More Air Pollution for NE Portland?
Boeing PDX has announced that it plans to increase pollutants being emitted from its aircraft painting facility from 39 tons to 99 tons per year. The building is at 4635 NE Cornfoot Road.
It is expected that Boeing will claim that the levels of hazardous air pollutants will be “below levels of concern” and therefore they should:
1) be allowed to increase their emissions
2) not be required to install top-of-the-line emission control devices at the facility
The Department of Environmental Quality will be sharing details on Boeing’s request and seeking input at an informational meeting:
Thursday, Sept. 20, at 6:30pm
DEQ Regional Office
2020 SW 4th ave (in CH2MHILL Bldg), 4th floor, room A/B.
More info Contact: Kathy Amidon, Air Quality Program, 503-667-8414 x.55010 or: amidon.kathy@deq.state.or.us
If you are concerned, please show up. We plan on being there. More details can be found here.
MORE INFO: There is an article about this issue in today’s Oregonian. It should noted that Boeing has a history of contaminating Portland’s air. Since 1998 they have been dumping thousands of pounds a year of tetrachloroethylene, a cancer-causing toxin, from their NE Portland facility. More info here.
The planned release of additional VOCs is far from trivial. The company’s unwillingness to put in mitigation measures or to use non-VOC or low-VOC coatings is based on financial concerns. However is risking the health of children in Portland is a price worth paying for Boeing keeping their costs low? I don’t think so.
