Weekly News Bulletin: Mar. 4-10, 2004

 

EPA Proposes 11 For Superfund List

The EPA has proposed adding 11 sites to the Superfund list, a move which would bring the total number of sites on the list over 1,300. The newest additions are part of a larger trend in the program toward handling larger, costlier cleanups. The EPA lists the sites as:
The new sites are listed by EPA as: Jacobsville Neighborhood Soil Contamination in Evansville, Ind.; Devil's Swamp in Scotlandville, La.; Annapolis Lead Mine in Annapolis, Mo.; Picayune Wood Treating in Picayune, Miss.; Grants Chlorinated Solvents Plume in Grants, N.M.; Diaz Chemical Corp. in Holley, N.Y.; Peninsula Boulevard Groundwater Plume in Hewlett, N.Y.; Ryeland Road Arsenic in Heidelberg Township, Pa.; Cidra Ground Water Contamination in Cidra, Puerto Rico; Pike Hill Copper Mine in Corinth, Vt.; and Ravenswood PCE Ground Water Plume in Ravenswood, W.Va...Read More »

 

 

Tests Show PCB Releases From Anniston Incinerator

Test results have indicated that the Anniston, Ala. Incinerator designed to destroy old Cold War munitions released measurable PCBs last year. The incinerator has been working since last August to destroy M55 rockets containing sarin nerve agent and small amounts of PCBs. Westinghouse, which operates the incinerator and disclosed the results, said the emissions were minute and fell well within safety standards. Westinghouse also questioned whether the test results might have been influenced by Anniston's longstanding connection with PCBs, which were manufactured in the city for decades...Read More »

 

 

Court of Appeals Vacates EPA Incinerator Standards

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington has found standards on incinerator emissions lacking and has forced the EPA to reconfigure the rules, which were established in 2000 by the Clinton Administration. Those rules replaced the 1990 Clean Air Act rules enacted in 1995, which industry had argued did not preserve necessary differentiations between large and small incinerators. But the panel ruled that it could not support the idea that the EPA's current required levels of emissions from incinerators actually comply with the Clean Air Act...Read More »

 

 

Delaware Hopes To Sniff Out Wilmington Odor Problems

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is seeking out answers to the odor problems that plague northeast Wilmington. The state is comparing field samples to the chemical signatures of 18 industrial facilities. Local residents contend that the Cherry Island Landfill, run by the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, is the source. The state recently fined the DSWA $200,000 for repeated failures to control emissions. But authority officials note that their facility is not the only landfill, nor the only possible source of odor, in the area...Read More »

 

 

Appeals Court Revives GE Suit Against Superfund

A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of Superfund, allowing a lower court judge to reopen General Electric Co.'s lawsuit against the EPA. The suit arises from a proposed $500 million cleanup of the upper Hudson River in New York. The court found that a district judge wrongly dismissed the suit when ruling GE did not have standing to bring the suit until after the EPA issued a cleanup order. That order required GE to pay the entire cost of removing PCBs from the river...Read More »

 

 

Perma-Fix Acquires Two From US Liquids

Perma-Fix Environmental has signed a letter of intent to acquire the assets A&A Environmental of Baltimore, Md. and EMAX of Pittsburgh, Pa., two wholly owned subsidiaries of US Liquids Inc. Perma-Fix will pay $3.2 million in cash for the assets of the companies. The companies had combined revenues of approximately $15.0 million in 2003. A&A is a provider of environmental, marine and industrial maintenance services, while EMAX provides environmental and industrial services including transportation, cleaning, and maintenance...Read More »

 

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