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Airborne Camera Monitors Pollution at Industrial Sites in Southeast Texas

Posted on: Wednesday, 6 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Jul. 6--In the next couple of weeks, a small white helicopter might be spotted hovering over chemical plants and refineries in Southeast Texas.

It's nothing subversive or alarming. It's just the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality trying to "sniff" out excessive air pollution with an infrared camera.

The camera can detect such things as chemical emissions and excessive hydrocarbon releases from refineries, chemical plants, pipelines and other industrial sites, said Terry Clawson, a commission spokesman.

The testing will last through the end of -- July and is being conducted in both Southeast Texas and the Houston area.

The data will be analyzed by Daniel Chen, a professor of chemical engineering at Lamar University, Clawson said.

Chen also has a specialty in air pollution control, according to his biography on Lamar University's Web site.

Results of the study should be available by December, Clawson said.

The study will cost $100,000 and the money will come from a variety of sources at the commission's disposal, Clawson said.

In a prepared statement, the commission said it wants to locate emissions that are unreported or are under-reported.

If and when the camera detects excessive emissions, it will note time and location. The commission will send a letter to the plant's managers and ask for additional information.

Bill Wimberley, manager of Motiva Enterprises' quality systems and processes, until recently served as chairman of the Air Quality Advisory Committee, financed by area industry and administered by the South East Texas Regional Planning Commission Its goal is to help bring the area into federal clean air compliance.

"The TCEQ sent an e-mail to plants, telling us what they're going to be doing because of security issues," he said. "In the Houston area, they've been finding higher (emissions) than what is permitted."

Wimberley said he doubts the commission would be able to determine the sources of emissions in the air.

Clawson disagrees.

"We'll be able to identify the source of elevated levels (of emissions)," he said. "If we see a cloud coming from a plant, we can ask the managers to identify the process and see if there's a leak."

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To see more of The Beaumont Enterprise, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.southeasttexaslive.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, The Beaumont Enterprise, Texas

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Source: The Beaumont Enterprise

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