West Berkeley Alliance has its own website!

The West Berkeley Alliance has its own website!

Please visit us at

http://westberkeleyalliance.org

email: WestBerkeleyAlliance@Yahoo.com

telephone: 510.558.8757

We look forward to hearing from you!

Berkeley Daily Planet
November 22, 2005

Pacific Steel Needs to Do More About Pollution
by Peter F. Guerrero

After 25 years of community pressure to stop polluting Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito and Kensington neighborhoods, Pacific Steel Casting is finally planning to take steps to curb its levels of emissions. We appreciate the recent announcement that Pacific Steel will take additional steps to reduce toxic air pollution from its West Berkeley plant but more needs to be done.
A long-standing source of community complaints, Pacific Steel Casting is a remnant of Berkeley’s industrial past. Operating for over 74 years, Pacific Steel Casting is one of the last remaining steel foundries on the West Coast. When it was built, Berkeley’s Oceanview neighborhood was a manufacturing district but today the area is undergoing rapid change as old industrial buildings are converted to residential housing and artist studios. Despite these demographic changes, PSC operates today as if the environmental protection revolution of the 1970s never occurred, with one of its three casting facilities operating WITHOUT pollution abatement equipment. That it has been a source of irritation to its neighbors is understandable.

By its own admission, Pacific Steel releases some serious pollutants including manganese, nickel, formaldehyde, benzene, and phenol, chemicals that are both known and suspected carcinogens as well responsible for adverse neurological, respiratory, and reproductive health effects. Reducing or eliminating these emissions is a matter of extreme importance.

Until PSC’s recent announcement, the reduction of these toxic emissions awaited the results of a health risk assessment (HRA) required by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). Citizens were dubious that the HRA would have much of an effect since risk assessment is historically associated with regulatory inaction. For example, in over three decades since the passage of a federal law to control the thousands of toxic chemicals manufactured in the U.S., only a handful have been regulated.

So, it made sense for PSC to take common-sense steps now to address the problem, among them:

• Improving general housekeeping, such as closing factory doors during production hours, and training employees in these procedures.

• Substituting less toxic chemicals for more toxic chemicals used in the manufacturing process.

• Re-engineering manufacturing processes to reduce waste and pollution.

• Installing pollution control equipment on parts of the plant not currently controlled.

• Making sure existing equipment is operating properly.

None of these are exotic or unreasonable steps in light of the high number of complaints about PSC. In fact, they are considered best management practices by industry because they not only result in better community relations, but also improve the bottom line by making operations more efficient and reducing the potential liabilities associated with worker and community exposure to toxic chemicals.

Let’s look at the specifics:

First, PSC is improving its housekeeping by closing doors on one of its facilities. While this is a step in the right direction, PSC should be required to close all of its doors while operating. Continuing to keep some doors open allows the wind to carry out pollutants before they can be captured by pollution control equipment.

Second, ventilation fans will be shut down after hours. While this will reduce the release of pollutants into the environment, it does not reduce the pollutants themselves. Eventually, they will be released if not controlled. Turning off fans only delays the release of the pollutants to the time when the fans are turned on.

Third, bringing additional fresh air into the facility also does little to solve the problem. In the 1970s environmentalists used to say “dilution is not the solution.” The solution is ending the pollution in the first place, period.

Fourth, training employees on these new housekeeping procedures is good. Employees also need to be held accountable for implementing them consistently.

Fifth, installing an “odor neutralizer” could be a good thing or it could be cosmetic. If it involves perfuming pollutants, then it should not be allowed. If it involves reducing pollutants, then that’s good. BAAQMD should make sure it’s the latter.

Sixth, testing alternative, less toxic chemicals to use in the manufacturing process is good. However, PSC shouldn’t give up due to initial disappointing results. It should continue to look at less toxic alternatives. “Green Chemistry” is a booming field; in fact, a recent Noble Prize went to three green chemists.

Finally, installing pollution control equipment on parts of the plant currently without them is long overdue and a significant step in the right direction. It is unclear, however, whether this equipment will only reduce odors or reduce particulate emissions as well. As anyone who lives in West Berkeley or the other affected communities knows, a grimy dust settles on everything left outside. Particulates are a culprit in asthma and other respiratory disorders. Efforts need to be undertaken to also reduce particulate emissions.

As its recent announcement indicates, PSC can be a better neighbor. After all, among its clients are you and I—the taxpayers of California—who are paying PSC to cast parts for the Bay Bridge retrofit. We deserve a good neighbor in exchange. PSC should continue working with BAAQMD to identify further steps it can take to ensure a cleaner and healthier environment.

Updates...PSC makes changes, complaints continue...

 

Recent Article in the East Bay Daily News and how you can help.

first published September 1, 2005 East Bay Daily News


Establishing the Ground Rules or Stacking the Deck?
By Fred Dodsworth
Daily News staff writer


Pacific Steel Casting Company’s hired consultants have submitted a set of protocols guiding the health risk assessment tests on emissions from the factory that the West Berkeley community has demanded, the community says the guidelines are skewed and incomplete.

“These were supposed to be the protocols, a very specific, very detailed document that tell us what is being tested and how it’s being tested,” said Toni Stein, an environmental engineer with a doctorate in air quality control who has been working with the neighborhood group known as the West Berkeley Alliance. “But the document’s details are vague and incomplete. They say they’ll give us specifics later but this is the document we’re supposed to make public comments on. It’s like they’re laughing at us. When will we have an opportunity for community input? This is very upsetting.”

Stein became involved in Pacific Steel Casting’s air quality problems when she served as one of four officers for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s hearing board in 1999 when the West Berkeley factory was facing an abatement order. The board ruled to lift the abatement order by three to one. Stein was the hearing officer opposed to lifting the abatement. She’s not the only person frustrated with how the process has evolved.

“There is a very real conflict of interest when the company that is doing the polluting hires the consulting firm,” said Andrew Galpern, a member of the neighborhood group complaining about the stench emanating from the factory.

Originally the Air Quality Management District was going to do the study but with ongoing budgetary shortfalls that option disappeared. Now Pacific Steel Casting has hired Environmental Resources Management to do a health risk assessment study for the district. Pacific Steel Casting was involved in the process of determining the protocols used to assess the health risks associated with its emissions.

“The Air Quality Management District promises to provide some oversight,” said Andrew Galpern, “but that is the exact same agency that has known about this problem for over 30 years and been ineffective at fixing it. No fines, no interruptions, nothing but paperwork. It makes you wonder what side the Air Quality Management District is on.”

Among the many complaints the neighborhood has are concerns about the base-standards the test agency will use. There are many homes and several youth-oriented facilities in the neighborhood, including schools and playing fields, but the studies will be based on adult males. Children breathe at a rate three times higher than an adult male, and would absorb commensurately more toxins and pollutants, said Stein.

No compensating factors are included for people with compromised health conditions, said Galpern.
Additionally the standards for topography used in the study are rural where the West Berkeley neighborhood hasn’t been rural in over a century, and the city of Berkeley has elevations that run from near zero feet above sea level to more than a thousand feet above sea level. The neighborhood group also wants the study to take into consideration that Berkeley’s weather changes seasonally, hourly and block-by-block. The volatile gases and heavy metals Pacific Steel Casting emits disburse very differently at different temperatures and humidities and under differing wind conditions.

The air around the factory will be tested for phenols used as a binding agent and burned out during the sand-casting process and during the sand recycling process. Additionally the surrounding air will be tested for arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, beryllium, chromium, mercury and numerous other toxic chemicals the factory is known to emit.

“We’ll take our cues on how to respond to this from the neighborhood,” said Brad Smith, aide to Council Woman Linda Maio, whose district surrounds Pacific Steel Casting. This is very technical material and we’re not qualified to make these kinds of determinations, he said. Maio was on vacation and is not expected to return until after the public comment period is over.

“Why is it that the burden is placed on the shoulders of ordinary citizens, who must somehow drop everything they are doing and become experts?” asked Galpern. “Something stinks, and it’s more than Pacific Steel.”

Citizens are encouraged to make public comments regarding the protocols which will be used to measure and ameliorate the potential health hazards and noxious odors emitted by Pacific Steel Casting Company.

The public comment period ends September 13. Comments should go to Mr. Scott Lutz, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, 939 Ellis St., SF, CA 94109 or via email to slutz@baaqmd.gov.
More information is available on the web at
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/council1/psc.htm
and
http://WestBerkeleyAlliance.blogspot.com/


What can you do?

Let Brad Smith and Linda Maio know you are sick and tired of the hazardous pollution and odor nuisance and you want it fixed.
Let them know the study that Pacific Steel is planning is severely flawed, has significant gaps, and favors the company, rather than protecting workers and residents.

Let Scott Lutz know you expect the Air District to STAND UP FOR WORKERS AND RESIDENTS and stop sitting on their, and start demanding the changes be made in the HRA. Without all the changes we recommend, the study is flawed, incomplete, and the results will be misleading.

Some technical details:

1. The study is incomplete and still does not include every source of emissions at Pacific Steel. Entire processes are being excluded, for no apparent reason. (That's like checking your car for smog at the tailpipe, and ignoring that the engine is on fire!)

2. The model they use to describe how pollution disperses should include BOTH rural and urban air dispersal coefficients. (Last time I looked, West Berkeley was pretty darn urban!)

3. The breathing rates they are using to model exposure are for adult males, but their are kids nearby (within 2 blocks!) that use 3 times that amount of air. They should be using BOTH adult and kid breathing rates, and providing the public with the worst case scenario, so people can protect themselves.)

4. There is no mention of how Pacfic Steel will be testing long time workers and residents for exposure.
Why don't they plan on testing any people for exposure? (Because the answer could cost them a lot of money!) This issue is all about people and their health, and that should be the NUMBER ONE PRIORITY.

5. We should be VERY SKEPTICAL of the results when the COMPANY that is being investigated is PAYING for the CONSULTANTS.


The public comment period ends September 13. Comments should go to Mr. Scott Lutz, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, 939 Ellis St., SF, CA 94109 or via email to slutz@baaqmd.gov.

What will it take to make you angry enough to get involved?

email us anytime you have questions, comments, concerns, or are ready to take the next step.

WestBerkeleyAlliance@Yahoo.com

Este es el documento que identifica a nuestra organizacion. (Identity Statement in Spanish and English)

Este es el documento que identifica a nuestra organizacion. Dice quienes somos y por que nos hemos formado.

Alianza de West Berkeley para Aire Limpio y Empleos Seguros
West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs

La Alianza es una nueva organizacion de vecinos, negocios y varias organizaciones en Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito y Kensington que tratan de preservar los empleos saludables en West Berkeley/ East Bay mientras se esfuerza para mantener limpio el aire.

aliado. s.1. Una persona, un grupo o un estado que se junta a otro u otros para la ayuda mutua o para lograr una meta comun.

La Responsabilidad Industrial: Creemos que las industrias locales forman una parte vital de nuestra economia regional y queremos mantener la produccion industrial y los empleos seguros en nuestra comunidad. Esperamos que la industria haga todo lo posible para no prejudicar la salud y la seguridad de la gente. La responsabilidad de esto esta en las manos de los gerentes y los duenos, y no debe ser unicamente la responsabilidad de los trabajadores y la gente de los barrios.

La responsabilidad de las Agencias: Siendo residentes, negocios y organizaciones localescreemos que nuestras agencias, establecidas para proteger a la comunidad de los abusos de nuestros recursos, han de realizar sus cargos de la manera mas responsable. Estamos aqui para asegurar que hagan todo lo posible para proteger a cada ciudadano, y que no se rindan a la presion economica, asi perjudicando la salud de la comunidad.

"Keep it in my Back Yard" (KIIMBY---Mantenganlo aqui, en casa) Creemos en el lema "KIIMBY"---mantener la industria local y los empleos aqui, en vez de en otro sitio. Nos oponemos a la relocacion de procesos industriales toxicos a otra region u otro pais, prejudicando asi el medio ambiente de otro lugar y resultando en la perdida de empleos aqui.

Proteger los Empleos y La Salud: Creemos que todos en la comunidad tienen derecho a la buena salud, un medio ambiente limpio, y un lugar de empleo saludable. No aceptamos la idea de que o podemos tener industrias y desarrollo o podemos tener un medio ambiente saludable. Queremos los dos!

Actividades Actuales: El enfoque primario de la Alianza es identificar y eliminar el humo toxico que sale de los procesos de Pacific Steel Casting Company, asegurando el derecho de cada ciudadano de saber que peligros quimicos hay en el aire y asegurando a la vez que el Comite del Bay Area de la calidad del aire cumpla con su mision de protegernos del aire nocivo y peligroso.


West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs

The Alliance is a newly forming network of neighbors; businesses; and environmental, social justice, and children’s organizations in Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, and Kensington allied to preserve safe jobs here in West Berkeley and the East Bay while preventing noxious pollution.

al·ly (e-li’) n. 1. a person, group, or state that is joined in an association with another or others for mutual help and support or for the achievement of a common purpose.

Industrial Responsibility
We believe that local industries are a vital part of our regional economy and want to keep industrial production and safe jobs in our community. We expect industry to act as good neighbors and do everything in their power to ensure that production processes do not negatively impact workers or residents. The burden of this responsibility should fall on the ownership and management of industry, not on workers, residents, or our common resources like air and water.

Agency Accountability
As local residents, businesses, and organizations we believe our government agencies, established to protect the community from abuses of our common resources, should perform their duty to the highest standard. We are committed to ensuring that they adequately respond to community concerns, proactively operate to protect the health and safety of residents and workers, and ethically refuse to bow to political and economic pressure against the interests of the greater community.

Community Organizing
We believe that community members, local business and agencies must work together to ensure that our public agencies and local industries perform their mission and act as good neighbors. Open community dialogue and sharing of information and resources are critical to our success.

“Keep It in My Back Yard” (KIIMBY)
We take a “Keep It In My Back Yard” approach to keep jobs local and the environmental and social responsibility for products we use close to home. We oppose the relocation of toxic industrial processes to another region or country, where other local communities will be impacted and good jobs will be lost in our community.

Protect Jobs and Health
We believe everyone in the community has the right to good health, a clean environment, and a safe workplace. We denounce the false dichotomy promoted by industry that we can either have jobs and economic development or we can have a safe and healthy environment. We demand all of these.

Current Activities
Our primary focus at the Alliance is identifying and eliminating the toxic and nuisance fugitive fumes from Pacific Steel Casting Company’s production processes, upholding the public’s (workers’ and community’s) Right-To-Know about chemical hazards they are exposed to, and ensuring the Bay Area Air Quality Management District fulfills its commitment to achieving clean air to protect the public’s health and the environment.


West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs
http://westberkeleyalliance.blogspot.com/
510.558.8757
WestBerkeleyAlliance@Yahoo.com

Recent Alliance letter published in the Berkeley Daily Planet

Commentary: West Berkeley Odors Mandate Comprehensive Tests By DAVID SCHROEDER
On behalf of the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs, I would like to respond to Matthew Artz’s Aug. 5 article, “City, Pacific Steel Will Study Noxious West Berkeley Odor,” and to Tom McGuire’s Aug. 9 letter to the editor about Pacific Steel’s “daily emissions of toxic effluvia,” as Mr. McGuire eloquently puts it. The West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs builds on the more than 25-year history of community action regarding Pacific Steel Casting Company’s pollution. We are everyday people in Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito and Kensington concerned about the quality of life, the impact on workers at Pacific Steel and other local businesses, the risk to children in nearby childcare centers and schools, the risks to pregnant women and their unborn, the risk to elders and those with compromised immune systems, and the danger to the environment.

We have had experiences with the acrid burning pot handle/burning brake odor very much like Mr. McGuire’s. Some of us had the means to move out of the area, while others had to close our doors and windows, trying to coexist with the odorous pollution. Some of us experience difficulty breathing, headaches, nausea, and throat/eye irritation when we are exposed to Pacific Steel’s emissions. Some of us suffer from asthma, other respiratory illnesses and cancer.

We believe that Pacific Steel Castings and other local industries must take full responsibility for their production, keeping the air clean and jobs safe. We denounce the false dichotomy advocated by industry that we can either have job creation and economic development or we can have a safe environment. We can have both, and the financial and technical burden of this responsibility should fall to the owners and managers of industry, not to the workers, neighbors, or tax payers. We take a Keep It In My Back Yard (KIIMBY) approach, advocating for industry to be responsible employers and good neighbors. We want the facilities to stay here and clean up, keeping decent jobs local and preventing dirty industries from running away to pollute elsewhere.

Although we were able to address the problem well over 15 years ago when the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Hearing Board (at our behest) forced Pacific Steel to mitigate emissions from plants 1 and 2 (but not plant 3) with pollution control equipment, fugitive emissions continued to escape. Pacific Steel’s production has increased, and the odor is as bad as ever. Over the odor’s decades-long history, authorities have responded with too little, too late.

We have been imploring the Air District, the City of Berkeley, and Pacific Steel to undertake a comprehensive and well-conducted Health Risk Assessment (HRA). When the Air District decided (after receiving many community odor complaints) that the HRA had to be done by Pacific Steel, the Alliance pushed the Air District and the City to improve the HRA protocols and plan. It is a perversion of our public regulatory agencies’ responsibilities to have a known violator hire its own consultants to study its own emissions. This is the job of our public regulators and the scientists we pay with public money. They should be protecting us, but are not.

Initially, there was to be no public input in the HRA process, and data in the health risk assessment was to include 1989 statistics. However, the West Berkeley Alliance has urged the city to intervene, providing public review and requiring testing of all sources of emissions. The city has apparently been successful in getting these interventions inserted into the process, and has received assurances form Pacific Steel that they will fund additional studies not required by the Air District. Unfortunately, the Air District and the city have not solved the problem in the past and thus far have not been extremely forthcoming with initiative and information. This leaves many people in the alliance wondering if the public will ever have full access to all of the information and decision-making in the HRA process, and in the overall resolution of this problem.

Therefore, the West Berkeley Alliance is conducting its own testing. Community members, without government or industry assistance, have been trained to use state-of-the-art air sampling devices to gather data. This testing is laborious and expensive, but provides results independent of the Air District and Pacific Steel’s consultants.

We are still hopeful that the City of Berkeley, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and Pacific Steel Casting Company will step up and protect the health of workers and residents. The West Berkeley Alliance encourages the city to initiate a comprehensive neighborhood health survey, conducted by the county and state departments of health, with community oversight. The alliance urges the Air District to follow its regulations, to thoroughly and continuously enforce permit to operate conditions, and to constantly monitor all of Pacific Steel’s sources of emissions until the pollution problem is mitigated. We believe that on behalf of workers, the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics, and Allied Workers International Local 164-B should demand that OSHA conduct a longitudinal health study of the workers’ long term and chronic health issues. Lastly, we hope Pacific Steel will protect its workers and the community by installing necessary pollution controls to eliminate all toxic and nuisance emissions.

To reach our goals, we are educating the public about the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and how to call in odor nuisance complaints to the Air District. Any time (24 hours a day) anyone experiences an odor nuisance in the Bay Area they should call 1-800-334-6367 and make a complaint.

We haven’t exhausted our ideas for cleaning the air and preserving safe and healthy jobs, and we are always open to public input and new members. We invite Mr. McGuire, and everyone else impacted, to join the West Berkeley Alliance: 558-8757, or westberkeleyalliance@yahoo.com. Or go to our website: http://westberkeleyalliance.blogspot.com for ongoing updates.


David Schroeder is a member of the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs.

Re: The meeting with Linda Maio

(email to Alliance members)

Hi,

It was great to see so many of you at the meeting last week with Linda
Maio. We saturated the audience and were knowledgeable and organized.
I think we made a strong impression on Linda, Brad (her assistant), and
Nabil (the city toxics manager), and the other audience members.

Our message is clear: We are concerned about the odor nuisance and the health risks to PSC workers, local businesses, children, pregnant women as well as other community members. These particulates and odorous emissions are a health hazard.

Our plan continues to be putting pressure on the city to stay in the loop,
and to educate the public about the nuisance and health impacts of Pacific
Steel, and to call in complaints when the air stinks, as well as to continue
to research our legal and legislative options.

Your involvement continues to be crucial.

Calling in complaints (and teaching others about the process) is essential because the Air District will not pursue PSC and the odor nuisance if
called complaints diminish.

In THEIR minds...NO complaints means there is NO problem.

We need to continue to reach out to more people...workers, church's, and community leaders.. with our clear message:

We want Pacific Steel to be a completely safe place to work, and we want the neighborhood free of hazardous emissions and odors.

We are several hundred strong now, but have not yet reached critical mass. Who could you contact today...a family member, a friend, a business acquaintance? You probably know someone who could help.

If you want to work in a particular area...media, science, legal, outreach
or can donate any time our money, please let us know. We are organizing
those groups during the next two tweeks and will keep you posted.

This is a critical time because plans are being made by PSC, the air
district, and the city for the upcoming studies, samples, and reporting.

We want to have a say in the entire process. Our voices are being heard, but
we need to get even louder.

Last night's meeting reminded many of us how important independent testing
will be. The Alliance has begun independent testing, and that's going to take money.

Basic tests cost around $100 each. More sophisticated tests are $500 and up.
And we will need a couple dozen tests to gather a strong body of evidence
to make our case.

Please talk to your neighbors, co-workers, boss, and neighborhood associations, and consider donating for one test. The Alliance will help you coordinate and share this important data. Together, it will make a difference.

Please do whatever you can to help. Volunteer anyway you want. Work with
others or independently and reach out to neighbors and friends...and please
let us know what you are doing and what you think of the process so far.

Is there something you think we should be doing? Let us know!

Is there something you want your elected officials to do? Let them know!

Want to send Pacific Steel an email or give them a call to tell them we
want to work with them to protect the workers and clean the air for
everyone?

1333 Second Street, Berkeley, California 94710
Telephone: 510.525.9200 Fax: 510.524.4673
http://www.pacificsteel.com/

Chris Chan (Pacific Steel's environmental engineer)
Her email and number is cchan@pacificsteel.com (510) 558-2256

How about Mayor Tom Bates or one of the city council members?

Berkeley City Council and Mayor
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/Elected/default.htm

Berkeley City Council Member Linda Maio
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/council1/

Linda Maio's Pacific Steel Page
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/council1/psc.htm

Albany's Mayor and City Council
http://www.albanyca.org/gov/city_council.html

California State Government...with links on the left
to health and safety and the environment and natural resources
http://www.statelocalgov.net/state-ca.htm

Want to check out the consulting firm Pacific Steel is hiring to do the
study?

http://www.erm.com

Want to check out the PR/consulting firm Pacific Steel hired to protect
them...You might be surprised at who is working for them...

http://www.ajepartners.com/

This is former State Assembly member and former Chief of Staff to Mayor Tom
Bates, Dion Aroner's company! (doesn't it make you wonder about which way
the wind blows and what really stinks?)

Good luck, stay in touch, and do good work.


ag, gk


p.s. Do you want to start meeting regularly in your own groups...for an hour every other week? Let me know what days and times work best for you and I will try to set a time that is convenient for as many as possible.

____________________________________________________

West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs
http://westberkeleyalliance.blogspot.com/
510.558.8757
WestBerkeleyAlliance@Yahoo.com

We are a community organization open to anyone who is concerned about clean
air and safe jobs in West Berkeley. Please contact us today for more
information!

THIS WEEK! Community meeting Wed., Aug. 10th, 7pm

Berkeley City Councilmember Linda Maio is holding a community meeting

Wednesday, August 10th, 7pm
James Kenney Recreation Center
1720 Eighth Street

What questions do YOU want answered...

What exactly causes the odor in this neighborhood?

Why is the public being EXCLUDED from most of the Health Risk Assessment protocol process? Will our recommendations be put into action?

What plans does the City have to test the air? Test the factory emissions?
Survey residents and workers about health issues, etc.?

What is the City doing to protect workers and residents (and why has it taken so long)?

What are the dangers and health risks associated with the air in impacted neighborhoods?

How will they make sure the public is allowed sufficient input into all of the processes dealing with the odor and health risks?

Why is there so little public information?

Why is it so hard to file an air quality complaint and get it confirmed?

Bring your questions and demand answers!

In fact, if you EMAIL me your questions to WestBerkeleyAlliance@Yahoo.com, I will put them all together and present them to Linda Maio!

The Alliance will also be holding a short 15-minute meeting IMMEDIATELY AFTEWARDS.
Everyone is welcome.

All the documents you want...UPDATED

If you want us to send you any of the documents below, just send us anemail WestBerkeleyAlliance@Yahoo.com with your specific request.

Alliance Identity Statement
Alliance List of Requests
Health Effects of Toxins released by Pacific Steel
How to Make an Air Quality Complaint
History of the PSC Issue
Alliance Brochure
Letter to Alliance Members
List of nearby organizations negatively affected by Pacific Steel
Picture of Pacific Steel from the air!

If you read only one thing...READ THIS

Chronology of Pacific Steel Casting, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and Neighbors for Clean Air History
1980 - 2005

By the Neighbors’ Historical Research Team

Pacific Steel Casting Company (PSC) and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) have been at odds with neighbors for years. This is partially because of PSC’s uncooperativeness and foul emissions, and partly because of BAAQMD’s impenetrable bureaucracy and nearly unusable complaints policy.
Neighbors have long known that PSC’s burning pot handle/burning brake odor is attributed to the known carcinogens Phenol and Formaldehyde, as well as various hydrocarbons, heavy metals, particulates, and other potentially dangerous substances. Although they have complained and organized to have the emissions filtered out of the air, the odors are a recurring nightmare for residents in El Cerrito, Albany, Berkeley, and Kensington for the past 25 or more years. Neighbors won some partial victories in the early 1990s forcing PSC to install some equipment to clean up the air, however the issues were not fully addressed and the odor nuisance continues.
When they made complaints to BAAQMD, the neighbors were confronted with bureaucratic sluggishness, inspectors discouraging them from complaining about PSC, red tape, and policies overwhelmingly favoring industry. The complaints policy is a case in point. To make a complaint, residents must first discover what agency to call about the stink. After inquiring at federal, state, and local government institutions, perusing the phone book, and searching the Internet, they may learn about BAAQMD. Then they must call the complaint number (1-800-334-6367) and describe the specific odor they smell.
If the complaint is made between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., an inspector may come to their homes/workplaces to try to confirm the smell. This can take 30 minutes to one hour or more depending on where the inspector is at the time the complaint is phoned in. The complainant must be present when the inspector arrives. They must still smell the odor when the inspector arrives and tries to sniff out the smell. If both complainant and inspector are able to smell the odor, the inspector confirms the complaint by linking the odor to its precise source in a specific process in a certain industrial plant. Five different households, or five people at a workplace, must have their complaints confirmed by an inspector within a 24-hour period before a notice of violation can be issued to the offending company.
PSC’s emissions move in the ambient air. Depending upon the wind direction, the odor can be smelled intermittently. The odor may drift elsewhere before an inspector shows up. If the complaint is called in after regular work hours at BAAQMD, it is recorded and registered the next day. No confirmation can be made at that time. If ten people call in, an inspector could be dispatched after hours, and confirmed complaints could be filed.
A lawyer for PSC said that neighbors were concerned with the odor and the effect it might have on the value of their homes. Neighbors contend they are variously concerned about quality of life, the impact on local businesses and jobs (including those of PSC workers), the risk to children in nearby childcare centers and schools, pregnant women’s (and their babies’) safety, the health of elders and environmentally susceptible community members, and danger to the environment. A Berkeley activist called for publicly accessible, independent, comprehensive testing for health and environment effects of all of PSC’s emissions (odorous and odorless). In the following account, culled primarily from oral histories and years worth of clippings from periodicals, we chronicle strong resistance by PSC and BAAQMD to a comprehensive, transparent and responsive air analysis and cleanup process.
Chronology: PSC, BAAQMD & NCA ~ 1980 – 2005

1934 Pacific Steel Casting Company (PSC) was founded in West Berkeley. The company makes technology for pumps and valves, oil fields, construction equipment, trucks, military, industrial, and mining applications.

1975 Neighbors began to reflect on the smell from PSC’s new foundry processes.

1980 Robert Humphreys, City of Berkeley zoning officer, determined an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) would not be required for the construction of PSC’s third plant. This was because PSC had assured him that the new operation would produce “no increase in odors.”

1981 Berkeley neighbors began to organize around a burning pot handle/burning brake smell that emanated from PSC in West Berkeley. Neighbors learned to call the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) to make complaints about the odor nuisance from PSC.

PSC received notices of violation from BAAQMD for creating an odor nuisance due to many confirmed complaints from residents of Berkeley.

The grassroots neighborhood organization Neighbors for Clean Air (NCA) was formed. NCA approached BAAQMD, the Berkeley City Council, the State Department of Health, and the City Board of Adjustments to deal with the issues of odor nuisance and possible health risks from emissions at PSC.

Hearings were held at different agencies but, due to postponements and cancellations of nine hearing dates, no definite action took place.

1982 Due to continued citizen complaints, BAAQMD scheduled a test to determine the source of PSC’s emissions.

PSC was issued numerous notices of violation from BAAQMD for odor nuisance.

The Berkeley City Council and the Board of Adjustments held public hearings regarding PSC odors, but deferred to BAAQMD.

After receiving 107 confirmed complaints, the BAAQMD air pollution control officer filed for a public hearing before the BAAQMD hearing board (the judicial branch of the air district).

District inspectors and consultants gave expert testimony, and residents testified about PSC’s odor nuisance. Throughout the hearing, PSC denied it was responsible for the odor.

The BAAQMD hearing board issued a conditional order of abatement against Pacific Steel Casting Company, listing steps PSC must take to end the pollution. PSC was to return to the board a month later with very specific plans and a schedule for ending the release of its emissions.

1983 In January, PSC hired a $500 per day expert on foundries, Richard Duffee, to address the odor problem. He advised the erection of an 85-foot stack on plant two, and ducts in parts of plant two and three to solve the odor nuisance. The noxious odor then spread as far as Grizzly Peak in the Berkeley Hills.

In response to PSC’s prolonged foot-dragging, the hearing board prepared an unconditional order of abatement, the most serious type of order.

PSC’s lawyer from Joseph Alioto’s law firm immediately filed a petition in Superior Court to have the order of abatement overturned. This attempt failed.

PSC was compelled to install an extensive ventilation system as well as scrubbers. PSC’s hired expert then advised adding a condenser.

1984 Thus far, PSC had been fined $40000 and been forced to pay none of it. The odor returned to Berkeley, Albany, Kensington and El Cerrito neighborhoods. More confirmed complaints were tallied against PSC. More hearings were held. PSC was ordered to install a carbon filtration system within eight months.

After still more hearings, in December, the BAAQMD hearing board issued an unconditional order of abatement, which stated that PSC must cease and desist emitting odors from its plants or face fines and possible closure.

1985 The unconditional order of abatement went into effect in January. BAAQMD took PSC to Alameda County Superior Court to force the industry to adhere to its unconditional order of abatement and stop polluting the air.

1990 There were 630 complaints made against PSC in this year alone.

1991 There were 142 complaints against PSC.

1998 Meanwhile, PSC received two loans and bought and installed a Calcifire Thermal Sand Reclamation System to reuse the 5,500 tons of sand PSC uses in its casting process. Some observers called it an incinerator. No environmental impact report (EIR) process was conducted before the installation and no notice for public review was given, violating the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

PSC (and the city of Berkeley) received an award from the California Association for Local Economic Development – announced in time for Earth Day – for installing the sand reclamation system.

1999 Between 1994 and 1999, the public had made 190 complaints, 27 of which were confirmed complaints. No notices of violation were issued. By the nineties, the bureaucratic complaint policies of BAAQMD had thoroughly frustrated longtime residents who had routinely called in complaints. Many stopped complaining by 1999. Many had moved out of the area.

Residents new to the community did not know the source of the distinctive odor or whom to call about the smell. BAAQMD still had not effectively publicized the phone number for complaints. Some BAAQMD inspectors continued to discourage residents who tried to complain about or organize against PSC emissions.

PSC requested that BAAQMD lift the unconditional order of abatement against it that had been in effect for fourteen years.

2000 In March a BAAQMD hearing was held to decide whether to lift the unconditional abatement order against Pacific Steel Casting Company. Public notice was only given via the Oakland Tribune.

Residents who attended the hearing voiced concerns about the odor nuisance as well as public health and the environmental risks of the sand-recycling unit. They were told the hearing board could only deal with the public nuisance issue (odor complaints).

The hearing board took citizens’ concerns into account. The board slammed the district’s complaint policies as well as the district’s method of determining a violation. Because such policy concerns are outside its jurisdiction, the hearing board was powerless to change BAAQMD policy. It was not powerless with regard to the abatement order.

Only one member of the hearing board wrote a dissenting opinion against lifting the unconditional order of abatement. The order, which required that PSC cease and desist emission of its odor nuisance or face fines and possible closure, was lifted.

2001 There were 18 complaints made to BAAQMD against PSC.

2003 There were 49 complaints made.

2004 There were 112 complaints made.

2005 In April, seven odor complaints confirmed by a district inspector resulted in a notice of violation against PSC. BAAQMD transferred its inspector to a different beat. Pacific Steel Casting Company had topped the air district’s complaint list in Berkeley every year since 2000. After the past 25 years of neighbor complaints, the emissions from the third unit at PSC were still unfiltered and about half of the emissions from the second unit were unfiltered. PSC’s environmental engineer said PSC would not act until BAAQMD found the source of the odor.

Also in April, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and City Councilmember Linda Maio’s aide held a town hall meeting. Over 70 people attended. The main topic was the continued community concern about PSC.
Sources

Albert, Marc. “Activist Demands Scrutiny of Foundry.” The Berkeley Voice, May 27, 1999.
Artz, Matthew. “Pacific Steel Cited for Noxious Odor After Neighbors Complain.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, April 1-4, 2005.
Artz, Matthew. “West Berkeley Meeting Addresses Pacific Steel Odor.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, April 19-21, 2005.
Buel, Stephen. “Steelcasting [sic] Firm Notified of Foul Odor.” The Berkeley Gazette, December 4, 1981.
Buel, Stephen. “Foundry Says it’s Cleaned up its Act.” The Berkeley Gazette, January, 1982.
Buel, Stephen. “Big Stink About Foundry Leads to Permit Hearing.” The Berkeley Gazette, February 11, 1982.
Burress, Charles. “Berkeley Factory Battle.” The San Francisco Examiner, November 28, 1982.
Burress, Charles. “Steel Plant is Ordered to Eliminate ‘Burning Pot Handle’ Odors.” The San Francisco Examiner, August 26, 1983.
Contini, Nora. “Workers and Neighbors.” Grassroots, February 24-March 9, 1982.
Contini, Nora. “West Berkeley Odor Hearing.” Grassroots, May, 1982.
Davis, Gerald. “Berkeley Foundry Ordered to Clean Up Act.” The Oakland Tribune, August 25, 1983.
Diringer, Elliot. “Berkeley Foundry Told to Stop Fumes.” The San Francisco Chronicle, December 31, 1984.
Ewell, Miranda. “Cry Foul.” The Montclarion, December 1, 1982.
Fu, Christine. “City Council Calls for Inquiry Into Local Steel Plant’s Emissions.” The Daily Californian, September 16, 1999.
Ginsburg, Marsha. “Residents Fume Over Foundry Odors.” The San Francisco Examiner, October 5, 1984.
Hawkridge, John. “Noxious Odors.” [Letter to the editor]. The Berkeley Daily Planet, April 30-May 3, 2004.
Hawley, Robert. [Letter to the editor]. The Berkeley Gazette, December 3, 1982.
Holloway, Peter. “Bad Air in Berkeley?” The Berkeley Council of Neighborhood Associations, March, 1982.
Holloway, Peter J. [Letter to the editor]. The Berkeley Gazette, December, 1982.
Hughes, Charles V. [Letter to the editor]. The Berkeley Gazette, December, 1982.
Jones, Will. “Court Requested to Order Foundry to Stop Nasty Odor.” The Oakland Tribune, March 12, 1985.
MacClarin, Wanda. “Clean Air Group Objects to Odor from Foundry.” The Oakland Tribune, February 11, 1982.
Manning, Stephanie. [Letter to the editor]. The Berkeley Gazette, December, 1982.
Matthews, Karen. “Pacific Steel Must Clean Up Plant Odors.” The Berkeley Gazette, August 25, 1983.
Matthews, Karen. “Tentative Truce On Odors.” The Berkeley Gazette, August 27, 1983.
McGrath, Mike. “Foundry Still Stinks, Residents Tell Council.” The Berkeley Gazette, November 26, 1982.
Nakashima, Ellen. “Hearings Begin Over Foul West Berkeley Odor.” The Daily Californian, October 3, 1984.
Nakashima, Ellen. “West Berkeley Odor May Be Eliminated.” The Daily Californian, November 30, 1984.
Nakashima, Ellen. “Factory Must Stop Odors, Board Tells Berkeley Plant.” [Unknown Publication], December 19, 1984.
O’Toole, Kathy. “Berkeley Foundry Told to Stop Odor.” The Oakland Tribune, December 19, 1984.
Ross, Andrew. “Plant Has Fresh Plan to End Its Foul Fumes.” The San Francisco Examiner, November 28, 1984.
Scherr, Judith. “Neighbors Raise Stink Over Odors.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, June 13, 1999.
Scherr, Judith. “Odor Debate Lingers.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, July 13, 1999.
Scherr Judith. “Pacific Steel Casting Remains Under Scrutiny.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, September 21, 1999.
Scherr, Judith. “Emissions Debate Nears End.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, September 23, 1999.
Scherr, Judith. “Pacific Steel Castings [title partially destroyed].” The Berkeley Daily Planet, November 3, 1999.
Scherr, Judith. “Air Quality Board Considers Pacific Steel Castings’ Case.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, January 5, 2000.
Scherr, Judith. “Foundry Continues to Concern Neighbors.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, March 17, 2000.
Scherr, Judith. “Odorous Order: Air Quality Board Places New Conditions On Foundry.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, January 10, 2000.
Schroeder, Janice. “Neighbors Say Stop Stink” [letter to the editor]. Grassroots, January 12-25, 1983.
Schroeder, Janice. “Response to Steel Firm’s Suit” [letter to the editor]. The Berkeley Gazette, March 24, 1983.
Schroeder, Janice. “Do Not Pass Go” [letter to the editor]. The East Bay Express, July 8, 1983.
Schroeder, Janice. “Oceanview Neighbors Win Big: Pacific Steel Ordered to Clean Up Their Act” [letter to the editor]. Grassroots, September 14-27, 1983.
Schroeder, Janice. “Air of Victory” [letter to the editor]. The East Bay Express, September 16, 1983.
Steel Founders’ Society of America. “Steel Foundry Detailed Information: Pacific Steel Casting Company.” 1995-2005. http//:www.sfsa.org/dir/lookup.php3?clink=269
Thompson, Chris. “West Berkeley Development Woes.” The East Bay Express, May 7, 1999.
Toczynski, Terry. “Factory Smell Annoys W. Berkeley Residents.” The Daily Californian, February 10, 1982.
Ture, Martha E. “The Pollution Game” The East Bay Express, Vol. 5, No. 35, June 24, 1983.
Ture, Martha E. “The Environment 1984.” The East Bay Express, December 21, 1984.
. “Pacific Steel Sues to Block Clean-Up Order.” The Berkeley Gazette, March 11, 1983.
[Unknown Title]. The Berkeley Voice, August 31, 1983.
. “Pollution In N.W. Berkeley Protested.” Grassroots, October 10, 1984.
. “Carcinogens In NW Berk Air.” Ecology Newsletter, November, 1984.
. “David vs. Goliath: Air Pollution Battle in Berkeley.” The Sierra Club Yodeler, December, 1984.
. “New Order to Stop West Berkeley Stink.” Grassroots, January 9, 1985.
. “Consultants – the New Anti-Labor Goons.” Grassroots, January 24, 1985.
. “Berkeley Business Briefs.” The Berkeley Voice, May 7, 1998.
Wood, LA. “Shut Down Incinerator.” The Berkeley Voice, June 10, 1999.
Wood, LA. “Air Quality Battle in Oceanview.” The Berkeley Voice, September 9, 1999.
Wood, LA. “Berkeley’s Odious Burnt Pot Handle Smell.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, March 28-31, 2005.
Wood, LA. “Berkeley’s Insidious Incinerator.” The Berkeley Daily Planet, April 19-21, 2005.




West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs
(Mission and Identity Statement)

The Alliance is a newly forming network of neighbors; businesses; and environmental, social justice, and children’s organizations in Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, and Kensington allied to preserve safe jobs here in West Berkeley and the East Bay while preventing noxious pollution.

al·ly (e-li’) n. 1. a person, group, or state that is joined in an association with another or others for mutual help and support or for the achievement of a common purpose.

Industrial Responsibility
We believe that local industries are a vital part of our regional economy and want to keep industrial production and safe jobs in our community. We expect industry to act as good neighbors and do everything in their power to ensure that production processes do not negatively impact workers or residents. The burden of this responsibility should fall on the ownership and management of industry, not on workers, residents, or our common resources like air and water.

Agency Accountability
As local residents, businesses, and organizations we believe our government agencies, established to protect the community from abuses of our common resources, should perform their duty to the highest standard. We are committed to ensuring that they adequately respond to community concerns, proactively operate to protect the health and safety of residents and workers, and ethically refuse to bow to political and economic pressure against the interests of the greater community.

Community Organizing
We believe that community members, local business and agencies must work together to ensure that our public agencies and local industries perform their mission and act as good neighbors. Open community dialogue and sharing of information and resources are critical to our success.

“Keep It in My Back Yard” (KIIMBY)
We take a “Keep It In My Back Yard” approach to keep jobs local and the environmental and social responsibility for products we use close to home. We oppose the relocation of toxic industrial processes to another region or country, where other local communities will be impacted and good jobs will be lost in our community.

Protect Jobs and Health
We believe everyone in the community has the right to good health, a clean environment, and a safe workplace. We denounce the false dichotomy promoted by industry that we can either have jobs and economic development or we can have a safe and healthy environment. We demand all of these.

Current Activities
Our primary focus at the Alliance is identifying and eliminating the toxic and nuisance fugitive fumes from Pacific Steel Casting Company’s production processes, upholding the public’s (workers’ and community’s) Right-To-Know about chemical hazards they are exposed to, and ensuring the Bay Area Air Quality Management District fulfills its commitment to achieving clean air to protect the public’s health and the environment.

Send us your complaints...COMMUNITY REPORTED DATA

This post will include your reports of odors and pollution coming from Pacific Steel.
This is only a PARTIAL list.There have been HUNDREDS of complaints attributed to PSC within the past 12 months...Lets keep the pressure on!

Email your reports/complaints to WestBerkeleyAlliance@Yahoo.com

Date Time Complaint (ID) Address/neighborhood Notes

8.17.05 10pm Complaint called in (K) Harrison and Kains
8.17.05 4pm Complaint called in (P) Ward and San Pablo
8.12.05 8am Confirmed complaint (K)
8.4.05 12:30 Complaint called in (A) 4th and Camelia
8.2.05 2pm Complaint called in (A) Camelia
8.2.05 2pm Confirmed complaint (A) 6th and Camelia
8.2.05 2pm Confirmed complaint (P) 6th and Camelia
8.2.05 10am Complaint called in (D) 4th and Camelia
7.11.05 11am Complaint called in (K) Harrison and Kains

Please call 1.800.334.6367 EVERY TIME you are bothered by the smell....and ask for an inspector to confirm the complaint.