by Carolos David Magollon
The City of Brotherly Love hosted a well-attended 10th Annual Industrial Waste Conference, held jointly by the Water Environment Federation (WEF) and Air & Waste Management Association, at the end of August.
Supported by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the event drew over 250 people. With overlapping sessions in three different halls, individual attendance varied between about 20 and over 100 people – the last being a general session with a keynote address by Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty.
Topics McGinty covered included brownfields and community revitalization, water resources and watershed management, and the fiscal soundness of environmental programs and policies. She put an emphasis on cooperative relationships to get beyond old problems and move positive solutions into place, whether between communities and industries, industries and regulators, or state and federal agencies.
Another popular session that drew a crowd included three presentations from the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA's Tom Wall discussed its Draft Strategy for National Clean Water Industrial Regulations and the 2004-05 Effluent Guidelines Plan. This included reference to proposed changes to 304(m) rules in the Clean Water Act concerning discharges from manufacturing and other industrial sites. Details can be found at: www.epa.gov/guide/ plan.html. Or search our online archives (see: www.industrialww.com) for the following:
• "EPA issues new effluent guidelines for meat/poultry operations," Sept. 9
• "New industrial wastewater control plans among recent EPA action," Sept. 7
• "New EPA rules govern discharges from aquatic animal operations," Aug. 25
• "EPA Action: Effluent standards eased for wood processors," Aug. 16
• "EPA finalizes NPDES rules, appoints deputy administrator," Aug. 4
Martha Segall spoke about Regulations for Cooling Water Intake Structures – better known as 316(b) rules (see: www.epa.gov/waterscience/316b/). Phase I of these governing new facilities was implemented in November 2001. Phase II involving existing electric power producers withdrawing 50 mgd or more went into effect in February, but is being contested in the courts. Phase III, which affects existing power producers withdrawing less than 50 mgd as well as all other existing facilities is scheduled to be released by Nov. 1 and promulgated by June 1, 2006.
Segall said she couldn't comment directly on what likely would be in Phase III – "there are still decisions being made and likely will be until the day it's published" – but that it will affect an estimated 630 manufacturers, including: Paper and Allied Products (252), Chemical and Allied Products (183), Electric Power Producers (121), Primary Metal Industries (98), Petroleum and Coal Products (36), and others (61) among surveyed facilities. They had an estimated design intake flow for cooling water use of 37,658 mgd.
You can expect to hear more about these topics at the Industrial Water Conference, which Industrial WaterWorld hosts in Orlando, FL, co-located with POWER-GEN International, which is the largest U.S. conference and exhibition for the electric power industry.
We would also like to recognize the work done to reach a cross-marketing agreement announced Sept. 16 between WEF and PennWell Corp., this magazine's publisher. The pact focuses on a partnership to cross-promote WEF's annual event WEFTEC and PennWell's Water & Wastewater Europe, starting with W&WE in Milan, Italy, June 28-30, 2005 and WEFTEC.05 in Washington, DC, Oct. 29-Nov. 2, 2005. Kudos.
Carlos David Mogollón, Managing Editor
