Air Monitoring Must Continue

Without a definitive cause for what has sickened manufacturing workers and caused offensive odors in a nearby neighborhood, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality issued a new air permit last week for a company outside Abingdon that recycles alcohol-based products into fuel.
The permit for MXI incorporates concerns expressed at a public hearing held in September at Abingdon High School. The permit requires MXI to install new emissions equipment and bars the company from using any material to mask odors without prior approval. MXI will be allowed to emit 65 tons of volatile organic compounds each year – material that vaporizes and often has an odor similar to methane or formaldehyde.
We support stringent air controls for MXI because of the type of work performed at the plant and because of previous complaints from workers at a neighboring business, Hapco. Workers there have complained of headaches, nausea and nosebleeds, and speakers at the public hearing said exposure to a chemical used at MXI is capable of causing those symptoms.
But it’s not clear that the illnesses were caused by emissions from MXI, nor from neighboring Hapco, which makes aluminum products such as flag poles and light poles. Both industries are located at Exit 22 off Interstate 81.
Hapco employees have called DEQ and alleged that the emissions are coming from MXI’s cooling tower. MXI has produced operations records showing that even when its new water-recycling process is not running, Hapco employees have called DEQ to complain.
DEQ’s testing over several months failed to produce a definitive answer.
We support the right of both businesses to operate. We also support the tighter emission controls to protect workers at both plants and the nearby residents who have complained of bad odors. The new provision that bars MXI from using any material to mask odors from the plant without prior approval also is a solid one.
Yet in the absence of a clear reason for the earlier sickness among Hapco workers, DEQ must continue to monitor both sites for the safety of employees at both plants, nearby residents and interstate passers-by. We all deserve an answer about what caused the nausea, headaches and nosebleeds. We also deserve a way to guarantee it won’t happen again.