you to make management changes when necessary." She likened EPA's research plans to the purchasing of an insurance policy. "We have to actively manage systems and make decisions, so we're buying insurance through the actions we take." She added that in effect, EPA is outlining what insurance options are available. The geographical regions where EPA will focus its research efforts include the Mid-Atlantic, Pacific Northwest, South Florida, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, ecological research areas near laboratories, and index sites, as well as national study sites.
Congress approves four new policy directors The resignation of Fred Hansen, EPA's deputy administrator, and Lynn Goldman, head of the Office of Pollution Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances top the list of personnel changes EPA has undergone in recent months. In addition to the departure of these two officials, the Senate approved the appointment of four assistant administrators, who are to serve as office directors, just hours before it adjourned in October. The departures of Hansen and Goldman leave open two important policy positions that remain unfilled. No replacements have been named for Goldman, who will leave at the end of this month and did not specify what her new plans are. Hansen left the agency in October to head Tri-Met, Portland Oregon's regional public transportation authority. EPA Administrator Carol Browner appointed chief of staff, Peter D. Robertson, to fill in for Hansen as acting deputy administrator. Prior to his current position, Robertson served as deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. The new appointments sailed smoothly through the Senate committee hearing process but were held up on the Senate floor because of opposition from Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who put a hold on the confirmation of J. Charles "Chuck" Fox, tapped to head the water office, and the other four appointments, until the Senate held a hearing on the appointment of Robert Perciasepe. Browner shifted Per-
ciasepe from his job as assistant administrator of the Office of Water to head the Office of Air and Radiation in a move EPA officials believed would prevent a congressional hearing on the agency's air programs. Inhofe had blocked the votes on the appointments, arguing that the Clinton administration should not have appointed Perciasepe to the air office spot without first seeking Senate approval. Also on hold were the appointments of Norine Noonan to be assistant administrator for the Office of Research and Development, Romulo Diaz Jr., to be assistant administrator for the Office of Administration and Resources Management, and Niki Tinsley to be the EPA Inspector General. Finally, J. Charles "Chuck" Fox was confirmed as assistant administrator for the Office of Water. Since 1997, Fox has been head of the Office of Reinvention, which has launched programs such as the Common Sense Initiative and Project XL to streamline regulations and improve environmental protection at less cost. Fox testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that his top priorities will include using sound science to develop new drinking water standards, water quality standards for nutrients and biological water quality criteria Noonan, a cell biologist, is currently vice president for research and dean of the graduate school at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. From 1987 to 1992, she worked at the Office of Management and Budget as chief of the Science and Space Programs Branch.
PCB-laden sediment cleanup plans set for Mass. sites Large-scale dredging of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB))contaminated sediments will proceed at two Massachusetts sites with long histories of contamination—New Bedford Harbor near Buzzards Bay, and the Housatonic River at Pittsfield, according to EPA officials. General Electric (GE) is involved with both sites, and some EPA scientists suggest that the projects point toward a solution for handling the company's responsibilities relating to PCB contamination of the Hudson
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River in New York. But representatives from GE and EPA Region II, which has jurisdiction over the Hudson, said the plans will have little impact on the Hudson. In what is to be one of the largest cleanup operations in the United States, several companies will provide $70 million of the $120 million allocated for the 10-year cleanup plan at the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site, which includes the Achushnet River. The site was listed on the National Priorities List in 1983. The New Bedford plan calls for the dredging and on-shore containment of some one-half million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediments from 170 acres of the harbor. The sediment will be interred in four bunkers, known as confined disposal facilities, that will be built on the shoreline. At the Housatonic River, which is not a Superfund site, GE has agreed to pay $200 million in damages and cleanup costs resulting from PCB contamination at its Pittsfield transformer plant. The agreement ends a long-running dispute between the company and EPA over the severity of contamination and how to remediate the site {ES&T, June e, 1198, p. 257A). Under an agreement, in principle, reached in September with EPA and the Department of Justice, GE will remove contaminated sediments from a half-mile stretch of the Housatonic River close to the plant and pay for most of the costs for additional cleaning downstream. GE has also agreed to pay $15 million in natural resource damages to federal trustees the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and state agencies to conduct a number of projects to improve wildlife habitat A 1990 remediation plan which involved incineration to clean the sediments at New Bedford Harbor was shelved in 1995 following intense local opposition. Local environmental groups said they support the new plans.
NAS finds low cancer risk from radon in water The human cancer risk from radon in drinking water is much less than
