EPAWATCH PCB-cooled transformers listed in national database In a recently compiled database, EPA has identified and cataloged 2600 locations nationwide of electrical transformers containing fire-retarding polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The information will help fire departments quickly locate the transformers in case they leak. The database was compiled through registration forms submitted by companies operating PCB transformers, following an EPA-imposed one-time registration requirement that had a December 1998 deadline. "The database is the result of low compliance with EPA's 1985 requirement to register PCB transformers with the local fire departments," said Tom Simons, with the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT). Fueling the 1985 rule was a 1980 PCB transformer leak in a Binghamton, N.Y., state government office building. A low-temperature fire in the transformer room converted the PCBs to dioxin, which the heating system distributed throughout the building. Since the late 1970s, EPA has prohibited PCBs from being used as transformer insulators and coolants. Now, all transformers are freestanding as required by the 1985 rule. Although the 1998 deadline brought in more registrations, officials still don't know how many more are out there. If maintained properly, a transformer can operate for 40 years, Simons said. The 2600 transformers in the database are identified by owner, address, contact name, and other details. The listing, which agency officials planned to update by June, culminates an eight-year effort to locate the transformers. "The phone has been ringing off the hook. People have been calling for this database. Lawyers especially," said Winston Lue, with OPPT, who created the database. It serves
as a good prospect list for transformer-related business, he said. The database is available at http://www. epa.gov/opptintr/pcb/xform.htm.
Pulp mills targeted by enforcement investigators An unusual, in-depth investigation into the pulp mill industry in the midAdantic region turned up broad Clean Air Act violations alleged at seven companies, some dating back as far as 1984. The two-year investigation, carried out by a three-person "pulp team," differed significantly from most environmental investigations that inquire into a facility's compliance with its emissions permit. The pulp team recalculated emissions data, correlated it with construction dates, and found that many facilities were not operating under a permit that reflected emissions increases resulting from facility modifications, said pulp team leader Patrick Foley, in Region Ill's Air Enforcement Branch. The Notices of Violation (NOVs), which were not formally filed when announced April 20, note the companies' failure to install required emission-control equipment, update permits, and monitor and report emissions. The proposed notices charge that these companies caused the release of more than 100 million pounds of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur compounds annually, said David Sternberg, Region III spokesperson, and corrections would be equivalent to tcilcing 500 000 C9xs off the road. Each company C3T1 T1PCOsettlement with EPA to avoid a filing of a formal violation "The EPA's allegations are absurd," said George Glatfelter, president and CEO of R H. Glatfelter Co., whose Spring Grove, Pa., mill received an NOV The Spring Grove facility "has one of the best environmental records in the pulp and paper industry," Glatfelter said, adding that the company plans to invest more than $32 million in improvements, "which will go
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beyond what the company needs to do to come into full compliance witii new air and water regulations." After targeting the pulp mill industry, the team assembled a database on plant construction from 1984 to 1997, including plant-byplant equipment changes. They correlated each plant's emissions changes with construction project dates and found evidence that the companies had not accurately reported emissions, said Foley. Drawing on the experience of the pulp team, in March, EPA conducted a national training course in pulp mill technology and enforcement, said Sternberg. Other regions are undertaking investigations of these facilities, although most are not as in-depth as the pulp team's, Foley said.
Monitoring could offer ecological "report card" Equipped witii a set of ecological indicators for assessing environmental conditions in a number of midAtlantic ecoregions, EPA is taking its ecological monitoring and assessment program (EMAP) out West, where more varied ecosystems prevail. If EMAP passes the test there, the program ultimately could provide the first national "report card" on the conditions of ecological resources throughout the country. Under the program, a set of biological indicators—such as fish, invertebrates, periphyton, and habitat—are developed to assess the condition of surface waters, coastal resources, and landscape ecology, as well as anthropogenic stressors. Because of its random probability design, EMAP offers a way "to get the most bang for your environmental buck," said Eric Hyatt, EMAP coordinator for Region VIII, one of the three regions to be included in the western pilot that will encompass 12 states. EMAP's peer-reviewed random sampling approach offers a snapshot of environmental conditions across a © 1999 American Chemical Society
broader range at a significantly lower cost than monitoring information gleaned from individual sites. For example, Michael McDonald, EPA's EMAP director, pointed to a study of the trophic conditions in 11,000 lakes in the northeastern United States. Whereas one group censused about 2700 of the lakes, EMAP came to the same conclusions after sampling only 344 lakes, McDonald said. Through the mid-Atlantic pilot, EPA has compiled a landscape atlas documenting the land cover of the entire mid-Atlantic region, as well as a state of the estuaries report for the Chesapeake Bay, the Delaware Estuary, and the Delmarva coastal bays. The landscape atlas, produced from aerial photography and satellite data in a Geographic Information System format is being used by Maryland in its Smart Growth Initiative to curtail sprawl. In the West, EMAP will be tested on a far grander scale in terms of geography and ecosystem variability—including high mountainous regions, rangelands, and desert. Some states are hoping to use the study's windfall of information to strengthen their 305(b) reports to Congress, which summarize water quality conditions. In addition, EMAP has the potential to address largescale watershed issues like the Missouri River basin from a multistate perspective, said Mike Ell, environmental scientist for the North Dakota Department of Health, one of the states involved with the western pilot. With repeated sampling to flesh out trends, EPA eventually hopes to use the program as a performance measure to test federal policies against, McDonald said. "For the first time, we may be able to actually determine what the condition of a region is and whether the condition is getting better or worse in an unbiased fashion."
Beachgoers warned about poor water quality EPA launched a health protection strategy for beaches on Earth Day in an effort to boost state compliance with widely ignored water quality criteria for disease-causing bacteria and viruses. The action came on the same day that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Beaches Environmental Assessment, Cleanup, and Health Act (H.R. 999), which goes further to protect public health than the
criteria by requiring states to test ocean and Great Lake waters and post signs warning beachgoers when waters are contaminated. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.), is needed because EPA's strategy "will take a long time to bring the states into compliance and doesn't protect people from getting sick," said Tim Eichenberg, program counsel for the Center for Marine Conservation, a nonprofit organization. The strategy requires that criteria be adopted but does not mandate testing and posting if the water is contaminated. An identical bill is pending in the Senate, said Eichenberg. Only a handful of states comply with the beach water quality criteria set by EPA in 1986, according to Kelli McGee, coastal program counsel for the American Oceans Campaign. In the 22 states that conduct some voluntary water monitoring and that issue warnings to swimmers, more than 4000 beaches were closed in 1997 because of the presence of bacteria and viruses that cause gastroenteritis, hepatitis, cholera, dysentery, and other diseases, she said. Still, 4000 is a gross underestimate of the actual extent of contamination because only eight states monitor beaches and notify swimmers comprehensively, EPA and environmental sources agreed. Because many states monitor only a portion of their beach waters, or none at all, swimmers are regularly put at risk from pathogens delivered by storm sewers, which dump into the ocean, malfunctioning sewage plants, and agricultural runoff, McGee concluded. EPA's Beach Action Plan calls on states to adopt current, national water quality criteria no later than 2003. Building on the public's right to know, EPA will post information on beach closings and state monitoring and protection activities on its Web site. The agency also has committed to researching new criteria and faster, more accurate tests for pathogens. Bilbray's bill appropriates $30 million for research. The tests for E. coli and enterococcus bacteria recommended by the 1986 criteria take 24-36 hours to analyze, said Steve Schaub, in EPA's Office of Water. Most states rely on an older, less accurate test for fecal coliform bacteria that takes 48 hours to process. "We're looking at more rapid methods to determine contamination
that could be performed on the spot by a lifeguard," Schaub said. These include tests for chemicals associated with human waste such as fecal sterols, caffeine, detergents, and antibodies.
New laboratory designed with environment in mind The green technologies inside EPA's new Environmental Science Center at Fort Meade, Md., enable the $47 million facility, which is intended to support the work of both the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) and Region III, to embody environmental practices that the agency preaches. At the building's opening in midApril, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said the "high-tech" facility will provide scientists and researchers with the ability to "solve 21st century environmental challenges." This is the first laboratory building EPA has opened in Region III—which includes Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia—in more than 20 years, according to an agency spokesperson. Intended to consolidate the work of six EPA facilities, it includes 70 chemistry, bioland microbiology labs and has improved safety features for containing spills and reducing the chance of accidental explosions The building is designed to use the maximum amount of natural light, which is supplemented by the energyefficient lighting promoted by the agency's "green lights" program. The state-of-the-art ventilation system used in the laboratories is notable for minimizing analysts' exposure to hazardous chemicals while minimizing the use of electricity, said Joe Slayton, associate director of Region Ill's Office of Analytic Services and Quality Assurance. The structure also boasts an energy-efficient heating and cooling system, which USGS non-Freon coolants and heat exchangers, lead-free solder in its plumbing and lab cabinetry made from wood harvested from sustainable forests The new facility will allow Region III to conduct whole effluent toxicity tests and use an inductively coupled argon plasma mass spectrometer for measuring trace metals, Slayton said. OPP has consolidated the agency's National Pesticide Repository of reference samples for use in testing at the new labs, said Shari Sterling, acting director for the biological and economic analysis division of OPP.
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