Cement company seeks permit to operate 24 hours a day

In the latest Weekly Alibi, Simon McCormack reports on the recurring tension between a cement transfer station and surrounding neighborhood residents in an Albuquerque North Valley community. American Cement, the company that owns the transfer station, is seeking a permit from the city that would allow it to operate 24 hours a day. The sites current permit is for 11 hours of operation a day.

With the permit it has now, the transfer station can release up to 3.9 tons of total suspended particulates—essentially, cement dust—per year into the air. If an extension were granted, that number would jump to 18.81 tons every year. The emissions allowed under the new permit would still fall within state and federal air quality standards

The company states that they will not operate on a continual basis but the ability to operate without the confines of a 11-hour workday would keep them competitive.

Last year, a similar permit request resulted in an outcry from community residents. The ongoing strain on the community has caught the attention of area representatives:

State Sen. Dede Feldman, who represents the North Valley, says residents don’t have the technical expertise to judge whether the increased pollution poses a threat to their health. “That's something that is a real concern to me," says Feldman. Her constituents “don't have the lobbyists and the lawyers that American Cement seems to have."

The longtime legislator says the Air Quality Division should hire an independent consultant to double-check American Cement’s emission calculations. Feldman says she plans to write a letter to the division asking for a public hearing to discuss the proposed permit change. “The residents in the area need some help from a non-biased third party,” Feldman says. “We would hope that that would be the role of the local government.”

The article states that only one public comment has been made on the new application as of April 20th and that without significant official interest by residents, a hearing may not be scheduled.