NCD980602163_19961211_Warren County PCB Landfill_SERB C_Response to Dr Hirschhorn's Comments-OCR

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J 2 /11/96 J -l : 59 '8919 5-ll 3527 \ERL/ .-\.\!RD / .\IB
DATE:
TO:
U.S. El\TVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
NATIONAL EXPOSURE RESEARCH LABORATORY
AIR MEASUREMENTS RESEARCH DIV1SION (1v1AIL DROP 44)
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NORTH CAROLINA 27711
TELEPHONE [phone] FACSDvfilE 919-541-3527
11 December 1996
Bill Meyers
E-MAIL [e-mail]
FAX MESSAGE
NUMBER OF PAGES: 2
Fax No.: 715-3605
Telephone:
FROM: Dr. Robert G. Lewis
USEPA (MD-44)
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711-2055
SUBJECT: Response to Hirschhorn' s Latest Comments
MESSAGE:
[4) UOJ /002
I will not dignify Dr. Hirschhorn by responding to his latest attack on the quality of the EPA
monitoring study at the Warren County landfill and my scientific interpretations. It is obvious that nothing
will persuade him to abandon the faulty reasoning that he has committed himself to in order to convince
the citizens of Warren County that they are at risk.
I \Vill, however, pro\-1.de you with my biographical sketch in support of my credentials and suggest
that you ask him to do the· same. I can send you my full C.V. (28 pp), if you wish. I believe that I am
v.~dely recognized throughout the world as an expert in environmental monitoring, especially for organic
compounds in air. I wrote the defining chapter on sampling for organic chemicals in air for the American
Chemical Society's Professional Reference Book, Principles of Environmental Sampling (L. Keith, ed.),
and am currently writing a book on the subject for the ACS. I have also authored or coauthored eight
ASTM standards and two ISO standards on monitoring methods, including one on the methodology
(updated) used in Warren County (ASTM D 4861). Furthermore, Battelle Memorial Institute, which did
the field v:ork at the landfill for us, is one of the leading environmental research institutions in the U.S. I
would suggest that you get the opinions of two of the world's leading PCB air monitoring experts as to
the validity of our conclusions and Dr. Hirschhorn' s arguments. They are both very familiar with my work.
Dr. Terry F. Bidleman
ARQP
Environment Canada
4905 Dufferin Street
Downsville, Ont., Canada M3H 514
and
Prof. Ronald A Hites (current editor of ES&T)
School of Public Health and Environmental Affairs
Indiana University
10th. & Fee Lane
Bloomington, IN 47405
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Tel. [phone]
Fax. [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
12/11 /96 14 : 39" •'0'919 541 3~27 \ERL/AMRD /~IB
Biographical Sketch of Robert G. Lewis
ROBERT G. LEVlIS is a Senior Scientist in EPA' s National Exposure Research Exposure
Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. He is responsible for overseeing research
focused on new sampling and analytical methods for pesticides, PCBs, dioxins and related
semivolatile organic chemicals and for their application to total human exposure assessment.
Dr. Lewis received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 1960 and his Ph.D. in Physical-Organic Chemistry in 1964 from the
University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow and a
:-Jational Institutes of Health Fellow.
Follov.ri.ng six years with industry, Dr. Lewis joined the EPA in 1971 and held the positions of Section
Chief from 1971 to 1978 and Branch Chief from 1978 to 1993 . He bas done substantial research on
monitoring and exposure assessment methods for organic chemicals in air and other environmental
media .q_nd in human and biological tissues and fluid_;;_ He established and headed for 12 years EPA' s
first ambient air methods development program. He was a member of EPA' s first task force on PCB s
in 1972 and in 19 83 was appointed by the Governor of North Carolina to the Intergovernmental
Working Group on PCB Detoxification.
Dr. Lewis bas authored or co-authored more than 200 journal articles, books, book chapters, and
other scientific articles and reports on various matters of environmental concern. He bas been
awarded the EPA Bronze medal for Commendable Service twice and has received four Scientific and
Technological Achievement Awards for outstanding journal articles.
Dr. Lewis is a member of the American Chemical Society (since 1958), Air and Waste Management
i\ssociation, American Association for Aerosol Research, American Society of Testing and Materials
(Fellow), International Standards Organization, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, Alpha Chi Sigma
(Chemistry), Phi Lambda Upsilon (Chemistry) and Delta Phi Alpha (German). He has been listed in
American Men and Women of Science since 1966. He has served on numerous committees and work
groups concerned with environmental monitoring, exposure assessment, and the cilemical profession.
He is currently chairman of ASTM D22.05 .02 on Organic Chemicals in Indoor Air, U. S.
Representative to ISO on Indoor .A.ir, Research Area Manager for Environmental Measurement
Methods for the EPA Residential Pesticides Exposure Research Program and an advisor to the EPA
National Human Exposure Assessment Study (NHEXAS), NCVEPA/NIEHS Agricultural Health
Study, the Lower Rio Grande Valley Environmental Study (NAFTA), the Great Lakes Air Deposition
Project and the Pesticide Spray Drift Task Force.