Air Quality Workshop Set for Monday, Dec. 12

An upcoming public forum gives the community an opportunity to weigh in on air quality in Cupertino when the Bay Area Air Quality Management District hosts a workshop at Monday, Dec. 12 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Specifically the workshop is centered on draft Regulation 9, Rule 13 which concerns air emissions—nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and toxic air contaminants—from Portland cement manufacturing, as occurs at the Lehigh Southwest Cement plant just outside Cupertino. Portland cement is commonly referred to as a construction material used to create concrete.

"Lehigh is the single largest source of NOx (nitrogen oxides) in the Bay Area that does not have a modern add-on control device," said Robert Cave, senior air quality specialist with BAAQMD.

BAAQMD is following up on a 2010 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency amendment which seeks to limit air emissions from Portland cement manufacturers—Lehigh is the only such manufacturer in the Bay Area.

The draft rule by BAAQMD is to ensure the agency—and Lehigh—are in compliance with the EPA's air emissions rules due in September 2013.

The proposed rules are meant to consider measures at plants such as Lehigh to mitigate potential emissions that effect public health. Air pollutants emitted from cement manufacturers include carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds, and toxic air contaminants such as ammonia, benzene, hydrochloric acid, dioxins and furans, mercury and other trace minerals, according to BAAQMD.

The proposed rule also considers what Cave called "fugitive dust", that is, dust made up of particulate emission from the plant's kiln, including dust that floats out when cement is poured into bags and when those bags are loaded onto trucks.

"There's a lot of opportunity for dust," Cave said.

Management of that dust includes managing piles of debris and watering down roads, he added.

Additionally, stack height requirement is included in the new rules, Cave said, something pointed out by Lehigh critics such as Bay Area for Clean Environment (BACE) as a concern. Noticeable in old photos is a tall stack that goes missing in modern day photos, conceivably replaced by numerous short stacks on an adjacent building, according to BACE founder Barry Chang. Stack height is important in moving pollutants up into the atmosphere and away from ground level where it has a greater chance of human contact.

Chang is also a Cupertino City Councilmember and has filed intent to run for Santa Clara County Supervisor seat in District 5.

Federal rules currently in place are broad and general, "they cover everything under the sun," Cave said, and the new rules would narrow the focus, he said, and decrease the company's effect on public health as well as support the agency should federal rules fall to the wayside.

Currently, because of emissions from Lehigh, BAAQMD does not meet its ground level ozone requirements, he said. The new rules would be put in place to encourage Lehigh to add on controls to limit emissions.

The meeting will be held in the cafeteria at Monta Vista High School beginning with an open house from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. followed by the workshop from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Comments and questions should be directed to Cave at 415-749-5048 or via email at rcave@baaqmd.gov.