WSP zinc plant installs air monitor to detect lead

Mar. 4—On Monday, the Cass County Commissioners approved allowing the Waelz Sustainable Products [WSP] zinc reclamation plant to put an environmental monitoring system on top of a county building.

On Tuesday, WSP workers installed the monitoring system — an air monitor, a redundant air monitor (for quality checks), stairs to reach the equipment and a weather station that will record wind and precipitation during the testing.

It is located on top of 505 High St., the building across the street from Cass Area Transit, about four-and-a-half miles from WSP near Clymers.

WSP paid for the equipment and installation, and it will pay for operating expenses, according to a press release.

Cass County will pay for commercial general liability insurance of at least $2 million for the equipment with WSP named as an additional insured, according to the agreement the county commissioners approved.

"Our new facility will meet environmental, health and safety standards, but we wanted to go the extra mile and install this system to give our community more peace of mind," a press release quotes WSP General Manager Mike Englert as saying.

Although the zinc reclamation plant isn't operating yet, the air monitors will begin working on a dry run March 4 and then the first official run March 11, said Englert on Tuesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency requires the testing be done for 24 hours every six days (to avoid it always testing on the same day of the week), he said.

The testing before the plant begins operations will establish a baseline of lead in Logansport's atmosphere.

It wouldn't be right to start the testing and the factory on the same day and there could be readings not caused WSP, said Englert.

After the 24-hour testing period, someone from Indianapolis contractor Ramboll will collect the filters and seal them in a bag, then send them to an independent laboratory accredited by the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program.

WSP will share that information at Cass County Commissioners meetings — monthly at first, then quarterly, he said.

The system will only test for lead.

"Lead was a big concern, so that was in the agreement with the county, that we would test for lead," Englert said.

However, lead was not the only concern that both City of Logansport officials and citizens against the plant had.

City Council President Dave Morris said that Logansport commissioned a study about the plant's emissions by Edge Engineering and Science out of Houston, Texas.

Based on that study, city officials asked for WSP to provide an ambient air monitoring system test for zinc, lead, manganese, chromium, cadmium and mercury.

The new air monitor doesn't match what city officials talked about with WSP and the county, said Morris.

Logansport's representatives also asked that the monitor be located closer to WSP, on the wastewater treatment plant, which the study suggested as one of the better locations for a monitor.

It's only three miles from the WSP plant.

Morris also mentioned that on Aug. 21, the Cass County Council tabled a vote on financial incentives for the plant and directed WSP to go into discussions with the Cass County Citizens Coalition [CCCC], a group of residents against the plant.

"In my opinion, it was never taken to fruition," Morris said. "We never felt that location or anything was discussed."

He said the city heard about the monitor's High Street location before the city had its study completed, and he also heard that Russell Kemp, managing principal of Ramboll, had a study he did for WSP.

"He would not share that with us," Morris said.

The council and Mayor Chris Martin have submitted to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management [IDEM] requests for input on choosing monitor positions and on what substances monitors will test for.

This happened during IDEM's comment period for WSP's air quality permit, Nov. 16 to Dec. 21, he said.

WSP needs the IDEM permit to operate, and it hasn't been issued yet.

Jim Brugh, an attorney who represents CCCC members in some lawsuits, echoed the city's concerns, including location.

For the six substances the city wants to test for, "I don't know if there is any added cost, but if there it is, it is small," he stated by email.

John Schwarz, the other attorney involved in the lawsuits, also referred to the council-mandated talks.

Members of the CCCC have stated they were suddenly cut off from, and instead a group of county elected officials met with WSP.

Schwarz stated that CCCC members had no idea of any details of the air monitor put up Tuesday, including location and who maintains it.

"To me, this shows another example of how WSP really does not want input from the CCCC," Schwarz stated.

Both of the attorneys also mentioned that in January, they offered to drop any remaining lawsuits against Cass County that affects WSP if WSP would agree to a settlement about testing that included air monitor specifications.

They said WSP's attorney hasn't responded.