The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control Board will hold its regular monthly meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, in the Board Room, 850 Barret Avenue, Louisville. The Board invites the public to attend.

Meeting Agenda

1.    Call to Order

A.    Recognition of Quorum

2.    Introductions – Daniel Durrett, Air Pollution Tech II; Deborah Vavrek, Air Pollution Tech II; and Stewart McCollam, Engineer I

3.    Approval of Minutes – Public Hearing <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/CE7D2F5A-DCD3-4BBA-AD76-D4FE27F546F8/0/BoardPublicHearingMinutes2009_10_21.pdf>  and regular Board meeting <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/4CF41DD3-6F08-4C80-A9C3-30EA33069078/0/BoardMeetingMinutes2009_10_21.pdf>  on October 21, 2009

4.    Public Comment <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/APCD/Calendar/20091118BoardMeeting.htm#a1> [1]

5.    Unfinished Business

6.    New Business

7.    Committee Reports

8.    Staff Reports

•    Director
•    Air Quality Data <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/DCB19A4F-F70D-464A-AF34-E8DD0D59E640/0/AirQualityReport2009_10.pdf> 
•   Enforcement <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/23993C7D-4B88-4CA6-87E5-D7BDBC6FB8C8/0/EnforcementStatus2009_11_12.pdf>  Status Report
•   Excess Emission <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/B2CD12C1-1423-4B1E-AA9E-0D396E46F126/0/ExcessEmissionEventReports2009_10.pdf>  Report
•    Permit <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/21E3D8A2-72C3-4E66-BDCE-94627AAC1055/0/PermitApplicationReport2009_10.pdf>  Application Report
•    Lawn Care <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1C6892AF-3E5C-45E9-B68D-1E61AF2CF570/0/LCCAReport2009_11.pdf>  for Cleaner Air Awards

 9.    Adjourn

 

You can download this agenda in PDF format <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/ADE7B7EE-359C-4605-96BD-DBA818E9CEB3/0/BoardMeetingAgenda2009_11_18.pdf> .

 

The next Board Meeting is  <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/APCD/Calendar/20091216BoardMeeting.htm> Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.

 

1 This is a regularly scheduled agenda item to give individuals and organizations an opportunity to address the Board on air pollution issues. Presentations shall be limited to two minutes, except that the Board Chair may, for cause, allow three minutes. Persons wishing to address the Board shall notify Joseph <http://www.louisvilleky.gov/APCD/EMailExecAdmininistrator.htm>  Schweinhart, Secretary/Treasurer (502‑574‑5145) and submit a completed speaker’s registration card to the Secretary-Treasurer before 10:00 a.m. of the day of the Board meeting.

Kentucky is 3rd biggest coal producing state in country.

Kentucky is the third largest coal-producing State, after Wyoming and West Virginia. It accounts for roughly one-tenth of total U.S. coal production and nearly one-fourth of U.S. coal production east of the Mississippi River.

Although all Kentucky coal is bituminous, its sulfur content varies across the Commonwealth. Coal produced in the Central Appalachian Basin is low in sulfur, while coal produced in the Illinois Basin is high in sulfur.

Nearly one-third of all the coal mines in the Nation are found in Kentucky, more than in any other State. Kentucky has both surface and underground coal mines.

 Large volumes of coal move into and out of Kentucky by railcar and river barge. Kentucky delivers approximately three fourths of State coal production to more than two dozen States, most of which are on the East Coast and in the Midwest.

 Nearly 95 percent of the coal used in Kentucky is burned for electricity generation, and most of the remainder is used in industrial and coke plants.

A new EPA study shows concentrations of toxic chemicals in fish tissue from lakes and reservoirs in nearly all 50 U.S. states. For the first time, EPA is able to estimate the percentage of lakes and reservoirs nationwide that have fish containing potentially harmful levels of chemicals such as mercury and PCBs.

The data showed mercury concentrations in game fish exceeding EPA’s recommended levels at 49 percent of lakes and reservoirs nationwide, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in game fish at levels of potential concern at 17 percent of lakes and reservoirs. These findings are based on a comprehensive national study using more data on levels of contamination in fish tissue than any previous study.

Burning fossil fuels, primarily coal, accounts for nearly half of mercury air emissions caused by human activity in the U.S., and those emissions are a significant contributor to mercury in water bodies. From 1990 through 2005, emissions of mercury into the air decreased by 58 percent. EPA is committed to developing a new rule to substantially reduce mercury emissions from power plants, and the Obama Administration is actively supporting a new international agreement that will reduce mercury emissions worldwide.

The study also confirms the widespread occurrence of PCBs and dioxins in fish, illustrating the need for federal, state and local government to continue efforts to reduce the presence of these harmful chemicals in our lakes and reservoirs and ensure that fish advisory information is readily available.

It is important that women of child-bearing age and children continue to follow the advice of EPA and the Food and Drug Administration on fish consumption as it relates to mercury. This study is also a strong message to state and local governments to redouble their efforts in looking for opportunities to reduce mercury discharges, as well as developing fish advisories, especially to reach those in sensitive and vulnerable populations.

Results from the four-year National Study of Chemical Residues in Lake Fish Tissue show that mercury and PCBs are widely distributed in U.S. lakes and reservoirs. Mercury and PCBs were detected in all of the fish samples collected from the nationally representative sample of 500 lakes and reservoirs in the study. Because these findings apply to fish caught in lakes and reservoirs, it is particularly important for recreational and subsistence fishers to follow their state and local fish advisories.

EPA is conducting other statistically based national aquatic surveys that include assessment of fish contamination, such as the National Rivers and Streams Assessment and the National Coastal Assessment. Sampling for the National Rivers and Streams Assessment is underway, and results from this two-year study are expected to be available in 2011. Collection of fish samples for the National Coastal Assessment will begin in 2010.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fishstudy

U.S. EPA Region 5 reached an agreement with Diamond Hard Chrome Co. Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, for violations of the authorized Ohio Resource Conservation and Recovery Act financial assurance requirements for hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities.

 The chrome plating business has agreed to pay a penalty of $15,000 to settle the violations.  In documents submitted to Ohio EPA, Diamond Hard Chrome filed to close its facility and the company failed to show it had the financial resources or an adequate plan to complete the closure properly and pay for post-closure actions to protect the environment.  

The submittals raised a concern within the state agency that the company might just skip out on its environmental obligations at the hazardous waste site.  As part of the settlement, the company will submit a revised RCRA post-closure plan to Ohio EPA that includes a ground-water monitoring plan with cost estimates and financial assurance. 

No word from US EPA or Ohio EPA if the company actually has real or sufficient money to fund closure activities, long-term groundwater monitoring, or post-closure activities required under RCRA.  Watch for this company to become news in the future on these items, especially if the economy remains in the toilet.

Brown pelican population is recovering under help of Endangered Species Act

The state bird of Louisiana, the Brown Pelican, is being removed from the Endangered Species List.  This event is powerful proof that a healthy coast and strong environmental protections can benefit people and nature alike.

 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the species has sufficiently recovered from the impact of DDT contamination compounded by continuing habitat loss to be taken off the list in areas where it is not already delisted. Populations along the Atlantic Coast, in Florida and Alabama were delisted in 1985.

A poll conducted by Lake Research Partners found Americans very concerned with how chemicals are regulated for consumer use in the U.S. The findings come as overhaul of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) will be introduced soon in both Houses of Congress.

Voters are concerned that, under TSCA, chemicals in existence prior to 1976 were grandfathered in to be used and produced in the U.S. without testing or regulation. (87 percent were somewhat or very concerned). Eighty percent of voters were concerned that the EPA was unsuccessful in banning asbestos under current law. Eighty-four percent were concerned that the EPA has mandated testing of barely 200 out of the over 80,000 chemical on the market since 1976.

Majorities of Democrats, Independents and Republicans say they would support legislation that would take toxic chemicals off the market if they have been detected in babies at birth or in infants, and exposure to other known toxic chemicals, such as formaldehyde, that have been extensively studied, will be reduced to the maximum extent possible.

The poll was commissioned by the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent. The poll was conducted among 1,000 registered voters nationwide Aug. 25 to 31, 2009. More detailed poll results available at www.saferchemicals.org.

US EPA plans to revise the existing standards for water discharges from coal-fired power plants to reduce pollution and better protect America’s water. Wastewater discharged from coal ash ponds, air pollution control equipment, and other equipment at power plants can contaminate drinking water sources, cause fish and other wildlife to die and create other detrimental environmental effects.

Earlier this year, EPA completed a multi-year study of power plant wastewater discharges and concluded that current regulations, which were issued in 1982, have not kept pace with changes that have occurred in the electric power industry over the last three decades.

 Air pollution controls installed to remove pollution from smokestacks have made great strides in cleaning the air people breathe, saving lives and reducing respiratory and other illnesses. However, some of the equipment used to clean air emissions does so by “scrubbing” the boiler exhaust with water, and when the water is not properly managed it sends the pollution to rivers and other waterbodies.

Treatment technologies are available to remove these pollutants before they are discharged to waterways, but these systems have been installed at only a fraction of the power plants.

As part of the multi-year study, EPA measured the pollutants present in the wastewater and reviewed treatment technologies, focusing mostly on coal-fired power plants. Many of the toxic pollutants discharged from these power plants come from coal ash ponds and the flue gas desulfurization systems used to scrub sulfur dioxide from air emissions.

Once the new rule for electric power plants is finalized, EPA and states would incorporate the new standards into wastewater discharge permits.  More information about EPA’s study is provided in an interim report published in August 2008.  

 A final study will be published later this year. More information on wastewater discharges from power plants: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/guide/steam/

U.S. EPA Region 5 settled with Mercury Waste Solutions LLC, Union Grove, Wis., for alleged violations of federal rules on hazardous waste and toxic substances. The company, which recovers and recycles metallic mercury, has agreed to pay a money penalty of $54,000 to settle the violations.

Pursuant to the settlement agreement, the company also completed several projects to address the violations and minimize potential risk including installation of an air scrubber, a mercury monitoring system and an air breathing system that would supply air to employees in case of an incident. In addition, Mercury Waste Solutions upgraded its control system, sealed facility floors and built a training room.

Finally, the settlement resolves allegations that the company violated federal rules on PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) including failure to document PCB storage, prepare spill prevention and control plans, and properly mark the PCB storage area.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to install permanent flood gates at two gaps in the floodwall in Hickman.  For years, city workers in this town on the Kentucky-Tennessee border have had to manually place timbers across the two gaps to keep the Mississippi River at bay during floods. 

This labor intensive method of flood prevention is simply not a good way to do it.  Hickman City Manager Larry Myatt reported that work on the gates could begin as soon as July.

Cat fight with Miss Manchester derails Miss England.

In July 2009, Great Britain crowned 20-year-old Rachel Christie as Miss England during the country’s annual pageant. 

She was supposed to compete for the Miss World crown in Johannesburg in December.  All of her beauty pageant dreams were derailed after she was arrested after a drunken brawl over a muscle-bound man with another beauty queen

Two beauties turned into beasts when a pair of pageant winners had a cat fight in a barroom brawl over a man.  Ms. Christie was stripped of her crown after a blowup in which she was accused of repeatedly smashing Sara Jones, the reigning Miss Manchester, in the face at the bar.

In a press statement released by Miss England organizers, Ms. Christie withdrew as Miss England.  The press release read, in part, “Due to the media attention following the allegations against her, Rachel Christie has now decided to withdraw from the Miss World competition and relinquish her Miss England crown. Rachel will concentrate on clearing her name and focus on training for the 2012 Olympics until this case is resolved.”

Perhaps Ms. Christie needs some time to think about what is really important in life.  I am thinking 30 days in the old slammer will give her some time to sit and think about re-assessing her priorities in life, and how to hold her hot temper.  Of course, she will likely wind up in a wrestling rematch with Miss Manchester on Fox TV instead of realigning her life’s priorities.