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Watchdog Group Will Sue Pacific Steel By Suzanne La Barre Special to the Planet

Friday February 03, 2006

A clean-air watchdog group is threatening to sue Pacific Steel Casting, if the West Berkeley foundry fails to permanently eradicate foul odor emissions within 30 days. 

The newly formed Clean Air Coalition (CAC) announced Thursday that it will file a multiple-action small claims lawsuit against the plant under California State Law Public Nuisance 3479, “for causing and maintaining a nuisance that interferes with (community members’) right to enjoy their lives and property,” writes Grace Neufeld, executive director of the nonprofit mediation service Neighborhood Solutions, in a letter to Pacific Steel. The group is helping CAC with its suit. 

Litigants from Berkeley, Albany and El Cerrito will demand up to $7,500 each if the steel company, comprised of three plants on Second Street in West Berkeley, is unable to deliver a complete abatement plan by Mar. 2. The plan must detail, in layperson’s terms the “production of an odorless, toxic-less by-product,” said coalition representative Willi Paul in a phone interview Thursday. 

West Berkeley inhabitants and businesses have complained about the steel company’s noxious emissions for more than two decades, saying it causes headaches, nausea and shortness of breath. Many liken the stench to a burning pot handle. 

But Pacific Steel consultant Dion Aroner said suing the company doesn’t make sense. 

“From my perspective, a court suit like this becomes a distraction from trying to remedy the issue,” she said, pointing out that the company is already pursuing avenues to clean up its emissions. 

 

Prior Action 

In a recent settlement with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Pacific Steel agreed to install a $2 million carbon abatement system that is expected to significantly reduce or eliminate air quality problems, said air district Executive Officer Jack Broadbent in a Dec. 23 press release. The project is slated for completion in October. 

The agreement also slaps Pacific Steel with $17,500 in fines for nine emission and permit violations. 

The West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs, a watchdog group that formed nine months before the coalition, held a meeting Tuesday to discuss the settlement and the future of Pacific Steel. The meeting gathered alliance members, air district officials, Councilmember Linda Maio, Mayor Tom Bates and delegates from other public offices. Representatives from Pacific Steel did not attend, because they learned about the meeting too late, a consultant said. 

On Tuesday, some alliance members hailed the agreement as an important attempt to improve pollution in the neighborhood, but also criticized it for failing to address the full spectrum of their concerns. 

“The settlement is a weak agreement that does very little to improve the situation, and mostly provided ‘feel good’ PR for PSC and BAAQMD,” said alliance member Andrew Galpern, in an e-mail. “It’s a tiny step in the right direction.” 

Paul, who is also an alliance member, agreed: “The settlement fell way short,” he said. The meeting illuminated those shortcomings, and the coalition formed as a result.  

 

Health Matters 

At issue is “not just an odor problem, but a very serious health problem for this community,” said alliance member Peter Guerrero at the meeting. “It’s producing emissions that are known carcinogens” such as benzene, formaldehyde and additional toxins associated with cancer, reproductive, respiratory, neurotoxic and other adverse health effects. 

The air district, which is charged with regulating air quality in nine Bay Area counties, confirmed that Pacific Steel emits those toxic compounds. The agency has not, however, found evidence to support claims that they occur in dangerous quantities. 

Pacific Steel General Manager Joe Emmerichs said what carcinogens the plant emits are “so minimal, most of it is burned off before it comes out” into the air.  

“There are people out there who think we have toxins, but we don’t,” he said. “We’ve never had an employee get sick from this. We have 600 employees. It doesn’t happen at Pacific Steel.” 

Nonetheless, a recent spike in production has prompted air district staff to conduct a formal review of the plant’s potential health risks. If deemed a hazard, the plant will be forced to conduct an audit, said Brian Bateman, director of toxic evaluation at the air district. The report is due in June. 

Some residents don’t want to wait. They’ve started measuring air quality themselves. 

Richard Spencer said a tester he used came back with levels of formaldehyde “higher than they should be.” He lives six blocks from the plant, and said he has experienced countless health problems since moving in 10 years ago: depression, sleep disturbances and dry, red skin, to name a few. He admitted he can’t directly attribute foundry emissions to his diminishing health. Still, he said, “I eat all organic food. I don’t know how else [I could be like this] unless I was picking up the pollution elsewhere.”  

 

Past and future 

The first odor complaint lodged against Pacific Steel was recorded in 1981. In 1985, an unconditional order of abatement went into effect, forcing the company to stop polluting the air. In 2000, the order was lifted, over much opposition from residents. 

Since then, complaints against Pacific Steel have steadily risen: 18 in 2001, 49 in 2003, 112 in 2004 and 533 in 2005.  

The upsurge in grievances—and the resulting settlement—is chiefly due to the efforts of the alliance, which formed in April, and encourages residents to call the air district whenever a foul odor wafts through the air.  

But Paul thinks it isn’t enough. 

“Our work puts legal muscle in support of many of the demands that the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs delivered to BAAQMD at their community meeting on 1/31/06,” he writes of the coalition in an e-mail. “The community has suffered for decades and now requires a ‘clean up strategy with teeth’ to bring PSC into compliance.” 

To Paul’s knowledge, this is the first time residents have trotted out a small claims threat against the company, he said. He anticipates that as many as 150 residents will join the suit, should Pacific Steel fail to heed the coalition’s demands.