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ATTORNEYS AT LAW 

THOMAS R. WOOD 

Direct (503) 294-9396 

July 18,2011	 trwood@stoel.com 

VIA US MAIL 

Ms. Vanessa Hinkle
 

United States Environmental Protection Agency
 

Region 8
 

1595 Wynkoop Street
 

Denver, CO 80202-1129
 

Re:	 Substantiation for Confidential Business Information Claim for Information 

Submitted for Best Available Retrofit Technology Analysis 

Dear Ms. Hinkle: 

This firm represents Ash Grove Cement Company ("Ash Grove") in relation to both its Montana 

City Best Available Retrofit Technology ("BART") analysis as well as discussions with EPA's 

Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance ("OECA") as well as the Department of 

Justice ("DOJ"). 

Ash Grove believes that wet scrubbers are no hnger technically feasible and should not be 

considered as a potential BART technology for the Montana City kiln. I have received your 

July 13, 2011 email to Bob Vantuyl and Kasi Dubbs requesting information regarding the wet 

scrubber vendor quote provided to your office by letter dated February 28, 2008. Please be 

aware that the scrubber quote you were provided is no longer valid and should be considered 

withdrawn. On September 9,2010, EPA issued a new particulate matter standard that will 

become applicable to the Montana City facility on September 9,2013 (Subpart LLL). The new 

limit of 0.04 lb PM per million tons of clinker produced makes it technically infeasible to utilize 

wet scrubbing as a technology. No wet scrubber manufacturer with experience in the cement 

industry will guarantee that their unit can meet the 0.04 lb/MM ton clinker PM standard. While 1 

cannot go into detail as to the confidential settlement negotiations that we have been having with 

EPA headquarters, I am at liberty to state that this issue has been fully discussed with OECA and 

DOJ. Laurie Ostrand of your office has particinated in those discussions by phone. As a result 

of these discussions, wet scrubbing is no longer being contemplated as technically feasible for 

Montana City. Therefore, Ash Grove does not believe that there is any reason to further discuss 

wet scrubbers and the company will not be able to submit an updated vendor quote. 

70801548.1 0012028-00054 

Ala~ka Ci:I\dornia Idaho 

Minne~ota Oregon Utah Wa ... hingLon 
Ms. Vanessa Hinkle 

July 18, 2011 

Page 2 

In light of the discussions we have had with OECA and DOJ, we believe that there is the 

potential that BART will not apply to the Montana City plant. If the negotiations result in a 

settlement, we anticipate that the Montana City plant will install pollution controls that equate to 

BACT. Having gone through that process, we do not believe that the BART determination 

process would still be relevant. Again, I cannot discuss our confidential settlement negotiations 

and nor can I state with certainty how they will ultimately resolve. However, I do want to ensure 

that you are aware of their existence and their potential to impact the BART process. 

In relation to the April 2007 proposal submitted to your office on February 28, 2008, Ash Grove 

continues to believe that it is Confidential Business Information ("CBI") that should not be 

released to the public. Your office previously asked that Ash Grove substantiate its 

confidentiality claim. This was done by a letter from myself to Ms. Callie Videtech dated 

June 18, 2008 (copy attached). Ash Grove believes that the same basis for substantiation ofthe 

CBI claim applies today that applied in 2008. Specifically, the vendor proposal contains a great 

deal of proprietary information (e.g., process flow data) that would cause serious injury to Ash 

Grove ifreleased to the public. We understand from your email that EPA has not reached a final 

confidentiality determination as to the attachments to the February 28, 2008 letter. If EPA 

ultimately concludes that it will not manage those attachments as protected confidential business 

information, we anticipate that your office will inform Ash Grove so that it can evaluate whether 

to take legal action to protect those documents. 

If you have any questions about this letter, please feel free to contact me immediately. 

Smce . .. ?Jk;7 /~(/!/ . /,,...,.,..,.,/ 

~R.WOOd

Enclosure:	 June 18, 2008 letter to Callie Videtich 

cc:	 Bob Vantuyl 

Curtis Lesslie 

Kasi Dubbs 

70801548.1 0012028-00054