Violation of an air emission license condition at a Whitefield gravel pit has been resolved. A consent agreement dated March 25 between Harry C. Cooker & Sons Inc., of Topsham, the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the state Attorney General’s Office requires payment of a $2500 penalty.
The company’s license is intended to regulate emissions from rock crushers it operates at the site. Crushers are in operation from early spring to late fall.
Kurt Tidd of the DEP’s Bureau of Air Quality said the issue involves the company’s failure to do Method 9 testing, as required by its license. DEP hires a company to run a visible emissions training. Employees of companies running crushers, paper mills, incinerators as well as state regulatory agencies get the training twice a year.
State mining coordinator Mark Stebbins said, “Every six months we have to get our eyes calibrated” to evaluate the opacity of emissions from such plants. The method relies on these trained individuals to evaluate, by visual inspection, the degree of dust or other particulate matter in the air.
On Dec. 17, 2008, according to the agreement, a DEP inspector issued a warning saying Crooker hadn’t completed the required performance test within 180 days of the start-up of the rock crushers.
On Jan. 9, 2009, the department issued a notice of violation.
During negotiations with Crooker, said Tidd, “We were told that it was an oversight.”
The negotiated settlement states that air quality licenses are intended to enable the DEP “to control the amount and type of pollutants that are emitted into the atmosphere within the state.” In addition to the penalty, the company is required to complete the Method 9 observation test within 30 days of the startup of the crushers.
Crooker renewed its 1999 five-year license on Nov. 20, 2003 and it has expired. Tidd said the company applied for renewal before the lapse date, “but the license hasn’t been issued yet.”