Community Meeting: Overview of General Environmental Management (GEM) May 25, 2006
Parties Involved GEM COMMUNITY REGULATORS OEPA CDAQ NEORSD OSHA Fire Dept Environment
General Environmental Management (GEM) “Our objective is to satisfy our customers needs through safe, cost effective, and low risk waste management programs based on recycling technologies”
Ohio EPA (OEPA) Goal- “…to protect the environment and public health by ensuring compliance with environmental laws” Establishes and enforces standards for air water and waste management Divisions pertinent to GEM Air, water, RCRA
Cleveland Division Air Quality (DAQ) “….primary objective to ensure that regulated air pollutants from sources are in compliance with federal, state, and local air regulations….” Goal: “…to improve quality of life in Cleveland… desirable place to live and work.”
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) “Protecting your health and the environment” Assuring clean water for a greater Cleveland Industrial pretreatment: “..conducts investigations to identify pollutants… work with industrial customers to achieve pollution prevention goals”
Number of Odor Complaints Month # 2/0539/0516 3/053610/056 4/051011/059 5/051012/055 6/05111/062 7/0542/065 8/0573/066 #: includes multiple complaints
Violations Agency NOV Fines/Action OEPA-RCRA 5 None DAQ 8 None NEORSD18 None Fire Dept 4 Yes OSHArefuse to investigate NOV: notice of violation
Incidents 6/22/05 Vapor cloud from ethanolamine 1/6/05 GEM explosion, fire contained 2/24/06 H 2 S in sewer lines downstream of GEM 4/10/06 Fire dept tracks odor to GEM, states concern with vapor collection 4/20/06 GEM explosion, 3-alarm fire with 5 injuries
GEM’s Response to NOV Plays ‘blame game’ Minimal compliance with fire department requests Duct tape Questionable vapor collection No compliance with DAQ NOV Has not completed stack tests (issued 2004)
Conflicting information GEM tells DAQ not treating solvent Gets pre-approval from NEORSD to treat solvent bearing waste GEM - tells DAQ that fire department could not track source Lt. Dziak tells DAQ that he found source on GEMs property
Effective Biological Treatment Aerobic system Requires oxygen Carbon dioxide common end product Must be acclimated to carbon source Evidence not working H2S produced (anaerobic system) Carbon type and amount changed too frequently for bacteria to be acclimated Full compounds in exiting stream
Compounds in GEM’s Water Jan 23, Organics isophorone, phenol, benzene, chloroform, phenanthrene, acetone, ethylbenzene, MEK, styrene, toluene, methylene chloride, CS2, 4-methyl-2-pentaone Inorganics As, Ag, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Ni, Se, Zn
OEPA 52 NEORSD
Sample health symptoms from organics ENTHeadache dizziness Skin irrVomitingRespir. Acetone √√√√ Phenol √√√ MEK √√√√ Methanol √√√√ THF √√√√ Creosol √√√√√
Sample health symptoms - metals ENTHeadache dizziness Chest pain VomitingRespir. Cadmium √√√√ Nickel √√ Arsenic √√√√ Lead √√√ Zinc √√