Resident Ronald Reagan and Prime Minkter Brian Muhney of Canada have endorsed the acid rain report prepmi by Drew Lewis of the United Stales and William Davis of Canada. The report became available in January. In a change of aairude, the United States is now endorsing the report’s recommendsti00 for spending $5 billion on a fiveyear program to demonstrate clean coal-burning technology. Although half of the funds would come from the federal government and the other half would come from industry,it is unclear where the money would come hwn specifically, at a time when Congress and the administratiw are seehng ways to reduce the federal deficit. The report on acid rain ncommends no emission conwl standards or other mandatory con-
M ~ l n m e yEndorses : acid rain jmc:
A world ofpidplwarnsthat fhihmtOdealwiththe* mental mmequenc~~ of irrigation could impair agricultural production because of destruction of the resource base. G.Edward Schuh, director of agriculture and mal developnkent for the World Bank, wrote in the Feb. 13, 1986, issue of Bunk News that aquifers may depleted or contaminated salt as a result of unwise use of
o m e r , lmgatlon water can
harbor organisms causing or carrying diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis. Schuh recommended consideratiw of imgation project d e signs that will reduce the incidence of disease and alleviate many other problems; he added that in most cases,technical solutions exist or cz
Tbe congressional m iof Mnologv Assessment (OTA) has warned that most first responders to accidents involving hazardous materials have little or no training in dealing with such situations. A report releaxd March 11 states that no ~ t i o n aguidelines l for training emergency responders are in place and the numerous training programs that do exist are madequate. The agency called for the establishment of Mtional guidelines for first responders, most of whom are local police or firefighters. The report also says that many localities will need federal financial assistance to establish and maintain adequate response capabil ties and to nain first responders ProFrlY. EPA has deleted eight Superfund sites hwn its National Priority ust. The agency announced last February that “all appropriate action had been taken at six of the sites to eliminate risks to those living in their vicinity” TWO other sites required no further action a k r investigation was completed. La$ December, EPA announced its intent to delete the sites in areas in New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, American Samoa, the l u s t Territory of the Pacific, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The federal government should estaMish a program to compensate citizem Suaering hwn asbestosrelated diseaser, regardless of who is responsible, according to the results of a survey conducted in December by American Viewpoint (Alexandria, Va.). The results were reported Feb. IO. Of 1041 citkns 18 years of age or older, 62 96 said
that Congress should pass legislation that would provide federal funds to asbestos disease victims. The proposed law would establish a system to guarantee prompt and fair compensation to workers injured by asbestos. Government agencies and industry would have to contribute to h e degree that each contributed to causing the illnesses. Asbestos has been blamed for lung cancers and for noncancerous diseases of the lung, such as asbestosis.
EPA has im@ several stringent conditioas fnr approval of the use of ethylene d i b d d e (EDB)for fumigating citrus shipped to Japan. Although the use of EDB is prohibited as a fumigant for citrus consumed in the United States, Japan requires all citrus it imports to be treated with the compound. EDB fumigation facilities-mostly in norida-must be monitored daily. Work- e a will have to wear selfcontained breathing apparatus and drive closedcab tractors and forklifts. These restrictions will remain in force until : the end of the 1988-89 citrus harvest season, after which EDB use will reevaluated. EPA’sobjective is to phase out all use of EDB and develop cold treatment and alte tive fumigation methods. Tbe Occnpaiional Safety and Health Adminkation (OSHA) plans to fuK Union Carbide near $1.38 moll.OSHA has charged the company with willful disregard for employee health and safety at its plant in Institute, W.Va. The fine is the largest ever proposed by OSHA. The agency cites 221 violations of 55 federal safety and health des, includiig failure to furnish protective equipment or to record 128 injuries between 1983 and 1985. Union Carbide president Robert Kennedy says that most of the alleged violations involve paperwork, not chemical
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ine Assoeiatinn nf State and lkrritorial Solid Waste Management oflidals:mes “raoid consideration of f d S u p e h d [reauthorization] legislation.” A Feb. 10 letter to Senate and House conferees recommends a funding level of at least $9 billion; the House version authorizes $10 billion, and the Senate version calls for $7.5 biuion. The organization supports the Senate version of Seaion 104(m), which does not contain mandatory site cleanup schedules (the House version does). Association officials maintain that site investigations could turn up factors that could make a mandatory schedule for completion of a remedial cleanup action difficult or impossible to meet. The group also supports language (House Section 119; Senate Section 104) extending liabiiity protection to state and local government employees who perform investigation and cleanup.
I h e y : Funds for radon control
The New Jersey legislahue has appropriated $3.2 million for a radon control program. Its purpose is to find and implement ways of controlling radon contamination of homes and businesses built over the Reading Prong, a uranium-containing granite formation. The state’s Departments of Environmental protection and Health will carry out this task. The biu appropriating the funds was inhuduced by State Sen. John Dor~ey(R-MOrriStOwn), Who= district overlies the Reading Prong. It was passed Dec. 9, 1985, and signed by Gov. Thomas Kean in January.
The C o d nn Eeonomie Priorities (0, a nonprofit organization in New York, has rated the nation’s 10 most imwrtant facities that handle haZard0;s wastes. ~ h r e e are in the northeastern and northcentral sections of the United States, three are in the west, and four are in south-central states. CEP evaluated 10 technical characteristics, includmg 4222 Emtmn. Sci. Tebnol.. W. 20. NO.5.1966
the potential for groundwater contamination, the release of air pollution from the facilities, and the technical construction of the facilities. Details are discussed in Hazardous Ubste Management: Reducing the Risk. The book also compares regional and state regulators and eight major commercial fums dealiig in hazardous wastes. The city of Bridgeport, Conn., broke gronnd in February for a 225ot/d, $3l&mUIion refw-toewrgy plant. The plant will be owned and operated by Signal Environmental Systems (Hampton, N.H.) under contract with the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority. It will generate 70 MW of electricity and will be equipped with scNbberS and fabric fdter systems to prevent air pollution. According to Signal president Alfred DeBello, the technology on which the plant is based has proven itself over a period of 10 years. He says that the plant will replace a failed refuse-to-energy plant that was closed in 1980 following its operating company’s declaration of bankruptcy. Forests and crops in southeastern wiseonsin m y be SnRering damage fmm troppheric aow,according to plant physiologist peter Reich of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Reich reported in February that summertime omne levels are high enough to reduce crop yields for soybeans and wheat by 1&25%. Because trees grow more slowly than wheat, for example, growth retardation does not appear serious at first glance. But if tree. growth were reduced by only 1 % annually, this effect,over a 50-year period, could mean a reduction in growth of a b u t 40%. Reich reported that omne levels as high as 0.20 ppm have been recorded in southeastern Wisconsin. When levels reach 0.12 ppm, the state Department of Natural Resources issues a health advisory.
SCIENCE
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Some sdventscan be dispmed Iland without their exceeding acceptable daily intake levels, accord-
ing to Robert Griffm and W. Roy of the Illinois State Geological Survey. They modeled the migration of acetone, carbon tetrachloride, chlorobenzene, and nitrobenzene to estimate loading rates and toxicity. Griffin and Roy explain that the coucentrations of these solvents could be attenuated by adsorption onto materials in aquifers, retardation of
migration at solid-liquid interfaces, biodegradation, and hydrolysis. They suggest that the attenuation capcities for contaminants can be determined through careful hydrogeological “7 studies that calculate loading factors at a disposal site. Theiu work was reported in the February issue ofthe newsleaer published by the Environmental Institute for Waste Manaeement Studies of the university 2 Alabamai-nlscalooss,Ala. -
sessment Program.
ith 0.75% each of these nonionic surfactants in water, they cleaned soils laced with polycblorinated biphenyls. A PCB removal rate of 92% was achieved. A 2% aqueous solution of the surfactantsbrought about a 93% removal of petroleum hydrocarbons fromthe soils. Ellis says that for this technique to be cost-effective, the surfactants should be reusable.
A mutant species of I#lfteriaean remove much of the organic Sulfur from wal. A sulfur-eating Psnuio?mmsspecies was tested on several coals from the northern Appalachian Mountains in a bench scale unit that treats 10 lb/d of coal. A pilot model is now under constnrctl‘on. Sulfurin coal is the source of Sq, considered one of the causes of acid precipitation. Bacterial hwtment could prove an economical way of removing sul . patent for the bacterial proa%s was awarded to Jenefu Isbister and Richard Doyle of Atlantic Research Corporation ( A l m a , y assigned to Va.) in late F e b ~ a ~and theoompany.
A system for reducing radon con-
tamination inside homes was announcedby Ronald Marsh,president
of control Re.source systems Inc. (CRSI, Michigan City, Ind.) at the Indoor Radon Conkrence of the Air Pollution Control Association in Philadelphia. The CRSI 6OOH System is a MK)-fP/min air purification device that is attached to a forced-air furnace or airanditioningduct system. Its fmt stage removes large
particles from the air; the second is an activated carbon fdter that adsorbs organic and inorganic vapors and gases. The third stage consists of a high-efficiency particulate absolute fdter, developed during the Manhattan Fmject of World War II, that traps radioactive particles as small as 0.3 pm. Marsh says that removal efficiency of the third stage is as high
apart from household waste. For EPA to regulate all of this oil as a hazardous waste would be a classic example of regulatory overkill.” Jf used oil is declared a hazardous waste, costs to the scrap industry could run into the tens of billions of dollars.
h
h n t ( w i n , Del.) provided the Arabian Gulf State of Bahrain with reverse-osmosis permeatom to convert very brackish well water into potable water. The plant, which treats 12.2 million gal each day, was built by Sasakura (Japan) and has operated since Oct. 16, 1984, with only one planned shutdown. The water fed to the plant averages 13,000 ppm of total dissolved solids, although the plant can handle concentrations of up to 19,000 ppm. The product water averages 160 ppm (specifications call fornomorethanrnppm). The plant’s power consumption averages less than 5 kWh/m3.
The Iastituteof Scrap Iron and Steel @IS, Wd@ton) has nrged EPA to rescind the proposed listing of used oil as a hazardous waste. On Feb. 14, ISIS executive director Herschel Cutler said that the listing of used oil “will have a catastrophic effect on the metals recycling industry.” He also said used oil is “probably the most ubiquitous of all wastes,
S&
Broad-bared Supe@nd far
The ChemicalManufachmm Assodatinn (CMA,Washgton) has again d e d on Congress to reauthorize Superfuna for five years
and not merely to extend it for one or two months. CMA chairman George
Sella,Jr., told a press conference in Washington that an extension would solve no problems and eliminate no uncertainties. He said that a major sticking point in reauthoriziig superfund is how to increase. its h d i n g in an equitable manner. Sella restated CMA’s position that the fairest way to finance any reauthorization is through a broad-based tax, such as a small value-added tax, on all industry. He says the proposed financing of Superfund, as set forth by the House bill, is unfair, because it would impose 92.5% of the tax burden on the petrochemical and chemical industries. nal Coal Asmiition
published a report in March suggesting that airborne Sq, a suspected cause of acid rain, is diminishing and will continue to do so in the future. NCA predicted reduced Sq despite in-
creased use of coal by power plants. Association spokesmen said that SO, emissions from power plants went down by 2.2% from 1980 to 1984, even though the amount of coal burned by these plants increased by 17.7%. NCA credited the use of aircleaning devices, more use of lowsulfur coal. and shifts in Dower demand from the Northeasiand Midwest to the W. EFA disagrees with NCA’s findings and predicts tha SCh from c o a l - f d power plants will increase.by 1.9 million t from 1980 to 1990 and by an additional 4.4 million t from 1990 to 2010. Envimn. Sci. Teohnol., MI. 20, No. 5. 1986 428
