Air Quality Permit Request for Owens Corning in the CEI Hub
Dear friends,
Last week the LNA received a notice of an Air Quality Permit for Owens Corning, an asphalt roofing company in the CEI Hub. The permit would increase the allowable discharge of pm25 from 26 tons per year to 84 tons a year. Recently many of us joined a new coalition that is focused on health and safety within the CEI Hub, while working towards a new vision for the Willamette and Columbia Rivers watersheds. This permit application is an opportunity for us to work with other partners on this issue.
There are two issues we face.
1. Communication with governing bodies
a. There has been some difficulty ensuring consistent notices of governing bodies and agencies to inform the public of permits related to a variety of land uses. This came to us indirectly form the Neighborhood Coalition for NWNW.
b. What type of meeting is most appropriate to include the public. It has been suggested that there be a Teams Meeting, rather than a town hall or zoom. This makes it difficult to open the meeting so that people can easily attend. I will discuss this with DEQ tomorrow.
c. What information do we all need before making a public comment in the comment period. In this case, it is open until April 10th.
d. What information do we need to know to be well informed.
e. How might we arrive at a collective message, if possible.
f. What might we learn from this experience that might help us with future air quality permit applications.
g. Who should be notified and included?
There is a concern that the government agencies don’t yet understand that the impacts go beyond the exact neighborhood of the contamination. Currently notice are to go the geographic neighborhood in which the businesses located.
2. The issues related to this DEQ air quality permit
The company in brief
a. Owens-Corning is an asphalt roofing company that has been in business since 1977 in Portland
b. They have 80 employees at this site.
c. There is another site in the town site of Linnton.
d. Although these are local companies it is a Fortune 500 company and employs 19,000 people worldwide.
e. It was started in Ohio in 1935.
f. They have constructed some environmental features and have given hygiene kits to the community center during covid which were widely distributed.
Concerns
a. Why the increase in pm25, given our current knowledge of the pm25.
b. Can the permit be transferred if the company is sold or the use of the facility is changed. This has happened before.
c. The area is being proposed as a Bio Fuels Hub. There might be some concern that this might become a part of that Hub in the future.
d. The discharge of the pm25 is only one of many components of the CEI Hub that is discharging air pollutions into the surrounding area
Health Concerns
a. Pm25 is a leading cause of many serious diseases.
b. It can travel a distance of up to ten miles or more.
c. It remains suspended in the air for longer than they once thought
d. Pathogens can attach to the particulate matter
e. It crosses the placenta and can find its way into babies
f. It is worst in different weather systems
g. The current levels in the CEI Hub and neighboring communities is already above a healthy limit
Next steps
a. Information sessions - With each other? With DEQ?
b. I want to ask DEQ if we could have a Q and A over zoom to make it more accessible. It would have to be our zoom account
c. The Linnton Neighborhood Association’s Clean Air Commitee may also hold an information session with Clean Air Oregon.
d. We might want to create a coalition wide committee.
Other thoughts? I have attached the permit information.
Please forward to your committees and anyone who needs this notice. I hope tomorrow to have more information about some introductory discussion and information sessions. When we set these up, we will share that information.
Sarah Taylor
Linnton Neighborhood Chair ( how I came to get the notice)