All News Releases By Date

 

1. BROWNFIELDS COMMUNITIES GET $750,000 IN SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING FOR JOB TRAINING, 2. GSA AND EPA AWARD MULTI-YEAR TASK ORDER TO DYNCORP SYSTEMS AND SOLUTIONS FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, 3. EPA CREATES PARTNERSHIP TO BENEFIT DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES, 4. EPA HAILS VOLUNTARY EFFORTS OF MEAT PROCESSING COMPANIES, 5. W. VA. COAL COMPANY SUBSIDIARIES CHARGED WITH WATER VIOLATIONS, 6. COLORADO PLATING COMPANY EXECUTIVE SENTENCED

Release Date: 09/11/2002
Contact Information:





Press Advisory

Following are some Agency developments which may interest you. If you need
more information on any of these subjects, call the appropriate contact.

EPA has selected 12 supplemental pilot grants totaling $750,000 under the Brownfields Job Training and Development Demonstration Pilots. These are the second round of supplemental Brownfields job training pilot grants to be awarded (the first round was in May). In communities impacted by Brownfields, project officials will use the supplemental funding to continue their efforts to train residents in procedures for the handling and removal of hazardous substances. The goals of the pilots are to facilitate cleanup of Brownfields sites contaminated with hazardous substances and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field. Brownfields are abandoned, idled or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. Since 1993, the EPA Brownfields program has provided over $200 million in assessment, revolving loan fund cleanup and job training grants, resulting in over $3.2 billion in public and private investments leveraged and over 14,000 cleanup and redevelopment jobs generated. The 12 pilots selected to receive supplemental funding – and the amount each is receiving are: Jobs for Youth, Boston, Mass. ($50,000); New Bedford, Mass. ($50,000); State University of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, N.Y. ($50,000); Charleston, S.C. ($75,000); Milwaukee Community Service Corp., Milwaukee, Wis. ($75,000); Hennepin County, Minn. ($75,000); St. Louis Community College, St. Louis, Mo. ($50,000); Oakland Private Industry, Oakland, Calif. ($50,000); City of Los Angeles, Calif. ($75,000); Young Community Developers Inc., San Francisco, Calif. ($75,000); City of Long Beach, Calif. ($75,000); and King County, Wash. ($50,000). More information on these grants is available at: https://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/html-doc/jt0802.htm.


The General Services Administration (GSA) and EPA’s Office of Environmental Information have awarded an information technology (IT) task order to DynCorp Systems & Solutions to provide IT operations and telecommunications services to all EPA offices and laboratories nationally and to manage EPA’s National Computer Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C. The Information Technology Solutions-Environmental Protection Agency (ITS-EPA) task order, estimated at a value of $867 million over seven years, was competitively awarded through the GSA Millenia contract program. This is the largest multi-year task ever awarded by GSA’s Federal Systems Integration and Management Center. The ITS-EPA task order further advances performance based contracting by linking contractor profit directly to performance levels and moving from a cost-reimbursable to fixed-price contract structure, during the contract performance period.


In keeping with a challenge to law enforcement officials by President Bush to address environmental criminal issues cooperatively, a training and public awareness partnership has been established by EPA and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). The President called for greater team work in addressing environmental criminal issues and for increased knowledge of environmental crime enforcement techniques. The partnership with NOBLE will assist in combating environmental crimes in economically disadvantaged areas. EPA will conduct an environmental criminal enforcement educational program for NOBLE members, which will include formal training on detecting, responding to and investigating environmental crimes, including illegal asbestos removal, lead paint hazards and illegal hazardous waste dumping. More than 100 black police chiefs will receive the specialized training from EPA early next year. The campaign will also distribute brochures titled: “Learn the Signs of Environmental Crime.” EPA and NOBLE believe this partnership will increase awareness in minority communities, and will increase participation in enforcement activities among minority law enforcement officers. “Those who have committed environmental crimes in disadvantaged neighborhoods often did so with an intolerable sense of impunity,” said John Peter Suarez, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance. “We will work closely with NOBLE and local officials and communities to ensure compliance equality in communities that have born the brunt of environmental degradation for too long.” From 1994 to 2000, EPA addressed 914 justice-related environmental crimes. In addition to this partnership, EPA has joint state/local partnerships which operate as multi-agency task forces and include law enforcement officers from all levels of government. These task forces often address environmental justice-related environmental crimes.


EPA recognized five meat processing companies on Sept. 9 for their outstanding voluntary contributions to environmental protection by participating in the Meat Processing Environmental Management System (EMS) Pilot project. The Agency also recognized the involved state partners. The companies are: Advance Brands; Excel Corp.; Farmland Foods Inc.; Humboldt Sausage Co. and West Liberty Foods. They have implemented a comprehensive environmental management system (EMS), which enables an organization to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency. The use of an EMS complements needed regulatory controls and enables a facility to comprehensively manage the environmental footprint of its entire operation. This includes unregulated aspects such as energy, water use, climate change, odor, noise, dust, and habitat preservation. It encourages pollution prevention through source reduction and fosters continuous improvement of the facility’s environmental performance. These systems are valuable contributions in the control of air, water and land pollution and they help facilities assure compliance with environmental regulations and realize cost savings, operational efficiency and improved supplier performance. Further information on EMS projects is available at: www.epa.gov/ems.


Independence Coal Co. Inc., and Omar Mining Co. Inc., subsidiaries of Massey Coal Co. Inc., operating in Boone County, W.Va., were charged on Aug. 30 with violating the Clean Water Act (CWA). The charges allege that Independence violated its CWA discharge permit by allowing a leaky pump in its coal preparation plant to discharge wastewater containing elevated levels of solids into Robinson Creek. Omar allegedly allowed water containing elevated levels of solids and manganese from its stormwater control pond to be discharged into Robinson Creek. These levels were above those allowed in Omar’s CWA discharge permit. If convicted, the companies each face a maximum fine of up to $200,000 and/or up to five years of probation. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Charleston. The filing of federal charges is merely an accusation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty in a court of law.

Mahesh Patel, Executive Vice President of the Jemm Co., a Colorado plating company, was sentenced on
Aug. 23 to 12 months and one day imprisonment and one year of supervised release for directing company employees to illegally dispose of plating wastewater in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Patel was responsible for overseeing day-to-day plant operations that generated wastewaters with high concentrations of metal, including chromium, copper, nickel and zinc. Patel directed employees to dump the contents of numerous process tanks, including plating tanks as well as alkaline and acid cleaning tanks, onto the plant floor. The wastewaters from these tanks flowed into two large holding tanks, which were ultimately emptied into the Denver sewer system in violation of the company=s permit barring the discharge of such untreated wastewaters. The Jemm Co. was previously fined $100,000 and required to publish a public apology for its role in these CWA offenses. This case was investigated by EPA=s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI and the Metropolitan Water District of Denver with the assistance of EPA=s National Enforcement Investigations Center. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney=s office in Denver.


R-161 # # #