APRIL 1976
VOL. TWO, NO. FOUR
** EPA AND THE FARMHRS
58£u.S. KNVIRONMKNTAl. PRO TKC I ION ACJ[-:NC'Y
-------
Farming and The Environment
The days are now longer than the nights. The
caroling of robins greets the dawn. Once again we
have escaped winter's grip and it's spring in Washing-
ton.
Across the land on farms large and small, a new
growing season has begun. Roosters strut and crow in
the barnyard. Nature's pulse is speeding up. Green
fields promise another bumper yield of food and fiber
crops.
As the sixth anniversary of the original Earth Week
approaches. EPA Journal looks at how the Agency's
efforts to protect the environment affect agriculture.
We begin with an interview with Administrator
Russell E. Train, who is himself a part-time farmer on
Maryland's Eastern Shore. Mr. Train notes that what
is good for the environment is usually good for
agriculture and vice versa. After all clean air and
water are vital to the farmer.
HPA's effort to discover ways of reducing the multi-
million dollar damage to farm crops by air pollution is
reviewed in an article about research being conducted
by our laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon.
Across the country farmers are brushing up on their
knowledge of pesticides as a new program begins to
ensure that users of the more potent chemical pest
killers apply them in a safe manner.
At the same time, EPA is taking a fresh look at the
thousands of pesticides registered with the Agency
and classifying them into either "general" or "re-
stricted" use. While the general-use pesticides would
be available to everyone, restricted pesticides could be
applied only by persons who have shown that they
know how to use the prtxlucts safely.
These important new pesticide programs, designed
primarily to protect the health of farmers, farm
workers and their families, are discussed in two
companion articles.
Also in this issue are excerpts from an important
speech by the Administrator on "Testing Chemicals,
Not People." Mr. Train points out that in the past
few decades and especially since the end of World
War II, a great many new chemical compounds for
pesticides and other uses have been released with little
or no knowledge of their health effects.
Efforts to control major agricultural sources of
pollution are the subject of two articles, one from
Region VII in Kansas City on cattle feedlots and the
other from Region V in Chicago on steps taken to
reduce the washing of eroded soil into waterways.
The magazine's Inquiry department reports on
garden plans of some EPA employees. For the benefit
of city residents, a former EPA official. William
Olkowski and his wife. Helga. have written a book
designed to help those with only the tiniest backyard
or balcony to grow their own food. Titled "The City
People's Book of Raising Food" and published by
Rodale Press Inc.. the book reflects a strong environ-
mental concern.
Other subjects covered in this issue include:
A report on the study of earth cores by our
laboratory in Ada, Okla.. to help find ways to reduce
the salt accumulating from irrigation waters.
Articles from our Region IV office in Atlanta, Ga.,
on how this section of the Nation's sunbelt is making
determined efforts to protect its environment from the
impact of industrial and population growth, o
-------
U.S.
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
Russell E. Train
Administrator
Patricia L. Cahn
Director of Public Affairs
Charles D. Pierce
Editor
Staff:
Van Trumbull
Ruth Hussey
Cover: Cattle graze on pas-
ture in bucolic setting.
US DA Photo
Printed on recycled paper
PHOTO
CREDITS
INSIDE
COVER
PAGE 2. 4.
11. 12. 15.
PACK 10
PACK 16. 17
PAGE 18
Jonas Dovydenas*
Lowell Georgia
USDA-SCS Photos
USDA-APHIS
Diamond Alkali Company
Flip Schulke*
Fred Ward*
BACK PAGE USDA-SCS Photo
* DOC UMF-: RICA Photo
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.
ARTICLES
EPA'S ROLE IN AGRICULTURE
An interview with Russell E. Train
TESTING CHEMICALS, NOT PEOPLE
AIR POLLUTION ON THE FARM
The Agency studies how to reduce damage
to crops from pollution.
TAMING THE PEST KILLERS
1 . Certification
2. Reregistration
THE BLACK CREEK STORY
Saving the water by protecting the land.
CURBING FEEDLOT WASTES
by Rowena Michaels
REGION IV ON PARADE
THE SOUTH REBELS AGAINST
POLLUTION by Charles Pou
WATCHING THE SALT by Eddie Lee
2
7
8
10
12
14
16
18
BACK PAGE
PEOPLEPEC
DEPARTMENTS
PEOPLE
20
AROUND THE NATION
INQUIRY
24
NEWS BRIEFS
-------
EPA'S ROLE IN AGRICULTURE
An Interview with Russell E. Train, EPA Administrator and Farm Owner
What does EPA da to help farmers? Should environmental
objectives til\\'tiv\ take precedence over agricultural needs?
How much of (i threat docs use of pesticides pose tohmnan
health.' Did we lettrn anvlhing jrom the Kepone poisoning
incident? Could enforcement of environmental regulations
i nine a decline in food production? Mr. 1 rain answers
these and other ijtu'stions.
Q. What docs FPA do to help farmers?
A. It helps protect and restore clean air and water.
which are absolutely essential for the welfare of agricul-
ture. Dollar losses to agriculture as a result of air pollution
are difficult to quantity. However, it is safe to say that.
nationwide, it mns to tens of millions of dollars a year and
possibly in the hundreds of millions of dollars per year
when all aspects of reduced productivity arc considered.
We are also working to protect the health of farmers and
their families through 0111 pesticide control programs, (tin-
efforts to stem the toss of good agricultural land by trying
to discourage urban sprawl, our efforts to encourage good
conservation practices to prevent top-soil runoff, our
cooperation with the Forest and Soil Conservation Serv-
ices, our programs to assure continuing flows of healthy.
clean water for irrigation and for drinking—these air just a
few of the ways in which our programs are benefiting
farmers.
Q. Sometimes FPA and the Department of Agricul-
ture seem to be in opposing camps. Is this seeming conflict
inevitable because each represents a different constituency'.'
A. Some may see us on conflicting paths, but. histori-
cally, we not only have much in common, but we share
similar tap roots that depend on unpolluted soil, water and
air for continued prosperity. We need to recogni/e these
common tap roots as we work together to develop
practical programs. Most of the difficulties we have had
were, in my judgment, caused by inadequate communica-
tion. I am convinced that while we may view environmen-
tal problems from separate perspectives, our goals are
essentially the same.
Q. Should environmental objectives always take prece-
dence over agricultural needs?
A. Although all our policies and programs are aimed
toward achieving environmental protection, we recogni/.e
that we cannot blindly pursue them at the expense of other
vitally important national goals such as agricultural produc-
tivity. What is good for the environment is usually good for
agriculture and vice versa.
I1 A CM- 2
Q. Can you cite a specific instance where agricultural
and environmental interests are in harmony?
A. Water quality problems which arise from agricul-
tural runoff may be the result, at least in part, of poor
conservation practices. ! can think of few objectives which
make more sense both environmentally and agriculturally
than keeping our soil on the land. In an even broader
sense, keeping prime agricultural land in productive agri-
cultural use should be a high priority national goal upon
which environmentalists and farmers alike should make
common cause.
Q. Is there a danger that KPA enforcement of environ-
mental regulations might cause a decline in food produc-
tion?
A. Let me assure you that KPA intends to enforce
environmental regulations in ways that will not cause
unnecessary adverse impacts on food production. When
signs of an approaching food crisis became apparent, we
began a thorough study of food supply and demand and of
the impact of our regulations on al! phases of agriculture.
Our soundings indicate that the world is experiencing its
third period of serious food shortages since World War II.
Unlike the previous two. this one may not end soon. The
United States will continue to be by far the most important
exporter of food.
Q. Do pesticides play a major role in maintaining U.S.
food production?
A. There is no doubt about it. A Department of
Agriculture survey in 1M66 revealed that 85 percent of all
fanners used agricultural chemicals for crop protection.
'['hose farmers would suffer annual losses totalling $2.1
billion if no pesticides were used, the National Academy of
Sciences has estimated. I have been told that the domestic
use of pesticides now amounts to almost one billion pounds
of active ingredients a year, although less than half this
amount is used on crops.
y. How would you evaluate the risk of this enormous
use of pesticide?
A. No matter how carefully one applies pesticides.
there is always the possibility the material will enter our
streams, rivers and lakes. Human health may be endan-
gered. There is obviously a special hazard to frequent
users—people engaged in production, distribution and sale
of pesticides, people engaged in the application of these
pesticides and the workers in the fields where pesticides
have been used. So we must balance the risks of using
pesticides against their benefits, it is the role of FPA to
-------
assess the facts and to act positively through promulgation
and enactment of rules and regulations,
Q. The human suffering caused by manufacture of the
pesticide Kepone at Hopewell. Va. was a shocker and is
still fresh in the public's mind. How do you assess this
t raped\ ?
A. The events that occurred at Hopewell represent a
human tragedy of major proportions. It serves to remind us
that the use of toxic substances in our society inevitably
carries grave risks with it. The Federal Insecticide.
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act requires the Agency to
register pesticide products if it is shown that they will be
effective and will not pose a risk of unreasonable adverse
effects to man or the environment when used as directed.
Q. Does this Federal pesticides law give FPA any
regulatory control over the premises or manufacturing
processes for pesticides?
A. Although the Act requires that all pesticide produc-
ing plants be registered by EPA. our authority to inspect
establishments extends only to pesticides which are "pack-
aged, labeled, and released for shipment." The law does
not regulate the working conditions in these plants, since
that is the responsibility of other Federal agencies.
Thus, this law actually has limited applicability to the
Hopewell situation. The human and environmental con-
tamination surrounding the Life Science operation resulted
from manufacturing and disposal operations rather than
from the use of the pesticide under its EPA registrations.
It could have been any industrial chemical involved: the
fact that it was Kepone. a pesticide, is merely incidental
since the problem was of a manufacturing and occupational
exposure nature.
Q. Just what is Kepone—chemically?
A. Kepone is a chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide
which does not tend to cause immediate harm to humans
upon contact. However, as with other chlorinated hydro-
carbon pesticides. Kepone can have serious and undesira-
ble long-term effects.
Q. What arc some of the health effects produced by
Kepone exposure?
A. It accumulates in human and animal tissue, and has
induced tremors, hyperactivity, muscle spasms, and steril-
ity in laboratory animals. And according to data from the
National Cancer Institute. Kepone can cause certain types
of cancer growths in test mice and rats.
Q. Did any aspect of the Kepone operation come
under EPA regulatory controls'.'
A. The Life Science operation affected EPA's statu-
tory jurisdiction in two other respects: the Clean Air Act
and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The Life
Science plant discharged its wastes to the Hopewell
sewage treatment plant, which in turn discharges into the
James River, thereby making it subject to the Virginia
water pollution control program. The Virginia program
issues and monitors discharge permits under a delegation
of authority from EPA. Similarly, air pollution detection
devices in operation near the Lite Science plant were
installed and operated by a State agency whose program
EPA approved.
Q. Have we learned anything from the events at
Hopewell, Va.?
A. We can learn from tragic incidents such as the one
that occurred in Hopewell. While a misfortune of this
magnitude is a terrible learning mechanism, we can at least
take away from it insights which help to improve our
ability to prevent such episodes or. at a minimum, to
respond more effectively when problems do arise.
Q. What new programs or procedures have we initi-
ated that might prevent the occurrence of a comparable
disaster'.'
A. Because of Hopewell we have met with representa-
tives of the Occupational Safety and Health Administra-
tion, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and
Health, the Center for Disease Control, and the Food and
Drug Administration to discuss better interagency commu-
nication and cooperation to deal with future incidents like
this. We have started a formal information exchange to
predict problems before they reach serious proportions.
We are also on the verge of signing a formal Memoran-
dum of Understanding with the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration which provides for quick communi-
cation of possible violations that are observed by either
Agency's inspectors during plant visits. I have also
directed EPA Regional Administrators to have our inspec-
tors and enforcement personnel look for signs of adverse
effects in water and air during their inspections of pesticide
plants.
Q. Apart from the risk factor are there other limita-
tions to the use of pesticides'.'
A. We are at the point in agriculture production where
Administrator Train wearing a farmer's hat while making a tour
of the midwestern farm helt last
additional amounts of fertili/er and pesticides can add little
to food production but can add significantly to environmen-
tal problems. The National Research Council of the
National Academy of Sciences recently reported that
controlling pests with chemicals is becoming increasingly
difficult, and serious problems will be posed for agriculture
and public health unless alternative technologies are per-
fected. Over the years some pest species have developed a
genetic resistance to pesticides, and. in many cases, natural
balances have been disrupted, or entirely new pest prob-
lems have emerged as a result of pesticide treatments. This
is why EPA is working with the Department of Agricul-
ture on an integrated pest-management approach designed
PACiE
-------
to use all aspects of farm management rather than just
chemicals to control pests.
Q. In the meantime, what are we doing to make use of
pesticides safer and more effective?
A. We arc extremely active in this area. The passage
of the 1972 amendments to the Federal Insecticide, Fungi-
cide, and Rodenticide Act of 1947 gave EPA broad new
responsibilities. For example, by October, 1977. we must
register, re-register and classify alt pesticide products used
in this country. We are also engaged in a major new
program to certify applicators of pesticides. Another major
thrust of our pesticide strategy is the establishment of a
hazard-evaluation system to better understand the nature
and extent of adverse effects of pesticides on man and the
environment,
Q. How much of a threat to human health does
modern agriculture's use of chemicals—pesticides—pose to
human health'1
A. We are very concerned about the human health
aspects of pesticides. HPA's legislative mandate is to
regulate these pesticides in a manner that will protect the
environment, and most importantly human health. On the
other hand F'PA rccogni/es that pesticides are absolutely
necessary to agriculture if we want to maintain the high
degree of productivity the American farmer has achieved
in recent decades.
Careful judgment must be exercised to assess and weigh
the benefits and risks in order to achieve an effective
balance. Pesticides pose unique problems. All are poison-
ous—although some are more toxic than others—and the
large quantities used—almost 1 billion pounds a year—can
have an important impact on the environment and our
health. We are just beginning to understand the ha/.ards
posed by certain pesticides and evaluate the risks associ-
ated with their prolonged and widespread use.
When we talk about carefully weighing the risks and
benefits of these compounds, taking into account eco-
nomic, social, and environmental factors, we should re-
member that the benefits—the control of pests—are real-
ized immediately and they can usually be calculated with
relative ease. Hut environmental effects and human health
effects are more difficult to determine. For example.
human health effects may not show up for years. The
latency period in human beings of a cancer-causing
chemical will usually be somewhere between 20 and 40
years. When an entire population is exposed, as is the case
with dieldrin. with substantially everyone carrying measur-
able levels of dieldrin in his tissues, there is no practical
way of relating specific human cancers to dieldrin expo-
sure.
While seeking to protect public health against harm from
pesticides, we also seek to strengthen the ability of the
agricultural community to deal with pests, diseases, and
other threats to their crops and our food supply.
Q. Was there any truth to charges made in some
quarters last year that EPA and its 1972 ban on DDT
were largely responsible for a major outbreak of encephali-
tis1.'
A. Absolutely not. First. DDT had largely been
abandoned for mosquito control in the U.S. before the
1972 ban on DDT, because rnosquitos had become DDT-
resistant. Second. FPA's ban on DDT specifically ex-
cluded public health uses from the ban. Third, at least 10
products are registered and available for use against adult
mosquitoes, including malathion. the product preferred by
health agencies because of its superior knockdown power.
Fourth, not a single health agency in the Nation requested
the use of DDT in combating encephalitis.
Q. How do you think the new regulations for classing
certain pesticides as "restricted" and requiring that only
certified applicators can use them will affect American
farmers?
A. Certification of pesticide applicators will help farm-
ers. The restricted pesticides are dangerous. Many farm-
ers, farm workers and members of their families could get
sick—and even die—from inhalation or skin contact with
them. Other pesticides can cause great damage to the
environment if they are not applied directly to the crops or
soils they're designed to protect and prevented from
drifting into the air and washing into waterways.
1 expect some farmers will complain about having to
take a short instruction course or pass a test to be certified
PACK 4
-------
to use products that they may already have been using for
some years. But the instructors and certifiers will be
people from their own State, extension agents usually. The
requirements are flexible and adapted to the State's crops
and farming conditions.
Fanners in general like to keep up with new technology.
improve their methods, increase their profits. Pest control
is a field that is constantly changing. The certification
program will help farmers keep abreast of developments. It
will be both action-forcing and technology-forcing; it will
give a push to the development of better farming methods
and better environmental protection.
Q. EPA has long considered that wastewater discharge
permits could not be used to control pollution from "non-
point" sources: farm and forest drainage for example. But
the Natural Resources Defense Council sued in Federal
Court and last summer won a court order requiring EPA
to more carefully define "point sources" for certain
agricultural and forestry operations, for feedlots, and for
city storm sewers, and to develop new regulations for
issuance of permits to these sources. What are we doing to
obey the court order?
A. Everything the Court ordered. In November we
proposed permit regulations for concentrated animal feed-
ing operations—feedlots, poultry houses, and so on. In
December we proposed regulations for storm sewers—city
drainage systems not connected to sanitary sewers. In
-February we proposed regulations for some operations in
forestry and agriculture.
We think these regulations will be workable, but we
don't yet know whether the pollution reduction they could
achieve would be worth the cost. That's why we didn't
propose them before. We wanted to concentrate on the
industrial and municipal point sources that have the
greatest potential payoff.
In each instance we held a series of public meetings
across the country to obtain views as to how sources of
pollution should be defined and eventually brought under
control.
Of course we will give serious consideration to all
comments from the agricultural community.
One problem in agricultural and forestry operations is
determining where the discharge can be measured and
presumably controlled. Clearly, irrigated croplands could
require permits because they have definite discharge
points, but not land watered by rain or snow and drained
by natural streams. In most agricultural and forestry
operations, the situation is more complex since the abate-
ment measures are generally management techniques which
must be applied throughout a watershed. This is unlike
abatement of municipal and industrial discharges where
treatment can be provided at the discharge point.
We have taken the position that rain discharge is non-
point even if it flows from a pipe. Only when man applies
and controls water so as to cause a surface discharge of
pollutants to navigable waters do we have a point source
in agricultural or forestry activities. We also intend to
issue "general" permits to allow those discharges to
continue until locally developed areawide plans are com-
pleted or until we know there is to be a solution to a
particular discharge. Then individual permits would be
proposed containing specific limitations and corrective
actions.
In general the new regulations would give us and the
States flexibility to use the permit selectively and only on
problems where answers exist.
For example: owners or operators of feedlots would
continue to need a permit if they have a very large
operation, such as over 1.000 head of beef cattle on feed or
over 700 dairy cattle and discharge wastes to a waterway.
Smaller feedlots. say under 300 head of beef, would
generally not be required to obtain a permit unless we
visited the site and made a determination that the operation
should and could be regulated under the program.
In any case, no permit would be required if there is no
discharge of pollutants into waterways.
Q. What type of forestry operations might require
discharge permits?
A. In forestry operations we feel the most logical
pollution sources that are subject to such control are not
tree-cutting or tree-planting at all. These activities come to
mind when we think of forestry. They are watered by
Nature, by rain and snow-melt, uncontrollably, and the
discharges cannot reasonably be controlled with "end-of-
the-pipe" technology. However, forestry requires building
a lot of access roads that require gravel and timber storage
areas. Therefore, rock crushing and gravel washing and log
sorting which use controllable water and have distinct
discharge points, are the kinds of activities we propose to
regulate with discharge permits under the Court's order.
Q. Are we appealing to a higher court to get the non-
point permit order reversed?
A. Yes. We have asked the Justice Department to
appeal the ruling, and they have agreed to do so. General
Counsel Robert Zener is working on the appeal briefs now
and will help argue the case before the Federal Court of
Appeals.
Q. Do you feel that Congress should amend the Water
Pollution Control Act to provide authority for reducing
pollution from areawide sources, such as agriculture and
forestry?
A. No. We have adequate authority, and there is no
technology for controlling runoff water from wide areas as
there is for specific wastewater discharges from industrial
plants or sewage treatment works.
There is no question but that natural runoff causes an
awful lot of water pollution, but the best ways of reducing
it are good techniques of land management. If farmers
plow their land on level contours rather than up and down
the hills, less topsoil and silt gets washed away. If they
gauge carefully the amount of fertilizer they use, and apply
it properly, they reduce the amount of nutrients that get
into streams and lakes and cause eutrophication. Foresters
and lumber companies likewise can do many things to limit
the pollution runoff from their normal operations.
We are proposing amendments to the Water Pollution
Control Act, but they deal with the funding of wastewater
treatment grants, the criteria for eligibility, and so on.
Q. Will reduction of air pollution benefit agriculture?
A. We know that industrial pollution, particularly
sulfur oxides from power plants, can have a very adverse
impact on agricultural production. Recent studies on the
effects of photochemical oxidants on agricultural growth
have shown that the yields of alfalfa and sweet corn were
reduced by 15 percent each when exposed to certain levels
of these oxidants. Similarly, and more dramatically, bean
yields were reduced 25 percent, and tomatoes reduced 33
percent.
Q. Strip mining for coal, power plant construction, and
shale oil extraction have already begun in some of our
Western States: Colorado. Montana, the Dakotas, Utah,
and Wyoming. This is a land of ranches, tarms. and small
PAGE 5
-------
towns. How will this development of energy resources
affect the quality of life there?
A. It's having a very serious impact on the environ-
ment and on people's style of living. We are watching it
very closely. Our Region VIII Office is "riding herd" on
these strip mines and power plants to see that pollution
control standards are maintained. We have many labora-
tory and field studies under way in this area.
About a year and a half ago I spent five days and
covered almost 5,000 miles inspecting the energy develop-
ment areas and talking with all kinds of people. 1 talked
with ranchers and farmers, miners, public officials, com-
pany executives, reporters, environmentalists, and reclama-
tion specialists. Some were afraid the development would
sacrifice the West's land and water and clear air. Others
thought environmental protection regulations were creating
unreasonable obstacles to obtaining the energy the Nation
needs.
During that trip I saw and visited strip mines, power
plants, a prototype oil shale mine and extraction plant, and
an oil field injected with water to increase production. I
saw mined areas that had been regraded and planted. I saw
boom towns and haphazard growth. 1 saw croplands,
forests, wilderness areas, and Indian reservations.
1 think this region is willing to share its resources, but
with certain reservations, I agree with a 70-year-old
rancher whose home rested on a rich coal bed. He said:
"We know coal is going to be mined and 1 think we can
face the fact. . .But we don't want to be deluged with it all
at once. . .what we dread most is uncontrolled growth with
no consideration. . .for the people who live and work
here."
Hnergy development will inevitably involve some envi-
ronmental costs. But we must keep those costs to a
minimum. We must seek to avoid environmental damage
that is irreversible and essentially permanent. And we must
give highest priority to avoiding adverse impacts on public
health.
(J. Water is a precious and scarce commodity in much
of the West. How will the larger water needs of energy
development affect western agriculture and ranching?
A. Water consumption is only one of the environmen-
tal aspects that EPA and the States are watching closely.
The high cost of water for industrial uses in the West will
undoubtedly encourage conservation and reuse wherever
possible. It will also spur the development of methods that
require less water for any given process.
Simple economics will be working for us in this case,
and you must remember that the arid Western States have
long-established laws and customs concerning water rights
and water use—local controlling mechanisms that seem
quite strange to an Easterner accustomed to about 40
inches of rainfall a year.
Q. I understand that as well as being the Administra-
tor of EPA, you are a part-time farmer .on Maryland's
Eastern Shore. What do you grow?
A. I cultivate a little over 130 acres, primarily planted
in feed corn and soy beans. I also raise a small amount of
hay to feed two horses. We rotate the crops and try to
follow the best land management practices we can, such as
maintaining grass strips to help control runoff.
1 operate the farm on shares with my neighbor, Earle
Harrison, who provides the equipment and the know-how.
I don't pretend to much expertise! I have tried to help the
quail population by planting feed strips and have also
planted hedgerows to provide cover for birds and other
wildlife.
We have a vegetable garden and fruit trees, and my wife
Aileen preserves quantities of food which we use all year.
There is considerable woodland on the property and a
resident population of deer. And. of course, being on the
Eastern Shore, we have great numbers of waterfowl in our
fields and along the shore in the winter months. We are
lucky to have oysters and crabs which we also harvest for
our own use.
Each season brings its own rewards and pleasures. I
can't pretend that the farm is a great financial success but
it is fun and satisfying to try to use the land itself, n
-------
TESTING CHEMICALS, NOT PEOPLE
(Excerpted from remarks made by Adminis-
trator Russell E. Train at the National Press
Club. Feb. 26, 1976. Copies of the full text of
this speech can be obtained by writing the
Public Information Center (PM-215). EPA.
Washington. D. C.. 20460.)
"Let me highlight some of the most
important points we should keep in
mind about chemicals and their effects
upon human health and life:
"1. Over the past few decades, and
especially since the end of World War
II, we have released into the environ-
ment a vast volume of entirely new
chemical compounds with little or no
knowledge of their health effects and
^virtually no effort to determine those
effects and to regulate the release of
many chemicals that might be hazard-
ous.
"2. We have reaped enormous bene-
fits from these chemicals—indeed,
from the truly marvelous advances in
chemical knowledge and technology
that we have achieved throughout
modern times. We must measure
these benefits, not only in the eco-
nomic terms that are apparent to us
all, but in health terms as well. The
fact that we are the first generation in
human history to be virtually free of
the major infectious diseases is, in no
small degree, a result of the applica-
tion of chemical advances to modern
medicine and modern life.
"3. The World Health Organization
estimates that between 60 to 90 per-
cent of all cancers are the result of
environmental factors—in the broadest
sense of that phrase. National Cancer
Institute studies have shown that the
highest cancer rates in the country
occur in areas with the heaviest con-
centrations of industrial chemical use
and activity. Yet of all the chemical
agents in the environment, probably
only a very small fraction is responsi-
ble for that large share of cancer.
Indeed, the odds are that only a
relatively small portion of the chemi-
cals in our environment pose any
serious health threats.
"4. It may take only limited expo-
sure to contract cancer. It typically
takes anywhere from 15 to 40 years
after that exposure for the first onset
of cancer to occur. Because of that
long latency period, we have reason to
believe that the full impact of the
chemical explosion we have experi-
enced over the past 30 years has only
begun to show up in our cancer
statistics. Yet already, the experts tell
us, one out of every four Americans
now alive will ultimately contract
some form of cancer.
"5. A large and growing share of the
diseases that cripple and kill us are
caused by environmental factors—
again, in the broadest sense of that
phrase. These diseases are going to
take an increasingly heavy toll upon
our lives and well-being, unless and
until we stop trying to deal with them
by treating them after they occur, and
start taking serious steps to prevent
them from occurring in the first place.
Our national health care effort must
increasingly stress the prevention
rather than the treatment of disease.
and effective measures for the assess-
ment and control of potentially dan-
gerous chemicals and other agents
before they enter the environment
must be a key element in this new
shift toward preventive medicine.
"To expand on these points: There
are today more than 2 million different
known chemicals; every year, this list
grows by an estimated 25.000 new
compounds. There are today more
than 30,000 chemicals in actual com-
mercial production; every year, this
list grows by some 1000 new com-
pounds. Of the more than 2 million
known chemicals, only a few thou-
sand have been tested for carcinogen-
icity and—aside from those used in
food additives, drugs and pesticides—
only a few hundred have been ade-
quately tested. We know, in fact, very
little about the health effects even of
the 30,000 chemicals already in com-
mercial production. We have no way
of systematically screening the chemi-
cals that do go into production; we
have no way of knowing precisely
which chemicals go into production
every year. In other words, we not
only don't know whether what's going
out there is dangerous—we don't even
know what's going out there.
"We have, however, learned one
thing: it's what we don't know that
can really hurt us. even kill us.
"When I became the first Chairman
of the Council on Environmental
Quality in February 1970—almost ex-
actly six years ago—my very first
directive to our staff was to develop a
legislative proposal for coping with the
class of problems presented by chemi-
cal and other contaminants. A year
later, in February 1971. this legisla-
tion, known as the Toxic Substances
Control Act. was submitted by the
President to the Congress. Twice,
over the past five years, the Senate
and the House have passed versions
of this legislation, but have been una-
ble to agree on the same version. Last
week, the Senate Commerce Commit-
tee reported out Toxic Substances
Control legislation for action by the
Senate. In the House, the legislation
is being considered by a subcommittee
of the Interstate and Foreign Com-
merce Committee.
The plain fact is that, had the Toxic
Substances Act been enacted five
years ago when it was first proposed.
we would be a lot farther ahead in
dealing with some potentially very
serious hazards." °
PAGE 7
-------
AIR POLLUTION
ON THE FARM
Spring onions at right were grown in sulfur-polluted air. those at left under normal
conditions.
EPA scientists are operating a small.
intentionally air-polluted farm at Cor-
vallis. Oregon, as a research project
which may help save farmers money.
They raise their crops under plastic
tents filled with controlled amounts of
common air pollutants, '["hen they
measure Ihe effects on plant grouth.
soil ecology, and crop yields.
This research may lead to the saving
of many millions of dollars a year for
American farmers, according to Dr.
Lawrence Raniere, Chief of the Ter-
restrial Kcology Branch at the Corval-
lis Environmental Research Labora-
tory.
The work involves not only plant
scientists but also a systems analyst, a
biomathematician, five biotechnicians,
and a mechanical engineer. On their
four-and-a-half-acre site—part of Ore-
gem State University's Hyslop
Farm—they are learning the mecha-
nisms by which air pollutants can limit
the natural production of nutrients in
the soil, slow down the normal decay
of organic matter, and stunt plant
growth.
Such knowledge is necessary before
meaningful air pollution control meas-
PAGE 8
ures can be undertaken. It is also
needed for more accurate assessment
of the economic losses to agriculture
from air pollution. Direct losses to
crops are estimated to exceed $150
million annually, and indirect losses
are believed to be much higher.
Outdoor laboratory
The HPA farm provides an outdoor
laboratory more closely approximating
real farming conditions than the bench
tests of plant growth that are usually
employed.
Plots of field crops—corn, alfalfa.
soy beans, and sugar beets—are
grown under clear plastic sheeting,
using normal methods of planting and
cultivation, natural soils and sunlight.
and simulated rainfall.
Lettuce, radishes, onions, and other
garden crops are also grown on the
leased site.
Air under the plastic canopies can be
varied as desired, with controlled
amounts of such pollutants as sulfur
dioxide, a pollutant discharged by
power plants and industries; ozone.
the main constituent of smog; and
participates containing metallic com-
pounds and sulfates.
All of these pollutants affect plant
growth in various ways, and these
effects are observed throughout the
plant's growing cycle from seed germi-
nation to harvest. Effects of the pol-
lutants on the soil ecosystem and the
interaction with plant root systems are
also observed in the test plots.
3 Significant Effects
Preliminary results of these research
programs show three very significant
effects:
1. Air pollution can severely limit the
natural conversion of nitrogen in the
air to fixed nitrogen compounds that
are the principal nutrients of plants.
This fixation of atmospheric nitrogen
is Nature's way of making fertilizer
and is accomplished by bacteria that
grow on the roots of certain plants,
called legumes. Alfalfa and soy beans
are legumes widely planted for their
ability to improve soil fertility as well
as for their values as crops.
Nitrogen conversion by alfalfa was
reduced 40 percent when the crop was
exposed to ozone, even at levels well
below the national air quality stand-
ards. Sulfur dioxide also reduced ni-
trogen conversion by alfalfa when the
concentration of this pollutant gas ex-
ceeded .06 parts per million.
2. Certain heavy metals that occur in
airborne particles also inhibit nitrogen
conversion. One of these is cadmium,
a metallic element of no known nutri-
tional value and many toxic effects.
Red alder trees exposed to cadmium
compounds in air produce less nitro-
gen in their roots. Airborne cadmium
compounds are produced by automo-
bile exhausts, tire wear, coal-fired
power plants, and the manufacture of
phosphate fertilizers.
3. Cadmium and selenium particles
slow down the rate of decay of soil
litter, the essential biological process
by which dead organic matter is made
available for plant use.
Acid Rain Studied
Acid rain—an indirect effect of air
pollution—is also being investigated at
the test farm. Rain that carries dis-
solved acids is increasing throughout
the world in both extent and seventy,
said Dr. Raniere. It is caused chiefly
by the conversion in air of sulfur
oxide gases to sulfate particles, which
-------
Plastic tenls enclose test crops on HPA's
air on field crops anil trees are measured.
4'/2-aere farm, where effects of polluted
then combine with rainwater to form
dilute sulfuric acid. Various metallic
compounds also add to the acidity.
Research is under way at Corvallis
to determine the effects of acid rain
on plant growth and plant-soil ecology
over a three-year period. Simulated
rain containing various amounts of
acid is applied to test plots for three
or four hours three times a week.
while scientists measure nutrient
washout, nitrogen conversion, organic
decay, and the rate of nutrient absorp-
tion by the plants, as well as overall
crop production.
Results of this work are expected to
provide a sound basis for plans to
control airborne sulfates on a regional
level in the future.
The Corvallis group is also working
to improve their techniques of measur-
ing air pollution damage to plants. Up
to now such damage has generally
been based on observation: spotted
leaves, wilting, and so on. These
methods are subjective and difficult to
standardize.
Damage Indicator Found
The scientists have found a more
sensitive method, which seems to indi-
cate incipient damage before it be-
comes visible. In the normal course of
the research, plants are given a kind of
"basal metabolism" test. That is. all
the gases the plant "inhales" and
"exhales" are carefully measured.
These are mostly carbon dioxide, oxy-
gen, and water vapor, with small
amounts of other substances. One of
the minor gaseous products is ethyl-
ene, a hydrocarbon. F.thylene output
has been found to correlate with ob-
served plant damage, and it rises
when the plant is exposed to air
pollution, before visual damage is ap-
parent.
The Terrestrial Ecology Branch has
other plant pollution research under
way. involving field work in Montana.
southern California, and Florida.
In Montana, grasslands in the vicin-
ity of new coal-fired power plants are
being studied to learn how stack emis-
sions and cooling systems affect the
native plant and animal life. The ob-
jective is to develop predictive guide-
lines for the siting and management of
future power plants. The project is to
be completed in 1978.
In the San Bernardino National For-
est in southern California, a three-year
study of smog damage to ponderosa
pines is being sponsored jointly by
HPA and the U.S. Forest Service.
In Florida, a recently completed
study focused on the effects of sea-salt
drift from an evaporative cooling sys-
tem. A proposed nuclear power plant
near Homestead, Fla.. will cool its
heat exchangers with seawater and
then cool the seawater in an evapora-
tive system, discharging large amounts
of sea-salt particles. The KPA scien-
tists exposed different types of vegeta-
tion to the expected salt concentra-
tions to determine long-term growth
effects and salt tolerance levels.
Corvallis researchers are also using
radioactive trace elements to follow
the movement of chemical pesticides
through soil, plants, and animals. In
this way they hope to learn more
about how and where pesticides are
stored and how they change and de-
cay. Such information is needed by
both pesticide manufacturers and
users in assessing a product's environ-
mental impact, a
Model ecosystem in Corvallis laboratory tank contains a variety of plant and
animal life, and movements of pesticides can he traced through all parts of the
system. The observer is Ja\ (iile. research biologist.
PA (IK 9
-------
TAMING
REREGISTRAT1OIM
During the next year and a half
every hug spray and weed killer,
every rat poison anil flea collar, sold
in the United States will have to be
reregistered hy the Office of Pesticide
Programs.
About 35.(KM) different products reg-
istered under the 1947 Federal pesti-
cides law before August 4 of lust year
are involved, plus approximately 7.(XM)
products made and sold within States
and not previously subject to Federal
control.
The old law's criteria for registration
were safety and effectiveness. The
law's 1972 amendments and subse-
quent FPA regulations provide three
new label requirements;
• Classification of each pesticide for
"general" or "restricted" use;
• Belter presentation of warnings
and directions for use—and for
storage and disposal too—on each
product's label; and
• For certain unusually ha/ardous
products, the minimum time that
must elapse before farm workers
can enter a field where the prod-
uct was applied.
Moreover, additional scientific infor-
mation on toxicity to humans and to
fish and wildlife will be required for
many products before they can he
reregistered.
Massive .Job
"We have begun the massive job,
and we are confident it will he done
before the Congressional deadline of
Oct. 21. 1977." said Fdwin I.. John-
son, Deputy Assistant Administrator
for Pesticide Programs.
"To assist the industry in complying
with the new requirements, we held a
series of question-and-answer work-
shops around the country this past
summer and fall. These were well
attended and received.
"And we have set up procedures to
expedite the process hy reregistering
products in 'batches' according to
their active ingredients. For example.
all iodine products will be batched
together, or all products containing cop-
per in a certain range of concentration."
PACiF 10
A prime feature of each reregistra-
tion will be its classification for "gen-
eral" or "restricted" use. General-use
pesticides are those not considered
dangerous when used according to
label directions. They will be available
to everyone.
Restricted-use pesticides are those
considered dangerous to man or to the
environment unless they are used by
competent people. After Oct. 21.
1977. only certified applicators, or
persons working under the direct su-
pervision of a certified applicator, will
be able to use restricted pesticides
legally. (See certification story on
page 6.)
Many pesticides now being sold are
expected to be reregistered quickly on
the basis of scientific data already in
F.PA's files. Others, for which long-
term effects are not yet known, may
be reregistered temporarily, pending
completion of the necessary studies.
1,505 Ingredients
A list of 1.505 active ingredients of
pesticides was published in the Fed-
eral Register for Feb. 17. taking up
158 pages of the Register. The ingredi-
ents were grouped according to chemi-
cal similarity and relative knowledge
of their health and environmental haz-
ards. Broad uses for each were identi-
fied, i.e. for insect, fungus, or rodent
control, etc.. and "data gaps" were
indicated where more information is
needed on the chemical's effects.
The Federal Register notice set a
timetable for the "call-in" of re regis-
tration applications for products con-
taining 651 of the ingredients, 144 of
them before July of this year. More
than half of the 1,505 chemicals have
not yet been categorized by FPA.
The Office of Pesticide Programs
will announce later a list of active
ingredients presumed to be too haz-
ardous for reregistration. Items on this
list are expected to become the sub-
jects of many EPA-industry confer-
ences and public hearings.
As hatches are called in for reregis-
tration, FPA will send applicant in-
dustries and distributors "specific
guidance" packages that include: re-
quired label changes, references to
supporting data, indications of addi-
tional data needed, possible waivers of
data requirements, and a proposed
general or restricted classification.
Registrants have 60 days to respond;
otherwise their product registration
may be cancelled.
Reregistration Team
John B. Ritch, Jr., directs the Pesti-
cide Office's Registration Division.
He is assisted by a 15-memher task
force drawn from all parts of the
Office and 15 product managers to
handle the details.
FPA is encouraging applicants for
reregistration to cooperate in compil-
ing data on safety, effectiveness, tox-
icity, and environmental effects, ac-
cording to Deputy Assistant Adminis-
trator Johnson. This can help the
pesticide companies by spreading re-
search costs over two or more firms,
he said, and it can also help EPA in
processing the batches of applications
more rapidly.
The Pesticide Office depends princi-
pally, but not entirely, on scientific-
data submitted hy manufacturers from
their own research or from data ob-
tained from universities and private
organizations.
Backup Testing
The Office's Chemical and Biological
Investigations Branch, headed by
Ronald A. Davis, can play a crucial
backup role in the reregistration proc-
ess whenever F.PA officials have rea-
son to question the submitted data.
The Branch can evaluate all kinds of
pesticides for chemical and biological
activity, tasks it usually undertakes for
pesticide accident investigations and
for research to support enforcement
actions, rather than product registra-
tion.
The Branch has a professional and
supporting staff of more than 70 per-
sons and has laboratory and field
operations in Beltsville, Md.; Corval-
lis. Ore.; and Bay St. Louis. Miss.
The staff includes specialists in poi-
sons, viruses, microbes, insects,
plants, and animals, n
-------
TAMING
J Hi
CERTIFICATION
A Georgia farmer uses parathion to
kill insects that infest his cotton and
peanuts. An Iowa grower uses toxa-
phene on his corn and methyl bromide
to fumigate his storage bins.
Each has only two more growing
seasons before he must prove himself
competent to use these chemical pesti-
cides, which are extremely hazardous.
Parathion and methyl bromide are
poisonous to inhale or to touch; masks
and protective clothing are needed.
Toxaphene is poisonous to fish: it
should be used only when it will not
wash away into a stream or lake.
These three chemicals seem certain
to be on KPA's list of "restricted"
pesticides, which, after Oct. 21. 1977.
'can he used only by certified applica-
tors (or persons under their direct
supervision.)
The States will administer the certifi-
cation of private applicators (farmers)
and commercial pesticide applicators.
Plans on Schedule
State certification plans are progress-
ing about on schedule in spite of a
recent one-year extension by Con-
gress of the effective deadline, accord-
ing to F.dwin I.. Johnson. Deputy
Assistant Administrator for Pesticide
Programs.
By the end of February, six States'
certification programs had received fi-
nal F.PA approval. Four more had
been formally published, with notice
of EPA's intent to approve; six Stales
and Territories had plans signed by
their respective Governors; and three
were awaiting their Governor's signa-
tures.
Mr, Johnson said the extension of
the deadline from October of this year
to October 1977 has not caused any
noticeable delay in certification efforts
by the States. Moreover, most States
indicate that they intend to proceed
with applicator training schedules de-
veloped before the extension voted
lust November when Congress
amended the Federal Insecticide.
Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
Under the Act. certification will be
required only for restricted pesticides,
those judged by EPA to be the most
dangerous either to the environment
or to the health of persons who handle
and apply them. Such restricted pesti-
cides would be sold only to persons
certified to be capable of using them
safely. And they will have to be used
only by certified persons or by em-
ployees working under their direct
supervision.
EPA has not yet announced the
restriction of any pesticides, but last
year the Office of Pesticide Programs
issued a list of 41 "presumptively
restricted" types of chemicals. This
list is being used in the development
of training materials and planning of
certification programs.
(k'neral-Use Products
Most pesticides, and especially those
used in home yards and gardens, will
be classified for general use. and no
certification will be required to apply
them. A presumptive list of 76 gen-
eral-use pesticides was also issued last
year. Some of the chemicals presump-
tively restricted may be downgraded
in the final list and classified for
general use; others may be rated gen-
eral-use in certain formulations and
below certain concentrations.
Complete safety is not assured by a
general-use rating, however, Mr.
Johnson emphasi/ed. Label directions
must be followed. KPA does not
register any pesticide unless it is prop-
erly labeled with directions for use
and with adequate hazard warnings.
The certification process for applica-
tors of restricted pesticides will vary
from State to State according to vary-
ing pesticide use patterns, types of
pests to be controlled, and local regu-
lations. Fach State will administer its
own certification program after its
plans have met EPA's standards.
The State determines when a person
is competent to use the restricted
pesticides, and it can choose from a
number of ways to determine compe-
tence of private applicators, including
formal written tests, completion of
approved training, oral examinations.
even practical demonstrations. All
commercial applicators must pass
written examinations.
Training Courses Set
Training will be offered by State
agricultural extension workers, health
department experts, or industry
groups. Some States may provide for
home-study courses by mail.
Commercial applicators are expected
to need from 8 to 12 hours of instruc-
tion and demonstration time, and indi-
vidual farmers from two to four hours,
to meet the competence requirements.
Farmer training is being conducted
largely by extension service officials,
under agreements worked out by
EPA. the Department of Agriculture,
and the States.
Training materials, pamphlets, and
visual aids have already been devel-
oped under contracts funded jointly by
EPA and Agriculture. More than $1.2
million has already been spent on
developing and distributing such edu-
cational materials.
Georgia was the first State to have
its certification program approved last
August. It was followed by Iowa.
South Carolina. Wyoming. Missis-
sippi, and Washington.
Washington. Oregon, and Idaho arc
planning identical performance stand-
ards, training materials, and commer-
cial applicator requirements so that
any person certified by one State
automatically qualifies in the other
two. New Jersey, West Virginia, Ore-
gon and Idaho have submitted their
plans and EPA has published its in-
tent to approve.
Signed by their Governors but not yet
published are the plans for Arkansas.
Florida, Guam. Hawaii. Indiana.
Maine. Maryland, Michigan. Mon-
tana. Nevada. New Hampshire,
North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Puerto
Rico. Tennessee, and Virginia. Plans
for Ari/ona, Minnesota and New
York await their Governor's signa-
tures. D
PAGE
-------
Block Creek Story
'I lie [>roi>riini described in the Klm'k
Creek s'lurv should help point the HW
for nttinv other projects needed to
help control pollution from ''non-
point" sources such its rain runoff
from farm fields. EPA is >i
-------
The banks of this small stream which runs under the bridge at left center have been sloped and planted with grass.
Fencing has been erected to prevent the cows from damaging the fragile banks.
And these people are spending; they
have already raised $60.000. The pro-
ject guidelines not only have them
investing money but making sacrifices
such as not planting in certain areas to
preserve the land. Idle land costs a
farmer money.
Virgil Hirsch has a sediment basin
that used to be good farm land, and
yet he says he's glad he went along
with the project because he feels it's
worthwhile.
But he adds, "If they'd waited on
me to come to them, why, it never
would have got done."
Although each of the participants has
his own role in the Black Creek
Study, when the farmers think of the
project most of them think of the Soil
Conservation Service. The SCS
works with the farmers on a day-to-
day basis, advising them which con-
servation technique would work best
on their land.
Purdue University has been measur-
ing the effect of the land management
practices in terms of erosion, biology,
water quality and other aspects.
The final results of the Black Creek
Study can be as far reaching as a
change in conservation. If that hap-
pens the farmers of Allen County will
be very much responsible.
Ralph Christenson's perspective is
this: "Ordinarily you talk to a man
and say. 'Look, fella, if you don't
clean up, you're gonna get slapped
with a fine.' We're saying 'Let's see
what land management practices do to
prevent pollutants from running off
into the stream, what these practices
cost in terms of dollars and produc-
tion, without having a bunch of law-
makers doing it and making you pay
for it."
"After all. no farmer wants to be
told how to farm," said Cari Wilson.
The Black Creek Study has done
much to bolster the image of all its
participants, especially the EPA.
McFadden remarked that "before this
project, EPA was going to close
everything down, EPA was . . ."
McFadden stopped a moment and
said, "But now, well, they've cer-
tainly won our respect."
The Environmental Protection
Agency hopes this kind of project can
he applied to other areas in the Great
Lakes Basin since the 12.000-aere
Black Creek watershed was not cho-
sen at random. The basin contains
almost every type of soil found in the
Maumee River Basin, so practices
proved successful locally can be ap-
plied regionally. D
Reprinted from the May. 1974, issue of
Environment Midwest. EPA Region V
monthly.
PAGE 13
-------
Curbing Feedlot Wastes
By Rowena L. Michaels*
* Rowcnci Michaels ix Director, Pub-
lic Affairs, Region VII.
Agriculture is the economic base
upon which Ihe four States in Region
VII, Iowa. Nebraska. Kansas, and
Missouri, thrive and prosper. Gross
fa mi and related agribusiness income
totals nearly $45 billion per year.
Forty-three percent of the Nation's
beef and 44 percent of its pork comes
from (his Region.
This high productivity is made possi-
ble by the centralization of animal
feeding in very large lots. Since World
War II the size of feedlots has stead-
ily increased until today it is not
uncommon for one operation to han-
dle KK).(XK) head of cattle for about
120 days of feetling.
Although economically profitable.
this centrali/ed production of feed
animals contributes heavily to environ-
mental pollution, both of air and
water, because of the huge amounts of
wastes generated. The size of the
problem is suggested by the fact that a
10.000 head of cattle feedlot. not con-
sidered a "large" operation in this
part of the country, produces about
KM).(XX) tons of manure annually. A
feedlot with 50.000 head has a dis-
posal problem comparable to that of a
city of about 600.000 people. The
Department of Agriculture estimates
that animal production results in two
billion tons of waste annually.
Until comparatively recent times,
disposal of animal wastes posed no
particular problems. American agricul-
ture was widely dispersed, most farms
were modest rather than large, and
animal wastes were returned to crop-
land or pasture as fertilizer. Then
around the turn of the century, when
feedlots began to appear in the corn-
belt States they were comparatively
small operations, feeding between 100
and 300 animals, owned and operated
by individual farmers.
Little concern was given to the con-
trol of wastes since the lots were
frequently located on hillsides to take
advantage of natural drainage and with
PA OF. 14
the assumption that a good rain would
flush away the solids and the runoff
would carry wastes into convenient
streams. Approximately 80.000 of the
country's 170.000 beef cattle feedlots
are located on streams, so much of
the muck has found its way into our
waterways.
The increasing size of the feedlots.
and the consequent increase in the
amount of wastes to be managed,
have overloaded the capacity of natu-
ral systems to safely dispose of them.
In the mid-l%0's water pollution
caused by rainfall runoff from concen-
trated cattle feeding operations was
the cause of major fish kills in this
region.
Recognizing the magnitude and visi-
bility of pollution caused by huge
feedlots and the growing public intol-
erance of environmental abuse. Con-
gress gave FPA responsibility for reg-
ulating wastewater from feedlots late
in 1972. The Federal Water Pollution
Control Act Amendments of 1972
included "concentrated animal feeding
operations" in the definition of "point
sources" of water pollution. And
"point sources" were required to file
for a permit from EPA to discharge
pollutants to streams and rivers. On
December 5. 1972, the first proposed
regulations were issued dealing with
point sources under the Federal
wastewater permit program. That first
proposal was all inclusive. Nearly ev-
ery farmer in the country would have
been included. Here in Region VII
we were accused of "planning to put
a treatment plant on the tail of every
critter."
The hue and cry that was raised by
farmers and stockmen led to a reap-
praisal of HPA's position. Agency
staff was sent into the field, advice
was solicited from other agencies,
comments from farmers and feeders
were read and carefully studied. On
July 5. 1973. we issued new regula-
tions for the livestock feeding industry
that covered only large feedlots. those
confining over the "magic" 1,000 head
size or equivalent, and certain others
that were identified as significant con-
tributors to pollution.
But as we set about implementing
the new regulations, the Natural Re-
sources Defense Council filed a law-
suit objecting that P'PA had incor-
rectly excluded certain point sources
from regulations. A U.S. District
Court of Washington. D.C. ruled
against the Agency in June 1975. The
court decreed that we could not ex-
clude any point source. It seemed that
we had come full circle. To explore
the options left. EPA held extensive
public hearings at which livestock or-
ganizations, agricultural colleges, and
individual feeders among others had
an opportunity to be heard.
As a result new regulations for con-
centrated animal feeding operations
have been hammered out and were
promulgated in final form last month.
In these regulations. EPA is attempt-
ing to aim the permit program at large
feedlots that discharge wastewater and
only at the smaller ones that may
cause particular pollution problems.
-------
Meanwhile, the States are also he-
coming more active in the feedlot
waste control efforts. Kansas knew it
had a problem as early as 1958. It
took 10 years to get regulations on the
books that Kansas felt would ade-
quately protect water quality and con-
trol air pollution, odor and other feed-
lot nuisance problems. Iowa came up
with regulations in the middle to late
1960's and by 1970 seven States had
developed and adopted such regula-
tions. These States work closely, as
does EPA. with land grant universi-
ties, agricultural consulting engineers.
and the Extension Service to help
solve the farmers' and feeders' prob-
lems.
Livestock waste management is diffi-
cult because of many factors: the size
of the operation, availability of land
for waste disposal, climatic conditions,
and even changes in the agricultural
industry itself. The trend in the live-
stock industry today is to view animal
wastes not just as a product to be
disposed of. but as a resource to be
used profitably. Recognition of the
nutrient value of animal wastes is
increasing as commercial fertilizer
prices continue to rise.
Current research, much of it funded
by EPA, emphasizes recycling of
manure. Some cattle wastes are being
converted into methane gas and other
products. A project is being con-
ducted at EP.Vs Robert S. Kerr Lab-
oratory in Ada. Okla.. to determine
how much of the protein-rich dried
manure can be included in the feed
given cattle. At least one of the
nation's large beef cattle feeding com-
panies has already started to include
in the normal diet of its herd substan-
tial portions of feed derived from
cattle manure. D
Feedlot near Omaha. Nebraska.
PAGE 15
-------
REGIONlV
Geographically, the eight States—
North Carolina. South Carolina.
Georgia. Florida. Tennessee, Missis-
sippi. Alabama and Kentucky—com-
prise 10.2 percent of the United
States. Their population of 31,850,(MM)
accounts for 15.7 percent of the Na-
tion's citizens.
The Region is an area of great
diversity and richness of natural re-
sources. Some of these resources,
notably woodlands and plenty of fresh
and salt water, have drawn textile
mills, pulp and paper mills, chemical
plants and an ever burgeoning tourist
trade.
The coming of new industry and new
people has presented the Region with
environmental challenges and continu-
ing pollution problems, which, here
and there, have tarnished skies and
waters.
KPA was only eight days old on
Dec. 10, 1970, when Administrator
William I). Ruckelshaus came to At-
lanta and let the Nation know that the
fledgling Agency meant business in
its mandate to protect the environ-
ment. Foregoing the usual platitudes
in an address to a meeting of the
Nation's mayors, he informed chief
executives of Atlanta, Cleveland and
Detroit that their cities were bounded
by foul waters, and they had 180 days
to get going on programs to clean up
these waters.
The result, after sputterings and
angry retorts abated, was launching of
$!.2-billion Federal and local pro-
grams to curb the pollution of Geor-
gia's Chattahoochee River, Lake Erie,
and the Detroit River.
Another big plus for [{PA in the
Region occurred on Nov. 18. 1971, in
Birmingham when the city had a
frightening air pollution episode.
County and State were powerless to
act, and industries at the time declined
to shut down voluntarily. EPA teams
from Region IV and Raleigh-Durham
went into the Alabama city and for
the first time put into operation emer-
gency powers of the Clean Air Act.
Working with the Justice Department,
EPA got injunctions to close down 23
PAGE 16
of the city's largest industries at a 2
a.m. hearing at the home of U.S.
District Judge Sam Pointer. Air over
the city, nudged along by a cleansing
cold-front rain, cleared within 18
hours.
In the water area, Escambia Bay at
Pensacola has been the Region's best
known success story. Once one of the
Gulf of Mexico's finest fishing and
spawning waters, Escambia had been
turned into the country's number one
fish kill site in the late I960's by the
post-World War II influx of chemical
plants.
The Region responded to this prob-
lem with a series of State-Federal
enforcement conferences in the late
sixties and early seventies which laid
down some lough, effective cleanup
Modern Atlanta's skyline.
guidelines. Regional Administrator
Jack E. Ravan followed this up in
1972 by stationing a team of marine
biologists and engineers at the bay on
fulltime assignment as monitors.
Thanks to continuing progress in con-
trolling harmful discharges, there were
no recorded fish kills in 1975 and the
monitoring team has been reassigned
to other cleanup duties.
Those are some of the highlights. In
the day-to-day struggle, some of the
programs shape up as follows:
Drinking Water Safety
A comprehensive evaluation of the
Tennessee water supply program in
1971 was the first such study in the
Nation. Region IV has continued to
lead the way. having also completed.
at State request, evaluations of the
Kentucky. Georgia, and Florida pro-
grams. However, a great deal of addi-
tional research is needed in water
supply and related health effects stud-
ies. As a follow-up to the National
Organics Reconnaissance Study. Re-
gion IV is investigating further the
sources of the relatively high levels of
trace organic compounds found at
Miami, Fla.. and Charleston. S.C.
Pesticides
Another first here—Georgia was the
first State in the Nation to obtain an
approved plan for the training and
certification of restricted-use pesticides
applicators. South Carolina was third.
Mississippi fourth, and the remaining
Region States are well along in proc-
essing or plan preparation. This is
good because the Region has some
major pesticide and pest problems. In
Region IV some 1.378 registered pes-
ticide manufacturing establishments
(23 percent of the Nation's total) pro-
duce more than 7.(KX) products. Fed-
eral-State cooperation, as in other pro-
grams, is necessary to avoid duplica-
tion of effort and to uniformly regulate
the marketing and use of pesticides.
Resident pesticide inspectors are in
the fields in Alabama. Florida, Missis-
sippi. Tennessee and Georgia. These
EPA representatives help train State
pesticide inspectors, inspect manufac-
turing facilities, investigate pesticide
incidents (some 150 last year), monitor
experimental pesticides, and collect
evidence to determine compliance
with the Pesticides Act.
Air
Some 23 Air Quality Maintenance
Areas have been formally designated
in Region IV. and 31 counties are
being given special study because they
may not meet air quality standards.
When the analysis is completed this
spring, appropriate strategies will be
determined for dealing with these
problems. In some cases, this will
involve more thorough enforcement of
existing implementation plans; in other
cases, additional control measures will
have to be provided in revision of the
-------
plans. In addition, special studies are
being made of transportation-related
pollutants in five urban areas: Atlanta.
Charlotte, the Kentucky suburbs of
Cincinnati. Louisville, and Tampa.
The spectacularly dirty air of cities
like Birmingham and Chattanooga.
it is hoped, is a phenomenon of the
past, but Region IV still has problems
with industrial air pollution. Principal
sources are metallurgical industries.
chemical manufacturers, power gener-
ators, petroleum refineries, and kraft
pulp and paper mills. Because of
growing concern over suspended sul-
fates, the emissions of TVA's steam
electric plants remain a major con-
cern.
Palm-shaded beach at the SDH thorn most
point of the Florida Keys.
Solid Waste
At the end of Fiscal Year 1975. 75
percent of the population in Region
IV was being served by approved
solid waste disposal facilities. All
States have regulatory authority for
solid waste management and are at
various stages of implementation.
Seven of the eight States are develop-
ing general solid waste management.
hazardous waste management and re-
source recovery strategies. The State
of Florida, under an EPA grant, is
commencing a market survey for re-
cyclable materials. Because of prob-
lems with land disposal and heavy
coastline development, a study is
being made in Gulf Coast counties of
Mississippi for resource recovery po-
tential. In the Region, solid waste
disposal problems range from those
caused by the high groundwater table
in Florida and coastal areas of the
Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico States to
those of fractured limestone forma-
tions in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The real estate and population boom in Florida has helped lead to such developments
us the construction of artificial building lots at Marco Island. Fla.
Enforcement
More than 8.300 National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System permits
have been issued in the Region and
another 3.300 are pending. Some 6,300
of these went to industrial dischargers
and another 2,000 to municipal treat-
ment facilities. Four States have re-
ceived authority to issue NPDFS per-
mits: Georgia, Mississippi, North
Carolina and South Carolina.
The Region is richly endowed with
coastal wetlands, and Region IV has
been a leader in efforts to protect
them. EPA attorneys took the lead in
the winning of a landmark case involv-
ing one controversy about wetlands.
This occurred in April. 1975. when a
Federal judge in Washington. D.C.,
ruled that Sections 301 and 404 of the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act
did apply to wetland areas above the
mean high tide. Thus, the discharge of
dredge or till materials in these areas
is subject to the permit requirements
of the Corps of Engineers and other
regulatory actions by EPA. But in
another dispute with a Federal
agency, controversy continues. EPA
and the Tennessee Valley Authority
have long disagreed as to whether
TV A is bound to comply w-ith State
emissions-limiting regulations ap-
proved by EPA as part of the State
implementations plans. TV A. whose
plants account for 15 percent of the
nation's sulfur dioxide emissions and
58 percent of these emissions in Re-
gion IV. has instituted intermittent
controls for meeting ambient sulfur
dioxide standards in the vicinity of its
coal-burning plants, but insists it is not
obliged to meet the States' emission
limits.
In the big money item, construction
grants, there have been problems
here, as elsewhere. Since Fiscal Year
1973 Region IV disbursed a total of
SI.9 billion to the States. In FY 76.
379 grants actions were processed.
obligating $162,398,849. During FY
75, Region IV led the nation in award
of grants for areawide waste manage-
ment planning under section 208 of the
Water Pollution Control Act. Twenty-
eight such awards were made, with a
total obligation of more than $25 mil-
lion. During the year considerable
progress also was made toward com-
pletion of the water pollution control
basin plans required under section
303(e) of the Act. Plans for 71 of the
92 basins in Region IV's eight States
have been drafted or completed. The
overall water pollution control pro-
gram will benefit greatly from these
plans in drafting permits, making con-
st met ion grants, and estimating con-
struction needs. '•'
PAGE 17
-------
•-Q
cot-
CDQBy
Charles Pou*
The South—old and new, town and
country, hill and dale—is a land of
great and glorious contrasts.
Take the beautiful but pushy water
hyacinth.
In Florida the fast-spreading plant
moves in on lakes, slow-flowing rivers
and streams, takes over and smothers
everything. Some conservationists and
fishermen put them in the same plague
category with two other exotic im-
ports, piranha and walking catfish.
They've tried for decades to think of
something that would kill water hy-
acinths and nothing else. In ecologi-
cally related Puerto Rico, until recent
years a member of Region IV. San
Juan authorities once seriously consid-
ered bringing in the hippopotami to
munch 'em up.
But they decided not after pondering
what could be done with hungry,
leftover hippopotami.
Now, across the Gulf of Mexico to
the coast of Mississippi. There in the
small town of Orange Grove, prelimi-
nary experiments in a lagoon reveal
the hyacinth can be a possible friend.
Wastes of about 1.500 people are run
through the lagoon, where grows a
mat of water hyacinths. Out of the
lagoon, they say, flows water so pure
it exceeds State health standards.
So what was considered a foe in
Florida has been turned into a friend.
An admittedly exaggerated example.
this contrast of one man's adversary
and another person's friend illustrates
something else often observed in the
region: The knack of making some-
thing bad into something good. Where
hard times much of the last 100 years
or so had been a condition of life, the
trick was a necessity.
In Mississippi, for instance, citizens
and visitors were riding gravel roads
until well nigh World War II. But
when the State finally got concrete and
asphalt toppings, with by-then ad-
vanced design and building skills, no
roads were finer.
That was sort of what happened also
in the great quest for new industry
after World War II, a quest which had
the Region battling other Regions.
States bidding against States, commu-
nities sending missionaries up North
to entice and seduce with promises of
plentiful land and labor.
The land. Amazing hunks of it pre-
sent the same vista as when early
settlers took up arms with their Yan-
kee brothers against the tyranny of the
British.
While some of the land, over-farmed
for generations, was fit only to keep
hell from showing through, as a re-
gional saying goes, the earth has a
way of healing itself. Tall scraggly
pines grew up into fine big trees
where the old cotton field terraces
once followed the curve of the hill-
sides. And, resting while tenants pur-
sued Germans and shipyard jobs, it
once more became some of the pretti-
est land on earth. Clean clear-flowing
rivers flowed beside it and often the
quiet was broken only by a birdsong
and the occasional flicker of a squirrel
hunting pinecones.
This land stretched seductively State
after State, and where the lure wasn't
woodland and clear, cool water, it was
sun-spanked seawater and soft white
Spanish muss hangs from cypress trees in Florida's Fverglades National Park.
PAGE 18
-------
beach. Almost one-third of the coun-
try's tidal coastline is along the Atlan-
tic shorelines of North Carolina.
Georgia and the great peninsula of
Florida and on around to the coast of
Alabama and Mississippi.
From the blue-grass of Kentucky to
the Florida Keys lies a variety of
landscapes—Appalachian, the Great
Smokies and the Blue Ridge Moun-
tains, the Piedmont plateau, and the
coastal plains and marshes.
Industry came. And kept on coming.
So did people.
Tourism, the people industry, took
up in Florida where it left off before
the Big Boom crash of the 'twenties.
But after a while it got so some of
the wealthier Florida communities,
like Boca Raton, were saying to peo-
ple. "Halt! We don't want you.
We've decided we want to get things
back like they were, or no worse than
they were."
In the less affluent inland and coastal
cities and towns, where new industry
and people brought badly needed dol-
lars, the smoke and smells and bustle
were better abided. But gradually in
them too came realization of need for
some sort of restraint and temperance.
This new understanding came poign-
antly when oil and gook bubbled up at
the old fishing hole. Some of the
coastal bays, rimmed with chemical
plants and refineries, began to cloud.
First, they became no longer fit for
swimming, and then they even got too
filthy for the crabs and fish.
What to do? The clash of new-
money and desire for some of the old
way of life has caused conflicts. And
the recession has reminded people
how hard it is to enjoy clear, cool
water unless there's something for it
to wash down.
So what appears to be emerging is a
new twist on the slogan of one of the
rural state governors of the late 'thir-
ties. He got elected tin a promise to
"Balance Agriculture with Indus-
try"—to let 'em stay down on the
farm but come into town daytimes for
a job at the factory.
Now there is a quiet but potent
undertow of sentiment tor balancing
the new payrolls with breathable air
and fishable waters. The Region is
still after new industry. But citizens
are more and more insistent that the
plants come equipped with pollution
governors.
The South wants to rise again, and
then be able to take long, deep
breaths and really enjoy it. n
* Charles Pou is Pith/it Affairs Di-
rector. Region IV.
Joseph K. Franzmalhes
Director, Water Division
Paul j. Trains
Director,
Enforcement Division
James H. Kinder
Director,
Surveillance and
Analysis Division
Region IV's
LEADERSHIP
TEAM
John A. Little
Depot)
Regional Administrator
Douglas U . Shape
Director
Management Division
Asa B. foster. Jr.
Director.
Air and ll;i/:irdoiis
Materials Division
Jack !• Ravan.
Regional Administrator
PAGE 19
-------
IOPLEPEOPLEPEOP1
\hiii I.. Aim
l-rands I. NUno
Patricia Sanderson I'ort
Mary
Alvin I,. Aim, Assistant Administra-
tor for Planning and Management, has
been selected for an Arthur S. Hem-
ming Award as one of the 10 out-
standing young persons in the Federal
service for 1975. The award recog-
ni/cs achievement by those persons
between the age of 18 and 40 em-
ployed by the Federal Government.
The awards are named for the former
Secretary of Health, Education and
Welfare. Dr. Flemming is now chair-
man of the U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights and also is the U.S. Commis-
sioner on Aging. This awards program
is sponsored by the Downtown Jay-
eees of Washington. IXC. The pro-
gram was started 28 years ago.
Michael k. Glenn, Special Assistant
to the Administrator, is leaving EPA
on April 9 to become an associate
with the law firm of Dunnington.
Hartholow. and Miller in New York
City.
Mr. Glenn joined the Agency when
it was formed in December 1970 as
Special Assistant to John R. Quarlcs.
then Assistant Administrator for Fn-
forcement and General Counsel. He
later served as Acting Deputy Assist-
ant Administrator for Water Fnforce-
ment and. for the last two and a half
years, as Special Assistant to Mr.
Train. He was a staff member of the
President's Advisory Council on Fx-
ecutive Reorganization—the "Ash
Council"—which recommended the
creation of HPA.
Dr. \\illiam .1. I,nr\. Senior Fngi-
neering Advisor. Office of Research
and Development, has been named a
Diptomate in the American Acudenn
of Environmental F.ngineers. The
PAGH 20
academy is composed of engineers
certified as Diplomates b\ the [Envi-
ronmental [Engineering Intersocieu
Board. A Diplomate is a registered
professional engineer who has demon-
strated, by examination before a spe-
cially qualified group of his peers, that
he possesses both the knowledge and
judgment to participate in solving chal-
lenging environmental engineering
problems.
Francis T. Mayo, former Region V
Administrator. Chicago, has been
named Director of the Municipal Fn-
vironmental Research Laboratory in
Cincinnati. Ohio, succeeding Dr. An-
drew W. Breidenbach. now Assistant
Administrator for Water and Ha/aixi-
ous Materials.
Announcing the appointment. Ad-
ministrator Russell F. Train said.
"Francis Mayo's new job in Cincin-
nati allows us to apply his outstanding
experience in regional management to
the objectives of our research pro-
gram." He cited Mr. Mayo's "distin-
guished record as the Administrator of
one of our most active and difficult
regions."
Mr. Mayo. 50. held a number of
senior positions in an FPA predeces-
sor agency, the Federal Water Quality
Administration, starting in 1966, and
was named Regional Director in 1970.
He had previously worked in the
Utah State Engineer's Office for 14
years, including eight years as Chief
of the Water Research Division. He
was graduated from the University of
Utah with a B.S. degree with honors
in civil engineering and is a registered
professional Engineer. He is married
to the former Margaret Belts. They
are the parents of six children.
Patricia Sanderson I'ort has been
named Environmental Impact State-
ment Review, Coordinator. Region
IX.
Ms. Port administers and coordinates
the review and comment procedures
on all [Environmental Impact State-
ments in the Region.
Born in Fort Lauderdale. Florida.
she is a graduate of New College,
Sarasota, Florida, with an MA in
Public Administration from George-
Washington University.
Mary Leyland, Chief of the Grants
Administration Branch, Region II.
New York, has been appointed Exec-
utive Officer in the Administrator's
Office.
She succeeds Jack D. Tarran. who is
now Director', Facilities and Support
Services Division, Office of Adminis-
tration.
Mrs. Leyland. who has been with
EPA since January. 1972. served for a
year in Region 1 and has been in
Region II for about three years. Be-
fore her service with FPA, Mrs.
Leyland was a consultant for the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts on
information systems. Previously she-
had served as an information systems
consultant for IBM. Mrs. Leyland
had earlier served as technical super-
visor of data reduction for Harvard
College and the Smithsonian Astro-
physical Observatories.
A graduate of Newton College of the
Sacred Heart. Newton, Mass., Mrs.
Leyland also has a master's of educa-
tion degree from Boston State Col-
lege.
-------
IOPLEPEOPLE
Ms. Nellie M. Durant
George R. Alexander Jr. has been
appointed Regional Administrator of
Region V, succeeding Francis T.
Mayo.
Mr. Alexander, 44. had been Deputy
Director, Office of Regional and In-
tergovernmental Relations, in Wash-
ington, since 1974 in a post which was
the first mobility assignment under the
Agency's new executive development
program.
Administrator Russell E. Train said:
"I expect that his new assignment in
Chicago will provide our Regional
operations with fresh and aggressive
leadership."
From 1972 to 1974 Mr. Alexander
was Deputy Regional Administrator in
Region VI. Dallas. He received the
EPA Bronze Medal for exceptional
service in 1974.
Before joining EPA, Mr. Alexander
was Executive Vice President of the
Continental Insurance Co., Vice Pres-
ident and General Counsel of the Rio
Grande National Life Insurance Co,
and conducted a private law practice
in Dallas. He earned a bachelor's
degree in business administration and
a doctorate in law from Southern
Methodist University, and is a mem-
ber of the Texas and Kentucky Bar
Associations. He is married to the
former Barbara Nan Dick.
Ms. Nellie M. Durant was the first
EPA employee to receive a Special
Fifth Anniversary Certificate of Ap-
preciation from Administrator Russell
K. Train at a recent ceremony at
Headquarters recognizing the charter
members of EPA.
Approximately 3,5(X) of the Agency's
nearly 10,0(X) employees will be re-
ceiving the certificates, signed by both
Mr. Train and William D. Ruckel-
shaus, EPA's first Administrator.
The certificates recognize that the
recipient is "one of the stalwarts who
helped launch EPA and has taken part
in the monumental task of shaping the
new agency toward its mission of
protecting our Nation's environmental
quality."
Allen Cywin has been appointed Sen-
ior Science Advisor to Dr. Andrew
W. Breidenbach, Assistant Adminis-
trator for Water and Hazardous Mate-
rials. In his new post Mr. Cywin will
represent Dr. Breidenbach in dealing
with EPA research projects in water
and hazardous materials, with the ex-
ception of health and ecological re-
search.
Mr. Cywin had been Director. Ef-
fluent Guidelines Division. Office of
Water Planning and Standards, and
before that Acting Chief of Water
Quality Research in EPA. He has
held management positions in the Fed-
eral Water Quality Administration and
the Office of Saline Water, Depart-
ment of the Interior; the Navy facili-
ties Engineering Command; and the
Agency for International Develop-
ment.
A graduate of Rensselaer Polytech-
nic Institute. Troy, N.Y., and a regis-
tered Professional Engineer, Mr. Cy-
win received the first annual award
given by the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers for achievement
in water quality control. He also won
the Department of the Interior Award
for Outstanding Service and the EPA
Medal for Superior Service. He is
listed in the Engineers' Joint Council
publication, "Engineers of Distinc-
tion." He holds four patents and is
Robert Knox
the author of many technical articles
on water treatment engineering.
EPA and the Colorado State Depart-
ment of Health may become more
closely associated since Kvan I). Oil-
dine, permits administration and com-
pliance branch chief in the Enforce-
ment Division, retired from EPA Re-
gion VI11 recenth to accept a position
as technical secretary for the Colorado
Water Quality Commission in Den-
ver.
Dildine is a civil engineering graduate
of Kansas State University at Manhat-
tan and a registered professional engi-
neer in Kansas and Colorado. Dildine
started work at the Commission Janu-
ary -V He had been with EPA's
Denver office nearly four years, mov-
ing from Kansas Ciu's EPA office.
Robert Kno\, Chief of Manpower
Development and Training for Region
II. New York City, has taken a
year's leave to study environmental
engineering at the New Jersey Insti-
tute of Technology. Newark, N.J.,
under an EPA training grant.
Mr. Knox, a graduate of Temple
University in Philadelphia, worked in
that city's Water Department for 15
years and was director and lead in-
structor in the first Federally-spon-
sored education program for water
pollution control plant operators. Be-
fore coming to Region II he was
Regional Manpower Development Of-
ficer in EPA's Region IV, Atlanta.
He lives in Matawan. N.J.
PAGE 21
-------
high school parley
Student leaders and newspaper editors
from 18 high schools in the Greater
Boston area took pail in a recent
conference on environmental issues
sponsored by the Region I Public
Affairs Office.
The students quizzed EPA officials on
pollution problems and discussed what
young people can do to improve the
environment in their communities.
Regional Administrator John A.S.
McGlennon spoke on career
opportunities in environmental
conservation and protection.
The conference was the first in a series
designed to enhance communication
between EPA and the Region's youth.
training mechanics
Training auto mechanics to tune
emission control systems as well as
engines is the object of three new
programs in New York State.
sponsored by EPA and the U.S. Office
of Education. Grants were awarded to
the Bronx Community College.
$20,000; the Nassau County Board of
Cooperative Education Services.
$8,000; and the State Department of
Environmental Conservation. $7,000. to
develop leaching materials and train
mechanics. Funds for the programs
were made available by the Office of
Education.
PAGE 22
master's degrees
EPA fellowships will permit 35 air
pollution control technicians in New
York City to enroll at Cooper Union
for environmental studies that can win
them master of engineering degrees in
three years. The fellowships pay for
instruction, books, and an annual
stipend. Regional Administrator Gerald
M. Hansler said the training would
help local and State environmental
agencies develop the expertise needed
to make New York City a more
healthful place.
pesticide penalties
Nearly $13,000 in civil penalties for
pesticide violations were assessed
recently against three companies: Bixon
Chemical Co., Corona. N.Y.. $3,350
for its Pine disinfectant and $4,045 for
its K Germ Disinfectant and Pyrenon-
Diazinon residual insecticide; Utility
Chemical Co., Paterson. N.J., $4.800
for Germicide; and Richard E. Rover
Co., Belleville. N.J., $750 for a dog
shampoo. The products were
misbranded or adulterated or both.
the spill 12 days later through a citizen
complaint.
oil spill fines
Civil penalties totaling $16,950 have
been levied on 35 different companies
in Region 111 for failing to prepare or
implement plans to prevent and contain
oil spills. Regional Administrator
Daniel J. Snyder II! announced.
The largest fines collected were $2,250
from the Budd Company, Philadelphia.
and $2,000 from the Lee Hy Paving
Corp., Richmond, Va. All are now in
compliance with the law.
Mr. Snyder has cited another 40 firms
for spill plan violations, and these
companies are working with the
Regional Office to correct them.
Suburban Village Inc., Whitpain
Township, Pa., has paid a criminal fine
of $100 for failure to notify EPA of an
oil spill. The maximum penalty is
$10,000, and Regional officials had
requested a $2,500 fine. The incident
occurred Dec. 8, 1974, when
approximately 4.000 gallons of fuel oil
was spilled into a creek from a
construction site. EPA first learned of
grants set record
Region IV awarded $164.5 million in
sewage construction grants in the last
quarter of 1975, Regional Administrator
Jack E. Ravan announced. The record
amount included $127 million during
December, which he said was more
than one-fourth of grant funds obligated
nationally that month by EPA.
"We are expediting the flew of funds
to cities because we see a double
benefit: cleaner water and the creation
of new jobs in the construction
industry," Mr. Ravan said.
Funds obligated to the States were as
follows: Alabama $9.4 million, Florida
$52.7 million, Georgia $11.2 million,
Kentucky $24.2 million, Mississippi
$4.4 million. North Carolina $32.6
million. South Carolina $25.1 million,
and Tennessee $4.9 million.
photos on tour
An exhibit of DOCUMERICA photos
titled "Inner-City Connections" will be
shown this spring in major cities of
Region V. Arranged by the Public
Affairs Office, the tour will include
Detroit, Mich.; Gary, Ind.;
Milwaukee. Wise.; Cleveland, Ohio;
.and Minneapolis, Minn. The exhibit
has already been shown in Chicago.
ready for cruise
Region V's "Navy" will be cruising
the Great Lakes again this summer.
The Roger R. Simons, a former Coast
Guard buoy tender, will analyze Lake
Michigan's water quality to check up
on cleanup efforts in the Great Lakes.
The ship is named after an employee of
the Federal Water Quality
Administration, an EPA predecessor
agency, who was accidentally drowned
in 1970 while taking samples from the
Mississippi River.
-------
lake superior conference
EPA officials took pan in an
international conference on the
environmental, economic, and
transportation aspects of Lake Superior
March 9-11 in Duluth. Minn. The
conference was sponsored by the
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
town meetings
Town meetings to encourage citizen
participation in environmental matters
were scheduled in New Orleans, La..
March 24 and Albuquerque, N.M.,
March 25. Deputy Administrator John
R. Quarles Jr. and Regional
Administrator John C. White were
slated to be the hosts.
The New Orleans meeting was to be
televised by WYES-TV to permit
telephoned questions and comments
from citizens throughout the viewing
area.
Mr. White said the town meetings have
been gratifying and beneficial in
arousing citizen concern and informing
the public on EPA programs.
pesticide workshop
A regional workshop on training in the
safe and effective use of pesticides will
be held for vocational agriculture
teachers and officials in Kansas City
April 12-13.
State and district vocational agriculture
supervisors and other representatives
from States in Regions VI and VI1 are
expected to attend. The workshop is
one of a number of such meetings
sponsored by EPA.
milling sites may threaten public health
if the piles of sand-like wastes are not
managed in an environmentally sound
manner. Region VIII Administrator
John A. Green said recently.
The wastes contain radium that has a
radioactive half-life of more than 1,000
years, Mr. Green said, commenting on
a newly published survey of 20 inactive
uranium mill sites in the West. Thirteen
of the sites are in Region VIII.
The study "clearly indicates that
radioactive material has already
migrated from the original piles and
spread over hundreds of acres of land."
he said, and the risk at each site will
have to be determined individually.
Colorado salinity
The Denver Research Institute of the
University of Denver has been
awarded a one-year, $88,000 contract
by EPA to help reduce the salinity of
the Colorado River.
The Institute will analyze and evaluate
the maze of present regulations and
practices in the seven Colorado Basin
States to seek improvements that can
be made with the least difficulty and
cost.
Dr. J. Gordon Milliken, project
director, believes that changes in
policies and regulations within existing
States, commissions, and local water
districts can produce more effective
control of salinity. The saltiness of the
Colorado reduces crop yields, fouls
drinking water, corrodes piping, and
increases treatment costs.
radiation survey
Radiation from waste piles at uranium
three-way cooperation
Three Federal agencies in Region IX
are cooperating in their work on energy
and environmental activities and in
telling the public about them.
The agencies are EPA, the Energy
Research and Development
Administration, and the Federal Energy
Administration. Regional
Administrators of the three agencies
agreed last fall to work together and
keep each other fully informed on
research and demonstrations in the
conversion of solar and geothermal
energy. A joint work plan was agreed
to and quarterly reports will be issued.
Additional fields of joint work are
expected to include the use of solid
wastes as fuel and regulation of storage
facilities for Alaskan and offshore oil.
An Energy Information Center is
planned in the EPA regional library,
to be staffed in pan by FEA and ERDA
employees and containing all technical
documents of the three agencies.
Briefings and information material will
be supplied to the San Francisco
Federal Information Center.
water condemned
Buses, ships, and interstate aircraft
were recently barred from using
drinking water from Port Angeles,
Wash., because the city water failed to
meet Public Health Service standards.
Regional Administrator Clifford V.
Smith Jr. said that the ban was
necessary because for two of the
previous 12 months, the city's water
contained too many bacteria, and for
five of those months the city failed to
submit the required number of
bacteriological samples.
State inspectors checked the water and
recommended corrective actions, Mr.
Smith said. The city must meet PHS
standards for at least three consecutive
months before the ban will be lifted.
green monster
A 35-ton mobile water decontamination
plant dubbed the "green monster"
returned to Seattle last month to help
the Army Corps of Engineers clean up
the Duwamish River.
The Corps is dredging an estimated
30.000 to 40,000 cubic yards of sludge
from the waterway. The sludge
contains polychlorinated biphenyls,
toxic chemicals spilled 18 months ago.
The "monster" treats the water that is
drained from the sludge, a final
precaution that EPA is requiring.
Drained water from the sludge contains
some solids and PCB's, said Regional
Administrator Clifford V. Smith Jr.
"EPA wants to be absolutely certain
the water is treated before it is pumped
back into the Duwamish." o
PAGE 23
-------
BED
ACE XDLJ PLANNING
A MIIN<
Gladys Harris, National Program Co-
ordinator. Education and Manpower
Planning. Headquarters:
"I certainly am. Five years without a
garden was just more than I could
stand. So I'll he hack in horse and
mountain country in Clarke County.
Va.. on spring weekends to the farm
garden staked out and plowed last fall.
Naturally on a Virginia farm, the first
rows will he flowers—zinnias, mari-
golds, hacked up with gladiola and a
mixture of cutting flowers.
"In April the onions, radishes, let-
tuce and peas will already be through
the ground. The potatoes were planted
on St. Patrick's Day and as soon as
the oak leaves show green, everything
else will go in the garden. The toma-
toes must he heefsteak and com the
white shoe peg variety, planted at
least four rows deep for pollination. I
was glad when they developed string-
less bunch beans as they thrive beauti-
fully in this area.
"After the mounds planted with four
or five cucumber seeds and the rows
of corn, yellow squash and limas we'll
tuck in a few bell peppers. The last
row will be planted with sunflower
seed, just for the cardinals—Virginia's
and our favorite bird. I may even try
some pumpkins and cantaloupes by
the creek this year.
"It's a real feeling of accomplish-
ment and rejuvenation to stniighten up
an aching back and survey rows of
manicured soil protecting and nurtur-
ing those pretty green plants. One can
picture jars and cartons of garden
produce on the shelves and in the
deep freeze. Somehow, food never
tastes better than when you help Na-
ture grow it."
Albert Soper, Physical Sciences
Technician, Environmental Research
Laboratory. Narragansett, R.I.
"My garden plans for this year are
to fill my 30-foot-square plot with a
little bit of a lot of things. They will
include tomatoes, onions, carrots,
beets, lettuce, swiss chard, radishes
and beans. The yield will provide my
family and some friends with fresh
vegetables from late spring until early
fall. When I have a surplus I take
them to the Laboratory and put them
out near the coffee pot for whoever
wants them. Some of the vegetables
like tomatoes and beets will be canned
for the winter.
"Growing your own vegetables does
save some on food bills, but for the
most part 1 do it because I enjoy the
fresh produce and I like to watch
things germinate and grow. I've had a
garden here in North Kingston, (about
ten miles north of Narragansett) since
1962. Gardening is a carry-over from
my boyhood in Canada, where we
always had a garden. I use no pesti-
cides and have no significant pest
problems. I plant enough for the in-
sects and rabbits to have their fair-
share."
Gloria Griffith, Administrative Tech-
nician. Environmental Research Labo-
ratory, Athens, Ga.
"Yes. but we grow mostly weeds.
We'll probably plant butter beans.
string beans, okra. cucumbers, onions.
potatoes, crowder peas, and tomatoes
in our small backyard garden. If we
need corn we get it from my father.
"Fresh vegetables taste so much
better than the ones you can buy in a
can or frozen. There's nothing like
going into your own backyard and
picking a nice, fresh, ripe tomato right
off of the vine and eating it. We eat
garden-grown vegetables in the winter.
too. so we save money.
"My two kids, ages 5 and 6, help my
husband and me. We always get more
out of it than we put in it."
Ida Lawson, Secretary and Staff As-
sistant to the Regional Administrator.
Region IX, San Francisco. Calif.:
"Garden? The only garden I have
time for is the plant in my office.
because that's where 1 seem to spend
most of my time. Actually, I'd like to
see the whole world become a garden
which is not too practical a thought—
but we're trying."
Peter Dunsavage, Aquatic Biologist.
Enforcement Division. Region VI.
Dallas, Texas:
"I'll do my initial planting in mid-
March, when the last freeze in this
part of Texas is over. We can have
radishes on the table three weeks
later, and good, general production by
June.
"I plant tomatoes, peppers, squash,
onions, radishes and cucumbers in my
small downtown Dallas garden. Since
I never use pesticides. I don't plant
cabbage, broccoli, and other leaf-vege-
tables because their survival depends
upon the constant application of pesti-
cides. My wife plants marigolds al!
around the vegetable garden to ward
off insects, and she has garlic in her
rose garden for the same reason. I
have found that 5-10-5 fertilizer, which
is a mixture of nitrogen, phosphorus
and potassium, is great for my kind of
garden, because it provides for well-
balanced plant and fruit production.
"In addition to the $50-100 a year-
savings on our grocery bill, we have
garden-fresh vegetables with every
meal. Also there is the rewarding
enjoyment of watching the garden
grow. It's a great hobby."
(ila
-------
"briefs
iiiiiniiiililifiiiiiiiiniTiTiiiiTTriVitj
MANUAL PUBLISHED ON CROPLAND WATER POLLUTION CONTROL
EPA and the Department of Agriculture have jointly published a
book, "Control of Water Pollution from Cropland," outlining ways
to prevent common farming pollutants from reaching the Nation's
waterways. These pollutants include sediment, nitrogen and
phosphorus compounds, and pesticides. A limited number of copies
are available at EPA from the Agriculture and Nonpoint Source
Management Division, RD-682, EPA, Washington, D.C. 20460.
MOST COMPANIES COMPLYING WITH UNLEADED GAS RULES
Random checks at some 19,000 gas stations last year show that
unleaded fuel is generally available, as EPA rules require,
Norman D. Shutler, Director of Mobile Source Enforcement, has
reported. Major violations were found at only between one and
two percent of the stations visited, Dr. Shutler said, and fines
totaling $23,675 were levied against eight refiners and 45
distributors and retailers.
DEALERS FINED FOR TAMPERING WITH AUTO EMISSION CONTROLS
Three automobile dealers recently paid court-ordered fines
amounting to $2,450 for removing or tampering with emission
control devices in violation of the Clean Air Act. The firms and
their fines were: Scuncio Chevrolet, Greenville, R.I., $1,200;
European Motors, Olympia, Wash., $750; and Motion Performance
Products, Inc., Baldwin, N.Y., $500. In each case, the dealer
was also ordered to commit no further violations.
COMMON SOLUTIONS SEEN FOR ENERGY, ECONOMY, ENVIRONMENT
"In the long run there is no inherent conflict between our energy,
economic, and environmental needs," said Administrator Russell
E. Train in a recent commencement address at Michigan State
University in East Lansing. "They all require that we make the
most of our basic natural capital. In the short run, each must
serve in some respect as a constraint upon the others."
PAGK25
-------
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS (A 107}
WASHINGTON. DC. 20460
POSTAGE AND FEES PAID
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA-335
THIRD CLASS BULK
Return this page il uui do NOT wish to receive this publication I I. or if change of address is needed < ), list change, including
Watching the Salt
B\ Fddie Lee'
Sprinkler irrigation system giving lifcsaving water to summer crops in western Idaho.
Nine king-sized earth cores are being
used to find better ways to manage
and reduce the heavy salt content of
irrigation wastewater in a research
project at the Robert S. Kerr Environ-
mental Research Laboratory in Ada,
Oklahoma.
The cores are contained in fiberglass
columns which look like oulsi/.e hot
water heaters. The columns are eight
feet deep. 30 inches in diameter and
filled with undisturbed soil.
They were obtained from the Perkins
Agronomy Farm operated by Okla-
homa State University at Perkins,
Oklahoma, by carefully excavating
around the circumference so that a
steel cutting rim could lead a fiber-
glass container around the earth to the
desired depth. Small samples were
taken around each column at six-inch
intervals on the way down to establish
the physical and chemical characteris-
tics of the soil.
The nine columns, believed to he the
largest containing undisturbed earth in
existence at this time, are being used
to develop management systems
which will minimi/e the salt content in
water after it is used for irrigation.
There are about 44 million acres of
cropland irrigated in the United
States, about 90 percent of them in 17
Western States. This represents onl\
about 10 percent of the Nation's crop-
land but the irrigated land generates
about 25 percent of the total crop
value of the Nation.
For centuries, irrigated agriculture
has been practiced in arid and semi-
arid areas of the world. Today, sup-
plemental irrigation is becoming in-
creasingly commonplace in even hu-
mid regions during the growing sea-
son. In Florida, for example, there are
2.4 million irrigated acres.
After use for irrigation, the water
returns to streams or seeps through
the soil into the groundwater. In addi-
tion to salt, it carries with it sediment,
pesticides and fertilizers, and organic
debris—all damaging to water quality.
Dr. James P. Law. chief of the
Irrigated Agriculture Research Section
at Ada. says the earth-filled columns
will be used first for salinity control.
Alfalfa will be PS of
the columns, wh ;i'i an
environmental cl lount
and quality of w -ation
and intensity of -r the
crop can be com
Dr. Arthur H« man-
ager, says that j the
environment, gn •>?ler-
ated so that thre can
be raised.
"We can com scale
three to five th three
months we can i onths
of data compan cperi-
ments in the fielu. m. >u>^.
The lower portions of the columns
are in an instrumentation chamber
where sensors are being installed ev-
ery six inches of depth of the col-
umns. The sensors will be connected
to a computer for 24 hour-per-day
monitoring.
The sensors will measure the amount
of water moving through (tie soil in
relation to the amount applied and the
amount and location of the salt. Dr.
Hornsbv says.
"Our objective is to determine the
optimum amounts of water under var-
ious quality conditions to achieve
maximum crop production and mini-
mum environmental damage."
/,v » public information officer ai ilic Kcrr Labomtory.
The columns contain earth cores. The
flasks on floor sample water which has
trickled through the earth.
------- |