04/28/2001

Air time

Toxic fumes from RV factories draw increasing scrutiny

By Christian Wihtol
The Register-Guard

RECREATIONAL VEHICLE factories have become some of the biggest toxic air polluters in Lane County.

The boxy, warehouse-style plants don't fit the traditional image of
industrial polluter.

Yet, the county's RV industry has grown to the point where it vents into the air close to 250 tons a year of invisible toxic fumes from painting, fiberglass manufacturing and wood lacquering. These emissions are mostly toluene, styrene and xylenes - all declared hazardous air pollutants by Congress in 1990.

Homeowners in a Coburg subdivision next to Monaco Coach Corp.'s RV paint
spraying booths earlier this year sued the company in U.S. District Court
alleging that the 130 tons a year of chemical fumes vented by the plant
are a nuisance that stinks up their neighborhood. When the spray booths
are running, fumes waft around the homes with a tell-tale odor akin to freshly applied
nail polish.

The 25 neighbors are seeking $33 million.

One of the plaintiffs, Brian Pech, said he brings his children, ages 4 to
16, indoors when the fumes hit the subdivision. Pech and other parents
worry the chemicals may harm their kids. "It's the great unknown," Pech said.

"What are we sending them out into?"

Barbara Pettit, who lives three blocks south of the plant and is not
involved in the lawsuit, said the fumes give her "extreme headaches" that
last for hours. They also irritate her throat and send her into coughing fits, she said.

"People can't sit on their front porch anymore," added Pettit, who has
lived in the same house for 19 years. "You sure can't go out in the back
yard and have a barbecue."

Monaco is fighting the suit and says it is breaking no laws. The company
also says it is seeking ways to cut fumes from the spray booths, which it started up in
1999 as part of an expansion.

But the Coburg plant isn't the only RV factory emitting big volumes of
toxic fumes. Monaco's Springfield fiberglass plant emits about 35 tons a
year of hazardous fumes, mainly styrene. Monaco says it wants to increase that to
60 tons a year. The company opened the plant just four years ago.

Fast-growing Country Coach in Junction City, meanwhile, emits about 66
tons a year of hazardous chemical fumes.

In the absence of significant government restrictions, the RV companies
have been largely free to increase toxic air emissions as their coach
production has grown during the past decade. And the local industry has ballooned. It's
gone from a few hundred employees producing a few hundred coaches a year,
to 4,000 workers turning out thousands of RVs. Lane County is now one of the
nation's RV manufacturing hubs.

Yet, there's much uncertainty about whether the vented chemicals are safe
for neighbors. No legally enforceable government limits exist for these
fumes in residential areas.

Monaco argues that the fumes from its Coburg factory are so diluted that
they pose no danger.

But others are leery.

At the Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority, which enforces federal and
state air pollution laws locally, regulators are alarmed by the growing
emissions, particularly from Monaco's Coburg plant, which is so close to homes.

"We simply don't know what the effects are on susceptible groups -
children, the elderly, people with respiratory problems," said Brian
Jennison, LRAPA's director.

Yet, the agency, citing an absence of tough federal rules, says it is
largely powerless to clamp down on the fumes.

Jennison said he'd like Monaco and Country Coach to install incinerators
to burn up the fumes, essentially eliminating them.

But both companies say the equipment is too expansive and is unwarranted.
The financial stakes for the companies are huge. Monaco says it would
cost $7 million or more to install a fume collection and burning system at its
Coburg factory.

State and federal laws do not require the devices.

LRAPA could create its own rules, Jennison said. But he said that would
draw fire from pro-development politicians and from RV companies and their
employees. "There is not a climate right now (in Lane County) which is
supportive of proposing broad, sweeping regulatory restrictions,"
Jennison said.

RV industry opposition

The substances the plants are emitting are among 189 chemicals that
Congress in its 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act declared hazardous.
The amendments
directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to force industry to
cut emissions of these pollutants.

But, hampered by lack of funding and criticism from industry, the EPA 10
years later has still not adopted rules that would limit toxic airborne
fumes from paint booths at RV factories and other similar businesses nationwide.

Late last year, however, the agency did issue tentative rules that
alarmed the RV industry because they might require many RV plants to add
fume incinerators.

Those rules "could force manufacturers into collection (and incineration)
equipment, and that could cause the industry a lot of problems," said
Bruce Hopkins, a vice president at the Virginia-based Recreational Vehicle Industry
Association. "It's that kind of thing that we're trying to steer clear
of."

With Monaco in the vanguard, the industry is pushing for special
regulations to exempt RV plants from burners.

The way the 1990 law was written, some industries can escape installing
fume burners, while others can't. The double standard has little to do
with the hazard level of the fumes. Rather, it has to do with each industry's traditional
practices. Industries that have a history of pollution control are held
to a higher standard than industries that historically have not curbed their fumes.

For example, under rules the EPA has drafted for the plywood and
composite wood products industry, burners would be mandatory at mills
nationwide - including many in Oregon and Lane County - to incinerate toxic air
emissions such as formaldehyde and methanol.

The industry would have to spend more than $100 million a year to comply,
said Mary Ann Kissell, an environmental specialist with the EPA who is
preparing the rules.

But Monaco and the RVIA are arguing that because RV factories nationwide
have never used incinerators, they should not be required to do so now.

"I know of no end-of-pipe controls (incinerators) being used by any
recreational vehicle manufacturer," Kurt Anderson, Monaco's environmental
manager, wrote to the EPA this month.

The struggle between Monaco and its neighbors, and the lobbying at the
EPA, are part of the nation's long war over air pollution.

For decades, health and environmental advocates have urged Congress to
cut air pollution. In 1970, Congress told the EPA to limit emissions of
individual air toxics. But because industry emits complex brews of many chemicals, and
because the health effects of many chemicals are unclear, the EPA became
mired in disputes with businesses. In a decade, the EPA set limits on only a
handful of compounds.

In the 1980s, advocates renewed their push. That bore fruit with the 1990
Clean Air Act amendments. Passed by a Democratic Congress and signed by
President Ronald Reagan, the law took a novel approach. It directed the EPA to
survey all industries for hazardous air emissions. Then, the EPA was to
delineate groups of similar businesses that emit similar toxics and write customized rules
for each group. The law directs the EPA to figure out what the best
emissions controls are in each industry group - the controls used by the cleanest 12 percent of companies - and set that as the standard for the rest of the group to
follow.

If the EPA wants tougher standards than those in the top 12 percent, it
must evaluate the financial burden to industry.

The law directed the EPA to tackle the most dangerous pollution first.
So, the agency looked at, for example, emissions from coke ovens at
metals factories and fumes from pesticide factories.

All this has taken much longer than the EPA expected.

RV plants and the hundreds of other types of businesses that do painting
or fiberglass work were pushed to the back of the line.

Patricio Silva, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an
environmental group, says lack of money and staff has hamstrung the EPA.
"Hostile members of Congress have tried to starve the agency of adequate funds to
complete these obligations," he said.

David Paul, an attorney representing the Coburg residents against Monaco,
said he's not impressed with EPA's efforts.

"We've been waiting for 20 years to see adequate federal regulation of
hazardous air pollution, and I don't think it's happened yet," he said.
"There are improvements being made, but they're woefully inadequate in terms of
where we need to be."

The EPA admits it has fallen behind.

Just how quickly the agency continues to move on air toxics and what
kinds of rules it formally proposes will tell much about the environmental priorities of President George W. Bush.

EPA spokesman Dave Ryan said that if states or local agencies are
unhappy, they can create their own rules. "The states can set tougher
standards than the feds. They're always free to do that," he said.

Industry-friendly rules

So far, it looks like the Clean Air Act rules will be kind to the RV
industry. The industry's fiberglass-making factories - including the Monaco factory
in Springfield - would be largely exempt from having to install burners
to eliminate fumes, under recently proposed EPA rules.

The agency in a survey found that virtually no fiberglass makers
nationwide used burners to incinerate fumes and instead just vented them
into the air. So, the EPA proposed rules that would require fume incinerators at only a handful of the very largest of the 433 fiberglass factories the EPA surveyed. Any
fiberglass factory emitting less than 100 tons a year of toxic fumes would be exempt
from incinerator requirements. Those plants would instead have to use specified types of coating equipment, and coating compounds with set percentages of styrene and other toxics.

The RV industry admits to being caught flat-footed by rules the EPA
suggested late last year for factories where paint spraying is done.

Hopkins, the RV industry official, said his trade group didn't know the
EPA was working on the rules until Monaco manager Anderson sounded the
alarm.

In its quest for special rules for RV factories, the industry argues the
EPA's survey of companies that do paint-booth spraying neglected to
include the RV
industry.

The EPA admits it largely overlooked RV factories and is now mulling the
industry's request. The agency expects to formally propose rules later
this year.

LRAPA officials say they fear that the EPA won't require burners for RV
paint-booth fumes. In the case of RV factories, the 1990 Clean Air Act
amendments will probably end up creating air emissions standards that "are not
terribly difficult for the industry to meet," LRAPA director Jennison said.

At plywood mills, it's a different story. In its survey of that industry,
the EPA found that 20 percent or more of those mills nationwide already
have fume burners. So, the agency is now proposing that all the mills that emit
more than minimal amounts of hazardous fumes must have burners.

"It's not a level playing field by any means," said Corey Unfried,
environmental manager for Willamette Industries Inc., which is spending
$28 million to install burners at 13 mills nationwide, including two in Lane County.

Big savings

Monaco estimates it would cost $7.1 million for a fume incineration
system at its main Coburg paint shop, plus $250,000 a year for energy
costs and the like. The capital cost at the Springfield plant would be at least $1.6 million,
plus $120,000 or more in annual expenses, Monaco says.

Country Coach estimates it would cost $8.2 million to buy burners for the
painting, fiberglass and other operations at its Junction City complex, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars more to install and run.

Neighbors of the Coburg plant argue that Monaco and its CEO, Kay Toolson,
have the money to do the work. Monaco is one of the most financially successful RV companies in the nation. Last year, it racked up a profit of $43 million on sales of $900 million. It paid Toolson $1.4 million in salary and bonus.

"Companies make choices. We need to look at what financial choices Monaco
has made," said Paul, the residents' attorney.

Monaco responds that burners are not warranted and that Toolson is paid
"based on competitive market forces and our company's performance."

Business reporter Joe Harwood contributed to this story. Business Editor
Christian Wihtol can be reached at 338-2381 or e-mail
cwihtol@guardnet.com.

FUME FACTS

WHAT ABOUT THE RV FACTORY WORKERS?

Federal occupational rules seek to ensure the safety of paint-spray booth
workers by requiring big volumes of fresh air to be flushed through the
booths during spraying.

In the large paint-spray booths at Monaco Coach Corp.'s Coburg factory,
the air velocity is so brisk that workers are not required to wear
respirators, company spokesman Mike Duncan said. In several small painting rooms, workers use face masks hooked to a fresh air supply, he said.

The fumes from all booths are vented to the outside air.

SOME OTHER AREA FACTORIES THAT EMIT TOXIC FUMES:

Weyerhaeuser Co. Springfield linerboard mill: Lane County's biggest
industrial source of hazardous air emissions. Annual emissions: up to
1,310 tons of methanol (a form of wood alcohol), 248 tons of acetaldehyde (a solvent),
16 tons of formaldehyde. Factory's sophisticated control systems were
used as a guide
to help set new federal air pollution rules for linerboard mills.

Sierra Pine particleboard plant, Springfield: In volume, this appears to
be the No. 2 industrial source.

Annual emissions: Up to 66 tons of formaldehyde, 138 tons of methanol, 14
tons of acetaldehyde.

Under proposed federal rules, factory would have to install burners to
eliminate most of these fumes.

Many other wood mills, including Trus Joist laminated veneer mills in
Junction City and Eugene, and Willamette Industries Inc. plywood mill in
Springfield and
fiberboard mill in Eugene, have installed incinerators and substantially
cut toxics emissions.

Forrest Paint, west Eugene: Annual toxics emissions: Historically about
40 tons a year, mainly toluene and xylenes. Company has installed
bio-filter to cut that to 10 tons a year.

Lanz Cabinets, west Eugene. About 17 tons a year of toluene, xylenes,
methyl ethyl ketone from staining and varnishing.

- Lane Regional Air Pollution Authority; individual companies

FACTORY FOCUS

Today: In the absence of government restrictions, RV factories have
become some of the biggest toxic air polluters in Lane County.

Sunday: Living next to the Monaco Coach Corp. factory in Coburg is no
breeze.


Christian Wihtol
Business Editor
The Register-Guard
541-338-2381