Settlements made with two California plastics manufacturers over federal Clean Water Act Violations. The companies failed to contain plastic materials from reaching local waterways where harm can be placed on marine and wildlife.  “Under the Clean Water Act, plastic manufacturers must obtain a stormwater permit from the state to discharge industrial stormwater to surface waters. The permit requires the installation of controls and use of best management practices to prevent or minimize the discharges of pollutants in runoff from their operations.”

U.S. EPA requires two Los Angeles area plastics manufacturers to protect local waterways

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recently reached settlements with two Southern California plastics manufacturers over federal Clean Water Act violations. Under the terms of the settlements, both companies will take steps to prevent plastic materials they manage from washing into local waterways. Combined, the companies will pay more than $35,000 in penalties.

During inspections at the two facilities in 2016, EPA found inadequate containment measures that allowed plastic materials, including pellets known as “nurdles,” to enter local waterways. Nurdles are plastic beads about 1/5-inch in diameter that are widely used in manufacturing. These plastic materials contribute to harmful debris in the nation’s inland and coastal waters and pose dangers to fish, birds and other wildlife.

Modern Concepts Inc., located in Compton, Calif., and Double R. Trading Inc., located in City of Industry, failed to install required controls that prevent plastic and other materials from washing into storm drains and discharging into the Los Angeles River and Port of Los Angeles, respectively. Both companies have corrected the violations and returned to compliance.

“We urge manufacturers to take the steps needed to keep plastic materials out of our waterways, where they harm marine organisms and birds,” said Alexis Strauss, EPA’s Acting Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “This is but one action among many we can take to minimize the scourge of marine debris.”

EPA coordinated the inspections with the Regional Water Quality Control Board in support of their efforts to reduce plastic pollution in the Los Angeles area.

“Trash in our waterways, including plastics, poses a significant threat to public health and wildlife,” said Deborah Smith, Executive Officer of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. “Addressing this water quality problem has been a top priority for the Los Angeles Water Board since 2001 to reduce the amount of trash being discharged to the Los Angeles River. This trash-reducing regulatory program was the first of its kind and has prevented tons of trash from entering the river. The Board will continue to work in partnership with EPA to ensure ongoing protection of the Los Angeles River and other regional waterways.”

Are you up-to-date on Clean Water Act regulations and how to protect our waterways from runoff pollution?  Are you familiar with Stormwater Management, Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Maintenance, Stormwater Low Impact Development (LID), and Best Management Practices (BMPs)? Don’t make careless mistakes that can lead to violations against your company.

Start your training now:

National Hurricane Preparedness Week, May 6-12, is a week long reminder to everyone that hurricane season is approaching. Learn ways to plan ahead for safety, evacuations, flooding, shortages, and cleanup.

Be ready before disaster strikes. And you can start by planning now. We’ve assembled some helpful hurricane preparedness tips to make your prep easier.

Here are a few reminders of how to plan and also what not to do:

DO:

1. Get your supplies:

• Water (one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation)
• Non-perishable foods (at least a three-day supply)
• Batteries & flashlights
• Battery powered radio
• Baby items if applicable (food, diapers, formula, wipes, medications if needed, extra clothing)
• Pet supplies if applicable (food, medicine if needed, extra cage, leash, collars & tags, medical records)
• Cash
• First Aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust mask (to help filter contaminated air), plastic sheeting and duct tape
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Manual can opener for food
• Local maps
• Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger
• Phone numbers and contacts
• Paper products (toilet paper & towels)
• Pack bags with important records & information if you need to leave your home quickly

2. Refill prescription medications

3. Make an evacuation plan (if you have any pets, make sure to find hotels that will accept them beforehand)

4. Be informed and ready:

• Learn your community’s hurricane response plan
• Register family members with special needs or requirements

Do NOT:

1. DON’T tape the windows – it does almost no good
2. DON’T run a generator indoors – carbon monoxide emissions are deadly
3. DON’T use a charcoal or gas grill indoors – carbon monoxide and fire risks are too great
4. DON’T walk in flooded waters – alligators, snakes, downed power lines, and sewage could be in the water
5. DON’T stay after an evacuation is ordered – rescuers may not come in the height of the storm
6. DON’T forget about your pets – they are part of your family too

For more details on hurricanes, planning and recovery, you can visit EPA’s link on Natural Disasters.

Environmental Sustainability:

Are you doing your part?

Earth “Day” may be over, but our efforts to protect our environment shouldn’t be. Sustainability is meeting the increasing demands placed on the environment without compromising it today for tomorrow’s generations. It’s a priority interest for many, especially at EPA. “Sustainability isn’t part of our work – it’s a guiding influence for all of our work.” In fact, it’s really a part of a company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR).

“A number of green issues are emerging as key components in a more global initiative to hold corporations socially, and if possible, financially responsible for their actions and inactions. Sustainable development, as a critical component of CSR, takes into account social, economic, environmental, and natural resource issues potentially affected by business. With growing awareness worldwide of environmental concerns, the CSR component of sustainability is focused on environmental sustainability.”

Are you familiar with Environmental Sustainability? How it influences your roles in the workplace? How is sustainability playing a part within your company’s corporate social responsibility? These are all important factors in building and maintaining a sustainable organization. And we can help with that.

Check out our Environmental Sustainability Courses and learn:

• What environmental sustainability awareness is and why it is important
• EPA’s origin and role in sustainability
• Pollution prevention (P2)
• Building the foundation for an organization-wide sustainability program
• Why shifting from environmental compliance to sustainability is important
• The science of sustainable policy
• How does an organization’s focus on sustainability impact staff
• What are ISO 14000/14001 standards
• EMS and sustainability
• Why the federal government leading the sustainability effort
• Review of recent executive orders (EOs)
• Environmental impact assessment (EIA) models and methods
• Sustainable environmental systems
• Priority environmental concerns
• Current sustainable environmental systems technologies
• The six themes of environmental sustainability
• Renewable and non-renewable resource systems
• Establishing a strategic direction for an organization
• Development of sustainability programs for key business processes
• Which operations should include sustainability measures
• Good business processes for developing sustainable programs
• Studies on sustainable practices in the workplace (case study examples)
• Plus much more

Our Environmental Sustainability Courses are offered individually or as a bundled 4 course pack.

Shop Courses

Happy Earth Day! The theme of this year’s Earth Day is “End Plastic Pollution.”

Plastic pollution can be a danger to all from littering our landscapes, poisoning and injuring marine life, to even disrupting human hormones. And it’s only continuing to grow. That’s why Earth Day 2018 has dedicated this year’s efforts to end plastic pollution.

10 facts you may not have known about plastic and its dangers:

Fact 1:  Over 480 billion plastic bottles were sold worldwide in 2016! That is up from about 300 billion only a decade ago.

Fact 2:  About one trillion single-use plastic bags are used annually across the globe, that’s nearly 2 million every minute!

Fact 3:  More than half a million plastic straws are used every day around the world.

Fact 4:  Over half of the world’s plastic thrown out in 2015 was plastic packaging, that’s over 141 million metric tons.

Fact 5:  Takeout orders account for around 269,000 US tons of plastic waste that has entered the oceans.

Fact 6:  The amount of bubble wrap that is produced annually is enough to wrap around the Equator ten times!

Fact 7:  The world uses 500 billion plastic cups, for example party cups, every year.

Fact 8:  16 billion coffee cups are used each year. These are coated with plastic to laminate the inside and use plastic lids.

Fact 9:  The world produces more than 14 million US tons of polystyrene (plastic foam) each year. Americans alone throw away around 25 billion Styrofoam cups every year!

Fact 10:  Around the world, people litter more than 4.5 trillion cigarette butts every year.

Whether you’re one person, or leading a larger organization, there are ways to make a difference. If you need inspiration, information or resources, earthday.org can help you help our planet.

People all around the world are celebrating Earth Day today, but it doesn’t have to stop tomorrow. Want to learn some easy and helpful tips to help protect ourselves and our planet? Check out these earthday.org tips for ways you can make every day earth day.