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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Oceans of Plastic
The oceans are the most magnificent, diverse and abundant ecosystem on the planet, and every day they are facing attack in the form of plastic, toxic chemicals and waste which is extremely damaging to marine life, plants and habitats.
Every year we dump over eight million tons of plastic into the ocean. Not only does this plastic get mistaken for food by wildlife, it also manages to find its way back to coastlines and beaches causing damage and destruction on its journey. Plastic takes, on average, 400 years to degrade, and even then it only breaks down into smaller pieces, which may not be visible to the human eye.
Toxic chemicals are also being deliberately dumped into the ocean by industrial sources at an alarming rate. Additionally, surface run-off from rain and flooding carries chemicals such as fertilizers, petrochemicals and animal waste with them into oceans.
Small, free-floating plastics have the ability to absorb these toxic chemicals, as do the plankton which form a key part of marine food chains. Plankton is eaten by small marine creatures, which are then eaten by larger fish, which inevitably end up on our plates.
Crude oil spilled into Louisiana waterway
3/29/2016
The U.S. Coast Guard said early Tuesday an unknown amount of crude oil had spilled from a tank into a Louisiana waterway and the source of the leak had been secured.
The tank was being filled with crude oil when the spill occurred in Bayou Teche, a 125-mile-long waterway winding through south-central Louisiana, the Coast Guard said.
PSC Industrial Outsourcing reported the spill.
DEQ director to visit Ann Arbor to discuss dioxane plume
ANN ARBOR, MI — State Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, has announced details for a town hall meeting to discuss the toxic plume of dioxane that's spreading through the groundwater in Ann Arbor and Scio Township.
In an email on Friday, Irwin said the meeting will take place from 6-8:30 p.m. April 18 inside the auditorium at Eberwhite Elementary School, 800 Soule Blvd.
There will be presentations by the local Coalition for Action on the Remediation of Dioxane and Keith Creagh, acting director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Two Connecticut Companies Settle EPA Claims of Violating PCB Regulations
Two Connecticut companies, a scrap metal recycling facility and a waste oil transporter, agreed to pay fines to settle claims by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that they violated federal laws regarding toxic substances in their handling of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). In addition, as part of the settlements one company will clean up PCB contamination and the other has voluntarily changed operations to reduce the chance of contaminating waste oil shipments with PCBs.
Part 121 Liquid Industrial Waste (to be renamed Liquid Industrial By-Products on March 16, 2016) Statutory Changes
3/11/2016
On December 17, 2015, an amendment to Michigan’s liquid industrial waste statute was signed into law. Two primary changes resulting from the amendment include:
Changing the title of the act and references throughout from “Liquid Industrial Waste” to “Liquid Industrial By-product,” and
Eliminating the required use of a Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest to document shipment of liquid industrial waste to a designated facility authorized to recycle or dispose of the waste/by-product.
The law was given immediate effect which provides for it to become effective on March 16, 2016. During the interim, the DEQ is allowing liquid industrial waste or liquid industrial by-product handlers to take advantage of the shipping documentation provisions established under the new law. It allows the use of a Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest or other written record which includes: 1) the name and address of the generator, 2) the name of the transporter, 3) the type of by-product shipped, 4) the volume of by-product shipped, 5) the date of shipment from the generator and 6) the name, address and Site ID number of the receiving authorized disposal or recycling designated facility. This change also eliminates the requirement to submit copies Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifests used for liquid Industrial waste shipments. As such, liquid industrial waste handlers may also immediately discontinue submitting copies of Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifests in light of the statutory changes.