EPAWATCH
Continuous monitoring of PM from incinerators under fire A proposed requirement that continuous emission monitors (CEMs) be used to gauge compliance with a rule regulating particulate matter from hazardous waste incinerators is under fire from companies that operate on-site or commercial incinerators. The owners complain that technology for CEMs is not ready for use on all incinerator types and is therefore too unreliable for use as a compliance monitor. In 1996 EPA proposed a rule to tighten control requirements on eight categories of hazardous air pollutants emitted by incinerators that burn hazardous waste, including cement kilns and lightweight aggregate kilns. The pollutants include dioxin, mercury, lead, and cadmium. Most would be monitored through operating parameters such as the furnace temperature. However, the agency proposed that CEMs be used to monitor particulate matter. Most incinerator operators say they support CEMs as a monitoring tool because of their accuracy, which could help win over a skeptical public concerned about the safety of hazardous waste incineration. But they contend that the technology is not quite ready for regulatory use. EPA based its decision to require CEMs for particulates on a demonstration project conducted at DuPont's dry stack incinerator in Delaware, the agency said. But at least 50% of the hazardous waste incinerators are wet stacks, and no data are included in EPA's decision to demonstrate the effectiveness of CEMs operating on wet stack incinerators, said Melvin Keener, executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Waste Incineration, which represents 11 companies that use or operate hazardous waste incinerators. EPA does not have a particulate database for these facilities, and one reason for this proposal is to help
New focus on urban environmental problems In an effort to harmonize the various agency activities affecting urban environments, EPA has launched an urban environment initiative. In March, Linda B. Rimer came aboard to oversee the effort as the adviser for sustainable urban environments. Currently, urban issues are covered separately in five different offices: Water; Air and Radiation; Policy, Planning, and Evaluation; Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances; and Solid Waste and Emergency Response. Decisions made in all of these offices affect urban areas, often simultaneously. Rimer previously served as assistant secretary for environmental protection with the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources and is well aware of the challenges facing urban areas. The need to keep air emissions within EPA tolerances for pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter puts pressure on cities to discourage new industry from locating there. This butts up against urban goals to maintain living standards and to redevelop formerly blighted industrial sites, or brownfields. As a result, new industries are likely to be located farther from the city centers, potentially displacing undeveloped "greenfield" areas. Rimer is particularly concerned about urban growth. "We as a country are sprawling all over the place. We're creating acres and acres of impervious surfaces so that when it rains, we get runoff and the nonpoint source pollution is significantly harming water quality. We've created situations where everybody has to drive—you can't do anything unless you get in your car. In cities like Charlotte, N.C., 70% of N0V comes from mobile sources." Acknowledging that decisions about growth generally are made locally, Rimer expressed hope that she could spur the development and dissemination of tools to help city planners project the impacts of alternative growth scenarios.
generate that information, said Scott Rauenzahn of the Office of Solid Waste. "It is our belief that you need to have a regulatory hook in order to require these monitors," he said. Rauenzahn agrees that implementation of this proposal at each facility will be complicated. The final rule is expected this December.
First nationwide EMS required in legal settlement New York-based ASARCO, Inc., a large mining and smelting company with facilities in seven states and South America, will develop a companywide environmental management system (EMS) as part of a $56 million legal agreement reached with EPA to settle alleged clean water and hazardous waste violations. The settlement agreement, reached in January, is the culmination of a two-year investigation into ASARCO
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facilities in Arizona and Montana. The EMS is based on the environmental management protocols embodied in the international environmental management standards known as ISO 14000. One goal of the system, according to EPA officials, is to encourage a "cultural change" at the company. Key to this change is to conduct training sessions in environmental compliance for all 6000 employees at its 38 U.S. facilities, said Melissa Marshall, director of the Multimedia Enforcement Division. ASARCO also must spread the word to other companies within the mining and smelting industries by conducting instructional seminars to explain how to integrate environmental compliance into all facets of a firm's operations. EPA enforcement agreements have included EMS commitments for individual facilities, but this settlement marks the first time an enforcement action has included
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Indian tribes granted Clean Air Act authority Indian tribes will be able to carry out their own Clean Air Act programs, as the states do, under a final rule signed in February {Federal Register1998, 63 (29), 72547274). Similar implementation authority for Indian tribes has been granted under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Before passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the 500 or so Indian tribes were required to adhere to state-developed clean air programs. Now, the approximately 12 tribes with EPA-approved programs have authority over air pollution sources on their lands and those on reservation properties that have been sold to non-Indians. The types of pollution sources on most Indian reservation lands, including medical waste incinerators or industrial boilers, are considered small sources, EPA officials said. When proposed in August 1994, EPA determined that tribal programs, like states, would be subject to citizen-led lawsuits. But tribal officials complained that the citizen suit provision violated their status as sovereign nations, and EPA withdrew this part of the proposal. The decision about whether to accept a citizenbased lawsuit regarding Clean Air Act programs on tribal lands is left up to the courts, agency officials said. Tribes can also apply for federal assistance under the rulemaking, but the amount by which they must match federal dollars has been reduced from 40% to 5%. A waiver is possible if financial hardship can be shown.
a nationwide EMS, said Marshall. EPA alleged that ASARCO violated the Clean Water Act in several instances. For example, beginning in 1991, ASARCO allegedly discharged industrial wastewater with high metal levels into a surface impoundment connected to a creek from its lead smelter, according to EPA. Alleged hazardous waste violations include spraying plant process water containing lead and arsenic as a dust suppressant for five years or more, EPA said. The company agreed to pay $6.38 million in penalties and will spend more than $50 million to reduce releases of heavy metals, such as arsenic, mercury, and lead, to groundwater and surface water. A separate lawsuit filed in 1996 by the U.S. Justice Department against ASARCO and seven other mining companies that alleges damage to Idaho's Coeur d'Alene River basin is still pending.
Modeling of pesticides in drinking water criticized The Office of Pesticide Programs is currently reassessing models used to estimate public exposure to pesticides in drinking water. The review was spurred by a report from the office's Science Advisory Panel that concurred with the pesticide industry's complaints about the screening tools. In its final report published in January, the Science Advisory Panel
deemed the models used to screen for pesticides in surface waters "exceptionally conservative." The models were developed as an interim measure to aid EPA in complying with the Food Quality Protection Act, which requires that the agency assess all possible routes of human exposure to pesticides. The models are not used for risk assessment; instead, their purpose is to target situations where applying pesticides could result in surface water contamination. At the same time, they screen out from further examination pesticides unlikely to pollute drinking water. "We accept that this is a crude method for identifying pesticides in drinking water," said Denise Keehner, associate director for the Environmental Fate and Affects Division. "It basically clears on the order of half of the pesticides. Of the remaining half, we know that many will also be screened out with other methods." She argues that the screen is doing its job, while acknowledging the complaints of pesticide manufacturers. They believe that it unnecessarily singles out too many pesticides for further investigation as surface drinking water contaminants. To improve the screening process, the panel recommended that the Office of Pesticide Programs invest in geographic information systems databases that identify water bodies requiring assessments. "The use of
these databases, often already available within other agencies, would improve the general assessment process and increase the acceptance of the results among scientists and the public," the report says.
Redesigned laundry products reduce pollution In February, the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics' Design for the Environment program recognized the efforts of institutional laundry detergent maker Anderson Chemical (Litchfield, Minn.) to create less polluting products. The voluntary EPA program was inaugurated in 1992 to encourage businesses to incorporate environmental considerations into the design of products, processes, and systems. Industrial and institutional laundries are the eighth business sector targeted by the program, which evaluates companies' pollution prevention claims. Once their claims are verified, EPA offers businesses the opportunity to draw on the agency's expertise to further refine their efforts. The goal is to minimize waste while making products that are less toxic, nonbioaccumulative, and more quickly biodegradeable. Institutional laundries specialize in cleaning the 103 billion pounds of towels, sheets, linens, and garments used in nursing homes, hospitals, and hotel businesses each year, according to industry analyst Phillips & Associates, Inc. Conventional institutional laundries send acid and alkaline solutions into the wastewater stream as well as surfactants and chlorine. Anderson's redesigned products include detergents, bleaches, and fabric softeners. The wash chemistry is pH-neutral, and the active ingredient in the bleach is oxygen rather than chlorine. R&D manager Marlene Williams delineated the benefits from the company's alternative products, which can be used in conventional institutional washing machines. Because the process does not require extra rinses, it uses 33% less water. It therefore produces 33% less effluent, she explained, and what is produced is less toxic and more biodegradable. The process also requires 27% less energy and extends fabric life by 17-20%.
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