Document e1e2BjKykV6yx6arrXYqqw1eE
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
CLEAN AIR ACT INSPECTION REPORT Ozinga - Northside Plant, Chicago, Illinois
FROM:
Justin Smith, Environmental Engineer AECAB (IL/IN)
THRU:
Nathan Frank, Section Supervisor AECAB (IL/IN)
TO:
File
BASIC INFORMATION
Facility Name: Ozinga - Northside Plant
Facility Location: 2001 North Mendell Street
Date of Inspection: August 13, 2024 & August 29, 2024
EPA Inspector(s): 1. Justin Smith, Environmental Engineer 2. Aileen Drum, Physical Scientist* 3. Gunnar Brown, Environmental Engineer*
Other Attendees: 1. Joe Wesley, Operations Manager, Ozinga* 2. Diego Nieto, Plant Operator, Ozinga*
*Only in attendance during the August 13, 2024 inspection
Contact Email Address:
Purpose of Inspections: To follow up on a citizen complaint regarding fugitive particulate matter (PM) from the facility.
Facility Type: Ready-mix concrete
Facility Name: Ozinga - Northside Plant Facility Location: 2001 North Mendell Street Date of Inspection: August 13, 2024 & August 29, 2024
Regulations Central to Inspections: The Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP), specifically Illinois Administrative Code Title 35 Part 212 Subpart K: Fugitive Particulate Matter.
August 13, 2024
Arrival Time: 1:15 PM Departure Time: 2:45 PM
Inspection Type: Unannounced Inspection Announced Inspection
OPENING CONFERENCE
Presented Credentials Stated authority and purpose of inspection Provided Small Business Resource Information Sheet Small Business Resource Information Sheet not provided. Reason: Not a Small Business Provided CBI warning to facility
The following information was obtained verbally from Joe Wesley and Diego Nieto unless otherwise noted.
Process Description: Ozinga (or the facility) receives approximately 95% of its sand, stone, and cement via barge through the North Branch Chicago River. Specialty slag is delivered to the facility via trucks. Aggregates from the barge are unloaded onto stockpiles to the southeast of the site while cement is pumped into silos. Loaders are used to transport the aggregates into the feeder bins. Conveyor systems transport the material from the feeder bins to the plant to mix with cement from silos and water to make ready-mix concrete (RMC). RMC is then loaded into trucks for delivery.
Staff Interview: The facility typically operates Monday through Friday between 4 AM and 6 PM. Occasionally the facility operates on Saturdays for smaller job requests. The facility owns a water truck and sweeper truck to control and minimize fugitive PM from the aggregate stockpiles and traffic areas. Ozinga stated that they normally operate the water truck and sweeper truck every day, however, the facility's sweeper was not operational at the time of EPA's visit and had been down for repair for a week. The facility arranged for Waste Management (WM) to conduct truck sweeping services at the site on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 7 AM and 3 PM, twice each day. Ozinga stated that WM had not arrived at the facility yet at the time of the inspection, likely due to WM being busy with the music
Facility Name: Ozinga - Northside Plant Facility Location: 2001 North Mendell Street Date of Inspection: August 13, 2024 & August 29, 2024 festival taking place in Chicago. The facility does not keep any records of frequency of water truck usage, but Ozinga stated that they have the water truck spray the traffic areas very often.
The facility does not conduct any crushing or grinding of aggregate on site as all aggregates delivered via barge come in powdered form. The facility uses two types of cement and thousands of different concrete mixes. Ozinga stated that their RMC does not have hazardous air pollutants. Ozinga also stated they believe that they only receive complaints regarding fugitive dust from one person at a neighboring location.
TOUR INFORMATION
EPA Toured the Facility: No
Data Collected and Observations:
Prior to entering site, EPA observed traffic areas to the entrance and exit points. EPA did not observe any dust generated from incoming and outgoing trucks on the main traffic area (N Mendell St). Moisture was also observed on N Mendell St, likely indicating the usage of a water truck. EPA also observed facility operations from across the North Branch Chicago River to observe aggregate stockpiles. Barge unloading operations did not occur at the time of inspection.
While inside the control room, EPA observed truck washing operations via control room video cameras. EPA also observed a water truck being used to spray aggregate stockpiles.
Photos and/or Videos: were not taken during the inspection.
Field Measurements: were not taken during this inspection.
CLOSING CONFERENCE
Provided U.S. EPA point of contact to the facility
Requested documents:
Copy of facility's latest Air Permit; Copy of facility's latest Operating Program for the purposes of reducing fugitive particulate
matter emissions; SDSs for the five most shipped/requested RMC products; Formal complaints sent to facility regarding fugitive particulate matter emissions; and Receipts/Invoices from WM regarding street sweep services from the past two weeks
Facility Name: Ozinga - Northside Plant Facility Location: 2001 North Mendell Street Date of Inspection: August 13, 2024 & August 29, 2024
Concerns: EPA expressed concern that there were no records associated with frequency of water truck usage and the facility was unsure if they had dust control program that would require it or not.
August 29, 2024
On August 20, 2024, EPA received images and video of Ozinga during a barge unloading operation of sand and cement where visible dust was observed. On August 29, 2024, EPA conducted an off-site inspection to observe operations. EPA did not meet with any Ozinga staff during this inspection. Arrival Time: 10:00 AM Departure Time: 2:00 PM Inspection Type: Off-site Data Collected and Observations: EPA observed barge unloading operations from across the North Branch Chicago River. Some dust was observed but it did not appear to leave property lines. EPA observed water trucks utilized to spray water on N Mendell St multiple times during the inspection.
Photos and/or Videos: were taken during the inspection and are listed in Appendix A.
Field Measurements: were not taken during this inspection.
Facility Name: Ozinga - Northside Plant Facility Location: 2001 North Mendell Street Date of Inspection: August 13, 2024 & August 29, 2024
Staff Interview: On October 8, 2024, EPA contacted Joe Wesley about Ozinga's dust control practices for barge unloading operations. Wesley clarified that water trucks are primarily used on access roads for dust control and not a significant amount of water is used on the stockpiles. Wesley stated that too much water used on the cement stockpiles would cause it to turn mushy and compromised usage, and that too much water used on the sand stockpiles would cause an excessive amount of sand runoff. Wesley stated that lowering the drop height would be a way for them to minimize dust from the barge unloading operation.
DIGITAL SIGNATURES
JUSTIN SMITH Date: 2024.10.09 10:41:31 -05'00' Digitally signed by JUSTIN SMITH
Report Author: _________________________________
Section Supervisor:
NATHAN FRANK Date: 2024.10.09 12:27:51 -05'00' Digitally signed by NATHAN FRANK
__________________________________
APPENDICES 1. Appendix A: Digital Image Log and Digital Video Log
Facility Name: Ozinga - Northside Plant Facility Location: 2001 North Mendell Street Date of Inspection: August 13, 2024 & August 29, 2024
APPENDIX A: DIGITAL IMAGE LOG AND DIGITAL VIDEO LOG
Inspector Name: Justin Smith
Archival Record Location: Enf_Ozinga RMC Northside_IL_24
Image Number
1 2
File Name IMG_0664.JPG IMG_0665.JPG
Date and Time (incl. Time zone and DST) 8/29/2024 1:39 PM CST
Latitude and Longitude
NA
8/29/2024
NA
1:48 PM CST
Description of Image
Barge viewing facing northwest
N Mendell St post water truck usage