Plant officials insist all emissions well within state, fed regulations
A local DEC wildlife pathologist who in the past has targeted the mercury emissions of the Ravena Lafarge cement plant is now saying stone dust at the plant poses a threat to nearby residents and the environment.
Ward Stone, who is doing work in Ravena independent of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said he found high concentrations of calcium around the plant, indicative of stone dust given off during the transportation and processing of the limestone rock used in the concrete-making process.
In the early parts of the study I didn’t pay much attention to the calcium, Stone said. `Then it dawned on me that a lot of it’s being lost in dust.`
While inhaling calcium can cause respiratory tract irritation or infection, said Stone, he’s more concerned about other elements of the limestone also carried in the dust, including heavy metals like mercury.
Stone argued stone dust is blown around and falls off trucks during transport, and is getting into the surrounding community in greater levels than is generally thought, including into waterways and at the Ravena Coeymans Selkirk High School across the road from the plant.
`I don’t want to start a big panic among the students and among the parents, but I can recommend to start doing some good housekeeping,` to keep stone dust contained, Stone said.
John Reagan, Lafarge’s Ravena Plant Environmental Operations Manager, said he hasn’t seen scientific data behind Stone’s studies and noted the plant is monitored by the DEC and EPA.
`When the DEC monitored air quality at the RCS High School Consistently for 11 years their findings confirmed that the air in our community is safe,` he said.
That study consists of data collected in the 1970s and ’80s.
Stone announced his findings at the Ravena VFW Tuesday, March 30, at a meeting sponsored by the Community Advocates for Safe Emissions group, which has also been fundraising to support Stone’s research. Stone estimated lab tests have run up to $6,000 since he started his studies last year.
Rick Georgeson of the DEC said air regulations require Lafarge to control dust in nine ways at the Ravena plant, including the use of electrostatic precipitators on kilns and covers for conveyor belts that carry materials about the plant. Trucks leaving the site are sprayed down with water, as are roadways.
Dust could also originate at the nearby Callanan Industries facility or the limestone quarry.
`There are permit conditions for all three of those facilities that are supposed to reduce the dust,` Gerorgeson said. `We haven’t had very many complaints at all, maybe two in the last couple or years, from residents.`
Georgeson went on to say DEC staff would be able to microscopically determine the origin of dust in the event of complaints.
Stone said his observations show dust mitigation measures aren’t adequate.
The Department of Health is in the midst of a public health assessment study for the area surrounding the Lafarge plant that will take into account data sources collected since the plant’s opening in 1962.
In September, Stone said his studies of heavy metal levels in area wildlife revealed heightened levels of mercury in plants and animals. The DEC is drafting new mercury emission regulations that would cap emissions at the Ravena factory at 176 pounds per year.
`We’re still in the process of that, and right now we’re deciding whether to have a public hearing for that,` Georgeson said. `There’s no real hard and fast deadline for that.`
The federal Environmental Protection Agency is also looking into imposing stricter regulations that would cap Lafarge’s plant at 70 to 80 pounds per year, according to Reagan.
Reagan pointed to DEC data from an air quality monitoring station in Columbia County showing the airborne mercury levels there to be below those found in Albany County, and both well below the federal air quality standard.
He also argued the mercury levels in Stone’s studies are not any higher than those found in surface soils across the state, and said the DEC keeps track of Lafarge’s emissions.
`They’ve assessed our plant and our plant is safe,` Reagan said.
Lafarge is in the process of implementing a massive modernization project at the Ravena plant, and recently resubmitted an updated environmental impact statement to the DEC.
The modernization is expected cost hundreds of millions, reduce the plant’s emissions and cut its fuel use by 50 percent. A 12 to 18 month construction process should employ 800 temporary workers, said Lafarge representatives, and the modernization is on track for a 2014 completion.
Reagan said Lafarge would hold public information sessions as the project moves forward, and has launched an informational Web site at www.lafargeravenafacts.com, where all public documents related to the modernization are downloadable.
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