Region 1: EPA New England

Greenbytes: February 25, 2005 Edition

Greetings from EPA New England. We hope you find this edition of Greenbytes useful and we encourage you to give us feedback. For information on subscribing or unsubscribing see the section at the end of this message.

Feature: EPA Continues to Achieve Cleaner Air by Promoting Clean Diesel
National grants include projects in Conn. & Mass.

On Feb. 23, EPA Acting Administrator Steve Johnson announced $1.6 million in grants for diesel engine retrofit projects. Included in the eighteen new diesel retrofit projects are three in New England - one in Connecticut and two in Massachusetts. Grant recipients will retrofit diesel vehicles and equipment with advanced technologies and cleaner fuels to reduce emissions of particulate matter (soot) and other pollutants with funding from EPA's new Clean Diesel Campaign.

The three winning local grants were among 83 proposals submitted nationwide. The new grants include $60,000 to the Town of Trumbull, CT to replace the diesel engines of three waste collection trucks with compressed natural gas engines. In the Boston metropolitan area, grants to Massport for $82,800, and to the City of Cambridge (in collaboration with MIT) for $83,467, will significantly reduce pollution from over 65 diesel vehicles.

These recent actions are another step towards a future where nearly every type of diesel engine - whether used on farms, railways, highways, ports or in construction - will be part of a growing clean diesel family.

Trumbull will receive $60,000, and contribute significant matching funds, to replace the diesel engines of three trash trucks with engines powered by compressed natural gas, reducing emissions of particulate matter by up to 90 percent. The majority of natural gas consumed in the United States comes from sources within North America - helping to reduce our reliance on oil from overseas, aiding our nation's energy security.

Massport's $82,800 grant will be used to install oxidation catalysts on a total of 36 land-based diesel vehicles at the Conley Container Terminal. Diesel oxidation catalysts reduce particulate matter emissions by at least 20 percent, hydrocarbon emissions by 50 percent, and carbon monoxide emissions by 40 percent. Massport is adding to its prior clean air initiatives including its use of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel - a step that will enhance the effectiveness of the new retrofits by further reducing emissions.

A collaboration between the City of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will receive $83,467 to retrofit 32 vehicles including garbage trucks, dump trucks, bobcats, backhoes, and front loaders. Cambridge and MIT will demonstrate the effectiveness of a variety of different retrofit technologies including oxidation catalysts, crankcase filters, and particulate matter filters. The project also calls for a switch to ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel for some vehicles, biodiesel, and cetane enhancers.

EPA's Clean Diesel Campaign consists of both regulatory and voluntary efforts to reduce emissions from new diesel engines as well as existing diesel engines by 2014. The campaign contains two components to help those areas reduce diesel pollution: develop and implement the most stringent emissions standards for new engines and fuel; and promote voluntary emissions reductions of the existing fleet through retrofits, cleaner fuels, replacement, reduced idling and other pollution-cutting measures. EPA is working to ensure that diesel retrofit projects benefit sensitive populations - children, the elderly, and the chronically ill - who are more susceptible to the effects of diesel exhaust.

For those seeking more information:

• All 18 projects nationwide receiving grants
• Clean transportation projects in New England
• Full range of EPA clean diesel programs

Perchlorate Reference Dose Established

In an action that many New Englanders will be interested in, last week EPA established an official reference dose (RfD) of 0.0007 mg/kg/day for perchlorate. A reference dose is a scientific estimate of a daily exposure level that is not expected to cause adverse health effects in humans.

EPA set the reference dose based on the best available information, using conservative and health protective assumptions that are protective for all populations, including the most sensitive subgroups. The RfD is consistent with the recommended reference dose included in the National Academy of Science's Jan. 2005 report. In setting this level, EPA assumes total intake from both water and food sources. The selected reference dose contains a full ten-fold uncertainty factor to protect the most sensitive population, the fetuses of pregnant women who might have hypothyroidism or iodide deficiency.

Reaching this scientific conclusion will inform other EPA actions.

EPA's new RfD translates to a Drinking Water Equivalent Level (DWEL) of 24.5 ppb. A Drinking Water Equivalent Level, which assumes that all of a contaminant comes from drinking water, is the concentration of a contaminant in drinking water that will have no adverse effect with a margin of safety. Because there is a margin of safety built into the RfD and the DWEL, exposures above the DWEL are not necessarily considered unsafe.

EPA's Superfund cleanup program plans to issue guidance based on the new RfD.

Perchlorate has been used in various items, including missile and rocket propellants, munitions and fireworks, flares, automobile airbags and pharmaceuticals. It may also occur naturally and has been found in some fertilizer. Perchlorate has been detected in drinking water in some systems around the country, as well as in certain foods.

Extensive additional information is available at: http://www.epa.gov/perchlorate

Press Releases

Dorchester, MA - Community group wins international Brownfields award

Clean Diesel Grants

• Trumbull CT
• Boston area

Billerica, MA - Middlesex Co. Wastewater Treatment Plant Settles CWA Violations

Meetings & Conferences

New Bedford Harbor Superfund Meeting - Business Abutters
Thurs. Mar. 3, 2005, 11:00 a.m., 103 Sawyer St.

New Bedford Harbor Superfund Meeting - Community Forum
Thurs. Mar. 3, 2005, 11:00 a.m., 103 Sawyer St.

Raymark Advisory Committee
Tues. Mar. 8, 2005

Mass. Military Range (MMR) Plume Cleanup Team
Wed. Mar. 9, 2005, 6:00 p.m.

Fort Devens Restoration Advisory Board
Thurs. Mar. 10, 2005, 7:00 p.m.

S. Weymouth Naval Airstation Restoration Advisory Board
Thurs. Mar. 10, 2005, 7:00 p.m.

Northeast Regional Community & Urban Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Conference (fee)
Tuesday/Wednesday Mar. 15-16, 2005; Manchester NH

How to Reduce and Prevent Beach Closures - New Hampshire (Workshop; $35 fee)
Friday, March 18, 2005; Urban Forestry Center, Portsmouth NH (was 02-11-05)

Public Hearing on Draft NPDES Permit for the GE facility
Wed. March 23, 2005; Pittsfield MA (was 02-10-05)

What's New on the Web

Regional

Small Business Awards - nominations open

Clean Water Act public notices - updated

Peterson/Puritan Superfund site (RI) - updated info

In The News Daily Email Service

"In The News" is a free daily service that provides links to today's top newspaper stories about the New England environment and links to related EPA New England information.

In The News Email Service: As soon as today's edition of "In The News" has been posted we will inform you via email.