Environmental Protection Agency
sb admin | August 4, 2009by Richard Denison, cross-posted from EDF Blogs
Today, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) unveiled its "10 Principles for Modernizing TSCA."Â Â Also today, the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition - of which EDF is a member - issued a news release and unveiled its 9-point "Platform for Reform of TSCA."Â How do they line up?
I'll leave to you readers to decide just how much alignment (or lack thereof) there is between these dueling manifestos. To get the ball rolling, I'll use this post to single out three key differences.
First, however, let me say I welcome the fact that ACC is…
sb admin | June 9, 2009Updated below (6/13/09)
The Associated Press and other news sources are reporting on an explosion today at a meat processing facility in Garner, NC. Four workers are missing, at least 41 are injured, including several with very severe burns. One worker reports:
"I was picking up a piece of meat off the line and I felt it, the percussion [force of explosion] in my chest.  One of the guys I was working with got blown back, he flew backwards."
A local news source WRAL.com reports the explosion:
"...caved in parts of the roof, sparked fires and caused an ammonia leak. ...Many [workers]…
sb admin | June 8, 2009As the public health community mourns the loss of a great scientist and colleague, The Pump Handle would like to share some of what has been written about Kate Mahaffey. Please leave your own remembrances in the comments section below.
"I have known Kathryn as a colleague for more than a decade, but most recently have been impressed with her steadfast scientific integrity while at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She always managed to honestly communicate scientific findings that while unpopular with some, were critically important to protecting public health.  ...Kathryn is a…
sb admin | June 5, 2009It is with deep sadness we inform you of the sudden passing of Kathyrn R Mahaffey, PhD.   Kate had an exceptional and diverse career, with appointments at FDA, NIOSH, NIEHS and EPA.  Most recently, Kate served as a Professorial Lecturer at the George Washington University School of Public Health.
Her husband, David Jacobs offers the following remembrance and tribute to her significant contributions to the public's health.  Information about a memorial service appears at the end of this post.
Kathryn R. Mahaffey passed away peacefully in her sleep June 2, 2009 after decades of…
sb admin | May 13, 2009by Rena Steinzor, cross-posted from CPR Blog
With his attractive family and a phalanx of top aides in tow, Professor Cass Sunstein had a cordial, 45-minute hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee yesterday. He was introduced by former student and current Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) who praised Sunstein as a teacher, mentor, and eclectic thinker, all qualities for which he is rightly known. Ironically, however, the remainder of the hearing could be summarized as efforts by the three Senators in attendanceâ Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), ranking…
sb admin | May 1, 2009University of Maryland Law Professor Rena Steinzor called for fundamental changes to the role of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in federal regulatory review, at a House Committee hearing held on April 30. The Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Science and Technology has been examining OIRA's functions and responsibilities, with the chairman stating:
"...Though rarely in the headlines, OIRA has, in the years since its creation under President Reagan, quietly become the most powerful regulatory office in the Federal government."…
sb admin | March 30, 2009by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure
A little over a week ago the Environmental Protection Agency sent the White House its finding that global warming endangers public health and welfare. This doesn't sound like news, and except for a minority of scientists out there it is very, very old news. But in the context of a 2007 Supreme Court ruling it is indeed big news:
The proposal -- which comes in response to a 2007 Supreme Court decision ordering EPA to consider whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases should be regulated under the Clean Air Act -- could lay the groundwork for…
sb admin | March 4, 2009Or is it: what wouldn't we know without investigative journalist Andrew Schneider??? Would the town Libby, Montana mean anything? How about the words Zonolite, Diacetyl, or GRAS?  These terms and places are familiar because of Andy Schneider, the Pulitzer Prize (and other) award winning reporter, who's an integral part of our public health community. Schneider's worked recently for papers in Seattle, St. Louis, Baltimore and back to Seattle, but no matter where his feet land, stellar investigations follow.        Â
Right now, it appears that Schneider is staked out…
sb admin | February 10, 2009Cross-posted from CPR Blog, by Rena Steinzor
Weâve written a great deal about Cass Sunstein, the Harvard law professor who is expected to get the nod to be the âregulatory czarâ for the Obama Administration.  In a nutshell, our concern is that Sunstein will stifle the efforts of health, safety, and environmental protection agencies to struggle to their feet after eight long years of evisceration by the Bush Administrationâs regulatory czars, John Graham, and his protégé, Susan Dudley.
But, we got to thinking. Just because the 30-year tradition of regulatory czars is to kill regulations…
sb admin | January 26, 2009Legal scholars with the Center for Progressive Reform issued today "The Choices Facing Cass Sunstein," an assessment of the writings of President Obama's nominee for the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The authors reviewed Prof. Sunstein's writing and report specifically on his staunch support for cost-benefit analysis and the "centralization of authority over regulatory decisionmaking in OIRA." They conclude:
"The Obama Administration has a unique opportunity to fix the [regulatory] system, by recognizing the failings of cost-benefit. But Cass Sunstein…
sb admin | January 16, 2009The Charleston Gazette's Ken Ward reports:
"Less than a week before leaving office, the Bush administration is preparing to issue an emergency health advisory for drinking water polluted with the toxic chemical C8. ...EPA plans to recommend reducing consumption of water that contains more than 0.4 parts per billion of C8, according to a draft of the agency advisory [6-page PDF] obtained by the Charleston Gazette. ...The [new] advisory level is tighter [and] a guideline in effect for residents near a DuPont Parkersburg [WV chemical] plant...are both 10 times weaker than a similar C8…
sb admin | December 22, 2008Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger and Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel were awarded last week the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism from Columbia University. The three journalists close-out their excellent year of reporting with "EPA Veils Hazardous Substances" explaining how the U.S. EPA allows chemical manufacturers to skirt around disclosure requirements with claims of 'confidentiality' and 'trade secret'---even though the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) expressly prohibits manufacturers to withhold information when it pertains to health and…
sb admin | November 10, 2008A former Department of Labor career employee who is expert in administrative law offers three simple steps for the Obama Administration to revitalize the federal rulemaking system. Pete Galvin's open letter to President-elect Obama provides thoughtful insight and recommendations that, if implemented, would go a long way to get our public health agencies (OSHA, MSHA, EPA) back on track for the common good. One in particular might be most difficult for the Obama team to swallow is:
"...trust your appointees to do their jobs without direct oversight by the White House staff.  …
sb admin | October 20, 2008by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
Here's some public health man-bites-dog news. George Bush's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did something right:
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday set stringent new standards for airborne lead particles, following the recommendations of its science advisers and cutting the maximum allowable concentrations to a tenth of the previous standard. It was the first change in federal lead standards in three decades.[snip]
The new standards set the limits for exposure at 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from 1.5 micrograms, and…
sb admin | October 6, 2008A report released last week by staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on EPA's handling of the massive asbestos contamination in the mining town of Libby, Montana is laden with words including "failure," "misled," "interference," and "delay." Refering to "EPA's Failure to Declare a Public Health Emergency in Libby, Montana," Senator Baucus said that he and the staff examined more than 14,000 internal documents and found:
"...a pattern of intervention from OMB, the White House, and political appointees at EPA that undermined cleanup efforts at Libby, delayed…
sb admin | September 10, 2008The Seattle Post-Intelligencerâs Andrew Schneider reports on another lawsuit from a consumer who says his lungs have been damaged by years of microwave popcorn consumption. The most famous microwave-popcorn consumer, Wayne Watson of Denver, filed suit earlier this year. Watson drew national attention after he was diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans, a disease previously found only in workers from plants that used the butter-flavoring chemical diacetyl. (The Pump Handle was the first to publicize the fact that a popcorn consumer had been diagnosed with the disease; check our diacetyl page…
sb admin | July 29, 2008The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin reports that a senior EPA official has told managers that they shouldn't answer questions from reporters, congressional investigators, or the agency's inspector general - instead, they should direct them to a press officer. (The group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has more details.)
Discouraging EPA employees from speaking with members of the media is nothing new, as the Union of Concerned Scientists reported after surveying hundreds of EPA scientists (see Chapter 4 of their report). But Congress and the Inspector General are…
sb admin | June 30, 2008In recent months, weâve learned about the Department of Defense hampering EPAâs chemical risk assessments and slowing the study of health effects from the TCE contaminating Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Now, the Washington Postâs Lyndsey Layton reports that DoD is refusing comply with EPA orders to clean up military bases where chemical contamination poses âimminent and substantialâ dangers to public health.
When EPA issues âfinal ordersâ to polluters, those that donât comply can be hauled into court and forced to pay fines of up to $28,000 per day for each violation. When the polluter in…
sb admin | June 9, 2008An attorney representing a large group of PFOA-exposed individuals sent a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and ATSDR Director Howard Frumkin, urging them not to delay any further the release of hazard information and risk assessments on the contaminant perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, a.k.a. C8). Mr. Bilott was writing on behalf of residents who live near DuPont's Washington Works plant near Parkersburg, WV andÂ
"who continue to be exposed to this poison in their residential drinking water on a daily basis."  Â
In a 2005 legal settlement with the residents, DuPont agreed…
sb admin | May 2, 2008Companies have evidently realized that marketing anti-bacterial products to U.S. consumers is a good way to make money, and are pushing a wide array of products that claim to have bacteria-fighting properties. (I've seen socks, computer products, toys ... and even a handy hook you can use to avoid touching a potentially germ-ridden door handle.) This might seem like a good thing - bacteria cause some pretty nasty diseases, after all - except that they're using nano-sized silver particles to fight the bacteria, and we don't know nearly enough about the effects of all the nano-sized particles…