or decision gro · 1:en e. - l • notorious Kepone poisoning case is also vie damag On another front, Assistant Administra or Roger "Most Ameri ans had no idea , until relatively Strelow has contributed an article about his recent recently, t71a . . . ll'hen they went to work in the trip to Iran to help advise the Government there morning, or when they ate their breakfast-that about air pollution control techniques. The automo ll'hen they did the things they had to do to earn a bile. he reports, is an even greater contributor to air living anJ keep themselves alive and well--that when pollution in the capital of Tehran than it is in major they did tliinr; s as ordinary, as innocent and as American cities. essential to life as eat, drink, breathe or touch, they The discovery of a new genus of sponge found could, in fact, he laying their li ves on the line. They clinging to drums of radioactive waste on the floor of had no idea that, ll'ithout their kno11'!edge or con the Pacific ocean is the subject of another repo11. sent, rhey were often engaging in a grim game of A major EPA research project being conducted on chemical roulette H'hose result they 11·011ld not know the plains of southeast Montana under the direction until many years later. " of EPA 's Environmental Research Laboratory at -EPA Administrator Russell E. Train. Excerpted from re Corvallis, Ore., is discussed in another article. The ma rks delive red before the National Press Club. February EPA project at Colstrip. 100 miles east of Billings, 26. 1976 Mont., is designed to develop information which can be used to minimize the environmental impact of r. Train recalled in the same speech that when coal-burning plants. M he became the first chairman of the Council on Concluding the year-long series on EPA's regional Environmental Qualit y in February. 1970, his first operations are two articles from the Agency's North directive to the council's small staff was to develop a west office- Region X on Parade. legislative proposal to cope with the problems caused The magazine ends with an intriguing report that by toxic chemicals. bass, popular game fish, are now being caught in Now some six years later Congress has finally large numbers in the Potomac River in the Washing approved and the President has signed the Toxic ton area. U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Russell E. Train, Administrator Patricia L. Cahn, Director of Public Printed on recycled paper. Affairs Charles D. Pierce, Editor ARTICLES Staff: Van Trumbull, Ruth Hussey, TOXIC CONTROLS TO BEGIN PAGE 2 David Cohen A review of EPA's role under the long sought toxic substances control law. COVER PHOTO Donald Emmerich SOLID WASTE CONTROL PROGRAM EXPANDED PAGE 4 PHOTO CREDITS Page 2-Grand Rapids Press New legislation gives EPA major responsibilities Page 4-David Hiser* in the solid waste area. Page 6-Don Long Page 8-Roger Strelow JUSTICE IN THE KEPONE CASE PAGE 6 Page 9-Joel Horowitz A report on a landmark decision by a Page 10-14-Donald N. Emmerich Federal judge involving a notorious pesticide. Page 18-Emest Bucci Page 19-AI Wilson Page 20 -Doug Wilson* EPA HELPS IRAN SOLVE AIR POLLUTION PAGE 8 Page 22- David Falconer* by Roger Strelow Back Cover-John Neubauer* A report on recommendations to help a *Documerica Middle Eastern country control pollution.
COVER: Thomas L. Gullett, a biology technicianfrom EPA's Environmental RESEARCH ON THE PLAINS by Charles Pierce PAGE IO Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Ore., An account of a major EPA research project checks condition of a ground squirrel as in Montana to assess the impact of fumes from part of a major research project being a coal-burning power plant. conducted on the Montana plains. NEW SPONGES FOUND AT OCEAN DUMPSITE PAGE 15 The EPA Journal is published An EPA scientist has discovered what may monthly, with combined issues July-August and November- December, be a new genus of sponge while conducting by the U.S. Environmental an underwater examination of drums of Protection Agency. Use of radioactive waste. funds for printing this periodical has been approved by the Director of the REGION X ON PARADE by Robert H. Jacobson PAGE20 Office of Management and Budget. Views expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect EPA policy. THE CROWDED OUTDOORS by Thomas A. Waite PAGE 22 Contributions and inquiries should be addressed to the Editor (A-107), BASS IN THE POTOMAC BACK COVER Waterside Mall, 401 M St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. No permission necessary to reproduce DEPARTMENTS contents except copyrighted photos and other materials. Subscription: NATION PAGE 16 $8.75 a year, $.75 for single copy, domestic; $11.00 if mailed to a foreign PEOPLE PAGE 18 address. No charge to employees. Send check or money order to PAGE24 Superintendent of Documents, U.S. INQUIRY Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. 20402. NEWS BRIEFS PAGE25
PAGE I TOXIC CONTROLS TO BEGIN
EPA h a~ been given the power. starting priate regulatory action can be taken before environment protection program. Laws to January I. to regul ate the production it is 100 late to undo the damage.·· curb pollu1i o n of ai r and water a nd to and use of harmful chemicals. The President said tha1 the bill closes "a assure heallhful workplaces are aimed pri When he sig ned the Toxic Substances gap in our c urrent array of laws to protect marily at corTecting hazards already !here. ontrol Act on October 12. President Ford the health of our people and the environ The new law seeks to preve nt hazards said : ·· 1 believe this .. may be one of the ment. from being inlroduced as well as to correct most important piece~ of environmental Several hundred-and perhaps as many as problems after lhe fact. It stems fro m the l eg i ~ l 0-new chemicals are introduced into growing public concern over industrial .. Th i ~ ... l egi~la tion provides broad commerce each year. Most of them are put chemicals tha t have subtle. long-l asting aulhority co regulale any of the lens of into use without testing for their possible effects. that accumulate in the body to thousand~ of c h em ical~ in commerce. O nl y long-term effects on the health of people or dangerous levels. and that res ist natural a few of the~e chemicals have been 1es1ed on plant and animal life. breakdown in the environment. for !heir long-term effects o n human health Of particular concern during the pasl T he list of suspect chemicals is already or the environment. !>everal years have been c hemicals that may long and includes such widely used sub ··Through lhe 1 e~1ing and reporting re cause cancer. mutations of huma n cell s. stances as synthetic halocarbons (PCB's quirement~ of 1he law. our understanding of and birlh defects. and PBB's). raw material for plastics (vin yl the ~c chemicals ~ hould be greatly e n chloride). spray can propellant gases. phos hanced. If a c hemical i ~ found 10 presenl a T he Act is designed to plug some lo ng phates. and nitrosamines. danger to health or lhc e nvironment. appro- recognized loopholes in the ation·s Since thousands of industrial chemicals
Michigan dairy farmers shooting cattle contaminated by the toxic chemical, PBB.
PAGE 2 are already on the market and are being and brought under control. commercial and financial data). Any Fed used with little knowledge of their toxicity "We cannot realistically expect to evalu eral officer or employee who discloses such or environmental effects. EPA will start ate every one of the tens of thousands of information to unauthorized persons com administering the new law with a huge chemicals in commerce. It will take years mits a misdemeanor punishable by a $5.000 backlog of work. to develop the information needed to assess fine and a year in prison. The EPA Administrator must first make the health and environmental effects of an inventory of all chemicals .. manufac even the major chemicals. This Act will be special section of the Act deals with tured or processed in the United States" in an important tool to reduce the number of A polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's). a the last three years. This list must be chemical incidents. but there is no way to family of synthetic compounds now used compiled and published by Nov. II, 1977. eliminate them completely." primarily in electrical equipment. although Thereafter the inventory must be kept The Act authorizes $10. l million to carry formerly used extensively in industrial and current as new chemicals are introduced. out its provisions in Fiscal 1977. The sum consumer products. such as paints. inks. Glenn E. Schweitzer. Director of the of $12.6 million is authorized for 1978 and and plastics. PCB's are poisonous to hu Office of Toxic Substances. said. "We $16.2 million for 1979. An additional $1.5 mans. accumulate in the fatty tissues of expect there may be as many as 20.000 million in each of the three years is author fish. and persist in the environment as substances on the inventory. The exact ized for grants to States having a concen DDT does. By July I. 1977. EPA must set number will depend upon the use of cate tration of chemical industries to help them rules for warning labels on all products gories for certain 'families' of compounds. assess their problems with the control of containing PCB's and for prescribing meth New chemicals which fall into a category toxic substances. ods of safe disposal. included on the inventory would not be The law bans all PCB manufacture after subject to premarket notification." The Act also authorizes a new EPA two years and all processing or distribution Assistant Administrator for Toxic Sub after two and a half years. efore a chemical not on the inventory stances to be appointed by the President Many substances are specifically exempt B can be introduced into commerce. the subject to Senate confirmation. Filling of from the Toxic Substances Control Act manufacturer must notify EPA at least 90 this new post would give EPA six Assist because they are already controlled by days in advance. He must submit estimates ant Administrators. other laws. These include pesticides. food of the amount of t.he chemical he plans to The cost to industry of the new legislation additives. drugs. tobacco. ammunition. and produce. its intended uses. the estimated is estimated by EPA at up to $140 million nuclear materials. number of people who will be exposed to per year. The General Accounting Office. it. and any test data he may have on its a branch of Congress. says it should not assage of the law climaxes a five-year toxicity and probable environmental ef exceed $200 million. Industry representa P effort by EPA to obtain adequate fects. tives have said the cost would be ten times regulatory power over chemical poisons On the basis of the data submitted. EPA as much. that are not limited to one environmental must make a "reasoned evaluation" of the The Act provides for appointment of an medium. like air or water. Legislation was risk involved. If there is not enough infor interagency committee to advise the Ad introduced in 1971 and again in 1973 and mation to make this judgment. the Agency ministrator on which chemicals should be 1975. The final bill was a compromise may. after preliminary procedures. seek a tested. The committee members will repre between separate versions passed by the court injunction to prohibit manufacture sent the Departments of Labor. Com House of Representatives and the Senate. pending further testing. merce. and Health. Education, and Wel It also represents a compromise between If EPA believes a new chemical sub fare. including several of its research activi the stringent regulation sought by environ stance may present an unreasonable risk. ties; the Council on Environmental Qual mental groups and the chemical industry's the Agency may seek a court injunction to ity; the National Science Foundation; and desire for greater emphasis on self-regula prohibit the manufacture or may make a EPA. tion. rule immediately effective to limit its use. One of the committee's first tasks is to The policy and intention of Congress is require appropriate labelling. or proper dis make a "priority list" designating the 50 summed up in the Act's preamble. "Con posal methods. pending normal rule-making chemicals EPA should tackle first. Com gress finds that- procedures. In any rule-making on toxic mittee appointments are limited to four • ··Human beings and the environment are substances the law requires EPA to con years. and no member who leaves the being exposed each year to a large number sider and publish its findings on the sub committee may take a job with the chemi of chemical substances ... (that) may stances' benefits. the availability of substi cal industry for one year thereafter. present an unreasonable risk of injury ... tutes. and the probable effects on the Civil penalties for violating the Act may • "Adequate data should be developed (on industry and the national economy. be set at not more than $25.000 per viola these risks) ... and such data should be For existing chemicals that pose an unrea tion. and each succeeding day constitutes a the responsibility of those who manufacture sonable risk. the new legislation offers new violation. Criminal penalties can be as and . . . process such chemical sub several regulatory options. The Agency high as a $25.000 fine. a year in prison, or stances ... may ban production altogether. restrict the both. • .. Authority ... should be exercised (so amount of production. or limit the chemi Manufacturers may be required to keep as) not to impede unduly or create unnec cal's sale to certain uses only. Alterna records of the amounts of chemicals they essary economic barriers to technological tively. EPA may set labelling or disposal produce and the uses to which they are put innovation ... requirements. and to report periodically to EPA. Small • "The Administrator shall carry out this businesses are exempt from certain report Act in a reasonable and prudent manner Mr. Schweitzer believes that. under the ing requirements. and ... consider the environmental. eco new law. it is not reasonable to expect The law protects confidential business nomic. and social impact of any ac that all hazardous substances will be caught information (trade secrets and privileged tion ..... •
PAGE3 E PA's solid waste control activities will SOLID WASTE CONTROL be greatly expanded under legislation passed in the closin g days of the 94th Congress. The new law authorizes $35 million for PROGRAM EXPANDED the Solid Waste Office's operations in the current fiscal year. more than double last year's appropriation. $38 million in 1978. and $42 million in 1979. In addition. starting in fiscal '78. grants are authorized to States and regional bodies for planning and carrying out solid waste programs. About $140 million is authorized for State aid. research. and other purposes in 1978 and $ 107 million in 1979. The law also--for the fi rst time-requires EPA to set standards for the handling of hazardous solid wastes and provides regu latory powers and penalties . .. Enactment of this legislation present a great new challenge to EPA." said Sheldon Meyers. Deputy Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste Manage ment Programs, "but we are confident we can meet that challenge and justify Congress's expecta tions." .. Solid waste has long been the stepchild of the environmental movement ... said Sen. Jennings Randolph of West Virginia before the final vote on the legislation. "Substan tial attention has been given to the prob lems of air and water pollution . . . and properly so .... But we neglected to full y recognize the implications of haphazard solid waste disposal practi ces." Sen. Ra ndo lph. chairman of the Public Works Committee. sponsored the bill in the Senate. where it was approved . 88 to 3. last June. The House passed the bill on Sept. 27 by a vote of 367 to 8. Final Senate action was unanimous . and President Ford signed it into law on Oct. 22. The Resource Conservation and Recov ery Act supersedes the Solid Waste Dis posal Act of 1965 and augments the Re source Recovery Act of 1970. The new law seeks to reduce the amounts of waste created, to recover materials and energy from wastes, and to dispose of waste in ways that will not e ndanger public health or the environment. l n the words of Sen. Randolph, it is " imperative that we examine our attitudes toward the consumption of materials. Depletion of Burning dump near Moab, Utah. resources and higher prices dictate that we solid wastes. Criteria for identifying open man of the Council on Environmental change our individual attitudes and our dumps. and for identifying sanitary land Quality; and a representative of the Office collective public policy." fills, will be published by EPA no later of Management and Budget. The law itself notes that the cleanup of than October 1977. and the Agency will The Act makes no specific mention of the Nation's air and water is creating conduct a national inventory of all open returnable bottles and cans to reduce litter greater amounts of solid waste in the form dumps within the twelve months that fol and save materials and energy. However, of sludges and other pollution treatment low. State or regional solid waste manage last June Sen. Mark Hatfield. of Oregon. residues. ment plans must include the banning of proposed a uniform national deposit system open dumps. All open dumps throughout on all bottles and cans as an amendment to Hazardous Wastes the country must be closed or upgraded by the Senate bill. It was defeated. He then Hazardous waste is defined in the Act as 1983. Special grant assistance to help meet proposed. and the Senate almost unani any waste that ··because of its quantity. these new requirements for land disposal mously approved. another amendment for concentration. or physical. chemical. or facilities will be available for rural commu an interagency study of the issue. This was infectious characteristics" may cause death nities of less than 5,000 population and dropped from both the House version and or disease or threaten public health or the rural counties of less than 10,000 (or with the final bill. But Sen. Hatfield said he was environment. Examples might be industrial fewer than 20 persons per square mile). confident that such a study would be chemicals that may enter the food chain. Grants to a limited number of "special included under the Act's "general language substances that may wash out of landfills. communities" are also authorized. These concerning the need for Federal studies of and oily- wastes that kill fish and wildlife. are to be communities of less than 25.000 various solid waste management alterna EPA is required to identify and publish a population. most of whose solid waste tives ... list of hazardous wastes within 18 months comes from outside their boundaries. caus and to set standards for the handling. ing serious environmental problems. Only A Local Problem transportation. and ultimate disposal of one such grant (one project) can be made The new law. like the one it replaces. such wastes. in each State. recognizes that solid waste is primarily a Under EPA guidelines. States are to The law also provides for: local problem that should be managed by establish regulations for hazardous waste • Extensive research. development. and State and local governments or regional handling and issue permits for treatment. demonstration projects in solid waste tech groups. It encourages existing agencies storage. or disposal. If States fail to do so. nology. particularly the area-wide planning agencies EPA regulations apply. Civil and criminal • At least eleven special studies in specific designated under section 208 of the Federal penalties are established for violations. up areas such as glass. plastics. rubber tires. Water Pollution Control Act-to plan and to $25.000 per day of noncompliance. a sewage sludge. mining wastes. and the carry out solid waste management pro year in prison. or both. EPA must consult hazards caused by birds at landfills near grams. with the Department of Transportation in airports. The role of the Federal Government in drafting rules for transporting hazardous • Special emphasis on the rapid dissemina solid waste activities said Sen. Randolph. wastes. tion of information. on public education "should be one primarily of providing States will be eligible for technical and programs. and a central reference library of financial and technical assistance .... The financial assistance to develop and imple solid waste management data and other Environmental Protection Agency's effec ment State and regional solid waste man materials. tiveness may be compromised if it advo agement plans which would encompass cates specific policy alternatives at the collection and disposal as well as resource lnteragency Cooperation State or local level. These ma!ters arc best recovery and conservation options. Ini Under the Act. the Secretary of Com left to local choice ..... tially. EPA will assist in such efforts by merce is required to .. encourage greater Sen. Howard Baker of Tennessee noted promulgating guidelines for State plans. commercialization of proven resource re that the new law requires EPA to give and-to encourage ·regionalization'-pro covery technology ... " and the Energy advance notice to the appropriate congres mulgate separate guidelines for helping Research and Development Administration sional committees before publishing any States identify those areas which have is required to cooperate with EPA in the guidelines. information. or model codes and common solid waste management prob field of energy recovery from solid waste. ordinances. ··This is not a provision for lems. To implement State plans. if and An lnteragency Resource Conservation congressional approval or veto."' he said. when such plans are approved by the EPA Committee will be set up this fiscal year ·· 1t simply assures that Congress will be Administrator. both State and local govern with a $2 million authorization to study informed of EPA 's intentions and activi ments will be eligible for EPA grant assist strategy and public policy. including subsi ties." ance. dies and economic incentives. The EPA The new law abbreviates the name of the Administrator will be the chairman. Mem Office of Solid Waste Management Pro Open Dumping Ban bers include the Secretaries of Commerce. grams. It becomes simply the ··Office of The law prohibits the open dumping of all Labor. Interior. and Treasury; the chair- Solid Waste."•
PAGE 5 Guarded by a facemask, a workman uses his machine lo dig K epone ll'C/Sfe from the ground around rhe sile of the Life Science plant in Hopewell.
PAGE6 JOSTICE IN THE KEPONE CASE
I don't think thar co111111ercial "I have reason to believe that Allied ... the pesticide until the converted gas station products. or tire 111aki11R of 1m~fits are as is going to think several times before from which it operated was closed as a import11111 as the God-gi1·e11 resources of anything such as this (the Kepone incident) health hazard in July. 1975. Life Science our co1111try. happens again. I think they are going to go had previously pleaded guilty to 154 the extra mile to see that it doesn't. That is charges of violations of Federal pollution This warning was made by Federal not only good. but I think it is neces control Jaws. and was fined $3.8 million for Judge Robert R. Merhige Jr .. as he sary .... polluting the James. Two former Allied levied the largest criminal fine ever im · · 1 also recognize in one sense that all of Chemical employees who created Life Sci posed for environmental pollution. The us are responsible for what happened. ence were also given huge fines. (of which Allied Chemical Corporation was penalized because we have either affirmatively or all but $25,000 was suspended,) and five the maximum sum allowable under the law. through indifference permitted things like years probation each. $13.375,000. in October for discharging the this to happen ... we drive down the U.S. Attorney Cummings noted in regard pesticide Kepone and other chemical con street and see smoke belching from a to the stiff sentences received by Allied taminants into the James River from its smoke stack. We see garbage being thrown and Life Science thal. "there is at least one Hopewell. Va .. plant. into our rivers. We think it is terrible. but judge who clearly wants the word to go out EPA Administrator Russell E. Train de unless we are personally affected. that is that the em•ironment cannot be abused. Jn clared that "the large criminal fines levied the extent of our action. this respect. this case could be a forerunner by the Federal court in the Kepone case "I hope after this sentence. that every of others. lt is encouraging." represent a landmark decision in !he his corporate official. every corporate em The $3.8 million fine levied against the tory of environmental protection. The court ployee that has any reason to think that Life Science Corporation will probably go has clearly signalled that polluters will be pollution is going on. will think. 'If I don't uncollected, according to Federal attor held accoun1able to the full extent of the do something about it now. I am apt to be neys, because the now-defunct company law." - out of a job tomorrow.· I want the officials has no known assets. Last December. a Region 111 investiga to be concerned when they see it. In other related trials. Judge Merhige tion of the Kepone tragedy ended when .. Allied knew it was polluting the waters. ruled thai the government failed to prove Regional Administrator Daniel J. Snyder. As Mr. Justice Rehnquist said ·Polluters that Allied and Life Science had .. know III. referred the findings to the U.S. do so at their own risk.· ingly and willingly" entered a criminal Department of Jusrice. "On the basis of "As you know. I said when the plea was conspiracy to violate the pollution laws. the initial evidence which Mr. Snyder re accepted. that I would hope there would be and that two Allied employees had con ported to us. our office decided that we some way that the fines that obviously spired to defraud the Federal Government. should pick up the ball." said William would be forthcoming could be used to The city of Hopewell has been penalized Cummings, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern benefit those who directly were hurt . . . I for unlawful discharges from its sewage District. Shortly thereafter a grand jury am satified. however, that this cannot be treatment plant. was assembled. done under the Jaw ... A number of EPA staff members served The Justice Department's effort culmi "I intend to and will consider what ac as expert witnesses during the Kepone nated in August when Allied pleaded "no tions. if any. have been voluntarily taken trials. They included Dr. Tudor Davies of contest" to 940 counts of violating Federal by the defendant corporation to alleviate the Gulf Breeze L-1boratory: Dr. Edward water pollution control laws. The violations the horrendous effects that have occurred. Oswald and August Curley of Research occurred between 1971 and 1973 when the "In no event. do I want any actions done Triangle Park; Dr. Wayne Smith. Dr. Ted international company directly manufac under any compulsion whatsoever. Any Meiggs and Art Masse of EPA's National tured the persistent. toxic agricultural in action it would take should be taken volun Enforcement Investigations Center in Den secticide and discharged wastes into a tarily. In no event would a reduction (in ver; Dr. Walter Lee and Mike Zickler of tributary of the James. the fine). if there is a reduction. be in an EPA Region Ill; and Dr. Jack Blanchard Allied was given 90 days by Judge Mer amount equal to whatever they may volun of headquarters. hige in which to pay the fines to the U.S. tarily expend. I am not. however, closing Since receiving sentence for its "no con Treasury. my mind to consideration of an appropriate test" plea to violating Federal pollution Judge Merhige said in remarks made adjustment.·' control Jaws. Allied has issued statements during sentencing in the Richmond, Va .. Administrator Train noted in his assess saying that "the judicial process has been District Court that "the environment does ment of the sentencing that. .. the fact that compleled and we must respect it. We truly ... belong to every single person in the court indicated that the sentences might deeply regret the circumstances surround this country ... possibly be mitigated by voluntary action ing the Kepone affair and the concern ·· 1 am reasonably familiar with the legisla to help those directly hurt by the Kepone caused to the people of Virginia, particu tive history of the acts that arc involved in tragedy suggests a new measure of corpo larly because. in all our operations in this case. I have had to study them. not rate responsibility in such cases." Virginia over a period of 48 years. Allied only in connection with this case. but with Allied is not the only corporate body Chemical has acted as a good corporate regard to several others we have had and which has been fined as a result of the citizen and has maintained policies in sup several that are coming. I am satisfied that Kepone incident. In early 1974, Allied port of all public programs. including envi we, as a Nation, are dedicated to clean turned over the manufacture of Kepone to ronmental programs. We shall now concen waler. unpolluted waters .... Our respon a small company called Life Science Prod trate on expanding upon our efforts to sibility is to 1he law. and the law alone ... ucts. which became the sole producer of remedy the damage caused by Ke pone."• PAGE? EPA HELPS IRAN SOLVE AIR POLLOTION By Roger Strelow
everal months ago. the head of Iran's ranges of snow-capped mountains. It is o ne by-products of rapid. inadequately con S.. EPA .. a'ked Administrator Russell of the world's oldest natio ns. with known trolled growth. Although Tehran has its Train to ~end some U.S. EPA air pollution civili zation dating back over 3000 years. Its share of stationary sources-such as a experb to Iran to help solve the serious air artistically-oriented c ulture is stil l pervaded belching cement plant-contributing to the quality problem in Tehran. Iran·~ capita l by the beautiful architecture of am:icnt visible pall that hangs over the city. the c ity. This request and in vi tation led to a Moslem mosques and the lyric poetry of most obnoxious single air pollution problem fa~c in ating experience for Joel Horowitz Omar Khayyam. Firdausi. Hafiz. and there is unquestionably the automobile. a nd myself from Air and Waste Manage Saadi. Over half of all Iranians live in the ment and for Don Oakley of International country-most of them in the walled, mud s .. progress .. has come to Tehran. so Activities who accompanied us and went brick houses that typify Iranian farm vil Ahas one of its typical components. a o n to make other contacts for EPA in the lages. and a smaller number belong to rapid rise in auto ownership a nd use. Middle East. T he U.S. Agency for Inter no madic tribes. Some 44% of Iran' s Motor vehicles registered in Tehran now national Development (A ID) financed our roughly 34 million people Jive in urban number over 800,000, dramatically up from travel under its authority to stimulate reim areas. many of which arc expanding rapidly less than 400.000 only five years ago. Few bursable technical activities abroad. and drawing an increasing portion of the of these vehicles have emission controls. Moreover. the quality of available mainte nance service is very poor. To make matters wor ·e. most of these vehicles ap pear to be on the streets. contributing to mind-boggling traffic jams. at a ll hours of the day except for a few hours after midnight. All of this. combined with a n "every man for himself' style of driving that exacerbates the fundamental conges tion problem. causes an additiona l c loud of pollution. painfully perceptible to both nose and eyes. that noats over the main streets. To its credit. Iran's government has be gun to face the existing and potential air po llution problems symbolized respectively by Tehran and Isfahan. While a ny overall prognosis now would be difficult. there are very encouraging signs. In 1974. the Envi ronmental Protection and E nha ncement Act created the Department of the Envi ronment. thereby upgrading and expanding the scope of the previous Department of Environmental Conservation to incl ude pol lu tion controls. The Department is headed Fumes rise from a cement plant on outskirts of Tehran. by an aggressive. articulate conservationi st e ngineer. Eskandar Firouz. One inJication We havc gooJ reason to believe tha t o ur population. of the priority given to his Department's consulta tion v. ith the Ira nian Government work is that besides being Direc.:tor of wa~ a valu able !'.timulu' to it~ new a ir he discovery of oil in the early 1900's DOE. Firouz is a lso one of a limited pollution control program and that essential T stimulated the recovery of a Nation number of Assistant Prime Minister~. Also. follow-up con~ ull a tion s on the details of that had gradually lost wealth and power the Environme nta l High Counc il . which 'pccific prngrams a rc likely to occur. In over several centuries. The series of ambi formulates fundamental policies a nd over addition. we initiated work on a general tious economic development programs un sees their executio n. is headed by a mem cooperative agreement that should be con dertaken in recent decades with Iran's ber of the royal family. Prince Abdon-eza. cluded 'oon between EPA and lran·s De substa ntial oil profits inevitably gave rise to partment of the Environment (DOE). the type of air pollution problems that led Iran. more than 16 ho urs· fl ight time to our trip. ran's parlia ment has given the DOE a 1 While some of Iran's most scenic c ities . strong law to combat a ir pollution. from Washington. is a sizable (2 /2 times I larger than Texas). ruggcJ country com such as Shiraz (pop. 336.000) and Isfaha n particularly that from motor vehicles. the posed of arid deserts a nd plai ns. which a rc (pop. 546.000). now face the prospect of Clean Air Act of 1975. The law a uthorizes dotted with green valleys. and ~everal large becoming heavily polluted unless the the DOE to establish air quality standards growth planned in these a reas is carefully and emission limitations, although the two Uu."er Strefo,,. is f.PA "' Assis111111 Ad111i11- controlled. the capita l c it y of Tehran (po p. are not li nked as closely as in o ur Clean i.11rator f i1r Air and Wa.1'/i' Manaf.:l'/11£'111 nearly 4 million) is a lready c hoking in the Air Act. DOE can also require permits for
PAGE 8 stationary sources of pollution. Broad au duce congestion and unnece sary vehicle de elopment and mili tary preparednes thority is given to control vehicular pollu u se. T he Tehran Development Council goals should ha e a strong .. 0 MB ... Sure tion. including authority to regulate emis Secretariat has made a n extensive study of e no ugh. l ran·s Plan and Budget Organiza sions from new vehicles a nd to require Tehran's traffic problems. although not for tion seem , to be a mirror image 1 Inter inspection and maintenance. the principa l purpose of reducing air pollu agency rivalries. sensitivities concerning In our efforts to assist DOE in controlling tion. and we commended its recommenda the roles of local governments. shortages of motor vehicle pollution. we foun d that tions to the DOE. In particular. we ex certain types of skilled professionals-the rather than suggesting new ideas we were pressed hope for the feasibility of a pro parallels abound even though the two sys focusing o n the need to set priorities and to gram that recently wa demonstrated quite tems of government obvious! are quite appreciate and a nticipate the many com successfully in Singapore-the designation different. plexities a nd details of implementation. of certain critically congested areas which I hould add at this point that recommen DOE has a very small ( 12 people) but a ble are off-limits to vehicles not displaying a dation such as I have utlined were not air pollution control staff. One member is special and rather costly permit. Offender arrived at unilaterally after formalized brief an American who first went to Iran in the are not blocked from acce s but are tick ings and tour . Rather. we had v. hat I Peace Corps after working for the Ken eted and fined tiffiy. analogous to U .S. belie e wa a n excellent atmosphere of tucky air pollution control program. He has parking violations. We a lso highlighted the "give and take" discu · ions and mutual been particularly helpful in bringing the need for much s tricter enforcement o f "brainstorming" with the air pollution staff extensive U.S. literature into DOE's work. traffic laws and expansion of both public of DOE and also '' ith Mr. Firouz. This In preparing a possible motor vehicle pro tran it (most buses you see are crowded approach was critical 10 achieving a final gram, however, the DOE was. if anything. d uring mo t of the day) a nd the a lready report to Mr. Firouz w hich reflected very over inclusive rather than under inclusive' significant number of employer-operated substantial participation. feedback. and Given the size of the present staff. the con ·ensus. This fact great!, enhances the limited number of tra ined Irania n profes pr )bahilit y that our recommendations ,.,,iJI sionals in this area. a nd the lack of any be useful and feasible to implement. motor vehicle control program at present. we felt that it was imperative for DOE to n the subject )f general stationary focus its limited resources o n a few of the Osource controls. we struck a particu most essential. high-impact measures. larly respon ive c hord. Having in mind Therefore. we suggested that measures EPA ·s recent stre ngthening of emphasis on s uch as possible conversio n of taxis to proper controlling and siting of new tation gaseous fuels be given less immediate a t ary sources-whe ther in non-attainment or tention than the two programs that a ppear in pristine areas-we v.ere most interested to deserve most effort-sett ing standards to fi nd that Mr. Firuuz had already ori for new vehicles (the projections are for ented DOE' s stationary source program continued rapid expansion of Tehran's ve very heavily towards ne\\ ources. In iew hicle population) and developing inspection of DOE's staff limitations. the re lati e and maintenance. Unfortuna tely. the tre technical and economic case of appl ing mendo us sophistication and complexities of te1.: hnology requirements to new rather than the present U .S. motor vehicle standards existing facilities. and the tremendous eco program. to say nothing of the present nomic growth that Iran is experiencing. we unavail abilit y of unleaded gasoline in Iran. urged that this emphasis on new sources t e make it highly q uestio nable for Ira n to cont inued a nd strengthened lo require attempt immediately to emulate our pro "best available control technology ... at a gram. Ra ther. we felt that for the near minimum. regard l e~~ of localion and air term. DOE could best begin with a simpler quality conditions. Again. we aITi ed at a but still quite effective program patterned Street traffic outside Sepahsalar Mosque strong consensus \\ith our "clients ... along the lines of the U.S. program of the in Tehran . It was an e xciting experience to stcr hack late 1960's a nd early 1970's . We a lso briefl y from the relatively v. cll-cstablisheu recommended. however, that in order to transit services. a ir pollution control program that exi~ t ~ in prepare for future catalyst-based sta ndards Some people with whom I have discussed the U.S. a nd to work intensively \1 ith as well as to protect public health. lead our trip have commented . only half-face deuicated professionab 11 ho are in the should be phased out of gasoline as soon as tiously. that it must be a lot easier to get early stage!> or trying to both ~olve and possible. (Ideall y. the phase-out could be pollution controls implemente d under a prevent air pollution problems in a rapiuly completed by the time catalyst-based stand strong monarchy such as Iran's. Undoubt developing nation. The prol,Jem in Tehran ards were feasible, so that there would be edl y there are some advantage of the sort is present and obvious. It ccrtainl v.ar no ne of the proble ms of the dual fuel assume d. but to me one of the most rants priority att e nt ion. However. the few system we now have in the U .S.) striking features of our di scussions was the days I was able to spend in two of Iran's constant appearance of remarkable similari nationa l parks-Kolah Ghazi near Isfahan eeping in mind the need to focus on a ties in the fundamenta l features of U.S. and Lake Rezayeh (a large salt lake w ith Klimited number of imple me ntable a nd Irania n government institutio ns. These 92 islands)-reminded m e of t he g reat measures that could have near-term bene fami li arities reall y are not surprisi ng whe n attentio n now being focused on preserva fits. we also urged that appropriate a uthori carefull y conside red. For example . it is tion of our many scenic Western parks and ti es-probably the C ity of Tehran rather quite natural that a government with sub wilde rness areas. In both cases. fa ilure to tha n DOE directly-implement certain stantial revenues (partic ularly from o il preserve these national treasures would be " tra nsportation" or traffi c contro ls to re- sales) but even more substantial economic tragic. •
PAGE9 RESEARCH ON THE PLAINS By Charles Pierce
landing on a butte in southeast Mon S tana you could see a herd of cattle grazing on the bronze-colored grasses of late summer. A whinnying sound floated in from the distance where the tiny figure of first one horse and then several could be een galloping down a slope toward a ranch for their evening feed. All around was a countryside bathed in shadow and sun under the cloud-streaked big sky. To the south was the Rosebud Creek Valley where Custer camped on his way to doom at the nearby site of Little Big Horn. Now. however. even the memory of this old battle could not disturb the peace of this scene where the only noise was a breeze ruffiing the branches of the butte top ponderosa pines. Then you noticed on the far horizon the electronic a ircraft warning lights pulsing rhythmically every few seconds on the barely discernable tops of the twin towers of a huge power plant seven miles away at Colstrip. And you were reminded of a new and often bitter struggle in the plains country over the issue of whether the grasslands s hould be stripped for coal to help fuel power pl ants not only in Montana but for energy-hungry cities elsewhere in the Na tion as well. Immediately below was another reminder. a fenced-in acre of grassland and a mobile air qualit y monitoring trailer. part of a major project being conducted by EPA· s Environmental Research Laboratory head quartered at Corvallis. Ore. EPA i attempting to learn how this beautiful countryside can be protected from coal fumes discharged at the Colstrip power plant, some I 00 miles east of Bill ings, Mont. Dr. A. F. Bartsch. Director of the EPA laboratory at Corvalli . explained that ''this project has na ional sign ificance because we are attempting to develop information Barely visible in the center of the horizon which can be used to minimize the environ line in this Mmzrana plains scene are the mental impact of all coal-burning plants. tips of the twin stacks of a new power plant .. Recognizing that the Unit ed States is several miles away from where cattle are moving toward the use of coal as the grazinR in the foreground. primary fossil fuel. EPA is seeking to reconcile the Nation's energy needs and our obligation to protect the environment. "The study. which is being carried out by EPA scientists with the aid of researchers from three State universities. is attempting This dragline works thro11gh the night to determine the effect of the power plant to strip the earth from rich coal seams near ColstrifJ , Mont. Charles Pierce is Editor of EPA Journal PAGE 10 fumes o n the grassland's a nimals. in ects and plants. An importa nt objective is to determine whi ch fo rms of life are the most sensitive and relia ble measures of air pollu ti on. "Once the information is o btained . it can be develo ped into a protocol or guide book o n how to site power plants so that they will do the least damage to the e nviron ment. Informati on accumulated in thi s re search project. whic h is also expected to prove e no rmo usly valua ble in developing improved air quality standards for the fu ture . is being a na lyzed at the Cor valli s laboratory ... The setting for the Colstrip power project is spectacular.
T owering draglines work day and night seve n days a wee k to remove the earth covering the huge coal sea ms 30 to 160 feet below the s urface. The coal is then loos e nec1 with dyna mite and loaded by e nor mo us shovels which can bite off 1S tons of coal with o ne sweep of their buckets. After being loaded onto heavy duty motor car rie rs the coal is taken to conveyor belts. The belts ta ke the coal eithe r to the nearby power plant or to a site where it is loaded into 100-car trains . Autos back up o n the Coal is stockpiled in front of towering power plant. highway at the main rail crossing o utside Colstrip as rail cars roll by carrying the fu e l whic h will li ght homes a nd po we r factori es in the Middle West. An estimated 11 million tons of low-sulfur coal will be mined in the Colstrip a rea this year. Nearby are e normous ea rthen furrows largely barren of vegeta ti on which were left aft e r trip mining started in this area 50 years ago to provide coal for steam loco mo tives. T he new po we r pla nt ri ses like a giant battleship riding the prairie sea. At night . with its hundreds of lights. it sparkles like a great beacon. From outsid e voices can be heard booming over the plant's inte rnal lo udspeake r syste m. A s ho rt di sta nce away is the compa ny town o f Colstrip with its scattering of permanent homes. trail er camps a nd new recreati o n building and pa rk still in the process of being built. T he surrounding sile nt prairie seems to stretc h forever unde r the sta r-dre nc hed ni ght . .. A raw . vast. lo neso me land. too big. too e mpty." wrote A. B. G uthrie about Mon- Dr. Eric Preston (left) and Dr. N orman G lass, /ll'o EPA scienrists. rniew data from a meteorological starion at a "ZA PS" site. Jn the background are the pipes used to Continued on page 12 stress the area wirh sulfur dioxide f umes.
PAGE II Continued from paf?e 11 tana in his novel. The Bi;.; S~y. ·· it made the mind small a nd the heart tight and the belly drawn. lying wild and lost under ~uc h a reach of ~ k y a~ put a man in fear of heaven.·· At night the pl a in ~ a re alive with deer mice. voles a nd other nocturnal creatures. some of whic h are caught in traps set as part of the E PA re earch project. T hey are released the next day after being weighed. measured and thoroughly checked for indi cations of pollutio n injury. In the daytime as one walk~ across the plains. jilli ons of gras~hoppers explode un der foot. fl yi ng off like ~o ma n y tiny firecracke rs.
riving along the bumpy prairie roads D frequently crossed with metal cattle guards. you pass fi elds studded with hay stacks and occa~ i o n a l loft y buttes. Flocks of mourning doves and meadow larks burst in to the air sporadicall y as the car goes by. While the grassla nds in t hi s semi-arid region are fragile. they teem with li fe. And all forms of thi s life arc being ~cree ned by the project scientists for possible duty as ea rl y warning sentries of sulfur dioxide pollution. O ne of the humbler forms of life. the musslike li chen. promises to be one of the more effective in detecting the presence of the pollutant. The two main r·esearch areas are a t Hay Coulee. abo ut nine mi les southeast of the Shovel takes huge bite of coal. power p lant. and at Ft. Howes . a site
Giant shovel dumps coal from huge seam into waiting carrier.
In this aerial view the power plant can he seen behind the twin towers. Railroad cars that carry coal to the Midwest are in th e right foreground. Near the tracks are the scars left by strip mining of an earlier era . PAG E 12 about 65 miles further southeast in the power plant began operation spasmodically Custer ational Forest. in 1975 and the second unit started inter At the coulee (a dry gulch or ravine) site. mittent operation last summer. The two a n air quality monitoring trailer records the 500-foot power plant stacks are equipped amount of sulfur dioxide a nd other pollu with ··scrubber" devices. pollution control tants as well as wind speed. humidity. mechanisms de igned to reduce the amount rainfall and solar radiation to collect com of sulfur in the emi ions from the plant. plete data. Constructi on of two additional la rger gener Intensive studies are conducted o n such ating units at Colstrip has been proposed plants as bluejoint. needle a nd thread. by Montana Power and four other utilities c rested wheat and blue grama-all grasses from the Pacific Northwest. eaten by cattle and sheep on these range In the past air pollution field research has lands. concentrated o n the direct impact of air As part of the study Dr. Eric Preston. pollution on vegetati on aft er the damage EPA field project manager. conducts a has occurred. Also little information has periodic bird census in the area. Beginning been available on the effect of relatively a half hour before dawn he stops at stations long-term low-level pollutant . every ha lf mile a long a 30-mil e route The Cols t rip area was picked for the around the plant to record either by sight study for ma ny reasons. including the fact o r song the number and variety of birds that it is representative of a relatively large present. portion of the North Central Great Plains. So far no significant impact on the grasses It is a rangeland where the vegetation and or other forms of life has been detected at the no n- migratory a nimals have had to the Hay Coul ee site. However. the project e ndure suc h environmental problems as scientists report that so far the power plant drought. freezing temperatures. and scorch has not been in full operation. ing heat but never the added stress of air ...... Dr. Norman Glass. Director of the Cor pollutants. I' vallis Laboratory's Ecological Effe cts Re At a remote grassland area in the Custer search Di vision. explains that the study is National Forest. near the Ft. Howes site. .. the first major attempt to develop meth experimental stressing of two four-acre ods that can predict bioenvironmenta l ef sites. known as .. ZAPS" (z.onaJ air pollu fects o f air pollution before da mage is tion systems) tracts. is under way. The large net is dropped from its boom <; Ustained ... Each tract is c riss-crossed with what to collect insects for EPA's study of the The project was started in 1973 to obtain appear to be metal irrigation pipes. How impact of sulfur dioxide ji11nes. R esting useful "before" a nd ··after" data on the ever. instead of water the p.ipes are releas on the pipes used to distribute the sulfur impact of fumes from a coal-burning plant. ing the fumes fro m tanks of sulfur dioxide dioxide is a "sticky cup," a trap used to The first 350-megawatt unit of the Colstrip Continued on page 14 catch flying insects.
Rabbit outside his lair at the base of a Montana butte.
Power lines stride across the Montana plains.
PAGE 13 Continuedfrom page 13 at carefull y controlled concentrations. Progressively greater amounts of thi pol lutant are released on the plots in each tract. Dr. Glass remarked on an inspection tour of the site that the "sulfur dioxide pollution here i equivalent to that on an average summer day in Philadelphia. We tried to get the pollution up to the Chicago level. but we didn't quite make it."
r. Glass explai ned that E PA is fumi D gating two four-acre sites and may start a third one if funding can be found because "we don't want to put all our eggs in one or even two baskets." Al the ZAPS sites various types of traps are used to collect insects and small ani mal . and detailed studies are made of all plant form . Dr. Sharon Eversman. a lichenologist and biology instructor at Montana State Uni versity at Bozeman. reports that at the ZAPS location. as in other areas around the world. lichens show great sensitivity to the sulfur dioxide fumes. ··After no more than 30 to 60 day of exposure to the sulfur dioxide. the lichen respiration rate goes down and the algal cell s begin to bleach... Dr. Eversman re ports. "'}he whole appearance of the lic hen which is normally a greeni sh gray becomes ye llowish. "Whi l.e the grasses don't appear to show much difference between the progressively more polluted ZAPS sites. the lichen cer tainly do. I think this is because the li chen get all their water and nutrients through the air. They have no roots and so there is no filt eri ng by the soil before the water and nutrient are received." Universities and their team leaders work ing on the research project under contract with EPA are: Colorado State Uni ve rsit y. Jerry Dodd; Montana State Universit y. John Taylor. and the Uni versit y of Montana. Clancy Cattle browse on plains grass. remainder being used to finance work by Gordon. State universities and other Federal agen Strip mining of the enormous coal supply mining ·ubsidiary of Montana Power. later cies cooperating on this project. available in seams averaging 25 feet in obtained addi tional leases in the Colstrip ··we hope to complete the project in thicknes~ was started by the Northern area to bring the total to about 850 million another year to two:· said Dr. Glass ""and Pacific Railway at Colstrip in 1924. At that tons of coal resources. be in a position then to provide advice on time the coal was used to fu e l steam Some of this coal is shipped to midwest optional siting of power plants with the locomotive boilers. However. the railroad ern utility companies in Illinois. Wisconsin least amount of environmental damage. di continued its mining in 1958 when it s and Minnesota and much of it is used by ··Also. we hope to develop a protocol or steam engines were replaced by diesel Montana Power Co. plants. including the method for determining potential environ locomotives. two new generating units in the coal mining mental impact of power plant emissions In 1959 the Montana Power ompany area known as Colstrip I and 2. before the power plant is constructed. acquired the Northern Pacific's large min Dr. Glass estimates that PA is spending which could be used by public and private ing machinery. the townsite of Colstrip a nc.I approximately $900.000 a year on the Col utilities and State and Federal Government mining lease:. covering 75 million wns of strip research project. with about half this agencies in assessing power plant sites coal resource . Western Energy. a coal sum being spent by EPA scientists and the before energy development occurs." •
PAGE 14 NEW SPONGES FOUND AT OCEAN DUMPSITE
The ·ponges are white and vase-shaped. called upon EPA to develop regulations plutonium. The radiation levcl5 measured They are three to four feet tall and and criteria controlling o ean disposal of all in the sediment were very smali but v. i.:re 2 grow in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of pollutants. Since then. !he Office of Radia to 25 rimes higher rhan the ma ximum 3.000 feet. As far as is presently known. no tion Programs has concerned it elf with expected radiation level· that could have one has ever seen them before. Perhaps implementing the Ocean Dumping Act to occurred from weapons testing fallout. The more intriguingly. they have been found control the di po~al of radioactive waste . radioactivity was only mea ured in the growing on drums of radioactive waste In !he cour~e of !his implementation. the ocean bottom ediment. Mr. Dyer ha \\ The beginning of the story dates back to July of 1974. when Mr. Dyer served as chief scientist for a unique underwater expedition (first reported in the EPA Jour nal, July/ August. 1975). Using a remotely controlled submersible (an unmanned div ing vehicle equipped with 5onar and video tape cameras) Mr. Dyer was able to locate and examine clusters of drums at the now disused Farallon Islands dumpsite. Some 2.500 55-gallon drums of low-level radioac tive wa te generated by radiation laborato ries on the West coast had been dumped there in 3.000 feet of water between 195 1 and 1953. The survey program began with the pas sage of the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (commonly known as the Ocean Dumping Act) which Sponges growing on undenvater drums of radioactive wastes. u.s. steel pact Final agreement has been reached on dead lines the U.S. Steel Corporation must meet in controlling its discharges of wastewater at 87 points along the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh. Specific limits, based birmingham air on the best practicable technology, must be Air pollution in the Birmingham, Ala., area achieved by next July I for 72 of the has been reduced about 33 percent since outfalls. The remaining 15 will be phased the U.S. Steel Co. was forced to close its into compliance from March 31, 1979 to open hearth furnaces in June, according to Nov. 30, 1981. The agreement between the tests made near the plant by the Jefferson company and EPA follows extensive nego County Health Department. tainted clams tiations with Region III officials over re Regional Administrator Jack E. Ravan said Region I specialists have found that clams ducing water pollution in the Monongahela he knew of "no more dramatic success" at the mouth of the Acushnet River, near Valley, one of the largest concentrations of than the Birmingham cleanup. During a New Bedford, Mass., contain from four to integrated steelmaking in the Nation. severe air inversion five years ago, EPA 10 times as much PCB's as the Food and sought and got a temporary shutdown of 23 Drug Administration says is safe. PCB's new sulfur study large industrial plants. are industrial chemicals that persist in the A novel technique for removing sulfur from In the last four years, Mr. Ravan noted, environment and may cause cancer in coal before it is burned will be tested under pollution by particulates (dust, soot, and humans. There is no immediate danger a research contract recently awarded by smoke) has been reduced by 8 l percent. because clam beds in the area have been EPA to the General Electric Co.'s Valley closed for many years because of other Forge, Pa .. laboratory. The GE process types of pollution. uses microwave radiation to drive both organic and inorganic sulfur compounds city honored from the coal and then collects them in Region I's wastewater treatment plant stable, gaseous form. award this year goes to Somersworth, The 18-month, $227,000 study will test the N.H .. for excellence in operation and practical feasibility of the process. using maintenance. It is the first city in that State different sizes and feed rates for the coal to be chosen for the award, which is and different frequencies and intensities of ohio sulfur designed to emphasize the importance of the microwaves. Probable costs will also be New regulations designed to cut sulfur proper treatment plant operation in water investigated. Small-scale bench tests indi dioxide pollution in Ohio by 31 percent pollution control. cate the process will be more economical were announced recently by Region V than mechanical and chemical methods of Administrator George R. Alexander Jr. cleaning sulfur from coal to reduce air The plan identifies 100 specific industrial pollution by power plants. sources and 40 municipal sources and calls for step-by-step compliance within three unexpected hazard years, either through use of low-sulfur fuels When Region 11 I officials recently in or installation of control equipment. spected a chemical plant's wastewater dis Mr. Alexander said the plan allows indus charges, they discovered a wholly unex tries some flexibility in cleanup methods pected hazard: the intake for the plant's while protecting public health. Its total cost 'buzz-off' own water supply, which included drinking will be less than half the $1.23 billion Sale of an "electronic" mosquito repeller water for 1,300 employees. was a quarter originally estimated. by two New York stores was recently mile downstream from the wastewater out halted after Region H's Pesticide Branch let. bloomington sewage tested the device and found it ineffective. Officials of the E. I. du Pont de Nemours A final environmental impact study for The product. called "Buzz-Off," was the Co. at Belle, W. Va. promptly arranged to sewage treatment facilities at Bloomington, second such device to be withdrawn from connect to the municipal water system. Ind .. has been completed. The plant will the market under an EPA stop-sale order EPA inspectors had come to the duPont handle 15 million gallons of sewage per in recent months. plant to determine if its discharges, for day, using a two-stage activated-sludge "In general, our experience is that such which the company had a permit, con process, with sand filtration of the liquid electronic units do not work." said Re tained any dimethyl nitrosamines ( D NM), effluent. Treated sludge will be disposed of gional Administrator Gerald M. Hansler. which are toxic and can cause cancer. by landfilling, and by composting and "but we have to test each brand in the Small amounts of ON M were found. and spreading on cropland, or both. The new laboratory and the field before issuing the they have been eliminated from the plant's plant will supersede an old one two miles stop-sale order." discharges into the Kanawha River. away. PAGE 16 meet in Jefferson City. Mo., Dec. 6 and 7 for the Missouri Hazardous Waste Legisla tive Conference. EPA is funding the meet ing. which will discuss both State and spill prevention Federal roles in dealing with the disposal Region VI officials have inspected nearly and control of waste materials that are 500 oil handling and storage facilities so far toxic or otherwise perilous to man and the managing growth this year to check on their plans for spill environment. Case studies will be pre Region IX was host to a Growth Manage prevention, control, and countermeasures. sented. including the mercury poisoning ment Seminar Sept. 12-14 on the effects Only about half were found to be in full episode in Minamata. Japan, and the dioxin EPA programs may have on housing. land compliance with EPA guidelines. The in incident in Missouri. use. coastal zones. and related issues. spection program. still under way, includes Chester McLaughlin. an engineer with Re Representatives from four EPA Regions, off-shore wells and pumping stations in the gion Vll's Waste Management Section. is Headquarters, other Federal agencies. and Gulf waters of Texas and Louisiana. assisting the Missouri League of Women State and local governments attended. as Voters in preparing for the meeting. well as private lawyers and real estate semmars developers. The seminar dealt with con EPA representatives are taking part in a flicts that can occur between economic series of seminars on Federal "block growth and environmental protection and grants" for housing and community devel discussed methods of resolving such con opment at various Texas cities. The two flicts. Its recommendations were discussed day meetings started in September and will at the September meeting of Regional Ad reach about 250 municipal officers. Six ministrators. The Office of Land Use Co State agencies, the Department of the ordination is planning to conduct a similar Interioi:, Department of Housing and Ur seminar on the East Coast. ban Development, and the Council on high-altitude driving Environmental Quality are also involved. A year-long program for testing car and Regional Administrator John C. White is truck performance at high altitude is near scheduled to speak at the Corpus Christi ing completion at Automotive Testing Lab seminar Dec. 9. oratories, Inc., in the Denver suburb of Aurora. The firm, under contract to EPA. has been checking various makes and models to see how well their emission control equipment operates in the thinner air that prevails 6,000 feet above sea level. contaminated gas Final phase of the work involved tests of The Tesoro-Alaskan Petroleum Co. of An some 40 different recent models. whose chorage has been assessed a civil penalty owners volunteered for the program after of$19,500 for violating EPA regulations on being solicited by newspaper and radio unleaded gasoline. Routine EPA inspec prairie photos announcements. tions last March found that the firm was One of the Midwest's natural beauties, the The car owner received a $25 savings bond selling ··unleaded" gasoline that contained tall-grass prairie. has been captured in if his car showed low levels of pollutant more than 0.5 grams of lead per gallon at photographs by Pal!icia Duncan of Lake emissions. If the car did not ··pass." the four retail outlets on Alaska's Kenai Penin Quivira, Kan .. one of EPA's Documerica owner got a $50 bond and a rental car sula. photographers. in a show that opened late while the ATL mechanics gave his car a The company signed a consent agreement last summer in Kansas City. free tune-up. with EPA. neither admitting or denying the Ms. Duncan has recorded the changing violations. but acceding to the recom moods of the prairie. its landscape, plants. listening sessions mended penalty. Region X Administrator animals. and people over the last 20 years. Citizens concerned with environmental Donald P. Dubois said it was the largest The multimedia show used nearly 1.000 quality had a chance to hear what is being penalty ever levied for such a violation. slides displayed through nine projectors done about it and to sound off with ques The contamination is believed to be due to and keyed to stereophonic music. It also tions and criticisms in three Colorado cities use of a common pipeline for both leaded shows more than 40 still photographs with recently at "listening sessions" (other Re and unleaded gas at the company·s refin captions describing various prai1ie scenes gions have called them Town Meetings). ery. Leaded gas ··poisons"-permanently and lifestyles. They were sponsored by the Colorado spoils the effectiveness of-the catalytic The exhibit is now touring the country as Municipal League, EPA, and the city gov converters that control air pollution from part of the Smithsonian Institution's Trav ernments of Grand Junction. Durango. and most late-model automobiles. An independ eling Exhibition Service. Pueblo. ent distributor. Doyle's Fuel Service. Inc .. Region V 111 Administrator John Green Kenai. agreed to pay a civil penalty of waste conference attended the first two sessions to speak for $900. Both companies have taken steps to Missouri legislators and State officials from EPA. and Dr. Cooper H. Wayman, En prevent further contamination. Mr. Dubois Kansas, Iowa. Nebraska. and Illinois will ergy Activities Director, attended the third. said. PAGE 17 Two men from E PA Head quarters have been named to participate in the President's Executive Interchange Pro gram. T hey are Gregory On dich o f the Office of Inte rna tional Activitie and Dennis Tirpak of the Office of Re PEOPLE search and Deve lopment. T he E PA executives are among 18 Race car driver Bobby Unser Richard G. Rhoads has been who were picked for this year·s has joined the effort to clean named Director of the Control program. The seven-year-old up the environment. As part of Programs Development program. which selects govern a program sponsored by E PA· Division at Research Triangle me nt employees to work in Region V office. the two-time Park. He has been acting winner of the Indianapolis 500 director since May of this year. A newly formed position. Dep private industry for one to two i appearing at c lean air clinics uty Assistant Administrator for years. is designed to familiarize replacing Jean J. Schueneman. to answer questions a bout a uto Mr. Rhoads. who has a Mobile Sources Enforcement Federal executive with the maintenance and performance bachelor's degree in and Noise Enforcement. has perspectives. goals. a nd opera aeronautical engineering from been fi lled by Norman D. Shut tions of their counterparts out and to te ll drivers in the Mid Rensselaer Polytechnic ler who has been acting in that side the government service. west how they can get better gas mileage while keeping the fnstitute. was formerly C hief of capacity since last May. Dr. Mr. Tirpak has already started the Standards Impleme ntation Shutler's former posts included working for the Aluminum air clean. Local environmental serving as Actin g Deputy As Company of America in Pitts groups a nd agenc ies in Region Branch. He joined EPA in Y and the Chi cago EPA staff 1973 after working as an ~istan t Administrator for Gen burgh. Pennsylvania. Mr. On eral Enforcement and Director. dich will be leaving soon for a re sponsoring clean air clinics aircraft designer and an operations analyst for the Mobile Source Enforcement his assignme nt with Gulf O il a nd follow-up meetings about Division. He received an EPA. Company in Denver. Colo clean air strategy. Motorists Department of Defense. Bronze Medal for Commenda rado. drive in for a three-minute test that analyzes po llutants in auto ble Service in I 973. exhaust. They get the results of the e missions test and guide EPA Printing Management Of lines for tuning to improve the ficers were honored twice in car's performance. Most cars October for their two-year-old tested fai l to meet auto emis program that emp l oy~ menta ll y sion ta ndards . .. J"m doing this handicapped persons. Through to show people that if their the efforts of Henry Washing cars are o ut of tune they are ton, EPA Printing Officer. a nd losing money by buying mo re Roland Sorenson, EPA Deputy gas and getting the a ir dirty ... Printing Officer. nine people said Mr. Unser at a clean air PAG 18 Alexander D. Hicks of the Re gion X Office in Seattle was honored recently at the first ational Conference of rhe National Council of Minority Engineer . Mr. Hicks. who is the Director of the Regional Office of Civil Rights and Ur Donald B. Mausshardt has been ban Affairs. received a plaque elected by Peter Cashman as praising his efforts in minority Deputy Director of the Office affairs and cooperation with of Intergovernmental other Federal agencies in that Relations . pending approval by field . the Civil Service Commi ion. Administrator Russell E. Train He replaces George Walter C. Barber Jr., Dire tor has a nnounced the appointment Alexander. Mr. Mausshardt" s of the Planning and Evaluation of Harriet Marple to fill the E PA service includes po itions Division in the Office of Plan new post of Judicial Officer. as Chief. Implementation ning and Management. ha She will act as the Administra Branch. Solid Waste been selected a Deputy As tor' · principal advisor in judi Management Program: Chief, sistant Administrator for Air cial decisions arising out of Technical Support Branch. Quality Planning and Stand EPA's regulatory programs. Region X: and Chief. ards. Ms. Marple is an honors grad Laboratory Support Branch. uate of Radcliffe College and Region X . Previously he wa graduated from Harvard worked for the Federal Water Law School. She comes to Pollution Control EPA from a post a coun el Administration and the U.S. for environmental matter at Public Health Service. In Roger L. Williams ha been International Paper Company. 1973-74 he was a Presidential named by Region Vlll Admin Previously Ms. Marple was Interchange Executive. istrator John A. Green to the Deputy General Counsel for post of Deputy Regional Ad the New York City Environ ministrator of the EPA office mental Protection Administra in Denver. He will replace tion. and served for four years Donald R. Dubois. contingent as an associate with the law upon approval by the Civil firm of Kelley. Drye & Warren Service Commission. Mr. Du in New York City. bois is now Regional Admini - He will succeed Dr. Ber- On October I Alvin Alm, EPA trator in the EPA Seattle of nard J. Steigerwald, v.ho. at his Assistant Administrator for fi ce. request. is being reassigned to Pl anning and Management and Mr. Williams. 38. is presently the post of Director of Re William Pierce. Acting U.S. Assistant to John Quarles. gional Programs in the Air Commissioner of Education. E PA Deputy Administrator. Quality Planning and Standards signed a cooperative agreement a nd Director of the Office of Office. Research Triangle to promote the training of envi Operations Coordination. He Park. N . C. Dr. Steigerwald ronmental qualit y management served as Director of the Of recently received the federal personnel. The E PNUSOE Dr. David T. Tingey, a commi - fice of Program and Manage nvironmental Enginet:ring agreement notes a demand for . ioned officer in the U.S. Pub ment Operations at EPA from Award. He wa~ cho~en from a more and better qua lified work li c Health Service who is as 1972 to 1975. field of 35 Federal engineer~ er at a ll professional levels to signed to EPA's Environmen Before joining the Agency in doi ng work in environmental meet environmental objectives. tal Research Laboratory in 1971. Mr. Williams. a geolo fields. EPA wi ll support interagency Corvallis . Ore .. as a plant gist. served in the Office of the efforts to fi ll these needs physiologist. has been awarded Secretary of the Interi or. pro through existing programs. The the Public Health Service viding policy guidance and co agreement stresses the career Commendation Medal. ordination on energy and min possibilities and employment The award was presented in eral resources development. opportunities that can be devel recognition of Dr. T lngey's He also served as senior pro oped by training people in en contributions to research on gram advisor. Di vision of En vironmental technologies. Man the effects of environmental vironmental Activ ities. Federal uals and technical as istance pollutants on vegetation. He is Bureau of Mines. He has a will be available to State and credited with overseeing devel bachelor's degree in geology local environmental and educa opment of the Corvallis Labo from American University in tional groups through the Re ratory's greenhouse studies Washington. D.C.. and has gional Offices. after they were transferred to clone graduate work in his field. the Oregon laboratory from North Carolina in 1973. PAGE 19 REGIONX ON PA~A()E By Robert H. Jacobson tello and fairbanb Jo have ~ i m i la ritic s. Region X. The ~ingle common clement: most of which ha vc 10 do \\ ilh environ ch<.1nge. Que:-.tion: What Jo Pm:atcll o. ldaho. anJ mental problems conncc:tcd '' ith inJu..,trial Change i.., increa-.ing the environmental Fairbank..,. Ala~ka. have in c:nmmon ".' growth. strc,,e, on Ala,ka and the Pacific orth An:-,\\lT nt much . In Fairbank'>. the impacl nf the Prudhoc wcst. Pol lut ion c:o nt rol agcnc:ies in the Bay oilfi eld development has already had region not onl have to prc-.cribe reme nc:atcl lo and Fairbank" arc about a'> great impact on the cit y. And in Poca J ie, to cure pa~ t and pre,ent environmen P different a~ Ru..,:-,cll Train and Mu tell o. the planned l a rge-~ca l c development tal abu,es. they mu,t-perhap~ more than hammed Ali . yet hoth c it ic~ arc part of of phosphale mining in so uth ea~ tern ir. any other part of the c:ou ntry-apply the U nitcJ State~ 1:nvirnnmcntal Protcc ldaho threaten" to change the entire c:har preventive medicin e to protcc:t nat ural tilln Agency"~ large:-,! region. a four-"tatc acter of the Pocatello region. asset that. as yet. remain urbpoil ed. area that take-. in Idaho. Oregon. Wa\h Fairbanb and Pot:atello repre"ent just Until the last fev. year:, . Alaska and the ington and Ala..,ka. (\\O of the more dramati t: examples of the Pac:ific Northwest had been thought of a>. The di~tancc from Pncatcllo to Fair -. ingle element that i:-, common to the an area of m yea r~ ago. A more accurate and upJated dest: rip tilln of the region t:ould be pro id cd by Donald P Du bois. EPA·s Regional Ad ministrator in Seattle. Du bois would be mo re apt to di scuss Alaska and the Pacific Nort hwest in terms of such problems as: Alarming declines in salmon and stcel head populations caused by damming up the Columbia and Snake Ri vers. carbon monox ide ale rt s in Spokane and Fair banks. the discovery of asbestos in the drinking water of Everett and Seattle. serious soil erosion in the dry-Ian I farm ing areas of the Inland Empire . the ravages of the lllssoc:k moth on Douglas fir forests. aviati on noise that may cause the removal of hundreds of homes around th e Seattle-Tacoma airport. The sedimentation of thousands of miles of streams by logging roads. threatened brown-outs by t e Bonneville Power Ad minist ration. elevated levels of lead in the blood of c hildre n li ving around the Bu nker Hill lead and z inc s melter in Ke llogg. Idaho. the potential ewnomic exti nction of one-company towns where pulp mill owners threaten to close down rather than install pollution control equip ment. or the loss of an entire year's grape crop caused by the drift of a pesticide used on another crop in an adj oini ng county. r. Duhoi-, ha' hi' hand, full in Seat The Seo Ille 1wilctfiw11 . M tle. Hi, l Donald P. Duboi' Regio na l Adminbtrator Deputy Regional Dirccror. Mam1ge ment Director. Water Divi,ion Administrntor Division Division Alexandra B. Smith Mary M . Neilson Alexander D. Hick• Donald R llli" Jr. Director. Director. Direc tor. Otlice of Director. Office of Director. Offi ·e of Director. Office of Ana lysis Divi,ion Enforcement Divi, ion Federal Affairs Congre;sional and Civil Right; and Puhl1c Aff:.11·; lntcr1wvemmental Affair; Urban Affair, PAGE 2 1 THE CROWDED OUTDOORS By Thomas A. Waite ost of the year. obtaining reserva idea. we backpacked our tents and tar groups on the same beach. M tions to stay in a good Seattle hotel paulins three miles to the heach at Sand My experiences while hik ing are not isn' t much of a problem. The same can't Point. For a rain shelter we rigged a unique. When. as frequently happens. be said of reserving camp sites in Wash collection of ropes. fabric. plastic . and several of us in the Region X office talk ington State's National Parks. spars that rivaled the Wright Brothers· about where we 're planning on hiking the Within the last three years. crowding Kitty Hawk Flyer. Our camp was only next weekend. among the first questions and overuse have forced Mount Rainier one of many that sprouted on two miles is "how crowded i it 'l" and the Nor th Cascades National Parks of beach. the dozens of shelters testifying In addition. I've seen the lines at the to initiate back country campsite reserva to the popularity of the area. Ten years nearby ski resorts grow in length in the tion systems and to severely limit the use ago at Labor Day I saw only two other past three years. My cross-country skiing of fragile high country areas. Olympic National Park is also expected to start a reservations system soon. I was born in Washington State. and l" ve li ved in Seattle. the largest (and dampest) major city in Region X . for 19 of my 29 years. I started backpacking in th..: late 19.50's. Then I could hike to an alpine lake in the mountains near Seattle on a summer Saturday and see only three or four other people. Now the trail to the same lake is still only an hour's drive from Seattle. but on a July or August weekend two hundred or more day hikers can be found stomping their way through the mud and rocks to the lake. I've recently backpacked into grand "holes" in the Cascade.-high narrow valleys surrounded by glaciated peaks where my hiking partner and I saw only two people in a week's time. But the trails into those areas typically are several hours' drive from Seattle. Moreover. for the same solitude that was so easily obtainable as little as ten years ago. I mu~t now hike to higher areas of rock. snow. and ice which are accessible only by traversing steep snowfields or roping up to cross some unpredictable glaciers. This increased use of outdoor areas is producing both reaction and counter-reac tion. A prominent Seattle mountaineer is suing the Superintendent of Mount Rain ier National Park because of restrictions on the number f climbers who can camp at any one time on the Nisqually Glacier. a several-thousand-acre sheet of ice. The same suit also seeks to halt the Park Service· plan to close certain Park roads and presumably restrict the number of people visiting ·everal popular alpine meadows. [ experienced overcrowding this last Memorial Day weekend (typically rainy) in the bem:h portion of Olympic National Park. With many people having the same Thomas A . Waite is a Region X Enf<>rce ment Dil'i.1io11 !a ll'ver Mt. Hood and the Hood River Valley, Oregon. AGE 22 "Most marine organisms are fairly resist spongeContinuedfrom page 15 ant to radioactivity, especially in their adult rosion of the metal drums at their point of forms. Sponges are radioresistant. and attachment." Mr. Dyer said. He is still since the levels of contamination from friends tell me that it's become increas investigating potential effects the sponges leaks that we have discovered in the area ingly difficult to find an area free from have on the corrosion rate of the waste are extremely small. and since no measura snowmobile traffic. Regional Counsel Ted containers. ble level of contamination was found in Rogowski. an avid tly fisherman. claims analyzing the sponges, I cannot find any that fishing in the East is better than he's ponges are plantlike sea animals that reason at this time to conclude that the found in Washington State. an area once S attach themselves to fixed objects and plutonium would have any mutagenic effect noted for its trout and salmon fishing. grow in colonies. They come in various on the sponges. The same problems are occurring in shapes and colors. Their skeletons are "It is interesting to note. however. that California and Colorado. and my New highly compressible and absorbant. making the many foundations and groups who have England friends tell me Bostonians are them well suited for cleansing purposes, been doing marine research off the West heading for the New Hampshire moun after softer body parts have decayed or Coast for years have not previously discov tains in record numbers. But in the washed away. The sponges discovered by ered this sponge. This is just one more Pacific Northwest I detect that people are Mr. Dyer are of the class Hexactinellida example of how little is really known about thinking "we didn't think rapid develop having skeletons so translucent that they deepsea life. At 3.000 foot depths. biologi ment could happen here. but if it's going often resemble spun glass. cal specimens are normally collected by to. we're going to control hm1· it hap .. One sponge specimen was brought back trawling. Since these sponges have at pens." This may be due in part to the by the unmanned submersible". Mr. Dyer tached themselves to the hard, smooth high level of formal education among reported. "lt was analysed, and we didn't surface of the barrels they would be very Seattle's population (I'm sure I know far find any measurable radioactivity in it. I hard to remove by trawl nets. more unemployed lawyers and engineers subsequently sent the specimen to Dr. G. .. So from our point of view. there is than my friends in Boston. San Fran J. Bak us. professor of marine biology at nothing threatening about either the radio cisco. or Chicago know). A significant the University of Southern California. He activity or the sponges. What is more portion of the population is opposed to has classified the sponge as a previously significant is that we have now completed AlasRan oil being shipped into Puget unknown genus. I have also shown docu our fourth submersible survey of deep Sound. and a pending controversy in mentation of the sponge to persons at the ocean disposal sites and have gained much Federal court involves the constitutional Smithsonian Institution. They found it to information on the biota found in the ity of a State statute limiting the size of be rather interesting and made photomicro dumpsite areas. We again surveyed the tankers allowed to enter Puget Sound. graphs of the sponge spicules. but they also Farallon Islands in 1975 at a depth of 6.000 There have been victories for the envi could not immediately identify the sponge feet; however. we saw none of the interest ronment and for the "Pacific Northwest as a specifically known genus. If any ing sponges discovered at the 3,000-foot lifestyle." An Alpine Lakes Wilderness scientists are interested in this. we do have depth. We also surveyed an Atlantic site at Area has been created an hour's drive most of the documentation that would be 9.000 feet in 1975. and we have completed from Seattle. No supertanker port inside necessary for at least a preliminary taxon a more comprehensive survey of that site Puget Sound appears likely for the imme omic look. at the same depth in August. We will be diate future. Hells Canyon of the Snake "In my opinion. the sponges we observed learning more about the fate of the radioac River will be kept free of dams. are not giant mutant sponges. They are tive materials in these sites as the analyti But many problems threaten to make the simply large sponges. probably of an un cal results start coming in," Mr. Dyer said. Seattle area another Los Angeles. The described genus. that happen to be growing Green River Valley truck farms south of on radioactive waste containers but could Asked about any health threat which Seattle arc threatened with industrial de just as well have been growing on a rock. might be posed by the small levels of velopment (as are other agricultural val or any other hard object on the bottom. In plutonium contamination which have been leys in the State): the Trident Naval Base !he dumpsite area that we explored. the sea detected. Mr. Dyer replied that "man can't on the Kitsap peninsula west of Seattle bottom is primarily mud. and sponges need swim down to 3.000 feet and he doesn't will increase that area· s population by a something firm to attach to in order 10 drink salt water. The only way man might ciuarter in the next three years. grow. The drums provided suitable areas of be affected is through the food chain. Seattleites. however. haven't yet solved attachment. Even if those drums had been Eating a fish. such as sable fish. caught in two of the city's major problems (which empty. the sponges would have undoubt that area would be the only significant some say are connected): the long rainy edly grown in the same way. food-chain pathway to man. but plutonium. periods and high suicide rates. "The radioactive waste leaking from those the radioactive contaminant found in the Rapid growth is ahead for Washington drums contains plutonium. Plutonium emits area. does not appreciably bioconcentrate State and Region X in general. In An alpha rays. and an alpha particle does not in marine animals. Plutonium is a heavy chorage. the bumper stickers. referring to go very far before it loses energy. If an metal which generally passes through the the pipeline boom. say .. Happiness is alpha particle is emitted. and you have digestive tract of fish. without being assimi 10.000 Texans going home with an Okie water on your hands. the warer will absorb lated. All this means that, beside the fact under each arm." In Seattle and Port the alpha particle before it hits your skin. that the contamination is far below levels land, we're a little more sophisticated. Thus. even if a drum were leaking low which can produce harm to human health, We tell visitors Mark Twain's story that levels of alpha particles. they would not there is no significant pathway for bringing the mildest winter he ever spent was a affect the sponge. unless the sponges were humans in contact with the plutonium. summer on Puget Sound. If you visited ingesting seawater contaminated with the "If there were a health threat." Mr. Dyer Seattle during the last two Augusts. you plutonium. but we found no measurable added, "I'd be the first to ring the know just how true that was.• radioactivity in them. alarm.''• PAGE 23 INQUIRY Is interest in the environment waning? Roy Evans, hief. Air Qualit y Branch. Envi the necessit y fo r cnvironmenral protecti on tio nal movement. h a~ JcclinecJ I think . ronmental Monitoring and Support Labora and were turned off. since its heyday in the early ?O' s. R c~u l ts. tory. Las Vega!>. evada: .. Concern fo r the "The economic maladjustments of the last or visual improvements in our surround environment that led to PA's creation is few years di ve rted attention from the long ings-lakes. rivers. city air. seashores. to not the emotional is ·ue it was \Orne years rangc problems E PA deals with to the name a fe'.'--did not come quickl y enough back. The media today is lcsi. ~ tr ident in more im medi ate bread-and- butter issues. If to keep popular interest at a high peak. calling for immediate environmental clean you ha ve a good job and can afford a Ho\\.cver. the specialized environmental up. but ir d oc~ continue to present new~ vacati on and use the vacation to explore organi1.ations lik e the Sierra lub. the that jar~ people out of complacency. ov the beauty of the sea. or of mountain s . Environment al Defense Fund. or the Au erage of the p re~ence of P B's in lakes lakes or the desert. then you are inclined to dubon Society remain strong and they and rivers and the probabl e th reat to the be concerned about the preservati on of continue to be effective lobbyists. T he ozone by nuorocarbons refoc us pu blic at these wonders. But today many people general pu blic is not uninterested. but i!> tent io n on environmental h aza rd ~. have neither jobs nor vacation money. and incli ned to leave the acti ve and conti nuing .. Out here in the Wc~ t where there we re hence a dimi nished concern . battle fo r water and air cleanup to the once large areas of reall y clean air. people .. Probably when th e economy improves elit i ·t group . are beginni ng to won-y about the qualit y of there will be a reawakeni ng of publi c "There is a vacuum fo r PA to fi ll here. their air. They are aware that large power support. Our ta~k :,hould be to educate the publi c so plan ts pollute and they wonder whether all that gra<.l uall y the country will develop an prog rc~s- !h e bui ld ing of large indu!i!rial Esther Recd, Staff Assistant. Offi ce of environment al con~cience or erh ic. .. complexes-is n ece~!>a ril y good. The deci Legislati on. Headquart ers: "No I J on·t sion not to build the huge Kaiparowits th ink interest in the environment is in Dr. Fred K. Kawahara, Research Chcmisr. plant in southeastern Utah near Lake Pow decline. There may have been a slu mp last Environmental Monitoring a nd Suppo rt ell was in part influenced by opposition year. but momentum has been regained in Laboratory. Cin cinnati . Ohio: .. In the l a~ t from local pcopl\: . environment Roy Evans Warren T. McFall Esther Reed Phi llip Retaltick Dr. Fn.' PAG 24 news briefs DEPOSIT LAWS APPROVED IN MAINE AND MICHIGAN State laws requiring deposits on all beer and soft drink containers were approved by voters in Maine and Michigan in the Nov. 2 election, but similar referendum proposals were defeated in Massachusetts and Colorado. Oregon and Vermont already have mandato=y deposit laws for beverage containers. JOHNSON NAMED TO NEW POST Kenneth L. Johnson, EPA Deputy Regional Administrator in Boston, Mass., has been named Acting Assistant Administrator for Toxic Substances. The new Toxic Substances Control Act authorized the formation of a new office of Toxic Substances. Deputy Administrator John R. Quarles Jr., in announcing the appointment of Mr. Johnson, said "We are establishing this Office irrunediately in order to begin a sound and aggressive toxic substances program. We have an enormous task at hand in developing and carrying out programs under the new Act." ARIZONA VOTERS SUPPORT AUTO INSPECTION-MAINTENANCE PROGRAM Arizona voters on Nov. 2 upheld that State's program for inspection and maintenance of automobile pol lution control systems. They rejected, 53 to 47 percent, a referendum proposal that would have repealed the State's inspection and maintenance law that took effect last January. The law applies to cars registered in Maricopa and Pima Counties (Phoenix and Tucson). FEDERAL FUNDS TO BE WITHHELD EPA has placed Del Monte de Puerto Rico, Inc., on a list requiring Federal agencies to withhold Federal contracts, grants and loans from industries. The list applies to industries found in violation of air or water pollution standards. The Del Monte de Puerto Rico facility, which discharges 2,600,000 gallons per day of tuna processing wastes into the Mayaguez Bay in Puerto Rico, was found in violation of water pollution standards. It is the first facility to be placed on the list. PAGE 25 U.S. ENVIRONM ENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY POSTAGEA DFEESPAIU ~"' U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGE CY r l OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS (Al07) WASHINGTON. D.C. 20460 Return this page if you do NOT wish to receive this publication ( ). or if change of address is needed ( ). list change. including zip code. BASS IN THE POTOMAC a rgemouth bass. one of America·s While bass are not as finicky as trout the Potomac River Commission. said he L most popular game fi sh . are being about clean water. Mr. Combs said they had not heard of significant numbers of caught in the Poto mac River at Washing are "normally considered good indicators bass being caught in the river. but said he ton. lo ng regarded as o ne of the ation·s of reasonably clean water.·· Since he believes the high flows caused by good most po lluted river areas. started fish ing the Potomac for bass. rains have improved conditions for fish in James A. Combs. a program analyst in using mostly a rtificial worms for bait . Mr. the Potomac. EPA"s Office of Radiation Programs. told Combs said he has caught nearly 100 Improved treatment of wastes going into EPA Journal he has been catching bass la rgemouth bass. He added that some of the river have "pretty much maintained since October. 1975. in the stre tch of the his friends have also hooked smallmouth the status quo. which is quite an at:hie e river between Chai n Bridge a nd National bass in the Potomac. ment when you conside1· the increased Airport within the city limits. Mr. Comb's boat is equi pped with an waste loads pouring into the river in the · · O n my best day I caug ht a dozen electronic depth finder. which can also Washington area:· said Mr. Mason. He keeper bass-over 12 inc hes lo ng ... he show the presence of fish ... My scope warned that unless current efforts tn clean said. "The largest bass I've caught in the shows the river teeming with fish life.·· up the Potomac are continued. '"we wil l Potomac weighed about five and a ha lf William Mason. an aquatic biologist at have major fish ki ll s and a lgal blooms. pounds ... like those we had in the 1960's. when the Mr. Combs said tha t he be longs to an low-water cycle in the Potomac begins organi zation called Potomac Bass Ma. ters again." of Virginia. Andrew Uricheck. chief of the Mary ··As far as we can determine. serious land- Delaware- Distri ·t of olumbia water bass fi sherme n have not been fishing the plann ing branch of EPA's Region Ill Potomac. because they were under the Office in Philadelphia. agreed that ··in impression the ri ver was too polluted to creased water flow is probably a major support game fish. We knew there were reason fo r better conditions for fis hing at catfish and carp. which can tole ra te pollu this time. ·· tio n. but we were surprised to find so However. he noted that the $300 mill ion many bass ... improvement program at the Blue Pla ins Mr. Combs does not eat hi s Potomac treatment plant in Washi ngton should be bass. " I throw the m back. although they completed in 1978 ... We are definitely certa inly look as if they are very making progress in reducing the pollution health y ... Bass caught in the Potomac. load going into the ri ver ... •