Environmental

Delegates from more than 120 countries moved forward on some key chemical and waste issues but stalled on some of the most important matters. The combined meetings of the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions in Geneva covered prohibition of chemicals, waste guidelines, and responsible trade.

HBCD, the third most commonly-used flame retardant chemical, was added to the Stockholm Convention for global elimination with a five-year exemption for use in building insulation. The listing also requires labeling new building insulation products containing HBCD, which helps countries separate dangerous products and wastes. Delegates rejected a proposal to allow recycling of products containing HBCD—a practice prohibited by the Convention.

“Governments made the right decision t ... more »

Safety

The former president of Port Arthur Chemical and Environmental Services, LLC, (PACES), has pleaded guilty in federal court to occupational safety crimes which resulted in the death of an employee, announced Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and John M. Bales, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas.

Matthew Lawrence Bowman, 41, of Houston, pleaded guilty to violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) and making a false statement. Bowman admitted to not properly protecting PACES employees from exposure to hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas resulting in the death of truck driver Joey Sutter on December 18, 2008. In addition, Bowman admitted to directing employees to falsify transportation documents to conceal that the wastewater was coming from PACES after a disposal fac ... more »

Environmental Resource Center is an environmental, health, safety, and transportation consulting firm that leads the way in serving industry, academia, and federal and state government agencies. Since 1981, our team of safety and environmental consultants has been helping organizations like yours identify and comply with all applicable environmental, health, safety, security, and transportation regulations from both federal agencies (EPA, DOT, IATA, DHS, and OSHA) as well as your state and local regulators.

To help you meet your environmental objectives, we hold training seminars on hazardous waste management and hazardous materials management throughout the country; we also offer many of our courses as live interactive webcasts; we conduct environmental audits, DOT audits, and safety audits; we provide customized onsite RCRA, DOT, and OSHA training classes; and, via our answerline service, our environmental consultants work with you to ensure you are in compliance with any permitting requirements as well as other environmental and safety regulatory issues.

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