[StBernard] EPA comments on St. Bernard Parish sulphur dioxide emission overages

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Sun Feb 17 14:40:29 EST 2013


EPA comments on St. Bernard Parish sulphur dioxide emission overages

By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on February 15, 2013 at 6:22 PM, updated February 15, 2013 at 6:38 PM Print

Citing levels of sulphur dioxide in St. Bernard Parish above the
Environmental Protection Agency's limits, the agency has told Gov. Bobby
Jindal that it intends to formally designate the parish as being out of
compliance with the standard. Such a designation, referred to as
"nonattainment," means the state will have to develop a remedy, likely
requiring the parish's three main emitters to cut back on such releases by
creating more restrictive permits.


The nonattainment designation, which could last up to five years, also
likely would prevent new sulphur dioxide emitting businesses from coming
into the parish. But before the EPA makes its final determination in June,
the agency has opened a 30-day public comment period, which began Friday.

"Reducing levels of sulfur dioxide pollution is an important part of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's commitment to a clean, healthy
environment," the agency's letter to Jindal states. "Exposure to SO2 can
cause a range of adverse health effects, including narrowing of the airways
which can cause difficulty breathing and increased asthma symptoms."

"The EPA will continue to work closely with you and our other partners at
the state, tribal and local levels to ensure health-protective commonsense
implementation of the 1-hour SO2 standard," the letter, written by EPA's
Region 6 Administrator Ron Curry, added.

The EPA's hourly standard for sulphur dioxide is 75 parts per billion. The
EPA is expected to makes its final determination in June.

EPA's St. Bernard Letter to Jindal
http://www.scribd.com/doc/125706140/EPA-s-St-Bernard-Letter-to-Jindal

Due to increasing instances in the past few years, the Louisiana Department
of Environmental Quality recommended that the EPA designate St. Bernard as
being out of compliance with the hourly sulphur dioxide standard.

St. Bernard is the only parish in the state that has been targeted for such
a designation. Only ten other entire counties throughout the country have
been targeted for a similar classification.

The EPA is expected to set a 2018 compliance deadline once it issues its
official designation. The DEQ would then have to submit a state
implementation plan to the EPA by mid-2014 that demonstrates how St. Bernard
will reduce sulphur dioxide emissions to reach the EPA standards by 2018.

Three industrial plants in St. Bernard are permitted to release sulphur
dioxide into the atmosphere - the Rain CII petroleum coke processing plant,
the ExxonMobil Chalmette Refinery and Valero Energy Corp.'s Meraux refinery.

Since January there have been several sulphur dioxide spikes in St. Bernard
above the hourly federal standard. A New Orleans-based environmental group,
the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, last month released a nonscientific survey
showing 70 people in the Chalmette area had reported respiratory problems,
headaches or eye irritation.

The public comment period on the EPA's proposed designation ends March 18.
The state, meanwhile, has 60 days to comment. Its deadline is April 8.

The public can submit its comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2012-0233, through several methods, laid out more fully in the proposed
rule document, which can be viewed by clicking here.

The public can submit comments online by clicking here, or going to
www.regulations.gov and following online instructions for submitting
comments.

Interested parties also can email a-and-r-docket at epa.gov or fax comments to
202.566.9744. Comments can be mailed to Air Docket, Attention Docket ID No.
EPA-HQ-OAR-2012-0233, Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code: 6102T,
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460.



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