Document XzmzyrzzbvBZmknd2QDgab3vx

AlBCBT j BEVCftiDGC m RlCHlRO M FAIRBANKS, 1H HNR l oi am on d so> m e*ise eviN m rote JAMES BAO'.CS HAOOlO MlMMCiKK jOnaTman i Cannon ANDREW C MISHKIN CHRlSrOAHCA l-> BuCL[>, Charles a. ratbuia suEOEEn m. gibbons J(R. Nor a mcmier or c. c. bab LAW OFFICES Beveridge. Fairbanks & Diamond One Fahsagut Sojase Sou*h Washington, D. C. 20006 TCLERHONC (802) 638-7BOO September 15, 1976 CARLEAROwE' OF COUNSEL Cable address l N O L AV. Mr. Jerome Heckman Keller & Heckman 1150 - 17th Street, N.W. Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20036 Dear Jerry: This letter will advise you with respect to one issue which has arisen regarding the research and development requirement in EPA's proposed Vinyl Chloride Standard. Several companies have expressed concern with this regulation. Specifically, the companies are concerned about a-10 part per million requirement on emissions from research reactors over 50 gal. This requirement creates a number of practical operating difficulties. In addition, the cost for some companies greatly exceeds the benefits derived. Upon discovering how the research and development requirement would affect some companies, we held a preliminary meeting in Allentown, Pennsylvania on September 7 to draft a proposal to submit to EPA discussing this issue. On September members of the Polyvinyl Chloride-Vinyl Chloride Monomer Technical Committee met with Don Goodwin and his staff in Research Triangle Park and presented to him a letter stating our views. 9 While no agreement was reached with respect to our con cerns, Mr. Goodwin assured us that some "solid questions" had been raised and that the Agency would review the questions and advise us regarding its decision. He said it was unlikely that the proposed Standard would be withdrawn for review but he indicated he would request that the Preamble to the Vinyl Chloride Standard be rewritten to indicate that new infor mation relating to the research and development requirement had been received and was being reviewed and that a change might be required at a later date. Although Mr. Goodwin was SPl-24354 Beveridge, Fairbanks & Diamond J. Heckman September 15, 1976 Page Two speaking for his office, I believe his recommendation will be adopted by his superiors in Washington. Therefore, my latest advice still holds that the Standard as finally written can be expected any day, however, the Preamble to the Standard should acknowledge a problem with the research and development requirement. If you have any questions, please advise. Sincerely, GHB:Ip Gary H. Baise SPf-24355  ' By PETER J. BERNSTEIN }tr-Uder 8ung WASHINGTON -- Chemical manufac- ' lurors will be required to reduce by S3 per cent airborne emissions of \ iml chloride -- a canccroovriR sub.xiance widely used in making plastics -- under regulations In be issued soon bv the Environmental Protection Agency ifcPA'i. The regulations are among the most de- tailed EPa ever has established for an air contaminant. The rules set emission limns for every phase in the vinyl chloride manu- ' factoring process. - Special air pumps will be required to . trap so-called fugitive emissions of vinyl chloride gas that escape through vents and windows of chemical plants. EPA officials said the standard would affect 4i plants winch produce the toxic chemical, and would have to bo met wuhin 2v. years Most U $. vinyl chloride plants are in New1 Jersey. Louisiana, [ilmois and Texas. Potentially dangerous traces of vinyl chloride gas have been detected in recent mouths as a result of federal monitoring near plants in New Jersey and Texas. Similar tests are planned at vinyl chloride plants elsewhere. Approximately 4 6 million people five within a five-mile radius of vinyl chloride plants.according to EPA New .Jersey Department of Envirorrr.er. lal Protectin'. officials said six major x;i.\ vhloridc manufacturers in the stale wot.c come under the regulations. They are B.K. Goodrich. Salem Cou-y., Hooker Chemical Co . Burlington; Paniijou Co.. Passaic; Tcnneco Chemical Co. r'is-u in Burlington and Flemington. and Jar.r.s; Corp . Franklin Township. The chemical industry has used viny l chloride for decades in producing such p!as tic products as toys, phonograph recorcs. (Please turn to Page3fl) V: .-..Vinyl chloride pollution cut ordered (Continued from Page One) appliances and vinyl jackets. The chemical' attracted little notice until Jan. 22. 1974. when B.F. Goodrich, the leading producer of vinyl chloride in the country, disclosed that several of its chemical workers had died from angiosarcoma of the liver, a rare form of cancer. The National Cancer Institute has since confirmed 27 cases of liver angiosarcoma among chemical workers with a history of exposure to vinyl chloride. Studies of occupa tional exposure to vinyl chloride indicate there is a latency period of up to 20 years between initial exposure to the organic chemical and occurrence of the disease. Only a quarter of the vinyl chloride plants are 20 years or older. Most have opened in recent years - The EPA regulations do not apply to some 8.000 plastic fabricating plants, which use polyvinyl chloride, a chemical derived from vinyl chloride. These plants account for about 10 per cent of the vinyl chloride in llie air EPA said monitoring in the vicinity of several plants showed that vinyl chloride concentrations were too small to make the expense of cleaning up worthwhile. Jack Fanner, who wrote the EPA regu lations. said in an interview that the measure is essentially the same as regulations the agency proposed last December. Farmer, chief of the standards develop ment branch in EPA, said the regulations are designed to provide a reasonable margin of safely (o protect health from vinyl chloride. They req.i.rr -hcmical firms to use the best available v*>: :i ol technology; The EPA cracl.iijwn is the Iasi link in a chain of regulatory actions against vinyl chloride. In 1974, the occupational health and safe ly administration, a branch of the Labor De partment. issued rules limiting the exposure of chemicals workers to vinyl chloride. Plants unable to meet the standard have been required to provide workers with respi rators. s THE STAR LEDGER Friday, Sept. 17, 1976 SPI-24356 748 linht, &, (jjj* 2.0 ENVIRONMENT REPORTER Motor Vehicles ' Use of more accurate road load simulation through the EPA ISSUES PROCEDURES FOR TESTING application of a revised method for setting the , dynamometer power absorber"; .FUEL ECONOMY, EMISSIONS OF 1978 VEHICLES Reduction in inertia weight test intervals by half. Interim final procedures for testing the fuel economv and exhaust emissions of 1978 model year vehicles (40 CFR 600 and 86) wore issued by (he Environmental Protection Agen cy September 10 l-tl FK 3S074). ! At the same time, the agency proposed that the procedures Revisions to emission certification procedures to in clude definitions of options and models, and revision of op tional equipment usage, and Revision of the fuel octane requirement to allow use of a lower octane fuel. 'also be applied to 1979 and subsequent model year vehicles. Several provisions proposed May 21 as part of EPA's luel economy labeling program for 1977 model year vehicles (Current Developments, May 28, p f72) also were promulgated wilh the testing regulations September 10. . i because, the agency said, the provisions include definitions "essential to the calculation of. . . fuel economy averages."' TitXH* h i" r:- ' y; nj -,i Comment Period Comments on both the interim final and proposed procedures should be submitted by December 9 lo the EPA Office of Mobile Source Air pollution Control, 401 M St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460. ..' , ( >; f ' General Policy v. i lor i dn.drf pu#i Economy Tasting ' ^v ' The interim final procedures increase the number of cars .tested for emission purposes to produce a test fleet that is representative of the manufacturer's product lines for fuel economy and emission testing purposes. EPA said. The in crease in cars in the test fleet over the number now tested for emissions certification and fuel economy labeling, .however, is "quite modest." the agency said. The procedures provide a "representative," rather than ."statistical." sampling plan for increasing the test fleet, EPA said. Under the representative plan, EPA wifi make a preliminary calculation of the manufacturer's average fuel economy at the beginning of the model year by using original . emission certification test vehicles; vehicles representing early BATTELLE SCIENTISTS CALL FOR STUDIES OF HEALTH EFFECTS AT PVC LANDFILL SITES ST. LOUIS. Mo. -- (By an Environmen; Reporter staff cor respondent) -- The persistence of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) concentrations in air samples taken at former landfill sites has prompted Battelle Columbus Laboratory scientists to call for health effects studies of pei sons living near the sites. Richard Markle, a Battelle Columbus (Ohio) scientist, told a conference on land disposal of residuals held September J3-15 that he and other Battelle scientists have found background concentrations of vinyl chloride monomers (VCM) at a land disposal site "several years" after the site was closed down. Concentrations ranged from .1 part per model year design changes required to be tested for emis sion purposes; vehicles required to be tested for fuel .economy labeling ; vehicles representing "high production volume configurations in significant base levels"; ,and million (ppm) to .3 ppm at the site, he said. The study of vinyl chloride monomers in air and sludge samples at former and existing landfill sites was conducted by Battelle under an Environmental Protection Agency con vehicles submitted voluntarily by the manufacturers. . **. * tract. Markle said "grab" air and sludge samples were taken at ' Exhaust Emission Testing Changes made in procedures for measuring the exhaust emissions of automobiles and light duty trucks are designed to improve the accuracy and applicability of tests, EPA said, adding that no changes in the stringency of application emis sion standards should result. The changes are designed to `make the test fuel more representative of "commercially available fuel," the agency said. The change in procedures will have "insufficient" impact on testing costs, EPA said. Changes to procedures for testing 1978 mode! year, vehicles include requirements that: Information on axle ratios, engine and emission control system calibrations, and vehicle car lines be made part of the manufacturer's quarterly production report; ' A measurement of the "actual distance traveled" by a vehicle during a test be made for use in the calculation of emissions and fuel economy; An increase from two to six be made in the number of former and current landfill disposal sites used by a PVC manufacturer. At one site where three air quality samples were taken, he said, vinyl chloride monomer concentrations ranged from .07 ppm to .11 ppm. At a second site, ambient concentrations were .1 ppm to .8 ppm, and at a third site, .1 ppm to l ppm. PVC concentrations in on-site dry sludge samples ranged from 20 ppm to 1.2S0 ppm. he said. Data indicate, Markle said. that "in.-- -uneous VCM air concentrations on the order of l ppm ru-i occur ai normal healthy heights (approximately 15 meicrs) above ground level at these landfills as long as 24 hours after PVC Sludge deposits are covered." EPA should conduct "time-weighted average sampling" for 1& minutes. 8 hours, and 24 hours at these sites, he said, to determine whether ambient air PVC concentrations "pose a health hazard either at the landfill or in the adjacent residential or public access areas." hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide gases used lor calibration; V Safety Sludgo Application * No. 1 diesel fuel be deleted from the diesel fuel / Thomas Hincsly, an agronomist at the University of specification because it is not "commonly available" for ; Illinois, Urbana, told the conference that municipal sludge light duty automobile use; ' has been applied to cornfields without any excessive buildup Separate procedures be used for testing cold and hot.' of chemicals in runoff or drainage waters Start failures; and Rinesly said that sludge from the Chicago metropolitan * Allowances be made for the use of overdrive units accor *diing to manufacturers' recommendations. ' V '.hA? \u -' sanitary district was applied to cornfields at a Joliet, III., test site regularly during the growing season. The sludge contained concentrations of iron, manganese, zinc, copper, Proposed Emission Test Changes and cadmium, he said. Proposed changes to the exhaust emission testing Hincsly told Environment Reporter that most of the procedures for 1979 and later model year vehicles include; chemicals contained in the sludge are being concentrated in Environment Reporter SPI-24357 THE N ATI C crusaders Nibbling at the Nader Myth Consumer Advocate Ralph Nader ha* Iona been *ailwJ by conservative in'llUvpris and officers of corporations that Iwvc been gored by his emending zeal. At the Republican National t onvention in Kansas City. Vice 1'n.sidcm Nelson Rockefeller made Inm Hie tar get of one of history's most labored puns (heclaimed th3t Candidate Jimmy Car ter's appearance at a Nader gathering meant that Carter was trying to pass himself off as one of the Nadcr-day saints''}. Now the lean, intense folk hero is coming under fire from a few of his for mer admirers--liberals who applaud his service to a noble cause but deplore the way the myth is altering the man. Nader's revisionist crit ics claim that his emotion al commitment occasionally overwhelms his acute powers of reasoning. In an unusually vivid public display of bad manners, Nader a month ago fortified that claim. Appar ently frustrated by resistance to his pet auto safety device, the inflatable air bag. Nader laced into Secretary of Trans portation William T. Cole man Jr. during hearings on the subject. The issue "is whether William T. Coleman has the guts to stand up to General Motors and the Ford Motor Company as he had the guts to stand up on civil rights years ago/' Nader said bilingly. Coleman, a black who is regarded as a lopnoleh Cab inet member and no push over for the transportation industry, sensed a racial slur in Nader's remarks. Angrily, he termed them "bigoted." He later apologized. Nader did not, and even the Washington Post. a longtime fan. headlined its editorial WINDBAGS AND AIRBAGS. The burden of the attacks on Na der is that he is something of a tyrant to work for. a lousy administrator, over ly secretive and paranoid about his en emies. Some critics suggest, without con clusive evidence, that he lives less ascetically than he claims and that his organizations are wealthier than is in dicated by their pilches for Funds Oc casionally Nader is also portrayed as a wild-eyed Savonarola intent on forcing his own puritanical concept of the pub lic good on a subservient nation. Ruth Darmsladlcr. a former Nader staffer writing in the U^ishinvtonian. charges that "the popular image of a band of 60 to 70 dedicated idealists working in happy concert with Nader is, quite simply, a fiction. When you cou ple Nader's incompetence as an admin istrator with the importance of employ ees remaining in his favor, you have the formula for a poisoned atmosphere." One dramatic expression of that atmo sphere was the mysterious, nighttime re moval of a personal diary from the of fice of Ted Jacobs, a high-level Nadci associate, who says he was iN<**i by Nader for "misconduct.' A complcat anti-Nader catalogue has been assembled by David Sanford, former managing editor of the liberal New Republic who once collaborated with Nader on a book (Hoi War on the Consumer). In a slim 135-page critique. Me & Ralph, Sanford seems obsessively concerned about his personal problems in editing the prickly Nader's syndicated newspaper column and about Nader's deteriorating relations with the New Re public. Sanford and Nader fell out over these not uncommon editor-author fric tions in 1973. Sanford thereupon com pleted an anti-Nader article for Esquire. but was dissuaded from publishing it by then New Republic Owner Gilbert Har rison, a Nader man. Nader has not talked to Sanford since He is not likely to do so soon, especially given some of the less than cosmic questions raised by his quondam collaborator: Does Nader really live in the house on Washington's Bancroft Place that his brother bought in 1971 for SHO,000 rather than in the spartan $85-amonth room he claims as his residence1 Sanford found a local resident who says he sees Nader in the neighborhood "at odd hours nearly ever)' day." That is hasdly conclusive evidence. Did Nader cnee ride in for:' New Republic Writer Andrew K. kind's convertible without fastening scat belt1 Apparently so. Did Nader jump into Wash.ng. Lawyer Simon Lazarus' Corvair af;e: party, then warn the attorney not mention that La/arus |uj st.-p - by a cop luf cxuucdi/ig *,,u. jkcJ li Iru.-mvc Nader feared the heudh. It-'I I'll NADIR CAUGHT SPALDING touvAiit? Undoubtedly hedid. Sanford's point is that Nader nc; lessly cither denies or tries to cone-, such trivialities out of his obsession w , protecting the myth of an unblerrusn David in mortal combat with a corn- Goliath. More substantively. Sanford cc lends that Nader is as secretive a be the finances of his consumer groups . are the corporations he repeatedly a lacks Nader does, for exar ple, refuse to divulge tr names of ail contributors his causes, contending r does not want them harassc. Sanford further claims, ccr vincingly, that despite N: der's poor-mouthing, h, major lobbying organizatio- Public Citizen Inc., had a m worth of $1.3 million as c 1974, the date of its most re cent public report. Although it is often can and petty, Sanford's boc nevertheless does seem t have a point a bout one of Na der's fund-raising tactics: th Public Interest Researcl Groups raise money on man; college campuses through ai automatic fee that all stu dents must pay, applying fo a refund if they do not wj;- to be assessed. Yet Nader h sharply assailed the practi of book dubs that send sc umes monthly to membe unless they ask the clubs writing not to do so. Sanford does concede that Nad-, has made an invaluable contribution : U.S. society. But, he quickly adds, "he become arrogant and self-important. You cannot be the sixth, or whatever, most admired man in the world, receiv ing the mail that he does and the press attention he gels, without being changed by it." Nader dismisses the Sanford book as "a consumer fraud." Connecti cut's Democratic Senator Abe RibicolT. whose subcommittee hearings on auto safety first thrust Nader into promi nence, offers a more eloquent rebuttal. "1 read that people are kicking Ralph Nader around." Ribicoff told Time "He's still a man of great influence, lies got integrity. He takes on causes that very few people want to take on. They arc all controversial. He's right some of (he time. He's wrong some. But he's will ing to lake ihem on." 20 TIME, S6Tm|E 6, 1970 SPI-24358