Professionals in the healthcare industry must register to edit and contribute new information to the wiki, pending EPA’s approval. Anyone may view the Wiki without registering. This project will foster compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in the healthcare industry by aiding that first crucial step in managing hazardous waste: determining that the waste is indeed a hazardous waste.
GHS Worker Training PowerPoint Now Available
With OSHA’s adoption of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labeling of hazardous chemicals, virtually every chemical label, MSDS—now called Safety Data Sheet (SDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard.
By December 1, 2013, all employees at your site that work with, or are exposed to, hazardous chemicals must be trained to understand the new classification system, labels, warning statements, precautions, pictograms, and safety data sheets for chemicals at your worksite.
Environmental Resource Center is making available a PDF presentation or a customizable PowerPoint that you can use for on-site worker training. The training program, which covers all of OSHA’s required GHS Hazard Communication training requirements, is in a format that is easy to understand.
Pricing and options:
Options:
- Customized PowerPoint: send us your written GHS hazard communication plan and 10–20 safety data sheets. We’ll create a custom training program for your site: $899
- If you have not updated your hazard communication plan, let Environmental Resource Center update it for you: $799
- Customized PowerPoint and hazard communication plan: $1600
* $99 per license. Reproductions of the presentation may not be made without authorization.
Newark and 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, MSDS (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.
EPA Fines Lamp Recycler More Than $70,000 for PCB Violations
EPA announced a settlement with Lighting Resources, LLC, for $71,500 for violations relating to its handling of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at its Phoenix, Arizona, recycling facility.
“Exposure to PCBs is a concern whenever facilities are handling materials containing these toxic chemicals,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “Our goal is to safeguard worker health and nearby communities by ensuring that Lighting Resources takes the necessary steps to improve the safety of their recycling and disposal practices.”
The facility is permitted under the Toxic Substances Control Act () to manage and store PCB wastes. Separate permits allow the facility to recycle fluorescent lamps and ballasts, batteries, electronic wastes, and mercury devices. The facility also manages non-PCB ballasts, phosphorous powders, aerosol cans, and mercury containing wastes. The company operates facilities in five states and is one of the nation’s largest ballast processors.
EPA inspections in 2008 and 2012 found that the Phoenix facility had not effectively decontaminated its PCB handling area, documented the transport and disposal of PCB-contaminated materials, or properly labeled PCB and hazardous waste containers.
PCBs are man-made organic chemicals used in paints, industrial equipment, plastics, and cooling oil for electrical transformers. More than 1.5 billion pounds of PCBs were manufactured in the US before the EPA banned the production of this chemical class in 1978, and many PCB-containing materials are still in use today.
When released into the environment, PCBs remain for decades. Tests have shown that PCBs cause cancer in animals and are suspected carcinogens in humans. Acute PCB exposure can also adversely affect the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems as well as liver function. Concerns about human health and the extensive presence and lengthy persistence of PCBs in the environment led Congress to enact TSCA in 1976.
$130,000,000 Partial Settlement Announced for Passaic River Litigation
New Jersey’s acting Attorney General John Hoffman and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin recently announced that several principal defendants in the Passaic River litigation have agreed to pay the state $130,000,000 to resolve a portion of the state’s claims related to contamination of the Passaic River. Since the state and the settling defendants technically remain in litigation, the state cannot comment on the terms of the proposed agreement.
The settling defendants are Spain-based oil and gas conglomerate Repsol, S.A; Argentina-based energy conglomerate YPF, S.A.; YPF Holdings, Inc. and YPF International; as well as CLH Holdings, Inc.; Maxus Energy Corporation; Maxus International Energy Company; and Tierra Solutions, Inc. The agreement follows a recently-announced $35,400,000 proposed settlement with 258 third-party defendants and, if approved by the court, will allow the state to immediately proceed with its claims against the principal defendant, Occidental Chemical Corporation (OCC), for the bulk of the state’s damages and future costs.
The state intends to pursue its liability claims against the one remaining non-settling principal defendant, OCC, for all future clean-up and removal costs related to contamination of the Passaic River. It also will pursue OCC for damages resulting from the intentional discharge of Agent Orange, dioxins, and other hazardous substances by the former Diamond Shamrock plant. These costs and damages are separate from, and in addition to, the $130,000,000 received from the settling defendants.
In the summer of 2012, Judge Lombardi entered a judgment against OCC, holding it liable for all of the state’s clean-up and removal costs because OCC is the legal successor to Diamond Shamrock. In previous litigation, New Jersey’s Appellate Division determined that Diamond Shamrock intentionally dumped hazardous pollutants into the Passaic River for decades.
Under terms of the agreement announced, the settling defendants’ total exposure to all claims for Passaic River cleanup and removal costs and damages could go as high as $530,000,000, subject to certain conditions and exceptions.
The proposed settlement is scheduled to be published for public review and comment in the July 1 edition of the New Jersey Register. It is expected that, if the DEP approves the proposed settlement following the required administrative notice and public comment period, it will be presented to the Court for final judicial review and approval this fall.
The Passaic River litigation was launched by the state more than seven years ago against OCC and other companies associated with the former Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Company plant in Newark.
Diamond Shamrock manufactured pesticides and herbicides from the 1940s through the 1960s, including the infamous defoliating chemical Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Over a period of many years, the Diamond Shamrock plant discharged the known carcinogen dioxin, as well as other hazardous substances, into the Passaic River.
In March of this year, the state reached a $35.4 million proposed settlement with 258 third-party defendants in the Passaic River litigation. The state did not sue those settling third parties. They were brought into the case by two of the settling defendants—Maxus and Tierra—who argued that pollution of the Passaic River started more than two centuries ago, and that many public and private parties also contributed to its current condition, and should therefore be paying a share of the cleanup costs.
Notice of the state’s proposed settlement with third-party defendants was published in the May 6, 2013, edition of the New Jersey Register, and the public comment period on that proposed settlement closes July 5, 2013.
EPA is currently finalizing a detailed plan for the cleanup of the lower eight miles of the Passaic River.
MassDOT and Contractor Fined for Storm Water Permit Violations
A company hired under contract by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), J.H. Lynch & Sons, Inc., will pay a penalty of $55,000 in settlement for EPA allegations that they violated a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit at a road construction project in Bellingham, Massachusetts.
The permit requires the use of best management practices to prevent erosion and sedimentation of waterways that can result from construction activities.
MassDOT and J.H. Lynch & Sons allegedly failed to install and maintain best management practices sufficient to minimize discharge of pollutants to the Peters River and Arnolds Brook. During an inspection of the construction project, EPA observed insufficient storm water control measures and discharges of muddy storm water from the construction project discharging to both the Peters River and Arnolds Brook as a result of the absence of and the inadequacy of control measures.
J.H. Lynch & Sons will pay the $55,000 penalty and MassDOT has confirmed that the department has taken proactive steps to avoid this type of situation in the future.
Cold Storage Warehouse to Pay $50,000 in Penalties and Perform $160,000 in Environmental Projects Following Ammonia Release
EPA recently settled a case with Connecticut Freezers, Inc., and Maritime International, Inc., stemming from the release of approximately 5,000 lb of ammonia from a cold storage warehouse in New Haven, Connecticut.
The settlement requires a $50,000 penalty and performance of $160,000 worth of environmental projects, including trainings for other companies and emergency responders. This is one of many enforcement actions that EPA’s New England regional office has undertaken recently to improve safety at facilities with ammonia refrigeration systems.
Recently, EPA has found poor safety conditions at some refrigeration systems, leading to many compliance orders and penalty actions under the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) chemical accident prevention provisions. Since August 2012, EPA has issued six compliance orders to New England facilities and two penalty cases that each settled for more than $100,000.
“It is very important for companies using hazardous chemicals to understand the risks associated with their use of such chemicals and maintain a safe operation,” said regional administrator Curt Spalding. “We are optimistic that the trainings provided by this settlement will help companies manage their ammonia refrigeration systems more safely before EPA inspectors arrive or a release occurs that puts workers, the community, and emergency responders at risk.”
On May 25, 2011, corroded piping and brackets gave way under the 1 Brewery Street warehouse, resulting in an ammonia release. EPA issued compliance orders to ensure safety at this cold storage warehouse and others that the companies operate in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and East Hartford, Connecticut. The companies cooperated fully, spending over $100,000 to comply.
Subsequently, on September 26, 2012, EPA issued a penalty order alleging that the companies had failed to:
- Comply with the General Duty Clause of the CAA’s chemical accident prevention provisions;
- Comply with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) by not reporting the release in a timely fashion to the National Response Center; and
- Comply with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act () by failing to submit a timely follow-up notice to emergency responders following the release.
The final settlement includes a $50,000 penalty, which reflects the companies’ status as small businesses. It also requires the companies to install a state-of-the-art ammonia detection system at its East Harford facility with detectors in more places than the current system. This system will be integrated with emergency controls to shut down refrigeration machinery upon detecting certain concentrations of ammonia. Additionally, the companies will reduce the potential for ammonia releases at its New Bedford Bridge Terminal. Finally, the companies will hire a refrigeration expert to hold three training sessions for other ammonia refrigeration system operators and emergency responders in the New Bedford, New Haven, and Hartford areas. The training will address compliance with the General Duty Clause, industry standards of care, running a safe system, and responding appropriately to any accidents.
EPA Seeking Comment on Proposed Tier 3 Rule for Motor Vehicle and Fuel Standards
EPA recently proposed Tier 3 regulations for motor vehicle and fuel standards. The proposed Tier 3 rule would set tighter vehicle emissions standards and lower the sulfur content of gasoline, considering the vehicle and its fuel as an integrated system. These standards would result in reductions in pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, and air toxics. EPA invites the public to submit comments before the deadline of July 1, 2013.
Consultant to Serve Jail Time for Fraud against State’s UST Cleanup Fund
Kurt Kane Hayden, pled guilty in Santa Barbara Superior Court to one felony count of filing a false claim in the form of fraudulent bills submitted to the California State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Water Board) Underground Storage Tank (UST) Cleanup Fund (Cleanup Fund).
As part of the plea agreement, Hayden will repay the Cleanup Fund $1.6 million and serve 180 days in the county jail. In addition, Hayden will serve 3 years of probation, during which he will surrender his professional licenses and discontinue environmental remediation work. The case was prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney General on behalf of the People of the State of California. The investigation was conducted by the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Prevention (FWA) Unit within the State Water Board. The FWA Unit, originally a pilot project, was made permanent on April 1, 2013.
“The result of the Hayden case is a reflection of the Unit’s dedication and commitment to prosecuting individuals committing fraud against the Cleanup Fund,” said Cris Carrigan, Director of the Office of Enforcement. “Expect to see more prosecutions in the coming year.” This plea agreement resolves both the criminal and civil allegations against the Haydens and Hayden Environmental, Inc. Charges against co-owner and wife Julie Hayden have been dismissed.
Northampton Generating to Pay Nearly $120,000 for Air Quality Violations
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced that Northampton Generating Company, LP, will pay a $119,354 fine to the state’s Clean Air Fund as part of a consent assessment of civil penalty. The agreement resolves air emissions violations from late 2009 through the first half of 2012.
“The company is now in compliance,” DEP Northeast Regional Director Mike Bedrin said. “We set a high but fair bar for environmental compliance, which is how Pennsylvania has achieved significant improvements in air quality across the state in recent years.”
Northampton Generating, based in Northampton Borough, produces electricity using different types of fuel, including coal, ash, coke, and a fuel derived from tires. As part of its operating permit, the facility’s boiler is equipped with several continuous emission monitoring systems that provide data on carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and opacity. The company must regularly report the emissions data, which DEP reviews for compliance.
DEP confirmed in its review of the emissions data that the company submitted invalid data on a daily basis from April 1 to June 20, 2012. DEP also found the company had failed to meet emissions limits for carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide five times between the last quarter of 2009 and the second quarter of 2012.
Northampton Generating has paid two other civil penalties for air quality violations in the last five years, totaling $1,900. Those violations were related to boiler emissions and late filling of reports.
National Waste Clean LLC Pleads Guilty to Transporting Hazardous Waste without a Permit
Maryland’s Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has announced that National Waste Clean, LLC, a New Jersey-based company, has pleaded guilty in the District Court for Prince George’s County, Maryland, to transporting hazardous waste without a permit.
“Companies that haul hazardous waste are required to get permits because their load presents a potential risk to public safety,” said Attorney General Gansler. “We must be vigilant to ensure compliance with the law and do everything we can to keep Marylanders safe.”
The permitting violation was discovered in March 2012 while investigators from the Attorney General’s Environmental Crimes Unit were looking into separate hazardous waste violations of a dry cleaning business. During the initial probe, investigators learned that National Waste Clean was the normal hauler for the dry cleaner. The company picks up controlled hazardous waste products from clients in numerous states, including Maryland, and then transports those wastes to a licensed facility in Canada.
Any hauler of controlled hazardous substances in Maryland is required to be licensed by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). National Waste Clean was issued a one-year Controlled Hazardous Substances hauler permit in 2011. Although MDE sent multiple notices of the need to obtain a new permit, no renewal request was submitted by the hauler and the permit expired.
Despite the lack of a valid permit, National Waste Clean continued to pick up and transport hazardous waste materials in Maryland. Requiring valid permits and proper reporting are vital and necessary to track hazardous waste to ensure that it is being properly disposed and poses no danger to citizens. Evidence determined that the company properly disposed of the hazardous waste once picked up and has since obtained the proper permits.
District Court Judge John P. Morrissey sentenced the company, through its vice president, Dennis Ahn, to a $50,000 fine with all but $15,000 suspended and three years’ probation to ensure ongoing compliance with all regulations. The fine will be paid to the Maryland Hazardous Substance Control Fund.
City of Fergus Falls Pays Penalty, Cleans Up Hazardous Waste Debris from Incinerator Demolition
The city of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, has taken action to prevent environmental contamination resulting from the demolition of a municipal solid waste incinerator and has also paid a penalty to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for improper handling of demolition waste. The demolition waste was problematic because it was found to contain hazardous levels of cadmium and lead.
The city of Fergus Falls used the incinerator to burn municipal solid waste from 1987 to 2006. In 2009, the city hired a company to handle the demolition of the facility and the work began late that year.
In March and April 2010, the MPCA conducted inspections that determined that demolition debris had not been adequately evaluated for potential hazardous wastes. In the absence of proper evaluation, debris and equipment were contaminated with waste incinerator ash containing hazardous levels of cadmium and lead. Debris containing hazardous waste ash was being stored in unprotected areas where it could be carried by wind and storm water to bare soils and storm water drains.
Cleanup work began on the site in June 2010, and the city resumed the demolition project in April 2012, following a new remediation and demolition plan approved by the MPCA.
In addition to paying a $26,000 penalty, the city completed numerous actions to correct conditions at the site. Some cleanup and soil testing work remains to be done at the site.
US and Arkansas File Joint Complaint Against ExxonMobil for Pegasus Pipeline Oil Spill
The US and the state of Arkansas have filed a joint enforcement action against ExxonMobil Pipeline Company and Mobil Pipe Line Company (ExxonMobil) in federal district court in Little Rock, Arkansas. The complaint addresses ExxonMobil’s unlawful discharge of heavy crude oil from a 20-inch-diameter interstate pipeline—the Pegasus Pipeline—that ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas, on March 29, 2013.
As alleged in the complaint, a segment of the Pegasus Pipeline ruptured in a residential neighborhood in the town of Mayflower. The pipe was buried approximately two feet below the ground at that location. The oil spilled directly into the neighborhood and then into nearby waterways, including a creek, wetlands, and Lake Conway. Residents were forced to evacuate their homes due to the hazardous conditions in the neighborhood resulting from the spill. The oil has contaminated land and waterways and impacted human health and welfare, wildlife, and habitat. Cleanup efforts are still ongoing, and many residents still have not been able to return home.
The Pegasus Pipeline runs approximately 850 miles from Patoka, Illinois, to Nederland, Texas. The pipeline is used to transport Canadian heavy crude oil. The pipeline originally was constructed in the 1940s.
The complaint alleges six causes of action against the defendants. The US, on behalf of the EPA, seeks civil penalties and injunctive relief under the federal CWA for the oil spill. The state of Arkansas, on behalf of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) by the authority of the Arkansas Attorney General, seeks civil penalties for violations of the Arkansas Hazardous Waste Management Act and the Arkansas Water and Air Pollution Control Act. The state also seeks a declaratory judgment on ExxonMobil’s liability for payment of removal costs and damages related to the spill pursuant to the federal Oil Pollution Act.
Study Finds California’s Efforts to Clean Up Diesel Engines have Reduced Black Carbon
The study, funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and led by Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, estimates that reductions in black carbon as a result of clean air regulations were equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in California by 21 million metric tons annually, which is comparable to taking more than 4 million cars off California roads every year.
“We know that California’s programs to reduce emissions from diesel engines have helped clean up the air and protect public health,” said ARB chairman Mary D. Nichols. “This report makes it clear that our efforts to clean up the trucks and buses on our roads and highways also help us in the fight against climate change.”
Black carbon—tiny soot particles released into the atmosphere by burning fuels—has been linked to adverse health and environmental impacts through decades of scientific research. It is also one of the major short-lived contributors to climate change. The major sources of black carbon in California are diesel-burning mobile sources, residential wood burning in fireplaces and heaters, agricultural burning, and wildfires.
The 3-year-study titled, Black Carbon and Regional Climate of California, was conducted by UC San Diego and the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. It is the first comprehensive regional assessment of the climate impact of black carbon on California. In conducting the study, scientists used computer models and air pollution data collected by aircraft, satellite, and ground monitors.
The study’s results support a growing body of scientific evidence that suggests it is possible to immediately slow the pace of climate change regionally by reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants, like black carbon.
According to co-author Dr. Tom Kirchstetter of LBNL, black carbon levels have decreased by about 90% over a 45-year period, beginning with the establishment of CARB in 1967, mostly as a result of state regulations for diesel engine emissions. Researchers found the state’s efforts to reduce diesel emissions to have lessened the impact of global warming on California, supporting earlier theoretical computer modeling by Dr. Mark Jacobson of Stanford University that reducing black carbon from diesel combustion is a potent climate cooler.
The reductions occurred during a time when diesel fuel consumption increased by about a factor of five, attesting to the effectiveness of CARB regulations requiring cleaner fuels and vehicle technology.
The study took a conservative approach in examining the impact black carbon has on the state. Researchers considered emissions only from diesel-powered trucks and buses, and off-road diesel equipment and vehicles to estimate the equivalent reduction of carbon dioxide.
When all sources of black carbon emissions from diesel fuel combustion are considered, including farming and construction equipment, and trains and ships, the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions can be as high as 50 million metric tons per year over the past 20 years. That’s roughly equal to a 13% reduction in the total annual carbon dioxide emissions in California.
As CARB’s current efforts to clean up trucks and buses move forward, resulting in the continued cleanup and turnover of older heavy-duty diesel vehicles, California should continue to see declines in particulate matter emissions. Advanced engine emissions control systems and filters are expected to dramatically reduce emissions from all new diesel engines. Current diesel truck engines, for example, are over 90% cleaner than models from years when they were unregulated.
“If California’s efforts in reducing black carbon can be replicated globally, we can slow down global warming in the coming decades by about 15 percent, in addition to protecting people’s lives,” Ramanathan said. “It is a win-win solution if we also mitigate carbon dioxide emissions simultaneously.”
Black carbon has the effect of warming the atmosphere because it is effective at absorbing sunlight. However, it is emitted together with a range of other particle pollutants, including organic carbon, sulfur and other chemicals, some of which have a cooling effect, typically by reflecting sunlight. Reducing diesel emissions can therefore lead to a reduction of both warming and cooling particles. The report, however, is the first to confirm, based on both observations and computer modeling, that the warming effect of black carbon dominates, overwhelming any cooling effect of other pollutants. This confirms the positive impact reducing diesel emissions has on fighting climate change.
Other findings of the study include:
- Evidence to link brown carbon—a form of organic carbon aerosols—to warming. Therefore, a commonly held view that organic particles from wildfires primarily reflect sunlight, and cause cooling, was not supported by the study.
- A finding that black carbon particles increased the number of drops of water in clouds, while decreasing the size of those drops, a condition that can reduce or delay rain.
EPA Orders Stop Sale on Antibacterial H-42 Clipper Cleaner
EPA has issued a Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Order (SSURO) to Hampton Manufacturing, Inc., located in Fayetteville, Georgia, to stop the sale of Antibacterial H-42 Clean Clippers, a pesticide used to kill bacteria and HIV-1 (AIDS virus) on cutting tools such as clipper blades, shears, and manicure implements.
The SSURO was issued to Hampton Manufacturing, Inc., for selling and distributing a pesticide that was misbranded and whose composition differed from the stated percentage of active ingredient in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Specifically, testing revealed that the pesticide contained less than the stated amount of the active ingredient. Additionally, some labels had directions for use of the product in a spray application. The only directions for use, approved by the EPA, require the clipper blades, shears, and manicure implements to be placed directly into the liquid product.
Before selling or distributing any pesticide in the US, companies must register the pesticide formulation and label with the EPA. Each producer, seller, and distributor is required, under federal law, to ensure that the registered pesticide is formulated and labeled in accordance with EPA requirements.
EPA is committed to ensuring that pesticides in the marketplace meet FIFRA requirements, since the public cannot readily ascertain the effectiveness of antimicrobial pesticides. Due to the possibility of human health implications if the pesticides are not effective, EPA continues to place a priority on actions regarding non-complying antimicrobial pesticides.
FIFRA is the federal law that requires the registration of pesticide products and pesticide-production facilities, and the proper labeling of pesticides for the protection of public health and the environment through ensuring safe production, handling, and application of pesticides as well as by preventing false or misleading product claims.
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Trivia Question of the Week
Approximately how much oil leaks from pipelines in the US per year?
a. 35,000 gallons
b. 350,000 gallons
c. 3,500,000 gallons
d. 35,000,000 gallons