CC 12-15-20 Oral Communications_Written CommunicationsCC 12-15-20
Oral
Communications
Written Comments
1
Cyrah Caburian
From:Fryhouse <fryhouse@earthlink.net>
Sent:Tuesday, December 15, 2020 1:03 AM
To:City Council; City Clerk
Subject:Oral Communications non Agenda 12/14/2020
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Dear City Council,
You have likely seen a glowing press‐release pertaining to reducing air‐pollution limits at the Lehigh Cement plant.
Please notice that the press‐release fails to mention actual pollution reduction. In fact, Lehigh's Consent Decree to
resolve a 2010 Notice of Violation pertaining to pollution from the 1990s does little to reduce actual sulfur and nitrogen
pollution. According to commentary by the National Parks Conservation Association, this EPA consent decree was by far
less restrictive to Lehigh's cement plants than consent decrees with other cement companies.
While the allowable rates for sulfur and nitrogen pollution have been reduced, the actual rates have not. The Cupertino
cement plant accounts for nearly 13% of California's industrial sulfur pollution and is our State's number 2 sulfur
polluter, just behind a refinery that is due to close in 2023. BAAQMD will be allowing the Cupertino Cement Plant to
pollute over 5x more sulfur than other Lehigh cement plants (up to 2.1 lbs per ton of product vs 0.4 lbs per ton of
product). In 2016, Lehigh's actual sulfur pollution was approximately 2.1 pounds of sulfur per ton of product, which is
the new upper limit! Similarly, Lehigh Cupertino is one of our State's top Nitrogen polluters. The consent decree will do
little to reduce actual nitrogen pollution and BAAQMD allows more nitrogen pollution from Lehigh Cupertino than other
Lehigh cement plants nationwide (up to 2.0 lbs per ton of product vs 1.5 lbs per ton of product).
Lehigh Cupertino is a major California polluter. According to the California Air Resources Board, Lehigh ranks #2 for
Sulfur Oxides, #3 for Hydrochloric Acid, #6 for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), #7 for Nitrogen Oxides, and #12 for
Hexavalent Chromium. Sadly, this EPA Consent Decree, brokered by BAAQMD, is not a victory for Bay Area Residents.
BAAQMD must do better to protect human health.