DOCSLIB.ORG

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Industrial Waste Report October 2013

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Industrial Waste Report October 2013 Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Industrial Waste Report October 2013 Industrial Waste Report # 29 Industrial Waste Report Number 29 October 2013 Frederick A. Laskey Executive Director Michael J. Hornbrook Chief Operating Officer Richard P. Trubiano Deputy Chief Operating Officer Carolyn McAvoy Fiore Director, Toxic Reduction and Control Tracy McGrath Program Manager, Compliance MASSACHUSETTS WATER RESOURCES AUTHORITY NPDES Permit Number MA0103284 State Permit Number M-44 NPDES Permit Number MA0100404 State Permit Number M-139 FY 2013 Annual Report Table of Contents Executive Summary ..........................................................................................................1 I. Pretreatment Program Activities and Results ...................................................................3 Industrial Users .................................................................................................................3 Permitting ..........................................................................................................................4 Inspections ........................................................................................................................4 Monitoring ........................................................................................................................5 Enforcement ......................................................................................................................6 Information Systems .........................................................................................................6 Legal Support ....................................................................................................................7 Local Limits ......................................................................................................................7 Emergency Response ........................................................................................................7 Pass-Through and Interference .........................................................................................9 Pretreatment Program Resources ....................................................................................10 Budget .............................................................................................................................10 Program Cost Recovery ..................................................................................................10 II. Pollutant Analysis and Comparison to Environmental Standards ..................................11 Priority Pollutant Scans...................................................................................................11 Toxicity ...........................................................................................................................13 Residuals Quality ............................................................................................................14 FY 2013 Annual Report Table of Appendices A. SIU Data: Permit number and date issued Sample location descriptions Reasons for SIU status SNC Status Inspection and monitoring dates Enforcement actions Deadline for compliance with schedules NOV dates Administrative order dates Dates and amounts of penalties assessed B. Non-SIU Permitted Industrial Sewer Users Permit category Sample location descriptions Sampling requirements Discharge violations Enforcement actions C. Significant Industrial Users in Significant Noncompliance D. Former Significant Industrial Users E. Gas/Oil Separator Warning Letters F. Penalties Assessed and Collected G. TRAC Staff H. Priority Pollutant Scan Results and Comparison of Influent and Effluent to Established standards Deer Island I. Priority Pollutant Scan Results and Comparison of Influent and Effluent to Established standards Clinton J. Effluent Toxicity Test Results K. Comparison of Sludge Quality to EPA and State Standards L. Summary of EPA program statistics and EPA Industrial Pretreatment Program Summary Report Form, Metropolitan Boston Service Area, Clinton Service Area Executive Summary This Industrial Pretreatment Program Annual Report is provided pursuant to 40 CFR 403.12(i) and Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s (MWRA’s) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit numbers MA0103284 and MA0100404. It covers the reporting period of July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2013 (FY13). Executive Summary and Program Highlights The FY13 report documents MWRA’s ongoing efforts to implement the requirements of 40 CFR Part 403, General Pretreatment Regulations. Some highlights from TRAC’s FY13 activities in the metropolitan Boston and Clinton sewer services areas include: Significant Industrial Users: The number of facilities designated as Significant Industrial Users (SIUs) in MWRA’s sewer service areas at any time during FY13 was 212, three of which discharged to the Clinton Wastewater Treatment Plant. At the end of the fiscal year, the number of SIUs was 202. TRAC staff inspected 212 SIUs. TRAC staff sampled 183 SIUs; 29 SIUs were not monitored because either they did not discharge during the year, or were re-categorized as non-SIUs before they could be sampled. The number of SIUs in Significant Noncompliance (SNC) in FY13 was 37, an increase compared to FY12. At the end of the reporting period, however, there were only 15 SIUs in SNC. Permitting: TRAC issued or renewed a total of 338 industrial permits during FY13, including 65 to SIUs. 94% of the SIU permits were issued within 120 days of their application received dates or previous expiration dates, whichever was later, and 97% were issued within 180 days. Monitoring and Inspections: TRAC staff completed 1,399 sampling events at industrial/commercial facilities, and 1,647 non-industrial sampling events (e.g. Combined Sewer Overflow and other special projects events). TRAC staff also completed a total of 953 inspections of industrial facilities, 739 inspections of oil/water separators at vehicle maintenance facilities and other garages; and 208 inspections of septage haulers and septage receiving sites. Enforcement Program: TRAC issued a total of 250 early enforcement actions (Notices of Violations and Traps Warning Letters), and 71 higher-level enforcement actions (Notices of Noncompliance, Orders and Penalty Assessment Notices) to industrial and commercial facilities. 109 of the Notices of Violation were issued to SIUs, and 20 higher level actions were issue to SIUs. TRAC assessed a total of $226,440 in penalties against permitted sewer users ($214,700 to SIUs), and collected a total of $47,175 in penalties during the fiscal year ($43,500 from SIUs). Staffing: Several retirements of TRAC staff led to turnover during FY13; as of mid- October, TRAC has completed filling all resulting vacancies and TRAC is operating with a full complement of staff. 1 This page left intentionally blank. 2 Section 1 Pretreatment Program Activities and Results Section I. Pretreatment Program Activities and Results A detailed accounting of the pretreatment program activities and accomplishments for MWRA’s Industrial Users (including Significant Industrial Users), during FY13 is presented below. Appendix A contains information on MWRA’s SIUs, and provides, in its Key, criteria for SIU status and compliance status codes. The Appendix provides information about why the facility is a SIU and whether it is in compliance with reporting requirements, categorical standards and local limits, dates of MWRA inspections and monitoring events for each facility, and what, if any, enforcement actions were taken by MWRA against the facility. Appendix B details all permitted industrial users not classified as SIUs. The information includes a description of the sampling locations and sampling requirements for each industry, any discharge violations during the year, and all enforcement actions taken against them during the year. Each SIU is inspected at least once per fiscal year and each SIU with a discharge to the sewer system is sampled at least once per fiscal year. Statistics on MWRA’s Significant Industrial Users (SIUs) and the number of SIUs in Significant Noncompliance (SNC) for FY13 for the Clinton and the metropolitan Boston areas are summarized below. The list of SIUs in SNC can be found in Appendix C. Industrial Users in FY13 Total number of permitted industrial users = 1158 The number of SIUs = 212 (3 in Clinton) The number of SIUs on June 30, 2013 = 202 (3 in Clinton) The number of SIUs that were categorical industrial users (CIUs) = 82 (1 in Clinton) Industries categorized as SIUs because of process flows of at least 25,000 gpd = 59 Industries categorized as SIUs for potential to violate (PTV) = 103 The number of SIUs in SNC = 37 The number SIUs in SNC last fiscal year = 22 The number of industries in SNC for reporting violations only = 6 The number of industries in SNC for reporting violations only for last fiscal year = 5 Number of SIUs in SNC for discharge violations = 34 Number of SIUs in SNC for other violations = 1 MWRA conducts meetings for SIUs annually, to review compliance issues and encourage facilities to reduce instances of violations. More than 79 people representing 41 SIUs attended the FY13 meetings that took place in May 2013. MWRA used the opportunity to remind SIUs of their reporting and compliance obligations and to update them on MWRA and EPA initiatives. In addition, attendees enjoyed a tour of the MWRA’s Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. 3 The EPA Pretreatment Annual Report Summary forms
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Total and Dissolved Organic Nitrogen Analysis in an Urban Watershed
    TOTAL AND DISSOLVED ORGANIC NITROGEN ANALYSIS IN AN URBAN WATERSHED by Matthew S. Orosz B.A. Environmental Studies Dartmouth College 2000 Submitted to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ENGINEERING IN CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JuNE 2003 02003 Matthew S. Orosz. All rights reserved. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce OF TECHNOLOGY and to distribute publicly paper and electronic JUN 0 2 2003 copies of this thesis document in whole or in part LIBRARIES Signature of Author...... Department of Civil and Enviro Engineering May 9, 2003 Certified by:............./.. ............................... Harold F. Hemond William E. Leonhard Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Thesis Supervisor A ccepted by:......................... 'V Oral Buyukozturk Chairman, Departmental Committee on Graduate Studies BARKER TOTAL AND DISSOLVED ORGANIC NITROGEN ANALYSIS IN AN URBAN WATERSHED by Matthew S. Orosz Submitted to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering ABSTRACT An analysis of total nitrogen speciation in the Aberjona River (ABJ) was conducted using time-composite sampling in a spatial distribution along the watershed for the purpose of establishing patterns of organic and inorganic nitrogen concentrations and fluxes. A Total Nitrogen analysis (NO3, NH 4 and organic N) was undertaken to determine the relevance of potentially labile organic nitrogen as a constituent of ABJ river water both in dissolved and particulate form, as well as to differentiate nitrogen species by source and provide the basis for an estimation of transformations and a correlation of fluxes to land use patterns.
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of Groundwater Flow and Contaminant Transport
    EVALUATION OF GROUNDWATER FLOW AND CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT AT THE WELLS G&H SUPERFUND SITE, WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS, FROM 1960 TO 1986 AND ESTIMATION OF TCE AND PCE CONCENTRATIONS DELIVERED TO WOBURN RESIDENCES DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree, Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Maura A. Metheny, B.S., M.S. The Ohio State University 2004 Dissertation Committee Professor E. Scott Bair, Advisor Assistant Professor Anne Carey Approved by Professor Carolyn Merry ______________________________ Professor Franklin Schwartz Advisor Department of Geological Sciences Copyright by Maura A. Metheny 2004 ABSTRACT Contamination of municipal wells G and H was discovered in 1979 and was statistically linked by epidemiological studies to leukemia cases that occurred in Woburn, Massachusetts in the late 1960’s through the early 1980’s. Historical contamination of the buried valley aquifer at the 133 hectare Wells G&H Superfund Site is simulated using MT3D-HMOC code to determine the possible contamination history of the wells with TCE and PCE. A MODFLOW groundwater flow model calibrated using measured heads, measured streamflow gains and losses, and tritium/helium-3 groundwater ages was used to compute flow velocities. The 26-year transient groundwater flow model incorporates realistic pumping schedules and variable recharge rates. Although the wells operated from 1964 to 1979, the transport model spans the period 1960 to 1985 so that the simulated concentrations can be compared to water quality measurements from 1979 through 1985. At least five local sources contributed TCE, PCE, and other contaminants to the groundwater system. The precise contaminant release times and source concentrations are not known for the sites.
    [Show full text]
  • Ocn707397871-Mscoll149.Pdf (345.0Kb)
    State Library of Massachusetts - Special Collections Department Ms. Coll. 149 Carol A. Donovan Papers, 1978-2004: Guide COLLECTION SUMMARY Creator: Donovan, Carol A. Call Number: Ms. Coll. 149 Extent: 9 boxes (9 linear feet) Preferred Citation Style: Folder Title, Box Number #. Carol A. Donovan Papers. State Library of Massachusetts Special Collections. About This Finding Aid: Description based on DACS. Provenance: Gift of Carol Donovan, date unknown. Processed by: Finding aid prepared by Nick Foster, 2009; updated by Abigail Cramer, October, 2012. Abstract: This collection documents Donovan’s tenure as a Massachusetts Representative from the 30th and 33rd Middlesex Districts from 1990 to 2004. SCOPE AND CONTENT This collection includes material on a wide variety of topics, but there are three topics that are by far the most prominent. Foremost is an extensive compilation of papers regarding aversion therapy (unpleasant stimuli that induce changes in behavior through punishment, such as electric shocks, restraints, etc.), colloquially known as “aversives.” It is important to note that throughout this collection this term is misspelled as “adversives.” Also important is the fact that the vast majority of these materials date from before Donovan’s time in office and are labeled as having originally belonged to Rep. David B. Cohen of Newton. It is likely that Donovan, with her history in State Library of Massachusetts – Special Collections Department Guide to Ms. Coll. 149 - Carol A. Donovan Papers Page 1 of 22 special education, took a special interest in this topic and at some point was either given or inherited the papers from Cohen. Another prominent topic is Chapter 40B and numerous related issues.
    [Show full text]
  • The Legacy of Woburn, Massachusetts and Trichloroethylene Adell K. Heneghan University of Idaho Principles of Environmental Toxi
    The Legacy of Woburn, Massachusetts and Trichloroethylene Adell K. Heneghan University of Idaho Principles of Environmental Toxicology November 2000 Abstract Woburn, Massachusetts is an industrial, suburban city with a population of about 40,000. As populations grew in the city during the 1960’s, the municipal water supply was stretched beyond its capacity. Two new wells were drilled and developed for additional community water supply. Wells G and H were drilled along the Aberjona River in a historically industrial area. Almost immediately, residents began to complain about the water. Some began to suspect the water was responsible for the occurrence of childhood leukemia and the increase in birth defects. Ten years after their use began, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health determined these wells were contaminated and shut the wells down. One of the contaminants in the wells was trichloroethylene. Hundreds of thousands of tons of trichloroethylene are produced in the US every year. Trichloroethylene is found in over 60 percent of all Superfund Sites in the US. Studies have linked trichloroethylene with leukemia and birth defects; yet, today Trichloroethylene remains listed by EPA only as a possible human carcinogen. Introduction The City of Woburn is located 10 miles north of Boston along the upper Mystic Valley of east central Massachusetts. Despite the rolling hills, waterways, and trees, less than 2% of the city area is dedicated to recreation. Over16% of the land in the City is used for commercial or industrial production (Massachusetts Office of Environmental Affairs). Heavy industrial use is not new to the City or the area.
    [Show full text]
  • Five Year Review
    Table of Contents Section Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................... ix FIVE-YEAR REVIEW SUMMARY FORM ....................................... xi 1.0 INTRODUCTION ..................................................... 1-1 2.0 SITE CHRONOLOGY ................................................. 2-1 3.0 BACKGROUND ...................................................... 3-1 3.1 Physical Characteristics/Land and Resource Use ....................... 3-1 3.1.1 Operable Unit 1 – Source Area Properties ....................... 3-1 3.1.2 Operable Unit 2 – Central Area ............................... 3-3 3.1.3 Operable Unit 3 – Aberjona River Study ........................ 3-3 3.2 History of Contamination ......................................... 3-4 3.3 Initial Response ................................................. 3-4 3.4 Basis for Taking Action ........................................... 3-5 4.0 REMEDIAL ACTIONS ................................................. 4-1 4.1 Remedy Selection ............................................... 4-1 4.1.1 Operable Unit 1 – Source Area Properties ....................... 4-1 4.1.2 Operable Unit 2 – Central Area ............................... 4-3 4.1.3 Operable Unit 3 – Aberjona River ............................. 4-3 4.2 Remedy Implementation .......................................... 4-4 4.2.1 Operable Unit 1 – Source Area Properties ....................... 4-4 4.2.1.1 UniFirst and Grace Properties ........................ 4-4 4.2.1.2 NEP ...........................................
    [Show full text]
  • A "Video" Companion to a Civil Action
    - TAPE 2 AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEOTAPE - LESSONS FROM WOBURN: THE RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE A "VIDEO" COMPANION TO A CIVIL ACTION Produced by MARILYN J. BERGER Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law FILMS FOR JUSTICE SEATTLE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW WITH THE BERKMAN CENTER FOR INTERNET AND SOCIETY AT HARVARD LAW SCHOOL Draft #8 9/25/2002 2:27 PM Copyright © 2002 by Marilyn Joan Berger, Films for Justice. All rights reserved. No part of this videotape and/or transcript may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. "Lessons From Woburn : The Rules of Civil Procedure" A Film for Justice Production This videotape is dedicated to the Woburnfamilies who perseveredfor a cleaner and safer environment for themselves and those that share the water, earth, and sky. "Lessons From Woburn: The Rules of Procedure" A Film for Justice Production Abbreviations AA Anne Anderson AL A1 Love AM Professor Arthur Miller CN Charles Nesson DR Donna Robbins EL Evelyn Love HC Harriet Clark JC Jeanne Coulsey JF Jerome Facher JH Jonathan Harr JS Jan Schlichtmann MB Marilyn Berger MK Michael Keating RR Robbie Robbins BC Bill Cheeseman WS The Honorable Walter J. Skinner MT Mary Toomey Table of Contents Pag e Introduction (8 minutes) . ............ .. .. ..... .......... ... .. .. ..... .. .. ... ...... 66 Part One, Subject Matter Jurisdiction (8 minutes total) .. .......... .. .. ... .. .. ..... .. ..... ....... 69 Section One: Removal (3 minutes) ... .......... ... .. .. ..... .. ..... .. ..... 69 Section Two : State or Federal Court? (5 minutes) .
    [Show full text]
  • Environmental Law Case No. 1: Anne Anderson Et. Al. V. W.R. Grace Et Al. Summary Facts
    Gabrielle Koscielski MG201 – Prof. Jacqueline Middleton March 31, 2010 Environmental Law Case No. 1: Anne Anderson et. al. v. W.R. Grace et al. Summary In 1986, in Woburn, Massachusetts, a young personal injury lawyer, Jan Schlichtman, and his two partners filed a civil lawsuit against the mega-corporations Beatrice Foods Co. and W. R. Grace, alleging that they had negligently and illegally dumped the highly toxic chemicals TCE and PCE on their factory grounds, from where they leached into the soil and, through erosion and gravity, ended up in the Woburn municipal water supply, causing illnesses and death of local residents. Proving his claim, however, would be an expensive, drawn-out endeavor (the discovery phase alone would take four years!) that would eventually result in the case against Beatrice to be dismissed, a financial settlement with W.R. Grace of a paltry $8 Million that merely covered expenses, and Schlichtman declaring bankruptcy. Some of the injured families received less than $300,000 in damages, and the contaminated site was not cleaned up. Facts 1. Between 1968 and 1981, eight children die of leukemia in the small town of Woburn, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. The parents blame their children’s death on the foul tasting water that flows from their faucets. Subsequent cluster studies reveal that Woburn’s rate of leukemia is four times higher than the national average. 2. In 1979, state investigators discover that two municipal wells, are contaminated with the carcinogens trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE). 3. The EPA identifies three local factories as the possible polluters of Woburn’s drinking water: a dry-cleaning operation owned by UniFirst, a tannery owned by Beatrice Foods, Co., and a machine plant, owned by W.R.
    [Show full text]
  • We Still Have Lessons to Learn from Woburn, and Flint Is a Good Place to Start
    Notre Dame Law Review Volume 96 Issue 3 Article 9 1-28-2021 We Still Have Lessons to Learn from Woburn, and Flint Is a Good Place to Start Rose Mooney Candidate for Juris Doctor, Notre Dame Law School, 2021 Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr Part of the Environmental Law Commons, and the Water Law Commons Recommended Citation 96 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1319 (2021) This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Notre Dame Law Review at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Law Review by an authorized editor of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. \\jciprod01\productn\N\NDL\96-3\NDL309.txt unknown Seq: 1 18-JAN-21 11:51 NOTES WE STILL HAVE LESSONS TO LEARN FROM WOBURN, AND FLINT IS A GOOD PLACE TO START Rose Mooney* INTRODUCTION The United States protects its citizens’ right to bear arms, but clean water costs extra. Americans enjoy freedoms of religion and speech, vast eco- nomic opportunities, and a political voice, yet millions lack access to safe drinking water.1 Lead leaches from our cities’ pipes in Flint and Newark, uranium taints our Native American lands in the Southwest, and sewage seeps through our rural groundwaters in Alabama.2 The toxic compounds used when manufacturing everyday products like Teflon cause birth defects, infertility, and thyroid disease,3 and the lead in our water pipes slows cogni- tive and behavioral development in children.4 Americans also suffer from * Candidate for Juris Doctor, Notre Dame Law School, 2021; Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Politics and Spanish, Saint Anselm College, 2017.
    [Show full text]
  • Toxic Trials the American Legal Profession and Popular Perceptions of the Law Robert F
    Cornell Law Review Volume 81 Article 3 Issue 4 May 1996 Bottomless Pit: Toxic Trials the American Legal Profession and Popular Perceptions of the Law Robert F. Blomquist Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Robert F. Blomquist, Bottomless Pit: Toxic Trials the American Legal Profession and Popular Perceptions of the Law , 81 Cornell L. Rev. 953 (1996) Available at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/clr/vol81/iss4/3 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cornell Law Review by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BOOK REVIEW BOTTOMLESS PIT: TOXIC TRIALS, THE AMERICAN LEGAL PROFESSION, AND POPULAR PERCEPTIONS OF THE LAW A CIVIL ACTroN. By JonathanHarr. New York: Random House. 1995. 500 pp. $25.00. Robert F. Blomquistf INTRODUCTION "The truth?".... "The truth is at the bottom of a bottomless pit." They passed Samos and Delos on the left and Lebynthos on the right, when [Icarus], exulting in his career, began to leave the gui- dance of his companion and soar upward as if to reach heaven. The nearness of the blazing sun softened the wax which held the feath- ers together, and they came off. He fluttered with his arms, but no feathers remained to hold the air. While his mouth uttered cries ...it was submerged in the blue waters of the sea ...
    [Show full text]
  • Notes We Still Have Lessons to Learn from Woburn, And
    \\jciprod01\productn\N\NDL\96-3\NDL309.txt unknown Seq: 1 18-JAN-21 11:51 NOTES WE STILL HAVE LESSONS TO LEARN FROM WOBURN, AND FLINT IS A GOOD PLACE TO START Rose Mooney* INTRODUCTION The United States protects its citizens’ right to bear arms, but clean water costs extra. Americans enjoy freedoms of religion and speech, vast eco- nomic opportunities, and a political voice, yet millions lack access to safe drinking water.1 Lead leaches from our cities’ pipes in Flint and Newark, uranium taints our Native American lands in the Southwest, and sewage seeps through our rural groundwaters in Alabama.2 The toxic compounds used when manufacturing everyday products like Teflon cause birth defects, infertility, and thyroid disease,3 and the lead in our water pipes slows cogni- tive and behavioral development in children.4 Americans also suffer from * Candidate for Juris Doctor, Notre Dame Law School, 2021; Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Politics and Spanish, Saint Anselm College, 2017. I would like to thank Professor Jay Tidmarsh for his encouragement and guidance during this writing process. Thank you to my friends on the Notre Dame Law Review for their thoughtful edits and advice. All errors are my own. 1 See Justin Worland, America’s Clean Water Crisis Goes Far Beyond Flint. There’s No Relief in Sight, TIME (Feb. 20, 2020), https://time.com/longform/clean-water-access-united- states/. 2 Id. 3 Katelyn Newman, Report: Water Contamination Widespread Across U.S., U.S. NEWS (May 6, 2019), https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2019-05-06/contaminated- water-from-teflon-chemical-found-in-43-states-report-finds.
    [Show full text]
  • Two Examples (1 Cause-And-Effect; 1 [Almost Certainly] Coincidence): 1. Vinyl Chloride at B.F. Goodrich Plant, Louisville
    BE.104 February 8, 2005 Environmental chemicals and Cancer clusters: Cause and effect, or coincidence? Laura Green page 1 Two examples (1 cause-and-effect; 1 [almost certainly] coincidence): 1. Vinyl chloride at B.F. Goodrich plant, Louisville, Kentucky and liver cancer (angiosarcoma of the liver) 2. Trichloroethylene in East Woburn, MA, and childhood leukemia (as in, A Civil Action) BE.104 February 8, 2005 Environmental chemicals and Cancer clusters: Cause and effect, or coincidence? Laura Green page 2 How / why are people exposed to vinyl chloride? Vinyl chloride (monomer) is polymerized to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polymer. Commercial production began in the 1930's. Worldwide production is enormous: currently - 18 million tons annually. RAW MATERIALS Natural Gas Salt Electricity 'Cracker' Electrolysis Cell Caustic Soda Hydrocarbons & Oil Ethylene Gas Chlorine Gas Hydrogen Gas VCM Plant VCM Gas Hydrochloric Acid PVC Plant PVC Blender Products Figure by MIT OCW. BE.104 February 8, 2005 Environmental chemicals and Cancer clusters: Cause and effect, or coincidence? Laura Green page 3 Properties of vinyl chloride: Colorless gas; sweet odor. No obvious acute toxicity from early occupational exposures. Early occupational guideline for allowable exposures (pre-OSHA): 1961: American Council of Government and Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH): TLV of 500 parts per million (ppm, v/v), 8-hr. TWA. Basis? Research at Dow Chemical (Torkelson et al., 1961): rodents develop liver and kidney toxicity following exposure to 500 ppm; NOAEL = 50 ppm. Recommend reduction in TLV to 50 ppm. Little action taken. Mid-1960's: Acroosteolysis appears in some Goodrich workers (bone erosion at fingertips). Noticed by plant’s occupational physician, John Creech, M.D.
    [Show full text]
  • A Civil Action
    Case Study: A Civil Action Overview In this short, culminating activity, students view an excerpt from the 1998 film A Civil Action, which is based on the 1996 non-fiction account of a water contamination case in Woburn, Massachusetts. After viewing the film, students assume the role of environmental scientists and apply their knowledge of water and hazardous waste contamination to create a plan to help lawyer, Jan Schlichtmann, try the case. This activity can be used as an assessment piece to determine your students’ understanding of the many variables influencing water quality studies, especially when health risks are involved. Alignment to North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Science This lesson addresses the Science in Personal and Social Perspectives strand along with specific learning objectives: 8th Grade Science Objective 1.01: Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations. Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to: Explain observations. Make inferences and predictions. Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation. Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to: Communicate findings. Defend conclusions of scientific investigations. Describe strengths and weaknesses of claims, arguments, and/or data. Objective 1.10: Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing: Scientific text. Articles. Events in the popular press. Objective 3.07: Describe how humans affect the quality of water: Point and non-point sources of water pollution in North Carolina. Economic trade-offs. Local water issues. Objective 3.08: Recognize that the good health of environments and organisms requires: Monitoring of the hydrosphere.
    [Show full text]