problems."
possible time—something completely
contrary to the preachments of some
Federal bureaucrats."
Fri, who has since been named
acting administrator of EPA, also
urged the State officials to be both
thick-skinned and openly critical in
dealing with EPA and other Federal
agencies.
The "delicate balance of Federal-
State cooperation" cannot be main-
tained if either side's feelings "bruise
easily," he said. "If we get hung up on
technicalities or prerogatives, rather
than getting down to work and figur-
ing out the best way to accomplish the
result, we won't succeed."
Fri cited the case of the water
discharge permit program, under
which the States are to be the issuing
authorities and the deadline is Dec. 31,
1974. "States are moving to take over
that program," he said, "but there will
be some that will not have the author-
ity formally delegated to them in the
immediate future. ... It seems to me
the process ought to go forward. . . .
Let the States take it over just as fast
as they can, whether or not all of the
problems are fully straightened
out. . . .
Selective Worries
"In other words, worry about how
,to get that permit out—which is the
result-in a way that will protect the
State permit program, and don't worry
too much over the prerogatives of who
signs what document. . . ."
He urged State officials to tell EPA
"if we foul up" and promised to
reciprocate "without getting our feel-
ings too involved."
Fri emphasized the need for Fed-
eral-State cooperation and the firm
intention of the Federal government
to delegate the operation of environ-
mental programs to the States.
(Continued on page 5)
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Criteria and Sites Proposed
For Dumping Wastes at Sea
Detailed criteria governing the
dumping of waste materials in ocean
waters were published by EPA May 16
and are now being used by Agency
officials in the seven Federal regions
that include coastal States to deter-
mine whether or not to issue interim
ocean dumping permits.
The criteria are not final. Public
comments are invited and will be
accepted by EPA's Office of Air and
Water Programs up to June 23. These
will be considered in making revisions
in the final criteria and regulations
that are expected to be promulgated
some time in August.
The proposed criteria spell out:
• What kinds of waste material can-
not be dumped in the ocean under
any circumstances. These include
high-level radioactive wastes; chemi-
cal and biological warfare sub-
stances, persistent, inert materials
that float; and materials whose
properties are insufficiently known
to permit evaluating their impact
Shellfishing Banned
On 5,426 Acres of
New Jersey Waters
Pollution has caused New Jersey
officials to ban the taking of shellfish
in 5,426 acres of the State's bay and
coastal waters.
Five areas were affected by the
action announced March 28. Most of
the acreage was closed to shellfishing
permanently, but two areas totalling
about 680 acres were closed only from
May through October each year. Dur-
ing the other months, when the human
population is low, the shellfish are
legally edible.
At the largest single banned area,
2,245 acres in Sandy Hook Bay, clams
may be dug, but not for direct market-
ing. With official approval, clammers
may take the bivalves from Sandy
Hook for transplant into clean wa ers,
from which they may be harvested
after enough time has elapsed for them
to purify themselves.
on marine ecology.
• Generally prohibited wastes: 01-
ganohalogen compounds, mercury,
cadmium, and crude oil and petro-
leum products.
• Wastes that can be dumped under
strict regulation. These vary accord-
ing to physical, chemical, and bio-
logical properties and with the
amounts, frequency, and location
of dumping sites.
• Wastes that can be dumped under
"general regulations" non-toxic ma-
terials and solid wastes of "natural
origin," principally dredged sand
and silt.
• Provision for emergency permits,
at EPA's discretion, when the alter-
native to ocean dumping is judged
more hazardous to human health.
In each such case, however, the
dumper must agree to a specific
plan and timetable for ending the
practice.
120 Sites Listed
The criteria include a list of 120
approved sites for ocean dumping,
listed by EPA Regions. Each site is
described by its chart coordinates,
total area, and depth of the water.
Each site is restricted to a specific kind
of waste material.
Only two of the 120 sites are
designated for sewage sludge, one for
New York and one for Philadelphia,
permitting temporary continuance of a
long-standing practice by these cities.
Most of the sites are approved only
for dredged materials, and some of
these, notably off the coast of Louisi-
ana and Texas are in waters as shallow
as six feet. The deepest sites, 6,000 or
more feet on the Atlantic side and up
to 12,000 feet off Oregon and Califor-
nia, are for the discard of conventional
munitions.
The Agency's policy, as defined in
the criteria, is to regulate all ocean
dumping and to control strictly the
dumping of "any matenal which
would adversely affect human health,
welfare, or amenities, or the marine
environment, ecological systems, or
economic potentialities."
SOLID WASTE
GUIDELINES
ARE PROPOSED
Guidelines for the disposal of gar-
bage, trash, and other solid waste with
the least damage to the environment
were published by EPA in the Federal
Register for April 27.
When finally approved after a
60-day period for public comment and
possible revision, the guidelines will be
mandatory for all Federal agencies and
installations, but only advisory for
State, regional, and local agencies
The guidelines comprise two docu-
ments, "Sanitary Landfill Design and
Operation," and "Municipal-Scale In-
cinerator Design and Operation." They
outline the policies and practices con-
sidered necessary by EPA experts to
minimize the environmental effects of
solid waste landfills and large-size in-
cinerators. Their publication is re-
quired by Section 209 of the Solid
Waste Disposal Act of 1965, as
amended by the Resource Recovery
Act of 1970.
The Agency invites comments on
the guidelines from other Federal
agencies, State and local government
officials, and all other interested
groups or individuals.
Comments should be submitted in
writing, in triplicate, to Samuel Hale
Jr., deputy assistant administrator for
solid waste management programs,
EPA, Washington, D.C. 20460, before
June 27. Promulgation of the final
guidelines, with which all Federal
agencies will have to comply, is ex-
pected in midsummer.
The EPA Bulletin is published
monthly by the Office of Public
Affairs to inform State and local
environmental officials of EPA's
research, standard-setting, and
enforcement work.
Van V. Trumbull, Editor
Room W239, Waterside
Mall
Washington, D.C. 20460
Tel. (202) 7SS-0883
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Mobile Labs Aid in Water Work
Seven mobile laboratories to help
diagnose water quality problems and
to train waste water treatment opera-
tors have been deployed by EPA in six
States.
"These labs have been well received
by rural communities," said John M.
Ropes, chief of the State and Local
Manpower Development Branch.
"Since they are able to travel to small,
isolated treatment plants where labora-
tory facilities are not normally availa-
ble, they have become an important
adjunct to our decentralized training
programs."
The laboratories were installed on
trucks borrowed from the Army Mate-
riel Command, through the Depart-
ment of Labor, which operates the
training program under an interagency
agreement with EPA, Ropes said. Two
trailers and two small boats have also
been supplied to the Agency and
outfitted as water-testing laboratories.
Training Session
A three-day training session for
State and local environmental officials
who are operating the mobile labs was
held in late March at Kirkwood Com-
munity College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The mobile units are equipped to
perform the many additional water
quality tests required by the Federal
Ronald Benson of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Control stands
beside one of EPA's rolling laboratories for waste water treatment and training.
Water Pollution Control Act Amend-
ments of 1972, Ropes said. Each has
its own electric generator to supply
power for ovens, incubators, centri-
fuges and other testing apparatus, and
for heating and air conditioning.
They are working out of the follow-
ing locations: Kirkwood College, Ce-
dar Rapids, Iowa, under the direction
of Harold Kort; Central Nebraska
Tech, Hastings, Neb., with Ronald
Inspecting a mobile lab's interior are, from left, Thomas Harris, Kentucky
Commissioner for Environmental Protection; Jack E. Ravan, EPA Region IV
administrator; and Terry M. Regan, consultant, of Lexington, Ky.
Benson as instructor; Lexington, Ky.,
with Terry M. Regan, environmental
consultant, in charge; South Dakota
State University and the State Depart-
ment of Health, at Brookings, S.D.,
and Charles County Community Col-
lege, La Plata, Md., with Carl Schwing
as instructor.
The two small-boat laboratories are
based at Charles County Community
College and operated on the lower
Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.
The seventh truck-mounted lab is
being outfitted at Cedar Rapids. One
of the mobile units will be driven to
West Allis, Wise., in August for display
and demonstration at the Wisconsin
State Fair.
Air Pollution
Fines Increase
Fines for air pollution violations in
New Jersey last year totaled S517,850,
more than twice as much as the
previous year and about three times
the amount levied in 1970, the State
Department of Environmental Protec-
tion reported recently.
The Department issued 993 admin-
istrative orders in air pollution cases
during the year.
Biggest single fine collected was one
of $100,000 from a Sayreville titan-
ium pigment manufacturer.
-------
EPA Cracks Down on U.S. Steel Corp.
Cracking down on what EPA called
"one of the largest single sources of air
pollution in the country," Agency
officials of Region V in Chicago are
negotiating with U S Steel Corpora-
tion to secure definite agreements and
time tables for curbing pollution at the
firm's operations at Gary, Ind.
After a 30-day warning notice was
issued on April IS, several meetings
were held between Agency officials
and U.S Steel representatives These
sessions were still under way at press
time, according to David Kee, of the
Regional Office's Enforcement Divi-
sion
Kee said agreement had been
reached with the corporation covering
about SO percent of the Gary plants'
emissions. He said he expected further
progress to be made on abatement
measures, leading to an EPA order
some time in June. But the Agency
still retains the option of court action
New York Town Will Test
Phosphate Removal Scheme
A new process for removing phos-
phate from sewage will be given its
first full-scale test this summer at
Seneca Falls, N Y., a town of about
8,000 population in the State's Finger
Lakes region
Procter and Gamble, the soap and
detergent manufacturer, will under-
write up to $70,000 of the costs of the
experiment, which is designed to re-
move 90 percent of the phosphate
content of the sewage
Phosphates in waste water are a
major cause of eutrophication—pre-
mature agmg-of lakes and streams,
and about half of the phosphates in
normal sewage come from detergents
used in domestic and industrial laun-
dering
Using New Plant
The town of Seneca Falls has a new
secondary sewage treatment plant,
completed a year ago with EPA con-
struction grants, with a total capacity
of 3 million gallons per day However,
the town's sewage load is now only 1.5
million gpd, and some of the extra
tankage will be used to try out the
new process
The process, called "PhoStnp," was
developed by Biosphencs, Inc, of
Rockvillc, Md , and has been tested on
a small scale (about 100 gpd) at the
Blue Plains and Piscalaway sewage
plants in Maryland.
The process employs the normal
microorganisms in sewage to scavenge
phosphates from the sewage flow at
the same time they are consuming
organic pollutants. After this scaveng-
ing has taken place in the activated
sludge, the sludge is drawn off and
held for a period of time in a tank
without air Under' anaerobic condi-
tions the microorganisms release the
phosphates to the liquid portion of the
sludge. This smaller stream is then
drawn off and the phosphates removed
from it by chemical treatment
The PhoStnp system requires only
about S percent as much chemicals as
other phosphate removal processes
that treat the entire waste water flow,
according to Gilbert V. Levin, presi-
dent of Biosphencs and inventor of
the process. It also generates less waste
sludge to be disposed of, he asserts.
The PhoStnp process will be ap-
plied to the entire 1.5 million gpd flow
of the Seneca Falls plant before the
end of June, Levin said, and the test's
will continue for at least four months
to gather reliable data on operating
characteristics, effectiveness, and
costs
New York State has ordered Seneca
Falls to remove phosphates from its
sewage effluent by mid-1974. The
plant discharges its effluent into the
Seneca-Cayuga Canal, and thence into
the Barge Canal (formerly the Erie
Canal) Canal waters in this portion of
the Barge Canal system ultimately
dram into Lake Ontario
against the corporation if a full agree-
ment, satisfactory to EPA, is not
reached, Kee said.
Francis T. Mayo, EPA's Region V
administrator in Chicago, charged the
corporation was violating federally en-
forceable State air pollution regula-
tions at its Gary Works and Universal
Atlas Cement Division
70,000 Tons a Year
Said Mayo "These notices are di-
rected at 21 different sources emitting
over 70,000 tons per year of particu-
late matter," including tin mill and
coke plant boiler houses, open hearth
furnaces and foundry, coke batteries,
scarfing operations, sintering plants,
slag processing, and both the calcium
alummate and harbor cement plant
facilities
The Clean Air Act provides that, if
a violation continues more than 30
days after the warning notice, EPA
may either order compliance with the
State's regulations or initiate civil or
criminal suits for "appropriate relief."
Mayo said EPA had worked closely
with Indiana pollution control officials
in preparing the action and would
continue to do so.
"The corporation will have an op-
portunity to confer with EPA to dis-
cuss the violation," Mayo said, and to
"present information on any efforts
that have been taken to correct the
pollution problem."
Company Disagrees
In its Pittsburgh headquarters, U.S.
Steel issued a statement saying it had
"cooperated fully" with Federal and
State agencies seeking pollution abate-
ment at its huge Gary operations. The
steel firm said it found the action
"difficult to understand," and main-
tained it was following the "intent" of
Indiana's plan to implement the Clean
Air Act. U.S. Steel held discussions
with city and State officials on March
9 to work out compliance schedules,
the statement said, and had sent a
proposed agreement on abatement
plans at the Gary plants the week
before the warning notice.
-------
RESULTS COUNT,
NOT PROCEDURE,
STATES TOLD
(Continued from page I)
The cooperation will work, he said,
for three reasons*
• The laws require delegation of
authority and responsibility to the
States. "This is clearly true in the
air program and in the new water
legislation, and in part true in pesti-
cides legislation."
• Environmental problems lend
themselves to the cooperative ap-
proach Problems are different in
different localities, and States can
tailor their solutions to fit local
situations.
• EPA is determined to work with
the States, "delegating what we
can" to them. "Problems are best
solved outside of Washington-out
where the problems really exist."
The three-day symposium was
jointly sponsored by the Council of
State Governments, the President's
Council on Environmental Quality,
EPA, and the Department of the Inte-
rior.
Nicholas M. Golubm of the Inter-
governmental Relations Division was
federal coordinator for the symposium
and a member of the program commit-
tee. EPA's John R. Quarles, Gary H
Baise, Robert L. Sansom, and Dr.
Alvm Meyer served as Federal co-chair-
man of workshop sessions on water
permits, potable water, financing, and
noise control.
Cross to Speak
At APCA Meeting
Bert S. Cross, former chairman of
the National Industrial Pollution Con-
trol Council, will be keynote speaker
at the 66th annual meeting of the Air
Pollution Control Association in Chi-
cago this month.
More than 5,000 persons are ex-
pected to attend the sessions at the
Palmer House June 24 through 28,
David M. Benforado, APCA president,
announced. More than 160 technical
papers and panel discussions will be
presented.
Acting EPA Chief Outjines
Four Rules for Planning
EPA Acting Administrator Rob-
ert Fri, in a talk before the National
Association of Regional Councils in
Minneapolis last February, had
some cogent things to say about
"that extraordinary idea called co-
operative Federal-State planning"
• "Don't worry too much about
how planning gets done, but
worry a great deal whether it
works Too often in the past,
Federal planning requirements
have gone to great lengths to
describe how to do planning.
That is nonsense. Our studies
repeatedly show that the sophis-
tication of the planning process
bears no—repeat, no-relation to
results achieved.
• "Insist that the plans result in a
commitment to specified out-
puts, which are specifically as-
signed to someone for accom-
plishment. If the proof of the
pudding is in the eating, the
proof of planning is in the rec-
ipe.
"Plan sufficiently to produce
these specific targets, then quit
Planners often have a profound
emotional drive to elabo-
rate . . , to demonstrate their
methodology, and in general to
produce more paper We just
don't have time to read the
stuff.
"Don't waste time with plan-
ners who cannot deliver results.
In EPA's case, the results we
want (in the water permit pro-
gram) are clear. Discharges must
be put on abatement schedules,
those schedules must be en-
forced, and compliance
achieved A planner who cannot
turn his plan into these tangible
results in a direct and demon-
strable way is of little help to
us"
Air Pollution Lab to Use
Humans as Guinea Pigs
A laboratory in which people can
'live for extended periods in atmos-
pheres containing controlled amounts
of air pollutants will be built by EPA
at Chapel Hill, N.C , as an adjunct of
the Agency's National Environmental
Research Center at nearby Research
Triangle Park.
The facility at the University of
North Carolina's Medical School will
accommodate as many as six persons
for periods of two weeks or more and
will contain extensive, computerized
instrument systems for measuring the
subjects' reactions to the polluted air
they breathe.
Such research will supply labora-
tory-controlled data on physiological
response to pollutants. These data will
be correlated with findings of field
studies of pollutant effects on large
populations. Such field studies are
already under way in the Agency's
Community Health and Environmental
Surveillance System (CHESS), involv-
ing about 250,000 persons in selected
areas throughout the country having
different kinds and amounts of pollu-
tion in their ambient air >,
Plans to build two mobile' laborato-
ries capable of making similar measure-
ments in the field were also an-
nounced, and a $1.9-million contract
to design and equip all three laborato-
ries was awarded to the Computer
Science Corporation's Systems Divi-
sion, Falls Church, Va The mobile
laboratories are to be completed in the
summer of 1974 and the stationary
facility by the end of that year.
All three facilities will be operated
by the research center's Human Stud-
ies Laboratory, headed by Dr Carl M
Shy
The two mobile labs will be in-
stalled on specially designed vans
which will be driven to various loca-
tions to make clinical tests on people
near their homes or places of work.
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CALIF. FARMERS
BURN 2 MILLION
TONS OF WASTE
California farmers burn more than
two million tons of agricultural waste
material each year, the State Air Re-
sources Board reports, mostly between
Oct. 1 and March 31, but only on
Permissive-Burn Days.
Burn and no-burn announcements
are made daily by the Board's meteor-
ologists and are broadcast by radio and
television stations.
Since burning of stubble and other
field wastes releases particulates and
decreases visibility, air basin officials
permit burning only on days when
there is good atmospheric mixing and
dilution in the basin, to insure that the
added emissions do not degrade the air
below acceptable levels
The Board said in its annual report
that overall visibility in the six basins
in 1972 was better on days when
burning was allowed than on days
when it was prohibited,
Model of Storm System
Proves Useful to Cities
Thirty-five representatives of cities
throughout the U.S. and Canada met
recently m Washington to discuss their
use of EPA's Storm Water Manage-
ment Model with municipal technol-
ogy specialists in the Office of Re-
search and Monitoring.
The model is a set of mathematical
equations, programmed for a com-
puter, which can simulate what hap-
pens when a rainstorm hits a city and
runs off through that city's storm
sewer system. Developed in late 1971
by three engineering firms under an
EPA contract, the model helps city
administrators and engineers in plan-
ning storm sewer systems and evaluat-
ing various means of dealing with
overflow conditions to minimize water
pollution
William Rosenkranz of the Munici-
pal Technology Branch said the model
has rapidly gained acceptance as a
valuable decision-making tool and that
more than 30 copies of the computer
program have been disseminated to
users in the United States, Canada,
England, and Australia.
Many users take the model "as is"
and feed numbers describing their own
city's conditions into the simulation,
he said. Others, like San Francisco and
the Washington, D.C. area's Metropoli-
tan Council of Governments, modify
the model to make it match local
conditions more closely
The April 2 meeting was held to
bring users up to date on applications
of the model and on possible changes
and improvements to it. Rosenkranz
said EPA plans to continue the up-dat-
ing process with a periodic newsletter
to model users, and another meeting
will be scheduled in September or
October of this year
Like Us, Fish Can Get Too Much of a Good Thing
Fish-especially game fish-
sicken and die when there is not
enough dissolved air in the water to
supply their gills with oxygen. Most
efforts to improve river- and lake-
water quality are aimed at keeping
up the oxygen supply by reducing
pollutants that encourage the
growth of oxygen-consuming organ-
isms.
But in the Pacific Northwest,
water quality experts are faced with
opposite problem: too much dis-
solved air, too much oxygen.
In water "supersaturated" with
air, fish and other aquatic animals
can sicken and die when air bubbles
form in their blood, under the skin,
and in the fins Sometimes blood
flow will be blocked by an air
embolism
This affliction, called the gas
bubble disease, was the topic of a
two-day workshop conference last
month at EPA's Western Fish Toxi-
cology Station at Corvallis, Ore
The workshop was co-sponsored
by EPA and Oregon State Univer-
sity. Biologists from colleges and
government agencies in the North-
western States, British Columbia,
Minnesota, and Florida attended
the sessions to learn of the latest
developments in gas bubble disease
research.
Dr. Gerald R. Bouck, chief of
the Corvallis toxicology station,
said air supersaturation occurs
when water flows over a high dam.
In times of high water in the
Columbia River, for instance, read-
ings of 140 percent supersaturation
are not uncommon below its nine
flood-control and hydroelectric
dams. Air is entrained by the falling
water and forced into solution un-
der temporary high pressure condi-
tions at the foot of the falls. The
river is too deep and voluminous to
permit the saturation to reach
equilibrium (100 percent) before
the next dam is reached.
In the "fish ladders," which are
often built around dams to let
migrating fish swim upstream to
spawn, the water quickly reaches
equilibrium, but the water flow in
the ladders is only a tiny fraction of
the total river flow.
Supersaturation is a vital con-
cern in the Pacific Northwest be-
cause of the need to preserve the
salmon fishery, but Dr. Bouck said
the problem has caused game fish
kills in other dammed rivers of the
West and could occur in many
other places.
Among the measures that have
been suggested to correct supersatu-
ration are the alteration of dams
and spillways to direct the falling
water outward along the surface of
the receiving basin and the redesign
of penstocks and turbine bays in
hydroelectric plants. The Army
Corps of Engineers has been active
in this kind of research.
The Western Fish Toxicology
Station specializes in research on
the effects of water quality—in
both physical and chemical aspects
-on fish and other water fauna.
-------
Storm Water Runoff Is Big Polluter
Rams that wash dirt from city
streets add significant amounts of
many kinds of pollutants to the Na-
tion's waterways, according to a recent
EPA study.
Storm run-off water contains hun-
dreds of times as much solid matter
and heavy metals per gallon as un-
treated sewage, the study found, and
five to ten times as much oxygen
demand and algal nutrients, which
cause the eutrophication of lakes and
streams
Storm water also contains signif-
icant quantities of pesticides and simi-
lar long-lived organic chemicals. About
75 percent of these were poly chlori-
nated biphenols (PCBs), industrial
compounds that are similar in their
environmental effects to DDT.
The only class of contaminant more
abundant in sewage than in storm
water is coliform bacteria. The average
bacteria count for storm water is
about one hundredth that of untreated
sewage. Secondary sewage treatment,
however, reduces the bacteria count to
about one thousandth that of storm
water.
First Hour Is Worst
The pollutant loading of storm wa-
ter is especially high during the first
hour of a moderate-to-heavy ram, the
study found, and then it usually ex-
ceeds the pollutant load from the
city's sanitary sewage system.
The study was made for EPA's
Office of Research and Monitoring by
the URS Research Company of San
Mateo, Calif., under a $309,000 con-
tract
Eight cities were studie'd' San Jose,
Calif., Phoenix, Ariz., Milwaukee,
Wise., Baltimore, Md ; Seattle, Wash.;
Atlanta, Ga , Tulsa, Ok la., and Bucy-
rus, Ohio Samples of street contami-
nants were taken in each city, from
dry surfaces and from storm sewers
after natural and simulated rains.
These were analyzed for chemical,
physical, and biological properties, and
calculations of total run-off were
made, using a mathematical model, for
residential, commercial, and industrial
areas
The major constituent of storm
water pollutants was found to be fine
particles of sand and silt, not in
themselves hazardous, but capable of
carrying other pollutants adhering to
their surfaces Current street sweeping
practices are inefficient in removing
such particles, the study said, and the
removal efficiency decreases with the
size of the particles.
The study recommends further re-
search on street cleaning methods, on
the design of gutters and catch basins
to facilitate cleaning, and on the cost-
effectiveness of these operations.
Assumption in Ooubt
The common assumption that
storm and sanitary sewers should be
separated because storm sewers are
relatively "clean" needs to be re-exam-
ined, the study says. Since storm
run-off is far from clean, it probably
should be treated before discharge in
many instances where there are sepa-
rate systems. For cities having com-
bined systems, the fact that both
storm and sanitary sewers are impor-
tant sources of pollution "casts some
doubt" as to whether separation or
treatment of all sewage is the better
policy
While this study is not "cause for
alarm, it does show that more atten-
tion must be paid to the problem of
pollution from storm run-off, espe-
cially as wastes from industry and
other municipal sources are reduced,"
said Stanley M. Greenfield, assistant
administrator for Research and Moni-
toring.
The report, "Water Pollution As-
pects of Street Surface Contami-
nants," 237 + xn pages, is available for
S3 per copy from the Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
20402.
Recent EPA Publications
Control Techniques for Asbestos
Air Pollutants, 86 + xix p., Feb., 1973.
Summarizes current knowledge—from
EPA, other government agencies, and
private industry—of methods for re-
ducing the emission of asbestos fibers.
All stages in the mining and milling of
the mineral are covered, as well as the
manufacture and application of asbes-
tos-containing products Air Pollution
Technical Information Center, EPA,
Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27711.
Control Techniques for Beryllium
Air Pollutants, 59 + xvm p., Feb.,
1973 This rare light metal, which has
many applications in aircraft and space
technology, electronic instruments,
and ceramics, is poisonous when parti-
cles of the metal or its compounds are
inhaled The booklet describes the
principal sources of beryllium emis-
sions and the processing equipment
needed for control Illustrated with
charts and diagrams. Air Pollution
Technical Information Center, EPA,
Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27711.
Control Techniques for Mercury
Emissions From Extraction and Chor-
Alkali Plants, 57 + XVH p., Feb., 1973
Mercury is the only metal that vapor-
izes readily at room temperatures, and
its poisonous vapors can escape and
threaten human health in many ways.
This booklet describes vapor control
methods in two industries having the
greatest hazard: plants where mercury
is extracted from ores and refined, and
plants that use large quanties of mer-
cury in the electrolytic separation of
chlorine from base metals such as
sodium and potassium. Air Pollution
Technical Information Center, EPA,
Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27711.
Oil Spills Control Manual for Fire
Departments, 98 + vi p., Feb., 1973.
Reports on field tests and actual spill
control work in harbor waters by the
New York City Fire Department over
a 22-month period Use of existing fire
department equipment—hoses, pumps,
etc —is emphasized, but some useful
auxiliary devices—booms, floating
sorbents, and skimmers-are also de-
scribed. Illustrated with charts and
drawings. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C 20402, $1.25 do-
mestic postpaid or $1 at GPO Book-
store
(Continued on back page)
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EPA Publications - Recent and Useful
(Continued from page 7)
Effectiveness Evaluation of Opera-
tor Training Conducted Under the PSC
Program, 67 + vi p., March, 1973. A
revision of a booklet published last
summer by the Public Service Careers
section of EPA's Manpower Develop-
ment Staff showing how the training
of sewage treatment plant operators
improved the performance of treat-
ment plants in Texas. Manpower De-
velopment Staff, EPA, Washington,
D.C. 20460.
Fundamentals of Noise: Measure-
ment, Rating Schemes, and Standards,
163 + iv p , Dec., 1971. Prepared by
the National Bureau of Standards for
EPA, this booklet outlines the basic
principles of sound generation and
propagation methods of measuring
both the physical characteristics of
noise and its effects on people, and the
suitability of various noise exposure
rating schemes. Government Printing
Office,- Washington, D.C. 20402,
$1.25.
Transportation Noise and Noise
from Equipment Powered by Internal
Combustion Engines, 414 + xiii p.,
Dec., 1971 Discusses the kinds of
noise produced, environmental effects,
and possibilities of noise reduction for
three types of aircraft, highway vehi-
cles, railroads, ships, recreation vehi-
cles, and small-engine devices. Illus-
trated with charts and tables. Govern-
ment Printing Office, Washington,
D.C. 20460, $4.30 postpaid or $3 75
at GPO Bookstore.
Large Power Plant Effluent Study,
Volume 4, Instrumentation Proce-
dures, and Data Tabulations, 286 + vi
p., Nov., 1972. Last of a series of
technical studies of pollutant emis-
sions from the tall stacks of three large
generating plants northeast of Pitts-
burgh. Photos and sampling from air-
craft as well as ground observation
points supply data on the dynamics of
tall stack plumes under different
weather conditions to test the validity
of theories concerning plume dispersal.
Effects of sulfur oxides and other
pollutants on vegetation, chiefly
Christmas tree farms, are also charted.
Air Pollution Technical Information
Center, EPA, Research Triangle Park,
N.C. 27711.
EXPRO '73, A List of Extramural
Projects to Be Funded in Fiscal Year
1973, 162 p , Feb 1973. Lists specific
research tasks which EPA plans to
fund during this fiscal year, for which
no grantee or contractor has been
selected Tasks are listed by 14 pro-
gram areas, giving the subjects, dollar
amounts, and EPA technical officers
responsible. Resource Management
Branch, ORM, room 716 Jefferson
Plaza, EPA, Washington, D.C. 20460.
Application of Selected Industrial
Engineering Techniques to Wastewater
Treatment Plants, 226 + vi p, Feb.,
1973. Outlines more than a dozen
methods used by industry to plan,
organize, and evaluate their operations
that could be adopted in wastewater
treatment. These can be used to im-
prove the design, operation, mainte-
nance, staffing, and quality control
phases, say the authors, and examples
are given of their use in the Flint,
Mich., treatment plant. Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
20402, $2 60 postpaid or $2.25 at a
GPO Bookstore
Use of furuls lor printing this publication approved by tne Director ot tne Uttice ot Management and Budget (Dec. 6. 1971)
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