IDEM denies public hearing on Exide permit

MUNCIE, Ind. —  There are some people in Muncie who don't trust Exide Technologies or the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) to protect them from toxic lead pollution.

That is even more the case since the state agency recently renewed, without a public hearing, Exide's permit to operate its secondary lead smelter in Muncie for another five years.

"If people want to trust Exide and IDEM, then I guess they're sleeping well at night, but I haven't been," said Deborah Malitz, a violinist who lives with her husband, an urban planning professor, in the East Central historic district.

That's several miles from the plant that melts down/recycles lead from spent automotive batteries and other lead-bearing materials.

Malitz became concerned in part because she has a sister in Frisco, Texas, where Exide agreed six years ago to shut down a secondary lead smelter. Citizens there organized groups called Frisco Unleaded and Get the Lead Out of Frisco.

That isn't the only Exide battery recycling facility to have closed this century. Other locations include Reading, Pa., and Vernon, Calif., which Exide shut down to avoid federal criminal prosecution.

More than $192 million, mostly in public funds, has been earmarked for toxic waste cleanup in Vernon, southeast of Los Angeles.

Exide, which declined comment for this article, is down to two secondary lead smelters in the United States, according to its website. The other one is in sparsely populated Holt County, Mo., population 4,912.

It's called a secondary lead smelter because secondary lead is recovered from spent batteries and other lead-bearing scrap. Primary lead is mined. 

"We're not trying to shut the plant down, but there is something to be said for doing business in a responsible way," said Malitz.  "If we were in California … it wouldn't be playing out this way. IDEM is not as on top of these things as people might assume. We're kind of in a fantasy land almost."

In denying local residents' requests to hold a public hearing on the permit renewal, IDEM said: "Although other Exide-owned facilities in other locations within the United States may have had issues in the past, IDEM does not have the authority to regulate corporate character and does not have the authority to issue or deny a permit based on past violations at this or other Exide plants."

The Exide plants in Reading and Vernon had operated since the 1920s, much longer than the Muncie plant and pre-dating the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts in 1970 and 1972. 

IDEM records indicate the blast furnace at the Muncie Exide plant was built in 1973. The majority of the plant's operations today were either constructed or modified in 1989 as part of an expansion/modernization project.

"IDEM … certainly acknowledges that Exide has had numerous air permit violations …" the agency told Muncie residents. "Exide's renewal permit contains all the federal and state requirements that Exide must comply with, for all applicable health-based and technology-based standards."

The renewal permit requires the addition of HEPA air filters to the plant's existing emission controls and additional air emission testing after the filters are installed.

Muncie residents have expressed concerns to IDEM about soil and groundwater contamination as well.

The agency says it is aware of increased concentrations of lead at only one of Exide's many groundwater sampling wells. The source of the lead has not been determined. IDEM has instructed Exide to investigate. The affected well is shallow, and there are no indications lead from the well is leaching into the aquifer, according to IDEM.

Local pediatrician Robert Byrn and the local health department informed IDEM last year that several Exide employees had tracked lead home on their work clothes/shoes, poisoning children.

Retiree Rick Fines, a Muncie resident who has not been involved in the local concerned citizens group, worked for Exide and Johnson Controls in the 1960s-80s in engineering positions.

"Other kinds of pollution you can see, it's obvious," he said. "An oil spill, you know you've got an oil spill. Lead is so insidious that it goes into very fine particulates dispersed by the wind. When it lands somewhere, it looks like dust. You could have it all over your yard and not know it. You could have it on your driveway … and not think anything about it. It's also insidious because it creeps up on you. It doesn't make you sick. You don't want to throw up. In fact, it has a pleasant taste."

But even low levels of lead in the blood of children can result in behavior and learning problems, lower IQ and hyperactivity, slowed growth, hearing problems, anemia and other effects.

In response to the concerns raised by Muncie residents who wanted a public hearing, IDEM also said:

•  To protect human health, the Environmental Protection Agency sets National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six "criteria pollutants" found all over the U.S. — carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, ground-level ozone, particulate matter, sulfur oxides and lead.

IDEM has four calendar years of complete, quality-assured and certified monitoring data, from 2013 to 2016, that shows Muncie attained the air quality standard for lead. The last time a violation of the standard occurred was in 2012. 

IDEM also has actual emissions data from Exide in Muncie for 2007, 2010 and 2013 (2016 data are not yet available). The company reported emitting into the air 0.808 tons of lead in 2007, 0.8173 tons in 2010, and 0.6268 tons in 2013 (compared to 2.2 tons of fine particles, 2.29 tons of volatile organic compounds, 46.3 tons of nitrogen oxides, 18.2 tons of sulfur dioxides and 0.0304 tons of carbon monoxide in 2013). Those emissions were much lower than the allowable emissions under the plant's air permit.

On July 31 of last year, EPA approved IDEM's request to re-designate the Muncie area from "non-attainment" to "attainment" for the air quality standard for lead. However, EPA withdrew that ruling after receiving an "adverse comment," which it has not yet addressed.

The "adverse comment" was submitted by Robert Ukeiley, an environmental attorney from Boulder, Colo. His comments included:

• "Was the Exide plant even operating at full capacity during all of the quarters except last quarter 2015? If so, was the plant voluntarily operating in a manner to keep the ambient values low? By voluntarily, I mean operating in a manner not required by NESHAP (National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants)."

• " … the fact that the First Max and Second Max on Monitor 3 was above the level of the NAAQS indicates that rather than the NESHAP causing attainment of the NAAQS, Indiana Department of Environmental Management just got lucky due to some random factor like meteorology or the plant is operating in a manner to make voluntary reductions to (avoid) violating the NAAQS." 

• "EPA should also review all communications between IDEM and Exide to ensure that they are not working together to use voluntary measures to avoid the monitors detecting NAAQS exceedances."

Ukeiley told The Star Press he submitted the comments because "I don't think children should be poisoned by lead."

"IDEM has not responded specifically to Mr. Ukeiley’s comments," agency spokesman Barry Sneed said. "IDEM provided EPA a response to questions regarding re-designation of Delaware County’s air quality attainment. EPA was satisfied with IDEM’s responses and has re-drafted the designation, which is awaiting final approval."

Malitz said the concerned citizens group is asking for two things:

• Require Exide to use Wet Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP) technology as a control device for lead like Exide competitor Quemetco did at its battery recycling facility in Indianapolis.

• Require installation of additional air monitoring devices at the Muncie plant with additional impartial inspections, monitoring and reporting of Exide emissions at a two-mile radius.

"We are very concerned about the kind of testing being done," Malitz said. "The testing being done is mainly by Exide self-reporting every three years. I don't know if it's accurate or not. We need to have some confidence. Any amount of lead or arsenic in our environment is not acceptable."

In 2015, Exide agreed to pay $820,000 in civil penalties and spend $4 million on new pollution control equipment in Muncie to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the company of violating the Clean Air Act.

The consent decree didn't require Exide to retrofit the plant with the best available control technology (WESP). EPA cited the "high cost and limited incremental benefits" of WESP.

►Exide rejects $31 million of pollution control equipment

►Exide fined $820,000 for pollution

►Mayor joined Exide battery dispute

IDEM said no additional public comments would change its decision to renew the permit, which calls for a decrease in actual emissions.

The renewal of the permit is the state's authority. All renewals are required by law to undergo a 30-day public comment period and a 45-day EPA review period. In this case, IDEM ran the 30-day public comment period and the 45-day EPA review period concurrently. EPA did review the permit.

All of the public's comments and concerns were addressed by IDEM, spokesman  Sneed said.

Malitz feels concerned citizens aren't receiving "the respect we deserve" from Exide or IDEM. "I haven't lost my respect just because I live in Muncie. We need a feeling of confidence that the air we are breathing is acceptable."

The concerned citizens might hold a public meeting without IDEM. "It would be a way for people to get up to the microphone and tell their stories," Malitz said. "This is something everybody in Muncie needs to hear."

Seth Slabaugh can be reached at (765) 213-5834 or seths@muncie.gannett.com.