Post by Bill on Jan 21, 2005 10:38:22 GMT -8
This is good news...
SGVT
New rule seeks tighter dust-control measures
By Marianne Love , Staff Writer
While air- quality advocates are calling it a victory for cleaner air, a new rule regulating dust is being called misguided by the industries it affects.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District measure, known as Rule 1157, is aimed at reducing health-threatening pollution from nearly 40 sand and gravel operations in a four- county area.
Sand- and gravel-related operations in the Southland produce significant amounts of particulate pollution that can be a nuisance to neighboring communities and a health threat.
A 500-plus-page report, commissioned by Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, dated Dec. 13, 2002, revealed little was being done to monitor the mining industry's impact on the environment.
The report focused on the areas in and around Azusa, Baldwin Park, El Monte and Irwindale, where there are 17 gravel pits.
"We are very pleased. As a result of our report, the AQMD set up more monitoring stations in the area and found there were violations,' Solis said.
The new Rule 1157, which will take effect in two phases in July and December, should reduce emissions by 18 tons per day through improved housekeeping practices and other cost- effective measures, said Bradbury Mayor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, a member of the AQMD board.
"Dust is unavoidable. Some of the companies have been taking some measures, but none have been doing everything that they can,' LaPisto-Kirtley said.
Steve Cornter, vice president of resources for Vulcan Materials Co. Western Division, said industry experts disagree with numerous issues leading to the passage of 1157 PM10 Emission Reductions from Aggregate and Related Operations.
Cornter said the two most pressing points are AQMD's overstated figures on the amount of production that can cause dust, and the way dust impacts will be measured.
"Their data is wrong. It's hugely skewed,' said Cornter, adding that gravel representatives are not opposed to Rule 1157 in concept. "The problem is they are using erroneous facts to substantiate facts and develop a protocol never tested.'
Laki Tisopulos, assistant deputy executive officer with the AQMD, said the changes will cost companies $1,132 per ton of emissions reduction to pay for dust control equipment.
Tisopulos said the AQMD will work with the sand and gravel companies on the amount of production and have implemented a testing method already in place.
"It has worked fine for a number of years, and we anticipate that it will also work just as well here in South Coast,' he said.
Rule 1157, adopted by the AQMD board on Jan. 7, will help the region achieve a 2006 federally mandated deadline for PM10 air quality.
PM10s are particles smaller than 10 microns, or about one- seventh the thickness of a human hair, and are associated with a long list of adverse health effects from increased hospital admissions to increased premature deaths.
Besides sand and gravel operations, concrete batch and hot- mix asphalt plants typically located in foothill canyons and washes throughout a major portion of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties will be affected.
Companies will be required to use dust-suppressing measures, such as spraying water on dirt roads and covering equipment that generates dust, enclosing machinery and installing rumble grates or wheel washers to keep trucks from tracking dirt onto public streets.
-- Marianne Love can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108, or by e-mail at marianne.love@sgvn.com .
SGVT
New rule seeks tighter dust-control measures
By Marianne Love , Staff Writer
While air- quality advocates are calling it a victory for cleaner air, a new rule regulating dust is being called misguided by the industries it affects.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District measure, known as Rule 1157, is aimed at reducing health-threatening pollution from nearly 40 sand and gravel operations in a four- county area.
Sand- and gravel-related operations in the Southland produce significant amounts of particulate pollution that can be a nuisance to neighboring communities and a health threat.
A 500-plus-page report, commissioned by Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, dated Dec. 13, 2002, revealed little was being done to monitor the mining industry's impact on the environment.
The report focused on the areas in and around Azusa, Baldwin Park, El Monte and Irwindale, where there are 17 gravel pits.
"We are very pleased. As a result of our report, the AQMD set up more monitoring stations in the area and found there were violations,' Solis said.
The new Rule 1157, which will take effect in two phases in July and December, should reduce emissions by 18 tons per day through improved housekeeping practices and other cost- effective measures, said Bradbury Mayor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, a member of the AQMD board.
"Dust is unavoidable. Some of the companies have been taking some measures, but none have been doing everything that they can,' LaPisto-Kirtley said.
Steve Cornter, vice president of resources for Vulcan Materials Co. Western Division, said industry experts disagree with numerous issues leading to the passage of 1157 PM10 Emission Reductions from Aggregate and Related Operations.
Cornter said the two most pressing points are AQMD's overstated figures on the amount of production that can cause dust, and the way dust impacts will be measured.
"Their data is wrong. It's hugely skewed,' said Cornter, adding that gravel representatives are not opposed to Rule 1157 in concept. "The problem is they are using erroneous facts to substantiate facts and develop a protocol never tested.'
Laki Tisopulos, assistant deputy executive officer with the AQMD, said the changes will cost companies $1,132 per ton of emissions reduction to pay for dust control equipment.
Tisopulos said the AQMD will work with the sand and gravel companies on the amount of production and have implemented a testing method already in place.
"It has worked fine for a number of years, and we anticipate that it will also work just as well here in South Coast,' he said.
Rule 1157, adopted by the AQMD board on Jan. 7, will help the region achieve a 2006 federally mandated deadline for PM10 air quality.
PM10s are particles smaller than 10 microns, or about one- seventh the thickness of a human hair, and are associated with a long list of adverse health effects from increased hospital admissions to increased premature deaths.
Besides sand and gravel operations, concrete batch and hot- mix asphalt plants typically located in foothill canyons and washes throughout a major portion of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties will be affected.
Companies will be required to use dust-suppressing measures, such as spraying water on dirt roads and covering equipment that generates dust, enclosing machinery and installing rumble grates or wheel washers to keep trucks from tracking dirt onto public streets.
-- Marianne Love can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108, or by e-mail at marianne.love@sgvn.com .