Aberdeen and Hoquiam, like any other port industrial cities, have their share of unique and, at times, unpleasant odors. If Contanda’s proposed crude oil facility comes to be, will it stink, and what will happen to the overall air quality of the surrounding area?
The Department of Ecology’s Environmental Impact Statement states, “The only compound with sufficient emissions to have the potential to have a perceptible odor is hydrogen sulfide. Although it is possible that, at the right location and operational and meteorological conditions, the odor could be detectable for a brief period, and the short-term concentration (less than one hour) is expected to be below the odor threshold for the most sensitive individual. Therefore, odor is considered a negligible impact.”
Contanda’s Port property manager Steven Williams says the odor issue was never of concern in terms of the project “because this product isn’t supposed to have any.” According to OSHA, hydrogen sulfide has a “rotten egg” smell and “occurs naturally in crude petroleum and natural gas.” Ecology estimates the maximum amount of hydrogen sulfide associated with the Port project would be only about 10 percent of the minimum amount needed to be detected by even the most sensitive of noses.
The air quality of the proposed project area “currently meets all standards” for criteria pollutants, according to Ecology. Criteria pollutants include carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide, the only air pollutants with national air quality standards defining allowable concentrations when measured in ambient air.
During project construction, diesel equipment would increase the levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air, but Ecology’s report states “none are likely to exceed regulatory limits.” With the increased rail and vessel traffic that would accompany the Port expansion, coupled with tank cleaning and other maintenance operations, pollutant levels in ambient air would increase, but again the Ecology study claims levels “would not exceed state and federal air standards. However, the amount of nitrogen oxides emitted from transportation would come close to the one-hour standard.”
The one-hour standard is the maximum parts per million of any criteria pollutant allowed by the Clean Air Act during a one-hour period. During periods when the level of nitrogen dioxide, usually associated with vehicle exhaust, nears the one-hour standard, one would possibly notice the increased smell of exhaust and perhaps a brownish haze hanging in the air.
Since most of the exhaust from increased vessel traffic would be spread throughout the harbor its effects would not be as noticeable as those associated with increased train traffic, especially near the project site and Poynor Yard switching station in Aberdeen. The Ecology report suggests idle times of trains in these locations be kept to a minimum, which would decrease emissions of potentially harmful pollutants, and vessel and motor vehicle idle times should also be monitored and kept at a minimum.
According to the EPA, breathing air with a high concentration of nitrogen dioxide can irritate airways in the human respiratory system. People with asthma, as well as children and the elderly, are generally at greater risk. Nitrogen oxides are also associated with acid rain and smog.
Since there are no elderly care facilities, daycare’s, schools or hospitals within the project area — the nearest such operation is a daycare center a half-mile away — the Ecology report says increased emissions from the construction and operation of Contanda’s proposed facility will not dramatically increase the danger to human health in the study area.
