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Ohio EPA to hold SunCoke hearing

Agencies will accept  community’s input  on the placement  of air pollution monitors in the city.

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 9:54 AM Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The public will be able to hear about and discuss possible locations of air pollution monitors required for the new $340-million SunCoke Energy coke plant to be built in Middletown.

The Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will hold the meeting at 6:30 p.m. June 25 in the Middletown City Council Chambers of the Middletown City Building, One Donham Plaza.

As part of the air pollution permit’s conditions, SunCoke must pay for two monitors to determine ambient air quality around the plant. The monitors will track particulate emissions, toxins and hazardous air pollution from the facility, which will provide coke and energy for AK Steel Corp.’s Middletown Works steelmaking operations, according to the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services.

The monitors must be operational by the start-up date of the facility, said Heather Lauer, spokeswoman for the Environmental Protection Agency.

The agencies will accept community input on the placement of the monitors, she said.

“We will discuss prevailing winds and direction and take what the community says into consideration,” she said. “There is a lot of interest in putting a monitor near Amanda School, but the prevailing winds don’t necessarily say to put it there.”

While SunCoke is currently in pursuit of a new New Source Review permit for the facility, Lauer said the same monitors would likely be required regardless of which permit the company uses.

The NSR permit, submitted to the EPA in April, is a more stringent permit which would require the company to show its emissions will not hinder the improvement of air quality in the Butler County, which does not meet federal standards. The county meets federal air quality standards for large particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, but not for fine particulate matter and ozone, according to the Ohio EPA.

More information about SunCoke’s permits and applications for permits is available on the Web at www.epa.state.oh.us/pic/middletowncoke.html.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.

Will you be attending the meeting? What do you think is the most logical solution to the ongoing problems between SunCoke and the community? Comment on this story at MiddletownJournal.com

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