All posts in News

FY 2014 Request Focuses on Transforming the Way EPA Does Business

WASHINGTON – Today the Obama Administration proposed a Fiscal Year 2014 (FY 2014) budget of $8.153 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This request is $296 million below the EPA’s budget for Fiscal Year 2012.

“EPA’s FY 2014 budget reflects our firm commitment to keeping American communities across our country healthy and clean, while also taking into consideration the difficult fiscal situation and the declining resources of state, local and tribal programs,” said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe. “Our request takes a balanced approach to funding the agency, including increased investments in more efficient technologies as well as necessary program eliminations or reductions.”

EPA’s FY 2014 request will allow EPA to continue its progress in addressing climate change; protecting the nation’s air, waters, and lands; supporting sustainable water infrastructure; and assuring the safety of chemicals. EPA will continue to lay the groundwork to transform the way it does business, ensuring the best use of human and financial resources, while continuing to achieve the agency’s mission effectively and efficiently.
Read more

Source: Environmental Protection.com

A new study suggests that more research is needed in order to find the complete impacts pharmaceutical pollution has on aquatic life and water quality.

In a new study, researchers focused on six common pharmaceuticals (caffeine, ciprofloxacin, metformin, an antihistamine for allergies, and two antihistamines for heartburn) influenced streams in Indiana, Maryland, and New York. Each pharmaceutical was investigated alone and in combinations by using pharmaceutical-diffusing substrates in order to find some of the effects they caused in the springs.
Read more

Source: Environmental Leader News.com

A record-high 71 percent of Americans consider the environment when they shop, up from 66 percent in 2008, according to research from Cone Communications.

Some 7 percent consider the environment every time they shop while 20 percent consider it regularly. Forty-four percent consider it sometimes, according to  the 2013 Cone Communications Green Gap Trend Tracker.

Even as thinking “green” is increasingly at the forefront of consumers’ minds, Americans still struggle with their role in the lifecycle of products with an environmental benefit. Nine in 10 respondents say they believe it’s their responsibility to properly use and dispose of these products, but action isn’t aligning with intent: Only 30 percent say they often use products in a way that achieves the intended environmental benefit. Some 42 percent say they dispose of products in a way that fulfills the intended environmental benefit.
Read more

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are recognizing 118 awardees for their commitment to saving energy and protecting the environment. Recipients of the 2013 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award include Sears Holdings Corporation, PepsiCo, JC Penney, Food Lion, USAA Real Estate, Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia, and Toyota.

“This year’s Energy Star award winners have gone above and beyond to save energy and cut greenhouse gases,” said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe. “Their commitment to superior energy efficiency not only makes these organizations valuable partners in our effort for a cleaner, healthier environment, but it also helps them reduce their day-to-day energy costs – an important feat for any organization.”
Read more

Source: Environmental Protection Online.com

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the total energy consumption in the manufacturing industry has decreased by 17 percent since 2002. Energy output for manufacturing decreased by 3 percent in the same amount of time.

Seeing such a large decline in energy use and intensity shows how the manufacturing sector is becoming more energy efficient, especially when fuel consumption of fuel has also declined for the industry.
Read more

A simple solution of salt and water can break emulsions and separate organic solutes. However, the energy required to remove the water of these solvents is very high and makes purifying the waste water more expensive. Join Dr. Philip Jessop, Technical Director of GreenCentre Canada for a discussion on aqueous solutions of switchable ionic strength and several of their many applications.

What You Will Learn

• What additive is contained in “switchable water” and how it works
•  How the additive can be changed depending on the application
•  How “switchable water” can be used to solve problems in mining, wastewater treatment, desalination, catalysis, and other applications.

Webinar Details
Date: Thursday, March 28, 2013
Time: 2:00-3:00 pm ET
Fee: Free

REGISTER NOW!

Watch a short video on Switchable Water

Source: New York Times US News By IAN URBINA

Last year, two inspectors from California’s hazardous waste agency were visiting an electronics recycling company near Fresno for a routine review of paperwork when they came across a warehouse the size of a football field, packed with tens of thousands of old computer monitors and televisions.

ON THE TRAIL Members of an environmental group worked with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to place tracking devices in cathode ray tubes bound for American recycling companies.

The crumbling cardboard boxes, stacked in teetering rows, 9 feet high and 14 feet deep, were so sprawling that the inspectors needed cellphones to keep track of each other. The layer of broken glass on the floor and the lead-laden dust in the air was so thick that the inspectors soon left over safety concerns. Weeks later, the owner of the recycling company disappeared, abandoning the waste, and leaving behind a toxic hazard and a costly cleanup for the state and the warehouse’s owner. Read more