EnviroPolitics Blog

PFAS Contamination in Gloucester County NJ subject of a new Rutgers study

Jon Hurdle reports for NJ Spotlight

The federal government said Monday it is awarding $1 million each to Rutgers University and six other institutions to study the health effects of PFAS chemicals at seven U.S. sites including Paulsboro and West Deptford in Gloucester County, where high levels of the chemicals have been found.

The study is the second phase of a project led by the Centers for Disease Control and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to look at how public health has been affected by the PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) that were once used in consumer products like Teflon, and are linked to a range of illnesses including immune system problems, high cholesterol, and some cancers.

The first phase collected data on the prevalence of the chemicals in light of increasing detections in public and private water supplies at locations including industrial sites and military bases — where the chemicals were used for decades in firefighting foam.

“There is much that is unknown about the health effects of exposures to these chemicals,” said Patrick Breysse, director of the ATSDR and CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, in a statement. “The multi-site study will advance the scientific evidence on the human health effects of PFAS and provide some answers to communities exposed to the contaminated drinking water.”

EPA declined to set timetable for regulation

The information gathered will allow communities and governmental agencies to know more about how to respond to PFAS pollution, the CDC said. It said nothing about whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would participate or use the information to regulate the chemicals. The EPA said earlier this year it would look at whether to set enforceable standards on two of the chemicals but declined to set a timetable for regulating them.

Earlier this year also, the ATSDR proposed curbs on the chemicals that were far stricter than the advisory standards advocated, but not required, by the EPA.

In New Jersey, PFAS chemicals including PFNA (perfluorononanoic acid) and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) were found in Paulsboro in 2009, and studied in 2016-2017 by Rutgers scientists who looked at a small sample of 192 people who had been involved in a class-action lawsuit over the chemicals. The participants’ blood was found to contain PFNA at about four times the national rate, and there was some evidence of a link between the chemical and elevated cholesterol.

In 2014, a long-awaited study from the Department of Environmental Protection reported that two-thirds of New Jersey public water systems in 20 counties tested positive for the chemicals, which persist in the environment long after their use or manufacture has ceased.

In January this year, a South Jersey landfill cancelled a contract to take thousands of tons of PFAS-contaminated soil from a former military base in eastern Pennsylvania — where ground water contains the chemicals — amid rising public concern about risks that the chemicals would leak into ground water in New Jersey.

Study set to start next month

The new study, due to start on Oct. 1, aims to cover 1,000 adults and 300 children, in an area where Solvay Solexis, a chemical company, used PFAS before voluntarily halting its use in 2010. The study’s subjects will be recruited beginning six to 12 months after the start date, said Dr. Robert Laumbach, an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health, which will investigate PFAS exposures in Gloucester County under the new federal grant.

Water in a Paulsboro public well where PFAS chemicals were found has been treated and tested since 2016, Laumbach said. The study will reconstruct past exposures, and measure PFNA and other PFAS chemicals in blood, which persist for years, and have been dubbed “forever chemicals.” In nearby West Deptford, affected private wells have been offered treatment, he said.

“We will work closely with the Paulsboro and West Deptford communities to maximize the benefits of the study for community members,” he said. “There will be a community advisory board and community participation in how we design and implement the study.”

The research adds to tough new standards that New Jersey has set for three of the chemicals over the last five years, establishing itself as a national leader on regulating PFAS.

Nationally, the study aims to recruit at least 2,000 children aged 4–17 years and 6,000 adults aged 18 years and older who were exposed to PFAS-contaminated drinking water in states including California, Colorado, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

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White House threatens to withhold highway funds from California for its ‘chronic air quality problems’

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler on July 8 at the White House. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler on July 8 at the White House.
(Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Juliet Eilperin and Dino Grandoni
September 24, 2019 at 11:14 a.m. EDT

Trump administration officials threatened this week to withhold federal highway funds from California, arguing that it had failed to show what steps it is taking to improve its air quality. The move by the Environmental Protection Agency escalates the fierce battle between President Trump and the left-leaning state, and could put billions in federal funds in jeopardy.

In a predated letter sent late Monday to the California Air Resources Board, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler suggested that the state “has failed to carry out its most basic tasks under the Clean Air Act,” and needs to either update its plans to tackle air pollution or risk losing federal highway funds.

At stake, the EPA said, are billions of dollars in federal highway funding every year. Federal officials have the right to halt that money if they determine a state is not taking sufficient steps to show how it aims to cut air pollution such as soot or smog-forming ozone.ADVERTISING

In the letter, Wheeler notes that 34 million Californians live in areas that don’t meet federal National Ambient Air Quality Standards, more than twice as many residents than any other state. California has more than 130 “state implementation plans,” which serve as blueprints for how California would tackle these pollutants, awaiting federal approval.

“California has the worst air quality in the United States,” he wrote, adding that many of its plans “are inactive and appear to have fundamental issues” that would keep them from getting approved.

The decision to invoke a rarely used federal punishment represents the latest salvo in the Trump administration’s feud with California over environmental and other policy issues. Just last week, the EPA joined the Transportation Department in revoking California’s right to set stricter pollution limits on cars and light trucks.

“I’ve never seen a letter like this before,” said Janet McCabe, former acting assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation under President Barack Obama. “It’s ironic that EPA is taking California to task for not solving the air quality problem when for decades the state has been moving forward with the most aggressive clear air rules and programs in the nation.”

She added: “That’s clearly threatening language in there.”

California officials have repeatedly argued that they have sought to impose stricter limits on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles as part of a broader effort to tackle smog in their state. The vehicle standards the Trump administration is blocking, CARB chairwoman Mary Nichols said last week, “are necessary to protect the public health standards and welfare.”

Nichols could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Bill Becker, president of Becker Environmental Consulting, said in a phone interview that it did not make sense for the administration to punish California for failing to address air pollution in the state when it was simultaneously blocking its efforts to cut down on these emissions.

“Isn’t it ironic that EPA is taking away some of the important regulatory tools for meeting the federal health-based standards, and then sanctioning California?” Becker said. “It’s like the kid killing his parents, and then pleading for mercy because he’s an orphan.”

The Los Angeles area and other parts of the mountainous state have long struggled with smog. Trapped by mountains on three sides, the car-clogged Southern California region forms a basin in which dirty air pools. Smog levels rose so high there in the middle of the 20th century that Congress gave California a special status under the Clean Air Act to set its own pollution standards.

A senior EPA official, speaking to reporters Tuesday, said California’s pollution situation was “unique” and required the aggressive step. But about three dozen other states also had counties that failed to meet air standards for six different pollutants, as of the end of August.

White House threatens to withhold highway funds from California for its ‘chronic air quality problems’ Read More »

US energy regulator FERC moves to limit mandatory utility purchases of solar energy

José Rojo Martín reports for PVTECH

Solar representatives have cautioned against a move to overhaul US rules that have guided utilities’ mandatory renewable purchases for decades, setting the scene for a policy clash.

Recent proposals by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reform the so-called PURPA Act risk putting the brakes on competition, US solar body SEIA said last week.

Passed in 1978, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act has in the decades since mandated public utilities to procure energy from small producers, defined as qualifying facilities (QFs).

Regulator FERC is now suggesting to lower the maximum capacity threshold – from 20MW to 1MW – for QF projects to be able to benefit from compulsory energy purchases by utilities.

The proposed change, lawyers believe, would relieve most utilities in organised wholesale markets from procuring energy from QFs above the 1MW capacity mark.

“QFs larger than 1MW would no longer be presumed to lack nondiscriminatory access to markets,” Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld said in a recent policy note.

FERC has justified the move by pointing at the “maturation” now reached by small power producers, a market it claims is now “improved and better understood”.

‘Not a fledgling industry anymore’

For its part, US PV body SEIA has now spent weeks arguing PURPA protection remains “crucial” to protect independent solar producers from some utilities’ “monopoly” ambitions.

Speaking after the new FERC proposals, the solar association urged the regulator to rethink the “most harmful portions” of its new draft document.

“Rather than focusing on PURPA’s goal of ensuring competition, this proposal would have the effect of dampening competition and allowing utilities to strengthen their monopoly status, to the detriment of customers,” SEIA’s regulatory affairs VP Katherine Gensler said in a statement.

FERC’s intentions to weaken renewable purchase obligations have been apparent for years. “Renewable generation is not a fledgling industry anymore…[it] no longer needs to be supported by PURPA,” the regulator claimed in 2016, as it first launched its review into the Jimmy Carter-era legislation.

The revision it proposed last week would pile further requirements on QFs, forcing them to prove commercial viability and financial support for projects before they can be deemed eligible for mandatory utility purchases.

For US solar, the PURPA setback marks a bleaker turn of events after the industry helped settle a dispute with a Michigan utility, freeing a 584MW PV pipeline from years of standstill over obligations under the act.

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The rise of solar power: Growth nobody expected and where it’s likely to lead

Solar power is on the rise. You can see the evidence on rooftops and in the desert, where utility-scale solar plants are popping up. The picture is not all rosy, but if the recent past is any indication, solar power is going to help lead the transition to a carbon-free future, and it might do it faster than we all expected.

Elon Musk and Tesla promised solar roof tiles in 2016, but the industry might not need an upgrade as its grown significantly with the solar panels currently available. You can see the evidence both on individual rooftops and in the utility-scale solar plants increasingly popping up in deserts across the country.

In the United States, of all about 30% of the new power capacity added to the grid in 2018 was from solar. But the picture is not all rosy. Solar power (and sunshine) is intermittent and the price of lithium-ion batteries, one of the most popular current storage solutions, is still relatively high.

These are real problems that the industry needs to tackle if solar is going to reach its potential. However, if the recent past is any indication, solar power is going to help lead the transition to a carbon-free future, and it might do it faster than we all expected. Watch the video to learn more.

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California legislature wraps session with unprecedented recycling action

Lawmakers may not have taken up a big packaging EPR bill, but they moved on others – including one focused on market development. Check out what passed and what’s next.

Cole Rosengren reports for WasteDive

California has a reputation for pushing the envelope on environmental issues and the 2019 legislative session that wrapped up last weekend didn’t disappoint. Longtime Sacramento observers say this was one of the biggest yet when it comes to waste and recycling issues.

Fueled by continuing repercussions from China’s scrap import restrictions, buckling bottle bill infrastructure and rising public attention to plastics, lawmakers pushed hard on bills big and small.

“This is the busiest year we’ve ever had,” Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), told Waste Dive. “We have a new political environment with a new governor and a new legislature, so that got people excited.”

Trace Onstad Bills, interim executive director of the California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA), agreed – calling it “an extremely productive year” for her group and the state legislature. Californians Against Waste, a nonprofit that works closely on these issues, described 2019 similarly.

To help keep track, Waste Dive rounded up notable bills that either passed or are likely to see action when legislators return in 2020. If we’ve missed any important legislation, please let us know at waste.dive.editors@industrydive.com.

Top three

AB 792 Recycled content requirements

While the final version may be less ambitious than an initial draft calling for 100% recycled content in plastic beverage containers by 2030, Plastics News reports this would likely still be the highest such target in the world. The final version requires containers in the state’s deposit program to reach 50% recycled content by 2030.

Similar attempts at even lower targets have faced opposition in recent years, but the shift in both public opinion and corporate sustainability pledges appears to have played a key role in changing the political landscape.

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“In any other year that would be gigantic news,” CAW Director of Advocacy Nick Lapis told Waste Dive. “It was hard for them to argue against what they have already publicly committed to doing.”

The bill also had support from some in the recycling industry.

“Recovering from the recycling market crash is going to be complex, and everyone has a responsibility to help. This bill, and several other bills this session, show it is time for producers to become part of the solution,” Laura Ferrante, government affairs advocate for the California Refuse Recycling Council’s (CRRC) northern district, said in a statement.

AB 1583 California Recycling Market Development Act

The bill that received far less attention, but will have similarly notable implications for the recycling sector, is AB 1583. It was backed by CAW and Republic Services – with support from State Treasurer Fiona Ma, CRRC and others.

First, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) will convene a new Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling by July 2020. This group – which will include representation from “public agencies, private solid waste enterprises, and environmental organizations with expertise in recycling” – is tasked with finalizing multiple policy recommendations by January 2021.

Priority areas will include identifying products that are widely considered recyclable or compostable in curbside programs throughout the state. The goal is to eventually create recommended guidance and educational materials, similar to what Massachusetts pursued, and encourage manufacturers to prove markets exist for their products.

AB 1583 also extends the expiration of California’s existing Recycling Market Development Revolving Loan Program from July 2021 to 2031. Sunset provisions for the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority, a separate program that allows tax exemption for certain equipment purchases, in all sectors, are also extended to January 2026.

Finally, the bill also eliminates the requirement for plastic containers – even those that aren’t widely recyclable – to include the “chasing arrows” symbol.

AB 827 Commercial recycling/organics access

Commercial businesses that are already required to separate recyclables and organics per state law, including most food service establishments, will now to have to offer public-facing receptacles. CalRecycle is directed to develop model signage for this purpose by July 2020.

Others of note

AB 1162 Hospitality plastic reduction

“Lodging establishments” would be required to stop offering small plastic bottles of “personal care products” (such as shampoo) to guests. Instead, they would be encouraged to use bulk dispensers. If approved, this would apply to establishments with more than 50 rooms by January 2023 and all others by 2024.

AB 54 Bottle bill triage

California’s container deposit program has been struggling for years due to various financial and bureaucratic factors. Following the abrupt August closure of rePlanet, the state’s largest redemption center operator, the situation has only grown more dire. Legislators passed a short-term fix that provides $5 million in grants for mobile recycling pilots and gives grocery retailers relief from compliance fees until March 2020.

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AB 815 Dual-stream recycling (signed by the governor)

Largely viewed as symbolic, this law will encourage municipalities to convert to dual-stream recycling and direct CalRecycle to research the prevalence of such programs throughout the state. Some California programs have explored making the switch in recent years due to market conditions.

SB 726 Household hazardous waste reuse

Sponsored by NSAC (as were the following hazardous waste and carpet bills), this legislation seeks to “reduce the unnecessary incineration and disposal of hazardous household waste products” by authorizing local reuse programs. The bill estimates up to 10% of the relevant material being disposed – including many common home and yard products – could be reused.

AB 187 Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act

This bill will make multiple changes to the state’s previous statutes creating a product stewardship program for used mattresses.

AB 729 Carpet stewardship program

This bill makes numerous changes to California’s original product stewardship legislation for carpet, the first of its kind in the country, which was viewed as flawed by multiple parties for various reasons.

AB 619 Reusable containers (signed by governor)

A bill approved earlier in the summer authorizes reusable containers at food service establishments, as well as reusable service ware at temporary events.

Next bills to watch

SB 424 Tobacco product recycling

This bill (also backed by NSAC) aims to ban the distribution of any single-use tobacco filter, related plastics devices and e-cigarettes that proponents say contribute to littering and marine pollution. It would also require a form of extended producer responsibility (EPR) for all remaining tobacco products that aren’t recyclable. SB 424 remains in play as a two-year bill.

AB 1509 Lithium-ion battery stewardship

Following a rash of battery-related fires affecting the recycling industry and consumers, supporters of AB 1509 are pushing for a system to better manage these items. Covered manufacturers would be required to achieve certain recycling targets via a stewardship organization. AB 1509 is another two-year bill that remains active.

SB 54/AB 1080 The Circular Economy and Pollution Reduction Act

The biggest of them all never came to a vote before lawmakers adjourned. The politics involved remain complex, despite opponents moving to neutral or supportive in the final days. While notable opponents are still out there, including industry giant Waste Management, supporters are ready to take this back up when legislators return in January.

“The immediacy of the plastics and waste crises, combined with the extraordinary coalition of local government, waste haulers, businesses, and environmental organizations pushing the measure would have most likely carried the day, which is why the failure to act on this crucial bill was so disheartening,” said Sen. Ben Allen, sponsor of SB 54, in a Monday statement. “We’ll be working during the interim and bring this bill back in the coming year.”

Numerous other advocacy organizations – including CAW, CRRA, NSAC and CalPIRG – have committed to doing the same. Opposition from certain manufacturers, such as Dart Container, can still be anticipated. Yet NSAC’s Sanborn is among those who believes “the patience of the public is up” when it comes to plastic waste issues.

Another powerful player that’s losing patience is Recology. The regional service provider’s president, Michael Sangiacomo, published a 2018 op-ed pledging to spend $1 million on a possible ballot initiative for European Union-style plastic policies. Recology has confirmed it’s ready to move if the state legislature is once again stymied by opposition next year.

“If they continue to try to block this stuff then we have no choice but to go to the voters,” Eric Potashner, vice president and director of strategic affairs, told Waste Dive. “I can guarantee what we end up putting in front of the voters will not be as conciliatory.”

Youth-led, Climate Strike – Final Update

**UPDATED – Sept. 20 , 4:23 PM, 4:35, 5:45 and Sept. 23, 12:40 AM

By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor

Students abandoned their classrooms around the world on Friday, three days before the UN Climate Summit in NYC, to participate in marches and other events drawing attention to the need for rapid action to confront the dangers presented by climate change.

We recommend the Global Climate Strike website that has live photo updates from cities around the world and other resources, including an interactive map that lets you find climate strike events near you. For example, typing in ‘New Jersey’ rewards you with a map of event locations both in the Garden State and the Philadelphia area.

For Philadelphia and PA events, check out 350 Philadelphia which has a detailed listing of strike-related events planned by local organizations

We will be updating this post as news coverage develops. Feel free to submit your strike event information and photos in the comment section below. We’re also interested in hearing from businesses that are allowing their employees to attend today’s events –FB

From the Climate Strike Website:
This week will be historic. In over 150 countries, people are stepping up to support young climate strikers and demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. The climate crisis won’t wait, so neither will we.

Young people have woken up much of the world with their powerful Fridays For Future school strikes for the climate. Now, millions of adults are joining in a huge wave of that will kickstart renewed action all over the world. The urgency of the climate crisis requires a new approach and a just response centered on human rights, equity, and justice. Follow the actions and join the movement.
Read more in the Frequently Asked Questions.

From the Los Angeles Times:
Today, what’s expected to be one of the largest environmental protests ever is unfolding around the warming planet. A global climate strike is being led by young people with more than 5,000 demonstrations in 156 countries — including 100-plus in California alone. The demonstrations, headed by organizers including 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, are the start of a weeklong campaign surrounding the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York. By organizing school walkouts, public protests and social media campaigns, young people have drawn attention to global warming in ways that decades of studies could not. Underneath the activism lies a simple truth: Many young people are incredibly scared about climate change.

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ABC News

Aerial photo shows New York’s streets flooded with protesters

A photo taken from the 22nd floor of a New York City high-rise shows the immense size of the protest calling for “climate justice” to be an ethical obligation and not just an environmental issue.

Thousands of people are striking in Boston, Massachusetts

Organizers expected some 10,000 people to rally at City Hall Plaza for the Boston Climate Strike organized by youth climate activists. Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu and former Environmental Protection Agency head Gina McCarthy were among scheduled speakers, according to NBC10 Boston.

Students chant and carry signs on the Boston City Hall Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts.
Photograph: Cj Gunther/EPA

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