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
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
posted by West Berkeley Alliance at 5:35 PM
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