Columbus Steel Castings, Inc., of Columbus, Ohio was sentenced to pay $825,000 in fines and install additional devices to prevent air pollution. Columbus Steel pled guilty on July 28, 2011 to six counts of violating the Clean Air Act. The violations include failing to operate air pollution controls, failing to report violations, failing to perform required monitoring, and failing to conduct stack testing to demonstrate compliance with the Clean Air Act.
In announcing the sentence, Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance, made clear that "EPA is committed to protecting communities from illegal air pollution that threatens people's health. Today's sentence will benefit the local community and shows that companies that fail to operate the necessary air pollution controls will be held accountable."
The company admitted that between 2004 and 2007 it failed to operate air pollution controls for four different sources at the plant for varying periods of time. The company also failed to report malfunctions of air pollution control equipment. Daily visual emission checks, designed to determine if the plant was emitting excess dust or smoke, were not conducted on weekends while the facility was operating. Stack tests, which are necessary to ensure compliance with the Clean Air Act, were not conducted as required by the company's air permit. The Company also failed to submit accurate annual compliance certifications.
This is not the first time that Columbus Steel has been fined for exceeding air pollution standards. In 2009, EPA successfully took legal action against the foundry, which makes parts for rail cars, for violations of the Act, which included excessive smoke and dust.
For more information, click here.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Green Tenant Toolkit Launched
The San Francisco Department of Environment (SFE) and the Business Council on Climate Change (BC3) has just released the Green Tenant Toolkit, an online resource to enhance the energy efficiency and sustainability of commercial buildings by empowering collaboration between owners, property managers, tenants, and occupants. While the kit was created to coincide with the San Francisco Existing Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Ordinance, it can be tailored for use in any building.
The Green Tenant Toolkit includes best practices for tenants and building management to engage in win-win environmental initiatives, a guide to integrating green lease language into negotiations, and a scorecard to summarize key sustainability metrics for any property – whether or not it has a green certification. “Split incentives” are a key problem, where the person who pays for an energy retrofit might not be the one that benefits. The toolkit is designed to help owners and tenants mutually benefit. Eliminating barriers to sustainability throughout the life of a commercial lease helps to minimize operating costs, save water, reduce carbon emissions, and increase energy efficiency.
The toolkit was produced by a BC3 working group of twenty-six professionals from leading commercial real estate companies, design and architecture firms, law firms, model tenants, and building trade organizations. The group was facilitated by Northgate Environmental Management’s Sustainable Practice Leader, Jennifer Berg.
The Green Tenant Toolkit is available online at www.greentenanttoolkit.com. As it is intended to be a living, evolving tool, user feedback is encouraged and appreciated.
The Green Tenant Toolkit includes best practices for tenants and building management to engage in win-win environmental initiatives, a guide to integrating green lease language into negotiations, and a scorecard to summarize key sustainability metrics for any property – whether or not it has a green certification. “Split incentives” are a key problem, where the person who pays for an energy retrofit might not be the one that benefits. The toolkit is designed to help owners and tenants mutually benefit. Eliminating barriers to sustainability throughout the life of a commercial lease helps to minimize operating costs, save water, reduce carbon emissions, and increase energy efficiency.
The toolkit was produced by a BC3 working group of twenty-six professionals from leading commercial real estate companies, design and architecture firms, law firms, model tenants, and building trade organizations. The group was facilitated by Northgate Environmental Management’s Sustainable Practice Leader, Jennifer Berg.
The Green Tenant Toolkit is available online at www.greentenanttoolkit.com. As it is intended to be a living, evolving tool, user feedback is encouraged and appreciated.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Sea Level Rise Could Drown Vital Marshes
Peter Fimrite, SF Chronicle, November 17, 2011
The critical tidal marshes of San Francisco Bay - habitat for tens of thousands of birds and other animals - will virtually disappear within a century if the sea rises as high as some scientists predict it will as a result of global warming.
The study, lead by PRBO Conservation Science and published Wednesday in the online science journal PLoS One, is the first comprehensive look at the impact of climate change on bay wetlands. The researchers started with a 1.6-foot sea level rise this century, a level that scientists consider very optimistic, and then moved up in increments to 5.4 feet.
A 93 percent reduction in tidal marshland would occur over the next 50 to 100 years only if the worst projections come true and assuming the bay does not suddenly become awash in new sediment, according to the report.
Read the SF Chronicle here and the full study here.
The critical tidal marshes of San Francisco Bay - habitat for tens of thousands of birds and other animals - will virtually disappear within a century if the sea rises as high as some scientists predict it will as a result of global warming.
The study, lead by PRBO Conservation Science and published Wednesday in the online science journal PLoS One, is the first comprehensive look at the impact of climate change on bay wetlands. The researchers started with a 1.6-foot sea level rise this century, a level that scientists consider very optimistic, and then moved up in increments to 5.4 feet.
A 93 percent reduction in tidal marshland would occur over the next 50 to 100 years only if the worst projections come true and assuming the bay does not suddenly become awash in new sediment, according to the report.
Read the SF Chronicle here and the full study here.
Health Costs of Climate Change-Related Disasters in the US
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, November 10, 2011
A study published in the November 2011 edition of Health Affairs is the first-of-its-kind to develop a uniform method of quantifying the associated health costs for extreme weather and disease events that are expected to be exacerbated by climate change.
The analysis spotlights six US case studies occurring between 2002 and 2009 that resulted in health costs exceeding $14 billion dollars:
Read more here.
A study published in the November 2011 edition of Health Affairs is the first-of-its-kind to develop a uniform method of quantifying the associated health costs for extreme weather and disease events that are expected to be exacerbated by climate change.
The analysis spotlights six US case studies occurring between 2002 and 2009 that resulted in health costs exceeding $14 billion dollars:
- Florida hurricanes in 2004
- North Dakota floods in 2009
- California heat wave in 2006 and wild fires in 2003
- Nationwide ozone air pollution from 2000-2002
- West Nile virus outbreaks in Louisiana in 2002 (which were tied to warmer weather and changes in precipitation patterns)
Read more here.
Johnson & Johnson to Remove Contaminants from Baby Products
Johnson & Johnson has delivered a letter to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics laying out commitments and timelines for its plan to reformulate all of its baby products worldwide to remove formaldehyde, 1,4-dioxane, and phthalates.
The commitment to remove these chemicals of concern does not apply to Johnson & Johnson's adult products.
Read the press release here.
The commitment to remove these chemicals of concern does not apply to Johnson & Johnson's adult products.
Read the press release here.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Newest Wetland in Salt Pond Restoration Project
Oldest Bay Area salt flat turned into wetland
Caroline Jones, SF Chronicle, September 14, 2011
A construction crew ripped through an old levee just south of the San Mateo Bridge, allowing water from Old Alameda Creek to flow into the Eden Landing salt flat for the first time since the 1850s. Eventually a levee to the west of that flat will be breached to reconnect the 630 acres to San Francisco Bay.
Tuesday's levee breach was the first salt-flat restoration in the East Bay. It is part of the 15,000-acre South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, the largest wetland restoration program on the Pacific Coast, which has so far been concentrated on the salt ponds around Alviso.
"These salt ponds took away the lungs of the Bay. Today we're giving them back," said Carl Wilcox, manager of the Bay-Delta region for the California Department of Fish and Game.
Salt flats have been a fixture of the shoreline at least since the Gold Rush. Ohlone Indians harvested salt along the waterfront, but then commercial outfits such as Leslie and later Cargill took over. In the late 1990s Cargill sold most of its Bay Area salt ponds to the state and federal governments for wetland restoration.
Read more here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/14/MN8L1L44HA.DTL
Caroline Jones, SF Chronicle, September 14, 2011
A construction crew ripped through an old levee just south of the San Mateo Bridge, allowing water from Old Alameda Creek to flow into the Eden Landing salt flat for the first time since the 1850s. Eventually a levee to the west of that flat will be breached to reconnect the 630 acres to San Francisco Bay.
Tuesday's levee breach was the first salt-flat restoration in the East Bay. It is part of the 15,000-acre South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, the largest wetland restoration program on the Pacific Coast, which has so far been concentrated on the salt ponds around Alviso.
"These salt ponds took away the lungs of the Bay. Today we're giving them back," said Carl Wilcox, manager of the Bay-Delta region for the California Department of Fish and Game.
Salt flats have been a fixture of the shoreline at least since the Gold Rush. Ohlone Indians harvested salt along the waterfront, but then commercial outfits such as Leslie and later Cargill took over. In the late 1990s Cargill sold most of its Bay Area salt ponds to the state and federal governments for wetland restoration.
Read more here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/14/MN8L1L44HA.DTL
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Infrastructure Sustainability Rating System
The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the American Public Works Association (APWA) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently joined together to create the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) to develop a new infrastructure rating system to assess the sustainability of civil-engineering projects.
ISI’s "EnvISIon" rating system aims to do for infrastructure projects what the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program does for buildings. EnvISIon is just one of many initiatives currently underway by a variety of professional organizations (such as SURF) and academic institutions that are studying and measuring sustainability. Through the creation of guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable design, construction, maintenance and remediation practices, these new tools will allow risk managers, corporate executives and directors to make better decisions.
EnvISIon is now available for public comment through December 9, 2011. Practitioners and interested parties may critically review the tool and its assumptions and make comments or suggestions prior to its actual release for commercial use early in 2012. All comments will be reviewed and considered in confidence by the ISI Technical Committee.
ISI’s "EnvISIon" rating system aims to do for infrastructure projects what the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program does for buildings. EnvISIon is just one of many initiatives currently underway by a variety of professional organizations (such as SURF) and academic institutions that are studying and measuring sustainability. Through the creation of guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable design, construction, maintenance and remediation practices, these new tools will allow risk managers, corporate executives and directors to make better decisions.
EnvISIon is now available for public comment through December 9, 2011. Practitioners and interested parties may critically review the tool and its assumptions and make comments or suggestions prior to its actual release for commercial use early in 2012. All comments will be reviewed and considered in confidence by the ISI Technical Committee.
Friday, July 8, 2011
ARB Workshop on Draft Changes to California's GHG Reporting and Cap-and-Trade Regulations
The California Air Resources Board is holding a public workshop to discuss draft changes to the proposed greenhouse gas cap-and-trade and mandatory greenhouse gas reporting regulations.
DATE: Friday, July 15, 2011
TIME: 9 am to 3 pm
LOCATION: Byron Sher Auditorium, 2nd Floor, Cal/EPA HQ
Building, 1001 I Street, Sacramento
WEBCAST: http://www.calepa.ca.gov/broadcast/?BDO=1
During the workshop, stakeholders may e-mail questions to ccworkshops@arb.ca.gov.
The cap-and-trade program covers major sources of GHG emissions in the State such as refineries, power plants, industrial facilities, and transportation fuels. The proposed regulation includes an enforceable emissions cap that will decline over time. The State will distribute allowances, which are tradable permits, equal to the emissions allowed under the cap. Sources under the cap will need to surrender allowances and offsets equal to their emissions at the end of each compliance period.
The discussion drafts are now available for download.
Staff’s presentations will be posted in advance of the workshop on ARB’s website.
You can also call (916) 322-2037 with general questions about the workshop or the proposed cap-and-trade regulation, or (916) 322-5350 with questions about the mandatory GHG reporting regulation.
DATE: Friday, July 15, 2011
TIME: 9 am to 3 pm
LOCATION: Byron Sher Auditorium, 2nd Floor, Cal/EPA HQ
Building, 1001 I Street, Sacramento
WEBCAST: http://www.calepa.ca.gov/broadcast/?BDO=1
During the workshop, stakeholders may e-mail questions to ccworkshops@arb.ca.gov.
The cap-and-trade program covers major sources of GHG emissions in the State such as refineries, power plants, industrial facilities, and transportation fuels. The proposed regulation includes an enforceable emissions cap that will decline over time. The State will distribute allowances, which are tradable permits, equal to the emissions allowed under the cap. Sources under the cap will need to surrender allowances and offsets equal to their emissions at the end of each compliance period.
The discussion drafts are now available for download.
Staff’s presentations will be posted in advance of the workshop on ARB’s website.
You can also call (916) 322-2037 with general questions about the workshop or the proposed cap-and-trade regulation, or (916) 322-5350 with questions about the mandatory GHG reporting regulation.
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