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RECENT UPDATES : TRACK PHASE TWO OF TRADEWINDS' CLEAN AIR PERMIT APPLICATION HERENEW INFORMATION AND UPDATES HERE REVISED DRAFT "AIR PERMIT" IS RELEASED FOR PUBLIC REVIEW (ATTACHED BELOW) July 2008-- On July 23, Protect O'okala member Scott Enright's letter to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald is published in which he challenges statements made to the press by Tradewinds Forest Products' president and CEO Don Bryan. The letter is attached below. On July 22, after months of the State Department of Health telling Protect O'okala that there were no public records nor any updates on the status of the permit, the DOH suddenly releases a significantly revised draft permit with revisions that were made in response to the public comments on the first draft permit issued last Oct. There is a 30-day public comment phase scheduled, commencing immediately and ending on Aug. 21, but no public hearing is scheduled. Despite Protect O'okala being told previously by the DOH that if any significant changes were made to the draft permit, a 30-day public comment phase AND public hearing would occur, the notice states that if anyone wants a public hearing, they must ask for it in writing and even then, it's at the DOH director's discretion to grant the request. The public notice, new draft permit with revisions, and a description of the revisions are attached below. On July 14, the State Department of Health, with approval from the US Environmental Protection Agency, grants Tradewinds' request to build the mill before issuance of the "air permit." That letter is attached below. On July 10, Tradewinds submits a mill equipment list to DOH as part of their request to build before "air permit" is issued. List is attached below.
Don Bryan, president and CEO of Tradewinds Forest Products, files a request with the Hawai'i State Department of Health and the US Environmental Protection Agency to build the veneer mill before issuance of the covered source permit (commonly called the "air permit"). This is a drastic change in plans that Mr. Bryan notes in the letter was in the works since Oct 2007, which was the month that the public comment period for the FIRST draft permit was underway. So while the O'okala community was busy analyzing and commenting on the first draft permit, Mr. Bryan was already changing the plans (once again) but failed to disclose this to the community or to the DOH (he notes however, he did discuss the changes with the power company HECO in Dec. 2007). In his request to DOH and EPA for permission to start building the mill before receiving the air permit, Mr. Bryan argues that the veneer mill, now called a "green" mill because the veneer would not be dried but rather shipped out wet, is a completely separate facility from the power plant and therefore can be built before the "air permit" is issued. The letter is attached below for your review. The DOH and EPA later grant Tradewinds' request.
According to the state Department of Health Clean Air Branch, there are no public records and no updates on the status of the permit this month.
The EPA fails to respond to Protect O‘okala's petition to object by the 60-day deadline. Protect O‘okala then files a Notice of Intent to sue EPA, thus establishing the option. That letter is posted below in pdf for your review. Please note that the EPA is seriously backlogged as far back as 2006 in reviewing and rendering decisions on petitions. Also, please note that thus far, THE "AIR PERMIT" HAS NOT BEEN ISSUED TO TRADEWINDS.
Protect O‘okala files a petition to the EPA asking for an objection to the permit citing faulty emissions data, faulty classification as a minor source of HAPs, use of equipment and/or machinery that is not the best available control technology (BACT), faulty meteorological data upon which the health risk assessment was based, among other concerns. That petition is posted below as a pdf for your review. Note that following the filing of the petition, the State Department of Health suspends its work on responding to the public comments that were submitted to DOH in October of 2007. Also note that THE "AIR PERMIT" HAS NOT BEEN ISSUED TO TRADEWINDS.
Hawai‘i State Department of Health reviews public comments submitted in October 2007 and corresponds with Tradewinds Forest Products about wood moisture levels, CO emissions, startups and shutdowns, and biodeisel quality and emissions. DOH says changes will need to be made in the draft permit in response to some of these concerns. Please find those emails below in pdf files for your review. Please note that any significant changes in the draft permit will result in rewriting of the draft permit, another 30-day public comment phase, another public hearing, and another 45-day EPA review.
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