Public meeting scheduled for Aug. 27
JEFFERSON CITY, MO, AUG. 2, 2019 - The Missouri Department of Natural Resources invites the public to review and offer written comments on a draft hazardous waste permit for Exide Technologies Inc. until
Sept. 9, 2019.
The department will hold a public meeting and public hearing about the draft permit Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019, at the T.J. Hall building, located at 104 S. Main St., Oregon, Mo. The public meeting will begin at 6 p.m. This is an opportunity for the public to ask questions, share information and discuss issues with facility and department staff. The public hearing will follow the public meeting, beginning at 7 p.m. At the hearing, the public can have their comments about the draft permit entered into the official record. The department will not answer questions at the hearing, but will provide responses in writing after the public comment period. Written comments and oral public hearing testimony are treated with equal consideration. Individuals requiring special services or accommodations in order to attend the meeting or hearing can make arrangements by contacting Heidi Rice at least 72 hours before the meeting at 573-526-8964 or 800-361-4827 or by email at heidi.rice@dnr.mo.gov. Hearing- and speech-impaired individuals may reach Rice through Relay Missouri at 800-735-2966.
Exide operates a commercial hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility at the site, located at 25102 Holt 250 Road in Forest City. This facility, known as the Canon Hollow Recycling Center, is a secondary lead smelting plant, used to recycle lead-acid batteries and other lead-bearing raw materials. Exide stores the materials, which are classified as characteristic hazardous wastes, before disassembly and recycling. Exide smelts the battery plates and other lead-bearing materials into lead ingots, which are then sold to various manufacturers for making new products. During the smelting process, impurities are removed from the lead as slag. Exide treats the smelter slag and then disposes of the non-hazardous slag in an on-site hazardous waste landfill.
Exide currently is operating and performing long-term monitoring and maintenance activities and corrective action investigations at the site under a department-issued Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Facility Part I Permit and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-issued Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments Part II Permit. These permits allow Exide to store whole lead-acid batteries and hazardous waste in containers and containment buildings, and treat and dispose smelter slag in an on-site hazardous waste landfill. On March 27, 2019, Exide submitted a permit application to the department and EPA to renew their existing hazardous waste permits. After a thorough technical review of the permit application, the department prepared a draft Part I Permit for the Exide facility. The draft permit proposes to allow Exide to continue storing whole lead-acid batteries and hazardous waste in containers and containment buildings, treating hazardous waste in a stabilization unit, disposing smelter slag in an on-site hazardous waste landfill and monitoring and maintaining a closed landfill.
EPA decided not to prepare a Part II Permit, since EPA has no site-specific conditions for the facility, beyond those contained in the draft Part I Permit, and Missouri is fully authorized for all permitting, post-closure and corrective action activities at the facility. According to Code of Federal Regulations 40 CFR 270.51(d), the existing Part II Permit will remain in effect until the department issues a new Part I Permit.
The draft Part I Permit and a fact sheet are available on the department’s website at https://dnr.mo.gov/env/hwp/permits/notices.htm. Some supporting documents are not available on the department’s website due to their file size. The public can review and copy the draft Part I Permit, fact sheet and other supporting documents at the Oregon Public Library, 103 S. Washington, Oregon, Mo., during their normal business hours; or the department’s Elm Street Conference Center in Jefferson City. To review or obtain copies of the department’s files, please submit a sunshine request at https://dnr.mo.gov/sunshinerequests.htm.
Comments on the draft permit are more effective if they point out legal or technical issues or provide information that is not in the record. Please send written comments to Jillian Hunt, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Waste Management Program, P.O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176, or by email at jillian.hunt@dnr.mo.gov.
You may call or write the department at any time to request to have your name placed on Exide’s facility mailing list. By doing this, you will receive written notice from the department or Exide on any major permitting and cleanup activities at the facility.
For more information about the draft Part I Permit, or to obtain a written copy of the draft permit for review, please contact Hunt by telephone at 573-751-6796 or 800-361-4827. Hearing- and speech-impaired individuals may reach Hunt through Relay Missouri at 800-735-2966.