Groups raise a stink over odor:The smell of asphalt is nothing unusual for City Point residents, but it may be more dangerous than expected.
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Groups raise a stink over odor
HOPEWELL — The smell of asphalt is nothing unusual for City Point residents, but it may be more dangerous than expected.
BY PATRICK KANE STAFF WRITER
Published: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 4:15 AM EDT
HOPEWELL — The smell of asphalt is nothing unusual for City Point residents, but it may be more dangerous than expected.
Tuesday
night, the Hopewell Clean Air Network and the Sierra Club discussed
results of an air quality study that indicated six dangerous chemicals
are in the air, four of them above “levels of concern.”
About
two dozen people turned out to First Baptist Church City Point to hear
from the groups and Regional Enterprises Inc. (RE), the storage and
distribution company that handles asphalt by barge and truck. The
church is situated on a hill behind RE.
“With every smell,
there’s an adverse health effect,” said Jim Gould, conservation project
manager with the Sierra Club. “It was out and about in the air. People
indicated it was a constant problem.”
On July 10, Gould and a
City Point resident captured air at River Street right where RE
operates. Testing by Columbia Analytical Systems found six chemical
compounds, four of which were above the Sierra Club’s cited level of
concern.
Hydrogen sulfide was six times higher than levels set
by Region 6 of the Environmental Protection Agency and the state of
Texas; Carbonyl Sulfide was 2.3 times higher than Texas’ short-term
levels; Carbon Disulfide was 1.8 times higher than Texas’ levels; and
Tetrachloroethene was 6.6 times higher than EPA levels.
Both
Gould and Dan Matthews, RE’s vice president and general manager,
stressed that they were following all applicable laws. Matthews said
results from a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality testing
station near RE indicated there was no impact on ambient air quality.
Matthews handed out copies of the DEQ materials, which said they only
tested for two of the six compounds.
“Regional Enterprises is not in violation of any laws,” he said.
Matthews
explained the process of what the company does. They have two large
storage tanks, three loaders and a heating system that distributes hot
oil through the tanks.
“When it’s hot, it’s liquid. At 60
degrees, that asphalt is a rock,” he explained. It needs to be kept hot
so it can be transferred onto trucks or barges and eventually used for
construction projects.
In the heating process, a vapor is
produced through the tanks’ ventilation system, Matthews said. That is
the likely source of the smell.
While he talked about two
systems that could mask or filter the smell, Matthews said the company
would need more proof in order to invest in those systems.
Gould said he hopes Virginia will put standards in place and enforce them to cut down on emissions.
For local resident Matthew Flowers, talk of the site’s long-term industrial use was not news.
“We’ve
been smelling things long before then. We don’t know what the chemicals
are in what we’re smelling,” he said. “My concern is: are the people
down there concerned about us?”
An unequivocal “yes” was the
answer Matthews gave. Some 80 percent of RE’s employees live in the
Hopewell zip code, including Matthews. His home is closer to
Honeywell’s facilities in town.
Community and church members
shared their stories with Gould and Matthews. These ranged from an
illness they attribute to the smell to a changing attitude in town.
“Hopewell
was built by industry,” Kathy Podlewski said. With few people tied to
industrial jobs today, there is more of a bold attitude about the
downsides to the plant.
“Citizens should be questioning what comes into our area. This is a very good first step,” she said.
Sandra Cornell said once she moved to Spruance Street, her two children started showing symptoms of asthma.
“It’s not just Regional Enterprises. I’d like for us to continue this,” she said.
Gould
said the results of two more air quality tests near Honeywell and
Smurfit Stone will be discussed at similar public meetings with those
companies.
• Patrick Kane may be reached at 722-5155 or pkane@progress-index.com.
