S.H. Bell to reduce air pollution

By D.A. Wilkinson

A company official said it had already planned some of the steps.

EAST LIVERPOOL — The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and S.H. Bell Co. have reached an agreement to try to reduce air emissions.

Ohio EPA spokesman Mike Settles said Director Chris Korleski is pleased with the company’s willingness to address the problem and looks forward to seeing improvements in the near future.

In February, the state EPA started an enforcement action to lower air emissions that can harm people.

The agency has been monitoring air quality in East Liverpool from 2000 to 2007 at S.H. Bell’s Stateline and Little England facilities.

S.H. Bell breaks up ore and other materials at the two facilities.

The State Line site is at 101 state Route 68, Midland, Pa., along the northern bank of the Ohio River. The site covers about 92 acres, half of which are in Ohio. The site uses 28 covered storage and processing buildings and stores bulk and packaged materials.

The Little England site is located off St. George Street in East Liverpool, also on the northern bank of the Ohio River. The site covers approximately 8.5 acres with three covered storage and processing buildings. The site also provides outside concrete storage pads for storing bulk and packaged materials.

Tests from three monitors had shown the highest level of manganese in the United States, according to Settles.

High exposure to manganese, a natural metal, can cause mental and emotional disturbances, slow and clumsy body movements, and damage to the liver, kidneys and brain, according to the OEPA. Rusty Davis, vice president of operations for S.H. Bell, said the company had already planned many of the remediation steps before talks with the state.

The company is not paying any fines or assessment.

Davis said the company believes that some of the emissions monitored come from other sources.

To abate what the state said are “nuisance conditions,” S.H. Bell will have to pave large portion of roads at its Stateline facility within 60 days.

Other steps include:

UThe company will also have to use dust suppression systems on unpaved roads at both facilities.

UAll trucks leaving the facilities will cover their loads with tarps.

UBuild a truck-loading building within nine months at Stateline with a system to collect dust. The company has nine months to build it.

The company will also perform a study to identify other ways to reduce emissions.

wilkinson@vindy.com