West Berkeley residents and representatives of an embattled 73-year-old steel foundry will face off tonight before the Berkeley City Council over a proposal to pursue new action against emissions at the plant.
Residents say odors from Pacific Steel Casting have disturbed the surrounding neighborhood for three decades and want the city to approve the Community Environmental Advisory Commission’s recommendation to conduct a review of city code to identify provisions that the foundry may be violating.
However, City Manager Phil Kamlarz has recommended the city delay research of city code until the mid-April release of a Human Health Risk Assessment, which the Bay Area Air Quality Management District ordered the plant to complete in May 2006.
Company spokesperson Elisabeth Jewel said the company would not comment on the proposed city code review, but suggested the coming health assessment could prove important.
"That’s a very important document that will show whether the community is at risk from emissions from (Pacific Steel Casting)," she said.
But residents say action by the City Council is necessary because they believe the health assessment process is flawed.
"Industry can lowball the numbers so they come out below what is (prohibited)," said Janice Schroeder, a 28-year resident of West Berkeley and a member of the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs.
A review is necessary to determine whether city codes are being violated because of the complexity of the regulations, said Nabil Al-Hadithy, manager of the city’s Toxic Management Division.
Other recommendations of the proposal include approving $25,000 to test surfaces near the factory for heavy metal deposits, holding a public hearing about the plant, and demanding that the plant use "best management practices" to reduce the pollutants in its emissions.
Jewel said complaints to the Bay Area Quality Management District about the foundry have fallen since installation of a new carbon filtration system for one of the company’s three plants was
completed in October.
The air district received an average of 133 complaints per month about the company from July through September, while complaints averaged 40 per month for the final three months of the year, according to district spokesperson Karen Schkolnick.
The company has fought a number of legal and administrative challenges over the past few years, most recently settling a lawsuit by Communities for a Better Environment with an agreement to spend $350,000 to eliminate two tons of hazardous pollutants over three years.
Michael Kay covers city government. Contact him at mkay@dailycal.org. |
