Marine Pollution Control8631 West Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, MI 48209 USA
313.849.2333 - 24/hour
11324 E Lakewood Blvd., #12 & #13
Holland, MI 49424
800-521-8232 – 24/Hour
GSA Contract #: GS-10F-0268R
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EPA initiates emergency response at mill site: Harbor District, feds create plan to get caustic liquors off peninsula
November 11, 2013
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has taken over the Samoa pulp mill site and initiated an emergency response to remove millions of gallons of caustic liquids, much of which are currently stored in failing tanks.
EPA has stabilized the situation, and is now working with the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District on a plan to remove more than 4 million gallons of pulping liquors from the site. Adding urgency to the effort is a constant fear that a large earthquake could lead to a potentially disastrous spill into the sensitive environmental habitat and economic engine that is Humboldt Bay.
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The World's 10 Most Polluted Places
November 6, 2013
Agbogbloshie, a neighborhood of Accra, Ghana, wasn't a pretty place in 2006, but the rising flood of e-waste had yet to completely drown the dump in the middle of town in toxic pollution. Ghana now imports some 215,000 metric tons of European computers, cell phones, microwaves, refrigerators, televisions and other electronic goods, making Agbogbloshie the second-largest site for processing such e-waste in all of west Africa. It may yet take the title as largest because e-waste imports are expected to double by 2020. And Agbogbloshie has already earned the dubious distinction of landing on the Blacksmith Institute's top 10 list of the world's most polluted sites, after failing to make the cut for the original list in 2006.
"Everybody wants a laptop, wants the modern devices," noted Jack Caravanos, Blacksmith's director of research, at a November 4 press conference unveiling the list. "Stopping e-waste is proving very complicated and difficult," particularly because the newest gadgets, such as tablet computers, are even more difficult to recycle than old desktop computers.
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EPA fines Veolia arm $95K over Phoenix pollution violations
October 30, 2013
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined a company affiliated with the bus operator for the city of Phoenix $95,000 for pollution violations near Jefferson Street and 59th Avenue in Phoenix. The EPA fined Veolia ES Technical Solutions LLC over not properly storing and containing PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) at the Phoenix waste site. PCBs are potentially hazardous oils and compounds from motors, transformers and other equipment. Research has shown PCBs to be cancerous to animals and could be harmful to humans.
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Organization calls for action on 'microplastics' pollution in Great Lakes
October 30, 2013
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- An organization representing more than 100 cities in Canada and the U.S. asked federal and industry officials in both countries Tuesday for action on the recently discovered problem of "microplastic" pollution in the Great Lakes.
Over the past two years, scientists have reported finding thousands of plastic bits -- some visible only under a microscope -- in the lakes that make up nearly one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. Large masses of floating plastics also have been detected in the world's oceans.
Scientists believe some are abrasive "microbeads" used in personal care products such as facial and body washes, deodorants and toothpaste. They're so minuscule that they flow through screens at waste treatment plants and wind up in the lakes, where fish and aquatic birds might eat them, mistaking them for fish eggs. They also could absorb toxins.
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Promulgates Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Significant New Use Rule For Perfluorinated Chemicals – And Limits Its Applicability To “Articles”
October 30, 2013
EPA last week published a significant new use rule (“SNUR”) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”) that requires prior notification to EPA before a company may newly manufacture (including import) or process certain perfluorinated chemicals historically used in the manufacture and treatment of carpets. 78 Fed. Reg. 62443 (Oct. 22, 2013). These activities will be considered “new uses” and cannot be engaged in until the company first submits a significant new use notice (“SNUN”), which is similar to a pre-manufacture notification (“PMN”) for new chemicals. This SNUR, and similar ones for other chemicals that are still in the proposal stage (e.g., for brominated fire retardants), are part of EPA’s aggressive chemical regulation strategies aimed at a short list of targeted chemicals.
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