Significant Developments and Activities Report

LAND AND CHEMICALS DIVISION
Weekly Significant Developments and Activities Report
October 30, 2009

Lead (Pb) Presentation at Building Environment Council of Ohio (BECO) Annual Conference

Region 5 attended the Annual BECO Conference held in Columbus, Ohio, on October 22, 2009. Phil King from LCD gave two presentations, and also participated in a "Regulators Panel" along with state officials from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and the Ohio EPA (OEPA) to answer general questions about environmental programs. Mr. King's main presentation was entitled "Progress in Implementing EPA's New Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Program Rule," but he also spoke about "EPA's Renewed Public Awareness Campaign Concerning Vermiculite." David Holston, the state lead program manager from ODH also provided a program update to this diverse group of about 40 lead and asbestos trainers, abatement and demolition contractors, consultants, and school officials. A great deal of interest was expressed in EPA's new RRP program, with many questions raised and discussed. Two of this organization's members have already been accredited by EPA as RRP training course providers, while others indicated they would be applying in the near future.

Contact: Phillip King, (312) 353-9062, Chemicals Management Branch

Lead Poisoning Prevention and Healthy Homes Conference

On October 22, 2009 several staff from the Chemicals Management Branch attended the 2009 Illinois Lead Poisoning Prevention and Healthy Homes Conference held at the DuPage County Administration Building in Wheaton, Illinois. The conference was held to assist environmental professionals, renovation contractors, and housing property managers in identifying home health risks and improving maintenance and remodeling practices while maintaining a healthy home environment for its occupants. Sessions focused primarily on exposure to lead but included other home toxicants, and short and long-term health effects as a result of being exposed to toxicants. The conference included information on the new EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule that will go into full effect on April 22, 2010. The RRP rule affects how contractors will conduct business on or after April 22, 2010 by requiring compensated contractors that disturb lead-based paint in most homes, child care facilities, and schools with children less than 6 years of age built before 1978 to be certified and use lead safe work practices when conducting RRP activities. The audience of approximately 100 included public health and environmental health professionals, lead program case managers, contractors, housing property managers, community health educators and the general public. This free workshop was sponsored by the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Illinois Lead Program and the DuPage County Health Department.

Contact: David Turpin, (312) 886-7836, Chemicals Management Branch

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Eco-Awareness Festival

On October 24, 2009, Tammy Moore of the Toxics Section, and staff from the Water and Superfund Divisions participated in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Chicago Alumnae Chapter, "R.E.D. (Recycle Every Day) goes Green", Eco-Awareness Festival for the Community in Detroit, Michigan. The festival was held in a town hall panel format, with green environmental expert Naomi Davis of BIG (Blacks in Green), and Eco-Consultants discussing green jobs in the community. Other vendors included ComEd, CEDA, Louisea Storey Composting, Ambassador Organics, and Motorola. Kits containing energy efficient light bulbs and weather strips were distributed, in addition to cell phone recycling. The festival was held in response to the charge of Delta Sigma Theta’s National Social Action Commission to support the Sororities “Delta R.E.D.” campaign. In the future, the campaign will expand to tackle environmental issues ranging from the emergence of green jobs to the eradication of environmental justice issues.

Contact: Tammy Moore, (312) 886-6181, Chemicals Management Branch

MMB Connects Waste, Climate and Packaging for Cosmetics Chemists

MMB staff presented on the “Energy and Climate Implications of Sustainable Packaging” at the Fall Technical Symposium of the Midwest Chapter of the Society of Cosmetics Chemists on October 27, 2009. The audience, of approximately 100 personal care product formulators and ingredient suppliers, was very interested to learn statistics about packaging waste, the energy and climate implications of waste, sustainable packaging, and opportunities to improve their organizations’ solid waste management through WasteWise and byproduct synergy.

Contact: Julie Gevrenov, (312) 886-6832, Materials Management Branch

Presentation on Construction & Demolition (C&D) Landfill Issues at CDC's National Environmental Public Health Conference

MMB staff attended the 2009 National Environmental Public Health Conference on October 26-28, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. The purpose of the conference, titled "Healthy People in a Healthy Environment," is to improve the nation's environmental health capacity by enhancing the expertise of public health, healthcare, and environmental professionals, academic researchers, and representatives from communities, organizations, and advocacy and business groups with a primary interest in environmental public health. The session was titled "Breaking it Down: Public Health Issues at Construction and Demolition Debris Landfills." The session included perspectives of Region 5 projects at C&D landfills, experiences at C&D landfills in Florida, and the efforts of a multi-agency workgroup formed by ATSDR to address public health issues at C&D landfills. It also included a presentation by a representative of a local community organization which has been significantly impacted by dust, odors and fires at a C&D landfill in Florida which received large amounts of hurricane debris. Approximately 25 public health officials attended the session.

Contact: Paul Ruesch, (312) 886-7898, Materials Management Branch

Region 5 Participates in CARE National Workshop

Region 5 participated in the planning and implementation of the 2009 Community Action for A Renewed Environment (CARE) National Training Workshop which was held in New York on October 20-22, 2008. Region 5 co-lead the plenary session on “Making Connections: Children’s Health in Environmental Justice and CARE Communities” featuring Peter Grevatt, OA, Janet McCabe, Improving Kids Environment and Peggy Shepard, WEACT. Region 5 lead a breakout session on “In Depth Conversation: How CARE and EJ communities are addressing Children’s Health featuring Margaret Millard, Region 5 CARE Program Manager, Paul Haan, Executive Director, Healthy Homes Coalition of West Michigan, Jennifer Petersen, ClearCorps Grand Rapids, Doug Eller, Executive Director, Grace Hill St. Louis, Damaris Perez and Dr. Perry Sheffield from the Pediatric Environmental Specialty Unit at Mt. Sinai, New York, Ted Coopwood, OA and Dr. Anne Banda, UW Milwaukee College of Nursing. Also Region 5 participated on the planning sessions for the keynote speaker, Ms. Angela Glover-Blackwell and the session on “How to Turn Results into Effective Policy.” Other speakers from Region 5 included Mary Mulligan from the GARY CARE Collaborative speaking in the Brownfields session and Kim Foreman from Environmental Health Watch in Cleveland speaking at the Healthy Homes session.

During the CARE National Workshop, a recognition ceremony and reception for the EPA-CDC/ATSDR Collaborative was held where awards were presented to Margaret Millard for her national leadership of the EPA-CDC/ATSDR Pilot Management Team and to Dr. Maryann Suero for her work in West Michigan with the Kent County Health Department.

Contacts: Margaret Millard, (312) 353-1440, Program Services Branch
Maryann Suero, (312) 886-9077, Chemicals Management Branch

All Region 5 States Complete ARRA Reporting for the LUST Program Grants

All Region 5 States have successfully entered their 1512 reports into the federalreporting.gov website. The 1512 Reports have been reviewed by the Office of Underground Storage Tanks and OUST has one of three options:

not reviewed by agency
reviewed by agency, no material omissions or significant reporting errors
reviewed by agency, material omissions or significant reporting errors identified.

OUST indicated that they will report option 2 for Region 5 States.

On October 30, 2009 all Recovery Act recipient's 1512 reports will be available on www.recovery.gov for public access.

Contact: Julie Magee, (312) 886-6063, Program Services Branch

Region 5 Settles Diamond Hard Chrome RCRA Financial Assurance Matter

On October 26, 2009, EPA issued a Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) under RCRA Section 3008(a) resolving claims for civil penalties for violations of the authorized Ohio RCRA Financial Assurance requirements for treatment, storage and disposal facilities for Diamond Hard Chrome Co., Inc. (Diamond). The CAFO simultaneously commences and concludes EPA’s action for alleged failure to have a detailed written estimate of the cost of closure; financial assurance for closure; a detailed estimate of the annual cost of post-closure monitoring and maintenance; financial assurance for post-closure care; and financial responsibility for bodily injury and property damage to third parties caused by sudden accidental occurrences. The penalty settlement amount was $15,000, based on Diamond's limited ability to pay and the costs of post-closure care. The CAFO also requires Respondent to submit a revised post-closure plan to Ohio EPA, including a ground-water monitoring plan and a revised cost estimate, that meets the applicable RCRA authorized requirements; and update its Financial Assurance to provide for the cost estimated in the approved plan.

Contact: Walter Francis, (312) 353-4921, RCRA Branch

EPA Conducted File Review at MPCA and Site Visits

On October 20, 2009, Wen Huang and Jim Blough conducted a RCRA file review at MPCA office. MPCA's filing system is satisfactory. However, EPA suggested potential improvement to the current system by adding an index sheet to each file. The Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc. facility located in Eagan, MN, was visited to verify whether or not the emission control stipulated in the federal permit for the Subpart X unit was implemented. A new enclosure with a limit switch was installed to the Subpart X unit to satisfy the permit requirement. Northern State Power Co. (dba Excel Energy) in Minneapolis and Safety-Kleen in Blaine were visited on October 21, 2009, to discuss the permit reissuance issues, which included RCRA activities described in the Part B Application.

Site visits were conducted with MPCA and County staffs. The joint State and Federal permit public notices for Safety-Kleen Eagan and Blaine, and Excel Energy are scheduled for April and May 2010, respectively.

Contact: Wen Huang, (312) 886-6191, RCRA Branch

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