N.M. permit no longer needed, Helena claims

Collierville, Tenn.-Helena Chemical Co., at odds with New Mexico state regulators over a $279,000 fine being assessed for 11 emissions violations at its Mesquite, N.M., fertilizer warehouse, claims independent monitoring has found the facility well within guidelines and no longer requires an air quality permit, “We’ve submitted a notice of intention (to the New Mexico Environment Department) seeking to operate the building without a permit,” Helena Director of Regulatory Compliance Ed Brister told Green Markets. Brister reported that data provided by a firm he described as widely recognized as experts in this field indicate emissions on a per hour basis 72 percent below the limit required by NMED and 51 percent below those limits on an annual basis. He also cited a separate study of fugitive dust that found particulate matter well below EPA standards. State Environment Secy. Ron Curry responded that managers of Helena cannot decide whether they need a permit. “We determine that,” Curry asserted. “This baseless and audacious announcement is a waste of state resources. Helena is a flagrant violator of state and federal air quality laws and must be brought into compliance.” NMED Environmental Protection Division Director Jim Norton dismissed Helena’s “so-called monitoring” as being done without oversight from the state, based on data from one site the company monitored, and not representative of Helena’s impacts on the community. “Our air quality permits are determined by emissions,” Norton asserted. “Helena emits pollutants that are in excess of thresholds that require a permit under state regulations. We refute Helena’s claim that air emissions at their facility are below the threshold.” Brister attributed part of the problem to misperceptions of what actually is going on at the facility, which blends, stores, and distributes mostly dry and some liquid fertilizers. “There are no smoke stacks spewing out toxic emissions,” he emphasized. “We don’t manufacture anything, but bring in and sell directly to farmers in lower New Mexico.” Still, he continued, Helena has become the focus of interest with both the community and NMED since it took over the facility in 1989. Brister said one of the reasons Helena sought an air quality permit from the state was to provide assurances to neighbors about the safety of the operations. Helena officials also scheduled a tour of the plant and a community meeting last week to explain their side of environmental issues.