OCTOBER 1976 VOL. 2, NO. NINE

\ \ 'I r- , r·"' , ) ;_ I - I ~ cr ,, f CURBING GLOBAL POLLUTION U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SCENE

n Tokyo $15,000a year is being spent to breed and I raise fireflies so they can be released on a summer evening to the "Ooohs" and "Aaahs" of young chil­ dren. The fireflies, long a fragile symbol of summer in Japan, have been decimated by the pollution which accompanied that island nation's modem agriculture and rapid economic growth. These insects were once such a great attraction in Japan that tour companies ran special trains to view them. Fireflies were captured and then released inside the family's mosquito netting so that youngsters drifted off to sleep watching their own private stars twinkling just overhead. Another article reports on a massive oil spill in Now, however, the New York Times repo11s, fire­ the St. Lawrence Seaway which involved both flies are never or rarely seen in Japanese cities. Two Canada and the U.S. in the cleanup. years ago one of Tokyo's ward governments began the Other subjects in this issue include: special firefly program as a symbol of environmental A report on why EPA agreed to allow a limited use improvement. of the pesticide DOT to help prevent spread of the The firefly story helps to illustrate Japanese love of bubonic plague in the West. the beautiful, as well as the seriousness of the urban An a1ticle about a newly developed air pollution pollution problems in Japan. index designed to permit uniform reporting ofpollution An article in this issue of EPA Journal reports on conditions to the general public. some of the steps Japan is taking to curb the An account of a successful effort to curb bottle and pollution associated with its extraordinary economic can trash in Yosemite, one of our most beautiful na­ development. tional parks. Japan's experience is one facet of the global Another in our continuing series of regional battle against pollution that is reviewed in the Journal. reports-this time from our office in San Fran­ The magazine includes articles by Administrator cisco-Region JX on Parade. Russell E. Train and Fitzhugh Green, Associate A review of a new film jointly produced by Environ­ Administrator for International Activities, on world­ ment Canada and EPA on the effort to clean up the wide effo11s to protect the environment. Great Lakes. ft ~ U.S. Printed on recycled paper. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Russell E. Train, Administrator Patricia L. Cahn, Director of Public Affairs ARTICLES Charles D. Pierce, Editor SAFEGUARDING THE GLOBE PAGE 2 Staff: Van Trumbull, Ruth Hussey, Administrator Russell E. Train speaks about David Cohen the environmental problems facing the world in the years ahead. PHOTO CREDITS Page 5-Black Star SPOTLIGHT ON JAPAN PAGE 4 Page 9-1,000 Islands International Council Japan is preparing a presentation on how it is Page I I-Colorado State Health Department coping with its serious pollution problems. Page 12-J. Mark Blackburn Page 13-J. Mark Blackburn EPA AND THE WORLD PAGE 6 Page 18-Ernest Bucci Page 19-Gerald French. San Francisco An interview with Fitzhugh Green on Visitor's Bureau EPA 's relations with foreign countries. Page 20-Dick Rowan* Page 22-Charles 0 ·Rear* Page 23-Dick Rowan* OIL SPILL ON THE ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY PAGE 8 Back Page-Frank Aleksandrowicz* * DOCUMERICA BATTLING BUBONIC PLAGUE PAGE IO COYER: Illustration by George Rebh INS! DE COYER: Illustration by Hokusai UNTRASHING YOSEMITE PARK PAGE 12

The EPA Journal is published POLLUTION IN DEX PAGE 14 monthly, with combined issues July-August and November- December, by the U.S. Environmental REGION IX ON PARADE PAGE 19 Protection Agency. Use of funds for printing this periodical has TOMORROW'S AND YESTERDAY'S PROBLEMS PAGE 22 been approved by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Views expressed by authors do not 'THE GREAT CLEANUP' BACK PAGE necessarily reflect EPA policy. Contributions and inquiries should be addressed to the Editor (A- !07), Waterside Mall, 401 M St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. No DEPARTMENTS permission necessary to reproduce contents except copyrighted photos PEOPLE PAGE 18 and other materials. Subscription: $8.75 a year, $.75 for single copy, domestic; $11.00 if mailed to a foreign NATION PAGE 16 address. No charge to employees. Send check or money order to INQUIRY PAGE 24 Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. NEWS BRIEFS PAGE 25

PAGE I SAFEGUARDING THE GLOBE By Russell E. Train

rom my vantage as head of the Environ­ to face a fuwre of growing scarcity, we are The need to ensure the long-term protec­ Fmental Protection Agency. I appreciate also learning to want more. Increasing stress tion of the global environment is the aspect of this opportunity to offer some thoughts with and conflict arc an inevitable concomitant these interrelated problems which is of partic­ regard to foreign policy development in the of this situation. Finally, to complete this pes­ ular concern to EPA. We are already con­ years ahead. simistic assessment, we should be aware that fronted both in the developed countries and in The need for this discussion is critical. al­ the very magnitude and complexity of the in­ the Jess developed countries with progressive though the hour is very late. Mankind stands stitutions and technologies that we must de­ degradation of the environment-a trend at the threshold of quantum jumps in world velop to help deal with the problems makes which will. if permitted to continue unrev­ population totals and in the need for food. en­ them at the same time particularly vulnerable ersed, spell disaster for mankind. ergy. and other resources, for housing. jobs, to disruption from those same forces of stress and technology. as well as for health and and conflict. e are all familiar with the pollution of other services to meet even the barest mini­ It is not a promising picture. Wair. water, and land that has become a mum requirements for life of additional bil­ Whatever the prospects for the future. one major by-product of technologically ad­ lions of human beings. central fact of crucial significance for U.S. vanced societies. The developed nations Enrique Penalosa. Secretary- General of policy emerges: Our nation will not remain have recognized this problem and are tak­ the UN's Habitat Conference in Vancou­ immune to the stresses that affiict the rest of ing major steps to deal with pollution, ver, says that by the end of this century we the world. Those stresses will not stop at our although the effectiveness of these national must build a new civilization on top of the borders. We cannot maintain our well-being efforts varies considerably. The strong, present one, and of equal size. at home ifthe world abroad is in disarray. We domestic environmental programs of the I find little cause for optimism today about are part of an increasingly interdependent and United States have given it a position of the ability of human society to meet these interTelated world. The problems of food and world leadership in this regard. a leadership needs. There is precious little evidence be­ energy supply are obvious cases in point. which is widely recognized abroad. I have yond wishful thinking that even a minimum There can be no thought ofa retreat into isola­ viewed international environmental cooper­ level of subsistence-let alone any decent tionism. Even if it were possible, which it is ation as representing an international exten­ quality oflifc-can be provided a world popu­ not. isolationism in today's interdependent sion. a. global dimension, of our own do­ lation that is expected to double by the year world is the road to disaster. The United mestic priorities. And it has been the 2000. Already. over much of the world. politi­ States has an overriding self-interest in help­ reality of our domestic concern and the cal instability, social stress. economic break­ ing find acceptable solutions to the world's effectiveness of our efforts to address that down. malnutrition, and disease are common­ problems. Failure to find those solutions will concern (although we still have a long way place. I think we must expect these problems exact an enormous price, not just from oth­ to go) which have given our international to become very much worse over the foresee­ ers, but in terms of the ultimate security and environmental efforts both credibility and able future. A worldwide trend toward a well-being of our own country. The need to force. For this reason, the continued strong cooler climate is being widely forecast by ex­ recognize this plain truth comes at just the commitment of the United States to clean pert climatologists. apparently the result of time that the American people are experienc­ air and water and other environmental both natural and man-made forces (including ing frustration and disillusion over their par­ programs is of crucial significance to simi­ pollution). and such a trend would have dras­ ticipation in world events. Ye! never in his­ lar efforts around the world. tic adverse impacts on the ability of the world tory has the opportunity and the need for The fact is, of course. that environmental to produce foods. Moreover. the sheer physi­ U.S. leadership in world affairs been more problems are not limited to economically ad­ cal fact of the growing imbalance between hu­ critical. vanced societies. The migration of rural pop­ man numbers and available resources is only How to provide the necessities of life for ulations to urban centers in less developed part of the picture. Along with it, we must billions of more human beings. how to pro­ areas has created overwhelming problems all also accept the fact of rapidly rising expecta­ vide an equitable allocation of the world's lim­ over the world. These growing human con­ tions in all parts of our human society and in ited resources. and how to accomplish all of centrations. living in many cases under ap­ all parts of the world. Thus, just as \Ve begin this while at the same time assuring the long­ palling conditions of human degradation, are term health of the natural systems of the accompanied for the most part by few, if any. Excerpred from resrimo11y by EPA Acl111i11- earth-the biosphere-upon which all human effective programs of waste management. is1ra111r Russell E. Train May 5. 1976, life and activity ultimately depend. these must Pollution of rivers. ground water, and coastal before the U .5. Sena re Commirtee 011 be the overriding concerns of all international waters is common and worsening. Fishery re­ Forei~n R elation.1·. relations for the rest of this century. sources suffer badly from such pollution

PAGE 2 around the world. Perhaps even more impor­ brought into production. the most difficult and. in my opinion, the tant for the long-term future is the loss of soils We can take pride in the leadership that the most urgent of these is the need for and forests in many areas. Cut-and-burn cul­ United States has shown in all of these activi­ effective international control over the de­ tivation in Latin America to open up new land ties. It is a record which provides a bright velopment of nuclear power to avoid diver­ for growing human numbers usually leads to chapter in international cooperation. Yet the sion of weapons-grade materials. only temporary utilization and then perma­ fact remains that we have only scratched the We need to develop new institutions capa­ nent loss of fertility. Laterization of soils surface. Enormous challenges still lie ahead. ble of addressing the problems of a rapidly eventually makes cultivation impossible in changing world. Most of our existing interna­ many tropical regions. As cultivation moves hile we have begun to address ocean tional institutions were developed in response onto ever steeper slopes, under the pressures Wpollution problems. we have made lit­ to problems which arose out of World War 1I of human population growth, erosion and loss tle or no comparable effort with respect to and its aftermath. Enormous change has of soils is commonplace. For example. as the the global atmosphere. We continue to deal come about since most of these institutions steep slopes of Nepal are progressively de­ with air pollution as simply a national were created. Many new nations have come nuded for firewood. the soils erode. the matter. However. we have recently come into being. There has been a tremendous rivers become choked with silt, flooding to realize in dealing with the potential growth of international trade. as well as of increases, and the land suffers a permanent problem of fluorocarbon destruction of the economic development. New scarcities of loss of productivity and utility. Around the protective ozone belt that unilateral efforts natural resources. such as energy. press upon world, wildlife populations are decimated at control would be relatively ineffectual all nations. and the very continued existence of species and that an international effort would be As the old structure appears increasingly threatened as habitats are altered or de­ required. Similarly. if we should find that incapable of addressing the problems and stroyed by human activity. All across Af­ particulate matter from fossil fuel combus­ needs of the new order which is coming into rica the Sahara marches relentlessly south­ tion is contributing to global climatic being. it is imperative that we take a fresh ward, a process sometimes called "deserti­ changes with major implications for world look both at existing institutions and the need fication." While the causes of this tragic food production. international agreements for new institutions. phenomenon are not fully understood, they to regulate such pollution may be unavoida­ As we develop new institutions. we must probably include the effects of a changing ble. recognize and accept the fact that they must climate and also the pressures of human Foreign policy development must include have decision-making authority. The interna­ setflement. including overgrazing. The con­ environmental considerations at every stage. tional system is already filled with agencies cept of an international program as pro­ I would recommend assignment of a few envi­ whose activities are largely discursive and posed by Secretary Kissinger recently at ronmental attaches to U.S. embassies in whose authorities are entirely advisory. We Dakar, Senegal, to seek long-term solutions areas where environmental problems have desperately need international institutions. to this problem of desertification in Africa major importance. At present there are eco­ particularly with regard to the oceans and the provides a welcome initiative for dealing nomic, agricultural, and military attaches, upper atmosphere. which can set standards with this problem and the human tragedy but not a single environmental attache. and enforce them. This may seem a radical which accompanies it. I congratulate the We have learned here at home that it costs proposal. but I have reached the conclusion Secretary on his proposal. The concept far more to depollute an industrialized coun­ that the world community can no longer duck represents the kind of imaginative leader­ try ajier it has become one than to install pol­ this issue. If international regulatory agencies ship that the United States can and should iution controls in the beginning. are established. it is important that they not be provide in dealing with this and similar Our policy should be to encourage emerg­ constituted to set standards at the lowest problems. ing nations to build their new industrial sys­ common denominator of national achieve­ tems with environmental sanity as an integral ment. he evidence is plain all around us that part, and we should urge the World Bank. the We need not only international regulatory Thuman numbers and human activities United Nations Development Program. the mechanisms-and those should only be es­ are already seriously stressing the natural Export/Import Bank and other multilateral tablished with great care-but also institu­ environment upon which our future de­ lending agencies to provide assistance where tions for global monitoring and assessment, pends. We can expect these stresses to necessary. Our own assistance programs institutions that can weigh apparent short­ become far worse as additional billions should also reflect the spirit of the National term gains against long-term costs. I might fight for survival. To the extent that in­ Environmental Policy Act of 1970. Indeed. add that in this area the need is not onl}' inter­ creased industrialization is sought as a EPA has been working with Al D in estab­ national but also domestic. insofar as the solution in the developing countries, we lishing NEPA-type guidelines for its overseas United States is concerned. The Office of can expect a rapid increase in the pressures programs. I would also add that realistic eco­ Technology Assessment of the Congress rep­ on our planetary raw materials, including nomic development assistance by the United resents a limited beginning. However, I con­ energy supplies. and major increases in States would go a long way in helping develop tinue to urge that our government as a whole pollution. Modern agriculture is highly de­ effective partnerships for dealing with the develop and maintain a comprehensive, long­ pendent upon massive infusions of energy kinds of critical world problems which 1 have range planning and assessment capability. (almost entirely derived from fossil fuels) to described. Such a capability would provide an essen­ drive its machines and to produce its The period since World War II has been tial resource for an effective foreign policy fertilizers and pesticides. Thus, world agri­ one of tremendous technological change. geared to a rapidly changing world. culture. no less than industry, faces a Whole new industries have grown up that did I shall close by repeating what I said at critical energy problem. Moreover. as the not even exist before the war: the aerospace the outset: Increasing international cooper­ pressure for increased food production industry, nuclear power plants. and com­ ation on safeguarding our life support sys­ grows, as it inevitably will. we can expect puterized information systems are a few. tems is an urgent necessity. The alternative at the same time serious long-term environ­ With these developments have come a is to sit back and wait for global disaster to mental consequences as marginal lands are whole new generation of problems. Among overtake us.•

PAGE 3 persons were recognized as the victims of SPOTLIGHT ON JAPAN diseases related to air pollution. As of December. 1975. about 1.500 pa­ apan will take the unprecedented step of poli cemen to use a waiting oxygen tank tients were designated as victims of the J making a broad-scale presentation of its periodically so they can continue their Minamata mercury disease. ltai-itai cad­ environmental program next month to a visit­ work. mium disease. o r c hronic arsenic poisoning ing group of high-ranking offi cials from some An electronic sign in Tokyo's Ginza dis- all stemming from the discharge of toxic of the other leading indu trial countries of trict give. ai r-pollution readings for sulfur substances into waterways. the world. dioxide and carbon monoxide in parts per mil­ These water pollution victims were com­ Among those who w ill make thi review arc lion and al o shows the noise level in decibels. pensated directly by the responsible indus­ John R. Quarles. Jr .. EPA Deputy Admin­ In recent years many industrial enterprises tries under the OECD "polluter pays" istrato r. have been brought to court in Japan for caus­ principle. The meeting Nov. 16-20 in Tokyo is being ing damage by air and water pollution. The The air pollution victims were paid from sponsored. at Japan's invitation. by the Envi­ judicial decisions arising from four major a fund. 80 percent of which is financed by ronme nt ommittee of the Orga ni zatio n for trials had great impact in affirming the re pon­ a pollution levy borne by a total of about Economic ooperati o n a nd Development sibility of industrial enterprises for pollution 7 .000 factories a nd business establishments (OEC DJ an international organi zation of 24 control and in asserting that. with the and 20 pe rcent provided from automobile of the major industrialized nat ions including technology now available. there is no rea­ tonnage tax revenues. the U.S., Canada. Japan. and several son that the Japanese should have to uffer The 1974 OECD recommendation o n the Western European nations. from pollution ills. "polluter pays" principle discourages fina n­ Most of the OE D members arc ex­ One of these trials in volved the discharge cial as istance to industries b y member pected to be represented at the Japan review. of cadmium which caused what the Japanese governments for pollution control. Pollu­ One of the reasons for selecting Japan for call the ltai-itai (ouch-ouch) disease. two of ti on control costs a re to be borne by the the review is that this leading industrial power the trials centered a ro und the consumption of polluters. with certai n specific exceptions. is succeeding in finding t•nique answcr5 to fish poisoned by industrial mercury. a nd Hearings in the five-year trial of the .. Ka­ many of its serio us pollution problems. the fourth involved respirato ry illness nemi Oil Case." one of Japan's worst in­ Both the Ja pa nese and the countries repre­ caused by air pollution emissions. In a ll stances of chemical pollution. were con­ sented at the review are expected to benefit these cases. the plaintiffs were awarded ducted recently, and a fi nal judgme nt wa from the analysis of informa tio n developed at compensati on after the court ruled that the expected shortly as E PA Journal went to the conference. defendant companies were negligent in fail­ press. T he extraordinary industrial development ing to recogni ze the ha rmful effects of their T he case stemmed from charges that rice­ in the relatively small island-natio n of Japan activities on human health. bran oil containing polyc hlorinated biphenyl has been accompanied by severe pollution (PCB) has cau ed either injury or death to problems. Pollution Victims persons in the western section of Japan . be­ From smoggy Tokyo. vene rated Mt. T he compensation system for pollution-re­ ginning in the autumn of 1968. Symptoms of Fu ji frequently is obscured from view. lated health damage is based o n c ivil the disea e ranged from skin eruptions to Fumes from rush ho ur traffic require traffic liabilit y. As of January. 1976, about 30.000 numbing of the limbs. A group of729 alleged victims and the fami­ lies of tho e who died brought the case to a District Court in Kyushu five and a half years ago. They are seeking a total of$38.5 million in damages. T he suit was fi led against both the producers of the PCB and the bran oil and governmental units involved. The ratio of pollution control investments in all industri al sectors in Japan is now esti­ mated at about 10 percent of total capital in­ vestment. considerably higher than that in most other countries. The ratio of pollution control investments by large private compa­ nies in such fields as mining. manufactur­ ing. and power generation was nearly 20 percent in 1975. Japan is developing a vigorous a ttack on its pollution proble ms to protect the health of its people and the celebrated beauty of it s parks and countryside. The Japanese strategy for curbing poll ution will be a nalyzed carefull y a t the OEC 0-spon­ sored meeting in Tokyo. This meeting is ex­ pected to produce materials which wil l be The garden in this Zen B11dtflris1 temple in Kyoro is an e.rn111p/e of ril e' · 'clry useful for the official review meeting of the lwrd.\·ct111e' · .1trle i11 J11{1a11. /11 rlris .1T111holic /(// rd.1·caflC' tlte wlrite sand symholi::.es rhe OEC D Environment Committee in March sea ancl rile 1rim111f'd trees 111 rile cumc'1"' l'l'pre.1·£•111 11101111111i11s. 1977.

PAGE 4 Four Areas The November ession will concentrate on four major areas: Setting of pollution control tandard s . pay­ ment of compensation to pollution victims. location of industria l and other develop­ ments. and the economic costs and conse­ quences of pollution. In addition. a number of general que tions will be considered at the Tokyo session such as: What lessons should be drawn from the Japanese experience'} Are there conflicts be­ tween environmental policies and industrial policies'/ If so. how are they solved? Are en­ vironmental controls enforced by a central governmental body or by local authoritie ·? What i the a ttitude of indus tr toward pollu­ tion controls'} How, and by whom. are emi sions tand­ ards set? What percentage of the gro ·s na­ tional product in Japan is devoted to pollution control expenditures'l Who bears the burden of pollution control in Japan'} What has been the impact of pollution abatement policie. on price . on production. on emplo ment. on balance of payments? HO\ important is the anti-pollution industry that has developed in Japan? What role does land use planning play in Japan'} Japan and the United States have been working together for everal years. trying to find solutions to global environmental problems. The U.S.-Japan Environmental Agreement was signed on Aug . .5. 1975. Prior to the formal signing of the bilateral Agreement. three ministerial-level meetings were held to discuss environmental prob­ lems common to both countries. The topics of these meetings ha ve grown to become the initial projects under the Agreement. Nine projec t a reas have been identified and serve as the focus for cooperative activi­ ties. These nine projects are in the areas of: Sewage treatment technology. manage­ ment of bottom sedime nts containing toxic pollutants. a ir pollution-related meteorol­ ogy. solid waste management. photochemi­ cal oxidants. automobile pollution rnntrol. health effects of pollutants. environmental impact assessments. and i<.lentifi ation rind control of tox i<.: sub ·tances. Additional projects may be inc luded at any time upon agreement of the two sides. A Joint Planning and Coordination Com­ mittee was establi shed under Article 2 of the Agreement to discuss major environ­ mental policy issues. to coordinate a nd review activities and accomplishments and to make necessary recommendations to the two governments with regard to the imple­ Elec/ronic siw1near1he Gin::,a i11 Tokvo's enterrain111e111 di.Hric! gives air-pol/111io11 mentation of this agreement. The first readin~s fi'om s11/f 11r dioxide and carbon monoxide in parrs per 111illio11. The hol/0111 meeting of this Committee was held last figure regisrers ril e sound /e1•e/ i11 decihels. February in Washington. •

PAGE 5 EPA AND THE WORLD An interview with Fitzhugh Green, Associate Administrator for International Activities

Q: Holl' is the staff ofyour vfficl! OrR(Wiz.ed? Manus, coordinates the Agency's participa­ legislation. I thi11kyo11 have,forexample, 011edivisio11fin· tion in international efforts to protect the The exchange of ideas works both ways. multilmeral aj/{iirs and one for hilateral. global marine environment. For the past few For example, the Japanese adopted, almost What is tire disti11ctio11? years, a lot of our time in this area has been word for word, the automobile control sec­ A: EPA 's activities with individual nations. devoted to the Third UN Conference on the tion of our Clean Air Act. which we call bilateral. range all the way from Law of the Sea, which is attempting to devise Q: Isn't "e11vironme11tal protectio11" a rich formal agreements with countries like Can­ international legal obligations and jurisdic­ nation's concept, one that can be afforded ada, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Germany, tional principles applicable to virtually every only by those nations that an' not plagued by with whom we have many ongoingjoint proj­ source of marine pollution. The Oceans Divi­ regular food deficits, catastrophic ll'eather, ects, down to informal arrangements with sion also coordinates EPA 's ongoing efforts lack of technical devi!lopment, and popula­ other nations. The Bilateral Programs Divi­ through IMCO-the UN agency which de­ tion growths o/I/ of control? sion is headed by John P. Blanc. who is a velops pollution control standards for interna­ A: This kind of objection was raised in the Foreign Service Officer on loan from the tional shipping-and the implementation of early days and I remember speaking in State Department. the 1972 Ocean Dumping Convention. which Brasilia in the summer of 1971, when The Multilateral Division deals with inter­ entered into force last summer. Brazil's spokesmen were saying, "we'll national organizations like the UN and its Q: What would you ident(f)• as the nu!ior develop now and depollute later". specialized agencies. such as the United Na­ global issues facing us noll'? Brazil has now changed its policy to "We tions Environment Program. This division is A: Air and water pollution basically. Each will develop, but in an environmentally sane headed by Dr. Jack Thompson. has the potential of destroying the capacity of fashion." We work very closely with NA TO coun­ these two media for supporting life. There are The best time to set environmental stand­ tries. under what we call the Committee on a growing number of cities that are at times ards and to install pollution controls is when Challenges of Modern Society. Administra­ almost impossible to live in. Cities like Mex­ you are in the process of developing. It's tor Train for many years has been the U.S. ico City. Seoul. Tehran. and Tokyo have cheaper to do it then. than to go back and try representative to that group. He also is the enormous pollution problems. Tokyo is get­ to corTect mistakes after industrialization. In U.S. chairman of our exchange program with ting better because the Japanese are working the U.S. it may cost us nearly $200 billion to the Russians. hard at it. implement our new environment laws for the Other multilateral organization activities in­ Q: A re 11•e collaborati111: ll'itlr otha indus­ first ten years. volve EPA experts working with the Organi­ trialized nmions to harmonize standards for Robert McNamara, President of the zation for Economic Cooperation and Devel­ po/111tio11 control? World Bank, said at Stockholm in 1972 that opment ( OEC D) representing 24 industrial­ A: Yes. One guiding principle of the OECD the World Bank provides loans for capital ized nations. We also serve as a collaborating is the harmonizing of standards. Other inter­ intensive projects only if they are going to center on health effects of pollution for the national organizations. such as WHO, rec­ be environmentally sound. The Bank, he World Health Organization (WHO). as well ommend environmental quality criteria. added, had studied the difference between as providing many experts for specific jobs in Progress is slow except in the Common Mar­ the cost of an environmentally sound proj­ other nations. ket countries where a vigorous program is set­ ect and one that is not and found the Our Visitors and Information Exchange Di­ ting standards applicable in all nine countries. difference was negligible. vision. headed by Dolores Gregory. transfers These have the force of law. We are working I talked to Mr. McNamara two years later EPA-produced information to our counter­ through !CAO (International Civil Avia­ and he told me that the data increasingly sup­ part agencies throughout the world and col­ tion Organization) toward common stand­ ports what he had said at Stockholm. le.:ts foreign environmental reports for use by ards for air and noise pollution from air­ Another point is that pollution impacts the EPA staff. They also handle about 500 for­ craft and through IAEA (International poor before the rich. The rich can build air eign visitors to EPA each year. Atomic Energy Agency) for common con­ conditioned houses and travel to clean subur­ We also have a division, led by Dr. Don trols on radioactive materials. We also ban surroundings. The poor live in the middle Oakley. which manages our work with coun­ participate in the Economic Commission of the cities where the rats feast on uncol­ tries where we have special foreign currency for Europe and the International Standards lected garbage or chew babies' feet. Air credits, such as Poland. Yugoslavia. Egypt, Organization to react. agreed common pollution is always worse in the middle of a India. and Pakistan. We are now funding measuring techniques. big city than anywhere else. So are problems 55 projects with this money which results The Canadians have a new law on toxic of sewage disposal and clean drinking water. from U.S. loans and sales abroad. substances. We are watching the Canadians The fact that the Third World insisted on the The Oceans Division. headed by Bob Mc- closely to see how they implement this new UN Environment Program being headquar-

PAGE 6 tered in a developing nation. Kenya. shows a ronmental specialists. for their diplomatic This Government. largely through the ef­ couple of things: couch in sharing U.S. know-how. and for ar­ forts of EPA working with the Srate Depal1- First. of course. that poor nations hope that guing our poinl of view in incernational for­ ment. is using technical exchange. personal they are going to get development funds be­ ums trying to hammer out policies and agree­ contact and exchange of information of all cause they went along with the principles that ments. kinds to persuade and work with and help were suggested in Stockholm. Finally, I believe it is accurate to say other nations come to the same point of con­ Second. it suggests that the Third World is that Administra!or Train is the outstanding cern about the environment. willing to accept the growing movement for a national and international leader in the Q: Jacques Co11steau, the noted ocea11ogra­ better environment. opinion of the environmentalists of the {Jha, says the t>c<>an has dett•riorated trnne11- Q: ls thcrt' a degree of unity in tht• t'11l'iro11- world. do11sly and that in the 1wx125years, assuming me11ral concern among the industrialized na­ Q: Do most nations 11011' hal'e gol'C'rnme111 nothing is done, it 11'ill die. Do y011 share his tions? organizations like EPA? pessimism? A: Yes, there is pretty good cooperation. al­ A: Yes. When we started EPA, the United A: Cousteau has a way of dramatizing his though philosophies on the subject vary. States was the only country in the world that points of view and l don't think anybody For example, the British sometimes remark had a national environmental control organi­ has enough data to prove him right or that they invented industrialization and also zation. The British came along about the wrong. His concern helps to get world the means for controlling its noxious emis­ same time. Since then over 50 nations have attention focused on marine pollution. sions. There is something to this claim al­ followed suit. We are taking part in the Law of the Sea though we disagree with some of their prac­ To keep up with the Joneses internation­ Conference, as I mentioned earlier. and are tices, like using tall stacks. They use the tall ally, you have to have an environment participating on many fronts to make sure that stacks for their big industrial region in the program. Most nations are joining the club. everything possible is being done lo keep the Midlands with the idea that the prevailing and we are working with many of them. seas from dying. breezes will carry the emissions over the Since 1971 EPA has received over 500 l am talking about the inland seas. too. As North Sea, which is usually a turbulent. foreign visitors each year. trying to find out you know. we have a multi-billion dollar stormy area, and the pollution will be dis­ how we conduce our environment pro­ cleanup efforc going on in the Grear Lakes. persed. grams. More have come from Japan than pursuant to an agreement we signed with Acid rain in the Scandinavian countries any other country. and they come from Canada in 1972. Recently I accompanied Mr. raises the question whether tall stacks are ef­ industry, universities, and government, at Train and Mitchell Sharp of Canada on their fective. all levels. public visit to some of the Lakes. Q: I'm told tlwt the Deparcmenr ofState and Q: I am told that tll'o of the most 11rge111 This dual appearance was made to indi­ Treasury are pushing a nell' program to hal'e needs/or both Fil/ages and large cities in rite cate to the public of both countries how the petroleum exporting cotmtries buy U.S. developing nations isfvr clea11 w11 ter and ade - seriously the two nations are pursuing goods and sen•ices, and that U.S. ga1•em• quate but inexpensfre sewage disposal J)'S­ implemen!ation of the Great Lakes agree­ me111 expt•rts art' bl'ing retailu•d as cons11!1- lems. A re 11·e exploiting our tn·hnology fi>r ment. a11ts by these co11ntries. Ca11 you rel/ me whac clean water? Q: ls planewry ma11age111ent r cu1111tries in technological co111p­ of the globe. You can't ignore major pollution level. Individual nations are going to be look­ ere11n' 11ml in genernl kno11·/edgeahility? problems any more than you can ignore ink ing to us and to other developed nations to A: With virtually no exceptions in the almost being poured in the bathtub. We see vivid ex­ help them beat the problem in their own coun­ six years EPA has been operating in individ­ amples of this in the oceans. where you have tries. This is obviously the first step toward ual countries and with international organiza­ tankers from many nations pumping bilges agreement. tions all over the world, our personnel have and making messes at sea that spread all the International agreemenr on what lo do become popular and respected among their way from Africa to South America as Thor about toxic substances is the most important opposite numbers abroad. They are recog­ Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer. re­ next step and it will be a lot easier to proceed nized for their knowledge and talent as envi- ported after making his trip on a reed boat after our own Toxic Substances Act is across the Atlantic. passed.•

PAGE 7 OIL SPILL ON THE ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY he cost of cleaning up an oil spill Department of Transportation, the Army bays. and beach areas." Mr. Elliot said. "We Twhich occurred along the St. Law­ Corps of Engineers. and the Council on employed skimmers 24 hours a day to remove rence Seaway last June has already ex­ Environmental Quality. This specially or­ oil from the surface of the water while our ceeded $6.5 million. According to Kenneth ganized agency both coordinates and super­ cleanup crews scoured the beaches and tried Biglane. Director of EPA 's Oil and Special vises the activities of professional contrac­ to save the damaged wetlands." Materials Control Division. that expendi­ tors who perform the actual cleanup opera­ ture makes it the most expensive federally tions. Beaches Closed funded oil spill cleanup in U.S. history. Because the spill occurred on a Great In the Alexandria Bay area of New Cleanup efforts. which will continue inter­ Lakes waterway, the U.S. Coast Guard York State. a majority of residents make mittently throughout this fall, have far took command of U.S. operations. In other their living solely from tourists and vaca­ surpassed the $5.8 million Federal dollars circumstances EPA would assume com­ tioners between the 4th of July and Labor spent on cleaning up oil from flooded plete control. Day. The spill closed many beaches. holding lagoons along Pennsylvania's It was obvious from the start that the threatened others. and drove much of the Schuylkill River after Hurricane Agnes in spill was of extraordinary proportions and tourist business elsewhere. 1972. that it would be impossible to save all Oil from the spill penetrated over five feet The St. Lawrence accident occurred on beach areas and waterfronts from damage. into 16 and a half miles of wetlands along the June 23. when an American oil barge contain­ Consequently. emergency teams in EPA 's St. Lawrence River. According to Region II ing over two million gallons of heavy #6 fuel Region I l were asked to determine which analysts. these wetlands suffered extensive oil scraped bottom on New York's Comfort areas were the most valuable, which would damage. Island shoal, rupturing three of its tanks and be most seriously affected. and which were For centuries these wetlands have been spilling over 300,000 gallons of oil. Due to an most accessible to the techniques. re­ teeming with wildlife and vegetation. Cana­ unusual combination of temperature. wind, sources, and manpower available. dian geese, ducks. and blue heron abound and current conditions. the mass of oil flowed on Ironside Island in the middle of the St. to mid-stream and drifted rapidly down-river Marshlands Lawrence. and the Wilson Hill area is a rather than heading toward shore. By the sec­ Highest priority was given to marshlands wildlife refuge. Marsh plants. vital to the ond day the oil had covered over 30 miles of and high-use public areas. Secondary efforts ecological balance of these areas. were water and was still spreading. focused on privately owned docks and water­ covered with heavy grade oil which ad­ On that day, the barge owner's insurance front areas. Remote rocky coastlines were heres to anything it comes in contact with. company announced that it would no longer left for later cleanup on a complaint basis. ··once the oil sticks to these plants there is assume liability for the damages pending an EPA conducted two aerial photography no effective way to get it off. The only way to investigation to determine fault. Conse­ missions shortly after the spill occurred. save the marsh vegetation is to cut the plants quently. the Federal government was forced These photos were valuable in defining im­ off near the water level. This is a very difficult to assume full cleanup responsibility using a pacted areas and were also used to brief the and expensive operation because it must be Revolving Fund set up by Congress to cover Joint Response Team on the extent and done by hand from small boats. Even then we such oil spill emergency costs. movements of the spill. can't be sure the plants will survive, and we "Over 80 miles of river length have been More than 700 people have been involved don't know the extent to which such drastic directly affected by the spill. That amounts to in the cleanup in addition to 50 vessels. 14 measures will affect the ecology of the marsh several hundred miles of beaches and shore­ vacuum trucks. and seven full-time surface system."' explained Mr. Elliot. line if you count all the inlets. coves. and skimmer machines. Damages to public The spill came during the molting season waterfront variations," explained Paul Elliot. beaches. private property. wetlands. and when many birds were developing new Chief of the Emergency Response Section of wildlife have been substantial. feathers and could not fly. "Fortunately. EPA's Region II Surveillance and Analysis EPA has proposed a study to assess the the fact that they couldn't fly helped us to Division. long-term environmental damage caused by capture them so they could be cleaned . . The magnitude of the spill and the threat oil contamination to both U.S. and Cana­ However. many have already died. Al­ of possible damage to Canadian territory dian territory. A report. prepared by a though we don't have any reliable figures and waterways activated an emergency contractor under the supervision of a Joint as yet we have found many muskrats. plan involving the Joint Regional Response U .S.-Canadian steering committee. would ducks. turtles. snakes. and blue herons Team from the U.S .. the Canadian Coast be used as an information source by gov­ killed by the oil." Mr. Elliot said. Guard. and various environmental organi­ ernment agencies or private organizations There have been scattered reports of zations from the Province of Ontario. This in both countries which are preparing ur­ recontamination caused by oil from the Joint U .S.-Canadian Response Team is gently needed contingency plans for oil spill which became trapped under piers or one aspect of an agreement called the Joint spill control. in rocky areas and drifted back into the International Contingency Plan providing Fortunately. since the oil spill did not river. for such cooperation in the event of a beach itself immediately. emergency re­ As a result. manual cleanup efforts will mutual emergency. The U.S. side of the sponse teams had time to try to contain it. continue through this fall until all damaged Joint Team includes representatives from "We put out thousands of feet of boom (a areas have been restored to an environ­ the U.S. Coast Guard. the EPA. the floating fence to block the oil) across inlets. mentally acceptable condition.• PAGE 8 Oil frvrn Sr. Lawrence S ea11 ·ay spill smears warer near dock in A lexandria Bay. N. Y .

Aerial 1·iew t~f Boldt Castle 011 H earl Island in the 51. Lall'rence R i1 ·er.

The 1000 Islands Bridge

P AGE 9 BATTLING BUBONIC PLAGUE

''. . . when you see the misery it Officials of the Center for Disease Con­ Disease Control Plague Branch Labora­ brings, you'd need to be a mad­ trol have said they are concerned about tory. Ft. Collins. Colo .. cited the case of a several unusual factors in the current out­ boy who caught the plague while visiting in man, or a coward, or stone blind, break of the plague. New Mexico. to illustrate why the Center to give in tamely to the plague." First. t he number of reported human for Disease Control is so anxious to halt - Albert amus. Tfw P/a~1ll' plague cases per year has gradually been the spread of the pl ague. increasing. Plague seems to be a cyclical This boy. he related. became ill on Aug. ast February. a young Navajo hap­ disease. For instance. in 1%5 eight cases 24. 1975. T he parents took the youngster L pened acros a motionless cottontail were reported. In the ne xt four years. to a doctor in San Rafael. Calif.. who gave rabbit near his home in Moenave, Arizona. about four cases were reported each year . the patient an a ntibiotic but was not suspi­ The 15-year-o ld dismembered the small T hen in 1970 there were 13 cases reported. c ious of plague. animal and fed the carca"s to his pet dog. In the next four years about seven cases The antibiotic did not halt the advance Three days later he suffered an onset of were reported yearly. Last year 20 cases of the plague and the boy grew progres­ fever accompanied by pain under his left were discovered. the largest number re­ sively more il l. The parents then took their arm. Three days after that he was admitted corded for o ne year since 1924. son to a local hospita l which did not to the Tuba C it y Indian Hospital. His lt was expected that 1976 would begin diagnose the disease. On the following day fever had reached 104°F and the lymph the next five-year slack period, but so far the boy' condition became critical and he glands in his armpits were badly swoll en. the count of 13 cases (two fatal) constitutes was taken to a hospital in San Francisco Hours later he would begin to cough up four more cases than had been reported at where he died abo ut two and a half hours blood. this time in 1975. after admi ssion. When it was di scovered Having determined that the boy had the The most common expla nation given for aft er death that the patient had the ex­ dread bubonic plague, h0spital personnel the rise in plague cases over the years is tremely contagious pneumonic form of the began streptomycin therapy within an hour that mo re people than ever before a re plague, medical authorities began tracing after his admissio n . T he youngster fully in volved in camping and o utdoor activiti es; a ll of the people in his fam ily and the recovered. therefore the opportunity for canier fleas hospitals who might have had contact with But a 45-year-uld man li ving ju~t south­ to find human hosts has been enha nced. him. ea!it of Bakersfield. Californ ia. was not as A second reason for the c urre nt concern "A couple of hundred people were fortunate. On April 13. he had developed over pl ague is that more pne umonic cases either given therapy or placed under close .,imilar ;,ymptoms. but the illness was too are being reported. Invasion of the lungs observatio n to prevent the pread of the far advanced by the time he requested by plague organisms may occur as a com­ disease." Dr. Barnes said . "So you can treatment. He died on April 20. An inves­ plication of the bubonic form or <'.S a see what the problem is. tigation revealed the bodies of dead ground primary infection. When this happens. the "The pneumonic form is unquestiona bly ~quirre l -, around the patient's home. plague germs can be transmitted through very dangerous and could lead to epidemics. On May 11. a 63-year-old woman from d roplets in human breath. Of the 20 cases A person could catch it in the Southwest Santo Domingo Pueblo. New Mexico. died of plague which occurred last year. o nl y and easily carry it a nywhere m the after ~uffering ;.imil ar ~ymptoms . Again three patients developed pneumonia. Of U nited States." plague was su~pected . and it was discov­ the 13 cases reported this year. five pa­ The plague was first discovered in the ered that five days before the onset of the tie nts have developed pneumonia. United States in San Francisco in 1900. ailment ;, he had skinned a rabbit a nd a Also. more plague-infected dead rodent T he di sease then slowly advanced as far pack rat. Numerous dead pack rats were bodies have been found this year than ever eastward as Ka nsas. Oklahoma and Texas. found in the a rea where she li ved. before. T hus far this year. o ne case has been Although none of these cases is related Dr. Alla n Barnes. chi ef of the Center for reported in Colorado. two in California . to another. they are a mong thirteen case~ four in Arizona. and six in New Mexico. of plague a lready reported this year. ac­ A great variety of animals have been cording to the Plague Branch of the Center known to serve as carriers for the plague. for Disease Control (CDC). Department In America. the infection has been discov­ of Health. Education. a nd Welfare. ered in 38 species of wild rodents. T he bubonic plague is primarily a dis­ In untreated cases of plague the mortal­ ca~e of rodents a nd is transmitted by their ity rate can be as hi gh as 9() pe rcent. fleas. After the host a nimal contracts the Modern antibiotics are effective against it. disease a nd dies. its fl eas become hungry however. a nd with proper care. most pla­ and search for a new source of food . gue victims do recove r. The key to effec­ Unfortunately, huma n beings arc occasion­ tive treatme nt is early diagnosis. ally selected. T he presence of infected Because of both li ving conditions and life rodent carcasses is important evidence styles. the American Indian has been dis­ showing that plague-carrying fl eas are in proportiona te ly hard hit by the plague the a rea. strains whic h persist in the West. Of last To help stem the spread of this ancient year's 20 cases, fi ve occurred among the di sea ·e. EPA has granted emergency re­ Indian popu.lation; of this year·s. at least quests for use of DOT to kill the neas o n five plague patients have been Indians. wild rodents in some western a reas. Pumping DDT into a rodent hole Since fleas carry the disease. one ob-

PAGE 10 vious solution is to go after the flea population in areas where the disease has PLAGUE OVER THE YEARS been found. Carbary!. a pesticide, has been the chemical used for a number of years he earliest reports of the bubonic Americas. for killing the fleas. Recently, however. T plague are biblical. but other accounts Today, when plague outbreaks are dis­ attempts to use this pesticide have not of outbreaks in ancient times can be found. covered. international regulations require always been effective. and because it is not There were reports of the disease in Ath­ that the World Health Organization and a very persistent pesticide (it breaks down ens in 430 8.C. and also in third-century adjacent countries be notified by the in­ relatively quickly in the environment), Rome. But the first well-documented volved government. more frequent applications are necessary. plague episode did not occur until the reign The illness is commonly marked by resulting in higher costs. of Byzantine Emperor Justinian l (527-565 approximately l04°F fever. chills. severe Therefore some States have considered A. D.) in Constantinople. Justinian's prostration. vomiting, pains in limbs and of DDT. EPA canceled most uses of this plague, as it is called, is also referred to as the back, and most notably by swollen pesticide in 1972 due to its persistence. the First Pandemic (epidemic over a large lymph nodes in the groin or the underarms. mobility, and buildup in the food chain. region). and it was to be followed by two The enlarged nodes are often called buboes. However, the DDT cancellation order more widespread outbreaks. from the Greek baubon meaning groin (ergo. noted the value of this pesticide in public The second great epidemic is thought to "bubonic" plague). The swellings can attain health situations, and specified that it could have begun among infected rodents in the the size of an orange and may discharge pus. be used when found to be necessary by the hinterlands of Central Asia. It was spread to Plague can also cause hemorrhages. called Public Health Service. In the absence of a Constantinople. and by 1346 ocean-going plague spots when they occur on the skin. registration of DDT, however, State or vessels. as well as the returning Crusaders. The dark color of these spots. as well as the Federal agencies have to come to EPA to had carried it to many seaports. Before the high mortality rate for untreated plague. request an emergency exemption under the disease subsided. over one-fourth of the gained it the medieval title .. Black Death." pesticides regulation law in order to be European population of the Middle Ages had The germ which causes the disease. able to apply DDT legally. These requests succumbed. Yersinia pesris, was independently discov­ are not taken lightly by the Agency, and a Plague outbreaks still sprang up from ered in 1894 by researchers Alexandre Yer­ bona- fide emergency must exist; in fact. time to time after that. One of the worst sin and Shibasaburo Kitasato during a large EPA in the past four years has turned 17th century outbreaks occurred in London plague epidemic in Hong Kong. Three years down most special requests for DOT. in 1665. About 70,000 deaths were reported later, Mesanori Ogata of the Hygiene Insti­ But the plague is another matter. out of a total population of 460.000. "The tute of Tokyo put forward the theory that On May 28, Don J. Womeldorf, Super­ plague compasseth the walls of the city like the fleas of rodents transmit the illness. In vising Biologist of the Vector Control a flood. and poureth in upon it." noted 1898. Paul Louis Simond, a French Section ( V CS) of the California Depart­ Daniel Defoe in his chronicle of the period. epidemiologist. concluded that the plague ment of Health. stated in a letter to EPA The Third Pandemic began in China at was a disease of rats, spread by their fleas. that "there is a strong probability that the mouth of the Canton River in 1894, and Since that time, pest control measures situations will arise in California during quickly spread to Hong Kong and from and antibiotic treatment have vastly dimin­ 1976 necessitating the use of DDT to there to many points on the rest of the ished the incidences of human plague cases control flea vectors of plague. . . . This globe, including the Pacific coasts of the in the U.S. and the world.• letter constitutes a request for a specific exemption allowing the VCS to apply DDT ... " risk areas and applied directly into rodent Agency's position: "As of June 28. 1976. Similar views were expressed by others. burrows. The program was supervised by eight cases of human ... plague had On June 21, for example. Administrator experts from the Center for Disease Con­ occurred in the United States, which repre­ Train received the following telegram from trol and Colorado's State Health Depart­ sents the greatest number of . . . plague Governor Richard D. Lamm of Colorado: ment. The State actually used only approx­ cases to have occurred in a year by that "Unusually large and early incidence of imately 40 pounds of DDT. indicating the date in United States plague history .... plague-infected rodents are in the State ... State's concern for the environment. Moreover. survey data from CDC in Fort Center for Disease Control, Fort Collins. EPA has granted a similar request for Collins. Colo .. indicate that widespread estimates this year will be a record year for use of DDT made by the Indian Health but localized plague epizootics are pres­ plague in Colorado ... (and) recommends Service of Albuquerque. N.M. (Although ently sweeping through wild rodent popula­ limited DDT use in the high risk areas ... approval has been granted to the Indian tions in Arizona. California, Colorado. in which rock squirrels are known to Jive Health Service, the Service is apparently New Mexico. Nevada and Utah .... The in close proximity to the human popula­ taking a cautious, wait-and-see approach. final cancellation order for DOT specifi­ tion." and as of Aug. 2 no DDT had yet been cally exempted uses by ·public health olli­ Thus. in the face of the evidence being used there.) cials in disease control programs ... ' Our collected by the Center for Disease Con­ Some persons have expressed concern decision to issue this specific emergency trol regarding this year's potentially record that permitting use of DDT to control exemption ... is certainly in accord with plague outbreak. EPA authorized use of the plague could establish an alarming the cancellation order and thus I cannot DDT, under strict conditions. precedent in view of the dangers of this agree that an alarming precedent has been For instance, in the Colorado case, EPA chemical. set for allowing the use of DDT in an approved Governor Lamm's full request Edwin L. Johnson, Deputy Assistant indiscriminate fashion." for 400 pounds of DDT ( 4,000 pounds Administrator for EPA 's Pesticide Pro­ Since Mr. Johnson's citing of eight cases pesticide dust including ten percent DOT.) grams. attempted to answer that concern in on June 28. five more cases as previously The treatment itself was restricted to high a letter of August 13. explaining the noted, have been confirmed.• PAGE II UNTRASHING YOSEMITE PARK

A year ago a visitor to California's Yosemite National Park wouldn't have to look far or long to find an empty beer or soft drink can lying on the ground, under a bush, or floating down the Merced River. For years, litter, in the form of used beverage cans and bottles, has been defacing the scenic wilderness of many American parks and recreation areas like Yosemite. The cost of cleaning up this trash has been substantial. Today however, "you would have to look awfully hard to find a used beverage container in all of Yosemite's 700,000 acres," according to Marion Thompson, an environmental protection specialist in the Resource Recovery Branch of EPA's Olfice of Solid Waste Management Programs. "Either the buyer is returning the used container himself or else there is somebody following behind him with a bag to pick it up when he throws it on the ground or into the garbage." This dramatic reduction in the amount of cans and bottles cluttering Yosemite's landscape is a direct re sult of a program sponsored by the Park's concessioner (Yosemite Park and Curry Co.) and monitored by the EPA The program, which began in May and continued through September, encouraged the reuse and recycling of beverage containers by adding a five cent installations. Since these regulations are than four percent of the total beverage refundable deposit charge to the price of expected some time this fall , barring any container market ( 160 million out of four all beer and soft drinks sold in the Park. legislative or executive action to the billion cases sold), there is no question This deposit can be refunded by contrary, it is helpful to have a model that Federal approval ol any deposit returning the used containers to various reuse and recycling system available for legislation would lend substantial collection points throughout the Park. other parks to study in setting up their support to the reuse and recycling cause "So far, the public's response has been own progra:ns. in the States where some initiative in this extremely favorable. After the first six As a result, EPA's Region IX has been area has already been taken, " according weeks of operation, the rate of return has actively involved in monitoring the to Mrs. Thompson. been consistently over 70 percent," progress of the Yosemite Park Oregon and Vermont currently have according to Mrs. Thompson. experiment. A final report will be laws on the books requiring the retailer to Last year, over one ton of aluminum in prepared at the end of the summer charge a deposit on all beer and soft used beverage containers was collected describing, in detail, the organization of drink containers sold. South Dakota has , at voluntary recycling centers in the project, its goals, the problems passed a similar measure which will go Yosemite Park. Since May 17, 1976, encountered, and recommendations for into elfect in 1978. Furthermore, the when this project began. the Yosemite future applications in other Federal deposit issue has been placed on the Park collection centers have received parks. ballot in lour other States (Minnesota, over one ton of aluminum soft drink and "There is a considerable controversy Michigan, Massachusetts, and beer cans each week. surrounding these proposed deposit Colorado) for the November election. The reason for EPA's interest in the regulations for all Federal facilities," Mrs. According to Mrs. Thompson, an Yosemite Park experiment 1s that the EPA Thompson said." It centers around the effective reuse and recycli ng program is 1n the midst of promulgating beverage industry's concern that if such "reduces the volume of solid wastes regulations under the Solid Waste regulations are passed, they will thereby cutting disposal and collection Disposal Act which would make it represent an official administration costs. It can save substantial amounts of mandatory for all Federal facilit ies to policy favoring mandatory deposit laws energy and materials needed to require a deposit on all beverage nationwide. EPA has indicated that it manufacture the containers, and containers sold on their premises. This supports such a program. esthetically, it will unquestionably reduce would include all national parks, Federal "Although it is estimated that the the amount of visible litter cluttering our buildings, and Department of Defense Federal government accounts lor less Nation's landscape."

PAG 12 PAGE 13 POLLUTION INDEX uppose that the Air Quality Index that guidance be prepared by EPA. Assist­ criteria documents used to set the National S (AQI) reported by the weatherman on ing in this effort were the Offices of Ambient Air Quality Standards, the Fed­ the evening news is 50 for the day. In the Research and Development; Air and Waste eral Episode Criteria. and Significant Harm Washington, D.C. area, a 50 is character­ Management; and the National Oceanic levels. The index can immediately accom­ ized by the word "poor." But in Indianap­ and Atmospheric Administration of the modate any new pollutant for which such olis the same figure means that the air Commerce Department. Federal guidance has been established. quality is "good." And in Toledo it means The result of this effort is PSI-the PSI provides its own guidance by estab­ "very good." Pollutants Standards Index (Page 15 ). PSI lishing rules for uniformity in collecting Discrepancies like these are common. utilizes the best and most common aspects daily data on levels of air pollution. For What accounts for them? of existing air pollution indices to form a instance. it stresses reporting on the basis In December 1975, the Council on Envi­ uniform model index. of the monitoring stations with the highest ronmental Quality (CEQ) and EPA jointly Above all else, PSI is designed to pro­ pollution concentrations, on the assumption conducted a study of 33 metropolitan areas. tect the public health by advising of any that other unsampled portions of a commu­ nity will also experience high concentra­ five States and two Canadian Provinces possible adverse effects resulting from air which use an index to report the daily pollution. Its emphasis. therefore, is upon tions. This is done in order to err on the status of air pollution. The results revealed acute health effects (those likely to occur side of public safety. that, with only minor exception, no two as a result of exposure to air pollution over Additionally. with weather forecasts pro­ indices were exactly the same. a time period of 24 hours or less.) vided by the National Weather Service, air The CEQ/EPA compendium, entitled Air The new index reports on five pollutants: pollution trends for up to a day in advance Pollution Indices, underscored the need to carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, total sus­ can be forecast. minimize the serious problem of public pended particulates. photochemical oxi­ The guidelines of the index advise that confusion stemming from the Jack of a dants, and nitrogen dioxide. The data used the media report the pollutant with the standardized index. Responding to recom­ to establish PSl's five descriptive cate­ highest PSI value for that day, although mendations made in the joint report, a gories ("good" through "hazardous") for values for all five pollutants can be in­ Federal Task Force chaired by CEQ asked varying degrees of air pollution are the cluded for completeness. It is desirable to report any pollutant for which the index value exceeds I00 since this means the standard is exceeded. An average news broadcast might sound like this: ··The PSI for today is 150, which falls into the ·unhealthful· category. The EXAMPLE OF POSSIBLE pollutant causing this condition is oxidants. Respiratory ailment and heart disease pa­ REPORT FOR NEWSPAPER tients should reduce exertion and outdoor activity. The forecast calls for no change." The PSI value. the descriptive term. the name of the pollutant. the health implica­ tions and the forecast are all standard parts of the PSI format. It is hoped that uniform reporting will alleviate the problems which led to the creation of PSI. However. the index is, by the admission of its creators. not the perfect system. It should not be used to rank relative health­ fulness of communities due to differing population characteristics. transportation patterns. locations of monitoring stations and other factors. Furthermore. it cannot GOOD HAZARDOUS relate levels of air pollution to the non­ health effects. such as reduced visibility, soiling of materials. and corrosion of build­ PSI 150 ings. Additional research will be required before PS I can take into account health POLLUTANT: Oxidants effects caused by synergism-the combina­ TODAY'S HEAL TH IMPLICATIONS: Respiratory ailment and heart disease pa­ tion of different pollutants. The remedy to tients should reduce exertion and outdoor activity. these shortcomings lies in the acquisition of FORECAST: No change. more sophisticated data. For these reasons. PSI is clearly an interim solution. But it is a beginning toward achieving consistent and reliable reporting of the daily health effects associated with the quality of the air we breathe.•

PAGE 14 HOW IT WORKS II Ill IV v VI POLL UTANT LEVELS micrograms per cubic meter

Total Sulfur Carbon Oxidants Nitrogen suspended Dioxide Monoxide (1-hour), dioxide INDEX AIR QUALITY particulates (24-hour), (8-hour), (1-hour), HEALTH GENERAL HEALTH CAUTIONARY VALUE LEVEL (24-hour), milligrams EFFECT EFFECTS STATEMENTS per cubic DESCRIPTOR meter

500 SIGNIFICANT 1000 2620 57.5 1200 3750 Premature death of ill All persons should re- HARM and elderly. Healthy main indoors, keeping people will experi- windows and doors ence adverse symp- closed. All persons toms that affect their should minimize normal activity. physical exertion and avoid traffic.

HAZARDOUS 400 EMERGENCY 875 2100 46.0 1000 3000 Premature onset of Elderly and persons certain diseases in with existing diseases addition to significant should stay indoors aggravation of symp- and avoid physical toms and decreased exertion. General exercise tolerance in population should healthy persons. avoid outdoor activity.

300 WARNING 625 1600 34.0 800 2260 VERY Significant aggrava- Elderly and persons UNHEALTHFUL tion of symptoms and with existing heart or decreased exercise lung disease should tolerance in persons stay indoors and re- with heart or lung dis- duce physical activity. ease. with wide- spread symptoms in the healthy population.

200 ALERT 375 800 17.0 400 1130 UNHEALTHFUL Mild aggravation of Persons with existing symptoms in suscep- heart or respiratory tible persons. with irri- ailments should re- tation symptoms in the duce physical axer- healthy population. tion and outdoor act iv- ity.

100 National Ambient Air 260 365 10.0 160 MODERATE Quality Standards

50 50% of National Am- 75 80 50 80 GOOD bient Air Quality Standards

The table demonstrates how PSI is or­ be 1200 micrograms per cubic meter. Both Column 3 shows how varying concentra­ ganized. pollutants. however. have a PSI figure of tions of the five pollutants that PS I reports Column I gives the PSI values for the 500 since they are regarded as being fall into the five categories. categories. The index runs from 0 (good) to equally dangerous to health at those con­ Column 4 notes the descriptive terms 500 (hazardous). It is a scale which allows centrations. applied to five categories of progressively the level of any air pollutant to be reported Column 2 gives the Federal health meas­ worsening air pollution levels, "good" by one rating system. rather than by using ures used as the rationale in establishing through "hazardous". individual concentration figures. For exam­ the five categories-the National Ambient Column 5 reports the general health ple. the highest "hazardous" concentration Air Quality Standards. the Federal Epi­ effects associated with each category. and for sulfur dioxide is 2620 micrograms per sode Criteria (Alert. Warning and Emer­ Column 6 adds cautionary statements tha! cubic meter and for photochemical oxi­ gency levels). and the Significant Harm inform the public as to the best way to dants the equivalent concentration would Level. respond to various air pollution levels. PAGE 15 spill site tested Soil contaminated by polychlorinated soot violations biphenyls (PCB's) spilled three years ago is Formal violation notices have been issued still contaminated, a recent EPA study to five glass manufacturing plants in New found. The rural area near Kingston. Jersey for excessive soot emissions. Meyer Tenn .. was given a massive cleanup after Scolnick, Regional Enforcement Director. 1.500 gallons of the oily liquid spilled from said the companies have been given 30 an electrical transformer. PCB's are days to clean up. after which EPA may similar to DOT in toxicity and resistance issue administrative orders or take the to biological decay. violators to court. The study found that PCB residue levels The companies are Anchor Hocking Corp .. were unchanged since the cleanup and that Salem; Certain-Teed, Berlin; Kerr Glass a benzine solvent which also spilled was Co., Millville; and Owens-Illinois plants at continuing to leach into the groundwater. Bridgeton and Vineland. There is no danger, however. according to George Moein. EPA project officer. Nearly 12,000 drums of contaminated soil were removed and the excavated areas were sealed and refilled with clean soil. Then the whole spill area was covered with topsoil, seeded with grass. and landscaped . .. The study will be helpful in determining the amounts of soil removal required in future spills." Mr. Moein said ... although antietam survey each spill will have to be individually No significant levels of polychlorinated evaluated." biphenyls (PCB's) have been found in nominations sought Antietam Creek near Hagerstown. Md. Region I is seeking nominations for the The creek and its sediments were annual Environmental Merit Awards to be intensively studied by Region 111 and presented at its New England Citizens' Maryland officials after a recent Briefing in December. The awards honor Congressional hearing revealed that the persons who have made significant U.S. Geological Survey had found the contributions to environmental betterment. industrial chemicals in the creek in 1972. In the last four years the winners have The problem no longer exists. said steel firm permit included a New Hampshire sewage Regional Administrator Daniel J. Snyder Inland Steel Co. 's Indiana Harbor Works treatment plant operator. a Maine weekly 11 I. at East Chicago. Ind .. has agreed to reduce newspaper writer. a Massachusetts the pollution it pours into Lake Michigan. educator. a Connecticut telephone west virginia coal Under a new discharge permit the company official. a Rhode Island Region 11 l air pollution experts are company will reduce its maximum environmental group leader. and a Vermont working with West Virginia officials to discharge of ammonia by 80 per cent. State official. Nominations close Oct. 29. evaluate the effect of possible changes in phenol by 50 percent, and cyanide by 90 the State's plans for controlling sulfur percent. These three pollutants are the emissions conference oxide emissions. principal deterrents to improved water New England's fifth annual Conference on Governor Arch A. Moore Jr. has alleged quality in Indiana Harbor. according to Motor Vehicle Emissions Control will be that the State's emission standards are so Region V officials. held Oct. 26-9 at Hyannis. Mass .. with the high that mining of West Virginia's high­ The permit also restricts Inland's discharge Massachusetts Division of Air Quality sulfur coal has been curtailed. throwing of suspended solids. oil. and grease and Control as host. Although the conference miners out of work. The joint evaluation requires the company to monitor its will include some formal papers. most of seeks to determine if more high-sulfur coal wastewater and report results. Enforcement the time will be devoted to informal. can be burned in certain power plants Director James Mc Donald said the permit workshop sessions on such questions as without harm to public health. is a "significant step toward clean water in making inspection and maintenance the southern area of Lake Michigan." programs effective. improving auto engines. The permit was issued after many months and critiquing Federal test procedures. of negotiation among the company, EPA. Further information may be obtained from the State of Indiana, the City of Chicago. Merril S. Hohman. director of Region I's Businessmen for the Public Interest. and Air and Hazardous Materials Division. the Lake Michigan Federation.

PAGE 16 information officers The second annual Conference of Federal spill inspections and State Environmental Information Region VI officials are conducting Officers was held in Denver in August. approximately 650 inspections of oil spill Governor Richard Lamm of Colorado prevention and control measures in the five opened the week-long session attended by States of the Region, including checks of public information officers from EPA. Louisiana and Texas offshore facilities. State pollution control agencies. and other Specific written plans are required for all organizations. non-transportation facilities where there is Workshop sessions were held for the possibility of discharging harmful newcomers in the fields of radio and quantities of oil into waterways or on television presentations. public hearing shorelines. techniques, exhibits and displays. Since the regulations took effect a year publications. photojournalism, and opinion ago, EPA officials estimate, about four polls. million gallons of oil have been saved in EPA regional. laboratory, and headquarters the Region. public affairs officers held their quarterly meeting concurrently. saving the lentils forestry meeting Lentil growers in 12 counties in eastern Administrator Russell E. Train was Washington and northern Idaho were given scheduled to address the annual meeting of permission this summer to use ethyl the Society of American Foresters in New parathion-a highly toxic pesticide-to Orleans Oct. 6. His topic: .. Forestry for control an aphid infestation. America's Future-Beyond the Region X Administrator Donald P. Dubois Bicentennial." said agriculture officials of both States sought the permission after the normal use of malathion had had little effect on the pests. either because the aphids were information center becoming resistant to malathion or because The Region's Energy Information Center, unseasonably cool weather reduced its which contains a comprehensive collection efficacy. Strict limits were set on the of documents relating to energy problems, amount of parathion used and the methods was inaugurated in August at the library in of application. The State officials estimated Region !X's offices. The Center is that without the stronger pesticide. $3 suppor1ed by the Energy Research and million worth of lentils would have been model feedlot Development Administration and by the Lewis Feedlot, Inc .. Kearney, Neb .. lost. Federal Energy Administration as well as L. recently won that State's J. Higgins EPA. Award for its work in controlling wastes. The Center has more than 5,000 documents first aid session Four years ago the firm, in cooperation To help migrant farm workers and other on microfilm and expects to add about with State and local agencies, built three potential victims of pesticide poisoning get 1,000 new titles each year. Hard copies of waste control systems costing more than prompt and proper treatment. a two-day important documents are also available. $150,000. Each system contains basins to training program was held in Yakima. including both Federal and privately­ collect solid wastes and holding ponds for Wash .. in August, sponsored by EPA and published reports and studies. All items are the biological treatment of liquid wastes the Office of Migrant Health. a component available to users throughout the Region of the Department of Health. Education, and runoff water. The solid wastes are via interlibrary loans. and Welfare. applied to cropland as fertilizer, and the The Center staff will. if necessary. direct The program was set up for persons most liquids are used for irrigation. inquirers to other sources of information. likely to be the first to sec pesticide Dwayne Lewis. owner of the 12.000-head including ER DA 's computer retrieval victims, that is: rural physicians and feedlot. says his crop production has system, or refer questions to Federal improved and he has had to use less nurses, ambulance drivers, and emergency specialists. r.oom attendants. commercial fertilizer. The control systems Pamphlets of general interest-on such Such special training is needed, according have also reduced pollution of the Wood subjects as home insulation, geothermal River. improved feedlot drainage, and 10 EPA officials, because pesticide energy. and new car gas milea~­ poisoning symptoms are often sim.ilar to. decreased odor problems. published by the three agencies, will be those of other illnesses. Correct diagnosis The Higgins Award is given annually in available free to the public. memory of the first director of the permits early treatment with the proper Nebraska Department of Environmental antidotes. Most pesticide poisonings can be Control. cured if treated promptly.

PAGE 17 PIOPLI George Lawton, a career em­ John B. Clements, Chief of the ployee. has been selected by Quality Assurance Branch of Delbert S. Barth, Director of Stan Williams, Director the Environmental Monitoring the Environmental Monitoring of EPA ·s Personnel Manage­ and Support Laboratory. Re­ and Support Laboratory. Las ment Division. as the new dep­ search Triangle Park. .C.. Vega'>. ev .. ha~ been ap­ uty for the division. Mr. Law­ \\> ill be honored this month by George R. Alexander Jr., Re­ pointed Deputy Assistant Ad­ ton. who had been serving as the American Society for Test­ gion V Administrator. ride a mini~trator for Health and the Personnel Officer in EPA-,, ing and Materials. Dr. Clem­ bicycle to work in Chicago. Ecological Effects in the Office Region IX Office in San Fran­ ents wi ll receive a gold medal Mr. Alexander. who lives on of Re~earch and Development. cisco. has spent the last year at from the Society for hi s work the Near North Side about two Washington. D.C. He suc­ Stanford Uni versity under the in developing ta ndards for at­ miles from his office. explains: ceed'> Roy E. Albert, w ho has Educatio n for Public Manage­ mospheric measurements. The •• 1 bike to work every day I'm returned to the Institute of En­ ment Program. Mr. Lawton. medal will be presented by in town and it doesn't rain. It vironmental Medicine at ew has been with EPA ince it ASTM President Jo hn S. give me a chance to get my York Univer'>ity a~ Deputy Di­ was first organized and previ­ Wheeler at a meeting in Hous­ exercise a nd it's a good way to rector. although he wi ll con­ ously had served wi th the Fed­ ton. Texas. Oct. 19. get to work. It save · money tinue as a consultant to Admin­ eral Water Pollution Control a nd helps me to cut down on i-,trator Russell E. Train. Dr. Administration in the U.S. De­ Harry F. Smith, Jr. has been the pollution in downtown Chi­ Barth has headed the Las '/e­ partment of the Interior. Other appointed Chief of Region Il's cago. gas laboratory for four years. new or recent appointments in Water Supply Branch. repl ac­ He previou-,Jy served in Re­ the Personnel Division include: ing Everett MacLeman. who George B. Morgan has been search Triangle Park. N.C.. as has retired. Mr. Smith. a com­ a ppo inted acting director of the Director of EPA 's Bureau of mi ssio ned officer in the Public E nvironmental Monitoring and Air Pollution Science and as Health Service. was formerly Support Laboratory at Las Ve­ head of the Bureau of Criteria a n engineer in the Bra nch. He gas. Nev .. succeeding Dr. and Standard'> for the National is a civil engineering graduate Ba rth. Mr. Morgan ha di­ Air Pollution Control Adminis­ of the Universit y of Florida rected the laboratory"s Moni­ trntion. ror '>iX years. ending a nd earned a master·~ degree toring Systems Research and in 1969. he was Chief of Bio­ at Johns Hopkins University. Development Division for the environmental Research at the Baltimore. Md. last three years. Department of Health. Educa­ tion. and Welfare's South west­ ern Radiological Health Labo­ ratory at Las Vegas. Matthew Sims, a ppointed as C hi ef of th e Personne l Opera­ tions Branch. Mr. Sims has been with EPA since 1970. coordinating the full range of personnel management ~ervices from position classification. re­ cruit ment and placement. to training a nd employee-manage­ . . ... ment relation~. He has 20 . . · . years o f governme nt service. ": ··, ... Laron Hyde Jr., C hi ef of xec­ Deputy Administrator John R. e mployees attending coll eges Walter Andrews, former C hief utive Manpower a nd Career Quarles, Jr., congratulates Mi­ across the Nation. They received of Region I l's Surveillance Sys t em~ Branc h . Mr. Hyde has chael Goins. rnn of Margaret a total of $5 .070 from the Section at Edison. N .J .. has been with the E PA since it was Boswell, secretary to the Direc­ scholarshi p fund in individual been named Chief l)f the Re­ established. in 1970 serving in a tor of EPA's Personne l Man­ awards ranging from $ 100 to gion·., Programs Support variety of management posi­ ageme nt Division, upo n receiv­ $500. Branch at Rochester. N. Y. He ti ons. Robert Pavlik, C hi ef. ing an award from the EPA Money for the fund comes received EPA ·s Bronze Medal Planning and Evaluation. Prior Scholarship Fund. Mr. Goins. from ho norariums given to for ommendable Service in to this assignment he was an who was accompanied at the E PA officials for making 1972 and was selected for the operati on· s team leader. I nfor­ ceremony by his mother. is a speeches to different groups Agency's Executive Manage­ mation Systems StafT C hief. senior at Towson State Coll ege and writing articles for vario us ment and Development Pro­ and served as an e mployment majoring in health scie nces. He magazines. gram in 1974. and special programs officer. is one of 26 c hildre n of E PA

PAGE 18 prompt. on-the-spot enforcement act inn by County Agricultural Commis~ion,. and was the result of 18 month' of REGION IX discu~sions with officiab throughout the State by representatives of three of the Region'' di is ions-Air and Hazardou' Materials. Sur eillan ·c and Ana l ys i~. and Enforcement. We have delegated the 11aste11 ater dis­ ON ~A~A[)E charge permit program to three of our four egion JX includes Arizona. Cal ifornia. urbanization. geography. and climate. States-California. Hawaii. and evada. R Hawaii. evada. Samoa and Guam. Region IX contains areas both at the cut­ California was the Nation's fi rst State to and the Trust Territories of the Pacific Is­ ting edge and in the wake of civili zation. r.ece ive su h delegation. lands. It encompasses over ten percent of With some justification. we have been Also in California. we are well along in a the total land area. 18 percent of all call ed the innovators. program which pro id e~ fo r virtually full a. - federally owned land. 28 percent of all The m;tjor theme underlying Region I X's sumption of the responsibilit y for admini - Indian-owned lands in tht> United States. environmental strategy is a continuing em­ tration of the construction grants program and contains I I percent of the Nation's phasis on delegat ing program5 to State and by the State Water Resources Contrnl population. local agencies. Board. The deserts of evada. Arizona. and The Region has developed cooperative Air quality maintenance planning has been California stand in marked contrast to the pilot program' with it s States in air. water. delegated wherever pos ·ible and merged High Sierra which can be buried under 30 drinking water. solid wastes. and pesti­ with areawide 11 at er quality planning and feet of now in winter. On many Pacific cid es management . These include ar­ olid waste planning in an integrated attad. islands. one find s lush paradises watered rangements for planning. program devel­ on environmental problem~. by rain captured from trade winds by high opment. program admini stration. and en­ In San Diego the air qualit planning team. mountains. Kauai. for example. boasts of forcement. originally organized to develop local alter­ the " wettest spot on earth" with over 400 As an example. a cooperative pesticide­ natives to an area transportation control inches of rain per year. On th e other u5e enforcement program has been estab­ plan . has completed a regional air quality hand. Jack of mountains creates critical lished in California through successful strategy. water supply problems on some Pacific negotiations with 53 county governments The San Francisco Bay Arca had formu­ atolls. Many of the Region's environmen­ and the State Department of Food and lated a Policy Task Force. under the guid­ tal problems trace to population growth. Agriculture. The agreement allow' for ance of the State Air Resource~ Board. to perform Air Quality Maintenance planning fun cti ons. But. recognizing possible dupli­ cation of effort in some areas 11 ith the waste­ ll'ater planning effort. the task force merged with the water group into an Environrm:ntal Management Task For -c under the Assm:i­ ation of Bay Area Govern men t~. These 45 local decision maker:- and citizens arc ad­ dressing problems of air. ll'ater. and sol id 1\.aste as a whole. Regi onal Administrator Pmll De Falco. Jr .. was looking to this kind of planning group when. in a recent speech to a water planning seminar. he said: .. Over the pa:-. t several ears I have struggled tl> reconcile two statutory mandates. One. the Federal Water Pollution ontrol Act. requires up­ grading municipal treatment of wastewater. while at the ~ame time allowing adequate provision for gro11th. The other. the Ckan Air Act. requires la nd use and tran~po rta­ tion controls to reduce growth in auto emi~­ sion to levels that attain and maintain health protecti ve air qual ity s tand ard~. " It has become clear to even the casual observer that in some of our metropolitan areas. such as Los Angeles or the Bay Area. the long-term solu tions to the air qual ity problem must be sol uti ons to the area's land use and mass transit problems. There are also areawide water quality problems. bu t th ey are beyond the reac h of any present

Do 11•11to11 ·11 San Francisco ll'itli San Fra11cisco-Oakla11d Bay BridRe in hockRmt111d. Co111i1111ed 011 p(/ge 20

PAG I·: 19 Co11ti11111!d .fiw11 pafte 19 ment. Here. as elsewhere. the Region's proce<>s. and indications are that similar program is establishment of genuine savings can be achieved nationwide. environmental agency. Thus. answer5 to State-Federal partnerships. The States of In the negotiation of grant award . several environmental problems arc areawide in Region IX have been brought into the years ago the Region adopted a n approach character. And it b only through areawide process. and have expressed an earnest based on performance of specific objec­ balancing of all the force;, at work shaping intent to assume primary enforcement tives. with funding tied to each objective. our urbanizing areas--both environmental responsibility under the Safe Drinking This is a major innovation. si nce nalional (//Id othcr;,-that we can arrive at ~c n s ib le Water Act and to coordinate that program environmental laws intend that States bear an;.wcrs witho ut imposition of Federal with State water pollution control activi­ principal respon ·ibility for their implemen­ controb." tie . tation. T he approach has been adopted by Cooperati ve effort is tbc key. But making Although the Federal Water Pollution the Agency nationwide. Sub equently. Re­ the program;, work ~omct im c;, require;, Control Act Amendments of 1972 author­ gion IX adopted a joint Agency-State plan­ ;.omcthing more. ized a major expansion of the existing con­ ning process. with a single State-Federal When Congrc!>;. pa;,,cd the Safe Drinking structi on grants program. the effort contin­ plan for each State. another approach now Wa ter Act in late 1974. few resources ued to depend upon State agencies for much advocated by the Agency's program man­ were provided . Mr. De Falco suggested, of the administrative effort. Staffing at the agement tafT. and the Agency adopted. an approach to State level was generall y not adequate to As a result of EPA disapproval of portions implementation characterized by "build­ handle the major increase in responsibility of the Arizona. California. and Nevada im­ ing upo n what·, there ... T hi s a pproach and complexity. As a result. Region IX and plementation plans for air pollution control in volved establishing mi11i11111111 require­ the State of California cooperatively devel­ in 1972. Region l X has been implementing ment;, in the law. identifying defi ciencies, oped an approach in volving charging a fee new source reviews since May. 1973. and working to overcome thO!>C deficien­ for each Federal contrac t processed by the During the past year. both regional and cic;, in accordance with a mutually agreed State. For a fractional percentage of the pro­ national emphasis on this program has upon ;,et of priorities. As minimums arc gram ·s cost. the State is able to maintain a increased . To develop a workable pro­ met. the program h a~ been strengthened qualified staff to manage the program. gram in the no n-attainment areas. the in accordance with State-negotiatcu prior­ To resolve delays in cons1ruction projects. Region developed a "trade-off policy" to itic;,. The princ iple of thi!> approach ha5 Region IX developed a .. piggy back .. proc­ effectively meet the growing competition worked well . and has been the basis of ess whereby an environmental assessment between the environment and the econ­ the ~ egio n \ approac h to implemcntalion report is written by a separate team al the omy. Al the same lime the Region ha of all environmental law. same time that a project plan is being formu­ been working with California on a model In general. the Region's waler manage­ laled. The technical plan and the environ­ regulation which would place new source ment ~ trntcgy view~ waler as a 101al rc­ menlal impacl stalement are both avail able review authority at the local level. '>ourcc. The a~'urancc of qualit y of water at simultaneously. and a decision can quickl y California is particularl y involved in new the con-,umer":. tap and the protection of un­ be reached on funding. Approximately source reviews because of expected air derground ;,o u rcc~. the control and abate­ one year per project has been saved quali ty impacts from a variety of energy-re­ ment of point and non point ;,ource;, of pollu­ through this process. resulting in a sav­ lated issues: Ala kan oil imports. develop­ tion. the reclamation and reuse of waste ings to the government of about 15 per­ ment of the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Re­ water'>. and the multiple purpo;,e develop­ cent of the project cost. Region !X's serve. mandatory natural gas curtail ments ment of water re;,ource!> by Federal. State. current hudget authority for the program and mandatory switches to fuel oil. outer a nd local agencies are all part of the total approximately one billion dollars. continental shelf production development. larger per;,pcctive of total water manage- Other Regions have been briefed o n this and refinery and petro-chemical plant ex­ pansion. Most of our permit-to-construct requests have involved stc rage and refining facilities for petroleum products. Region IX has received national recogni­ tion for water pollution control programs at Santee. Lake Tahoe. San Diego. and Los Angeles Harbor in California; the Colo­ rado Ri ver; a nd for Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. California has required emission controb on cars sold in the State since 1966. Since 1970. control requirements have been made increasingly stringent. and. despite an al­ most impossible situation. substantial re­ duction in carbon monoxide and smog have resulted . Over the last fi ve years. the average daily maximum -hour carbon mon­ oxide concentrations d ropped 21 percent in the Los Angeles area. 13 percent in the San Francisco Bay Area. and 55 percent in the San Diego area. Oxidants have dropped in both Los Angeles and San Diego. Unfortu­ Exposure ru tire 11·i11d.1· and tire .W'a h111·e shaped this Kllorled tree at Lobos State nately. these reductions are not sufficient to Par/.. . Calif achi eve national ambient ai r qualit y stand-

PAGE 20 ards by 1977. this year. copper smelters. Enforcement action has led to commit­ Region l X h a~ eight copper smelter -half Despite this. one copper company-In ·pi­ ments by the five sugar companies on the the ation·s copper production capacity. ration-did not wait for final regulations to northeast coast of the island of Hawaii to Arizona· s seven smelters are the largest recognize that they had a pollution problem cease discharges of trash a nd bagasse (cane sources of sulfur dioxide pollution in that and to do ·omething about it. In 1971 they material left after juice extraction) and to State. Many were built decades ago with no decided to replace their aging fuel-fired re­ reduce su pe nded solids discharges from all pollution controls. verberatory furnace with an electric furnace mills. The first e nforcement action to be Arizona has had varying regulations to and new converter . This permitted In pira­ ta ken under both the Clean Air Act and the control sulfur. In 1971 the State considered tion to take it process gase to a double Federal Water Pollution Control Act was a require ment for 90 percent emi sions re­ contact sulfuric acid plant. Operation of the taken against the Lapahoehoe ugar refining ductions from smelter . but this was not im­ new smelter began in May. 1974. Emission mill. Lapahoehoe was ordered to cease dis­ plemented. Provi ions for sulfur control reductions in exce of90 percent ha e been charges into the water. and to bring its boiler submitted with the State Implementation achieved. for burning trash into compli ance with air Plan in 1972 were disapproved. EPA is now evada's Las Yegas1Clark County area sta ndards . The company complied early drawing up final regulations for Arizona has long suffered from high particulate con­ centrations. In addition to dust and un­ paved roads. everal large industrial sources have contributed to high ambient REGION IX'S readings. The Clark County Air Pollution Control District began enforcement and LEADERSHIP TEAM abatement orders over five years ago. T hrough admini strative procedure and indu try cooperation major reductions in particulate emissions have been achieved. In ano ther area. action b the Region's Enforcement Division has resulted in in­ stall ation of some $60 million worth of air pollution control equipment at Kai er Steel's Fontana. Calif. . plant. In several areas it has been possible to im­ plement programs to meet air quality ~tand­ ards without ma i e social and economic disruptions. Rapi I growth complicates situ­ Paul De Falco Jr.. L. Russell Freeman. B. David Clark. ations already made difficult by topography Regional Administrator Deputy Director. and population patterns. The problem h a~ Regional Administrator Management Division been to find sociall acceptable mean~ of cont rolling pollution caused by gro\\.th. technology. land use. and transportation patterns. The problems of cities having heavy concentrations of smog and carbon monoxide result from the dominance of the auto in life styles a nd existing transporta­ tion needs. As in other Regions. we initiated trans­ portation control plans that were curtailed a t every corner by administrative and court decisions. Some believe that in the Sheila Prindiville. Frank Covington. Richard O'Connell. end the answer \~ill be found on the auto Director. Director. Air and Hazardous Director. assembly lines. Meanwhile. the Region Water Division Mate rials Di vision Enforcement Divi ion remains on the cutting edge. dealing dail y with threats to the public health involving traditio ns. habits. a nd ways of life that canno t be boiled down to regulations o r simplistic "technical fix" solutions. We arc seeking dynamic local prncc:-.~e:-. rather than dctermini~tic solution~. We arc using regulatory a uthorit y and administra­ tion of grant funds to involve locally elected officials and local citizens· groups in environmental decisions. In the final analysis . decisions about the environment are decisio ns about lifestyle. David L. Calkin, . Clyde Eller. David Andre"s. The baton should pass from the technic ian Director. Director. Regional Counsel Office of Exte rnal Surveillance and to the elected offi cial whose decisions are Relations Analysis Division regularl y reviewed by the public.•

PAGE 21 TOMORROW'S AND YESTERDAY'S PROBLEMS By Louis Jefferson

Bridf:e at l?ocky Poi111, Calif

cgion IX contains areas forced to face in a uni verse of water. Paradise. Arizona every new development of Western thought R tomorrow's problems today. and area~ and Nevada-dream · brought to life in a dry finds its place in Los Angeles. where yes terday's problems are just now li.tnd. Fl y into Los Angeles on a summer being recognized. Many of it s inhabitants Region IX is an area that people go to . morning. You will find yourself entering set styles for the Nation . and much of the rather than come from. It has 11 percent something re se mbling a great. yellow nu­ wo rld . Some of its inhabitant s still li ve by of the Nation's population. The rate of clear cloud. tilled with carbon monoxide. tribal c u ~ t o m . growth is double the national average. hydrocarbons. nitrogen oxides. soot. pol­ Los Angeles i~ having difficulties with a Over hal f of the people are concentrated len. and dust. sludge outfall extending out into th e sea. in the metropolitan areas of San Diego, Ten million little test tubes. running up and while American Samoa has a problem with San Francisco. and Los Angeles. clown freeways . o utho u se~ extending out over the sea. We Los Angeles' The Land of Oz brought to I as ked a San Franciscan what he thought deal wi th governmental structures wh ich life. and the smog laboratory of the world. about this description of Los Angeles. He va ry from the most sophisticated institu­ containing what someone has cynically de­ looked at me somewhat contemptuously . ti ons ever devised to tribal council s. Our scribed as "ten million little test tubes run­ and replied with another question: " Whal maps show nearly empt y islands and vast ning up and down freeways that connect one about F r e ud ~ " population centers. desire wi th another ... They are not test Very San Francisco. California i~ li ke somebody's idea of tubes. bu t they arc in danger from mo re than I told him th at he hadn 't answered the America. Warm . tall . and lucky. it has the traffic. question, and he said that he didn't have plent y of orange juice and vaccines. Inno­ Los Angeles-Inconceivable anywhere time to "fool around with thar question ." cent. terrible. and beautiful. it is something else! An uneasy merger of separate settle­ Very California. that has never been before. Colors arc ments . Eighty different muni cipalities Just this morning. a fri end said of Califor­ sharper. and more sudden. Life 's very tex­ sprawling. district by di strict. over a central ni a: "I sometimes have the feeli ng that I got ture is different. plain and into smog-s hrouded foothill s. here almost too late ... Hawaii ri ~c~ up out of a distant and lonely Freeways and streets fo rever probing and That has been termed the '·Californ ia feel­ ~ea. Wooded mountains amt \\ hitc beaches nibbling in canyons and passes and bursting ing ... It applies equall y to much of the rest of out into the deserts beyond like some or­ Region IX. L1111is .I C'. ffrrson is a R e;:ion IX P11hlic ga ni c phenomenon. A land of the fo rties and In Hawaii. people are pouring into para­ AjJi1irs r!fficcr fifties 1hat finds the seventies somehow al­ dise. with pollution follo wing close behind. ien. and somehow frightening. Yet almost

PAGE 22 This famous black .rnnd heac/1 in Hmmii, created by /al'C1 runoff. is threatened b.v land de1·e/11pme111.

Shock waves erupt in the tourist industry's world. and the hills around it are tine. but. is a land of individualists. and they think inner sanctums with every to ilet paper sight­ down from the hills. and around the lake. the you're robbin' them of their heritage. Even ing off the beach at Waikiki. while the air dealers deal in more than cards. as greed people who've only been here a little while takes on a yellow hue. Yet Hawaii is the continues its work. and a limited environ­ get to feelin ' that way ... crossroads of the Pacific. a nd perhaps no ment becomes overloaded. ln Cali fornia. ··what about the public health., .. the re­ other place is as important as a window trees are a lways coming down. and porter > as asked. through which others of the world catc h a " things" a re always going up. Everywhere. " Well. they figure that if there's a mess. glimpse of the United States. attitudes differ. and people have strong they didn't create it. so the shouldn't have A rizona. for years a magnet for those with opinions. Old traditions die hard . and new to pay the price ... respiratory diseases. is now losing popula­ traditions grow fast. simultaneously. .. Doesn't that sound too individualis­ tion because of respiratory problems. The One night in Tucson. after a long day in the tic')" best that some of the citizens of Phoenix can hearing room. an "off-duty" reporter-his .. Yeah. I know. It's a problem.isn't it')" say about their air is that. "Well. at least it's description-got into a well-lubricated In Hawaii, we find another attitude. or not as bad as Los Angeles." as they gaze at monologue on the .. Arizona attitude" psychology-a psycholog dictated in part a sky that used to be a backdrop for breath­ which. he said. was not "sufficiently by di stance. A Honululu broad.:aster once taking beauty. but now is j ust a place-a understood by whoever those people are described it as a " no- ·weat psychology" yellow place. Actually. the backdrop is still in Washington. and summed it up by saying of Federal rep­ here-you just don't see much any more. "The thing is." he went o n . "most resent·ttives: "They always go home again. Even fabled Tahoe is now threatened by Arizonians don 't like to be messed with . and home is al\ ays a long ways away ... air as well as water pollution-ugliness It's not tha t they like pollution. But Some observers have claimed that anger brought in to being by beauty. A hundred the re's a lot of Wya tt Earp around here. over their diminution by mountains and years ago Mark Twain wrote about Lake and you gu ys are like the gunfighters sea led Cali forni.a ns to deface their envi­ Tahoe. "So singularly clear was the water come in from out of town to throw down ronment in envy and revenge. Little was that where it was only twenty or thirty feet the challe nge. You know. you're not just sacred that could not be successfully deep the bottom was so pe1fectly distinct threatenin' to test their authority-you're a ttacked. After a ll. wasn't that what that the boat seemed floating in the air'" testin ' their MANhood!" "progress" was a ll about') And wasn't The lake still looks good. thanks to one of When it was observed that all EPA was "progress" what America was all about') the most advanced treatment systems in the trying to do was to see that the law was car­ But the bil l is coming due. • ried out. the reporter came back with. "This

PA GE 23 INQUIRY What did you do abroad?

Kenneth Biglane, Director. O il and Special c urre ncy from the Ford Foundation to pay m<\jor raw material procc.-,sing center and Materials Control Division. Office of for travel and equipment in this country. contains the Sov i e t ~· la rge~t cement making Wate r Programs Operations. Headquarters: "The il e's water is so central to Egyp- complex. T hi s was a reciprocal. exploratory .. Last fall I was hairman of a Technical tian life-the economy. agriculture and irri­ visit. since Ru ss i an ~ from the M i ni~trie~ of Group, made up of specialists from EPA. gatio n. fi sh harvesting. and public health­ Building Materials a nd the C hemical a nd the Coast Guard. and the U.S. Geological that ~hatever affects the river affects the Petroleum I ndu ~t ri e~ v i ~itcd this country last Survey. who went to the United Kingdom nati o n as well . . To date there has been March. a nd Norway to look at offshore production considerable specula tio n about the conse­ .. I went through factories and research and landside reception facilities for oil and que nces. good and bad . of building the institutes. a nd I don't think Russian tech­ ga . T he purpose of the mi sio n was to Aswan Dam but little hard scienti fic data ... nologies fo r abateme nt are as advanced as assess the techniques used there for the ours. T hey rel y primarily o n electrostatic control and prevention of oil ~ pill ~. We Dr. Andrew Breidenbach, Assistant Admin­ precipi tators and baghouse filters. Their visited and inspected offshore platforms in istrator for Water and Hazardous Mate­ problems a re greater than o urs . because both the United Kingdo m and Norway. rials. Headquarters: " I've had a close a nd their cement plants are !arger and it is a .. Both are very concerned about the continuing relationship with a Poli sh city . rapidl y growing industry. They will need hazards of oil spills and have active pro­ Katowice. I've made six trips there. begin­ tighter standards to meet ambie nt air gra ms to control s pill ~ on the high seas and ning with an internatio nal conference o n standard equivalent to ours . .. at the terminal facilities. They are cop ying environmental informatio n in 1973. spo n­ the national contingency pla n for oil spill s sored by the Po lish Government. and I Dr. Richard Swartz, Supervisory Research that the U.S. developed in 1968. However. returned from my la test visit in May 1976. Oceanographer. Newport Field Station for the British are depe nding upon the use of Mos t o f m y work has been with the Mari ne and Freshwater Ecology. Environ­ c hemical d ispe rsants as the first li ne of Ka towice Project which is implemented at mental Research Laborator y . Corvallis . defense to combat spill s o n the high seas. the Environme nta l Pollutio n Abatement Oregon: " Jn April I visited the Strait of while o ur e mphasis is upon physical con­ Center there. Magellan. ofT the south coast of C hi le . with tainment by booms a nd recovery of oil by "This Project is supported by the Po lis h other scientis ts fro m EPA and the Univer­ skimmers. orway is very worried about Government and the World Health Organi­ sity of Concepcio n and the In!> lilute of the use of c he mi cals. but has not precluded zatio n (WHO). WHO invited me to head Patagonia of Chil e. o n the Nati onal Sci­ their use." up a four-man internatio nal advisory panel e nce Foundation ·s ship ·Hero.· Purpose of to visit the Katowice Proj ect at regula r the cruise was to in vestigate the effects of Dr. Walter Sanders, Associate Director for intervals to review progress a nd make the massive o il spill that resulted when the Wa ter Quality. Enviro nme nta l Research recommendations for mid-course correc­ supertanker · Metula' ran aground on the Laboratory. Athens. Georgia: " I am serv­ tions. Satellite Pa tch Shoal. in the Strait in Au­ ing as EPA's Proj ect Officer for ·water " Jn Katowice the inte nt is to d o a n gust 1974. integrated study of a metropolitan area that Studies on the Ri ver Nile and Lake Nas­ .. Biological and sediment samples were has broad environmental problems. ·· ser." a researc h progra m to asses~ the coll ected by the ship and specimen analy­ impac t of the Aswan Dam on Egypt's ses are going on at our laboratories and at water quali ty. The proj ect began in January George Ray , Staff Eng ineer. Office of the Unive rsity of Conce(X:ion. 1975 a nd is designed to cover five years: Energy. Mi nerals a nd lndu ~ tr y . Research " T he Metula incident provide a n unique we arc working in collaborati on with the and Development Headquarters: "l spent 13 opportunity to study the effects of a major Academy of Scientific Research and Tech­ d ay~ in R us~ i a in mid-June swllying their o il spill on cold water marine life . Findings no logy at Cairo a nd the Uni vers it y of m e thod ~ for particulate aba tement for air pol­ or conclusions that may be derived from Michigan. It is financed la rgely by counter­ lutio n from stationa ry sources. The foc us of a nalyses of contamination in the Strait of part funds in Egypti an po unds that can be my s tudy was the cement industry . l vi!>ited Magell an could be useful in projecting what used for staff. equipment. s uppli e~. etc .. M o~cow . Volgograd. and Novgorod . a nd might face us if there were oil spills in the available in Egypt. but with some hard then wrnt to the Black Sea region. whic h i~ a waters off Alaska.,.

Kenneth Biglane Dr. Waller Sanders Dr. Andrew Breidenbach George Ray Dr. Richard Swartz PAGE 24 news briefs

$4-MILLION OZONE-CANCER STUDY LAUNCHED A major interagency study has been started to determine if fluorocarbon chemicals used in spray cans and refrigerator equipment are reducing the high-altitude ozone shield that protects the earth from most of the sun's ultraviolet rays. This $4-million study was initiated and will be managed by EPA. It will attempt to obtain better information on the impact of increased ultraviolet radiation in causing human skin cancer.

RETURNABLE CANS, BOTTLES SOUGHT AT FEDERAL FACILITIES Guidelines for requiring five-cent deposits on all bottles and cans of soft drinks or beer sold at Federal facilities have been issued by EPA. They will take effect by September 1977. The rules would apply to military installations, government buildings, National Parks and recreation areas. The refundable deposits will give consumers an incentive to return containers for reuse or recycling, reducing waste and litter and saving energy and materials. The guidelines are required by the Solid Waste Disposal Act and are similar to State laws in Oregon and Vermont.

PCB'S FOUND IN MOTHERS' MILK IN 10 STATES Detectable levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) -­ industrial compounds -- have been found in milk from nursing mothers in 10 States. The EPA-funded study by Colorado State University found PCB's in 65 out of 67 samples, the first of about 1,000 samples to be analyzed. The average level was 1.7 parts per million in the milk fat.

OIL FIRM PAYS $100,000 POLLUTION PENALTY A fine of $100,000 has been paid by the Exxon Corporation for discharging some 500,000 gallons of polluted wastewater from drilling operations off Alaska's north coast in the summer of 1975. The penalty is part of a consent order entered in the U.S. District Court for Alaska. In the consent order the company also agreed to keep EPA fully informed of its operations and pollution control measures in the area for ·the next five years.

PAGE 25 U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIO AGENCY POSTAGE A D FEES PAID OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS (Al07) U.S. ENVIRO ME TAL PROTECTION AGENCY EPA-335 WASHIJ\IGTO . DC 20460 THIRD CLASS BULK RATE

Rerum 1his page if you do NOT wish lo receive !h is publication ( ). or if change of address is needed ( ), lisl change, including zip code. 'THE GREAT CLEANUP'

"(Is) it too late or ... even pos ible to re­ store the lower lake to health? This re­ mained a profound concern of both Canada a nd the U nited States . .. Bur it wa people themselves ~ ho were creating a climate of publi opinion that would force political action . .. . On April 15 (1972) in O ttawa rhe President of the Unired State and the Canadian Prime Minister signed an epoch-making agreement to clean up rhe Great Lakes.·· As depicted by the film. the Canadian­ A merican pact resulted in an unprece­ dented. mult imill ion-dollar cleanu p elTort. Vase amounts of funds were allocated for the constru tion of sewage treatment plant in the eighr Great Lake States. Permit discharge sy tern were developed and arc being enforced to control what subscance~ can or cannot be dumped inro the lakes. PA and it northe rn counte rpart. Envi­ enterprises which will produce $300 billion Federally-fu nded research is being con­ E ronme nt Canada . in cooperatio n with the worth of goods and services. However. this ducted by the Canada Centre for Inland National Film Board of Canada have pro­ activity. if conducted without regard for the Waters. EPA Region V laboratories. and duced a new fi lm about a commonly cher­ environment. could finally destroy many uses countless numbers of college students. At ished possession. the G reat Lakes. "The of the lakes. the University of Guelph in Ontario. ex­ G reat Clean-Up." as it is entitled. is sched­ T he 54-minute color fi lm carefully exam­ perimenters are attempting to convert algae uled for release in the U nited States by the ines the major damages to and damagers of into animal feed. Else\ here. s ludge is end of the year. the Great Lakes: T he oil spill s: fert ili zer being turned into fertilizer. Actions are O ntario. Erie. H uron. Michigan . and runoff and the resulting algal blooms; the being brought in the courts against such Superior constitute the largest collective activitie · of Reserve Mining, U.S. S teel. interests as Reserve Mining. body of fresh water in the world and one of the pulp and paper industries and the nickel Citizens arc a lso doing their part. n inter­ the hardest hit by severe pollution. Formed .nining operations; the double crisis of 1970 esting example of this arc the Amish. who 15 to 20 tho usand years ago as the last ice whe n mercury was d iscovered in fish. and graze their caule away from the banks of the age retreated. the area around the 300.000 layers of lifeless water were found near the lakes· tributaries to protect the gra~s whieh square-mile lake c hain conta ins o ne third of botto m of Lake Eric: thermal pollution helps in reducing soil erosion. Canada's populati on a nd o ne seventh of from nuclear reactors; the uyahoga Ri ver. "As of the moment the lakes aren't getting Ame rica's. whic h fill ed up with so muc h greasy waste worse. but the battle hasn' t been won b an Comme rc ial activities in the Canadia n po r­ it actuall y caught fi re; d isposal of improp­ means." the narrator concludes. tion of the Great Lakes watershed contribute e rl y treated wastewater and sewage; the Although the new movie will be widely dis­ 50 percent of that Natio n's gross national beleague red but beautiful Ind iana Dunes; tributed nationall y. a pecial effort will be product. Approximately 20 percent of the and build-ups of silt deposits which desrroy made ro insure its broad availabil ity to the gross national produc t in the Uni ted States o nce-rich farmlands. people of the Great Lakes area. A free loan of comes fro m its G reat Lakes region. "To early European explorers."the fil m's the new film can be obtained after its release T he growth of the industrial activities narrator states ... these waters seemed end­ by writing Modern Talking Picture Service. which greatl y stra ined the ecological bala nce less-an endless path into rhc heart of a conti­ New Hyde Park Road. New Hyde Park. of the e waters is no t likely to diminish. By ne nt. a n e ndless suppl y of food. It woul d New York 11 040. Copies of the film will be the year 2000. about 45 million peopl e are ex­ never have occurred to them that these li ving sent to all Regio na l Offices and major EPA pected to resid e in the basin a nd engage in wate rs . . . could one day become sick. la boratories. •