CDC Guidance for Businesses and Employers To Plan and Respond to the 2009–2010 Influenza Season

August 19, 2009 11:00 AM ET

CDC is releasing new guidance that recommends actions that non-healthcare employers should take now to decrease the spread of seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu in the workplace and to help maintain business continuity during the 2009–2010 flu season.1The guidance includes additional strategies to use if flu conditions become more severe and some new recommendations regarding when a worker who is ill with influenza may return to work. The guidance in this document may change as additional information about the severity of the 2009-2010 influenza season and the impact of 2009 H1N1 influenza become known. (More...)

Please check http://www.flu.gov/ periodically for updated guidance.

EPA announces more than $37 million in Recovery Act funds for water infrastructure projects in Wisconsin to boost economy

CHICAGO (August 20, 2009) - In a move that stands to create jobs, boost local economies, improve aging drinking water infrastructure and protect human health and the environment for people in the State of Wisconsin, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $37,750,000 million to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. This new infusion of money provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will help the state and local governments finance many of the overdue improvements to water projects that are essential to protecting public health and the environment across the state.

"EPA is pleased to provide more than $37 million in Recovery Act funds for much needed improvements to Wisconsin's aging drinking water infrastructure," said Bharat Mathur, Acting Regional Administrator. "This money will protect human health and improve water quality while helping to create good jobs in the state."

The Recovery Act funds will go to the state's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs.
The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program provides low-interest loans for drinking water systems to finance infrastructure improvements. The program also emphasizes providing funds to small and disadvantaged communities and to programs that encourage pollution prevention as a tool for ensuring safe drinking water. An unprecedented $2 billion will be awarded to fund drinking water infrastructure projects across the country under the Recovery Act in the form of low-interest loans, principal forgiveness and grants. At least twenty percent of the funds provided under the Recovery Act are to be used for green infrastructure, water and energy efficiency improvements and other environmentally innovative projects.

Since the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program began in 1997, EPA has awarded more than $8 billion in grants, which states have turned into $15 billion of financial assistance to fund drinking water projects. The revolving nature of the program ensures drinking water projects will be funded for generations to come.

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, 2009, and has directed that the Recovery Act be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the American people can see how every dollar is being invested at Recovery.gov.

For information on EPA's implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 visit http://www.epa.gov/recovery.

For information on the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program visit http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwsrf.

College program to divert 2 million food containers

Aug. 20 -- Aramark Higher Education expects to divert more than 2 million disposable food containers from landfills during the upcoming school year through a new program at college campuses.
The company, which provides services to more than 600 colleges and universities, is introducing a reusable "to-go" container at many of those sites.
"The re-usable ´to go´ container program is the next phase of our ongoing plan to strive toward zero waste and support the sustainability goals of our partner campuses," said Michael Leone, senior vice president, Aramark Higher Education. (More...)

CALL2RECYCLE® Becomes First Battery Program To Be Recognized By Basel Action Network

ATLANTA, August 11, 2009 - Call2Recycle®, North America's most successful rechargeable battery recycling program, today announces that it has become the first program of its kind to be recognized as an e-Steward by the Basel Action Network (BAN). This voluntary recognition affirms that Call2Recycle has completed BAN's initial audit and qualification requirements and is now in line to become one of the first independently audited, accredited and certified electronics recyclers in North America. The e-Stewards designation is given for electronics and battery recyclers that uphold the strictest standards for environmental safety and social responsibility.

BAN, a toxic trade and corporate responsibility watchdog, is named for the Basel Convention, an international treaty created to prevent the dumping of toxic waste from rich to poorer nations. In 1995 the Basel Convention passed a decision to prohibit the export of hazardous waste to developing countries. As a global organization, BAN works to prevent the global dumping of toxic e-waste that has become all too common today, and promotes responsible recycling here in North America.

Read More...

NRC Solicits Comment on LLRW Disposal

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking comment on how the denial of access to LLRW disposal sites have affected research.

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-18947.pdf

Asbestos-contaminated Vermiculite

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is warning the public and electricians, plumbers and other contractors who perform work in attics about the potential risks of asbestos exposure from contaminated vermiculite insulation. Vermiculite from a Libby, Mont., mine containing asbestos was sold from 1919 to 1990 and used in the majority of vermiculite insulation in the United States.

EPA's guidance document and vermiculite web page offer ways to help reduce exposure.

Contact for information about Vermiculite insulation in WI

If you need information about asbestos, contact:
Dave Schmitt, DHS Environmental Health Specialist 715-836-6688
DavidJ.Schmitt@wisconsin.gov

Amy Walden, DNR Air Management Specialist 608-266-3658
Amy.Walden@wisconsin.gov

You may also want to refer to DNR's internet resources for asbestos http://dnr.wi.gov/air/compenf/asbestos/

SCRAP PROCESSORS SMELL A LEMON IN CASH FOR CLUNKERS

From Resource Recycling:

Just two weeks old but already wildly successful, the Senate voted on Thursday to provide an additional $2 billion dollars for the Cash for Clunkers program, which allows qualifying customers to trade in their gas-guzzlers for up to $4,500 towards a newer, more fuel-efficient vehicle. Overwhelming demand threatened to shut down the program early with over 75 percent of allocated funds already spent within a week of the program's launch.

But many auto scrap processors are complaining that the program's mandate that engines of traded-in vehicles be destroyed is hurting their bottom line. Intended to keep clunkers from reappearing on roadways as unregistered vehicles, the program is set up to send a trade-in from the dealership to the shredder as quickly as possible. Sodium silicate is used to foul the engines before the cars head to the scrap heap, often destroying many reusable and re-sellable parts in the process. According to the Automotive Recyclers Association, engines and drive trains account for 60 percent of processors' revenue from a scrap vehicle.

The approval this week of an extension of the clunker program comes at a time of improving ferrous scrap market conditions. Scrap prices rose in both July and August due to improved export demand and a modest upturn in domestic steel production. Low industrial activity this summer has resulted in many scrap yards holding little inventory of processed scrap. Thus, several industry observers are saying that a scrap surge created by the federal program -- estimated by some to be about 400,000 tons -- can be absorbed under current market conditions.