Times Beach Dispatches (Part II)

[Cdstelzer@aol.com]

WINDS OF SHAME
Fugitive toxic emissions at the Times Beach incinerator reveal lax safety
policies of Syntex, the DNR and the EPA
BY C.D. STELZER
first published in the Riverfront Times (St. Louis), May 8, 1996

Gary Pendergrass stood before the St. Louis County Council last Thursday and
tried to explain the latest in a series of snafus at the Times Beach
incinerator, which have resulted in the releases of unknown quantities of
dioxin into the environment.
  It was not an easy task for Pendergrass, who is the Times Beach project
coordinator for Syntex, the company found liable for the Superfund cleanup.
Defending the project's already questionable safety record  became even less
tenable due to the belated actions of the Missouri Department of Natural
Resources (DNR).  Earlier in the day, the state agency announced it had shut
down the controversial incinerator in the wake of the most recent incident,
an electrical power outage on April 28. 
 DNR Director David Shorr could not be reached on Monday. Nina Thompson, a
spokeswoman for the department, said the amount of the dioxin released during
the emergency had not been determined as of yet. "We don't think that it was
a health risk, but we still want to know for sure," she said. The DNR does
not know how long the shut down will be in effect, according to Thompson. 
 At the council meeting, Pendergrass blamed an unforseen act of God for the
latest debacle. "As you can see the wind velocity range went from the 20 to
30 mph range very quickly up to a maximum of 62 mph," he told the council,
referring to a chart he had brought with him.  
 "When this happened, the high winds extinguished the pilot lights on the
standby combustion system," Pendergrass added. Less than a minute later, the
electricity went out, according to Pendergrass. The combination of the high
winds and electricity outage prevented the full burning of
dioxin-contaminated materials and thereby allowed toxic matter to spew
untreated out of the dump stack reserved for such emergency releases.
 "Honestly, the events were very unfortunate the way things worked,"
 Pendergrass said.  The Syntex official, nevertheless, reassured the council
that the release posed no danger to public health. To prevent a similar
occurrence, a wind screen has been installed to shield the pilot lights, and
a private weather forecaster has been hired, Pendergrass said.
 The incineration of dioxin-contaminated soils is scheduled to continue over
the next several months, according to the terms of the 1990 federal consent
decree. The plan -- signed by Syntex, the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the DNR -- calls for burning toxic waste from Times Beach and 26
other sites in Eastern Missouri.  
   Under questioning from Councilman Gregory Quinn,  Pendergrass testified
that IT Corp. -- the incinerator operator contracted by Syntex -- would
calculate the amount of toxins released and provide their estimate to the DNR
and the EPA for further evaluation.  
 Quinn then asked why air monitoring data on the two previous emergency
releases, which occurred on March 20 and March 30,  had not yet been provided
to the St. Louis County Health Department. Pendergrass responded by saying
the data would be forthcoming and added: "There has been no attempt to hide
anything on this project."  
 Opponents of the incinerator disagree. Dan McLaughlin, who spoke to the
council prior to Pendergrass, alleged that "air monitors that surround the
site are ... either by accident or purposely shut-off during these releases."
 Joe Taykowski, the local resident who has been videotreleases from a bluff overlooking the incinerator, says he has documented
other problems with the project. "They (Syntex) don't want to talk about the
fugitive emissions that are coming out of the bottom of this stack at least
five times an hour -- every day," said Taykowski. 
  Reached for comment over the weekend, Steve Taylor, a spokesman 
 the Times Beach Action Group (TBAG), criticized the state and federal
regulators for permitting incinerator, which he says is an inherently
dangerous. "The only people surprised that this happened are the DRN and EPA,
the agency's that have been charged with safeguarding public health. The
community anticipated this," said Taylor. 
  Last month, federal Judge John F. Nangle, the same jurist who cobbled the
1990 consent decree, dismissed a suit brought by the Citizens Against Dioxin
Incineration (CADI), a group affiliated with TBAG. By so doing, the judge
sided with the lawyers representing the  EPA and Syntex,  who contend that
Superfund law prohibits any court challenges until after cleanups are
completed. Nangle's latest decision follows an earlier ruling in which he
overturned a St. Louis County ordinance that sought to impose stricter
emission standards on the incinerator. 
                                                           
 C.D. Stelzer
http://home/stlnet.com/~cdstelzer/environ.html