Note: The following is not a verbatim transcript of the Zoning Hearing Board meeting; it is simply one person’s summary of the major points made by those involved in the hearing process.  For that reason, quotation marks are not used unless a direct quote was recorded.  For information about obtaining an official ZHB transcript, contact the New Hanover Township office.

Ms. Julie Von Spreckelsen, an associate of Bob Brant, township solicitor, introduced the next witness, William Felderbach.  Felderbach was entered as an air pollution and meteorology expert. He works for O’Brien and Gere. After presenting his qualifications to be accepted as an expert, Mr. Stephen Harris, attorney for Gibraltar Rock, Inc. (GRI) objected to his being accepted as an expert.  The zoning board accepted Felderbach as an expert.

Felderbach began his testimony by explaining that he evaluated how well GRI’s application met existing regulations, he estimated the amount of emissions that the quarry would produce (based on GRI’s own production figures), and he also evaluated the impact to the surrounding environment.

Felderbach said that GRI’s air quality application was technically incomplete. They did not have complete information on how they would limit air emissions and did not have data on the proposed asphalt plant or concrete plant. He also said the application was riddled with different numbers for the same measurements. Besides those errors mentioned, he also said that there were discrepancies for the portable generator and that recording and record keeping were not complete.

Von Spreckelsen next asked if GRI performed an Ambient Air Quality Report. Felderbach said they did not. He also mentioned that Uday Patankar, in testimony before the zoning hearing board in September 2001 said that GRI complete an air quality analysis. Felderbach said there was no proof that they had conducted this analysis.

Von Spreckelsen asked Felderbach to explain what an Ambient Air Quality analysis was. Felderbach spent the next hour going over what makes up this report.  He explained that this report is established by the EPA based on the Ambient Air Quality Standards. Read more about Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Felderbach said that these standards look at “established criteria pollutants,” things that are known pollutants. They include: 

·         Particulate matter (particulate matter is defined as “any material that exists as solid or liquid in the atmosphere that are less than 10 microns. Particulate matter may be in the form of fly ash, soot, dust, fog, fumes etc. Sources of particulate matter include diesel trucks and power plants.” 

When talking about particulate matter, the EPA talks about particles that are 10 micrometers and those that are 2.5 micrometers. 

These are important and are defined by Berkeley Universities Geographic Science Center  as follows:

PM10

Small solid matter suspended in the atmosphere. Small particles can penetrate deeply into the lung where they can cause respiratory problems. Emissions of PM 10 are significant from dust, power plants, commercial boilers, metallurgical industries, mineral industries, forest and residential fires, and motor vehicles.

PM2.5

"Fine" solid matter. PM-2.5 scatters sunlight more efficiently than the larger particles included in the PM-10 mass. Exposure to PM-2.5 affects the most sensitive individuals in the population, including young children, the elderly and those with asthma or other chronic respiratory conditions. PM-2.5 consists of directly emitted fine particles; condensable fine particles and those formed as secondary pollutants through chemical reaction in the atmosphere.

·         Carbon Monoxide

·         Nitrogen Dioxide

·         Lead

·         Ozone

·         Sulfur Dioxide

Felderbach went on (after extensive objections from Harris) that there are three standards that are analyzed:

·         Deposition
Defined as the particulates and materials (dust, ash) that settle out and land on the surrounding properties. 

·         Visible Opacity
Defined as the amount of material that can be seen in the air.

·         Concentration
Defined as the amount of materials.

Felderbach explained that he used “computer modeling” to analyze the effect that the proposed quarry would have on air quality.  He said he focused his analysis on:

·         Location. He said it is important to understand where the materials would land in reference to residences and schools.

·         Overall emissions. He said emission would come from the quarry generators, and the asphalt and concrete plant operation.

·         Volatile organic compounds

·         Sulfur dioxide

·         Carbon monoxide

Felderbach next showed a series of slides that showed how the materials would be dispersed (by air) in three scenarios: 

·         First years of operation (labeled 2004 on the charts) [even though we all know 2004 isn’t going to happen].

·         Second year of operation (labeled 2005 on the charts)

·         Sixth year of operation (full operation and labeled 2009 on the charts)

Felderbach went into a great deal of explanation on what his computer model looks at, which we’ll leave out of this summary.

Felderbach’s findings indicate that:

Felderbach next showed the following deposition data, or the total amount of materials that will be deposited off-site (the standard is 1.5 micrograms/meter squared (a meter squared is a square area a little over 3’ x 3’)

Felderbach said that based on GRI’s data that the values far exceed established standards.

For his finale, Felderbach produced a piece of white paper about one foot square. While explaining that “based on data in Gibraltar Rock’s report” that it is his expert opinion, to the best of his scientific knowledge, that the emissions may have a negative impact on the health of the surrounding residents he produced from his pocket a vial of dust/ash (proportionally equal to the amount that the quarry would deposit in the sixth year of operation) and poured it on the 1’ x 1’ square of white paper. The amount of material covered the paper. Because of numerous objections from Harris, the climax was not as climatic as anticipated. But it was obvious that no one in the room wanted that much particulate material floating around our rural clean air.

The next GR 1 meeting is January 15, 2004 (with a snow date of 1/19/04) at the New Hanover Township Building, 7:00 PM.

See Also:
Summary of the previous meeting (November 17, 2003)