Pollution(Generic) Matthew Hamilton, Eveready

Pollution(Generic)
Table of Contents
1. Inherency................................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Vote on the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act Results
...............................................................................................................................................................1
VOTE TOTALS....................................................................................................................................2
1.2 Effects From Exxon's 1989 Spill Still Around................................................................................2
1.3 Pollution Cost Westar Energy Inc $500 Million.............................................................................2
1.4 EPA Looked Into Tighter Ozone Pollution Regulations..................................................................2
1.5 EPA Recommends 60 ppb For Ozone Regulations.........................................................................3
1.6 EPA Deals With Small Businesses As Well.....................................................................................3
1.7 Current System Working Well.........................................................................................................3
1.8 EPA Now Involved With Mountaintop Removal Mining...............................................................4
1.9 Long Beach Air Quality Improved..................................................................................................4
1.10 EPA Dealing With Drinking Water Regulations............................................................................5
1.11 Safe Drinking Water Act Inadequately Covers Chemicals............................................................5
1.12 Global Environment Facility Deals With POPs and Ozone-Depleting Chemicals.......................5
2. Improvement Problems..........................................................................................................................5
2.1 People Don't Want to Pay More for Water and Sewer Services......................................................5
2.2 Required Tap Water System Funding Very Large...........................................................................6
2.3 Clean Water Loopholes the Real Problem, Not Infrastructure........................................................6
2.4 Clean Water Act Loopholes Preventing Prosecution.......................................................................6
3. Problems With Current Methods............................................................................................................6
3.1 Long-Term Exposure to Traffic Pollution Raises Blood Pressure..................................................7
3.2 Traffic Pollution Linked to Heart Attacks and Cardiovascular Deaths...........................................7
3.3 Iron in Ocean Boosts Growth of Plankton That Produce Deadly Neurotoxin................................7
3.4 Cash For Clunkers is a Fail as Far as Climate Change Goes..........................................................7
3.5 Plastic Bags in Pacific Ocean..........................................................................................................8

1. Inherency

1.1 Vote on the Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act
Results
The Washington Post, copyright 2010,
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/111/house/2/votes/109/

• Question: On Passage
• Bill:H R 3650
• Vote description: Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act
• Vote type: Yea-and-Nay (Help)
• Result: Passed, 251-103, with 76 not voting.

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• Date/time: March 12, 2010, 11:06 a.m.

• Republican majority opinion: No (Help)
• Democrat majority opinion: Yes (Help)
VOTE TOTALS
By party | By state/territory | By region | By boomer status | By gender | By astrological sign
Click to list individual members.

Yes No Not Voting

Democratic 213 5 34
Republican 38 98 42

1.2 Effects From Exxon's 1989 Spill Still Around

“Bioavailable Contaminants Come From Exxon Valdez Oil Catastrophe; Natural Coal Deposits Not
Source Of Environmental Pollution, Study Finds”, Science Daily, September 1, 2009,
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090831130709.htm

When the Exxon Valdez spilled its load on a reef in March 1989, about 40,000 tonnes of crude oil
escaped and polluted the Prince William Sound. It is estimated that of seabirds alone, more than a
quarter of a million were killed in the spill. Two thousand kilometres of coast were polluted with oil,
bringing an end to fishing, and thus the livelihoods of many people living on the coast. According to
ExxonMobil, the owner of the tanker, in a statement on the 20th anniversary of the spill, the company
has paid out more than 3.8 billion dollars in compensation, clearance work, out-of-court agreements
and fines.
Despite a large-scale clean-up, there are still lingering effects on the environment. An estimated 80,000
litres of oil in the form of lumps of oil and tar are still said to pollute the coast of Alaska. The
consequences are now no longer evident. But they cause, however, that marine organisms are damaged
and the food chain no longer work as before. The main problem is that the polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons in the oil only decompose slowly due to the low Arctic temperatures.

1.3 Pollution Cost Westar Energy Inc $500 Million

“UPDATE 1-Westar to spend $500 mln at plant to cut pollution”, Reuters, January 25, 2010,
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN255054920100125?type=marketsNews

WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Westar Energy Inc (WR.N) will spend about $500 million to cut air
pollution from a Kansas coal-fired electric generating plant as part of a settlement over Clean Air Act
violations, U.S. agencies said on Monday.

1.4 EPA Looked Into Tighter Ozone Pollution Regulations

Matthew Trsaugue, “EPA to propose tightening limits on ozone pollution”, Chron | Houston & Texas
News, September 16, 2009, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6622604.html

Federal regulators signaled Wednesday that they would abandon Bush-era limits on smog pollution that

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scientists said didn't go far enough to protect public health.

Amid concerns that the current rules don't adhere to the federal Clean Air Act, the Environmental
Protection Agency will propose tighter nationwide limits on ozone, or smog, by late December.
“This is one of the most important protection measures we can take to safeguard our health and our
environment,” EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in a statement. “Reconsidering these standards and
ensuring acceptable levels of ground-level ozone could cut health care costs and make our cities
healthier, safer places to live, work and play.”

1.5 EPA Recommends 60 ppb For Ozone Regulations

Matthew Trsaugue, “EPA to propose tightening limits on ozone pollution”, Chron | Houston & Texas
News, September 16, 2009, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6622604.html [Brackets
added]

The current limit is 75 parts per billion, or 75 molecules of ozone out of every billion molecules of air.
The previous standard allowed 84 ppb, which the agency's[Environmental Protection Agency's]
scientists and children's health experts said did not protect against aggravated asthma, heart attacks,
respiratory problems and even premature death.
The scientists said the threshold should be as low as 60 ppb and no more than 70 ppb to protect
millions of people, particularly the elderly and young children.

1.6 EPA Deals With Small Businesses As Well

Scott Barker, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tennessee, “EPA tells N.C. to raise pollution codes for
facility near Pigeon”, WaterWorld[an online news and technology source serving engineers, managers,
and consultants in the Water/Wastewater Industry Worldwide.], copyright 2010,
http://www.waterworld.com/index/display/news_display/141750578.html

Feb. 25--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is demanding changes to a North Carolina paper
mill's wastewater permit to improve water quality in the Pigeon River.
In a letter sent to North Carolina regulators, EPA's Region 4 office in Atlanta ordered the state to raise
pollution standards for a paper mill in Canton, N.C., near where the Pigeon flows into Tennessee.
River advocates hailed the move as an important step in the continual improvement of water quality in
the Pigeon.

1.7 Current System Working Well

Roger Greenway, ENN, “Air Quality is improving in much of the US”, Environmental News Network,
March 18, 2010, http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/41116

The US has been monitoring the quality of our air and water for decades, so we can track the
effectiveness of our programs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making the most
recent data available. Air pollution impacts public health, the environment, and the Earth’s climate, and
understanding these impacts are important priorities for the agency.
EPA regulatory actions and voluntary efforts have led to cleaner cars, industries and consumer

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products, that in turn have contributed to improvements in the nation's air. They have also led to
developments of new pollution control systems for power plants and other major sources such as
Selective Catalytic Reduction, a technology that removes Nitrogen Oxides from emissions by
converting it to Nitrogen and water.

1.8 EPA Now Involved With Mountaintop Removal Mining

Tom Zeller Jr., “E.P.A. to Limit Water Pollution From Mining”, The New York Times, April 1, 2010,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/science/earth/02coal.html

The Environmental Protection Agency issued tough new water quality guidelines on Thursday that
could curtail some of the most contentious coal mining techniques used across Appalachia.
In announcing the guidelines, Lisa P. Jackson, the agency’s administrator, cited evolving science on the
effects of mountaintop removal mining, an aggressive form of coal extraction that uses explosives and
vast machinery to tear off hilltops to expose coal seams, dumping the resulting rubble into streams and
valleys below. The goal of the new rules, Ms. Jackson said, is to prevent “significant and irreversible
damage” to Appalachian watersheds.
“Let me be clear,” Ms. Jackson said during a phone call with reporters. “This is not about ending coal
mining. This is about ending coal mining pollution.”
The most substantial effect of the new guidelines — which the agency will promulgate to regional
offices that issue permits — will be to benchmark the permissible levels of mining runoff likely to be
introduced into the waterways surrounding a proposed project. Operations that would result in levels
roughly five times above normal would be considered too damaging.

1.9 Long Beach Air Quality Improved

Thomas L. Gallagher, “Long Beach Study Finds Improved Air Quality”, The Journal of Commerce,
December 30, 2009, http://www.joc.com/maritime/long-beach-study-finds-improved-air-quality

Air pollution at the Port of Long Beach fell significantly from 2005 to 2008, according to a new air
quality study commissioned by the port.
Diesel particulate matter from ships, trucks, trains and other port-related sources fell 21 percent over
the three-year period, said the 2008 Air Emissions Inventory. The study also showed a 12 percent
decline in smog-forming nitrogen oxides and an 18 percent drop in sulfur oxides. Greenhouse gases
were cut by 7 percent, the study said.
While cargo moving through the port declined by 3 percent in 2008 compared with the base year of
2005, and there was a 4 percent drop in visits by containerships, the chief cause of the reduction seems
to be cleaner technology, said the port.
Air quality initiatives such as the clean-trucks program which began in October 2008, the expanded
Green Flag vessel speed reduction program, the use of low-sulfur fuel for ships and the first use of
shore power for ships at berth have all contributed to the best air quality report since the studies began
in 2002, said the port.

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1.10 EPA Dealing With Drinking Water Regulations

Charles Duhigg, “U.S. Bolsters Chemical Restrictions for Water”, The New York Times, March 22,
2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/business/23water.html

The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday that it would overhaul drinking water
regulations so that officials could police dozens of contaminants simultaneously and tighten rules on
the chemicals used by industries.
The new policies, which are still being drawn up, will probably force some local water systems to use
more effective cleaning technologies, but may raise water rates.
“There are a range of chemicals that have become more prevalent in our products, our water and our
bodies in the last 50 years,” the E.P.A. administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, said in a speech on Monday.
Regulations have not kept pace with scientific discoveries, and so the agency is issuing “a new vision
for providing clean, safe drinking water.”

1.11 Safe Drinking Water Act Inadequately Covers Chemicals

Charles Duhigg, “U.S. Bolsters Chemical Restrictions for Water”, The New York Times, March 22,
2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/business/23water.html

Currently, only 91 contaminants are regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, though more than
60,000 chemicals are used within the United States. No chemicals have been added to that list since
2000.

1.12 Global Environment Facility Deals With POPs and Ozone-Depleting Chemicals
United Nations Press Release, September 2002, "Replenishment of Global Environment Facility Seen
as Major Success for Johannesburg Summit Process",
http://www.un.org/jsummit/html/media_info/pressreleases_factsheets/1508_new_environment_funding.
pdf

The new GEF replenishment, agreed upon by 32 developed and developing countries in Washington,
funds operations over the next four years, from 2002 to 2006. In addition to the new areas of
desertification and persistent organic pollutants, the GEF will continue to finance projects aimed at
protecting biodiversity, mitigating climate change, protecting international waters, and replacing ozone-
depleting chemicals.

2. Improvement Problems

2.1 People Don't Want to Pay More for Water and Sewer Services
Charles Duhigg, “Saving U.S. Water and Sewer Systems Would Be Costly”, The New York Times,
March 14, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/us/15water.html

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But in many cities, residents have protested loudly when asked to pay more for water and sewer
services. In Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Sacramento — and before Mr. Hawkins arrived, Washington —
proposed rate increases have been scaled back or canceled after virulent ratepayer dissent.

2.2 Required Tap Water System Funding Very Large

Charles Duhigg, “Saving U.S. Water and Sewer Systems Would Be Costly”, The New York Times,
March 14, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/us/15water.html

But Mr. Hawkins and others say that even those outlays are almost insignificant compared with the
problems they are supposed to fix. An E.P.A. study last year estimated that $335 billion would be
needed simply to maintain the nation’s tap water systems in coming decades. In states like New York,
officials estimate that $36 billion is needed in the next 20 years just for municipal wastewater systems.

2.3 Clean Water Loopholes the Real Problem, Not Infrastructure

Charles Duhigg and Janet Roberts, “Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Foiling E.P.A.”, The New York
Times, February 28, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/us/01water.html

Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because
the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to
interviews with regulators.
As a result, some businesses are declaring that the law no longer applies to them. And pollution rates
are rising.
Companies that have spilled oil, carcinogens and dangerous bacteria into lakes, rivers and other waters
are not being prosecuted, according to Environmental Protection Agency regulators working on those
cases, who estimate that more than 1,500 major pollution investigations have been discontinued or
shelved in the last four years.

2.4 Clean Water Act Loopholes Preventing Prosecution

Charles Duhigg and Janet Roberts, “Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Foiling E.P.A.”, The New York
Times, February 28, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/us/01water.html

The Clean Water Act was intended to end dangerous water pollution by regulating every major polluter.
But today, regulators may be unable to prosecute as many as half of the nation’s largest known
polluters because officials lack jurisdiction or because proving jurisdiction would be overwhelmingly
difficult or time consuming, according to midlevel officials.

3. Problems With Current Methods

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3.1 Long-Term Exposure to Traffic Pollution Raises Blood Pressure

BusinessWeek, “Years of Exposure to Traffic Pollution Raises Blood Pressure”, March 5, 2010,
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/636549.html

THURSDAY, March 4 (HealthDay News) -- Long-term exposure to the air pollution particles caused
by traffic has been linked to an increase in blood pressure, U.S. researchers say.
In the new report, researchers analyzed data from 939 participants in the Normative Aging Study, who
were assessed every four years between 1995 and 2006. A computer model was used to estimate each
participant's exposure to traffic air pollution particles during the entire study period and for the year
preceding each four-year assessment.
Increased exposure to traffic pollution particles was associated with higher blood pressure, especially
when the exposure occurred in the year preceding a four-year assessment (3.02 mm Hg increase in
systolic blood pressure, 1.96 mm Hg increase in diastolic pressure, and 2.30 mm Hg increase in mean
arterial pressure), the study authors reported in a news release from the American Heart Association.

3.2 Traffic Pollution Linked to Heart Attacks and Cardiovascular Deaths

BusinessWeek, “Years of Exposure to Traffic Pollution Raises Blood Pressure”, March 5, 2010,
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/636549.html

This link between long-term exposure to traffic air pollution particles and higher blood pressure
readings may help explain the association between traffic pollution and heart attacks and cardiovascular
deaths reported in previous studies, study author Joel Schwartz, of Harvard School of Public Health in
Boston, and colleagues noted in the news release.

3.3 Iron in Ocean Boosts Growth of Plankton That Produce Deadly Neurotoxin
Karin Zeitvogel, “Adding iron to sea boosts deadly neurotoxin: study”, Yahoo! News, March 1, 2010,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100315/sc_afp/scienceenvironmentwarmingocean

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Adding iron to the world's oceans to capture carbon and fight global
warming could do more harm than good, as the mineral appears to boost the growth of a plankton that
produces a deadly neurotoxin, a study published Monday shows.
Researchers led by Charles Trick of the University of Western Ontarioin Canada found that fertilizing
the ocean with iron can boost the growth of Pseudo-nitzschia, a phytoplankton that produces a
component of the neurotoxin, domoic acid.
Humans who eat shellfish or crab that have ingested Pseudo-nitzschia could get amnesic shellfish
poisoning (ASP), severe cases of which can cause neurological symptoms, including permanent, short-
term memory loss, which gives the intoxication its name.

3.4 Cash For Clunkers is a Fail as Far as Climate Change Goes

Seth Borenstein AP Science Writer, “`Cash for clunkers' effect on pollution? A blip”, The Seattle Times,
August 4, 2009,
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2009598248_apuscashforclunkerspollution.html

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WASHINGTON —
"Cash for clunkers" could have the same effect on global warming pollution as shutting down the entire
country - every automobile, every factory, every power plant - for an hour per year. That could rise to
three hours if the program is extended by Congress and remains as popular as it is now.
Climate experts aren't impressed.
Compared to overall carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, the pollution savings from cash for
clunkers do not noticeably move the fuel gauge. Environmental experts say the program - conceived
primarily to stimulate the economy and jump-start the auto industry - is not an effective way to attack
climate change.

3.5 Plastic Bags in Pacific Ocean

BigNews Network, “Scientists discover extensive plastic debris in 'great Pacific Ocean garbage
patch'”, August 26, 2009, http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=536158

Washington, August 28 : In an exploration of the 'great Pacific Ocean garbage patch', scientists from
the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition (SEAPLEX) have discovered extensive
plastic debris floating 1,000 miles from land.

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