Minutes, NWDA Health & Environment Committee 1.9.12
Minutes, NWDA Health & Environment Committee
1.9.12
Present: Caroline Skinner, Bob Amundson, Myriam Alaux, Bob L, Don Gamiles and Sharon Genasci
Don Gamiles of Argos Scientific, Inc, came to our meeting to talk to us about community monitoring. He suggested that he would like to work with our group, and can provide equipment and technical resources. He suggested blanket air monitoring in the neighborhood for phenol, manganese and lead. These are compounds that we know are being currently emitted from Esco Corp, the local source that neighbors complain about most frequently. We’ve had between six and seven hundred air complaints about Esco in the last ten years.
The data from the monitoring can be used to understand health impacts of the most vulnerable neighbors, such as children and elderly and those with respiratory vulnerabilities. We will draft a motion for the board, which we will vote on at our next meeting.We also discussed the complaint procedures, and would like to ask Ron
Walters to take air complaints off the list on the current Board complaint form.
This is not as good a form for air complaints as the one we have used for years,
and is probably confusing to those wanting to submit an air pollution complaint.
Finally, The DEQ permit hearing for Esco Corp will be held on January 24th, 6:30 pm at Legacy Good Sam Hospital auditorium. Written comments can be submitted to ODEQ until February 1, at 5:00 pm. Sharon Genasci
NWDA Health & Environment Committee GNA Minority Report
9.12.11
NWDA Health & Environment Committee GNA Minority Report
Overall, the GNA is a good step in a series of steps taken by Esco over the last fifteen years toward cleanup of air emissions coming from the Esco facility. Many of the recommendations from ERM, the engineering firm hired by Esco to audit the plant and Jim Karas, an independent auditor recruited by our committee and hired by DEQ to independently audit Esco, have been agreed to by the company in the current draft of the GNA.
However, Jim Karas’ recommendation to, “Add local capture at all pour points at the Main Floor and Slinger Bay” is not an agreed item in the current GNA draft. Slinger Bay is the large rectangular building across from the Distillery on 24th and Vaughn Streets. A variety of pours occurs on the floor in different parts of that building, and the emissions are completely uncontrolled. They exit the building through four large vents in the roof with large fans beneath. Jim Karas spoke to me recently and suggested a portable hood could be designed to move about the room and cover the work. Emissions would go into a baghouse, perhaps an existing baghouse.
The NWDA Health and Environment Committee feels that leaving this building uncontrolled is not acceptable in the agreement. Nearby neighbors have suffered for years from fugitive emissions, many of which come from Slinger Bay. We feel that since negotiations are proceeding to put controls on emissions from the plant, Slinger Bay should be included. The current proposal to study it for a further five years to find a solution is an unacceptable delay to solving a longstanding problem for the neighbors.
The other problem with the current GNA draft is there is no provision for fence line monitoring, which will be the means by which neighbors can monitor the air to see what emissions are coming from the plant during the next five years of the permit. Jim Karas told us that it was very important to be able to monitor the plant to check results of the new control equipment.
Esco has stated that they do not want fence line monitoring. We feel that a current idea for continuous dust collection from neighbors’ porches under the direction of a reputable scientist chosen by the neighbors and paid for by Esco would also meet our need to know about emissions continuing to come from the plant.
The GNA is a legally binding agreement with Esco, which in current form binds NWDA from public dissent should future problems arise. Esco is about to go public, and much is not known about future management. Therefore, it is important during this negotiating period to agree on a GNA that meets neighbors’ needs, as well as those of Esco. For this reason we submit to NWDA this minority report, which we hope the Board will support.
Sharon Genasci, Chair, NWDA Health & Environment Committee
NWDA Health & Environment Committee Minutes
Minutes, NWDA Health & Environment Committee
11.14.11
Present: Bob L, Bob Amundson, Don Gamiles (Argos Scientific Inc) Dan Packard, Jamie Myers, Allan Classen (Examiner), Caroline Skinner, Sharon Genasci
Bob Amundson opened the meeting with a brief history of Past H & E monitoring programs, starting with an EPA grant in the 1990s, where we used bucket monitors given to neighbors, who took air samples during noxious odor events. He then described the dust collection monitoring for heavy metals in dust on neighbors’ porches that was done over a period of several years. Finally, he described the $70,000.00 program that resulted from the settlement of a lawsuit against Chevron for air emissions in Portland brought by Sharon and Don Genasci. This was three years of air pollution monitoring with high quality equipment from Bob O’brien. All monitoring was done under the guidance of Bob Amundson, a scientist with air monitoring experience. (This data is available in four reports written by Bob Amundson and available on line through the NWDA office).
The years of monitoring, which focussed on toxic air emissions from Esco, pointed to a hot spot of toxic compounds near the plant. It also demonstrated wind patterns that blew the odors and dust into the neighborhood mainly in summer months. In winter the wind direction tended to blow this material to the north and northeast.
The H & E Committee prepared a GNA Minority Report that was presented to the NWDA Board at a recent meeting, in order to raise certain issues about the Good Neighbor Agreement with Esco Corporation, which has been negotiated with neighbors over a number of months.
More recently Ron Walters, President of NWDA Board requested that Esco include a monitoring program in the GNA. Mark Morford, Esco’s lawyer, presented a counter offer last week, which the H & E Committee did not like for a number of reasons. One reason was that Esco wanted to ‘pay’ for the monitoring by further delaying the installation of bag leak detectors, which many neighbors feel are very important to reducing emissions from the plant.
The NWDA Board is set to vote on Monday night, November 21st, on the Board’s acceptance or rejection of the GNA.
In view of this vote the H & E Committee invited Donald Gamiles from Argos Scientific, Inc, to our meeting to brief us on monitoring strategies, costs and equipment. Mr. Gamiles has worked effectively with neighbors in several states besides Oregon. H & E members asked many questions and Mr. Gamiles demonstrated a couple of his monitors, one for VOCs and one for hydrogen sulphide.
Sharon notified the group that there would be no meeting in December. In January she requested that H & E be placed on the Board agenda to discuss the work plan for the committee.
Bob L gave a brief report about the committee website, www.portlandair.org, which is still functioning as an excellent odor complaint form. H & E has over 1,000 odor complaints, about 60 per cent of which concern Esco emissions. Sharon Genasci, H & E Chair
NWDA Health & Environment Committee Minutes 10.10.11
Minutes, NWDA Health & Environment Committee
10.10.11
Present: Caroline Skinner, Bob L, Monica Russell (DEQ) Myriam Alaux
Jorjan Parker, Evan Farnham and Sharon Genasci
First on the agenda was an update by Sharon on the Esco Good Neighbor Agreement status. The current GNA draft will be presented by Ron Walters to the NWDA Board at the meeting on October 17th. Ron will propose a motion to attach to the GNA a funding proposal for monitoring, which he asked the committee to support.
The committee voted unanimously to support the following motion: “The NWDA Health & Environment Committee strongly supports Ron’s motion to require monitoring under the Esco GNA, provided the funds and arrangements are adequate based on the assessment of Bob Amundson, Bob Holmstrom and Sharon Genasci.”
Following the Board vote on Ron’s motion, the monitoring proposal will either go forward or not with the GNA. The committee also asked that the H & E Minority Report on the GNA that was presented to the Board at the last meeting, be submitted to Esco along with the GNA and its attachments.
In other business the group discussed the new NWDA website changes that were recently set up by Ron that include a new complaints procedure. Following are committee thoughts about the changes to the website:
The group was not happy that there was no consultation with the H & E Chair or Bob L (in charge of H & E odor complaints and website) before changes were made. (H & E has operated a very effective Odor Complaint Form (www.portlandair.org) on the website for over ten years.)
- The H & E odor complaint form gathers much more information than the new form.
- The new complaints are confusing, since they imply that the original complaint forms are no longer operating.
- There is no linkage between the new forms and the old ones.
- The current forms worked well, so why change them? (H & E has gathered over a thousand complaints during the last ten years, and consequently gathered excellent data on air quality problems in the neighborhood during that time.
- The idea of a map of odor complaints was good, but not a map of every type of complaint.
Sharon Genasci, Chair, H & E Committee
Health & Environment Committee Minutes 9.12.11
9.12.11
Minutes, NWDA Health & Environment Committee
Present:
Bob l, Bob Davies, Allan Classen (examiner) and Sharon Genasci
Most of the meeting was taken up with discussing the current draft of the Good Neighbor Agreement, and working on a minority report regarding the GNA. The committee feels that, while the GNA could potentially provide wonderful relief from Esco’s air toxic emissions, it is a binding, legal contract with NWDA and other neighbors (with many restraints) and it should provide controls on slinger bay, a building on 24th and Vaughn with four large roof vents, fans beneath, that has been the source of fugitive emissions from Esco for the many years our committee has worked on this problem.
The current GNA draft also omits any fence line monitoring or a substitute for this, which would provide neighbors information about emissions from the plant during the five year period of the GNA, when Esco has gone public, may have new management, increased production with more emissions, and we will need to know what we are breathing.
So a minority report was agreed, and those unable to be at the meeting have voted
by telephone on the H & E GNA Minority Report, which will go to NWDA Board members. (voted yes, Bob L, Bob Davies, Caroline Skinner, Evan Farnham, Biljana Milkovska and Sharon Genasci).
Bob L brought examples from the NWDA website of the new complaint form being suggested, and we decided we want to keep our current odor form, which works quite well, and provides much more information about the source of the odors and its effect on the neighbor reporting it.
Sharon Genasci, Chair, NWDA Health & Environment Committee
Health & Environment Committee Motion
The H & E committee passed a motion (we had a quorum with the yes vote of Biljana Milkovska, who is home at the moment with a new baby) , which we will put on the July 18th agenda:
“We would like the following 7 points included in the next draft of the Good Neighbor Agreement with Esco
1.All recommendations of ERM, the firm hired by Esco to do their own audit of the plant should be implemented in the GNA, as well as all the recommendations of Jim Karas, the independent auditor of Esco, hired by DEQ at our request. (He was recruited by us)
2. We would like a sum of monies to be placed with NWDA or other 501c3 to be used to independently monitor the plant over a long period, once the new control equipment is installed, to see how much is still being emitted (primarily fugitive emissions) from the plant. We suggest Cooper Environmental to do the work.
3. The Health & Environment Committee will continue to administer and publicize our odor complaint form, www.portlandair.org, which we have done for many years, with all odor complaints going to NCA, NWDA, DEQ and Esco.
4. The GNA should call for source testing to verify; the Synthetic Minor status the plant negotiated with DEQ in the last permit.
5. The H & E. Committee does not agree to any blockage to the filing of lawsuits. (Tavo Cruz is working on language here, which looks good).
6. H & E Committee retains the right to oppose Esco’s Title V Permit at the hearing, if they feel it is not protective enough of the neighborhood.
7. H & E propose that advocacy for the neighborhood airshed should be shared between an elected person from H & E Committee and someone selected from the NWDA Board, rather than a sole spokesperson not on the Health & Environment Committee.”
Sharon Genasci, Chair, H & E Committee
Minutes, Health & Environment Committee, July 11.11
July 11, 2011
Minutes, NWDA Health & Environment Committee Meeting
Present: Bob l, Jorjan Parker, Evan Farnham, Caroline Skinner, Allan Classen (Examiner) Sharon Genasci
We had once again a shortened agenda, as there was much to discuss with the Good
Neighbor Agreement that the committee has been negotiating with other neighbors (NCA) for some time, as there are some new developments.
Keith Johnson at DEQ proposed that neighbors might meet in smaller groups to “streamline” the process, as there was concern from Esco that they wanted a draft agreement from the neighbors by the 7th of July. They had scheduled a meeting with the neighbors on the 13th of July, and wanted time to consider the draft.
Sharon wrote to keith and objected to small groups making binding decisions for the larger group, and pointed out that, while it might take a bit longer, and may be a bit messier, we would have a better GNA.
The President of the NWDA Board contacted NCA (including Aubrey Baldwin, a lawyer hired by NCA who is drafting the GNA) and they agreed that “streamlining” was a good idea. Ron then met with the Executive Committee of the NWDA Board, and suggested that they recommend him as the representative of NWDA in the GNA negotiations. They voted to do this, leaving the NWDA Board to make the final decision.
Sharon Genasci was in the process of negotiating some changes to the GNA draft to strengthen it in favor of the neighbors. She did not know about
the EC decision until July 6th. Aubrey had told Sharon that she would hold the draft until noon July 7th for her input. However, the President then sent an email to Aubrey at 11:00 on the 7th, telling her he was “speaking for NWDA” and that the draft should be sent to Esco without the additions being discussed with Sharon.
Aubrey later told Sharon she then sent the GNA draft off as it was.
The H & E committee passed a motion (we had a quorum with the yes vote of Biljana Milkovska, who is home at the moment with a new baby) , which we will put on the July 18th agenda:
“We would like the following 7 points included in the next draft of the Good Neighbor Agreement with Esco
1.All recommendations of ERM, the firm hired by Esco to do their own audit of the plant should be implemented in the GNA, as well as all the recommendations of Jim Karas, the independent auditor of Esco, hired by DEQ at our request. (He was recruited by us)
2. We would like a sum of monies to be placed with NWDA or other 501c3 to be used to independently monitor the plant over a long period, once the new control equipment is installed, to see how much is still being emitted (primarily fugitive emissions) from the plant. We suggest Cooper Environmental to do the work.
3. The Health & Environment Committee will continue to administer and publicize our odor complaint form, www.portlandair.org, which we have done for many years, with all odor complaints going to NCA, NWDA, DEQ and Esco.
4. The GNA should call for source testing to verify; the Synthetic Minor status the plant negotiated with DEQ in the last permit.
5. The H & E. Committee does not agree to any blockage to the filing of lawsuits. (Tavo Cruz is working on language here, which looks good).
6. H & E Committee retains the right to oppose Esco’s Title V Permit at the hearing, if they feel it is not protective enough of the neighborhood.
7. H & E propose that advocacy for the neighborhood airshed should be shared between an elected person from H & E Committee and someone selected from the NWDA Board, rather than a sole spokesperson not on the Health & Environment Committee.”
We also briefly discussed the H & E Work Plan, which we passed at the last meeting, and will present to the NWDA Board on the 18th of July.
Sharon Genasci, Chair, H & E Committee
DEQ: ESCO Final Emission Control Review Report
DEQ hired a contractor in February to evaluate ESCO’s manufacturing processes and recommend measures to reduce air toxics emissions.
Last month, the contractor submitted the “Final Report of Independent Review of Northwest Portland ESCO Corporation Alternative Analysis.”
Visit DEQ’s web page for ESCO to view the report: http://www.deq.state.or.us/aq/northwest/escoAbout.htm
Proposed 2011 Health and Environment Workplan
The proposed 2011 Health and Environment Committee Workplan can be downloaded here:
NWDA H & E Minutes, 6.13.11
6.13.11
Minutes, NWDA Health & Environment Committee Meeting
Present: Caroline Skinner, Brian Lockyear, Bob L, Evan Farnham, Jorjan Parker, Sharon Genasci & Allan Classen (Examiner)
We had a shorter agenda, but much to discuss. First, Sharon explained that the H & E Workkplan must be finalized and then passed by a quorum vote of the Committee. We had a quorum present, so we set to work on the language of the workplan, trying to make the language as specific as possible, and to describe accurately what work the Committee does in the neighborhood.
We changed language on several items in the priorities section, and then reread what we had decided and then voted on each. Finally, we voted on the altered workplan.
Ron Walters has put the H & E workplan on the July Board Agenda.
Next the Committee took up the subject of the GNA (Good Neighbor Agreement).
Some of us had the impression from an earlier Esco draft of the GNA that Esco was hoping the neighbors would agree not to sue the plant and to support the final Title V Permit at the public hearing, in exchange for Esco’s agreeing certain changes in control technology and a reduction of toxic air emissions. Overall, people felt this would be an outrageous decision for the neighbors, and did not take it seriously.
There is however, much to discuss with Esco and the neighbors that should lead to
a more harmonious and cleaner neighborhood with good will on both sides.
Esco is planning two meetings with NCA, PEAC, NEDC and NWDA’s H & E representatives in July and September. And neighbor representatives are meeting this Friday to begin to work on what should be included.
Bob L spoke about the changes he has made to the Committee’s odor complaint on www.portlandair.org. He has simplified the format and made it easier to use.
However, NCA has set up a competing odor complaint, and now the DEQ is asking people to submit complaints directly to DEQ. Our complaints go to the H & E Chair and to DEQ, and they allow us to track where the problems are. Finally, to add to the confusion, Esco is posting their own complaint form, which will go only to them.
Sharon Genasci
