Date
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
The Air District is announcing that it will bring an abatement order to correct air quality violations for faulty emissions monitoring at Chemtrade’s Richmond facility in front of the agency’s independent Hearing Board on April 12 at 1:30 PM.
The air quality violations stem from an audit of the facility’s Continuous Emissions Monitoring System that led to the discovery of multiple violations and prompted an in-depth investigation. The Air District estimates that Chemtrade underreported sulfur dioxide emissions by an average of 64 tons annually but stayed below their annual permit limit. Compliance monitoring at the plant is done by a Continuous Emissions Monitoring System.
If the Hearing Board approves the abatement order, Chemtrade would be required to come into compliance by April 15, 2022, and conduct source testing by May 2, 2022.
Air District inspectors identified various hardware and software misconfiguration issues with Chemtrade’s Continuous Emissions Monitoring System that resulted in unreliable measurement and reporting of sulfur dioxide data at the facility. Chemtrade purchased the facility in 2014 and the Air District believes these issues predate the transfer of ownership.
Abatement orders and cases brought before the Hearing Board allow for transparency, as facts and evidence are presented in an open forum while providing an opportunity for public involvement. Bringing Chemtrade before the Hearing Board is a further demonstration of the transparency promised to communities by the Air District.
The public is encouraged to participate and comment when the proposed abatement order is presented to the Hearing Board. The public can participate via Zoom on April 12 at 1:30 PM at https://bayareametro.zoom.us/j/83215693198 (webinar ID: 832 1569 3198). The public can also sign up for Hearing Board updates on the Air District's Sign Up for Information web page.
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Last Updated: 3/22/2022