ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 22, 1993                   TAG: 9307220207
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


STONE-CRUSHING OPERATIONS CITED

State regulators have cited stone-crushing operations at two Roanoke County projects for violations of air-pollution permits.

Bob Saunders, of the Department of Environmental Quality's air division in Roanoke, said Wednesday his office has issued notices of violations to subcontractors at Smith Gap landfill and Spring Hollow reservoir.

County officials overseeing the projects said the problems should not delay the completion of the landfill or reservoir.

Cascades Co., which is crushing stone for the dam at Spring Hollow, has three basic violations, Saunders said:

It has failed to do a performance test within six months of starting work, as required by the federal government.

It has exceeded by three or four times visibility standards set forth in its permit.

Cascades apparently has operated more than 16 hours a day and exceeded hourly production limits as outlined in its permit.

Saunders said the air division still is seeking information from the company on the last issue.

The company will be assessed a civil penalty of several thousand dollars, depending on the violations, he said. The air division is negotiating a consent agreement to resolve the problems, he said.

"We can't tell them to stop. Only a judge can tell them to stop," Saunders said.

Cliff Craig, the county's utility director, said he was not aware of the problems or of the state's action. "If the air board would let us know when they have a problem, we can stop them [contractors] pretty quick," he said.

Cascades has about six days left of work before the dam is finished, sometime next week, Craig said. As far as he knows, nobody has complained about or seen any dust emissions from the operation.

At Smith Gap landfill, the H.B. Mellott Co. installed equipment that was not on its environmental permit, which results in an automatic penalty, Saunders said. On Monday, the company halted operations voluntarily in order to correct the problem, he said.

The company told him, "They're not going to start up unless they're in compliance," Saunders said. An inspection date has been set for Aug. 2. Mellott will likely get a $3,000 or $4,000 fine, he said.

John Hubbard, executive director of the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority, said the company had put a smaller screen on its machinery than was required in the permit.



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