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EPA Welcomes the Xerox Corporation and Covanta Energy to Program for Environmental Leaders

Release Date: 10/25/2006
Contact Information: Rich Cahill (212) 637-3666, cahill.richard@epa.gov

(New York, NY) The Xerox Corporation facility in Webster and Covanta Energy in Niagara Falls have volunteered to minimize pollution beyond environmental regulatory requirements while reducing water and energy use. They are among the newest additions to a growing list of facilities that have been accepted into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Environmental Performance Track Program. Members commit to develop a set of processes that will reduce environmental impacts, called an environmental management system and set three-year goals to continuously improve environmental performance, while working closely with their communities and reporting publicly on their performance. There are now 18 facilities in New York that have been accepted into EPA’s Performance Track program. Nationally, there are over 400 members.

“Performance track members are proving that environmental stewardship and economic prosperity can go hand-in-hand,” said EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg. “From Wall Street to Main Street, President Bush and EPA are changing the way individuals and organizations think about their roles in protecting our shared environment.”

Xerox in Webster manufactures office supplies and equipment. It will recycle more materials at its Monroe County facility to reduce the amount of waste now land filled, and dramatically reduce energy consumption by upgrading equipment used for lighting and in its manufacturing process. The Corporation also plans to cut back on the production and use of selenium and reclaim and recycle more hazardous materials.

Covanta Energy runs a cogeneration facility in Niagara Falls that burns solid waste that would normally be land filled to produce steam and electricity. The plans to divert wastewater that is currently discharged into the local sewer system back to its boiler building where it will be used instead of river water. The company will also divert a portion of the water that runs off of the facility during heavy rains into a cooling tower. By preventing this water from reaching the nearby river, this will stop an estimated 450 pounds per year of run-off pollution from being discharged into the river. The facility will be installing state-of-the-art pollution control equipment on two pay loaders used at its plant, cutting carbon monoxide emissions 70%, nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions by 40%. Covanta will reduce the quantity of road salt it uses and that gets washed into the river by switching to a product treated with magnesium chloride, which is more efficient in smaller amounts.

In order to be accepted into Performance Track, facilities must have a history of sustained compliance with federal and state environmental requirements. They must also adopt and implement environmental management systems to meet environmental requirements and improve overall performance, demonstrate at least two past environmental achievements and commit to four future improvements. In addition, members are required to have public outreach programs to report their progress to the public. EPA is currently accepting new applications for the program.

Members in the Performance Track Program receive a range of incentives such as public recognition and low priority for routine EPA inspections. Facilities are also eligible for several kinds of administrative flexibility and streamlined administrative requirements that reduce costs and enable members to achieve better environmental results. In addition, members benefit from special services, including a learning network composed of top environmental performers that has a mentoring program, tele-seminars, EPA roundtable discussions and newsletters program information, summary of member benefits, application guidelines, and a complete listing of facilities that are Performance Track members can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/performancetrack/. Details on regional members are available at: https://www.epa.gov/region02/performancetrack/. For more information about the Waste Minimization Partnership, visit: https://www.epa.gov/minimize/

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