![]() “On June 29 the smell was the worst it has ever been,” said Joe Blackburn, a Whitney Drive resident who lives a half-mile from Gregg and a vocal critic. “Significantly, there have not been orders of violation issued since those first two (in 2005).”īut some residents insist that problems still exist with the plant, which is located about a mile from Rio Vista Elementary School. “Since the board issued the abatement order, Gregg Industries has substantially complied with all the conditions of the order,” said Sam Atwood, an AQMD spokesman. 19 hearing, the board determined that the company had made sufficient progress. That was triggered when Gregg received two AQMD-issued violations for excessive odor in 2005.īut at the Sept. ![]() ![]() The move allows the company to resume foundry operations between 3 and 9 p.m., which had been prohibited.Īs recently as last November, the hearing board suggested closing down the Hickson Street plant because of ongoing neighborhood complaints, despite the restrictions imposed on the plant since March 2006. “Otherwise all this does is exacerbate toxic hot spots, particularly in communities of color.”ĪQMD officials decided last month to allow restrictions placed on Gregg Industries’ operations to expire. “If they are offsetting based on emissions within their own facility that can be a good way to approach the issue,” said Julia May, a senior scientist with Communities for a Better Environment. Under AQMD rules, Gregg could purchase emission credits from facilities anywhere in the entire Southland. For example, a company spewing 10 tons of pollutants would have to purchase enough credits to offset a total of 12 tons of emissions.Ĭritics of emission credit trading say that unless the credits are traded with facilities within the same community, it doesn’t benefit those living near excessive polluters. The new rules require facilities exceeding the 4-ton threshold to offset 120 percent of their total emissions. Such credits are generated by factories when they emit less pollutants than they are allowed to under law. Nazemi said that even if Gregg were held to current standards, it would be able to exceed the 4 ton threshold by purchasing emission reduction credits. State Air Resources Board documents suggest up to 8,200 adult deaths a year in California are linked to exposure. They fear the smells they say have plagued their community are linked to the excessive amounts of particulate matter.Įxposure to high levels of PM10 – the number refers to the size of the particles, roughly one-seventh the width of a human hair – can cause lung damage, cancer and premature death, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Residents are upset at a recent ruling that relaxed restrictions on Gregg’s operations. “We probably would not approve Gregg’s equipment today,” he said.īut Gregg Industries is not subject to the newer standards because the factory was built in the 1940s, long before more stringent pollution rules were enacted in California.Ĭompany officials did not return phone calls. Once that threshold is reached, companies have to offset all of their pollutants by purchasing credits from cleaner facilities. Mohsen Nazemi, an official with the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s engineering and compliance division, said modern foundries are limited to four tons of particulate matter emissions per year. The state agency says the company released 13.2 tons of it in 2005, the most recent figure available. One of the primary pollutants El Monte-based Gregg Industries discharges is called fine particulate matter, or PM10, according to the California Air Resources Board. EL MONTE – Long criticized for emitting foul odors, an iron foundry has legally released pollutants well in excess of current emission standards for years, state data show.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |