Bullseye pollution problems

[menty666]

I should figure out what I still have for BE flat glass and have a hype sale.

Seriously though, they're getting railroaded. Also, what kind of idiot sites a daycare inside of an industrial park?

[Greymatter Glass]

I should figure out what I still have for BE flat glass and have a hype sale.

Seriously though, they're getting railroaded. Also, what kind of idiot sites a daycare inside of an industrial park?

I wouldn't call the area they're in an industrial park, not in the giant factory sense.... iirc it's a kind of mixed use area, a few manufacturing shops, garages, a hiway, bunch of office/professional buildings, a hotel, and residential streets a block or two over.

Also, I have a K-5 charter school next to my shop, and I am very much in an industrial park.... power plant, gypsum plant, air liquification plant, commercial bakeries, auto garages, granite suppliers, 2 freight terminals all within 2 or 3 blocks (well the power plant and air sep plant are about a mile away, but they dominate the area). Mostly medium to heavy manufacturing, freight, and wholesale/distribution. There's like 3 or 4 schools in the immediate area (2 church and 2 charter). The charter schools buy these giant shell warehouse buildings and build into them.... it's the modern urban thing to do I guess.

[PyroChixRock]

Bullseye response

http://www.bullseyeglass.com/news/bu...ist-order.html

Bullseye Glass responds to Cease and Desist Order
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 20, 2016

On the evening of May 19, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the Oregon Health Authority, and the Multnomah County Health Department held a press conference to discuss a Cease and Desist Order issued by the Office of the Governor, ordering Bullseye Glass to stop using materials that will force us to eliminate 80% of our products. This order came nearly 12 hours after DEQ learned of a reported one-time spike in lead levels May 9 in the air near Bullseye Glass. Bullseye received the Order minutes before it was sent to the press.

Why didn’t DEQ contact Bullseye about the readings immediately? Bullseye has consistently cooperated working with DEQ to suspend the use of materials when issues arose, first with cadmium and arsenic, and later with chromium. The Cease and Desist Order and press conference were an unnecessary and heavy-handed tactic. If DEQ had contacted us, we would have suspended use of the materials they are concerned about until they could investigate further. It is alarming that, instead of communicating with us, state officials chose to spend the 12 hours preparing legal documents and planning for a press conference.

If the matter was so urgent that it requires these unprecedented steps, why didn’t they simply pick up the phone and inform us of the problem? We would have suspended the use of lead while they investigated the matter further – as we have suspended the use of other metals in the past when DEQ has expressed concerns.

DEQ should be aware there has been construction activity with earth moving equipment at the day care center approximately 25 ft. from the air monitor station. The equipment is currently in place, sitting next to mounds of soil.

DEQ has now added cobalt, manganese, nickel and selenium to the list of restricted raw materials even though air monitoring data over the past few months has not shown any significant concerns with these materials. Why did DEQ add additional metals to the Cease and Desist Order, metals that have not exceeded benchmarks or health standards – unless the real goal is to put Bullseye out of business? Because these metals were added to the list, Bullseye is forced to lay off employees, starting on Monday, May 23.

Bullseye had a conference scheduled with DEQ for Friday, May 20. This meeting had been scheduled for weeks. The meeting agenda was meant to focus on the plan going forward with milestones for the installation of pollution controls and the continued campaign to meet the deadline set in the temporary rule. Shortly before holding their press conference, DEQ canceled the meeting. If there has ever been time to discuss a plan forward, today would have been the critical time.

Over the past four months, Bullseye has tried to be a model of how a business can work with DEQ to solve problems once they come to light. Our goal since the beginning of this ordeal has been to become the cleanest manufacturer of colored art glass in the US. But it does not seem that DEQ wants to work with small businesses in Oregon. Their actions show that, rather than helping a business operate in the cleanest manner possible, they would prefer to simply close us down. We acknowledge that air quality problems in Oregon are real – but these problems will remain, even if DEQ shuts us down.

[menty666]

aww man, sucks for their staff

[PyroChixRock]

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuucks for all of us. The lack of science combined with throwing them under the bus for hype train approval is completely assanine behavior for a company in position of regulating anything.

[PyroChixRock]

Sigh

http://www.kokomotribune.com/news/ep...731ea0be5.html



EPA accuses Kokomo Opalescent Glass of violating air pollution permit
Nation's oldest art glass factory will fight EPA on alleged violations
Carson Gerber May 3, 2016


Kokomo Opalescent Glass and the Environmental Protection Agency are at odds over allegations that the company is violating federal clean-air standards and emitting elevated amounts of potentially toxic materials.

The EPA last month notified the company that it was violating the Clean Air Act by failing to obtain a federal permit that regulates glass manufacturers, and alleged that the violation has resulted in Kokomo Opalescent Glass (KOG) emitting elevated amounts of metals into the air such as cadmium, chromium and arsenic.

The company, which is the nation's oldest manufacturer of opalescent glass, currently operates under an Indiana Registration Permit, which was reissued most recently in 2004.

KOG holds that permit because it emits fewer pollutants than the more stringent federal permits required for art glass factories, according to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

However, the EPA has alleged the company should be required to obtain a federal Title V permit because of the furnaces it uses to melt glass.

According to the agency, KOG employs a continuously fired, natural-gas fueled melting furnace to produce colored sheet glass and glass blocks using raw materials that could emit hazardous air pollutants.

Under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants set for glass manufacturers, operating a continuously fired furnace requires the company to obtain a more stringent Title V permit, which would increase the amount of oversight and air-pollution regulations the company has to follow.

Those requirements include emissions limits and increased monitoring, record keeping and reporting. It would also require KOG to report its compliance with permit conditions to IDEM.

The EPA has turned a critical eye towards art glass manufacturers all across the country after an investigation last year revealed a glass factory in Oregon was allegedly releasing dangerous amounts of toxic metals.

In that case, the U.S. Forest Service found moss collected from trees around art glass manufacturers in the Portland, Oregon, area had much higher concentrations of heavy metals than other areas in the city.

The findings prompted the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) to set up an air monitoring system near the Bullseye Glass art-glass manufacturing facility to collect 24-hour air samples every few days over a 30-day period in October.

In February, the tests revealed high levels of cadmium and arsenic in the air, which prompted the ODEQ to begin investigating potential sources of the pollution.

According to the EPA, preliminary work suggested the metals found in the monitoring were coming in large part from Bullseye Glass. Elevated cadmium levels were also found in proximity to another Portland glass manufacturer called Uroboros Glass.

The investigation prompted the EPA to identify 14 other art-glass manufacturers, including KOG, that use similar processes as the factories in Oregon.

In February, the EPA Office of Air and Radiation sent a memo to its regional directors asking for assistance in determining whether there were emissions concerns at any art glass factory in their area.

That led to the EPA’s inspection of KOG’s manufacturing facilities located at 1310 S. Market St. on March 7. A month later, the agency issued its findings of violation to the company.

But KOG President Richard Elliott Tuesday adamantly denied the EPA’s allegations that the company’s manufacturing techniques have resulted in elevated emissions of hazardous pollutants.

“We’re probably the cleanest decorative art glass manufacturer on the planet,” he said. “I think Kokomo Opalescent Glass has been an incredibly responsible corporate citizen in this community for nearly 130 years.”

The EPA responded to questions on whether it would conduct testing around KOG to determine if the facility may be polluting the area by saying it does not comment on ongoing investigations.

Since the company received a revised Indiana Registration permit in 2004, IDEM officials have conducted onsite inspections of KOG’s facilities in 2009 and 2013 to ensure compliance with its permit. No violations were identified, according to the inspection reports.

Elliott said that’s evidence of what he called a “witch hunt” by the EPA to target art-glass manufacturers, and said the allegations are “an example of bad government.”

“IDEM has never looked at us and said, ‘Wait a minute, your permit isn’t right,’” he said.

Elliott said the company now plans to fight the EPA’s findings during a conference to be held later this month in Chicago.

The biggest challenge is to the agency’s claim that KOG employs a continuously operated furnace, which would require the factory to receive a more stringent permit.

Elliott said the company does have a furnace on 24 hours a day, but they don’t continually produce glass. Instead, they use a “batch” process, in which the glass is inserted into the furnace and then removed until the next batch is put in.

“The definition of continually operated furnaces is subject to interpretation,” he said. “I’ve never described our furnaces as continuous.”

Elliott said the company also uses potentially toxic metals like cadmium, chromium and magnesium to color the glass, but those materials don’t emit pollution from the factory’s stacks because of the melting process they use.

“We are a decorative glass manufacturer and we need those pigments, but we use them responsibly,” he said. “We’re incredibly responsible with the ways that we use these pigments.”

Elliott said now he hopes he can convince EPA officials to see his side of the story. He said he plans to attend the conference later this month with the company’s furnace expert, environmental consultant and a lawyer to help make his case.

“I’m not going to roll over and play dead,” he said. “I’m going to show them why they’re wrong.”

[menty666]

This is getting worse and worse...

[BORO]

The investigation prompted the EPA to identify 14 other art-glass manufacturers, including KOG, that use similar processes as the factories in Oregon.

Anyone have the list of 14 manufacturers? Or know where to find it?

That's a big #


I really want to know who made the list. I bet some still have no idea what's comming.

[Jackass Glass]

this blows..... im telling you i see this industry leaving the USA..... and im not thrilled about it or promoting that idea.

We are going to regulate ourselves out of biz... meaning america in general. Not that its all bad. cant have lead and such in the air. just saying.


for example.

India gives No Facks about air quality.... you could probably open shop next to the prime ministers palace lol.

Sorry bullseye and other manufacturers. i hope this all sorts for you guys.

[Cosmo]

I'm wondering how long it will be until they start coming after smaller shops as well. I know the smaller shops don't melt glass on the scale the big guys do, but every day you see more and more people hand-pulling color. It's only a matter of time until they get all they can get from the big guys and start looking for others to come after.

[BORO]

^ I am looking for that list. I can't think of 14 color makers. ( soft , boro and clear glass combined.)
I start to add in the "small guys" and its a longer list.


Small guys mostly re-melt cullet ?

After the chemicals are in the glass, not much is released when its reheated?

Batching / mixing cullet and torching are similar as far as pollution ?

Obviously I would think, "A 40 pound pot should off more than 4 ounces in a torch. "

The % still should be low right?

I know "small guys" may add chemicals to the mix to tweak recipes from time to time. However I don't think that's as common.

-Gray Matter from page 2

To the people worried about the various heavy metals in our glass (boro or soda-lime) our glass comes to us pre-glassified. In the case of cadmium colors there IS a slight risk of off-gassing small amounts when you over heat the color, but the volumes most of us work with are insignificant in terms of human health risks (cigarettes contain a significant amount of cadmium).

The problem here is with large industrial scale BATCHING of glass from raw chemicals. The various forms of cadmium they use will generally reduce and vaporize as they melt, and until they're chemically bonded in solution with the glass can come out at surprising amounts. Consider that 1000kg of batch can produce as little as 400kg of raw glass depending on the type of glass you're making, the rest of that weight is gasses, water, and chemical vapor discharges. I don't know what the yield is for bullseye / Soda lime (Skye? Anyone?) but it's not 1:1 by a long shot, guessing around 85-90%.

On the torch, once our glass is formed, we lose VERY little to off-gassing, I'd bet less than 0.001%, which if a cadmium color is say, 6% cadmium by weight, 1000kg of cadmium rod would produce MAYBE 1kg total of gasses, of which the majority will be not cadmium... maybe a few grams of cadmium, which if you use 1000kg of cadmium color in say, a week, you might want to get checked out by someone who knows more about it.

Also, it WILL make the glass cost more, but a quality bag house filtration system, with wet columns and various other things, could reduce bullseyes emissions to almost 0, which if there's demand at the associated cost, they will likely do.

[Joe]

well, this is positive
http://www.opb.org/news/series/portl...ullseye-glass/

[Mike_Aurelius]

Here's more information: http://www.portlandmercury.com/news/...-on-toxic-lead

I'm having my doubts that Bullseye is the victim here, it is beginning to sound to me like they are purposely trying to destroy the art glass manufacturing industry in the US.

[PyroChixRock]

Glad there's a little good for once in this thread, thanks Joe.

I'm not sure why anyone would go after an entire industry but it does seem like science and facts have been tossed out left and right. The whole thing is insane. I hope some sense comes into play soon before things get worse and trickle down to even smaller glass companies.

[daveabr]

One of the big problems in my opinion is that it's in Oregon. I mean, there is no stronger hippie/naturalist/environmentalist protest train than one in Oregon. So, the politicians are moving to protect the votes they need. It's BS completely, but not surprising. There was a story last summer where dozens of protesters literally dangled on ropes from a bridge to block a Shell owned vessel from leaving port to go to drill for oil in the Arctic.


Not comparing that cause to this one, which is clearly misguided and uninformed on the public's part. But, just an example of how hardcore they are in that area, and how much the politicians have to play that game to a point. Something like cadmium, lead, and arsenic set off huge alarms, and people in that area get up in arms in a hurry about shit like this.

Bullseye as of now has plans to still be in the Tech Display at the GAS Conference in a couple weeks. I look forward to conversations that may be had there that can gain support from the industry that they really need.

[harpentuan]

Um, anyone knows any hippz that go to that homeopathic college in Seattle? I went to some of the parties back in the day, and they were all snobs living on "old" money. I am just saying this because I have experienced it in person, and it sounds like the tribe that good-ole-Mike is describing. I mean , how. Can you not dislike fake but rich hippies?

Edit: I am talking about the kids that go to this super expensive BS school and live on "old" money that they didn't earn. And they all drive brand new Subaru s!

[harpentuan]

Hey Dave, I bet you that 98% of those "activists" were doing it for personal attention. Kinda like how kids these days Pierce the fuck out of their faces. LOL.

[brads]

If various people had been paying enough attention to world events a couple of years ago, perhaps they might have seen something like this coming - http://www.wsj.com/articles/an-obitu...red-1412718962

[brads]

...The lack of science combined with throwing them under the bus for hype train approval is completely assanine behavior...

Ahhhh, politics. Isn't it wonderful?

[brads]

Anyone have the list of 14 manufacturers? Or know where to find it?

That's a big #


I really want to know who made the list. I bet some still have no idea what's comming.

Here's a master list of US glass manufacturers from the EPA, a couple of which surprised me. The list is nearly 10 years old and several of those glassmakers have since shut down, notably Steuben, among others. This list doesn't break anything down by size or type of glass manufactured, but it may give some hints of where the EPA might be headed next.

Watch out Dale...

One of the big things that will obviously be fought about is what constitutes a "continuous" glass furnace, since that is what is specifically referred to in the regulations. In the industry, a continuous melt furnace is one with a continuous feed of batch going into one end while finished glass gets pulled out the other. But it seems like the bureaucrats reacting to the hype are now trying to retroactively classify virtually every glass furnace as "continuous", since all but the very smallest run 24 hours a day, even if they are not actually melting. So it looks like the EPA is now attempting to justify lumping day tanks and pot furnaces in with continuous melt tank furnaces. You can expect that to cause some people a lot of grief, even if the EPA doesn't make it stick.