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Volume XIII, Edition 3 March 1, 2013
GATEKEEPER NEWSLETTER
Lou Trammell, Chair
http://www.dem.azdema.gov/
Janice K. Brewer, Governor
http://www.governor.state.az.us/
Mark Howard, Executive Director
http://www.azserc.org
Arizona Emergency Response Commission
5636 East McDowell Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85008-3495
Chemical leak re-ported
at Pace plant: 3
EPA Requires Nevada
Gold Mining Compa-nies
to Correct Re-porting
Violations:
4
EPA Releases State
Enforcement Perform-ance
Information and
Comparative Maps:
6
EPA Releases Com-prehensive
Informa-tion
on Chemical Use:
8
EPA Reaches $1.6
Million Settlement at
Operating Industries
Superfund Site:
10
3 sickened by chemi-cal
leak: 12
Protect Workers From
Carbon Monoxide: 14
Labor and environmental groups,
along with some Democrats, argue
that the existing CFATS law lacks
teeth by failing to authorize Home-land
Security to require any specific
security measures. The mandate that
facilities develop site security plans
to be evaluated by the government is
not enough, they argue.
In addition, the CFATS program has
been under fire from both sides of the
aisle for the slow pace at which it has
approved site security plans since its
inception in 2007, along with a litany
of management problems that were
revealed in an internal memo leaked
to the press early last year.
In September, the new leaders of the
DHS program testified that they had
completed 70 of 95 “action items”
the memo identified as necessary to
fix the management problems. More
recently, a major industry group this
month rolled out a plan it says will
help the government increase the
pace at which it can approve site
security plans.
Article continued on page 12
“We need to pass my legislation to
require facilities to thoroughly
review risk and help us move to-ward
more secure plants and safer
communities,” said Lautenberg, a
senior Democrat on the Senate
Environment and Public Works
Committee. “Hundreds of plants
have already switched to safer and
more secure chemicals and proc-esses,
and this common-sense legis-lation
would build on these
achievements and increase safety
nationwide.”
Lautenberg’s legislation would
require managers of facilities using
dangerous chemicals to evaluate
whether they could reduce the
consequences of an attack by
switching to safer chemicals or
processes. If reducing risk in this
manner is determined feasible, any
plant designated as “high risk” by
the government would be required
to make such a switch.
Industry organizations have long
said requiring such a move to so-called
“inherently safer technolo-gies”
would be too onerous. The
requirements of the existing
CFATS program are enough to
ensure security measures are both
sufficient and efficient, they say.
Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., has
introduced a pair of bills that would im-pose
tougher security requirements on
chemical and water facilities that use
hazardous substances.
One of the two measures that Lautenberg
introduced on Wednesday would impose
additional requirements on industry
through the Homeland Security Depart-ment’s
6-year-old Chemical Facility
Antiterrorism Standards. The other would
authorize the Environmental Protection
Agency to regulate security at water fa-cilities
that use dangerous chemicals – an
area that is exempt from Homeland Secu-rity’s
CFATS program.
The two bills appear aimed at addressing
the concerns of some Democrats – along
with labor and environmental groups –
that the CFATS program in its current
form does not sufficiently shield indus-trial
facilities from terrorist attacks that
could release lethal materials into the
surrounding area. In a press release, Lau-tenberg
cited a report environmental
groups released on Tuesday suggesting
that 12,440 facilities throughout the coun-try
could harm people if damaged during
a terrorist attack. The report cites EPA
data on wastewater treatment plants,
refineries and other facilities that use
hazardous chemicals.
Bills would impose tougher chemical
security rules:
P a g e 2 G A T E K E E P E R
9th Annual Gatekeeper Regulatory Roundup
SAVE - THE - DATE
Early-Bird Pricing until January 31, 2013.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: For Your Site & in Your Town
April 2 - 3, 2013
Chaparral Suites Resort
5001 N. Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale, Arizona
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Abstracts are being accepted until January 31, 2013.
Suggested Topics:
Lean Environmental Practices, Wastewater Treatment Technologies, Vapor Intrusion, Stack Measurement Techniques, Tank
Emissions, Groundwater Plume Delineation, Pillars of Sustainability, NSR Rule Revisions, Preparing for EPCRA and CAA
112(r) Inspections, Greenhouse Gas BACT, Alternative Fuels, Sustainable Business Practices, Emergency Planning & Re-sponse,
NEPA/Wildlife Considerations, Preparing for Environmental Litigation, Pharmaceuticals and/or other Emerging
Drinking Water Concerns.
CALL FOR SPONSORS
Sponsorship opportunities are available at the following levels:
•Break ($250) •Breakfast ($350) •Premier ($3,000)
•Lunch ($1,500) •Corporate ($2,000)
Conference Chairperson:
Michael Ford
(602) 650-2321
FAX (602) 916-1500
mford@polsinelli.com
For Sponsors and Exhibitors
Sponsorship Coordinator: Exhibitor Coordinator:
Laura Adams Nancy Nesky
(480) 433-6718 (480) 226-4991
ladams2@republicservices.com nnesky@itsi.com
Website: www.epaz.org
V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 EPA Corner P a g e 3
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environ-mental
Protection Agency (EPA) an-nounced
that it reached settlements with
two subsidiaries of the Kemira Group for
violations of chemical and pesticide laws.
The settlement with Kemira Chemicals
resolves alleged violations of the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act, including the sale and distribution of
an unregistered pesticide, the sale and dis-tribution
of misbranded pesticides, and
pesticide production reporting violations.
The sale and distribution of unregistered
or misbranded pesticides can cause serious
illness in humans and be harmful to the
environment. Under the terms of the
agreement, Kemira Chemicals has cor-rected
the alleged violations and
will pay a civil penalty of
$301,600.
EPA also reached an agreement
with Kemira Water Solutions after
an EPA inspection identified 27
violations of the Toxic Substance
Control Act’s Inventory Update
Reporting (IUR) rule for the 2006
reporting period. The IUR rule
requires manufacturers and im-porters
of certain chemical sub-stances
to report the production
volume and location of each facil-ity
producing these chemical sub-stances.
The information collected
is used to support risk screening
and assessment and makes up the most
comprehensive source of basic screen-ing-
level, exposure-related information
on chemicals available to EPA. Kemira
Water Solutions has since submitted
the required information to EPA and
will pay a civil penalty of $503,110.
Kemira Chemicals, Inc. and Kemira
Water Solutions, Inc. are both subsidi-aries
of Kemira Group, a global chemi-cal
company with U.S. headquarters in
Atlanta, Ga.
More information about the settlement:
http://www.epa.gov/enforcement/
waste/cases/kemiragroup.html
EPA Announces Settlements with Company for Multiple
Violations of Chemical Reporting and Pesticide Laws:
Chemical leak reported at Pace plant:
Northwest Florida Daily
News – (Florida) Chemical
leak reported at Pace plant.
Taminco Pace No. 4 plant
reported a DMA60 chemical
leak after a spill during a rail
transfer. Multiple people were
affected at the scene, and a
shelter was put in place as a
precautionary measure. Source:
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/
local/update-chemical-leak-reported-
at-pace-plant-1.83572
P a g e 4 G A T E K E E P E R
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environ-mental
Protection Agency (EPA) settled
with three gold mining companies, all sub-sidiaries
of Barrick Gold Corporation, for
failing to correctly report toxic chemical
releases and waste management activities
as required by the Emergency Planning
and Community Right-to-Know Act
(EPCRA).
“The Toxic Release Inventory program is
a vital tool for tracking toxic releases
across the country, providing transparency
about chemicals in communities,” said
Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compli-ance
Assurance. “The program is under-mined
if companies do not report or misre-port
the use or release of chemicals at their
facilities.”
The companies, Barrick Cortez, Inc., Bar-rick
Gold US, Inc. and Homestake Mining
Company, agreed to pay a total of
$278,000 in penalties and spend an addi-tional
$340,000 to conduct an environ-mentally
beneficial project.
The violations involved incorrect reporting
under the federal Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
at the Cortez Gold Mine near Crescent
Valley, the Ruby Hill Gold Mine near
Eureka, and the Bald Mountain Gold Mine
near the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Ref-uge,
all in Nevada.
After EPA inspectors analyzed the
mines’ records they found that the
facilities failed to submit timely,
complete and correct Toxics Release
Inventory (TRI) reports in 2005,
2006, 2007 and 2008, for toxic
chemicals. These chemicals include
cyanide compounds used to extract
gold from the ore mined at the facili-ties,
and lead and mercury com-pounds
produced during the extrac-tion
process. Under the settlement,
the Barrick gold companies will audit
and correct their TRI reports for 2005
through 2011 to comply with EP-CRA.
There is no evidence to suggest
that the violations posed any immedi-ate
danger to workers at the facilities
or local communities.
The agreement requires a $340,000
supplemental environmental project
at the Cortez mine to identify the
metal compounds formed in its oxide
mill process. The gold companies
will also perform audits at other Bar-rick
facilities in the U.S. (in Nevada
and Montana), correct reporting vio-lations,
if any, and pay a $10,000
penalty per violation, not to exceed
$250,000.
Under EPCRA, facilities that manu-facture,
process, or use toxic chemicals
over certain quantities must file annual
reports estimating the amounts re-leased
to the environment, treated or
recycled on-site, or transferred off-site
for waste management. These reports
are submitted to EPA and the State or
Tribe with jurisdiction over the facil-ity.
EPA compiles this information into
a national TRI database and makes it
available to the public.
Metal ore mining accounts for 98 per-cent
of total TRI releases reported to
EPA in Nevada. This investigation and
enforcement are part of an ongoing
national effort that began in 2008 to
ensure that gold mining facilities are in
compliance, and that the public has
accurate and complete information
about the facilities in their community.
Barrick gold mining facilities in the
U.S. produced approximately 3.38
million ounces (105.6 tons) of gold in
2011, and the Cortez Gold Mine is the
second largest gold mine in the world.
More information on the Toxics Re-lease
Inventory: http://www.epa.gov/tri
EPA's environmental databases, in-cluding
TRI data, can be accessed at:
http://www.epa.gov/enviro
EPA Requires Nevada Gold Mining Companies to Correct
Reporting Violations:
CAMEO Companion is now available for printing please contact:
State of Arizona Department of Corrections
Dirk Johnson, Account Manager
3107 W. Cambridge Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85009
602-272-7600 Ext. 207
Toll Free: 800-992-1738
Fax: 602-272-1007
Cell: 602-388-7230
djohnso1@azcorrections.gov
V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 P a g e 5
SAN FRANCISCO: The U.S. Environ-mental
Protection Agency announced pro-gress
on a coordinated five-year federal
investment of more than $100 million to
address health risks posed by pervasive
uranium contamination on the Navajo Na-tion.
EPA joined five other federal agen-cies
in releasing a report today outlining
the results of their Five-Year Plan. Since
2008, EPA has spent more than $50 mil-lion
to clean up mines, provide safe drink-ing
water, and demolish and replace con-taminated
homes. In addition to federal
funds, EPA has used the Superfund law to
compel responsible parties to perform an
additional $17 million in mine investiga-tions
and cleanups.
Over the past five years, EPA reduced the
most urgent risks to Navajo residents by
remediating 34 contaminated homes, pro-viding
safe drinking water to 1825 fami-lies,
and performing stabilization or
cleanup work at 9 abandoned mines. The
Agency also conducted field assessments
of 240 water supplies and 520 mines to
gain a more complete understanding of the
widespread scope of potential exposures to
uranium contamination on the Navajo Na-tion.
EPA also collaborated with the Na-vajo
Nation EPA, which performed field
assessments of nearly 800 Navajo homes
and other structures.
“This effort has been a great start to ad-dressing
the toxic legacy of uranium min-ing
on Navajo lands,” said Jared Blu-menfeld,
EPA’s Regional Administrator
for the Pacific Southwest. “The work done
to date would not have been possible with-out
the partnership of the six fed-eral
agencies and the Navajo Na-tion’s
EPA and Department of
Justice.”
The Navajo Nation encompasses
more than 27,000 square miles in
the Four Corners area of Arizona,
Colorado and New Mexico. The
unique geology of the region
makes the Navajo Nation rich in
uranium, a radioactive ore in high
demand after the development of
atomic power and weapons at the
close of World War II. Approxi-mately
four million tons of ura-nium
ore were extracted during
mining operations within the Na-vajo
Nation from 1944 to 1986.
Many Navajo people worked the
mines, often raising their families
in close proximity to the mines
and mills.
Uranium mining activities no
longer occur within the Navajo
Nation, but the hazards of uranium
contamination remain. More than
500 abandoned uranium mine
claims and thousands of mine fea-tures,
such as pits, trenches and
holes, with elevated levels of ura-nium,
radium and other radionu-clides
still exist. Health effects
from exposure to these contami-nants
can include lung cancer,
bone cancer and impaired kidney
function.
“On behalf of the Navajo people I
appreciate the leadership of Rep.
Henry Waxman and the members of
Congress who requested a multi-agency
response to the Navajo Nation's
testimony presented at the October
2007 hearing,” said Ben Shelly, Presi-dent
of the Navajo Nation. “While
there have been accomplishments that
improved some conditions, we still
need strong support from the Congress
and the federal agencies to fund the
clean-up of contaminated lands and
water, and to address basic public
health concerns due to the legacy of
uranium mining and milling.”
In 2007, EPA, in cooperation with the
Navajo Nation, together with the Bu-reau
of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Nu-clear
Regulatory Commission (NRC),
the Department of Energy (DOE), the
Centers for Disease Control and Pre-vention
(CDC), and the Indian Health
Service (IHS) developed a Five-Year
Plan to address uranium contamina-tion.
All six federal agencies are com-mitted
to continue working with the
Navajo Nation to further reduce risks
and find long term solutions to the
remaining uranium issues on Navajo
lands.
The current report can be found at:
http://www.epa.gov/region9/
superfund/navajo-nation/pdf/
NavajoUraniumReport2013.pdf
EPA Details Results of $100M Federal Effort to Clean up
Navajo Uranium Contamination:
P a g e 6 G A T E K E E P E R
Agency to host webinar demonstrating
new data features
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environ-mental
Protection Agency (EPA) an-nounced
the release of state dashboards
and comparative maps that provide the
public with information about the per-formance
of state and EPA enforcement
and compliance programs across the coun-try.
“Transparency and access to information
at all levels helps to drive improvements
in environmental performance,” said Cyn-thia
Giles, assistant administrator for
EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compli-ance
Assurance. “Today’s release of state
enforcement information highlights the
important work going on at the state level
to address serious pollution problems and
also underscores areas where states and
EPA may need to strengthen enforcement
and compliance efforts.”
Most states and tribes in the United States
have the authority to implement and en-force
many of the nation’s air, water and
waste laws. The dashboards and maps
include state level data from the last five
years and provide information including
the number of completed inspections,
types of violations found, enforce-ment
actions taken, and penalties
assessed by state. To ensure data
quality, EPA made the maps and
dashboards available to the states in
advance of this public release, in or-der
to provide an opportunity to make
any necessary data corrections.
Users can customize the dashboards
to view state activity, EPA activity,
or combined activity. Where avail-able,
the site also allows users to
view national averages and display
state enforcement trends over time.
The interactive state performance
dashboards are located on EPA’s
Enforcement and Compliance His-tory
Online (ECHO) website. ECHO
is an EPA transparency tool that al-lows
the user to map federal and state
inspection, violation, and enforce-ment
information for more than
800,000 regulated facilities. The state
dashboards and comparative maps
that are available in ECHO are part
of EPA’s commitment to increasing
transparency and providing data to
the public in a format that is easy to
understand and use.
EPA will host two webinars demon-strating
how to use the state
dashboards and comparative maps now
available in ECHO. The first will be
held on February 12, at 1p.m. EST (for
news media only). The second will be
held on Tuesday, February 12, at 3p.m.
EST (for the public). The demonstra-tion
will highlight the new features
added to the tool, important informa-tion
about the data, and how to com-pare
data by state.
Reserve webinar seat: https://
www1.gotomeeting.com/
register/315869032
View the state performance dashboards
and comparative maps: http://www.epa
-echo.gov/echo/stateperformance/
comparative_maps.html
Visit EPA’s ECHO website: http://
www.epa-echo.gov
EPA Releases State Enforcement Performance Information
and Comparative Maps:
V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 P a g e 7
SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environ-mental
Protection Agency reached a settle-ment
with three gold mining companies,
all subsidiaries of Barrick Gold Corpora-tion,
for their failures to correctly report
toxic chemical releases and waste manage-ment
activities. The companies, Barrick
Cortez, Inc., Barrick Gold US, Inc. and
Homestake Mining Company, agreed to
pay a total of $278,000 in fines and spend
an additional $340,000 to conduct an envi-ronmentally
beneficial project.
The violations involved incorrect reporting
under the federal Emergency Planning and
Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
at the Cortez Gold Mine near Crescent
Valley, the Ruby Hill Gold Mine near
Eureka, and the Bald Mountain Gold Mine
near the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Ref-uge,
all in Nevada.
“Cyanide, lead and mercury used at these
mines have the potential to pose a health
threat,” said Jared Blumenfeld, the EPA’s
Regional Administrator for the Pacific
Southwest. “We insist on accurate report-ing
of chemical releases so that citizens
have a clear idea of the risk from the fa-cilities
near their communities.”
Careful analysis of the mines’ records by
EPA inspectors revealed that the facilities
failed to submit timely, complete and cor-rect
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) re-ports
in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, for
toxic chemicals. These chemicals
include cyanide compounds used
to extract gold from the ore mined
at the facilities, and lead and mer-cury
compounds produced during
the extraction process. Under the
settlement, the Barrick gold com-panies
will audit and correct their
TRI reports for 2005 through 2011
to comply with EPCRA. There is
no evidence to suggest that the
violations posed any immediate
danger to workers at the facilities
or local communities.
The agreement requires a
$340,000 supplemental environ-mental
project at the Cortez mine
to identify the metal compounds
formed in its oxide mill process.
The gold companies will also per-form
audits at the other Barrick
facilities in the U.S. (in Nevada
and Montana), correct reporting
violations, if any, and pay a
$10,000 penalty per violation, not
to exceed $250,000.
EPA requires reporting of toxic
chemical releases under EPCRA,
and facilities that manufacture,
process, or use toxic chemicals
over certain quantities must file
annual reports estimating the
amounts released to the environ-ment,
treated or recycled on-site, or
transferred off-site for waste manage-ment.
These reports are submitted to
EPA and the State or Tribe with juris-diction
over the facility. EPA compiles
this information into a national TRI
database and makes it available to the
public.
Metal ore mining accounts for 98% of
total TRI releases reported to EPA in
Nevada. This investigation and en-forcement
are part of an ongoing na-tional
effort that began in 2008 to en-sure
that gold mining facilities are in
compliance, and that the public has
accurate and complete information
about the facilities in their community.
Barrick gold mining facilities in the
U.S. produced approximately 3.38
million ounces (105.6 tons) of gold in
2011, and the Cortez Gold Mine is one
of the largest gold mines in the world.
To find information on the Toxics Re-lease
Inventory visit: http://
www.epa.gov/tri
EPA's environmental databases, in-cluding
the TRI data, can be accessed
at: http://www.epa.gov/enviro
EPA Requires Nevada Gold Mines to Correct Reporting
Violations, Pay $618,000:
P a g e 8 G A T E K E E P E R
EPA recently released the 2012 Chemical
Data Reporting (CDR) information on
more than 7,600 chemicals in commerce.
The CDR database contains comprehen-sive
use and exposure information on the
most widely used chemicals in the United
States.
Companies are now required to provide
information on chemicals used in chil-dren’s
and other consumer products, along
with reports on commercial applications
and industrial uses of chemicals. For the
first time ever, EPA also required compa-nies
to substantiate confidentiality claims
in order to ensure that as much informa-tion
as possible is made available to the
public.
“The 2012 Chemical Data Reporting infor-mation
will help EPA and others better
assess chemicals, evaluate potential expo-sures
and use, and expand efforts to en-courage
the use of safer chemicals,” said
former EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jack-son.
“The CDR data also highlight the
clear need for TSCA reform. Updating this
critical law will ensure that EPA has ac-cess
to the tools and resources it needs to
quickly and effectively assess potentially
harmful chemicals, and safeguard the
health of families across the country.”
The CDR rule, the source of this new
data, was issued under the Toxic
Substances Control Act (TSCA). The
rule requires companies that manu-facture
or import chemicals to report
manufacturing and import data every
four years when site-specific produc-tion
volume exceeds 25,000 lb. This
report is for calendar year 2011. The
EPA received reports on 7,674
chemicals, including 354 that were
reported as used in children’s prod-ucts.
1,704 chemicals were reported
as used in consumer products and
3,073 were used in commercial appli-cations
or products. The remaining
chemicals reported were for indus-trial
use only. The CDR information
includes data on chemicals that are
used in children’s products such as
toys, playground and sporting equip-ment,
arts and crafts materials, and
textiles and furniture.
Chemicals used in consumer prod-ucts,
particularly those intended for
children, present potential for direct
exposure to the public and are priori-ties
for assessment by the agency.
Although reporting on these chemi-cals
is compulsory, currently there
are no requirements under TSCA that
existing chemicals be evaluated for
safety.
Yet EPA has taken action and begun a
process to ensure that chemicals used
by the public on a daily basis are safe.
The process identifies potential chemi-cals
for near-term review and risk as-sessment
under TSCA. In 2012, EPA
released a work plan of 83 chemicals
for further review as part of the
agency’s existing chemicals manage-ment
program. From that list, seven
chemicals were identified for risk as-sessment
development in 2012 and 18
for assessment in 2013 and 2014. In
January 2013, EPA released for public
comment and peer review an initial set
of draft risk assessments of five chemi-cals
for particular uses found in com-mon
household products
.
The 2012 CDR information released
recently is available at http://
www.epa.gov/cdr. Users can download
or search the database. You can tailor
the search results to view information
on specific uses of chemicals, such as
those used in products intended for use
with children.
EPA Releases Comprehensive Information on Chemical Use:
V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 P a g e 9
Second Corporate Guilty Plea Obtained by
Deepwater Horizon Task Force, Second-largest
Criminal Clean Water Act Fines and
Penalties in U.S. History
WASHINGTON - Transocean Deepwater
Inc. pleaded guilty today to a violation of the
Clean Water Act (CWA) for its illegal con-duct
leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon
disaster, and was sentenced to pay $400 mil-lion
in criminal fines and penalties, Attorney
General Holder announced today.
In total, the amount of fines and other crimi-nal
penalties imposed on Transocean are the
second-largest environmental crime recovery
in U.S. history – following the historic $4
billion criminal sentence imposed on BP
Exploration and Production Inc. in connec-tion
with the same disaster.
“Transocean’s guilty plea and sentencing are
the latest steps in the department’s ongoing
efforts to seek justice on behalf of the vic-tims
of the Deepwater Horizon disaster,”
said Attorney General Holder. “Most of the
$400 million criminal recovery – one of the
largest for an environmental crime in U.S.
history – will go toward protecting, restoring
and rebuilding the Gulf Coast region.”
“The Deepwater Horizon explosion was a
senseless tragedy that could have been
avoided,” said Assistant Attorney General
Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s
Criminal Division. “Eleven men died, and
the Gulf’s waters, shorelines, communities
and economies suffered enormous dam-age.
With today’s guilty plea, BP and Trans-ocean
have now both been held criminally
accountable for their roles in this disaster.”
Transocean’s guilty plea was accepted, and
the sentence was imposed, by U.S. District
Judge Jane Triche Milazzo of the Eastern
District of Louisiana. During the guilty plea
and sentencing proceeding, Judge Milazzo
found, among other things, that the sentence
appropriately reflects Transocean’s role in
the offense conduct, and that the criminal
payments directed to the National Academy
of Sciences and National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation are appropriately designed to
help remedy the harm to the Gulf of
Mexico caused by Transocean’s ac-tions.
The judge also noted that the fines
and five year probationary period pro-vide
just punishment and adequate deter-rence.
Transocean pleaded guilty to an informa-tion,
previously filed in federal court in
New Orleans, charging the company
with violating the CWA. During the
guilty plea proceeding today, Transocean
admitted that members of its crew on-board
the Deepwater Horizon, acting at
the direction of BP’s well site leaders,
known as “company men,” were negli-gent
in failing to investigate fully clear
indications that the Macondo well was
not secure and that oil and gas were
flowing into the well.
The criminal resolution is structured to
directly benefit the Gulf region. Under
the order entered by the court pursuant to
the plea agreement, $150 million of the
$400 million criminal recovery is dedi-cated
to acquiring, restoring, preserving
and conserving – in consultation with
appropriate state and other resource man-agers
– the marine and coastal environ-ments,
ecosystems and bird and wildlife
habitat in the Gulf of Mexico and border-ing
states harmed by the Deepwater Ho-rizon
oil spill. This portion of the crimi-nal
recovery will also be directed to sig-nificant
barrier island restoration and/or
river diversion off the coast of Louisiana
to further benefit and improve coastal
wetlands affected by the spill. An addi-tional
$150 million will be used to fund
improved oil spill prevention and re-sponse
efforts in the Gulf through re-search,
development, education and
training.
Transocean was also sentenced, accord-ing
to the plea agreement, to five years of
probation – the maximum term of proba-tion
permitted by law.
A separate proposed civil consent decree,
which resolves the United States’ civil
CWA penalty claims, imposes a record
$1 billion civil Clean Water Act penalty,
and requires significant measures to im-prove
performance and prevent recurrence,
is pending before U.S. District Judge Carl
J. Barbier of the Eastern District of Louisi-ana.
The charges and allegations pending
against individuals in related cases are
merely accusations, and those individuals
are considered innocent unless and until
proven guilty.
The guilty plea and sentencing announced
today are part of the ongoing criminal in-vestigation
by the Deepwater Horizon
Task Force into matters related to the April
2010 Gulf oil spill. The Deepwater Hori-zon
Task Force, based in New Orleans, is
supervised by Assistant Attorney General
Breuer and led by Deputy Assistant Attor-ney
General John D. Buretta, who serves
as the director of the task force. The task
force includes prosecutors from the Crimi-nal
Division and the Environment and
Natural Resources Division of the Depart-ment
of Justice; the U.S. Attorney’s Office
for the Eastern District of Louisiana, as
well as other U.S. Attorneys’ Offices; and
investigating agents from: the FBI; Envi-ronmental
Protection Agency, Criminal
Investigative Division; Environmental
Protection Agency, Office of Inspector
General; Department of Interior, Office of
Inspector General; National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Office of
Law Enforcement; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service; and the Louisi-ana
Department of Environmental Quality.
This case was prosecuted by Deepwater
Horizon Task Force Director John D. Bu-retta,
Deputy Directors Derek A. Cohen
and Avi Gesser, and task force prosecutors
Richard R. Pickens II, Scott M. Cullen,
Colin Black and Rohan Virginkar.
Transocean Pleads Guilty, Is Sentenced to Pay $400 Million in
Criminal Penalties for Criminal Conduct Leading to Deepwater
Horizon Disaster:
P a g e 1 0 G A T E K E E P E R
Latest settlement part of total $600 million
in cash and cleanup work
SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environ-mental
Protection Agency has reached a
$1.62 million settlement with 47 parties
for contamination at the Operating Indus-tries,
Inc. (OII) Superfund Site in Mon-terey
Park, Calif. Each of these parties was
responsible for sending a relatively small
volume, between 4,200 and 110,000 gal-lons,
of liquid hazardous waste to the OII
landfill during decades of operation.
This is the last settlement EPA expects to
sign for the OII site, paving the way for
the community to restore this site to pro-ductive
use. Over the last 25 years, EPA
has secured $600 million worth of cash
and commitments for cleanup work from
the parties responsible for contamination
at the site. Environmental problems in-cluded
toxic gas emissions, contaminated
surface water runoff, and pollution of the
local groundwater.
“With this final settlement for the OII
landfill, we’ve reached a key milestone,”
said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional
Administrator for the Pacific Southwest.
“Now we are working with the responsible
parties to ensure that a portion of the site
can be developed for the benefit of the
local economy.”
OII is a 190-acre site divided into
two parcels by the Pomona Freeway,
the 45-acre North Parcel and the 145-
acre South Parcel. Most of the OII’s
landfill activities took place on the
South Parcel. Most of the North Par-cel
is currently being remediated in
preparation for potential redevelop-ment.
EPA finalized the cleanup plan in
1996 which selected a comprehensive
site-wide remedy. The final plan pre-vents
migration of liquids and gases
beyond the landfill perimeter. In ad-dition,
a landfill cap and cover has
been installed that prevents rainwater
from seeping into the landfill and gas
from leaking out. These measures
will prevent exposure to contami-nated
groundwater and ensure that
contamination levels meet federal
cleanup standards.
EPA has entered into a total of nine
consent decrees and eight smaller “de
minimis” settlements with more than
1,150 responsible parties. EPA will
receive $812,000 from the settlement
announced today as reimbursement
for federal response costs related to
the site. The remaining funds will be
used by the potentially responsible
parties to fund cleanup work at the site.
The settlement was published in the
Federal Register on January 28, 2013,
opening a 30-day public comment pe-riod.
The OII Site operated as a landfill from
1948 to 1984. EPA identified the OII
Site as an environmental problem in
the early 1980s and placed it on the
National Priorities List in 1986. Over
the course of its operation, the landfill
accepted industrial solid, liquid and
hazardous wastes, as well as municipal
solid waste. The landfill has received
more than 300 million gallons of mani-fested
waste from approximately 4,000
entities.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/
accomp/success/oii.htm
Link to Federal Register notice: https://
www.federalregister.gov/
articles/2013/01/28/2013-01593/
operating-industries-inc-superfund-site
-monterey-park-ca-notice-of-proposed-cercla-
administrative-de
EPA Reaches $1.6 Million Settlement at Operating Industries
Superfund Site:
V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 LEPC Corner P a g e 1 1
San Jose Mercury News –
(California) San Lorenzo: Ammo-nia
leak at Sara Lee plant Tuesday
night forces evacuations. Law en-forcement
personnel evacuated over
100 employees from workspaces in
San Lorenzo, California February
12 after an ammonia leak was
discovered in the refrigeration
system at the nearby Sara Lee
Foods facility. The leak was con-tained
after about 3 hours.
Source: http://
www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/
ci_22582462/san-lorenzo-ammonia-
leak-at-sara-lee-plant
San Lorenzo: Ammonia leak at Sara Lee plant Tuesday night
forces evacuations:
1 dead, 1 injured after explosion at Texas chemical
plant:
KPRC 2 Houston– (Texas) 1
dead, 1 injured after explo-sion
at Texas chemical plant.
A fire caused an explosion at
the Air Liquide cylinder plant
in La Porte seriously injured
one person and left another
unaccounted for. Authorities
are still investigating the cause
of the explosion. Source:
http://wtvr.com/2013/02/10/1-
dead-1-injured-after-explosion-at-
texas-chemical-plant/
Hazardous 1600 pound battery acid spill on Wyoming
Street:
Pleasanton Patch –
(California) Hazardous 1600
pound battery acid spill on
Wyoming Street. A large
commercial battery that over-turned
inside a delivery truck
leaked battery acid in Pleasan-ton.
Local emergency re-sponders
contained the spill to
prevent entry into the storm
drain, and the two people ex-posed
to the acid engaged in
self-decontamination. Source:
http://pleasanton.patch.com/
articles/firefighters-stop-battery-
acid-spill-on-wyoming-street
P a g e 1 2 G A T E K E E P E R
strongly opposed to EPA involvement
in the matter, and have vowed to pre-vent
the agency from creating such
requirements. Republican-backed ef-forts
to pass chemical security legisla-tion
in recent years have favored keep-ing
the relevant authorities within the
Homeland Security Department.
The House Energy and Commerce
Committee is in the “planning stages”
on potential legislation that would
continue CFATS authority at the
Homeland Security Department, Char-lotte
Baker, spokeswoman for the
panel’s Republican leadership, told
GSN. The current authorization for the
program expires in March.
vice president of government af-fairs
Bill Allmond told Global Se-curity
Newswire on Thursday.
Rick Hind, legislative director for
Greenpeace, argued that the joint
efforts to create alternative security
programs was “just another sign”
that Homeland Security is anxious
to “appease the industry in the
hope of greater cooperation be-cause
there is very little they can
really make them do.” Hind, along
with other environmental and labor
activists, has been lobbying the
Environmental Protection Agency
to create chemical security require-ments
under the Clean Air Act that
go beyond DHS authority.
Congressional Republicans are
In consultation with DHS officials, the
American Chemistry Council unveiled
a boilerplatetemplate that its member
facilities could use to devise so-called
alternate security programs under the
CFATS regime. Creating alternative
security programs is more efficient then
submitting a conventional site security
plan, which ACC officials describe as
“a cumbersome document containing a
series of yes/no questions regarding
measures to minimize the risk of a ter-rorist
attack or other security threat.”
They argue that an alternative security
plan is more clear than the question and
answer format.
The Society of Chemical Manufacturers
and Affiliates, another industry group,
is also developing an alternative secu-rity
program template for its members,
Bills would impose tougher chemical security rules: (Continued)
3 sickened by chemical leak:
KPRC 2 Houston – (Texas) 3
sickened by chemical leak.
Three people were taken to
the hospital as a precaution
following exposure to a leak
of pivaloyl chloride at the
AkzoNobel plant in Harris
County. Source: http://
www.click2houston.com/
news/3-sickened-by-chemical-leak/-/
1735978/18370974/-
/3k6yisz/-/index.html
Long Beach officials protect river after
ammonia leak:
Long Beach Press-Telegram
– (California) Long Beach
officials protect river after
ammonia leak. A leak in a
4,000 gallon diffuser tank
filled with ammonia led to
emergency officials working to
protect a storm drain from the
spill. Residents were told to
stay indoors as a hazardous
materials team fixed the leak
about 3 hours later. Source:
http://www.presstelegram.com/
breakingnews/ci_22505091/long-beach-
officials-protect-river-after
-amonia-leak
V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 P a g e 1 3
Associated Press – (Georgia)
Fire reported at Dalton, Ga.,
chemical plant. Firefighters
contained a blaze at the Hacros
industrial chemical manu-facturing
plant. Nearby
residents were evacuated
from their homes and stu-dents
in two local schools
were told to shelter in place.
Source: http://
www.timesfreepress.com/
Fire reported at Dalton, Ga., chemical plant:
news/2013/feb/05/fire-reported-
dalton-ga-chemical-
plant/
Fort Dodge Messenger – (Iowa;
Kansas) Koch firm to pay
$380K fine. The U.S. Environ-mental
Protection Agency an-nounced
February 13 that Koch
Nitrogen Co. LLC will pay
a $380,000 fine for failing
to have proper risk manage-ment
plans in 2007 and
2007 at two chemical plants
in Dodge City, Kansas, and
Fort Dodge, Iowa, and a pipe-line
terminal in Marshalltown,
Iowa. Source: http://
www.messengernews.net/
Koch firm to pay $380K fine:
page/content.detail/
id/554962/Koch-firm-to-pay-
-380K-fine.html?nav=5010
www.ktvn.com/story/20704756/
industrial-chemical-fire
County. Nearby residents were
evacuated until authorities extin-guished
the blaze. Source: http://
KTVN 2 Reno – (Nevada) Industrial
chemical fire. A sodium fire broke out
at an industrial building in Lyon
Industrial chemical fire:
P a g e 1 4 G A T E K E E P E R
Protect Workers From Carbon Monoxide:
With the arrival of cold weather,
OSHA is reminding employers to
take necessary precautions to protect
workers from the serious, and some-times
fatal, effects of carbon monox-ide
exposure.
Recently, a worker in a New England
warehouse was found unconscious
and seizing, suffering from carbon
monoxide poisoning. Several other
workers at the site also became sick.
All of the windows and doors were
closed to conserve heat, there was no
exhaust ventilation in the facility, and
very high levels of carbon monoxide
were measured at the site.
Every year, workers die from carbon
monoxide poisoning, usually while
using fuel-burning equipment and
tools in buildings or semi-enclosed
spaces without adequate ventila-tion.
This can be especially true
during the winter months when
employees use this type of equip-ment
in indoor spaces that have
been sealed tightly to block out
cold temperatures and wind. Symp-toms
of carbon monoxide exposure
can include everything from head-aches,
dizziness and drowsiness to
nausea, vomiting or tightness
across the chest. Severe carbon
monoxide poisoning can cause
neurological damage, coma, and
death.
Sources of carbon monoxide can
include anything that uses combus-tion
to operate, such as gas generators,
power tools, compressors, pumps,
welding equipment, space heaters, and
furnaces.
To reduce the risk of carbon monoxide
poisoning in the workplace, employers
should install an effective ventilation
system, avoid the use of fuel-burning
equipment in enclosed or partially-enclosed
spaces, use carbon monoxide
detectors in areas where the hazard is
a concern and take other precautions
outlined in OSHA's Carbon Monoxide
Fact Sheet. For additional information
on carbon monoxide poisoning and
preventing exposure in the workplace,
see OSHA's Carbon Monoxide Poi-soning
Quick Cards (in English and
Spanish).
Must green-tipped fluorescent
bulbs be managed as universal
waste, or can they be managed
as municipal waste? Can they
be broken to facilitate consoli-dation
for disposal?
Not all lamps are hazardous
wastes, and those that are not
may be disposed of in municipal
waste management facilities. It
is the responsibility of the gen-erator
of the lamp to determine
whether it is a hazardous waste.
One way to make the determi-nation
is through the Toxicity
Characteristic Leaching Proce-dure
(TCLP). The TCLP at-tempts
to replicate the condi-tions
in a municipal landfill to
detect the mercury concentra-tion
of water that would leach
from the landfill. If the mercury
concentration exceeds 0.2 milli-grams
per liter (mg/L), the lamp
fails the toxicity test and must
be managed as a hazardous
waste (or as a universal waste).
If the TCLP analysis puts the
mercury below the 0.2 mg/L
maximum concentration
limit, the lamp does not
have to be managed as a
hazardous waste or a uni-versal
waste.
The amount of mercury in a
low-mercury bulb can
range from 3.5 milligrams
to 4 milligrams compared
with a standard fluorescent
bulb, which ranges from 8
milligrams to 14 milligrams
of mercury. These lamps
may be identified by green
end caps (often referred to
as green-tipped lamps) or
green etchings on the
lamps.
Some generators have
found that an analysis that
costs only a few hundred
dollars saves their facility
several thousand dollars a
year in disposal/recycling
costs. EPA notes, however,
that mercury-containing
lamps often fail the TCLP
and that the test results can
vary considerably, depend-ing
on the lamp manufacturer,
the age of the lamp, and the
laboratory procedures used.
EPA encourages the recycling
of all mercury-containing
lamps, regardless of the mer-cury
content. According to
EPA, if you do not test your
low-mercury lamps and prove
them nonhazardous, you
should assume they are haz-ardous
waste and handle them
accordingly (i.e., under the
hazardous waste rules or the
universal waste rules).
If handling mercury-containing
lamps under the
federal universal waste re-quirements,
both small and
large quantity generators are
required to handle universal
waste lamps as follows:
• Contain any lamp in con-tainers
or packages that are
structurally sound, adequate
to prevent breakage, and com-patible
with the contents of
the lamps.
Are Fluorescent Bulbs Universal Waste or Municipal Waste?
• Containers and pack-ages
must remain closed
and must lack evidence of
leakage, spillage, or dam-age
that could cause leak-age
under reasonably fore-seeable
conditions.
Immediately clean up and
place in a container any
lamp that is broken or any
lamp that shows evidence
of breakage, leakage, or
damage that could cause
the release of mercury or
other hazardous constitu-ents
to the environment.
These containers must be
closed, structurally sound,
compatible with the con-tents
of the lamps, and
must lack evidence of leak-age,
spillage, or damage
that could cause leakage or
releases of mercury or
other hazardous constitu-ents
to the environment
under reasonably foresee-able
conditions.
Industry Corner
V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 P a g e 1 5
TRANSCAER® (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) is a voluntary national outreach effort
that focuses on assisting communities prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident. TRAN-SCAER
® members consist of volunteer representatives from the chemical manufacturing, transportation, distributor, and emer-gency
response industries, as well as the government. Visit: http://www.transcaer.com/state.aspx for more information.
SUMMARY: Owners and op-erators
of gas and hazardous
liquid pipeline systems and liq-uefied
natural gas (LNG) facili-ties
are already required to pro-vide
telephonic reports of pipe-line
incidents and accidents to
the National Response Center
(NRC) promptly, accurately,
and fully communicate the
estimated extent of the
damages. PHMSA is issu-ing
this advisory bulletin to
notify the owners and op-erators
that, as required by
the Pipeline Safety, regula-tory
Certainty, and Job
Creation Act of 2011, the
agency will issue a proposed
rule to revise telephonic
reporting regulations to es-tablish
specific time limits
for telephonic or electronic
notice of accidents and inci-dents
involving pipeline
facilities to the NRC.
PHMSA to issue mandatory accident reporting time limits:
To read the entire article go
to: http://www.gpo.gov/
fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-01-30/
pdf/2013-01555.pdf
Data on Nine New TRI Chemicals Now Available:
On January 16, 2013, EPA released
the 2011 TRI National Analysis, an
annual report that displays EPA’s
analysis of the most recent TRI
data. It includes a variety of docu-ments
and Web sites that outline
national and local trends in toxic
chemical disposal or other releases
to the environment, as well as
trends in toxic chemicals managed
by TRI facilities. These resources
include an overview of the National
Analysis with additional context
and explanation, briefing slides that
show high-level messages and
trends, and three geographic-specific
analyses that highlight
urban communities, large aquatic
ecosystems, and Indian country
and Alaska Native Villages. In
Reporting Year 2011 (RY11),
20,927 facilities reported 4.09 bil-lion
pounds of toxic chemicals
disposed of or otherwise released
into the environment, up by 8%
from 2010 to 2011. In the long
term, facility disposal or other re-leases
of TRI chemicals have gen-erally
decreased, down by 8% from
2003 to 2011.
RY11 was the first year that report-ing
was required on 16 new chemi-cals
that have been classified as
“reasonably anticipated to be a hu-man
carcinogen” by the National
Toxicology Program (NTP). Re-ports
were received for nine of the
12 new individually-listed chemi-cals.
L E T ’ S H E A R F R O M Y O U !
Send us your inputs and feedback on the newsletter; including, exercises and other LEPC related activities in which
you've been involved. Let us know what you’d like to see in future editions. Talk to us! We appreciate your input
and look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Mark Howard
Executive Director
Commercial products and services are mentioned for informational purposes only and should not be construed as
AZSERC endorsements.
Governor's Tribal Community Outreach:
Visit: http://azgovernor.gov/eop/TribalOutreach.asp for agency contact information.
Tribal Program Link:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/indian
Tribal Program Newsletter:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/indian/newslet.html
Tribal news:
http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/
Hopi Police Chief Jamie Koot-swatewa
led an "active shooters"
training Jan. 31 at Hopi Jr./Sr.
High School to teach staff how to
respond in the case of a shooting
crisis.
Kootswatewa, a 1992 graduate of
Hopi High School, has a long
history in law enforcement includ-ing
serving as a corrections offi-cer,
a ranger, a special agent, a
police officer and chief of the
Hopi Rangers before taking the
top job at the Hopi Police Depart-ment
about one year ago.
An active shooter is a shooter in a
confined or populated area. The
objective in these cases is survival.
Kootswatewa talked to the staff at
Hopi Jr./Sr. High about several
cases involving active shooters.
One of the most famous was in
Columbine, Colo. in 1999 when
gunmen killed 15 and wounded
23.
A reservation shooting oc-curred
in Red Lake, Minn.,
where 10 were killed and
seven wounded. This case was
unique because the shooter
took his grandfather's police
car and campus security
guards waved him through the
checkpoints because he was in
a police car.
At Virginia Tech, 32 were
killed and 23 were wounded.
The doors were bolted closed
and since that shooting police
carry bolt cutters in case this
happens again.
In the most recent case, at
Sandy Hook Elementary
School, a shooter killed 20
children and six adults.
Kootswatewa said he prays
that nothing like this happens
at Hopi High, but he wants the
school staff to be prepared. If
an incident occurs, he advises
that staff:
• secure classrooms and work
areas;
• move students away from the
doors;
• take attendance;
• stay away from the windows
and doors;
• know the two nearest exits in
case students and staff need to
leave the building in a hurry;
• remain calm so students don't
panic;
• if gunshots are close, barricade
the door with any bookcases or
furniture in the room; and
• if in the hallway, get in a class-room
as soon as possible.
If staff can call the police depart-ment,
police need to know the
location of the shooter, the num-ber
of shooters, physical descrip-tion
of shooters and the type of
weapons the shooter is using.
"The first goal is to neutralize the
shooter," Kootswatewa said.
Hopi Police Chief briefs Hopi High staff on proper response to
shooting incident: Stan Bindell The Observer
Kootswatewa said there should
be two evacuation routes. He
said prevention is possible
when there is a respectful work
place and when staff make
supervisors aware of any work-place
violence.
Kootswatewa said better fund-ing
for mental health could also
serve as a deterrent.
"But there is no one profile for
shooters. It could be a drunk or
a disgruntled employee. Not all
shooters have been diagnosed
with mental problems," he said.
P a g e 1 6 Tribal Corner G A T E K E E P E R
ARIZONA EMERGENCY RESPONSE COMMISSION
5636 E. MCDOWELL ROAD
PHOENIX, AZ 85008-3495
PHONE: (602) 464-6346
FAX: (602) 464-6519
Visit us on the web:www.azserc.org
AZSERC STAFF
Mark Howard Executive Director
Roger Soden HAZMAT Program
Coordinator
Paul Culberson Web Portal/
Technology
Coordinator
Sylvia Castillo Admin Asst III
Chrissy McCullough Admin Asst III
COMMISSIONERS:
Lou Trammell ADEM Director (Chair)
Will Humble ADHS Acting Director
Henry Darwin ADEQ Director
John Halikowski ADOT Director
Robert Halliday ADPS Director
DESIGNEES:
Mark Howard ADEM
Don Herrington ADHS
Veronica Garcia ADEQ
David Denlinger ADPS
Sonya Herrera ADOT
ADVISORY COMMITTEE:
Corporation Commission - Tom Whitmer
Industrial Commission - Darin Perkins
State Mine Inspector - Joe Hart
State Fire Marshal - Bob Barger
Radiation Regulatory Agency - Aubrey Godwin
Department of Agriculture - Jack Peterson
Arizona Fire Chiefs Association
-Mesa FD - Brady Leffler
-Yuma FD - Jack McArthur
Asst. State Attorney General - Jeffrey Cantrell
SRP - Daniel Casiraro
Intel Corporation - Randy Holmes
APS - Monica Ray
Private Sector - David
McWilliams
GATEKEEPER NEWSLETTER:
MARK HOWARD – EDITOR IN CHIEF
CHRISSY MCCULLOUGH - EDITOR
This is accomplished through the
receipt and coordination of emer-gency
notifications of chemical re-leases,
collection and provision of
chemical inventory information to
interested parties, training and grants
programs.
Additionally, the AZSERC pro-vides
consultative services, conducts
and participates in workshops and
coordinates development and review
of plans and programs for 15 Local
Emergency Planning Committees.
Further, the AZSERC serves as a
state clearinghouse for hazardous
chemical emergency preparedness
and planning activities and informa-tion
through coordination with fed-eral,
tribal, state, local governments,
industry and community interest
The AZSERC was established by
Arizona Law (Arizona Revised Stat-utes-
Title 26, Chapter 2, Article 3)
and is tasked with the implementa-tion
of the Emergency Planning and
Community Right to Know Act
(EPRCA) in Arizona.
This Commission oversees 15
Local Emergency Planning Commit-tees
and supports community, indus-try
and government and academia
in: planning, release and incident
reporting, data management guid-ance
for inventory reporting, public
disclosure of information about haz-ardous
chemicals in Arizona as well
as development of training and out-reach
programs.
The Commission supports indi-vidual
agency goals and objectives.
A b o u t o u r O r g a n i z a t i o n
Object Description
| Rating | |
| TITLE | Gatekeeper newsletter |
| CREATOR | Arizona. Emergency Response Commission. |
| SUBJECT | Arizona. Emergency Response Commission--Periodicals; Emergency management--Arizona--Periodicals; |
| Browse Topic |
Government and politics |
| DESCRIPTION | This title contains one or more publications. Published monthly. |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Arizona Emergency Response Commission. |
| Material Collection |
State Documents |
| Source Identifier | EM 2.3:G 17 |
| Location | 53480369 |
| REPOSITORY | Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records--Law and Research Library. |
Description
| TITLE | Gatekeeper newsletter: Volume XIII, Edition 3, March 1, 2013 |
| DESCRIPTION | 17 pages (PDF version). File size: 536 KB |
| TYPE |
Text |
| RIGHTS MANAGEMENT | Copyright to this resource is held by the creating agency and is provided here for educational purposes only. It may not be downloaded, reproduced or distributed in any format without written permission of the creating agency. Any attempt to circumvent the access controls placed on this file is a violation of United States and international copyright laws, and is subject to criminal prosecution. |
| DATE ORIGINAL | 2013-03-01 |
| Time Period |
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| Source Identifier | EM 2.3:G 17 |
| Location | o53480369 |
| DIGITAL IDENTIFIER | March13Final.pdf |
| DIGITAL FORMAT | PDF (Portable Document Format) |
| REPOSITORY | Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records--State Library of Arizona. |
| File Size | 548533 Bytes |
| Full Text | I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e : Volume XIII, Edition 3 March 1, 2013 GATEKEEPER NEWSLETTER Lou Trammell, Chair http://www.dem.azdema.gov/ Janice K. Brewer, Governor http://www.governor.state.az.us/ Mark Howard, Executive Director http://www.azserc.org Arizona Emergency Response Commission 5636 East McDowell Road Phoenix, Arizona 85008-3495 Chemical leak re-ported at Pace plant: 3 EPA Requires Nevada Gold Mining Compa-nies to Correct Re-porting Violations: 4 EPA Releases State Enforcement Perform-ance Information and Comparative Maps: 6 EPA Releases Com-prehensive Informa-tion on Chemical Use: 8 EPA Reaches $1.6 Million Settlement at Operating Industries Superfund Site: 10 3 sickened by chemi-cal leak: 12 Protect Workers From Carbon Monoxide: 14 Labor and environmental groups, along with some Democrats, argue that the existing CFATS law lacks teeth by failing to authorize Home-land Security to require any specific security measures. The mandate that facilities develop site security plans to be evaluated by the government is not enough, they argue. In addition, the CFATS program has been under fire from both sides of the aisle for the slow pace at which it has approved site security plans since its inception in 2007, along with a litany of management problems that were revealed in an internal memo leaked to the press early last year. In September, the new leaders of the DHS program testified that they had completed 70 of 95 “action items” the memo identified as necessary to fix the management problems. More recently, a major industry group this month rolled out a plan it says will help the government increase the pace at which it can approve site security plans. Article continued on page 12 “We need to pass my legislation to require facilities to thoroughly review risk and help us move to-ward more secure plants and safer communities,” said Lautenberg, a senior Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Hundreds of plants have already switched to safer and more secure chemicals and proc-esses, and this common-sense legis-lation would build on these achievements and increase safety nationwide.” Lautenberg’s legislation would require managers of facilities using dangerous chemicals to evaluate whether they could reduce the consequences of an attack by switching to safer chemicals or processes. If reducing risk in this manner is determined feasible, any plant designated as “high risk” by the government would be required to make such a switch. Industry organizations have long said requiring such a move to so-called “inherently safer technolo-gies” would be too onerous. The requirements of the existing CFATS program are enough to ensure security measures are both sufficient and efficient, they say. Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., has introduced a pair of bills that would im-pose tougher security requirements on chemical and water facilities that use hazardous substances. One of the two measures that Lautenberg introduced on Wednesday would impose additional requirements on industry through the Homeland Security Depart-ment’s 6-year-old Chemical Facility Antiterrorism Standards. The other would authorize the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate security at water fa-cilities that use dangerous chemicals – an area that is exempt from Homeland Secu-rity’s CFATS program. The two bills appear aimed at addressing the concerns of some Democrats – along with labor and environmental groups – that the CFATS program in its current form does not sufficiently shield indus-trial facilities from terrorist attacks that could release lethal materials into the surrounding area. In a press release, Lau-tenberg cited a report environmental groups released on Tuesday suggesting that 12,440 facilities throughout the coun-try could harm people if damaged during a terrorist attack. The report cites EPA data on wastewater treatment plants, refineries and other facilities that use hazardous chemicals. Bills would impose tougher chemical security rules: P a g e 2 G A T E K E E P E R 9th Annual Gatekeeper Regulatory Roundup SAVE - THE - DATE Early-Bird Pricing until January 31, 2013. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: For Your Site & in Your Town April 2 - 3, 2013 Chaparral Suites Resort 5001 N. 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CALL FOR SPONSORS Sponsorship opportunities are available at the following levels: •Break ($250) •Breakfast ($350) •Premier ($3,000) •Lunch ($1,500) •Corporate ($2,000) Conference Chairperson: Michael Ford (602) 650-2321 FAX (602) 916-1500 mford@polsinelli.com For Sponsors and Exhibitors Sponsorship Coordinator: Exhibitor Coordinator: Laura Adams Nancy Nesky (480) 433-6718 (480) 226-4991 ladams2@republicservices.com nnesky@itsi.com Website: www.epaz.org V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 EPA Corner P a g e 3 WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) an-nounced that it reached settlements with two subsidiaries of the Kemira Group for violations of chemical and pesticide laws. The settlement with Kemira Chemicals resolves alleged violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, including the sale and distribution of an unregistered pesticide, the sale and dis-tribution of misbranded pesticides, and pesticide production reporting violations. The sale and distribution of unregistered or misbranded pesticides can cause serious illness in humans and be harmful to the environment. Under the terms of the agreement, Kemira Chemicals has cor-rected the alleged violations and will pay a civil penalty of $301,600. EPA also reached an agreement with Kemira Water Solutions after an EPA inspection identified 27 violations of the Toxic Substance Control Act’s Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) rule for the 2006 reporting period. The IUR rule requires manufacturers and im-porters of certain chemical sub-stances to report the production volume and location of each facil-ity producing these chemical sub-stances. The information collected is used to support risk screening and assessment and makes up the most comprehensive source of basic screen-ing- level, exposure-related information on chemicals available to EPA. Kemira Water Solutions has since submitted the required information to EPA and will pay a civil penalty of $503,110. Kemira Chemicals, Inc. and Kemira Water Solutions, Inc. are both subsidi-aries of Kemira Group, a global chemi-cal company with U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, Ga. More information about the settlement: http://www.epa.gov/enforcement/ waste/cases/kemiragroup.html EPA Announces Settlements with Company for Multiple Violations of Chemical Reporting and Pesticide Laws: Chemical leak reported at Pace plant: Northwest Florida Daily News – (Florida) Chemical leak reported at Pace plant. Taminco Pace No. 4 plant reported a DMA60 chemical leak after a spill during a rail transfer. Multiple people were affected at the scene, and a shelter was put in place as a precautionary measure. Source: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/ local/update-chemical-leak-reported- at-pace-plant-1.83572 P a g e 4 G A T E K E E P E R WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) settled with three gold mining companies, all sub-sidiaries of Barrick Gold Corporation, for failing to correctly report toxic chemical releases and waste management activities as required by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). “The Toxic Release Inventory program is a vital tool for tracking toxic releases across the country, providing transparency about chemicals in communities,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compli-ance Assurance. “The program is under-mined if companies do not report or misre-port the use or release of chemicals at their facilities.” The companies, Barrick Cortez, Inc., Bar-rick Gold US, Inc. and Homestake Mining Company, agreed to pay a total of $278,000 in penalties and spend an addi-tional $340,000 to conduct an environ-mentally beneficial project. The violations involved incorrect reporting under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) at the Cortez Gold Mine near Crescent Valley, the Ruby Hill Gold Mine near Eureka, and the Bald Mountain Gold Mine near the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Ref-uge, all in Nevada. After EPA inspectors analyzed the mines’ records they found that the facilities failed to submit timely, complete and correct Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reports in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, for toxic chemicals. These chemicals include cyanide compounds used to extract gold from the ore mined at the facili-ties, and lead and mercury com-pounds produced during the extrac-tion process. Under the settlement, the Barrick gold companies will audit and correct their TRI reports for 2005 through 2011 to comply with EP-CRA. There is no evidence to suggest that the violations posed any immedi-ate danger to workers at the facilities or local communities. The agreement requires a $340,000 supplemental environmental project at the Cortez mine to identify the metal compounds formed in its oxide mill process. The gold companies will also perform audits at other Bar-rick facilities in the U.S. (in Nevada and Montana), correct reporting vio-lations, if any, and pay a $10,000 penalty per violation, not to exceed $250,000. Under EPCRA, facilities that manu-facture, process, or use toxic chemicals over certain quantities must file annual reports estimating the amounts re-leased to the environment, treated or recycled on-site, or transferred off-site for waste management. These reports are submitted to EPA and the State or Tribe with jurisdiction over the facil-ity. EPA compiles this information into a national TRI database and makes it available to the public. Metal ore mining accounts for 98 per-cent of total TRI releases reported to EPA in Nevada. This investigation and enforcement are part of an ongoing national effort that began in 2008 to ensure that gold mining facilities are in compliance, and that the public has accurate and complete information about the facilities in their community. Barrick gold mining facilities in the U.S. produced approximately 3.38 million ounces (105.6 tons) of gold in 2011, and the Cortez Gold Mine is the second largest gold mine in the world. More information on the Toxics Re-lease Inventory: http://www.epa.gov/tri EPA's environmental databases, in-cluding TRI data, can be accessed at: http://www.epa.gov/enviro EPA Requires Nevada Gold Mining Companies to Correct Reporting Violations: CAMEO Companion is now available for printing please contact: State of Arizona Department of Corrections Dirk Johnson, Account Manager 3107 W. Cambridge Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85009 602-272-7600 Ext. 207 Toll Free: 800-992-1738 Fax: 602-272-1007 Cell: 602-388-7230 djohnso1@azcorrections.gov V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 P a g e 5 SAN FRANCISCO: The U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency announced pro-gress on a coordinated five-year federal investment of more than $100 million to address health risks posed by pervasive uranium contamination on the Navajo Na-tion. EPA joined five other federal agen-cies in releasing a report today outlining the results of their Five-Year Plan. Since 2008, EPA has spent more than $50 mil-lion to clean up mines, provide safe drink-ing water, and demolish and replace con-taminated homes. In addition to federal funds, EPA has used the Superfund law to compel responsible parties to perform an additional $17 million in mine investiga-tions and cleanups. Over the past five years, EPA reduced the most urgent risks to Navajo residents by remediating 34 contaminated homes, pro-viding safe drinking water to 1825 fami-lies, and performing stabilization or cleanup work at 9 abandoned mines. The Agency also conducted field assessments of 240 water supplies and 520 mines to gain a more complete understanding of the widespread scope of potential exposures to uranium contamination on the Navajo Na-tion. EPA also collaborated with the Na-vajo Nation EPA, which performed field assessments of nearly 800 Navajo homes and other structures. “This effort has been a great start to ad-dressing the toxic legacy of uranium min-ing on Navajo lands,” said Jared Blu-menfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “The work done to date would not have been possible with-out the partnership of the six fed-eral agencies and the Navajo Na-tion’s EPA and Department of Justice.” The Navajo Nation encompasses more than 27,000 square miles in the Four Corners area of Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. The unique geology of the region makes the Navajo Nation rich in uranium, a radioactive ore in high demand after the development of atomic power and weapons at the close of World War II. Approxi-mately four million tons of ura-nium ore were extracted during mining operations within the Na-vajo Nation from 1944 to 1986. Many Navajo people worked the mines, often raising their families in close proximity to the mines and mills. Uranium mining activities no longer occur within the Navajo Nation, but the hazards of uranium contamination remain. More than 500 abandoned uranium mine claims and thousands of mine fea-tures, such as pits, trenches and holes, with elevated levels of ura-nium, radium and other radionu-clides still exist. Health effects from exposure to these contami-nants can include lung cancer, bone cancer and impaired kidney function. “On behalf of the Navajo people I appreciate the leadership of Rep. Henry Waxman and the members of Congress who requested a multi-agency response to the Navajo Nation's testimony presented at the October 2007 hearing,” said Ben Shelly, Presi-dent of the Navajo Nation. “While there have been accomplishments that improved some conditions, we still need strong support from the Congress and the federal agencies to fund the clean-up of contaminated lands and water, and to address basic public health concerns due to the legacy of uranium mining and milling.” In 2007, EPA, in cooperation with the Navajo Nation, together with the Bu-reau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Nu-clear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-vention (CDC), and the Indian Health Service (IHS) developed a Five-Year Plan to address uranium contamina-tion. All six federal agencies are com-mitted to continue working with the Navajo Nation to further reduce risks and find long term solutions to the remaining uranium issues on Navajo lands. The current report can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/region9/ superfund/navajo-nation/pdf/ NavajoUraniumReport2013.pdf EPA Details Results of $100M Federal Effort to Clean up Navajo Uranium Contamination: P a g e 6 G A T E K E E P E R Agency to host webinar demonstrating new data features WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) an-nounced the release of state dashboards and comparative maps that provide the public with information about the per-formance of state and EPA enforcement and compliance programs across the coun-try. “Transparency and access to information at all levels helps to drive improvements in environmental performance,” said Cyn-thia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compli-ance Assurance. “Today’s release of state enforcement information highlights the important work going on at the state level to address serious pollution problems and also underscores areas where states and EPA may need to strengthen enforcement and compliance efforts.” Most states and tribes in the United States have the authority to implement and en-force many of the nation’s air, water and waste laws. The dashboards and maps include state level data from the last five years and provide information including the number of completed inspections, types of violations found, enforce-ment actions taken, and penalties assessed by state. To ensure data quality, EPA made the maps and dashboards available to the states in advance of this public release, in or-der to provide an opportunity to make any necessary data corrections. Users can customize the dashboards to view state activity, EPA activity, or combined activity. Where avail-able, the site also allows users to view national averages and display state enforcement trends over time. The interactive state performance dashboards are located on EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance His-tory Online (ECHO) website. ECHO is an EPA transparency tool that al-lows the user to map federal and state inspection, violation, and enforce-ment information for more than 800,000 regulated facilities. The state dashboards and comparative maps that are available in ECHO are part of EPA’s commitment to increasing transparency and providing data to the public in a format that is easy to understand and use. EPA will host two webinars demon-strating how to use the state dashboards and comparative maps now available in ECHO. The first will be held on February 12, at 1p.m. EST (for news media only). The second will be held on Tuesday, February 12, at 3p.m. EST (for the public). The demonstra-tion will highlight the new features added to the tool, important informa-tion about the data, and how to com-pare data by state. Reserve webinar seat: https:// www1.gotomeeting.com/ register/315869032 View the state performance dashboards and comparative maps: http://www.epa -echo.gov/echo/stateperformance/ comparative_maps.html Visit EPA’s ECHO website: http:// www.epa-echo.gov EPA Releases State Enforcement Performance Information and Comparative Maps: V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 P a g e 7 SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency reached a settle-ment with three gold mining companies, all subsidiaries of Barrick Gold Corpora-tion, for their failures to correctly report toxic chemical releases and waste manage-ment activities. The companies, Barrick Cortez, Inc., Barrick Gold US, Inc. and Homestake Mining Company, agreed to pay a total of $278,000 in fines and spend an additional $340,000 to conduct an envi-ronmentally beneficial project. The violations involved incorrect reporting under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) at the Cortez Gold Mine near Crescent Valley, the Ruby Hill Gold Mine near Eureka, and the Bald Mountain Gold Mine near the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Ref-uge, all in Nevada. “Cyanide, lead and mercury used at these mines have the potential to pose a health threat,” said Jared Blumenfeld, the EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “We insist on accurate report-ing of chemical releases so that citizens have a clear idea of the risk from the fa-cilities near their communities.” Careful analysis of the mines’ records by EPA inspectors revealed that the facilities failed to submit timely, complete and cor-rect Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) re-ports in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, for toxic chemicals. These chemicals include cyanide compounds used to extract gold from the ore mined at the facilities, and lead and mer-cury compounds produced during the extraction process. Under the settlement, the Barrick gold com-panies will audit and correct their TRI reports for 2005 through 2011 to comply with EPCRA. There is no evidence to suggest that the violations posed any immediate danger to workers at the facilities or local communities. The agreement requires a $340,000 supplemental environ-mental project at the Cortez mine to identify the metal compounds formed in its oxide mill process. The gold companies will also per-form audits at the other Barrick facilities in the U.S. (in Nevada and Montana), correct reporting violations, if any, and pay a $10,000 penalty per violation, not to exceed $250,000. EPA requires reporting of toxic chemical releases under EPCRA, and facilities that manufacture, process, or use toxic chemicals over certain quantities must file annual reports estimating the amounts released to the environ-ment, treated or recycled on-site, or transferred off-site for waste manage-ment. These reports are submitted to EPA and the State or Tribe with juris-diction over the facility. EPA compiles this information into a national TRI database and makes it available to the public. Metal ore mining accounts for 98% of total TRI releases reported to EPA in Nevada. This investigation and en-forcement are part of an ongoing na-tional effort that began in 2008 to en-sure that gold mining facilities are in compliance, and that the public has accurate and complete information about the facilities in their community. Barrick gold mining facilities in the U.S. produced approximately 3.38 million ounces (105.6 tons) of gold in 2011, and the Cortez Gold Mine is one of the largest gold mines in the world. To find information on the Toxics Re-lease Inventory visit: http:// www.epa.gov/tri EPA's environmental databases, in-cluding the TRI data, can be accessed at: http://www.epa.gov/enviro EPA Requires Nevada Gold Mines to Correct Reporting Violations, Pay $618,000: P a g e 8 G A T E K E E P E R EPA recently released the 2012 Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) information on more than 7,600 chemicals in commerce. The CDR database contains comprehen-sive use and exposure information on the most widely used chemicals in the United States. Companies are now required to provide information on chemicals used in chil-dren’s and other consumer products, along with reports on commercial applications and industrial uses of chemicals. For the first time ever, EPA also required compa-nies to substantiate confidentiality claims in order to ensure that as much informa-tion as possible is made available to the public. “The 2012 Chemical Data Reporting infor-mation will help EPA and others better assess chemicals, evaluate potential expo-sures and use, and expand efforts to en-courage the use of safer chemicals,” said former EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jack-son. “The CDR data also highlight the clear need for TSCA reform. Updating this critical law will ensure that EPA has ac-cess to the tools and resources it needs to quickly and effectively assess potentially harmful chemicals, and safeguard the health of families across the country.” The CDR rule, the source of this new data, was issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The rule requires companies that manu-facture or import chemicals to report manufacturing and import data every four years when site-specific produc-tion volume exceeds 25,000 lb. This report is for calendar year 2011. The EPA received reports on 7,674 chemicals, including 354 that were reported as used in children’s prod-ucts. 1,704 chemicals were reported as used in consumer products and 3,073 were used in commercial appli-cations or products. The remaining chemicals reported were for indus-trial use only. The CDR information includes data on chemicals that are used in children’s products such as toys, playground and sporting equip-ment, arts and crafts materials, and textiles and furniture. Chemicals used in consumer prod-ucts, particularly those intended for children, present potential for direct exposure to the public and are priori-ties for assessment by the agency. Although reporting on these chemi-cals is compulsory, currently there are no requirements under TSCA that existing chemicals be evaluated for safety. Yet EPA has taken action and begun a process to ensure that chemicals used by the public on a daily basis are safe. The process identifies potential chemi-cals for near-term review and risk as-sessment under TSCA. In 2012, EPA released a work plan of 83 chemicals for further review as part of the agency’s existing chemicals manage-ment program. From that list, seven chemicals were identified for risk as-sessment development in 2012 and 18 for assessment in 2013 and 2014. In January 2013, EPA released for public comment and peer review an initial set of draft risk assessments of five chemi-cals for particular uses found in com-mon household products . The 2012 CDR information released recently is available at http:// www.epa.gov/cdr. Users can download or search the database. You can tailor the search results to view information on specific uses of chemicals, such as those used in products intended for use with children. EPA Releases Comprehensive Information on Chemical Use: V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 P a g e 9 Second Corporate Guilty Plea Obtained by Deepwater Horizon Task Force, Second-largest Criminal Clean Water Act Fines and Penalties in U.S. History WASHINGTON - Transocean Deepwater Inc. pleaded guilty today to a violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for its illegal con-duct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, and was sentenced to pay $400 mil-lion in criminal fines and penalties, Attorney General Holder announced today. In total, the amount of fines and other crimi-nal penalties imposed on Transocean are the second-largest environmental crime recovery in U.S. history – following the historic $4 billion criminal sentence imposed on BP Exploration and Production Inc. in connec-tion with the same disaster. “Transocean’s guilty plea and sentencing are the latest steps in the department’s ongoing efforts to seek justice on behalf of the vic-tims of the Deepwater Horizon disaster,” said Attorney General Holder. “Most of the $400 million criminal recovery – one of the largest for an environmental crime in U.S. history – will go toward protecting, restoring and rebuilding the Gulf Coast region.” “The Deepwater Horizon explosion was a senseless tragedy that could have been avoided,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Eleven men died, and the Gulf’s waters, shorelines, communities and economies suffered enormous dam-age. With today’s guilty plea, BP and Trans-ocean have now both been held criminally accountable for their roles in this disaster.” Transocean’s guilty plea was accepted, and the sentence was imposed, by U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo of the Eastern District of Louisiana. During the guilty plea and sentencing proceeding, Judge Milazzo found, among other things, that the sentence appropriately reflects Transocean’s role in the offense conduct, and that the criminal payments directed to the National Academy of Sciences and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation are appropriately designed to help remedy the harm to the Gulf of Mexico caused by Transocean’s ac-tions. The judge also noted that the fines and five year probationary period pro-vide just punishment and adequate deter-rence. Transocean pleaded guilty to an informa-tion, previously filed in federal court in New Orleans, charging the company with violating the CWA. During the guilty plea proceeding today, Transocean admitted that members of its crew on-board the Deepwater Horizon, acting at the direction of BP’s well site leaders, known as “company men,” were negli-gent in failing to investigate fully clear indications that the Macondo well was not secure and that oil and gas were flowing into the well. The criminal resolution is structured to directly benefit the Gulf region. Under the order entered by the court pursuant to the plea agreement, $150 million of the $400 million criminal recovery is dedi-cated to acquiring, restoring, preserving and conserving – in consultation with appropriate state and other resource man-agers – the marine and coastal environ-ments, ecosystems and bird and wildlife habitat in the Gulf of Mexico and border-ing states harmed by the Deepwater Ho-rizon oil spill. This portion of the crimi-nal recovery will also be directed to sig-nificant barrier island restoration and/or river diversion off the coast of Louisiana to further benefit and improve coastal wetlands affected by the spill. An addi-tional $150 million will be used to fund improved oil spill prevention and re-sponse efforts in the Gulf through re-search, development, education and training. Transocean was also sentenced, accord-ing to the plea agreement, to five years of probation – the maximum term of proba-tion permitted by law. A separate proposed civil consent decree, which resolves the United States’ civil CWA penalty claims, imposes a record $1 billion civil Clean Water Act penalty, and requires significant measures to im-prove performance and prevent recurrence, is pending before U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier of the Eastern District of Louisi-ana. The charges and allegations pending against individuals in related cases are merely accusations, and those individuals are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty. The guilty plea and sentencing announced today are part of the ongoing criminal in-vestigation by the Deepwater Horizon Task Force into matters related to the April 2010 Gulf oil spill. The Deepwater Hori-zon Task Force, based in New Orleans, is supervised by Assistant Attorney General Breuer and led by Deputy Assistant Attor-ney General John D. Buretta, who serves as the director of the task force. The task force includes prosecutors from the Crimi-nal Division and the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Depart-ment of Justice; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, as well as other U.S. Attorneys’ Offices; and investigating agents from: the FBI; Envi-ronmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigative Division; Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Inspector General; Department of Interior, Office of Inspector General; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Law Enforcement; U.S. Coast Guard; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and the Louisi-ana Department of Environmental Quality. This case was prosecuted by Deepwater Horizon Task Force Director John D. Bu-retta, Deputy Directors Derek A. Cohen and Avi Gesser, and task force prosecutors Richard R. Pickens II, Scott M. Cullen, Colin Black and Rohan Virginkar. Transocean Pleads Guilty, Is Sentenced to Pay $400 Million in Criminal Penalties for Criminal Conduct Leading to Deepwater Horizon Disaster: P a g e 1 0 G A T E K E E P E R Latest settlement part of total $600 million in cash and cleanup work SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency has reached a $1.62 million settlement with 47 parties for contamination at the Operating Indus-tries, Inc. (OII) Superfund Site in Mon-terey Park, Calif. Each of these parties was responsible for sending a relatively small volume, between 4,200 and 110,000 gal-lons, of liquid hazardous waste to the OII landfill during decades of operation. This is the last settlement EPA expects to sign for the OII site, paving the way for the community to restore this site to pro-ductive use. Over the last 25 years, EPA has secured $600 million worth of cash and commitments for cleanup work from the parties responsible for contamination at the site. Environmental problems in-cluded toxic gas emissions, contaminated surface water runoff, and pollution of the local groundwater. “With this final settlement for the OII landfill, we’ve reached a key milestone,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “Now we are working with the responsible parties to ensure that a portion of the site can be developed for the benefit of the local economy.” OII is a 190-acre site divided into two parcels by the Pomona Freeway, the 45-acre North Parcel and the 145- acre South Parcel. Most of the OII’s landfill activities took place on the South Parcel. Most of the North Par-cel is currently being remediated in preparation for potential redevelop-ment. EPA finalized the cleanup plan in 1996 which selected a comprehensive site-wide remedy. The final plan pre-vents migration of liquids and gases beyond the landfill perimeter. In ad-dition, a landfill cap and cover has been installed that prevents rainwater from seeping into the landfill and gas from leaking out. These measures will prevent exposure to contami-nated groundwater and ensure that contamination levels meet federal cleanup standards. EPA has entered into a total of nine consent decrees and eight smaller “de minimis” settlements with more than 1,150 responsible parties. EPA will receive $812,000 from the settlement announced today as reimbursement for federal response costs related to the site. The remaining funds will be used by the potentially responsible parties to fund cleanup work at the site. The settlement was published in the Federal Register on January 28, 2013, opening a 30-day public comment pe-riod. The OII Site operated as a landfill from 1948 to 1984. EPA identified the OII Site as an environmental problem in the early 1980s and placed it on the National Priorities List in 1986. Over the course of its operation, the landfill accepted industrial solid, liquid and hazardous wastes, as well as municipal solid waste. The landfill has received more than 300 million gallons of mani-fested waste from approximately 4,000 entities. For more information, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/ accomp/success/oii.htm Link to Federal Register notice: https:// www.federalregister.gov/ articles/2013/01/28/2013-01593/ operating-industries-inc-superfund-site -monterey-park-ca-notice-of-proposed-cercla- administrative-de EPA Reaches $1.6 Million Settlement at Operating Industries Superfund Site: V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 LEPC Corner P a g e 1 1 San Jose Mercury News – (California) San Lorenzo: Ammo-nia leak at Sara Lee plant Tuesday night forces evacuations. Law en-forcement personnel evacuated over 100 employees from workspaces in San Lorenzo, California February 12 after an ammonia leak was discovered in the refrigeration system at the nearby Sara Lee Foods facility. The leak was con-tained after about 3 hours. Source: http:// www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ ci_22582462/san-lorenzo-ammonia- leak-at-sara-lee-plant San Lorenzo: Ammonia leak at Sara Lee plant Tuesday night forces evacuations: 1 dead, 1 injured after explosion at Texas chemical plant: KPRC 2 Houston– (Texas) 1 dead, 1 injured after explo-sion at Texas chemical plant. A fire caused an explosion at the Air Liquide cylinder plant in La Porte seriously injured one person and left another unaccounted for. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the explosion. Source: http://wtvr.com/2013/02/10/1- dead-1-injured-after-explosion-at- texas-chemical-plant/ Hazardous 1600 pound battery acid spill on Wyoming Street: Pleasanton Patch – (California) Hazardous 1600 pound battery acid spill on Wyoming Street. A large commercial battery that over-turned inside a delivery truck leaked battery acid in Pleasan-ton. Local emergency re-sponders contained the spill to prevent entry into the storm drain, and the two people ex-posed to the acid engaged in self-decontamination. Source: http://pleasanton.patch.com/ articles/firefighters-stop-battery- acid-spill-on-wyoming-street P a g e 1 2 G A T E K E E P E R strongly opposed to EPA involvement in the matter, and have vowed to pre-vent the agency from creating such requirements. Republican-backed ef-forts to pass chemical security legisla-tion in recent years have favored keep-ing the relevant authorities within the Homeland Security Department. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is in the “planning stages” on potential legislation that would continue CFATS authority at the Homeland Security Department, Char-lotte Baker, spokeswoman for the panel’s Republican leadership, told GSN. The current authorization for the program expires in March. vice president of government af-fairs Bill Allmond told Global Se-curity Newswire on Thursday. Rick Hind, legislative director for Greenpeace, argued that the joint efforts to create alternative security programs was “just another sign” that Homeland Security is anxious to “appease the industry in the hope of greater cooperation be-cause there is very little they can really make them do.” Hind, along with other environmental and labor activists, has been lobbying the Environmental Protection Agency to create chemical security require-ments under the Clean Air Act that go beyond DHS authority. Congressional Republicans are In consultation with DHS officials, the American Chemistry Council unveiled a boilerplatetemplate that its member facilities could use to devise so-called alternate security programs under the CFATS regime. Creating alternative security programs is more efficient then submitting a conventional site security plan, which ACC officials describe as “a cumbersome document containing a series of yes/no questions regarding measures to minimize the risk of a ter-rorist attack or other security threat.” They argue that an alternative security plan is more clear than the question and answer format. The Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates, another industry group, is also developing an alternative secu-rity program template for its members, Bills would impose tougher chemical security rules: (Continued) 3 sickened by chemical leak: KPRC 2 Houston – (Texas) 3 sickened by chemical leak. Three people were taken to the hospital as a precaution following exposure to a leak of pivaloyl chloride at the AkzoNobel plant in Harris County. Source: http:// www.click2houston.com/ news/3-sickened-by-chemical-leak/-/ 1735978/18370974/- /3k6yisz/-/index.html Long Beach officials protect river after ammonia leak: Long Beach Press-Telegram – (California) Long Beach officials protect river after ammonia leak. A leak in a 4,000 gallon diffuser tank filled with ammonia led to emergency officials working to protect a storm drain from the spill. Residents were told to stay indoors as a hazardous materials team fixed the leak about 3 hours later. Source: http://www.presstelegram.com/ breakingnews/ci_22505091/long-beach- officials-protect-river-after -amonia-leak V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 P a g e 1 3 Associated Press – (Georgia) Fire reported at Dalton, Ga., chemical plant. Firefighters contained a blaze at the Hacros industrial chemical manu-facturing plant. Nearby residents were evacuated from their homes and stu-dents in two local schools were told to shelter in place. Source: http:// www.timesfreepress.com/ Fire reported at Dalton, Ga., chemical plant: news/2013/feb/05/fire-reported- dalton-ga-chemical- plant/ Fort Dodge Messenger – (Iowa; Kansas) Koch firm to pay $380K fine. The U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency an-nounced February 13 that Koch Nitrogen Co. LLC will pay a $380,000 fine for failing to have proper risk manage-ment plans in 2007 and 2007 at two chemical plants in Dodge City, Kansas, and Fort Dodge, Iowa, and a pipe-line terminal in Marshalltown, Iowa. Source: http:// www.messengernews.net/ Koch firm to pay $380K fine: page/content.detail/ id/554962/Koch-firm-to-pay- -380K-fine.html?nav=5010 www.ktvn.com/story/20704756/ industrial-chemical-fire County. Nearby residents were evacuated until authorities extin-guished the blaze. Source: http:// KTVN 2 Reno – (Nevada) Industrial chemical fire. A sodium fire broke out at an industrial building in Lyon Industrial chemical fire: P a g e 1 4 G A T E K E E P E R Protect Workers From Carbon Monoxide: With the arrival of cold weather, OSHA is reminding employers to take necessary precautions to protect workers from the serious, and some-times fatal, effects of carbon monox-ide exposure. Recently, a worker in a New England warehouse was found unconscious and seizing, suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. Several other workers at the site also became sick. All of the windows and doors were closed to conserve heat, there was no exhaust ventilation in the facility, and very high levels of carbon monoxide were measured at the site. Every year, workers die from carbon monoxide poisoning, usually while using fuel-burning equipment and tools in buildings or semi-enclosed spaces without adequate ventila-tion. This can be especially true during the winter months when employees use this type of equip-ment in indoor spaces that have been sealed tightly to block out cold temperatures and wind. Symp-toms of carbon monoxide exposure can include everything from head-aches, dizziness and drowsiness to nausea, vomiting or tightness across the chest. Severe carbon monoxide poisoning can cause neurological damage, coma, and death. Sources of carbon monoxide can include anything that uses combus-tion to operate, such as gas generators, power tools, compressors, pumps, welding equipment, space heaters, and furnaces. To reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in the workplace, employers should install an effective ventilation system, avoid the use of fuel-burning equipment in enclosed or partially-enclosed spaces, use carbon monoxide detectors in areas where the hazard is a concern and take other precautions outlined in OSHA's Carbon Monoxide Fact Sheet. For additional information on carbon monoxide poisoning and preventing exposure in the workplace, see OSHA's Carbon Monoxide Poi-soning Quick Cards (in English and Spanish). Must green-tipped fluorescent bulbs be managed as universal waste, or can they be managed as municipal waste? Can they be broken to facilitate consoli-dation for disposal? Not all lamps are hazardous wastes, and those that are not may be disposed of in municipal waste management facilities. It is the responsibility of the gen-erator of the lamp to determine whether it is a hazardous waste. One way to make the determi-nation is through the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Proce-dure (TCLP). The TCLP at-tempts to replicate the condi-tions in a municipal landfill to detect the mercury concentra-tion of water that would leach from the landfill. If the mercury concentration exceeds 0.2 milli-grams per liter (mg/L), the lamp fails the toxicity test and must be managed as a hazardous waste (or as a universal waste). If the TCLP analysis puts the mercury below the 0.2 mg/L maximum concentration limit, the lamp does not have to be managed as a hazardous waste or a uni-versal waste. The amount of mercury in a low-mercury bulb can range from 3.5 milligrams to 4 milligrams compared with a standard fluorescent bulb, which ranges from 8 milligrams to 14 milligrams of mercury. These lamps may be identified by green end caps (often referred to as green-tipped lamps) or green etchings on the lamps. Some generators have found that an analysis that costs only a few hundred dollars saves their facility several thousand dollars a year in disposal/recycling costs. EPA notes, however, that mercury-containing lamps often fail the TCLP and that the test results can vary considerably, depend-ing on the lamp manufacturer, the age of the lamp, and the laboratory procedures used. EPA encourages the recycling of all mercury-containing lamps, regardless of the mer-cury content. According to EPA, if you do not test your low-mercury lamps and prove them nonhazardous, you should assume they are haz-ardous waste and handle them accordingly (i.e., under the hazardous waste rules or the universal waste rules). If handling mercury-containing lamps under the federal universal waste re-quirements, both small and large quantity generators are required to handle universal waste lamps as follows: • Contain any lamp in con-tainers or packages that are structurally sound, adequate to prevent breakage, and com-patible with the contents of the lamps. Are Fluorescent Bulbs Universal Waste or Municipal Waste? • Containers and pack-ages must remain closed and must lack evidence of leakage, spillage, or dam-age that could cause leak-age under reasonably fore-seeable conditions. Immediately clean up and place in a container any lamp that is broken or any lamp that shows evidence of breakage, leakage, or damage that could cause the release of mercury or other hazardous constitu-ents to the environment. These containers must be closed, structurally sound, compatible with the con-tents of the lamps, and must lack evidence of leak-age, spillage, or damage that could cause leakage or releases of mercury or other hazardous constitu-ents to the environment under reasonably foresee-able conditions. Industry Corner V o l u m e X I I I , E d i t i o n 3 P a g e 1 5 TRANSCAER® (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) is a voluntary national outreach effort that focuses on assisting communities prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident. TRAN-SCAER ® members consist of volunteer representatives from the chemical manufacturing, transportation, distributor, and emer-gency response industries, as well as the government. Visit: http://www.transcaer.com/state.aspx for more information. SUMMARY: Owners and op-erators of gas and hazardous liquid pipeline systems and liq-uefied natural gas (LNG) facili-ties are already required to pro-vide telephonic reports of pipe-line incidents and accidents to the National Response Center (NRC) promptly, accurately, and fully communicate the estimated extent of the damages. PHMSA is issu-ing this advisory bulletin to notify the owners and op-erators that, as required by the Pipeline Safety, regula-tory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011, the agency will issue a proposed rule to revise telephonic reporting regulations to es-tablish specific time limits for telephonic or electronic notice of accidents and inci-dents involving pipeline facilities to the NRC. PHMSA to issue mandatory accident reporting time limits: To read the entire article go to: http://www.gpo.gov/ fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-01-30/ pdf/2013-01555.pdf Data on Nine New TRI Chemicals Now Available: On January 16, 2013, EPA released the 2011 TRI National Analysis, an annual report that displays EPA’s analysis of the most recent TRI data. It includes a variety of docu-ments and Web sites that outline national and local trends in toxic chemical disposal or other releases to the environment, as well as trends in toxic chemicals managed by TRI facilities. These resources include an overview of the National Analysis with additional context and explanation, briefing slides that show high-level messages and trends, and three geographic-specific analyses that highlight urban communities, large aquatic ecosystems, and Indian country and Alaska Native Villages. In Reporting Year 2011 (RY11), 20,927 facilities reported 4.09 bil-lion pounds of toxic chemicals disposed of or otherwise released into the environment, up by 8% from 2010 to 2011. In the long term, facility disposal or other re-leases of TRI chemicals have gen-erally decreased, down by 8% from 2003 to 2011. RY11 was the first year that report-ing was required on 16 new chemi-cals that have been classified as “reasonably anticipated to be a hu-man carcinogen” by the National Toxicology Program (NTP). Re-ports were received for nine of the 12 new individually-listed chemi-cals. L E T ’ S H E A R F R O M Y O U ! Send us your inputs and feedback on the newsletter; including, exercises and other LEPC related activities in which you've been involved. Let us know what you’d like to see in future editions. Talk to us! We appreciate your input and look forward to hearing from you! Sincerely, Mark Howard Executive Director Commercial products and services are mentioned for informational purposes only and should not be construed as AZSERC endorsements. Governor's Tribal Community Outreach: Visit: http://azgovernor.gov/eop/TribalOutreach.asp for agency contact information. Tribal Program Link: http://www.epa.gov/region09/indian Tribal Program Newsletter: http://www.epa.gov/region09/indian/newslet.html Tribal news: http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/ Hopi Police Chief Jamie Koot-swatewa led an "active shooters" training Jan. 31 at Hopi Jr./Sr. High School to teach staff how to respond in the case of a shooting crisis. Kootswatewa, a 1992 graduate of Hopi High School, has a long history in law enforcement includ-ing serving as a corrections offi-cer, a ranger, a special agent, a police officer and chief of the Hopi Rangers before taking the top job at the Hopi Police Depart-ment about one year ago. An active shooter is a shooter in a confined or populated area. The objective in these cases is survival. Kootswatewa talked to the staff at Hopi Jr./Sr. High about several cases involving active shooters. One of the most famous was in Columbine, Colo. in 1999 when gunmen killed 15 and wounded 23. A reservation shooting oc-curred in Red Lake, Minn., where 10 were killed and seven wounded. This case was unique because the shooter took his grandfather's police car and campus security guards waved him through the checkpoints because he was in a police car. At Virginia Tech, 32 were killed and 23 were wounded. The doors were bolted closed and since that shooting police carry bolt cutters in case this happens again. In the most recent case, at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a shooter killed 20 children and six adults. Kootswatewa said he prays that nothing like this happens at Hopi High, but he wants the school staff to be prepared. If an incident occurs, he advises that staff: • secure classrooms and work areas; • move students away from the doors; • take attendance; • stay away from the windows and doors; • know the two nearest exits in case students and staff need to leave the building in a hurry; • remain calm so students don't panic; • if gunshots are close, barricade the door with any bookcases or furniture in the room; and • if in the hallway, get in a class-room as soon as possible. If staff can call the police depart-ment, police need to know the location of the shooter, the num-ber of shooters, physical descrip-tion of shooters and the type of weapons the shooter is using. "The first goal is to neutralize the shooter" Kootswatewa said. Hopi Police Chief briefs Hopi High staff on proper response to shooting incident: Stan Bindell The Observer Kootswatewa said there should be two evacuation routes. He said prevention is possible when there is a respectful work place and when staff make supervisors aware of any work-place violence. Kootswatewa said better fund-ing for mental health could also serve as a deterrent. "But there is no one profile for shooters. It could be a drunk or a disgruntled employee. Not all shooters have been diagnosed with mental problems" he said. P a g e 1 6 Tribal Corner G A T E K E E P E R ARIZONA EMERGENCY RESPONSE COMMISSION 5636 E. MCDOWELL ROAD PHOENIX, AZ 85008-3495 PHONE: (602) 464-6346 FAX: (602) 464-6519 Visit us on the web:www.azserc.org AZSERC STAFF Mark Howard Executive Director Roger Soden HAZMAT Program Coordinator Paul Culberson Web Portal/ Technology Coordinator Sylvia Castillo Admin Asst III Chrissy McCullough Admin Asst III COMMISSIONERS: Lou Trammell ADEM Director (Chair) Will Humble ADHS Acting Director Henry Darwin ADEQ Director John Halikowski ADOT Director Robert Halliday ADPS Director DESIGNEES: Mark Howard ADEM Don Herrington ADHS Veronica Garcia ADEQ David Denlinger ADPS Sonya Herrera ADOT ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Corporation Commission - Tom Whitmer Industrial Commission - Darin Perkins State Mine Inspector - Joe Hart State Fire Marshal - Bob Barger Radiation Regulatory Agency - Aubrey Godwin Department of Agriculture - Jack Peterson Arizona Fire Chiefs Association -Mesa FD - Brady Leffler -Yuma FD - Jack McArthur Asst. State Attorney General - Jeffrey Cantrell SRP - Daniel Casiraro Intel Corporation - Randy Holmes APS - Monica Ray Private Sector - David McWilliams GATEKEEPER NEWSLETTER: MARK HOWARD – EDITOR IN CHIEF CHRISSY MCCULLOUGH - EDITOR This is accomplished through the receipt and coordination of emer-gency notifications of chemical re-leases, collection and provision of chemical inventory information to interested parties, training and grants programs. Additionally, the AZSERC pro-vides consultative services, conducts and participates in workshops and coordinates development and review of plans and programs for 15 Local Emergency Planning Committees. Further, the AZSERC serves as a state clearinghouse for hazardous chemical emergency preparedness and planning activities and informa-tion through coordination with fed-eral, tribal, state, local governments, industry and community interest The AZSERC was established by Arizona Law (Arizona Revised Stat-utes- Title 26, Chapter 2, Article 3) and is tasked with the implementa-tion of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPRCA) in Arizona. This Commission oversees 15 Local Emergency Planning Commit-tees and supports community, indus-try and government and academia in: planning, release and incident reporting, data management guid-ance for inventory reporting, public disclosure of information about haz-ardous chemicals in Arizona as well as development of training and out-reach programs. The Commission supports indi-vidual agency goals and objectives. A b o u t o u r O r g a n i z a t i o n |
