JANUARY 1976
VOL. TWO, NO. ONE
THE ALASKA PIPELINE
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Six years ago the National Environmental Policy
Act, often described as one of the most significant
laws of this century, was signed.
This act imposes a number of requirements,
including one which has achieved wide fame and
some notoriety, preparation of environmental impact
statements.
Essentially this last provision states that whenever
a Federal agency proposes to take a major action
having a significant effect on the quality of the
human environment, it must prepare a detailed
statement on the environmental effects.
This law is regarded by some as an extraordinarily
effective environmental measure which has revolu-
tionized Federal decision-making. Others view it as a
tool for obstruction and a giant paperwork machine.
Several thousand environmental impact statements
have been prepared. Both the draft statement, the
stage where review and comment by appropriate
Federal, State and local environmental agencies as
well as the public begins, and the final statement are
filed with the Council on Environmental Quality and
made available to the public.
The statement's primary purpose is to disclose the
environmental consequences of a proposed action,
and assess alternative courses of action. This process
helps ensure that the agency's programs are consist-
ent with national environmental goals and alerts the
public to environmental risks involved.
As a result of environmental impact statements.
some projects have been stopped or substantially
altered for the better. The Corps of Engineers, for
example, dropped plans for a pier to conduct ocean
research at Assateague Island National Seashore
after analyzing the adverse effects on the park and
reviewing possible alternative plans.
An example of action that was improved by the
environmental impact statement process is the Trans
Alaska Pipeline. Articles in this issue report on the
role EPA, as the principal Federal regulator of
pollution control matters, has played in reviewing
proposed actions and seeking to reduce environmen-
tal damage from these projects.
The group within EPA responsible for coordinat-
ing the key function of evaluating environmental
impact statements is the Office of Federal Activities.
EPA's regions and program offices all play a role in
the review process.
Also reviewed in this issue are some of the other
responsibilities of this Office, such as helping to
ensure that Federal facilities curb their own pollution.
aiding America's Indians in their efforts to protect
their environment and helping with a training pro-
gram which finds jobs in the environmental area for
welfare clients.
As part of the Agency's observance of the
Nation's Bicentennial, the Journal is beginning in this
issue A Parade of the Regions. Each issue of the
magazine in 1976 will have a section devoted to one
region. We begin with "Region 1 On Parade." In
these articles we hope to cover not only what EPA
is doing in each region to protect the environment
but also to take a look at some of the environmental
treasures in each sector of the Nation's marvetously
diverse and exciting natural landscape.
We also have articles on "Clean Rivers for
Whom?" and a report on the Agency's Fifth Anni-
versary and Honor Awards Ceremony in Washing-
ton.
With this issue, EPA Journal begins its second
year. Our mission remains as we described it a year
ago: to keep employees better informed about EPA's
many activities, stimulate a greater sense of esprit de
corps in belonging to the EPA family and foster pride
and enthusiasm for our role in the enormously
difficult, complex and vital task of protecting the
environment.n
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U.S.
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
Russell E. Train
Administrator
Patricia L. Cahn
Director of Public Affairs
Charles D. Pierce
Editor
Staff:
Van Trumbull
Ruih Hussey
Cover: Alyeska pipeline workers
drilling for blasting operations atop
Dietrich Pass in Alaska's Brooks
Mountain Range.
PHOTO
CREDITS
COVER
PAGE 5
PAGE 7
PAGE 9
PAGE II
PAGE 12
PAGE 13
PAGE 14 US
PAGE 18
Alyeska
Dennis Cowals*
Alyeska
Terry Eiler*
Glad Harris
Ron Hoffman
Ivan Massar*
Charles Steinhacker*
David Falconer*
Ernest Bucci
Anne Labastille*
Neil Valis
DOCUMERICA*
The EPA Journal is published
monthly, with combined issues for
July-August and November-Decem-
ber, for employees of the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency. It does
not alter or supersede regulations,
operating procedures or manual in-
structions. Contributions and inquiries
should be addressed to the Editor, (A-
107) Room 301, West Tower, Water-
side Mall, 401 M St., S.W., Washing-
ton, D.C. 20460. No permission nec-
essary to reproduce contents except
copyrighted photos and other mate-
rials.
CONTENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL WATCHDOGS
EPA's role in the impact statement process.
GUARDING OUR NORTHERN TREASURELAND 4
Reducing the environmental impact of the Alaska pipeline
is one of EPA's challenges.
THE SACRED SOIL 8
EPA is working with Indian tribes on environmental projects.
SETTING AN EXAMPLE 10
A total of more than $800 million is being spent by the Federal
Government to reduce pollution from its own facilities.
EPA OPENS NEW DOORS' M
The Agency is helping to train welfare clients for environmental work.
CLEAN RIVERS FOR WHOM?
12
HONORS CEREMONY HELD ON FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
14
REGION I ON PARADE
19
MY NEW ENGLAND by Elizabeth Strock
22
INSTANT DIKE
BACK PAGE
DEPARTMENTS
AROUND THE NATION
PEOPLE
INQUIRY
2-4
NEWS BRIEFS
The appearance of the magazine paper has paper, a step consistent with the overall emphasis at
changed because we have finally succeeded in ob- EPA Headquarters on using this type of paper.
taming a printing contract requiring use of recycled
PAGE 1
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ENVIRONMENTAL
WATCHDOGS
"I have some good news and
some bad news for you," God
told Moses. "The good news is
that I will part The Red Sea so
that you can lead your people to
the Promised Land."
"And what is the bad news?"
asked Moses.
"You will have to write the
environmental impact state-
ment."
This joke that has been going around
the business banquet circuit illustrates
an important fact of American life. No
major action of a Federal agency, no
major project involving Federal
money or Federal permission can be
undertaken until the environmental ef-
fects have been fully considered.
Although the impact statement con-
tains no veto power in itself, it is a
potent weapon for environmental bet-
terment, according to Rebecca Han-
mer. Acting Director of the Office of
Federal Activities, which oversees
EPA comments on impact statements.
The public impact statement has
proven to be a powerful tool for
guarding air and water quality and
enhancing the environment. Some ex-
amples:
• The Cross-Florida Barge Canal,
already begun, was halted because of
strong environmental concerns, and an
impact statement is currently being
prepared as the major document for
the President and Congress to use in
deciding on the future of the project.
• Many stream-channel straightening
projects were changed or abandoned
after impact studies revealed that fre-
quent local flooding along winding
streams helped to conserve water and
wildlife habitats and was preferable to
ditch-type drainage.
• The John F. Kennedy Memorial
Library will not be located in the
busiest part of Cambridge, Mass.
PAGE 2
After the General Services Adminis-
tration was persuaded to make an
impact study it became clear that the
planned location was entirely unsuita-
ble from the standpoint of traffic
congestion and air pollution.
• Many shoreland "developments"
requiring the dredging of shallow bays
and the filling of wetlands have been
halted or drastically revised to con-
serve natural areas.
• A $500-million irrigation project in
North Dakota is in abeyance after
environmental studies showed that sa-
line drainage from the project might
damage Canadian rivers and lakes. An
international commission is restudying
the plan to see if this and other
hazards can be avoided.
In none of these examples was the
impact statement the only factor in
identifying environmental problems.
Court suits brought by States or citi-
zens' groups or both, public hearings,
and even new legislation have helped
to bring about actions that enhance
the environment.
The impact statement serves as a
catalyst, Ms. Hanmer pointed out. It
brings out facts and opinions, scien-
tific data and differing points of view,
so that the whole decision process can
be carried out under public scrutiny.
Moreover, she said, the mere pros-
pect of having to file an impact state-
ment is causing Federal agencies to
alter many projects in the planning
stage to make them more environmen-
tally acceptable.
"Although there's no way to prove
it, it's probable that impact statements
that never were formally filed have
had as many beneficial effects as
those that were," she said.
2,000 Reviews
a^Vear
EPA reviews about 2,000 impact
statements each year. About 95 per-
cent of them are handled in the Re-
gions. Each Regional Office has an
impact statement coordinator, with a
staff ranging from about two to six
persons. They depend heavily, of
course, on the cooperation of experts
in the program offices for help in
reviewing and commenting.
When the statement involves national
policy considerations or when the ac-
tion or project involves two or more
EPA Regions, it is reviewed by the
Office of Federal Activities, in con-
junction with other EPA offices. Each
of the Office of Federal Activities'
reviews is coordinated by one of its 12
liaison officers, who are assigned to
work with all of the major Federal
agencies.
The impact statement process has
roots that are older than EPA. In the
National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), Congress set the policy
that all Federal agencies should con-
sider environmental effects "to the
fullest extent possible" before making
decisions in any matter that could
have an environmental effect. During
consideration of the bill that was to
become NEPA, Congress had recog-
nized the need for an "action forcing
mechanism" which would require that
agencies integrate NEPA's goals
within their decision-making proc-
esses. That mechanism eventually
took the form of a requirement that
agencies prepare impact statements in
connection with every major action
which significantly affects the environ-
ment. The President's Council on En-
vironmental Quality oversees the Fed-
eral agencies' implementation of
NEPA.
Issuance of impact statements ex-
poses Federal decision-making to pub-
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lie scrutiny. The law does not require
the Federal agency to pick the most
environmentally favorable course of
action, but statements which attempt
to cast poor environmental decisions
as either neutral or favorable to the
environment have caused several
agencies to run afoul of NEPA's
procedural requirements. An impact
statement that does not fully or accu-
rately recount all significant adverse
environmental effects or examine fea-
sible alternatives is likely to be re-
jected by the courts. If its impact
sjatement is rejected, the Federal
agency must go back and rework its
analysis.
In the detailed regulations that the
Council on Environmental Quality has
prepared, review of impact statements
by the public and other affected State
and Federal agencies is an essential
part of the NEPA process.
Not unexpectedly, Federal agencies
did not rush to revamp their decision-
making processes, Ms. Hanmer said.
Many were at first unaware of the
new requirements, or they thought
that impact statements did not apply
to them. Some merely went through
the motions, filing superficial state-
ments after their real decisions had
been made.
"There used to be some cynicism
about NEPA impact statements," said
Ms. Hanmer. "An agency might fill a
big book with straw-man environmen-
tal arguments and then knock them
down to justify its project. Often very
important environmental questions
were not. even brought up, much less
resolved. The courts, however, have
taken a strong stand on the impact
statement process, and the quality of
Federal impact statements and under-
lying environmental analyses has
steadily improved."
Alaska
Rpeline Case
A significant turning point occurred
in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline case,
where an inadequate impact statement
held up a multi-billion-dollar project
for more than a year. The pipeline
was long planned and construction
was ready to start along 800-odd miles
from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic
Ocean, across Alaska's tundra, moun-
tains, and foreuc to the ice-free port of
Valdez.
The Department of the Interior had
filed an impact statement but its ade-
quacy was contested in court by envi-
ronmental and conservation groups.
EPA's comments on the draft state-
ment and some of the Agency's tech-
nical studies were cited by the plain-
tiffs, although EPA was not a party to
the suit.
The case finally reached the Su-
preme Court, which ruled that Interior
had not fully met NEPA requirements
for environmental study. A new and
more complete impact statement was
made, including many more safe-
guards for the construction and opera-
tion of the pipeline.
In reviewing impact statements,
EPA has no final say; indeed, it is
only one of many reviewing agencies.
But a large pap of the public regards
EPA as the Agency whose opinion
counts the most, because EPA is
expert in environmental matters and
because it is the Federal Govern-
ment's primary action arm in the
setting and enforcement of pollution
control standards. (There is also the
similarity of initials: NEPA the law
and EPA the Agency. Many people
think the P in NEPA stands for
"protection" instead of "policy.")
The Agency has a unique legal au-
thority for environmental review in
addition to that conferred by NEPA.
In the 1970 Clean Air Amendments
Congress empowered the EPA Ad-
ministrator to "review and comment
in writing on the environmental impact
of any matter relating to his duties and
responsibilities . . ." and to publicize
his determination and, where the pro-
posed action is unsatisfactory from the
standpoint of public health, welfare, or
environmental quality, refer the matter
to the Council on Environmental
Quality. This amendment, Section 309
of the Clean Air Act, gives EPA a
"license to find out," to review and
make public its opinion on many Fed-
eral actions, whether an impact state-
ment is prepared or not. Federal ac-
tions subject to EPA's 309 authority
include regulations and legislation, as
well as projects for construction.
Both kinds _of review—NEPA and
Section 309—have been integrated
into the environmental review pro-
gram which the Office of Federal
Activities manages for EPA.
Preparing EB\
Statements
What of EPA's own compliance with
NEPA? The Office of Federal Activi-
ties is responsible for developing
EPA's own NEPA compliance regu-
lations, and EPA's regions and sev-
eral program offices have prepared
impact statements.
From the beginning, the Agency in-
stituted procedures for preparing and
filing impact statements for its munici-
pal sewage treatment construction
grants; in addition, the 1972 Water
Act amendments called for statements
on significant discharge permits for
new "point sources" of water pollu-
tion.
EPA has not regarded its stand-
ards-setting activities as being sub-
ject to impact statement requirements
since EPA prepares the "functional
equivalent" of an impact statement in
the documentation supporting its ac-
tions, and several courts have upheld
this view. Nevertheless, the Adminis-
trator announced in May 1974, that
EPA would voluntarily prepare state-
ments on certain of its regulatory
actions, even though they are not
legally mandated, in order to ensure
careful consideration and public un-
derstanding of all environmental im-
pacts of such proposed regulations.D
PAGE 3
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GUARDING OUR NORTHERN
TREASURELAND
"It's frustrating when you make a
tight landing on a frozen river and
then are unable to get a water sample
because the river is frozen solid," the
director of EPA's Alaska Operations
Office reports.
"Sometimes you work when the
wind-chill factor is 70 degrees below
zero drilling through as much as 12
feet of ice to find only gravel at the
bottom of the river. You can't take
the ice back because frozen water
gives distorted readings for dissolved
oxygen and other quality indicators."
Gene Dickason said that he and his
staff of 12 from Region X have sev-
eral extraordinary problems in their
task of helping to keep to a minimum
environmental damage from construc-
tion of the Alaska pipeline.
"Grizzly bears used to give us trou-
ble because they used the huge rubber
bladder tanks holding fuel for pipeline
construction vehicles as trampolines
and teething rings. We finally learned
to build the proper fencing around the
tanks to keep the bears out.
"It's our job to help control the
environmental impact of the pipeline
construction. There have been a num-
ber of fuel spills and some problems
with construction camp waste treat-
ment plants, but overall a damn good
effort is being made to protect the
environment."
Mr. Dickason said that he and his
staff coordinate their surveillance ac-
tivities with the Department of the
Interior's Alaska Pipeline Office.
which has the prime Federal monitor-
ing responsibility, the Alaska State
Pipeline Coordinator's Office and the
Alaska Department of Environmental
Conservation.
[Establishment of the special Region
X task force at Anchorage, was. in
part, the result of a recommendation
by the Office of Federal Activities.
Striving to reduce the environmental
impact of construction of the monu-
mental Alaska oil pipeline, the largest
private construction job in the world,
was one of the first major challenges
confronting EPA and its Office of
Federal Activities.
Safeguards
In March 1971, the Agency urged
the Department of the Interior to
Beaufort Sea
3ARROW
delay start of construction of the pipe-
line until tighter environmental protec-
tion safeguards were assured.
Commenting on the Department of
the Interior's environmental impact
statement for the proposed pipeline,
EPA warned that unless changes were
made "construction and operation of
the Trans-Alaska pipeline may cause
avoidable degradation and pollution."
Among the points stressed by EPA
was that fuller consideration should be
given to the effect hot oil temperatures
might have on the Alaska permafrost.
EPA also called for the development
and testing of monitoring systems to
alert pipeline operators to leaks
caused by earthquakes or other natu-
ral disasters.
Many of these recommendations by
EPA and conservation groups were
finally incorporated in the pipeline
design.
Two years ago, a Federal right-of-
way permit for the pipeline was
granted by the Department of the
Interior after Congress acted to re-
move legal obstacles to building of the
pipeline.
Continuing on page 6
Standing under an elevated portion of the
Trans Alaska pipeline are representa-
tives of the Technical Advisory Hoard
making an inspection visit. They are
(from left): Oscar F. "Gene" Dickason.
Director of FPA's Region X Alaska
Operations Office: James Mills. Depart-
ment of the Interior liaison representative
for EPA; John Williams of the Depart-
ment of the Interior's Geological Survey:
Gene I.awhun of the Corps of Fngineers
and Sheldon Meyers. Deputy Assistant
Administrator for Solid Waste Manage-
ment and former Director of the Office of
Federal Activities.
-: 4
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Galhraith Lake Camp in the Brooks Mountain Range
PAGH 5
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However, the warnings and recom-
mendations by EPA and the conserva-
tion groups had a definite impact.
EPA played a significant role in nego-
tiating the stipulations for environ-
mental safeguards to be included in
the pipeline construction.
EPA is also represented on the
Technical Advisory Board which
makes periodic inspections of the
pipeline construction project. The
board's function is to advise the Un-
dersecretary of Interior on Alaskan oil
problems generally. EPA representa-
tives include Sheldon Meyers. Deputy
Assistant Administrator for Solid
Waste Management and former Direc-
tor of the Office of Federal Activities;
Thomas J. Charlton of the Oil and
Special Materials Control Division,
and James Mitts, who is assigned to
EPA as the Department of the Inte-
rior's liaison representative.
Walter J. Hickel, former Secretary of
the Department of the Interior, has
been quoted as saying that the oilmen
at first did not understand the real
dangers of burying a hot oil pipeline in
the permafrost.
"It wouldn't just have been an envi-
ronmental disaster; it would have been
an engineering disaster."
An estimated 9.6 billion barrels of oil
can be produced from the Prudhoe
Bay oil field, on Alaska's North
Slope. To move the oil to where it is
needed, the 48-inch-diameter, 800-mile
long pipeline is being built from
Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, the closest
year-round ice-free port. From Val-
dez, the oil will be shipped in marine
tankers to terminals on the U.S. West
Coast.
The oil will come from the ground at
Prudhoe Bay at a temperature of up
to 180 degrees Fahrenheit and will
enter the line at about 135 degrees.
Some of the techniques being used to
avoid damage to the fragile and unsta-
ble permafrost include:
All pipeline construction work is
being carried out on a special protec-
tion pad of gravel built as much as
five feet above the permafrost to
avoid permanent damage to the land.
Some portions of the pipeline being
constructed in unusually icy perma-
frost areas will be elevated.
The elevated portions will provide
gateways to permit migrating caribou
to pass through.
To compensate for the expansion of
above-ground pipe caused by the
warm oil, the line is being built in a
flexible zigzag configuration which
permits some sideways movement on
Above Ground
Pipe Support
Approximately half of the Trans Alaska oil
pipeline is being built above ground so thai
the 135-degree oil will not thaw the ice-rich
perma-frost below the pipe. This insulated
pipe is being installed on support platforms
about 50 to 70 feet apart.
the crossbeams of the elevated struc-
tures.
The pipeline is scheduled to start
carrying oil in mid-1977. Initially it
will carry 1.2 million barrels a day and
this total will reach 2 million barrels a
day at full capacity.
Meanwhile, EPA's Office of Federal
Activities has been grappling with an-
other major Alaska challenge—the
Arctic Gas Project.
Buried beneath the North Slope
along with the oil is a huge reservoir
of natural gas. A consortium of Amer-
ican and Canadian firms called Arctic
Gas wants to construct a natural gas
pipeline from Northern Alaska, south
across Canada along the MacKenzie
River and then to energy-short mar-
kets throughout the U.S.
in commenting on the draft environ-
mental impact statement prepared by
the Department of the Interior for this
gas pipeline, EPA's Office of Federal
Activities concluded that the state-
ment was "inadequate."
One of the causes of concern is that
part of the pipeline would be built in
the Arctic National Wildlife Range.
Meanwhile, another firm. El Paso
Natural Gas Company, wants to build
a natural gas pipeline across Alaska,
alongside the oil pipeline. The gas
would be liquified at Gravina Point
and then shipped by tankers to Cali-
fornia.
EPA will be called upon to comment
on the environmental impact state-
ment for this alternative gas pipeline
route and also on plans for drilling for
off-shore oil in the Gulf of Alaska.
Helping to protect the vast and awe-
some Alaskan empire has been and
will continue to be one of the most
significant challenges confronting
EPA.D
PAGE 6
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An 80-foot-long section of 48-inch-diameter pipe is unloaded from a truck trailer onto a railroad
car at Valdez.
A section of the pipeline is lowered into the ground.
*'*' '•
A Sikorsky Skycrane helicopter carries a 10-
ton bulldozer lo a work location atop the
walls of Keystone Canyon, north of Valdez.
A barge loaded with sections of pipe is
moored in Port Valdez awaiting high tide and
a tug to tow it to Whittier. Alaska, whore it
will be unloaded.
•
Much of the pipe seen at this storage location
near Valdtv has now been sel in place along
the pipeline route.
PAGK 7
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An eloquent Indian leader. Chief
Seattle of the Duwamish Tribe in the
Northwest, said in a speech at a
reception in 1854 for the first governor
of the Washington Territory:
"Every part of this soil is sacred in
the estimation of my people. Every
hillside, every valley, every plain and
grove has been hallowed by some sad
or happy event in the days long
vanished."
The love of the earth expressed by
Chief Seattle in this moving statement
is shared by many Indians today even
though they may live on reservations.
Yet they are beset by environmental
problems stemming from such sources
as strip mines, power plants, sewage
treatment works and irrigation farm-
ing.
Last March Administrator Russell 1-1.
Train launched an "Action Flan for
Bettering KPA-Indian Cooperation"
and designated the Office of Federal
Activities to carry it out. A working
group was named, representing all
Headquarters operations, and liaison
specialists were appointed in each of
the 10 Regional Offices to improve
communication and expedite action on
Indian environmental projects.
David Schailer coordinates the work
of these groups for the Office of
Federal Activities. "This in-house
network of communication." he said.
"is a critical element in EPA's efforts
to insure consistent and sensitive con-
sideration of Indian interests."
A two-day conference with tribal
representatives and Indian specialists
in Denver last July was very valuable.
Mr. Schailer said, in reviewing EPA-
Indian relationships and identifying
problem areas. Conferees included
Ms. La Donna Harris, a Comanche
and active Indian leader; Charles Lo-
hah. an Osage and attorney of Boul-
der. Colo.; and Leigh Price of the
Institute for Development of Indian
Law.
After the meeting Ms. Harris, who is
president of Americans for Indian
Opportunity, wrote Mr. Train:
"... how great it is to have an
agency . . . that says /unr can we do
something rather than ir/;y we can't
do it."
EPA, she wrote, "in taking seriously
its trust responsibility to Indian peo-
ple, can be of great value in helping
the Indian community survive exploi-
tations of resources, environment and,
ultimately, culture."
EPA Assistance
Indian tribes that have received EPA
assistance range from the Penobscots
in Maine to the Lummis in Washing-
ton State. More than $7 million in
sewage treatment grants for 32 proj-
ects have been awarded to tribal orga-
nizations, the largest—$1.5 million—to
the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority in
Arizona in May last year.
The Navajos are the largest Indian
group and they have environmental
problems to match. Their lands cover
three-quarters of the Four Corners
area where Colorado, Utah. Arizona,
and New Mexico meet (the Colorado
sector belongs to the Utes). Navajo
lands are being strip-mined for coal.
which is burned in huge power plants
also on Indian lands. The Navajo Envi-
ronmental Protection Commission,
headed by Dr. Harold Tso. a nuclear
chemist, is concerned about control-
ling air pollution from the power
plants and reclaiming and restoring the
strip-mined soil.
The Navajo reservation lies in three
States and three Federal regions.
This has caused some confusion for
tribal environmentalists.
Indians' concern over pollution has
brought some ancient tribal rivals to-
gether. Mr. Schailer pointed out. The
Crows and the Northern Cheyennes
have united in their dealings with
EPA's Region VIII. They arc work-
ing together trying to renegotiate coal
leases made as long as 20 years ago.
The long dormant teases now being
exercised yield the tribal land owners
only pennies per ton, not nearly
enough to provide environmental pro-
tection. The Crow-Cheyenne alliance
also seeks to have the Clean Air Act
amended to recognize Indian tribal
governments as it does States.
P.UiH 8
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Separated here only by a narrow strip of
water, the Four Comers Power Plant and
a Navajo sheepherder represent two dif-
ferent worlds.
Relationships
In addition to expediting financial
and technical assistance to Indian
tribes, EPA's working group and re-
gional liaison specialists seek to untan-
gle the complex relationships between
Indian tribes and the States. There are
more than 120 recognized tribes and
tribal councils, many of which have
special legal status, said Mr. Schaller.
There are also hundreds of Federal
laws regarding Indians, nearly 400
different treaties, and more than 2,000
court decisions.
Getting Federal assistance for envi-
ronmental programs on Indian lands
can sometimes pose special questions
for EPA such as:
• Is an Indian tribe a "ward" of the
Federal Government under the Inte-
rior Department's Bureau of Indian
Affairs?
• Is il a separate, sovereign Nation,
as many tribes claim, citing treaties
dating to colonial times?
• I s a tribal group in a certain State
obliged to follow that State's regula-
tions and procedures?
• What about tribes whose lands lie
in two or more States, or in more than
one Federal region?
"EPA must take care to acknowledge
these complex relationships in its reg-
ulations and policies." Mr. Schaller
said. "This is especially important
whenever the Agency proposes to
allow the States to assume control
over environmental programs previ-
ously administered by EPA."
In any case, the Indian presence will
be difficult to forget. Chief Seattle in
the same speech quoted at the begin-
ning of this article asserted that the
shadowy spirits of departed Indians
will always be present:
"At night when the streets of your
cities and villages are .silent and you
think them deserted, they will throng
with the returning hosts that once
filled them and still love this beautiful
land. The white man will never be
alone."o
p.uii.
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SETTING AN EXAMPLE
"Our government is the potent.
the omnipresent teacher. For
good or ill. it teaches the whole
people by its example/'
—Justice Louis Brandeis
Eglin Air Force Base in northwest-
ern Horida used to pour 1.8 million
zallons of sewage effluent into Choc-
awhatchee Bay every day.
Now this discharge which was poi-
nting the bay has been halted, the
wastewater is given a high degree of
treatment and then sprayed on woods
and fields at the huge base.
In addition to reducing algal growth
n the Bay. the spraying helps to
eplenish ground water.
This project helped Hglin win a De-
fense Department annual award for
the best environmental program at a
military facility.
In Washington. D.C.. the burning of
dirty old money will soon no longer
pollute the air because the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing is installing a
smoke-free incinerator for burning cur-
rency retired from circulation.
These are only two cases of Uncle
Sam setting a good environmental ex-
ample.
FPA's Office of Federal Activities.
which is responsible for monitoring
such things, estimates that U.S. facil-
ity compliance is keeping up with or is
ahead of the private sector.
"Most of the major Federal pollution
sources are either in full compliance
with FPA air and water standards or
they have agreed to definite timetables
for achieving compliance." said Re-
becca Hanmer. Acting Director of the
Office of Federal Activities. "Our
remaining problems are generally with
the minor Federal sources."
As of June 30. I97.V 4.719 pollution
control projects at Federal facilities
had been completed in the past eight
years at a cost of SX42 million. This is
divided into S593 million for 3.244
water projects and $249 million for
1.475 air projects.
There are more than 20.000 Federal
facilities scattered throughout the
country. They include electric power
stations, industrial plants, military
bases, naval ships and dockyards.
aircraft and airfields, laboratories, hos-
pitals, parks, and office buildings.
One-third of the Nation's land area is
Treated sewage is sprayed onto wooded area
at Hglin Air Force Base to avoid polluting a
nearby hay used for recreation.
federally owned. How all these prop-
erties are managed has a significant
bearing on environmental quality.
The Federal facilities clean-up pro-
gram is being carried out under Exec-
utive Order 11752. The Order reiter-
ates the national policy that Federal
agencies should lead the way in pollu-
tion abatement and directs EPA to
oversee Federal compliance.
Under the Executive Order, EPA is
responsible for:
• Issuing regulations and guidelines
for Federal compliance,
• Reviewing compliance,
• Providing liaison and mediating con-
flicts between Federal agencies and
State and local agencies, and
• Providing technical advice and as-
sistance to Federal agencies.
Procedures are being developed by
the various program offices in eon-
junction with the Office of Federal
Activities to assess Federal facility
compliance with solid waste disposal
guidelines, regulations governing pesti-
cides and radioactivity and noise
standards.
Executive Order 11752 was designed
to provide a means of assuring that
Federal facilities comply fully with
Federal environmental laws. This in-
cludes such environmental authorities
as the Clean Air Act; the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act: the
Solid Waste Disposal Act; the Noise
Control Act; the Marine Protection,
Research, and Sanctuaries Act and
the Federal Insecticide. Fungicide.
and Rodenticide Act.
The Order requires all U.S. agencies
to give EPA the information needed
to determine compliance and to coop-
erate with State and local agencies.
EPA sets the guidelines for monitor-
ing and reporting.
If a military post needs a discharge
permit for treated wastewater from its
sewage treatment plant, EPA issues
it. If a power plant at a Federal
facility is spewing smoke and sulfur
oxides into the air. EPA has power to
inspect the plant, determine the viola-
tions, and negotiate abatement agree-
ments to bring it into compliance.
The Agency has another tool to help
bring Federal agencies into compli-
ance: the budget process. Each year it
reviews and evaluates all spending
proposals for pollution control and
advises the Office of Management and
Budget as to which ones should have
priority. The Agency also recom-
mends the inclusion of necessary proj-
ects that have been omitted from the
first budget requests. Such projects
are identified by Regional Office in-
spection visits, review of discharge
permit applications, or contacts with
State and local environmental agen-
cies.
A number of jurisdictional issues
have recently been raised in the courts
and Congress. Many have argued that
Federal agencies should comply with
all State requirements, both substan-
tive and procedural. Under the Execu-
tive Order. EPA establishes the pro-
cedural requirements through which
the Federal agencies must comply
with Federal, State, and local substan-
tive pollution control standards. Sev-
eral States have challenged in court
this interpretation of substantive ver-
sus procedural compliance.
But the legal questions are still not
settled. Three recent Court of Appeal
cases have reached differing conclu-
sions on jurisdictional disputes be-
tween Federal and State Govern-
ments.
The Supreme Court has agreed to
hear appeals in two of these cases.
Meanwhile, Congress may make moot
any decision on air pollution enforce-
ment by amending the Clean Air Act
to make clear that Federal sources are
to be treated like any others and must
conform to State procedures.
This issue has not detracted from
EPA's continuing efforts to oversee
Federal facilities' compliance with pol-
lution abatement requirements and
most Federal agencies are moving
forward with good environmental pro-
grams, n
PACiK 10
-------
EPA OPENS NEW DOORS
Together with the Department of
Labor, EPA is sponsoring a novel
pilot project that trains welfare clients
for employment in environmental
services.
Prime beneficiaries of the program so
far have been mothers with dependent
children, who are on welfare and
enrolled in the federal Work Incentive
Program. After training, these people
many of whom have never worked
outside their homes before, are em-
ployed by State, local, quasi-public and
non-profit agencies in pollution control
and abatement facilities.
The project is directed by EPA's
Education and Manpower Planning
Staff. Office of Federal Activities.
They are responsible for finding envi-
ronmental job opportunities, providing
training, both in the class-room and
on-the-job, placing people in jobs and
then checking on their progress.
Funding—about $1 million annually—
is provided by the Labor Department.
Ms. Gladys Harris. EPA's national
coordinator for the program, said that
the project has been successful in
upgrading employment for women.
particularly black women in the
South.
In South Carolina, she reported. 116
black women now are employed in
environmental jobs, many of them in
fields traditionally dominated by men.
In Anderson. S.C., for example, two
three-women teams have been em-
ployed as trash collection crews; the
towns of Cayce and Sumter now have
their first women water meter readers
and in Florence a woman drives a city
sanitation truck.
Encouraging results have been re-
ported from the Connecticut program
as well. Five training classes have
been given there, and all 76 trainees,
64 women and 12 men. have been
placed in environmental service jobs.
In other parts of the country, Ms.
Harris said, women are being re-
cruited, trained and placed in jobs in
park and recreational area mainte-
C'arol Turc. graduated from an EPA/WIN
program as an apprentice wastewater'water
plant operator in May. 1974. and went to the
Anne Arundel County. Md.. plant for work
and further training. She is now a certified
wastes atcr plant operator, and soon will be in
charge of ihe water testing laboratory at the
Maryland House of Corrections in Jessup.
Md. In the photograph above she is preparing
a water sample. Ms. Turc is .Ml and the
mother of three chi dren.
nance, pesticide application, vehicle
operation, fish hatcheries, laboratories
and waste water treatment plant oper-
ations. AH workers under the program
are paid at least at the Federal mini-
mum wage level and in some in-
stances considerably more.
Some comments from participants in
the program follow:
Marilyn Preston, training to be an
operator at the Broadneck Wastewater
Plant in Anne Arundel County, Md.,
and who plans to take further licen-
sing tests to qualify for advancement:
"1 found something I think I am
capable of doing and enjoy it. I want
to send my three children to college.
You may not be a supervisor for 20
years, but you can keep on advancing.
If you take the tests and pass them.
your salary increases."
Lynda Morrison, a pesticides appli-
cator in the Fort Worth/Dallas area:
"I like the independence the job
provides and I like the pay. 1 like
meeting people and talking to them."
Sergio Zampa, wastewater treatment
operator at Pautuxent, Md., whose
long-range goal is to become a Senior
Plant Operator:
"I like the outside work and more
important it means security. When I
see something to be done. 1 go out
and do it myself."
Although training in specific skills is
the core of the program, the Work
Incentive Program recognizes that
special services are needed for people
who are leaving the welfare rolls for
the first time.
Caseworkers provide personal coun-
seling and help in providing services
such as funding transportation and day
care for children.
The program is underway in seven
States with these State agencies:
Colorado—Denver Regional Coun-
cil of Governments.
Connecticut—State Department of
Environmental Protection.
Louisiana—State Department of
Education.
Maryland—State Department of
Natural Resources.
Montana—State Department of
Health and Environmental Sciences.
South Carolina—State Board for
Technical and Comprehensive Educa-
tion.
Texas—North Central Texas Coun-
cil of Governments.
As of the end of October, a total of
717 people had been placed in envi-
ronmentally related jobs and an addi-
tional 800 job openings were located.
Ms. Patricia Powers, national training
officer for the program, says that she
is optimistic about the future and
believes an increasing number of
States will use the program as an
answer to the critical need for trained
workers in the environmental services
field.
PAGK I
-------
CLEAN RIVERS FOR WHOM?
The massive cleanup of America's
waterways now underway must be
accompanied by prompt planning to
ensure that the recreational benefits of
clean waters are available to the work-
ing man and his family.
Administrator Russell E. Train made
this point at a recent Conference on
Water Cleanup and the Umd held in
Boston.
The conference launched a joint ef-
fort by EPA and the Department of
the Interior to assist State and local
Governments and private citizens in
obtaining a good return from the
nearly $18 billion being invested by
the Federal Government in wastewa-
ter treatment plants.
Mr. Train told the conference that
this massive Federal program "will
raise property values along those
shorelines downstream from treatment
plants. When a polluted river becomes
clean enough for fishing and boating
and swimming, it attracts people and
land development."
The Administrator emphasized that
"the public has a right to share more
fully in these enhanced values, partic-
ularly in the case of cleaner rivers.
since it has been tax dollars—public
dollars—that made possible the trans-
formation of a body of water from an
environmental liability to a source of
recreation and aesthetic beauty.
"This conference is particularly con-
cerned with assuring public access and
public use of shorelands along
cleaned-up waterways, either down-
stream from the treatment plant or
even right at the plant itself."
Mr. Train predicted that unless
sound planning precedes the devel-
opment of cleaned-up shorelines, the
result will be a zoning disaster.
"I am sure that you all have seen the
kind of problem I am talking about:
the shabby hot dog stand here and the
gas station there, the noisy and lit-
tered and commercialized beaches,
the landscape disfigured by billboards,
the monopolized stretches of shore-
lines with their "No Trespassing' signs
and the whole region a victim of the
speculator's quick-profit, build-it-and-
get-uut philosophy.
"We have seen all too often that
PA (IK 12
One of the activities for those attending the Water Cleaup and the Land Conference in Boston
was a field trip to see river site conditions. Observing a Nashua River setting from a mill
embankment are two EPA officials (right foreground) Shelley M. Mark. Director of the Office
of Land Use Coordination, and Patricia L. Cahn. Director of the Public Affairs Office.
rural slums can emerge like a cancer
around artificial lakes when devel-
opers lack the foresight or the public
spirit to set aside open spaces and
build proper access roads. As Tho-
reau once said 'What is the use of a
house if you haven't got a tolerable
planet to put it on?' '
Action to ensure public access to the
restored waterways is essential not for
"a handful of special interest groups,
but (for) the ordinary working man
and his family who want and need
recreation areas, particularly recrea-
tion areas that are close to home, and
whose tax dollars already are invested
in clean rivers."
Mr. Train recalled that in a cele-
brated court decision. Supreme Court
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once
wrote, "A river is more than an
amenity, it is a treasure. It offers a
necessity of life that must be rationed
among those who have power over
it."
Mr. Train told the conference that
there are several sections of the Fed-
eral Water Pollution Control Act of
1972 which can be used to help secure
full value on funds invested in water
cleanup.
"First," he said, "is Section 201
which states that the EPA Adminis-
trator 'shall encourage waste treat-
ment management which combines
open space and recreation considera-
tions with such management.'
"Next is Section 208 which author-
izes the Administrator to provide
technical assistance in development of
areawide waste treatment management
plans. And Section 303 also provides
authority for intergovernmental coop-
eration with respect to the planning
process."
The Administrator said that studies
and recommendations on water-related
recreation opportunities may be car-
ried on under both Section 201 and
208. Section 201. he noted, provides
opportunities, in a series of steps, for
coordinating the project layout, engi-
neering design, and construction
scheduling of a treatment plant with
considerations for recreation and open
space.
Sixteen regional planning agencies or
councils of government in New Eng-
-------
THE PROMISE OF AMERICA'S
RIVERS
The delights of swimming and fishing
in clean river waters are seen in these
photographs. With the aid of a $18
billion Federal investment in wastewa-
ter treatment, many waterways are
being transformed from an environ-
mental liability to a source of recrea-
tion and beauty. Efforts are now being
made to protect the public's right to
share more fully in the benefits of the
cleaner rivers provided by tax dollars.
Swinging ou( on a rope over the Squannacook River, (his boy is about to plunge into one of the
favorite swimming spots on this scenic Massachusetts river near Boston.
land have now initiated Section 208
areawide plans, and these plans
should identify specific recreation use
opportunities and coordinate access
arid shoreland protection needed to
support proposed water uses, he said.
"Within the Bureau of Outdoor Rec-
reation, the Land and Water Conser-
vation Fund finances acquisition of
lands for Federally administered recre-
ation areas and provides matching
grants to States for recreation plan-
ning, acquisition and development.
"The Bureau assists States in devel-
oping comprehensive outdoor recrea-
tion plans required for States or locali-
ties to participate in the Fund grant
program, and also provides technical
assistance to State and local agencies
for their outdoor recreational pro-
grams."
In addition, Mr. Train noted, the
U.S. Department of Housing and Ur-
ban Development under Section 701
of the Housing and Community Act of
1974 provides comprehensive planning
grants to States for regional and local
activities.
"These planning grants." he said,
"are concerned with the pattern and
intensity of land use. As I announced
earlier this year, EPA has an agree-
ment with HUD on coordination of
the land use-related provisions of our
Section 208 and the HUD 701 grant
programs."
So, Mr. Train emphasized, there is
legal authority available for Federal
participation with State and local
agencies in the planning process to
ensure public benefit from cleaner
rivers. D
Fishing in the Androscoggin River, in Maine.
l-'ishing boats dot the Willamette Ri\er south
of Portland. Oreg. Massive pollution control
efforts have helped to restore this waterway
for recreation.
??:££•*
Ihese uningsters are flouting on inner tubes down the Chattahoochee River near Helen. Ga.
PAGH 13
-------
HONORS CEREMONY
HELD ON
FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
"We celebrate our anniversary with
every reason for pride in our accom-
plishments, our own ability, and the
importance of our work," Administra-
tor Russell F,. Train told a convoca-
tion of EPA employees in Washington
on Dec. 2. exactly five years after the
founding of the Agency.
"At the same time we know that the
greatest challenges still lie before us.
The job of environmental protection
has just begun."
About 8(X) employees and members
of their families met in the Depart-
mental Auditorium on Constitution
Avenue for H PA's Fifth Annual
Awards ceremony, at which 22 indi-
viduals and five groups including 51
PACif. 14
persons were honored for their out-
standing work during 1975. (Award
winners' names were published in last
month's issue of the EPA Journal.)
The people of EPA. Mr. Train said.
"can take great pride in the fact that
we are—with all our faults and fail-
ings—what we have always said we
were: a government of laws and not of
men and women merely.
"Yet ... the essential worth and
workability of our laws . . . are deter-
mined ... by the character and com-
petence of the men and women who
administer those laws. Because each
of you has given so much . . . com-
mitment and plain hard work, there
has been steady and solid prog-
Regional Administrators awarded special fifth
anniversary plaques by Administrator Train
arc (from left): John A. S. McGlcnnon.
Region I; Gerald M. Hansler. Region II;
Daniel J. Snydcr. Ill: Jack K. Ravan. Region
IV: Depuiy Regional Administrator Valdas V.
Adamkus. Region V; Administrator Train.
John ('. While. Region VI: Jerome H.
Svore. RegionV I 1: John A. Green. Region
VI11: Paul Del-alco Jr.. Region IX: and
Clifford V. Smith Jr.. Region X.
ress ..." toward the goal of "creating
a cleaner and healthier environment
for all Americans."
Mr. Train acknowledged hearing
the suggestion that the Agency's
greatest recent accomplishment has
been to survive, with its environmen-
tal programs, "at a time of serious
economic and energy difficulties."
-------
"This may have an element of truth
in it." he said, "but the fact is that,
despite strong counteiforces at work,
EPA has not merely survived but has
survived with strength. We have dis-
played continuing and growing vitality
as an institution, while at the same
time achieving very real progress in
meeting environmental goals."
He said EPA will continue the ef-
forts already under way to improve its
effectiveness by:
• Seeking to minimize the social and
economic impacts of regulations and
enforcement. "We have the most
open and rigorous process of eco-
nomic impact analysis in the entire
Federal Government."
• Simplifying and streamlining EPA
regulations. "Our success will be
measured by how clean the air and
water become, not by the quantity
and complexity of our regulations, and
we are therefore committed to a con-
tinuing program of regulatory review."
• Setting standards and deadlines
that force polluters to take action and
force the development of new control
technology. "The disadvantages of a
certain amount of non-attainment on
schedule . . . are far outweighed by
the advantages (of forced develop-
ment)."
• Strengthening the participation of
States, local governments, and other
public groups in developing and carry-
ing out EPA regulations.
"We need to strengthen the role of
our regions . . . and this means de-
emphasizing the role of EPA head-
quarters where we can."
Special guest at the convocation was
William D. Ruckelshaus, the first Ad-
ministrator of EPA, who received a
standing ovation when he was intro-
duced by Mr. Train.
The two-and-a-half years as head of
EPA were the most exciting years of
his life, Mr. Ruckelshaus said. He
congratulated EPA employees on their
good work. "Now, as a private citi-
zen," he concluded, "I want to say
Thank you.' '
Mr. Train presented the Gold Med-
als for Exceptional Service and Silver
Medals for Superior Service to the
various recipients. Their names were
William D. Ruckelshaus. EPA's first Administ:ator. addresses Agency employees
after receiving a standing ovation.
called and citations read by their supe-
riors in Headquarters offices or by
Regional Administrators. Those offi-
cials included Alvin L. Aim. Assistant
Administrator for Planning and Man-
agement: Dr. Andrew Breidenbach.
Acting Assistant Administrator for
Water and Hazardous Materials; Pa-
tricia Cahn, Director. Office of Public
Affairs; Carl Gerber, Associate As-
sistant Administrator for Research and
Development: Rebecca Hanmer, Act-
ing Director', Office of Federal Activi-
ties; Fitzhugh Green, Associate Ad-
ministrator. Office of International
Activities; Roger Strelow. Assistant
Administrator for Air and Waste
Management; and five Regional Ad-
ministrators: John A. S. McGlennon.
Region I; Gerald M. Hansler. Region
II; Jerome H. Svore. Region VII;
John A. Green, Region VIII; and
Clifford V. Smith. Region X.
Deputy Administrator John R.
Quarles Jr. assisted in the presentation
of the Youth Awards. Rupert Moray.
Executive Officer of the U.S. Public
Health Service, made the presenta-
tions of PHS Meritorious Service
Medals to three officers assigned to
EPA.
At the conclusion of the ceremony,
fifth anniversary plaques were given
by Mr. Train to each of the 10
Regional Administrators in recognition
of regional employees' contributions
to the Agency's work during the last
five years.
Mr. Aim announced that all employ-
ees who have been with EPA since its
founding—about 3.500 persons—will
be given personal certificates of appre-
ciation, suitable for framing and signed
by Mr. Ruckelshaus and Mr. Train.n
-------
paper mills cited
Two paper mills in Maine have been
ordered by EPA to reduce their air
pollution. Great Northern Paper Co.,
MilJinocket, and International Paper
Co., Jay, were found to be operating in
violation of emissions regulations for
particulates. Both companies had been
granted variances by the Maine Board
of Environmental Protection. However,
this variance does not protect the com-
pany from Federal enforcement action.
Regional Administrator John Mc-
Glennon said that the two orders place
the companies under compliance sched-
ules similar to those contained in the
two State variances. The enforcement
actions were taken in accordance with
EPA's policy of initiating Federal ac-
tion against major sources of air pollu-
tion which were not in compliance with
all applicable State and Federal require-
ments by June 1, 1975.
birthday awards
Marking EPA's fifth anniversary. Re-
gion II recently presented special
awards to 18 persons active in local
government, civic groups, education,
business, and journalism for their work
in environmental causes. An additional
110 persons received certificates of ap-
preciation.
permit authority
New York State has been granted
authority to take over the issuance and
enforcement of wastewater discharge
permits, the 27th State to do so.
PAGE 16
pesticide fines
Nearly $5,000 in fines for pesticide law
violations have been paid by five Re-
gion II firms: American Cyanamid,
Princeton, N.J., $3,080; Hollowick,
Inc., Manlius, N.Y., $950; Long Island
Paint and Chemical Co., Glen Cove,
N.Y., $720; and Brewer Chemical,
Trenton, N.J., $200.
Philadelphia sewage
Region III has ordered the City of
Philadelphia to prepare detailed sched-
ules for expanding and upgrading three
big sewage treatment plants. The work
is expected to cost $400 million (with
75 percent Federal funds) and boost
treatment plant efficiencies to 85 per-
cent removal. The city must submit
completed plans for the Southwest
plant Dec. 31, 1975, and for the North-
east and Southeast plants at three-
month intervals thereafter.
scrubber agreement
The Louisville Gas and Electric Co..
Louisville, Ky., has agreed to install
"scrubbers" on five large electric
power generating plants, Regional Ad-
ministrator Jack E. Ravan announced
recently.
It is the first contractual agreement by
an electric utility with EPA to install
such equipment on an essentially sys-
temwide basis, Mr. Ravan said. It
indicated the growing acceptance of
flue gas desulfurization systems by the
industry.
These systems, commonly called scrub-
bers, remove sulfur oxides from the
stack gases of power plants to reduce
air pollution.
Mr. Ravan said the agreement includes
a timetable for putting the scrubbers in
operation, with the last one to be
installed and working by July 1979.
states take over
Three southeastern States—Georgia,
South Carolina, and Mississippi—have
won EPA approval for certifying pri-
vate and commercial applicators of re-
stricted-use pesticides.
Regional Administrator Jack E. Ravan
said he expected that Florida and
North Carolina would also win such
sanction before the end of 1975.
"These actions give me great satisfac-
tion," Mr. Ravan said. "Certification is
a positive benefit to farmers, ranchers,
consumers, and others, because it in-
sures the competence of persons using
the more hazardous pesticides." After
Oct. 21 of this year only certified
applicators will be legally entitled to
buy or handle pesticides not rated for
general use.
$80,000 in penalties
Two civil penalties totalling $80,000
were levied recently for violations of a
water discharge permit at a chlorine-
alkali plant in Ahstabula.Ohio. Under
the settlements concluded in the U.S.
District Court, Detrex Chemical Indus-
tries, Inc., former owner of the plant,
paid $55,000 and Sobin Chemicals,
Inc., the present owner paid $25,000.
The fines were among the highest ever
imposed for permit violations.
The suits charged that chlorine, sus-
pended solids, and mercury in excess
of amounts allowed in the permit were
poured into a stream that flows into
Lake Erie. The discharge also ex-
ceeded limits for acidity.
The Sobin firm has begun a construc-
tion program to achieve compliance
with the permit.
fishing imperiled
Present limits on dissolved oxygen for
wastewater discharge permits on the
Fox River and Green Bay, Wisconsin,
are inadequate to maintain fish and
wildlife, according to a recent study by
the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources.
The most critical oxygen conditions
occur in the River in the summer
months, when stream flow is low, and
in the Bay from January to early April,
when ice cover prevents reaeration, the
study said. The study proposed that
discharge permits on the river be re-
-------
duced by 37 percent from present lev-
els of biological oxygen demand and
suspended solids. "Best practicable
treatment*' standards were recom-
mended for all discharge points near
the Bay.
hearings, conferences
Region VI has been concentrating re-
cently on public hearings and training
conferences on environmental prob-
lems.
"Town meetings" were held in Hous-
ton Dec. 9 and Oklahoma City Dec.
II.
The Public Affairs Office enlisted two
pro football stars, Cliff Harris of the
Dallas Cowboys and Fred Hoaglin of
the Houston Oilers, to spur public
interest in a series of air pollution
hearings in Texas. Their spot an-
nouncements were sent to all TV and
radio stations in the Dallas-Ft. Worth
and Houston areas.
A seminar on public participation in
area-wide wastewater treatment plan-
ning was held in the Regional Office
Nov. 25. A technical seminar on the
same subject was held Nov. 6 and 7,
cosponsored by the University of
Texas at Dallas.
The first of five regional training ses-
sions on the Safe Drinking Water Act
was held Dec. 10 in Albuquerque,
N.M., in conjunction with New Mex-
ico State University.
Six regional training sessions on con-
struction grants, environmental assess-
ments, and infiltration—inflow surveys
are scheduled to start this month in
Dallas.
orientation workshops
More than 500 representatives of local
governments attended two Federal Ori-
entation Workshops for Public Officials
held at Cornell College, Mount Ver-
non, Iowa, Nov. 21 and Simpson Col-
lege, Indianola, Iowa. Nov. 22.
teachers visit lab
EPA's Region VII Laboratory at Kan-
sas City, Kansas, was visited by more
than 200 science teachers from the
metropolitan Kansas City area during
the first week in December. The EPA
birthday week celebration ended with
an open house at the Regional Office
Dec. 5, when awards were presented
to winners of a poem and essay contest
and a poster contest for children of
EPA employees.
joint planning
Environmental town meetings in Re-
gion VIII—about six in each State—
are being planned jointly by EPA offi-
cials and regional municipal organiza-
tions.
Leaders of such groups from Colorado,
Montana, North and South Dakota,
and Wyoming met recently with Re-
gional Administrator John Green and
his staff. Planning and promotion of the
meetings will fall largely to municipal
leagues, with the Regional Office pro-
viding staff members to hear public
suggestions and answer questions about
EPA's programs.
The effect of energy development on
the Region's many small cities and
towns is expected to be the issue of
greatest concern.
smelter emissions
Arizona's plans and regulations to con-
trol sulfur oxide emissions from copper
smelters have been disapproved be-
cause they did not require permanent
controls and were not specific as to
how national standards would be met.
Next step is proposal by EPA of
regulations to meet both primary and
secondary standards, and further public
hearings.
California water
A U.S. District Court decision that
California has "no right to impose
conditions when answering Federal re-
quests for water to serve reclamation
needs" is creating quite a stir. State
officials fear Federal control over Cali-
fornia's water supply. However, the
decision has strengthened intrastate op-
position to the proposed "peripheral
canal" for bringing water from northern
to southern California. The canal,
which would be built largely with Fed-
eral funds, would divert water from the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Citizen
concern has been expressed that the
diversion could change the Delta into a
salt marsh. The San Francisco Chroni-
cle said: "In dry years, the canal would
leave the life of the rich Delta in the
hands of Federal officials who may not
understand its problems, or even care."
common sense
Those who seek to conserve energy
resources are not prophets of shortage
but prophets of common sense, said
Regional Administrator Clifford V.
Smith in a recent speech at Vancouver,
B.C. "What is pollution but a waste of
naturaJ resources," he said, calling it
"... both environmental and economic
sense to make conservation of energy
and the reduction or recovery of waste
a matter of highest priority."
sulfur limit set
The Bunker Hill Co. will have to cut
sulfur oxide emissions at its lead and
zinc smelters at Kellogg, Idaho, to no
more than 680 tons in any seven-day
period under new rules laid down by
EPA. Idaho regulations had set the
limit at 1,200 tons.
The company has until July 31, 1977,
to comply.
EPA determined that techniques are
available to meet the stricter limit,
which would require the company to
spend $830,000 in capital expense and
$550,000 in annual operations in addi-
tion to the spending to meet the State-
proposed level.
EPA estimates that Bunker Hill is
responsible for 99.8 percent of all sulfur
oxide emissions in the Kellogg area.
PAGE 17
-------
IPLEPEOPLEPEOI
Felisa M. Ruiz
Leslie Carothers
Felisa M. Ruiz, grants clerk in the
Region VII office, recently received
two awards for her volunteer work to
improve the economic and social life
of the Spanish-speaking community in
Kansas City, Mo.:
A bronze medal and citation from
the Heart of America Chapter, Feder-
ally Hmployed Women. Inc.
An award from EPA's International
Women's Year Conference in Seattle.
Wash.
Ms. Ruiz has been an active volun-
teer working to help the Spanish-
speaking community in Kansas City,
Mo., for the past nine years.
Carothers has been named Di-
rector of Region I's Enforcement Di-
vision by Regional Administrator John
A. S. McGlennon and will assume her
new duties in the Boston Office this
month.
Ms. Carothers. 33, has been an
attorney in the General Counsel's
Office. Air Quality, Noise, and Radia-
tion Division, for the last two years.
She had previously served for two and
a half years as a branch chief in the
Mobile Source Enforcement Division.
Before joining EPA in July, 1971. she
had been a legislative assistant to
Congressman Gilbert Gude of Mary-
land and clerk to Judge Henry Edger-
ton of the Federal Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia.
Ms. Carothers was graduated,
summa cum laucle, from Smith Col-
lege in 1964 and from Harvard Law
School in l%7.
A plan developed by Louis A. Bevi-
lacqua and Ernest J. Schmalz of Re-
gion I I's Pesticides Branch helped to
alleviate an outbreak of typhus in
Guatemala and saved the U.S. tax-
payer money as well.
In mid-July 1975, a pesticide en-
forcement inspection found nearly 13
tons of DDT dusting powder in a
New York City store. EPA issued a
stop-sale-and-use-order.
The store agreed to surrender the
DDT, which has been banned for
most domestic uses, to EPA for safe
disposal. Ordinarily. EPA would have
shipped the banned chemical to a
laboratory in Buffalo for high tempera-
ture incineration. Estimated cost of
such disposal was $I! .000.
Stanley Fenichel. Chief of the Re-
gion's Pesticides Branch credits his
two colleagues. Bevilacqua and
Schmalz. with the idea of shipping the
confiscated DDT to Guatemala where
it could be beneficially used to combat
a typhus epidemic. According to Feni-
chel, "After many phone calls, we
were finally able to arrange things
with the Guatemalan Government
through the Pan American Health
Organization. DDT is perfectly legal
in Guatemala, and they were happy to
get it from us."
The DDT was sent to Guatemala at
a shipping cost of about $1.500; a
saving of almost $10,000 to this
country. Regional Administrator Ger-
ald M. Hansler has commended Bevi-
lacqua and Schmalz and they have
been nominated for special awards.
Mr. Hansler explained that while
DDT has been banned by EPA for
most uses, it can be used in emer-
gency situations where there is no
suitable substitute. DDT is considered
by health authorities to be an effective
and inexpensive insecticide for typhus
control.
Vivian Malone Jones Dave Hopkins
Vivian Malone Jones, Director of the
Civil Rights and Urban Affairs Office
in EPA's Atlanta regional office, has
been interviewed by CBS-TV.
The interview by Dan Rather on the
general area of progress in civil rights
in the South is expected to be used
sometime in January on the Sixty
Minutes program.
Ms. Jones entered the University of
Alabama in 1963 despite Gov. Wal-
lace's "stand in the schoolhouse
door," and became the university's
first black graduate.
The EPA official, who joined the
Agency in 1971, has received numer-
ous awards and citations for her pi-
oneering efforts in desegregating the
university system in Alabama.
Dave Hopkins, an official in EPA's
Region IV Office in Atlanta, has ac-
cepted a one-year assignment in Sao
Paulo. Brazil, which was described in
a recent national television documen-
tary as "the world's most polluted
city."
Mr. Hopkins will be leaving his
present job as chief of the regional
Environmental Impact Statement Of-
fice to go to the South American city
under a loan agreement with the Pan
American Health Association.
The 36-year-old EPA official has
served with EPA since it was formed.
His wife, Dora, is a native of Sao
Paulo, a highly industrialized city with
a population of seven million people.
PAGF 18
-------
REGION!
New England, a birthplace of the
American Revolution and the site
where industry first helped the Nat-
ion become a leading manufacturer, is
placing increasing emphasis on pro-
tecting and enhancing its environment.
This concern for the Region's natural
setting is prompted, in part, by boom-
ing tourism, a $3 billion-a-year indus-
try in the six New England States
which comprise EPA's Region I. The
visitors are attracted to the Region's
lovely river valleys, green mountains
and ocean beaches.
New England has a population of 12
million in 63,000 square miles, or
about six percent of the Nation's
people in two percent of its land.
More than three-fourths of the peo-
ple live in 26 metropolitan areas, so
the Region is primarily urban, al-
though large parts of Maine, New
Hampshire, and Vermont are rural,
dotted with forests, farms, and small
towns.
The Region includes eight percent of
the Nation's manufacturing plants
(factory wages account for 40 percent
of worker income, compared to the
national 30 percent), and 10 percent of
its metal working plants, with their
complex waste treatment problems.
The first annual Regional Adminis-
trator's Report on Environmental
Quality in New England, recently is-
sued, describes the status of air and
water quality, drinking water supply,
and solid waste management in the six
States.
Good News and Bad
The report tells the good news and
the bad. It shows progress in abating
pollution but also points out the short-
comings and the needs for further
cleanup.
In air pollution, the good news is a
significant drop in sulfur oxide levels
throughout the Region. Both primary
and secondary standards for sulfur-
oxides are being met, thanks to low-
sulfur fuel regulations generally
adopted in this Region.
The bad news in air pollution is the
growing problem of photochemical ox-
idants. The oxidant primary standard
(160 rnicrograms per cubic meter for
one hour) is being repeatedly violated
at every one of the 30 monitoring
stations in five States. Maine doesn't
yet monitor for oxidants. Some sta-
tions have had levels six and seven
times the standard, and in Fall River,
Mass., there were 526 violations over
an eight-month period.
Last summer a research study to
determine if oxidants in New Eng-
land's air came from outside the Re-
gion clearly showed there is a trans-
port of this kind of pollution from one
section of the country to another.
With this in mind Region 1 helped
sponsor a meeting with officials from
24 States to discuss the problem. It
appears that additional controls on
automobiles and stationary sources
will be necessary over wide regions of
the country if there is to be a reduc-
tion of harmful levels of oxidants.
Transport Strategies
One of the more controversial issues
continues to be EPA's transportation
control strategy for metropolitan Bos-
ton. Region I is moving to implement
a plan to reduce harmful levels of
carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.
Most elements of the plan will be put
in place in 1976 and early 1977. The
plan includes on-street parking bans in
the downtown area, inspection and
maintenance for automobile pollution
control devices, stationary source con-
trols, extensive car pooling, and re-
quiring businesses to take steps to
reduce the number of single passenger
commuting vehicles that come to their
plants each day. Similar plans are
being developed for Springfield.
Mass.; Hartford-New Haven, Conn.:
and Providence, R.I.
In water pollution, highest priority is
being given to construction grants.
After a careful study of ways to
expedite the handling of grant applica-
tions and the addition of some new
personnel, regional officials expect to
be able to allocate the $800 million
available to this Region by the Sep-
tember 1977 deadline.
Another high priority project is area-
wide wastewater treatment planning,
and $12 million has been awarded to
16 regional planning agencies. Most of
the plans will not be completed until
1977.
Considerable progress has been
made in abating water pollution. More
treatment plants than ever before are
under construction or coming on line.
Millions of gallons of raw sewage
previously dumped into New England
waters are now being treated. Indus-
try has shown a much greater willing-
ness to fund water pollution control
projects.
Of 4,870 miles of rivers and major
tributaries, over half (2,670 stream-
miles) are not yet in a "fishable-
swimmable" condition. In the next
two years a substantial improvement
should occur as a result of major new
wastewater treatment facilities being
placed in operation. However, unless
the problems of combined sewer over-
i \GE 1
-------
flows and non-point sources of pollu-
tion are solved, there will still be
rivers in New England that will not be
suitable for swimming and fishing by
1983 (the deadline set by the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act).
Drinking Water Safety
Safety of water supply has for years
been one of the most neglected areas
of environmental protection. The Safe
Drinking Water Act of December
1974, extends Federal regulatory au-
thority to cover practically all public-
water systems. Implementation of the
new law will insure consistent quality
and safety.
Tested during a nationwide EPA
sampling, water supplies in Rhode
Island. Connecticut, and Massachu-
setts showed traces of.organic com-
pounds suspected to be causes of
cancer. A survey by State authorities
last year showed 200 water supplies in
Vermont failing bacteria tests, and 12
systems in Vermont arc on notice to
boil water before drinking it. In pails
of Boston an EPA study found exces-
sive lead in tap water, attributed to
corrosion of old lead piping by the
soft, slightly acidic surface water sup-
Ply.
Regional authorities will oversee a
corrosion control program by Boston's
Metropolitan District Commission to
reduce the lead-in-water hazard and
will work closely with all States in
implementing the new Federal drink-
ing water standards, which go into
effect this year.
Solid Waste Corporations
Some progress has been made in the
area of solid waste. Connecticut and
Rhode Island have established state-
wide solid waste management corpora-
lions. Two Massachusetts communi-
ties, Marblehead and Somerville. re-
ceived EPA grants to initiate commu-
nity-wide recycling projects on a two-
year pilot basis. Last year 18 resource
recovery facilities were proposed in
the Region.
But much more remains to be done.
A survey by the Regional Office
found that only 30 percent of New
England's population is served by dis-
posal facilities that meet State require-
ments and thus can be considered to
be environmentally acceptable. There
is wide variation among the States in
the portion of the population served
by acceptable solid waste facilities:
from 68 percent in Vermont to one
percent in Maine. However, the re-
gional over-all figure of 30 percent last
year was three percentage points bet-
ter than in 1974.
Youngsters play hockey on ice at the
Boston Common.
Refinery for Maine
Finally, an area which is emerging
as a key issue is energy development.
EPA has been designated as the lead
agency for preparing the draft environ-
mental impact statement for a pro-
posed 250.000-barrel-a-day oil refinery
to be built by the Pittston Oil Co., in
Eastport. Maine. The draft statement
will be completed in May or June of
1976. This is the first plan for an oil
refinery in Region I, and there will
probably be other refinery proposals.
The Regional Office also expects to
be involved more in such related
issues as off-shore oil drilling and
deep-water port construction.
To insure a coordinated approach
with other Federal agencies who will
have decision-making roles in energy
matters. Region 1 has established an
energy task force which meets regu-
larly. Thus, the Office will be fully
prepared to deal with these energy
issues that do have an impact on the
environment.
This is just a brief glance at New
England's environment. The job of
moving ahead with pollution abate-
ment programs gets more and more
difficult, particularly since energy and
economic problems are severely im-
pacting the New England States. But
the Region has always been environ-
mentally-oriented, and its elected offi-
cials and most of its industrial leaders
recognize the importance of a sound
environmental control program.n
PAGE :o
-------
REGION 1'S
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Jack I.ackntr
Director. Management Division
John A. S. McGlennon
Regional Administrator
Robert C. Thompson
Acting Director, Enforcement Division
Edward V. Kit/pair kk
Director, Surveillance and Analysis Division
Kenneth I.. Johnson
Deputy Regional Administrator
Lester A. Stilton
Director, Water Programs Division
Merrill S. llohman
Director, Air and Ha/ardous Materials Division
I'ACil 21
-------
MY NEW ENGLAND
By Elizabeth M. Strock
Region I public information officer
Some days you can stand in Govern-
ment Center in Boston and smell the
ocean. You can close your eyes and
breathe in the sea air and listen to the
gulls screeching overhead, and when
you open your eyes, you are faintly
surprised to find yourself surrounded
by handsome buildings instead of sand
crabs and beach plum.
This experience has always re-
presented the quintessence of New
England to me. Because underneath
the urbanity of Beacon Hill, and the
tweediness of Cambridge, the bond
that New Englanders share is a love
of the land.
For a newcomer, it is a hard land to
love. It seems hostile, almost defying
you to make it through that first
grinding winter with your spirit unbro-
ken. There is no spring to speak of;
summer is unremarkable. But, if you
stick it out that long, you have been
tested, and you have passed, and you
will be rewarded with fall. Fall is
spectacular. There is nothing like
walking through the New Hampshire
woods on a crisp fall morning, with
the brilliant red and gold leaves over-
head, and the fallen ones crunchy and
musty-smelling underneath.
"Peak weekend" is a New England
tradition revered every bit as much as
Paul Revere's ride and the shot heard
round the world. Beginning in Octo-
ber, the newspaper and television
weathermen begin a countdown to
peak weekend—the weekend when
the leaves are most colorful. When it
arrives, the roads to the north woods
look like the roads to the beach on
Memorial Day weekend. Unlike the
Memorial Day trek, however, when
there is nothing to do but get irritated
at the traffic jams until you reach your
destination, on peak weekend, you
don't really have a specific goal, and
the trees are beautiful all along your
route. You can wander aimlessly
through the back roads all weekend.
You can pick your own crisp apples
or shop for antiques. When you get
tired, you can always find a rambling
clapboard inn, maintained just as it
was one hundred years ago, with
gleaming brass and dull pewter and
hand-sewn quilts. Your host will most
likely be a taciturn Yankee with a
wise and weathered face, and plenty
of good stories, if he chooses to tell
you.
By the time winter rolls around
again, you have learned to dress for
the weather, and the cold doesn't
seem as bitter as last year. In fact, it
is invigorating, and there are any
number of things you can do in a
New England winter that you cannot
do in a more temperate season.
Downhill and cross-country skiing,
snow shoeing, ice skating and ice
hockey are the most popular winter
activities, but there are a few hardy
enthusiasts, including some in the Re-
gional Office, who believe that winter
was -made for cold-weather camping.
They dress in layers of clothing as the
temperature dictates, pack their
worldly .goods on their backs, and set
off in sub-freezing temperatures to
make camp in three feet of snow on
top of the nearest mountain. They say
that nothing in the world can compare
with the magnificence of the view
from the top and the silence of being
alone in a world muffled with snow.
Bracing as this may be to some, it is
not to everyone's taste. For those of
us who die a little every time the
temperature threatens to drop below
freezing, there is summer.
Summer is beach weather in New
England, as it is everywhere else in
the country. These beaches are spe-
cial, though. Anyone who has ever
cast a horrified eye over Rehoboth
Beach or Atlantic City will be grateful
for the unspoiled beauty of Cape Cod.
There is not a high-rise beach-front
hotel or condominium to be seen
anywhere on the Cape. The National
Seashore has maintained the littoral
areas, the dunes, and, in some cases,
even the forests behind the dunes in
their natural state, and has assured
public access to all of these areas.
There are provisions for off-road vehi-
cles and bicycle paths that snake in and
out around the dunes.
A few shacks are still in the dunes.
Their inhabitants live only according to
the dictates of the sun, moon, and
tides, and they are passionately at-
tached to their land. The National
Seashore has acquired most of the
shore area on the Lower Cape and
has negotiated with private owners to
assure that privately held land will
remain relatively undeveloped. This
represents something of a first in the
acquisition of privately owned land for
the public domain and the regulation
of private lands for public benefit. It
also presents a perplexing philosophi-
cal and social question. Should the
government seize land for the public
domain from private owners who love
it so and who have lived their entire
lives on it? On one hand, the dune
dwellers seem to have a moral right to
it, since they live on and from it; but
on the other hand, the dunes belong
to all of us, and they ought to be
maintained in their natural state, not
just for us, but for future generations
of New Englanders as well. It is a
hard question, and no one really
knows the answer, but it will almost
surely come up again. One of New
England's most valuables resources is
her land, and one of her most fiercely-
held tenets is belief in individual free-
doms. The two are bound to run head
on someday. Hopefully, when that
happens, the question will be resolved
as peaceably and as satisfactorily as it
has been on Cape Cod.
New England is rich, both in history
and in contemporary cultural institu-
tions. In Boston, you can take a
walking tour of the Freedom Trail,
marked by a red brick stripe in the
sidewalk, and see the Granary Bury-
ing Ground with the graves of John
Hancock, Samuel Adams, Paul Re-
vere, and the victims of the Boston
PAGE 22
-------
OLD STATE HOUSE
The royal British lion and unicorn are
still rampant on Boston's Old State
House, one of the most beautiful and
best preserved of the city's many
historic structures. Built in 1713. while
the colonies were still under the rule
of an English King, it was the scene
of the pre- Revolution Boston massa-
cre and from its balcony was given
the first reading of the Declaration of
Independence in Massachusetts.
Massacre; Faneuil Hall, which John
Adams called "The Cradle of Lib-
erty"; the Old North Church, where
on the night of April 18. 1775. two
lanterns signaled the Redcoats' ad-
vance on Lexington and Concord and
started Paul Revere on his famous
ride; Old Ironsides; and Bunker Hill.
In Concord, you can still see the rude
bridge that spanned the flood, and in
Sudbury. still stands the Wayside Inn.
On Patriot's Day Eve. the men of
Sudbury still don old militia uniforms
and congregate at the Wayside Inn
before marching to Concord.
There are bits of history in every
corner of Boston you may care to
investigate. In fact, if you are so
inclined, you can take a yoga class in
the old Blacksmith House where
Longfellow's village smithy stood be-
neath the spreading chestnut tree.
Culturally, New Kngland offers the
Boston Symphony Orchestra, the
Boston Pops with Arthur Fiedler, the
Boston Ballet, the Museum of Fine
Arts, and the Gardner Museum.
where you can feast not only your
eyes, but your ears at Sunday after-
noon concerts. Boston is also a great
city for amateur artists. Budding dan-
cers, musicians, and painters Hi id a
knowledgeable and appreciative audi-
ence here.
New England has its drawbacks. It
does not have the highest peak in the
continental United States, and you
cannot get a pastrami sandwich at 4:()()
a.m.. the area has no indigenous en-
ergy sources, and the unemployment
rate is higher than the national aver-
age. However, people continue to
flock to this area, and the only expla-
nation can be the high quality of life
New England offers. The pace is not
as desperate as New York or Los
Angeles, but it is not small town
either. And even in downtown Bos-
ton, you can smell the sea. you
always feel a part of the land. Come
anil visit us for the Bicentennial.o
PACil. 23
-------
HCIV DC
BODBTHt NEW
JCC IN
JoAnn Johnson, Chief, Library Serv-
ices, Environmental Research Center.
Cincinnati, Ohio:
"The first major challenge of the new
year will he managing the move of the
library to our new quarters in the
Environmental Research Center on
the University of Cincinnati campus.
"Also, I am in the process of working
out an innovative and cooperative
arrangement with the Library System
of the University of Cincinnati, that
will make our collection available to
the University's teaching staff and
graduate students, and the Univer-
sity's material accessible to our peo-
ple.
"Our library here serves as the scien-
tific and technical focal point for the
whole EPA Library System.
Mary Jean O'Donnell, Environmental
Impact Statement Specialist. Region
VII, Kansas City. Mo.:
"I'm fortunate enough to be in a shop
where exciting changes are going on in
environmental considerations, and
hopefully in 1976 more NEPA consid-
erations will figure in early on the
construction grant. 208 planning and
permit processes.
"I hope that in 1976 we will have
made environmental considerations a
natural part of the planning-decision
making process and oriented our
thinking to ways to accomplish our
overall Agency purposes and goals.
Robert Landers, Environmental Pro-
tection Technologist. Remote Sensing
Branch, Environmental Monitoring
and Support Laboratory. Las Vegas.
Nev.:
"I see my job as being a very busy
and exciting one in 1976. Our Branch
currently is working on, or planning.
aerial surveys of environmental condi-
tions in nearly all of EPA's regions.
We work for the regions in assessing
air and water quality, land use, moni-
toring compliance—any surveillance
that can be done by image-making
equipment aboard aircraft.
"The coming months can be expected
to produce a number of oil and haz-
ardous materials spills. These acci-
dents are aggravated and increased by
harsh winter weather.
Virginia Snarski, Biologist, Environ-
mental Research Laboratory, Duluth.
Minn.:
"I've just returned to the laboratory
here after a year spent at the Univer-
sity of Washington at Seattle, doing
work in fish diseases. This was spon-
sored by EPA as part of its long-range
training program.
"I look upon the new year with
enthusiasm since I hope to set up a
laboratory for the diagnosis and treat-
ment of diseases that occur in our fish
here. Also, I want to do research to
study the effects of pollution on
fishes' resistance to diseases."
Dr. Mustafa Shirazi, Acting Chief,
Ecosystem Modeling and Analysis
Branch, Environmental Research Lab-
oratory, Corvallis, Ore.:
"I am optimistic about the coming
year. Our Branch pursues a multi-
media discipline that involves both
long-range research and its application
to immediate problems. I believe that
good accomplishments will result
when the reorganization of Research
and Development is completed and
approved.
"In a mission-oriented- agency like
EPA, balance must be achieved be-
tween pure research and the uses that
such research serve in attacking real
life problems. In order to strike such a
balance, scientists from various fields
of specialization must be brought to-
gether so they can interact and con-
tribute to the same goal. I see that in
Corvallis we are heading towards this
kind of team work, and I intend to
play an active rote in whatever capac-
ity 1 can do best."
James Weigold, Assistant Director,
Strategies and Air Standards Division,
Office of Air Quality, Planning and
Standards, Durham, N.C.:
"I think my job will be as exciting or
even more so than it has been in the
three-and-a-half years I've been with
the Agency. My Division looks at
new problems as they emerge, and
then devises strategies to deal with
them. We are now getting into the
fields of unconventional pollutants that
pose hard challenges. For example.
the carcinogens are a special problem
because there may not be a known or
knowable safe health threshold for
them.
"The biggest problem is that we need
more and better health effects data.
and the accumulation and evaluation
of this takes a long time. In some
cases it may take years to acquire a
sufficient health data base to permit
the development of defensible stand-
ards."
ixj j
JoAnn Johnson
PAGE 24
Mary jean O'Dimnell
Robert Landers
Virginia Snarski
Dr. Mustafa Shirazi James Weigold
-------
briefs
Ji^immimlliiiBiHIimilililillilllt
ACTION PLAN ANNOUNCED FOR PCBS
Administrator Russell E. Train has declared that the United States
must move towards ..total elimination of the use of polychlorinated
biphenyls and make every effort to assure that these PCBs do not
enter the environment. Mr. Train announced an action plan to begin
reducing the discharge of PCBs but warned that many years may pass
before a significant decline occurs in the level of PCBs.
PROGRAM FOR CONTROL OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE SPILLS
EPA has published proposed regulations designed to protect the
Nation's waterways from spills of over 300 chemicals considered
to be "hazardous substances" for man and the environment. The
regulations list the 300 substances such as nitric and sulfuric
acids, ammonia, and caustic soda which when discharged pose an
imminent danger to public health and welfare. The regulations
include a provision for fines of up to $5 million in spill cases
involving gross negligence.
SAFE DRINKING WATER STANDARDS SET
EPA regulations designed to help safeguard the Nation's public
drinking water supplies have been promulgated. These interim
regulations will apply to about 240,000 public water systems when
they become effective in June, 1977. Emphasizing the importance
of these regulations, Administrator Russell E. Train said that "for
the first time, drinking water supplies across the country will be
subject to uniform minimum standards that will be effective in
regulating harmful contaminants."
BREIDENBACH CONFIRMED
Dr. Andrew W. Breidenbach's appointment by the President as EPA's
Assistant Administrator for Water and Hazardous Materials has been
confirmed by the Senate. Dr. Breidenbach had been serving as Acting
Assistant Administrator since September 1. A career environmental
scientist, Dr. Breidenbach had served for four years as Director of
the National Environmental Research Center in Cincinnati, Ohio,
before assuming his present post.
PAGE 25
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U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS (A 107)
WASHINGTON. DC. 20460
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'Instant Dike'
Developed
A portable "instant dike" and col-
lapsible bags for collecting spill mate-
rials were recently demonstrated by
the EPA contractor who developed
them.
A foam resembling shaving cream
can be squirted from a back pack to
quickly form a stable dam structure to
contain spills of hazardous materials.
The foam is generated from chemi-
cals carried in the back pack. Each
back pack can make about 50 cubic
feet of instant dike, according to Ira
Wilder of the Edison. N.J., facility of
EPA's Industrial Environmental Re-
search Laboratory. Cincinnati.
A folding plastic bag for collection
and temporary storage of hazardous
spills was also demonstrated for EPA
and Coast Guard personnel at the
MSA Research Corporation's plant at
Evans City. Pa. The foam was used
to dike a liquid spilling from a "rup-
tured" tank car. Six thousand gallons
of the spilled liquid were pumped into
the plastic bag in two hours.
"Relatively inexperienced workers
operated the equipment, with no more
than the usual confusion that takes
place at accident sites," Mr. Wilder
reported.
The bag is not meant for indefinite
The tank (foreground) leaked liquid v\hich
was trapped b\ plastic foam inMant dike. The
material uas then pumped into plastic con-
tainer at left.
storage of the spilled liquid. After
emergency containment and collec-
tion, the material would be pumped
into a tanker truck and carried away
for reprocessing or disposal. The emp-
tied bag would be folded and carted
away for cleaning and reuse.
Mr. Wilder and John Brugger are
EPA's project officers for the system
and equipment, which has been under
development by MSA Research for
more than two years.
Spills of ha/ardous materials, mostly
oils, are estimated to occur more than
5.(XX) times each year in the United
States. Many of them present substan-
tial dangers to the public health and
welfare and to the Nation's water-
ways. Although preventing spills has
the top priority, the Agency recog-
nizes that spills will occur and seeks
to perfect methods for control and
cleanup.
The diking units cost about $100
apiece. The collection bag and pump
system costs about $5.000. one-third
of which is for the bag itself. The cost
of the bag will be significantly less
when they are made in quantity.
Additional testing of the dike and bag
will be conducted at Edison by the
newly formed Environmental Emer-
gency Response Unit, which is being
supported jointly by the Cincinnati
laboratory and by the Division of Oil
and Special Materials Control at EPA
Headquarters.
The diking foam quickly cures to
form a rigid structure more sturdy
than the molded styrofoam fillers used
in many shipping containers. The
foam pack units can easily be carried
on a truck that hauls hazardous liquids
or stowed in the caboose of a freight
train.
The collection bag system can hold
7.000 gallons and is designed for emer-
gency spills where tanker trucks and
portable pumping equipment are not
available, a
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