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1. UNDER NEW LAND REVITALIZATION AGENDA; EPA ADDS SEVEN FINAL; 14 PROPOSED HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES TO THE SUPERFUND NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST; 2. 2003 FUEL ECONOMY TRENDS REPORT NOW AVAILABLE ON THE EPA’S WEBSITE; 3. NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PARTNERSHIP WITH INDUSTRY SECTORS; 4. EPA ANNOUNCES HOSPITALS FOR A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT AWARDS; 5. MAN FROM SAIPAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY IN DRINKING WATER CASE; 6. PENNSYLVANIA LANDLORD PLEADS GUILTY TO FALSIFYING LEAD PAINT NOTIFICATION FORMSPress Advisory Following are some Agency developments which may interest you. If you need more information on any of these subjects, call the appropriate contact. UNDER NEW LAND REVITALIZATION AGENDA, EPA ADDS SEVEN FINAL, 14 PROPOSED HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES TO THE SUPERFUND NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST Dave Ryan 202-564-7827/ryan.dave@epa.gov EPA is continuing to make great progress in protecting public health, cleaning up the nation’s hazardous waste, and encouraging economic revitalization and land reuse by proposing 14 sites to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) and finalizing seven more. EPA’s selection of the 14 proposed new sites was based on various factors including: risk to human health and the environment, the need for urgent response, maintenance of a strong enforcement program, leverage of other cleanups, the level of support for listing from state, tribes, and communities, and program management and resource considerations. At all of these sites, EPA will work with states, tribes, local communities and other partners in identifying land reuse options and opportunities where they can work together to spur economic revitalization. In its recently announced Land Revitalization Agenda, EPA made a commitment that cleanup of contaminated land is not enough ---- these sites must be available to the community to provide jobs, tax revenues and recreational benefits that did not previously exist. Revitalization and reuse will now be a formal part of planning at every site. The 14 proposed sites are: AMCO Chemical, Oakland, Calif.; Captain Jack Mill, Ward, Colo.; 68th Street Dump, Baltimore, Md.; Madison County Mines, Fredericktown, Mo.; Newton County Mine Tailings, Newton County, Mo.; Ram Leather Care, Charlotte, N.C.; Troy Mills Landfill, Troy, N.H.; Rolling Knolls Landfill, Chatham Township, N.J.; Standard Chlorine Chemical Company Inc., Kearny, N.J.; White Swan/Sun Cleaners GW Contamination, Wall Township, N.J.; Armco Inc., Hamilton Plant, Hamilton, Ohio; Peters Cartridge Factory, Kings Mills, Ohio; Conroe Creosoting \fs24softlineCompany, Conroe, Texas; and Jones Road Ground Water Plume, Harris County, Texas. Proposed sites must go through a public comment period before they can be finalized on the NPL. The seven final sites are: United Metals Inc., Marianna, Fla.; Ward Transformer, Raleigh, N.C.; Omaha Lead, Omaha, Neb.; Woodbrook Road Dump, South Plainfield, N.J.; Pesticide Warehouse III, Manati, Puerto Rico; Gulfco Marine Maintenance, Freeport, Texas; Davenport and Flagstaff Smelters, Sandy City, Utah. These final seven sites are now eligible for Superfund remedial action funds. The NPL now contains 1,236 final sites. Cleanup construction has been completed at 850 sites and is underway at 384 additional sites. For Federal Register notices and support documents for the new proposed and final sites, see: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/newnpl.htm 2003 FUEL ECONOMY TRENDS REPORT NOW AVAILABLE ON THE EPA’S WEBSITE Cathy Milbourn 202-564-7824/milbourn.cathy@epa.gov EPA is releasing its report, “Light Duty Automotive Technology and Fuel Economy Trends: 1975 Through 2003.” The report summarizes key fuel economy and technology trends for cars and light trucks (vans, SUVs and pickup trucks) sold in the United States for model years 1975 - 2003. The average fuel economy for model year 2003 vehicles is 20.8 miles per gallon (mpg), about 6 percent lower than the peak value of 22.1 mpg achieved in 1987 and 1988. The report shows that there is a continuing decline in fuel economy due to the increases in light truck sales, increased vehicle weight, and the use of more powerful engines. The report can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fetrends.htm . A copy of the EPA/DOE Fuel Economy Guide giving city and highway fuel economy data for individual models is available at: http://www.fueleconomy.gov . EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide that gives information about the environmental performance of vehicles is at: http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles . The recent Department of Transportation (DOT) decision to increase CAFE by 1.5-mpg over three years more than doubles the increase in CAFE for light trucks that occurred between 1986 and 1996. Between 1986 and 1996, the standard for vehicles in the light truck category increased from 20.0 mpg to 20.7 mpg. DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates this CAFE increase will effectively save 3.6 billion gallons of oil over the lifetime of these trucks. Information about the DOT CAFE regulation is found at: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings (click on CAFE05-07). NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PARTNERSHIP WITH INDUSTRY SECTORS Suzanne Ackerman 202-564-7819/ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov On May 1, in Washington, D.C., Administrator Whitman announced the new Sectors Strategies Program at the Leadership Conference of the Associated General Contractors of America. The new program is being established by EPA’s Office of Policy, Economics and Innovation to develop understanding and new ideas in environmental management. EPA will partner with key trade associations to develop strategies to promote the adoption of environmental management systems (EMS), to foster better regulatory performance, and to improve mechanisms for measuring environmental progress. EMSs are comprehensive programs in which companies or facilities assess their environmental impacts, set improvement goals, carry out plans to achieve them and monitor results. The sectors selected today are: Agribusiness, Cement Manufacturing, Colleges and Universities, Construction, Forest Products, Iron and Steel Manufacturing, and Ports. Additional information is available at: http://www.epa.gov/sectors or contact Bob Benson, Director of the Sector Strategies Division, at 202-566-2954 or at benson.robert@epa.gov . EPA ANNOUNCES HOSPITALS FOR A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT AWARDS Suzanne Ackerman 202-564-7819/ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov EPA, the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association, and the Health Care Without Harm organization announce that Bronson Methodist Hospital of Kalamazoo, Mich., and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center of Lebanon, N.H., have won the 2003 Environmental Leadership Awards for the national Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) program. The H2E initiative was created by an agreement between the American Hospital Association and EPA to advance pollution prevention efforts in the nation’s health care facilities. The goals of H2E are to eliminate the use of mercury in healthcare by 2005, cut health care waste in half by 2010, and identify and eliminate persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic chemicals in the healthcare system. More than 425 partners, representing nearly 1,400 health care facilities, have joined H2E and are committed to achieving those goals. More information is available at: http://www.h2e-online.org/. ENFORCEMENT WRAP-UP John Millett 202-564-7842/millett.john@epa.gov MAN FROM SAIPAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY IN DRINKING WATER CASE Roberto Ramilo of the Island of Saipan in the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) pled guilty on April 25 in U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands to conspiracy to defraud the United States EPA with respect to the alleged falsification of bottled water samples. Ramilo, who had been indicted under the name of Angelito Delos Santos, was in the business of supplying and maintaining drinking water filtration equipment to garment factories, bottled water companies and restaurants on the Island of Saipan. Specifically, the defendant admitted to tampering with drinking water samples to make it appear as if the samples met federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards. Tampering with drinking water samples can expose the public to high levels of bacteria in drinking water which can cause a variety of infections and abdominal illnesses. The plea agreement calls for the defendant to spend fifteen months in prison. The case was investigated by the San Francisco Area Office of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI with assistance from the CNMI Division of Environmental Quality. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. PENNSYLVANIA LANDLORD PLEADS GUILTY TO FALSIFYING LEAD PAINT NOTIFICATION FORMS Kurvin H. Grove of York, Pa., pled guilty on April 24 in U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, Pa., to criminal obstruction of EPA proceedings by forging tenants’ signatures on lead-based paint hazard notification forms and submitting the falsified documents to EPA civil inspectors. The forms, required under the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992, include a standard warning required to be given to tenants when they sign a lease. Tenants sign the forms and return them to the landlord, indicating they have been notified of any existing lead hazards. Grove had been under investigation by EPA after the York Bureau of Health discovered that a child living in one of his buildings had developed elevated levels of blood lead. Elevated levels in children can cause neurological, bone and kidney damage and may also cause developmental abnormalities. Excessive levels of blood lead can produce convulsions, coma and death. When sentenced, Grove faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the York Bureau of Health. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Harrisburg. R125 # # # Release date:05/02/2003 Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email
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