asphalt plant on taft hill road - fort collins, colorado no visual evidence of an asphalt plant from...
TRANSCRIPT
Asphalt Plant on Taft Hill Road
May 14, 2014
More than 7,000 residents
Six schools with more than 2,500
children
Lincoln Middle School just ½ mile
Poudre Bike Trail where 10,000 people
pass each month just 290 feet
Toxic fallout from asphalt production drops
within 2 miles of the facility
Who Permits Asphalt Plants?
Colorado Department of
Public Health & Environment
CDPHE Mission
The mission of the Air Pollution Control
Division is to improve and protect the air
quality in Colorado through the
development and implementation of cost-
effective and efficient air pollution control
measures that are consistent with the
requirements of state and federal law. Taken from CDPHE website
Most HMA plants
are inspected every
3 to 5 years, while
others are
inspected annually.
..violation or
noncompliance
issues leads to
enforcement
proceedings and
fines of up to $15,000
per violation per
day…
Permit Renewal Requirements
• Inspection required every 3 years
• Permit renewal required every 5 years
Where in the World
• Longmont
• Empire
• Fort Morgan 1997
• Permit approval Denver
• Production 230,590 tons/yr
• Fort Morgan 1998
• Fort Morgan
• Akron, Co
• Gordon Pit, Denver 1999
• Permit renewal Denver
• Production 235,590 tons/yr
• La Plata County, CO
• Elbert County, CO
2000
• Washington County, CO
• Huerfano County, CO 2001
• Name change from Western Mobile to LaFarge
• Nebraska 2002
• Permit reissued, no inspection
• Nebraska
• Logan County, CO
• Craig, CO
• Rifle, CO – Opacity Violation due to High Heat CDOT requirements
2003
• Rifle, CO
• Keenesburg, CO 2004
• Keenesburg, CO
• Kit Carson, CO
• Weld County, CO 2005
• Fruita, CO
• Pueblo, New Mexico 2006
• Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Permit renewal required
• Permit renewed, no inspection due to being out of state
2007
• 1800 North Taft Hill, Fort Collins 2012
• 1800 North Taft Hill, Fort Collins
• June – Inspection, application for stationary plant
• October – New Permit Issued
2013
• Phoenix, Arizona
• 1800 North Taft Hill, Fort Collins (December)
2010
• 1800 North Taft Hill, Fort Collins
• March – Start-up 2011
May 2014 – Still operating at 1800 North Taft
Hill, Fort Collins, Over 3 years later
No
New
Permit
Issued
until
October
2013
June 2013 Inspection
At this location for 2+ years?
Not remain
at any one
site for
more than
two (2)
years
• No State/County production records after 2000
until the June 2013 inspection
• State regulations require production records
• Production determines levels of pollutants
We asked for Production
Records History of Plant
Recap
• Plant moved next to schools and neighborhoods
• Plant operated for at least a year without a valid permit
• “ ..seek to avoid locations in close proximity to
pollution sources”
• Lincoln Middle School situated in 1974 at an ideal
environmental location
• Schools would not have been built next to an
asphalt plant
Amended Special Review 3/23/09
“to change location of asphalt plant”
Special Review originally granted permission July 22, 1985
• No evidence of an asphalt plant ever being
established on the property in County and State
records
• No visual evidence of an asphalt plant from aerial
photos
Prior to 2011 There Never Was an
Asphalt Plant on Taft Hill Road
1999 Aerial View
In 2009 Review Staff States:
1. “Proposed use is compatible with existing and allowed uses in the
surrounding area and in harmony with the neighborhood.”
2. “The proposed use is not anticipated to have substantial adverse
impacts on property in the vicinity.”
3. “Approval of the appeal will not be detrimental to the public health,
safety or property values in the neighborhood.”
0.34 Mile
0.53 Mile
Lincoln Middle School
Neighborhoods
Poudre Bike Trail, 290 Feet
Taft Hill Plant sits low in a hollow Top of stacks sit lower than neighborhoods & schools
Prevailing winds are from north and northwest
Asphalt disasters like this happen.
What is the plan for the six schools with 2,500 students,
the 7,000+ local residents and the Poudre River?
MODEL
8 hour CO
9,933ug/m3
NAAQS
8 Hour CO
10,000ug/m3
Model is
within 1% of
max
Model for 475,000 Tons per year
Fence line only 87 meters from stack
20% more Carbon Monoxide
Model for 600,000 Tons per Year
Message to: Larimer County Commissioners,
“This is detrimental to Public Health!”
For the past 3 years
this plant has had a
permit that exceeds
National Ambient Air
Quality Standards for
Carbon Monoxide.
CDPHE Mathematical Model for
Carbon Monoxide Dispersion
Why? Winter
Why? Not Arid Climate
Why? Moisture Normal
Why? Rural
Why? Background sample from Downtown Fort Collins
Trucks are not
included in the
CDPHE air
dispersion
model
Trucks like this emit:
10g/mile - NOX
0.22g/mile – PM2.5
0.25g/mile – PM10
Lower levels of CO
than gasoline
Higher emissions with
acceleration and
deceleration (along
city streets and up
hills)
Quote from CDPHE “…there are CO emissions associated with the trucks used for this
business that we have not modeled in this screening analysis.
Measurements from downtown Fort Collins would account for
higher vehicle emissions. Absent any data collected at this facility,
it makes sense to continue to use the CO value in Nancy’s ABC
background layer.”
On Friday, May 9, 2014 from 7AM – 6PM
308 truck trips to and from Asphalt Plant
634 total truck trips to and from Asphalt Plant and adjoining Aggregate Facility
CAAT Study 5/9/14
Congratulations!
You do not need to
be regulated.
“speaks well of the
environmental
accomplishments of the
industry”
SERIOUSLY?
CDPHE & Asphalt
Industry….
Working Together.
How does this
protect the public’s
health?
Asphalt plants listed as major polluters in 2001
Asphalt plants minor in 2002 due to industry pressure
This plant will produce: 15 tons of VOC’s
16.5 tons NOX
11.4 tons of CO
7.4 tons of SO2
Minor polluters are still polluters just
not highly regulated.
Causes of Ground Level Ozone
Hot sunny days
VOC’s + NOX + SUN = Ozone
Air pollution contributes to
development of asthma in
previously healthy people
What triggers asthma?:
Particulates - TRUCKS
Ground level ozone
Sulfur dioxide
Nitric Oxide
Advice on avoiding asthma Avoid exposure to air pollution
“Take any steps you can to ensure new schools and housing is not near
industrial areas”
Natural Resources Defense Council
At ground level,
ozone is a health hazard
for all of us, especially the
young and elderly.
Active and exercising
Prolonged exposure:
reduced resistance to
lung infections and colds
Triggers asthma or other
respiratory infections like
chronic bronchitis and
COPD
Asthma
Natural Resources Defense Council
25 million Americans have asthma
3,000 die each year
No cure
Asthma
10 million lost school days/year
14 million lost workdays/year
2 million ER visits/year
30% of childhood asthma due to environmental exposure
Center for Disease Control
Advice on Avoiding Asthma
Avoid exposure to air pollution
“Take any steps you can to ensure new schools and
housing is not near industrial areas”
Natural Resources Defense Council
2007 Fort Collins
Ozone Non-attainment Area
Fort Collins West violates health standard
past six years
– Site located at La Porte/Horsetooth
– More out of violation than any other Fort
Collins location – Why?
Air above ground warmer than air below
Typical summer morning in Fort Collins
Pollutants are trapped at ground level
Cold air flows down from higher ground
Pushes under warm air rising from the valley
CDPHE Modeling
Doesn’t address that the plant is located in hollow.
Doesn’t address overall inversion effect from foothills.
Doesn’t address wind direction.
Doesn’t address truck traffic.
CDPHE needs new leadership.
We have no confidence the Department is
fulfilling their statutory duties.
Martin Marietta December 2012
Form 10-K Annual Report
Environmental risk due to the use of “substances
that are hazardous”
“the Company frequently acquires large tracts of
land so that quarry, mine, and production facilities
can be situated substantial distances from
surrounding property owners.”
Neighborhood to
West about 1 Mile
No Neighbors to
East for Miles
No
Neig
hb
ors
to S
ou
th
for M
iles
No
Neig
hb
ors
to N
orth
for
Mile
s
Connell Plant
Harmony & I 25
Fort Collins
Permit Expectations
1. Stack testing for all relevant pollutants including
VOC’s and heavy metals
2. Limited hours – no emergency, no weekends – to
make sure a plant can never operate 24/7.
3. Require EPA compliant opacity monitor installed
4. Publicly accessible website with time-laps video
showing asphalt & aggregate production
5. All planned pollution control technology be
included as permit requirements with specified
timeline.
6. Third party oversight of record keeping
7. Specification that plants are located safe
distances away from schools and populated
areas.
Lincoln Middle
School is ½ Mile
from Plant
Would you let your
children or grandchildren
go to Lincoln Middle
School?