These rules ensure that composite wood products produced domestically or imported into the United States meet the formaldehyde emission standards established by Congress.
Formaldehyde is used in adhesives to make a wide range of building materials and products. Exposure to formaldehyde can cause adverse public health effects including eye, nose, and throat irritation, other respiratory symptoms and, in certain cases, cancer.
“The proposed regulations announced today reflect EPA’s continued efforts to protect the public from exposure to harmful chemicals in their daily lives,” said James J. Jones, EPA’s acting assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “Once final, the rules will reduce the public’s exposure to this harmful chemical found in many products in our homes and workplaces.”
EPA’s proposed rules align, where practical, with the requirements for composite wood products set by the California Air Resources Board, putting in place national standards for companies that manufacture or import these products. EPA’s national rules will also encourage an ongoing industry trend towards switching to no-added formaldehyde resins in composite wood products.
EPA’s first proposal limits how much formaldehyde may be emitted from hardwood plywood, medium-density fiberboard, particleboard, and finished goods, that are sold, supplied, offered for sale, manufactured, or imported in the United States. The emitted formaldehyde may be left over from the resin or composite wood making process or be released when the resin degrades in the presence of heat and humidity. This proposal also includes testing requirements, laminated product provisions, product labeling requirements, chain of custody documentation, recordkeeping, a stockpiling prohibition, and enforcement provisions. It also includes an exemption from some testing and record-keeping requirements for products made with no-added formaldehyde resins.
The second proposal establishes a third-party certification framework designed to ensure that manufacturers of composite wood products meet the TSCA formaldehyde emission standards by having their composite wood products certified though an accredited third-party certifier. It would also establish eligibility requirements and responsibilities for third-party certifier’s and the EPA-recognized accreditation bodies who would accredit them. This robust proposed third-party certification program will level the playing field by ensuring composite wood products sold in this country meet the emission standards in the rule regardless of whether they were made in the United States or not.
Newark RCRA and DOT Training
Irvine RCRA, DOT, and HazCom Training
Dayton RCRA and DOT Training
How to Implement OSHA’s Globally Harmonized Hazard Communication Standard (GHS)
OSHA has issued a final rule revising its Hazard Communication Standard, aligning it with the United Nations’ globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals. This means that virtually every product label, material safety data sheet (now called “safety data sheet” or SDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard. Worker training must be updated so that workers can recognize and understand the symbols and pictograms on the new labels as well as the new hazard statements and precautions on SDSs.
Wal-Mart Pleads Guilty To Federal Environmental Crimes And Civil Violations
As a result of the three criminal cases brought by the Justice Department, as well as a related civil case filed by EPA, Wal-Mart will pay approximately $81.6 million for its unlawful conduct. Coupled with previous actions brought by the states of California and Missouri for the same conduct, Wal-Mart will pay a combined total of more than $110 million to resolve cases alleging violations of federal and state environmental laws.
According to documents filed in US District Court in San Francisco, from a date unknown until January 2006, Wal-Mart did not have a program in place and failed to train its employees on proper hazardous waste management and disposal practices at the store level. As a result, hazardous wastes were either discarded improperly at the store level—including being put into municipal trash bins or, if a liquid, poured into the local sewer system—or they were improperly transported without proper safety documentation to one of six product return centers located throughout the United States.
“By improperly handling hazardous waste, pesticides and other materials in violation of federal laws, Wal-Mart put the public and the environment at risk and gained an unfair economic advantage over other companies,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Today, Wal-Mart acknowledged responsibility for violations of federal laws and will pay significant fines and penalties, which will, in part, fund important environmental projects in the communities impacted by the violations and help prevent future harm to the environment.”
“Federal laws that address the proper handling, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes exist to safeguard our environment and protect the public from harm,” said Andr? Birotte Jr., the US Attorney for the Central District of California. “Retailers like Wal-Mart that generate hazardous waste have a duty to legally and safely dispose of that hazardous waste, and dumping it down the sink was neither legal nor safe. The case against Wal-Mart is designed to ensure compliance with our nation’s environmental laws now and in the future.”
“As one of the largest retailers in the United States, Wal-Mart is responsible not only for the stock on its shelves, but also for the significant amount of hazardous materials that result from damaged products returned by customers,” said Melinda Haag, US Attorney for the Northern District of California. “The crimes in these cases stem from Wal-Mart’s failure to comply with the regulations designed to ensure the proper handling, storage, and disposal of those hazardous materials and waste. With its guilty plea, Wal-Mart is in a position to be an industry leader by ensuring that not only Wal-Mart, but all retail stores properly handle their waste.”
“This tough financial penalty holds Wal-Mart accountable for its reckless and illegal business practices that threatened both the public and the environment,” said Tammy Dickinson, US Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. “Truckloads of hazardous products, including more than 2 million lb. of pesticides, were improperly handled under Wal-Mart’s contract. The criminal fine should send a message to companies of all sizes that they will be held accountable to follow federal environmental laws. Additionally, Wal-Mart’s community service payment will fund important environmental projects in Missouri to help prevent such abuses in the future.”
“The FBI holds all companies, regardless of size, to the same standards,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson of the San Francisco Field Office. “We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure there is a level playing field for all businesses and that everyone follows the rules.”
“Today Wal-Mart is taking responsibility for violating laws that protect people from hazardous wastes and chemicals,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Walmart is committing to safe handling of hazardous wastes at all of its facilities nationwide, and action that will benefit communities across the country.”
Wal-Mart owns more than 4,000 stores nationwide that sell thousands of products, which are flammable, corrosive, reactive, toxic, or otherwise hazardous under federal law. The products that contain hazardous materials include pesticides, solvents, detergents, paints, aerosols, and cleaners. Once discarded, these products are considered hazardous waste under federal law.
Wal-Mart pleaded guilty this morning in San Francisco to six misdemeanor counts of negligently violating the Clean Water Act. The six criminal charges were filed by the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles and San Francisco (each office filed three charges), and the two cases were consolidated in the Northern District of California, where the guilty pleas were formally entered before US Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero. As part of a plea agreement filed in California, Wal-Mart was sentenced to pay a $40 million criminal fine and an additional $20 million that will fund various community service projects, including opening a $6 million Retail Compliance Assistance Center that will help retail stores across the nation learn how to properly handle hazardous waste.
In the third criminal case resolved, Wal-Mart pleaded guilty in the Western District of Missouri to violating FIFRA. According to a plea agreement filed in Kansas City, beginning in 2006, Wal-Mart began sending certain damaged household products, including regulated solid and liquid pesticides, from its six return centers to Greenleaf, LLC, a recycling facility located in Neosho, Missouri, where the products were processed for reuse and resale. Because Wal-Mart employees failed to provide adequate oversight of the pesticides sent to Greenleaf, regulated pesticides were mixed together and offered for sale to customers without the required registration, ingredients, or use information, which constitutes a violation of FIFRA. Between July 2006 and February 2008, Wal-Mart trucked more than 2 million lb. of regulated pesticides and additional household products from its various return centers to Greenleaf. In November 2008, Greenleaf was also convicted of a FIFRA violation and paid a criminal penalty of $200,000 in 2009.
Pursuant to the plea agreement filed in Missouri and accepted by US District Judge John T. Maughmer, Wal-Mart agreed to pay a criminal fine of $11 million and to pay another $3 million to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which will go to that agency’s Hazardous Waste Program and will be used to fund further inspections and education on pesticide regulations for regulators, the regulated community and the public. In addition, Wal-Mart has already spent more than $3.4 million to properly remove and dispose of all hazardous material from Greenleaf’s facility.
In addition to the civil penalties, Wal-Mart is required to implement a comprehensive, nationwide environmental compliance agreement to manage hazardous waste generated at its stores. The agreement includes requirements to ensure adequate environmental personnel and training at all levels of the company, proper identification and management of hazardous wastes, and the development and implementation of Environmental Management Systems at its stores and return centers. Compliance with this agreement is a condition of probation imposed in the criminal cases.
The criminal cases announced recently are a result of investigations conducted by the FBI and the EPA, which received substantial assistance from the California Department of Substance and Toxics Control, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Tesoro to Pay $1.1 Million to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations
In its complaint, EPA alleged that Tesoro failed to comply with recordkeeping, reporting, sampling, and testing requirements at its facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah; Mandan, North Dakota; Anacortes, Washington; and Kenai, Alaska.
“EPA’s fuels regulations are vital safeguards that protect our nation’s air quality,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “By taking action against violations of these regulations, EPA is not only protecting people’s health, but is also ensuring a level playing field for refiners that play by the rules.”
The EPA’s fuel regulations require that all fuel produced, imported and sold in the United States meet certain standards. Fuel that does not meet the applicable standards could lead to an increase in emissions of harmful pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds and cancer-causing air toxics.
The sampling, testing, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements of the fuels program provide the foundation for EPA’s compliance program. Refiners that violate these requirements undermine the integrity of the fuel regulations and hinder the Agency’s ability to ensure gasoline complies with fuel quality and performance standards, potentially leading to an increase in harmful air pollution.
The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.
Reddy Ice Corporation to Pay $61,500 to Resolve Clean Air Act Violations
EPA recently announced a Clean Air Act settlement in which the Reddy Ice Corporation (Reddy Ice), based in Dallas, Texas, has agreed to pay a $61,500 penalty and correct deficiencies associated with the risk management program at its facility in Denver, Colorado.
These deficiencies were discovered during an EPA inspection of the ice manufacturer’s facility in north Denver on December 5, 2010.
“Facilities that use chemicals and substances that pose a potential danger are responsible for having a robust risk management program in place,” said Mike Gaydosh, director of EPA’s enforcement program in Denver. “Failure to do so places the environment, employees, and nearby communities at risk.”
The Reddy Ice facility is subject to the risk management provisions of the Clean Air Act due to its on-site quantity of anhydrous ammonia, an acutely toxic chemical. As a result of the agreement, the company will take steps to ensure that process vessels containing ammonia are properly constructed and will update the facility’s risk management plan. Ready Ice has agreed to correct the deficiencies within 60 days.
Under the Clean Air Act, operations such as the Reddy Ice facility must develop and implement a risk management plan to assist with emergency preparedness, chemical release prevention, and minimization of releases that occur. EPA Inspectors found that the facility had not adequately implemented these regulations.
EPA’s action will benefit residents, including significant low-income and minority populations, in the vicinity of the Reddy Ice facility by reducing the possibility of exposure to anhydrous ammonia. This settlement will also ensure proper safety practices are in place to protect employees and first responders from the threat of dangerous chemical releases.
Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc. to Pay Penalty for Chemical Reporting Violations
As part of the settlement, Clean Harbors has agreed to pay a penalty of $39,900 and correct violations associated with the failure to appropriately report chemicals manufactured and used on site.
“The failure of a facility to appropriately file toxic release forms deprives the public its right to know and undermines efforts to prevent pollution and respond to potential emergencies,” said Mike Gaydosh, EPA’s enforcement director in Denver. “EPA will take steps to ensure that companies provide citizens, elected officials, and public safety personnel with information about the chemicals they use and generate.”
The recent agreement stems from an EPA inspection of the Clean Harbors facility on December 14, 2011, which found the facility manufactured and/or used sixteen regulated chemicals in excess of established reporting thresholds. EPA determined that Clean Harbors did not correctly report the presence or emissions of these chemicals at the Utah facility in 2010 by failing to file required Toxic Release Inventory forms for specific chemicals and providing inaccurate emission data. Clean Harbors has since addressed these deficiencies.
EPA’s action is expected to improve compliance with EPCRA reporting requirements and ensure that facilities provide specific information about chemicals they process, manufacture, or otherwise use on site.
Homer City Generating Station to Clean Up Sulfur Dioxide Emissions
After a year of litigation, the Homer City Generating Station, the largest source of sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution in the entire country in 2010, will now be subject to a precedent setting hourly limit for SO2 pollution. The new protections aim to ensure that the coal-fired power plant never exceeds EPA health standards for sulfur dioxide, even during startup and shutdown, protecting the health of families across the region.
The new protections set a national precedent in the fight to secure the health and safety of families in coal-dependent Pennsylvania and beyond. These new conditions to the Homer City permit are among the first in the nation to set hourly limits on SO2 emissions. Sulfur dioxide is one of the most dangerous pollutants to come from coal-fired power plants. Just five minutes of exposure can lead to respiratory problems, difficulty breathing, contribute to lung disease, and cause heart attacks. In 2010, EPA issued a new 1-hour SO2 health standard based on scientific evidence that linked short-term exposure to sulfur dioxide with these adverse health effects. EPA expected the new standard to benefit millions of Americans, in particular, children, the elderly, and asthmatics.
“The Department of Environmental Protection has done the right thing by setting an hourly sulfur dioxide limit at Homer City,” said Charles McPhedran, an attorney with Earthjustice. “With this new limit, we know that the scrubber project at the plant will provide health benefits as measured by the EPA yardstick.”
The Homer City power plant has two coal-fired units that, until recently, have had no controls for limiting the emission of SO2. In 2010, these units emitted more than 109,000 tons of SO2, making Homer City the largest source of SO2 emissions in the country that year. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has determined that Indiana County is violating the SO2 health standard, and EPA recently recommended that the county be designated as failing to attain this standard.
“The new clean air protections at Homer City provide critical protections against sulfur dioxide and will ensure that families living near this plant can breathe easier,” said Mary Ann Hitt, Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “Today’s victory and sets an important standard for other clean air fights across the country. As we continue the fight to replace old dirty energy sources with clean renewable ones like wind and solar, we must make sure to limit the dangerous pollution from our remaining coal-fired power plants.”
In 2012, Earthjustice, on behalf of the Sierra Club, appealed an air quality permit for the plant. In settlement, the plant accelerated air quality modeling to determine the impacts of SO2 and DEP agreed to a timeline for a permit revision to ensure compliance with the SO2 health standard.
On April 4, 2013, after review of company modeling data, DEP added new permit conditions limiting combined SO2 emissions from the three plant generating units to 6,630 lb. per hour, including during periods of startup and shutdown, and prohibiting more than one unit from operating simultaneously in high-polluting startup mode. Because this emission rate contained a typographical error, Sierra Club filed a new appeal. In response, DEP has now modified the permit to limit emissions of sulfur dioxide to 6,360 lb. per hour.
Small Dams on Chinese River Harm Environment More than Expected, Study Finds
A fresh look at the environmental impacts of dams on an ecologically diverse and partially protected river in China found that small dams can pose a greater threat to ecosystems and natural landscapes than large dams. Although large dams are generally considered more harmful than their smaller counterparts, the research team’s surveys of habitat loss and damage at several dam sites on the Nu River and its tributaries in Yunnan Province revealed that, watt-for-watt, the environmental harm from small dams was often greater—sometimes by several orders of magnitude—than from large dams.
Because of undesirable social, environmental, and political implications, the construction of large dams often stirs controversy. Current policies in China and many other nations encourage the growth of the small hydropower sector. But, “small dams have hidden detrimental effects, particularly when effects accumulate” through multiple dam sites, said Kelly Kibler, a water resources engineer who led this study as part of her PhD research while at Oregon State University in Corvallis. “That is one of the main outcomes of this paper, to demonstrate that the perceived absence of negative effects from small hydropower is not always correct.”
She and Desiree D. Tullos, also a water resources engineer at Oregon State and Kibler’s PhD advisor, report their findings in a paper accepted for publication in Water Resources Research, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. Kibler now works as a researcher at the International Centre for Water Hazard & Risk Management in Tsukuba, Japan, and as an Associate Professor at Japan’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.
To compare the impacts of small and large dams, Kibler investigated 31 small dams built on tributaries of China’s Nu River and four large dams proposed for the main stem of the Nu River. She assessed the environmental effects of these dams in 14 categories, including the area and quality of habitat lost, the length of river channel affected, the amount of conservation land impacted, and the landslide risk. Because information regarding large dams is restricted under the Chinese State Secrets Act, Kibler modeled the potential effects of the four large dams using publically available information from hydropower companies, development agencies, and academic literature.
After evaluating data from the field, hydrological models, and Environmental Impact Assessment reports about the small dams, Kibler and Tullos concluded that impacts of the small dams exceeded those of large dams on nine of the 14 characteristics they studied.
One particularly detrimental impact of the small dams observed in this study is that they often divert the flow of the river to hydropower stations, leaving several kilometers of riverbed dewatered, Kibler explained.
From its headwaters in the Tibetan Plateau, the Nu River flows through China, Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand. “While the number of small hydropower dams in operation or planned for tributaries to the Nu River is unreported,” the authors note in this study, “our field surveys indicate that nearly one hundred small dams currently exist within Nujiang Prefecture alone.”
Thirteen large hydropower dams are proposed for the main stream of the Nu River in Tibet and Yunnan Province in China. “No large dams have been built, but there have been reports that site preparations have begun at some proposed dam sites,” Kibler said.
Environmental, social, and economic factors make the Nu River basin extremely sensitive to hydropower installations. In addition to supporting several protected species, the region is home to a large proportion of ethnic minorities and valuable natural resources, the authors report in the study. Parts of the Nu River are also designated as a World Heritage site and the Nature Conservancy and Conservation International have delineated stretches of this river and its tributaries as biodiversity hotspots. But proposed hydropower projects are threatening these statuses, according to Kibler.
While large hydropower projects are managed by the central government, and both large and small hydropower projects undergo environmental impact assessments, decisions about small hydropower projects are made at a provincial or other regional level and receive far less oversight, Kibler and Tullos state in their paper.
Small dams in China “often lack sufficient enforcement of environmental regulations” because they are “left to the jurisdiction of the province,” said Guy Ziv, lead scientist for the Natural Capital Project, an organization which develops tools to assess and quantify natural resources, and a researcher for the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. This study, he added, is “an important contribution to the field of natural resource management.”
The lack of regulation paired with a dearth of communication between small dam projects in China allows for the impacts to multiply and accumulate through several dam sites, the study authors write.
In order to mitigate the detrimental effects of small dams, there is a “need for comprehensive planning of low-impact energy development.” Kibler and Tullos note.
Policies supporting growth in the small hydropower sector are often crafted at the national or international level, Kibler noted. For example, many of the small dams investigated in the new study were supported by the Kyoto Protocol, a 1997 agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The lack of comprehensive analysis regarding cumulative impact of small hydropower,” Kibler said, “is a significant research gap with important policy implications.”
Bills Recently Introduced to House and Senate
Pennsylvania Launches Online Mine Map Viewer
Pennsylvania Mine Map Atlas allows residents and stakeholders to see detailed underground mine maps that were once only available in hard copies.
“This digital mapping project is a major accomplishment,” Governor Corbett said. “DEP is now providing public access to a wealth of information about undermined areas, enhancing our ability to safeguard structures in Pennsylvania’s mining regions.”
Over a period of more than 10 years, DEP has identified and scanned more than 15,000 hard copy mine maps. To date, approximately half of those scanned maps have been geographically located on the earth’s surface using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, a process known as georeferencing. Maps are continuously being scanned into high-resolution images, georeferenced, and added to the atlas; more than 40,000 have yet to be scanned.
The atlas features enhanced search tools and views; and it allows users to download and print maps—a beneficial function for engineers and stakeholders from various industries.
Another important feature of the Pennsylvania Mine Map Atlas is its ability to measure the distance from a mine to a specific structure. This function will help identify homes and other structures at risk for mine subsidence, ground movement caused by the collapse of old, abandoned mines.
If the atlas shows that a home sits on or in close proximity to an undermined area, Mine Subsidence Insurance () is recommended. MSI protects property owners from damage caused by mine subsidence, which is typically excluded from homeowners’ insurance policies.
At a cost of $51,541, the Pennsylvania Mine Map Atlas was a joint initiative of DEP’s Mine Subsidence Insurance Program and Penn State’s Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access Program. The project was funded by the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation’s general operations budget. These monies come from fines, penalties, permits, and licenses paid by the mining industry.
New Stormwater Management Requirements in Minnesota
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Citizens’ Board recently approved reissuance of a permit that helps protect water quality by reducing the amount of polluted runoff reaching streams, rivers, and lakes.
Managing stormwater helps protect human health and the environment. Stormwater runs off of roads and driveways, rooftops, lawns, and construction sites into storm sewers, picking up many pollutants along the way and discharging them directly into surface waters. In addition, storm sewers move water quickly off the land instead of allowing it to filter through the soil to replenish drinking water supplies. Stormwater discharges also increase the flow of surface waters, often resulting in stream bank erosion.
The goal of the MS4 program is to prevent or reduce the discharge of pollutants to stormwater, and ultimately, surface waters. “We want waters that are fishable and swimmable and to protect drinking water resources,” says Duane Duncanson, project manager at the MPCA. “Our intent is to do this in the most reasonable, practical, affordable and flexible way possible while complying with state and federal regulations and, above all, remaining protective of human health and the environment.”
The 2013 MS4 permit reissuance is the result of an extensive stakeholder process spanning more than three years and including more than 24 stakeholder meetings, two public notice periods and substantial permit modifications. The MPCA Citizens’ Board unanimously approved the permit reissuance on Tuesday, May 21, 2013.
Each phase of the MS4 program is meant to include additional conditions for managing stormwater. The 2013 permit reissuance is no exception and contains a number of improvements and changes from the 2006 permit. Municipalities reauthorized to discharge stormwater under the recently reissued permit will be required to update their existing stormwater programs to include practices that will better protect Minnesota’s water resources. Some of these practices include:
Impaired waters
Preventing or reducing the discharge of specific pollutants identified as causing or contributing to a water quality impairment, as defined by the EPA-approved Total Maximum Daily Load studies.
Illegal discharges
Mapping all storm sewer pipes between 12 inches and 24 inches in diameter to better facilitate tracking, investigating and eliminating illegal discharges and training all field employees to recognize and report illegal discharges.
Erosion and sediment control
Updating local erosion and sediment control programs to be at least as stringent as the statewide standards established by the MPCA.
Construction
Ensuring developers and contractors implement stormwater control measures that mimic natural conditions (infiltration, evapotranspiration, water reuse, etc.) so that post-construction stormwater runoff volume is not greater than pre-construction runoff volume
Finish Line Pays $157,000 for Noncompliant Chain Lubricant
Finish Line Technologies, Inc., a leading manufacturer of bicycle chain lubricants and other bicycle maintenance products, has agreed to pay a penalty of $157,000 for violating consumer products regulations that protect air quality, the Air Resources Board announced.
The Hauppauge, New York-based company agreed to pay the penalty as part of an April 15 negotiated settlement agreement to resolve allegations by the Air Resources Board that multiple products manufactured by Finish Line exceeded state limits for volatile organic compounds.
These compounds are regulated by the Air Resources Board because they react with other pollutants under sunlight to form ground-level ozone, a main ingredient in smog. As a result of direct sales to consumers, the products in question contributed an estimated 12.3 tons of excess volatile organic compounds to California’s air.
During routine inspections at retail outlets in California in 2009 and 2010, enforcement division staff purchased multiple products made by Finish Line, which makes a number of bicycle maintenance products, from bicycle chain lubricants to drivetrain degreasers.
The products were tested by ARB’s laboratory and found to have exceeded the limits for volatile organic compounds for their respective product categories.
Finish Line cooperated with the investigation and quickly reformulated its products to comply with the regulation. As part of the settlement, Finish Line also agreed not to sell, supply, or offer for sale for use in California, any consumer products in violation of ARB consumer products regulations.
Pier 1 Imports Inc. and its Manufacturer Scent Shop Inc. Pay $138,000 Fine
Housewares retailer Pier 1 Imports, Inc., and perfume maker Scent Shop, Inc., have paid a penalty of $138,000 for violating consumer products regulations that protect air quality, the California Air Resources Board announced.
The products were manufactured by Scent Shop, a Garland, Texas-based company, and sold under the Pier 1 brand name between 2009 and 2011.
Testing revealed that the products exceeded an 18% by weight volatile organic compound (VOC) limit set under Air Resources Board regulations for liquid air fresheners. The Air Resources Board regulates these compounds because they react with other pollutants under sunlight to form ground-level ozone, a key ingredient in smog.
Many common household products, such as air fresheners and cosmetics, contain compounds that contribute to unhealthy smog. “Its important that retailers only stock and sell products that adhere to ARB regulations limiting the amount of these compounds,” said James Ryden, ARB’s Enforcement Division Chief.
In addition to the reed diffuser air fresheners manufactured by Scent Shop, other air fresheners and a fabric protectant manufactured abroad and imported by Pier 1 also were found to be out of compliance with air quality regulations. The imported products were also sold under the Pier 1 brand name.
In all, the Air Resources Board estimated that direct sales of the non-compliant products to consumers in California by Pier 1 resulted in 7 tons of excess emissions of the smog-forming compounds.
As part of the settlement, Pier 1 agreed it would not sell, supply or offer for sale for use in California any consumer product in violation of the state’s consumer products regulations as part of an effort to reduce air pollution and smog.
Consumer products such as detergents, garden products, and cosmetics, are a significant source of VOCs. ARB investigators regularly purchase samples of regulated consumer products from stores across the state. They then inspect them for compliance with registration and dating requirements and send the products to the laboratory for testing.
Draft Air Permit for Cleveland Public Power’s Proposed Gasification Plant
An air permit for a proposed municipal solid waste gasification plant in Cleveland will be the focus of a June 12, 2013, public meeting. Ohio EPA and the Cleveland Division of Air Quality (CDAQ) will hold the information session and public hearing beginning at 6 p.m. at the Estabrook Recreation Center, 4125 Fulton Road, Cleveland.
The meeting is an opportunity for citizens to ask questions and submit comments concerning a draft air permit issued to Cleveland Public Power—Ridge Road to construct a waste-to-energy facility at 3727 Ridge Road. The facility would house three municipal solid waste gasifer processing lines to produce syngas. The syngas would be burned in a furnace to produce heat, which in turn would be converted to steam in a heat recovery steam generator.
The draft permit places limits on emissions to ensure compliance with state clean air standards and protect public health. It requires continuously monitoring emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and opacity. It also requires initial and annual stack testing. Air emissions would be controlled using a baghouse, selective catalytic reduction and a wet flue-gas desulfurization scrubber system.
Citizens may testify at the public hearing or submit comments in writing to: Cleveland Division of Air Quality, Attn: David Hearne, 75 Erieview Plaza, Suite 200, Cleveland, OH, 44114. The public comment period ends June 19, 2013. A decision on issuing a final permit will be made after considering all questions and comments submitted by that date.
King County Fined for Sewage Spills in Snohomish County
The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has fined King County $22,000 for eleven wastewater spills last fall and winter from a pipeline located in Snohomish County.
The spills occurred from November 2012 through January 2013 along approximately 4,000 feet of pipeline between Mill Creek and northern Bothell. This portion of the 43 year-old line is a known pinch point in the system that cannot handle the significant quantities of surface and groundwater that enter from inward leaks during rainstorms.
The discharges may have totaled approximately 10 million gallons. The untreated wastewater flowed into a wetland in Centennial Park and to North Creek. Wastewater also backed up into two homes near Thrasher’s Corner.
“King County took responsibility by responding to each incident, and has taken steps to avoid this problem in the future,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, Ecology’s regional water quality program manager. “Nevertheless, King County clearly understands that this spill presented environmental risks and the need for remedial action to address possible environmental harm to the wetland and receiving waters.”
The pipeline, called the North Creek Interceptor, carries wastewater from Mill Creek, Thrashers Corner, Canyon Park and Bothell, with flow primarily coming from the Alderwood Water and Wastewater District. King County provides wastewater treatment for cities and sewer districts in parts of southern Snohomish County.
“Our mission is to protect public health and the environment, and taking steps to prevent additional overflows while we complete an upgrade to this aging portion of our regional conveyance system is our highest priority,” said King County Wastewater Treatment Division Director Pam Elardo.
King County plans to accelerate an upgrade and replacement project—originally set for 2017—to 2016. The county has taken temporary measures and is planning others to avoid overflows and prevent damage to homes if discharges occur in the meantime.
Since the overflows last fall and winter, King County has located and repaired several serious leaks and is continuing more priority work on tightening up the line. To protect homes in the area from potential sewage backups, King County has installed valves that can stop backflows and plans to install pumps to ensure wastewater from the residences flows to the sewer lines.
In case these measures fall short, King County also is designing a temporary system to pump excess flow via an overflow pipe past the area where the discharges occurred. Additional metering will alert King County wastewater system crews when water levels begin to rise in the sewer system. These measures will remain in effect until King County completes the permanent upgrade project.
In response to the incidents last fall and winter, King County provided temporary living accommodations for the occupants of one of the affected homes and professional cleanup and disinfection for both of the damaged houses. The county organized cleanup of the overflow sites after each spill, and posted warnings to the public to avoid contact with the waters. The county paid for and conducted water quality testing to determine when to remove the warnings.
Ecology considered these response measures in setting the penalty amount. Ecology penalties may be appealed to the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board.
Training on California Diesel Vehicle Regulations
The California Air Resources Board is offering the following free training courses in June-July. These courses will help diesel vehicle owners and operators, brokers, dealers, maintenance personnel, and fleet managers understand requirements and technologies for complying with California’s diesel vehicle regulations.
June 26, Sacramento and Webinar (9:00-12:00)
July 10, Lompoc (8:30am-3:30 pm)
July 11, Ventura (8:00am-3:00 pm)
June 4, Anderson (5:30-8:00 pm)
June 5, Sacramento (5:30-8:00 pm)
June 3, Truckee (1:00-4:30 pm)
June 10, Sacramento & Webinar (8:30 am-12:30 pm) June 14, Diamond Bar (9:00 am-12:30 pm) June 20, Greenville (1:00-4:30 pm) June 25, San Jose (1:00-4:30 pm) June 26, San Leandro (9:00 am-12:30 pm)
Environmental News Links
Trivia Question of the Week
Approximately how much clean drinking water leaks from aging water supply pipes in the US?
a. 1 of every 600 gallons
b. 1 of every 60 gallons
c. 1 of every 6 gallons
d. 1 of every 3 gallons