EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman has pledged to form a multi-agency task force to address asbestos exposure in Libby, MT, and possibly other asbestos-affected communities throughout the country, with a focus on exposure inside residences, EPA sources say.

Meanwhile, Whitman is continuing to deliberate whether to list the Libby site on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) but is facing some opposition from Montana Gov. Judy Martz (R) because of concerns about the state’s ability to provide matching funds for an eventual cleanup.

During a Sept. 7 public appearance at the Libby site, Whitman said that she would form, with the heads of the Health and Human Services and Labor departments, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a task force to address the health threats presented by asbestos-contaminated insulation in homes throughout the Libby area.

Whitman "felt the issue is important enough to coordinate at the administrator level," an EPA source said, and she is prepared to consider declaring a public health emergency there. Under the Superfund law, EPA is not able to clean up contamination inside of residences unless a health emergency has been declared.

The source adds that Whitman wants to work with other federal agencies because she may declare public health emergencies at other asbestos-contaminated sites. Another EPA source adds that one of the original reasons for forming the taskforce is to consider the implications of contaminated insulation from Libby that was shipped to sites throughout the country.

Whitman also announced that EPA would continue its talks with Martz about listing Libby on the NPL. According to EPA and state sources, Martz is still hesitant about agreeing to list the site because of the matching costs for which the state would be responsible. An EPA source says that the state would likely be responsible for between $80 million to $100 million as part of the 10 percent matching funds states must provide at Superfund sites. The issue is "a simple financial concern, we want to know for sure how much the state is responsible for... we need to balance our budget," a state source says.

But a Martz spokesperson says the results of a recently released study on health effects linked to asbestos exposure in Libby will "play a major role in her decision on listing" and Martz "takes (the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry (ATSDR) report very seriously." Martz was also quoted in a recent release as saying that the final report’s results were consistent with ATSDR’s preliminary findings. On Feb. 22, 2000, ATSDR issued a preliminary report finding that 20 percent of Libby residents had such abnormalities.

Meanwhile, ATSDR’s final report on the effects of asbestos exposure on the residents in Libby found that 18 percent, or 994, of the 5,590 residents tested had abnormalities in the lining of their lungs. The affected population included 5 percent of participants who had no apparent exposure, non-occupational or otherwise, to asbestos. The average rate of such abnormalities in the United States among groups that have not been exposed to asbestos ranges from 01.2 to 2.3 percent.

Grace officials could not be reached for comment. Grace previously argued that the study failed to consider chrysotile asbestos, a common product in older homes, found in insulation, spray-on products and pipe wraps and not related to the Libby vermiculite. The source says the chrysotile asbestos may affect the results of ATSDR’s study.

(Superfund Report, September 17, 2001)

The Department of Environmental Protection proposed to expand the list of sources which may be exempt from the plan approval and permitting requirement of 25 Pa. Code Chapter 127. The following changes are proposed to the listing as last published on Aril 29, 2000(30Pa.B.2165).

1. A plan approval exemption has been added for portable, temporary generators used for 14 days or less at special events (such as county fairs, circuses and concerts).

2. A plan approval exemption has been added for one or more generators regardless of size, with combined NOx emissions less than 100 lbs/hr, 1,000 lbs/day, 2.75 tons per ozone season and 6.6 tone per year on a 12-month rolling basis for all exempt generators at the site.

3. A plan approval exemption has been revised to include storage vessels containing non VOC, nonmalodorous or nonhazardous air pollutant materials.

  A complete copy of the Plan Approval and Operating Permit Exemptions with draft revisions may be obtained by contacting Kimberly Maneval, Division of Permits, Bureau of Air Quality, 12 Floor, Rachel Carson State Office Building, P.O. Box 8468, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8468.

(PA Bulletin - 10/14/01 )

As metropolitan areas, including Boston, consider measures to curb sprawl, a new study by Tufts University shows some positive sides to suburban growth: more affordable housing and greater opportunities for home ownership, particularly among blacks.

The study, by Matthew E. Kahn at the university’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, reflects growing concerns here and across the nation that restrictions on development can reduce the supply of affordable housing in and around major cities. It’s a tension that’s relevant to Boston with its chronic shortage of housing, according to local community leaders.

"Smart growth for some means not letting anybody else in," said Peter Gagliardi, president of the board at the Citizens Housing and Planning Association, a group advocating that housing and economic integration be bigger components of growth management plans being considered in Massachusetts.

"Housing to some folks is seen as the enemy: It takes up open space, it creates problems for traffic and the environment," he said. "But to restrict growth in one place, you have to supply it somewhere else."

"Definitely in communities of color there is a lot of concern – not opposition to smart growth, but concern," said the Rev. Raymond Hammond, pastor at Bethel A.M.E. Church in Jamaica Plain and a member of Cardinal Bernard Law’s commission on housing.

"When we talk about smart growth, we have to make sure everybody’s needs are met. It;’s got to be a regional approach and it’s got to look at a range of issues, not just affordable housing but access to transportation, the location of jobs, social services, and a welcoming atmosphere" in communities around Boston Hammond said.

Including considerations of housing and racial and economic integration in growth management policies – and not just focusing on the preservation of open space – is a much more complicated task, said Stephanie Pollack, attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation.

But the new approaches to planning being considered in Massachusetts are by definition better than existing policies, she said – particularly if they are implemented in concert with Chapter 40-B, the law that requires cities and towns to make 10 percent of their housing stock affordable.

"Smart growth is really about density. And building housing in density makes it more affordable," she said. "It’s giving people choices."

Pollack acknowledges the concern about any talk of limiting the patterns of development that generations have had the chance to enjoy.

Skepticism about stricter regulations on development is fueled by the thinking that "you got yours, and you’re going to stop us from getting ours,: she said.

(Boston Globe - 9/4/01)

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The US EPA continues to regulate lead-based paint in target housing and child occupied facilities. EPA’s focus in addressing lead poisoning has shifted from removal toward management of lead-based paint hazards. Recent studies regarding lead exposure may lead to expanded areas of regulation.

The effects of lead exposure are well documented. Acute symptoms include colic, shock, severe anemia, acute nervousness, kidney damage, an irreversible brain damage. Chronic exposure can cause severe brain damage, kidney damage, and damage to blood forming systems. Lead is gametotoxic, causing sterility, and embroyotoxic, causing abortions and still births. High blood lead levels in pregnant women may result in postnatal mental retardation. Lead exposure symptoms are magnified in children. Elevated blood lead levels were previously believed to be related to external lead exposure. However, recent studies have unexpectedly demonstrated the potential severity of lea exposure in fetuses of pregnant women.

One such study involved extensive mining ore deposits from a Rocky Mountain Superfund site. Blood lead levels were studied in relation to exposure to the ore deposits. Findings from the study were presented by the US EPA in an October 1999 seminar in Chicago, Illinois. Due to their similar physiology to humans, pigs were selected as the subjects for the study. The study found that blood lead levels in pregnant pigs were magnified by 4 to 10 times in the fetal pigs. Based on the findings, US EPA is reassessing potential lead exposure scenarios.

RT expects that future regulation of lead-based paint may be expanded to include facilities which may be occupied by pregnant woman. Property owners and managers of facilities constructed prior to 1978 (when lead-based paint was banned in residential paint) should be prepared, in the future, to have a lead-based paint inspection/risk assessment completed by a licensed individual.

Property managers, landlords and developers should expect more demand from tenants (even commercial tenants) for "Lead Safe" demised premises.  For more information, call Chris Eyre at (856) 467-2276.