Please let Tom Neltner (editor) know what you think of the newsletter, have ideas for articles, or have other comments.  If you really want hard copy, ask for a fax version.  I welcome your feedback! IKE also publishes the Lead-Safe Indiana Newsletter and the Sewage in Our Streams Newsletter.  Key topics from those newsletters have been included in this newsletter.  About this newsletter. (Download Word Version)  

Indiana General Assembly Good for Kids!  

The Indiana General Assembly had a short session.  But thanks to bipartisan leadership, it was long on successes for children's environmental health.  A legislative summary of enacted laws is at the end of this newsletter.  The highlights are:

• Contractors must not dry sand, dry scrape, burn, or char more than small amounts of paint in pre-1960 housing unless they know the paint is not lead-based paint starting July 1, 2002.

• Lead-licenses are extended from one-year to three-year starting July 1, 2002.

• All laboratories must report the results of all blood lead tests for Indiana children starting July 1, 2003 and this data must be shared with health and housing agencies.

• IDEM and ISDH must jointly develop a 5-year hazardous air pollutant strategy by November 1, 2002 that includes its top 10 priorities to address significant risks. 

• ISDH must investigate indoor air quality complaints at Indiana schools and report on the results to the school as well as the person filing the complaint.

Mold in Indiana Homes

Mold has been around for millennia.  It has been a constant struggle to keep it out of our homes.   Only now are we beginning to realize how seriously mold can impact our health.   With that awareness comes an understanding that some child who have endured chronic respiratory illnesses without relief may have been suffering from exposure to mold spores.  

In February, the Hammond Health Department closed down an apartment complex due to mold.  In rural and urban areas across Indiana, families have left their home to avoid mold.  One doctor ordered a family to leave their home as well as all items that could not be cleaned.  

The response from at least one insurance company has been to exclude all liability for injuries and damage due to mold.  The Indiana General Assembly considered the issue in 2002 but did not take action.  ISDH has begun to evaluate some problem homes and has a new mandate to investigate complaints in schools.  Local housing agencies and health departments struggle with the response to these concerns.  

There are no easy answers.  Clearly the state needs to get ahead of the curve and grapple with the policy and the science.  Several injured families are forming a coalition to promises to be a powerful force for change.  Let me know if you want to get involved!   

Pesticides in Schools

July 1, 2002 is the date that the Indiana Public Superintendent Association promised 100% voluntary adoption of a model school pesticide management policy for public schools.  Watch for announcements in your school orientation packers from your child's local school asking whether you want to be notified of pesticide use in the school.  One way or the other, let IKE know whether the schools are living up to the promise of right-to-know.

Mercury Down on the Farm

Purdue Cooperative Extension Service, in cooperation with IDEM, the Indiana Regional Household Hazardous Waste Task Force and local solid waste management districts are working with 4-H programs across the state to protect rural areas and farms from mercury.  They will launch an intensive education and collection program this summer - in anticipation of the state's mercury law taking effect on July 1, 2003.  Well done!  

Mercury from Municipal Treatment Plants

Valparaiso is in Porter County.  Its discharge flows to Salt Creek and, ultimately, into Lake Michigan.  In June 2001, Valparaiso became the first Indiana municipality with wastewater discharge permit limits that were based on the Great Lakes Initiative.  In addition, the city had to use the ultra-sensitive EPA Test Method 1631.  Because the city was not confident it could achieve these limits, IDEM gave the city up to 59 months to comply with the limits.  Since the city has combined sewer systems, mercury from rainfall - a potential significant source of mercury - would be mixed in with the wastewater.

IKE got the city's monthly discharge monitoring reports from IDEM.  The results are described below.  Months where the city would have exceeded the standard are in bold.

Mercury levels at Valparaiso municipal treatment plant	Influent to Treatment Plant		Discharge from Treatment Plant
	Monthly ng/L	Daily ng/L	Monthly Average Limit = 1.3 ng/L	Daily Maximum Limit = 3.2 ng/L
June 2001	160	300	1.4	2.1
July 2001	160	270	1.4	1.9
August 2001	53	69	0.92	1.35	Reported Precipitation
September 2001	150	160	0.79	0.87	Amount	Days
October 2001	125	140	0.47	0.50	5.74"	12
November 2001	110	120	1.92	2.44	2.03"	12
December 2001	94	121	1.02	1.12	1"	11

The bottom line is that Valparaiso was able to comply with daily maximum limits every month and the monthly average limit on 3 of 8 months.  Two of those three months were only barely over the limit.  During the last three months of 2001, the city reported the days and amount of rainfall in a separate report.  While IKE did not know the dates when the two mercury samples were taken, with rain on a third of the days in those three months, the samples were probably impacted by rainfall.  However, there month with the highest rain had the lowest mercury levels - 2.5 times more rain than the month with the highest mercury levels.  

The results suggest that the mercury standard can be met by Indiana cities - even in cities near industrial areas.  It also raises questions about the relationship to rainfall.  

On the topic of mercury, the 2000 Toxics Release Inventory indicates that Indiana's industries release 7420 pounds of mercury and mercury compounds to the air - 5.5% of the nation's total.

Truth in Retail Service

Label instructions - we know we should read them but it is difficult, especially the fine print.  Instead, we often rely on the advice of the retail store clerk at our local hardware or garden store.  Unfortunately, many retail clerks have not read the label either.  In their zeal to provide customer service, clerks commonly make guesses based on anecdotes and experience.  The result can be devastating, especially to children, as the do-it-yourselfer sands lead-based paint, cuts arsenic treated lumber, saws a product containing asbestos, or misapplies an insecticide. 

In some cases, such as the sales of pesticides, the clerks are violating state law by giving advice without being trained.   Often, the damage and the cause go undetected by a healthcare community that is unfamiliar with the hazard and unaware of its consequences.

The problem is especially serious in the large retail stores that market the quality of their advice and their clerk's expertise to get a competitive advantage on the local nursery or hardware store yet still provide few mechanisms to make sure the clerks are qualified to give advice regarding hidden chemical threats.   

This summer, IKE will be launching a Truth in Retail Service Campaign designed to get retail stores to stop providing dangerous advice - preferably by improving the quality of the advice.  If you want to participate by helping to visit stores or design the survey tools, please contact Tom Neltner at mccabe@ikecoalition.org.

Lead-Safe Indiana Task Force:  See also March 2002 Newsletter

• Next meeting June 19 in Indianapolis.  

• 2002 Conference set for November 6 & 7.

• South Bend, Lafayette, Hammond and East Chicago require housing bidders to have lead-safe work practices training.

• 71% of Indy paint retail clerks surveyed give out dangerous advice - including recommending sanding old paint. 

• Between 5.8% and 11.5% of Indiana's Medicaid-eligible children are tested for lead.  The federal mandate is 100% testing.  Indiana appears to be behind most states.

• Fort Wayne Community Schools will require blood-lead testing for entering younger students this Fall.  

• Nancy Cobb is Director of Environmental Health at ISDH! 

Sewage in Our Streams:  See also April 2002 Newsletter

• Indianapolis announces program to notify public when combined sewer overflows (CSOs).  The first of its kind in Indiana and, perhaps, the nation.  

• IKE's intern, Katy Kintzele begins research of IDEM's records.  During the next three months, IKE will be working with six other environmental groups to release assessments on Indiana's municipal sewage treatment works.  Upcoming reports will include the number and amount of illegal discharges reported since 1997;  new sewer connections since 1993; scoring of CSO Long-Term Control Plans; and summary of CSO overflow totals since October 2002.  If you are interested in a particular municipality, contact Katy at kintzele@ikecoalition.org.

Air Toxics at School

Since November 2000, IDEM has been testing the air at School 21 on Indianapolis' near southeast side.  The school is across the tracks from Citizen's Gas and Coke plant.  A teacher's concerns about a solvent smell from the coke ovens and her central nervous system efforts prompted the monitoring.  Compared to several conservative benchmarks developed by EPA, the benzene levels almost always exceed the lifetime cancer exposure limit.  On several days, the levels get close the non-cancer benchmark - a level that could result in central nervous system effects.  To see the data, go to IDEM's ToxWatch website.  The website also contains monitoring data from one ongoing monitoring sites in Elkhart and Vanderburgh Counties, five sites in Lake County and one additional site in Marion County.

Coke oven emissions contain a complex mix of toxics chemicals, many of which are difficult to measure and cannot be detected with the methods used by IDEM.  Benzene is only one component of the mix.  Other chemicals present are likely to impact the respiratory system.  In addition, the air toxic levels at School 21 vary dramatically suggesting changes in the performance of the coke ovens or weather conditions that accumulate the toxics.  Fortunately, EPA has given IDEM a $80,000 grant to work with local stakeholders to investigate the situation.  IKE is a part of the group that will work on the project.  Stay tuned!

SmogWatch this Summer

Sign-up at IDEM's SmogWatch website to be notified of Smog Alerts in your community.  It is important to know when the ozone levels are getting high so you can take steps to protect children and to reduce your activities that contribute to ozone.   

Indiana's Manufacturers Rank 7th on TRI 

On May 23, 2002, EPA released the Toxics Release Inventory for 2000.  Manufacturers continued their steady decline in air releases - dropping 9% since 1999, 10% since 1998, and 25% since 1996.  However, these decreases were more than offset by increases in water releases.  Overall, on-site releases increased 5% since 1999, 13% since 1998 and 6% since 1996.  Air releases from utilities are smaller from manufacturers but going up 9% in 1999 and down 12% in 2000.  

The key to TRI is to look at trends.  Manufacturers in all states are making steady decreases.  The status quo - much less increases - are not tolerable.  In this count Indiana is falling behind.  In the mid-90's, its rank among states for on-site releases from manufacturers was around 10 with Indiana falling out of the top 10 in two years.  However, Indiana is now firmly set at 7th.  When total releases in the state are tallied, Indiana has been steady at 5th for some years.  With the exception of Ohio, it has higher releases that its adjacent states, including Illinois.

The issue was best captured in a June 5, 2002 Gary Post-Tribune editorial which noted IDEM's claim that a 2.1% increase is a good report since Indiana's economy in 2000 "was moving along at quite a clip."  The editorial went on to say "that seems kind of like Marshal Wyatt Earp declaring that given the fact that things were booming in Dodge City, spurring a significant influx of ne’er-do-wells, the slight increase in bloodshed on Main Street was actually a victory for law and order."  IDEM did not quote any economic figures to back up its claim despite the fact that changes in productions directly associated with the use of toxic chemicals are also reported each year by manufacturers.

Indiana Legislative Summary for 2002

• Lead-Based Paint - HEA-1171:  (Rep. Avery, Atterholt, Porter, and Weinzapfel & Sen. Gard, Broden and Breaux)  Passed unanimously!  Except as noted all provisions apply on July 1, 2002.  Key provisions:

  • Safe Work Practices Requirements:  Applies to pre-1960 housing and child-occupied facilities with exceptions for work done by owner-occupant and where only minor amounts of paint are disturbed:

    • Presume paint is lead-based paint;

    • Don't machine sand or abrasive blast without a HEPA filter on exhaust;

    • Don't burn, char, dry sand, or dry scrape paint; and

    • Clean up visible paint debris within 48 hours on exterior projects.

  • Blood Lead Test Results:  State and local health and health care (i.e. Medicaid) agencies must share among themselves blood lead test results and related follow-up information collected since 1990.  For tests collected after July 1, 2002, the information must be shared with housing agencies to help them implement the HUD rule.  Labs are required to report all blood lead tests after July 1, 2003.

  • Licensing:  Licenses (and training) will be on a three year cycle in the future consistent with EPA requirements.  A Clearance Examiner license will be established.  Rules must be revised by July 1, 2003.  

• Landlord-Tenant Law - HEA-1013:  (Rep. Day, Foley, and Steele and Sen. Bray and Lanane)  Sets standards designed to reduce the environment threats in the rental units by setting - for the the first time in Indiana - clear obligations for both the landlord and the tenant.  IKE hopes communities will revise their housing codes to better fit with this law.  For leases signed after July 1, 2002, tenants must:

  • Comply with all obligations imposed primarily on a tenant by applicable provisions of health and housing codes.

  • Keep the areas of the rental premises occupied or used by the tenant reasonably clean. 

  Landlords must:

  • Deliver the rental premises to a tenant in compliance with the rental agreement, and in a safe, clean, and habitable condition; 

  • Comply with all health and housing codes applicable to the rental premises; and

  • Make all reasonable efforts to keep common areas of a rental premises in a clean and proper condition.

• Indoor Air Toxics in Schools - SEA-407:   (Sen. Miller, Craycraft, and Gard & Rep. Welch, Landske, and Porter)  Requires the State Dept. of Health (ISDH) to:

  •  Inspect a school when it receives a complaint about the quality of air in the school;

  • Report the results to person filing the complaint, the school's principal and superintendent, local health department, and State Board of Education; and

  • Assist school in developing a reasonable plan to improve air quality found in inspection.

  The law also:

  • Establishes an 11-member School Air Quality Panel chaired by ISDH to identify and make available to schools best operating practices for indoor air quality and assist ISDH in developing plans to improve indoor air quality conditions.

  • Allows schools to use their capital projects fund to implement the plan.

• Outdoor Hazardous Air Pollutants - SEA-259:   (Sen. Gard and Hume & Rep. Weinzapfel and Wolkins)  Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) pose a threat to children's health of cancer, respiratory illnesses, and other diseases.  This law is designed to develop a long-term strategy to address HAPs.  It requires: 

  • IDEM and ISDH to jointly develop a 5-year HAP strategy and present it to EQSC by November 1, 2002.  The strategy must include:

    • An inventory of known HAP emissions in Indiana;

    • An assessment of the quality and usefulness of existing data on HAP emissions, monitoring, and human health impacts;

    • Top 10 priorities to address significant risks posed by HAPs; 

    • Inventory of sources that require additional study to determine potential human health impacts.

    • Plan that identifies additional HAP data needs.  

  • Environmental Quality Services Council in its 2002 session to:

    • Develop a plan to fund an effective air toxics monitoring program.

    • Consider methods for the State to request and receive air toxics release information in a timely and effective manner and to communicate the information to the public and reporting facilities.

  • Air Pollution Control Board to hold off on adopting release reporting rules that require reporting before January 1, 2004.

• Birth Problems Registry Analysis - SEA-139:  (Sen. Gard & Rep. Crosby and Budak) Requires that parents of children with birth problems be told of the diagnosis and require ISDH to report to the legislature any trends in the data.  

• Failing Septics - When septics fail, children often find themselves playing in sewage in the backyard or the ditch near the home.  Two new laws address the issues:

  • SEA-79 (Sen. Simpson and Gard & Rep. Weinzapfel and Wolkins) requires the Indiana Real Estate Commission to revise its owner disclosure form to identify known building additions that may require improvements to the sewage disposal system. 

  • SEA-461 (Sen. Long, Wyss, and Meeks & Rep. Herrell, Ripley, GiaQuinta, and Borrer) applies only to Fort Wayne and Allen County.  It establishes a system to allow homeowners with failing septic systems to treat and discharge the wastewater directly to water.  The Allen County Health Dept. must provide extensive oversight.  The system would require EPA and IDEM approval.  While it may be appropriate in Allen County because of special circumstances, the law sets a precedent that may be a serious problems elsewhere.