United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Public Affairs (A-107) Washington, DC 20460 Volt Numb.. . July-August 1981 EPA JOURNAL New Directions t 4 ------- .• , . • «^v ------- United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Public Affairs (A-107) Washington, DC 20460 Volume 7 Number 7 July-August 1981 3-EPA JOURNAL Anne McGill Gorsuch, Administrator Byron Nelson III, Director, Office of Public Affairs Charles D. Pierce, Editor Truman Temple, Associate Editor Articles EPA is charged by Congress to protect the Nation's land, air and water systems. Under a mandate of national environmental laws, the Agency strives to formulate and implement actions which lead to a compatible balance be- tween human activities and the ability of natural systems to sup- port and nurture life. o Gorsuch Commends State Air Contributions 2 In her first major address, the Administrator describes prog- ress and problems in working with the Clean Air Act. EPA Reorganized 5 The Agency is restructured to improve coordination in policy and legal efforts and enhance efficiency. Key EPA Officials 8 A number of new officials have been appointed to implement the Agency's new organization. Science and EPA 10 In a wide-ranging interview. Deputy Administrator John W. Hernandez presents his views on the future of scientific re- search at EPA. Denver Wins Its River Back 13 Citizen power is scoring gains in rehabilitation of the South Platte River. FBI to Aid in Hazardous Waste Investigation 20 "Midnight dumping" and other criminal violations in transport- ing hazardous waste will be probed jointly by the FBI and EPA. Controlling PCB's— A New Approach 24 A chemical process that can destroy toxic polychlorinated biphenyls offers hope for cleaning up this hazardous pollutant. U. N. Finds Pollution Control Cost Less in Third World 26 The economic cost of curing environmental ills is less than the cost of damage, the U. N. contends. Summer on the Chesapeake 30 The bay today and the outlook for the future which will be disclosed in a major study to be released soon. Departments Update 23 Around the Nation 28 Front Cover: Sun and clouds over the Rocky Mountains, by Henry Lansford. (See p. 2) Opposite. Waterfowl at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Md., ad- jacent to the Chesapeake Bay, by Susan Bournique. (See p 30) Photo credits Belinda Rain, Rick Lamoreaux; Bill Taggart; Mike Lien, James Pickerell, Bruce McAllister, Tom Dolan, Md. Dept. of Natural Resources. Design Credits: Robert Flanagan. Donna Kazaniwsky and Ron Farrah. The EPA Journal is published ••mined issues July-August and November i ber by the U S Environmental Protection Agency Use of funds for printing this periodical has been approved by the Director of the Office (if Manaciernent and Budget Views expi • • .tiiors do not • • .-.inly reflect EPA policy Con tnbutions and inquiries shi •-.set! to the Editor i A 1071 Waterside MM. 401 M St S W Washington DC 20460 No per mission necessary to •• contents except copyrighted photos iition SI 2 00 a year SI 20foi single . . • Stic. S! b 00 if mailed t< a foreign address No charge to employees Send check or money to Superintendent of Docu- ments U S Government Printing Office Washington DC 20402 Text printed d paper ------- The sun bursts, through dark clouds over Richmond Harbor. Calif. Gorsuch Commends State Air Contributions Excerpts from the first major address by EPA Administrator Anne M. Gorsuch to the Air Pollution Control Association June 22 in Philadelphia. s Administrator of EPA, I have had the primary responsibility for revitalizing the Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Working Group, which I chair, has considered the various options available for legislative action and EPA staff has produced all major support documents. The Cabinet Council on Environment and Natural Re- sources, of which I am a member for this purpose, will consider the options devel- oped and make our recommendations to the President. "In preparing recommendations, EPA has studied proposals from State and local governments, labor, industry, envi- ronmentalists, academicians, consultants and interested citizens. In developing the EPAJOURNAL ------- Administration's proposal it was also im- portant to look where we have been in order to put together a blueprint for the 80's. "Between 1940 and 1970—the year the Clean Air Act was first enacted by Congress —emissions of air pollutants in- creased by 40 percent. Further, little was known about the effects of air pollution — or even how to define clean air. Regula- tory schemes, where they existed, were largely inconsistent from State to State. "Today, as we head into the 1980's, the situation is dramatically different. The Clean Air Act and government's respon- ses have been largely successful in im- proving the overall quality of our Nation's air. Illustratively, in the last decade we experienced a 50 percent reduction in particulate emissions and a 20 percent improvement in particulate air quality lev- els. In our major cities, we have substan- tially reduced sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. "Perhaps of greater importance, our ability to deal with air pollution at both the State and Federal levels has grown. Most States and many cities have developed sophisticated laws and have established environmental control agencies. At the State and local level air staff has tripled since 1970, to a current level of approx- imately 9,000 people—or about 9 for every 1 employed by the Federal gov- ernment in air pollution control. Likewise, the private sector can be given a good deal of credit in assisting in the achieve- ment of our national air goals. Scientists and engineers—so many of you on hand today—have joined with concerned in- dustrial leaders to produce more effective technology, the application of which has created a remarkable contrast in air qual- ity from 1970 to 1980 in America's in- dustrial centers. "We can be proud of our progress under the Clean Air Act. However, a frank examination of its implementation reveals staggering complexities and conflicts- sagas of intolerable time delays and in- vestment losses—and a sad legacy of distrust between industry. States and the Federal government. "Our business at EPA is to protect and improve air quality. Yet we've found that, in trying to implement the current Clean Air Act, in many instances we've actually delayed the process of cleaning the air. "Truthfully, it has reached a point where the combined effect of these problems has actually subverted the very intent of the Clean Air Act. In light of this, I believe the time has come to make some neces- sary mid-course corrections. "If we do not move quickly, the Ameri- can people will continue to suffer needlessly from the unnecessary delays fostered by the current law. "Delays fuel inflation and —unfortu- nately—delay can be found in EPA's per- mitting process for new construction—an often complex, lengthy and duplicative exercise. Another example is the fact that case by case technology requirements mandate air pollution control decisions at the end of the capital investment planning spectrum rather than at the beginning. The uncertainty over requirements creates a great deal of indecision and markedly inhibits capital investment. The present process in many instances dis- courages the roll-over of older, polluting facilities and actually prevents or impedes the construction of new and cleaner plants. It's bad environmental policy and it is bad economics. "Perhaps we should review just how the process works today. "All new plants must, as a minimum, meet EPA's new source performance standards. But in clean-air areas, best available control technology (BACT) must be used. Unfortunately, BACT can only be defined on a case-by-case basis. If the planned construction is for a dirty air area, then it must meet lowest achievable emission rates (LAER). "Even after these complex initial ques- tions have been answered, getting the actual permits can mean a torturous trip through monitoring, atmospheric model- ling, 'increment' or 'offset' bookkeeping, and other formidable obstacles. The fact that much of the procedure may have to be duplicated at State and Federal levels serves to slow down the whole process. "But even more confusion is possible. For instance, consider the case where a PSD class II area suddenly shows non- attainment. In that case, if the State's Clean Air Plan has yet to be approved, the ultimate limitation appears: No new plant can be built at all. "The permit process can add two to three years of lead time for a typical manufacturing plant. This is bad public policy. Time is money; and such delays are definitely harmful to our economic well-being. But of primary significance to our concerns, there is no incremental environmental benefit attendant to the delay, duplication and uncertainty. In many instances there is environmental degradation. "These frustrations are demonstrated by a recent case in Blytheville, Ark. There, a local plant, which emitted pollu- tants, had closed, resulting in the unem- ployment of 400 people. Another firm wanted to buy part of the old plant and move it to a new location nearby, saving 172 of the 400 jobs. "But the air in the new area wasn't classified, and PSD regulations prevented the move until the new company con- ducted a year's worth of air monitoring. All this despite the fact that the move would have decreased the level of exist- ing emissions in the area. "Another key provision of the act that creates confusion concerns EPA's current role in approving State clean air plans and their revisions. Instead of approach- ing the implementation of the Clean Air Act as partners, the States and EPA have often developed a hostile relationship, with EPA being perceived as a didactic second guesser and meddler. JULY/AUGUST 1981 ------- "In the mid-1970's, for example, the State of Massachusetts recognized the need to amend emission limitations for 70 individual sources. But, under the current law, each change had to pass individually through the SIP revision process. As a result, EPA has for five years been review- ing these changes and in many cases merely duplicating the State's own work. "In Nevada, a debate over indirect source regulations has prevented final approval of the State's Clean Air Plan for eight years —eight years of litigation, changing signals from Congress on indi- rect source control, and changing policies at EPA. As a result, vital land use issues and longstanding interstate disputes have gone unresolved. "Even simple, non-controversial SIP re- visions seem to consume unconscionable amounts of time. In the past few weeks, I have signed several of these that—if the public were only aware —they would surely ask such questions as: Is it rational to take 17 months for EPA to approve a change of attainment status for Cleveland County, Oklahoma? And what could be so complex about a power plant consent order obtained by the State of Michigan that it took EPA 17 months to ratify it? Again, if time delays translate into envi- ronmental quality enhancement, then there might be some justification. But not one less particle is removed from the air as a result of time lags. "In all of these cases, EPA was merely duplicating actions already carried out by the States. In none of them did the agency encounter public opposition to the State actions. "The time has come for EPA to culti- vate a working partnership with State and local governments in an atmosphere of cooperation —not confrontation. In our major environmental laws, Congress clearly intended the States to have a major share of the responsibility for clean- ing up our air, land and water. This intent goes hand-in-hand with President Rea- gan's desire to shift control of public pro- grams to State and local governments wherever possible. I am delighted that the President has given me the opportunity to carry out his call for a new partner- ship at EPA, and to apply this concept in the real world. There is so much that can and should be done to refocus our efforts on results. "In order to begin a new era of part- nership with the States, our way of doing business at EPA will change. First, our staff at all levels—consonant with the di- rection of the new administration —will conduct business with State and local offi- cials with the presumption of good faith and regularity on their part, and a pledge to openness on our part. "It is discomforting that so many in Washington believe that concern for envi- ronmental quality rests solely on the banks of the Potomac. They fail to under- stand the fervent desire of people throughout the Nation to protect the environment of each city and town. In turn, local citizens elect their officials who equally share their concern. In the new administration, these officials will become important partners with all EPA staff. "Armed with this new approach and determined to abandon adversary atti- tudes, EPA staff will return to the field with a set of management principles in keeping with the goals of the Reagan Administration. "The first of these goals is consisten- cy, blended with a deep respect for the internal decisionmaking process of the Agency. It is certainly inconsistent for EPA staff to send conflicting signals by prema- ture disclosure of unsubstantiated scien- tific studies, improper lobbying of Congressmen or State Legislators at bud- get time, or flashy press releases that upstage our State and local partners. It is unacceptable for costly decisions at the local level to be based on premature infor- mation which EPA later alters. "Secondly, in the Administration our aim is to ensure the principle of accounta- bility. No one is to represent our Agency unless they know what they are talking about, can speak with authority, and are willing to keep their commitments. We are going to practice accountability in our own house as well by avoiding divisive turf-fighting, which delays program implementation. "All decisions of the Agency must be based on sound scientific research and the best technical information available. This has become a priority management goal in my administration. "Of particular importance is the quality and reliability of the EPA data on which rulemaking, monitoring, and enforcement are based. In this regard, I am fortunate to have as Deputy Administrator, Dr. John Hernandez, who is the first person with a technical background ever selected for one of the top positions at EPA. Dr. Hernandez will develop a peer-review for all of EPA's scientific studies to make certain that decisions which could cost taxpayers millions of dollars are based on sound research. "Finally, I have called on all EPA em- ployees to renew their pledge to be public servants. This means phone calls should be returned sooner. Letters will be an- swered, not just acknowledged; unneces- sary paperwork is to be avoided, and every consideration will be given to cut- ting down on red-tape. "In order to help our front-line manag- ers apply these principles to their day-to- day operation, I have reorganized EPA in a manner which will consolidate all policy and budget analysis; centralize re- sponsibility under one assistant adminis- trator for all phases of an environmental program area; and unify the Agency's legal functions. Under this new plan, for instance, the new Assistant Administra- tor for Air will supervise all functions— rulemaking, monitoring, permitting, and the initiating of enforcement proceedings. "And, at this point let me add, that EPA is committed to a strong enforce- ment doctrine. But success in enforce- ment will no longer be judged simply by counting beans—that is, by the number of suits or orders filed. "Instead we will look for results—for real clean-up, and the best environmen- tal bang for our buck. "In closing, let me restate that EPA and the entire Reagan Administration are firmly committed to the goals of the Clean Air Act. As Administrator of EPA, I am pleased that this progress will take place in the context of another far-reaching Reagan initiative — regulatory reform. The new Administration has already moved dramatically forward in this field. By streamlining our regulations and proce- dures without sacrificing our environmen- tal goals, our Agency can become a model of efficient and good government for the entire nation." D Administrator Gorsuch addressing the Air Pollution Control Association. EPAJOURNAL ------- REORGANIZED The EPA Administrator Anne M. Gorsuch has announced a restructuring of the Environmental Protection Agency designed to improve coordination in its policy and legal efforts and bring greater efficiency by integrating budget and policy units. The Administrator emphasized that the changes will keep current programs intact with their personnel, and will not adversely affect any employee. "With this realignment, I see the Agency, through stronger management, upgrading our ability to fulfill EPA's primary mission —protection of the Nation's environment," she said. The plan designates six program areas headed by Assist- ant Administrators to be named by President Reagan. The areas are Water; Solid Waste and Emergency Response; Air, Noise and Radiation; Pesticides and Toxic Substances; Research and Development; and Administration. JULY/AUGUST 1981 ------- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Mrs. Gorsuch also has cre- ated two Associate Adminis- trator positions—one for Policy and Resource Manage- ment and the other for Legal and Enforcement Counsel. The new policy Associate Adminis- trator will oversee analysis and development of standards, regulations, legislation and the budget. The new legal Asso- ciate Administrator will design and direct policy and strategy for enforcement in addition to serving as the Agency's top attorney. The reorganization, which took effect July 1, spells out the following additional new functions: » The Office of Administration has been established to direct personnel, organization, infor- mation data systems, facilities, fiscal and contracts manage- ment functions. • The Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response will direct the Superfund and solid waste programs. • The Office of Water and Waste Management has been renamed the Office of Water and is responsible for water programs. • Enforcement functions relat- ing to water; air, noise, and radiation; pesticides and toxic substances; and solid waste and Superfund programs are established in the respective offices responsible for those programs. Office Of The Administrator Administrator Deputy Administrator Chief Of Staff Office Of Adminstrative Law Judges Office of Inspector General Office Of Civil Rights Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Science Advisory Board Associate Administrator for Policy and Resource Management Associate Administrator for Legal Counsel and Enforcement Office of Inter- Governmental Liaison Office of Congressional Liaison Office of Comptroller Office of General Counsel Office of Policy Analysis Office of Enforcement Policy Office of Public Affairs Office of Legislation Office of International Activities Office of Standards and Regulations Office of Federal Activities Office of Man- agement Systems and Evaluation Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response Assistant Administrator for Air, Noise and Radiation Assistant Administrator for Administration Assistant Administrator for Water Office of Waste Programs Enforcement Office of Personnel and Organization Office of Water Enforcement Off ice of Air, Noise and Radiation Enforcement Office of Water Regulations and Standards Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Office of Solid Waste Office of Fiscal and Contracts Management Office of Emergency and Remedial Response Office of Water Program Operations Office of Mobile Source Air Pollution Control Office of Management Information and Support Services Office of Drinking Water Office of Noise Abatement and Control Officeof Radiation Programs Region 2 New York Region 1 Boston Region 3 Philadelphia Region 4 jfc Region 5 Ht Region 6 Atlanta Chicago Dallas ' " " " ------- • The Office of Planning and Management and the Office of Enforcement have been abolished. • Regional offices will be di- rected at a later date to re- structure their organization to reflect the Headquarters re- alignments to the maximum extent practicable. The Administrator declared that with these changes she viewed EPA as "moving toward an organization with strong and consistent internal man- agement control and an enhanced ability to define results-oriented environmental goals. "It will be an organization that will work for us as we do our part in helping this Admin-- istration achieve its objective of a balanced budget. Our budgetary processes will be intertwined with our policy formulations; our attention will be directed to cross-media im- pacts; our focus on policy, Assistant Administrator for Pesticides and Toxic Substances. Assistant Administrator for Research and Development Office of Monitoring Systems and Quality Assurance Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances Enforcement Office of Environmental Engineering and Technology Office of Pesticide Programs Office of Toxic Substances Office of Environmental Processes and Effects Research Office of Health Research standards, and regulations will be improved; and we, as an Agency, will be better able to use our allotted dollars for maximum mileage. Our people and facilities management functions and other adminis- trative services will receive the increased attention they war- rant," she added. Under the plan, the func- tions of the former Office of Planning and Management and the Office of Enforcement have been moved into the new offices that have been created. With operating divisions moving intact from the former Office of Enforcement into the various program offices and serving under the new Assist- ant Administrators, enforce- ment policy coordination will be the responsibility of the Associate Administrator for Legal and Enforcement Counsel. "We are moving toward separation of the administra- tive aspects of enforcement from the legal implementation of enforcement decisions," the Administrator declared. She said that putting operating en- forcement offices into the en- vironmental program areas will foster more efficient operation with responsibility for success in these areas clearly in the hands of the individual Assist- ant Administrators. "We will also have a new and better way of doing busi- ness in which we better articu- late and assign accountability for environmental program results," she declared. "The integration of our enforcement and media program functions will clarify this accountability for specific program ac- complishments, enhance the consistency and quality of enforcement actions, and simplify our interrelation- ships with State and local governments." Included in the new Office of Policy and Resource Man- agement will be the Offices of the Comptroller, Policy Analy- sis, Standards and Regulations, Legislation, and Management Systems and Evaluation. Pre- viously these had been, with somewhat different titles, under the now-abolished Office of Planning and Man- agement. The new Office of Legal Counsel and Enforcement will include the Offices of the Gen- eral Counsel and Enforcement Policy. The Agency reorganization also combined the Offices of Press Services and Public Awareness into a new Office of Public Affairs. The Administrator added that consolidation of the solid waste management and Super- fund functions would permit specific attention to these pro- grams consistent with their rel- ative importance, "All in all, the reorganization will increase our functional ef- fectiveness, reflect the priori- ties of our time, and facilitate our ability to respond to the needs of this country," she said. D ------- Kathleen M. Bennett Dr. John Morton Dr. John A. Todhunter Frank A. Shepherd Key EPA Officials Three Assistant Administra- tors have been nominated by President Reagan. John Horton, a New Jersey engineer and businessman, was nomi- nated to be EPA Assistant Administrator for Administra- tion. John A. Todhunter was nominated to be Assistant Administrator for Pesticides and Toxic Substances, and Kathleen M. Bennett to be Assis- tant Administrator for Air, Noise and Radiation. The Presi- dential nominations are subject to Senate confirmation. Drawing from the ranks of management in public and pri- vate sectors, Administrator Gorsuch made appointments to fill new posts created as part of her reorganization plan and also named some special assistants. The appointees, the Admin- istrator declared, "will provide EPA with a wealth of practical experience in environmental, governmental, and private sec- tor affairs. They all bring im- pressive credentials to their jobs. Their counsel, advice, and support will be most valuable to me in carrying out EPA's mission of environmental pro- tection." Named to fill the new posi- tion of Associate Administra- tor for Legal Counsel and Enforcement was Frank A. Shepherd, a lawyer from Miami. Nolan E. Clark, a Washington attorney, was ap- pointed to the new post of Associate Administrator for Policy and Resource Manage- ment. Other appointments by Mrs. Gorsuch were: William A. Sullivan Jr., a lawyer and consultant to steel communities, as Deputy As- sociate Administrator for Legal Counsel and Enforcement; Robert M. Perry, a Houston corporate trial attorney, as EPA General Counsel; John E. Daniel, a lawyer and Washington representative, as Chief of Staff for the Administrator; Thornton W. Field, an attor- ney and regulatory affairs specialist from Denver, as the Administrator's special assist- ant for hazardous wastes; Kitty Adams, environmental consultant and former U.S. Senate legislative assistant as special assistant for regulatory reform; Joseph A. Cannon, a Wash- ington attorney, as special as- sistant for regulatory reform. Christopher J. Capper as a Special Assistant and for an interim period to be EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emer- gency Response. Paul Milbauer as Special Assis- tant to the Administrator, serving as advisor on a range of subjects with emphasis on toxic substances. Byron Nelson III, former jour- nalist and Senatorial press sec- retary, as Director, Office of Public Affairs. Dr. Horton, 56, began his ca- reer 30 years ago in pollution control work. He received a doctorate in sanitary engineer- ing from Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology in 1 95 1. Previously he attended the U.S. Naval Academy 1945-47 and MIT, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1949. During the past decade he has been a businessman and director of 16 companies including several involved in manufacture and distribution of mechanical sweeping equip- ment and industrial supply. He has served with the American Public Works Association, the New Jersey Clean Air Council, New Jersey State Planning Task Force, and the State Council for the Future. He is the author of more than a score of technical articles, holds a dozen patents on his inventions, and is a member of several research and engineer- ing honor societies. Dr. Todhunter, 31, has been Chairman of the Biochemistry Program and Assistant Profes- sor of Biology at The Catho- lic University of America in Washington, D.C. since 1978. Previously he was a Fellow in the Department of Biochemis- try, Roche Institute of Molec- ular Biology, Hoffman LaRoche, Inc., in Nutley, N.J. 1976-78. He served as a teaching assistant, research assistant, and Regent's Fellow at the University of California at Santa Barbara 1974-76. Earlier he was an instructor at California State University in Los Angeles. Dr. Todhunter re- ceived a B.S. degree from the University of California in 1971, an M.S. from California State University in 1973 and a Ph.D. from the University of California in 1976. He is a native of Cali, Colombia, South America. Since 1977 Mrs. Bennett, 33, has served as Federal Af- fairs Representative for the Crown Zellerbach Corp. She has been a member of the American Paper Institute Air Quality Committee and Chair- man of the Air Quality Sub- committee on Prevention of Significant Deterioration. EPA JOURNAL ------- Nolan E. Clark William A. Sullivan Jr. Robert M. Perry John E Dame! She has served since 1978 as faculty member of the environmental law series of Executive Enterprises, Inc., lecturing on the Clean Air Act and on Congressional environ- mental policymaking. She was Director of Legislative Affairs for the American Paper Insti- tute 1974-77. She served as Washington representative of Public Affairs Analysts, Inc. 1972-74, and as Administra- tive Assistant, Office of Con- gressional Affairs, General Services Administration, 1971 -72. Previously she was Executive Secretary, Office of the Governor, Chicago, II!. 1970-71 and Executive Sec- retary to the Director, Citizens to Elect Senator Ralph Tyler Smith, in 1970. She received an A.B. degree from Manhattanville College, Purchase, N.Y. in 1970. She is married, has three children, and lives in Alexandria, Va. In his new post. Shepherd, 35, will design and direct pol- icy and strategy for enforce- ment activities as well as serve as EPA's chief legal officer. He previously was with the law firm of Kimbrell, Hamann, Jennings, Womack, Carlson, and Kniskern of Miami which he joined in 1972 and where he has been a partner for the past four years, representing many large corporations. A graduate of the University of Michigan law school in 1972, Shepherd holds a master's degree in government from the University of Massachusetts and a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida. He is a native of West Palm Beach, Fla. Clark, 40, will oversee anal- ysis and development of stand- ards, regulations, legislation and the budget. He has been associated with the Washing- ton, D.C. law firm of Kirkland and Ellis since 1969 and has been a partner there the past eight years, specializing chiefly in government regulation of business. He is a native of Montpelier, Idaho, and re- ceived his law degree from Stanford University School of Law in 1968. He was awarded the Order of the Coif for finishing in the top 10 per- cent of the graduating class. He graduated magna cum laudein 1962 from Harvard College with a degree in eco- nomics. Sullivan, 41, previously was with FSI, Inc., a consulting firm he organized in 1979 that guided redevelopment of in- dustrial property after Jones & Laughlin and Youngstown Sheet and Tube Companies closed their steel mills in the Mahoning Valley in Ohio in 1977. He also has been presi- dent of Western Reserve Eco- nomic Development Agency and the Steel Communities Coalition, both of which were involved in solving problems in a steel-dominated economy. Sullivan received a law degree in 1964 from Columbia Uni- versity and a bachelor's degree from Trinity College in Hart- ford, Conn., in 1961. Perry, 46, has been a trial lawyer since 1969 with Exxon Corp. in Houston. He was an attorney with the Justice De- partment's Land and Natural Resources Division 1964-69. He received a law degree in 1961 from Georgetown Uni- versity and a bachelor's degree in 1959 from St. Mary's Uni- versity in San Antonio, Texas, his hometown. Staff Aides Daniel, 37, will direct the activities of the Administrator's immediate staff. He has repre- sented Johns-Manville Corp. before a number of regulatory agencies since March 1980. He was director of environ- mental and legislative affairs for the American Paper Insti- tute 1976-80. He headed the Ohio Attorney General's en- vironmental law section 1975-76, and served as at- torney for Alabama's Environ- mental Health Administration 1970-73. He helped develop enforcement programs for the former National Air Pollution Control Administration in 1968-70. He received a law degree in 1968 from the Uni- versity of Alabama and a bachelor's degree in 1965 from that university's College of Engineering, where he studied sanitary engineering and structural design. Field, 32, has been regula- tory affairs coordinator and analyst with Adolph Coors Co. of Golden, Colo., since 1979. Previously he was a law clerk with AMAX Environmental Services, Inc. of Denver, the environmental arm of AMAX. Inc., an international mineral development corporation. He received a law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law in 1979, and a bachelor of arts degree from that university in 1976, grad- uating magna cum laude. Kitty Adams, 3 1, served as legislative assistant to Sen. James L. Buckley 1973-77 and helped draft amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Clean Air Act. She was associ- ated in an environmental capacity with the Business Roundtable 1977-78, and has been a private environmental consultant since 1978. She graduated from Sweetbriar College in 1972. Cannon, 31, was on the staff of the 1980 Reagan-Bush Committee in 1980 during the Presidential campaign. He graduated cum laude from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in 1977 where he was an editor of the school's law review. He subsequently was with the Washington, D.C. office of the Houston, Texas, law firm of Andrews, Kurth, Campbell & Jones. Nelson will serve as Director of the newly created Office of Public Affairs. The Offices of Press Services and Public Awareness were com- bined into this single entity as part of the Administrator's re- organization plan. Nelson, 32, served as press secretary for Senator Frank Murkowski of Alaska earlier in 1981, for Senator Roger Jepsen of Iowa 1979-80, and for Rep- resentative Frank Evans of Colorado 1975-77. He was gen- eral manager for Binns and Associates of Dallas, political consultants, in 1978 He was a journalist with the Los Angeles Times in 1973 and the Denver Post 1973-75. Nelson received a Bachelor's degree in journalism in 1970 from East Texas State Univer- sity and later pursued graduate studies in journalism at South- ern Illinois University. Continued to page 12 JULY/AUGUST 1981 ------- Science and EPA Interview with Deputy Administrator John W. Hernandez Q As the first scientist to serve as EPA's Deputy Ad- ministrator, will you tell us what you consider to be the Agency's main scientific goals? Q A I think basing our deci- sions on careful, precise evi- dence has to be our principal goal. We must have high-qual- ity science. This is absolutely imperative. We can't have an organization founded on less than the best technical investi- gations possible. Q What is your under- standing of the phrase "peer review" and how useful do you think this procedure could be for EPA? Internal —and occasion- ally—external peer review by qualified scientists is an abso- lute must for all of EPA's publi- cations. This is not true just of our Research and Develop- ment documents that people have come to recognize as be- longing to EPA, but it's also true of all of the many other kinds of publications that are issued. Unless scientific deduc- tions really survive rigorous testing and interpretation, we're going to make the mis- take of taking data out of con- text, away from their qualifying assumptions,and putting them in EPA publications that are read by many, many people. Our reputation suffers when we print information that peo- ple cannot trust because it proves to be false in isolation. Peer review to a good scientist means, "I'm going to ask my fellow researchers to look over what I've done and to give me their advice on the validity of its hypothesis, method, and interpretation." If we stick to this approach in EPA, basing our policy decisions and state- ments on sound research, we're going to have an effec- tive organization, because the basic talent is there. In your view how ser- ious is the problem caused by acid rain? A f\ I dislike the term, which has come to bear the connota- tion of dead fish and dying lakes. Well, I think that it is unfor- tunate that the phrase has come to mean so many things to people in the Northeastern part of the United States. The general hypothesis is that pre- cipitation that falls across the country has a lowered pH be- cause of a measurable increase in the hydronium ion due to chemical transformation of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into sulphates and nitrates respectively. This phe- nomenon has always occurred in nature to some degree; it can be observed on remote is- lands where no industrializa- tion exists but is accelerated over industrial regions of the globe. There has been an ob- servable increase in modern nations since the advent of the Industrial Revolution. A great deal of uncertainty exists, how- ever, over U.S. monitoring data used to indicate that the pH trend has markedly accel- erated within the last thirty years. We can make few judg- ments on the information we have gathered in a relatively short period. Congress has suggested that we extend our investigation over a ten-year term, seeking the areas where this change seems to be hap- pening and assessing its im- pact on the environment. Are streams and lakes in igneous bedrock areas really becoming more acidic? Has something changed noticeably from, say, 1950 to the current time? Or has something happened that has been a part of man's pro- gress since the nineteenth century, with the phenomenon gradually increasing over time? What kinds of repairs are pos- sible? What, in fact, is happen- ing? What else in man's man- agement of the earth have we done that may also have altered the quality of our small lakes and the quality of the runoff from our watersheds? We have to look at all of those questions and evaluate our current activities in the context of what are the possible solu- tions to the problem. Are they causes starting from long dis- tances away? If they are from long distances, can we pin- point them? What in fact are they? I don't think we're any- where near the point of solving many of these questions at this time. Q Do you believe EPA should place more empha- sis on having research work done by private companies or other government agen- cies in order to conserve funds? A I don't think the policy on outside consultants is simply a matter of conserving funds. EPA has a talented in-house staff that for years has had far more to do than its capacity to accomplish. EPA has high- quality scientists, but the work- load has been so heavy it's been necessary for us to go outside to obtain additional technical support. We're also going to need outside help in the future. I'm not sure whether it'll be to any more or less extent than we have in the past. I think that we will do two things in the future. One of them is that we'll go back to asking the university commu- nity to do research work for us. I come from that part of our scientific society and un- derstand that universities must have relatively long contracts with more general kinds of guidelines than we give our traditional consultants and contractors. Universities don't function on three-month, six- month, and nine-month peri- ods. They need a year, a year and a half, two years, because 10 EPA JOURNAL ------- the availability of graduate stu- dents in a particular area fluct- uates. They need to have a little wider leeway in what they agree to do for us. The other thing I think that we'll go to is closer coordination with other government agencies. There's been a lot of redundancy in the Federal Government with re- spect to funding for research and monitoring. I think that we should make every effort to coordinate our projects with those of the U.S. Geological Survey, with NOAA, and with the Department of Energy, so that we don't do things that the Bureau of Standards may in fact already be doing, or that State agencies already have under control. We need to do them in concert to pool our common resources. So I think that we will be seeing a greater level of coordination with State and other Federal agencies. V/ Do you think that any laboratories or field stations should be consolidated or cut back? /"\ One of the disturbing aspects of a cursory review of our various laboratories is that many of them seem to serve duplicative functions. For ex- ample, an office in R&D or in the programs will have groups working on a project at many different labs. This doesn't seem to be the most efficient way of getting the job done, but it will require more than a cursory review to determine how and when we might wish to consolidate or cut back. How we will do so will most certainly be a function of the quality of research being pro- duced, the relationship of that research to an improved un- derstanding of what consti- tutes a sound scientific and technical foundation for regu- lation and guidance to the States, and budgetary prioritization. Q How can EPA meet the demands for swift high- quality scientific findings while funds for R&D in the agency are being trimmed? Q As a former State offi- cial, do you think the States can do more than they are doing now in environmental protection? Q A One of the key words in your question is swift scientific information. And that's almost one of those double negatives. I'm thinking of the words of Representative George Brown of California who wrote an article in Science recently that discussed EPA's research en- deavors. One of the things that he said, referring to our problems, was that EPA has to recognize that "If you want it bad, you get it bad." The idea that we have to produce some- thing very quickly to support a regulation, or a court case, has led us in the past to making some bad decisions, very tem- porary decisions that had to be overruled and changed be- cause the directions changed when additional information became available. I'd rather see us go along at a much slower pace in terms of new regulations and new initiatives until we have the scientific foundation for a proposed action well in hand and well understood. When we under- take an activity, we should be fully confident that its scien- tific basis is going to withstand challenge. When we are ques- tioned, and we always will be, we must be able to reply, "Here's the basic information, here's what we acted upon, and we made rational deci- sions on that basis." I hope we don't fall back into the days of the "quick fix" again, and I would expect to tell Congress before the fact, if we could not anticipate being able to pro- vide a scientifically and tech- nically rational basis for regulation. A I think a lot of things have changed over the last 15 years. When I worked for a State agency, we had only one or two State laws that were de- signed to guide and help us manage and enforce our activ- ities. We had virtually no regu- lations at all. We had one on milk, a couple on food, and had one on swimming pools. The rest of it was done, by and large, by "jaw-boning," by pro- viding the technical assistance the communities needed, by giving industry our best advice on how they should solve a problem that they were faced with. I think it worked well considering the resources available. Since that time, most States have adopted a full com- plement of environmental laws and regulations, much as we have here at the Federal level. They've built up their staffs. Most States can, want to, and will manage their own environ- mental protection programs. The Federal government has supported the States quite well over the last four to six years with grants for key programs. Today, State money is much harder to come by when the total State responsibility is considered. Some States, be- cause of a relative reduction in taxes, have had to reexamine what they are doing in the en- vironmental arena. However, I believe that by and large, with the technical advice that EPA will continue to provide, all States can and will wish to enter a new era of responsi- bility in carrying on current environmental programs for which we now have so much momentum. In view of your long service on national commit- tees on drinking water, do you have any opinion on whether EPA is taking ade- quate steps to ensure the protection of our public water supplies? A You know I've had a long- time concern that our drinking water program is placing such an emphasis on a relatively narrow band of problems with drinking water that the Ameri- can confidence in our public water supply could be dam- aged. In fact, that has hap- pened. Not necessarily through the actions of EPA, but through the actions of people who have questioned whether or not, on the basis of what we've done, whether our public water sup- plies are safe. I believe our municipal water supplies are the best in the world. We have by far the best water-supply systems in the world. When the Safe Drinking Water act was passed, one of my con- cerns was whether it would become the mechanism, the driving force for sending many Americans to drink bottled water. Sure enough, that has in fact happened, and we see people not using public water supplies that are indeed safe, and instead drinking bottled water that for a long time was itself not well regulated. Q What do you see as EPA's greatest research strength? A I really believe that EPA has a wide variety of strengths. I think in my testimony at the Senate Confirmation I claimed that EPA scientists were among the best in their fields. And I don't think this excel- lence is restricted to one nar- row area. We have a great deal of outstanding scientific leadership. JULY/AUGUST 1981 1 1 ------- Key EPA Officials Named Kitty Adams Thornton W. Field Joseph A. Cannon Byron Ne/son III Regional Mrs. Gorsuch also named Steven J. Durham as Regional Administrator of EPA's six- state Region 8, headquartered in Denver, and Charles R. Jeter as Regional Administrator for the eight-state Region 4, head- quartered in Atlanta. Durham, 33, was elected to the Colorado House of Rep- resentatives in 1974 and re- elected in 1976 and 1978. Last fall he was elected to the Colorado Senate with 74 per- cent of the vote. He has served on a number of committees during his legislative career in- cluding Health, Environment, Welfare and Institutions; Busi- ness Affairs and Labor; Finance; Appropriations, and Game, Fish and Parks. He was voted Outstanding Freshman Legislator in 1975 by his col- leagues. During the 1981 session he was Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Com- mittee and served on the Joint Budget Committee. He was a prime sponsor of a bill requir- ing legislative approval of State agency rules and regulations and of tax reductions bills in 1979 and 1980. The Administrator said that Durham's "background in business and his broad under- standing of issues relevant to Colorado and the West- gleaned from six years of serv- ice in the Colorado General Assembly—will bring to EPA determination to involve State and local governments as full partners in meeting our envi- ronmental goals in the Rocky Mountain West." A graduate of the University of Northern Colorado, Dur- ham is a resident of Colorado Springs where he has man- aged the Seven Falls Com- pany, operators of a scenic tourist attraction there. Jeter, 39, joins EPA after 14 years with the South Caro- lina Department of Health and Environmental Control. He has managed a staff of 170 and a budget exceeding S3 million for the past five years as Di- rector of the State's water pol- lution control program. Last year he also served as national president of the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administra- tors. "Charles Jeter is a solid pro- fessional whose expertise and dealings at various levels of government will contribute greatly to our efforts to create a full federal-state partnership in attacking pollution prob- lems," Mrs. Gorsuch said. "His experience runs a gamut of environmental con- cerns, and his knowledge of regional environmental issues gives him an exceptional back- ground for his new position," she added. Rebecca W. Hanmer, Re- gion 4's Regional Administra- tor since 1980, will return to Washington, D.C. to serve on an EPA Task Force on Regional Reorganization. As head of the water pollu- tion control effort in South Carolina, Jeter was involved in the engineering design of treatment systems, managing the National Pollutant Dis- charge Elimination System permit program —a responsi- bility delegated to the state— compliance and enforcement activities, municipal grants administration, water quality management planning, envi- ronmental impact studies, and many other aspects of pollu- tion control. Jeter joined the State envi- ronmental agency as a chemist in 1967. In 1972, he was named Director of the Indus- trial and Agricultural Waste- water Division. He graduated from Clemson University in 1963 with a B.S. degree in chemistry and bio- logical sciences, and earned his Master's degree in 1971 in environmental engineering. From 1965 to 1967, he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps. Capper, 41, has been with the government of Montgo- mery County, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C., for the past decade, first in the Office of the Director of the Depart- ment of Environmental Protec- tion and more recently in that Department's Division of Solid Waste. He has specialized in disposal techniques, including landfill design and operation, and incineration of municipal solid waste, as well as hazard- ous waste. "His experience in handling these at the State and local levels," Mrs. Gorsuch de- clared, "will be invaluable to EPA as the Agency begins to work more closely with the States to implement effective solid and hazardous waste programs." Capper graduated from Manhattan College, N.Y., in 1962 with a B.S. degree in chemical engineering and is presently pursuing a Master's degree in Government-Public Policy at Georgetown Univer- sity. He is a member of the Society of American Value Engineers, the American Man- agement Association, and the American Public Works Association. Milbauer, 28, has been since 1980 a partner in Campaign Systems Management, a pub- lic policy/political research and consulting firm which provides polling and research services to Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress and State legislatures. The firm also conducts independent re- search for trade associations, businesses and private non- political public policy organizations. From 1978 to 1980, Mil- bauer was an associate with the New York City law firm of Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood. He worked in the firm's Corporate Department. Milbauer received his law degree from the Harvard Law School in 1978. While there, he was awarded second prize in the Nathan Burkan Memo- rial Competition for papers in the field of copyright law. He was also managing editor of The Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy during his final year. Milbauer received a B.A. degree in political science and history from Columbia University in 1975, graduating cumma cum laude. 12 EPA JOURNAL ------- Denver Wins its River Back Techniques for transforming an urban river from an ugly and malodorous dis- grace into a striking and dynamic asset are described in a new publication about the South Finite River as it flows through Denver, Colo. Entitled "Returning the Platte to the People, "the book offers insights into how these procedures might be applied to help rescue other urban rivers around the country. Written by Joe Shoemaker, with Leonard A. Stevens, the volume reports on the role played by a citizen c< in /nuking the river a major attraction. With an initial seed grant from Den- ver's Mayor William H. McNichols, Jr., and the city council, the Platte River Development Committee, headed by Shoemaker, first began work in 1974. Three pilot projects were initiated which restored more than two miles of the river. After this demonstration the committee and its affiliate, the Greenway Foundation, built the initial $2 million seed money into more than $8 million by earning contributions from the Federal and State governments and from thou- sands of private donors. The improvements include numerous riverfront parks, picnic areas, boating fa- cilities, nature exhibits, playgrounds, and outdoor gathering areas. All are linked by a 10-mile waterfront hike and bike trail and a boating course extending through the city. In describing a raft trip through Denver on the river. Shoemaker reports in the following excerpt from the book about the progress in river rehabilitation: - Paddlers whip through the white water course in downtown DC Early one lovely Monday morning in June, I left home in southeast Denver to join several colleagues on an all day river trip in a ten-man inflatable raft. We were certain to get wet because we were headed for a great deal of white water, so I wore a pair of old sneakers, blue jean shorts and a tennis shirt. The Colorado Rockies, dominated by Long's Peak, were beautiful in the morning sun as I drove to my destination. The moun- tains were brilliantly white, for their snowpack was deep this year. The rising temperatures of late spring were causing a heavy snowmelt, which increased the white water we would navigate during the day. It was to be an exciting, exhilarating trip. I was anxious to get onto the river. "The drive to our launching site took less than fifteen minutes, and I never left the city of Denver. Indeed, during the entire clay's boat ride we would remain in the city limits. We would be floating down the South Platte River, embarking where it enters Denver from the south and fol- lowing it through the city to where it flows off to the north at Franklin Street. Our voyage would cover some ten miles. "I stopped at Frontier Park, near the city line, and crossed the street to the river where several of my fellow sailors had already inflated our raft. One of them, Joan Mason, came forward to greet me. " 'Have you seen this?' she asked, hold- ing out a page clipped from the Rocky Mountain News. The piece, titled The Greening of the Platte,' had been pub- lished while I was out of town, so I hadn't read it. The author was Peter Warren, a JULY/AUGUST 1981 13 ------- professor at the University of Denver and member of Mayor William MclMichol's Commission on the Arts. '"Much has been said about what can- not be done about Denver,' the long article began. 'Yet we have in our back- yard one of the most remarkable exam- ples of urban revitalization in the United States. In a brief space of five years, the Platte Greenway Project has transformed a blighted, degraded river —little more than an open sewer — into a major amen- ity for Denver.' "Joan and I were delighted with the piece. Both of us had worked hard at the transformation of the Platte, she as a member of the project's three-person staff, I as Chairman of a nine-member Citizens' Committee appointed by Mayor McNichols in 1974 to bring about the river's improvement. Also, knowledge of our experience could be valuable to dozens of communities where disreputa- ble, repulsive rivers could be restored and returned to the people. "Now, I only had time to scan Warren's piece, but I noticed that he had caught onto how our unusual Committee had worked:'. . . A fascinating prototype . . . operating outside the creaky city bureau- cracy, without mandated powers or lim- its, the Committee has been able to act quickly and effectively.' "At the raft I was greeted by Kenneth R. Wright whose 'water-oriented' engi- neering firm, Wright-Mclaughlin, was re- sponsible for designing and supervising construction of a great many of the proj- ects that were turning the blighted Platte into an amenity. Ken was wearing a fabu- lous straw hat he had brought back from a business trip to southeast Asia. Behind him, on his knees fitting out the raft, was William C. Taggart, a young Wright- McLaughlin engineer. He had been the firm's man most directly responsible for its work on the river. "Three thousand c.f.s., ten times the normal flow/ said Ken, referring in engineering parlance to the cubic feet of water per second rushing down the Platte. I stepped out to the bank and saw a churning torrent of water. '"Hope you're ready for a good ride, Joe,' said Bill, who would serve as our helmsman while the rest of us paddled to his commands. 'I've checked a number of the roughest spots. We'll have a few portages, but I think we'll do okay.' "As I greeted the other passengers who were assembling, I was suddenly dis- tracted by a great white truck lumbering toward us. "'Hey, hey, what do we have here?' I asked Ken, well aware that both of us knew the answer. "The vehicle was a large tank truck from Denver's Waste Water Management Division, and I assumed it was full of some potent liquid. Moreover, I guessed that the driver was hoping to discharge his load into the South Platte, probably at our launching site. The truck, as white as it was, made me see pure red. For a half decade we'd enjoyed a lot of success shutting off discharges of pollutants into our river, but stilt there were those who kept on seeing the Platte as Denver's receptacle for anything they wanted out of sight, out of mind. Most disturbing, this philosophy was still prevalent where it should be found least of all, in certain city agencies. It was lodged there like the instincts of an animal: 'If you have some- thing to dump, down to the river it goes!' "The truck driver sensed my perturba- tion as I hailed him to stop. 'What's in there?' I asked. Joe Si '"Water and stuff, vacuum pumped from the city's storm sewers,' he ex- plained. The man's discomfort became most evident when I asked where the load was going, but instead of answering he drove on down the street. He stopped in about fifty yards and studied us in his rearview mirror. " 'He's waiting for our departure,' said Ken. '"Sure and then into the river it'll go,' I added. 'Let's talk to him.' "The driver made a U-turn and crept back toward the city. I stopped him again and asked where his load was going. He admitted the river was in his mind. " 'It's just water,' he said. 'Won't hurt anything.' " 'Then why don't you dump it right there in Frontier Park?' I said. The grass can always use water.' " 'Well, no. it would smell,' the driver replied, then demanded to know who I was. '"You'll find out when you hear about this from your boss,' t replied. The driver shoved his truck into gear, and it soon disappeared, as I memorized the number stenciled on its side. "Shaking my head I returned to our group of boaters. Our last three passen- gers had arrived. One was Pat McClearn, a new member of our Committee who is with the University of Colorado at Denver and well known for her work with Trees for Today and Tomorrow,' an organiza- tion that distributes and plants trees throughout Denver. Finally, there were the other two of our three-member staff, Rick Lamoreaux and Robert Searns. Both young men are intensely committed to the improvement of the Platte. "As we were about to board the raft, I looked around to see Denver's Manager of Safety, Elvin Caldwell, arrive in his car. He had officially closed the river through the city to boating because of the high water, but had issued a special permit for our trip, which was organized to check the impact of the currents on our various projects. Caidwell's visit pleased me, for it seemed symbolic of an ongoing change in the feelings of politicians for the river. Not long ago manv had treated the Platte virtually as abandoned territory. "In a few minutes the seven of us had bid Caldwell goodbye and were bobbing on the turbulent water in the large, bulbous raft. Everything that could I i EPAJOURNAL ------- suffer from getting wet, from wallets to cameras, had been stowed in waterproof pouches lashed to the raft's inflated crossmembers. Bill Taggart was on the stern giving instructions to the rest of us sitting sidesaddle on the gunwales. He quickly defined the orders he would be calling out—to paddle, backpaddle or hold—and immediately began issuing the commands that kept our craft on the course Bill was plotting from his intimate knowledge of the river. '"I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing,' I told Ken Wright sitting in front of me. 'I really and truly love this!' "Ken knew me well enough to realize this expression was not vacuous senti- mentality. He knew that my work on the Platte had become one of life's most rewarding experiences. That included the frequent opportunity to get into the river itself where I could sense the differences we were making in behalf of one of our most precious but long neglected re- sources. Furthermore, a raft trip was a tot of fun. "In short order the vigorous cold cur- rents were carrying us past the first of a series of parks that our Committee had built or improved on the river. Before the day's ride was over, we would see nearly a dozen and a half parks with various sizes and facilities that were dressing up the river in scarves of green growth. This park that we were passing was Pasquinel's Landing, named after James Michener's pioneer character, Jacques Pasquinel. In the best seller, Centennial, the colorful Pasquinel opened the west paddling his birch bark canoe up the South Platte. Here on a three-acre site beside the river, we built a park with playground equipment, picnic tables, parking area and a boat launching ramp. Our new park complements an older city park across the river. Ruby Hill Park, laid out around a high bluff which offers one of the best panoramas of Denver, the mile-high city graced with magnificent views. "Just beyond Pasquinel's Landing I caught a glimpse of an early morning jogger, a middle-aged man heading north from the start of our Greenway trail. If the fellow's stamina and energy allowed him to run the entire length of the trail, it would take him some ten miles through the city. He would always be a few feet from the river, as the trail parallels or / / •• -• '* V' 33£*&\ iL^^fJ^J.* SS* /*-f«U|j HB L -K. ^35i^2^%; .'// f/M.vr campaign to Z**iM\f mr way it used to be before a cit UMfLa^^^^ -Vif»MiT rap/) o/a Denver riverside dump shows Platte. £\?«3E^dm^ This 7 972 photograph of a reclaim the South Platte. JULY/AUGUST 1981 ------- bridges the waterway. When it was com- pleted, the trail became a major attraction for bringing Denverites back to their river. It returned the rich citizen to mingle with the poor, the old with the young, walking, running, biking, roller skating, or riding in baby carriages or wheelchairs. ""First portage!' announced Taggart. 'We'll pull off to the right and land down here by the Florida Avenue dam.' "Following his orders the starboard passengers backpaddled slightly. We were approaching the first of ten check dams constructed to make the river flow more evenly, as well as to back up water so it could be more easily pumped out for various purposes. In due time we will have all these dams 'notched' so boat chutes can be installed allowing vessels such as ours to ride down over the ob- structions. But the dam at Florida Avenue had no chute, and with the high water we dared not go over it. "As we maneuvered the raft slowly toward the shore, we passed another of our parks, Overland Pond. It was once a fenced off quarry barred to the public except where used as a golf driving range. We reshaped the quarry into two ponds and opened up most of the area. However, a part of the six acres was left for a native wildlife habitat. Also, we planted the area with indigenous vegeta- tion which requires no irrigation, in con- trast to expensive bluegrass landscaping. "Going down the Platte, Overland Pond offers the first of several examples of an unusual approach our Committee took to finding park sites. Instead of always turn- ing to pretty places, we looked to some of the most unsightly areas along the river. Halfway through our trip we would pass Frog Hollow, a small green park, popular for picnics, and resting place for bikers and joggers, and a launching point for small boats. Not long ago Frog Hollow was a typical highway maintenance yard piled with salt and sand, encumbered with metal buildings and filled with trucks and road equipment. Working with our State Highway Department, we had the maintenance yard moved to a more prac- tical site, and Frog Hollow replaced the mess. "Just after our portage the raft took us under the first of six wooden bridges that we built across the Platte, leading the Greenway trail from one bank to the other. These structures, with walkways eight feet wide, were designed literally to ride out floods instead of standing and fighting until battered to pieces. The bridges, which were prefabricated in Oregon, were set in sections on concrete piers so they could actually float off in a flood. If this happens, however, the way- ward sections are tethered by cables to the riverbank piers, and they simply float on the floodwaters a few yards down- stream. When the flood recedes, the sec- tions can be towed back to the piers and re-set. These innovative bridges, which now cost $90,000 apiece, were perfect for our continuing effort to make flood resistant our projects in reply to an obvious question from our potential do- nors: With the Platte's history of flooding, aren't your projects just going to wash away? The answer: No! "When we stepped ashore during the portage, wet bottoms and backs attested to the white water we had already encountered. Now after passing under the wooden bridge, we were soon in more rough water, and then we came to the best white water experience so far, We purposely rode down over a selected spot on the second check dam. It was a low structure, but at the bottom, the hydraulic backwash turned the raft into a rambunctious sea serpent. "With the roiling water astern, the sail- ing smoothed out as we passed another of our parks, Habitat. This park is another example of a bane turned to a boon. Once a city dump, the six-acre park is now one of the longest sections of green on the Denver stretch of river. In time Habitat Park will contribute to our schoolchild- ren's knowledge of the natural world, for it is slated to become an outdoor classroom amidst a number of restored natural environments. "As we sailed by Habitat Park, all on board were distracted by a great flurry in the trees on the opposite bank. Our presence had agitated a large nest of blue herons, and the great, beautiful birds were taking to the air. None among us was more excited than Pat McClearn or Joan Mason. Both nature lovers are thrilled that our efforts have made the South Platte amenable to wildlife, as well as people. Downstream we would see more signs of improved fauna —which, in one case, is a mixed blessing. We planted hundreds of trees to dress up the Platte, and the increasing numbers of beaver have been most appreciative. We know this from all the trees—our trees—they have gnawed down. "Late in the morning. Bill Taggart or- dered a turn to port into Weir Gulch Marina where we were greeted by an excited, curious group of Chicano and Vietnamese children racing around the grassy banks. Weir Gulch is one of three small streams entering the Platte in Den- ver, flowing down from the front range of mountains to the west of the city. When the Committee first came along. Weir, like the other gulches, was an odoriferous disaster —old auto tires, garbage, dead Christmas trees, decrepit refrigerators, on and on. The little mountain stream was destined to flow through a concrete can- yon, planned for flood control. We got rid of that plan and instead made a small green park, equally capable of sustaining a flood. The neighborhood citizens, many of whom helped us build the park, now enjoy a grassy pocket around the creek, instead of an ugly, cement closure. "On one side of the pretty little park a marvelous mural was painted on the wall of an otherwise drab industrial building. The colorful painting— 125 feet long, 20 feet high —became one of six on the sides of buildings overlooking our waterways. School children at Ha, pair of Canada geese. n; EPAJOURNAL ------- Local artists did the pictures using paint, an average of $3,000 worth per mural, donated by the Colorado Paint Company. The Weir Gulch mural was by artists Manuel Martinez and Carlos Sandoval and nearly 100 neighborhood children, each assigned to paint a square in colors designated by the muralists. Their picture represents the emergence of the modern Mexican as he still clings to his native culture. "Ken Wright suggested we give the bright-eyed youngsters a raft ride, so while we watched from the shore. Cap- tain Taggart piloted the kids around the marina pool. Afterwards we paddled back out to the river, while the tickled children ran out to our Greenway trail and waved goodbye. In this area the trail is on a wooden deck, cheek by jowl to a railroad track (we had passed under both enter- ing and leaving Weir Gulch). The canti- levered deck, a half mile long, was built to keep the trail hugging the river. "My enthusiasm for the greenery we've added to the South Platte may inadver- tently convey the image of a river engulfed in parklands. Actually, rafting through Denver fs also a marine tour of city indus- tries. For example, that morning we had already passed the large Gates rubber factory, as well as numerous smaller in- dustries located right on the waterway. Some of these businesses became our most enthusiastic, early supporters. In- deed, our first big donation, a $780,000 gift, came from the Gates Foundation, a tax-exempt organization using Gates funds for public purposes. "Downstream from Weir Gulch we ap- proached one of the Public Service Com- pany's large, in-city generating plants, and there between the shores is an inflat- able dam, a 'fabri-dam' made of tough rubberized fabric inflated with water. The dam backs up a large pool used for industrial cooling. Of course, our Com- mittee originally saw the structure as a barrier for boaters. But then the Public Service Company obligingly helped us deal with the problem, and the result was a special boat chute designed by Bill Taggart. The chute, weighing thirty-five tons or so, rests on the inflated dam and provides an exciting six foot drop—a great experience for kayakers and others, with white water at the bottom. "In a few minutes, with Bill issuing more paddling commands than I could follow, we were shooting the chute down over the fabri-dam, and then hanging onto the bucking, tossing raft as we ran the white water below. Our backs and bottoms got wetter than ever—but who cared with all the excitement! "Drifting on down the Platte we moved closer to the heart of Denver, as well as into some of the most difficult territory to convert from blight to amenity. For exam- ple, the transformation of Lakewood Gulch, entering the river at Colfax Ave- nue, took us three years to complete. Now it connects with Rude Park and the hike-bike trail built by the Denver Parks Department to the west city limits. Here also, the problems, like the city's vast, unattractive railroad yards, are bigger, more deeply entrenched, more costly to solve. But then in this area an improved river holds the greatest potential for in- fluencing other city improvements, mak- ing our efforts doubly worthwhile. "Close to noon we drifted past a 13- acre strip of riverfront that we had al- ready named Gates-Crescent Park—yet it was anything but a park and turning it into one was becoming a difficult political effort. Currently the site was an elliptical eyesore, a storage area for Denver Public Works sandwiched between the river and heavily traveled I-25. It contained all that such yards usually display, from salted- sand mountains to grubby asphalt paving machines. At the moment we were urging the city to earmark $825,000 in Federal funds to relocate the facility back away from the people's river. We already had a quarter million dollars from the Gates Foundation (and soon to receive another quarter million from the Piton Founda- tion) as a starter for building the park. Mayor McNichols was with us, but seri- ous resistance was surfacing from City Council members eyeballing the Federal money for their own districts. So we had a battle coming up, and that afternoon as I finished paddling we had to go politick- ing. We intended to see that Denver's own degradation of the Platte would soon be moved in favor of a new, green piece of the city with many advantages for nearby neighborhoods, as well as for the hundreds of thousands attending Mile High Stadium next door. "At noon we pulled into Fishback Land- ing, a two-acre park that literally came out of the blue one day when we were approached by the trustee of the late Hermes Fishback whose business had been located in this area by the river. The trustee wanted something done in Fishback's name, and the result was a $53,000 gift to construct improvements on land we had already acquired for a delightful vestpocket park that we named Fishback Landing. As we docked there, the park was populated with people who worked in the neighborhood, and had come to the park to relax and have lunch. We joined them with our lunch delivered to the park by Mary Lou Wesemann, the staff secretary. Later we visited our Greenway headquarters located in an old paint warehouse a few yards behind the park. "When it was time to go. Bill Taggart announced that the river being so high, his vessel had to proceed by truck for a short distance to avoid one of the most precarious stretches of the Platte, practi- cally in downtown Denver. We were to take the Greenway trail on foot to a designated rendezvous. "The brief walk, shared with noontime joggers, bikers, skaters and perambula- tors, took us over and around our most intensively developed section of the river, near the city's business center. From one of our bridges, we looked down on the short but precipitous piece of river too rough for rafting. Actually, we were look- ing at the largest of our boat chutes —or better put, the nation's first, permanent Zuni boat chute on Public Si fabri-dam at 13th Avenue. JULY/AUGUST 1981 l / ------- Bikers at Frog Hollow Park, once blighted by piles of salt and sand for State highway maintenance. man-made urban white-water run. Here a kayaker can zoom down across an old dam, trying to follow a tortuous course marked with slalom poles, as on a ski slope (except our poles dangle from ca- bles stretched above and across the wa- tery run). "Nearby on the river we could see our impressive brick plaza with broad, gra- cious steps leading down to the water. Behind it are two old brick buildings, beautiful structures, survivors from Den- ver's past (the Forney Museum and the H. H. Post Building). The plaza was our Committee's first big project, built with seed money from the city. This great beginning set us in motion and provided momentum for the continuing improve- ment of the South Platte. The area was named Confluence Park, it being at the point where Cherry Creek (Denver's second largest stream) joins the Platte. "From the trail we could also see the amphitheater across the Platte from the plaza. When our Committee was formed by Mayor McNichols, this spot was a disaster—just like the entire area. It was marred by broken concrete dumped hap- hazardly with twisted old iron and timbers from the Lord knows where. Now we looked at a grass-covered amphitheater constructed from the rubble, piled up and packed in earth. On summer evenings people, who were once repulsed by the terrible mess, now sit on the grassy promontory built on the rubble and listen to musicians perform on the stage below. "At one point I noticed Rick Lamoreaux contemplating this scene of our most concentrated accomplishments. A lot of this young man's exceptional creativity had gone into the doing of what was before us. As the Greenway's Executive Director he had found a surprising chal- lenge in the river. Rick once said: '"When I came to this job, I had a hard time reconciling the South Platte in Den- ver with my feelings of what a river was all about. But then I recognized what a real challenge it was to do something for the river, despite all the constraints im- posed by the past neglect and abuse.' "As we resumed our walk, we looked back along the river to a site that will soon become another piece of our downtown complex —and again will consign to bad memories one of the valley's worst as- saults on the senses, an automobile wrecking yard that spewed auditory, visual, olfactory, pulmonary—you name it —pollution. We now saw a vacant 6.3 acres to be called Centennial Park minus this environmental blitzkreig, our Green- way organization having purchased the land. Soon it will have four tennis courts and the first velodrome (bicycle racing arena) between Illinois and the west coast. "Remaining in the confluence area, we took a brief sojourn up a side trail along Cherry Creek for a look at that stream. Had we walked its length, the trail would have led us to downtown Denver and the Auraria Higher Education Center. With financial help from the Center, we built the walkway to make the South Platte accessible by foot to some 25,000 Auraria students. Without it a direct stroll to the river could have been a flirt with suicide, for it would have required cross- ing sixteen busy railroad tracks. The trail was to be extended by the City inside the walls of Cherry Creek to the country club in the center of Denver. The Parks De- partment had previously constructed a trail inside the Cherry Creek channel from the country club to Cherry Creek Lake. " 'Hey! There's one of our rangers,' announced Bob Searns, as we returned from Cherry Creek Trail. We looked ahead to see a young man on a bicycle towing a small, two-wheeled trailer with a wire basket containing various tools. They're at work again this season and doing a good job,' Bob added. "Our Greenway Rangers, a group of five young people, ride our ten-mile trail system, late spring, summer and early fall, keeping our projects clean, doing routine maintenance, reporting on the trail's condition, answering people's ques- tions, whatever comes along. They were around for the second year, and I was glad of their success. "Bob Searns, who helped develop and is in charge of the Ranger program, also came to our river project in its earliest days. The young man with the black, bushy hair is from Buffalo, New York. That's where I was exposed to many of man's abuses of the environment,' he says, 'and it helped rne decide to commit myself to outdoor water recreation, es- pecially in cities. I believe in people living in cities, but then I mean cities that are clean and beautiful. For that purpose clean, natural water becomes important.' "Bob is a jack-of-all-trades, which he needs to be as our Project Director: plan- ning, administration, public relations, cel- ebrations, maintenance, safety, anything required. Above all Bob has won my gratitude for bringing all of our projects in at budgeted costs—except for one, Weir Gulch, where he did not have budgetary authority. "When we arrived at the plaza, Bill Taggart was there ready to launch the raft from the lowest step and we were soon aboard drifting downstream again. "Passing under the 15th Street Bridge just off the plaza I was reminded of how many little things added up to make our Greenway work rewarding. One of them was visible to our left, where the Green- way trail runs along a shelf of the viaduct abutment. There one sees a long, colorful panel of more than 400 hand-painted tiles mounted on a wall. Each tile, six inches square, was decorated by a Denver citi- zen and set in place by artist Barry Rose, who was compensated by the First Na- tional Bank of Denver. "As our raft drifted lazily along the river beyond the 16th Street Viaduct stretch of white water, we saw a patch of the riverbank that had sustained serious damage in the past few months, and not by nature's hand. Again our own city 18 EPA JOURNAL ------- employees were responsible. Truck driv- ers from Public Works had selected an accessible stretch of riverbank as a dump site for snow plowed up with salt, anti- freeze, oil and all else one finds in a modern street. That was bad enough for the water, but then their choice of dump site coincided with where we had planted trees to beautify the Platte. The trees were now dead, and the scene of their demise raised my temperature enough to boil blood. '"I brought it to their attention,' said Rick Lamoreaux, 'and they promised no more dumping.' '"But a little late for those trees,' added Ken Wright as he snapped pictures of the blighted bank. "Helmsman Taggart grew uneasy as we approached the 19th Street Bridge, and then announced, 'I think we ought to pull ashore. We really should look at the white water beyond the bridge before going ahead. It's pretty rough.' "Taggart, Searns, and Mason left the raft and walked down the trail to take a look at the river. The stretch of water ahead, even though well within city limits, is said to be one of the finest pieces of white water for kayaks in the nation. It might be too much for a big, lumbering raft like ours, especially with the high water, but I trusted our inspectors' judg- ments. Joan is a lover of water recreation who has seen rough water all over the country. Bob is also an expert, having had his baptism in boating in the Canadian wilderness. "Returning, they recommended that we proceed —unless someone preferred to walk the trail past the white water. Like the others, I rejected the invitation to walk, but swallowed hard in doing so. Off we went and the pudgy raft was soon twisting, bucking and tossing its passen- gers all around the craft. At one point I saw Bob Searns astraddle the forward gunwale on my side—but against the sky— and Ken Wright was between us. When the raft flattened out from that powerful flap, Bob was in Ken's lap and I had hold of the latter's belt to keep both men aboard. Pat McClearn (another ex- perienced river hand), Joan Mason and Rick Lamoreaux were firmly in place on the port gunwales, as if nothing had happened. When finally we were free of that cauldron of foam, the remainder of the trip seemed like sailing on a glass sea, and we got back to inspecting our river. " 1 can never pass here,' said Joan Mason, 'and really believe a sidewheeler plied the same stretch.' " 'Whatever became of it?' asked Ken Wright. "No one knew, but I wished it were still around. She would make a great antique reminder of how people once used their river. In 1887, before the Platte had become too foul to visit, all Denver en- joyed River Front Park (which we had passed soon after negotiating the last stretch of white water). There, for a short time, a person could buy a 50-cent excur- sion ticket on the steamer to Brighton, about 20 miles north, until some tricky sand bars spoiled the idea. The entrepre- neurs then dammed the Platte at 1 9th Street, making a lake back to 15th Street, and there on summer evenings the steamer, with the oompah of its brass band echoing across the city, took pas- sengers on abbreviated excursions in and out of John Brisben Walker's amusement center in River Front Park. "In mid-afternoon Bill Taggart directed us ashore just short of the Franklin Street Bridge and the city line. By now we had rafted nearly ten miles through the center of Denver and had taken a look at the last of our parks, Globeville Landing, and were ready to go home and dry out. "'Joe! Look, there's your friend!' shouted Ken Wright as he and Taggart were deflating the raft. He pointed to a big, white tank truck coming toward us across the bridge. I hurried to the street for a closer look at the stenciled identifi- cation. '"He's followed us all day, poor man,' said Joan Mason, jesting. 'Still trying to dump in the river.' '"Don't kid yourself!' I said. 'You could be right! But you have to admit, we're making progress.'" D Anyone interested in buying a copy of "Returning the Platte to the People"can mail a check for ten dollars (of which five dollars is a tax deductible donation) to The Greenway Foundation, T421 Court Place, Denver, Colo., 80202, and enclose a return address. Brick plaza at Confluence Park, with bridges and viaducts in background. JULY/AUGUST 1981 19 ------- ------- FBI to Aid in Hazardous Waste Investigation "IP* he Environmental Protection Agency I has begun a joint program with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to un- cover criminal violations that may occur in the transportation, discharge and dis- posal of hazardous waste. EPA is focusing especially on "midnight dumping" and other practices such as the discharge of toxic wastes into the Na- tion's waterways to circumvent the Agency's hazardous waste regulations. "Th^e FBI's willingness to assist EPA in these investigations will give us excep- tional investigatory resources to crack down on willful violators," explained Ad- ministrator Anne M. Gorsuch. "The haz- ardous waste regulations are designed to protect the public from those few crimi- nal offenders whose actions can threaten the health and well being of large num- bers of our citizens." Under the program, the investigative resources of the FBI will be used to pursue up to 30 cases during the coming year. EPA will provide the technical sup- port required for these investigations, in- cluding site inspections and chemical waste sampling and analysis. Published reports in recent months have indicated that organized crime has been moving into the toxic waste disposal business in several northeastern States. A subcommittee of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee (now the Energy and Commerce Committee) last December heard testimony that mob- sters were infiltrating this business in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. One witness, an FBI informant told legis- lators that new State and Federal laws on disposal of hazardous chemicals had increased costs of legal chemical treat- ment for many industries to the point where organized crime could make huge profits by taking it off their hands and dumping it illegally. "You can get S20 or $30 a (cubic) yard for it and dump it for a dollar," he said. EPA anticipates that the cases encom- passed by its joint program with the FBI will be those involving substantial envi- ronmental contamination that could pose hazards to human health. In many cases, it is expected that the felony provisions of the Resource Conservation and Re- covery Act, as well as other criminal and environmental statutes, will be applied. Within the FBI, the new program will be supervised by the White Collar Crime Section. At EPA, the program will be coordinated within the Office of the As- sociate Administrator for Legal Counsel and Enforcement. Representatives from both offices have been meeting to estab- lish procedures and guidelines for the program in a Memorandum of Under- standing between the two agencies. Waste Dump Cleanup Meanwhile Michael B. Cook, Director of EPA's Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, has described to a Senate panel how the Agency is pursuing a vigorous enforcement program against parties who have left hazardous waste dumps strewn across the country. This cleanup effort is the "highest prior- ity of the Environmental Protection Agency," said Cook, "We have a com- mitment to the Concfress and the American citizen to vigorously pursue the cleanup of inadequately disposed hazardous wastes." In testimony before the Senate Sub- committee on Environmental Pollution, Cook said the Agency had a "head start" on the cleanup of hazardous sites when Congress passed the Superfund law last Midnight dumping JULY/AUGUST 1981 21 ------- December to make it possible. By that time, he said, EPA and the Coast Guard had emergency response operations un- derway at a number of waste sites and enforcement actions to require cleanup of others. Cook cited the following EPA waste dump cleanup efforts: • Sufficient funding is now available for future emergencies and to continue emer- gency cleanup actions at 18 of 24 sites where work has been in progress. (Emer- gency actions have been completed on the remaining six sites). • Almost 54 million has already been allocated to plan cleanups at 20 high priority sites and funds are available to initiate planning at still another dozen sites this year. • Considerable work has already been completed at hundreds of other sites by EPA, the Coast Guard, State Agencies and responsible private parties. • Currently over 9500 sites have been identified, 5900 preliminary assessments have been undertaken, and about 2,700 investigations have been completed. • Together with the Department of Jus- tice, EPA has filed 60 Federal judicial actions to require responsible parties to clean up sites which represent imminent and substantial danger to the public health or the environment. To date, this effort has produced 11 negotiated consent de- crees and preliminary judicial relief for an additional 10 cases. • There have been 57 enforcement ac- tions undertaken by the States; 55 admin- istrative orders issued by EPA; 69 issued by the States; and two demand letters requiring action by responsible parties. Funds for the new abandoned site cleanup program for 1981 are coming out of a $68 million appropriation signed by President Reagan earlier this year. Of this money, Cook said, between $45 and $50 million will go to the direct response effort to clean up sites. The remainder, he said, will help pay for en- forcement, research and development, and administrative support. 100 Sites Listed EPA is compiling an interim priority list of the top 100 hazardous waste sites nation- wide—many of which will be targeted for remedial cleanup during 1981 under the first phase of the Superfund program. The Administrator said this "first prior- ity list" was being developed with the help of State and local governments, many of which have extensive experience in this area. "EPA is anxious to use limited Superfund dollars wisely on the sites that pose the greatest threat to the environment," Mrs. Gorsuch said. The Administrated said that the interim list should be completed by the end of the summer, and early indications are that at least one site from almost every State will be listed. EPA will conduct extensive tests at each site to determine the hazard level. Compilation of the top 100 list is an interim step to a more comprehensive inventory of sites which will lead to a required listing of 400 problem sites. All parties who stored, treated or disposed of hazardous wastes were required to re- port the location and disposition of such sites by June 9, 1981. EPA is currently tallying the results. "We cannot put off the initial clean-up process while waiting for a complete in- ventory," Mrs. Gorsuch said. "We want to get Superfund dollars into the ground —to get actual cleanup underway—and that's why we are creating the interim top 100 list." "The cleanup of these waste sites ranks among President Reagan's highest environmental priorities," Mrs. Gorsuch said. The Superfund law established a $ 1.6 billion fund, primarily levied from a tax on the chemical industry, to be used to clean- up or contain hazardous waste problems. Superfund budget for FY 1982 is $200 million. EPA, however, is already engaged in cleaning up hazardous sites under legisla- tion enacted in previous years by Con- gress. "We are working closely with the Department of Justice to require respon- sible individuals and companies to clean up sites," Mrs. Gorsuch said. The Administrator indicated that one- third of the sites studied in the past several years were found to pose no danger to public health or the environ- ment. D 22 EPAJOURNAL ------- Update A review of recent major EPA activities and devel- opments in the pollution control program areas. HAZARDOUS WASTE Site Cleaners EPA recently held sym- posiums in Atlanta and Denver on contracting under the Superfund program to clean up haz- ardous waste sites. The symposiums were spon- sored by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and provided EPA with the oppor- tunity to communicate the scope and nature of the Superfund program to potential contractors and to receive sugges- tions from industry on EPA's approach. Con- gress has authorized over $ 1.6 billion in fund- ing for Superfund over a five-year period, with 87.5 percent of this amount coming from a tax on those industries which operate the chem- ical feed-stocks of haz- ardous waste. The Agency will take clean-up action only in cases where a responsible party cannot be identi- fied, where a responsible party refuses or cannot afford to adequately respond, and if the State is unwilling to take cor- rective steps. Groundwater Studies EPA has awarded "pre- Superfund" contracts for preliminary engineer- ing work at the PAS haz- ardous waste site in Oswego, N.Y., and the Kin-Bucsite in Edison, N.J. for $100,000 each. The funds will be used to gather information to develop groundwater studies at both sites. "The cleanup of hazard- ous waste sites under Superfund remains one of the Reagan Adminis- tration's highest environ- mental priorities," said EPA Administrator Anne M. Gorsuch. The "pre- Superfund" contracts were authorized by Con- gress last year for pre- liminary investigations and engineering work at selected sites under a separate Resource Con- servation and Recovery Act appropriation. In February 1981 EPA an- nounced the selection of sites for these funds. The start of actual Superfund clean-up activities at a limited number of high priority abandoned waste sites around the Nation is expected to be- gin this summer follow- ing President Reagan's signing of a $68 million supplemental appropria- tion for fiscal year 1981. TOXICS PCB Information EPA has asked major in- dustries and small com- mercial firms to make available all information on production, distribu- tion, and use of low concentrations of poly- chlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) in products or waste. EPA needs the in- formation to determine what types of controls are needed on PCB's in concentrations below 50 parts per million. Under a court order, EPA has 18 months to devise a plan to control low con- centration PCB's. Con- centrations above 50 parts per million are al- ready regulated by EPA under the Toxic Sub- stances Control Act. The Chemical Manufacturers Association and the Dry Color Manufacturers' Association will supple- ment EPA's study with their own surveys. The Advance Notice of Pro- posed Rulemaking on this action appeared in the May 20, 1981 Fed- eral Register. Tests Proposed EPA recently proposed that three common in- dustrial chemicals be tested to determine whether they pose a health risk to workers and consumers or cause other environmental problems. The chemi- cals, covered in EPA's "test rule", are dichloro- methane, nitrobenzene, and 1,1,1-trichloro- ethane, used as metal cleaners, solvents, paint strippers, and intermedi- ates in the production of other chemical products. EPA proposed testing on the recommendation of the Interagency Testing Committee, a body of scientists established by Congress to make pri- ority testing recommen- dations to EPA.The Agency will require firms making or processing these chemicals to be responsible for conduct- ing the proposed tests. Affected firms do not all have to test; they can cooperate on a single test program for each chemical, thereby allow- ing them to divide the costs. A public meeting on the proposal will be held in Washington, D.C. September 17, 1981. WATER Dredging Seminar The Maryland Chapter of the National Association of Environmental Profes- sionals will hold a semi- nar on dredging and other related problems in the Mid-Atlantic region October5-7, 1981, in Baltimore, Md. The pur- pose of the seminar is to provide a forum for multi-disciplinary discus- sion of dredging and re- lated issues, with repre- sentatives from industry, government, academia, and public interest groups making presenta- tions. The sponsoring group is soliciting pre- sentation of papers and posters on the subject; space for exhibits will be available. For more infor- mation contact Maryland Chapter, National Asso- ciation of Environmental Professionals, Dredging Conference, P.O. Box 1643, Annapolis, Md., 21401. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EPA and the Department of the Army recently an- nounced plans to coor- dinate research activities to control pollution. EPA Administrator Anne M. Gorsuch said the Army has agreed to let EPA use land on Army instal- lations for research and demonstrations of tech- nologies for use in the management and dispos- al of hazardous waste. The Army will partici- pate in selecting and co- ordinating the projects, will provide support, and will share the information developed from these projects. "Combining Federal resources and sharing information on pollution control should help in developing more effective and less costly options for the treatment of pollution problems," said Mrs. Gorsuch. Under the agreement, the two agencies expect to work together on the following environmental issues: hazardous waste management, response actions at hazardous waste sites, leachate control, and environ- mental monitoring and assessment. In addition, a joint EPA-Army Tech- nical Coordinating Committee will promote and monitor cooperative activities, and will be alternately chaired for one-year terms by offi- cials of both agencies under a Memorandum of Understanding. JULY/AUGUST 1981 23 ------- Interior of Sunohio 's mobile unit designed to remove PCB s from transformer oils. , EPA JOURNAL ------- Controlling RGB's A New Approach By Charlotte Garvey The EPA has approved the use of a new chemical process that can de- stroy toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) safely. The mobile chemical treatment system, called PCBX, is mounted on a vehicle trailer and removes the toxic PCB's from oil used in electrical transformers. The process was developed by Sunohio, of Canton, Ohio, a partnership owned by subsidiaries of Sun Company and Ohio Transformer Corporation. "The presence of PCB's in the envi- ronment is potentially one of the most serious public health issues we face," said Edwin H. Clark, EPA's former Acting Assis- tant Administrator for Pesticides and Toxic Substances. "The new PCBX process exemplifies an approach to public health protection that holds the real key to our effectiveness in the future," he said. "I am referring to the absolute necessity that new technology be developed by the private sector that will give us the tools we need to deal with the increasingly complex environmental problems we confront." Well-documented tests on laboratory animals have shown that PCB's can cause reproductive failures, birth defects, skin lesions, tumors and other health prob- lems. PCB's decompose slowly and may be stored in fatty tissues in humans and other living creatures. EPA estimates that 91 percent of all U.S. residents have detectable levels of PCB's in their fatty tissues. PCB's were produced in the United States from 1929 until 1977, the year production was banned because serious questions had been raised over their ef- fects on health and the environment. Most of the approximately 745 million pounds of PCB's now in use are in cooling and nonconducting fluids in electrical equipment such as transformers and ca- pacitors. An estimated 20 million pounds of PCB's are now being stored awaiting proper disposal; about 10 million pounds continue to leak, spill and evaporate into the environment yearly. According to Sunohio, because PCB's are man-made, the PCBX system can basically reverse the manufacturing pro- cess by stripping chlorine atoms from the PCB nucleus, leaving only environmentally safe compounds and residues. The PCBX unit is self-contained and can be operated from an external power source or can generate its own power. Clark said, "The PCBX disposal system has a number of unique and interesting features. For example, it does not pro- duce any PCB emissions to air or dis- charges to water. It is also portable, being mounted in a vehicle trailer. "This means that PCB's can be treated where they are found, thereby avoiding the potential risks associated with extra handling or transportation of the contam- inated oils," he said. Also, because the process removes the chemicals from these oils, the cleaned oil also can be recycled for continued use, according to Clark. Previously transformer oils having PCB's in concentration under 500 parts per million could be disposed of only by using thermal methods such as high- temperature incinerators and industrial boilers, or in landfills that have been specifically approved for that purpose. Because of fairly rigorous criteria, only two incinerators have been approved for commercial use and with a limited capaci- ty, and only eight landfills nationwide have been approved for PCB disposal. Clark said a wide range of new tech- niques for disposal are now in various stages of development including new thermal methods, catalytic decomposi- tion, and chemical destruction such as the method used in the PCBX system. EPA's ten Regional Administrators have the authority to approve PCB disposal facilities and processes for use within their regions. Region 7, based in Kansas City, Mo., has granted full approval for use of the system within the Midwestern States it encompasses. Region 4, based in Atlanta, has given approval for four companies to use the system in the Region: Tennessee Valley Authority, Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Atomic Energy Facility in Ten- nessee, the U.S. Army's Redstone Arse- nal in Huntsville, Ala., and the Southern Company, a private firm and parent com- pany of a number of electric utilities in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. EPA's other Regional offices are now evaluating the PCBX process following a demonstration of the system and testing by EPA; the Regions are expected to approve use of the system in the near future. Sunohio has completed construction of one trailer equipped with the PCBX sys- tem and has two more under construc- tion, according to Norman E. Jackson, chairman of the board for both Sunohio and the Ohio Transformer Corporation. The initial mobile processing unit is designed to decontaminate about 500 gallons per hour of transformer oils con- taining up to 1,000 parts per million (ppm) of PCBs. Jackson estimated the cost of a single trailer equipped with PCB-destroying equipment at $500,000, and said that Sunohio plans to construct a total of five such trailers. Each would be equipped to handle about two million gallons of con- taminated oil yearly at an average cost of S3 per gallon. "The Sunohio PCB process was re- searched and developed to solve the elec- trical industry's immediate problem with PCB's," said Jackson. "The process also has probable application in other areas of environmental concern. Preliminary labo- ratory work leads us to feel confident that the PCBX process will also be effective against other halogenated hydrocarbons, which include a great many of the pesti- cides and other dangerous chemicals which are causing so much concern today." Jackson estimated that the PCB prob- lem could be controlled over the next five to ten years if the PCBX system proves a success. D (Charlotte Garvey is an assistant editor of EPA Journal.} JULY/AUGUST 1981 25 ------- EPAJOURNAL ------- U. N. Finds Pollution Control Cost Less in Third World Ground water, such as this supply col- lected in an underground cavern, is a valuable resource in countries around the world. The economic cost of pollution control in developed countries is estimated to be far less than the cost of pollution dam- age, and would be an even smaller per- centage of gross national production in Third World Countries, according to Dr. Mostafa Tolba, United Nations Envi- ronment Program Director. Dr. Tolba also said in a report issued on World Environment Day June 5 that vital groundwaters are being misused around the globe. I he State of the World Environment message, issued annually, also evaluated the economic advantages of protecting the environment as an investment for the future. "Most people would accept that there must come a limit of cost, above which further control or clean-up expenditure becomes unreasonable," the report stat- ed. "But not all the damage to the envi- ronment can be assessed in money terms; there are many effects on man and his environment that cannot be quantified." The report named benefits generated by improved environmental quality, in- cluding lower death and sickness rates, better productivity, technological innova- tion spurred by environmental protection policies, and improved amenities. The re- port also calls for measures to reduce the levels of toxic chemicals in food and for more research into how the contaminants move through the food chain. "There can be no question that many chemical products have on balance brought benefits to man," states the re- port, but adds that other chemicals have caused environmental damages, and out- breaks of poisoning make clear the poten- tial threat to human health. "The general public is understandably concerned by the fact that toxicologists are at present unable to give reliable estimates of the risk," Tolba declared. Noting that groundwater accounts for most of the fresh water on land (exclud- ing glaciers and ice in polar regions) Tolba calls for stringent scrutiny of waste dis- posal, new procedures governing use of chemicals on land, and effective controls against pollution and over-use of ground- water supplies. "This is not simply an instance where prevention is better than cure but where prevention is the only available option," he said. In assessing the economic impact of pollution controls, the report states that the estimated cost of pollution damage in developed countries falls between three and five percent of the countries' gross national product (GIMP) while the cost of environmental protection policies is esti- mated to range between only one and two percent of GNP. Developing countries, says the report, spend their environmental protection bud- gets mainly in improving drinking water supplies and sanitation, but to control pollution effectively as well, they would require only one half to one percent of their GNP. Tolba advises world leaders to base good management of the environment on avoidance of resource waste and pollu- tion, rather than being forced to redress environmental degradation after it occurs. The World Environment Day panel dis- cussion on toxic substances in New York was led by Dr. Noel J. Brown, director of UNEP's North American office. Also on the panel were members of U.S. non-governmental groups and the international community, including film- maker Robert Richter, winner of the Dupont Award for his documentary, "Un- safe Here, Okay Anywhere Else" on the export of pesticides and Pharmaceuticals from developed to underdeveloped na- tions. The film was featured on Public Broadcasting Service's "NOVA" series. In Washington, D.C., the Canadian Embassy hosted a reception for World Environment Day, where establishment of a UNEP liaison office in Washington was also announced. D JULY/AUGUST 1981 27 ------- Around the Nation Discharge Permits Region 1 recently issued draft wastewater dis- charge permits to seven oil companies contem- plating offshore oil and gas drilling on Georges Bank in the Atlantic Ocean. They are Exxon, Getty, Mobil, Murphy, Shell, Tenneco and Union oil companies. The permits are con- sidered to be among the most stringent ever issued for offshore oil explora- tion work. The oil compa- nies are required to use the best available control technology during the exploration process. Georges Bank is a major commercial fishing ground off the coast of Massachusetts. The draft permits also require a comprehensive monitoring program to be put in place. The study will focus on the impact that drilling muds and other discharges from the rigs are having on the marine environment. The permits are for exploratory work only. New permits will have to be issued before actual production could begin. Generic Bubble Region 1 has condition- ally approved the first "generic bubble" regula- tion, governing all re- gulated air pollutants, to be adopted at the State level. In the State of Maine plants already complying with existing air quality emission standards would be allowed to de- velop bubble programs involving all regulated pollutants. The Maine proposal for bubbles in attainment areas is based on EPA's bubble policy and contains more strin- gent eligibility criteria. EPA's national bubble policy is an important reg- ulatory reform initiative which allows pollution sources the flexibility to meet Clean Air Act re- quirements in a more cost-effective way. The policy visualizes a factory with many smokestakes as being under a large imaginary dome or bubble with only one emission point. It is a voluntary program and permits industry man- agement to calculate the best way to clean up air pollution at individual plants provided overall clean air requirements are met. Other States have de- veloped generic rules but only for one pollutant. handle and clean up its work properly. EPA rules require firms to notify the Agency before starting demolition work. During demolition they must comply with regulations intended to keep carcino- genic asbestos fibers out of the atmosphere. now. EPA Region 3 did not oppose the State's request for these rea- Figures show that Region 4 accounts for one-third of all EPA's sav- Violators Cited Region 2 recently cited seven New York State firms for asbestos con- trol violations under national emission stand- ards for hazardous air pollutants. Two of the firms, David Fabricators of Brooklyn and J&S Sup- ply Company of Long Is- land City, manufacture products which contain asbestos. The five other firms were involved in the renovation of build- ings which contained sig- nificant amounts of asbestos insulation mate- rial. Four of the five, Joseph D. Gibson Contracting Corp. of Wantagh, MTF Indus- tries of Queens, Holly- wood Commercial Re- newals of Hicksville, and Cross-Bay Excavators of Brooklyn, are alleged to have started renovation work without notifying EPA. EPA alleges that the fifth, Compass Metal of Jamaica, N.Y., failed to Request Denied A Federal judge in Phila- delphia recently denied a request by the Common- wealth of Pennsylvania to postpone the start of an auto-emissions in- spection and maintenance program until January 1, 1983. U.S. District Judge Louis C. Bechtle said that the program must go into effect by May 1982. Pennsylvania had agreed to such a pro- gram in a 1978 consent decree after suits were brought by local citizen groups and EPA. The de- cree called for the pro- gram to start by May 1, 1981 in 12 counties centered around Phila- delphia and Pittsburgh. The State asked for the additional time so that computerized testing equipment could be used by the privately-owned inspection stations that would run the tests. The equipment was not avail- able for distribution by the original deadline. National EPA policy allows extensions until January 1, 1983 if States wish to use more sophisticated equipment. The computerized test- ing equipment is more accurate, easier to cali- brate, and less expensive to use and maintain than equipment available sons, but was concerned ing generated using this about a proposed process. change in schedule for State inspection of test- ing stations. The citizen groups that signed the consent decree were generally opposed to any change in the original agreement. Suit Filed Region 5 recently filed suit against the Inland Steel Co. charging violations of Federal par- ticulate and opacity reg- ulations at the company's East Chicago, Ind., inte- grated steel mill facility. The suit seeks civil penalties of $25,000 a day dating back to August 7, 1977, a per- manent injunction against further violations of Indiana Air Pollution Control Regulations and the installation of addi- tional controls to achieve compliance with State and Federal air quality standards. Region 5 alleged the company violated the Federally approved and enforceable Indiana State Implementation Plan. Particulate sources cited included eight blast furnaces, three hot scarfers, two coke bat- teries, an electric arc shop, a basic oxygen fur- nace shop and an open hearth shop. Barrier Islands The regional office is pre- paring an environmental impact statement on wastewater manage- ment for the North Car- olina barrier islands. The statement will de- velop and evaluate alternative treatment technologies. The alter- natives are being exam- ined for environmental impact, cost effective- ness and possible finan- cial impact on barrier island communities. A major issue involves pro- posed centralized waste treatment facilities. The concern is that such facil- ities may promote high density development re- sulting in adverse impact such as increasing the potential for non-point source pollution of estua- rine areas. Value Engineering More than $6 1 million has been saved on 29 wastewater treatment projects that used Value Engineering in Region 4. Value Engineering helps achieve maximum value for dollars spent by identifying and removing unnecessary project costs. The process, begun in 1975 at the urging of the General Ac- counting Office, is mandatory on projects costing more than $ 10 million. Superfund The Regional office has accelerated efforts in identifying abandoned hazardous waste sites re- quired by the new Super- fund law. During a six week re- porting period, compa- EPAJOURNAL ------- niesand individualsmade 800 telephone calls to the Region 6 Superfund Unit, resulting in the reporting of 350 sites in the five State region. The Superfund unit, working with the States, is currently ranking the sites which need cleanup or other remedial action. This ranking will result in the selection of 400 priority sites nationwide as top candidates for Superfund action. Earlier this year, each region selected sites for study that clearly met Superfund criteria. Of the 17 sites chosen nationwide, two are in Region 6. The Motco site in LaMarque, Texas, re- ceived $ 121,000 for a hydrogeologic investiga- tion to determine the extent of groundwater contamination. The BWS Corp. site, in Tate Cove, La., received $10,000 for monitoring wells. The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources con- tributed $40,000 for the work at the BWS site. Control Relinquished Iowa is the first State in the Nation to relinquish primary enforcement re- sponsibility for public water supplies. The State had originally accepted primacy on September 1 1, 1977. On April 1, 1981, Re- gion 7 was officially no- tified by an authorized representative of the Governor that the State would terminate all public water supply activities as of July 1, 1981. This action reportedly took place because of a legis- lative proposal to cut funds for the State's water testing program. The Iowa State Legisla- ture adjourned on May 22, 1981, without ap- propriating matching State funds necessary for the Iowa Department of Environmental Quality to continue to carry out a public water supply program. Under the require- ments of the Safe Drink- ing Water Act, EPA must assume responsibility for carrying out the man- dates of the Act when this activity is terminated by a State. Region 7, therefore, will routinely monitor test results of the Iowa public water supplies to determine if they are in compliance with the maximum con- taminant levels provided in the Safe Drinking Water Regulations. Approximately 400 people attended public meetings in Iowa to dis- cuss the transfer of authority from the State to EPA. PCB Burn Successful A test burn of one gallon of polychlorinated bi- phenyls (RGB's) at Col- orado's Rocky Flat nuclear weapons plant has successfully des- troyed 99.999 percent of the chemical. No de- tectable amounts of PCB's were released into the air. EPA, Rockwell Inter- national and the Colo- rado Department of Health monitored the burn. Laboratory tests were independently con- ducted by both EPA and Rockwell, which oper- ates the plant for the Department of Energy. The fluidized-bed incinerator is a break- through in the destruc- tion of PCB's and can be modified and designed to fit on a railroad car to permit burning away from highly populated areas. The incinerator is normally used to destroy some low-level radio- active waste produced in industrial operations at Rocky Flats. Predator Control Reports of high livestock losses have prompted the National Wool- growers and the National Cattleman's Association to request public hear- ings on predator control. The stockmen primarily want the return of prod- ucts containing com- pound 1080, a poison used against livestock predators such as coyotes. EPA plans to hold in- formal hearings in Denver, Colo., and Washington, D.C. to reevaluate the use of cer- tain poisons, including 1080. The original ban was imposed in 1972 to protect people and non-target animals. EPA Administrator Anne Gorsuch is slated to review all information gathered during the hear- ings and decide whether or not to hold formal, legal hearings to amend the 1972 ban. Any nec- essary hearings, how- ever, will be held before the 1982 lambing and calving season. Water Projects It is expected that one half of California's State Assistance Program grant dollars will fund projects that were identi- fied in EPA financed plans under Section 208 of the Clean Water Act. Total capital expendi- tures of over $39 million are slated to be used in implementing programs that have the potential to substantially benefit water quality. The Clean Water and Water Conservation Bond Law of 1978, known as Proposition 2, contained provisions for the expenditure of $50 million to fund water pol- lution control, water conservation, and waste- water reclamation needs in California. The State Water Resources Control Board designated this as the State Assistance Program and adopted a Project Priority List con- taining 29 projects. Eight of the 29 funded projects can be directly traced to specific recommenda- tions made in and as a result of Section 208 planning. This section created EPA's main pro- gram to deal with non- point source pollution. Roster Update Region 10 recently updated its rosters of business firms owned by minorities and women that can help plan, design and build sewage treat- ment plants and other kinds of pollution control facilities. To people who think of sewage construction as being exclusively a man's business, the rosters may provide a surprise. In the Pacific Northwest, there are more than two dozen firms owned by women offering services funded by EPA's waste- water treatment con- struction program. Even more surprising may be the number of minority- owned businesses—con- tractors, suppliers, archi- tects and engineers— who perform these kinds of services. According to figures available from the Region's Office of Civil Rights, there are no less than 368 such com- panies located in the Re- gion, including Alaska (64), Idaho (39), Oregon (98), and Washington (167). States Served by EPA Regions Region 1 (Boston) MassachuSfits Nrv, • • 617 223 7210 Region 2 (New York City] N'pv\. J>'( s>vv ^-' •?ico Virgin Islands 212 2h : Region 3 (Philadelphia! Drl,iw;i!< V. Wt'Sl Virginia t")is' Columbia 17 9814 Region 4 (Atlanta) . Nortl 881 472 ' Region 5 (Chicago) • 3123b3 2000 Region 6 (Dallas) Oklahnm.i Irx.ts New \' • •• .• 214 '6 Region 7 (Kansas City) U'W.I K I Nebraska • ; 5493 Region 8 IDenver) .ult). Utah. Wyoming Munt.in.i \ irth i>,iKn!,i South Dakota :!():( H; Region 9 ISan Francisco) A n/una (! aM(ir lltfl N i • v, i 11,1 H n w a u 41!, !>f>6 2320 Region 10 (Seattle) Alaska l(];lhi. Oftjon W.IShilli j! '!' 206442 1220 JULY/AUGUST 1981 ------- The Baltimore harbor, scene of industrial complex. A sloop heeling over in stiff breeze on the Cheaspeake. ;i> EPA JOURNAL ------- Summer on the Chesapeake Commercial oyster dredging under sail in the Chesapeake. he Environmental Protection Agency is now winding up a five- year in-depth study of the Ches- apeake Bay, with findings that may have broad significance to estuaries in many other areas of the United States. Considered the most produc- tive estuary in North America, the Chesapeake supports a sea- food industry grossing $ 175 million in good years and a recre- ation industry valued at $200 million a year. It includes a major world port, Baltimore, and serves as a shipping channel for global commerce. The Bay is a haven for migratory birds and waterfowl, along the Atlantic Flyway. More than half a million birds from Canada, including geese and whistling swans, win- ter in its marshes, coves and fields. But the Bay has its environ- mental problems, and faces in- tensified stresses as commercial shipping, recreation, housing, industry, and other human activ- ities increase in the years ahead. For these reasons, Congress in 1976 directed EPA to inaugurate the Chesapeake Bay Program, a $25 million study of the envi- ronmental quality and manage- ment of the estuary. Scientists and managers in a joint effort of EPA's Office of Research and Development and Region 3, in close cooperation with States adjacent to the estuary, have been assessing the chief factors that have an adverse impact on the Bay, as well as the many laws, policies, and citizen efforts affecting it, so that Federal, State, and local governments can more efficiently protect the Chesapeake. The findings are expected to be made available in 1982, with special focus on three environmental questions: toxic chemicals, eutrophication (excess nutrient problems),and the decline of submerged grasses. The photographs on these pages illustrate some of the di- versity of the Chesapeake scene today and the ways the Bay serves both people and wildlife as a rich and varied resource. Catching blue crabs with chicken neck bait and nets is favorite Bay pastime. JULY/AUGUST 1981 ------- Loading timbers at dockside in busy Baltimore harbor. An osprey makes its home atop a channel marker. The Bay Bridge span Chesapeake near Annapolis, Md. EPA JOURNAL ------- Fishing skiff on Patuxent River. a tributary of the Chesapeake. by Steve Delaney. Back cover: A tranquil cove of the Chesapeake Bay at sunrise, by Steve Delaney. ------- United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington D C 20460 Official Business Penally for Private Use 5300 Postage and Fees Paid Environmental Protection Agency EPA 335 (51 U£MAtl Third Class Bulk Roturn thic nano if v/nn Hn nnt uuich tn rprpiwo this nuhiiratinn ( 1 nr if a rhannp of / 1 list rhannp i: ------- |