United States Region 8 October, 1978
Environmental Protection Office of Public Awareness
Agency 1860 Lincoln Street
Denver CO 80295
Region 8
Coloradc
Montana
&EPA
Profile of
Environmental
Quality
-------
Environmental quality, like happiness,
is subject to nearly as many
definitions as there are individuals
because each of us defines our
environment in a highly personal way.
For a publication to attempt, then, to
define environmental quality is a
difficult undertaking. This is our first
such attempt. We shall, however,
revise this publication each year and
hope you will suggest ways for
improving it in each succeeding year.
The "Yesterday and Today" theme
reflected in the following pages
underscores the dual nature of
environmental programs in this
region — those aimed at correcting
past abuses of our air, water and land
and those designed to prevent future
environmental damage.
They are tasks which must involve
each of us as voters, consumers,
decision makers and users or
suppliers of goods and services. In
our individual and collective
decisions, we determine our own
environmental quality. We invite
your participation.
Alan Merson
Regional Administrator
-------
5" WO
Contents
U.S. EPA Region 8 Library
80C-L
999 18th St., Suite 500
Denver, CO 80202-2466
ftEFERENCt LQPl TV
I Si
^5^
K7?
Air
Quality
On a clear day, how far can you see?
Well, we still have areas where
pristine air can be preserved.
Elsewhere cars, climate, and other
factors combine to produce air
pollution problems that the EPA is
working to correct.
Water
Quality
Water is scarce in Region 8, which
means good water quality is
especially important — and
especially difficult to maintain. In
administrating the Clean Water Act of
1977, the EPA is working on major
programs designed to restore the
integrity of our waters.
Solid
Wastes
"Waste not, want not" is an old idea,
but it received new emphasis in the
Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act of 1976, which sets the EPA the
task of finding better ways to
dispose of wastes, particularly of
hazardous wastes.
sssl: Pesticides
We used to think pesticides killed
only pests. Then bald eagles began to
disappear, and we learned how far-
reaching the effects of pesticides can
be. In Region 8 the EPA regulates
dangerous pesticides and seeks
safer means of pest control.
Noise
The population of Region 8 is
growing, and more people mean more
noise. Since 1972, when noise was
designated an environmental
pollutant, Region 8 has sought to
reduce environmental noise that
threatens our health and welfare.
Radiation
As we learn more about the mysteries
of radiation itself, we're also learning
more about the impact it can have on
the environment. Assessing this
impact, particularly when public
health and safety are affected, is
partly the EPA's responsibility.
Energy booms have come, gone, and
come again in our region. Now that
the most recent boom is upon us, the
EPA is helping to deal with the many
wide-ranging environmental
consequences of energy development.
Geography and geology shape the
destiny of our region. But people have
a share in that destiny too, and we
can face the environmental problems
the future holds, confident that we're
off to a good start.
Energy
Development
Perspective
Region 8
Nature has been generous to Region
8. In spite of our abundant natural
resources — and often because of
them — we face some special
environmental problems which the
EPA is helping to solve.
-------
Williston
LeWbtowrf
bismarci
•Houndup
Aberdeen*
Watertowi
Brmikint
.PIERRE
Huron*
Mitchell'
:heyenne
Et. Collins
* ^Greeley
Sterling*
i DENVER
(Grand
Uunctionj
• Colorado
Springs
Pueblo
KEj?
£
• Rbck
r.'Sf
400 kilometers
400 miles
Indian Reservations
National Parks
Public Lands
Total area (sq. miles) 578,000
Indian Reservations (sq. miles) 29.500
Public lands (sq. miles) 193,000
Lands cultivated or grazed (acres) 238,000,000
Total population 6,400.000
Indians (within Reservations) 99.000
Paved roads (miles) 109,000
Unpaved roads (miles) 317,000
Agricultural receipts $2,800,000,000
Livestock receipts $4,366,000,000
Manufacturing receipts $4,656,000,000
Oil receipts $902,000,000
Gas receipts $82,000,000
Coal receipts $120,000,000
Total mineral receipts $3,080,000,000
Tourism $3,400,000,000
Oil production (barrels) 272,000,000
Gas production (cubic feet) 562,000,000,000
Coal production (tons) 27,135,000
-------
Region
8
Region 8 of the Environmental
Protection Agency (Colorado,
Montana, North Dakota, South
Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming) is big ...
and beautiful. Within this region can
be found magnificent scenery—high
jagged mountains, deserts,
improbable rock formations, fertile
plains, grasslands and prairies, dark
green forests, tumbling streams—
and still some wide open spaces, still
some quiet, untouched wilderness.
But this region has not totally
escaped the damage caused by man-
made pollution. Environmental
problems do exist, or are imminent.
Some of them are major. For
instance, mountain air, which has 18
percent less oxygen than air at sea
level, is polluted more readily.
Though relatively few people live in
the area, smog can result when they
cluster in cities like Denver, Colorado
Springs, Pueblo, and Salt Lake City. A
brand-new, perfectly tuned
automobile puts twice as much
carbon monoxide into the air in
Denver as it does in Detroit.
Beneath the surface of the six states
in the region lie 50 percent of the
nation's coal reserves, most of its
commercially feasible oil shale, and
40 percent of its economically
recoverable uranium. Intense activity
to extract these energy-rich fuels is
creating boom-towns with every type
of pollution problem.
Our dry climate is a major contributor
to air and water pollution. Seven
major river systems have their
beginnings here and continue on to
supply water to other regions, but
their flow is relatively small and the
water they supply must be used many
times. Our many small streams are
particularly vulnerable to pollution,
even in small amounts. The lack of
moisture in our region means we
must also face the problems created
by "fugitive dust," which is in part the
loose dirt and sand blown into the
atmosphere by drying winds.
Cleaning up past pollution and trying
to control its spread are both
expensive. But Region 8's small
population means that the tax base
is also small.
The EPA does not work alone to
improve our environment. Instead, it
works with and through a great
number of other organizations at a
variety of levels. In Region 8, these
include state and municipal
governments, regional councils,
hundreds of special districts, private
industry, citizen groups, individuals,
and the 23 federally recognized Indian
reservations located within
the region's borders.
Through grants, technical assistance,
study, monitoring, and many other
means, the EPA plays an active role
in such matters of environmental
concern as air quality, water quality,
solid waste, pesticides, noise,
radiation, and energy development.
The many programs in these various
fields now under way in Region 8 are
summarized in the pages that follow,
so that the people of our region can
learn how the EPA is carrying out its
mandate: "to maintain conditions
under which man and nature can
live in harmony."
Major John Wesley Powell inquiring about water
from Paiute Indian. Photograph courtesy
Utah State Historical Society
-------
-------
Air Quality
In 1869 Major John Wesley Powell,
explorer of the Grand Canyon, climbed
to the top of Mount Dawes in Utah and
later wrote in his journal: "To the east,
I can see the western slopes of the
Rocky Mountains, more than 150
miles distant..Major Powell
probably took that faraway vista for
granted. He wouldn't do so today.
Big changes have come to that once
remote, almost unpeopled land:
factories and power plants, sprawling
cities, resort towns in high mountain
valleys, cars, trucks, buses — and
now new boom towns.
Fortunately, the need to clean up
polluted air and to protect "ambient
air" (the air that surrounds us) from
deterioration has been recognized in
recent years and the EPA is at work
on the problems. Nationally, the first
priority is improving air that is already
poor in quality. But in Region 8, with
its many national parks, national
forests, and wide open spaces,
preserving air that is still good in
quality is also a priority.
The EPA used its authority to prevent
the deterioration of air quality in 1978
on behalf of the Northern Cheyenne
Indian Reservation, legally entitled to
air nearly free from "total suspended
particulate matter" (TSP) and sulfur
dioxide. The EPA denied construction
permits for two huge power plants 12
miles away in Colstrip, Montana.
The particular power invoked, called
PSD — Prevention of Significant
Deterioration — applies when large
new sources of pollution are being
constructed. These new sources
must not pollute more than is allowed
by the law.
In Region 8, the EPA and the states
monitor the air constantly for certain
pollutants, and their findings are now
often reported on radio and
television. Whenever an air standard
is violated, public health can be
affected, and when "alert" levels are
reached the public (especially people
Status of air quality by county
Insufficient data, monitoring
not warranted
No evidence primary standard
exceeded for any pollutant
~ Primary standard exceeded
for at least one pollutant
Alert level exceeded for at
least one pollutant
Photograph courtesy of the
Colorado Heritage Center
-------
Air Quality
~
~
~
Maps at right show, by county and
pollutant, the average number of
days per year that air quality
standards were exceeded. Small
numbers show average number of
days per year alert level
was exceeded.
1-10 days
10-20 days
20-40 days
40-60 days
over 60 days
TSP is a measurement of particles in the air
(such as soot, mist, and sprays) and includes
non-toxic materials (dust and dirt) as well as
toxic materials (lead, asbestos, sulfates).
Natural and man-made sources contribute to
TSP which affects the respiratory systems in
varying degrees depending on particle size
and chemical composition.
with heart or lung diseases) can be
seriously threatened. Primary
standards are set to protect human
health in general; secondary
standards protect against damage to
vegetation and materials.
Mountain communities are
particularly subject to air-inversion
problems when pollutants from cars
and fireplaces are trapped near the
ground, and all communities can be
affected by loose dirt and sand blown
from bare ground and dirt roads.
(Although controlling this "fugitive
dust" can be extremely difficult,
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
CO is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas - a
toxic product of combustion. The automobile
engine represents the major single source of
this pollutant. CO in the lungs reduces the
oxygen available to tissues and decreases
heart and mental functions, visual perception
and general alertness. For those with heart
and lung problems, CO presents a life-
threatening situation.
Total Suspended Particulates (TSP)
-------
techniques are available for reducing
man's contribution to the problem.)
When a community has a problem
associated with a particular industry,
the EPA helps this community define
the problem and take appropriate
steps to control it.
Where automobiles — the worst
offenders — are concerned, there are
no easy answers. Areas that have air-
pollution problems but do not have
satisfactory plans to bring air quality
up to national standards by 1982 (or,
in special instances, by 1987) face a
cut-off in federal funding for projects
that spur growth. In mid-1978 Region
8 decided not to approve a permit for
a dam that was part of a new
Foothills Water Treatment Project
proposed for Denver, partly because
the project would encourage the
spread of Denver's population and
thus add to its air pollution.
In general, the EPA's task is to set
national standards for air quality and
then to help the states implement
them, tailoring actions taken to the
nature and the severity of the problem.
Photochemical Oxidants
These compounds are formed by a complex
series of chemical reactions occurring when
hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides from motor
vehicles or other emission sources are
exposed to sunlight. Ozone, the critical
constituent in oxidants, is a severe irritant to
mucous membranes and may reduce lung
function or aggravate existing lung disorders.
Sulfur Oxides (SOx)
Sulfur dioxide (S02), the most common form of
SO„ in the atmosphere, results from
combustion of coal and gas or as a by-product
in mineral smelting operations. S02 reacts
readily with other atmospheric pollutants to
form sulfates, a group of compounds
responsible for respiratory ailments
(bronchitis, emphysema and asthma) and the
aggravation of heart disease.
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO,)
N02 is a brown gas formed during high
temperature combustion (automobile engines,
power plant boilers), NOj can affect lung
tissue, reduce resistance to disease,
contribute to bronchitis or pneumonia, and
aggravate chronic lung disease. It reacts with
hydrocarbon in the presence of sunlight to
produce photochemical oxidants.
Denver County currently exceeding annual
primary standards. Salt Lake County
indicating potential to exceed.
-------
-------
Water Quality
On a bright spring day in 1978, three
thirsty cross-country skiers drank
water from a stream high in the
mountains of southern Colorado. The
water was so clear and cold the skiers
never doubted it was pure. But they
were wrong, as they learned when
sickness struck all three. The stream
had been polluted by sheep pastured
along its banks the previous summer.
This indirect sort of pollution is
caused by what is termed a nonpoint
source. Such sources are more
difficult to identify than point
sources that discharge effluents
directly into bodies of water, but they
are no less important. In Region 8
nonpoint sources contribute 90
percent of the total pollution in our
streams and waterways.
Pollution from a nonpoint source is
often produced by man's activity.
Run-off of all sorts can pollute — the
run-off from dirty city streets, from
new construction near streams, from
mines (even abandoned ones), from
fields where pesticides or fertilizers
have been used. But nature, too,
plays the villain, as the pioneers
discovered when their drinking water
was fouled by mineral salts leached
from the earth.
Because nonpoint sources are
essentially indirect, they can be
difficult to isolate and control.
Further complicating the issue for
Region 8 is the fact that our water
resources are very limited. If run-off
from a construction site carries a
given quantity of pollutants, the
impact on water quality will clearly
be greater if that run-off flows into a
sluggish stream than if it flows into
the Missouri River.
Lake
Sakakawea
Region 8 has developed an index technique to
assess the relative water quality of regional
streams. It was used for making the quality
determinations displayed on the six-state map
above of color coded stream segments, and
for assessment of major contributors to
pollutant exceedences on the following two
pages. Certain critical pollutant groups were
examined and the index was determined from
the percentage of these pollutants which
exceeded water quality standards.
Water Quality of major streams
Significant water quality problems
Intermediate and/or intermittent
water quality problems
Infrequent water quality problems
Insufficient data
Hydraulic Mining. Photograph courtesy of the
Montana State Historical Society
-------
Water Quality
Charts below show exceedences of water
quality standards/criteria, by pollutant, for
Region 8 river basins.
~
~
Major contributor to exceedences
Minor contributor to exceedences
Not a contributor to exceedences
Insufficient data, but no
exceedences presumed
Number of exceedences
Increasing
o Decreasing
. 3
Nonpoint Source
What experts call use impairment
refers to a change in the use of a body
of water, but not necessarily one
caused by adding a pollutant.
Impairment can happen more quickly
and more drastically in Region 8 than
elsewhere in the country. For example,
the use of a reservoir for swimming
can be impaired when water levels
are lowered by demands for water to
supply a city's growing population.
The causes and consequences of
nonpoint source pollution are so
broad that many government
agencies besides the EPA are at work
on the problem. The EPA does,
however, have a major role to play in
assessing the problems created by
nonpoint source pollution.
Studies called for by Section 208 of
the federal Clean Water Act of 1972
Dissolved Oxygen
Bacteria
Phosphorous
Nitrogen
Red River of the North
—
Souris
EZ
Upper Missouri
Central Missouri
—
So. Central Missouri
Yellowstone
James
Big Sioux
North Platte
South Platte
Middle Colorado
Upper Colorado
Green River
Upper Arkansas
Upper Rio Grande
Clark Fork Pend Orielie
Great Salt Lake
A relatively high dissolved
oxygen concentration in a
stream is a measure of good
quality and indicates that
water can adequately
support aquatic life and
rapid bacteria propagation
to assimilate wastes quickly.
Red River of the North
O
Souris
O
Upper Missouri
Central Missouri
So. Central Missouri
Yellowstone
<:>
James
o
Big Sioux
North Platte
South Platte
Middle Colorado
Upper Colorado
Green River
Upper Arkansas
Upper Rio Grande
<0
Clark Fork Pend Orielie
o
Great Salt Lake
Excessive levels of bacteria
contaminate certain aquatic
life forms and cause
streams to be unsafe for
recreation and human
contact. Fecal organisms in
the stream indicate the
presence of sewage or
pollution from men or other
warm-blooded animals.
Red River of the North
Souris
Upper Missouri
Central Missouri
So. Central Missouri
Yellowstone
James
Big Sioux
North Platte
South Platte
Middle Colorado
Upper Colorado
Green River
Upper Arkansas
Upper Rio Grande
Clark Fork Pend Orielie
Great Salt Lake
Phosphorous in streams
from urban waste water and
natural mineral deposits in
soil have the characteristic
ability to stimulate the
production of algae in the
presence of nitrogen and
can pose a eutrophication
hazard to relatively slow
moving bodies of water.
Red River of the North
Souris
Upper Missouri
Central Missouri
So. Central Missouri
Yellowstone
James
<2>
Big Sioux
North Platte
South Platte
Middle Colorado
Upper Colorado
Green River
Upper Arkansas
Upper Rio Grande
Clark Fork Pend Orielie
Great Salt Lake
Municipal waste water
discharges, livestock
wastes, and fertilizers from
irrigated fields are the main
contributors of nitrogen in
streams. Excessive
concentrations of most
nitrogen forms have
deleterious affects on
biotic life.
-------
and funded through the EPA are now
under way throughout Region 8 and
the rest of the country. To date, over
15 million dollars have been
allocated within the Region so that
state and local governments
(including Indian tribes) can produce
plans for improving their management
of water quality.
Point sources of pollution, such as a
factory that pipes wastes directly
into a river, have particularly great
impact on water quality in heavily
industrialized areas like the eastern
United States. But point sources
-100
-80
Millions of
Dollars
Obligated
212
00 Number of
Awards Made
¦60 47
-40
-20
39
126
178
create problems in Region 8 as well,
and controlling these sources is a
major objective of the Clean Water
Act and other supporting legislation.
The results show. Since the EPA was
formed in 1970, it has had notable
success in cleaning up point source
pollution, particularly through the
following four programs.
1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
Inorganic Toxicants (ITOX)
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
PH
Temperature
Red River of the North
Souris
Upper Missouri
Central Missouri
So. Central Missouri
Yellowstone
James
Big Sioux
North Platte
<2>
South Platte
Middle Colorado
Upper Colorado
Green River
Upper Arkansas
O
Upper Rio Grande
u
Clark Fork Pend Orielle
Great Salt Lake
This group includes various
chemical elements -
primarily the "heavy metals"
that are naturally found in
water and are essential to
life in low concentrations
but poisonous when more
highly concentrated.
Red River of the North
<3^
Souris
Upper Missouri
Central Missouri
So. Central Missouri
Yellowstone
James
Big Sioux
North Platte
South Platte
Middle Colorado
Upper Colorado
Green River
Upper Arkansas
Upper Rio Grande
Clark Fork Pend Orielle
Great Salt Lake
Total dissolved solids is a
measure of nongaseous
minerals in solution in
streams - its relative
"saltiness" or "hardness."
TDS affects water taste,
increases costs for water
softening and shortens the
life of household plumbing.
Red River of the North
Souris
Upper Missouri
Central Missouri
So. Central Missouri
Yellowstone
James
Big Sioux
North Platte
South Platte
Middle Colorado
Upper Colorado
Green River
Upper Arkansas
Upper Rio Grande
Clark Fork Pend Orielle
Great Salt Lake
pH is a measure of stream
acidity or alkalinity. Extremes
in pH are generally harmful
to aquatic life and speed
corrosion processes on
manmade structures.
Red River of the North
Souris
Upper Missouri
Central Missouri
So. Central Missouri
Yellowstone
James
Big Sioux
North Platte
South Platte
Middle Colorado
Upper Colorado
Green River
Upper Arkansas
Upper Rio Grande
Clark Fork Pend Orielle
Great Salt Lake
Temperature changes
govern the nature of
biological life, the rate of
chemical reactions, and the
solubility of gases and
solids in streams. As a rule,
high temperatures present
more pollution problems
than low temperatures.
-------
Water Quality
ss* ]
National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System
The National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES), which
was established in 1972 by Section
302 of the Clean Water Act, requires
that all point sources of pollution
receive permits from the EPA or from
federally-approved state programs.
The system sets up a step-by-step
schedule that requires sources to
reduce pollutants to acceptable
levels over a specified period of time.
Sources must also monitor and
report their discharges on a
continuing basis. Exceedences of the
compliance schedule or of any
permit requirement may result in
fines or court action.
To date, the NPDES has proven
highly effective as the primary
mechanism for regulating discharges
from point sources.
Waste Water Treatment Plants
The federal government has
recognized for many years that
substandard waste water treatment
plants are responsible for discharging
unacceptably large quantities of
pollutants into our water. Yet many
small communities cannot afford to
improve their treatment facilities. So,
through the EPA, the government is
providing grants to help those
communities that need to construct
new treatment plants or to upgrade
their existing facilities.
To date, the government has
provided 18 billion dollars for these
purposes. Region 8 in particular has
already received more than 300
million dollars of this amount.
Excellent progress is evident in the
region, where over 90 percent of the
major industrial sources presently
meet EPA standards for discharges.
A great deal of work still remains to
be done, however, at the many
municipal treatment plants where
facilities do not yet meet minimum
requirements. Additional funding will
be made available, on a case-by-case
basis, until the program deadline is
reached on July 1,1983.
Safe Drinking Water
In 1974 Congress passed the Safe
Drinking Water Act, which requires
public water suppliers to meet national
standards for drinking water. If these
standards are exceeded, the supplier
must notify consumers, explaining
what has been done to correct the
problem, or what will be done.
When the program first began,
tests showed that 80 percent of the
6,000 public drinking water suppliers
in Region 8 could consistently
deliver safe drinking water. Because
the program is still new, its impact
is only beginning to be felt. But
even in the first year there has been
marked improvement.
-------
-400 Annual Volume of Spills
Thousands of
Gallons
Nontransportation
Related
Transportation
Related
100 Annual Number of Spills
Oil Spills
Oil spills can have serious
environmental effects — and in the
United States an average of one spill
is reported every day.
Perhaps the most familiar sorts of
spills occur when petroleum
products are being transported.
Truck accidents are the most
frequent cause of what are termed
transportation spills (although the
largest quantities of oil are actually
lost through pipeline breaks).
But spills can also occurduring the
production process itself, when flow
lines between oil wells and storage
tanks break, for example, or when
pipes become corroded. The total
amount of oil spilled in any one of
these "nontransportation" spills is
often relatively small, but accidents
of this sort happen frequently enough
and have great enough impact on the
environment to be a major cause for
concern.
The EPA is responsible for dealing
with this second sort of oil spill as
well as with all spills that affect the
quality of our water. In Region 8, the
EPA developed and administers a
prevention program for
nontransportation oil spills. Seeing
that these spills are stopped,
cleaning them up, investigating their
legal implications, and determining
who must pay for the damage are all
part of the EPA's responsibility.
The record to date has been
excellent. Since 1975, the volume of
oil spills from nontransportation
sources has steadily and
impressively decreased.
Since some spills continue to occur,
the EPA maintains a Regional
Response Center in Denver, Colorado.
The Center, which operates 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, is organized
so that it can respond to any oil spill
anywhere in Region 8 with whatever
resources are necessary.
Although the issues are complex and
progress is often gradual, Region 8 is
nevertheless making a significant
contribution toward achieving the
primary goal set by the Clean Water
Act: "to restore and maintain the
chemical, physical, and biological
integrity of the Nation's waters."
-------
Wm
W///M
-------
Solid Wastes
Municipal & Sewage
4,100,000 tons annually
The ancient Pueblo Indians could
throw their waste material over a cliff.
But today we have many million
times as much solid waste, and much
of it isn't easily biodegradable.
Nationally, an estimated 4.5 billion
tons of solid waste are generated
annually. Individually, we each create
about 3.5 pounds of waste a day, or
1,277 pounds a year.
For years solid wastes were burned.
Since this polluted the air we began
to bury the waste and sometimes
apply a layer of dirt over the refuse.
However, recent examples
demonstrate that such sites may
allow noxious materials to seep
through and contaminate
underground or surface water. The
idea now is to do a better job before
wastes reach the disposal site,
through source separation (sorting
recyclable items from trash) and
source reduction (developing
products that last longer,
can be re-used).
The Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act of 1976 broadened the
EPA's solid-waste program so that it
now includes wastes generated by
industry, agriculture, and mining as
well as municipal wastes. With help
from the EPA, Region 8's six states
are developing management plans
for the disposal of solid waste. Aided
in many cases by grants from the
EPA, the states are also undertaking
programs to recycle oil, dispose of
abandoned automobiles, use sewage
sludge beneficially, and separate
paper from other sources of waste.
A growing concern of the EPA is the
lack of adequate sites for disposing
of hazardous wastes. Because much
of this waste is created by industry,
the EPA is evaluating state regulation
of industrial wastes. Adequate
hazardous-waste programs will
continue to be authorized and funded
by EPA grants; where such programs
are incomplete or nonexistent, the EPA
itself will develop a permit program
for the generation, storage, treatment,
and disposal of hazardous waste.
Through grants, through regulations,
through technical assistance,
through permits, and through many
other means, the EPA is working to
achieve the objectives Congress has
set for conserving and recovering
our resources.
Photograph courtesy of the
Montana State Historical Society
-------
s
•x
.x
-------
Pesticides
Remember when we thought that
DDT was a miracle pesticide? But the
trouble with DDT (and with other
chlorinated hydrocarbons like
chlordane, heptachlor, dieldrin, and
aldrin) was that its effects were too
long-lasting and far-reaching. The
hydrocarbons killed off fish, birds,
and other animals in the food chain
whose death hadn't been intended.
When traces of pesticides were even
found in human tissue, we knew they
had to go.
The EPA now requires all pesticide
manufacturers to register with the
Agency. Manufacturers must prove a
pesticide's safety before it will be
registered, and the EPA may cancel
or suspend the registration of a
potentially dangerous product. The
EPA also requires that container
labels specify how a product can
legally be used. Further, the EPA
works through state governments to
restrict the use of certain pesticides
(in particular, the organophosphates
and carbamates, which, although
they degrade quickly, are toxic and
therefore dangerous to use) to
certified "applicators." (In Region 8
there are about 60,000 private
applicators and 10,000
commercial ones.)
The EPA's positive approach has
been to support research to develop
pesticides that are safe to use, safe
to destroy, and target-specific, that is,
kill only the pest they are intended
to kill.
Wherever possible, the EPA tries to
educate people both to the dangers
of pesticides still in use (by teaching
migrant farm workers to recognize
and treat pesticide poisonings, for
instance) and to the value of using
alternatives, such as an integrated
pest-control program. Utah recently
developed a program that relies on
planting and harvesting at the proper
time, rotating crops, and using
natural parasites and predators more
than insecticides.
The EPA's efforts have apparently
helped. Since 1972, slow increases
have been noted in the numbers of
birds whose populations had been
seriously reduced, such as peregrine
falcons, bald eagles, brown pelicans,
and ospreys. Recent studies show
that DDT residues in the food of
Americans are only 10 percent of
what they were before 1970.
Still, much remains to be learned and
taught. In the past, dangerous long-
lived pesticides were often, through
ignorance, buried who-knows-where;
even today, individuals sometimes try
to evade the EPA's surveillance. The
EPA will continue searching for
methods of pest control both truly
safe and truly effective.
An infestation of locusts.
Photograph courtesy of the
Utah State Historical Society
-------
, Q-
. r
*
If
w
I
ru,t
-Tt a A/ u ci\
-------
Noise
There's noise you yourself can do
something about—"Please turn
down that radio!" And then there's
environmental noise—occupational
noise from machines where you work,
and nonoccupational noise from jet
plane take-offs, trucks, buses,
motorcycles, railroads, air
compressors, snowmobiles in quiet
places, and so on.
Recent studies show that the
increasing number of sources
producing high levels of noise
combined with the growing
population in Region 8 threatens
our health and welfare.
8, one of these was challenging a jet
airport proposed for Grand Teton
National Park after an "ambient
sound level" study showed that building
the airport would seriously harm the
Park's extremely quiet environment.
Other special projects have included
designing a system to assess overall
noise in a community by using a
tethered balloon which relays noise
levels to data recorders on the
ground; pilot studies of general
airport noise at two small airports; a
comprehensive noise survey for
Boulder, Colorado; and monitoring of
highway noise.
Studying noise pollution, assessing
its effects, and working with local
governments to help control it — all
these form part of a major effort now
underway in Region 8.
has set noise-level standards; it also
reviews environmental impact
statements for noise impacts.
Region 8 believes many sources of
noise are best dealt with locally. It
has helped many communities
develop their own ordinances.
Special contracts have been made to
help Colorado, Montana, and North
Dakota boom-towns work out noise-
control programs. Cities in Wyoming,
Montana, and South Dakota have
recently asked for similar assistance.
Another major emphasis of the EPA
has been special projects. In Region
Excessive environmental noise can
impair heart, nerve, and glandular
functions. It can cause loss of
hearing, interfere with sleep, reduce
ability to concentrate, and lead to
anxiety and depression. Temporary
effects may become permanent.
Since 1972 noise has been considered
an environmental pollutant. The EPA
Photograph courtesy of
First Federal Savings
Lakewood, Colorado
-------
-------
Radiation
Who would live in a house built over
radioactive fill? Well, quite a few
people in Grand Junction, Colorado,
where contractors in the 1950's and
1960's used mine tailings from a local
uranium mill because the material
was free for the asking and plentiful.
Neither they nor anyone else realized
then that these tailings were
dangerous. Later... but that's
another story, because Grand
Junction now has a joint federal I
state remedial program which
Region 8 helped to initiate.
Uranium sold at five dollars a pound
in the mid-1960's. Now it's over forty
dollars a pound, and the uranium
industry is booming. So are other
industries, like the recovery of oil
from oil shale and the production of
coal and phosphates, that also
disturb the earth's protective crust
Photograph courtesy of
U.S. Department of Energy
and can increase potential exposure
to radioactive material through the
air, through water, by contact, or
along a contaminated food chain.
But new on the scene in Region 8
since 1970 is the EPA. The Region 8
office doesn't regulate, but it does
supply, from its knowledge of
radiation hazards, the best technical
guidance on ways to control them. It
also conducts technical reviews of
environmental impact statements for
all uranium milling licensed by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission and
their agreement states. It gives
technical assistance to states upon
request. It provides for environmental
have
sampling and laboratory analysis for
radioactive contamination. Also, it
identifies potential radiological
impacts from any source, and
evaluates ways of handling these
hazards. To assist state and local
officials in dealing with increasing
development of uranium resources,
the EPA has prepared a Uranium
Mine and Mill Siting Guide.
Whenever radiation turns up in our air
and water where it can affect public
health and safety, it becomes the
concern of the EPA, which can then
step in to assess these effects.
Uranium production through 1974.
9 less than 1 ton
• 1 to 100 tons
O 100 to 1,000 tons
O 1,000 to 10,000 tons
® more than 10,000 tons
Note: There are 332 areas not shown that
produced a total of 180 tons
At the turn of the century, Madam Curie discovered radium from
uranium ore mined in Utah. Photograph courtesy of the
Utah State Historical Society
-------
-------
Energy Development
Gaping black holes in hillsides...
livid yellow stains on slopes...
dumps of broken glass and rusted
cans... heaps of slag ...thousands
of acres of scarred land — valueless,
irreclaimable. That is Region 8's
inheritance from the old mining days
when its mountains were scoured for
what they would yield in gold, silver,
copper, or coal.
But now that the new Energy Rush
days are upon us, surely we have
learned our lesson. Surely we will
know better than to deface the land
we love. In the not-so-good old days,
protecting the environment was not a
matter of public policy. Now it is. The
EPA has been given that explicit
charge, and while it doesn't shut its
eyes to the magnitude of the
questions the new energy boom is
bringing, it does assume that with
good will and hard work, answers can
be found.
Toward that end, it will bring to bear
all its powers — of grants for
research, of experience gained, of the
advice of many knowledgeable
individuals, of cooperation with
branches of government and with
thousands of concerned citizens.
That our energy needs are serious
and real is hard to dispute. For
various reasons, the federal
government has committed itself to
trying to fill them within the borders
of our own country. The part of the
country where awesome deposits of
coal and oil shale are found is
Region 8.
In some places work to extract these
fuels has already begun; in others,
workers are poised to start. It will be
up to the EPA and the individual
states to see that standards set for
air quality, water quality, and
disposal of solid wastes are met by
the energy industries.
The EPA must also set up criteria
establishing what elements
constitute hazardous wastes and
then undertake the difficult and
complex task of finding sites where
such wastes can be disposed
of safely.
Most of the coal in Region 8 is
found in Colorado, Montana, North
Dakota, and Wyoming. Mining it may
pollute both surface water and
underground water.
If multi-megawatt power plants are
built to burn coal they will produce air
pollutants, water pollutants, and
solid wastes.
But standards do exist, and the EPA
does have supervisory authority to
see that they are not exceeded.
A great oil-shale deposit, the Green
River Formation, underlies part of
Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The
largest part of it, 85 percent, is found
in the Piceance Basin near Rifle,
Colorado. Heated oil shale yields a
product that can be refined into oil
and gas, through a process called
retorting. Conventional retorting uses
crushed oil shale heated
aboveground. In situ ("in place")
retorting takes place underground.
Photograph courtesy of the
Wyoming State Museum
-------
Energy Development
Coal Resources
Numbers are
% of US total
reserves
In conventional retorting, the spent
shale left after the oil has been
removed has 30 percent more volume
than the original ore. That means a
tremendous quantity of waste rock to
be removed. Leaching of salts from
spent shale and pollution during the
in situ process are also problems.
Here the EPA's research skills and
facilities are being drawn upon in the
search for answers.
The energy boom will take many
thousand acres of land from their
former uses, such as farming,
ranching, and habitat for wildlife. The
EPA is funding research on ways to
reclaim and revegetate this land.
Oil & Gas Reserves
Findings to date suggest it may be
difficult to re-establish the same hardy
native plants on soils changed by oil-
shale mining or surface coal mining.
But time remains, and study continues.
All mining processes and facilities
require considerable quantities of
water, but water is scarce in this
region. What there is must be shared
not only with its present users, both
human and animal, but also with all
the newcomers crowding into the
boom-towns. The surge of
population, often in relatively rural
areas, puts other new pressures on
the environment. Here, too, the EPA
must see that standards for air
quality, water quality, noise, and
solid-waste disposal are met.
Uranium Reserves
New transportation systems for the
coal and oil-shale areas will be
essential. These systems too will
have significant additional impact on
the environment.
The people in Region 8 headquarters
know the road ahead will be a rocky
one. Problems such as finding new
sources of water or setting up
equitable arrangements to share what
is available will be troublesome.
However, the EPA's experience in
setting and applying standards,
supplying technical skills and
laboratory services, and its ability to
do research itself and to fund research
by others should prove invaluable.
-------
Oil Shale Deposits
Geothermal Energy Potential
Energy Corridor
n
j!'. I
a "fki • (.
-100%
,; v
Region 8 Energy Reserves
Coal (tons) 195,000,000,000
Uranium (tons) 131,000
Oil (barrels) 2,000,000,000
Gas (cubic feet) ... 10,000,000,000,000
Oil shale (barrels) .... 600,000,000,000
Tar sands (barrels) 25,000,000,000
Please note figures above are estimates
and not all of any given reserve is
recoverable for technical, economic,
and/or practical reasons.
I
-1,000
r~
Coal
300,000,000 tons
-800
%
— Production
Increase
Uranium Oxide
36,500 tons
-600
t W —
-400 /
/ /
Electrical generating
capacity
32,000 megawatts
-200 / /
I
1970
1975
1980
1985
Indian
Reservations
-------
-------
Perspective
Seen in perspective, it is Region 8's
geography and geology that have
preserved in it the Great Open
Spaces, pristine air, and clear
streams once found throughout the
entire country. But as what was once
common becomes rare, it becomes
more valuable. So people come West.
By their very presence they contribute
to the pollution they had hoped to
escape. The Nation's need for new
energy sources is a problem.
Pollution is a related problem.
Tremendous growth is a problem
compounding all the others.
At high altitudes, with less oxygen in
the air, cars generate pollutants more
freely than elsewhere. Coal mining
and oil-shale recovery leave not only
solid wastes that must be removed
but also land difficult to reclaim and
revegetate. Uranium mining and
milling create hazardous wastes for
which no safe disposal sites have yet
been found. Mining, power plants
burning coal, agriculture and boom-
towns all need additional quantities
of water this semi-arid region finds
hard to supply. To the fugitive dust
already present in the air, mining may
add coal dust and dirt. Oil-shale
operations may pollute streams.
Boom-towns will raise noise levels.
Fortunately, there is another column
in the ledger. In it we might set down
the 33 percent of the land in Region 8
that is public property, where your
public agencies can be directed to do
the necessary work of protecting the
air, water and land. We could add the
enormous amount of assistance the
EPA itself provides (standards set,
technical expertise provided,
programs developed, grants made
available). And there are, again,
people — people who care.
Photograph courtesy of the
South Dakota State Historical Society
-------
For Further Information
If you would like additional information about specific
environmental programs in which EPA is involved, please
contact us by writing EPA, 1860 Lincoln Street,
Denver CO 80295 or telephone (303) 837-2879. It may be
necessary to route your call to specific individuals or
programs within the Agency but we will work hard to
minimize any inconvenience to you. Following is a listing of
some of the Agency's frequently called numbers you may
find useful.
For general assistance:
Office of Public Awareness and
Intergovernmental Relations (303)837-2879
Air Quality 837-3471
Auto Emissions 837-3711
State Implementation Plans 837-3711
Prevention of Significant Deterioration
(PSD) Review 837-3763
Water Quality 837-4871
Grants 837-3961
Planning 837-3886
Environmental Impact Statements 837-4831
Control Technology Branch 837-2735
Solid Wastes 837-2221
Pesticides 837-3926
Toxic Materials 837-3926
Noise 837-2221
Radiation 837-2221
Energy Development 837-5914
Enforcement 837-3868
Permits 837-4335
Montana Operations Office (406)449-5434
391 South Park, Helena MT 59601
If you would like more information on issues closer to home,
consider beginning with your city or county government.
At the State level, the following organizations stand ready
to assist you:
Colorado (AIR)
Department of Health
11th & Bellaire Streets, Denver CO 80220
320-4180
Colorado (Water and others)
Department of Health
4210 E. 11th Avenue, Denver CO 80220
320-8333
Montana
Department of Health
Environmental Sciences Division
Cogswell Building, Helena MT 59601
449-3946
North Dakota
Division of Environmental Engineering
1200 Missouri, Bismarck ND 58501
224-2348
South Dakota
Department of Environmental Protection
Joe Foss Building, Pierre SD 57501
773-3351
Utah
Environmental Health Services
P.O. Box 2500
Salt Lake City UT 84110
533-6121
Wyoming
Department of Environmental Quality
Hathaway Building, Cheyenne WY82001
777-7391
For supplementary technical background data on air and
water quality trends see Water and Air Quality Trends in
Region 8, (PB-283 280/AS, price code A07).
U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1978 -677-941
-------
So there it is... our first attempt to
provide you with an overview of
environmental quality in the region.
As you have seen, there is much to be
proud of and much to be concerned
about. Generally, we enjoy good water
quality. Clean air prevails over large
expanses. Progress is being made in
efforts to preserve quiet, to deal with
problems of energy development,
radiation, pesticides, solid wastes
and toxic materials. But there remain
too many instances of degraded
water. Nearly one-third of the region's
people breathe unhealthy air much
too frequently. Substantial problems
remain in seeking that important
balance between the Nation's energy
needs and the protection of the air,
water and land systems upon which
all life depends.
This report has looked at
environmental quality, "Yesterday
and Today". The larger question is, of
course, "What about tomorrow? How
will next year's report read?" Part of
that answer must come from State
and local governments and the EPA
as we go about the job bestowed
upon us. But ultimately, that answer
must come from each of you.
Roger L. Williams
Deputy Regional Administrator
------- |