In the latest sign from the Obama administration that it isn’t interested in defending Bush-era environmental regulations, the government asked a federal appeals court to allow it to reconsider the Bush administration’s legal and policy positions on cancer-causing pollution from dry cleaners.
Earthjustice, representing the Sierra Club, had challenged a 2006 refusal by the Bush administration to phase out the use of perchloroethylene (PCE, or perc). Although such a phase-out would, according to the organization, have eliminated the substantial cancer risks that PCE poses to millions of Americans—and done so at little or no cost to industry.
After years of delay by the last administration, the case was scheduled to be heard by a panel of judges next month. But rather than defend the bad regulations issued by the previous administration, EPA says it wants to go back and re-evaluate the rule.
“This is great news. The previous administration’s approach was wrongheaded and illegal,” said Earthjustice attorney Jim Pew. “We hope the new administration moves to get this toxic chemical out of the air we breathe and eliminate the cancer risk it creates for millions of Americans.”
EPA has acknowledged that the health risks from PCE dry cleaners are extremely high, and has classified PCE as a probable cancer-causing chemical that has been linked to liver, kidney, and central nervous system damage. Although some cleaners have successfully switched to non-toxic alternatives like wet cleaning, more than 27,000 dry cleaners across the country still use old machines that clean clothes with PCE.
“We would like to see this shape up as a premiere green initiative with assistance to the small business owners who operate our local dry cleaners, new opportunities for equipment manufacturers, and improved air quality for neighborhoods across the nation,” said Marti Sinclair, chair of the Sierra Club’s Clean Air Team.
Because PCE dry cleaners are located throughout neighborhoods in virtually every city and town in America, millions of Americans are exposed to their toxic emissions. In many cities, dry cleaners operate in the same buildings as apartments, schools, and day care centers. People are exposed to PCE when they breathe in the emissions from dry cleaning machines and when they breathe in emissions released over time from the clothes that are cleaned at dry cleaners.
“EPA’s action makes sense, given the viability of non-toxic alternatives to perc dry cleaning,” said Peter Sinsheimer, Director of the Pollution Prevention Center at Occidental College. Since 1998, Sinsheimer has managed the Environmental Garment Care Demonstration Project which educates cleaners about two environmentally benign alternatives: professional wet cleaning—a less-expensive water-based technology and CO2 dry cleaning—a hi-tech solution which compresses recycled carbon dioxide into a liquid cleaning fluid.
In California there are more than 125 cleaners exclusively using professional wet cleaning and 10 cleaners using CO2. Research conducted by Sinsheimer has shown that PCE cleaners who switch to professional wet cleaning maintain their cleaning quality, and have significantly lower operating costs and energy use. Sinsheimer is now working with a number of other states to develop similar demonstration programs, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
“Professional wet cleaning is an ideal replacement technology for the vast majority of perc cleaners,” said Sinsheimer. “The quality of cleaning is comparable or better than perc, the capital and operating costs are lower, and the technology is extremely energy efficient.”
In California, a number of municipal and investor-owned utilities provide financial incentives to dry cleaners switching to professional wet cleaning. In addition, California imposes a fee on the use of perc in dry cleaning which creates an incentive fund for cleaners switching to professional wet cleaning and CO2 dry cleaning.
EPA Withdraws Water Permit Fee Incentive Rule
EPA is withdrawing a rule intended to provide financial incentives for states to use fees when administering a Clean Water Permit program. The agency issued the rule in September 2008.
EPA will continue to encourage states to establish and expand their permit fees for their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) programs. Any funds that would have been used for incentive purposes will instead be allocated to states under an existing grant formula.
As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the NPDES permit program controls water pollution by regulating municipal, industrial and related sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States.
EPA Announces New Requirements for Commercial Refrigerators and Freezers to Earn Energy Star
If all commercial refrigerators and freezers sold in the United States meet the new Energy Star specification, the energy savings would grow to $275 million per year and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those outputted from nearly 400,000 vehicles.
The requirements are effective January 1, 2010, the same date that new federal standards take effect. This revised specification will provide consumers with a choice to continue to go beyond the federal standards with Energy Star, delivering energy efficient products with the performance they expect.
Under the new scope of products covered by the Energy Star commercial refrigerators and freezers specification are glass door refrigerators and freezers—typically found in convenience stores, supermarkets, and restaurants. Glass door models, as of April 1, 2009 can begin to qualify for Energy Star label. Purchasers of commercial glass door refrigerators and freezers can expect to save up to $800 per refrigerator and $2,500 per freezer over the expected 10-year life of the product.
Retrofit of Empire State Building to Cut Energy Use by 38%
A team of private companies and non-profit organizations has devised an energy retrofit for the Empire State Building that will reduce its energy use by 38%, including a 33% reduction in cooling load and a 3.5-megawatt reduction in peak electrical demand. The retrofit project, a small part of a $500 million upgrade for the New York City landmark, will reduce energy loads by upgrading windows and lighting and by adding radiative barriers behind the radiators. To deliver the remaining energy more efficiently, the retrofit will upgrade some of the chillers for the building while removing others, and it will install new variable-speed air handling units. In order to better control energy delivery, the retrofit will add demand-control ventilation and tenant energy management systems, while also upgrading energy controls and meters for the building as a whole. Efforts to be completed by the end of 2010 will yield half the energy savings, while the remainder will be achieved by 2013.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of the retrofit project is the process used by the project partners, a process that can be applied to other building retrofits. The project partners used both existing and newly created modeling, measurement, and projection tools to analyze the Empire State Building and establish a full understanding of its energy use, as well as its functional efficiencies and deficiencies.
DOT Revises Rules for Cargo Tanks, Cylinders, and Pressure Receptacles
The revisions are based on petitions for rulemaking submitted by the regulated community and are intended to enhance the safe transportation of hazardous materials in commerce, clarify regulatory requirements, and reduce operating burdens on cargo tank and cylinder manufacturers, requalifiers, carriers, shippers, and users.
The most significant amendment adopted in this final rule addresses a safety issue identified by the National Transportation Safety Board concerning the transportation of compressed gases in cylinders mounted on motor vehicles or in frames, commonly referred to as tube trailers.
Bioethanol’s Impact on Water Supply May be 3x Higher in Some Areas than Once Thought
At a time when water supplies are scarce in many areas of the United States, scientists in Minnesota are reporting that production of bioethanol—often regarded as the clean-burning energy source of the future—may consume up to three times more water than previously thought. Their study is scheduled for the April 15 issue of ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly publication.
Sangwon Suh and colleagues point out in the new study that annual bioethanol production in the U.S. is currently about 9 billion gallons and note that experts expect it to increase in the near future. The growing demand for bioethanol, particularly corn-based ethanol, has sparked significant concerns among researchers about its impact on water availability.
Previous studies estimated that a gallon of corn-based bioethanol requires the use of 263 to 784 gallons of water from the farm to the fuel pump. However, these estimates failed to account for widely varied regional irrigation practices, the scientists say, since a dozen states in the Corn Belt consume less than 100 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol, making them better suited for ethanol production.
According to NOAA, Ice-Free Arctic Summers Likely Sooner than Expected
Summers in the Arctic may be ice-free in as few as 30 years, not at the end of the century as previously expected. The updated forecast is the result of a new analysis of computer models coupled with the most recent summer ice measurements.
“The Arctic is changing faster than anticipated,” said James Overland, an oceanographer at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and co-author of the study, which will appear in Geophysical Research Letters. “It’s a combination of natural variability, along with warmer air and sea conditions caused by increased greenhouse gases.”
Overland and his co-author, Muyin Wang, a University of Washington research scientist with the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean in Seattle, analyzed projections from six computer models, including three with sophisticated sea ice physics capabilities. That data was then combined with observations of summer sea ice loss in 2007 and 2008.
Collapse of Ice Bridge Puts Arctic Ice Shelf in Peril
The beginning of what appears to be the demise of the ice bridge began this week when new rifts forming along its centre axis resulted in a large block of ice breaking away.
The Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar () images acquired on April 2, by the European Space Agency’s Envisat satellite confirm that the rifts are quickly expanding along the ice bridge.
Dr. Angelika Humbert from the Institute of Geophysics, M?nster University, and Dr. Matthias Braun from the Center for Remote Sensing, University of Bonn, witnessed the recent development during their daily monitoring activities of the ice sheet using data from Envisat and the German Aerospace Center’s TerraSAR-X satellite.
By having a time series of radar satellite images throughout this event, Humbert and Braun are able to determine how the rifts develop and how the narrowest part of the bridge responds to these changes. Knowing these details allows them to learn more about the behavior of ice under stress.
By acquiring daily images of Antarctica that are easily accessible to scientists, ASAR has provided an unprecedented time series of the recent break-up events and allowed scientists to continuously monitor these developments to better understand the break-up process of ice shelves.
. In late February, 425 sq km of ice calved away, narrowing the ice bridge down to a 6-km strip. At the end of May a 160-sq-km chunk of ice broke away and reduced the ice bridge to just 2.7 km, leaving it only 900 m wide at its narrowest location.
“In the past months, we have observed the ice bridge deforming and its narrowest location acting as a kind of hinge,” Humbert said.
“During the last year the ice shelf has lost about 1800 sq km or about 14% of its size. The break-up events in February and May 2008 happened in just hours, leaving the remaining part of the ice bridge in a fragile situation,” Humbert explained. “Rift developments during October and November resulted presumably from the loss of 1220 sq km along the northern ice front during June and July 2008.”
Antarctic’s ice sheet was formed by thousands of years of accumulated and compacted snow. Along the coast the ice gradually floats on the sea, forming massive ledges known as ice shelves. Several of these ice shelves, including seven in the past 20 years, have retreated and disintegrated.
The Wilkins Ice Shelf had been stable for most of the last century before it began retreating in the 1990s. Scientists are currently investigating the reasons and processes of the recent ice shelf break-ups and whether the current situation is linked to the extraordinary warming during the past 50 years, in which the Antarctic Peninsula has warmed by 2.5?C—far more than the global average.
Polar areas are very remote and the conditions often found there, such as restricted daylight and thick cloud cover, make it very difficult to carry out in situ research. The advent of satellites has allowed scientists to continuously monitor these regions.
ASAR is particularly suited for polar monitoring because it can operate at night and penetrate through clouds. Long-term satellite monitoring over Antarctica is important because it provides authoritative evidence of trends and allows scientists to make predictions.
Man Arrested for Falsifying PE Certification on Title V Permit Application
A Louisiana man has been arrested by Louisiana’s Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Criminal Investigation Division, with assistance from Louisiana State Police, for the alleged misrepresentation of his professional status on public documents submitted to DEQ.
Nathan Redwine, 59, is alleged to have falsely represented himself as a Professional Engineer when a Title V permit application was submitted to the Louisiana DEQ with a signature certifying Redwine as a Professional Engineer. According to the Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board, Redwine is not a Professional Engineer.
A major source permit, such as a Title V, has to be prepared by or under the supervision of a person properly qualified to perform engineering work as provided in the Louisiana Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Registration Act. The application must be certified by a professional engineer, as defined in the in Louisiana law.
“Filing any documentation that includes a professional misrepresentation or forgery is a violation of the state law,” said Jeffrey Nolan, Director of DEQ’s Criminal Investigation Division. “The Title V permit application is the basis for a major source air permit. Falsifying a permit application affects the integrity of the permitting process and we take that seriously.”
Filing false public records containing a forgery, wrongful document alteration or false statement or false representation of material fact, is illegal under the Louisiana Revised Statute. A conviction in the crime of filing false public records can result in imprisonment for not more than five years with or without hard labor, or a fine of not more than $5 thousand, or both.
An arrest does not constitute guilt in a criminal case. All evidence compiled during the investigation is being presented to area prosecutors to determine if formal charges are warranted.
Interior Department: Offshore Wind Energy Could Power the Country
Excellent wind resources off the coast of the lower 48 states could generate enough power to exceed the electricity demand in the United States, according to DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The NREL findings are included in a report released on April 2 by the U.S. Department of Interior, which is examining the potential for energy production on the outer continental shelf (OCS). The report notes that 28 of the lower 48 states have a coastal boundary (including the Great Lakes), and offshore wind turbines located in shallow waters (defined as less than 30 meters) could meet at least 20% of the electricity needs of nearly all those coastal states. According to the NREL data, 263.8 gigawatts of wind power could be located in shallow offshore waters, while another 1,729.3 gigawatts of wind power could be located in deeper waters, where it is not currently feasible to harness the wind energy. The Interior Department is currently holding a round of public meetings to examine the best way to develop the country’s offshore energy resources, including oil and natural gas.
Meanwhile, a new contender has entered the race to develop the first offshore wind power facility in the United States. Delsea Energy LLC is planning to install 100 wind turbines or more in the shallow waters of the upper Delaware Bay, off the coast of New Jersey. The company announced on March 23 that it has filed initial permit applications with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to install four data collection and monitoring stations in the Delaware Bay. If the results of that data collection project are positive, the company proposes to build a wind facility between one and two miles offshore. The company estimates that the wind project could generate enough power to supply 125,000 New Jersey households.
Silver Bell Mining to Pay $170,000 in Civil Penalties for Water Quality Violations in Arizona
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has announced that Silver Bell Mining will pay $170,000 in civil penalties for releasing 340,000 gallons of wastewater containing sulfuric acid and heavy metals into dry washes during three separate incidents at its open pit copper mine near Marana in Pima County, Arizona.
The pollutants seeped into the soil, which endangered the groundwater in the aquifer below the mine and exceeded Arizona surface water quality standards. On October 19, 2006, a pipeline break discharged 90,000 gallons of sulfuric acid to the road side downstream from the pipeline. Between November 6 and December 11, 2008, 150,000 gallons of leach solution containing sulfuric acid and heavy metals escaped from a leaking impoundment. And between November 11 and December 13, another 100,000 gallons of storm water containing sulfuric acid and heavy metals escaped from a storage pit. The company’s Aquifer Protection Permit did not authorize the release of these substances into the environment.
In response to the release from the leaking impoundment, the company installed a second liner with a leak detection sump between the two liners and has begun monitoring weekly for the presence and amount of solution detected from between the two liners.
Under terms of the settlement, the company has agreed to increase the frequency of its inspections to monitor for leaks from its dams, ponds, and impoundments above what is required in its Aquifer Protection Permit.
“I appreciate ASARCO’s commitment to remedy this contamination. I hope this case sends a message that we all must be good stewards of our natural resources,” Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said.
Sulfuric acid is a known carcinogen. Some of the heavy metals in the wastewater include cadmium, a known carcinogen, and nickel, a suspected carcinogen that can cause stomach and kidney problems when consumed.
Developer Fined $30,000 for Damaging Wetlands
Under a settlement agreement with EPA, Mr. Achen and CMK Investments will also conduct work to improve and preserve wetlands habitat at nearby Dean Creek.
Between August 2004 and July 2005, Mr. Achen used heavy equipment to log an area near Mill Creek and re-grade the site which resulted in an illegal discharge of material into approximately six acres of wetlands.
According to Tom Eaton, Washington Operations Office Director for EPA, wetlands provide significant wildlife habitat and provide benefits like flood control to neighboring property owners.
“Rather than illegally impacting these wetlands, the property owner should have gotten the proper permits from the Army Corps of Engineers,” said Eaton. “Construction in wetlands should be avoided if at all possible. If any construction is proposed, it should only be done with great care and after securing the necessary permits.”
In 2002, EPA issued a penalty order and an Administrative Order on Consent to Mr. Achen for a previous wetlands violation near Mill Creek. In September 2005, EPA issued a Compliance Order to Mr. Achen and CMK Investments, directing them to stop discharging material into the wetlands near Mill Creek. In response, Mr. Achen and CMK Investments partially restored the site by removing the unauthorized fill and replanting the wetlands areas with vegetation.
MP Environmental Inc Fined $14,240 for Diesel Emission Violations
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) recently fined a Central Valley environmental services company $14,250 for diesel smoke emissions violations. MP Environmental Inc., headquartered in Bakersfield, California, was cited for failure to maintain diesel emissions records for the period of 2005 and 2006, as required by law.
“Successful business owners are savvy enough to know that air pollution penalties are much more than an expensive mistake,” said ARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols. “Fines can also cost a business its good reputation.”
ARB requires on-road, heavy-duty diesel vehicle owners to conduct annual smoke inspections and repair vehicles with excessive smoke emissions. ARB’s enforcement teams randomly audit fleets, maintenance and inspection records, and they test a representative sample of vehicles. Vehicles failing the emissions test must be repaired and retested. A fleet owner that neglects to perform the annual smoke inspection is subject to fines.
As part of the settlement, MP Environmental Inc. must comply with the following:
- Guarantee employees responsible for conducting the inspections attend a mandatory California community college training class on diesel emissions and provide certificates of completion within one year;
- Ensure that heavy-duty diesel equipment have the most recent low-NOx software installed;
- Provide documentation to ARB that the inspections are being carried between 2007-2010;
- Ensure that all diesel trucks are up to federal emissions standards for the vehicle model year and are properly labeled with the manufacturer’s factory engine certification label; and,
- Instruct all employees on ARB’s truck idling regulations.
The company will pay $14,250 in penalties: $1,781 will go to the California Air Pollution Control Fund, which provides funding for projects and research to improve California’s air quality; $1,781 will go to Peralta Community College District to fund emission education classes conducted by participating California community colleges under the California Council for Diesel Education and Technology; and, the remaining $10,687 will go to the California Pollution Control Financing Authority to fund low-interest loans for owners of off-road, diesel-powered construction vehicles.
Massachusetts Communities Earn $1.6 Million and Save $3 Million for Recycling Efforts
Recycling efforts in western Massachusetts in 2008 yielded more than $1.6 million in revenue and saved $3 million in solid waste disposal costs in 78 communities across the region.
The Springfield Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) processed 42,095 tons of recyclable materials last year, resulting in the savings.
The MRF, which is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and operated by Waste Management Recycling America (WMRA), issues revenue payments to communities every six months. WMRA pays the communities a flat rate of $15.67 per ton for their recyclables and additional revenue share when market prices are high.
“Given our current economic challenges, materials recycling continue to pay dividends for our environment and our communities,” MassDEP Commissioner Laurie Burt said. “Local recycling programs remain the best way to protect the environment. In Springfield MRF communities, recycling programs help to divert thousands of tons of materials from landfills, save millions of dollars in disposal fees, and produce revenue to support local services.”
For most of the calendar year 2008, recyclable materials prices were high due to global demand for these commodities. In November 2008, the markets for recyclable commodities saw a steep decline that coincided with the overall decline in the global economy.
Despite these market changes, the Springfield MRF continues—due to established regional markets and long-standing contracts—to operate in markets that use the recycled materials to make game board, book board, automotive parts, plastic bottles, fiberfill, aluminum cans, and blue municipal recycling bins. For western Massachusetts municipalities, existing municipal contracts offer a flat payment per ton and provide consistent payments for recyclables.
MassDEP opened the MRF in 1990 to help reduce waste, divert material away from landfills and incinerators, and encourage the re-use of recyclable materials. Since 1990, western Massachusetts communities have processed more than 850 million pounds of recyclables through the MRF.
Ohio EPA, Toledo Company Settle Air Pollution Violations
In a settlement with Ohio EPA, N-Viro International Corp. agreed to pay a $20,000 civil penalty for violating the air pollution permit at its 3900 North Summit St., Toledo facility. The company has corrected the violations.
N-Viro stabilizes and disinfects municipal biosolids and other organic waste and turns it into reusable products such as fertilizer. The company processes sludge from Toledo’s wastewater treatment plant.
On July 30, 2008, the Toledo Division of Environmental Services inspected the facility to follow up on a citizen complaint about odors and dust. Toledo DES discovered that a scrubber intended to capture emissions from a unit that blends cement kiln dust and sludge was not operating, which is a violation of the company’s permit. In addition, the company was not tracking wind speed. Its permit requires doors on the leeward side of the sludge processing and soil storage building to be closed when wind speeds exceed 15 miles per hour.
The company will pay $16,000 to Ohio EPA’s Environmental Education Fund and air pollution control programs. The remaining $4,000 will go to Ohio EPA’s Clean Diesel School Bus Fund Retrofit program.
Ship Operator Pleads Guilty and Agrees to Pay $2.5 Million Fine for Concealing Vessel Pollution
The U.S. Justice Department has announced Consultores De Navegacion, a Spanish company that operates the M/T Nautilus, an ocean-going chemical tanker ship, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Boston and has agreed to pay a fine of $2.5 million for criminal violations related to the overboard discharge of oil-contaminated bilge waste on the high seas.
The company pleaded guilty to conspiracy, falsification of records, false statements, obstruction, and two violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships for failing to maintain an accurate oil record book. The practice of improperly handling and disposing of oil-contaminated waste from the tanker, as charged in the indictment, took place from at least June 2007 until March 2008.
As part of the plea agreement, Consultores De Navegacion will serve three years of probation and will implement a comprehensive environmental compliance plan to ensure there are no future violations of the law. The charges against Cyprus-based Iceport Shipping Co., the owner of the ship, have been dismissed. U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for June, 30, 2009.
Engine room operations on board large oceangoing vessels such as the M/T Nautilus generate large amounts of waste oil and oil-contaminated bilge waste. International and U.S. law prohibit the discharge of waste containing more than 15 parts per million of oil and without treatment by an oily water separator—a required pollution prevention device. Federal law also requires ships to accurately record each disposal of oil-contaminated bilge water in an oil record book and to have the Oil Record Book available for inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard within the internal waters of the United States.
According to the government, between June 2007 and March 2008, senior engineers on the M/T Nautilus directed subordinate engine room crew members to use a metal pipe to bypass the ship’s oil water separator and instead to discharge oil-contaminated waste directly overboard. On two occasions in August 2007, Vadym Tumakov, a Ukrainian who at that time served as chief engineer of the M/T Nautilus, directed the discharge of pollution overboard. In addition, in February 2008, Carmelo Oria, a Spanish citizen who served as chief engineer at that time, directed a discharge directly overboard from the ship’s bilge wells.
The government’s investigation began in March 2008, when inspectors from the U.S. Coast Guard conducted an examination of the M/T Nautilus, following the ship’s arrival in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and subsequently in the Port of Boston. The inspections uncovered evidence that crewmembers aboard the ship had improperly handled and disposed of the ship’s oil-contaminated bilge water and falsified entries in the ship’s official oil record book to conceal these activities.
As chief engineers, Oria and Tumakov were responsible for all engine room operations. Oria, who was the chief engineer on the M/T Nautilus between January and March 2008 pleaded guilty on March 9, 2009, to maintaining an oil record book that concealed the improper discharge of untreated waste directly from the ship’s bilges. Vadym Tumakov, who was the chief engineer on the M/T Nautilus in August 2007 pleaded guilty to using falsified records that concealed improper discharges of oil-contaminated bilge waste from the ship. Sentencing for both men was scheduled for April 13, 2009. Both men face up to 6 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Simoniz Fined for EPCRA Violations
EPA recently settled its claims against Simoniz USA, Inc. for violations of the Emergency Planning and Community-Right-to-Know Act ) and violations of the Clean Air Act. Simoniz manufactures vehicle cleaning products at its facility in Bolton, Connecticut.
The complaint also alleged that Simoniz failed to submit forms to EPA describing its inventory of hydrogen fluoride and certain other toxic chemicals, as required by EPCRA. Failure to submit EPCRA forms reduces the public’s ability to obtain accurate information about the type and amount of toxic chemicals in a community.
Under the administrative settlement, Simoniz is required to pay a penalty of $62,300 and to perform three environmentally beneficial projects. One project requires Simoniz to commission and publish research by a third party on whether a less toxic alternative to hydrogen fluoride can be used in car wash products. The agreement also requires Simoniz to purchase an operations vehicle for the Bolton Fire Department, to enhance the fire department’s ability to respond to spills of hazardous substances. The third project is to install a wastewater treatment and reuse system that will help Simonize conserve water. The three projects are estimated to cost approximately $275,000.
Hydrogen fluoride (also known as hydrofluoric acid) is a toxic substance that is dangerous for anyone to handle, and when used in car wash products it can easily wash down storm drains into rivers and streams.
Four Businesses Achieve Second Tier of New Hampshire’s Environmental Leadership Initiative
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) announced that four businesses have achieved Green Leader status as part of DES’s Environmental Leadership Initiative. The businesses were recognized by Governor Lynch prior to the Governor and Council meeting in Concord. The businesses include Newport Computer Services, Inc. located in Rochester; NH Ball Bearings, HiTech Division located in Peterborough; NH Ball Bearings, Astro Division located in Laconia; and Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc. located in Bennington.
DES has developed an Environmental Leadership Initiative () to recognize and reward excellent environmental performance. This initiative applies to for-profit, non-profit, and government organizations. Phase 1 of the ELI, Aspiring Leaders, was introduced 15 months ago and currently has 22 members. Those members have agreed to undertake 49 different projects involving reducing energy use, reducing waste, mentoring others, and promoting green design and construction methods.
Phase 2 of the ELI, Green Leaders, is for companies with an excellent record of legal compliance, community relations, and pollution prevention. These companies have shown that they reliably manage their environmental affairs. DES recognizes their excellence to provide an example to others.
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Trivia Question of the Week
According to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, the average household can save how much money per year by drying their clothes with a clothesline or drying rack instead of a dryer?
a. $50
b. $100
c. $150
d. $500