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April 18, 2002 THIS WEEK:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's free to have your organization or agency listed on the Brownfields.com Industry Links page. Email your homepage link and a one sentence description of your organization to: editors@brownfields.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- EPA Launches Web Site to Promote Reuse
of RCRA Brownfields WASHINGTON, D.C. - EPA has launched a new web site to promote the cleanup and reuse of brownfield properties across the nation that are regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Called the RCRA Brownfields Prevention Initiative web site, it will provide state and tribal governments and the public easy access to useful information about the reuse of brownfield properties where hazardous waste was generated, treated, stored or disposed. Despite the existence of redevelopment potential for residential, industrial, commercial, recreational or greenspace (undeveloped property) use, many of these RCRA properties remain unused because of real or perceived concerns about contamination, legal liability and RCRA requirements. EPA established the initiative to encourage the reuse of potential RCRA brownfields, so the land better serves the needs of the community. RCRA gives EPA the authority to control hazardous waste from "cradle-to-grave," including generation, treatment, storage and disposal. RCRA generally focuses on active and future facilities and is designed to prevent future Superfund sites and brownfields. The RCRA Brownfields Prevention Initiative links RCRA facilities with the brownfields program to help use economic redevelopment as an engine that drives environmental cleanup. For more information on the RCRA Brownfields Prevention initiative, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/rcrabf/index.html General Electric Offers Hudson River
Settlement ALBANY, New York (ENS) - General Electric (GE) has offered to devise and execute a cleanup plan for the upper Hudson River, hoping to avoid additional lawsuits over the polluted sediments for which the company is blamed. After battling for two decades to avoid a half billion dollar cleanup project, GE said April 9 it would begin testing for PCB hotspots in the Hudson this summer, and contract with environmental specialists to dredge contaminated sediments from the river. The company said it would pay for the dredging and reimburse the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for $37 million in previous government expenditures. GE filed what it called a "good faith offer" with the EPA, volunteering to design a dredging plan to remove sediments laden with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). About 1.3 million pounds of PCBs were deposited by two GE plants that manufactured electric capacitors in Fort Edward and Hudson Falls, New York. Use of PCBs in capacitor insulation was banned in 1977, but prior to that time, GE had been dumping the chemical for more than 35 years. The Hudson River was declared a Superfund site in 1983. PCBs are probable carcinogens in humans and are known to cause cancer in animals. Other long term health effects of PCBs observed in laboratory animals include a reduced ability to fight infections, low birth weights and learning problems. "GE has proposed a format and a process for implementing the dredging project EPA has selected," wrote Stephen Ramsey, GE's vice president of corporate environmental programs, in a prepared statement. "This is a major step toward what we hope will be a cooperative relationship for ensuring the implementation of the dredging project selected by [EPA Administrator Christie] Whitman.' GE plans to negotiate with the EPA over its proposed cleanup settlement over the next 60 days, Ramsey said. Register Now for the National Brownfields
Association's "Investing in Government Sites" will take a fresh look at how government agencies can attract private investment to clean up government sites, protect them from future liabilities, and expedite the redevelopment process. Government sites present a unique opportunity and require special skills, knowledge and public and private partnerships to put them back to productive use. We have assembled senior level officials from the Army, Navy, Air Force and also the GSA, EPA, DoE and HUD who deal with the repositioning and redevelopment of federal facilities, as well as industry, community and business leaders who have expertise in the federal facilities marketplace. In addition, we will be announcing the formation of the new Government Sites Section of the NBA. For more information on this NBA meeting and to register, please visit http://www.brownfieldassociation.org or call (773) 714-0407. Decaffeination Technique Could Clean Hazardous Waste LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico - A technique now used to remove caffeine from coffee could help remove radioactive particles and hazardous metals from mixtures of waste. A research team at the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory is developing an environmentally friendly method for using supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) and water to clean up contamination. In early tests, the technique removed almost all of the contaminants from materials exposed to the mixture. The researchers believe the technique could be used to extract contaminants from containers and other types of waste generated by workers in laboratories and industrial plants. That would reduce the amount of wastes headed for hazardous waste landfills. The Los Alamos team worked with a mixture of supercritical carbon dioxide and water, modified with the addition of a polyether. Their results were presented at the 2002 meeting of the American Chemical Society. By itself, supercritical CO2, which is CO2 under pressure and at a certain temperature, dissolves a number of materials, but now metal ions, said Los Alamos research team leader Mark McCleskey. But the only known way to use CO2 to extract metal ions was by combining it with a special kind of molecule known to combine with certain kinds of metals, a method with limited applications. The Los Alamos team combined supercritical CO2 with an inert polyether that stabilizes water. They used the mixture, known as a microemulsion, to extract copper and europium from filter paper, wood, cement and activated carbon, recovering about 98 percent of the contaminants. Microemulsions are useful for extracting metals from waste, he explained, because the amount of water required is proportional to the amount of contaminant being removed, not to the amount of waste to be cleaned. "The result is that grams of contaminants can be captured with just a few milliliters of water," McCleskey said. Blighted Pennsylvania Steel Site to
House New Museum & Convention Center The Bethlehem Steel plant site is a classic example of how state and federal cleanup guidelines turn former brownfields into highly attractive properties for developers. The plant dates back to 1857, when it began as a small rail-making operation to support the expanding railroad industry. Bethlehem Steel, established in 1904, eventually became the leading steel supplier to the construction industry. During both World Wars, Bethlehem Steel was a major supplier of armor plate, and during peacetime the company met the demands of the booming construction industry. But by 1990, the company had become an industrial dinosaur, finally ceasing operations in 1995. Like so many other properties in this area of the Lehigh Valley in Northampton County, the site was classified as a brownfield. In May 1998, Northampton County was awarded a Brownfields Assessment Pilot from the EPA to create an inventory and conduct assessments on former industrial properties within the valley. But Bethlehem Steel had been operating under guidelines set by the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 1976. To receive a RCRA permit that allowed the plant's operation, Bethlehem Steel's owners had to demonstrate they were capable of managing and cleaning up hazardous wastes associated with steel production. Since the plant's closing, the property's owners have been working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) to clean up the site in accordance with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's own brownfields law, which sets cleanup standards for former commercial and industrial sites and provides liability releases to property owners that comply. Approximately 375 tons of soil contaminated with arsenic and lead will eventually be removed from the property and taken to permitted landfills. The property will one day house the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Industrial History on the banks of the Lehigh River. The museum will feature a live-action exhibit entitled the Iron and Steel Showcase, displaying artifacts and information that will provide an interactive education for this bygone era. Over the next 20 years, additional redevelopment projects are planned that will turn the former industrial facility into a state-of-the-art entertainment and cultural complex. Plans for the site include a 200-room hotel and conference center, a giant indoor swimming pool, two recreational ice rinks, a multi-screen theater, and at least 20 retail shops and restaurants. If not for the RCRA and Pennsylvania's brownfields law, Bethlehem Steel could have been just another blighted site in the Lehigh Valley. Now the property will contribute to both the state and local economy, and restore the sense of pride and admiration for the steel industry and its workers long absent from the site.
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