ES8^ CURRENTS WASHINGTON By a 93-0 vote, the Senate has approved tighter hazardous waste legislation; Majority Leader Howard Baker (R-Tenn.) expects the president to sign the final bill. The legislation would exempt generators of less than 100 kg/month of hazardous waste, as opposed to the present 1000 kg/month. It would also make it easier for citizens to sue in cases of sites presenting substantial danger to health. EPA would have to prohibit land disposal of dioxins and solvents and promulgate regulations minimizing land disposal of containerized liquids. There will be several other provisions, including allocation of $97 million for 1985 and $100 million/year for the next two years. EPA has proposed new limits on lead in gasoline. The aim is to reduce lead content by 91% in the next few years and to ban lead entirely by 1995. Present rules allow up to 1.1 g of lead/gal of gasoline. One proposal calls for a reduction to 0.1 g by 1986. Several companies plan to fight such regulations by court action if necessary. An EPA study indicates that benefits from lead reduction substantially outweigh costs and that such costs would probably result in a gasoline price increase of less than 1%. The average person may have up to 20 parts per trillion (ppt) of 2,3,7,8tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) in his or her body fat. These projections are based on studies of Vietnam veterans and others exposed to the herbicide 2,4,5-T, conducted by EPA and the Veterans Administration. These agencies are carrying out confirmation studies. TCDD is believed to have no "no observable effects" level for cancer or birth defects; levels as low as 10-15 ppt seem to affect chick embryos adversely. Nevertheless, these estimates are in dispute; some maintain that "ac0013-936X/84/0916-0265A$01.50/0
ceptable exposure" levels do exist. For instance, EPA has apparently decided that amounts of TCDD in air from municipal incinerators pose acceptable levels of risk. A warning against weakening motor vehicle compliance standards of the Clean Air Act was sounded by the League of Women Voters (LWV, Washington, D.C.). The LWV released a report which says that if industry proposals are adopted, more smog (ozone), CO, and NO* will result, and problems in urban areas in which standards are not attained even under present rules will be exacerbated. From 1975 to 1982 CO came down 31%, ozone 18%, and ambient lead levels, 64%. But 151 counties still exceed the CO standard, and 471 counties do not meet the ozone standard. Michael Walsh, former director of EPA's Office of Mobile Source Pollution Control, prepared the report. For better enforcement of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA needs more resources, and certain loopholes must be closed, suggests a U.S. General Accounting Office report. For instance, Sen. Dave Durenberger (R-Minn.), who requested the report, complained that companies are not required to submit data that EPA needs to evaluate a new chemical's safety. Also, a chemical approved by EPA for one use can then be made for another use and in much greater quantities with no followup review by EPA. Acid rain may endanger U.S. resources, but control will be costly, says a report by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). The same holds true for fine particles and ozone. How does one balance the concerns of those at risk of damage with the concerns of those who will have to pay for controls? Also, scientific uncertainties cloud decisions on whether,
© 1984 American Chemical Society
when, and what to control, and research will not provide clear answers in the near future. Moreover, if large-scale emission reductions were to be implemented, electricity rates could increase 2-5%, and, in some Midwestern states, 10-15%, OTA estimates.
STATES If they wish to sell, close, or otherwise transfer contaminated sites in New Jersey, present owners will be responsible for the cleanup of such sites. That is a provision of the state's new Environmental Cleanup Responsibility Act (ECRA). In June, Princeton Aqua Science (New Brunswick, N.J.) held a public seminar at which participants heard an estimate that more than 1000 real estate transactions a year could be affected by ECRA. Any approvals or exceptions must be made by the state Department of Environmental Protection. ECRA compliance could enhance industrial real estate values in the future.
Tbornburgtea low-level waste deal Because nuclear waste won't "go away," as every state governor wishes it would, Pennsylvania Gov. Richard Thornburgh has come up with a proposal for disposing of low-level wastes, including rubber gloves, machinery from nuclear plants, and laboratory instruments. The state would build a disposal Environ. Soi. Technol., Vol. 18, No. 9, 1984
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site. West Virginia could join a compact and send its wastes to Pennsylvania for a fee. Then, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio would be invited to join. Any state joining this compact and producing less than 25% of the low-level waste Pennsylvania generates would not need to build its own disposal site. The New York State legislature has passed the first bill in the nation aimed at mitigating the acid rain problem. The legislation mandates a 100,000-ton reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions by January 1988 and a 245,000-ton reduction by the early 1990s. Total emissions in New York State are now 850,000 tons. The contribution New York State makes to acid rain may be reduced through the new legislation, but it will not solve the acid deposition problem in the state. Missouri will be the first state to use a mobile incinerator to burn soils tainted with TCDD. The main advantage of this incinerator is that it can be taken to the incineration site, thus avoiding the costly and dangerous task of shipping toxic material. The first activity will be a test burn; if this is successful, the mobile incinerator might be used to clean up Times Beach, Mo., reputedly the site of the state's worst contamination. This approach and other such subjects were discussed in Columbia, Mo., at the University of Missouri's Third Annual Summer Institute on Hazardous Waste Management. Florida has established maximum contaminant levels for eight organic chemicals in community drinking water systems. They become effective June 1, 1985, for community water systems serving more than 1000 people and Jan. 1, 1987, for those serving fewer than 1000 people. Triennial sampling will also be required. The chemicals in question are vinyl chloride, carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, benzene, and ethylene dibromide. The Department of Environmental Regulation will enforce the standards.
SCIENCE A new "signal" for water pollution has been discovered by ecologists at 266A
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the University of Lund (Sweden). Water containing even dilute concentrations of chlorinated phenols, for example, seems to cause the larvae of the caddis fly to weave misshapen webs and exhibit erratic pupation behavior. In streams containing paper mill effluent, the insects seem to weave their webs in grotesque, inefficient patterns. The mill effluent also appears to cause the insect's pupation period to be longer and more variable.
TECHNOLOGY To remove radioactive corrosion products from nuclear reactor coolant circuits, the Electric Power Research Institute has developed the low-oxidation-state metal ion (LOMI) approach. For instance, radioactive cobalt-60 becomes lodged in bends, recesses, and areas of iron(III) oxide corrosion deposits. Vanadium(II) provides a LOMI source to reduce iron(III) to iron(II). Next, a mild chelating agent, such as piccolinic acid, can dissolve the iron(II) and cobalt at 80-90 °C. Other reagents are added to the coolant in solution. Finally, ion exchange removes the radioactive materials. The system was tested at Northern States Power Company. Leaks in lined liquid waste surface impoundments could be located by earth resistivity, a geophysical technique. According to Southwest Research Institute (SwRI, San
Liner leak detection system
Antonio, Tex.), plastic liner systems show high electrical resistance because the liner is an electrical insulating material. If the liner leaks or is punctured or separated at a seam, the leak establishes an electrical path through the liner. This lower resistance path is electrically detectable and can be measured at the surface. SwRI says that these tests are nondestructive and can help to set up procedures to repair such liners. The operating behavior of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) can be modeled and perhaps predicted by microcomputer. EPA's Environmental Research Center (ERC) uses color-coded graphics to depict the ESP's process. The model can be programmed to test effects of ESP modifications, as well as ESP use in combination with other control technologies. ERC's Particulate Technology Branch (Research Triangle Park, N.C.) is now verifying results of the computer model with results from in-house and field pilot tests. Can sewage sludge be converted to fuel oil? Battelle's Pacific Northwest Laboratories scientists think so and are trying to redesign the sewage treatment process so that sludge can be converted to No. 2 fuel oil. They mix dewatered sludge with alkali and convert it to a liquid in a 12-gal continuous test reactor at about 275 °C. At that temperature, 100% of the organic content is converted. Oil is removed
