EPA has added three hydrocarbons as acceptable alternatives in household and small commercial refrigerators and freezers through EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program. EPA took action after requests from Ben and Jerry’s and General Electric, as well as A.S. Trust & Holdings, and True Manufacturing (a family-owned small business). These businesses are helping to clear the way for US companies to use ozone layer-protective hydrocarbon refrigerants.
“Today’s action is a great example of how businesses and EPA can work together to protect our planet and drive innovation,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “This action increases the options for effective, climate-friendly refrigerants in the U.S.”
Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the SNAP program evaluates substitute chemicals and technologies for ozone-depleting substances (ODS). The three hydrocarbon refrigerants approved as acceptable substitutes, with use conditions, are propane, isobutane, and a chemical known as R-441A. These newly-approved refrigerants can be used to replace ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)-12 and hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-22 in household refrigerators, freezers, combination refrigerator-freezers, and commercial stand-alone units. SNAP is unique and globally recognized as the only program designed specifically to evaluate substitutes for ODS and to focus on the industrial sectors that use them.
Replacing older refrigerants will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an estimated 600,000 metric tons by 2020, equal to the emissions from the annual electricity use of nearly 75,000 homes, and will help protect people’s health and the environment.
At the recent 23rd Meeting of the Montreal Protocol Parties, EPA and the US Department of State announced that 108 countries signed a declaration to address hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). While HFCs are ODS substitutes, they are increasingly contributing to climate change. The approval of hydrocarbons in the US is significant because hydrocarbons are more environmentally-friendly substitutes than HFCs.
Cary, North Carolina 24-Hr and 40-Hr HAZWOPER Courses
Personnel who are expected to stop, contain, and clean up on-site releases are required to have 24 hours of initial training. Personnel who are involved in cleanups at waste sites—including Superfund sites, RCRA corrective action sites, or even voluntary cleanups involving hazardous substances—must have 40 hours of initial classroom instruction.
Satisfy your training requirements by attending a comprehensive class that provides in-depth instruction on how to perform emergency response activities. Topics include hazard recognition, spill control and containment, worker protection, and waste site activities such as site characterization, waste handling, and decontamination. You will have the opportunity to apply your training during a hands-on simulated incident response.
Cleveland, Ohio RCRA and DOT Training
RCRA, DOT, IATA/IMO and SARA Title III Training Coming to Raleigh, North Carolina Area
Safety Consultant/Trainer
Environmental Resource Center has a new opening for a safety consultant and auditor. We are looking for a former OSHA CSHO, OSHA trainer, or state inspector for this position in our Cary, North Carolina, office. Applicants should have excellent writing and speaking skills and be willing to travel 7–14 days per month. We are looking for an expert in all of the General Industry and Construction standards who is capable of performing audits of industrial facilities as well as conducting on-site training.
Strong consideration will be given to applicants who also have experience providing HAZWOPER, Hazcom, lockout/tagout, confined spaces, and machine guarding training.
The position includes maintenance of training materials (books and presentations), working on consulting projects, development of classes and computer-based training programs, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
How to Author GHS Safety Data Sheets
OSHA is adopting the new Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals. A cornerstone of GHS is the adoption of a completely revised Safety Data Sheet (SDS).
- January 27, 2012
- February 29, 2012
How to Label Hazardous Chemicals Using OSHA’s New GHS Hazcom Standard
Workplace and supplier hazard communication labels are being reinvented as OSHA adopts the new Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for labeling hazardous chemicals.
- February 3, 2012
- March 1, 2012
A New Generation of Green Tires
Motorists may be driving on the world’s first “green” tires within the next few years, as partnerships between tire companies and biotechnology firms make it possible to produce key raw materials for tires from sugar rather than petroleum or rubber trees.
C&EN Senior Business Editor Melody M. Bomgardner explains that tight supplies and high prices for the natural rubber and synthetic rubber used to make tires—almost 1 billion annually worldwide—are fostering the drive toward renewable, sustainable sources for raw materials. Petroleum, for instance, is the traditional source for raw materials needed to make tires, with a single tire requiring almost 7 gallons of oil. But changes in oil-refining practices have reduced supplies of those raw materials.
The article describes how companies like Goodyear and Michelin have teamed up with biotechnology firms to genetically engineer microbes that produce the key raw materials for rubber from sugar. Goodyear’s partner Genencor, for example, is making microbes that mimic rubber trees’ natural processes to make latex rubber. Goodyear has already produced prototype tires with rubber made from sugar. Bomgardner explains that companies hope sugar will buffer them against future shortages of natural and synthetic ingredients, with “sweet” tires making a debut within 3–5 years.
EPA Extends Lab and Analytical Use Exemption for Ozone-Depleting Substances
EPA is extending the laboratory and analytical use exemption for the production and import of Class I ozone-depleting substances through December 31, 2014.The exemption allows the production and import of controlled substances in the US for laboratory and analytical uses that have not been already identified by EPA as nonessential.
Connecticut Air Permit Wizard Now Available
Notice of Data Availability for Renewable Fuels Produced from Palm Oil Under the Renewable Fuel Standard Program
EPA conducted lifecycle GHG analyses for a number of biofuel feedstocks and production pathways as part of its March 26, 2010, Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) final rule. In the preamble to that final rule, EPA indicated that it had not completed the lifecycle emissions impact analysis for several specific fuels, but that this work would be completed and the regulations updated via a supplemental final rulemaking action. The Agency is asking for comment of its analyses of palm oil used as a feedstock to produce biodiesel and renewable diesel under the RFS program.
Until the official version of the NODA is published in the Federal Register, not all material in the docket is available to the public.
iPhone Application Highlights Role of Ecosystems in Tackling Climate Change
How many mangroves does it take to offset a transatlantic flight? What consumer actions can we take to reduce damage to rainforests? Answers to these questions and many more are provided by a new iPhone application launched by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) at the Eye on Earth summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The UNEP application draws attention to the critical role played by ecosystems such as salt marshes, mangroves, tropical forests, and sea grasses in tackling climate change.
Users of the application can calculate their personal carbon footprint for journeys taken by air, train, or road. They will then be shown the equivalent area of a particular ecosystem (such as a tropical forest) that can store this amount of carbon dioxide.
The iPhone application provides users with in-depth information on the vital role of coastal and terrestrial ecosystems in both storing and sequestering carbon.
The Blue Carbon concept aims to promote better management of coastal ecosystems such as mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, saltwater marshlands, which serve as vital “carbon sinks,” and can store, in the case of mangrove forests, up to 1,900 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare.
Information on other key climate initiatives, such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is provided.
The UNEP application also highlights the valuable natural services provided by ecosystems, such as the protection of shorelines from storms, support for fisheries, and provision of materials such as timber and medicine.
According to UNEP’s Forests in a Green Economy report, released earlier this year, forest ecosystems provide more than a billion people with incomes and employment and contribute approximately US $468 billion to the global economy. Equatorial rainforests also contain around half of all plant and animal species known on Earth.
Yet many of these vital ecosystems are disappearing at an alarming rate, due to deforestation, pollution from agricultural run-off, water diversion and other factors.
The Blue and REDD Carbon application provides a variety of suggestions and guidelines to show how individual actions (such as buying sustainably-sourced fish) can help limit the environmental degradation of coastal and terrestrial ecosystems.
California Moves Forward with Clean Fuels Program
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to introduce some changes to its Low Carbon Fuel Standard to streamline procedures and clarify language.
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is designed to reduce GHG emissions from transportation fuels 10% by 2020. This will drive innovation to reduce the carbon intensity of existing fuels and develop the next generation of cleaner fuels, ultimately reducing the state’s reliance on petroleum. Transportation alone accounts for 40% of California’s GHG emissions.
“The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is an essential part of California’s program to move away from dirty fuels and toward a clean energy future,” according to CARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols. “These changes streamline the program. They ensure that we accurately account for every gram of carbon released during the extraction and transportation of unrefined fossil fuels, no matter where they come from.”
One key amendment will improve how the regulation accounts for the carbon intensity of crude oils. The carbon intensity of crudes can vary significantly with heavy crudes generally having a higher carbon footprint. The proposed amendments require that the carbon intensity of crudes be fully accounted for just like other fuels under the program. The provision also incentivizes innovation by providing credits for specific actions to reduce the carbon intensity of crude oil.
The amendments also clarify which regulated parties receive low carbon fuel credits for the electricity used to charge electric vehicles.
For residential charging, the electric utilities will be eligible for the credits, as they appear best suited to send the credit value back to electric vehicle owners in the form of rebates, time-of-use rates or other incentives. For public access charging, companies that install and service charging units in public settings such as malls or parking structures may receive the related credits. Finally, businesses that install private access charging stations for employees, or fleet operators that operate at least three electric vehicles may also be eligible for credits.
Regulated facilities began operating under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard in April of 2010. CARB estimates the Low Carbon Fuel Standard will achieve 15 million metric tons of GHG reduction by 2020. The standard is also expected to lead to replacement of the equivalent of up to four billion gallons of gasoline by then. The Low Carbon Fuel Standard will drive the development of new fuels to help clean California’s air and protect the state from dramatic price spikes seen with petroleum.
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is designed to work with California’s new Cap-and-Trade Program and the upcoming Advanced Clean Car regulations to reduce GHG emissions now, and for decades into the future.
All documents related to these amendments are available at:
Amendments to California Truck and Bus Regulation are Now in Effect
On Wednesday, December 14, 2011, California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved amendments to the Truck and Bus Regulation. The amendments are effective immediately, with the first compliance date being January 1, 2012. By that date, fleets with vehicles having a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 26,000 lbs must do either of the following: Retrofit 1996–1999 model year engines with CARB-verified particulate matter (PM) filters, or have 30% of the heavier vehicles in the fleet equipped with a PM filter (either a retrofitted verified PM filter or an original equipment PM filter installed on a 2007 or later model-year vehicle).
There are no PM filter requirements for trucks with a GVWR of between 14,000 and 26,001 lbs, or for small fleets (1 to 3 trucks).
Truck owners must report to CARB by January 31, 2012, to take advantage of the PM filter phase-in option or other flexibility provisions in the regulation. Small fleets (1 to 3 trucks) with a GVWR greater than 14,000 lbs must also report to delay compliance for their heavier trucks until January 1, 2014.
In order to avoid potential enforcement action by ARB, fleets that have not met the PM filter requirements by January 1, 2012, are strongly advised to make every effort to bring the fleet into compliance as soon as possible.
On December 11, 2008, the Board approved for adoption the Truck and Bus regulation to control emissions from nearly all existing diesel powered heavy-duty trucks and buses operating in California. The regulation became effective under California law on January 8, 2010. The regulation applies to diesel fueled trucks and buses with a GVWR greater than 14,000 lbs that are owned by private persons, including businesses, and by the federal government. The regulation also applies to publicly and privately owned school buses. Local and state government owned diesel fueled trucks and non-school buses are already subject to other CARB regulations. Reducing emissions from in-use trucks and buses is necessary to meet federally imposed clean air standards and to reduce the adverse health effects from truck and bus pollution.
On December 17, 2010, the staff recommended amendments to the regulation that were subsequently adopted by the Board on September 19, 2011, and approved by the OAL on December 14, 2011. The amended Truck and Bus Regulation delays the initial requirement to phase-in installation of PM filters by one year to January 1, 2012, and extends the time before a vehicle equipped with a PM filter would have to have an engine that meets 2010 model year emission standards. The amendments also defer initial engine replacements for older vehicles without PM filters for two years until January 1, 2015, at the earliest. Prior to 2020, replacements are limited only to 20 year old or older trucks that are not equipped with PM filters. By January 1, 2023, most vehicles will need to be equipped with an engine meeting 2010 model year emission standards.
Law School Unveils Top 10 Environmental Watch List for 2012
Vermont Law School released its second annual Top 10 Environmental Watch List, spotlighting the nation’s most critical environmental law and policy issues of 2011 and how they may play out in 2012.
This year’s report contains 10 essays, plus a Special Mention essay and three additional issues to watch in 2012. The issues were chosen based on their significance to the environment and public well-being and whether a key development is expected in the coming year.
“We also saw unprecedented attacks on the EPA as well as the Obama administration’s mixed messages on environmental issues, which have been confusing to the public, conservationists and industry alike. Our Watch List helps to clarify these issues and others that are so critical in the coming election year.”
California’s Cap-and-Trade and Mandatory GHG Reporting Regulations
California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved the California Cap on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Market-Based Compliance Regulation, including Compliance Offset Protocols.
The regulation is effective January 1, 2012. The version approved by OAL removed several reserved sections (that is, sections that referenced future regulatory elements that have not yet been approved) in the regulation to conform to rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act. The removal of reserved sections does not reflect policy decisions on whether those areas will or will not be addressed in future rulemakings. Staff will continue to engage with stakeholders on issues identified in Resolutions 10-42 and 11-32.
ARB has updated its cap-and-trade program Webpages to provide information related to program implementation. These Webpages will be updated regularly as implementation guidance and systems are completed.
OAL has also approved the Mandatory Reporting of GHG Emissions Regulation. The regulation includes amendments to harmonize the California GHG reporting requirements with federal GHG reporting requirements and support the California cap-and-trade program. The regulation is effective January 1, 2012.
Pelican Refining to Pay $12 Million for CAA Violations
Pelican Refining Company LLC, has been sentenced to pay $12 million for felony violations of the CAA and for obstruction of justice charges in federal court in Lafayette, Louisiana, announced Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, and Ignacia S. Moreno, assistant attorney general of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Facilities have a responsibility to protect their employees and local residents by following our nation’s environmental laws,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Corporations that choose to cut corners and ignore these critical safeguards will face significant consequences.”
“This corporation operated without even the most basic requirements of an environmental compliance plan and endangered the public and its own employees by implementing unsafe practices in violation of its permit and reporting requirements,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the DOJ. “Today’s plea demonstrates that the Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute those who violate environmental and workplace safety laws.”
Pelican was sentenced to pay a $12 million penalty, which includes a $10 million criminal fine and $2 million in community service payments that will go toward various environmental projects in Louisiana, including air pollution monitoring. The criminal fine is the largest ever in Louisiana for violations of the CAA. Pelican is also prohibited from future operations unless it implements an environmental compliance plan, which includes independent quarterly audits by an outside firm and oversight by a court-appointed monitor.
Pelican also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for submitting materially false deviation reports to LDEQ, the agency that administers the federal CAA in Louisiana.
Pelican admitted to the following:
- Pelican had no company budget, no environmental department, and no environmental manager;
- In order to comply with a permit issued under the CAA, the refinery was required to use certain key pollution prevention equipment, but that equipment was either not functioning, poorly maintained, improperly installed, improperly placed into service and/or improperly calibrated;
- It was a routine practice for over a year to use an emergency flare gun to re-light the flare tower at the refinery designed to burn off toxic gases and provide for the safe combustion of potentially explosive chemicals; because the pilot light was not functioning properly, employees would take turns trying to shoot the flare gun to relight the explosive gases;
- Sour crude oil was stored in a tank that was not properly placed into service and remained in the tank after the roof sank;
- A caustic scrubber designed to remove hydrogen sulfide from emissions was bypassed;
- A continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) designed to measure the hydrogen sulfide levels in refinery emissions was not working properly, and
- Pelican provided false information to the State of Louisiana and the State of Texas concerning the laboratory testing of asphalt.
Byron Hamilton, the Pelican vice-president who oversaw operations at the Lake Charles refinery since 2005 from an office in Houston, Texas pleaded guilty on July 6, 2011, to negligently placing persons in imminent danger of death and serious bodily injury as a result of negligent releases at the refinery. Hamilton faces up to one year in prison and a $200,000 fine for each of the two CAA counts. On October 31, 2011, Pelican’s former asphalt facilities manager, Mike LeBleu, also pleaded guilty to a negligent endangerment charge under the CAA.
The government’s investigation of the Pelican Refinery continues. Under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, crime victims are afforded certain statutory rights, including the opportunity to attend all public hearings and provide input to the prosecution. Any person adversely impacted is encouraged to learn more about the case and the Crime Victims’ Rights Act or contact the Victim Witness Coordinator for the US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Louisiana.
The criminal investigation is being conducted by the EPA Criminal Investigation Division in Baton Rouge and the Louisiana State Police, with assistance from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The case is being prosecuted by US Attorney Stephanie Finley; Richard A. Udell, Senior Trial Attorney of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the US DOJ; and Trial Attorney Christopher Hale with the Environmental Crimes Section.
DuPont Settles Hazardous Waste Violations at Deepwater, New Jersey Facility
In settlement papers filed in federal court by the US DOJ, E.I. DuPont de Nemours, Inc., (DuPont), agreed to pay a $250,000 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of hazardous waste regulations at the company’s wastewater treatment facility in Deepwater, New Jersey. DuPont also agreed to several improvements to its New Jersey facility’s hazardous waste safeguards.
DuPont’s Secured Environmental Treatment (SET) facility in Deepwater, New Jersey, is a hazardous waste treatment facility operating under a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). The facility accepts truck and rail shipments from hazardous waste generators and transporters. This facility is the largest RCRA-permitted waste water treatment operation on the East Coast, with the capacity to treat 40 million gallons of wastewater daily.
EPA’s investigation of DuPont’s facility was prompted by a separate enforcement matter involving GEO Specialty Chemicals, Inc., of Cleveland, Ohio. GEO operated a production line in Franklin, Virginia, from 2001–2009. According to EPA, from 2001 through at least 2008, GEO transported highly caustic waste slurry by railcar from its Virginia facility to DuPont’s facility in New Jersey. These railcars were left on a rail siding outside the DuPont facility for up to 45 days.
The complaint filed with the proposed consent decree alleged violations of RCRA, the federal law governing the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. The alleged violations include:
- Unpermitted storage of hazardous waste in railcars outside the New Jersey facility.
- Storage of hazardous waste without adequate “secondary containment” to hold spills and discharges of hazardous waste until cleanup.
- Improperly returning hazardous waste to GEO’s Virginia plant by failing to completely empty railcars used by GEO to transport hazardous waste to DuPont’s New Jersey facility.
- Failure to comply with an EPA information request. According to the complaint, during an April 2006, EPA inspection of the New Jersey facility, DuPont inaccurately described the method used to empty railcars of hazardous waste or provided EPA with an unrepresentative sample from a purportedly emptied railcar.
As part of the settlement, DuPont has not admitted liability for the alleged violations. In addition to the $250,000 penalty, the company agreed to implement measures to prevent or minimize railcar leaks to the environment. The proposed consent decree is subject to a public comment period and final court approval.
EPA’s action was coordinated with NJDEP, which recently concluded a separate enforcement action against DuPont for other environmental violations at the plant. In the NJDEP consent agreement, the company agreed to pay a fine of $725,000 and to upgrade procedures for handling hazardous substances.
CalPortland Company Agrees to Pay $1.4 Million to Settle CAA Violations
EPA and the US DOJ announced that CalPortland Company (CPC), a major producer of Portland cement and building materials in the US, has agreed to pay a $1.425 million penalty to resolve alleged violations of the CAA at its cement plant in Mojave, California. In addition to the penalty, CPC will spend an estimated $1.3 million on pollution controls that will reduce harmful emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), pollutants that can lead to childhood asthma and smog.
“Upholding the public health benefits of the Clean Air Act is a critical responsibility of EPA. Today’s $1.4 million settlement sends a clear message that polluting doesn’t pay,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “As a result, the company will reduce its emissions in Kern County, where residents suffer from poor air quality and high rates of asthma.”
“This settlement will bring state of the art controls to a major source of air pollution and secures significant reductions in harmful pollutants,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the DOJ. “The Mojave plant is one of the largest emitters of nitrogen oxide pollution in California. As a result of the Clean Air Act compliance requirements in the consent decree, residents in the surrounding region will enjoy cleaner and healthier air.”
The $1.425 million penalty is one of the largest settlements for a single cement facility. The plant is located in Kern County, California, which has some of the worst air pollution in the country. The pollutants covered in the settlement contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, or smog. Exposure to even low levels of ozone can cause respiratory problems, and repeated exposure can aggravate pre-existing respiratory diseases.
The government’s complaint alleges that CPC made significant modifications to its plant, resulting in increased emissions of NOx, SO2, and carbon monoxide, without first obtaining a CAA-required permit and without installing necessary pollution control equipment. Major sources of air pollution are required to obtain such permits before making changes that would result in a significant emissions increase of any pollutant.
These measures are expected to reduce pollution each year from the plant by at least 1,200 tons of NOx and 360 tons of sulfur dioxide SO2.
Since 2005, EPA has been focusing on improving compliance with the new source review provisions of the CAA among industries that have the potential to cause significant amounts of air pollution, including the cement manufacturing industry.
EPA is continuing its commitment to reducing air pollution from cement plants by making it one of the National Enforcement Initiatives for 2011–2013. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, two key pollutants emitted from cement plants, are converted in the air into fine particles of particulate matter that can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts, and premature death. Reducing these harmful air pollutants will benefit the communities located near the CalPortland facility, particularly communities disproportionately impacted by environmental risks and vulnerable populations, including children.
Three New England Organizations Recognized for Reducing Waste
Nationally, there were 29 winners, with awards in categories including business, government, and educational sectors.
WasteWise is a free, voluntary partnership program that helps businesses reduce their environmental impact and find cost savings through innovative waste reduction and recycling activities. The 2011 New England awardees are:
Raytheon Company, Massachusetts – Raytheon Company is the 2011 WasteWise “Very Large Business Partner of the Year.” When Raytheon became a WasteWise partner in 2002, it only included a few sites in New England. Now, the company boasts WasteWise participation across the country, including 45 facilities in 42 locations. In 2010, Raytheon diverted more than 10,000 tons of materials through reuse, donation, and recycling—preventing more than 35,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent—and saved $2 million through its waste reduction programs.
Cannon Grange #152 Inc., Connecticut – Cannon Grange #152 Inc., is the recipient of the 2011 WasteWise “Nonprofit Organization Partner of the Year” Award. Cannon Grange, a small, nonprofit organization in the town of Wilton, Connecticut, achieved a 77% waste diversion rate in 2010, marking a 5% increase from 2009. During business meetings and other events, Cannon Grange ensures that as many materials as possible are recycled or diverted from the waste stream. In 2010, Cannon Grange stopped purchasing polystyrene cups, paper plates and bowls, and plastic cutlery, using china and silverware instead. This switch prevented over 1,500 lb of waste. The organization also uses washable tablecloths instead of disposable ones.
Genzyme Corporation (Massachusetts) – Genzyme Corporation has continued to significantly improve its waste reduction efforts and is well deserving of the 2011 WasteWise “Gold Achievement Award for Construction and Demolition Materials Reduction.” As one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies, Genzyme’s objectives for each of its projects is to recycle at least 95% of its waste materials. During 2010, the company diverted more than 10,700 tons of waste from landfills, including more than 9,800 tons of construction and demolition materials. These waste reduction efforts resulted in greenhouse gas emission reductions of nearly 3,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Genzyme also saved nearly $153,000 by purchasing construction materials through its “Construction Waste Management Plan.”
Tennessee Construction Company and Georgia Department of Transportation Agree to Pay $1.5 Million Penalty to Resolve CWA Violations
EThe civil penalty is one of the largest ever under the CWA provisions prohibiting the unauthorized discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the US.
“Dumping dirt and waste rock into our nation’s waters threatens water quality and aquatic habitats,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s settlement will restore damaged streams, protecting trout habitat and recreational opportunities for the people of northeastern Georgia.”
“Construction projects, including important expansions of highway infrastructure, must be conducted in full compliance with the Clean Water Act, which protects our nation’s waterways, aquatic habitats and recreational resources from harm.” said Ignacia S. Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the DOJ. “This settlement will restore and mitigate pollution of area streams for the benefit of the people of Georgia.”
The complaint alleges that between 2004 and 2007, Wright Brothers, with approval from GDOT, buried all or portions of seven primary trout streams in violation of the CWA. Wright Brothers was hired by GDOT to dispose of excess soil and rock generated during two GDOT highway expansion projects in northeast Georgia. The contracts between GDOT and Wright Brothers specifically required Wright Brothers to obtain written environmental clearance from GDOT prior to using any site as a fill site. GDOT approved sites that included streams considered to be waters of the US. These actions resulted in the unauthorized disposal of more than one million cubic yards of excess rock and soil, impacting approximately 2,800 linear feet of stream.
Burying and piping streams can destroy valuable aquatic habitat and threaten water quality. The reduced water quality may have adversely impacted downstream trout populations, which are a major recreational resource to the region. All of the streams that were filled are tributaries of either Lake Burton or Tallulah Falls Lake.
“Through this enforcement action, we are sending a strong message about the importance of protecting headwater streams in the Southeast,” said Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming, EPA Region 4 Regional Administrator. “The streams impacted by the violations are designated by the state of Georgia as primary trout streams, which provide essential cold water habitat for a variety of species, support the robust recreational fishing industry in north Georgia, and thereby impact the health and well-being of many families.”
In Atlanta, US Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said, “The citizens of Rabun County deserve to have our tributaries and streams kept free of unauthorized fill material and similar pollutants. This significant monetary agreement underscores the commitment of this office and the Justice Department to our water supply, its life sources, and the environment.”
Under the settlement, Wright Brothers and GDOT must perform injunctive relief measures, including purchasing 16,920 mitigation credits at an estimated cost of $1.35 million to offset the impacts to waters of the US that cannot be restored. The credits must be purchased from mitigation banks servicing the area in which the violations occurred. A mitigation bank is a wetland, stream, or other aquatic resource area that has been set aside for the purpose of providing compensation for impacts to aquatic resources that occurred under a federal, state, or local permit.
Wright Brothers and GDOT will also remove the piping from and restore the bed and bank of a 150-foot stream channel that was impacted from the disposal activities. The estimated cost of this work is $25,000. When complete, the restoration activities and injunctive relief measures will mitigate the 2,800 feet of stream impacted by the CWA violations.
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Trivia Question of the Week
What country has the largest amount of rainforest on the Earth?a. United States
b. Australia
c. Congo
d. Brazil
