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SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT & PUBLIC WORKS

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SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE & TRANSPORTATION     

 

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The Center is a private, non-profit, 501 (c)(3), tax-exempt organization. Contributions are tax-deductible.

CECE Organization Goals:

1. Protect the environment.

2. Promote the efficient use of natural resources.

3. Enhance human, animal and plant ecologies.

4. Increase participation in environmental  movement.

5. Deliver information and services directly into communities.

6. Clean up neighborhoods by implementing toxics education, energy, water and clean air programs.

7. Include alternative points of view in environmental policy decision-making.

8. Resolve environmental issues through the application of practical environmental solutions.

1629 K Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC

  443-569-5102   email: CfECE@msn.com    

Copyright  (c)  2011,   Center  for  Environment  Commerce  &   Energy

 

Environmental Programs and Goals for 2011

1.      Support AAEA's Recruitment of  1 Million Members.

2.      Promote Green Jobs

3.      Address Racial Bias In the Environmental Movement.  

4.      Work for Passage of the Environmental Justice Act of 2011.

5.      Promote:

6.    Work for the passage of a practical clean air bill.

7.    Work Towards Construction of Biomass Electricity Power Plants

• Port Gibson, Mississippi
• Santa Catalina Island, California
• Kogelo, Kenya

8.    Fight Black-on-Black Murder, Crimes & Other Black-on-Black Abuse.

9.  Promote Sustainable Development and Brownfields.

10. Promote LNG

Accomplishments 2010

Panelist at AABE Conference in New York

Presented Statement at EPA Ozone Hearing

Met with OMB on Fly Ash

Presented Statement at EPA Hydraulic Fracturing Hearing

Met with CEO of AREVA

Visited South Africa for 9 Days

Panelist at AABE Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio

Sponsored Energy Workshop at Environmental Justice Conference, Washington, DC

Toured Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Buchanan, New York

Presented Statement at NRC Hearing on Indian Point Cooling Tower Issue

Presented Statement at Gulf Oil Spill Hearing, Washington, DC

Presented Statement at Fly Ash Hearing, Arlington, Virginia

Initiated Green Port Gibson Biomass-To-Electricity Project

Presented Statement at EPA GHG Hearing in Arlington, Virginia

Presented Statement Before BRC Nuclear Waste Panel, Washington, DC

Toured Catalina Island For Biomass-To-Electricity Project

Speaker at National Black Chamber of Commerce Fall Summit in Los Angeles

Accomplishments 2009

Attended White House Bill Signing-Wilderness Bill - East Room

Recruited Greater Union Baptist Church in Compton, Calif for "Compton To Catalina Program

Met with EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson at EPA Headquarters

Participated in CEQ Ocean Policy Meeting

Attended National Black Chamber of Commerce Annual Conference, Washington, DC

Panelist: CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee Energy Braintrust

Sponsored Energy Forum at CUNY

Attended FOE President Brent Blackwelder's Retirement Party

Accomplishments 2008

Presented tesimony before NRC on Grand Gulf nuclear plant proposal

Presented testimony before FERC on LNG Plant in Baltimore

Presented testimony before NRC on James Fitzpatrick Relicense

Panelist: Eddie Bernice Johnson CBC Science Braintrust

Presented testimony: NRC Hearing in Buchanan, NY on Indian Point Relicense

Attended Supreme Court Oral Arguments on 316(b) Cooling Towers.

Attended Lisa Jackson EPA Senate Confirmation Hearing

Accomplishments 2007

Established Midwest Office Cosponsored the State of Environmental Justice in America 2007 Conference Toured Nuclear Power Plants and Chemical Facility in China Scoped for Office in Sao Paulo, Brazil Toured Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Facility and Nuclear Plant in France Participated in Jesse Jackson Wall Street Project Conference Presented Testimony Before Nuclear Regulatory Commission -Calvert Cliffs Host Chinese Official (Tsinghua University) Tour of Washington, D.C. Panelist at U.S. Chamber of Commerce Energy Forum

Accomplishments 2006

Speak at National Governors Association (NGA) Energy Forum in Wilmington, Delaware. Attend CUNY Graduate School Sustainability Conference Speech at National Governors Association (NGA) Energy Forum in Wilmington, Delaware. Attend CUNY Graduate School Sustainability Conference Press Conference at Malibu Pier in support of offshore LNG facility Attended Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication Ceremony (Met Oprah Winfrey) Speak at Black and Puerto Rican Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Attend New York League of Conservation Voters Awards Ceremony Attend National Worker Coop Conference at Millenium High School in New York. National Public Radio Interview Attend U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing, New York Attend MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall Testimony before Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Sparrow's Point LNG Facility Panel Speaker for New York Affordable, Reliable Electricity Alliance at Energy Forum in Tarrytown, NY.  Testimony Before PG County Zoning Hearing Examiner on Chillum LNG Project Speak at New York High School for Environmental Education Participate in Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Meeting in New York Attend Bronx Community College Energy Seminar Met Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice Attend Al Sharpton Martin Luther King Dinner in New York Met with Dennis R. Spurgeon (left), Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy on the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Attend Woodrow Wilson Bridge Dedication of the first 6-lane span Testimony before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Baltimore on the AES LNG Import Terminal Proposal Speak on panel at NY AREA "Lower Hudson Energy Forum" Meet with U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Stephen Johnson Information Booth at the 35th Annual New York State Association of Black & Puerto Rican Legislators Legislative Conference - - Albany, New York

More Accomplishments

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 Staff

• Norris McDonald, President
• Derry Bigby, Vice President
• Zhang Xiaoping
• Boaz Adhengo
• Delmetria Millener
• Joshua Ifeanyi
• Sulaiman Mahdi
• ODette McDonald
• Ronnie Jones, Attorney **

Board of Directors

• Norris McDonald, Chairman *
• Eric Watford, M.D., Secretary/Treasurer *
• Clarence Williams *
• John McCormick
• Derry Bigby, MBA
• Charles Stephenson, Ex Officio, founding corporate and board member, Chairman 1985-1995

Advisory Board

David Padgett, Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Lisa Gaffney, Paul Ruffins, John McCormick, Todd Thomas, Joe Henson, Phillip Miller, George Sloan & James Ingram 

Former Board Members

Dick Gregory (founding board member), David Hahn-Baker (founding board member), Charles Stephenson (founding board member), Bill Chandler, Shizuko Akie Dixon, Dr. Lenneal Henderson, Jannie Pittman, Frank Johnson, Dr. Ruth Logan,  Charles Lee, Sulaiman Mahdi, Malik Edwards, Morning Sunday, Todd Thomas, Pat Dix

* CECE Director

** CECE Attorney

Wind Coal & Nuclear Power

Colorado, planners calculate that if wind machines reach 20 percent of total generating capacity, the cost of standby generators will reach $8 a megawatt-hour of wind. That is on top of a generating cost of $50 or $60 a megawatt-hour, after including a federal tax credit of $18 a megawatt-hour.  By contrast, electricity from a new coal plant currently costs in the range of $33 to $41 a megawatt-hour, according to experts.  A megawatt-hour is the amount of power that a large hospital or a Super Wal-Mart would use in an hour.<o:p></o:p>

Coal plants produce about a ton of carbon dioxide for each megawatt hour, on average, so a price of $10 a ton carbon tax would have a major impact on utility economics. <o:p></o:p>

A problem for new wind or solar power lines is that they would be fully loaded for only some of the year, since the amount of energy that the average wind turbine produces over 12 months is equal to just 30 to 40 percent of the amount that would result from year-round operation at capacity. That number runs closer to 90 percent at a nuclear or coal plant.  Thus a 1,000-megawatt nuclear plant will produce nearly three times as much electricity as 1,000 megawatts of wind turbines. But operating costs at the wind farm are lower, and the fuel is free. (NYT)<o:p></o:p>

ALASKA

Interior Department to Open Alaskan Land to Oil Drilling

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The Cities of Washington, DC

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Chlorine Flush Reduces Lead In DC Water

When the Army Corps of Engineers switched from Chloramines (chlorine & ammonia) to Chlorine for the annual spring pipe flushing during the month of April, the lead levels dropped in thousands of homes.  Although suspected as the source of the unprecedented lead level increases, scientists did not have direct evidence that the swithch from chlorine to chloramines as a bacterial disinfectant was the cause the lead problem.  The spring flush provides direct evidence that the use of chloramines increased the lead levels.  Lead levels dropped 25 to 30 percent.  Levels dropped tenfold in some homes. 

The Corps stopped using chlorine in 2000 because it creates byproducts (trihalomethanes) that are linked to cancer with chronic exposure. The Corps is currently using chloramines and intends to use a chemical that reduces led levels, zinc orthophosphate, a corrosion inhibitor. The Army Corps will continue to see what works best while EPA will continue to monitor the results.  It appears that the options are lead poisoning or cancer.  It is an important balancing act. 

Court Rules EPA Must Enforce Clean Air Act in DC

Feb 2 2004  -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected the Washington area's proposal to delay stringent controls on local ozone pollution for several years past a 1999 deadline and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the federal Clean Air Act for the nation's capital and its surrounding communities.  The court said the EPA was wrong to endorse D.C. area smog control "plans that did nothing more than promise to do tomorrow what the Act requires today." The lawsuit brought by an environmental group sought to overturn EPA's conditional approval of the D.C. plan in November 2002.and sought to have the court require EPA to impose standards that the Washington area was supposed to meet by 1999.

The dispute over how quickly to impose such controls pits the region's economy against its residents' health.  Ozone-forming particles in the air, caused largely in this region by vehicle exhaust are linked to asthma and respiratory ailments.  EPA classified the region as being in "severe" violation of federal ozone standards in January 2003. The region had Code Red ozone violations on nine days in the summer of 2002.

EPA had originally proposed giving the region until 2005 to face the act's restrictions for lowering ozone-forming particles in the area. In July 2002, a federal appeals court rejected that idea as illegal. The EPA was then sued to force them to impose standards. EPA has conceded that it was approving a nebulous promise by the region's three governments, the District, Virginia and Maryland, to meet standards that the region should have already met, and did not require them to specify their measures.  Judge Merrick Garland wrote for the panel, "That amounts to nothing more than the use of EPA power to postpone deadlines. He wrote that the Clean Air Act is unambiguous and doesn't give EPA the power to reinterpret those deadlines.

The Clean Air Act gave all cities until 1999 to meet standards for curtailing the amount of ozone particles, or smog, which aggravate asthma and other respiratory problems. The Washington region, including the District and 10 counties in Maryland and Virginia, had an average ozone level of 0.132 from 1997 to 1999. The federal limit is 0.12.

Areas that are found to be in severe violation of the EPA standards must reduce ozone-forming emissions -- from smokestacks, factories, car exhaust pipes and other sources -- by at least 3 percent a year until they come into compliance.

Anacostia's Fish Have Highest Tumor Rate In Nation

Feb 2004 -- According to a study led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and published in the scientific journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, fish in the Anacostia River have the highest cancerous tumor rates in the nation. The tumors are linked to pollution caused by vehicle emissions and runoff.</NITF> Fifty to 68 percent of mature brown bullhead catfish collected in 2001 from three parts of the river in the city had liver tumors, most of which were cancerous. In addition to the liver tumors, 13 to 23 percent of the bullheads had skin tumors.

The study links the liver tumors to changes in the DNA of the fish. Those DNA changes were, in turn, linked to polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) -- contaminants that often come from fossil fuels, most commonly in the form of settled vehicle emissions and runoff.

Bullhead catfish have been analyzed by scientists as an indicator of the health of river systems for decades, mainly because the fish are bottom-feeders and burrow into the mud during the winter, increasing their exposure to sediment pollution. According to the study, scientists' rule of thumb is that liver tumor rates exceeding 5 percent qualify an area as "highly contaminated."

An estimated 90 percent of its banks are developed, which means rainwater often runs over concrete and into the river without being filtered by soft ground or vegetation. Many types of PAH contaminants, therefore, can end up in the river -- vehicle emissions that have settled on the ground, engine oil, even carcinogenic particles contained in asphalt.

The D.C. Department of Health has discouraged anything other than catch-and-release fishing in the Anacostia since the late 1980s and advises people not to eat bottom-dwelling fish.

$100 Million Spent To Clean Spring Valley

According to the D.C. Department of Health, 655 shells and 220 bottles of chemicals -- some containing mustard gas -- have been removed from the Spring Valley area, spanning about 600 acres. The neighborhood is home to more than 1,500 residential and commercial shops, American University, Sibley Hospital and 27 embassies.

The Spring Valley World War I weapons dumpsite was discovered in 1993 when construction workers uncovered chemical munitions in this Northwest Washington neighborhood. Although the Army knew about about the dumpsite in 1985, it cleared the area for development. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, there are still 4,301 shells from the 1919 inventory that have not been accounted for.

According to the D.C. Department of Health, a review of the drinking-water data over the last 20 years did not show arsenic concentrations that exceeded national standards.  According to EPA, 92 percent of the homes in the Spring Valley area did not exhibit elevated arsenic levels and that of the remaining 8 percent, fewer than a dozen homes had high-enough levels to warrant the evacuation of residents in 2002.  Residents have still complained of experiencing unexplained health symptoms such as thyroid disorders, cancers, rashes and tingling sensations in their extremities.

About $85 million has been spent on the Spring Valley cleanup and testing project since 1993, including $18 million last year. It is estimated that the effort would take four more years and cost about $11 million per year.

 

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Greater Washington Initiative

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DC Trees

Washington, D.C.’s stock of healthy trees has been steadily succumbing to a combination of pests, disease and development. The Trees and Landscaping Office, a unit of the District's transportation division has 28 employees, including three arborists.

Trees in Washington have been disappearing since the first half of the 20th century. According to American Forests, a nonprofit conservation group, Washington's tree loss is about average for large cities - - trees covered 37 percent of the city’s land in 1973 and have shrunk to 21 percent or less today.

Loss of trees make the city less attractive, increases rainwater runs off the land and into streams and reservoirs instead of being absorbed into the ground,  and diminishes the city's air quality.

Philanthropist Betty Brown Casey endowed the city with $50 million in 2001 to preserve and restore trees. The Casey Trees Endowment Fund, administered by the Garden Club of America, is initially being used to help establish the new tree-tracking system to get information on the inventory.

EPA to Change DC Air Designation

The D.C. area was supposed to meet Clean Air Act standards by 1999. The agency had proposed allowing the region until 2005 to lower the amount of ozone-forming particles in the air, but a federal appellate court struck that down in July as illegal. EPA has given notice of a proposed change of classification from "serious" to "severe" in the Nov 12, 2002 edition of the Federal Register. That process, after a 30-day period for public comment, should produce a new classification by late January.  The Clean Air Act gave all cities until 1999 to meet standards for curtailing the amount of ozone particles, or smog, which aggravate asthma and other respiratory problems. The Washington region, including the District and 10 counties in Maryland and Virginia, had an average ozone level of 0.132 from 1997 to 1999. The federal limit is 0.12.

Areas that are found to be in severe violation of the EPA standards must reduce ozone-forming emissions -- from smokestacks, factories, car exhaust pipes and other sources -- by at least 3 percent a year until they come into compliance. The EPA had given Washington and other areas -- including cities such as Atlanta and St. Louis -- until 2005 to meet the standards, but a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck that policy in July as "arbitrary and capricious."

Once the reclassification takes effect, the region will have to write a new clean air plan and impose stricter standards for factories, plants and perhaps automobiles. Metropolitan Washington recorded its worst levels of air quality in a decade this summer, with two Code Purple days, which means the air is "very" unhealthful; nine Code Red days, the next-highest level of alert for dangerous ozone; and 19 Code Orange days, which means the air is unhealthful for sensitive groups. 

Electric Vehicles in DC Area

According to the Electric Vehicle Association of Greater Washington, eighty-five electric vehicles are known to be operating in the Baltimore-Washington Region.  Maryland does not have a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) requirement such as the one in California (Cali recently backed-off of its ZEV requirement due to their electricity crisis in 2001).  According to the association, the state legislature is considering various incentives for EVs and other Clean Fuel Vehicles.

Many EVs in Maryland are private conversions built by enthusiasts who refuse to wait for the big car manufacturers to deliver EVs.  Sheehy Ford in Marlow Heights if offering Ford Ranger EVs for lease.

The Electric Vehicle Association of Greater Washington, D.C. is a non profit organization of electric vehicle owners, hobbyists, educators and enthusiasts dedicated to promoting the use of electric vehicles as an environmental and energy alternative.  EVADC, formed in 1980 as a chapter of the Electric Auto Association (EAA), holds monthly meetings on the second Tuesday of each month form 7-9:30 p.m. are various locations.  Currently, the club meets at the NIH Building 31 in Bethesda, Maryland.  For information and directions visit their website at http://www.evadc.org  Or contact EVADC President Dave Goldstein at (301)869-4954 (goldie.ev1@juno.com) or Program Chairman Charlie Garlow at garlow.charlie@epamail.epa.gov

Army Corp Pollutes DC/MD and EPA

Washington area drivers will have their tailpipes monitored and their license plates photographed by high tech sensors and red-light-type cameras.  The threat of losing federal transportation funds if pollution isn't reduced by 2005 has Washington-area officials contemplating more innovative and stringent measures than exist today.

The pollution patrols begin scanning the exhaust from hundreds of thousands of area cars in March to help meet federal emissions standards. Privacy advocates see the license plate photos as an invasion, while advocates for the poor argue that people shouldn't be penalized for not being able to afford newer, less polluting cars.  Heavy polluters caught by the scanners will be required to fix their cars to make them run cleanlier.

Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality has hired a contractor, Environmental Systems Products (nine-month $300,000 pilot program), to use an "AccuScan Remote Vehicle Emissions Testing System" at on-ramps and other high-traffic areas. The system shoots an invisible beam of light through a car's exhaust plume to measure a range of pollutants, and a video camera records license plate numbers. Computers in a van parked nearby crunch the emissions data.

Officials at will use the results to study the effectiveness of Northern Virginia's inspection program, which requires motorists to get their car exhausts checked every two years. They also hope to determine how much pollution cars are causing from Maryland, the District and elsewhere.

Officials in Maryland have no plans for an enforcement or "clean screening" program, officials there said. In the spring, D.C. officials said, sensors will be deployed at city borders to target cars entering and leaving and get a clearer picture of the sources of pollution.

Crassostrea ariakensis (Chinese Oyster)

September 2004 -- The National Academy of Science has called for more extensive research before Maryland environmental officials distribute, nonnative (Crassostrea ariakensis) oysters into the Chesapeake Bay. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is completing an environmental impact statement and wants to introduce the oyster to the bay in 2005.  The Maryland House Environmental Matters Committee believes that not enough research has been conducted on the species for it to be responsibly introduced into the Chesapeake Bay.  Governor Ehrlich believes ariakensis are the Bay's last hope for oyster restoration.

The ariakensis oysters are native to China.  DNR is contracting with scientists in Maryland and Virginia to find out if ariakensis would bring in parasites or diseases or would overtake native Chesapeake oysters. Ariakensis, which have been farmed in the Pacific waters off Oregon for decades, are larger than the Bay's native oysters and reportedly grow faster.  

Center Supports The Intercounty Connector

The environmental review for the intercounty connector has begun.  We believe that the connector can be built to provide traffic relief without harming the environment.  We desperately need to expedite the study so that we can begin building this important connection between Interstate 270 in Montgomery County and I-95/Route 1 in Prince George's County. Opponents say the new highway would promote sprawl, increase pollution devastate three stream valleys, parkland, wetlands, and wildlife habitat. We believe that wetlands, watersheds, flora and fauna can be protected with "a state-of-the-art, limited access east-west highway."

The study should take about two years. A draft report of the study is scheduled to be issued in fall 2004. A plan should be finalized and approved by the Federal Highway Administration by summer 2005. Former Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) canceled that study in 1997 after saying a draft report found too many environmental problems.

Mirant's Chalk Point Plant

Oct 2004 -- Mirant Mid-Atlantic,  a subsidiary of Mirant Corp, owns and operates Chalk Point power plant located in Southern Maryland.  Mirant is an Atlanta-based power generation and trading company that owns or controls 27 power plants. It was spun off in 2001 from Southern Corp., a major power supplier.  Chalk Point, Maryland's largest power plant has been on and off a federal list of "high-priority violators" of the Clean Air Act. The plant was issued a notice by the State of Maryland in June 2004 for exceeding limits on sulfur dioxide, a pollutant that aggravates heart and lung problems and contributes to acid rain.

Harvard University public health researchers concluded in a 2002 report that microscopic soot-like particles from Chalk Point and four other Washington-area power plants, two of which are owned by Mirant, cause an estimated 270 premature deaths a year from heart attacks and lung disease.

Some deaths linked to Chalk Point and the other plants could be prevented if the utilities install modern pollution control equipment. One of the most effective controls, scrubbers, are tall silos lined with shower heads that spray a mixture of water and limestone into exhaust to remove sulfur dioxide and soot-like particles.  Adding scrubbers at Chalk Point could cost at least $100 million.

Mirant recently applied for state permits for installation of a $25 million device at Chalk Point by June that would inject ammonia to reduce by half the plant's emission of nitrogen oxides. Chalk Point also participates in a regional emissions trading program expanded this spring by the Bush administration. It paid for the right to exceed federal limits for nitrogen oxides by 57 percent last year, according to EPA.

Mirant has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy since July 2003, and owes $35 million in delinquent taxes to Prince George's, Charles and Montgomery counties, according to those governments.  The company's business practices are being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department and the California attorney general. Prosecutors are probing allegations that the company used illegal, Enron-like trading strategies that caused "extensive manipulation of the California energy market," according to California officials and a report filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mirant bought Chalk Point and three other Washington area power plants in July 2000 from PEPCO.  Chalk Point pollutes more than plants with new generators because it is powered in part by two 1960s coal-fired steam boilers. Because they were built before the passage of the federal air pollution law in 1970, the EPA granted a "grandfathered" status, which means Chalk Point does not immediately have to install emission controls required for new plants. Late in the Clinton administration, the EPA concluded that several utilities had been ignoring a 1977 amendment to the air pollution law that required grandfathered plants to add modern pollution controls when they made improvements beyond "routine maintenance."

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Electric Vehicles ARE America's Future

In principle, a fuel cell operates like a battery. Unlike a battery, a fuel cell does not run down or require recharging. It will produce energy in the form of electricity and heat as long as fuel is supplied.

A fuel cell consists of two electrodes sandwiched around an electrolyte. Oxygen passes over one electrode and hydrogen over the other, generating electricity, water and heat.

Sediment Sampling Program Completed for the Season

Field crews working for the General Electric Company (GE) started the process of collecting approximately 30,000 sediment samples from the Upper Hudson in early October.  The two-year sediment sampling program will provide information needed to design the cleanup plan for the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site.  Data from the sediment sampling program is necessary to determine the precise areas of the Upper Hudson between Fort Edward and the Troy Dam that require dredging.

Between October 3 and November 1, more than 5,500 samples were collected from approximately 1,000 locations.  This represents approximately 20% of the total sample locations. Core tubes are used to collect sediment samples.  On October 31, core collection was suspended for the season due to safety concerns associated with cold weather conditions.  EPA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and its contractors, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) oversaw the sediment sampling operations.

GE will begin to collect the remainder of the 30,000 samples in the Spring.  The analysis of samples collected during October 2002 is on-going.  The results of the 2002 sampling will be available in the Spring.

Boat Trips for Media Conducted during Sediment Sampling:

On October 9th  EPA conducted a boat tour of the Upper Hudson sediment sampling effort for members of the media.  Television stations representing major network affiliates and print reporters attended.  The participants were taken to several sediment sampling (coring) locations on the river where coring boats were taking samples from the river bottom. Television cameras and print photographers were able to get closeups of the coring process while EPA, USACE and GE representatives provided a play-by-play description.

Sediment Processing/Transfer Facility Siting Process Initiated

EPA's cleanup plan for the Hudson River PCBs Superfund site calls for the dredging and removal of approximately 2.65 million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediments from the Upper Hudson River.  Specialized facilities (sediment processing/transfer facilities) that will be used to dewater, process and transfer the dredged sediments are a crucial part of the cleanup.

Sediment Processing/Transfer Facilities Will Perform Several Major Functions:

o    Transferring sediment from the edge of the river to the processing area;
o    Sediment processing, including the removal of water (dewatering) and stabilization;
o    Treating the removed water, and
o    Transferring stabilized sediment to trains or barges for transport to licensed, off-site disposal facilities or for beneficial use.

EPA has retained Ecology & Environment, Inc. (E&E), headquartered in New York State, to assist the Agency in identifying potential sites for sediment processing/transfer facilities.  As an initial step, E&E prepared the Hudson River PCBs Superfund Site Facility Siting Concept Document, December 2002.  The Concept Document identifies the criteria and process that will be used in selecting the sediment processing/transfer facility locations.

THE FACILITY SITING PROCESS:

o    Development of criteria for guiding the facility siting and decision-making process;
o    Process established for identifying, screening, recommending, and selecting locations;
o    Public input solicited;
o    Identification of preliminary candidate sites using engineering criteria;
o    List of preliminary candidate sites released to the public for input;
o    Identification of final candidate sites by screening and evaluating preliminary sites using
     engineering criteria and additional environmental and quality of life considerations;
o    List of final candidate sites released to the public for input;
o    Site-specific field evaluations (environmental and engineering feasibility investigations)
     conducted on each of the final candidate sites;
o    Preparation of field investigation reports;
o    Announcement of recommended site(s) to the public;
o    Public meetings and comment period;
o    Final site(s) selected; and
o    Report issued documenting the facility siting process, rationale used to screen and
     evaluate preliminary and final candidate sites, identification of selected site(s), and
     reasons for the decision.

Details of the facility siting process and criteria can be found in the Concept Document and in the Project Update: Facility Siting, December 2002, both of which are available on-line at www.epa.gov/hudson or by contacting EPA at (518) 747-4389 and requesting a copy.

E&E also is developing a base Geographical Information System (GIS) map of the facility siting
study area to be used in the siting process.  This map will include information from federal and
state databases (e.g., roads, railways, hazardous waste listings, and endangered species listings)
and local land use and tax parcel data from the four Upper Hudson counties within the facility
siting study area (Washington, Saratoga, Rensselaer, and Albany Counties).

Engineering Performance Standards:

The ROD calls for peer review by independent scientists of the dredging resuspension, residuals,
and production rate performance standards and the attendant monitoring program, and a second
peer review of the report prepared after the end of the first phase of dredging; it will evaluate the
dredging with respect to these performance standards. The dredging will be conducted in two
phases. The first phase will be the first construction season of dredging. The dredging during that
year will be implemented initially at less than full scale operation.  It will include a monitoring
program of all dredging operations.  During the second phase of dredging, conducted at full-
scale, EPA will continue to monitor, evaluate performance data and make necessary adjustments.

Engineering Performance Standards:

Resuspension Performance Standard:     Intended to guide the monitoring and control of PCB
releases during dredging operations.

Residuals Performance Standard:   Will provide a basis to assess compliance with the target PCB concentration for the dredged river bottom following completion of dredging.

Productivity Performance Standard:   Will propose a reasonable and achievable production rate and/or volume for the dredging of contaminated sediments from the Upper Hudson River.

DEVELOPING ENGINEERING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

o    Development of preliminary draft engineering performance standards;
o    Preparation of a document describing each preliminary draft engineering performance standard;
o    Submittal of the preliminary draft engineering performance standards document for public        review and comment;
o    Development of revised draft engineering performance standards, taking public input into consideration;
o    Revised draft engineering performance standards submitted to an independent peer review panel;
o    Peer review panel meeting and evaluation of revised draft engineering performance standards;
o    Peer review panel conclusions and recommendations submitted to EPA;
o    Final engineering performance standards developed, taking into consideration the conclusions and recommendations of the peer review panel;
o    EPA review and, as necessary, adjustment of the final engineering performance standards        prior to commencement of Phase 1 dredging operations;
o    Implementation of Phase 1 dredging operations and attendant monitoring program;
o    At the end of Phase 1 dredging, preparation of a report evaluating the dredging based on
       the final engineering performance standards;
o    Release of Phase 1 monitoring data and submittal of Phase 1 report to the public and peer review panel;
o    Peer review panel report containing conclusions and recommendations;
o    If necessary, EPA revision of final Phase 1 engineering performance standards; and
o    Final Phase 2 engineering performance standards issued by EPA.

DEVELOPING QUALITY OF LIFE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS:

o    Approach for development of quality of life performance standards defined by EPA;
o    Fact sheet on quality of life performance standards submitted to the public for input;
o    Development of draft quality of life performance standards;
o    Public input on draft quality of life performance standards;
o    Final quality of life performance standards for Phase 1 dredging operations developed,
      taking into consideration public input on the draft standards;
o    Implementation of Phase 1 dredging operations and attendant monitoring program;
o    Public input on Phase 1 dredging operations and monitoring data;
o    If necessary, EPA revision of final Phase 1 quality of life performance standards; and
o    Final Phase 2 quality of life performance standards issued.

Draft Community Involvement Plan Under Development

EPA is being assisted in developing a new community involvement plan for the Hudson River PCBs site by Marasco Newton Group, Ltd. (MNG), an independent firm hired by EPA. Input from  community interviews and community workshops conducted by MNG was used in its development of recommendations for the new community involvement plan.  These recommendations are presented in the Stage 2 Report and Recommendations, December 2002, which was issued by MNG on December 16, 2002 and is available by contacting EPA at (518) 747-4389 and requesting a copy.

Marasco Newton's Stage 2 Report and Recommendations presents three types of recommendations on community involvement:

-  Principles of rigorous and meaningful public participation for guiding community involvement activities;
-  Key Elements for a community involvement program that define the important activities to be
   implemented through EPA's Community Involvement Plan; and
-  Recommended Approaches to implement the key elements of community involvement.

A draft Community Involvement Plan (CIP) is in the final stage of development. The CIP will serve as the blueprint for public participation throughout design and dredging operations and will be released by EPA for public review and comment quite soon.  A 30-day comment period on the draft CIP will be held, during which we will hold public meetings and  availability sessions to discuss the draft CIP, answer questions and listen to the community's comments.

Contacts & Feedback:

If you have comments on this progress report, or have suggestions for future progress reports, please contact David Kluesner, Community Involvement Coordinator, U.S. EPA, Region 2, at (212) 637-3653 or e-mail at kluesner.dave@epa.gov.

EPA Hudson River Field Office:
421 Lower Main Street, Hudson Falls, NY 12839
(518) 747-4389
Business Hours:
Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
(evening hours by appointment)
hrfo@capital.net

N.G. Kaul, Director, Hudson River Field Office
Leo Rosales, Community Involvement Coordinator
Danielle Adams, Office Manager (Ecology & Environment)
Mary Harrington, Administrative Assistant (Ecology & Environment)

 

CAFE

Dec 2002  The Bush administration endorsed a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposal for  increasing the mileage fuel economy standards (corporate average fuel economy or CAFE) for light trucks by 1.5 miles per gallon over three years. The requirement, covering sport-utility vehicles, minivans and pickup trucks, will begin with the 2005 model year and increase the average standard for such trucks to 22.2 miles per gallon in the 2007 model year. NHTSA believes it will save 2.5 billion gallons of gasoline.

The average standard for other passenger cars is 27.5 miles per gallon and 20.7 for light trucks, SUVs, and minivans across a manufacturer's product line. The change will take effect after a 60-day comment period. Congress has routinely imposed a freeze on CAFE rulemaking. Last year, Congress, at the request of the Bush administration lifted the freeze, enabling NHTSA's proposal.

Utility Industry Status Circa 2002

Allegheny Energy Inc. in Hagerstown, Md., didn't have the funds to meet collateral demands on its trading operations and defaulted on some contracts. That put the company in technical default on major bank loans and now the company is in do-or-die negotiations with its lenders to refinance $1.3 billion in secured debt and $700 million in working capital.

Led by Enron, most of the industry adopted "fair value" or "mark-to-market" accounting rules, which permitted them to use current energy prices to record the value of long-term energy supply contracts as current income. That worked handsomely for the traders when energy prices spiked in 2000, but not since power prices fell in the summer of 2001.

Now the accounting industry has decided to bar the practice for energy supply contracts. Companies can record income only when power is delivered. The change will further weaken the financial position of some companies that traded heavily, creating a greater risk of loan defaults.

Southern Co. in Atlanta, Consolidated Edison in New York, FirstEnergy Corp. based in Akron, Ohio, and Exelon Corp. in Chicagoare long-established energy companies that have kept large transmission networks, low-cost generating plants or both. As power distributors to multi-state franchises of households and businesses, they are assured of a steady stream of customers' cash -- enough to comfortably manage dividend payments.

The Washington area's biggest power supplier, Potomac Electric Power Co., sold its generating plants in preparation for electricity deregulation in the capital region, and its business also rests on a large distribution franchise. Constellation Energy, which owns generating plants and the Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. distribution network, has climbed back to within 25 percent of its 2002 high mark.

In the middle group are AEP and Duke Energy in Charlotte -- diversified power companies with solid franchises that also dove into the power-trading business. AEP and Duke's shares are still down by more than 40 percent from 2002 peak levels.

At the bottom of the Dow utility index are two companies, TXU Corp. in Dallas and AES Corp. in Arlington, hit hard because their investments in foreign power operations have gone bad. They are down more than 75 percent from 2002 stock price peaks. Just yesterday, Standard & Poor's warned that if AES is unsuccessful at refinancing $2.1 billion in debt by Dec. 15 it could be forced into a bankruptcy reorganization.

A third group of companies -- Southern's spinoff Mirant Corp. in Atlanta; Reliant Resources Inc. in Houston, and Williams Cos. in Tulsa -- took the biggest gambles on deregulation, buying power plants and launching costly trading operations. With their revenue withered and big debts coming due, the companies are struggling to survive.

Source: Washington Post, Nov 12, 2002

Senate Energy Committee Passes Energy Bill

The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee approved S.14, comprehensive energy legislation (The Energy Policy Act of 2003) by a vote of 13-10 on April 30, 2003.  Consideration now moves to the Senate Floor. Upon passage, a House/Senate conference committe will reconcile the legislation.

House Approves Energy Bill 

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 247-175 to pass H.R.6, the Energy Policy Act of 2003, on Friday, April 11, 2003.  The energy plan increases domestic energy supplies; renews and enhances the energy delivery infrastructure; increases energy efficiency and conservation efforts; and provides energy assistance to America's most poor families (a provision making available to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) the expected $2.1 billion in revenue from ANWR).

The Senate must now approve a bill.  The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed an energy bill that includes $30 billion in subsidies for nuclear,and $7.2 billion in various tax incentives for energy efficiency, renewable fuels (wind and solar power) and for research into a hydrogen-powered fuel-cell car.

The bill does not include automobile fuel-efficiency improvements—an effective way to reduce America's dependence on imported oil. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, average fuel economy of the nation's cars and trucks dropped in 2002 to its lowest level in 22 years because of increasing sales of sport utility vehicles.

The Senate Finance Committee approved more than $15 billion in energy tax incentives last week.  The package includes incentives for the purchase of energy efficiency appliances and alternative fuel vehicles, clean coal technology, and oil and gas production. 

 Energy Derivatives

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regulates our nation’s automobile and light truck gas mileage (Corporate Average Fuel Economy--CAFE) standards.   NHTSA has decided against raising gas mileage because automakers are against it.  AAEA supports a 50-mile per gallon standard for cars and trucks for the 2004 model year.  AAEA is also working to convert our nation to zero emission electric and fuel celled vehicles.

Congress voted last year to lift a ban that had prevented NHTSA from raising fuel efficiency for light trucks. The new law requires NHTSA to issue a fuel-economy standard for the 2004 model year for light trucks, pickup trucks, minivans and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) by April 1, 2002. NHTSA wants to continue with the current standard, which requires light trucks to average 20.7 miles per gallon.  (See Latest Development)

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OIL

Petroleum Will Dominate Energy News in 2003

 Crude oil prices enter 2003 at their highest level in two years. This will not help an already weakened economy.  A near-term recovery appears unlikely in 2003.  The price of crude oil has risen to almost $33.00 a barrel (42 gallons).  A decent price for today's crude oil is $20-30.  This price range is enough to keep the oil companies happy and the economy greased. 

Unfortunately, world events are inserting uncertainty into the oil picture.  A general strike in Venezuela against the government of President Hugo Ch찼vez has halted nearly all oil production. Venezuela is the fourth-largest exporter of oil to the United States, accounting for 14 percent of crude oil imports. A possible war between the United States and Iraq will further complicate the oil situation.  This could trigger additional delivery complications from the Persian Gulf. 

Korea has threatened to nuclear bomb us if we do not provide them with oil.  Remember that the U.S. entered World War II because Japan bombed Pearl Harbor over U.S. refusal to deliver oil.  If unrest continues in Venezuela, the U.S. is engagd in wars with Iraq and Korea and Muslim countries get made for fundamentalist reasons, the oil situation in America could get very precarious.  We use about 20 million barrels of oil every single day.  And we WILL, like other countries, go to war for oil.

This is why AAEA promotes the aggressive conversion to an electric economy:  especially combining nuclear power with electric, hybrid and hydrogen vehicles.  We should not HAVE to go to war over oil.