Posts Tagged ‘Air Monitoring’

14 Oct

Linking Air Pollution to Colitis & Crohn’s

Posted by The Northport Project in Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, EPA Human Health Risk Assessment Upper Columbia Lake Roosevelt, NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Teck, Ulcerative Colitis. Tagged: Air Monitoring, Colitis, COLITIS & CROHN'S INFO, Crohn's disease, HEALTH STUDIES, IBD (COLITIS/ CROHN'S) STUDY, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Teck. Leave a comment

Linking Air Pollution to Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease;

A statement for Northport residents, epidemiologists, research organizations and universities on an opportunity for an epidemiological case-control study on Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis that continues to be ignored

By Jamie Paparich

Extensive studies continue to be done on human health issues linked to exposure to air pollution. It is well documented that exposure to air pollution has been a contributing factor in multiple forms of lung and heart diseases.

However, almost no studies have been done on the effects of air pollution on the gastrointestinal tract, specifically the intestines. Even though the bodies intestines absorb the majority of the toxins inhaled and ingested from air pollution.

Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are the two known inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Crohn’s disease can cause inflammation throughout the entire GI tract, anywhere from the mouth to the anus. It most commonly effects the small intestines, causing chronic inflammation of the lining of the small intestines. Ulcerative colitis impacts the large intestine/colon. Colitis causes inflammation and open sores, or ulcers on the lining of the large intestine/colon. Both Crohn’s and Colitis causes severe abdominal discomfort and frequent emptying of the colon. These diseases are incurable and impacts not only the patients long term health, but also their quality of life. The scientific and medical community have been unable to discover what causes these rare diseases, which limits the treatment options.

AIR POLLUTION

Depending on where you are, air pollution can contain anything from fire smoke, ash, emissions from smelters, mining operations, power plants, construction sites, road construction, and automobiles…just to name a few. All air pollution contains particulate matter (PM). Particulate matter is liquid and solid particles suspended in the air that contains a mixture of the toxic pollution, the dust and pollen in your air. The particulate matter is how the toxins from pollution enter the body.

Exposure

Inhalation & Dermal:

There are two sizes of particulate matter.

– PM 10: 10 microns (a millionth of a meter) in diameter or less. These are small enough to be inhaled and accumulate in the respiratory system. Many of the particles pass from the respiratory system through mucus down the GI Tract.

– PM 2.5: 2.5 microns in diameter (1/10,000 of an inch). These are so small they are inhaled into the respiratory system, but then are able to pass through the lungs into the bloodstream, and also from the respiratory tract through the GI Tract. These size particles can also be absorbed through the skin.

Ingestion:

The particulate matter falls onto gardens, crops, the food animals ingest, water sources, and the water ways fish inhabit. In turn, we ingest the PM through those products when consumed.

NORTHPORT AIR POLLUTION

In the case of Northport, air monitoring has shown that our air contains dangerous levels (way above safety standards) of arsenic and cadmium. This is from the emissions released from the smoke stack at Teck Resource, a Canadian smelter located 3 miles upriver. The particulate matter in our pollution contains several heavy metals, not just arsenic and cadmium, because of the smelters emissions.

BODIES REACTION

Gastrointestinal Tract

Inhalation: Once particulate matter is inhaled into the respiratory tract, it is sent through the GI tract through mucocilliary clearance, eventually entering the intestines. The majority of the particulate matter inhaled into the body will end up in the intestines. Not all of these toxins are expelled from the body. Many are absorbed and accumulate into the intestinal walls. This induces systemic effects; directly effecting the epithelial cells (the barrier between toxic invaders and healthy cells lining the intestine). System inflammation then triggers immune activation. Over time, this leads to the immune system turning on the bodies good cells as well.

Ingestion: Food and water containing PM toxins are ingested into the stomach, then passed to the intestines, where the toxins will, once again, spend the longest amount of time in the body, before being expelled from the body. The toxins not expelled will also inducing systemic effects, system inflammation, and eventually immune over stimulation.

IMMUNE SYSTEM & BIO-TOXICITY

Particulate matter alters the body’s immune system reaction. The immune system discovers and destroys disease causing organisms, viruses, and foreign agents in our bodies. The immune system kicks into overdrive due to the ingestion and inhalation of particulate matter, especially containing heavy metals. Eventually the chronic, overstimulation of the immune systems will cause chronic inflammation throughout the body, or to specific organs.

Exposure to high levels of heavy metals is an obvious concern. However, the more dangerous type of exposure is long term exposure, even to low levels. This type of exposure causes the heavy metals to slowly accumulate in the bodies organs, causing biotoxic effects. According to the research published in Heavy metal pollution and human biotoxic effects, (Duruibe, J. O. 1 *, Ogwuegbu, M. O. C. 2 and Egwurugwu, J. N. 3), “….(G)eneral signs associated with biotoxicity of (sic) cadmium, lead, arsenic, mercury, zinc, copper and aluminum poisoning: gastrointestinal (GI) disorders….”

INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE

In people with IBD, the immune system attacks the heavy metal toxins in the intestines. Because of the accumulation of heavy metals toxins, from chronic exposure to specific air pollution, some individuals immune systems go haywire, attacking the toxins and healthy cells. This eventually leads to chronic-inflammation, ulcerations, and thickening of the intestinal wall. The result of this is Crohn’s disease or Ulcerative Colitis, and likely several other auto immune health issues.

However, not all people exposed to the same level of specific heavy metal toxins will develop Crohn’s or Colitis. When the first cluster of Northport residents with either Ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease was discovered in 1992 statistically 1 in 100,000 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with one of these IBDs. In 1992 Northport’s population was approximately 375 people, and 15 residents had been diagnosed with either Crohn’s or Colitis. In 2012 a research team from Massachusetts General Hospital’s Crohn’s and Colitis Center conducted an IBD study of Northport and confirmed 17 people had either Crohn’s or Colitis, the population in 2012 was still around 375 people. This is 11.5 to 15 times higher than the national standard.

In 1992 and 2012’s study the residents diagnosed with either Crohn’s or Colitis lived within a two mile radius of each other, in the Columbia River Valley. This valley was nicknamed “The Heavy Fallout Zone” by the EPA, due to the high levels of heavy metal toxins found in their sampling. The levels were so elevated in this area because Teck’s air emissions, full of heavy metal toxins and sulfer dioxide, would flow north down the river and become trapped in the valley. There is would settle, the particulate matter falling onto every surface below it, and being inhaled by the residents living on the little farms scattered along the banks of the river. These residents were chronically exposed to the dangerously high levels of arsenic and cadmium in the air for decades.

However, the question still remains. Why did some of these residents, living in the “heavy fallout zone”, contract Colitis or Crohn’s and some didn’t. It impacted the children who grew up in the area the most, but not all of the children. In the study; Exposure to ingested airborne pollutant particulate matter increases mucosal exposure to bacteria and induces early onset of inflammation in neonatal IL-10-deficient mice, (Salim SY1, Jovel J, Wine E, Kaplan GG, Vincent R, Thiesen A, Barkema HW, Madsen KL), the research team aimed to determine if exposure to particulate matter during the neonatal period and early-life would alter colitis in a mouse model. The team concluded “Our data suggest that early exposure to pollution particulates can result in an earlier onset of intestinal disease in genetically susceptible hosts and can alter responses to gut injury in later life.”

Scientist have not been able to discover an inheritance/genetic pattern to IBDs. Most scientists and researchers whose work is focused on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and the GI Tract believe both genetic and environmental factors trigger the illnesses.

Science Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network (SEHN) , Ted Schettler, M.D., M.P.H., shared his thoughts about the high occurrence of these diseases in our area; “If it is in anyway related to smelter emissions I’d wonder about changes in the intestinal micro biome as a plausible mechanism that could link metal exposure to inflammatory bowel disease.”

EPIDEMIOLOGY CASE-CONTROL STUDY

The community of Northport exceed all of the requirements to conduct an accurate epidemiological case-control study of the contribution chronic exposure to specific heavy metal toxins in air pollution has on triggering inflammatory bowel disease, as well as the impact it may specifically have on the immune system response.

The EPA is currently conducting a Human Health Risk Assessment of the area, as part of their agreement with Teck Resources in conducting remedial investigations and feasibility studies of the Upper Columbia River area and Northport. The EPA, nor Teck have any plans to monitor our air in any of the investigations or assessments. The EPA has no interest in looking at the cluster of diagnosed cases of Crohn’s or Colitis in the area, spanning three generations.

Today members of the community continue to be diagnosed with Crohn’s or Colitis, and more will continue to be diagnosed until something is done.

8 Sep

State, tribes to challenge ruling on cross-border emissions

Posted by The Northport Project in NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, TECK SMELTER. Tagged: Air Monitoring, NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Teck air emissions, TECK SMELTER. Leave a comment

Originally published August 12, 2016 at 6:07 pm

By The Associated Press

SPOKANE — Washington state and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation say they intend to challenge a federal appeals court ruling that said a Canadian company can’t be held liable for toxic air pollution that drifted into the state.

The July 27 decision from a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals partially dismissed Superfund claims against Teck Resources, which owns a smelter in Trail, British Columbia. For more than a century, pollution from the smelter’s smokestacks funneled down the Columbia River valley and settled over Northport, Washington.

Testing has found high levels of lead and arsenic downwind of the smelter, and a federal judge in Spokane found the company liable.

But the appeals court said that emitting pollutants into the air did not meet the definition of actions for which the company could be held responsible. The state and tribes say they will seek a rehearing in the 9th Circuit, The Spokesman-Review reported.

“We believe that our case is strong and that there is no difference in how the pollution … is impacting the environment, whether it originated from air or water,” said Brook Beeler, a spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Ecology.

The ruling didn’t address claims related to pollution that was dumped directly into the river. The smelter dumped hundreds of tons of slag daily into the river until 1995, when the B.C. government halted the practice after determining the smelter byproduct was toxic to aquatic life. The slag forms the “black sand beaches” of the Upper Columbia.

In an email, Teck spokesman Chad Pederson said the company reached an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to pay the cleanup costs for 14 residential properties last year, and for ongoing soil testing. Teck’s attorneys are reviewing the recent ruling, he said.

The tribal reservation’s boundaries originally extended to the Canadian border, encompassing the area that’s now Northport, said Michael Marchand, the tribe’s chairman.

“Most people don’t know the land history, or that tribal members retain the legal right to hunt and fish in that former territory,” Marchand said. “Lots of toxic material was released into that area.”

Many of the tribe’s members depend on wild game and fish for a subsistence diet, potentially exposing them to heavy metals and other pollution. For them, hunting and fishing “is not a sport, and it’s not a luxury food,” Marchand said.

In 2004, two members of the Colville Tribes sued Teck in U.S. District Court under the Superfund law. The state of Washington later joined the lawsuit.

The Associated Press

19 Aug

Ninth Circuit rules in favor of Teck smelter on liability claim

Posted by The Northport Project in Colville Comdederated Tribes, Northport, NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Teck, THE NORTHPORT PROJECT. Tagged: Air Monitoring, Lake Roosevelt, Northport, NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Teck, THE NORTHPORT PROJECT. 1 comment

The Original article published at Lake Roosevelt Forum, http://www.lrf.org

A three judge panel from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that aerial deposition from the Teck smelter in Trail, Canada does not constitute “disposal.” As such, Teck cannot be held liable for hazardous substances such as lead, arsenic and mercury emitted from Trail smoke stacks that traveled through the atmosphere and then deposited in the Upper Columbia Valley. Washington State and the Colville Confederated Tribes brought the case to hold Teck liable for cleanup costs and natural resource damages under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA (also known as superfund).

The court relied heavily on two precedents that parse the meaning of “disposal of waste” under CERCLA. In one of the precedents, the ninth circuit ruled that BNSF Railway emitting diesel particulate matter into the air that resettled onto the land and water did not constitute disposal of waste and thus not subject to liability under CERCLA.

News reports indicate plaintiffs will petition for a new hearing before the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Potentially, the case could be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Under terms of a 2006 settlement agreement between EPA and Teck, Teck has funded soil sampling and remediation related to atmospheric deposition in the Upper Columbia Valley. In 2014, EPA sampled 74 residential properties which led to cleanup on 14 properties. This year, 142 property owners granted access for soil sampling that begins this month.

Click here for a National Law Review article reviewing the case and its implications.

8 Jul

The Death List

Posted by The Northport Project in Northport, NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Parkinson's disease, Spokesman Examiner, TECK SMELTER, THE NORTHPORT PROJECT, Trail Smelter. Tagged: Air Monitoring, Northport, Northport washington soil, Teck air emissions, TECK SMELTER, THE NORTHPORT PROJECT, Upper Columbia River, WASHINGTON. 7 comments

by: Jamie Paparich

In 1992 reporter Julie Titone wrote an article in the Spokesman-Review, “Canadian companies suspected in illnesses.” The article focused on a group of mothers in Northport, Washington and the health effects their small community suffered from because of, in their opinion, chronic exposure to the heavy metal toxins released by a Canadian smelter 3 miles up river, Teck Cominco.

The article begins with neighbors Naomi Palm, Faye Jackman, and Kay Paparich sitting in Naomi’s kitchen. In front of Naomi was her hand written notes of a health survey the women conducted in the community. The notes listed the similar illnesses her and all her neighbors, family, and friends suffered from. Naomi called it her “death list”. The list contained 45 previous residents who passed away from four types of cancer, and 163 residents all suffering from similar diseases. In a town of 375 people the list was alarming, to say the least.

At the time of the article the small community was paralyzed with fear. Children continued to be diagnosed with two rare intestinal diseases, friends and neighbors were passing away from brain aneurisms or tumors, cancer, or suffering from the debilitating effects of multiple scoliosis and parkinson’s disease.

The town first became aware of the startling amount of illnesses being diagnosed in the community in the late 1970’s. After repeated requests, the Washington State Department of Health finally did a health investigation in 1988. However, the health investigator who conducted the investigation left the department and the findings were never made public.

So in 1991 these determined women began conducting their own health survey of the community. After months of knocking on doors they compiled the information their neighbors had provided. They discovered that of the 7 families living along Mitchell Road, all living within a 2 mile radius of each other, fifteen children had been diagnosed with 2 rare auto immune diseases, ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease. At the time of the survey approximately 1 in 100,000 people were diagnosed with either Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn’s in the United States.

The woman also discovered that of the six families living along Waneta Road, across the Columbia River from Mitchell Road, 12 people had died, or suffered from, brain aneurisms or brain tumors. Statistically 8-10 people out of 100,000 people suffer from a brain aneurism in the United States.

Naomi mapped out the illnesses collected from their survey in an attempt to understand if their route of exposure to the smelter’s toxins might be the common denominator effecting their families with these rare illnesses. Their exposures differed in many ways. Not everyone swam in the river, not everyone grew their own gardens, or ate the fish…..but the one common denominator quickly became clear. It was the air. The families all lived in a valley, next to the Columbia River. The pollution flowing north from the smelter often got trapped in the valley walls.

Two months after the 1992 article was published the Washington State Department of Ecology began the first of four phases of air monitoring in the area. The results of all four phases of the monitoring showed that levels of arsenic were 200 times higher than national safety standards, and levels of cadmium were 18 times higher. Ecology issued the smelter a warning that continuous air monitoring of the area was necessary. The residents of Northport were never made aware of these results. Teck did continue to monitor the air until 2006, according to EPA documents. The levels of arsenic and cadmium continued to exceed safety standards at the same rate.

The 1992 article ended with Kay Paparich voicing her concern for future generations of Northport residents, “It’s too late for my children because they’ve already got these problems, but what about the little ones coming up?”

“The little ones coming up”, that Kay was so concerned about in 1992, are now in their 20’s and 30’s, suffering from the same illnesses that these women discussed in Naomi’s kitchen 24 years ago.

In 2009 residents conducted another community health survey of past and present Northport residents. The results mirrored those of the 1991 community health survey, and confirmed Kay’s concerns were valid. Not only were residents still being diagnosed with the same health issues, at the same rate, reported cases of multiple scoliosis, Parkinson’s and cases of the four types of cancers of concern had increased.

What these women discovered by coming together and using plain common sense, took government agencies decades, and millions of dollars, to finally realize. The agencies were able to negotiate with the smelter to remove contaminated soil from beaches along the Columbia River, residential property, and upland soil. However, the air still continues to be ignored. If the smelter is monitoring it, they are no longer sharing the results with our government agencies, and our government agencies are not monitoring it.

The 1929 & 1936 USDA studies, the 1992 – 1998 Ecology air monitoring studies, the 1994 – 2006 Teck air monitoring, EPA’s decade long remedial investigations, along with Ecology’s soil and wetland studies, The Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), and Teck’s own remedial investigations, have all confirmed specific heavy metal contamination of the Upper Columbia River area, specifically in and around Northport. It has forensically and scientifically confirmed that the source of contamination is Teck Resources. More specifically, the primary source of contamination is from Teck’s aerial dispersion of heavy metal toxins, through their smoke stacks.

EPA project manager Laura Buelow stated, “(T)he data shows that the soil became contaminated from historical smelting operations at the Trail smelter, specifically the metals coming out of the smelter stacks (air).”

To simplify the point; between 1921-2005 Teck smelter released; 38,465 tons of Zinc, 22,688 tons of Lead, 1,225 tons of Arsenic, 1,103 tons of Cadmium, and 97 tons of Mercury through their air emissions.

Currently the air in Northport is not being monitored. Ecology does not have the funds to install monitoring, the EPA has not been able to negotiate it as part of Teck’s remedial investigation and human health risk assessment.

Teck’s air emissions have poisoned over three generations of Northport residents. Nothing is being done to protect the next three generations, or the generations after that.

To request air monitors be installed in and around Northport contact EPA project manager Laura Buelow at: Buelow.Laura@epa.gov

4 May

Radio Interview – Northport Calling For Teck Petition

Posted by The Northport Project in NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Teck, Teck appeals court, Teck Cominco, THE NORTHPORT PROJECT. Tagged: Air Monitoring, NORTHPORT, NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Teck, Teck's air emission, THE NORTHPORT PROJECT. 2 comments

LSON NEWS REGIONAL NEWS

ACTIVIST CALLING FOR TECK PETITION

GLENN HICKS — MAY 4, 2016

An activist south of the border is calling on citizens to make sure Teck is held accountable for its historic air pollution.

Jamie Paparich in Northport, Washington is calling on citizens to petition the appeal court panel after Teck argued recently its emissions should not fall under environmental liability law.

The company claims the reference to disposal of pollutants in the law, known as circla, encompasses land and water, but not from the air.

Paparich fears Teck’s argument may hold sway with the judges.

To hear a brief portion of the interview Click Here.

Paparich says studies show Teck’s historic emissions deposited pollution over land and water.

Teck won’t comment on this case but says it has spent tens of millions on studies which show high water quality.

30 Apr

Sign Petition to Deny Teck’s Air Emissions Appeal

Posted by The Northport Project in NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Pakootas, Teck, TECK SMELTER, THE NORTHPORT PROJECT, Upper Columbia River. Tagged: Air Monitoring, NORTHPORT, Northport Petition, NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Teck, TECK SMELTER, THE NORTHPORT PROJECT. 1 comment

If you are a past or present Northport, WA resident, or a resident of a community nearby, please read the petition below.

If you agree with the statement please copy and paste the petition to an e-mail. Sign (type) your name, date, address and email at the bottom. Forward your email to: Northportproject@hotmail.com.

I will gather as many signed petitions as possible and send them on to the appellant panel.

_________________________________________________________________

Petition to Deny Teck Resource’s Air Emissions Appeal

We, the citizens of Northport, Washington are petitioning the Federal Court Appellant Panel for Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd., No. 15-800005 (9th Cir.) to deny the defendants appeal in which Teck claims their air emissions are not considered a form of ‘disposal’ under CERCLA, and therefore they cannot be held liable for the damage caused by the smelter’s air emissions.

On April 6, 2016 the panel heard arguments on Teck’s appeal. During the hearing the panel expressed the definition of air emissions under CERCLA law, as applied in Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice v. BNSF Railway Co., does not specify air emissions as ‘disposal’ of industrial waste in the verbiage Congress used. The panel gave the impression of leaning in favor of Teck’s argument.

In the 1935 Ottawa Convention, a bilateral process between Canada and the United States was used to negotiate a lawsuit filed by two Northport farmers against Trail (Teck) Smelter. The farmers claimed the smelter’s sulfur dioxide emissions had caused damage to their crops and livestock. The investigation found that from 1929-1931 Trail emitted approximately 10,000 tons of sulfur per month, or 350 tons per day. The United States and Canada concluded that the smelter’s emissions had caused damage to the property of the farmers, as well as the surrounding forest areas. This agreement should set a precedence as to whether or not air emissions can be considered a form of ‘disposal’.

The results of all studies done of the area have shown damages were caused by the air emissions released by Teck’s smoke stacks. The 1936 USDA Forest Damage Air Modeling Study, the EPA decade long remedial investigation, Ecology’s air monitoring, soil and wetland studies, The Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), and Teck’s own remedial investigation, have all confirmed that the primary source of contamination of the Upper Columbia River area is Teck Resources. More specifically, Teck’s aerial dispersion of heavy metal toxins, through their smoke stakes, was the primary source of contamination.

EPA project manager Laura Buelow stated, “(T)he data shows that the soil became contaminated from historical smelting operations at the Trail smelter, specifically the metals coming out of the smelter stacks (air).”

The Washington State Department of Ecology conducted soil sampling in 2012 as part of the Upper Columbia River Valley investigation. They concluded “Sediment samples were analyzed for lead, zinc, arsenic, cadmium, copper, antimony, mercury, total organic carbon, and grain size. Findings from both 2012 studies confirm elevated levels of metals in surface soils found in the Upper Columbia River Valley, and sediments in associated lakes and wetlands. The studies also show these metals came mostly from past smelter emissions in Trail B.C.”

The 1999 pre assessment screening for the Upper Columbia River Valley, conducted by the Upper Columbia River Natural Resource Trustee Council, concluded that based on prior studies and investigations “(t)he smelter is located within a deep valley with predominant winds from the northeast, which bring smelter emissions into the UCRS. Denuded vegetation from SO2 emissions, documented in 1929, indicated that smelter emissions traveled down the Columbia River at least as far as Northport. Historic smelter emissions have potentially impacted upland soils and other resources. Goodzari (2002a, 2002b) documented aerial deposition originating from the smelter and measured elevated As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Hg and Zn concentrations in soil, as far as the US-Canada border.”

To simplify our point; Between 1921-2005 Teck smelter released; 38,465 tons of Zinc, 22,688 tons of Lead, 1,225 tons of Arsenic, 1,103 tons of Cadmium, and 97 tons of Mercury through their air emissions into the State of Washington, located 3 miles downriver from the Canadian smelter.

To find in favor of Teck’s manipulation of the CERCLA statute would be a major injustice to the communities along the Upper Columbia River who have suffered from major auto immune diseases because of their decades of exposure to Teck’s toxic air. We were unaware of the danger we were in until very recently. The government agencies, created to protect us, let us down in the past. We hope the U.S. federal court system will do the job they took an oath to do, to fairly interpret U.S. law when ruling on a case. Please do not allow this Canadian smelter to manipulate U.S. law so they benefit, while the Upper Columbia River Valley’s environment and residents would continue to be damaged and ignored.

To rule in Teck’s favor would not only continue to endanger the lives of WA residents, it would make a mockery of the CERCLA/Superfund program, and create a legal precedent that would set environmental law back 30 years.

DATE: ________________________

SIGNATURE (typed): ___________________________

ADDRESS: ___________________________________

E-MAIL: _____________________________________

15 Apr

AIR MONITORING IN NORTHPORT: PART III LETTER PETITION- For Air Monitoring in Northport

Posted by The Northport Project in Northport Teck Lawsuit, NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Teck, Teck Resources, THE NORTHPORT PROJECT. Tagged: Air Monitoring, NORTHPORT, Northport air, NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON, Teck, Teck air emissions, Teck Resources, THE NORTHPORT PROJECT. Leave a comment

AIR MONITORING IN NORTHPORT: PART III

**See letter to copy/sign/paste/send to EPA contact requesting air monitoring at end of article***

So, it was established in the air monitoring conducted by Ecology from 1992-1998 that the levels of arsenic and cadmium in Northport’s air was much higher than safety standards, and risk based concentrations. The levels of Arsenic were actually 200 times higher than those found at the worst smelter Superfund site in the world, Tacoma Smelter.

EPA and Ecology have been unable to further monitor Northport’s air because of lack of funding, and honestly we fall pretty low on their priority list. They are currently trying to get Teck to fund air monitoring in the area as part of the Superfund clean-up agreement. However, Teck believes they are not responsible for their air emissions. They are currently appealing this in WA State’s 9th District Court. They claim that CERCLA laws do not specify air as a form of polluting, only that polluters can dispose of toxins by land or water. So much for making amends for their past actions! Obviously Teck is not stepping up to monitor the air in Northport anytime soon.

What the EPA and Teck did not share with the public is that Teck did continued to monitor Northport air, with one monitor, between 1994-2006.

Tucked away in appendix G of Teck’s Upper Columbia River remedial investigation/feasibility study, volume 2, is the results of this air monitoring. Arsenic and Cadmium continue to be way above safety standards and risk based concentrations. The EPA was not even aware this data existed, or that they had access to it, until I asked them about it.

To help EPA obtain the funding for air monitors in Northport a demand must be shown. If each past and present Northport resident, and residents of surrounding communities, copy, paste, and sign the below letter and send it to our EPA project manager, Laura Buelow at buelow.laura@epa.gov, our chances increase ten fold.

Please, take five minutes to do this. Those five minutes can help protect generations of Northport residents to come.

LETTER (COPY, PASTE, SIGN, SEND TO: buelow.laura@epa.gov):

Ms. Beulow:

I am writing to ask EPA to consider an air monitoring study. I believe that the results of the residential soil study clearly show that a formal air monitoring study should be performed in the study area. Aerial deposition of contaminants did occur in the study area and it needs to be determined if this contamination is ongoing.

An air monitoring study should be performed for a minimum of 18 months at four high level lead contamination sites and at one low level lead contamination control site, and one near the river on Mitchell Road, on property in the heavy fall out zone.

Some or all of these sites may need to be monitored over a longer period, depending on the results of the 18-month study.

I also believe that neighbors of property owners who are being offered time critical removal actions be given the opportunity to have their property sampled if it wasn’t sampled in 2014. They should also be offered time critical removal action on their property if results show a need.

Sincerely,

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Posts Tagged ‘Air Monitoring’

Linking Air Pollution to Colitis & Crohn’s

Linking Air Pollution to Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease;

A statement for Northport residents, epidemiologists, research organizations and universities on an opportunity for an epidemiological case-control study on Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis that continues to be ignored

State, tribes to challenge ruling on cross-border emissions

Originally published August 12, 2016 at 6:07 pm

Ninth Circuit rules in favor of Teck smelter on liability claim

The Death List

Radio Interview – Northport Calling For Teck Petition

ACTIVIST CALLING FOR TECK PETITION

Sign Petition to Deny Teck’s Air Emissions Appeal

Petition to Deny Teck Resource’s Air Emissions Appeal

AIR MONITORING IN NORTHPORT: PART III LETTER PETITION- For Air Monitoring in Northport

AIR MONITORING IN NORTHPORT: PART III

LETTER (COPY, PASTE, SIGN, SEND TO: buelow.laura@epa.gov):

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Posts Tagged ‘Air Monitoring’

Linking Air Pollution to Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease;

A statement for Northport residents, epidemiologists, research organizations and universities on an opportunity for an epidemiological case-control study on Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis that continues to be ignored

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ACTIVIST CALLING FOR TECK PETITION

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Petition to Deny Teck Resource’s Air Emissions Appeal

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AIR MONITORING IN NORTHPORT: PART III

LETTER (COPY, PASTE, SIGN, SEND TO: buelow.laura@epa.gov):

Share this:

Like this:

FOLLOW OUR BLOG!

THE NORTHPORT PROJECT

MAIN PAGES (tabs)

TOP STORIES

Search

NORTHPORT COMMUNITY

UPPER COLUMBIA RIVER STUDIES

PARTNERS

NORTHPORT, WA SLIDESHOW

CONTACT US

BLOG STATS