Document RpMq8b7Lj5DkbZaR1QrrM98an

FILE NAME: Allied Signal Bendix (ASB) DATE: 1989 Feb 16 DOC#: ASB 103 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Article - Health Dept Seeks Test of Bendix Asbestos Emissions 1 8 PLAINTIFF'S 1 I I EXHIBIT 1 1 $ 131 1 1 S 1 B-Z THE TIMES UNION Albany, N.Y.,Thursday, Feb.-16, 1989 Health Department seek By Phil Brown Stall wnter GREEN ISLAND - The state Health Department wants the emissions of asbestos at the Bendix Friction M aterials plant studied to see if they endanger public health. permits, but the permits would be reviewed again if something significant is discovered. She noted that Bendix now em its about 6,800 pounds of asbestos annually. "I don't hear the Health Department saying 'Don't issue that permit;' " Magee said. "I hear them saying something perfectly reasonable." . .The agency's recommendation comes a month after the state Department of Environ mental Conservation issued a preliminary ruling that the emissions are safe. ' But Jane Magee, EnCon's Region 4 director, said there is no contradiction. She said EnCon ruled only that Bendix need not' prepare an environmental-impact state ment -- a broad, lengthy study -- as part of its application for perm its to discharge 5,300 pounds of cancer-causing asbestos into the air each year. EnCon still can require Bendix to do t(i,e studies requested by the Health Depart ment. Those studies need not delay issuance of the In a letter to Magee on Friday, the-Health Department said the studies should determine the type of asbestos fibers emitted from the brake-lining plant -and the concentration of asbestos at ground level in the village. "To our knowledge, there has been no attempt to evaluate the potential impact of the emissions on the community. We believe that such an evaluation is necessary in light of the quantity of the emissions and the proximity of residences," wrote John Hawley, director of the department's Bureau of Toxic Substance As sessment. Hawley said that he was not recommending that the permits be delayed or denied. ' s test iiendix asbesto ' . . Though Bendix, plans* to cut emissions, ri. es ..to cont. roil stuch .m*is_s_ io__n__s___w_ :iitlh ithl .e Lb.,,e_s*t environmentalists have called'lipun EnCon to available technology. EnCon, as a regulatory reject the permits and stop all the asbestos agency, has found Bendix in compliance with discharges. v '^ .the law. - - ' _ ' "I <thinli(noh)was poisedto rubber-stamp - Hawley, however, said his department is' approval o ith isp em iit uhtil the public became., <mncerned about the emissions, regardless of aware pf^th$situaition and the Health D epart-. whether .they are le g a l ; ' njeht goMnvqlvbd;" said Judi Enck, spokes woman for Rensseler bounty Environmental `The Environmental Conservation- analysis Action, ' | < appears -to be based on a review of control t3inology;'l.*Hawley-said.--`idur-:viewpoint. is Magee said she did not know if EnCon would; have required the studies,jfJttey; were ao.t sought by the-Health Depirtmen She denied, however, th at EnCon l?Jess-concerned about .-publichealth than'its ' "I don'tth in k tt's a questlohol.iis nbtbeingas, ncem ed as the Health D "I thidc it's, a 'quwtion A s different-area ofexpertisi|* t ...... ... _ _ N eltherfederalnorstateT aw putsalim iton spmewhat different in that we're concerned just with-what levels (of asbestos) there are in the community." * - William Clarke, EnCpn's regional permit administrator, said the agency will require Bendix to perform th e studies if they're possible However, he said it might be difficult .to distinguish the Bendix emissions from asbestos already in the air. the amount of .asbestos that can be discharged by industry: Rathr; regulations require facto- "We'r e going to have to sit down and see what's doable and what isn't," Clarke said. s e m issio n s AinsKbaeasftnoas, a ..noa-tfuiirr-all-vm-niininefirpaall,. cp aa nn rrpesaocbh the atmosphere from.,ear ,brakes:and soili-Bfeath- ' ing in the: microscopic fibers-can causeriung cancer or-asbesti)si^ adis6e,characlerlzediby , scanring of Benilix spbkes&n^|igp^rson'sliditMS!, of -the-co m p an y* keg^ w h o pfesumabty are mOdt at rislfi^haV^bown tBejh>tn|bc unharmed by a sm tefH e^ -'sm d ^ e3 St|^ own statistics totpft^U ^C^nflsihndSo' hothave a high cjnccr rate'-- "Theirdata an?-ouridata iiy q f b y jIy O T : hasnot,beenapj r^a|^^sk,''i ^ r s o g ^ d j s , Mark Kruszewiki, an'EnCon- ^mOr enyirqh- mental analyst, iaid.he will -te&mi'enfi; department hold avjpnUte *earingi,,qrigbb emissions. ';i ; '*? ' " "We have t w | contradictory evaluations;" Kruszewski said.tJThat's why I feel the hearing wfllhe necessaryf Clarke, however,''said he -didn't know if he will go along with Such a recommendation.