Hazardous waste

11/03/2009 -- WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is adding three new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites. Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

To date, there have been 1,610 sites listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 340 sites have been deleted resulting in 1,270 sites currently on the NPL (including the three new sites added in today’s rulemaking). There are 63 proposed sites awaiting final agency action: 58 in the general Superfund section and five in the federal facilities section. There are a total of 1,333 final and proposed sites.    » read more »

September 15, 2009 -- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it plans to issue new standards to better protect America’s waters from coal plant pollution. The announcement comes a day after environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Environmental Integrity Project and Defenders of Wildlife, put the EPA on notice for the agency’s 26-year delay in updating coal pollution regulations.

Pollution from coal plants is becoming increasingly toxic as more pollutants are taken out of the air, only to then be transferred to coal ash and other coal waste discharges. These toxic discharges can contaminate drinking water and pose serious threats to fish and other wildlife.    » read more »

April 13, 2009 -- WASHINGTON— Invista will pay a $1.7 million civil penalty and spend up to an estimated $500 million to correct self-reported environmental violations discovered at facilities in seven states, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The company disclosed more than 680 violations of water, air, hazardous waste, emergency planning and preparedness, and pesticide regulations to EPA after auditing 12 facilities it acquired from DuPont in 2004.    » read more »

February 25, 2009 -- (Salem) – Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and Attorney General John Kroger announced today that Oregon will seek to join a lawsuit against the federal government over the longstanding failure to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation on the Columbia River.

“This suit is about compelling the federal government to uphold its commitment to protect fully our environment and our citizens,” Governor Kulongoski said. “Further delay is unacceptable. The federal government must make this clean up a priority and meet its obligations to address the environmental and public health risks that the Hanford site continues to pose.”

“Hanford poses a major risk to our health and environment,” Kroger added. “It is time to clean it up.”    » read more »

CHICAGO, June 23, 2008 - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 asks the public to provide information that could affect its decision to approve a request from AK Steel Corp. AK Steel wants an exemption that allows the company to continue to dispose of hazardous waste from its steelmaking operations into two existing underground injection wells on its property in Middletown, Ohio. The original exemption from federal restrictions on land disposal of hazardous waste was approved in 1990.

EPA tentatively plans to re-issue the exemption pending public comment. It has reviewed information provided by the company that shows the waste will not move out of the underground layers of rock where it will be confined when it is disposed in the deep wells.    » read more »

Governor signs two bills brought forward by West Branch Middle School Students

May 12, 2008 -- (Des Moines) – Today, Iowa Governor Chet Culver signed two bills into law brought forward by West Branch Middle School Science teacher Hector Ibarra and his students who were looking at ways to take hazardous materials out of landfills and the environment. House File 2668 focuses on recycling used oil filters and House File 2669 addresses recycling mercury thermometers.    » read more »

March 27, 2008 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is amending the 2005 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) rule for new and existing hazardous waste combustors.

The EPA has revised or clarified several compliance and monitoring provisions and has also corrected several omissions and typographical errors. This action will reduce compliance uncertainties and will improve understanding of the final rule requirements.

The rule should be published in the Federal Register within the next two weeks.

More information on the NESHAP amendments: epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/combust/finalmact/index.htm

Source: EPA

Company also agrees to spend over $68,000 for local environmental projects

03/25/08, HONOLULU – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached a $20,000 settlement with Pacific Marine and Industrial Corp., for used oil and hazardous waste management violations at its power plant facility in Puerto Rico, Saipan.

The company corrected the violations and also agreed to spend over $68,000 to conduct a series of environmental projects that will focus on used oil management including storage and spill prevention at commercial facilities.    » read more »

Bausch & Lomb, DuPont, Eastman Kodak, Xerox, and Others Required to Reimburse the State for Cleanup Costs

ROCHESTER, NY (January 16, 2008) – New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a settlement with eight private and public entities requiring them to reimburse the State of New York nearly $1.6 million for costs from the cleanup of the Rochester Fire Academy, a hazardous waste site in Monroe County. The eight entities, including Bausch & Lomb, DuPont, Eastman Kodak, and Xerox, disposed of hazardous waste at the site from 1954 to 1980.    » read more »

Chicago, Ill., Nov. 9, 2007 -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 today notified Dow Chemical Co. that it has found potential clean-air and hazardous waste violations at the company's Midland, Mich., facility.

EPA issued a finding of violation under the Clean Air Act and a notice of violation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. It also issued requests for information under both acts.    » read more »

August 30, 2007 -- AUGUSTA—Hundreds of Maine citizens live unaware of a quiet crisis lurking in or near their homes. In barns, basements, sheds, or garages throughout the state reside tons of banned and unusable pesticides: old chemicals with infamous names like DDT, lead arsenate, 2,4,5-T, and chlordane.

Often, new owners of older homes or farms discover they have inherited hazardous waste. When they do, citizens face a dilemma: hire an expensive hazardous waste disposal service or dump the chemicals illegally, inviting harm to the environment and public health.    » read more »

6/26/2007 -- Raleigh - North Carolina Governor Mike Easley today signed into law House Bill 36, “An act to improve the oversight of hazardous waste facilities, as recommended by the Governor’s Hazardous Materials Task Force.” The legislation will require companies that store hazardous waste to provide more information to state and local governments and details on these facilities and the waste being stored are easily available.    » read more »

May 18, 2007 -- Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, today called on the GAO to review TSA's standards for granting "Hazardous Materials Endorsements," which allow truckers to transport hazardous materials.    » read more »

May 16, 2007 -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Gina McCarthy today announced legal action to force cleanup of dangerous hazardous waste at an illegal dump in Plainville.

Shultz Salvage, Inc. at Cronk Road in Plainville has illegally operated as a waste facility for decades without a permit, discharging various forms of pollution into soil and groundwater.    » read more »

May 9, 2007 -- AUGUSTA—Hundreds of Maine citizens live unaware of a quiet crisis lurking in or near their homes. In barns, basements, sheds, or garages throughout the state reside tons of banned and unusable pesticides: old chemicals with infamous names like DDT, lead arsenate, 2,4,5-T, and chlordane.

Often, new owners of older homes or farms discover they have inherited hazardous waste. When they do, citizens face a dilemma: hire an expensive hazardous waste disposal service or dump the chemicals illegally, inviting harm to the environment and public health.    » read more »