Oregon DEQ Fines Asphalt Plant for Emissions Violations

Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has issued a civil penalty of $9,600 to the asphalt producer LTM Inc. for releasing more particulate matter into the air than the company’s permit allows in Central Point, Ore.

DEQ determined that the company’s asphalt plant exceeded its 49 pounds-per-day emission limit for particulate matter 10 micrometers in diameter or less, also known as PM10 emissions. The DEQ claims that the plant went over the limit on at least 31 days in 2009.

According to a DEQ news release, the violations occurred because the company used the wrong emission factor when figuring its daily PM10 emissions. While the permit calls for LTM to use a factor of 0.023 pounds per ton of production to calculate emissions, DEQ says that it discovered the company used an emission factor of 0.0055 pounds per ton. As a result, LTM reported only about 25 percent of the plant’s actual PM10 emissions for 2009.

LTM Inc. appealed the penalty Nov. 23.