NEDAK Ethanol LLC, an alternative fuels manufacturer, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $3,600 to the United States for failing to develop a risk management program and file a risk management plan for its ethanol production facility at Atkinson, Neb.
The report details ways in which disaster risk managers can improve their decision making by integrating climate information into their operations.
While biobased industrial performance chemicals have been around for awhile, manufacturers have made great strides in the past decade in improving their effectiveness.
- By Mike Guggenheimer
- Jun 20, 2011
<p>The owner and manager of a California condominium complex were sentenced for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act’s asbestos work practice standards during the renovation of a 204-unit apartment building in Winnetka, Calif., in 2006 – work that caused asbestos to be released into the complex and the surrounding community. </p><p>
Charles Yi, of Santa Clarita, Calif., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson to four years in prison. John Bostick, also of Santa Clarita, was sentenced to six months home confinement, 150 hours of community service, and three years probation. Yi was convicted after a two-week trial in March 2011 when a jury found him guilty of five felony offenses, including conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act. Bostick pleaded guilty in February 2011 to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act. </p><p>
The jury also convicted Yi of failing to notify the Environmental Protection Agency and the South Coast Air Quality Management District about a renovation containing asbestos, failing to provide a properly trained person during a renovation containing asbestos, failing to properly remove asbestos and failing to properly dispose of asbestos wastes.
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Yi was the owner of the now-defunct Millennium-Pacific Icon Group and Bostick was its vice-president. Millennium-Pacific owned the Forest Glen apartment complex in Winnetka that was being converted into condominiums in 2006. Knowing that asbestos was present in the ceilings of apartments in the Forest Glen complex, Yi, Bostick, and the project manager, Joseph Yoon, hired workers who were not trained or certified to conduct asbestos abatements. The workers scraped the ceilings of the apartments without knowing about the asbestos and without wearing any protective gear. The illegal scraping resulted in the repeated release of asbestos-containing material throughout the apartment complex and the surrounding area because Santa Ana winds were blowing during the time of the illegal work. After the illegal asbestos abatement was shut down by an inspector from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the asbestos was cleaned up at a cost of approximately $1.2 million. Yoon pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in June 2010 and is scheduled to be sentenced in July. </p><p>
The federal Clean Air Act requires those who own or supervise the renovation of buildings that contain asbestos to adhere to certain established work practice standards. These standards were created to ensure the safe removal and disposal of the asbestos and the protection of workers.
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Do-it-yourselfers may be exposed to methylene diphenyl diisocyanate and toluene diisocyanate from spray foam insulation or sealing concrete applications.
The project team analyzed projected costs over the next 20 years, looking at core smart grid technologies in transmission, substation, distribution, and customer interface.
Those who violate the ban can face stiff penalties, including fines up to $1,000 per violation and an additional $1,000 per day the violation occurs.
"There are just over 1 million employers in California and of those, only 42 are current SHARP recipients," said Cal/OSHA Area Manager Kelly Howard.
Richard Brodsky with Demos, a national policy center, and three other groups have filed Freedom of Information Act requests prompted by the nuclear disaster in Sendai, Japan.
Over the last three years, the federal laboratory has been developing a program to ensure that local professionals in the United Arab Emirates will be trained in safety and security concepts related to nuclear energy programs.
Newly introduced Continuing Chemical Facilities Antiterrorism Security Act does not include a requirement for inherently safer technologies.
The American Glass Bead Manufacturers' Association, which sponsored the study, is urging states and the U.S. government to limit heavy metal levels in glass beads used for highway markings.
ASTM subcommittee is trying to bring consistent, reliable, and accurate sampling to the practice.
Leominster’s wastewater treatment plant, which is managed by Veolia Water North America, received the George W. Burke Jr. Award.
ECOtality's electric vehicle home charger receives safety and FCC approval.
Two Washington ammonia fertilizer distributors have agreed to pay more than $33,000 for failing to update their plans for preventing chemical releases at eight facilities throughout Washington.
The European Union's energy commissioner, meanwhile, is watching the U.S. actions and will propose his own legislation soon.
Technology
The secret is in the manufacturing and application processes, not the chemical makeup.
- By Del Williams
- Jan 10, 2011
These actions will maximize the health benefits of water fluoridation, an important tool in the prevention of tooth decay while reducing the possibility of children receiving too much fluoride, according to both agencies.
A new consumer brochure offers cleaning tips for broken CFLs while the agency urges schools to replace older fluorescent lamps that contain polychlorinated biphenyls.