On February 14, the Group Against Smog and Pollution submitted a petition with the signatures of 250 people asking the Allegheny County Health Department to deny installation permits sought by Knoxville, TN-based plastics company Eastman Chemical Resins Inc., which operates a facility in Jefferson Hills.
GASP said Eastman’s plant is a major source of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). VOCs are a type of pollution regulated by the Clean Air Act. The federal Clean Air Act requires Eastman and other major sources of air pollution to have what’s known as a Title V Operating Permit.
“Eastman and ACHD need to prioritize Eastman’s compliance with the requirements of a seven-year-old federal consent order over authorizing increased production limits, which carry with them increased pollution,” said GASP’s Senior Attorney, John Baillie.
By way of background, these Title V Operating Permits – which are issued by the Allegheny County Health Department for major sources in Allegheny County - are an important tool for ensuring major sources of air pollution comply with clean air law requirements.
These permits must include all local, state, and federal air pollution requirements that apply to a particular source, and mandates that these sources of pollution submit annual reports about its compliance with those requirements.
But, Eastman was never issued a Title V Operating Permit, even though the Allegheny County Health Department’s own regulations purportedly required the plant have one by 2004.
Eastman was the subject of a federal enforcement action that was filed and resolved in December 2011. This action came in the wake of numerous alleged violations of operating limitations, as well as monitoring and recordkeeping requirements.
Specifically, it was alleged that Eastman failed to both monitor and control the temperature of the coolant in condensers and related equipment. That is significant because that equipment is what controls emissions from various processes and tanks at the plant.
The claims against Eastman were resolved by a Consent Order filed simultaneously with the federal complaint.
This Consent Order required the company, among other things, to develop emission testing protocols for certain pieces of equipment. It also required the company to submit those plans to the EPA for approval.
Then, following each protocol’s approval, Eastman was to perform emissions testing and report back to the EPA for approval before ultimately submitting permit applications to ACHD.
Together, the permit applications should provide ACHD with the information it needs to issue (or deny) a Title V Operating Permit to Eastman.
However, the implementation of this consent order has been neither smooth nor expeditious. It was not until 2017 that Eastman began submitting permit applications for at least some of its process units.
While Eastman is still working to meet the requirements of the Consent Order, it has in the meantime requested new installation permits to allow it to increase the production rate and allowable emissions of particulate matter from one of its process units.
This requested production increase is not required by the Consent Order.
It’s been more than seven years since the entry of the Consent Order, and Eastman has yet to submit permit applications for at least three of its Process Units.
GASP believes it is well past time for Eastman to comply with the terms of the Consent Order approved all the way back in December of 2011 before ACHD greenlights increases in its production rate and particulate matter emissions.
ACHD’s air pollution regulations allow it to deny Eastman’s installation permit applications, and GASP’s petition calls on them to do just that.
In addition to submitting the petition, GASP also submitted formal comments on Eastman’s installation permit applications.
Click Here to read the full petition.
For more information on programs and initiatives, visit the Group Against Smog and Pollution website.
[Note: The Allegheny County Health Department runs the air quality permitting program in the County, not DEP.]
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