### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 1

1 2

### PUBLIC HEARING OF THE 3

### ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S PROPOSED RULE 4

### FOR 5

### NATIONAL EMISSION STANDARDS 6

### FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS 7

### FOR POLYVINYL CHLORIDE AND COPOLYMERS PRODUCTION 8

### FOR MAJOR AND AREA SOURCES 9 10

### THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2011 11

### COMMENCING AT 9:00 A.M. 12 13

### HELD AT THE OLLIVER POLLOCK ROOM 14

### AT THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 15

### GALVEZ BUILDING 16

### 602 N. FIFTH STREET 17

### BATON ROUGE, LA 70802 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 2

1 PRESENT: 2 3 PENNY LASSITER, PANEL CHAIR 4GROUP LEADER 5 U.S. EPA - OFFICE OF AIR QUALITY PLANNING AND STANDARDS 6 SECTOR POLICIES AND PROGRAM DIVISIONS 7REFINING AND CHEMICALS GROUP 8 RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC 27711 9 10 11 JODI HOWARD, PANEL MEMBER 12 PROJECT MANAGER 13 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER 14 U.S. EPA - OFFICE OF AIR QUALITY PLANNING AND STANDARDS 15 SECTOR POLICIES AND PROGRAM DIVISIONS 16 REFINING AND CHEMICALS GROUP 17 RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC 27711 18 19 20 REPORTED BY: 21 Estella O. Champion, RDR, CRR 22 Baton Rouge Court Reporters 23 * * * 24 25

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 3

1

### INDEX 2

### PAGE 3

### MORNING SESSION .........................5 4

### OPENING COMMENTS .........................5 5

### MS. GAUTREAU .............5 6 

### MS. LASSITER .............6 7

### COMMENTS FROM SPEAKERS ........................14 8

### OTIS SISTRUNK POLYONE CORP. ...........14 9

### RICHARD KROCK VINYL INSTITUTE .........17 10

### MARY BACHYNSKY FORMOSA PLASTICS ........19 11

### CORPORATION, USA 12

### CHRISTINE BENNETT MEAN ....................24 13

### DELMA BENNETT MEAN ....................24 14

### C. DEAN THOMPSON RESILIENT FLOOR .........34 15

### COVERING INSTITUTE 16 

### ALLEN BLAKEY VINYL INSTITUTE .........38 17

### MS. BEVERLY MYLEY SOLUTIONS THROUGH .......44 18

### SCIENCE 19

### MRS. CHRISTINE BENNETT MOSSVILLE ...............47 20

### ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION 21

### HENRY GRAHAM, JR., LOUISIANA CHEMICAL ......49 22

### ASSOCIATION 23

### * * * 24 25

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 4

1

### INDEX 2

### PAGE 3

### AFTERNOON SESSION ........................53 4

### OPENING COMMENTS ........................53 5

### MS. LASSITER ............53 6 

### COMMENTS FROM SPEAKERS ........................61 7

### WILMA SUBRA LOUISIANA ...............61 8

### ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION 9

### NETWORK AND THE 10

### LOWER MISSISSIPPI 11

### RIVER KEEPER 12

### MONIQUE HARDIN ADVOCATES FOR ...........68 13

### ENVIRONMENTAL HUMAN 14

### RIGHTS AND MEAN 15

### CONCLUSION OF HEARING ........................75 16 

### MS. LASSITER ............75 17

### MS. GAUTRAU .............76 18

### REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE ........................78 19

### * * * 20 21 22 23 24 25

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 5

1 MS. GAUTREAU: Okay. We would like to 2 welcome you to DEQ, to the facility. I think 3 we're going to try to get started. 4My name is Leigh Gautreau. I work here 5 at DEQ in the Air Enforcement Group. Jodi 6 had called me and asked me to set up a 7meeting room for your public hearing on the 8 rule here. 9 Just a couple of logistics before we get 10 started. If you go out either of these doors 11 and around this back wall, the restrooms are 12 there. There's a water fountain, there are 13 some snack machines and Coke machine. 14 Lunch break, we have a lot of 15 restaurants downtown on Third Street which 16 are quite nice. 17 Parking, if you're in the parking 18 garage, if you will write your name on the 19 back of your ticket, I will collect those and 20 get the guards to validate them for you. 21 If you're going to be here through the 22 entire thing -- and I'll remind everyone -- 23 but the parking garage roughly closes about 24 5:30 ish. It technically doesn't close until 25 9:00; but if you're here that late, you might

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 6

1 get stuck in there. 2 So after dinner break, if we're still 3 going on, everyone really needs to park on 4the street if you return, if we're going to 5 be coming back. And I'll remind everybody 6 later of that. 7So I think that's the logistics we need. 8 I'll turn it over to EPA. 9 MS. LASSITER: All right. 10 Good morning, and thank you for 11 attending this public hearing of the 12 Environmental Protection Agency's proposed 13 rule for National Emission Standards for 14 Hazardous Air Pollutants for Polyvinyl 15 Chloride and Copolymers Production for Major 16 and Area Sources. 17 I recognize that some of you may have 18 traveled quite a bit of a distance to be 19 here, and so we look forward to your 20 comments. 21 My name is Penny Lassiter. I am the 22 Group Leader of the Refining and Chemicals 23 Group. We're part of the sector of Policies 24 and Programs Division at EPA's Air Office 25 Headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 7

1

### Carolina, and I will be chairing today's 2

### hearing. 3

### We're here today to listen to your 4

### comments on EPA's proposed air toxic 5

### standards for polyvinyl chloride and 6 

### copolymers production. The proposed 7

### standards were published in the Federal 8

### Register on May 20th of this year. 9

### Before we begin, I would like to 10

### describe briefly the proposed rules that are 11

### the subject of today's hearing and provide 12

### you with some context. 13

### The Clean Air Act is the main law that 14

### governs how EPA addresses air pollution in 15

### the United States. Section 112 of the Clean 16 

### Air Act established the way in which we at 17

### EPA must address air toxic emissions from 18

### industries such as PVC production. 19

### Air toxics, also known as hazardous air 20

### pollutants, are known or suspected to cause 21

### cancer or other serious health effects. The 22

### law requires that we list categories of 23

### industries to be regulated, such as PVC 24

### production. It requires us to establish 25

### standards based on the emission levels

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 8

1 achieved by the best controlled sources in 2 the industry. These standards are known as 3 Maximum Achievable Controlled Technology 4Standards or MACT Standards for short. 5 In the case of this specific rule, we 6 initially established MACT Standards in 2002. 7Those standards established emission limits 8 for vinyl chloride for both new and existing 9 PVC production facilities. 10 The 2002 emission standard for vinyl 11 chloride was set as a surrogate for the 12 remaining hazardous air pollutants because it 13 was the predominant pollutant used and 14 emitted at PVC production plants. EPA 15 determined that compliance with the existing 16 1976 vinyl chloride NESHAP reflected MACT and 17 satisfied the requirements of Section 112(d) 18 of the Clean Air Act with the exception of 19 adding new requirements for equipment leaks 20 at new sources. 21 However, in 2002 EPA was sued on these 22 standards. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 23 D.C. Circuit vacated and remanded the rule 24 and directed the Agency to either reconsider 25 the rule or properly explain its methodology

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 9

1 for regulating hazardous air pollutants 2 emitted in PVC production other than vinyl 3 chloride by use of a surrogate. 4In 2007 EPA issued new standards for 5 both new and existing PVC production area 6 sources based on generally available control 7technology or management practices, and these 8 standards were known at GACT, G-A-C-T, 9 Standards. That rule requires area sources, 10 which are facilities that are the smaller 11 facilities that emit less than 10 tons a year 12 of any single hazardous pollutant or less 13 than 25 tons annually of a combination of 14 hazardous air pollutants, to meet the 15 existing requirements, those established in 16 the 1976 rule. These requirements only 17 addressed vinyl chloride emissions. 18 In the May 2011 proposed PVC NESHAP, 19 which is the subject of today's hearing, we 20 are fulfilling our obligation under 112(d)(6) 21 of the Clean Air Act to review and revise as 22 necessary the PVC production area source 23 standards. 24 In response to the remand and our 25 technology review required under

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 10

1 Section 112(d)(6), we proposed NESHAP for PVC 2 production for major and area sources on 3 May 20, 2011. It is these proposed rules 4that are the subject of today's public 5 hearing. These proposed rules would do the 6 following: 7Set specific emission limits to 8 significantly reduce emissions of toxic air 9 pollution from all new and existing PVC 10 production facilities. These limits include 11 emissions from process vents, stripped resin, 12 and wastewater systems. 13 Set specific limits for hydrogen 14 chloride, dioxin/furans, total toxic air 15 pollution, and vinyl chloride emissions from 16 all new and existing process vents located at 17 facilities that are major or area sources of 18 hazardous air pollutant emissions. 19 Set work practice standards to control 20 toxic air pollution from equipment leaks, 21 storage vessels and heat exchange systems at 22 PVC facilities. 23 The proposed rules also include 24 monitoring and testing requirements for vinyl 25 chloride, total emissions of toxic air

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 11

1 pollution and dioxins and furans. 2 More details about the proposed rules 3 and instructions for submitting public 4comments are available at the registration 5 area. We also have prepared a list of topics 6 in the proposed rule for which we are 7specifically seeking comment. That list is 8 also available in the registration area and 9 may be helpful to you as you're commenting 10 today or submitting written comments later 11 on. EPA will be accepting written comments 12 until July 19 of this year. 13 Let me also mention that the proposed 14 rules for PVC production do not include vinyl 15 chloride monomer and ethylene dichloride 16 manufacturing which are often co-located at 17 PVC production plants. As part of an 18 upcoming rule on the chemical manufacturing 19 sector, the Agency will revisit those 20 emission standards. 21 EPA has required some chemical plants, 22 including some in this area, in the Mossville 23 area, to test for and submit information on 24 vinyl chloride and dioxin emissions to 25 support the upcoming chemical manufacturing

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 12

1 sector rule; however, I note that these are 2 not the subject of today's hearing. 3 Now let me turn to the public comment 4portion of the hearing. Today's hearing will 5 work as follows: I'll call the speaker to 6 the microphone, and I'll ask that you remain 7at the table after you've completed your 8 testimony in order to give us an opportunity 9 to ask any clarifying questions. 10 We will be preparing a written 11 transcript of today's hearing and the 12 transcript will be available as part of the 13 official record for the rule. When it's time 14 for you to speak, please state your name and 15 your affiliation. We're going to ask that 16 you hold your testimony to about five or so 17 minutes, but we do have a fairly light crowd 18 this morning; so if you need a little bit of 19 extra time, I don't think that that will be 20 an issue. 21 As I mentioned, we are transcribing 22 today's hearings and each speaker's oral 23 testimony will become part of the official 24 record. If you have brought with you a copy 25 of your comments in writing, we would

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 13

1 appreciate that you provide those to our 2 staff at the registration table, and we'll be 3 sure to put the full text of your written 4comments into the public docket for you. 5 We will work hard to ensure that 6 everybody has an opportunity to comment. We 7will be here until 8:00 p.m. this evening. 8 We will be taking breaks for lunch and dinner 9 as follows: Lunch break is scheduled from 10 12:30 to 2:00 today, and then dinner is 11 scheduled from 5:00 until 6:30. 12 If you would like to testify but you 13 haven't yet registered, please feel free to 14 do so at the registration table outside of 15 the door. For those of you who have already 16 registered to speak, we tried to accommodate 17 your particular request for a specific time 18 slot, and we ask for your patience as we 19 proceed through the list and progress through 20 the hearing. 21 At this point I would like to introduce 22 Jodi Howard sitting next to me here on the 23 panel. Jodi works in my group at EPA in 24 North Carolina, and she is the Project 25 Manager for the Development of these PVC

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 14

1 Rules. 2 So with that, I would like to thank you 3 all for participating and coming today, and I 4would like to go ahead and get started and 5 invite our first speaker to come forward, and 6 that is Mr. Otis Sistrunk. 7MR. SISTRUNK: Good morning. 8 Volume on? 9 My name is Otis Sistrunk and I am an 10 Environmental Health and Safety Manager with 11 PolyOne Corporation. Our corporate offices 12 are located in Avon Lake, Ohio. 13 PolyOne is a specialty PVC resin 14 producer and the leading PVC resin compounder 15 of hundreds of materials used in diverse 16 products across many market sectors. PolyOne 17 operates specialty resin plants in 18 Pedricktown, New Jersey and Henry, Illinois, 19 and numerous PVC compounding facilities 20 across the U.S. PolyOne provides hundreds of 21 jobs at the plants themselves and 22 corresponding support jobs within the 23 communities where these plants are located. 24 PolyOne PVC resin manufacturing sites 25 utilize a technology called vent gas

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 15

1 absorbers to recover vinyl chloride monomer 2 for reuse from its process vents. The 3 recovered VCM is then returned to the 4manufacturing process for polymerization into 5 PVC resins. 6 PolyOne's vent gas absorbers are 7recovery devices and not control devices. 8 The flow rate out of PolyOne's absorbers is 9 two orders of magnitude less than emissions' 10 flow rate from control device technology that 11 includes thermal oxidizers and scrubbers 12 combined. 13 The proposed MACT should take emissions' 14 rates into consideration and not solely rely 15 on emissions' concentrations when 16 establishing limits for recovery devices. 17 PolyOne believes the proposed MACT should 18 categorize vent gas absorbers in a way that 19 recognizes their use as a recovery device and 20 not regulate them as if they were control 21 devices. 22 For sites equipped with VGA recovery 23 technology, thermal oxidizers are necessary 24 only in the event of an outage or malfunction 25 with the operation of the vent gas absorbers

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 16

1 to ensure that any VCM which is not recycled 2 back to the process is destroyed. Because 3 PolyOne's vent gas absorbers do not operate 4at elevated temperatures or combust the VCM, 5 they do not result in the formation of 6 additional HAPs; but as currently proposed, 7the MACT would require that backup 8 thermo-oxidizers be used continuously which 9 would likely result in the formation of 10 additional HAPs. Not only would these 11 additional classes of pollutants be 12 needlessly generated, but large amounts of 13 energy will be consumed and greenhouse gasses 14 emitted in an effort to control a tiny amount 15 of VOC. Consideration should be given to the 16 overall air impact of operating backup 17 thermo-oxidizers continuously. Control and 18 recovery device technology flexibility is 19 needed as an alternative. 20 Thank you for this opportunity to 21 comment on the proposed ruling. Thank you. 22 MS. LASSITER: Thank you. 23 MR. SISTRUNK: Thank you. 24 MS. LASSITER: Thank you. 25 All right. Well, we're running a little

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 17

1 bit ahead of schedule here, but since we have 2 our next speaker, I'm going to go ahead and 3 call Mr. Richard Krock. 4MR. KROCK: Good morning and thank you for 5 the opportunity to address the EPA's Proposed 6 Maximum Achievable Controlled Technology 7Regulations for PVC Production Facilities. 8 I'm Rich Krock. I'm the Technical 9 Director for the Vinyl Institute, which is a 10 U.S. based trade association comprised of 11 leading producers of PVC resins and some 12 associated additive suppliers and downstream 13 product manufacturers. 14 The Vinyl Institute has been in 15 existence since 1982. One of our key 16 missions is to advocate for the responsible 17 manufacture of PVC resins. The VI thanks the 18 EPA for the opportunity to provide some 19 broad-based comments on this important 20 rule-making activity. 21 The Vinyl Institute agrees that the PVC 22 MACT is overdue and our industry supports an 23 update of the regulatory requirements. 24 We look forward to working cooperatively 25 with agency staff on the development of a

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 18

1 final rule that meets agency requirements and 2 allows for continued growth of our industry. 3 The proposed rule is a step change from the 4current regulatory regime, and member 5 companies have started a comprehensive review 6 of the requirements and background documents. 7The Vinyl Institute is in the process of 8 reviewing proposal-related information in 9 anticipation of formulating and submitting 10 meaningful and detailed comments on the 11 proposal. 12 Based on our preliminary review of the 13 docket materials and the proposal, there are 14 a few points we wish to highlight. The Vinyl 15 Institute believes that the Agency's 16 selection of emission points and evaluation 17 of hazardous air pollutants moves in the 18 right direction, and we look forward to 19 working with the Agency on these provisions. 20 The VI recommends that more 21 consideration be given to variability of 22 emissions from the wide array of products 23 that the industry manufactures, over 100 24 different resins in a season. The VI also 25 recommends consideration for seasonality and

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 19

1 production rates and the need for flexibility 2 in achieving the lower limits. 3 The VI would appreciate the opportunity 4to assist agency staff in fully understanding 5 this topic as it is the key to development of 6 a technically sound rule. As previously 7mentioned, the VI will submit substantial 8 comments to the Agency regarding the 9 proposal. 10 Thank you for the opportunity to speak 11 today, and we look forward to working with 12 the EPA on this important activity. 13 MS. LASSITER: Okay. Thank you. 14 All right. Appreciate it. 15 The next person on the list is scheduled 16 to speak is Mary Bachynsky. And, Mary, 17 you're scheduled for 9:45. I don't know if 18 you want to go on ahead. 19 MS. BACHIYNSKY: Sure. No problem. 20 I'm Mary Bachynsky of Formosa Plastics 21 Corporation USA. I'm Chair of the Vinyl 22 Institute's Health, Environmental and Safety 23 Committee, and I've been involved in EPA's 24 rule making and regulations that affect our 25 industry since 1994. I'm an air manager at

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 20

1 our corporate offices in New Jersey, and my 2 oral comments are somewhat technical in 3 nature. 4Formosa Plastics USA is a leading 5 manufacturer of PVC and copolymer resins. We 6 have four operating plants in the United 7States -- two in Texas, one in Louisiana, and 8 one in Delaware -- and we produce dozens of 9 different PVC suspension, dispersion and 10 copolymer products, anything from a 11 general-purpose PVC resin to a specialty 12 customer-developed PVC resin. We provide 13 hundreds of jobs in the New Jersey, the 14 Texas, the Louisiana and Delaware area. 15 Formosa recognizes the extensive 16 technical efforts that EPA has put into 17 developing this proposed rule, and we will be 18 submitting timely comments on the proposal as 19 requested by EPA in the rule itself and as 20 summarized in this document today. Formosa 21 will be contributing by providing some 22 detailed information about one of our key 23 concerns; it is the particle morphology of 24 making PVC resin. 25 Each PVC resin grade has unique physical

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 21

1 characteristics known as particle morphology. 2 This uniqueness is necessary in order to make 3 the variety of PVC products -- anything from 4a rigid, blue sewer pipe that many of you are 5 familiar with, to a soft, flexible handle on 6 a pair of pliers. 7Particle morphology is made up of a 8 variety of factors. 9 It can be particle size, meaning teeny 10 tiny, ranging from one micron to 425 microns. 11 It can also be of characteristic that is 12 porosity. Porosity are the pores; the more 13 pores you have in a particle, the easier it 14 is to get the resin, the VCM out. 15 Mechanical stability: Will it sheer or 16 will it agglomerate? 17 Heat stability: How much heat can be 18 applied during processing without product 19 degradation? Too much heat, we get a brown 20 product rather than a white product. 21 PVC resins' characteristics are 22 different. PVC is a polymer, which is very 23 different than a commodity chemical like 24 benzene or toluene. Historically, PVC has 25 not been regulated under the Clean Air Act as

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 22

1 a synthetic organic chemical manufacturing 2 industry chemical because of this 3 consideration and characteristic. 4Each PVC resin grade that is produced 5 has a specific end use, and that end use may 6 be very different in nature: Whether the PVC 7needs to flow onto a smooth surface, or be 8 extruded like some Play Dough, or poured into 9 a malt. The PVC industry needs regulatory 10 flexibility in order to produce a full 11 complement of different resins that are used 12 in diverse final products, such as: Vinyl 13 siding, PVC pipe, window frames, flooring, 14 electrical wiring insulation, roofing, credit 15 cards, and other applications. 16 Formosa agrees with EPA's statements 17 that steam stripping is the available control 18 technology to reduce HAPs in PVC resin. 19 Going beyond the floor by routing vents 20 downstream of resin strippers to an 21 additional control device is not appropriate. 22 We're going to be emphasizing in our comments 23 that residual HAP limits must be achievable 24 on a daily basis for all grades of PVC resins 25 so that the United States can stay

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 23

1 competitive in a global market. 2 I thank you very much for the 3 opportunity to present my oral comments 4today, and on this important matter look 5 forward to working with EPA in the future. 6 MS. LASSITER: Thank you. 7I have just one question, Mary. 8 You said that Formosa agrees that steam 9 stripping is the appropriate technology -- 10 MS. BACHIYNSKY: For resin. 11 MS. LASSITER: -- for resin. 12 But I'm not sure I completely understood 13 what you said after that about the 14 downstream. 15 MS. BACHIYNSKY: Sure. Yes. 16 In the preamble language, you agree that 17 going beyond the MACT floor of adding a 18 control device to the downstream equipment is 19 not appropriate. 20 MS. LASSITER: Okay. All right. Thank you. 21 MS. BACHIYNSKY: Anything else? 22 MS. LASSITER: No. Thank you. 23 Our next speaker is Mrs. Christine 24 Bennett. And I know that you're scheduled to 25 speak at about ten minutes until ten, so I

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 24

1 don't know if you would rather go now or wait 2 until your scheduled time slot. 3 MR. BENNETT: We're going to go together. 4MS. LASSITER: Okay. All right. 5 MR. BENNETT: My name is Delma Bennett. 6 MRS. BENNETT: Christine Bennett. 7MR. BENNETT: It's so exciting to be able to 8 hear what the refineries and the companies 9 are doing, especially the PVC companies. And 10 I know it's exciting to know that a lot of 11 people receive jobs to be able to, not only 12 help themselves, but even help the country; 13 but there's things that's happening, even 14 with the proper regulation that is given to 15 each of the companies. 16 We are here today representing Mossville 17 Environmental Action Now, a community 18 organization that is dedicated to achieving 19 our rights for environmental justice. And in 20 doing this, I know that it sort of bucked the 21 system because there is millions of dollars 22 made in these different refineries and, like 23 I said, that have helped the nation to be 24 able to strive and to be able to keep up with 25 the rest of the world.

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 25

1 But in our community, with all the 2 progress that's taking place in the 3 refineries, I've learned that the workers in 4the refineries suffer as much as we do, even 5 though it's not mentioned the way we mention 6 it; and it's because I've learned from them 7that they say that they rather die knowing 8 that at least they have had a good life, you 9 know, while they have lived. 10 But in our community we are suffering 11 from cancer-causing chemicals from these 12 facilities on a daily basis, including 13 dioxin. Mossville residents have an average 14 blood dioxin level three times the national 15 average. And what truly bothered me about it 16 is that recently EPA came to our community 17 and they examined our community for the 18 Superfund site, and we missed it by one 19 point, one point, and it's just amazing, you 20 know. 21 So when the report goes to the 22 refineries that we weren't qualified as a 23 Superfund site, the refineries were saying 24 that we didn't have a problem. 25 When I went down to Pittsburgh at PPG's

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 26

1 stockholders' meeting, the CEO said that 2 there weren't any problems in Mossville. But 3 EPA didn't say that there weren't any 4problems in Mossville, they just said that we 5 weren't qualified for Superfund, knowing that 6 we had missed it by one point. 7The research by Wilma Subra -- The three 8 times of national average of dioxin in our 9 body was researched by Wilma Subra, one of 10 the best environmental scientists in our 11 country, showing that dioxin in our blood are 12 the same kind of dioxin, excuse me, released 13 by the industrial facilities near Mossville. 14 Now, when EPA came to Mossville, they 15 said they did find dioxin on some of the 16 sites in Mossville, but the reason why they 17 found the dioxin on the sites in Mossville 18 was because of the fact that people burned 19 trash in their yard. So it's their own fault 20 that they have dioxin in their community. 21 And can you imagine people having that 22 type of dioxin in their blood? That means 23 that there have to be a certain amount of 24 smoke in their area practically every day 25 from burning trash because the study was made

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 27

1 by Sarah Lee College. Some students came 2 down and we had a study, and we found out 3 that the amount -- quite a few people in our 4community have cancer. And I guess it's all 5 from burning trash, but yet we are surrounded 6 by these different facilities, and they 7don't -- they are not responsible because 8 they say that they operate within the law. 9 And as long as I'm operating into the law, 10 then I'm not doing anything wrong. 11 And I stopped and I started thinking 12 about the law. I had a house in my area that 13 I was using for storage, but the law said I 14 had to tear it down. 15 So I said, Sir, the law say I had to 16 tear it down because there are certain 17 standards and what have you. I say, Well, I 18 remember one time there was a law that said 19 that I couldn't go in the front door, and 20 everybody was happy with it but certain 21 people. And they lived with it for a long 22 time that certain people couldn't go in the 23 front door, but that was the law. 24 So a lot of times when we have laws, I 25 wonder: Are the laws made for a certain

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 28

1 group of people, or is it made for a certain 2 financial group of people? And then I know 3 that the financial group of people are 4helping people. So what makes me wonder is, 5 how is the law truly based? That's the main 6 thing I'm concerned about. 7You see, her research is in the report 8 in the National Source of Dioxin Poisoning in 9 the Mossville Area which was featured in the 10 special news broadcast on CNN last June 11 titled "Toxic America." 12 When I think about the fact that plants 13 are given a certain guideline to go by, when 14 the EPA came to examine Mossville for the 15 problems that they were having, they tested 16 the land, they tested the water, they tested 17 the air, they tested the animals, they tested 18 the crops, they tested everything in 19 Mossville but the people. Isn't that 20 strange? The land weren't complaining, the 21 water weren't complaining, the air weren't 22 complaining. Only the people were 23 complaining, but none was tested. 24 Our organization won a lawsuit against 25 EPA because the first regulations it planned

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 29

1 and issued for the PVC industrial was not 2 complied with the Clean Air Act. The lawsuit 3 was important to us because our community of 4Mossville has a large concentration of vinyl 5 manufacturers, the largest concentration of 6 vinyl manufacturing in the United States. 7Now, the thing is this with me, even 8 with EPA or DEQ: If you are regulating 9 certain laws for a company to be able to 10 function under, shouldn't there be at least a 11 toxicologist in the area where these laws are 12 given where at least the individuals that 13 live in that area have some source to be able 14 to at least find out if they have any of 15 these chemicals in their body? Why aren't 16 the humans in the different areas in these 17 places where these refineries are and these 18 manufacturers are don't have this type of 19 means of being able to find out if they have 20 these chemicals in their body? 21 And I'm not against progress, but I just 22 want everyone to be fair to everyone. I 23 would like for my wife to finish. 24 MRS. CHRISTINE BENNETT: Christine Bennett. 25 Mossville Environmental Action Now is

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 30

1 our community organization surrounded by 14 2 industries: One PPG; two, Conoco, and a list 3 of others that we're surrounded and we're 4right in the middle of these 14 industries. 5 We were there first and they stole our clean 6 air, clean water, clean land. 7So when they asked -- the little joke 8 they said, the young man said, Where are you 9 guys going this morning? 10 We said, We're going to an EPA meeting. 11 He say, Why they call them an EPA 12 meeting? 13 I say, They are the people that gives 14 industries the right to eat people alive. 15 So we just laughed about it, and he 16 said, Is that what the letters were for? 17 I said, Yeah, eat people alive. 18 And that's what the industries are 19 doing, they were eating people alive. 20 When EPA came to us to ask for more time 21 to prepare an effective air pollution 22 regulation of the PVC industry, we agreed. 23 Unfortunately this proposed regulation 24 creates too many exemptions for the PVC 25 industry. This regulation is contrary to the

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 31

1 EPA administration, Lisa Jackson's, comment 2 to Environmental Justice, and more 3 importantly, continues to ignore our human 4rights to a healthy environment. That's all 5 we're asking for is to bring back what we had 6 before the industries surrounded a small, 7little African-American community called 8 Mossville, where a 14-year-old young lady 9 woke up one morning with a nasal problem -- 10 she thought was a nasal problem, she thought 11 was a toothache -- but it was cancer in her 12 cheek, where they took half of her face off 13 at 15 years old. 14 Young men walking around, barely could 15 breathe, so much asthma. I mean, it's 16 killing them. Our children are sick. I 17 really think it is affecting their 18 educational level. But who cares, you know? 19 Money is more important than lives in 20 Mossville right now. 21 You know you need your job. We 22 understand that. But we need our young 23 people to live. 24 Section of the proposed regulation made 25 vinyl chloride the surrogate of all the other

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 32

1 hazardous air pollutants which include 2 dioxin. Each pollutant should have emission 3 limits and procedures that achieve reduction. 4There are also rules that set the bar so 5 high that PVC facilities are required to meet 6 any of the proposed regulation for storage 7vessels, wastewater, and maximum control 8 technology for process vents [sic]. And PPG, 9 they say they have community relationship. 10 MEAN been there now over ten years or longer 11 and yet have to have PPG to even come to one 12 of our meetings. They say they have been 13 there. They say they have community 14 representation at their CAP meetings. One of 15 our largest PVC plants, and what are they 16 doing? Nothing to contact us. 17 The emissions are being done, the cancer 18 is being put out there, but yet are they 19 caring about our community? No. 20 There are some rules that set the bar so 21 high that no PVC facilities -- the proposed 22 rules leaves our community vulnerable to 23 continued exposure to the toxic chemicals 24 released by PVC facilities. 25 We are also disturbed by the methodology

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 33

1 EPA uses to disregard the fact that the small 2 little African-American community in 3 Mossville, Louisiana are disproportionately 4burdened with toxic pollution. EPA should be 5 working to end environmental injustice, not 6 hide it. 7For these reasons, Mean urges EPA to 8 improve the proposed rule by setting maximum 9 reduction for each hazardous air pollutant 10 ensuring that Mossville residents and all 11 other affected people are not harmed by the 12 PVC industries. We're begging you, we're 13 pleading you: If it was your family, if it 14 was your children, your life, would you be 15 sitting here today just begging for EPA to 16 help? 17 I know much more can be done. You say 18 that you're doing something, but yet it's all 19 about that dollar. 20 And we thank you for all that you're 21 going to do in the future for Mossville, 22 Louisiana. 23 MR. BENNETT: Thank you. 24 MS. LASSITER: Thank you. 25 Jodi, do you have anything?

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 34

1 Thank you. 2 All right. The next person I've got on 3 the list is scheduled to speak at 10:03 and 4that's Mr. Dean Thompson, and I do not know. 5 Are you Mr. Thompson? Do you want to 6 go ahead or would you prefer to wait? 7MR. THOMPSON: Now is perfect. 8 MS. LASSITER: Okay. 9 MR. THOMPSON: Good morning, everyone. My 10 name is Dean Thompson, and I'm here today in 11 my capacity as President of the Resilient 12 Floor Covering Institute, a nonprofit trade 13 organization that represents the North 14 American Resilient Flooring Industry. And I 15 want to thank the EPA for the opportunity to 16 provide my testimony at this important 17 hearing. 18 We thought it would be important for you 19 to hear a little bit about, among all the 20 technical information, real world 21 applications for PVC in the daily use of 22 people. And just to clarify for you, the 23 resilient flooring category I'm talking about 24 includes hard surface flooring products that 25 are constructed to have varying degrees of

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 35

1 resiliency; hence, the name "resilient 2 flooring." 3 Specific products include: Vinyl sheet, 4vinyl composition tile, luxury vinyl tiles 5 and planks, rubber and linoleum flooring. 6 Stone, ceramic, wood and terrazzo are 7not included in the resilient flooring 8 category. 9 Approximately 90 percent of the 10 resilient flooring sold in North America 11 contains PVC. The amount of PVC depends on 12 the product; but, by weight, the estimated 13 range is between 10 percent and 50 percent. 14 Based on product mix, we estimate the 15 industry PVC content average to be in the 20 16 to 25-percent range by weight of the product. 17 The popularity of resilient flooring has 18 increased significantly over the past decade. 19 In 2000 the market share for resilient 20 flooring compared to all flooring categories, 21 including carpet, was 13.7 percent. In 2010 22 the estimated market share for resilient 23 flooring was 18.8 percent. Consumers and 24 specifiers are selecting vinyl flooring at 25 the expense of other flooring categories.

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 36

1 The market is demanding vinyl flooring 2 because of its important benefits, including 3 long-lasting performance, sustainability, 4safety, value and esthetics. 5 Healthcare, education and government are 6 key commercial market segments for vinyl 7flooring. Ease of maintenance, cleanliness 8 and maximizing bacterial and pathogen 9 presence are especially important benefits 10 for healthcare and school environments. 11 Over 50 percent of the resilient 12 flooring sold in North America is used in 13 residential environments. New technologies 14 for improved esthetics, esthetic realism, 15 lower cost installation, and overall value 16 are making vinyl flooring the product of 17 choice for consumers. 18 Significant industry investment is a 19 strong indicator of the growing popularity of 20 PVC flooring. For example, in May of this 21 year, a Belgium company, IVCUS, opened a new 22 $73-million state-of-the-art facility in 23 Dalton, Georgia that is producing exclusively 24 PVC flooring products. 25 As directed by federal executive order

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 37

1 13514, government agencies are increasing 2 their purchases of environmentally 3 preferrable products. The generally accepted 4environmental hierarchy is: Reduce, reuse 5 and recycle. The long-lasting performance of 6 PVC flooring significantly impacts reduced 7consumption, the most important element of 8 the environmental hierarchy. It is very 9 common for PVC flooring to provide well over 10 15 years of very useful life before 11 replacement. In addition, resilient flooring 12 manufacturers are actively recycling flooring 13 products. 14 In today's economy, consumers, 15 specifiers and purchasers are increasingly 16 searching for products that provide the very 17 best value: Products that look good, are 18 easy to maintain, that last a very long time 19 and are very affordable. 20 In terms of average value per square 21 foot sold, data from 2009 showed resilient 22 flooring at 64 cents per square foot to be 23 the very lowest in the flooring category, 24 followed by square foot values sold of carpet 25 and area rugs, 88 cents a square foot;

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 38

1 ceramic tile at $1 a square foot; laminate 2 flooring at 1 dollar a square foot; wood 3 flooring at $2.30 a square foot; and stone 4flooring at $3.98 a square foot. 5 The facts show that the market has 6 clearly spoken in favor of PVC flooring 7products. We urge the EPA to adopt 8 reasonable requirements for the updated 9 NESHAP to avoid any unwarranted economic 10 costs on PVC producers that would adversely 11 impact and affect the economical use of PVC 12 in resilient flooring. 13 Thank you. 14 MS. LASSITER: Thank you. 15 The next person on my list is scheduled 16 to speak at 10:09, and it's actually ten 17 minutes until, and that's Mr. Allen Blakey. 18 So, Mr.Blakey, your option is to speak now 19 or -- 20 MR. BLAKEY: I'm happy to speak now. 21 Good morning. 22 On behalf of the Vinyl Institute, I 23 appreciate this opportunity to speak today on 24 these proposed PVC MACT rules. 25 As you heard earlier, the Vinyl

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 39

1 Institute is the national trade association 2 for manufacturers of PVC resins and 3 copolymers and related additives. I'm 4speaking today, not to address the technical 5 issues in the proposed rule, but to 6 underscore the value of vinyl to the national 7economy, to many local economies, and as well 8 to underscore this industry's commitment to 9 protecting the health of workers, plant 10 communities and the environment. Our 11 stewardship commitment is altogether fitting 12 given the many important, even critical uses 13 of vinyl in PVC and products. 14 Vinyl is the material of choice for 15 blood bags and medical tubing, for pipe to 16 deliver safe, clean, drinking water, and for 17 insulation on building wire protecting 18 against catastrophic electrical failure. 19 It's the material of choice for meat wrap and 20 tamper-resistant packaging. It's the 21 material of choice for homeowners interested 22 in affordable windows and energy-efficient 23 window frames, and the list goes on. 24 The PVC resin manufacturing industry 25 supports this MACT rule making. The industry

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 40

1 has long operated under the vinyl chloride 2 standard, a precedent-setting rule in both 3 its scope and stringency. To support the 4current rule making, the industry has 5 expended significant manhours and millions of 6 dollars to generate the information that EPA 7needed to develop the proposal. 8 We know the agency is working hard under 9 a very short deadline to finalize this 10 regulation, and we intend to bring our best 11 thinking and our comments that we will file 12 in order to help develop the most effective, 13 manageable rule that is fully compliant with 14 the Clean Air Act and related precedents. 15 I would like to share some facts with 16 you that I think clearly show this industry's 17 success in practicing environmental 18 stewardship, conserving energy, and reaching 19 for sustainability. 20 Our vinyl chloride emissions were 21 reduced 80 percent in the years 1987 to 2007. 22 Our dioxin emissions were reduced 80 percent 23 simply in the years 2000 to 2007. And these 24 Dixon emissions, by the way, are a small 25 fraction of the emissions from all manmade

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 41

1 and natural sources. 2 Furthermore, data compiled by EPA shows 3 that total dioxin emissions to the 4environment have plummeted since the 1960s, 5 falling well over 90 percent, and during this 6 time production of vinyl ramped up and 7soared. 8 The collection of federal U.S. 9 regulations governing our industry sets 10 global standards for human and environmental 11 safety, health and performance. And our 12 manufacturing plants have community advisory 13 boards that do meet regularly with management 14 for dialogue on operations and community 15 issues. These plants strive to be good 16 neighbors. After all, they draw their 17 employees from the community and provide jobs 18 and taxes. And the evidence shows that our 19 plants are by and large good neighbors, 20 managed responsibly in accordance with 21 regulations designed to protect health and 22 the environment. Government studies of both 23 the federal and state levels have compared 24 key health indicators in PVC plant 25 communities and non-plant communities and

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 42

1 found no significant differences. 2 We are concerned that EPA get this rule 3 right. Regulation is important and 4necessary; but, as Congress intended for the 5 Clean Air Act, other considerations also 6 matter. We all want a clean, healthy 7environment, but we also want products that 8 bring value to our lives, and we want jobs 9 and a strong economy. 10 How does the PVC industry help? Our 11 industry generates an estimated $50 billion a 12 year in products. Federal taxes from 13 producing the raw material alone amount to 14 $230 million. The 13 billion pounds, 15 13 billion or so pounds of PVC manufactured 16 in 2010 created high-paying jobs for tens of 17 thousands of American manufacturing workers, 18 and many times more jobs for transporters, 19 distributors, installers and recyclers. 20 Vinyl products are made in hundreds of plants 21 in almost every state. 22 U.S.-made vinyl resin is in high demand 23 as an export product accounting for as much 24 as 35 percent or more of industry revenues, 25 and this is expected to continue in the

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 43

1 future. Abundant natural resources and an 2 efficient manufacturing process account for 3 the success. 4Thank you, and we look forward to 5 providing additional details in our written 6 comments. 7MS. LASSITER: Thank you. 8 MS. HOWARD: I do have two clarifying 9 questions. Question number one: In the 10 beginning of your presentation, you were 11 talking about vinyl. I just wanted to make 12 sure you were talking about vinyl, or were 13 you actually referring to polyvinyl chloride? 14 MR. BLAKEY: I was actually referring to 15 polyvinyl chloride. I do use "vinyl" and 16 "PVC" interchangeably, and I know vinyl can 17 refer to more than one thing. 18 MS. HOWARD: Okay. 19 My second question was about the numbers 20 that you described for the dioxin emissions. 21 I couldn't understand. Were those air 22 emissions or what type of emission 23 reductions? 24 MR. BLAKEY: Those were total emissions, 25 external emissions according to the EPA

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 44

1 criteria for measuring those emissions. So 2 multimedia. 3 MS. HOWARD: Okay. Thank you. 4MS. LASSITER: All right. The next speaker 5 on my list is Ms. Beverly Smiley. And I know 6 that you're scheduled -- are you Ms. Smiley? 7Okay. Are you ready to go? 8 MS. SMILEY: Okay. 9 MS. LASSITER: All right. Thank you. 10 MS. SMILEY: Good morning. My name is 11 Beverly Smiley. I am the executive director 12 of Solutions through Science, a membership 13 organization of chlorine and vinyl 14 manufacturers and users in Louisiana. 15 I am a native and a lifelong resident of 16 Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I grew up in the 17 industrial area of north Baton Rouge. My 18 father, as well as fathers of most of my 19 childhood friends, worked at the plants 20 during that time. 21 And I have chosen to remain in Baton 22 Rouge, having been educated here and raising 23 my two children here. And during the years 24 that I have lived in this community within 25 just a few miles of the industrial plants, I

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 45

1 have always felt safe. I have worked in this 2 area my entire adult life, first with Girl 3 Scouts, and then as director of the Food Bank 4which was located right across the street 5 from the plants. And later I chose to work 6 for the chlorine and vinyl industry. I feel 7as safe when I am on site at one of my member 8 facilities as I have felt anywhere else that 9 I have ever worked. 10 The chlorine and vinyl industry 11 established facilities in Louisiana because 12 of our numerous natural resources that are 13 needed to manufacture chlorine and vinyl: 14 Salt domes, which are located throughout 15 south Louisiana; natural gas and waterways. 16 Salt is the most plentiful material on earth, 17 and PVC, by weight, is 57 percent salt. 18 Natural gas is plentiful and affordable in 19 Louisiana and is a clean-burning energy 20 source. Water, which is used in our 21 manufacturing process, is returned purer than 22 its original state, and runoff from rain is 23 purified before being released back into the 24 environment. 25 As I was growing up, these companies

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 46

1 provided good, steady jobs, just as they do 2 now. They are an important part of the 3 community, providing economic benefits for 4our city and our state. And many of the 5 things that we need and use every day are 6 manufactured from the products that are made 7in the facilities that produce the PVC resins 8 in Louisiana. 9 These products include a large percent 10 of our building materials, such as 11 double-paned vinyl windows that are 12 energy-efficient and that never need 13 painting; vinyl siding that is durable and 14 affordable and that is not susceptible to 15 termites; and PVC pipe that conducts safe 16 drinking water into our homes and our public 17 buildings; and insulation for electric wiring 18 and computer cables. 19 Vinyl also offers safe, affordable 20 materials for IV and blood bags, and tubing 21 and medical supplies, such as surgical 22 gloves, inflatable splints. And vinyl is 23 compatible with virtually all pharmaceutical 24 products used in healthcare settings. 25 Because of its purity, PVC or vinyl -- which

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 47

1 I'm using interchangeably as well -- offers a 2 safe material for our healthcare 3 professionals who can depend on it in their 4work. 5 The companies that manufacture vinyl are 6 operated in a safe and environmentally sound 7manner, and they spend thousands of hours 8 training their employees in safety and 9 environmental management. 10 Because of improved technology and 11 regulations, emissions have decreased 12 steadily over the years and will continue to 13 do so. 14 And thank you again for allowing me to 15 comment on this. And do you have any 16 questions? 17 MS. LASSITER: Thank you. 18 MS. SMILEY: Thank you. 19 MRS. CHRISTINE BENNETT: Christine Bennett. 20 I'm getting something wrong. Did you 21 say that you guys are the ones that ask the 22 questions? 23 MS. LASSITER: Yes. 24 MRS. CHRISTINE BENNETT: You know, I don't 25 want to be disrespectful, but it looks like

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 48

1 I'm not supposed to be here. I'm in the 2 wrong room, you know. Maybe we supposed to 3 be some, another meeting, because this is 4like we're saying we're for it, and we're 5 not. We're against it, you know. And 6 talking with someone, you know, and realizing 7that what -- I'm lost, I'm really, I'm 8 confused, you know, because I'm concerned 9 about our health. And it seems like 10 everybody here is for PVC, vinyl chloride. 11 And she just said it was so pure. And 12 if it's so pure, what do you all need -- what 13 they need you all for? What they need 14 regulations for if it's so pure? And I'm 15 lost now because she says it's so pure. What 16 they need you all for if it's so pure? 17 So I'm in the wrong meeting, and maybe, 18 when you guys are willing to try to help 19 Mossville or do something to say -- because I 20 know there are things out there that they can 21 use besides the PVC pipes and all these 22 things that they are going for it, they are 23 going for it. 24 But until you live in our area, Penny -- 25 and like she said, she live in it. So I'm

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 49

1 lost. Like the Bible says, Those who destroy 2 the land will be destroyed. So let's wait 3 for judgment day. 4MS. LASSITER: Okay. Well -- 5 MRS. CHRISTINE BENNETT: Thank you, Penny. 6 MS. LASSITER: Thank you. 7This is an opportunity for everybody to 8 stress their comments, and people do have 9 different positions. 10 All right. The next speaker that I have 11 scheduled is Mr. Henry Graham for 10:27. But 12 if Mr. Graham is here and ready, we invite 13 you to come forward. 14 Mr. Graham, I'm going to ask you just 15 hold for just a couple of minutes here. 16 MR. GRAHAM: No problem. 17 MS. LASSITER: Okay. Mr. Graham, we're ready 18 to proceed. 19 MR. GRAHAM: Good morning. My name is Henry 20 Graham, Jr. I am Vice President of 21 Environmental Affairs and Legal Counsel for 22 the Louisiana Chemical Association. 23 LCA is a trade association of chemical 24 manufacturers in the state of Louisiana. We 25 have about 64 companies and over 90 plant

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 50

1 locations. Some of our plants that we 2 represent are producers or manufacturers of 3 polyvinyl chloride or related materials used 4in the polymers production and would be 5 impacted by this rule. So we certainly do 6 appreciate the Agency's efforts, as well as 7those of the Louisiana Department of 8 Environmental Quality, to provide 9 regulations, guidance and information for our 10 industry concerning these products and our 11 right to produce these products here in this 12 country. We recognize the fact that we have 13 come a long way, and a lot of that credit 14 goes to the agencies DEQ and EPA. 15 I worked in a chemical plant myself for 16 over eleven years, had a variety of tasks, 17 including environmental engineer; and for the 18 past 27 years, I have worked for the 19 association on environmental matters. So I 20 have been involved and our organization has 21 been involved in the development of rules and 22 regulations, from my early on the state 23 level, but also on the national level, and we 24 appreciate this process that you're going 25 through.

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 51

1 We would encourage you and the folks 2 that are looking at the rules, as you have 3 done in the past, to examine the processes 4and look at the opportunities for flexibility 5 and variability, because there are sometimes 6 differences in operations that can actually 7achieve an environmental benefit. There are 8 differences in operations; and by allowing 9 some flexibility, you may actually be able to 10 improve the emissions' reduction. 11 We encourage the use of maximum 12 achievable control technology. We think that 13 technology-forcing standards will improve 14 emissions and present us with a more 15 competitive environment, especially if those 16 standards are uniformly administered. 17 But we do recognize, we are competing in 18 a world market. As a result of that, you 19 know, our products have to conform, not only 20 to standards here, but to also satisfy the 21 requirements of our competitors. 22 We want to be good neighbors, and we 23 feel we have been good neighbors, in 24 addressing concerns of the community. 25 However, we've not always -- and we

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 52

1 appreciate the extra level of effort that EPA 2 has given, but particularly in some of the 3 communities near our facilities. 4But we believe that we are good stewards 5 of the environment, and what I would like to 6 do is we want to put on record that we are 7supportive of the comments of the Vinyl 8 Institute and of some of our LCA members who 9 may be submitting individual comments. And 10 we will save the technical comments for the 11 written portion, but encourage the agency, 12 where it can, to visit facilities to obtain 13 information that will be helpful in 14 determining the most reasonable rules and 15 regulations for our facilities to operate. 16 Thank you again for your patience. 17 MS. LASSITER: Okay. Thank you. 18 Okay. At this point I've got twelve 19 minutes past 10:00, and we do not have any 20 speakers currently scheduled until -- I 21 believe our next speaker that's signed up is 22 for after the lunch break at 2:00 today. 23 However, we will be here until the 24 12:30 lunch break in case other people come 25 and want to sign up ad hoc and speak. And

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 53

1 also, I'll just reiterate, that if you have 2 not signed up and you would like to speak, 3 please feel free to see the folks outside the 4door at the registration table and we will 5 make sure that you have the opportunity. 6 But with that, we will break until such 7time that there's another speaker. And 8 again, we'll be around here until the 9 12:30 lunch break. All right? 10 Thank you. 11 (Lunch break until 2:00 p.m.) 12 * * * 13 MS. LASSITER: Okay. I have just about a 14 minute past 2:00, so I'm going to go ahead 15 and reconvene the afternoon session of the 16 public hearing. And because I know that some 17 of you have joined since this morning, I'm 18 going to run back through my introductory 19 statement. So for those of you who have 20 heard this before, I'll ask you to bear with 21 me. 22 But I do want to thank all of you for 23 attending this public hearing. It is the 24 public hearing on the Environmental 25 Protection Agency's Proposed Rule for the

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 54

1 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air 2 Pollutants, which we call NESHAP, for 3 polyvinyl chloride and copolymers production, 4and this rule making is for both major and 5 area sources. 6 And I recognize that some of you may 7have traveled quite a ways or had to take 8 time out of your busy schedule to be here, 9 but we do look forward to your comments. 10 My name is Penny Lassiter. I am the 11 Group Leader of the Refining and Chemicals 12 Group. Our group is part of the sector of 13 Policies and Programs Division, and we are a 14 headquartered Air Quality Office for EPA. 15 We're located in Research Triangle Park, 16 North Carolina, and I am your chair for the 17 hearing today. 18 The purpose of the hearing is to hear 19 your comments on EPA's proposed air toxic 20 standards for the polyvinyl chloride and 21 copolymers production rule. These standards 22 were proposed May 20 of this year. And 23 before I begin, I would like to just briefly 24 describe the proposed rules that are subject 25 of today's hearing and provide you with some

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 55

1 context. 2 The Clean Air Act is the main law that 3 governs how EPA addresses air pollution in 4the United States. Section 112 of the Clean 5 Air Act establishes the way in which we at 6 EPA must address toxic air emissions from 7industries such as PVC production. Air 8 toxics are also known as Hazardous Air 9 Pollutants and are suspected to cause cancer 10 or other serious health effects. The law 11 requires that we list categories of 12 industries to be regulated, such as PVC 13 production. It requires us to establish 14 standards based on emission levels achieved 15 by the best control sources of the industry, 16 and these standards are known at Maximum 17 Achievable Control Technology Standards, and 18 we use the term MACT for short. 19 And just as a little history lesson 20 here, we initially issued standards for major 21 sources of polyvinyl chloride production in 22 2002, and those standards established 23 emission limits for vinyl chloride for both 24 new and existing PVC production facilities 25 and used vinyl chloride as a surrogate for

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 56

1 the remaining hazardous air pollutants. And 2 in that particular standard, EPA determined 3 that compliance with the existing 1976 vinyl 4chloride NESHAP reflected the MACT level of 5 the standard and satisfied the requirements 6 of Clean Air Act, Section 112(d), with the 7exception that we did add some new 8 requirements for equipment leaks at new 9 sources. 10 In 2002 EPA was sued on those standards, 11 and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC 12 Circuit, that court vacated and remanded the 13 rule back to the Agency and directed the 14 Agency to either reconsider the rule or to 15 properly explain its methodology for using 16 vinyl chloride as a surrogate for all HAP. 17 Now, that was the major source rule. 18 And just to be clear, a major source is any 19 facility that emits at least 10 tons of a 20 single toxic pollutant or 25 tons annually of 21 a combination of toxic pollutants. 22 Now, in 2007, we issued new standards 23 for both new and existing polyvinyl chloride 24 and copolymer production area sources. Area 25 sources are any sources that are not major,

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 57

1 meaning that they either emit less than 10 2 tons of a single pollutant or less than 3 25 tons of a combination of pollutants. And 4in that particular 2007 rule making, we did 5 not establish MACT, but rather we established 6 Generally Available Control Technology, or 7Management Practices known as GACT, G-A-C-T. 8 And in that particular rule, we did establish 9 the 1976 vinyl chloride emission limits were 10 the appropriate GACT level of the standard. 11 I mention that because, in this most 12 recent May 2011 proposed PVC NESHAP, we're 13 not only proposing to put back in place the 14 major source rule that was vacated by the 15 Court in 2002, but to also fulfill our 16 obligation under Section 112(d)(6) of the 17 Clean Air Act to review and revise as 18 necessary the PVC production area source 19 standards. 20 In response to the 2002 remand of the 21 major source rule and our technology review 22 of the area source rule requirement, we 23 proposed these NESHAP on May 20, and it is 24 these proposed rules that are the subject of 25 today's public hearing.

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 58

1 And, let's see. One other thing I 2 wanted to mention to you. Out on the table, 3 if you haven't already picked up the 4materials, we do have some specific sheets 5 available for you. We have information on 6 how to comment. We also provide for your 7assistance a list of particular topics of 8 which we are seeking specific comment. And 9 I'll note that we are accepting written 10 comments until July 19 of this year. 11 Let me also mention that the proposed 12 rule for PVC production, which is the subject 13 of today's hearing, does not include the 14 production of vinyl chloride monomer and 15 ethylene dichloride manufacturing, which are 16 also co-located at PVC production plants. 17 Those particular manufacturing processes are 18 actually part of an upcoming rule on the 19 chemical manufacturing sector that the Agency 20 is currently revisiting and looking at those 21 emission standards. And EPA has required 22 some chemical plants, including some in this 23 area and the Mossville area, to test for and 24 submit information on vinyl chloride and 25 dioxin emissions to support that upcoming

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 59

1 chemical manufacturing sector rule that we'll 2 be proposing hopefully a few months from now. 3 However, I want to note that that particular 4rule making is not the subject of today's 5 hearing. 6 Now let me just turn quickly to a couple 7of logistics for the public hearing this 8 afternoon. I'm going to call each speaker to 9 the microphone, and I'll ask the speaker to 10 remain at the table, I want you to complete 11 your testimony, to provide us an opportunity 12 to ask any clarifying questions, that we make 13 sure that we understand the points that you 14 made in your testimony today. 15 When you approach the microphone, we ask 16 you to state your name and your affiliation. 17 The other thing I would like to say is we are 18 transcribing today's hearing, and each 19 speaker's oral testimony will become part of 20 the official record. 21 If you have brought with you a written 22 copy of your testimony, we would appreciate 23 it if you would leave it with our staff at 24 the registration table, and they will make 25 sure that those written comments get placed

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 60

1 into the docket for you. 2 We do only have two speakers scheduled 3 for this afternoon, and I will bring the 4first one up in a couple of minutes, once I 5 conclude my opening remarks. But I want to 6 point out that we are scheduled to be here 7until 8:00 in case other people do show up 8 and wish to testify. 9 We are scheduled to take a dinner break 10 from 5:00 until 6:30. And I also would like 11 to offer, if there's someone here who did not 12 previously sign up to speak but would like to 13 do so, I invite you to see some of the folks 14 at the registration table and they will get 15 you on the list and notify us, and we'll 16 provide you the opportunity to testify. 17 With that, I would like to introduce 18 Jodi Howard sitting next to me. Jodi works 19 in my group down in Research Triangle Park, 20 and she is the Project Engineering Manager 21 for the Development of these polyvinyl 22 chloride and copolymer rules. 23 So with that, I think we're very close 24 to the 2:10 point, and I'm going to ask our 25 first speaker to come up and, that is

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 61

1 Ms. Wilma Subra. 2 3 MS. SUBRA: Good afternoon. My name is Wilma 4Subra with Subra Company in New Iberia, 5 Louisiana, and today I'm testifying on behalf 6 of Louisiana Environmental Action Network and 7the Lower Mississippi River Keeper. 8 So on behalf of Louisiana Environmental 9 Action Network and the Lower Mississippi 10 River Keeper, I would like to thank the EPA 11 for the opportunity to comment on the 12 proposed rule dealing with polyvinyl chloride 13 and copolymer productions and especially 14 thank you for holding one of your hearings 15 here in Louisiana. 16 As you're aware, Louisiana Environmental 17 Action Network has been involved in the legal 18 petition process dealing with the lack of 19 emission standards for all of the hazardous 20 air pollutants that are emitted from the PVC 21 facilities. LEAN appreciates the EPA 22 proposed emissions standards for vinyl 23 chloride, hydrogen chloride, dioxins and 24 furans and total organic air toxins. LEAN 25 also appreciates the proposed emissions

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 62

1 reductions that are proposed in the rule. 2 Those emission reductions are for vinyl 3 chloride, dioxin and furans, hydrogen 4chloride, and hazardous air pollutants in 5 total. 6 While these reductions in emissions are 7appreciated, based on the impacts to 8 environmental justice community members 9 living in close proximity to the PVC 10 production facilities, these reductions are 11 not adequate. The reductions would account 12 for only 30 percent of the vinyl chloride and 13 only 32 percent of the dioxins and furans 14 that are currently emitted. Such reductions 15 would still result in the EJ communities 16 continuing to be exposed to unacceptable 17 levels of vinyl chloride and dioxins and 18 furans. 19 Louisiana leads the nation in 20 PVC-production facilities with six facilities 21 located in Geismar, Plaquemine, Baton Rouge, 22 Addis and Westlake. The largest vinyl 23 chloride emitting facility in the whole 24 United States is located in Louisiana at 25 Geismar. The majority of the PVC facilities

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 63

1 in the state of Louisiana are located in very 2 close proximity to environmental justice 3 communities, contrary to what is presented in 4the proposed rule. And I work with a large 5 number of those environmental justice 6 communities in close proximity to the PVC 7facilities in Louisiana, as well as in Texas, 8 and some of the others across the United 9 States. 10 In Louisiana, as a result of operations 11 of the PVC production facilities, vinyl 12 chloride is present in the ambient air in the 13 EJ communities located in close proximity to 14 the PVC facilities. And I would like to 15 thank the Louisiana Department of 16 Environmental Quality for their ambient air 17 monitoring program which has provided that 18 information that clearly demonstrates vinyl 19 chloride in the ambient air in the 20 communities adjacent and near the PVC 21 facilities. 22 The vinyl chloride fugitive emissions 23 from the PVC production facilities consists 24 of 55 to 78 percent of the total vinyl 25 chloride air emissions. That is, the

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 64

1 fugitive emissions are 55 to 78 percent of 2 the total vinyl chloride emissions. 3 Even with the proposed toxic air 4emission reductions that are being proposed 5 in the proposed rule, the ambient air will 6 continue to contain and be contaminated with 7vinyl chloride and the associates HAPs. The 8 vinyl chloride emitted into the air by the 9 six PVC facilities in Louisiana is more than 10 double the vinyl chloride emissions that are 11 released into the air from the four PVC 12 facilities in Texas, and Texas ranks number 13 two. 14 So, in Louisiana, we have more than 15 double what's being emitted by the facilities 16 in Texas. And I work with a number of the 17 facilities' environmental justice communities 18 that are on their fence line and in close 19 proximity in the state of Texas as well. 20 So when we look at carcinogens -- and 21 you did mention carcinogens when you did your 22 introductory comments -- there are known 23 human carcinogens in the hazardous air 24 pollutants and there are probable human 25 carcinogens, hazardous air pollutants, that

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 65

1 are emitted from the PVC production 2 facilities. 3 As a part of the proposed rule, EPA has 4established emission limits for vinyl 5 chloride, dioxin and furans, total organic 6 HAPs and hydrogen chloride. LEAN and Lower 7Mississippi River Keeper support the 8 inclusion of the emission limits for dioxin 9 and furans, for total organic HAPs and 10 hydrogen chloride, in addition to the vinyl 11 chloride in the proposed rule. However, in 12 addition, EPA desperately needs to have 13 established emission limits for each of the 14 known and probable carcinogen hazardous air 15 pollutants that are emitted by the PVC 16 production process. 17 When you look at accidental releases and 18 upsets, the PVC production facilities have a 19 large number of accidental releases and upset 20 operation conditions which result in the 21 release of vinyl chloride and other HAPs 22 associated with the production process. The 23 Formosa facility actually had an event of 24 this type this week. 25 The releases of HAPs frequently extend

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 66

1 off the facility site and into the 2 surrounding EJ communities. The evaluation 3 and control of these releases of vinyl 4chloride and the associated HAPs are critical 5 to protecting the health of the adjacent 6 communities. 7When you look at recordkeeping and 8 reporting, those requirements for the 9 discharges in the proposed rule must be 10 extended to violations associated with 11 bypasses, pressure vessels and closed vent 12 systems and vacuum service. These records 13 and reports are critical to determine 14 emission concentrations and to determine the 15 extent of impacts due to the emissions and 16 measures that should be taken to prevent the 17 reoccurrence of similar types of events. 18 These records are also critical to 19 providing information to the fence line 20 communities. 21 When we look at wastewater, the EPA's 22 proposed rules that require wastewater 23 monitoring and compliance, the EPA should 24 have developed specific criteria limits for 25 the most prevalent and toxic HAPs in the

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 67

1 wastewater above which reductions are 2 required. Rather than just saying the 1000 3 parts per million criteria for total HAPs, 4you should have developed criteria for the 5 individual most toxic and most prevalent, as 6 well as the total. 7Louisiana Environmental Action Network 8 and the Lower Mississippi River Keeper 9 encourage the EPA to reduce the quantity of 10 vinyl chloride, reduce the quantity of 11 hydrogen chloride, reduce the quantity of 12 dioxins and furans, and the quantity of 13 hazardous air pollutants emitted by further 14 tightening up the emission limits in the 15 proposed rule. 16 Dioxins and furans are released and have 17 the potential to and, in fact, have 18 contaminated and bio-accumulated in the 19 bodies of the human population in the fence 20 line communities of PVC facilities. 21 The reduction in emissions proposed by 22 the EPA will reduce the exposure of the EJ 23 communities, but there will still exist 24 unacceptable levels of exposure to vinyl 25 chloride, dioxin and furans, and hazardous

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 68

1 air pollutants in the air of these 2 communities. 3 And I know you're tired of hearing me 4say those over and over again, but those 5 communities are the recipients of the high 6 concentration of those chemicals that are 7released into the environment, cross the 8 fence line, and occur in their communities. 9 Greater reductions of the toxic chemicals 10 must be required. 11 Thank you. 12 MS. LASSITER: Okay. Thank you. 13 MS. SUBRA: Thank you. 14 MS. LASSITER: Our next scheduled speaker is 15 Ms. Monique Hardin. 16 Good afternoon. My name is Monique 17 Hardin. I am an attorney and codirector of 18 Advocates for Environmental Human Rights. 19 We're based in New Orleans and we have a 20 policy office in Washington D.C. Our mission 21 is focused on upholding the human rights that 22 each and every one of us have to live in a 23 healthy environment. 24 And we represent Mossville Environmental 25 Action Now in another matter involving a

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 69

1 recently admitted case before the 2 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 3 the Organization of American States. 4It's a case that seeks to find remedies 5 for residents of Mossville from decisions 6 that have been made through the environmental 7regulatory system that violate their 8 fundamental human rights, like the right to 9 life, health, freedom from racial 10 discrimination, and the right to privacy as 11 related to the security of one's home. And 12 that case is currently pending before the 13 Inter-American Commission. 14 The community of Mossville is surrounded 15 by fourteen facilities, which includes the 16 largest concentration of vinyl manufacturers 17 in the United States. As a consequence, they 18 suffered significant environmental damage in 19 the community, with waterways that are 20 unsuitable for boat rides, swimming and 21 fishing, unhealthy levels of cancer-causing 22 chemicals in the air that they breathe, and 23 elevated levels of dioxins in the blood of 24 Mossville residents as determined by testing 25 by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 70

1 Disease Registry. 2 These concentrations of dioxin in the 3 bodies of Mossville residents is on average 4three times higher than the national 5 background level for the United States, and 6 it's also a unique grouping of dioxin 7compounds; which Wilma Supra, who spoke just 8 before me, conducted some significant 9 research showing the correlation between the 10 dioxins that Mossville residents have been 11 exposed to and the dioxins and the emissions 12 of vinyl manufacturers and other industries 13 surrounding residents in the community. 14 Preceding the EPA's proposed rule for 15 PVC manufacturers, Mossville Environmental 16 Action Now sued the agency for failure to 17 comply with the Clean Air Act. It was a case 18 that was ruled against EPA for using vinyl 19 chloride as a surrogate for other hazardous 20 air pollutants emitted by the PVC industry. 21 Our review of the proposed rule by EPA 22 seems to continue this area of noncompliance 23 with the Clean Air Act, and specifically, 24 using vinyl chloride as a surrogate for other 25 hazardous air pollutants.

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 71

1 There are several sections in the 2 proposed rule that limit the monitoring of 3 leaks at PVC facilities to just vinyl 4chloride monitoring, when there are so many 5 other hazardous air pollutants that would be 6 present in such leaks. Other sections 7minimize the volume of vinyl chloride and 8 process components when those process 9 components also contain dioxins and other 10 hazardous air pollutants. 11 And then another section dealing with 12 wastewater streams again makes a reduction 13 based on concentrations of vinyl chloride to 14 the exclusion of all other toxins. 15 With regards to the wastewater stream, 16 there's also another problem with it, which 17 we also saw with procedures for storage 18 vessels and process vents, where EPA sets a 19 limit for the threshold that would trigger a 20 vinyl chloride reduction, and then notes that 21 that threshold is above any of the capacity 22 of PVC manufacturers. So what you get, in 23 short, is an exemption of PVC manufacturers 24 from wastewater stream reductions. 25 We see that again in areas that focus on

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 72

1 storage vessels, where again EPA notes the 2 established regulations for storage vessels, 3 and then notes that PVC manufacturers all 4fall below those established regulations, and 5 then concludes that this will be the standard 6 for those manufacturers, which again would 7essentially exempt those manufacturers from 8 the kinds of protections for storage 9 facilities that deal with sealing mechanisms, 10 floating roofs, and routing streams to a 11 controlled device that could reduce volatile 12 organic emissions by 95 percent. They are 13 not required to do that under this proposed 14 rule. 15 We also find highly questionable the way 16 in which EPA addresses non-detects in air 17 emissions. And this multiplying by a factor 18 of three is not presented in a clear way to 19 show the rationale behind this calculation. 20 In addition -- just three more 21 comments -- with regards to process vents 22 where dioxin, which of course is a tremendous 23 problem in the Mossville community, along 24 with other hazardous air pollutants would be 25 released, EPA said that -- I'm just going to

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 73

1 read it -- that the control technologies -- 2 to quote, the control technology that would 3 be needed to achieve the proposed MACT floor 4levels for process vents are generally the 5 most effective controls available for 6 reducing vinyl chloride, hydrogen chloride, 7total organic hazardous air pollutants, and 8 dioxins/furans. However, the EPA does not 9 require these control technologies; and it 10 doesn't ensure that such control 11 technologies, even if they were required of 12 the PVC manufacturers, would actually achieve 13 the maximum emission reduction, which should 14 be the goal of this proposed rule. 15 We also are disturbed by the subjective 16 standard that EPA applies to beyond-the-floor 17 controls, where it notes that substantial 18 reductions of vinyl chloride and dioxins, 19 among others, could be achieved; but it would 20 be, quote, not appropriate, close quote, to 21 require the industry to employ this 22 technology. 23 I'm not quite sure what the standard -- 24 how one goes about determining what's 25 appropriate when the goal is: Is this the

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 74

1 maximum reduction of emissions or not? And 2 this clearly would be a greater reduction of 3 emissions and should be a requirement within 4the proposed rule. 5 And then my last thoughts are regarding 6 executive orders. The section of the 7proposed rule that talks about EPA's 8 compliance with the executive order on 9 Environmental Justice Number 12898 applies 10 this methodology of aggregation, which is the 11 first time I've seen it used. The Executive 12 Order pertains to any and all communities or 13 populations that are disproportionately 14 people of color or poor to have safeguards 15 from the EPA and all other federal agencies 16 and departments from racially and 17 economically disproportionate pollution 18 burdens. It doesn't talk about the 19 aggregation of such communities, but each 20 individual community separately. And in the 21 situation for Mossville, it's a hundred 22 percent African-American community that's 23 subjected to PVC pollution on a daily basis. 24 And we think that EPA should find another 25 mechanism for addressing the concerns in this

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 75

1 environmental justice community of Mossville 2 and not try to hide or obscure the fact that 3 African-American residents in Mossville do 4exist, they are living there, and those PVC 5 facilities are all around them by this 6 aggregation methodology. 7On the same note, with regards to 8 executive orders, we noticed that excluded 9 from the proposed rule is any statement about 10 compliance with Executive Order Number 13107. 11 It's an executive order that mandates that 12 EPA is responsible for ensuring 13 implementation of ratified human rights 14 treaties, which were applicable to 15 environmental protection in this case. And 16 their leaving that executive order out leaves 17 open whether or not EPA is actually 18 considering the obligation of our government 19 to ensure human lights for all people. 20 Thank you. 21 MS. LASSITER: Okay. Thank you. 22 Jodi, got anything? 23 Nothing? Thank you. 24 Okay. That is all the speakers that we 25 have signed up for the remainder of the

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 76

1 public hearing; however, as we have noted, we 2 will be around and available should anyone 3 wish to testify. We'll be around until 8:00. 4We will be breaking for dinner, I believe 5 that was from 5 until 6:30. 6 With that I'm going to break the public 7meeting. Thank you all for your attendance 8 and for those of you who spoke. 9 MS. GAUTREAU: My name is Lee Gautreau and I 10 work here at DEQ. 11 If you parked over in our garage, I can 12 take your parking tags and get them validated 13 for you. That way you can get out without 14 paying. 15 And the only other thing, if you do 16 return for this evening sometime, park on the 17 street. After 5:00 the garage is open, but 18 you may in the be able to get out after that. 19 So if you are coming back, make sure you're 20 on the street. 21 * * * 22 (The panel remained until 8:00 p.m., but 23 there being no further speakers, the 24 transcript concludes at this point. 25 * * *

### PVC Public Hearing

June 9, 2011

225-292-8686

Baton Rouge Court Reporters, LLC 77

1 STATE OF LOUISIANA 2 PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE 3 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE 4 5 I, ESTELLA O. CHAMPION, Certified Court 6 Reporter and Registered Professional Reporter in and 7 for the State of Louisiana, Certificate Number 77003 8 (in good standing), as the officer before whom this 9 proceeding was taken, do hereby certify that on June 9, 10 2011, the foregoing 76 pages were reported by me in the 11 Stenotype reporting method, that said transcript was 12 later prepared and transcribed by me or under my 13 personal direction and supervision and is a true and 14 correct transcript to the best of my ability and 15 understanding; that I am not related to counsel or to 16 the parties herein, nor am I otherwise interested in 17 the outcome of this matter. 18 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this 14th day of 19 June, 2011. 20 21 22

______________________________ ESTELLA O. CHAMPION, CCR, CRR 23 24 25