Clean Air Act. "Hammond firm faces pollution violations" reports the Gary Post Tribune today in this story about Jupiter Aluminum Corp. "The EPA said Jupiter violated some Clean Air Act rules for secondary aluminum production. The rules had to do with such issues as running performance tests, implementing a monitoring plan and issuing reports on pollution-control equipment. The EPA regulations for aluminum plants like Jupiter’s are relatively recent, Schoenfield said; they went into effect in March 2003. 'We believe that when we complete the testing and documentation, we will be shown to be in substantial compliance,' Schoenfield said. Jupiter also is negotiating with IDEM to resolve alleged air and waste violations."
Landfill. According to the Columbia City Post&Mail:
A former Whitley County landfill is being sold to the highest bidder. A 38-acre tract of land located on the east side of C.R. 125W is scheduled to be auctioned on June 29, despite the wishes of Whitley County officials, who say the land is a liability.More landfill. This from the Muncie Star Press:Due the land's prior use, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has placed regulations on the property's future use. County officials would like to ensure the proper use of the land, because they are, in part, responsible for maintaining the land's integrity. "A lot of things need to be done to maintain this property; I am not sure people wanting to buy it realize that," said Jeff Gage, Whitley County attorney.
WINCHESTER - Randolph Farms Landfill will become the highest elevation in Indiana and one of the largest landfills in the state if its proposed expansion is approved, opponents told the Board of Zoning Appeals of Randolph County Monday night. "We have the makings of a future tragedy," warned Lee Lumpkin, an elderly farmer. "This landfill will haunt Randolph County." Randolph Farms is seeking a special exception to expand from 120 acres to 320 acres, which could keep it in operation another 50 years.Toxic emissions report. The Washington Post reports today on the annual toxic emissions report:
Industry released 5 percent more toxic chemicals into the environment in 2002 than the year before, the Environmental Protection Agency reported yesterday. The latest statistics, compiled in the agency's annual Toxic Release Inventory, represent a setback: In 2001, according to the inventory, toxic emissions had declined by about 16 percent. Environmental groups, moreover, charged yesterday that polluters were releasing four to five times more toxic material than they reported.More about toxic emissions. The Louisville Courier Journal also cites from the "report by two environmental group" in this story:Kim Nelson, who directs the EPA's Environmental Information Office, said much of last year's increase was caused by an Arizona-based copper smelting facility that closed and had to dispose of significant waste material. Without that facility, she said, emissions dropped by 3 percent nationwide. * * *
The 2002 figures marked the first time since 1997 that reported emissions increased. Releases of lead increased 3.2 percent and mercury jumped by 10 percent, though Nelson attributed the mercury increase to a single gold mine. However, emissions of dioxin, a carcinogenic byproduct of various industrial processes, fell by 5 percent.
Phil Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust, disputed the EPA's explanation of the 2002 increase. "The growth in emissions is too big to be explained away by pointing at a smelter here or a factory there," he said. "This is an across-the-board increase in pollution."
In addition, two environmental groups released a study yesterday that suggested the government figures sharply understated emissions. They based their critique on findings by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which determined the concentration of toxic substances in the air around refineries and chemical plants was far higher than the figures reported to state and federal authorities.
Industrial plants across the country might be under-reporting their toxic emissions by as much as 16percent because of weaknesses in the federal reporting system, according to a study released yesterday by two environmental groups. [Here is a summary of the report; the links to the two groups and the complete report are below]Stormwater. "Angola's runoff to get legal test: Residents worry stormwater permitting lacks public input" is the headline to this story published yesterday in the Fort Wayne News Sentinel. Some quotes:The problem, they say, is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and states do not require enough actual air monitoring to verify the companies' annual pollution reports.
And the companies generally base their reports on computer calculations and modeling that often are "outdated and inaccurate," says the report by the Environmental Integrity Project, based in Washington, D.C., and the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention, based in Texas.
"Systematic under-reporting happens today because most air pollution is now estimated — not monitored," said Kelly Haragan, Environmental Integrity Project counsel. "To make matters worse, the `guesswork' is being done by the polluters who have the incentives to keep the numbers as low as possible."
Challenges faced by Angola dealing with stormwater are similar to those of many communities in Indiana and the Midwest. But the situation in the Steuben County city could take on statewide significance if the Sierra Club, an environmental-advocacy organization based in San Francisco, follows through with a plan to intervene in the McCoys' appeal of Angola's state stormwater-discharge permit.Posted by Marcia Oddi at June 23, 2004 06:50 PMAt issue is whether the state provided for enough public input when developing the permit process, known as Rule 13, said Tom Neltner, an Indianapolis attorney who is handling the McCoys' appeal pro bono. Neltner is founder of Improving Kids' Environment based in Indianapolis, another environmental-advocacy organization.
The stormwater-permitting process was required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In a California case, however, a federal court ruled EPA regulations were too broad and did not allow for sufficient input, Neltner said.
Based on the federal court decision, Neltner and the McCoys are challenging the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's proposal to issue a general stormwater permit to Angola. In an appeal filed with an Indiana administrative law judge in Indianapolis, they argue IDEM's stormwater-permit process fails to give residents enough input setting detailed discharge requirements for their community. The appeal currently is scheduled for final hearing Jan. 19.
The Sierra Club became interested because, if the McCoys win, the decision could be applied to 148 Indiana cities and towns also going through the stormwater-permit process, said Orli Cotel, Sierra Club spokeswoman. If the federal government doesn't pass regulations adequately protecting residents, the state of Indiana should, Cotel said. "You can always have higher than the minimum standard."
IDEM has had EPA attorneys review Indiana's stormwater-permit process, said Cyndi Wagner, chief of the agency's wet weather section. EPA attorneys believe IDEM's rules are structured differently and won't be voided by the federal court ruling. She believes any challenge to IDEM's rules will have to be done on a community-by-community basis, instead of a statewide level.