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Clean-Air Group Sees Conflict in Kiln Study Panel

Posted on: Thursday, 18 August 2005, 15:00 CDT

Aug. 18--When environmentalists settled a lawsuit accusing the federal government of harming area residents by not cleaning the air, they raved that the agreement requires the state to study cement kiln pollution.

Three months after the settlement was finalized in May, however, the praise has turned to criticism.

One of the four environmental groups involved in the settlement is criticizing the state for appointing to the five-member study team a consultant who has worked for most of the cement companies under review.

The consultant -- David Gossman, president of Gossman Consulting in Hampshire, Ill. -- denies any conflict of interest. And the experts have already begun work on the study to be completed by year's end.

But Downwinders at Risk, a local clean-air advocacy group, is protesting Gossman's appointment. Jim Schermbeck, a group board member, wrote in an e-mail to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that hiring Gossman "has instantly, and probably irrevocably, undermined the credibility of this study."

Schermbeck said the group is not asking that Gossman be removed. But he wants the state to release background information on each expert to determine whether there are any possible conflicts of interest.

"This is a group of folks who will do a fairly pivotal study," he said. "We think it's good public policy to let everyone know who these guys have worked for in the recent past."

He says the state has not responded. So he plans to raise the issue at a meeting Friday of the North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee -- a group of elected leaders, business representatives and environmentalists working to improve regional air quality.

David Schanbacher, the state commission on environmental quality's chief engineer who is helping oversee the study, defended Gossman's appointment.

"It would be really hard to find an expert in the cement industry who hasn't done some work for these companies," he said. "But he's got a very impressive resume doing cement plant work. I think he's well-qualified for it."

Gossman, who said he was not aware of Schermbeck's complaint, acknowledged that he has done consulting work for Holcim Inc., Ash Grove Cement and TXI Operations -- three of the region's largest industrial air polluters, according to the latest state statistics.

He also said he has done work for the Portland Cement Association, the trade group of cement kiln operators nationwide.

But he said he's not working for these organizations today and has no financial ties to them.

"They're welcome to make their comments and ask the questions," Gossman said. "But being very open and frank about it, I don't have any conflicts of interest."

The criticism is the first stemming from the settlement between the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Downwinders and three other groups.

Among the settlement terms is a commitment from the state to study the effects of cement plant pollution on local air quality, and to determine what specific pollution controls will work at kilns and how much they'll cost.

The cement plant study was arguably the most important settlement term to clean-air advocates, who have long criticized state regulators for not doing more to limit industrial pollution from Ellis County.

Schermbeck said the environmental groups, cement kiln operators and state regulators discussed at length which experts should -- and should not -- be involved in the study. After Schermbeck said he and others raised concerns about Gossman, he said the state agreed Gossman would not be involved.

Schanbacher denies that allegation.

"We obviously didn't agree that he wouldn't be picked," he said.

IF YOU GO

--A meeting of the North Texas Clean Air Steering Committee

--10 a.m. Friday

--North Central Texas Council of Governments, 616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington

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Copyright (c) 2005, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas

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HCMLY, TXI,

Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas)

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