[StBernard] Sulfur dioxide levels decrease in WBR, remain a problem in St. Bernard

[Westley Annis]

Sulfur dioxide levels decrease in WBR, remain a problem in St. Bernard
BY AMY WOLD
Advocate staff writer
July 27, 2013

 "Immediately after they put the controls on we saw drastically reduced
numbers." Sam Phillips,  assistant secretary with the state Department of
Environmental Quality

In 2011, West Baton Rouge Parish was set to join St. Bernard Parish as the
two areas of the state facing new restrictions because of sulfur dioxide
levels that are above the federal standard.

However, the Rhodia facility put in control measures for sulfur dioxide
several years ago, and the levels of the pollution dropped below the new
federal standard in time to be considered by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.

"Immediately after they put the controls on, we saw drastically reduced
numbers," said Sam Phillips, assistant secretary of the state Department of
Environmental Quality.

So instead, St. Bernard Parish is the first, and only, parish in the state
found to not be in compliance with a new federal standard for sulfur dioxide
pollution, which can cause breathing problems, especially for sensitive
populations.

EPA sent the state a letter Thursday evening that agrees with the state
recommendation that one monitor at Chalmette-Vista, 24 E. Chalmette Circle,
fails to meet a new 2010 one-hour standard for sulfur dioxide.


>From 1971 to 2010, the federal standard for this pollution was measured on a

24-hour average. During that time, an air monitor cannot measure more than
140 parts per billion more than once per year.

"We've never had anyone even close to the 24-hour standard," Phillips said.

However, in 2010, the EPA put together a new, more stringent standard that
looks at an hourly average that can't go above 75 parts per billion.

Anne Rolfes, founding director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, said the
designation and the reductions in sulfur dioxide releases has been a long
time coming.

She said she worked with the community near the industrial sites in the
early 2000s when resident Ken Ford was leading the effort to get
improvements. The community even set up its own air monitoring equipment,
Rolfes said.

"And it was pinging off the charts for SO2 (sulfur dioxide)," Rolfes said.

Then, as part of a consent decree with the Chalmette Refinery several years
ago, the state made the facility put up an air monitor. It's that air
monitor that has been registering at above-federal-standard levels,
resulting in the parish falling out of compliance with federal standards,
she said.

"They do have a sulfur dioxide problem there," Rolfes said.

While it can be difficult to pinpoint the source of some pollution, such as
ozone, sulfur dioxide is mainly released by industry and is easier to track.

In the case of St. Bernard Parish, there are three industrial facilities
that contribute to the sulfur dioxide issue with Rain CII Carbon being by
far the largest, Phillips said.

The other two are Valero Refinery and Chalmette Refinery.

However, facilities in St. Bernard Parish already have been working on
reducing the amount of sulfur dioxide being released, Philips said.

DEQ entered into an agreement with Rain CII Carbon in June whereby the state
limited the amount of sulfur dioxide that can be released.

"They are the lion's share of the SO2 problem in St. Bernard Parish,"
Phillips said.

Although the facility's permit allows the release of 2,500 pounds of sulfur
dioxide per hour, the new agreement limits that to 1,200 pounds per hour,
Phillips said.

Larry Minton, director of environmental, safety and health with Rain CII
Carbon, wrote in an email that in the short term, the facility has reduced
its process rate, which has reduced emissions.

In addition, the facility is building a new, taller waste heat boiler stack,
raising it from 120 feet to 190 feet to help with dispersion of the
material.

The results, so far, have been good.

The agreement was signed June 20, and the last time the monitor near the
plant registered a violation of the federal standard was June 8, Phillips
said.

That monitor had been seeing 30 to 40 violations a year for at least the
past several years.

Rain CII processes a oil refining byproduct called green petroleum coke into
a calcined coke that is used in the manufacture of aluminum.

The facility employs 25 people, Minton wrote.

Patrick Trahan, spokesman for Chalmette Refinery, said that before the new
standards were in place, the refinery and DEQ entered into a consent decree
agreement that resulted in reductions in sulfur dioxide releases.

"We have reduced our SO2 emissions by 85 percent over the last five years,"
Trahan said.

Information from EPA shows that the Rain CII plant released 4,284 tons of
the total parish emissions of 5,753 tons in 2008. Chalmette Refining
released 250 tons.

"We do see industry in St. Bernard Parish working very hard to close that
gap," Trahan said.

Notice of the EPA decision will be printed in the federal registry in the
next week or two, making the decision official.

The next step will be for the state to develop a "State Implementation
Plan," which will outline specific steps to be taken to bring the readings
at the monitor in Chalmette into compliance with federal regulations.

Computer modeling on which industries contribute to the problem, and by how
much, will help officials decide what reductions will need to be made and
where, Philips said.

The parish will have five years to come into compliance with the new federal
standard, which Phillips said is absolutely doable.

"The good news for us is we've been working on that for some time," he said.

Since 2007, the one-hour trend at the Chalmette Vista air monitor has seen
the levels of sulfur dioxide go from 240 parts per billion to 217 parts per
billion, according to information from DEQ.