Region 6 Roundtable
Teleconference Minutes
Dec. 2, 2004ParticipantsJavier Balli, EPA Region 6 David Greer, TCEQ David James, TCEQ Kelly Coleman, TCEQ Grace Hsieh, TCEQ Pierre Lichaa, TCEQ (not attending, but provided update) Chris Campbell, WERC Michelle Vattano, NMED Erin Murphy, NMED Chuck Hendrich, LDEQ Audree Miller, ADEQ Thomas Vinson-Peng, Zero Waste (minute taker)
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Success Story of the
Month By switching the
feedstock on a NOx abatement device one Louisiana company reported 4,500
tons/year of CO reduction! |
New Regional P2 Coordinator
The roundtable welcomed Mr. Javier Balli as the new regional coordinator. Mr. Balli worked with the Region 6 roundtable from Jan. 93 to Nov. 97. He has served as extension service liaison for EPA, where he focused on agricultural and environmental issues. Javier has most recently worked in outreach where he was a team leader. He comes with an extensive background in outreach, having served as a team leader in the outreach section.
Javier said that some of the directions he wanted to see pursued were:
- Increased border partnerships
- More web presence
He also noted that we can probably expect less money for P2 in 2006 than 2005.
Hospital P2
Chris
outlined the hospital P2 program. The
program will include a section dealing with Fats Oils and Greases (FOG’s), and
a series of site visits (done in partnership with TCEQ). He attached two presentations which are can
be gotten from him at (chrisc@swcp.com)
International Conference
Chris also spoke about the upcoming International Conference on the Environment and Human Health. This conference will be at the Camino Real Hotel in El Paso March 29-31, 2005. This event provides an opportunity for individuals to evaluate and share information on the current state of, and developments in, environmental and human health issues in the 10 states along the US Mexico Border.
- Abstracts are due to Karen Mikel at WERC by January 15;
- For more information see: http://icehh.org/
Pretreatment Conference
Allen spoke about the upcoming regional pretreatment conference, which will be held in Las Colinas on March 29-31, 2005 (same day as International Conference). He spoke about how many pretreatment programs have integrated P2 into their inspections. This has great potential for integrating with small to mid sized businesses. Chuck added that we should also look at the State Economic Development Board for this target audience.
Regional Roundtable Meeting
The group discussed when and where the next regional roundtable conference should be held. Both the pretreatment and the International conference hold great promise for expanding our presence in the region. Javier mentioned he would be at the International conference, but may make both. Thomas said he would try to make both, and both conferences wanted him to speak. Chris had to be at the International Conference. In addition to the conflict of schedules the group also discussed lack of travel scholarships for the regional roundtable. These scholarships were handled by UTEP which was under a regional grant that no one applied for this year. There was some discussion of not having a regional roundtable until roughly September, and splitting attendance of the roundtable members between the two conferences.
STATE UPDATES
New Mexico E.D. - Multi State Working Group
Michelle had agreed to host the multi state working group (MSWG) in New Mexico. She asked the group for guidance on a number of issues.
- How much work is involved?
- How does EPA view/support MSWG?
There was no clear answer on this subject, however all agreed that we should partner with them when we can.
Texas CEQ
David james talked about the issue of Fats Oils and Grease; these “FOG’s” are major contributors to Sanitary Sewage Overflows. He was planning to work with Chris and Kelly to roll the FOG work into the H2E program. He is also planning to use Texas House Bill 1979 as a model standard for grease traps.
Pierre Lichaa, of the TCEQ border P2 program asked Thomas to note that they just had a Site Visit to Trico products in Brownsville, Tx and that they were using the opportunity to encourage them to join TCEQ’s Clean Texas EMS program. They also plan to have a Border EMS workshop on Feb. 8, 2005 in Brownsville that will be conducted jointly with UT Brownsville.
Grace Hsieh mentiond the Texas Environmental Trade Fair would be in May 2-4, 2005. This is TCEQ’s premier event with an average attendance of about 3,000.
David Greer is working with the National Measurement workgroup and will be meeting with them in Dallas this December.
Arkansas DEQ
Audrie gave an update for ADEQ’s P2 Program. They finished the agency EMS internal aspects and impacts ranking. ADEQ is working with the Arkansas Energy Office to promote a group purchase of hybrid electric vehicles among state agencies
Due to reorganization, the Arkansas state P2 program will be moving from the Watershed team to the Technical Services Division, and Audree will be reporting to Cynthia Reagan, the former P2 coordinator for the state.
Allen Giliam, the state pretreatment program coordinator mentioned he would be working with the Arkansas dental association in April to educate dentist on P2 and other issues. He recently did a survey that showed Dentist were unaware of many environmental regulations.
Louisiana DEQ
Chuck mentioned that Gary is retiring. Chuck is filling the P2 position in the interim, and will be applying for the position. They are working with Louisiana industries on cost cutting measures, in cooperation with EPA. He gave an example of one company that switched the feedstock for the NOx abatement device and reduced the Carbon Monoxide emissions by 4,500 tons/year.
Chuck also mentioned that they are working on an assistance call where they are trying to find proper disposal for dog food infected with Mad Cow Disease.
Next Call
January 27, 2005
Time: 2-3pm EASTERN standard time
Call in number: (202)275-0199, code is 8926#
