United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Issue No. 26
May 2, 1983
Page 99
SEPA TIMES
A Publication for EPA Employees
Chisholm Deplores Underutilization of Women
Former Congress-
woman Shirley
Chisholm told
a group of EPA
employees
recently that
the "underutili-
zation of the
American woman
is one of the
most senseless
wastes in this
country—and one
that our society
cannot afford."
Speaking at a
program sponsored
by EPA's Federal
Women's Program,	Shirley Chisholm
Chisholm declared:
"People—men and wcmen—desire to make their
contribution to this Nation on the basis of
their God-given talents, their aptitudes,
their capacities and their abilities. Any
kind of discrimination against a person,
whether it is on the basis of the person's
1983 Savings Bond
Campaign Begins	
The 1983 campaign to encourage purchase
of Federal savings bonds starts Monday,
May 2, and runs through May 31.
Highlights about the new bond program
include:
• All new EE Bonds held at least five
years frcm November 1, 1982, and most
E Bonds will earn the market-based
interest rate, compounded semi-annually.
The market-based rate guarantees a min-
imum of 7.5% per year. Bonds are now
paying a market-based rate of 11.9% for
Continued to back page
sex, race, or what have you is ultimately
anti-human."
Chisholm, now a professor at Mt. Hoiyoke
College in Massachusetts, was introduced by
EPA's Acting Administrator Lee Verstandig,
who said that Chisholm "has not really
retired from public life and is here to
revitalize and reinvigorate our thinking."
A former candidate for President, Chisholm
received standing ovations
and end of her talk, which was part of the
Wcmen's Week observation at EPA.
She traced the history of prejudice
against wcmen in every aspect of society and
said that one of the hardest tasks that
workers in the women's movement face is to
convince "middle America that women are
really very serious" about their quest for
equal treatment.
Chisholm said that as a wcman—"and an
assertive wcman at that"—she had found
"greater prejudice in the political arena
because of her sex than because of being
black."
She said that American history is
"steeped in this kind of sexism. Consider
that not one wcman signed the Declaration
of Independence. And only a handful down
through the years have served in the U.S.
Congress."
Discussing affirmative action, Chisholm
said that positive and deliberate efforts
must be made by every institution and
agency to rectify existing inequities
resulting frcm past discrimination.
"Our Nation needs the collective talents
of those individuals who can bring about an
amelioration of the human condition," she
ccnmented. Chisnolm said that America
needs a new state of mind that demands
peace, prosperity and equality for all
citizens.
Chisholm, who in addition to teaching is
lecturing around the Nation, was frequently
applauded by a standing-room-only audience.

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100
EPA Testing Impact of Carbon Monoxide
A program for monitoring cardiac changes in
volunteers undergoing physical stress tests
while exposed to carefully controlled low
levels of carbon monoxide is being operated
by the Research Triangle Institute for EPA
in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The project is part of a program being
conducted by EPA's Health Effects Research
Laboratory at its Clinical Studies Facility
in Chapel Hill.
Research Triangle Institute is doing the
study under a $248,815 contract with EPA.
Mathew L. Petrovick, EPA project officer
for the contract, said much of the work will
support an EPA cooperative agreement with
the U.S. Army Medical Bioengineering Research
and Development Laboratory at Fort Detrick,
Md.
The contract involves the validation of a
mathematical model for estimating the amount
of carboxyhemoglobin formed in blood during
inhalation of carbon monoxide.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless
gas emitted frcm a variety of sources, in-
cluding engine exhausts and the propellants
used in weapons systems, such as tanks,
personnel carriers and helicopters. It
displaces oxygen in the blood and, at
high enough levels, can affect heart, lung
and physiologic motor functions, especially
during stressful situations.
The level of carbon monoxide in the blood
is measured by the amount of carboxy-
hemoglobin, which is formed when inhaled
carbon monoxide combines with hemoglobin
in the blood.
Petrovick said RTI's primary responsi-
bilities include: assuring validation and
accuracy of cardiac stress measurements,
coordinating data base design, and report-
ing experimental results.
The EPA-Army study is designed to simu-
late carbon monoxide exposure conditions
experienced by crewmen enclosed in military
vehicles and aircraft. The Army will use
the test results in designing new military
systems and eguipment.
EPA views the project as an opportunity
to increase scientific understanding of
potential impacts of carbon monoxide in
a variety of environments, data that can
provide a foundation for future air quality
decisions aimed at protecting public
health.
The EPA Health Effects Research
Laboratory in North Carolina conducts
human studies and biological research
to determine the health effects of
exposure to air pollutants, pesticides,
toxic substances and non-ionizing
radiation.
A volunteer exercising in a pilot chamber
planned for full-scale pulmonary and
cardiovascular performance tests in EPA's
human health studies at Chapel Hill, N.C.

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Campaign Against Contract
Abuse Pays Off at EPA	
Bid-riggers, contractors with poor per-
formance records, and recipients who abuse
EPA grant agreements are now encountering
stringent preventive measures, the Agency's
Grants Division has reported.
The division's compliance staff has opened
cases involving 119 contractors and other
parties to EPA grants since a new program
to prevent and detect fraud, waste and
abuse was initiated last fall.
Six contractors have been debarred frcm
participation in EPA-funded projects and
another 11 have been suspended temporarily
or proposed for debarment. Twelve con-
tractors have entered into settlements
with EPA or have voluntarily withdrawn
fran participating in Agency-funded projects.
Sixty-five cases are still under investiga-
tion, 22 others are being processed and
three have been dismissed.
The ccmpliance staff also is conducting
seminars to inform grant recipients and
others of the regulations and procedures to
guard against contract abuses, according to
acting director Belle Davis.
EPA Employees Win New Jobs
Under Mobility Program	
Fifteen EPA employees have found new posi-
tions within the Agency so far as a result
of the intra-agency mobility program.
The following will be the first to
relocate:
Steve Blczyk frcm Region 3, Philadelphia,
to Region 1, Boston; Laurie Cohen frcm
Headquarters to Region 10, Seattle; Audry
Davis frcm Ann Arbor, Mich., to Region 5,
Chicago; Kevin Dyer fran Region 5, Chicago,
to Region 10, Seattle; Rene Fuenotes frcm
Region 9, San Francisco, to Region 10,
Seattle; Brian McKeoun frcm Headquarters to
Region 9, San Francisco; Tony Medrano from
Region 8, Denver, to Region 10, Seattle;
Terry Moan frcm Region 5, Chicago, to Region
10, Seattle; Christine Parker from Region 8,
Denver, to Region 10, Seattle; Richard
Parkin frcm Region 5, Chicago, to Region 10,
Seattle; Francine Pollack from Headquarters
to Region 5, Chicago; Robert Robichaud frcm
Region 5, Chicago, to Region 10, Seattle;
Keith Silva frcm Headquarters to Region 9,
101
Adamkus Wins Awards
Valdas Adamkus,
EPA's Region 5
Adminis trator,
has won the
Lake Michigan
Federation1s 1983
Rachel Carson
Great Lakes
Award.
The Federation,
a citizens' group
organized to
protect water
quality in the
Lake Michigan
Basin, presents
the award
annually to an
outstanding
environmentalist.
Judith Kiriazis, reueLdLiun exeuuLivti
director, said that Adamkus was selected
because of his long record of service to
the Great Lakes and his efforts to clean
up PCB's in Waukegan Harbor.
Adamkus was also honored recently at the
State Department where he was given a plaque
recognizing his contribution to achievements
by the American-Canadian International Joint
Commission in protecting the Great Lakes.
Adamkus is the American co-chairman of the
IJC's Water Quality Board.
Also presented plaques at this meeting for
their efforts on IJC programs were two other
Region 5 officials, David Kee, Director of
the Air Management Division, and David M.
Wagner, Chief of the Environmental Monitor-
ing Branch.
Kee is the American co-chairman of the
IJC's Michigan-Ontario Air Pollution Board
and Wagner is the American co-chairman of
the Rainy River Board.
San Francisco; John Taylor from Region 4,
Atlanta, to Region 5, Chicago; Gary
Voerman frcm Region 8, Denver, to Region 10,
Seattle.
Information on current vacancies is
available through the Intra-agency Mobility
Coordinating Office, 8/382-7067.
The program to encourage intra-agency
transfers was set up because of an Agency-
wide limitation on hiring from outside EPA.
Valdas Adamkus

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102
I.G. Finds Deficiencies in Office of Federal Activities
Lee L. Verstandig, Acting Administrator of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
announced that he was making public an
audit report of a recently ccmpleted
survey of the Office of Federal Activ-
ities prepared by Acting Inspector General
Charles L. Dempsey. The report resulted
frcm allegations of mismanagement of the
agency's responsibilities as detailed in
Section 309 of the Clean Air Act.
Verstandig said he and his management
team had established a need "early on
to correct problems of operations and man-
agement within the Office of Federal
Activities." The resulting I.G. report,
which was initiated by a hotline canplaint,
identifies problems and makes specific
recommendations for correction. Verstandig
SAVINGS BONDS (continued)
the first six-month period. Bonds held
less than five years earn interest on
a fixed graduated scale.
•	Interest earned on Series E and EE Bonds
is not subject to state or local income
tax. Federal income tax may be paid
currently or deferred until bonds are
cashed or reach final maturity, which-
ever ccmes first. Series HH Bond inccme
is not subject to state or local taxes,
but Federal income tax must be paid
currently.
•	Series EE Bonds accrued interest is paid
when the bond is cashed. Bonds may be
redeemed at any time after the first six
months.
0 At any time after six months, EE bonds,
which can be purchased for as little as
$25, may be exchanged in multiples of
$500 for "current-inccme" HH Bonds, which
pay interest every six months by Treasury
check.
® E Bonds issued between 1941 and 1952 have
begun reaching their final maturities.
They cease drawing interest exactly 40
years frcm their respective issue dates.
As bonds reach maturity, they may be
cashed or exchanged for HH Bonds.
Further information on savings bonds may
be-obtained from your Personnel Office.
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''"wiTfi-tfiree "(To les for binding Tor
future reference.
said the agency was now in the process of
implementing those recamiendations.
Dempsey stated that a follow-up study
would be performed in six months to insure
the recommendations had been acted upon and
that the problems had been corrected.
Many of the ccmplaints revolved around
delays in reviews of environmental impact
statements and other major federal actions.
To correct these deficiencies, Dempsey
recatmended the appointment of a permanent
director of the Office of Federal Activ-
ities who can provide necessary direction
and oversight and ensure established
controls of the Section 309 process. His
report also stressed the need for proper
maintenance and documentation of files.
Dempsey's report was praised by
Verstandig "as a significant step in our
process of management review."
The Acting Director of the Office of
Federal Activities is Pasquale Alberico,
who replaced Paul Cahill March 25.
EPA Oil Experts Return
Two EPA officials have returned frcm a
three-week assignment in the Middle
East counseling United Arab Emirates
officials on how to deal with a Persian
Gulf oil spill threatening this country's
coast.
They are Kenneth Biglane, Director
of the Hazardous Response and Support
Division, and Steve Dorrler, Chief of
the Environmental Response Branch, who
flew to the Middle East as part of an
EPA^U.S. Coast Guard team. They made
the trip in response to an urgent request
from the Government of the United Arab
Emirates.
The team conducted aerial surveys in the
Gulf off the United Arab Emirates coast,
held training seminars in oil cleanup
techniques and made recommendations on
development of response strategies.
The oil spill, fed by thousands of barrels
of oil a day from leaking Iranian off-shore
wells, was caused primarily as a result of
bombs dropped in the war between Iraq and
Iran.
Biglane said that when the team left
officials of the United Arab Emirates
seemed confident they could handle the oil
if the spill reaches the shores of their
country.

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