W LEADERSHIP'
FOR EPA
I. S. ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
        " >'-?>'
                     W   . /


                     •XC •' '

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                                 WASTE
       With the passage of landmark legislation, EPA
       ms been given important  new responsibili-
ties in the solid waste disposal area.
  The Agency's plans for carrying out this law and
the impact it may have are discussed in an interview
in this issue of the Journal with  Sheldon Meyers,
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste.
  Other articles on solid wastes include reports on
eight HPA projects to turn trash  into useful mate-
rials and energy, a story on a California city whose
buried waste will be converted into gas for heating,
and a preview  of a new  program starting at Fort
Knox, Ky., to help reduce bottle and can  litter at
Federal installations by requiring a  nickel deposit
on each beverage container.
  A photo essay gives a visual report on what is
being done to reduce the problem of  abandoned
automobiles.
  Also in this issue  is a roundup  from leading
environmental  organizations of their predictions
and concerns about the future for the environment.
  The  Environmental  Almanac page, where we
take a look at  the natural  world we  are trying to
protect, contains  a review of a  most  welcome
miracle—the arrival of spring.
  Also in the Journal is an article on  EPA's budget
for Fiscal 1978.
  A new department.  Update,  which replaces In-
quiry,  starts with  this  issue.  It will try to  keep
readers abreast  of new publications  and other mate-
rials on the environment.
  Another article reports on an effort by the Paris
City Government to avoid major fish kills again this
summer in the Seine River  by pumping oxygen into
this famed waterway.

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 U.S.
 ENVIRONMENTAL
 PROTECTION
 AGENCY

John R. Quarles. Jr.
     Acting Administrator
Marlin Fitzwater, Acting Director of
              Public Affairs
Charles I). Pierce, Editor
Staff: Van Trumhull. Ruth Hussey
     David  Cohen
COVER: Dandelions dot mountain
meadow as spring begins its northward
march. Photo by Black Star.

PHOTO CREDITS: Gary Miller. Gene
Daniels*. Bill Shrout*. Institute of Scrap
Iron and Steel. Inc.. French Cultural
Services. Ernest Bucci. Al Wilson. Jim
Olive . Defense Department.
;i Documerica
Illustrations:
Susan Foster

 The EPA Journal is published
 monthly, with combined issues
 July-August and November-December,
 by the U.S. Environmental
 Protection Agency. Use of
 funds for printing  this periodical has
 been approved by the Director of the
 Office of Management and Budget-
Views expressed by authors do not
 necessarily reflect EPA policy.
 Contributions and inquiries should be
 addressed to the Editor (A-107).
 Waterside Mall. 401 M St.. S.W..
 Washington. D.C. 20460. No
 permission necessary  to reproduce
 contents except copyrighted photos
 and other materials. Subscription:
 $8.75 a year. $.75  for  single copy.
 domestic; $11.00 if mailed to a foreign
 address. No charge to employees.
 Send check or money order to
 Superintendent of Documents. U.S.
 Government Printing  Office,
 Washington. D.C. 20402.
                                                                                  Printed on recycled paper.
ARTICLES
COSTLE. BLUM NAMED TO LEAD EPA             PAGE  2
Douglas M. Costle has been appointed by President Carter
as the new Administrator for EPA and Barbara Blum
has been selected as the Agency's new Deputy Administrator.
NEW APPROACHES TO SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL  PAGE  4
An interview with Sheldon Meyers.
RECOVERING WASTES
Reports on eight EPA projects to turn trash into useful
materials and energy.
REFUND AT FT. KNOX
Nickels count, as well as gold, at this and other
military bases.
FUEL  GAS FROM SOLID WASTE
California city will make use of what is usually  a hazard.
JUNK  CAR RECYCLING
A photo essay.
INDUSTRIAL WASTE-PROBLEM OR PROFIT?
   by Darby Collins
St. Louis Exchange links buyers and sellers of odd kinds of
waste materials.
LOOKING AT THE FUTURE                         PAGE  18
Environmental groups express concerns and hopes for the
years ahead.
 EPA'S BUDGET INCREASED                         PAGE  22

 PARIS TRIES OXYGEN                         BACK  COVER
 Pumping oxygen into the Seine is expected to help the fish.


 DEPARTMENTS
                                                                                            PAGE 8
PAGE 10
PAGE
PAGE 12
PAGE 15
 NATION
 ALMANAC
 UPDATE
 PEOPLE
 NEWS BRIEFS
 PAGE 16
 PAGE 21
 PAGE 23
 PAGE 24
 PAGE 25

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 COSTLE, BLUM  NAMED TO LE\D  EPA
    Douglas Michael Costle, 37,  a
    former Congressional  Budget
Office official  who had served as
head of the Connecticut Department
of Environmental  Protection,  has
been nominated hy President Carter
to he the new  Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency.
  Designated  as the  new  Deputy
Administrator for EPA was Barbara
Blum, an environmentalist and busi-
nesswoman.
  Mr. Costle,  an attorney, served
from 1975 to 1977 as Assistant Di-
rector for Natural Resources  and
Commerce of the  Congressional
Budget Office.
  He  was Commissioner of Con-
necticut's Department of Environ-
mental  Protection from  1973 to
1975. He administered State envi-
ronmental planning and programs
relating to air pollution, water pollu-
tion, solid waste, radiation and  pes-
ticides laws. He also directed natural
resources and  recreation programs
dealing with forests, parks, fish and
wildlife protection, wetlands protec-
tion.dam safety and land acquisition.
  As  the Deputy Commissioner,
from 1972 to  1973, he helped  give
PACil-  2
direction  to  the  fledgling State
department.
  A Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars in
1971, he conducted independent re-
search regarding environmental pro-
grams and government reorganiza-
tion. His work was highlighted by a
tour of Western Europe, where he
met with cabinet ministers, journal-
ists,  and   private  environmental
groups to discuss the ways that dif-
ferent countries deal with environ-
mental problems.
  As a senior  staff associate on the
President's  Advisory  Council  on
Executive   Reorganization   from
1969-70,  Mr.  Costle  headed the
study which recommended creation
of EPA. He also helped to imple-
ment the plan and to set up the
Agency before the appointment of
EPA's first administrator.
  Before  joining the  Council  on
Executive Reorganization. Mr. Cos-
tle was in private law practice in
San Erancisco.
  From  1964  to 1965. Mr. Costle
was  a trial attorney for  the  Civil
Rights Division of the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice. He worked as an
attorney for the Economic Develop-
ment  Administration of the  U.S.
Department  of  Commerce  from
1965 to 1967, and served as deputy
director of a $23 million pilot project
designed to reduce unemployment
in Oakland, California, through cap-
ital investment.
  Mr. Costle earned his A.B. at
Harvard University in 1961 and his
law degree from the  University of
Chicago in 1964. He is a member of
both the District of Columbia and
State of California Bar Associations.
  Mr. Costle was born in  Long
Beach, Calif. He and his wife, Eliza-
beth,  have two  children. Carolyn
Elizabeth,  ten, and  Douglas Mi-
chael, six.
     Ms. Blum. 37, was a deputy cam-
     paign director  for the Carter-
Mondale presidential campaign.
  Chairman of the  Georgia Heri-
tage Trust Commission, Ms. Blum
has been  a member  of the  Federal
Reserve Board National Consumer
Advisory  Council since 1976. She
              continued on ;)age2 2

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PROTECTING
THELAND
           PA (IK 3

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      NEW APPROACHES  TO
 SOLID   WASTE  DISPOSAL
            Interview with Sheldon Meyers, Deputy Assistant
                        Administrator for Solid Waste
Q. Are you satisfied with the new Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act?
A. Yes, indeed. I think it's fair to say that this new Act in the field
of solid waste gives the Agency the kind of authority that it didn't
have in the past and goes a long way to closing that last, unregulated
gap in the pollution control cycle, and that is the land.
Q. Has any section of the Act been given top
priority?
A. There are several sections of the Act that are important and 1
would say are receiving equal priority. These include the work that's
being initiated to develop an inventory of open dumps, the hazardous
waste regulatory  program, and the ability to deliver technical
assistance to local communities.
Q. One section requires the EPA Administra-
tor to develop criteria for identifying hazardous
wastes and to publish regulations governing
their disposal. Doesn't this give EPA a blank
check to eventually regulate almost every kind
of waste?
A. That  particular section of the Act is an important one. since all
the other parts of the hazardous waste regulatory program flow from
it. In other words, once you've defined hazardous waste, then the
transportation, the storage, the treatment and disposal parts take
effect, so it's critical that the establishment of criteria of hazardous
waste be done properly.
  Now that's one of the issues that we will be going out to the public
on. to the local communities, interested citizens, and industry, for
example. We would like to implement  the portions of the  law  on
hazardous waste in a manner intended by Congress. We wan! to get
the help of the public in defining the criteria on hazardous waste.
  Clearly, we want to avoid going overboard by making the definition
too broad.
Q. Municipal sludge management and disposal
is a controversial topic inside and outside the
Agency.  Is there a possibility that municipal
sludge will be deemed hazardous and its dis-
posal regulated under the hazardous  waste
section of the Act?
A. All municipal sludge will not be deemed hazardous.
Q. Do you feel you have enough  manpower
and funds to carry out your responsibilities
under the new Act?
A. That's always a tricky question to ask a bureaucrat, since the
answer is generally: Gee, 1 could use more. And it's true, we could
use more. We will do the best we can  with the  resources we now
have. We certainly can get started. Now my guess is that to fully

PAGE 4
implement (he Act, we're going to have to substantially beef up the
manpower and funds out in our Regions, which are really infinitesi-
mal at this time.
Q. What do you regard as your most success-
ful solid waste management program to date?
A. There have been a number of very successful programs. In the
area of technical assistance we provided decision makers' guides to
local communities that have been well received and widely used.
 Others were our programs to  help develop resource recovery
plants in St. Louis and in Franklin. Ohio, where we invested only
two or three million dollars of government funds.
 These demonstrated technologies then were picked up by the
private sector, using their own money. Industry is spending about
S80 million per plant based on the technologies for waste recovery
which were developed in part with Federal monies.
Q. What is the outlook for the recycled mate-
rials market in 1977? Will they ever compete
with virgin materials?
A. It depends on  which recycled material you're talking about.
Fteople recycle paper, and as you probably know, there have been
campaigns in the past about collecting paper and reusing it which
depend for success upon the market price of paper. It's a fluctuating
market.
 But today one can very easily recycle aluminum cans. The big can
manufacturing companies have either embarked  or will embark upon
a program to pick up aluminum cans for recycling. So it's not a
single market. It varies. It's dependent upon market conditions in
certain areas of the country.
Q. Will the area-wide solid waste management
planning required by the new Act conflict with
area-wide planning, the Section 208 planning
program?
A. No. I think  not. The new Act calls for the development of
regional local organizations to manage solid waste plans, and the Act
specifically says that we should look  at  the existing agencies
operating under the 208 section before we do anything else.
Q. Do you foresee national bottle legislation
in 1977?
A. I would say no.  I think the Congress will be looking with interest
on the programs that are under way now. Our guidelines that affect
Federal facilities, the new initiatives in Michigan and Maine and the
progress of the programs in Vermont and Oregon. So I foresee a
period of at least a year while information is being collected about
existing programs before there is  any further national  action on
beverage container deposits.

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Q. What  is KPA's position  on bottle return
legislation?
A. As you probably know, the management of the Agency—and by
management I mean the Administrator and Deputy Administrator—
have testified in the Congress in favor of national beverage container
deposit legislation, only if it is phased in over a long  period of time.
on the order of six. seven, eight, ten  years.
Q. Will  the  Federal  Government  be more
involved  in local solid waste management  as a
result of  the Act1.'
A. Clearly we're going to  have an impact in that  we will be  working
with various State, county, and local governments in their planning
effort and implementation. We will  be providing  Federal funds to
assist them in  planning and implementation. But  I wouldn't say that
we would be involved directly in their activities at the local  level.
Q. What  does  KPA currently  recommend as
the  most  environmentally  sound solid waste
disposal method?
A. Well,  we try not to recommend  anything nationally because of
the  enormous  variety  of local conditions.  In some cases a  well
designed  landfill is the preferred method.  In other cases incineration
may  be the preferred method. Sometimes  a resource  recovery plant
may  be the best solution.
y. What  portion of municipal budgets is gen-
erally devoted to solid waste management'.'
A.  1  can't give  you  the  exact  numbers, but  as  I  recall  local
governmental budgets, the solid waste program is usually third in the
hierarchy of expenditures after schools and roads.
y. Is Federal aid going to be provided.'
A. The new  Act authorizes substantial financial assistance. I don't
know what will be appropriated.
Q. Will State and local taxes rise as States and
municipalities work to meet new Federal solid
waste guidelines and regulations tinder the new
Act?
A.  That's difficult to say at this time. Open dumps ha\e generally
been the cheapest form of disposal. If a community  develops a well-
engineered sanitary landfill ii generally will be more expensive than
an open dump.  However, if  the local government  \otes for a
resource recovery plan,  costs  may be reduced because recovered
materials, which were wasted in an open  dump, can be sold.
Q. IXiesn't a significant  portion of municipal
solid wastes come from wasteful and unneces-
sary  packaging, especially  convenience foods
and consumer goods'."
A. It's  hard  to say  whether it's wasteful  or unnecessary, hut it's
quite clear that a large percentage of the municipal solid  waste  is
packaging material.  I believe it's on the order of 30 or 40 percent.
y. What happens when we run out of acreage
for sanitary landfills1'
A. Large cities  that are facing that  particular situation, are consider-
ing other options,  such as  establishing resource recovery plants or
hauling their wastes by rail  to other locations, an approach which has
generated a lot of opposition from areas which would receive the
wastes.
y. Does (he  Act differentiate between urban
and rural solid waste problems?
A. No.  ft talks about solid  and  hazardous waste in general. There is
a provision in ihe Act for a rural assistance grant program,  which  is
                                           Continued on page 6
                                                                                                                          I'ACiF >

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 C "ontinticti from page 5
 authorised at the level of $25 million a year for each of fiscal years
 '7H and  '79. This program  is designed to  help rural  communities
 build sanitary landfills if they have to close open dumps for example.
  It is the  only provision in the Act which allows the grant money to
 he used  for construction purposes.  l( cannot, however, he  used  for
 purchase of land.
 Q. What provision is being made to help the
 rural homeowner who lives  where there is  no
 garbage  pickup1.1
 A. hxccpt tor the rural assistance grant program, there's no specific
 provision in the Act to take care of that problem. One thing that can
 be done, of course, is that a regional  program can be set up under  the
 Act so that outlying communities can get pickup service.
 Q. Will  public education and public participa-
 tion play a major role in Ihc  new Act"'
 A. Absolutely.
 Q. What's an example of how this will work'.'
 A. We've had several extensive  public meetings already which were
 designed to inform interested groups what  the Act said, where  we
 stand in  implementing it. and to obtain comments and  suggestions.
 As working  groups  for the various regulations and guidelines are
 developed, we will set up lists of interested people who want to work
 with the  working  group,  and send to them early  drafts of material, so
 that they can impact at  an early stage the content of the standards,
 regulations and guidelines.
   Additionally, we plan to set up  a  formal  advisory group to meet
 with us regularly  and  advise us  whether we're doing things  in a way-
 thai makes sense to the  outside  world.
   We're also planning  to hold public participation regional meetings
 around the country which will be managed by our regional offices.
   If interested parties suggest that what we are doing is  not right and
 can tell us what the right way is  in a fashion  consistent with  the aims
 and purposes of the Act, we would  be inclined  to accept their view.
 This is what  public participation is all about.
 Q. Are  requirements that  citi/ens separate
 household wastes becoming widespread."
 A. It does  hold  promise.  There  are a number of demonstration
 programs around  the country  that  require separating  household
 wastes.  The ones  th.it  we  fund directly  are at  Somerville and
 Marhlehead,  Mass, and they  seem  to be working quite well. Whether
 or not it's the kind of thing that can be used by all communities  all
 the time  is not  now known, hut it's very clearly one of the options
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available to rural  communities where  the  building of a resource
recovery plant might not be economically feasible.
Q.  Can all sludge be used as a soil conditioner.
or will some have to be burned'.'
A.  I don't  think that one can say categorically that all sludge can be
used as a soil conditioner, but  much  of it that's generated in waste
water treatment plants, for example,  can be used for this purpose.
.There are certain cases where  you would apply the sludge as a soil
conditioner only to non-edible  plants  such as grass,  for example, if
the sludge  has a heavy' metal content.
  However, if the sludge is relatively free of noxious materials, it can
be  used as a soil conditioner for food  crops.
Q.  Will the question of the  imposition of dis-
posal charges on  products receive serious
study under the Act?
A.  We intend  to give it serious study.  There is a mandate in the Act
to study the so-called "product charge" rather thoroughly  and report
to the Congress
Q.  What kinds of assistance will the  resource
recovery and conservation technical assistance
teams offer to State and local governments?
A.  We  expect  that the resource recovery conservation  teams will
offer help in the complete range of solid waste problems.  We will be
available to State  and local  governments if they  have a particular
problem that they're not sure how to solve—whether or not they
ought to have a resource  recovery plant, whether they should be
looking at a sanitary landfill, or go to source separation.
  There's an entire  range of questions that come up  to the community
that wants help. We would try to give them the kind of assistance
that would set them in the right  direction, so that they could then
hire their own consultants to expand upon the information that  we
have provided to them.
Q.  Where  are wastes going to be placed  when
all  open dumps are closed  by 19X3 as required
by  the Act'.'
A.  They will either be put in sanitary landfills or processed through
resource recovery  plants. It is also possible that some wastes will he
incinerated if the incinerators meet  the air quality standards.
Q.  When  will the  standards  for hazardous
wastes go into effect?
A.  The Act calls for the hazardous waste program to go into effect
 18  months after the  enactment of the law. that is. April  1978.
Q.  Which  is more important in dealing  with
the solid waste problem—conservation of re-
sources or recovery?
A.  Well. 1 think they're equally  important. The ability  to conserve
resources is a question the Nation is going to  have to face directly
rather than piecemeal through acts such as the new solid waste law.
 It involves whether or not  the Government ought to mandate that
tires last a certain  amount of time and that cars get  a certain mileage.
  My own  feelings arc that if you start talking about  conservation of
resources,  you're  talking about impacting the manner  in which  the
people  of  this  country live,  and  those  kinds of issues ought to be
settled in the Congress.
Q.  What are some examples of what t-'HA  is
doing in each  field?
A.  In the conservation area, we've done a number of studies having
to do w ith packaging, one of which resulted  in the reduction of the
standard one-pint milk container—reduction  of the material  used in
its  construction—by some 25 percent. We've done studies mostly in
the conservation area, and have not really gone very far in the arena
of  actually implementing conservation of resources. The beverage
container  deposit  guidelines represent  another" area that we have
been very active in.
  in resource recovery, we  have  a  number" of demonstration plants
PA ('•!•:

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thai have  been  built, i mentioned the St.  Louis  and. the Franklin.
Ohio, projects.  We also have the San  Diego pyrolysis plant and the
Haiti more pyroKsis plant, so we are more active in the recovers area
than the conservation area.
Q. What effect  will the new  Act have, if any.
on  the  garbage disposal problem  faced  by
every  homeowner?
A. That's a difficult  question to answer at this time. We hope there
will be a beneficial effect, but we couldn't say.
Q. Will costs to the homeowner go up because
of this Act'.'
A.  If a community has been throwing  its garbage  in open dumps and
now has to go to a sanitary landfill, that  could he more expensive. It
is possible that the waste disposal cost to the homeowner will go up.
but it's difficult to generalize.
Q.  Haven't some pollution problems also been
associated with landfills'."
A.  Yes, there has been some evidence that what we considered in
the past to he sanitary landfills have,  indeed, caused some environ-
mental problems through the contamination of rain water leaching
through the landfill and contaminating ground water supplies.
Q. What's being done  to  make landfills envi-
ronmentally safe'.'
A. We're  investigating that right now, and to a large degree the siting
of the landfill is important.  One should look for a landfill that has
impervious material  between it and the ground  water  supply. One
can also line landfills and then collect the water leaching through and
treat  it  before  it's discharged.  Another technique is to  cover the
landfill so that  the rain doesn't  seep through it.
Q. What hazards are posed by open  dumping'.'
A. Just about everything you can think of. Open dumps  have  been
known to catch fire and explode. They can be  havens for vermin.
And what we're obviously doing about it is trying to close down the
open  dumps. The  Act  mandates that  no new open dumps shall  be
created  and  that  all open  dumps  shall be  either closed down  or
upgraded  to the status of sanitary landfills.
Q. To what extent  has the utilization of solid
waste as an energy resource become a reality'.'
A.  It  is very real.  There are a number of  communities that already
are using  municipal solid waste energy sources, and more and more
are developing and  building the kinds of  plants that  will utilize
municipal solid  waste as an energy source.
Q,  How effective  has  the  program for bottle
returns at Federal installations been?
A.  The guidelines were only put in effect several months ago and the
Federal  agencies have a full year to  gear up  to implement the
guidelines. So in general, the guidelines  ha\c not  been tested yet  on
Federal facilities.
  However, this past summer Yosemite National Park encouraged
the reuse and recycling of beverage containers by charging  5  cent
refundable deposits  on  all beer and soft drinks sold in  the park. That
was an extremely  successful program.  In 1975 over one  ton  of
aluminum in used beverage containers was collected. Under the new
deposit  requirement collections amounted to over a ton  a week.
Q. What amount do we as  a Nation spend for
solid waste collection and disposal"'
A.  I don't have those  figures at my  fingertips, but as  1 mentioned
earlier, in mam communities the solid  waste  expenditures are the
second or third highest priority  in (heir budgets—after schools and
roads.
Q.  How  much  solid waste  do Americans cur-
rently generate  per year, and how much of that
can he reclaimed?
A.  I he rate is on the order of about 150 million tons a year, and it's
difficult to say how much of it could  be reclaimed, but quite clearly, a
relatively insignificant amount is being reclaimed now.  In my  view  a
substantially higher portion can be reclaimed.
 Clearly depending on how much you want to spend, most of it can
be reclaimed for something, but you then get into an economic trade-
off of what is the value of the material you're reclaiming, what  can
you sell  it  for.  and  how  much  i> it costing you lo reclaim  it.  It's
something that is being looked at very  seriously by  main communi-
ties.  In  one respect one could look at  a  whole garbage dump as  a
resource and a  mine. Whether or not  you  actually   mine  ii  will
depend upon costs.
Q.  IXies the new  Act completely replace older
Federal  legislation affecting solid  waste man-
agement?
A. Technically,  the  new  Act  is an  amendment  to  the  existing
legislation,  hut in fact it replaces it completely.
Q. What advice would you give to those who
want to  waste less and recycle more'.'
A. He careful in purchasing. Buy  materials tlut will last longei  and
that can be recycled. Make an effort to find out where the recycling
centers are and  bring material to them.
Q.  IX>es the average  American  waste more
now. compared  with  previous years'.'
A.  It  depends on what you mean by waste,  hut the  waste  stream
grows on the average of five percent a year, so in that context  they're
wasting  five percent  more each year—either they're using more 01
wasting  more.
y.  How does America's waste level per capita
compare with that of other countries?
A.  It  is larger than  other  countries. The  more affluent you are the
more you waste.•

                                                       PAGE 7

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        RECOVERING   WASTES
      What happens to the nearly  150 million
      tons of garbage and trash that Ameri-
cans throw away each year?
 Only about 10 million tons—or seven and a
half percent—is recovered and recycled. The
rest is dumped or. at  best, buried in sanitary
landfills.
 The  ISO-million-ton  total for 1976, between
3.5 and 4 pounds  per person  per day, is a
rough extension from careful,  detailed esti-
mates made by  EPA experts  for 1974, the
latest  year for which complete  production
figures are available.
 In that  year the total was  143.6 million
tons—3.48 pounds per capita per day— and
about 9 million tons were reclaimed in some
way.  About 90 percent of this was paper, and
the rest was iron and steel,  nonferrous met-
als, glass,  and rubber, in  thai order.
 These figures are  for "post-consumer"
solid  waste, or  everything discarded by
households and commercial places, and omit-
ting the all-alike or easily sorted scrap mate-
rial from manufacturers and  processors. The
statistics are taken from  EPA's fourth annual
report on  resource recovery and waste re-
duction. The report was  in draft form as this
article was written. It  is  expected to be
completed and submitted to Congress this
month.
 Americans are habitually wasteful and pro-
duce more trash per capita than  any other
country, according to Sheldon  Meyers, Dep-
uty  Assistant Administrator  and head  of
EPA's Office of Solid  Waste. "Relatively
abundant  and cheap supplies of raw materials
in  the past have encouraged us to use things
up and throw them away and discouraged the
use of secondary materials." he said.
 But  Mr.  Meyers believes it will  take some
drastic changes in public policies and per-
sonal habits to achieve the maximum poten-
tial waste reduction  and recycling. The Na-
tion's annual household-business waste in
1985  is expected to total 200 million tons.
according to the report. EPA believes this
could be  reduced about 10 percent fry less
wasteful  design of products and packaging
and  by building products for longer useful
life.
 Roughly half of the waste tonnage could be
recycled, or burned to recover its fuel value,
if efficient large-scale systems can be devel-
oped to process mixed waste and sort out the
savable portions.
 About  one-fourth  of  the total could  be
reclaimed if Americans  would change their
hnhits and sort out savable wastes before

PAGE 8
discarding them.  This would require estab-
lishing separate collection systems for pa-
per, tin cans and  other iron-containing met-
als, aluminum, glass, etc.
 These are potential figures only, the  report
said, and are "distinctly beyond" attainment
without "major shifts in public policies."
 EPA and its predecessor agencies have been
studying  solid  waste problems for  a  dozen
years.  A  large portion of that work has dealt
with  reclaiming materials and energy  from
waste, both to conserve resources and to
reduce the amount of waste that is  returned
to  the environment, often in damaging ways.
 Since 1971  approximately  $16 million in
EPA funds has been  spent  on the  develop-
ment  and demonstration of  various  tech-
niques for processing wastes, recovering and
reusing materials, and  extracting useful en-
ergy from the  burnable  portions of the gar-
bage and trash stream.
 How are  these  projects succeeding?  What
have we  learned  from them about technical
feasibility and costs? What are the faults and
failures?  What do they indicate are the direc-
tions that future  projects should take under
the new  and expanded solid waste  program
mandated by Congress in the Resource Con-
servation and Recovery Act signed into law
last October?
 Here are brief status reports on eight major
EPA demonstration projects  in the field of
resource  recovery  from  municipal solid
waste:

 FRANKLIN, OHIO. This is a system for
pulping the waste with water and processing
the slurry with industrial machinery. It began
with a grant in 1969 from the Bureau of Solid
Waste in the  Consumer Protection and  En-
vironmental Health Service, an EPA  pre-
decessor.  The plant  has operated continu-
ously since 1971, processing an average of 35
tons per day of Franklin's solid waste. It has
never had  to turn away waste because of
overloading or equipment failure.
 The waste is mixed with water and ground
in  a  machine like a huge  kitchen blender.
Processing of the resulting slurry uses meth-
ods adapted from the paper and ore-handling
industries: screening, washing, magnetic sep-
aration, flotation, etc. Two products are now
sold: fen-ous  metal scrap  and a  low-grade
fiber that represents about half of the incom-
ing paper waste. This fiber is used to make
roofing felt and is pumped in slurry form
directly to the nearby roofing manufacturer.
Reject fiber  is  mixed with sewage sludge
from the city's  adjoining sewage  treatment
plant and  incinerated. The plant also takes
and treats all the process water.
 An experimental subsystem was added later
to  separate  aluminum and glass  from  the
city's waste, and clear glass is automatically
separated  from  colored glass. These prod-
ucts, however, are not yet of salable quality.
 The  Franklin  wet-processing system  has
been adopted by  the town of Hempstead,
N. Y., but the recovered fiber will be used as
fuel for electric power generation.  Few cities
have a handy market for low-grade fiber.
EPA's support of the Franklin demonstration
ended last March.

 ST. LOUIS, MO. The  so-called  "trash to
kilowatts" project sponsored jointly by EPA,
the City of St. Louis, and the Union Electric
Company was launched seven years ago and
has been operating  since  May 1972.   The
city's regular garbage and trash is first shred-
ded by machine  into pieces  no bigger than
1.5 inches in diameter and  then  separated
into  light  and heavy  fractions by a strong
updraft of air. The heavy  fraction is proc-
essed to remove iron and steel scrap and the
rest is landfilled. The light  fraction (80 to 85
percent of the trash)  is trucked to  the power

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plant and  burned as a supplemental fuel in
the coal-fired boiler.
 The trash has about half the heating value
of coal, and it burns well in  trash/coal mix-
tures ranging from 5 to 27 percent, with no
apparent damage to  the  boiler and with no
increase in  paniculate  emissions  from the
stack. The latter result  was a surprise; parti-
culates  were expected  to increase with the
percentage of trash burned, and further tests
are under way.
 The project's success spurred the develop-
ment of similar commercial plants now oper-
ating in Ames, Iowa; Milwaukee. Wise.; and
Chicago.  Plants  of this type in  Bridgeport,
Conn.,  and  Monroe County, N.Y. are  also
being designed.
 The principal drawbacks to the  St. Louis
experiment  are  design faults in  the trash
processing. There have been  frequent break-
downs of the equipment, so  the use of trash
for fuel has been intermittent.

 BALTIMORE,  MD. This full-scale demon-
stration project, started  under an EPA grant
in  1972, proposed to use pyrolysis—a heat
treatment—to  generate  fuel   gas from  solid
waste.  The gas was  to be burned to make
steam  for the Baltimore  Gas and Electric
Company's downtown heating and  air condi-
tioning customers.   Ferrous  metals in the
waste were to be reclaimed  for scrap and a
glassy aggregate  used for road building.  The
charred residue would be buried in  a landfill.
 The plant was  completed early in 1975 by
Monsanto Enviro-Chem Systems, Inc.,
which  had  built a  successful small  pilot
model.  In  Monsanto's pyrolysis system
waste is shredded and fed into a kiln, where
heat  up to 2,600° F,  without  enough air for
combustion,  decomposes   organic com-
pounds in the waste  to fuel gas.
 After a few months of intermittent opera-
tion, it became apparent that  the plant could
not meet two guaranteed conditions: to han-
dle -1,000 tons of waste per day for  two
months, and to meet the Maryland standard
for particle emissions from its exhaust stacks.
 Both  failings appear to be due to problems
of "scaling up"  from the  pilot plant to  full-
size  operations.  Modifications are  being
made to improve the plant's mechanical relia-
bility under an agreement under which Mon-
santo contributed $4 million (equal to the
original performance guarantee) and EPA an
additional grant of $1 million. New air pollu-
tion  control devices, to be paid for by the
city, will bring the added cost to $9.6 million
and the total capital cost to about $25 million.
  The over-all  system is still expected  to be
economically sound when  the technical  prob-
lems are overcome.

 SAN  DIEGO, CALIF. This  is a  different
pyrolysis  sytem,  developed by Occidental
Research Corp. Its primary product is an oil
to be sold to fuel the boilers of the San Diego
Gas and Electric Co. Ground was broken for
the  plant  in August 1975. but construction
was delayed for a  year.  It is expected to be
finished this summer at  a  total cost of $13.6
million.
  Incoming  wastes will  be shredded  and
sorted  by uprushing air  into heavy and light
fractions. Ferrous metals, aluminum,  and
glass will be recovered from the heavy frac-
tion. The lighter  waste, after  being further
shredded to vacuum-cleaner-fluff consistency.
will be  heated at  relatively low temperature
(about  900° F) in a flash reaction to produce
gases that are quickly condensed to oil. This
oil has a heating value about two-thirds that
of No. 6 fuel oil.
  A  year-long  testing program  has begun.
covering all aspects of technical  and  eco-
nomic feasibility. The plant is not expected to
be economical because it is too small. How-
ever, the San  Diego  plant's 200-tons-per-day
capacity is a significant scale-up from pilot
plant  size,  and EPA  hopes it  will provide
reliable predictions of full-scale plant perfor-
mance that  would be economical.  Valuable
information  may  also  be gained  from the
plant's odor control system and from moni-
toring its nitrogen  oxide emissions. Weather
inversions in the area may require periodic
shutdown to avoid  increasing local smog.
Because the fuel produced by this process is
storable and transportable, the processing
facility and  the  user need not  be close
together, and their operating schedules  need
not  be the same.

  DELAWARE. Under an  EPA  grant of four
years ago the State of Delaware has planned
a solid waste  treatment  plant  that would
produce supplemental  fuel  for an oil-fired
utility boiler and also handle sewage sludge.
Planned plant capacity is 500 tons of munici-
pal  solid  waste and  230 tons of digested
sludge per day. Byproducts would  include
composted humus, ferrous metals, aluminum.
and glass. A call  for contractor bidding has
been held up pending approval by the  Fed-
eral  Energy Administration of the utility
(Delaware Power and Light  Co.) converting
its boiler to burn oil instead of coal.

 SOMERVILLE  AND  MARBLEHEAD,
MASS. Under grants by EPA the two cities
have been testing the  feasibility of requiring
householders  to separate solid waste. Recycl-
able paper, iron, and glass are sold  under
contract to commercial  processors. Somer-
ville began in December 1975  and Marble-
head in January 1976. Both cities passed laws
under which citizens must separate their
refuse into three categories: paper, glass  and
cans, and  miscellaneous. The first two types
are collected weekly  by city crews  with
compartmented trucks. Mixed waste is  col-
lected weekly in regular trucks.
 Extensive publicity  and public education
programs  preceded the  launching of each
project and are continuing.  Marblehead. an
all-residential  community, had had some ex-
perience  with city waste recycling; Somer-
ville. more densely populated and partly in-
dustrial, had never done it before.
 So far Marblehead is recovering about 30
percent by weight of its wastes and is making
a profit.  Somerville is  recovering about 8
percent and is breaking even.
 EPA believes these projects will show  the
way for other communities to recycle wastes
without complicated  technology and high
capital cost. In the past, the fluctuating mar-
ket for scrap materials and lack of efficient
collection systems have  hindered such  ef-
forts. This form  of  resource  recovery is
expected to become an attractive alternative,
or a complement to, the high-technology  sys-
tems, and it will reduce  the need for landfill
space.

 LOWELL,  MASS. This  project  was de-
signed to demonstrate the recovery of metals
and glass  from incinerator residues, using
industrial  processes like those used in sepa-
rating metals from ores.  Design work began
under an  EPA grant in  1973. and the plant
was to be ready for a year of trial operation
starting in April  1976.  In  the summer of
1975 the  city asked to withdraw from the
project  because it had decided to  close
down the  city incinerator.
 EPA  hopes that some  other  city may be
interested  enough to cooperate  in such a
project  in the  future. The  processes  have
been tested on a small scale by the Depart-
ment of  the  Interior's  Bureau  of Mines.
which  found  that the average  residues of
municipal incinerators assay higher in metal
content  than  many workable ores. •

                                 PAGE 9

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        REFUND   AT   FT.   KNOX
    Starling this month at  Fort Kno.x. Ky..
    and soon  at nine  other  military  bases
throughout the country, buyers of beer and
soft drinks will have to pay a nickel extra for
each bottle or can.  They'll  get their deposit
back when the  containers  are returned  for
recycling.
  The ten bases—three each  for  the Army
the Navy, and the Air Force and one for the
Marine Corps—are  the vanguard of the De-
fense  Department's effort  to comply with
FPA guidelines for all Federal establish-
ments.
  The guidelines were announced by FPA  last
September, and  are to go in to effect  at all
Federal facilities by September 1977.  '['hey
are designed to encourage the reuse of glass
hottles  and the  recycling of  aluminum and
steel cans. Reduced litter will  be a side
benefit.
  Although Federal facilities account for only
an estimated  four  percent of all beverage
container sales in the country, the Govern-
ment's example  is expected to persuade oth-
ers to save materials and energy by recycling
hollies anil cans.
  "I have been very  impressed by the positive
altitude displayed by the Department of De-
fense." said Harry  P. Hutler of FPA's Solid
Waste Office.  Mr. Hutler is  the Agency's
representative on a joint task force that is
deciding how the Defense Department can
best put the  EPA guidelines into effect.  The
task force is  headed by C'ol. Harlov. D. Hart
of the Air  Force. A  civilian contractor is
helping to set up the ten test systems.

  Beverage sales at Defense Department sites
total $300 million a year, or about 95 percent
of all such sales  at Federal facilities. Other
affected departments  include Interior (Na-
tional Parks) and the  General Services Ad-
ministration  (Federal buildings).
  A container deposit system was tested last
year at Yosemite  National  Park with encour-
aging results: 70 percent of  containers  sold
were returned for refund (See Oct. 1976 FPA
Journal).
  "But even if sales remain high." Mr. Butler
said, "return rates may be low if consumers
don't cooperate. This is most likely to happen
in office buildings where drinks are  pur-
chased at a snack bar and  earned to individ-
ual offices for consumption.
  "The system may prove to be impractical in
some places, imposing substantial and unre-
coverable  costs.  The  guidelines recognize
this possibility and provide  for halting the
program at a particular facility if all reasona-
ble alternatives have been tried.
 "We are hoping the trial runs at the military
bases will go smoothly and the Department
will switch  to the  container deposit system
permanently at all its installations."
 Refundable deposit laws are already in ef-
fect in Oregon and  Vermont, where there has
been a  marked reduction in roadside litter
Similar laws will soon  be in effect in Maine
and Michigan, where voters approved them
in referendums last November.
 Consumers save  money by  buying bever-
ages in refillable  bottles,  according to an
FPA-supported  survey  by the League of
Women Voters  in 2K cities  in  1975.  The
average saving was 30 cents on a six-pack for
bottles containing 16 ounces or less. 16 cents
for quart bottles.

 Beside  Fort  Knox the other participating
military facilities are:  Fort Huachuea. Ariz.;
Fort Riley. Kan.:  Naval  Support Activity.
Philadelphia: Naval Air  Station.  Oak  Har-
bor. Wash., and  Navy Weapons  Center.
China Fake. Calif.:  the  Faughlin. Tex..
Malmstrom. Mont., and Patrick.   Fin..  Ait-
Force  Bases: and the Marine Corps  Air
Station at Yuma. Ari/.B
I'A(,[  ID

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                                 FUEL   GAS
             FROM   SOLID   WASTE
      Garbage and  trash from Mountain
      View, Calif.,  will he tapped for heat-
ing gas next month in a two-year experiment
sponsored by the city. Pacific Gas and Elec-
tric Co.. and EPA.
 The utility company will drill wells into the
city's sanitary landfill, collect and refine gas
generated  in the garbage, and pay the tit)1  a
royalty on the ga.s  produced, expected to be a
million cubic feet per day.
 The  project will  cost about $630,000, two-
thirds  from the gas company, which designed
and will  operate  the gas  recovery system.
and one-third from an EPA gram.
 "Gas from landfills will  never be a major
source of energy." said Stephen C. James,
staff engineer with  the  Land Protection
Branch of EPA's Office of Solid Waste. "But
it tan  supplement other fuels, and it's now
going  almost completely to waste.  Indeed.
the gas is  often a  problem for landfill  opera-
tors and  a hazard to nearby  residents and
businesses."
 Mountain View is a city of 51.(KM) people at
the  southern  end of San Francisco Bay
whose landfill is  one of 14 Bay area sites
that the gas company engineers believe have
"good potential as gas producers."
 Gas  has been recovered before from mu-
nicipal landfills, but mainly in  the Los An-
geles  area, where the landfills  are usually
located in canyons and are deeper than the
40-foot Ml. View  Landfill.
 The  most valuable part of landfill  gas is
methane,  a hydrocarbon  that  is the  main
constituent of natural gas  and  that occurs
also in certain  swamps  and  coal mines.
Methane is produced by anaerobic bacteria
that live  without oxygen. When decaying
organic matter is  sealed off from air, as in a
covered landfill, these bacteria take over.
 Methane is colorless, odorless, lighter than
air, and very flammable. In a landfill about
half the gas formed is methane; the  rest is
carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrogen, and
hydrogen  sulfide  that must be removed to
get a fuel gas of high heating value.
 In the  Los  Angeles area studies  have
shown that each ton of refuse  can produce
about  1 ,500 cubic feet  of recoverable gas.
Methane production increases,  according to
Mr. James, when certain conditions are met:
adequate  moisture,  sufficient carbon con-
tent in the waste, and the right  acidity.
 "Another favorable factor."  he .said, "is
the landfill's depth, which ranges from 100-
140 feet in some canyon sites at Los  Ange-
les.
 "We are especially interested in evaluating
the  Mountain  View projecl because  the
landfill is relatively shallow and more repre-
sentative of waste  disposal  sites  in other
areas of the country."
 Production wells drilled into the landfill
consist of perforated pipe four or six inches
in diameter,  with the pipe sizes alternating
so they  can slide like  a  telescope as  the
ground settles.
 " Gas must be pumped out at a  rate  that
closely  matches  the rate of production."
Mr.  James  explained. "If pumping is  too
slow, the methane may  migrate through the
ground  and  then cannot  be recovered. If
pumping is too  fast,  air may enter  the
landfill  through the surface  as well as the
production  wells, and oxygen will halt the
bacterial process. When this  happens it ma)
take months for the landfill  to recover  and
resume  methane production."
 In  the  Mountain View project the utility
company will  pay  the  city 7.2 cents  per
thousand cubic feet of low-grade  gas.  The
gas must be refined to remove the impurities
and increase the heat value before  it can be
fed  into its  regular gas mains. At the ex-
pected million  cubic feet  per day.  the  city
would get $72  a day. After 18 months the
price will be renegotiated.  Company engi-
neers estimate  the site will continue to  pro-
duce recoverable quantities of gas for at
least 10 years.
 In  other areas  landfill gases are at  best
annoying and at worst deadly hazards.
 In !%*> an explosion at a National  Guard
Armory in Winston-Salem. N.C..  killed
three men and injured 22 when gases seeped
into the  building from  an adjacent landfill
and exploded.  In 1971 two persons were
injured  and a building  was destroyed in  a
similar explosion at Nashville. Tenn. Last
fall two families had to evacuate their house
in Holtsville. I..!., when dangerous levels of
methane were detected  in the building.
about 30 feet from the edge of the Brook ha-
ven landfill. The U.S. Postal Service is
spending an additional SI million to ventilate
landfill gases from beneath a new bulk mail
processing  plant in Jersey Ciu. N..I.
 Landfill gases can  damage nearb) vegeta-
tion. Franklin B.  Flower of Rutgers Univer-
sity, who has studied this problem for EPA.
says methane and carbon dioxide can mi-
grate sideways from the landfill, depleting
oxygen in the root /one  of adjacent land and
killing trees and  other plants.  In one in-
stance gases from a  landfill migrated 80 feet
into a peach orchard and killed 70 trees. Mr.
Flower reported. A planned park over  a
completed landfill at Cherrv Hill.  N.J.. has
been plagued by dead and dsing vegetation.
which has also affected grass and shrubs at
nearh) private homes.
 Last fall State and local officials on Long
Island called on KPA for help in coping with
landfill gases there.  Truett V. DeGeare Jr..
chief of  the Land Protection Brunch.  Mr.
James, and Michael DeBonis and  David
Savetsky of the Region II Office conferred
with representatives of  five towns and  two
counties  to discuss measures to control the
seepage of gas into nearby homes.
 (iood  landfill design  should include the
monitoring of  gas  formation.  Mr.  James
said, especially around the perimeter  of the
site. In some cases ventilation pipes can be
driven into the  fill to vent gases to the
atmosphere, or trenches can be dug around
the site and filled with gravel so the gas can
dissipate upward as  it leaves the area. Such
trenches  must be as deep as the fill, how-
ever, and their effectiveness can  be  ruined
when they  fill with water after heavy rains.
The best protection. Mr. James said, is to
pump the gases out  in much the same way
as in the California experiments.
 "The design of many landfills on the East
Coast prevents the recovery of landfill gas."
he .said. "Methane is still produced, but the
depth is  too shallow tor sustained produc-
tion: air  will get  into the  fill and  stop the
tor niation of methane." •
                                                                                                       PAGE II

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JUNK CAR  RECYCLING
Higher prices for scrap metals
have virtually eliminated the
derelict auto problem of the
1960's. These photos show what
happens to most worn-out cars
today: transformation from
unsightly junk to useful reclaimed
metal in half a dozen mechanized
steps.
Minus engine blocks and chassis, car bodies are stacked for the crushing machine.
PAG!{ 12

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Crushed bodies are hauled away
to be shredded
                                                                                 Huge pincers lift car hulk.
                                                                                                              PAGK  13

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 This mountain of steel fragments is the remains of 30,000 old automobiles which have been processed for remelting by
 steel mills and foundries.
 Among thousands of reclaimed steel products are reinforcing
 rods (foreground) for concrete road construction.
 Shredded scrap is loaded by electromagnet crane for
 rail haul to the steel mill.
PACiK 14

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           INDUSTRIAL   WASTE-
                          PROBLEM OR   PROFIT?
By Darby Collins

    After  making  100.000 gallons  of world
    famous Lushous Nail Polish, the Terrifi
Chemical Company found  that  it had  an
excess of 17.(XX) gallons it  could not sell.
What can you do with  17.000 gallons of
leftover nail  polish?  You  can't hum it; he-
cause that would pollute  the air.  You can't
dump it in the rivers: that would pollute the
water. To have it transformed chemically into
something easily disposable is very  expen-
sive.
 What if you could sell  that nail polish to
someone who could use it? Sounds too good
to be true. Well, the Gee Whi/ Toy  Company
needs enamel for its products. Nail polish.
with suitable pigments added, could be used
on the toys. Now everybody is happy.
 Sound a bit ridiculous? Not really. Today
many,  chemical companies have  large
amounts  of  industrial  waste. They need a
way to turn  expensive  waste disposal prob-
lems into profit-makers.
 In Europe,  waste "bourses" or exchanges
have been doing this for years. Company A
has a certain kind of industrial waste which
Company B  can use. The bourse  brings the
two together. Money is made, raw materials
are saved, and  less waste  is fed into the
environment.
 Such a program has now been started in the
United States by the St. Louis Waste Ex-
change. The  Exchange  emerged from a con-
ference sponsored by the Missouri Depart-
ment of Natural Resources on  hazardous
waste management methods. After studying
the European waste bourses, the  St.  Louis
Regional Commerce and Growth  Associa-
tion (RCGA) initiated the  St.  Louis Waste
Exchange as a  possible solution to the dis-
posal of industrial wastes.  The program is
modeled after the waste  exchanges which
have operated successfully in Germany. It-
aly. Switzerland.  Belgium. Great  Britain.
and the Scandinavian countries for about a
decade. Chet McLaughlin. Sanitary  Engi-
neer in the Waste  Management Section.
Region VII, served  on the task force that
developed this pilot project.
 The operation was  described  by  Harry T
Morley Jr.. Executive Vice-President of
RCGA. as  an opportunity  to help industry
directly in  finding viable uses for waste
products and also reduce pollution.  It is the
first United States clearinghouse for mate-
rials that pose  difficult environmental dis-
posal problems, he said.
 Its purpose is to bring buyer and  seller
together. When companies find buyers for
their waste products  they  provide  cheaper
sources of raw materials  for the  buyers.
Wastes that might be a liability because of
high disposal costs or possible damage to the
environment can give the  seller additional
income. "Equally  important, the operation
will serve to reduce the volume of hazardous
and other wastes which must either he dis-
posed  of in local landfills or transported to
destruction or treatment facilities."  Mr. Mor-
ley said.
 KPA  estimates that the United States gener-
ates H) million tons of industrial waste each

Dwhy Collins /.s tin I'.l'A Region VII pi/h/ic
information specialist.
year.  If only 10 percent of this waste could
be utilized the project is assured success.
 The Exchange is run on a non-profit basis
and charges only $5 a listing. The company's
name is not published, assuring anonymity.
Previously companies have been afraid to
advertise their waste products or raw mate-
rial needs for fear of giving competitors clues
concerning their business problems.
 Two listings are published. Type A for av-
ailable waste items and  Type W for those
items that are wanted. Each listing includes a
description of the item, composition, quan-
tity, packaging  and geographic origin.  The
lists  include onl>  materials for which  no
well- established market exists.
  Inquiries to I he  Exchange are referred to
the  listing firm, which  then, determines
whether or not it  will negotiate. The  Ex-
change  asks no questions  concerning the
dollar volume of exchanges or  with whom
the company has done business.  Eederal and
State agencies  have agreed to  respect the
anonymity of the competitors in order to
encourage resource recovery and decrease
the volume of industrial wasie.
  The RCGA has been very  pleased  with the
results of the exchange,  ll has progressed
from  a year trial basis to permanent status.
Its mailing list has expanded to I.(XX) cover-
ing the entire country. The Exchange, mm in
its fourth publication, has 85 listings repre-
senting fill companies from all over the
United States and overseas.
 EPA recently  gave the  Exchange an Envi-
ronmental  Quality Award  for its efforts and
cited  it as a model for other industrial areas.•
                                                                                                     PAGE

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potato pollutants
Fines totalling $45,000 were recently levied
against a potato processing firm for polluting
the Aroostook River in Maine with untreated
wastewater in violation of its discharge per-
mit. The company, Potato Service, Inc.,
Presque Isle, and its president, Moe Kim-
mel, were charged with 74 counts of bypass-
ing aerators  in the firm's treatment facilities
in February. March, and April last year. Mr.
Kimmel pleaded guilty to one count in U.S.
District Court, and  Judge Edward T.  Gig-
noux dismissed the other counts. Company
officials said the aerators were bypassed to
cut expenses.

pcb limits set
Region I has set strict limits on the amounts
of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that can
be discharged in  wastewater from two New
Bedford. Mass., capacitor manufacturers,
Aerovox Industries, Inc., and Cornell-Dubi-
lier Corp. Similar limits will soon be set in
discharge permits for two other electrical
equipment makers in the State, General
Electric Co., Pittsfield, and Sprague Electric
Co., North Adams.
 new york ruling
 Reversing a Federal District Court ruling,
 the US. Circuit Court of Appeals recently
 decreed that New York City must carry out
 four aspects of a controversial plan to limit
 automotive traffic in Manhattan:  1) levy tolls
 on cars and trucks that cross the Harlem and
 East  Rivers, 2) ban taxi cruising in the mid-
 town area, 3) limit truck deliveries to off-peak
 hours, and 4) regulate and reduce parking.
 Gerald M. Hansler, Regional Administrator,
 hailed the ruling as "a significant and neces-
 sary milestone in our efforts to reduce auto-
 related pollution in New York  City."
sludge study
A pilot study of composting sewage sludge
from Camden, N.J., instead of dumping it in
the ocean has been started under an EPA
grant of nearly $1.3 million. The city has
been ordered by EPA to halt its ocean dump-
ing, but is continuing the practice under a
court-ordered extension, pending develop-
ment of an alternate disposal method. The
order requires the city to move its dumping
area to 90, instead of 35, miles offshore.
Deputy Regional Administrator Eric B. Out-
water said  the pilot program would be "an
important first step in demonstrating that
technology is available to end the dumping of
sludge  in the Atlantic."
clairton agreement
U.S. Steel Corporation has signed a consent
order to control air pollution at its Clairton,
Pa., Works, the largest coke oven plant in the
world. Regional Administrator Daniel J. Sny-
der III said the.agreement culminated more
than a year of negotiations among EPA, the
State, Allegheny County, and U.S. Steel.
The order sets interim and final deadlines to
control paniculate emissions. Final compli-
ance for all operations is to be achieved by
1986.
Florida canal
The 155-year history of the Cross Florida
Barge Canal came to an end—maybe—when
the State Cabinet recently voted 6 to 1 to
oppose further construction of the $325-mil-
lion waterway. The Cabinet's action is a
recommendation; it is up to Congress finally
to halt funds for the on-again, off-again proj-
ect. The canal, about 40 percent complete,
would extend across  northern Florida about
110 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Atlantic. President Nixon halted work on it
by executive order in  1971. Since then the
Army Corps of Engineers did an economic
and environmental study and found the com-
pleted canal would cost $ 1 for every 66 cents
it would bring in. Many of the study's find-
ings supported the contentions of environ-
mentalists and others, including EPA, that
the project was ecologically damaging and
economically unsound.
The Florida Cabinet has called for a State-
Federal  task force to decide what to do with
land already acquired and a waterway al-
ready dug or dredged, with emphasis on
restoring the Oklawaha River basin.
inland steel pact
An agreement has been reached that will cut
air pollution from Inland Steel's operations in
East Chicago, Ind.,  by more than two-thirds
in the next four years. Deputy Regional
Administrator Valdas V. Adamkus said six
enforcement orders  had been issued, and he
praised the company management and the
United Steel Workers Local  1010 for their
cooperation in the negotiations.
Particulate emissions will be cut from 6,100
to 2,000 tons per year, on compliance sched-
ules that run from six months to four years.
Three new facilities—a boiler house, blast
furnace, and coke battery—will be built,
using the best available pollution  control
technology. Inland Steel will  close down two
old coke batteries and an open hearth fur-
nace that will more  than compensate for the
new facilities' emissions.
PAGE  16

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 cleanup profits
 How to make profits on pollution controls
 was  the subject of an industry-government
 conference in Chicago Jan. 17-18 attended by
 some 300 top businessmen from the Mid-
 west. The conferees discussed new ways to
 reduce pollution and make money through
 resource recovery, design changes, and re-
 search. The conference was sponsored by
 EPA Region V, the Department of Com-
 merce, the  Chambers of Commerce and
 Manufacturers' Associations of the six States
 in Region V, and six private  corporations.
injection controls
Great interest is being shown in Region VI
in EPA's proposed regulations  to control
underground  injection practices so that
ground-water supplies can be protected from
contamination, according to Charles Sever,
Chief of the Region's Water Supply Branch.
Injection wells are widely used in Region VI
to spur "secondary recovery" from oil and
gas wells. The technique involves forcing
fluids (water, brine, or sometimes gas) into
the oil- or gas-bearing strata to increase the
flow to the producing wells. The period for
public comments on the proposed regulations
ended Jan. 15. Mr. Sever said the final regu-
lations are expected to be issued by April I.


pollution hearing
Regional Counsel Diana  Dutton was sched-
uled to preside at a public hearing March I at
the Baker Hotel in Dallas on the so-called
emission offset regulations. The hearing, one
of four throughout the country, was called to
receive comments on EPA's proposed new
policy to permit major new stationary
sources of air pollution to be built in an area
provided that offsetting reductions in pollu-
tant emissions are made from other sources.
mighty missouri
An hour-long documentary film, "The
Mighty Missouri," has been completed by
KCPT, the public televison station in Kansas
City, Mo. Funded by a grant from Region
VII, the film tells the story of the river from
its source high in the Rocky Mountains to its
confluence with the Mississippi near St.
Louis.
It depicts the pollution problems affecting the
river, including accelerated agricultural, in-
dustrial, and urban development, and the
efforts being made to solve them. The river
forms the spine of the  Nation's "breadbas-
ket" area, more than half a million square
miles covering all or parts of 10 States. Strip
mining and coal gasification plants pose  new
problems for the Missouri basin, and the  film
touches on historic and present struggles
over water rights  to the river and its tributar-
ies.
water meetings
Three conferences on water problems took
place last month at the Region VIII office in
Denver. On Feb. 2 and 3 representatives of
the five EPA Regions west of ihe Mississippi
and 23 western States met to discuss imple-
mentation of the Safe Drinking Water Act
and the establishment of national standards
for organic compounds in drinking water
supplies. On Feb. 8 and 9 joint boards repre-
senting  United States and Canada met to
discuss  pollution control measures on the
Red  and Rainy  Rjvers, which flow from U.S.
into  Canada.
At the end of February the Region's 22
areawide planning agencies. State leaders,
and regional staff members were scheduled
to meet in Salt Lake City,  Utah, to review
progress on water quality planning, with spe-
cial attention to the control of non-point
sources of pollution.
non-target species
Do poison baits used to control crop-destroy-
ing rodents also kill other, harmless, animals?
A study of these "non-target" effects for one
pesticide, sodium fluoroacetate. also known
as compound 1080, is under way in Califor-
nia, funded by EPA in cooperation with the
State  Department of Food and Agriculture
and the Fish and  Wildlife Service of the
Department of the Interior. Before the  baits
are placed on various types of rangeland and
cropland, different non-target species—foxes,
coyotes, badgers,  etc.—will be trapped,  fitted
with tiny battery-powered radios, and re-
leased. After the rodent-baiting, any radio-
tagged animals that die will be located and
their carcasses recovered and analyzed  to
determine the cause of death.
Compound 1080 is acutely toxic, and scien-
tists suspect it may be lethal to the larger
animals that prey on the rodents.
mislabeling fine
Region X inspectors spotted a shipment of
pentachlorophenol. a wood preservative and
termite repellant, with labels recommending
application at 10 times the needed strength.
The product was shipped from the  Vancou-
ver. Wash., plant of Champion Internationa!
Corp. to California. Because the label in-
structions conflicted with those specified in
the EPA registration. Region X filed suit in
federal court. The Company pleaded no con-
test and paid a $2.500 penalty.  The  mislabel-
ing has been corrected.
                                                                                                                        PAGE  17

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    Looking  At    The   Future
      Concerns and hopes for the future of the environment
      are expressed in fetters  supplied to  EPA  by  seven
environmental groups for use in "Project Futurespect."
  As part of this project the letters were recently placed in a
specially prepared  container which will he kept by  EPA and
opened and examined every five years over the next 50  years.
The project began  on EPA Day last July at the Bicentennial
Exposition on Science and Technology at the Kennedy  Space
Center in Florida.
  Excerpts from the letters received from the environmental
groups follow:
 NATIONAL AUDUBON
 SOCIETY :
   * f We of the National Audubon Society do not foresee
   • • mankind living under  vast  plastic domes in artificial
 climates and existing on synthetic  foods. We foresee peoples
 of the world having shed their technological arrogance al-
 though not their technologies, having acquired ecological
 wisdom,  and having regulated their reproduction,  living in
 harmony with the natural world in which the human animal
 evolved, and upon which the human is as utterly dependent
 as is the fish, the turtle, the bird, and the bear. We foresee the
 farmlands flourishing, the fishermen casting their nets pro-
 ductively into the seas, and the cities open to the skies and to
 the fresh, clean winds.
   And we foresee the wild birds still negotiating their ancient
 migration routes from north to south and south to north, the
 great whales finding their way through the oceans,  and man
 still  mystified by the sacred nature of life. We foresee these
things because we believe that enough people will use enough
intelligence while there is yet time to make them possible. To
that end,  we shall continue and intensify  our efforts  to
challenge  the rest of the American people to revise and
redirect those  attitudes and practices of second century
America which today so seriously
threaten  our natural  heritage.
LEAG UE OF WOMEN
VOTERS  OF  THE  UNITED
STATES:
    «It may well be that the last half of the 20th century will be
    viewed historically as the period when Americans finally
realized that time was running out on them in seeking solutions
to environmental  problems. The decades of the l%()'s and
1970's have been  marked by increased  public awareness and
political acceptance of the need to halt profligate use of natural
resources and unrestricted pollution of water, atmosphere and
land.
   Much has been done; much remains  to be done. There can
be little doubt that the country has the technical competence to
solve nearly all of the current ills, but  the technology is not
being matched by the  will and the commitment to apply it.
Unless  the situation changes dramatically in America's third
century conditions will get worse, not better. Future problems
will not be new ones—but the same old ones accelerated by
population growth and concentration, conflict between devel-
opment and preservation, inadequate financial and legal re-
sources. This rather dismal forecast can be reversed if we see
in the next one hundred years changes in human attitudes and
life styles, acceptance of a national sell-discipline, and applica-
tion of the technical and human • •
resources we already have at hand. 77
PAGF. 18

-------
 SIERRA  CLUB:
f f As we  face  our  third century as a nation,  American
• • environmentalists are asking what kind of environment do
we want? What is our ultimate dream? What should the face of
America look like when all is said and done? Can we recapture
some classical notion of the proper appearance of cities and
towns as stable cultural and economic enterprises, and of their
relationship to the countryside, and its to a hinterland and the
wild places within it'.' How can each operate to be a healthful
and  humane site for all  that lives within  it,  and each live in
harmony with the  other?
  Or is there nothing  ahead  but constant  flux—the never-
ending business of  tearing down and ripping  up,  squeezing
resources  harder and harder, a restless wandering about  the
continent, with us all acting our compulsions of a pioneer
spirit that has lost its point as the centuries pass.  We have
proven ourselves as  a people who can subdue a new land and
indeed overwhelm nature. But  can  we subdue a technology
which threatens to get out of control, and. most of all, can we
subdue ourselves? Can we transmute our restless spirit into a
gentle spirit which can give birth to an  environment which
can endure as a fit place for all life? If we can, in what better
way could  we  redeem  the  ••
vision of our founding fathers? f J
 THE WILDERNESS
SOCIETY:
     As America balances between its past—the  200 years of
     history  represented  by  the Bicentennial—and the  future.
the third century of its existence, we have both a promise of
great things  to come, and  intermingling with it. an uneasy
sense of a world gone awry. The optimistic premise of this past
century that  "technology will save us" is only partly true, and
at an inflating price.  As  people turn nostalgically toward the
past in these bicentennial celebrations, they are also yearning
for a simpler form  of existence, even for a more nature-
                                                          oriented life style. Our folk-wisdom has always been rooted in
                                                          our soil, yet today the majority of Americans are urban
                                                          dwellers.
                                                            Wilderness preservation is  a  vital part of the solution of
                                                          this dilemma.  Wilderness  can provide  a constant  point  of
                                                          reference for the understanding of  the  function of natural
                                                          systems, as well as furnishing irreplaceable habitat for  wildlife.
                                                          safeguarding pure water supplies, and giving spiritual solace to
                                                          urbanized, overdeveloped
                                                          man-  and woman -kind.
NATURAL RESOURCES

DEFENSE COUNCIL,  INC.:

ff To he concerned with the environment  is not to he anti-
• • technology or against social progress. We must he, how-
ever, against the blind acceptance of any new kind of technol-
ogy, or the unthinking continuation of outmoded concepts  of
'progress.' We must strive for a future in which man will live
more harmoniously in his natural  environment—instead of a
future  in which we must constantly take the  greatest pains  to
avoid destroying or poisoning our habitat.
   It is a certainty that increasing  world population, with the
accompanying acceleration of demand for new energy sources
and new food supplies and the economic means to provide
them, will place incalculable strain  on the world environment.
However, by formulating  wise, practical, and forward-looking
policies today, and by carefully monitoring their enforcement.
we can strive to mitigate these  inevitable pressures and provide
future  generations with the basic necessities  of life:
clean air and water,  pure food,   and  open  space.
                                     Continued on puxe2
                                                                                                           PA GK

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 LOOKING AT
 THE FUTURE
Continued fr
                   19
  THE  IZAAK  WALTON

  LEAGUE OF AMERICA,  INC.:

        Like  an insatiable swarm of locusts, human beings
        seem to be racing  to  devour every vestige of the
  natural  environment, even to the point  of eliminating the
  complex ecosystems upon which we  all depend for life. The
  nations with plenty continue to expand their resource-deplet-
  ing appetites, while the developing nations struggle to survive.
  The most  difficult problem  in the future will be to decide the
  fate of our oceans.  These  great bodies  of water with  their
  relatively  untapped mineral reserves and vast  potential for
  food production are in danger of the  same rampant exploita-
  tion that has been seen on land. Agreement on a law of the
  sea is vital.
    To survive, all men and women must unite in a world-effort
  to preserve  the natural  environment. We must all become
  evangelists for and living examples of the conservation ethic.
  We must  become caretakers instead of users,  stewards  in-
  stead of consumers.  We must turn  off the appliances,  air
  conditioners, and engines and once again commune with the
  land on a  one-to-one basis  as our forefathers did. Only then
  will we have true hope for a
  better quality of life for all
                          55
                                                             /•-•
                                                             .,
                                                             -   •^cv.-'"'
                                                         ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

                                                         CENTER:

                                                                When fossil fuels began to play an important role  in
                                                                our economy, coal and oil and gas were so inexpensive
                                                          that where  they  came from, or what  had  to  be done to
                                                          process and transport them, didn't  matter much.  America's
                                                          earliest settlements were  built without  regard to  the geog-
                                                          raphy  of fossil fuel deposits. Harbors and rivers and forest,
                                                          wind and  water and wood power, determined the location of
                                                          our centers of development, and the arrival of fossil  fuels
                                                          generally  reinforced the growth of existing communities.
                                                            Now the  stakes for those who could  control new sources
                                                          and systems of energy are so high that working for humane,
                                                          equitable,  or rational energy  policies is like being the chaplain
                                                          on a pirate  ship.  Where energy reserves are  located, where
                                                          they are processed and converted, and  how  they  are trans-
                                                          ported, does make a difference. The future of our cities, of our
                                                          transportation networks, of our  patterns of industrial  and
                                                          agricultural development, of  the whole  fabric of our economy,
                                                          will depend  on energy production choices that, a  few years
                                                          ago,   were  of little  interest  except  to the
                                                         companies that dug or drilled  and sold the energy.
PAGE 20

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                     ENVIRONMENTAL  ALMANAC
                     A GLIMPSE OF THE NATURAL WORLD WE HELP PROTECT
                                       MARC
      SPRING AT LAST!

    At  dusk near a marsh in tlir \\ash-
    ington area  countryside  you  can
hear the piping now ot hundreds ol the
tiny little frogs known as spring peep-
ers.
 For some people -.prill" is the return
of  the robin,  the blooming o! forsythia,
the emergence  ol skunk cabbage or
the cavorting ol  new lambs.  I'or many
ol'  us though, the true heralds of spring
are the peepers.
 They've spent the harsh winter hiber-
nating  in the mud  at  the bottom ol
some swamp, pond, or ditch.  But when
they- sense  the  warmer  temperatures
they begin to emerge from the depths
to  celebrate the glories ol  a new
season in their brief lives.
 They don't  give a hoot that  spring
officially arrives on  March  20. They
are not aware that the northern end ot
our spinning globe is tilting again  to-
ward  the  sun.  Their  own biological
clock  will  tell them  when it >  time to
begin  their serenading.
 Now  the singing males are trilling
frantically to attract a mate. In the
country  you can  sometimes  hear
hundreds ot  the little creatures joining
in  an  ear-splitting chorus. Their shrill
whistling sound can be heard  a.-> much
as  a mile away,  from a distance their
calls sound oddly like muffled sleigh
bells.
 Silence drops  abruptl) across  the
marsh  when, flashlight in hand.  sou
try  to find a peeper. II  sou stand  >lill
lor  a  lew  minutes a Irog will  ultci  a
hesitant "peep-peep  and  then  the
others gradually join in.
 When  you  llnalk  find one on a tree
pad you see  that  it's  less than  an inch
in  length and  has a bubble-like  sac
under its lower jaw which it blows  up
to  help create Its unique  and unforget-
table call.  'I hey  can  also be  identified
as  peepers because they  carry  an "V
or  cross on their backs. This gi\es the
frog its  scientific name ol Us la cruel-
ler, or cross-bearing Irog.
 In the breeding  season  the  males
develop pads on their thumbs that help
-upport the nuptial  embrace. The toes
ot  both sexes extend into  discs  which
are used  as supports in climbing.  In
summer peepers sometimes climb  60
feet or higher into the trees.
 Part ol  the magnificent  mosaic of
nature, the peepers  have been  an-
nouncing:  the end  ot winter tor thou-
sands ot years.
 As  Joseph \\ood Krutch, a  noted
writer-naturalist, has pointed  out. we
shouldn't  take  this  announcement  by
the peepers  too casually because it is
indeed a miracle.
 "Think  ol  the enormity   ot  the an-
nouncement.' he urges, "\\hat  would
the world  be like it  spring  didn't
  \nd  another  concern, ol course,  is
what would spring he like without the
peeping of  Hyla  erucifer.  What  if in-
deed \vc finally do get Rachel Carson's
"silent  spring." For peepers are just as
susceptible  as birds  to the poisons in
carelessly used pesticides.
 These  small creatures  can also  be
easily displaced  by construction proj-
ects. For example, a  scientist  told  us
recently  ol the building ot a new power
plant on  the  \\isconsin  Hiser  which
needlessly ruined two  small ponds that
sersed  as the home ot  hundreds ol
peepers. One  ol  the  ponds  was used
lor  an  ash pit   and  the other was
destroyed  bv  the posxer  plant  water
intake pipeline.
 So  whal?  So part  of  the  biological
alarm system that can serve to alert ti>
to  environmental damage was de-
stroyed.  The  peeping  provides  assur-
ance that all's right svith a small  piece
of the environment, So the peepers trill
lor  sou  and me as  well  as  lor lady
peepers.
 One measure ol our success  in the
environmental cause  will  be  whether
the  peepers are  still piping their i-ongs
to  announce  spring  a hundred or  a
thousand seal's Irom noss.—C.D.P.
                                                                                                     PA OK  21

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EPAS  BUDGE
INCREASED
     President  Jimmy Carter has
     proposed   increasing   EPA's
current  operating budget by $74
million and raising  the  Agency's
employment ceiling to 10,150 per-
manent positions, 600 more than the
Fiscal 1976 ceiling of 9,550.
 The President  said he would ask
Congress for supplemental  appro-
priations this year as follows: $69
million for areawide water  quality
planning (the Section 208 program);
and  $5 million  to pay for the new
positions which  would be distributed
by the new Administrator among such
high-priority areas as toxic substance
control, resource conservation and
recovery, construction grants, and
enforcement.
 For Fiscal 1978, which starts next
Oct.  1, President Carter  has pro-
posed increases of $41.6  million
above the budget request submitted
by the Ford Administration  shortly
after the new Congress met in January.
These changes would include: $15
million for the new permanent posi-
tions, started in Fiscal 77; $12 mil-
lion in added assistance to States and
communities for  pollution  control
programs in air, water quality, water
supply, solid waste, and toxic sub-
stances; $10.3 million for loan guar-
antees under a new law permitting
EPA to underwrite Federal  lending
to cities and States for their share
of wastewater treatment plant costs,
when they cannot obtain reasonable
interest rates elsewhere; $8 million
to develop effluent guidelines for the
control of toxic material discharges;
and a reduction of $3.7 million for
standard level user charges (Govern-
ment Services Administration rental
costs).
  "These  budget  increases—the
largest since  1970-71—will be of
great significance in protecting our
Nation's environment," said Douglas M.
Costle, EPA Administrator-designate.
"President Carter has been aware
that EPA is underfunded and under-
staffed, and his proposed additions
are a major step toward  bringing
EPA's  resources  into  reasonable
balance."
 The current year's budget authority
totals $774 million. The Ford Admin-
istration proposed an increase of
$29 million—to $803 million—for
Fiscal 1978.
 President Carter's proposals would
provide a current  year's  budget
authority of $848 million and  a Fiscal
1978 total of $845 million.
                                CONSTRUCTION GRANTS

                                 President Carter has proposed that
                                $4.5 billion  be  appropriated  by
                                Congress this year for wastewater
                                treatment construction  grants, the
                                first step in a ten-year Federal aid
                                program totalling $45 billion.
                                 The Ford Administration had pro-
                                posed  that  the program start  in
                                Fiscal 1978. •
 COSTLE, BLUM NAMED
 TO LEAD EPA
 continued from page 2

has been vice-chairman of the Ful-
ton County Planning Commission
since 1974.
  From  1966 to  1974, Ms. Blum
was  vice  president  of  Restaurant
Associates of  Georgia, Inc.,  an
Atlanta management and purchasing
company for a wholly-owned chain
of  restaurants  and  a  restaurant
equipment company, founded  by
Ms. Blum and her husband.
  She was a member of Leadership
Atlanta (appointed by the  Atlanta
Chamber of Commerce) from 1974
to 1976, and on the Advisory Board
of  the  Atlanta-Macon Corridor
Study (appointed by the Georgia
Department of Transportation) from
 1973 to 1975. In 1973-74 Ms. Blum
served on the Georgia Vital Areas
Council, and from 1972  to 1974 she
was a member of the Health and So-
cial Services Advisory  Board and
Governmental  Services Advisory
Board of the  Atlanta Regional
Commission.
  Since  1972,  she has  been chief
lobbyist  in  the Georgia General
Assembly and in Washington, D. C.,
for SAVE (Save America's Vital
Environment),  and  from  1973  to
 1976 was president of that organiza-
tion. She  was on  the board of the
National Committee for an Effec-
tive Congress in 1976, and has been
a trustee of the Georgia Conserv-
ancy since 1973.
  From  1960 to  1962, Ms. Blum
was on the faculty of the Pediatric
Psychiatry Clinic  at the University
of Kansas Medical Center. She was
acting administrator of  the  Suffolk
County  Mental Health Clinic  in
Huntington, L.I., in  1963 and 1964.
In 1964, she was a  founder of the
Mid-Suffolk Center for Psychother-
apy in  Hauppauge. L.I., and  she
served as a partner  and center ad-
ministrator there until 1966.
  Ms. Blum received a B.S. degree,
in 1958,  and  an M.S.W. degree in
 1959, from Florida State  University.
  She is  married to  Donald W.
Blum. They have four children.*

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UPDATE
Beginning this month EPA
Journal will list recent Agency
publications, and other items of
use to people interested in the
environment. Each category
carries an address listing where
these materials are available.
GENERAL
PUBLICATIONS
Single copies available from
Chris Per ham, c/o Update
(A-107), U.S. EPA, Washington,
D.C. 20460.

An Environmental Law:
Highlights of the Safe Drinking
Water Act of 1974 (Revised
November 1976) This six-panel
leaflet explains the major
provisions of the Act, the role of
the States, variances and
exemptions, and the need for
protection of underground water
sources.

Highlights of the Toxic
Substances Control Act
(December 1976) This four-panel
leaflet covers the scope of the
new law. Agency responsibilities,
and steps required of
manufacturers.

What You Should Know About
the Pesticide Law (Revised 1976)
This illustrated 12-page pamphlet
explains the enforcement
provisions of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and
RodenticideAct

Clean Water and Agriculture
(January 1977) This eight-panel
leaflet gives the agricultural
community an outline of the
impact  of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act, especially
Subsection 208, on the farmer.
Career Choices (Revised 1977)
This 16-page pamphlet describes
careers in the environment field,
listing careers in environment
technology and education,
equipment operation, science,
and research. It includes a
compilation of institutions
offering environmental education
courses.

Noise Around Our Homes
(February 1977) This eight-panel
leaflet discusses the problem of
increasing levels of noise from
household sources and outlines
ways to reduce and prevent
them.

Noise and Recreational Vehicles
(December 1976) This 12-page
booklet discusses the major
recreational noise sources, their
impact on users and bystanders,
and ways that noise levels can
be reduced.

The United States
Environmental Protection
Agency; Legislation, Programs,
and Organization This 64-page
book outlines the history and
organization of EPA. It gives the
legislative authority for the
pollution control programs and
covers  the appropriations
structure and history of the EPA
budget.
LEGISLATIVE REPRINTS
Single copies available from the
Public Information Center
(PM-215), U.S. EPA, Washington,
D.C. 20460.

The Toxic Substances Control
Act. Public Law 94-469.

The Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act. Public Law 94-580.
FEDERAL REGISTER
NOTICES
Reprints available from the
Office of Radiation (AW-460),
U.S. EPA, Washington, D.C.
20460.

Standards for Nuclear Power
Operations. Thursday, January
13,  1977.
MOVIES
The Great Cleanup-A 16mm.,
53-minute color film about the
joint effort of EPA and
Environment Canada to clean up
the Great Lakes.
  Films can be borrowed at no
charge from Modern Talking
Picture Service, 2323 New Hyde
Park Road, New Hyde Park, New
York 11040.  Requests should be
made well before showing date.

The Mighty  Missouri—A 16mm.,
58-minute color film, shows the
pollution problems affecting the
river and its tributaries. It shows
the current pollution control
efforts and future problems that
are anticipated. "The Mighty
Missouri" will be  shown on
public television in Kansas City,
Mo. in March and will be
available for public distribution
in the future.

Is Your Drinking Water Safe?—A
half-hour television program
produced by Connecticut Public
Television under an EPA grant.
The film discusses the
problems of drinking water
supplies and possible solutions
to those problems. It will be
shown over  the Eastern
Educational  Network early in
March and will be available to
public television  stations
nationwide. •

                      PAGE 23

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                              PEOPLE
 Richard Field, C'hief of the Storm
 and Combined Sewer Section
 at Edison. N.J.. a component
 of the Municipal  Environmental
 Research laboratory
 at Cincinnati. Ohio, was recently
 honored by the New York Water
 Pollution Control Association at
 its annual meeting in New York
 City. Mr. Field received the
 Association's Kenneth Allen
 Award for an outstanding paper
 oil wastewater treatment. I-ast
 year Mr. Field was given a
 State-of-the-Art Award of the
 American Society of Civil
 Engineers.
 Howard (>. Bergman has been
 named Director of the
 Enforcement Division in Region
 VI,  Dallas.  For the last three
 and a half years he  has been on
 a special intergovernmental
 assignment as Air Pollution
 Control Commissioner in
 Cleveland, Ohio.
 Mr.  Bergman. 39. is a native of
 New York and earned a B.S. in
 chemical engineering from New
 York University and an M.S. in
 engineering administration from
George Washington University.
Washington.  D.C. He was a
physical science administrator in
EPA headquarters. Washington.
from 1971 to  1973. He and his
wife. Roberta have four
children.
Bruce W. Ingalls. library
technician at EPA's
 Headquarters library in
Washington, will start next
month on a two-year assignment
at the University of Montana.
 Missoula. There he will help set
up a model microform library of
environmental and energy
information. This largely
technical collection on microfilm
rolls and microfiche cards will
be available also to Montana
State University at Bozeman.
and  Montana Technical College
at Billings. The collection will
have a close working
relationship with EPA's Region
 VIII Office in Denver.  Colo.
 Mr.  Ingalls's appointment is
 under the Interdepartmental
 Personnel Act. which provides
for the short-term exchange of
workers  among Federal, State.
and local governments.
A native of Montana. Mr.
Ingalts came to Washington 26
years ago. Since  1966 he has
worked for the Federal Water
Pollution Control
Administration (later the Federal
Water Quality Administration)
and EPA.
Stanley J.  Pac was recently
appointed  Commissioner of the
Connecticut  Department of
Environmental Protection by
Gov. Ella  Grasso. Mr. Pac had
headed the State's Department
of Motor Vehicles for two years.
Before that he had served one
term in the State Senate, two
terms in the  General Assembly.
and as Mayor of New Britain. In
the Assembly, Mr. Pac was
chairman of the Public Health
and Safety Committee and of
the Environment Committee
and was instrumental in writing
the legislation that created the
Department of Environmental
Protection.
Henry Bunozewski of the Water
Supply Division of Region VII.
Kansas City, recently received
his B. A. degree in biology after
studying at four colleges and
several correspondence schools
over an eight-year period.
Mr. Bunczewski received his
diploma from Park College.
Parkville.  Mo. He also studied
at the University of Missouri at
Kansas City; the Water and
Wastewater Technical Training
School. Neosho.  Mo.; and
Orange Junior College.  Costa
 Mesa. Calif. He has been with
EPA five years, four of which
were in the Surveillance and
Analysis  Division doing
microbiat and chemical analyses
of water samples in the field and
in the regional laboratory.
Alex Young has been named
Chief,  Personal Management
Branch, in Region IX. San
Francisco, succeeding George
A. Lawton, now Deputy
Director of the Personnel
Management Division in E-^PA's
Washington headquarters.
Mr. Young. 32, has been in the
Federal service nine years, three
of which have been with EPA.
He previously worked in
staffing, job classification, and
employee relations at  the  U.S.
Nava!  Shipyards at Pearl
Harbor. Hawaii, and Hunters
Point.  Calif. He earned a degree
in business administration from
Oregon State University in 1966
and is  a member of the
International Personnel
Management Association and
the Classification and
Compensation Society. He
received a Sustained Superior
Performance Award in 1973.
PAGE 24

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                 news  briefs

SUPREME COURT ISSUES MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION

The U.S. Supreme  Court has ruled 8 to 0 that EPA- has  autho-
rity to impose uniform regulations to control factory wastes
discharged into the Nation's waterways.  The court rejected
the argument of eight chemical companies that the Agency
could only set general guidelines and permit variances  for
individual plants.  Acting Administrator John R.  Quarles
termed the decision "a very important victory.  This  .  .  .
provides critical support for the strategy used in requiring
the cleanup of literally thousands of water pollution sources
in this country."

GUIDELINES PROPOSED TO HELP CUT SEWAGE PLANT COSTS

New guidelines have been proposed by EPA which could  mean
large savings at all levels of government on sewage treat-
ment plant costs. The proposals include guidance in  planning
the optimum size  for such plants, the types of upkeep required
during the plant's lifetime, and procedures for population
forecasts and wastewater flow projections.  The new propo-
sals should especially ease the burden of taxpayers in  small
communities.

BREAKTHROUGH IN ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHY

At the request of EPA, the U.S. Air Force has developed a com-
pact, low-cost unit called an Enviro-Pod which may provide
the best means to date for photographing environmental  disas-
ters such as oil  spills.  The Enviro-Pod is small enough  to
be treated as hand luggage and can be easily installed  on
light aircraft.  It allows officials to take pictures from
rented planes and have processed photos within 24 hours.  A
decision on whether or not to contract for production of  the
Pod is expected by mid-1977.
                                                             PAGH 25

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U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF PUBLIC' AFFAIRS (A 107)
WASHINGTON. D.C 20460
                                        POSTAGE AND FEES PAID
                         	'"^MMPNTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
 Return this page if you do NOT wish to receive this publication (   ), or if change of address is needed (  ), list change, including zip code.
  PARIS  TRIES OXYGEN
       Plans are being made to  pump oxygen
       into the Seine  River in Paris to help
   prevent recurrence of the fish  kills which
   plagued the French capital last summer.
     The Paris City Council is considering hav-
   ing a contractor lay a plastic tube pierced
   with tiny holes under the Seine as it flows
   by Notre Dame Cathedral. Compressed air
   would then be bubbled into the  river  to
   revive the fish.
    Thousands of dead fish  floated to  the
   surface of the Seine  last July when a heat
   wave  boosted water  temperatures and
   lobbed the river of oxygen.
    C'ost of the project  has been estimated at
   500.000  francs (approximately  S100.000).
   One  problem foreseen is that  the bubble
   machine might stir up too much mud on the
   river bottom.
     The  use  of aeration  techniques to help
   increase the amount of o\\uen in rivers and
lakes in this country  has  been  tried from
time to time.
 HPA's General Counsel's Office now  has
under study a request for an opinion from
Region V on whether in-stream mechanical
aerators can be used  to help meet  water
quality  standards in the lower Fox  River in
Wisconsin.
 In response to  a request  for comment
from the General  Counsel's office. Hckardt
C.  Heck. Deputy  Assistant  Administrator
for  Water  Planning and Standards,  noted
that the numerous dams on the  Fox River
have reduced the  opportunity for natural
aeration of this stream into which a number
of pulp and  papermaking industries  dis-
charge their wastes.
 He noted that  in the I930's  before the
increasing load of industrial wastes the  Fox
River was  so  full  of rnayfU insects, usually
an  indication of clean water, that  the
Notre Dame Cathedra] on the Seine River.
 bridges across this  stream sometimes be-
 came impassable and that road graders had
 to  be  used to clean the  bridges of the
 slippery  mass of  insects. However, the
 mayfly population was drastically reduced
 after industry began depositing its wastes in
 the river.
  In his memo. Mr.  Beck noted that  while
 F. PA has not categorically forbidden the use
 of in-stream aeration  to meet  water quality
 standards. F.PA has discouraged the use of
 this technique as  an alternative  to  meet
 water quality standards.
  "The use of in-stream  aeration." Mr.
 Beck recommended,  "should only  be as a
 supplement  to the  application of the best
 available pollution control  technology eco-
 nomically achievable and  it  should  be in
 consonance w ith water quality management
 plans developed" under the Federal Water
 Pollution Control Act.
                                           OU.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1977 720-136/1003  1-3

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