Two Washington Fruit Companies Violate Air Regulations
On September 19, 2012, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced a signed agreement that requires the General Electric Company to manage the maintenance and possible replacement of treatment equipment on wells in the Cayuga County Groundwater Contamination Superfund site in New York.
According to Judith A. Enck, the EPA Regional Administrator, “This agreement allows EPA to continue the important work of address toxic contamination at this site without having tax payers foot the bill.”
The drinking water was initially contaminated when volatile organic compounds ran off into ground water from a facility in Auburn, New York. A company called Powerex, Inc. and GE both manufactured semiconductors at the facility on Genessee Street. The EPA detected contamination on 55 properties in 2000 and proceeded to install treatment systems on the wells. Since then, the EPA only maintained a total of four treatment systems because the other properties had been connected to public water supplies.
Even though the EPA has handed over maintenance responsibilities to GE, the EPA is still working on a long-term cleanup strategy.
A proposed cleanup strategy reported on August 2, 2012 involves dividing the contaminated area into three different sections. The first section is directly south of the formerly used facility, and the EPA will use a term called bioremediation. The process introduces chemicals and “biological enhancements” to breakdown the volatile organic compounds.
The EPA will rely on natural processes for the other two sections. The EPA believes the right conditions exist underground in the two sections that can work to eliminate the compounds quickly. Routine collection and analysis of the ground water will continue.
The contaminated site was added to the Superfund list in 2002. Since its creation by Congress in 1980, the Superfund investigates and cleans up the most hazardous sites in the United States. The only time taxpayers feel the impacts of the Superfund is when those responsible for the pollution cannot be located or provide financially incapable of such cleanup efforts.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency
On September 19, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency called for communities to apply for sustainable growth assistance in their area. In order to qualify for the assistance, the communities must show how they increased economic opportunity while protecting the health and environment in the past.
If the community is selected, the EPA will offer assistance through the Building Block for Sustainable Communities program. This specific program offers tools with applications in rural, suburban, and urban areas. Some of the available tools and strategies include:
· strong growth and economic development to receive better results from public and private investments
· “green street strategies” to manage storm water
· land strategies for water quality protection
· parking audits for parking in current and planned areas of land
· community design for elderly populations to help residents live at home longer
· “bikeshare system planning” to develop new commuting ideas
· green building toolkits
· small city and rural development to promote “community characteristics”
Application must be submitted to the EPA between September 26 and October 26. The EPA is hosting a webinar about the program and application process on September 21 between 1:00 and 2:30 Eastern time.
The EPA is selecting a total amount of 44 communities in the current round of assistance. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation will make selections, and the EPA states the collaboration will manage “federal investments in infrastructure, facilities, and services to get better results for communities and use taxpayer money more efficiently.”
If a community is selected, the EPA will send experts to the community for a two-day workshop that explains policies and practices. The community can also learn about smart growth development during the workshops.
The Building Blocks program began in 2010 and the EPA has received requests from over 600 communities in the last two years. The EPA has provided assistance to 140 communities in just two years.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency
On September 19, 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency stated that a $10 million cleanup initiative of contaminated soil will begin mid to late September at the Superfund site called Solvent Savers. The site is a chemical waste recovery facility located in Chenango County.
According to the EPA, the soil and ground water is polluted with volatile organic compounds and polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs. These chemical can cause serious damage to a person’s health.
Solvent Savers, Inc. maintained a chemical waste recovery program at the contaminated site on Union Valley Road from 1967 to 1974. During this time, industrial solvents and other harmful chemicals were reprocessed and disposed. Many of the chemicals—in liquid, solid, and sludge form—were buried in drums on the site.
The EPA has removed about 160 drums and parts that were buried on the site, and much of the soil around the drums was also removed.
The EPA has already used a “soil vapor extraction treatment system” that aims to reduce and eliminate volatile organic compounds within the soil. The EPA estimates this process reduced the volume of contaminated soil from 135,000 cubic yards to only 6,500 cubic yards. The rest of soil is located in two “hot spots” with PCB contamination as well.
The soil contaminated with both volatile organic compounds and PCBS will be cleared out from the site and placed in EPA-approved areas. Soil with high levels of PCBs will undergo a process that cements and binds the contaminants before disposal.
About 15,000 cubic yards will be removed from the site. The areas will be filled with clean soil and planted vegetation. The EPA is overseeing the operation, and the following companies are paying for contamination and cleanup: General Electric Company, Inc., American Locker Group, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, Pass & Symour Corporation, and the United States Air Force.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency