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Welcome to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Pollution Prevention (P2) newsletter! Through this newsletter, we will provide information on upcoming events, as well as tools and resources to help implement and improve P2 initiatives. |
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30th Anniversary of the P2 Act
November 5th is a monumental day as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the P2 Act! Read the blog post by Assistant Administrator, Alex Dunn or view the Pollution Prevention Timeline to learn about all the progress we’ve made in the past 30 years.
Help us celebrate by sharing your favorite P2 stories on social media using the hashtag #30YearsofP2 and tag us @EPAChemSafety.
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Upcoming Webinars
EPA Webinar
Pollution Prevention Opportunities for Ammonia Emissions in the Food and Beverage Sector
Wednesday, November 18, 2020, 2:00PM - 3:00PM ET
Register now
The University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) will cover their recently completed food and beverage pollution prevention (P2) work funded under EPA Region 5’s Pollution Prevention Grant Program. The webinar will provide attendees with: 1) an overview of the sources of emissions of ammonia from the industrial refrigeration systems commonly used in food and beverage processing facilities; 2) a summary of refrigerant inventory determination methods for industrial ammonia systems, including an Ammonia Inventory Calculator, which is a new online resource to estimate the operating charge of existing systems; and 3) the use of dynamic charge calculations for flagging refrigerant losses from systems that would otherwise go undetected. Applications of these methods, along with best practices for identifying and eliminating fugitive ammonia leaks identified during field work in Wisconsin food and beverage plants will also be discussed.
Speakers:
- Douglas Reindl, Ph.D., P.E., Professor UW-Madison & Director of the Industrial Refrigeration Consortium
- Marc Claas, Researcher, UW-Madison’s Industrial Refrigeration Consortium
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P2 Tools and Resources
Interested in exploring facilities in your community to assess chemical use, environmental releases, and pollution prevention opportunities? EPA’s Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) model may be the solution you are looking for.
EPA's RSEI model helps policy makers, researchers and communities explore data on releases of toxic substances from industrial facilities. RSEI incorporates information from the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) on the amount of toxic chemicals released, together with factors such as the chemical’s fate and transport through the environment, each chemical’s relative toxicity, and potential human exposure. RSEI Scores can be used to help establish priorities for further investigation.
Interested in learning more about P2 tools and resources? Check out the P2 tools webinar conducted in July 2020.
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Announcements
EPA’s Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Nominations Due by December 4, 2020
EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention sponsors the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards in partnership with the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute® and other members of the chemical community including industry, trade associations, academic institutions, and other government agencies.
Throughout the 25 years of the awards program, EPA has presented awards to 123 winners. Since its inception, in 1996, EPA has received over 1,800 nominations. By recognizing groundbreaking scientific solutions to real-world environmental problems, the Green Chemistry Challenge has significantly reduced the hazards associated with designing, manufacturing, and using chemicals.
To nominate a green chemistry for the Green Chemistry Challenge Awards:
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P2 Coordinator Profile
Christina Bitten, Region 4
Christina (Tina) Bitten recently joined the agency in September 2020. Christina is a P2 Project Officer and regional Safer Choice coordinator. She is also involved in the Sustainable Materials Management program and is currently working on creating an educational video that highlights the benefits of deconstruction.
Christina grew up in Los Angeles and graduated in 2018 from the University of California, Berkeley where she studied Environmental Sciences and Latin American Literature. Prior to the EPA, she was working in the Community Environmental Conservation sector with the Peace Corps. She lived in a beautiful agricultural community of about 300 individuals in Panama Oeste before having to come home early due to COVID19.
Christina enjoys playing instruments, reading fantasy series, rollerblading, and going to the beach. She’s a new cat mom to a feisty calico, Momo. She is enjoying getting to know the P2 community and excited for the future.
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The P2 Hub Helpline Is at Your Service!
The P2 Hub Helpline is a technical assistance concierge service exclusively for current recipients of EPA P2 and SRA grants and their subcontractors. Contact the Helpline at p2hub@epa.gov or (202) 566-0799.
Stay Connected!
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