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Wood products workers voice concerns about cleaner-air plan

By Dylan Darling, The Register-Guard
Published: December 19, 2017, 4:46pm

EUGENE, Ore. — What started with the surprising discovery in Portland of previously undetected toxic chemicals in the air, released by art glassmakers, likely will lead to more stringent air pollution rules and testing statewide.

And manufacturing business owners and workers around Lane County now are worrying about the effects of the more stringent air pollution regulations proposed by the state in the Cleaner Air Oregon program.

In Lane County, air quality is regulated by the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency. It likely would follow any new standards set by the state.

Eugene-based Seneca Sawmill Co. has spent more than $100 million in upgrades during the past seven years at its lumber mill and wood-burning power plant along Highway 99, Seneca Chief Executive Officer Todd Payne said.

“A portion of this investment was dedicated to air emission control equipment and technology,” Payne told local and state air regulators at a public hearing earlier this month in Eugene on the new clean air proposal. “Now, the real question facing us: Will these recent investments be good enough to meet the proposed, unrealistic standards contained in the draft rules?”

The state Department of Environmental Quality and LRAPA already have a raft of air pollution rules for businesses, mainly based on federal regulations. But the rules have gaps, allowing companies to meet requirements while at the same time releasing chemicals that pose health risks for their neighbors, air regulators say.

The proposed Cleaner Air Oregon rules would close the gaps and provide a better understanding of how companies might be hurting the health of their neighbors, said Keith Johnson, a DEQ program manager. “In some cases, DEQ doesn’t know what is being emitted” by a manufacturer, he said.

Under the proposed program, businesses might be required to reduce certain toxic emissions, if monitoring showed the companies were exceeding what DEQ considers health safety limits.

The DEQ and LRAPA would charge companies covered by the new programs a fee, in part to cover the cost of additional workers at the government agencies. The draft rules show annual fees ranging from just more than $100 to thousands of dollars, depending on the class of permit.

The state’s program would start by focusing on 80 out of about 2,500 Oregon businesses with existing air pollution permits, according to the DEQ. Air regulators would select the first 80 companies by how close they are to large residential populations, and what percentage of people living nearby are children or minorities.

Current rules don’t require companies to report some types of toxic emissions to regulators or allow agencies to weigh health risks to neighbors when evaluating a permit, according to the DEQ.

None of the 80 businesses would be in Lane County because the DEQ does not enforce air quality in the county.

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