™:ERi
Times
NEWS FOR AND ABOUT EPA EMPLOYEES
INSIDE:
~	Hispanic Week
~	Slipping Discs
~	Credit for All
Summer intern, Earl Pott, checks the scout's	A new patch is always Vern Webb explains the workings of the
knowledge and hands out patches.	worth a big smiJe.	Enviropod aeriaJ camera.
VOLUME 2 NUMBER 16 August 1985
A Good Deed for the Environment
The last time EPA officials
were invited to the Fort A.P.
Hill boy scout campsite, they
were contending with
dioxin-contaminated soil.
This visit, their main
problems were black widow
spiders, dehydration,
C-rations, and strained vocal
chords.
Not the usual occupational
hazards at EPA, but then, this
was not the usual Agency
undertaking.
As July drew to a close,
about 34 hardy souls from
headquarters and the regional
offices helped EPA
participate in the 1985
National Boy Scout Jamboree,
held at Fort Hill, near
Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Along with some 20 other
groups, including several
government agencies, EPA
personnel set up shop in a
heavily wooded area
dedicated to environmental
and conservation awareness.
Scouts, scout leaders, and
visitors had to hike several
miles to reach the EPA
exhibit, located second-to-last
on the conservation trail.
About 8,000 hardy souls
made the effort during the 9
days the exhibit was open.
Alan Batterman, from the
Duluth laboratories, said
some adult leaders had
reported spending 5 or 6
hours visiting the exhibits on
the trail. Such strong interest
was all the more remarkable
in light of the competition
from hundreds of other
exhibitors elsewhere on the
Jamboree grounds, including
several major corporations
with big bucks to spend.
Many of the 30,000 scouts in
attendance, for instance, were
spending half-a-day or more
standing in line to tour the
Apple Computer exhibit and
receive a free satchel worth
about $40.
Thanks to contributions
from industry, EPA also had
a sought-after souvenir. But
the scouts didn't have to wait
for it . . . they had to earn it.
Before touring the exhibits,
each visitor picked up a form
on which he marked the
displays of special interest.
Once through, an EPA staffer
asked questions about the
noted exhibits and rewarded
participants with a scout
patch. The patch showed the
EPA logo surrounded by the
words: "B.S.A. Jamboree,
1985, Environmental
Awareness Award."
No scout, however, worked
as long and hard as did our
own EPA staff. A dozen
hardy souls stayed for the
entire Jamboree, sleeping in
barracks and tents, eating
mysterious institutional-type
food, and learning to talk for
hours on end amid the heat
and the bugs and the rain.
Continued on back.
Linda Strachan introduces scouts to the questionnaire

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People
Letters
Retirees: James Campbell, 11 years, Clifford Risley, Jr., 26
years, and Jesteen Bolden, 28 years, Region 5.
Deaths: Karl Klepitsch, Jr., and Gwendolyn Cowan, Region 5.
Bronze Medals awarded to: John Rasnic, Steve Hitte, and
Kevin Bell, Air and Radiation. These employees performed
outstanding work on a project concerning the National Air
Audit System.
Florence Myers was named Secretary of the Year, and
Tammie Singleton named Clerk-Typist of the Year in Region 5.
Quality Step Increases awarded to: Nancy Willis and Joan
Fisk, Solid Waste and Emergency Response . . . Virgie Wiley
and Caroline Poplin, Enforcement and Compliance
Monitoring . . . Carl Grable and Janice Person. Pesticides and
Toxic Substances . . . Bohdan Mykijewycz, Frank Quirus,
Esther Steinberg, and Areatha Campbell, Region 3.
Special Act Awards presented to: Eric Peterson Barbara
Willis, Julie Tanner, and Craig Wolff. Policy. Planning and
Evaluation . . . Keith Onsdorff, Arthur Varella, Arthur Ray,
Douglas Greenhaus, and Henry Baney, Enforcement and
Compliance Monitoring . . . Linda Gatzke and Priscilla
Tillery, Research and Development . . . Richard Kinch, Water
. . . William Early, Abe Ferdas, Carol Johnson, Luis Lopez,
Ronald Patterson, and Pamela Suite, Region 3.
Sustained Superior Performance Awards to: Regina Rawl
and Deaetra Hicks, Enforcement and Compliance Monitoring
. . . Phillip Paparadis, Policy, Planning and Evaluation . . .
Marcia Jolly, Water . . . Doreen Cantor, Acquanetta Delaney,
Kevin Bell, Myra Cypser, Roberta Lane, Lou Paley, and
Sonya Stelmack, Air and Radiation. . . Robin Cole, Gil
Horwitz, and Sam Israel, Region 3. ~
Papers Explain Perks
All full-time and permanent part-time employees
should receive individual Employee Benefit Statements
during August.
Morgan Kinghorn, EPA's Comptroller, decided last
year to undertake this project in order to explain to
employees the fringe benefits that are available to them
as a result of their employment with the federal
government. Included in these statements will be
information and projections relating to each employee's
individual health and life insurance, Medicare,
disability, and retirement benefits.
Retirement projections will be based on the
employee's most recent employment with EPA, and
utilize assumptions regarding past federal earnings
history.
These statements will be distributed at the office and
employees should review their copy carefully and share
the information with their family before placing it in a
safe place for future reference.
This is the first time that EPA has provided this type
of service to its employees and, if the response is
positive, these statements will be prepared every other
year in late summer.
If you have any questions after reviewing your
individual statement, please contact your local
Personnel Office, or for payroll-related questions, call
the Financial Management Division's Customer
Assistance Office on 382-5116.
Dear Editor:
Recently, EPA's Washington Information Center (WIC),i
headquarters ADP specialists, announced the purchase ol
special computer program that restores information lost from
"disks used in Lexitron equipment."
In the same announcement, WIC also noted that "a number
of EPAers have reported problems with disks used in Lexitron
equipment," and offered a checklist of DOs and DON'Ts for
proper handling of the disks. WIC is to be commended for
their helpful attempts to remedy a wasteful and costly
problem; but there is evidence that the problem may lie in the
disks themselves. The disks now available in headquarters
supply for use in Lexitron equipment are not made by
Lexitron but are a brand called "Velocity." Velocity is bad
news.
A real Lexitron disk can be used safely to 85 percent of its
total capacity. Velocity disks are unsafe to use much past 25
percent of capacity. After that point, you are quite liable to
get an 'INFORMATION LOST' notice for page after page of
text. Losses of this sort have occured to the three of us on a
number of occasions.
It would be difficult to estimate the total cost of time and
effort wasted by Velocity disks. One might factor in the cost
of Agency-wide service calls to Lexitron, the price of the
special WIC program that restores lost-disk data and the time
devoted to use of the program.
As far as procurement savings go, Velocity disks would
have to cost about 200 percent less than Lexitron disks before
any money is saved there.
We would like to hear from other readers of the The EPA
Times who have had similar unfortunate experiences with,
ersatz Lexitron disks.
Rem Brown, Eloise Davis
and Doretta Mitchum
External Affairs
EPA's one remaining ocean survey vessel was rechrisfened
June 5 from the Antelope to the Anderson, in memory of
EPA's former regional marine protection chief, Dr. Peter W.
Anderson. Anderson died last August after devoting the last
10 years of his life to researching oceans and waterways for
EPA.

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Hispanic Heritage Week
President Reagan has designated September 15
through 21 as National Hispanic Heritage Week, and
activities are being planned around the theme, "A Salute
to Youth."
This year's opening day ceremony is scheduled for
September 16, at 1:30 p.m. in the GSA Departmental
Auditorium. At the ceremony the principal speakers will
be Action Director Donna M. Alvarado, and Air Force
Major/Astronaut Sidney M. Gutierrez. The Ballet de
Puerto Rico NYC Junior Company will perform from
their repertoire of classical ballets, Spanish dances and
the folk dances of many nations.
At EPA, on Thursday September 19 at 10:30 a.m. in
Room 1103 WT, Congressman Matthew "Marty"
Martinez, 30th District, California, will deliver a keynote
address on "A Salute to Youth." All employees are
welcome.
For further information, contact Jim Maes, Office of
Civil Rights, 382-4569.
Conferences, Etc.
Don't Leave The Office
Without It
^Jlginning this fall, all EPA travelers will be participating in
a new Government-wide charge card program with Citicorp
Diners Club. The savings for the Government and EPA will
be substantial through a reduction in administrative costs,
outstanding travel advances and dollar amounts held by
imprest fund cashiers. EPA travelers should also benefit from:
•	Free $150,000 accident insurance while using a ticket
purchased with the card.
•	$1,500 baggage insurance.
•	No membership fees.
•	No interest or late charges on billings.
•	Simplified business-expense management.
•	No pre-set expense limits.
Beginning in July, over 3,000 EPA travelers will be trained
in the use and benefits of the Diners Club card. At the
completion of training, employees will fill out card
applications. Diners Club will mail cards directly to
employee's homes. Watch for further details.
Around EPA	
Thomas Anderson, Chairman of Michigan's Natural
Resources Commission, presented EPA's Motor Vehicle
tiission Laboratory with an honorable mention award for
ovemment Recycler of the Year" on behalf of the Michigan
Recycling Coalition during Michigan Recycling Week,
observed May 5-11, 1985.
EPA's Region 5 received an appreciation award from the
Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Tribune Company for
its participation in the Adopt-a-School Program. Various
schools are "adopted" and EPA employees become teaching
volunteers. Plans are being laid for the school year ahead. ~
Available Information
Selections from EPA Library holdings n'hich may be of general interest
DOD Functions Contracted Out Under OMB Circular
A-76; Contract Cost Increases and the Effects on Federal
Employees. By the U.S. General Accounting Office. KF849
.U55 1985.
Reducing the Carcinogenic Risks in Industry. Ed. by Paul
Deisler, Jr. RC268 .R43 1984.
Review of Existing Environmental and Natural Resources
Data Bases. By Richard J. Olson. HC59 . 058 1984.
The use of Economic Analysis in Valuing Natural
Resource Damages. By Edward J. Yang, et. al. KF3958 .W67
1984.
Writing in the Computer Age: Word Processing Skills and
Style for Every Writer. By Andrew Fluegelman and Jeremy
fcan Hewes. PN171 . D37F58 1983.
*Evaluation Methods for Environmental Standards. By
William D. Rowe, et. al. RA566.R68. 1983.
Federal Public Policy: Personal Accounts of Ten Senior
Civil Service Executives. Ed. by Theodore W. Taylor.
JK421.F3. 1983.
The 14th Annual Annual Conference of the North American
Association for Environmental Education will be held
September 27-October 2, at the National 4-H Center near
Washington, D.C. For more information, contact: NAEE
Headquarters, P.O. Box 400, Troy, OH 45373. Telephone:
513-698-6493.
The Third National Symposium and Exposition on Ground
Water Instrumentation, sponsored by the National Water
Well Association will be held September 30-October 2 in
Torrance, California. The symposium will feature papers on
state-of-the-art devices utilized to study and characterize
ground-water systems. For more information, contact the
Education Department, National Water Well Association, 500
W. Wilson Bridge Road, Worthington, OH 43095.
The Water Pollution Control Federation '85
Conference-Exposition will be held October 6-9; the Technical
Session Program: October 7-10, at the H. Roe Bartle Hall,
Kansas City, Missouri. For more information, contact: Water
Pollution Control Federation, 2626 Pennsylvania Avene,
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037.
The Virginia Water Pollution Control Association will
present an educational seminar on nutrient control for
wastewater treatment on November 7 in Richmond, Virginia.
For more information, contact Steve Gates at 703-642-5500.
Environmental Diplomacy: The Management and
Resolution of Transfrontier Environmental Problems will be
held November 21-27 in Ireland. For more information,
contact Sandra Ralston, Department of Geography, University
of Aberdeen, High Street, Old Aberdeen AB9 2UF, Scotland,
UK.
The Second National Conference on Drinking Water
"Treatment for Organic Contaminants" will be held on April
7 and 8, 1986, in Edmonton, Canada. A call for papers has
been announced, and abstracts of 500 words may be
submitted in either English or French to be received by
October 31, 1985. The conference is sponsored by seven
Canadian environmental and health organizations. For more
information, write to Chairman, Second National Conference
on Drinking Water, c/o Department of Civil Engineering,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G
2G7. ~

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Good Deeds
Rob Wood, from the Office
of External Affairs' Youth
Program Group, called his
fellow staffers "the true
believers" of the Agency.
Wood, himself, had to be
forcefully persuaded not to
make an emergency
inspection of the exhibit at
2:30 a.m. when heavy storms
were downing trees
throughout the area.
The staff's greatest fear was
the fear of losing their voices.
As group after group of
scouts was led through the
ten exhibits in EPA's two
large army tents, the
consumption of throat
lozenges grew to
astronomical proportions.
One thing that was lost, at
least temporarily, was the
1-ton working model of a
water treatment plant,
donated by Montreal's school
for wastewater treatment
operators. It turned up in
Norfolk, Virginia, several
hundred miles from the
Jamboree. But when it was
finally put in place, with the
help of two expert forklift
operators from the Army,
many scouts returned to the
trail to get a look at the
numerous tanks actually
turning wastewater into
water clean enough to
support a few small fish.
The distinction between
visitors and staff was often
blurred since many EPA
personnel were scouts in
their own right. Vern (Curly)
Webb, from EPIC in
Warrenton, proudly wore the
uniform he had as a
scoutmaster for 26 years.
Now, he says, he is known as
a "Scoutmaster Emeritus." A1
Batterman, who has held
"just about every position
there is in scouting," was
also decked out in full
scouting regalia.
One of the few staff
members who didn't claim a
boy-scout heritage had ajtffc
obvious excuse. As a yoSBP
Linda Strachan wouldn't
have been allowed to
accompany the troops to
camp, but her organization
talents and her skill in
handling young people, not
to mention her enthusiasm
and endearing smile, made
the rest of the staff glad she
was there for the duration.
Strachan, along with Rob
Wood, provided the
continuous presence of the
Agency's Youth Program
Working Group. The Group,
headed by Bill Burke, is in
charge of various youth
outreach programs within the
Office of External Affairs.
Was all the effort
worthwhile? "It was great
visibility for EPA," Strachan
says. "And, it gave us a
chance to work with people
from other agencies and parts
of EPA."
And, of course, everyone
was trustworthy, loyal, antL
brave. ~
Still smiling after a hard day's work: (1. to r.J Leo Durin,
Montreal; Earl Pott, OEA; Ken Adams, OW; Vern Laurie,
OHD; A1 Batterman, Duluth; Bob Boyd, Duluth; Bruce Gay,
RTP; (kneeling) Linda Strachan, OEA; Joe GormJey, OW;
"Curley" Webb, EPIC; Rob Wood, OEA; and Bob Powell, OW.
Agency Activities
Final rules announced granting automakers fuel-economy
credits for 1980 and later model-year vehicles to compensate
for changes in the Agency's vehicle test procedures. The
corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards established
by Congress and the Department of Transportation are based
on a 1975 EPA test procedure. EPA has changed the test a
number of times since then to improve its accuracy. But
because the changes took some fuel economy points away
from each model tested—making the CAFE standards for the
automakers' fleets more stringent—EPA is required by the
Federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act to grant
fuel-economy adjustments in compensation.
EPA proposes cancellation of all food uses of the pesticide
captan after determining that dietary exposure to this product
may pose an unreasonable risk to public health. Captan is a
fungicide registered since the early 1950s and is used on a
variety of fruits and vegetables as well as non-food products.
EPA's proposed actions are based on evidence that captan
produces oncogenic (tumor) effects in mice and rats and,
therefore, may pose a potential risk of cancer to consumers
through dietary exposure and to workers through dermal
(skin) exposure and inhalation.
EPA will retain the existing national ambient air quality
standards for nitrogen dioxide; the Agency has deferred a
decision to establish a short-term standard until it better
understands the health effects of short-term nitrogen dioxide
exposures.
New regulations are set which limit the use of tall
smokestacks to disperse air pollution from industrial sources.
The regulations limit the extent to which industries can
disperse pollutants into the atmosphere through tall stacks
instead of installing additional control equipment. EPA
expects the Clean Air Act regulations will affect primarily the
electric utility industry, some of whose coal-fired plants use
tall stacks to disperse sulfur pollutants high into the
atmosphere. EPA estimates the regulations will result in
potential sulfur dioxide emissions reductions of up to 1.7
million tons per year by 1995.
EPA fines six chemical manufacturers a total of $6.9
million for failing to notify EPA before they begin
manufacturing of new chemicals. The companies specifically
violated Section 5 of TSCA, which requires all firms to notify
EPA 90 days before they manufacture or import a new
chemical.
Features Editor: Margherita Pryor Columns Editor: Marilyn Rogers
The EPA Times is published monthly 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: The EPA Times, Office of Public Affairs (A-107).
Telephone 475-6642. Information selected for publication will be edited as necessary in keeping with space available.
GPO 91 7-954

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