Editor's note: This story updates and replaces a former story about Buzzi Unicem's RACT proposal. The original story also included a stock image of a smokestack that did not depict Buzzi's Hercules cement plant in Stockertown or any of its properties.
STOCKERTOWN, Pa.- The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will hold a public hearing later this month on a Stockertown cement plant’s plan for handling future emissions.
The DEP already has given preliminary approval to the plan, submitted by Buzzi Unicem for its Hercules Cement Company plant at 501 Hercules Drive.
Formally, the plan is known as a Reasonably Available Control Technology (RACT) plan.
RACT is a technology requirement for air pollution control; it determines the lowest level of pollution a facility can achieve using equipment that is available and economical.
According to the DEP, RACT standards were established to meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which are set by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the maximum concentrations in the atmosphere for specific air contaminants to protect public health and welfare.
They’ve become more stringent over time, advancing from RACT I standards to the current RACT III standards, which were finalized in 2022 and implement the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
In general, RACT requirements apply statewide to the owner or operator of any major Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emitting facility, any major Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emitting facility, or a facility that emits both.
According to the DEP, the Hercules cement plant is not classified as a major VOC emitting facility, and so the current request only applies to nitrogen oxide levels.
Buzzi is asking to continue on under the NOx limits established under RACT II, which were designed to meet the 2008 revisions to the ozone NAAQS, rather than RACT III.
A DEP spokesperson told 69 News that any facility seeking an exception to meeting the latest standards is evaluated by the agency on a case-by-case basis.
“In that evaluation the facility must demonstrate that there are no new feasible air cleaning devices, air pollution control technologies, or air pollution control techniques available. Here, the company conducted that analysis, and it was reviewed and approved by the Department,” the spokesperson said, in an email to 69 News.
The DEP’s public hearing on the issue will be held September 16 at the DEP Northeast Regional Office at 2 Public Square in Wilkes-Barre. It starts at 10:00 a.m.
According to a public notice about the hearing, the RACT plan, if given final approval by the DEP, will be issued as a “significant modification” to the plant’s Title V operating permit.
To register to speak at the hearing, call Air Quality Program Manager Mark Wejkszner at 570-826-2511. Speakers must pre-register in order to testify at the hearing. The last day to pre-register to speak at the hearing will be the Friday before the hearing.
Buzzi Unicem’s U.S. operations are based in Bethlehem. According to its website, the company’s seven cement plants have a production capacity of about 9 million metric tons.
Buzzi’s Hercules plant in Stockertown is its only facility in Pennsylvania.