EPA says ‘no’ to Ash Grove on mercury, but Durkee plant’s future might be saved anyway

Published 11:07 am Monday, August 9, 2010

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not include in its new mercury emissions rules a subcategory that Ash Grove Cement Co. officials have said could allow the company to continue operating its 116-employee factory in Baker County.

But according to the rules, which EPA released Monday morning, the agency is willing to consider giving Ash Grove extra time to comply with limits on the amount of airborne mercury that can be released from the company’s plant near Durkee, about 25 miles southeast of Baker City.

In the new rules, EPA notes that the agency “is interested in exploring

the concept” of allowing Ash Grove more than “the three to four years

specified in this rule” to comply with the new mercury emissions limits.

That information arrived after the deadline for Monday’s issue of the Herald and so is not included in the story in the paper.

Without concessions from EPA, Ash Grove would have to reduce mercury emissions by about 98 percent within that three- to four- year period, according to EPA.

The $20 million system that Ash Grove has installed at the Durkee factory cuts mercury emissions by about 90 percent, said Curtis Lesslie, vice president for environmental affairs for the Kansas-based company.

The central issue is the type of limestone that Ash Grove quarries near the Durkee plant and uses in the cement-making process there.

That limestone contains more mercury than is typical in that type of rock. As a result, the Durkee plant releases more of the toxic metal than most other cement plants – it’s the second-biggest emitter of airborne mercury in the country, according to the EPA.

Lesslie said the Durkee limestone generally contains from 400 to 2,000 parts per billion of mercury; he said the EPA’s new limits are based on average mercury concentrations in limestone of 20 parts per billion or less.

Two cement factories — the Durkee plant and one in Tehachapi, Calif., that’s owned by another company — use limestone that contains unusually high concentrations of mercury, according to EPA.

The agency in its 460-page document outlining the new regulations notes that the mercury concentrations at Durkee constitute “a unique challenge” for Ash Grove in trying to comply with the limits.

EPA also acknowledges in that document that Ash Grove has installed mercury-capturing equipment at the Durkee factory even though the company was not required to do so.

As a result, EPA will consider extending Ash Grove’s deadline for complying with the 98-percent limit. The agency has not said how long an extension it might grant to Ash Grove.

Lesslie said Ash Grove officials don’t yet know whether the Durkee plant can meet the 98-percent standard using only the equipment that’s in place now. The company started testing the technology on July 14, and so far a 90-percent reduction in mercury emissions seems feasible, he said. The Durkee plant has in the past released more than 2,000 pounds of mercury per year.

According to the EPA rule, Ash Grove could further reduce mercury emissions by installing “dust-shuttling” equipment. Lesslie said dust-shuttling would cost about $2 million, and that Ash Grove would have to get permits to install the equipment. He said he doesn’t know how much mercury the process would remove at the Durkee plant.

Airborne mercury can accumulate in water and in fish tissue. The metal can cause a variety of health problems in people, including damage to the brain and other parts of the central nervous system.

Andrew Whelan, a spokesman for Congressman Greg Walden, the Republican who represents Eastern Oregon, said Monday morning that although Walden is disappointed that EPA didn’t include a subcategory for cement plants that use mercury-rich limestone, the congressman is optimistic that the agency will at least consider giving Ash Grove more time to comply with the new limits.

The factory is not only one of Baker County’s larger private employers, but it pays almost $1 million per year in property taxes to the county. That’s more than 10 percent of the county’s general fund budget. Without Ash Grove’s tax payments the county almost certainly would have to reduce services and lay off employees.