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(ACC Mentioned) US Plastic Resins Output Surges Over 2014 Levels
Apr 2, 2015 | Hydrocarbon Processing
US production of major plastic resins totaled 6.1 billion pounds during February 2015, an increase of 6.8 percent compared to the same month in 2014, according to statistics released today by the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Year-to-date production was 12.4 billion pounds, a 2.5% increase as compared to the same period in 2014 -
(ACC Mentioned) PVC and PET Up, But PP Prices Fall
Apr 2, 2015 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American resin prices danced to their own tune in March, with prices for PVC and PET bottle resin both up as polypropylene prices trended down. Regional prices for PVC are up an average of 3 cents per pound since March 1, as improving demand was amplified by tightness in supply. The increase marks a change in direction for PVC pricing... -
(ACC Mentioned) U.S. Takes Possible First Step Towards Regulating Nanochemicals
Apr 2, 2015 | Science Insider
By Puneet Kollipara
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is ratcheting up its scrutiny of nanoscale chemicals amid concerns that they could pose unique environmental and health risks. Late last month, the agency proposed requiring companies to submit data on industrial nanomaterials that they already make and sell. Observers say EPA’s move ... -
(ACC Mentioned) Chemical Reaction in Washington
Apr 2, 2015 | St. Charles Herald Guide
By Anna Thibodeaux
Capitol Hill’s proposed Udall-Vitter bill aimed at overhauling the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act has drawn criticism from environmentalists and Congressional opponents, but the chemical industry considers it a move that’s long overdue. “We’ve supported the effort for several years because we feel like the original toxic control act is... -
(ACC Mentioned) Reviving a D.C. River: Out with the Foam, In with the Compostables
Apr 3, 2015 | Waste360
By Elizabeth McGowan
Pity the poor Anacostia River. It’s not enough that the 8.5-mile waterway, which sloshes through the nation’s capital, is overshadowed by its more muscular and famous cousin, the Potomac. The Anacostia is literally choking on an assortment of trash. Three government entities along its banks are trying to revive it with a Heimlich maneuver, of... -
Seven Chemicals to Be Reviewed by IARC In 2016 to Gauge Cancer-Causing Potential
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
The World Health Organization's cancer research and classification agency will review one flame retardant, two solvents and four other industrial chemicals in February 2016. WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is recognized by regulatory bodies such as California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as... -
Md. Senate Inches Toward 2-Year Moratorium
Apr 2, 2015 | E&E News PM
A Maryland Senate committee yesterday advanced legislation to implement a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in the western half of the state. The full Senate, which recently passed a bill to increase legal liability for pollution or health problems caused by drilling, will now take up the measure that almost mirrors.. -
Fracking In California Used 70 Million Gallons Of Water In 2014
Apr 2, 2015 | Reuters
By Rory Carroll
California oil producers used 214 acre-feet of water, equivalent to nearly 70 million gallons, in the process of fracking for oil and gas in the state last year, less than previously projected, state officials told Reuters on Thursday. The practice of fracking has been criticized in the state, which is suffering from a drought so severe that Governor Jerry... -
Fracking Breaches ‘Hidden From Public’
Apr 3, 2015 | Financial Times
By Barney Jopson
Oil and gas companies in 33 US states can avoid heightened public scrutiny because data about violations of safety and pollution rules are effectively hidden from residents, according to an environmental group’s investigation. The Natural Resources Defense Council, which probed a patchwork of state oil and gas regulations, warned that the lack... -
BLM Releases Framework for Drilling Near Dinosaur National Monument
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tripp Baltz
The Bureau of Land Management has released a plan designed to guide oil and gas development for the next 20 years in northwestern Colorado's Piceance Basin, including lands with wilderness qualities near Dinosaur National Monument. BLM published a notice of availability March 27 for the Proposed Oil and Gas Amendment to the White... -
'Deathly' Fears Vs. Drilling Hopes at Arctic Oil Panel
Apr 3, 2015 | E&E - Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
Willie Goodwin -- the former mayor of Kotzebue, a city in northwestern Alaska that is home to a little more than 3,200 people -- doubts oil and gas crews will ever be able to completely clean up an oil spill in the Arctic, no matter how far technology has advanced. "We're deathly afraid of an oil spill," he said yesterday, talking about the Inupiat people, his... -
Emergency Rules Proposed for Injection Wells By California Oil, Gas Division to Fill Gaps
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Carolyn Whetzel
California regulators plan to propose emergency rules to address deficiencies in the state's Class II underground injection well program. The Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) said April 2 it will forward the regulations to the Office of Administrative Law on April 9, which then has 10 days to... -
Keystone Developer Delays Alternative Pipeline
Apr 2, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
The company behind Keystone XL is delaying plans to build an alternative pipeline to export oil sands from Canada. TransCanada Corp. said Energy East will now be operational in 2020, two years after it had originally planned. The company is also scrapping a controversial terminal on the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec that would have allowed... -
New Way to Monitor Methane Could Help Spot Contamination From Shale Development
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Leslie A. Pappas
Scientists have discovered a way to monitor methane levels in streams that may help identify groundwater contamination from nearby shale gas wells. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Utah recently published their report in Environmental Science and Technology about the... -
Study Links Wyo. Winter Ozone to Drillers' Wastewater Plant
Apr 2, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Amanda Peterka
Emissions from wastewater recycling at oil and gas drilling sites likely contributed to a string of high-ozone events in the winter of 2011 in Wyoming's Upper Green River Basin, according to a study released this week. By studying the chemical signatures in emissions from oil and gas operations, the study, led by researchers at the University of... -
Key House Republican Takes Aim at Proposed HFC Curb
Apr 2, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Jean Chemnick
U.S. EPA's bid to phase out heat-trapping chemicals used in refrigeration and air conditioning has drawn the ire of the chairman of a key House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) took aim in a letter yesterday at EPA's proposal to curtail production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used in cooling. -
Will the States Thwart Obama's Coal Plan?
Apr 2, 2015 | The Huffington Post - Blog
By Paul Alexander
"I've got a pen and I've got a phone," President Barack Obama famously said in January 2014. He was attempting to explain his strategy for bypassing the United States Congress, a body that hasn't been very friendly to him, not even when Democrats controlled both chambers during the first two years of his first term, much less after Republicans ... -
D.C. Pledges to Cut Carbon Emissions 80 Percent
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
The local government of Washington, D.C., is pledging to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 or sooner from 2006 levels. The District of Columbia is one of 17 cities worldwide to make the 80-percent pledge as it joins the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance. Carbon emissions in the District have fallen 12 percent since 2006, despite economic and ... -
RCRA Air Deposition Ruling Raises Questions On Waste Law's Definitions
Apr 2, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Suzanne Yohannan
The few courts that have taken up the issue of whether air pollution from industry that is deposited on land is waste disposal under federal law have reached different conclusions, and a recent federal district court's findings in the affirmative raise important questions about certain definitions in the waste law, according to one attorney familiar ... -
Judges Weigh Novel Question Of EPA Petitions Boosting Rulemaking Suits
Apr 2, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Stuart Parker
Appellate court judges at April 2 oral arguments weighed a novel question over whether groups suing EPA claiming a Clean Air Act duty to regulate air pollution sources could get a boost to the merits of their suit if other groups have filed years-old petitions with EPA seeking the same rules -- but despite raising the question, the judges appear likely... -
Environmental Groups Sue EPA Over Failure To Develop Regional Haze Plan for Utah
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tripp Baltz
Three environmental organizations sued the Environmental Protection Agency, saying it has failed to develop a federal plan for reducing regional haze in Utah by the required deadline (HEAL Utah v. Environmental Protection Agency, D. Colo., No. 15-CV-666, 3/31/15). Meanwhile, Utah issued its revised state implementation plan for regional... -
Weather Events Related to Climate Change Prompting Superfund Protective Steps: EPA
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven M. Sellers
Hurricanes, floods and ice jams have prompted protective measures at some vulnerable Superfund sites, including benzene-laden lagoons in New Jersey briefly topped by flood waters during Hurricane Irene in 2011, panelists said April 1 during an Environmental Protection Agency webinar. The new measures—many of which are designed to... -
Air Pollution Takes Early Toll on Children
Apr 2, 2015 | The New York Times
By Nicholas Bakalar
Air pollution can be bad for children – starting even before birth, a new study suggests. Researchers studied exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, a form of pollution caused by burning gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil and coal. They found that prenatal exposure to these compounds was tied to changes in the...
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(ACC Mentioned) US Plastic Resins Output Surges Over 2014 Levels
Apr 2, 2015 | Hydrocarbon Processing
US production of major plastic resins totaled 6.1 billion pounds during February 2015, an increase of 6.8 percent compared to the same month in 2014, according to statistics released today by the American Chemistry Council (ACC).
Year-to-date production was 12.4 billion pounds, a 2.5% increase as compared to the same period in 2014.
Sales and captive (internal) use of major plastic resins totaled 6.1 billion pounds during February 2015, an increase of 4.5% from the same month one year earlier.
Year-to-date sales and captive use was 12.3 billion pounds, a 0.7% decrease as compared to the same period in 2014. -
(ACC Mentioned) PVC and PET Up, But PP Prices Fall
Apr 2, 2015 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American resin prices danced to their own tune in March, with prices for PVC and PET bottle resin both up as polypropylene prices trended down.
Regional prices for PVC are up an average of 3 cents per pound since March 1, as improving demand was amplified by tightness in supply. The increase marks a change in direction for PVC pricing, which had been flat in February after falling for three straight months from November-January.
The January drop was 2 cents, meaning that the March increase leaves PVC prices up a net of 1 cent so far in 2014.
Market sources reported that PVC production has been lower than expected at plants operated by Formosa Plastics Corp. in Baton Rouge, La., and by Westlake Chemical Corp. in Geismar, La. PVC makers also have been able to keep the North American market tight by selling material into the export market, which is improving in early 2015. Demand from some PVC buyers also has been “a little above plan” so far this year, one source said.
March might be improving, but the first two months of 2014 were not that great for U.S./Canadian PVC sales. Overall sales were down just over 4 percent, according to the American Chemistry Council, with a domestic drop of almost 3 percent worsened by an export sales drop of more than 7 percent.
PET bottle resin prices for March were up an average of 1 cent per pound, which surprised some market watchers, since demand for the material hasn’t been all that robust. Colder than usual March weather did not do much to help consumption of carbonated soft drinks and bottled water — two big end markets for PET.
The PET hike also reverses pricing direction for that material. Prices had been flat in February after tumbling a total of 16 cents per pound in the three-month November-January period. One market watcher told Plastics News that the 1-cent March hike “was fair” based on raw material price movement, but he added that feedstock price stability in April — tied to lower oil prices — might make it difficult for PET makers to raise prices again.
“It’s hard to tell how much [PET] demand is going to show up,” the source said.
Three North American PET makers are taking action against alleged dumping of foreign material by seeking duties from the U.S. International Trade Commission. (See related story.)
In PP, a 1-cent March price drop also surprised some buyers, since demand for the material was off to a healthy start so far in 2015. North American demand in the first two months of the year surged more than 7 percent, according to ACC, with domestic growth of 9 percent dampened by a drop of more than 30 percent in export sales.
Domestic PP sales growth in that two-month period was powered by gains of almost 23 percent in injection molded housewares and of 13 percent in sheet. The March PP price drop erases a 1-cent gain prices had seen in February. Prices for the material had fallen a total of 20 cents per pound in December-January.
April could see a battle between regional PP buyers and producers, one source said, as monomer prices indicate another slight drop, but producers have been agitating for 2 cents in margin improvement on resin.
Moving forward, the North American PP field might be affected by lower propylene monomer supplies resulting from a March 30 fire at a propylene unit operated by ExxonMobil Chemical in Beaumont, Texas. No one was injured in the event, and the unit remained out of operation as of April 2. Restart procedures were underway, but no timetable was set for the unit to resume production.
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(ACC Mentioned) U.S. Takes Possible First Step Towards Regulating Nanochemicals
Apr 2, 2015 | Science Insider
By Puneet Kollipara
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is ratcheting up its scrutiny of nanoscale chemicals amid concerns that they could pose unique environmental and health risks. Late last month, the agency proposed requiring companies to submit data on industrial nanomaterials that they already make and sell. Observers say EPA’s move could be a prelude to tighter federal regulation of nanomaterials, which have begun to show up in consumer products.
For years, EPA has grappled with whether and how to use the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the nation’s leading chemical regulation law, to handle nanomaterials. TSCA is silent on nanoproducts, generally defined as materials composed of structures between 1 and 100 billionths of a meter. But many environmental groups worry that they potentially carry unknown risks by virtue of their size. Other observers, however, have argued that size alone shouldn’t trigger new regulation and that existing rules are adequate to deal with the new products.
EPA’s 25 March proposal actually walks back an earlier version—now scrapped—that would have let the agency more easily clamp down on any new uses of nanomaterials. Still, the weaker version being proposed now represents the first time EPA would use its powers under TSCA to request information specifically on nanomaterials. (The proposal comes as Congress is debating revamping TSCA, which has drawn extensive criticism.)
Under the rule, manufacturers would have to submit a range of data regarding the nanoscale substances they now make and that fall under TSCA’s scope—such as substances used in industrial applications. EPA wants to know how much the company is producing, for example, as well as potential public exposures, and manufacturing and processing methods. It also wants see any existing health and safety data. In addition, the agency would require manufacturers of proposed new nanomaterials to submit existing data before they want to start making and selling those substances.
The rule wouldn’t force companies to generate any new health and safety data. And by itself, the rule wouldn’t restrict any nanomaterials’ use, EPA notes in its draft proposal. The agency’s actions “do not conclude and are not intended to conclude that nanoscale materials as a class, or specific uses of nanoscale materials, necessarily give rise to or are likely to cause harm,” the notice states. Rather, EPA says the information would let it better assess nanomaterials’ risks.
And the agency states that its approach would help protect human health and the environment “without prejudging new technologies or creating unnecessary barriers to trade or hampering innovation.” EPA argues that case-by-case approach would jibe with a set of nanotech regulation principles released in 2011 by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Those principles advise agencies against making one-size-fits-all judgments.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), the largest chemical industry trade group, is still evaluating the proposal, it said in a statement. But it “is particularly interested in how EPA defines the materials to be covered by the proposed rule,” says Jay West, manager of ACC’s Nanotechnology Panel, says in the statement.
The proposal is “logical” and “creatively written,” says Lynn Bergeson, a managing partner with the law firm Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. in Washington, D.C., which advises companies on EPA regulatory compliance. Some companies may argue the rule is too broad or burdensome, she says, or worry that EPA’s move could stigmatize their products. But the government effort to collect information could potentially help the industry by reassuring a skeptical public, she adds. “If there are no data on which EPA is able to rely to conclude that there is no risk, then the agency really is not doing its job,” she says.
The proposal is a good first step for EPA, says Jaydee Hanson, policy director at the International Center for Technology Assessment, a group in Washington, D.C., that has raised concerns about nanotechnology’s potential risks. But he worries that many companies might simply not respond and that the cash-strapped EPA would struggle to crack down on violators. And he worries that the proposal would let companies keep too much information secret, by claiming it as confidential business information. (TSCA reforms that Congress is debating would limit the types of information that companies could claim as confidential, he notes.) But Hanson is looking on the bright side. “We wish [EPA was] doing more, but we’re excited that they are doing it,” he says.
Still, even with all the new information in hand, it’s unclear how much action EPA could take to restrict nanomaterials under current law. In general, EPA has moved slowly to regulate new chemicals, and struggled to meet the burden that TSCA sets on it for removing, restricting, or preventing the sale of chemicals found to be unsafe. Congress says it wants to make that process easier, but it is unclear how any new rules would apply to nanotechnologies.
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(ACC Mentioned) Chemical Reaction in Washington
Apr 2, 2015 | St. Charles Herald Guide
By Anna Thibodeaux
Capitol Hill’s proposed Udall-Vitter bill aimed at overhauling the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act has drawn criticism from environmentalists and Congressional opponents, but the chemical industry considers it a move that’s long overdue.
“We’ve supported the effort for several years because we feel like the original toxic control act is outdated,” said Tommy Faucheux, head of Dow’s Southeast U.S. State Government Affairs. “We think it’ll benefit us, our customers and the industry overall.”Critics have called the bill a gift to the chemical industry.
But Faucheux said science evolving, the number of chemicals growing into the thousands and states imposing their own regulation on chemicals prompted the Udall-Vitter bill.The proposed bill, sponsored by U.S. Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Tom Udall, D-N.M., would subject more chemicals to regulation, set minimum requirements and timelines for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) testing, establish a fee system to finance the program and address major weaknesses in the 1976 act.
“The new bill would regulate based on today’s science, and more efficiently and transparently with our customers to see how chemicals are evaluated by the government and, ultimately, improving standard application,” he said. “It allows us to innovate and create new uses for our products uniformly used throughout the U.S.”
Faucheux said Dow, along wth the industry and American Chemistry Council, have been asking for reforms for several years.
While the EPA has said it does not a position on the bill, it has told lawmakers that it is consistent with the six principals the Obama administration set in 2009 to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act.
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(ACC Mentioned) Reviving a D.C. River: Out with the Foam, In with the Compostables
Apr 3, 2015 | Waste360
By Elizabeth McGowan
Pity the poor Anacostia River. It’s not enough that the 8.5-mile waterway, which sloshes through the nation’s capital, is overshadowed by its more muscular and famous cousin, the Potomac.
The Anacostia is literally choking on an assortment of trash. Three government entities along its banks are trying to revive it with a Heimlich maneuver, of sorts, by banning the sale and use of disposable polystyrene foam products.
It’s an effort to rid the region of packing peanuts and ubiquitous food-related foam such as take-out clamshells, cups, plates and bowls, and phase in alternatives that are compostable and recyclable.
Bans are slated to begin Jan. 1, 2016 in Washington, D.C., and its northwestern neighbor, Maryland’s Montgomery County. Prince George’s, a Maryland county bordering Washington to the east, is in the midst of tweaking similar legislation to meet that same start-up deadline.
These jurisdictions are not alone. In California, the epicenter of foam eschewers, 70-plus cities have banned polystyrene. Elsewhere, New York City, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Minneapolis, Westchester, N.Y., and Freeport, Maine, are on board as well.
“My entire life revolves around trash,” says Julie Lawson the director of Trash Free Maryland, an alliance of more than 60 like-minded organizations. “The idea in the Washington area is to encourage a regional approach to solving local environmental problems and cleaning up the Anacostia River.”
The bonus of a cross-border initiative in an area with a population of 2.5 million is that businesses and residents will learn together, Lawson says. In addition to creating a broad market for polystyrene alternatives, she adds, the ban will force government officials to move beyond small pilot programs geared for composting and recycling foam-free products.
Anne Germain, director of waste and recycling technology for the Washington-based National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), says communities need to tailor bans to their own needs instead of simply jumping on the anti-foam bandwagon.
“Everybody likes an easy answer when it’s really a complex, nuanced worldview,” she says. “Sometimes people are too quick to boil it down to recycling is good and landfilling is bad.”
In theory, foam (expanded polystyrene) can be recycled, she explains. But it’s not realistic to do so because the lightweight product’s value is based on weight and filling a truck would mean “paying some guy to drive air from one place to another.”
The American Chemistry Council, a trade group, and Dart Container Corp., the largest global manufacturer of foam products, have opposed polystyrene bans nationwide. Representatives from both outfits testified against the Prince George’s County legislation when council members discussed it on March 26 at an environment committee meeting.
And that’s not the only pushback. Administrators fixated on a budget deficit worry about the expense of enforcing the ban and collecting fines. The Restaurant Association of Maryland frets that its members won’t able to afford or find substitute containers, utensils or straws. Grocery stores have already been granted exemptions for prepackaged soups and foam trays used to package raw meat, fish, poultry or seafood.
“This is a matter of priorities, not whether or not we can afford it,” Council Member Mary Lehman, the bill’s sponsor, said during the March committee meeting. “It’s a false choice that we have to choose between the environment and the economy.”
The fact is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has declared the Anacostia River and its 13 major tributaries as federally impaired with a seemingly endless tide of trash. Its vast watershed encompasses 176 square miles in Washington and Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. The Anacostia, formed at the confluence of the Northwest and Northeast branches in Maryland, merges with the Potomac at Hains Point in Southwest Washington.
Under the Clean Water Act, Prince George’s County alone is mandated to remove 170,628 pounds of rubbish from the watershed by 2018.
What frustrates Lawson is that 25 percent to 40 percent of the watershed’s litter by volume is foam, local surveys show. It’s almost impossible to remove it because it breaks into tiny pieces that take hundreds of years to biodegrade. Those tidbits, which are prone to absorbing petrochemicals in waterways, enter the food chain as an enticing but hazardous snack for fish and other wildlife.
“I’m well aware that banning foam is not going to change littering behavior the way a bag fee or bottle bill does,” Lawson says. “But if restaurants switch from polystyrene to paper, the paper is much easier to pick up or stop in litter traps. Most of it will fall apart in the sewer system before it even enters the streams and rivers that feed our oceans."
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Seven Chemicals to Be Reviewed by IARC In 2016 to Gauge Cancer-Causing Potential
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
The World Health Organization's cancer research and classification agency will review one flame retardant, two solvents and four other industrial chemicals in February 2016.
WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is recognized by regulatory bodies such as California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment as an authoritative body for the identification of chemicals as causing cancer, meaning the agency's classifications can trigger regulatory requirements. IARC's classifications also can be cited in toxic tort litigation.
U.S. and European manufacturers of the seven chemicals include BASF Corp., Dow Chemical Co., Dow Corning Co. and Dupont.
IARC released online March 31 a preliminary list of seven industrial chemicals it will review. They are:
• tetrabromobisphenol A (Chemical Abstracts Service No. 79-94-7);
• 1-bromopropane (CAS No. 106-94-5);
• dimethylformamide (CAS No. 68-12-2);
• dimethyl-p-toluidine (CAS No. 99-97-8);
• 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (CAS No. 149-30-4);
• hydrazine (CAS No. 302-01-2); and
• 3-chloro-2-methylpropene (CAS No. 563-47-3).
Participation, Data Deadlines Announced
IARC also announced several deadlines for those who wish to participate in the review, observe it or provide data for it.
Nominations of toxicologists, epidemiologists and other scientists who could serve on the chemical review board will be accepted through June 1.
Organizations seeking to observe the meeting should contact IARC by Oct. 5.
The agency will accept carcinogenicity data and related information on the seven chemicals until Jan. 4, 2016.
The chemicals will be reviewed at IARC's headquarters in Lyon, France, Feb. 2-9, 2016.
Most of the chemicals are high production volume compounds, meaning they are manufactured in volumes of 1 million pounds or more annually.
An IARC advisory group deemed six of the seven chemicals to be high priorities for the agency's review when it met in April 2014 to consider dozens of compounds that scientists, governments and intergovernmental organizations had nominated for classification.
Flame Retardant
Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), a derivative of bisphenol A, is widely used as a fire retardant.
Manufacturers, including the Albemarle Corp., ICL-IP Europe B.V. and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) Innovative Plastics have registered TBBPA under the European Union's REACH law (Regulation No. 1907/2006 on the registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals).
TBBPA is registered as being made in or imported into the European Economic Area—the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway—in an annual volume ranging between 1,000 metric tons and 10,000 metric tons (2.2 million pounds and 22 million pounds).
U.S. branches of those companies were among the chemical manufacturing facilities that reported a 2011 TBBPA national production volume of 119.8 million pounds in the Chemical Data Reporting rule submissions they have submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency.
IARC's 2016 review of tetrabromobisphenol A will be the first time the agency has evaluated the chemical.
Solvent: 1-Bromopropane
1-bromopropane, also called n-propyl bromide, is a solvent that is used to clean optical equipment, electronics, metals and other materials and also is used in spray adhesives.
The spray application results in high occupational exposures, IARC's advisory group said in its April 2014 report.
The EPA also has approved 1-bromopropane's use as a substitute for certain applications of ozone-depleting chemicals such as methyl chloroform.
IARC hasn't previously evaluated 1-bromopropane. In 2014, however, the solvent was classified as reasonably anticipated to cause cancer in humans in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' 13th Report on Carcinogens (192 DEN A-1, 10/3/14).
Albemarle Corp. and Chemtura Manufacturing UK Ltd. are among the European companies that have registered 1-bromopropane as being made in or imported into the European Economic Area in an annual volume ranging between 1,000 and 10,000 metric tons.
Albemarle, the Dow Chemical Co. and ICL-IP America Inc. are among the companies with U.S. facilities that made 15.3 million pounds of 1-bromopropane in the U.S. in 2011 or imported the chemical into the country that year.
Solvent: Dimethylformamide
Dimethylformamide is a solvent used in the production of polymer fibers, films, surface coatings, pharmaceuticals and other products.
In the late 1990s when IARC reviewed dimethylformamide, the agency said it wasn't classifiable as to its human carcinogenicity.
Studies of exposure by inhalation and in drinking water conducted since 1999 have shown a high incidence of cancer of the liver. In humans, an epidemiological study showed an association with testicular tumors, according to IARC.
European manufacturers, including BASF SE, Sigma-Aldrich Co. Ltd. and Syngenta Ltd., were among the companies that registered it under REACH as being made in or imported into Europe in a range between 10,000 metric tons to 100,000 metric tons a year.
BASF Corp., Dupont and Evonik Corp. are among the companies with U.S. facilities that reported a national production volume of 49.5 million pounds in 2011 to EPA.
Glue, Bone Cement
Dimethyl-p-toluidine is used as a hardening agent in dental and bone adhesives, an ingredient in industrial glues, and an intermediate in making dyes and pesticides.
Dimethyl-p-toluidine hasn't been previously evaluated by IARC.
Sustainability Support Services (Europe) AB registered the chemical under REACH as having a 10 ton to 100 metric ton (22,046 pounds to 220,460 pounds) annual production volume.
Aceto Corp., Charkit Chemical Corp. and Cook Composites & Polymers Co. were among the companies with U.S. facilities that told the EPA they had a national production volume ranging between 1 million and 10 million pounds in 2011.
Used in Rubber Production
2-mercaptobenzothiazole is used in the production of natural and synthetic rubber.
The chemical hasn't been previously evaluated by IARC. Toxicology data from the U.S. National Toxicology Program and information from occupational studies, however, have become available for evaluation, the agency said.
Lanxess N.V. and Thomas Swan & Co. are among the European registrants of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, which they registered in the production range of 1,000 metric tons to 10,000 metric tons annually (2.2 million and 22 million pounds).
Lanxess Corp. and Parchem Fine & Specialty Chemicals are among the companies with U.S. facilities that told the EPA they made between 500,000 pounds and 1 million pounds of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole in the U.S. in 2011 or imported it into this country.
Intermediates
Hydrazine primarily is used to make other chemicals, including water treatment compounds and rocket fuel.
IARC classified hydrazine as possibly carcinogenic to humans in 1999. The chemical induces a variety of tumors in mice and rats.
Since 1999, an epidemiological study of rocket fuel workers found a statistically significant association between cumulative exposure to hydrazine and cancers of the lung and colon, and a smaller epidemiological study found a nonstatistically significant increased risk of both of these cancers based on a small number of exposed cases, according to information from IARC.
Hydrazine is classified as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen in the 13th Report on Carcinogens.
Arkema France and Lanxess Deutschland GmbH were among the European companies that registered hydrazine as being produced in volume range of 10,000 metric tons and 100,000 metric tons annually.
The Bayer Group, Lanxess Corp. and Arkema Inc. were among the companies with U.S. facilities that reported a national production volume in the U.S. of 12.6 million pounds in 2011.
3-chloro-2-methylpropene is another intermediate used to make other industrial chemicals and pesticides such as carbofuran.
In 1995, IARC said the chemical wasn't classifiable as to its carcinogenicity. 3-chloro-2-methylpropene is, however, classified as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen in the 13th Report on Carcinogens.
3-chloro-2-methylpropene has been preregistered in Europe, but a production volume range isn't available.
Dow Corning Corp. and U.S. Amines Ltd. made the chemical in or imported it into the U.S. in 2011. The EPA withheld the national production volume to protect confidential business information.
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Md. Senate Inches Toward 2-Year Moratorium
Apr 2, 2015 | E&E News PM
A Maryland Senate committee yesterday advanced legislation to implement a two-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in the western half of the state.
The full Senate, which recently passed a bill to increase legal liability for pollution or health problems caused by drilling, will now take up the measure that almost mirrors a three-year moratorium approved by the state House.
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's administration is considering sweeping new rules for fracking after a 3½-year study of the associated risks commissioned by former Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).
Fracking has divided Western Maryland as proponents hail the economic benefits and opponents decry damage to the environment and tourism. Environmentalists have called the proposed rules too loose, while industry has tagged them as too strict.
The Senate bill would require drilling regulations to be finalized by Oct. 1, 2016, a year before they would go into effect.
Yesterday, Shilpa Joshi of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network praised lawmakers for "choosing to hit the pause button" to give themselves time to review the new rules, while Maryland Petroleum Council Executive Director Drew Cobbs declined to comment.
If the Senate bill passes, both Democratic-controlled chambers would have to agree on how to turn the two bills into a single piece of legislation to hand to Hogan.
A Hogan spokeswoman said the governor was reviewing the legislation but believes that "if fracking can be done in an environmentally safe way, then he would want to move forward with it" (Tim Wheeler, Baltimore Sun, April 2).
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Fracking In California Used 70 Million Gallons Of Water In 2014
Apr 2, 2015 | Reuters
By Rory Carroll
California oil producers used 214 acre-feet of water, equivalent to nearly 70 million gallons, in the process of fracking for oil and gas in the state last year, less than previously projected, state officials told Reuters on Thursday.
The practice of fracking has been criticized in the state, which is suffering from a drought so severe that Governor Jerry Brown announced the first-ever mandatory 25 percent statewide reduction in water use on Wednesday.
Despite pressure from environmentalists, Brown has not called for a halt to fracking in the state, saying it is not a major drain on water supplies.
"Hydraulic fracturing uses a relatively small amount of water - the equivalent of 514 households annually" per well, said Steven Bohlen, the state oil and gas supervisor.
About 100,000 gallons of water is used on average per well, he said.
Previous industry estimates said that fracking used about 100 million gallons of water in California a year.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, occurs when water and some chemicals are injected deep underground at high pressure to break up rock and release oil and gas into wells.
Environmentalists argue that fracking is an unwise use of water, given the state's ongoing, multi-year drought. They also say it has the potential to contaminate fresh drinking water supplies.
Bohlen said that not all of the water used for fracking is fresh water. Some portion of it is "produced" water, or water that comes to the surface during oil drilling that is not suitable for drinking or agricultural use.
The industry brought 387,000 acre-feet of produced water to the surface last year, Bohlen said. Of that, two-thirds was put back into the aquifers from which it came or was used to produce more oil through drilling techniques including steam flooding and cyclic steam injection.
The remaining third was put into underground injection, evaporated in surface ponds, or cleaned up for beneficial use, he said.
About 25,000 acre-feet of produced water is used for beneficial use in the San Ardo, Cawelo, and Arvin water districts, he said.
A law passed last year requires oil producers to report the sources of water used in all oil and gas extraction as well as where the water goes.
The first data report is due April 31 and will be made public soon after, Bohlen said. -
Fracking Breaches ‘Hidden From Public’
Apr 3, 2015 | Financial Times
By Barney Jopson
Oil and gas companies in 33 US states can avoid heightened public scrutiny because data about violations of safety and pollution rules are effectively hidden from residents, according to an environmental group’s investigation.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, which probed a patchwork of state oil and gas regulations, warned that the lack of disclosure left citizens vulnerable as the shale boom brings production closer to residential areas.
Over the past six years the shale revolution unleashed by fracking and horizontal drilling has developed so quickly that many state and federal regulators have been left standing.Only now are they beginning to catch up by introducing new safeguards, but not all public officials deem them necessary.
Of 36 states with active oil and gas development, the NRDC and a watchdog called the FracTracker Alliance found that only three make data on violations easily accessible to the public — Colorado, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
From 2009 to 2013 in Pennsylvania alone, the NRDC found that 68 large companies were responsible for 3,978 violations of safety and pollution rules.
In 33 states there is little or no public information on well site issues monitored by regulators such as oil spills, drinking water contamination, air pollution and the strength of well casings, they found.
Amy Mall, senior policy analyst at NRDC, said: “It’s extremely difficult for members of the public to get information on the extent to which any particular company is violating the law.
“If an individual wants to know if a company is a good actor — whether they want to sign [an exploration and production] lease with them or have them operating in their community — it’s almost impossible for them to find out.”
The American Petroleum Institute, the biggest oil lobby group, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fracking has created an industry that differs in many ways from the conventional oil and gas production under way when most state laws were written — including in its propensity to bring development close to homes in suburban and rural areas.
In states that disclose incidents, the 68 companies tracked by the NRDC were responsible for 235 violations in Colorado and 364 in West Virginia.
The energy industry challenged the NRDC’s findings and sought to discredit its research. A spokeswoman for Energy In Depth, an industry-backed public relations programme, said the environmental group had used “false information” on well counts. “That’s not a minor error, and raises serious questions about what else they fudged in the report,” she said.
She added that many of the violations recorded in Pennsylvania, Colorado and West Virginia were “paperwork and administrative issues, which NRDC has dishonestly elevated to major environmental threats”.
Last month the Obama administration sought to establish a blueprint for state regulators to follow by proposing new rules on fracking on public land, which covered well integrity, wastewater disposal and the disclosure of fracking chemicals.
But some environmental groups said they did not go far enough. In many Republican-leaning states such as Texas, where lawmakers are close to the oil industry, the chances of strict new rules that inhibit shale development are slim. New York, a staunch Democratic state, has banned fracking entirely.
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BLM Releases Framework for Drilling Near Dinosaur National Monument
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tripp Baltz
The Bureau of Land Management has released a plan designed to guide oil and gas development for the next 20 years in northwestern Colorado's Piceance Basin, including lands with wilderness qualities near Dinosaur National Monument.
BLM published a notice of availability March 27 for the Proposed Oil and Gas Amendment to the White River Field Office Resource Management Plan and final environmental impact statement (80 Fed. Reg. 16,425).
The amendment includes the Dinosaur Trail Master Leasing Plan, covering a 422,800-acre area that includes 357,800 acres of federal minerals. It provides tools to mitigate impacts from oil and gas development where conflicts with wildlife, values at the National Monument or other resources could occur, the BLM said.
The proposed amendment doesn't authorize oil and gas development or a specific number of wells, both of which would be done through site-specific planning, the Federal Register notice said.
Rather, it provides an updated analysis of an anticipated increase in oil and gas development in the planning area, a change to multi-well pads and development focus in the basin.
It considers impacts and management actions associated with potential development of 15,040 wells on 1,100 well pads with an associated surface disturbance of 13,200 acres.
It also provides management direction for more than 300,000 acres of inventoried lands with wilderness characteristics inside the planning area, which encompasses some 2.7 million acres in total, according to the Federal Register notice.
The amendment details measures to mitigate the associated impacts of ramped-up oil and gas activity, including state-of-the-art emission controls and an innovative approach to allowing year-round drilling while maintaining undeveloped wildlife habitat, the BLM said.
Leasing Expected in Phases
Leasing within the Dinosaur Trail MLP is proposed to progress in phases to address resource values and concerns, the BLM said. Leasing will first occur in the southern portion of the MLP where oil and gas potential is highest.
Leasing within greater sage grouse habitat, areas of low oil and gas potential, or areas adjacent to the national monument could occur once additional analysis and planning is completed, the BLM said.
Of the 357,800 acres of BLM-administered estate:
• 315,600 would be open to leasing and subject to certain lease stipulations;
• 154,000 would be managed with specific stipulations to minimize impacts to visual resources, night skies and soundscapes near the national monument; and
• 42,200 would remain close to leasing, including several areas with wilderness quality.
Called ‘Solid Step.’
David Nimkin, southwest senior regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association, commended the BLM for issuing an plan that protects the national monument.
“The MLP offers a solid step toward protecting the natural and cultural resources at the national park site and safeguarding visitors' experiences by minimizing the harmful side effects of oil and gas development near the monument,” he said. “We're also pleased special efforts were made in the MLP to preserve postcard vistas by keeping development out of the monument's viewsheds.”
However, he said, too much discretion was applied to certain measures concerning degradation of air quality.
“BLM needs to give serious consideration to strengthening the air quality measures as they finalize the plan within the 30-day public comment period,” he said.
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'Deathly' Fears Vs. Drilling Hopes at Arctic Oil Panel
Apr 3, 2015 | E&E - Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
Willie Goodwin -- the former mayor of Kotzebue, a city in northwestern Alaska that is home to a little more than 3,200 people -- doubts oil and gas crews will ever be able to completely clean up an oil spill in the Arctic, no matter how far technology has advanced.
"We're deathly afraid of an oil spill," he said yesterday, talking about the Inupiat people, his tribe, at Resources for the Future's headquarters in Washington, D.C.
"You'll still have in your mind: It smells," said Goodwin, likening spilling oil in the Arctic to tossing a glass of crude into a packed refrigerator and trying to wipe up the mess. "Whether [or not] you clean it up as best you can."
The landscape for oil and gas exploration in the polar region has come more clearly into view in the past few weeks.
On Tuesday, the Interior Department opened the door for Royal Dutch Shell PLC to drill for oil this summer in the Chukchi Sea, approving the federal government's decision in 2008 to sell oil and gas leases there.
Meanwhile, environmental groups have sued Shell to block its use of a port terminal in Seattle as its Arctic base even as the company is moving a drillship -- the Polar Pioneer, currently several hundred miles west of Hawaii -- across the Pacific Ocean. Six offshore drilling rigs are in or on their way to the American Arctic, according to Rigzone.com, which tracks offshore rig activity. They include the Noble Discoverer, operated by Shell.
ConocoPhillips and Statoil ASA, the Norwegian firm, have gone the other way, opting not to drill in the area. Chevron Corp. also nixed its Arctic exploration plans in December under "economic uncertainty in the industry." Arctic drilling advantage: shallow waters
On Friday, the National Petroleum Council (NPC), in a report commissioned by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, said the United States can maintain its position as a top energy player internationally by tapping into Arctic oil and gas pockets (ClimateWire, March 30).
"There is a lot of interest in drilling in the Arctic," said Jan Mares, an analyst at Resources for the Future, who presented a summary of the NPC report yesterday.
To successfully extract oil or gas in offshore polar conditions, drilling crews consider the type of ice they're dealing with, how long the region in question will be free of ice, and the depth of the water in the drilling zone, according to Mares. The majority of offshore U.S. Arctic drilling opportunities are less than 100 meters deep, the NPC found in its investigation.
Because of this depth, which is shallower than other drilling regions such as the Gulf of Mexico, Mares said, "Most of our Arctic is developable."
He added that Russia is drilling in its Arctic territory and China is an observing member of the Arctic Council, an international body of the eight nations that border the Arctic Circle.
"There are voices among the Alaskan natives that vary" over extracting or leaving fossil fuels untouched, said William Brown, chief environmental officer for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. But, he added, they are all unified in their desire to protect their communities' natural resources.
"Its effects are magnified in the Arctic, not just wildlife impacts," Brown said of climate change, adding that the federal government is trying to shift away from a fossil fuel reliance, but that process "is not an overnight affair." 'It really drives me nuts'
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated in 2008 that the Arctic contains about 22 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas resources that could be recovered. The analysis did not make "economic considerations" in its estimates, instead including results "without reference to costs of exploration and development, which will be important in many of the assessed areas."
Goodwin, the native Alaskan, told a crowd of Washington think tank analysts, advocates and trade association representatives that local residents want a say in what happens off Alaska's shore, yet historically, government agencies and energy companies have shut them out, he said.
"It really drives me nuts," he said, when companies make plans in Alaska "without asking us to be involved."
Energy firms and public officials have begun to consult him and his peers recently, Goodwin said, but he still worries because an oil spill might punish Alaskan people, local sea lions, walruses, whales and fish, and not distant companies and agencies.
"Come up and ask us," he said. "Bring your hearings up there."
This year, sea ice in the Arctic covered the lowest maximum extent since satellites began tracking polar ice movements in 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Some scientists have estimated that summers in the Arctic may be ice-free within 20 to 30 years (ClimateWire, July 16, 2013).
Meanwhile, the slump in oil prices today -- Brent crude was trading at $50.09, and West Texas Intermediate was trading at $56.70 as of yesterday at 6:17 p.m. EDT -- cast doubt on the financial feasibility of Arctic drilling.
Chevron and ConocoPhillips require oil to be worth $113 to proceed in the Amauligak oil project off the coast of Canada's Northwest Territories, according to recent work out of the Carbon Tracker Initiative, a London-based think tank.
BP PLC requires $109 to sanction its Liberty project off the Alaskan coast, and Eni SpA, an Italian energy company, needs oil to reach between $103 and $151 to move forward with its Johan Castberg project in the Barents Sea, the CTI analysis found.
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Emergency Rules Proposed for Injection Wells By California Oil, Gas Division to Fill Gaps
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Carolyn Whetzel
California regulators plan to propose emergency rules to address deficiencies in the state's Class II underground injection well program.
The Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) said April 2 it will forward the regulations to the Office of Administrative Law on April 9, which then has 10 days to approve or reject them.
“This is a significant step in California's commitment to ensure that underground injection practices comply with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and to quickly eliminate risks to California's precious water resources,” State Oil and Gas Supervisor Steven Bohlen said in a written statement.
DOGGR said the emergency rulemaking includes the “concrete steps and deadlines” designed to bring the program into compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.
The emergency regulations are consistent with a plan the EPA approved in March to correct the flaws in the state program regulating injection wells used in oil and gas operations, DOGGR said (47 DEN A-15, 3/11/15).
In recent months, DOGGR has been criticized by lawmakers and environmental advocates for taking so long to address problems with the program the EPA identified in a 2011 audit.
Drilling in Non-Exempt Aquifers
A key issue involved the discovery the state has allowed for several years the drilling of some of the injection wells for use as disposal wells in non-exempt aquifers, which could provide water suitable for drinking or irrigation.
DOGGR already has ordered closure of 23 injection wells, some of which have been closed by operators voluntarily.
The emergency regulations establish an Oct. 15, 2015, deadline for injection into aquifers that do not naturally contain oil reservoirs and with water quality of less than 3,000 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids. Injection into non-exempt aquifers with water quality of less than 10,000 total dissolved solids must end by Feb. 15, 2017.
Also, the regulations require a halt to injection into 11 aquifers with an unclear exemption status by Dec. 31, 2016, if the EPA determines the wells should remain exempt, DOGGR said.
“Our agreement with the EPA is to review all injection wells in the state,” Bohlen said. “Within the next few weeks the high-priority wells will be complete. If they are too close to a beneficial use well, we will issue an order to shut them down.
“To be clear, no contamination has been found related to oil and gas operations, but we're taking a conservative cautious approach,” Bohlen said.
Once posted on the OAL's website, the public will have five calendar days to comment on the emergency regulations, DOGGR said.
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Keystone Developer Delays Alternative Pipeline
Apr 2, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
The company behind Keystone XL is delaying plans to build an alternative pipeline to export oil sands from Canada.
TransCanada Corp. said Energy East will now be operational in 2020, two years after it had originally planned.
The company is also scrapping a controversial terminal on the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec that would have allowed oil from Energy East to be exported and shipped abroad.
Energy East was planned as an alternative way to get oil sands out of the country as the United States government has waited more than six years to decide whether Keystone should be built.
TransCanada said it decided to scrap the Quebec terminal, which resulted in the delay, because it is near a habitat for beluga whales, which may soon be protected as an endangered species.
“We have always said regarding the beluga whale and other species that if the project presented a material impact, we would be prepared to adjust it in order to eliminate or mitigate that impact, just like we have done in many instances since planning began two years ago,” TransCanada said on its website.
The company added that the project changes were not caused by “well-funded groups” that oppose the pipeline project on environmental grounds.
Energy East is projected to cost $12 billion. It would involve converting a natural gas pipeline for oil use and building a new line through Quebec and New Brunswick to bring some of the oil to refineries.
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New Way to Monitor Methane Could Help Spot Contamination From Shale Development
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Leslie A. Pappas
Scientists have discovered a way to monitor methane levels in streams that may help identify groundwater contamination from nearby shale gas wells.
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Utah recently published their report in Environmental Science and Technology about the technique, which was used to detect elevated methane levels in a stream in northern Pennsylvania.
The method is important because it shows that streams may be used in addition to drinking water wells to monitor and assess the impact of oil and gas development, the authors said. Stream methane monitoring “provides the first watershed-scale method to assess groundwater contamination from shale-gas development,” the authors wrote.
The sampling of the streams in Pennsylvania was the first time scientists applied the method to an area of shale-gas development, author Vic Heilweil, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, told Bloomberg BNA in a phone interview April 2.
Scientists first took samples from multiple streams in the area to find out which streams had high methane content, and then they went back to the streams to take a more sophisticated sampling, including testing of hydrocarbon and noble gas isotopes.
The study found that in one stream called Sugar Run, there was an inflow of about a half kilogram of methane per day into it.
The analysis showed that the methane wasn't biologic methane, which could have come from rotting leaves and surface-level matter, but rather thermogenic methane, a type of methane that comes from shale gas formations deep in the earth, such as the Marcellus Shale deposits.
Pennsylvania DEP Issued Contamination Notice
Upon further research, the team discovered that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection had issued an official notice that several domestic water wells in the area may have been contaminated by stray gas migration from a nearby gas well that had defective casing or cement.
Heilweil said his research couldn't conclusively determine that the methane found in the stream came from the nearby gas well because he didn't have samples of the water before the well was drilled.
“We can't conclusively determine that the methane we found in the stream is caused by that well, but it is a possibility,” he said.
In the future, collecting more methane samples from streams could give a more “holistic” look at overall groundwater quality in an area, and it could provide a baseline before development starts, Heilweil said.
“It's pretty simple to collect background stream methane,” Heilweil said. That means that in the future, if more baseline stream data could be collected before wells were drilled, “we could more conclusively determine impacts from unconventional oil and gas development.”
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Study Links Wyo. Winter Ozone to Drillers' Wastewater Plant
Apr 2, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Amanda Peterka
Emissions from wastewater recycling at oil and gas drilling sites likely contributed to a string of high-ozone events in the winter of 2011 in Wyoming's Upper Green River Basin, according to a study released this week.
By studying the chemical signatures in emissions from oil and gas operations, the study, led by researchers at the University of Wyoming, found that wastewater treatment was a major source of non-methane pollutants that spurred ozone formation.
"What we've done is hopefully just highlight that it's an important source that should be considered," said Robert Field, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Wyoming and lead author of the report.
The study comes after research led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last October linked oil and gas production in eastern Utah's Uinta Basin to high wintertime ozone levels in 2012-2013 (Greenwire, Oct. 1, 2014).
Ozone typically forms in the summer, when intense sunlight and humidity prompt chemical reactions between airborne nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. It's far less common in the winter, but the NOAA study found that VOCs released by oil and gas activities built up to high enough levels to trigger reactions.
The study, released this week, was published Tuesday in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, a journal of the European Geosciences Union. The University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources and the Pinedale Anticline Project Office provided funding for the research, while the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality provided data and external auditors.
The Upper Green River Basin is a sparsely populated area in southwest Wyoming that has two of the nation's top proved wet natural gas fields. Almost all the emissions in the area come from oil and natural gas activities, according to Department of Environmental Quality data.
Field and his team began studying the region's wintertime ozone levels and the mix of non-methane hydrocarbons in 2009.
They measured several high-ozone events in the winter of 2011, with ozone topping 85 parts per billion numerous times. The national standard for ozone is currently 75 ppb.
By measuring condensate in the non-methane VOCs during those episodes, the researchers say they were able to pinpoint a wastewater treatment facility as a major source of the ozone-causing emissions. According to the study, the facility, which is located in Sublette County and handles wastewater from drilling operations, releases toluene, xylene and other VOCs that are high in condensate.
"When we first started there ... I was not fully aware of the water treatment facility," Field said. "It was actually as we started to do the analysis of data and stated finding this condensate signature -- it was like, 'Where is this coming from?' It wasn't until we did the actual data analysis we realized it must be coming from this facility."
Wastewater treatment operations weren't the only hot spot for emissions at the oil and gas operations, but they're a significant factor that often goes overlooked in calculations of emissions, Field said.
He added, however, that it was difficult to apply the study's specific results to other oil and gas operations because they have different systems -- including those with smaller pumps -- for dealing with recycling wastewater. And the team has not yet studied how different factors might cause changes in the emissions released by the facilities.
He also noted that the team did not notice any high wintertime ozone levels in the winter of 2012. According to the study, 2012 coincided with reduced levels of total non-methane hydrocarbons. It's unclear yet what drove that reduction.
"Wyoming requires really, really specific conditions and levels of emissions to get ozone production going, and it's different from the Uinta," Field said. "There's a lot of other stuff going on in the background."
The research team is planning a future project in which regulatory agencies, an energy company and an advocacy group will participate in sampling the air for pollutants.
Field said that the team is hoping to use future research in Wyoming and Utah to get a better picture of the emissions profiles of oil and gas operations.
"We're hoping to use these measurements to get a better understanding of the geographical distribution of these pollutants and how they might vary from one place to another," he said.
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Key House Republican Takes Aim at Proposed HFC Curb
Apr 2, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Jean Chemnick
U.S. EPA's bid to phase out heat-trapping chemicals used in refrigeration and air conditioning has drawn the ire of the chairman of a key House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.
Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) took aim in a letter yesterday at EPA's proposal to curtail production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used in cooling.
The Energy and Power Subcommittee chairman's letter referenced "significant concerns" about the speed at which EPA proposes to phase out the chemicals.
His letter charged that the rulemaking was full of unreasonably tight deadlines, like the one mandating that commercial refrigeration equipment transition by Jan. 1, 2016.
"I understand that manufacturers of this equipment are in near-unanimity that replacing HFCs as refrigerants by this date is impossible," Whitfield wrote. He also raised issues with cost, availability of alternatives and potential conflicts with other regulations.
And Whitfield argued that EPA may not have the legal authority to mandate that industry abandon certain chemicals because they are climate forcing. He noted that the agency is using an authority originally intended to ratchet down the use of ozone-depleting chemicals -- not to address warming.
Now that the transition away from ozone-depleting chemicals is nearly complete, he said, the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program should "not be expanded an additional step to replace previously-approved alternatives to ozone depleting substances."
The move away from HFCs -- which can be thousands of times as climate forcing as carbon dioxide -- is a part of President Obama's Climate Action Plan. EPA says the coolants are no longer necessary because industry has developed alternatives that contribute far less to warming, including some it added to the SNAP Program last month (Greenwire, March 2).
The agency also finalized a rule in October that limited the inventory of climate superpollutant chemicals between now and 2020.
It has said it plans to finalize the rule phasing out heat-trapping HFCs this summer.
The administration has sought to use ozone regulatory authorities and treaties at home and abroad to limit HFCs because those efforts are responsible for bringing them into wider use. HFCs became popular as a substitute for ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, which were phased down following ratification of the Montreal Protocol in 1997.
Francis Dietz, vice president for public affairs at the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, said the EPA proposal moved too quickly.
"When there are not suitable alternatives and we don't have enough time to change our processes and do [research and development] and that sort of thing, that's when we have an issue," he said.
The Obama administration also aims to phase down the use of these powerful greenhouse gases by amending the ozone treaty to control climate-forcing HFCs. China and India both opposed adoption of such an amendment in the past on much the same grounds cited by Whitfield -- that the protocol is designed to deal with ozone, not climate change.
But a 2013 U.S.-China agreement left India the sole holdout among major nations in opposing an amendment. The United States and India have agreed to cooperate on "making concrete progress in the Montreal Protocol," but India has not promised to back an amendment.
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Will the States Thwart Obama's Coal Plan?
Apr 2, 2015 | The Huffington Post - Blog
By Paul Alexander
"I've got a pen and I've got a phone," President Barack Obama famously said in January 2014. He was attempting to explain his strategy for bypassing the United States Congress, a body that hasn't been very friendly to him, not even when Democrats controlled both chambers during the first two years of his first term, much less after Republicans took control of the House of Representative and then the Senate.
Obama has used his pen-and-phone strategy to deal with issues like immigration, gun control, and health care. The approach has often led to legal battles. The latest move to end up in court concerns regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, what has been billed as the centerpiece of Obama's plan to combat climate change.
During his first term, Obama promised environmental groups he would address the issue. He proposed a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions but was unable to push legislation through Congress. So, using his pen-and-phone strategy, he ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to find an existing law that could be re-interpreted to accomplish what he wanted -- without the help of Congress.
The administration ended up using the Clean Air Act, legislation signed in 1970 by Richard Nixon that actually established the EPA. (Ironically, Nixon was able to pass pro-environmental legislation in Congress even if Obama couldn't.) Traditionally, the law had been used to regulate mercury, lead and similar pollutants. But the Obama administration decided to apply it to greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
The loophole they found was in amendments added to the law by Congress in 1990. The House and the Senate had different interpretations of the way the law could be used to regulate industries. The House version said pollutants like mercury were covered under section 112, not 111(d), the power plant rule. The Senate version said if pollutants were not regulated in section 112, 111(d) could be used. Normally, such conflicts are resolved in committee but in this case both interpretations were included in the amendments. Since carbon dioxide was not listed as a pollutant in section 112, the Obama administration decided it could use 111(d), the power plant rule, to regulate it.
Released in June 2014 at the direction of the president, the 645-page regulatory document was called the Clean Power Plan, and it targeted coal-fired power plants. "The EPA," The Washington Post reported, "proposed a rule designed to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal plants by as much as 30 percent by 2030, compared with 2005 levels... After the EPA finalizes its proposal in mid-2015, it will give states a year to design their implementation plans." The plan proposed regulations for new power plants as well, the first time the EPA handed down greenhouse gas regulations for plants that had not yet been built.
The rule is important because coal accounts for 40 percent of the nation's electricity. Any increase in the cost of production would be passed on to the consumer, which would mean higher electricity prices, perhaps much higher. In addition, the economies of some states -- West Virginia, Wyoming, Kentucky, Alabama, Pennsylvania, and others -- depend heavily on coal.
Reaction to the plan was swift. The United States Chamber of Commerce estimated the new regulations would cost business $50 billion a year, resulting in power plant closures and the loss of 224,000 jobs annually. Obama critics called the plan a war on the coal industry. Even some high-profile Obama allies attacked the plan because of the way it was created. Laurence Tribe, Obama's professor at Harvard University School of Law who taught the nation's first environmental law class, called the plan "unconstitutional."
In June, Murray Energy Corporation, the largest privately held coal-mining company in the country, which is based in Ohio, filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. attempting to block implementation of the Clean Power Plan. By August, 12 states had also filed suit. The litigation, according to The Los Angeles Times, focused on "weak spots in the EPA's interpretation of an untested section of the Clean Air Act, on which the proposed rule change is based."
By March of this year, officials in nearly 30 states had spoken out, arguing the EPA did not have the legal authority to do what it's trying to do with the Clean Power Plan. The number of states joining the lawsuit reached 14. "As attorney general," Leslie Rutledge said when Arkansas joined the suit, "I will protect Arkansans against an overreaching federal government that is attempting to implement heavy-handed regulations that go beyond the scope of the law."
But the Obama administration's most outspoken critic turned out to be Laurence Tribe. Appearing before an energy subcommittee in the House in March, Tribe, now representing Peabody Energy, said that "burning the Constitution of the United States, about which I care deeply, cannot be a part of our national energy policy.... The EPA is attempting an unconstitutional trifecta: usurping the prerogatives of the states, Congress, and the federal courts -- all at once." He summed up his feelings by asking: "When you tear the Constitution apart, bit by bit, and give it a death by a thousand cuts, what else will we sacrifice the Constitution for?"
This is the question the D.C. court must ultimately answer as it considers the Clean Power Plan litigation: Just how much power does a president have?
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D.C. Pledges to Cut Carbon Emissions 80 Percent
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
The local government of Washington, D.C., is pledging to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 or sooner from 2006 levels. The District of Columbia is one of 17 cities worldwide to make the 80-percent pledge as it joins the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance. Carbon emissions in the District have fallen 12 percent since 2006, despite economic and population growth, Tommy Wells, director of the District Department of the Environment, said in announcing the pledge. “Working with our fellow Alliance cities and with our citizens and private sector partners, we will show that we can create vibrant and sustainable communities through the achievement of a carbon neutral future,” Wells said March 30. The commitment deepens and extends a 2013 carbon emissions reduction commitment by then-District Mayor Vincent Gray (D), who sought to cut citywide carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2032 (132 DEN B-1, 7/10/13). The Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, founded in March, includes seven U.S. cities, including New York, Boston and Seattle, and 10 international cities, including Berlin, London and Sydney. The cities have committed to reducing emissions by 80 percent by 2050, although the baseline years vary. Information on the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance is available at http://usdn.org/public/Carbon-Neutral-Cities.html.
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RCRA Air Deposition Ruling Raises Questions On Waste Law's Definitions
Apr 2, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Suzanne Yohannan
The few courts that have taken up the issue of whether air pollution from industry that is deposited on land is waste disposal under federal law have reached different conclusions, and a recent federal district court's findings in the affirmative raise important questions about certain definitions in the waste law, according to one attorney familiar with the law.
The March 10 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio's Eastern Division in The Little Hocking Water Association v. DuPont found air deposition of pollutants onto land "constitutes disposal of solid waste" under the "imminent and substantial endangerment" (ISE) provision of the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA).
Specifically, the court found that a DuPont plant's aerial emissions of perfluorooctanoic acid (C8), which landed nearby on the plaintiff's wellfield and contaminated soil and groundwater, "constitutes disposal of solid waste under RCRA's ISE provision." Little Hocking is a public water provider in southeast Ohio; its wellfield is 1,300 feet from DuPont's plant, known as the Washington Works Facility located in West Virginia.
Under RCRA, solid waste is defined as "discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial . . . operations." And under the ISE provision of RCRA -- section 7002 -- any person can bring suit against any other person who has contributed to the "handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal of any solid or hazardous waste which may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment."
The decision raises an important question as to whether "uncontained gases" are included in the statutory definition of solid waste, and also whether such air emissions constitute disposal, the attorney familiar with waste law says. The first question is whether this is a solid waste, the source says, noting the question is whether emissions into the atmosphere are a "contained" gas under the solid waste definition. "The district court blew by that question," the source says.
The statutory definition of a solid waste controls for a section 7002 action, the source says, referencing its inclusion of "contained" gas in the definition. DuPont in the case argued that the air emissions are not part of the definition of solid waste because they were an "uncontained" gas, not a "contained" gas. On this, the court says little, only citing another ruling out of the same district court that effectively says the "solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material" clause was not intended to be exclusive but rather illustrative. But the source says that is an "open question."
Emissions 'Disposal'
The second question is whether the emissions constitute "disposal." The district court found they did, saying that "RCRA's legislative history and purpose supports a finding in this case that the aerial emissions of C8 particulate matter, which fell onto the ground, remained there, and contaminated the groundwater, constitutes disposal of solid waste under RCRA." The court says on this it is following the rationale in Citizens Against Pollution v. Ohio Power Co., a 2006 ruling out of the same district court.
This differs from a ruling last year from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Center for Community Action, et al., v. BNSF Railway, et al. There, the appellate court found diesel exhaust particles from trains and vehicles in railyards fell to the ground and then were swept back up into the air, causing increased cancer risk to those who inhaled it, failing to meet the definition of "disposal" under RCRA.
But the Little Hocking court calls this a "narrow reading of RCRA's text and legislative history" and rejects the 9th Circuit's reasoning.
"While the BNSF Court found that Congress left an intentional regulatory gap over locomotive and indirect source emissions of diesel particulate matter, this Court does not find that Congress left an intentional regulatory gap over the type of aerial emissions of solid particulate matter in this case," the district court writes.
As to the repercussions of the Little Hocking decision, the waste law attorney says, "It wouldn't surprise me to see similar situations addressed" through litigation because there is not a uniform body of case law on those two questions.
Another attorney following the case says parties may look to the ruling to guide their litigation, particularly if in situations where there are unregulated chemicals or chemicals not covered by permits.
And one observer says there have been few cases arguing air deposition of a chemical is a solid waste, noting that there are not many persistent, bioaccumulative chemicals like C8 emitted as particles into the air.
Observers also say the ruling is significant because it appears to be the first court decision to hold any of the two major U.S. producers of perfluorochemicals -- DuPont and 3M -- liable for perfluorochemical contamination. Perfluorochemicals are currently not regulated by EPA, although the agency last year released draft reference doses for C8 and another perfluorochemical, which are expected to lead to finalized health advisory levels and cleanup requirements. Under a settlement agreement with EPA, DuPont stopped producing C8 in 2013. Perfluorochemicals, known for their non-stick and water-repellent properties, have been used in a variety of commercial products. This is an "extremely important" decision because DuPont is held liable for contaminating that water with C8, one observer says, referring to the court's decision to find the company liable for trespass and conversion torts. The parties will go to trial on whether DuPont's actions constitute an ISE to the environment, as they differ over material facts at this stage.
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Judges Weigh Novel Question Of EPA Petitions Boosting Rulemaking Suits
Apr 2, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Stuart Parker
Appellate court judges at April 2 oral arguments weighed a novel question over whether groups suing EPA claiming a Clean Air Act duty to regulate air pollution sources could get a boost to the merits of their suit if other groups have filed years-old petitions with EPA seeking the same rules -- but despite raising the question, the judges appear likely to reject a suit seeking to force the agency to issue concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) air rules.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that is reviewing the CAFO air rule suit instead suggested that the Iowa residents seeking the rules should have first filed a petition for rulemaking with EPA, a strategy that the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and others are pursuing.
A separate, unrelated suit is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in which EIP and others are trying to force a court-ordered deadline for EPA to either approve or deny their petition for Clean Air Act rules to curb ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter and other emissions from CAFOs.
At the arguments in the appellate case, Samuel Zook, et al. v. EPA, the judges explored novel arguments that could be made to justify the Iowa residents' claims that EPA is violating the air law by not launching a process to regulate CAFO emissions. They want EPA to craft new source performance standards for CAFOs, and to list ammonia and hydrogen sulfide as “criteria” pollutants subject to national ambient air quality standards.
Judge Richard Leon in a D.C. district court opinion in June rejected the residents' first attempt at the suit after finding that the air law does not include a nondiscretionary duty to regulate CAFOs. He said EPA would first have to issue a finding that CAFO emissions “endanger” public health and welfare to justify rules.
Zook and the other residents appealed the case to the D.C. Circuit, where the judges that heard arguments appeared sympathetic to the push for an EPA decision on CAFO air rules. Although they appeared likely to rule to uphold Leon's opinion, they also explored novel legal claims that could help plaintiffs make their case.
For example, Judge Judith Rogers asked if the whole scientific community were in agreement that CAFO emissions pose a threat to human health and welfare, would the Zook litigants “still be out of court?”
Department of Justice attorney David Gunter, arguing for EPA, said that private litigants cannot force EPA's policy agenda by compelling an endangerment finding through the courts. He said that even if the scientific community agreed on the threats of CAFO emissions, the plaintiffs in Zook would still be unsuccessful.
Judge Sri Srinivasan asked that if bringing an administrative petition for rulemaking is a prerequisite to asking a court to force EPA to conduct the necessary inquiry for an endangerment finding, then must the entity that filed the lawsuit be the same as that which filed the petition? Srinivasan noted that the Zook litigants in their briefing in the appellate case referenced the existence of petitions for CAFO rulemaking brought by other groups.
Gunter conceded that he did not know the government's position on that issue, but added that the Zook litigants' claim is “freestanding,” and independent of any rulemaking petition pending at EPA.
Rogers asked Gunter if the litigants could sue EPA for mandamus to force issuance of a CAFO endangerment finding, but Gunter countered that they cannot do so over a discretionary action.
In his concluding remarks, lawyer Wallace Taylor, arguing for the Iowa residents, conceded that he had not found any past case where the entity suing EPA to force regulation was different than the entity that earlier petitioned EPA for rulemaking. He insisted, however, that no administrative petition is necessary to justify the Zook litigation, and that “the judgment that is in the statutes is a fact judgment not a policy judgment.”
EPA's Discretion
Despite floating the novel question over rulemaking petitions and their impacts on rulemaking suits filed by other groups, the judges nevertheless appear likely to reject the Zook lawsuit.
They suggested in their questions that they are likely to agree with Leon's district court ruling that there is no mandatory duty in the air law for EPA to issue CAFO air rules, and that the agency has discretion on when to act. And they said the residents should likely have first petitioned EPA to write the rules.
Such a ruling would be in line with EPA's insistence that must first issue an endangerment finding, a determination under the Clean Air Act that the pollutants at issue represent a threat to public health and welfare. The decision about whether, and when, to issue such a finding is left to the discretion of the EPA Administrator, EPA argues.
At arguments in the D.C. Circuit suit, Judge David Tatel said that the threshold decision about whether to regulate seems to be within EPA's discretion. He suggested to Taylor that the residents would be better off challenging an EPA final action, such as rejecting an administrative petition for rulemaking.
“You would have a pretty good case,” Tatel said, noting that citizens have the power to file such administrative petitions for rulemaking, which the Zook litigants had declined to do.
“You certainly could, but I don't think you have to,” Taylor said. He argued that instead EPA is flouting an air law requirement that the agency “shall” reevaluate which pollutants it regulates “from time to time.”
Where the scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates risks that the agency should mitigate, EPA only has discretion about the detail of such decisions, according to Taylor.
Srinivasan said that the Zook petitioners appear to be getting ahead of themselves. Their approach “pre-supposes an endangerment finding,” he said. “It would be one thing to say, you need to make a finding,” Srinivasan said, but it is another to say “you need to list” CAFO emissions for regulation.
With respect to the endangerment finding, Srinivasan noted that “the statute speaks in terms of EPA's judgment,” which he said suggests agency discretion on when to regulate.
Tatel added that in the Supreme Court's landmark 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, which paved the way for greenhouse gas regulation, “the Supreme Court referred to [an endangerment finding] as discretionary.”
Taylor replied that “EPA does not have the discretion to never make that judgment,” adding that “we believe the evidence is so clear” that EPA has no choice but to make the necessary endangerment finding.
If the D.C. Circuit rejects the Zook case, attention will shift to the pending D.C. district court case EIP, et al. v. EPA, in which environmentalists are suing EPA for what they claim is “unreasonable delay” in EPA's response to years-old administrative petitions for the agency to regulate the agricultural sector.
That challenge aims to force a legally binding deadline for the agency to respond to petitions that the coalition filed with EPA in 2009 and 2011 asking it to start work on writing CAFO emissions rules. Environmentalists say that air law regulation of the facilities is long-overdue and vital to protect public health and the environment because CAFOs are significant sources of air pollution. EIP estimates that 20,000 such factory farms are located across the United States.
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Environmental Groups Sue EPA Over Failure To Develop Regional Haze Plan for Utah
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tripp Baltz
Three environmental organizations sued the Environmental Protection Agency, saying it has failed to develop a federal plan for reducing regional haze in Utah by the required deadline (HEAL Utah v. Environmental Protection Agency, D. Colo., No. 15-CV-666, 3/31/15).
Meanwhile, Utah issued its revised state implementation plan for regional haze for a 30-day public comment period starting April 1.
The lawsuit, filed March 31 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, alleged the EPA has failed in its nondiscretionary duty to promulgate a federal implementation plan for regional haze in Utah following the state's failure to promulgate a state implementation plan in a timely manner.
The lawsuit was filed by HEAL Utah, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Sierra Club against the EPA, Administrator Gina McCarthy and Shaun McGrath, administrator of EPA's Region 8 office in Denver, which oversees the federal agency's activities in Utah.
The groups intend to pursue their challenge even though Utah has now put its revised SIP out for public comment, Matt Pacenza, executive director of HEAL Utah in Salt Lake City, told Bloomberg BNA April 1.
“The action we did is to make sure there's a hard deadline, to ensure this process does not go on forever,” he said. “It's to make sure there's a light at the end of this tunnel.”
The Utah Air Quality Board will make a decision on the SIP at its meeting in early June after the public comment period is over, he said.
BART Determinations Invalid
The EPA partially rejected and partially approved Utah's SIP Dec. 14, 2012, saying the state's best available retrofit technology determinations for PacifiCorp's Hunter and Huntington Units 1 and 2 weren't based upon a valid five-factor BART analysis as required by the EPA's rules.
The EPA failed to promulgate a regional haze FIP as required by Jan. 14, 2015, the lawsuit said.
The coal-burning power plants lie less than 100 miles from several “spectacular national parks” in southern Utah, including Arches, Canyonlands, Zion and Capitol Reef, the lawsuit said.
The lack of a plan to deal with regional haze deprives the public “of full enjoyment of these precious resources and caused Utah residents and visitors to be exposed to unnecessarily high levels of these pollutants that harm human health,” it said.
The EPA is reviewing the lawsuit, Rich Mylott, spokesman for the agency's Region 8 office, told Bloomberg BNA April 1. “We have been working with the state of Utah as they finalize a revised plan that addresses the areas EPA disapproved,” he said.
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Weather Events Related to Climate Change Prompting Superfund Protective Steps: EPA
Apr 3, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven M. Sellers
Hurricanes, floods and ice jams have prompted protective measures at some vulnerable Superfund sites, including benzene-laden lagoons in New Jersey briefly topped by flood waters during Hurricane Irene in 2011, panelists said April 1 during an Environmental Protection Agency webinar.
The new measures—many of which are designed to protect existing sites—come at a cost that may be borne by parties responsible for the cleanup of sites under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.
Preparation for weather events caused by climate change is an agency priority, the EPA panelists said. They warned that similar weather events may threaten Superfund sites around the nation.
Carlos Pachon, who manages the EPA's Brownfields and Land Revitalization Technology Support Center, said the agency has used modeling for 100- and 500-year flood events and a 1.5 meter sea level rise to identify vulnerable Superfund sites.
Hurricane Irene Flood
The American Cyanamid Superfund Site in New Jersey was hit hard by Hurricane Irene in 2011, the panelists said.
The 283-acre site contains 27 waste disposal areas, including two lagoons containing high levels of benzene and other hazardous substances, said Joseph Battipaglia, an EPA project manager in New York.
Irene's flood waters briefly topped a lagoon berm on the second day of the storm, he said, although samples taken in adjacent areas showed no evidence of a significant release of hazardous substances.
“Our major concern was the failure of the berms. These were not armored berms and weren't designed to withstand flowing water,” Battipaglia said, adding that about 214 million gallons of water had to be pumped out of low-lying sections of the site.
Post-flood measures included the addition of synthetic liners for the berms and flood control structures designed to manage flood waters even higher than those of Irene, Battipaglia said.
Similar challenges were presented at the Grasse River Superfund site in New York, said Young Chang, an EPA remedial project manager. An “ice run” on the river in 2003 caused scouring of riverbed sediment containing polychlorinated biphenyls, although panelists said the incident didn't result in a significant release of contaminants.
The EPA has since devised ice control measures to prevent or mitigate a recurrence of the event, Chang said. The incident also required the responsible party to conduct an additional nine years of remedial investigation and study.
The protective measures apply to both existing and future sites. Project managers said they are expected to include potential climate change issues in analyses of future contaminated sites.
Responsible Parties
How the assessment and implementation of new climate change measures will affect potentially responsible parties was unclear, but panelist Anne Dailey, an EPA environmental scientist, said such measures would be a part of the EPA's usual five-year review of contaminated sites.
Dailey also said a “national work group” in the EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance was considering the nature of a potentially responsible party's responsibility for implementing climate change measures at contaminated sites.
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Air Pollution Takes Early Toll on Children
Apr 2, 2015 | The New York Times
By Nicholas Bakalar
Air pollution can be bad for children – starting even before birth, a new study suggests.
Researchers studied exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, a form of pollution caused by burning gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil and coal. They found that prenatal exposure to these compounds was tied to changes in the structure of offspring’s brains and to intellectual deficits and behavioral problems in childhood.
The researchers measured PAH concentrations in the air and in the blood and urine of 40 mothers in their third trimester of pregnancy, as well as in their children’s urine. They followed the children until they were 7 to 9 years old, performing M.R.I. exams on their brains. The results are in JAMA Psychiatry.
The higher the exposure to PAHs, the more reductions the children had in the white matter surface of the left hemispheres of their brains. The amount of damaged white matter correlated directly with higher scores on measures of symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioral problems.
Higher exposure to PAHs and white matter deterioration were also associated with lower scores on tests of processing speed, the ability to take in new information and respond to it.
“Everyone is exposed to these compounds,” said the lead author, Dr. Bradley S. Peterson, director of the Institute for the Developing Mind at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “Pregnant women and young children are very vulnerable to environmental insults to the developing brain, and these exposures are likely having devastating effects.”
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