Three groups sue to block a Gresham facility that would emit a greenhouse gas
Thursday, November 25, 2004
CATHERINE TREVISON
GRESHAM -- Three environmental groups are suing Owens Corning to stop construction of the company's new insulation plant, which will emit a potent greenhouse gas that also depletes the Earth's ozone layer.
Owens Corning is applying for a permit to emit 283 tons of HCFC-142b, a halogenated chlorofluorocarbon, every year -- an amount of pollution similar to putting 100,000 cars on the road.
Workers have started framing the plant at 18456 N.E. Wilkes Road, near Interstate 84. Until it receives a permit, the company is building at its own risk and cannot install emission-control equipment, an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality official said at a public hearing Nov. 9.
The three groups -- the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, the Sierra Club and the Oregon Center for Environmental Health -- have asked a judge to stop construction, according to the complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.
The groups say that under the federal Clean Air Act enforced by the DEQ, Owens Corning should have obtained a pre-construction permit. To get the permit, the company must demonstrate that it is using the best available technology to control pollution, and the public must have a chance to comment, said Mark Riskedahl, executive director of the Northwest Environmental Defense Center.
"This pre-construction permit has to be worked through before this ground is broken, and not only is it broken, but four walls and a roof are on this property," Riskedahl said. "They're not giving it the due process it requires. They're acting like it's a foregone conclusion that it (the permit) will be issued."
A company spokesman said he couldn't comment on the complaint until he had seen it.
"What I can say is all our facilities are in compliance with all government regulations that apply to them," said Jim Worden, Owens Corning spokesman.
The company believes its products ultimately benefit the environment, Worden said. Because insulation conserves energy, each pound of carbon dioxide that is produced for the company's pink fiberglass insulation saves 12 pounds of carbon dioxide at power plants for every year that the product is used, Worden said.
Worden is working on a similar calculation for the kind of insulation that the company would make in Gresham, called polystyrene foam insulation board. Insulation manufacturers adopted HCFC-142b and similar ingredients in recent years because they are less harmful to the environment than ingredients used in the past, Worden said.
While HCFC-142b is not considered directly toxic to humans, the environmental groups are worried about damage from greenhouse gases associated with global warming and depleted ozone linked to a variety of health problems.
Federal environmental regulations will phase out HCFC-142b in 2010 unless a company has stockpiled a large supply, but Owens Corning plans to find an alternative before then, company officials said.
Only a few people attended the DEQ's Nov. 9 public hearing. Riskedahl thinks that could be because the DEQ mistakenly described HCFC-142b as a "weak" greenhouse gas with a pollution effect similar to that of about 100 cars.
At Riskedahl's request, the DEQ has extended the public comment period until mid-January, and the agency expects to schedule another public hearing in early January.
Catherine Trevison: 503-294-5971; ctrevison@news.oregonian.com