ENVIRONMENTAL
NEMVS January 9, 1974
SUMMARY
Office of Public Affairs U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Washington. D.C. 20460
AEC SETS NEW A-PLANT SAFETY RULES
AEC says final standards regulating emergency core-cooling systems
for nuclear reactors (issued 12/28/73) will have "'minimum impact"1 on indus-
try. Regs "tougher" than interim standards issued 6/71, but Ralph Nader,
Union of Concerned Scientists, call new regs a "'continuation of the AEC's
cover-up of critical safety problems involving the susceptibility of nuclear
plants to catastrophic failure '"(Wall St. Journal. 12/31/73). Also reported
in N.Y. Times (12/29/73), Wash. Post (1Z/Z9/73T7"Hash. Star (12/29/73).
ADMINISTRATION BLASTED FOR STRIPPING EPA RADIATION AUTHORITY
Reaction to shift of plant emission radiation standard authority
from EPA to AEC "When the E.P.A. had the task...the country at least
had the benefit of relatively independent scrutiny and judgment. The A.E.G.,
by contrast, is both a regulatory agency for civilian nuclear power plants and
the Government's chief promoter of their development. A conflict of interest
is inherent in these two functions; and no one can be confident that the stan-
dards set by the regulatory side of the agency will be untarnished by the
eagerness of its promotional side to go full speed ahead "(N.Y. Times,12/18/73)
Nader contends shift of power unlawful: "'The authority of the EPA is statu-
torily based and cannot be overridden by executive order '"(Chicago Sun-Times.
12/13/73)...."The White House has resumed a course that has been rejected by
Congress and which is logically inconsistent, demonstrably dangerous and pos-
sibly illegal...The AEC has convincingly demonstrated that it cannot be
trusted to safely oversee an industry that inevitably must play a vital role
in American life "(Chicago Sun-Times. 12/17/73).... "There is visible hypo-
crisy in Ash's [OMB head] memo...:'EPA has construed too broadly its respon-
sibilities to set generally applicable environmental standards for the
protection of the public health and the environment from radiation hazards.1
This is about as broad a mandate as you can imagine, and Ash's (or Nixon's)
objection seems to be that the EPA interpreted it to mean exactly what it
said We'H feel a lot better about administration decisions...if it weren't
for clumsy attempts to justify them with devices too obvious to fool a school-
boy "(Chicago Today. 12/18/73) Rep. Seiberling (D-Ohio), who intends of-
fering amendment to '73 Energy Reorganization Act giving EPA back above-men-
tioned authority, says, "If the OMB position is allowed to prevail, the
AEC will go the way of most...regulatory agencies: it will serve the interests
of the very industry that it was designed to regulate, rather than protec-
ting the public from that industry "(Congressional Record, 12/18/73).
IN RELATED DEVELOPMENTS. National Science Foundation grant study by
political scientist, nuclear engineer, on AEC nuclear plant hearings con-
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ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SUMMARY
eludes they are "'neither fair nor expeditious nor democratic in any substan-
tive or meaningful way...the only consensus among all the parties involved
appears to be general evaluation that the whole process as it now stands is
nothing more than a charade "' AEC, says report, characterized by arrogance
expert elitism, stacked deck proceedings and the consigning of citizens
to helplessness before the steamroller of big government "'(Sun., Colorado Springs,
12/16/73) "The nuclear industry may well have the best safety record of
any major industry in the history of the United States. It has been subjected
to examination and scrutiny on a level that is without parallel. Some of
the most brilliant minds in the world are working to see that the industry
does not destroy us while trying to save us. "(L.A. Times, 12/17/73).
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INTERIOR OPENS ADDITIONAL OIL ACREAGE OFF CALIFORNIA COAST
Interior opens 7.7 million acres of California's ocean shelf, some
just off L.A. beaches, to oil, gas exploration. Original Proposals called
only for areas between offshore string of islands and up to 110 miles out, but
fuel shortage spurs decision to expand up to three-mile limit of state-con-
trolled waters (N.Y. Times, 1/3/74). Also rpnnrtpd ** Ma11 St* Journa1
(1/3/74).
IN OTHER OIL DEVELOPMENTS. Interior holds hearings on proposed Amoco
Production Co. oil, gas drilling on 9595 of Fla.'s Ocala National Forest. No
guarantee of oil, but Interior impact statement says '"the potential for addi-
tional drilling exists whether or not oil or gas is discovered in the original
well."1 Amoco says "fuel shortage" necessitates drilling, could be done with-
out serious ecological harm; but conservationists claim Interior green light
would ruin forest, cause "total exploitation and inevitable damage to Cen-
tral Florida's vital freshwater basin located beneath the middle of the vast
wilderness." (Wash. Post, 1/7/74)
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STRIP MINING COULD DRAIN WESTERN WATER RESOURCES
Power plants built beside Western strin mines could use so much
water government agencies would have to reallocate already sparse supplies,
' causing entire regions to "'undergo major social and economic changes, sa
says
caubiny entire rcyivjna «.u wn^v.. y~ 11I-«-; ~' j . »mc- ~*.~*~ m4Ma
National Academy of Sciences report Other points made in NAS strip mine
study: (1) Western erosion rates, far exceeding East, will 5ccelfa^eJ^n
strip mining; (2) Most Western state laws "'do not P^^.^^P13""1"9'
monitoring, enforcement and financing of rehabilitation. 3) Str p
mining could possibly disrupt underground flows of water; (4) Rehabilitation
of deserts can only be attained "'with major, sustained inputs of water fer-
tilizer and management.'" It may '"take decades, or even centuries, for nat-
SralluccessTon to reach stable conditions.'" (5) Rehabilitation possible if
long-term care and land use management techniques are Pr?P^'y JPP.^d;. .
Report adds that its maximum requirements '"cannot be m*t by existing state
laws or without adequate government funding1" fStanoard-Examiner. Ogden,
Utah, 12/16/73).
POLLUTION CONTROL DEVICES IN DANGER?
Pa. State Sen. Clarence Bell (R-Delaware County) introduces bill
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ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SUMMARY
permitting Pa. auto owners to remove, disconnect or otherwise neutralize their
pol 1.1-tion controls till energy crisis subsides. Says, "'I'm just fed up with
the fact that the environmentalists have cut down on the efficiency of the
automobile. The basic question is, are we going to drive or are we going to
sit home and breathe cleaner air? I think irost citizens want to drive '" (Phil
ly Inquirer. 12/10/73) ---- Philly Mayor Frank Rizzo, denouncing "'the power of
environmentalists to stymie everything,'" calls for removal of air pollu-
tion controls on the 6,000 city-owned cars (Philly Inquirer, 12/11/73. Phil-
ly Daily News, 12/11/73; ---- U.S. car dealers start drive to reduce, eliminate
pollution controls. Petitions urging Nixon, Congress to remove controls will
"'soon be in all dealerships across the country,1" says Hugh Gibson, soon- to-
be Pres. of Natl . Auto Dealers Assoc. He adds, "People have become exasper-
ated with poor car performances caused mostly by the pollution control equip-
ment "(Cleveland Plain Dealer. 12/23/73).... EPA "spokesman" says, "It's
almost impossible to improve mileage by just removing the pollution controls
and in most cases there would be a loss in fuel economy, especially in
small cars." Story adds that its illegal for dealer to disconnect control; one
Clean Air Act interpretation says it's illegal for any garage selling new auto
parts to do so; illegal for anybody to do it in about a dozen states (Cleve-
land Press. 12/13/73)
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SOME DEALERS REFUSE TO SHOW EPA MPG STICKERS
Spot check by L.A. Times shows some suto dealers removing EPA gas
mileage labels from new cars. One dealer says, "'It's unfair to the sales
people to put a number on a car with a very small interpretation of what the
number really means. '" Another dealer: "'The prime tenet of selling is to
make it as easy as possible, not to give people something else to stumble
over.'" While practice "apparently legal," EPA's Eric Stork says, "'It's
perhaps as good an example as any of the reasons the American public is
calling on Congress to enact laws to force the industry to act in the putlic
interest "'(Denver Post, 12/19/73).
AGRICULTURE DEPT. ASKS EPA FOR DDT APPROVAL
Agriculture asks EPA to approve possible DDT use next summer against
tussock moths in Northwest. Ag.'s Butz says DDT would be used only if other
measures fail (N.Y. Times, 1/8/74)
IN RELATED DEVELOPMENTS. Citing the claim that nearly 700,000 for-
est acres have been defoliated in the Pacific Northwest, (Barren's,
12/24/73) says, "In the name of the environment, EPA et al. have offended nature
and man alike. In so doing, Russell Train is merely following in the footsteps
of...Ruckelshaus, who, by shunning the recommendations of his own hearing ex-
aminer [approving DDT] and hewing to the fanatical ecologist line, set the
stage for the disaster. . .In the end, what is perhaps most alarming is EPA's
ignorance , which, in unholy alliance with its arrogance, has wrought untold harm.
In seekinq to excuse its inaction, the agency reoeatedly cited alleged evidence
of a three-year cycle of tussock moth infestation , in the final year
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ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SUMMARY
of which the epidemic supposedly burned itself out. Yet according to plain-
tiffs and other knowledgeable observers, evidence of such a cycle is suspect:
The Northwest apparently has suffered several of four-and five-year outbreaks.
EPA also has sought to blame the disaster on the Forest Service, although the
latter, at least in its initial environmental impact statement, recognized that
DDT is the only effective pesticide against the tussock moth and flatly recom-
mended its use. Whatever the court decides, Russell Train et al . have much
to answer for."
OREGON BOTTLE BILL UPHELD BY COURT OF APPEALS
Oregon's Court of Appeais rules state law requiring deposits on beer,
soft drink containers "'a valid exercise of Oregon's police power.1" Court
rejects all 'ederal , state constitutional challenges, repudiates brewer and
soft drink, can company plea to balance values between economic hardship
on the plaintiffs and possible benefits to Oregon citizen? .Appeal likely to
state Suoreme Court, and, if necessary, to federal courts (Register-Guard,
Eugene, Ore., 12/17/73).
IN OTHER SOLID WASTE DEVELOPMENTS.". . .Voluntary recycling centers...
are not exactly a roaring success, despite fine words on the environment. It
seems volunteers don't show up, people scatter papers, there is poor coordina
tion in pickup and discouragement sets in (Independent-Record, Helena, Mont.,
12/13/73).
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