Environmental groups raise issues about Hopewell plant’s air permit

AdvanSix's plant in Hopewell. (Ned Oliver/Virginia Mercury)

Last week, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a petition with federal regulators that raises pollution concerns stemming from Virginia’s issuance of an air permit to an AdvanSix Resins and Chemicals manufacturing plant in the city of Hopewell.

On July 19, the SELC filed the petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of several other environmental groups including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Mothers Out Front, the Sierra Club, Falls of the James Group and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light. The petition highlights what the groups say is a lack of information on the facility’s emissions and barriers to public involvement in the permitting process.

“Considering the amount of pollution that this plant emits into the surrounding community, the public should have had access to the information it needs to ensure that permit is sufficiently protective,” SELC staff attorney Patrick Anderson said in a statement. “Our air pollution laws and environmental justice require more than this permitting process provided.”

AdvanSix is a plastics maker with manufacturing facilities in the Virginia cities of Hopewell, and Portsmouth and Chesterfield County and outside the state in Pennsylvania and Alabama. The Hopewell facility produces ammonium sulfate for fertilizer and caprolactam for several products, including carpets. The company has reported emitting nitrogen oxides, sulfuric oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, particulate matter and hazardous air pollutants.

In 1974, the facility in Hopewell that became an AdvanSix operation was responsible for a Kepone incident, which released the toxic insecticide into the James River that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. More recently, the facility has been found to have 66 violations under both the federal Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, according to reporting from the Richmond Times-Dispatch .

The petition states that a lack of specific emission data makes it difficult for the public to review the draft air permit, and that there’s a lack of effective monitoring requirements. DEQ also decided not to hold a public hearing about the facility’s permit, despite requests and comments from the public to do so, the petition states. According to the EPA’s EJ Screen , a tool for determining the socioeconomic profile of areas, 48% of the people who live there are considered low-income and 57% are people of color.

A DEQ spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment or a copy of the permit.

AdvanSix, in a statement, said it wants to maintain  “an engaged and transparent working relationship” with community members, and state and federal regulators.

“Throughout the regulatory review process, AdvanSix made all emission data from the Hopewell facility available to the DEQ,” read the statement, which also stated data is publicly available with the EPA. “The air emission limits for the regulated emission units are listed in the permit along with monitoring equipment, which the DEQ makes available for the public to view.”

SELC’s petition asks the EPA to object to the permit and direct DEQ to make information available and offer a new opportunity for public comments. The federal agency has 60 days to respond to the petition. It was not immediately clear if the EPA has taken such actions before,, a spokesperson said.

DEQ is also reviewing what has been deemed a “controversial permit” under Virginia Pollution Discharge Elimination System regulations for the Hopewell facility that would be in effect for a period of five years. Approval is expected later this year, after the company agreed to speed up the timelines for compliance as environmental groups raised concerns over the length of time the facility would have initially been given and several other issues.

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