Toxic chemicals

11/04/2009 -- LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a Unilateral Administrative Order to Texaco Inc. that requires the company to assess soil and groundwater contamination and evaluate additional cleanup options, for the Pacific Coast Pipeline Superfund Site (commonly known as the “Texaco site”) in Fillmore, Calif.

“With this UAO, EPA looks forward to moving the Site cleanup into its final phase, so the property can be returned to productive reuse by the community,” said Keith Takata, Director of the Superfund program in EPA’s Pacific Southwest Region. “This cooperative effort builds on prior cleanup work and will result in a protective cleanup for the community.”    » read more »

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 »

Listing makes cleanup of Tooele County facility a high priority

(Denver, Colo. -- November 2, 2009) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with support from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ), today announced it has added U.S. Magnesium, LLC, in Tooele County, Utah, to the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites.

Listing U.S. Magnesium on the NPL makes the cleanup of the site a high priority nationally. It also enables EPA and UDEQ to use Superfund authority under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act to initiate and oversee the cleanup of the site. Sites listed on the NPL are among the nation’s most contaminated places.    » read more »

October 22, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is marking National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week by announcing several actions the agency proposes to take to prevent lead poisoning. Lead poisoning may cause a variety of adverse health effects, including brain and nervous system disorders, high blood pressure, and hypertension. Children six years old and under are most at risk.

EPA has issued a proposed rule to expand the coverage of the 2008 Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule. The new rule proposes to eliminate a provision that exempted some housing from the rule’s requirement that contractors be trained and certified and use lead-safe work practices when renovating, repairing or painting a pre-1978 home.    » read more »

October 18 -24 is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

(San Francisco, Calif. -- 10/19/2009) National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, October 18-24, is set aside to educate parents and children about the dangers of lead exposure, especially lead-based paint hazards in housing.

Lead poisoning is the number one environmental hazard threatening children in the United States -- affecting more than 300,000 children who are less than six years old. Lead exposure can harm young children and babies even before they are born, and children who appear healthy can also have high levels of lead in their bodies. The behaviors and rapid growth of children less than six years old make them more likely to be harmed by lead.    » read more »

Erin Brockovich, public health and environmental advocates urge State EPA to set safe standard to protect Californians

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Oct 18, 2009 – Hexavalent chromium (hex chrome), the notorious cancer-causing chemical made famous in the film Erin Brockovich, contaminates drinking water in over 500 California communities, according to environmental and public health experts. The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) held a hearing today to take public comment on a proposed level for hex chrome in drinking water.    » read more »

10/15/2009 -- WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking public comment on a plan to develop interim preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) for dioxin in soil at contaminated sites. The plan includes a review of current dioxin cleanup guidance that has been established by the EPA, states and other countries, including the latest fully peer-reviewed dioxin toxicity assessments.

EPA will release the draft interim PRGs for public comment in December 2009, and anticipates issuing the final interim PRGs in June 2010. EPA is currently undertaking a reassessment of dioxin, the results of which are expected to be released by the end of 2010.

More information on the plan and how to comment: www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/remedy/sfremedy/remedies/dioxininterimplan....    » read more »

Levels of Benzene Found in Tonawanda's Air as High as 75 Times the Amount Allowed in NYS, Posing a Real and Present Threat to Residents' Health

October 14, 2009 -- Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer demanded owner and CEO of the Tonawanda Coke Corporation meet with community groups and listen – in person – to their complaints about the pollution coming from the Tonawanda facility and to explore potential solutions.

In a letter to Schumer, Crane wrote that the type of allegations being made against the Tonawanda coke plant “cannot be sustained when viewed in the clear light of supportable facts, science and analysis,” and blamed the elevated benzene levels on automobile traffic.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) issued the following statement in response to the release of a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study that shows mercury control technologies at coal-fired power plants are achieving substantial emissions reductions at low costs.

Sen. Carper has carefully monitored mercury pollution issues as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, and he requested this GAO report to examine costs and reductions achieved by power plant mercury control technologies.

Sen. Carper said:    » read more »

October 9, 2009 -- Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded Chautauqua County with a grant totaling $2,641,354. The funds are provided through HUD’s Lead Hazard Control Program.

“The same older housing stock that contributes to Chautauqua County’s character also adds to the risk factor for lead poisoning,” said Congressman Higgins. “This sizeable grant will support education and prevention to reduce this risk and keep our children and neighborhoods safe.”    » read more »

Senate Passage of Defense Bill Will Help Ensure Government Can Destroy Weapons by Congressionally Mandated Date of 2017

October 7, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet announced that they have joined the Senate in approving a bill that includes $154.4 million for weapons destruction at Pueblo Chemical Depot. The funding, which was included in the bipartisan Department of Defense Appropriations bill, will help the federal government stay on track to destroy the chemical weapons stored at the Pueblo Chemical Depot by the congressionally mandated date of 2017. The bill passed Tuesday evening by a vote of 93-7.    » read more »

October 01, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., today announced that the Defense Department’s Inspector General will investigate the U.S. Army’s response to the 2003 exposure of hundreds of U.S. soldiers to the deadly chemical sodium dichromate in Iraq.    » read more »

Investigation requested by Bayh to examine handling of exposure of Indiana National Guard soldiers in Iraq

October 1, 2009 -- Washington -- At the request of Senator Evan Bayh, the Department of Defense Inspector General (IG) announced that it will initiate an investigation into the U.S. Army’s response to the exposure of hundreds of U.S. soldiers—including 142 members of the Indiana National Guard—to the deadly chemical sodium dichromate in Iraq.    » read more »

September 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today lauded the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) release of new chemical safety principles as an important breakthrough for public health in America.

Lautenberg, a leader in the Senate on improving chemical safety, is preparing legislation that would put the burden on chemical companies to provide data to the EPA so that Americans can be assured the chemicals they are exposed to are safe.    » 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 »