United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Issue No. 15
November 22, 1982
Page 57 	
•SEPA TIMES
A Publication for EPA Employees
Personnel
Health Plan
Comparison Chart
The Federal Employees
Health Benefit (FEHB) Open
Season, from November 22
through December 10, 1982,
is the opportunity for
employees to make changes
in their health insurance
enrollment or to enroll
in the program if not
already participating.
Prior to the Open Season,
employees will receive a
comparison chart which
displays the major
features of the insurance
plans and a rate chart
showing 1983 premiums for
each of the plans.
A proposal presently being
considered by the Office
of Personnel Management
would limit "Open Seasons"
to only once every two
years, so be sure to
review your existing
coverage thoroughly.
Headquarters employees may
obtain the appropriate
forms from Room 3013,
WSM, and should return
completed forms to that
office prior to December
10. Employees in re-
gional or field offices
should contact their
Personnel Offices. Changes
made during the Open
Season will be effective
January 9, 1983, the
beginning of the first
full pay period in 1983.
EPA May Seal Pollutants in Tacoma Bay
Mike Matta, trawler skipper, and Jim Hileman of EPA
Region 10, gathering sediment from Everett Harbor for
analysis.
The Environmental Protection Agency may be able to begin
sealing off pollutants on the bottom of Commencement Bay
at Tacoma, Wash., within the next year to prevent them
from entering the marine environment.
Specialists from EPA's Region 10 already have been
taking samples from both Commencement Bay and the inner
harbor at Everett, Wash., using a 45-foot trawler, the
"Harold W. Streeter," on loan from the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration. The samples will be
analyzed for more than 100 different pollutants that EPA
considers of priority importance.
John R. Spencer, Regional Administrator for EPA Region
10, told two Senate Committees at a hearing in Seattle
recently that preliminary sampling of sediments in the
deep water portion of Commencement Bay has been com-
pleted and results are expected soon. He testified
continued on page 60

-------
58
RTP Scientists Honored for Research Efforts
Research Triangle Park, N.C.--Four research
teams and two individual scientists from
the Triangle Area have been honored by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for
their contributions to environmental research.
Or. Courtney Riordan, EPA Acting Assistant
Administrator for Research and Development,
Washington, made the presentations during
an awards ceremony last month.--atthe
Environmental Research Center here.
Heading the list of honorees was Franz J.
Burmann, who received the Agency's Dis-
tinguished Career Award. The Award is a
special gold medal honoring employees who
have rendered distinguished service
throughout their Federal careers.
Burmann, now retired, has had a long and
successful career with the Public Health
Service and EPA and its predecessor agencies.
Hp was named Denuty Director of the
Environmental Monitoring Systems Lab-
oratory in 1977, the post he held at
the time of his retirement last year.
Burmann now lives in Twin Oaks,California.
The other honorees received the EPA
Bronze Medal for Commendable Service.
The recipients and the achievements for
which they were honored were:
-- Thomas C. Lawless, Chief of the DataBase
Management Section, Environmental Monitoring
Systems Laboratory, "in recognition of out-
standing and distinguished service to the
Environmental Protection Agency and other
Federal activities."
-- The Love Canal Team, Environmental Moni-
toring Systems Laboratory, "in recognition
of outstanding contributions made in the .
field sampling, data collection, and quality
assurance activities during the Love Canal
monitoring project." Team members were
Thomas A. Hartlage, John C. Puzak, Barry E.
Martin, Terence Fitz-Simons, Joel C.
Daughtridge, Everett L. Quesnel1 and Steven
Seilkop.
-- Dr. John J. O'Neil and Dr. George M.
Goldstein, "in recognition of excellence in
the technical management and coordination of
the Clinical Research Program of EPA's
Health Effects Research Laboratory."
-- Gerald Nehls, Margaret C. Mickelson and
James R. Smith, all of the Health Effects
Research Laboratory, "in recognition of
excellence in contribution to the develop-
ment and implementation of the Research Tree
Information Management concept."
-- The Diesel Emissions Research Team, En-
vironmental Sciences Research Laboratory,"in
recognition of an outstanding team research
effort that has greatly expanded knowledge
about the characteristics and potential
impacts of particle and gaseous emissions
from diesel- powered vehicles." Team members
were Susan W. Bass, Henry J. Becker, Francis
M. Black, Dr. James N. Braddock, David L.
Dropkin, Dr. Ronald L. Bradow, Peter A. Gabele,
Foy G. King, Jr., William D. Ray, Fred D.
Stump, Dr. Silvestre Tejada, and Dr. Roy B.
Zweidinger.
Another 134 employees at the Environ-
mental Research Center also received
awards and honors in other categories.
Cannon Names Deputy
John M. Campbell, Jr., has been appointed
deputy to Joseph A. Cannon, Associate Admin-
istrator for Policy and Resource Management.
Since April 1981, Campbell had been special
assistant to the Assistant Secretary for
Policy, Budget and Administration at the
Department of Interior and most recently as
special assistant to the Secretary of
Interior on foreign investment issues.
Earlier he was a policy analyst at the
Council on Wage and Price Stability. He
served as assistant to the Assistant Secre-
tary for Policy Analysis at the Department
of Energy 1978-1979 and was a senior
researcher and policy analyst with the
Appalachian Regional Commission 1975-1978.
Campbell received a B.A. degree from the
University of Nebraska in 1972 and an
M.A. in public and international affairs
from the University of Pittsburgh in 1975.
Dioxin Decontamination
EPA is testing a new technique to decon-
taminate dioxins at numerous sites in,
Missouri where soil contamination has
been reported. Soil samples are being
studied at an EPA contract laboratory
and results should be available within
two months. If the chemical treatment
process proves successful, field trials
will begin immediately.

-------
EPA Receives Employer of the Year Award
59
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
has received the Employer of the Year
Award from Fairfax Opportunities Un-
limited for providing employment for 27
handicapped young men and women.
Sam Schulhof, Deputy Assistant Adminis-
trator for Administration, accepted the
award last month on behalf of the Agency in
a ceremony at the 11th annual meeting of
the organization. A second plaque went to
Dwight F. Rodgers, Tele-communications
Manager in the Facilities and Support
Services Division, Office of Admininistra-
tion, for his role in negotiating the
contract between EPA and the organization1s
"Op Shop" facility in Springfield, Va.
Rodgers supervised the contract during its
first nine months of operation.
The handicapped persons have been hand-
ling mail room distribution and mail
messenger service at EPA Headquarters.
The EPA contract is the largest ever
negotiated by the Op Shop. Officials
also point out that the arrangement is
one in which the handicapped, or clients
as they like to be called, are working
away from the sheltered environment of
the Springfield facility. Managers note
that the contract in this way is helping
the organization let its clients work
un.Jer conditions similar to the competi-
tive environment of the outside world,
offering valuable and realistic experience.
Firms Sued
for Pollution Violations
The Department of Justice has sued a
muffler shop and three fleet vehicle
operators, charging them with violations
of Clean Air Act regulations that pro-
hibit removal of vehicle pollution control
equipment. Potential civil penalties
range up to $102,500.
Defendants are Mr. Muffler, Channelview,
Tex.; Paktank Gulf Coast, Inc., Deer
Park, Tex.; Oiltanking of Texas, Inc.,
Houston; and Chromalloy American Corp.,
Houma, La. The cases resulted from an EPA
investigation of the Mr. Muffler facility,
which was charged with removing catalytic
converters from 24 vehicles.

Sam Schulhof (left) receiving award on
behalf of EPA from Walter Chernish, Deputy
Director, Fairfax Opportunities Unlimited
Fairfax Opportunities receives both con-
tract earnings and financial support
from local government and numerous
private donors in working with more than
200 young people of varying types and
degrees of disability.
A number of Federal agencies have been con-
tracting with the organization to employ
its clients under Section (8) (a) of the
Javits-Wagner-O'Day Act of 1972. The Act
enables the Federal government to set aside
work for severely handicapped persons. A
committee named by the President represen-
ting all agencies sets prices and monitors
compliance, since the contracts are not
awarded under the normal competitive
bidding process.
In most of the contracts with the Op Shop,
the work is performed at the Springfield
location. The value of the EPA arrangement,
officials note, is its difficult-to-evaluate
but unquestionable therapeutic value in
providing work away from the shelter of the
organization's own facility and in close
contact with an agency's daily functioning.
Schulhof emphasized that as far as the EPA
Facilities Division is concerned, the young
men and women from Springfield are doing an
excellent job, and EPA officials have been
urging other Federal agencies who enquire
about the program to follow EPA's example
and give more of them job opportunities.
The EPA Times is published every two weeks by EPA's Office of Public Affairs, A-107,
Washington, D.C. 20460, to provide current information for all EPA employees. It is
punched with three holes for binding for future reference.

-------
60
A. H. Ellison Named
Director of ESRL
Dr. Alfred H. Ellison has
been named Director of
EPA's Environmental Sciences
Research Laboratory (ESRL)
at Research Triangle Park,N.C.
A native of Boston, Dr.
Ellison received a bachelor's
degree in chemistry from
Boston College in 1950, a
master's degree in analytical
chemistry from Tufts College
in 1951, and a doctorate in
surface and colloidal
chemistry from Georgetown
University in 1956.
After working as a research
chemist at the Naval Research
Laboratory in Washington,
D.C. from 1951 to 1956, he
moved to Beacon, N.Y., to
become a research chemist
at the Texaco Research
Center. In 1965 he was
named Assistant Manager of
the Harris Research Labor-
atories Division, Gillette
Research Institute, at
Rockville, Md.
Dr. Ellison was appointed
Deputy Director of the
Chemistry and Physics Lab-
oratory at Research Triangle
Park in 1969. The labora-
tory was reorganized in
1975 as the present Environ-
mental Sciences Research
Laboratory, with Dr. Ellison
continuing as Deputy Director.
He held that post until being
named Acting Director last year.
EPA MAY SEAL POLLUTANTS IN TACOMA BAY (Continued)
before a joint hearing of the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee
on Environment and Public Works.
Spencer said EPA already has proposed that the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers consider placing clean dredge spoils
on top of polluted "hot spots" to prevent migration of
contaminants. If it is feasible to do so, work could start
in late 1983.
The Regional Administrator noted that EPA is producing
information that will help all other involved government
agencies to develop a coordinated approach to pollution
problems in Commencement Bay and other Puget Sound
locations.
EPA specialists have been locating suspected deposits of
hazardous wastes at the bottom of the Bay by using
acoustical signals bounced from the Bay floor. Equip-
ment aboard the trawler provides print-outs showing the
depth and density of bottom sediments. After taking
these seismic soundings, personnel choose locations from
which to pull up small samples of sediments and send
them to EPA's laboratory at Manchester, Wash., for
analysis. Scientists are evaluating the samples to
determine if contaminated sediments may be a link to
fish abnormalities recently reported by NOAA.
In his testimony Spencer cited a number of other EPA
studies in the Puget Sound area. They included these:
Everett
•	EPA scientists are analyzing fish tissue samples
collected by the Washington State Department of of
Ecology. Information will be provided to the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration, the State Department of
Social and Health Services and the Snohomish County
Health Department to help them determine if consumption
of the fish is safe.
•	EPA is analyzing samples of industrial effluent
discharged into the Inner Harbor to decide if
additional pollution controls are necessary.
Seattle
•	EPA field crews recently surveyed Duwamish River
sediments for chemical contamination. Lab results from
this survey and others will complement investigations
by Seattle Metro, DOE and NOAA. Collectively, the
results will help in controlling discharges of toxic
substances in the Seattle area.
•	EPA is supporting Seattle Metro efforts to control
toxic discharges by furnishing more than $3.6 million
in Federal grants. Metro has been given S3.5 million
for a toxic pre-treatment study, $67,000 for a
pollutant inventory of the lower Duwamish, and $40,000
for their disposal.

-------