2006 North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee Resolutions on Midlothian Cement Plants.
NORTH TEXAS CLEAN AIR STEERING COMMITTEE RESOLUTION SUPPORTING
PREFERENCE IN PURCHASING POLICIES FOR CERTAIN CEMENT
WHEREAS, the North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee (the Committee) was
created after several counties in North Central Texas were declared to be in violation of
the ozone standard under the Federal Clean Air Act; and
WHEREAS, the Committee has worked closely with the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in
recommending and developing control measures to enable the region to achieve
compliance of the ozone standard; and
WHEREAS, Point Sources of NOx emissions are among the causes of the region’s
ozone nonattainment status; and
WHEREAS, scientific evaluation and studies by TCEQ and EPA demonstrate that
emissions from cement kilns in Ellis County directly contribute to elevated ozone levels
in the North Central Texas ozone non-attainment area; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED THAT THE NORTH TEXAS CLEAN
AIR STEERING COMMITTEE EXPRESSES STRONG SUPPORT FOR:
- Section 1: That local governments and special districts within the region’s
ozone non-attainment area be strongly encouraged to include
criterion in their bidding policies that rewards or give special
consideration to cement from the companies operating kilns
with the lowest NOx emission levels.
__________________________________
Honorable Judge Ron Harris, Chair
North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee
Collin County Judge
I hereby certify that the North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee adopted this
resolution on October 20, 2006.
__________________________________
Honorable Judge Margaret Keliher, Co-Chair
North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee
Dallas County Judge
NORTH TEXAS CLEAN AIR STEERING COMMITTEE RESOLUTION
SUPPORTING LoTox AND/OR SELECTIVE CATALYTIC REDUCTION
TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADDITIONAL CEMENT KILN EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS
WHEREAS, the North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee (the Committee) was
created after several counties in North Central Texas were declared to be in violation of
the ozone standard under the Federal Clean Air Act; and
WHEREAS, the Committee has worked closely with the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in
recommending and developing control measures to enable the region to achieve
compliance of the ozone standard; and
WHEREAS, Point Sources of NOx emissions are among the causes of the region’s
ozone nonattainment status; and
WHEREAS, scientific evaluation and studies by TCEQ and EPA demonstrate that
emissions from cement kilns in Ellis County directly contribute to elevated ozone levels
in the North Central Texas ozone non-attainment area; and
WHEREAS, scientific evaluation and studies by TCEQ and EPA demonstrate that
emissions from cement kilns in Ellis County directly contribute to elevated ozone levels
in the North Central Texas ozone non-attainment area.
WHEREAS, a 2005 study commissioned by TCEQ concluded that technology exists
which can reduce NOx emissions from cement kilns by up to 80 percent; and
WHEREAS, that technology, known as LoTox and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR),
is believed to be compatible with Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction Control (SNCRC)
technology.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE NORTH TEXAS CLEAN
AIR STEERING COMMITTEE:
-
Section 1: That TCEQ require the kiln owners to have a pilot test(s)
conducted for LoTox and/or SCR technologies, conditioned
upon an initial demonstration that each technology will be
economically, technologically, and environmentally effective
and will not adversely affect plant operations and/or facilities.
- Section 2: That all efforts be made to seek funding assistance from
outside sources to offset costs of the cement industry for said
pilot test(s).
- Section 3: That said pilot test(s) be conducted as quickly as possible and
completed no later than September 2007 so that cost effective
emission reductions demonstrated from the use of the pilot
tested technology can be incorporated into the 2009-2010
State Implementation Plan.
- Section 4: That cement kilns producing nitrogen oxide emissions no
greater than 1.9 lbs per clinker ton of cement produced during
the ozone season shall be excluded from the mandatory pilot
testing.
- Section 5: That EPA, TCEQ, the North Central Texas Council of
Governments, cement plant owners, local environmental
groups, and local governments be involved in monitoring pilot
testing.
__________________________________
Ron Harris, Chair
North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee
Collin County Judge
I hereby certify that the North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee adopted this
resolution on October 20, 2006.
__________________________________
Margaret Keliher, Co-Chair
North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee
Dallas County Judge
NORTH TEXAS CLEAN AIR STEERING COMMITTEE RESOLUTION SUPPORTING
SELECTIVE NON-CATALYTIC REDUCTION TECHNOLOGY FOR CEMENT KILN
EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS>
WHEREAS, the North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee (the Committee) was
created after several counties in North Central Texas were declared to be in violation of
the ozone standard under the Federal Clean Air Act; and
WHEREAS, the Committee has worked closely with the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in
recommending and developing control measures to enable the region to achieve
compliance of the ozone standard; and
WHEREAS, Point Sources of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are among the causes of
the region’s ozone nonattainment status; and
WHEREAS, scientific evaluation and studies by TCEQ and EPA demonstrate that
emissions from cement kilns in Ellis County directly contribute to elevated ozone levels
in the North Central Texas ozone non-attainment area; and
WHEREAS, it is generally accepted in the cement industry and confirmed by a scientific
study performed for TCEQ that Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction Technology is
capable of reducing NOx emissions from kilns in a range of 30 percent to 50 percent.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED THAT THE NORTH TEXAS CLEAN
AIR STEERING COMMITTEE EXPRESSES STRONG SUPPORT FOR:
- Section 1: That TCEQ require the kiln owners to install SNCR technology
on all kilns in Ellis County.
__________________________________
Honorable Judge Ron Harris, Chair
North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee
Collin County Judge
I hereby certify that the North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee adopted this
resolution on October 20, 2006.
__________________________________
Honorable Judge Margaret Keliher, Co-Chair
North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee
Dallas County Judge
Validation, Vindication, Celebration - Next Comes Implementation.
On January 10th, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality released the
draft of a long-awaited report on possible new air pollution controls for the
three Midlothian cement plants. The report was a requirement of the recent legal
settlement between EPA and Downwinders At Risk plus three other citizens groups,
which ended litigation over the 2000 DFW clean air plan.
According to the terms of the settlement, the TCEQ had six months to assemble
a team of experts to study how each Midlothian cement plant could best reduce
emissions of Nitrogen Oxides, or NOx. NOx combined with sunlight turns into
ozone, or smog. Ozone pollution is the reason the entire DFW area must have
a new regional clean air plan.
Citizens have been urging the TCEQ to require the use of Selective Catalytic
Reduction, or SCR, technology on the cement plants since 1999, because it
promises the largest reductions in NOx pollution. But the state has ignored
that recommendation up until the release of this landmark report. SCR units
are like the catalytic converters on automobiles, except they're made for
heavy industry.
Among the conclusions in the
Executive Summary of TCEQ's "Assessment of NOx Emissions Reduction Strategies for Cement Kilns - Ellis County"
:
- SCR, along with other kinds of advanced pollution controls, are
technically feasible for each of the cement plants in Midlothian.
- SCR and another scrubber-based technology, can provide at least
80-85% or better reductions in NOX pollution.
- Eight out of the ten kilns, or furnaces, divided between TXI, Holcim and
Ash Grove would would be relatively inexpensive to retrofit with advanced
pollution controls. The other two kilns are rarely used.
- Using SCR, emissions of NOx in Midlothian could go from almost 10,000
tons per year to 2,263 tons per year.
Using these new control technologies brings additional reductions in
other kinds of pollutants from the plants that also improve air quality.
In short, this state report concludes that the SCR technology citizens have
been advocating for application to the cement plants since 1999, a technology
that can "conservatively" remove 80% of the plant's NOX, is both technologically
feasible and economically reasonable.
Now that we have this report that proves our point, the next step is translating
this official information into official public policy through implementation of
SCR, or an equally effective technology, to the Midlothian cement plants in
the new DFW clean air plan.
-- Jim Schermbeck
TCEQ Gets Skinned Up
(Dec 16th) That wasn't local environmentalists openly berating
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
staff members of its lackadaisical and industry-friendly
approach to DFW's air plan during today's Clean Air Steering.
That was the local Republican establishment. Both Collin County Judge Ron Harris
and Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher got hot under the collar about TCEQ's
responses to questions concerning the readiness of computer modeling and the
much-anticipated TCEQ report on cement plant pollution control technology.
Harris was agitated as TCEQ staff told him that the modeling needed to start
plugging proposed pollution-cutting measures might, or might not, be ready by
the time the Committee meets on January 13th. "It better be ready" replied Harris,
who looked like he wanted to take the TCEQers out to the woodshed.
Meanwhile, Keliher was trying to figure out why TCEQ was planning on sending out
advance copies of the cement plant report to the cement companies on December 19th.
The official explanation was that the companies needed to review it for
"confidential information," but that sounded less and less plausible as the
discussion wore on. Downwinders representative Jim Schembeck pointed out that
there was a certain amount of, well, cynicism, in allowing the companies to get
a sneak peek at the report, which is expected to detail what kind of new NOx pollution
controls are feasible for the three Midlothian cement plants in Ellis County.
TCEQ's Theresa Pella promised that Keliher, who is co-chair of the Steering Committee's
subcommittee on cement plants, would get a copy of what the companies got, although
some parts may be redacted.
UPDATE: As of January 1st, no report had landed in Keliher's hands.
-- Jim Schermbeck
Critical Mass
(December 16th) The first official meeting of the Citizens Clean Air Network
convened in an Arlington restaurant during lunchtime.
Downwinders At Risk, Interfaith Environmental Action, Arlington
Conservation Council, Interfaith Environmental Action, Dallas Sierra Club, Ft. Worth Sierra Club,
Blue Skies Allience, and Public Citizen/Texas were all represented. Between bites of food,
the fledgling group outlined its strategy for coalition-building over the next month or so leading
up to the Steering Committee vote, originally scheduled for February 15th, but looking more like March
at this point. First order of business--recruit more members.
-- Jim Schermbeck
We Have a Winner
(November 10th)
Downwinders At Risk officially launched its effort to build a fair and effective North Texas
clean air plan by hiring long-time DFW clean air activist Rita Beving as its organizer for the
Citizens Clean Air Network project. Rita brings a decade of experience with her, including
the last round of fighting over a Metroplex clean air plan in 1999-2000. As Sierra Club
Conservation Chair during the mid and late 1990's, she was also instrumental in helping
Downwinders fight the TXI hazardous waste incineration permit.
-- Jim Schermbeck
