Re: Cemex: Where has the past led us, and where will the future take us? We need a reality check about Cemex.
To: Mr. David Ouimette, Manager, Stationary Sources Program, Colorado Air Pollution Control Division
Mr. Gary Baughman, Program Manager, Compliance Program, Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division, CDPHE
Mr. Carl Mount, Senior Environmental Protection Specialist, Division of Minerals and Geology, Colorado Department of Natural Resources
Ms. Beth Versaw, President, Boulder County Board of Health
Mr. Paul Danish, Mr. Ron Stewart, Mr. Tom Mayer, Boulder County Board of County Commissioners
Mr. Robert Friend, Office of the Administrator, Mine Safety and Health Administration
On November 8, 2002, Cemex ran a full page advertisement in the Daily Times-Call entitled: “10 Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Tire Derived Fuels at Cemex, Lyons Cement Plant.” This advertisement concludes with a guarantee for the public:
“We all live in this community so I want to insure that any action our plant takes is safe for our families’ health and yours. This approach allows us all to make informed and wise decisions.” (Plant manager)
Reality Check:
Here’s what has been found at Cemex-Lyons.
· $282,000.00 fine for violations of air quality laws and regulations:
In 2003 inspectors from the Boulder County Health Department and the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division took decisive action at Cemex through a series of unannounced inspections. The inspectors found significant problems and cited the facility for non-compliance with its operating permit and for air pollution violations. This matter was eventually finalized in a Compliance Order on Consent in the Matter of Cemex Inc., and fines of $282,000.00. Mike Oatley, editor of The Old Lyons Recorder, reports that “the fines are among the largest fines ever levied for air quality violations in Colorado.” (March 4, 2004)
· “Three-Foot-deep piles of dust”
In 2003, a Cemex employee came forth with three hours of video footage taken inside the facility which not only confirm citizens’complaints, but shows the problem is much worse than even the neighbors realized. The following is quoted from editor Pamela White’s investigative report: “Concrete Evidence: Whistle-blower Gives Boulder Weekly an Inside Look at Conditions at Cemex:”
Mike Oatley, editor of The Old Lyons Recorder writes that “the plant operated an A-frame used to store clinker—a predecessor to finished Portland cement—without any pollution control devices in place at all between April 2001 and August 2003 while reporting that it was using a baghouse of 99% efficiency on the A-frame. The order states, ‘At the time [the company reported that a baghouse was in place], there was no baghouse on the A-Frame…and had not been such a baghouse for at least two years.’” (March 4, 2004)
· Legacy Burden:
“a rough estimate of quantities burned, based on three tanker trucks per day and 6700 gallons/load is 20,100 gallons/day x 5 day/week x 52 week/year resulting in an annual quantity of 5,226,000 gallons.” (Inter-Office Communication from Tom Tistinic, APCD, Stationary Sources Program, dated February 28, 1991)
This facility may have burned in excess of 80 million gallons of oils and solvents from 1975 to 1990. The burning ceased shortly after state inspectors discovered that the facility did not have a permit modification for this activity.
· Cause and Effect:
For more than a decade, citizens have witnessed fugitive dust events from the facility and
suffered the ill effects of this dust--paint discoloration on automobiles, windshields pitted, respiratory problems, and cement dust settling in their homes. The sole motive in the Watchdogs’ initiative for better air quality was being able to live without fears of breathing toxic Portland cement dust,1 and to inform authorities of the problems at this facility.
For years, the Boulder County Health Department and the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division advised Cemex to revise its fugitive dust control plans and to improve housekeeping processes. For whatever reasons, the dust events kept appearing, and residents continued complaining to the Boulder County Health Department and to Cemex.
The Compliance Order on Consent in the Matter of Cemex, Inc has finally given us some relief!!
·Recent Incidents:
Three dust complaints were reported to the Boulder County Health Department and to Cemex since the issuance of the Compliance Order.
These complaints are being investigated by Gabi Hoefler, Inspector, Boulder County Health Department.
· Mine Safety and Health Administration Inspection:
Editor Pamela White reports in “The Dust Settles,” that “the conflict came to a peak this past fall when a whistleblower from Cemex presented the state and Boulder Weekly with videotapes showing deep piles of dust in and around the facility, some of them waist-high. The whistleblower’s actions resulted in a month-long inspection of the plant by worker-safety officials from the Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), a branch of the U.S. Labor Department. MSHA issued citations as a result of that inspection, but the reports are not yet available to the public.” (Boulder Weekly, February 26, 2004)
· Review of sufficiency
of reclamation bond –recalculated from $369,100 to $8,039,100:
In July of 2003, the Watchdogs received a letter from the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology informing us that the Division had approved a new cost estimate for the future demolition of the facility and the reclamation of the property to irrigated pasture. The Division increased Cemex’s bond from $369,100 to $8,039,100.
Here’s what Cemex requested:
·Tire Burning Permit
(SU-88-21):
Cemex is proceeding with its plans to burn tires as fuel using a tire burning permit originally approved for Southwestern Portland Cement Inc in 1990. (See “Legacy Burden” p.2) On April 10, 2003, Cemex notified the Director of the Boulder County Land Use Department that it reserves the right to pursue a claim against the county in that regard.
The Director of the Boulder County Land Use Department determined that the 1990 permit (SU-88-21) is still in force, and Cemex may resume tire burning under this permit. The Sierra Club and the Caribou Springs Ranch Homeowners Association are challenging this decision with a legal action asserting that the Land Use Department violated the law. District Court Judge, Roxanne Bailin, is expected to rule in this matter this summer. Should Judge Bailin rule in favor of the aggrieved parties, then the tire burning permit will be deemed lapsed and of no further force and effect.
If this occurs, Cemex then may apply for a new special use permit to burn used tires as a supplemental fuel. The permitting process affords an opportunity for public hearings before the Boulder County Planning Commission and the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners. In the meantime, continued public awareness and education concerning the issues will hopefully bring more citizens forward to oppose this activity.
· “Large Population at
Risk:”
Could improper combustion of tires at Cemex put a large population at risk? Yes, according to a team of students in the Environmental Design Department of the University of Colorado who researched and wrote a report entitled: Cemex Corporation Environmental Impact Statement: Cement Kiln Tire Incineration (2003)
Section: Issues and Concerns: (Item 3, page 9) “The Cemex Plant lies in close proximity to the city of Boulder, Colorado. Improper incineration and the release of additional emissions could put a large population at risk.”
Section: Issues and Concerns: (Item 6, page 9) “Cemex has a poor environmental track record for compliance with the EPA. Safety issues are amplified due to the possibility of wide scale negative consequences. Research indicates problems at the Lyons plant as well as other Cemex operations around the country. Proper tire incineration relies on consistent management practices that may not be present at Cemex.”
This EIS was performed under the supervision of Brian Muller of the Environmental Design Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder. This EIS may be the only one available on this local issue. It appears to be an unbiased and a researched document.2
· Health Consultation:
In July of 2003, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) conducted a Health Consultation on the test burn data that was submitted for evaluation.
The ATSDR concluded the concentration of the chemicals detected in the stack gases are unlikely to result in adverse public health effects. (p.13)
ATSDR recommends that agencies with regulatory authority over the Cemex plant regularly inspect the facility, enforce operating conditions that will assure the stack emissions remain within the ranges measured during the source test, and require periodic retesting of the stack emissions.” (p. 13)
On August 8, 2002, Mike Oatley, the editor of The Old Lyons Recorder wrote in a “Commentary & Opinion” entitled: “Cemex tire burning plan requires a leap of faith,”
“The idea that we should err on the side of caution where human health is concerned,…seems to be the best guiding principle at work in this controversy. Cemex’s bottom line is not nearly so significant of a concern.”
·
“Good laws rightly applied”
There is an unmistakable note of urgency in the matter of Cemex-Lyons. The regulatory agencies must continue to act decisively if we are to assert the right to clean air.
E. M. Forster once offered his countrymen words that might guide us in the matter of what to do about Cemex:
“If you desire to save the countryside there is only one way: through good laws rightly applied…That is your only hope. A little has already been done: much more can be done in the future. It needs men and women of good will who can continue and work together lest destruction spread and cover the fields and the hills.”
· How Can You Help?
The Watchdogs’respectfully request
your support for MEANINGFUL AND
CONTINUOUS AND RIGOROUS AND COMPREHENSIVE OVERSIGHT in the
matter of Cemex-Lyons.
Thank you so much for your considerations!
Sincerely.
Enclosures:
Compliance Order on Consent In the Matter of Cemex, Inc. (2002-124)
“State Fines Cemex $280,000,” Daily Times-Call, staff writer Trevor Hughes, Jan 24, 04
“Concrete Evidence,” Boulder Weekly, editor Pamela White, Nov 20-26, 03
“Cemex Takes Major Hit for Air Quality Violations,” The Old Lyons Recorder, editor
Mike Oatley, Mar 4, 04
“Lyons residents May Breathe Easier,” Daily Camera, staff writer Aimee Heckel,
Mar 5, 04
“The Dust Settles,” Boulder Weekly, editor Pamela White, Feb 26,04
cc:
Colorado Air Quality Control Commission
State Board of Health
American Lung Association
Ms. Margie Perkins, Director, Colorado Air Pollution Control Division
Mr. Frank Johnson, Assistant Attorney General, State of Colorado
Representative Todd Saliman, District 11, Colorado House of Representatives
Mr. Brian Muller, Environmental Design Department, University of Colorado
Mr. Scott Franklin, Regulatory Office, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
Ms. Pamela Milmoe, Coordinator, Air Quality, Hazardous Waste Prevention Program
Ms. Gabi Hoefler, Boulder County Health Department
Mr. Kirk Cunningham, Sierra Club
Mr. John Barth, Sierra Club
Mr. Judson Hite, Caribou Ranch Homeowners Association
Ms. Mary Lou Dobbs, Executive Director, Environmental Justice Project
Ms. Pamela White, editor, Boulder Weekly
Mr. Mike Oatley, editor, The Old Lyons Recorder
Mr. Trevor Hughes, staff writer, Daily Times-Call
Mr. Jim Kenworthy, editor, Main Street Free Press
Ms. Rebecca Dickson, editor, The Bugle, Voice of the Sierra Club, Boulder County
Mr. Jason Wells, editor, Peak & Prairie, Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Sierra Club
Ms. Valerie Edmondson, staff reporter, KGNU, community radio
Watchdogs and interested parties
EPA – Washington D. C., Docket RCRA – 1999-0011
1 Warning printed on a bag of Portland cement: “This product contains greater than 0.1% crystalline silica. Prolonged or occupational exposure to air borne crystalline silica may cause lung disease or cancer. Avoid emitting and breathing dust from this product. Always wear a Niosh-approved respirator when exposed to dry cement dust. Avoid direct contact with skin, protect skin with boots, gloves, clothing. Don’t let skin rub against cement products. Keep cement and cement products out of eyes. Always wear safety glasses with side shields.”
2 “The authors of this Environmental Impact Statement initiated the planning process through consultation and coordination with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Colorado Department of Public Health, Cemex Corporation, the Sierra Club, local citizens’ action groups and various industry personnel. Scientific journals, technical literature publications, and internet resources were consulted. Writing of this EIS followed a logical progression from scooping procedures to executing the technical evaluation.” (p.6 EIS)