Semi-Stinky LRAPA evaluates J.H. Baxter's emission-control measures. BY KERA ABRAHAM It's been a year since J.H. Baxter & Co. signed an agreement with Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority (LRAPA) to install new odor control equipment, in an effort to reduce the smelly emissions that bother nearby residents. A consulting firm has found that the measures taken by Baxter under the Best Work Practices Agreement have reduced creosote and fuel oil emissions by two-fifths. Complaints about the plant have dropped by a similar fraction, but some neighbors insist that the air still stinks — just maybe a shade less. Baxter's plant on Roosevelt Boulevard treats wood for industrial use, driving preservatives such as creosote, pentachlorophenol and arsenic, all of which the EPA considers known or probable human carcinogens, into lumber. In the process, some of these chemicals are emitted into the air, creating a stench that is unpleasant at best. The plant has been operating since 1943, but over time, the densely populated Bethel, Trainsong and River Road neighborhoods have sprouted up around it. Now, both the company and its neighbors are coping with the unfortunate siting of a polluting plant within one mile of about 7,000 residential homes. That sticks regulators with the job of trying to contain the plant's pollution — in the ground as well as the air. While Baxter works with LRAPA to reduce its air emissions, it's also working with the Department of Environmental Quality to contain a plume of arsenic in the soil and a pool of pentachlorophenol contaminating the groundwater below the plant. Neighbors have identified a host of health effects they suspect are related to Baxter's emissions, from the bothersome — headaches, dizziness, burning eyes and throat — to the critical. Three people living near the Baxter plant have been diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia, a rare cancer. Complaints about Baxter, as logged with LRAPA, increased from about 70 in 2001 to more than 700 in 2004. But due to a lack of air monitoring data, neighbors can't prove that Baxter's pollution is making them sick. So they latch onto their next-best bet: pushing LRAPA to fine Baxter for each odor complaint, pursuant to a state nuisance ordinance the LRAPA board adopted in 2001. Baxter representatives deny that the plant's emissions are in any way harmful or bothersome, reserving the right to litigate over any fines LRAPA might impose. LRAPA has not yet fined Baxter. Wishing to pursue a cooperative rather than punitive approach, in February 2005 the LRAPA board negotiated a Best Work Practices Agreement with Baxter, planning engineering fixes to quell the stench. Baxter, in return, got temporary impunity; LRAPA can't cite the company for nuisance rule violations while the agreement is in effect. In compliance with the agreement, Baxter modified its vacuum system and installed an odor control system at a cost of $380,000, resulting in a 39 percent reduction of creosote and fuel oil emissions from the site, according to a November 2005 report from Global Environmental Solutions. The consultant, hired by Baxter, suggested two additional modifications that could further reduce odor emissions by about 9 percent, but doubted that greater gains could be had for a reasonable cost. Baxter also performed air emissions modeling, using naphthalene as a proxy for other chemicals. The models indicated that the naphthalene levels only exceeded the odor threshold in limited areas just beyond Baxter's property line. LRAPA collected seven air samples from Baxter's property boundaries between January 2005 and January 2006, at $2,000 a pop. The data support Baxter's models, showing that only low concentrations of hazardous air pollutants drift over the company fenceline. At a Jan. 10 LRAPA board meeting, Baxter plant manager Gary Hunt said that the results show that there are no health hazards leaving the Baxter property. Hunt did not respond to requests for comment. From the neighbors' perspective, the engineering fixes may have worked to some extent. Complaints about Baxter dropped by 40 percent in the last half of 2005 as compared with 2004 numbers. "The odor is not as strong as it was, but it's still there," said Kimm Marshall, who lives several hundred yards from the Baxter plant. "It's constantly in the air and it's still harmful. I'm not satisfied until that plant's closed down." Baxter's air contaminant discharge permit is currently up for renewal, and LRAPA may absorb the existing Best Work Practices Agreement measures into the renewed permit. LRAPA Director Merlyn Hough said that if neighbors continue to complain about the plant's emissions, the agency will likely addend and extend the agreement with Baxter, a move that could further reduce the odors but would also protect the company from nuisance fines. "I'm not concerned about shielding [Baxter] from fines," Hough said. "In my mind, it's more effective to negotiate solutions rather than pushing it toward litigation." But River Road resident Becky Riley disagrees. "All that a new BWPA would accomplish is protecting the company from further enforcement actions," she wrote in a Feb. 14 letter to the LRAPA board. "Fines might be the only way to motivate the company to make the expenditures necessary to really control its pollution."     For more background on Baxter's air pollution, see EW's 2/3/05 cover story: www.eugeneweekly.com/2005/02/03/coverstory.html, and visit www.lrapa.org/public_education/JH_Baxter LRAPA's 24-hour complaint line: 726-1930.
		Table of Contents | News | Views | Calendar| Film | Music | Culture | Classifieds | Personals | Contact | EW Archive | Advertising Information | Current Issue |