by Alex Brooks
The Petersburgh Planning Board held a Public Hearing on July 28 on Taconic’s application to expand their plant on Coon Brook Road. They plan a one story building of 10,600 square feet, about 140 feet by 82 feet, and a new 92 space parking lot across the road from the plant. It will be the same height as the existing building and the same color.
[private]Deputy Planning Board Chairman Tim Church said he had sent certified letters about this public hearing to 12 adjoining landowners and ten of them had picked up the letters.
A Bad Smell
Several of the landowners were present, and the main topic of their comments was air emissions. Jackie Monette, who lives on Hewitt Road, said on some days she can smell emissions from the plant and it’s an unpleasant smell. She wanted to know what it is. Planning Board Chairman Frank Sheldon said there is a list of the particulate materials being emitted from the plant in Taconic’s application for an air emissions permit.
Don Welsted, the Region 4 Environmental Engineer from DEC, who is reviewing Taconic’s air permit, said there are a number of chemicals generated by the coating process but it’s mostly PTFE, commonly known as Teflon – the same stuff that is on your non-stick pots and pans. He said it is present at very low concentrations in the air outside the perimeter of the plant. Trying to understand what it was she was smelling, he asked what it smelled like, and Monette said it smelled “like someone was cooking a Barbie doll.”
Welsted said the company has to heat the coating material as part of its production process but the temperatures are very carefully controlled so that it is hot enough to apply the coating but not so hot as to burn the material, which would emit a different set of air emissions.
Someone asked if studies had been done about whether this material is harmful if you breathe it. Thomas Gentile, the Chief of DEC’s Air Toxics Section, was also present, and he said studies have been done but not at the very low levels of concentration being discussed here.
Karen Toth, the Environmental Compliance Manager for Taconic, said the new building would have its own brand new pollution control device. She noted that some of Taconic’s competitors vent directly into the air rather than into pollution control devices. She said Taconic is making a large investment in the new pollution control equipment.
Taconic’s existing permit allows a maximum of 6.1 tons per year of particulate matter to be emitted, and they are applying to raise that limit to 7.7 tons per year. Toth noted that these are the maximum allowable amounts under the permit and actual emissions are lower than that.
Welsted said it will take a few weeks to complete the draft permit, which can then be posted, and after a 30 day public comment period, DEC can act on it. He said he didn’t anticipate any problems with the permit so it will probably be issued in the fall.
Several other issues were raised, in addition to the air emissions. Priscilla McLean asked about the lighting for the parking lot. The lights planned there are downward directed lighting with blinders to keep light spillover onto neighboring properties to a minimum. Someone asked about the road crossing from the new parking lot to the plant. A crosswalk and a pedestrian sign are planned. The speed limit on Coon Brook Road is already set at 35 mph, Taconic officials said.
Bart McLean said the existing pollution control device at one point in time made a loud humming noise. He said that when he asked Taconic to try to eliminate that, they were very responsive, and were able to reduce the noise a lot. He wondered if the new pollution control device would make a humming noise. Plant Manager Tim Kosto said the new device is designed to be quieter than the existing one, so he doesn’t expect a noise problem. He said the improvement that McLean noted in the old one was the result of better maintenance of the fans in that unit.
Regular Meeting
In the regular Planning Board meeting that followed, the Board unanimously approved building the new building and the parking lot with the proviso that Taconic would need an additional approval for commencing operations in the new building, to be issued once Taconic got its air emissions permit from DEC.
Bull Subdivision
The Board then approved a subdivision of a 50 acre lot owned by Thomas and Rose Bull on Route 2 and Scriven Road. Ted Bierwirth was there to speak for them. He is buying from them a lot on Scriven Road, near Old Stage Coach Road, of about 8 acres, and this is to be split off of the original Bull parcel.
Sass Lot Line Adjustment
The Board approved a lot line adjustment on the property of Walter and Peggy Sass on Smith Road. The existing parcels are a 3.1 acre front lot with road frontage and a 5.6 acre back lot that is landlocked. The new line splits the two parcels with a line running from the road to the back of the back lot, so there are two equal size lots which both have road frontage, one to the right and one to the left. There are existing houses on each of the new lots, with existing driveways to each.[/private]