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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Environment - More on: Air permit request raises concerns in Allen County

Referencing its lengthy story from Sunday on the pending BF Goodrich air permit application (see ILB entry here), the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has this editorial today. Some quotes:

A proposal from BFGoodrich seeking a permit to increase the amount of pollution once again raises questions about the willingness of the leadership at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to do its job.

As Dan Stockman’s Sunday story reported, the tire manufacturer is asking IDEM to grant a permit that allows it to increase its ozone-causing pollution at its Woodburn plant by as much as 40 tons per year. The company wants to use the additive silane in its tire-making process to improve the fuel efficiency of its tires. But it will also increase pollution.

The environmental concern is that the draft permit doesn’t call for any new pollution controls to reduce the increase in pollution. It doesn’t call for any monitoring of the company’s pollution to ensure it does not exceed the 40-ton-per-year increase in pollution. And the most disconcerting aspect of the flawed permit application is that it uses secret calculations provided by the company to determine the anticipated amount of the increase in pollution and, so far, IDEM has shown a distinct lack of interest in double-checking the numbers.

The permit application is a real eye opener about how little outside oversight IDEM exercises over companies’ compliance with environmental regulations. * * *

There is no evidence Goodrich is using chicanery in its formula calculating the amount of ozone-causing pollution that will be created by using the silane additive. But the secret formula combined with the lack of oversight from environmental regulators is good reason for environmental advocates, economic development leaders and the general public to be concerned.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s 30-day public comment period ends Wednesday. But it’s difficult for the public to comment on the proposal when citizens have no way of checking the accuracy of the pollution emission claims the company is making.

I recommend reading the entire editorial.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 12, 2008 11:42 AM
Posted to Environment