Toward a Cleaner,
Healthier
21st Century
&EPA
2000 ANNUAL REPORT
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
Pacific Southwest/Region 9
EPA-909-R-O1-OO1
UIIII'U
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s we pause to consider our efforts in the Year 2000—its challenges, lessons, and
successes—I am struck by the presence and power of a few guiding principles.
Our understanding and embrace of these principles has done much to enrich our
successes and focus our energies on the right challenges.
The most basic of these is our bedrock mission—protection of human health and
the environment. Our clear commitment to this purpose sustains our energy, creativity,
and willingness to take risks in pursuit of enduring results. Another vital, and I believe
shared, value is our understanding of the relatedness of three phenomena—economic
health, social justice, and environmental quality, and the importance of agendas for
action which acknowledge and pursue all three.
We understand the power of partnerships—with fellow regulators, tribal sover-
eigns, the public, and the regulated communities—as the only way to create enduring
solutions. We know the power of information, and invest in getting solid, compre-
hensible and relevant information to all who will use it—to choose where and how
to act and to assess results. We also value knowledge, sound science, cutting-edge
technology, and analysis of economic and environmental trends as essential tools for
effective action.
The glue that binds all these principles is attitude—best captured with the Spanish,
“Si, se puede”—”Yes, it can be done.” This spirit has won much progress and will
guide our future.
With appreciation to all who work to protect public health and the environment,
Laura Yoshii
Acting Regional Administrator
EPA Pacific Southwest Region
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EPA's Pacific Southwest F?egicm 3
Diverse cultures in a diverse landscape, home to 42.5 million people
Clean Water 4
Morro Bay Estuary Project • Safe Drinking Water • CALFED Bay-Delta Plan •
Polluted Runoff • Dairies • Coral Reefs • Lake Tahoe
Clean Air 9
Landmark Los Angeles Smog Plan • Working Cooperatively • Enforcement Actions •
Clean Air Plans • Progress Graphs • Howekamp Retires
Clean Land 15
Iron Mountain Mine • Palos Verdes Offshore DDT • Boosting Redevelopment • Saipan
PCBs • Mining Site Cleanups • San Diego 38th St. Site
Preventing Pollution 21
EPA Grants Promote Local Initiatives • Chemical Weapons Destruction Complete •
Sustainable Agriculture • Toxics Data • Hazwaste Enforcement • Waste Wise
U.S.-Mexico Border Region 25
Focus On Public Health • Clean Water Projects • Air Quality • International
Enforcement • EPA Border Office • Emergency Preparedness • Barrio Logan
Greening Government 29
Clean Energy • EPA's Richmond Lab • Indian Site Saved • EPA Indian Programs • Grants To
State/Local Governments • Lab Sleuth Fights Fraud
EPA Brings People The Power Of Information 32
Web sites make EPA's vast environmental information resources available to all
This report is also available on the Internet at www.epa.gov/reg/on09/annua/report
Cover photos: Kayaking at Morro Bay, California (Roland and Karen Muschenetz);
Teens stencil Honolulu storm drain to prevent pollution in Ala Wai Canal (Randall Rush);
Removing boards from deconstruction site for resale and reuse (Materials for the Future Foundation);
Clean skies in Los Angeles (South Coast Air Quality Management District)
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EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region includes the state of Arizona. California. Hawaii, and Nevada. as well as 145 tribal nations and communities. Map
shows boundaries of states, counties, and tribal lands.
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGION IX
4
PRO 75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105-3901
OFFICE OF THE
REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR
June 27, 2001
Dear Friend,
I am writing to encourage you to submit a nomination for this year’s Environmental Awards
Program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 9. The program, now in
its third year, seeks to recognize individuals and groups outside of the EPA who are making
significant contributions to improve the environment. Awards can be given to anyone, such as
scientists, teachers, journalists, citizen activists, young people, organizations, business
representatives, public officials and others committed to protecting public health and preserving our
natural surroundings.
Enclosed you will find a nomination form to be filled out and returned to the U.S. EPA Region 9
Office no later than July 27, 2001. Please note that we have changed the application process for
this year’s program: In the first paragraph of your application, please sum up in narrative form the
nominee’s major highlights from the year 2000. This segment should clearly explain what the
nominee accomplished that warrants EPA recognition, and also cite facts and figures that illustrate
the effectiveness of the nominee’s efforts. The opening para graph should run no more than six to
seven sentences, and will serve as the iiiost critical portion of the nomination that the EPA Judging
Panel will base its decision on. Please use the rest of the page to further illustrate the nominee’s
accomplishments. Secondly, we are encouraging people to submit electronic nominations this year.
We ask that you download the application form from the EPA web site ( www.epa.gov/regiono9 ) and
email your nomination to blaha.rnelanie@epa.gov . An EPA panel will review all of the applications
and select this year’s finalists by late August. Winners will then be presented with their awards at a
ceremony to be held in the Bay Area in the fall.
We look forward to recognizing the dedicated people and groups who are working all across
California, Nevada, Hawaii, Arizona, the Pacific Islands and tribal lands to protect public health
and the environment. Please take a few moments to consider who you feel deserves such an award,
and then submit an application to us. In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding this
program, call our Public Information Center at (415)744-1500. Thank you for taking the time to
help us recognize some of the Pacific Southwest’s environmental champions.
Sincerely,
L± hii
Acting Regional Administrator
Printed on Recycled Paper
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ow lo Apply
Fifi out and return the attached nomination form (you may nominate yourself) along with a one
page description of the work done by and accomplishments of the nominee in 2000. The
opening paragraph will serve as the most critical portion of the nomination that the EPA Judging
Panel will base its decision on. So, in your introduction, please sum up in six to seven sentences
the nominee’s major highlights from the year 2000. The rest of the page should be filled with
amplifying information. Please refrain from submitting additional supporting materials.
Secondly, we are encouraging people to submit their nominations electronically this year. We
ask that you download the application form from the EPA web site ( www.epa.gov/regionO9 ) and
email your nomination to blaha.melanie@epa.gov .
• Nominee must be a resident or an organization located in state or tribal lands bounded by
California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii or the Pacific Islands
• Your nomination must be postmarked by July 27, 20001
EPA will review all nominations and select the winners based on the information provided.
Entries will be judged on the following criteria:
/ promotion of innovative ideas, techniques, and/or technologies
/ ability to address an environmental problem or need
/ accomplishment of stated goals
/ ability of the program/activity to be replicated or widely shared
/ collaboration with others
/ clarity and effectiveness of the presentation
/ long term benefits for the environment
For more information contact:
Melanie Blaha at (415)744-1563
or
Leo Kay at (415) 744-2201
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Nomination Form
Submitted
by
Name
Address
City State
Zip code
Phone # Date
Name
of nominee
Address
City State
Zip code ph #
Group or
affiliation (if applicable)
Indicate award category:
_______________business, industry, trade or
professional organization
__________media
_______________local, state, tribal or federal government
________________individual
________________environmental, community or non-profit organization
Please complete and return
this form, a one page description,
and supporting materials by
July 27, 2001 to:
US EPA - Region 9
Environmental Awards/Melanie Blaha
75 Hawthorne Street (OPA)
San Francisco, CA 94105
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EPAS PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION
EPA’s Pacific Southwest Regfr ne
Q ificially known as Region 9, EPA’s Pacific Southwest
Region encompasses the states of Arizona, Califor-
nia, Hawaii, and Nevada; 145 Indian reservations and
communities; and Pacific Islands, such as American
Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, and
U.S. possessions such as Wake, Midway, and Johnston
Islands. Through Region 9, EPA also works on environ-
mental protection with three independent island nations:
the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of
Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.
Region 9’s landscapes and cultures are the most
diverse of any EPA region. The region includes Great
Basin deserts, as well as California’s Mojave Desert and
Death Valley. At the other extreme are tropical islands
and atolls stretching from Hawaii to Guam, nearly half a
world away. Region 9 has more coral reef habitat than
all other U.S. states and territories combined. Biological-
ly, California, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands are among
the most diverse areas on earth, with hundreds of habitat
types harboring thousands of species which exist
nowhere else. Hundreds of these species are officially list-
ed as threatened or endangered.
Culturally, the Pacific Southwest Region includes the
indigenous peoples of 145 Indian communities, ranging
from the vast Navajo Reservation in the Four Corners
area to small California Indian “rancherias” with only a
few dozen members, as well as Native Hawaiians and peo-
ples of the Pacific Islands. Region 9’s urban areas, where
the majority of the population lives, are home to people
from every nation and ethnicity. In California, in fact,
2000 census data show that ethnic minorities now make
up more than half the state’s population. Region 9’s largest
ethnic groups, numerically, are Hispanic, Asian-Pacific,
and African-American. There is incredible diversity within
these major groupings, and among those of European
ancestry. New immigrants from around the world contin-
ue to arrive daily. The 2000 census showed that the Pacif-
ic Southwest Region is home to 42.5 million people, equal
to about 15% of the nation’s population.
This includes the most populous state, California,
with 33.9 million. California also had the largest popu-
lation increase of any state (up 4.1 million since 1990),
and the second-largest metropolitan area, Los
Angeles/Orange County, with 16.3 million people. The
Region also includes the two fastest-growing states,
Nevada (2.0 million, up 66% from 1990), and Arizona
(5.1 million, up 40% from 1990). Hawaii has 1.2 mil-
lion (up just 9% from 1990); other U.S. Pacific Islands
are home to about 0.3 million. The Pacific Southwest
also has the nations first, third, and eighth fastest-grow-
ing metropolitan areas: Las Vegas, which grew by an
astounding 83% since 1990; Yuma, Arizona, which
grew by 50%; and Phoenix, which grew by 45%.
EPA’s Pacific Southwest Regional Office, located at
75 Hawthorne St. in downtown San Francisco, is one of
10 EPA regional offices in the U.S., each responsible for
carrying out EPA programs in their designated regions.
Visitors are welcome at EPA’s regional library between
10 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays. EPA’s main office in
Washington, D.C., under the direction of Administrator
Christine Todd Whitman, sets national policy. Further
information on EPA’s policies and programs nationwide
is available through EPA’s central Web site,
www.epa.gov
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MORRO BAY CONSERVATION PLAN
PROTECTS COASTAL GEM
n Lite 2(i'H), EPA arid California Governor Gray Davis
appro-, td a Comprehensive Conservation and Man-
a^cnunr Plan iCCMPi for the Morro Bay National
Fstuary Program in San I.uis Obispo C-ounty. The plan
sets forth commitments by over ~5 public agencies,
organizations, and businesses to take specific actions to
protect the scenic bay and its watershed.
The Morro Bay Estuary provides habitat for hun-
dreds of species ot birds and marine life. It also sup-
ports an oyster fishery and a harbor for tishmg and
recreational boats. But the bay is threatened by upland
soil erosion, which has filled the shallow waterway with
enough sediment to reduce its water volume by one-
fourth over the past century. The conservation plan
addresses rhis problem as well as flood control, water
supply, and pollution.
Much of the restoration work, including stream
restoration protects, is already underway. Since 1995,
EPA has contributed over S2.3 million to help create the
plan and put it into effect. One partipating organiza-
tion, the Coastal San I.uis Resource Conservation Dis-
trict, helped landowners and public land managers in
the Estuary's watershed put 245 soil conservation prac-
tices into effect, preventing 1~2,000 tans of soil from
washing downstream into Morro Bay. Seven volunteer
monitoring groups are routinely collecting data on the
ecological health of the creeks and the bay.
for more information on the Morro Bay \atifinal
hftiury Program, go to wivii'.nibnep.org
PUBLIC NOTICES, ENFORCEMENT MAKE
DRINKING WATER SAFER
nder the Safe Drinking Water Act iSDXX'Ai Amend-
ments passed by Congress in 1996, EPA began
requiring water utilities to annually send each customer
a "Consumer Confidence Report" disclosing the results
of required routine testing for contaminants. Consumers
are now notified quickly—within 24 hours in cases of
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CLEAN WATER
For more information on sate drinking u’ater issues.
go to www.epa.govlsafewater or call EPAS drinking
u’ater botline at 8OO-426-4 ’°1.
bacterial or viral contamination—regarding any problem
that compromises drinking water safety.
This public notification requirement makes water
providers accountable to their customers for any viola-
tion of drinking water standards and monitoring
requirements. It’s a powerful incentive for water suppli-
ers to ensure that they provide safe drinking water at
all times.
Failure to comply with drinking water standards
and monitoring requirements puts water supplies at risk
and prompts enforcement actions 1w the states or EPA.
In one EPA enforcement case, the city of Phoenix, Ari-
zona, last year paid a S350,000 penalty and agreed to
complete safe drinking water projects worth S1.26 mil-
lion, because the city failed to consistently comply with
requirements for drinking water monitoring and report-
ing (to state regulators) between 1993 and 1996. Under
a court-approved settlement, the penalty was divided
equally between Arizona and the federal government.
In another case, EPA last year ordered the city of
Fallon, Nevada, to adhere to a strict schedule for
removing arsenic from its drinking water. This natural-
ly-occurring but toxiC element in Fallon’s groundwater
has measured as high as 100 parts per billion (ppb)—
nearly double the national drinking water standard.
The EPA order requires Fallon to build and operate
a treatment system to remove most of the arsenic from
the city’s drinking water by September 2003. Meanwhile,
Fallon residents have been advised to find alternative
drinking water sources, such as bottled water.
FEDERAL, STATE PARTNERS APPROVE CALFED
BAY-DELTA WATER PLAN
PA played a key role in negotiating the unprece-
dented 30-year San Francisco Bay-Delta water plan
approved in August, 2000 by a consortium of federal
and state agencies known as CALFED. The plan’s main
goals are ecological restoration of the Sacramento and
San Joaquin watersheds, and ensuring reliable water
supplies for agriculture and urban users.
The Delta supplies drinking water for more than 22
million Californians and irrigation for thousands of
farms, as well as providing habitat for hundreds of fish
and wildlife species. Studies have shown alarming
declines since the 1960s in fish populations that rely on
Delta waters, such as salmon, striped bass, and delta
smelt. Water diversions from the Delta during the six-
year drought of 1987-1992 brought some of these pop-
ulations to the brink of extinction.
CALFED started work on the plan in 1995, in
hopes of resolving decades of legal and political “ ater
Wars” between farm groups, cities, and environmental-
ists over allocation of California’s largest source of fresh
water, the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta system. EPA
worked with many state and federal agencies to ham-
mer out agreements on a host of complex and often
controversial issues. (contnzlu’d on next page)
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Through the Morro Bay National Estuary Program. government agencies
and landowners are cooperating to prevent upstream soil erosion that
threatens to fill the shallow bay and surrounding wetlands.
Facing page: Morro Rock. a landmark on California’s Central Coast.
looms over Morro Bay Photo by Roland and Karen Muschenetz.
4
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Drinking water monitoring and reporting requirements help ensure that
public water supplies are consistently safe to drink.
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
The final CALFED plan includes an unprecedented
S8.5 billion worth of investments over the next 30 ‘ears
to improve water quality, increase water conservation,
expand water storage facilities, increase water reliabili-
tv. and restore fish and wildlife habitat.
For details, o to the CALFED Bay-Delta Program
Wcl site, at calfed.ca.gov, or contact F1PXs Carolv z
Yale at (415) 44-2016 or vale.carolyn@epa.goi
EPA COURT VICTORY IS GOOD NEWS
FOR FISH, ANGLERS
n an April. 2000 decision involving the Garcia River
in Mendocino County, California, a federal court in
San Francisco upheld EPA’s and the states’ authority to
limit the amount of pollutants entering U.S. waterways
via runoff from urban areas, farms and forests.
In the case, plaintiffs challenged EPA’s action in lim-
iting the amount of sediment allowed to enter the river
from its surrounding watershed. In recent years, exces-
sive sediment from eroding unpaved roads and logging
areas has often muddied the Garcia and other coastal
rivers, destroying spawning habitat for salmon and
steelhead trout. In 1998, EPA set a “total maximum
daily load” (T\IDL), or limit, for sediment washing into
the river. A TMDL is the maximum amount of a particu-
lar pollutant that can be flushed into a waterway with-
out exceeding water quality standards.
EPA successfully argued that the federal Clean Water
Act of 1 ‘12 gives EPA and the states authority to set
such limits. In the first decision to squarely address this
issue, the federal judge agreed. Since runoff now
accounts for most of the uncontrolled pollution entering
American waterways, the ruling is a crucial advance
toward achieving clean water nationwide.
The decision is good news for the other watersheds
for which EPA has developed T\IDLs in the last three
years: The South Fork Eel, Noyo, Ten-mile, Navarro,
Van Duzen, South Fork Trinity Rivers, and Redwood
Creek on California’s North Coast; and San Diego
Creek and Newport Bay in Southern California.
The development of a TMDL for the South Fork of
the Van Duzen River provides an example of local
landowners’ participation and cooperation in the
TNIDL process. EPA’s Chris Heppe, based in Arcata,
Humboldt County, worked with the local resource con-
servation district (Humboldt County RCD) to create a
forum for local involvement. With an EPA grant, the
RCD hired a watershed coordinator, local landowner
Dma Moore. Moore interviewed landowners and held
workshops to get their perspective on historical water-
shed conditions and land uses, as well as listen to their
goals, interests and experiences. At the workshops,
Heppe answered landowner questions and concerns
about TMDLs. The results included a compilation of
historical anecdotes about the watershed, but more
importantly, a measure of trust between Heppe and the
landowners. Later, they helped Heppe assess sediment
loadings to the river. The final product was a T\1DL
supported by local landowners.
Last year. the state of California developed a T\IDL
to limit selenium in the San Joaquin Valley’s Salt Slough,
and Arizona set T\IDLs limiting mercury pollution in
Arivaca and Pena Blanca Lakes. Over the next decade,
EPA’s Pacific Southwest Regional office and the state of
California will be working on dozens more TMDLs to
clean up additional polluted waterways.
For more details, go to EPA’s regional TAIDL V ’ch
page, at u’ww.epa.gov/regionO9/u’ater/tmdl
CLEAN WATER NEWS
Dairy Partnership Prevents Water Pollution: in 1999,
EPA joined the California Dairy Quality Assurance
Partnership to help state and federal agencies and the
dairy industry create a voluntary program to prevent
water pollution from the 30 million tons of manure
produced annually by the state’s 1.2 million dairy
cows. EPA contributed $443,40 to fund an environ-
mental certification program, including pollution pre-
About 90% of the nation’s coral reef habitat is in EPA’S Pacific Southwest
Region, which includes Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa. and the North-
ern Mariana Islands.
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CLEAN WATER
Jane Freeman: EPA’s Lake Tahoe Coordinator
n the last few decades, the growing popularity of
the Lake Tahoe region for recreation has worsened
soil erosion and water pollution in the Tahoe Basin,
threatening the lake’s world-famous clarity. In 1997,
hundreds of people participated in a Presidential
Forum at the lake to discuss how to save this nation-
al treasure by addressing land use, wetlands loss,
storm-water runoff, soil erosion, air pollution, and
other issues.
One result was the EPA’s assignment in 1998 of
Jane Freeman to work full time on coordinating fed-
eral involvement in Lake Tahoe issues.
Jane works closely with the Forest Service, Nat-
ural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Geological
Survey, Army Corps of Engineers and Department of
Transportation on funding and planning ecological
restoration projects. She also works with local groups
such as the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA),
the Chamber of Commerce, the Lahontan Regional
Water Quality Control Board, UC Davis (which has
led scientific research at the Lake since the 1960s),
the University of Nevada, environmental groups,
gaming and ski industry representatives, and the
Washoe Indian Tribe.
The federal government has pledged approxi-
matelv 5300 million for Lake Tahoe environmental
programs over the next 10 years. A key project, joint-
ly funded by federal, state and local sources, is
vention training for dairy operators and third party
(non government) evaluations of manure handling sys-
tems. The centerpiece of the program is a three-day
training course taught by UC Davis Cooperative
Extension Specialist Deanne Meyer. In 2000, \lever
travelled throughout California, bringing the course to
over 1,100 dairy operators. By year’s end, ten dairies
had become the first to be certified as complying with
all federal, state, and local environmental regulations.
I-or more information on animal waste manage-
ment, go to u ‘u ‘u’. epa.gov/regionO9/animalu’aste
Saving Coral Reefs: About 90% of all U.S. coral reef
habitat is located in Hawaii and the Pacific Trust Tern-
tories, which includes the islands of Guam, Saipan,
American Samoa, and the Federated States of Microne-
sia. EPA, as a participant in the federal government’s
- . I
I
restoration of the Upper Truckee River in South Lake
Tahoe. Development in the I 960s resulted in channel-
ization of many miles of the river, and the draining of
wetlands. This caused the river to become the lake’s
largest single source of sediment, which feeds the
algae that rob the lake of clarity. Another important
project underway is restoration of historic Washoe
tribal wetland and riparian areas to improve native
vegetation for cultural and spiritual tribal uses as well
as improving water quality and habitat in streams
which feed into Lake Tahoe. &
To find out more about the federal government’s
ongoing environmental projects in the Tahoe Basin,
contact Jane Freeman at (775) 588-4547x248 or
freeman.jane@epa.gov
U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, is integrating coral reef pro-
tection into all environmental programs on these Pacific
Islands. The Task Force’s new reef conservation plan
includes a goal of designating 20% of U.S. coral reefs as
“no take” areas— vhere fishing and harvesting marine
life is banned—by 2010. The government took a big
step toward this goal in December 2000 by designating
the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, encompassing an
ocean area 1,200 nautical miles long and 100 nautical
miles wide, as a Coral Reef Reserve.
Polluted Runoff Enforcement in Hawaii: In early 2000,
EPA issued enforcement orders to Hawaii’s State High-
ways Division, and its Airports Division, regarding inade-
quate sediment and erosion controls at highway construc-
tion projects on Oahu and Kauai, and inadequate polluted
runoff controls at the Kahului (Maui) and Lihue (Kauai)
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION • 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
airports. EPA had issued similar orders in late 1999
regarding polluted runoff from roads throughout Oahu
and the Honolulu International Airport. Together, these
actions will reduce polluted runoff from road construction
and major airports throughout the state.
EPA Approves California, Hawaii Polluted Runoff
Plans: EPA in July and October 2000 approved plans
developed by the states of California and Hawaii,
respectively, to combat polluted runoff that fouls
streams, lakes, rivers, and beaches after heavy rains or
snowmelt. The new plans upgraded existing efforts to
prevent such pollution. Together with the approvals,
EPA awarded grants of $10.6 million to California and
$763,000 to Hawaii to help carry out the plans. About
half these funds will support community-based water-
shed protection projects.
Toxics Rule: In April 2000, EPA issued a regulation
known as the California Toxics Rule, to reinstate water
quality criteria for toxic pollutants in the state’s rivers,
streams, lakes, enclosed bays and estuaries. These crite-
ria are the basis for limits on toxic pollutants specified
in hundreds of wastewater and stormwater discharge
permits issued by California’s regional water quality
control boards to factories, refineries, local governments
and sewage treatment plants. The new rule has empow-
ered the state’s water boards to more strictly limit toxic
pollution as they process a backlog of permit renewals
and write new permits.
Las Vegas Wash: Visitors on the Las Vegas Strip may
never see Las Vegas Wash and its adjacent wetlands, but
tourists and residents alike benefit from the natural abili-
ty of wetlands to filter pollutants from the area’s treated
wastewater and urban runoff, all of which flows down-
stream through the Wash into Lake Mead. The lake is
the Las Vegas area’s main source of drinking water (and
a major source for Southern California). Unfortunately,
the Las Vegas Valley’s meteoric urban growth has added
pollutants from city streets and increased stormwater
flows in the Wash, cutting a deep channel which has
lowered the water table and caused most of the wetlands
to dry out, severely reducing their pollution-filtering and
wildlife habitat value.
To restore the wetlands, the Southern Nevada
Water Authority led a diverse array of federal, state,
and local agencies, including EPA, in a partnership to
develop a Comprehensive Adaptive Management Plan.
Nevada’s U.S. Senator Harry Reid lauded the plan’s
completion at a news conference near Henderson—just
downstream from Las Vegas—in March 2000. The
Plan’s partners are already putting it into effect.
a
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LOS ANGELES AREA ON PATH TO CLEAN AIR
Sheds “Smoggiest” Title For Second Straight Year
n March 20. 2000, EPA gave final approval to the
los Angeles metropolitan area’s revised clean air
plan, already in effect, which sets out a detailed road
map for pollution reductions needed to attain the
national health standard for ozone (smog) by 2010.
The revised plan was the product of cooperative
efforts by the California Air Resources Board, the South
Coast Air Quality Management District, three environ-
mental groups, and EPA. \Vith EPA acting as mediator.
these parties ended 2 years of litigation when they
agreed on the final plan. The agreement allows the air
district the flexibility to approve newly-emerging anti-
pollution technologies.
Thanks to the new plan and its predecessors over the
past four decades, smog fighters at the South Coast
AQMD were happy to report in November 2000 that for
the second straight year, the Los Angeles area was no
longer the nation’s smoggiest (Houston was again #1).
Nevertheless, the L.A. area still suffered 40 days
with unhealthy ozone levels last year. This ground-level
ozone, the main component of smog. contributes to res-
piratorv problems, asthma attacks, damage to immune
systems, hospital admissions and lost work days, and
even premature death—cumulative impacts costing bil-
lions of dollars each year.
The new South Coast clean air plan will reduce air
pollutants by more than 80 tons per day, primarily
through advanced controls on the manufacture and use
of paints and solvents, and state-of-the-art pollution
controls on industrial emissions. Coupled with new.
more stringent state and federal limits on motor vehicle
exhaust. these measures are designed to meet the 2010
clean air deadline set by Congress. even with continued
economic and population growth. The benefits of this
environmental progress extend throughout Southern
California. since air pollution from the I..-\. area con-
tributes to health problems from the Mexican border to
Santa Barbara.
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
EPA WORKS COOPERATIVELY WITH STATE,
LOCAL AIR AGENCIES
• A Si 15,000 EPA grant to the Association of (San
Francisco) Ba ’ Area Governments ABAG) and a
S100.UO() EPA grant to the Bay Area Air Quality Man-
agement District supported monitoring of dioxin levels
in the air and efforts to prevent dioxin emissions from
fuel and waste combustion. Dioxins. a group of highly
toxic, persistent, bioaccurnulative compounds, are pres-
ent at extremely low levels in the environment, but can
build up to toxic levels when they are taken up by
plants and animals and move up the food chain.
EPA and the state of California worked with El
Dorado County (east of Sacramento) to develop a
coordinated approach to local asbestos issues.
Asbestos is abundant there in naturally-occurring ser-
pentine rock, and in some instances has been used as
gravel on roads, which creates asbestos dust every
time a vehicle travels these roads. EPA and the state
also took enforcement actions against rock crushing
quarries that emit asbestos-laden dust.
• EPA helped the states of Arizona, California and
Nevada complete statewide prescribed burning regula-
tions and policies. Prescribed burning to reduce fuel
loads is often necessary in western forests to reduce the
risk of disastrous wildfires, but weather conditions and
timing are key to reducing health hazards from smoke.
EPA worked with the city of San Francisco to publi-
cize alternatives to conventional dry cleaning, which
releases toxic chemicals into the air. EPA has also pro-
vided training and technical assistance to dry cleaners
who want to switch to non-toxic wet-cleaning processes.
Fifteen u’et-cleaning businesses in the San Francisco
Bay Area can be found at wwu 18OOCLEANUP.org
CHEVRON SETTLEMENT CUTS REFINERY POLLUTION
C n Aug. 23, 2000, Chevron U.S.A. Inc. agreed to
pa a record S million to settle claims that it vio-
lated clean air regulations at its offshore loading termi-
nal near El Segundo, California. The settlement includes
a 56 million penalty, the highest ever paid under the fed-
eral Clean Air Act for a single facility, and environmen-
tal projects valued at SI million.
These projects require Chevron to pa S500,000 to
help build and operate a health clinic in Wilmington,
California, to diagnose and treat respiratory diseases.
Chevron also agreed to spend
5500,000 to install leakless
valves and double-sealed pumps
at its El Segundo refinery. These
devices reduce refineries’ air
emissions significantly.
Felicia \larcus. EPA’s Pacific
Southwest regional administrator
from 1993 through 2000. charac-
terized the settlement as
[ Al big victory . . . more
than just a penalty. It tells facili-
ties not to shortchange people on
clean air, and gives residents the
health care they need.”
The case began in 1997.
when the nonprofit Communities
for a Better Environment sued
Chevron, alleging that smog-
forming vapors known as
volatile organic compounds were
escaping into the air while petro-
leum products were pumped into
I— ’--
1
Oil refineries must carefully monitor their valves. pumps. tanks, and pipelines to prevent leaks of smog-
forming gases. Previous page: Downtown Los Angeles on a clear day. which is increasingly typical.
Photo Courtesy South Coast Air Quality Management District.
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CLEAN AIR
tanker ships from the Chevron refinery. EPA reviewed
the evidence, found it credible, and in November 1999
sued Chevron, alleging the same violations.
CLEAN AIR NEWS
Real-time Ozoize Mapping Now on Internet: Last
year EPA expanded its Ozone Mapping Project,
designed to provide access to current smog condi-
tions, to cover all major metropolitan areas with
ozone problems in the Pacific Southwest. The Pro-
ject’s Web site at www.epa.gov/airnow, displays air
pollution forecasts, health information, and real-time
ozone maps during the annual smog season, which runs
from \Iay through October. The site gives people in the
most populated areas information they need protect
their health—which can be critical for those suffering
from respiratory diseases.
Phoenix Meets Ozone, CO Standards; Dust/Soot Plan
OK’d: On May 19, 2000, EPA announced its prelimi-
nary finding that the Phoenix metropolitan area attained
the national health standard for ozone (smog) for the
third straight year. Also for the third straight year,
Phoenix achieved the national health standard for car-
bon monoxide (CO). An odorless, colorless gas which
call be deadly at high concentrations, CO reduces the
human body’s ability to deliver vital oxygen to organs
and tissues.
In April 2000, EPA had given preliminary approval
of a local plan to address particulate (dust and soot)
pollution. These particles, much smaller in diameter
than a human hair, can aggravate asthma and cause
severe respiratory illness, or even death. At the same
time, EPA withdrew federal sanctions (for lack of a
workable plan) that had gone into effect a month earlier.
Clean Air Gains in Santa Barbara and San Diego: On
June 23, 2000, EPA approved Santa Barbara’s success-
ful plan to attain the national health standard for
ozone, which that area had achieved by a 1999 dead-
line. On September 8. EPA approved a one-year exten-
sion of the San Diego area’s ozone deadline.
This area had ranked 9th-worst in the nation in
number of days with unhealthy smog in 1995-199T.
However, despite rapid population growth, San Diego
met the clean air standard for ozone in 1999 and
2000, making the area eligible for extensions of its
1999 deadline to achieve three straight clean air years.
David P. Howekamp Retires
As EPA Regional Air Chief
s director of EPA’s
Pacific Southwest
Air Division from 1982
until his retirement in
2000, David P. (better
known as “Dave”)
Howekamp was in
charge of federal clean
air programs in Arizona,
California, Hawaii,
Nevada and the Pacific
Island territories. During his tenure EPA’s regional
Air Division built extraordinary cooperative rela-
tionships among governmental agencies, environ-
mental groups, and the business community.
Under Howekamp’s leadership, the Air Division
gained a reputation for innovation in clean air
policy and technology.
Howekamp supervised the regional Air Divi-
sion’s enforcement actions against more than eighty
air-polluting facilities during the last ten years — a
period when air pollution in the Region declined by
many hundreds of tons each year. On the policy
side, the regional Air Division recycled many of the
cost-effective clean air measures in the Los Angeles
area’s early 1990’s EPA-approved clean air plan, to
benefit air quality throughout California. These
programs would form the basis for California’s
1994 statewide clean air plans, the most successful
ever produced under the federal Clean Air Act. This
strategy reduced emissions and improved air quality
dramatically, particularly in Southern California, in
1995-2000.
In March 2001, EPA announced Howekamp’s
successor: Jack Broadbent, formerly deputy execu-
tive officer of California’s South Coast Air Quality
Management District. Broadbent took office as EPA’S
regional Air Division director in April 2001. &
To find out more about the EPA’S clean air pro-
grams in the Pacific Southwest Region, contact the
Air Division at (415)744-1219, or r9.info@epa.gov
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
U.S. EPA Region 9 Air Quality Trends 1969-2000
CARBON MONOXIDE Levels
‘ •T1. 72
?4 is .
•g$ ii
Graph illustrates decline in carbon monoxide pollution levels since 1969. Points on graph represent second-highest
levels in each preceding two year period.
U.S. EPA Region 9 Air Quality Trends 1969-2000
o 525
05
o
04
o 425
04
0375
035
0275
— 025
0175
015
0125
Peak OZONE Levels
44
42
3$
3$
34
2$
2$
24
02$
1$
1$
14
12
Is
1
‘1
Graph illustrates dramatic smog reductions since the 1970s. Points on graph represent fourth highest ozone levels
reached during the preceding three years.
Carbon monoxide and ozone (smog) levels have dropped dramatically since the 1970s, benefiting over 25 million people who live
12 (and breathe) in these metropolitan areas.
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CLEAN AIR
EPA is working with the Western Regional Air Partnership to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions from industry, thus reducing haze and restoring desert
vistas in the Grand Canyon and nearby Havasupai Indian lands.
The chart on page 12 shows the dramatic progress
toward clean air that has been made in the biggest
urban areas of the Pacific Southwest region since 1969.
\ eu’ Power Plant Permit Offsets Pollution: In Sum-
mer 2000, EPA backed an innovative clean air permit
for the Otav Mesa Power Plant, located in the San
Diego Air Pollution Control District. The permit gives
the new power plant credit for air pollution reductions
from ships and motor vehicles, to offset its own emis-
sions. This action has been cited as a model for accom-
modating new industrial fa ilities without sacrificing
clean air.
Cleaner Western Skies: EPA worked with 10 states
and 10 Indian tribes in the Western Regional Air Part-
nership (WRAP) to develop recommendations for
reducing sulfur dioxide emissions from industrial
smokestacks in the western U.S. over the next 20
dations into an existing regulation to reduce haze in
the southwestern states.
.\Jeu’ Industry Permits in Indian Country: During the
year 2000, EPA issued 13 industry permits designed to
control major sources of air pollution on Indian land,
principally on the Navajo Nation. The industries
include natural gas compressor stations, electric power
plants, landfills, oil and gas welifields and coal mines.
Under the permits, these facilities must monitor their
operations to show that they are complying with the
Clean Air Act. The ’ also must pay fees proportional to
their air emissions, which gives them an incentive to
pollute less.
EPA Intervenes in Burning Issue at Sierra Army
Depot: For years, northern Nevada residents raised
objections to the Army’s ongoing disposal of munitions
h detonating and burning them in the open air at the
Sierra Army Depot near Herlong, California. Prevailing
.3
iIi1
years. In 2001, EPA will incorporate these recommen-
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
winds usually carry the re ultiiig smoke eastward into
Nevada. But California’s Lassen County Air Pollution
Control I)i triLt. which wrote the Depot’s open burn-
ing/detonation permit, took no action. In 2000, EPA
intervened, ruling that the permit must be modified to
require that the Depot comply with the Clean Air Act.
The revised permit is expected to limit open
burning/detonation at the Depot.
AIR ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS CUT POLLUTION
any ot EPA ’s major Clean Air Act enforcement
actions in 2000 emphasized requiring violators to
prevent pollution. not just pay penalties. Some examples:
• The Timet titanium ingot-produc-
J ing plant in Henderson, Nevada,
‘ violated its permit requirements,
emitting up to 360 additional tons
per year of sulfur dioxide, a prime
contributor to regional haze. Under
a settlement with EPA, Timet will
install pollution controls and pay a
penalty of S430,000.
To settle a joint EPA/State of
Hawaii enforcement action, the
Tesoro oil refinery on Oahu agreed
to modify its sulfur recovery units to
avoid unplanned shutdowns and pre-
vent excess sulfur dioxide air emis-
sions. The company also agreed to
donate S50.00() to Honolulu to help pay for a hazardous
materials emergency response vehicle for the area near its
industrial park. Tesoro also paid a S( I , () penalty.
ir To settle numerous violations of the Clean Air Act,
Clean Water Act and hazardous waste regulations dur-
ing the 1990s, the California Office of State Printing
agreed to meet interim air emission limits, obtain prop-
er air pollution control permits. and stop using inks
high in volatile organic compounds, a major smog
source in the Sacraniento area. The facility also paid a
penalty of S320.500.
North America’s Great Basin has long been famous for clear skies and stunning vistas. This
mountain range is in Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada.
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LONG-TERM SOLUTION FOR WORLD’S
MOST ACIDIC POLLUTION
Iron \ iountaiii .\ line Superfund Site
strange thing happenned last year at the former
Iron Mountain \line near Redding, California: A
shovel, left in a puddle overnight, dissolved. Subsequent
analysis showed this water to be the most acidic ever
found, registering below zero on the pH scale.
Unfortunately, ifs more than a scientific oddity. For
over a century, this acidic runoff, laden with toxic dis-
solved metals, flowed downstream into the Sacramento
River, polluting a major drinking water source and
sometimes killing thousands of salmon.
From the late 1800’s through 1963, mining at Iron
Mountain produced iron, gold, silver, copper. zinc, and
pvrite, using both underground tunnels and open pits.
Mining scarred the mountain and honeycombed it with
tunnels, allowing rainwater to flow through, and expos-
ing mineral deposits to oxygen, water and certain bacte-
ria which thrive on dissolved metals. The resulting con-
tinuous chemical reaction dissolves the metals in the
rock and generates acid.
To stem the pollution, EPA has directed cleanup
actions which include diverting clean upstream water
around the mine, and building a treatment plant that
removes dissolved metals and neutralizes acid from the
mine’s toxic outflow. These actions have reduced water
pollution downstream from the mine by over 80%.
Since 1994, the treatment plant has removed more than
five million pounds of dissolved metals, including cop-
per, cadmium and zinc, that would otherwise have pol-
luted the river. Earlier, the mine was discharging roughly
a ton of dissolved copper and zinc per day—equal to
about a quarter of the total copper and zinc discharges
from all factories and sewage treatment plants in the
entire United States.
The treatment plant also neutralizes the water’s acid-
itv. but in doing so it generates a solid sludge that must
be trucked back up the mountain and dumped into pits
left by earlier mining. This system must continue indefi-
15
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
nitely, and therein lay a problem: How to ensure suffi-
cient funding for generations to come?
In October 2000, EPA and the state of California
finalized a settlement with Aventis CropSciences USA,
Inc. to pay up to Si billion for future Iron Mountain
cleanup costs. Aventis, successor to onetime mine
owner Rhone Poulenc, Inc., has arranged for The IT
Group to operate and maintain the cleanup system
over the next 30 years, and to pay S514 million in the
year 2030 for cleanup after that.
Aventis. which has an insurance plan specifically
tailored for this settlement, will pay roughly S160 mil-
lion now for the first 30 years of operation (estimated
cost: 5200 to 5300 millioni, pay EPA approximately
S8 million for some of its costs, and pay state and
federal agencies SlO million for ecological restoration.
The settlement also waives Si 50 million in past
cleanup costs.
\ ‘l, zt s ext At Iron Mountain
EPA and the state of California will soon construct a
new dam on Slickrock Creek to collect additional acid
mine drainage and send it to the treatment plant. \\‘hen
this is done, cleanup actions at Iron Mountain will have
slashed toxic dissolved metals discharged by 95°.
Agencies cooperating with the EPA on Iron Mountain
include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration NOAA . the federal Bureaus of Land Manage-
ment (BL\1) and Reclamation, the U.S. Department of
Justice, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National
Marine Fisheries Service, Ca1JEPA. the state Department
of Fish and Game and Department of Toxic Substances
Control. the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board,
the State Lands Commission, and the state Resources
Agency.
1-or more :ntor nation about Iron Mountain \lz,zc.
go to u wu .epa.gov/regionO9/featuresIiron nountai7 1. html,
e-nzail sugarek. ricbard@epa .gol or u’rite F P.- Super-
fund Program. 5 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco.
California, 941 tL’ .
CLEANING UP THE PALOS VERDES SHELF
Sea Floor Contaminated With DDT
Cleaning up toxic contamination on the ocean floor
poses a difficult cleanup challenge. Last year. after
16 extensive planning, EPA conducted a pilot project to
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cover 45 acres of DDT-contaminated sea floor off Palos
Verdes, California. with a layer of clean sand, to pre-
vent the uptake of toxins by marine life. Dredge barges
dropped hundreds of tons of clean sediment over the
45-acre area. EPA will use data from this project to
help decide whether a larger-scale effort is the best
long-term cleanup option for the entire contaminated
area—i — square miles.
From 1 ’ 47 to 1983, the \iontrose Chemical Corp.
produced the now-banned pesticide DDT at a factory near
Torrance, California. All this time, \lontrose discharged
DDT-laden wastewater into sewers that empty into the
ocean off the Palos Verdes peninsula. The DDT settled on
he undersea Palos \‘erdes Shelf. The long-lasting poison
still covers 17 square miles of ocean floor, where it threat-
ens fish, seabirds, and people who eat local fish.
White croaker, a common fish in the waters off Pa/os Verdes. California.
is unsafe to eat due to offshore DDT contamination. EPA ’S Palos Verdes
Shelf Pilot Project is testing a method to prevent contamination of the
area’s marine life. Previous page: Massive water treatment p/ant at Iron
Mountain Mine near Redding. California, neutralizes acid and removes
toxic dissolved metals from the mine’s runoff Photo by U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation.
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CLEAN LAND
California’s downtown waterfront redevelopment area attracts children on hot days. EPA Brown fields grants sped the
Paying For The Cleanup
Cleaning up this undersea contamination, in addition to
the ongoing excavation, removal, and safe disposal of
DDT-contaminated soil near the former Niontrose tactorv
site, does not come cheap. Under the federal Superfund
law, responsible parties must pay for the cleanup. On
December 19, 2000, EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice,
and the California Attorney General announced a S3
million settlement with Ntoiitrose Chemical Corp., Aven-
tis CropScience USA Inc., Chris-Craft Industries Inc., and
Atkemix Thirty-Seven Inc. Along with prior settlements,
this adds up to about SI 40 million that can be used to
clean up DDT and PCBs, and restore fish and wildlife.
For more details, o to www.epa.gov/regionO9/
features/pus heif
CLEARING THE WAY FOR REDEVELOPMENT
Superfund Sites, ‘dilitarv Bases, Brown fields
E PA’s Superfund Program in the past few years has
focused not only on cleanup of toxic sites, but on
clearing away obstacles to redevelopment.
At the Operating Industries Inc. site in Monterey
Park, Southern California, a former hazardous and solid
waste landfill where cleanup is nearly complete, EPA last
year reached a unique settlement in which developers
and the former owner/operators will share the cost of
cleaning up a portion of the site slated for a new shop-
ping mall.
Since the closing of several military bases in the
Pacific Southwest in the early 1990’s, EPA has worked
with the military services to assess and clean up lingering
toxic contamination that holds up redevelopment. EPA
supports rapid reuse of the clean portions of these bases.
For example, last year EPA approved the transfer of
60 acres of Monterey County’s Fort Ord, including the
Fritzche Army Airfield and 1 0 housing units, to the city
of Marina for reuse. EPA also approved transfer of a clean
portion of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard to San Fran-
cisco. This tract, “Parcel A,” was formerly military hous-
ing. The Army and Navy are continuing cleanup work on
other parts of these former bases.
EPA’s Brownfields Program kicked into high gear in
2000, with many cities completing site assessments using
rk 4
Whimsical fountain in Stockton.
neighborhood’s revival.
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
EPA’S Richard W. Martyn Honored For San Diego Cleanup
I n EPA employee for more than 20 years, Richard W.
Marrvn is one of the EPA Superfund Division’s spe-
daily-trained On-Scene Coordinators, who are on call 24
hours a day to respond to chemical spills, fires, explosions
and other accidents involving hazardous materials.
Martyn has managed dozens of emergency
cleanups, including one at Cajon Pass in 1996, where
a train derailment caused the largest release of haz-
ardous chemicals in California transportation history.
His biggest project in 2000 was in the City Heights
neighborhood of San Diego, where radioactive materi-
als and toxic ash were found in soil adjacent to homes
at 38th and Redwood Streets.
San Diego’s city government sought assistance from
I -TA’s Superfund Emergency Response Program. Super-
fund assigned \larrvn to the site. Once there, he
arranged for testing of soil and homes which had been
built atop buried ash. He also spent many hours with
residents in City Heights explaining the hazards,
describing cleanup plans. and answering questions.
Once the cleanup began, \larryn donned a chemi-
cal protective suit and directed a crew of workers in
similar protective gear as they excavated the radioac-
tive material and removed it to a safe disposal site.
Later, he supervised the removal of a three-foot layer
of lead-contaminated soil from around the homes—96
truckloads of it, roughly 2.200 tons. The soil was
taken to a hazardous waste landfill. Niartyn’s crew
then backfilled the residents’ yards with clean soil.
The source of the contamination remains unknown.
In an unprecedented gesture of thanks, the city of
EPA Browntields grant tunds. Assessment work cleared
the way for SSO million in new investment and redevel-
opment in Stockton, California’s downtown waterfront
area. Assessment at a closed landfill in Long Beach, Cal-
ifornia, will turn this property into a neighborhood
sports park. An Urban Design study completed in East
Palo Alto resulted in a plan for office, high-tech and res-
idential areas likely to generate about 4.000 jobs. Los
Angeles selected a developer to build over a million
square feet of manufacturing space and invest over SSO
million to develop a vacant site in an industrial area,
while \\est Hollywood’s Gateway Center project will
create a mixed-use office, retail and restaurant complex
18 expected to generate S1.7 million in taxes annually.
Richard W. Martyn explains 38th St. (San Diego) cleanup plans to
neighborhood residents.
San Diego proclaimed January 22, 2001 as Richard
W. \lartvn Day. Martyn graciously returned the com-
pliment, declaring that “the success achieved in resolv-
ing the threat to public health at the 38th Street site
was the result of an unwavering partnership between
the City of San Diego and the EPA.”
The 38 th Street cleanup was just one of 23 com-
pleted in the Pacific Southwest Region last year by
EPA’S Superfund Emergency Response Program—
including three oil spills. B
To report oil or toxic chemical spills or leaks,
call the National Response Center toll-free at
1-800-424-8802.
lo help local residents get jobs in their neighbor-
hoods, EPA awarded Brownfields Job Training grants
to Los Angeles and Long Beach. Three northern Cali-
fornia communities with EPA job training grants are
already having success by placing program graduates
in high-paying environmental rernediation or con-
struction jobs. The 24 graduates of Young Communi-
ty Developers Environmental Emplovrrient program in
San Francisco. for example. earn an average hourly
wage of S29.
These successes in the Pacific Southwest helped
EPA’s national Brownfields Program win two prestigious
awards in 2000—The Hammer Award for Reinventing
Government, and the Ford FoundationlHarvard Univer-
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CLEAN LAND
sitv Kennedy School of Government Innovations in
American Government Award.
For more information, go to
www. epa.govlbrou’n fields
LAND CLEANUPS ACROSS THE PACIFIC SOUTHWEST
tate and local governments don’t have the resources
necessary to clean up all the toxic sites that threat-
en human health and the environment — or to pursue
the often-complex legal actions needed to ensure that
responsible parties, whenever possible, pay for the
cleanups. Thafs where EPA ’s Superfund Program comes
in. These are just a small sample of Superfund’s success-
es in the Pacific Southwest Region in 2000:
On Saipan, a Pacific island north of New Guinea,
U.S. armed forces decades ago left a shipment of 55
electrical capacitors near Tanapag Village, a residen-
tial area. Over the years, the abandoned capacitors
leaked, releasing toxic polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) into the surrounding soil. Last year, EPA
ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove
the PCB-contaminated soil from the village. Under
EPA oversight, the Corps removed truckloads of the
tainted soil to a safe storage site, where it a\va Its ther-
mal desorption treatment.
In Richmond, California, EPA and the state Depart-
ment of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) removed
thousands of cubic yards of lead-contaminated soil from
a public housing project.
Work crews trucked the soil to an approved haz-
ardous waste landfill for disposal.
In Oakland, California, responsible party AlliedSignal
(now Honeywell International) completed removal of lead-
contaminated soil at 36 residential properties near a for-
mer lead battery factory. This work, done under EPA over-
sight, was the final phase of a cleanup that began with
removal of lead-contaminated sand and soil from neigh-
boring Verdese Carter Park, an urban playground.
In \Vest Covina (Los Angeles County), EPA negotiat-
ed an agreement in which BKK Corp. agreed to clean up
groundwater contaminated by toxics leaking from the
firm’s landfill. The BKK Landfill was the largest in the
Pacific Southwest. taking in 3.4 million tons of liquid
and solid hazardous waste before it closed 1989. The
cleanup will cost BKK about S12.5 million.
At Luke Air Force Base in \laricopa County, and
the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, both active military
bases in Arizona, the military services completed
cleanup of dozens of sites that had been contaminated
with hazardous wastes. The cleanups were conducted
under EPA oversight.
MINING SITE CLEANUPS
istoric mining throughout the West has left
thousands of sites polluted \vith toxic metals,
acids, and other poisons that can be washed into
nearby rivers and lakes by rainfall and snowmelt. Last
year EPA conducted cleanups at some of the highest
priority sites:
At the Leviathan Mine site near Ntarkleeville in
Alpine Counts’, California, EPA directed cleanup actions
EPA ’s Superfund Emergency Response Program removed mercury-con-
taminated mud, gravel, and wood from the former Polar Star Mine near
Dutch Flat in California’s Gold Country.
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
by two responsible parties, ARGO and the state’s
Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. In
2000, the Regional Board treated 13 million gallons of
acid mine drainage water that otherwise would have
polluted Leviathan Greek, Bryant Greek, and the East
Fork of the Carson River. This acid mine drainage, laced
with toxic dissolved metals, has at times killed endan-
gered Lahontan cutthroat trout. ARCO is designing a
long-term strategy to prevent pollution from the mine
site.
At the Polar Star Mine, a former hydraulic gold
mine site near Dutch Flat in California’s Gold Country,
U.S. Geological Survey scientists suspected they’d find
mercury after reading an Internet account of a man who
had dredged up 40 pounds of mercury to yield a pound
of gold. Sure enough, they found beads of the highly
toxic, silvery liquid metal in an old drainage tunnel. In
the 1800s, miners had routinely scattered mercury on
the bottom of such tunnels to extract gold from the
mud and gravel.
During the rainy season, runoff still drains through
these tunnels, carrying mercury downstream to rivers
and lakes, where it can accumulate to toxic levels in
fish—and people who routinely eat local fish. EPA last
year scooped out mud, gravel, and decaying wood from
the old tunnel, and separated out the heavier mercury
using a centrifuge. The project is expected to serve as a
model for future mercury cleanups.
Tons more mercury remains scattered over thou-
sands of old Sierra Nevada mine sites, posing a risk to
recreational miners who try to retrieve small amounts of
gold from it, as well as a hazardous waste disposal
problem. Since cleanups of all the sites would be
impractical, EPA worked with the U.S. Forest Service
and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on an innova-
tive voluntary program to collect mercury from the
weekend miners, to be safely recycled.
The program began with Forest Service and BLM
employees asking recreational mining clubs to turn in
mercury they had collected. The miners, glad to be rid
of the toxic heavy metal, turned in 230 lbs. of pure mer-
cury in the first three months. Nevada County’s govern-
ment also began accepting mercury along with other
hazardous wastes people can bring in for recycling and
disposal on designated days.
In San Luis Obispo County, California, streams and
creeks downstream from the Buena Vista Mercury Mine
were found to be contaminated with mercury. Since
mercury bioaccumulates, this mercury posed a threat to
people who eat fish from Lake Nacimiento, further
downstream, which is one the state’s most popular fish-
ing spots and a water source for farms and cities. The
responsible parties started a cleanup at the mine site,
but EPA took charge when they ran short of funds. At
the peak of EPA’s operation in September 2000, work
crews were moving 4,000 cubic yards of mercury mine
tailings out of the watershed per day, just in time to pre-
vent mercury-laden runoff during the rainy season.
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n ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
: ThiS is especially true of pollution prevention,
where waste reduction yields big savings in materials;
energy; waste storage, transport, and disposal; and poten-
tial cleanup costs. EPA promotes pollution prevention
with voluntary programs such as WasteWise (for details,
go to www.epa.gov/wastewise), grants to state and local
governments and non-profits, information on savings and
benefits, and mandatory disclosure of industries’ toxics
use and releases. EPA and state and tribal governments
also prevent pollution by enforcing hazardous waste regu-
lations, to ensure that hazardous wastes are safely stored,
transported, and recycled or disposed of.
GRANTS, MERIT PARTNERSHIP
PROMOTE LOCAL INITIATIVES
A S14,000 EPA grant to the Materials for the
Future Foundation to demonstrate building deconstruc-
tion last year provided on-the-job training in construc-
tion skills for 92 Welfare-to-Work and youth partici-
pants. The program recycled 1300 tons of material and
829,200 board feet of lumber, leveraged more than
$648,000 in outside funds, and established the nation’s
first urban recycled lumber mill, Oakland’s Community
Woodworks. The recycled lumber is sold to builders.
• The Recycled Products Purchasing Cooperative, fund-
ed by an EPA grant, has expanded to provide nationwide
service. Member purchases reached over 50,000 cases of
paper last year, saving water, energy, and 10,000 trees.
Hundreds of members include Union Bank of California,
the City of San Diego, and Sea World. (For more details,
go to www.recycledproducts.org)
• An S80,000 EPA grant funded the Los Angeles
County Sanitation Districts’ research and outreach on
lindane, a bioaccumulative pesticide used mainly to rid
children of head lice. The research showed that lindane
posed risks both to children and the ocean environment,
where the lindane ends up. The Districts urged school
nurses and pediatricians to use less-toxic alternatives.
The effort prompted the state legislature to ban lindane.
The ban takes effect January 1, 2002.
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
• An EP:\ grant funded the Clean Hawaii Center’s
efforts to build a statewide recycling infrastructure. One
notable su ess was the September. 2000 opening of the
Kauai Resource Exchange Center, operated by Kauai
Counr . The Clean Hawaii Center also held recycling
workshops on most of the islands and a created a
statewide environmental business directory.
An EPA grant to the California Integrated Waste
Management Board funded the creation of eight new
recycling businesses in Alameda Count , California, with
34 new jobs. These businesses will recycle an estimated
3 1,094 tons of materials per year.
EPA’s Merit Partnership, a voluntary pollution pre-
vention effort involving industry, communities, and envi-
ronmental agencies. last year completed a series of inter-
active workshops with ten small metal finishing busi-
nesses in Southern California, helping them initiate cost-
effective measures to reduce toxic chemical use—and
risks to nearby residents.
JACADS SAFELY DESTROYS OVER 400,000
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
. n November 29. 2000, on isolated Johnston Island
in the Central Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Army safely
destroyed the last of over 400,000 obsolete chemical
weapons collected from Okinawa and other U.S. military
bases in the Pacific Basin and West Germany between
191 and 1991. The weapons had been stored on the
one-square-mile island 800 miles southwest of Hawaii.
EPA’s strict environmental oversight of the Army’s
Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System
(JACADS). since its construction began in 1985, helped
the facility safely incinerate over 400 million pounds of
extremely toxic chemicals. The incineration process
destroyed the poisons at the molecular level.
The Johnston Island stockpile, amounting to about
6% of the total U.S. chemical arsenal in 1991, included
some of the deadliest weapons of mass destruction ever
devised: rockets, bombs, artillery shells, and mines filled
with toxins so potent, in the case of nerve agent, that a
single drop on the skin can kill a person.
JACADS was the first facility of its kind in the
world. It was designed as a pilot for similar plants to be
built on the U.S. mainland to destroy the entire U.S.
chemical weapons stockpile, in accordance with an inter-
national treat . The next such facility recently ‘.tarted
operating at an Army base near Tooele. Utah. JACADS
may also provide a model for others to be built in Russia
and other lands of the former Soviet Union.
In a s vords-to-ploughshares” move, the Army ulti-
mately plans to transfer its property on the Pacific atoll
to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for inclusion in the
existing Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, one of
the most important bird nesting sites in the Pacific
Ocean. The Army’s closure, cleanup, dismantling, and
removal of JACADS, now underway, is expected to take
about three years.
PARTNERSHIPS FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
DEVELOPING “WIN-WIN” SOLUTIONS
ince 1993, EPA’s regional agriculture team has been
working with hundreds of California growers and
the University of California to de elop farming practices
that minimize use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
without sacrificing production. EPA staff are cooperating
with the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Educa-
non Program (U(SAREP) to support UC’s Biologically
Integratcd Farming Systems projects. These projects
directly involve farmers who field test the new methods,
and commodity groups like the California Association
of Winegrape Growers, who help publicize results
among the agricultural community.
Most of the participating farms, orchards, and vine-
yards are in California’s Central Valley. where runoff
laden with pesticides and fertilizers often pollutes water-
1
EPA s John McCarroll examines bomb casings that formerly contained
nerve agent at the Armys Johnston Atoll ChemicalAgent Disposal facility.
Previous page: A worker removes boards from a deconstruction site for
resale and reuse. Lumber from such sites often includes high-value old-
growth redwood, which is rare in lumber markets today. Photo courtesy of
Materials for the Future Foundation.
22
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ways. Some agricultural chemicals, such as organophos-
phate pesticides, also pose a health risk to workers.
EPA has funded partnerships for research and edu-
cation on environmentally-friendly methods of growing
more than a dozen key crops, including walnuts, citrus,
rice, strawberries, apples, almonds, grapes and prunes.
One notable accomplishment last year was successful
pest control without organophosphate pesticides in 22
prune orchards and 11 walnut orchards.
In another project, UC Cooperative Extenstion
worked with eight growers cultivating 1,334 acres of
rice in Butte County. These growers cut their use of the
toxic herbicides molinate and thiobencarb more than
50% below the county average, and reduced their appli-
cations of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer by 200, with no
reduction in crop yields.
This ongoing collaboration between growers, scien-
tists, and EPA has benefits for everyone with a stake in
farming: Growers save money by using less chemicals;
workers have safer working conditions; consumers get
safer food.
For more details, go to u’wie.sarep.ucdavis.edu
TRI: PREVENTING POLLUTION THROUGH PUBLIC
DISCLOSURE
PA’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), which is now
on-line, harnesses the power of public disclosure to
prevent pollution: By making data on toxic emissions
and use available to every community in the U.S., TRI
has given industrial and government facilities a tremen-
dous incentive to reduce their toxic releases and use. As
a result, toxic emissions and use have steadily and dra-
matically declined since EPA published the first TRI data
in 1990. Last year, the EPA uploaded toxics data onto
the Internet from seven new categories of industry: elec-
tric utilities; metal mining; coal mining; chemical whole-
salers; petroleum terminals; solvent recovery; and haz-
ardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facilities.
These sectors accounted for nearly 2,000 facilities
and more than 15.000 chemical reports disclosing use of
nearly 5 billion pounds of toxic chemicals—increasing
the quantity of toxics covered in the TRI database by 67
percent. To make it even easier, EPA last year upgraded
the TRI Explorer, an Internet tool that provides fast
access to data on facilities and chemical release patterns
in every community in the U.S. The latest TRI data are
available on EPXs web site at www.epa.go v/tn explorer
Timonie Hood, WasteWise Coordinator
imonie Hood of EPA’s Pacific Southwest
regional office is helping EPA not just “talk the
talk,” but “walk the walk” of waste reduction and
pollution prevention. She is a tireless advocate for
recycling, reuse, buying recycled office supplies, and
conserving energy at EPA’s downtown San Francis-
Co ofhces. Timonie organized a team of employees,
one from each floor, responsible for making sure
these guidelines are followed in the EPA’s day-to-
day operations.
Iii addition to Timonie’s role as in-house waste
reduction coordinator, she also helps states, cities,
counties, non-profit organizations, schools, small
businesses, military bases, and other federal facilities
reduce the waste they generate.
Through her grant management work, Ms. Hood
has made significant contributions: She oversees the
EPA grant to Materials for the Future Foundation to
establish the Community Woodworks building decon-
struction business (see pp. 21-22).
Timonie also leads the EPA regional office’s
WasteWise effort, part of a national voluntary pro-
gram to reduce waste. As of February 2001,
WasteWise had 1,084 participating organizations
spanning 53 industries, from large corporations
to schools and colleges. WasteWise participants
examine their operating and purchasing practices
to identify cost-effective opportunities for solid
waste reduction and recycling.
To find out more about EPA’S WasteWise Program,
contact Timonie Hood at (415) 744-1113 or
hood.timome@epa.gov or go to
www.epa.gov/wastewise
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION . 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
ER -Vs analysis of the new numbers revealed that
gold mines now operating in Nevada are a significant
source of mercury emissions into the air. As a result, the
mining industry, EPA. and state regulators are now
working together on options to reduce them.
The TRI works best when all regulated facilities
truthfully disclose their toxics data. To ensure that they
do. EPA routinely checks TRI records during on-site
inspections. When violations are found (as in O instances
in the Pacific Southwest last year), EPA typically assesses
monetary penalties. Facilities may elect to make pollution
prevention upgrades in lieu of a portion of their penalty.
In one such case in Yucaipa. California, a facility installed
S22 - . 500 worth of equipment to reduce toxic air emis-
sions by about 19,000 pounds per year.
HAZARDOUS WASTE ENFORCEMENT
PROTECTS PUBLIC HEALTH
Environmental Justice in L.A.: Last year, EPA initiated a
joint effort with state and local agencies to inspect
industrial facilities near schools in low-income commu-
nities in Los Angeles. The inspectors found hazardous
waste problems at 20 facilities, and notified them of
changes needed. By the end of the year, all complied.
The effort launched a constructive dialogue between
EPA. community residents, and regulated facilities.
More such targeted efforts are planned for 2001.
No More Trash in the Wash: EPA directed cleanup and
removal of 100,000 cubic yards of municipal garbage
that was part of an illegal expansion of the Sunrise
Mountain Landfill near Las Vegas. Heavy rains in Sep-
tember 1998 had washed trash from the illegal dump
into Las Vegas Wash, a tributary to Lake Mead, source
of most of the Las Vegas area’s drinking water.
Airbag Maker Caught Dumping: In one of the biggest
hazardous waste enforcement cases in history, EPA and
the state of Arizona found that a TRW Vehicle Safety
Systems Inc. airhag factory in Queen Creek, Arizona,
illegally shipped 3.2 million gallons of vastewater con-
taminated with toxic sodium azide to the Butterfield
Landfill in Mobile, Arizona, a second landfill in Clive,
Utah, and a third near kettleman City, California. Sodi-
um azide is the explosive ingredient that makes vehicle
airhags inflate instantly on impact.
The Michigan-based company will pay SI 7.6 mil-
lion in fines to Arizona and the U.S. Government,
spend 51.5 million to clean up sodium azide at the But-
terfield Landfill, perform other environmental restora-
tion projects worth 55.7 million, and establish pollu-
tion prevention procedures at two airhag factories in
Arizona and one in Nevada.
This orcharc III IIIL grated farming sy ms) provide multipie oenefits — including improved soil conservation and fertility.
24 and wildlife habitat.
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EPA BORDER PROGRAMS FOCUS ON PUBLIC HEALTH
ealth studies show that children in the U.S.-\lexico
Border region are at greater risk of health prob-
lems than the average child living in either country.
Since widespread poverty and pollution are two of the
major reasons. EPA ’s border programs have a special
focus on public health.
Asthma hospitalization rates for children living in
highly agricultural imperial County. California and Mexi-
cali, Mexico, are two to three times higher than those for
California as a whole. Last year, EPA awarded S1 ’S,OOO
in grants for border community education on environ-
mental hazards, asthma, and other respiratory illnesses.
In Nogales and Douglas. Arizona and Agua Prieta,
Mexico. these grants fund community health care worker
visits to the homes of asthmatic children, to educate fami-
lies on environmental factors like dust and smoke that
contribute to respiratory illnesses. Two other EPA grants
are funding training for women residents of low-income
neighborhoods in San Luis, Arizona, and San Luis Rio Col-
orado, its Mexican sister cit , to educate their neighbors on
safe drinking water storage and garbage disposal practices.
EPA awarded another grant to an Imperial County, Califor-
nia. community group to educate farm workers Ofl how to
prevent pesticide contamination of their homes and families.
And EPA assistance with air monitoring and air emission
reduction strategies is helping the Mexican government
finalize clean air plans for Mexicali and Tijuana-Rosarito.
\Iure intorniation on EPA s L. .—Mexico border
prv i-ai7is is aiailable o,z the Internet at
www epa.gov/usmexicoborder
FIFTY-FOUR CLEAN WATER PROJECTS UNDERWAY
• ooperative efforts are already paying off in the
• struggle for clean water in the border region.
Fifty-four drinking water and wastewater infrastruc-
ture projects costing a total of S922 million and serv-
ing over six million border residents, including 14
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tr uu rivvt I tctL,ION • zuuu t lUFkL trur I
Indian tribes, are underway on both sides of the bor-
der. Among these are two wastewater treatment plants
in Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora, and an
international interceptor to send sewage from both
communities to the treatment plant in the U.S. Both
countries are now working to prevent industrial toxic
wastes from entering the sewer lines, since toxics can
render treatment facilities useless.
In Tijuana, Baja California, binational work continues
on a comprehensive water and vaste vater master plan for
the Tijuana area. Uncontrolled dry weather sewage flows
from Mexico crossing into the U.S. have been greatly
reduced, resulting in far fewer beach closures in the San
Diego area, thanks to the International Wastewater Treat-
ment Plant and South Bay outfall completed in 1998.
In Mexicali, construction of a vastewater collection
system and treatment plants is underway. Water projects
to serve the entire Mexicali Valley vill be constructed
over the next four years.
The 1.1.S, and Mexico have also agreed to coordinate
conservation policies and develop environmentally sus-
I
0
I.-
U)
0
x
This power plant in Rosarito, Baja California Norte, has been a major
source of air pollution in nearby T juana. EPA helped Mexican officials
develop a clean air plan for the area. Previous page: Aerial view shows
U.S. -Mexico Border along roadway. Tijuana to the left of roadway, Interna-
tional Waste Water Treatment Plant in center, and Pacific Ocean in dis-
tance. Photo: Aerial Fotobank, San Diego..
Map snows sister cities in me Boraer region. EPA works with local governments on both sides to foster binational cooperation to protect human health
and the environment.
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U.S-MEXICO BORDER REGION
EPA’s San Diego Border Office: Making A Difterence
PiVs San Diego Border Office numbers only five full-
time staff, but they have made a big difference,
meeting thousands of residents along the U.S.—Mexico
Border in the past few years, listening to their environ-
mental concerns, and helping bring EPA’S resources to
bear to protect public health in this populous region.
Clarice Gaylord, for example, joined EPA’s San Diego
Border Office in 1997, having completed a five-year stint
tamable strategies for riparian forests and wetlands of
the Lower Colorado River and Delta.
PROGRESS ON BORDER AIR QUALITY
orking cooperatively with N lexican government
agencies, EPA used air monitoring data from the
border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali, Mexico to help
draw up clean air plans for these cities. The plans list p oi-
lution control measures to be carried out by local govern-
ments over the next five years. In the border sister cities of
Douglas, Arizona and Agua Prieta, Mexico, EPA and local
officials completed the first \-ear of monitoring for air-
borne toxics and particulates. This data will lay the
groundwork for future air quality plans for these cities.
INTERNATIONAL ENFORCEMENT ACTION SETS
HAZARDOUS WASTE PRECEDENT
nsuring that over 3,000 maquiladoras (foreign-
owned factories) on the Mexican side of the bor-
der handle hazardous waste safely is a major priority
for the EPA. Mexican law requires that hazardous
wastes generated by maquiladoras are returned to the
in Washington, D.C. as the first director of EPA’S nation-
al environmental justice office.
During her San Diego assignment, Clarice worked
to incorporate environmental justice goals into the
EPA’s U.S.—Mexico border programs, making efforts to
include all affected people and groups as equal part-
ners. She organized the border region’s first Environ-
mental Justice Roundtable. She met with tribal and
rural residents as well as the people of urban commu-
nities in Yuma, San Luis, Nogales and San Diego.
Thanks in part to Clarice’s work, the EPA chose one
such neighborhood, San Diego’s Barrio Logan, for a
public health pilot project (see story, p.28.).
Clarice worked with state and federal agencies,
the community, and a local group, the Environmental
Health Coalition, to plan cooperative efforts to pro-
tect the health of Barrio Logan residents. In 2001, she
plans to retire after 30 years of government service, 18
of those years at EPA. &
To learn more about the work of the EPA’s San Diego
Border Office, contact Dave Fege at (619) 235-4769,
or fege.dave@epa.gov
raw materials’ country of origin, but all waste ship-
ments crossing the U.S. border must comply with U.S.
regulations as well. As a result of close binational
cooperation, EPA last year was able to conclude the
first-ever successful enforcement action against a facili-
ty in Mexico for violating a U.S. environmental law.
Three facilities were cited in this case: Niaquilado-
ra Chambers de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. of Pitiquito,
Sonora, and two American firms it did business with:
Chambers Belt Co. of Phoenix, and Joffrov Customs
Broker Inc. of Nogales, Arizona. Maquiladora Cham-
bers, which had shipped hazardous waste into the U.S.
without a manifest, paid a s3.164 penalty, and agreed
to train other maquiladora managers on U.S. and Mex-
ican hazardous waste transport regulations. The two
Arizona firms paid penalties of $15,525 and $25 344.
PREPAREDNESS FOR HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
EMERGENCIES ALONG THE BORDER
PA worked with U.S. and Mexican officials to
develop mutual aid agreements for responding to
chemical spills, fires, and other emergencies iii the bor-
Clance Gaylord at her desk in EPA’S San Diego Border Office.
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION
2000 ANNUAL REPORT
der sister cities of San Luis and Nogales, Arizona, and
San Luis and N. ale , Sonora, Mexico. .\lavors of the
tour cities signed the binational agreements in February
and \larch 2000.
The mayors also formed Binarional Emergency Plan-
ning Committees to keep the plans updated and periodi-
cally conduct hazardous materials emergency drills to
give local agencies practice in responding cooperatively.
Based on risks identified in the plans, EPA has provided
emergency response training and equipment to local go ’-
ernments in both Arizona and Sonora.
EPA also initiated a California Border Area Emer-
gencv Planning and Response Task Force which regu-
larlv brings together federal, tribal, state, and local
emergency response officials to share technical infor-
mation, review hazardous materials incidents and
resolve problems.
For details on these ongoing efforts, contact EPAS
Lauren Volpini at 415)44-2J or
z’olpiPzi.lauren@epa.g( )j
THE BARRIO LOGAN PILOT PROJECT
L dst November. a tederal interagency Environmental
Justice Committee selected the low-income, pre-
dominantly Spanish-speaking Barrio Logan community
in San Diego as one of 1S neighborhoods nationwide to
get special assistance from the EPA in dealing with local
pollution problems.
As part of the project, EPA’s Indoor Air Tools-For-
SLhools kits are being used to identif indoor air pollu-
tion sources in schools, and EPA is funding the local
chapter of the American Lung Association’s teacher
training for assisting children stricken by asthma
attacks. The state Air Resources Board set up an air
monitoring station in the community. And the National
Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
has awarded a S600,000 three-year grant to the USC
Environmental Health Sciences Center, the non-profit
Environmental Health Coalition and the Logan Heights
Family Health Center to study the incidence of asthma
in Barrio Logan’s children and to assess air pollution
sources. The San Diego Air Pollution Control District is
also cooperating with EPA on these efforts.
Barrio Logan is an inner-city Latino neighborhood
criss-crossed by two major freeways. The area is subject
to the release of three million pounds of toxic air pollu-
tion each year from numerous small industries, large
shipyards, and naval installations adjacent to the area.
“Cleaner air in Barrio Logan will not only improve
the health of this community, but will make it a role
model for similar communities throughout the United
States,” says EPA’s Clarice Gaylord. “This is part of our
commitment to protecting public health and the envi-
ronment of this community.”
For more information, contact EPA’s Sa z Diego Bor-
der Office at (619) 235-4o ’ or Diane Takiorian of the
Environniental Health Coalition at (619) 235-0.2 51, or go
to u ‘u ‘u ‘.epa.gov/regionO9/features/barriologan
I
U.S. and Mexican officials from border sister cities at signing ceremony
for mutual aid agreements on responding to chemical spills, tires, and
other emergencies.
The Barrio Logan pilot project includes a study of the incidence of
asthma in the neighborhood’s children, and assessment of air
pollution sources.
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Greet
FEDERAL FACILITIES DEMONSTRATE SOLAR POWER,
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
EPA’S EnviroSense and EnergyStar Programs Help
Consumers Save Money And Power
I n April 2000, EPA. the Department of Energy (DOE),
and the General Services Administration (GSA)
awarded 27 federal offices and employees for clean
energy innovations in EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region.
Their achievements included installation of solar power
and solar heating equipment, and energy efficiency
upgrades at military bases, national parks. and federal
agency buildings.
\Vinners included the U.S. Navy’s three 22 i-kilo-
watt (kw) wind turbines and a 6T5-kw wind/diesel
hybrid energy system on San Clemente Island, Califor-
nia; the National \Veather Service’s new Forecast Office
in Guam, which features solar water heating, recycled
building materials, and energy-efficient lighting, heat-
ing, and air conditioning; and the National Park Ser-
vice’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with a
4-k ’ photovoltaic generating system (see photo
iov rninert
above)—the initial installment of a planned 85-kw pho-
tovoltaic array—plus 19 clean natural gas-fueled vehi-
cles, a natural gas fueling station, electric scooters, and
energy-efficient lighting.
EPA has been working with federal facilities
throughout the nation since the 1980s not only to
ensure that the ’ comply with federal environmental
laws, but to show how they can save money and pro-
tect the environment in their routine operations. Typi-
cal actions include recycling waste, purchasing prod-
ucts made from recycled materials, upgrading build-
ings to save energY, and finding alternatives to toxic
solvents.
Details on these and hundreds more cost-saving
ideas for government agencies, businesses, schools, and
other institutions are posted on EPA’s EnviroSense Web
site, at www.epa.gov/envirosenSe
For consumer information on the vast array of ener-
gy-saving home appliances, office equipment, lights,
heating and cooling systems, and other products, search
EPA’s EnergvSta r Web site, www.energystar.gov
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION • 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
EPA’S RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA, LABORATORY
E PA’s laboratory in Richmond, California, which
opened in 1999, became the first federal govern-
ment building in the nation to be entirely powered by
renewable energy. The facility — which houses 50 scien-
tists specializing in chemical and biological analysis and
field sampling — is powered entirely on electricity gener-
ated by burning methane extracted from rotting garbage
in a landfill. This substitution of “green power” instead
of power generated by burning fossil fuels reduces car-
bon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by
approximately 2.3 million pounds per year.
In addition to their regular duties, lab employees
also participate in the community in many ways, rang-
ing from analyzing creek samples taken by local water-
shed volunteers to inviting local high school students to
tour the lab and learn about environmental careers. Lab
workers also regularly analyze air samples provided by
“Bucket Brigade” volunteers living near oil refineries
and chemical plants in Contra Costa County. These vol-
unteers, in a program started with EPA assistance, keep
an air sampling device in their homes, ready to use
whenever they smell smoke or chemicals. The sealed
samples are then brought to the lab for analysis, where
they may provide evidence of illegal toxic emissions.
EPA REVIEW SAVES NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURAL SITE
U nder the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, federal agencies must prepare Environmental
Impact Statements before they take any action that has
a significant environmental impact. This includes the
issuance of mining and other land use permits by agen-
cies which manage federal lands, such as the Forest Ser-
vice and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
It is EPA’s responsibility to review and comment on
these documents.
Last yeai an EPA review of a draft Environmental
Impact Statement (EJS) on the proposed Glamis Imperial
Corp. open-pit gold mine, which would have destroyed
portions of a Native American cultural site, was instru-
mental in the BLM’s decision to reject the proposal.
The proposed gold mine would have occupied about
2.5 square miles of public land in the Mojave Desert.
The mine would have excavated up to 450 million tons
of ore and waste rock from two open pits.
The Federal Advisory Council on Historic Preserva-
30 tion found that the proposed mine would do irreparable
damage to Quechan tribe cultural sites in the Indian
Pass-Running Man Area in Imperial County. EPA cited
the proposed mine’s damage to 77 acres of seasonal wet-
lands, as well as Native American cultural and sacred
sites, and fossil sites. In response to the EPA review and
comments from the tribe, the Advisory Council, and the
public, the BLM denied the permit.
EPA INDIAN PROGRAMS
E PA’s Pacific Southwest Region includes 145 federal-
ly-recognized tribes and nearly 50% of the Indian
lands in the United States. One hundred and twenty-
three of these tribes were developing environmental reg-
ulatory programs in 2000. Over half of these tribes have
conducted basic environmental assessments of their
lands—the first step in development of comprehensive
programs. Many tribes have gone further. For example,
last year the Navajo Nation became the first tribe in the
country to receive EPA authorization for a Public Water
Supply Supervision Program. In addition, EPA last year
selected Arizona’s Gila River Indian Community as a
“Brownfields Showcase Community” with which EPA
will work cooperatively to catalyze the cleanup and
reuse of lightly contaminated properties.
EPA Assists Tribes With Water Systems, Dump Closures
Nationwide, over 20,000 reservation homes lack run-
fling water. Last year, EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region
provided over $13 million for construction or repair of
16 drinking water systems on reservation lands. EPA
also provides funding for construction of wastewater
facilities for Indian tribes, in a program administered in
partnership with the Indian Health Service (IHS). In
2000, EPA awarded grants for 14 tribal sewage treat-
ment improvement projects.
Open garbage dumps on Indian lands are often
sources of air and water pollution. In 2000, EPA’s Pacific
Southwest office provided funding and technical assis-
tance to close 23 open dumps: 12 on Navajo lands (five
at Tonali Lake and seven in Leupp), three in California
(at the Tuolumne, Santa Rosa and X-L Rancherias); seven
on the Walker and one on the Duckwater Reservation in
Nevada. EPA also helped the Havasupai of the Grand
Canyon area bring their solid waste landfill up to federal
standards for preventing pollution. The tribes, EPA, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Indian Health Service
worked cooperatively on these projects.
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GREENING GOVERNMENT
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EPA GRANTS: FUNDING STATE AND LOCAL INITIATIVES
ore than half of the EPA Pacific Southwest
office’s annual budget goes to grants and funding
for state and local environmental programs through
cooperative agreenients. At ally given time, there are
over a thousand EPA grant-funded projects underway
in this region alone. Some of these grants provide
annual funding to EPA’s partner state agencies, which
develop their own environmental programs and enforce
federal environmental laws under EPA oversight.
Last year EPA awarded over S25 million in grants
to the four Pacific Southwest states (California, Arizona,
Nevada. and Ha\vaii for their air pollution regulatory
programs, over S 1 million for the states’ polluted runoff
control programs, and over Sli million to 123 Indian
tribes in the Region for their environmental programs.
EPA also loaned over S96 million to the four states to
fund local governments’ safe drinking water projects.
Last year the EPA’s Pacific Southwest office also issued
smaller grants for innovative community-based environ-
mental projects through the Sustainable Development
Challenge Grant program, and grants to schools and col-
leges for environmental education projects. In these grant
programs, EPA awards grants through an open, competi-
tive proposal process. Generally, these grants leverage
matching funds from other sources, for maximum impact.
For more information on EPA grant programs, go to
wwu ’ epa.gov/regionO9/funding
EPA Sleuth flacks Down Lab Confract Fraud
teve Remaley, a chemist with EPA’s Quality
Assurance Office, keeps a watchful eye on
laboratories that get lucrative government con-
tracts to test soil, air, and water at environmen-
tal cleanup sites.
Since 1989, Remaley has played a key role in
exposing 12 major cases of fraudulent lab work.
Typically, dishonest lab operators manipulate
sample data or, even worse, report results with-
out testing the samples at all, in order to pad
profits and underbid competitors. Remaley’s
work has resulted in lab debarments (bans on
government contracts), huge fines and even
prison time for the wrongdoers.
If that sounds severe, consider this: Bogus
lab results have wasted billions of taxpayer dol-
lars on cleanups that need to be revisited, and
put public health at risk.
Remaley’s work has had a tremendous
impact. Largely in response to his findings, federal
agencies across the country have adopted tougher
quality control procedures, and lab owners are
more likely to think twice before faking data.
Steve regularly sends in his own pre-tested
samples to gauge a lab’s accuracy. He also does
on-site lab audits to verify quality control proce-
dures. If a lab submits a ridiculously low bid to
win a contract, he sees a red flag. “If something
seems too good to be true, it probably is,” he says.
For his extraordinary service, Steve was
awarded EPA’s highest honor in 1997, the gold
medal. But he shows no sign of slowing down.
He’s now in the midst of an investigation
that promises to be one of the biggest lab fraud
cases in U.S. history, and he has a couple of leads
on other suspicious labs. With Steve Remaley on
the job, and others like him in EPA’s ten regional
offices, lab fraud doesn’t pay. ‘
To report suspected cases of environmental lab
fraud, contact Steve Remaley at (415) 744-1496
or remaley.steve@epa.gov
>.
z
z
In 20C ’ü, EPA s Pacific outtiwest Office awarded grams ror 1 q moal
sewage treatment improvement projects. like this one at the Cocopah
Reservation in Arizona. Photo on page 29: This photovoltaic system
generates electric power at the Presidio in San Francisco, California.
Photo by David D. Schmidt
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EPA PACIFIC SOUTHWEST REGION 2000 ANNUAL REPORT
EPA Brings People the Power of Information
Featured
This Month
JACA Os.truys Last
olChemicai Weapon. on
Johnston letond
Re on 9 of the U. S. Env oonwntaI Protection Agency (EPA) covers
Athena, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacifir Islands subject to U.S.
law, and approximately 140 Tnbal Nations We work with state, local,
and tribal govenvnents o the re on to carry out the nabons envvoninental
laws. C mass office is at 75 Hawthorne Street. San Pr r izco. California,
94105.
EPA Pacific Southwest Region Web site, www.epa.govlregionO9
I n the past year, EPXs Pacific Southwest Office has
stepped up public access to environmental informa-
tion. The regional Web site. wu’u epa.gov/regionO9, has
been expanded to include breaking environmental sto-
ries and features that highlight regional EPA announce-
ments and initiatives. In the year 2000. the site received
more than 3 million page requests. EPA ’s Pacific South-
we r Office also maintains satellite offices in San Diego
and Honolulu to make it easier for local communities to
work with EPA staff in the U.S.-\Iexico border area.
Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands.
Anyone can now e-mail inquiries to EPA ’s regional
Public Information Center at the following address:
r9.info@epa.gov. People can also call (415k 44-1500
between 8 a.m. and 12 noon, and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
weekdays to talk directly with EPA staff. This number
will soon be supplemented h a toll-free number, which
will be posted on the Web site, u’wu’.epa.gov/regionO9
as soon as it becomes available.
Nationally, the EPA makes a vast array of environ-
mental information accessible on-line through its main
Web portal at uiww.epa.gov . One of the best resources
on EPA’s site for obtaining local environmental informa-
tion is Envirofacts, at tvwu epa.gov/enviro . There, one
can search a number of EPA databases, including the
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). which allows people to
learn which toxic substances are used and released by
facilities in their communities. For help in interpreting
this data in the Pacific Southwest Region, visit our Web
site at wu’u epa.goz’/regionO9/toxic/tri or call the TRI
Program at (415) 44-1093.
In addition, EPA’s Environmental Monitoring for
Public Access and Community Tracking E\IPACT) pro-
gram has begun providing real-time information on
local air pollution levels, including projections for the
day ahead, at u’u’u’.epa.govIairnou
To learn more about rivers, streams, and other
waterways in your vicinity, visit EPA’s national Surf
Your Watershed home page. at www.epa.gov/surf.
There, local information is accessible through a click-
able, state-by-state map of watersheds, or by entering
your zip code, county, or metropolitan area. To get
involved with other people working to protect your
local waterways, check the on-line catalog of watershed
groups, at www.epa.gov/adopt/network.html . If you’re
already involved, and want to publicize your group or
events, you can add this or other information to EPA’s
catalog, at wu’u’ epa.gov/watershed/add.
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Fcr En,r rmecta Program (31 )
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contarns over 7 1 1 13 art quality regulations
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ipda1ed w h EPAs pail al disapproval of
the 1999 plan
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cerithed pant frns newsletter, and more
41
‘flat Web see focuses on sfoomation specific to Re on 9. However, you wifl
32
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U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST CONTACTS
Phone inquiries:
(415) 744-1500
E-mail inquiries:
r9.info@epa.gov
Regional Web Site
www.epa.gov/region09
National Web Site
www.epa.gov
Offices
EPA Pacific Southwest Region
75 Hawthorne St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
EPA Pacific Islands Contact Office
300 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 5124
Honolulu, HI 96850
(808) 541-2710
EPA San Diego Border Office
610 West Ash St., Suite 703
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 235-4765
Annual Report Production
Contributing Writers: Leo Kay, Lori Ann Thrupp,
Deanna Wieman, Al Zemsky, Erika Clark, John Ong, Marc
Mowrey, Jane Diamond, Paula Bruin, David Schmidt, Margaret
Morkowski, Karen Lee, Daniel Pingaro, Paula Bisson
Editor: David Schmidt
Design: Linda Herman, Glyph Publishing Arts
Printed on chlorine-free recycled paper
with at least 50% post-consumer content
Additional copies of this report can be ordered from EPA’s Public
Information Center at (415) 744-1500, e-mail r9.info@epa.gov
It can also be viewed or printed from the Internet at
www.epa.gov/regionO9/annualreport
&EPA
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