™5.EE1
Times
NEWS FOR AND ABOUT EPA EMPLOYEES
INSIDE:
~	Where the Money Goes
~	Groundwater Seminars
~	Fixing Phones
VOLUME 1 NUMBER 10 APRIL 13, 1984
Mite-y Hobby Gains Prominence
The Entomological Society of Amer-
ica publishes numerous papers and
reference materials but only rarely are
authors honored by inclusion of their
works in the series of publications
known as the Thomas Say Foundation
monographs. Richard Newkirk, an em-
ployee of the Office of Pesticides and
Toxic Substances, has become the
ninth to be so recognized in the past
75 years.
Newkirk's book, The Eriophyid
Mites of Alfred Nalepa, is unlikely to
become a popular bestseller, but it
should remain an important reference
text for many years.
What mites lack in size (several
could romp around on the dot of an
"i"), they make up for in economic
importance. Eriophyid (from a Greek
word for wool) mites have four legs
and feed on plants, causing much de-
struction of crops and fruits. Other
types cause such problems as mange
on dogs, destruction of cheeses, and
certain types of dermatitis.
Newkirk first became interested in
mites as possible aids in constructing
a new system of plant classification—
according to which plants are eaten
by which animals. (This is called
using insect phytophagy as an indica-
tion of plant phylogeny.) Over the
succeeding 20 years he has built his
home collection into one of the
world's most complete libraries of
literature on mites and has become
internationally recognized as an ex-
pert on the tiny creatures. His new
book is the first publication of all of
the articles of Nalepa (the "founding
father" of mite research) in one
volume, and includes commentary.
Newkirk is an "original"
employee—having been with the De-
partment of Agriculture pesticides
office when EPA was organized in
1970. He now works as an environ-
mental protection specialist in the
Office of Pesticides' Freedom of In-
formation office. ¦
Staff Cautioned
On Campaign
Gifts to Reagan
A 1979 law makes it a felony for
any EPA employee, or other federal
worker, to give a political contribution
to any other officer or employee of the
United States who is the "employer or
employing authority" of the con-
tributor.
According to a memo from the
White House, the law (Section 603 of
Title 18) might be interpreted to pro-
hibit all federal employees from con-
tributing to the reelection campaign of
the President. Although the memo
suggests that "such an interpretation
would raise grave constitutional con-
cerns," all Agency employees are
cautioned against possible violations
of the statute.
Spouses and other relatives, who
are not employed by the government,
are allowed to make such con-
tributions. ¦
Richard Newkirk prepares to examine mites	Eriophyes tulipae, one of over 1,250 species of eriophyid mites,
in lab at Beltsville Agricultural Research Center.

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People
Agency Snapshots:
Where the Money Goes
Over two-thirds of EPA's budget was spent by the
grants program in fiscal 1983. The total granted for
wastewater treatment facility construction dwarfed
all other expenditures combined.
Superfund $27,502,000
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Wastewater Construction
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State & Local	Miscellaneous
Assistance	(Research, Training
$244,250,000	Demonstrations, etc.)
Source: EPA Grants Administration Division	$66,204,000
Retirees from headquarters: Daniel D. Daniels, 36 years,
William F. Gallogly, 12 years, and Elijah L. Poole, 30
years, Administration and Resources Management.
Special Act Awards presented to: Carolyn McCall, Re-
gion 4 . . . James Titus, William Smith, Michael Levin and.
Theresa Gorman, Policy, Planning and Evaluation . . .
Robert Callens, Mable Henderson, George Alapas, Jackie
Shipley and Donald Patton, Administration and Resources
Management . . . Richard Babst, William Rutledge and
David Robertson, Air and Radiation . . . John Davidson,
Research and Development.
Continued Superior Performance awards to: John Gar-
bak, Alexander Hall and Herbert Brooks, Air and Radia-
tion.
Quality Step Increases awarded to: Carolyn Young, En-
forcement and Compliance Monitoring . . . Joan Henry,
Office of the Inspector General. ¦
Agency Activities
Installation of a new electrostatic precipitator allows the
Mt. Tom power station in Massachusetts to meet federal
emission standards while saving a million barrels of oil a
year in switch to coal . . . Region 1 issues its first permit
to store hazardous waste—to the T.H. Baylis Co., Warwick,
R.I.
Special review begins of the pesticide dicofol due to
data showing contamination by DDT. Dicofol is used pri-
marily to control spider mites on cotton and citrus.
Training: State officials may be eligible for training in
hazardous waste management with financial assistance
from EPA authorized by RCRA. The fellowships for 1984-
85 will be awarded to qualified candidates studying
groundwater hydrology, geotechnical engineering or soil
science . . . Onsite training, technical assistance and di-
agnostic inspections at wastewater treatment facilities
promise to improve compliance with Clean Water Act reg-
ulations, according to a recent Agency report to Congress.
Special funds have been provided by Congress to operate
the program during the last two fiscal years.
Emissions Recall Summary: More than 20 million vehi-
cles have been recalled for excess emissions since EPA's
recall program started in 1972, including 1.7 million re-
called in 1983. Another 1.2 million vehicles were recalled
voluntarily by the manufacturers.
New Penalties Policy will help ensure a consistent
approach in pursuing civil penalties for violation of var-
ious pollution laws. Policy calls for EPA to seek penalties
that are at least as large as the profit a company may have
realized by violating the law. How much more should de-
pend upon the environmental risk posed by the violation,
the violator's efforts to correct it, the degree to which the
violator tried to avoid compliance, any previous history of
noncompliance, and the company's ability to pay.
Enforcement: Birmingham, Alabama, Spartanburg Coun-
ty, South Carolina, and the sheriff's department of Nassau
County, Florida, are charged with violating the federal un-
leaded fuel regulations and are subject to penalties of
$10,000 per violation ... A total of $140,000 in penalties
sought from the Lake Worth, Florida, police department,
the sheriff's department in Polk County, Florida, and the
Part of a modern wastewater treatment plant in California

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Around EPA
Speakers and writers are reminded that honoraria and
royalties—which may not be accepted by government em-
ployees acting in their official capacities—may be paid to
the EPA Scholarship Fund. Such contributions are volun-
tary and in no way solicited; however, they are also very
fuseful and should be remembered whenever payments are
customary. A recent all-employee memo from Administra-
tor Bill Ruckelshaus presents the concept of the scholar-
ship fund and describes who is eligible. Charlotte Englert,
of the Administrator's office, informs The Times that about
$6000 was awarded last year. The criteria for selection are
financial need and scholarship. For further information
contact Englert on 382-7957.
All headquarters employees are reminded to call the
EPA telephone repair service (382-2267) when problems
are encountered with the sets or the lines. Do not call C&P
or AT&T. Misdirected trouble calls cost the Agency $40-60
and usually fail to solve the problem. With 4500 handsets
in the Washington area, failure to follow the proper proce-
dure can cost a great deal of money.
The Protection of Public Water Supplies from
Groundwater Contamination is the subject of a series of
free seminars the Agency is sponsoring around the coun-
try. Attendees will obtain a basic knowledge of general
and local hydrogeology, potential sources of groundwater
contamination, approaches to identifying contamination
threats, and management alternatives for dealing with
groundwater contamination. For further information con-
tact Sheri Marshall, Conference Coordinator, Dynamac
Corporation, P.O. Box 2198, Kensington, MD 20895. Tele-
phone 301-468-2500. Schedule: Kansas City and Chicago
in April, Denver and Boston in May, New York, San Fran-
cisco and Seattle in June, and Atlanta in August. ¦
Muffler Man repair shop in Lakeland, Florida, for removal
of catalytic converters . . . For the first time the liability
for tampering is extended to second parties by EPA's
citing of the National Muffler Manufacturing Co., East
Point, Georgia, for distributing pipes which were installed
on 59 vehicles as replacements for catalytic converters. A
$200,000 penalty is proposed.
Contempt actions against Jones & Laughlin Steel, Inc.,
for Clean Air Act violations are settled by the company's
agreement to pay a $4 million fine and to share with the
[American steel industry, free of charge, Jones and Laugh-
lin technology for the control of particulate emissions
from blast furnaces . . . Civil action filed against Printpak,
Inc., Elgin, Illinois, for excessive emissions of volatile
organic compounds. Penalties of $25,000 per day of viola-
tion are sought from the packaging manufacturer.
Carefree Homes, Inc., is named in a civil suit for repeti-
tive violations of the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act in
the first enforcement action of its kind in Region 5. The
mobile home park failed to respond to Agency attempts to
prompt cleanup of bacterial contamination in its drinking
water . . . The Millipore Corporation is charged with the
illegal discharge of wastewater into a tributary of Con-
toocook Lake from its Jaffrey, New Hampshire, facility.
A $1 million trust fund will be established by nine
generators of hazardous waste to clean up the Waste Dis-
posal Engineering site in Andover, Minnesota. The com-
panies, including Ford Motor Co. and Sperry Corp., have
also agreed to conduct a remedial investigation and
feasibility study on the site and to pay $25,000 to EPA and
$31,000 to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for
past site work . . . ALCOA consents to take several reme-
dial measures to stop actual and threatened releases of
PCBs from its Davenport Works in Riverside, Iowa ... A
penalty of $25,000 is sought from the Boncosky Transpor-
tation corporation, Lake in the Hill, Illinois, for hauling
hazardous waste without having an EPA identification
number, lack of a facility closure plan, and other de-
.ciencies . . . Dow Chemical Company agrees to pay
$48,450 for failure to notify the Agency prior to disposal
of materials contaminated with dioxin. a
Increase Your
EPA Awareness
Headquarters employees who have wondered exactly
how the Office of Regional Operations interacts with the
Regions, or what distinguishes the Office of Federal Ac-
tivities from the Office of Congressional Affairs, or what
that title means or why some other office exists, may be
able to find out at one of a series of briefings sponsored by
the new Washington Information Center.
The "Employee Information Briefings" are scheduled on
Wednesdays, with each topic offered twice (11-11:30 a.m.
and 12-12:30 p.m.). EPA officals will describe what is
happening in their programs and what the future may
hold. Following each briefing attendees will be able to
view an exhibit of an information system relative to the
topic, access information through an on-line data link, and
pose questions to the exhibitor.
The spring schedule follows:
~	May 9—EPA Around the Nation. A summary of re-
gional activities today and tomorrow, by Samuel Schulhof,
Associate Administrator for Regional Operations.
~	May 23 EPA Slrulugic Policy. Where can we expert
to be in 5-10 years, by Milton Russell, Assistant Adminis-
trator for Policy, Planning and Evaluation.
~	June 6—Environment Around the World. A summary
of environmental activities in the United Nations, other
international organizations and some specific countries, by
Fitzhugh Green, Associate AdjiiiiiisUatur for International
Activities.
~	June 13—Putting Teeth Into EPA's Regulatory Activi-
ties. A summary of current enforcement activities at EPA,
by Courtney M. Price, Assistant Administrator for Enforce-
ment and Compliance Monitoring.
~	June 20—The States and EPA. EPA's role with state
environmental agencies and a summary of where the
states are from an environmental perspective, by Deborah
Steelman, Director, Office of Intergovernmental Liaison, a

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Our Rivers Run Clearer Now
The nation's water is cleaner than it
was 10 years ago; however, important
water pollution problems remain.
These are among the conclusions of a
report, "America's Clean Water," pre-
pared by the Association of State and
Interstate Water Pollution Control
Administrators (ASIWPCA) in a joint
project with EPA.
The states report that water quality
has improved in the past 10 years in
47,000 miles of the streams evaluated;
the quality level has been maintained
in another 296,000 miles. The mainte-
nance of water quality itself is de-
scribed as a major accomplishment
since the nation's population grew 11
percent during the decade, and re-
source development and recreational
use also increased.
The report summarizes data pro-
vided during 1983 by 56 state, inter-
state, and territorial water pollution
control agencies. It portrays the state
perspective on the accomplishments
of the clean water program and the
value derived from tax dollars and
private investments made by the
American people to restore and en-
hance the quality of the the nation's
water.
While this improvement and main-
tenance of water quality reflects sig-
nificant accomplishments, 27 percent
of the waters evaluated still do not
fully support the uses designated in
state standards. These uses typically
include the support of fish and other
aquatic life, drinking water with-
drawals, swimming and irrigation.
Another accomplishment noted in
the report is an increase since 1972 of
57 million people served by sewage
treatment systems providing at least
secondary treatment of wastes. This
means that 63 percent of the entire
population is now being provided
with adequate sewage treatment.
Twenty percent of the remainder do
not need any treatment beyond their
current individual disposal systems.
This service has been provided for a
expenditure of $260 per capita
for municipal sewage system capital
costs. Discharge of oxygen-demanding
pollutants from municipal facilities
has decreased.
Industry has assisted significantly in
the improvement of water quality.
Although figures on the total ex-
penditures by industry for water
pollution control were not available in
every state, there are numerous re-
ports of improved water quality
resulting from reduced industrial dis-
charges.
In those waters where problems do
exist which affect the use of the
water, 26 states said that the primary
cause was nonpoint sources, 19 states
cited municipal sources, and 3 states
cited industrial sources.
The states expect to face two other
major challenges in the coming dec-
ade: the identification and control of
toxic pollutants and the protection of
groundwater resources.
Copies of the report and further in-
formation about the project are avail-
able from: ASIWPCA, 444 North Capi-
tol Street, NW., Washington. DC
20001. Telephone 202-624-7782. ¦
		1
The EPA Times is published 24 times per year to provide news and information for and about EPA employees. Readers are encouraged to
submit news of fellow employees, letters of opinion, questions, comments, and suggestions to: Miles Allen, Editor, The EPA Times, Office of
Public Affairs (A-107). Telephone 382-4379. Information selected for publication will be edited as necessary in keeping with space available.
All letters of opinion must be signed and accompanied by submitter's office location and telephone number.
GPO 906-1 33

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