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Environment Quick News
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| A
Monthly Report on EPRI's Environmental Research Programs |
October
2009 |
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Program members can use their epri.com ID and password to download
Acrobat PDF files of EPRI technical reports. For assistance, contact
the EPRI Customer Assistance Center at (800) 313-3774. |
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Dear Environment Sector members:
We have just returned from a week of successful Environment
Sector advisory meetings in Denver, and we appreciate the
contributions by all of you who took the time to attend and
participate in those meetings. Like you, we are struck by
the multitude of legislative and regulatory decisions that
will be made between now and the end of the year that will
have significant impacts on the electricity industry. In all
of these cases, EPRI is working diligently to provide science
and technology information to key stakeholders.
As you all know, the House has passed climate legislation
and the Senate is now working on the Boxer–Kerry bill.
EPRI is increasingly being called on by key stakeholders to
provide information relevant to consideration of U.S. climate
legislation and to the international climate negotiations
that will continue in Copenhagen in December. With regard
to air quality, EPA is about to issue an extensive Information
Collection Request for hazardous air pollutants, and EPRI
staff members have been providing comments to the Agency and
working with members in planning for the sampling program.
Another major decision forthcoming from EPA will be management
of coal combustion products (CCPs). We have just completed
a series of studies on CCPs in anticipation of this decision,
and we will be meeting with EPA and other key agencies in
the next few weeks to discuss the results. EPA is also examining
its options for fish protection, including the potential for
retrofit of cooling towers on once-through plants; a decision
is planned for early next year. Already, EPRI analysis of
the impacts of a closed-cycle cooling mandate has encouraged
EPA to consider other alternatives, such as fine-mesh screens,
for fish protection.
None of this valuable work would be possible without your
support of the EPRI research into these important issues.
We recognize that many of you are dealing with budgetary constraints
during the current economic downturn, but given the enormous
challenges our industry faces, we think EPRI’s collaborative
research is more valuable now than ever. We hope you agree.
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| Air Quality Area News |
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Using largely EPRI-sponsored research, Barbara Turpin,
Rutgers University; Pradeep Saxena, Kaiser Permanente
(and former EPRI project manager); and Elisabeth Andrews,
University of Colorado, have received the 2009 Haagen-Smit
Prize. |
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| Program 42: Air Toxics Health and Risk
Assessment |
| EPRI Comments on EPA's Information Collection
Request for Hazardous Air Pollutants. See
story under Program 59. |
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| Program 91: Assessment Tools for Ozone,
Particulate Matter, Regional Haze and Atmospheric Deposition |
| . EPRI
and Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization
Program (SEARCH) team members met recently with the National
Park Service (NPS) to discuss issues regarding a secondary
particulate matter National Ambient Air Quality Standard
(NAAQS) to address urban visibility. |
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| Program 92: Assessment of Air Quality
Impacts on Health and the Environment |
| . An
EPRI study investigating associations between human health
and fine particle exposures found different results depending
on whether the fine particle concentrations were measured
by personal or community monitors. |
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| . The Michigan Integrated
Cohort and Animal Particle Study (MICAPS) has reached
a major milestone with the completion of the first season
of human field work and animal exposures. |
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EPRI’s Ron Wyzga participated in the recent
2009 Conference of the International Society for Environmental
Epidemiology (ISEE) in Dublin, Ireland. |
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| Visit
the Global Climate Webpage |
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| Program 102: Global Climate Policy Costs
and Benefits |
| . Building upon prior research
done for the Energy Modeling Forum, Richard Richels and
Geoff Blanford of EPRI and Thomas Rutherford of the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology have examined the effect
of policy anticipation for international greenhouse gas
emissions (GHG) reductions. |
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EPRI, in collaboration with Duke University’s
Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions,
Texas A&M University, and others, recently published
a working paper evaluating the potential impacts of U.S.
cap-and-trade policies on the net income of the U.S. agricultural
sector and consumers. |
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| Program 103: Greenhouse Gas Reduction
Options |
| . The 9th Annual Workshop
on Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading was held in Paris,
France on Sept. 14–15. |
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| Program 49: Coal Combustion Products—Environmental
Issues |
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EPRI has developed a database of complexation reactions
to describe how oxyanions such as arsenic and selenium
adsorb on iron oxyhydroxides, influencing their transport
in groundwater. |
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| Program 50: Manufactured Gas Plant Site
Management |
| . The Manufactured Gas
Plant (MGP) Site Management Program meeting on September
1–2 in Alexandria, VA featured information for program
funders. |
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| Program 59: Power Plant Toxics Characterization |
| . This Technical Update describes a study
evaluating methods of measuring condensible particulate
matter—species present in vapor form at stack gas
temperatures that condense to liquid or solid aerosol
form at ambient temperatures—by taking stack gas
sulfuric acid into account. |
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| . EPRI recently
submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) on its proposed Information Collection Request
(ICR) for hazardous air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired
electric utility steam generating units. |
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| Program 55: Strategic Water Issues: TMDLs,
Availability, Climate |
| . EPRI’s Bob Goldstein held
a project update webcast on Sept. 18 to discuss “Managing
Water Requirements for Thermoelectric Generation: Evaluation
of Available Methodologies.” |
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| . EPRI's Bob
Goldstein gave a presentation entitled "Electric Power/Water
Sustainability" as plenary speaker at the Water/Energy
Sustainability Symposium during the 2009 Ground Water
Protection Council Annual Forum, held Sept. 13-16 in Salt
Lake City, UT. |
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| Program 56: Effluent Guidelines and Water
Quality Management |
| . The U.S. Department
of Energy recently granted an EPRI team lead by Trimeric
Corporation a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) award to continue its work on evaluating and managing
selenium chemistry in wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD)
systems. |
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| Program 58: Waterpower |
| . Doug Dixon made two presentations
at the annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society,
held in Nashville, TN, Aug. 31–Sept. 3. |
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| . For the fourth year, Roger Bedard
was the first speaker in the plenary session at the Oregon
Ocean Renewable Energy Conference, held on Sept. 15–16
in Seaside, OR. |
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| . Doug
Dixon was presented with a Distinguished Service Award
from the Bioengineering Section of the American Fisheries
Society (AFS) at the AFS Annual Meeting in Nashville,
TN, Aug. 31–Sept. 3. |
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| Program 51: T&D Facilities & Equipment:
Environmental Issues |
| . This Technical Update reviews state-of-the-art
technologies currently available to remediate arsenic
contamination in soils, groundwater, and surface water. |
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| . Distributions of polychlorinated
biphenyl (PCB) congeners in dielectric fluids undergo
little or no change over time with normal use in transformers
and capacitors, according to analyses presented in this
Technical Update. |
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| Program 60: EMF Health Assessment and
Radio-Frequency Safety |
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| Visit
the EMF Health Assessment and RF Safety Public Webpage |
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| . As the leader of
an international study of childhood leukemia that currently
includes eight countries, EPRI sponsored its fourth TransExpo
research conference, held in Jerusalem, Israel, on September
6–7 for study participants and invited representatives
of countries considering participation. |
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OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
AND SAFETY |
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| Program 62: Occupational Health and Safety
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| . The EPRI Occupational Health
and Safety program has been asked to participate in the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
workshop entitled Making Green Jobs Safe, to be held Dec.
14–16 in Washington, DC. |
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| . EPRI has scheduled a webinar for
P62 member companies interested in ergonomic interventions
for workers in fossil-fueled power plants. |
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ENVIRONMENT FEDERAL
HIGHLIGHTS (Washington D.C. Office, John Novak) |
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| For more information on
the items below, contact John Novak, 202-293-6180,
jnovak@epri.com.
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| . In
August and September, EPRI Senior Vice Presidents Mike
Howard and Hank Courtright and EPRI staff provided briefings
on the 2009 update to the Prism/MERGE analysis. |
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On Sept. 15, EPRI staff participated in the fall
meeting of the National Rural Electric Environmental Association,
held at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
headquarters in Arlington, VA. |
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| NEW SUPPLEMENTAL PROJECT
OPPORTUNITIES |
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| NEW MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS |
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| UPCOMING EVENTS |
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| *
denotes EPRI sponsored or cosponsored event |
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| Environment Sector |
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Energy Sustainability Interest Group Webcast
Oct. 13, 2:00 p.m. Eastern/11:00 a.m. Pacific. Contact: Todd
Maki (650) 855-2162, tmaki@epri.com.
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Energy Sustainability Interest Group Webcast
Oct. 21, 1:00 p.m. Eastern/10:00 a.m. Pacific. Contact: Todd
Maki (650) 855-2162, tmaki@epri.com.
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Energy Sustainability Interest Group Workshop
Nov. 4–5, Tempe, AZ. Contact: Todd Maki (650) 855-2162,
tmaki@epri.com. More information
is available at the event
website.
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Environment Sector and Area Council Advisory Meetings
March 15–18, 2010, Orlando, FL. Contact: Marsha
Grossman, (650) 855-8760, mgrossma@epri.com.
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| Air Quality |
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| 8th Annual Community Modeling
and Analysis System (CMAS) Conference
Oct. 19–21, Chapel Hill, NC. Contact: Naresh Kumar,
(650) 855-8758, nkumar@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
Air Quality VII Conference
Oct. 26–29, Arlington, VA. Contact: Leonard Levin,
(650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
American Association for Aerosol Research 28th Annual
Conference
Oct. 26–30, Minneapolis, MN. Contact: Stephanie
Shaw, (650) 855-2353, sshaw@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
2009 National Ambient Air Monitoring Conference
Nov. 2–5, Nashville, TN. Contact: Stephanie Shaw,
(650) 855-2353, sshaw@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
30th Annual Meeting
Nov. 19–23, New Orleans, LA. Contact: Sharan Campleman,
(650) 855-2331, scampleman@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
Society for Risk Analysis 2009 Annual Meeting
Dec. 6–9, Baltimore, MD. Contact: Sharan Campleman,
(650) 855-2331, scampleman@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
American Geophysical Union 2009 Fall Meeting
Dec. 14–18, San Francisco, CA. Contact: Stephanie
Shaw, (650) 855-2353, sshaw@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
Power Plant Air Pollutant Control “MEGA”
Symposium
Aug. 30–Sept. 2, 2010, Baltimore, MD. Contact: Leonard
Levin, (650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
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| Land and Groundwater |
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| University of Massachusetts
25th Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments,
and Water
Oct. 19–22, Amherst, MA. Contact: Jeff Clock, (845)
608-0642, jclock@epri.com.
Air Quality VII Conference
Oct. 26–29, Arlington, VA. Contact: Leonard Levin,
(650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
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Plant Closure, Remediation and Redevelopment—Options,
Challenges/Opportunities
Nov. 12, Astoria, NY. Contact: Jeff Clock, (845) 608-0642,
jclock@epri.com. This
workshop will convene at a plant anticipating closure in the
near future. Participants will review recent closure projects
and help to plan an EPRI Interest Group on plant closure.
More information is available at the event
website.
* Agricultural
Uses of FGD Gypsum
Nov. 17–19, Indianapolis, IN. Contact: Ken Ladwig,
(262) 754-2744, keladwig@epri.com.
This conference is jointly sponsored by EPRI, ACAA, USDA-ARS,
EPA, and Southern Company. More information is available
at the event
website.
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EPRI MGP 2010 Symposium
Jan. 27–29, 2010, San Antonio, TX. Contact: Jeff
Clock, (845) 608-0642, jclock@epri.com,
or Jim Lingle, (414) 355-5559, jlingle@epri.com.
EPRI received 83 abstracts and has chosen the most interesting
and technically innovative for platform sessions, with the
remainder as poster sessions. Tabletop displays will
also be included. Please register early since the symposium
is likely to be overbooked. More information is available
at the event
website.
Power Plant Air Pollutant Control “MEGA”
Symposium
Aug. 30–Sept. 2, 2010, Baltimore, MD. Contact: Leonard
Levin, (650) 855-7929, llevin@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
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| Water and Ecosystems |
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Webcast: Power Plant Utilization of Stormwater
Oct. 15, 1:00 p.m. Eastern/10:00 a.m. Pacific. Contact: Robert
Goldstein, (650) 855-2154, rogoldst@epri.com.
For logistics: Katie Vroom, (650) 855-2417, kavroom@epri.com.
Open to members of the Water Strategic Issues Program.
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Webcast: Water Resource Trends and Implications
for the Electric Power Industry
Oct. 22, 1:00 p.m. Eastern/10:00 a.m. Pacific. Contact: Robert
Goldstein, (650) 855-2154, rogoldst@epri.com.
For logistics: Katie Vroom, (650) 855-2417, kavroom@epri.com.
Open to members of the Water Strategic Issues Program.
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Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Water Discharge
Treatment Workshop
Nov. 9–10, Atlanta, GA. Contact: Paul Chu, (650) 855-2362,
pchu@epri.com. More information
is available at the event
website.
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| T&D Environmental Issues |
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| Second Scientific Meeting
of the Health and Radiofrequencies Foundation
Oct. 20-21, Paris, France. Contact: Gabor Mezei, (650)
855-8908, gmezei@epri.com.
More information is available at the
event website.
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Multi Phase Software Training Webcast
Oct. 29, 1 PM EDT. Contact: Mary McLearn, (650) 855-2487,
mmclearn@epri.com.
The webcast will offer training on the Multi Phase component
of EPRI’s Mineral Oil Spill Evaluation System–Multi
Phase (MOSES-MP) software. Multi-Phase simulates subsurface
movement of oil that may impact groundwater.
International Conference on Electromagnetic Fields,
Health and Environment
Nov 17-19, São Paolo, Brazil. Contact: Gabor Mezei,
(650) 855-8908, gmezei@epri.com.
More information is available at the event
website.
Radiofrequency Fields and Health
Nov. 23–25, Stuttgart, Germany. Contact: Gabor Mezei,
(650) 855-8908, gmezei@epri.com.
This workshop will focus on the special topic, “Radiofrequency
Electromagnetic Fields and Brain Physiology—What Is
the Connection?” The workshop will summarize state-of-the-science
knowledge in the field of biological and health effects of
RF-EMF. More information is available at the event
website.
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Arsenic Working Group
Dec. 3, Pensacola, FL. Contact: Mary McLearn, (650) 855-2487,
mmclearn@epri.com.
Simultaneous audio broadcast of the meeting will be available.
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| Occupational Health and Safety |
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| Webinar: Implementing Ergonomics
in Fossil-Fueled Power Plants: Saving Electricians' Health
and the Company Money in a Tight Economy
Oct. 29, 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific. Contact: Sharan Campleman,
(650) 855-2331, scampleman@epri.com. |
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Together…Shaping
the Future of Electricity® |
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Electric
Power Research Institute
3420
Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94304-1338 • PO Box 10412,
Palo Alto, California 94303-0813 USA
800.313.3774 • 650.855.2121 • askepri@epri.com
• www.epri.com
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