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Press Advisory for Friday - 8/19/94

Release Date: 08/23/94
Contact Information:

FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 1994

EPA ESTABLISHES PERMANENT TOLERANCE FOR PESTICIDE

PROCYMIDONE ON WINE GRAPES

EPA has issued a final tolerance (maximum allowable level) of 5 parts per million (ppm) for residues of the pesticide procymidone on wine grapes which are used to produce some imported wines. Procymidone is a fungicide for controlling a grape plant disease, botrytis. In imported wines tested by the Food and Drug Administration, procymidone residue levels have continually been found at levels significantly below 2.4 ppm. EPA has conducted an extensive assessment of procymidone's potential health effects and has determined that the allowable residues will not pose unreasonable risks to the public. Procymidone is classified by EPA as a probable human carcinogen, based on studies of laboratory animals. The residues of procymidone in wine products are expected to continue to be sufficiently low that no unreasonable risks to health are expected. All studies for mutagenicity have been negative. Procymidone is used on wine grapes throughout Europe, in South America and Australia. Climate conditions preclude the need for use by wine-grape growers in the United States. Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. of Japan is the producer of procymidone and petitioned EPA for the tolerance. The final tolerance notice for procymidone was published in the Federal Register on Aug. l8.

10 SUPERFUND NPL SITES PROPOSED

EPA has proposed adding 10 sites to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL), four of them on federal facilities. The primary purpose of the NPL is to guide EPA in determining which waste sites warrant further investigation. Two of the sites are in South Carolina, one at the Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot south of Beaufort and the other at Groce Laboratories of AquaTech Environmental Inc. in Greer, Spartenburg County. The other sites are at an abandoned Escambia Wood-Pensacola plant in Escambia County, Fla.; the Agriculture Street Landfill in New Orleans, La., south of Lake Pontchartrain; the Texas Eastern Koskiusko station in Attala County, Miss., one of the many compressor stations located along the Texas Eastern Pipeline System; the Burlington Northern Livingston Shop Complex, Livingston, Mont., approximately 100 miles west of Billings; Reynolds Aluminum primary aluminum reduction plant north of Troutdale, Ore.,; a site at the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in Havelock, N.C.; two facilities (considered one site) at the Naval Air and Air Reserve Station in Willow Grove, Penn.; and the Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Center in south-central Tennessee, near Manchester and Tullahoma. Two locations are considered environmental justice sites, the Florida site, due to the nearby low-income population, and the Louisiana site, because low-income minority housing and an elementary school are located within the original landfill boundary. Notice of the proposal will appear in the Federal Register on Aug. 23, 1994. For further information, contact the Superfund Hotline at 800-424-9068.

REPORT PUBLISHED ON STATE WORK AT NON-NPL

HAZARDOUS WASTE SITES

EPA has published a first-ever report on hazardous waste cleanup activities by states and territories at sites not on the Superfund National Priority List. The report covers activities between 1980 and 1992. During the 12-year period, states and territories completed construction and removal actions at 20,000 sites. Beginning in 1987, there was a sharp increase in the number of cleanup starts and completions. This report is the first systematic compilation of such data, complementing such information on states' activities at NPL sites. It includes an analysis of activities at over 20,000 sites and discusses Superfund-like removal and remedial actions, the predominant remedies selected and the costs of cleanup. The data bear out that the pace of cleanups at nonNPL sites has increased since the passage of the Superfund Amendments of 1986. Cleanup efforts are continuing at 11,000 sites still active at the end of 1992. EPA published the report in cooperation with the Association of State and Territorial Sold Waste Management Officials and the many states and territories which voluntarily prepared and submitted data. Copies of the report will be available next month. Contact Tim Mott at 202-260-2447 or Jim Maas at 202-260- 8927.

EPA RELEASES NEW INFORMATIONAL BOOKLET ON DRINKING WATER TREATMENT FOR SMALL COMMUNITIES

EPA's Office of Research and Development has released a new publication entitled "Drinking Water Treatment for Small Communities: A Focus on EPA's Research." Written primarily for a non-technical audience, the illustrated booklet describes the program conducted by the EPA Office of Research and Development, in conjunction with industry, states and communities, to develop, test and evaluate innovative, cost-effective technologies to help small communities meet requirements for safe drinking water. The publication (EPA/640/K-94/003) is the third booklet in the series, "Focus on EPA Research." Copies can be ordered from the Center for Environmental Research Information, EPA, 26 W. Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45268; 513-569-7562 or fax 513-569-7566.

THIRD NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON IMMUNOCHEMISTRY

EPA Office of Research and Development's (ORD) Environmental Monitoring System Laboratory, Las Vegas, Nev., will hold its third annual conference on immunochemistry Aug. 25-25. The technical conference will provide a forum for discussions of new studies, information exchange, and exhibits by researchers from government, industry, and universities on innovative techniques involving the use of immunoassays to identify and analyze pollutants. Scheduled speakers include scientists from EPA, the U.S. Army, Tulane University, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. and Lockheed. The annual conference is part of EPA's extensive effort to develop and evaluate immunoassays as a rapid, sensitive, low-cost, portable, and simple method for metals, benzene and related compounds, pesticides, and other contaminants, providing a tool that may reduce time and costs for cleaning up contaminated soils and sludges. The technique is based on the principle that compounds can bind chemically to specific antibodies, making it easy to determine if the compounds are present in soil or sludge when samples are placed in a test plate coated with an antibody. For further information, contact Dr. Jeanette Van Emon, Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory, Las Vegas, 702-798-2154.

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