Just a few days ago, Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) delivered a new message to the Administrator of the EPA, Lisa Jackson, complimenting some movement on environmental issues, but pressing the Agency that the work on sealants is far from complete.
EPA efforts that were applauded included attention to polluted runoff from coal tar sealed lots and their 2010 report on the Relative Potency Factors of PAH mixtures. The problem is that an independent scientific advisory board found some incompleteness with work and recommended additional study be undertaken. What action and on what timetable this will be done has not been made public.
Congressman Doggett also took the opportunity to remind EPA about the parking lot runoff study promised him in a July 2009 letter. While it may be a duplication of the work done by the USGS, the City of Austin, the University of New Hampshire, it may yield another data point in our understanding and may give the EPA the justification for further action. If the EPA is staying close to schedule, then the results will be available this summer.
The Congressman has been a lone, enduring congressional champion of this nationwide problem for many years. As the bans continue to mount up and the nation’s understanding of coal tar sealant pollution increases, Congressman Doggett should be recognized for the quiet vision and resolve we need in our politicians today.
The letter can be read in its entirety at this link.