Water contamination news:

Recovery starts on Lake Superior mystery barrels.

An ambitious effort to raise 70 Department of Defense barrels dumped into Lake Superior 50 years ago got under way Monday.

By: Mike Simsonson, Minnesota Public Radio

An ambitious effort to raise 70 Department of Defense barrels dumped into Lake Superior 50 years ago got under way Monday.

Almost 1,500 of the 55-gallon drums were unloaded in three sites a couple of miles east of Duluth from 1958 to 1962, which is about two miles from Duluth’s water intake between the Lester and Knife rivers in Lake Superior.

For years there has been a debate about what’s actually in the barrels. Federal officials say they contain concrete and scrap munitions parts that pose no danger to people or the environment. But environmental and American Indian activists believe the barrels might contain toxic, radioactive materials. In an April interview, project manager Jennifer Thiemann of EMR in Duluth, which is overseeing the project, said her company has two big challenges in raising the barrels. First, they’re dealing with potentially explosive material.

“We’ll have a team of munitions experts on the barge, and we have explosive site plans to help with the handling of that,” she said. “It includes keeping all nonessential personnel off the barge when munitions are potentially present.”

In addition to dealing with potentially explosive materials, recovery workers will face the challenge of raising rusted steel drums without having them disintegrate. “Before we touch any barrels, we’ll be getting a visual confirmation through the remote-operated vehicle, which is like an underwater robot,” Thiemann said. “That’ll have a camera on it, and it’ll be operated from the barge. If the barrel is showing any signs of degradation, which could be holes or rust that could compromise the integrity of the barrel, we’ll have a set of tools on board that can be deployed to help gather that barrel up.”

The U.S. Coast Guard established a safety zone around the tug Champion/barge Kokosing. The zone went into effect Monday and will be enforced until recovery operations are completed. While it is in effect, boaters are not to come within 700 feet of the Champion/Kokosing.

The Coast Guard established the exclusion zone for two reasons, Lt. Judson Coleman, chief of waterways management at the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Unit Duluth. “In the event they recover something that is a threat of any kind, we want to make sure there is a protected area around them,” he said. “And two, so they can continue the progress of the project we don’t want any curious people to get too close.”

The Coast Guard occasionally will patrol the area.

In addition to publishing the order in the Federal Register, the Coast Guard is notifying boaters of the exclusion zone via announcements on marine-band radio. Boaters who do not know of the safety zone and enter it will be notified of the requirement to stay at least 700 feet away, Coleman said.

“If they were to continue to enter (the zone) they could be subject to penalties,” Coleman said. “If anything, you might have a few curious people out there and once they were notified of what is happening they will clear out of there.” According to the Federal Register, the Campion/Kokosing will operate approximately between Stoney Point and Brighton Beach. “They are looking to operate for 15 days, but it is weather dependent” and could take longer, Coleman said.

In 2006, Red Cliff went through U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Honeywell Munitions records and said chemicals ranging from PCBs to mercury, lead or even uranium could be in the barrels. Government efforts to find and open several barrels in the 1990s found parts from grenade-like cluster bombs, scrap metal, ash, concrete and garbage. Water inside some of the eight barrels that were recovered contained levels of several hazardous substances such as PCBs that officials said probably leached off the metals and ash.

Red Cliff tribal officials say they won’t comment on the barrel recovery project until it’s finished, which is expected in about two weeks, depending on the weather. The Department of Defense is paying the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa about $2.2 million to recover the barrels as part of a federal program to clean up dump sites near or on reservation lands.News Tribune staff writer Steve Kuchera contributed to this report.

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Drinking water news:

EPA and USDA announce first-ever microbial risk assessment guidance.

Guideline will help better determine health risks from food and waterborne pathogens:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / July 31, 2012

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today announced the first-ever Microbial Risk Assessment (MRA) Guideline. This new MRA Guideline lays out an overarching approach to conducting meaningful assessments of the risks to Americans posed by pathogens in food and water. Pathogens ingested in food and water can result in acute gastrointestinal-related illnesses; some gastrointestinal-related illnesses can result in long-term and permanent health effects as well as premature death. This new guideline will improve the quality of the data collected by public health scientists charged with protecting Americans from pathogen-related risks in food and water.

“This guidance contributes significantly to improving the quality and consistency of microbial risk assessments, and provides greater transparency to stakeholders and other interested parties in how federal agencies approach and conduct their microbial risk assessments,” said Dr. Glenn Paulson, EPA Science Advisor. “Based on the success of this project, we are seeking further opportunities to combine our technical expertise in our continuing efforts to protect the Americans’ health.”

“The microbial risk assessment guideline developed by FSIS, the EPA and our other public health partners will help protect consumers by allowing us to uniformly assess and reduce health risks from pathogens,” USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elisabeth Hagen said. “We’re proud to have worked with our partners on this guideline that will provide our risk assessors with a transparent and scientifically rigorous document to use in protecting public health.”

Formal risk assessments for food, water, and environmentally-relevant chemicals have been undertaken for decades. However, an overarching microbial risk assessment guideline has not been available until now. The guideline announced today meets this need by providing comprehensive, yet specific and descriptive information for developing assessments of microbial risk in food and water.

More information on the guideline: http://www.epa.gov/raf/microbial.htm .

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The dredge Arthur J and tug Madison sank July 18 in Lake Huron. / United States Coast Guard

Contaminated water news:

Lake Huron, Canada – Coast Guard refloats boat that sank in Lake Huron.

By Tammy Stables BattagliaDetroit Free Press Staff Writer

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Congratulations, Lorrie Delehanty, Julia Whiting, May Liao, Saffron Rose, Galen Staengl.
Public awareness and the personal involvement of those who fought this battle will save our water. Thank you for fighting to preserve this precious resource. STW™ staff.

Original press release/ 06/26/2012

STW™: Drinking water contamination news: Impending drinking water contamination due to proposed use of chloramine is center of debate in Charlottesville, Albemarle

Drinking water news:

Off the table: Four boards foreswear chloramines in water.

By Lisa Provence | lisa@readthehook.com
Published online 2:22pm Thursday Jul 26th, 2012

No one spoke up in favor of adding chloramines at the July 25 public hearing. Above photo’ s by Lisa Provence

Charlottesville’s latest water controversy ended in unusual unanimity July 25 when the Board of Supervisors and City Council, plus the two water boards, rejected the use of chloramines in the community water supply after around 50 citizens implored elected officials to just say no to the controversial chemical.

More than 200 people packed the Albemarle County Office Building for the hearing on the chloramines plan, which several of these same officials approved. Some later claimed, when citizens began raising concerns earlier this year, they didn’t realize what they’d done.

A combination of chlorine and ammonia, chloramines were originally approved locally in May 2011 as the cheaper alternative to meet stringent upcoming standards by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Chloramines are used safely in 76 percent of the public water supplies in Virginia, according to Tom Frederick, executive director of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority. However, chloramines are also the chemical that caused the dangerous heavy metal lead to leach out of pipes and into Washington D.C. children, whose lead levels skyrocketed. Other communities have reported outbreaks of rashes and other health problems, as well as corroded pipes.

Frederick said the water authority’s original choice was based on cost– $9.3 million for chloramines compared to over $18 million for a filtration system called granular activated carbon, which adds no chemicals to the water.

Since the controversy began raging, a hybrid third alternative arose: a system that would carbon-filter portions of the water supply and blend the filtered water with traditional chlorine-treated water.

“There is no panacea,” Frederick cautioned the four boards at the beginning of the three-hour event. “There is no silver bullet.”

Local resident Pat Napoleon, the first of 50 to address their elected officials along with the boards of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority and the Albemarle County Service Authority, said chloramines “are not a good fit for an enlightened community.”

“I shall not personally drink the water,” said Napoleon, adding that she wouldn’t allow her cat to drink it either.

“It’s better to remove chemicals than add them,” urged Tom Olivier, chair of the Piedmont Group of the Sierra Club.

For more than two hours, citizens expressed outrage and concerns that included the allegation that Hazen and Sawyer, the consulting firm that provided the $18-million carbon filtration estimate, was “ripping us off.” However, unlike a previous Rivanna controversy that involved allegations of hyper-inflated alternatives and consultants who later won design contracts, a Hazen and Sawyer official noted that the firm would not be bidding on any resulting infrastructure.

One glaring fact hovering over the Wednesday night meeting is that no human studies have ever been conducted on chloramines, and several citizens pointed out that substances once deemed safe, like asbestos and thalidomide, turned out to be toxic nightmares.

Albemarle resident Bob McAdams noted that as a child he played with mercury, a heavy metal now widely understood as a potent toxin.

“Chloraminated water will kill fish,” said McAdams. “That’s a bad sign.”

One woman traveled from Vermont to describe an intimate experience with chloramines. “As soon as I showered,” she said, “my skin would break out.”

Supervisor Dennis Rooker noted he’d heard from over 1,000 people objecting to the chloramines. “I don’t think I’ve heard from two people saying, ‘I’d like to use chloramines.’”

The Board of Supervisors was the first to approve a $9,500 study to explore launching a hybrid system in “baby steps.” City Council quickly okayed the study.

At one point, two supervisors, Ken Boyd and Duane Snow, floated the idea of going rogue and doing nothing to the water supply, which complies with current EPA standards, but Rivanna chief Frederick minced no words.

“That, to me,” said Frederick, “is appalling that any entity would choose that path.”

After all boards gave thumbs up to the hybrid study, which would take place in the next three weeks, Albemarle Board of Supervisors Chair Ann Mallek had another proposal: “I would like to make a statement with the board that we would not like to use chloramines.” Rooker, another who played with mercury as a youth, agreed.

“Even as the highest cost alternative,” said Rooker, “I think this community would prefer granular activated carbon. At the end of the day, you want water with the least amount of chemicals in it.”

Snow moved to take chloramines off the table, and the Board of Supervisors yayed the motion, to the applause of the audience.

After City Councilor Kristin Szakos gave props to the once chloramine-condoning RWSA board– “I don’t think they were an evil cabal trying to poison the water”– the Councilors also voted to ditch chloramines. (Even City Councilor Kathy Galvin, who at an April meeting told chloramine opponents that “we need to move on,” supported the move.)

The only whispers against the tide were two members of the Albemarle County Service Authority who raised concerns about the cost of carbon filtration. David Thomas noted that while the Audi A6 gets stellar safety ratings, such pricey vehicles don’t populate local high school parking lots. “Parents,” said Thomas, “make decisions on cost and safety every day.”

Boyd, who’s also on the Rivanna board, directed the Authority to find the most economical granular activated carbon system, and the two water boards joined the sweep of public sentiment against chloramines.

“Isn’t it great,” said City Councilor Dede Smith, “when city and county agree?”

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Contaminated drinking water news:

Shenango, Inc. settles air – water pollution violations with EPA.

The above photo is courtesy coalcampusa.com by: Chris DellaMea @ coalcampusa@yahoo.com (PHILADELPHIA – July 25, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) have reached a settlement with Shenango Inc. (Shenango) resolving alleged air and water pollution violations at the company’s coke manufacturing plant on Neville Island, Allegheny County, Pa. The consent decree requires the company to pay $1.75 million in civil penalties and make significant upgrades to the plant, which is located about five miles north of downtown Pittsburgh.

Manufacturing coke involves heating coal at high temperatures in an industrial oven until it forms a residue. This residue, known as coke, is used in steel manufacturing as a fuel in blast furnaces, which are used to refine iron ore into steel. Coke manufacturing also produces gases and particles, some of which are hazardous, that are regulated by the federal Clean Air Act.

The Shenango facility has a history of noncompliance with federal, state and county regulations protecting public health from air pollution. In 2000, the previous owner of the plant entered into a consent decree with EPA and ACHD to bring the facility into compliance.

Since that time, the violations including emissions of sulfur and visible emissions of particulate matter have continued. As part of this settlement, the company must take actions to reduce visible particulate emissions to meet Clean Air Act standards by making repairs to the plant’s coke ovens.

The governments’ complaint also alleges numerous violations of the Clean Water Act including: exceeding the pollutant limits of the facility’s permit for discharging wastewater for several years; failure to properly operate and maintain the facility’s wastewater treatment plant; and unpermitted discharges of polluted runoff from the coal pile directly to the Ohio River.

The part of the consent decree between EPA, PADEP and Shenango resolving Clean Water Act violations requires the company to take remedial actions including:

• Building a new biological wastewater treatment plant;
• Implementing immediate upgrades to its current treatment processes while the new treatment facility is being constructed; and
• Constructing a coal pile runoff management system.

The civil penalties in the proposed consent decree include $1.25 million to be divided equally between the United States and Allegheny County for the facility’s Clean Air Act violations. The company has also agreed to pay Clean Water Act civil penalties of $500,000 divided equally between the United States and Pennsylvania. The consent decree is subject to federal court approval, after a 30 day public comment period.

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Water news:

EPA Awards $173,400 for Maryland Student Initiatives.

(PHILADELPHIA - July 27, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $173,400 to the Maryland Coastal Bays Program for student initiatives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin provided opening remarks and presented a check today at the Maryland Coastal Bay Program’s “Get Out, Get Green, Get Paid” youth summit in Ocean City, Md.

“This initiative creates new opportunities for students to pursue environmental careers that make the world a better place,” said Garvin. “These programs not only expand the conversation on environmentalism, they empower young people to achieve their dreams.”

The funding will support educational, research, and career-related activities focused on green infrastructure, including marine and science programs, internships, and environmental stewards. Today’s announcement brings EPA’s total funding to more than $600,000 for this initiative, which includes youth from the Coastal Stewards program, the Upward Bound program, and students from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).

The initiative is a partnership between EPA, Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and the Maryland Coastal Bays Program.

The objectives of the program are:

- Increasing minority participation in environmental science and related fields;

- Restoring Maryland Coastal Bays;

- Promoting an environmental stewardship ethic at all educational levels;

- Performing sound research; and

- Fulfilling the goals of the Coastal Bays Program.

The summit, with young people ranging in age from 14-25 from the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland includes students enrolled in UMES, Upward Bound, Coastal Stewards, Youth Conservation Corps, Maryland Conservation Job Corps and other organizations.

The purpose of the summit is for young people to learn more about the importance of getting outside, taking steps to be more green, and learning about green jobs. They heard inspiring stories from visionaries who have brought change to their communities, their workplace, their lives and beyond by following their passion for the environment.

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Drinking water crisis:

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Drinking water crisis:

Child ‘water monitors’ to help BMC in conservation.

Linah Baliga, TNN | Jul 25, 2012, 02.03AM IST

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