Rachel’s News #17, March 23, 1987
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will now give citizens data collected at sites being considered for inclusion on the Superfund list. This represents a useful new resource for citizen. The data can include the identity, quantity, physical state, concentration, and method of containment of hazardous substances at a site, plus an assessment of their effects on groundwater, surface water, drinking water, food chain, soil, and air near the site.
When the EPA initially considers a site, they produce two documents: a preliminary assessment (PA) and a site inspection (SI). Now EPA will release both PAs and SIs to the public. In addition, if the agency has any additional information about toxics at a site, they will make that information available as well, including any laboratory test results.
When you ask the EPA for information on a site (or sites), cast your net broadly: ask to have ALL the information the agency has collected about your site.
So you can target your information request to the right person, here are specific EPA contacts for each region:
Region I: Susan Svirskey, EPA, Kennedy Federal Building, Boston, MA 02203; phone: (617) 565-3661;
Region II: Ben Conetta, EPA, 26 Federal Plaza, NY, NY 10278; phone: (212) 264-6324;
Region III: Connie Carr, EPA, 841 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19107; phone: (215) 597-4966;
Region IV: Richard Ferrazzuolo, EPA, 345 Courtland St., NE, Atlanta, GA 30365; phone: (404) 347-2234;
Region V: Jeanne Griffin, EPA, 230 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL 60604; phone: (312) 886-3007;
Region VI: Barry Nach, EPA, First International Building, 1201 Elm St., Dallas, TX 75270; phone: (214) 767-4075;
Region VII: Shelly Brodie, EPA, 726 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, KS 66101; phone: (913) 236-2856;
Region VIII: Dave Shaller, EPA, One Denver Pl., 18th St., Denver, CO 80202; (303) 293-1537;
Region IX: Holly Haddock, EPA, 215 Fremont St., San Francisco, CA 94105; phone: (415) 974-7931;
Region X: Debbie Flood, EPA, 1200 6th Ave., Seattle, WA 98101; phone: (206) 442-2722.
For more information about the program, contact Trudi Fancher, Hazardous Site Division, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response, EPA, 401 M St., SW, Washington, DC 20460; (800) 424-9346. This EPA information program was announced in the FEDERAL REGISTER February 25, 1987, pg. 5578. –Peter Montague
OSHA COMPUTER CONTAINS WEALTH OF DATA ON JOB SAFETY, HEALTH
Here is an important resource you should know about on worker safety and health. It is a computer maintained by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). So far, it is NOT available to the general public, but we believe that you should know about its existence anyway. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a sympathetic person in your state OSHA program who will gain access to the system on your behalf, unbeknownst to higher authorities. The system is called OCIS and it contains a wealth of useful data; in future, it will become even more valuable.
The OSHA Computerized Information System (OCIS) is designed to aid federal OSHA, State OSHA Program, and OSHA Area Office staff in responding to employers’ and employees’ occupational safety and health problems by giving quick access to many files of information.
The system is currently accessible from OSHA and State Program offices only.
Current OCIS files include: Chemical Information File; Standards Interpretations File; SIC I.H. File; Hazard Abatement File; Safety Science Abstracts; Regional Libraries File; Hazard Waste Site File; FEDERAL REGISTER Reference File; Methods File; and Memorandums of Understanding/Speeches. To be added in 1986 are: Fatalities/Catastrophe File; Training Materials File; 5(a)(1) Citation File; Material Safety Data Sheets File; SLCAL Laboratory Sampling Results File; and Computers Questions and Answers Bulletin Board.
Questions and comments about OCIS can be directed to the OCIS Help Desk at (801) 524-5366 or 524-5896, or to FTS (federal telephone system) 588-5366 or 588-5896. –Peter Montague
LATEST TOXICOLOGY INFORMATION AVAILABLE BY HOME COMPUTER
The National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET) is a computerized system of toxicologically oriented data banks, offering a sophisticated search and retrieval package which permits efficient access to information on known chemicals and identifies unknown chemicals based on their characteristics. TOXNET files include: Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB), Toxicology Data Bank (TDB), and Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System (CCRIS). Registered NLM users can access TOXNET by direct dial or through TELENET or TYMNET telecommunications networks. Average search charges (per hour) are $75.00 for prime time. For detailed information on TOXNET contact: National Library of Medicine, Specialized Information Services, Biomedical Files Implementation Branch, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894. (301) 496-6531 or 496-1131.
Descriptor terms: occupational safety and health; osha; osha computerized information systems; information services; databases; chemicals; industry; national library of medicine; toxicology data network; chemical manufacturers association; carcinogens; cancer; chemtrec; hotlines; computerized information systems; epa; superfund; hazardous waste; remedial action;
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Rachel’s News was published by Environmental Research Foundation (E.R.F.) from 1986 to 2009. All together, 1000 issues appeared. Unless otherwise noted, they were written by Peter Montague.
Over the years the name of the publication changed slightly, starting as “Hazardous Waste News,” then “Rachel’s Hazardous Waste News,” then “Rachel’s Environment & Health News” and finally “Rachel’s Democracy & Health News.” In this archive, we have simply used “Rachel’s News.”
E.R.F. changed its location over the years from Princeton, N.J., to Washington, D.C. to Annapolis, Md. and finally to New Brunswick, N.J.
To contact E.R.F. or Peter Montague, send email to pm8525@gmail.com.
