This issue focuses on two exciting developments at EPA New England - the kickoff of our $1 million children's health initiative and the start-up of EPA-NE's redesigned and expanded web pages at http://www.epa.gov/region01. We're proud of both of these efforts and encourage you to read on to learn more.


EPA New England Web Redesign

Web users will find our EPA-NE web pages significantly more informative and easier to use, thanks to a complete, top-to-bottom redesign unveiled on Columbus Day. The redesign is a key part of our commitment in helping the public to become more informed and involved with environmental issues that affect their lives.

The redesign dramatically improves navigation on the site. Instead of a hodge-podge listing of 90 plus subsites, users can now navigate easily through such vehicles as "Topics and Issues," "Programs" and an "Alphabetical Index." The site is also more comprehensive, including dozens of additional subsites from EPA Headquarters that we weren't linked to before. Our own regional presence has been expanded as well. Among the changes is an expanded "About Us" button that includes a comprehensive organizational chart, office information, state unit information, directions to our offices and a speakers list. In short, we're very excited about our new website and encourage you to use it and bookmark it. You may even want to consider linking it to your own web site.

A Message From Regional Administrator Mindy Lubber on Children's Health

Children's Health Message from EPA-NE Regional Administrator Mindy Lubber:

A businessman asked me the other day how we could best invest our country's capital to secure a strong future. I answered the question as a former investment fund manager, as a government official, and as a mother of two. The answer was the same each time: invest in our children.

There is nothing more important to the country's future than making sure our next generation of leaders, scientists and parents grow up in safe and healthy environment.

Despite our unparalleled prosperity, thousands of New England children are still being poisoned each year by lead, mercury, dirty air and other environmental threats.

In Massachusetts, nearly 3,000 kids have been diagnosed with lead poisoning in the past five years, including more than 850 children in Boston alone. In Providence and Lowell, one in five children have high lead levels, putting them at risk for a lifetime of learning disabilities and development problems.

Asthma is another problem. We still don't know exactly what causes asthma, but we do know that environmental factors trigger asthma attacks. And the asthma problem is getting worse, especially among inner-city children. In Boston's public housing projects, we're seeing asthma rates of 25 percent and higher. Beyond the personal impacts, there are huge economic consequences. The cost of medical treatment for asthma in this country is now over $11 billion a year - and it's rising. Asthma is also causing our nation's students to miss 10 million school days a year, leaving them unprepared for our competitive global economy.

Mercury is another threat. Across New England, more than 80 percent of the inland lakes and rivers have fish too polluted with mercury to eat. This is a particular concern for pregnant women who can cause irreversible neurological damage to their children by eating contaminated fish. This is a very real problem - some studies go so far as to suggest that one in four children are exposed to mercury at unsafe levels.

Our children deserve better! We know what causes these problems and we know how to fix them!

We are by no means the first agency to recognize and tackle children's health issues. All across New England, public health and environmental agencies, universities and hospitals, and neighborhood groups, have been working for years to keep our children healthy. We need to do our part as well.

And it's too important to leave for another day. It's one thing to accept delays in river cleanups and harbor cleanups - it's entirely different when we're talking about children's lives.

This is why we've launched our "Children First" initiative this fall. We hope you will join and help us! ?C Regional Administrator Mindy Lubber

EPA New England's Children First Campaign

This fall, EPA New England is visiting each of the six New England states to announce a $1 million "Children First" initiative aimed at protecting children from environmental threats in the places where they spend most of their time - in school, at home, and outdoors.

The plan, first unveiled at a news conference at the Blackstone Elementary School in Boston's South End, includes $500,000 of new investments to combat lead poisoning in New England cities, $200,000 to improve air quality and reduce toxic exposure at 200 schools, and $225,000 in programs to curb skyrocketing asthma rates.

EPA also announced the availability of $100,000 in grants to broaden opportunities for environmental education in classrooms around New England and a new "Showcase Schools" initiative in which one school in each of the New England states will be selected to showcase numerous EPA programs available to make schools safer for children.

More information about the initiative is available on the Children First web site: http://www.epa.gov/region1/children/index.html

Highlights of the campaign include:

Improving Air Quality in Schools
About one third of New England schools report poor indoor air quality, which can make it difficult for children to concentrate and learn or even affect their health. EPA's award-winning Tools for Schools program lays out a blueprint for schools to identify causes of poor air quality - among those, poor air circulation, mold sources and toxic chemicals. It also identifies solutions to these problems. In the coming months, EPA New England will enlist an additional 200 schools and train 1,000 more school officials to undertake the Tools for Schools program. For more information on Tools for Schools, contact regional coordinator Eugene Benoit at 617-918-1639 or at benoit.eugene@epa.gov.

Reducing Lead Abatement Costs
A major impediment to carrying out lead abatement is the high cost of disposing lead-contaminated soils and construction debris. This month, EPA New England took an important step to change that. Working with Boston and Cambridge, EPA recently approved a national policy change so that lead demolition debris and soil debris are classified as household waste rather than hazardous waste, which is more expensive to dispose of at landfills. The policy change will dramatically reduce lead abatement projects all across the country, thus enabling more projects to be done. In Boston, for example, Lead Safe Boston expects it will be able to carry out 12 additional abatement projects this year alone. EPA New England will be working hard in the coming months to publicize the changes so that agencies and homeowners across the region can realize the savings to protect more children.

Cleaning Up Lead Contaminated Yards:
EPA is expanding its award-winning Lead Safe Yards program so it can be used all across New England. The program, first developed by EPA New England, Boston University and other partners in Boston, includes on-the-spot testing to measure lead levels in backyards and then taking low-cost remediation measures to reduce lead exposure such as covering contaminated areas with wood chips, paving stones, grass and shrubs. EPA New England is now offering Lead Safe Yards to communities across the region. On October 2, an all-day training program was held for lead abatement coordinators from a dozen New England cities. For more information, see the web page at http://www.epa.gov/region01/leadsafe/ or contact Rob Maxfield (617) 918-8640 or maxfield.robert@epa.gov.

Mercury Reduction Efforts in the Region:
EPA New England's Partners for Change Mercury Challenge Program is working with the region's hospitals to reduce mercury waste entirely by the year 2003. Thirteen New England hospitals have joined the program, resulting in the elimination of more than 600 pounds of mercury from their waste streams. This fall, we sent letters to all 276 medical facilities in New England, encouraging them to participate in the voluntary program. This year we expect to double and, possibly, triple participation among hospitals. For more details, see

Air Quality Education:
This summer, EPA New England provided air quality reports to the media and through electronic messages to 1,000 youth camps, daycare centers and individuals. We're also installing 'real-time' air monitoring equipment at various locations across the region. In Roxbury and Dorchester, for example, 'real-time' air quality data is being publicized on a public web site and by raising colored flags at two neighborhood locations. For more details, contact Anne Arnold at 617-918-1047 or see

News Flashes
Updated October 23, 2000

Lead Abatement
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino joined EPA-NE Regional Administrator Mindy Lubber and Deputy Administrator Michael McCabe this month in announcing a first-of-its-kind agreement that will substantially boost lead abatement activities in housing units all across the country. The agreement allows lead-based paint demolition debris from residential buildings to be classified as a household hazardous waste that can be sent to standard landfills. The material was previously classified by EPA as hazardous waste, which is substantially more expensive to dispose of. The policy change was negotiated under EPA's XL Program, a national initiative designed to experiment with new regulatory schemes that can achieve better environmental results at less cost.

Dioxin Cleanup
EPA-NE this month announced the agency's preferred plan for cleaning up dioxin-contaminated floodplain areas along the Woonasquatucket River, Allendale Pond and Lymansville Pond in North Providence, R.I. The cleanup plan involves excavating about 2,500 cubic yards of contaminated sediments and bank soils as well as restoring Allendale Dam. A public hearing on the proposal will be held at 7 p.m. November 1 at North Providence Town Hall. The 30-day public comment period runs through November 3.

Outfall Tunnel Opened
September 6, 2000 was a historic day for the cleanup of Boston Harbor. At 11:30 a.m., treated wastewater from the Deer Island sewage plant was sent for the first time through a 9.5-mile-long outfall tunnel that discharges into Massachusetts Bay. The opening of the massive tunnel ended almost 50 years of wastewater discharges into Boston Harbor. Within hours of opening the tunnel, harbor waters were a healthy, clear green color compared to the day before when the water was a cloudy green. Water clarity also improved immediately, increasing from five feet to 16 feet. Activating the tunnel is one of the final pieces of a 15-year effort by EPA and other groups to restore Boston Harbor. The tunnel is being operated under one of the toughest and most aggressive discharge permits ever written by EPA for a secondary treatment plant in the country.

Mega-Mall Concerns
Citing traffic impacts, inadequate water supplies and various other concerns, EPA-New England has called on Massachusetts environmental officials to require a far-reaching environmental analysis in the state's review of a proposed two-million-square foot retail development for the former Weymouth Naval Air Station south of Boston. "The base redevelopment, viewed both alone and in combination with other major new developments in southeastern Massachusetts, will place huge demands on highways, water supplies, air quality and other natural resources both in the host communities and across the entire region," said EPA-NE Regional Administrator Mindy Lubber, in a letter last month to Massachusetts Environmental Affairs Secretary Robert Durand.