[StBernard] St. Bernard's sulfur dioxide emissions again spike over weekend

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard's sulfur dioxide emissions again spike over weekend

Print By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune 
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on June 03, 2013 at 4:22 PM, updated June 03, 2013 at 4:47 PM

For the eighth day since the start of the year, St. Bernard Parish's sulfur
dioxide readings on Saturday spiked above federal health standards. The
overages come as St. Bernard awaits the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's anticipated ruling this week or next that officially will designate
the parish as out-of-compliance with the federal one-hour sulfur dioxide
standard.

Such a designation, referred to as "nonattainment," means the state will
have to develop a remedy. In March, Rain CII officials acknowledged that the
company's Chalmette petroleum coke processing plant was responsible for "the
lion's share" of the sulfur dioxide emissions in the area.

The emission overages on Saturday were detected by the Louisiana Department
of Environmental Quality's ambient air monitor in the Chalmette Vista
neighborhood. The main sulfur dioxide emitters near that monitor are Rain
CII and the ExxonMobil Chalmette Refinery.

Steve Rowland, Rain CII's chief operations officer based in Houston, said
that the Chalmette plant had no upsets or malfunctions on Saturday that
would have accounted for the overages. ExxonMobil Chalmette Refinery
officials on Monday did not return calls and emails for comment.

DEQ spokeswoman Jean Kelley said that the DEQ had not received reports from
either plant about any upsets on Saturday but that the state agency had
requested additional reports from both companies that "should show the
general operating conditions at the time" of the emission overages on
Saturday.

Asked on Monday when the official EPA nonattainment designation would come,
EPA regional spokesperson Austin Vella said that the "EPA is currently
working on responding to comments received during the state and public
comment periods for our proposed designations under the 1-hour SO2 standard
and expects to issue final area designations soon."

The Clean Air Act states that EPA can issue final designations as soon as
120 days from the date of EPA's letter to the governor conveying EPA's
proposed designations. Since the EPA sent its letter to Gov. Bobby Jindal on
Feb. 7, that means the EPA could issue its final area designation for St.
Bernard as early as Friday.

St. Bernard is the only parish in the state that has been targeted for such
a designation. Only 10 other entire counties throughout the country have
been targeted for a similar classification.


The state has 18 months after the official out-of-compliance designation is
made to submit an implementation plan to the federal government, which must
show how the parish can reach compliance with the new sulfur dioxide
standards within five years from the designation - or likely by June 2018.

The EPA one-hour health standard is 75 parts per billion. The Chalmette
Vista monitor showed levels ranging from 116.3 ppb to 140.6 ppb Saturday
evening.

Studies have shown a connection between short-term exposure to sulfur
dioxide and respiratory illnesses, particularly in at-risk populations
including children, the elderly and people suffering from asthma, according
to the EPA. In January, a New Orleans-based environmental group, the
Louisiana Bucket Brigade, released a nonscientific survey showing 70 people
in the Chalmette area had reported respiratory problems, headaches or eye
irritation because of the heightened sulfur dioxide levels.

So far in 2013, there have been 31 times that the ambient air in St. Bernard
has exceeded the EPA one-hour sulfur dioxide health standard. The specific
instances are available on the DEQ website by clicking here.