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'Bucket brigade' answers some questions, raises others

Wednesday, April 09, 2003

By Jan Adam

Fifty residents of the North Boroughs -- Bellevue, Avalon, Ben Avon, Ben Avon Heights and Emsworth -- met with environmental and health professionals Wednesday to continue demands for greater enforcement of air quality standards.

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They also heard the findings of a neighborhood air-sampling "bucket brigade" and got both encouragement and encouraging news from a frequent target of criticism: the Allegheny County Health Department.

The meeting was hosted by Pittsburgh's chapter of Clean Water Action, a national environmental advocacy group that has joined forces with the Neville Island Good Neighbor Committee to promote dialogue, industry compliance and legislative action, all with the goal of improving air quality.

The coalition now has a little more evidence: Volunteer air samplers have demonstrated that chemicals such as benzene and acrylonitrile -- on the federal Environmental Protection Agency's list of toxic chemicals -- are as much a part of their neighborhoods as are tree-lined streets and Victorian homes.

The "bucket brigade" was trained two years ago by a California environmental group to gather air samples using a simple device -- a deflated plastic sample bag inside a sealed bucket, with a household vacuum cleaner creating the suction needed to draw an air sample.

The brigade now has independent lab test data to back their claims. They first reported finding benzene and acrylonitrile last summer, and repeated the findings Wednesday.

"We weren't shocked when benzene showed up in our buckets," said Myron Arnowitt of Clean Water Action. "What is a concern is that it showed up so regularly. It's such a dangerous chemical."

Literature published by Clean Water Action states that both benzene and acrylonitrile are known carcinogens. Benzene has also been linked to reproductive and developmental problems.

"The acrylonitrile was a surprise. No company admits they're the source," said Arnowitt.

County Health Department sources said last summer there is no known source of acrylonitrile in the county.

Still, when pollution concerns rise in the North Boroughs, all eyes tend to turn toward Neville Island.

The island across the main channel of the Ohio River is home to the types of smoke-stack industries that are ready suspects when pollution concerns arise: one of two coke ovens in the county, an aluminum smelter, a carbon filter/hazardous waste incinerator and manufacturers of plastic resins and adhesives.

In the middle -- between residents' demands for lower pollution levels and industry's need to be cost-competitive -- is the county Health Department, which has the job of enforcing clean air standards.

Roger Westman, who heads the department's air quality program, said air quality in Allegheny County meets all standards set by the federal government under the Clean Air Act and by Pennsylvania under its Pollution Control Act.

"But we don't deny that there are problems and that we can do a better job," Westman said. "We appreciate the concern and support. We need your eyes, ears, and noses. ...

"We ... appreciate a public that is pointing us in directions we haven't gone before."

Westman reported on factories identified in previous meetings as sources of emissions problems.

In 2001, Shenango Inc. a coke maker, was assessed fines totaling more than $245,000 for violations of pollution limits.

"Shenango has improved. Their desulfurization plant is in compliance. They've had no fines for one year," Westman said.

"Cemex [the former Kosmos Cement Co.] has shut down their kiln," he added. The Neville Island site is being used to warehouse and ship product that is now being manufactured in Kentucky.

He named Neville Chemical Co., a manufacturer of resins, and Gottlieb Inc., an aluminum reprocessor, as two companies currently under increased scrutiny from the county.

"They have a good business but their controls may not have kept up. They are installing a new control device this month," Westman said of Gottlieb.

Despite these successes, the coalition plans to continue to push for improvements. Its published 2002 report lists four recommended actions:

Continued community monitoring;

Increased monitoring and enforcement by the health department;

Tougher permitting for any business expansion, with air quality compliance as a prerequisite for any permit;

Implementation of standards for toxic pollutants similar to those in force in other states.

Dr. Fred Harchelroad, a toxicologist who chairs the department of emergency medicine at Allegheny General Hospital, said the coalition should push to get more done through legislation.

"There's not a governing authority that's responsible for monitoring levels of toxic chemicals in the air," he said.

Despite their apparent focus on specific factories, committee members recognize the value of manufacturers and the employment opportunities they bring to a region. Arnowitt admitted that job loss can be a downside of the environmental equation.

"We're not trying to shut down every business on Neville Island," he said after the meeting. "We need to invest in helping companies do things the right way."

"The fact that Kosmos built a new state-of-the-art cement plant in Kentucky shows they do have the money, they can do things right," Arnowitt said. "We want a win-win for everyone."

Jan Adam is a freelance writer.