Times
NEWS FOR AND ABOUT EPA EMPLOYEES
INSIDE:
~	Where's the Cash?
~	Office Sales Ban
~	Resignations
VOLUME 2	NUMBER 10	March 6, 1985
Region Reaches Out to Teach
by Margherita Pryor
EPA is sometimes ac-
cused of being out-of-touch
with reality—particularly
by heavily regulated
businesses—but in Region
5, some EPA employees are
working to put high school
students more directly in
contact with the real world.
Since early last year, 17
volunteers from the Agen-
cy's Chicago offices have
been working with class-
room teachers at Washing-
ton High School as part of
the Chicago Board of
Education's "Adopt-a-
School" program. As in
several other cities, the pro-
gram was started to take
advantage of the diverse
skills and expertise avail-
able outside the school sys-
tem. The goal is to expand
the students' experience,
make them aware of varied
career opportunities, and
motivate them to stay and
succeed in school.
The areas of expertise of
Region 5's volunteers in-
clude environmental sci-
ence, aquatic biology, com-
munity planning, law, and
environmental engineering.
Working with the school's
biology, chemistry, and
earth-science teachers, the
volunteers are teaching
such subjects as law in
American life, environmen-
tal education, environmen-
tal law, the automobile as a
major air polluter, the dam-
age caused by fuel switch-
ing and emission-control
tampering.
Allan Levin, Deputy Regional Administrator, speaks with high school students during their visit to
Region 5's offices and laboratories.
tral Regional Laboratory
and the Region's offices. It
was an opportunity for
them to see how basic
scientific skills are applied
to current world problems.
Volunteers helped out-
side the classroom also. Ten
Agency scientists partici-
pated as judges with the
Chicago public schools'
citywide science fair.
The students are not the
only ones to benefit from
this partnership. By ex-
plaining the damage caused
by fuel switching and
tampering, for example,
EPA hopes to help lower
the incidence of these ac-
tivities in the Chicago area.
It's a way of protecting the
public health by bettering
public education.
Region 5's involvement in
the Adopt-a-School program
has been supported fully by
Regional Administrator Val-
das Adamkus. Volunteers in
the pilot program received
the Regional Administra-
tor's Award for Excellence.
Lee Thomas being sworn in as Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency by Vice President George Bush. Thomas's wife,
Dixie, holds the Bible during the White House ceremony.
"These subject matters re-
late to the work-a-day
world," says Robert Thayer,
Region 5's coordinator for
the project. "It's something
students do not ordinarily
expect from their own
school's curriculum."
The courses can be fun,
too. In a 6-week pilot pro-
gram conducted last spring,
EPA staffers Charles
Brasher and Erin Moran
used the sport of mountain
climbing to explain the
geology of the Peruvian An-
des. Students were also
given a tour of EPA's Cen-
It's Official
US EPA
HQ & Chemical Libraries
Washinaton DC 204RD

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Agency Snapshots
People
Where's the Cash?
Monetary Awards at EPA
In fiscal year 1983, EPA distributed $1,878,307 in em-
ployee awards. Merit Pay Cash Awards accounted for 44
percent of that total. The remainder of the awards were
distributed as shown in the charts below.
Award Dollars by Category
10% Special Act (Group)
$106,423
Note: Only General Schedule (GS) employees are eligible for QSI
and SSP awards. Both GS and Merit Pay employees may receive
Special Act Awards.
Number of Awards Granted
Per 100 Employees
Died: Harry Krum, retired Senior Sanitary Engineer, on
February 12.
Quality Step Increases awarded to: Brenda Bell, Offigfl
of the Administrator . . . Barbara Lyttle, Office of the Ii™
spector General . . . Lela Price, Administration and Re-
sources Management . . . David LaRoche, Air and Radia-
tion . . David Alderson, Richard Sigman, Philip Wird-
zek, Jean DePaulis, Dorothy Home, Cynthia Howell, Gin-
ger Scoggins, Bruce Sidwell, Elizabeth Smith, and David
Williams, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances . . .
Michael Sabourin, Ann Arbor.
Special Act Awards go to: Sybil Currie-Boyd. Office of
the Administrator . . . Roger Duhamel, Marianne Holland,
Scott Landry, Joseph Slattery, Linda Walther, and Gerald
McMillan, Office of the Inspector General . . . Dionne Wal-
ker and Phyllis McLarney, Administration and Resources
Management , . . Michelle Bynum, Tina Levine, Evelyn
Marcus, Karen Nichols, Jane Rissler, and Debbie Taylor,
Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances . . . Charles
Cole, Ann Arbor.
Continued Superior Performance Awards go to: Janice
Elhazz-Jabbar, Joanna Foellmer, and Bertha Dearring,
Office of the Administrator . . . Delores Thompson, Sylvia
Mayo, Vivian Thompson, Craig Wolff, Penelope Parker,
and Bridgette Dent, Policy, Planning, and Evaluation . . .
Antoinette Thomas, Research and Development . . . Sonia
Ruiz, Thressa Pearson, and Gail Cooper, Office of General
Counsel . . . James Guy, Christine Bell, Barbara Feather-
stone, Esther DeLauder, Joseph LeCren, Myra Galbreth,
Barbara Jarvis, and Elva Slagle, Administration and Re-
sources Management . . . Richard Babst, Herbert Brook^
Gregory Buffalino, Charles Case, To Lan Thi Dao, CliffA
Dean, Barbara Jones, Claude Magnuson, Aaron Martin,
Kim McCain, Mia McCain, Deborah McSwain, Veronica
Reilly, Jerry Taylor, Anthony Tesoriero, Marcia Ginley,
Charles Aschwanden, Ernestine Hall, Stephen Sinkez,
Kathleen Sheehan, and Debra Rosenberg, Air and Radia-
tion . . . Rose Allison, Raymond Alwood, Gail Brooks,
David Bussard, David Eberly, Ronald Evans, Steven Has-
sur, George Heath, Mark Luttner, Nilesh Patel, Harold
Podall, Paul Quillen, Paul Tobin, Robert Boethling, Robert
Brink, Gloria Brown, Sandra Cooper, Paulette Grimes,
Robert Heath, Emery Lazar, LaVerne Lewis, Paul Matthai,
Frances McChesney, Harriet McCollum, Terry O'Bryan,
Darlene Oliver, Margaret Reynolds, Philip Robinson, Wil-
lie Wheeler, Norma Williams, Kin Wong, Robin An-
derson, Charles Auer, Lynn Delpire, Stephen Ells, Myron
Ottley, Michele Paul, Janet Remmers, John Rigby, and
Richard Wormel, Pesticides and Toxic Substances . . .
James Lund, Anne Andrews, Michelle Hiller, Daniel Gus-
ler, Deborah Hedrick, Susan DeNagy, Denise Beverly,
Donid Pepson, Tommy Hester, and Craig Jakubowics,
Water . . . Deborah Bakker, Eldert Bontekoe, Natalie Can-
non, Judy Carmickle, John Hendon, Carolyn Hickey,
Christine Keller, Susan O'Connor, Mark Schaffer, Thomas
Snyder, and Eric Zellin, Ann Arbor. ~
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 themselves and of fellow employees, letters of opinion!
questions, comments, and suggestions to: Miles Allen, Editor, The EPA*
Times, Office of Public Affairs (A-107). Telephone 382-4359. Information
selected for publication will be edited as necessary in keeping with
space available.

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Environmental News
"Chairmen of two House subcommittees, upset over a
series of after-the-fact changes in reports from Union Car-
»ie Corp. about toxic emissions from its pesticide plant
Institute, W. Va., yesterday asked the General Account-
ing Office to investigate the Environmental Protection
Agency's data-gathering methods.''—Washington Post, 2/9.
"The government of Mexico yesterday pledged not to
build new sewers and water lines that would double Ti-
juana's sewage volume—and worsen cross-border sewage
pollution in the South Bay—until a method to treat the
excess is decided, U.S. officials said . . . Meanwhile,
Assembly Speaker Willie Brown reportedly has thrown his
support behind a proposed $55 million state appropriation
to finance construction of a sewage plant which could
handle 60 million gallons a day of waste and pump the
treated effluent back into Mexican pipelines for discharge
south of Rosarito Beach."— San Diego Union, 1/23.
"The United States signed an agreement with the Soviet
Union Tuesday to extend for 10 more years a 1972 accord
calling for scientific cooperation on research into environ-
mental influences on the climate. The protocol signing
marked the end of a two-week visit by a six-member
Soviet delegation."—United Press International, 2/5.
"The state Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday
gave the federal government 3 years to clean up toxic con-
tamination of the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge,
where birth defects in birds have been caused by farm
runoff water. By a unanimous vote, the board ordered the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to either shut down Kesterson
Reservoir or find a way to eliminate contamination caused
the element selenium and other toxics."—Los Angeles
Pines, 2/6.
"A bipartisan group of House members today announced
a drive for a broad legislative package to tighten federal
regulation of toxic chemicals . . . Among other things, the
legislation would require the Environmental Protection
Agency to consider listing 36 substances, including methyl
isocyanate, as hazardous pollutants under the Clean Air
Act."—New York Times, 2/6.
"Bern, Switzerland—A coalition of environmental
groups Tuesday called for nationwide gasoline rationing,
expressing growing concern about air pollution, which has
been linked to widespread damage to Switzerland's for-
ests. Polls have shown that environmental problems are
the public's No.l concern."—Los Angeles Times, 1/30.
"Sophisticated remote sensing devices in space, coupled
with super computers that can process staggering amounts
of information, have made it possible for scientists to plan
a project that is so ambitious and so complex that it would
have been out of reach just a few years ago. The technolo-
gy should be available within the next few years to permit
scientists from a wide range of disciples to study the Earth
as a single ecosystem, increasing the odds that the planet
will continue to support life in the future."—Los Angeles
Times, 2/4.
"Rescuers moved onto San Clemente Island, used for
military target practice, to begin the risky mission of sav-
ing hundreds of wild goats previously facing extermina-
Bin by Navy sharpshooters because they eat foliage
fleeded to support seven endangered species of plants and
animals."—Washington Post, 2/2.
"Jerry Bromenshenk has a honey of a way to monitor
concentrations of toxic pollutants. He uses bees . . . The
system is simple. Bees tend to forage a mile or more from
their hive. Their hairy bodies pick up whatever is in the
air and on the ground and plants. A comparable sample
would require a swarm of tests with the costly air sam-
plers, which are like fancy vacuum cleaners . . . 'Biological
monitoring'—the buzz word for all this—is gaining adhe-
rents. In Europe, the researcher says, earthworms and bee-
tles already have been used to monitor some pollutants.
Mr. Bromenshank says that when he first started his own
work, the dung beetle looked promising. Alas, he decided,
for that humble creature no government agency would give
him a study grant."—Wall Street Journal, 2/5. ~
Around EPA	
The Office of Research and Development has announced
a competitive program for bringing as many as ten inter-
nationally recognized scientists and engineers to its labora-
tories for research as part of its 1985 Distinguished Visit-
ing Scientist Program. It is expected that the winners will
be chosen by May 1.
The Agency has published an Ethics Advisory to call
attention to regulations concerning sales and solicitations
on EPA premises. Examples of prohibited activities in-
clude selling toiletries or food products or soliciting cata-
log orders for clothing. The prohibition also applies to pri-
vate solicitations or sales for charitable purposes. The
only generally applicable exceptions are for approved
charity drives, such as the Combined Federal Campaign,
sale notices for personal residences, automobiles, furniture
and similar items and authorized solicitations by labor or-
ganizations for membership or dues. EPA regulations also
prohibit outside activites which 1) involve use of the em-
ployee's time during official working hours; or 2) involve
use of official facilities (for example, office space, tele-
phones, office machines or supplies) or the services of
other employees during duty hours.
Employees fluent in foreign languages are being sought
for occasional participation in programs of the Office of
International Activities. If you are fluent in reading or
speaking a foreign language, and can secure the consent of
your supervisor to participate, contact Brenda Bell on
8-382-4052.
The American Lung Association of San Francisco, in
cooperation with the California Department of Health Ser-
vices and the University of California at Berkeley will
sponsor a conference titled "Indoor Air Quality: Practical
Approaches to a Healthy Work Environment," March 20
and 21, in San Francisco. For additional information call
Kathleen Kahler at 415-543-4410.
The National Water Well Association will sponsor a
workshop on "Safety at Hazardous Waste Sites" May 13-
17, in Columbus, Ohio. The workshop will be devoted to
basic safety practices and protocol at hazardous waste
sites. For more information call John Voytek at 614-846-
9355.
A call for papers has been issued by the American De-
fense Preparedness Association for their symposium in
October on "Restoration and Enhancement of the Environ-
ment Within the DOD Community." The conference will
be held on the Aberdeen Proving Ground, in Maryland.
For more information call Dr. Vincent Ciccone, 703-643-
1489. ~

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Cannon and Eichler Leave for New Posts
by Marilyn Rogers
Joe Cannon, Assistant Ad-
ministrator for Air and
Radiation, has chosen to
leave EPA to become a part-
ner in the law firm of Pills-
bury, Madison, and Sutro.
Cannon is an attorney by
training who has been with
the Agency since 1981.
Thomas Eichler, Region
3 Administrator, will also
be leaving the Agency. He
will accept a cabinet posi-
tion as the Secretary of
Health and Social Services
with the State of Delaware.
Cannon was appointed in
1983 to head the air and
radiation programs under
the administration of Wil-
liam Ruckelshaus. He has
been instrumental in
formulating regulations to
curtail the lead added to
gasoline. He has also
strengthened the enforce-
ment of air pollution laws
which increase compliance
with air quality standards
throughout the country.
Administrator Lee Tho-
mas said, "joe Cannon has
been of great value to EPA,
to the Administration and
to the American public.
Over three years, he has
made significant contribu-
tions to the work of this
agency. He will be sorely
missed."
Eichler, in his letter of
resignation to Lee Thomas,
wrote, "I share your optinl^
ism of EPA's future and
wish you every personal
success for the days ahead."
He also stated that he takes
particular pride in Region 3
accomplishments in several
areas including hazardous
waste, the Chesapeake Bay
program, enforcement,
working with the states,
and Regional organization
and management. ~
Training Opportunities	
The following courses will be held in the Headquarters Training Center.
For further information contact the Program Assessment and Support
Branch at 382-2997
Managing People, March 12. For all supervisors, mid-
managers, and executives.
How to Prevent Disciplinary Actions, 2 sessions, March
12 and 14. Training for supervisors and managers to
achieve good morale and strict enforcement of rules, with-
out resorting to punishment.
Employee Performance: Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory?,
2 sessions, March 19 and 21. For supervisors and man-
agers, addresses the procedures to follow in monitoring
employee performance.
Retirement Planning Seminar, March 25-27. Designed to
help participants shape their future, rather than be victims
of it. ~
Available Information	
A bibliography of books, periodicals, and EPA reports
on asbestos in schools has been compiled by the head
quarters library. Copies of the bibliography, or additional
information on people and organizations which are cur-
rently researching the subject, may be obtained from
Michelle Lee at 382-5923.
Selections from EPA Library holdings which may be of general interest to
employees.
Cost-Benefit Analysis Can be Useful in Assessing En-
vironmental Regulations, Despite Limitations: Report to '
the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United
States. REF HC110. E5U54 1984.
President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control: Re-
port on Automated Data Processing/Office Automation.
REF JK421. U57 1983.
Mandate for Leadership II: Continuing the Conservative
Revolution. JK421. M345. ~
Agency Activities
Clean Sites Inc., a private, non-profit organization cre-
ated to expedite the cleanup of hazardous waste sites, will
be idemnified by EPA against legal liability that may arise
from its effort to promote cleanups. The agency will pay
such claims from the trust fund established under the Su-
perfund Law.
Registration amendment approved allowing the use of
ethylene dibromide (EDB) on exported citrus for an addi-
tional four months. EDB is used to fumigate citrus fruit
shipped from Florida to Japan to prevent the spread of
fruit flies. The amended label will not allow EDB use on
fruit for domestic consumption, but will allow treatment
of fruit exported to Japan from February through May for
this year only.
Sections of three suburban New Jersey communities con-
taminated with radium-processing waste created in the
1920's have been included on the National Priorities List
for long-term cleanup under Superfund. The two sites are
in the communities of Montclair/West Orange and Glen
Ridge.
Decision made not to regulate methyl chloroform and
chlorofluorocarbon-113 (CFC-113) under the Clean Air
Act. Methyl chloroform's primary use is as a degreasing
agent in metal cleaning. CFC-113's primary use is in elec-
tronic industry degreasing and as a dry cleaning agent.
The Agency concluded that the likelihood of adverse
health effects resulting from exposure to both these chem-
icals is extremely low.
Speaking Out: "Just over a year ago . . . Bill Ruckelshaus
was standing up front saying exactly what he felt about
the way things were going in EPA's enforcement program.
Invoking images of gorillas in closets and tigers in tanks,
he told us what he expected us to do to correct an unac-
ceptable situation. I felt the heat, and I'm sure many of
you did too. Let me say as clearly as I can that the heat
applied last January is still on: full blast! Enforcement is
an essential part of this Agency's overall mission. There
can be no let-down."—Administrator Lee Thomas, before
the Second National Enforcement Conference, Washing-
ton, D.C., February 13. ~

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