MVCAC

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Official address, meeting minutes
by Duane330＠aol.com 05 Jul '05

05 Jul '05

New mailing address: MonValley Clean Air Coalition P. O. Box 4679 Star City, WV 26504-4679 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Minutes MVCAC June 13, 2005 Duane provided a handout with a list of current issues. We began by reviewing these issues. 1. The PILOT agreement for the proposed Longview Power Plant – if we are going to appeal the decision to dismiss the case by Judge Clawges in the WV Supreme Court, we need to do so by August 1, 2005. Phil is recommending that we file an appeal, but he is unable to do it himself at this time. The Legal Committee was to meet with an attorney who might be willing to take this on for us. The group in attendance unanimously agreed that we should undertake this appeal. 2. There will be a public hearing in Charleston at the Public Service Commission (PSC) when Longview applies for a transmission certificate. The conditional siting certificate that was granted to Longview will also be considered at this time. Longview has filed a complaint to the US Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) charging that Allegheny Energy (owner of the Ft Martin power plant) has not cooperated with them in their attempts to obtain a connection to the high voltage grid system. The Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection Organization [P-J-M] has intervened on the side of Longview and asked for federal arbitration to settle the matter. 3. There were two appeals of the air quality permit granted to Longview before the Kanawha County Circuit Court, one by the Forks of Cheat Property Owners Association and one by Jarrett Jamison. The appeal of the Forks of Cheat group was rejected last week. The hearing for Jarrett’s appeal is to take place in early July. 4. The PSC has finalized the Rules for Siting Certificates; however, issues remain regarding the permitted noise levels. 5. The proposed Longview smoke stack would be 54 feet above the level permitted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Longview has applied to the FAA for approval of the stack. A variety of groups and individuals provided comments to the FAA during the public comment period. 6. Allegheny Energy (AE) was granted a permit to construct and operate a “ synfuels” plant at the Ft Martin plant. This would not truly be a synthetic fuels plant, as AE would simply be spraying oil on the coal; however, they would still receive the tax break granted to synthetic fuels plants. 7. AE has applied to the PSC for a rate hike (“environmental charge”) of about $3-$4 per month to each residential electric bill to pay for scrubbers for the Ft Martin plant. Since this would make our air cleaner, Karen suggested that we send a letter to the PSC in support of this increase. The group agreed that this should be done. 8. Alcon LLC of Buckhannon, WV had applied to the WV DEP Division of Air Quality for a permit to construct and operate a batch cement plant. The plant would be located off Bakers Ridge Road near The Madison nursing home and the proposed site of the new University High School on the site of an old surface mine that is unusually dusty. At a public hearing that was held last week attended by twenty local residents and five staff personnel of the Division of Air Quality, no one spoke in favor of the plant. Despite this fact, it looks like the permit will be granted. [The permit was granted (registered) on June 16th. The period of possible appeals is 30 days.] In new business: Duane brought up the issue of registering MVCAC as a not-for-profit with the WV Secretary of State. Linda moved that we should do this, Paula seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Jonathan suggested that we needed a real address. Duane will look into obtaining a PO Box. Martha indicated that she thought it was possible that mail addressed to a PO Box could be delivered to an individual. This way, the mail could be delivered to the current convener, and no one would have the responsibility of checking the PO Box. Sierra Club has earmarked $5,000 for CALP. According to Paul Wilson, president of the WV Chapter, these monies must be used for 501c3 activities. If they are to be used to support litigation, this must be approved by the national Sierra Club. Duane asked Paul if Sierra would support using the funds for the purchase of air monitoring equipment and Paul said “no,” because that is considered a capital expense. Monies for capital expenses come from a different source. Karen has spoken to Boggs Environmental about air monitoring equipment. They would be willing to purchase the equipment to support educational activities if MVCAC will pay maintenance and repair expenses. Duane moved that we empower the Executive Committee to write a letter indicating that we wish to work with them on this endeavor. Larry seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. Sandy reported on activities of the Media Committee. They established initiatives to: 1. encourage people to attend City Council meetings and speak on air quality issues; and 2. write letters to the editor. Sign-up sheets were passed around, so that members could choose one or both of these activities. Sandy also reported that she is designing a logo for the group. The air training workshop will be held Sunday, June 20 as planned. The location is to be announced. [Training was held at the Cheat Lake Fire Hall.] Paula reported that the CALP Committee met, and the FAA and FERC issues were discussed. Minutes prepared by Linda Shuster, Secretary; and, distributed by Duane Nichols, Convenor. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The next regular general meeting of MVCAC will be on July 25th at 7 pm, at the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on Patteson Drive in the Suncrest area of Morgantown. Committees are encouraged to meet on Monday, July 11th, or at other convenient times.

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MVCAC meeting announcements
by Duane330＠aol.com 28 Jun '05

28 Jun '05

To: MonValley Clean Air Coalition, a. k. a. CALP. Our Committees are encouraged to meet as appropriate to continue moving forward with our projects and programs. Monday, July 11th, is available for Committee meetings. The next regular meeting of MVCAC will be Monday, July 25th at 7:00 pm. This most likely will be at the St. Paul's Lutheran Church on Patteson Drive. In August, the 8th is available for Committee meetings with a general meeting set for August 22nd at Larry Schwab's home. [[We have a number of activities underway including projects on public relations and information distribution, air quality monitoring, and the appeal of the PILOT agreement, among others.]] [[Let me know if you have new ideas, example materials, questions or other comments. Please take care to limit mailings to the _MVCAC(a)cheat.org_ (mailto:MVCAC@cheat.org) list to only those that merit general distribution.]] Thank you very much. Duane Nichols "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead.

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Sustainable university initiative
by Paul Brown 27 Jun '05

27 Jun '05

Dear Dr. Lang: Larry Hornak tells me you're the administration official I should contact about the resolution I introduced in the Senate, which was approved unanimously. That resolution, as you'll recall, commits the Senate to working with the administration of West Virginia University to make the campus more nearly sustainable, e.g., enhance energy efficiency, make use of renewable resources including energy, and minimize waste and pollution. I'd like your advice on how to go about working together toward this objective. There are several universities which have made considerable progress in this direction, so we could take advantage of their experience and expertise. I would suggest an ad hoc committee of appropriate faculty and administrators, who could put together a multi-year plan and a budget for approval by the Senate and the administration. Last week I introduced a proposed resolution to Morgantown City Council, to sign the multinational Urban Environmental Accords, which have specific targets and timetables for 21 different environmental objectives. I will be meeting with them on July 5 to answer any questions they may have about the resolution and its implications, after which I believe they will discuss, amend, and vote. It seems to me that there could be a natural synergy between the university and the city, for example in the return to use of natural gas vehicles, air quality monitoring at several places around the city and campus, and the use of combined purchasing power to get quantity discounts for the city, university and citizens when purchasing such things as photovoltaic systems for clean electrical power. I should think that the combined efforts of the university, city and local citizens' groups in requesting the legislature to enact incentives such as tax credits for the purchase of low-emission vehicles and renewable energy equipment would be more effective as well. Morgantown and West Virginia University could set a valuable precedent for the rest of the state. If you agree with my reasoning, perhaps it would be appropriate to endorse the adoption of the Urban Environmental Accords. In any event, I'd appreciate your consideration and your thoughts on these ideas. Sincerely, Paul Brown Paul Brown Physiology Department West Virginia University Health Sciences Center Morgantown, WV 26506 (304) 293 - 1512

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RE: [BULK] - Re: [MVCAC] Marion County, Shuck Steel Fabricators Inc., R13-2621
by Kotcon, James 22 Jun '05

22 Jun '05

I did not notice the tons per "month", Good catch Jonathon. 0.17 tons per month does work out to be 2.04 tpy. But if that is PM10, then how can total particulates only be 0.37 tpy? PM10 emissions, by definition, can not exceed total particulate emissions. Here is another little factoid for those interested in math. My car needed an emissions inspection to get registered here in DC. My 10-year old Mazda was emitting 0.65 grams NOx per mile. That works out to around 15 pounds per year, assuming I drive 10,000 miles per year. So the next time someone tells you that the real air pollution problem in Mon County is from all the cars those WVU students bring to campus, you can point out that every one of the 25,000 students on campus would need to be driving eight cars each, 10,000 miles per year, all in Mon County, to equal the 1,700 tpy of NOx emissions that Longview will add. Now there is an issue for the MPO! Imagine the traffic jams! JBK Dr. James Kotcon Interim Program Leader - Organic Agriculture USDA-CSREES Mailstop 2220, Washington, DC 20250 phone: 202-401-4879 Cell: 304-319-2244 fax: 202-401-4888 for overnight carrier: 800 9th St., SW, Room 3344 Washington, DC 20024 -----Original Message----- From: mvcac-bounces(a)cheat.org [mailto:mvcac-bounces@cheat.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan Rosenbaum Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 2:16 PM To: mvcac(a)cheat.org Subject: [BULK] - Re: [MVCAC] Marion County, Shuck Steel Fabricators Inc., R13-2621 Linda Shuster wrote: > At 12:58 PM 6/22/05 -0400, John Gever wrote: > I agree with John on this. We all receive a ton of emails each day that > we have to sort through. I think we need to be very judicious about > what MVCAC sends out. Perhaps one of our standing committees could > start keeping data on permit applications - perhaps the Monitoring > Committee? I'm glad there is finally some discussion about this issue. One thing to realize is that public comment periods are 30 days long. MVCAC meetings sometimes fall within these periods, but sometimes that isn't the case. If the Monitoring Committee is gathering together at reasonable times apart from MVCAC meetings then we do have timely factual material to work with. I'm not sure that this is presently the case, but I do agree this would be quite useful for our group. I also agree with Jim that we don't have to go after everything, but we shouldn't ignore the little guys either. What we need to establish is who to send this pertinent information to within our group. Let's figure this out at the next meeting. Keep in mind, should we be ignoring public comment periods like Mylans? We need to establish parameters where urgency creates a precedence for public consumption. However, as far as email, there is a technology called filtering that has been around for a long time. For instance, in the case of MVCAC, all email sent "to: mvcac(a)cheat.org" and "cc: mvcac(a)cheat.org" can go into a folder called mvcac - this is what I do. Spending a little time learning how to use filters will give MVCAC members much more of an edge. Jonathan p.s. Jim, that's 2.04 tpy PM10 not 0.17 tpy PM10. > Linda > > >> So does email. Applications for air quality permits are pretty >> frequent and people may develop mail-list fatigue if we get emails on >> each and every one of them. May I suggest restricting these >> broadcasts to those highlighting particular concerns? At the same >> time, I agree it's useful to be aware of the many contributors to >> local air pollution -- a good MVCAC project might be to add up all the >> new sources permitted each year and issue a report. >> >> Just my $0.02. >> >> John Gever >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> MVCAC mailing list >> MVCAC(a)cheat.org >> http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac > > > Linda I. Shuster, Ph.D. website: > http://www.wvu.edu/~speechpa/shust.html > Associate Professor > Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology > PO Box 6122 > 805 Allen Hall > West Virginia University > Morgantown, WV 26506 > Telephone: 304-293-2943 or 304-293-5050 > Fax: 304-293-7565 > _______________________________________________ > MVCAC mailing list > MVCAC(a)cheat.org > http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac _______________________________________________ MVCAC mailing list MVCAC(a)cheat.org http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac

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Marion County, Shuck Steel Fabricators Inc., R13-2621
by Jonathan Rosenbaum 22 Jun '05

22 Jun '05

This isn't a coal burning plant, but I'd thought I'd share it anyways, because everything adds up: Notice of Comment Period Department of Environmental ProtectiPermit Number: R13-2621 Shuck Steel Fabricators Inc. will have the potential to discharge these regulated air pollutants and associated amounts: 0.17 tons per month particulate matter less than 10 microns; 0.37 tpy particulate matter; 0.01 tpy ethyl benzene; 0.067 tpy xylene; and 1.1 tpy volatile organic compounds. The facility is located in Pleasant Valley, Marion County, WV. Please fax, mail or e-mail any comments on the draft permit to the address below, postmarked on or before July 22, 2005. Comments may include a request for a public hearing. A hearing may be held if DEP finds a significant degree of public interest, or if the hearing would clarify issues. You can view the draft permit, application, and, if available, a fact sheet, all at no cost, at the office below. Call or e-mail to make an appointment. If you would like a copy of any information, copying and mailing costs may apply. DEP Division of Air Quality 601 57th Street, Southeast Charleston, WV 25304 Contact Edward S. Andrews Phone: (304) 926-0499, ext. 1227 Fax: (304) 926-0478 E-mail: eandrews(a)wvdep.org

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RE: [BULK] - Re: [MVCAC] Marion County, Shuck Steel Fabricators Inc., R13-2621
by Kotcon, James 22 Jun '05

22 Jun '05

Yes there are a lot of permits, but it helps to put these in perspective. At 0.17 tpy PM10, we could get one of these a week every week for 10 years and not generate as much particulate as one Longview. And even that pales in comparison to the 1000's of tons per year from Fort Martin. Still given our limited volunteer resources, and the level of effort needed to produce a real change in any permit, we would do well to pick our battles carefully, and concentrate on winning something in each of those we do pick. WV-DEP is already quite willing to ignore anything we say, so we need to be sure we retain credibility and win some of these, rather than develop a reputation as the ones who cry wolf every week and can routinely be ignored. I don't insist on total unconditional surrender from DEP, but I want them to know that when I raise an objection, they have to take another look. My vote is to focus on the "Big Dirties" or the "Dirty Dozen Worst Polluters", those that have a substantial impact on air quality. I would prefer to avoid gaining a reputation as being against every small business expansion or new job that comes to town. If we create a precedent with the big (out-of-state) companies, the nature of regulatory bureaucracies is that they will tend to spread it through the rest of industry. JBK P.S. I also like the idea of having a "Monitoring Committee" produce a summary of sources in Mon County or the region. If we compare these permits to the power plants, or to auto traffic, or diesel trucks, it gives people a perspective that is hard to get from "tons per year". Dr. James Kotcon Interim Program Leader - Organic Agriculture USDA-CSREES Mailstop 2220, Washington, DC 20250 phone: 202-401-4879 Cell: 304-319-2244 fax: 202-401-4888 for overnight carrier: 800 9th St., SW, Room 3344 Washington, DC 20024 -----Original Message----- From: mvcac-bounces(a)cheat.org [mailto:mvcac-bounces@cheat.org] On Behalf Of Linda Shuster Sent: Wednesday, June 22, 2005 1:41 PM To: John Gever; mvcac(a)cheat.org Subject: [BULK] - Re: [MVCAC] Marion County, Shuck Steel Fabricators Inc., R13-2621 At 12:58 PM 6/22/05 -0400, John Gever wrote: I agree with John on this. We all receive a ton of emails each day that we have to sort through. I think we need to be very judicious about what MVCAC sends out. Perhaps one of our standing committees could start keeping data on permit applications - perhaps the Monitoring Committee? Linda >So does email. Applications for air quality permits are pretty frequent >and people may develop mail-list fatigue if we get emails on each and >every one of them. May I suggest restricting these broadcasts to those >highlighting particular concerns? At the same time, I agree it's useful >to be aware of the many contributors to local air pollution -- a good >MVCAC project might be to add up all the new sources permitted each year >and issue a report. > >Just my $0.02. > >John Gever > > > > >_______________________________________________ >MVCAC mailing list >MVCAC(a)cheat.org >http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac Linda I. Shuster, Ph.D. website: http://www.wvu.edu/~speechpa/shust.html Associate Professor Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology PO Box 6122 805 Allen Hall West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 26506 Telephone: 304-293-2943 or 304-293-5050 Fax: 304-293-7565 _______________________________________________ MVCAC mailing list MVCAC(a)cheat.org http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac

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Urban Environmental Accords
by Paul Brown 22 Jun '05

22 Jun '05

Dear localplanetoids, At the bottom of the front page in today's Morgantown Dominion Post, there's a short article about last night's City Council meeting. Toward the end, there are a few sentences about our Green Morgantown Declaration, which I submitted as a proposed resolution during the public portion of the meeting. I think the tone is quite sympathetic, although it doesn't go into the kind of detail I would have liked. Council will consider discussing the proposal at their meeting of the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday, June 28. If they decide to discuss it, I will be invited to attend and answer questions. I'll take along our local expert, Al Ebron, for technical issues. I'll keep you posted on how things go. your servant, Paul Paul Brown Physiology Department West Virginia University Health Sciences Center Morgantown, WV 26506 (304) 293 - 1512

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DEP Notices
by James Wayne Evans 18 Jun '05

18 Jun '05

Hello again, I just sent the e-mail about the DEP notices and realized after sending it that I overlooked identifying myself. Sorry about that. In Solidarity James Evans _____ This mailbox protected from junk email by MailFrontier Desktop from MailFrontier, Inc. http://info.mailfrontier.com

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Latest Public Notices from DEP List
by James Wayne Evans 18 Jun '05

18 Jun '05

From: deponline(a)wvdep.org Subject: DEP Public Notice - Monongalia County - Patriot Mining Company, Inc. - Permit #WV0095311 Hello, I signed-up to the West Virginia DEP Public Notice list today. I came across the following two notices: Notice #1 This Message was sent out on Friday, June 17, 2005 @ 02:53 PM From: deponline(a)wvdep.org Subject: DEP Public Notice - Monongalia County - Patriot Mining Company, Inc. - Permit #WV0095311 Notice of Comment Period Department of Environmental Protection This mailing is to advise the public that we have received an application for reissuance of an Article 11/West Virginia National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for Patriot Mining Company, Inc., 2708 Cranberry Square, Morgantown, WV 26508, in order to discharge drainage from a reclaimed surface mine and haul road operation in the Waynesburg and Waynesburg ¿A¿ seams of coal. Application for reissuance of NPDES Permit Number: WV0095311 Patriot Mining Company, Inc. plans to discharge into an unnamed tributary of Wades Run and Wades Run of Scotts Run and an unnamed tributary of Robinson Run and Robinson Run of the Monongahela River and is located 2.1 miles west of Maidsville, WV, in Cass District of Monongalia County, Longitude 80° 01¿ 40¿ and Latitude 39° 42¿ 00¿ (Coordinates from USGS Topographic Map). Please fax, mail or e-mail any comments on the draft permit to the address below, postmarked on or before July 17, 2005, or thirty days from the date of publication, and reference the Article 11/WVNPDES permit number shown above. Comments may include a request for a public hearing. If a hearing is requested the comment must state the nature of the issues proposed to be raised in the hearing. A hearing may be held if DEP finds a significant degree of public interest, or if the hearing would clarify issues. DEP Regional Office 105 South Railroad Street, Suite 301 Philippi, WV 26416 Phone: (304) 457-3219 Fax: (304) 457-3440 To view past notices of open public comment periods, please go to www.wvdep.org. Notice #2 This Message was sent out on Thursday, May 12, 2005 @ 12:12 PM From: deponline(a)wvdep.org Subject: DEP Public Notice - Monongalia County, West Virginia University Hospitals Inc. R13-2624 Notice of Comment Period Department of Environmental Protection This mailing is to advise the public that we have prepared a draft air quality permit for West Virginia University Hospitals Inc. to construct and operate two emergency generators located in Morgantown, WV. Permit Number: R13-2624 West Virginia University Hospitals Inc. will discharge the following regulated air pollutants and associated amounts. 0.18 tons per year particulate matter less than 10; 0.34 tpy volatile organic compounds; 1.16 tpy carbon monoxide; 7.72 tpy nitrogen oxides; and 0.30 tpy sulfur dioxide. The facility is located in Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV. Please fax, mail or e-mail any comments on the draft permit to the address below, postmarked on or before June 13, 2005. Comments may include a request for a public hearing. A hearing may be held if DEP finds a significant degree of public interest, or if the hearing would clarify issues. You can view the draft permit, application, and, if available, a fact sheet, all at no cost, at the office below. Call or e-mail to make an appointment. If you would like a copy of any information, copying and mailing costs may apply. DEP Division of Air Quality 601 57th Street, Southeast Charleston, WV 25304 Contact Jerry Williams Phone: (304) 926-0499, ext. 1223 Fax: (304) 926-0478 E-mail: jwilliams(a)wvdep.org You are receiving this because you signed up to receive the mailings. If you wish to be removed from this list, go to the link below to remove your name. I realize the comment period has past for the second notice, but I think it is a good idea to be aware of this as it just adds to the over-all accumulative concentrations of air pollution. _____ This mailbox protected from junk email by MailFrontier Desktop from MailFrontier, Inc. http://info.mailfrontier.com

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RE: [BULK] - [MVCAC] Draft Permit and Evalutation-Fact sheet for Mylan available
by Kotcon, James 15 Jun '05

15 Jun '05

Thanks Jonathon. The Fact Sheet confirms my previous message. The emissions rate for NOx is approximately 0.10 lb/mmBTU and the only monitoring is to monitor fuel usage and a monthly visual inspection for opacity (look to see if there is visible smoke). The PM10 emissions would make Mylan the fourth largest emitter in Mon County, behind Fort Martin, MEA and Consol's Blacksville prep plant. The application may have some interesting stuff. Even though Mylan proposes "Low-NOx boilers", I think better emissions control is achievable, and it sure seems like better monitoring is needed. JBK Dr. James Kotcon Interim Program Leader - Organic Agriculture USDA-CSREES Mailstop 2220, Washington, DC 20250 phone: 202-401-4879 Cell: 304-319-2244 fax: 202-401-4888 for overnight carrier: 800 9th St., SW, Room 3344 Washington, DC 20024 -----Original Message----- From: mvcac-bounces(a)cheat.org [mailto:mvcac-bounces@cheat.org] On Behalf Of Jonathan Rosenbaum Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 11:09 AM To: mvcac(a)cheat.org Subject: [BULK] - [MVCAC] Draft Permit and Evalutation-Fact sheet for Mylan available I put both the Draft Permit and Evaluation/Fact Sheet for Mylan's proposed changes at http://freesoftwarepc.com/Members/fspc/mylan/ for download. Jill Harris was prompt about sending me the Fact Sheet by email, and will be mailing me a copy of the application for Mylan Pharmaceuticals. Jonathan _______________________________________________ MVCAC mailing list MVCAC(a)cheat.org http://cheat.org/mailman/listinfo/mvcac

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