The second citation deals with a section of the company's agreement with the township that requires the company to submit quarterly reports on emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and lead. The citation was issued because the company has not included information on carbon dioxide emissions.
Kress said that the company would work to provide the township with that information, but added that requesting information on carbon dioxide emissions was highly unusual.
"Not to downplay this, but (carbon dioxide) is totally inert," Kress said. "To be honest, we didn't even realize that they asked for it because it's something that is never reported. . . . It's like oxygen, it's something just naturally in the air."
Township officials and inspectors with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) also have expressed concerns about problems they've had with access for unannounced inspections at CleanSoils. Several times when officials have arrived for unannounced inspections, they say they have had to wait for up to an hour. Kress said the company had worked out an agreement with USX, township and DEP officials that would allow for unfettered inspections.
Township officials agreed to a new policy in which company representatives will go to the gate to take back the inspectors, and if it takes more than 10 minutes, security will escort inspectors back, Kress said. DEP officials, however, want quicker access and security officials to immediately escort them to the site, without notifying the company, Kress said.
CleanSoils is shifting ownership to USA Waste, and in doing so, it needs a permit from the DEP. But the DEP has said it will not issue the permit until the company addresses six issues, including the problems it has had with access for unannounced inspections. The issues were listed in a July technical review letter.
Jim Wentzel, chief of the DEP's engineering services section, said his office would meet with representatives of the company next week to discuss the company's response to the July letter detailing the DEP's concerns.
The DEP letter said that the scope of the company's testing was not broad enough to encompass a wide range of contaminants. Kress has countered that notion by saying that the DEP approved the testing and analysis plans. The letter raised concerns about equipment malfunctions, but Kress said the equipment problems were addressed months ago.
