Maryland Company Settles Pesticides Violations

News release from EPA Region 3:

Maryland Company Settles Pesticides Violations

PHILADELPHIA (February 9, 2012) -- PAMEX Foods, Inc. of Forestville, Md., has agreed to pay a $158,880 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of federal pesticide regulations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

EPA cited PAMEX for violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), a federal law requiring the registration of pesticide products and pesticide-production facilities, and the proper labeling of pesticides.

FIFRA's requirements protect public health and the environment by ensuring the safe production, handling and application of pesticides; and by preventing false, misleading, or unverifiable product claims. FIFRA also prohibits the marketing of misbranded, improperly labeled, or adulterated pesticides.

EPA alleged that PAMEX violated FIFRA by selling two unregistered pesticides, Fabuloso Aroma de Bebe and Clorox Magia Floral, from its distribution facility located at 7900 Parston Dr., Forestville, Md. Fabuloso Aroma de Bebe, marketed as an antibacterial product, was sold 161 times, and Clorox Magia Floral, marketed as a disinfectant, was sold once.

As part of the settlement, the company neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations, but has certified that it is now in compliance with FIFRA requirements.

For information about pesticides, call EPA's hotline at: 1-800-858-7378.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also offers a hotline for Spanish-speaking citizens: a toll-free hotline where questions can be answered about pesticides. The Hotline Number is 1-888-919-4372.

For more information about EPA's pesticide program, visit: www.epa.gov/pesticides/.

Note: If a link above doesn't work, please copy and paste the URL into a browser.

Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC to Pay $10,150 Penalty

Thursday, February 2, 2012
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

901 N. Fifth St., Kansas City, KS 66101

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations


Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC to Pay $10,150 for Risk Management Plan Violations at Council Bluffs Ethanol Plant


Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394, whitley.christopher@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., Feb. 2, 2012) - Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC has agreed to pay a $10,150 civil penalty and spend at least $38,729 on a supplemental environmental project for failing to file a risk management plan and implement risk management regulations at its dry-mill ethanol plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

According to an administrative consent agreement and final order filed by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan., an inspection of the ethanol plant in January 2010 found that the company had not filed a risk management plan for the facility, as required by the federal Clean Air Act.

Under the Clean Air Act, the Council Bluffs facility was required to file a risk management plan because it had exceeded the 10,000-pound threshold for anhydrous ammonia, an extremely hazardous chemical. Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy was storing approximately 28,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia at the time of the EPA inspection.

As part of its settlement with EPA, Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy has agreed to perform a supplemental environmental project, through which it will spend at least $38,729 to purchase emergency response equipment for the Council Bluffs and Lewis Township fire departments.

By agreeing to the settlement, the company has certified that the Council Bluffs ethanol plant is now in compliance with federal Risk Management Program regulations.

EPA enforces the Risk Management Program regulations of the Clean Air Act with a goal of preventing accidental chemical releases and minimizing the impact of releases or other accidents that may occur. The establishment of Risk Management Programs and formulation of Risk Management Plans helps companies, industries and municipalities operate responsibly, assists emergency responders by providing vital information necessary to address accidents and other incidents, protects the environment by preventing and minimizing damage from accidental releases, and keeps communities safer.

# # #

FedEx CEO on Job Growth & Competitiveness

This morning FedEx founder and CEO Frederick Smith was interviewed on CNBC's Squawk Box.  Smith said that changing certain policies, especially the tax code, is needed to make the U.S. an attractive place to do business.  Of course, more business means more jobs.  To watch the interview, click the link below:

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000070059

Companies Face Fines for Lead Paint Disclosure Violations

News Release from EPA Region 1:

Companies Face Fines for Lead Paint Disclosure Violations at Two Navy Bases in New England

Release Date: 01/10/2012

Contact Information: David Deegan, 617-918-1017


(Boston, Mass. – Jan. 10, 2012) – Two companies face significant penalties for violating federal lead paint disclosure laws at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine and the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn. 


A complaint filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asserts that Northeast Housing, LLC, and Balfour Beatty Military Housing Management, LLC failed on multiple occasions over several years to notify prospective tenants, including families with young children, about potential lead paint hazards in housing managed by the companies on the two Navy bases in New England.  Notifying prospective tenants and purchasers of housing units helps parents protect young children from exposure to lead-based paint hazards.


The companies face a possible fine of $153,070 for alleged violations of the Lead Based Paint Disclosure Rule.  EPA’s complaint asserts that the two companies failed to comply with the Disclosure Rule when they entered into 13 contracts to lease target housing for military personnel during the years 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the U.S. Naval Submarine Base.


The housing at both bases is owned by Northeast, a joint venture limited liability company between the Department of the Navy and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Balfour Beatty Communities, LLC, of which the BBC affiliate is the managing member.  There are approximately 25 target housing units located at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, where housing was built in the 1800s and early 1900s.  There are approximately 735 target housing units at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, which was built in the early 1960s.


"Exposure to lead paint is a serious public health concern here in New England because of how much older housing we have.  Further, military families make significant sacrifices to protect our Nation, and the health of those families, as well as all families, should not be jeopardized by not being notified of potential lead hazards in the housing where they reside," said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA's New England office. "Property managers and owners play an important part in helping to prevent lead poisoning by following lead paint disclosure requirements and making sure families are aware of potential lead hazards in homes."
The EPA complaint details that the companies failed to provide available records and reports regarding lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards to 13 lessees (10 lessees at Portsmouth and three lessees at the Conn. base).  Nine of the lessees were families with children, including seven families with children under the age of six.


Infants and young children are especially vulnerable to lead paint exposure, which can cause intelligence quotient deficiencies; reading and learning disabilities; impaired hearing; reduced attention span, hyperactivity and behavior problems. Adults with high lead levels can suffer difficulties during pregnancy, high blood pressure, nerve disorders, memory problems and muscle and joint pain.


The purpose of the Lead Disclosure Rule is to provide residential renters and purchasers of pre-1978 housing with enough information about lead-based paint in general and known lead-based paint hazards in specific housing, so that they can make informed decisions about whether to lease or purchase the housing.

Federal law requires sellers and landlords selling or renting housing built before 1978 to:

- Provide a lead hazard information pamphlet to inform renters and buyers about the dangers associated with lead paint;
- Include lead notification language in sales and rental forms;
- Disclose any known lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in the living unit and property and provide copies of all available reports to buyers or renters;
- Allow a lead inspection or risk assessment by home buyers; and
- Maintain records certifying compliance with federal laws for a period of three years.

Obama Defies Lawmakers with Recess Appointments to Labor Board

The following was gleaned from an article published by The Hill.

Obama defies lawmakers with recess appointments to labor board

January 5, 2012

The Hill

President Obama will recess-appoint his nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), bypassing a likely filibuster from Senate Republicans to keep the controversial agency operating in 2012.

The president will use recess appointments to install Sharon Block, Richard Griffin and Terence Flynn as NLRB members. Block and Griffin are Democrats, while Flynn is a Republican.

The NLRB announcement came a few hours after the president made a public show of another recess appointment, for Richard Cordray, the new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Republicans reacted with fury to that appointment, which the White House promptly ignored by making three more. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blasted the president’s decision and said he is stripping the Senate of its oversight powers, since the NLRB nominees had not been vetted in a hearing.

The NLRB appointments are a huge victory for Obama’s union allies, which urged the president to use any means necessary to keep the NLRB functioning. Without additional members, the NLRB would have lacked the three-member quorum needed to issue rules and regulations.

Unions had been frustrated by the president’s moves on trade and regulations in 2011, and the NLRB appointments could help wipe the slate clean ahead of the 2012 campaign.

But the move also puts Obama at odds with business, which has clashed repeatedly with the NLRB in recent months. Bruce Josten, the chief lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, denounced the recess appointments as political favoritism and said they will “further poison the well” at the labor board. 

The president is wading into uncharted waters with the appointments, made while the Senate is holding pro forma sessions. Dave Hirschmann, a top official with the Chamber, said a court battle over the constitutionality of Obama’s action is a near certainty.

The GOP’s blockade of NLRB nominees would have prevented it from issuing rules and regulations, since it needs at least three members to form a quorum. The recess appointment of Craig Becker expired Tuesday, leaving the NLRB with only two members.

With Block, Flynn and Griffin now members of the NLRB, the labor board is up to its full roster of five members.

Republicans tried to prevent recess appointments by keeping the Senate in pro forma session over the holiday break, but the White House said that maneuver is meaningless.

Lawyers for several business groups immediately began to explore their legal options to challenge the recess appointments.