Association News

NORA GETS FUNDS FOR CLEANUP

The National Oil Recyclers Association (NORA), Cleveland, has been awarded almost $50,000 to fund the first phase of a program called PCB Clean Sweep. The PCB Clean Sweep program is designed to identify sources of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-contaminated material found mostly in used oil and wastewater.

The grant from the Coastal Environmental Management Fund of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Region 5 will be used to study the feasibility of the program by identifying potential participants and determining if they would participate in a cleanup program. The project’s goal is the virtual elimination of PCBs in the Great Lakes region.

NORA is an international association representing companies recycling used oil, oily wastewater, filters and spent antifreeze.

ISRI TESTIFIES ABOUT SCRAPPED SHIP SALES

Robin Wiener, executive director of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), Washington, recently testified before the Department of Defense’s Interagency Ship Scrapping Review Panel to express concern over the federal government’s current system of selling ships for scrapping.

Under the present system, ships are awarded to the highest bidder regardless of the bidder’s ability or plan to protect employees or safeguard the environment during scrapping, ISRI contends.

Wiener urged the panel to rectify the problem by acknowledging that the "highest bid" is not always the "best bid." She implored the panel to provide fair competition for the breaking of both Navy and Maritime Administration vessels by requiring winning foreign bidders to demonstrate compliance with health, safety and environmental standards similar to those in the U.S. when scrapping U.S. government vessels abroad. Wiener also recommended that for domestic contracts, a winning a bidder should be required to prove that it is breaking ships in conformity with U.S. regulations.

"A new policy would have monumental results," Wiener said. "It would increase domestic recycling, regenerate an important American skill and promote local employment while still providing a fair return to the Treasury. Perhaps, most importantly, such a policy would ensure the protection of the environment and the health and safety of all those workers involved in shipbreaking."