The former owner of the country’s largest asbestos abatement training school was sentenced to prison, after having fled the US after her trial in November 2008. US District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton sentenced Albania Deleon, 41, formerly of Andover, Massachusetts, to 87 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and $369,015 to AIM Mutual Insurance Company. No level of exposure to asbestos is safe, so removal by untrained workers, performed without the necessary safeguards, threatens the health of those workers and the public.
“Today’s sentence marks the final chapter in bringing Albania Deleon to justice,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Committing environmental crimes to make a profit that put workers and our communities at risk carry serious consequences.”
“Today, justice was served, and Albania Deleon has finally faced the consequences of her crimes. I hope that this sentence sends a strong message to anyone who might contemplate fleeing to avoid punishment, that we do not give up on fugitives, and we will take all necessary means and resources to apprehend and prosecute them,” said US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.
In November 2008, following a three-week trial, Deleon was convicted of a broad range of charges including that she sold training certificates to thousands of illegal aliens who had not taken the mandatory training course. Deleon then placed these unqualified individuals in temporary employment positions as certified asbestos abatement workers in public buildings throughout Massachusetts and New England. Deleon was also convicted of encouraging illegal aliens to reside in the US, making false statements about matters within the jurisdiction of the EPA, procuring false payroll tax returns, and mail fraud.
From approximately 2001 to 2006, Deleon owned and operated Environmental Compliance Training (ECT), a certified asbestos training school located in Methuen, Massachusetts. ECT normally offered training courses on a weekly basis at its Methuen offices, however, many of the recipients of the certificates never took the required course. Instead, with Deleon’s knowledge and approval, ECT’s office employees issued certificates of course completion to thousands of individuals who did not take the course. These individuals filed the certificates with the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety in order to be authorized to work in the asbestos removal industry. Many of the recipients were illegal aliens who wished to skip the four-daylong course so that they would not forego a week’s pay.
Since ECT’s training course records were subject to inspection, Deleon sought to cover up ECT’s practice of issuing certificates to untrained applicants by having the applicants sign final examination answer sheets that already had been completed and graded, which she maintained in ECT’s files. Based on the evidence at trial and information supplied by the Division of Occupation Safety, ECT issued training certificates to over 2,000 untrained individuals.
Deleon is the fifth environmental criminal captured since the EPA fugitive website was launched in December 2008.
Safety Consultant/Trainer
Environmental Resource Center has a new opening for a safety consultant and auditor. We are looking for a former OSHA CSHO, OSHA trainer, or state inspector for this position in our Cary, North Carolina, office. Applicants should have excellent writing and speaking skills and be willing to travel 7–14 days per month. We are looking for an expert in all of the General Industry and Construction standards who is capable of performing audits of industrial facilities as well as conducting on-site training.
Strong consideration will be given to applicants who also have experience providing Hazwoper, Hazcom, lockout/tagout, confined spaces, and machine guarding training.
The position includes maintenance of training materials (books and presentations), working on consulting projects, development of classes and computer-based training programs, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
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Waste Management LampTracker, Inc. to Pay $118,800 Penalty for Hazardous Waste Violations
Waste Management LampTracker, Inc., has agreed to pay a $118,800 civil penalty to the US to settle a series of violations of its Missouri Hazardous Waste Permit and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) at its permitted Kaiser, Missouri, facility and a nearby unpermitted materials staging area.
Waste Management LampTracker, which collects and recycles universal waste lamps, mercury containing equipment, and batteries at its facility in Kaiser, was inspected by EPA Region 7 in August 2010, according to an administrative consent agreement filed by the Agency in Kansas City, Kansas. EPA inspected the company’s main Kaiser facility at 415 Kaiser Industrial Drive, and an unpermitted materials staging area located less than a mile away.
After the inspection, EPA issued a notice of violation to the company, citing multiple issues with inadequate waste container management, inadequate facility management, and failures to comply with universal waste requirements.
Specific violations included failure to maintain adequate aisle space in storage areas, failures to close and label hazardous waste containers, failure to close universal waste containers, failure to sample crushed glass to test for mercury levels, and issues with employee training documentation, job description documentation, and the facility’s emergency contingency plan.
By agreeing to the settlement with EPA, Waste Management LampTracker has certified that its Kaiser operations are now in compliance with all requirements of RCRA and its Missouri Hazardous Waste Permit.
New Technology for Recovering Valuable Minerals from Waste Rock
Researchers report discovery of a completely new technology for more efficiently separating gold, silver, copper, and other valuable materials from rock and ore.
Robert Pelton and colleagues explain that companies use a technique termed froth flotation to process about 450 million tons of minerals each year. The process involves crushing the minerals into small particles, and then floating the particles in water to separate the commercially valuable particles from the waste rock. The water contains “collector” substances that can attach to the valuable particles, causing them to repel water and rise to the bubbling top of the water where they can be easily skimmed off.
The researchers demonstrated an entirely new type of collector technology, consisting of water-repelling nanoparticles. In laboratory experiments using glass beads to simulate actual mineral particles, they showed that the nanoparticles attached so firmly to the beads that flotation produced a recover rate of almost 100%.
Air Pollution Caused by Ships Plummets When Vessels Shift to Cleaner Fuels
The study examined a container ship operating under a 2009 California regulation requiring that ships switch to low-sulfur fuels as they approach the California coast, and also adhering to a voluntary state slowdown policy, intended to reduce pollution. The research team found that emissions of several health-damaging pollutants, including sulfur dioxide and particulate matter, dropped by as much as 90%.
Findings of this study could have national and global significance, as new international regulations by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) require vessels to switch to lower-sulfur fuel near US and international coasts beginning in 2012. The research team found reductions in emissions even where none were expected, meaning even greater reductions in air pollution, and associated respiratory health effects in humans, than regulators originally estimated.
“This study gives us a sense of what to expect in the future, for the people of California, the nation, and even the globe,” said Daniel Lack, chemist with NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. “This really is where science gets fun—a study with first-rate institutions, equipment and people, probing the effects of policy. It’s important to know that the imposed regulations have the expected impacts. The regulators want to know, the shipping companies want to know, and so do the people.”
In May 2010, a NOAA research aircraft flew over a commercial container ship, Maersk Line’s Margrethe Maersk, about 40 miles off the coast of California. Researchers on the aircraft used sophisticated custom instruments to ‘sniff’ the ship’s emissions before the ship switched to lower-sulfur fuels (by law, within 24 miles of the California coast) and slowed down voluntarily.
A few days later, scientists aboard the NOAA-sponsored Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s research vessel Atlantis sampled emissions of the same ship as it cruised slowly within the low-sulfur regulated zone.
Sulfur dioxide levels, which were expected to drop, did do so, plummeting 91% from 49 grams of emissions per kilogram of fuel to 4.3 grams. Sulfur dioxide is best known as a precursor to acid rain, but can degrade air quality in other ways, directly and indirectly through chemical reactions in the atmosphere. In particular, emissions of sulfur dioxide lead to formation of particulate matter in the atmosphere which poses serious public health concerns.
Particulate matter pollution, regulated because it can damage people’s lungs and hearts, dropped 90% from 3.77 grams of emissions per kg of fuel to 0.39 grams.
Unexpectedly, black carbon levels also dropped, cut by 41%, the team reported. Black carbon comprises dark-colored particles that can warm the atmosphere and also degrade air quality.
In 2009, the US EPA and its Canadian equivalent, Environment Canada, estimated that shifting to low-sulfur fuels near coasts could save as many as 8,300 lives per year in those two countries, and ease the acute respiratory symptoms faced by another 3 million. But that 2009 assessment did not include the observed drops in several pollutant categories that Lack and his colleagues found, so the authors suggest the impacts could be greater.
Finally, the new paper discusses the net radiative (warming vs. cooling) effect of the ship’s fuel switch. Changes in the emissions of various air pollutants—some which have a warming effect, others which have cooling effects—likely mean net warming.
“These scientific findings clearly demonstrate that ships off our coast now emit significantly less sulfur pollution than in the past,” said California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary D. Nichols. “This is good news for California and for the nation. When the federal regulations kick in for ships to use low-sulfur fuel, communities throughout America that live near shipping lanes and next to ports will see clean air benefits.”
The new paper, Impact of Fuel Quality Regulation and Speed Reductions on Shipping Emissions: Implications for Climate and Air Quality, is available at the Environmental Science & Technology website. Lack’s 28 co-authors are from 10 research institutions from both the US and Canada.
Landfill to Pay $70,000 Penalty to Resolve Air Quality Violations at its Yuma County Facility
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and Arizona Attorney General’s Office announced that South Yuma County Landfill, LLC (SYCL) has agreed to pay a $70,000 penalty for failure to obtain an air quality permit at its municipal solid waste landfill in Yuma County from 2000 until 2009.
SYCL was cited after a 2009 ADEQ inspection determined that it underestimated the amount of methane and other gases released when it calculated its design capacity and amount of waste it would be receiving at the landfill, located 25 miles southwest of Yuma on the Mexican border.
The design capacity calculation determines if a facility is subject to federal air pollution requirements for municipal solid waste facilities. Facilities over a certain size must obtain a major source air permit, which contains provisions for monitoring the level of gas generation associated with decomposing waste.
Municipal solid waste facilities generate methane and non-methane organic compounds as waste decomposes. The methane and non-methane gases can pose a surface or subsurface fire risk, if enough gas is generated by the waste. Municipal solid waste facilities that are subject to the federal regulations are required to monitor the level of gas being generated on-site to prevent fires from occurring.
On January12, 2010, SYCL was issued an air quality permit for the landfill and returned to compliance.
“Landfill companies need to do the proper pre-planning to insure that they have environmental compliance,” ADEQ Director Henry Darwin said. “But the landfill came into compliance promptly after the violation was identified.”
“Arizona companies must comply with the requirements that protect our air quality,” said Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne. “This settlement is a reasonable resolution for a company that operated improperly.”
Tacoma Shipbuilder Settles Stormwater Penalty
The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) recently settled a dispute over a water quality penalty the agency issued J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding (J.M. Martinac) in January 2010.
Ecology agreed to reduce the penalty to $17,000 as long as the Tacoma-based shipbuilder completes a berming and paving project that will ensure all of the site’s stormwater is sent to the company’s new stormwater treatment system.
“Ecology was impressed by how quickly J.M. Martinac responded to address the problem by building its own stormwater treatment system, which has proven effective for removing pollutants from their runoff,” said Kelly Susewind, who manages Ecology’s Water Quality Program.
Ecology initially penalized J.M. Martinac $50,000 for stormwater discharges that had greater amounts of zinc and copper than the shipbuilder’s Clean Water Act (CWA) permit allows. Ecology notified the company of the violations on seven separate occasions but didn’t see any steps taken to correct the problems.
The company requested Ecology reconsider the $50,000 penalty in light of additional facts, including its installation of a new stormwater treatment system. Ecology responded by reducing the penalty to $34,000. Despite the reduction, J.M. Martinac appealed to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board. Settlement talks ahead of the appeal hearing led to this agreement.
Because Ecology and J.M. Martinac reached the settlement, the Pollution Control Hearings Board has dismissed the company’s appeal.
J.M. Martinac’s Vice President Jonathan Platt said, “J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. is pleased that this issue has been resolved, and we appreciate the Department of Ecology’s willingness to work with us to create this fair settlement.”
Ecology credits the company’s new stormwater treatment system for helping the company now meet its permit limits regularly.
J.M. Martinac has up to a year to pay the reduced penalty and to complete the paving and berming project.
Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Lowest Extent for 2011
The blanket of sea ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean appears to have reached its lowest extent for the year. Arctic sea ice extent fell to 4.33 million square kilometers (1.67 million square miles) on September 9, 2011. This year’s minimum was the second lowest in the satellite record, which started in 1979. The lowest extent was recorded in 2007.
Over the last thirty years, ice extent, a two-dimensional measure of the ice cover on the Arctic Ocean, has declined in all months, with a more pronounced drop in summer. Scientists attribute this decline in large part to climate change. Arctic sea ice melts and refreezes in an annual cycle, reaching its lowest point in late summer, and its highest point in late winter.
The site provides regular updates by NSIDC scientists on the condition of the Arctic sea ice.
Please note that this number is preliminary—changing winds could still push the ice extent lower. During the first week of October, NSIDC will issue a full analysis of the possible causes behind this year’s ice conditions, including a discussion of how the summer’s low ice extent may affect the winter ice growth season ahead, and graphics comparing this year to the long-term record.
Weak RGGI Auction Results Confirm Regional Program Not the Path Forward for Combating Climate Change
Less than 18% of the CO2 allowances offered for the current compliance period and none of the allowances for the next compliance period were sold at last week’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) auction, continuing the downward trend for demand. In four of the last five quarterly auctions, not all of the allowances offered were sold; in June, less than 30% sold. A statement from the New Jersey Department of Environment (NJ DEP) indicated that this confirms the Christie Administration’s reasons for withdrawing New Jersey from the regional program effective December 31, 2011.
“Climate change is real and it’s impacting our state, but RGGI is not the answer,” said NJ DEP Commissioner Bob Martin. “Fourteen laws enacted since the Global Warming Response Act authorized the State to join RGGI promote clean energy, provide significant market incentives for wind, solar and in-state natural gas generation, and provide broader results that benefit all ratepayers and all citizens.”
The results of the September 7 auction indicate that only 17.75% of the 42 million current control period CO2 allowances offered for sale regionally were sold. None of the 1.86 million future 2014 vintage CO2 allowances offered for sale regionally were sold. The clearing price for 2011 vintage CO2 allowances was $1.89, which is the reserve price. New Jersey offered for sale 5,524,735 vintage 2011 CO2 allowances and did not offer any vintage 2014 CO2 allowances. A CO2 allowance represents a limited authorization to emit one short ton of CO2 by a power plant regulated under the New Jersey CO2 Budget Trading Program or under the corresponding programs in the nine other RGGI participating states.
Before making the decision to withdraw from RGGI, the Christie Administration conducted an analysis of RGGI and found that the program has not been effective in reducing greenhouse gases and is unlikely to be effective in the future.
The cost of RGGI allowances was never high enough to change behavior and drive different choices, as it was intended to do. The cost of allowances has remained at the floor price, with no significant secondary market. At the same time, New Jersey’s carbon emissions are already below the goals for 2020 established by New Jersey’s Global Warming Response Act. The “Statewide Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory for 2008”—based upon the most recent data available, and prior to the implementation of RGGI—found that the market, not RGGI, has created incentives to reduce the use of carbon-based fuels. Greenhouse gas emissions are down in New Jersey due to increased use of natural gas and decreased use of coal.
The NJ DEP statement indicated that Christie Administration has continued its commitment to combating climate change and developing clean, in-state energy sources. In June—the same month that New Jersey reached a milestone 10,000 solar arrays statewide—Governor Christie introduced a greener and more affordable vision for the use, management, and development of energy in New Jersey over the next decade and beyond. The draft Energy Master Plan establishes a path for the Administration to manage energy in a way that promotes renewable sources of energy, saves money, stimulates the economy and job creation, and protects the environment.
Fort Belvoir to Pay Civil Penalty for Environmental Violations
US Army Garrison in Fort Belvoir has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $33,076 and complete a project costing at least $310,000 to settle alleged violations of federal environmental laws. The Fort is located at 9820 Flagler Road, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The settlement addresses storage and record-keeping violations related to hazardous waste, underground storage tanks, and clean air requirements.
EPA alleged that the Army installation:
- Did not comply with all of the measures required for proper management of hazardous waste;
- Failed to have adequate release detection with respect to piping associated with underground storage tanks;
- Operated an incinerator at temperatures below the minimum allowed; and
- Failed to maintain adequate service records regarding appliances containing 50 or more lb of ozone depleting refrigerants.
As a condition of the settlement, the Army will convert or replace six refrigeration units with units that use environmentally-friendly refrigerants. This project will cost at least $310,000. As part of the settlement, the Army did not admit liability for the alleged violations.
EPA Add 15 Sites to Superfund List, Proposes 11 Sites for Action
Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country with the goal of protecting people’s health and the environment through long-term and short-term cleanup activities.
To date, 1,652 sites have been listed on the NPL. Of these sites, 350 sites have been cleaned up, resulting in 1,302 sites currently on the NPL (including the 15 new sites). There are 62 proposed sites (including the 11 new sites) awaiting final agency action.
With all NPL sites, EPA works to identify companies or people responsible for the contamination at a site, and require them to conduct or pay for the cleanup. For the newly listed sites without viable potentially responsible parties, EPA will investigate the full extent of the contamination before starting significant cleanup at the site. Therefore, it may be several years before significant EPA clean up funding is required for these sites.
The following 15 sites have been added to the National Priorities List:
- Blue Ledge Mine (abandoned mine) in Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest, California
- New Idria Mercury Mine (abandoned mercury mine) in Idria, California
- Armstrong World Industries (ceiling tile manufacturer) in Macon, Georgia
- Sandoval Zinc Company (former zinc smelter) in Sandoval, Illinois
- Gary Development Landfill (former landfill) in Gary, Indiana
- Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp – Columbus (former pressure-treated railroad products manufacturer) in Columbus, Mississippi
- Red Panther Chemical Company (former pesticides formulation plant) in Clarksdale, Mississippi
- Horton Iron and Metal (former fertilizer manufacturer and metal salvage) in Wilmington, North Carolina
- Garfield Ground Water Contamination (contaminated ground water plume) in Garfield, New Jersey
- Chevron Questa Mine (molybdenum mine) in Questa, New Mexico
- New Cassel/Hicksville Ground Water Contamination (contaminated ground water plume) in Hicksville, Hempstead, and North Hempstead, New York
- North Ridge Estates (former WWII medical facility) in Klamath Falls, Oregon
- US Finishing/Cone Mills (former textile operation) in Greenville, South Carolina
- Alamo Contaminated Ground Water (contaminated ground water plume) in Alamo, Tennessee
- Falcon Refinery (inactive refinery) in Ingleside, Texas
The following 11 sites have been proposed to the National Priorities List:
- Jervis B. Webb Co. (former manufacturer) in South Gate, California
- Seam Master Industries (adhesive manufacturer) in South Gate, California
- Continental Cleaners (former dry cleaners) in Miami, Florida
- Leeds Metal (former scrap metal facility) in Leeds, Maine
- Compass Plaza Well TCE (contaminated ground water plume) in Rogersville, Missouri
- Eighteenmile Creek (contaminated creek) in Niagra County, New York
- Southeastern Wood Preserving (former wood treating operation) in Canton, Mississippi
- Metro Container Corporation (former drum recycler) in Trainer, Pennsylvania
- Corozal Well (contaminated ground water plume) in Corozal, Puerto Rico
- US Oil Recovery (used oil recovery facility) in Pasadena, Texas
- Bremerton Gasworks (former gasworks facility) in Bremerton, Washington
Brand FX Body to Replace Use of Solvent and Pay $11,021 Penalty for Hazardous Waste Violations
SNF, Inc., doing business as the Brand FX Body Company, of Pocahontas, Iowa, has agreed to pay a $11,021 civil penalty to the US, and spend an additional $61,715 on a supplemental environmental project, to settle a series of violations of federal hazardous waste regulations.
According to an administrative consent agreement filed by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kansas, Brand FX’s supplemental environmental project will involve replacing the hazardous chemical acetone used at the Pocahontas facility with a non-hazardous product, Acrastrip.
Brand FX, which manufactures fiberglass service bodies for utility trucks, was inspected by EPA in May 2010. That inspection cited several RCRA violations.
Those violations included failure to conduct a hazardous waste determination, operation of a hazardous waste facility without a RCRA permit or interim status, failure to comply with universal waste requirements, and a series of failures to comply with hazardous waste generator requirements, including several issues or deficiencies related to the company’s emergency contingency plan.
“This case illustrates how EPA’s civil enforcement authority can yield positive outcomes that aren’t measured by the amounts of penalties or injunctive relief,” EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks said. “By proposing and agreeing to switch to the use of a non-hazardous chemical in its manufacturing, this company has taken steps to make its operations safer not just for employees, but for the surrounding community, as well.”
By agreeing to the settlement with EPA, Brand FX has certified that its Pocahontas operations are now in compliance with all requirements of RCRA.
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Trivia Question of the Week
Of the following, who has not been an Administrator of the EPA?
a. Lee Thomas
b. Michael Leavitt
c. Anne Gorsuch
d. Barry Commoner
