Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 16, 1991 TAG: 9103160186
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
The plant will be closed while the company tries to eliminate the cause of the complaints.
Nearby residents have complained about odors from the plant, saying their health has been affected by the emissions, company President Luke Staengl said Friday.
He said the plant does have an odor problem, but he is not sure whether it's responsible for neighbors' reported health problems. Staengl said his workers, who are exposed to the fumes, have not experienced any health problems.
Residents have complained Floyd County Administrator Randy Arno and the state Department of Air Pollution office in Roanoke that plant emissions have caused headaches, sore throats and nausea.
Fred Thomas, who lives across the road from the plant with his wife and six children, said his family had not noticed any health problems before the plant started processing the antifreeze. Family members would feel fine when they were away from home, Thomas said. But when they returned, so would the flu-like symptoms.
The plant's odor didn't bother the family, but the illness couldn't be overlooked, Thomas said. His neighbors have had similar sickness, he said.
Arno and John Lester, a state inspector, have said plant management has been cooperative in trying trace the problems' cause. "They expressed a willingness to investigate to determine if what they're doing over there may be a contributing factor to these health problems," Arno said.
Residents first started complaining to him about a year ago.
Staengl said the odor problem has been caused by di-ethylene glycol, a primary chemical in antifreeze, escaping from the plant in steam. The plant has been recyling used antifreeze by distilling its impurities.
The company will attack the problem by condensing its steam back into a liquid, then treating the liquid to remove the chemicals, Staengl said. Remaining waste water would be put in the county sewage system.
Antifreeze operations will be stopped while the treatment system is designed and built, he said.
The state is investigating complaints about the plant, but a chemical analysis of emissions has not been completed yet, Lester said.
"We're not sure what we have yet," he said. One question that hasn't been answered is how much glycol is contained in the emissions.
Lester said, however, that the state suspects plant emissions were involved in the health complaints because the sickness began about two years ago, about the time the plant started processing glycol.
The company has violated its air permit by burning a heavy-grade fuel oil in its boilers rather than the No. 2 bio-gas or LP gas for which it was permitted, Lester said.
The company probably will be cited for that violation and any other permit violations found during the investigation, Lester said.
Any charges would be civil and a settlement would be negotiated, Lester said. The goal is to have the company correct the problem.
The company has not obtained a state air discharge permit for processing glycol at the plant, but it hasn't been determined if it needs one, Lester said.
The plant was originally permitted to distill ethanol, a form of alcohol used in gasoline mixtures. Staengl said the plant applied roughly two years ago for a permit to process glycol but the permit has yet to be approved.
by CNB