news@NEWMOA
news@NEWMOA is designed to help our members and colleagues keep informed about the Association's projects and activities. You are receiving this e-newsletter because you are a member of a NEWMOA working group, committee, program, or listserv; an invitee to NEWMOA events; a colleague at EPA or a related organization; connected to the Association in some other way; or have expressed interest in our work. If you have questions about delivery of this e-Newsletter, contact Lois Makina, (617) 367-8558 x312.
Share this newsletter with others in your agency or organization that might be interested. We welcome your comments and suggestions.
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Board of Directors
NEWMOA's Board met in March to share updates from EPA and state programs, review and discuss NEWMOA's activities and plans, and start a year-long strategic planning process. The new strategic plan will cover a five-year period from 2017-2021. As part of this preparation, NEWMOA conducted a phone and written survey of its members to gather input and ideas. NEWMOA's current strategic plan covers 2013 - 2017.
The Board invites members of NEWMOA's Committees and Workgroups, as well as former members and staff to join them for dinner on June 2 during their next Board meeting to help celebrate NEWMOA's 30th Anniversary. For more information on the festivities, contact Lois Makina(617) 367-8558 x312.
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2015 Annual Report
Find out more about NEWMOA's great work last year in its recently published Annual Report. The theme of the Report is " Helping States Navigate Change." This theme was chosen to recognize NEWMOA's 30 year history and that we are now experiencing the retirement of our initial generation of distinguished environmental professionals and the next generation emerging. State programs are struggling with how to train these new staff in the skills they will need and to transfer important program knowledge and field experience to them. NEWMOA is well poised to help member states face this challenge through its information sharing, training, and program support efforts.
Highlights from 2015 include:
- A Summit on Garment Care
- A National Meeting of the IC2
- Waste Site Cleanup Workshops
- A Meeting of Solid Waste Program Managers & Staff
- Hazardous Waste Training Events
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 Congratulations to Rachel Smith! In June, Rachel Smith will celebrate 10 years with NEWMOA. NEWMOA's Board and staff congratulate her on reaching this important milestone and appreciate her commitment to environmental protection and dedication to NEWMOA. Rachel was hired in 2006 to help conduct a variety of projects focused on mercury reduction in Massachusetts and to assist with various pollution prevention (P2) projects. As a result of some of the mercury reduction projects, many schools throughout Massachusetts became mercury-free. She also developed the content for NEWMOA's online database covering mercury legacy products. Rachel has contributed to important solid waste projects, including one that focused on reducing the generation of paint waste. She helped to prepare many of the project materials and delivered a number of presentations. Rachel is currently helping to lead a bulky waste project focused on reuse and recycling of furniture, carpet, mattresses, and large hard plastic items. She has made many other contributions (too numerous to list here) to NEWMOA over her tenure. Thank you Rachel!
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States/EPA Regional Meeting on PFAS
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NEWMOA will hold a regional meeting of state and federal officials to share information on prefluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) on Monday May 23rd at Quinsigamond Community College in Worchester, MA. This meeting is co-sponsored by NEWMOA and the Brown University Superfund Research Program. Contamination of drinking water with PFOA and related compounds in communities in NY, NH, and VT have recently raised public concern, and the environmental and health agencies have been busy addressing this issue.
PFOA and PFOS belong to the wider class of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have been widely used for carpet and fabric protection and in food packaging, and have included the familiar trade names Teflon, Gore-Tex, Stainmaster, and Scotchguard. In addition, PFAS are key components of aqueous film-forming foams widely used for firefighting and mist-suppression at metal plating facilities.
During the meeting presenters and participants will discuss:
- Uses, chemistry, and terminology
- Fate and transport in the environment
- Toxicology
- State and EPA guidelines and standards
- Sampling and analysis
- Treatment and remediation
- Recent state experience and lessons learned in NH, NY, and VT
- Research questions and next steps
A ccording to EPA, PFAS and other Long-Chain Perfluorinated Chemicals (LCPFCs) are found world-wide in the environment, wildlife, and humans. EPA is investigating these compounds because they:
- Are very persistent in the environment
- Are found at very low levels both in the environment and in the blood of the U.S. population
- Remain in people for a very long time
- Can cause developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals
They are bioaccumulative in wildlife and humans. They can produced reproductive, developmental, and systemic effects in laboratory animal tests. The exact sources and pathways by which these chemicals move into and through the environment and allow humans and wildlife to become exposed are not fully understood, but are likely to include releases from manufacturing of the chemicals, processing of these chemicals into products like carpets and textiles, and aging and wear of products containing them.
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Waste Site Cleanup Program
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Workshops
NEWMOA held successful workshops on Making Better Decisions: Real-time Data Collection and Interpretation for waste site cleanup professionals on March 22, 23, and 24 in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, respectively. The use of innovative sampling methods and field-based characterization technologies, and the ability to interpret the data and adapt a workplan in the field can reduce the overall time and expense of performing a quality site characterization and remediation, while simultaneously yielding better information to make informed decisions
NEWMOA is planning to hold one-day workshops in various locations later this year focused on "Monitored Natural Attenuation - When is it Appropriate?" Planning for these sessions is still underway. If you are interested in receiving a notice about these events and other waste site cleanup workshops, contact Jennifer Griffith to be added to our email list.
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Several Vendors Displayed Their Products
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Solid Waste & Sustainable Materials Management Program
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Webinar
NEWMOA held a well-attended webinar in early March focused on "Solar Panels on Landfills: Lessons Learned" for state and federal solid waste program staff. The webinar included a presentation by Duane Himes, Weston and Sampson who talked about the engineering, permitting and construction at the sites they have worked on and Sarah Weinstein, Mass DEP who talked about the initiatives underway in Massachusetts to expand development of photovoltaics on closed landfills.
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Hazardous Waste Training
Over the past few months, NEWMOA had regular conference calls on such hazardous waste topics as:
- Guidance on health and safety training for state RCRA inspectors
- State views of waste management requirements for vape bars and sales of e-cigarettes and nicotine juice
- Management of utility wastes
- Use of emergency permits for on-site treatment of unstable/reactive chemicals
NEWMOA is planning workshops for hazardous waste inspectors to take place in June in NJ and Massachusetts. These training calls and workshops are for state and federal hazardous waste inspectors and other compliance and enforcement staff and regulatory development staff.
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Pollution Prevention & Sustainability Program
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NEWMOA has published a Spanish Language P2 Resource page on P2Rx.org to better serve Spanish language colleagues. This resource was put together in partnership with the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC), who under a contract from NEWMOA compiled and helped to annotate the resources. NEWMOA has added the English language version of all of the resources in the collection to make it accessible to English speaking technical assistance providers. Feedback on this effort is appreciated.
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Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse (IC2)
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The Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse's (IC2) continues to develop data standards, a data dictionary, descriptions of the data fields, and data use scenarios, which are integral to a multi-state chemicals-in-products reporting database. This effort is helping to lay the groundwork for the creation of a shared reporting system that can meet the needs of states that, like Washington and Oregon, implement reporting rules for chemicals of high concern to children's health in designated product categories. A central reporting system will bring many advantages, including greater efficiency and cost effectiveness for state agencies, decreased burdens on companies required to report, and better access to robust data for key stakeholders and the public.
IC2 Webinar
On March 24, Charlotte Brody, the National Director for Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF), described HBBF's goals, programs, and work to reduce babies' exposure to neurotoxicants. HBBF is an alliance of scientists, nonprofit organizations and donors working to create and support initiatives that measurably reduce exposures to neurotoxic chemicals in the first thousand days of development. IC2 webinars are a benefit of membership; to learn about past webinars and download presentations, visit the IC2's Events page.
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