Preview Newsletter
AM ACC 3/30/2018
-
(ACC Mentioned) PP Resin Prices Take Big Drop in March as PS, PVC Rise
Mar 29, 2018 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American selling prices for polypropylene resin took another big dive in March, as regional prices for solid polystyrene and PVC ticked up once again. -
(ACC Mentioned) President-Elect James Gallogly's Donation History Includes Republican Political Campaigns
Mar 29, 2018 | Oklahoma Daily
By Kate Perkins
OU President-designate James Gallogly has donated to several political campaigns, including those of Republicans Mitt Romney, George W. Bush and John Boehner. -
GOP Lawmakers Urge EPA to Address Methylene Chloride
Mar 30, 2018 | Inside EPA
Republican lawmakers and environmentalists are urging EPA and the Lowe's hardware chain to take steps to end worker and consumer exposures to methylene chloride in paint-strippers after a series of fatal exposures and a Trump administration decision to shelve an Obama-era proposed ban. -
Coffee Must Carry Cancer Warning, California Judge Rules
Mar 29, 2018 | Washington Post
By Eli Rosenberg
Bad news, coffee drinkers: A California judge has ruled that coffee companies across the state will have to carry a cancer warning label because of a carcinogen that is present in the brewed beverage. -
California’s Carcinogen Policy Is Rational
Mar 30, 2018 | Wall Street Journal
By Allan Hirsch
Regarding your editorial “A Cancer Scare Defeat in California” (March 15): The statement that California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found the herbicide glyphosate is “unlikely to pose a cancer hazard to humans” is misleading... -
IG Reviewing EPA Implementation of Lead Paint Rule
Mar 29, 2018 |
EPA's Inspector General is launching a review of the agency's implementation and enforcement of its lead paint dust renovation and repair rules, just as the agency is scrambling to comply with a court order to update the rule's standard for determining when renovations... -
Grieving Parents & Health Advocates Urge Lowe’s to Pull Deadly Paint Strippers from Store Shelves
Mar 29, 2018 | Safer Chemicals, Health Families
At 31 years old, entrepreneur Drew Wynne’s life was cut short when he inhaled a toxic paint stripper containing methylene chloride, which he bought at Lowe’s to refinish a floor. -
Plastic Chemicals More Common in Restaurant Meals: Report
Mar 29, 2018 | Newxmax
People who like to dine out may unwittingly order a side of potentially harmful chemicals, new research suggests. -
House Dems Demand Hearing over Zinke Offshore Drilling Plan
Mar 30, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Miranda Green
Three top House Democrats are demanding a hearing with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to discuss his proposal to expand offshore drilling. -
OFS, E&P Activity Expanding in Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico, Says Dallas Fed
Mar 29, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Carolyn Davis
The oil and gas sector continued to strengthen during the first three months of this year in Texas, northern Louisiana and southeastern New Mexico, the Federal Reserve Bank’s Dallas arm said. -
Pennsylvania Environmental Regulators Confront Challenges of Growing Oil, Gas Industry
Mar 29, 2018 | Platts
By Jim Magill
As the pace of oil and gas development in Pennsylvania has increased in recent years, state environmental regulators have worked to keep up, the state's environmental secretary said in an interview. -
Permian's Problem: Too Much Gas, with No Place to Go
Mar 29, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Ryan Collins and Naureen S. Malik
America's most prolific oil field is now its worst market for natural gas. -
US Power Grid Can Run Well No Matter What Fuels It Uses: Reliability Official
Mar 29, 2018 |
By Michael Copley
With the right policies and infrastructure, the US could get most of its electricity from renewable resources without hurting the performance of the power grid, according to an official who helps develop and oversee compliance with reliability standards. -
(ACC Mentioned) As Lawsuits over Texas Chemical Disaster Add Up, Advocates Blame Arkema and Rules Regulating It
Mar 30, 2018 | Texas Tribune
By Emma Platoff
Most of the houses along Crosby Eastgate Road and its neighboring streets are one-story outfits on sprawling green lots. In their driveways are spare trucks, old armchairs or small motorboats; grazing their grass are horses and cows. -
Trump: 'We Probably Have to Wait Until After the Election'
Mar 29, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Hannah Northey and Nick Sobczyk
President Trump conceded that the "biggest, boldest infrastructure plan" he pitched in rural Ohio may not make it through Congress until after the November elections. -
(ACC Mentioned) Current Sulfur Air Standards Protect Health, Scientists Tell EPA
Mar 30, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer Lu
Power plants and other industrial facilities probably won't have to further limit their emissions of sulfur dioxide after EPA science advisers agreed current air quality protections are sufficient. -
States Go to Forefront as EPA Chips Away at Backlog of Decisions
Mar 29, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Amena H. Saiyid
Shifting the burden of environmental protection to states could speed approvals of air and water permits that businesses need to operate, as the EPA tries to halve its backlog of overdue decisions. -
EPA's Midwest Chief Must Steer Clear of Key Ozone Decision
Mar 29, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
The head of U.S. EPA's Midwestern regional office is barred from involvement in a looming air quality decision of keen interest to her former boss, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). -
Biggest Threat to Humanity? Climate Change, U.N. Chief Says
|
-
Judge Dismisses Exxon’s ‘Implausible’ Attempt to Stop Climate Investigations
Mar 29, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
A federal judge Thursday dismissed Exxon Mobil Corp.’s attempt to stop the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts from investigating its alleged fraud regarding what company officials knew about climate change and when.
Industry and Association News
LCSA News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation and Infrastructure News
Environment News
-
(ACC Mentioned) PP Resin Prices Take Big Drop in March as PS, PVC Rise
Mar 29, 2018 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American selling prices for polypropylene resin took another big dive in March, as regional prices for solid polystyrene and PVC ticked up once again.
PP prices declined by an average of 6 cents per pound in March. Prices had fallen by a similar amount in February after jumping up 9 cents in January. Some 21 cents of combined price movement in three months is a lot for a commodity material, even one as volatile as PP.
The 6-cent March drop matched a similar price decline for polymer-grade propylene (PGP) feedstock. Supplies of both PP resin and propylene monomer have improved after a winter cold snap affected production in the Houston area. That cold snap led to the 9-cent January Jump.
Scott Newell, a PP market analyst with Resin Technology Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas, thinks the 6 cent March price drop will be "the last big decline" seen for a while. A major PP buyer in the Midwest told Plastics News that an April price reduction could be around 2 cents.
"Any PGP movement in April will be much more modest," Newell added. "The U.S. now has the lowest PGP price globally. That should help demand."
He also said North American PP demand has had seven straight months of below average demand, so March demand numbers "will show a decent pop."
The weak PP demand that Newell was referring to was seen in sales data for the first two months of 2018 from the American Chemistry Council. North American PP sales for that two-month period were down almost 4 percent vs. the same period in 2017. A domestic sales decline of almost 3 percent was worsened by a plunge of almost 28 percent for sales into the export market.
Prior to the February slide, North American PP prices had increased for seven consecutive months, with those increases totaling 19.5 cents per pound. Higher domestic demand combined with supply outages had played a role in these price hikes.
Polystyrene up 4 cents
Regional PS prices moved up an average of 4 cents per pound for March after rising 2 cents in February. The hike surprisingly occurred even though benzene feedstock prices declined slightly. The upward push was a result of "production outages down the chain," according to Phil Karig, managing director of the Mathelin Bay Associates consulting firm in St. Louis.
Prices for PS had been flat in January after climbing 5 cents in December, placing the total increase for the last four months at 11 cents.
North American PS sales slumped almost 7 percent in the first two months of 2018. A domestic sales loss of just over 7 percent was softened somewhat by an increase of almost 5 percent in export sales.
PVC up 2 cents
Regional suspension PVC prices moved up an average of 2 cents per pound for March after moving up 3 cents in January. Prior to those increases, PVC prices had been flat in January and down a penny in December.
These February-March increases have taken hold as a result of a stronger export market and because of limited production at some PVC plants in the region, market sources said.
U.S./Canadian PVC sales grew just over 1 percent in January, with export growth of almost 6 percent making up for a decline of almost 1 percent in domestic sales. Two-month PVC sales into its flagship rigid pipe and tubing end market were down almost 3 percent, as winter weather slowed construction activity.
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20180329/NEWS/180329865/pp-resin-prices-take-big-drop-in-march-as-ps-pvc-rise
-
Mar 29, 2018 | Oklahoma Daily
By Kate Perkins
OU President-designate James Gallogly has donated to several political campaigns, including those of Republicans Mitt Romney, George W. Bush and John Boehner.
According to the Donor Lookup page on OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics, Gallogly donated to multiple organizations between 2000 and 2014. Most of these donations were to Republican candidates and leaders, including Mitt Romney in 2012, George W. Bush in 2004 and John Boehner in 2012 and 2014.
His donations ranged from $300 to $2,600, according to the website.
He also donated $5,000 to the Republican National Committee in 2012, a total of $2,000 to the American Chemistry Council in 2000 and 2001, and $625 to LyondellBasell Industries in 2011, the company by which he was employed at the time.
Gallogly and his wife have also conducted a number of philanthropic donations to legal nonprofits and environmental preservation organizations through the Gallogly Family Foundation.
http://www.oudaily.com/news/president-elect-james-gallogly-s-donation-history-includes-republican-political/article_b4431a88-337f-11e8-8cfd-6336bebf2d23.html
-
GOP Lawmakers Urge EPA to Address Methylene Chloride
Mar 30, 2018 | Inside EPA
Republican lawmakers and environmentalists are urging EPA and the Lowe's hardware chain to take steps to end worker and consumer exposures to methylene chloride in paint-strippers after a series of fatal exposures and a Trump administration decision to shelve an Obama-era proposed ban.
In a March 22 letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, South Carolina Republicans Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, along with Rep. Mark Sanford, press the agency to re-evaluate the proposed ban on uses of methylene chloride that was shelved early this year, citing concerns about the “extreme toxicity of methylene chloride."
“Given the apparent danger of this chemical, we urge the Secretary to immediately and fully address the already identified risks of methylene chloride consistent with [the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)] section 6 and prevent any further harm from coming to the American public,” the letter says.
The lawmakers cite the death of Charleston, SC, resident Drew Wynne, who died Oct. 14 from exposure to methylene chloride while using a paint-stripper containing the substance at his business.
And during a March 29 news conference the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families and others urged Lowe's home improvement stores to stop selling paint strippers containing methylene chloride, arguing that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's decision to shelve a proposed ban on use of the substance in paint strippers fails to protect the public.
“Since by all indications we cannot count on the EPA to ban methylene chloride anytime soon, it’s even more important that retail industry leaders step up and meet their responsibility to protect the public,” NRDC says in a March 27 letter to Lowe's CEO Robert Niblock. “The presence of methylene chloride in your inventory is a glaring exception that undercuts your stated commitment to safety.”
The Obama EPA in January 2017 proposed banning use of methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) in paint strippers, as well as use of trichloroethylene (TCE) as a vapor degreaser. The rules relied on TSCA section 6(a) authority, rarely used since a federal court struck down EPA's attempt to ban most uses of asbestos in the 1991. The decision prompted critics of TSCA to seek reform of the statute, eventually enacted in June 2016.
But late last year, the Trump administration shelved plans to finalize the proposed bans, categorizing the rules as “long-term actions,” on the Unified Agenda of federal regulations.
Environmentalists have long urged EPA to quickly finalize the three rules, arguing that the delays would needlessly expose more than 2 million workers and consumers to well-documented health risks.
At the news conference, environmentalists argued that exposure to methylene chloride poses acute and chronic health risks, including various forms of cancers, and that roughly 32,000 workers and 1.3 million consumers are exposed each year. Methylene chloride exposure has killed at least 50 people since the 1980s, the groups say.
Advocates urged Lowe's and other retailers to stop selling paint-strippers containing methylene chloride, and for EPA to finalize the proposed bans on methylene chloride, NMP and TCE. Cindy Wynne said her son's friends have emailed Pruitt querying the status of the delayed rule banning methylene chloride but have not received a response.
“Protecting consumers and workers from dangerous chemicals is at the core of EPA's mission,” Cindy Wynne said. “The longer rules are delayed the longer consumers are exposed to chemicals with well-documented health risks”
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/gop-lawmakers-urge-epa-address-methylene-chloride
-
Coffee Must Carry Cancer Warning, California Judge Rules
Mar 29, 2018 | Washington Post
By Eli Rosenberg
Bad news, coffee drinkers: A California judge has ruled that coffee companies across the state will have to carry a cancer warning label because of a carcinogen that is present in the brewed beverage.
Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle sided with a nonprofit's case against dozens of coffee companies, including Starbucks, Peets and other chains, saying that businesses that sold coffee were in violation of a state regulation requiring businesses with at least 10 employees to disclose the prevalence of carcinogens and toxic chemicals.
“While plaintiff offered evidence that consumption of coffee increases the risk of harm to the fetus, to infants, to children and to adults, defendants’ medical and epidemiology experts testified that they had no opinion on causation,” Berle wrote. “Defendants failed to satisfy their burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that consumption of coffee confers a benefit to human health.”
Acrylamide is a known carcinogen that is produced naturally during the process of baking or frying some foods. It is produced in coffee beans when they are roasted, and is prevalent in brewed cups.
Berle’s ruling, which was reported by the Associated Press, noted that neither side disputed that acrylamide is present in coffee. She wrote that the defendants had failed to show that it posed no risk or added any health benefits to coffee at all. According to the Associated Press, the defense was burdened with showing that acrylamide in coffee wouldn't cause one or more cases of cancer for every 100,000 people, but the judge said that the risk had not been properly evaluated.
The case was filed nearly eight years ago; Berle’s ruling is tentative, but is unlikely to be reversed. The third phase of the trial will determine the civil penalties that coffee companies are liable for.
In addition to the warning signs likely to result from the lawsuit, the Council for Education and Research on Toxics, which brought the lawsuit, has asked for fines as much as $2,500 for every person exposed to the chemical since 2002, potentially opening the door to massive settlements. Starbucks is the lead defendant in the case; others like 7-Eleven have already settled. Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some have accused lawyers of taking advantage of the state regulation, which includes exemptions for some chemicals that occur naturally in uncooked food, for settlement money; fried potatoes contain acrylamide, and the same law firm represented the nonprofit in a lawsuit against chip manufacturers.
The complaint filed by the nonprofit in the coffee case argues that a 12-ounce serving of coffee contains a statistically significant level of acrylamide.
According to The Washington Post’s Tim Carman, “the scientific evidence linking acrylamide to cancer in humans is scant.”
According to the American Cancer Society, studies have found that acrylamide increases the risk of cancer in rats and mice when the chemical is placed in the animals’ drinking water at doses “1,000 to 10,000 times higher than the levels people might be exposed to in foods.” The society doesn’t know yet how the results would translate to humans, but it suggests limiting your intake of acrylamide.
As for studies with people, the American Cancer Society notes, “Most of the studies done so far have not found an increased risk of cancer in humans. For some types of cancer, such as kidney, endometrial and ovarian cancer, the results have been mixed, but there are currently no cancer types for which there is clearly an increased risk related to acrylamide intake.”
Coffee has been the subject of a seemingly endless number of studies demonstrating that it’s good for you, bad for you, and maybe even neither.
A recent analysis of coffee studies showed that several found “probable” evidence that coffee consumption was actually associated with a decreased risk of many cancers, including breast, colon and prostate, concluding that “coffee can be part of a healthful diet.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/03/29/coffee-must-carry-cancer-warning-california-judge-rules/?utm_term=.5057f468cbde
-
California’s Carcinogen Policy Is Rational
Mar 30, 2018 | Wall Street Journal
By Allan Hirsch
Regarding your editorial “A Cancer Scare Defeat in California” (March 15): The statement that California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found the herbicide glyphosate is “unlikely to pose a cancer hazard to humans” is misleading, as it quotes an 11-year-old drinking-water assessment that has limited relevance for glyphosate exposures to consumers and workers.
In 2017 when glyphosate was added to California’s Proposition 65 list, our office estimated glyphosate’s potency for causing cancer in humans. We used studies cited in the 2015 glyphosate monograph by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which, despite the unfair criticisms in your editorial, is a respected authority that the federal government and 18 states have relied on for decades to identify cancer hazards. Our assessment should be finalized in the next few weeks.
Our assessment identifies a level of glyphosate exposure that doesn’t cause a significant cancer risk and wouldn’t require warnings. This is intended to help businesses determine for themselves whether they need to provide warnings to Californians for glyphosate exposures. Your statement that California is requiring “new cancer warnings on food products” is premature and overlooks the likelihood that many of these products won’t require warnings. This is the case with many other chemicals subject to Proposition 65.
Since its approval by California voters in 1986, Proposition 65 has prompted the reduction or elimination of toxic chemicals in a variety of products including prenatal and children’s vitamins, imported candies, cola drinks, cookies, jewelry, snack foods, car seats and bottled water, to name just a few.
Allan Hirsch
Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment
Sacramento, Calif.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/californias-carcinogen-policy-is-rational-1522345373?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=3
-
IG Reviewing EPA Implementation of Lead Paint Rule
Mar 29, 2018 |
EPA's Inspector General is launching a review of the agency's implementation and enforcement of its lead paint dust renovation and repair rules, just as the agency is scrambling to comply with a court order to update the rule's standard for determining when renovations in residential structures must comply with the rule's safety requirements.
The EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced in a March 28 memo that it “plans to begin preliminary research to evaluate the EPA’s implementation and enforcement of the Lead-Based Paint Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP). Our objective for this project is to determine whether the EPA has an effective strategy to implement and enforce the lead-based paint RRP.”
The memo was sent to the acting head of EPA's toxics office, Charlotte Bertrand, and the head of the enforcement office, Susan Bodine.
The investigation, which the IG says was self-initiated, comes as EPA is facing a steep court deadline to propose a new standard for determining when contractors must adopt safety practices to minimize exposures.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit late last year gave EPA 90 days to propose a new standard, though the agency earlier this week won an additional 90 days -- until June 26 -- to issue the proposal.
EPA has sent the rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget, but those reviews typically take at least 90 days.
EPA's 2008 lead renovation, repair and painting rule (LRRP) for residences and child care facilities built before 1978 addressed the hazard that disturbed lead dust could pose to human health, particularly to children, whose developing nervous systems are most susceptible to the potent neurotoxin. It set a standard of 6,000 parts per million (ppm) at which contractors must adopt safety practices to prevent additional exposures.
Before that time, lead-based paint was commonly used, and lead dust can result when the old paint is disturbed.
But environmentalists in their 9th Circuit suit, A Community Voice, et al. v. EPA, successfully argued that the standard should be lowered by an order of magnitude to 600 ppm -- at least in any new proposal.
Even as EPA scrambles to update its rule governing lead dust in residential structures, the agency is again acknowledging it does not know when it will be able to determine whether renovations in public and commercial (P&C) buildings do not create a lead-based paint hazard or propose a rule to address it.
The agency had faced a March 2017 deadline for making the decision, due to litigation in the D.C. Circuit, New York Coalition to End Lead Poisoning v. EPA.
But the agency said in a recent filing that it is seeking to revise a survey questionnaire to nearly 20,000 contractors and others for their analysis of potential lead dust risks to occupants of public and commercial buildings -- an analysis that will help the agency determine whether a rule is needed -- but have no schedule for when its analysis will be completed.
A recently published study linking low-level lead exposure with increased risk of adult deaths from cardiovascular disease could help EPA strengthen its cost-benefit analyses and drive new or updated rules to address the metal -- information particularly pertinent to the question of expanding LRRP to P&C buildings where the agency has struggling to assess lead's risks to adults.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ig-reviewing-epa-implementation-lead-paint-rule
-
Grieving Parents & Health Advocates Urge Lowe’s to Pull Deadly Paint Strippers from Store Shelves
Mar 29, 2018 | Safer Chemicals, Health Families
At 31 years old, entrepreneur Drew Wynne’s life was cut short when he inhaled a toxic paint stripper containing methylene chloride, which he bought at Lowe’s to refinish a floor. Now his family is telling the hardware chain and other similar home improvement retailers to stop selling the deadly product to prevent another tragic death.
Today Drew’s mother and father, Cindy and Hal Wynne, and environmental health advocates from Safer Chemicals Healthy Families and the Natural Resources Defense Council held a national press teleconference to launch a new campaign asking Lowe’s to phase out the sale of these dangerous products. The Wynne family and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families also launched an online petition targeting Lowe’s. Advocates from numerous other organizations plan to follow suit and deliver the combined signatures to Lowe’s in the coming months.
“No family should lose a loved one because of deadly chemicals,” said Cindy Wynne, mother of Drew Wynne. “To this day, you can walk into Lowe’s and other home improvement retailers and buy the same product that killed Drew—plus numerous others containing the same chemical. I hope Lowe’s CEO Robert Niblock will do the right thing and ban this dangerous product.”
DIY shouldn’t spell danger,” said Mike Schade, Mind the Store Campaign Director for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. “It’s been more than a year since we first asked Lowe’s to take action on these deadly products. There’s no reason Lowe’s should still be selling these products today. Methylene chloride-based paint strippers have already been banned in Europe, but can be found at home improvement stores across America. How many more people have to die before retailers like Lowe’s take action?”
“It’s outrageous that Lowe’s and others are still selling this highly toxic product linked to dozens of fatalities,” said Erik Olson, Health Program Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Because the EPA has failed to protect consumers from this deadly product, it’s critical that retailers like Lowe’s step up to protect their unsuspecting customers. Lowe‘s should take this poison off their shelves today, and EPA should finalize its ban now.”
“Methylene chloride is a toxic chemical that can quickly build up to dangerous levels in work spaces,” said Veena Singla, Ph.D. Associate Director of Science & Policy at University of California San Francisco Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment. “It can cause rapid unconsciousness and death and has killed far too many people already. These tragedies are preventable.”
Last year, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families’ Mind the Store campaign sent Lowe’s a letter warning the company about the dangers of this chemical and requested that the store stop selling paint strippers containing toxic chemicals, including the product that killed Drew Wynne.
In 2017, the EPA proposed banning the use of methylene chloride and NMP in paint strippers. According to reports gathered from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other sources, methylene chloride has been linked to more than 50 deaths since 1980. The chemical is also linked to several types of cancers as well as liver, kidney, and reproductive toxicity. According to the EPA, roughly 32,000 workers and 1.3 million consumers are exposed to methylene chloride each year. NMP is a developmental and reproductive toxicant. In December 2017, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Deputy Assistant Administrator Nancy Beck, a former chemical industry staffer, indefinitely delayed action on these chemicals under pressure from the chemical lobby.
Methylene chloride has been banned in paint strippers in the EU since 2012, and in February 2018 the European chemicals agency proposed adding NMP to the REACH “authorization” list, which could lead to a ban in the EU.
In November 2017, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families’ Mind the Store Campaign released its second annual Who’s Minding the Store? report card ranking 30 of the nation’s retailers on toxic chemicals. Lowe’s ranked 19th, earning a D- grade.
###
Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families leads a coalition of more than 450 organizations and businesses working to safeguard American families from toxic chemicals. The coalition’s Mind the Store campaign challenges big retailers like Lowe’s to eliminate toxic chemicals and substitute them with safer alternatives.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Bozeman, Montana; and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.
http://saferchemicals.org/newsroom/grieving-parents-health-advocates-urge-lowes-to-pull-deadly-paint-strippers-from-store-shelves/
-
Plastic Chemicals More Common in Restaurant Meals: Report
Mar 29, 2018 | Newxmax
People who like to dine out may unwittingly order a side of potentially harmful chemicals, new research suggests.
The study, involving more than 10,000 Americans, found that those who'd dined out the day before generally had higher urine levels of chemicals called phthalates, versus people who'd had all their meals at home.
The findings suggest that old-fashioned home-cooked meals could be one way for people to reduce their intake of phthalates -- which have been linked to certain health risks.
Phthalates are added to plastics to make them more flexible and difficult to break. Lab studies have shown the chemicals to be "endocrine disruptors" -- which means they can interfere with how hormones work in the body.
In humans, studies have found correlations between phthalate exposure and reproductive issues -- including preterm birth and fertility problems, said lead researcher Ami Zota. She is an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at George Washington University, in Washington, D.C
Still, other studies have found links to health problems like asthma, obesity and behavioral issues in kids.
Several phthalates have been banned from children's toys and certain child-care products, such as teething rings, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
However, phthalates remain in a huge range of products, from electrical cables and medical supplies to detergents and cosmetics.
For most people, diet is the primary route of exposure, said Zota.
That's because phthalates can get into food during processing, or possibly during transportation, through packaging or even via the gloves used for food handling, Zota explained.
So it's not surprising, she said, that people who eat out can be exposed to more phthalates. In fact, her team found in an earlier study that fast-food fans generally had higher phthalate levels than people who rarely ate those foods.
The new study, published online March 28 in the journal Environment International, suggests fast food is not the only culprit.
On average, the study found, people who'd dined out -- at any type of restaurant or cafeteria -- had a phthalate intake that was 35 percent higher than people who'd eaten only home-prepared meals.
When the researchers looked at particular types of food, they found that hamburgers and other meat sandwiches stood out: People who'd eaten those sandwiches the day before tended to have higher phthalate levels -- but only if they'd gotten them from a restaurant or cafeteria.
The evidence was weaker when it came to fries and pizza.
According to Zota, that is in line with research suggesting that animal proteins might be a stronger "vehicle" for phthalates. It's not clear why, but the fat content might be a factor, she said.
Sarah Evans is an instructor in environmental medicine and public health at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine, in New York City.
Eating more home-cooked meals could help limit phthalate exposure, Evans said -- but people need to be mindful of the foods they choose.
That's because phthalates can lurk in the processed, packaged foods sold at grocery stores, too.
"The best way to reduce exposure is to eat whole, fresh foods at home as often as possible," said Evans, who was not involved in the study. "Phthalates have been shown to accumulate in high-fat foods, so limiting consumption of those items may be effective at reducing exposure."
Zota called that a "win-win" scenario. Diets rich in whole foods are also more nutritious, and lower in sugar and salt, she pointed out.
Evans also suggested using glass or stainless steel containers for food preparation and storage, and avoiding microwaving plastic -- since heat may cause phthalates to "seep out."
However, there is only so much consumers can do to avoid phthalates, both Evans and Zota noted.
"Increased oversight and regulation of food packaging and the food manufacturing process is necessary to protect the population from the harmful effects of phthalate exposure," Evans said.
Read Newsmax Article: Plastic Chemicals More Common in Restaurant Meals: Report | Newsmax.com
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes Online Find Out Herehttps://www.newsmax.com/health/health-news/plastic-chemicals/2018/03/29/id/851538/
-
House Dems Demand Hearing over Zinke Offshore Drilling Plan
Mar 30, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Miranda Green
Three top House Democrats are demanding a hearing with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to discuss his proposal to expand offshore drilling.
House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Reps. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), chair of the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, and A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.), chair of the oversight subcommittee, are demanding a full committee hearing on the development of Interior's offshore leasing plan.
In a letter sent Thursday to committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) requesting the hearing, the members cite a recent Politico report that Zinke had been in close contact with Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) office for months before announcing that his state was exempt from the drilling plan.
"The available information strongly suggests that the meeting and decision to remove Florida from the offshore leasing program was driven by political considerations related to the Governor’s potential race for the U.S. Senate seat," the Democrats said in a statement.
At the time, it appeared that Zinke's decision to remove Florida from the drilling list was an impromptu one. But Politico concluded, after reviewing thousands of documents after an open records request, that the decision was "choreographed" to politically benefit the governor.
Thursday's letter to Bishop is the Dem lawmakers' second request for a hearing with Zinke on offshore drilling. They first sent a request to his office on January 24 following conflicting statements over whether Florida would be exempted from the new drilling policy. Thursday's letter says that since then, "the situation has gotten less clear."
"It is clear that we do not know the entire story about how first draft of the 5 year program was put together, nor what led to the meeting between the Governor and the Secretary at the Talahassee airport," the letter read.
"The Chairman is reviewing the letter and we are working to determine the next best steps forward," said Katie Schoettler, a spokeswoman for the committee.
Earlier this month, Zinke appeared to give contradictory statements as to the status of the offshore drilling policy for Florida after announcing the exemption.
At a Senate hearing March 13, he told the committee, "Florida is still in the process." Two days later, he told the House Natural Resources committee that "Florida did not get an exemption."
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/380912-top-house-dems-demand-zinke-hearing-over-offshore-drilling-proposal
-
OFS, E&P Activity Expanding in Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico, Says Dallas Fed
Mar 29, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Carolyn Davis
The oil and gas sector continued to strengthen during the first three months of this year in Texas, northern Louisiana and southeastern New Mexico, the Federal Reserve Bank’s Dallas arm said.
The Dallas Fed Energy Survey measures the business activity index quarterly, offering a broad measure of conditions facing Eleventh District energy firms. There were 140 energy firms responding to the latest survey, including 78 exploration and production (E&P) companies and 62 oilfield services (OFS) firms.
During 1Q2018, the index advanced to 40.7 from 38.1 in 4Q2017, driven by rising OFS activity. Positive readings in the survey generally indicate expansion, while readings below zero generally indicate contraction. Almost all indexes in the latest survey reflected expansion on a quarterly basis.
“Oil and gas production increased for the sixth quarter in a row, according to executives at E&P firms,” researchers said. “The oil production index ticked up slightly from 33.7 in the fourth quarter to 34.3 in the first. Meanwhile, the natural gas production index edged down from 26.6 to 25.0.”
OFS equipment utilization increased at a faster pace between January and March than in 4Q2018, with the corresponding index at 40.4, up 11 points. However, the index of input costs jumped to 46.8 from 30.9, “suggesting greater cost pressures.” The index of prices received for OFS also increased, albeit more modestly, to 27.9 from 22.6.
“Labor market indexes continue to point to rising employment and employee hours, with job growth primarily driven by OFS firms,” researchers said. “The employment index was 37.1 for services firms versus 9.0 for E&P firms.”
Employee hours indexes also showed a large gap: 41.9 for OFS firms versus 16.9 for E&Ps. The aggregate wages and benefits index advanced to 33.8 from 25.5, with most of the increase coming again from the OFS side of the industry.
Meanwhile, the company outlook index posted an eighth consecutive positive reading, but it was down nine points to 43.2 in the first quarter. Uncertainty regarding company outlooks was “roughly unchanged this quarter; the corresponding index came in near zero.”
On average, respondents expect West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices to be $63.07/bbl by year-end 2018, with responses ranging from $45 to $77. Respondents expect Henry Hub natural gas prices to end 2018 at $2.91/MMBtu.
During the survey collection period from March 14-22, WTI spot prices averaged $62.72/bbl and Henry Hub spot averaged $2.65/MMBtu.
The Dallas Fed’s survey each quarter also includes special questions to gauge the outlook for the region.
One E&P executive cited concerns about President Trump’s recent steel tariffs, which would impose a 25% tax on imports. The uncertainty about the tariffs “is leading to uncertainty in cost outlook,” the executive said. “Longer term, the tariff has the potential to impact many facets of the industry and could create additional inflationary pressures while it is in place.”
Another executive said the outlook for junior E&Ps working in the Permian Basin “is dismal unless WTI crude oil prices stabilize at $70/bbl or higher.”
Reservations also were expressed by one executive about the federal tax reforms enacted late last year. “We are a pass-through business but cannot tell yet if the new rules and limitations will make any significant difference.”
On the OFS side, an executive highlighted how good business is going: “We are running at full capacity and may be hiring more support help.”
However, said another, “Even with the ever-so-modest recovery in the seismic space, I doubt we will see significant hiring in this part of the industry. We will ask our current teams to perform more functions as opposed to adding staff until the staff additions are absolutely necessary.”
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/113863-ofs-ep-activity-expanding-in-texas-louisiana-and-new-mexico-says-dallas-fed
-
Pennsylvania Environmental Regulators Confront Challenges of Growing Oil, Gas Industry
Mar 29, 2018 | Platts
By Jim Magill
As the pace of oil and gas development in Pennsylvania has increased in recent years, state environmental regulators have worked to keep up, the state's environmental secretary said in an interview.
Despite the growth in activity resulting mostly from natural gas drilling in the shale plays of the Appalachian Basin, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection employs about 30 fewer people than it did just a few years ago, Environmental Secretary Patrick McDonnell said.
"One of the challenges we traditionally have is, frankly, a mismatch between the requirements of the work and the funding source," McDonnell said.
The DEP is funded predominantly by fee money generated by permits from the exploration-and-production industry. "With the price of natural gas, we've seen reductions over time in the number of drilling permits," he said. "We're looking right now at an additional fee package in order to make sure we have adequate funding to oversee the industry."In January, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced a series of proposed reforms to the state's procedures for granting permits to drill, including more than doubling the well permit fees, to $12,500 from $5,000 per well, and asking the state legislature for funding to hire 35 new regulators.
The funding boost is expected to help the DEP handle the additional responsibilities for overseeing aspects of the oil and gas industry it has taken on in recent years, including the implementation of Chapter 78A, a package of regulations related to the unconventional oil and gas industry, which went into effect in the fall of 2016.
Over the last year the department has reduced the time required for issuing a permit. The DEP also is looking at additional steps it can take, such as implementing electronic reporting requirements, to cut permitting waits.
One area where the DEP has seen an increase in permitting activity has been around the drilling of underground injection control (UIC) wells used by the oil and gas industry for the disposal of drilling wastewater. Most recently, the DEP approved a UIC well for wastewater disposal in west-central Pennsylvania, which included the requirement for the operator to use seismic-monitoring equipment to ensure early detection of minor seismic events.
While Pennsylvania has not seen the problems of induced seismic activity associated with the use of deepwater injection wells that have occurred in other states, McDonnell said the DEP is learning from those states how to prevent similar occurrences.
DEP has also been handling state-level regulation of interstate pipelines. "We are permitting stream crossings, we are permitting wetland impacts and erosion sediment issues related to the construction of a pipeline," McDonnell said.
On Monday DEP issued another notice of violation to Energy Transfer Partners' Sunoco Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipeline, for releasing drilling fluids into a wetland. The spill, which the company said was less than one gallon, is the latest such incident in a series of accidental releases, which have resulted in state-mandated slowdowns in the construction of the $2.5 billion project.
"The permits that we've put out thus far within the pipeline space are amongst the most robust in terms of the conditions that we have within those permits," McDonnell said. "We feel very confident that we have a good regulatory structure."https://www.platts.com/latest-news/natural-gas/houston/pennsylvania-environmental-regulators-confront-10330362
-
Permian's Problem: Too Much Gas, with No Place to Go
Mar 29, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Ryan Collins and Naureen S. Malik
America's most prolific oil field is now its worst market for natural gas.
A pipeline shortage that's leaving gas trapped in West Texas' Permian Basin means prices for the fuel there are the lowest of any major U.S. hub, wresting that distinction from Appalachia's Marcellus Shale. Prices for Permian gas, produced alongside oil in the play, have tumbled 30 percent from a year ago, while output rose to a record. And the pipeline crunch is also pummeling the region's oil market.
All that gas production is creating a dilemma for drillers, who may be forced to curtail oil output if they can't get their gas to market. Producers can burn off some of the gas -- a process known as flaring -- but state regulators typically won't allow that to happen indefinitely. And as mild spring weather limits demand for the heating fuel, explorers may be giving their gas away, according to broker Ion Energy Group LLC.
In the next three to four weeks, "natural gas prices in the Permian can go to zero because it's literally a byproduct," Kyle Cooper, consultant for Ion Energy in Houston, said by telephone. "There's so much gas coming the system really pushes and fights to get it out."
The low-cost crude oil reserves buried in the Permian's layers of shale have drawn explorers in droves, but roughly a third of the output from those wells is gas, according to RS Energy Group. As gas production from the play surges, however, pipeline capacity has failed to keep pace.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Permian-s-problem-Too-much-gas-with-no-place-to-12790835.php
-
US Power Grid Can Run Well No Matter What Fuels It Uses: Reliability Official
Mar 29, 2018 |
By Michael Copley
With the right policies and infrastructure, the US could get most of its electricity from renewable resources without hurting the performance of the power grid, according to an official who helps develop and oversee compliance with reliability standards.
"Variable resources can be reliably integrated, but they need to be cautiously planned and operated," John Moura, director of reliability assessment and system analysis at the North American Electric Reliability Corp., said Wednesday at an event hosted by the US Energy Association in Washington. "You can have 30%, 40%, 80% renewable resources, you just have to plan and operate the system correctly."
Moura's comments fit into a broader debate that erupted in September after Energy Secretary Rick Perry directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure nuclear and coal-fired power plants receive more financial support for the reliability benefits Perry said they provide. FERC in January rejected the proposed rule, which critics skewered as a bailout of industries the Trump administration favors.
"We're reliability extremists," said Moura, whose group became FERC's designated electric reliability organization in 2006 after functioning largely as an industry group that created voluntary reliability standards, "but a lot of the challenges that we see aren't insurmountable, and I think that that's a key message. ... We can transition to a grid that has whatever fuel you really want to power the system by, but policy changes are needed, structural changes are needed.""No matter what the resource mix, you've got to have a threshold of bulk power system reliability standards to keep the pace," Moura added. "If we create these standards in a technology-neutral, fuel-neutral way, that really creates the criteria for maintaining a reliable grid."
Moura said regulations like the one FERC adopted in July 2016 requiring that small power generators that interconnect with the grid are able to "ride through abnormal frequency and voltage events" have helped ensure renewables do not hurt system reliability.
He also said the US could from Germany's experience trying to overhaul that country's energy system. "I talked to the Germans and they said if they could do one thing [differently] they would have started building ... transmission expansions earlier, because that's really what their pinch point is," Moura said.
Building new transmission lines, which can aid renewable-energy development by balancing intermittent resources across regions and moving power from remote areas to population centers, is notoriously difficult in the US. After the Department of Energy ended a partnership with the developer of a 700-mile transmission line into the southeastern part of the country, Stefani Millie Grant, senior manager for external affairs and sustainability at Unilever Corp., said companies outside of the energy sector that are pursuing renewable energy targets "need to engage in the transmission-planning process."
Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research firm, said Wednesday that falling costs and improved efficiency are making wind, solar and battery technologies viable alternatives to fossil fuel plants for bulk power generation, dispatchable power and flexibility.
"From a reliability perspective, what I can say is [energy storage] tears down that whole concept of having to simultaneously match demand and supply," Moura said. "And so if you take away that assumption, now you've got a lot more flexibility in your system."https://www.platts.com/latest-news/electric-power/washington/us-power-grid-can-run-well-no-matter-what-fuels-10330144
-
Mar 30, 2018 | Texas Tribune
By Emma Platoff
Most of the houses along Crosby Eastgate Road and its neighboring streets are one-story outfits on sprawling green lots. In their driveways are spare trucks, old armchairs or small motorboats; grazing their grass are horses and cows. Some houses are raised on stilts; others look abandoned.
And many of them belong to plaintiffs suing their neighbor on Crosby Eastgate: an Arkema Inc. chemical manufacturing plant.
It’s hard, on a sunny March morning seven months removed from the storm that devastated this community, to picture the floods. On dry days, the brown water in the roadside drainage ditches sits relatively low. But in August, when Hurricane Harvey dropped 50 inches of rain on the Houston area, it surged up into the street, nearly swamping the head-high wire fence lining the road.
On the east side of that fence, the floods submerged much of the chemical manufacturing plant. It was seven feet of that water, swampy and brown and by some accounts carrying an oily chemical sheen, that caused the plant’s refrigerated containers to fail; it was the resulting high temperature that caused the chemicals to degrade; and it was those hot chemicals that ruptured their containers and caused a series of chemical fires over most of the following week.
Those chemicals, the Crosby plaintiffs say in their lawsuits, contaminated the surrounding community’s air and water, causing the respiratory problems, pneumonia, headaches, nausea and dizziness that still plague some neighbors and first responders. And that, plaintiffs say, was because the plant had failed to take proper precautions for a severe storm — and because industry regulators let them get away with it.
Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and Arkema assured residents at the time that the air and water were not dangerous. The EPA said in early September that the samples it collected did not exceed Texas limits.
Nevertheless, the sick plaintiffs blame Arkema, and are seeking millions in damages. Neighbors are suing for personal injury; homeowners are suing over contamination in their neighborhood; two counties, Harris and Liberty, are suing as well. Some of the first responders who were dispatched to the site when the chemicals began to burn have also signed onto lawsuits.
Still, some environmental advocates argue that what should truly be on trial is the state’s — and nation’s — lax chemical regulations.
Arkema “absolutely, absolutely” needed to plan better, said Ilan Levin, associate director of the Environmental Integrity Project, a national watchdog group. But “you can’t point the finger at just one party.”
“This is an EPA failure and a state of Texas failure,” Levin said. “The watchdogs and the regulators are empowered to make sure that companies follow the rules… But because the regulators have really paid little attention to the [risk management] program, they’ve just made it easy for industry to comply.”The early hours of Aug. 31
He has never been able to describe the smell exactly.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from his department, is reminded of it when he smells diesel fuel. Sometimes the headache even comes back. But it wasn’t quite diesel.
When his unit was dispatched for a 12-hour shift outside the Arkema plant on the evening of Aug. 30, they were told the degrading chemicals would soon explode, he said. Working the perimeter of the 1.5-mile evacuation zone in the dark, he couldn’t see the hundred-foot high plume of black smoke that would soon be shown in the pages of newspapers across the state. But he could smell it.
He said he heard an explosion that sounded like a series of pops. Then came that unnamable smell. Then the headache — it came on “like a lightswitch,” he said. “Not just a nagging headache — a headache,” he said. It would stay with him for months, he said.
First responders briefly left the area, then were directed back to it, “grumbling,” he recalled. They gathered at the intersection of Lindstrom Road and Highway 90, about two miles from the site.
The first responders’ lawsuit paints a grim picture of that moment: Law enforcement officers “doubled over vomiting, unable to breathe.” Medical personnel called to the scene to help them soon “became overwhelmed and they too began to vomit and gasp for air.”
In the midst of those symptoms, the officer remembers the confusion.
“What just happened? What did we just get into? We’re wanting answers, we’re wanting information, what is this?” he said. “‘Organic peroxide,’ That’s all we know. And [the EMTs] are ... Googling it on the side of the road.”
Mo Aziz, a lawyer representing more than 100 plaintiffs in several lawsuits tied to the Arkema case, sees many parallels between Arkema and the litigation he worked on after a 2013 fertilizer plant explosion that leveled a whole section of the town of West and killed 15 — most of them first responders. The most striking link between the two cases, Aziz said, “is first responders not getting enough information about what they were being sent to do.”
Companies like Arkema have to file certain hazard documents with local emergency planning committees, though it’s not clear how that information is then disseminated to first responders. And those documents, lawyers and advocates say, don’t offer enough information to adequately plan for an event like this type of chemical plant disaster.
Arkema didn’t lay out plans for the Aug. 31 scenario because it wasn’t required to. Even internal documents gave employees minimal instruction — just one paragraph — for handling major floods, and there were no plans for floods exceeding three feet, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Though they are public records under state law, plants’ chemical hazard documents are difficult to access, and became more so after then-Attorney General Greg Abbott threw up a roadblock in 2014. Citing the need to keep sensitive information hidden because of “ongoing terroristic activity,” Abbott ruled that the state no longer had to release plants’ chemical inventories, saying the companies themselves would. But not all companies do, and it’s not clear that any state agency forces them to. Federally-mandated risk management plans can be viewed by appointment only in one of the state’s handful of federal reading rooms.
And even if neighbors can track them down, the records contain relatively little practical information, lawyers and advocates said.
Arkema held emergency preparedness training sessions for its site with local responders, though neither the company nor the Crosby Volunteer Fire Department nor the Harris County Sheriff’s Office would say how often those took place or what they included. The Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office, which was involved in emergency response that night, deferred questions to Rock Owens, a Harris County environmental attorney representing the county against Arkema.
In the hours before they were sent to the site, first responders were briefed by the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office, Owens said. But the deputy said he was not told what to expect, just told to guard the perimeter of the 1.5-mile evacuation zone.
The briefing did not include specific details like chemical names, Owens said, but first responders were advised to stay out of the 1.5-mile zone and avoid the smoke cloud. That advice, the sheriff’s deputy said, was insufficient.
“We were told a mile and a half was safe, but obviously it wasn’t,” he said.
It would have been difficult for any briefing that did take place to address the particular scenario that played out, because it wasn’t one Arkema had planned for in public documents. Local officials at the time didn’t know what was in the air, and no Arkema employees were on site during the fires to tell them.
Even though Arkema didn’t have a plan for a Harvey-level flood, it did have a boat on site that some employees used to evacuate. An Arkema spokeswoman said employees were required to evacuate.
“A reasonable thing”
Months later, dozens of plaintiffs are still receiving medical treatment and their doctors are still trying to determine what they inhaled that night, Aziz said.
“The experts we hired are going to have to piece this together,” Aziz said. “Nobody from Arkema has said, ‘Hey, man, this was the mix that got your guy, or hurt him or her.’ Nobody’s saying, ‘This is what you should be treating them for.’”
Part of the problem is that chemical safety reporting requirements are flawed, environmental advocates said. One of the documents that companies like Arkema must submit, a federally-mandated risk management plan, must include worst-case scenarios, but only those that would result from a certain list of toxic chemicals. Industry lobbyists, advocates said, work to keep other dangerous materials off that list.
Arkema’s risk management plan, as required, laid out worst-case scenarios that could have resulted from the isobutylene and sulfur dioxide stored on site. But it didn’t mention a scenario like the one that happened in the early hours of Aug. 31, when the plant’s organic peroxides degraded and ruptured their holding containers. Those chemicals — which are not on the risk management plan list — all combined, Aziz said, and Arkema never planned for that mixture.
The mix was a “novel exposure,” said Kevin Thompson, a West Virginia-based attorney representing about 660 residents in a lawsuit against Arkema. “What you ended up with was a mix unknown to man.”
EPA doesn’t require that companies lay out the potential mixes that could result from chemicals that aren’t on the limited risk management plan list. But the lawyers suing Arkema, as well as environmental advocates, say the company should have prepared for that eventuality.
That would be “a reasonable thing,” Owens, the Harris County lawyer, said. “That’s what they should’ve done.”
In guidance last updated in 2004, the EPA advises companies writing their risk management plans to “ask yourself how much of the regulated substance could be released if the worst happens.” The agency gives examples of what the worst might look like: “a major fire, an explosion, a natural disaster.” Plaintiffs described all three, but the chemicals that burned weren’t “regulated substances.”
Environmental advocates said dangerous chemical releases in Texas are largely a failure of enforcement.
“No one’s reviewing the risk management plans for adequacy,” said Elena Craft, senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund. (The EPA did not return several requests for comment). It’s “nonsense,” she said, that Arkema’s plant identifies flooding as a concern, but doesn’t take sufficient steps to prepare for it.
“The only way, in my mind, that that type of thing can be corrected is with some sort of oversight coming in and saying, ‘Does this pass the due diligence test? Does this make sense as a plan?' If it doesn’t, then they need to correct it,” Craft said.
Arkema has argued that the situation wasn’t foreseeable. Hurricane Harvey, company officials said at the time, brought an “unprecedented” amount of water.
For many who live in the area, that argument is unconvincing. The Arkema plant sits in a floodplain.
“It’s absurd not to consider these types of events that every Houstonian knows are a fact of life,” said Levin, an environmental advocate. “Industry should prepare for these.”
Obama’s rule
The Chemical Disaster Rule, as it has come to be known, was finalized in the waning weeks of Barack Obama’s presidency, and published just days before he left office.
Largely a response to the West explosion, the rule aimed to improve chemical safety practices and prevent similar tragedies.
Perhaps most relevant to the Arkema disaster, it would have made it easier for the public to access hazard-planning documents. And it would have required increased coordination with first responders, including by requiring companies to provide increased emergency planning information to local officials and to hold more frequent meetings and trainings.
The rule was set to take effect March 14, 2017 — less than six months before Harvey struck Texas — although companies would have had at least a year to comply with the major changes. Then Scott Pruitt, Trump’s EPA administrator, delayed it on March 13, first for just a few weeks, and then, in June, for almost two years.
The rule had long faced opposition, including from Arkema and the state of Texas. Industry groups argued it would add new costs and jeopardize safety.
“We have significant concerns with providing security-sensitive information where disclosure of such information could create a risk to our sites and to the communities surrounding them,” Arkema told the EPA in May 2016.
Texas, along with 10 other states, said the rule would have required “unprecedented public disclosure of facility information that will threaten local communities and homeland security.”
The EPA said at the time that delaying the new rule had “no effect” on the major safety requirements in place when Harvey struck. But Mathy Stanislaus, a former EPA assistant administrator who worked on the rule during the Obama administration, said last year that while the new rule would likely not have prevented the incident, it could have greatly reduced the risk to first responders. Environmental advocates said that though compliance dates were long in the future, the new rule would have forced chemical plants to at least begin planning for the tightened regulations.The American Chemistry Council — an industry group of which Arkema is a member — wrote that many of the new rules “will impose significant new regulatory requirements that will not result in a reduction of the risk of accidental releases, and could, in some cases, actually increase the risk.”
“When correctly implemented and enforced, the current RMP regulations are highly effective in minimizing the risk of accidental chemical releases,” the ACC said.
But the current EPA regulations hadn’t prevented a long list of other issues at the Arkema plant.
In 1994, a five-year-old girl was severely burned during a sulfuric acid release at the plant, the Chronicle reported. A 1999 explosion at the plant was attributed to organic peroxides, the same group of chemicals that burned in 2017. In 2006, the facility was cited for a fire resulting from improperly stored organic peroxides. In 2011, it failed to maintain proper temperatures of its thermal oxidizer, a machine generally used to break down volatile compounds. As recently as 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the Crosby plant for several safety violations; Arkema paid nearly $92,000 to settle up.
The recent lawsuits against Arkema are all likely to take years. The only one of Aziz’s cases that has been set for trial is scheduled for January 2020. As they wait, the plaintiffs are left to wonder how exactly they’ve been damaged.
“I don’t know what was out there. I know whatever it was hit me quick,” said Shane Doby, a 40-year-old plaintiff who lives outside the 1.5 mile zone around the Arkema plant.
Sitting at his lawyer’s long conference room table, Doby explained that he was exposed to the chemical smell while driving to work at a different chemical plant one morning on a route that kept him well outside the evacuation zone.
“I’m the only provider in my household,” said Doby, who said he inhaled black smoke through his open car window. His symptoms — mostly respiratory problems; he was treated for pneumonia — have largely abated, though he’s still receiving treatment. He worries that they’ll come back. “If it’s something that’s chronic, that’s going to come on later in life, I want my children taken care of.”
Hurricane season is over, and the skies above the Arkema plant have cleared. An undamaged tank on the plant’s north side that reads “safety in action,” covered in murky water during the storm, is now exposed to the sun. The facility hasn’t been operational since before Harvey hit, and its electric power returned just this month.
A company spokeswoman says Arkema expects to begin business again later this year after “identifying and mitigating against foreseeable risks.”
https://www.texastribune.org/2018/03/30/arkema-disaster-harvey-regulations-texas-crosby/
-
Trump: 'We Probably Have to Wait Until After the Election'
Mar 29, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Hannah Northey and Nick Sobczyk
President Trump conceded that the "biggest, boldest infrastructure plan" he pitched in rural Ohio may not make it through Congress until after the November elections.
While Republicans have expressed skepticism about whether the president's $1 trillion plan would pass, Trump at the rally in Richfield, Ohio, blamed meager support from Democrats.
"We probably have to wait until after the election because the Democrats say, 'Don't give him any more wins,'" Trump said, flanked by rows of union workers donning hard hats.
The comments marked the first time Trump has acknowledged what many on Capitol Hill have been saying for weeks, but the speech was also his first real effort to pitch his infrastructure plan to the public. He rolled out the plan in Washington last month.
With midterm elections looming, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have sought a concerted effort from the president to sell voters on his plan. The idea is that the White House could help push fiscal conservatives over the edge on tough votes on issues like raising the federal gasoline tax to pay for the proposed $200 billion investment.
The event was accompanied this morning by an op-ed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, touting the benefits of expanding energy infrastructure, including a surge in exports of domestic gas that largely occurred under the Obama administration.
As for the road ahead, Trump acknowledged it's unlikely his infrastructure plan would pass in one broad legislative package.
The administration and congressional Republicans are instead plotting out a different path, which involves passing a series of infrastructure vehicles to push the White House outline through in bits and pieces.
"It can be passed in one bill, or in a series of measures," Trump said. "What matters is that we get the job done."
A White House official detailed that legislative route yesterday. In addition to what the administration calls a $20 billion "down payment" in the omnibus spending bill passed last week, the White House is eyeing the Federal Aviation Administration and Water Resources Development Act reauthorizations as potential vehicles for Trump's plan.
Lawmakers are in the preliminary stages of work on both bills, but it remains unclear how and whether they would be able to address other elements of Trump's plan, namely surface transportation and his proposed grant programs.
The president in his signature style delivered a campaign-style stem-winder in which he applauded the remake of the television show "Roseanne" and said his daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka Trump, was "working hard" on the infrastructure plan.
He also blasted the Paris climate accord as a "disaster" for the United States, and he revisited his approval of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline and bemoaned that no one called to personally thank him.
"I get elected, I approve it right at the very beginning," Trump said. "I say to myself, 'Can you imagine the boss of whatever company it is who never actually called me to say, "Thank you."' But that is OK."
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2018/03/29/stories/1060077789
-
(ACC Mentioned) Current Sulfur Air Standards Protect Health, Scientists Tell EPA
Mar 30, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer Lu
Power plants and other industrial facilities probably won't have to further limit their emissions of sulfur dioxide after EPA science advisers agreed current air quality protections are sufficient.
The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee “supports retaining the current standard,” Tony Cox Jr., the body's new chairman, wrote to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt in a draft report. Ana Diez Roux, who previously led the committee and headed its sulfur dioxide review panel, also signed on to the draft. The panel advises the EPA on setting air quality standards.
The EPA said in August 2017 the current standards are sufficient to protect public health.
The sulfur dioxide standards were set in 2010 when the agency established a new hourly exposure limit of 75 parts per billion to protect public health from short-term exposures to high concentrations of the pollutant. Sulfur dioxide, a byproduct of burning fossil fuels, can cause breathing difficulties, particularly in children, the elderly, and those with asthma.
The sulfur dioxide review is one of the first steps the advisory panel has taken since Cox was appointed chairman in November 2017. The advisers were poised to wrap up their sulfur dioxide review in September under Roux, but the panel did not meet for more than six months while Cox, a consultant whose clients have included Exxon Mobil, the American Petroleum Institute, and the American Chemistry Council, filled out paperwork and cleared the ethics review for special government employees.
A public teleconference to discuss and complete the panel's recommendations has been scheduled for the morning of April 20.
The EPA is under a consent decree to propose whether to retain or revise the sulfur dioxide standard by May 25.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=130785260&vname=dennotallissues&fn=130785260&jd=130785260
-
States Go to Forefront as EPA Chips Away at Backlog of Decisions
Mar 29, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Amena H. Saiyid
Shifting the burden of environmental protection to states could speed approvals of air and water permits that businesses need to operate, as the EPA tries to halve its backlog of overdue decisions.
“It's embarrassing” that the Environmental Protection Agency doesn't have a system for tracking its legal deadlines for state implementation plans for air pollutants, approving permits, setting water and air quality standards, and developing plans to clean up polluted waters, Henry Darwin, the EPA's operations chief, recently told state officials.
“That's actually an incredibly heavy lift for those of you who know how much of a backlog we have,” Darwin added.
One way of speeding those reviews might be for the EPA to re-evaluate its relationship with states. Although states are receptive to the idea, they question how it will work and whether that initiative will outlive the Trump administration.
“It is helpful to have a strong federal research program and we would like to see that function continue, but not at the expense of other programs,” California Environment Secretary Matt Rodriquez told Bloomberg Environment.
The EPA should acknowledge the environmental expertise that states have developed during the past 40 years, Darwin told state environmental agency heads at the annual Environmental Council of the States meeting in St. Paul, Minn. Bloomberg Environment sponsored the ECOS spring meeting.
The EPA should instead take more of a support role and provide the necessary research and development that states lack the resources to conduct themselves, he said.
Some Reservations
John Linc Stine, commissioner for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, saw the EPA's call to redefine its relationship with states as an opportunity to identify and address areas that the agency and states are duplicating.
He asked whether both state-appointed and EPA-appointed scientists need to verify calculations of pollutants released under air and water permits.
“EPA should take more of an auditor's role instead of trying to review each and every permit that a state issues,” Stine said.
Part of speeding up the approvals that states need will be measuring how long it takes the EPA to respond, according to Darwin.
States end up waiting months for federal approvals, and any effort the EPA can make to improve coordination and consistency in its approval and permitting process will benefit both states and companies like Duke Energy Co. and Hampton Roads Sanitation District, which rely on those permits.
It's “good governance” on the EPA's part to ask whether it's meeting deadlines and how it can improve the process, the National Association of Manufacturers told Bloomberg Environment.
Businesses also need the certainty, consistency, and predictability that permits will be issued in time to treat wastewater, generate electricity, or manufacture goods, said Ross Eisenberg, the association's senior vice president for energy and natural resources policy.
Duke Energy and Honeywell Corp. told Bloomberg Environment that they supported the EPA's efforts to streamline state-issued permits.
Halving the Backlog
The EPA is now promising to halve by 2022 the backlog of pending approvals and reviews of states’ permits and plans.
Wastewater utilities said the EPA can't meet deadlines for state-issued permit removals or review lists of impaired waters in a timely fashion if it scrutinizes every single state action, Ted Henifin, general manager for the municipal-owned Hampton Roads Sanitation District, told Bloomberg Environment in an email.
Wastewater utilities would prefer that the EPA take a back seat to the states when it comes to setting water and air quality standards, or writing water restoration plans and “only help when requested,” Henefin said.
Is EPA Abdicating?
While Nevada, Rhode Island, and Arkansas are on board with Darwin's plans, California is on the fence.
Rodriquez told Bloomberg Environment that he couldn't help but contrast the EPA's call to work more with states with its aggressive agenda to roll back protective environmental regulations, such as the first-ever carbon dioxide standards for power plants.
“It appears what is going on is that the EPA is handing over its responsibility to the states in the name of cooperative federalism,” he told Bloomberg Environment.
Advocacy groups, including the nonprofit Environment America, are skeptical of the EPA's intentions because they found that states often fall behind in enforcing laws due to lack of resources.
“Relegating EPA to an R&D role is a recipe for more dead zones, algal blooms, fish kills, and drinking water contamination,” John Rumpler, Environment America's clean water director, told Bloomberg Environment in an email. “Just look what happened in Flint when EPA failed to hold state and local officials accountable. Conversely, it took a strong federal role to start making progress in restoring the Chesapeake Bay.”
Even supporters of the shift question whether it will survive a change in the administration. Greg Lovato, administrator for the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, told Bloomberg Environment that, although he was supportive of Darwin's actions,he wondered whether the next administration will continue these efforts, or “will states get whipsawed?”
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=130785255&vname=dennotallissues&fn=130785255&jd=130785255
-
EPA's Midwest Chief Must Steer Clear of Key Ozone Decision
Mar 29, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
The head of U.S. EPA's Midwestern regional office is barred from involvement in a looming air quality decision of keen interest to her former boss, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R).
Region 5 Administrator Cathy Stepp is recused through this August from participating in the process of determining whether Racine County, Wis., complies with EPA's 2015 ground-level ozone standard, according to records obtained by E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act.
The county, bordering Lake Michigan on Wisconsin's southeastern corner, is the planned home of a huge manufacturing complex to be built by Foxconn Technology Group. The plant, which is supposed to eventually employ thousands of people, has been celebrated by President Trump. Walker aggressively wooed the Taiwanese company with a $4 billion incentive package.
Until the administration tapped her late last year first to work in Kansas-based Region 7 and then to head the Chicago-based Region 5 office, Stepp had served under Walker as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) since 2011. While Walker in 2016 recommended that the entire state be deemed in compliance with the 70 parts per billion ozone standard, EPA has tentatively decided to designate Racine County in nonattainment, a decision that could ultimately require Foxconn to install state-of-the-art pollution controls or buy emission credits, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported this week (Greenwire, March 28).
EPA plans to make a final decision by the end of next month; Wisconsin officials continue to maintain the county should be deemed in attainment.
DNR was closely involved in making that recommendation during Stepp's tenure; she is also precluded through August from participation in attainment decisions for three other Wisconsin counties along with more than a dozen enforcement cases involving concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), according to her recusal statement. Stepp, a former homebuilder, is permanently recused from a variety of water issues involving various companies and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.
Ozone, the main ingredient in smog, is produced by the reaction of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in sunshine. The Foxconn complex, which would make consumer electronics and imaging equipment, would be a major source of both types of pollutants, according to company documents filed with the state DNR and reviewed by the Journal Sentinel.
In an accompanying impartiality determination, also obtained by E&E News, Kevin Minoli, EPA's designated ethics official, authorized Stepp to participate in matters involving Wisconsin, as long as she steered clear of specific issues in which she "personally and substantially" participated while head of the Wisconsin agency.
Reporter Kevin Bogardus contributed.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2018/03/29/stories/1060077785
-
Biggest Threat to Humanity? Climate Change, U.N. Chief Says
|
-
Judge Dismisses Exxon’s ‘Implausible’ Attempt to Stop Climate Investigations
Mar 29, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
A federal judge Thursday dismissed Exxon Mobil Corp.’s attempt to stop the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts from investigating its alleged fraud regarding what company officials knew about climate change and when.
The country’s largest oil company argued that probes by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) violated its free-speech rights and were improperly motivated by political bias, among other claims.
Exxon wanted Judge Valerie Caproni in the District Court for the Southern District of New York to stop the attorneys general from issuing subpoenas or other demands for records or dispositions.
But in a big loss for Exxon, Caproni, whom former President Barack Obama nominated to the bench, said the company’s allegations were “implausible,” and dismissed its case.
“Whether viewed separately or in the aggregate, Exxon’s allegations fall well short of plausibly alleging that the [the attorneys general] are motivated by an improper purpose,” she wrote Thursday.
Exxon’s submissions to the court, she said, “do not allege any direct evidence of an improper motive, and the circumstantial evidence put forth by Exxon fails to tie the AGs to any improper motive, if it exists, harbored by activists.”
The case took on a high profile as a centerpiece of the movement to hold Exxon accountable for the climate change its products caused.
Exxon now agrees with the scientific consensus that climate change is happening and caused primarily by burning fossil fuels. But investigations starting in 2015 alleged that the company for decades sowed public doubt about climate change science while its internal science showed the opposite.
Schneiderman and Healey hailed the ruling.
“I am pleased with the court's decision to dismiss Exxon's frivolous, nonsensical lawsuit that wrongfully attempted to thwart a serious state law enforcement investigation into the company,” Schneiderman said in a statement.
“At every turn in our investigation, Exxon has tried to distract and deflect from the facts at hand. But we will not be deterred: our securities fraud investigation into Exxon continues.”
Healey took the ruling as a vindication of her work against Exxon.
“Exxon has run a scorched earth campaign to avoid answering our basic questions about the company’s awareness of climate change. Today, a federal judge has thoroughly rejected the company’s obstructionist and meritless arguments to block our investigation,” she said.
“Massachusetts customers and investors deserve answers from Exxon about what it has known about the impact of burning fossil fuels on its business and the planet, and whether it hid this information from the public.”
Exxon spokesman Scott Silvestri said the company is evaluating the decision and considering its next steps.
‘We believe the risk of climate change is real and we want to be part of the solution,” he said.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/380939-judge-dismisses-exxons-implausible-attempt-to-stop-climate
Industry and Association News
LCSA News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation and Infrastructure News
Environment News
Add recipients
Suggested