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Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Linda Maio had planned a very civil two-hour evening, focusing on Pacific Steel Castings whose “burnt potholder” smell and possibly dangerous emissions have been a community concern for more than two decades. 

It was not to be. 

The agenda called for long presentations by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District staff monitoring the plant’s progress, Pacific Steel management working to decrease the emissions and representatives of two community organizations, monitoring the Second Street plant and BAAQMD. 

There would be about a half-hour left over for audience questions, posed via three-by-five cards. 

The community would have none of it. Bates scarcely had time to greet the 75-or-so attendees at the West Berkeley Senior Center Wednesday evening when David Landon jumped to his feet and interrupted the mayor: “This agenda does not work for the community,” he said, arguing that the public had come to speak to the elected officials and pose questions to BAAQMD and PSC, not to hear lectures from them.  

Half the audience members jumped to their feet to support Landon, calling out: “Respect us.” “Change the agenda.” “No question cards.” “We won’t sit down for a dog-and-pony show.” “If it’s going to be a lecture, do it by cable TV.” 

Bates retorted, “If you don’t like it you can leave,” but Maio took the mic and managed to pull the meeting together and the BAAQMD speakers promised to speak no more than five minutes each and the idea of question cards was tossed to the winds. 

At issue are the emissions that continue to come from the Second Street foundry, despite new filtration systems and the illnesses the emissions might cause. 

“All three plants have pollution abatement equipment,” said Kelly Wee, BAAQMD director of enforcement, keeping his remarks short. “We need to look at fugitive emissions,” emissions not passing through the filters. 

Brian Bateman, BAAQMD’s director of engineering division, said BAAQMD was waiting for an emissions report that was six months late. “I hope we have a revised report we can approve. Once we get the emission report, it feeds into the health assessment,” he said. “If [the report] is deficient, we’ll send it back.” 

The need for transparency of the data on emissions was raised a number of times by the community. In PSC’s Nov. 2006 emissions report: “they redacted flow diagrams and other pertinent information necessary for fully informed community comments, claiming the redacted data were trade secrets, another ploy to drag their feet and refrain from full transparency,” said Janice Schroeder, speaking for the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs. 

The audience was decidedly restless and tired of hearing that they had to wait for information on emissions. “There’s a lot of methodology, but nothing about what we’re being exposed to,” one person said. 

Speaking in a phone interview Thursday, Maio agreed that a transparent emissions report is key. The Air District has asked for complete information to be made public and if the plant refuses, the district could sue to get the information, she said, noting that the district has to wait about one more month giving PSC the legally-required time to respond. 

Peter Guerrero, among others, expressed concern about what he called “perfumes” used to cover over the “burnt pot-handle smell,” characteristic of the plant. The central problem is not the smell itself, but the possibly-dangerous emissions that create the smell, people said. 

They also complained, as they have over the decades, that Air District inspectors were not responsive. They don’t work during the night hours when the plan is running full tilt, and they don’t come quickly enough to verify the complaints, people said. 

A number of people had gone by the plant night and day and observed that doors were ajar, allowing the escape of “fugitive” emissions.  

Schroeder called on the city to add stringent conditions to the plant’s use permit “to stop PSC’s cooling of castings outdoors, operating with doors open and blocking public streets and sidewalks with their operations.” 

In the phone interview, Maio told the Daily Planet she thinks updating PSC’s permit with conditions is one route to go. They have to be asked first formally to clean up their operations, before they are brought to the zoning board, she said. 

While there hadn’t been concrete answers to most the questions the community had asked, many were happy to have been able to ask them. “It could have gone on longer,” said Guerrero, who had been one of those demanding the agenda change at the beginning of the meeting. “It was a good meeting. Clearly there are ongoing concerns.”  

The next public meeting on PSC will be in April, after the Health Assessment Report is released.