Quarterly. 4th Edition

November 2002



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Chelsea Creek Risk
Assessment identifies
problems p. 7

Massachusetts signs one of the
strongest EJ policies in the nation

On Oct. 9, among the trees and
park benches of Roxburv 's newly
restored Orchard Park, and
surrounded by community members,
and local, state and federal officials,
Massachusetts Secretary of
Environmental Affairs, Bob Durand,
signed a new statewide policy on
environmental j ustice.

The policy strengthens the
Executive Office of Environmental
Affairs' (EOEA) commitment to
ensure that EJ is an "integral
consideration" in all EOEA efforts.

including awarding of grant funding,
enforcement and implementation of
regulations and policies, and the
accessibility of the state's open
space. Targeting low-income,
minority, foreign-bom and non-
English speaking residents, the new
EJ policy will enhance involvement
opportunities for targeted
populations and ensure equal access
to state environmental resources.

Under the policy, EOEA defines
EJ as the equal protection and

continued on page 15

Rhode Island Transit Authority agrees to reduce bus
pollution emissions by 90 percent in EPA settlement

The Rhode Island Public Transit
Authority (R1PTA) agreed in October to
pay a $75,000 penalty and make
substantive changes to its bus fleet as
part of an enforcement case settlement
with EPA's New England office.

The agreement stems from EPA
inspections in 1999 that showed
numerous violations of hazardous
waste management laws, as well as
the Clean Water Act and the Clean
Air Act, at RIPTA's bus maintenance
and repair facility at 265 Melrose
Street in Providence.

In addition to paying the penalty,
RIPTA has agreed to operate its
entire diesel-powered fleet on ultra-
low sulfur fuel, reducing diesel
particulate (soot) emissions by
about 20 percent. The agreement
requires RIPTA to use this fuel until
2006, at which time federal
regulation will require all highway
diesel fuel to be ultra-low sulfur
fuel containing less than 15 parts
per million of sulfur.

RIPTA also agreed to install
diesel particulate filters on all 156

of its diesel-fueled buses, further
reducing diesel particulate
emissions by about 70 percent for
a total reduction of 90 percent.
RIPTA has agreed to finish
installing the filters by July 2006.
The U.S. Department of Transpor-
tation has agreed to fund 80
percent of the $1.2 million cost of
this retrofit project.

According to the 1999
inspections, RIPTA was not
making required hazardous waste

continued on page 16

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On a mission to institutionalize EJ
principles at EPA New England

A message from James M. Younger, Director of the Office of Civil Rights & Urban Affairs

EPA New England recently
released its new EJ Action Plan for
Fiscal Year 2003, an ambitious plan
that aims to institutionalize
environmental justice principles
throughout all of the region's
programs and activities. The plan
continues and enhances many of the
activities and approaches begun
under the region's "EJ: Action Plan
for Fiscal Years 2001 and 2002,
that was made possible by the
strong support of EPA New
England's Regional Administrator
Robert W. Vamey. Deputy
Regional Administrator Ira
Leighton and the EJ Council,
which is comprised of the
regional EJ Coordinator and the
Deputy Office Directors and staff
from each of the six program and
administrative offices in the
region. The National Program
Director for Environmental
Justice. Barry Hill, was also
instrumental in ensuring a
continuing focus on EJ
throughout the country by
requiring all 10 regional offices
to submit similar EJ action plans
for the 2003 fiscal year.

As chair for the EJ Council. I
have a passion to see that all of
the EPA New England staff
possess sound knowledge and
understanding of the principles of
environmental j ustice and how to
apply them in their everyday work.

EPA New England has made and
continues to make an extraordinary'
commitment to institutionalize EJ.
The Deputy Office Directors have
been assigned management
accountability and responsibility for
this effort, and they attend biweekly
meetings of the EJ Council and
chair the six subcommittees
outlined within the EJ action plan:
Communication, Internal Organiza-
tional Engagement and Training,
External Stakeholder Engagement,
Inventory, Mapping and Program

Evaluation. The region supports a
full-time EJ Coordinator and EJ
Specialist within the Office of Civil
Rights and Urban Affairs, and has
also made the region's highly
successful and unique Urban
Environmental Initiative a permanent
program. The Urban Environmental

James M. Younger, the Director of the Office of Civil Rights arid
Urban Affairs

Program consist of a Team Leader
and staff working directly with
citizens in targeted urban areas to
build partnerships and community
capacity to identify and resolve a
multitude of EJ-related issues.

EPA New England began
offering EJ training this past March
to ensure that all staff have a
fundamental understanding of EJ,
especially the main principles of
fair treatment, meaningful
involvement and public health
protection. The region is also
providing a continuing series of
short and long term EJ-related
learning and educational opportuni-
ties for staff. I firmly believe that by

ensuring our staff
comprehend EJ
principles, EPA New England will be
able to protect the environment and
health for future generations and of all
New England's citizens- especially
those who do not have the time,
resources or political clout to get
some very basic quality of life
issues addressed and resolved.

While there may still be
lingering questions by
community members regarding
EPA's ability to address and
resolve many of the issues they
deem to be important, it is
quite clear to me that EPA New
England has a strong commit-
ment and very successful track
record in building partnerships
with and throughout the
communities of New England.
However I do not believe that
we can rest on our past
accomplishments, and must
aggressively move forward
with a renewed commitment
to engage external stakehold-
ers in meaningful and
purposeful dialogues to
develop new strategies to
resolve their issues.

The most significant factor for
our continued and fiitnre success is
the implementation of our regional EJ
Action Plan, which contains many
strategies to allow EPA New England to
address and resolve new aid emerging
EJ issues, and continue our efforts to
build better and improved partner-
ships with community-based
organizations and other federal,
state, municipal and tribal
governments. I encourage all EPA
employees and interested
stakeholders to familiarize
themselves with the new EJ Action
Plan for Fiscal Year 2003 that is
outlined on the following page and
join me in our continuing mission to
institutionalize EJ principles at EPA
New England.

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New EPA New
England Action
Plan for Fiscal
Year 2003 released

In October, EPA New England
released its new EJ Action Plan for
Fiscal Year 2003. Beginning this
fiscal year, all regional EPA offices
were required to submit similar plans
to the EPA's national Office of
Environmental Justice. OEJ modeled
the template for the action plans after
EPA New England's original plan for
the previous two fiscal years.

One of EPA New England's
highest and most challenging
priorities is to promote environmen-
tal justice to ensure that the citizens
of Connecticut, Maine, Massachu-
setts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island
and Vermont all enjoy an equal level
of environmental protection. EPA
New England acknowledges that,
notwithstanding differences in race,
color, national origin and income,
everyone strives for a better quality
of life, including a safer and
healthier living environment for their
family, community and future
generations. Many minority and low-
income communities may not have
the access or resources to get their
concerns addressed, even when they
suffer a disproportionate impact
from environmental pollution or
public health concerns.

EPA New England recognizes
that it must increase its involvement
and attention to minority and low-
income communities, and the new
EJ Action Plan outlines concrete,
measurable steps to accomplish this.
The new plan continues many of the
strategies that were initiated over the
last two years, including the region's
focus on communication, internal
organizational engagement and
training, external stakeholder
engagement and evaluation. Two new
strategies included in this year's plan
outline EPA New England's desktop
EJ Inventory of each program and
administrative office's EJ-related

continued on page 4

Office Notes

EPA New England assumes EJ lead region responsibilities

hi October, EPA New England became the lead region for the Office of
Enforcement and Compliance Assistance programs, including EJ, for the next two
years. The lead region provides feedback and policy direction to EPA headquarters,
and is responsible for coordinating national conference calls, meetings, seminars
and budget responses. As lead region for environmental justice, EPA New England
has the opportunity to contribute and be a leader in policy and implementation work
to further the agency's efforts to promote environmental justice.

Fall farewells

Summer has slipped by and we have had to say good-bye to a great group of summer
interns. Nick Benjamin is back at Middlebury College in Vermont, David Halbert returned
to the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and David McBride returned to Morehouse
College in Georgia. We are fortunate to have co-op student Yvette Mitchell and
Environmental Careers Organization intern Julianne Pardi still with us in the Office of
Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, where they both juggle a variety of responsibilities while
they are finishing up master's degrees at Tufts University and Boston University,
respectively. Former ECO intern Nathan Brooks continues in the Office of Environmental
Stewardship where he is working on hazards analysis in areas of environmental justice
concern for credit at Framingham State University. Last, but certainly not least, ECO intern
Ryan Torres, a master's student at Tufts University, joined the Urban Environmental
Program team in August and is helping coordinate several environmental justice-related
regional listening sessions scheduled for next year.

Course reminder: Working Effectively with Tribal Governments

EPA New England employees-if you are involved with environmental issues on or
potentially impacting Indian lands, do not forget to register for the two-day workshop on
Working Effectively With Tribal Governments on Nov. 20 and 21. The first day will cover
tribal concepts, American Indian history, federal Indian law and EPA tribal initiatives. Hie
course will also feature a special presentation of native artifacts uncovered during a
Superfund project in Maine. The second day will focus on cultural orientation. Do not miss
this great opportunity to learn more about New England tribes! Register through START.

National Office of Environmental Justice turns 10

On Wednesday, Nov. 20, EPA's national Office of Environmental Justice will hold a
program called "Moving Forward: Environmental Protection for All" to celebrate its 10h
anniversary. The event will highlight some of the agency's significant contributions to
address environmental justice issues and effectively integrate environmental justice in
EPA policies, programs and activities. The program will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at
the Ariel Rios Building's Rachel Carson Great Hall on the third floor, and will feature
remarks from Deputy Administrator Linda Fisher, EPA New England Regional
Administrator Robert W. Vamey and other senior managers, followed by a reception. All
EPA employees are welcome to attend. Contact Maria Hendriksson at 202-564-1897 or
hendriksson.marla@epa. govfor more information or special accommodations.

NAPA reports on EJ in EPA permitting and state government

The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) issued two EJ-
related reports in the last year per the request of the national EPA Office of
Environmental Justice. The reports, entitled Environmental Justice in EPA
Permitting: Reducing Pollution in High-Risk Communities is Integral to
the Agency's Mission and Models for Change: Efforts by Four States to
Address Environmental Justice, both concern the integration of environ-
mental justice principles into everyday practices. To obtain a copy of either
of the NAPA reports, visit http://38.217.229.6/NAPA/
NAPAPubs.nsf?QpenDatabase.

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Pediatric disease of environmental
origin: a hefty price tag

According to a study conducted
and released by Mt. Sinai School of
Medicine in New York, childhood
diseases of environmental origin are
estimated to cost the U.S. nearly
$55 billion annually. The study,
entitled Environmental Pollutants
and Disease in American Children,
looked at lead poisoning, asthma,
childhood cancer and developmental
disabilities. The study was the first
in the country to assess the cost of
pediatric diseases stemming from
exposure to environmental toxins.

Hie study suggests that
inadequate testing of chemicals that
children are exposed to is one of

the factors that contributes to the
high cost of pediatric disease. The
problem is expected to worsen if
more research is not devoted to
this issue. One of the study's lead
researchers suggested that the
situation be addressed by investing
more resources in research,
disease tracking, testing of
chemicals and pediatrician training
to recognize diseases with
environmental causes.

Additional information on this
report can be obtained by
contacting Lucia Lee at
Lucia.lee@inountsinai.org or by
calling 212-241-9200.



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I'

Reports document disproportionate
occurrence of asthma among low-
income and minority populations

Two reports released by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control
this year noted that the burden of
asthma is borne disproportionately
by low-income and minority
populations. An article by the CDC's
Infant and Child Health Studies
Bransh in the August issues of
Pediatrics concluded that the
burden of childhood asthma may
have recently plateaued after several
years of increasing, but African
American children continue to bear
a disproportionate burden from
asthma and racial and ethnic
disparities remain large for asthma
health care utilization and mortality.
In last March's issue of the
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report, the CDC noted that asthma
remains a serious problem for
millions of Americans, particularly
low-income and minority popula-
tions, despite a recent leveling off
of hospitalization and death rates.

"Severe asthma continues to
affect a disproportionate number of
poor, minority and inner-city
populations," the CDC's Director of
the National Center for Environmental

Health. Richard Jackson, said in a
newspaper interview.

The reports indicated that since
1980, asthma death rates have been
at least twice as high for African
Americans than whites. The most
recently documented rates from
1999 indicate that 38.7 per thousand
African Americans, versus 14.2 per
thousand Caucasians, died of asthma.

The annual rate of hospitaliza-
tions from asthma as the first-listed
diagnosis rose sharply among
African Americans- from 27.0 per
thousand in 1980, to 40.7 per
thousand in 1995. Recent hospital-
ization rates have leveled off to the
35.6 hospitalizations per thousand
reported in 1999. Similarly, rates of
deaths of African Americans with
asthma as the underlying cause rose
sharply from 27.6 per thousand in
1980 to 48.0 per thousand in 1996,
but have since leveled down to 38.7
per thousand in 1999.

For further information, see
www.cdc.gov/nnnwr/preview/
niniwrhtnil/ss5101 a 1 ,htm#tab7 and
www.pediatrics.org/cgi/reprint/110/
2/315.pdf.

Details of New
EJ Action Plan

continued from page 3

activities and a new regional mapping
tool being developed to identify
potential areas of EJ concern. The£7
Action Plan's six independent, yet
interrelated, strategies are designed to:

•	Improve communication
about EJ activities throughout the
region via internet, intranet and a
quarterly newsletter.

•	Engage internal EPA staff hi
mandatory EJ training and a variety of
other EJ-focused learning events.

•	Provide guidance and training
for staff on public involvement;
mapping potential areas of EJ
concern; program authorization and
delegation; performance partnership
agreements; permitting; grants and
contracts; waste site cleanup,
emergency response and
Brownfields; and inspection,
enforcement and assistance.

•	Remain actively involved and
engaged with our external stakehold-
ers through continued dialogue,
community capacity-building, and
partnerships with federal, state and
local agencies to solve environmental
justice problems.

•	Continuously evaluate the
effectiveness of our the plan.

•	Improve our data collection and
management with the implementation
of the updated EJ Inventory.

•	Provide our staff with a state-
of-the art desktop mapping tool that
will equip them to easily identify
potential EJ areas of concern and
incorporate EJ principles into their
daily work at EPA New England.

Each strategy identifies activities
for the fiscal year, specific time
frames, performance measures and
lead contacts. The plans will be
reviewed by OEJ, and the national EPA
Environmental Justice Steering
Committee has established an
accountability workgroup that will
review and evaluate the progress of
each region's plan. For more
information, please contact Kathy
Castagna, EPA New England's EJ
Coordinator, at 617-918-1429.

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GAO report weighs benefits and risks of siting
industrial facilities in residential areas

At the request of Congress, the
General Accounting Office (GAO)
released a report weighing the economic
benefits of industrial facilities granted
pennits from the federal government to
operate in residential areas. Hie report,
"Community Investment: Information on
Selected Facilities that Received
Environmental Pennits," was released in
May of this year.

Congress requested the report
because of the "charge that the
facilities expose the surrounding
communities - generally low-income
Hispanic and African-American
communities - to greater environ-
mental risk than the general
population." Industries have countered
by stating that they bolster local
economies by providing jobs to local
residents as well as other local
services, such as improving
infrastructure and schools.

GAO was asked by Congress to
study how facilities influence their
surrounding communities in tenns of:
the number and type of jobs provided;
contributions to local communities;
effects on local property values; and
amount and type of government
subsidies or incentive packages facilities
received. Hie 15 facilities addressed in
the report covered a broad spectrum of
media, including nine nonliazardous
waste-related facilities (waste-transfer,
fertilization production and incinera-
tion), three hazardous waste disposal
facilities, two chemical plants and one
concrete plant. Hie North Meadow
Municipal Landfill in Hartford, Conn.,
was the only facility located in New
England that was evaluated in the report.
Hie City of Hartford owns the landfill,
which is run by the Connecticut
Resource Recovery Authority. Each of
the facilities selected had complaints
filed against them by residents in
surrounding communities.

According to the report, the number
of full-time employees at the facilities
ranged from four to 103 per facility, with
nine of the facilities employing 25 or
fewer full-time staff. Hie North Meadow
Municipal Landfill reported employing 4
full-time employees at its facility in

2001. Salaries among all of the facilities
ranged from $15,000 to $80,000 per
year, depending on the type of work and
facility location. Hie facilities would not
detail the number of people hired at each
salary level or number of employees
hired from the community.

Some contributions that the
facilities made to their communities
included: volunteer work (e.g.,
organizing cleanups); infrastructure
improvements (e.g., installing a new
water drainage system); financial
assistance to schools, universities,
community groups and oilier organiza-
tions; and establishing a fund to manage
financial contributions. Yet the report
also noted that community residents
often felt that facilities' contributions did
not adequately address their concerns.

According to the report, the North
Meadow Municipal Landfill lias
committed $9.7 million over the next 10
years for an Economic Development
Account to assist minority business
enterprises, social welfare and public
health projects, environmental education
and community revitalization efforts and

other charitable purposes within
Hartford. Aboard of community groups
and city representatives is responsible
for distributing funds. Hie establishment
of the account settled the Organized
North Easterners and Clay Hill and
North End's complaint with the EPA
against the Connecticut Department
of Environmental Protection
regarding the landfill's expansion.

While the facilities' effect on
property values in the communities was a
primary concern to Congress and
residents alike, information was not
available to determine that relationship in
most communities, hi the two
communities where information was
available-in Genesse Township, Mich.,
and South Bronx, NY.- it was not
specific enough to directly associate
changes in property values with the
facilities' operation.

Copies of the report, GAO-02-479,
can be obtained through GAO's website
at www.gao.govby writing to the U.S.
General Accounting Office, 441 G
Street NW, Room LM Washington. D.C.
20548, or by calling202-512-6000.

NEJAC seeks public input for
upcoming pollution prevention meeting

Hie annual National Environmental
Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC)
meeting, originally slated for July, is now
scheduled for Dec. 9-12 in Baltimore.
Hiis year's NEJAC meeting will focus
on the question: Is there a relationship
between pollution prevention, waste
minimization initiatives and the issue of
environmental justice?

NEJAC is a federal advisory
committee to the EPA comprised of EJ
stakeholders, including representatives
from academia, community groups,
environmental organizations, industries,
and state, local and tribal governments,
who provide independent recommenda-
tions to the agency.

A new NEJAC workgroup will
present a report and additional external
recommendations to the EPA that
explore how the agency and stakeholders
can collaborate to integrate pollution

prevention measures into industrial
practices and reduce environmental
impacts on communities.

Hie workgroup preparing the report
is seeking input from all stakeholders,
and by answering the following questions
you can help focus the meeting:

•	Do you think pollution
prevention can be useful in your
community and, if so, how?

•	Can you provide examples of
successful pollution prevention efforts?

•	Can you provide examples of
any barriers that exist to pollution
prevention?

Please send your answers to
king.marva@eramail. epa. gov or
Charles Lee, Associate Director of
the Office of Environmental Justice,
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW, Washington, D.C. 20460.

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All mandatory EJ training now includes a site t(



AS?

Since My, all EPA New England
employees participating in the
required 1'/2-day Environmental
Justice (EJ) Awareness course have
been treated to a site tour. Previously,
only the more intense three-day EJ
Fundamentals course included a site
tour. The region recently redesigned
the training to only offer employees
the EJ Awareness course, which has
been modified to include one day of
classroom instruction and a half-day
tour of a potential EJ area of concern-
typically led by a partner community-
based organization.

The first EJ Awareness course to
incorporate such a tour was held in July
at the agency's new laboratory in North
Chelmsford Mass. The day began with a
four-hour tour through the nearby city of
Lawrence. Before the standard
classroom training began, the trainees
saw firsthand what they would be
learning about in the classroom a few
hours later. Visiting sites such as Den
Rock Park, the Lawrence Industrial Park
Pemberton Park and Family Services,
the fonner Ogden Martin incinerator site
and a community garden, the group of 22
EPA employees learned about
potential environmental justice
concerns, adding flesh to the bones of
EJ Awareness training.

Last summer's tour was led by
Tennis Lilly, Executive Director of the
Lawrence Grassroots Initiative, a
nonprofit organization dedicated to
creating and sustaining projects that
address environmental, social and
economic justice in the community.
Beginning at Den Rock Park Lilly
introduced the group to the only natural
green space in the city. Lilly explained
that the 120 acres of forest, swamp,
waterway and wildlife were rescued
from developers after a five-year
struggle. Continuing on to Lawrence
Industrial Park, the group saw an area
where various industries are concen-
trated along the Merrimack River. The
area is home to both Crown Cork and
Seal, the sixth largest licensed volatile
organic compound (VOC) emitter in the
state, and Adtec Electroplating, cited by
the EPA for violating the Clean Air Act

as well as federal laws regulating
hazardous waste.

The tour stopped next at Pemberton
Park home of Family Services Inc.. and
the Casa de Salud project. Pemberton
Park a waterside green space, is being
rehabilitated and expanded by the
Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Management and will
soon provide an esplanade-like setting
for Lawrence residents, according to
Lilly. At Family Services, Doris Anciani,
the head the Casa de Salud project
explained the organization's research and
education efforts to raise awareness of
the health impacts of environmental
toxins and to engage Latino residents in
mitigating these impacts. The objective
of the organization is to demonstrate the
effectiveness of neighborhood home-
based meetings to educate the public
about environmental issues.

Anciani spoke of various rituals in
Afro-Caribbean and Central American
communities that use mercury to bring
good fortune. The mercury is easily
attainable at local botanicas (specialty
herb stores), and is ingested through
capsules, heated and inhaled or sprinkled
on objects. At high doses, mercury
exposure can cause tremors, inability to
walk convulsions and even death. At
levels more commonly seen in the
United States, the mercury exposure
effects documented include more subtle
-yet still serious - damage to the senses
and brain. The developing fetus is the
most sensitive to the effects of mercury,
and so women of childbearing age are
the population of greatest concern.

Anciani said another major public
health concern is local residents'
exposure to VOC emissions from auto
body shops and other companies. VOCs
are released from burning fuel (gasoline,
oil, wood coal, natural gas, etc.),
solvents, paints, glues and oilier products
used at work or at home. VOCs include
chemicals such as benzene, toluene,
]methylene chloride and methyl
chlorofonn, and many VOCs are
hazardous air pollutants that can cause
serious health problems such as cancer
and very serious illnesses. Anciani said
that workers in Lawrence often do not

know of the risks of dealing with VOCs,
much less how to protect themselves.
VOCs also aid in the formation of smog,
which causes breathing problems,
reduced lung function, asthma, eye
irritation, congestion, reduced resistance
to colds and other infections and may
speed up aging of lung tissue.

At the next stop on the tour, the
fonner Ogden Martin Waste Energy
Facility, the group learned about
abandoned textile mills and dye works,
among other industries, that once
operated there. The Arlington
neighborhood which is the poorest and
most densely populated community in
Lawrence, is located right over the fence
behind the facility. The Ogden Martin
large municipal waste combustion
facility closed in 1998 because
retrofitting the equipment to reduce acid
gas emissions (sulfur dioxide, hydrogen
chloride, and nitrogen oxides), metal
emissions (mercury, lead, cadmium, and
particulate matter) and organic
emissions (dioxin/furans and carbon
monoxide) proved too costly. Lilly said
the previous owners did not want to
associate themselves with these
industries due to asbestos, lead PCB and
creosote floor contamination.

The next-to-final stop was the
Spruce Street Community Garden,
which was created on a vacant lot in
the Arlington neighborhood. There are
over 700 vacant lots in Lawrence, and
the Spruce Street Garden is an
example of how neighborhoods can
revitalize such an area to increase and
utilize open space. Lilly cautioned that
soils in Lawrence may have elevated
mercury and lead levels, a problem
that can be remedied in community
gardens with raised beds of clean soil.

The group wound down its tour of
Lawrence at the former LGI office and
the Bernstein Bookstore, located at 468
Essex Street. LGI is presently looking
for a new space to operate.

"Everybody knows where Lawrence
is, but we got in and poked around where
one wouldn't normally go," said Arthur
Clark of EPA's Drinking Water
Program, noting that the tour was
enormously rewarding.

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Ctielsea Greenspaceand Greater Boston Urban Chelsea Human neighborhood of us. epa urban Chelsea Creek
Recreation Committee Resources fertneabl]^ CollaborativeAFFORDABIEHOUSING Environmental Program	&oup

Chelsea Comparative Risk Assessment identifies
scientific gaps in community

The Chelsea Creek Community-
Based Risk Assessment (CRA), a two-
year collaborative project between the
Chelsea Creek Action Group
(CCAG), the EPA New England office
and the Greater Boston Urban
Resource Partnership, recently drew
to a close. Unlike traditional risk
assessments, where the research
objectives, goals and priorities are
predetermined, this project based its
priorities on what the community
deemed to be its most critical issues.

Researchers went directly to the
residents along the Chelsea Creek, a
2.6 mile long waterway that connects
the city of Chelsea and the community
of East Boston, Mass., to determine
which environmental, public health
and quality of life issues were most
important to them.

The Creek is a Coastal Zone
Management Designated Port
Area, which allows for marine
industrial uses. The Creek supports
commercial, industrial and
residential activities. The area is
home to a large number of jet fuel
tanks which supply the nearby
Boston Logan International
Airport, other fuel storage tanks

for a multitude of industrial and
commercial enterprises, a multi-
ton salt pile, and abandoned and
contaminated properties. With all
of these uses along the Creek,
residents have limited access to
the waterfront and may be exposed
to associated environmental and
public health risks.

Instead of conducting isolated
research to assess the extent of these
potential environmental and public health
risks apart from the community - tire
CRA project involved residents in
decision-making throughout the
duration of the project. Residents
were also charged with the task of
identifying action steps that
individuals, community groups and tire
government could work on to address
existing issues.

Community activists from the
Neighborhood of Affordable
Housing and the Chelsea
Greenspace and Recreation
Committee have been working
together for many years to improve
the quality of life for Chelsea and
East Boston residents. Collectively,
these two groups form the CCAG,
which undertook the CRA project in

Pilings, litter and various industrial storage tanks along the Chelsea Creek

order to involve residents in and
inform residents about their
community. In the initial stages of
the project, a coordinating
committee was established to help
design a work plan for tire two-year
project. Members of this committee
included representatives from
Chelsea Greenspace and Recreation
Committee, Neighborhood of
Affordable Housing, EPA New
England's Urban Environmental
Program (UEP) and the Greater
Boston Urban Resources Partner-
ships. A resident advisory
committee (RAC) and a technical
committee were also assembled for
the project. Throughout the duration
of the risk assessment, the project
was connected with three academic
institutions that contributed to
different facets of the project,
including the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Tufts
University and Worcester
Polytechnic Institute.

The project used surveys and
questionnaires to get feedback from
residents. Residents also had
opportunities to participate in focus
groups that asked for continued
input in detailing research priorities.
A total of 165 Chelsea residents,
154 East Boston residents and six
residents that did not specify a
neighborhood, were either
interviewed or surveyed. The RAC
helped to identify several environ-
mental, public health and social
issues. But because of tire nature of
tire project, tire CRA could not
address all of the identified issues.

They voted to concentrate their
efforts on ambient air quality; water
quality (in tire Creek); open and green
space; asthma and other respiratory
diseases; and noise and traffic.

A final report will be released
this fall that includes recommenda-
tions to spearhead future efforts to
solve the issues of concern to

continued on page 8

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Greater Boston Urban
Resources Partnership

Chelsea Human nhghbofihood of u.s. epa Urban Chelsea Creek

S ices Cs)||?hnratl\m AFFORDABLEHOUSING EnVir°nmental Pr°^m ActlOP GfOUp

rative

Chelsea project is a collaborative model

continued from page 7

Chelsea Creek and East Boston
residents. There were five key findings
that emerged from the research:

•	Data on environment and
public health issues is insufficient.
At the start of the research, the
prevailing thought was that there was
data available but just not in a
centralized, easily accessible
location. It was discovered that there
has been very little data gathered on
any of the six priority issues on a
local level. More sampling and
technical assistance for communi-
ties is recommended.

•	Even when local data exists,
the data is often of unacceptable
quality to residents. If data was
available on the local level, it
usually comes from industries
rather than independent researchers
or consultants. This caused great
concern to the residents because they
felt that the data would be skewed.

•	Residents believe that current
regulations (federal, state and local)
do not adequately protect the health
of urban residents or the quality of
the environment. Residents felt that
regulations do not address the
cumulative impacts of multi-media
contamination, and that information
sharing between regulating bodies of
government rarely occurs. It is
recommended that residents do
more to engage regulating agencies
to work together across all levels of
government to ensure proper
protection of the environment and
public health.

•	Actions are needed from
local, state and federal government
agencies to address data gaps,
information quality and measurable
progress on issues.

•	Actions are needed from local
residents to hold government
agencies accountable for their roles
and to make improvements on
issues. Residents are an essential
component in encouraging
government agencies to help
improve issues. However, residents
must take personal responsibility

for the environmental and public
health impacts that result from
individual actions.

The CRA is a good prototype for
other communities that are interested
in working with EPA New England to
implement collaborative problem-
solving. The CRA project has shown
the importance of investing and
valuing local knowledge of the
community when trying to assess and
address environmental and public
health problems in a given community.

because the community's residents
are the ones directly impacted by
these issues and experience them
first-hand.

For further information about
the Comparative Risk Assessment,
please visit http://www.tufts.edu/
tie/mwc/ChelseaCreek/ or the
UEP website at http://
www. epa. gov/re gionO 1 /eco/uei/
index.html or contact Nerissa Wu,
UEP Special Projects Coordinator,
at 617-918-1312.

Office highlight:

Auto industry compliance
assistance in Lawrence

An assistance outreach package
was mailed out during August 2002
to more than 40 auto body shops in
Lawrence, Mass., a working-class
community with 59.7 percent of
residents identifying themselves as
Hispanic or Latino. EPA officials
recognized the community's need
for Spanish language auto industry
compliance assistance materials
between 2001 and 2002 while EPA
New England's Urban Environmental
Program worked with local officials
and community groups in Lawrence.

EPA New England's Compliance
Assistance Coordinator created a
package that included English and
newly-created Spanish versions of
the Massachusetts Office of
Technical Assistance (OTA) Crash
Course for Compliance and
Pollution Prevention (Crash
Course)-a tool to help shops achieve
and go beyond compliance-and a
video created by EPA Region 9
entitled, "Profit Through Prevention:
Best Environmental Practices for
Auto Repair."

The Crash Course program is
centered around a comprehensive,
plain-language guidebook produced
by the OTA in 1998 in partnership
with the EPA New England, the
Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection, the
Massachusetts Auto Body Associa-
tion and other agencies and
organizations. The Crash Course is
designed to help members of the
Massachusetts collision repair
industry understand and comply with
the basic environmental, health and
safety regulations that apply to them.
The program promotes the use of
pollution prevention measures as a
primary means for achieving
compliance.

Besides the more than 40 auto
body shops in Lawrence, the package
was also sent to more than 400
Massachusetts health agents and health
officers so that they have tools and
resources at their disposal to assist
them in conducting their code
inspections and assistance outreach in
auto body shops throughout the state.

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Awards and new application information

Micmacs receive air quality grant

EJ Small Grant

recipients

announced

The EPA announced in May that it
has awarded $290,000 to the
Aroostook Band of Micmacs for an
air monitoring and public education
project in northern Maine. The project
will monitor air quality in real time
and make the data immediately
available to the public on a web site
and through local media. The project
will also use the data to generate
alerts on poor air quality days, warning
susceptible populations to limit
outdoor activities.

"This is a great project that passed
strict internal and external scientific
peer review," said Robert W. Varney,
regional administrator for EPA's New
England office. "It's going to help give
area residents better information
about the air they 're breathing, in a
way that helps them make better
decisions about their daily lives."

Project partners include EPA,
the National Weather Service, the
Maine Departments of Health and
Environmental Protection, the
Maine Lung Association, and local
media and colleges.

Hie program will be based at the
tribal housing complex just west of

hi October, the EPA and the City of
Manchester, N.H., announced a series of
actions aimed at reducing lead poisoning
risks in apartments andhouses across
the city.

Flanked by families and children
who have suffered from lead poisoning
in the city, EPA Regional Administrator
Robert W. Vamey announced a $15,000
EPA grant to support Hie Way Home, a
nonprofit homeless prevention agency
that provides lead-free housing for
families in Manchester. Varney also
announced enforcement actions against
two New Hampshire realty companies
for failing to properly notify home
buyers and renters of risks from
exposure to lead paint, as required by

Presque Isle, Maine. Hie program will
install real-time monitors for important
indicators, including nitrous oxides,
sulfur oxides, carbon dioxide, fine
particulate matter, ozone, ultraviolet
radiation, and visibility (using a digital
camera). Hie data will be immediately
available on a public web site, and local
newspapers, radio and TV stations have
agreed to print and broadcast air quality
updates using the project's information.
A subscription will also be available to
the public for e-mail alerts when air
quality is poor.

Poor air quality is a particular
concern for the area, as Aroostook
County has one of the highest asthma
rates in the country. Poor air quality
affects everyone but particularly
children and adults who are active
outdoors, and people with respiratory
diseases, such as asthma. Exposure to
poor air quality can cause serious
breathing problems, aggravate asthma
and other pre-existing lung diseases
and make people more susceptible to
respiratory infection. When elevated
ozone levels are expected, EPA
recommends that people limit
strenuous outdoor activity.

federal law.

"While we've made progress in
reducing lead poisoning threats, it's
unacceptable that hundreds of children
are still being exposed to lead paint each
and every year," Vamey said at a news
conference at Hie Way Home.

Vamey praised Hie Way Home for
its work in educating and protecting
thousands of families and children from
such health hazards as lead and asthma.
Earlier this year. Hie Way Home opened
a housing resource center that provides
short-term housing for families,
particularly those being exposed to
potential lead threats.

"Hie region's housing shortage lias

continued on page 11

Hie EPA recently awarded four
grants totaling $70,000 to
community, tribal, and non-profit
groups in New England for projects
promoting environmental justice.
The grants, worth between $15,000
and $20,000, were disbursed
through the Environmental Justice
Small Grants (EJSG) program.

This year's grants emphasized
multimedia projects and research
projects. Multimedia projects
address pollution in more than one
environmental medium (e.g., air,
water, etc.). Projects that were
research-oriented and specific to
hazardous substances were
awarded funding under the
Superfund program.

Hie following grants were awarded:
In Massachusetts:

The Mystic River Watershed
Association in Arlington received
$19,700 for its Environmental
Justice Across the Mystic project
designed to raise awareness of EJ
issues in the Mystic River
Watershed. Three public forums
will be offered through the project
to disseminate environmental
justice information and engage the
community. Two EJ Training
Collaborative workshops and one
Mystic EJ Summit will be held
to plan strategies for addressing
EJ issues in the watershed.
Summer interns will then
investigate proposals raised
during the EJ Summit.

In New Hampshire:

The Way Home in Manchester
received $15,000 for its ongoing
Healthy Home Services Project
focusing on the shortage of lead-
free affordable housing in the city.
The project plans to increase the

continued on page 10

EPA and Manchester announce funding and
actions to curb childhood lead poisoning

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EJSG: Emerging took for local problem-solving



Awards and new application information

This summer the EPA published
the second edition of the Environ-
mental Justice Small Grants report,
"Emerging Tools for Local
Problem-Solving." The report
provides a snapshot of the best
projects awarded under the
Environmental Justice Small Grant
Program between 1997 and 1999.
Of the 71 grants highlighted in the
report, nine were undertaken by

2002 EJSG
awardees

continued from page 9

number of environmentally safe
housing units available to low
income renters in the community,
with a focus on reopening, with
appropriate renovations, units
closed due to lead paint hazards.

In Maine:

The Penobscot Indian Nation

in Old Town received $15,300 for
its project, A Strategy for
Controlling Toxics in the Penobscot
Nation Reservation. The project will
focus on fish consumption by tribal
members and water pollution,
including mercury, PCBs and other
pollutants in the Penobscot River. In
enhancing and facilitating
communication and information
exchange between all stakeholders,
the Penobscot Nation intends to
take a lead role in developing a
strategic options plan to control
sources of such pollutants.

The Bayside Neighborhood
Association in Portland received
$20,000 for its Lead Remediation in
Urban Soils: A Community-Based
Research Project to perform lead
analyses on urban residential soils in
the city's Bayside Neighborhood.
The project will then explore
techniques to extract lead from the
soils using plants and inform the
public of the research results.

groups New England. Among them:
The Committee for Boston Public
Housing; The Recycling Initiative
Campaign, Tellus Institute, Jobs for
Youth and Alternatives for Community
and Environment in Massachusetts;
the Penobscot Indian Nation in Maine;
the New Hampshire Citizens Alliance;
Keep Providence Beautiful in Rhode
Island; and the New Haven Land Trust
in Connecticut.

Copies of the report can be
obtained by contacting EPA New
England's Environmental Justice
Coordinator, Kathleen Castagna,
at 617-918-1429 or
Castagna.Kathleen@epa. gov or bv
requesting Report No. EPA/300-R-
02-002 from the U.S. EPA, National
Service Center for Environmental
Publications, P.O. Box 42419,
Cincinnati, OH 45242.

$1.5 million available for EJSG, deadline
to apply is Dec. 18, 2002

Guidance that outlines the purpose,
goals and general procedures for grant
applications under the Fiscal Year 2003
Environmental Justice Small Grants
Program (EJSG) is now available from
all EPA regional EJ Coordinators.

During FY 2003, EPA will make
available about $1.5 million in grant
fluids to eligible organizations, $1
million of which will be available
specifically for Superfund projects.
Applications must be delivered to an
EPA regional office by close of business
or postmarked by the U. S. Postal Service
by midnight on Dec. 18,2002.

The purpose of the grant
program is to provide financial
assistance to eligible community
groups (i.e., community-based/
grassroots organizations, churches
or other nonprofit organizations
with a focus on community-based
issues) and federally recognized
tribal governments that are working
on or plan to carry out projects to
address environmental justice
issues. Preference for awards will
be given to community-based/
grassroots organizations working on
local solutions to local environ-
mental problems.

While there are many applications
submitted from community groups for
equally worthwhile projects, EPA is
emphasizing the availability of fluids for

research projects. Projects that are
research-oriented and specific to
hazardous substances are considered
for funding available under the
Superfund program. Grants are also
being awarded for projects that
address pollution in more than one
environmental medium (e.g., air,
water, etc.).

Note that all awards will be
made in the form of a grant not to
exceed one year, and EPA will
consider only one application per
applicant for a given project.
Applicants may submit more than
one application if the applications
are for separate and distinct projects
or activities. Every application will
be evaluated based on the merit of
the proposed project in comparison
with other applications, and past
performance will be considered.

The EPA expects to announce
awardees in late summer 2003.

To receive a copy of the EJSG
Application in both English and Spanish
contact EPA New England's regional EJ
Coordinator, Kathleen Castagna, at
617-918-1429 or
Castagna.Kathleen@epa. gov You can
also obtain copies of the grant guidance
and other information about EJSG at
www.epa.gov/compliance/
enviromnentaliustice/grants/
ei siiigrants.html.

mm

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^i^Tv

Awards and new application information

Whitman and Chafee announce grants in Providence

Calling children's health protection
one of her most important missions,
EPA Administrator Christie Whitman
joined U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee in
celebrating Rhode Island's efforts to
protect children from environmental
threats in the Woonasquatucket River
and to announce three children's health
grants to Rhode
Island totaling
nearly $70,000.

During a
morning visit to die
Laurel Hill
Elementary School
in Providence,

Whitman and
Chafee listened in
as 20 third-grade
students learned
appropriate uses of
the

Woonasquatucket through a multi-
media. multi-lingual "Do's and Don'ts"
curriculum presented by the Northern
Rhode Island Conservation District.
They also joined state and local officials
in announcing three grants aimed at
reducing childhood lead poisoning and
improving indoor air quality at schools.

Among the grants announced:

•Hie Northern Rhode Island
Conservation District was awarded a
$29,999 grant to continue and expand its
"'Do's and Don'ts for the
Woonasquatucket River" education
campaign. The campaign now in its
fourth year, will be used to expand in-
school presentations which have already
reached more than 1,000 second- and
third-grade students. Hie grant also will
be used to create a tool kit that can be
used in other urban watersheds and pilot
the new program w ith the Blackstone
River Watershed Council.

• The Childhood Lead Action
Project received a $25,000 grant to
continue its work in reducing childhood
lead poisoning in Rhode I sland through
citizen education, parent support and
advocacy. The grant will specifically be
used to expand aid sustain the Rhode

Island Lead Collaborative, a two-year-
old network of organizations and
agencies involved in lead poisoning
prevention outreach across the state.

• The Rhode Island Department of
Health received a $15,000 grant to
expand the use of the agency's "Tools for
Schools'" indoor air quality program in
Rhode Island
schools. Tools for
Schools is a
voluntary program
to assist school
officials in
preventing and
solv ing indoor air
quality problems.
The program kit
includes a
checklist for
evaluating
problems and
specific actions for improving air quality,
including improving air ventilation,
curbing mold problems, testing for radon
and preventing exposure to diesel bus
emissions. More than 20 schools in
Rhode Island have already implemented
the program, The $15,000 is among
nearly $100,000 of grants that Rhode
Island has received from EPA for Tools
for Schools implementation.

Whitman also highlighted the
agency's commitment to clean up the
Woonasquatucket and revitalize its
shorelines. The agency has spent more
than $10 million since 1999 on
cleanup activities in the North
Providence section of the river known
as the Centredale Manor Superfund
Site. EPA provided more than $1
million to support Brow nlields
redevelopment efforts in Providence,
including the Woonasquatucket
River Greenway Project to create
two large riverfront parks on former
industrial properties.

"The transformation that's
underway on the Woonasquatucket
River is really exciting and EPA is
proud to be a partner in those efforts,"
Whitman said.

Curbing childhood
lead poisoning

continued from page §

forced many low -income families to
remain in older housing with deteriorating
lead paint or face homelessness. To leave
no child behind we are committed to the
goal of creating community partnerships
involving low-income families, landlords
and city officials in order to provide lead-
safe housing," said Mary Sliney, Executive
Director ofThe Way Home.

Manchester Mayor Robert Baines
announced an additional $42,000 of
funding for The Way Home-funding that
was made possible through an agreement
between the city, the state and EPA in 1999
regarding sewer overflows in the city. The
agreement required the city to spend
$500,000 on children's health programs.

"We're pleased to award $42,000 to
Hie Way Home to continue its lead
poisoning and asthma prevention services
to Manchester," Mayor Baines said. "This
work is important to the city's goal of being
home to healthy families in a healthy
community environment."

EPA also recently proposed fines
against two New Hampshire realty
companies $33,892 against Senecal
Properties and $13,200 against Lacerte
Realty-for failing to notify home buyers
and renters of risks from exposure to lead-
paint. The initiative lias included more than
80 inspections around New England as well
as compliance assistance workshops.

Low-level lead poisoning is
widespread among U.S. children, affecting
as many as three million children under the
age of six. hi Manchester alone, 173 of
2,238 children who were screened last
year-7.7 percent-4iad elevated blood lead
levels, according to die New Hampshire
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention
Program. That is double the statewide rate
of 3.8 percent.

Researchers have determined that
children are especially susceptible to lead
poisoning due to a higher probabil ity of
ingestion of lead paint particles. Elevated
lead levels can trigger learning disabilities,
decreased growlh, hyperactivity, impaired
hearing aid even brain danage.

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Awards and new application information

EPA awards $100,000 for environmental job
training in Boston and New Bedford 	

EPA New England awarded
supplemental funding under the
Brownfields lob Training and

Students from New Bedford learn about
hazardous waste.

Development Demonstration
Pilots program, lobs for Youth in
Boston and New Directions in

New Bedford each received
$50,000 grants. The grants will be
used to train residents in
procedures for handling and
removing hazardous substances.
The agency made grants totaling
$750,000 across the country.

"Brownfields can spur the
economy," said Robert W. Varney.
EPA New England Regional
Administrator, "These grants will
go a long way to ensuring that
there is a trained work force ready
to take on the work of cleaning up
these sites and getting them back
into productive use."

This is the second round of
supplemental Brownfields job
training pilot grants to be awarded
(the first round was in May). The

goals of the pilots are to facilitate
cleanup of Brownfields sites
contaminated with hazardous
substances and prepare trainees for
future employment in the
environmental field. Brownfields
are abandoned, idled or under-used
industrial and commercial facilities
where expansion or redevelopment
is complicated by real or perceived
environmental contamination.

Since 1993, the EPA
Brownfields program has provided
over $200 million in assessment,
revolving loan fund cleanup and
job training grants, resulting in
over $3.2 billion in public and
private investments leveraged and
over 14,000 cleanup and
redevelopment jobs generated.

New Brownfields Cleanup Grant and other
Brownfields grants applications due in December

The new Brownfields Law,
passed earlier this year, authorized a
new and improved Brownfields
Grants Program. The law broadens
the definition of a brownfield.
creates a new Cleanup Grant
Program, and will expand the use of
funds to assess and clean up
petroleum-contaminated sites. The
Notice of Funding Availability
announcing the new program was
published in the Federal Register in
mid-October, and applications are
due on Dec. 16 for funding in
summer 2003.

Brownfields are typically under-
utilized or abandoned parcels of land,
tlie expansion, redevelopment, or
reuse of which is complicated by the
presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant or
contaminant. This includes "relatively

low-risk" petroleum sites and mine-
scarred lands. Sites not eligible for
funding include Superfund National
Priorities List sites, federal facilities
and sites which are the subject of
court order or decree.

LeLacheur Park in Lowell, MA is a former
Brownfield site.

There are four competitive
Brownfields grant programs-the
Assessment Grant Program, the
Cleanup Grant Program, the Cleanup

Revolving Loan Fund Grant Program
and the lob Training Grant Program-
with most providing funding of up to
$200,000 per eligible entity. The
Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Grant
Program funds up to $1,000,000 per
eligible entity to capitalize on a
revolving loan fund.

Units of government are
eligible to apply for all Brownfields
grants, while certain non-profit
organizations are eligible to apply
for Cleanup Grants and lob Training
Grants. Private entities and
individuals are not eligible to
receive grants from EPA.

For more information on all of
the Brownfields Grants visit EPA
New England's brownfields website
at http://www.epa. gov/regionO 1/
brownfields/index.html or call
Lynne Jennings at 617-918-1210.

gm

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^&A

EJ-related concerns in Boston's
Chinatown explained

Selected questions and answers from the Campaign to Protect
Chinatown's English and Cantonese fact sheets on EJ-related problems

Residents of Boston's
Chinatown neighborhood, who are
primarily Cantonese-speaking
immigrants, are receiving environ-
mental justice information in their
own language thanks to a Campaign
to Protect Chinatown (CPC) project
that was funded by EPA New England
grants. CPC recently began
distributing multilingual fact sheets
on a variety of environmental justice
issues to Chinatown residents, most
of whom have not completed high
school, 28 percent of whom live
below federal poverty and the
majority of whom are non-English
speakers. The CPC's multilingual
environmental curriculum modules
were developed using $40,000 in
grants from EPA New England's
Urban Environmental and Environ-
mental Justice Programs.

The English and Cantonese fact
sheets present answers to a variety
of questions about environmental
justice; the role of government
agencies; asthma and air pollution;
construction waste and dust; motor
vehicle exhaust; noise pollution
from traffic and construction; air
pollution in the home; lead
poisoning and integrated pest
management. The questions and
answers below were selected from the
CPC's nine Environmental Health in
Chinatown fact sheets.

What is environmental
justice?

Environmental justice means
that all people should have equal
access to clean air, water, housing
conditions and open space. Often,
environmental justice is an effort to
make low-income and minority
communities more clean and livable.

Why is environmental justice
important in Chinatown?

Living in Chinatown means
living next to the Combat Zone and
two of the busiest roads in

Massachusetts. The traffic is always
bad and construction is constant.
Both cause air pollution. Asthma can
be a result from living in a highly
polluted area. One in six students at
the Josiah Quincy Elementary
school have asthma.

hi addition, living in Chinatown
is becoming more expensive.
Longtime residents are forced to
move out while people with higher
incomes are moving in.

A Chinatown resident activist depicted on one of
CPC's fact sheets. Photo courtesy of Sand T.

Is anyone doing anything
about environmental justice in
Chinatown?

The Campaign to Protect
Chinatown addresses environmental
justice in Chinatown. CPC designs
and teaches workshops for
Chinatown residents about the
environment. CPC collects
information on noise, motor vehicle
counts at intersections and motor-
vehicle-related injuries to support
resident complaints about the traffic,
construction and noise that affect
their daily living.

What can I do?

You can attend [the CPC]
workshops. You can learn about
environmental justice and give this
information to others in your
community. When there is a
community or public meeting, you
can speak out about Environmental
Justice and mention the issues in the

workshop to support your concerns.
Also, you can contact the CPC to
learn more.

Is asthma a problem in
Chinatown?

There are more than 100
children, or one out of six, at the
Josiah Quincy Elementary School in
Chinatown who have asthma. Because
they have asthma, they may be more
likely to have breathing problems
when the ozone level is high.

What about construction in
Chinatown?

A resident living next to a
construction site in Chinatown said,
"I cannot open windows because of
dirt flying in. I no longer have fresh
air. Because of the dirt, I was
hospitalized in January, February and
the entire month of March...It is now
necessary for me to wear a mask."

Boston's Chinatown has a lot of
construction. The "Big Dig," which
borders Chinatown, is the largest
construction project in the United
States. There are also several
construction projects at almost any
time and there are many more
construction projects planned for
the future. It is likely that construc-
tion will be a concern for Chinatown
for a long time to come.

What do we know about
exhaust in Chinatown?

A 65-year-old Chinese resident
explained that traffic on Tremont
Street is as bad at night as during the
day. The Campaign to Protect
Chinatown did a survey of people
living in Chinatown. One out of three
residents said that they were
bothered by exhaust while in their
apartment. Two out of three
residents said they were bothered by
exhaust while outdoors. People who
said that they were bothered by
exhaust were also more likely to
report health symptoms. There are a
continued on page 14

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continued from page 13

lot of cars, trucks, buses and
construction vehicles in Chinatown.
The exhaust from these vehicles adds
to the amount of air pollution in the
Chinatown coram unity.

What causes noise pollution
in Chinatown and will it affect my
hearing or health?

Chinatown has a lot of noise.
Cars, trucks, buses and airplanes
cause noise. On construction sites
there are a lot of machines that cause
noise. CPC measured noise levels
around Chinatown on the morning of
Sept. 22, 2000. Each location we
measured had a higher noise level
than the city standard.

Very loud noise over years of
exposure can cause hearing loss. The
noise of heavy trucks when you are
on the sidewalk next to them is near
the level of noise that can cause
hearing loss. Most of the noise in
Chinatown is below the level that
will cause hearing loss. However, it
can cause other health effects.

Some scientists think that noise
pollution can increase blood
pressure and the risk of heart
disease. They also believe that it can
increase anxiety and decrease how
well children do at school. Noise can
wake you from sleep. It is stressful
to live around a lot of noise.

Is there air pollution in my
home and what are the health
effects?

Indoor air pollution includes gas
fumes from stoves and heaters.

Many household cleaners and new
carpets contain toxic chemicals.
Secondhand smoke from tobacco
pollutes the air. Most people spend a
lot of time at home so indoor air
pollution can be a serious concern.

Exhaust and secondhand smoke
can affect people who have asthma
or other breathing problems. Some

A Chinatown mural portrays residents' search for justice. Photo courtesy of Sand T.

chemicals can increase the risk of
cancer. If a stove or heater is poorly
maintained, carbon monoxide, a
deadly air, can pollute the air.

Are Chinatown residents at
risk of lead poisoning?

Although lead poisoning appears
to be less common in Chinatown
compared to other parts of Boston,
Chinatown had six children reported
to be poisoned by lead from 1998-
2000. Anyone can get lead
poisoning, but children are affected
more than adults. People living in
older building are at greater risk.

Are pests a problem in
Chinatown?

In 1999, the Boston Inspectional
Service Department shut down a
restaurant in Chinatown after finding
mice. The owner hired a pest control
company that removed and
controlled garbage as well as using
pesticides. The restaurant was then
allowed to reopen.

Yes, pests are a problem in
Chinatown. Trash, especially rotten food
is too often left on the street or in open
containers, hi general restaurants will
attract cockroaches and mice.

Besides being unpleasant, pests
may cause people with asthma to
have trouble breathing. They can also
carry diseases.

HP

What can I do?

If you feel that air pollution,
construction waste and dust, motor
vehicle exhaust, noise pollution,
indoor air pollution, lead poi soning
and pests are problems in Chinatown,
speak out! You can attend a meeting of
the Chinatown Resident Association
or a hearing held by the City of
Bos ton. Many of these problems will
only be solved if many people become
involved and work to change it.

CPC's fact sheet on The Role
of Government Agencies noted
that both the Boston Office of
Environmental Health and the EPA
have Chinese-speaking persons
who are willing to assist residents
in their native language. The
Boston Office of Environmental
Health has Chinese-speaking
persons answering their phone
from 9 a.m until noon on Mondays
and Fridays, while the EPA has
identified Cantonese and
Toisanese-speaking employees
that are willing to answer
residents' questions. To request
copies of this list of important
phone numbers or any of the
environmental education fact sheets,
contact Sherry Hao of the Campaign
to Protect Chinatown at 617-426-0643
or ehc@;protectchinatown.org.

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legislative |Jpdates

NECCO settlement protects new Revere plant site

The EPA announced in August
that the New England Confection-
ery Company (NECCO) will
undertake a $160,000 environmen-
tal project and pay a $27,000 fine
to settle a complaint regarding
violations of clean air regulations.
According to the complaint, the
company failed to adequately plan
for preventing and controlling
accidental releases of ammonia
from its Cambridge facility.

"This facility is in a very dense
urban neighborhood, so it's
particularly important that there be
a good system for preventing
hazardous chemical releases," said
Robert W. Varney, Regional
Administrator for EPA's New
England Office. "The good news is
that this settlement means NECCO
will be going beyond what's
required to make their new facility
safe and clean."

NECCO uses liquid ammonia
as a refrigerant in air condition-
ing and cooling equipment. A
major release of ammonia from
the facility could have health
impacts on the surrounding
neighborhood and/or lead to
temporary evacuation. The
facility is located near resi-
dences, a subway station, a
community college, a shopping
mall, a school and a science
museum. This facility had small
accidental releases of ammonia
in 1995 and 2000.

The federal Clean Air Act
requires that companies with
large amounts of hazardous
chemicals on site to file risk
management plans with EPA. The
threshold amount for ammonia is
10,000 pounds. According to the
complaint, the risk management

plan filed by NECCO in June 1999
lacked several important
components, and an EPA audit and
compliance inspection in
December 2000 confirmed that
several elements of the plan were
not being implemented at the plant.

NECCO is in the process of
relocating to a new facility in
Revere. Under the settlement.

NECCO will pay a $26,910 penalty
and will design and install an
ammonia diffusion system in the
Revere facility. The system, valued
at approximately $160,000, will
reduce the risks of releases of
ammonia. Since the inspection,
NECCO has improved its risk
management systems at the
Cambridge plant.

New Massachusetts EJ policy

meaningful involvement of all
people with respect to the
development, implementation and
enforcement of environmental
laws, regulations and policies, and
the equitable distribution of
environmental benefits.

The new policy identifies
several services that will be
undertaken by all EOEA agencies
to help potentially sensitive
populations that are most at risk of
being unaware or unable to
participate in environmental
decision-making.

With senior-level commitment,
EOEA will establish regional outreach
teams. Teams will meet with local
residents to discuss related community
issues, as well as provide feedback on
EOEA's effectiveness. EOEA agencies
are also responsible for developing
public participation programs provide for
translation of public notes and
interpreters at public meetings.

Under the policy, impacted EJ
neighborhoods be a priority for
compliance and enforcement
assistance. Enhanced analysis of all

continued from page 1

environmental impacts will be
required through the Massachusetts
Environmental Policy Act to ensure
that targeted communities are not
disproportionately affected by future
sources of pollution.

Noting that Brownfield sites
are concentrated in many urban
communities. EOEA's new policy
focuses on redeveloping these
contaminated sites in to help drive
community revitalization. EOEA
has allotted $1 million for the sole
purpose of identifying, tracking
and cleaning Brownfield sites in
urban communities.

Lastly, the state plans to
develop a statewide mapping
system to track EJ populations, as
well as potential pollution sources
that impact EJ neighborhoods.
EOEA plans to update maps as new
census data is released.

The new EJ policy is the
product of the Community
Preservation Initiative, a four-year
effort by EOEA to preserve and
protect the natural resources of
the Commonwealth.

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Lu cont.

Settlement with
RIPTA requires use
of diesel reduction
technologies

continued from page 1

assessments on many of its waste
streams and had even been throwing
some of its hazardous waste in the
trash, including cans containing
solvents and contaminated rags. EPA
inspectors also found that RIPTA
failed to properly label and date
waste containers, manage hazardous
waste to minimize the potential for
release, and ship hazardous waste off
site within 90 days as required.

RIPTA violated the Clean Water Act
by failing to have an adequate oil spill
prevention plan and violated the Clean
Air Act by failing to retrofit 20 of its
pre-1994 buses with required catalytic
converters designed to reduce diesel
emissions by 25 percent. This retrofit
was required under the Urban Bus
Retrofit Rule when the transit authority
rebuilt the engines on those buses.

"This summer's poor air quality is
an unfortunate reminder that air
pollution still persists in New England
and that we must be diligent in
ensuring compliance with our
environmental laws," said Robert W.
Varney, Regional Administrator of
EPA's New England Office. "This
agreement with RIPTA is a significant
step in the right direction. The use of
cleaner fuels and cleaner buses in
RIPTA's fleet will contribute greatly to
improving Rhode Island's air quality."

In September, EPA completed the
Health Assessment Document for
Diesel Engine Exhaust. The assess-
ment concluded that short-term
exposure to diesel exhaust can cause
lung irritation and other inflammatory
symptoms and that long-term exposure
is likely to pose a lung cancer hazard
to humans as well as other forms of
lung damage. The document can be
downloaded from http://cfpub.epa.gov/
ncea/clm/recordisplav.clm?deid=29060.

The EPA announced in August that
it has issued notices of violation to 10
companies and Massport for violating
clean air regulations by idling buses
for excessive periods of time - in one
case nearly four hours. All the
violations were observed at Logan
Airport this summer. Violators of the
regulation face possible penalties of
up to $27,500 per violation.

The notices of violation are part
of a New England-wide effort by EPA
to curb diesel air emissions,
particularly in inner city neighbor-
hoods where diesel air pollution and
asthma rates are substantially higher
than in other parts of the region. EPA
is working closely in Boston with the
Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection and the City
of Boston to educate companies and
drivers about the anti-idling law. The
notices of violation at Logan follow a
notice of violation issued in luly to the
Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority
for excessive idling at its bus yards.

"Too many children, especially in
our urban areas, suffer from the health
effects of diesel exhaust," said Robert
W. Varney. Regional Administrator for
EPA's New England Office. "Bus idling
is an easily avoided source of
pollution. Bus operators and transit
companies can help protect public
health by taking steps to limit idling."

EPA inspectors made observa-
tions at Logan International Airport
on four occasions, between June 25
and July 7, finding 38 instances of
buses idling longer than 5 minutes,
averaging half an hour of idling per

bus. In one case, a bus was observed
idling for nearly four hours.

Notices of violation were issued to:
Alamo Car Rental, Budget Car Rental,
Concord Trailways, Flight Line, Inc., Fox
Bus Lines, Hertz Corporation,
Massachusetts Port Authority, McGinn
Bus Co.. National Car Rental. Paul
Revere Transportation, and the Plymouth
and Brockton Street Railway Co. Some
of the companies are contractors
operating Logan Express buses.

Massport was cited for a single
instance of a compressed natural gas
power bus idling; all other companies
were cited for one or more diesel or
gasoline buses.

Diesel exhaust contains fine
particles (known as PM2.5 or 'soot'),
smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx),
and various toxic chemicals such as
aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetalde-
hyde, acrolein), benzene, 1,3-
butadiene, and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs).

In New England, diesel engines are
the third largest human-made source of
fine particles, contributing more than 20
percent of emissions. Fine particles can
cause lung damage and aggravate
respiratory conditions, such as asthma
and bronchitis. Children are more
sensitive to air pollution because they
breathe 50 percent more air per pound
of body weight than adults. Recent
studies have found a strong correlation
between exposure to diesel exhaust and
impaired lung grow th in children.

On several days sinrounding the EPA's
observations, die Boston area had

continued on page 17

is fleet operators for
idling violations at Logan airport

mm

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EPA and U.S. Attorney announce $3
million settlement that will improve air
quality and the environment in Boston

Idling violations

cont.

continued from page 16

On Oct. 29, United States
Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and
Robert W. Varney, Regional
Administrator of the EPA's New
England office, announced a
settlement with a Boston trash
hauler. Allied Waste Systems, Inc.
("Allied") which resolves the
government's claims that Allied
violated the Clean Air Act.

The proposed Consent Decree
requires the company to pay a
$782,550 civil penalty and spend
$2.3 million on an environmental
project that will improve Boston's
air quality at Allied's Howard
Transfer Station in Roxbury. A civil
complaint was also filed simulta-
neously with the Consent Decree.

The settlement stems from
violations of provisions of the Clean
Air Act that are intended to protect the
stratospheric ozone layer from the
harmful effects of certain chemicals,
known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
and hydro chlorofluorocarbons
(HCFCs). These chemicals, commonly
found in coolants, are known to cause
the depletion of the stratospheric
ozone layer, which protects the earth's
surface from harmful ultraviolet
radiation. Under EPA regulations,
waste haulers who dispose of
household appliances which may
contain CFCs or HCFCs, including
refrigerators, freezers and air
conditioners, must take steps to ensure
that these chemicals are not released to
the atmosphere.

"The agreement is indicative of
EPA's strong commitment to improve
environmental conditions in urban
areas, especially communities such as
Roxbury which has among the highest
asthma rates in the state," said Varney.

According to the civil complaint,
between July 1997 and August 1998,
Allied compacted or crushed discarded
appliances collected under the trash
pick-up contract with the City of
Boston, without either recovering any
remaining refrigerant from the

appliances or verifying that the
refrigerant was previously evacuated
from the appliances. Upon learning of
EPA's inspections. Allied corrected the
improper disposal practice.

U.S. Attorney Sullivan noted that a
similar enforcement case against
Waste Management of Massachusetts,
Inc., also involving improper handling
of CFCs and HCFCs, was settled and
announced in April of this year.

"My office will continue
aggressively to enforce the federal
statutes that protect our environment,"
said U.S. Attorney Sullivan. "The
Earth's ozone layer protects us all
from harmful solar rays that can cause
skin cancer, and the Clean Air Act is an
essential tool in protecting the ozone
layer. Waste haulers across the country
must strictly comply with the federal
ozone protection requirements."

In addition to requiring payment
of a substantial civil penalty, the
Consent Decree requires Allied to
spend at least $2.3 million on a
Supplemental Environmental Project
as described below; to comply with
Section 608(c) of the Clean Air Act;
to conduct appropriate training of
employees who are engaged in
activities concerning the collection
and disposal of appliances; and to
implement a tracking system for all
appliances picked up by Allied in the
City of Boston in order to ensure
future compliance with the
regulatory requirements.

The Supplemental Environmental
Project involves the construction of a
new building at Allied's Roxbury
transfer station and the installation of
state-of-the-art emissions control
technology capable of reducing dust,
odors and volatile organic compounds.
This will improve aesthetics and
provide for more efficient waste
transfer operations.

The case was handled by Assistant
U.S. Attorney George Henderson in
Sullivan's Civil Division and Thomas
Olivier, EPA Regional Counsel.

significant air quality problems, including
elevated ozone and PM2.5 levels.

The Massachusetts anti-idling
regulation prohibits engine idling
while the vehicle is stopped for a
foreseeable period of time in excess
of five minutes (with exceptions for
activities such as maintenance and
operating auxiliary equipment such as
delivery lifts). Penalties for violating
this regulation can be as high as
$27,500 per day per violation (this
amount increased to $31,500 for
violations after August 19). There is a
statutory 30-day waiting period after
the notices of violations before any
fines can be imposed.

EPA is also working aggressively with
the six New England states to implement
anti-idling programs, with a particular
emphasis on school buses, hi May, EPA
New England and Ihe New England Asthma
Regional Council issued idling guidelines
for school bus operators. Aid earlier this
year, as a result of an EPA case enforce-
ment against Waste Management of
Massachusetts, the company will provide
ultra low sulfur diesel fuel for 200 diesel
school buses operated by the Boston public
schools and new air filter traps for
approximately 110 of those buses.

EPA Standards for New Trucks and Buses

Nitrogen Oxide Particulate Matter

1984	10.7

1991	5

1W4	* Wk

1998

2004	2

I 2007	ca

1984 ^0.6 *
1991 (a25»Q|||^

1994 0,10 ¦!*



future 7.007

* EPA's emission standards for Irucks and buses ore basod on ihe amount d pollution
emitted per unit of energy (expressed in grams per brake horsepower hour).

For more information on diesel
exhaust and anti-idling guidelines, visit
EPA's web site at http://www.epa.gov/ne/
eco/diesel.

mm

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Upcoming EJ events

ofmore informatTor

NOVEMBER

November 18-20

E.T Awareness Training

8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. onNov. 18 or 19, and 8:30

a.m. -12:30 p.m. onNov. 20

Location: EPA New England Office

1 Congress St. Boston, MA

EPA employees use START system; others

please call 617-918-1703

November 19

Boston Bar Association discussion on new
MA EJ Policy
12:30 p.m.

Location: 16 Beacon St. Boston, MA
http://www.bostonbar.org/sc/ev/index.htm

November 20

"Moving Forward: Environmental Protection
for All"

11:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m.

Location: EPA Headquarters,

1200 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC

November 20-21

Working Effectively with Tribal governments
8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Location: EPA New England Office
1 Congress St. Boston, MA
Register through START

November 22

Moderate Risk Deleading Training
Various times

Location Boston Public Health Commission
1010 Massachusetts Ave. 2nd floor Boston, MA
www. state.ma.us/dph/clppp/TRAINPRO.HIM

DECEMBER

December 6

Who Counts? The Classification and
Application of Race and Ethnicity
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Location: Curry Student Center Northeastern

(Who Counts? cont.)

University Boston, MA

Aliya Quraishi, Symposium Coordinator

aHyajjuraishi@hotmail.com

December 9-12

18th NEJAC Meeting

12 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Marriot Hotel at Inner Harbor

110 South Eutaw St. Baltimore, MD

http: //www. epa. go v/ compliance/

environmentaljustice/nejac/

next_meeting .html

December 10
EJ Awareness Training
8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Location: EPA New England Regional Lab
11 Technology Dr. Chelmsford, MA
EPA employees use START system; others
please call 617-918-1703

December 16

Brownfields grants initial proposals due
Postmarked by close of business
Location: EPA New England Office
Mail code HIO

1 Congress St., Boston, MA 02114-2023
Attn: Lynne Jennings

December 18

EJ grants applications due

Postmarked by close of business

Location: EPA New England Office

1 Congress St., Boston, MA 02114-2023

Mail code RAA

Attn: Kathleen Castagna

JANUARY

January 21-22

EJ Awareness Training

8:30 a.m.-5 p.m on Jan.21, and 8:30 a.m. -

12:30 p.m. on Jan. 22.

Location: EPA New England Office

1 Congress St. Boston, MA

EPA employees use START system; others

please caU 617-918-1703

EPA New England Contacts:

For more EJ information:

Kathleen Castagna
EJ Coordinator
617-918-1429

castagna. kathleen@epa. gov

To submit an article:

Davina Wysin
EJ News Editor
617-918-1020

wvsin.davina@epa. gov

State Contacts:

Connecticut

Edith Pestana, Ct. DEP,

Environmental Equity Program
860-424-3044

Maine

Brook Barnes, Maine DEP,

Deputy Commissioner
207-287-7887

Massachusetts

LeAndrea Dames, EOEA,

Director of EJ & Brownfields programs

617-626-1053

New Hampshire

Philip O'Brien, NH DES
Director, Waste Management
603-271-2905

Rhode Island

Gerald Mc Avoy, RI DEM
401-222-6607 X2301

Vermont

Edward Leonard, Vt. DEC,
Policy and Regulatory Manager
802-241-3811

Web Resources:

EPA New England Environmental Justice
Program website

http: //www .epa. go v/re gi on 1 /ste ward/e i pro g/
index.html

National Office of Environmental Justice

http: //es. epa. go v/oeca/mai n/ei/i ndex. html

External links disclaimer

This newsletter provides links to non-EPA websites. These links provide additional informa-
tion that may be useful or interesting and are being provided consistent with the intended
purpose of this newsletter. However, EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of the information
provided by linked sites. Providing links to a non-EPA website does not constitute an
endorsement by EPA or any of its employees of the sponsors of this site or the information
or products presented on the site.

National Environmental Justice Advisory
Council

http ://es. epa. gov/oeca/main/ei/nei a c/
index.html

National Office of Civil Rights

http: //www. epa. gov/ocrpage 1 /aboutocr. htm

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