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Envirobytes - An Environmental Newsletter
EnviroBytes, a Summary of Issues and Events for Week Ending May 16, 2008
EPA REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR ANNOUNCES BROWNFIELDS GRANT TO FUND REVITALIZATION OF CONTAMINATED SITE
Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh awarded a $200,000 brownfields grant to the Center for Aquatic Life (a non-profit affiliate of the National Aquarium) for the cleanup and redevelopment of its 13-acre site in Baltimore, Md. The cleanup will remove heavy metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and semi-volatile organic compound contaminants from the site. The redevelopment project will improve the area's environment and economy by creating an Animal Care and Conservation Education Center, a waterfront and environmental demonstration park, and a public trail and fishing pier along the Patapsco River. For more information on the brownfields program, go to http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/index.html
GREEN HIGHWAYS PROGRAM PARTNERS COMMIT TO USE RECYCLED FOUNDRY SANDS IN ROADWAYS
EPA staff attended the 7th Annual Metal Casting Conference hosted by the Pennsylvania Foundry Association. The conference centered on the need for the industry to find more ways to reuse the millions of tons of unusable sand generated by foundries yearly in their mold-making process. PennDot and PADEP have become partners in the Green Highways program and plan to reuse foundry sands in their roadway applications. Instead of being discarded in municipal or private landfills, foundry sand can be reused in roadbeds, construction fill, and cement. To learn about EPA's efforts in the re-use of foundry sands, go to http://www.epa.gov/ispd/metalcasting/foundry.html For more information on the Green Highway partnership program, go to http://www.greenhighways.org/ 
PENNSYLVANIA COUNTIES JOIN EPA'S SCHOOL RECYCLING PILOT
EPA is creating a pilot paper recycling program titled "Green Power Partners – Do the Right Thing!" in conjunction with the PADEP, the recycling offices of Lackawanna, Monroe, Luzerne and Northampton Counties, and the Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania. The pilot will be introduced at a number of high schools in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties with participating schools starting recycling activities in the 2008-2009 academic year. County coordinators will be entrusted to provide schools with sufficient recycling bins, work with the local media to generate adequate coverage for the program, and request that October 2008, be proclaimed as "School Recycling Month."
LAST STEEL MILL PARCEL TO BE REDEVELOPED
Majestic Realty Co. of California has revealed plans to develop a business park at one of the last remaining, undeveloped parcels of the former Bethlehem Steel site in Bethlehem, Pa. The new Majestic Bethlehem Center will include an 8-million square foot warehouse and assembly space that will cover 25 percent of the 1,800-acre former steel mill. (Other parcels have been transformed into the LVIP VII Business Park and the Sands Beth-Works Casino through Brownfields projects). EPA and the PADEP were instrumental in cleaning up the Majestic parcel. For more on the successful cleanup of the former Bethlehem Steel plant parcels, go to
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/success/PA-bethlehem.htm
EPA LAUNCHES MULTI-LINGUAL WEBSITES
In celebration of May as Asian Pacific Heritage Month, EPA launched two additional language sites: A Korean and a Vietnamese one, adding to others already online. The multi-lingual Web sites provide important environmental information to non-English speaking minorities on children's health, indoor air quality in nail salons and dry cleaners, asthma, fish consumption advisories, and proper pesticide usage. This outreach will reach a population of more than 14.9 people who trace their roots to Asian countries. Visit EPA's multilingual Web sites at
www.epa.gov/vietnamese
www.epa.gov/korean
www.epa.gov/chinese
www.epa.gov/chinese/simple
www.epa.gov/espanol
SOURCE REDUCTION GRANTS AVAILABLE
EPA awards Source Reduction Assistance Grants and Cooperative Agreements annually to support pollution prevention, source reduction and/or resource conservation projects that reduce or eliminate pollution at the source.Nine of EPA's Pollution Prevention Program offices anticipate receiving approximately $130,000 per region for the award. Proposals must be received no later than June 9 to be considered for funding. Note: The grant program does not support projects that rely on reducing pollution by using recycling, treatment, disposal or energy recovery activities. To view the Request for Proposals, go to http://www.epa.gov/p2/pubs/grants/srap08.htm.
NATIONAL REPORT ON THE ENVIRONMENT RELEASED MAY 20
EPA released its 2008 Report on the Environment on May 20, a science-based assessment document providing an important resource to better understand trends in the condition of the air, water, land, and human health of the nation. This kind of information, can help EPA prioritize its work and focus on human health and ecological activities that can lead to improvements in the conditions of the nation's environment. For more information, go to EPA's 2008 Report on the Environment: http://www.epa.gov/roe
WETLANDS AND CLIMATE CHANGE TOPIC OF WEBCAST
A two-hour Watershed Academy Webcast titled "Wetlands and Climate Change,"was useful for region 3 staff involved in wetlands protection. The presenters discussed the unique challenges that climate change poses to wetland habitats. Discussions included the findings from the IPCC Report (United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) on the anticipated impact of climate change on wetlands, local adaptation management issues, and the importance of building coalitions at the local level. For more information, on the Watershed Academy and online training, go to http://www.epa.gov/watershedacademy/ and http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/
and on the Webcast, go to
http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/wacademy/webcasts/pdf/2008_05_13_flyer.pdf
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