In the early stages of 2011, The Environmental Protection Agency has been assaulted with criticism and faced with a battle from the GOP. The EPA has been forced to fight off advances for nearly 3 or 4 months opposing EPA regulation and support for budget cuts limiting EPA resources. With budget cuts and acts currently not in line with what Republican Party representatives looking for, the barrage of activity opposing the EPA could spell many future problems for the agency. more below
Today is Earth Day. While I'd like to be able to say "Happy Earth Day" I can't in good conscience.
I am extremely concerned at the lack of headway to protect our environment and ensure our future generations have access to clean air and water.
In just under 3 months, the new GOP led House of Representatives have undone years of progress taking us in the wrong direction and setting a course for unprecedented misuse, abuse, destruction, and peril.
House Republicans illustrated their disregard for the environment when they canceled a recycling and composting program in the Capitol. The program employed the best practices in sustainability.
After switching from paper to plastic, the GOP passed legislation to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate green house gases and gut its budget. These efforts will undermine the agency's ability to enforce our environmental laws to keep our air and water clean.
The Republican Majority puts corporate profits ahead of protecting American families from toxic chemicals.
The GOP is taking its cues from special interests representing the logging, mining, oil, gas, and nuclear industries and protecting the profits of these corporations instead of protecting our natural resources.
Hydraulic fracking is a drilling process used to extract natural gas from shale by injecting large volumes of water laden with hazardous and carcinogenic chemicals.
Recently I was invited to be interviewed on a radio program called NewlyGreens with Connie and Greg Mattison. The topic was Hydraulic Fracturing - the natural gas drilling technique that may soon make the Gulf Oil Disaster seem tame by comparison.
What terrifies me as a civil engineering water resources expert, is this practice is turning beautiful PA and other areas of our beautiful USA into Mordor.
Many NJ folks get their drinking water from the Delaware River. However, the Delaware River Basin Commission doesn't want to wait for the EPA to finish their study on fracking. They want to let PA Drilll Baby Drill even if it means it poisons drinking water for people in PA, New Jersey and ultimately, Delaware.
In NY state - if this practice is allowed to happen - the drinking water for NEW YORK CITY is in very real danger of contamination. That will affect millions of people. I know the Republicans in Congress could care less what folks in NYC are breathing (witness their heartless delay on the 911 responders bill) let alone what their water is like, but the ramifications of the reckless destruction of our water supplies in the Delaware River Basin will be nothing short of catastrophic.
Please check out the interview and the links which give more information about this.
So, the Republicans in the Senate are terrified that they may have to work up to and including Christmas, to settle some unresolved legislation, including ratification of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), and the $1.1 trillion omnibus funding resolution, that the Democrats want to complete before the end of the lame duck session.
It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out without doing — frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff
How many recesses and breaks does Congress get, including practically the entire month of August? Certainly more than people in these professions, many of whom must work, not only Christmas, but other holidays as well:
Members of the military, especially those stationed overseas
Police, firefighters, EMTs - yes, those same ones who came to the World Trade Center site to help and were told by our own Christie Whitman that the air was safe, and are now being denied health benefits for illnesses contracted from breathing the "safe" air.
Health workers: doctors, nurses, orderlies, maintenance crews. Hospitals have no days off.
Pilots, flights attendants, air traffic controllers, other airport crew members (how many are flying members of Congress home for Christmas?)
Food service workers, cooks, waitstaff, caterers (how many are working on Christmas to feed members of Congress who can afford paid help for their holiday meals?)
Workers at 24/7 convenience stores, who help us out when we forgot to pick up a container of egg nog or whipped cream for our desserts.
Are there more? You bet. Let's not forget members of the press, who are charged with keeping these public servants honest.
If these pious Senators are so concerned about their holy holiday, especially one whose motto includes "Peace On Earth, Good Will Towards Men", why can't they take the time to work out a peace treaty before Christmas?
I am a licensed Water Resources Professional Civil Engineer in NJ. I am also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. I work hard every day in my small business to make sure that water resources are protected during construction projects. I find it unconscionable that the process known as Hydraulic Fracturing is allowed to continue immune from the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The devastating result of this technique negates all of the efforts of my profession over all these decades. (Find out why below the fold)
Earlier this week, we wrote about EPA's proposed weak approach to regulating toxic coal ash (see: EPA Caves on Coal Ash).
In that post, we suggested that the Obama White House may have intervened to reverse the recommendations of EPA scientist's, a widespread abuse under the Bush Administration that was condemned by scientists and national environmental groups.
[reporters] asked about the role of Obama adviser Cass Sunstein, head of the Office and Management Budget Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs . EPA submitted a draft rule in October 2009 for Sunstein's review. Some have said that he was pressuring EPA to weaken and delay the rule via OIRA's regulatory review and cost benefit analysis. EPA refused to answer questions about OIRA's role and how the October version differed from today's proposal (particularly about whether the October draft included an EPA preference). That silence basically confirms the suspicion that the EPA science was politically over-ruled by Obama's OMB acting though OIRA based on economic considerations.
Before Jackson joined the Obama administration, we criticized her as lacking independence as Commissioner of the NJ DEP, where she showed a pattern of politicizing environmental decisions and an inability to resist political pressure (see: WHY LISA JACKSON SHOULD NOT RUN EPA):
"In our experience, Lisa Jackson is cut out of the same professional cloth as the current administrator, Stephen Johnson - a pliant technocrat who will follow orders, ... If past is prologue, one cannot reasonably expect meaningful change if she is appointed to lead EPA."
Our criticism and suspicions have been confirmed by a national news outlet, who just reported that the White House did intervene and over-rule EPA scientists. According to E&E News:
COAL: EPA backed off 'hazardous' label for ash after White House review (05/07/2010)
Patrick Reis, E&E reporter
U.S. EPA's proposed regulation of coal ash as a hazardous waste was changed at the White House to give equal standing to an alternative favored by the coal industry and coal-burning electric utilities.
The Obama administration is now considering two competing rules for regulating the ash that contains toxins that include arsenic, lead and mercury. The first would set binding federal disposal requirements for the ash, and the second would label the ash nonhazardous and leave enforcement to the states (E&ENews PM, May 4).
EPA released the two-headed proposal Tuesday for public comments.
But there was just one rule proposal that EPA sent to the White House's Office of Management and Budget last October and that would have labeled coal ash a hazardous waste, documents released yesterday show. EPA said then that compliance with the hazardous-waste regulations would be more expensive but that costs would be outweighed by health and environmental benefits.
EPA wrote then that "maintaining a [nonhazardous] approach would not be protective of human and the environment."
What changed in the six months that the proposal was in OMB's hands? Says EPA: Its administrator, Lisa Jackson, changed her mind about the hazardous-waste designation.
"After extensive discussions, the Administrator decided that both the [hazardous and nonhazardous] options merited consideration for addressing the formidable challenge of safely managing coal ash disposal," EPA said in a statement.
In its deliberations on the rule, OMB had more than 40 meetings with stakeholders, 30 with industry groups and at least 12 with environmental and public health groups, according to office's records. OMB declined to comment on the matter, referring questions to EPA.
Proponents of the hazardous designation say Jackson was bullied away from the agency's original proposal by industry lobbyists and OMB economists.
"OMB is substituting its judgment for the judgment of the EPA administrator, and that's not the way this is supposed to work," said Rena Steinzor, president of the Center for Progressive Reform and a professor at the University of Maryland Law School. "Lisa Jackson is accountable for environmental protection and that she could be overruled by a bunch of economists in the basement of the executive office tells us that this process is frighteningly dysfunctional."
Environmentalists have been pressing EPA for the hazardous designation for years, but the campaign gained momentum 16 months ago when a wet storage pond at a Kingston, Tenn., power plant failed, spilling about 1 billion gallons of sludge into surrounding lands and rivers. Even when the ponds do not fail, they can leach toxic concentrations of heavy metals into water supplies, said Lisa Evans, an attorney with the nonprofit Earthjustice.
Under the hazardous option EPA proposed Tuesday, such ponds would be phased out over five years. The nonhazardous alternative would allow new wet storage ponds to be built but require new safety measures and pollution monitoring devices.
Utilities and companies that sell coal ash for recycling as a building material argue that a hazardous designation overstates the health risks from coal ash and would unnecessarily impose new storage costs. They also say it would stigmatize building materials that use recycled coal ash and send more of the waste to landfills (Greenwire, Jan. 13).
The changes to EPA's proposal during the OMB review suggest the regulatory-review process worked properly, said Jim Roewer, executive director of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group.
Both environmental groups and affected business had an opportunity to share their views, Roewer said. The number of meetings with industry groups should not be seen as "undue influence" but rather the result of the high number of companies affected by coal ash rules, he said.
The review process "does open the opportunity for interested stakeholders to present their views so that EPA or whatever federal agency is developing a rule can get as much information as possible," Roewer said. "To say this is a bad thing for public policy seems like a strange argument."
We have been writing about the dangers of cost benefit analysis as an industry backed tool to weaken regulatory protections and undermine science based air, water, and public health and safety standards. We also have tried to explain how the new Christie Regulatory Czar and closed door "stakeholder" meetings are an abuse of Executive Power.
The Obama WH intervention to kill strong coal ash regulation via cost benefit analysis and closed door industry meetings is exactly the process the Christie Administration has created in Executive Order #2 and the new Regulatory Czar, Kim Guadagno.
That process already killed a DEP proposed drinking water standard and rollbacks of more than a dozen major DEP rules are underway. - including the Highlands Septic Density standards.
We can expect a lot more rollbacks, unless the public is made aware of what is going on and begins to oppose the rollbacks, before they become fate accompli.
Sustainable Cherry Hill, founded by Blue Jersey community member Lori Braunstein, is one of the 8 New Jersey winners of the 2010 EPA Environmental Award, given this week to mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.
Sen. Menendez let us know who the NJ winners are; he's the one who nominated Sustainable Cherry Hill. SCH is a community group that focuses on getting everyone they can reach in Cherry Hill to make small changes to create a larger collective change, clearly meant to spread. There are educational events, there is networking, and there are community based task forces. And the group is the go-to locally for sustainability news, legislation, grant opportunities and everything else that touches on environmental protection. Lori is also Executive Director.
Big congrats to Lori, to the sustainability movement growing in Cherry Hill, and to all those greening the Garden State. For more on all the individuals, schools and organizations recognized in New Jersey - here's that link.
Obama US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson visited NJ yesterday for whirlwind press stops in Newark, Ringwood, and Pompton Lakes (the Ringwood visit was not mentioned in the itinerary of the official EPA press advisory). Along with the press conferences and photo ops, Jackson took the opportunity to meet with small groups of residents to listen to their concerns. The Pompton Lakes meeting was private and not open to press.
The NJ press corps played right along and gave Jackson exactly what she was seeking - headlines, photo's, and generally non-critical stories that echoed her message (see Bergen Record Pompton Lakes; and Bergen Record Ringwood and Star Ledger coverage).
I want to focus briefly on the policy and then on the politics of this visit with respect to the Pompton Lakes site.
Jackson's message was consistent with what she did for over 3 years as NJ DEP Commissioner and thus far as head of US EPA: create an appearance that she and EPA are acting aggressively, responding to the concerns of the community, and holding polluters accountable (all while delivering little to nothing of substance, and sometimes doing exactly the opposite - see: WHY LISA JACKSON SHOULD NOT RUN EPA - Disastrous Record in New Jersey Bodes Ill for Reforming EPA).
Bob Spiegel of Edison Wetlands Association quote got it exactly right in the Bergen Record story:
"The problem is that the EPA and DEP keep asking DuPont to do things about the cleanup. What they need to do is start telling DuPont to do things about the cleanup,... At what point do the agencies start using their authority to direct DuPont to act?"
EPA has tremendous legal power and financial and technical resources under Superfund, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the Clean Water Act. The fact of the matter is that Jackson's visit did nothing to enforce this legal power or deploy EPA resources.
For example, Jackson refused to commit to listing the site on the Superfund "National Priorities List" (NPL). But the Pompton Lakes site does not have to be listed on the NPL before EPA can take immediate action, allocate resources, or pursue enforcement actions against Dupont.
Similarly, EPA has long been involved at the Dupont site under RCRA's "Corrective Action" program. Yet despite this authority, EPA has issued no enforcement orders that compel Dupont to do anything, or imposed any RCRA fines and penalties to punish Dupont for what they have done to Pompton Lakes.
And as a result of huge off site water quality impairment and sediment pollution, EPA could hammer Dupont with Clean Water Act enforcement actions (i.e. fines, penalties, cleanup Orders), including issuing Natural Resource Damage restoration and compensation Orders.
But Jackson's only written materials were press releases, not EPA enforcement Orders or litigation.
In terms of responsiveness to the community, there was muted and implied criticism in the Bergen Record story:
Pompton Lakes residents and officials said they did not recall Jackson coming to the borough to discuss the DuPont contamination when she had been DEP commissioner, but appreciated her presence there Friday.
Exactly.
That unstated criticism was included in the Bergen Record coverage of the Ringwood visit which noted that the meeting with residents there did not focus on the Ford site cleanup issues but "focused more on personal, family issues". So this quote is about as close to criticism as it gets for a member of "the family" as fellow Ramapough Mountain Indians referred to Jackson (see this photo & story for the context here - Jackson politically used Ringwood residents during her confirmation hearing):
"I'm glad she's still thinking about us," said Jack Walker, another resident. "For a while there, we haven't heard anything and I thought maybe we were forgotten."
In terms of the larger political context, Jackson's visit can be interpreted as motivated by at several different objectives.
First, Jackson could be engaging in the typical and relatively harmless political dog and pony show that has gone on for years at NJ's Superfund sites.
But that kind of cynical political stunt is NOT harmless and is especially inappropriate right now because the residents of Pompton Lakes are facing a cancer cluster and demanding that EPA take over the cleanup due to failures by DEP and deep distrust of Dupont, who have not been honest with them. (see this for Dupont's power at EPA)
Residents are expecting independent and aggressive EPA intervention, not typical political games. And that's exactly why Jackson's personal involvement is totally inappropriate because for 7+ years she did nothing as a DEP Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner to force Dupont to cleanup the site. During Jackson's tenure at DEP, vapor intrusion issues were being mismanaged by NJ DEP. These failures led directly to Pompton Lakes exposures.
Jackson can not be the independent objective broker the community seeks at EPA because she has a direct conflict of interest, having been involved as a decision-maker at NJ DEP. That's why Jackson was recused from any involvement in NJ issues as EPA Administrator. Her involvement now undermines EPA independence and creates the appearance of politicization.
The Bergen Record previously reported on the Lisa Jackson recusal in a 9/1/09 story (below)- I didn't see any time limit in that story:
"Jackson said she agreed when she took over the EPA to recuse herself from involvement with any actions she took as New Jersey's commissioner. A spokesman said the recusal is designed to prevent Jackson from influencing EPA employees to act one way or another regarding New Jersey." (see: EPA chief's spin on DEP audit)
While one might think that NJ would benefit by having a former NJ DEP Commissioner head up EPA, actually, the opposite is the case. There were subtle yet profound benefits for NJ associated of Jackson's recusal, which tended to empower EPA Regional Administrator Judy Enck. Enck comes out of the NY environmental advocacy community and has roots in Governor Eliot Spitzer's progressive approach to public policy, particularity with respect to the important role of regulation and vigorous enforcement. Jackson simply does not share that progressive philosophy or environmental advocacy experience and commitment. As I wrote on December 11, 2009:
Enck's boss, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was previously NJDEP Commissioner and Chief of Staff to Governor John Corzine. Jackson is recused and can not participate in EPA decisions in NJ. This provides Enck more autonomy and control in NJ within the EPA chain of command, yet it also requires that she avoid any appearance of favoritism in NJ. (See: New Obama EPA Regional Administrator Plants a Flag in NJ)
Or, Jackson could be sending a strategic political shot across the bow of the Christie Administration on behalf of the Obama EPA. (see: Christie's Environmental Rollback Agenda Receiving National Attention)
Christie said during the campaign that he looked forward to battles with the Obama EPA - Christie said (watch it on YouTube)
"I've got a feeling that you will see, come January 2010, a lot of battles between the Christie administration DEP and the Obama administration EPA."
His actions thus far tread heavily on compliance with EPA delegated or funded programs. (See: Christie Regulatory Czar Given Power and Tools to Rollback Environmental and Public Health Protections
But if this were Jackson's motivation, again she played a very weak hand by delivering nothing of substance and failing to focus on or hold Christie accountable for actions he already has taken (see: CHRISTIE OUTLINES RADICAL ECO-ROLLBACK IN NEW JERSEY - Privatization Specialist Tapped to Head Department of Environmental Protection)
Either way, looks like more of the same old same old from Lisa Jackson: politics and symbolism over policy and substance.
Under 2008 rules aimed at protecting watersheds and limiting sprawl, the counties were supposed to submit new water-management plans last April.
Sponsors of the bills said delaying that deadline until April 2011 would give counties more time to finish the plans and protect construction jobs that may have been lost if the rules caused a slowdown in development.
The bill easily passed both houses. The sponsors and the Legislature moved forward over the objections of the EPA and now they are asking the Governor to step in and take action against the delay:
Regional Administrator Judith Enck sent letters to legislative leaders earlier this month asking them not to delay a planning process that would limit the installation of new sewer lines and septic systems.
Yesterday, she sent one to Corzine, calling the proposed delay "troubling."
She said that recovery funds were designated to help speed up the process. The Sierra club also called for a veto and noted that the rules were created under the leadership of then DEP commissioner and now EPA administrator Lisa Jackson:
"I don't think that they're going to ignore this," Tittel said. The rules were written while Lisa Jackson was commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection. She now heads the Environmental Protection Agency.
"We're basically kicking our boss in the shins," Tittel said.
NJ's plan to delay wasterwater management plans is a violation of the federal clean water act. NJ has ignored the law too
The bill sponsors say the delay is necessary, while those calling for a veto say a further delay violates the law. The Governor has less than a week to decide whether he will sign the bill authorizing the delay.
Enck's high profile visit provides an early pushback to Christie's campaign statements regarding EPA oversight.
In her first week on the job, new Obama EPA Region II Administrator Judith Enck traveled to New Jersey. Enck visited the Cornell Dubilier Superfund site in South Plainfield, NJ where $30 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds were allocated to cleanup the site and benefit the community. According to EPA:
Cornell Dubilier Electronics, Inc. operated at the site from 1936 to 1962, manufacturing electronic parts and components, including capacitors. The company dumped material contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other hazardous substances directly onto site soils during its operations. EPA has detected PCBs in the, ground water, soil and in building interiors at the industrial park and at nearby residential, commercial and municipal properties. EPA also has detected PCBs in the surface water and sediments of the Bound Brook, which crosses the site's southeast corner. A pre-1991 investigation conducted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in the vicinity of the former CDE facility revealed significant ground water contamination consisting mainly of the volatile organic compounds, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. Due to widespread contamination, residential wells in the area were closed and residents hooked up to a city water supply. In 1998, EPA began cleaning the interior of homes near the site that contained PCBs in household dust and potentially responsible parties at the site removed PCB-contaminated soil from homes.
Enck spoke about progress being made in cleaning up the site. Chemical pollutants have migrated off site into nearby homes and Bound Brook, a tributary to the Raritan River. As a result, fish are highly contaminated with unsafe levels of PCBs and should not be eaten.
The event, while designed to highlight the Obama Administration's environmental and economic revitalization efforts, also sent a strong message to the incoming Administration of Governor elect Chris Christie, who has already challenged EPA oversight and threatened a moratorium on regulations.
That message is: EPA will not only be investing significant funds in environmental cleanup in NJ, but will be overseeing federal environmental laws and holding the State accountable to implement federally delegated and/or funded programs.
EPA provides millions of dollars to NJ DEP to administer federally delegated clean air, clean water, safe drinking water, toxic site cleanup, and hazardous waste management programs. That funding, in addition to federal law mandates, provides EPA Region II with tremendous leverage over NJ DEP.
In August 2009, EPA issued a scathingly critical audit of NJ DEP's performance (See: EPA AUDIT RIPS NEW JERSEY DEP PERFORMANCE - Corrective Actions Never Implemented for Toxic, Wetlands and Other Programs. In June 2008, the EPA Inspector General issued a highly critical report of NJ DEP that prompted EPA Region II to take over cases that had been mismanged by NJDEP. (See: EPA REPORT BLASTS NEW JERSEY TOXIC CLEAN-UPS - State Failures to Enforce Law Lead to Worst Delays in the Country
NJ recently privatized its state toxic site cleanup program, so Enck's early focus on the Superfund program is a clear indication that EPA will be looking closely at how NJ implements the privatization scheme.
Enck's high profile visit provides an early pushback to Christie's campaign statements regarding EPA oversight. In October, Christie laid down the gauntlet:
"I've got a feeling that you will see, come January 2010, a lot of battles between the Christie administration DEP and the Obama administration EPA." (watch YouTube)
Just days after his election, Christie promised to impose a moratorium on regulations, to make it "easier for business", an act which is certain to raise issues regarding compliance with federal EPA requirements. Recently, EPA used federal power to block implementation of Governor McGreevey's so called "Fast Track" environmental permit law and to scale back the scope of Corzine's "Permit Extension Act".
EPA Region II oversees the states of NY and NJ and the territory of Puerto Rico. Enck's is the first EPA Region II Administrator in recent memory that is not from NJ, so she is not beholden to any NJ players which gives her a stronger degree of political independence. Enck was a member of former NY Governor Elliot Spitzer's team and was with Spitzer when he served two terms as NY Attorney General. Enck helped make environmental enforcement a high priority for Spitzer and comes highly praised by both NY and NJ environmental communities.
Enck's boss, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was previously NJDEP Commissioner and Chief of Staff to Governor John Corzine. Jackson is recused and can not participate in EPA decisions in NJ. This provides Enck more autonomy and control in NJ within the EPA chain of command, yet it also requires that she avoid any appearance of favoritism in NJ.
The site visit was coordinated with remarks by South Plainfield Mayor Charles Butrico and Senator Frank Lautenberg's Office. Importantly, there was a significant presence of members of State and local environmental groups and media. So, overall, this was a very well planned, well executed, and successful event for the new EPA RA.
Enck will face challenges in holding NJ DEP's feet to the fire. It is clear that she is up to that task, and has made oversight of NJ a priority.
We have written about and will be closely following these development. (some fishy history here)
EPA today released interim air toxic monitoring results at two NJ schools participating in a new national program that is monitoring air quality around 63 schools in 22 states.The new EPA program was a response to major investigative reports by the Houston Chronicle ("In Harm's Way") and USA Today ("Toxic Air and America's Schools") that documented serious health threats due to exposure to toxic air pollutants, particularly to children from chemical plants and refineries located close to schools (read this for background) and (this for Senator Boxer's commitment at EPA Administrator Jackson's confirmation hearing)
The initial NJ results are misleading.
First off, if you read the EPA press release below, you wouldn't know that the NJ schools (Paulsboro High School and Mabel Holmes Middle School in Elizabeth) are located very close to and virtually surrounded by chemical plants and refineries that emit thousands of pounds of volatile organic toxic air pollutants to the local air.
Second, if you looked at the initial sample results, you might conclude that everything is OK - , until you realize that EPA sampled mostly for heavy metals, not volatile organic compounds (VOC's) and chemicals emitted by the chemical plants and refineries. Those VOC pollutants are "yet to be monitored" according to EPA. EPA sampled for
This is especially troubling, because not only do these results mislead the public by creating a false appearance, but the results will be used by EPA "to help determine next steps, which could include more monitoring, if needed".
That's right - EPA could say that based on these results, there is no problem and no further sampling is required.
The industry lies and excuses have already been framed to spin this data.
First, the oil and chemical industries are suggesting that the risk are negligible and the sources of pollutants are mobile sources - cars and trucks. We doubt the EPA sampling protocol will be able to distinguish between sources, so EPA is not challenging this lie. Worse, these facilities are issued permits under the Clean Air Act, so EPA knows exactly what hazardous air pollutants are being emitted by those facilities. These hazardous air pollutants should have been targeted and the first one sampled, not metals. Second, EPA - as per below press release - will stress chronic long term exposure risks to downplay the risks of any high level local VOC results.
We Await the VOC monitoring.
Update:
I just looked at the full list of EPA monitored pollutants at schools. As I suspected, all of them involve naturally occurring sources of pollution, or are related to vehicle exhaust or mobile sources. This seems designed to allow the chemical & oil industries to make the argument that industry emissions are not the problem and to point the finger at mobile sources and naturally occurring sources. EPA could have considered the hazardous air pollutants emitted by nearby refinery and chemical plants (in EPA air permit data), and then designed a monitoring scheme that included those pollutants. That way, EPA would have a solid scientific basis to modify air permits to force facilities to reduce their emissions, based on impacts to nearby schools. But EPA DID NOT DO THIS! What a sham! Check out the EPA short list of VOC's
Here's today's EPA press release:
The first results from ongoing air toxics monitoring at two New Jersey schools and one New York school are now available on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Web site. A total of four schools in EPA's Region 2 were selected as part of the agency's national Schools Air Toxics Initiative. The initiative, which is monitoring 63 schools in 22 states, will help EPA and the states learn if long-term exposure to toxics in the outdoor air poses health concerns for school children and staff.
Outdoor air at the schools is being monitored for 60 days, and air quality monitors will collect at least 10 daily samples during the sampling period. EPA will use this information to help determine next steps, which could include more monitoring, if needed. Results are posted at http://www.epa.gov/schoolair.
Today, EPA is posting data for Olean Middle School in Olean, New York, Mabel Homes Middle School in Elizabeth, N.J. and Paulsboro High School in Paulsboro, N.J. The fourth school, IS 143 in Manhattan, New York, had its first data posted previously and it is also available at the web site. The Agency is monitoring the air around these schools for several contaminants associated with industrial and mobile sources such as cars, trucks and airplanes.
Early sampling at all the schools show that levels of air toxics are below levels of short-term concern. EPA scientists warn against drawing conclusions at this point since the project is designed to show if long-term, not short-term, exposure poses health risks to school children and staff. Once monitoring is complete, the full set of results from all of the schools will be evaluated for potential health concerns from long-term exposure to these pollutants. EPA will post this analysis to the Web once it is complete.
Former head of the DEP and current EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was on Real Time with Bill Maher last Friday. Here is much of the segment:They talked about states that have brought the federal government along to higher standards, but said that we should be past the states leading the way on clean energy because in a year or two, China will literally clean our clock. They talked about hybrid technology, but that how the electricity is generated is very important. Maher brings up how raising beef causes more global warming than cars, to which Jackson tried to gloss over the answer, but Maher wasn't having any of it. Then they started talking about water and people getting sick from it with everything added in the water supply. Jackson said we should be concerned that we don't know enough about clean water and water is a concern for us. Then they moved to toxic chemicals management, to which Jackson said they're trying to move the bar back to think about what will happen at the end
"I've got a feeling that you will see, come January 2010, a lot of battles between the Christie administration DEP and the Obama administration EPA."
What does he mean? Does Christie plan to go further than the EPA? No, not at all. As Loretta Weinberg says:
"Chris Christie has boasted that he would fight the Obama administration's efforts to protect our air," said Weinberg. "He has said that his first target for budget cuts would be environmental protection and that he'd roll back regulations that protect our air and water. Christie has vowed to follow Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford's lead and reject more than $70 million in federal funds to invest in our state's energy programs and he is opposed to the open space bond issue which would protect our remaining green space. I don't know about you, but I will take the recommendation of the President and the former Vice President when it comes to matters of the environment."
Parents Want to Know: Why the News Blackout of This Story? (cross post - for linked version w/photo's go to:
http://wolfenotes.com/2009/09/...
NJ's senior Senator, Frank Lautenberg, is not known to be shy when it comes to issuing press releases touting his legislative accomplishments for the people of New Jersey. So, I found it odd that I never saw press coverage of major, groundbreaking amendments he sponsored creating "Healthy, High Performance Schools." (see "In Harm's Way")
For the first time, that law puts EPA in the role of developing school siting and regulatory guidelines to protect children's health from environmental pollution while at school.
As experience throughout NJ has shown, this is a highly controversial issue. But, curiously, I had to do a lot of Googling to find anything about the Lautenberg amendments, and finally found it reported by the small trade journal Education Week on January 16, 2008:
"Tucked quietly into the federal Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is a section that calls for establishing voluntary environmental-health and -safety guidelines for states to consult when locating and constructing schools, and authorizes grants for states to develop programs around those standards.
The measure, which President Bush signed into law last month, marks the first time that a federal agency [EPA] will provide such guidance."
Given several highly controversial school exposure cases reported across NJ (at schools in Paramus, Kiddie Kollege, Union, Franklin, Garfield, Camden, etc) months ago, I circulated this article to the NJ press corps to give NJ's parents information about this issue. Strangely, Lautenberg's office initially denied enactment of the bill I described. After providing the text of the bill to reporters, Lautenberg's office ran away from their own law and had no comment, thus the press had no story. Thus parents had no awareness.
The 2008 Lautenberg amendments require:
''SEC. 502. MODEL GUIDELINES FOR SITING OF SCHOOL FACILITIES.
''Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this section, the [EPA] Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall issue voluntary school site selection guidelines that account for-
''(1) the special vulnerability of children to hazardous substances or pollution exposures in any case in which the potential for contamination at a potential school site exists; (link to full text)
The new law was enacted in January 2008, so the EPA siting guidelines were due in June of 2009. So, it is a good time for NJ press corp to ask EPA about the status of those guidelines. Has EPA adopted them? What is NJ DEP doing to implement them?
The Lautenberg sponsored federal law parallels a NJ law and programs. NJ Inspector General Cooper's Report found that the mismanaged NJ Schools Construction Corporation - later abolished - had purchased contaminated land for schools - including a federal Superfund site in Gloucester City and a radioactive former Manhattan Project in Union City site. Governor Corzine's SCC reforms were criticized severely for failure to address these siting and toxic land acquisition problems.
In January 2007, Governor Corzine signed into law new requirements to set indoor air standards at schools and daycare centers. (P.L. 2007, c.1) The bill was a response to the Kiddie Kollege tragedy, where toddlers were poisoned by mercury at a day care center that previously was a former mercury manufacturing facility under an un-enforced DEP toxic site cleanup Order. The most complex and controversial requirements of the new law mandate that DHS and DEP take specific regulatory actions - both DEP and DHSS have failed to do so and are not in compliance with the Act. This inaction also could affect NJ's ability to secure grants under the Lautenberg amendments above:
When Governor Jon Corzine signed the "Kiddie Kollege" law in January 2007 he claimed:
"This bill will help identify and remediate educational facilities and child care centers located on environmentally high risk sites," Governor Corzine said. "This puts New Jersey at the forefront of states nationally in protecting children from environmental contaminants while at child care facilities and schools." (full release here)
The law provides:
"1. a. Within 12 months after the effective date of this act, the Department of Health and Senior Services shall adopt rules and regulations ... The rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this subsection shall be protective of the health of children and infants, and shall account for the difference in rate of the absorption, metabolism, and excretion of compounds between adults and infants and children. [...]
b. (1) No construction permit shall be issued for the construction or alteration of any building or structure to be used as a child care center licensed pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1983, c.492, or for educational purposes, on a site that was previously used for industrial, storage, or high hazard purposes, as a nail salon, dry cleaning facility, or gasoline station, or on a contaminated site, on a site on which there is suspected contamination, or on an industrial site that is subject to the provisions of the "Industrial Site Recovery Act," P.L.1983, c.330 (C.13:1K-6 et al.), except after submission by the applicant to the construction official of documentation sufficient to establish that the Department of Environmental Protection has approved a remedial action workplan for the entire site or that the site has been remediated consistent with the remediation standards and other remediation requirements established pursuant to section 35 of P.L.1993, c.139 (C.58:10B-12) and a no
further action letter has been issued by the Department of Environmental Protection for the entire site. (link to full text)
We''ve just seen another children's toxic exposure disaster repeated in Atlantic Highlands Elementary School, where about 100 parents turned out on Tuesday night to win a major victory. (read here). Yet, that too received no press.
What the hell is going on?
Parents of thousands of kids in scores of potentially poisoned schools want to know.
Could the silence be due to that rumored NJ Attorney General's opinion that interprets the law NOT to apply to existing schools? (and only new school construction)?
A federal audit of New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection identified what it called "significant shortcomings" in how the DEP operates, especially in the division that handles contaminated site cleanups.
The DEP's site remediation program doesn't provide proper oversight of contaminated site cleanups because program officers don't follow up with field audits or internal assessments, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency report, released Thursday.
The EPA faulted the DEP officials for failing to verify what the private contractors of polluters told them about site cleanups. The DEP officials even told the EPA during interviews that the contractors were "certified professionals and taken at their word," the report said.
In the report, the EPA also criticized the DEP because several programs, including site remediation and the wetlands program, operate outside the department's quality assurance system. The audit noted that many site remediation staff and managers didn't even know that the DEP has an Office of Quality Assurance.
While the report was critical of short comings, it wasn't all negative:
Some positive highlights were noted during EPA's closing meeting with Department's senior managers. Among the highlights were that the Office of Quality Assurance's Laboratory Certification Program has improved the frequency of laboratory audits since our last assessment of the program in 2005. Also, the Bureau of Surface Water Permitting, the Bureau of Technical Services, and the Bureau of Environmental Radiation were found to be in compliance with the NJDEP Quality Management Plan and have functioning quality systems.
A 2005 EPA audit identified many areas for DEP improvement, which the DEP responded to in 2006 with a list of corrective actions it would take. This new audit notes that "many of the corrective actions identified ... were never completed" by the DEP.
Those corrective actions had been outlined in a plan issued by then-DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson, who took over the EPA earlier this year. The audit and its critique of DEP performance provide an awkward instance of the agency Jackson used to run coming under criticism by the agency she heads now.
News Releases
For Immediate Release: August 27, 2009
Contact: Bill Wolfe (609) 397-4861; Jeff Ruch (202) 265-7337
EPA AUDIT RIPS NEW JERSEY DEP PERFORMANCE - Corrective Actions Never Implemented for Toxic, Wetlands and Other Programs
Washington, DC - A new audit by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency faults the quality and consistency of New Jersey programs for cleaning up toxic wastes, preserving wetlands and other key functions, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Many of the defects were first identified in a 2006 audit but Lisa Jackson, then head of the New Jersey agency and now EPA Administrator, neglected to put in place most of the corrective steps she had pledged to implement.
The new EPA audit of "Quality System Assessment" reviews whether the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) can measure what it does, whether its data is reliable and how it tracks results over time. While EPA found that DEP had made some progress, the federal agency concluded that several major DEP components suffer from "significant shortcomings" and fail to meet minimal federal standards for management quality and performance. Among the findings are -
The state program for cleaning up toxic wastes operates on an honor system and does not check industry claims: "None of the Site Remediation Program's bureaus interviewed do any project assessment and/or process improvement beyond data validation, (i.e. no field audits, no split samples, no internal assessments, etc). The EPA assessment team was told that Responsible Party contractors and/or NJDEP contractors are 'certified professionals and taken at their word'";
The state wetland protection program lacks any quality assurances that its permit, land use and inventory of rare species habitat is accurate; and
Many of the steps that EPA identified in a previous audit to improve departmental performance, including data collection, tracking and training, were still absent three years later despite a Corrective Action Plan submitted in April 21, 2006 by then-DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson laying out an implementation schedule. Jackson remained Commissioner for the next two and a half years after submitting that plan and was confirmed to lead EPA this past January.
"This audit is an indictment of DEP management for failing fundamental tests of competence," stated New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, a former DEP analyst. "Without basic procedures for assuring the accuracy and quality of performance data a public agency cannot even be sure that its shoes are tied."
This audit is just the latest failing grade issued to DEP management. In 2008, for example, EPA was forced to intervene and assume control of several state-supervised Superfund clean-ups, following a scathing Inspector General report decrying inordinate delays and mismanagement. Ironically, Jackson's prior EPA experience before she came to DEP had been in Superfund.
"Recent DEP Commissioners, including Lisa Jackson, have been far more concerned with political appearances than reality," added Wolfe, noting that an agency review commissioned by Jackson in 2008 did not mention a single issue tagged by the new EPA audit. "In order to effectively protect New Jersey's environment, we need to let public servant specialists do the job they are supposed to do."
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Read the EPA audit on Quality Assessment
Look at the scathing 2008 Superfund audit
Review Lisa Jackson's record at New Jersey DEP
Revisit Jackson's DEP efficiency review
New Jersey PEER is a state chapter of a national alliance of state and federal agency resource professionals working to ensure environmental ethics and government accountability
Chris Christie released his energy plan yesterday and while we will certainly have time to look at the specifics, I wanted to point out a fundamental disagreement that Republican members of Congress and co-chairs of his own campaign have with the party standard bearer in NJ.
In announcing his plan, Christie tried to attack Corzine saying he hadn't done enough, while also trying to hook himself to the Obama train. But statements by Republican members of Congress, in justifying their support for the Energy legislation, stood in square opposition to the argument that Corzine hasn't helped New jersey lead the way. First Leonard Lance:
"The fact of the matter is New Jersey and the Northeast are well ahead of the curve on many of the key elements of the legislation before the House.
"Here at home, the state of New Jersey is already subject to limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under the ten-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. And our state renewable portfolio standard is more aggressive than the federal program contained in the bill.
"New Jersey serves as a national model for its investments in new, clean energy technologies that have reduced greenhouse gas emissions and created thousands of jobs. I heard from a number of New Jersey's leading businesses that firmly believe today's legislation would strengthen our state economy through innovative and sustainable job creation. It is time for other states to follow New Jersey's leadership and do their share to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate development of low-carbon energy sources and green jobs."
Follow New Jersey's leadership he says. Maybe Lance needs to talk to Christie and bring him up to speed. Joining them in that conversation could be Congressman Frank LoBiondo, who also recognizes New Jersey's role, under the leadership of Governor Corzine in leading the way:
"This is by no means a perfect bill but, for New Jersey businesses and families, many of the federal standards that will be created are mirroring state standards long on the books. For the past decade, New Jersey has been forward-looking in its energy policy and sought to establish diverse, renewable alternative sources of energy to meet the state's needs. From the development of biofuels based on crop waste and planning for additional nuclear reactors, to building small and large-scale wind farms and countless solar panel projects, individuals and municipalities recognized opportunities and took action.
"In the process, new local businesses were founded and jobs were created in the emerging 'green industry' here in New Jersey. What must happen next is the growth of domestic manufacturing of the materials needed for alternative energy production, such as solar cells, wind turbines and environmentally-friendly buildings. This legislation rightly focuses on growing that manufacturing base, creating green jobs and finally establishing our energy independence. The positive effects will be felt nationally and here in South Jersey. These are objectives I have long believed and advocated for as part of a national energy policy."
And four of those ten years were under the leadership of Governor Corzine, who Chris Christie is criticizing. So Chris Christie supports the federal efforts by President Obama, which members of his own party say were modeled after the efforts of our state, under the leadership of the person he is criticizing in the process. This must be more Christie logic.
On the heels of Chris Christie putting out a video talking about his plans for energy, the Corzine campaign is out with a web ad showing some more contradictions for Christie. As the Corzine campaign puts it, he'll say anything and you can't believe any of it. Let's go to the video:
It was mentioned in the roundup, but after being denied in 2005 by the Bush EPA, New Jersey, along with 13 other states and the District of Columbia received a waiver yesterday to the national Clean Air Act to set up tougher restrictions on car and trucks sold in the state:
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who previously was New Jersey's environmental commissioner, said the agency's decision to grant the waiver "puts the law and science first."
"After review of the scientific findings, and another comprehensive round of public engagement, I have decided this is the appropriate course under the law," Jackson said in a statement.
"This waiver is consistent with the Clean Air Act as it's been used for the last 40 years and supports the prerogatives of the 13 states and the District of Columbia who have opted to follow California's lead," she said. "More importantly, this decision reinforces the historic agreement on nationwide emissions standards developed by a broad coalition of industry, government and environmental stakeholders earlier this year."
Here's more on what the waiver allows:
Those seeking the waiver would be able to require cars sold in the state to increase their fuel economy 40 percent by 2016. Supporters say that less carbon dioxide is emitted from vehicles as a result of these standards because increased auto fuel efficiency results in burning less fuel for every mile traveled.
And some reaction to the waiver from Governor Corzine:
"We applaud the EPA for taking this action and recognizing the critical role that the states play in addressing the threat of global warming," said Governor Corzine. "Now, New Jersey can move forward with implementation of these auto emissions standards which ultimately will help us reach our goal in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and provide more efficient cars on our roadways."
