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Valdez Air Quality

 

The council is concerned that hazardous air pollution from the Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT) may be a threat to the health of Valdez residents. The purpose of this project is to measure, regulate, and ultimately reduce this pollution.

Specific hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) of concern include benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, known collectively as BTEX. The primary human health hazard comes from benzene, a known carcinogen.

Although control equipment installed in 1998 eliminated hazardous emissions resulting from tanker loading operations at the terminal, emissions from the Ballast Water Treatment Facility (BWTF) remain unregulated. Emissions from this facility, the largest remaining source of HAPs at the terminal, exceed the threshold set by the Environmental Protection Agency at which it deems a facility a major source of hazardous air emissions.

See our fact sheet on the Ballast Water Treatment Facility.
See our page on Ballast Water Treatment Facility Air Pollution Public Education Campaign.
See our page on the Ballast Water Treatment Facility.

 

2007 Update

For tankers loading crude oil at the VMT, the oily ballast water is discharged to and treated at the terminal's Ballast Water Treatment Facility. The processes at the BWTF have emitted large quantities of hazardous air pollutants over the years. In 2006, Alyeska embarked on a comprehensive effort to convert all of the open processes at the BWTF to closed processes that emit little if any air pollution. Once the processes have been so modified, Alyeska’s air quality permits will need modification to accommodate the changes made to the BWTF processes. Additionally, the council will seek to sample ambient air at locations in and near the BWTF for laboratory analysis and an assessment of the extent to which air pollution from the processes has, in fact, been reduced.

Objectives:

• Monitor Alyeska’s progress in amending its air quality permits making recommendations as appropriate
• Review process monitoring requirements to ensure that BWTF renovations remain fully functional and are properly maintained
• Determine the extent to which the BWTF renovation may have reduced emissions from the BWTF by air sampling
• Compare any measured emissions with those predicted in Alyeska’s design process
• Review compliance and enforcement provisions of the current permit
• Facilitate public and agency review during permit renewal process
• Coordination with renewal / amendments to VMT NPDES permit

 

	Warning signs at Ballast Water Treatment Facility, Valdez Marine Terminal.

 

Related documents:

Valdez Marine Terminal Air Quality Oversight Project, Phase I. Environmental Solutions. May 2002. (pdf/1MB)

PWSRCAC Comments on the Proposed Rule National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollution (NESHAP) for Organic Liquid Distribution (OLD) Operations Regarding the Valdez Marine Terminal. Environmental Solutions and Multimedia Envirosoft. Submitted by PWSRCAC to EPA in May 2002. (pdf/661KB)

Analysis of the Sept 24, 2002, March 13, 2002, and October 7 1997 Alyeska Air Quality Permit Amendment Applications for the Valdez Marine Terminal. November 2002. (pdf/654KB)

Air Monitoring Options for Measuring Benzene Concentrations in Valdez. March 2003. (pdf/334KB)

PWSRCAC Comments on Proposed NESHAP OLD. June 2003. (pdf/1.2MB)

PWSRCAC Comments on Proposed NESHAP OLD. July 2003. (pdf/590KB)

Petition for Reconsideration. February 2004. (pdf/892KB). February 2008 update: At the council's January 2008 board meeting, the board of directors decided to withdraw the council's petition for reconsideration. The board felt that since Alyeska is adequately addressing reduction of emissions from the Ballast Water Treatment Facility, that the petition was no longer necessary. Read a timeline with background information on the NESHAP OLD issue.

Press release regarding Petition for Reconsideration, March 2004.

Letter from EPA to PWSRCAC granting petition. April 2004. (pdf/49KB)

Letter from Sen. Lisa Murkowski to EPA regarding NESHAP OLD. November 2005. (pdf/98KB)

Letter from PWSRCAC to Sen. Lisa Murkowski regarding her letter to EPA on NESHAP OLD. January 2006. (pdf/1.3MB)

Letter from Rep. Don Young to EPA regarding NESHAP OLD. February 2006. (pdf/109KB)

Letter from PWSRCAC to Rep. Don Young regarding his letter to EPA on NESHAP OLD. March 2006. (pdf/341KB)

 

Air Pollution from Tanker Loading Operations Reduced

Before the installation of the tanker vapor control system in 1998, tankers loading crude oil at the VMT emitted tens of thousands of tons annually of oily vapors that contained benzene. The control system eliminated an estimated three-quarters of all volatile organic compounds (VOCs—liquids that form a vapor) from the terminal. The council was a strong advocate of such a system.

Until the vapor control system was installed, the VMT was the largest single emitter of VOCs in the United States.

 

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