PQ Corporation Enters into Settlement with KDHE

KDHE and PQ Corporation have entered into a settlement providing air pollutant reduction, funding for cleaner school bus air pollutant emissions, and other environmental projects and environmental education in the Kansas City Metro area.

Through this settlement, PQ Corporation has agreed to fund supplemental environmental projects totaling approximately $123,500. In this settlement, PQ Corporation will fund supplemental environmental projects to reduce air pollutant emissions at the PQ Corporation facility in Kansas City, Kansas beyond the regulatory requirements, and to benefit the air quality within the Kansas City Metro Area through environmental education and air pollutant reduction projects, to fund pollution control devices for school buses in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, and provide funding for conservation and environment education programs in Kansas. In addition, PQ Corporation agreed to payment of a civil penalty of $150,000 for excessive air emissions of methanol, a hazardous air pollutant, in the past.

Of the six supplemental environmental projects, two are at the PQ Corporation facility in Kansas City, Kan., and three other projects are in the Kansas City metro area. The remaining project is a statewide environmental education project.

At the facility in Kansas City, PQ Corporation will:

1. Reduce air pollutant particulate emissions at their Zeolyst Plant by improving the collection system at its Zeolyst Plant/Calciner, requiring expenditures of $30,000.

2. Implement and certify an ISO (International Standards Organization) 14001 Environmental Management System at the Kansas City facility to reduce pollutant emissions and enhance the facility’s compliance with state and federal environmental regulations. The expenditures for implementation and certification of this environmental management system are estimated to exceed $30,000.

For the Kansas City area, PQ Corporation will fund three projects, totaling $61,000, which will be administered by the Air Quality Programs of the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) under an agreement with KDHE as follows:

1. Provide funding of $1,000 to MARC for the purchase of a gas cap testing device for use by local air quality programs for voluntary gas cap testing events. This device can pressure-test vehicle gas cap seals for the control escaping gas vapors. A vehicle can lose up to 30 gallons of gasoline per year due to failed vapor seals, and the escaping vapors contribute to ozone promulgation and poor air quality.

2. Provide funding of $10,000 to MARC for the development of a Lawn and Garden Program logo and radio spots for their Lawn and Garden Emission Reduction Program. The program is intended to educate the public, small businesses, and large landowners regarding available steps to reduce emissions of air pollutants that are precursors to the formation of ozone from various lawn and garden activities.

3. Provide funding of $50,000 to MARC for their School Bus Diesel Engine Retrofit Program for retrofitting Wyandotte and Johnson County school buses with Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOCs). These bolt-on pollution control devices reduce the harmful exhaust pollutants emitted by older diesel engines, reducing exposure of school children to air pollutants as well as benefiting air quality through lower air pollutant emissions. The devices will replace the mufflers on school buses, require no maintenance, will outlast most standard bus mufflers, and will not adversely affect fuel economy.

MARC serves as an association of city and county governments and the metropolitan planning organization for the bistate Kansas City Region. Through an agreement with KDHE’s Bureau of Air and Radiation, MARC administers and manages specific supplemental environmental projects in the Kansas City region.

For the remaining supplemental environmental project, PQ Corporation will provide funding of $2,500 to the Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education (KACEE), a non profit environmental education organization. This funding will be split with 50% to be directed by KACEE to its general environmental education activities. The other 50% will be directed to a grant program for environmental education to be managed by KACEE.

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