Article published April 06, 2004 Coke plant on fast track to beat EPA regulations Proposed facility would employ 150 By TOM HENRY BLADE STAFF WRITER
Tough new smog regulations will likely put the Toledo area up against a now-or-never deadline for major industrial growth, putting the state environmental review of a proposed $200 million-plus coke plant on a fast track.
"We're trying to get the draft permit out quickly," Dina Pierce, Ohio EPA spokesman, said yesterday in reference to an air pollution permit application submitted March 26 by U.S. Coking Group, L.L.C.
The plant, which would employ 150 people, is envisioned for the Toledo-Oregon line on Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority land east of Duck Creek and northeast of Millard Avenue.
Toledo Environmental Services, which acts as the Ohio EPA's agent for Lucas County air issues, has already reviewed the application and forwarded it to the agency's central office with a recommendation that it be approved if certain conditions are met. In deciding whether such projects are viable, the Ohio EPA typically considers such recommendations first, then decides what other conditions it should require, if any, before issuing a draft permit for a public review period of at least 30 days.
This particular application is being expedited because the regulatory atmosphere is about to change, Ms. Pierce said.
Tough regional ozone regulations that the U.S. EPA got through the Supreme Court during the Clinton administration are expected to take effect soon. On April 15, the federal agency is to announce which regions fail to meet the new eight-hour standard for ground-level ozone, which causes smog.
The Toledo area is expected to be one of dozens across the country declared out of compliance. Industrial development won't be forbidden in those areas, but the type of pollution controls that new plants and factories would have to install could be so expensive that the development ends up going elsewhere.
Even as fast as the Ohio EPA is working on U.S. Coking Group's application, it might be difficult getting it in under the wire, Ms. Pierce said.
She said that although the federal EPA has not yet announced the effective date for new regulations, they will likely be imposed upon noncompliant regions in the coming weeks. Agency officials in Washington familiar with the issue were not available for comment yesterday.
"It's going to be a really tight squeeze, even under the best of circumstances," Ms. Pierce said.
It's likely the accelerated review process will be watched closely by the American Lung Association of Ohio and the Ohio Environmental Council, two of the state's most vocal groups on air pollution issues. A lung association spokesman was not available for comment yesterday, but Staci Putney, the environmental council's air program associate, said it "isn't the first time I've heard of some permits going through quickly."
Ms. Putney said she believes the Toledo area and others will need upgrades to improve air quality, regardless of what happens with U.S. Coking Group's application.
Chaired by Detroit businessman Frank Stella, U.S. Coking Group chose port authority land near the Port of Toledo over several others. Oregon City Administrator Kenneth Filipiak said last week he was "thrilled" about the prospect of the plant being built there.
The plant would turn coal into coke, a key ingredient in steel production. It's typically a high-emission process, but the facility under consideration is to be equipped with modern, more efficient pollution controls, such as a smokestack scrubber to minimize ozone releases into the atmosphere and a baghouse to capture airborne particles, Ms. Pierce said.
In addition to the 150 permanent jobs, 700 to 1,000 temporary construction jobs could be generated by the project, officials have said.
Toledo's last coke works, Toledo Coke Co., closed in 1993, leaving behind benzene pits and other by-products of pollution that required a $10 million cleanup.
Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com or 419-724-6079. Permanent LinkCoke plant on fast track to beat EPA regulationshttp://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040406/NEWS16/404060371/-1/NEWSSTORY:2004404060371
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