State taking Norlite to court
DEC says Cohoes plant didn’t stop dust emissions
The state Department of Environmental Conservation is turning to the courts for a solution in its enforcement battle with the Norlite aggregate facility after it says the company failed to immediately stop dust emissions during the past few months.
“Because Norlite’s management has failed to agree to DEC’S enforcement terms, DEC has referred this matter to the Office of the Attorney General to pursue the matter in court on behalf of the State of New York,” state DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in a prepared statement on Wednesday.
As the state’s lawyer, the attorney general’s office can pursue Norlite in civil court, rather than through purely administrative means.
Seggos’ announcement came just hours before DEC and the city of Co
hoes were to have a webbased town hall meeting on the latest developments at Norlite. They have had several such meetings during the past few months.
And it comes two weeks after DEC initiated enforcement proceedings, which could include fines, against Norlite for what it says were emission violations.
In early February the plant, which makes aggregate for road building and construction and which operates a powerful kiln, allowed “fugitive dust” to waft over the neighboring Saratoga Sites public housing complex, according to DEC’S citation.
Norlite came under a microscope over the past year after revelations that it had burned 2.5 million pounds of potentially toxic firefighting foam in its kiln in 2018 and 2019.
The incineration of that aqueous film-forming foam has since stopped and been banned. But it also has renewed longstanding complaints about quartz silica dust, which can be harmful to the lungs, coming from the facility.
After the February dust incidents, the DEC in March issued two violation notices. They cited a partially frozen water sprinkler (designed to suppress dust) as well as improper handling of “baghouse dust,” or dust supposed to be captured in giant silo-like devices, as some of the main problems.
Norlite in a prepared statement disputed the need to get the attorney general’s office involved.
“Norlite already is investing the necessary resources to improve our dust suppression performance, just as we have invested heavily in recent years to improve our overall environmental performance. The Department of Environmental Conservation knows this, and its decision to pursue legal action sets up an unnecessary and unproductive fight easily avoided,” said Prince Knight, the company’s environmental and regulatory compliance manager.
“We have made very clear to DEC leaders that we share the goal of protecting the environment and our community, and we are very willing to cooperate.”