Monitoring and testing of emissions at Geneva Steel is done in accordance with state requirements, but a plant official thinks charges that the process is biased are unfair.
Two types of air quality testing are done at the plant - opacity and mass emission. Opacity tests are done randomly by state Bureau of Air Quality personnel as well as by a private contractor hired by Geneva. The contractor also performs mass-emission testing at the plant on behalf of the company and the state; a test auditor from the bureau is present during such tests."A lot of people think that because we hire the contractor the test is biased," said Jim Starley, environmental engineer at Geneva. The truth is that all industries in Utah are required to bear the cost of emission testing.
Jeff Dean, manager of compliance for the bureau, said contractors come from all over the country to perform emission testing for Utah industries.
"The contractors have nothing to gain by biasing tests," Dean said. "I have personally worked with one of the contractors (that tests Geneva), and that person's reputation is beyond reproach. With a test auditor present there is no way a contractor can bias the test in favor of the company or in favor of the state."
Testing procedures at Geneva Steel are specified in a "consent decree" negotiated by USX and the state in 1980-81. The decree requires coke stacks at the plant to be tested yearly, while other plant stacks are tested once every five years. One test is scheduled for today on coke stack No. 4.
Sixty days before a test, Geneva submits a protocol of its current operating and production procedures as well as what its operation will be during the test. The protocol also describes how the upcoming test will be performed by its contractor. The protocol is reviewed and modified if necessary by the bureau, Dean said.
The test protocol varies depending on the area of the plant tested. For example, the coke stack test is performed over a six-hour period, during which a sample probe is placed three times in the stack for two-hour readings. The emission rate from the three test runs is averaged and provides the value for that test.
Opacity readings are performed "using a calibrated eyeball," Starley said. The inspector stands a certain distance from the stack being monitored, perpendicular to the emission plume with the sunlight behind him or her. Readings range from zero, in which no emission is visible from the stack, to 100 percent, in which no sunlight is transmitted through the smoke, Dean said. Opacity readings are often taken outside the plant, and are measured in 5 percent increments. The allowable opacity ratings at Geneva range from 10 percent to 20 percent.
If an emission or opacity reading exceeds allowable levels, the inspector will recommend the bureau send Geneva a "notice of violation" describing the incident and asking the plant to explain the cause of the violation and what steps it will take to prevent it in the future. Penalties may be assessed depending on the size of the violation, the number of previous violations and the plant's location, and can invoke fines as high as $10,000 per day.
Geneva is considered an A-1 source - emitting more than 100 tons of pollutants yearly. Penalties assessed against Geneva also may be more severe because the plant is located in a PM10, or small particulates, problem area.
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Largest fines
The fact that Geneva pays for its own pollution tests hasn't prevented the state from assessing penalties against the mill: In 1988 Geneva was the single biggest penalty payer in Utah - $90,000 for four violations; the fines ranged from $2,000 to $41,000. A total of $311,000 was assessed against Utah industries last year.