# Appendix F

Responses to Comments on Proposed Lead Boundary RecommendationCOMMENTS AND RESPONSES ON

PROPOSED LEAD DESIGNATION AND BOUNDARY RECOMMENDATION

FOR THE 2008 LEAD NATIONAL AMBIEN T AIR QUALITY STANDARD IN

MISSOURI

AND

RECOMMENDATION FOR ADOPTION

On October 29, 2009, the Missouri Air Conser vation Commission held a public hearing concerning a proposed recommendation to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the lead boundary de signation recommendation for Mi ssouri under the 2008 Lead National Ambient Air Quality Standard. The follo wing is a summary of comments received and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' corresponding responses. Any changes to the proposed state implementation plan are iden tified in the responses to the comments.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Air Pollution Control Program recommends the commission adopt the plan action as amended. If the commission adopts this recommendation, it will be the department’s intention to submit th is recommendation to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

SUMMARY OF COMMENTS: The Mi ssouri Department of Natural Resources’ Air Pollution Control Program received comments from seven (7) sources: the Jefferson County Executive, Crystal City Administrator, Mayor of Festus, Mayor of Pevely, Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University School of Law, and two private citizens.

COMMENT #1: The mayors of Festus and Pevely, the Crystal City Administrator, and a private citizen all provided comments concerning their st rong disagreement with the proposed inclusion of the areas outside the Herculaneum city limits into the Herculaneum Lead Nonattainment Area. They were particularly concerned about the pote ntial negative impact to property values that might result from a nonattainment designation.

RESPONSE AND EXPLANATION OF CHANGE: The department appreciates comments from the community leaders and private citizen. Th e department realizes th at the residents of the area are concerned that a nonattainment designa tion could potentially affect their property values. The department’s primary concern is to protect the public’s hea lth and the environment from pollutants that are considered harmful, as required by the Clean Air Act; however, the

extent of the current lead monito ring network is within one-half (1⁄2 ) mile of the process buildings at Doe Run, inside the Herculaneum city limits . The revised monitoring network (to begin sampling in January 2010) has been expanded to include sites outside the Herculaneum city limits in areas up to one and one-half (11⁄2) m iles from the process buildings. The limited geographic extent of the current network makes it very difficult to prescribe areas that do not meet the standard beyond the monitoring network. Therefore, the department is proposing the nonattainment boundary for the 2008 standard remain as the Herculaneum city limits, which is the current nonattainment area boundary for th e 1978 standard. The department is still

concerned that the areas in itially recommended for nonatt ainment may not meet the 2008standard, which could potentially affect the health of the citize ns within those areas. The department will change the recommendation for th ese areas from nonattainment to unclassifiable until data from the new monitoring network is availabl e. As a result of these comments, the lead boundary recommendation documents have been cha nged to reflect the re moval of portions of Crystal City, Festus, and Pevely from inclus ion in the proposed lead nonattainment area boundary and the placement into an unclassifiable area.

COMMENT #2: The Jefferson County Executive provided several commen ts on the 2008 lead designation. A private citizen concurred with the County Execu tive comments. The Jefferson County Executive’s first comment was that th e monitoring data clear ly shows that the

exceedances in the lead standard occur immediatel y adjacent to the source. He noted that there are no monitoring sites currently in operation outsi de of the Herculaneum c ity limits, nor west of U.S. Highway 61/67 within the city limits. He believes that there is no evidence that lead emissions migrate west of U.S. Highway 61/67 and that the data show the monitors located furthest from the facility, but within the city lim its, are in compliance with the standard. He feels that the designation of areas outside the Hercul aneum city limits and west of Highway 61/67 has no basis in fact and is inappropriate. The Jefferson County Executive says that designating portions of Crystal City, Festus, and Pevely as nonattainment fo r lead without the science to support it would place an unfair burden on th e current homeowners and mislead potential homebuyers into the erroneous belief that livi ng inside a nonattainment area would place their families in jeopardy. He states that this is wr ong and would certainly damage the communities. The private citizen added that he believes the department’s boundary recommendations were based on models and conjecture, ra ther than hard monitoring data.

RESPONSE AND EXPLANATION OF CHANGE: While exceedances of the 1978 standard are confined to areas in close proximity to the smelter, there is evidence to suggest exceedances

of the 2008 standard occur at a minimum distance of one half mile from the smelting process buildings. Monitoring data (Appendix D of Technical Support Document) shows that

exceedances of the 2008 lead standard are and have been occurring inside the Herculaneum city limits at even the monitoring sites most distant from the facility (e.g. Sherman site). The lead monitoring network was contracted in October 2005 when several sites that were well below the 1978 standard were discontinued. However, these sites, located inside the Herculaneum city limits, did monitor concentrations exceeding or very near the 2008 standard at times in the past. For example, the Golf Course monitor, loca ted west of U.S. Hi ghway 61/67 within the Herculaneum city limits, exceeded the 2008 standa rd for each of the four monitoring periods from January to April 2005. Since these historic monitors have all ex ceeded the 2008 standard,

these areas must be included in the recomm ended nonattainment area for the 2008 standard.

In addition to the historic monitoring data that shows violations of the 2008 standard west of U.S. Highway 61/67, it is important to note that the 1978 National Ambient Air Quality Standard boundary is the city limits of Herculaneum. This nonattainment area will exist until the monitoring data supports redesignation to atta inment under the 1978 standard and other Clean Air Act requirements are met. Currently, there is insufficient monitoring da ta below the standard to warrant this redesignation. Therefore, even if the department chose to exclude portions of Herculaneum from the 2008 boundary, this area would still be nonattainment under the 1978 standard. Further, designated ar eas must be defined in legal te rms and not as west of Highway

61/67.The department used EPA’s guidance provided in the final rule on the 2008 lead standard to develop its recommendations. The presumptive boundary is the county perimeter containing the monitored violation(s). In orde r to expand or contract this area, the guidance recommends the use of qualitative analysis, in terpolation/extrapolation of monitoring data, and dispersion modeling for making the recommendation. Modeling analysis used by the department to make the previous recommendations is the best available information from the facility regarding current operations under the 2007 state impl ementation plan (SIP) along with on-site meteorological data. These analys es should not be dismissed as c onjecture or unsound science. Dispersion models are designed to predict concentrations at a ll areas of interest, including unmonitored areas, and are utilized for the deve lopment of control strategies at maximum emission rates. They are based on the best scie nce available and are updated frequently by EPA. The outputs from these models are corroborated by available monitored data for SIP purposes. Given the guidance from EPA, the department is compelled to use all available and relevant information for the purpose of recommendi ng nonattainment boundaries including both

monitored and modeled data.

Based on the modeling analyses and monitored data extrapolation, areas outside the city limits of Herculaneum may violate the 2008 st andard. However, there is no definitive evidence that can confirm this finding. As a result of commen ts, the department is designating many of the sections previously included in the recomme ndation outside the Herculaneum city limits as

unclassifiable until additional data ca n be collected to verify the attain ment status of these areas.

EPA promulgated the 2008 lead stan dard since health st udies evidence shows th at serious health

effects occur at much lower levels of lead in the blood than was recognized as harmful when the 1978 standard was established. With this strong ev idence that there is no safe level for lead in the blood, those living in an area that is not in attainment of the 2008 lead standa rd would be at a higher risk for the health effects from lead.

COMMENT #3: The Interdisciplinary Environmen tal Clinic at Washington University in St. Louis, on behalf of the Missouri Coalition fo r the Environment suppor ts the department’s recommendation to expand the Herculaneum nonatta inment area for lead. The Lead Designation and Boundary Recommendation and technical S upport Document clearly indicate that the existing Herculaneum nonattainment boundary is in sufficient to define the nonattainment area for the 2008 standard. The Interdisciplinary Envir onmental Clinic states that this determination is well supported by air dispersion mode ling performed by the department. RESPONSE: The department appreciates the su pport of the Interdiciplinary Environmental

Clinic and concurs that there is evidence to s upport the expansion of the nonattainment area beyond the current boundary denoted by the city lim its of Herculaneum. This conclusion was based on available modeling and historic monito ring data for the areas around Herculaneum. However, based on the lack of definitive ev idence (e.g. monitored vi olations) to support nonattainment area expansion at this time, the depa rtment has determined that areas to the north and south of the Herculaneum city limits will be recommended for an unclassifiable designation. Additional monitored data interp olation of current (through June 2009) and historic data was conducted to further define the areas of potentia l violation of the 2008 st andard. The expansion of the lead monitoring network in Herculaneum w ill help determine if the expansion of the areawill be necessary to address a dditional violation of the 2008 l ead air quality standard. The department did not make any changes to the recommendation as a result of this comment.

COMMENT #4: A private citizen commented that the department and EPA have not applied due diligence to the contamination of soil, air, and water in the Herculaneum area. Further, the department should apply measures beyond fi nes and warnings to combat company noncompliance with all applicable environmental requirements. RESPONSE: This comment appears to primaril y address EPA and the department’s Hazardous Waste Program requirements for Doe Run to conduct soil sampling and remediate soil contamination in residential yards around the smelte r’s operations over the past few years. This is not within the statutory authority of the Air Pollution Control Program and can not be addressed with this air boundary designation recommendation. To be clear, the department’s Air Pollution Control Program has worked closely with EPA and Doe Run to address violations of the 1978 lead air quality standard. The latest 2007 SIP efforts, along with the impact of all previously required controls, have reduced conc entrations below the 1978 standard for the last six (6) quarters. The department’s authorit y under the Missouri Clean Air Law requires the department to enforce the air quality sta ndards while trying to achieve the maximum employment and economic development of Missour i. The department has required significant

air emission reductions at the Doe Run smelter in Herculaneum. These efforts will continue and additional reductions to achieve compliance with the air quality will be developed to bring the Herculaneum area into attainment following the st atutory authority given the department. No changes were made to the recommen dation as a result of this comment.