Devoted to Solving the Collegeville/Trappe TCE Problem

In what is beginning to seem like a scene from the movie Groundhog Day, Superior Tube spilled 12 gallons of TCE today.  Read more here:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20071018_Superior_Tube_reports_toxic_spill.html

http://www.pennfuture.org/media_pr_detail.aspx?MediaID=797&TypeID=2&Archive

Thank goodness PennFuture is working on this issue.  Although our state and federal representatives have been outraged and have been urging the DEP and EPA to remedy the problem, their pleas have not resulted in much positive action.

I'm going to show my support by donating to PennFuture.  Please, if you are able, donate to PennFuture and help them take action in solving our TCE problem.  Here is the link to the donation page. 

On Tuesday, July 10, Superior Tube accidentally released 2,400 pounds of TCE into the air.  It turns out that this was more than double the amount that they had initially reported.   In addition, Superior Tube violated it's permit by waiting 19 hours after the release to notify the DEP.  Their permit requires them to notify the DEP within two hours. 

Superior claims to be trying to re-establish itself as a "good neighbor", but their actions belie their words.  As others have said: "Good neighbors tell each other about toxic releases in their neighborhood."  What is most galling is that our "Good Neighbors" (Superior Tube and Accellent) have managed to get themselves exempted from the new EPA TCE regulations.

You can read our state representative's reactions here:  http://www.senatorrafferty.com/2007-press/0707/071807-tce.htm

This isn't the first time Superior Tube has accidentally spilled TCE.  Their 1979 spill resulted in the contamination of the ground water which still requires remediation to this day. You can read more about it here.

There will be a public hearing held by the PA DEP on July 3rd at 2 P.M.  The location is the DEP Southeast Regional Office, 2 E. main Street, Norristown, PA 19401.

Please attend this meeting and let the DEP know that the puny 30% reduction proposed by Superior Tube is not enough.  After all, these proposed reductions are a mere fraction of what Superior Tube and Accellent would have had to implement if they had not managed to get exempted from the recent changes to the Federal regulations.

Even though the meeting is unfortunately timed the day before a major holiday and during business hours, please do your best show up.  Only with adequate pressure will our lawmakers and regulators address our TCE pollution issue.

If you feel the date and time of the hearing are inappropriate, please email Francine Carlini, head of the Air Quality Program at DEP's Southeast Regional office, and ask her to change the meeting date and time to something that is reasonable for a public meeting.  Her email address is fcarlini@state.pa.us.

In addition, Liz D, from the Concerned Citizens yahoo group, makes a good point about the availability, or lack thereof, of Superior Tube's permit changes.  It seems you have to schlep to Norristown to get a copy.  Why the DEP does not provide access to this important document via the Internet strains credulity.  If they really cared about public input, they would do their best to make it easy for the public to get the information regarding the hearing and to attend it.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the PA DEP, at the request of Gov. Rendell, filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals challenging the EPA's exemption of small tube manufacturers from the recent TCE reduction ruling.  The full story is here

Our state representatives are also making some progress:

State lawmakers from the area, including Sens. John Rafferty (R., Montgomery) and Andrew Dinniman (D., Chester) and Rep. Mike Vereb (R., Montgomery), also have spoken out against the rule.

Dinniman has introduced a bill that would require the two companies to reduce their TCE emissions at least 75 percent. He said yesterday that the EPA's exemptions "potentially put residents at risk simply because they live near narrow-tube manufacturers."

Here is an article from the Bulletin discussing Gerach's efforts to date.

According to Gerlach, many calls have come in to his district office expressing apprehension at the perceived unevenness of federal regulation of TCE and its impact on the Collegeville area and beyond. Many public municipal meetings have addressed this issue as well. Lower Providence, for example, passed a resolution opposing exemptions to the EPA standards last Thursday.
"There've been a lot of community concerns raised," Gerlach said.

Please call the Gov. and the other lawmakers and let them know that you support their efforts.  In addition, please let Senators Specter and Casey know that you want some action on this issue. 

http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18256223&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18041&rfi=8

A good article in the Mercury discussing the general shock and outrage to the EPA's TCE ruling that exempts small tube manufacturers (Accellent and Superior Tube) from having to lower their TCE emissions:

http://www.pottstownmercury.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18256221&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18038&rfi=6

According to the Mercury:

Readers who want to register their concerns about the new EPA standards should address them to: Mr. H. Lynn Dail, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Sector Policies and Programs Division, Natural Resources and Commerce Group (E143-03), Research Triangle Park, NC 27711.

Please call Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-19th Dist.,  Sen. John Rafferty, R-44th Dist., state Rep. Michael Vereb, R-150th Dist, and Gov. Ed Rendell, and let them know how you feel about this issue.  We need to pressure our elected officials into fixing this problem ASAP.  We now know what apathy breeds --- a nice exemption for our local TCE polluters (Accellent and Superior Tube).

You can find the details here:  http://epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3/fact_sheets/degreasfinalfs2007.html

The relevant paragraphs for the Collegeville / Trappe TCE  problem are:

 * For all but the four industry sectors: aerospace, narrow
tubing, continuous web and military maintenance, EPA will set a
facility-wide emission limit of 60,000 kilograms per year of methylene
chloride equivalent emissions. EPA is providing a 3-year period for
facilities to comply with the emission standards.

o Approximately 93 percent of facilities already emit less
than the 60,000 kg/yr MC equivalent emission limit. This emission
limit focuses on the higher emitting facilities.

o The final rule provides affected facilities with the
flexibility to reduce their emissions using any traditional methods
available to reduce emissions from degreasing operations.

o EPA projects that the rule will prevent approximately 1600
tons per year of solvent emissions at a savings of about $1.3 million
per year across all affected facilities.

* For the three industry sectors, aerospace, narrow tubing and
facilities that use continuous web cleaning machines, EPA will require
no further emissions reductions beyond the 1994 air toxics rule.

o Based on public comment and information from the NODA, EPA
determined that these facilities would have to change the type of
cleaning machine they use. Such machines are not available yet.
Since at proposal EPA determined that the risks were acceptable, EPA
will require no further emissions reductions for these industry sectors.

Accellent and Superior Tube are exempt from the new ruling.  I guess the EPA feels that it is fine for Superior Tube and Accellent to pollute the air, since these polluters claim that they don't yet have any alternatives to their manufacturing process.  This is a naive assumption by the EPA, because it is unlikely that these companies will develop an alternative unless forced to do it- Its simple economics. 

The EPA claims that "...the risks were acceptable, EPA will require no further emissions reductions for these industry sectors."  This statement contradicts the EPA's reasoning for the reduction of TCE in other industry sectors.  For if the risks really where acceptable, they would not have forced other companies to reduce their TCE emissions.