The Beacon - Issue 20 - March 21, 2013

Page 1

The Vol. 114, Issue 20

BEACON

Trouble in the Air? THE UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

News

2

University cuts Peer Health Educators program

Living

6

Thursday March 21, 2013 www.upbeacon.net

Neighbors cry foul on odors from Daimler Truck North America plant

How students make the paleo diet and being a vegan work in college

Sports

14

Plans for new baseball stadium get the axe

Opinions

13

Why students should weigh in on the community listening sessions on inclusion

Special

8-9

ASUP elections are next week! Do you know who you are voting for?

Online Dragon Boat club is coming to UP. Check out photos online!

Weather Thursday

50/38 Friday

48/36 Saturday

54/34 Sunday

55/38

Stephanie Matusiefsky | THE BEACON

Philosophy professor Alejandro Santana often smells paint fumes as he rides his bike to campus. There are several industries on Swan Island that emit pollutants into the air and require permits from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to operate. Laura Frazier News Editor frazier13@up.edu Linda Nakashima complains of a paint smell in the air “so strong you can taste it” near her home on Amherst St. and Wellesley Ave. Worried about the health of her family, Nakashima, her eyes welling with tears, said the fumes from Daimler Trucks North America, a Swan Island industrial site under fire for pushing pollutants into the North Portland air, dictate if they can go outside. “The smell from Daimler determines what we can do that day,” she said. “I’m afraid something terrible will happen to my son for breathing this air.” Neighbor Stacey Schroeder, who lives a quarter-mile from Daimler, said she smells paint most days. “I have a four-year-old who now on his own can tell me, ‘Mom, I smell paint today,’” she said. “I find myself holding my breath as I leave my house.” Philosophy professor Alejandro Santana lives two miles from campus and rides his bike to work. During his ride, he picks up on the Daimler smell, which hangs in the air along Willamette Blvd. east of the main entry to campus and the east side quad. “I’m trying to get a little exercise in, and then I get this whiff of paint,” he said. “It can’t be good to be smelling this stuff.” Nakashima, Schroeder and Santanta were three of about 100 people at a public hearing on campus March 7 hosted by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Neighbors and members of the UP

community gathered in Buckley Center to ask questions and share personal testimonies. Although several Swan Island facilities emit pollutants, the focus has turned to the Daimler Trucks North America Western Star plant on Fathom Ave., where workers paint large trucks, emitting toxic, smelly paint fumes into the air. Daimler, which has 800 employees at the Western Star facility and has been manufacturing trucks there for 43 years, is going through the renewal process for its five-year permit from DEQ. Neighbors complain about the facility emissions causing headaches and migraines, asthma attacks, nausea and red eyes, and they have had enough of the smell. They’re fighting for DEQ to hold Daimler accountable for causing a nuisance odor, but DEQ officials said the agency does not have criteria to regulate the smell. Neighbors are worried about Daimler’s toxic emission levels, but since the DEQ cannot change the emission regulations in the permit process, neighbors are now pushing the agency to regulate the odors. According to DEQ permit writer Dave Kauth, DEQ cannot change the rules on Daimler’s emission levels because rule-making on emission levels is a separate public process unrelated to permit writing. “We can only put in the permit what is set in the rules,” Kauth said. “If something is shown that the levels are set higher than what we allow by rules, we’ll make a change.” Kauth said Daimler is within its permit regulations. For example, Daimler’s permit allows for the emission of 470 tons per year of volatile organic compounds. In

2012, its facility emitted 187 tons. However, according to Kauth, Daimler’s baseline emission levels, the amount of pollutants it is allowed to emit according to the permit, were set in 1977-78. Kauth said if Daimler were to go into business today, it’s possible it would be subject to more stringent emission restrictions, but not necessarily. “It’s very likely that their actual emissions would be the same,” he said. “Total allowed might be less, might be not.”

Regulating a “nuisance”

At the hearing, DEQ took questions from the crowd for about an hour. Neighbors shared concerns about how DEQ monitors Daimler’s emissions and why the smell is not regulated. Kauth said Daimler monitors

its production and emissions, and DEQ inspects the facility and reviews the annual and semiannual reports to ensure it is within permit regulations. According to a statement from Western Star Plant Manager Paul Erdy, Daimler has significantly reduced air pollutant emissions. Over 400 samples have been gathered at the Western Star facility, and a toxicologist helped evalute the data to address health concerns. “The coatings used at the Western Star Manufacturing facility that have been identified in our sampling are well below established health benchmarks,” he said. See Air, page 3

Stephanie Matusiefsky | THE BEACON

At the hearing, Linda Nakashima spoke about smelling paint fumes near her home. She said DEQ has never responded to her odor complaints.


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