Petition to the DEQ, Portland, OR:

We, the undersigned neighbors of the ESCO plant at NW Vaughn and 26th Street, demand that the permit currently being sought by ESCO Corporation from the Department of Environmental Quality include:

1. Installation of the best available technology to minimize odors, including but not limited to carbon filters, regenerative thermal oxidizers, or catalytic oxidizers;
2. Replacement of toxic chemicals with non-toxic chemicals in binders and all other aspects of operation;
3. Prevention of toxic chemicals from entering the community; and
4. Prohibition of foundry operation on DEQ Clean Air Action days.

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H&E Minutes - April 13, 2009

We decided to meet at our regular time (second Mondays) because there were some who couldn’t make the meeting last week, and asked to have our regular meeting.

We talked about Earth Day (April 25th 10 am to 7 pm), arrangements for the table, fliers etc. to be displayed, more lawn signs organized. The table will have a cover in case of rain. We will share the table with the NWDA Board. Mary Peveto will also have a table with baked goods (”Cookies for Clean Air”) that have been donated by a bakery. We will get petitions signed there etc.

Sharon had copies of the EPA letter sent to Lisa Jackson, the new head of EPA in Washington. Our committee is mystified at the EPA decision to monitor air at Harriet Tubman School, in NE Portland (mainly traffic emissions), rather than Chapman or several other schools in North and NW Portland near industry indicated in the USA Today article about the vulnerability of children at school near industrial air pollution. We learned that ODEQ recommended the choice of Harriet Tubman School.

The group discussed the Marietta, Ohio solution to air pollution from a nearby foundry that involved the neighbors working directly with the offending plant, rather than with a regulatory agency. Sharon mentioned that she has received a number of emails from people wanting to drop support for the DEQ. The group is divided on this issue.

People on the committee are beginning to compile questions for George Davis the new ODEQ Inspector at Esco, who will begin to write the new permit soon. We hope to participate in writing the permit at the draft stage this time.

There was some discussion about the high benzene levels in fuels, and that they won’t be lowered until 2012 (EPA rule). Some people felt that since benzene is a Class A carcinogen, we should ask our lawmakers to move to clean up the fuels much sooner.

- Sharon Genasci

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H&E Minutes - April 6, 2009

Mary Peveto started off the meeting by updating the group on her petition signature gathering drive with parents from Chapman School. She has a number of parents who have agreed to get petitions signed. She will have a second table with ours for gathering signatures at Earth Day. She has also worked out a map and program for this project. Earth Day festivities will be held on 25th April in Wallace Park, 10:00 am to 7:00 pm. The subject this year is ‘The Air We Breathe’. The overall event is organized by City Repair Project.

Sharon and Mary will make a presentation to the NWDA Board on 20th April about fundraising in the neighborhood for new dust samples to determine current levels of metals in the molecules of particulate in the dust. This is important information for the Esco permit hearing coming up this year for a new five year permit.

Mary Peveto has organized a number of parents from schools in the area in response to the USA Today article (Nov-Dec, 2008 “Smokestack Effect”) which is an investigative report about siteing schools in the US near industry. Chapman School and others in the neighborhood were cited in the top 2% dirtiest air in the nation. Esco was named as the polluter for Chapman. In response to the article and parents’ concern, EPA decided to monitor about 60 schools in 22 states to check the validity of the USA report. Unfortunately, in Oregon they picked Toledo Elementary (a good choice near a mill) and Harriet Tubman (NE Portland, near traffic). DEQ and EPA claim that Esco’s emissions went down between 2000 and 2007. So they did not pick Chapman, nor did they pick any of the schools in N Portland listed by USA Today as in the top 1% dirtiest air in the US.

We discovered that ODEQ made the schools choice recommendation to EPA. Many neighbors are saying that the air pollution is getting worse here.

- Sharon Genasci

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