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1. EPA TOOL IMPROVES SCREENING FOR PERSISTENT, BIOACCUMULATIVE AND TOXIC CHEMICALS, 2. EPA ANNOUNCES GREEN BUILDING PROJECTS ON BROWNFIELDS SITES IN EIGHT STATES, 3. COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED ON PROPOSED U.S.-MEXICO BORDER ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN, 4. EX-PRESIDENT, FORMER EMPLOYEES OF LAB SENTENCED FOR FRAUD, 5. VIRGINIA SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT OWNER PLEADS GUILTY

Release Date: 09/25/2002
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Press Advisory

Following are some Agency developments which may interest you. If you need
more information on any of these subjects, call the appropriate contact.

EPA today released the PBT Profiler, an on-line chemical screening tool developed jointly by the Agency, the American Chemistry Council, the Chlorine Chemistry Council, the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association and with contributions from Environmental Defense. The Profiler screens for potential persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBTs) chemicals -- toxic substances that persist for extended periods in the environment and build up (bioaccumulate) in humans and animals. This new tool allows companies to screen for PBT chemicals faster than traditional methods, to select safer alternatives to PBTs for use in new and existing products and to incorporate pollution prevention into the chemical development process. More than 120 chemical companies and other parties participated in testing the PBT Profiler, including DuPont, PPG Industries, S.C. Johnson and Eastman Kodak. Since 1999, EPA has required certain additional PBT chemicals to be reported under Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) using a lower reporting threshold than the other TRI chemicals. For more information on the PBT Profiler, see: www.epa.gov/oppt/pbtprofiler.

In an initiative designed to promote the construction of environmentally friendly buildings on Brownfields properties nationwide, EPA today announced the launch of Green Buildings on Brownfields pilot projects in eight states. Green buildings conserve energy, water and materials and create healthy indoor and outdoor environments. They can include residential, commercial, institutional and industrial buildings and even major remodeling of existing buildings. EPA is providing technical assistance to each of these Brownfields pilot projects in the form of services totaling $15,000. The Agency is providing expertise in areas such as design and water efficiency. EPA hopes these pilots serve as models, providing an incentive to localities and developers to build green buildings on Brownfields nationwide. These projects are located in: Springfield, Mass.; Toledo, Ohio; Kauai, Hawaii; Mt. Shasta, Calif.; Spartanburg, S.C.; Little Rock, Ark.; St. Louis, Mo.; and Baltimore, Md. Brownfields are abandoned, idled or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination. For general information about green building, see EPA’s green building web page at: https://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding; for more information on EPA’s Brownfields Program, see: http://www.epa.govhttps://www.epa.gov/brownfields

The public comment period, cited in the release of Sept. 23, has been extended to Nov. 22. The release is available at: www.epa.gov. Further information on the Border 2012 plan and public hearings is available in English and Spanish on two websites, https://www.epa.gov/usmexicoborder and http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/frontera2012.

Richard M. Kaminski of Salado, Texas, former President of Caleb Brett USA, was sentenced on Sept. 19 to 11 months in prison, a $20,000 fine and three years of supervised release for obstruction of justice. Ronald Domnik of Doylestown, Pa., a former operations manager in Caleb Brett’s Linden, N.J. facility, was sentenced to eight months in prison followed by eight months of home confinement, a $10,000 fine and three years probation for conspiracy to make false statements. Nicholas Lehmann of Chelsea, Mass., former Caleb Brett lab manager was sentenced to 24 months of probation for failing to disclose to authorities his knowledge of the conspiracy. The conspiracy involved a broad scheme that included falsification of laboratory reports on various petroleum fuels over a 10-year period. The scheme was designed to make it appear that the fuels met commercial and regulatory requirements, including cleaner-burning standards of the EPA, when, in fact, they did not. Falsifying laboratory reports on fuels can lead to increases in air pollution, which can cause respiratory diseases. In April 2001, Caleb Brett was sentenced to pay an aggregate $1 million fine and serve three years’ probation for the company’s part in a conspiracy to mislead investigators about a scheme to falsify chemical analyses involving hundreds of millions of gallons of reformulated gasoline. Several other individual defendants still await sentencing. The investigation was carried out by special agents of the EPA Criminal Investigation Division and U.S. Postal Inspectors. The government was also assisted in the prosecution by New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation and analytical and technical support was provided by EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center. The case was prosecuted by the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice. The sentence was handed out in federal court in Newark, N.J.

Robert Gill, owner of DLG Public Utility Corp. Inc., pleaded guilty on Sept. 16 to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA). DLG operated a sewage treatment plant that serviced the Queen Anne’s Court housing development in Benn’s Church, Va. The facility had a permit to release treated wastewater into Jones Creek, which is a tributary of the Pagan River. According to the indictment, Gill unlawfully operated the company’s sewage treatment facility. Unlawful operation of a sewage treatment facility can lead to the pollution of surface waters and make them unfit for fish, wildlife and recreational purposes. In a prior case in 1996, Gill was sentenced to 30 days home confinement, a $2,500 fine and $1,815 in restitution for falsifying laboratory reports required under the CWA. This case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Norfolk.

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