Pollution Sensors Remain Uninstalled at River Plant: GE Agreed to Put in Testing Equipment at Its Former Facility Four Years Ago
By Brian Nearing, Albany Times Union, N.Y.
Apr. 23–WATERFORD — Like a cat agreeing to bell itself, General Electric promised nearly four years ago to install state-controlled pollution sensors where its sprawling silicones plant dumps waste into the Hudson River.
The state wanted to look over GE’s shoulder after accusing the company of delaying the reporting of toxic spills into the river, if at all. The move came in response to a litany of violations by GE that involved the improper handling of waste.
But to date the cat has yet to put on the bell — and may not have to for another two years, under terms of a new deal worked out between the sides.
In the meantime, two pipelines from the 800-acre plant that discharge wastewater into the Hudson — upriver from Waterford’s drinking water intakes — will remain without the sensors ordered by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Last October, GE agreed to pay up to $250,000 in state fines for spills since 2003 and delays in the sensor project. Under this latest pact, the company has promised to finish sensor plans within six months.
The fine was the third agreed to or paid by GE in the past five years for illegal discharges and handling of industrial waste at the plant. Since 2001, more than $1.4 million has been paid under consent orders with DEC in 2001, 2003 and 2006. The sensor plant was included in the 2003 order.
But two months after once again promising to comply with the state-required testing plant, GE sold the plant as part of a $3.8 billion deal with Apollo Management, a Manhattan-based buyout firm.
The plant is now owned by Momentive Performance Materials, which is working with the DEC to meet the terms of the agreement.
Despite the delays from change of ownership, state DEC officials said they are confident progress toward compliance is being made, and called the installation of a remote-controlled testing station — that DEC would run — something that’s pretty new.
“This is a fairly unique situation, at least unique to this region,” said department spokeswoman Maureen Wren. “This would enable us to get immediate information about a spill if something were to happen.”
Wren said the building for the Hudson River testing station has been constructed, but plans for the equipment are not yet done. She said the goal now is to have the station running by 2009 — six years after it was first ordered.
Under GE ownership, the plant was part of General Electric Advanced Materials, a global network involved in the making of silicone and quartz products. Last year, the unit reported about $2.5 billion in annual sales.
The plant is listed as the largest polluter of the Hudson River in the four-county Capital Region, according to the federal Toxic Release Inventory. Those figures are reported by the polluters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
General Electric has apparently all but washed its hands of the Waterford plant, which it ran for some four decades. Calls to the company this month were passed through three different spokesmen before being referred back to Momentive Performance Materials, the new owners created by Apollo Management.
Momentive’s CEO is Wayne Hewett, the former president of GE Silicones, who signed both the 2003 and 2006 consent orders for the Waterford plant. GE owns 10 percent of the new company, said Momentive spokeswoman Marina Moreno.
Wren said the state decided to demand the testing station because of GE’s “record of violations,” although she said there appeared to be no new violations since GE sold the plant. She said the station was also demanded because of concerns about numerous GE-provided pollution test results given to DEC, some of which ultimately turned out to be inaccurate and were done by an outside company under contract. Wren could not immediately characterize the number or extent of the errors.
Among 168 violations cited between 1998 and 2005 were three 4,000-pound discharges of toluene — a chemical that, according to the EPA, has caused tumor growth in lab animals. There have also been emissions of harmful chemicals such as hydrogen chloride, methyl chloride and hydrochloric acid.
Other violations have included untreated combustion gases released into the air from an incinerator, overflows of polluted water into ground soil and leaky drums of toxic waste covered in plastic.
Dave Roberts, the plant’s environmental health and safety manager since 2004 who now works for Momentive, said the sensor station was delayed because “the design was changed to make it better. We are just making it easier for DEC to get samples.”
He downplayed the six-month deadline imposed last fall by DEC which, if not met, will cost Momentive a $129,000 fine. “That’s just (DEC) protecting itself. Everything is being resolved to DEC’s satisfaction,” Roberts said. “We have built a lot of credibility with the DEC over the years.”
Roberts pointed to the state-mandated requirements, which came under an agreement in which GE neither admitted or denied the violations, as proof that past and current plant owners are committed to environmental safety.
Momentive, he said, has spent about $31 million to upgrade the treatment plant that discharges wastewater in the Hudson, and to improve manufacturing processes so less wastewater is produced. Another $27 million in safety improvements are planned.
Still, chemicals in the river remain a special concern of Jack Lawler, supervisor of the town of Waterford, whose drinking water treatment plant is downriver.
He said town officials rely on GE to inform them of chemical spills so they can turn to a backup drinking water system that taps into Troy municipal water.
Lawler said he had not seen either the 2003 or 2006 consent decrees between GE and the state.
“I assume that GE has been reporting these spills to us. They are supposed to be reporting,” he said. “I’m led to believe that spills were kept on the plant, and had little effect outside the plant.”
The state Health Department, which regulates drinking water safety, has not issued any “do not drink” orders to the town dating back to the early 1990s, according to a department spokesman. That period would include all the toxic spills listed in the GE consent decrees. Lawler said the town relied on GE sharing spill information because it was “too complicated” to wait for state Health Department notification because of potential delays after a spill occurs.
A reporter gave the supervisor a list of all spill dates — which ranged from February 1998 to July 2005. Lawler was not immediately able to say whether GE had advised town officials of the spills.
A logbook of incident reports made by GE to the town, maintained at the town police office, was made available to the Times Union late last week for inspection, but contained no records prior to 2006. Earlier records could not immediately be located. Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by e-mail at bnearing@timesunion.com.
History of violationsFined $1.4 million and cited three times by the state since 2001 for improper discharges and handling of toxic waste, the former General Electric Silicones plant in Waterford was ordered in 2003 to build a state-controlled pollution sampling station at its discharge point into the Hudson River. GE sold the plant late last year with plans still in the works for the station, which will not be in place until 2009. A sampling of 168 pollution violations at the plant under state consent orders in 2003 and 2006 includes unreported chemical discharges into the river, escapes of combustion fumes from the plant incinerator and improper storage of barrels of toxic waste. Some examples: Feb. 20, 2002: A 4,000-pound spill of toluene into the Hudson was not reported to the state. It was the third toluene spill since 1998. The chemical is classified as a possible human carcinogen, according to The International Agency for Research on Cancer. Sept. 30, 2005: Untreated gases from a rotary kiln incinerator escaped into the air through an emergency vent. Nov. 29 and Nov. 21, 2004: Methyl chloride and hydrochloric acid are discharged into the Hudson. May 27, 2004: Bulging and leaking drums of hazardous waste were taped over with plastic sheeting.
Sources: 2003 and 2006 consent orders, Department of Environmental Conservation
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Copyright (c) 2007, Albany Times Union, N.Y.
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