Future Environment Designs Training Center's Blog

Friday, October 07, 2011

EPA Issues a Compliance Order Against Buffalo's Public Housing Authority

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a compliance order, charging Buffalo's Public Housing Authority with violations of the Federal Clean Air Act resulting in fines up to $25,000 a day for each violation. See the WIVBTV video for the full story or Phil Fairbank's article "Housing Authority faces fines on asbestos" at BuffaloNews.com.
This is part 2 of the Kensington Heights housing project where the federal government has handed indictments of nine individuals and two contractors on felony criminal charges related to the asbestos removal project. The 23-count indictment charges the contractors and individuals, including three inspectors -- one from the state, two from the city -- with improperly removing and disposing of asbestos at the complex. EPA spokesman Michael Basile said the allegations against the authority are similar but are administrative charges, not criminal charges. The authority is alleged to have violated the EPA's National Emission Standards for Asbestos.
Basile says the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority needs to first submit a plan of proper asbestos removal for what's left in the building, then a plan for a safe demolition. "We want to make sure that the building is demolished and the removal of the asbestos is done in a safe manner to protect human health and the environment, not only for the people that are going to be working on the project, but for the people that live in the immediate area,” said Basile. Basile says he hopes the fines will never be imposed, and believes the Public Housing Authority wants to get the asbestos removal and demo process done as soon as possible. He says once the plans are developed and submitted to the EPA, the approval process should take less than two weeks.

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

Steve Jobs shows off iPhone 4 at the 2010 Worl...

Image via WikipediaThis video of Steve Jobs' commencement speech is amazing and so true about how to live your life (I see many similarities to my own life). We lost Mr. Jobs today, but his impact on our lives will remain for so many years.
Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

Friday, September 30, 2011

Strong Link Between Mold & Asthma in Children.

Image via WikipediaThe current issue of Indoor Environment Connection's front page article is "Strong Link Between Mold and Asthma in Children" written by Tom Scarlett. The article discusses a new study that appeared in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, this study indicates that children living in homes with high levels of mold had more than twice the risk of developing asthma than did children in mold-free homes. The article does a really good job of putting together results from several studies to point out the risk of children developing asthma from mold exposures. Discussed in the article is the metric, "Environmental Relative Moldiness Index" (ERMI) that was used in the study to determine the exposure level of the occupants. It will be interesting how we can use ERMI to help us quantitatively describe the mold burden in future studies and testing.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Chemical Lab Safety Refresher in IH News

The current issue of the Industrial Hygiene News has an excellent article on laboratory safety called "A Chemical Lab Safety Refresher" written by Mr. Phillip G. Retallick, who is the Senior Vice President Regulatory Affairs for Clean Harbors. The article covers the typical information regarding lab safety - training, storage, disposal, labeling, and compliance audits. One of the more interesting sections was the discussion on the requirements of a good industrial hygiene program. This section discussed the need for a worksite analysis and a well-defined and monitored work practices. The need for a Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) Registry software and routine monitoring of the air to ensure lab staff are protected is not typically discussed. The assumption is that sufficient ventilation will handle any potential problems. However, how do you know you have sufficient ventilation? Monitoring is the best way to ensure that. The article list important resources such as the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Environmental Management Guide for Small Laboratories" and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) hazardous materials portion (Section H) of 29 CFR 1910. A short and to the point article on Lab Safety.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

New Joint NIOSH/OSHA Publication on Nail Gun Safety

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The National Institue of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have a new publication called "Nail Gun Safety: A Guide for Construction Contractors." This publication was created as a resource to prevent injuries in the construction industry, including residential construction. While nail guns may boost productivity, nail guns are responsible for tens of thousands of painful injuries each year. One study found that 2 out of 5 residential carpenter apprentices experienced a nail gun injury over a four-year period. When these injuries occur they are often not reported or given any medical treatment. The risk of injury is twice as high when using a multi-shot contact trigger versus using a single-shot sequential trigger nailer. Many years ago, Linda Archipolo of Massapequa made the news on Long Island, when she was working in a Burger King at the Sunrise Mall. A three-inch nail, shot with a nail gun, accidentally went through two walls and landed in Ms. Archipolo's skull. Luckily, she survived. This new publication is intended for residential home builders and construction contractors, subcontractors, supervisors and workers to prevent these kinds of injuries.

The guidance was developed in response to a unanimous recommendation by employer, labor and public members of OSHA’s Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH), asking OSHA to develop awareness and materials about nail gun risks. OSHA and NIOSH worked together to make sure the guidance reflects the most current information available. The publication highlights what is known about nail gun injuries, describes the common causes of nail gun injuries and provides six practical steps that contractors can take to prevent these injuries. The guidance includes actual workplace cases along with a short section on other types of nail gun hazards and sources of additional information.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

EPA Warns New York City Residents about Dangers of Illegal Pesticides

CABINETS FOR STORAGE OF PESTICIDE "STANDA...

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), last week, conducted an investigation of businesses in several New York City neighborhoods revealing dangerous and illegal pesticides are widely available. Federal and state experts conducted 47 inspections and found 16 different types of illegal pesticides. The pesticides were not registered by EPA and consumers have no way of knowing how dangerous they are, because they were not subject to testing requirements or manufacturing controls that are required in the registration process. In all, nearly 350 illegal products were collected from the businesses in just three days. Store owners and vendors found with the illegal pesticides were given a warning and told why selling these products are dangerous and illegal. Separate but related criminal investigations conducted by EPA with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S Attorney’s Office, U.S. Customs, the U.S. Postal Service and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office produced similar results and several charges were made against individuals last week, resulting in 12 arrests.

EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck said, "I encourage all New York City retailers to check their shelves and make sure all their pesticides have the required EPA labels. Consumers should be careful to look for the EPA registration number printed on product labels, and to follow the directions for use, storage and disposal. If a pesticide product does not have an EPA registration number, it should not be purchased.”
“The sale of illegal pesticides poses a direct threat to the health and safety of our community. In the cases charged by our Office, that threat was particularly imminent in the Chinatown neighborhood,” said District Attorney Vance. “Some of these illegal products look and smell like cookie crumbs, making them dangerously tempting to children. Some of the other products are so toxic that one small vial can kill an adult male. It is my hope that our collective criminal and civil law enforcement actions will prevent future injury or death.”
The inspections, which took place the week of September 12, targeted stores in neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. Among the items confiscated were various rodenticides, mosquito repellants and mothballs. These items will be safely destroyed.
Under federal pesticides law, all products sold in the United States that contain pesticides must be registered with EPA. Before a pesticide product is registered, the producer of the product must provide data from tests done according to EPA guidelines, to ensure that the product does not make people sick. EPA then examines the ingredients and the way in which the product will be used, and assesses a wide variety of potential human health and environmental effects associated with use of the product. Distributors and retailers are responsible for ensuring that all pesticides distributed and sold fully comply with the law.
Pesticides have been linked to various forms of illnesses in humans, ranging from skin and eye irritation to cancer. Some pesticides may also affect the hormone or endocrine systems. In many situations, there may be non-chemical methods to control pests. EPA recommends considering and using these methods as part of an overall pest management strategy.

EPA has created an illegal pesticides fact sheet in multiple languages, which it will be distributing to businesses and community organizations in the targeted neighborhoods.
In a separate series of actions earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice charged two New York City-based individuals, who together had distributed and sold thousands of packages of illegal pesticides in recent months, with misdemeanor violations of federal pesticide laws. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office also charged 10 retail sellers with selling dangerous and illegal pesticides and with reckless endangerment. Agents seized many more illegal pesticides from the individuals during their respective arrests.
For more information on pesticide regulation and enforcement, please visit the EPA’s Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region2/pesticides.

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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Owner of Asbestos Abatement Training School Sentenced to Prison

Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Inves...

Image via WikipediaIn November 2008, Albania DeLeon, former owner of Environmental Compliance Training (ECT), the country's largest asbestos abatement training school, fled the United States after her trial. DeLeon was convicted of a broad range of charges including selling training certificates to thousands of illegal aliens who had not taken the mandatory training course. Deleon then placed these unqualified individuals in temporary employment positions as certified asbestos abatement workers in public buildings throughout Massachusetts and New England. Deleon was also convicted of encouraging illegal aliens to reside in the United States, making false statements about matters within the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency; procuring false payroll tax returns, and mail fraud.
On October 30, 2010, law enforcement authorities in the Dominican Republic, working in conjunction with the U.S. Marshal’s Service, arrested her in the capital city of Santo Domingo, where she was living under an alias and had dyed her hair blonde. In November, 2010, she was extradited to the United States. Yesterday, Albania DeLeon was sentenced to prison. U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton sentenced DeLeon, 41, formerly of Andover, Mass., to 87 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $1,200,939.45 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and $369,015 to AIM Mutual Insurance Company.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said, “Today, justice was served, and Albania Deleon has finally faced the consequences of her crimes. I hope that this sentence sends a strong message to anyone who might contemplate fleeing to avoid punishment, that we do not give up on fugitives, and we will take all necessary means and resources to apprehend and prosecute them.”
“She ran and tried to hide, but eventually the law caught up with her,” said Michael E. Hubbard, Special Agent in Charge of the US Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division in Boston. “Ms Deleon cynically defrauded the taxpayer and put her own workers and the public at risk due to her greed. Today’s sentence shows that individuals who put illegal profits ahead of the welfare of society will deservedly be prosecuted and pay a very high price.”
“This sentencing sends a clear message to employers that seek to gain an unfair business advantage over their competitors by employing illegal workers,” said Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston. “The potential risk to public health and safety involving asbestos and lead abatement and training licenses made this investigation and the need to bring this individual to justice even more compelling.”