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EPA Press Advisory: 1. Partnerships Help Protect America’s Soil and Groundwater; 2. U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Released for Public Comment; 3. Science Advisory Board Review of Draft Guidance for Assessing Risks from Early-life Exposure to Carcinogens; 4. Four Individuals Plead Guilty in New York State Asbestos Case1. Partnerships Help Protect America’s Soil and Groundwater 03/03/2004 - A new report released this week shows how EPA, state and tribal agencies, and industry have worked together over the past two decades to protect our nation’ soil and groundwater from leaking tanks. The report highlights that since 1984, these partnerships have resulted in: the closing of 1.5 million unsafe tanks leaving a population of 700,000 active tanks all of which have been upgraded or replaced; completed over 300,000 cleanups; and dramatically reduced the number of new releases from a high of over 66,000 in 1990 to roughly 12,000 in 2003. EPA unveiled the report entitled, “Underground Storage Tanks: Building On the Past to Protect the Future” at the 16th Annual Underground Storage Tanks/Leaking Underground Storage Tanks Conference in New Orleans. In 1984, President Reagan signed legislation directing EPA to protect the public from petroleum leaks from underground tanks at gas stations and other places. Two years later, Congress created the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund to provide a funding source for cleaning up these petroleum leaks, and in 1988, EPA issued regulations to implement these new laws. The UST/LUST National Conference attracts representatives from state, federal and tribal agencies and national trade associations from across the United States and its six territories to discuss best management practices and upcoming issues relating to protecting the environment and human health from the dangers of release from USTs. To see the entire report, go to: http://www.epa.gov/oust/pubs/20annrpt.pdf . Paper copies of “Underground Storage Tanks: Building On the Past to Protect the Future” (EPA 510-R-04-001) 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 call 1-800-490-9198 or 513-489-8190. To get more information on the UST/LUST Conference, go to: http://staging.icfconsulting.com/epa/ust/Registration.nsf/content/index.html . 2. U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Released for Public Comment Cynthia Bergman 202-564-7862 / bergman.cynthia@epa.gov The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft version of the “Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2002” for a 30-day public comment period. The major finding in this year's report is that overall emissions increased slightly by 0.7 percent from 2001 to 2002. This increase was due primarily to moderate economic growth in 2002 that increased demand for electricity and fossil fuels. A secondary contributor included hot summer conditions in 2002, which also increased demand for electricity and fossil fuels. Overall, total U.S. emissions have risen by 13 percent from 1990 to 2002, while the U.S. economy has grown by 42 percent over the same period. Total emissions of the six main greenhouse gases were 6,934 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2002. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. Fossil fuel combustion was the largest source of emissions, accounting for 81 percent of the total. The “Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2002” is prepared annually by EPA, in collaboration with experts from a dozen other federal agencies, and is one of the most comprehensive analyses of greenhouse gases in the world. After EPA completes a final version of the document, the Department of State will submit the Inventory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). A Federal Register notice announcing a 30-day public comment period on the report was published on March 1, 2004. The report is available at: http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/publications/emissions . 3. Science Advisory Board Review of Draft Guidance for Assessing Risks from Early-life Exposure to Carcinogens Suzanne Ackerman 202-564-7819 / ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov To continually review and refine EPA’s key scientific health risk assessment tools, the Science Advisory Board (SAB) has completed its review of the Agency’s “Draft Supplemental Guidance For Assessing Cancer Susceptibility From Early-Life Exposure To Carcinogens” (Supplemental Guidance). The SAB was established by Congress in 1978 to provide independent advice on scientific and technical information underlying Agency policies and regulations, and is comprised of outside experts from academia, industry, and environmental communities. EPA prepared the Supplemental Guidance to separately review the risks to children, as it is possible that in certain health areas children’s risks may be higher than those of adults. This review was conducted by a Review Panel composed of members of the SAB board, EPA’s Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act Scientific Advisory Panel and EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee. To read the report, go to: http://www.epa.gov/sab/ and click on “Recent Additions.” Enforcement Wrap-Up Suzanne Ackerman 202-564-7819 / ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov 4. Four Individuals Plead Guilty in New York State Asbestos Case Tom Toporczyk, owner of Topor Contracting, a demolition and asbestos abatement business in Buffalo, N.Y.; William Denton, a manager of Topor; Tina Lopez, Topor office administrator; and Patricia Young, owner of Payco, an Akron, N.Y. firm that conducts pre-demolition asbestos surveys; all pled guilty on Feb. 25 to various state charges that arose from the demolition of two buildings in Buffalo, N.Y. Topor and Denton pled guilty to felony charges of Offering a False Instrument for Filing, Lopez pled guilty to misdemeanor forgery, and Young pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of Offering a False Instrument for Filing. The charges involved falsifying pre-demolition asbestos surveys, which are necessary to verify that asbestos has been removed from the work area. If demolition begins before asbestos-containing material is removed, workers and other people entering the work area could inhale asbestos fibers. Asbestos inhalation is a known cause of lung cancer, the lung disease “asbestosis,” and mesothelioma, a cancer of the chest and abdominal cavities. In a related civil case, Toporczyk and Young were permanently barred from conducting asbestos abatement work in New York State and Toporczyk was also ordered to pay a $25,000 fine. The case was investigated by New York State Attorney General’s Criminal Prosecutions Bureau, the Buffalo Regional Office of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, the FBI and the New York Area Office of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division. It is being prosecuted under the direction of the New York State Attorney General’s Office. R040 # # # Release date:03/03/2004 Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email
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