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EPA Press Advisory: 1. Voluntary Partnerships Lead to Waste Reduction and Recycling; 2. Recommendations Made to Improve the Environmental Health of Children Near the U.S.-Mexico Border; 3. Michigan Auto Shop Owner Sentenced to 37 Months for Illegal Disposal of Hazardous Waste and Conspiracy Charges; 4. Ship’s Engineer and Shipping Companies Indicted for Ocean Dumping1. Voluntary Partnerships Lead to Waste Reduction and Recycling 02/18/2004 - This week, EPA released its first annual report on the Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC), a major cross-agency initiative that identifies and uses innovative and flexible ways to conserve natural resources and energy. The report, entitled “The Resource Conservation Challenge: A Year of Progress,” shows how federal and state governments, tribes and industry are achieving significant results in waste reduction and recycling. This report shows that the RCC is a true collaboration among diverse stakeholders that allows EPA to accomplish more in less time than years of regulatory development and litigation. The RCC, launched in 2002, focuses on nine subjects: construction and demolition debris; green buildings; electronics; hospitals; paper; industrial wastes; schools; targeted priority chemical reduction; and tires. The RCC is working to: (1) prevent pollution and promote recycling and reuse of material; (2) reduce the use of toxic chemicals; and (3) conserve energy and materials. It is accomplishing these goals with partnerships and programs that save energy, reduce greenhouse gases, create jobs and grow the economy. The Agency’s long-established partnership, Wastewise, grew to over 1,300 members and new ones, such as the National Waste Minimization Partnership Program, the Coal Combustion Products Partnership, Plug-In to eCycling and the GreenScapes Alliance, grew from the ground up. The RCC report highlights the accomplishments of some of these partnerships, including: the Plug-In to eCycling safely recycled 26.4 million pounds of computers and other electronic equipment in 2003; the tire partnership is committed to reduce, recycle or otherwise recover 85 percent of newly generated scrap tires and to reduce the number of tires in existing stockpiles by 55 percent within four years; and in 2002, WasteWise partners collectively achieved a level of waste reduction equal to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2.4 million tons. To learn more about the RCC or to see the annual report in its entirety, go to: http://www.epa.gov/rcc . Paper copies of The Resource Conservation Challenge: A Year of Progress (EPA530-R-04-001) and other RCC publications may be ordered online from the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP). For on-line ordering, go to: http://www.epa.gov/ncepihom/ordering.htm or call 1-800-490-9198 or 513- 489-8190. 2. Recommendations Made to Improve the Environmental Health of Children Near the U.S.-Mexico Border Bonnie Piper 202 564-7836 / piper.bonnie@epa.gov A new report on children’s environmental health along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border will be released on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 8:30 a.m. in the Watergate Hotel at 2650 Virginia Ave., N.W., in Washington, D.C. The report, “Children's Environmental Health: Spotlight on the U.S.-Mexico Border,” is the seventh annual report of an independent Presidential advisory committee, managed by EPA, called the Good Neighbor Environmental Board. The report describes environmental conditions encountered by border-region children where they live, play, and go to school. The report discusses possible effects of poor air quality, water quality, toxic chemicals, and garbage on their environmental health and makes recommendations to the President and Congress on the role of education and also highlights some promising initiatives already under way. Multiple copies of this report will also be available at the Board's annual conference held that day in the same hotel. The Board will host its annual U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Forecast session. The keynote speaker is James Connaughton, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality. Panelists include Jerry Clifford, U.S. National Coordinator of the Border 2012 Program at EPA; Al Zapanta, President & CEO of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce; and William Snape, Vice-President for Law & Litigation at Defenders of Wildlife. There is no registration fee for this public meeting. For more information, go to the Board’s web site at: http://www.epa.gov/ocem . Weekly Enforcement Wrap-Up Suzanne Ackerman 202-564-7819 / ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov 3. Michigan Auto Shop Owner Sentenced to 37 Months for Illegal Disposal of Hazardous Waste and Conspiracy Charges George C. Singleton of Clinton, Mich., was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison and pay $84,000 in restitution for illegal disposal of paint wastes containing flammable materials. He was previously convicted of conspiring to violate the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and on three counts of violating RCRA. Singleton is the owner of RT Automotive in Ypsilanti, Mich. In 1998, the defendant entered into an agreement with Automax, Inc., of Ypsilanti, an auto salvage yard, to dispose of approximately 70 drums of paint wastes containing ignitable materials. In Aug. 1998, Singleton directed the illegal disposal of the wastes which were illegally placed in an abandoned trailer in an open field in Van Buren Township, Mich. Two police officers and four firefighters required medical evaluation after approaching the trailer because of exposure to fumes. The case was investigated by the Cleveland Area Office of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit. 4. Ship’s Engineer and Shipping Companies Indicted for Ocean Dumping Shashank Pendse, a citizen of India and Chief Engineer on the ship M/V Spring Drake; MMS Co., Ltd, a Japanese company that manages the ship; and Grus Line Shipping S.A., the Panamanian company that owns the ship; were all indicted on Feb. 6 in on charges that allege they dumped oil at sea, obstructed justice and made false statements. In Aug. 2003, the Spring Drake was docked in Portland to pick up a load of grain when it was inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard. The indictment alleges that the ship dumped oil and oily sludge at sea through a pipe that bypassed the ship’s pollution control equipment, the defendants attempted to conceal evidence of the illegal oil discharges, and they made false entries in the ship’s Oil Record Book. The release of oil at sea can harm fish and wildlife. The case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Office in Portland, Ore., the Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Portland Area Office of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from the Washington Department of Ecology. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland, Ore. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless or until they are proven guilty in a court of law. R028 # # # Release date:02/18/2004 Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email
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