• Floods Close Southcentral Alaska Highway, Rail Line
  
• Louisiana Hurricane Sediments Judged Not Harmful to Health
  
• Four Charged with Hurricane Debris Removal Fraud
  
• Photo Guide Prepared for Hurricane Damaged Forests
  
• Rigs Rest Without Idling on Truck Stop Electrical Hook Ups
  
• Water Picks Up Contaminants from High-Density Polyethylene Pipe
  
• Houston Ozone Forecaster Offers Detailed Local Data
  

Floods Close Southcentral Alaska Highway, Rail Line

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, August 24, 2006 (ENS) - Flooding and mud slides brought on by heavy rain closed the main highway and rail line between Anchorage and Fairbanks this week. Flood water undermined abutments at two bridges on the Parks Highway, and closed the highway from Mile 127, just north of Trapper Creek, to Mile 147, at Byers Lake inside Denali State Park for two days.

Traffic between Anchorage and Fairbanks was diverted to the Glenn and Richardson highways, adding about 75 miles to the 362 mile trip between the two cities.

One bridge affected by high water crossed Troublesome Creek, a tributary of the Susitna River about 225 road miles south of Fairbanks. Officials in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough reported a 25-foot washout of the bridge. This bridge dropped one foot, and the bridge the Chulitna River was also affected.

The Alaska Railroad suspended all freight and passenger train traffic between Talkeetna and Denali National Park when a mudslide brought on by the heavy rain washed out 55 feet of railbed track north of Talkeetna. Temporary repairs allowed reopening of the line by Tuesday night.

Chugach Electric discovered that the Susitna River had undercut the foundation beneath one leg of a 70-foot aluminum tower that supports a 230,000-volt transmission line at Dynamite Slough causing it to collapse into the water. The line carries power from the Beluga Power Plant.

Many residents remain evacuees, including families in Houston, Talkeetna and off the Wasilla-Fishhook Road.

The American Red Cross of Alaska so far estimates 100 families will need help because of flooding. Eleven homes were evacuated by boats between Friday and Sunday night. Another 22 people called for help but were able to self-evacuate before rescuers arrived. A boil water order is in effect for the Ma-Su area.

Rain returned Tuesday bringing showers in Talkeetna and in nearby mountains. The National Weather Service issued a flood warning Tuesday afternoon which remained in effect until 10 this morning for streams in the Matanuska and Susitna river valleys, particularly streams east of the Parks Highway.

On Wednesday, a little sunshine allowed area rivers to recede and some Matanuska-Susitna Borough residents were able return to their homes for the first time in days. Still, many places in the borough remain underwater, and half a dozen roads are closed, borough officials said.

Governor Frank Murkowski has declared the Valley a state disaster area, which allows state funds to be used to respond to the emergency. Borough and state officials are attempting to estimate the damage caused by the flooding and the number of homes affected.

Showers and rain are forecast through tonight.

Louisiana Hurricane Sediments Judged Not Harmful to Health

After Hurricane Katrina came ashore on the Louisiana Gulf Coast August 29, 2005, the EPA and its federal and state partners conducted an investigation to characterize any potential environmental effects to the parishes that were flooded by up to 10 feet of water from Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico outlet.

Since early September 2005, EPA has collected some 1,800 sediment and soil samples in Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard Parishes in four discrete phases. Most of these samples were analyzed for over 200 metals and organic chemicals.

Extensive sediment and soil sampling in response to Hurricane Katrina is complete, the EPA announced on August 17. The data and associated analysis will serve as the basis for a series of recommendations and advisories provided by local government.

As each phase of sampling was completed, the results were compared to conservative health-based screening levels for residential exposure developed by the EPA and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ).

Summaries and general assessments of the data were developed by the EPA and LDEQ with input from the Centers for Disease Control, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A few localized areas were re-assessed due to elevated levels of arsenic, lead, benzo(a)pyrene, and diesel and oil range organic petroleum chemicals.

The results of these re-assessments indicated that the highest concentrations of arsenic were likely associated with herbicides used at or near golf courses, which the EPA said were likely from the use of herbicides containing arsenic.

The hazardous chemical benzo(a)pyrene was found in a small section of the Agriculture Street Landfill Superfund site and will be addressed as the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) finalizes its plans for badly damaged townhomes in the area.

The EPA has contacted the property owners and managers, as well as HANO regarding the benzo(a)pyrene results from EPA’s sampling. The townhomes located in this isolated area of the site were heavily damaged by flooding and wind.

EPA will work with HANO to ensure that future plans to address the damaged properties will also address contamination found by the EPA sampling. EPA will provide a closeout report when HANO announces specific plans for the area.

Petroleum chemicals associated with oil and diesel fuel were found in concentrations above the Louisiana RECAP values in approximately 150 samples collected during all the phases of sediment sampling, excluding the Murphy Oil spill.

The New Orleans Health Department and the state of Louisiana have provided general guidance and precautions for returning residents regarding the diesel and oil range organic chemicals detected.

They suggest that residents should till sediment into existing soil, re-establish and maintain grass and flower beds, remove sediment from driveways and walkways to help minimize wind-blown dust, and minimize dirt and dust inside homes.

Diesel and oil range organic hydrocarbon concentrations are expected to decrease over time through a combination of natural degradation and sediment displacement or removal, the EPA said. Future sampling will be conducted to ensure that the concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons do, in fact, decrease.

Finally, the EPA found elevated levels of lead in some samples, but said these levels predate the hurricanes of 2005.

Four Charged with Hurricane Debris Removal Fraud

U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton of the Southern District of Mississippi announced today that those charged in the indictment include Allen Kitto, 24, of Dundee, Florida, and three Mississippi residents - Clinton K. Miller, of Carriere; as well as Devin Chuter, 23, Lauren Robertson, 23, of Picayune.

The indictment charges that Kitto owned and operated J.A.K. DC&ER Inc., a debris removal contracting company working as a sub-contractor in Pearl River County, and that Miller, Chuter and Robertson worked for a debris removal monitoring company operating in Pearl River County.

Chuter and Robertson allegedly signed false debris load slips misrepresenting that debris was loaded onto trucks on the roadway when Chuter and Robertson were not present at the loading site and, in most instances, created and signed the false load slips at their residences.

The government charges that false debris load slips misrepresented that certain trucks, belonging to and under the control of Kitto, were hauling loads of debris at a time when the trucks identified on the debris load slips were not on the road or at the dump site listed on the load slips.

The false debris load slips misrepresented that loads of debris were delivered to a designated dump site in Pearl River County, when in truth and fact no debris was delivered to the dump site, the government alleges.

Miller allegedly collected the false load slips from his co-conspirators and submitted them to the debris monitoring company who would, in turn, submit the false load slips to the prime contractor for payment to Kitto.

The indictment also charges that Kitto, in an effort to conceal the conspiracy, would deposit the funds obtained through the conspiracy into a bank account opened in the name of one of his employees and then write a check to an unindicted co-conspirator who would then pay Kitto and Miller. Miller would then pay Chuter and Robertson for completing and signing the false load slips along with an extra amount of money for "hush money."

This indictment comes as a result of a joint investigation conducted by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The maximum penalty for conspiracy to defraud the United States is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Under the umbrella of the U.S. Justice Department's Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force, a local task force, consisting of over 20 federal and state law enforcement agencies, was formed in the Southern District of Mississippi to pursue and prosecute individuals who file false and fraudulent claims.

The Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force - chaired by Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division - includes the FBI, the U.S. Inspectors General community, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys and others.

Possible fraud in the post-Katrina recovery effort can be reported either to the DHS-Office of the Inspector General Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or to the FBI Fraud Hotline at 1-800-225-5324.

Photo Guide Prepared for Hurricane Damaged Forests

Hurricanes toppled millions of trees across the southeastern United States in 2004 and 2005. Roger Ottmar, a research forester with the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station in Portland, will soon lead a team of fuels specialists in evaluating the amounts of dead trees and branches left on the forest floor.

The team will measure logs, stumps, and other forest fuels across a broad spectrum of pine and hardwood forests, and use the data to develop a photographic guide that forest managers can use to rapidly assess fire hazards in their jurisdiction and develop plans for reducing fuel loads.

"The hurricane damage was devastating to both people and forests, and a big wildfire is the last thing they need at this point,” said Ottmar. “By recording the effects on damaged forests, we can assist the process of treating the most flammable fuels.”

Forest Service scientists will complete their data collection in the spring of 2007, then translate the data into the photo guide. These types of guides are already helping federal officials in other regions of the United States. The unprecedented impacts of hurricanes Katrina and Rita prompted the recent call to develop a new guide focused on wind damaged Southern forests.

Ottmar said, "Our work is targeted at the post-Katrina effort, but it will also provide the scientific data needed to manage the aftermath of the next big storm.”

The federal interagency Joint Fire Science Program, based in Boise, Idaho, is funding the project.

Rigs Rest Without Idling on Truck Stop Electrical Hook Ups

IdleAire’s Advanced Truckstop Electrification technology provides heating, cooling and electricity to truckers who are resting. The system eliminates the need to keep rigs idling for hours at a time. The technology can be connected to the cab of a tractor-trailer using a simple $10 window adapter.

Earlier this month, Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty inaugurated the new energy saving system that keeps diesel emissions out of the air. The secretary presented IdleAir Inc. with a $40,000 grant to support the implementation of the pollution control equipment at other sites in Pennsylvania.

“This technology not only has measurable effects on pollution reduction and energy security, but it also provides significant economic advantages,” McGinty said. “Reducing truck idling helps to improve air quality and conserve fuel, saving money for long-haulers already faced with rising diesel prices.”

IdleAire provides filtered central heating and air conditioning, and a range of communications and entertainment options to the cab of a truck by a concentric hose with a service module that snap-locks into the vehicle’s passenger window.

Installation takes just a couple of minutes, and an IdleAire representative can show a new driver how to access various services via a color touch-screen interface in another few minutes.

The $40,000 DEP grant will help IdleAire cover the cost of window adapters, the only equipment needed to connect the units to truck cabs, and training for first-time users.

Estimates show one truck hooked up to IdleAire equipment for 10 hours - which is the federally mandated rest period for every 11 hours a trucker spends behind the wheel - would eliminate 234 pounds of diesel emissions.

If all 72 IdleAire spaces at the Petro truck stop were in use for a 10-hour period, the system would eliminate 16,848 pounds of diesel emissions that day. The spaces are available 24 hours a day.

Over the course of a year, the 72 spaces used just 10 hours a day would reduce diesel emissions by 6.2 million pounds, which is equivalent to eliminating almost two million truck-miles from Pennsylvania each year.

A 2004 study estimated as many as 13,000 trucks rest long-duration in Pennsylvania per day. Eliminating this idling would reduce nitrogen oxide, or NOx, by about 12 tons per day, or about 600 pounds per truck per year. NOx is a component of both ground-level ozone and fine particle pollution, each of which are associated with respiratory ailments.

Average big rigs use about one gallon of diesel fuel per hour when idling. At a cost of about $2.95 per gallon, a trucker can save more than $3,700 per year on fuel costs alone by eliminating down-time idling.

If the 72 spaces at the Petro truck stop near Carlisle are used 10 hours a day, that saves 262,800 gallons of diesel fuel each year.

The Rendell administration has provided $900,000 in grants to assist in the $5 million IdleAire installations at four locations in Pennsylvania. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also provided $100,000 from its SmartWay Transport grant program.

Aside from the 72 Petro units in Carlisle, IdleAire also has installed 222 spaces at four other Pennsylvania facilities. IdleAire is looking to install units at four other Pennsylvania locations this year.

Water Picks Up Contaminants from High-Density Polyethylene Pipe

PRINCETON, New Jersey, August 24, 2006 (ENS) - Long-term use of high-density polyethylene drainage pipes could result in prolonged contamination of the water table as well as ecological and environmental damage, a Princeton study warned today.

The study finds that volatile organic carbons are leached into water as a result of high-density polyethylene pipe (HDPE), widely used in the construction of drainage systems, storm sewers, commercial, residential and highway drainage as well as in mining and agriculture.

HDPE is a petroleum-based plastic that is combustible without the use of flame retardant chemicals. HDPE is now being substituted for older materials in storm sewer and drainage projects. The study found in increase in highway construction use where stormwater conduits serve as underground support.

The study, "Volatile Organic Carbon Diffusion from High Density Polyethylene Pipe Materials," was released released today by the Princeton Institute of Science and Technology of Materials.

The study presents presents evidence that chemical contaminants are discharged from both "old" and "new" HDPE pipe material into water at temperatures ranging from four, to 40 to 65 degrees Celsius over a period of 60 days.

The level of diffusion is shown to increase with increasing temperature, says author Dr. Wole Soboyejo.

The finding of similar rates of diffusion of volatile organic carbons, VOCs, from "old" pipe as compared to "new" pipe suggests the breakdown may continue over the life of the plastic pipe, he said.

"The long-term impact of VOC diffusion could be very significant over the projected 100 years of service that is being considered for applications of HDPE material," says Soboyejo.

Some plastic pipe manufacturers claim their product has the same 100 year life established by concrete, the standard material for stormwater drainage systems.

However, says Soboyejo, with plastic, adequate consideration has not been given to polymer degradation and deformation physics, as the pipe material degrades with time.

Exposure to as low concentrations as parts per million (ppm) levels of VOCs is known to have public health and environmental implications.

Many VOCs are toxic. VOCs benzene, xylene and toluene are carcinogens and formaldehyde and ethylene are known to harm plants.

Recognized increasingly as endocrine disrupting compounds, VOC exposure can affect developmental processes in humans, other mammals, aquatic life and wildlife.

Contact with VOCs has been associated with increased risk factors for asthma in young children, and high levels of VOCs have been reported in breast cancer patients.

In addition, the exposure to VOCs by biological organs and tissues over time is compounded and little is known about the long-term consequences.

The report concludes, "Longer term public health studies would show that ppm levels of VOCs in water could be harmful to human and animal reproductive health."

Soboyejo recommends a "regulatory public health and environmental framework to protect the public, as well as aquatic and wildlife, from the potential effects of HDPE pipeline materials."

Houston Ozone Forecaster Offers Detailed Local Data

HOUSTON, Texas, August 24, 2006 (ENS) - University of Houston, UH, professors have unveiled a forecasting system that provides localized air quality data on ozone conditions. They hope it will help Houston come into compliance with the federal ozone standard.

Houston currently is in severe noncompliance, experiencing more than 30 days per year of high ozone conditions. The EPA's ozone standard allows just one day per year of such conditions, and the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area must meet these existing standards by 2007 or risk losing highway funding, among other penalties.

The Institute for Multi-dimensional Air Quality Studies (IMAQS) at UH has been operating an air quality forecasting system for a year, testing and fine tuning it, and say it and is now ready for public use. The system has been expanded and improved to serve the entire eastern half of Texas, including the Houston and Dallas metropolitan areas.

"Our ozone forecaster is more localized than others and goes into further detail," said Daewon Byun, director of IMAQS and a professor in UH's Geosciences Department.

"For instance, while the ozone conditions may be rated unhealthy in downtown Houston on a given day, suburbs like Sugar Land and The Woodlands may actually be experiencing a good day that still is safe for outdoor activities in those specific areas," Byun said. "Other days, the opposite is true with downtown-area ozone levels being lower than in certain suburbs."

By clicking on the local, regional or national maps at: http://www.imaqs.uh.edu/ozone_forecast.htm, people can obtain a map view of daily maximum ozone levels color-coded with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) health alert index.

Also included are links to animations of a two-day forecast in one-hour increments.

These maps and animations can help individuals, especially those with respiratory problems, plan their day's outside activities. The website is updated daily with the most recent 48-hour local, regional and national forecasts, providing graphical analysis of the onset, intensity, duration and area of poor air quality conditions via access to hourly data from 165 East Texas air pollution monitors.

The near real-time hourly air pollution and meteorological data, air quality indices and animations from 3-D simulations performed by IMAQS use the EPA's Community Multiscale Air Quality modeling system co-developed by Byun in 1999 while he was at the EPA before coming to the University of Houston.

Byun stresses that while the traditional ozone season lasts from June through September, Houston suffers the consequences all year long.

Accurate meteorological and photochemical modeling efforts are essential to support the efforts for establishing the State Implementation Plan by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Byun said.

In a related project, IMAQS is collaborating with Winifred Hamilton, director of the Baylor College of Medicine's Environmental Health Section, who is using Byun's air quality data for patient care and in her work to increase public awareness of the connection between health and the environment.